Sunday, November 1, 2015

National Anthems, Refugees, Sex, and Infidelity

1. Read article about some Muslims not being happy with their children being forced to sing the Australian national anthem at school.

Before I read the actual article, I thought these Muslims were just being difficult and anti-Australian.

Well, I still think that. Though, I can kind of understand their point now. Maybe.

National anthems can be very patriotic, and it's not easy for everyone to agree with all the sentiments. 

America's national anthem: Liberty and Justice for all?  Really? For everyone?  In your dreams, maybe.

Australia's national anthem: Australians, let us all rejoice for we are young and free.  First of all, what's with the delusions about age? Or wait. Maybe that's about the country itself being young not the people. Though eventually that's not going to apply. Are they going to change the lyrics then? 

2. Thought a maybe-fair compromise for the national anthem is to have all the school children stand for it but not force them to sing along. Or they can sing the parts that they like, and mouth the words to other lyrics when it comes to the parts they don't like.  

3. Realized I quoted from America's Pledge of Allegiance rather than our national anthem.


But yeah. When I was a kid, we did the pledge. We didn't sing the anthem. That's my excuse for being confused. 

4. Wanted to say that, before reading that article, I read an article about Israel being unwelcome towards African asylum seekers. They don't want too many Muslims coming in. 

I think a lot of countries don't want too many Muslims coming in.

I think a lot of countries don't want a lot of newbies, period. 

It's understandable. It's like a child not wanting a new sibling, because when the new sibling comes, there's going to be a shit load of upheaval.  

Actually, it reminds me of this family we once knew. They had two children and then suddenly adopted three Asian children whose parents had been killed. It was very generous of them to do that but easy to imagine how stressful it would be for all of them.

Now if the new children were very well-behaved, overly grateful, and super happy to be in this new family; things might have been easy. But no. That's not going to happen. They probably missed their parents, their country, their old lives, etc.  

When it comes to refugees, people often feel bad for them, but they don't want them. And I'm guessing the refugees don't usually want to be there. They'd probably prefer to be in their homeland—if their homeland wasn't a super dangerous place. 

If you don't want someone there, but they're happy to be there, it's kind of easier to slowly open your heart. 

If you don't want to be somewhere, but the people are welcoming you with open arms, it's easier to slowly open your heart.

But, see. That's usually not the case.  

The world is a mess. 

There really are no easy solutions.

I guess the best that we can do is TRY to be nice to each other.  Don't threaten anyone. Don't stab anyone. Don't shoot anyone. Don't bomb anyone. Don't torture anyone. Don't hold anyone hostage.....

5. Started watching the rest of Not Suitable For Children.

6. Thought that Stevie (Sarah Snook), in the movie, is making life more difficult than it needs to be.

She agrees to have a baby with her friend, Jonah (Ryan Kwanten), since cancer treatment is going to leave him infertile in a few days.

Instead of just having sex, she's insisting that they go the artificial route. It involves paying for a hotel room, buying syringes, Jonah having to masturbate under pressure, and inserting the syringe. 

Sex seems so much easier.

If I was Jonah, I'd be wondering if I was totally repulsive.

7. Felt it would make more sense if one or both of them were gay or in a relationship with someone else.

But as far as I know, they're both straight, and they're both unattached. 

8. Glad that Jonah and Stevie decided to have sex, but I'm tired of watching it.

9. Wondered if most other people enjoy watching excessive scenes of sex in movies and TV shows.

Then I realized that's a really stupid question.

Porn is quite popular.

10. Realized excessive is a very subjective word.

11. Thought that Stevie is annoying and difficult.

First, she doesn't want to have sex with Jonah.  Then she gives in and has sex. She gets her period, which means project-baby has failed. She acts very insensitive towards Jonah and his disappointment over not being a father. She tells him it's fine with her if he tries with someone else. He does; and when she finds out, she angrily rushes away.

12. Finished watching the movie.

I think it was lacking...something.

