methodwriter85

I think it's been said that she's about a year younger than Wade. Beau was specifically described as being 15 in Bloodlines, which would make him 20 now, as 5 years have passed since Bloodlines. But sure... JP- 67 Stefan- 58 on July 14th Brad- 40 Ace- 40 Jack- 39 or 40 Claire- 38 Marcel and Lou- 34 Cody- 33 Tiffany- 27 Matt- 23 Wade- 23 Alex- About 23 MaryEllen- About 22 Darius- 21 Beau- 20 Zach- 18 JJ- 17 Ethan- 17 Marie- 17 Will- 16 John- Turning 16 on July 21st Courtney- 7 Maddy- 34 months Riley- 34 months Bobby- Newborn Ricky- Newborn I think it's kind of funny we still have no clue how old Elizabeth Danfield is, or even really what she looks like. She's just ageless and timeless.

I don't think Alex has a specific age...just somewhere in his early/mid-20's. I would probably guess about 23. We usually don't get a real specific age unless somebody celebrates a birthday, or we see them born onscreen. Tiffany and Cody's birthdays, for example, haven't been specified, but we went with the idea that Tiffany was 22 when we first met her in Bloodlines, and Mark made a reference to Cody being 25 in If It Fits, which was set in 1995, therefore Cody was born in either 1969 or 1970. And sometimes ages are completely vague- I don't think Mark ever described how old Wade's parents are. I don't think they're as old as Matt's (late 50's), but I don't think they would be as young as the Be Rad Generation. Well, Elizabeth, anyway, as Jeff is no longer aging. I don't really consider them relevant characters anymore, but Gathan and Tony should be 21, while Ella should be 20.

Corrected. I swear to god, I feel like I've been stuck watching Thirteen on Endless Repeat because of all the underaged sexploits with the Will generation. Thank god they're inching towards legality now. Darius is 21 now...god, that was a crazy/fun/awful age. Although in Darius's case, it doesn't really mean much because like Will, he probably had a great fake. (We were the last generation that could really do fakes, just before scanning became a thing. I feel sorry for the 20-year olds born in 1994/1995 who have to try and get fakes now.. Although again...not like that really matters for rich and famous kids.) I do think it's funny that JJ's 17 and he couldn't care less about getting a license. Honestly, if I could afford it, I'd get a driver, too.

Alright...I'll do what I always do and update the ages of the characters at the start of a new story....character ages as of July 12th, 2003: JP- 67 Stefan- 58 on July 14th Brad- 40 Ace- 40 Jack- 39 or 40 Claire- 38 Marcel and Lou- 34 Cody- 33 Tiffany- 27 Matt- 23 Wade- 23 MaryEllen- About 22 Darius- 21 Beau- 20 Zach- 18 JJ- 17 Ethan- 17 Marie- 17 Will- 16 John- Turning 16 on July 21st Courtney- 7 Maddy- 34 months Riley- 34 months Bobby- Newborn Ricky- Newborn The core teenaged group is all at least 16 now. Good. Now I can stop feeling weird about all the sex scenes. (16-year olds having sex doesn't bother me as much as when it's 14/15-year olds. I guess because they can drive?) I think JJ is the ONLY one in that group who stayed a virgin until he was 16. LOL The next baby born needs to be a girl. There's a gender imbalance with this new age cohort Mark is building. I guess MaryEllen and Alex can have Irish twins as baby-making is pretty much all MaryEllen is expected to do now. When they have their daughter circa September 2004, I'm voting for the name Isabella. Mainly because in about four years, it's going to be a very hot name. Also, poor Courtney...too young for Will's age cohort, too old for Riley's cohort.

Prologue -When Zach drives Will through the warm California summer sun. "Boys of Summer" by the Ataris I absolutely love this song. "Out on the road, I saw a Black Flag sticker on a Cadillac...a little voice inside said 'You can never look back, you can never look back...;'" One of those few covers that is just as good as the original. -When Zach and Will have The Talk. Joseph Arthur- Honey And The Moon I had originally picked "All Kinds of Time" by Fountains of Wayne, but I feel like this fits more. Anyway, you're probably going to hear a ton more music that came out from the O.C. That show really did have the best fucking soundtrack.(Well, save for the Wonder Years.) -When JJ stands up to MaryEllen. "It's My Life" by No Doubt - At Brad's little love nest with Marc. "Everywhere" by Michelle Branch Can one of the mods please change the title to Black Widow- Music Recs? Thanks.

Hey, Blue, was "slapping the bag" popular when you were in college? For those of you who don't know what that is, it's when you take the boxed wine bag out of the box, slap the bag, and then chug directly from the nozzle. It seems to have become increasingly popular in the last few years with bro-types on the East Coast, but I found a reference to it on Urban Dictionary from 2005. I don't remember seeing it during my college years of 2005 to 2010, but I wonder if people who went to colleges in other areas heard of it. I first encountered it in 2012 at the first Firefly.

Ha, I figured Patrick Manfind would show up again!

That is pretty damn cool. What incredible timing for the video that the city just happened to have workers weld the doors shut.

I do think if any place can compete with L.A. on that score, it's Dallas, Texas. Seriously, I don't get why it seems like so many hunky guys come from that area. Maybe it's just because jock culture is king there? I mean, there's a reason why Abercrombie and Fitch is based there. Texans do seem similar to Californians in liking their outdoor, active lifestyles and tans, so maybe that's it?

Alanis Morissette, who had spent the late 80's and early 90's as a Canadian pop star, shocked the world when she released her album, Jagged Little Pill, on this day in 1995. A searing and brutally honest album, it struck a chord with audiences and has sold over 33 million albums since its release twenty years ago today. Here's a retrospective from people who talk about what the album meant to them: Revisiting Jagged Little Pill Twenty Years Later On a personal note, my sisters were older so I got to listen to a lot of their music, and I remember just being astounded by listening to this as a 10/11-year old. There was such a great outpouring of wonderful female-centered music during the mid/late 1990's- Alanis Morisette, Jewel, Sarah McLachlan,Melissa Etheridge, Fiona Apple, Sheryl Crowe, Paula Cole, Shawn Colvin, etc etc. I'm glad I had teenaged sisters to introduce me to it. Anyway, to celebrate, here are my favorite tracks from that album, aside from the obvious. 1.) "Hand In My Pocket" This does such a great job of describing that twentysomething angst. I relate to this so much more now as opposed to when I was 10 years old. 2.) "Perfect" Brutally honest tune. I didn't have parents like that (one was too busy gambling, the other was too busy drinking like a fish), but it still struck a chord in me for some reason. Later on, when I got to high school and saw the immense pressure a lot of my peers were under to perform, I really understood it. 3.) "Mary Jane" I think it's a great tune to listen when you're depressed and need a pick-me-up. What a great "you just need to hold on" tune. 4.) "You Learn" I always found this to be a great philosophy to live by. All the shit you go through- try and learn from it. Her stuff still really holds up well. It's crazy when you think she was 21 when she pulled off such an epic music album

Kellan Lutz (Emmett from Twilight) as Brent Hayes? I always thought Kellan had a very Hayes look to him. I recommended him for Matt way back in the day but Mark kind of went "I can see where you're going but not quite." I can see this guy as the friendly, not-too-bright-but-gentle-giant kind of former high school jock that Brent is supposed to be. His hair and the texture/color of it is basically EXACTLY how I picture the typical Hayes hair type, as well.

I knew because I basically researched 2001-2002 music...I soundtracked like three stories set in those years.

Mark, do you know this tune? It was from 1985. I heard it in the movie Two Night Stand with Analeigh Tipton and Miles Teller...I totally wish I had remembered this tune when I was doing recs for Man In Motion: "Anything, Anything" by Dramarama It's a great tune. There's an epic scene of Analeigh Tipton dancing to this tune in the movie. It's better known for being in the soundtrack for Nightmare on Elm Street 4, which I watched a lot as a little kid. Seeing this tune again in a (relatively) new movie was pretty cool

Those are actually more like 2001-2002, not 2003-2004.

Not so much clothes, but LOVED the mall rat culture. It's a shame malls are dying out. My local mall is actually doing pretty damn well but mall rats are discouraged. But yeah, I learned about an 80's pop star named Tiffany on VH1's Behind the Music who actually performed in malls and just LOVED her: She was kind of like the second-rate Debbie Gibson, who I do remember because my sisters owned Electric Youth perfume. I think I recommended this for a Will scene circa Poor Man's Son and Blue immediately responded by hating on it...but come on, it's 80's cheese at its best!

If I re-lived the 1980's, I would try to do these things: 1.) Shop at the Sherman Oaks Galleria circa 1983... 2.) Going clubbing in Los Angeles circa 1986 3.) Hit up Gritty 1980's Times Square....maybe buy up some property. Also, of course, spend some time at the World Trade Center 4.) I would also buy up property in Center City Philadelphia....lol. Except for anything to do with the Galleria at Market East 5.) Try to bang early 1980's Harrison Ford... 6.) Spend a trashy summer at 1980's Jersey Shore, as well as hang out in circa 1989 Monmouth Mall...god the fashions. The fashions! 7.) Watch the fall of the Berlin Wall 8.) Live Aid at Philadelphia in July 1985...that must have been incredible! 9.) See circa 1987 U2 in concert. 10.) Coke. Lots of Coke. (Just kidding.) I do think the 1980's were a fun decade. I think people were past the hangover that was the 1970's, and they just really seemed to want to have fun. Also, that early/mid-80's preppy look was MAD flattering on guys, in my opinion. I bet 22-year old Mark Arbour looked hot as hell in that gear. But then again, fashion got really, really hideous by the end of the decade: Neon has made a big comeback, but thankfully nothing like that.

I've already dedicated these, but if we're talking the 80's, these are some great Man In Motion tunes for Brad and Robbie: "Karma Chameleon" by Culture Club "Tenderness" by General Public And of course, this fucking amazing tune: God, I wish I could re-live the 1980's, don't you? Anyway, the 80's revival is going on in 2003 Cap-world, so I'm looking to do a lot of retro throwbacks.

