Real World XX: Hollywood Wrap-Up, Episode #7, Get It On

So episode #7 began the second half of the 13-episode season of the Real World XX: Hollywood. This episode was even crazier than the previous one, and episode #6 was definitely extra hype.

After Will overhears Greg lying to Sarah (again), he loses it and gets all up into Greg's face

After 15 minutes of this episode, I pretty much lost all respect for Will. We keep talking about how Greg is putting on a front with his super cocky swag (a.k.a. "hautiness"), but I'm starting to think than Will's nice-guy persona is a facade too. I mean I kinda understand how he felt betrayed by Greg after befriending him and he ended up being the weird prankster, but brining his deceased father into an argument was way more than a low blow. I don't particularly like Greg nor his swag, but he was definitely a G for not socking Will. Well... he's either a G or a complete wuss. The jury is still out on that one.

But if I was in the same situation I don't think I woulda been able to just stand there if I had Weezy and Tom Cruise yelling in my face and talking about my father who died a year ago. I would've either A) thought to myself "well I guess my time in the Real World house is up" and socked Will in the face or B) I would've had to just walk away immediately before I did option A. They were basically begging to get knocked out.

The funniest thing to me was both Will and Dave blubbering after everything had died down. What's with the dudes in the Real World house this season? You got one dude who gets hype off of a jacket twirl and the other 3 who are big cry babies. There has been more dudes crying in the house than in the first season of ESPN's The Contender. If you're macho enough to wild out, then man up when the consequences come.


The Real World cast toast before the NC-17 orgy ensues

Was I the only one who was like "wtf?" when all the cast members (except for Sarah) were involved in the naked hot tub orgy? And of course the hos JoJO and Reva were in the mix too. I guess I can't really be surprised since it happens every season, but that was just nasty. I ain't about be naked with other dudes. Everybody was kissin on each other and of course Brianna was doing the most. I really hope they disinfect that hot tub daily otherwise that water has to be an STD breeding ground.

At the end of the episode, they all go to visit Joey in his rehab spot. He was looking much better and he'll be getting out soon. Everyone was happy to see him, especially Brianna. For some reason she started crying (tears of joy?) and when everyone else went over to give him a dap or a hug, she went and sat on his lap like he was Santa Claus. She's always just real sexually extra. That's really the only way to put it.

I feel bad for Joey though because like Sarah said, Hollywood is filled with "red flags." This dude really shouldn't go back to the house at all. He should thank the Real World for the free rehabilitation and go back home. The cast goes partying out every single night, and even though some of them claim that they'll cut back on the lasciviousness, the alcohol will still be flowing profusely and he'll be tempted back off the wagon. I'm guessing it'll be Brianna's fault since she basically refused to curb her partying because she supposedly needs to party in order to network with people for her music. She hasn't made any progress on her music since she's been there, but now all of sudden her partying is integral to her networking. Riiiiiiiight...

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Joey's coming back in the next episode. I hate to say it, but I feel like he'll go back to drinking before the episode is even over. His roommates really don't have his back in this. Also, Will runs in to Janelle from Real World: Key West, who's apparently in L.A. doing it "big" in the music business. You gotta watch the sneak preview and tell me what you think about Will's attempt at spitting game at Janelle...


Missed out on episode #7? You can watch the full episode over on MTV.com.

Previous Wrap-Ups:

• Episode #6: Greg vs. The House
• Episode #5: I Need Lovin'
• Episode #4: Joey's Intervention
• Episodes 1-3

ZAZZLE Custom Stamps are #1!

I've mentioned many times that ZAZZLE is the place to find all sorts of customizable products, whether it's a shirt for the next Obama rally or a business card version of your Myspace profile that you want to give out at the club. ZAZZLE is simply the place for "infinite one-of-a-kindness."

ZAZZLE actually has a partnership with the United States Postal Service that authorizes them to allow users to create their own real U.S. postage stamps. So you could put your own face on a stamp (like I did). Only a handful of companies have this ability, and the Postal Service just recently recognized ZAZZLE for its excellence with the Strategic Business Development award. This award was one of three "best in class" distinctions given at the 2008 National Postal Forum.

