methodwriter85

So...Blue and Private Tim...what do you guys think of the whole "Restore The L.A. River" movement? Do you guys think it will happen, or no? Is it even possible to remove the bulk of the concrete? I learned about L.A.'s channeled river via a special about Los Angeles on E! circa 1997 and thought it was kind of cool that instead of having a real river like East coast cities like New York and Philly do, they have a man-made concrete one. The way it was used in 1997's Volcano was pretty awesome. And of course, the Grease race scene. Here's an interesting op-ed piece about it: Angelenos' vision of their river is created by made-up memory He used the term "misplaced nostalgia", which I think is interesting. I mean, when I've read about Los Angeles history, it seems like they were always about being "new" and "forward". There's some historic stuff there, but for the most part, Los Angeles is a massive collection of suburban neighborhoods that were built in the mid-to-late 20th century, which were made possible by the irrigation projects of the 1930's. I think he's saying that the L.A. River is born out of a desire for the city to have something that can be a collective part of their historic identity, but it's coming out of something that never really existed. I thought this quote was interesting: As a person who grew up in the Delaware River Valley, the rivers and streams are a massive part of our identity and what it means to be from the greater Philadelphia Area. The Delaware and the Schuylkill Rivers play such a massive part in what Philadelphia is. Maybe those advocates want something similar for Los Angeles- but it doesn't seem like all that viable of a plan if the bulk of the river is dry for 9 months save for sewage and industrial run-off. Can you really turn it into something like what they have with the San Antonio Riverwalk or Philly's rowing crew scene and what-have-you? I mean, L.A. does get fantastic weather, the mountains, awesome hills, and of course the Pacific Ocean. It's okay that it doesn't have much of a river to speak of. LOL. It would be funny though if the plan goes through, and it completely and totally backfires and causes such wonderful things as the introduction of floodplain insurance rates. (I'm assuming Los Angeles wouldn't have that because the flooding is controlled.) Edited to add: I found a bunch of pre-channel pictures of the Los Angeles River. Yeah, the Hudson it ain't. The city is apparently pushing for a billion dollar "restoration" plan, but I'm not sure it'd be worth it in the end unless they find some way to make it so that there's navigable waterways all year round. To actually bring back the river to its "natural" state would be pretty unsatisfying for river recreation and/or riverfront "district" plans. Why would someone pay a bunch of money to live in a condo on a river that's dry for 9 months of the year, and where the bulk of the water is treated wastewater? Still, I think it's interesting that there's this whole grass-roots movement going on. Tim and Blue, do you guys have friends who try and advocate for the L.A. River? I have the fun mental image of people trying to kayak on this little bit of water in a big concrete ditch. Is this like an actual "thing" in L.A., or just something for fringe dreamers? I think the whole thing is interesting- there's the side of me that loves seeing Concrete City try and bring back more nature into the parts of it that had been paved over, but another part of me thinks that the plans being bandied about don't really seem to fit what the "river" actually is- a desert wash that floods a couple of days a year but mainly exists as a creek with little water for most of it. I think the effort to restore it might lead to disappointment when it turns out that you can't really hold regatta races in there. LOL.

That makes sense for domestic partnerships. I do think gay marriage will be a big deal, especially when Will comes of age. If Zach and Will are still together in 2014, I can see it bothering Will that his friends are getting married while he still can't hold Zach's hand in public. I do think you've shown a bit of the generation gap here- Brad never really says "husband", and Matt and Wade stuck to "partners." Will probably will think in terms of "husband" and all that, once gay marriage starts making its way around the country. There's a whole different mindset, which Private Tim has talked about, about the newfangled generation of gay young men who talk about getting married and all that. Will is probably going to be representative of that. Matt and Wade probably will, too. Plus...I mean, when it's 2008 in CAP-world, you really won't be able to avoid Prop 8. That, the Great Recession Begins, and Obama Wins have to be the three biggest stories of that year. Interestingly though, I don't think JP and Stefan would do the marriage thing. I don't think a piece of paper would be that important to them, and I think they'd just see it as a piece of paper. I have met people with that mindset. I do think Matt and Wade would do it, if they're back together by 2008. I think JJ is the only family member we have who comes close to actually obeying the bulk of laws- he doesn't drink, do drugs, and he generally follows the rules. I'm assuming that it's part personality, and part being deathly afraid of the USFSA's wrath.

