#I included the main couple because duh they get more screen time and are really popular

[yeyayeya]

Hey hey im one of your fe mutuals. Whats TGCF? Is it a show? Game?

I’m going to go on a biased rant so apologies

TGCF (also know as Heaven Official’s Blessing/Tian Guan Ci Fu) is originally a Chinese BL novel! It has different adaptations, with an animation, audio drama, a manhua/manga, and a live action. The animation is having Season 2 released in October, and the audio drama is releasing episodes right now till the 29th (episode 5 just released today). The live action is still N/A, but the manhua/manga is still ongoing

The announcement of the release date of Season 2 and the comeback of the audio drama happened on Tuesday and it just made my week so much better. A good fucking week for TGCF fans

It’s recently been my current obsession, and I just absolutely fucking love it. The guy in my pfp is one of the side characters in the novel. Starting with any of the adaptations is fine, but of course the novel has more to it than the others. The first 6 books of the English localization are available to buy online.

The novel consists of the main couple being either really awkward teenagers and an old married couple at the same time. It also has a mix of horror sprinkled in it, and lets the side characters shine with their own arcs. The main couple is between a banished god of Heaven and one of the most powerful Ghost Kings, and just their whole love story is so beautiful. I want what they have so bad

Literally look at them

[outrunningthedark]

isn’t the same can be said about Tommy and Buck too? They were at the front ep 4,5,6 and Tommy comes back in 9 and 10 but we still don’t really get any development? Love the comment from Bobby amwith his approval sure. You can tell Tim definitely cares more about bucktommy than Marisol and Eddie for example. It’s very clearly shown! Tommy is also included a lot more with the 118 too. But it’s been a few months and there’s definitely not a lot of on screen development??? similar to how Marisol and Eddie were?

So, I do get what you're saying (and I don't disagree), but I think we need to put it into context for THIS season:

Lou signs a four episode deal. This is the "test". ABC most likely wasn't gonna give BuckTommy the go-ahead after just the kiss in 7x04. They probably wanted to see if the audience would come back in 7x05. And then maybe again for 7x06 (even though it wasn't advertised as a BuckTommy episode). 7x07 is a non-BuckTommy episode to let things settle. 7x08, as it turns out, didn't need BuckTommy because even Buck wasn't supposed to be there. 7x09 had a little bit of the couple (doing just fine!), but as we've discussed, happy couples don't do a whole lot on this show. Bobby's arc was ongoing. The Eddie and Marisol break up is imminent, so something had to happen for it to be obvious, and what's more obvious than Eddie getting caught by his son and his girlfriend with Kim (in his home, at that)? Henren had adoption drama. Again. 7x10...feels like more of the same. Bobby is going to be the MAIN focus because duh, Bathena is the most important pairing. But Eddie's getting a story line to confirm the break up and bring us to that point of him feeling "isolated" by the end of everything. And as the synopsis told us, Henren is still going through their custody battle (because there's no way it wasn't gonna be addressed in the finale). Now, if season 8 comes around and we're sitting here like "Where the fuck is Tommy?" then absolutely we should be anticipating a shift in the narrative because if Tim isn't even writing anything angsty for them then they're really screwed. But this season? For these few episodes? It was happy. It was positive (as far as Buck coming out). Tim did what he set out to do with what little time he had to do it.

[takaraphoenix]

Grey’s Anatomy: Review

Took me four months, but I have successfully watched all 16 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy - and what there is of season 17. Figured it deserves some words.

HOLY SHIT I LOVE THIS SHOW? SO MUCH?

(To set the appropriate mood for this and give you a TL;DR.)

That being said to open it up, it is most definitely not flawless. So let’s start there. For me, the one big flaw it has is really the writers’ cuckolding kink. So. Much. Cheating. And - worse than the cheating plots - the cheating apologism. They echo the exact same sentiment so often, that cheating is only one mistake and humans make mistakes. That’s... at one point, that stops being a plot device and starts to be very telling about the writer, to be quite frank.

That being said, let’s roll out the positive. And let’s kick it off with something that relates to all the cheating; so many forced love-triangles, but they usually don’t include toxic rivalries. It’d be so easy to have the men throw punches over the women or the women pull hair and scratch each other’s eyes... so many other rom-drama shows do it already, after all. But, honestly, the two lose ends on the love V (because these things ain’t triangles) usually have such a good dynamic with each other, ranging from civil to friendships to deep mentor ships - Meredith and Addison, Mark and Jackson, Cristina and Teddy? Seeing these dynamics, quite frankly, makes having to sit through a love-triangle-nonsense actually more than bearable.

The most impressive thing about the show is, to me, the amount of rep on it. I mean sure, the main lead is white and I’d estimate half the overall cast are white, but even from the get go - in 2005 - the ratio of white actors versus actors of color in the main cast was five to four. And they’re not background or side characters - I mean, two of them are, aside from Meredith, the only ones to still be around on season 17. They all have their own plotlines, their own relationships and troubles and struggles. It’s not just the Meredith show, not by far.

And beyond that, the queer rep on this show is... honestly mindblowing? I mean, seriously?

They introduced their first queer character in season 2, in 2005, when other procedual dramas that aired then in large parts just... never... added queer characters. And sure! Joe was only a recurring character and not a main character, but he was recurring for six seasons, he recurred a lot, he got established, he and his husband partook in the plot. And, again, this was just the beginning, back in 2005.

They’ve since then steadily broadened their horizon and become more inclusive.

Recurring and main character wise, we’ve had 5 lesbians, 5 bisexual women, 4 gay men and 2 trans characters over these 17 seasons. That’s a very solid list, honestly. If I look at other shows, again especially procedual dramas that are still largely aimed at a more conservative audience, the fact that we’ve had actual queer storylines in every single season since season 2? That’s amazing.

Even more so on the one-off characters, to be quite honest. Just... casually, this patient has two moms, this man is visited by his husband, here the child of the patient is nonbinary, look this patient is in a polyamorous relationship. Sure, those are only the one-off episodical characters, but you have no idea how much that matters too.

I know I’m repeating myself with this, but especially when compared to other procedual dramas, where the characters are often only queer when it’s important to the plot. He got beaten up and ended up in the hospital because he was gay. She got killed because she was trans. They’re motivational and important to the plot (and also usually used to victimize the characters).

The fact that this show, even 10+ years ago already, just... included queerness as part of our reality, included it casually, positively and repeatedly - really, it’s not just like it’s one episode per season like it’s some obligation, it happens a lot? For no actual needed plot reason, she just has a wife and she’s just happily married to her wife and that’s it, because queer people exist.

