Usher and His Babies Grace the Cover of People Magazine

 

The article is People is basically about how Usher is doing as a single dad, now that he is divorced.  I am honestly not that interested in Usher, becuase I think that as a singer he is highly, over rated -- case in point, the Michael Jackson tribute in which he was paired with people who can actually sing.  At any rate, pointing out that Usher is an entertainer and not a great singer is not the point of this post.  

What I want everyone to notice is that gracing the cover of a major magazine is a Black man and his sons. His boys are almost as cute as my little guys. Yes, I had to point out how awesome my boys are. The reason this photo caught my attention, is the fact that in the media, Black men are constantly portrayed as deadbeat fathers.  When they are allowed to actually take up space, they are often constructed as abusers, drunks, violent etc.  Every bad characteristic that you can think of regarding fatherhood is attached to Black males, as if there aren't White fathers out there ducking child support payment.

Snooki's Wedding Proposal is Almost as Ridiculous as Jersey Shore

Today in 'Most Unromantic Wedding Proposals of the Year' is Jeff Miranda, boyfriend of Jersey Shore's Snooki who has proposed via the cover of Steppin' Out Magazine.

Firstly, I must give some major kudos to anyone who has even heard of Steppin' Out Magazine, which claims to be "New York and New Jersey's #1 entertainment magazine" that is oh so very professional and just downright awesome that their website does not resemble the website of an actual online publication, but more-so a very scammy Girls Gone Wild sales page. Yeah, I'm getting into semantics right off the bat here.

So, Jeff Miranda will grace the cover of the September 10th issue of Steppin' Out Magazine, where he is seen down on one knee in fatigues, since he is an ex-Iraq war veteran, with the text "Jeff Miranda has a question for Snooki... Will you marry me?" splashed across the cover.

Yes, this guy is very, very classy, especially considering that upcoming issues of any magazine in existence do not stay secret until it is meant to be released, meaning that since this issue of Steppin' Out Magazine is not due to be released for another two weeks, Snooki will most likely hear about her own wedding proposal from either RadarOnline.com, who were the first to obtain the exclusive photos and details regarding her proposal or from any of the countless entertainment blogs that have also written about this. How romantic indeed.

Accompanying the cover is a story with Jeff Miranda in which he says he thinks Snooki will be shocked about the magazine cover, but "once she deals with the shock" he knows she will say yes. He also gushes his plans for the future with Snooki, saying "I want us to be together forever. I could see us having children. I want to pop the question to her. If we got married we would be the best parents around. She's so loving and puts everyone else before her self. She'll be a great mother."

He also addressed the fact that people think he is just using Snooki for fame, saying "that's bullshit" and that "if people could see us together they would think we're a match made in heaven."

I'm sure MTV will be the first to wish the happy couple well... right before offering up a spin-off reality show perhaps?

2010 Emmys: The Most Boring Awards Show of the Year and it's All Jimmy Fallon's Fault

Jimmy Fallon's career baffles me. The man is just not funny, despite his obvious best efforts, yet he not only has a show (does anyone actually watch his show?) but he also somehow managed to score himself the gig of being the host of the 2010 Emmy Awards last night.

Let me make myself clear here--I usually love awards shows; I watch them all every year and (usually) thoroughly enjoy myself. Sure, I could have done without seeing Hugh Jackman attempt to sing and dance last year during the Academy Awards, but other than that he did a fine job hosting and the overall show was perfectly fine; no major complaints from my end. Last night was a train wreck for me, however. The 2010 Emmy Awards were boring and I haven't yawned so much while attempting to make it through anything I've sat down to watch in, well, I can't even remember how long. I do not believe I have hated the choice of host for an awards show more than I hate that Jimmy Fallon hosted the Emmy Awards last night. So all in all, last night's Emmys weren't that big of a deal for me, although I did enjoy Jane Lynch receiving an award for Glee. That was the up point of the night for me.

Renee was happy with a great deal of the winners and we have come to the consensus that I need to watch even more television than I do already. Check out what Renee and I had to say about the 2010 Emmys as we were watching it last night.

Louie: Goes to the Dentist and Gets Rapetastic

You ever watch a show and find yourself saying wtf son?  Okay, well maybe not in those exact words, but yeah, that would be "Louie".  "Louie" is the title of Louie C.K.'s new show about his life.  So let me just set the basics.  Louie is a balding divorced man in his forties.  He has two young daughters and his life is a constant pursuit to get laid.  I sort of think of it as the "Leisure Suit Larry" for 2010. Yeah, I know that analogy made me look old, but just shut the hell up about it. This is Louie.

 Well I was raised to be kind to all people, so I will just say there is someone's child.  At any rate, Louie is extremely bizare.  Each episode he starts off with a brief monologue.  Yep, a direct Seinfeld rip off and at times equally awkward.  This week's joke was the following:

Okay here's the the thing, I have two children and the thing that scares me the most is that they disappear.  There is nothing that scares me more than them disappearing; that's every parents worse fear.  Now why do kids disappear sometimes?  I think it is because somebody took them and had sex with them.  And once you have sex with a kid you have to toss them because, people hate folks who have sex with kids -- more than pretty much anybody.  If you murder somebody folks will find you a reason - ah you were upset, you didn't have, you were dehydrated whatever. So if you have sex with a kid you gotta chuck 'em out cause if the kid tell anybody you're screwed.  I can't help thinking that if we could take down a few notches the hatred for kids having sex people, at least you'd get the kid back.  So what I'm trying to say is that the guy could just call you, "Hey I just fucked your kid you want me to take them to soccer or drop them at your house? Does he have any nut allergies cause he just ate some cashew butter?" I know listen, listen, listen to me, listen to me, I know that's hard to hear, I know that's hard to hear but it's true.  It's true, that if we minded child molesting less, less kids would die, that's true.  Now I don't know what to do that information.  I don't have a way to apply that to anything that's helpful.

Did you follow his logic or find anything funny? The thing with comedians, is that they often equate shocking people, and being insensitive to funny.  What the hell is amusing about a child being molested?  Of course, we are supposed to be disarmed by the fact that he is a father, but somehow this makes his whole proposition that much more creepy. I should have hit the stop button right there and then, but how was I know it would turn into the most rapetastic, and stalkerific half hour of television I have seen in a long time?

Big Brother Preempted by Football

Well, it seems that if it isn't one sport, it's another. CBS yet again canceled Big Brother (a scheduled double eviction episode, at that!) for a sports game. Just last week they aired golf and last night, it was football.

So, Big Brother fans, there will be no chat today about last night's episode, but we'll be back Monday with a chat about Sunday's episode.

Bob Dylan to Release Ninth Installment of Bootleg Series -- The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964

Well, this is pretty awesome news--well, awesome news for anyone who loves Bob Dylan, that is. On October 19th, the ninth installment of Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series will arrive in stores. The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 is being released by Columbia Records and will include 47 never-before released songs that were recorded for his first two publishers, Leeds Music and M. Witmark & Sons when Dylan was in his early twenties.

Among the 47 new songs will include original versions of classic Dylan songs, such as "Mr. Tambourine Man", "Blowin' in the Wind", "The Times They Are A-Changin'" and "Masters of War", as well as 15 original songs that never made it past the demo stage.