Here are some examples of some of the stamps you can buy (or create yourself) on ZAZZLE:

Happy Dog Stamp
by stlewis75
Get this custom stamp at ZAZZLE

On this day Wedding postage stamps
by wedding_tshirts
Buy this customized postage at ZAZZLE

Baby Shower postage stamps
by maternity_tees
Check out this custom postage stamp over at ZAZZLE

Autism Speaks - Medium Stamp
by AutismSpeaks
Purchase your own customized real U.S. stamp on ZAZZLE

Yung Joc Stamp
by yungjoc
Get this one-of-a-kind stamp from ZAZZLE

ZAZZLE Custom Stamps come in sheets of 20 and are available in three sizes: small (1.8" x 1.3"), medium (2.1" x 1.3") and large (2.5" x 1.5"); two orientations: horizontal and vertical; and eight denominations: 27 cents (post cards), 42 cents (regular letters), 59 cents, 62 cents, 76 cents, 93 cents, $1.34, and $4.80 (priority mail). Hit up ZAZZLE for all of your custom postage needs.

Lost Season 4 Finale!

The two-hour, two-part finale of the 4th season of Lost airs this Thursday, May 29th at 9/8c on ABC. If you missed part I of the finale that aired two weeks ago, you can watch it over on ABC.com. The TV Squad has a great recap of part I as well.

Part I (and the rest of the season) left us with so many questions. What's in the Orchid? How are they going to move the island? What's going to happen to Benjamin Linus? Who/What/Why is their a bomb on the freighter? Where did "The Others" who took Kate & Sayid come from? How did Claire's mother, who was in a multi-year coma, recover so quickly? We know they are called the "Oceanic 6," so what happens to the rest of the survivors (plus Juliet & Desmond) and how do they die? Why do they still call Aaron "the baby" when he's like 3 years old?

In a scene in part I, Hurley's parents throw him an island-themed birthday party (apparently they don't get it) and his dad gives him the restored Camaro that they had both worked to restore many years ago. When Hurley looks at the odometer it reads 481,516 miles and there are 2,342 miles on the trip counter. Put those two numbers together, and they make up the special & magic numbers that Hurley used to win the lottery (and believes are cursed) and Jack/Locke/Ecko punched in every 108 minutes in the hatch. The numbers are 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42. And you should notice that they add up to 108.

I made a number of ZAZZLE t-shirts (available in 60+ different styles) and bumper stickers in honor of Hurley's numbers:

   
Hurley's Numbers
by BeneSol
Get this custom shirt at ZAZZLE

Hurley's Numbers (Navy)
by BeneSol
Buy this customized bumper sticker at ZAZZLE

Check out the rest of the products in the Lost product line of my BeneSol ZAZZLE store.

Update Apparently putting those numbers on a shirt or bumper sticker is copyright protected by Disney. Who knew? So all of my products have been deleted unfortunately.

Real World XX: Hollywood Wrap-Up, Episode #6, Greg Vs. The House

Episode #6 definitely made up for all the boringness of episode #5, and then some. The title says it all: "Greg vs. The House." He pretty much had beef with every member of the house (and a couple of people who don't even live in the house).

Greg has a small bout of paranoia when he finds Will & Reva locked in the confessional. But why does he even care? She's just an associate right Greg?

Greg vs. Brianna
So Greg brings home some "loose" women for himself and Dave, and the girls begin to hate like they always do. I thought it was funny how when Kim was going to take a shower, Dave asked if he could join her and she agreed. But then when Greg tells him that one of the girls is his, he completely forgets about Kim. That actually came back to bite him later. Anyway, one of the females says something about Bri who doesn't take nothin' from nobody and calls her a "whore". In the end, the girls (who had been naked in the hot tub) leave and Brinna & Greg have a shouting match. I found this funny because wasn't Brianna in the same situation last episode? She's screaming at Greg saying she hopes he catches herpes from his whores when she's over there sleeping with JoJo, a.k.a "HoHo." Well ain't that pot calling the tea kettle black...

Greg vs. Sarah
Greg, still upset that his girls were run outta the house, looks to take out his anger on someone a lil' less bout it than Brianna, and rolls up on Sarah (and her boyfriend Ryan who's visiting). Sarah and Greg have a shouting match of their own, but we only hear like half of it because it's laced with more expletives than Kurupt's verse on Dr. Dre's Xplosive (Warning: contains explicit lyrics). Man, they were goin' at it. I do think it's real funny how people are extra bold and will roll all up in people's faces in the Real World house. In any other setting there's no way Sarah's yelling at Greg like that. But because you get kicked out if you fight, all the cast members are walking around with an extra pair. It's kinda like crazy fans in sporting events who say and do all sorts of things to the players. At the end of the argument, Ryan came out and Greg quickly sonned him. I told y'all Ryan wouldn't step up...

