Kirsty Fisher

Kirsty Fisher is probably Australian, so she would also fit well with my old biography posts.

She's maybe-Australian and a TV writer.

I say maybe-Australian, because she could be from New Zealand.

She does work in the Aussie screen industry, though.

I can see that from looking at her filmography.

She wrote one of the episodes of Wanted that I watched today.

I'm liking that show a lot. I've seen it described as a cross between The Fugitive and Thelma and Louise. I definitely agree with that assessment.

The show is about two women, Lola (Rebecca Gibney) and Chelsea (Geraldine Hakewill), who know each other only because they take the same bus every day.

One day (or night?) things don't go well at the bus stop. They end up being part of a crooked cop drama. They're kidnapped, chased, framed for murder, etc.

They become fugitives and bond along the way.

In Kirsty Fisher's episode, Lola and Chelsea mess up on filling the car with petrol. Oops! And they end up having to trek through the Australian wilderness.

It's quite a shitty mess but fun to watch because there's suspense, touching moments, and humor. And unlike the most recent Game of Thrones episode I watched, there's plenty of sunshine and other sources of light. So I can see what's going on.

* * *

Now I'm going to make my way through Kirsty Fisher's filmography.

Chronologically, the first thing I see is that Fisher was an assistant to producer and secretary to producer for the show Halifax f.p.

You know...I think Rebecca Gibney was in that too.  Although I could be wrong.

I'll click on the show and see.

I'm not wrong! Yay! Gibney was the star of that.  

It seems to me that Fisher had more humble beginnings than Daniel Chun. Daniel Chun was like Harvard; then onto writing for The Simpsons.  

Note: By humble beginnings, I mean their writing careers...not their childhoods.

The Halifax f.p gig was from 1997-1998. Also around that time period, Fisher worked as a script editor trainee for two episodes of Stingers.  I guess that was an educational job. I wonder if she got paid at all. Or was it more of an internship type thing?

I've heard of Stingers but have never watched it. I also can't remember who's in it. Though I feel that it's one of those shows that constantly pops up when I look at the past work of actors I'm seeing in recent Aussie TV shows. 

For fun, I'm going see if I know of any of the actors in one of the episodes that Fisher did her training. 

There's Kate Kendall.  I know her from Neighbours.

Jessica Napier.  I loved her in McLeod's Daughters.  

Nicholas Bell. I've seen him in a lot of stuff. And he's one of the stars of Wanted.

* * *

If I'm understanding IMDb correctly, it looks like Fisher was having a lack of screen work from 1999-2003.  Things get quiet.

I wonder what she was doing.

Taking care of a baby?

Theater work?

Writing a novel?

Dealing with an illness.

School?

Working at a job that is totally outside the realm of the TV industry?

Anyway....

In 2003, Fisher got back into things. She worked for the TV show The Sleepover Club.

She was a script editor for thirteen episodes and a writer for one episode. 

The Sleepover Club is another show that I've heard of but never watched.  

I think maybe it's like The Saddle Club in the sense that it's filmed in Australia but they keep the setting vague.  

The Saddle Club was annoyingly mysterious about what country the horses and girls were living in.  

No, mysterious is the wrong word. A mystery would have been fun. They would have dropped hints and tried to get us to guess.

Obtuse would be a better word. Or vague? 

Oh! Cool.

I just saw from IMDb that I'm wrong.  

The Sleepover Club is actually about Australians. That's cool.

Lord Wiki says that the books, the show is based on, actually take place in England. But the TV show took place in Australia.

Now I'm looking at what actors I recognize from this show.

Ryan Corr.  He was in Wanted. But mostly I know him from Packed to the Rafters. And the Wolf Creek sequel.  

At least I think it was the sequel.  Or was it the first one?

There's Caitlin Stasey. I recognized her but had to click on her name, because I couldn't remember what I've seen her in.  It was probably Tomorrow When the World Began.

So far I feel this post is more about actors than writers.

Sorry.

I think I'm just more used to writing about actors than writers.

I'll get a hang of things eventually.

Or maybe I won't.

Ah! Eliza Taylor!  She's in The Sleepover Club. I know her from the American show The 100. 

I'm thinking I should look specifically at the episode that Fisher wrote.  It's called Fearlotto.  It involves the sleepover kids sharing their worst fears.

What is the deal with these sleepovers?  How often does the club meet? Do they always have a sleepover?  

Okay. Lord Wiki says the club is made up of five girls and they sleep over one of their houses at least once a week.

That sounds pretty fun.

I'm imagining that at one point, there might be a newbie in the mix.  I also kind of imagine there's an outsider who tries to sabatoge the club.  

* * *

Someone has uploaded the "Fearlotto" episode to YouTube. I don't expect it to be around for long, so if you click on my link, it might, unfortunately, take you nowhere. 

I'm just watching random scenes.

It turns out the sleepover girls aren't just sharing their fears but planning to work together to conquer their fears. It's like group therapy.

Their Aussie accents seem very strong to me. 

I'm trying to figure out which young girl grew up to be the girl in The 100.

I think it's the girl wearing purple?

Yikes. Again...more into the actors than the writing.

* * *

I'm going to move onto the next show.

It's actually something I've never heard of before. 

Silversun.

Ryan Corr was one of the stars.  

So there seems to be some kind of connection between Fisher and Corr.  It might not be a connection between the two of them...but maybe a joint connection through someone else.  For example, maybe there's a producer or director that's friends (or friendly) with both Fisher and Corr.

Angus McClaren is also on the show and he starred with both Corr and Gibney on Packed to the Rafters.

Silversun is a 2004 science fiction show. It's about starting a colony on a silver sun.

What is a silver sun?

Lord Wiki says it's a British rock band and an Aussie TV show.  So I guess there is no real silver sun hanging out somewhere.  

I'm guessing it's the idea that somewhere out there is a sun that has a lot of silver in it's atmosphere. Or it has some chemical that makes it look silver in color?

Anyway, Fisher is listed as part of the script department for twelve episodes. And she was the writer for three episodes.  

Here's one of the episodes that Fisher wrote. 

Ryan Corr has some wild, futuristic hair.

The black girl in the show looks familar to me. Do I know her from somewhere?

I don't know her character name so it would be hard to find out what actress is playing her.

The more I watch bits of the show, the more curious I get. And I don't think they're going to say her name. So I'm going to Google the actors and see if I can find a black one.

So far I'm finding only white girls. But I've clicked on only two names...so far.

I found it!!!!

Cleopatra Coleman.

And I know her from an American TV show—Last Man on Earth.  

I love that show!

She's Jamaican black rather than Aboriginal black.

Okay. Yeah. This post is probably going to be more about me getting excited about recognizing actors than it ever is going to be about Kirsty Fisher.  At least during the IMDb part.  

The problem is, I'm not sure how much I'll find outside of IMDb.

* * *

The next show on Fisher's filmography is Last Man Standing. Fisher was a script editor for that.

There are last men on earth and last men standing.

And isn't there an American show, Last Man Standing?

Yep. Googled.  It's with Tim Allen.

The Australian Last Man Standing came out in 2005. Rodger Corser was the star.  It's a comedy-drama about male friendship.  It sounds a bit like House Husbands. And peaking ahead....Fisher wrote for that show as well.  

* * *

I watched the next show on Fisher's filmography—Pirate Island—the Last Treasures of Fiji. 

