California Culture: Circa 2000

[B1ue]

I think Will would look great would minimally guaged earrings.

 

Personally, I think gauged earings look creepy as hell. Automatic -8 on the 1-10 scale of hotness, unless they are willing to cover their ears during sex. But hey, I'm just a hick. I will never understand cool.

 

Actually, I'm sort of vague on the whole hipster concept. I know it's a word, and that's pretty much it. Is it the same idea as yuppie?

[methodwriter85]

They're yuppies who dress badly as a conscious effort to look counter-culture and avant-garde.

[PrivateTim]

I think it will be interesting for Mark to write in the hipsters, because appearance-wise they are completely different from the yuppies, which was the personality archtype of his youth in the 1980's. But inwardly, the conformity is still there.

 

Hipsters basically canibalized all the authentic counter-culture movements from the past 50 years, then added a splash of knowing irony and winking inauthenticity.

 

I read online- in L.A. the hipsters seem to be settled around Silver Lake. Is that around a college or something? When did the first fully-formed hipsters start appearing? I think they seem most directly descended from the emo kids- which started off in the mid 90's to early 00's as the Rivers Cuomo look, then morphed in the early to mid-00's into the girl-pants wearing emo kids with gravity defying hair who made the "Myspace photo angle" popular.

 

Silver Lake is a hill neighborhood north of the 101, south of the 5 around a reservoir (as in Reservoir Dogs). It has had ups and downs, is on the way up again and Sunset Blvd runs through the middle of it. A lot of the older LA gay crowd hangs in Silver Lake not West Hollywood. Because it abuts Little Armenia there is a fair amount of "Russian mafia" around.

 

Mark would like Silver Lake I think. Gay Clubs Silver Lake

[PrivateTim]

Personally, I think gauged earings look creepy as hell. Automatic -8 on the 1-10 scale of hotness, unless they are willing to cover their ears during sex. But hey, I'm just a hick. I will never understand cool.

 

Actually, I'm sort of vague on the whole hipster concept. I know it's a word, and that's pretty much it. Is it the same idea as yuppie?

 

I am with Blue, creepy as hell and they wouldn't fit Will's surf crowd and family.

[Mark Arbour]

I am with Blue, creepy as hell and they wouldn't fit Will's surf crowd and family.

 

No, they wouldn't. If he got a tattoo in a place that wasn't always visible (like the lower back), I think they'd be OK with it. If he had his ear pierced, I don't think anyone would object. But gauges? No way. It's too permanent. He's not rebellious enough to do that.

[methodwriter85]

Maybe Marie can be the rebellious one? Claire would throw an absolute fit if Marie got gauged ears, even if Marie was of age. I do like that we're getting hints she's more on the nerd side than a mini-fashionista like Claire, such as her love for Harry Potter. That will make Robbie millions. We already had Claire; the lack of a "Claire" for this generation feels reflective of both the fact that looking preppy isn't cool to these guys, and it gives this gen an entirely different feel. Which is a good thing.

 

I grew up around skater kids and punk kids so gauged ears were pretty common around me. I guess part of me still thinks the look is hot, like leather cuff bracelets and wifebeaters.

Edited August 1, 2011 by methodwriter85

[methodwriter85]

That more or less what I meant when I mentioned all this as a plot point for Brad or Will, though truly, JJ would tell this story best himself, the drama, the fighting, the pain of potentially losing his father and brother over an increasingly competitive sport with an increasingly ludicrous expectations when he's off the ice. And if all this sacrifice and hardship does not result in a chance to compete...yeah, to paraphrase Robin Williams, JJ in THAT diva-rage would make Tonya Harding look like Gigdet.

