jodlebirger

on the other side - 50+, I suppose - well, I hope. I am tired that H&A is so unrealistic when it comes to age, everybody seem to have children at the age of 14.... Hugo was meant to be around 30... Menopause is more realistic when it comes to Gina. My mother was in her menopause when she was 46, and a lot of women are at that age. A baby at 47 is really uncommon, well one of my grandmothers was 45, but that is also very very old. You are supposed to be an old mother when you give birth after 35.

I wondered that too!I'd love it if the show did go that way, it'd be nice to see an older woman(and a married one at that!)going through it and how John and Xavier react to it. Even if I'm not watching UK/Australian pace regularly I would say Please no!!! Gina is too old. I would have like to se an older woman getting pregnant, but not Gina.. just because she is too old. She was Hugo's mother remember! You don't get pregnant in your fifties, early to mid forties forties - maybe, but not in early fifties. That would be far too fetched. The actress who plays her is 52 years old, and I do belieave that Gina is about the same age. Some people her are very quick to put characters in late 30's to late 50's in the same bag... and that is strange really. Because there are a big difference being for instance 38 or being 52... I would have said: make this Roo pregnant - she was a teen in late eightees so I suppose she is about 40?? That is a suitable age for being an "older" pregnant woman... By the way, I actually can't stand Gina.. (almost two years behind), she is so lifeless. And Bartlett was a much better principal and a far more intrguing character. I was sad to se him go, after they some kind of promised a more deeper storyline about him in 2008... we never saw a follow up to his loneliness or the Kirsty storyline. Gina is so icecold. I actually liked her during her first month or so, In early 2009 season... but then she became stale and emotionless.

I am almost two years behind you, so I probably remember more about Roman (who sadly left our screens about 2 months ago). His age was mentioned! In episode 4826-2827 when Roman came to the hospital after the car crash it was confirmed by the ambulance-drivers that he was 33 years old..."a 33 year old male with head traumas...."and so on.... (well, I cheated! I actually taped those two eps..) So in the year Nicole turned 18 (Sep 2009) Roman was 33, meaning he was 15 when she was born, something he actually also said in the earlier episodes when he told Martha about Nic. It was mentioned a few times early on that he was 15 when he became a father. So he became a grandfather at the age of 35... very young... but not totally unrealistic. I have a colleguae who became a grandmother at that age. Not a really wanted situation, though....

To have a criminal as gay character is worse than anything else!!! What would the critics have said then??? That being gay is a part of his criminal side??? It will be almost like Zoe, only maybe Heath is more of a realistic criminal character (from what I've read on here, dealing with drugs, doing real crimes and not only being a psycho)... Heath/The braxtons/the river boys are the worst characters to have in a storyline like that. His crimes make him more weird than Dex for instance. And because he is a very good looking guy, critics are going to say that is the only reason they will make him gay - because of the sensationalism. Why not Dex?? He is the only normal looking guy on the show (besides Xavier maybe), the others are models!! Dex has only personality,he is not a criminal and he is not weird (maybe the only normal teen, from what I've seen of him??) and he would be believable in the role. But then again, after seeing the dreadful charlie and Joey storyline again on Norwegian screens this year, I don't want H&A to do a gay storyline again. Never!!!

