methodwriter85

Mark has a thing for blond guys- they show up A LOT in CAP, both twinks or as jock types. I think it's because Mark Arbour grew up in the 1970's. I mean, blonde/blond hair has always been seen as desirable, but it REALLY seemed big in that particular decade. We even had a blond president, and a lot of sex symbols both male and female were blonde/blond. Standard beauty tends to imprint on you. I'd bet anything that John Schneider from the Dukes of Hazzard was a MAJOR masturbation fantasy for Mark back in 1979. LOL. Like I remember my friend joking one time about how guys in my generation are so much more about the big butt on girls than guys in say Private Tim's generation, because we had beauty idols like J.Lo and Beyonce. In my case, I'm always going to find wifebeater tank tops and spiky hair on a muscular guy pretty hot, because that was such a major trend/look on guys when I was having my first stirrings. But anyway, I always thought it was kind of funny how there seem to be far more blonds that exist in CAP than tend to exist in my own experience...guys that are blond especially tend to be rare, because if there were former blonds as a child/young teenager they don't tend to fight against going darker like women do, especially after blond highlights/streaks in guys hair stopped being trendy after the late 90's/ very early 2000's. Of course, my area tends to have a high concentration of blacks, Hispanics, and Italians, so of course it makes sense that there aren't as many blonds around here. When I lived in Western P.A., I was kind of shocked by all the redheads I saw around me, but then I realized that it was rooted in the fact that that area was founded by the Scots-Irish in the 1700's, so of course you'd probably see more redheads around there.

Brian was born somewhere around 1973 and died in 2000. I don't think he would have grandchildren in 2003. If he had a kid in his teens, he might have a teenager who was born in the very late 1980's or 1990, but David was born around 1985-ish and Brian would have been a little young for that.

Was the whole "swideswept" bangs look, aka the Zac Efron/later on Justin Beiber, popular in California in 2003, or was that more 2004/2005? I can't remember seeing it here until around 2006. I do remember that short, spiky hair was falling out of favor in 2003 and guys started growing their hair out. By 2005, I remember seeing what I deemed the "early 80's winged haircut" around a lot.

Honestly, Zach is about as closeted as Troy Aikman. It's like the biggest open secret. I love that JJ's getting his bitch on with MaryEllen. MaryEllen, this is why you don't mess with bitchy, catty queer guys. LOL.

Chapter 9 -When Will launches a rescue plan for Ryan. "Hold On" by Good Charlotte I am so embarrassed to admit that I really, really loved Good Charlotte when I was 16/17. LOL. -When JJ talks to Alex on the phone. "You're So Vain" by Carly Simon Warren Beatty is rumored to be the inspiration. Having read Star by Peter Riskind, I can believe it. The guy pissed off EVERYBODY. He was hot, but geez, what a dick. -When JJ decides to get even with Mary Ellen. "One Way Or Another" by Blondie -When Will confronts Zach. "Cry Me A River" by Justin Timberlake

If they expected Will to become a business shark, they were pretty sorely mistaken. If Will does get involved with Corporate America, I'm guessing he's going to be of that Free Trade/Compassionate/Local/Save the World kind of vein.

Chapter 8 -When Will gets to Chicago to check on the bar, realizes the problem, and decides he doesn't care because everyone seems so happy. "Feel Good Time" by Pink -On the dance floor, when Will meets his latest distraction and decides to get his slut on. "Get Busy" by Sean Paul I have been DYING to use this one. Even better, this tune was in the Billboard Top 10 during the week this scene is set in. - Life with JJ and John Carullo. "The Odd Couple Theme" -When Will gets a phone call from an old friend, and things take a dark turn. "Screaming Infidelities" by Dashboard Confessional I can picture Ryan listening to this on endless repeat during the break-up. Gotta love that emo music.

Honestly, I feel like Adam is being the bigger dick to Patrick than Patrick is being to him. And it doesn't make any sense because Adam's not even into Patrick.

Yeah, we've got to remember that Will is a 16-year old multi-millionaire mogul in addition to being a sexy piece of jailbait who looks 20 years old and a 4.0 honor student who nevertheless doesn't seem to spend that much time in school AND a champion-level surfer who opted not to compete.