Greg vs. Dave
I dislike Kim the most out of all the cast members. There's just nothing tight about her. She's the weakest girl, racist, and a major hater. She's such a hater, she should've been a member of the Playa Hater's Ball. Dave brings Justine back to the spot, and while they're making out, Kim is being a super hater and tells Justine's friend that Dave was messin' with those "loose" women a couple nights before. Dave gets heated when Justine and her girl bounce. And Greg, being the consummate homie that he is, tells Dave not to worry because Justine wasn't even that tight. Why would you say that?? Dave was so hype on Justine, and Greg just completely crushed him. But the thing is, Greg's "associate" Reva isn't that tight either. Anyway, Dave flips out and channels all the anger he had for Kim at Greg.


Will is pissed at Greg for lying about stealing Sarah's panties

Greg vs. Will
Greg & Will didn't really beef, but Will definitely started some beef-worthy ish. Sarah's brand new underwear went missing and everyone knew it had to be Greg (because who else would something so weird like that?). Greg vehemently denied taking them like he denied all the other random pranks. Later on though, wanting to be friends with Will, Greg admits to the other pranks, but not to stealing Sarah's underwear. But then when he was drunk at the club, Greg finally admitted to the panty thievery. Will gets heated because Greg lied to him and decided to get back at Greg. And the way he did was straight up astounding.

Apparently Greg's associate, Reva, has a lil' thang thang for Sir. William and is always asking the girls about Will. So at the club, Will games her up a lil' bit (so maybe he does have a lil' game in him), and ends up kissing her in Greg's plain view. I figured that that would be the end of the retaliation, but Will just decided to get real savage with it. Greg, knowing that Reva had kissed all up on Will, still invites her back to the house, and Will swooped in on her again. While Greg was preoccupied, he and Reva were up in the confessional doin' some thangs that surpass the rating of this blog. I dunno exactly all that went down, but I do know that when they showed a shot of Greg trying to get into the confessional, there was a big black box covering up Reva's unmentionables. Wow Will, I didn't know you had that in you.

And then at the end of the episode, we find out that Reva's a lil' liar too. She tells Greg that she and Will were "just talking" in the confessional room when they wouldn't let him in, and he actually believes her! What the heck?!?! You saw her kissin' on Will in the club and then they barricaded themselves in the confessional room and you still believe her? This dude's entire swag has been totally fake. He's feenin' over a semi-average female that he knows kissed on his house mate. That ain't playa at all homie.

---

And if you thought this episode was crazy, the next episode looks even crazier. Will & Dave have finally had it with Greg and they gang up on him tryna get him to fight. Will definitely hits Greg will the ultimate low blow though. I really wonder how it's all gonna shake out...

Missed out on episode #6? You can watch the full episode over on MTV.com.

Previous Wrap-Ups:

• Episode #5: I Need Lovin'
• Episode #4: Joey's Intervention
• Episodes 1-3

'We were on a breaaaaaaak!!'

So I must say that I was pretty surprised by the responses from the ladies in last week's topic about their men kicking it with other females. Honestly, I didn't think y'all would be so cool with it. But then I thought about it some more and came to the conclusion that y'all really wouldn't be cool with it as you claim. Ideally (or theoretically) you would be cool with it because 1) it seems rather jealous not to be, 2) who are you to be telling a grown man what he can or cannot do, and most importantly 3) you would like the same privilege when your male friends are around.

So when a situation like this does arise, you won't explicitly tell him no, in fact you might even say you're cool with it, but you'll be worried and not too happy about it while he's out watching Love & Basketball 2 with his ex girl. But hey, I'm glad you guys said what you said though, because it'll hopefully give me leverage if I'm ever involved in this type of situation.

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For this week's topic, which actually applies to both guys and girls, I have an introductory video:



http://youtube.com/watch?v=fsvsRZhNVp4


That had to be one of the funniest scenes in all of Friends (if you know the context). Friends was my joint back in the day in high school. Even though I didn't identify with any of the characters (them: White 20-somethings living in NYC, me: Black teen living in H-town), I still thought the show was high-larious.

But anyway, every relationship (unless it's the special one that turns into holy matrimony) eventually breaks down and ends with the break-up. Some are mutual, others are friendly, and most are ugly. But if the couple has been together for a while, there are a lot of emotions, hopes, expectations, mutual friends, etc. involved in the relationship, so when problems arise, it's hard to just end it right off the bat (even when that's clearly the best thing to do).

So before the break-up, comes "the break", i.e. when a couple disillusions themselves into thinking that taking time apart from each other will actually help the relationship. But what exactly is "the break" and what is it for? It seems that in general the motivation for taking a break is either to A) not kill each other or usually B) see what life is like apart in order to determine if it is better or worse than being together. You would think that if the relationship is in bad enough shape that a "break" is necessary, that the relationship should just end. You can always get back together later if you miss each other enough, but at least after the break-up happens, the boundaries are clear. You are no longer together, so you're free to do whatever.

