methodwriter85

You've really changed from the days of writing CAP where every story had to have a happy ending. It's a good thing and a great departure.

The other cynical thought I had was that this saves Elizabeth Danfield from having to call herself divorced, which still has a bit of stigma in politics. Now she can just be a widow. Sentator Danfield's death was a dark comedic relief moment, which was needed. I also figure that Wade will be grateful for the fact that although their relationship was mostly marked with pain, they had a good final two years together, where things were probably the best they were ever going to get, and where Wade could look at himself in the mirror and not hate his reflection because it looked like Jeff's. As for Robbie, I saw it as the final act in the Hayes Curse. It started with Aaron's heroic death, which wasn't actually a death at all. Then it continued with Jeff Hayes who died of a drug overdose, then his son Billy dying at just short of his 16th birthday, because he caved into peer pressure and drove in a car with people he knew were drunk. Then Marcel almost dies of a drug overdose. With Robbie's death, a Hayes finally gets a heroic death- a real one, not the fake one that started the curse in the first place. I did have an inkling that it would happen, especially when the gang were discussing Pearl Harbour while they were reading Steven's diaries, and Robbie said without a doubt that he'd fight to protect someone he loved. It's the Hayes code- the good Hayes code, in any event. I have to feel the worst for Frank, though- he's survived thinking his older brother died, being abused by his father, having his little brother die, dealing with his youngest son getting raped, having his long-lost nephew die, getting divorced from his wife, becoming estranged from his other two children, and now surviving the only child he still has a relationship with.

Chapter 38 -When everyone is reunited. Almost. "Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley -When Robbie and Brad have one last phone call before the Tower collapses. "Follow Me, Follow You" by Genesis or "Leather and Lace" by Stevie Knicks and Don Henley I picked this song because it's the song that I used to score the moment when Robbie fell into his coma during Be Rad, and Brad sat bedside. The alternate pick is "Leather and Lace" by Stevie Knicks and Don Henley, which is the song I used to score the moment in Man In Motion when Brad and Robbie promised to be partners for life. Either pick is kind of a full-circle moment, you know? -When the South Tower Collapses: South Tower Collapse- Run South Tower Falls- Shot front of Trinity Church -When Brad collaspes from the emotional strain of it all, and Will comforts him. "Emotion" by Destiny's Child

Chapter 37 -When Stefan and Brad realize that the other Tower has been attacked, and Brad talks to Claire on the phone. "A Building Panic" from Titanic -When Robbie leaves Darius and Will to try and get Hank and Jeanine out. "Sacrifice" by Christophe Beck -As Will and Darius continue going down, and Will locks eyes with a firefighter who's going up. "War" from Pearl Harbour -When JP walks among the wounded. "Overcome" by Live -When Sentator Danfield and a young tour guide check out the newly renovated wing of the Pentagon. "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC

Check out Eric and Four! Eric is quite the rugged punk in this. Nice.

University of Delaware students rampage for "I'm Schmacked" Well, it could have been worse. It could have been like Penn State, who threw a hissy tantrum riot because Joe Paterno was fired for allowing Jerry Sandusky to live outside of prison walls for another 13 years and molest even more boys. Check out the party footage here: It's funny to watch this, considering that I've walked over that pedestrian bridge umpteen times. I also think it's hilarious because University of Delaware, since the mid-1990's, has been working hard to diminish it's state party school rep from the 1980's. This included banning organized outdoor charity concert festivals like ChapelFest and my personal fave, Skidfest. This incident just reinforced in my mind that college kids will be college kids, and for all the pearl-clutching of the establishment that wants to try and "protect the children from binge drinking!", they'll find their own ways to have fun. I'm guessing this means that President Harker's attempts to sell University of Delaware as the next University of Virginia has hit a snag?