Way to think of it as like a hobby business. That makes sense. As for Brooklyn...I mean, you got a point, but there is a lot of artistry going over there. But it's not like that really matters to JJ. He''ll stick to TriBeCa. I don't think JJ is, either. He might grow out of it, but right now JJ is very much about surface, and how well people are bred, and it's rare for him to give the time of day to somebody who doesn't have the right clothes or the right attitude. I can't see see JJ hanging out with avant-garde artists in Williamsburg, for sure. (I guess now its Bushwick?)

Here's another spooky Let's Not Meet story, this time set in Turnbull Canyon: Stalkers in the Canyon About four years ago I was a junior at a small college in LA county. Bordering my town was a large cavernous region known as Turnbull Canyon. It’s the kind of place that has a healthy amount of creepy folklore surrounding it; with an area emphatically known as ‘Hells Gates’, stories of cultic activity, gang killings, abandoned mental institutions and the like. The kind of shit you hear about any place old enough to have a reputation. In reality, most of the stories were spurned from a tragedy that occurred years prior. A woman’s body was found at the base of the canyon, and from then on the rest is history. Nevertheless, when a photographer friend asked me and another buddy to go out to the canyon in order to take some photos of the LA skyline, I had to oblige. The canyon was about a 30 minute drive from our campus, and we had been listening to The King of Limbs the entire drive, which proved to be the perfect ambiance to get me feeling pretty anxious about our little excursion. I should also note that I’m a pretty anxious guy in general, so traveling out to a remote area preceded by its reputation for scary occurrences admittedly had me thinking twice about the decision. At the top of the canyon, there’s a small residential area — a few ritzy houses, surrounded by trees and woods. In order to venture into the canyon itself, you have to follow a main trail with several smaller arteries that split off in other directions, but ultimately culminate (after a couple miles or so) at the base of a steep hill adorned with an old water tower overlooking the city. Anyhow, we parked our car at the top of the canyon road, divvied up the camera gear, and made our way out to the trail head (around 1am by this point). After walking the trail for about 5 minutes, Dave, the photographer, decided it was time to set up his first shot while Jeff (our other friend) and I kept watch. Eventually he got the shot he needed and we continued walking for another 5 or so minutes before Dave decided to set up his next shot. At this point the trail head had disappeared behind us completely, and we were a little less than a quarter of the way to the water tower. While setting up the tripod, we noticed the faint glow of headlights off in the distance, which was strange because the trail isn’t meant for cars, nor is it big enough for them to pass through. If I recall, it’s only about 5 feet wide, with shrubbery on both sides. This was clearly a bit of a red flag for us as we were the only people out there, so we immediately packed up our things and ducked off into the brush, waiting for the car to pass on. Eventually, an old pick-up truck idled to a stop about 50 yards from where we were hiding. The truck itself was old and rickety, sitting on a lifted chassis, the bed of which was missing entirely. Growing up in the country, I knew it as the type of truck typically owned by backwoods folk who lived in the boonies and preferred to be left to their own devices. We watched in agonizing anticipation as the truck just idled in place for several minutes before flooring it down one of the other trails, the roar of the engine echoing throughout the canyon. Clearly we were spooked at this point, the three of us speculating as to our next step. Jeff and I were reluctant to continue, while Dave assured us that it was probably nothing — perhaps just a guy off-roading, as he put it. So, with great reluctance, Jeff and I trudged on behind Dave toward the water-tower to get his final shots. Nevertheless, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about the truck. I mean, I knew plenty people in high school who would go ‘off-roading’ for fun in the woods, but never on finicky canyon trails barely wide enough to hike on, let alone drive. It just didn’t sit right with me. After walking without interference for about an hour, we finally made it out to the water tower, climbed the hill to the top, and took in the view of the city. Dave, once again, started setting up his equipment while Jeff and I stood on both sides of the water tower, keeping watch just in case the truck came back. Nothing. At this point it’s around 3 am. Dave decides that he’s got all the shots he needs, so we pack up our equipment and commit to heading back before it gets too late, seeing as how all of us have classes in just a few hours. Just as we’re preparing to descend the hill, the truck comes roaring out of the canyon below us, back onto the trail, at which point the driver attempts to climb the hill, revving the engine loudly. Scared shitless, the three of us slid off the side of the hill into the brush, clinging to plants and rocks. As the truck finally made it atop the hill, slowly driving around the tower, we could see the glow of the head lights each time it circled above us. After waiting for nearly 10 minutes (while also trying not to make any noise) the truck eventually descended the hill, stopping in the middle of the trail not more than 100 yards away. We watched as a scruffy man, mid 50’s, stepped out of the idling truck and into the glow of its headlights, moseying around while looking at the ground. He then knelt down, looking at something in the dirt, surveying the area intently. As he did so, it became increasingly apparent that he was tracking something: Our footprints. This next part still chills me to the bone. As my friends and I huddled together watching in complete terror, another man wearing a long, dark parka emerged from the brush, right where we had been hiking, joining the other man at his side. Apparently he had been out there the entire time we were walking the trail, just watching us. Following behind at a safe distance. The two of them talked for a long while, but we couldn’t hear a word. They continued scanning the area, looking at our footprints, but eventually got in the truck and drove off down one of the forks in the trail. We sat in silence for a long time — waiting nearly two hours just to ensure the coast was clear, at which point we made like hell back to the car, down the canyon, and back to our campus. Just in time for class. I have no idea who those men were or why they were tracking us — and I have no desire to know. So on that note fellas, lets not meet again. *** It's tales like this that makes me terrified of being out in the wilderness. Great tale, though. Have any of you had any creepy/scary encounters in the California wilderness?

