przed | Well, Then...

I've just spent the last three nights watching Take That videos on You Tube, poking about Hell Yeah Take That! on Tumblr, reading Take That RPS, and yes, buying the newest Take That album on iTunes.

Also, I've talked a friend into seeing The Eagle on Monday night at the very last theatre in the area still showing it. (Okay, it didn't take much talking into. I might have mentioned there was slash. And said friend might have enthusiastically agreed to go.)

I blame some of you.

And when I say some of you, I mostly mean

halotolerant and

sineala. And Robbie Williams, of course.

And really, I should say "credit" rather than "blame."

Here, have the Take That vid that started all of this:

And a pic of Jamie Bell in The Eagle.

I now return to my regularly scheduled session of drabble writing. (Starsky & Hutch for

loyseofverlaine!) Though is it really a drabble when it's edging ever closer to 1,000 words?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

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I haven't seen too much recent HK stuff either, but Mad Detective is a good one from a year or so ago. It's Lau Ching Wan at his most unhinged, which is always a good thing. (I'd recommend any action film with Lau. Just avoid his comedies.) And Exiled, with the very cool Simon Yam and Anthony Wong, is also very good.

Thanks for the heads up on the DVDs. The Zeroes to Heroes one is 3 quid on Amazon. That Robbie's head on Mark's crotch interview is worth at least that. (Though lord, one does want to smack Howard a bit for being a bit of a sexist git. Ah well, he was young.)

That rock 'n roll medley is pretty amazing. And further proof, if any was needed, that Take That are direct descendants of the music hall tradition. (Robbie is adorable, even with the floppy haircut of doom. And yep, Howard spinning Jason around his body is, ahem, awe inspiring.)

From:

halotolerant.livejournal.com

The Zeroes to Heroes one really isn't a bad deal at all, particularly for that kind of money! Although it had it's audio track removed at some point so there are weird montage sequences of photos of their old primary schools with no voiceover in parts... Still worth it though! *g* And yes, oh Howard *shakes head*

We love it when they lift each other *g* I'll never forget the moment at the Circus tour dress rehearsal (which

cenea won tickets for and very kindly invited me to) when we first realised Howard and Jason were going to re-create the 'Shine' video and lift Mark over an entire piano... High pitched doesn't even cover it *g*

'Live in Berlin' which that clip is from is what I consider to be the best of the original shows - they were at the point of combining success with all still liking each other and it was before Robbie went off the rails in any big way. There was an accompanying official photo book called 'Take That in Private' by Alex Kadis which is HUMUNGOUSLY slashy and contains numerous descriptions of them all sitting a group hug fondling each other - not to constantly pimp products at you but it is currently one pence + postage on amazon so you might fancy getting one *g*

From:

przed.livejournal.com

You got to see the Circus dress rehearsal! (That high pitched noise you just heard from across the pond was me squeeing.) I think I'd almost rather see the dress rehearsal than the show. Though who am I kidding, I am now dying to see one of their shows live. (Did you get tickets to the Progress tour? If so, I'm going to have to live vicariously through youl)

That book does sound rather delicious. Hmmm. A pence plus postage. Wonder if I can find a Canadian vendor...

From:

halotolerant.livejournal.com

It was utterly splendid - about 50 competition winners in the massive stadium, we got to watch the whole thing from the front row, running up and down the stadium when they moved from the A to the B stage and back *g*

Ahem, yes, tickets for the Progress tour. I may possibly be going six times *coughs* I mean, I saw the Circus twice in the end which was no way near enough times (So. Damn. Good. Live. OMG.) and with Robbie in the equation you just know every night will be different. Can't wait *g* Vicarious living is all good - hopefully they'll put some video content out during the tours too, they did last time.

I could buy one and mail it to you if you want? (or, actually, with any of this stuff, if hard to find over there) ♥

From:

przed.livejournal.com

Six! Iz jealous. If very very pleased for you. (I can't blame you. Heck, I saw a-ha three times last year and regret it not a bit.)

