#Peacock has FANTASTIC dancing & singing moves

[redfurrycat]

Top Gun: Peacock 🤠+🐓= 🦚 [Part 4]

Due to an inexplicable malfunction of the new F-302 fighter-interceptor, Mitchell Nicholas Seresin-Bradshaw, callsign Peacock, travels back to a time when the suicide mission has already occurred, but his parents aren’t together yet.

[There’s some heavy mutual pining going on though.]

🕰️⬅️⬅️🚀⬅️⬅️🦚

Most Daggers –including Rooster and Hangman– are away on a joint exercise with the US Air Force, except for Phoenix and Coyote who remain on base to teach new recruits. That’s why they’re the first ones to be called by the COMPACFLT himself.

He informs them that earlier this day an unknown aircraft has crash-landed on the aircraft carrier under Admiral Rick Hollywood Neven’s command.

The extraordinary likeness to Lt. Jake Hangman Seresin and the fact that the plane is engraved under the name of Lt. Mitchell Seresin-Bradshaw “Peacock” are enough for Admiral Neven to make a direct call to The Iceman and let him deal with that bullshit. [With the promise to tell him everything afterwards, ‘cause they’re all a bunch of gossipers.]

Mitchell then greets the younger version of his g.o.b.s.m.a.c.k.e.d godparents with an enthusiastic ‘Howdy Auntie Nat! Howdy Uncle Jav!’ and proceeds to kiss his auntie’s cheek and to do the very choreographically-complex handshake with his uncle – who does it automatically as it’s the same he does with Jake every day.

 *

[A few days later. Phoenix, Coyote, and Peacock are at the Hard Deck.]

Mitchell has already charmed Penny with a kiss on the back of her hand and is now happily dancing with the other patrons.

Meanwhile Natasha and Javy are supposed to be playing pool, but they can’t help but watch their godson…

Coyote: Can you believe our best friends are responsible for the most adorable and sweetest godson ever? The best parts of Jake with the best Bradshaw attributes. Dude’s a killer.

Phoenix: I’m frankly relieved Mitchell has not inherited our best friends’ dumbassery. After all, minus one dumbass asshole times minus one asshole dumbass equals one positive smart and nice guy. Maths is beautiful that way…

Coyote, snorting and high fiving her: Nice one, Nat. It also means they get their shit together sometimes in the future. I hope it’s soon. ‘Cause I can’t take anymore of their ‘Bradshaw, as I live and breathe’ & ‘Hangman you look *insert suggestive pause* good’ bullshit routine.

Phoenix, groaning:  Right?! I run out of place to mark a cross each time Bradley gives him a once-over and Jake bites his lips with an hungry look. I’m getting so distracted I didn’t see the COMPACFLT entering the class the other day and almost didn’t stand to attention. How embarrassing!

Peacock calls his godparents and asks them to come over and sing the Great Balls of Fire song with him.

Coyote: Think we can interrogate our godson about this 'Finn' guy? Seems to be a recurrent character in his current/future life...

Phoenix: First one to make him spill the beans pays the other's tab?

Coyote: Deal.

*

[Blame the Everybody wants some! movie that I haven’t seen yet, but Mitchell’s Enemy-turned-Crush is based on Tyler Hoechlin’s Glen’s looks – THEIR FREAKING MUSTACHES DRIVE ME CRAZY!]

Here is Finnegan Noah Stilinski-Hale to become a famous baseball player in the future! I still have to think about how they met (or more likely will meet) …

[part 1] - [part 2] - [part 3] - [part 4] - [part 5] - [part 6] - [part 7]

[stylesnews]

The fitting climax of Harry Styles’ album-launch bash on Friday night: the moment Stevie Nicks came out to join him for a surprise duet on “Landslide.” “For me, it wouldn’t be an album release without this young lady,” he told a rapt L.A. Forum crowd who’d already heard him debut the fantastic new Fine Line in its entirety. “I have a feeling you’re going to enjoy this as much as me. Please welcome to the stage, Stevie Nicks.” Never one to make a shy entrance, the Gold Dust Woman sashayed regally to the microphone on bootheels half Harry’s heigh, while he raved, “I know—cool, isn’t it?” Their duet was enough to bring down anybody’s mountains, as they held hands and slow-danced. He gazed deep into her eyes to sing the key line, “Can the child in my heart rise above?” The sold-out arena crowd of 18,000 swooned as these two hit their hair-raising harmonies on the final “snoooooow covered hills.”

Harry and Stevie have a long, touching history as everybody’s favorite rock-star friendship. One of the key moments that anointed him as a solo star after the end of One Direction was his 2017 show at Stevie’s old stomping grounds, L.A.’s famous Troubadour, where she joined him to sing “Landslide,’ “The Chain” and “Leather and Lace.” They did “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” last spring when he inducted her into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, with the iconic image of Harry dropping to his knees onstage to hand her the trophy. She called him her “love child” in Rolling Stone. (Mick Fleetwood was in the house tonight, so it was a family affair.) She dedicated “Landslide” to him at London’s Wembley Stadium with Fleetwood Mac in June, fondly calling him “my little muse.” But this duet felt special, celebrating their mutual admiration as well as his new Fine Line: the queen welcoming this prince into the pantheon.

Harry’s show was a triumph all the way through, as he leveled a rapturously screamadelic crowd in arena-slaying glam-rock monster mode. Honestly, Having Sex wiped the floor with Feeling Sad, and it wasn’t even close. “Fine Line Live: One Night Only” was a stand-alone gig, four months before he begins his 2020 world tour. He made the night more than a showcase for the new songs; he made it a celebration of this communal pop tribe he has somehow gathered over the years, reveling in his role as a madman master of benevolent mischief. He peacocked in his finery from the album cover, in a salmon-pink shirt, a pearl necklace and high-waisted white sailor pants. Fans had been camping out all week in the Forum’s parking lot, and nobody showed up in a mood to get mellow. To the surprise of absolutely not one single person, the entire audience sang virtually every line of songs that none of them had heard 24 hours earlier. “I’m baaaack,” Harry announced. “I have more than ten songs now.”

He kicked off with “Golden,” playing guitar hero over the surging Seventies-style Malibu harmonies. (His entrance theme was a spoken-word soundbite from the writer Charlies Bukowski: “To do a dangerous thing with style is what I call art.”) For the first hour, he did all the new tunes, without a dud in the bunch: “Sunflower, Vol. 6,” which seemed like the closest thing to a weak link, turns out to be a gas live. In typical hyperactive starman mode, he twirled, waved, blew kisses, soared in the impossible vocal acrobatics of “Falling.” He seemed amused to note which moments got the biggest responses, especially after “To Be So Lonely,” with its hook, “I’m just an arrogant son of a bitch who can’t admit when he’s sorry.” “I have one question,” he said. “For what reason when I call myself an ‘arrogant son of a bitch,’ is that when you sing the loudest? Did you just decide to sing that one line with your whole chest?”

A surprise highlight came when he did the theatrical Pippin-smitten “Treat People With Kindness,” bringing out the pop duo Lucius to sing the chorus. The floor became a dance-off—in one corner, dozens of girls put all their bags and backpacks in one giant pile, so nobody had to worry where their stuff was, and then danced around the pile in a circle that was really moving to behold, an example of how a Harry Styles concert creates crucial moments of utopian unity and shared euphoria. At one point, he told the audience, “There’s nothing that makes me more hopeful than standing in front of you. Thank you for that. You absolutely changed my life.”

His ace band brought Fine Line’s wide range of emotions to life. “Canyon Moon” accelerated into a buckskin-fringe hippie hoedown that Crosby, Stills and Nash would have shaved their sideburns for. “Cherry” might be the album’s darkest and rawest moment, with its stark confession of jealousy. (“I confess I can tell that you are at your best / I’m selfish so I’m hating it” is really going all the way down.) But it’s also the prettiest, and tonight “Cherry” became a country-rock ballad with Sarah Jones’ drumrolls and plaintive pedal-steel flourishes from guitar wizard Mitch Rowland, who Harry playfully introduced at rehearsals as “Mr. Mysterious!” “Fine Line” ended on a grand note—the six-minute ballad has the introspective vibe of the final scene of Fleabag, as Phoebe Waller-Bridge takes that long slow lonesome walk home.

