Summerabbacat

This certainly appears to be the case @pvtguy. It also appears to be the case that she expects Ralph to make personal sacrifices though for the sake of Jane and Alisa, which he appears more agreeable to.

Long way off yet, we still have not arrived at this juncture by chapter 16.

I think many would fall into this category @drpaladin if abattoirs had glass walls. If I had to milk a cow or goat and make my own cheese I would stop eating dairy cheese too (the only non-vegan foodstuff I still eat).

Money and the desire to acquire as much of it as possible appears to me to be her primary motivation @pvtguy. She may love her daughters, but she admitted they are an inconvenience to her furthering her career, a mindset which Barb in particular seemed to encourage her to have. "Double, double, toil and trouble, Fire burn, and cauldron bubble". I can almost hear Therese, Barb and Dee "cackling" as they knock back a glass or ten of wine whilst making this statement @pvtguy. Three witches with a capital B.

In chapter 3 Todd had the following thoughts @drpaladin: "I started to believe that Friday night when I sang karaoke with Barrett put some kind of spell on me, causing me to lust after my brother’s best friend, like some Cupid’s arrow, and I didn’t know how to break it. He was the last person I wanted to be attracted to, mainly because he was an asshole who thought Anthony’s little brother having a crush on him was disgusting. The realization when my first crush and the person who helped me discover that I was attracted to boys thought I was gross really hurt. He didn’t seem to remember what he thought of me back when we were only teenagers, as if it wasn’t such a big deal that he was homophobic, which pissed me off even more. It was just a crush for Christ’s sake, not like anything could actually happen between the two of us. He was straight. I was gay. And that should’ve been the end of it. But the things I was told that he thought of me as made me feel like total crap, and I even wondered for a while if loving boys was morally wrong and that I needed to be fixed." In this chapter the following conversation took place between Todd and Barrett: “Well, that leads to the second thing I want to talk to you about… What did I do in the past exactly to make you hate me?” I rubbed the back of my neck. “Oh, um…” “Because if I said or did anything that offended or hurt you, let me know, so I can apologize and make it up to you.” I bit my bottom lip. “It wasn’t exactly what you said to me…” Barrett raised a brow. Taking a deep breath, I continued, “It was what you said to Anthony, who then relayed the information back to me.” “And what exactly did Anthony say to you?” “Uh…that you weren’t at all comfortable with me having a crush on you when we were still teenagers. He told me that you’d beat my ass if I ever got near you.” “...What? I’ve never thought of you that way.”

Is your confusion due to this conversation between Channing and Todd @drpaladin? “You don’t remember? You drunk dialed me last Monday and told me about what your father said to you.” “I did?” “Yes. You did. And then you spent more than five minutes talking about what this asshole thought of you all because you had a small crush on him when you were a teenager and how that affected you. You might’ve been too drunk to remember, but I remembered every single word clearly.” If so, I understood this was about two completely different conversations which took place years apart. The first conversation in bold text took place at the recent Sunday cookout Todd attended where his father was rude to him and "gay-shamed" him to other guests by stating he had not met the right woman yet and all the other bullshit he spouted which upset Todd before he stormed off. The second conversation in non-bold text was between Anthony and Todd years prior when Todd was still a teen and Anthony told him Barrett was disgusted by him being gay and having a crush on him.

Did women throw their knickers at him as they allegedly did at Tom Jones @Al Norris?

Jake and Danny should follow the wise words penned by John Bettis as so beautifully sung by Anita, ably backed up by her sisters. Of course they could not though as this story was set in 1975 and Anita did not deliver this beautiful song until 1981, but that is a minor inconvenient detail.

I just looked up ABBA's chart performance in France and for both singles and albums they were not nearly as popular in France as they were in the UK. That should have been reason enough to migrate to the UK. You made the right choice @Tris. I was fortunate to live in their Tropical Loveland where we worshipped them.