And I just, I struggle to express how much this casual rep means to me? And how it becomes even more amazing if you consider how long ago it started? And if you add to it the steady prominent recurring/main character rep?

Sure, it’s not perfect - the majority of their characters of color are black; it’s not overly diverse when it comes to what characters of color it included, it took forever to include the second Asian character and the first Muslim character and it could feature a broader variety of ethnicities, just like it could offer a broader variety of queer experiences, I mean it took them forever to introduce the first mlm main character and they have yet to include a bisexual man, I’d also just love to see an ace character or a polyamorous character, to paint a contrast to the sex-obsession and cheating plotlines - but... it’s doing more than many others and I do think it deserves praise for that and it keeps improving. They didn’t just add Erica and Callie as the first wlw couple and then stuck to only having two queer ladies on screen at the same time and never more, just constantly replacing Callie’s girlfriend. They kept adding more, they keep adding more.

Now, on to my absolute favorite thing about this show.

Because, let’s make one thing clear, I hate cheating and under other circumstances the amount of cheating on this show would have driven me off it ten seasons ago. But despite all of the very forced romance drama and sex obsessed allos on the show, that is not the show’s main focus.

This was never mainly about the romance. It’s always been about the platonic relationships first and foremost. Romances changed and broke up and got complicated, but what prospered were the friendships and found family relationships.

Cristina and Meredith are the defining relationship of this show. They are... friendship portrayed in a way I have never seen friendship portrayed before. The writing on their dynamic is just amazing.

And when Cristina leaves the show, the shift to Meredith-Alex and to the sister-dynamic between Meredith, Maggie and Amelia really works.

Personally, after watching the show, I’ve come to divide it into three arcs, each with a Part A and a Part B.

The first arc of the show - spanning seasons 1 to 5 - are about Meredith, Cristina, George, Izzie and Alex. And they explore the dynamic between those five and the individual relationships between them all, so very well. This was really found family done right.

Arc 2 is what I dubbed the rebranding arc - seasons 6 to 10. In Part A (s6 to s8), we got the focus on the Mercy West merger, ending in the horrific plane crash. While Part B is what I call the outfall, season 9 dealing with the outfall from the plane crash and season 10 being all about that Meredith-Cristina outfall.

I love Arc 1 a whole lot, it’s really good. I think Arc 2 is good too, especially the plane crash and its outfall were very gripping and well done, but I do think that this middle part earns the dub as rebranding because it feels like the show itself is trying to find its footing, trying to figure out a direction after MAGIC graduated into residents (and, inevitably, fell apart with the death of George and the departure of Izzie). It’s a bit unfocused on where it wants to go and I still loathe the big misunderstanding nonsense of season 10 (but am glad that Meredith and Cristina rekindled before Cristina’s departure).

Arc 3 is the sisters arc, where the Meredith-Maggie-Amelia dynamic rules, with a more uneven split between A and B, because A spans seasons 11 to 16 for me and is lovingly dubbed the Merlex arc by me, while B is just... season 17; the corona pandemic is really shifting the tone and focus and it coincides with the departure of Alex.

I’m more mixed on it than I am on the other two. For me, Cristina and Meredith just are the heart and soul of the show, so despite just how brilliantly they handled that all, I still miss them (though I greatly appreciate the fact that she still regularly comes up through phone calls, texts, etc). I greatly disliked Alex’s departure (which is a rant of its own).

On the overall, I would actually rank them in order - the first five seasons were my favorite, followed by the awkward middle because it still added brilliant things to it regardless, and despite coming in last, I do also love the second half of the show with the sisters in the focus.

I do admit that I had high hopes that Jo would become Meredith’s new person in season 17, considering the tremendous growth their relationship had - especially considering how Meredith crawled into Jo’s bed and was the one to coax what had happened with her mother out of her; that was “my person” behavior, quite frankly, and I also thought that Alex’s departure might bring them closer. I truly did not like Alex’s parting words to Meredith that she’s always been her own person.

Well, duh. Meredith Grey is an absolute badass. Which, also a thing I love a lot about this show. She is so incredibly strong and brilliant and takes care of herself.

But the point of her having her person was never that she needed someone else to stand in for her; it was to have someone around whom she didn’t have to be that strong. Someone she could come to to be weak around, someone to have her back when everything became too much. You just... can’t do that for yourself. So that sentiment was just incredible rubbish and I will be very mad if they truly have her embrace that nonsense, because she deserves someone like that.

Lastly, let’s talk romantic relationships. Very broadly, I assure you - I wouldn’t even have the patience to tackle them all, I mean seriously everyone has had sex on this show, or so it feels (no but seriously, the amount of overlapping ships on this show is ridiculous).

The only note I do have on that is that... nothing lasts forever. Quite frankly, the most “endgame” ships on this show are Richard/Catherine and Ben/Miranda (which, bless them, those two are literally my favorite of the canon ships). Everything else is just... fair game? They change, they break up, even if you absolutely hate a ship - don’t worry, it’s gonna end soon.

And occasionally, that... is even more rewarding than seeing a couple you do like get together? I mean, honestly, watching a ship you dislike for x reasons and then having them break up on screen and a character actually listing x reasons to the other’s face? Very carthatic.

I also have to mention the adoption positivity; Meredith and Derek adopt a child, not as a last resort after all else has failed, but simply because they fell in love with that little girl, Ben and Bailey took in Joey, because they have big hearts. So often, adoption is only shown as that very, very last option after you wasted thousands of dollars on all other biological options and then it is like a tragic compromise or something. Seeing them just... fall in love with this baby and adopt her and love her is so refreshing?

This show is just... really, really good? The writing is brilliant. I mean, this show made me laugh more than some comedies have? It’s funny, poignant and... not overly dramatic? I mean, of course it’s dramatic - it’s a drama. But it’s more... grounded. Even with some outstandingly extreme things happening, it is still very down to Earth, compared to other dramas that feel the need to go higher and more bizarre each season. It’s incredibly consistent, it includes so much rep and actual plotlines for every character, it really draws out relationships - familiar, platonic, romantic - in such great details.

I just really love this show.