I don't think that is the real reason! Most of you want a model-like gay character, because you would like two good looking people making out! Just look back at the fan fics and fantasies about Geoff and Aden. There were no reason to think they were gay... They did not struggle with their sexuallity or did not hint liking the same sex. It was just about imagination of two very good looking boys making out!! And Dexter, isn't he normal?? From what I have seen of him, he really is... as the matter of fact the most normal male teen for a very long time!! He is just not a model, he is normal looking, and he has a personality! To say that you don't want Dex to be gay because you don't want a stereotype being gay is actually against yourself. If they had done the lesbian storyline with other than Esther/Charlie, a more believable character I don't think it would have create that much critisism and noise. Because if it had been done differently, that the storyline would have been about being different and accepting who you are, the critics in Australia would have had more difficulties with arguing about the subject... Because then it would have been more about critisize a certain group of people, and the show could have argued that the critics are going to make the world worse for those kids who are struggling with their sexuality and identity. But when it was done like it was done, the show couldn't excactly say it was just about being different... It was very unbelieavable that Charlie was suddenly bifil, or lesbian... she hadn't been unsecure before. And remember how they ended the storyline... It would have been the same with Heath or one of the other Braxtons.... It must be done with a belieavable character, not with some hunk like Heath who have had a lot of same sex storylines before, but someone who has messed around a bit without finding himself/herself the right one. And I would like it to be a young character... Not a character over 20, because they would normally have found themselves.

Heath absolulutely not! Dexter is, hands down! What is wrong with having a so called stereotyped character?? As the matter of fact to have a macho gay character is probably making the problem even worse... Because is it wrong to be different?? H&A always gives the impression of that, only the model looking girls/boys are doing it well... All the boys with a terrible background is always going to "hell" (never going to change...). And the last gay/lesbian storyline on the show went terribly wrong! It actually was excused by a rape-storyline, Charlie was confused of her sexuality because of her being raped years ago - that was absoulutely an insult to every lesbian/gay around the world!! It was just a pr. stunt - having to good looking girls, and especially charlie who are a very speculative character (because the writers do take too much advantage of Esthers good looks..)- To have a typical macho character like this Heath would be excactly the same. It would only attract people because of the sensation of having to good looking people of same sex making out... Just like a lot of the fanfictions on this site. It will not be about accepting people for who they are! To use Dexter in a gay storyline would have been great if it had been done right. A lot of young people around the world are struggling with their sexuality! And as I said being different is not wrong! The characters of H&A are far too stereotyped these days, characters like Annie, Jai, Melody are not the writers first priority. Why is it wrong to have characters being like real people on the show. And don't come with that excuse that it is only a soap!! Eastenders for instance is only a soap too, and they are doing all kind of characters more believable. It makes the show feels like it is about people and people can relate to it!! H&A has become a trash soap just like the american Sunset Beach was... Unfortunately. Making Dexter gay, would have open for a lot of different storylines... His father for instance - how would he have reacted? didn't he freak out when Dex tried Marilyns clothes?? And Colleen?? Or the other characters, Casey for instance?? I can imagine that a type like him, would freak out, especially with his upbringing - the lack of input and normal discussions on different issues. And then we have the characters who absoulutely would have supported him, like Roo, Irene, Leah, Ruby etc... it would actually have been a great ground for a lot of different storylines coming out of this. We are all people, and we are all precious no matter who we are, no matter what kind of colour or sexuality we have. But then again, I have don't think H&A would have done it right. I have no faith in that.

It has been a horrible weather in the south part of Norway, especially in the inland during the past days. Thunder and rain, lots of rain. There are flods everywhere and more rain is expecting. A lot of landslides and rockslides are destroying houses and fields. There are 10 people missing... I don't really like this, I live in a house build on a cliff....

Clear and cold. - 20 degrees. And still very little snow. It is too cold, it is not snowing at such low temperature. I wish that some of the snow that UK and several parts of Europe has would take a trip up here... We need some snow/water.... The power stations don't have enogh water because it has been too dry and cold for too long, and too little rain/snow this year and we also sold some power to other countries last year (Finland) because they were in need for it. But after that the extreme dry winter 2009/2010 started, and now it is dry and cold again. Some places (like in Bergen, Norways second biggest town which is on the west cold and normally a very wet place) there are a fear that they have too cut the power! That would been a disaster and extremely dangerous in this cold! And everywhere the power has become very expensive. South part of Norway needs some snow/rain soon!!!

-15 and a bit windy... really colddd

cold (for November)minus -16 degrees and clear skies. A little snow on the ground, but very little, just a thin white blanket.