I think the first problem was I had a hard time understanding a young party animal's sudden strong desire to have children. It didn't feel real to me, even though they had a few scenes with Jonah being an uncle. Maybe more of those scenes would have helped?

I think the movie starts with a wild party. It might have been better to start with Jonah in the park with his niece and nephew.

I think the second main problem was Stevie. She was a bit too bitchy, and Jonah was a bit too nice. It's kind of like she treated him like a doormat.  

13. Concluded that the main problem of the movie was with character development.

14. Went to to find what I plan to start watching on Tuesday.

It's Walkabout. I read the book, but can't remember if I've seen the movie already, or not.  I'm pretty sure I've at least seen parts of it.  

15. Worried that I'll be bored during Walkabout.  I think it's one of those movies that's interesting but kind of slow.

Oh well. If I get bored, I'll play QuizUp while watching.

16. Looked at the cast of Walkabout.

Luc Roeg, the person who played the boy in the movie, became a producer. 

The girl is on that TV show Call the Midwife. I haven't watched it, but I think it's pretty popular. Maybe?

17. Saw that this is David Gulpilil's first movie.

I'm sure I already learned that, but then I forgot it. So, did I really learn it? I don't know.

18. Started watching an episode of Tangle.

19. Wanted to mention that I think the dollhouse credits on Tangle are really cool. 

20. Thought about storyline on Tangle.

Christine (Catherine McClements) has become attracted to Spiros (Chris Hany) who works with her husband Tim (Joel Tobeck). The attraction is mutual.  

Then Spiros betrays Tim in some political way I don't fully understand.

On the same day that Spiros screws Tim, he goes to Christine's office in the pursuit of having sex with her. 

Christina reluctantly says yes; then changes her mind. Thankfully.

It seems to me that if someone tries to have sex with you around the same time they've screwed your husband, they're really just screwing you in attempts to further screw your husband.  

It seems doubtful that Spiros has any true feelings for Christine.

21. Couldn't blame Christine for having the temptation to cheat on her husband. He's cheated on her before. 

But she should pick a better man.

22. Felt Christine is even more justified in cheating on her husband.

He just asked another woman (Kat Stewart) to runaway with him. 

23. Hoped that Christine finds a good man someday. Or I shouldn't say a good man. I'm sure her husband is a decent man in some regards. He's just not good at loving her and staying faithful. He might be good at loving someone else and staying faithful to them.

24. Thought more about what I said yesterday—about men being sexy when they're in love.

I think it might be more the case when it's a forbidden love, and/or there are attempts at restraint.


I don't know.

Maybe love seems more valuable when it's not served on a silver platter.

25. Realized it could also be the whole sexual tension thing.

26. Thought that no-sex in movies and TV was sexier than lots of sex.

A little bit of sex is cool.

A lot of sex? Then I feel like I'm at the zoo. Although I don't think I've actually seen animals having sex at the zoo.  So, it probably feels more like I'm watching a nature documentary.

27. Watched The Mindy Project, and heard Australians mentioned.

They were at a party and did something to a piano. Maybe started a fire on it?

I'm not sure.

28. Went to palg1305's Flickr account

Today I'm going to look at his Gondwana Rainforests album.

I'm not sure I've ever heard of the Gondwana Rainforests.

29. Looked up Gondwana.

I thought it was the name of the major continent thing, but I wasn't sure. I thought maybe I was confusing the word with something else.

But I wasn't.  

30. Reminded by Lord Wiki that Gondwana included Antartica, South America, Africa, Australia, the Arabian Peninsula, and the India area.

31. Learned from Lord Wiki that the Gondwana rainforest is in the eastern part of Australia, in New South Wales and Queensland. 

32. Saw that Lamington National Park is part of the Gondwana Rainforests. I've heard of that. 

33. Started looking at the photos.

I like this one, though it's a bit dark. 

34. Mystified by this photo. At first I thought it was looking down at a body of water. But after I looked at it again, it looked like a puddle of spit.  

35. Thought the people in this photo were flowers, until I got a closer look. 

Maybe I'm not seeing things right tonight.