The main problem with "the break" is that each person has their own interpretation, which is typically not communicated, so someone ends up hurt. One person (typically the initiator of the break) wants to test the waters and see what other fish are in the sea because that's why they wanted a break in the first place. The other person (typically the broken one), still expects to talk every day because the other is their best friend and they really didn't want to break in the first place.

But what ends up happening is that one person feels that the other isn't doing what they should (or is doing what they shouldn't), and a big fight ensues over what each person can and cannot do on the break. Then either the couple gets back together (even though none of the reasons behind breaking have been resolved) or they finally realize that they should just call it quits.

So seeing that "the break" is most likely never going to go away, what should be the parameters for it? Should the couple maintain the same level of communication as when they were together or should they only talk sporadically? Should they be allowed to date other people or is it still exclusive? Can they get "physical" with other people or is it strictly hands-off? Men AND women would like to know...

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So a number of people have felt that either my blog posts were about me, about them, or about someone they know. Aside from the hypothetical question for the ladies (which I think we all know by now was Tijani after his comments exhibited way too much knowledge of my "hypothetical" situation), none of these blog posts are about anybody in particular. Typically I get the ideas from random conversations or people explicitly asking me to pose a question. So now I'll be adding this Law & Order-esque disclaimer so that there's no confusion. I don't want anybody else getting mad at me for supposedly putting their business in the street...

This blog post is completely fictional. Any similarity or connection to actual people, places or events is purely coincidental. For educational purposes only.

Real World XX: Hollywood Wrap-Up, Episode #5, I Need Lovin'

I gotta say, episode #5 wasn't as interesting as the previous 4 episodes. There just didn't seem to be as much drama. The biggest scene was the one between Dave & Kimberly when she was bawling her eyes out when she saw him with another (tighter) female. See, this is why girls just don't make sense. At the beginning of the show, she was talking about how she liked him, but didn't wanna show it. Then they go out to the club and he's tryna dance with her and she does the Heisman on him.

So being the non-weak dude that he is (and the fact the he's only using her for sex), David finds himself a muuuuch tighter female (Justine), and kicks it with her the whole time. Kim realizes he's not around, finds him with Justine, and proceeds to go 18 dummy with the alcohol and arhythmic dancing. And as if she wasn't feeling bad enough, when she's tryna leave the club, she sees him leaving home with Justine, and starts crying on the Hector's shoulder (who was that guy?). She calls Justine a whore even though it was her who was acting slutty on the dance floor. Females.

Brianna's looking at Kim like "what the heck's wrong with you??"

The only other piece of drama was between Brianna and Sarah. I think Sarah handled the situation poorly, but I definitely agreed with her for getting angry though. It's completely disrespectful to have sex in the room when your roommates are awake and just asked you NOT to have sex in the room! And with Mr. I-Wear-A-Gun-As-My-Belt-Buckle no less? Dang, Brianna. Are you that thirsty??

So yea, that episode was just aiight. But the next episode seems like it's about to be crazy. Sarah's boyfriend Ryan finally visits and Sarah and Greg get into it. I wonder if Ryan will actually fight the roommates like he said he would in the opening video. My money's on not a chance...

Missed out on episode #5? You can watch the full episode over on MTV.com.

Previous Wrap-ups

• Episode #4: Joey's Intervention
• Episodes 1-3

When Myspace becomes real life

According to a CNN news article, 13-year-old Megan Meier hanged herself after being the target of a Myspace hoax perpetrated by a 39-year-old Missouri woman, Lori Drew. Megan committed suicide in her bedroom in October 2006 after receiving dozens of hateful messages (allegedly from Drew), including one saying that the world would be better without her.

13-year-old Megan Meier hanged herself after being targeted in a Myspace "prank"

Drew supposedly created the fake account with the help of a coworker, 19-year-old Ashley Grills, in order to find out what Megan was saying about her daughter, who used to be friends with Megan. The fake account was a 16-year-old boy named "Josh Evans" who flirted with Megan continuously, calling her "sexi" among other things. Lori Drew has been indicted on 4 counts of "conspiracy and fraudulently gaining access to someone else's computer," each of which holds a 5-year maximum prison sentence.

This story is sad for so many reasons. First, why is a grown woman using the Internet to terrorize a 13-year-old girl? I can't imagine her logging into Myspace and figuring out what sort of cruel message she's going to send to the girl this time. Secondly, it's really sad that a teenager would take Myspace so seriously that it would even affect her life, let alone take it. Granted her family said that she was on medication for attention deficit disorder and depression, but still. And supposedly Drew knew all about the medication too, which makes what she did even more evil. My condolences go out to the Meier family and all of Megan's friends.