"Alan grinned at me. “Yeah, you have no clue how much you’re going to love your new life taking care of my cock.” This statement alone was the reason I chose the 'ha ha' emoticon for this chapter. Alan is so full of himself that he believes his own hype. This statement made it sound like he had a "pet" cock Calvin would enjoy feeding, cleaning up after, shopping for. OMG I am laughing again just thinking about it. Guess what Alan it's a cock, maybe a nice one, but a cock nevertheless. If I did not know any better I would be inclined to think he is taking the piss out of himself. The ruins explored sounded very interesting @KKirk. Are you acquainted with them yourself or did you research them on the 'net?

You sir are a man of superb taste as will become even more apparent as you progress in reading this fine work.

Therese outing Ralph to Barb and Dee was I assume to gain sympathy @CincyKris and not at all surprising. And what an obnoxious pair, particularly the former. The three of them together like a trio of old slags at a pie bake off or gossiping over the back fence whilst "sucking furiously on a cheap ciggy". No wonder Ralph divorced Therese, Dee's husband is not interested in her and Barb is, well she is still Barb. Compare these three harridans to Beth and there is no comparison. Speaking of Beth, she gave Ralph very wise counsel. She is a good friend and work colleague. If he forms a relationship with Nolan it might be pleasant for them to have Beth and Corrine as "couple friends". Morrie was very funny again. The image of him in a thong was not alluring to me, but he appears to have a great sense of humour and is self-deprecating. When Ralph first beckoned Beth to look at the photos Morrie had sent I thought maybe they were Mapplethorpesque, black models in swimwear being fisted. Another outstanding chapter @Robert Hugill. I hope Therese's behaviour in this chapter and the influence Barb in particular has on her does not portend difficult times ahead for Ralph.

And you never will @Tris as such a song has never been written by the Anderson/Ulvaeus/Andersson or Ulvaeus/Andersson partnerships. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do is a marvellous song @Tris. We Aussies loved it. It was #1 for 3 weeks in October 1975. It was knocked off #1 by Mamma Mia which was #1 for 10 weeks, which was knocked off #1 by SOS which was #1 for 1 week. A few months later Fernando was #1 for 14 weeks (the biggest hit of the entire decade), shortly after Dancing Queen was #1 for 8 weeks then shortly after Money, Money, Money was #1 for 6 weeks (it got to #1 only 2 weeks after it was released). In Australia Rock Me was the B-side of I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, and when it dropped off the charts after 34 weeks Rock Me debuted, went to #4 and spent 26 weeks on the charts. To say ABBA were massive in Australia is an understatement. We worshipped them as if they were our own. Halcyon days. What is the other language you speak?

As our learned friend, the maestro from Massachusetts, @drsawzall remarked earlier in the story, he is a "chip off the old block". In fact, they are so much alike @Cane23, perhaps they could "purchase" identical "girlfriends".

Anthony can "purchase" one online @Cane23 and use a bicycle pump to inflate her. He would not need to worry about offending her with tactless comments or farting incessantly in bed either. I assume he would have a wide array of colours and sizes to choose from too. She would remain silent at family gatherings and offer no opinions, which would please Daddy dearest no end. Perhaps he and Daddy dearest can "purchase" one each and get a family discount.

OMG I never even thought of this @gmc. I was thinking more along the lines of him realising Todd and Barrett are more than just friends and causing a commotion or getting really drunk and hitting on Sabrina AND telling her he would love to have a threesome with her and Vanessa or watch her and Vanessa get it on, but you have added another dimension to the embarrassment he may cause. I was surprised Todd and Barrett are so dressed up for the occasion. Clearly I am not of the "art world" as I thought such occasions would be far more laid back and casual. It is becoming very apparent both Todd and Barrett are equally smitten, but who would have thought it possible that Todd would be so assertive in the bedroom. It has surprised Barrett too. And if the boys relationship keeps progressing at this rate Barrett may have to call Muriel down under for some advice. If one thing can be certain, she will know the perfect ABBA song for such an occasion, after all it was she who chose this classic for her "special day". What do you think @Tris? A great song or what?

Me either.

Very observant. I do love that yellow and blue combination. It always reminds me of ABBA (of course) and Bjorn Borg (whom I thought was very handsome in his youth).

