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Post by jazzs3quence on Oct 15, 2010 11:27:45 GMT -8
The care and feeding of a mark isn't much different than any other pet. You need to teach them their place, surely, give them rewards when they've been good, spank them when they've been bad. Like any other domestic animal, they have a particular diet; a cat won't shake a tail at a bowl full of dog food, and, while a dog might eat cat food, you won't want to clean up its shit afterwards. With a mark, the hunger is insatiable -- that's how you know you've got a good mark -- and they'll be staring at the prize long after you've taken them for all they're worth. If you've done your job right, they won't see it coming, and will be standing, helpless, in your wake.Penn fills Ben in with enough jazz-related history and names to get by. Everything in modern jazz begins and ends with Miles Davis, of course, but we don't speak his name or acknowledge as such -- to do so would be tacky, obvious and expose your ignorance. Instead we turn to the Gillespies, Parkers, Colemans, Coltranes and Monks, cross-referenced with members of different combinations like Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Branford Marsalis, Cannonball Adderley, Chick Corea and on and on until Ben's head is numb and stuffed with names, albums, dates and tracks. He spends much of the next day finding local specialty jazz record and music shops, and hoarding as many of the more obscure titles Penn mentions as he can and begins subjecting his ears to a range of sounds from the abrasive thrash-metal-inspired experimentalism of John Zorn's more eclectic projects to the psychedelia-infused Bitches Brew and On the Corner period of Miles Davis' catalogue, to the lovely and easy rendition of "My Favorite Things" by John Coltrane. Finding the name of Davy's friend is easy enough, and Penn supplies it to Arch and Ben a few hours after leaving the Dennys: Morgan Ashley, leader and trumpet player of a rockabilly revival ensemble called the Morgan Ashley Six, however on Sunday night he will be doing a solo performance of interpretations of Miles Davis' seminal Kind of Blue. Armed with a name, Arch and Ben do their collective research and pull up some background on the man hitting what contacts they have that they can still speak to. Meanwhile Penn does her own kind of research, mostly comprising of Google and various internet social networks and bulletin boards while also hitting a few of the local jazz clubs and asking around. They agree to meet a couple hours before the show at the same bar that Penelope performed at a few nights earlier to compare notes and come up with a plan of action for approaching Mr. Ashley. What they collectively find using fairly public records and information on Morgan Ashley is as follows: Morgan Ashley is a man in his middle fourties living in a London suburb. He is a little known professional trumpet player and musician. His solo project, The Morgan Ashley Six, is a rockabilly revival group in which he plays solo trumpet with a guitarist, bass player, drummer, female vocalist, saxophone player and pianist. He also plays in the brass section of a radio-friendly alt rock band called Quite Large. Penn's contact, Davy, aka Davy Jones, aka Napoleon Fantastic, aka Brian, is the lead singer of Quite Large (his stage name being Davy Jones).
- Quite Large has been on hiatus for the past year after the keyboardist and bassist quit.
- Morgan Ashley does not perform as a session musician, giving that life up a few years ago after a string of bad experiences with fellow musicians.
- His solo project has yet to take off. They have one EP to their name released on Morgan's own 6/8 Records label.
- He appears to make his primary income from a highly ranked blog about successful blogging tips called Blog Inferno. He maintains several blogs including one dedicated to his solo music (MorganAshley.com) and one personal blog (Brass Tacks) in addition to Blog Inferno.
- Most of the publicly available information about him comes from his blogs and his social networking profiles (Twitter, LinkedIn and a number of blog and musician directories.)
- He is married and has a 2 year old daughter though beyond that, not much else is known.
- In addition to his three primary blogs, Ashley has been connected to several other blogs that appear to be written by completely different people.
-- AvonBlake.com is a blog that is apparently written by a british teenager cum blogging superstar. He's brash and most notable for posting a link to a torrent file of Tim Ferris' 4 Hour Work Week bragging about not paying for the book and proud of it, and bashing it for being "completely fecking worthless." -- HannahSkywalker.com is a british teenage girl cum wannabe blogging superstar. She first appeared commenting on Blog Inferno, then Avon Blake, before launching an all out comment and blog assault on an established pro blogger's site. In the wake of the controversy, she freely admited that it was all for page views and if you're reading this: it worked! -- Several other blogs exist that are connected through links to or from Hannah Skywalker, Avon Blake, or Blog Inferno, though no other direct ties can be easily made.
- All the suspect blogs appear to be written by the same author -- their link structure, tagging and category techniques, and above all, writing style is identical even on the blog that's supposed to be written by a teenage girl.