And if 47 new Dylan songs don't get you excited enough, October 19th should just be renamed "Get Your Eternal Bob Dylan Fix Day" since that day will also mark the release of a box set containing remastered versions of Dylan's first eight albums.

Pretty damn awesome and super exciting indeed.

Master Chef: Perhaps it Should Be Called Bastianich Goes Douche

So, once again Holly and I sat through a double episode of Master Douche Chef.  Gordon Ramsey has long been an ass of epic proportions, but it seems that he wanted to show the world that, yes -- it is possible to be a bigger douche and so he unleashed on the viewing public Joe Bastianich.  He is just the sort of pretentious foodie that is so rude, you want to sentence him to a week of microwave pizza.  Joe irritated me so much that I decided to google his ignorant ass and I discovered that he is basically just a restaurateur.  You see, he is in partnership with the awesome Mario Batali. That makes Joe a businessman.  You wouldn't know that from the way he rudely tells people that he is not tasting their food.  Since he has zero training and that includes home training, I would like to know where the hell he gets off?  Even in the clips for next week's two hour marathon, Joe can once again be seen throwing someone's food in the garbage. He is either brave or stupid, because that is enough for some people to put their boot upside his ever so haughty ass. Clearly, I did not get my dislike of Joe out of my system because I am venting again.

I think I am watching Master Chef because I feel for these people.  They are home cooks with zero culinary experience and the judges constantly move the goal posts around regarding their expectations. Foodie culture at the best of times is filled with exclusionary masturbatory spunk and shows like this seem to forget that many Americans are starving.  The food that Joe refused to taste, would have been gratefully eaten by many -- and it his class privilege that encourages him to act so cavalierly (yeah I know Joe again).  Even their attitude about feeding Truckers sub-par food so clearly set up an us versus them dynamic.  There are many issues with Master Chef and I highly suspect the one that goes most unnoticed is its treatment of class, because the food industry ignores how much of a role that plays in creating these celebrity chefs.  I would like to see these assholes live a day in the life of the poor. I would like to see these asshole cook at a soup kitchen. But then getting dirty isn't really their thing now is it

Okay I am going to end my rant.  Check out what Holly and I had to say last night.

Book Review: The Impostor's Daughter by Laurie Sandell

Laurie Sandell lived her life firmly believing that her father was a brilliant, exciting man who was more accomplished than anyone else she would ever know. When she was 31 years old, she realized that every single thing her father ever told her was a complete lie. In 2003 she wrote an article for Esquire magazine, My Father the Fraud. Although she wrote the article anonymously, the first time she met with her agent who had read the story, she was interested in selling the book. Fast-forward to July 2009 and The Impostor's Daughter: A True Memoir was published.

Laurie Sandell has been cartooning since she was 7 years old, so it makes sense that while Sandell is a writer whose articles have appeared in Esquire, GQ, Glamour (which she still holds a writing contract with), New York, Real Simple and InStyle, that her memoir would be more eccentrically her own--taking on the form of a graphic novel, or "graphic memoir" as she chooses to describe it.

When a girl's father is a frequent and positive presence in her life, a large number of daughters have complete and utter adoration for their fathers. Coming from a single father household myself, I know the feeling of having your father placed atop a very high pedestal; when the time comes when you suddenly realize your father is human, it can have a pretty drastic effect on your life. Laurie Sandell opens up about the adoration she had for her father all her life quite a bit. She grew up hanging on every syllable her father uttered to her growing up; from his stories about being a former Green Beret, to having studied law at NYU and receiving his PhD from Columbia University, and to serving as an economist and adviser to Henry Kissinger, Laurie wanted to hear her father tell her about his life and his accomplishments all the time; she could never get enough of it. It wasn't until Laurie was in college when she applied for her very first credit card when she realized she already had one. She soon found out that her father had taken out several loans and credit cards not only in her name, but in the names of everyone else in her household as well. In addition to not only ruining her credit, she soon after realized that every single story she was told by her father was a lie--that the life he had presented to her was full of lies.

5 Songs I Cannot Stop Listening To

Every day when I wake up, my routine goes exactly like this: Walk downstairs, turn on computer, walk into kitchen, make coffee, sit down at computer, light a cigarette and either open up Winamp or Pandora. Music is a must when I sit down at the computer and start in on my workload for the day--or night, depending on when I wake up because I am infamous for having a severely messed up, often backwards sleeping schedule. Even before I can open up a browser and start clicking around on the internet, I need music playing. Mostly, it's background noise and not something I am consciously paying attention to the entire time I work. A lot of people who work from home have the television on all day as background noise, but television distracts me and isn't something I can just leave on in the background while I attempt to work--unless I'm procrastinating and really don't feel like doing anything I'm supposed to be doing that day.

Just a little while ago I was sitting here going through my music, trying to decide if it was a random Pandora music night or a Winamp shuffle kind of night. I logged into Last.fm, which is awesome for finding new music if you've been letting Last.fm scrobble your music selection from your computer (like with Winamp) because it gives you recommendations based on music you've been listening to. They also give you a rundown of your top artists and tracks for either the last 7 days, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months and overall. So I thought I'd share some of my top tracks with all of you. Feel free to recommend some of your favorite music in the comments because I'm always, always, always looking for new stuff to listen to.

Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin Got Married, News is Reduced to His "Mid-Life Crisis" and Her "Scary Smile"

Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer got married last Saturday night and in typical Hollywood fashion, everyone was reading and talking about it on Sunday morning. In typical internet fashion, amidst the many, many messages of congratulations to the newlywed couple from fans, two solid topics of debate emerged in the comments section of pretty much every single entertainment and celebrity blog that reported on the wedding news. Apparently people are gravely concerned about two things when it comes to the marriage of Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer--his age and her teeth.

Stephen Moyer is 40 years old and Anna Paquin is 28 years old. Yes, that is a 12-year age difference you just calculated there. This age difference caused quite a stir among commenters, who made many arguments about just how much older Moyer is than Paquin and how obviously this age difference means the end of days is approaching. I swear that if you did not just read the ages of these two people in the article above, who are very much fully-grown, responsible adults who just may love each other by the way, that you would swear a 60-year-old man just married his 15-year-old cousin. The speculation and downright disapproval of the marriage of these people based solely on the fact that Moyer is 12 years Paquin's senior caused a little bit of a stir in me, especially when I saw many people chalking their entire marriage up to Moyer having a mid-life crisis.

Big Brother Season 12: Ragan Plummets into Irritating and Enzo the Great Big Whiner

I firmly believe last night's episode of Big Brother was the most boring, irritating episode of the season--and coming from me, that is certainly saying something. I'm not a fan of Big Brother, but Renee and I have been chatting about it here since the season started and because we're troopers like that, we stuck with it. But last night's episode was just downright painful. You will notice that Renee and I do not have problems chatting. We're big talkers and can usually come up with something to say about pretty much anything. Last night was radically different. I sat here at my computer watching this show, trying to come up with words and I just had nothing. Nothing of importance happened and the only reason I can think of as to why we were just at a loss for words last night is because Rachel isn't in the house. Rachel isn't causing drama, yelling at people who don't like her because she's mad that they don't like her, yelling at people for trying to steal her man when no one wants to go near her man and of course, yelling at Ragan for not being a "good gay person." There was none of that.