Yup, this is the world that we live in...

Men Would Like to Know: So... can I kick it with her?

So two weeks ago, I asked the ladies if they had questions for the guys and I did a trial run of the "Women Would Like to Know" series. Needless to say, the "How many is TOO MANY" question sparked a lot of debate. It seemed as if most women weren't too enthused about being judged by "just a number." Even the guys couldn't agree on whether or not the number was even important. But based on the results of the poll it seems as if the "target" number is somewhere between 6 and 10. So there you have it ladies - 8 is the magic number you should lie with when your man asks the question.

On to the 5th episode of the "Men Would Like to Know" series...

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So fellas, you and your shorty have been together for a while now. It's not like you're gonna be getting married tomorrow, but the relationship is definitely solid. Let's say you guys are somewhere around the first anniversary. You two are all wifed up and caking constantly. So much so that your girl's girlfriends are sick and tired of hearing about how "great" you are. You play those stupid "no YOU hang up first!" games until someone's cellphone dies. The two of you have baked so many cakes that Duncan Hines had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In fact, your level of cakemums is so high that even my manz Brandan is astounded and impressed. Yeah okay, you're right... That's not even possible... B-Rich is like a caking pioneer. But you get my point...

Biz Markie had the hit single "Just a Friend"

So one day an old female friend from high school or college hits you up cuz she's in town and wants to know if you want to meet up (go to lunch or whatever). So now you have a bit of a dilemma. You and this female friend were cool and you wouldn't mind seeing her, but your girl, being human (and female), might get a lil' insecure or jealous. So you've got two options:

Option #1: Be upfront and tell her
This probably is our best option because what is a relationship without honesty right? But we might not get that honesty in return. She doesn't want to seem unreasonable or jealous, so she'll say she's cool with it, but then say something like "well if that's what you wanna do, then I'm not gonna stop you." Great. Guilt trip.

Or she'll hit you with the complete facade and seem perfectly fine with it, but will be worrying the whole time you're with the friend. She'll be calling you randomly because she can't find her favorite nail file or something. The situation may seem cool then, but all that worrying may come back to bite you.

Option #2: Don't tell her (a.k.a. "Ignorance is bliss")
This plan ideally would be okay if she never found out. But women have that sixth sense about these things and chances are high that she'll find out one way or another. Or you'll just slip up. And when she does find out, you're basically screwed because you look super guilty. "If nothing was going on, then why didn't you just tell me?" And then she'll front like "if you would've told me beforehand, I would have been perfectly fine with it." Suuuuuuuure.

So ladies, here's the question for you. If your man wanted to kick it 1-on-1 with an old female friend, would you be cool with it? Would you even let him go?? Does her attractiveness play a factor into your decision? Shoot, would you even leave your man alone with one of your girlfriends? If your answer is "yes" (liar!), do things change if she's an ex or a chick he hooked up with in the past? Men would like to know...

As always, feel free to leave your comments as well as answer the poll on the left-hand side of the blog.

When Political Satire Turns Around and Bites You in the Arse!

Amy Poehler played Hillary Clinton in her Saturday Night Live skit. I wonder who had the courage to show this SNL Clip to HRC. Do you think she even laughed...at all??? I know I did!! Check it out!!

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/play.shtml?mea=250052

Here are a couple reasons why Poehler's Clinton says she makes the better president:

1. I am a sore loser...I will probably refuse to campaign for him
2. My supporters are racist.

For the rest of the list, you'll have to check it out for yourself!

Here are some of my favorites from the past year:


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3447966471804254374


http://youtube.com/watch?v=oAUHHoGwow4


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsIIptHkFxA


http://www.redlasso.com/ClipPlayer.aspx?id=25898012-71f4-4e49-bd57-287aa221e457

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ormkD1ZfJZQ

Hilarious.

~Miss Politica

Real World XX: Hollywood Wrap-Up, Episode #4

So let's recap episode #4...

This episode basically follows the dramas of Brianna and Joey. Last week, I talked about how Brianna had had the biggest fall off thus far. Joey must've taken exception because he definitely tried his best to step up his fall off with pure craziness in the fourth episode.

Even though Joey already let everyone know that he was a recovering alcoholic, he still couldn't keep away from the liquor. He wanted to drown away his sorrows for what Brianna had said to him in the previous episode (about him being conceited and not wanting to be with him). At Tokio Bar, he said he'd only have one drink, and this time Dave was actually a homie and tried to regulate him, but it didn't work. Joey just kept drinking, and drinking, and drinking.