I remember these things. A) I watched it in Disney World when we were staying in Port Orleans. Jack was sick. It was very hot. B) I didn't like the show very much.

Fisher wrote only one episode: "Unholy Alliance".  It was the second to the last one.

I want to move on from this.

I don't want to have any reliving of my time on Pirate Island.

* * *

In 2006, Fisher was a script editor for five episodes of the first season of H20: Just Add Water. And she wrote one episode of season 2.

Oh! And that has a connection to Silversun. Angus McClaren was in both shows.

I'm looking at the episode that Fisher wrote: "Hocus Pocus". It's about making a potion that grants wishes. I vaguely remember that.  

Maybe there was a creepy guy who wished for one of the mermaids to fall in love with him? Or something like that?

* * *

It seems that between 2003-2007, Fisher was mostly writing children's television shows.

I might have failed to mention that some of these shows were for kids. The Sleepover Club seems kind of obvious. If there was an adult show called The Sleepover Club, it would probably be porno or erotica.

But yeah—Silversun, H20 Just Add Water, and Pirate Island are also all kid shows.

After 2007, Fisher's filmography goes quiet again.

Then she comes back in 2011 with a NOT-kid show.  Instead it's a parenting show—Laid.

Oh! And now I see there's a season 2.  

I've watched only season 1.

I wonder if season 2 is on Netflix yet. 

You know...I really thought Laid was more recent—like from 2 years ago rather than 8 years ago.

Oh no!!!!

Wait.

I have the wrong show.

Stupid-me.

I'm thinking of The Let Down!!!!

I think that IS new.

I did also watch Laid, but I don't remember much about it.  

I'm pretty sure it stars the same woman from The Let Down.

Okay. Yeah. Alison Bell.  Now I feel a tiny bit less stupid.

Anyway, Laid is a comedy. I think about romance?  I don't remember much about it. IMDb, though, is triggering my memory a bit. I think Bell believes she's cursed?  She has multiple ex-lovers dying on her.

Here's a trailer.

It's kind of like a romantic dark comedy.

I wish I remembered it more.

I would sit here and say I should re-watch it. But there's just too much new stuff to watch.

That being said....I do have two re-watching things on my to-watch List.  One is Lost and the other is The Haunting of Hill House.

Anyway....

Fisher was actually one of the creators of Laid. She co-created it with a woman named Marieke Hardy.  

The two of them also produced the show along with six other producers.  

* * *

In 2013, Fisher wrote an episode of Mr. and Mrs. Murder.  I think I've seen one episode of that?  Maybe we watched it IN Australia? I have this vague feeling/memory that we did. I think maybe there was something with horses?

Oh!  

I just clicked on the episode and saw that Fisher wrote the very first one! I wasn't expecting that.

Any actors, on the show, that seem to be have some kind of connection to Fisher and/or her work?

Yes!

Alison Bell!

Anyone else?

Well, not that I can see.

I'm watching the trailer now. The premise is more interesting than I imagined.  I thought it was just another detective thing. But no, Mr. and Mrs Murder (Shaun Micallef and Kat Stewart) are crime scene CLEANERS.  

Did I understand that when I watched the one episode? Maybe I did and just forgot?

* * *

The next show is....

DANCE ACADEMY!!!!!!!!

Hallelujah!

That's such a fantastic show.

I think I've tried to get everyone in my family to watch it....well, not the three young boys. Because at the time they would have been way too young. Or not even born.

But anyway, not one family member took my advice. 

Their loss!

I really think all of them would like it.

Well to be fair, Jack and Tim did TRY one episode. But still. I think they should have tried a bit harder. Maybe.

Fisher wrote four episodes in 2012-2013.  Which season would that be?

Just did the clicking.

There's one from season 2 and three from season 3.  

I'm going to see if I remember any of them.

In the first episode "A Choreographed Life", Christian (Jordan Rodrigues) is hurt by Tara (Xenia Goodwin).  

I recently watched the Americanized version of Rodrigues in The Fosters.

I wonder if any fans of The Fosters have ended up seeking out Dance Academy. I hope so.

Well...as for "A Choreographed Life", nothing in the description really rings my memory bell.

The next episode is "The Naturals". I kind of remember this one, or at least I remember the storyline it leads to.  

Zach (Kip Gamblin) gives Grace (Isabel Durant) some private lessons. And if I remember correctly, that led to an incident of the ever-so-popular TV troupe of false accusations of sexual assault. 

I can't remember but am wondering. Did Dance Academy ever deal with real sexual assault or harassment? 

Oh! I almost forgot to mention.  From what I saw in the description, it seems "The Naturals" is where Abi (Dena Kaplan) starts singing.  

I think with the third episode "Short Cut Clause" the grief has already begun. Because Thom Green is not in the credits.

He IS in "The Naturals".

I guess he dies in between those two episodes.

Anyway...the last Fisher episode is "Graceland".

Nothing about it feels familar to me.

And...

I'm confused.

Now I'm seeing that only "Graceland" is in season 3.  The other episodes were in season 2.  

Did I read something wrong? Or is IMDb being confusing?

Well...it seems to be me.

I read things wrong.

It's two episodes in season 2 and two episodes in season 3.  

The big tragedy happens towards the end of season 2.  

I'm looking through the episodes, and I totally have to watch that tribute scene now.  

So...beautiful.

* * *

I see that once again I've messed up chronologically with IMDb.

BEFORE Dance Academy, Fisher wrote some episodes of Winners and Losers.

I've heard of that show but haven't watched it yet.

I don't know if it's available on the three streaming thingies I use (Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon) 

No...I don't see it.

But anyway, Fisher wrote five episodes from 2011-2014. 

I'll look at the middle one. It's called "Maybe Baby" 

None of the actors on the show seem very familar to me; though some seem vaguely familar.

Wait. Damien Brodie....

I think he's the guy from The Elephant Princess.

Yep. I'm right.

Cool.

I like being right. 

* * *

I couldn't find "Maybe Baby" on Youtube. But someone has uploaded another Fisher episode—"Happiness is a Delusion".

I'm going to watch a little bit.  

The people have weird voices. Like they sucked in helium. I'm not sure if there's an issue with the uploading, or it's part of the storyline?

I fast-forwarded and people still sound strange.

Maybe the characters just talk that way.

Or maybe I'm having some kind of really fucked up neurological symptom. Is there something where everyone sounds like a Chipmunk to you?

Well, no. I'm fine. I can hear Tim in the other room, and he sounds normal.

I just turned on another YouTube video—a Ted Talk. And that sounds funny to me too!!????

Now I'm watching Oprah read Harry Potter. All is well with that.

So, what's happening?

I think I get it.

My guess is that the Winners and Losers episode was uploaded at the wrong speed. Then by coincidence, I think the Ted Talker had a kind of high voice.

* * *

Fisher wrote a season 2 episode of Upper Middle Bogan.  I watched the series but don't remember the episode.

I feel most of this post is about me forgetting what I watched in the past. 

The description on IMDb says Julie (Robyn Malcolm) learns that Wayne (Glenn Robbins) is a descendant of rich relatives. 

Yeah. I totally don't remember that.

I'm not even sure who Wayne is.

Julie's husband?

Yeah. That's who he is.

I wasn't sure, because his picture is not on IMDb. So I clicked on his name and saw he's the actor who was also in Kath and Kim. That helped to put things together for me.

