#last years model

[appalachianbacchus]

On May 28th, 2016, I went with a friend and his band, Last Year’s Model, to Grafton, WV for their ninth annual Spirit of Grafton Fest. This event was created to celebrate the beginning of Summer and to commemorate Memorial Day.

The city of Grafton has a small stage set up in the vacant lot. They called it the Toad Hall.

As evening pressed, the rainy late Spring day gave beautiful clouds to catch that light.

I hadn’t taken many outdoor concert photos and o was working on balancing that natural light.

I enjoyed seeing this little plaza. There have since been several murals painted on the walls.

I appreciated the textures on the walls in connection to the former building. And I showed my friend one of my convex magnifying filters.

[peterstanslizzie]

Re-watching Lizzie Mcguire: Episode 1.23 (Last Year’s Model)

“You like me, you really like me”. She didn’t say this but I feel this is the perfect description for this picture lol

- The Mcguire family’s got mail! Besides the generic ones like bills, Matt receives a letter that contains a $50 gift certificate from his grandma, Gammy Mcguire for his birthday. 

- But she seemed to forget when Matt’s birthday is because she had already gifted him his present 7 months ago. I still would like to see Gammy actually appear on-screen and interact with her family. But we are never going to get that I’m afraid. 

- As for Lizzie, she asks her mom if she could participate in a fashion show organised by ‘Teen Attitude’ magazine. If she’s chosen by them, she will receive $500 worth of merchandise. I would definitely want to do that fashion show just for the perks. Her mom seems to be on board as long as she does her homework and stops picking on Matt.

Lizzie says sure but we all know that she’s not going to do one of the two promises lol

Lizzie The Runway Model

Remember when fashion shows back then were all fun and joyful and the models always used to spin around? Nowadays, most models just look so miserable.

- Gordo seems to be on-board with the whole modeling thing for Lizzie, mostly because of the $500. Isn’t he the type of person who views modeling as superficial? I also wonder why Miranda wasn’t interested in trying out for the fashion show?

- Mr. Dig, their substitute teacher suddenly interrupts their conversation and went off on a tangent by talking about the time he gave advice to a model by the name of Colette Romana, whose face was broken when an elephant sat on her face in Nairobi.....okayyy

Mr. Dig is really odd but I do appreciate his honesty with the kids when it comes to life lessons 

- Next, we move on to the ‘Styling’ and Sassy’ fashion show! Lizzie’s parents, her friends and even Kate Sanders plus Ethan Craft are in the audience. Can I just say that Lizzie totally rocked the runway!? She really fits the typical girl-next-door look the fashion show was trying to showcase and not to mention, I love the fact that an S Club 7 song (Everybody Wants Ya) is playing in the background too!

Work that twirl girlfriend!

- Kate is clearly jealous that she couldn’t do the fashion show because she had to go to a funeral. Wow Kate, way to hit a new low this time. But I must say; Kate would’ve have been great for this because she certainly has the height for the runway. 

Everybody Is Acting Weird Around Lizzie

- After the fashion show, Lizzie tells her friends that she was asked to do another fashion show due to her amazing performance. Gordo then makes a joke with her, reminding her to not forget about them when she becomes famous and all of a sudden, Lizzie forgets his name when addressing him...umm what? Hope she wasn’t kidding when she did that.

- After that, we see this girl who sat with Kate and Ethan in the fashion show approach Lizzie and invites her to her dad’s clubhouse to hang out in the hot tub and watch the new Backstreet Boys DVD. This show is definitely old lmao!

Okay, this girl’s name is Jessica. I had to fast forward to figure that out.

- Lizzie hesitates to say yes because she already made plans with Gordo and Miranda to watch a movie but turns out, both her friends are very eager to join Lizzie at the country club and hang out with the popular kids. Even Gordo!

- We are then taken to the clubhouse and our trio is seen chilling in the hot tub. Gordo is mostly enjoying the free food being served. I can definitely relate to him. What’s surprising me right now is how Kate’s acting all cool and friendly in front of Lizzie.

What a sudden change in attitude! She’s now acting as if Lizzie is a legit celebrity, which she isn’t. I don’t get it.

- It’s not just with Kate; Miranda is also acting different around Lizzie. She offers to bring a drink over to Lizzie and basically recites the entire drinks menu. She’s acting like Lizzie’s personal assistant. But wow, Miranda actually seems to have a great memory when it comes to listing things out. 