The thing that's crazy about Joey when he drinks is that he turns into both the Incredible Hulk and a lil' crying 6-year-old girl. Neither of which is tight. I am happy for him that he is going to the 30-day rehab tho. He definitely needs it cuz he's got lots of issues that he needs taken care of. I was seriously afraid that he was gonna bomb on one of the girls during his multi-hour tirade. He was really wilin' out. I guess that's why his "friend" Shaelee dipped out. I don't think she thinks he's a "nice guy" anymore.

Even though it was Joey who had the major fall from grace this episode, there's a 50/50 chance that Brianna will either end up in rehab, jail or both before the season's over. She had to go to court back in Philly in order to face the assault charges pressed by her ex boyfriend and brought Will with her. Facing the potential of going to jail, the first thing she does is visit her "coworkers" at her place of employment and proceeds to make some money strippin'. I knew I didn't believe her when she said she didn't like it.

Whenever she goes out in Hollywood, she's always dressed like a stripper/hooker and apparently that's because those are the only clothes she has! She actually tried to go to court in some booty shorts! What's wrong with this chick? Luckily she had Will there to check her real quick and make her put on some pants. She's got some real problems, not to mention she still misses her ex boyfriend who pressed charges on her. She needs a role model...

In the next episode, Kimberly is the next of the roommates who says she wants to leave the house. Not sure if it's because Brianna brings a dude back to the house and sleeps with him while her & Sarah are in the room, or it's because Dave brings some chick back. My money's on Dave. I guess we'll find out...

Missed out on episode #4? You can watch the full episode over on MTV.com.

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P.S. - This actually has nothing to do with Real World, except that I see the commercials while watching Real World, but what's up with that reality show, The Paper? A show about a high school newspaper? Has reality TV sunk this low? It's bad enough that we have new seasons of A Shot at Love and Flavor of Love, but c'mon. Check out the casting call for the show.

Don't Trip, Cuz She'll Run Right Over You and Take The Race!

Barack Obama won the North Carolina primary by a convincing margin this past Tuesday. Hillary Clinton won the Indiana primary by a hair. I stayed up late into the night to watch the elections. Even missed most of the Cavs-Celtics game to catch the "Hil-BO" game. I watched as Clinton's lead in Indiana plummeted from 20% to 4% and then it crawled to 2%. With a 2% lead, it was still too close to call. As I was getting ready for work Wednesday morning, I heard the snippet from her speech in West Virginia "I, obviously, am going to work as hard as I can to become that nominee..."

So why hasn't she quit??

Her obvious answer is just: she still has a chance....

Well she does!!! If Barack shoots himself in the foot in the race to the White House -- she wants to make sure she is STILL THERE to pick up where he left off, gather those supers, and grace her way to the General Election. "Hiiiii, I'm still herrrrrre!"

If she wins big in West Virginia and Kentucky, she wants to send a message: she is still ready, committed and relevant now and in future elections. So in 2012 and 2016, I hope you're ready for her to come back and bring an ever-so-dedicated enthusiasm and vigor to the National Election scene once again. That is, of course, unless she stays on the scene for the General Election as Obama's #2. Because face it, at the end of the day, she has done a fine job of positioning herself to be the #2 on the ticket if she can't be #1. Through her ambitious eyes, they have had incredibly close results in these races. So if anything was to happen to Barack where he cannot serve as President or the Democratic Nominee, she sees herself as being the woman most prepared to take his place.

If he trips and falls, she's right there... I'm just kinda curious, would she want it so bad that she would trip him herself? Let's hope not! But I meannnnn this is politics, right?

HRC-- do your thing! Just be ready to back Barack 110% if he takes what you thought was yours.

~Miss Politica

It's Graduation Time!

It's that time of the year! Graduations are starting this weekend and will continue until the end of June. Whether you know someone graduating from grad school, undergrad, high school, and even preschool, ZAZZLE is the place to get your graduation gifts. ZAZZLE just announced the launch of the new ZAZZLE Graduation Center where you will find cool graduation cards, graduation t-shirts, graduation mugs, graduation postage, and many more.

And even if you can't find exactly what you want, but have a great idea for a gift, you can create your own design on "zazzilions" of products. And if your design is particularly good, you may want to consider posting your design for sale in the ZAZZLE marketplace. If anybody buys your design, then you would earn a royalty percentage of the sale. It's a nice, fun way to make some extra cash.

