Daniel and Terese, Outland, Geeks, and Tim Phillips

1. Started watching an episode of Neighbours.

2. Liked the scenes between Terese (Rebekah Elmaloglou) and Daniel (Tim Phillips).

Daniel is upset, and Terese offers to chat with him. Daniel is hesitant, because Terese is Josh's (Harley Bonner) mom. Josh is the cause of most of Daniel's angst. He's the father of Amber's (Jenna Rosenow) embryo, which is awkward, because Amber is Daniel's girlfriend. 

Who wants to talk to the mother of the guy who had sex with your girlfriend and is now competing for her attention?

But Terese reminds Daniel that she knows what it's like to have a partner who is dedicated to children that are not also hers.

3. Imagined it's very hard to have a partner who shares children with someone else. 

I think, though, that it can be hard to have a partner who is very dedicated to any family member not shared. It doesn't have to be a child. It can be a parent or sibling; maybe sometimes a niece, nephew, or cousin.  

4. Decided it would be hardest with a child. If you have partner that's overly dedicated to their parent or sibling, it seems more valid to gripe about it. When it's their child, complaining might make you sound like a wicked stepmother.

5. Amazed that Kyle (Chris Milligan) is wearing a t-shirt promoting Australia rather than the United States.

6. Looked at study about in utero surgery for fetuses with congenital diaphragmatic hernia. 

Daniel finally started doing his own Internet research, instead of relying on doctors to spoon feed him information. He found that the surgery doesn't improve outcomes.

The study, I found, says the same—except in the case of liver hernia.  

Other studies might say something else.

7.  Hoped that Daniel finds a new woman, and Terese finds a new man.

Maybe they should get together with each other.

8. Wondered how Paul (Stefan Dennis) would feel about that. 

He doesn't like Daniel with Amber, and he doesn't like Terese with Brad (Kip Gamblin). He'd probably be happy if both of those couples broke up. Would he be okay with Terese then pairing up with Daniel?

9. Started watching an episode of Outland, and recognized one of the actors (Toby Truslove) as being from The Strange Calls.

10. Felt unexcited about Outland.

I don't think I'm going to like it.

11. Didn't mind the first minute of the show.

So far, it reminds me of The Big Bang Theory. It's about people who are science fiction fans.

Well, actually so far one character is, and he has a friend who's not.  

Max (Truslove) tries to hide his obsession from his seemingly cooler friend. The friend invites himself up to Max's apartment, and Max asks him to wait, so he can clean  hide the science fiction stuff.

12. Realized Max is gay.

Now it makes a bit more sense. I think adults are more likely to hide their true selves from someone when there's romantic interest.  

13. Felt there's a chance I might like this show after all.

Someone just said, There's a Dalek in your sugar bowl.  How could I dislike a show with that line?

14. Heard Rae (Christine Anu) make reference to Melissa George's breasts in Dark City.

And I just saw her breasts in The Slap.

Does Melissa George show her breasts often on screen?  

15. Thought a part from from Outland was brilliant. 

Dylan (Jesse Rosenfeld) walks out on Max's science fiction club. Max chases after him, and Dylan says that Max's friends are geeks.

Max says this: Well, everyone's a geek, Dylan. Well, it's true. It's just music geeks are cool, and football geeks are mainstream. You know like painting your face with your team colors. None of it's....

Well, I can't decipher the dialogue here, but Max mentions Klingon foreheads. 

16. Decided that although I like Max's lines, I don't fully agree with them.

Not everyone is a geek.

I mean not everyone is super passionate about something. They might like and enjoy something but not with a geekiness passion.

17. Wondered something. Is it easier to get along with someone who shares our interest or with someone who shares our level of geekiness? 

I think for me, it's the latter. I think I'd get along better with someone obsessed with another country than a fan of Australia who's much less passionate or more passionate than me.

18. Changed my mind. First of all, there's never going to be someone who shares our exact level of passion.  

Well, I don't know....