[leviathans-tail]

So if anyone couldn’t tell, I’ve been reading some literature over the past couple of weeks. I have mostly been focusing on Dazai and Akutagawa partly due to the third season of Bungou Stray Dogs coming out and re-sparking my interest. I have had these authors and books on my “to-read list” for the longest time and now I’m finally getting around to it and I’m glad I did. I would like to thank BSD for rekindling my interest in reading stuff other than fanfic (not that fanfic is bad but reading on screens hurts my eyes cus my sensory problems and I feel bad printing out five to read them bc trees). Anyway, I still believe that it’s important to read classics from all over the world and growing up in the west, we didn’t exactly have great exposure to authors past the British and French. I remember reading just one of Dostoyevsky’s books in High School and that qualifies as “world literature.” And I absolutely loved the American authors in my American lit class but I was curious about other authors so I’m thankful for BSD for exposing me to some different literature.

Thus far, I can definitely say that i find it interesting to read classic literature that isn’t through a Christian lens bc even Dostoyevsky and other European and American authors often rely on Christianity for their views on morality so it was refreshing to read authors who had a different perspective and I even learned more of Buddhism in the process so that was a big plus. Dazai has a short story where he basically tells the story of Jesus’ betrayal through Judas’ perspective which would not happen from many western authors cus like it’s “sacrelgious” or whatever, so that was interesting. And as a Christian myself, I was very interested to see how someone not raised in this Christian culture would interpret and react to scripture. Akutagawa also has a couple short stories about the persecution of Christians during the Tokugawa goverment’s reign and the Shimabara Rebellion. My favorite was O-Gin because of its tragedy. It was also interesting to see Christianity taking the role of the “suppressed” because we rarely if ever see that through our Western Christianized world lens.

Second thing is big kudos to Dazai for just being a bi-icon (from “Memories”) and just casually stating that he had a crush on a male classmate but then was grossed out bc the guy gave him a newt and he hates newts. Another thing I gotta say about Dazai is that he always finds a way in his short stories (haven’t read his longer works yet they are in the mail), to insert himself but make it vague whereas you know when Akutagawa wants to talk about himself vs just give you a funny story or a historical fiction work.

I think my favorite Dazai short story is “Crackling Mountain” even though Dazai basically says that some women are devious and seduce men and then are cruel blah blah blah. I really enjoy his style of writing and I could really interchange between seeing the main characters as animals and people at the same time which was weird but good. my favorite Akutagawa short story is “Hell Screen” (although Rashomon is a close second). I could make a while post just on Hell Screen bc there’s A LOT there. And “Horse Legs” omg I highly recommend if you like surreal tragicomic works. I actually laughed out loud while reading this which doesn’t happen often when reading.

This post is already all over the place so I might as well add this on. I just finished reading “The Life of a Stupid Man” by Akutagawa which was published after his suicide and it was like one of the last things he left. It’s kind of an autobiography and kind of a suicide note if you ask me. Whatever the case, it definitely made me feel differently about Akutagawa as an actual person. Going into this I knew he was feeling a lot of pressure from his extended family bc he was the primary breadwinner for all of them and he had kids that would get sick, and relatives that were killing themselves or losing jobs, etc. so I just thought that he couldn’t take the pressure and eventually snapped. I wasn’t aware that he was uhhh just f***ing around. Like this one chick he pursued aggressively then was like “woah there jk” when she started pursuing him back. She even told him that a kid she had with her husband was his like what. According to himself,Akutagawa stopped cheating on his wife when he was thirty and you can tell that in “The Life of a Stupid Man” that he feels some sort of regret for his affairs. He keeps saying how he’s an awful husband, father, and brother but like he was supporting everyone which was admirable so why feel that way otherwise? One thing I found almost comical in this short story was when he talked about his platonic woman friend that he made after turning thirty and he was like “He did not die with her, but he took a certain satisfaction in his never having touched her.” Like good job bud you managed not to f*** one of your woman friends. But I think he was proud because if he has this “affliction” it would be easy to fall back into your old ways lol. Maybe having a platonic relationship with a woman was a goal of his before he died idk. He also makes reference to himself and other authors (including Gogol) being possessed by some sort of demon and that’s why they all go crazy and/or commit suicide and he knew that he was gonna do one or the other too. He says “all that lay before him was madness or suicide,” and then talks about how a close friend of his went mad and is in the hospital.

There’s another quote a little bit before that where Akutagawa states that “not everyone is moved by literature. His own works were unlikely to appeal to people who were not like him and had not lived a life like his...” and like idk how much I agree with him there if I’m being honest. I’d say I’m one of the furthest things from the type of person Akutagawa was and I still very much enjoyed his literature. And there I think he is again doubting his abilities and being self-deprecating (duh the title). He was able to write stories that despite their placement in history showed the best and worst parts of humanity and that will resonate with every generation. And like I think anyone will laugh at “Horse Legs” -it’s a dude walking around with hooves that he has to hide bc the death people messed up and he died too early and they needed to send him back but his own legs were rotten already and Horse Legs were all that was available. Cmon that’s funny

Anyway I might add on later or make another post to document my feelings/reactions to more literature idk

[thememoryhole]

The Dude of Jack

August of 2004, probably almost exactly thirteen years ago. This story is the second in a series involving NSO (New Student Orientation) and is actually closely related to the first one.

As I mentioned in that previous story, part of NSO involved placement exams. However, that's not entirely accurate. NSO itself did not include placement exams, but to make life easier for incoming freshman, the university scheduled the exams for the days preceding NSO. The idea being that you could come one day earlier, knock out some placement exams, and then attend NSO.

One issue for us neighbor island kids was that, while NSO provided accommodations on-campus, if you went one day earlier, no such accommodations were available. I'm sure many people had friends or family on Oahu that they could lodge with for the extra day, but a couple of haole boys like John and I had no such luck.

The school did have an agreement with some hotel to help students in our situation. As I recall, it still wasn't cheap, definitely over a hundred dollars, which to a couple of teenagers fresh out of high school seemed like an insane amount of money to spend on a place to stay for one night. Between the two of us, the cost wasn't quite as bad, at least.

John and I flew to Honolulu that morning and the first order of business was checking in to the hotel. I don't even remember how we got there—I can't believe we'd be stupid enough to waste the money on taking a taxi, but on the other hand, we didn't know anything about Honolulu, so getting around was not yet our forte.

That's a theme I must stress from the beginning—we didn't know where we were or what we were doing. The epitome of small town kids lost in the big city for the first time, I can't be too specific on many of the details in this story because for the most part they were a blur. Though we would later grow to be quite adept at navigating the rough and tough streets of Honolulu, these were our first brave steps on our own.