I was thinking about this statement. I remember Mark saying once that the reason why he did the kidnapping story was to shake the Will character up a bit and give him some emotional baggage to make him a deeper character because someone sailing easily through life is pretty boring to follow there. In JJ's case- the drama and emotional baggage are all there. There's no need to really create any traumatic events for him because the tensions are just bubbling beneath the surface. There's so many places you can explore with this character, from having a crackwhore mother and a dad that pretends he doesn't exist, to being the unpopular Schluter brother no one really paid attention to at Malibu Middle, to being in a drama-filled and pressure-filled sport that compells him to spend hours in his room practicing a single stance. He's essentially traded in his childhood for a shot at Olympic Gold, and knowing the way in which Mark won't change history means that it won't happen for him. God. I got chills thinking about how angry, hurt, and lost this guy will be when he's 20 after Torino fails to yield any Olympic medals. And if/when the tabloids get wind of Bitty and Jim Crampton. I cannot picture the skating community being understanding about someone having a crackwhore mother who screwed her uncle for cash. I can just hear the insanely bitchy comments from Johnny Weir calling JJ the "Incest Crackwhore Baby". (You KNOW that Johnny Weir would be that evilly bitchy to someone.)

Edited August 14, 2011 by methodwriter85

[methodwriter85]

Hey, Private Tim or Blue; did either of you ever go to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival?

 

 

I came across reading about the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in a Harvard-Westlake article that talked about how 60 HW seniors did what was essentially their senior skip day to Coachella. Sounds like hella fun. Either of you ever go? It sounds like something I could see Will and JJ totally doing for their senior skip day in '04. I looked it up- Coachella started in 1999, and added camping in 2003. So I could see them knocking off on Friday, April 31st, 2004 to get to Coachella, and setting up camp.

 

I liked this quote:

 

"I’m going to fail a few tests, but if you’re a second semester senior, it’s worth it," she said.

Gotta love senioritus. I loved seeing all of these studious students suddenly become total slackers during their spring semester of senior year, because they already got their college acceptances and could do whatever. I had this '03 friend who was in all of these A.P. classes, so once those exams were done she pretty much stopped going to school. Unfortunately, by my senior year they mandated that students still had to show up for an AP class even after the exam. We sat around and watched movies. It was so retarded.

Edited January 14, 2012 by methodwriter85

[B1ue]

I've never gone, but most of my friends have. One of my friends has covered it for the various papers he's worked at every year since 2004, and I think he'd already had a couple years under his belt before then. It's not my scene musically, but I've heard nothing but good things from people that have gone. I can defintely see Will going, JJ less so. There's a slight amount of seediness associated with the festival. It's pretty mild, but JJ still might not want to be associated with it.

 

See, I just didn't take any AP classes my senior year. Passing eight tests before then was quite enough for me. I mostly had study halls that year, since I'd run out of classes to take. Though I probably should have taken that third year of Spanish. Meh, it all worked out for the best.

[methodwriter85]

I've never gone, but most of my friends have. One of my friends has covered it for the various papers he's worked at every year since 2004, and I think he'd already had a couple years under his belt before then. It's not my scene musically, but I've heard nothing but good things from people that have gone. I can defintely see Will going, JJ less so. There's a slight amount of seediness associated with the festival. It's pretty mild, but JJ still might not want to be associated with it.

See, I can kinda see JJ having a slight rebellion when he gets towards the end of high school. He'll be 18 then, after all. I figure this would be the perfect kind of thing for him to be "bad" with while not wrecking his squeay-clean reputation. I'm sure JJ would be inconspicious in his Prada suit with oversized Louis Vouitton sunglasses.

 

Coachella definitely sounds extremely cool, and something a high school kid would be chomping at the bit to do. Hell, I want to go, too.

 

Dude, now I can imagine 17-year old Will driving his friends up to Coachella in his fully-tricked out SUV. That sounds like such a fun way to end high school.

 

See, I just didn't take any AP classes my senior year. Passing eight tests before then was quite enough for me. I mostly had study halls that year, since I'd run out of classes to take. Though I probably should have taken that third year of Spanish. Meh, it all worked out for the best.

 

I had, through some weird quirk, a free period, but only for the final marking period of senior year. I only needed to take gym for a marking period, because I had done winter track in 2001, before the district stopped allowing people to substitute sports for gym credit. I took gym for two marking periods in spring of 2002, my freshmen year. Then I took the final quarter I needed, in the winter of 2005, my senior year. The final marking period, I didn't have a gym class and I kinda just walked around and did whatever. My gudiance counselor apparently caught wind of this, and sent my gym teacher what he deemed a "nasty-gram" about how this was unacceptable. So I became the gym teacher's "helper", which meant that I could do whatever the hell I wanted in the period as long as I told him what I was doing.