* * *

Fisher wrote two episodes of Wonderland.

I watched some of that on Hulu. Years ago!  I so loved it.  Hulu was weird about it, though. They had the 1st season and part of the 2nd season combined as one season.  

Recently I learned that it's now on Amazon Prime.  

Well, they have the first two seasons.

Were any more seasons made?

Yes! 

It's three seasons!

Will we ever get all seasons here?

I hope so!

Fisher wrote an episode of season 2 and season 3.

I'm not going to dive deep because I don't want spoilers.

* * *

Fisher wrote an episode of Ready For This.

It was a 2015 series about Aboriginal teens at a hostel in Sydney.  

Here's a trailer for the series.

It's a teen drama.

I think it looks pretty good. 

The anthem kid (Aaron L McGrath) from Redfern Now is one of the stars. So is manipulative Billie (Tessa de Josselin) from Home and Away.  Though I think she ended up being less manipulative later on...after I stopped watching.  People DO change sometimes. Like Theon Greyjoy.  BUT...I think it happens more in fiction than in real life.  

* * *

Well, I had some more chronological confusion.

Back in 2013....during the days of Dance Academy, Mr and Mrs. Murder and Winners and Losers, Fisher wrote an episode of House Husbands.  It was in season 2, which I would have watched.

The episode is where Kane (Gyton Grantley) and Tom (Tim Campbell) have their lives stressed by the appearance of their daughter's biological father.

I vaguely remember that.

Maybe?

Was their daughter adopted?

* * *

I just suggested to Tim that we maybe re-watch Game of Thrones, which reminded me that we re-watched some of Westworld.

So...I might have kind of misspoke before when I talked about re-watching only Lost and The Haunting of Hill House.

Anyway....onto The Family Law. This is a more recent show.  Fisher is a producer and writer for it.

Oh! It's about Chinese-Australians.

I don't think I knew that Australia has an Asian show.

That's very cool.

Fisher is the top writer just below the creator (Benjamin Law).  She's written 11 out of 18 episodes.

All the episodes of season 3 came out on January 12, 2019 which makes me think it's Netflix.  

I wonder if it's on my watch-list.  If it is, that means I DID know there was an Asian-Australian show and just forgot. Like usual.  

I just checked my IMDb app on my phone.

Yes. It's on my watch-list.

Here's a promo of the show—the opening scene. 

It looks very sweet.

I hope to watch it someday.

Well...it might not happen because there are over a thousand things on my watch-list.

And I just checked. I was wrong about it being on Netflix.

Maybe Amazon Prime.....

Nope.

* * * 

The last show on Fisher's filmography is Mustangs FC. 

She's written eight episodes.

It looks like another team drama. This one's about football.

Here's a trailer for the 2nd season.

I guess it looks kind of good. Maybe?

I'm not really into sports.

But I'm also not really into dance, and I liked Dance Academy.

* * *

Now I'm going to look for articles and/or interviews.....

Here is Fisher's profile on the RGM website. I think it's an agency.  

They say that Fisher was an in-house development coordinator at Burberry Productions.

I have no idea what an in-house development coordinator is. I'm not sure I care enough to try to figure out what it means.

But I WILL look up Burberry Productions.  

They are a TV production company that is no longer active.

I guess they still have a website for nostalgic purposes...or for curious people like me.

They made Last Man Standing and The Sleepover Club—two of Fisher's shows.

Fisher was also part of something called Scribe. It has to do with screen and play development.  

I think this Playmaker website is talking about the Scribe thing.

What is Playmaker?

Oh. Okay. It's an Australian television production company. 

They're responsible for the shows Hiding, Love Child, The Code, House Husbands, and Slide.

There are other shows as well. The ones above are just the ones I've heard of (or watched) before.

Scribe seems to be about Australian writers working with writers in Los Angeles to help them refine their work.

It kind of sounds like they're trying to make Australian writers more Hollywoodish. 

It could be because American shows have more mass-international appeal, and they're trying to get Australian shows the same amount of attention.  

There are shows in Australia that are fairly popular around the world. But I don't think there has been anything like America's Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead.  OR like the UK's Downton Abbey. 

Though I'm not sure it's about quality. 

It could be more about marketing and distribution.  

Anyway....

Here's some other stuff about Kirsty Fisher.

She has two small kids.

I wonder when that profile was written.

The small kids might be big kids now.

 And here's something quite interesting: Fisher has a stationery company called International Girl Aerogrammes. It's an initiative to get people back into letter writing.

Reading all my old letters this year and last year really made me miss letter-writing.

Then again, it could be that I lost(or greatly reduced) contact with pretty much EVERYONE from my past...except for my immediate family.

If  I was still in touch with people—texting them on a regular basis, I probably wouldn't have such a longing.

For example. In college, my first cousin and I frequently kept in touch with letter writing. We shared a lot. We were very much in touch.

Now I see him every few years at family gatherings, and it's just vague small talk.

What if we were still good friends? What if we texted on a weekly basis?  

So...it's probably my relationship to him that I miss and not the actual letter-writing.

* * *

Here's a 2009 review of International Girl Aerogrammes. I'm assuming it's the one that Fisher was co-creator/owner of.

I say was, because I tried to go to the actual website, and it doesn't work. It might have gone out of business?

The reviewer says the stationery designs have the aim of increasing awareness about cultures and languages. The example in the reviewer's photo has Arabic on the stationery.

The stationery is environmentally friendly—100% recycled. That's cool!

They have a quote from International Girl Aerogramme's mission. They say:

We believe that happiness and kindness come through slowing down and taking time: savoring the moment and being aware.

I definitely agree with this. Though it would be wise for me to work on putting it in practice more.

Well.....

Maybe my new way of doing biography posts is kind of on that path.

With the old way, I'd work all day. It was exhausting. And I'm sure I felt very rushed at times.

Now I'm writing the posts over several days. I feel less rushed. And also it gives me more time for other things.

* * *

Now I'm going to read an interview with Fisher and her Laid writing partner Marieke Hardy. It's in something called IF Magazine.

The article/interview is from 2012.

Fisher said she met Hardy when she was a script editor for a kids TV show that Hardy was writing for.

I wonder which one.

I guess I can just cross reference their filmographies.....

Looking at Hardy's filmography.  It looks like it was The Sleepover Club that brought them together.

In between The Sleepover Club and Laid, the two writers worked together on Last Man Standing.  

Fisher says this about her and Hardy's collaboration: 

I think our styles are slightly different. I think she does much more zingy one-liners and lots of pop culture references and I think I’m a bit more mushy. I often go for the heart and the warmth and the kind of poignant moment.

That makes collaboration sound really wonderful.

I haven't done much writing with other people. What Fisher says makes me want to. It sounds nice, working with your strengths and having someone else pick up the slack when it comes to your weaknesses.

My biggest weakness is probably descriptions. I'm horrible at describing people and settings.

It would be cool if I can have someone write the descriptions and I'd maybe do the dialogue?  We could both work on plot stuff.

Although I imagine sometimes things don't work out well. What if I have a writer friend that I adore. We want to work together but it ends up we both suck at writing descriptions. What if we both think we're good at writing dialogue, and we get all competitive and spiteful about that.

I like what Fisher says here: She’s a lot stronger on the directing – in rehearsals she’s much more able to direct performers because she understands that language. She understands how to communicate it in a way that’s sort of subtle and diplomatic rather than me going “not like that!

