methodwriter85

I mean, if you think about it, only JJ, Will, and Zach have done that. Darius Marie, and John had/have relatively normal high school experiences.

Agreed on the first point. Although I don't really follow serial drama t.v. series that much anymore- I watch reality t.v. much more often now. Southern Charm, Chrisley Knows Best, Below Deck, and VanderPump Rules are probably my favorites. Or, more likely, I watch narrations or vlogs on Youtube, such as that "loser guy" Tom Explores Los Angeles. LOL. Anyway,Buzzfeed also does a lot of videos about Los Angeles/Southern California life: That is an interesting regional difference that people say "the" in front of their interstate roads/freeways/whatever. Here, you would just say, "I'm going up 1, then taking the exit to 273." Also, the gourmet food truck thing was cool. I love the concept, and I love that it's expanding over here on the East Coast. Anyway, Interesting articles. The first looks really cool, although I'm not sure how I feel about the second one. It sounds like it's basically going to offer a few budget options, but try to go for this trendy hybrid deal, which the commentators below seem to feel is a betrayal to the original spirit of the place.

JJ is going to St. Anne's in New York City to finish out high school. He's going to be classmates with Lena Dunham. I can already see him finding her annoying. LOL. I think it's ultimately a good thing that JJ and Will didn't go through high school together. They would have killed each other. LOL. Anyway, St. Anne's is one of those independent study, no letter grades type of school. Which seems like a good kind of school for someone like JJ, who hasn't really made getting straight A's a big priority in his life. So far he hasn't really seemed to think about college at all, but he's going to have to, because I can't see this family letting him not go, especially because he's no longer skating. I could see him taking a gap year that gets a little bit longer than a year, though. One really interesting thing about St. Anne's is that the high school students basically attend some kind of seminar where they have to discuss a variety of topics, in intense depth. That's pretty cool, and very much something that JJ doesn't really seem to do, and something he needs to do if he wants to get into that college mindset. I really hope we see him engage his intellect a little more than we've seen him do. Right now, he comes off as a former child star who didn't go to school.

There are a lot of things Mark is willing to do, but killing off children is not one of them. The closest he got were Billy Crampton and Shane something-or-other, and they were already 15. Maddy just shy of 3 years old in any event. Anyway...the talent show stuff. It's really funny to see this stuff in here, because we haven't really done much with high school stuff in awhile. Will doesn't really a give a shit about his part in the high school social scene as he's too busy jetting around to Boystown parties and being a real estate mogul, and JJ hasn't attended high school since 9th grade as he was too busy reaching his goal of becoming a figure skating champ. It was funny to be reminded that John and Marie are very much into it, which is just so normal for that age. Of course, John and Marie had the closest-to-normal upbringing of the legacy teen characters on the show. They were rich, but they also came from the only real nuclear family unit. I honestly thought that Mark felt like JJ was detached from the general storyline BECAUSE of his figure skating career, and why he seemed to work out a very methodical and very organic way of ending JJ's career and moving him into other things. It was a lot of work, and a lot of research, and Mark would constantly have us change up the timeline when we'd tell him that, "No, JJ's actually got to be in Scotland" when he wanted him in California for a reason. This gives Mark a lot more latitude about being able to use JJ without having to explain which competition in which country he's at. As for the fashion stuff; I mean it's been pretty clear that JJ loves this stuff, but I don't really think Mark's moving him into becoming a designer or something like that. JJ's more along the lines of someone who knows what looks good and advises the fashion magazine editor, without really taking it to something formal. I think JJ's right now kind of just flitting around, seeing how things fit- I can't picture himself getting too heavy into anything particular right now after his very intense 5-year career.

The really nice thing about this time period we're in now is that 80's songs are starting to become "cool" again, and 1970's rock is "classic". But 90's stuff is kind of just passe and old, although again, I went with this version because I listened to a contemporary cover that was just awful.