 

I could have had more free periods, if I had not failed algebra my 9th grade year or French I my 10th grade year. You only had to take three years of Math, and two years of a foreign language. You had four years of English, four years of history, and three years of science. If you did it right, you could get away with only having three periods, and leaving at lunch time to go to a job. But I think they've changed it in recent years so you have to take four years of Math. Ugh. So glad I graduated before that happened.

Edited January 15, 2012 by methodwriter85

[methodwriter85]

As part of the current "Shit (Blank) People Say" Youtube craze, L.A. got the same treatment....

 

 

I liked the IN-N-Out part. If I ever get out to California, I'm so going there. I heard In-N-Out is even better than Five Guys. And the Coachella bit was funny, given our past discussion. LOL.

 

My favorite part was "A ticket? Are you kidding me? This is bullshit. I'm taking a picture." I have a friend from high school who moved out to L.A. and posted a picture of her parking violation to complain about getting a ticket. LOL.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq2hsAsskig&feature=related

 

This one isn't as funny, but the guy in the video was pretty cute.

Edited January 29, 2012 by methodwriter85

[PrivateTim]

First one was funny and pretty spot on, the second one was lame.

 

In 'n Out is good as fast food goes and costs about half of what Five Guys does, but Umami is new In 'n Out.

 

I can see Will being more Nocturnal Wonderland than Coachella.

 

[methodwriter85]

First one was funny and pretty spot on, the second one was lame.

Yeah, like I said, I only really posted the second one because I thought the guy was cute. I have a thing for good-looking older men in their 30's.

 

In 'n Out is good as fast food goes and costs about half of what Five Guys does, but Umami is new In 'n Out.

In 'n Out just seems pretty cool because they actually give insurance to their workers, use free-range cattle beef, and don't abuse the heck out of the environment the way Mickey D's does.

 

They have Five Guys out in California now? Hmm. I know that they're trying to bring Capriotti's subs out to Los Angeles now...I wonder if they're there yet. Mmm...a Bobbie...

 

 

I can see Will being more Nocturnal Wonderland than Coachella.

I'm just going off the HW article I read about Coachella. It seems like it'd be just about the right level of "badness" for JJ to want to partake in, without getting in major trouble. In other words, a perfect senior skip day trip. Of course, it's not like Will couldn't do both.

 

I really wish I had gone into the rave scene when I was 15. It just seemed so cool and fascinating, going from all the stories I heard. Unfortunately, all I did at 15 was sit at home, watch Buffy, post to I Hate Jen and Fanforum, and write Dawson's Creek fanfic. Ugh.

[methodwriter85]

I had actually never seen this fluff piece of Evan. I swear he read the script off a teleprompter, and the script was written by a USFSA person. He does not speak like that, and I doubt he even thinks like that. When Weir started to become too famous and, um, outgoing, the USFSA had a serious problem with the image of figure skating in the US, and Evan being JW's main rival (i.e., the only one who could beat him on the National level), they found him a girlfriend (ice dancer whom the USFSA had gotten expedited citizenship...) and made him say all these things about positive attitude, being humble, and showed him how to act straight. Very amusing. (and Evan certainly wasn't the first one to get a SO and attitude script )

 

Now that we're starting to mention JJ's career, it's going to be hilarious to see how his handlers try to make JJ not seem like the bitchy diva he is, and seem like a humble orphan and All-American Boy Next Door saved by Christianity. I think they'd do something along the lines of Evan Lysacek, but at the same time push the whole "JJ is an orphan" deal because Brad Schluter does not exactly have a Disney-friendly image. And Jeanine going off the rails is convenient in the regard of making JJ look like a orphan. (God, I feel so evil and calculating in saying that.) If they were smart, they'd have JJ call Brad "uncle", pretend Robbie doesn't exist, and have JJ cozy up to Blonde Republican Trophy Wife Claire as his adoring aunt that's basically like a mother to him.

 

It'd be freaking hilarious if they made JJ visit a cookie factory like they did with Evan. LOL. (I seriously wish I could find footage of that.)

 

Tim n Blue, what's a really incredibly wholesome and really SoCal thing that JJ could do that would say how wholesome and clean-cut he is? Right now I'm thinking JJ visiting Disneyland with his cousin Courtney because it'd be all, "Look at JJ taking his adorable little cousin to Disneyland! What a fine, upstanding young man, who's way too concentrated on his career to even think about having a girlfriend!"