Funny! And I like Fisher's self-awareness. She seems to understand her strengths and weaknesses.

Oh!  I could have just kept reading.

In Marieke's section, she reveals that the children's show was The Sleepover Club.

Now I'm wondering why Fisher was vague about it. Did she forget the show?  Was she trying to be mysterious? Is she embarrassed of it?

* * *

Now I'm reading an interview with Benjamin Law regarding The Family Law.

He says something similar to what Fisher said about collaboration. AND he also seems to agree with what Fisher said regarding her emotional writing.

He says: Even in the series two iteration of the writers room, there are all of these different elements that complement each other. Lawrence Leung brings a lot of heart. Kirsty Fisher brings so much emotional depth, but also logic as well. She will say “This doesn’t make sense. This would make sense if you were in *this* situation”. Sophie Miller just has the vision. I provide really bad jokes, half of which don’t work. And Julie Eckersley who is our producer, who is in the room as well, has an acting background. So, when we can’t understand a scene, she gets up out of her chair to act it out.

That's very cool.

* * *

Here's an article, in The Age, about Fisher, Hardy, and Laid.

Now suddenly I'm naming the websites that I'm visiting.. I mean I usually do that when it comes to IMDb, Twitter, and stuff like that. But I don't usually name the places I'm finding the articles or blogposts.

So, now I'm thinking what I really need, in terms of collaboration, is a writer who is good at consistency.

I'm horrible at being consistent.

For example....

Should I write out numbers or should I just use the actual number?

When I talk about TV shows, should I talk in present tense or past tense. Should it be Ryan Corr is in Packed to the Rafters or Ryan Corr was in Packed to the Rafters.

Anyway.....

Paul Kalina, the author of the article, describes Laid as part gentle black comedy, part romantic fable.

I like that—gentle black comedy.

I wonder what other shows would fit into that description. 

Maybe Santa Clarita's Diet?  The gore of the show is FAR from gentle. It's very gruesome. But the characters are so sweet...even though they're committing murder.

Hardy is big on declaring that her show is not about female empowerment or a female fightback show.

Why? What's so wrong with that?  

I mean not every show has to be about female empowerment. But why would someone feel the need to promote the fact that it's not.  

It's like she's worried people will avoid the show because they're afraid of feminist themes.  

There's also stuff in the article about making sure Roo (Alison Bell) doesn't seem like too much of a slut. Because then she could end up being unlikeable.

Yikes.  

And they didn't want Roo to be too beautiful, because it might be a put off to female viewers.

Okay. That one I'm guilty of.

Sort of.

There have been actresses I've been resistant to, because they were too pretty. When I first saw their shows, I saw them as mindless, boring Barbie Dolls. But within an episode or two, I quite adored them.

The two that come to mind are Amanda Schull in 12 Monkeys and Lauren German in Lucifer.

I also have issues when almost every woman on a show looks like models. The newer episodes of Home and Away were like that for me. Too much prettiness. 

* * *

As for social media....

There are quite a few Kirsty Fisher's on Twitter,  but I don't think any of them are the subject of this post.

How about Instagram?

No. I'm not finding the right Kirsty Fisher there either.

I don't have a Facebook account, so I'm not going to explore that avenue.

So...I guess this will be the end.

Read my novel: The Dead are Online 

Mean Protagonists, Bossy People, Rejection, and Snow

1. Read an article about how the homeschooling rate is increasing in South Australia.

There aren't a lot of families doing it—only 651.  But in 2006, there were only 374.  

I think it's going to become more and more common.

2. Imagined that one day, schooled children might be the minority.

3. Read Tweets with the hashtag #YouknowyourAustralianwhen.  

I think it's basically a forum for Australians to describe their various life experiences.

My favorites so far:

Camille's Tweet,  #youknowyoureaustralian when you think you see a snake so you pick up a stick to hit it but it's the stick that's the snake

Ella's Tweet, #youknowyoureaustralianwhen u come out of the toilet w an interesting fact annd have to explain to your family that it came from ur pad wrapper

4. Started watching an episode of Wicked Science.

I's about not being invited to a birthday party.

5. Thought about the episode.

What happens is, Bianca (Anya Trybala) doesn't invite Elizabeth (Bridget Neval) to her birthday party, so Bianca uses her magical science skills to ruin the birthday party by creating bad weather.

Maybe Bianca and her friends would have saved themselves some trouble if they hadn't excluded Elizabeth. Have they not heard the story of Sleeping Beauty?

6. Thought it was quite mean to invite everyone or almost everyone in the class, except one person—even if that one person is a brat.

7. Decided the show reminds me a bit of The Saddle Club in that the "good guys" are not much better than the villain.

8. Remembered something else in the episode.

Elizabeth plans to create a cyclone at the beach, which is very dangerous. This is supposed to be seen as a villainous act.

But then Toby (Andre de Vanny) stops Elizabeth's plan by relocating the cyclone to where Elizabeth is. Wouldn't that be dangerous as well?

If Toby was really that much better than Elizabeth, he would have just stopped the cyclone.

Or maybe he didn't know how.

9. Wondered if maybe I didn't watch close enough. Maybe Toby made sure that the cyclone was gentle.

10. Started watching the scene again and saw that Elizabeth and her minions started a twister not a cyclone.

11. Saw that Toby used a mylar balloon reflection to bring the twister to Elizabeth. I'm guessing this is the only idea he could come up with.

But still. He hears Elizabeth and her friends screaming in terror. He doesn't look at all concerned. In fact, he smiles about it.

12. Started watching an episode of Home and Away.

13. Learned that Andy (Tai Hara) isn't opposed to having sex with Hannah (Cassie Howarth). He just didn't expect the opportunity to come so soon. Or so he says.

I think the idea of having sex with a paralyzed person might not appeal to him, so he wants to procrastinate.

14. Thought maybe Andy just needs time to get used to the idea.

I don't think Andy is a bad guy, and I don't think he's never going to want to have sex with Hannah again unless she regains movement of her legs.

He might just need to get used to the changes.

On the other hand, he should probably push himself a bit. It's hard enough for Hannah to deal with not being able to walk again. It would be better if she didn't have to have doubts about her boyfriends attraction to her.

15. Didn't like what John (Shane Withington) says about his son Jett (William Charles McDonald) not wanting to move.

When Jett slams the door in anger, John says Jett has to learn he can't always get his own way. Yet John's wife and son don't want to move. Isn't John really the one that's insisting he get his own way?

I think there are people who are very controlling and self-centered. They want things their way and like to make the decisions. Sometimes they may try to sound open-minded. They'll say they're willing to listen to the ideas of others. But then those ideas are often quickly shut down.  When these people hear plans that are in opposite to their own, especially if not solicited, they get agitated. Then they sometimes label the disagreeing individuals as selfish and difficult.

16. Started to worry I was actually describing myself.

17. Thought about it.

I can be a bit bossy sometimes—especially with traveling plans.  On the other hand, I often feel I'm trying to balance what Tim wants with what Jack wants. Then there's also what I want.

18. Decided I'm not so awful usually. Jack talked about wanting to go to Disneyland next instead of Disney World. I let it be known that I prefer Disney World and got him on my side.  I didn't lay down the law, though. I just pleaded my case and won. Then later Jack went back to wanting to go to Disneyland, and he soon had ME convinced.

