1. Started watching an episode of Home and Away.
2. Thought about how the women on Home and Away look like they have either very good metabolism, or they work out daily with a personal trainer.
It's annoying. Though it's better than a show where all the characters look anorexic.
Still, I can't help but compare it to Coronation Street. On that soap opera, there's a wonderful variety of body sizes. Most of the women look like the women I see out and about in the real world.
3. Saw a suspicious looking black mole on Ricky's (Bonnie Sveen) arm.
Or maybe it's a small tattoo?
I can't tell.
4. Started watching the film, My Mistress.
5. Saw Charlie (Harrison Gilbertson) finding his dad hanging in the garage.
I'm not one of those people who think suicide is selfish.
But I do think it's selfish to do it in a way where it's very likely that your child will be the one who finds you.
Having a parent commit suicide is horribly sad and traumatic enough for a child. They don't need to be the one who finds the body as well.
6. Thought that Rachael Blake looks so much younger in this movie than she did in Sleeping Beauty.
I didn't think about her age when watching the other movie, but if I did, I think I would have guessed that she's in her fifties or sixties. In reality, she's in her forties—only about a year and a half older than me!
I think the reason I saw her as being old in Sleeping Beauty is, I saw her in comparison to Emily Browning. Emily Browning was the like the young princess. Blake wasn't really an evil queen or other villain. I think she was pretty much a good person. But....
I really don't know, actually.
7. Decided it's about perspective. Comparisons.
When I'm with people around my mom's age, I feel very young. When I'm around teenagers or adults in their twenties, I feel old. OR sometimes I feel like I'm their age—that we're peers. Then I remember that I'm many years older than them, and I feel foolish.
8. Saw that not only does poor Charlie have to be the one to find his dad's body; he also gets to catch his mom (Blake) kissing another man.
What the hell?
Can people not show a little discretion? Really! If I'm understanding things right, the mom kissed the guy at the place where they were holding the funeral.
9. Watched the scene again.
It's at the church.
My goodness.
10. Liked the movie so far.
It's interesting.
11. Thought that Rachael Blake's voice started to suddenly sound very low—almost distorted.
I didn't notice anything like this in Sleeping Beauty.
12. Thought that the mistress in the film, Maggie (Emmanuelle Beart) looks totally like NOT my type of woman. She smokes. She wears way too much lipstick. And she has that sexy-bitch attitude going on. But maybe as I get to know her, my prejudices will fade.
13. Thought that Maggie reminds me of the type of woman who, at social gatherings, stays close to her man—usually engaging in some kind of tacky public display of affection. Then if you make eye contact with her, she gives you a cold, possessive glare.
Okay, maybe the possessive glare is a bit exaggerated.
Maybe instead it's just an unfriendly blank look. OR maybe there'd be a fake smile—a snarl in the disguise of friendliness.
14. Saw, from IMDb, that My Mistress was filmed in the Gold Coast.
So far, they're showing more of the nature/beauty aspects of the place than the beaches, party, and amusement park bits.
15. Thought this house, and its landscaping, is very beautiful.
It looks kind of haunted.
16. Saw an actor, in the film, that looks familar to me.
He kind of reminds me of the actor in The Slap. I forget his name.
17. Saw that the actor, in My Mistress, is Socratis Otto. He wasn't the guy in The Slap.
I would have encountered Otto when I watched I Frankenstein.
18. Could imagine Harrison Gilbertson playing the angel in Fallen; though then I realized I don't remember if he does play the angel, or not.
I know he's in the movie, but I'm not sure which character he plays.
18. Learned from Lord Wiki that the Fallen series has a love triangle. In the film, Gilbertson plays one of the guys in the triangle.
19. Saw that Maggie has a son.
That surprised me a bit.
I'm not sure if he lives with her.
She's a dominatrix and does the work inside her home.
Maybe she does it while he's at school.
20. Realized there might be a custody issue. I don't think the son lives with Maggie. It looks like he might be in the custody of social services.
21. Thought that Emmanuelle Beart looks a bit like one of those Olson twins.
22. Watched Maggie tell Charlie that she's not who he thinks she is.This comes after he declares that he thinks she's amazing and that he wants to be around her all the time.
Then Maggie says, I'm just, um, a miserable, mixed-up, lonely, bitch.
Well...that's pretty much the idea I had of her. I don't know what kind of image she imagined she was projecting.
It would be much more interesting if she revealed something like, Yeah. I know you think I'm just a dominatrix. But when I'm not doing that job, I'm really just a quiet woman who knits cardigans for old ladies in nursing homes. Oh, and also I love doing crossword puzzles in my spare time.
23. Finished watching My Mistress for today.
I'll probably watch the rest tomorrow.
2. Thought about how the women on Home and Away look like they have either very good metabolism, or they work out daily with a personal trainer.
It's annoying. Though it's better than a show where all the characters look anorexic.
Still, I can't help but compare it to Coronation Street. On that soap opera, there's a wonderful variety of body sizes. Most of the women look like the women I see out and about in the real world.