I was about two weeks into my 9th grade year of high school. I remember my biggest concern around that time was whether or not I'd get a part in our school play, Arsenic and Old Lace. Then when I got to my computer applications class, these juniors were talking about how a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I asked them, very innocently, "Did anyone on the plane survive?" I can't even remember the guy's name now, but he just gave me this look, and said something to the effect of, "A jetliner full of fuel just crashed into building at full speed. No, nobody on that plane survived." We spent the rest of our class period looking things up online. I posted about the event on the I Hate Jen board...the people there didn't believe me at first, then it sunk in. One of the women who posted there said that all the money that was FINALLY about to go towards education (surplus, Dubya campaigned on No Child Left Behind) was all going to wind up going to this new war we were about to fight. In drama, I wound up borrowing this Good Charlotte cd that I listened to most of the day. People were freaking about phones not working. Then it was announced that school was going to be let out, because Governor Ruth Ann Minner had declared a state of Emergency for Delaware. We were 90 miles from D.C., an hour south of Philadelphia, three hours from New York City, and the Dover Air Force Base was well-known and contained nukes so it was considered a possible target. As my mother was driving me home, I remember looking up at the beautiful blue sky, and hearing how empty it was. In the Wilmington area, because of being close to the Philly International Airport, as well as the DE Air National Guard and the Air Force Base, you often hear planes. That day there wasn't any. Then my family just watched at home. I remember that MTV, when it still had some semblance of a soul, actually interrupted all programming to play videos and run ads for the Red Cross. I think they were thinking that they'd have tens of thousands of people to treat for injuries, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. I think maybe 11 people were recovered alive from the World Trade Center rubble.

Hah. So true. Alright, let's hear it for the 2013 Philadelphia Eagles, who won their opening game this Monday. Wooo-hooo!!!!

Chapter 36 -When Will and Darius head to the Observatory, with Will bitching about his morning hangover. "Last Night" by The Strokes I thought the Strokes are a great example of where rock was going to head during this decade, as people got away from post-grunge metal/rap stuff like Korn and Limp Bizkit and the indie sound gained popularity. There's this, the White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand, Modest Mouse, The Shins, etc etc all coming up at this time period. -When Brad and Stefan make their way out of the elevator. "Theme" from The Towering Inferno -When Will says his goodbye to his mother. "Nearer My God to Thee" from Titanic -When JP leans of the Towers smashing into the Towers. "Across the Universe" by the Beatles -When JJ is interrupted from his beauty sleep, and evacuates to Jeanine's house. "Poses" by Rufus Wainright -When the Palo Alto crew learns of 9/11. "9/11 As It Happened"

JJ will make a really good Bret Easton Ellis character type when he's 21 or so. LOL. I loved how he was just outside of what happened, but he doesn't get what happened until he gets to his mother's house.

I really have to disagree with you on this. I think it's precisely because they had such a tight relationship that became restrained over the past year that JJ will be hit really hard. Darius and Will more or less resolved whatever issues they had with Jeanine. JJ has not, and he spent what could have been the last weekend of his mother's life shopping in Europe and then ignoring her once he got to NYC to shop on 5th Avenue. That's the kind of thing that haunts a person for the rest of their life. Anyway, other than JJ cursing a bit more than I think he would (then again, he doesn't have to be Disney JJ since he's not around media or the judges), I thought his perspective was pretty spot-on. He's really angry and really repressed a lot of it, but still falls in line to go to his mother's house because he knows it's the right thing. I also loved that he just didn't get it and lovingly talked about his $300 Diesel jeans that he probably got at Lexington Ave in New York City, his Bally loafers, and Dior shirt, while taking the time to mess with his hair. (I imagine that JJ's hair is like Cody Simpson's- thick wavy blond hair that he has to put a lot of product in to keep tame.) I thought having JJ waiting on the rootop watching things go down was a great way to tie into the scene where Will is admiringly checking out the New York City skyline from the rooftop when Jeanine and Hank bought the condo. It angers me so much when I think about how many lives could've been saved if the people had been evacuated in the second tower after the first tower was hit. I actually think JJ is pretty much in peace about that, because as JJ noted, being Brad's most-loved (partner in Robbie, son in Will) comes with a pretty huge fucking price tag. It kind of bothers him but it mostly doesn't. I do think it'll drive this need in JJ to be famous beyond his family, though. The summer of '05 would be an interesting summer for what you're proposing, since that's when he's either working towards the Olympics or seeing his dreams crushed. Then you've also got Hurricane Katrina going on for a historical perspective, and it'll probably interest Will's scientific mind.

