Bus Money, Hannah's Secret, Categorizing Villains, and Being Indecisive

1. Dreamed about going to Australia.

It's our last day in Australia.  I'm feeling sad about that, which I find sort of funny, because we hadn't even planned on taking this trip.  

The apartment we've been staying at is away from the place I like being, and we have no plans to go back. I don't feel right about asking Tim to take us there. But then I realize something.  I can take the bus and go on my own.  

I talk to Tim about what I'll need on the bus and figure I just need correct change.

I then go out to the bus stop. The bus arrives, and then I realize I don't have the correct change.  

I think of going into the apartment to get it. Then I notice that the line I'm seeing is really two lines. Some people are trying to get on the bus, and others are in line, at a store, to get change. I figure I can go in that line and get change too.  But then I realize the paper money I have in my pocket is American money. That's not going to do me much good.

I go into our apartment building. There's a problem, though. I don't remember which apartment is ours. I do have a feeling it's not on the first floor, so I climb the stairs to the second.  I know which side our apartment is on, but I don't know which door is ours.  I peer through windows a bit which is embarrassing, because there are other people around.

Later, there was a connected dream about Ita Buttrose. Instead of having a blog where I can write my feelings about her....I have some kind of small space on a board. There's someone next to me writing on a space next to mine. I think and talk about my feelings regarding Buttrose. I say she's a feminist but not one who uses offensive means to get her point across. I say she's provocative and then something else, but I can't think of the right word. Then I think of it. It's compassionate. I feel Buttrose is both provocative and compassionate. The person I'm talking to is quiet, almost like they don't agree. But it's hard for me to tell. I explain that these are just the feelings I got from the miniseries.

I move away from my writing board for awhile. When I return, I see the small space, I had left, has been taken over by someone who's written some kind of disclaimer about our trip. It's explaining why we didn't do something in Australia, (or why something wasn't done for us?).  This information has been written before, and I erased it. Now I erase it again. I'm annoyed, because it's taken up my space, and I also feel the the information they posted doesn't need to be public knowledge.  

2. Started to watch an episode of Home and Away.

3. Had conflicting thoughts about the Evie (Philippa Northeast) and Hannah (Cassie Howarth) stuff.

Evie insists that Hannah come clean about cheating on Andy (Tai Hara). She threatens Hannah. Either tell Andy, or she's going to do it for her.

There's a part of me that thinks this is none of Evie's business, and she should stay out of it.

But then another part of me thinks about the secret thing I wrote about in a recent post. Is it fair of Hannah to force Evie to keep such a big secret?  Andy lives in the house with them and keeping such a secret is very stressful for Evie.

On the OTHER hand, Hannah didn't choose to tell Evie. Evie overheard the conversation. She was given the secret accidentally. I think that makes a big difference. It's not like Hannah is in an ongoing relationship with another man, throwing it in Evie's face, and then insisting that she not tell Andy.

4. Finished watching the episode.

5. Started to watch the last episode of Killing Time.

I've not gotten far...Internet problems again.

Or actually, it's a Hulu problem. The rest of my Internet is working okay.

6. Relieved to see it working.

I just had to reload.

7. Glad to see that Andrew managed to listen to his wife's break-up speech without responding in a melodramatic or manipulative way.

8.  Saw that Andrew hasn't lost his manipulative ways.

He's trying to strike a deal where if he's released, he'll give homicide evidence against a prisoner.

That's understandable.

But then when Andrew talks to the detective, he talks about how the prisoners are going to kill him if they know he's been talking to the police. And yeah. That's true. But then he adds, My family needs me.

I'm sure his family would be sad if he died. But needing him? I don't think so.  I think they've been relatively okay while he's in prison.  Before prison, I don't think he was contributing much to the family.  He was so often high on cocaine.  I think he caused his family a lot of stress and unhappiness. Do they really need more of that?

9. Saw that Fraser is free from prison, but he's not completely free.

He has a lot of rules to follow. For example, no alcohol can be consumed by him, or anyone else, in his house.

Also, he has to get permission before having any overnight guests.

10. Saw that Andrew Fraser gets around the alcohol thing by bringing a bottle of wine to his ex's house.

He wants to celebrate. He says, I bloody well made it. He acts like he ran a cross country marathon, or something.

Poor Denise.She's been through so much with her husband's cocaine addiction.

Now Andrew pushes her to celebrate with the intake of yet another drug.

Yes, it's a legal drug. But still. I don't personally feel there's much of a difference.

11.Impressed with how Denise treats Andrew throughout the episode.

She's firm with him but also kind.

12. Started to watch a promotional video about Killing Time with the real Andrew Fraser.

So, he was involved with the series.

That tells me he's matured enough to realize his mistakes, because the series did put him in a negative light.  He wasn't presented as a very sympathetic character.

13. Finished watching the video. It showcased the house where the Pettingill family lived.

14. Started to watch another promotional video. This one has David Wenham talking about Fraser.

Wenham says Fraser is very honest and fully supportive of the project.

I think that's very brave of him. It shows that he probably did have a major transformation and is no longer very manipulative and narcissistic.

15. Learned that Wenham didn't meet Fraser initially, because he worried getting close to him would affect his performance too much.

That makes sense to me.

16. Learned that Wenham and Glenn met the real Andrew and Denise about four weeks into filming.

17. Wondered if Andrew and Denise ever got back together.

18. Wenham talks about love and respect between Andrew and Denise, so if they didn't get back together, they at least remained friends.

19. Started to watch a third promotional video for Killing Time. This one is a short interview with Andrew Fraser.

20. Started to watch another interview with Wenham.

21. Learned that Wenham read Andrew Fraser's books...I guess before filming began.

I'm not sure when, really. But I like that he did research.

22. Went to Random.org to pick my next thing to watch.

It's Kill Me Three Times, starring Simon Pegg.

Pegg is British. But I guess the movie has some kind of Australia connection, because besides Doctor Who, everything on my list is Australian in some way.

23. Went to Kill Me Three Times on IMDb.

It's listed as being from the U.S and Australia.  It was filmed in Perth and in other areas of Western Australia.

24. Saw that Kriv Stenders, the director of the movie, also directed the movie Red Dog.

And there's a Red Dog prequel in the works.

25. Searched for Red Dog on Netflix, and ended up with Clifford the big red dog.

26. Examined the cast list of Kill Me Three Times to find the Australians that are familiar to me.

There's Teresa Palmer, Sullivan Stapleton, Luke Hemsworth, Callan Mulvey, Bryan Brown, and...

No, Daniel Webber. I'm kind of disappointed about that.

Now I'm hoping to see Daniel Webber everywhere.

Although I probably want to see Webber specifically as Oswald. I think I'm in love with that particular performance.

I didn't have much Webber love when I saw him on Home and Away and Sleeping Beauty.

27. Felt sort of excited about seeing Kill Me Three Times despite the lack of Daniel Webber.

I like the other actors.

I loved Simon Pegg in the zombie movie.

That was him, right?