I'm sort of sad the TT love didn't bite me early enough that I could have got tickets. Ah well, I don't have enough vacation days to manage a trip to England anyway. ::sigh::

Thank you for the kind offer. I may take you up on it at some point. It's always best to find a Canadian vendor, since then I don't get hit for duty, but if that fails... (I'm currently checking my Amazon UK account every few hours to see when they ship my TT DVDs. They are "Dispatching Soon." Yay!)

From:

przed.livejournal.com

I'll never forget the moment at the Circus tour dress rehearsal (which [info]cenea won tickets for and very kindly invited me to) when we first realised Howard and Jason were going to re-create the 'Shine' video and lift Mark over an entire piano

Of course, I had to run down and throw the Circus disk in the old player and check out Howard and Jason lifting Mark over the piano. Awwww. Though boo to the director for nearly missing out on the moment. They pretty much did miss most of Howard and Jason breakdancing on the piano.

From:

halotolerant.livejournal.com

The editing/angles on Circus is less satisfactory than BW, which I think is partly the problems of filming in the stadium and partly the attempt to capture the entire spectacle, when honestly I think many of the DVD-purchasing die-hards would be pretty happy with more shots of the boys and less of acrobats. They do show a good deal of the best bits though.

Here in a satirical number from Ultimate Tour Howard lifts Mark around the 4:30 mark, and the breakdance may be quite familiar *g*

Not uninteresting in the rest of it either... working theory is that the 'commandments' relate to the one moving when they are spoken, sort of makes sense.

From:

przed.livejournal.com

Circus is a bit more frustrating than BW. The BW disk is rapidly turning into my Platonic ideal of what a concert dvd should be. I can appreciate them want to show the acrobats (I finally got Ros to watch The Garden number with the elephant, but what really captivated her was the acrobats who performed while the boys were doing their costume change) and yet to miss iconic moments with the band seems a waste.

That number from the Ultimate Tour is very, very interesting. It's a bit of a jokey start, but it gets pretty brutal in dissecting and deconstructing both their initial success and people's reaction to that success. The end bit with the quotes on screen borders on the harrowing, actually. Yep, my opinion of them continues to grow apace.

From:

halotolerant.livejournal.com

The Ultimate Tour was the first proper content of theirs I'd seen (I'd caught and quite enjoyed the videos of Patience and Shine but didn't pay a huge amount of attention) - I happened to see bits of it on TV around the time the BW DVD came out and I saw the emotion and the drama and the EPIC mantouching and ran out that day to get the full length DVD! And never looked back... *g* I was amazed how raw and real they were prepared to be - all I really knew about them was that Robbie had left and that Gary Barlow was the epitome of uncool and I hadn't expected any of that to be addressed in any way. I was also unprepared for how simply *good* they would be as performers and the chemistry and obvious affection between them. I moved onto Gary's book and For the Record and got utterly drawn in *g*

The shadow of 'the manager' hangs heavy over their reminiscences of the early days; one of the most important points in Gary's book is when he realises that his relationship with their manager was vastly different to the other three's, and makes his decision to support them in breaking away.

From:

przed.livejournal.com

Until you linked to that video, I didn't think I'd bother with the Ultimate Tour. Now I clearly need to get it. They are remarkably willing to strip things bare, with is fascinating. I'm pleased, though not entirely surprised, at how good they are at the showmanship and theatricality. What really got me with Robbie was his showmanship, and they all learned it in the same school. (Though clearly Robbie was going to be rather good at that sort of thing naturally.)

"The manager" has rather a lot to answer for, by the sound of things. And yet again I'll say that I really do have to get hold of Gary's book. (Their whole narrative seems to be almost custom built for fanfic, down to the villainous manager, and their relatively easy acceptance of the gay milieu, regardless of their own sexuality.)