I am in Norway too, in south-east, and we haven't had any snow yet... Only sunny chilly weather... And we sometimes do have snow in October. Last year it was snow from october 3rd (more or less, it melted a away for a little while but then it snowed again, and we had a lots of snow by the 21st of October). Tonight: frosty, clear skies, moonlight and -5 degrees. I know Oslo haven't got any snow yet! It's really unusual that we've got snow here in Bergen and there's no snow there. A girl in my class said she moved from Oslo to Bergen because she didn't like snow We had a lot of snow last year too, and I never snows here (or at least it rains away really quickly)! And they're talking about global warming Yeah, I know they haven't got any snow in Oslo either. I live longer north than Oslo... and we usually have more snow than in our capital too. But it's different from year to year... Sometimes it doesn't come before late November/early December... But it is chilly tonight, the temperature keeps dropping. I just think snow is necessary for christmas or in early Dec. Not before Last year the snow came early, but it wasn't a lot of it during the winter, but it was very cold, Below -15 degrees for 10 weeks in a strech!!! That is really unusual. Have a good night Christina!

I am in Norway too, in south-east, and we haven't had any snow yet... Only sunny chilly weather... And we sometimes do have snow in October. Last year it was snow from october 3rd (more or less, it melted a away for a little while but then it snowed again, and we had a lots of snow by the 21st of October). Tonight: frosty, clear skies, moonlight and -5 degrees.

Rosalie, remember we are two years behind in our country..... So most of the characters in the current eps shown on Norwegian television are gone. And Jessica Tovey/Belle is one of them, so you probably won't get an answer from her... Look at the OS to find out which character who still is on. Hm.. I think it's only the oldies: Alf, Irene, Colleen, Leah and Miles, Charlie, Angelo, Ruby....

She would have been too young to play her. absoulutely not! Danni Minogue is only 2 years younger than Emily Symons, Danni was born in 1971 and emily in 1969 - that is certainly not a big age difference! The old fashioned clothes and horrible hairstyle make Marilyn looks older.... So with a wig and terrible clothes and awful make up, danni M would have looked just as old...

a bit off topic, but... Oslo is not whole Norway. It is a long country with a lot of various/variable weather conditions... The inland it is very stabile, but we have a very long and rural coastline, and there the weather can be really bad. As for the character of Annie, I think she always was portrayed as a 13-16 school kid. Well she wasn't one of the "most experienced" but still she was like a lot of girls at that age. Because I do believe that kids at that age aren't sophisticated, experienced and confident. I think that she and Jai were realistic at some time, but they should have done more, talking about scool projects etc.. Because that would have suited their personalities. They were charming at some time. But after a while it was time to develope the characters further, because people do change especially from the age of 13/14 to the age of 16/17. So it was interesting and natural to have Annie to move away from the childish relationship with Jai (but they could have remained friends..), and it is normal for young teenage girls to have a crush on older boys. And romeo was introduced as the girls "romeo".., and he was much more flirty and experienced with girls/love/crushes... And that was normal because he was the oldest one, and he was introduced as a very independent character too. And he had dropped out of school for a while. I think he originally was thought to be older. I can't help thinking that Romeo was a totally different character from the beginning than he is now. and they used Annie to make the change in Romeo "invincible". Because after Annie returned from Japan we was tricked to think that Romeo was an innocent, insecure, very young teen. The whole history about Annie, and also about romeo and Annie as a couple was rewritten. We were manipulated to think that annie was a really "boys' girl"... she was a far cry from the girl we used to know. And I can't help thinking that this was done just as a step to move the teens in an another direction than we have seen the past years. Moving them from being cocky, independent and experienced to be innocent and what parents want their children to be... I think they have gone too far. There was no need to destroy the character of Annie... Especially because she really was an innocent character... But we are tricked to think that all the former teens were horrible, sex-fixated characters or murderous villains (they also destroyed Aden because of the same reason), so we can all like the new innocent characters. I am not saying that there are wrong in innocent teens, but please don't change the characters just to prove a point or become popular along a certain groups of people... I think there should be place for both rebellous and also innocent teens in the show... it makes it more real and watchable (just as we need different types of adults). But there are a big difference between Romeo how he is now and also April.. and how Drew was.. sleeping with his girlfriends mum.. that was really over the top. And as a mother of young teens I wouldn't have been happy about them watching that... To sum up Annie.. Sad that she was destroyed by the end. I kind of liked that she was different from the other kids, and she was years younger than the others too. And I do think that this character had much more potential, and should have been given more in her last year/year and the half of her stint on the show.