And what was the name of that movie? My mind has gone blank. Well, not my whole mind but the part that holds the name of the zombie movie.

28. Looked at Simon Pegg's filmography.

The movie is Sean of the Dead.

29. Saw that Simon Pegg is going to star with Ben Mendelsohn in Ready Player One.

I think Mendelsohn might become a big star in our family, because he's in that movie AND he's going to be in the next Star Wars movie.  Tim and Jack are really into Star Wars, and Jack and I both loved the Ready Player One book.

30. Looked at the plot of Kill Me Three Times.

Like Fargo, it involves a hit man.

We're on the third episode of Fargo. I had doubts about liking it when we watched the first and second episode. I'm not a big fan of hitman stories, and I don't usually like crime-comedy.

The show is growing on me, though.

I do have some doubts about liking Kill Me Three Times.

If I'm understanding things right, the protagonist is a hitman. I like sympathetic protagonists, and I'm not sure I'll be able to see a hitman as sympathetic.

Well...I guess it's possible.

I liked Webber's Oswald, and he was an assassin.

31. Thought about Fargo.

I don't like the hitman in that, but my dislike might be less about him murdering people and more about him being a prick about it.

There's another guy in Fargo that has killed two people, and he's a sympathetic character.

32. Wanted to say that I don't actually condone murder. It's not something I support. I think it's a very shitty thing.

HOWEVER, I think decent people can be driven to murder.

33. Remembered that having sympathy for characters is a subjective thing. I might have sympathy for a homicidal character that someone else doesn't have any sympathy for. Then they might have sympathy for a character that I don't have sympathy for.

I don't have sympathy for the hitman on Fargo, because I think he's an ass and totally up himself. Someone else might like or relate to someone with that kind of attitude. They might see him as a sympathetic character.

34. Thought maybe characters can be divided into three groups a) sympathetic b) pathetic c) downright hateful.

For me, Webber's Oswald was sympathetic. His Home and Away stalker character was pathetic.

I think for hateful, I'd probably put Dolores Umbridge on the top of the list. Although even with her, there were times I felt bad for her.  But still...she was pretty damn hateful.

35. Started to think the divisions probably won't work for me.

I'm so bad at making divisions that are cut and dry.

I thought of Voldemort. I think he's hateful, but at times I found him to be sympathetic.

36. Decided I'm going to change my categories to sympathetic and pathetic, and leave out hateful.

Also, I guess it would only apply to the villains.  

I think all villains are hateful (to different degrees) but then some are pathetic and some are sympathetic.

37. Decided the divisions still don't work.

I'm thinking of Bates Motel.  When he's not being a scary murderer, sometimes Norman is quite sympathetic, and other times he's really pathetic.

38. Thought that sometimes I'M a pathetic villain, one of my crime beings that I too often try to divide people and their behaviors into categories.

39. Thought about all this while making and eating dinner.

Instead of putting a stop to the categories in my head, I added some.

Now I have four ways of seeing a villain. A) Sympathetic B) Pathetic C) Admirable D) Despicable.

I think most villains are going to elicit all four of those feelings in us, but I think we each will have a primary feeling towards a character.

As for admirable, an example for me there would be Hannibal Lector. Yeah. He's a serial killer, and I'm not into that hobby. Nor am I into people who have that hobby.  But I do admire Lector for his intelligence, humor, and charm...well, at least when he's portrayed by Anthony Hopkins.

40. Wondered how I will see Pegg's Hitman in Kill Me Twice. In order for me to like the movie, I think I'll have to see him as either sympathetic or admirable. I have doubts that I could like a movie with a despicable or very pathetic protagonist

41. Wanted to explain more about the difference between sympathetic, pathetic, and admirable.

Note: I'm doing this NOT to enlighten anyone with my bullshit but to try to get it straight in my own head.

So...

A sympathetic character is one we can relate to, and/or one we can imagine being friends with if it weren't for their crimes.

A pathetic character is the person we'd sit next to in the lunchroom, not because we like them, but no one else is sitting there, and we feel bad.

An admirable character is one we'd think is cool...if it weren't for their crime. They're the ones we fantasize about sitting with in the lunch room, but we wouldn't dare, because we're so beneath them.

Despicable?  That's the person in the lunchroom to whom we want to say.  Just go away. I hate you! And then we spit in their face.

 42. Tried to figure out where I'd put Andrew Fraser from Killing Time...back before he had his transformation.

It definitely wouldn't be sympathetic or admirable.

That leaves me with pathetic and despicable.

I feel compelled to choose one or the other. But I can't.

I really feel a mixture of both. That shatters my theory of people being able to put a character into one main box.

I don't have a main box for Fraser.

43. Thought more about our maybe-Australia trip.

There are things that are making me want to say yes, and things that are making me want to drop the whole thing.

On the yes side: I am now remembering that, although I said the next time we'd go to Australia would be 2022, I did say that I'd go earlier if the dollar went down a lot. It definitely has!

I don't even think I considered there being plane tickets this cheap.

Also, Tim seems pleased with the idea. Though I got this from text, and it's easy to hide emotions on texts. In reality, he could be slapping his forehead with his palm and thinking, Really? Australia? Again?  

I'm joking. That's probably not what happened. I think Tim would be excited to learn we might be going anywhere where the focus isn't a Disney park. Although...Tokyo Disney IS on his birthday trip agenda.

On the negative side: I can see it's going to be a struggle to decide where to go.

My first choice was Brisbane and maybe Melbourne. I kind of considered skipping Sydney all together.

Jack wants Sydney.That makes me feel kind of guilty, because I was the one who used to be so in love with Sydney.

I do still love Sydney, but I want to try something new. Or at least with Melbourne, I feel we've seen less of it.  We've been there once, versus with Sydney, we've been there three times already.

Also, I'm pretty sure Tim wouldn't be happy to go all the way to Australia and just go to Sydney.

The good news is, from what I understood of the flight, you get one free stopover. So we might be able to do Sydney and Melbourne or Sydney and Brisbane.

What I fear though is we're going to start adding things on. Well, since we're there, we might as well go to Sydney, Melbourne, AND Brisbane. While we're at it, why not add Broome as well?

If we go to Australia this year, I want it to be cheap and simple. I don't want it expensive and elaborate. I'll save that trip for when I'm fifty.

43. Played around on Delta.  It's around six hundred dollars to go to Sydney. When I tried to add Brisbane, the price jumped up a lot.

But maybe it's one of those deals where you have to call rather than rely on the website.

44. Played around more, and got sick of the whole thing.

I'm afraid it's going to be a crappy flight with a lack of decent entertainment, and no outlets for charging all our stuff.

I really hate flying.

45. Had more doubts.

The last time we went to Australia, the way back was so incredibly exhausting.  I remember being so tired after taking the flight from Sydney to LAX, and hating the fact that we had to then take another flight to DFW.

If we do this Delta deal, we will have yet ANOTHER stop off. We'll have to go from Sydney to Los Angeles; then Los Angeles to San Francisco, and then San Francisco to DFW.

