methodwriter85

I've felt old since I was about 24, so I'm the opposite. It's just weird to me that 1993 was really twenty years ago. It just feels so recent to me. It's weird to think there are twentysomethings now for whom the early/mid-90's means nothing to them. It was such a formulative time for me.

I remember watching a news special that followed a family who had a lot of members that carried the gene. One woman basically said, "I have had my two children and nursed them. My breasts have served their purpose, and they're going." I liked her attitude about it.

Yeah, the pace at which it happened was a little unrealistic, but I think the plan itself was pretty workable. One of the biggest problems with the shopping center/outlets revival plan attempts in the Rust Belt was that they'd build a shopping center, but not have the right demographics and critical mass of people to shop there. (I wrote an artlcle on Wilmington, Delaware's failed attempt at an urban outlet shopping center here.) Getting Triton Electronics, and all these new white collar people living in all the new apartments, really helps answer those problems.

I ran across this photo randomly, and it made me laugh. As much as I've dedicated this thread to changing fashion and trends, there are some things that are eternal... Like how frat guys dress. Seriously, with the exception of hair (I think in Private Tim's mid-90's day, the hair was floppier ala Leo's 1996 hair), the preppy frat boy look never really changes. I bet Mark remembers frat boys dressing like this even back in 1982 at his college campus. Although I will say that pastels and colored shorts seemed to have made a big comeback around 2007, as the ubiquitous cargo shorts of the late 90's/early 00's started to lose ground to them. The subdued tones of men's wardrobes in the 90's really started brightening up with pastels around '03, and neons started coming back in around '07, usually paired with 80's throwback sunglasses. With teenagers/college kids, it became cool in the early/mid-'00s. The whole metrosexual craze of '03 definitely helped.

I find Joel pretty cute, in that thirtysomething lanky stoner kind of way.

From reviews: It's interesting- JJ marches to the beat of his own drum, but at the same time doesn't try to upset the status quo. If Will is about upsetting the apple cart to reveal the rotten apples, JJ leaves the apple cart alone while figuring out how to make the rotten ones still work for what he wants/needs. I do think JJ's not bound as much as Will and Darius are to upholding the family name and traditions- he kind of went off and did his own performance diva thing while figuring that Will and Darius could be the upstanding Schluters. Anyway... 1. I loved JP's dedication to Claremont. It makes so much sense- he's now 65, he's basically achieved all of his career goals, he's raised his children, and now he wants to give back to his hometown. That's generally about the age where you see that kind of civic involvement. 2. I like how you laid out the Claremont Mills. (I'm assuming the shops are outlets?) It sounded very "of the time"- a lot of developments were built like this in 1990's to early/mid-2000's to boost sagging downtowns. Part of New Urbanist ideals, which gained traction in the 2000's. 3. It was also extremely fitting that the new ampitheater was named after Marie Crampton, and the Performing Arts Center was named after Tonto. I could see the idea that Marie's first namesake, Claire's daughter, not even being there for the dedication really bugging and disapointing JP. 4. I liked JP's talk about education in the city. Is Zane State College supposed to be the model of Claremont Institute of Technology? Again, that felt very "of the time"-a fair amount of schools that were basically either tech institutes, community colleges, commuter schools, etc etc expanded and morphed into 4-year residential public research colleges, or at least tried to move towards that. Georgia State University is a good example of that - I think JP would have an eye on getting college students living and working in Claremont(and wanting to stay there after graduation), because despite their b.s., college students are always good for a town's economy. Maybe Claremont Institute of Technology was like a commuter 2-year technical school with some four year programs, and JP's got it on a 30-year plan to get it to where Georgia Institute of Technology is now? 5. Most of all, you did a good job at capturing the hope and optimism of people at the end of the Clinton Years/early Bush II admistration- I remember there was a small recession going on in 2001, but it almost seemed like we completely ignored it because America was that confident. It also reminded me of how people felt- the idea that with our debts paid off, America was finally going to start investing into education and our future. I remember a biiiggg part of Bush II's platform was "No Child Left Behind" and I think JP's speech tapped into that mindset.