That's why I specifically said gay marriage. California and Hawaii started allowing domestic partnerships in the '90s, and Vermont had civil unions starting in 2000, but Mark doesn't seem to think that much of that, because we've never mentioned civil unions or domestic partnerships in CAP even though domestic partnerships were legal in California. It's kind of weird though that Stefan didn't throw a party celebrating civil unions coming to Vermont in the summer of 2000, because you'd think Stefan would love having that excuse to throw a party since he threw one in 1973 to celebrate homosexuality being taken off the list of mental illnesses. Or that Jeanine and Hank were going to take advantage of domestic partnership laws in New York City. That would have been a compelling reason for them to move from New Jersey to New York, because it wasn't legal in New Jersey. But my guess is that these characters are kind of "meh" about the idea of domestic partnerships/civil unions because of the whole "separate and (not) equal thing."

I liked the Footloose remake- I don't think Kenny Wormald or Julianne Hough were as strong in acting as Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer were, but they beat the originals in acting, that's for sure. Ren also kind of seemed more like a kid than Kevin Bacon did, which is funny, because Kenny was 2 years older than Kevin Bacon when they filmed the movie. I think back in the 1980's though, people in their mid-20's were just more mature , older-looking, and adult-like than they are now, I think. Of course, they were the Yuppie Generation. I'm just saying though...I really did like the musical. I think it's a musical that could've translated pretty well, as opposed to Spring Awakening, which I hope NEVER gets made because I know it'd get butchered beyond recognition.

Thanks. I love the Cure song, and I was so glad that I could use that song and it wasn't an 1986 song, which happens to me so much. LOL. I'm glad you appreciated Annie Lennox. She's not usually my cup of tea, but I love that tune. My alma mater AND my old high school put on "Footloose" in 2010 or 2011. Other than the cheapening of the city council scene it's a pretty good musical. I wouldn't put it on the same level as "Spring Awakening" but I really liked how they took this song which was on the movie soundtrack, and reworked it so that instead of being about sneaking around a relationship, it became more about being under the microscope and struggling against small-town mindsets and condemnation.

I wouldn't call this "our generation", though. By the time this started filming in 2002, we were already in high school or at least junior high. This is more TetRefine's generation. I have a niece who was born in 1994, and I had friends who were born in 1992 and 1993, and I feel like we're not really the same generation. I think our generation, so to speak, ends with people who were born in 1990-1991, i.e. graduated high school in 2008/2009. These kids didn't graduate high school in the same decade as we did. It actually kinda makes me wish Richard Linklater could've started this in 1994 or so we could've had this focus on a contemporary of ours. Oh, well. Still pretty interesting.

Chapter 16 -When Matt and Brad have their confrontation on the beach. "Head-On Collision" by NewFound Glory I got "Sticks and Stones" from Hot Topic back in 2002, and I fucking LOVED that album when I was 16. -When Brad has his flashback to his fight with Robbie in 1985. "In-Between Days" by The Cure Thank you, Archives. I used this tune for that scene when I did the Man in Motion music recs. The mid-1980's was a really fun music time period to explore. -When Brad comes to terms with Robbie and his son, deciding to finally forgive Robbie. "Why" by Annie Lennox -When Barry lays out the plan for how Will and Zach will have their closeted relationship. "Somebody's Eyes" from Footloose The Musical Footloose was one of those musical adaptions that I thought, for the most part, stayed on par or even improved on the source material. I also appreciated that they actually used songs from the movies, as opposed to Fame the Musical (seriously, how the hell can you have Fame the Musical without Fame being sung?) or The Wedding Singer Musical. (No ""Do You Really Wanna Hurt Me" by the Culture Club? No "True" by Spandeau Ballet? No "White Wedding" by Billy Idol? Seriously?) When they did the Footloose remake, they should have just done the musical. It worked out for Hairspray, that's for sure.

Thanks. Mark, you're not going to comment on the beautiful 311 love song? I thought you'd enjoy the very beach, toes-in-the-hot-summer-sand feel of it.*pouts*

Of all the current teenaged characters in CAP, I'd say JJ, Will, and Zach seem like the least likely to join up in the War on Terror, in that order. In any event, it's interesting because as a historical fiction series, you get those moments of "Wow, look how far we come!", like when you realize that in 2002, the Netherlands was the only country that had legalized gay marriage- Canada and Belgium didn't do until a year later in 2003. It doesn't even come to the U.S. until Massachusetts in 2004. Now there are 18 states where it's legal. But here we are in 2014, and there are still no active, openly gay football players in the NFL. Michael Sam is probably going to change that by this summer, but still- that's 12 years where there is absolutely no movement going forward. I think as a storyline, that's going to be pretty interesting. Also, if we get Zach to USC, he'll be contemporaries with Reggie Bush and be a player of the eventually disgraced 2004 and 2005 teams. (His sophomore and junior years, respectively.) Although that's not going to be as bad as what happens to Penn State. Man.

