How Should the CAP Saga End?

[Mark Arbour]

I actually had a conversation with a girl from the White Rock Lake area of Dallas who told me about a rave club in Dallas called After Life. I guess raves actually became more of a thing AFTER your youth in in your area. Here, they were popular around 1999-2002, but then seemed to die out.

 

It's kinda interesting to wonder about what this next generation of kids will get into as they come-of-age in the 2000's.

 

What if Will got into parkour? It 's a pretty interesting subulture that emerged in the past decade, and it'd be a way to make Will his own character instead of just having him be into surfing like his father. I can see parkour being something that a guy like Will could be into- it's almost poetry, the way these guys work:

 

[url="

 

There is no way in hell JJ would ever dirty himself like that, fussy fella that he is, but I can see the quiet intensity that Will has working for something like parkour.

 

Bunch of Spiderman wannabes. Great. Now old guys will be hanging out, yelling at kids to get off their walls instead of their lawns.

 

I think he'd be more likely to be a skater boy.

[Lugh]

how should it end?

 

quickly with lots of carnage so it can not be revived ever!

[Mark Arbour]

how should it end?

 

quickly with lots of carnage so it can not be revived ever!

 

*beckons to men with straight jacket*

 

Come on now Lugh, lets go back to Chat where it's safe. There's a good man.

 

[methodwriter85]

Bunch of Spiderman wannabes. Great. Now old guys will be hanging out, yelling at kids to get off their walls instead of their lawns.

 

I think he'd be more likely to be a skater boy.

 

 

Come on, you gotta admit that parkour is pretty sick. And eh, I guess Will could be skater, but I just figured I could keep you up-to-date about likely subcultures that Will, JJ, and John Hobart will run into during their high school years, which are circa 2001-2005. Details like parkour, which I remember popping up when I was high school, do a good job of keeping the story current. (For the time frame.) You don't want the story to stay stuck in the early 80's when Brad and Robbie were in high school, right?

 

Here's a cool clip I found of some rapper performing at Malibu Inn for some Malibu High students. It's from 2006, and it gives you a good idea of how the kids dress and dance in that era. Hair seems to be generally straight, and strappy tank tops seems to rule. Note especially how the girls dance with each other onstage.

 

[url="

 

And here's a short clip of a guy skateboarding late at night at Malibu High School:

 

[url="

 

Malibu High seems like the typical Western school- lots of open hallways. I've been reading up on it- the town of Malibu itself doesn't seem to have a lot of private high schools. So it looks like Darius, JJ, and Will are most likely attending Malibu Middle and High School. If they were living in Santa Monica, it would be different- Santa Monica appears to have more private schools. But Malibu doesn't. Which I thought was pretty interesting for such an affluent area.

Edited May 25, 2010 by methodwriter85

[Mark Arbour]

Come on, you gotta admit that parkour is pretty sick. And eh, I guess Will could be skater, but I just figured I could keep you up-to-date about likely subcultures that Will, JJ, and John Hobart will run into during their high school years, which are circa 2001-2005. Details like parkour, which I remember popping up when I was high school, do a good job of keeping the story current. (For the time frame.) You don't want the story to stay stuck in the early 80's when Brad and Robbie were in high school, right?

 

Here's a cool clip I found of some rapper performing at Malibu Inn for some Malibu High students. It's from 2006, and it gives you a good idea of how the kids dress and dance in that era. Hair seems to be generally straight, and strappy tank tops seems to rule. Note especially how the girls dance with each other onstage.

 

[url="

 

And here's a short clip of a guy skateboarding late at night at Malibu High School:

 

[url="

 

Malibu High seems like the typical Western school- lots of open hallways. I've been reading up on it- the town of Malibu itself doesn't seem to have a lot of private high schools. So it looks like Darius, JJ, and Will are most likely attending Malibu Middle and High School. If they were living in Santa Monica, it would be different- Santa Monica appears to have more private schools. But Malibu doesn't. Which I thought was pretty interesting for such an affluent area.

 

 

That was one of the things that shocked me when I moved to the Midwest: all the private schools. There weren't many in California. A place like Malibu that is affluent will have good public schools because they have the money to support them.

 

 

[methodwriter85]

That was one of the things that shocked me when I moved to the Midwest: all the private schools. There weren't many in California. A place like Malibu that is affluent will have good public schools because they have the money to support them.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, here on the East Coast, private schools seem de rigeur. In the state I'm from, you either send your kid to private school, a charter school, a magnet school, or you hope and pray you can choice them into a more decent district. The public schools are horrible because we have low property taxes. Even in nice areas, the public schools are horrible.

