Summerabbacat

Did they invite you aboard to travel with them @pvtguy (I just saw your comment on the previous chapter)? Although their wealth is extreme, Joan and Dan do not appear to have been negatively impacted by it. They seem as welcoming, pleasant and unaffected as the average person with a significantly less impressive bank balance. Apart from the use of chicken in the homemade soup, this sounds like quite a tasty and healthy meal which would suit @Summerabbacat well @drsawzall. My eldest cat, Frida, loves chicken soup, so she could eat it whilst I had the rice and veggies. She and I will be there for dinner next week. What time in the evening do you usually dine?

“And engage in pursuits that are far from academic, I presume,” Herr Becker replied, delivering each word through his teeth. “But a young man like you, I presume, cannot help himself.” and “The common personnel at Veridien are trained to be as good as invisible. Only when they fail in their tasks, they become a nuisance. A visible nuisance. Don’t become a cause for embarrassment by acknowledging them, Mr. Garth.” Herr Becker is a thoroughly unpleasant, pompous prick. A conniving, snivelling weasel of a man. It won't surprise me to learn he is in love with Bastien, something Lukas may have known and had evidence of, something which may have gotten Lukas murdered. I still think he may be making "frat house" porn too and uploading it to the internet. Veridien Virgins, Bastien's Boys and Frat House Fuckers being three recent releases from Becker/Reichenau Films. I don't believe Herr Schneider is the drunken old fool the postal worker dismissed him as. He has dirt on Veridien Academy, some of its staff or some of its enrolees. I am intrigued as to what the postal worker was referring to when he said Herr Schneider was waiting for a letter which would never come. I am also intrigued by Lawrence's thought "It looked like Lawrence needed a bit of distance from Veridien for some of Bastien’s spell to lift." Might Lawrence be doubting or reconsidering his feelings for Bastien or questioning Bastien's actions? Might he be thinking his feelings for Bastien are Misplaced Love?

Alex is now very "in tune" with Neil's moods, his lingering self-doubts and feelings of inadequacy and awkwardness. He, Alex, is also becoming quite adept at turning these negative moments of doubt into positive moments, usually with simple solutions and a minimum of fuss. I think Alex has more in common with Mother than he would like to admit. Speaking of Mother, her skills were put to the test with the Charlie/Marcin scenario, but it appears she handled the situation well. I find it amusing Neil calls Charlie "Oaf" and Charlie calls Neil "Big"; usually the words go together. Exercised. Never before have I seen it used to mean upset or worried. This is not the first time you have done this @Robert Hugill; used a word for its lesser known meaning. On this occasion I thought to myself, Robert has used the wrong word, Robert has made an error; I should have known better. Anyroad, there is nowt I can do about it, after all I am from a land Down Under where beer does flow and men chunder, and where Skippy was born and became an international superstar. Forget Elle McPherson, Skippy was Australia's first supermodel.

It is 8.15am in Sydney, Australia, and I have only been awake long enough to feed my cats. I have a headache from hell and am heavily congested. Why am I revealing this you well may ask. The response, because I am an idiot. I am not intact, and would not fancy having an alteration in that department at my age if I was, as I understand it can be quite painful.

I’m still intact and at my age would not like any alterations in that “department” as I understand it can be quite painful. Perhaps a procedure for Uncle Buford, without the benefit of anaesthesia.

I would like to suggest grenades would be more effective @drsawzall, and ultimately less costly to the taxpayer. They are a menace, a public nuisance, a cancer that eats away at the fabric of society.

