methodwriter85

It's not enough for you that Will realized he basically wanted nothing to do with Tony? In any event, I couldn't stand Tony, but I didn't hate him THAT much. I'm just glad that the character has run its course. He wasn't even hot enough for me to get over how much of an ass he was. (Mark's vision of Tony was Jason Cerbone from the Sopranos- good-looking, but in my opinion...for Tony to be THAT much of an ass, he needed to look like Young Antonio Sabato Junior or something. LOL.) On the other hand...we've all been there, when we look back and go, "I was so hung up on THAT guy? Really?"

Krispy Kreme is fantastic. However, I really like apple fritters, pumpkin donuts, Munchkins and the coffee that you get from Dunkin. Not surprised to hear that donuts went out because of the health kick. Krispy Kreme disappeared from Delaware for 7 or so years because of the Atkins diet craze. It finally came back last year. It'll be interesting to see if the Hawthorne revival plan works. Of course, it might just be a pipe dream. I like following the stories of dead malls, and how some dying malls are able to re-invent themselves. Christiana Mall in Delaware was kind of getting ready to die, but then they did an ambitious facelift and the mall has been going gangbusters since. The key seems to be having retail at different price points, as well as good restaurants and entertainment options. Yeah, I thought you would get kick out of that video for that reason. Bummer to hear that you haven't really found any American restaurants that have faithfully recreated Mexican food. Chipotle was a big disappointment for me. If I'm paying 8 dollars for a burrito, I want it to taste amazing, god damn it! Have you heard of Capriotti's? They were founded in Delaware, are based in Las Vegas, and they're now trying to move into California. The Bobbie. My god, so good. I don't know what it'd taste like on the West Coast, though. They can't use Amoroso rolls, I think.

Well, they're now trying to take over California as well. Like I said, try the pumpkin donuts in the fall. They're bangin'. Anyway, in this episode of Tom Explores Los Angeles, we get to explore the dead Hawthorne Mall in Hawthorne, CA, which closed in the 1990's after the middle class imploded due to the collapse of the aerospace sector. I've always imagined that Southern California had the best malls, after New Jersey and Texas. I still wish desperately that I could hang out in 1983 Sherman Oaks Galleria. Anyway, this mall was recently featured in Gone Girl...there's talk about reviving it, but given the demographics in the area...it doesn't seem likely. Were any of you guys ever there in its hey-day?

I have this close friend, Jack, who relayed to me a pretty terrifying tale of something that happened to his friend a long time ago. My mentor, Jack, is now a retired former HR community college guy in his mid- 60's. Thirty years ago, however, Jack was working as a bartender in a bar in Portland's gay community. That's how Jack met Randy. Randy was a good-looking, well-spoken customer in his mid-20's...pretty attractive 80's preppy type. Randy lived close to Jack, and the two went on a couple of dates for a few weeks. Randy was relatively new to Portland, having moved there a few years ago after his parents in small-town Connecticut flipped out about him being gay and tried to commit him to an institution. They were dating casually- just hanging out at Jack's apartment, going to brunch at a local cafe, seeing movies together...that type of deal. About a month into this, Jack was shocked when he discovered that this clean-shaven college graduate was working the streets of Portland as a hustler. You see, while we think of Portland as being a hipster haven now, back in the 1980's, there were a lot of seedy elements to the town, and that included the gay underground prostitution scene. The revelation about Randy's "career" happened this way- Randy called Jack one night and asked him if he could come over. He showed up at Jack's apartment, pretty distressed. Randy confessed to Jack that he was a prostitute, and then relayed a wild tale about something that had happened to him the night before with a client. He refused to name who it was, but told Jack that it was a very prominent local businessmen- someone that was very high-profile in mid-1980's Portland. The client was into S&M/bondage stuff, and Randy had seen him about once a month for a year. The previous night, after they concluded their scene, the client said to Randy, "I had a fantasy that I kidnapped you and kept you forever." He asked Randy if he wanted to live here with him. Of course, Randy said,"No way", and the guy got angry. The chauffeur drove Randy home, which was in hindsight a huge mistake. The client now knew where he lived. Earlier that evening Randy was headed home, but before he got to his apartment, Randy noticed his client's limo parked down the street from his building. Randy noped the fuck of there and ate dinner elsewhere. But when he went home, the limo was still there with the chauffeur sitting in the car. That's when he decided to go over to Jack's place and confess everything. Randy was completely terrified now- he tried to laugh it off as some dumb joke, but the fact that the chauffeur had spent hours parked in the same spot a few blocks from his apartment building was scary as hell. Randy begged if he could stay in Jack's place for a few days so this could die down. Even though Jack was totally surprised and pretty confused about all this, he let him stay at his place until a few days later Randy called him at work and told Jack he'd decided to go back to his apartment. Randy said he'd call Jack later in the week about a movie they were planning to see that weekend. Jack never heard from him again. When Jack went to his apartment building a few days later to check on Randy, the building manager said that Randy had moved out. After that, there wasn't much Jack could do- Randy didn't tell him who the guy was, and he didn't know much about Randy's background except for some vague idea of where he came from. And this was, again, the 1980's- policemen were not going to make a big deal about some male prostitute that went missing. Jack kept hoping that he'd get a call from Randy at some exotic locale, but as days turned into weeks turned into years turned into a quarter-century, he's stopped expecting that call. Hopefully, Randy just skipped town...maybe he ran all the back to Connecticut, found some sympathetic family member who helped get him on his feet, and he's put all of this behind him, and he's just some regular 50-something guy now with a regular career and regular concerns. Or maybe he's not. And Jack will never know.