 

I was really shocked when researching for you where Darius, Will, and JJ would go to high school, because in my experience, there's a private high school for almost every town here in Delaware. There's only one actual private high school in the Malibu area, called Colin McEwen, but it seems like a special-needs school that has about 23 people. For middle school, there's a little more choice, but I cannot see Robbie and Brad willingly sending JJ and Will to Our Lady of Malibu, a k-8 Catholic school. So Malibu High it is.

 

Although if Robbie and Brad were really bent on sending their kids to private school, they could bus them out to Santa Monica. The boys could attend Crossroads School or Concord High School, which are the two secular private schools in Santa Monica. I don't know if Robbie and Brad would really want to give the guys such a long commute though when Malibu High is right there and has such a great reputation. Plus, with Robbie and Brad having great experiences with really good public schools, I don't really seem them having the snobbery about sending their kids to private schools that you see a lot here on the East Coast, or in the mid-West with the Carrswolds sending Matt to the University School.

 

I found something pretty neat on Youtube, though. It's footage from the actual rehearsals and show of 42nd Street at 2004 Malibu High theater production. So they're the contemporaries of JJ and Will.

 

 

Pretty neat, huh? Mark, aren't you glad you have me to do the bitch researching grunt work so you don't have to?;-)

[paya]

I think this saga should end happily. I'd be majorly pissed off if it ended in other way but happily.

 

Having fulfilled my duty by being on-topic, now I can dig Jeremy in the ribs. What is it with the last post?

[Mark Arbour]

I think this saga should end happily. I'd be majorly pissed off if it ended in other way but happily.

 

Having fulfilled my duty by being on-topic, now I can dig Jeremy in the ribs. What is it with the last post? I can understand someone gets personal gratification by showing others their importance but really... when I read that post I thought HUH? 1) How does it relate to the topic of this thread? 2) Mark, please, do as Jeremy wishes or he will bother us with his story-steering posts forever. I myself prefer not knowing who actually writes your stories or who influences how they develop or where they go because I tend to believe it's you. I grew fond of stories written by Mark Arbour. If Jeremy needs to be praised for his effort, well I admit, he surely does hell of a lot work for you and I appreciate he does work that otherwise you would have to do, so he spares your time. BUT I'm already tired of when ever I go to this forum, I read posts beaming out how Jeremy would like the teens from CAP (JJ, Will, Darius) do this and that and think they would do this and that. I admit Jeremy has a lot of insight in various subgroups of American teens. And I'm reading these stories and love them because they allow me to get to know better a whole different culture I could have never known otherwise. But please, either post these suggestions in your personal conversations as "inside-team talk" or I have to resign on reading those forums but I really want to think it's Mark Arbour who writes those stories. Now I know that any time in the future when I read the next stories and there will be some development about the kids, first thought that will come to my mind will be - so it's how Mark wanted to write this or Jeremy bugged him so much to that he changed his mind and writes it as Jeremy pleases? I think this stuff "tell me what you think/advise me what to do next" has gone out of the line. It's one thing to express "I think this" and it's another thing to lobby for what you want as Jeremy does it. As I've said, I want to believe it's Mark who writes the stories (how HE wants) and if this is the way how it goes inside your team, please leave it to yourselves.

 

/rant over, feel free to neg rep me, I can take it! This is my opinion and I had to vent it.

 

 

 

I bet you get at least one positive point from Adam.

 

I get lots of ideas from the forums, and I even use some of them. Wade's father molesting him....that came from the forums, not from me. But it was great, it worked perfectly, so I used it. Would I have re-written a story just to fit that in because someone wanted me to? I think not.

 

Jeremy has a unique way of shooting feedback to me. It tends to be dramatic and forceful. Kind of like a theater performance. Jeremy is just that gay. But as I'm sure he'll tell you, I don't use all of it, and if he were offended that I didn't, he wouldn't be around here, he'd be crying in his pillow. So don't worry about it.

 

And you know me, I love happy endings.