Mark, Josh looks like James Maslow. You really think THIS would need help at any time in any place getting laid? He's not a former boybander/turned-Lifetime- movie-actor for nothing. To use the parlance of Be Rad's time period, dude is just totally unreal. Like, totally bitchin', you know? The lack of profit doesn't really bode well for the longevity of the club, but clubs are usually supposed to have a pretty short shelf life, aren't they? 2015 JJ will probably be steadfast in his refusal to move to Brooklyn like all the other cool young people. As for the children part, I love it. As a guy who likes having nieces and nephews but has absolutely no interest in building a family, I like that JJ has that view as well. (Well, times about ten. I like children in limited amounts.) Darius and Will are pretty much guaranteed to sire kids. JJ will just leave the breeding to them. LOL. As for JJ refusing to play ball, it's an interesting turn for JJ. He basically was willing to play by their rules and be the Innocent Virginal Princess that they wanted (and Alex wanted as well), but then they asked for too much. I had JJ in mind as someone who would do whatever it would take to win, but Mark seems to be suggesting that there's limits to it. He'd go far, but there are still limits there. In any event, this set-up with Carullo and JJ is pretty funny. An uptight rich boy/former Ice Princess and a passionate, kind Italian jock boy living together in the wacky TriBeCa area. This is a set-up like a sitcom with lots of good times ahead. I'm glad it seems like Mark is setting JJ up for funnier storylines instead of all the depressing drama! Anyway, this should be the sitcom's theme: Bring on the wacky misadventures with our two roommies in New York City!

JJ's on the Mediterranean Diet. That emphasizes eating a high amount of fish and lots of fruits and vegetables. I grew up on the East Coast between the Delaware Bay and the Chesapeake Bay. You're almost obligated to like seafood. Crabs are big here. So is Old Bay seasoning, on like everything including fries. Okay, JJ might not actually be on that diet, but he likely avoids red meat and sticks to fish or poultry for the most part, and without a doubt doesn't do deep fried food. I was around diet fanatics growing up and unless you were on Atkins or some low-carb diet, red meat was frowned upon. In any event, I loved that JJ is kind of taking charge here. He knows that he's done with figure skating for the year, and first up is finishing out school. He doesn't have the excuse of figure skating anymore to be out of school, and whenever I suggested that JJ should just get a GED so he can focus on skating, but both Blue and Mark basically said that there's no way in hell the family would ever let him finish high school that way. So he's got to attend a school, it seems. As for Carullo, I gotta admit, I love the set-up. Talk about an Odd Couple friendship brewing here. I basically think of JJ as being like a child star- someone who grew up cossetted in a very superficial, very "image first" world and as a result, he doesn't have a great grip on recognizing genuine people, or people who are just all image. Alex was all image, and it worked for JJ because he was more than happy to play the Innocent Disney Princess for Alex. But now JJ's in this position where he's basically been kicked out of that world, and he's got to learn to fend for himself, and figure out who he is, in this year sabbatical from that world. It's going to be really interesting.