Water polo players on The O.C. were depicted as being kind of evil. I had a distinct feeling that Josh Schwartz really, really didn't like water polo players, and as a result built them up in his mind as this overpowering prescence.. Me, I've personally never been around one. It seems like they've got the reputation that lacrosse players have here on the East Coast, though- being the "rich boy's" sport. Anyway... New Urban homes tiny and trendy This article talks about the "small lot" home movement in the Los Angeles area. They're basically like townhouses or row homes, but without actually sharing walls. Pretty interesting, I thought. Pretty antithetical to L.A.'s historic mid-20th century/onwards development as place of suburban houses with lawns out front and swimming pools in the back. 700k houses are considered affordable workforce housing in L.A.? Geeze.

Wow. That was a pretty well-deserved bitchslap. I get your point, and in a previous post, I did point out that I grew up in an area that was close to military bases (Dover AFB, Aberdeen Proving Ground, and we're not that far away from Fort Dixx which was still open when I was in high school), and not only that, those two bases were one of the lucky bases that are actually expanding as per BRAC. Aberdeen especially seems targeted for a big expansion, with the city of Newark, DE trying to reap the benefits of that by upgrading their rail line that goes through Aberdeen. Also, I also lived pretty close to where the Reserves and Air National Guard are, which probably explains why I saw so many guys walking around in uniform not just at college but just around malls and the like. Anyway, I didn't have a comfortable surburban existence. I did grow up in the blue-collar suburban town of Bear, DE, though I wound up going to high school with mostly middle class/upper middle class kids. But in any event, this pile-on did actually make me re-think about why I have this perception, when it seems like other people my age don't have the perception of seeing tons of military guys around and haven't had at least one friend go off to Iraq. You must have REALLY hated Green Day's Wake Me Up When September Ends video. It's basically about a poor small-town teenager who goes off to Iraq and his girlfriend who waits behind. I protested the war while seeing friends go off, and reading about deaths in the newspaper, which probably has created some very strong emotional ties to this subject, and the war is the most tangential reminder of 9/11 because it went on for a decade. I have this strong desire to see Iraq played out in the story, and I'm just trying to think of ways for it to plausible. Since Mark doesn't think it likely that any of the grandkids would go, and it not being likely for their prep school kids to go, I figured it would make sense to get at Iraq through the Claremont side of the story, because Claremont has had a history of strong miitary involvement. I spent some time in a similiar kind of town to Claremont (depressed Rust Belt town), and I also noticed that the town had a strong military involvement with all the major conflicts going from the War of 1812 to Iraq. I've kind of felt like that's probably at least one of the reasons why Mark's had Will making friends with Claremont people, so that it becomes possible for him to know people that go off to Iraq. Anyway... Brad's lucky that JJ wouldn't try to get an emancipation like Will would. JJ wouldn't want the press, and it's pretty easy to avoid Brad anyway, especially when he goes off to competitions with Tiffany anyway. It's really cool we get to see that. We kinda sped through Brad, Ace, and Bily's growing up (and then Billy died at JJ's age), while we're getting to see this trio of brothers growing up. As for JJ...I kinda see him as a male mix of Teenaged Erica Kane (childish spoiled brat who desires fame so strongly and is always searching for that "Corner of Hollywood and Vine") and Blair Warner (preppy brat who is very prissy and uptight but does care very deep down.)