The night ended with a five-song victory lap, kicking off with “Sign of the Times,” the glam love-and-death piano ballad that began his solo career with a bang, and ending with the cataclysmic rocker “Kiwi,” which got a metallic new Iron Maiden-style intro. He did his slow dance with Stevie Nicks—finally, the rock & roll queen meets a real king who can handle. He busted out another surprise tribute to one of his classic-rock idols: Sir Paul McCartney. For some reason, “Wonderful Christmastime” sounds positively brilliant as a Harry song; a storm of tinsel confetti snow fell on the audience during what felt like several hundred repetitions of that “siiiim-ply haaaaa-ving” chant.

As he declared at the end, “The album is yours. I am yours. I couldn’t ask for a more incredible group of people to play my music for.” (The exit music: Van Morrison’s “Madame George.”) But there was an extra emotional edge to his version of One Direction’s 2011 debut hit, “What Makes You Beautiful,” revamped into a Stones-style rock groove. Harry’s now got more great songs than he can fit into a solo show. He doesn’t need any padding, any songs he doesn’t passionately want to sing. But it means something to him now to revisit “What Makes You Beautiful,” the hit that started him down the ten-year road to the glories of Fine Line.

As he told me this summer, it’s a toast to the shared history between him and his audience. As he told me this summer, “One of my favorite parts of the show always is playing ‘What Makes You Beautiful.’ Always. It’s not like, ‘I’m not playing *those* songs any more, because this is *me* now.’ I’m saying, ‘No, it’s *all* me.’ If there was any song where I should be saying, ‘I don’t know if I can fucking play that one again,’ that would be the one. So it means so much for me to do it and have us all sing it together. It gets more and more meaningful.” Like the rest of the show, this version of “What Makes You Beautiful” was a celebration of the unique bond between this performer and this audience—and a tribute to how far both have evolved over ten weird years.

[chiseler]

Mitchell Leisen: How’s About It?

Mitchell Leisen was a major American film director. He belongs in the first rank, not the second tier, where he has often been placed by those who value the scripts he was given by Preston Sturges and Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett more than what he actually did with those scripts. Leisen’s name was usually written in sloping cursive in his opening credits, and that set the mood for what he had to offer. His was a gentle style, a deliberately unobtrusive style, smooth and gliding, attentive to nuances, visual and emotional.

Leisen made a point of nearly always moving the camera only when it is following a character who is moving right along with it, and the edits in his movies are as invisible as possible. He made three films that are undisputed classics: Easy Living (1937), written by Sturges, Midnight (1939), written by Wilder and Brackett, and Remember the Night (1939), written by Sturges. All three of these classic Leisen movies are partly about pretending to be something you’re not in order to move up or over into another social atmosphere or class and take on a new identity, and this theme is something that always interested Leisen particularly.

He got his start making costumes and dressing sets for Cecil B. DeMille, and he also made costumes for Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. That training shows through in his later work, that sense of fantasy and beauty for its own sake. Leisen had a fetish for absolute authenticity when he did period pictures, and he took this fetish to nearly Erich Von Stroheim lengths if he had the money to spend. Remember the peacock headdress that he designed for Gloria Swanson in DeMille’s Male and Female (1919), or the sexy harem pants he put on Fairbanks for The Thief of Bagdad (1924), or the barely-there garments he designed for Claudette Colbert in The Sign of the Cross (1932) and you can get a first sense of Leisen’s aesthetic: hopeful, fantastical, erotic. And he was a pretender himself on some of these early movies because he was very skillful at making sets and crowd scenes look more opulent than they actually were given some of the budgets he had to work with.

He took the reins from nominal director Stuart Walker for two films that proved his range: Tonight Is Ours (1933), a high comedy that begins with a sexy masked ball, and The Eagle and the Hawk (1933), as grim and concentrated an anti-war film as you will find from this era. Leisen next graduated to prestige pictures like Cradle Song (1933) and Death Takes a Holiday (1934), with its high-flown Maxwell Anderson script. Leisen was fond of Death Takes a Holiday all his life, and he even wanted to re-make it in the late 1940s, but it has not held up as well as some of his lesser-known pictures from the 1930s.

After Murder at the Vanities (1934), a backstage movie with some odd musical numbers, Leisen took flight with three pictures that demonstrated the full scope of his talent. What makes a really great director, a major director? The ability to take a poor script, like the one Leisen was given for Behold My Wife! (1934), and make it into something that moves like a dream and seems inevitable. While you watch Behold My Wife!, there is a double consciousness of how outlandish and slapdash the plot and dialogue are and how Leisen transcends this through pacing, framing, and staging, so that there is always something to delight the eye. Leisen movies generally have a difficult-to-describe kind of creamy look, as if every person and table and chair were covered in the same sort of protective satin sheen.

He used a similarly fast, super-controlled pace for Four Hours to Kill! (1935), another backstage movie where Leisen himself plays the orchestra leader but you never see the numbers on stage. A kind of musical proto-noir, this movie depends on Richard Barthelmess, who is playing a criminal waiting to be taken to jail, and Leisen is alert to Barthelmess’s needs and sensitive to his big scene, where his character talks about his unhappy past. And then Leisen was given a script (by Norman Krasna) and two stars, Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray, that were particularly congenial to his style, and the result was his first classic, Hands Across the Table (1935), a rather anguished comedy about love and the urge for security. Leisen had mastered form, and now he mastered the content that interested him, good-bad people navigating their own wants and desires and what they will do for them. For Leisen, mixed emotions are really the only emotions possible.

In all of his most characteristic films, Leisen’s characters are at a crisis point and need to decide to take a chance and see what they can get away with to become another version of themselves. There is lots of comedy in a situation like this, of course, but Leisen always hints at the dark underside of pretending. There is an American urge in these pictures that says, “What I say I am is what I am,” and that urge is usually naïve (think of early Joan Crawford heroines). Leisen looks at this urge from a height of sophistication, almost always warmly and tenderly, but sometimes he lets a really grim insight slip through. Think of Carole Lombard’s anti-social asides in Hands Across the Table, or that harrowing scene where Barbara Stanwyck goes home to her grudge-holding and cruelly puritanical mother in Remember the Night and you will feel the hurt that animates Leisen’s search for a created world of his own.

In many ways, the 1930s were Leisen’s best creative period, where he turned out beautifully balanced and finished entertainments like 13 Hours by Air (1936). He was a romantic who had a special way of visually enfolding the lovers in his movies that is almost Frank Borzage-like, and he glorifies very different women in what must be the best close-ups of their careers: look at some of the close-ups of the melancholy Sylvia Sidney in Behold My Wife! and then look at the close-ups of the wised-up Joan Bennett in 13 Hours by Air and see how Leisen gives them the same glamorizing treatment without ever losing what makes them so individual. Even pure assignments like Artists and Models Abroad (1938) glow with a kind of dreamlike assurance, as if to say, “Why shouldn’t a comedy look beautiful?”

And when Leisen had a meatier script, like Swing High, Swing Low (1937), which also starred Lombard and MacMurray, he was capable of virtuoso work that blended comedy and drama so seamlessly that it’s difficult to tell where one leaves off and the other begins. He did some Sturges-like slapstick for Easy Living, including the famous automat scene where the windows fly open and everybody grabs at the food, which was his idea. But for Remember the Night, Leisen pared down the Sturges script, cutting unnecessary scenes and verbose dialogue until he had what he wanted, a portrait of a hard-boiled woman who starts to long for the warmth of a “why not?” idealized mid-West home. Remember the Night is probably Leisen’s finest film, and a peak in his career, a comedy-drama or a dramatic comedy all whipped together until the consistency is exquisite and just right.

