#anyway every time i see christophe in that jersey i do a little dance he looks so gooood

[etapereine]

[onlydylanobrien]

Dylan O'Brien - NME Magazine Interview

Dylan O’Brien: “I was in this transitional phase – close to a quarter-life crisis”

From YA heartthrob to legitimate leading man – how the 'Maze Runner' star hit his stride after a whirlwind decade

Definitely!” hoots Dylan O’Brien when NME asks if he still has to audition. “I’m not Tom fucking Hanks, bro.” He’s clearly amused by our question, but forgive us for thinking the 29-year-old actor gets cast on reputation alone. A decade into his career, and he’s making an impressive transition from teen TV star and YA franchise hero to charismatic leading man.

New York-born O’Brien cut his teeth on MTV’s hit Teen Wolf series, before landing the lead in the Maze Runner film trilogy based on James Dashner’s hugely popular novels. Leading a band of bright young things that included ex-Skins tearaway Kaya Scodelario, Game Of Thrones’ Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Will Poulter, he honed his craft while racking up nearly a billion dollars at the box office. “My career is a constant acting class,” says O’Brien. “To be able to do the Maze Runner movies simultaneously with Teen Wolf was amazing in terms of getting in reps and working my [acting] muscle.”

Now for the sometimes tricky bit. Many actors struggle with the post-breakout period, but O’Brien is making it look easy so far. This year’s Netflix hit Love and Monsters proved he can carry an old-school family adventure, and new film Flashback (out next week) reveals an appetite for weirder, more cerebral work. He stars as Fred Fitzell, a young man reluctant to buckle down to life as a nine-to-fiver with a boring corporate job and a long-term girlfriend (Mindhunter‘s Hannah Gross). When he runs into a freaky-looking acquaintance from his teenage years, Fred becomes obsessed with finding an old high-school friend he used to drop a mind-bending experimental drug called Mercury with. It’s difficult to say any more without entering spoiler territory, but Flashback is a wild ride underpinned by the idea that we can exist in several realities at once. Even if you follow every plot twist, you might not fully understand the end. “Oh, it’s definitely a headfuck,” O’Brien agrees. “There’s not totally an answer to figure out. There’s a lot of different things that people can take from it.”

Speaking over Zoom from his LA home, O’Brien is bright, thoughtful and really good fun to talk to, especially when he relaxes into the interview, but he clearly knows where his line between public and private lies. When he first read the Flashback script, written by the film’s director Christopher MacBride, his “mind was blown” by just how much he related to Fred. “I felt like I was in this transitional phase of my life that was, you know, sort of close to a quarter-life crisis type thing,” he says. “For whatever reason, it was like me and this script were meant to be. I remember reading it and thinking: ‘I am this guy right now.'”

“There were a lot of things in my personal life that were neglected for a while”

When we ask why O’Brien felt as though he had reached a “transitional phase”, he gives an answer that’s vague but not exactly evasive. For understandable reasons, he doesn’t mention the incredibly traumatic motorcycle accident he sustained while shooting the final Maze Runner film in March 2016. O’Brien suffered severe trauma to the brain and said in 2017 that he underwent extensive facial reconstructive surgery after the accident “broke most of the right side of my face”. Tellingly, he’s never really revealed what happened on set or how it affected him.

Today, O’Brien dances around the details of the accident and other issues he was dealing with at the time, but doesn’t shy away from discussing his inner conflict. “You know, it was a lot of personal things combined with at-a-point-in-my-career things,” he says after a brief pause. He says he’d have been going through some of this stuff anyway, simply because of his age, but it sounds as though success intensified it all. “It was like this whole fucking storm of shit,” he continues. “I was simultaneously so fulfilled and happy about these, like, otherworldly and surreal things that I had experienced in terms of where my career had brought me. I had all this confidence and fulfilment and beautiful people [in my life] – such amazing things to experience at a young age. But at the same time, there were a lot of things in my personal life that were unchecked and sort of neglected for a while.”

O’Brien says that in time, he realised he had to “stop for a second” and “re-explore how I wanted my life to look going forward”. In fairness, you can see why he needed a breather: his career took off while he was still a teenager. After his family moved from New Jersey to Los Angeles County when he was 12, O’Brien contemplated a career as a sports broadcaster – his Twitter bio still bills him as a “no longer suffering Mets fan” – then began posting YouTube videos as moviekidd826. A funny, slickly edited skit titled ‘How to Prepare for the SAT in 45 seconds’, shared when he was just 17, shows he was a born performer and storyteller. YouTube success led to him getting a manager, but his breakthrough role in Teen Wolf still came out of the blue. At the time, he was treading water at a local community college and taking auditions on the side.

Still, he has since taken a rather fatalistic view of this career-making moment. “It’s totally weird because, when I think about it now, I don’t see how it could have happened any other way. I can’t picture myself doing anything else now,” he told Collider in 2011. “It was really sudden and a little random, and not provoked by anything. It was just out of nowhere. It wasn’t my intentional doing.” Today, O’Brien summarises his skyscraper career trajectory succinctly. “I guess I just graduated high school and started acting,” he says. “And then I felt like I was just flying by the seat of my pants and never got a chance to stop.” Thankfully, straight-out-the-blocks Hollywood success hasn’t taken away his sense of perspective. When I say how easy social media makes it to compare yourself unfavourably to others, O’Brien jumps in: “Yeah, that’s very true. I was watching the Billie Eilish doc the other day, and I was like, I’ve done nothing. I’m not an artist at all!”

“No one thought ‘Love and Monsters’ was going to be good!”

O’Brien is also self-deprecating when he talks about being cast in Flashback, suggesting it happened because he had such an intense connection with Fred. “I was honestly like, ‘Who is watching me right now?’ That is the best way I can describe how I was feeling when I came across this script,” he says. “Chris [MacBride, director] and I had this conversation that went so well in terms of [my] understanding this script that I think he’d sent around a lot and [that] very commonly wasn’t understood. I think Chris has even said that the night before shooting, he suddenly had this thought, like, ‘Wait, do I even think he’s a good actor?'”

Though O’Brien has firmly ring-fenced elements of his private life, he’s actually pretty frank about his acting vehicles. He readily admits he was expecting a snobbish response to Love and Monsters, a CGI-heavy hybrid of post-apocalyptic action and romcom that dropped on Netflix in April and topped the streamer’s daily most-watched list. “It means so much that Love and Monsters has gotten the response that it’s gotten,” O’Brien says. “No one thought this movie was going to be good.” His blunt honesty makes me laugh out loud. “No one did though!” he says in response. “And so, fuck that. You know, most of the people who say something to me about the movie, they’re like: ‘I watched Love and Monsters, and it was… good?’ And honestly, that just cracks me up.” For obvious reasons, we hastily decide not to share our response to the film – namely, that it was a whole lot better than expected.

In Love and Monsters, O’Brien plays Joel, a survivor of a so-called “monsterpocalypse” that has bumped humans to the bottom of the food chain. Though he’s known in his colony as a bit of a coward, Joel sets off on a treacherous 80-mile journey to find his high school sweetheart Aimee (Iron Fist‘s Jessica Henwick), which means evading the hungry clutches of various supersize grizzlies including a giant monster-frog hiding in a suburban pond. It’s a simple but pretty out-there premise that wouldn’t work if O’Brien’s performance was even slightly condescending. Instead, his unselfconscious sincerity really sells a film that has as much in common with the family-oriented Robin Williams movie Night at the Museum as darker fare like The Walking Dead.