 

 

 

 

[methodwriter85]

Paya, you do realize that you're in a thread that is inherently about fans giving Mark storyline suggestions, right? Paya, the reason I give so much feedback to Mark's stories is because of the fact that I serve a function on his writing team. On Mark's Gay Authors homepage, Mark has outlined my function as this:

 

And then there's Jeremy. Jeremy is my muse. He throws ideas at me, some of them are even good, and he puts together musical recommendations to accompany each chapter. He amazes me with his resourcefulness. One minute he picks a top 40 hit that brings back memories, and the next he's managed to dig up some obscure song from the era that fits the mood perfectly.

As Mark has said, he doesn't use all of my ideas, but he does use quite a few, and that's why I serve as his muse at times. Note how I brought up Will being into parkour, but Mark sees Will as much more likely to be into skateboarding. If he shoots down an idea, I'm not going to try and force him to change it. The only time I've ever gotten particularly aggressive about something is a storyline with Bloodlines. Mark was going to have Cole be allowed to go right back to living at his dorm at Stanford after his suicide attempt. I told him emphatically that there is no way in hell a university would ever allow a guy who tried to commit suicide go back to living on campus without assurance that it would never happen again. I had some personal experience with something similiar, so I really wanted this to be done in the right way. I asked around for feedback, talking to R.A.s and such, and they agreed with me that at the very least, the university would have made Cole take off the rest of the quarter and undergo mandatory counseling before he was re-admitted to Stanford with a doctor's note stating that he was no longer a danger to himself or to others. Mark took that idea, and gave us the storyline of Cole living with the Cramptons for a quarter, which was a nice little subplot that worked well and served to repair Cole's friendship with Matt.

 

There was another time when another person on Mark's writing team got somewhat upset at an upcoming storyline with Mark's then-current story, Man In Motion. This person, who I will refer to as Austin, did not feel that the storyline made sense for the characters. Austin felt that the storyline made the main protagonist, Brad, look extremely bad, and it went against who Brad was as a character. Austin laid out an argument for why the storyline didn't work in a very calm, methodical manner. Mark wrote what he wanted to write anyway, but then Mark realized in writing the story that Austin was right. So Mark backed up and re-wrote the chapters, and I think the finished product of Man in Motion turned out well.

 

So those are two examples of when feedback changed a story direction. But that feedback only changed the story direction because Mark himself felt that it made sense for the story.

 

I put this on the front page, but just in case you don't check it out...

 

Added May 26, 2010: Paya just made a very interesting point. I myself have been guilty of not talking about how the story should end, but instead talking about what should happen as we get there. So I'm expanding the scope of this thread to include just general speculation about what the future of the characters are. So it is now on-topic to include discussions of where the kids will be in 5 years, or where Brad and Robbie's relationship will go, etc etc. This thread is no longer just about the ending of CAP- but also about how we will get there.

Edited May 26, 2010 by methodwriter85

[sat8997]

Paya, the reason I give so much feedback to Mark's stories is because of the fact that I serve a function on his writing team.

And there is a specific place where that feedback is welcome. We, those of us lucky enough to have a working relationship with an author, walk a fine line. It behooves us, when we are posting in these forums, to remember that just a little bit.

[Canuk]

Dearest Mark , I can see that I could never be one of your "team"; they criticize you!! You will recall I tried that once, when I was young(er) and niaeve and you sent me a very nice note pointing out very subtly that I was wrong and what I should read to fix my "wrongness". So ever since then while others may be abe to criticize, I am happy if I can just keep worshiping.....

 

now as far as an ending...we need a wedding; no bombs, though, just a wedding.

 

secondly we would like it to happen soon...so that you can write more about Granger <sigh>.

[KJames]

Well...the forum question does inspire personal opinions on the subject, so:

 

With the CAP saga being just that, a saga, albeit one where we get to "become part of the family" so to speak, it also begs the question of "Should it end?"

 

Being the story of the family, I don't think it can end--not with three kids belonging to Brad, Robbie and Janine. The kids have to be able to take it somewhere interesting, and it doesn't have to be released on a 'nearly' weekly basis, either. Once we're up to current times, it'd be easy for Mark to do a chapter each month around current events, sort of a continuing serial.

[Mark Arbour]

Dearest Mark , I can see that I could never be one of your "team"; they criticize you!! You will recall I tried that once, when I was young(er) and niaeve and you sent me a very nice note pointing out very subtly that I was wrong and what I should read to fix my "wrongness". So ever since then while others may be abe to criticize, I am happy if I can just keep worshiping.....

 

now as far as an ending...we need a wedding; no bombs, though, just a wedding.

 

secondly we would like it to happen soon...so that you can write more about Granger <sigh>.