- Morgan Ashley is also the author of a $97 ebook that claims to "rocket power" your Twitter potential. It promises huge numbers of quality followers which can be transformed into traffic to your site or actual sales. The ebook, called Twitter Supernova, also advertises an affiliate program allowing affilates to earn 50% commission on each copy of Twitter Supernova they sell, and this is encouraged by the book as a way to "monetize your new Twitter following."
- Morgan considers himself a professional photographer, his sites all feature high quality, black and white, digital photography of studio equipment, musical instruments, etc. taken with a macro lens. There are no photographs of him save for one of his face mostly obscured by his camera.
Doing a bit of extra investigative work, cross-referencing some of the blogs against their DNS records and hitting some of Ben's seedier contacts, and using the information he gathered as a guide, Ben's able to dig up a bit of additional dirt on Ashley: - The real reason Ashley doesn't play as a session musician and exclusively persues his solo projects is because he can't get along with his fellow musicians. In one particularly hostile encounter, a fellow trumpeter said "aren't you that blogging guy?" and proceeded to rant about how all he did was sit on his ass all day and talk bullshit, why doesn't he get a real job. Ashley responded by breaking his nose. In another incident, Ashley was forcibly pushed out of a touring band he was part of by the new lead singer, and retaliated by assisting an embittered (and unpaid) web designer for the band in hijacking the band's web server and email addresses, seizing control of all their email and putting an angry "this is why you should pay your web designer" letter on the site instead of the band's official web site.
- All the pseudonymous blogs (and about 15 others in various states of activity) are hosted on the same server. Many of them are weakly guarded and cached pages reveal direct ties to several porn stars including known UK porn stars Abigail McKenzie and Lindsay Titmuss.
- The eBook, Twitter Supernova, is actually regurgitated information pulled directly from several, similar programs he "exposed as scams" on his own blog. It appears that he mashed the other methods together, sometimes using the exact techniques as the "scam" methods to the letter, and gave the whole thing a new name. He also added an affiliate program where affiliates receive a 50% payout for each sale.
Arch is also able to pull a couple local names out of his network of some additional resources that might be able to help with the actual con. Feeding these names to Ben, Ben makes the actual phone call and invites them to their meeting at the Sand Dollar. Trent is introduced by Ben as a computer expert, though Trent quickly corrects him by introducing himself as "Iceman." Madison, or Mads as she prefers, is Lorelei Madison, whom Ben introduces as a security systems specialist. She rolls her eyes and supplies instead, "I'm a theif" and begins rattling off a string of complex, high security locks and systems which make both Trent and Arch raise their eyebrows at but completely baffles Penn and Ben. Over at the bar, Tim nods in their direction and flashes a wink and a smile at Penn and continues polishing bar glasses and counter surfaces. UpkeepPenn +1XP Ben +2XP +1 Buzz (Persuade) Arch +2XP 13 - In the Mood(( sorry if jumping scenes is a bit jarring. I see this game existing in a more non-linear, cinematic style, so I expect we'll be doing this a lot as we move scenes. and I apologize about the lengthiness of the post, but there was sort of a lot of ground to cover in the interim. also, you probably noticed I've randomly inserted some new NPCs -- I'm testing out the Thief and Hacker classes to see how they work with the group and to see if there's any real overlap in skill sets. I don't have any actual stats on either of these characters, of course, and I might end up merging Dirt and Research to make room for some sort of physical skill like Agility or something (Arch has 2 points of both, so I'd give you those 2 points to spend in something else). ))
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Post by jazzs3quence on Oct 18, 2010 7:10:38 GMT -8
(( go on and run with what you've got here. I'll be quietly making changes in the background to how research/dirt works since I'm combining the two. Also: everyone (with the exception of Ben who just spent his points, I believe) has 20 points in XP, enough to buy a first point in a new stat or beef up something you've already got. New skills are 15XP, existing skills are 5 * (current level). Feel free to boss your new NPCs around. ))
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Post by brendur on Oct 18, 2010 8:18:26 GMT -8
Arch can't help but grin at the two new additions to their little cadre, and he does his best to hide that grin behind a swallow of scotch.
"They'll do."
When they get to laying out their collected information of Mr. Ashley, come Ben's insights to the man's blog details, Arch stuns the table by showing that yes he can laugh. "What a feckin ponce, s'good work that."He tips his glass to Ben before looking to Penn "Well, you've found us one ripe bird for the plucking. Question now, is how do we want to go bout this? My two quid? Sounds to me like his music's his carrot and this cut and paste job he's got goin wif his blog is our stick. If he found himself in a position where he needed a good bit oh filthy lucre quick, he might be persuaded to put down a bit on somefin what goes over his head. Over his head, and into our pocket."
