1. Started to watch the 210th episode of season #28 of Home and Away.
This week I've been watching the show backwards, counting by tens. Why? Because Hulu is losing Home and Away. This is my weird way of having fun with my last days in Summer Bay.
2. Saw, from the recap at the beginning of the show, that Josh (Jackson Gallagher) has some kind of medical condition.
3. Saw that Josh is blind, and he also has a speech problem.
Has Summer Bay had another head injury? Or maybe Josh had a stroke?
4. Read an article about Josh.
He was beat up by Evie's (Philippa Northeast) ex-boyfriend, and at one point, was almost taken off life support.
I think it's a bit ridiculous.
They had the same storyline with Leah (Ada Nicodemou) only a few months before. I understand that soap operas repeat storylines, but do they have to do the same one within the same year?
With some storylines, it would be less absurd. For example, it's fine to have multiple break-ups, affairs, babies, etc. But in a small knit community, it seems a bit extreme that two people both get severely injured, both are almost taken off of life support, and both end up surprising everyone by surviving.
5. Saw that Jett (Will McDonald) is back in town.
I'm guessing it was a cameo appearance type thing and not permanent.
6. Checked IMDb. It looks like McDonald returned to the show sporadically throughout 2015 but hasn't returned for 2016.
7. Wondered why Evie is keeping her distance from Josh. It doesn't seem like she wants to; more like they feel it's for the best.
The residents of Summer Bay have a strange way of treating their sick and injured. Oscar (Jake Speer) broke up with Maddie when she had cancer, even though he supposidly loved her. Evie's keeping away from her hospitalized, blind boyfriend.
I don't get it.
8. Learned that Josh doesn't want Evie around. So, I guess that's why she's keeping her distance.
I can understand that.
9. Wondered about Skye (Mario Kelly), the girl that Jett brought to his house.Though Jett leaves the show, Skye is around for 2016.
Maybe she becomes yet another foster child.
4. Read an article about Josh.
He was beat up by Evie's (Philippa Northeast) ex-boyfriend, and at one point, was almost taken off life support.
I think it's a bit ridiculous.
They had the same storyline with Leah (Ada Nicodemou) only a few months before. I understand that soap operas repeat storylines, but do they have to do the same one within the same year?
With some storylines, it would be less absurd. For example, it's fine to have multiple break-ups, affairs, babies, etc. But in a small knit community, it seems a bit extreme that two people both get severely injured, both are almost taken off of life support, and both end up surprising everyone by surviving.
5. Saw that Jett (Will McDonald) is back in town.
I'm guessing it was a cameo appearance type thing and not permanent.
6. Checked IMDb. It looks like McDonald returned to the show sporadically throughout 2015 but hasn't returned for 2016.
7. Wondered why Evie is keeping her distance from Josh. It doesn't seem like she wants to; more like they feel it's for the best.
The residents of Summer Bay have a strange way of treating their sick and injured. Oscar (Jake Speer) broke up with Maddie when she had cancer, even though he supposidly loved her. Evie's keeping away from her hospitalized, blind boyfriend.
I don't get it.
8. Learned that Josh doesn't want Evie around. So, I guess that's why she's keeping her distance.
I can understand that.
9. Wondered about Skye (Mario Kelly), the girl that Jett brought to his house.Though Jett leaves the show, Skye is around for 2016.
Maybe she becomes yet another foster child.
10. Learned from a conversation between Evie and Andy (Tai Hara), that Evie feels responsible for what happened. I guess because it was her ex-boyfriend?
11. Wondered if Josh asked Evie to stay away because of some macho I-don't-want-you-to-have-a damaged boyfriend idea. Or is he asking Evie to stay away, because he too blames her for what happened to him.
12. Finished watching the episode.
13. Got an idea about how Evie and Andy end up falling for each other.
They're bonding over the mutual goal of helping Josh.
I can totally imagine and understand things like that happening. It could happen with an illness...or even after death. A brother comforts his brother's wife, and a year later they're getting married.
It could happen with non-medical things as well. How about a woman helping her brother-in-law plan a surprise party for her sister? They start off doing something nice for the wife/sister, and the next thing they know, they're betraying her.
13. Wondered how often things like that happen in real life.
14. Thought it could also happen with friends and cousins instead of siblings.
15. Started watching an episode of Water Rats.
16. Bewildered by a sample from an Australian novel I started reading (Jilted by Rachel Johns).
A character uses the term "mom" instead of "mum". I've heard and seen Australians using American terms, but I don't think I've ever encountered that particular one.
The book also uses American spelling, which is unfortunately not terribly unusual with Australian books.