It works on so many levels, right? About the Vietnam War, which Barry McGuire called out as being a bad deal in 1965 when people were still supporting it, and in a foreshadowing bit, as the sunny, optmistic America of the mid/late 1990's that has a booming economy, a budget surplus, and no enemies- the one that Will, JJ, and Darius grew up in- is about to disapear forever.

I really liked the scene between Will and JJ. It felt so realistic- Will is concerned about him and worries about him, and meanwhile JJ feels pissed off that it still gets brought up and he's sick of his brothers hovering over him like he's still the little boy we met in If It Fits. JJ shooting back that Will is acting just like Dad when he does that was perfect. I see JJ as somehow who has become inexplicably aloof, and generally divorced from his feelings. He has this persona to rely on- the Glamorous Burberry-clad rising star- but with anything real, he runs away screaming from. JJ clearly wants nothing to do with this wedding because of his resentment of Jeanine, but instead of saying that he throws a bitchy tantrum about not wanting to wake up at 8:30 instead, when we all know that the boy probably gets up at 5 or 6 a.m. every morning to practice.

Chapter 35 -When JP and Will talk while setting up the presentation, and then Will realizes that JP is having some nookie in the bathroom. "Manic Monday" by The Bangles I thought it was such a shame that the Bangles were so underrated. They were true musicians, not just a bunch of sex kittens. -When JP gives his presentation about Vietnam to Columbia. "Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire -When Will flirts with a college boy and scores himself an invite to a college party. "I Do" by Toya -When Will talks to JJ while he shops on 5th Avenue. "Moon River" from Breakfast at Tiffany's Tell me you guys couldn't see a 25-year old JJ, wearing a slimcut black suit, eating a pastry while standing outside the Tiffany's window. -When Will has yet another fight with Brad. "One Step Closer" by Linkin Park

Really fascinating breakdown, Tim. (Though it's DE, not DL. LOL.) My state is very small(the state is 110 miles long) and as a result, there's not a lot of variety. We have the typical urban ghetto part of the state (Claymont, the Wilmington slums, and New Castle), the upper middle class part of the state (suburban North Wilmington, Hockessin, Pike Creek), the University of Delaware mega-area, the Joe Biden Millionaire's that we refer to as Chateau Country and is our old-money area, the cookie-cutter middle class suburbs part of the state as best seen by former-farm-town-turned-Philadelphia-bedroom-community Middletown, the Slower Lower redneck south part of the state, the Dover AFB area, and then finally, the beaches. We're mainly influenced by Philadelphia, although further south you see influences of Baltimore and D.C. In your opinion, Tim, what was the nouveau-riche part of SoCal? Wasn't there some California area that was getting hyped during the Boom and then got hit really hard by the crash? I'm thinking Inland Empire, but my impression was that it was a burgeoning middle-class area, not a McMansion area. I know the Real Housewives of the O.C were from Coto de Caza, so was it that area? I did get the impression that inland areas of the O.C. were hit hard by the real estate crash. I used to watch House Hunters and Flip That House quite a lot around 2005-2007, and it seemed like California had such outrageous real-estate prices. It seemed like three-bedroom house after three-bedroom house was getting appraised at a million or above. I'd understand that if we're talking beach or inner-city San Francisco, but it seems like they were in just typical suburban areas.

I'm not saying that it was like Pearl Harbour. I'm saying that in small towns like Claremont, people did join up, for the reasons that Blue listed. Note that I've shifted from saying that Will is going to have schoolmates that went to Iraq, to saying that Will is likely going to have buddies he's made in Claremont go off there. And the Claremont Hayes family in general fits the profile of the type of people who would go off, though I don't think Matt would go anywhere near it. The other bit of context I should add is that I'm from an area that has the Dover Airforce Base (it was where they flew in the bodies from Iraq) and Aberdeen MD Proving Ground in relatively close proximity, and UD had a pretty strong ROTC program, plus I live in an area of Delaware that has the state's Air National Guard and the Army Reserve all pretty close together. It was a pretty common sight to see guys in uniform walking around. And I was strongly imprinted by the memories of having a teacher at the school I ran cross-country for lose a son, plus a friend who went off to Iraq after getting caught pot dealing derailed his college scholarship plans. And again, the G.I. bill was pretty popular in this area, at both UD and at Wesley College in Dover, where I went to for my freshman year.