Here are some of the products I like:

2008 Graduate!
by aslentz
at Zazzle


Class of 2008 t-shirt
by holiday_tshirts
at Zazzle


Don't Look Back graduation t-shirt
by holiday_tshirts
at Zazzle


MBA!
by VectorSmith
at Zazzle


Senioritis '08 T-Shirt
by koncepts
at Zazzle


Graduation 2008 Mug
by JenniesDesigns
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2008 Graduation Mugs
by graduation_gifts
at Zazzle


Graduation Invitation Stamp
by TDSwhite
at Zazzle


Class of 2008 - Blue Postage Stamp
by dndartstudio
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Mix it up this year and get your graduate something different! Happy shopping!

Women Would Like to Know: How many is TOO MANY?

Last week in the 4th episode of the "Men Would Like to Know" series, I asked the ladies if they would like to switch it up and ask the fellas a question. Turns out that the ladies have numerous questions for the guys and I got a couple of intriguing questions to ask, so we'll see how it goes.

But before we get into that, fellas, if you were looking for an appropriate response to "baby, does this make me look fat" from wifey, then you should do what my boy Tijani said he'd would do. He'd say, "Honey, I really don't like the buttons on that blouse and the collar is not working for me either. Maybe you should try on another ensemble?" Basically you want to comment on the dress and not on her or her body. Good to know.

On to today's question...

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So fellas, you've been kickin' it with this one honey dip (I'm tryna bring that phrase back) for a while and you're definitely feeling her. But she isn't wifey just yet, so when your boys ask you how you feel about her, you put up a front saying "I mean, she's cool peoples ya dig." You're definitely considering lockin' her up, but you don't know about her past yet, and any smart man would need to know that before trying to wife. It's like getting a Vehicle History Report before buying a used car. Wow, that analogy is kinda offensive. Anyways, you guys need to have "the talk."

Actually this is one of the many "talks" that go on during the course of a relationship, but this could possibly be the most pivotal. You need to find out just how many dudes she's been with prior to you because if it's too high, you would just peace out before things got too deep or serious. I know for some guys, if the number is too low they might peace out as well.

The funny thing is that "too many" for a girl is probably not the same number as "too many" for a guy. You could be a guy who has slept with 20 girls, but if you came across a girl who's been with 15 guys, that would be "too many" for you. The guy who's been with hella girls is a casanova, player or a mac daddy. On the other hand, a girl who has slept with many guys is a ho, slut or a floosy.

There have always been double standards between men and women, but this one has to be one of the weirdest ones because a guy has to sleep with a girl in order to get that notch on his belt. So unless the guys are doing something nasty like sharing the same handful of women... or are doing something far nastier between themselves... you would think the numbers would be closer together. But they're not.

Unfortunately in this day, many more people are wilin' out, especially in college (i.e. facebook sex addict). And if The Real World is any indication of the casualness in which sex is treated, then it's highly likely that your partner is going to have had quite a few partners in the past. And it's likely that that number will grow as we get older. For the guys at least, the girl's number can be very sensitive.

So fellas, how sensitive is that number? How many is too many? Is there such a thing as too few? Women would like to know...

As always, feel free to leave your comments as well as fill out the poll on the right-hand side of the blog. And if anyone has any questions they'd like me to ask in future episodes of either series, hit me up at ben@benmvp.com.

Update: Check out the imported facebook note version of this blog entry for more comments on the issue.

Do People Holla on Facebook?

For the longest, I was under the impression that facebook was more for keeping in touch with friends from school and coworkers, while myspace was more for finding new people (and potentially hollering at them). I mean if you take a look at the search of each social network, it's pretty clear that myspace caters to the "pick-up" crowd. In addition to searching on relationship status, location and religious views (which is all that facebook offers), on myspace you can also search for that young (between 18 & 25) Black tenderoni who lives within 25 miles of you and is 5'5" with a slim build. You can even make sure she doesn't smoke, doesn't have any kids, and has at least a high school diploma. So yea, we all know myspace is about finding randoms and hooking up. I'm sure we've all heard plenty of stories.

But it turns out that it's happening on facebook too! According to Metro.co.uk, Laura Michaels (23), has admitted to sleeping with 50 guys that she found through facebook. She set up a group called "I Need Sex" which invited guys to hit her up, and the guys whose pictures she liked, she met up with them at their hotel. Supposedly within 10 minutes of the group going up, there were already 35 members. At its peak there were over 100 men in the group and Ms. Michaels supposedly slept with half of them. Facebook has since removed the group.

50 random dudes?! That's crazy! But it's sad to say that it's not too surprising. I wonder if she had actually charged these dudes money, could facebook have been prosecuted for promoting prostitution. It would basically have been an e-brothel. I also wonder how the first couple of dudes even found the group. I'm sure that once the first guy one found it, he told a bunch of his buddies and some of them joined too. But the first ones must have just been searching facebook groups for "sex." That's kinda sad right? If that's how you spend your time on facebook, you need a hobby...or three. They must have felt like they won the lottery when they stumbled across Laura's facebook group.

