Streak

[chrisg02]

. . . what projects is Triton involved in, and is it lobbying for war?

 

Many other companies stand to make a LOT, and they are most definitely lobbying congress to go to war - a fact little realized at the time, but obvious when you look at the media coverage and the way congress voted.  That hubris led to further nonsense like the ongoing F-35 saga and Lockheed Martin's (GOD I hate that company!) ongoing, intentional malfeasance in any number of projects they are involved in.  Lockheed in particular has a business model of selling flawed products to the government and then charging a premium to clean up their own messes.  I see it in my own sector (which interestingly is right where Triton sits, in subsurface warfare) and in every other government contract that company touches.

 

 

mm, so that's how the characters could think they know . . . .

[mmike1969]

I can't tell if Mark is being sarcastic or not. -->

 

From the reviews, our favorite author makes a comment:

 

As if I would create someone good only to ultimately trash him. Right.

 

Brian Parnell

Edited December 2, 2014 by mmike1969

[impunity]

I can't tell if Mark is being sarcastic or not. -->

 

From the reviews, our favorite author makes a comment:

 

Brian Parnell

 

As long as we're having Author Review Appreciation Day, I really liked this one:

 

He's getting bitchier as he gets older, kind of like his author. ;-)

 

 

[mmike1969]

Re Chapter 27:

 

I don't know. There is a reason as to why people set themselves with personal rules to dating such as not to have sex with your date on the first night.

 

These rules apply even when you sleep with the guy first and THEN go out on the first date: Expectations are high and, quite frankly, your standards are low.

 

Secondly, we just met Marc and I'm not the only one who finds it suspicious him and his ex were at the same play the same night at the same showing in NYC?

 

As a seller of high brow art, I will Google JJ and his Bio will pop-up and see his family. Brad's story will be there too. And you both lost partners in the Towers?

 

Maybe I am seeing Conspiracies everywhere since we also have this mysterious Parnell person on the other side of the country messing with Zach/Will, a British Lord with JJ and Hammer going after Matt (after he switches to Google on his PC).

 

Here are the facts:

Lord Alex could use £££ to prop up his family estate, Hammer allegedly going gaga over Matt's ability to write a $50,000 check, AND you toss in a "starving" artist?

 

Personally I would stick with Cam. And not just because I have a thing with sports uniforms and their players either.

[Mark Arbour]

Re Chapter 27:

 

Secondly, we just met Marc and I'm not the only one who finds it suspicious him and his ex were at the same play the same night at the same showing in NYC?

 

 

 

Just as an FYI, Marc seemed nervous when Brad first mentioned the play, so it's reasonable to assume David had been planning to go. 

[Headstall]

Just as a note...When I said in my review that Marc seemed to be too good to be true, I was not insinuating that he was anything other than what he presented himself to be. I was more or less saying that with all they seemed to have in common and in their favor, he almost seemed sent by fate...although we all know fate can be a fickle mistress

[Kitt]

As far as seeing the ex at the play - I would like to remind people BRAD made the arrangements, Marc didn't know till everything was set.

[James Deary]

Mark it's great to finally see brad meet a guy he can relate

 to about 9/11 and he's cute to as always brilliant stuff thanks 

[davewri]

Headstall wrote what I was thinking when he said    "Just as a note...When I said in my review that Marc seemed to be too good to be true"

As a long time reader of everything Mark has posted, I study everything to pick up clues.  Whenever a new character appears I become suspicious, especially one that suddenly changes the direction of the storyline.

 

I hope that Marc is the person that Brad has been needing in his life and that they live happily ever after.

 

The next few chapters have a lot of delicious plot lines, a holiday feast of highly anticipated reading.

[mmike1969]

After re-reading the posted chapters, I am coming to the I Like Marc side of life.

 

Is he a gold digger? Perhaps. He has admitted he got spoiled and likes the finer things in life. That's not a problem. He honestly does not fit the full description of a total gold digger.

 

And as long as Brad is willing to finance Marc (I should use the phrase "Be a Nice to him") then it's not a problem the Family should be sticking their noses into.

[Daddydavek]

My initial take on Marc is that he is good for Brad right now.   He also lost someone in the 9.11 tragedy and is a loyal person and a great lay.   I think Brad can really appreciate someone like that in his life now.  However, like I said in my review of the latest chapter, I can't see Brad settling into the role of sugar daddy for the long haul.  Brad has always surrounded himself with people who push the envelope and Marc doesn't come across as very challenging.  

 

I think the family will be happy to see Brad happy and probably will give them plenty of latitude.  However, they are all protective of Brad too and if Marc becomes a problem for Brad, like asking Brad to choose between him or Brad's family, then Marc will be gone.  Of course Mr Arbour probably has something entirely different in mind, but the name of the book is Streak and like all streaks, I foresee this one as coming to an end at some point.  Just, sayin'!

[Headstall]

I agree with a lot of what you have said Dave, except for one thing which sticks out for me. There are not many guys that can match Brad's wealth and financial success. But there are different kinds of success. I would consider Marc as being successful. There are not many artists that can command $60.000 plus for a piece of artwork. Brad, Stef,Alex and JJ all agree that he is exceptional as an artist which is something they are all qualified to judge. Yes, he is down on his luck right now...but that seems to be because of a rather poor choice of partner who deliberately kept him away from his work and under his thumb. It is understandable because Marc was a man adrift after losing his partner in 911. Consequently, I don't see Brad in the role of sugar daddy here and I think it is unfair to assume that Marc is not very " challenging". Being an artist, especially a successful one, is a very demanding and creative vocation and has every bit as much merit as a high powered executive.Brad may be in the role of a supporter and mentor for the time being, but I would guess that with Marc's obvious talent, Brad is aware that Marc won't "need" him for long. One thing that Brad revealed to Marc in their conversation, was how how hard it was for him to handle Robbie's disloyalty, something that Marc appears to have in spades. For all we know, Marc may be out of the picture in the next few weeks, but I just felt the need to comment on how I don't think "sugar daddy" applies in this case....Cheers, Dave....Gary

[Kitt]

Brad and Marc have just met.  They have had so far one date that is yet to end since Will convinced Brad to take the guy with him to Australia.   Shouldn't we wait till at least the second date before we label Marc a gold-digger?