- Back at the hot tub, Gordo is talking to Jessica and tells her he has videos of Lizzie that he has shot for his short films/documentaries. He offers to come over to her house to show her some of them to which she says yes, as long as he brings Lizzie along. 

Why is Gordo the only one wearing shades? It’s either he has sensitive eyes or he just wants to look cool, which isn’t something Gordo would do

- And just like that, Lizzie is going to watch videos at Jessica’s on Sunday night without agreeing to it. On top of that, she’s apparently going dancing at the ‘Shango Tango’ on Saturday night with them as well. Basically, they want to use Lizzie’s status as a model to grant them access to these places. She did one fashion show and they’re acting like she’s Gigi Hadid or whatever lol

Lizzie’s Famous Now

- At school, everyone is just staring at Lizzie everywhere she goes. Even Kate goes up to her and compliments her outfit and accessories. 

“My earrings match my eyes?”. This line is definitely memorable to me. 

- Plus, it seems like the tables have turned because Lizzie and Ethan have literally switched characters. When Lizzie is talking to him about an English test they just took, he’s acting like the old Lizzie when she’s around him; all awkward and fidgety. 

- Lizzie notices all of this and tells her friends how everyone is acting so different around her. Miranda and Gordo doesn’t view this as a negative; They like the fact that people are noticing them now and inviting them to all sorts of special events/parties. 

- After running away from the other students who were all just staring at her still, Lizzie hides in a room where Mr. Dig is and he then takes a picture of Lizzie to have it signed so he can sell it to his nephew...and niece. Well, putting that aside, Lizzie rants to her teacher how everyone and even her best friends are treating her differently nowadays since the fashion show. 

- Mr. Dig suggests to Lizzie that she should treat them like how a celeb diva would and treat them like dirt. This is to remind them that they are her friends and not her posse. 

Lizzie Brings Out Her Inner Diva

- Gordo and Miranda arrive at Lizzie’s house and Lizzie commences “Operating Superstar Brat” by acting like a total diva towards her friends. She’s even dressed up like one from head to toe. 

Even worse, Gordo and Miranda follow her orders and starts to bark like dogs, albeit their execution was a little sloppy lol.

- Soon after, Lizzie drops her act and tells her friends that they have changed. They clearly realise this and promise to Lizzie that things will go back to normal and they won’t act like her posse anymore. But the problem is, everyone else is still treating her differently. And this is the solution she came up with:

To act like a complete and utter fool on the runway. 

- I have to give props to Lizzie for having the courage to dress up like this and act this way in front of an audience. But if I were her, I wouldn’t want to give up a modeling contract with a popular magazine just because people are acting differently around me. I mean, I would at least give it more time to see if the situation would improve. Most of all, I wouldn’t want to embarrass myself publicly like how Lizzie did here. 

- Also, she didn’t have to include this dumb confrontation between her and Miranda. It just wasn’t necessary.

Y’all didn’t need to fight. The fashion show was already ruined when Lizzie started scratching her butt lol

B-Plot: Matt Goes Shopping

- Sam and Jo brings Matt and Lanny to the hardware/electronics store to shop for things he can get with the $50 gift certificate. Lanny gravitates towards the massage chair but it’s way too expensive. We then get a montage of the boys and Matt’s parents trying out different products at the store to the song, ‘Shopping’ by the Pet Shop Boys. It’s a pretty catchy song if you ask me. 

My favorite part of the montage is when they reference back to the Austin Powers’ villains, Dr. Evil and Mini-Me 

- Matt spots a hammock priced at $75 and he thinks it’s perfect for him. Even though it costs $25 more, Lanny is able to cover the rest because he’s earning money from his website. My question is, what kind of content is in Lanny’s website anyways?

- Back in the Mcguires’ backyard, Matt and Lanny are busy assembling the hammock they just bought but unfortunately for them, they got less than stellar results:

Exhibit A

- They are back at the store again and they want to return the hammock and get a refund. However, the store clerk, who is being a total prick tells them that they can’t get a refund on sale items. Okay fine but he needs to watch his tone when talking to customers. And he even called Sam an ‘old timer’. The disrespect! Sheeesh!

And the award for worst customer service goes to...

- Sam leaves behind Matt and Lanny to talk to the manager and afterwards, we see the two boys doing the absolute right thing by playing a prank on the useless employee who is walking on the treadmill. They proceed to tape his hands onto both handles and increase the speed on the treadmill. I’m not the one to agree with pranking others but this guy really deserved it.

