synchronicity, Willie style

OK, It appears I was posting my faux-peterman sandwich essay while Mike was posting the poll. I tried to vote, but do not seem to have had my vote counted and I have never even BEEN to minnesota, afaik. Mike's point is excellent- we will need several topics, so we can use them all if we want to. I do like the sandwich, though, as a way of introducing his character. MissI, if you want to do movies, I think it would be good to do one that refers specifically to OUR movie, which I think would maybe be the modren classic The Big Chill. Though I am sure we can all talk about any movie in the world, whether we have seen it and can discuss it intelligently, or have never seen it, but want to type a little anyway.

I have been working under the assumption that "my" character is the dead guy. I like the idea of a mismatched crowd, so that we aren't all expected to pair off-Shakespearean style, but at the same time, there are enough boys AND girls that each character has the illusion of choice. No actual choice, because WE will make them do what we want them to, but still the appearance of being able to choose from several characters as potential partners- and the always popular No Partner...

Working backwards from Mike's excellent ending, I figure the hookup ends up being one of the two guys ( I vote for Mike's guy, who seems to have no other obligations at the moment ) and (surprise, surprise) one of the three women. I figure, probably the one who arrives by herself. Is that realistic? If two women arrive together, will they be more or less likely to be interested in a little out of town romance? Or does who you travel with not really affect it? Would we like a young widow? Someone who was working on a little internet crush on Ignatz before his demise?

Just for the sake of being corrected, I imagine Jen and Pam ( well, their characters, of course) arriving together. Maybe they have a chance to meet Peter before they get to the funeral, maybe not. I see the funeral as a place of several voice over monologues ( see Heathers for an example of this very idea) with maybe one brief conversation between Pam and Jen. I see a sort of wandering camera, here and there in a sparse crowd, looking at various people and wondering "Is that JP?" "Is that Peter? Wasn't that guy at the airport?" "Who all came?" that sort of thing. And the fun part would be that several of the people will ask the same questions about each other. I forget now whether I listed a scene of a pre-funeral gathering or not, but I like the idea of wandering into a graveside service cold, with no clear indication of who is friend or foe, etc, and then either a reception-ish gathering afterwards or a scene of people standing around talking at the cemetery. And then the focus narrows to our five friends in a restaurant or bar ( or one then the other) as the talking goes on, then the nominal leave taking, the flirting, the hinting, the apologetic explanations of unavailability, maybe the second thoughts, etc. And then, when it looks like everyone is going to bed alone, POW, the couple with second thoughts realize they are staying at the same hotel and the circling resumes.

Tearful reunion in the u-s-a, day by day, those memories fade away, etc.
No, not really, a sweet leave taking breakfast the next morning at Denny's or the Awful Waffle. Olivia sneaks some booze into the OJ... Jen asking Pam "Did you really have sex with a stranger?" and Pam pointing out that he is not a stranger, she has been reading his writing for months and she isn't going to say whether or not the 'slept together', since, with the possible exception of a single car trip, she and jen know each other about as well as she and Mike do... yes, no, are you kidding?

Maybe a scene where Jen calls Olivia in the middle of the night and says "You'll never believe it. Pam is still out. Do you think she is with Peter or Mike and Olivia will admit she has to be with mike, since she (O) is talking to peter. or something like that? It might also be fun for one of the characters to exude sex, but not act on it, while another one is the surprising quiet type?

As always, I am throwing ideas out in hopes of either acceptance or rejection. It could be either one. Let's just start the conversation, eh?