(( Also I'd like to put 5 xp towards Arch's Lockpick, 5 towards Persuasion, and 10 towards Connections))
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Post by Gravedust on Oct 18, 2010 9:22:05 GMT -8
((Whew.. sorry, I meant to post over the weekend, but the time, she got away. : / Also feel free to correct any statements Ben makes that are blatantly false or stupid.. I guess what I'm going to go have to do is just buy some Hustle DVDs for 'research' )) "Yeah, he's pretty much a toolbag. And he's not afraid to use his fists, apparently. But that we can use that, if we have to." He wiggles the end of his nose with a finger. "Been a while since I've been hit, so let's hope we won't have to. One thing troubles me... He's pulled a lot of dick moves, but so far as I can tell he hasn't done anything really seriously federal prison illegal. Which doesn't give us much protection if he tries to bite us after the job's done. I'm hoping you-" he glances to Trent. "- I'm sorry, man... I... I can't say the name, it just makes me think of Val Kilmer and jet aircraft." He grins. "Give me some time, though. Anyway I'm hoping you can find something a little juicier. His security's about as tight as the adult stars he's associated with. I could have probably got further, but I don't really know how to without leaving traces. But if you have a go I'm sure you can find anything that's there." "Anyway. Provided we don't get anything else, we can hang the blogging thing over his head... He stands to lose some credibility and maybe some revenue for his silly little eBook over it. But it doesn't exactly take a MENSA card to see the similarites between writing styles and the copypasta'd book contents. I'm surprised nobody else noticed, but then either other people probably never took a hard look, or simply didn't have a stake in it. The eBook itself is a total scam, of course, but, you know, Caveat Emptor. Anyway, I'd really like something more concrete, but we can probably find a way to roll with what we've got. Maybe not for all the beans, but for something, at least." "On the extremely positive side, he's a public figure, or is trying to be be, which gives us about a million openings. Since you know how artists and musicians like to be told how awesome they are. This little book of his is approachable as well, I suppose, maybe he would bite at a print distribution offer? We could cut him a very lucrative deal, since we don't have to keep our word. Same for his music, maybe, though he's got his own label."
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Post by jazzs3quence on Oct 18, 2010 9:45:47 GMT -8
Trent clicks his teeth when Ben looks in his direction, his laptop already out and his fingers clacking across the keyboard like rabbits on speed. "Already ahead of you, grandpa," he says, his eyes fixed on the glowing screen. For a second, his fingers stop moving and his expression changes. "Whatthefuck?" He sighs, annoyed, then says -- apparently to his computer -- "You want to play that way, bitch? Eat this shit, fucker." Quickly, his expression goes completely blank, then: "No. NononononofuckyoufuckyouFUCK YOU!" He picks up his laptop and smashes it on the floor, then storms out of the bar, fishing a cigarette out of his pocket. (( wow, didn't expect that to happen... )) Madison rolls her eyes. "Boys. Find me where he's staying and I can get you something...Looks like our boy may need a new toy, too," she adds, eying the laptop pieces on the floor, and picking them up. She shrugs and pushes it across the table to Arch. "Need some scrap?"
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Post by Gravedust on Oct 18, 2010 10:25:57 GMT -8
((clearly he should have got one of these)) "Wow. All right, then." Ben says, suddenly wishing his drink was stronger. "After that stunning display of whatever that was, I'd like to reassure you all that this guy is actually okay." He takes a deep breath and flicks the remains of an optical drive. "Better go talk to the princess. Back in a jiff." He stands and wanders outside. "Hey man." He leans back against the wall. "Rough break there. I'm sorry, I probably stirred things up in there somehow without noticing when I went in earlier," he says in his very best 'I'm not lying to make you feel better' voice. "Come on back in and let's talk shop with the rest and figure out how to make some money. We all have to know we can trust one another, and part of that's sticking together. I'll help chip in for a new machine for you too if you need."