3. Saw a suspicious looking black mole on Ricky's (Bonnie Sveen) arm.
Or maybe it's a small tattoo?
I can't tell.
4. Started watching the film, My Mistress.
5. Saw Charlie (Harrison Gilbertson) finding his dad hanging in the garage.
I'm not one of those people who think suicide is selfish.
But I do think it's selfish to do it in a way where it's very likely that your child will be the one who finds you.
Having a parent commit suicide is horribly sad and traumatic enough for a child. They don't need to be the one who finds the body as well.
6. Thought that Rachael Blake looks so much younger in this movie than she did in Sleeping Beauty.
I didn't think about her age when watching the other movie, but if I did, I think I would have guessed that she's in her fifties or sixties. In reality, she's in her forties—only about a year and a half older than me!
I think the reason I saw her as being old in Sleeping Beauty is, I saw her in comparison to Emily Browning. Emily Browning was the like the young princess. Blake wasn't really an evil queen or other villain. I think she was pretty much a good person. But....
I really don't know, actually.
7. Decided it's about perspective. Comparisons.
When I'm with people around my mom's age, I feel very young. When I'm around teenagers or adults in their twenties, I feel old. OR sometimes I feel like I'm their age—that we're peers. Then I remember that I'm many years older than them, and I feel foolish.
8. Saw that not only does poor Charlie have to be the one to find his dad's body; he also gets to catch his mom (Blake) kissing another man.
What the hell?
Can people not show a little discretion? Really! If I'm understanding things right, the mom kissed the guy at the place where they were holding the funeral.
9. Watched the scene again.
It's at the church.
My goodness.
10. Liked the movie so far.
It's interesting.
11. Thought that Rachael Blake's voice started to suddenly sound very low—almost distorted.
I didn't notice anything like this in Sleeping Beauty.
12. Thought that the mistress in the film, Maggie (Emmanuelle Beart) looks totally like NOT my type of woman. She smokes. She wears way too much lipstick. And she has that sexy-bitch attitude going on. But maybe as I get to know her, my prejudices will fade.
13. Thought that Maggie reminds me of the type of woman who, at social gatherings, stays close to her man—usually engaging in some kind of tacky public display of affection. Then if you make eye contact with her, she gives you a cold, possessive glare.
Okay, maybe the possessive glare is a bit exaggerated.
Maybe instead it's just an unfriendly blank look. OR maybe there'd be a fake smile—a snarl in the disguise of friendliness.
14. Saw, from IMDb, that My Mistress was filmed in the Gold Coast.
So far, they're showing more of the nature/beauty aspects of the place than the beaches, party, and amusement park bits.
15. Thought this house, and its landscaping, is very beautiful.
It looks kind of haunted.
He kind of reminds me of the actor in The Slap. I forget his name.
17. Saw that the actor, in My Mistress, is Socratis Otto. He wasn't the guy in The Slap.
I would have encountered Otto when I watched I Frankenstein.
18. Could imagine Harrison Gilbertson playing the angel in Fallen; though then I realized I don't remember if he does play the angel, or not.
I know he's in the movie, but I'm not sure which character he plays.
18. Learned from Lord Wiki that the Fallen series has a love triangle. In the film, Gilbertson plays one of the guys in the triangle.
19. Saw that Maggie has a son.
That surprised me a bit.
I'm not sure if he lives with her.
She's a dominatrix and does the work inside her home.
Maybe she does it while he's at school.
20. Realized there might be a custody issue. I don't think the son lives with Maggie. It looks like he might be in the custody of social services.
21. Thought that Emmanuelle Beart looks a bit like one of those Olson twins.
22. Watched Maggie tell Charlie that she's not who he thinks she is.This comes after he declares that he thinks she's amazing and that he wants to be around her all the time.
Then Maggie says, I'm just, um, a miserable, mixed-up, lonely, bitch.
Well...that's pretty much the idea I had of her. I don't know what kind of image she imagined she was projecting.
It would be much more interesting if she revealed something like, Yeah. I know you think I'm just a dominatrix. But when I'm not doing that job, I'm really just a quiet woman who knits cardigans for old ladies in nursing homes. Oh, and also I love doing crossword puzzles in my spare time.
23. Finished watching My Mistress for today.
I'll probably watch the rest tomorrow.
What would our world be like if we
knew for sure there
was life after death, and
we could easily talk to our
dearly-departed on the Internet?
The Dead are Online a novel by Dina Roberts
24. Went to the Tropfest website.
Today I'm going to start watching the 2011 finalist films.
25. Confused by the first video. It's labeled as the Telsta Mobile Masterpieces Finalist.
I'm guessing that in 2011, they began having a category for films made with a phone.
But I'm wondering, what's the name of this film? Or is it just labeled as a Telstra finalist?