 

 

 

But I'm sure you guys could think of something even better, more saccharine-sweet, and uniquely Southern Californian.

Edited January 30, 2012 by methodwriter85

[methodwriter85]

This is apparently very accurate:

 

 

I really wish Moon Unit Zappa could do an updated Valley Girl. It'd be hilarious. When did "totes" become such a popular California saying? It seems like it would have sprung out of "brah" fratty culture.

 

And yet another Coachella reference.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlVGZA41WLI

 

I don't know how accurate this is, but I thought their dead-pan bitchery was hilarious. "He's not good enough to get into the NFL. Let's hook up with him" and "All the people that work in the cafeteria are definitely legal."

 

Man. If that's insight into what the mindset is like at USC, I'm seriously thinking Zach Hayes will fit in just fine there. It sounds like Duke but without the old money.

Edited February 9, 2012 by methodwriter85

[PrivateTim]

Now that we're starting to mention JJ's career, it's going to be hilarious to see how his handlers try to make JJ not seem like the bitchy diva he is, and seem like a humble orphan and All-American Boy Next Door saved by Christianity. I think they'd do something along the lines of Evan Lysacek, but at the same time push the whole "JJ is an orphan" deal because Brad Schluter does not exactly have a Disney-friendly image. And Jeanine going off the rails is convenient in the regard of making JJ look like a orphan. (God, I feel so evil and calculating in saying that.) If they were smart, they'd have JJ call Brad "uncle", pretend Robbie doesn't exist, and have JJ cozy up to Blonde Republican Trophy Wife Claire as his adoring aunt that's basically like a mother to him.

 

It'd be freaking hilarious if they made JJ visit a cookie factory like they did with Evan. LOL. (I seriously wish I could find footage of that.)

 

Tim n Blue, what's a really incredibly wholesome and really SoCal thing that JJ could do that would say how wholesome and clean-cut he is? Right now I'm thinking JJ visiting Disneyland with his cousin Courtney because it'd be all, "Look at JJ taking his adorable little cousin to Disneyland! What a fine, upstanding young man, who's way too concentrated on his career to even think about having a girlfriend!"

 

But I'm sure you guys could think of something even better, more saccharine-sweet, and uniquely Southern Californian.

 

Disney has been giving "partner" benefits forever.

 

And USA Figure Skating could hardly get away with such an outlandish story with his well known grandfather (Stef) and father (Robbie, not Brad). A lot of the story (CAP) has focused on Brad and his success, but Robbie would be the more well known of the two to the general public. Brad might make the WSJ, but Robbie would be in People.

[methodwriter85]

That's why JJ is skating as Jeremy James, not as JJ Schluter. Duh. It's a plausible half-truth that helps his image remain squeaky clean. Because he wouldn't really be lying if he called himself an orphan, because his biological mother is dead and his biological father abandoned him. In steps "Uncle Brad", no mentions of Robbie, and he's golden. He'd have an easier time flying under the radar because Brad and Robbie don't really interact with him as much as they do/did with Will and Darius.

 

So do you like the Disney idea, or is there something better that would show how wholesome and clean-cut JJ is? Presumably he'd take Courtney, as she's a cute 10-year old from a nuclear branch of his family. Knots Berry Farm seems like another good place.

Edited February 10, 2012 by methodwriter85

[Mark Arbour]

I don't see JJ renouncing his heritage, especially when his family is as powerful and well known as that. The USFSA may dick around with millionaires, but they won't get away with doing that to billionaires.

[methodwriter85]

I mean, I guess as long as JJ maintains the squeaky clean image for himself, it's fine, but I still think he'd be skating as Jeremy James. If people connect the dots, he might not scream away from it, but I don't think he'd go around flaunting the name. Especially considering that, if people get especially interested in him, they'd dig in and find out that JJ's really a Crampton, and I can't see "crack whore incest baby" being very acceptable to the USFSA.

 

Plus, aside from the whole bribe thing that Daisy mentioned, going without the Schluter name is JJ's way of asserting his own independence, being apart from his brother. The figure skating world is his own thing, and it would make sense that he'd want a sense of himself away from his family, after being in his brothers' shadows for so long.