I think if someone is way more passionate than me about something; I can feel kind of left out in the cold. I feel like I don't measure up. If they're REALLY extreme, I might be a bit freaked out about it and embarrassed that I share their interest.

For example, when I was into Doctor Who; if I had encountered someone who had seen every episode; had read every book; had heard every audio story; had gone to conventions, and had a huge collection of Daleks; I'd feel kind of like a failure. I'd probably wonder, what's the point of me being a fan. 

On the other side, let's say I meet someone who says they love Australia. But then when we get to talking, I learn they have no clue about Tony Abbott, The Three Sisters, Claudia Karvan, Tim Tams, and Powderfinger.  All they know is kangaroos, koalas, and Hugh Jackman; I'd be disappointed and kind of annoyed with them.  I think I'd rather hang out with someone obsessed with Paraguay and who actually knows a lot about Paraguay

19. Concluded that I'd be happy to meet a fan of Australia who has a similar level of interest or someone who is very passionate about something else. I would be less interested in someone who is fanatic to the point of seeming somewhat insane or someone who really doesn't qualify as a geek.

20. Decided I have a pretty high level of geek-tolerance. I think someone would have to be literally delusional for me to be repelled by them.

A Doctor Who fan could wear Doctor Who clothes everyday, attend conferences every month, quote dialogue on a regular basis, have a room decorated to look like the Tardis, and always use Dalek-shaped ice-cubes. I would actually think all of that is awesome.  But if the person told me that the Doctor is real, and this person is waiting for The Doctor to show up in his backyard; I would probably not be so keen on pursuing a friendship with this person.  

21. Wanted to say that  having a firm belief that The Doctor is real is different from wishing The Doctor was real or speculating that he MIGHT be real.      

I sometimes believe that Harry Potter is real, and that JK Rowling channeled their story from some alternate universe.  But I think that's different from having complete faith...or close to complete faith.

22. Felt the same way about religious and spiritual beliefs. I feel more comfortable with people who believe something MIGHT be true than those who believe something is definitely true.  

23. Finished the first episode of Outland.

So, far I love it!

I'm so happy about that.

Now I might have to be sad about the fact that there're only six episodes.

24. Wondered about Christine Anu. I did a post years ago about her. I vaguely remember her being accused of homophobia. And here she is on this show playing a lesbian.

What were the accusations?

I need to go see.

From what I hardly remember, I think it was a maybe-homophobia thing, and not a definite one.

25. Googled and ended up finding my own blog post.  I link to an article, but it's gone. So now it looks like I made the whole thing up.

What I said is that Anu defended a friend. She was asked by the police if the friend was her partner, and Anu acted offended. 

This is what I said in my post.  I really don't know what happened with Anu. She might be a little homophobic. She says she has gay friends, but that doesn't really prove anything. She could be totally NOT homophobic. The police might have asked the question in a degrading way. His tone might have been what offended Anu.

Now I'm thinking, maybe it was none of the above. Maybe Anu isn't homophobic at all. Maybe she was just repulsed by being romantically paired with that particular female friend. Maybe if it had been another female friend, she'd be totally fine with it.

26. Found article that proves I didn't make the whole thing up.

Well, of course I knew I didn't make it up. Because I believe in me...since I am me. But I can't expect other people to have full faith in me.

From what I see in the article, Anu was angry about race relation issues and not about being mistaken for a lesbian.

27. Came up with another interpretation. Maybe Anu did have feelings for her friends. When the policeman asked if they were partners; maybe that was like putting salt in the wound.

28. Started watching the second episode of Outland.

29. Saw that the series is a bit like The Slap, in that each episode focuses on a different character.

The last one focused on Max. This one is about Rae (Anu).

30. Didn't like the second episode of Outland as much as the first, but I didn't dislike it.

31. Started watching the third episode of Outland.

This one is about Andy.