Here's the trailer: I absolutely love that song, "Hero" by Family of the Year. Great choice.

I'll give them this- I don't feel like they've made the same video over and over again. Simple, intimate concept here that really works. I'm not really happy with Liam Payne's beard or haircut, though. LOL.

Wally and Clara want their son to be a major NFL star, which means he can't be gay because there are no gay guys in professional football, so they've decided to stick their fingers in their ears and go, "La la la la!" As for Frank, it's gotta be interesting for him. Zach probably makes him think of Robbie, but he also makes him think of Jeff, who judging by CAP was a brighter star than Robbie was, but who crashed and burned in college. The way we're playing Zach so far makes it seem like he's the one with the most potential they've had since Jeff, maybe even more. Of course, back in the early 1960's, I don't think high school kids had sports agents. They didn't even have the Super Bowl when Jeff was playing high school football.

Chapter 15 -When Will reads Tony's apology email. "Don't Let Me Get Me" by Pink -When Zach and Will have some fun with each other and get a little kinky, while Will assures Zach that the kink is okay. "Underneath Your Clothes" by Shakira This song massively reminds me of the 1989 hit, Eternal Flame by the Bangles for some reason. -When Zach and Will discuss their deeper feelings for each other. "Amber" by 311 Hands down, one of my favorite romantic songs from that decade. God. I cannot tell you how much I LOVE that song. I'd always play it on the jukebox while I was out with my friends in college and sobering up. I've been wanting to use it since we hit 2001, but it didn't really fit in 9.11.

A pot-selling drug ring, aimed at selling to teenagers in the tony suburbs of the Mainline in Philadelphia, was busted. Titled "The Mainline Takeover Project", the ringerleaders were graduates of The Haveford School, and were once stand-outs on their lacrosse team. This makes me think about the plot in Cross-Currents, where Andy and Trey get the idea that it might be cool for them to become drug dealers on the basis that because they're good-looking and popular, people might be more comfortable buying from them, without getting the idea that you should be as low-profile as possible. (Thank god the drug guy turned them down flat.) Anyway, the really cynical part of me thinks that these kids will pretty much get off with a slap on the wrist because they're from "good families" in good areas who went to good schools, except for Neil Scott, who will get scapegoated as the bad evil older man who led these impressionable teenagers down a bad path. Tim Brooks' lawyer was already working hard for his retainer fee. I think there's something fascinating about teenagers who are motivated to do this- they come from rich/affluent families so they don't need the money the way the stereotypical drug dealers do, and they wind up risking what should be very bright futures ascribed to them by their "Little Boxes" upbringing. Maybe it's a combination of greed and boredom with their lives.

The gay couple really went for it in this version, as opposed to the original. Nice.