“This is Australia. Are they seriously going to physically harm me or kill me?” “I agree they are unlikely to kill or seriously physically harm you but there is always the possibility. You didn’t contact the police?” Big mistake. Never underestimate the lengths these fundy religious zealots will go to to prove they are right. If I was Mark I would be concerned about the safety of his nieces and nephews; they are the innocent parties in this whole sorry debacle. How often does one hear of children sexually abused in these religious cults by the so called leader/leaders. As for Mark's brother and sister and their parents, they are a lost cause, and he should not bother wasting his emotions on them. It is perhaps unfortunate in a situation like this that Martin, Nathan, Simon and Rick are model citizens; if they had some "shady" associates with whom they could arrange for Mark's nieces and nephews to be kidnapped, and for the adults to be torched, it would serve the nieces and nephews well. Truly vile trash who deserve the strongest of condemnation as a minimum. or involuntary euthanasia as the best outcome.

I was wrong @Vcs. It was not Will Ferrell's character who sings Springtime For Hitler, it was the character, Roger De Bris, played by Gary Beach, a very fine Broadway performer who passed away in 2018 (I just googled his death which I thought was only 2 or 3 years ago, but it was 8 years ago; time is passing so quickly). Will Ferrell sang another song about his beloved Fuhrer, Adolf "Elizabeth" Hitler.

I have read that many of Mel’s fellow Jews were very upset with him for making moviegoers laugh at the scene in The Producers when Will Ferrell’s character sings Springtime For Hitler. Mel’s response was something akin to what better way to express contempt for Hitler than to mock him severely. I found the scene, like much of the film, hilarious.

I wonder if part of Mel Brooks’ secret for his longevity is laughter.

As was Anne Bancroft who played Mrs Robinson. A fine actress too. And her hubby celebrated his 100th birthday in June 2026.

Linda Gray was a very attractive woman I thought; very natural beauty with great legs. I don’t know if you are aware of this; it was Linda’s legs which featured as belonging to Mrs Robinson on the movie poster forThe Graduate.

I remember the show being shown on TV in the late 1970's and early 1980's when I was still in high school. It was apparently popular here in Australia, although I never watched it. The only TV show I watched which was based in the south was Dallas, and that was primarily because I liked Sue Ellen. The rest of the cast I thought were rather bland, apart from JR who was a caricature.

I agree @sandeman. It is too much of a coincidence River placed the propane tank by the bunkhouse only moments before someone riddled it with bullets causing an explosion and fire. Skanky Shayna, the cosmetic catastrophe, appears to hold great sway with Uncle Buford, Jedediah and Cletus. I have to ask @Vcs, where the fuck did you get those names from? Hillbilly haven? LOL.

And the maddening thing is you are probably correct in this speculation @dboggs9700. He done the KKK and NRA proud.

Hopefully some of the horse shit got onto the burns and has enough time to cause an infection. Probably not long enough to cause sepsis unfortunately, but hopefully something at least nauseating, resulting in explosive diarrhoea in volumes to rival the horseshit, and painful. Dare I say "rectal retribution". I suspect the culprit is one of Mannly's attackers, possibly Uncle Buford, Shayna's incestuous conquest, whom I imagine to be a tub of lard with little beady eyes and a sneering and menacing mouth, one which would service Big Bad Bubba well. "Blowie Buford", a true "cocksucking cowboy". “Fuck! The bunkhouse is on fire right by the playroom entrance!” “NOOOOO!!” Bass bellowed. Jake yelled, “Get the hoses. I’ll call the fire department.” Every man present on the ranch jumped into action, while Frank was holding Bass back from running into the fire. “I have to get to him!” Bass struggled with everything he had but couldn’t break Frank’s hold. “KIIIIIDD!" It is quite strange to me, but this is the second occasion I can recall recently where I have found an unpleasant and/or upsetting scene far more disturbing when published here on GA, than I did when proof-reading it @Vcs. I am not sure why this is, perhaps it is more "real" when published for a wider audience, whereas when I proof-read it, it is perhaps more abstract. Whatever the reason, I almost "heard" Bass' bellow when reading it now, prompted by the terrifying prospect that Kidd could have been dead. Methinks the attack on Kidd will likely see a close bond being formed between him and Mannly, united by the fear both will likely continue to experience because of their attacks. I must say I quite like this song @Vcs. Until reading this story I had never heard of Dixon Dallas/Jake Hill as country music is not popular in Australia, apart from rare exceptions like Dolly. His voice does not "match" his look, I expected his voice to be rougher, gravel mixed with honey, or perhaps it is just this song. The lyrics for this song and Good Lookin' are remarkably explicitly gay, which really surprised me. He does love his man's booty cheeks. LOL. Perhaps not all is lost in Texas and Tennessee after all.