It seems incredible that Marie's first namesake isn't at the dedication ceremony, but that tends to be the kind of thing that goes by the wayside when you're 15 and your friends and your high school world are above everything. It'd be interesting if Will does wind up developing an attachment to Claremont...I can't see that being likely, but it seems like JP does want to install a sense of responsibility towards Claremont in the family, because that town launched the family. I find JP's dedication towards the town, and wanting to re-establish a ittle bit of homebase there, pretty realistic.

I saw them play at Firefly Music Festival last year, when "It's Time" was at abut 80-something on the music Billboad charts and it was their first radio hit. It was soooooo awesome when everyone started singing along to this. It's such a same they aren't playing this year at Firefly- they were supposed to, but had to back out. In any event Matt, if you're going to be in the Philly area this summer, you should try and hit it up Firefly Music Festival. The three day passes are sold out (unless you go to the ticket scalpers), but they still have one-day passes. Sunday looks like a really good night, with Vampire Weekend and Foster the People headlining.

Chapter 9 -When J.P. observes the new Claremont Mills development, which is the centerpiece of the Claremont revival plans. "Only In America" by Brooks and Dunn -When JP and Stefan met up with the young ones, and show off how Stefan pimped their crib. And with this song, Gwen Stefani officially jumped on the 2000's hip-hop bandwagon. Not that I can blame her- hip-hop was REALLY dominant for this decade. -When J.P. lays out his hopeful plans for the city of Claremont to the townspeople, not knowing that a portion of its youth will be heading off to war in a few months. -When J.P. talks to his daughter on the phone, who can't believe that he won't yield. This is totally my favorite number from the movie.

Safety Board: Legally Drunk Should be .05 instead of .08 I'm pretty against this. When I was in college, I had a system of having four drinks within an hour, which created a nice little buzz, and then waiting two hours while eating before driving myself home, and I never at any time felt like I was impaired. Four drinks + two hours of waiting around was perfectly responsible and safe. I think the recomendation as written would mean that a typical male could only have 3 drinks before being legally drunk, and a typical woman couldn't have more than two drinks. This would really affect the casual drinker- people who show up for Happy Hour after work and have just a few drinks, who now face being criminals. In my case, I don't really have more than two or three drinks when I go out now because I just drink to take the edge off as opposed to getting a real buzz like I used to, so I should still be fine if the new rules are implemented, but I'm still worried that this could criminalize perfectly responsible behavior. I'm fine the idea of stiffer penalities for people driving at .08 and higher, and the BAC ignition locks for repeat DUI offenders. This is lurdicrous, however. I totally figured this was coming- has anyone noticed those "Buzzed Driving Is Still Drunk Driving" PSA's? I did remember my professor, back in '08, saying that he thinks the Nanny Police will try and get the BAC lowered again, and lo and behold...

That seems especially true of the du Ponts. They were such a strong presence in this region, but as the family company turned into a globalist conglomerate run by other people, their central prescence diminished. I think the last notable thing that's happened with the du Ponts was when John du Pont killed his wrestling "friend" at his estate in the 1990's. It makes sense that the same kind of thing is happening with the Cramptons/Schluters, because it's become less of family company centered in a small area and more of globalist company run by non-family members, with the family splintering around all these different areas. I mean it is pretty jarring if you compare how the business was being run circa The Land Whore, vs. how it's being run now. I do think the Hobarts vs. Cramptons/Schluters deal is interesting, because it's always kind of been there. Jack's parents or greater family (is Jack an only child?) have never been that involved in anything the Cramptons/Schluters do. The Hobarts aren't like the Hendricksons- the one time we see mention of Jack's mother, it's her chatising Jack for letting John have a boyfriend. They were never fully enfolded into the family like the Hendricksons, or the process we're seeing with the Danfields. Although with the Danfields it feels a little more like a "frenemy" situaton- Wade, Nana, and his father are truly being enfolded into the family, but his mother and sister won't be.