Chapter 7 -When the gang arrives upon the restaurant, and JJ makes fun of it for being tacky. "That's Amore" by Dean Martin -When Will drives his hot new 750k Ferrari. "Pump It Up" by Joe Budden (2 Fast, 2 Furious Soundtrack) - When JJ makes his life plans for living his year in New York City, free of the restrictions of the USFSA. "Not For the Life of Me"/ "Thoroughly Modern Millie" from Thoroughly Modern Millie -When JJ makes his resolution to take on John Carullo as his trusty sidekick roommate. "How The Other Half Lives" from Thoroughly Modern Millie I loved the reference to Hell's Kitchen. Now you need to be a millionaire to basically live there now, don't you? LOL.

Well, we're in the 80's Revival right now. There is basically zero chance that Will is going to get through high school and college without attending at least one 80's theme dance or party. Those were popular as hell this decade because the costumes were absurdly easy to do. If you were a girl, just wear a sideways pony tail and a shoulder. A guy, just wear a polo shirt or something in bright neon or pastels. Or if you wanted to be funny, dress up with a fake mullet. I used to go to Phi Kapp parties in 2006, and "Take Me Home Tonight" and "Sunglasses at Night" were popular 80's tunes that the DJ would always add in to the contemporary hip-hop stuff they played.

They also had something called card catalogs instead of a search engine at the library.

I can soooo picture you as Wednesday Addams in the body of an skinny, adorable Latino boy. So you didn't meet a charming small-town boy who became your boyfriend and thus made the whole small-town life thing so much more bearable, ala the plot of scores of Nifty stories?

Yeah, but you also went to a massively expensive private college, didn't you? The first Firefly I went to, I pretty much decided to go cell-phone free, in terms of not calling up my acquaintances from that weekend. We joked that it was like 80's style. There was something kind of cool about just trying to see if you could bump into your friends.

I can just picture a teenaged Blue growing up in an idyllic little tourist town, and hating every minute of it. I cannot picture him as Dawson Leery, lovingly filming his adolescence in his tourist town with his camera-ready friends. I grew up on the East Coast, which is so dense that even if you're living in a town that has like 10k (I think that's the smallest town I've ever lived in), you're still at most like two hours away from a metropolitan area, usually no more than like an hour. You never really get to experience that small town lifestyle in my area, since everything is basically one big suburb of varying economic levels. People who tell me about living in isolated small towns in the absolute middle of nowhere...that's just so far out of my experience. I got a taste of it when I lived in Indiana, PA for awhile, but even then Pittsburgh was just an hour away.

Is it still Hollyweird, or has gentrification made it boring? Also, hasn't like a lot of t.v. and film productions moved elsewhere? I wish you were a Baby Boomer. I bet you would have had some really fun stories about spending your early childhood in 1960's/1970's Hollywood, like Alison Arngrim (aka Nellie Olsen), who had all sorts of great stories about Hollywood from the eyes of a child, such as there being a children's amusement park located right next to an oil derrick or the delight of living in the Chateau Marmont. Anyway, back to the topic... JJ's natural inclination is to shut himself off and isolate himself, but it doesn't look like Will is letting him do that. I kind of wanted JJ to spend a year just traveling the world by himself- going to Paris, Milan, Tokyo, India, Macchu Picchu, etc etc.

I picture you growing up in a charming logging town in Northern California close to mountains and the like, but with secret drug industries like the town in Bates Motel. Anyway, JJ meeting a guy like John Carullo was funny. You really couldn't get more opposite type than that.

They also have outlet shopping now in the old Claremont Factory complex. JJ hasn't really inherited the whole "let's adopt stray puppies" trait that most of the narrators in this story have, and I think he's wary about some guy who he doesn't know well living in his mother's condo. Also, John is not an English lord with a title.

Chapter 6 -When JJ takes Will to a trendy boutique in SoHo, and we're treated to a montage of JJ trying on hideous fashion that would only look good on a thin guy. "Vogue" by Madonna -When Will wanders out into the city, moping about Zach, and gets punched by John Carullo for not telling him he was 15 when they had sex. "Hot Child in the City" by Nick Gilder -When Will tells John about Zach. "Cruel Summer" by Bananarama

I think ME has taken the Bitty spot in the CAP saga. And we all know what happened to Bitty. I did think that JJ would have never have had sex with an unlocked door because he's that paranoid about being found out or seen having pre-marital sex, but Mark found a loophole.

Seriously, you've been hinting at this for so many years now but what the hell did you do that this happened to you? I mean, it's been like 30 years now you'd think you could basically say it. My strongest guess has been that you hacked into a computer security system when you were a teenager and were accused of being a spy with Communist sympathies. (As this was the Cold War Era.)