19. Thought about how I'm usually the one who makes the plans, but I definitely put other people's interests into consideration and am usually flexible about changing plans.

20. Thought about how sometimes I am bossy but say the other person can have their way IF they follow my rules.

For example, I recently told Tim I'd be willing to move to a new house IF we get rid of every single cardboard box lying around our house, and all the junk. Our house is SO full of crap. I'm not having movers come to pack up all our crap so we can unpack the crap in a new house.

21. Thought Andy was being a jerk.

First of all, he tells Hannah that it's his job to take care of her. Of course, she gets even more upset at this. He's pretty much saying she's a burden.

Then Hannah releases Andy from his duty. She says he doesn't have to stay with her anymore. He doesn't fight back!  He just walks out.

Is he relieved? Is he clueless?

If someone did that to me, I would assume they didn't want to be with me.

It's not like Hannah pretended she was one over the relationship.  You know how fictional characters do that sometimes—they pretend to be disinterested in someone they love, because they think they're protecting them?

 I know! Like Edward to Bella in Twilight.

What would it say about Bella if Edward rejected her by saying he understands he's a burden to her; she's free to go; and Bella just walked away?  I think I'd conclude that Bella really wasn't that attracted to Edward and welcomed the chance to gain her freedom back.

22. Hoped Hannah will find a new man that will treat her right.

23. Thought of a situation in which I wouldn't fault Andy.

That is if he had stopped loving Hannah before the accident.

What if he had wanted to break up with her before the accident but hadn't gotten around to it?

He'd be kind of stuck now, because people would think the worst of him if he dumped Hannah while she was struggling with her injuries.

If I remember correctly, there was a storyline like that in the movie 50/50. The girlfriend wanted out of the relationship, and then the boyfriend got cancer.  She was presented as a bitch for not doing enough to support him. But I think if she had loved him, she would have done more.

It's a really difficult situation.

Is it Andy and Hannah's situation? I don't know. Because the Hulu episodes begin after the bus crash. I don't know what was going on with Andy and Hannah before that.

24. Went to the Tropfest website.

Today I'm going to watch a 2009 film called "Blue".

25. Started to watch the film.

26. Saw lots of snow in the film.

27. Saw a minute and a half pass by without any dialogue.

I think this film isn't going to have a lot of talking.

28. Saw that a large portion of the film is a woman walking in the snow.

29. Did not like the sound of the woman digging in the snow with her hands.

It bothers me for some reason.

30. Finished watching the movie.

I thought it was okay. I didn't hate it, but I also didn't love it.

31. Thought about the TSI rule. Each 2009 Tropfest film is supposed to involve the word spring.

I didn't see any spring.

I saw a lot of winter.

32. Wondered if "Blue" was one of the Tropfest films not made by Australians.

There's a lot of snow in the movie, and I don't associate that amount of snow with Australia.

Then I thought of places like Hotham, Victoria and the Snowy Mountains.  I know those places have snow. Do they have a lot of it?

33. Googled and saw photos of Hotham.

There's a lot of snow.

34. Saw from IMDb that the film was not filmed in Australia.

It was filmed in Germany.

All but one cast member has the name Müller. That sounds German.

The other cast member is Nathan Stone. He's also the writer and director. His name sounds less German to me.

Is he German? Australian? Other?

35. Saw that Nathan Stone usually does visual effects work.  He was digital compositor for a movie I saw a week or so ago—Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead.

36. Googled digital compositor, because I don't know what that is.

Lord Wiki says it involves combining layers in a film.

37. Read another website about digital compositing. I think I sort of get it but not enough to explain it.

What I'm thinking is it's like when I used to edit films. On the program, there are multiple layers for visual and audio. So one layer might have your footage; then another layer might have some sort of overlay—for example, titles or other video

38. Remembered in one of my home videos, I actually got fancy and had over-lay flashbacks using past videos.

39. Looked through Nathan Stone's credits. He's done work in Asia, Germany, and Australia—maybe other places as well.

40. Googled and learned that Nathan Stone, along with a guy named Stuart Campbell, have a visual effects company called Double Barrel VFX.

It's located in Perth.

The two guys work with film, television, video games, and probably other things.

41. Started to watch the Double Barrel VFX reel.  It starts off grim—people injured in a car accident.
Now I'm seeing fire and a plane crash.

This isn't a happy video.

42. Thought the film was neat, because it shows the original footage. Then a line goes by, and we're shown the doctored result.

43. Saw from Twitter that Tony Abbott is meeting with a controversial religious group in the US.  It seems they're anti-gay.

44. Started to read an article about the situation.

45. Learned that Alan Sears, the founding president of Alliance Defending Freedom wrote a book entitled, The Homosexual Agenda: Exposing the Principal Threat to Religious Liberty Today.

It reminds me of someone we have in our lives. We were talking about Modern Family, and he complained about the homosexual agenda.  Or maybe he called it the liberal agenda. I forget.

46. Wanted to say that one of the things I like about Crash Course is John Green talks about how freedom is defined in different ways. For some, it's freedom from big government. For others, it's freedom from poverty and starvation.

For some people, freedom is being able to marry the person you love.

For others, freedom is being free from having neighbours who are in a same-sex marriage.

Saw from Twitter that Triple J now has their 2015 countdown!

I guess it's an Australia Day thing.

47. Saw from the Triple J website that the countdown is actually not finished, because it's in progress.

It will be going on through out the day.

Right now, they have songs 100-95 up.

48. Started looking at the nationalities of 95-100.

49. Saw that song 94 is there now.

50. Counted.

Out of the six bottom songs, three are Australian, two are British, one is American, and one is British and American.

51. Tried to decide if I want to go through the list like I did with the 2014 one.

I think maybe I will, but after I finish with all the Tropfest films.

52. Decided to listen to the live countdown for a little bit. That's kind of exciting.

Right now there's an Indian-sounding song.

53. Saw that it's called "Indian Summer" by Jai Wolf.

I wonder if Jai Wolf is Indian.

54. Learned that Jai Wolf is from New York.

He looks sort of Indian, but I'm not sure.

55. Saw that the next song ("Golden Features") features Thelma Plum. I think I remember her...a little.

The music group is Golden Features.

56. Read about Golden Features.

The identity of Golden Features was a secret. Then it was revealed that it was a longtime Sydney producer. Apparently, there's a trend with that—people making music and being mysterious about their identity.

It's like The Bad Lip Reading video guy. I really want to know who that is!

Read my novel: The Dead are Online 

Sort of Funny, Barry, Trying to Create a Popular Franchise, and Burleigh Smith

1. Started watching an episode of Review with Myles.

The first part made me laugh out loud, which is good. Because today I was thinking that I regret leaving the show on my to-watch list.

I don't hate the show. I think it has some nice deep thoughts. I just don't usually find it very funny...even though it's a comedy.

So, I was glad to have something, on the show, make me laugh.  

2. Decided I usually see Review with Myles as being more interesting-funny than laugh-out-loud funny.  

There's stuff I find amusing but usually not amusing enough to get a laugh out of me.

3. Saw that one of the Barrys is on this episode.

I forgot his last name. It's not Humphrey or Otto.

Maybe it's Otto.

It's the one who sang The Neighbours theme.

Barry Crocker? Is that it? Or am I getting confused with Betty Crocker.