I think I'd rather wait the few years and take the Qantas flight straight from DFW to Sydney.

46. Thought the deal would be better if we lived in San Francisco.

47. Talked to Tim and told him I changed my mind about maybe going to Australia.

Here's the thing.

I might have six or more years ahead of me where I'm not in Australia.

That's sad.

However, some of my nights during those years will include lovely dreams about Australia.  And most of the days will include Australian TV shows, movies, music, books, etc.

I'm content with that.

Read my novel: The Dead are Online 

Danny Raco, Marriage Problems, Ghosts, and the Amazing Daniel Webber

1. Started to watch an episode of Home and Away.

2. Looked up the game Assassin, because it was mentioned on the show.

Lord Wiki says it's a live-action game that can go on for weeks. It's popular on college campuses.

It kind of sounds like a more intense version of Capture the Flag.

3. Decided to click on the name of the director of this episode of Home and Away.

Maybe I should do that more often.  I might find fun things.

Anyway....

The director of the episode I just watched is Danny Raco. He's an actor and director that was born in Italy.

From 2001-2007, Raco worked on Home and Away as an actor. He played Alex Poulos.

I Googled and learned that Alex is the brother of Leah (Ada Nicodemou)

4. Saw that Raco has directed 292 episodes of Home and Away. That seems to be his main job now.
He doesn't have many recent acting credits on his filmography; though he could be doing some theater stuff.

5. Started to Watch Raco's director showreel. I'm guessing it's all Home and Away, because that's the only project listed on his IMDb.

This is what's crazy to me.  He's been a director from 2007 to the present. Yet I'm not recognizing any actors in the scenes, at least not so far.

This means that not only does Home and Away not have a strong connection to the Home and Away of the late 1980's that I watched. It might also not have much of a connection to the Home and Away of less than ten years ago.

6. Saw someone I recognize, finally—John Palmer (Shane Withington)

7. Thought that maybe I saw Justine Clarke.

Did she come back recently?

I should know the answer to that, since I wrote a post about her.  But I don't.

8. Checked Justine Clarke on IMDb, and saw that she hasn't been back since 1989.

So I'm just seeing someone in the video that looks like her.

9. Saw a few faces, in the video, that are still there today. But most are strangers to me.

Or I know the face, but not from Home and Away.

10. Started to watch an episode of Killing Time.

11. Thought it was pathetic that while Denise's (Diane Glenn) main concern for her marriage is Andrew's (Michael Denham) out of control cocaine addiction; Andrew's main concern is spicing up their marriage. He wants better sex.

It's almost like he's saying, okay I'll work on the coke habit, but you need to do something for me in return.

What does he want?

A threesome.

I would see that as maybe being fine if their marriage didn't have much bigger problems.

12. Felt it was almost like Andrew is saying, Hey. I know I'm not perfect. I have a cocaine addiction. But you're not perfect either. We're not having enough sex.

Actually, he doesn't seem to really see his coke addiction as a problem. It's more like he's acknowledging it to humor his wife. I wouldn't be surprised if he thinks the sex issue is a bigger concern.

13. Saw that Denise was actually willing to go through with some of Andrew's sex plans, thought her heart wasn't in it at all.

The fact that she even tried was pretty generous of her.

It's self-sacrificing.

Sometimes being self-sacrificing is a good thing. I'm pretty sure this is not one of those times.

14. Glad to see Denise is now sticking up for herself.

I think she's torn between that and being overly devoted to Andrew.

A less devoted person would have divorced Andrew. She hasn't yet. Even when he's in prison, she sticks by him.  She does start seeing someone else, or at least that's what Andrew is told by a friend. I wouldn't blame Denise at all if it were true.

She deserves someone better, and I think it's nice enough that she takes time out of her schedule to visit Andrew.

15. Re-watched a scene.

Andrew is awful.

Denise bitches at him about being out of control. He fights back, saying she's the one with an addiction problem. What is she addicted to? Control.

Andrew's being a classical manipulator again.

When confronted with a very valid complaint about him, he twists things around to try to turn Denise into the guilty one.

No, she's not a concerned wife with a coke addict husband who's endangering his health and eating up their finances. She's a bitchy controlling wife who won't stop nagging her husband.

16. Finished watching the episode.

17. Went to the tropfest website.

Today I'm going to watch a 2011 finalist film called "A Desperate Deed".

18. Started watching the film.

19. Recognized an actress in the film.  I've seen her in another short film, but I'm not sure which one.

20. Had idea it was the suicide film—the one with the guy in the bear costume.

21. Finished watching "A Desperate Deed".

I thought it was very clever.

22. Rewound and re-watched certain parts of the film.

It's one of those movies where the ending gives a different perspective to the rest of the film.

23. Saw that the actress in the film is Katie May Johnson. The suicide movie was called "Happenstance".  I think she's also the one that has the demo roll that includes a scene with dialogue from The Fisher King.

24. Saw that Matt Bird, the director of "A Desperate Deed" worked as a director on a show called Haunting: Australia.  I think it's one of those ghost-documentary things.

25. Wondered if there are any real ghosts in Australia.

I guess I probably believe there are. Though I'm not really into ghost documentaries.

It seems to me that with all the haunting TV shows these days, if any dead person is involved in haunting activity, they're probably narcissistic and just looking for attention.

In the bygone days, hauntings were souls expressing anger about their life and death. Now I think it's just about dead people wanting to be reality TV stars or the focus of a viral video.

26. Went to Matt Bird's website.

He's done at least two projects with Firass Dirani. I see one short film and a television commercial.

27. Watched the commercial.  It's for Nokia.

I think it objectifies women.

I don't think I'm usually the type of person to notice that or be bothered by it, but that commercial annoyed me.

28. Saw that Bird has a video on his website that's not on IMDb. It's a trailer for a feature film called The Crossing. Gary Sweet, who stars with Dirani on House Husbands is one of the stars.

I'm guessing Bird directed the film and not just the trailer.

Or maybe he did just do the trailer? Maybe that's why it's not listed on IMDb.

29. Looked on Gary Sweet's filmography and didn't see The Crossing there either.

Maybe it was never released.

30. Watched the trailer.

It's a horror movie, but I'm not sure what it's about.

I think maybe the young actress from The Tree and The Hunter is in it. I forget her name.

31. Found her name.

It's Morgana Davies.

32. Thought that this movie was very mysterious.

Why isn't it on IMDb at all?

33. Wanted to look up the other actors listed as being in the film.

Well, first of all, there's another House Husbands actor—Gyton Grantley.

It seems Matt Bird has some kind of connection to the House Husbands cast. I'm surprised he hasn't done work on the show.

34. Saw that Clayton Watson, one of the actors in The Crossing once guest-starred on House Husbands.

35. Saw that the little girl is NOT Morgana Davies.

It's Alex Cook who played young Lou in Love My Way.

36. Saw that Alex Cook has been in two short films lately.

One stars Daniel Webber. I think lately I've been kind of intrigued with Webber. I was really mesmerized by his Lee Harvey Oswald performance.