Andy's played by Paul Ireland. He's from Rush. He played the brother of the guy that Kerry Vincent (Catherine McClements) killed with her car.

I also saw him last week on The Slap.

32. Saw that while the first episode made a lot of references to Doctor Who; this one makes a lot of references to The X-Files.

33. Thought of The Walking Dead while reading expat Nikki's post about Atlanta folks helping each other out during a snow storm.

Well, and Nikki actually mentions The Walking Dead in her post. But even if she didn't, I probably would have thought of it. It's rare that I think about Atlanta without thinking of The Walking Dead.

No, that's not really true. When I think about my past—living there; I don't really think about The Walking Dead. And Tim lives there part time now. I don't have some kind of image of him escaping zombies. But besides those two things, when I think of Atlanta, I think of The Walking Dead.

Anyway....Nikki's post is very positive. It's nice to see an Australian having such a good experience in the US.  I was thinking, at first, that if there were a real zombie disaster, many people in Atlanta would survive, because people are so generous and helpful. But then I changed my mind. I think being helpful and generous is dangerous when it comes to a zombie apocalypse.  If I remember correctly there was a webisode where a woman started to do rescue breathing on someone, not realizing the someone was one of the undead.  Well, I don't even think she knew there were undead people. If she knew, she probably would have walked away and not been a good samaritan.

I think the general message of The Walking Dead is to be very weary of helping others; always put you and your own group first; and know how to shoot a gun. It's actually good right-wing propaganda.

34. Realized that Max on Outland is wearing a V  t-shirt!  At least that's what I think it is.

35. Wondered if the V remake used those letters.

36. Found Max's T-shirt on Cafe Press.

37. Started watching the fourth episode of Outland.

This one seems to be an homage to horror movies. There are references to Alien, 666, scary corridors, a warning not to go into the house, Hitchcock, etc.

38. Loved that this episode makes reference to the Mickey and Ricky storyline on Doctor Who.

It's not just a quick message either. Andy goes into detail about the episode and analyzes it on a very emotional level.

39. Liked the fourth episode the best so far. Even though the show's a comedy, I thought the episode was actually kind of scary.

40. Started watching the fifth episode of Outland.

41. Amused by national gay man dance on Outland. Apparently every gay man is required to learn it when he comes out of the closet.

42. Thought while the last episode was horror-comedy; this one was like a dramedy. There were some serious, emotional moments.

43. Saw that Ben Gerrard who plays Toby on Outland is going to be on an upcoming miniseries about Molly Meldrum.

Samuel Johnson is playing Meldrum.

I actually don't know much about Molly Meldrum, but I have heard of him.

44. Started watching the last episode of Outland.

They make reference to the movie Outland, which I never heard of until today. I kept running into it when searching for the TV show Outland on IMDb.

45. Went to Random.org to pick my next show.

It's season three of Packed to the Rafters!

I'll be very happy to get back to that show.

46. Started to watch the Neighbours backstage video I meant to watch yesterday.

It's a long Tim Phillips thing.

Yesterday I watched a short Tim Phillips thing.

47. Thought Tim Phillips was better looking than Daniel Robinson. He kind of has a rock star quality to him.

I'm not sure why I'm saying that. I've never been attracted to a rock star. Well, except for when I was in fifth grade and had a thing for Michael Jackson.

48. Enjoyed seeing Olympia Valance and Phillips run their lines together. I'm impressed that they can do it in a casual way, but still make the dialogue seem real.

I don't think I'm saying that right.

Let me try again.

It kind of looks like they're just playing around for the backstage video thing, but when they say the lines, the acting actually sounds quite good.

49. Thought it was hilarious that Tim Phillips walks around with a photograph of Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan, telling people they're his mom and dad.

I sometimes wonder about that. When Daniel refers to his parents on the show, does Tim Phillips think to himself, Holy Shit! I'm talking about Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan!