You're thinking of the original by Kim Wilde, which came out in 1981. This is the cover by the Muffs, which kicked off the movie Clueless in 1995 Clueless kind of "defines" that generation of teenagers who aren't quite Gen Xers, but aren't quite Millennials. (I'd classify them as people born in the late 70's/early 80's, and attended high school in the mid/late 90's.) It was the first "post-grunge" teen movie. Daria is another really good look at that cohort. It was an MTV cartoon, but it actually nailed that Y2K high school vibe. The joke was that Daria had this depressive, cynical grungey vibe to her- but contrasted against late 90's American optimism and the sunny teen culture of the time. (Think TRL, boybands, Britney Spears, etc.) In terms of CAP, I'd say that Matt, Wade, Darius, Tony, Mary Ellen, and Gathan belong to that. Ella's kinda borderline- I'd link her more to Will's Millennial cohort, but she still had a significant amount of her high school experience in the 90's instead of the '00s. She's kind of like Blue-he was born in 1984 but I think he graduated in '01 because he skipped a grade.

Chapter 30 -When Will calls up Zach, who's at yet another college party. "Right Thurr" by Chingy -When Will and Buzz get it on. "Urgent" by Foreigner This classic rock tune plays a part in the new, 1980-set Richard Linklater Everybody Wants Some. (They NAILED how guys dressed in 1980. I was really impressed at how well they recreated the year 1980 for the most part...the girls were a little off for me, though.) Anybody else know this tune? I know Foreigner, but hadn't really heard this one before. "I Want to Know What Love Is" and "Hot-Blooded" are probably their best. -When Will starts his senior year of high school. "Kids in America" by The Muffs I feel weird about using 90's songs, because it's not old enough in 2003 to be retro cool yet like 80's stuff or classic like 70's stuff, but whatever. LOL. It's a great tune and I'm the DJ, damn it. I tried to think back to the O.C. but then remembered that they never really showed them in school that much, as most teen dramas are wont to do. So there's no identifiable song choice about the first day of school from that show. Oh, well. -When Will thinks for a mercifully brief moment that his father is dead. (Which he is not.) "Time after Time" by Eva Cassidy

Blue is so sexy when he goes on a rant. Just like Adam! (Well, if Adam was a skinny Latino guy from SoCal with a snarky attitude instead of a former Texan 18-year old jock boy-turned-36.) Ooh, interesting Tet. I wonder who it is. I also know that Prank vs. Prank is based in Philly. They're such Jersey Shore people, in the best way. Anyway, back to California... I might as well take this moment to mention the O.C., which premiered this month (August 2003) in CAP World. It had a very huge, if brief, social impact. It gave us the term "rager", as in a party, and "sick", as in good. Also saying "fro-yo." The fashion was pretty influential as well, with girls wearing peasant skirts and tank tops like Marissa, and vintage stripped polo shirts (Seth's deadl) becoming pretty popular on guys as well. The real legacy of the show though is the incredible, incredible soundtrack, which included Phantom Plant, Death Cab For Cute, the Shins, the Dandy Warhols, Imogen Heap, etc etc etc. I really think the show was really good at shaping the "look" and "feel" of the 2000's, and got us past the transitional phase between the 1990's and the 2000's. It also gave us a great look into the greed and ultimately empty housing wealth bubble of the 2000's. (Jimmy's storyline was eerily prescient for what would go down later in the decade.) One really cool factoid- in 2004, students at UC Berkeley created a scholarship for public defenders in the name of Sandy Cohen. I hope it's still going- that's such a cool testament to just how much influence the show had. I've always tended towards liking cult t.v. shows, so it was such a rare experience to be into a show that EVERYBODY was watching, at least during its first two seasons. Finally..."Welcome to the O.C., bitch! This is how it's done in Orange County!" So, I'm kind of curious though...the Chino as presented in The O.C. basically depicted it as a downtrodden, tough, blue-collared city that was pretty hopeless and crime ridden. (Complete with blue tinge lighting.) Was it really that bad, or was it a total exaggeration? I think the city blamed the OC for P.F. Chang's not wanting to locate there.

Hey, did anyone get a chance to check out the movie trailer for Richard Linklater's newest film, ? It's set during the opening weekend of the 1980-1981 school year at a Texas college, and follows a freshmen pitcher as he adjusts to life as a member of college baseball. I was able to catch a screening of the movie last Friday. (It's pretty limited release.) It was a pretty fun ride, and we get to see them go through all these different party scenes as the story goes on- disco, country western, punk, and New Wave alternative- really cool to watch. I thought they did a great job with depicting the year 1980- right between the mellowed, relaxed vibes of the Stagflation 1970's, and the bright, preppy Reagonomic 1980's. I really encourage people to catch this one. It's such a delightful little time machine.

Hank Green (brother of John) did a video where he showcases YouTuber culture in Los Angeles: It's interesting to see how "celebrity" has been splintered by the arrival of the internet. You can have someone's who's got a massive fanbase, like Smosh, but nobody who doesn't follow YouTube would know them. Blue, do you know any famous YouTubers? I think there's an accessibility to them that makes them appealing- they're "famous", but not really famous, and it makes them regular, normal people that just happen to get millions of views on their videos.

I'm going to admit that I didn't get my Facebook account until 2007, and I didn't get my Myspace until 2006. I didn't go to college until fall 2005, and I didn't have a digital camera or a cell phone camera, so I didn't create a social media account for myself until probably the end of my freshmen year. So I'm pretty hazy about those days, and again, I didn't do Facebook until '07. The restriction was still there, but not for that much longer- I think it was gone by '08. (Weirdly enough, I was a pretty early youth adopter of Twitter- I got on in 2009 before it really exploded, and I started using YouTube around January 2006.) Mainly, Facebook and Myspace was pretty much just for checking out pictures of guys in my classes that I thought were hot. LOL. (God, a polo shirt and a leather hemp choker on a cute guy can still get me going.) Whatever Buzz is doing, it's probably not in the best interest of the family. LOL. As for JJ, I kind of have to agree with you. I don't think JJ is like Will, who basically had to be beaten over the head several times with how horrible a boyfriend Tony really was until he finally got it. JJ really got it when Alex threw him to the wolves for MaryEllen's plot. So now the stars are out of his eyes, and Alex is now just a hot ex he can hook up with.

This was Mark from his replies to Chapter 28 reviews: I always pictured JJ as eventually ending up as a cool and calm, collected socialite making witty, funny remarks as he observes society around him while he sips his favorite martini, a la Truman Capote. (But much, much prettier.) He just needs to work through his teen angst bullshit first. I always thought that it was interesting that, as self-absorbed as JJ is, he tends to be pretty on-the-money when he makes observations about people, brutally so. It's in stark contrast to Will, who pretty much always wants to believe the best of everybody he meets. (He's not naive, but he's not always that sharp when it comes to judging people.)

Chapter 29 -After the party, where Will, Darius, and Ryan decide to blow off some steam and toke up, and just the breeze. "Beast of Burden" by The Rolling Stone -When Will calls up Zach, who's at a party having a blast and seems rather uninterested in Will. "Shout!" from Animal House That has to be one of the most universal college songs I've ever heard. No matter the era, it just resonates with anybody who went to college. -When Will hooks up with Buzz. "Take Me Home Tonight" by Eddie Money I will forever associate this song with Phi Kapps parties. -When JJ hooks up with Alex after a rotten morning. "You Get Me" by Michelle Branch

It's really great to see long-time fans of CAP. I've been a part of Mark's team since pretty much the beginning(along with our lovely Sharon), and it's been a pretty fun ride. Eight years this August!

I'd find a lot of obscure indie movies as a result of going to Hollywood Video, and later on, Family Video. (I googled the one I went to back in 2010-2012, and it's still around!)