From:

halotolerant.livejournal.com

Oh I do think it's worth having (big surprise, ahem) but really, the atmosphere comes right through it - the joy the four of them have at being together and miraculously being back on stage with a stadium full of fans. Yeah, it's only the old music and they do the old Beatles medley to pad it out (which is lovely in and of itself but always to me ends up sounding less good than the Beatles, as anyone would) but the staging and filming is good and there's a nice 'making of' kind of filling in the gaps about what happened after 'For the Record' (although Gary's book has more detail)

The narrative sucks you in, it really does, it has all the elements of epic TV series - love, disagreement, separation, teamwork, reversals of fortune, challenges, separate and inter-twining relationships, villains and shades of grey. *g*

The fact that they all became so used to working with and around gay men, going to gay clubs, flirting with gay men to help themselves along as woman might flirt with a straight man is very interestingly explored in Gary's book. He talks about enjoying being mistaken for a gay man and - to me most fascinatingly - his jealousy when he realised that whilst their manager favoured him, he clearly was far more attracted to Jason - I could go on but I don't want to tell you all of it in advance - I really wasn't expecting such honesty or such self-deprecation from him.

From:

przed.livejournal.com

I think you've sold me on the Ultimate Tour. Not that I needed much selling. But I'm going to hold off and wait until I've got my big Amazon UK order in hand before getting any more TT goodies.

Their working/flirting with gay men is completely fascinating. For straight boys and pop idols (tho' is Jason straight? because he's the one I would guess might actually be gay) they seem remarkably savvy about gender issues. Which of course can only endear them to me further. And yeah, Gary sounds like he's really thought about those issues and dealt with them, which is fascinating. (I'm never going to be a Gaz fan--there is no way in which I fancy him--but I think I'll end up respecting him a heck of a lot.)

I'm glad I've discovered the TT love, because I'm having one hell of a week, and nightly doses of watching the lads in concert have made it a bit more bearable. (Just found out this afternoon that the dad of one of Ros' friends died in his sleep while they were on a family vacation. He was maybe in his early 50s, which no health issues to speak of. Horrifying.)

From:

halotolerant.livejournal.com

Yeah, definitely a good idea to pace yourself - prolongs the enjoyment! *g*

Jason's sexuality is a matter of debate, albeit not very heated since he's probably got the most private private life of any of them - he once said in an interview that he'd happily date a man if he fancied him but hadn't up till that point. Another interview pre-Circus tour seems to suggest that all the rainbow balloons that start the show are a nod of his to Gay Pride. He and Howard once showed up at G-A-Y nightclub in London in the Old Days wearing nothing but thongs - they certainly enjoy and appreciate male appreciation as much as female.

I find Gary remarkably hard to get into slash fic (he just wants to sit there and be sensible and not all emotional *g*) but I do admire him in a lot of ways.

I'm sorry to hear you're having such an utterly rubbish week (I saw your other post too) - far too much in one go and then to be ill just makes everything harder to deal with. I will be thinking of you and sending all best wishes ♥

In response to your prompt at my drabble meme I am writing you what has swiftly become a 5,000+ word steampunk Mark/Robbie AU with added balloons, if that is an encouraging thought at all *g*

Meanwhile have some more footage that is hopefully diverting and entertaining:

and this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsVYfOejmJU (they are dancing with - apparently - clubbers literally pulled from the nearest gay club - note the drag queens! - and Mark's t-shirt is stuff of legend *g*)

♥

From:

przed.livejournal.com

Good for Jason being private. Won't stop me speculating, though, if just a bit.

I can see Gary being all sensible and reasonable in the slash. Which might be sort of amusing to play with. Hmmm.

The weekend was not as completely rubbish as it might have been. I got to say goodbye to my aunt, and spend time with my mum and cousins. The cold I've got is annoying, but hasn't taken me down entirely. Could have been worse.

In response to your prompt at my drabble meme I am writing you what has swiftly become a 5,000+ word steampunk Mark/Robbie AU with added balloons, if that is an encouraging thought at all *g*

That might be an encouraging thought. Or it might be Utterly Fantastic! Can't wait to see the results, though take whatever time you need with it. (Steampunk Mark/Robbie with add balloons.... Mmmmmm.)