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Post by jazzs3quence on Oct 18, 2010 10:55:01 GMT -8
For a minute, Trent's face lights up like a boy in a Norman Rockwell painting, as if flattered for the attention. Then his face hardens and he shrugs off the sympathy, taking a deep pull on his Lucky Strike. "Whatever, man, it was a stupid fuckup. I guess I've been out of the game longer than I thought and he must've caught me on a bad day or somethin'. Anyway, my phone can do shit his computer couldn't dream of, he just loaded his site full of fucking malware and I clicked a bad link. Stupid n00b mistake. I'll be fine after I rip the HDD out of my deck. I needed an upgrade anyway...4 gigs just ain't enough memory, you know? And...and anyway...now I really want to hurt this fucker." He flashes a quick smile and then flicks his cigarette butt to the street. As they re-enter the bar, Trent sticks a hand up to wave at Tim behind the bar in a "it's okay, I'm not going to break anything else" kind of way. He pulls a compact silver tool that looks vaguely like a Swiss Army knife from his jacket and slides the remains of his laptop over to him and starts unscrewing the case. As he's unscrewing, he says to the group "So, uh, what were we saying?"
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Post by brendur on Oct 18, 2010 12:02:05 GMT -8
Arch's face goes a little tight when Trent throws his tantrum in fuck-all-view of everyone. Sourly looking at the pile of plastic that Madison pushes in front of him. He blinks for a moment looking at it, gears turning until a finished product pops into mind. He digs out his wallet and comes out with his magnetic room key.
"That, this, a few trips to the Radio Shack, and we could have yew a magnetic open says me."
He looks over when Ben and Trent return, relinquishing the mess of computer with little fuss. The old man nods in and understanding manner as Trent apologizes.
"S'all right sweetheart, just try not to have your time of the month out in feckin public next time."
He takes a sip from his scotch, keeping an eye on Trent as he does so. Licking his teeth he looks around to Ben.
"What if the job was the insurance? Talk him into somefin that was federal prison material."
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Post by Gravedust on Oct 18, 2010 12:39:09 GMT -8
Ben settles back in at the table and reclaims his drink.
"Ehh... I like it better when they put their own foot in the bear trap. But if that's how we have to go I think there's a chance this guy might bite on whatever we dangle, so long as it seems safe enough and his cut is big enough."
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Post by e on Oct 18, 2010 19:42:36 GMT -8
Penn sits at a tiny round table a few feet from the big conversations. She discreetly watches comings and goings at the bar and gives Tim a friendly wave and a knowing smile. She waves at Iceman and Mads when they're introduced, but is quiet. At some point she is brought back to the table by the sound of Arch's laughter, which is not entirely shocking, as she suspects the man has a solid heart hiding under all those rough edges, but it is perhaps a wee bit unsettling. She smiles at him for a moment before returning to her study of the club and its occupants.
She's brought her newest acquisition, a paperback Jacqueline Carey with a tattooed beauty queen on the cover. She's about 80 pages in and it's the dog's bollocks. She reads a few paragraphs, getting into a bit that's mostly scenery and puts it down, listening to the ideas fly. She thinks Arch and Ben are really doing quite well in the whole planning area and since she herself is more of a well, it seemed like the sort of thing to do in the moment girl, she's content to let others pore over blueprints and play out scenarios with Monopoly game pieces.
She heads outside for a ciggy or two and calmly proceeds to completely ignore Iceman's little temper tantrum and outdoor whinging (she's not insensitive, she's just smarter than to get involved and then morph into nanny or worse yet, psycho ex girlfriend) and when she comes back inside a few minutes after Ben and Iceman head in, she sets herself right down next to Mads. She rifles through her purse, finally locating a tin of mints at the very bottom and takes one, then passes it around the table.
"So, all, how's it coming then? Are we offering him the chance of a lifetime tour with Stevie Nicks or what're you lot of luvvly-jubbly brains thinking?"
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Post by jazzs3quence on Oct 19, 2010 6:33:36 GMT -8
Upkeep Ben +2XP +2 Connections (moved from Dirt) +1 Research
Penn +1XP
Arch +1XP +1 Lockpick +1 Persuasion +1 Connections
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Post by brendur on Oct 19, 2010 7:29:09 GMT -8
He chews on Ben's opinion for a moment, looking around the club.
"I fink we play it right, we can make him fink it was his idea from beginning to end. We hit him wif another minor internet graft, intentionally sloppy so he see's it walking up to his front door. It's got potential for growth though, if a good bit of quid is sunk into it and a few laws are broken. He'll slap it down at first of course, probably blog about it to increase his ratings. S'when we play to his ego, make him fink he's got a shot at his stardom again, course he'll need a good bit of money to help him get there. I think wif proper steering he'll bite at the graft, he's done it before, just needs the proper motivation to do it on a larger scale. As we're fond of saying over at the island 'Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.', am I roight?"