He's the guy who was in the movie that's not starring Barry Humphries, but was maybe written by Barry Humphries.

My mind goes so blank sometimes.

4. Googled. 

The actor IS Barry Crocker. The movie is yet another Barry—The Adventures of Barry McKenzie. 

Barry Humphries co-wrote the movie along with Bruce Beresford. He also DID star in it. I guess I knew he was in it. Or Dame Edna is in it.  What I really meant is he isn't the main star; he isn't the title character.

5. Wondered. Is there a Barry Otto, or did I make that up?

6. Saw that there is indeed an Australian actor named Barry Otto.

Is he related to Miranda?

7. Saw that Barry is Miranda's daddy.

I probably already learned that once upon a time—back when I wrote a post about Miranda Otto.

8. Finished watching the episode.

9. Started to watch the rest of I, Frankenstein.

10. Thought about how I'd probably like this movie more if it was only about the continuation of Frankenstein's story and the mad scientist stuff.  I could do without the war between the gargoyles and demons.

It almost feels like there were two movie ideas—a Frankenstein sequel and a gargoyle/demon war. Then someone decided to combine the two.

11. Figured the problem is Frankenstein is more science-fiction horror—as far as I know. Then gargoyles and demons are more religious-supernatural horror.  I don't know if I like the mix of the two that much.

Well, I don't like it in this particular case.  

I do like it in The Strain.

12. Wondered if that's true.

Maybe I'd actually prefer The Strain without the supernatural stuff. 

13. Thought that Farscape is a better example of a show, I like, that combines the supernatural and science fiction.  

Well, at least there're some bits of mysticism—life after death ideas.

14. Felt I am probably just burned out on the whole mythical creatures genre—angels, demons, vampires, witches, etc.

I used to love that stuff.

15. Finished watching the movie.

I thought it was pretty bad.

26. Thought that maybe the dialogue was the worst part.

The lines were really corny.

I guess that could be excused by the idea that Frankenstein is a scientific-creation. Maybe his speech skills aren't well developed. 

In general, though, I felt it was that kind of movie that wasn't made by the heart. Instead, it seems made by people hoping to create a popular franchise.  I especially got that feeling with the last scene and the last lines of dialogue. 

27. Wondered if there really are movies made by people who don't care about the story and characters and just want to make money.  Or does it just feel that way when a movie fails to entertain us?

I mean maybe the people who made I, Frankenstein really DID put their heart and soul into it. 

28. Wondered if there were any movies put together just for the purpose of making a box office hit, and the movie actually turned out to be well-liked and critically acclaimed.

I'd also wonder the same thing about books and TV shows.

Are there any well-loved books out there where the author started with the questions, What's popular and what's going to make me a lot of money?

29. Figured it might be hard to find the answer to the above questions, because if books, movies, or TV shows like that exist, I'm not sure the creator is going to want to admit they were just trying to make something that would appeal to the masses.  

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

It's the kid's show Scooter: Secret Agent.

That might be fun. 

31. Started to look at Scooter: Secret Agent on IMDb. 

I don't really recognize any of the main cast, except Tony Nikolakopoulos in a very vague way.

I'm kind of disappointed.

I like watching Aussie stuff where people are very familar to me. It's kind of comforting

We could say Dan Wylie is sort of like my security blanket.

32. Looked at some of the guest cast and starting getting happy.

So far I see Ryan Corr and Dena Kaplan. That's awesome.

Anyone else?

Nicholas Bell. I used to love him, but now he's gone down a few notches for being in the Frankenstein movie.  

Yeah. I hold grudges sometimes. I'm still unloving Damien Richardson for attacking Kelly (Deborah Mailman) on The Secret Life of Us.

33. Saw Damien Fotiou from Neighbours!

I think of that guy every time I don't want to cry in public. I bitched about Nick's how-not-to-cry-at-funerals advice. But then that advice came very much in handy when we went to see Inside Out. 

And I've used it since then. I think the last time might have been at The America Adventure attraction at Epcot. That song really gets to me. 

It's not that I'm super patriotic or anything. But it reminds me of my childhood.  

Also...though I'm not very patriotic about the United States. I AM very patriotic about Disney World.

34. Saw Kim Gyngell appears on an episode.

I've seen him in various things, but for some reason the thing that sticks out is his surgeon role on The Secret Life of Us. 

35. Saw Nicolai Nikolaeff in the credits, and wondered if he's from The Saddle Club.

I know I've seen him in something, and The Saddle Club is what comes to mind.  

36. Saw that yes, he's from The Saddle Club. And he was also on Camp.

37. Started to watch a 2007 Tropfest Finalist film.

This one is called "Mere Oblivion".

38. Saw Kate Ritchie in the opening credits.

Cool!

39. Liked the music used for the film.

I'm pretty sure it's jazz, but I can be pretty ignorant about music. So I might be wrong.

40. Finished watching the movie.

I think it was pretty good.  

Kate Ritchie had a VERY small role. She was in a only a photograph that was shown for about two seconds.

41. Looked at the director of Mere Oblivion on IMDb—Burleigh Smith.  He's made a lot of short films. It seems to be his thing.  

42. Learned from Lord Wiki that Burleigh Smith sees Woody Allen as his biggest influence.

I can see that.

The film had a Woody Allen aura to it.

43. Learned that Smith's film Ragtime features Bridie Carter and John Waters. 

44. Saw that Bridie Carter has been in two of Smith's films.

45. Learned that Smith is going to be making/releasing a full feature film called You Can't Play the Game If You Don't Know the Rules. 

46. Hoped to one day see Smith's short film "Why I Hate the Left".  Lord Wiki says it's supposed to be released on Christmas Day.

Released where?

Oh! Okay. I reread the information. It's going to be spread among the film festivals.  

Hopefully it will be on YouTube or Vimeo someday.

I don't go to film festivals.

47. Thought maybe I should go to a film festival someday.

Jack's been interested in film lately.

It might be a good thing for our family to do together someday.

48. Got idea from Lord Wiki that "Why I Hate the Left" is actually anti-left. I was imagining it was more of a parody of people hating the left or at least something that makes fun of both sides of the politics.

Lord Wiki, though, gives me the idea that it really is anti-left. He says, The film is a reaction to Outrage Culture, Feminazism, Social Justice Warriors, political correctness and Left-Wing entitlement.

Wow.

Interesting!

John Kaye, Australian Movies, Damien Fotiou, and Behind the Scenes

1. Read an article about New South Wales MP John Kaye wanting an investigation done on unschooling and the Premier Mike Baird saying no, thank you.

John Kaye, a Greens Leader, is the head of a parliamentary committee that seems quite prejudice against unschooling.

According to the article, a report from the committee said,  The committee is concerned that taken to its extreme, children who are unschooled may not achieve even basic levels of literacy and numeracy. The application of unschooling may constitute educational neglect.

Well, I'm concerned that this committee is made up of adults who were traditionally schooled as children; and these schools failed to teach these individuals that one should do open-minded research before making damning accusations.

2. Wondered if the committee met with many unschooling families. Have they found several unschooled children who do not have basic math and reading skills?

I'm sure there ARE some unschooled children who do not have needed skills. Maybe in some cases, their parents are failing them. But in other cases, it might be that the child is struggling with a learning disability, and they would have struggled in a traditional classroom as well.