At first I wondered if the author was an American who hadn't done a proper amount of research. But there are enough Australianisms to make me think the author IS Australian, or has done a good amount of research. For example: there's reference to someone being in hospital rather than in the hospital; and TV Weekly and Women's Weekly are mentioned.
17. Remembered that the first word that threw me off wasn't "Mom". It was "breakfast". But I can imagine that sometimes Australians say breakfast instead of brekkie. Maybe I've encountered it before.
18. Looked at Rachael John's bio.
She is Australian, or at least she lives there.
She herself uses the term "mum" in her biography.
19. Wondered if maybe the character in the book is American. Maybe that hasn't been revealed yet, or maybe I wasn't paying well enough attention.
20. Learned that Rachael Johns started writing when she was a teenager. She broke up with her boyfriend and used writing as her therapy.
I did some therapeutic fiction writing when I was a teen...and I've done it as an adult as well.
21. Learned that Johns likes pink.
I do too.
22. Learned that Johns likes Raffaellos. I never heard of those, so I looked it up. It's a coconut-almond candy made by the Ferrero company.
23. Learned that Johns likes Diet Coke and trolls.
24. Went back to watching Water Rats.
25. Was playing around on IMDb while watching Water Rats and learned that Claire van der Boom is going to be in a movie called Dear Eleanor.
26. Looked around more on IMDb, and saw that Paul Mercurio, a guest star in this episode of Water Rats, was the star of Strictly Ballroom.
27. Finished watching the episode. It was good.
There was a scene that got me thinking about stuff.
In the scene, Detective Goldie (Catherine McClements) goes a bit nuts with a criminal and talks about how she'd like to blow his brains out. This is because she's mentally disturbed from stuff that happened to her in the first season.
Two of her colleagues, Frank (Colin Friels) and Terry (Aaron Jeffrey) witness the inappropriate behavior and agree together to keep it a secret.
I think it's nice that the guys want to protect their colleague. I think they're understanding of Goldie's emotional issues, and also, it's not like she abused an innocent and/or good man. He had recently strangled a woman and had a knife up against Terry's neck.
The scene did make me a little uncomfortable, though, because I think police officers sometimes stick up for each other when it's NOT appropriate. For example, there's the recent movie I watched, Felony. The police act as enablers for a fellow officer who drinks and drives and injures a young pedestrian while driving. Yes, it's a movie. But from what I read, it was loosely based on a true story.
Plus, there are all those stories about black men in Australia and the US who get killed by police.I imagine there are cover-ups there.
28. Thought about the Dumbeldore quote. There are all kinds of courage. It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.
And it also takes a lot of courage to come forward and speak out against a friend.
29. Decided to watch the trailer for Dear Eleanor. I'm not sure if Claire van deer Boom will be in it. I'm also not sure if I'd even recognize her if I saw her. I might have forgotten what she looks like.
30. Finished watching the trailer. I don't think I saw Claire van deer Boom, but I might be wrong.
I did see that she probably doesn't have a huge role in the movie. The trailer lists seven main stars of the film, and she's not included.
31. Saw a photo of Claire van der Boom and am thinking maybe I DID see her in the trailer.
I'm used to her having blond hair, and in the photo, she has brown hair like a woman I saw in the trailer.
Anyway...it's the woman at 1:08 and 1:11 that I think might be van der Boom, but I might be totally wrong.
32. Looked on IMDb, and saw that I'm probably wrong.
The woman at 1:08 and 1:11 seems to be someone that the young teens meet during their adventurous road trip.
From IMDb, I can see that van der Boom plays the mother of one of the teens.
Oh well.
33. Saw that Claire van der Boom IS one of the stars of another upcoming movie. It's called Battlecreek. The movie is similar to The Others (which also starred an Australian actress!) in that it features the medical condition where one has to avoid sunlight.
34. Started watching the trailer for Battlecreek.
35. Finished watching the trailer.
It looks pretty good.
From what I saw on IMDb, and in the trailer, it looks like the movie villainizes the mother for being overprotective. But I think it would be hard not to be overprotective if your child's going to get a horrible rash every time they're out in the sun.
I'm just basing my opinion, on the trailer, though. She didn't seem so bad there. The movie might show her going way too far in the overprotectiveness.
12. Finished watching the episode.
13. Got an idea about how Evie and Andy end up falling for each other.
They're bonding over the mutual goal of helping Josh.
I can totally imagine and understand things like that happening. It could happen with an illness...or even after death. A brother comforts his brother's wife, and a year later they're getting married.
It could happen with non-medical things as well. How about a woman helping her brother-in-law plan a surprise party for her sister? They start off doing something nice for the wife/sister, and the next thing they know, they're betraying her.