So, what was there? Well, Britney is the HoH and in her room was a very creepy picture of her as a teenager wearing some beauty pageant crown of some sort. Her eyes looked very vacant and very 'I am so going to come into your room at night and murder you with a pick axe.' Her room also had Play-Doh in it which, in case you did not know, is not allowed in Renee's house. I was mildly amused by this.

During the Have/Have Not challenge the house guests were split into two teams and given a shot each. Two of the shots they had to drink tasted good and one did not and so every time one team took their shots, the other team had to try and guess which member of the other team drank the shot that tasted horrible. Ragan, who Renee and I have been able to stand--and even like--throughout this season, was just irritating. I wanted to yell at him and shake him and tell him to please stop fake-crying during the Have/Have Not challenge. He was just way too much.

So, take a look at what Renee and I thought about the episode while watching it last night and find out who Britney nominated for eviction after the jump.

Big Brother: Eviction Day

Holly and I finally got caught up with Big Brother last night.  No, neither of us are excited about this, but since we believe in finishing what we started, we sat down once again to bitch our way through, struggle through another episode of Big Brother. Even Holly's unrequited love for Enzo has dulled over time.I guess he does not have as meow meow as he thought. See how we suffer for you?  Now that is dedication. Thankfully in the time that Holly and I missed this week, Rachel had returned to the show for 24 hours.  I actually feel blessed to have missed her return to the house. 

This week we saw the suggestion of the blossoming of yet another showmance.  Even though Brittany is engaged, Big Brother had no problem suggesting that perhaps there was more than friendship going on between her and Lane.It isn't even spring and showmance is in the air. Nothing sells like the possibility of sex.  Of course, Lane's mother approved of the budding relationship. Simply because Kristen was willing to give up her relationship for a showmance, does not mean every other woman will do the same.  If this relationship proves true, this will be the third showmance this season alone. Seeing as how so many women have bitten the dust, while the male partners have stayed behind, a showmance would probably not be the best move for Brittany to make.

Below you will find the chat that Holly and I had during Big Brother.  It is filled with our snarky brilliant insightful commentary.

Big Brother: The Video They Won’t Show You

Holly and I have had a few conflicts with Big Brother and so we have not been able to blog about the last few episodes, but that does not mean we have not been following the goings on of the houseguest.  One houseguest that Holly and I love to ignore is Lane.  He really does not add anything to the show and is basically forgettable with exception of his alliance.  Well it seems Lane has finally drawn the attention of the cameras when he decided it was time to practice a little self love (read: masturbation) after the house guests got involved in a steamy conversation and the heat was too much for Lane.

Lane tried to hide what he was doing by picking at his air and rubbing his nose but what he was doing was to hard to hide.  If you are going to jerk off and don’t want people to know what you are doing, perhaps you should not make faces of obvious pleasure.  I think I will have an easier time remembering who Lane is from now on.  I will just call him the one armed bandit.

In other Big Brother news, unfortunately Rachel was allowed back into the house for 24 hours.  You would think that now that she is no longer in the running for the money she would display a little human dignity – think again.  Rachel decided to lecture Regan on what it means to be a good gay person.

Maybe he isn’t camp enough for her because his hair colour does not come out of a cheap box.  Maybe Rachel once again felt threatened that someone would take her man.  It makes me want to scream, NO ONE WANTS HIM, HE’S ALL YOURS.  Whatever the case if you need more proof that Rachel is an ass here there you go.

Posting will be back to normal tomorrow in terms of Big Brother as Holly and I will go back to sharing with you our acerbic brilliant commentary on tonight's episode. 

Two Hours of MasterChef: New Night, New Time, Actual Challenges and Eliminations

Since Hell's Kitchen ended, Fox thought it was time to rearrange their programming schedule, changing the day and time MasterChef would be on. The geniuses that Fox are, they put the show in the exact same time slot as Big Brother in hopes of competing with CBS. I'm guessing about the whole competing thing, but I think it's pretty obvious. Since Renee and I have also been writing about Big Brother here, we were faced with a big decision. What show are we going to watch and chat about on Wednesdays at 8PM?

Obviously, we chose to watch MasterChef last night, sorry CBS, so there is no chat on last night's episode of Big Brother. Don't worry, Renee has a little present lined up for this afternoon for all of you hardcore Big Brother fans.

I think Fox may have gotten a little over their heads with the implementation of MasterChef in their schedule to finish out the summer. Last night, two episodes aired in a row and the only reason for this, as Renee points out in our chat, is that Fox has to rush this show and air all of the episodes before the fall season comes in. So, after what seemed like the never-ending audition process, MasterChef finally came into its own last night, with real challenges, real winners and real eliminations.

In the first episode that aired last night, the amateur chefs had to create a dish using only ingredients found in a mystery box at their work stations. They then went on to having to create a Chinese food dish for their elimination challenge where two people were eliminated. In the second episode, the chefs cooked for over 200 Marines and their families while divided up into two teams; the losing team then had to go through a taste test elimination, having to identify as much ingredients as they could point out by sight and taste from Graham Elliot's big pot of Texas chili.

There was quite a bit to talk about last night during MasterChef, so check out the chat Renee and I had during the two hours of the show after the jump.

Vampires Suck

Anyone who has reads my other blog Womanist Musings is by now well aware of my vampire fascination.  I even went out in a rainstorm to get the Twilight books because I had to know exactly how it ends.  Every Sunday night at 9pm there is not talking to me until 11pm because I get my fix by watching "True Blood" and "The Gates."  I will watch anything vampire except this:

Doesn't it just break your heart?

Project Runway Season 8: How to Make a Dress Out of Party Supplies and Tim Gunn Prefers the Woolly Balls

During the first two episodes of Project Runway, Gretchen, whose style is very straight-forward, very boring and all one color all the time and who makes beautifully constructed clothes that have been one single color without very much else to them, has won both challenges. The third episode opens with Gretchen talking about how all of the other designers on the show are very nice, loving and congratulatory. She talks about how all of the other designers have been rooting for her throughout the challenges and how she has set the bar so very high for the other designers on the show. Meanwhile, her very nice, loving and congratulatory fellow designers are seen talking about how big Gretchen's head has gotten since she won her second challenge last episode and how annoying it is that she has won both challenges so far, but also how annoying she has become as a person since her wins.

The third episode is the first time we see the model-choosing process. In all of the previous seasons of Project Runway, Heidi Klum would bring out all of the models and let the winner of the last challenge either choose to stay with the model they had the previous challenge or switch it up and choose someone new. After, Heidi would choose the other designers' names from a bag and that would be the order they would choose their models in. This has worked for seven seasons, but for the eighth season they don't seem to be giving the models a fair shake in the least. Heidi brought out Gretchen's model, as well as the models from the two people who were eliminated in the last episode, Bowler Hat Jason and Nicholas. Gretchen chose to stay with her model, which was wise because her model is absolutely gorgeous and has obviously worked very well for her thus far. However, the other designers do not get to choose new models; instead, Gretchen has sealed the fate of the other models on the runway by choosing to stick with the model she was randomly given at the beginning of the season and the two other models were automatically sent home.