I actually think that the hotel might have had an airport shuttle, which makes sense given that, when we arrived, it was like, a legit nice hotel. Not something super fancy, but this wasn't a Motel 8, either. Despite having reserved the room through the school, I remember needing a credit card, which was a big "holy shit" moment because we were still kids who didn't have anything. One of us used our newly-minted FHB debit cards. I think it was me, because for the rest of my time on Oahu I constantly worried about how the authorization hold on the card had basically reduced the amount of money I could spend during the entire trip to $30 or something ridiculous like that.

The hotel was in, or at least around, Waikiki, I am certain of that. I probably ended up walking past it a thousand times later on in life, but I never could remember which one it was. As we used the little keycard to open the door, I think we were both amazed that it was such a nice place. Why was this necessary for college kids here just to take entrance exams? The cost made sense, now, at least. It was fun, though. I enjoyed having a nice room to chill in. It would definitely beat the dorms they'd stick us in for NSO, as we'd soon find out.

I actually remember how we got to UH on that first day. Because the school at least had provided some public transportation guides for students staying at that hotel. We took the bus. I want to say it was the 4, but I have no idea if that's accurate or if TheBus still even uses the same line numbers as they did a decade and a half ago, so it's probably moot.

Regardless, I also remember that taking the bus was a big deal. Dude, we're just like, getting on this bus, who knows if we'll even get where we need to go? There were no smartphones back then, it wasn't like we could check our progress with an app or GPS. Just hop in, slide the two dollars in the little machine, take a seat, and hope eventually the little LED screen says the next stop is UH.

Clearly, we did get to UH, and I've already detailed some of the experiences there. I don't actually remember much more from that first day, obviously at some point we made our way back to the hotel and there isn't a whole lot that sticks out in my mind about that evening. What I remember more is the next morning. We had to get up early, to check out and then head back to UH for the official start of NSO.

But before that, we needed to grab breakfast. Being brave, we decided to wander the streets for a while and see if the big city could offer us anything novel. This is what makes me believe the hotel was at least in very close proximity to Waikiki, because we were easily able to stumble upon what felt like a very main drag of Waikiki. It was a weekday and still early yet, so it wasn't very busy, but it was very wandering tourist/pedestrian-friendly.

Then we saw it. Jack in the Box. At the time, Kauai had been Jack in the Box-less for a long, long time. I have no idea what John knew of Jack in the Box back then (I can't remember when Kauai's locations shut down), but I had fond memories. And when I had visited family in California, I always had a chance to rekindle my love affair with the fine purveyor of artery-clogging goodness.

It was clear. We were gonna have breakfast at Jack in the Box. Duh.

We wandered in, poring over the breakfast menu that was unfamiliar to us. There were a few other people in there, but we were in our own little brave new world. We placed our order, and waited.

I was probably talking too loudly, as usual. I wanted to appear cultured and worldly to John, and I was regaling him with stories of other rare fast food eateries. Jack in the Box was only one of the gluttonous delights we were denied back home on Kauai. I was telling him how in California, not only was I able to regularly enjoy Jack in the Box, but also this fabled little chain called Del Taco.

At that moment, the gentleman standing next to us at the counter butted into the conversation. He was a dude probably in his mid-30s, local, and possibly homeless. He was certainly slightly unhinged, as we were about to find out. He said, with no uncertain enthusiasm, "Oh yeah, man! I love Del Taco, too!"

Thinking back now, I suppose he was just joining in on the conversation because he was weird, but I remember at the time feeling like he was mocking me, like I was gushing too excitedly and noisily about something and he just had to step in and start ragging on me. And while it's not unheard of for a random stranger to join a conversation on Kauai or basically anywhere else, I still felt kind of uncomfortable because I was vaguely aware that things could be more dangerous in a big city.

Yep, small town kid for sure.

This dude certainly proved noisier than I ever could have been. He kept going on, "It's so much better than Taco Bell, or as I like to call it, TACO HELL!!!" The grin on his face indicated that he meant this as a joke, and an extremely funny and original joke at that. We nervously and politely chuckled.

I remember looking to the staff to see their reaction, which was one of indifference. Perhaps he was a regular that came in and behaved this way all the time, or perhaps they just weren't getting paid enough to deal with this shit. Couldn't blame them.

He asked us some questions, I can't remember what exactly, but somehow the topic of music came up and he suddenly asked, "Hey, do you guys like Linkin Park?!"

Maybe we looked like LP fans, or maybe he just really wanted to talk about Linkin Park. I think we muttered some sort of vague agreement, not wanting to push any buttons with this clearly unstable dude who was on a tear at seven o'clock in the morning at Jack in the Box.

"Oh, yeah? I like them too, but I don't know how that guy sings like that," he said. Then, without warning, he turned away from the counter, towards the dining area and screamed into an air mic, "CRAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWLLLLLLING IN MY SKIIIIIIN!!!"

When I say "scream," I'm not speaking hyperbolically. He put more energy into it than even Chester Bennington himself does in the real song. (His recent death is what inspired this story, because even thirteen years later whenever I think of Linkin Park all I can do is think back immediately to this morning spent in Jack in the Box.)

I think John and I both were pretty aware that we were fully on board the crazy train by now. Fortunately, the dude's attention had now shifted out towards the dining area. There was a Japanese family eating their breakfast, clearly tourists. As I recall, they were dressed in swimsuits, ready to hit the beach. Dad, mom, and a couple of small kids.

Who knew what was going through their mind as this guy started screaming loudly, but they could hardly expect that he would approach them and start talking to them in an over-the-top racist faux-Japanese accent. "OH, HERRO! GOOD MORNING!" he said, and they nodded nervously, hoping they weren't about to be murdered.

For some reason, he pulled out a $5 bill and proudly brandished it in their faces, pulling the bill taut a few times between his two hands for dramatic effect. "America quiz time! Do you know who this man is?!" he asked, waving the bill around the table. The family looked very confused. I have no idea if they understood in the slightest what was going on.

But after a moment of stunned silence, he made a buzzing sound. "Bzzt! WRONG! I guess you didn't know it's Mister Abraham Lincoln. Or probably as you would say it"—again he put on the heavy accent—"Abe-ra-ham RIN-con!" He laughed heartily at his own joke.

I wondered if this situation was going to get worse, like maybe he was not going to leave these poor tourists alone. Or maybe he would turn his attention back towards us. I had very little experience dealing with random crazies, I realized. Sheltered life.

But just as quickly as it started, it resolved. His order was ready, he grabbed the bag, and headed out the door, never to be seen again. John and I sat at a table and chowed down our breakfast, too bewildered by what had just happened to truly enjoy its goodness. We headed back to the hotel, checked out, and got back on a bus for UH.