He drains the last of his scotch looking around the table, seeing how his idea sells to the others, leaving out that his words of wisdom are the same his wife used to annul their marriage.
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Post by Gravedust on Oct 19, 2010 9:44:37 GMT -8
Ben listens quietly as Arch rolls out his outline, drumming his fingers lightly against the rim of his glass. When Arch he finishes he thinks a moment longer then pipes up.
"Okay.. So... I guess the hard part'll be thinking up exactly what to hit him with... Maybe something familiar, something close to what he's done already, just to make extra sure he sees it coming.. But something bigger, more dangerous and with a wider profit margin... That's a way to go, I guess. Devil's in the details, though."
His fingers switch from the glass to the tabletop.
"Maybe I can come up with something, given a little time.. I'll have a good think about it."
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Post by jazzs3quence on Oct 19, 2010 10:17:28 GMT -8
At that moment, a tinny, MIDI-generated rendition of the Star Wars "Imperial March" plays, and Trent reaches into the inside pocket on his leather jacket and pulls out his phone. "Looks like the gig is in 20 minutes. We should probably start getting ready to head over. I'll call a cab." A few swoops, taps, and swishes into his phone later (and notably with no actual talking), he says "Alright, they're on their way, my phone will beep when they're out front." (( Quick Con 101: You guys are doing great, but I thought I should jump in with a bit of helpful exposition before you get too involved. (I'm thinking that I should actually have a Con 101 section in the official manual or something to that effect.) In particular: don't feel like you need to plan out the whole con right now. What you've got is a good start; the immediate issue now is to start laying groundwork, you're not going to take your mark tonight. Evaluate what information you have and what assets you have now -- you already have an in: Penn was invited to the gig by his buddy particularly for her musical abilities. Being the Roper (btw, y'all switch yer classes on your character sheets?? >.> ), she'll presumably do the initial meet and greet, and be the one who is the mark's initial contact. Once the stage is set, she'll be the one who reels him in, and introduces him to Ben or whoever's going to play the Inside. So she'll need to know what angle/character to play. It may not even be anything specific yet, there may be opportunities to lay the bait later assuming she makes a good enough impression. Long Cons are all about going slow and establishing trust in order to get the biggest payoff. They're also (at least how they're depicted in the TV shows & movies the game is based on) highly formulaic and I realize I haven't really laid out the formula very well, so forgive my obnoxious interjection(s) ))
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Post by e on Oct 19, 2010 18:44:01 GMT -8
Penn excuses herself to the ladies room for a moment to smooth her blouse, tuck up any loose strands of hair into her ponytail and give herself a quick once-over before heading to the show. When she emerges, she throws a quick grin around the table, saying,
"I'm going to have a few drinks, mingle, ask around about what's new in town, the like. Anyone have any specifics they want asked by a singer tonight or shall we all just have a peek at whatever might surface?"
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Post by Gravedust on Oct 19, 2010 19:09:36 GMT -8
((Hey, no, keep the Cliffs Notes coming. We can use all the help we can get, I'm sure. )) "Nothing really shoots to mind from my department.." Ben drains the last of his glass. "Thanks again for the lessons, though." His plan of attack for the night was mainly to watch Ashley and his interactions as much as he could, who he talked to, who he winked at, get a feel for him. He'd try to avoid conversation with him if he could, in order not to lock out any options by having to blindly answer questions. His secondary goal would be to mingle, get a rough sketch of the social hierarchy, and keep a nose out for any potential useful friends, or promising leads. it was a big order but hey, he had all night.