why not put some pictures of the other departed characters on their tread, too?? If you haven't liked them, a lot of people have...

I realised a while after Geoff left when I couldn't see any departure feature that there wouldn't be one for him and you probably wouldn't do more of them, because far too many characters were going to leave this year and it would have been far too much work. And I do understand that. But I want to say that I have reallly enjoyed to read your departure features and I think I commented on least one of them... But I hope that you won't make more of them if you aren't able to do features about every character etc. Because that will be totally unfair to fans to those characters who won't get a feature. And it will probably lead to discussion about favourism etc... And there shouldn't be favourism on a board like this... thanks for the character updates.

yupp I've seen the new eps... just seeing things differently than you do. And I think than none of them have been written out of character, they have being written like this from time to time, with more calm and happy periods in between. Yes, it has been explained that she has been offered a good job in the US, but has she concidered to look for jobs in Australia??? No, she hasn't and maybe she should take an another job in Aus, and probably that is not as good as that one in the US, but still better than the job in Summerbay, and Tony has to look for a job in an another place too, but still they would have been in the same country and with more possibilites to visits the friends in the Bay. And doing compromises and sacrifice that is what marriage is about! I have always disliked the character of Rachel, esp. with Tony because she is so concerned about what she wants, and it is always made out that she is the one who's right and he just have to accept that. That is so wrong. A mans place in the world is not only about to "rescue" the woman and please her needs all the time... And of course her place is not only about the man's either, it would have been the same if Tony was in RAchel's shoes/the opposite situation. But I do think there are cultural differencies here, which make us see things very differently. I think that is the case. And that is the thing I think is very exciting about reading/writing on this board. That's why I am doing it.

well, Rachel wants to sacrifice her husband for her work... Why does it make her better than Tony?? I certainly do understand Tony! He has been written so realistic in this. He is still the man who has been broken so many times, first by loosing his first wife and then by loosing his fiance and also loosing his oldest son. He has build himself up so many times. And for people who has been through something like this, the things around are so important too them. Because a change in life does meaning to loose control of life and whats happening, again. And moving to an another place means a lot of changes, especially moving to an another country with an another culture. I think that rachel has been extremely selfish in this, she is not acting like a married person should do. She had made up her mind before she talked properly to Tony about it. She has actually become obsessed with the thought that this is the right thing for her, without tinking about other options. But she has always been portrayed like this, first she has thought about something she is behaving like this is the only right thing to do. She was like this with Kim too. And how she was around Tony before they got married (first time...)... She is moody and self centered. Of course Tony has his faults in this but they are small comparing to rachels. Tony is just scared of changes because of what he has been through. Yes, he should talk to rAchel about it, but she has already made up her mind. He is afraid of loosing his wife and son too, more than everything, but he seemed to be clinging to the hope that she will come around and not go to USA. His world is cracking around him. They should have compromised about it. Finding a new job in a town nearby... Because marriage is about give and take. And all rAchel is doing is take... She is behaving (always) like a spoilt brat.

the ditzy side of her has been toned down, just to make her fit with Sid better... Hmm... But I think it is good she has been toned down a bit. She was a charicature and it was getting tiring. Just like the other characters who only purpose is to be funny or quirky... It's getting tiring very fast. Still think that she and Sid don't suit each other...