Modern-day teens react to the late 1990's fad, JNCO Jeans. It's pretty hilarious watching young people react to fads from your own youth like they're the craziest things. I was slightly young for this trend- it really hit more with the people that were in high school in the late 1990's and it was done by the time I started high school in 2001. I remember going to Goodwill in the early 2000's and seeing a TON of these jeans there. I do remember the fad, though- it was very popular with skater and raver types. I think the only guys who could pull this off were tall and skinny rave and skater guys, wearing them with wifebeaters.

If you guys wanna have at it, Mark's Yahoo Group keeps track of when he started uploading the stories to his Yahoo group from CAP through to Paternity, which is usually about when he uploaded them to Gay Authors, give or take a few hours. You won't have the time but you would have the date from 2008 through to 2011. He stopped uploading the files to his Yahoo group in 2012 and just started giving us the links to his GA site instead. Some of the dates are going to be a bit hinky, though, because some chapters were revised. He redid the first five chapters of CAP in 2010, although the chapters were originally posted in August 2008. Here's an interesting factoid- the first 9 stories of CAP were published in a two-year period. Mark covered the years 1962 through to November 1999 in two years.

Now that Candice Bergen is happily fat....Tonto? Mark said that Tonto was supposed to be kind of round. I can toooottttttallllllyyyy see Murphy Brown and Tonto getting along. Did anyone else watch Murphy Brown? I loved that show.

Can I make a request? Since we never described Alex's mother, can she be Elizabeth Hurley a.k.a. Queen Helena from The Royals? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFmJce1xQ2Q I'm personally rooting for MaryEllen to have a complete and total nightmare bitch for a mother-in-law, who completely looks down on her for being "common." I'd also figured Mark would like William Mosely (Prince Liam; also Peter Pevensie from the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) for someone, because he really likes 'em cute blondes. (Not Alex...Mark already has his Alex.)

Guys, check out this obscure, forgotten oldie from the 1980's. If I had known this song when I was doing the recs for Man in Motion, I TOTALLY would have used it. Simple Minds was not a one-hit wonder. Who knew? Anyway, it was a tune that I had heard on this show called Glory Daze, and I really liked it, but I couldn't place the tune at all. I found it a little while ago while it was being played on the radio. Lovely tune, I think. It would have been a great tune to use with the AIDS storyline, or a good Brad theme in general. Do any of you were young adults back then know the tune?