After the very sensitive Hold Back the Dawn (1941), a Wilder-Brackett script about a hard-boiled male gigolo (Charles Boyer) pretending to love a sheltered, repressed girl (Olivia de Havilland) until his feelings actually become genuine, Leisen’s career settled in for a few years to minor comedies, as if wartime austerity had affected his budgets, his scripts, and his imagination. In 1944, he did two movies in color, Lady in the Dark and Frenchman’s Creek, one anti-feminist and one feminist, and both rather nightmarishly disconnected and self-indulgent.

Leisen was going through a crisis in his personal life by the mid-1940s, and it showed in his work. He was mainly gay, but he didn’t want to be, and so he had married a fledgling opera singer (“a horror” according to the sharp-tongued Ray Milland) and he was carrying on a tortured affair with costumer Natalie Visart while also pursuing men. Leisen’s loyal secretary Eleanor Broder told David Chierichetti, the author of the definitive Leisen book, Mitchell Leisen: Hollywood Director, that her boss tried taking hormone shots at one point because he thought they might eradicate his homosexuality, but of course that didn’t work. Leisen lived with the pilot Eddie Anderson in the late 1930s, and Anderson left him for Shirley Ross, the actress who talk-sings “Thanks for the Memory” with Bob Hope in The Big Broadcast of 1938, an unusually sentimental scene within his work that Leisen insisted on. When that picture finished, he had a heart attack, and his health was never quite the same afterwards.

In the 1940s, after Visart had gotten pregnant with his child and lost it, Leisen took up with the dancer Billy Daniels, and his unhappiness grew. Daniels dances in what has to be Leisen’s worst feature, Masquerade in Mexico (1945), a semi-remake of Midnight that is so distracted and poorly timed that it would seem to give credence to Billy Wilder’s many complaints about Leisen over the years in interviews; if you were to watch Masquerade in Mexico right after Midnight, it would seem like a mark against Leisen as an artist in his own right rather than a servant of superior scripts where he could get them. Daniels is actually the only thing this movie has going for it: he’s an exciting dancer, and an intriguing screen presence, sexy, petulant, a little dangerous. Many in Leisen’s inner circle disliked Daniels, but maybe Masquerade in Mexico might work if it could just be Daniels dancing as Leisen watches.

The blandness of the décor in something like Suddenly It’s Spring (1947) is a real comedown from his Art Deco 1930s pictures, but Leisen rallied in this period with some of his best and most personal films, starting with Kitty (1945), a sumptuous Gainsborough period piece with all the trimmings and a Pygmalion subject that activates all of Leisen’s interest in pretending and “passing” as something you are not. Best of all from this time is Song of Surrender (1949), an uncommonly severe movie about a New England girl named Abigail (Wanda Hendrix) who finds a way out of her repressive environment by listening to music. What Abigail feels in Song of Surrender is surely what Leisen himself must have often felt as a young man growing up in the mid-West at the turn of the last century, and so this picture, which he said he didn’t much like, is his secret movie, his confession movie. It’s a great film, daringly stark and stripped-down, and it is as unerringly paced and controlled as all of his best 1930s work; there are moments when it feels like a precursor to Jane Campion’s The Piano (1993) in its insistence on the will power needed for a woman to find aesthetic and sexual fulfillment.

Leisen did an intriguing noir with Stanwyck called No Man of Her Own (1950) and an overlooked, charming adaptation of J. M. Barrie called Darling, How Could You! (1951), which is filled with longing for family life that Leisen certainly knows is a fantasy like any of his others. (How poignant it is when Joan Fontaine says in that movie that if her children are going to love her they mustn’t “think me over first.”) He spent twenty years working at Paramount Studios, and he was a creature of the studio system; when the studio system went, so did he, but not before one more diverting small musical, The Girl Most Likely (1958), which was the last feature made at RKO. “When the studio decided we no longer needed a certain department, it was shut down and if we needed something after that, we had to make do ourselves,” Leisen said. “It was really eerie.”

Ill-health and an unwarranted reputation for spending too much money kept Leisen mainly working for TV in his last years, so that he was back to low budgets and bringing in his own furniture to dress his sets. He had been fired from Bedevilled (1955) for hitting on one of the straight actors he was working with (the actor complained to MGM), and this put another shadow over his reputation. He had made Fred MacMurray’s career, but when he tried to get work as a director on MacMurray’s hit TV show My Three Sons, it was no go. “He sent me a telegram asking for the job,” MacMurray said. “He was, well, you know, a homosexual and he had gotten into some trouble on a picture he was making in Europe. With the three young boys we had working on the show, I just didn’t think it was right. So I never answered the telegram.”

It was his women who stayed loyal to Leisen in his final years, both his secretary Broder (who was a lesbian), and his old lover Natalie Visart, who had never really gotten over her love for him and came to stay with him toward the end (Visart’s son Peter was killed in a gay-bashing in the 1970s). Leisen’s responses to David Chierichetti’s questions in their interview book are unfailingly candid, insightful, and juicy, but his standing has never ascended to the level of that of Preston Sturges or Billy Wilder, even though his visual style was far more developed than theirs, and his point of view arguably more sophisticated and certainly more kind-hearted. He was a romantic with an edge of disquiet, and this made for matchlessly rich pictures, pulsing with hope and with pain.

Leisen knew about all aspects of picture making, and he has the requisite number of classics for entrance to the pantheon, plus a whole slew of other pictures of interest. He made Remember the Night and Song of Surrender. He made Midnight and Kitty. And he made Easy Living and Darling, How Could You! Those are all heights, and from different periods, and they prove the consistency of his inventiveness and the distinctiveness of his talent. His creativity came out of personal unhappiness on the one hand and unprecedented creative license and support under the old Hollywood studio system on the other. We will not see that particular combination again.

by Dan Callahan

[monsters-under-the-willowtree]

The Forest Walk: Bonito Part 1

A story about finding maybe a little more than you bargained for while out bird watching in the forest near your home

Male Monster + Ungendered Reader 2000 Words

The metal chain-link gate clinked shut behind you, a cheerful sound that was reminiscent of after school sports and watching your friend’s baseball games. The early summer sun had just peeked over the treetops, bathing the world in yellow and lighting up the tender new growth of the forest in verdant green.

Caticaw National Forest was an enormous stretch of land known to be the ancestral home of many ancient creatures. There had been years of debate over whether or not it would be a National Forest or a Reservation but since this particular stretch was mostly home to solitary creatures or small family groups with no system of government on their own it was finally decided that having Forest Rangers and the National Forest Service helping out was the best solution for everyone. Humans and Paranormal alike. Technically this particular gate led into private land but the owner was the founder of the town and all were welcome to enjoy the natural beauty of the place as it bled into the government land behind it.

This private / public gate that led onto the private / public land was no ordinary gate either. It was absolutely covered in little locks. Much like the River Seine and other places around the world this gate had become a traditional place for lovers and best friends and family to come and place a symbol of their commitment to staying “locked” together. Your mother had placed a lock here with your name and your brother’s name engraved on it in the hopes that maybe a little superstitious luck would help you two stay close even with a seven-year gap between your ages. Who knows if it helped or not, you had a pretty good relationship even if there was a lot you didn’t really see eye to eye on. Even after so many years of it being here you couldn’t help but look for it every time you came to this simple latch gate.

And come here, you did. Rather frequently in fact. There were all kinds of neat plants and animals on the property but with so many of them being terribly skittish you had learned to take along a set of binoculars or else miss out on some pretty spectacular sights. One in particular had caught your eye the previous week. You could have sworn you had seen an albino deer but by the time you had fumbled the binoculars into place the white deer-shaped speck was nowhere to be found. So now you were back and eager to see if maybe the specter had been more than just a trick of the light.