The main reason for us coming to Oahu had not yet begun, but I had already learned something. Buying breakfast could be an adventure. So, this was what life was going to be like for the next four years.

[prideguynews]

by Michael Musto 2h ago

With a new documentary upon us about the legendary 1970s disco Studio 54, it’s time to remove the cobwebs from the corners of my mind and relay some misty, water-colored memories about the whole dizzying experience.   First of all, the place was everything it was cracked up to be. At a time when the country was disillusioned with our shady government and New York City was in shambles, it rose up like a miracle, a glitzy hedonism haven for escapism and glamour, filled with people of all races and sexualities. Here are some things you might not know about the TV studio turned dance palace, which attracted a conga line of glitterati starting in 1977:

*It consisted of three levels (plus a bathroom landing slash lounge). The main dance floor was a thrilling wonderland, with blinking panels descending and rising, and a quarter moon with a faux coke spoon coming down at key moments. Downstairs was where the celebrities did real coke. A lot. And the balcony was where…well, let’s just say I once sat there to relax for a minute, only to have some man reach from the row behind me to grab for my business. Why, I never!

*To get in, you had to be famous, beautiful, a media person, or know someone. I was press, so frisky co-owner Steve Rubell would always pull me in, but when he didn’t happen to be at the door, the regular door guy, Marc Benecke, would shoot me withering looks and refuse me entry, correctly sensing that I was not Bianca Jagger. The longer you stood there hoping for admission, the smaller your chances got, so I had to cook up some better schemes. I became pals with an Oscar nominated actress, and she always got us in free, but then came the problem of how to ditch her inside the club and have some fun with my gay male friends! Ah, the problems of the ‘70s.

Zeitgeist Films

*Gays were not only welcomed, they were worshiped. This was after Stonewall and before AIDS, so it was a time of liberation, pride, and tons of fun, when nocturnal NYC gays romped freely and straights wanted to be near them at any cost.

*The array of celebs was extraordinary, and right up in your face. Liza Minnelli, Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Andy Warhol, Halston…everyone. And there wasn’t the kind of security celebs have now, so they were mixing with the rest of the crowd and even photographers were roaming free, with grins on their faces. One night, Rubell snuggled up to me and cooed, “Elton John and Rod Stewart are coming together later. Don’t tell anyone.” I told everyone—and that’s what he wanted! And sure enough, Elton and Rod came in and electrified the place. Another night, I was dancing with a friend, but noticed that your dancing partner could change as the crowd swirled round, and no one minded, since everyone was equal under the great glitter ball. (We’d all gotten in, after all.) So I found myself eventually dancing with world-famous model-actor-scion Margaux Hemingway, who didn’t mind! I was verklempt.

*The place also created its own celebrities, like Rollerena, a drag queen on roller skates, with a magic wand in tow, and Disco Sally, a 70-something retired lawyer and widow who loved to boogie, especially with younger guys (one of whom she married in a much publicized ceremony).

*The music pumped all night, with great songs that were heavy on the black female vocals, plus wonderful orchestrations. The yin and yang of disco hits were Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” (a thump-thump anthem celebrating a defiant refusal to care about the schmo that got away) and Thelma Houston’s “Don’t Leave Me This Way” (the flip side of that, about desperately trying to hold onto your man at any cost). Both were incredibly fun to act out on the dance floor, with lots of arm gestures and facial expressions (some of which people could even see through the strobe effects). Speaking of “leaving this way,” when you heard disco queen Donna Summer’s “The Last Dance” emerge from the DJ booth, you knew it was—duh—the last dance of the night, and you had to pull yourself together and try to sneak into a cab (or, in my case, subway) home. Depressing! But there was always tomorrow night.

Zeitgeist Films

*I once went to Halloween at Studio 54 and it was kind of bad! The crowd always dressed so remarkably that being forced to do so on this night of rituals simply didn’t inspire them, and the dance floor was mostly filled with bridge and tunnel types in lame ensembles. Every night was Halloween for the core 54 crowd.

*The party ended when Rubell and partner Ian Schrager went to jail for tax evasion, and in 1980, the new owner, Mark Fleischman, took over. We all tried to pretend that nothing had changed, but eventually we had to face the fact that the magic was gone. In 1998, the main space became a Broadway theater and then the basement was repurposed as the cabaret room Feinstein’s/54 Below. I’ve occasionally spotted customers there trying to sniff the floor.

    Googoo for Gaga

Moving on to a retread of Liza’s mother’s greatest triumph: Lady Gaga can act! She and Bradley Cooper (who directed and costars) have cooked up a fab A Star Is Born, full of great offhand moments, wonderful singing and acting, and fancy drag queens. (In an early scene, Cooper autographs Willam Belli’s fake tits, and you’ll never forget it.)

What I liked about this version of the oft-told tale is that Jackson Maine, Cooper’s superstar singer character, isn’t really jealous of his wife’s rising success, but of the fact that she’s sold out and gone cheesy. I also appreciated the realistic way Ally (Gaga’s character) approaches Jackson’s alcohol problem, first with dismay and tough love (threatening him to shape up) and then with a more compassionate take, realizing that he’s suffering from a disease and it needs to be treated. Early on, there are some jokes about Ally’s nose getting in the way of her success, and it makes sense that at that point she wouldn’t go for surgery, wanting to just be herself (until she becomes a sort of glorified Britney Spears).

Just two complaints: They should have gone for broke and had her say “I’m Mrs. Ally Maine” in the big finale scene (shades of the Judy Garland version). Putting in the “Mrs.” would have resonated in light of a previous scene where she irritably calls Jackson her boyfriend. Secondly, Cooper should have directed Gaga to cry harder during a certain pivotal dramatic moment; it would have clinched her an Oscar. Otherwise, this Star is both raw and dazzling—and though Gaga sings the intro to Judy’s “Over The Rainbow,” it’s closer to the Barbra Streisand version, but way better.

In Other Movie News…

Leave No Trace is Debra Granik’s thoughtful film about a troubled veteran (Ben Foster) and his daughter (Thomasin McKenzie) trying to find solace in a Portland nature reserve. After a special screening, Cooper urged the crowd to take a walk and touch a tree to restore communication with nature. (When he said this, I quickly turned off my phone! I won’t be owned by technology anymore.)