Are some unschooled children neglected? I'm sure they are. But come on! Does every school child go home to a happy, healthy, and safe environment?

3. Wanted to say that I would not have a problem with the government wanting to investigate unschooling. Although maybe we could use another word. Investigate makes it sounds like they're looking at a crime.

What's a better word?

I can't think of one right now.

Anyway, I think it would be nice for the government to look at unschooling.  I definitely think they should take it seriously. But in a positive way. Or how about at least a neutral way?

From what I see the in the article, the committee is going at it in a very negative way.

4. Wondered about a quote from John Kaye. He said, It is highly unusual for the Premier to sign a government response to an inquiry. This time it looks like he is meddling in a policy area that is increasingly of interest to his conservative Christian power base.

So he thinks unschooling families are conservative Christians?

I don't know if his belief is wrong or right.

I know homeschooling used to be seen as a dominantly Christian thing. But, at least in the United States, it has spread out a bit more.

I'm probably speaking from my own prejudices here; but I see traditional homeschooling as being more likely done by conservative Christians. With unschooling, I picture a wider range of religions and philosophies—Paganism, Judaism, New Age, atheism, etc.

5. Remembered the unschooling conferences we've been to. I'd say the crowd there was definitely more in the Pagan-New Age range than the conservative Christian one.

I know there are unschooling Christians, but I would GUESS that most of them are liberal Christians and not conservative ones.

6. Went to John Kaye's website.

He looks like a doctor to me—the kind who doesn't listen to patients; the kind who gives you a stern look when you say you've read about your symptoms on the Internet.

Yes. I'm judging someone on their looks. But maybe his viewpoint has prejudiced me a bit.

7. Dreaded reading Kaye's blog post on the unschooling issue. I know it's going to make me angry. But I'm going to do it anyway.

First of all the title of the post is highly offensive. "Baird Runs Cover for Educational Neglect".

8. Bewildered by a John Kaye quote.  The state has an over-riding obligation to protect the welfare of all children. That includes ensuring there is research into the consequences of unschooling that is not tainted by bias against mainstream education.

But it's okay for his committee to be biased against unschooling?

9. Decided ignorant prejudices against unschooling families is not very different from ignorant prejudices against gay-parenting families.

It's taking a very imperfect system that has failed many children throughout history and saying, This is the way things need to be done. This is the only thing that is healthy for children. Shame on those who are doing things differently. 

If all traditionally schooled children grew up to be healthy, mentally stable, well-functioning members of society who caused minimal harm to themselves and others; I'd feel quite conflicted about unschooling.

And if all children of mother-father households grew up to be healthy, mentally stable, well-functioning members of society who caused minimal harm to themselves and others; maybe it would be best for gay parents to put their sexual needs aside and try to follow the crowd.

Sometimes a traditional schooled education works out extremely well. Sometimes it works out moderately well. Sometimes it turns out quite awful. So I don't see any problem in trying something different.

10. Saw from John Kaye's bio page that he's a strong advocate for public education.

That's lovely. But can't he be pro-public education without bashing other types of education?

Then again, I'm pro-homeschooling and I sometimes bash public schools.

Or do I? I'm not against schools—private or public. I just don't like society's reliance on them.  Or...no. It's not really that. What I don't like is the idea that schools are a necessity for all children. I want to live in a world where adults don't ask children, What grade are you in? Or, Do you have the day off of school?  But instead ask, Do you go to school or do you learn at home? 

I guess what I'm saying is, I want homeschooling to be even more mainstream. I don't want public schools to disappear, but I'd like there to be less of them.  Instead of having many public schools, I'd like to have more libraries and community centers.

 

11. Looked at a list of seven recommended Australian movies. I saw it on Livejournal this morning when I was writing down my dream. I didn't read the post then, because I got sidetracked.

But now...I'm going to see if I've seen any of the movies.

12. Surprised that the list didn't include Muriel's Wedding. I wish it did, because then I wouldn't feel like such a loser when reading the list. I haven't seen any of the seven movies.  I've seen parts of Picnic at Hanging Rock but not all of it.

On the bright side, I've at least heard of five out of the seven movies.

13. Realized that three of the Australian movies I've seen star Toni Collette—Mary and Max, Muriel's Wedding, and Mental.

It's kind of significant, because I haven't seen many Australian movies.

And I think four of the movies I've seen feature Deborah Mailman—Mental, Bran Nue Dae, The Sapphires, and....

I forgot the fourth.

Maybe there isn't a fourth.

14. Looked at Deborah Mailman's filmography. There isn't a fourth.

Unless I've seen Rabbit Proof Fence? I've read the book, and I've watched at least some of the movie. I don't think I've seen the whole thing.

15. Started watching Eagle and Evans.

The canned laughter makes me feel lonely, because the other people are amused, and I'm not. I feel very alienated from the crowd.

16. Thought sketch with man locking himself out of a convertible car was mildly amusing, but I didn't find it funny enough to laugh.

17. Failed to understand why Eagle and Evans isn't just a sketch show instead of a comedy about a sketch show.  They don't have many scenes about the behind the scenes stuff—mostly just a short segment in the beginning where they pitch ideas to their producer.

Wait. I just remembered. They also have some scenes about interviewing potential guest-stars on their show.

Still...why not just do a recurring sketch about that type of thing?

18. Liked Expat Nikki's inspiring post about surfing.  She confesses that, despite growing up in coastal Australia, she never learned to surf.  But then she ended up learning how to do it in South Africa.

She asks at the end of the post, Is there an opportunity you didn’t take the first time around and have now, or wished you had?

I'm wondering if there's been something like that in my life? I'll have to think about it.

19. Decided one regret I have is not traveling more when I was younger. I regret not taking a gap year. I wish I had done some kind of work-study program overseas.

I don't think I've remedied my regret a lot yet. We have traveled to Australia three times. That's something. And we went to London.  Spent a night in Japan....

In the future, I'd like to do more remedying.

20. Appreciated the Eagle and Evans sketch about plastic surgery.

The surgeon says, Okay. I think what we really want to do here is remove the general ugliness of the face and replace it with something more palatable to the general public.

I think that's what doctors and dentists really mean when they say treatment is needed for psychosocial well-being.

21. Started watching another episode of Eagle and Evans.

22. Saw that Eagle and Evans had a sketch about photo-bombing. I think they're ahead of their time, because the show is from 2004. I think the photo-bombing term is pretty new.

23. Consulted Lord Wiki. He says photobombing became a big thing in 2009.

I'm sure people photobombed before that. We just didn't talk about it much or have a term for it.

They don't actually use the term on Eagle and Evans.  What happens is a woman shows Eagle and Evans her photo album, and each picture features the same random guy.

24. Started watching an episode of Neighbours.

I liked the scene between Paige (Olympia Valance) and Brennan (Scott McGregor).

Brennan dumped Paige awhile back, and she still has feelings for him. He orders something in the cafe. She asks about his current girlfriend, and Brennan is obliged to tell Paige that said girlfriend is no longer his girlfriend.

Paige is sweet and polite about the whole thing, but I imagine inside she's jumping for joy.

Or at least I would be.

Of course, I wouldn't want my ex to be depressed and suicidal.  But I imagine I'd like knowing they're available again. And there's also that karma thing. Or not karma, exactly, but what goes around comes around.  (which yeah is kind of like Karma, but also a bit different)

It's probably cold-hearted to say this, but if someone rejects me, I'm not sure I'd mind seeing them rejected in return.

