TV, Timor Leste and Books

Well I am as sick as a dog with the cold that passed through our house, first Mum, then Pabbi and now me, hopefully Matthew won’t get it.

As much as I really hate been sick I am glad I am sick this week not last week or next week. This is because this week is swotvac or study week, which is the week of rest we are given between the end of teaching and the start of the two week exam block. The four exams I have this semester are on June 13, June 14, June 17 and June 19. Though the bummer is that I want to do something productive like study or make stuff but I just don’t have it in me. Dude, it has taken me two days to right this entry 🙂
I went out Saturday night even though I know I should have stayed home and rested for a friend’s 21st party/shindig at Friday’s which was quite nice as it was the first time I had been out all semester.
Had a big night with the TV last night, first up there was the final part of Peking to Paris, that has been a great show to watch, I would have loved to have been on that epic adventure. I have placed the book on hold at the library so I am waiting for that email to come through so I can discover more about their trip.

The final half of Answered by Fire was on last night as well. It was a joint ABC/Canadian Broadcasting Company production and it gave the emotions a good stir (Nadine, when it airs on CBC it is well worth watching, I searched the site but could not find a Canadian air date). The two part mini-series revolves around the 1999 referendum in Timor Leste (East Timor) and the lives of a French-Canadian policewoman, an Australian policeman and a local family. It was a microcosmic look at the event and the before and after effects of the referendum. All of which is particuarly relevant given the current events that are unfolding in Timor Leste at the present.

“The East Timorese saved our arses in World War Two against the Japanese, and then in 1975 we just stood by and let the Indonesians walk in and take this place. We owe these people, big-time.” Mark Waldman (David Wenham)

Timor Leste is probably one of the defining current events of my life so far, I was just shy of 14 when the 1999 referendum occurred and was just starting to see the events of the world in a broader context and since then I have tried to follow the events as best as I can. I will always remember the cheering that happened when at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney when the four athletes from Timor Leste who participated as Individual Olympic Athletes entered the stadium, the cheering they received was on par with the cheering that the Australian team received.
The final episode of Blue Heelers was also on last night which I taped and will watch some time this week.
Blue Heelers was the first “adult” tv show that I got seriously hooked on, this was in the period of say 1998 to 2001 or so. I was hooked: I was on email lists, I would read fanfiction, I would go to episode marathons with some of the Brisbane girls who I had met on the net, we would also go to the meet and greets when the actors came up for Queensland Day. Then as the show progressed and more and more of the characters I loved left so did I. After airing for 13 years with 510 episodes I like many other “retired fans” would have tuned in last night to get our last fix.

Go Australia! We played a friendly against the Netherlands last night in preparation for the start of the World Cup next week and we tied 1-1 🙂

I went to work this morning and then have pretty much spent the rest of the day in bed asleep or reading. I finished Prep today, it was an interesting read. Speaking of books I have finally worked out the kinks and I now have a Book List on my site of the books I have read. I currently have 18 or so novel length books out of the library to work my way through over the next two months so the list will be updated fairly regularly.

Someone want to pass me a new hankie?