Angelina Jolie Reveals She Had Double Mastectomy I think it's pretty interesting that someone as young and as widely known as Jolie got the procedure done and was pretty open about it. Bravo to Jolie for raising awareness about this. I first heard about women (and men) getting this done a couple of years ago...Nip/Tuck even had a plot about it. It is really awesome to see how medical advances in genectic testing have brought us to the point of being able to make some really informed decisions about our health. I read an interesting book once about the history of treating breast cancer It definitely makes me wonder about what I'd do if I were in the same position- like let's say, I get a test, and it tells me that it's 90 percent likely that I'd get testicular cancer or prostate cancer. Would I get that removed, or would I take my chances? Have any of you had a similiar kind of dilemna, or know people who had?

43 Things That Will Make You Feel Really Old The ones of note for me: 39. You can go up to a 15-year old and say, "I have MP3's that are older than you." 37. 34. In two years it will be 2015 and you will be as far removed from 1985 as Marty McFly was from 1955. 32. People born in 1995 graduated high school this year. 29. Here's how old the Backstreet Boys's currently are: 26. The Power Rangers made their debut in 1993, twenty years ago. 19. And these are the Rugrat's current ages: 18. Monica and Chandler's twins should be 9, Phoebe's triplets would be 14, Benjamin should be 18, and Emma would be 11. 17. Home Alone was released closer to The MOON LANDING than to now. 2. **** Man time goes by.

I'm not so sure there will be a JP "heir", so to speak. I think JP's having the realization that the way in which they conducted the family- the French model of the family head- isn't really going to work in the globalist 21st century with their 21st century rising generation. It might be more of a democracy than an absolute power monarchy. Congrats on Minnesota getting gay marriage. We're getting gay marriage in Delaware on July 1st. That should make Rehoboth Beach businesses very happy.

Congrats on hitting this huge milestone. Here's to another half-century, Mark!!! LOL. All kidding aside, you got any big plans for this, Mark? For the summer I'm 50 (because I'm not doing this in December), I really want to travel around the U.S.A. in a Winnebago, like Road Rules.

Okay guys, I think we're getting waaaayyyy off topic here. This discussion is about the plot points, characters and themes of 9.11 and CAP, not about calling on posters on their behavior. That is strictly boards-on-boards...it's banned at TWOP, and I'm sure it's probably at least frowned upon here. Please if you two have any issues with each other, take it to private messages, okay? Anyway, back to the story...we're now about ten weeks, give or take, from 9/11. I'd love to see Mark try and incorporate some big New York City events that were taking place that summer, like the 2001 MTV Music Awards. I remember it being a big deal for my school, because one of our students was appearing as a back-up dancer to Jay Z's number. I remember people from New York were saying that the week previous to 9.11 had been such a fun week for New York City- the MTV Music Awards, the Michael Jackson concert, the big racing regatta. And if I'm remembering correctly, the weather in the region had been basically perfect late summer East Coast weather- that's why it was being called an Indian Summer. Blue skies, warm, but not humid. That's what made it so weird to look at the skies on 9/11...the skies were beautiful, and utterly silent. I'll never forget that- school was dismissed because the governor of Delaware declared a state of emergency- there were concerns that the Delaware Memorial Bridge and Dover Air Force Base could be targets, and after I got picked up from school I just remember lying back in the car and staring out the windows at the sky above.

I've already used it- it was Bitty's theme, and it was the song I used for the fallout of the Triton scandal.

....JJ has strawberry blond hair. I do like your Scott Slater a lot, though. He kind of reminds me of how I'd picture a guy who was probably once a surfer hunk as a young guy, and has grown into a pleasantly good-looking older man.

Chapter 8 -When JP despairs over the realization that there isn't the tight, cohesive family bond that he thought there was. -When JP looks out over the Bay Area, and reflects.

You are too much fun.