At a luncheon afterwards, Foster told me he’s tempted to undo certain news apps on his phone because the news is so disheartening these days. I agreed, saying I can’t bear reading Trump’s horrifying tweets, though I feel I need to stay in touch with what’s happening just to be plugged in. In another life-changing development, Foster told me that he’s moving to Brooklyn with his wife (Laura Prepon) and their kid because the East Village has changed and there’s a Target there now, for starters. I told him I’m from Brooklyn and didn’t really want to go back there that much, alas. I also confessed that The Village Voice and Theater Talk had both recently folded, but I was handling it okay, knowing that life brings more than one bad thing—or good thing—at a time. “I wish you ease,” he replied, sincerely. Nice!   At a screening of The Great Buster, Peter Bogdanovich’s doc about the slapstick comedy legend, Bogdanovich extolled the glories of black and white silent films. He said Hitchcock told him that movies had become just people talking, while Orson Welles advised him that “black and white is an actor’s best friend.” Still, Bogdanovich decided to have people talk in his doc, including Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts, who says that since Spidey has an expressionless (i.e., covered) face, Watts researched how to do blank-faced comedy by looking at Keaton’s work!

  Eliciting a bevy of emotions, Tamara Jenkins’ Private Life is a seriocomic look at a married couple’s repeated attempts to have a baby, from in vitro to adoption and beyond. After the movie, Paul Giamatti was asked how he researched playing a guy with one testicle. He joked that in real life, he has three of them, so he had to scale it down, then he added, “I feel like a lot of the characters I play have one testicle.” That’s one more than our President. I wish him unease.

Michael Musto is the long running, award-winning entertainment journalist and TV commentator.

@mikeymusto

The post Looking Back at the Notorious Disco Studio 54: Sex, Drugs, and Thump Thump appeared first on PrideGuy - Gay News, LGBT News, Politics & Entertainment.

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It’s been a minute since our last edition of Canon Casting, our ongoing feature where we fan-cast various Star Wars projects. In the past we’ve covered novels like Thrawn, Bloodline, and the entire Aftermath trilogy, as well as Star Wars Rebels (through season three). I’ve got a few Canon Casting projects in the works but figured I’d throw you a bone and tackle the excellent tie-in novel to the game Battlefront II, Inferno Squad, by Christie Golden. And of course ***SPOILERS*** will be prevalent, but I’m sure you figured that.

For those new to the feature and/or those in need of a rules recap, here you go: We tackle a non-film project and fan cast it – with a few rules. Actors have to be alive, and age appropriate. So, in other words, you can’t cast an actor who’s passed away, even if it means a recast. Same deal with not being able to ‘time travel’ to find the perfect actor – no, Marlon Brando isn’t available… Lastly, if one of my current or previous Canon Casting choices actually gets cast in an official Star Wars film, I have to recast them. Yes, it happens, ask Thandie Newton…. Make sense, good? I also approach each Canon Casting project with what I feel is an appropriate budget, etc., as not every story will be made into a billion dollar movie. For Inferno Squad I’ve chosen the route of a premium, direct-to-consumer movie (i.e. Netflix, HBO, Showtime, etc.) OK, let’s get to it:

Iden Versio, Del Meeko, Gideon Hask, and Garrick Versio:

Janina Gavankar as Iden Versio

TJ Ramini as Del Meeko

Paul Blackthorne as Gideon Hask

Anthony Skordi as Garrick Versio

Yeah, these were the no-brainers as each of these roles were cast for motion capture for the game Battlefront II and I love each and every one of them – especially Janina (duh!) and T.J. Ramini as Del Meeko. Let’s meet the actor I chose for the fourth member of Inferno Squad, the one who doesn’t appear in the game:

Seyn Marana:

Kimiko Glenn as Seyn Marana

I went back-and-forth on the casting choices for Seyn Marana for quite a while, and she was one of two characters that held up this post for a week or so. In the end, I kept coming back to Kimiko Glenn, a memorable supporting actress on Netflix’s highly acclaimed Orange in the New Black. Some of this decision was based on Janina Gavankar’s narration and portrayal of Seyn in the audiobook, as I really heard Kimiko in Janina’s voice: fast-talking, slightly high-pitched, and a quick-thinker with perfect recollection. Aesthetically she fits the role perfectly, and in addition to that, based on the perfomances I’ve seen of the young actress I think she is more than up to the task of portraying the youngest member of Inferno Squad with the photographic memory. Here’s to you, Kimiko! Moving on, let’s cast a couple smaller roles…

Zeehay Versio and Lassa Rhayme:

Eva LaRue as Zeehay Versio

Paige VanZant at Lassa Rhayme

These were both small roles (as was much of the supporting cast in Inferno Squad), with one being a must-cast and one being a fun-cast, if you take my meaning. For the role of Iden’s mother, Zeehay Versio, I went with Eva LaRue. The role of Zeehay is small in the book and I went with an attractive actress best known for her work on CSI Miami and the soap opera All My Children (so maybe I’m an old-school soap aficionado, don’t tell anyone..). Iden’s mother is a galaxy-renowned artist responsible for painting Imperial propaganda posters and flyers. She’s described as a very beautiful woman, and much of Iden’s physical features are attributed to her. Eva is a gorgeous woman, and at 51 years old she is old enough to portray the mother of our protagonist and wife of the hard-ass that’s Garrick Versio. For the tiny role of pirate queen Lassa Rhayme I went outside the box and tapped UFC fighter Paige VanZant for the role. Lassa is a beautiful blue-skinned Pantoran with a helluva mean streak, and I have a feeling we will be seeing more of her after having appearances in both of Christie Golden’s Star Wars books – Dark Disciple and Inferno Squad. Time to meet The Dreamers:

Piikow, Dahna, and Sadori Vushon:

Warwick Davis as Piikow

Alicia Witt as Dahna

Will Poulter as Sadori Vushon

Before we get into the fan-casting of The Dreamers, let’s talk for a minute about who they are for those that haven’t read the book. The Dreamers are an offshoot of Saw Gerrera’s Partisan Rebels, formed after the destruction of Jedha in the amazing standalone film Rogue One. They hold steadfast to Saw’s vision of the war, including his tactics which Mon Mothma and the Rebel Alliance leadership deemed ‘extreme’. Above are three members of The Dreamers’ supporting cast that I felt were vital to the story. Let’s start with the diminutive and good-hearted Chadra-Fan, Piikow. I absolutely loved the character of Piikow, and he served a vital role in the book as we see his relationship with Del Meeko blossom to the point of friendship and you as the reader really don’t want anything bad to happen to Piikow, even though it was Inferno Squad’s main objective to eliminate all of The Dreamers… As far as the fan-casting for Piikow goes it was super easy – of course I went with Warwick Davis, as he has to be in every Star Wars project, right? The role of Piikow would give him a much-deserved chance to shine as well, as most of his parts in Star Wars films are small. Moving on to Dahna… I love the character of Dahna, the sultry second-in-command Twi-lek. Dahna is beautiful and was formerly a slave, so she takes to Seyn Marana very quickly, as Seyn’s cover was to pose as a slave to gain entrance into The Dreamers. I also must note that once again Janina Gavankar’s narration of the character of Dahna very much played into my casting choice, and I loved it. For this role I went with Alicia Witt, a versatile actor known for playing diverse characters in TV (Cybill and The Walking Dead) as well as film (88 Minutes and Urban Legend). Alicia is a beautiful actress who also has the range to be sultry and vicious in the same breath. She’ll do nicely… Finally, for the role of Sadori Vushon, the young Kage who falls for Seyn (and vice-versa, with heartbreaking results) I tapped one of my favorite up-and-coming young actors, Will Poulter. Sadori is a large, physically imposing figure, while still having an air of youthful vulnerability. Will Poulter at 6’2″ can certainly portray the physicality of Sadori, and I have no doubt he can play the softer side as well, as we’ve seen this side of him in film before. Also, his height will play well against Kimiko Glenn, who’s only 5’2″, so the differential will look great on the screen. Now for The Dreamers’ leadership:

Staven:

Mark O’Brien as Staven

So Staven…. this was a hard one and is probably most responsible for holding this post up for a few days as I deliberated it. The charismatic-yet-dark leader of The Dreamers first appeared in the amazing novel Rebel Rising by Beth Revis, and popped back up in Inferno Squad as the perceived leader of The Dreamers. I don’t like Staven. I didn’t like him in Rebel Rising and liked him even less in Inferno Squad. Which means the authors did their jobs, because you aren’t supposed to like him. He chided a younger Jyn Erso in Rebel Rising and was a complete asshole in his role as the paranoid and sadistic leader of the remnants of Saw’s band of rebels in Inferno Squad. I went back-and-forth on the actor to portray this pivotal role and almost scrapped the entire post before I had a revelation. I absolutely love the show Halt and Catch Fire, and think it’s one of the most underappreciated shows in recent television history – if you didn’t catch it you should go back and binge it on Netflix. Mark O’Brien plays the role of Tom Rendon in the series and much like Staven, he’s a character you’re supposed to hate. Mark is the man for the job, and he’s a casting choice I’m proud of for being completely out of left field. I have no doubt he would crush it in Inferno Squad as The Dreamers’ leader. Which brings us to the last role I cast for the book…

‘The Mentor’:

Hugh Dancy as “The Mentor” a.k.a. Lux Bonteri

Casting the amazing Hugh Dancy in the pivotal and mysterious role of The Mentor was almost too easy. I loved him in Hannibal. I loved him in The Path. I’ve loved everything I’ve seen him in. Throughout Inferno Squad we get hints of just who The Mentor is, and it becomes obvious he has a long history in the galactic conflicts of both The Clone Wars and the struggle of the Rebel Alliance versus the Empire. When it’s revealed he’s none other than Lux Bonteri, a character that’s appeared onscreen many times in The Clone Wars animated series, it all makes perfect sense. Although not in control of The Dreamers per se, he is responsible for their intel and in turn the man that’s most wanted by the members of Inferno Squad. Lux has lost more than his fair share throughout the course of the wars, including Saw’s sister, Steela Gerrera, who he was in love with. And don’t forget that Togrutan Jedi he had a thing for as well… The way the story plays out, with Iden beginning to sympathize and possibly fall for him as well is a nice touch, as she lets him live in the end after the Squad kills the rest of The Dreamers. That’s one of the great things about this book that author Christie Golden does so well – showing the gray area of the conflict by having three of the four members of Inferno Squad bonding with members of The Dreamers, with only Gideon Hask abstaining (which also plays well with the campaign mode of the game Battlefront II, for those who’ve played it). But back to the casting. I have little doubt that Hugh Dancy will find his way onto a Star Wars project at some point, but for now, he’s my Lux Bonteri.

So there we have it, my Canon Casting for Battlefront II: Inferno Squad. I highly recommend reading this book or grabbing the audiobook (which as mentioned above is narrated by none other than Janina Gavankar herself), you won’t be disappointed.

Got any feedback for me or want to discuss further? Hit me here and we’ll make it happen. As always, thanks for the support and May the Force Be With You!

~Todd

Janina Gavankar as Iden Versio

Hugh Dance as “TheMentor” a.k.a. Lux Bonteri

TJ Ramini as Del Meeko

Paul Blackthorne as Gideon Hask

Kimiko Glenn as Seyn Marana

Mark O’Brien as Staven

Anthony Skordi as Garrick Versio

Will Poulter as Sadori Vushon

Alicia Witt as Dahna

Warwick Davis as Piikow

Eva LaRue as Zeehay Versio

Paige VanZant at Lassa Rhayme

Canon Casting – Battlefront II: Inferno Squad It's been a minute since our last edition of Canon Casting, our ongoing feature where we fan-cast various Star Wars projects.

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Initial Thoughts on New Things (and things that are new to Us)

John and I are done with our trip down to WDW for the Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon weekend, and I am the one putting together this Quick Hits post because John is driving (and blogging while driving is probably not that safe). Here are some of the “new to us” items:

Small World Dress!

The Dress Shoppe @ Cherry Tree Lane. IT IS THE BEST AND I WANT ALL THE DRESSES! They aren’t free though, so I only bought one. I got the Small World pattern and love it. I tried a bunch of them on and they’re all really cute. I wish they’d had the Orange Bird one in stock. Cast Members said they’d been told much more stock would be coming in summer. Hopefully Disney recognizes the demand and we get even more patterns and styles.

BB-8 Meet & Greet. Droid please. He’s really cute and we thought this was a positive experience. One thing that’s different about the BB meet is you’re the only ones in the room with him; at most character meets, there’s a family or two behind you watching/waiting their turn. They brought us in to him alone. He’s a nicely attentive droid too – even though he doesn’t roll around, his head swivels and you can see him looking around based on where voices are coming from. The chirps are the cutest.