[Daddydavek]

We can, but I think the genius of Mark Arbour is that he draws characters that provoke discussions like this.  And,  I know he does it on purpose as he enjoys the speculation!

[Mark Arbour]

We can, but I think the genius of Mark Arbour is that he draws characters that provoke discussions like this.  And,  I know he does it on purpose as he enjoys the speculation!

 

[Gene Splicer PHD]

MARC HAS A DEEP DARK SECRET THAT WE DON'T KNOW ABOUT YET

 

maybe

[Kitt]

Don't we all?

[mmike1969]

Don't we all?

Well no as some of us are total Angels.

[BeysJoshersLepton V2]

Am I the only one who thinks maybe Wade was a little over the top with Hammer? I mean it's one thing to get him barred from visiting the Australian games, but this seems way over the top though even if he is an absolute idiot. I know he's only a very minor, periphery character but with great power comes great responsibility ya da ya da ya da... etc for Wade. I'm surprised he's willing to destroy someones life for such a minor infraction as his and Matt's relationship is so solid now. You'll always meet people like that in life but couples rise above it. Wade doesn't know if he has any dependents or how stable this guy is. I've read case reports of people committing suicide over far less. Anyway my two thoughts as Wade's normally pretty good judge of a situation/on an even keel. Because this totally sounds like an ego situation. 

[Kitt]

This may be the first Wade has heard of the extent of his mothers manipulations in this, he had turned it over to Elizabeth with no restrictions other than "nothing fatal".  Remember, this is the woman who drugged and institutionalized her own mother in order to gain access to money that one day would have been hers and she was just too damned impatient to wait.

[BeysJoshersLepton V2]

Very true but he didn't act like she'd over stepped and he knows what she's like. She's to me a; worse, wealthier, wicked version of Cruella Deville. 

[Timothy M.]

Am I the only one who thinks maybe Wade was a little over the top with Hammer? I mean it's one thing to get him barred from visiting the Australian games, but this seems way over the top though even if he is an absolute idiot. I know he's only a very minor, periphery character but with great power comes great responsibility ya da ya da ya da... etc for Wade. I'm surprised he's willing to destroy someones life for such a minor infraction as his and Matt's relationship is so solid now. You'll always meet people like that in life but couples rise above it. Wade doesn't know if he has any dependents or how stable this guy is. I've read case reports of people committing suicide over far less. Anyway my two thoughts as Wade's normally pretty good judge of a situation/on an even keel. Because this totally sounds like an ego situation. 

 

I'm more worried about the poor peope in Africa having to put up with Hammer.   But hopefully the Peace Corps can make a better person of him. In fact, I think this is exactly, what Wade said it was: a chance for Hammer to redeem himself.

Edited December 9, 2014 by Timothy M.

[mmike1969]

Maybe he can die from malaria or Ebola.

 

Or gets eaten/trampled by a wild animal.

 

Or gets kidnapped by a rebel fighter in somebody's civil war.

 

Or maybe he can actually redeem himself to humanity and show he's not a total jerk and will be like a decent human being that cares for others first....

 

Nah. Eaten by a crocodile on the Nile River after being tossed in by Rebels because he's spreading Malaria.

[Mark Arbour]

Am I the only one who thinks maybe Wade was a little over the top with Hammer? I mean it's one thing to get him barred from visiting the Australian games, but this seems way over the top though even if he is an absolute idiot. I know he's only a very minor, periphery character but with great power comes great responsibility ya da ya da ya da... etc for Wade. I'm surprised he's willing to destroy someones life for such a minor infraction as his and Matt's relationship is so solid now. You'll always meet people like that in life but couples rise above it. Wade doesn't know if he has any dependents or how stable this guy is. I've read case reports of people committing suicide over far less. Anyway my two thoughts as Wade's normally pretty good judge of a situation/on an even keel. Because this totally sounds like an ego situation. 

 

 

This may be the first Wade has heard of the extent of his mothers manipulations in this, he had turned it over to Elizabeth with no restrictions other than "nothing fatal".  Remember, this is the woman who drugged and institutionalized her own mother in order to gain access to money that one day would have been hers and she was just too damned impatient to wait.

 

Kitt makes an excellent point.  Maarten posted something similar to this in the reviews; here's my response: 

 

 

In the case of Hammer, I think if Wade were going to be completely honest with everyone (including himself), he's actually not as hard-hearted as we'd think. In reality, he suspects this Peace Corps assignment will probably do Hammer a lot of good. If it came down to Hammer actually going to jail, I think it's likely Wade would intervene to save him.

 

 

It is just like that for Wade to be paternalistic, and to maneuver Hammer into a situation that is both a punishment and a blessing.

[Bucket1]

 

It is just like that for Wade to be paternalistic, and to maneuver Hammer into a situation that is both a punishment and a blessing.

 

Just how much input did Wade have on his mother's machinations? While Wade might get some credit for showing Hammer that there was a way out of this mess, what about Elizabeth Danfield? Does she have that much insight into her son's mind or (horror of horrors) is she going soft in her old age?