I know quite a few of the songs above @Al Norris, although not necessarily as sung by the artists you have listed e.g Volare by Dean Martin is on several of my Dean Martin CD's (really like him, Perry Como and Andy Williams, but cannot bear Sinatra, although Nancy I do like very much). Of the above I have BD's Beyond The Sea on a compilation and BV's Blue Velvet and Blue on Blue on compilations. All three songs are outstanding. Bobby Vinton (who was a stud when younger) is the only one still alive and is 89, born the same year as Herb Alpert and Johnny Mathis, both of whom, but particularly the latter, I also like. JM was very good looking in his 30's to 60's at least and was a great singer.

It was a huge hit in 1960 @Mark Ponyboy Peters for several different male singers which was remade by a group from NZ named Creation who had a #20 hit with it in Australia in 1974. It was one of four "death discs" I can remember from that year, along with Seasons In The Sun by Terry Jacks and Billy Don't Be A Hero by Paper Lace (both huge # 1 hits) and Rocky by Austin Roberts (a # 25 hit). There may have even been others that I cannot remember at the moment. I liked Tell Laura I Love Her too. I vaguely remember we had it on one of those K-Tel compilation albums that had great names like Ripper, Sizzler, Fantastic, Bobby Dazzler and Mind Bender. I have just looked it up on Discogs and it was track 9 on side A of the K-Tel compilation Bobby Dazzler released in 1974 in Australia, which also featured Daytona Demon by Suzi Quatro, Amoureuse by Kiki Dee, The Night Chicago Died by Paper Lace, my favourite song from 1974, Rock Your Baby by George McCrae, and the tearjerker Danny Come Home by Nana Mouskouri, which to this day makes me bawl like a baby if I hear it (or even think about it).

I had just turned 10 when the song was a hit @Gary L so I had no idea what it was about at the time, but I recall its melancholy and the sound of the waves greatly appealed to me. Now on the odd occasion I hear it I find the melancholy almost unbearably sad. His voice seems so suited to melancholy too.

I thought this was the song you were referring to that you got right in the ABBA trivia quiz. It is the only song on an album by ABBA I am aware of on which neither Frida nor Agnetha appeared. If not, what song were you referring to?

@Gary L, @Mark Ponyboy Peters and @Al Norris have commended you on the beauty of your words @Talo Segura and I must echo that commendation. Beautiful words for a beautiful scene painted @Mark Ponyboy Peters. Although Jake and Danny did not have sex, I recalled the song Summer (The First Time) by Bobby Goldsboro which tells the story of a boy/man's first sexual experience in the arms of an older woman while reading this most moving of scenes. I remember it was a substantial hit in Australia in 1973/1974 about the same time as 48 Crash by Suzi Quatro. It even had the sounds of the waves rolling in to shore to accompany the hot afternoon in June (northern summer of course). Do you remember it Mark? I think Jake likely did "borrow" Nate's shorts in anticipation of some amore with Danny. The two appear to be drawn to each other like moths to a flame. It would appear romance is on the cards for both if only they can ignore the constraints of what is "proper" and what is not. Jake will have to proceed with caution though as Danny is not quite 18 yet. I don't think Nate would be offended or react in any way negatively if he did return from his swim to discover Jake and Danny lip-locked. He may be surprised and perhaps even a little jealous that Danny is "getting some" and he isn't. He is I believe discreet and a great friend to Danny. I think the final scene in this chapter is one of your crowning achievements @Mark Ponyboy Peters, a literary equivalent of Taj Rossi. Do you remember him from the spring of 1973? He and Surround I think had the greatest spring 3 year old seasons I have ever seen. His "owner" was Vic Peters, a well to do Melbourne business man.

Did you know @Tris that She's My Kind Of Girl was used in a soft porn film Inga II: The Seduction of Inga made in 1971 (the song was recorded in 1969)? And do you know which is the only song recorded after ABBA formed on which Benny sings the lead vocals?

And you would not want to be standing "down wind" of Anthony too often either @Al Norris given his appalling diet. I imagine odorous flatulence is his most frequent bedtime companion.