This song's kicking around my head right now...it would have been absolutely perfect for Robbie and Brad during Millennium: Did anyone catch the Lifetime biopic on her? I was actually surprised at how good it was. Anyway, the trailer that ran for it used this song, which was perfect. Of course, in retrospect- it's ironic that Robbie was so worried and terrified about aging, as he died at age 38. By some definitions he didn't even hit middle age.That was some nice dramatic irony on Mark's part.

Hmm, duly corrected. I guess it would have to be Bushwick or somewhere in Queens. (Isn't that the next hot borough after Brooklyn?) Anyway, it's 2003. Candy colored polos with popped collars should be coming in at this point. I started doing it in 2004, but I'm always late on stuff so I'm sure it started in 2003. The look remained popular until 2007-2008. God, I LOVED that look. I miss doing it. It will probably come back in circa 2023, but by then I'll be pushing forty and it would look ridiculous on me as a 38-year old as opposed to how cute it looked when I was 18. That look is just SCREAMING John Hobart. I can just see him walking around in a light pink polo shirt, layered over a dark pink polo shirt, both collars popped.

No, it did. Sergio mentioned the hipster look, and Marie likes wearing boho clothing. Boho is getting pretty big circa 2003, but the hipster look was still kind of fringe...it doesn't really explode until about 2007 or thereabouts. Apparently a book called The Hipster Handbook was released in 2003 and it was tied into Williamsburg. The phase itself was from the 1940's, but it's morphing into the way we think about it happened around 1999-2003, at least according to Wikipedia. It was accurate and forward-thinking for Sergio to know the term in 2001-2002. It's kind of a shame that no one seems to be thinking about buying up properties in Brooklyn. I mean, TriBeCa is nice, but they already bought at a high price point because it was already a hot neighborhood in 2001. I mean, I'm sure they're still making a killing on it, but imagine the profit margins on getting properties in Willamsburg or Fort Greene or even Bushwick circa 2002-2003.

Well, there's only one way to check. Private Tim, does looking at this guy make your eye twitch?

So we're now in 2003 in CAP-World...what are your favorite 2003 tunes? Here are some of mine: 1.) "Ignition" by R. Kelly 2.) "Milkshake" by Kelis This is going to be SO perfect for CAP. 3.) "Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes It's a shame that Zach's championship season took place in 2002, the year before this song came out. Oh, well. It's interesting how this became a sports anthem. 4.) "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" by Jet 5.) "Intuition" by Jewel I think this was great satire, but it was so good at mimicking what it was parodying that people didn't really realize it actually was satire. It works on its own as a pop tune. 6.) "Right Thurr" by Chingy 7.) "Get Low" by Lil' Jon & The Eastside Boyz ft. The Ying-Yang Twins This song hung around for A LONG time. I cannot tell you how many times I've heard this at college parties, as late as 2009-2010. I'm hoping we can see Zach at some college parties where I can use it. 8.) "Hey, Ya" by OutKast Who didn't love this song? 9.) "I Believe In A Thing Called Life" by The Darkness 10.) "Stacey's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne I LOVED Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and I was a self-professed "80's historian" back when I was a teenager, so you can imagine how much I loved this tune and the accompanying video. 11.) "Move Your Feet" by Junior Senior 12. "Satisfaction" by Benny Benassi God, I wish I was doing clubs when this was out. I bet it was a blast to dance around to in a big, sweaty club. 13. "Transatlanticism" by Death Cab for Cutie 14.) "Swing Swing" by All American Rejects Tyson Ritter. Man, the drugs aged him HORRIBLY. He was so cute in 2003. He looked like a skinny Tom Welling. I remember he appeared on One Life to Live back in like 2009, and I got contact high watching him. Anyway, this is another one I can't wait to use, Great teen angst tune. 15.) "Numb" by Linkin Park 16.) "We Used to Be Friends" by The Dandy Warhols 17.) "Where is the Love?" by Black Eyed Peas I really, really can't wait to use this one as well. 2003 was definitely one of my favorite years for music. I was in 10th/11th grade then, so it was kind of the highwater mark for high school for me.

I really do wonder how Mark is going to handle having these characters exist in the mid-2010's, because he can't seem to stand beards or excessive tattoos, and young guys who are both clean-shaven and without any visible tattoos seem to be becoming a rare unicorn. And it's not just the alternative people who are like that- frat boys are getting like that now, too. Then again, Mark also ignored grunge when we were in 1995, and he also completely ignored the circa 1998-2001 skater boy aesthetic even though I think Will would have had A LOT of friends who rocked that look. I do think it's going to be hard for Mark to ignore the hipster look, because they're based in San Francisco, and these characters often mix with the creative class.

Well, his body is pretty damn nice as well. I liked him because he's good-looking, but not really in a pretty-boy way, more like a boy next door way, and he seems like he has an honest, trustworthy face, which I feel like Tony has to have in order for him to be such a two-faced, manipulative lying ass.