I assumed Levi must have walked home drunk and not remembered doing so. The questions you have raised @Paladin make me very uncomfortable because they challenge my assumption. It appears Levi has not been harmed in any way, therefore if someone did bring him home it is likely they were friend rather than foe. I wonder if it might have been Father Costas and Levi cannot remember. Or perhaps Tony or one of the other guys.

Levi’s first real act of teenage rebellion was quite extensive for a churchie. The only “bad” thing he refrained from doing was having sex with a girl without a condom and making Matt an instant grandfather.

Thankfully it was not Dead Man’s Curve.

With bated breath. I expect Levi will confess as he is an honest lad who has made a mistake, a very stupid mistake, one for which he will be, and should be, punished. I don't see it causing irreparable damage to his relationship with Matt and Luke. I expect both will be so relieved he was not killed, particularly when they find out, and I expect he will confess, Levi was drinking.

It could have been worse. Levi and/or any or all of his passengers could have been killed. It is Levi's fault he gave into peer pressure, but as soon as Casey stated what his intentions were for the evening I suspected something like what happened was going to happen. I hope for his sake Levi confesses to what happened and soon. If the police have to investigate it will be so much worse. Levi will almost certainly lose his licence, and if it is proven he was drinking as well, then the shit will really hit the fan. Casey showed his true colours, a bully and a gutless wonder. As soon as the car crashed he could not wait to get away quick enough. I imagine he will lie if questioned if he was in the car with Levi and Levi will have little proof he was. Levi's first act of teenage rebellion could not have concluded much worse than what it did. Hopefully he will now realise what a prick Casey is and have nothing further to do with him. And I am wondering what was the extent of Casey's request. Was he using Levi solely for a free ride to the party, or was his intention more than this, his intention to "corrupt" Levi too. If so, he has succeeded for now. "Casey grinned. ‘Drop the boys where we picked them up, then you can get home before the fags notice you’re missing." The next time Casey refers to Matt and Luke as the fags I hope Levi with his "newly dropped balls" decks him. The speculations were rife @Mark Ponyboy Peters, but I don't recall any of the faithful speculating this as the outcome of the evening out. I hope for Levi's sake the Commodore can be repaired. I also hope Matt makes him pay for the damages, or at least part thereof.

Not the sort of thing any of my pop/disco goddesses usually sing about.

I must confess @Robert Hugill until this chapter I had no idea who Iphigenia was or what the play was about. I recall Neil cheekily referring to it as The Greek Bird, which I took literally, thinking it must be a play about a bird like the mythological Phoenix. To my amusement the "bird" in question was a young woman. A chapter full of joy and kudos for both Alex and Neil. Neil's upcoming exhibition would likely be more my cup of tea than Iphigenia, although the spectacle of Iphigenia may appeal. Mother Hanson shone once again. I would love to have been a fly on the wall when she gave Anne a serve about her dismissive treatment of Neil. I wonder if the tears appeared on that occasion too. The most pleasing aspect of this chapter was the acceptance of Neil by many of the theatrical/musical circle in which Alex moves. In the eyes of Rose, Dame Vivienne and countless others now, he has been accepted and not just as Alex's "arm candy", recognised for his own artistic talents. What a joy for him to experience, after having been relegated by his own mother to a non-entity.

OMG @Laura S. Fox. What a chapter. I found myself sobbing for Jack, especially when he thought once again he was unwanted. His recognition he is Theodore's secret weapon and that he is wanted by Theodore and Vince was momentous.

Purrrrfect. Uncle Buford, jailhouse bitch. Big Bad Bubba's little bitty whitty plaything.