I did not say that I don't miss them... I just said my opinion that it is very unfair to expect two characters/actors leave at the same time, especially when one of them debuted much earlier than the other one. And my wishes for how I wanted the storyline to go... And I also think it is sad that people do seem to just care about the couples and not the individual characters... Because that means no deep character developement and just nagging on-and-off things, so I do hope the writers can find the balance and also develope characters individually. but with that said, I really do miss these kind of characters, intense, deep and very emotionally involved in everything they did. The new characters seem much more shallow, and just smiling and wiping troubles away without explore them in a realistic way. I liked the arguments, the very happy intense moments and the sad ones, but I do think that they should have got more of the happy ones. And by the way, I wish that Aden could pop in back in the bay for a visit, to make up to Irene, Leah and the others he hurt by leaving so suddenly. And probably have a talk to Nicole too, and get their friendship back on track (not relationship!), even if I think that Nicole has after Adens departure played too much of a victim in this, the whole storyline got twisted. Because it wasn't Aden who left her, she left him.... Friendship has to be taken more care of in Summerbay, because friendship is really an imortant thing in life. And I do agree that we should have seen Aden visit Belles grave, but this is H&A and they never show these things. I wish we had a funeral for Larry too, because after the mystery about his death was resolved we never heard more about it... It would have been good too see the aftermath of everything. It would have made the storyline more real and human. And we have never seen Tony visit Beths grave either... I wish they didn't drop those things... It would have been good if Aden and Irene had visited Belles grave before he left and then he leave with a heartfelt to Irene because she was trying to be good to Aden after Belle died. And Belle was the one who made Irene care about Aden... All those things would have made the community feeling better.. But I'm glad they (those two actors) were at the show at the time they did, because we wouldn't have seen the intense storyline otherwise. It's a new era now. Sorry for rambling.. But I have to say that even there was sometimes things that I didn't like with their storyline I really liked (admired) some things about those two and how the two actors + the writers pulled some part of the storyline together. It was very good acting for a soap!!!

Would you rather have had them break up ? I know I would have Jack die a thousand times over before he left the bay and Martha for some other reason. The only people to blame in situations like these are the actors/actresses. They chose to leave when the other was intent on staying put, although it was stupid that Todd left so soon after Jess did, would it have hurt Jess to stay on a bit longer ? But I guess they didn't know of Todd's plans to leave at the time Jess quit. As for the Nicole/Aden thing, they needed something for Aden to do instead of just hanging around! hmm I totally disagree with this because Todd left the show more than 8 months(!!!!) after Jessica and that is long time in H&A... when you think about that they leave after only 2-3 years... But what was wrong, was how Aden was treated afterwards... Aden had a lot of potential as a character on his own, but after Belle this was never followed up. And I really hate how people seem to think that Aden's character was all about his relationship with Belle, he was so much more than that. I really hate how they always treat the characters as individuals... Life is more about than an on-and-off realtionship and constant bickering and flirting than both Jack/Martha and Aden/Belle had. But both Aden and Belle were stronger as individiual characters than Jack/Martha (esp. Jack..) were. But Belle had been longer on the show than Aden, she debuted more than a year before him (I think that his 6 eps from 2005 don't count, because we never really learned to know aden by then, he was only treated a figure who stood in the way of Rick/Cassie...) So Aden should have got more attention after Belle had died. And Adens storyline was never finished in a proper way in 2008 because belle and her misery came in the way... too much were thrown in their way. His family storyline was brought back only six weeks before he left, and it was not written in a satisfying way... It seemed just to have the purpose to give the departing character more negativities so anyone shouldn't miss him.... Adens familystoryline should have been brought back just after Belle died (if not before...), and it should have been treated with respect because it was such a sensitive topic!! And then by the end we could have Aden move on with somebody else, it would have been more satisfying for everyone. To couple him with Nicole was just extremely stupid since she was due to depart long time after him.... And his future should not have been brought up just as an excuse to make him breakup with Nicole, and as an excuse to adelle fans but used as a full storyline on its own. Thoughts about future jobs, UNI, etc... rather to force him into something he didn't want too..(the army) Aden could have met somebody new by the end and leave with her, or he could have chosed to leave with Justin after they had finsihed the familystoryline in a proper way. We should have seen Larrys funeral. We should have seen Larry and Aden talk together, and Aden should not have gone back to be far worse than he ever had been before!!! So there were a lot to do with his character after Belle died, enough to fill 8 months. but this is typical H&A, far too couple/romance directed! I would have liked Belle to leave in a different way too. she could have returned to drugs or left in the drug storyline. I think that the writers throw far too much misery on this couple. To have to deal with an abusive past, breakdown, her been beaten and in hospital numerous times, drug abuse, cheating, a bookie - him getting bashed, and finally cancer and death became far too much.... And after Adens breakdown it was wrong to throw Angelo in the mix. The storyline would have been much better if Belle and Aden worked slowly through their problems with help from Irene, Roman and the other residents of the bay. I think that somebody else should have got the drug storyline or the cancer one... Because we never got the oppurtunity to see this couple really happy and doing normal stuff ... Yes, we had that prawn trawler thing --- but still, there were a lot of other potential happy stuff they could have put between the more dramatic ones. Belle/Aden were extremely different and the totally opposite to how the teen/young adult relationship is portrayed now... Just look at Indi and Romeo... So very innocent without any drama... In many ways good but also very empty and dull... Just portrayed like parents want their kids to be... but what about a more mixed and balanced relationship, which is more realistic.