The vids are adorable, and just what I needed at the moment. (Though the last one won't play. Damn you Sony Music.) I'm downloading the Mark and Robbie surfing on, for use in the proposed vid I may or may not be sort of working on.

From:

halotolerant.livejournal.com

It's mostly that the tabloids - along with most non-fans - don't really know who he is (when Howard was in the paper for the pneumothorax he was 'Take That Star' in the headline) and he doesn't court them. He's occasionally photographed in the Evening Star dancing in a club after some event or other but he's never really been seriously linked with anyone.

I'm very glad to hear things were better than they might have been over past few days. I hope the cold is improving even more! Fic is coming along, it will be a wee while because I like to finish before I start posting and this is shaping up to be a more-than-one-chunk-fic (this btw is a Good Thing - I've not been inspired with a full on plot in aaaages *g*)

vid I may or may not be sort of working on
*bounces* *g* That clip is from the random clips from the 'Everything Changes' VHS which was brought out with the album and features indivdual and group pieces-to-camera (scarcely interviews) and all the videos relating to the album. The bit in the Mark/Robbie YT vid with them both getting their trousers down to compare tattoos is the same thing.

The last vid is 'Relight My Fire' video if you want to check it out - not very slashy as such but has Mark Owen in a tiny top *g*

Here is a video from Mark's solo years for 'Alone Without You' which, well, let's just say it's easy to believe it's about Robbie (like all his solo stuff there is no gender on the 'you' he is addressing and note the lyric 'I listened to your album' which narrows it down a bit...)

This shows Mark and Robbie 'wrestling' at about 1:53

And this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lubdDGUjS0 is the first of a series of YT uploads of the 'bits between the music videos' of the Greatest Hits VHS (all camcorder stuff of the band, mostly towards the end, including at one point Mark being tickled on a sofa by Gary and Robbie and looking blissfully happy).

From:

przed.livejournal.com

It's mostly that the tabloids - along with most non-fans - don't really know who he is (when Howard was in the paper for the pneumothorax he was 'Take That Star' in the headline) and he doesn't court them.

That's probably the sanest way to deal with the sort of life those lads must have. I couldn't imagine what the others go through with the tabloids after them all the time. Either they don't want to avoid them or they haven't got the knack of it, but it's got to be a brutal double-edged sword.

My cold is lingering, but mostly irritating more than anything. And my aunt continues to hold on. Which really isn't good. It'll be a week since her stroke tomorrow.

I've spent a chunk of the evening watching the bits from Everything Changes. They are pretty adorable, though I didn't hit the bit where Mark and Robbie sit across from each other and act adorable. You wouldn't have a link to that all in a chunk, would you?

I found the Relight My Fire video. Oh my, that is a tiny t-shirt, isn't it. (My reaction swings wildly between, wow, he's pretty and wow, what was he thinking. Which is also my reaction to the Pray video. That is one concentrated chunk of very pretty men, but it's also OTT silly. But, like I said, pretty. Oh, TT, how you sometimes vex me so. *g*)

I love that Mark Owen solo number. Which has pretty much sold me on getting that album. I saw iTunes Canada had it a few days ago and was debating whether to get it. And yeah, that could be totally read as being about Robbie, the gal in the video notwithstanding.

BTW, I read your 1912 AU last night. I've already commented on AO3, but I want to let you know how very much I adore it. I've been thinking about it all day. Your descriptions are wonderful, and you really create a fully realized world to drop them into. I'd love to see more about Jason and "that horrible Donald boy." I've also been thinking how that story could lead to a very interesting WW I sequel, looking at the year and their ages. (Feel free to ignore that. I may take a stab at a WW I AU at some point myself. I already seem to have started poking away at a kind of very post post-apocalyptic AU. I'll have to see if I can make anything of it.)

I am glad you're not annoyed with me for giving you the steampunk prompt. And that the story is working out. I definitely don't want to put pressure on you to post until you're done. I could never post as I write. There's too much honing of each bit before I'm done the whole.

As for Mark being tickled by Robbie and Gary, awwwww. To paraphrase Robbie in the Sure video, (and my mom!) bless their little cotton socks.