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Post by jazzs3quence on Oct 20, 2010 17:24:24 GMT -8
"I, uh, think I'm going to sit this one out," Mads says, looking somewhat uncomfortably at the others. "Jazz clubs aren't really my thing. Someone text me if you find out where he's staying, though. Some 'hands on' research while he's out may be handy. Just sayin..." She nods to the others, drops a $10 note under her drink, and slips out of the bar quietly. Trent has successfully retrieved his hard drive from his laptop and stashed it in an inside pocket. He pushes the remains of the laptop towards Arch, disgustedly. "I'd say jazz clubs weren't my thing either, but, ah, I'm sort of at a loss for anything better to do with my evening, so I suppose I'll educate myself. I'm all about enrichment." He smiles humorlessly and puts on a pair of dark Oakley Fives Squared. As they file their way past Tim who nods and waves a friendly goodbye, they find a minivan taxi waiting for them in front of the bar, door already slid open. Trent smiles and holds his arm out like a bellboy, allowing the others to enter first. The driver heads toward the club without anyone needing to say anything and the trip is spent mostly in silence. When they get there, the bar -- much more posh than Tim's Sand Dollar from which they just left -- is just starting to fill up, though Ashley hasn't yet taken the stage. Penn spies Davy and his...companion...Spencer sitting at a small table at the front. Davy has two empty glasses in front of him and is sipping something green. Spencer is drinking a Newcastle. Davy spots Penn, smiles, and waves her over enthusiastically. Trent takes up a seat at the bar, orders a drink, and immediately starts playing with his phone. (( if anyone is nerdy enough to be interested, Trent's phone is a tricked out and modded Nexus One )) UpkeepBen +1XP Penn +1XP Arch +1XP
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Post by e on Oct 21, 2010 12:41:10 GMT -8
Penn smiles gingerly back at Davy, noting his shadow Spencer is still in tow. She makes her way over toward them, no hurry, shaking her hair out a bit here and there on the way.
She reaches the small table and pulls a chair over and perches next to Davy.
"Well, hello again boys. I was, how do you fellows say it, in the neighborhood, so I dropped on over. Might I convince one of you to buy a British singer a gin and tonic?"
She plops her elbow on the table and props her chin up.
"Who's taking the stage tonight, anyhow?"
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Post by Gravedust on Oct 21, 2010 14:55:18 GMT -8
Ben's first move is to find himself a nice comfortable corner and play the wallflower. This is only a phase, and a brief one. He uses this time to have a look around, see who's there, and get a feel of the place, and the ambiance. Once acclimated he would saunter out of his corner and start doing his thing with no particular objective other than to get to know the people and the scene, and map out the social web as best he could.
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Post by jazzs3quence on Oct 25, 2010 9:36:26 GMT -8
From the dark corner where Trent's face is illuminated by the blue glare of his phone's backlight, a triumphant "Ha!" is heard across the bar. He taps a few more times with thumbs that move like skittering cockroaches, then puts his phone away, tips an imaginary hat to the bartender, pick up his blue-colored drink and strolls casually toward Ben's perch with a smug grin on his face. Without looking in his direction, he says "I got an itinerary on our boy. He's here through the week, doing a couple gigs -- one with his band and one with his solo project on Friday night -- then taking off. I just texted Mads with his hotel and room number. She'll get back to me when she finds something." He cracks his knuckles. "See? I don't need a bulky computer. This gig works out, I'll be able to get one ten times as good as that junker." He grins wide, and looks off at the stage. On the other side of the room, Penn is settling down at Spencer and Davy's table, sipping a Gin and Tonic that was just placed in front of her by a waitress with a white collared shirt and black bowtie. Davy smiles, "Oh this chap is an old bloke of mine by the name of Morgan Ashley. He's a right brilliant horn player, and helped me get my band back together. We're playing later this week, by the by, you should show. If crappy poppy Brit rock with a horn section is your boat, of course." He grins. "This holiday to the States was really his doing. He's trying to get his music off the ground hereabouts. Personally, I could give a rats arse about whether folks pondside care about 'Large or no, but the man wants to be the Trent Reznor of jazz music, all digital downloads and internet marketing and social mucking about." Ben glances around the room, eying the prospects. He watches the exchange between Davy and Penn, but he can't hear the conversation from his wallflower position, and Davy's back is facing him, so he can't read his lips. He shifts his gaze, instead, to Davy's companion, sitting opposite Penn. His eyes are shifty and tend to fall on Penn with a look of distaste. In all the time Ben watches, he never sees the companion's mouth open except for his beer. The club is mostly full, with a mish-mash of older couples and young hipsters of various walks. He does notice three executive-types sitting in a booth, conferring privately. They each have a glass of water in front of them, take no food, and seem to ignore the bar's customers. If he had to take a guess, he'd say they're A&R reps from a label, but he doesn't have anything to confirm that suspicion. Arch sits in a booth in a corner, a small desk lamp on the table emitting an LED glow over a table full of laptop parts he's disassembled and an empty glass with the last traces of a drink he finished quickly as he was settling in. As he looks over the assembled pieces, he realizes he'll have to get some parts out of his bags in his hotel room and make a trip to the local electronics store for some of the more obscure items, but he can at least get started on the electronics of the thing with what he has. He pulls out his soldering iron from the bag he keeps with him at all times, and the smell of hot metal starts slowly wafting across the club from his table. The house lights dim so that the only lights in the bar are the blue lights that line the walls for which the club is named. A spotlight shines on a blue velvet curtain and a sweet tone like liquid gold fades in through the speakers. The curtains slowly open to reveal a single man blowing into a silver trumpet in front of an old-style microphone that Ben could imagine Frank Sinatra singing into 50 years ago. His short-cropped hair shines in the spotlight, and his eyes are closed though there is a music stand in front of him. He is slightly stocky with a small beer belly and in his mid-forties. He is wearing pressed black trousers, a black sport coat, and a black button-up shirt, all cleanly pressed. On his left ring finger glistens a single platinum band. Davy slurps the last of his drink and waves the waitress over. "Be a doll and just keep the drinks coming, yeah?" Then, in a conspiratorial tone to the table, "It's going to be a long night..." He grins winsomely. (( Arch, it will take 4 hours to complete your project, plus you'll need a few things the laptop doesn't have (like some magnetic strips for the reader), so probably it won't be done before you leave the club, but he'll have a good head start. You'll also need to program the thing once it's done (or have Trent do that part). )) Penn +1XP Ben +1XP +1 Buzz Notice Arch +1XP (( since you declared your action in OOC )) 14 - Blue in Green
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Post by Gravedust on Oct 25, 2010 14:41:53 GMT -8
"Nice!" Ben grins at Trent, nodding at the news. "Should be interesting to see what our girl turns up. And lots of times he could be reliably expected to be out of his room, as well. Great work."
He turns back and looks around the club again. The beginning of the music meant a missed chance for any schmoozing with the other patrons, but perhaps if there was a lull later...
He kept a weather eye on the three suits at their table. That could be worth something, there. He ought to at least try to find out their names if he could.
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Post by e on Oct 25, 2010 18:45:33 GMT -8
Penn smiles at Davy and takes a sip from her glass, lifting her eyes to the stage.
"Morgan Ashley, eh? Sounds familiar, a bit. Then, I'm afraid I'm not really much of a brit pop girl myself. For you lot, though, I might be persuaded to give it a chance."
She looks over at Davy's silent companion, uncrossing and then recrossing her legs again under the table. It really wouldn't do at all if she tried to make an exit and collapsed due to pins and needles from sitting in the same position in these heels.
"Your mate doesn't seem to be enjoying the states much." She leans over and whispers, "Between the two of us, he looks a bit mad. Reminds me of my old headmistress, always looking left, right and centre for someone's ears to box."
She leans back and chuckles.
"So... digital downloads and social networking, huh. What a load of rubbish, in my own itty bitty opinion, of course. I'm just a singer, so well, sweet fanny adams, right, but there's something I really fancy about having a little pile of cds with a picture of my pretty face all over the covers. I had one done up with my hair blowing, a bit, well, with the wind machine and so on... it was bloody fantastic!"
She takes another sip and looks back at the stage for a moment, quiet.
"So that one plays horn in your gig too?" She asks interestedly, making a quick sweep of the room to see what else might be of note, drawing small circles with her finger on the table next to her drink.
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Post by jazzs3quence on Oct 26, 2010 7:59:43 GMT -8
Trent's phone buzzes. He checks the message, then pushes a button and walks in the direction of the club entrance, phone to his ear.
After a few songs, Ben gets his chance to case the suits as one from the trio walks up to the bar, ordering another round of ice water. Ben scans the gentleman for any clues or telltale signals about what company he represents or possible ins, but not only comes up empty, but realizes, when his eyes reach the man's face, that he's been caught staring.
"Looking for something?" he says in an unpleasant voice, arching an eyebrow.
Meanwhile, at Davy's table, Spencer appears to have stopped paying attention to what's going on at the table and has diverted his attention, uninterestedly, to the stage and his ale.
"So that one plays horn in your gig too?" "Oh yeah," Davy says. "It...ah...well, let's just say I owed him a few favors. And anyway, what's radio pop without a big horn section, right?" He says this last bit with his normal bemused smile, but no sense of mirth touches his eyes. He glances off in the direction of the stage, lost in thought, then sets the last of his drink down hard on the table and says "WHO'S UP FOR SOME SHOTS?!" Spencer vehemently shakes his head "no" and waves him off, and Davy turns to Penn. "C'mon luvley, I know an excellent one that they light on fire and you have to drink it while it's still flaming...you in?"
upkeep Penn +1XP
Ben +1XP
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Post by Gravedust on Oct 26, 2010 8:28:06 GMT -8
Shit.