Seriously, why does the California college system love quarters so much? Do they really want college kids roaming almost all the way through September? LOL. It's gotta suck for out-of-state kids who go there, because their spring breaks never match up with their hometown friends. It did strike me doing research that Stanford, UCLA, and Santa Clara were all on quarter systems. UD had what we joked was almost like a quarter system. It's called the 4-1-4 system. Fall semester is September to December, while spring semester is February to May. In the middle is a month-long session we called Winter Session. Winter session was often used to take classes, or go off to study abroad. (University of Delaware had the first study abroad program in the United States, so it's a major part of the school's philosphy.) I wound up taking winter session my senior year. It was cool. But it meant that you were also out of whack with a lot of friends who were going to schools with semester systems, and our graduations happen during Memorial Day week. It's why the city of Newark has to celebrate Memorial Day the week before it.

Kitt wrote this in the 9.11 thread, and I can totally see it happening: It would totally fit into J.P.'s "let's do good for Claremont M.O." for him to start a support center for veterans...maybe renovate an old clinic or an old Claremont mansion? On a personal level, it'd make sense for him to want to help the vets, because of him dealing with Andre's death, and his friend Fritz's suicide, not to mention Steven. I would imagine that Iraq is going to dredge up a lot of unpleasant memories for J.P., especially once it becomes clear that Iraq is not going to be the Gulf War "Mission Acccomplished!" few-months war people thought it would be. But yeah...9/11 is the start of such an incredibly shitty and depressing decade. The only highlights from that decade, IMO, would be the tech advancements and the gains in gay rights. Other than that, it's 9/11, Aghanistan, Iraq, the Asian Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, Virgina Tech, the housing crash, and the economic meltdown.

Oh, I can TOTALLY see JP trying to revamp an old hospital facility or perhaps an Old Claremont mansion and turn it into a support center for veterans. He'd have Steven, Andre and Fritz on the back of his mind once Claremont youth start turning into war veterans.

Guys, check out the 9/11 Digital Archive. Pretty interesting stuff.

Little House on the Prairie is fun to snark on. The show was just so damn campy, especially in the later years when it seemed like every week babies were being burned in fires and kids were being adopted left or right and Mimes were raping young girls. I have to snicker though at watching the Waltons, because I can't help but think of the time Richard Thomas played Brooke Shields's crazy stalker in a T.V. movie: Anyway, point being...it's pretty hilarious that Mary Ellen on the Walton's namesake is quite the nasty piece of work in our story, isn't it? It's not that out of the question for Tony to wind up joining Iraq, though- he graduates college in '04 so it's still fairly early into Iraq, and I could see Tony seeing the military as a way to run away from himself. I did figure that you're having a lot of Claremont kids that we've met joining up with Iraq at some point. Iraq is the next big event coming up- I can't see you not having the characters involved in it. Claremont seems like a place that'd have a lot of future Iraq veterans.

Cool. Noah being Hispanic AND a Jew makes a lot of sense of how he's kinda not really fitting into the lily-white Atherton society. Olympic medalist Tom Daley as Cam, then?

This is random, but I'm watching a Waltons T.V. movie marathon. I just realized that the Danfields named their daughter after a character on the Waltons. The irony is hilarious. LOL. Although it does make sense, as The Waltons takes place in roughly the same area as the Danfields come from. I was more of a Little House on the Prairie fan growing up, although I vaguely remember The Waltons re-running on the Family Channel back in the 90's. It's so earnest, as opposed to the entertainingly campy over-the-top-ness of LHOTP: