methodwriter85

No, actually, I loved the movie, but I was a precocious 9-year old who really, really wanted to see teen movies in the theater instead of little kid stuff, and my 12/13 year old sisters were spending that summer at the Jersey Shore with a family friend instead of at home so I couldn't get them to take me to see it. It's funny, at home I could watch whatever I wanted, but I didn't get to see a PG-13 movie by myself in the theater until I saw Volcano in 1997 when I was 11. Anyway, back to the topic...in this episode of Tom Explores Los Angeles, our intrepid explorer tackles the Salton Sea, and in-land lake that was accidentally created in 1905, had success as a resort in the 1950's, and is now facing extinction as California will no longer be required to replenish it after 2017. That would be a great setting for a horror movie. Wow. Here's another video on it: I learned about this place on a History Channel documentary on it a couple of years ago. Have any of you ever been there?

Scrolled back over the thread and found this. I think it's funny because he's 25 and you're only four years older than him. LOL. (I'm exactly four years older than him.) But I guess that's the magic of movies...Cherubic Little Nicholas Hoult is preserved forever. (It's kind of a shame the T.V. adaption of About A Boy got cancelled...I really liked it.) Anyway, here's him currently: He's lost that lanky adolescent look he had for such a long time. Now he just looks like a fully-grown man instead of a young boy. What a fine hunk of a man. Anyway, if Shane Jackson has an older brother or look-alike cousin please feel free to bring him in, Mark. LOL.

BTW, Clueless came out 20 years ago today, Blue. Let that sink in. God, we're old. I still remember wanting badly to see it in the movie theaters but being stuck having to watch stuff like James and the Giant Peach and the Indian in the Cupboard because I was 9 years old. (They also came out that summer to much less fanfare.)

Just taking a moment to mention the 20th Anniversary of Clueless, which came out on July 19th, 1995. Truly one of my favorite movies from my childhood! Years later, as a teenager, I discovered it was an updated version of the Jane Austen book, Emma. I love Jane Austen so I guess this movie served as my entry into that world.

I was watching T.V. tonight, and on 20/20 they had this crazy story about what was called the real-life "Gone Girl" kidnapping case, from Vallejo,California. Basically, a beautiful blonde woman disappeared from her home, with her live-in boyfriend claiming that she was kidnapped. Days later, she was found safe at her father's home in Huntington Beach, and soon, people started to question whether or not it was a hoax. However, it turned out to be very real...she was kidnapped by a crazed former lawyer who apparently was using her as a test run in learning how to kidnap more prominent people. This is so batshit crazy. Wow.

I gotta agree with you on that. JJ's not going to come out swinging. That's not his style. I do have to hand it to MaryEllen. JJ's pretty much done with Alex, and Alex is firmly under her control.

Chapter 4 -When JJ is outed in the tabloids. "Scream" by Janet and Michael Jackson -When JJ dumps Alex. "Goodbye to You" by Michelle Branch

It really scares me when you refer to yourself in third person.

I think you did a much better of saying what I was trying to say. Thanks.

I'm still really looking forward to Not to Touch the Earth and Remix. I'm a sucker for time travel/alternative dimension stuff.

Dude, for the love of God, PLEASE stop going back and tweaking Cross-Currents. It's a done story. It's finished. Let it stay there. It's not a perfect story but it's a damn good one that I think should finally get to rest. I get that you're a perfectionist but if you keep tweaking the story it'll never really be finished. Let it stand finished. It doesn't need to be continually tweaked with.

My view of MaryEllen has been Margot Robbie from the Wolf of Wall Street: Change out the accent to a Southern one and I think she's perfect. I can sooooo see her playing games like this with her husband. Margot's like a prettier, young Jamie Pressley, who always did bitchy roles just so well. She has that bleached blonde bombshell look down pat: Can't you just picture evil schemes and thoughts coming from that face?

Marissa Tomei, best known for her Oscar-winning turn in My Cousin Vinny, is set to take on the role of Aunt May against Tom Holland, who's playing the new Peter Parker. I'm excited. She's a great actress.

He's cute but I kind of wish they had gotten a more lithe model, instead of a bulky muscle guy. Some of that stuff looked really awkward on him, like 60's mod. Also, I'll say it again- if you do not have skinny legs, skinny jeans just look awkward as hell on you. I thought his most flattering outfit was 1995. He would have fit in well with that time period of bulky jeans, goatees, bowling shirts, and spiky hair.

Chapter 3 -When Will sees his various family members off on their various trips around the world. "Roam" by the B-52's -When JJ arrives in London. "There She Goes" from the Parent Trap R.I.P. Miranda Richardson. Also, Lindsay Lohan's career. (I'm telling you, it HURTS on that one. I feel like I grew up with her and Amanda Bynes. We're all the same age. At least the Olsen twins seem relatively together if very eccentric and old-looking as hell.) -When MaryEllen promises to ruin JJ's life. "Yoo Hoo" by Teen Imperial -When JJ and Alex resolve to handle whatever MaryEllen throws their way, and make love again. "The Tide Is High" From The Lizzie McGuire Movie Every straight teen boy I knew back that was in LOVE with Hilary Duff back then. Oh, my god. She annoyed the shit out of me back then but she was indeed a thing back in 2003. My high school cafeteria had a large Hilary Duff "Got Milk?" banner. The pounds of make-up they put on her just bothered the shit out of me given that she was supposed to be playing an unpopular middle-schooler. Hilary Duff kind of hit right when the former teen queens like Britney, Christina, Mandy, etc were doing more mature things...she was never really big outside of Disney Radio but man she was hyped hard. -When Will decides to start his plan to go against Brad by turning into a dedicated consumer, and opens up a twenty million dollar line of credit. "Intuition" by Jewel That really was an impressive piece of satire- it manages to pass as the real thing while still being critical.

I mean, I'd ask Tim, but it seems relatively new, and his college days were in the 1990's. Like I said, I didn't encounter "slapping the bag" until 2012 at Firefly. Most bro-types I know didn't touch boxed wine but this seems to be a way that those guys will consume it. It must have been some fringe thing that people were doing, enough so that it made Urban Dictionary, but it didn't become mainstream until this decade. UCSB sounds like an intense party school. Way more intense than UD ever was. I mean, we've never even had a concentrated frat row. (Or if we did, it all got broken up by the time I got there.) Of course, we're located in a NIMBY state where people bitch and moan about every possible little thing, especially when it comes to the students that allows Newark, DE to look like a Disney Town U.S.A. instead of a depressed rust belt town. I mean, a 1 a.m. last call? Seriously? And no actual bars allowed on Main Street? (They have to be restaurants that can only make 40 percent of their revenue from alcohol.) It sounds like Santa Barbara just lets it be. Will's going into his senior year...I wonder if Mark will send him to a party school. I can kind of see it, and I can kinda not see it.

Two Train Lines Connecting Azusa to Santa Monica Enters Final Testing Stage That sounds cool. I've always wanted to visit Southern California but 12-lane highways terrify me. I still can't get myself to drive on I-95.

Now that's just hot.

Damn, that soundtrack brought me back. Anyway, I foresee a drunken Patrick Manfind throwing himself at Adam later. That would be funny. I think Jordan is into Adam.

You're no fun, Mark.

On another note...I found this Let's Not Meet story on Reddit, and it made me think of you, Blue, and your bit about the rape culture of UCSB: Terrorized for Two Hours The story takes place at UCSB...I thought it was interesting that she talked about how the students often put themselves in danger there because that was the culture. Anyway, University of Delaware used to be a party school, way back in the 1990's, but they slammed down hard on it- all of the big drunken outdoor music fests were banned by the time I finished in 2010, and a lot of big frats were kicked off. It doesn't seem like UCSB has changed much. I kind of get why former party schools crack down it, but I also think that if you try and shelter young adults at the time they're supposed to be learning how to be an adult and what their limits are, you really short-change them. I wonder if Will would wind up going there. Honestly, while he's social and can throw a big rager, that doesn't really seem like his life, and I'm not sure he'd fit into a party school because of that. Will really doesn't strike me as a future frat boy the way John screams it.

Well, that, and there's a curious lack of minority love interest characters. The last significant one was Kai, wasn't it? He looks like BooBoo Stewart. Tet would probably like him. I'm rooting for John to wind up marrying a black woman so we can have more interacial characters aside from Darius. Anyway, I always figured that Maryellen would be like Tanya Turner from Footballer's Wives by her mid-30's: God, I miss Footballer's Wives. Tanya Turner was like an Alexis Carrington for the 2000's. (Although she really had absolutely no soul, while Alexis really did care in her own way for her children.) * Back in the mid/late 1990's, there used to be Dynasty reruns on the FX channel. That is how I know the show even though I was only born during the sixth season of it. I kind of wish Mark would borrow more from Dynasty, but he seems more about the Original Recipe Dallas influence. (Which I didn't watch.) An Dynasty-style catfight would have been fun, though. I could see Middle-Aged Joan Collins as the Evil Bitch Mother Alexandra Carmicheal, someone that even scared Elizabeth Danfield.

I think MaryEllen's features would be sharper than that but I love the Alex here.

Anyway, kind of crazy about Sergio/Kevin. He manages to be the small percentage of guys who don't respond to the new medicines?

Chapter 2 -When the house prepares for the wedding, and when Will and Zach make love. "Crazy in Love" by Beyonce Welcome to the Beyonce domination years. She pretty much owned this decade. I got so sick of her by the end of it. LOL. -As the family watches Isidore and Frank get married. "Forever and Always" by Shania Twain Shania Twain basically disappeared after the early 2000's. I think she's tried to mount a few comebacks but she was pretty much at the end of her reign right here. -The wedding reception as the gang dance in celebration. "Come On, Eilleen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners Way ahead of this time, but "Living Room Routine!" When I was like 15 I bought this "Top Hits of 1983" cd and I used to listen to this tune on it all the time. What a great tune to dance to. God, I love the oldies!