 

Thank you, and I'm glad you got beyond the bad times. I like my stories just like my massages: with happy endings.

 

There are a few chapters of HMS Belvidera in editing. It won't be long.

 

And there is a specific place where that feedback is welcome. We, those of us lucky enough to have a working relationship with an author, walk a fine line. It behooves us, when we are posting in these forums, to remember that just a little bit.

 

Jeremy, I think that's Sharon's way of politely telling you to chill out and shut the f**k up.

 

 

 

Well...the forum question does inspire personal opinions on the subject, so:

 

With the CAP saga being just that, a saga, albeit one where we get to "become part of the family" so to speak, it also begs the question of "Should it end?"

 

Being the story of the family, I don't think it can end--not with three kids belonging to Brad, Robbie and Janine. The kids have to be able to take it somewhere interesting, and it doesn't have to be released on a 'nearly' weekly basis, either. Once we're up to current times, it'd be easy for Mark to do a chapter each month around current events, sort of a continuing serial.

 

There's still a lot of ground to cover.

[methodwriter85]

There's still a lot of ground to cover.

Yeah, there is. I think slowing down the storyline works- you still have a whole decade to play around with.I mean, as Tiger noted, we ARE running out of years, but there's still some good ground to cover. And I trust that, maybe four or so stories away from this one, you're going to bring the CAP saga to a satisfying conclusion.

 

Anyways, Mark really likes to include pop culture and world events into his stories. Since we're hitting the year 2000, what do y'all think Mark will cover? Or what would you like to see covered?

 

I'm guessing...

 

-The tech meltdown.

 

-The break-up of Microsoft, and the rise of the IMac.

 

-The Y2K scare. (That turned out be a few minor glitches on some posting boards, but eh.)

 

-The

phenomenon, which kicks off the explosion in reality TV for the 2000's. I will never forget that "Snakes and Rats" speech. Has it really been 10 years?

 

-The 2000 presidential election. JP will go absolutely livid over George Bush getting "elected".

 

-The Summer Olympics in Australia. I can already picture Stefan and JP inviting some young Olympic stud into their limo. LOL.

 

-The implementation of Civil Unions in Vermont.

 

2000 had some interesting things go on, but in retrospect it feels like the calm before the storm that was 2001.

[methodwriter85]

Mark has fit not just one, not just two, but THREE stories into 1999. Damn. At this rate, it'll be 2010 in CAP world while being 2013 in real time. I think Mark took Tiger's statement about how we are running out of years to heart and slowed the timeline WAY down.

 

I wonder if Mark can fit a second story into the year 2000...one more story after Millenium wraps up. Before we get to 9/11. I could see Wade working hard around campus to get out the vote for the Al Gore vs. Bush election.

 

2000 had a lot going on, in retrospect. It makes sense he's covering it. My guess is that he'll also cover 2001, 2004-2005, and 2008. I'm not sure he's going to cover every single year of this century's first decade, but we'll see...

Edited August 1, 2010 by methodwriter85

[B1ue]

To answer a question a couple pages back, Raves bloomed and died on the west coast in about the time frames Jeremy mentions. I'm a couple years older than him, and my age group caught the tail end of it in high school. By the time I hit college, the scene had mostly moved on. For reference, I went to high school in a rural Northern California area, but commuted down to San Francisco and Oakland for parties. I went to college at UC Santa Barbara. My Los Angeles area cousins, some of whom partied in the west half of LA, some didn't, remind me that urban culture had the beginnings of a hey-day in the early 2000s. It'd never really been out of style completely, and sag-and-bag/white rappers and the like were always on the scene, but the heavy commercialization of that subculture started cranking up around then. Slim Shady for instance was released in 1999, going triple platinum, with the single "The Real Slim Shady" out in May 2000. And then came the advent of the Bratz in 2001, which my mother still affectional calls "Chola Barbies."

[methodwriter85]

Yeah, I never actually got to go to one, but my sister used to promote raves circa 2000-2002. And I knew kids who were in 9th and 10th grade that snuck out to them. So I'm betting JJ and Will are going to find themselves at a rave circa 2001...I'm picturing a 15-year old JJ rolling on X, and it's a HILARIOUS mental image.

