The Real World 2.0

I have to admit that I used to be an avid The Real World viewer - as you know I am a people watcher and one can't help but become engrossed when you throw seven strangers into a house to live together. However, not since The Real World San Diego (season 14) did I make it a priority to view every episode the moment it aired. Even looking up the seasons, I found that there was a Real World Denver ... I never even knew that existed! Needless to say, it has majorly gone downhill, basically just throwing the seven most ignorant and nasty 20-somethings together to see who would make out first.

Now, as The Real World enters season 21 in Brooklyn, it looks like they are finally getting back to their roots with an interesting and diverse cast. Highlights include Katelynn, the transgendered female, J.D., the dolphin trainer and Sarah who helps victims of sexual abuse through art therapy.

I watched the entire first episode and there was not one hookup! A far cry from Real World Las Vegas with trashy Trishelle making out with Stephen while Frank was in between them!

I even heard that they will not be working together ... thank god, that part of the show was never interesting to watch. And honestly, who works and lives with all seven, excuse me eight of their roomates. It's much more interesting to see what lives they create for themselves outside of their homebase coupled with issues that are bound to arise among roomates.

First Real World, then Real World/Road Rules Challenge ... who are those people anyway?!

VH1 Starts My TV Watching New Year

Wow, another long stretch since my last post. I've been spending the last week or so eating WAY too much food and eagerly anticipating the return of television shows. Today VH1 filled that void with Confessions of a Teen Idol and Rock of Love Bus and I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised with both.

CTI offers a revealing look at what happens to celebrities when they are no longer in the spotlight while trying to provide the stars with a vehicle to get back the fame they desire. I have to say that it's pretty funny that Eric Nies is trying to regain his fame through the same medium he used to launch his career - reality TV. I'm interested to see what tasks they have to complete and who will actually acquire some sort of new fame.

Rock of Love didn't dissappoint with a new crop of skanky girls willing to do whatever it takes to get noticed by Bret Michaels. The most entertaining and disguisting part was when a girl did a shot out of another girls woo-ha - NASTY! This girl who was given a spanish nickname from the tequila drinking brazillian girl as "the girl who takes a shot from the woo-ha" was surprisingly eliminated ... I thought for sure she would at least get in a couple of episodes since any good reality show is made up of hot messes mixed in with some boring people. Maybe Bret is actually interested in finding love this time around ... or just trying to eleminate the amount of STD's he receives.

Not Archie Bunker

Wow it's been incredibly too long since my last post. But in all honesty, there hasn't been much to warrant a post ... until tonight.

I just caught the newest episode of "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and while I wasn't balled over laughing I did let out many chuckles. In this particular episode, Christine and Barb are at risk of losing their gym franchise because they signed a contract saying they were not gay ... which they're not but married each other to allow Barb to stay in the country. However when "the man"(played by Megan Mullally) visits to evaulate their franchise, Christine reveals their marriage and Megan revokes the franchise. Damn the man!

This brings up converstations among their group of friends about how ethical it is to work for a company who blatantly discrimiates against gays and lesbians - but in a funny way. I equate the show to being the updated version of "All in the Family" however the main character isn't racist or homophobic, just self-involved.

While I do love Julia Louis-Dreyfus' character, my favorites are still Marley and Lindsay, the snobby rich moms at Ritchie's school. I'll leave you with one of my favorite clips of them.

Enjoy!

Newton of Newport

Before we left to start our journey back home on rt. 95 (complete with torrential downpours) we decided to take a walk to the end of Bannister's Wharf. Outside the Black Dog General Store we couldn't help but notice the EXTREMELY large dog chillin' outside the cafe. The only information we uncovered was that his name is Newton and contratory to popular belief - mine - he is not the Black Dog Company's mascot or owner's dog, just the owner of the average coffee goer.