 

Although it sure would be interesting to see how the USFSA deals with having a billionaire family that doesn't exactly play by their image rules. I don't think it'd be entirely smooth. It'd be interesting to see how JJ's need to look squeaky-clean and wholesome would play against the very nature of the very non-conventional Cramptons/Schluters.

 

 

So what did you think of the Cali videos, Mark? Pretty interesting stuff, no?

Edited February 10, 2012 by methodwriter85

[PrivateTim]

That's why JJ is skating as Jeremy James, not as JJ Schluter. Duh. It's a plausible half-truth that helps his image remain squeaky clean. Because he wouldn't really be lying if he called himself an orphan, because his biological mother is dead and his biological father abandoned him.

 

Hun, it is 2001, not 1950..... you could never keep a skater's parentage/family story that tightly under wraps not matter how much USFSA would like to think/pretend they can. People in the local skating community would know who JJ was and who is family is and the fake stories would be a bigger scandal/story than the partial truth that his parents are Brad and Robbie.

[methodwriter85]

It's not a fake story, though. JJ actually is an orphan being raised by his uncle, and I think he'd try to leave it at that. More scrutiny would hit when he gets to the Olympic-level(hello '06 story), but for now, I think being tight-lipped and discreet about who his family is would work fine. He wouldn't want to open himself up to people saying that he got X award because his rich daddy bribed the judges, or have people approach him trying to get money out of him. And like I said, I think not skating under the Schluter name would be a nice way of JJ to distinguish himself away from his family, and not be under his brother's scandals. He wouldn't be the first person to use a stage name professionally.

 

And you gotta admit, Jeremy James is one hell of a stage name. It's not even a fake name, either.

 

We'll come to the middle on this...JJ won't necessarily renounce his parentage and drive a wedge between himself and his family to maintain the image, but he won't exactly flaunt the Schluter name, either. Deal?

 

And Tim, you STILL haven't come up with a better alternative for the Disneyland idea. Come on, I would bet you know something that'd be an even better way to show off how wholesome and family-friendly JJ is than taking his 10-year old cousin to Disneyland. It's going to be hilarious, either way, to see what Daisy talked about- the increasing control they put on the figure skaters by the mid-2000's to get them to look and act as pristine as possible. How someone from a gay pothead family will manage to pull off the wholesome image is going to be interesting.

Edited February 10, 2012 by methodwriter85

[PrivateTim]

There is nothing more wholesome and Americana than Disneyland.

[methodwriter85]

Perfect. Daisy liked the Disneyland idea, too. Imagine a 20-year old JJ strolling along Disneyland holding his 10-year old cousin Courtney's hand, having fun on rides and the like. Too cute for words, right? It'd be smart for him to pull an Evan Lysacek and cultivate a "sweetheart image" instead of JW's bitchy diva one. I really wish I could find the video where he tours a cookie factory.

[methodwriter85]

And to go on a completely different side here...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnrcOzdtp7o

 

This documentary looks interesting as hell. It follows four actors as they try to make it during the late '90s/early '00s. I want to see it. It has Wes Bentley from American Beauty in it...I had such a crush on that guy back in '00. It's a shame that addiction derailed what had been a pretty promising career.

 

It might be cool for Mark to explore the Hollywood Actor scene again to see how it's changed from the 1970's, but I can't really see any of Brad and Robbie's kids encountering an Armand situation. I could see JJ acting, but it'd be stage acting and in New York. He'd be really suited to that, I think.

 

Anyone have any insignt into what the NYC stage acting scene is like as compared to the Los Angeles film one?

 

Anyway, it's kind of interesting to have the American Beauty connection, since that's the big 1999 film that Robbie turned down being part of as part of Carson and Brian's EVIL PLAN.

Edited February 14, 2012 by methodwriter85

[methodwriter85]

UCLA doesn't have a sports-related undergrad degree program? Seriously? A school that known for their basketball program doesn't have sports medicine, physical therapy, sports management, or any kind of related degree? Damn.

 

I had Tiffany in my mind as a UCLA graduate who has a degree that would allow her to coach or become an agent, but I guess maybe she went to USC instead? Hmm.