 

"The Real Slim Shady" made him popular, but it was the Marshall Mathers cd that put him over the top. I feel like there wasn't a single teenage boy in 2000-2001 who didn't love Eminem, as well as Linkin Park. Those were the two big groups with middle school and high school boys. Hip-hop plays a HUGE role with JJ and Will's generation. I've been telling Mark that I think Marie is going to have a total heart-attack at the kinds of clothes that her nephews and son are going to be wearing- most kids dressed at least a little thug. if you wanted to be "in". I agree the urban culture look really cranked up in the early 2000's- but then the preppy laidback look started to come back in because of the O.C. in 2003. I think the O.C. had a HUGE impact on fashion and the like- suddenly you were seeing people wearing Hollister and guys were starting to ditch the urban look. But hip-hop itself doesn't die at all- it's still probably the go-to music choice for most of this generation. You go to any party, and you're only going to hear hip-hop.

 

Another thing that was huge with teenage boys of the time was the MTV show, Jackass. Premiered in October 2000, it was a show featuring Johnny Knoxville and company doing really crazy and stupid stunts. It really appealed to the prurient humour of the adolescent boy.

 

As for the Bratz dolls, Marie is 15 in 2001, so I'm guessing she's a bit too old for it. But Courtney is 6, so she's totally going to have one, I think. Although I wouldn't be surprised if Ace totally refused to buy one for her.

 

What appealed to both boys and girls were the Harry Potter books-turned-movies....I remember playing Harry Potter in 8th grade were some kids while we were goofing around in school.

Edited August 2, 2010 by methodwriter85

[Mark Arbour]

To answer a question a couple pages back, Raves bloomed and died on the west coast in about the time frames Jeremy mentions. I'm a couple years older than him, and my age group caught the tail end of it in high school. By the time I hit college, the scene had mostly moved on. For reference, I went to high school in a rural Northern California area, but commuted down to San Francisco and Oakland for parties. I went to college at UC Santa Barbara. My Los Angeles area cousins, some of whom partied in the west half of LA, some didn't, remind me that urban culture had the beginnings of a hey-day in the early 2000s. It'd never really been out of style completely, and sag-and-bag/white rappers and the like were always on the scene, but the heavy commercialization of that subculture started cranking up around then. Slim Shady for instance was released in 1999, going triple platinum, with the single "The Real Slim Shady" out in May 2000. And then came the advent of the Bratz in 2001, which my mother still affectional calls "Chola Barbies."

 

UC Santa Barbara, one of the biggest party schools in the nation.

 

Yeah, I never actually got to go to one, but my sister used to promote raves circa 2000-2002. And I knew kids who were in 9th and 10th grade that snuck out to them. So I'm betting JJ and Will are going to find themselves at a rave circa 2001...I'm picturing a 15-year old JJ rolling on X, and it's a HILARIOUS mental image.

 

"The Real Slim Shady" made him popular, but it was the Marshall Mathers cd that put him over the top. I feel like there wasn't a single teenage boy in 2000-2001 who didn't love Eminem, as well as Linkin Park. Those were the two big groups with middle school and high school boys. Hip-hop plays a HUGE role with JJ and Will's generation. I've been telling Mark that I think Marie is going to have a total heart-attack at the kinds of clothes that her nephews and son are going to be wearing- most kids dressed at least a little thug. if you wanted to be "in". I agree the urban culture look really cranked up in the early 2000's- but then the preppy laidback look started to come back in because of the O.C. in 2003. I think the O.C. had a HUGE impact on fashion and the like- suddenly you were seeing people wearing Hollister and guys were starting to ditch the urban look. But hip-hop itself doesn't die at all- it's still probably the go-to music choice for most of this generation. You go to any party, and you're only going to hear hip-hop.

 

Another thing that was huge with teenage boys of the time was the MTV show, Jackass. Premiered in October 2000, it was a show featuring Johnny Knoxville and company doing really crazy and stupid stunts. It really appealed to the prurient humour of the adolescent boy.

 

As for the Bratz dolls, Marie is 15 in 2001, so I'm guessing she's a bit too old for it. But Courtney is 6, so she's totally going to have one, I think. Although I wouldn't be surprised if Ace totally refused to buy one for her.

 

What appealed to both boys and girls were the Harry Potter books-turned-movies....I remember playing Harry Potter in 8th grade were some kids while we were goofing around in school.

 

Think back to how Ace treated Claire in high school. There are many things in this story that can vary, but it is inevitable that Courtney is a Daddy's girl who gets whatever she wants. And Ace will be the ultimate in over-protective fathers. I'm seeing guards with her on her dates.