Overall Thoughts

- This is yet again, a very entertaining episode. I love how the story was very Lizzie-centric this time and it did not disappoint. I mean, it was a little outrageous how EVERYONE was acting and treating Lizzie like a total A-lister after appearing in one fashion show. It’s like they assumed that everybody reads ‘Teen Attitude’ magazine.

- It kinda got me to think that maybe after the events of The Lizzie Mcguire Movie, I would assume that everyone at school would treat her similarly because she did perform a hit song in front of millions of people in Italy, which I’m sure it caught the attention of US mainstream media.

- Besides that, the soundtrack of this episode was incredible! I had to look up the songs on YouTube because they were so catchy. Lastly, Matt’s storyline was pretty insignificant in this episode and it didn’t really provide me with anything besides some physical comedy.

[appalachianbacchus]

On January 21st, 2016, five days after the concert at Mylan Park, sponsored by Schmitt’s Saloon, I attended another show at Schmitt’s Saloon. Last Year’s Model opened for The Aristotle Jones Experience.

Concert lighting became my new challenge. It helps when the venue has interesting and sharp lighting, but some of it boils down to balancing the shutter speed, the aperture, and the ISO.

The added fisheye lens also offered an additional variable.

Shutter speed had to stay around 1/50 of a second to avoid too much motion blur. The aperture was f3.5, so it was a bit wider in the dark, and ISO was ~200. Any higher, and it would have been grainy.

Last Year’s Model has been described as comparable to Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, the Killers, and U2. They feature a lot of electronic “heartland rock.”

The lead singer/writer has talked about the importance of storytelling. He aims to recognize the complicated feelings of life by simultaneously acknowledging his pain and celebrating the beautiful things of life in the songs.

Last Year’s Model’s songs include a sense of hopefulness in spite of the tragedies.

After Last Year’s Model played, The Aristotle Jones Experience went on stage.

Aristotle Jones aims to blend classic gospel chorus with Appalachian soul to create his own style.

Jones would take classic coal worker folk songs and sing them with the influence of soul music.

Jones often references influence by other West Virginian musicians like Johnnie Johnson and Bill Withers as his inspirations.

I enjoyed the time we spent at this venue and I enjoyed the music we got to hear.

[appalachianbacchus]

Dive bar concerts are great places to practice low-light shots.

I have a friend who sings for local band, Last Year’s Model. In November 2015, I went with them to shows for a few years and I practiced my low-light shots.

To balance these images, I had two options:

Longer exposure

Or higher ISO

The longer exposure offered interesting trailing shots but the higher ISO offered more clarity of the members’ faces.

It helped that this club had some good lights on the band.

[appalachianbacchus]

On January 16th, 2016, I went with my friend's band to an event at Mylan Park connected to Schmitt's Saloon.

This bar was owned by former West Virginia University (WVU) football player, Owen Schmitt and associated with local band, the Davisson Brothers. It only lasted five years, but they had a lot of concerts there.

I initially planned to take photos with Last Year's Model, but The Aristotle Jones Experience played first. This was my first experience with this band. I would describe them as a blend of Appalachian folk and blues.

I had a fisheye lens for about four years, but I hadn't used it much. I was told concerts were a great place for fisheye lenses, so I practiced with it there.

I caught some cool shots with Aristotle Jones and then Last Years Model got on stage.

I think if the lighting was different, or if I was better preparted for the outcome, I could have caught some better shots, but I'm glad I got a chance to practice.

[appalachianbacchus]

The city of Shinnston typically has a nice Fourth of July celebration with live local musicians and the community band.

In 2015, before the fireworks started, we listened to local band, Last Years Model. As the fireworks were set off, the community band played.

I love when my hometown spends time on the arts.

[peterstanslizzie]

View this post on Instagram

After Lizzie had realized her best friends have been treating her differently, she takes matters into her own hands by transforming herself into Diva Lizzie 💅💍 Clips are taken from #lizziemcguire episode 1.23, 'Last Year's Model'. No copyright infringement intended. I simply provide commentary on different scenes taken from Lizzie Mcguire episodes. Credit goes to @disneychannel and Stan Rogow Productions #disney #disneychannel #disneyplus #hilaryduff #lalaine #adamlamberg #olddisneychannel #disneynostalgia #teencomedy #wholetthedogsout #woofwoof #lastyearsmodel #teencomedy https://www.instagram.com/p/B5VfM8gH4Qt/?igshid=okjkhcplxscb

[poorghost]

So after 10 long years

My TV finaly died today.

You lived a long hard life and I'm sorry,

Hello new 4k tv

Dem 4 k anime tiddys though