13. Wondered how often things like that happen in real life.
14. Thought it could also happen with friends and cousins instead of siblings.
15. Started watching an episode of Water Rats.
16. Bewildered by a sample from an Australian novel I started reading (Jilted by Rachel Johns).
A character uses the term "mom" instead of "mum". I've heard and seen Australians using American terms, but I don't think I've ever encountered that particular one.
The book also uses American spelling, which is unfortunately not terribly unusual with Australian books.
At first I wondered if the author was an American who hadn't done a proper amount of research. But there are enough Australianisms to make me think the author IS Australian, or has done a good amount of research. For example: there's reference to someone being in hospital rather than in the hospital; and TV Weekly and Women's Weekly are mentioned.
17. Remembered that the first word that threw me off wasn't "Mom". It was "breakfast". But I can imagine that sometimes Australians say breakfast instead of brekkie. Maybe I've encountered it before.
18. Looked at Rachael John's bio.
She is Australian, or at least she lives there.
She herself uses the term "mum" in her biography.
19. Wondered if maybe the character in the book is American. Maybe that hasn't been revealed yet, or maybe I wasn't paying well enough attention.
20. Learned that Rachael Johns started writing when she was a teenager. She broke up with her boyfriend and used writing as her therapy.
I did some therapeutic fiction writing when I was a teen...and I've done it as an adult as well.
21. Learned that Johns likes pink.
I do too.
22. Learned that Johns likes Raffaellos. I never heard of those, so I looked it up. It's a coconut-almond candy made by the Ferrero company.
23. Learned that Johns likes Diet Coke and trolls.
24. Went back to watching Water Rats.
25. Was playing around on IMDb while watching Water Rats and learned that Claire van der Boom is going to be in a movie called Dear Eleanor.
26. Looked around more on IMDb, and saw that Paul Mercurio, a guest star in this episode of Water Rats, was the star of Strictly Ballroom.
27. Finished watching the episode. It was good.
There was a scene that got me thinking about stuff.
In the scene, Detective Goldie (Catherine McClements) goes a bit nuts with a criminal and talks about how she'd like to blow his brains out. This is because she's mentally disturbed from stuff that happened to her in the first season.
Two of her colleagues, Frank (Colin Friels) and Terry (Aaron Jeffrey) witness the inappropriate behavior and agree together to keep it a secret.
I think it's nice that the guys want to protect their colleague. I think they're understanding of Goldie's emotional issues, and also, it's not like she abused an innocent and/or good man. He had recently strangled a woman and had a knife up against Terry's neck.
The scene did make me a little uncomfortable, though, because I think police officers sometimes stick up for each other when it's NOT appropriate. For example, there's the recent movie I watched, Felony. The police act as enablers for a fellow officer who drinks and drives and injures a young pedestrian while driving. Yes, it's a movie. But from what I read, it was loosely based on a true story.
Plus, there are all those stories about black men in Australia and the US who get killed by police.I imagine there are cover-ups there.
28. Thought about the Dumbeldore quote. There are all kinds of courage. It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.
And it also takes a lot of courage to come forward and speak out against a friend.
29. Decided to watch the trailer for Dear Eleanor. I'm not sure if Claire van deer Boom will be in it. I'm also not sure if I'd even recognize her if I saw her. I might have forgotten what she looks like.
30. Finished watching the trailer. I don't think I saw Claire van deer Boom, but I might be wrong.
I did see that she probably doesn't have a huge role in the movie. The trailer lists seven main stars of the film, and she's not included.
31. Saw a photo of Claire van der Boom and am thinking maybe I DID see her in the trailer.
I'm used to her having blond hair, and in the photo, she has brown hair like a woman I saw in the trailer.
Anyway...it's the woman at 1:08 and 1:11 that I think might be van der Boom, but I might be totally wrong.
32. Looked on IMDb, and saw that I'm probably wrong.
The woman at 1:08 and 1:11 seems to be someone that the young teens meet during their adventurous road trip.
From IMDb, I can see that van der Boom plays the mother of one of the teens.
Oh well.
33. Saw that Claire van der Boom IS one of the stars of another upcoming movie. It's called Battlecreek. The movie is similar to The Others (which also starred an Australian actress!) in that it features the medical condition where one has to avoid sunlight.
34. Started watching the trailer for Battlecreek.
35. Finished watching the trailer.
It looks pretty good.
From what I saw on IMDb, and in the trailer, it looks like the movie villainizes the mother for being overprotective. But I think it would be hard not to be overprotective if your child's going to get a horrible rash every time they're out in the sun.
I'm just basing my opinion, on the trailer, though. She didn't seem so bad there. The movie might show her going way too far in the overprotectiveness.