Everybody knows Simple Minds for their big single, "Don't You Forget About Me" from the Breakfast Club, but did you know they had another hit single and were not actually one-hit wonders? Yup, they had a tune released in the fall of 1985 and it was a hit- not as big as their signature tune, but still successful. It's been largely forgotten, but I heard this tune many years ago on a show called Glory Daze, which was set in 1986 and followed guys pledging a frat. I heard a snippet on the show, but had no clue what the name of it was or who played it. It wasn't until like recently that I heard it played on the radio, and the announcer said it was a tune by the Simple Minds. Color me shocked, because again, I was under the impression they were a 1985 one-hit wonder. Anyway, check it out: I think it's a lovely tune...it's not as soaring as their big hit, but it has its own charms. Kind of a shame it seems like nobody remembers it and it's completely overshadowed by "Don't You Forget About Me". Were any of you guys familiar with this forgotten oldie?

She might be practicing the old adage, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." I do think as much as JJ might want to go into full-on nuclear mode with her, he probably can't- knowing MaryEllen, she probably filmed all of their sexual encounters or found other ways to get dirt on him, which is nothing something you want to have when your career is based on being a Disney sweetheart. So I imagine them having a frenemies-like relationship- hatred thinly-veiled with a layer of civility. Anyway, it's going to be interesting having Zach in UCLA. I did want him to be part of the Reggie Bush era at USC, but alas you can't always get what you want. It sounds like this era of UCLA football was kind of "meh", which might actually be interesting. They weren't laughably bad but they weren't as good as USC was at the same time period. How would Zach handle that? Would he be bothered by that?

Chapter 43 -At the championship game, when Zach does the Starwalk play, wins the game, and makes up with his father. "No Such Thing" by John Mayer I remember when John Mayer was considered the best new voice in music, until his dating life started to overshadow his work. Oh, well.

Not necessarily California culture (though I'm pretty sure Buzzfeed films at YouTube studios in Los Angeles), but I thought Blue would get a kick out of it: I love Taco Bell, but yeah, I doubt they're all that authentic. I lived in Spain when I was really little, and according to my sister, Spanish burritos were fried/grilled. Which is something that Taco Bell has imitated in the past few years. Currently, I'm digging the beefy frito burrito. Anyway, back to California culture... It wasn't until I lived in Western P.A. that I realized that Dunkin Donuts wasn't as widespread as like McDonald's or Burger King. It was a big deal that the town I was living in was getting their first Dunkin Donuts, which was strange to me as a guy for whom Dunkin Donuts were almost as common as like 7/11. If you ever go there in the fall, Blue, please get the pumpkin donuts. They are bangin'.

Buzzfeed posted this surprisingly good article about a guy who realized his stolen IPhone was taken to China. He wrote an article about it, and it went viral in China, turning him into a minor celebrity there. Matt then went on an eye-opening trip to China to meet the man who received his stolen IPhone, and found fame, exotic locales, and friendship as a result. I Followed My Stolen IPhone to China, Became A Celebrity, and Made A Friend For Life It's long but worth it. I love the strange twists and turns life takes sometimes, and the connections we make that surprise us.That has to be such a strange and insane experience. It also makes me really curious about Chinese fandom culture, and internet fame in general. Anybody who has a story that becomes viral can get their 15 minutes of fame.

Typo. Anyway, really funny to see all the juggling Corbin is doing. The Nick Persons stuff was very Jane Austen-like.

See: Nu90210, NuMelrose Place, NuDallas (although that show started off promising it lost steam when Larry Haman died), etc etc. I do think this can work, though. The world is just as into the paranormal and sci-fi conspiracies as they were back in the 1990's. Did you write any fanfiction? That was a fun fandom.

One of my favorite childhood shows is coming back! Woo-hoo! X-Files Set to Return As Limited Series Pretty exciting. I remember watching the show pretty faithfully back in 1995-1998...then the show just started losing steam for me. I remember the reruns constantly being shown on FX. Anyway... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbBX6aEzEz8 What were some of your favorite episodes? The one I remember the best were these cheerleaders, who because they were born on this particular date in 1979, become bat-shit evil for the day. Another really good one was a family that was...well...very, very close. There was a lot of fanfic for this show, particular quite a few surrounding Krycek and Mulder. LOL. Anyone wanna admit being an X-files fanfic writer?

The irony is that Anthony Michael Hall got HUGE when he entered his 20's. It's always kind of funny to see that.