His obvious affection for the project really comes across during our interview today. “When I read the script, I just thought it was so sweet and funny and smart and unique, but at the same time reminiscent of all these movies that don’t really get made any more,” he says. That’s a fair point: Love and Monsters is neither a fail-safe superhero movie nor a slice of classy Oscar bait. “And when they were talking about how to market this movie, it was so funny hearing all these conversations like, ‘How do we actually get people to watch it?'” he adds. “But that’s a big part of the reason I wanted to do this movie: because it felt like something I missed seeing.”

“I’m lucky to be surrounded by people who want to make something out of love”

So in a way, Love and Monsters was a risk for an actor seeking to establish himself outside of a bankable movie franchise and a hit TV show. O’Brien has only made four films since his final Maze Runner outing in 2018, and insists he hasn’t been tactical with his choices. “I don’t have anyone saying, ‘We need to get you in an Oscar vehicle’, or any of that kind of shit,” he says. “I’m really lucky to be surrounded by people who think like me: that you should do what you’re drawn to, and make something out of love.”

He’s recently finished shooting a mysterious crime thriller called The Outfit in London with Mark Rylance. Directed and co-written by Graham Moore, who won an Oscar for his screenplay to Alan Turing biopic The Imitation Game, O’Brien calls it “quite possibly one of the most special pieces of writing I’ve ever experienced”. He first read the script on a plane and says he “actually stood up and clapped” when he got to the end. Considering O’Brien probably wasn’t flying Ryanair, this reaction presumably attracted a few baffled glances.

Anyway, it must be pretty intimidating walking onto set with Rylance, a multi-award-winning actor revered by his peers – Al Pacino once said he “speaks Shakespeare as if it was written for him the night before” – but it sounds as though O’Brien took it all in stride. He says he’s confident in his abilities, but admits to having a slight wobble whenever he begins a new project. “I’m always sort of re-questioning everything – like, ‘Can I even act?'” he says. “But I think there’s something very natural about that. I think even Rylance could relate to that feeling. Acting is like starting a new year at school every single time.”

At this point in his career, O’Brien has made peace with the fact that some people will have preconceptions about him based on what he’s known for: Maze Runner and Teen Wolf. “People will put you in a box no matter what,” he says. “There was definitely a time when that would get to me, especially when it felt like somebody had a perspective on me that in my soul, I just felt wasn’t accurate.” Still, there’s no doubt he wants to show us what’s really in his soul with more films like Flashback. “If anything,” he adds bullishly, “it just makes me think: ‘Right, I’m really gonna show them now’.”

‘Flashback’ is out on digital platforms from June 4

[queeniewritesce]

Shall We Dance 1/?

Chris Evans rolled out of his bed and ran a hand down his face, scrubbing the last remaining traces of sleep. It was good to be home even if his break was coming to an end after forty-five days. Having wrapped up filming for Captain America: Civil War in late August, he had been happy to get some rest and visit his friends and family in Boston before heading down south to work on his next project, Gifted. He was looking forward to working with Octavia Spencer again and the script was solid, a good departure from the explosions and green screens this last few years provided.

Last night had been his last full night at home and Chris and some of his friends went to Mccreedy’s Pub for beers and pool. He arrived home around four A.M, his pockets lighter and highly drunk.

He groggily made his way to the bathroom of his en-suite, bending down to grab his checkered boxers from the floor. After relieving himself he looked himself in the mirror while washing his hands and face. Yes, it was good to be home, no fake fights to learn, no need for a daily shave and no places he had to b...

“SHIT!” His voice was loud, and it echoed in the empty bathroom. “Shit, shit, shit...”

He raced back to his bedroom and grabbed his phone from the nightstand. The black and white Patriots logo blinked to life and right above it the clock read eleven fifty-two A.M. Groaning, he sat back on the edge of the bed and pulled his contacts app, quickly dialing finding and dialing the number he was looking for.

The call connected after three rings and before he was able to say anything the sound of giggling and laughter reached his ears. He was missing a great time with his friends judging by the background noise.

“…and you’re a crazy woman! Your danger Will Robson button must’ve broken when you’re born!” came Garret’s voice on the phone followed by more laughter. “Chris my man you’re fucking late!” Chris heard a feminine voice saying ‘Fuck you Gar’ on the background followed by “Silence woman, I’m on the phone!” from Garret.

“Yeah, ‘bout that…” Chris could hear the stadium music playing, welcoming everyone to the Gillet Stadium, home of the New England Patriots. “I’ll probably won’t make it today bro, I just woke up and I feel like someone drove a tank over my head.”

“You sound like crap as well bro…” Garret sighed on the phone. “Listen, you want us to leave? It’s not fair that we’re using your suite and you won’t even be here.”

Chris felt like a jackass, Garret had come up to him a few days after he had been home and asked if Chris would be okay with him borrowing his suite at Gillet Stadium and taking a few friends to watch the Pats play. It would be Garret’s girlfriend’s birthday on the 31st and the game was the start of one long birthday weekend culminating with a special Halloween party.

“NO, no, come on man, I’d never make you leave!” He groaned when he got up, pacing the room. “We’ve made these plans like a month ago, it’s part of Penny’s birthday celebration and you shouldn’t have to halt your plans because I fucked up. I’ll let the suits known I won’t be in but you’ll stay put and enjoy the game, ok?”

He leaned on the window pane with his right arm, soaking up the sun and watching life go by on the streets below his old townhouse. He had purchased the house in late March and there was still so much to do to restore the house to his former 1900 glory. It excited and terrified him, but Chris was adamant he would do the renovations himself.

“You sure you can’t swing by halftime? We’re gonna kill some Delphinus ass and you’re root to watch the game with.”

Chris could hear Guillermo in the background screaming ‘kill the fish, kill the fish’ while the same woman's voice from before laughed and corrected him saying dolphins were mammals and calling him a dumbass. She had a hearty laugh, loud enough to be heard through the phone call but not high-pitched and he could’ve sworn he heard her snort during his conversation with Garret. Adorable... the thought crossed his mind for a second.

“Nah, I don’t think I will. I’ll just take some Advil and go back to bed, commiserate over my own drunk ass. My flight is at nine P.M. and I really don’t want to flight while hangover and football is only football when there’s beer involved. Put Penny on the phone though, I wanna wish my future wife a Happy Birthday.” Chris laughed knowing he’d get a rise out of his friend.

“Fuck you, Evans, she’d never leave my ass for yours, you’re too pretty for a man, she likes them rough and…“ Garret was interrupted by what Chris deduced was an elbow to his side.

“I actually like my man without a potty mouth, Mr. Haywood… Hey Chris! Thank you so much for the surprise!” Penny sweet voice came through the speaker.

“Well babygirl, then I’m definitely not the man for you, am I?” Chris laughed with Penny. “Listen, I’m sorry I can’t make it today, I have no excuses but I’m a drunken fool.”

“Yes, yes you are!” she laughed before getting serious, her nurse voice on “Are you drinking plenty of water? Have you taken some ibuprofen? Order some greasy food and try not to stay on your bed all day, alright?”