25. Felt that Nick (Damien Fotiou) reminded me my Dad. My dad is much less evil...as far as I know.  I'm pretty sure he doesn't have any diabolical plans. But like Nick, he's narcissistic.

I just watched a scene where Nick is being encouraged by his sister (Rebekah ElmaLoglou) to turn himself in.  Instead of acting like a man who regrets his actions, he still speaks of himself as a man who can help save the world and puts the blame on all the people "persecuting" him.  I've seen this kind of behavior my dad.

26. Amazed that Nick still sees himself as the hero in the story.

27. Annoyed by Daniel (Tim Phillips). He hugged Imogen (Ariel Kaplan) a bit too long.

Imogen is in love with Daniel. Daniel is dating Imogen's best friend Amber (Jenna Rosenow).

Hugging Imogen like that is both unfair to Imogen and Amber.

28. Hoped that Paul (Stefan Dennis) hurries up and apologizes to Georgia. And he needs to thank her.

She tried to tell Paul that Nick faked Paul's cancer, and Paul wouldn't listen to her. Not only that, but he was quite bitchy about it.

Now Paul knows the truth, and an apology needs to come fast.

29. Saw that Paige is more noble than I am. She bitches Naomi (Morgana O'Reilly) out for dumping Brennan.

Paige is such a busy-body. But still. It was sweet of her to try to fight her ex's battles.

30. Saw that even though Paul was bitchy to Georgia, he's even more bitchy to Nick. He really gives him hell! And Nick deserves all of it. But I still found myself feeling sorry for him.

31. Pleased with Paul. He gives Georgia a very sincere apology; expresses gratitude towards her for saving him; and offers to give her any help she might need.

32. Watched the preview for the next episode of Neighbours. It looks a bit boring.

Though I hate Nick, I'm going to miss his storyline.

33. Thought of Neighbours while I was out at the pool.

I realized something. Paul actually has two reasons to apologize to Georgia. There's his harshness towards her regarding her accusations about Nick. But there's also the fact that it was Paul that Nick bet against about getting Georgia into bed with him. Paul was in on all of it.

You know, when Paul apologized, I thought Georgia was a bit stingy with her forgiveness. She wasn't very warm. I was thinking Yeah, Paul was a jerk, but it's kind of understandable. He believed Nick saved his life. Of course he'd want to defend Nick.

But now that I've remembered what else Paul did, I don't blame Georgia for not being warm and fuzzy.

34. Decided to face the face of the man I hate.

Damien Fotiou. He's done a good job with the role, because if I ever see him, I'm going to feel tempted to scream at him.

I looked at his filmography in the past and saw that he was on The Saddle Club. I think I remember him. He wasn't very nice there either.

Actually, if I remember correctly, he was in another fake illness storyline. But this time he was the victim of trickery. The Saddle Club girls needed something from him in his office, so they distracted him with a fake illness.

35. Decided to try to find Fotiou in The Saddle Club episode.

36. Saw Fotiou's character. He's not who I thought he was.

He played Antoine, the boyfriend of the French girl (Matylda Buczko)

  37. Learned, from Lord Wiki, that Fotiou is co-owner and a director at a place called Brave Studios.

They have acting classes and  facilities for people pursuing an acting career.

38. Looked at their self-test page.

I just learned that America often requests Australian actors to send these in. I guess it's kind of like an audition tape.

39. Looked at the photos of the teachers at Brave Studios.

I think I recognize one of them—Damien Walshe-Howling.  I think he was on The Secret Life of Us; and something else I watched.

40. Looked at the filmography of Damien Walshe-Howling.  I would have also seen him on Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms and Satisfaction.

41. Decided to watch backstage video of Damien Fotiou and Saskia Hampele on the official Neighbours YouTube channel.

Fotiou seems nice—very different from Nick.

He has a nice laugh.

42. Enjoyed that video. It was so much fun.

Hampele shows some backstage tricks. For example, the door to Harold's leads to a small storage room. So when the actors walk through the door of Harold's, they're not actually walking into a cafe.

It reminds me of the Tardis stuff.

The door to the Waterhole does lead to the Waterhole lobby. But then further into the area is a storage room where they keep baby prop supplies.

43. Saw that the video I watched was published in November 2014. So they film months ahead.

When did Nick first appear?

Let me see.....

According to IMDb, his first episode was in February 2015.

Wow, I didn't know he was on the show that long.

That's the thing with binge-watching.  I'm going through time quite fast.

On July 5-two weeks ago-I watched the episode with Matt's funeral.  That was the March 31 episode. Now I'm on the April 29 episode.  So I've done about a month's worth in two weeks.

I guess that's not a huge amount of episodes.

It's not like I'm finishing a month of episodes in one weekend.

44. Decided to watch another Neighbour's backstage video featuring Nick Fotiou.  I think they're filming the scene I watched today, where Terese (Rebekah Elmaloglou) tries to convince him not to run away.

45. Thought Fotiou seems more tense here. He's probably really sad, because it's his last day at work.

Or maybe he's doing method acting.

46. Remembered poor Emily Kinney crying about The Walking Dead.

You know, she's one of those people I stopped liking because there was way too much self-promotion on her Twitter. But then she won me over again by crying on The Talking Dead.  It was just so incredibly sweet.

47. Failed to watch the Emily Kinney video without crying.

48. Went back to watching The Neighbours video.

49. Thought that Fotiou looked much less happy and friendly in this video.

Maybe he was angry about losing his job.

Maybe a bit depressed?

Or maybe Fotiou is the type of actor who gets nervous and giggles when doing an intense scene, so he was doing some kind of mental exercise to prevent that.

50. Wondered if maybe Fotiou had a headache or stomachache.

51. Saw more recent backstage videos on YouTube.  I mean I didn't watch them. I just see the description. The most recent one features a guy named Matt Wilson. He plays Aaron Brennan. So I guess they're bringing in more of Mark's family.

Are Aaron and Tyler (Travis Burns) going to fight over Imogen?

52. Saw that there's also a new guy named Ben...played by Felix Mallard.

Mallard looks familiar.

I have to look him up.

52. Confused. Mallard is listed as being on Neighbours in 2014.  So why is he on a backstage video posted a month ago?

Oh! Maybe he's coming back?

52. Looked at the description on the video. Ben is the grandson of Karl.  I think he's the one who came to visit with his mom. That's why I recognize him.

I guess he's going to come back.

Cool!

53. Saw even more new actors on Neighbours. What the hell?  How many changes are going to happen from May to July?

Well, I guess they're needing to replace James Mason and Josef Brown.

54. Felt a desire to watch all these backstage videos.  I'm loving them.

Of course, I won't watch them all in one day.

Maybe I'll just watch one more for today.

55. Decided to start at the beginning of the backstage videos.

The first is about Toadie (Ryan Moloney) and Sonya's (Eve Morey) wedding, which I didn't actually watch. So I guess this is kind of my chance.

56. Saw actors that are not on the show anymore.

57. Decided to watch one more video.

This one is about the aftermath of some kind of tragedy.

58. Learned that the tragedy was an explosion and Toadie and Sonya's wedding.

Yikes.

Maybe that's why I saw actors that are no longer on the show anymore.  Maybe their characters died in the fire.


Read my novel: The Dead are Online