...looks like Charlie is starting to suspect that Aden had something to do with the attack on Ruby... At least she is blaming him for having sex with her and thinks it looks suspicious that she ended up in hospital only hours later... Hm... Miles was the target for the car crash.... hmm.. still holding on to my thoughts that it is Aden behind this. He wants Nicole for himself perhaps? And is trying to get rid of everyone who is standing in their way?? Maybe?? Or maybe not?? Maybe there is an another reason?? Or links to somebody else?? Maybe I'm wrong. Still looks forward for where you are taking this fic RR1...

could it be Aden himself, behind all this?? We all know that the writer of this fic didn't like his character on the show And Aden is the only one who has been close to all these incidents... .. but I like this fic, it's different.

well, sometimes you have to get over what happened in the past. And Aden did actually save Annies life when she got herself drunk!!! I do agree that this sue Irene thing was a bit-over the top and foolish but still, she had no right to hurt Aden the way she did. And everyone is innocent until the opposite is proven. The storyline about the kidnapping thing, well breakdown thing as I want to call it, would have been better if they had put Irene in Angelos role there. Irene should have been the one who talked to Belle afterwards and took care of her, not Angelo. And that would have given us a lot of Irene scenes. And the same with Geoff and Annie when they had a rough time, we didn't see enough of Irene! But that was very common in this period, and unfortunately also now. Have you seen Irene with Ruby this year? And that Axle thing, unfortunately an another case of overkill, should never had been done as for Axle and Melody storyline - that was just 100 times worse (what did he actually do to her, only scared her... not right, but not very unusual), and then it was written like Axle didn't mean anything except from Jai... The killing of Axle was unessecary I think, could have been a random. But still not big things anyway... he was just a minor role. I believed everything about Aden and Belle in the beginning, it was a great storyline until the OC. I went off it when everything was made to be about Belle... and Aden drowned in Belle and all her problems - from the developement site to her cancer and death. Well, well... they're both long gone. But I think they had their hights and lows, both as a couple and as seperate characters. Something I admired (about the writing those two characters) and something that I didn't like that much. But interesting to watch, even for a woman in her late thirties. Yupp.