“Yes Nurse Seabrook, no Nurse Seabrook.” He chuckled and made the way to the kitchen to find the Advil bottle. Penny was a nurse at Christopher’s Haven and had met Garret when both Chris and his friend had gone for a visit. Garret left saying she would be his girl one day and true to his world he had won her over not a month later. That was two years ago and Chris was sure a proposal wasn’t far off in the distance. She made his best friend happy and for that he loved her.

“Oh, shut up with the Nurse Seabrook nonsense would ya? I’m just sad you won’t get to meet my sister, she flew in last night and I was looking forward to introducing you two.” Penny said while he opened the bottle and got two pills.

“Are you trying to set me up with your sister, Penny?” he opened a cabinet door and got a glass.

“I do not set people up Christopher, I find pieces of a puzzle that are supposed to go together and let destiny take its course.” She giggled. Yeah, she was totally trying to set them up.

“You’re something else Penny!” he sighed after drinking a full glass of water. “Listen I gotta try and get some more sleep, but happy birthday you little cupid, I hope it’s a great one. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there, and I promise to make it up to you somehow.”

“There’s no need to make it up to me, dear. You’re a great friend and a busy man. We’ll see you when you’re back ok?”

“I love you both very much, I’ll call you when I have a chance.” Chris made his way back to his bedroom, closing the blackout curtains and sliding into his bed before disconnecting the call.

His dreams were discombobulated images of football, his friends and a laugh that he couldn’t place a face to, but warmed him whenever he heard it.

__...__...__

Chris looked back to the stadium and he could see people filling the seats around the suites. A soundproof glass kept the noise at a normal level inside his, but the excitement was palpable. Families donned Patriots jerseys and Santa hats, the jumbotron showed a man dressing head to toe like a giant Christmas’ tree and then the image changed to a couple of girls dressed like sexy elves. Man, they must be freezing in this weather… It was December 20th and the temperature had dropped dramatically the night before, right now it was 26° but the weatherman talked about it getting as low as 15° during the game.

He was glad he had purchased a season suite. It wasn’t cheap but it was heated, had leather seats in the inside area, four HD TVs playing the other games of the day as well as the one being played on the field below and it came with their personal bar down the hall, tucked away from the crowd. Chris wasn’t against meeting fans and taking pictures, but sometimes he just wanted to have fun with his friends, let his guard down and enjoy himself.

Some of his drinking buddies were already there, a beer bottle on their hands and talking shit about a lot of things.

“Chris, thanks again for the invite brother, it’s not every day you get to watch the Pats kick some Titan’ ass from the 50-yard line,” Samuel said while raising his beer bottle in a salut.

“Here, here, let’s hope they freeze on their socks. Tennessee might be cold, but this Foxborough man! It’s our territory.” Another man, Dix, clinked his bottle to the first ones and they drank, Chris, following with their own salut and drink.

He turned his attention to the door when it opened, revealing Guillermo and his girlfriend Dora, Garret, and Penny. She had her head turned back and was speaking with someone just outside the door.

“I know right, she looked like you pissed on her Cheerios, she was so mad!” Penny laughed while fully entering the room.

And then he heard it, the laugh that had accompanied his dreams those past two months got louder when it entered the room.

“It’s not my fault she’s wearing stilettos in this weather. It’s fucking freezing and she had on fifteen-inch hills, a dress, and no tights! Who does that for Pete’s sake? Anyway, if she had moved when I said excuse me she wouldn’t have gone down like a sack of potatoes. My ass needs space to move around, you know that!” the girl finished and closed the door behind her, already unbuttoning her jacket. “Gosh, so warm, I love this place, I really do.”

“Yeah, like your ass is really that big Lucy.” Penny also removed her jacket, taking both and handing them over to Garret. “CHRIS!”

Penny sauntered to Chris with open arms, her small frame easily being engulfed by his.

“Welcome back big shot, how’s my favorite Captain?” she said hugging him with all her might. Penny really gave the best hugs he thought while hugging her back.

“I’m the only Captain you know Pen, of course I’m your favorite!”

“Actually, you’re not, our brother JP is also a captain”, she shrugged and moved her eyes to Penny, a smirk on her lips “and I’m telling him you said that!”

“Lucy, don’t you dare!” Penny was smiling while hugging Chris sideways. “Ok, so you’re my favorite fake Captain, JP is my favorite real Captain. How’s that?” she showed her tongue to Lucy before remembering that introductions were in other. “Chris this is my big sister and an even bigger pain in the ass, Lucy Seabrook. BabyBoo, this is the dorkiest man on earth, Chris Evans.”

In the few seconds that it took for Lucy to walk the three steps between them, Chris finally took a good look at the girl. Around 5’4”, she had a full hourglass figure, bigger than what usually attracted him but something about her called to him. A round face with amazing green eyes stared back at him, her full, kissable lips on display sporting a reddish-pink hue. Her red hair had shades going from strawberry blond to mahogany, but the main portion was a deep burnt orange, reaching past her waist and brushing the top of her ass cheeks. While her breasts looked gorgeous on that sweater, he had always been an ass man. And what a great ass that was, all round and perky. His cock twitched at the thoughts running through his mind.

She had dimples when she smiled and he caught himself smiling back with the same intensity, before enveloping her small hands with his.

‘I guess when people talk about feeling a shock going thru them when they meet someone they click with, this is the feeling they’re talking about.’ Chris laughed to cover the shiver that ran through his body.

“Hi.”

[justsoyoudonthaveto]

Would you believe that a) it’s Halloween and I’m writing about a Christmas movie; b) we’re just 2 months away from this entire shitty year and c) this is my 100th blog post?!?!?  I can’t believe it and I’m living that right now! 

I’m sure you’ve all noticed that I’ve taken a huge break from doing these this year. And with this year, I’m sure you all understand. For a long time I didn’t want to watch sunny shows where the hero just wants to be happy and explore his need to be a mime in Paris while simultaneously running away from his family’s law practice, where the heroine just needs him to buckle down and be serious. Running away from a well-paying job? Are you freaking insane? And love might be all you need, but it sure is helpful if you don’t have to worry about medical bills. This year has been exhausting, and I just couldn’t. As much as these movies are comfort food, I needed something different, which explains why I watched Great British Baking Show twice, learned how to make a killer lemon drizzle and amazing bread, and stress-read Twitter about the state of the country. All of which means that this weekend, which saw me take time off to self-care and watch BBC’s North and South for the first time and immediately plan for a re-watch, has me back to Christmas Movies, with this gem of a movie that should have everything. So let’s get going for One Royal Holiday.

I will start by saying I love Laura Osnes. I voted for her when she was on the Grease reality show, and saw her in Bandstand 3 times. I am less of a fan of Aaron Tveit, more so because of the horrendous man perm he had to sport during Les Miserables. However, it’s not nearly as bad as the man bun I just saw on the latest concert version of my favorite musical, so I guess I should move on from the perms. Except how the hell did those perms mean an Academy Award for best hair and makeup? WTF? Anyway.

Aaron plays His Royal Highness Prince James of Galwick. Is that near Lichtenstein, or Cornwall, like that one where the heroine was from New Jersey? His mom is played by the amazing Victoria Clark and she better sing, damn it. And in the very first scene, where Queen Gabriella and Prince James are in some kind of hospital benefit thanking them for the care they gave their late husband and father, Queen Gabriella is wearing a tiara. I’m sure we’ve learned something from the countless viewings of Downton Abbey (as well as anything the Queen does) and one does not wear a tiara to a benefit during the freaking day. British accents are on point though. Good for them.