A cool breeze ruffled your jacket but the day was already growing pleasantly warm. Soft dirt tracks lazily trailed their way through a grassy meadow where you accidentally spooked a family of pheasants, across a wooden bridge that carried itself over a mossy lake, and back into the dappled shade of the old forest. The soft crunch of undergrowth under your feet adds to the singing of the songbirds and the rustling green leaves create such a relaxing atmosphere that it’s hard not to stop and sit for a while. But you’re on a mission. And there will be time to stop and smell the wildflowers later.

One hour. Two. Three hours of walking and looking hasn’t been exactly in vain. You’ve seen and heard plenty of birds, played peek-a-boo with a weasel, and followed a little family of bunnies around. You’ve found multiple fantastic walking sticks and traded up several times. Patted a fat bullfrog on his little head. And even pocketed a cool rock. But no deer. Not even the usual kind, much less a white one. You’re about to call it a day when you see something through the trees.

Something B I G.

It’s hard to make out, even with the binoculars, but it’s earthy in color from what you can tell (not bear colored or any of the local big predators colors) so you leave the dirt trail and slink towards it as quietly as possible. The creature is on the move, meaning that it takes some time to catch up with it, but when you do your breath is stolen.

Beautiful green feathers with huge blue eyes cascading down its back into a regal train that just barely brushes the forest floor. Wings that look big and long enough even tucked against its side, to be mistaken for a surfboard. A long graceful neck that leads up to a petit head crowned in trembling little bobbles of feathers that dance with each step the Avian takes. His face is perhaps a little broader than a normal Peacock’s head would be, his jaw a little squarer, but he mostly looks like a very, very, VERY large bird. At least 5 foot 8, which might not sound as massive or intimidating as some other creatures but for a bird with razor sharp talons and a beak to match he was just as intimidating as he was stunningly gorgeous.

He had spotted you before you had spotted him and he eyed you keenly from one of his beady side-placed eyes. His body posture, the way his wings were held just a few inches out to his sides, indicated that he was prepared to fly if you posed any threat to him. Still, from this angle he looks nothing short of a prince. The way he carries himself has the most regal air to it you almost drop to one knee out of respect. And then, realizing that it probably wouldn’t hurt anything, you act on that impulse. Slowly, of course, you don’t want to spook him. Then, when your knee sinks into the undergrowth and he still hasn’t taken off, you find the wherewithal to speak.

“Hi... my gosh you’re so pretty.”

He preens under the compliment, reaching his long neck around to run his beak through a few of his feathers that he has deemed not quite perfectly placed. A quick inspection of the remainder of his feathers completed he resumes his regal airs and holds his beak high.

“Thank you.” His voice is a bit of a shock, you’ve never met an Avian before. Or any sort of talking bird before. It has a vibrating quality to it that reminds you so distinctly of listening to an older radio that you can’t help but glance around and see if maybe there is one nearby. You wouldn’t have expected a voice that reminds you of the TV robot character Bumblebee from someone so lovely and so clearly not robotic. But you clearly saw his beak move and since there doesn’t look (or sound) like there is a radio nearby you must assume that he really did speak to you. And so you tell him your name.

“I am Bonito,” he returns. This makes you grin and your chest hurt a little with the effort of keeping your giggles in. It’s a fitting name, but still a tad unexpected. 

“Bonito means ‘beautiful’ in Spanish. Is your family from Spain or Mexico?”

“My mother was a traveler before she settled down here with my father.” He stalks closer and now that you are close enough to really see him it is obvious that he walks with a terrible limp. You can help but gasp and ask if he’s hurt. The narrowing of his eyes is a bit unexpected but after a moment of looking you over he seems to decide that your question is genuine and he sighs, hobbling over to you so you can see his leg. There on his ankle is a lock just like the ones that are hanging on the gate you pass through to get here. It’s too small and by the way his delicate ankle is swollen around it, the foot beneath discoloring.

“When I was a child I had a friend that lived in the town nearby. We were kids, young and stupid. They told me about the gate and the locks and one day just before their family was moving away they brought one with them for us to lock on the gate together. A token of our friendship and a hope that one day we would see each other again. We joked a little about how small my legs and feet were compared to the chain link fence and just to tease they slipped it around my ankle. I did not realize that there was no key to it and clicked it in place so I could pretend it was a beautiful bracelet. It wasn’t until later that we realized my mistake. They wept bitterly and tried to convince their family to stay one more day so we could get it off. Their parents could not be swayed. And so they were taken away. It has not been a bother to me until recently. I am finally big enough to outgrow the lock and I am afraid that soon I will either lose my foot to my own stupidity or lose my life to something hungry and without my same limp.”

“That’s terrible.” Your heart aches and you reach out to carefully turn their ankle from one side to another so you can get a good look at it. “Why didn’t you come into town and ask someone to help?”

“It isn’t our territory,” he explains, even though that doesn’t make as much sense to you as it does to him. The confusion on your face makes him sigh again, this time with a wince as one of your fingers carefully moves the lock a little. “I am not one of the Fair Folk. But many of the Avian here live together with them. Their traditions have become our traditions. We follow their rules, not necessarily because we have to but because they are good to us and protect us and we’ve been in the same area for so long that it wouldn’t be right to break them. There’s too much iron in the lock for them to help and too many rules about just wandering into a human town to ask for help for me to get help from anyone.”

His voice croaks a little at that last sentence. Even if you don’t quite know how to read his emotions on his strange face it’s clear enough that he’s upset about the hopelessness of his situation for it to tug at your heartstrings.

“Can you fly?”

He shrugs with his wings. “I can but not forever and landing on one foot is a lot harder than you might think. I could break my only good leg if I do it wrong.”

You squint down at the lock and tighten your lips, thinking and determined. “Can you fly closer to the town? I can go get some tools and bring them back here. I suck at lock picking, but I can try it. And if that doesn’t work then I can try cutting through it... actually it would probably be faster to just go straight for cutting through it. I really don’t think I could pick it.”

For the first time Bonito looks at you dead on and you can’t help but laugh at how different his face looks. No longer regal or majestic, he looks more like the most confused, baffled, wide-eyed, ruffled bird you have ever seen. You of course apologize profusely for laughing. And even if it maybe doesn’t sound as genuine as you would have liked over the fact that you can’t stop giggling while giving the apology, he does accept it. He agrees to fly himself closer to the town nearby the fence and wait for you there. And you simply cannot get home fast enough, hands practically shaking while you and your father gather tools from your home and then drive to your grandfather’s home to borrow a few more so that you have the best chance possible of saving Bonito.

[plungermusic]

“Kinda bent, but we ain’t breakin’… in the long run”

Maverick Saturday stretched out before us like a challenge - thirteen hours is a long time on your feet for a couple of oldsters, but we’d give it our best shot…

We didn’t catch all of Dan Walsh’s opening Barn set, but his closing number, a lyrical, backwoods folk-flavoured instrumental that peaked in an increasingly frenetic celtic reel to the whoops and stomps of the crowd, was enough to impress us with its fleet-fingered dexterity.

Kelly Bayfield made her second barn appearance with another stylish set drawn from the new album: Kelly taking to the piano to give us a new short number Sing which was twinned (“well, they’re a similar flavour, and in the same key!”) with her last single Hitchhiker, both oozing classy 70s chanteuse vibes and the latter closing in some great Telecaster work from Andy Trill in a majestic closing solo.

There’s not much that’d drag us away from a Kelly performance early, but having spotted his programme picture (“Long hair, Les Paul? That’ll do!”) we pottered down to the open air Green Stage for David Banks and his band. He did exactly what we thought it said on the tin: lots of Springsteen/Petty influenced muscular Americana with a dash of Molly Hatchett topped with excellent southern-fried guitar and classic ‘big endings’… marvellous.

He was followed by Simon Stanley Ward (another ‘old fave’) who brought his Jonathan Richmanish irreverence and wit to Old Time Country in Excuse Me While I Feel Sorry For Myself; the Graceland-African-style I’m A Worrier (”…that’s worrier, not warrior”) a swinging rock’n’roller Bigfoot, Baby (Eddie Cochran meets cryptobiology) and Rocket In The Desert (the salad leaf not the projectile) with its Lawrence Of Arabia theme tease. While lampooning his own assumed-Nashville twang in American Voice the accompaniment was as echt as you could want, and the deadpan humour of Beluga Whale was sung to a properly stirring Journeyesque anthem.

As it wasn’t raining The Green seemed the place to stay, where Forty Elephant Gang came next. Reviewing their album we were a little sniffy about their ‘crowd-pleasing festival songs’ but aside from the field holler-meets-O Brother Where Art Thou-style Songs Of Praise, this set was mostly the ones we’d liked: the relaxed Tex-Mex of Strange Things Happening with three-part harmonies and intertwining mando’n’guitar lines; the melancholic waltz of Young Man’s Game and the Squeeze-y domestic wit of Drunken Promise Song. A final ‘crowd-pleaser’ came in the chugging bluesy Hands Out Your Pockets, an instruction the assembled masses eagerly followed to add the required clap-along.

Sam Chase Trio made another appearance at The Green, wooing the larger crowd with both edgy humour (including praising UK portaloos in comparison to US versions, and introducing Everyone Is Crazy But Me as “a children’s song... now, what they mean is that it’s simple, since kids are generally at the dumber end of the spectrum”), and songs as varied as the fiery protest of What Is All The Rage and the haunting, wistful Lost Girl, (from the “Faustian Spaghetti Western Of Epic Proportions Known As The Last Rites Of Dallas Pistol”) sung by cellist Devon.

Now Plunger do like a bit of bluegrass, whether it’s grainy b/w Flatt & Scruggs clips from the 50s, through Sam Bush and New Grass to Béla Fleck and Greensky Bluegrass so The Folly Brothers should have been our kind of thing… however what we heard of them was more My Old Man’s A Dustman than anything Appalachian so we wandered off…

Back at The Barn Dean Owens and the Southerners drew a large and attentive crowd, but the popular Scot also left us a bit underwhelmed. Mellow, melodious troubadoury country that wouldn’t have been out of place on a mid-afternoon 70s Radio 2 show, the kind of thing that takes a deep listen in your bedroom to appreciate the stories told: very easy on the ear for sure but without any particular thing to grab us at a festival.

After an abortive attempt to catch Ella Spencer and her accompanist at The Moonshine (an extremely long soundcheck with problems with feedback from pretty much everything they touched meant we gave up) we caught a snatch of Los Pistoleros as we rounded The Green: probably the most C.O.U.N.T.R.Y. thing of the weekend, complete with draggy fiddle, pedal steel and old time vocal harmonies… if I’d not left my cowboy boots at home I’d have been out line-dancing with the best of them.

Plunger had only just seen Alyssa Bonagura (with Tim De Graaw’s band) less than a week since. Here at The Barn she was nominally solo but Tim joined her to add sweet harmonies and mellow guitar to Alyssa’s polished Cali-country: her strong yet ethereal vocal equally at home in slow emotional confessionals or giggly upbeat Big Yellow Taxi-style big strummers.

Listed only as ‘Dogs Play Dead’ it was only a lucky guess that took us down to The Green for what turned out to be Friday’s headliners Black Eyed Dogs playing a set of Grateful Dead classics. Mainly those with a countryish twist to them already, like Casey Jones, I Know You Rider and Friend Of The Devil; and bringing that flavour with fiddle and pedal steel to others like Truckin’, China Cat Sunflower, Playing In The Band and the epic closing Franklin’s Tower. All done with the right degree of loose, shambling rhythms and discursive noodling on guitar (and fiddle!) Fabulous stuff for grooving on the grass under what by now were glorious sunshine-filled blue skies.

Brooks Williams’ jangly sonorous acoustic and warm, smooth higher register vox was ideal early evening fare at the barn, in covers like Dave Alvin’s King Of California, traditional numbers like Deep River Blues and originals like the Gordon Lightfootish melancholy of Frank Delandry, and the damp-eyed nostalgia of Palomino Gold, aided toward the end of his set by some more excellent banjo from Dan Walsh.

The USP of Eddy Smith & the 507 is Eddy’s gravelly soulful voice, ideal for their bluesy-edged material, like the harp-led strut of It Don’t Feel Much Like Living and the new single Ticket Out Of Here, a bustling two-step with impressive three-part harmony vocals. They definitely have moved up a level since we last saw them a couple of years back.

Somehow we managed to miss Sarah Petite with her band completely on Friday, and almost all of her stripped-back Moonshine set on Saturday. Which was definitely our loss gauging by the brief snatch of crackling husky vocal over restrained bass and reverb laden guitar that we heard while hunting for a still-open toilet (a water supply problem having rendered all loos unusable for a considerable portion of the late evening... pretty much the only fly in the ointment all weekend!)

As the sun set the two-month date differential was beginning to tell: clear night skies in September aren’t quite the same as July and the growing chill was testing our stamina a bit. We headed for The Peacock and the tribute show to John Prine, hosted by Rich Hall. Pretty much every act who was on site came to do a turn in honour of the recently-deceased songwriting legend, with their own favourite from his oeuvre. Kelly Bayfield band gave us Hello In There, Tim De Graaw with Alyssa did That’s The Way The World Goes Round, Alyssa gave us the obligatory Angel From Montgomery, and Simon Stanley Ward (plus Kelly) gave a fantastic rollicking Lake Marie. Entirely in character, Sam Chase Trio broke the mould and gave us their own tribute song John Prine.

Rich Hall had to skip out on MC duties to attend his own set at The Barn: sacrilege to say, but the appeal of stand up (even to music, even from such a big name) palled a little. It was getting bitterly cold (you could see your breath hanging in the air) and given that what we could hear of his set was the same as we’d heard last time he was here we spent much the time attempting to warm up with piping hot beverages. However it was by far the rammedest set of the weekend, with the tightly-packed crowd spilling out of The Barn for some distance.

Jon Langford was unsurprisingly somewhat hindered by the draw of Rich Hall (which left The Peacock a bit underpopulated!) His spiky, punky approach wasn’t entirely our bowl of chilli, although the rendition of Eddie Waring (originally by Help Yourself with Deke Leonard and BJ Cole, who was sitting in with Jon tonight) was very good.

The programme description of headliner Jerry Joseph did its best to weaken our staying power too: with our deep suspicion of any write-ups that include the ‘p-word’, and somewhat incredulous of the mention of ‘jam bands’, Jerry looked like he wouldn’t be our kind of thing at all. However he didn’t live down to expectations (wholly). A very animated stage-prowling audience-provoking figure in shorts and no shoes, there was no shortage of energy even if it was largely unchannelled and could get a little wearing… (maybe it was that, maybe it was the chill, but The Barn steadily thinned out during his set, ending less than half full). War At The End Of The World was the pick of the bunch, although like most of his material it would probably have sounded better with a band (like, erm, Stockholm Syndrome, which he co-founded; or, erm, Widespread Panic who he has written for… so much for our ‘jamband incredulity’!)

While it might have ended as a bit of a test of endurance, there were more than enough high points to make Saturday another enjoyable Maverick experience.

“Did we do it for love? Did we do it for money? More like stubborn dumb persistence and hot chocolate, honey…”

[wazafam]

The Masked Singer has proven to be a popular series, bringing celebrities from all walks of life into the singing world, allowing them to showcase a new side of themselves. Whether it's actors, athletes, or singers themselves, putting them behind a mask and an elaborate costume has given them the freedom to be as over the top as they like.

RELATED: The Most Shocking Celeb Reveals In The Masked Singer Franchise History

While the fun for the audience is in guessing the clues and working out all the small details of each character, the costumes themselves are a big part of the show. Whether they give a clue themselves or if they simply look extravagant, the show has brought some stunning costumes for people to enjoy.