I've been thinking about my lack of getting a successful Darius lately...and then I realized that you've never really described Darius in terms of his face other than the fact that he's considered beautiful but in an exotic, ethically ambigious way. Probably because as a straight guy, and more importantly, as the straight guy who's the brother to the main protagonist, he's never going to be included in any CAP sexual encounters or be a leading character and thus how he looks isn't something that you have "clearly" in your head the way you would for someone like Matt. Am I right about that, Mark? My next (of many) guesses in the "Let's find Darius" game is this male model, Tyson Ballou. I noticed his modeling ads at H&M. I find him pretty hot in an exotic kind of way. I do feel like Darius as described would probably look like someone that could model Dolce and Gabbana. Will, Cody, and Ryan seem like they'd be Abercrombie and Fitch Models. Matt would be a beefcake model in a gay magaizine type, while Wade and "Sergio" would be Euro-thin runway models. JJ and Allistair would look they belong on the Disney channel, but dress like the junior division of Brooks Brothers. That's what I think in terms of how I found the "face" models, so to speak, for the guys.

Really good point. I have this online friend who's life, on the surface, is pretty much a wet dream for anybody. Great parents, massively talented, affluent upbringing, nice looks, great relationships, great job...but he's also prone to bouts of intense melancholy, and has an extremely hard time dealing with things not working out as he wants them to. I didn't get it for the first couple of years I talked to him- this guy's life has pretty much anything he could want, so why would he ever be sad? Then I got it explained to me. I remember our mutual online friend told me once that when someone's lived a Golden Boy life, it makes it that much more difficult when life does hand you setbacks, as opposed to the people who've learned to deal with disapointment early and often. When I got it, I had much more sympathy for him, like I would have for Will. It is interesting how Will does differ from Brad in that regard. Brad had no trouble beating the shit out of Neal in Man In Motion, and he didn't bat an eye about his own sister and uncle getting whacked. Will does have a temper (as Brad and Robbie's wadrobe can attest to) but it's not really been directed in violence. And the one time he got himself involved in the "revenge" side of the family, Will had an extremely difficult time with the notion of playing God with people's lives. I really like that Mark has written that into Will as a core part of who he is, because it's so different from a core part of who Brad is. It feels like something that Will would have gotten from Tonto. I do wonder how Will is going to view the upcoming War on Terror, especially if he knows people who go over the course of the 2000's. I feel like that's part of why Mark's having Will in Claremont and making acquaintances there- Claremont will have a lot of people that go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KHzz7xqG7A

Ace is technically the oldest son. Ace was born in March 1962, Brad was born in October 1962. I'm kinda curious actually if Ace was held back a year, because Ace should have graduated from high school in 1980 instead of '81 like Brad and Robbie. Brad started kindergarten in Ohio, so that date is right, and Robbie was born in March 1963, so that's right. The birth order for Isidore and JP's kids are Ace (March 1962), Brad (October 1962), Claire and Billy (October 1964). (Billy died October 1980.) The birth order for Brad, Robbie, and Jeanine's kids are Darius (January 1982), JJ (December 1985), and Will (September 1986.) The birth order for Claire and Jack's kids are Marie (April 1986) and John (July 1987.) Ace's only child, Courtney, was born in September 1995. I would imagine that as bad as Marie's Princess Complex is, Courtney's will be much, much worse because she's an only child. Only children can be precocious little monsters. Although Westie does have a good point.We've never seen CAP through the eyes of a female. As someone who went to a high school that was over 2/3's female, I noticed that girls will often have to deal with nice guys who keep hitting on them but just refuse to get the hint. I can see the point of view with Marie, where Noah was making her feel uncomfortable and guilty because he liked her and she felt like a bitch for saying no because a nice girl doesn't say no to a nice guy who likes her. Will only joined up with Menlo by January and we didn't see any of the school year at Menlo...we don't know how Noah interacted with Marie or whether or not he tried to "shame" her into dating him. It's actually something that's been discussed in feminist circles... "Nice Guy Syndrome" is the idea of men who become fixated on being "nice" towards a pretty girl, and begins to develop feelings for her. Because he's nice to her, it starts to become this expectation that she'll reciprocate his feelings. Women are trained to be culturally gentle when trying to let down a guy, and maybe Noah just didn't get the hint so she finally went the bitch route.

If there's one thing I've learned in life, no matter how stong the arguments of the Alpha male are, he will always lose in a fight with an Alpha female.