The Polite Pig. MEH. As North Carolinians, we have pretty high expectations for BBQ/southern food, so it’s a bit of a tough sell. The fast casual concept of ordering and then sitting down might be nice if they figure it out. When we went, they had clearly not ironed out the wrinkles in that system. When we initially got in the main line, which was pretty long and didn’t seem to be moving quickly, the CM handing out menus told us we could sit/order at the bar if we didn’t want to stand in line. So we went to the bar, where the lone bartender was clearly overwhelmed (both sides of the bar were almost at capacity). It took almost 10 minutes for us to even get water, but we stuck it out and ordered. I got mac & cheese and John got the brisket sandwich. John liked his sandwich okay. My mac & cheese just made me wish we’d gone to Homecomin. We both agreed that if we’d just gone to the bar at Homecomin, we could’ve gotten a better tasting meal in about the same amount of time though at a slightly higher cost. I don’t think we’ll really need to go here again, but it would be okay if sitting at the Homecomin bar is not an option for you.

Geyser Point. Beautiful views, not so beautiful food/service. When we sat, it took a while for a waitress to even acknowledge us. She gave us drink menus and seemed mad when we asked about food. Apparently, you are supposed to go over to the quick service counter (not clearly visible from the Geyser Point entrance) to get anything aside from 3-4 appetizer type things. Given that there’s a giant menu at the Geyser Point entrance showing all the options from the quick service counter, I’m sure lots of people walk in expecting those options. Yet, when we asked about them she huffed and acted like it was a giant hassle, so we just ordered drinks. John ended up just going over to the quick service counter to order some food. The food you get is definitely Disney quick service. That doesn’t mean it’s gross, but it’s replacement level. The food from Territory Lounge is much better. The views at Geyser Point are really pretty though, so I can see us getting some stuff from Territory to go and posting up at Geyser Point to eat it and enjoy their drink menu. *Note that you can only get food discounts (like AP) if you order directly from the quick service counter.

Bon Voyage Breakfast at Trattoria al Forno. What we had of the new menu was good – John had the King Triton breakfast calzone and enjoyed it. I had the Tower of Pancakes, which were thick and fluffy. Each table gets a skillet of breakfast pastries when they sit, and the pastries are themed to Rapunzel & Ariel (the two princesses you meet). Character interactions were solid. Flynn Ryder comes out first, then Rapunzel, Eric, and finally Ariel. While each character meets tables individually, the two couples do dance around the restaurant a little together, so if you’re in a good position, you could get a photo of Rapunzel with Flynn and Ariel with Eric, they just don’t come to your table together. Overall, the breakfast was fun, but it was a little bit of a bummer, because we really liked the old Trattoria breakfast. It was a great option to fuel before heading into International Gateway at World Showcase opening. Now, the breakfast is more expensive (because of the characters) and some of our favorite menu options are gone. We may end up at the Bon Voyage breakfast again, but not as often as we went to the old Trattoria breakfast. 

Il Mulino. This restaurant is by no means new, but we’ve never been so this is new to us. The disclaimer is that the purpose of this dinner was to have a mild, carb-y dinner before Saturday’s 10k. If it were a normal meal, we may have ordered different things. The atmosphere was nothing to write home about. It was pretty enough, but there certainly aren’t any exciting views. The wine list looked nice, but we stuck to water like good little runners. We both ordered pasta dishes – I got a linguine in a “spicy” red sauce. It was not spicy, and I probably wouldn’t order it again. John got the pappardelle dish and really liked it. I can’t see us choosing this over Tutto Italia unless we’re staying in the Swan or Dolphin and simply don’t feel like going into Epcot.

Paddlefish. Food was pretty good and a decent value. We had the lobster corn dogs from the appetizer section and those were quite tasty. Everything else was fine too, but not significantly memorable. You won’t have any trouble getting a table and it’s certainly not the type of restaurant to rush you through your meal, so I think Paddlefish is a good option if you want a longer/lazier meal at Disney Springs. If you get a window seat you can wave to the Amphicars.

Tiffins. OMNOMNOMNOMNOM. Seriously lives up to the rave reviews we’ve seen elsewhere. We were there on the Rivers of Light dining package, which means we got more food than we probably would have otherwise. The package includes an appetizer, entree, and dessert for each person. To start, I got the octopus and John got the lobster soup. John’s summation of the soup is that it was good, but he prefers traditional lobster bisque. We both really liked the octopus. I could’ve eaten 3 or 4 of those. For entrees, I had the Waygu pasta dish, which was delicious, and John got the Waygu beef and short ribs. This is one place where you don’t have to worry so much about Disney overcooking – the beef was insanely tender and tasty. We both got the chocolate dessert because chocolate. It was so good and now I’m seriously craving another one. After dinner, the waiter brought our Rivers of Light tickets along with a GLOWING LOTUS FLOWER POPCORN BUCKET. It didn’t have any popcorn in it, but it only cost $1.50 to fill it at any of the popcorn stands. The only negative from Tiffins was that our waiter told us they were out of Kungaloosh. We were both shocked since they only have 3 beers on the menu, but John audibled and got the Tempting Tigress instead. When we went to Nomad almost immediately after Tiffins, John tried ordering the Kungaloosh again and it was available. Not sure if they got a new keg in or if our waiter was misinformed/playing a cruel joke.

Rivers of Light

Rivers of Light. I tweeted this, but I seriously don’t understand how people are unimpressed with this show. It was beautiful. Even though it was kind of windy and you could see where the water screens were rippling, it was delightful. The shadows during the preshow were entrancing and the glowing animals during the show itself made me so happy. The synchronized water effects were incredible. I also really liked the cast members on the boats dancing and contributing through the shadow puppets. I do think they need to make the narration louder or put in more speakers, because there were definitely parts that were difficult to hear, but overall I really enjoyed it. John definitely will not go this far, but now that Celebrate the Magic is gone, this is my favorite nighttime show. I’m not really a fireworks fan though, so you can take that with several salt grains.

Additional thoughts from the trip:

We watched our last Wishes. Here’s hoping that Happily Ever After is a suitable replacement.

Ample Hills being open to 11:00pm is a good thing. Frankly, it should be 24 hours, because duh.

Uniqlo has awesome deals and is a great option if you forgot to pack some essential piece of clothing.

The race expo was a little underwhelming compared to prior expos, and we may post more about the race stuff.

Territory Lounge has a new spicy watermelon margarita that I loved.

There is a dumb waitress at Sanaa who kept insisting she was bringing me the bread service sauce I was requesting, even though it was clearly the Tomato-Date Jam instead of the Red Chili Sambal. So I sat there with four of the WRONG sauce until another table’s waitress noticed and brought me the RIGHT sauce, explaining that they had been mislabeled, but she could tell the difference by looking at the sauces instead of the label (AS COULD ANYONE WITH EYES). Our waitress never apologized. She’s the worst. I was right. I’m not still bitter about this or anything.

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