26. Started watching the film.
27. Saw, at the end, that the title of the film is "The". It's actually on the website, but I missed it.
I thought it was saying that the film was THE Telstra Mobile Masterpiece finalist. But really the title is "The" and it's a Telstra Mobile Masterpiece finalist.
Anyway....
I thought the film was lovely for the most part.
It's basically a montage of scenes telling the story of a break up—a man missing his girlfriend.
28. Saw that the director of "The" is Reza Bahramrad.
That's a pretty cool name.
I Googled him or her.
They have an entry on IMDb for an acting gig, but there's nothing listed for "The".
29. Learned from Lord Wiki that Reza is often a Persian name.
Lord Wiki has a list of famous Rezas. All the people I clicked on were men, so now I know it's likely that Reza Bahramrad is a man.
30. Decided to look at the thanks part of the credits in "The".
There's a cafe mentioned—Mars Hill Cafe. It was shown in the film.
The cafe's in Parramatta, on Church Street. The street sounds familar. I'm wondering if I saw it when researching The Dead are Online. Some of my characters lived around there. Maybe they even lived on Church Street.
31. Wasn't sure if I mentioned the character's street name in the novel, or if it was something I just had in my own notes...for my own benefit.
32. Found my notes! I didn't expect to, so I'm kind of excited.
I also got a reminder of the characters' names, because I kind of forgot that.
So...Loretta Hollows, and her family, don't live on Church Street. They live on Good Street. HOWEVER, the family's restaurant is on Church Street. It might be right next to Mars Hill Cafe!
The restaurant is the place that has two young dead waiters working as comedians—well, because the premise of the novel is that talking to the dead has become something that pretty much everyone does.
33. Saw that Loretta Hollows birthday is April 6, 1995, and she's forty-five.
I think that's a typo. The book didn't take place that far in the future.
Actually, as far as I remember, it wasn't futuristic at all.
34. Thought that it's likely that Mars Hill Cafe would lose business if their neighbours provided ghostly entertainment.
Though it's possible that Mars Hill Cafe could come up with their own dead entertainment.
35. Saw that Mars Hill Cafe is willing to showcase the work of artists. There's a $50 fee. I don't think that's bad at all.
They also take a 20% commission on any work sold. I think that's kind of nice. It kind of gives me the idea that they have hope that things will sell.
36. Looked at their current exhibition page.
Their most recent thing was from November-January. I'm guessing it was January 2016, but I don't know for sure.
I wonder why they don't have anything more recent. Or is it just that the website hasn't been updated lately?
37. Felt also surprised that the exhibition goes on for so long. Do you really get all that time for only $50?
38. Wondered if I'm wrong to think it's a good deal and a good opportunity.
I would imagine artists lining up to have their artwork there.
39. Went to the website of Ellen Pope. She's the artist who had the November-January exhibition.
40. Saw from Pope's website that the Mars Hill Exhibition wasn't a 2015-2016 thing. It was a 2014-2015 thing.
41. Enjoyed looking at Pope's sketchbook. I think the ribs of the skeleton are quite impressive.
42. Looked up another item on the thanks section of "The".
It's Kevin and Lisa Crouse.
This might be a different Kevin and Lisa Crouse, but there's an Australian couple with that name who are part of Grace Ministries International. If it is the same Crouse couple, I wonder how they helped with the movie.
43. Read the information on the page, and learned that Lisa and Kevin Crouse are not originally Australian.
They went to Grace Bible College. I Googled that and saw it's in Michigan.
The Crouse couple moved to Australia in 1995 to do Christian-type work.
44. Learned from this website, that Kevin Crouse is the one who owns Mars Hill Cafe.
This is fun.
I love exploring things like this.
45. Learned, from the website, that Mars Hill Cafe is partly non-profit.
46. Saw that Kevin Crouse got his bachelor's degree at an Illinois School called Trinity International University.
47. Went to Kevin Crouse's Twitter.
He's into sharing his fitness data.
48. Amused by his most recent Tweet. He says, Nightswiming in my own sweat!
49. Saw that Kevin Crouse doesn't Tweet about anything other than his exercise adventures.
I was expecting some stuff about Jesus...or the cafe.
50. Learned from this website that Mars Hill Cafe closed in April 2015. So, THAT'S why they haven't had artists showcasing their work lately.
I wonder why they still have their website up.
51. Read another article about the closing of Mars Hill Cafe.
This one has the cafe closing in June 2015, instead of April. Or maybe I misread the other article.
52. Looked at the other article again. It does say April.
I'm thinking that maybe it closed in April, but then it gained enough strength to reopen for a few months. Maybe they thought all would be okay again—that they could survive.
It's kind of like someone's dying, and the priest is called in to say the last rites. Then to everyone's happy surprise, the person doesn't die. It starts looking hopeful. Maybe the person's going to live a long life, after all. But then a few months later, the sick person dies.
53. Learned from the second article that Mars Hill Cafe closed because of the high rents on Church Street.
Kevin Crouse was emotional about the closing...understandably.
It can be quite sad when things end.