Matthew Del Negro (Teen Wolf, Scandal) as Andre, had Andre lived to middle age? If I recall correctly, Andre was supposed to have a distinctive nose that is like Matthew Del Negro's. That's why I thought of him. He's also somehow retained his boyishly good looks/charm into middle age, which is how I think Andre would have been. The face shape and general coloring also seem right, and in general he exudes a sense of joie de vivre which is how I've always pictured Andre. Matthew was a former lacrosse player. Mmm, lax players. Is anyone else into finding older guys hot now? I'm really into looking at great-looking guys in their late 30's/early 40's right now. Don't get me wrong, I still have no problem checking out cute 19-year old college guys, but there's something pretty sexy about a guy who's aged well.

It's kind of sad that no one in that movie ever really topped their performances there.

Aww. Zayn Malik Leaving One Direction, group continues as 4 piece I mean, it was inevitable, but I'll definitely miss the great group chemistry they had. And I enjoyed that they brought back the boy band thing. So song of the moment... "Night Changes"

I'm going to admit I kind of wanted Connor to admit he's bisexual, not gay. It's weird, I'm gay, but I really root for male characters who are not straight to end up bisexual. There are so few examples of bisexual men on T.V. and film. Still, the fact that they're showing kids in like 8th/9th grade (being played by actual teenagers) having boyfriends and such is pretty damn cool. Back in my day, the best we had was a 27-year old guy pretending to be 16 and giving a quick peck on the lips with little to no physical chemistry:

JJ's not really a San Francisco Boy. He's more L.A./Boston, but in general he's kind of this Continental worldly traveler type. We're ABOUT to enter 2003, which means we're about to see the big fashion shift that occured then, when guys started wearing brighter colors and started letting go of spiky hair. The Bo-ho look started in the early 2000's, but it really took off circa 2004. Suddenly every girl I knew was wearing peasant skrits with tank tops. And yeah, there should be lots of puka shell necklaces and hemp anklets on guys. I didn't quit the puka shell look until 2006 or so. LOL. I thought this fashion show from 2003 evoked a lot of memories for me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXROdmBmQFA I don't think EVERYTHING was in common place (I really don't ever remember seeing guys wearing white pants or leather vests), but in generally this is a good summary of what was hip during the time period. A lot of military and 80's influences.

A Canada Goose coat is 700 dollars. What the fuck? I guess JJ will be rocking this when he's 30.

I think 2010's guys in more general are likely to buy cheap shirts and the like from places like Target or H&M so they can afford cool gadgets or higher quality jeans, shoes, etc etc. I think the guys who would have bought Abercrombie if they had been 19 in 2005 instead of in 2015 have either moved on to more of a classic Ralph Lauren preppy look, or they're doing the aforementioned cheap stuff/mixed with expensive stuff. Guys don't seem to want to wear their brand names like splashed big accross their chest anymore. However, girls seem to be very into Pink. Anyway, check out these high fashion shows from 2003. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x49QFP8r1o Contrasted with this more "accessible" fashion show: DSquared Spring Summer 2003 Layers. Lots of layers. Sleeves rolled up. Also, again with military colors. Collar-less leather jackets (usually layered over a hoodie) became cool during this time period. This generally jibes with how I remember 2003-2006-ish. Kinda. If you were someone who was trying as opposed to just wearing polo shirts and cargo shorts. Although yeah, I don't remember ever seeing any guys in speedos. (That I would want to see in a speedo. Yay for Italty.) As for the suits, this was the "deconstructured" era, right? Like that's why the suits seem to be flopping around. I don't think that's going to look good on a short, skinny guy like JJ but he's probably doing that look. He'll be better served by the more tailored, slim-cut suits that come in style at the end of the decade. Finally...it's almost 2003, which means the spiky haired look is going to start fading out for guys. I remember that was the year that I started seeing guys letting their hair get longer and kind of.,.feathering it. I called it the early 80's winged hair revival, as seen here by a young Dave Franco: The idea is that their hair is kind of fluffed up and curled up, with minimal product. They didn't call it feathering but it totally was. The 80's revival was in full swing. Guys were rocking hair from 1982. Girls, strangely enough, didn't feather their hair. It was either soft curls, or long, straight, and parted in the middle: