Denver boring??

I used to be a huge fan of MTV's The Real World. That was before it got real whack (at least it did in my eyes). I loved seasons like Boston, New Orleans, Las Vegas, and Back to New York. But then Paris happened and then San Diego happened. And for some reason I thought it was coming back with Philadelphia, but then Austin happened and then Key West. And then I just couldn't picture myself watching The Real World anymore. But then I seen the commercials for Denver, and I asked myself why would they choose Denver? Were all the good cities taken already?? But this season seems to be pretty interesting. It's only the second episode and there's already hook-ups, conflict, and a lot of partying. Now that sounds like the making of a good season to me. But it might be too much for me. Now I know that the juice in reality television is the sex and the shit talking, but I don't know if I can handle it. There's so much already in so little time. There's already been a number of drunken hook-ups. Girls making out in jacuzzi's. Backstabbing of the best friend by hooking up with their guy. It's already hard for the gay guy, and from the previews it doesn't seem like things are going to get much easier for him. And this is all so soon! Here I thought Denver would be boring but from the looks of things it's going to be a good season. I don't know if I can handle all the drama, but I'm going to try. If you haven't caught any of the Denver season yet be sure to tune in. It may be worth the time.

I must watch my show!

I went home this past Thanksgiving excited about catching up on some television. One particular show that I was anxious to watch was Degrassi which airs on The N. My excitement turned to disappointment when I found out that my parents decided to cancel digital cable. So now they have no listings at the press of a button, and there is a significant number of less channels that they receive. How will I live? Well honestly, I don't go home enough to care about the fact that they have digital cable or not, but it is rather sad that I will miss Degrassi. Fortunately nowadays there are plenty of other ways that I could try to catch episodes of my favorite shows. DVD sales for televisions series have skyrocketed in the past years. With at least 74 releases of television series seasons on DVD just for the month of November according to TVShowsOnDVD.com, there is no wonder that giving shows on DVD will be on of the gifts to give for the holidays. Purchasing seasons on DVD is great, but I have seen all the old episodes of Degrassi that have been released. So instead I have turned to downloading new episodes from the iTunes store. It costs $2 to download an episode of a show that one could view either on their computer or their iPod. iTunes also has an option of ordering the series seasons at a time which ranges about $30 to $40 for the season, and when each new episode comes out it automatically begins to download on your computer. I guess I could say it is a convenient alternative to watching television for the fact that I can watch it at my leisure. Which brings me to my point television nowadays is all about watching it at your leisure on your own time. With options like TiVo, iTunes, and television series on DVD's there is no need to surround your fast paced life around watching your few select television shows that you can't miss. Unfortunately for me I don't have TiVo, and iTunes doesn't have Girlfriends on it yet, but when the day comes, I will finally be able to go out on my Monday nights instead of surrounding it around the fact that I must be in my apartment so that I could watch the latest episode of Girlfriends. When the day comes that I could watch Girlfriends at my leisure, I will be truly satisfied.

Tis the season...

I think Oprah started off the Christmas holiday right by choosing to do her "Favorite Giveaway Ever!!" the Monday after Thanksgiving. She may have gotten everyone in the holiday spirit after that one. Coincidently my group just did our presentation on Oprah Winfrey about a week and a half ago and how Oprah effects media and society, and this episode just adds icing on the cake. Monday's episode was her "Favorite Giveaway Ever!" where she gave each audience member a $1000 Bank of America Giftcard and a Handycam and told them to use the money to effect a stranger's life and the camera to record their good deeds. The audience members made up some creative ways to help others. It was truly touching. It's great because on the show thanks to the Handycams you could actually see the effect they were having on people, no story relayed back on the show, we actually got to see how people were living before and their suprise of being helped out by a total stranger. I get so sappy when I watch stuff like this, I felt like I was watching an episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition (I cry everytime I watch that show) and this episode of Oprah got me so tearyeyed. There were some truly toching stories, but me telling about them doesn't do it justice. Check out the site: Oprah's Favorite Giveaway Ever - The Results! I absolutely loved this episode. Although I've heard negative about Oprah such that she has an attitude or can be a bitch sometimes, you can't say that she doesn't positively effect the world. She really is a miracle worker and this episode proves it.

R. Kelly.. Ha!

Okay, so I was watching MTV today and I seen the video for Snoop Dogg's and R. Kelly's new song "That's That". The song is alright but it just got me to thinking on how much I don't care for R. Kelly. Now if you ask most people who are fans of R&B music they will tell you that R. Kelly is one of the most important musicians of our time. As much as I understand where these people are coming from, I still don't like R. Kelly. One thing about R. Kelly that I can't stand is that he puts out albums that have like 20 tracks on them and only one or two songs will be good singles. And then on top of that he puts out an album practically once a year. The thing is that the one song that is good is normally really good, which is why there are some R. Kelly songs on my iPod such as "Step in the Name of Love" and "I Wish." More songs by R. Kelly that I enjoy are "The World's Greatest" and "Ignition," both of which have been parodied and I think I enjoy the parodied versions better. MAD TV did a parody called "The World's Greatest Statuatory Rapist" that is the funniest thing I have ever seen!! Dave Chappelle did a parody called "Piss on You" which is a parody of both R. Kelly's "Ignition Remix" and "Feelin on Yo Booty." These parodies all refer to the alleged R. Kelly sex scandals. Basically its sad to me that Michael Jackson got so much shit for his alleged sex scandal and he is now not as respected as before but R. Kelly still gets respect and he was never even as big as Michael. I don't know. But I do know that the 12 Chapter "Trapped in the Closet" song series is the stupidest thing I have ever heard in my life. If you haven't heard the songs or seen the videos, consider yourself lucky.

Girlfriends: My Favorite

Tuesday's class presentations was Sex in the City and The Source Hip-Hop magazine. So I figure I would combine the 2 and come up with my blog for the day. Combining high fashion and living in the city with urban culture I came up with Girlfriends. Girlfriends happens to be my all time favorite show. Other shows come close but none tie in my eyes. This years union of The WB and UPN to create CW disappointed me being that I had to see many Black shows that I watched leave the television screen. One of the few to withhold the union is Girlfriends. The show is about 4 women Joan the lawyer, Toni the real estate broker, Mya the secretary gone author, and Lynn who is normally jobless freeloader. It is a sitcom that follows their late twenty-something attractive Los Angeles lives of work, pleasure, and friendship. The four of them who are for the most part successful educated black women, can usually afford the finer things in life like the Manolo Blahniks shoes and the high fashion clothing that keeps a single woman in LA fabulous.
This season is the shows seventh season and possibly its lasts. With all the plot changes and growing of characters it may be time to see it go. Part of me is stubborn because I want to keep my favorite show, but it may be better to see it go out well than poorly. Besides that this season the show took a twist with Jill Marie Jones, who plays the character Toni, leaving the show. Now it follows the life of the three left standing girlfriends, hopefully without her the show will continue to triumph.

Britney and K.Fed split

All right, so I'm sure I am not the only person to mention this in their blog this week but I must do it. After 2 years and 2 kids Britney and K.Fed finally split. Who didn't see it coming? Now first I must get on this Kevin Federline character. He is one of the greatest golddiggers I have seen in my day. He's got it made. He shacks up with Britney, she buys him a car, she helps his career, she increases his celebrity, and he gets ass on top of that! Now I'm not the biggest Britney fan, but she is a pretty girl. Pretty and dumb. She got PLAYED! How do you go from Justin to that? Okay, well Justin is a bit of a crybaby; but he's still a good looking guy who happens to be worth millions. I say she shoulda kept him around a bit longer. So camparing Britney's exes: Justin has that 'gangsta wannabe' whiteboy look going, as does K.Fed; Justin's a good dancer as is K.Fed. The difference is that Justin has talent. Have you heard K.Fed. rap?? If you haven't, lucky you. I laugh when I hear it. His attempt to rap is actually insulting to me. As a fan of hip-hop music it insults me that he thinks that he is actally a rapper. On one end I'm happy that Britney has seen the light and is moving past K.Fed. But it just unfortunate that she ended up as another celebrity divorce, and she is now going to have to raise their 2 kids on her own because you know he's trifling. Just ask his ex Shar Jackson whom he has 2 kids by. Fathering 4 kids in 5 years by 2 different women. Nice. K.Fed, if anything your rockin the sheets. Congrat to K.Fed for succeeding in his game and becoming a celebrity by getting with Britney. But sorry Britney that you didn't recognize his game 2 years and 2 kids ago. Well best wishes still.

John Legend Delivers

Since the release of John Legend's debut album 'Get Lifted' I have been a huge fan of his. His style and talent are both simply refreshing. Recently he has just released his new album 'Once Again' which am glad to have not hesitated to purchase. In first listening to the album it is a bit different than the Johnny that we are used to hearing, but after a couple of times of listening it definately grows on you. If you've never heard any of Legend's music he is a talented singer and pianist who critics and fans often compare to Alicia Keys. He gains plenty of respect from fellow artists and celebrities including big names such as Stevie Wonder and Oprah who both love his music. His new album has great tracks ranging in topic from 'Coming Home' which is about a soldier at war returning home, to 'We Just Don't Care' (also titled P.D.A.) that is about dispaying effection in public. Without a doubt I'd name this the best R&B album of the year. So if you haven't picked it up yet, definately go check it out. You won't be disappointed.