Laura Osnes is a nurse named Anna, who is heading home for Christmas, and her home is some tiny New England town where her dad owns an inn. Looks like her mom is dead. Present wrapping montage, and we’re not even 10 minutes in. And Anna is off home where there’s a wicked nor’easter heading her way (she’s in Boston).

James has to make a Christmas Eve speech, which apparently the entire monarchy of Galwick is depending on. But not before he and his mom stop at Donny’s Donuts for tea. Anna’s there for coffee and is freaking out over a “Christmas Cruller” which is basically an eclair. But horrors, the storm has grounded the royal plane, and the hotel in Boston is full up, and James and Anna have had a meet cute over the eclair, and we’ve found out that Galwick is in Northern Europe. Anna is offering her dad’s inn, and now her own car when the royal car driver says he’s not going to drive to Connecticut. Queen Gabriella is already in love with Anna, and her free eclairs, and they are all carpooling to Connecticut on roads that are remarkably traffic free. Oh, and BTW, James has not told her he’s a prince, and she’s just said her town has a Christmas Eve Pajama Ball and Oh My GOD I think I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole of Christmas Movie Cliches and I love every minute. BTW, James is a huge pill.

Royal retainer has just let the cat out of the bag to Anna’s dad and now Anna knows that they’re royalty. But because James is such a cool guy, he’s going to carry up their bags up the stairs but because he’s also royal, he doesn’t know that suitcases have handles. Anna’s BFF from high school is now the Sassy Mayor. And James has just asked for the “pillow menu” where the guests get to choose which kind of pillow to sleep on. Sassy Mayor is all about getting the royals on social media for the town, but then she gets an eyeful of Christopher, the royal retainer, and Sassy Mayor is all heart-eye emojis. And here is the first commercial break.

What is this vest and why is it weird?

Sing-a-long at the Inn, and the carolers are dressed like Dickens characters – because carolers are only allowed to dressed like Dickens characters. Gabriella and Anna are bonding over the buffet, while James is on the phone with the Prime Minister of Galwick who is clearly not a monarchist. But Gabriella loves the food at the Inn, and methinks Queenie is going to play matchmaker between Innkeeper Dad and the Cook. James missed dinner and is eating his feelings through a 5 lb container of popcorn, but Anna is nice and brings him a plate of lobster mac and cheese.

As expected, there’s been a huge snowstorm, which is not in evidence with the b-roll of shots of the house. They are snowbound and Anna wants to know what royalty does all day. James says it’s not like a Jane Austen novel where they drink tea and read poetry. No, not at all. Sometimes they have elaborate picnics. And that is a line from this beautiful movie. Another b-roll shot of the Inn, which shows the road completely plowed. But the airport is still closed, so now they can attend the Kentsbury Christmas Parade. James can’t measure up to his dead father with his make-or-break Christmas Eve Speech. FYI, James started dragging the sled of donated toys, and next shot, Anna is dragging it. So much for the chivalry of princes.

FYI – in 2 days, we won’t see any political ads on TV for almost 12 months. Huzzah!

Everyone in the little town seems to think that Anna is dating James because they are walking down the street together. James stepped in a slush puddle and now they both have to take a carriage ride back to the inn. Just go with it. Heart to heart about James’ speech worries. Anna says he should be himself. Oh, how great that advice is.

Husband just asked how great this movie is. I said the words Christmas Eve Pajama Ball. He is seriously thrilled.

The room where the Ball is going to be held had a roof malfunction, and now where are they going to have it? James suggests the Inn, so of course they’re going to do it – and before we can say Hot Chocolate – they are going to decorate the Inn’s family tree! Singing! Tree Trimming! Lights! Husband just is annoyed that all the lights in the big tangle of string lights work, because that is not reality.

DANG IT – they are going to split the ball into Pajama for Kids and Formal Ball for Adults. This is not what I signed up for.

Anna and James meet in the kitchen in their plaid jammies, and Anna name checked Captain Von Trapp, so cool, except for the fact that Christopher Plummer NEVER showed up in a bathrobe. Anna has also introduced James to the magic of a Lazyboy recliner couch. And James is now giving Anna advice about how great a formal ball would be and it’s not a slap in the face of the memory of Anna’s dead mom. Anna is also wearing way too much makeup for late night cocoa rendezvous.

Plot question – why is James a Prince, and not King? Shouldn’t he have been coronated by now?

Anna brought James up to the attic to look for ball decorations, and he seems to have a flair for decorating. They head in to town for more garland, and James borrowed skinny jeans and boots from Christopher, and that’s not weird at all. And Anna has major good ideas for James’ speech, so good for her. Shopping Montage! Decorating Montage! So Many Lights! So Many Trees! Romantic moments by a ladder! Dancing! They are going to Dance to The Christmas Waltz. WHAT IS THIS SONG? Dance Lessons Await! (FYI, I do this with younger son in our kitchen, and it is a delight of my life). Oh, man, dad just messed up that romantic dance.

Dad is Fairy Godfather here and found dresses for Anna to wear that were her mom’s. But first, Gingerbread House Building! James is good at it and he made a castle. And Gabriella just made them a Galwickian Yule Cake (which is an eclair). Christmas Eve is in 3 days, and now there’s black ice on the roads and it’s just too dangerous to go to the airport.

Sassy Friend tells her that she can work it out with Christopher, so Anna can work it out with James, but Anna is being realistic because he’s a prince and she’s a nurse, and if he’s half as eligible as Prince Harry, then she is in the right, and Sassy Mayor is living in La La Land. But whatever, Anna deserves to find Love.

Town Candlelight Sing A Long. Lots of longing looks over the candles, but Anna can’t express her love for James because they have to sing Joy to the World (without the religious 3rd verse). But they are now back in the ballroom for Anna to tell him how she feels, but she is blocked by his phone and the fact that it’s the palace, telling him that he was photographed with Anna in the town square and it’s an international scandal of Christmas Carol proportions. And because Anna is selfless, she says thanks to James and tells him he should care for his people and go be a prince. And because he’s emotionally repressed, he says ok and he heads out.

Sassy Mayor gets to go to Galwick for New Year’s because Christopher is NOT emotionally repressed. Gabriella left a gown for the cook to wear to the ball, and James has arrived home to the literally smallest castle ever. It’s smaller than Disneyland.

SAD TIMES! James and Anna both. 14 minutes left. Anna doesn’t know what to wear, but Dianne the cook looks great in the Queen’s dress. And James has figured out that Anna helped out his dad at the hospital when he was ill. Oh my goodness all the coincidences! Anna’s dress has pockets, y’all. James’ Christmas speech is on the internet, and his military uniform clearly doesn’t fit. And HUZZAH James shows up at the ball and his tuxedo suit does fit. And more about James’ dad, yada yada yada. And they kiss and head into the ballroom where they get to finish their Christmas Waltz. All Laura Osnes’ Cinderella dance experience is clearly paying off here. But we’re not done yet – everyone is in their pajamas at the fireplace for the final scene – and again Cinderella vibes, because James brought her Christmas Royal Bedroom Slippers. But he didn’t bring enough for everyone! The End.