50. Wondered if Jason Donovan and/or Kylie Minogue ever watch Neighbours, so they can see what their son is up to.

51. Amused by what Rose Asune said in the video comments. I was waiting for the "Your dad kind of looks like my dad" line spoken by Brad's actor to Tim ... it didn't happen and my heart was torn.

It took me a minute to figure out what the hell she was saying. She's referring to the fact that, on Neighbours, Kip Gamblin's dad is played by Terence Donovan the father of Jason Donovan.

52. Learned from another comment that Olympia Valance has a sister that was on Neighbours—Holly Valance. She played Flick Scully.

53. Went to the triple J 2014 list.

Today I'm going to listen to "Gold Snafu" by Sticky Fingers.

54. Thought of another rock star that I found attractive—1980's Jimmy Barnes. But I didn't have a crush on him, or anything.  It definitely wasn't like my feelings for Michael Jackson.

55. Wanted to clarify that I didn't find Jimmy Barnes attractive back in the 1980's. I didn't even know he existed. Though I did hear some of his music on the Lost Boys soundtrack.

56. Started to watch the video CLIP of "Gold Snafu".  I don't know why it's called a video clip, and not just a video. It's long though. Six minutes.

57. Saw that the video has stuff besides music. I think it's almost like a short film?

It takes place in the 1970's.

The music part doesn't come in until after three minutes.

58. Didn't really understand the storyline of the video, but I did like the setting.


Read my novel: The Dead are Online 

Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, Unromantic Couple Trips, Rape, and Sympathetic Characters

1. Dreamed about fresh water crocodiles, and I worried about another crocodile being a saltwater one. I'm not going to go into details about this dream. I'll just say it involved a game with M and M's, and a man turned into a crocodile.

2. Dreamed about Ariel and Dena Kaplan.  I'm sitting across a cafeteria table from them. They're both very friendly. They want to know if the brother of Tim's best friend is gay or not. I say yes, he's gay. The Kaplan sisters are disappointed but in a giggly way. 

I notice they have gaps in their teeth. I suggest maybe we're related, because I have them too. But then I remember I don't. It's Jack who has the gaps. I'm embarrassed about giving them wrong information about myself. 

3. Started to watch an episode of Neighbours.

I'm curious to know what's happening with Amber's (Jenna Rosenow) baby.

Is it something that will end up ending the pregnancy? Or is it something that will make parenting a bit more challenging for Amber, Josh (Harley Bonner) and Daniel (Tim Phillips)

3. Learned that the baby has a hernia thing that leads to organ displacement.

Karl says it's serious but doesn't say it's fatal.  Maybe it's something that can be treated?

4. Learned from Josh's Internet research that the baby has a fifty percent chance of surviving after birth. Josh also reads that steroids can be used as treatment. Daniel gets annoyed at Josh for looking on the Internet and says he wants to hear what Karl has to say. But when Amber asked about the baby's chances, Karl said he'd rather not answer.

I really don't understand why some people are so against finding medical information on the Internet.

I imagine these people see doctors as god-like entities that know everything and have all the answers.

5. Saw Amber freaking out with guilt, feeling she did something that caused the hernia problem.

Josh knows that's not true and tries to reassure her, BECAUSE he took the time to read on the Internet.

6. Read positive stuff from Boston Children's Hospital about Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia. They say,   The outlook for babies born with CDH is increasingly positive with new surgical techniques and ways to support babies as they heal. However, it’s possible that your baby can have long-term problems and need regular follow-up care after going home from the hospital.

They do say, though, that babies have a better survival rate at their hospital than others in the US.

I wonder which hospitals in Australia are the best for CDH.

7.  Saw that there's a CDH Australia organization.

They have a list of hospitals. The ones for Victoria are The Royal Children's Hospital, The Royal Woman's Hospital, and Monash Medical Center in Clayton.

I don't think any of them are super close to Erinsborough, which is in the Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne.  But I don't think the drive would be too far.

8. Heard Nate (Meyne Wyatt) mention his cousin Zeke (Matthew Werkmeister)  Zeke is the character that was in the backstage video I watched yesterday. I didn't know he was cousins with Nate.

Maybe Zeke is the kid who was homeschooled—the one who was the son of the guy married to Susan (Jackie Woodburne)

9. Consulted Lord Wiki.

I'm right. Zeke is the homeschooled son of Alex (Andrew Clarke), the guy married to Susan.

10. Saw that there's now an Australian actress on Pretty Little Liars.  Her name is Tammin Surosk.  Like the Kaplan sisters, Surosk was born in South Africa.

I found out about Surosk, because my niece mentioned some actress from Pretty Little Liars raising money to make a show in Australia. I haven't seen anything about that yet. Maybe my niece is confused; or maybe there's another actress wanting to make a TV show about Australia?

Is it supposed to be a show about Australia or filmed in Australia? I'm confused.

11. Started to watch the seventh episode of The Slap.

This one centers on Aisha (Sophie Okonedo)

12. Thought this episode was a bit slow so far. Although I've only watched about eight minutes.

And I took Benadryl a few hours ago. My tiredness might make the show seem boring.

13. Saw Aisha have an awkward moment.

She's at a work conference. A man, she might be attracted to, invites himself up to her hotel room to show her something. As she's waiting for him, her children and husband call her on video chat.

14. Thought the scenes of Aisha and her husband Hector (Jonathan LaPaglia), in Bali, were well done.

They're together, without their kids, in a very romantic place  People might suspect they're having a lovely time together but instead, it's tense and quiet.

I think there's this idea that if a couple is troubled, all they need is some time along together without their kids, and everything will be fine.

It's not always the case.

15. Disgusted with Hector.

So, it turns out that Harry (Alex Dimitriades) has been violent before. Hugo (Julian Mineo) wasn't his first victim. He hit his wife nine years ago. Aisha and Hector know about it but have kept it a secret. And from what Aisha is saying, she's been pressured to keep the secret.

To make things worse, Rosie confided in Aisha about leaving Hugo home alone when he was six weeks old—probably postnatal depression.  I guess Aisha told Hector. Hector told Harry, and it was used against Rosie in court.

16. Decided Hector, his cousins, and his parents are all pretty awful people.

17. Hoped that Aisha divorces Hector and gets the hell away from his family.

Although I guess the latter part is impossible, because her kids will probably want to see their father, cousins, grandparents, etc. Aisha can't cut ties completely.

18. Read some of the Hulu comments. Well, I've actually been reading them through out the series.

It's fascinating to me, because some commenters are on the opposite side of me. They think Aisha is a horrible person for caring more about Rosie than her husband, and they think she's awful for not agreeing to go on the Greece trip.

I think there's some people for whom family is EVERYTHING. You always choose family loyalty over anything else.

19. Thought about how I believe sticking to one's principles comes before family. But that might be in theory only. I don't think I've ever been put to the test.

If someone in my family did something that I was morally against—something I felt should be punished by the law; would I turn them in? I really don't know.  I kind of think I wouldn't; though I wish I would. I imagine myself not turning them in and feeling really depressed and anxious about it.

The situation I've had in my head before is this:  Someone in my family is driving. They get in an accident. I know for a fact that they were looking at their texts while driving. They don't reveal this when talking to the police. Would I step forward and say anything?

20. Felt that if I was given a court summons, and was questioned, I wouldn't lie. I would tell the truth then. I'm just not sure I'd come forward with the truth without being summoned.

In extreme situations, I'm sure I would.

If I found out someone in my family was a rapist or murderer, I'd call the police. I hope.

21. Started watching the last episode of The Slap.

This episode centers on Richie (Blake Davis)

22. Saw that Brendan Cowell wrote this episode. And he also appears in it.

23. Saw that Cowell plays Richie's dad.

24. Felt sad for Richie. He's gay but in that period of not wanting to be.

He masturbates while looking at his dad's porn magazines. That doesn't help. Then it all works out when he looks at a picture of Hector. This doesn't make him very happy.

25. Felt okay about Connie having a crush on Hector, because I don't like her. But with Richie, there's something much more sympathetic about him. I wish he had a crush on someone better than Hector.

26. Wondered about Richie. Is the one in the book very different from the one in the series?

I read the book a few years. I hardly remember anything. What I thought I did remember is that Richie was the one character I liked.  But now he's not seeing very likable. He's sympathetic, but it's more in a sad and pathetic way.

He's a stalker. He's sexually attracted to his prey but at the same time hates him.

27. Annoyed with Rosie.

Richie takes Hugo to the park. Afterward, they're at a crosswalk. Hugo spits at an old man. Richie angrily scolds him and tries to get Hugo to apologize. Hugo refuses. When they get home, Richie tells Rosie what happened. Instead of scolding Hugo or demanding to know what he did, she coddles Hugo, and asks him if the old man scared him.

28. Disturbed that Richie labels Hector as a rapist. Legally speaking...technically he is that. But I think there's a huge difference between forcing someone to have sex and statutory rape with a willing older teenager.

29. Read that in Victoria, the age of consent is sixteen. So that would mean Connie is fifteen!

I take back what I said about an older teenager. Fifteen seems quite young to me.

30. Felt very bad for Richie.

31. Thought scene between Richie and his mother was incredibly sad and painful.

He causes some drama, and it's revealed that he's been stalking Hector. His mom gets extremely mad. Then Richie attempts suicide. The mother finds him and feels horrible.

I hope he survives. I can't remember, from the book, if he does or not.

32. Surprised.

Connie comes over and tells Richie that Hector didn't rape her. Richie asks, why then did she tell him that he did. I must have missed all that. Maybe I was daydreaming or paying too much attention to a QuizUp question.

I had no idea that Connie (Sophie Lowe) told Richie she has been raped.

So maybe Connie isn't fifteen, and it's not a matter of statutory rape.

33. Thought Richie was quite disturbed. But I think he's the most interesting and complex character.

I'm close to the end of the episode, and my feelings now better match those I had when reading the book.

I think there's something likable about him.  It's like he's a nice kid with some disturbing qualities. In a way, he kind of reminds me of Norman on Bates Motel.  Norman is scary and dangerous but also incredibly sweet and vulnerable.

Richie isn't as extreme and bad. He's not a killer. But he angrily stalks the man he believes raped his good friend. And, at the same time, he's sexually attracted to this man.

34. Thought of the scene where Richie masturbates while looking at a picture of Hector. He seemed upset about this—guilty and disturbed. I thought it was just about him not wanting to be gay. But I guess it was also about being sexually attracted to someone he believed to be a villain.

35. Had tears when watching the end of The Slap.

I think it's a very powerful series.

36. Amused, because when I finished watching The Slap, Hulu had the first episode of Tangle as what they wanted me to watch next.

It's like they're saying, Well, hey...if you enjoyed watching those dysfunctional, unhappy Australians, we have some more for you! 

37. Thought that Tangle is very similar to The Slap.  Both are about a single incident that causes a huge mess in multiple families.

38. Wanted to say that I had plans to rate the characters on my blog from the one I had most sympathy for down to the one I had the least sympathy for.  Who would I wish to have happiness, and who do I feel doesn't deserve happiness.

But after seeing the ending, I decided I'd wish for them all to be okay.

None of them are evil. They're just imperfect humans.

I want redemption and happy endings for all of them.

39. Went to Random.org to pick my next TV show. It's called Outland.  It's science fiction comedy.

I hope I like it better than The Strange Calls.

40. Saw that the singer Christine Anu is one of the stars of Outland.