 

 

 

[methodwriter85]

Good point. And you gotta add in that she's the only child as well. Courtney would be 14, almost 15 now...part of that generation of girls who really made Twilight, the Jonas Brothers, and Justin Beiber happen. I bet she's had an IPod since she was 10 years old as well. And you're right- Ace is totally having armed guards disguised as "friendly guards" going along with Courtney on her dates. I'm assuming she'd start dating by 2010 much to the cornsternation of Ace. Lol.

[Mark Arbour]

Good point. And you gotta add in that she's the only child as well. Courtney would be 14, almost 15 now...part of that generation of girls who really made Twilight, the Jonas Brothers, and Justin Beiber happen. I bet she's had an IPod since she was 10 years old as well. And you're right- Ace is totally having armed guards disguised as "friendly guards" going along with Courtney on her dates. I'm assuming she'd start dating by 2010 much to the cornsternation of Ace. Lol.

 

She's four now. And she's an only child. Now.

[methodwriter85]

Well, she's four in CAP time, but by the time CAP world gets to 2010, she'll be 14/15. And are you suggesting that Ace and Cass might get busy and give her a sibling? Ace and Cass are only in their mid-30's...reasonably young enough to have more kids.

 

Mark, how do you picture the dynamics of the Hobart family? Marie's 13, John's 12. How do you picture the kids and the way they interact with their parents? I'm guessing they've got to be neat little teenagers, being how awesome Clare and Jack are. My guess is that Marie is a little fashionista like the Olsen twins were at her age(they ARE her age), and Jack dresses head to toe in Tommy Hilfiger.

Edited August 3, 2010 by methodwriter85

[Hoskins]

If Twilight or Bieber make it into CAP canon, I'm going to ask Mark for a meteor strike on Escorial.

[Mark Arbour]

If Twilight or Bieber make it into CAP canon, I'm going to ask Mark for a meteor strike on Escorial.

 

No Biebers in my story, unless they're the victims of gruesome murders.

[methodwriter85]

Well, Courtney will probably be a fan, but I doubt the story will ever be focused on her. JJ and Will are going to be 24 years old in 2010, and while they might watch Twilight for shits n giggles, I can't imagine them being honest fans unless Will really likes looking at Taylor Lautner shirtless. For their generation, it's Harry Potter.

 

Part of the charm and appeal about CAP is that pop culture contemporary to the period gets mentioned...so...I'm not sure that Twilight can be entirely avoided when Mark gets to 2008-2009, since it's so huge in contemporary culture. Although it does seem like Mark doesn't make nearly as many pop culture references in Bloodlines that he did with JP during CAP and Brad during Man in Motion and Be Rad. No mention of Dawson's Creek and Matt wanting to screw Katie Holmes...no mentions of popular movies of '98 like There's Something About Mary or Shakespeare in Love....although Matt did get to screw Tobey Maguire, so there's that.

 

Mark does seem to be putting back in the pop culture references with Millenium, which I think is a good thing. Pop culture, for better or worse, is reflective of the times, and what I've loved about CAP since the beginning is how it reflects the mindset and attitudes of the time it is portraying.

Edited August 3, 2010 by methodwriter85

[methodwriter85]

If Twilight or Bieber make it into CAP canon, I'm going to ask Mark for a meteor strike on Escorial.

 

Here's what I see as some of the big things that JJ and Will come of age with:

 

Music: Blink 182, Eminem, Good Charlotte, Brand New, Linkin Park, 50 Cent, The White Stripes, Timbaland, Kanye West, The Killers, Snow Patrol, My Chemical Romance, prolly a lot more.

 

TV: South Park, 24, Jack-Ass, the Osbournes, Family Guy, the O.C., Lost, House, The Chapelle Show, Flavor of Love and other really bad VH1 dating shows

 

Movies: Fight Club, American Pyscho, Van Wilder, Old School, The Forty-Year Old Virgin, Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, Wedding Crashers, 300, Borat, Superbad, The Hangover, Inglorious Basterds

 

Misc Trends: Razor Scooters, 80's parties and dances, pajama bottoms to school, Timbalands, Trucker hats, popped collars, Halo, Guitar Hero, Livestrong bracelets, Live Journal, Myspace, Facebook, drunken texting, YouTube, Parkour videos

 

Lots more, I'm sure, anyone who was born in the general mid/late-1980's and went to an American high school in the early/mid-2000's, let me know if I'm missing anything.

Edited August 6, 2010 by methodwriter85