Chapter 28 -JJ makes his decision. "Freedom 90" by George Michael -JJ has some fun with Buzz. "So Alive" by Love and Rocketts -John's band do terrible covers: "Lose Yourself" by Eminem "Shake Ya Tailfeather" by Nelly -John's band does one decent cover: "Your Body is Wonderland" by John Mayer

Well, damn. There went my timeline for JJ's career up to 2006. Oh, well. Seriously, it made sense. I believed it. And I always got the feeling that you were a little annoyed that we had to work his career in hence always forcing us to change the timeline, and we also had to have him maintain his Disney virginal image. I get why you did away with those restrictions, and it really doesn't feel like it came out of nowhere. Skating really stopped being JJ's entire life during the Streak.

Will seems barely invested in pop culture. Do you really see him getting into memes? I picture him as the guy who's the last one to get on Facebook or find YouTube. He IM's and emails because it's a convenient communication tool, but I can't see him being *into* internet culture. As for the other stuff, it gets annoying when people give me this shocked look when I tell them I'm 30, and I just want to roll my eyes so hard every time I'm carded. (Which is basically any time I'm at a bar where I haven't become regular.) But eh, in JJ's case, I can see him as a Botox junkie before age 25. I think that's just his way- he wants to look immaculate, and I can picture him being one of those types to get pre-emptive botox. As for this chapter, I'm a little bit pissed at JJ's decision, because Daisy and I had basically planned JJ's career out to the 2005-2006 season, but whatever. JJ's reasoning for leaving now was pretty sound, and honestly, it was A LOT of work to research and get things right when it came to JJ's career. It also kept JJ pretty isolated, and Mark was constantly having us change the timeline that we set up because he needed JJ to be there for whatever reason. I just think Mark got sick of doing it, and honestly I felt like this decision was pretty "earned"- it doesn't feel abrupt or coming out of nowhere. I also remember thinking when I was reading The Streak that JJ didn't really seem to LOVE figure skating. He loved the competition, and he loved that he was good, but he honestly didn't seem to love the sport itself all that much. There was never really that much passion in his performances other than making sure he was better than the other people. I also think that Mark just wasn't going to keep Disney JJ going for much longer. He's still there, but not in full-force like before. I still can't see him becoming wild, but as Blue said once, a pure virginal character just isn't going to cut it for a saga like CAP. Therefore, Mark needed to get rid of the reasons for JJ holding himself back from behaving like a normal horny teenaged guy. Finally,teen guys haaaattttteeeedddd John Mayer. They like seriously hated him. That made the ending of the chapter so much fun.

Parameters which definite the search. I'm with you that it should stick to characters that Mark created, not real people who's deaths Mark incorporated into the story like Matthew Shepherd.

I'm totally picturing Buzz's wife as Anne Hathaway's character in Brokeback Mountain: Some brassy, tough-as-nails broad with a feathered 80's blonde hairdo fried to perfection, who knew exactly what her husband was getting into. Honestly, that whole clip is a masterclass in acting. Sometimes less is more, and Anne just perfectly nailed it- Lurlene getting that "I know you were screwing my husband and I'm going to be nice to you because you meant something to him even though I really, really want to rip you a new one" vibe across so damn well.

I don't think anybody died in Flux, either, except for Aaron, who died of natural old age. (That was the story his death was announced in, right?) Is Jim Crampton still kicking around? He should be in his late 70's by 2003. I wonder if Mark ever plans on having JJ deal with his paternity, or if it's just going to remain a (barely) kept family secret that no one really talks about. We know he was alive at least up to 2000.

I'm tempted not to count any of the deaths in The Box, because it's a prequel, which would also make that zero. But yeah, this is all a moot point until Mark outlines a list of what he's considering the "official death" count.

Mark, you're a professor. Give us a list of rules here about what people are counting.

Ooh, that's a good point. I think you're right. Which would also play into the Columbine shooting question, as well as the victims of the Concorde crash. He has taken real events and had people die in them, like the maritime accident that killed Andre and Brad's adopted father, and of course 9/11. So I would say the fictional characters he's chose to kill off would count, but not actual people who died in the actual events that Mark decided to include.

Don't forget Matthew Shepherd. We did have Matt actually interact with him. But I won't count the Columbine shooting because we didn't actually meet the people involved. And of course, we're not counting the total 9/11 death count. It needs to be name characters(or real people) we actually interacted with.