10 Black Widow (The Masked Singer - Season 2)

Raven-Symoné was the celebrity behind this costume, which is one of the most memorable in the history of the show. This was quite an eerie costume due to the nature of the insect that was chosen as the inspiration, and the detail in it was superb.

All of the legs attached to the costume are what really made this one great to look at. While it wasn't over the top with color like some, the fact that it was all black actually made this one quite unique.

9 Broccoli (The Masked Singer - Season 4)

The Masked Singer always provides amazing costumes, and comedy is often part of that, which was the case with the Broccoli costume. Mixing the letterman jacket with the vegetable was a funny twist, with the popular singer Paul Anka being the person behind the costume.

Using the broccoli florets as hair was a fun touch, and the mixture of normal clothing and the vegetable on top ensured that it wasn't too over the top, while also being a lot of fun to look at.

8 Elephant (The Masked Singer - Season 3)

Legendary skater Tony Hawk was part of the show in the third season, and he did so in the Elephant costume. This one wasn't the most elaborate of costumes in comparison to some others, but the reason it was so great is the modern twist that was placed onto it.

RELATED: Every Celeb Unmasked In Masked Dancer Season 1

The fact that everything connected and matched nicely gave a great theme to the costume, with the orange lining standing out and looking fresh. The head was easily the best part about it, with the futuristic design being a lot of fun.

7 Frog (The Masked Singer - Season 3)

This costume was an amazing one, simply because all of the attention given to the mask itself. Seeing the frog head alongside the old-school suit with the hat just worked out brilliantly, with the character oozing a certain level of cool before the singing even began.

The head and the hands were where the detail was thrown in, but the fact that it almost felt normal is actually what made this one so great. It was one of the most suave-looking costumes that the show has put together.

6 T-Rex (The Masked Singer - Season 3)

The T-Rex costume from the third season of the show was one of the greatest that the show has ever seen. The detail in every part of it was incredible, and the overall look was superb, bringing a period look to the dinosaur.

RELATED: 10 Celebrities You Totally Forgot Had Reality TV Shows

However, while the historical style of the outfit was a lot of fun, it was the actual mask that made this one so great. The T-Rex head with the hat on top was tons of fun to watch, and while the dinosaur is typically scary, the show used it in a fun way.

5 Snail (The Masked Singer - Season 5)

The costume that Snail had was a unique one, which was made even more memorable by the fact that Kermit The Frog was inside of it. Unlike other costumes which had people in them walking about with legs, this one spun around on wheels.

It took the costume design to a totally different level with this one being innovative and memorable. The actual costume was just a giant snail, with the top hat covering up the identity, but it was the design elements that made this one so great.

4 Peacock (The Masked Singer - Season 1)

One of the greatest costumes from the original season of the show came from the character of Peacock. Donny Osmond was amazing in this costume, bringing tons of show business elements to the stage which helped to make him one of the greatest characters to watch.

The costume was one that shone brightly, with everything needed to look great. There was bright color, sequins, feathers, and a brilliant mask as well which all came together to make an amazing costume that really set the tone for the show.

3 Deer (The Masked Singer - Season 1)

From the original season, the character of Deer brought a different feeling to the show with a much more ominous costume. The combination of the gas mask and the antlers created a unique appearance, and it was far less cartoonish than many of the costumes that the show has created over the years.

RELATED: Total Bellas - 10 Other WWE Superstars Who Deserve Their Own Reality Show

The large jacket combined with the chains was an interesting decision as well, bringing elements of real-life clothing together with over-the-top show elements. It created an amazing, eerie costume that had a different vibe to the rest, in a good way.

2 White Tiger (The Masked Singer - Season 2)

White Tiger was one of the most heavily detailed costumes that have happened in the history of the show. With the amazing fur and the fantastic mask being mixed in with the Egyptian clothing, this one caught the eye every time it hit the stage.

Rob Gronkowski was the celebrity inside this, and he made the most of the opportunity, dancing around and making the character as charismatic as possible. But even without his personality, this was one of the most jaw-dropping costumes the show has come up with.

1 Fox (The Masked Singer - Season 2)

The character of Fox on the second season of the show was an amazing one that had a fantastic costume. Blending steampunk elements with the animal was one that really worked well, making this costume look superb.

The steampunk aspects of the costume were fantastic, with lots of detail being placed into every element. There was something to look at with every part of the costume, which is crucial to a great one, while it allowed Wayne Brady to move around as he wanted to put on a show each time.

NEXT: 10 Reality Shows That Didn't Make It Through A Single Season

The Masked Singer: 10 Best Costumes, Ranked | ScreenRant from https://ift.tt/3dOEXMW

[alia15]

THE day. Part 2.

Peacocks.

My wedding venue is swarming with them. 

Well, those, and chickens and turkeys. And roosters.

The Milleridge Cottage is on a larger property on Long Island that’s been around for many, MANY years and also has a restaurant, an adorable little village (shops, a bakery, a florist) and yes: a farm. 

When our limo bus pulled up to the cottage on Friday, November 15, my bridal party was greeted by all the wildlife which I’ll admit is an interesting and hilarious scene on your wedding day. Also, not mentioned in Part 1? The weather. Bright, sunny, and warm for mid-November. I refused to check the weather the entire week of the wedding (you can’t control it so why bother looking?) and it ended up being an absolutely perfect fall day. I greeted the turkeys, walked into the venue and the scene immediately took my breath away: I loved The Milleridge the second we stepped foot inside to look at it as a potential option for our big day, and loved it even more each time I visited after that. Now? Seeing it all set up for my wedding day? It was everything I envisioned and more. I made my way up the beautiful staircase and waited in the bridal suite for my groom and his groomsmen to arrive. 

There were those butterflies again.

There was so much commotion downstairs that I wasn’t able to be a part of as I was in hiding (#FOMO), but the time finally came for me to head down those stairs and meet my soon-to-be-husband at the bottom. Remember the crazy thoughts in my head from Part 1 of this post? They came back as I imagined myself tumbling down those stairs after tripping over my very long, large dress. 

I walked REALLY carefully. And slowly.

Leo was at the bottom of the staircase and in front of him stood a crowd of our family and best friends; standing there like paparazzi with their iPhones up and the biggest smiles plastered on their faces. Our photographers and videographer captured my every move. What a scene. I eventually made my way down (without falling! win!) and tapped Leo on the shoulder to, ya know, say what’s up before the biggest moment of our lives. 

We both joked that while we loved this moment, it certainly wasn’t a private one. This was some of our audience (plus about 30 more people, lol):

The next few hours (yes, plural) were spent taking all our photos and thankfully, we were able to do so outside. If you know me or follow me on social media, you know how much I love a good sunset, and the universe did me a solid and gave us an amazing one that night. 

It was crazy to think at this point -- after SEVERAL hours -- that the main event hadn’t even started yet. After wrapping up pictures with everyone, we headed inside. 

I went back up to the bridal suite to hide for the second time that day. 

The venue got louder and louder as it filled up with guests, and all I heard were the sounds of a large CROWD. My heart raced. I fixed my hair and re-applied my lip gloss 37 times. I stood up. I paced. I sat back down. I didn’t want to look at my phone because I knew it would overwhelm me, so it was just me up there with my restless thoughts. The day had been so perfect already; I just wanted it to continue. A few things swirling in my mind:

Would the reverend show up? (He did)

The venue was confusing to find; were people going to know to go to the cottage and not the restaurant? (They did) (And whoever didn’t, eventually figured it out)

Did anyone in my life get incredibly sick that day and have to miss the wedding? (No)

Were our young nieces and nephews going to have meltdowns and not walk down the aisle? (quite the opposite; they were amazing)

Was there any drama? ANYONE WHO CRASHED OUR WEDDING? Is everything OK down there? WHAT’S HAPPENING??! (shut up, crazy)

Eventually, it was time. All of our guests were situated for the ceremony and our bridal party was lined up downstairs. And things could not have gone smoother: no one tripped, no one objected to our nuptials (lol), the kiddos were perfectly behaved and cooperative, and our reverend was a HUGE hit (shout out to the hilarious and charismatic Rev. Sica!). It was a beautiful ceremony complete with an amazing string quartet, and I swore I felt the love in the room before I even entered it.

We were officially husband and wife. And it felt fantastic.

After our relatively brief ceremony, I felt like I was floating on a cloud. We headed back up to the bridal suite to get a quick breather before cocktail hour began; something my bridal attendant had recommended we do and I am SO glad we listened. Normally if I’m anxious I lose my appetite, but Leo and I enjoyed our own private cocktail hour and ate the INCREDIBLE spread they provided for us. Every few seconds it would hit us.

Holy crap, we’re married! 

My bridal attendant bustled my dress, and it was time to join the party. I could NOT wait to see everyone.

The magic continued as we greeted everyone at our cocktail hour and took in the whole scene. It was surreal and a total out-of-body experience. You spend SO much time and energy planning a wedding and you focus on all the details -- large and small -- and then you’re there just seeing it all come together and come to life. I can honestly say without a shadow of a doubt that EVERYTHING looked and felt the way I wanted it to that day. I was overjoyed and overwhelmed, in a good way. So many people had given me the advice to “take it all in” and “enjoy every moment” and I’m really happy to say I did exactly that.

The good times intensified as we did our official entrance to our reception (”Let’s Dance” by David Bowie....come onnnnn now!) followed by *THE* most epic dance party of all time. One of my best friends, Carl, was our MC and he and our DJ, Eddie, brought the house down the entire night with an amazing mix of songs old and new. I did not leave that dance floor except the one time I changed dresses -- you know I had to do a costume change on ‘em! 

I could go on and on with the details but instead I’ll just share some incredible highlights from our reception:

Our first dance: Leo was nervous about it (it’s nerve-racking to have all eyes on you and he doesn’t exactly love to dance) but in the moment, nothing else mattered and no one else was even in the room. (Song: Precious Love by James Morrison) 

After that, I danced with my Grandmother; a really special moment that I will cherish forever. It was really emotional and beautiful; especially as the whole family (and Leo!) joined us at the end. 

The speeches! My brother Mike was my “man of honor” and Leo’s sister Rina was our “best woman” and both of them gave GREAT and hilarious toasts (with cameos from all my brother-in-laws). My dad gave an amazing one, too: let’s just say he made a joke about getting to second base that got a huge laugh (Leo’s a baseball coach. lol). 

Birthday celebrations! It was my brother’s 40th birthday that day and my mother-in-law’s was the following day, so we were able to sing to them and give them their own special cupcakes and candles to blow out. 

The father/daughter & mother/son dances.

Our live painter! He set up shop in the corner of the room and painted our first dance and added our families to the portrait (I’ll include the photo at the bottom of the post!). I waited until the end of the night to go look at it and was genuinely stunned.

Ending the night with two perfect songs: (I’ve Had) the Time of My Life -- from one of my favorite movies of all time, obvi -- and then my friend Pat requested the grand finale/encore: “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” by ‘NSYNC. (This is his trademark and is known to play this song when we’re out even in the summer)

Speaking of the end of the night, we had a McDonald’s cart rolled in around 11:15 and the guests went crazy for it. Nothing like stuffing your face at a wedding and then ending the night with a greasy cheeseburger and fries. Leo had it for breakfast the next morning.

Aside from the hotel’s fire alarm going off around 4am (yes, really) it was a perfect day from start to finish. Now, almost six months later, I find my mind wandering to the memories of November 15 when I’m feeling especially low or down in the dumps. I look at the pictures often and the various videos make me instantly happy. People told me during/after the wedding how insanely happy I looked, and it was genuine. I was. I am.

It’s not hyperbole: my wedding day was the best day of my life. I got to marry my perfect match while surrounded by every single human in my life that I love endlessly. I got to have a great dance party, eat incredible food, all while surrounded by a beautiful venue with all the personal touches we had worked on for the nine months prior. 

The pandemic might have prevented us from going on our Italian honeymoon, but that’s okay. We’ll get there someday. I’m just eternally grateful and relieved that we were able to have all our other big wedding moments (engagement, shower, bachelor/ette parties, rehearsal dinner, wedding!) all in the same year -- making 2019 really hard to top. 

Thanks for letting me share the story of our big day with you all! 

[adventuresoffangirls]

Luke Wade & Matt McAndrew at the House of Blues in Houston, TX

February is the month of Caitlin’s birthday, so it’s also a month of concerts for us! We went to the Luke Wade & Matt McAndrew show last Friday.

We wanted to get to the show early because it was in the Bronze Peacock room at the Houston House of Blues and it’s standing room only. We love standing room only venues because WE LOVE DANCING! We basically never stop moving when we are at a show. And we love to be front and center! 

We decided to just use valet to park the car because it was only $15, which is only a little bit more than the lots around the venue, and we were in a hurry and didn’t want to waste time walking. Plus it’s usually just the two of us when we go to shows, and sometimes it’s pretty late when we leave. This is a much safer option than parking garages. If you are going to a show at HOB, we highly recommend it.

We arrived about ten minutes before doors and there were about 15 people in line before us. Thank goodness there’s a public restroom available behind Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar. And it’s usually pretty clean so keep that in mind if you’re ever in the area and need to go. Also, it’s well lit and feels safe.

A guy that works for the venue came out and checked everyone’s IDs and invited everyone that was 21+ into the venue early to check out the Foundation Room, which is connected to the Bronze Peacock room. It smells very strongly of incense and we weren’t really feeling it. Plus they told us that they would come get us before the show started and we wanted to just go reserve our spots. But it was worth going in because we got to go in before doors. There were already a few people in the room because Matt McAndrew did a VIP meet and greet. Apparently he does this at most shows if you’re interested. We quickly made friends with them. They were adorable and clearly fangirls. They even had signs they made for the show. So cute! 

Matt McAndrew was just as AMAZING as the previous time that we had seen him. He played a lot of covers plus some of his originals that we love. One of the things we love about Matt is that when he is onstage, it’s like you’re hanging out with your friend and his guitar. He chats with the crowd and takes requests. Plus he’s pretty funny. Also, our best friend who is a Harry Potter fanatic told us that he looks just like James Potter.

Where Matt’s set made us feel like we were just chillin’ in the living room, Luke Wade’s set had opposite effect. He had his full band and it was loud and exciting. We danced and sang along to every song. This was their last show together on this tour, so Matt jumped up on stage and started dancing next to Luke. This was extra funny because Luke is blind in his right eye, so he didn’t even notice him there for a little while.

We were excited and nervous because we have been teaching ourselves how to sign one of Luke’s songs that he sings at every show, Til the Fighting is Through. And we were close enough to see the set list and it was on it. The closer we got to that song, the more nervous we became. To calm our nerves, we were signing random words to the songs. Apparently the drummer, Logan Bowers, got a kick out of this because I caught him laughing at us during a silly signing moment. So the moment arrived and the song was next, and suddenly someone yells out “As Quiet as You Can!”  So he started playing that song instead. It felt like our lives were over. We were so disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, we love that song. But we had practiced for hours and it was going to be beautiful. This led me (Krissy) almost into a complete meltdown which included me signing the only cuss word I know (which is fuck) several times. 

We decided to just move on and enjoy the rest of the show, which was fantastic. Matt came on stage and sang Ain’t No Mountain High and Stand By Me with Luke and the band. They danced and serenaded each other.  They made jokes about how Luke has a long torso so he can’t raise his arms without untucking his shirt and Matt’s abnormally high belly button (that he proceeded to show everyone). By the time the last song was finished, we were no longer super depressed, just kinda sad.

Both guys set up shop at their merch tables after they got off stage. We, of course, had to go tell Luke about how disappointed we were because we didn’t get to sign the song. He was very apologetic and promised to sing it at the next show. We took a selfie with him and then went to buy some Matt McAndrew merch because he actually had some at this show.

While waiting in line to see Matt, we took pics with the other members of Luke’s band because they are awesome too. 

We also decided that we would just have someone record us signing the song, so we could just post it here and tag him. When we were next in line to talk to Matt, Luke was packing up his stuff and we told him that about our plan to record it. He looked up at us and around the room and said “You know what? Let me finish packing this stuff up and I’ll get my guitar and play it for you.” WE DIED! Of course, we told him he didn’t have to do that, but he insisted and we were freaking out. There was no way we could do this!

So we finished up with Matt and found someone to record us when Luke got his guitar. He insisted that we stand next to him. NEXT TO HIM! WE BASICALLY PERFORMED WITH LUKE WADE! We didn’t do our best job because we were so nervous, but it was still one of the best fangirl moments we have ever had. The video we got is really dark, but we don’t care because we lived it. Here is the video.

In closing, we just want to say that we are no longer sad about missing The Rock Boat because we fucking performed with Luke Wade! We will be uploading some videos we took during the show as well.

Dream Big Always,

Krissy & Caitlin

[hildacallaghan3-blog]

Why Gentlemen Resort to Prostitutes.

The screen read that English extra pound was down four deals with, and also was actually trading at 1.22 vs. the Buck. These dolls are animated girl characters in Senior high school, and also although they have possessed quick lived development in item purchases, I will not agree to run the risk of cash that they continuously enhance purchases quantity, given that they are essentially the same as Barbie yet along with various shades. Below you may find several of the greatest princess and queen outfits in wonderful pink and also red colours. The lively Peacock Grownup Large size outfit consists of a short shiny peacock printing lasso wear greenish and blue with fringe trim and also grouped dress, a dark-green collar neckpiece, as well as a hat headband along with peacock plume particular. Besides, there are tons of evil clever people who devote their lives to finding out means to persuade every teen as well as adolescent girl in the nation that she merely can certainly not live without a lengthy checklist from products. The Cherry Blossom Seldom Smiles by Ioana Lee This ebook is a real account concerning a Romanian female that weds an Eastern aristocrat. I discovered the authentic terminology of my request drew out a lot of commenters which were actually very critical from the girl in the image, which was actually not my intent. I really feel Troskaotwarz-Blog.Info anxiety starting given that I can not seem to recognize exactly what's therefore incorrect along with me. I've tried whatever making him pleased yet he doesn't seem to be to love my joy and also that harms. Listed here's how you can disperse your focus over one of her pals to earn her (the gal you prefer) experience as if her self-pride has been challenged as well as therefore create her feel a split second as well as irrefutable wish to obtain your focus and also succeed" you back.

Various other styles for sleeves can be lovely, but long sleeves might not fit for a young girl (and look dated too.) Fabrics must be stunning however certainly not fragile for a young women, which could come to become picky or even uneasy, and also could spoil too-fragile cloths. I likewise affiliate this story to the individual Ursula/Ugly Woman, since Ugly Woman resembles Ursula by reason she is the same individual as Ursula. A gal should contend least 5 pairs from stunning footwears that can compliment every celebration. While emotion blue is actually unique for English foreign language, this colour is actually associated with unhappiness in numerous portion of the globe. Hard-wearing, in season and also soft, your little bit of lady will look ultra-cute in these outfits. When you move toward a gal, this would be fantastic if you prepare in advance from what you prefer to do. I simply found the transformation of a fairly, modest, gal in to a crackin' baby via music, dance, singing and friends. And also she believed merely from all of them as the clergyman put his palm upon her head, as well as talkinged about the holy baptism, from the agreement with God, and also how she needs to be actually currently a developed Religious; as well as the body organ pealed so solemnly; the delightful children's vocals performed, and the aged music-directors sang, yet Karen simply considered her red shoes.

[redfurrycat]

Mitchell & Finnegan on a [future] road-trip...

The Peacock & The Wolf's Adventures Far Away from Their Four Overprotective Dads.

🦚🐺🦚🐺🦚🐺🦚��🦚🐺🦚🐺🦚🐺

MNSB & FNSH

🦚🐺🦚🐺🦚🐺🦚🐺🦚🐺🦚🐺🦚🐺

[part 1] - [part 2] - [part 3] - [part 4] - [part 5] - [part 6] - [part 7] - [part 8]



Top Gun: Peacock 🤠+🐓= 🦚 [Part 4]

Due to an inexplicable malfunction of the new F-302 fighter-interceptor, Mitchell Nicholas Seresin-Bradshaw, callsign Peacock, travels back to a time when the suicide mission has already occurred, but his parents aren’t together yet.

[There’s some heavy mutual pining going on though.]

🕰️⬅️⬅️🚀⬅️⬅️🦚

Most Daggers –including Rooster and Hangman– are away on a joint exercise with the US Air Force, except for Phoenix and Coyote who remain on base to teach new recruits. That’s why they’re the first ones to be called by the COMPACFLT himself.

He informs them that earlier this day an unknown aircraft has crash-landed on the aircraft carrier under Admiral Rick Hollywood Neven’s command.

The extraordinary likeness to Lt. Jake Hangman Seresin and the fact that the plane is engraved under the name of Lt. Mitchell Seresin-Bradshaw “Peacock” are enough for Admiral Neven to make a direct call to The Iceman and let him deal with that bullshit. [With the promise to tell him everything afterwards, ‘cause they’re all a bunch of gossipers.]

Mitchell then greets the younger version of his g.o.b.s.m.a.c.k.e.d godparents with an enthusiastic ‘Howdy Auntie Nat! Howdy Uncle Jav!’ and proceeds to kiss his auntie’s cheek and to do the very choreographically-complex handshake with his uncle – who does it automatically as it’s the same he does with Jake every day.

 *

[A few days later. Phoenix, Coyote, and Peacock are at the Hard Deck.]

Mitchell has already charmed Penny with a kiss on the back of her hand and is now happily dancing with the other patrons.

Meanwhile Natasha and Javy are supposed to be playing pool, but they can’t help but watch their godson…

Coyote: Can you believe our best friends are responsible for the most adorable and sweetest godson ever? The best parts of Jake with the best Bradshaw attributes. Dude’s a killer.

Phoenix: I’m frankly relieved Mitchell has not inherited our best friends’ dumbassery. After all, minus one dumbass asshole times minus one asshole dumbass equals one positive smart and nice guy. Maths is beautiful that way…

Coyote, snorting and high fiving her: Nice one, Nat. It also means they get their shit together sometimes in the future. I hope it’s soon. ‘Cause I can’t take anymore of their ‘Bradshaw, as I live and breathe’ & ‘Hangman you look *insert suggestive pause* good’ bullshit routine.

Phoenix, groaning:  Right?! I run out of place to mark a cross each time Bradley gives him a once-over and Jake bites his lips with an hungry look. I’m getting so distracted I didn’t see the COMPACFLT entering the class the other day and almost didn’t stand to attention. How embarrassing!

Peacock calls his godparents and asks them to come over and sing the Great Balls of Fire song with him.

Coyote: Think we can interrogate our godson about this 'Finn' guy? Seems to be a recurrent character in his current/future life...

Phoenix: First one to make him spill the beans pays the other's tab?

Coyote: Deal.

*

[Blame the Everybody wants some! movie that I haven’t seen yet, but Mitchell’s Enemy-turned-Crush is based on Tyler Hoechlin’s Glen’s looks – THEIR FREAKING MUSTACHES DRIVE ME CRAZY!]

Here is Finnegan Noah Stilinski-Hale to become a famous baseball player in the future! I still have to think about how they met (or more likely will meet) …

[part 1] - [part 2] - [part 3] - [part 4]