Ben looks away quickly, into his drink for a moment, smothering in 75% simulated embarrassment, and 25% the real deal.
"Sorry." He injects a hint of a slur into his voice. "I was just... That's a nice suit. I've got a wedding coming up, I was wondering where you got it."
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Post by e on Oct 26, 2010 18:09:50 GMT -8
Penn widens her eyebrows at the suggestion of flaming shots.
"Err. Flaming? These eyebrows... see them...they cost a bomb to get them just right and quite the very last thing I need is have half of one singed -- but well. Dunno, really. Could be fun. It's not something I've tried before."
She takes another sip from her glass, still mostly full.
"Oh, sod it, I'm in so long as the barman promises I'll survive the.... what did you say they were called?"
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Post by jazzs3quence on Oct 27, 2010 14:10:20 GMT -8
(( I'll do a post tonight, just in the middle of several things at the present mo' ))
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Post by jazzs3quence on Oct 27, 2010 17:51:14 GMT -8
The man in the suit smiles slightly. "Hm. It's an Isaac Mizrahi. Fairly hard to come by. That is, outside of New York." He pays the bartender, then begins what appears to be a complicated task of balancing 3 water bottles and 3 glasses with ice in two hands while still managing to look somewhat dignified.
Elsewhere..."Oh there's a dozen or so of 'em. My favorite is the...oy! Bah-maid. Bring me 3 -- " he looks to Spencer who shakes his head "-- make that 2 Flaming Gorilla Titties, STAT, yeh?" His voice is carried across the room to where the waitress is rolling her eyes, much to the dismay of several surrounding customers. Morgan manages to incorporate a particularly loud blare from his trumpet in Davy's general direction.
Upkeep Ben +1XP
Penn +1XP
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Post by Gravedust on Oct 27, 2010 19:10:35 GMT -8
Ben nods his appreciation. "Thanks. I get out east every now and again, I may have to pay Mr. Mizrahi a visit." He pretends to go back to his own business, but looks up again as the suit begins his balancing act. "Oh.. Hey man, you need a spare hand with any of that?"
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Post by e on Oct 28, 2010 19:18:26 GMT -8
Penn freezes almost imperceptibly as she hears the words flaming gorilla titties from Davy, fighting the impulse to become angry at the stupidity, then regaining her composure she exaggeratedly rolls her eyes and shakes her head in a dramatic gesture of amused disgust and pity in his direction.
"Oh, indeed, such total pants when even the drinks are named by duffers who could win trophies for being smarmy gits. Honestly, I'll drink it, but I'm calling it something else. What do you make of... Between Fear and Desire."
She half smiles, to herself mostly, in satisfaction with the name. It's inspired by the novel she's reading of course. She waits for someone to appear with shots, and while she does, she looks around, locating the ladies. You know, in case of some sort of disaster involving flaming alcohol. If they are allowed to sell it here in the States, she's not too wound up, but it's always better to have an exit strategy, especially when faced with the prospect of charred hair and still spanking new clothes.
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Post by jazzs3quence on Nov 1, 2010 18:25:54 GMT -8
The waitress returns with two shot glasses filled with a flaming liquid, a lighter and a scowl as Davy erupts into boisterous laughter over something which, later, Penn will fail to recall the humor in. She carefully sets them in front of Davy and Penn and gives Davy a wary look. Davy happily attempts drinking the shot while flaming as Penn cautiously looks on, and a split-second later is erupting out of his seat, spitting his drink across the table which ignites in the air, creating an impressive fireball. Penn takes the hint and blows hers out before doing the shot as Davy frantically feels around the table for a glass of water that isn't there. The waitress is already halfway back to the bar and back before Davy croaks, "WATER!"
After chugging half the glass in one gulp, Davy finally begins to recollect himself and glances over at Penn. "Bloody hell, you really are going to be my destruction, you little minx. And you've quietly finished your already while I made a spectacle of meself? Good show, m'lady. Old Morgan 'ere's gonna love you."
At the bar, the suit eyes Ben suspiciously, then shrugs imperceptibly, saying "If you wouldn't mind..." allowing Ben to take a pair of glasses and a bottle out of his hands. After the drinks are doled around the table, the man smiles and says, "Thanks much. I think you just saved me a bit of broken glass. Why don't you stick around, have a drink with us. I admit I owe you a debt of gratitude. I'm Pierce Sterling...and you are...?"
Upkeep Ben +1XP
Penn +1XP
(( sorry about the long break. trying to close off some projects so been a bit distracted. ))
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