This movie had everything and it was delightful, even if Victoria Clark didn’t sing. Sorry for the blurry pictures – WordPress changed their way of doing things while I was baking and I am still trying to figure it out. Glad to get back into this even if we’re still technically in Halloween territory. Aren’t you glad I watched, just so you don’t have to?

#100 – One Royal Holiday Would you believe that a) it's Halloween and I'm writing about a Christmas movie; b) we're just 2 months away from this entire shitty year and c) this is my 100th blog post?!?!? 

[livelikebrent]

Stop 6: Buffalo, NY

Today would’ve been our 3 year anniversary. I typically don’t crank out a blog post in only one day right after the trip and would want to take more time to write...especially since I have so much to write about for this post. But I felt that I needed to do something today for Brent. I look at the number 3 and think, “Jeez it’s been that long?” but I also look at it and think, “That all happened in a blink of an eye.” On my last trip up in Syracuse when Amanda (a different one than the Amanda I went to Buffalo with) and I had been on a walk, she told me that she was sad that I had such little time with Brent. It’s true but at the same time when I look back at our relationship I like to think that maybe it was me that he needed and not necessarily the other way around. There was a reason I met him at the time that I did and it was me that was with him through all of the wonderful ups and excruciating downs. As odd as it sounds, I’m glad it was me that could be there for him. Our relationship wasn’t normal by any means. But the first half of it was and I wouldn’t trade any part of it for anything.

I went back to New York again for another stop. But I will say each of these trips to the Empire State are drastically different from one to the next. Amanda picked me up from my apartment at 6:15am on Saturday morning. We made the trip up to Wilkes-Barre to scoop up her boyfriend who was Brent’s old roommate, Greg. Then we drove to New Columbia, PA to meet Amanda’s parents, Mike and Barbara, at a Holiday Inn to jump into their truck and finish the drive to Buffalo, New York.

The drive was long. Like 5+ hours long. But it was scenic and completely worth it. I got to know Amanda’s parents who are hysterical and remind me of my sister-in-law’s parents quite a bit. They are super nice, conversational and have many stories to tell. I’m not sure if this is a Sweet family hidden talent or what...but I’ve learned that Amanda and her parents do this trick where they balance a piece of food on their left hand and pop it up into their mouth by hitting said hand with their right one. Amanda first did this in my apartment with a goldfish and I thought it was the best thing ever until Mike did without a problem during a our trip up.

That laughter in that video! I feel like that’s all I heard this weekend and it was absolute music to my ears. Buffalo had been added to my list of places to visit for Brent because of the Bills Mafia. (If you click on any links in this blog post click this one on the Bills Mafia and watch a short documentary on the fans.) Amanda was literally one of the only Buffalo Bills fans I knew (aside from Danny which I only found out a few months ago!) and Brent and I knew she attended games often. Over the last year or so, the Bills Mafia, received a little more street credit and attention. They are apparently some of the wildest fans in the NFL and Brent and I really wanted to experience a tailgate with the Mafia. We wanted to go not necessarily to part-take in the mess they create but honestly just to witness the pure and utter mayhem of the tailgate. When Brent was undergoing treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Amanda and Greg would come and visit us on weekends up in New York at the Hope Lodge.They also came to see him when he was in North Jersey just outside of the city. Many football games were watched with friends over those weekends. College game day on Saturdays and then Sunday football the next. Amanda at one point promised Brent that as soon as he was better, she would get him to a Bills game with her family so he could participate in a true Buffalo tailgate. A couple of months ago Amanda asked if I still wanted to go to a game for Brent. The answer was obviously yes and I’m so glad we were able to make it work. Brent would’ve LOVED the entire weekend.

Amanda and her parents are die hard Buffalo Bills fans. Mr. and Mrs. Sweet are high school sweethearts that grew up outside of Buffalo in a town called Dansville and they’ve been attending Bills’ tailgates for over 40 years together. Honestly, I’ve learned that being a Bills fan is serious business and there are traditions and routines that take place for game weekends. Such as wings and beers. We arrived in Western New York around 2pm and went straight to Duff’s for said wings and beers. Typically, the Sweets head to Anchor Bar for this but wanted to switch it up this time around. So we stopped at the original Duff’s location in Amherst, New York. If you are unfamiliar with these two spots like I was, the Anchor Bar and Duff’s is to Buffalo as Pat’s and Geno’s cheesesteaks is to Philadelphia...even though Dalessandro’s is where the best cheesesteak is at.

These “before” and “after” photos do NOT do any justice to the damage we did. Out of the 50 wings, the 5 of us consumed almost 40 of a them, a large order of fries and more than 2 pitchers of Labatt Blue Light. Oh and some veggies and dip. It was all so good. Also, I feel as though people don’t refer to them as “buffalo wings” anymore and just “wings.” I will admit it wasn’t until I got home Sunday evening that I put two and two together. I mean, do you honestly say “buffalo sauce” or “buffalo wings”? Or do you say “hot sauce” or just “Frank’s.” But anyway, Amanda sent me a brief history on buffalo wings which you can read here.

After we had our fill, we went to check-in at Hotel at the Lafayette. Which is an old hotel in the city of Buffalo that is apparently haunted and has it’s own brewery. We got settled, freshened up and had a couple of beers before roaming about the city for the night. Traditionally, the Sweets would drive to Niagara Falls the day before the game, stay the night, wake-up and drive to Buffalo to tailgate. But recently, they’ve started exploring Buffalo and staying more local. I also think it’s safe to say after the weekend we had, they will probably continue to stay in Buffalo.

We walked out and it was a chilly 30something degrees. It is definitely winter already in Buffalo which wasn’t a surprise as I had been watching their weather the entire week leading up to the trip. It was very dark out and one of the first bars we saw was called, “The Cowboy.” As we started walking closer we couldn’t tell if it was going to be a bar, strip club, or an actual whole in the wall. We peered into the windows and it was dark and empty but I insisted that we went in. There wasn’t ONE patron in sight. The bartender, Kaleigh, in her glitter eye shadow and pajama pants who was 20 was the only one there. It was a dark bar, with cowboy hats as lamp shades on the bulbs above the bar rail, a couple of naked cowgirls painted on the walls (who I will leave out of this for the time being) and barrels around poles which served as high tops near the dance floor. We ordered some beers, fireball, hung out, played with hoola hoops and enjoyed having the place to ourselves for the time being.

After we finished our drinks we continued down Chippewa Street which seemed to have the most activity and night life on it. Mike asked me about my name so I explained where it came from and then he asked if I had any siblings and what their names were. I laugh when people ask me that because I know exactly what they’re expecting. If my name is a uncommon Gaelic name, ‘Aisling’ and pronounced as ‘Ashleen’, my sibling must have some off the wall name as well. So I looked at Mike and said, “Yes! I have a brother. His name is Christopher.” He laughed and asked me my middle and last name. He immediately loved my middle name, Coyne, which was my maternal grandmother’s maiden name. Mike didn’t call me anything but Coyne for the rest of the trip.

We were crossing the street when out of the corner of my eye I saw D’Arcey McGee’s ... immediately Amanda’s Dad wanted to go in. It was a cool Irish bar that resembled a Tir Na Nog or Kildare’s but just not a chain. There was a lot of dark wood work going on, wooden booths, arches and shelving throughout along with typical “vintage” Guinness ads and artwork. But as soon as we walked in there, AGAIN there wasn’t ONE patron in sight. Just Brianne, the bartender. We couldn’t get over it. WHERE WAS EVERYONE?! Then we soon realized it was only 5:30pm on a Saturday night. We ordered our beers and Amanda decided to test the bar tender by requesting an espresso martini. We all somewhat scoffed at Amanda and her order and Brianne definitely took her time with it. That made Amanda even more skeptical of the bartender. But after a while and a couple of eye rolls from Amanda, she finally got her drink and it turned out to be a really good martini. We hopped off our bar stools and checked out the rest of the space...which was huge. There was a pool table and dart board around the corner. So we posted up an played a couple games of pool.

Mike started saying, “Coyne this! Coyne that!” This is where all of a sudden Greg got this look of excitment in his eyes and got on this tangent to Amanda that if they ever have a son he’s being named Coyne Quinn. He said, “WHAT A RING THAT HAS TO IT. COYNE QUINN, AMANDA!” He then continued, “Just imagine. Coyne Quinn as a quarterback for Penn State football. He would be on highlights on ESPN and with every amazing complete pass they would play the Mario Brother’s sound effect of when they punch a box and a coin would come out. THERE’S COYNE QUINN GOING DEEP. DING. AND THE THROW. DING. IT’S GOING LONG. DING. COMPLETION. DING. ANOTHER ONE. DING. A TOUCHDOWN. DING. DING. DING.” Amanda rolled her eyes and told Greg their children would be playing tennis. “No contact sports, Greg. I don’t wanT our children getting concussed. Tennis. Golf. Volleyball. No contact sports!” After Greg returned an eye roll back at her, Amanda and I joined in on a game of pool and Mike showed off his skills. 

I'm honestly not very good at pool but would like to be. Side note: If anyone could teach me, I would greatly appreciate it! Mike's only tip and instruction he gave to me the entire game was to “Level your stick and close your mouth.” We played a few games and then decided to find another bar and perhaps something to eat.  As we walked down the street again we came across a place called Taphouse Pub & Grill. It was a standard bar but had a decent draft list and at least had patrons in it. I tried a local beer from a brewery called Rusty Chain and it was some sort of red ale, I believe. It was a smaller bar with a couple of tables but plenty of stools at the bar. They had several televisions for the games that were on along with Impracticable Jokers which I learned Mike hates. We hung out and chatted. The bar had a small popcorn machine in the corner by the front entrance. The first time I had ever saw that was in Delaware. I had no idea that popcorn machines were a thing at bars. But apparently it is in Buffalo as well. We got some popcorn and we did the obvious...the Sweet Family Trick. Barbara popped a couple into her mouth. I watched the Sweets do it over and over again.  It did take me two or three tries, but was so excited to have done it.

After our drinks we decided that we wanted more ambiance or a livelier atmosphere. We then found a place right across the street called Local Kitchen & Beer Bar. The place was buzzing and had the most life in it than any other establishment we had been in at that point. I ordered a local cider, Greg ordered a Genesee and also got some apps for everyone to share. We talked about Brent. Correction, we talked about Brent a lot. Greg was there the night Brent was placed on the ventilator and I feel so terrible about it. Brent and I bought concert tickets for my old roommate’s birthday. Brent had wanted me to go to the concert that Friday night. I asked Greg if he would be able to visit with Brent that night and that I would be at the hospital bright and early the following morning. I just didn’t want him to be alone even if he slept the whole time. It would just be nice if he rolled over and realized he wasn’t alone. I received a call at 9:30pm from Greg that night that something was happening and the doctors wanted to put Brent on a ventilator. Every time I see Greg I feel the need to apologize that he had to be there for that and see Brent go through what he did. Greg always tells me he was so glad he could be there for Brent whether or not he knew he was in the room with him. I’ve relived those last 10 hours of Brent’s life that I spent with him and his family probably 100 times over and it was absolutely, heartbreakingly tragic. I wouldn’t want anyone to ever have to witness anything remotely close to what we saw, felt, talked about and experienced that night into the morning. Greg and Brent went to the same high school in Wilkes-Barre but actually didn’t know one another then. They met at West Virginia University when one Greg was visiting one of Brent’s college roommates, Brett! They didn’t really start hanging out until Greg moved to Philadelphia and Brent got out of the hospital for his first go around with cancer.

 A couple of years ago when I had just started dating Brent, Greg moved in with him in Brent’s apartment in East Falls. It turns out Greg had started dating Amanda shortly before Brent and myself. After a year or so of dating, Greg and Amanda moved into a place together which ended up being across the street from my current apartment! Brent and I love Greg and Amanda and we always stood them up. It was awful. Something would always come up or it would be something with Brent’s health when we had dinner plans scheduled. We always felt so guilty. The first time I ever met Amanda was at my first Carve 4 Cancer. I vividly remember standing by the raffle table and I felt somebody holding me by my arm saying, “Wait, are you Aisling?” I hardly knew anyone there at that point and just met a couple dozen of Brent’s friends from home. By the way, that happened ALL of the time. Brent would introduce me to friends and it was never a one off. I always felt like I met 15 to 50 friends at one time. So if I ever forget your name, please accept this apology. As I looked at this girl, I nervously shook my head up and down and she introduced herself as Greg’s girlfriend, Amanda. We’ve been in touch and became friends with Amanda ever since. I refer to her as Lasagna Amanda a lot but mainly to my family. When Brent had passed she showed up to my apartment with a handwritten letter, a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a homemade lasagna. Greg made fun of her and forewarned me about her cooking via group text. But she did a wonderful job. I’m grateful for these two and the support they’ve given Brent and myself over the last year and a half and their friendship for the last three years. After Greg and I wrapped up our pow-wow and dried some tears we asked the “Catch me outside” doppleganger twins to our left to take our photo.

We were just about ready to make our way back to the hotel as we had another early and action packed day ahead of us. But on the walk back I suggested that we stop by The Cowboy to see it in all it’s glory for a nightcap. Welp, said nightcap turned into an extended stay...simply just to dance.

We walked back in and thankfully there was a crowd but maybe only two people on the dance floor. You would’ve thought that bar had been waiting for us to come back to bring the life of the party, Barbara. We tore up the dance floor, the young boys were all over Amanda’s mom, we became best friends with the DJ with our song requests, more people left their bar stools to join the dance floor, and a bartender (not Kaleigh and her sparkly eye shadow) came out and got a line dance going. The next day the line dancing was all Amanda could talk about and how much she loved it along with the stomping and clapping. NOTE TO GREG: BUY YOUR GIRLFRIEND SOME FLOWERS AND TAKE HER LINE DANCING. We all let our hair down, even Mike! We created a little bit of a scene and let’s just say the dance floor was sad to see us go at the end of the night.

We grabbed a slice on the way back to the hotel and called it a night. Well, kind of. Fast forward a couple of hours later. I found myself standing outside of the hotel room I was staying in with Amanda and Greg in the middle of the night. Then I remember being downstairs trying to communicate with the front desk. Then I found myself back on the third floor knocking on our door when I came to and fully woke up. In my pajamas. In the hallway. Without any shoes on. And for some reason I wasn’t all that embarrassed. I went back downstairs and had a fully conscious conversation and apologized to the front desk but also laughing at the fact that I had just been sleepwalking/talking to them. They chuckled and the manager asked me if I was okay at this point (because I was babbling less than five minutes ago) and called my room, 320. But of course. Nobody picked up the phone. I continued to apologize as I stood there in a pair of Brent’s Nike sweatpants and a highlighter yellow Milwaukee Carve 4 Cancer t-shirt. I then tell them that Mike Sweet booked the rooms and is staying at the hotel with his wife, Barbara, but didn’t know his room number offhand. After the manager gave me a questioning look and found their room number, he called up. He told them, “There is a girl down here that wants to come up to your room.” I told the manager to say my name since his phone call made me sound so shady and I was afraid Barbara would tell him she wasn’t expecting anyone. The manager told me I could go up and told me their room number. Barbara was in the hallway on the phone with Amanda. “Is Aisling in your room, Amanda?” “Of course she is mom! She’s out here on the...Oh no.” As I ran down the hallway, I apologized and explained what had happened and was sorry for scaring anyone. Then I found my way back into my room with Amanda laughing hysterically at me at 2:30 in the morning.

Fast forward 4.5 hours later. The three of us got showered, geared up and met up with Amanda’s parents for a quick breakfast before making our way to the tailgate. I explained again what had happened only a couple of hours earlier to Mike. The weird part about it was they were JUST telling me stories about Amanda’s dad sleepwalking the day before. I haven’t done that in years. But we then packed up the car and headed to the grocery store for ingredients for “beef on weck” and then went to the tailgate. Beef on weck is a Western New York sandwich found primarily in Western New York State. It is made with roast beef on a kimmelweck roll (a roll with salt and caraway seeds on top). The meat on the sandwich is traditionally served rare, thin cut, with the top bun getting a dip au jus and spread with horseradish. AND IT’S DELISH. We got to the tailgate for 9:30am. But let me tell you...they don’t go to a parking lot outside of New Era Field or anything like that. They park in somebody’s backyard. YUP. There is a line of houses across the street from the stadium that has tailgating and parking there for the Buffalo Bills’ entire season and it’s wild.

Pictured above is the house where the Sweets always tailgate.  Once you get to the garage there at the end of the driveway you veer to the right and there is a giant Bills mural on the side of the wall and a yard where cars just line up and hang out. Also, the answer to the question you’re thinking is no...they don’t personally know the owner of the house. Ha.

If I could have I would have slapped a #LiveLikeBrent sticker on this wall. We grabbed a drink and then went for a walk through a tailgate lot across the street. The weather was perfect for a mid-November football game. It definitely felt like a November day with grey skies and the crisp air. But it wasn’t that chilly...especially for being in Buffalo. A couple of the Sweets’ family friends have a truck that they have tricked out and serve drinks out of. So we went over and I was in awe of this what looked like a Tastykake truck turned Bills mancave bar. We hopped on up and into the back of the truck and there were shots lined up on the bar, a bar tender, and fixings for bloody Marys. Barbara, Greg and I ordered a couple of bloodies. Brent and I always ordered bloody Marys any chance we got. We’ve had quite the array in the last few years to say the least ranging from bloodies topped with a stout, bloodies with crab meat, shrimp, you name it, we’ve probably had it. The one topped with a stout was from the Field House in Philadelphia which was surprisingly our favorite bloody we’d ever had but...never would I ever thought I would say this but the one I had this weekend was hands down the new best bloody Mary I’ve ever had. It blew Field House’s out of the water. I wish I asked what the spices were in the mix because I couldn’t figure it out. All Greg and I kept saying was, “THIS IS SO GOOD. THIS IS THE BEST BLOODY MARY EVER. OH MY GOD.” In addition to the drink, there was a ball of fresh mozzarella, olive, pearled onion, chunk of pepperoni, celery stick and then a slice of bacon all to garnish and they were all rolled in something like parmesan. But in all seriousness it was exactly what we needed that morning. A Bud Light just wasn’t sounding all that appetizing at that hour. But who knew that I’d find my favorite bloody Mary at a Buffalo Bills tailgate?

We left the mancave tailgate and made our way to the tailgate lots at the stadium. Apparently there is this guy named “Pinto Ron” and if you watched the Bills Mafia video I told you to watch earlier in this post you would know who he is by now! But he is a Buffalo Bills fan that is known for attending every single Bills game (home AND away) and for hosting tailgate parties since 1994. Now that’s quite the commitment. I can’t get some people to commit to something 2 or 3 weeks out mind you this guys commits to entire NFL seasons. We didn’t find Pinto Ron but did find a lot of other...things. I initially imagined a Buffalo Bills tailgate as an extremely bad Wal-Mart crowd. Like really bad. But we didn’t run into anything too extreme or savage. It was still only 10:30 in the morning mind you.

After circling a couple of lots and swimming through a sea of Bills fans, we made our way back to our backyard tailgate. Mike was cooking the meat for beef on weck. It was really, really good. Honestly...it’s all in the bun and because Mike was wearing his sick Bills sweatshirt that he referred to as his P. Diddy hoodie.

After we ate we started to pack up camp. It was almost 12noon and kickoff was for 1pm against the Saints. As we got ready and started making our way back over, Greg and I were determined to witness some Bills Mafia mayhem. At this point they’ve had a couple hours of day drinking in them and must have been getting into a mess at that point. We’ve watched videos of guys throwing guys off of trucks on top of tables, throwing their girlfriends to smash tables and just being straight up wild. I kept telling Greg I was going to throw him through a table.

It turns out we were a minute too late. We saw probably close to a dozen broken tables, articles of clothing, and a sea of LaBatt beer cars everywhere all over the lot. Oh and these kids bonging beers out of a mannequin and yes, the guy holding back puke is wearing an OJ Simpson Bills jersey. To be quite frank, if Brent had been there he probably would’ve asked to chug a beer out of that mannequin.

By the way, Greg was totally in his element at this point. Periodically, I would look up at him and he would be grinning from ear to ear. I mean, the whole thing was ridiculous how wild everyone there was as a part of the Bills Mafia. As we were walking, I was waiting to hear Greg say, “We need to stay here.” Or “Let’s keep going up and down the rows a few more minutes.” He looked like a 5 year old on Christmas morning. But it was almost 1pm so we made our way over to the stadium.

The Sweets have really awesome (or should I say...”sweet”) season tickets on the club level. What’s neat about New Era Field is that when you enter, you’re on the ground level but the field is below you. So they not only built up but down into the ground. Why? Lake Erie. Lake Erie is RIGHT there and Lake Ontario isn’t all that far either so you can get these incredible winds ripping through right off of the water and it would be too much to be sitting that high and getting blasted. I thought that was pretty interesting though.

The Bills were up for a little by 3 points. But let’s just say that was pretty short lived. But it was still fun to be there. I had been to a NFL game when I was pretty young and barely remember it so I considered this my first time at one. I thoroughly enjoyed it even if the Bills didn’t win. We left during the third quarter since we had over 6 hours of driving ahead of us and there was no chance the Bills were going to bounce back. With that being said, yes we did miss the streaker. While the Bills didn’t seem that alive on the field, the Bills Mafia sure as hell was. 