Despite his LARGE size, Newton was surprisingly docile ... but I still kept my distance. Far enough to snap this picture (inconspicuously I'm sure) but close enough to catch his name. Unfortunately, the garbage can in my line of vision cuts down his magnitude, but I think you get the picture.

A long post for a long day in Newport

My husband and I took a long trip up to Newport, RI this weekend. Since we're not much mansion-touring people we opted to take tours of another huge presence in Newport; the bar scene.

We visited Buskers pub for dinner Thursday night where we learned that there is a limit of how much meat should be allowed on one plate. Friday we took a short drive to Middleton and tasted wine at Newport Vineyards and GreenVale Vineyards. While we enjoyed the wine more at Newport (purchased 3 bottles) we definitely preferred the atmosphere at Greenvale (bought 1 bottle) - it had the traditional vineyard feel with a pourer that was actually personable. She even recommended our favorite locale of the night, but I'll get to that later.

Following our winery visits/tastings we traveled to Coddington Brewing Company for some much needed lunch ... and beer, thus beginning our beer tasting portion of the afternoon. Mike ordered his 2nd sampler of the weekend, the first coming from our lunch stop during our drive up at SBC Restaurant & Brewery. After chowing down on our lunch, we needed to pass the time before our 5:45 call time at our next destination, so we played a couple games of pool - victor was Laurie, both times. While we enjoyed the Pumpkin Ale most, we opted to purchase a growler of the Golden Ale.

Now close to 5:00, we decided to make our way to our most anticipated venue of the evening, Coastal Extreme Brewing Company. While we arrived close to 5:15, I decided to take advantage of our promptness and enjoy a 15-minute power nap ... again, very much needed. As Mike was keeping tabs on the line, he noticed it getting longer and longer so we felt the need to join the crowd ... as we were informed once again by our Greenvale pourer that they only allow 30 people for the tour.

While most tours are boring, this one far surpassed other ones we've visited since they gave two pint-size samples during it and two more after the tour, you can't beat that! Our favorite by far was the Rhode Island Blueberry Ale. It was a perfect blend of fruitiness and beer and we actually find out that Blueberries are frequently harvested in Rhode Island, hence the many varieties of blueberry beer we saw during our travels.

After we ate dinner at a less than stellar establishment on Bannister's Wharf, we made our way over to Celctica Public House. A great pub with friendly people who welcomed this first time Karaoke singer; my song of choice, "American Girl" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Following a couple of high-fives and "awesome" comments, I witnessed a rather interesting menu item ...

God Bless America!

Thank you Andy

Thankfully Thursday night TV came through for me and offered some much needed entertainment.

Survivor provided some new avenues for alliances which seems like it will change up the game quite a bit when the tribes merge next week - at least that's what I suspect.

The Office was rather humerous, especially as Michael claimed to have Bruce Springsteen tickets to auction off during C.R.I.M.E. A.I.D, while he danced to Huey Lewis and the News.

While I thought 30 Rock was coming back this past week, I was pleasantly surprised to find a final Thursday Edition of Weekend Update which actually provided the biggest laughs of the night. My personal favorite moment was of Andy Sandberg's digital short "Jam the Vote" to encourage people to vote.

TV Slump

So I don't know if it's the cold weather that's gotten me down, but it seems like all my favorite shows are not so great this season. Since Monday I've watched "The Big Bang Theory", "How I Met Your Mother", "Heroes" and "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and all I can really say is "Ehhh."

BBT is centering too much on Sheldon, HIMYM needs to ditch the lead character Ted, Heroes should completely scrap its current storyline and NAOC is losing its punch. After last night's episode I think the characters need some serious therapy ... Christine resisting the urge to crawl in bed with her son each night and Matthew's uncontrolable need to respond back to anyone saying "I love you?" It got just plain creepy.

Tonight is my last hope to turn my feelings around with "Survivor," "The Office," and "30 Rock."

If anything I know "Hole in the Wall" will be there to bring a smile to my face.