CAP TIMELINE 1903: Tonto is born. April 1925: Jim Crampton is born. May 27, 1925: Steven Schluter is born. 1936: Billy Schluter is born. June 20, 1936: J.P. Crampton is born, the result of an affair between Marie Crampton and Bill Hendrickson. December 17,1944: Steven Schluter dies in World War II. July 14, 1945: Stefan Schluter, the son of Steven Schluter, is born. November 12, 1945: Jeff Hayes is born. 1962-1963 School Year: J.P. Crampton begins teaching at Northwestern University. October 4, 1962: Brad Schluter is born. He is the adoptive son of Billy Schluter, and the biological son of Kevin Carmicheal. December 1962: Andre, JP's partner, is killed in action in Vietnam. March 6, 1963: Ace is born to Isidore, having been fathered by J.P.'s lover Andre. March 1963: Robbie Hayes is born, the youngest of three children. He is the son of Frank and Brenda Hayes. April 10, 1963: Billy Schulter dies at sea on USS Thresher October 27, 1964: Clare and Billy Crampton are born. Clare is JP's biological daughter, and Billy is Jeff Hayes's biological son. 1968: J.P. Crampton begins teaching at Stanford. July 13, 1968: Jeff Hayes dies of an heroin overdose. March 8, 1969: Marcel is born. He is the biological son of Jeff Hayes, but is raised in France. April 24, 1980: Matt Carrswold is born. He is the biological son of Robbie Hayes, but is adopted by the Carrswolds and grows up in Shaker Heights, Ohio. May 15, 1980: Wade Danfield is born. He becomes Matt Carrswold's boyfriend after meeting him on the hockey team at Stanford during the 1998-1999 school year. October 19, 1980: Billy dies in a car accident on the night of a party at Escorial. January 19, 1982: Darius Schluter is born. He is the son of Bitty Schluter and a random Iranian man, but is raised by Brad, Robbie, and Jeanine. He has one biological half-brother, JJ, and one adopted brother, Will Schluter. July 25, 1982: Gathan Hayes is born. He was raised in Claremont, Ohio by his uncle and aunt, Wally and Clara Hayes. February 1983: Kristin Hendrickson is born. August 26, 1983: Ella Hayes, daughter of Richard Crampton, is born. June 12, 1985: Zach Hayes is born. 1985: J.P.'s lover Roger, and one-time lover Sam, both die of AIDS that year. December 7, 1985: Jeremy Schluter, aka J.J., is born. He is the biological son of Jim Crampton and Bitty Schluter, and has been raised in Malibu, CA with Brad, Robbie, and Jeanine. February 19, 1986: Marie Crampton, aka Maman, dies of natural causes. April 18, 1986: Marie Hobart, daughter of Jack and Clare Hobart, is born. September 14, 1986: Will Schluter, son of Brad and Jeanine, is born. July 21, 1987: John Hobart, son of Jack and Clare Hobart, is born. Between 1991 to 1995: Tonto Schluter dies an old woman, warm in her bed surrounded by grandchildren and great-grandchildren. A death we should all hope to have. March 28, 1995: Greg, Stefan's long-time companion, dies of a heart attack. September 4, 1995: Ace's daughter, Courtney, is born. August 7, 1998: Robbie Hayes reunites with his long-lost son, Matt Carrswold. September 13, 2000: Madison Graves, daughter of Jeanine Graves and Cody Warren, is born. September 14, 2000: Riley van den Boss Danfield, son of Wade Danfield and Tiffany van den Boss is born. September 11, 2001: Robbie Hayes, as well as Jeanine and her partner Hank, die in the Towers for 9/11. Senator Danfield dies at the Pentagon. *** Zach's birthday was changed to be June 12th. See, there was lee-way with that one, because we didn't celebrate Zach's birthday before and it wasn't really mentioned- I just randomly picked a date that would have Zach in the class of 2003 and have him be 14 when we first met him in early 2000.

Losing your father in a previously-unimaginable terrorist act, who you had only known for three years, was also not part of your experience. I don't know. In any event, I always thought senior year was divided by two types of people- the people who were already above it all and ready to move on, and the people who were desperately clinging on, like Cappie on Greek. I knew people who did a 5th year or went to grad school just to stay at University of Delaware because they didn't want to let go. In my case, I was on a 5th year because I had to take a break junior year, and I was ready to be done at the end. I cried at my high school and grad school graduations, but not college. Mostly because I was ready to be done. It also helped that my Skid Row crew buddies had mostly graduated, and while my replacement party house was still pretty fun (they had Yuengling kegs!), it wasn't really the same. In any event, I don't think this is Wade's fault. I think it's the only way Matt could have finally "gotten" it- the only way to shake him out of his fantasy that he and Wade were going to get back together.