For the designers' third challenge, they are told by Heidi that Tim Gunn is waiting for them at the specified location and that they would be having a party. That was merely code for the designers arriving at a party supply store and having to make a garment out of party supplies.

Celebrity Plastic Surgeon Dr. Frank Ryan Dies, Celebrity Clients Mourn via Twitter

Celebrity plastic surgeon Dr. Frank Ryan, also known as the man responsible for how Heidi Montag looks today, died in a car crash on Monday afternoon, after his Jeep Wrangler went off the side of the Pacific Coast Highway near Malibu and landed on its roof. He was trapped inside the vehicle, suffering major head injuries, and was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene.

Minutes before his vehicle crashed, he Tweeted, "After 25 years of driving by, I finally hiked to the top of the giant sand dune on the pch west of Malibu. Much harder than it looks! Whew!" He also Tweeted a picture of his Border Collie who was with him from the top of the sand dune. Law enforcement sources have given a statement on the condition of Ryan's dog, saying that the dog was found in the ocean seriously injured and was taken to a local veterinary hospital and survived.

After news of Ryan's death leaked out, many celebrity clients of his took to their Twitter accounts to reflect on memories they had of the plastic surgeon and how he had transformed their lives--and bodies.

Beyonce is a Feminist

Though many Black women have taken on the label of feminist, feminism has a very distinct history of not welcoming, listening to, and advocating alongside women of colour. White women are indeed marginalized because of gender; however, feminism has a history of ignoring the importance of race in the lives of Black women.  Black women have continually argued this point, only to meet racism in response and this is why many (myself included) refuse to call themselves feminists.

In an interview with The Daily Mail US, Beyonce has this to say:

I think I am a feminist in a way. It’s not something I consciously decided I was going to be; perhaps it’s because I grew up in a singing group with other women, and that was so helpful to me. It kept me out of so much trouble and out of bad relationships. My friendships with my girls are just so much a part of me that there are things I am never going to do that would upset that bond. I never want to betray that friendship because I love being a woman and I love being a friend to other women. 

In a world in which so many women deny the feminist label, you would think that a mega star such as Bey Bey speaking out about the importance of feminism in her life would bring a round of cheers -- well think again.  Once again, the policing began on feminist blogs, and they decided that it was appropriate to question whether her reasons for taking on the label were legitimate.  God, someone hand me an aspirin, my head is aching. Reading their complaints reminded me of "Ain't I A Woman" by bell hooks, in which she writes that she could not relate to the estrangement between women that the white women in her classes seemed to present as a universal experience, because female spheres, support and companionship were such a strong part of her lived experience. Even though the slogan 'what is personal is political,' has been banded about for a very longtime, feminists routinely fail to take that into account when they decide that it is time to vote on whether or not someone belongs in the club.

Mad Men: The Rejected

I think this week's episode of Mad Men was very much about evolution.  The episode began  typically, with Roger and Don on the phone with Don Gardner Jr, trying to convince him that they were not over billing him for lucky strikes advertising.  They used charm to smooth things over with the client, even though they were completely in the wrong.

This episode seemed to be fairly well divided between Peggy and Pete.  Pete was told that he had to fall on his sword and get rid of Clearasil -- an account given to him by his father in-law.  When he tried to tell Lane about about the personal sacrifices he had gone through to attain the account, he was told  simply as a matter of business, the company was going with Ponds because it offered more money.   When he sat down with his father in-law Tom, he was told that Trudy was pregnant and he didn't have a chance to deliver the news.  I was actually quite surprised to see that Pete was happy about this, given that he has never acknowledged his son with Peggy and had been previously very firm about not starting a family with Trudy in the past seasons.

The following night he had his in-laws over for dinner and he told Tom about the conflict and demanded to be given more accounts, to which his father in-law responded simply by calling him a son of a bitch.  It seems that Pete no longer feels that he has to kiss his father in laws ass.  It seems as though now that he is a full fledged partner he feels as though he has finally come to maturity.  I am quite sure this will lead to an even less sympathetic Pete.

Big Brother Preempted by Golf

Last night, Renee and I settled into our places in front of the television to chat all about Big Brother, just like we do the other two nights a week the show is on. We chatted away, as Renee and I are prone to do, as the time for Big Brother to start came and went and all the while, golf was on in the show's place.

I'm not sure what is going on in the golf world or why this particular game was so important, but it must have been for CBS to bump Big Brother for it.

Needless to say, there will be no Big Brother chat this morning and we'll be back to our regularly-scheduled Big Brother chatting on Wednesday!

Project Runway Season 8: The Quintessential Marie Claire Woman

As promised, we are back today for the very special Project Runway weekend. Yesterday I wrote about the premiere of season 8 and today we're going to cover the second and third episodes before the fourth episode airs Thursday night. This post is all about the second episode and later today we'll have the final installment of the third episode. After that, be sure to check back here every Friday afternoon for a post on the previous night's episode of Project Runway.

So here's the deal. 17 designers are whittled down to 3 finalists and those designers show their collections at New York Fashion Week. The one winner of the show receives $100,000 from L'Oreal Paris to start their own line, a fashion spread in Marie Claire magazine, a $50,000 technology suite from HP and Intel to create their vision and run their business and the opportunity to design and sell an exclusive collection on Piperlime.com. The model paired with the winning designer also wins a fashion spread in Marie Claire magazine and $25,000 from L'Oreal Paris Studio Secrets Professional.

Not much has changed about what the winning designer wins on Project Runway, except that the $50,000 technology suite had just been introduced as a prize over the last few seasons and they are designing an exclusive collection for Piperlime, when last season, and I believe for a few seasons before that, it was Bluefly.

The whole look of the eighth season of Project Runway is a little different. It's darker, full of dark golden hues that makes me feel like I'm in some sort of weird, bad Tim Burton remake--and almost all Tim Burton remakes are bad. I think after Heidi Klum got her hair cut and colored she loved the color so much that she immediately vowed to her colorist to remake the opening of the eighth season of Project Runway in that color's image.

At the end of the season premiere, McKell was sent packing and at the start of the second episode, Gretchen and April immediately started commenting on how they were shocked McKell was sent him and how she didn't deserve to be. Just for the record, so was I! I'm still shocked and oh so not happy about it, especially since Casanova got to stay after barely dressing his model and Bowler Hat Jason also got to stay after putting a brown kimono on his model backwards and stapling it together. Oh Project Runway, how you disappoint me.

During the season premiere, I was drawn to Mondo for a variety of reasons. I thought he was super cute, I love certain aspects of his personal style choices, although I didn't really care for the design he sent down the runway during the first episode. Just like I knew I really hated Bowler Hat Jason from his personality alone right after seeing him in the premiere and how he weirded out Gretchen by immediately asking her what her nationality was--so he could inform her that he was 100% Italian and try to intimidate her in some way, is my only guess--I knew that I liked Mondo and his quirkiness. It was during the first five minutes of the second episode where I realized why. He's just like me! He's awkward and uncomfortable in social situations! Us introverted, awkward people are everywhere and we can always spot each other, even when just watching them attempt to interact with people on television. As all of the guys wake up and start talking about who they have formed some sort of friendship with and who they have been spending most of their time with, Mondo is seen just kind of doing his own thing and keeping to himself. He then says because of all of the different personalities that are around each other all the time, he spends most of the time by himself because he doesn't click with people right away, he tends to run away and that life in the Atlas Apartments and on Project Runway has been difficult because of that. Hello, story of my life!

When the remaining 16 designers meet up with Tim and Heidi for their next challenge, they are joined by Joanna Coles, Editor-in-Chief of Marie Claire magazine, who tells them what their next challenge is--to create a look that defines in one, quick glance, the Marie Claire woman. And what kind of woman is the quintessential Marie Claire woman? According to Joanna Coles, that woman is intelligent, practical, fashion-forward, confident and sexy. The winner of the challenge will have their look featured in the Marie Claire billboard campaign to run in Time Square.

The Season Premiere of Project Runway Season 8

The eighth season of Project Runway premiered on Lifetime a few weeks ago. As I mentioned a while back when news of the new season was just making it around the blogosphere, I will be writing about Project Runway every week as each fashion designer-hopeful is eliminated from the show until there are just three, precious designers left who get to show their collections at Fashion Week. Well, that was my intention, anyway--to write about Project Runway every week. Let me tell you, a week is a really short amount of time. I had started a post about Project Runway the day after it first premiered and now that every episode is 90 minutes long (instead of 60), there is a lot of stuff to cover. A lot. Things got a little chaotic on the writing front for a little bit and sitting down and preparing my thoughts on each episode has not been the easiest of tasks. But finally, here we are, writing about Project Runway and I know we have three episodes to cover, so this weekend will be a Project Runway Weekend and here is the first installment for your Saturday morning reading. Today we are going to go over the season premiere and tomorrow, keep a look out for a recap and ample amounts of thoughts and criticisms on the second and third episodes.

For a few weeks before the season premiere of the show, we knew that there was a twist. There are 17 designers who traveled to New York to be on the show, with the understanding that they would indeed be on the show. The problem is that Project Runway only has 16 designers compete on the show every season and, as Tim Gunn put it, they just couldn't narrow down the designers to 16 before the premiere of the show, so they brought them all and the season premiere is the last phase of the audition process for the designers.

We find out about this twist nearly 12 minutes into the premiere and by then, I already knew who I didn't want to see on any more episodes based on personality alone. The personalities on this season are eccentric, to put it mildly. Every season there are usually a few plain people, a few people who don't think they're plain but really are, a few with some real talent and who I get excited to see, a few who think they are going to be the next big fashion designer but just make a huge mess every episode and then, there are the people whose personalities or attributes grate on my nerves and I'm done with them before I even start. I had two people slated into this position by 12 minutes into the season premiere.

Ke$ha Appropriates Native Culture Again

You ever look at a celebrity and wonder when their irrelevant ass is going to go away?  That is how I feel about Ke$ha. She seems to have a long life span than Joe the Plumber. When she is not spewing cissexist blather to the world, she is appropriating Native culture.  I fail to see how her wearing a headdress has any meaning other than, yeah I'm white I think I will go and appropriate some culture now so that I can do my part to maintain White supremacy and colonialism.  Yeah for being a clueless fuck. 

Each time she has put on a headdress, the Native community has spoken out about the appropriation -- and so either she doesn't care, which makes her racist -- or she believes it is her right to ignore the complaints -- thus making her racist.  Any way that you looking at this situation, it equals Ke$ha is a racist.  Did I call her a racist enough times?  You know, I could throw in a few more: racist, racist, racist. racist.  I really don't have much humour about this because this amounts to the purposeful devaluation of a culture and a people.

Despite the fact that the woman's headdress is as clear as the nose on your face, the commenters at Jezebel where I found this disgusting image, didn't think it was worth mentioning that a White woman wearing a headdress is full of racist fail.  Even when it is right in front of them, for some reason White people don't see racism. Gee, I wonder why that could be?  Oh, I know, it's 'cause they fucking benefit from it.  Yep, all makes sense now. In fact, if you decide to pop over there you will be treated to insightful commentary like:

Big Brother Season 12: A Very Dramatic Eviction

Last night's episode of Big Brother was a series of very dramatic, over-emotional and very, very campy moments. Rachel and Brendon were up for eviction at the hands of Matt, who was HoH and Britney, who chose not to use the Power of Veto that she won.

After 41 days of being in the Big Brother house, Brendon and Rachel and their showmance has irritated every single other house guest and, I'm willing to bet, everyone who has sat through just one hour of the show. Between Rachel's over-dramatic swooning, making herself cry, claiming every single person in the house is out to get between her and "her man" and Brendon's claiming that he is a knight--yes, a knight--and needs to protect wee little Rachel, I have been done with the two of them since the second episode. Last night, we got to see Rachel scramble while Brendon tried to sabotage his game and get evicted from the house by starting fights with everyone else in the house.

Perhaps the best part of the night (besides the eviction, of course) was that we got to hear a little something from Brendon's ex-fiance. Yes, he has an ex-fiance and to say the least, it was the most excited I've been to hear from anyone from someone's life on the show.

So take a look at what Renee and I thought about last night's episode of Big Brother in our chat after the jump.

Jessica Simpson is at Peace with Her Figure but Lucky Sure Isn't

Jessica Simpson was recently interviewed by Lucky and will also be on the cover of the September 2010 issue of the magazine. Not surprising in the least, all Lucky had interest in talking to Jessica Simpson about was her size.

Now, I don't know if you all remember this or not, but Jessica Simpson used to be much more than the focal point for a conversation about weight. She used to sing; she put some CDs out and people seemed to like them. Maybe she still sings, but you wouldn't know it by the media coverage she gets. In fact, I have no idea what Jessica Simpson has been doing lately, other than traveling around the world for her show on VH1, The Price of Beauty, and being shamed in tabloids for not looking malnourished.

I was chatting with Renee this morning and mentioned what I was writing about here today. After talking a little bit about Jessica Simpson and how the media cannot get enough of talking about her weight, she confessed that she forgot why Jessica Simpson was famous in the first place. I have a feeling that there are a lot of people out there who just nodded their heads and have also forgot what propelled this woman into the media limelight. What this proves is that the media has completely erased Jessica Simpson's accomplishments and have reduced her to nothing more than the size of her body.

Big Brother 12: Veto and Rachel's Bad Performance

So once again, I did my duty to you dear readers and watched yet another painful episode of "Big Brother".  This week I learned that it is possible for Cathy to do well in a competition, if she is irritated enough and that being a "knight whether a woman wants you to or not" is somehow romantic.  I somehow believe there will be a price to pay for separating Rachel from her man.Oh dear the storm clouds are already gathering, preparing to weep for the impending separation of Rachel and Brandon.  Are these two even for real?

Fortunately for me Holly kept me company via gchat and as per usual we are blessing you with our delightful musings.  I do have one question -- does anyone know when we are going to have a double eviction?  This show needs to move it along -- not that I am complaining, because as you know we live to service you.

Fantasia Barrino Hospitalized After Attempted Suicide

The world first became aware of Barrino when she won American Idol.  Her powerful voice and zany personality made her a hit with fans.  Since then, Barrino has gone on to star in the Broadway version of "The Colour Purple."    It has been alleged that Barrino and Atuawan Cooke have been engaging in a longterm affair, causing Barrino to be named in the divorce suit.  At this time, rumours of an alleged sex tape continue to circle the internet. Barrino could also be sued under a North Carolina law which allows the aggrieved spouse to seek damages for alienation of affection.

Yesterday, Barrino's manager found her in the closet and was forced to call 911, when it was clear that the Idol star was not doing well.  Apparently, he suggested that the added media attention due to her relationship is what lead Barrino to attempt suicide.  Fortunately for Barrino's family, friends, and fans, the star survived the attempt is to be released from the hospital shortly.

When I read about this, I immediately thought about the rigeurs of fame.  Prior to winning Idol, Barrino was a struggling single mother and this could not have been easy.  Winning must have seemed like a dream come true and while it brought some economic relief (note: the singer almost lost her home to foreclosure), with fame of course comes the attention and stress of leading a very public life.  The glare of the camera and lights is often far from pleasant.  Had Barrino not been a public figure, the various issues that have cropped up in her life would have occured without notice from society.

MasterChef: Onion Chopping and the 30-Minute Egg Challenge Cut Amateur Chef Contestants in Half

After two episodes of seeing countless amateur chefs put their best food forward and Gordon Ramsay, Joe Bastianich and Graham Elliot telling most of them that they sucked and wouldn't earn an apron, we got to see some actual challenges take place during last night's episode of MasterChef that didn't include merely putting together a "signature dish" or at the very least, something that would impress the judges.

Last night's episode of MasterChef consisted of a giant truck driving into the MasterChef warehouse and unloading more onions than I have ever seen at one time. The contestants were told that if they could not properly chop and dice an onion, they had no place being in the kitchen at all. The judges lived up to that very harsh statement by booting every single chef who could not produce perfect onions. Needless to say, there were not an abundance of contestants left after finding that more than half of them could not chop and dice onions.

Those who were left after the onion chopping challenge, which had some chefs chopping for 90 minutes straight, mind you, there was no time for celebration before Gordon Ramsay announced the next challenge. The remaining chefs then had to cook an egg in 30 minutes. Yes, 30 minutes. Eggs typically take just a few minutes to cook, but they had to cook something to accompany the one egg they were given. They got to choose from a spread of protein, greens, fruits, vegetables and garnishes to make something delicious. Some chefs did indeed make something extraordinary, while others made some giant messes.

Find out what Renee and I thought during last night's episode of MasterChef after the jump.

"Price Is Right" Makes a Habit of Shaming and Firing Pregnant Women

Two former Price Is Right models have been fired from the show for no other reason than the fact that they were pregnant.

Shane Stirling and Brandi Cochran are suing the show for being shamed, discriminated against and fired because they were pregnant. There is not much information out about Shane Stirling, other than the fact that she was discriminated against, but Brandi Cochran has shared details of the extent of the hell she went through at the hands of Price Is Right producers.

In the lawsuit filed with the L.A. County Superior Court in March, Cochran states that in 2007, she was afraid to tell anyone about her pregnancy because she was afraid of losing her job on the show, but she said that the stress of keeping it a secret resulted in a miscarriage. When she told a producer about the miscarriage, she claims that the producer said "It's nature's way of getting rid of a bad baby."

When she got pregnant again in 2008, she was open about her pregnancy--with twins--and when she walked past a producer, he commented on her weight, saying "Wide load coming through." She ended up being put on disability because of complications with her pregnancy, but says that she did eventually lose her job completely.

Simply put, the people behind Price Is Right have made misogyny and discrimination an everyday business practice. It is unfortunately telling that details of this lawsuit have just made it out into the media when the lawsuit was filed in March and the events that are described in the lawsuit took place in 2007 and 2008. Comments that were made by Price Is Right producers to Brandi Cochran are not okay and should not be tolerated by anyone in any situation--especially a work situation.

Levi Johnston Running for Mayor of Wasilla, Scores Coveted Reality Show

It was only three weeks ago when everyone was talking about how Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston were shopping for a reality show to go along with their brand new reconciliation, engagement and Us Weekly cover. Since, the couple has split up--again--and anyone's sick, twisted hope of seeing Bristol and Levi attempt to parent their son Tripp on reality television has been washed away. Levi may have lost a fiance, but to all of our horror, his dreams of starring in his very own reality show are alive and well.

Levi Johnston has partnered with very well-known reality show producers Stone and Co., who confirmed that they are shooting a pilot with Levi and pitching the concept of the show to networks.

Concept? What is this concept they speak of? Well, that is where the hilarity of Levi Johnston shooting a reality show turns into something really not funny, but just very sad. After partnering with Stone and Co., producers Scott Stone and David Weintraub pitched Levi about adding a hook to the show to lure in an audience. Obviously they knew very well that Levi Johnston on his own is boring; the man lacks personality and when he is allowed to speak on his own and be himself, he spouts out things like "I like women who don't have opinions." So, the basis for Johnston's reality show is to have him run for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.

Big Brother Season 12: A Giant Paint Can Produces the New HoH and Ragan the Saboteur

We walked into last night's episode of Big Brother knowing that we would find out who the new HoH would be and if they would open Pandora's Box to unleash the new saboteur. It was revealed during the last episode that Ragan was chosen by fans of the show who texted in to become the new saboteur. But would Pandora's Box be opened to unleash him and if so, would he accept the offer?

Oh, so nerve racking. Kind of.

So last night's episode picked right up where the last left off--watching the house guests spin around on a giant paint can that they had to hold onto while being doused with paint and periodically being hit in the face with a giant paint brush. CBS, where do you get these competition ideas?

Big Brother Season 12: Eviction Night and "The Highest Form of Flattery is Totally Making Fun of Someone"

There will not be a chat on last night's episode of Big Brother. Instead, I shall impress you all with my awesome snark-writing abilities. I know, it's rather exciting.

So, the first order of business is yes, I am fully aware of how ridiculous the title of this post is and if you didn't hear Rachel say that exact line on last night's episode of Big Brother, you can go ahead and consider yourself lucky. But whatever made her say such a thing in the first place? Well, while Rachel and Brendon were hanging making out in the "yard" of the Big Brother house, Britney, Matt and Ragan went and hung out in Rachel's HoH room and as Britney put it, you can't just hang out in Rachel's HoH room without making fun of her. And so Britney and Matt proceeded to go through Rachel's belongings, find her bright red hair extensions and clip them into their own hair. Britney then marched around the HoH room, screaming at the top of her lungs, attempting to act like Rachel and as her pitch grew higher and higher, I have to say she was pretty damn close to imitating Rachel, whose voice, just for the record, has the tendency to give me an instant headache. So Big Brother then cuts to Rachel marching up the steps, down the hallway and into the HoH room to catch these people--who are really, really not her friends. But she does not really grasp that and thinks it's funny and sits on the bed and watches Britney, whose intention is to make fun of her in order for her to get mad, and laughs her ass off. It is then where Rachel says "The Highest Form of Flattery is Totally Making Fun of Someone."

Yeah. Not quite, Rachel. I'm so sorry to break this very delicate news to you that I know will just strike you at your core, but just say it with me--Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. There, that's better.

But now, onto the actual important stuff about last night's episode of Big Brother, and I promise not to bring up Rachel again. Okay, that is a total lie, but I won't bring her up much more. Promise.

[My fingers may or may not have been crossed behind my back as I typed that.]

Celebrities Take to Twitter to Celebrate the Overturn of Prop 8

Prop 8, as I'm sure you all know, is California's ban on gay marriage which explicitly states in the California Constitution "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." Yesterday, Prop 8 was overturned by U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who ruled that the amendment denying same-sex couples to marry is unconstitutional, finding that it violates the Constitution's due process and equal protection clauses while failing "to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license." He also wrote wrote in his 136-page opinion, "Proposition 8 perpetuates the stereotype that gays and lesbians are incapable of forming long-term loving relationships and that gays and lesbians are not good parents."

The overturning of Prop 8 is a long time coming. It was disheartening and downright insulting to the entire GLBT community, allies and friends when Prop 8 took effect in California, placing a ban on a fundamental right of one group of people, while maintaining that right for another group of people. While there are momentous strides that must be taken to ensure that same-sex couples are never again denied the right to marry their partners in California again, this is a time for at least a little celebration. And that is exactly what a great deal of celebrities did as soon as the announcement that Prop 8 was ruled to be unconstitutional--all over Twitter.

Arnold Schwarzenegger


Ellen DeGeneres


Kathy Griffin

Steph Jones: You Are More Than Beautiful For A Dark Skinned Woman

Within the Black community many times we don’t want to talk about the divide between dark skinned and light skinned. There continues to be a lot of acrimony today and it is squarely based in the internalization of Whiteness as good.  When the media is not promoting a negative image of Blackness it is promoting light skinned Blacks thereby furthering the divide between us.   Even in families children of different hues are treated differently as a result of this internalized hate.  It is something that is always festering in the background and when I saw singer Steph Jones taking on this very charged subject with a video I simply had to share it with you.

Transcript:

What’s going on world?  This is your boy Steph Jones.  I wanted to come to y’all today to talk about something that is near and dear and heavy on my heart – and this is dark skinned women.  Dark skin in general.  But so um basically, Ima just go right into the story.  I was at this barbecue and I was having a conversation with this dude and I pointed out how beautiful this girl was that was sitting on the couch.  The way he was describing her was as though he has so much hatred and she was clearly a dark skinned woman.  And he has so much hatred in his heart for dark skinned women and I’m like why do you sound like that?  He was like I can’t stand dark skinned women blase blase blase.  He was going on and on and on and my heart started boiling.  I like yo yo yo yo I was like this is what I don’t understand.  I said you are disrespecting your mama and a lot of your family and half of my family.  And what made it even worse, is that he was darker than the girl that I was, that I was pointing at.  I was just like how can you have so much self hatred?  How can we have so much self hatred in our own race that we start depicting and hating each other and stuff like that.  And my question is to y’all is how did this even get to this point? 

I know this started with slaves, you had  - you had the dark skinned in the filed picking cotton and you had the light skinned in the house – called them the house negroes.  And this I wonder if I could actually say something that could get people talking.  Why is it that there is such negative connotation when it comes to dark skin when the – in the media everything?  So my, the one thing I want to say, dark skinned women, you are beautiful not just for a dark skinned woman.  You are beautiful period! Period, point blank!  So, the topic is such a hot topic and nobody really talks about it, nobody people professor and study says, ain’t no professor ever gave me no kind of slip to fill out and 1 out of 4 and all this stuff. I’ve never filled out any consensus, any kind of form ever for any kind of study say.  SO we down in the street, we down in the gritty and I want to know why are there such negative connotations when it comes to dark skin -  dark skinned women anything?  And we will never ever beat racism, which probably will never happen anyways but at least we can try.  We’ll never beat racism if we are fighting inside our own race.  ‘

Light skin pretty boy and I’m just no um uh I’m not negating light skin either because automatically light skin is better; it’s pretty boy.  That’s what is included, I’ve been called a pretty boy my whole  entire life. I used to get perms when I was little because when I was younger, I was the only light skinned dude in my whole grade that didn’t have a softer grade of hair.  Back then I used to call it good hair/bad hair because I didn’t know the difference. I got good hair. I got nappy hair.  So um, I used to perm my hair so that I could fit in with all the other light skinned cats and as I got I learned to accept myself just for what I was. 

And it’s just crazy how all the other all this stuff goes on and I know that so many people have so many stories.   I have stories where a cop pulled me  over in Long Beach with he came to my car with a gun pointed at my car.  “Do you know why I pulled you over?”  I was like I have no idea.  “Cause your music was too loud.”  There wasn’t even a radio in the car.you know there’s a lot of stuff that you could talk about and no so many people that have so many different stories when it comes to dark skin, light skin being racist inside our own race everything.  So, I just wanted to touch upon that, I know it’s a very sensitive subject. I am going to talk about it since no one else with, I’ll talk about it. How about that?  You’re boys Steph Jones is bringing up dark skin women, dark skin period whatever.  And I know I talked about this on facebook and twitter and I couple people they got, they got really defensive.  They was like how can you be light skin and you don’t know what it’s like to be dark skinned.  And you don’t know what it’s like to be light skinned how about that.  There is racist all over, all across border, but my things is, I’m not trying to, to make it seem like everything is good all over the place.  In every single race, there is discrepancies in every single race so basically I just wanna get people talking about it and see what can we do try and make an effort to at least try and make an effort, to at least progress forward as human, as men – mankind at least try and make an effort.  So, that’s my thing.  Leave your comments at the jump.  Subscribe to you boy and again I say, Dark skin women you are not beautiful just for a dark skin woman, you are beautiful period.  I have has so many of my dark skin us women friends they’re like, I can’t believe the comments that I get.  They’ll be like you’re pretty for a dark skinned girl.

I gotta say it is some great validation to hear a light skinned man speak out in support of dark skinned sisters.  I just had to show him so love.

MasterChef: The Last Round of Audtions Gets Infused with Sexism, Ageism and Conformity

Last night's episode of MasterChef finished off the audition process and showed the contestants either get sent home or earn an apron to continue on into the season. In the last post I wrote about MasterChef, I mentioned right in the title that it was Gordon Ramsay's new cooking competition reality show, sans insults. However, after watching last night's episode and chatting all about it with Renee, I feel that I must clarify. No, MasterChef does not include Gordon Ramsay screaming at women on the show and calling them donkeys, but that doesn't mean that nothing insulting comes flying out of his, Graham Elliot, or Joe Bastianich's mouths during the judging process, because oh my goodness people. The sexism and ageism is astounding; it's almost enough to knock the wind out of you as soon as you hear Gordon Ramsay insisting a young woman bring her parents and sister into the judge's room to convince the judges that she should earn an apron and move on in the competition because while her food is amazing--more-so than the food of people twice her age, mind you--the fact that she is 22 means that she is not mature enough for a reality television show. I am not kidding you. That is pretty damn insulting.

Another big theme that we noticed throughout MasterChef is conformity. So, not only do women need to have their parents speak on their behalf about how they will be able to handle the stress, pressure and what will be expected of them throughout this cooking competition reality show, the judges also firmly believe that Latino women must make "authentic" Latino food and that Italian men shouldn't go on a cooking reality show where one of the judges is also Italian and not only that, but just so happens to be one of the most arrogant people in the foodie world. I wouldn't even call Joe Bastianich a foodie--his pomposity is so much more than that; he is an Italian man who believe that because he owns 20 Italian restaurants and three award-winning wineries that he is the only Italian chef needed in the foodie world. The need for the contestants to conform to the judge's own vision of who they should be and what stereotype they should personify is in full swing on MasterChef.

Take a look at what else Renee and I thought as we chatted about last night's episode of MasterChef and check back here every Wednesday morning for our chats on the show. Don't forget, feel free to add your own insight in the comments.

The Gates: Jurisdiction

I am not sure how longer my love of everything vampire is going to be enough for me to keep watching "The Gates".  It is really starting to get a little camp. As promised a body was found in the gates.  Viewers may have rcognized it as that of Barabara Janson, the woman that Claire ran into with Christian a few episodes ago. She has bite marks on her neck which immediately sends Nick to see Dylan. He goes into ultimate cop mode and wants to know if Dylan did it, and how many vampires live in "The Gates."  I think the part that had me absolutely shaking my head, is when he asks Nick if bullets have any affect.  Okay, what creature in their right mind is going to say, this is how you murder me, bye bye now have a good day. 

We find out that Barbara's business partner Gloria Bennett is also a vampire, which automatically gives her motive in Nicks mind.  She says that she tried to turn her after finding her dead, but fangs are enough for Nick to want to take her to the station, before she snatched by the vampires investigating this murder.  It isn't until this happens that the dolt Nick finally realizes the risk that Dylan took to save him.  I guess late gratitude is better than no gratitude. He did after believe Dylan when he said that the distance between his fangs is larger than the marks on the victim. 

Justin Bieber Memoir Deal

No, the title of this post is not a mistake.  16 year old Justin Bieber has just inked a deal to produce a memoir in which his journey to fame is chronicled. To come up with enough material, they are going to have focus on when this kid learned to wipe his own ass and take his first steps.  Why?  Cause he is fucking 16 years old okay.  I don't give a shit how many tween fans he has, the idea of a memoir for a 16 year old is absolutely fucking ridiculous and proves how far we descended into the ridiculous.

The illustrated autobiography titled Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever: My Story (yep, grandiose as hell), will feature never before seen photos (gasp with glee everyone).  The book will also coincide with a 32 page comic book biography, Fame: Justin Beiber.  I guess his fans are still learning how to read, so he doesn't have to try to snag Palin's ghost writer to hook him up.  

MasterChef -- Gordon Ramsay's New Cooking Competition Reality Show with Less Screaming and Insults

After becoming a hit television show in Australia, the United Kingdom and Hungary, MasterChef has finally made it to the U.S. and premiered on Tuesday night on FOX right after Hell's Kitchen. Tuesday nights on FOX can now officially be renamed to Two Hours of Watching Gordon Ramsay Tell People Their Food Sucks.

Hell's Kitchen, as I'm sure you all know by now, is a competition reality television show that whittles down a group of experienced chefs with big hopes until there is one left who is then given an Executive Chef job at a fancy shmancy new restaurant somewhere in the world. MasterChef is pretty much the same show, except these people are amateur cooks who have no real certification or accolades, just a love of cooking. Each week, the weakest of the cooks are told to leave the show until there is one person left who is then named the Master Chef and given $250,000 and the resources to publish their own cookbook.

The decision for FOX to premiere MasterChef right after Hell's Kitchen is pure genius. They already have their audience for Hell's Kitchen and now, when that show is over another show just like it comes on and those who love watching Gordon Ramsay scream at people can now watch him be kind of nice and, oh I don't know, human. It's like the Gordon Ramsay Bi-Polar Experience; at first he's calling people donkeys and cows and punching halibut until it smashes into hundreds of pieces, landing all over the kitchen and then he's all nice, almost the voice of logic and reason amongst the other two judges on MasterChef, and in the business of building people up and making their dreams come true. Aww, how sweet of him! He isn't really a guy with the shortest fuse ever, he's just misunderstood! In case you missed it, I did say that there are two other judges besides Gordon Ramsay on MasterChef; the first is Graham Elliot, who at 27 years old became America's youngest four star chef, and Joe Bastianich who owns 20 of America's best Italian restaurants and three award-winning Italian wineries.

During the premiere of MasterChef, the contestants are given one hour to cook the meal of their life and prove to the three judges that they deserve to move on in the competition for a shot at becoming America's first Master Chef.

Mad Men: Christmas Comes But Once a Year

This episode should have been called women have their uses.  I know that this show is set in the 60's, but would it really bring the world crashing to halt if we had just a few episodes where women were not treated like commodities?   This episode begins with Don receiving a letter from his daughter regarding what she and her siblings want for Christmas.  True loving and involved daddy that he is, he quickly reaches into his wallet and promptly instructs his secretary to buy the gifts his daughter listed.

Sally runs into Glenn, the child of a neighborhood divorcee when she is out shopping for a Christmas tree for her family. He gives her tips on what it is like to live in a blended family after Sally tells him that she hates where she lives because she keeps expecting to run into her father.  It seems that on the issue of her parents divorce she clearly blames her mother. Isn't mommy always to blame for everything.  Daddies cannot be held accountable they have lots of work to do.

This episode sees the return of Freddie Rumsen who originally lost his job for drunkenness.  He brings with him a 2 million dollar Ponds cold cream account and swears to be absolutely sober.   Even though he and Peggy are supposed to be working together on a project he takes the lead patronizing her at every turn. He seems very dedicated to hi sobriety.

Due to a loss of business Lane has decided to trim the budget.  Unfortunately, this plan goes out the window when Lee Gardner Jr demands to be invited to their Christmas party.  Roger decides to get Joan to quickly through together a party and asks her to wear the red dress with the bow in the back. He of course feels the need to tell her that she is off limits to Lee, as though he has the right to say who she has any kind of interaction with.  Though Freddie is asked to play Santa he does not show up, for fear that he will be tempted to drink again. Lee Gard

Big Brother Season 12: Rachel vs Kristen

Renee and I sacrificed another hour of our week for Big Brother and on last night's episode we saw the rest of Rachel and Kristen's verbal championship fight. The irony that they were located inside a boxing rink (and apparently this fight wasn't planned since this is juicy, dramatic reality television we're talking about here) was just phenomenal.

Rachel has won HoH for the second time this season and who she put up on the block wasn't a surprise by any stretch of the imagination.