37. Took a detour and looked up the cast of the new Point Break. Tim was wondering if one of the guys was Australian.

He is.

It's a guy named Luke Bracey.

He was on Home and Away, back in 2009-2010.  He played Trey Palmer—maybe another son of John's?

38. Consulted the Back to the Bay site.  Trey Palmer was a stepson of John Palmer.

39. Disappointed to see that "Summer Nights", the film starring Alex Cook and Daniel Webber, is not yet available to watch online.

It's understandable. It's a new film (2015). They probably want to do all the festivals first.

40. Thought it was nice that the "Summer Nights" Facebook page has a lot of promotion for Webber's 11:22:63 work.

They seem very proud of him.

I'm proud of him too. I have a lot of hope for his career. As I said, I'm very impressed with him.
Maybe he'll be the next Home and Away star to become a huge acting sensation.

41. Followed a link, on the Facebook page, to a review that says Daniel Webber was the best part of 11:22:63.  I agree!

I think Webber pretty much stole the show. Although I think he had some competition from George McKay, the Ron Weasley look alike.

Note: I saw McKay in 11:22:63 and thought he looked like Ron Weasley.  I looked him up and saw he had been in the Australian film The Boys are Back.  I'm pretty sure when I saw that film, I also saw the Weasley resemblance.

42. Started to read the Webber lovefest review.

Actually, I didn't.

I was sidetracked.

But now I AM reading it.

43. Learned that Webber studied Oswald for two days before sending in the audition tape.

The casting people were impressed with how Webber was able to do Oswald's body language stuff.

I wasn't able to judge that, while watching 11:22:63, because I don't think I've seen video clips of the real Oswald. I guess they're available?

Yeah...because I don't think the crew of 11:22:63 ever met with Oswald personally. UNLESS maybe the time traveling possibilities, on the miniseries, are true.

44. Started to watch the video clip provided with the article.  It has Webber talking about Oswald. He sounds and looks very much like Oswald. Maybe he was still in character.

Maybe he's one of those actors who has a hard time getting out of character.

45. Looked on YouTube and saw that there IS video of Lee Harvey Oswald.

And I agree that Webber does a good job playing him. I don't think it's all about talent, though.  I think there's also a physical resemblance.  Tim mentioned that when we were watching the series. Then I brought up Gary Oldman's portrayal of Oswald in JFK. I think that was good too, but now I'm wondering if Webber is better.

46. Decided maybe they're both good.

Fantastic, actually.

47. Started to change my mind about not taking advantage of the cheap airline tickets to Australia.

The problem is, I imagine after buying the tickets, I'll go back to feeling it was the wrong thing to do.

I'll feel stressed about leaving the cat and stressed about the long plane ride and stressed about the homeschooling hours.

On the other hand, cat and long plane ride aside....

I have scheduled four weeks (28 days) off of homeschooling a year. We still have fourteen days left for this school year.  The Japan trip isn't supposed to happen until the NEXT homeschooling years.  I imagine that will take up about fourteen homeschooling days, and we'll still have fourteen days left over.

I'm sure also that we'll find some good homeschool activities in Japan and Australia.

48. Decided the one thing I don't want to do is rush and buy tickets.

I don't want to get in the mode of we-need-to-buy now before the opportunity is lost.

I want time to think about it, and I also don't want to buy tickets way before the trip.

I want to take the attitude that if we wait and the opportunity was lost, it wasn't meant to be.

49. Saw that one of the deals seems to be more for Australians coming here than us going there.

It's not the one my brother-in-law sent me. That was from Delta. This is from United, and it's even less than the Delta one. But as far as I can tell, you have to start off in Australia.

50. Checked again. I guess I put in the wrong thing last time.

There ARE cheap tickets for us too.

51. Continued to be infatuated with Daniel Webber.  It's like I can't get him out of my head.  But in a good way.

I like him being there.

Don't worry, though.  I don't have any plans to kidnap him and force him to sing "Amazing Grace".

52. Wanted to say one more thing about Webber.

Yesterday I wrote about how sometimes my love for Australia temporarily disappears.

Other times it soars.

When watching 11:22:63, I had one of the soaring moments. I felt so proud of Daniel Webber.

It was like I was a parent watching a school play, and it's so damn obvious that MY child is the best.

No, I'm not saying I think of Daniel Webber as my child, or that I see Australia as my child.

But the feelings were just kind of similar.

I felt proud of Australia and proud of myself for loving a country that could produce such a fantastic actor.

53. Thought that I probably sound nuts.

Oh well.

Why try to hide it?

Read my novel: The Dead are Online 

The Popularity of Waleed Aly, Terra Nova, K9, and More Red

1. Dreamed that, I have a large bag of cocaine in my possession. I don't plan to use it. I talk to Tim about it. He says once you try cocaine, your body needs to have a little bit of it each day. I then worry that I'm accidentally going to ingest some.  

I'm sure that was inspired by Killing Time. 

2. Started to watch an episode of Home and Away.

3. Saw Kat (Pia Miller) and Nate (Kyle Prior) arguing about the public marriage proposal.  

Nate thinks Leah (Ada Nicodemou) was wrong in saying no, because she embarrassed Zac (Charlie Clausen). Kat thinks Nate is wrong for thinking a woman should say yes to a man just to save him from embarrassment.

The conversation made me realize something.

I've been annoyed at Home and Away for having these annoying public proposals. But now I'm thinking maybe the show is actually taking a stand against them.  Because twice they've resulted in a no.

4. Sickened by an editorial I just read. It's about accusations that Waleed Aly isn't popular enough to win a Gold Logie.  

I'm trying to understand it. 

5. Started to reread the editorial, and I'm even more disgusted.

First, some background information.

Like America's Oscars, the Logies tend to favor white people.

But UNLIKE the Oscars, this years Logies actually showed some ethnic diversity.  

This year, two out of the six nominees are not of white-European heritage: Waleed Aly has an Egyptian background, and Lee Lin Chin was born in Indonesia.

The editorial says that on the Today Show, three of the hosts dressed up in white face and chatted about why one of the hosts, Lisa, hadn't been nominated. The answer? She's too white. Lisa then said,  I got a spray tan and everything, still didn’t make it.What can you do?  

I'm trying to give these people the benefit of the doubt here. MAYBE they were going for irony. But it's hard for me to believe that.

It really does seem like they're complaining about nonwhite people being nominated.Yes, there's humor, but it seems like the kind of humor that's used to hide real anger or annoyance.

But it gets worse.

Apparently, there was an editorial where someone listed why Waleed Aly shouldn't have been nominated. One of the reasons? He's not popular enough.

WTF?

I don't have statistics. But I feel like almost every time I go on Twitter, Waleed Aly is trending.

I've heard of him more than I've heard of some of the other nominees. Grant Denyer? Scott Cam?  I'm not familiar with those guys. Granted. I've here in the U.S.  If I was in Australia, maybe I would have heard of them.

6. Went to read the anti-Aly-nomination editorial.

7. Bewildered by these lines in the article. Aly’s biased — but that’s not exactly his fault. One minute, Aly’s professing journalistic neutrality, such as when he interviews Shane Warne about his charity foundation, and the next, he’s editorialising about terrorism. Granted, that’s an academic speciality of his, but in the mix of current affairs, panel show and interviews that make up The Project, Aly’s role is a bit unclear.

Again. WTF????!!!

First of all, since when does being biased have anything to do with one's level of popularity?

Have you seen Alyssa Milano's Twitter account? She's very biased, and she's also very popular. She has millions of followers.

What popular person out there isn't biased?

Second, what's with the line about Aly's bias not being exactly his fault? What does that mean?  It sounds like he has some kind of medical condition we need to take in account. Oh, poor Waleed Aly. He has a bias. He's not completely objective like the rest of us.  

8. Saw that one of the reasons why Aly shouldn't have been nominated is diversity should be the norm.

So, we should refrain from having Aly as a nominee until we get more nonwhite people on television?

9. Went back to watching the episode of Home and Away.

Suddenly, there's a major spark between Phoebe (Isabella Giovinazzo) and Ash (George Mason).

It feels like it came out of nowhere. There was a playful sports bet, flirting, and then that led to skinny dipping.  Late they accidentally fell on top of each other and had that look of romantic confusion. All of this happened in one episode.

10. Thought that maybe there was a build up to all this, and I didn't notice it.

11. Decided to add Terra Nova to my to-watch list. I don't know why I didn't add it before.  It's part Australian. It was filmed in Australia and has some Australian actors.

The reason I'm wanting to add it now, though, is one of the writers is Travis Fickett. He's the creator of my current favorite show, 12 Monkeys.

12. Saw that there are TWO Terra Nova writers that are 12 Monkey creators. It's Travis Fickett AND Terry Matalas.

13. Saw that Tai Hara from Home and Away appears in two episodes of Terra Nova.

14. Wondered if there were any Australians in the crew.  I checked a few of the writers and directors and didn't see anything.  But there could be some Aussies in there somewhere.

15. Looked at random people in the credits. It looked like most are NOT Australian.

Then I found Louise Coulston in the make-up department. Based on her filmography, I'd guess she's Australian.  She did make-up for Paper Giants: Magazine Wars, Rush, Scooter Secret Agent, and some other Aussie things.

16. Found another Australian in the make-up/hair department—Karen Adcock.  She did work for The Elephant Princess and H20: Just Add Water, along with some other things.

17. Got the idea that all or most of the make-up/hair department is Australian.

Simon Joseph was the make-up artist for the later seasons of Packed to the Rafters.

Sharon Robbins helped with H20.

Gail Kane did hair and make-up for Camp, another American show filmed in Australia.

18. Saw that some of the stunt workers are Australian.

19. Saw that some of the costume people are Australian.

20. Saw that the caterer of Terra Nova, Loretta Kindness, also did the catering for K-9.  I ran into that show recently when I was learning about Daniel Webber.  I'm seeing now that the show was filmed in Australia.

21. Started to look at the cast of K-9.

Are there many Australians besides Webber?

So far, I've found Keegan Joyce from Rake.

22. Guessed that Philippa Coulthard is Australian.  She's been in some Aussie things, including Lightning Point, which also starred Lucy Fry. Fry starred with Webber in 11:22:63.

23. Saw that there are many Australians in the cast of K-9. I think most of the cast, actually.

24. Thought I should mention that K-9 is a Doctor Who spin-off.

I wonder if it takes place in Australia. Or is it just filmed there?

25. Excited to see the K9 is available on Hulu!

I wasn't expecting it to be, but I decided to check.

I'll definitely have to add that show to my list as well.

26. Felt overwhelmed by my list.

There's so much I want to see.

27. Started to watch an episode of Killing Time.

28. Continued to be preoccupied with the actors' skin and eyes on this show.

I keep seeing redness.

For example, in the scene I'm watching now, David Wenham has one very red ear.

His other ear is much less red.

29. Pleased to see that Nicholas Bell is in this episode.

I'll have to see if he has redness as well.

30. Didn't see any unusual amount of redness on Bell's face.

31. Saw that John Wood, the actor who plays Alan Bond, has redness on his face. It looks like a rash.

32. Wanted to say that I wouldn't usually point out the skin conditions of actors. It's just that on this show, it's so rampant.  It's like there was some kind of communicable illness that was passing around.

33. Wondered if David Wenham usually has the red eyes he has on Killing Time.

It's not something I've noticed before.

Could it be make-up and something to do with the cocaine use?

Is red eyes a symptom?

34. Found a website with signs of cocaine use.  Red eyes isn't listed.

35. Googled red eyes and cocaine. This website mentions blood shot eyes. I don't think that's what I'm seeing with Wenham.

I'm not sure, though.

I think of blood shot as redness in the whiteness of the eyes. With Wenham, it's more redness in the bottom bits.  I don't know the name of it, but it's where you'd put eyeliner.

It reminds me a bit of vampire make-up.  I think maybe the True Blood cast had eyes like that?

36. Looked at pictures of Wenham.  I'm seeing a few that have some pinkish in the eye area.

Even on Killing Time, he doesn't always have the red-pink eyes—just some of the time.

37. Saw redness now on Nicholas Bell.

Maybe it's just something universal to white people, and I never noticed it before.

38. Decided to watch some other videos and see if there's a lot of skin redness.

39. Had an idea.

If there IS more redness on Killing Time than most shows, it might not be because of make-up. It might be about there being less make-up.  Maybe the skin of us white people usually has red blotches, but on film and television, the redness is covered up with make-up.

Maybe Killing Time was going for a gritty realism approach, and so they used less make-up.

40. Decided to look at the skin of people on 12 Monkeys...just because I love it, and am going to grab any chance to watch a bit of it.

41. Saw a little redness but not as much as with Killing Time.

The make-up does look heavier. I think I'm on to something here.

42. Started to see more redness in 12 Monkeys.

Maybe I'm just noticing something I didn't notice before.

Tonight we're going to watch Fargo. I'll try to remember to look out for redness on that.

43. Watched a scene with very classical manipulation.

Denise Fraser (Diana Glenn) surprises her husband Andrew (Wenham) in Perth. He's been working there while she's home with their children in Melbourne.

Andrew is obviously not excited to see his wife, though he TRIES to fake it. I think the main reason is he has a lot to hide.  His hotel room is a huge mess from wild partying.

The Frasers go out for breakfast where the waitress is a bit flirtatious. Then some other woman comes up to the table and kisses Fraser on the lips. She doesn't know his wife is sitting there...or she doesn't care.

Denise kept her cool when seeing the remnants of the party, but she loses it at the restaurant.

Instead of being apologetic and acting ashamed, Andrew goes on the defense.

Some quotes from him:

Denise, I'm doing this for us.

I'm working my ass off.

Just understand I'm working.

Well, a little bit of faith wouldn't go astray.

What Fraser does is take a wife that's reasonably angry for reasonable reasons and tries to make her seem unreasonable.

If Fraser's manipulations worked, Denise might begin to see herself as a bitchy bunny boiler who doesn't support her husband, doesn't have faith in him, and isn't grateful for how hard he works.

What Denise IS, is a woman with a cocaine-addicted husband who has wild parties in Perth while she's at home taking care of their two young children.

44. Remembered reading something in George K. Simon's manipulation writings where he talks about the manipulative person using the tactic of saying, Okay, okay. 

Andrew Fraser says a lot of okays in the scene.

Simon says, When a person is determined to have his way but is not gaining sway with you because you’ve dared to call them on their aggression and you’re holding your own ground, they might feign the willingness to back-down, back-off, or accede to your call for change. This “okay, okay!” tactic is the disturbed character’s attempt to get you off their back by insinuating that they understand what you are asking and are willing to accede to it while they actually have no intention of changing their stance.

I think that's what Fraser was doing.

To me, it seems similar to when someone says something like, Alright! I'm sorry!  

These statements are really just code for,  Drop the subject. Leave me alone.

45. Saw Andrew Fraser being very dishonest.

Denise wanted him to come home. He wouldn't do that for her.

Then he lost the case with Alan Bond, didn't get paid, and was sent home. Instead of being honest about all that, Fraser acts like he made the CHOICE to come home to her. He acts like he chose his family over his job, which is not true.

I personally feel that's another trait of manipulative people. They'll have ulterior motives or reasons for the nice things they do. For example, a husband might tell his wife he's staying home from work because she has the flu and he wants to take care of her. She thinks it's really sweet of him, but then she learns he really stayed home because he wanted to catch up on his Breaking Bad binge watching.

Another example: A woman calls her sister and gives a whole speech about how she thinks the two of them should spend more time together.  The truth is all her so-called friends are having a party, and she wasn't invited.

I think an honest person would just call her sister up and moan about feeling abandoned by her friends. Then she might suggest that she and her sister go out together.

A more honest husband might say something like, Hey, I need a break from work, and I'm dying to catch up on Breaking Bad.  I'm going to stay home. That way I can also be there if you need anything.

46. Loved these lines from Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies. As Jane looked around her, she felt that dissatisfied feeling she often experienced when she was somewhere new and lovely. She couldn't quite articulate it except with the words If only I were here. This little beachside cafe was so exquisite, she longed to really be there-except of course, she was there, so it didn't make sense.

I've felt that way before.

47. Felt grateful for the existence of the Moriarty sisters.

They're really good at expressing the stuff that's in my head.

48. Wondered about that certain feeling of not being there.

I think I get it when we go to a place, and we're not staying as long as I'd like.  Or we go to a place that I know we're not going to go often, but I wish we would go more often.

49. Thought that sometimes it's also a feeling of not belonging. Maybe it seems like everyone else are regulars, and I'm an intruding guest.

50. Started to proofread my post and realized I interpreted some of the Waleed Aly editorial wrong.

I was asking what bias has to do with someone's popularity.  But now I'm seeing that the bias accusation wasn't an answer to why Aly isn't popular enough. It's part of the answer to why Aly shouldn't win the Gold Logie.

I don't personally agree with the idea that a biased person shouldn't win a Logie. It's just now that I'm getting it clear in my head, the editorial makes a little bit more logical sense.

51. Thought about it more.  I think originally I saw the editorial as saying Aly's bias is one of the reasons why WHY he isn't popular enough. Now I'm seeing it as the editorial saying that the bias SHOULD be a reason why he isn't popular.  Because the Golden Logie is basically a popularity contest. It's voted in by the public.

52. Proofread some more and saw that I had planned to look for red skin blotches on Fargo.

We watched Fargo.

I didn't remember to look.

I do remember a lot of red, but that was blood.  I'm not sure about the skin. I'll try to remember to check tomorrow.

Read my novel: The Dead are Online

Food Stores, Oscar's Love for Maddie, Atrocities, and Swedish Astronauts

1. Dreamed that, my sister Melissa informs me there's a contest where they're asking people to come up with a recipe for Australian Ramen noodles. I have an idea for it in my mind. It involves a broth that's somewhat sour. I had it in Australia. But then I start thinking just because I had it in Australia, it doesn't mean it's Australian. They probably want something that has more of an Aussie theme. I can't think of any good ideas.

Ramen noodles were on my mind, because Jack bought some when we went to a Mexican grocery store this weekend. They had a larger variety of flavors than the grocery store where we usually shop.

It's kind of like my dream, though. We bought Ramen noodles at a Mexican grocery store, but they're not a Mexican food. They had a lot of food besides Mexican food there. The week before we went to the Korean grocery store, and there was a lot of food that's not Korean.  It's because they're regular grocery stores and not speciality shops.

I don't know if speciality shop is the right word. I'm picturing small stores that people don't use for their usual weekly grocery shopping.  They're there for people to pick up a few special items. In London, we went to an Australian food shop like that. In DFW, we have a British food shop. I don't think British people would go there to get their groceries. They'd probably just go to pick up a few things they're homesick for. And people like us go, so we can experience small samples of British snacks.

The Korean and Mexican stores are real grocery stores. They're different from the mainstream grocery stores, because you can find a larger amount of Mexican or Korean food there. But then they also have a lot of other things.

2. Started watching an episode of Home and Away.

3. Failed to understand the Oscar (Jake Speer) and Maddie (Kassandra Clementi) storyline.

Oscar dumped Maddie when she had cancer. It seemed to me it was because he lost interest in her, but he later blamed it on bad timing.

Bad timing? Because she has cancer?

Maddie still has cancer, but the chemo worked well this time, and it looks like she's going to recover. Now Oscar is showing interest again.

What the hell?

Oscar couldn't be with her when the going went rough, but now that she's doing well, his feelings have magically returned.

What really boggles my mind is that Maddie is okay with all this. Well, she doesn't even know that Oscar has romantic feelings for her, but she has feelings for him.  I think, though, that she hopes he has feelings for her.

4. Decided it might make a little sense.

If Maddie has strong feelings for Oscar, she might want him at any cost. She might want him so badly that she can forgive for him being a fair-weathered boyfriend.

5. Finished watching the episode.

6. Started watching an episode of Killing Time.

7. Disgusted with the prison guard (Steve Hayden) who tries to tempt Andrew Fraser (David Wenham) with cocaine.

8. Thought about what I said the other day. Prison wouldn't be such a bad place if there weren't asshole fellow prisoners. The show's reminding me that there are abusive guards as well.

It's sad.

9. Saw the prison guard punch Fraser when Fraser rejected the cocaine.

Then the show cuts to a scene with policer officers being killed in cold blood.

This series really shows the dark side of humanity.

10. Thought of the various reasons why humans do extremely horrible things to each other.

Off the top of my head, I'm thinking there's A) pure cruelty—the enjoyment of seeing someone else suffer B) Senselessness and a lack of empathy—using people for a means to an end.  C) Feeling there's no other choice. It's a requirement.

With the prison guard tempting Fraser with cocaine, it seemed very much like A. Although there could have also been greed involved. He probably wanted to make a sale but at the same time, he enjoyed making Fraser squirm. He liked the idea of getting Fraser back on drugs.

11. Decided that A is often combined with B and C.

I think most Nazis were C, but then some of them were also A.

12. Thought that criminals who killed the cops were mostly B. They shot the police for revenge, because some other cops had killed one of their friends. The shooters MIGHT have enjoyed seeing the police beg for their life and then fall down dead. I think for the most part, though, it was about a means to an end.

13. Tried to think of examples of A that's not mixed with B and C.

At first I thought of serial killers. Maybe sometimes they kill just for the thrill and enjoyment of murdering someone. But I think sometimes they might feel they're serving some kind of purpose.

I'm thinking of the Snowtown Murders. They thought they were ridding the world of pedeophiles and homosexuals.

It's hard to know, though, whether people truly feel they have a reason for their abuse and/or homicide or whether they're just making up a reason to justify their actions.

14. Saw an actor that looked familar to me.

Fortunately the character's name was mentioned, so it was easy to find him on IMDb.

It's David Serafin from Neighbours!  He played Dimato, the car thief guy.

15. Felt sad for the crying prisoner who ends up committing suicide.

He seemed really sad.

16. Went to the Tropfest website.

Today I'm going to watch a 2011 finalist film called "Den Sista Galaxonaut".

The description says the film is about a man named Sven Larsson who was the first man on the moon.

I thought Neil Armstrong was the first person on the moon.

Now I'm confused.

17. Googled Sven Larsson and moon, and the only thing I found related to that is a link to the film I'm about to watch.

Maybe this is an alternate history type thing. Or maybe the moon is a symbol for something else.

18. Decided I should just watch the film.

19. Wondered if the Swedish in the film is real-Swedish, or...not.

This film is making me feel very stupid.

20. Thought the film was very cute...at least what I've seen so far.

It's a black and white mockumentary.  It looks like it was made in the 1950's.

It kind of reminds me of an Ed Wood kind of thing.

21. Had a feeling that, although the characters are Swedish,  the film was made by and stars Australians.

I could be wrong, though.

22. Continued to wonder if the Swedish dialogue is real Swedish.

I'm pretty unfamiliar with the Swedish language, so I have no idea.

23. Saw a glimpse of names in the credits.

None of them looked Swedish to me.

24. Saw from IMDb that one of the two directors is an American—a guy named Jaymes Brixton who changed his name from Alexander George.

The other director is Tyrone Lindqvist. That's a Swedish name, right?

Lindqvist also played Sven, the guy who goes to the moon.

25. Wondered if Lindqvist is Swedish-Australian, Swedish-American, Swedish-Swedish, or none of the above.

26. Googled Tyrone Lindqvist, and learned from Lord Wiki that there's an alternative music group in Sydney that features a Tyrone Lindqvist.

Is it the same from the film?

27. Found a video about Rufus, the dance group.

The Tyrone Lindqvist looks like the one in the film...maybe?  Or at least both Lindqvists look stereotypically Swedish.

28. Found a blog post from someone who worked on the production design for "Den Sista Galaxonaut".

The film was made in a studio in Redfern. So, at least I was right about it not being made in Sweden.

29. Continued to wonder if the Tyrone Lindqvist from the film is the same one in the musical group.

I glanced at a few articles/interviews about Rufus, and didn't see any mention of "Den Sista Galaxonaut".

Maybe the two Lindqvists are not one and the same. But I don't know for sure.

30. Felt embarrassed about the man-on-the-moon thing.  I can't believe I started to question the Neil Armstrong thing.

Here's my excuse. It's the whole ethnocentric American thing. We're taught that one of ours is the best thing and the first that, blah, blah, blah. But then you learn, no...it really wasn't an American who was the first.  It was someone else.

But really. The moon?

I don't know what I was thinking.

Well...maybe I was thinking that Sven Larsson was the first person to orbit the moon, and Neil Armstrong was the first to step on it.

Actually, I wasn't thinking that, though....at least not consciously. It was more like I was wondering why this Tropfest film was contradicting something I had always believed to be true.

That DOES happen.You spend your whole life thinking Pluto is a planet.Then someone comes along and tells you it's not.

31. Wondered why I didn't immediately guess that "Den Sista Galaxonaut" was science fiction.

Once I started watching the film, I quickly figured it out.  But before that....

32. Scrolled up to see what I wrote. I suggested that it might be "alternate history".

It's like I forgot the concept of science fiction even existed.


Read my novel: The Dead are Online

Kakadu, Killing Time, Scooter, and Seasons

1. Had a dream about Lost in Kakadu, the Australian romance novel I've been reading lately.

In the book, Mackenzie and Abi are lost in the bush after being in a plane crash. For the first several chapters, they stay near the plane and learn to live off the land and the few supplies they have. Then the two venture off, trying to find civilization.  

In my dream, the book has been made into a movie, and I'm watching it with Tim and someone else.  

Mackenzie and Abi are on some kind of plateau.They've been carrying around the head of Mackenzie's dead lover. Mackenzie decides he needs to give his boyfriend a proper good-bye, and plans to leave Abi behind for awhile. Abi's not happy about this, and I don't blame her. It would be one thing if Mackenzie was leaving her for a life and death emergency, but this isn't one.  

Then there's a scene with Mackenzie showing up at someone's house. He's dressed like an over-the-top adventurer traveler. The people at the house seems to be his parents, and he seems to be trying to reconcile with them.  

I begin to realize that this scene is supposed to take place long after he left Kakadu. Abi has been rescued too, but she's still mad at Mackenzie.  

At some point while watching the movie, Tim, and the other person, watching with us, wonder about the size of Kakadu. I tell them it's eight thousand miles. They're surprised by this and say it makes Kakadu seem quite scary.  

I feel dishonest leading them to believe I've known this fact for a long time. I confess that I learned it very recently.  

At some other point, while watching the movie, I am hoping that the book has a different and better ending then the movie.  

2.Thought that the dream was one of the most elaborate dreams about a book I've had.

I think I dream more about TV Shows and movies than books.

3. Looked at my dream from a month ago (as I do most mornings). I saw that I had dreamed about Kakadu.

I was wondering if the dream was inspired by reading the book. But then I remembered that no, it's not the case. I randomly dreamed about Kakadu. Then that inspired me to look for a book about Kakadu on iBooks. That's how I found Lost in Kakadu.

It's interesting to me that, exactly a month later, I had a dream about the book. 

Maybe Kakadu is calling to me.  

4. Started watching an episode of Home and Away.

5. Saw an article ranking the worst TV shows of 2016.  

Unfortunately, Heartbeat, starring Melissa George and Don Hany is #5 on the list.

Ouch. 

The show's score on IMDb isn't so bad, though. They have a 6.8.

6. Saw, on Home and Away, that Ricky (Bonnie Sveen) is not at all happy about Brax's (Stephen Peacocke) escape-from-prison plan.   

I don't blame her.  

I think Brax is being selfish and stupid.

I still don't know what he expects from Ricky. Is she expected to become a fugitive with him? Or is she to stay at home, and once in awhile, he'll sneak in a visit?

7. Thought that although being in prison isn't fun for Brax; for Ricky, visiting him there is probably easier than living the life of a fugitive.

8. Saw that Ricky is okay with the idea of being a fugitive.

I wish I could see that as romantic, but really, I just see it as being very stressful.  

Maybe it would be fun without an infant. I don't know....

9. Listened to my Australian music Spotify list while putting laundry away.

I enjoyed that.

Highlights for me were "How Deep is Your Love" by the Bee Gees, A cover of "Reckless" by Tom E. Lewis, and Missy Higgin's "Scar".

The Bee Gees song reminds me of my childhood, but I can't manage to get specifics. I associate it with my dad, for some reason. And I kind of picture it playing while we're all at the pool.

It took me some moments to place "Reckless". The song sounded familiar to me, but I didn't know what it was. Then I figured it out. I associate that song with Puberty Blues. I think they played it on a promo for the show.

10. Looked at the entire cast of Killing Time. I'm going to start watching that soon. I thought of listing the actors familiar to me, but I'm lazy, and it's overwhelming. There are a lot of guest stars.

Instead I'll just do the first episode. Or I mean, I'll do the episodes as I watch them rather than all at once.

So....

There's David Wenham.  He's the star.

I saw Colin Friels name, and knew I've seen him in something before. But I couldn't remember what it was. I had to click on his name, and then I saw he's from Water Rats.

There's Diana Glen who I know from Satisfaction and The Secret Life of Us.

There's something else as well, but I can't remember.

11. Clicked on her name and saw it was The Slap.

I can't remember who she played.

Maybe it was the wife of the slapper?

Yeah...I think it was.

12. Saw Bethany Whitmore.

I vaguely remembered her and was reminded by IMDb, she's from Mental. She also did the voice of young Mary in Mary and Max. 

13. Saw Kate Jenkinson's name.

Like Dan Wylie, she shows up in almost everything.

14. Saw Martin Sharpe's name and remembered that he's Scooter from Scooter: Secret Agent.

It's going to be awesome seeing him not being Scooter. I mean not that there's something wrong with Scooter. It's just that it was such a silly, dorky role.  If he's different in Killing Time, it might be interesting to see.

15. Thought of Reef Ireland, who is also in the cast of Killing Time. I know he was in Puberty Blues.  I think maybe he was also the guy from Wentworth,  

16. Saw that Ireland was also in Tangle.

I don't really remember him in that. 

17. Saw Steve Mouzakis. I know him from The Secret Life of Us.

And...just remembered that he was in The Slap. 

18. Wondered if Killing Time is based on a true story, so I Googled Wenham's character, Andrew Fraser.

There really is an Andrew Fraser.

He's a lawyer who went to jail for some kind of cocaine offense.

I'll learn more when I watch the show.  

19. Started watching Killing Time. 

20. Thought, that if it weren't for mean, violent fellow prisoners, prison wouldn't be so bad. At least that's the impression I get from TV and movies.

21. Thought that this movie is good at making people look ugly.

Diane Glen and David Wenham look awful. They remind me of me when I try to take a selfie with my iPhone.

22. Wondered if the unattractiveness is done with lighting or a lack of make-up.

Maybe it's a mix of both?

23. Wondered how much my appearance would improve with good lighting and professional make-up.

Well, I don't think it would make much of a difference on my iPhone. I almost always look awful when I take photos on that. But sometimes I look pretty okay with other types of camera photos.

I'm not sure what the iPhone issue is. I know it's not universal, because I've seen plenty of iPhone selfies where other people look quite good. 

24. Saw that the movie has flashbacked to when Andrew Fraser (Wenham) was a lawyer rather than a prisoner.

He looks handsomer and happier.

25. Figured the beginning prison part was just an intro, and most of the series will be about how he ended up in prison.

26. Remembered that season two of Rake ended up with Cleaver Greene (Richard Roxburgh) in prison. 

I miss that show.

27. Thought Sally (Louise Crawford) looked familar. I clicked on her IMDb filmography and saw she was on City Homicide.

I'm confused, because I thought the actress on City Homicide was also the one on The Secret Life of Us, but I don't see The Secret Life of Us on Crawford's filmography.

I guess I'm confusing her with someone else.

28. Found the actress I'm thinking of. It's Nadine Garner.

Both Garner and Crawford are blond, but I remember only one blond woman on the show.

I'm confused.

29. Saw Scooter the secret agent not being Scooter the secret agent.

That's Kate Jenkinson next to him.

They both have pretty small roles in the episode...well, at least so far.   

But I have only eight minutes left.

30. Finished watching the first episode of The Killing Time. 

31. Saw that the director of Killing Time, Peter Andrikidis, also directed Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms.

Andrikidis seems to do a lot of crime stuff. He's directed episodes of The Straits, Underbelly, Water Rats, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, etc.

He's also directed episodes of Farscape.  

32. Decided to honor my Kakadu dreams by looking at Kakadu photos on Flickr.  

33. Looked at an arial view of Kakadu.

It looks pretty vast. 

34. Found it hard to link to the photo, because the address was so long. I think it's because I was looking via search.

So...instead I'm going to look at the album in which the photo came.  

The album belongs to someone named Catherine Marshall, and it's of Kakadu during the wet season. 

35. Read a website  about the wet season in Kakadu. 

They say the rain time and amount can be unpredictable, but if I'm understanding things right, the main rain time is January to March.  Though they confuse me, because they say the temperature drops at that time. I thought January would be one of the hottest months.

36. Went to the Parks Australia website. They have information about the six seasons of Kakadu.  

37. Saw that December through March is the monsoon season. And it is hot.  

April has the big wind storms.

May through mid-June is cooler, but humid.  

In the middle of June, it gets even colder. That lasts through mid-August.  

Then it gets dry and hot until October.  

Then there's a pre-monsoon season.  

38. Saw that I can get Kakadu on my weather ap.

It says it's 84 degrees, and it's only 8:00 in the morning.  It's supposed to get up to 100 today.  Yikes!

It's going to be in the upper nineties, and above, for the next several days.  

Despite it being the season for the big windy storms, there are no signs of storms, and at least for today, the wind seems pretty calm.  It goes well with the first website I looked at: the weather is unpredictable. 

39. Started to look at Catherine Marshall's photos.   

40. Liked the colors in this photo—the sky, clouds, trees, and dirt. 

41. Liked the shades of green in this photo. 

42. Could imagine Abi and Mackenzie from Lost in Kakadu hanging out in this photo.  

43. Thought the wild boar in this photo was interesting looking.  

44. Hoped that I never get lost in Kakadu.

45. Wondered if it would be worse to get lost in Kakadu or the Tasmanian wilderness.

Then I decided that's a stupid question.

I imagine both are awful.

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