Dude, now tell me how you picture Elizabeth Danfield, damn it. I'm getting really frustrated here, Mark. lol. Or are you trying to say that you don't really have an image for her face? I'm going to keep bugging you until you say something, Mark. You know I can be pretty fucking tenacious about being annoying. LOL. Actually, Blue, Lynda Carter wouldn't be a bad Elizabeth Danfield, either - but that's going with my idea that she's an older, gorgeous dark-haired woman. I can't picture her being ugly or average-looking- she has too much of a "former belle of the ball" kind of feel to her. I think everyone's a 9 or 10 who they have sex with, which means usually the men (unless they're purposefully not very fuckable) and some of the females. Although 7/8's can sneak in there. I remember when I read Cole's description, I thought, "I am not going to be able to find a model who looks like that because male models don't usually have chubby cheeks." LOL, So there are non-model people here who look like your average "real-world" good-looking like Cole a.k.a. Jarrett Sleeper. Real-world good-looking to describe someone who's a good-looking guy, but like someone you could meet in the real world, like you'd have a chance with him. In my case, I don't find it that unrealistic. Have you ever noticed that guys tend to associate with guys that are equal to them in terms of looks- even though it's platonic. Like the groups of frat boys who walk around, or the groups of nerdy dudes that walk around together. In Cross-Currents, Andy never seemed to have any ugly friends he didn't want to have sex with. Which made sense- everyone he knew was like a 20-year old college jock. Of course they'd all be attractive. LOL. It seems even more true with gay guys- gay men seem big on clones. LOL. Of course, that might change when you reach your 30's and 40's and you start to get guys who still look really good, and the guys who just let it all go.

I meant like when I was at a bar, and they'd have 80's themed nights, or they'd play tunes from the 80's mixed in with the modern stuff. Like now, you get 90's stuff mixed in with current stuff on DJ playlists. I remember "Take Me Home Tonight" was a popular tune at frat parties. Hey, out of curiousity...what do you think of the whole EDM thing, and acts like Martin Garrix and Avicii? This is probably more appropriate to my "Upcoming Trends" thread, but eh.

These two haircuts seem like they're really popular right now: I gotta say, I'm digging this look more than I did mid/late 2000's Zac Efron hair. The main focus of it seems to be longer on the top and really short sides, and either parted to the side or pushed back. I tried to pull off the undercut, but it's not a good look on me because my hair is too curly. The deep side-part could probably work for me, though. I might try it. Also, facial hair seems pretty big right now. Except for preppy guys. The classic preppy boy look basically never seems to change. Every time I go back and party at UD bars I keep laughing and trying to count all the boat shoes and pastel shorts. It was major culture shock when I went to grad school in Pittsburgh and saw frat guys wearing construction boots instead of loafers.

They were already playing 80's nostalgia picks then? Cool. I've got a couple in mind, then. (I didn't start going to clubs until 2007-2008.)

In this installment of Teens React, the kids this time around react to the instant classic, Mean Girls, which came out 10 years ago. I think of Mean Girls as the movie the defined the Millennial Generation of people who went to high school in the early/mid-2000's, so I think it's awesome that the movie still feels relevant to the kids of today. My favorite monologue of the movie is- Janis: Okay, yeah. I've got an apology. So, I have this friend who is a new student this year. And I convinced her that it would be fun to mess up Regina George's life. So I had her pretend to be friends with Regina, and then she would come to my house after and we would just laugh about all the dumb stuff Regina said. And we gave these candy bar things that would make her gain weight, and then we turned her best friends against her. And then... Oh yeah, Cady - you know my friend Cady? She made out with her boyfriend, and we convinced him to break up with her. Oh, God, and we gave her foot cream instead of face wash. God! I am so sorry Regina. Really, I don't know why I did this. I guess it's probably because I've got a big *lesbian* crush on you! Suck on *that*! AY-YI-YI-YI-YI-YI!

Chapter 14 -When Matt realizes that he's no longer an "us", and feels a sense of liberation about it. "I'm Already Gone" by The Eagles

I'm not partaking this year because I'm looking for a job and I may or may not have to deal with drug tests, but this is for those who are: I think it's hilarious this tune was an "accidental" pot-smoking anthem. It was based off a tune that actually was a pot-smoking anthem, called "Pass the Kouchie" which was a reference to a water pipe, but for the cover, they changed it to "Dutchie" as "Dutchie" is a slang for a cooking pot to make it kid-friendly. Apparently though, because the American and British listeners assumed that "Dutchie" was a drug reference referring to blunts made out of Dutch Master cigars, "Dutchie" became a drug reference itself.

My other thought for Elizabitch...take Kathryn from Cruel Intentions, and make her 25 years older and Southern: God. Sarah Michelle Gellar was so ON in that movie. It's a shame she didn't take off in movies playing bitchy society women. She probably could have, if she had her hey day in the 1940's and 1950's. Her prime unfortunately coincided with the romcom craze and everybody wanted to be like Reese Witherspoon or something. Also, Young Ryan Phillippe as Nathan Hayes? I think he has a Hayes-like face on a shorter, wiry body, which is how Nathan was described as being. Horrible actor, but Ryan was cute as fuck back in the day.