We hopped in the truck and made our way southbound. Considering we had such nice seats and were on club level, I didn’t find the right spot to place a #LiveLikeBrent sticker in Buffalo. But I bought a t-shirt for one of Brent’s best friends in Philadelphia and only other Bills fan I know, Dan. As we were standing in the tailgate lot earlier in the day, a guy was walking around selling t-shirts and I felt if Brent were there he would’ve bought it since it had the steal your face logo on it. So I asked Greg and Amanda to take a photo with the sticker. I trust that one time Amanda will come across the perfect spot for one.

Thank you to The Sweets and Greg for your hospitality and for such a fun weekend. I haven’t laughed that much in 24 hours in a very long time. I loved my first time in Buffalo and Brent would’ve as well. You are some of the best people and I’m thankful to have you in my life here in Philadelphia.

Photo/Video Credit: Greg Quinn, Amanda Sweet, Bills Mafia, & Catch Me Outside Girl

[degulover03]

Musical Theatre Challenge

This was meant to be a 30 Day Challenge but I'm too lazy. Also I feel as though this was targeted towards live theatre but I am going to count film adaptations and bootlegs... Sorry, IRL I've only seen two West-End shows (Wicked and Book of Mormon) and some amateur dramatics (P.S. I know people probably won’t care that I've done this or even see it but I got bored so...)

1) A number from one of your favourite musicals of all time

Benjamin’s Calypso (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) - It’s a random one to start off with but I LOVE this musical and this is my absolute favourite song from it.

2) A number from one of your favourite musicals of the past three years

Disappear (Dear Evan Hansen) - I love this song so much and yet it’s one of the most underrated songs in the show. (PS. DEAR EVAN HANSEN IS FINALLY COMING TO THE UK!!!)

3) A number from one of your least favourite musicals

March of the Falsettos (Falsettos) - Not gonna lie, I don’t hate this musical, it’s just that I don’t like that they killed off one of the only characters I liked (RIP Whizzer) and I don’t really get it that much. However I actually really like this song.

4) A number from the first musical you remember seeing

Popular (Wicked) - Wicked was technically the first show I saw because it was my first West-End show and before then I had only watched a few amateur dramatics at my local theatre and movie musicals. Popular and Defying Gravity were the only two songs I already knew (Defying Gravity from Glee and Popular from parody videos on YouTube)

5) A number from the musical that you saw most recently

Suddenly, Seymour (Little Shop of Horrors) - I just watched the film recently after having not watched it since I was a small child and I was just wondering how I was ever allowed to watch it! But this song is great.

6) A favourite opening number

Prologue (Into the Woods) - After watching the film I made it my goal to learn this song and I succeeded.

7) A favourite duet

What You Own (Rent) - It was between this and Take Me Or Leave Me, both from Rent; ironically I didn't really like Rent all that much.

8) A favourite dance break

King of New York (Newsies) - ICONIC! GET ‘DEM SPOONS BOIS! AND KATHERINE, YOU TAP YOUR HEART OUT!

9) A favourite ballad

On My Own (Les Misérables) - This song is a classic and fun to sing

10) A favourite “11 o'clock” number

I Believe (Book of Mormon) - What do I even have to say? 1) It’s hilarious 2) It’s sung by Andrew Rannells and 3) it’s catchy and actually has an official video from the Tony Awards.

11) A favourite comic number

Turn it Off (Book of Mormon) - THIS IS SO FUNNY! Plus there is some shippable material for McPriceley in this song.

12) A favourite ensemble number

One Day More (Les Misérables) - So many parts, so much to sing.

13) A number from a guilty-pleasure musical

I Know It’s Today (Shrek the Musical) - You just gotta love Fiona singing with herself. Relatable.

14) A number from a Best Musical Tony Nominee the year you were born

Without Love (Hairspray) - Hairspray (on Broadway) came out in 2003, so did I (that was cringe and I apologise, I will never say that again) and Without Love is my favourite song (mainly from the film with Zefron)

15) A favourite Female solo number

Watch What Happens (Newsies) - Katherine is AMAZING and Kara Lindsay sings it SO WELL! It’s a really hard song and you get out of breath really quick.

16) A favourite Male solo number

Santa Fe (Newsies) - SO MUCH NEWSIES but you gotta love that end note in Newsies Live though, I get goosebumps every time (Well done Jeremy Jordan)

17) A number from a musical that is underrated

Cry For Me (Jersey Boys) - I have literally no clue why this is my favourite song from Jersey Boys but it is, it may be because Andrew Rannells sung it too but meh. Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons are iconic, both the show and the song are underrated.

18) A number from a musical that is overrated

Memory (Cats) - Is there even a plot to this show?

19) A favourite love song from a musical

Something to Believe In (Newsies) - Even though I don’t ship it it’s still a great song (#Javid4Life)

20) A favourite number from a musical that did not originate in the US

As Long as He Needs Me (Oliver!) - After a small struggle of trying to think of a musical NOT made in the US, I felt incredibly stupid after remembering MANY, including Oliver Twist which is oh so British.

21) A favourite number from the “Golden Age” of Broadway

Sixteen Going on Seventeen (Sound of Music) - Also another iconic duet from yet another iconic musical (Iconic Iconic Iconic)

22) A favourite number performed by an antagonist

Meant to Be Yours (Heathers) - BAM! BAM! BAM! I love this song, too bad that JD’s a psycho though :(

23)  A number from a show you have never seen live but wish you could

Brooklyn’s Here (Newsies) - Okay, I know that I’ve put Newsies on here a billion times but it genuinely is the top of my bucket list of musicals to see, yet I can’t because it’s no longer on Broadway (not like I’d get to see it there anyway) and as far as I’m aware there are no UK performances :( Also Brooklyn’s Here is such a hype song

24) A number performed by a favourite female Broadway star

I’d Rather Be Me (Mean Girls) - Barrett Wilbert Weed is such a good singer and I love her in both Mean Girls and Heathers.

25) A number performed by a favourite male Broadway star

Waving Through a Window (Dear Evan Hansen) - Ben Platt is also an AMAZING singer and I first watched DEH because I was scrolling through YouTube and saw this song and was like “Hey, isn’t that Benji from Pitch Perfect?”

26) A number by a favourite composer

Carrying the Banner (Newsies) - Alan Menken alongside Jack Feldman did a great job on this song from the stage show and the film. It was, however, EXTREMELY difficult to pick just one Alan Menken song.

27) A number by a favourite choreographer

Seize the Day (Newsies) - Well done to Christopher Gattelli for choreographing the newspaper dance and making a tutorial video for an easier version. I still can’t do it though.

28) A number your would love to perform if you were of the opposite sex

For Forever (Dear Evan Hansen) - Why does this song have to be so low?

29) A number you have performed

Sherry (Jersey Boys) - I haven’t actually performed anything but this is one of the many songs that I play a lot on guitar.

30) A number you would love to perform in the future

Sincerely, Me (Dear Evan Hansen) - This song is really funny and the dance is fun to do.

Honourable Mentions:

These are some of the songs I wanted to include

Watch What Happens (Reprise) - Newsies

She Used to Be Mine - Waitress

Blue - Heathers

Candy Store - Heathers

Red and Black - Les Misérables

Defying Gravity - Wicked

Thanks to anyone who got this far