But do people really holla on facebook? I don't get too many random requests on facebook like I do on myspace. That would be kinda weird...

Yup, this is the world we live in...

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It may appear that I don't like facebook since I'm always talking bad about it, but it's actually the complete opposite. I actually like facebook. Shoot, they let me import my blog posts as notes which has been great for distribution. It's just that the negative things are way more interesting to talk about.

LeRoy's Waffles & Chicken

Last Sunday, my friends and I went to visit the church of some other friends in Alameda, CA, Chosen Vessels Christian Church. It's definitely a wonderful church and I'd recommend anybody living in the East Bay to stop by and visit. After listening to Pastor Dion, you just may make it your church home.

Anyway, after church we wanted to have our usual post-church, 'itis-inducing meal, so we rolled over to Jack London Square in Oakland. Our usual spot is A Good Morning in Mountain View after service at Abundant Life. We were actually planning to go to Everett & Jones (crazy good BBQ joint), but when we were turning the corner, I spotted this place called Home of Chicken and Waffles. We pretty much immediately came to a consensus that we were eating there. We had to try out chicken & waffles. I think we had all been to Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles at least once before, so we were hoping this place would be on par with that.

I don't know if I'm just speaking for myself, but I thought the place was pretty good. I got the #15, which comes with 2 southern-style pieces of chicken and two waffles. I also got an extra side of eggs. The place reminded me a lot of Roscoe's from what I remember. They even had the Sunrise drink like Roscoe's. It was so similar that I'm now calling it LeRoy's Waffles & Chicken.

Had I written this review a week ago, I would've just stopped there and recommended the place to everyone. But during this past week, I talked to my homegirl Tiffany who had a rather unique experience when she and her girls ate there. Now granted I don't know when this unfortunate incident happened, and it's entirely possible that the problem has since been remedied, but it has made me hesitant to make another visit.

According to Tiffany, the spot had (has?) a roach problem. As the story goes, they were all sitting in one of those semi-circle booths and enjoying their meal, when a roach scurried across Samantha's lap. Dawn, who was actually on the inside of Tiffany, saw the roach and in 0.23 seconds was 30 feet away from the table on a chair in the fetal position. She somehow managed to get out of the booth before Tiffany did. So they are yellin' and screamin' about roaches and the workers are nowhere to be found. They were probably all hiding in the kitchen. After about 5 or 10 minutes, they finally come out and the manager wasn't even really apologetic. Typically a manager would try to appease the customers and offer to pay for the meal, but he didn't even do that! It wasn't until Tiffany demanded that there meal should be comped that he said "oh... I guess you're right." Such great service.

So yeah, I don't know how to review the restaurant any more. My experience was great. The wait staff was pleasant & helpful and the food was delicious. Ask Carlton -- he had four pieces of chicken, 2 waffles, and 2 eggs and undoubtedly some of Shayla's food as well. He was so done that he had to pull over onto the shoulder of the 880 and get some fresh air so that he wouldn't fall asleep at the wheel. Okay... maybe that didn't happen, but it should have! I found out later that he had been nodding off at the wheel. I just thought dude couldn't drive.

In the end, I think I'll still give it a positive review. If you're ever in Downtown Oakland, you gotta check it out: 444 Embarcadero W, Oakland, CA 94607.

Real World XX Wrap-Up

Real World is now in it's 20th season, and this edition is taking place in Hollywood, CA. Wednesday's episode was the third this season, and I think we now have a good idea who everyone is. One thing's for sure, all 7 cast members have another reason for being in Hollywood aside from finding out "what happens when people stop being polite, and start getting real." A few of them, the ones with some real issues, are also giving us reasons for why they shouldn't be in Hollywood.


Brianna Taylor, 20
So what the heck is Brianna? Is she albino? Is she mixed and just super light-skinned? Can somebody please tell me?? She's got blonde eyebrows and green eyes, but she still looks Black-ish. I've actually tried to figure out what Black features she has and I still can't single anything out. I just know she looks Black.

But here's somebody who probably has had the biggest fall-off out of all the cast members. She went from being this cool, sexy, hip hop-lovin Philly girl in the first episode to a skinny, ex-meth addict who earned a living by taking off her clothes. And oh yea she has a warrant out for her arrest for assaulting her ex-boyfriend. My guess is she came at him with a knife. Shoot, at the rate she's tumbling, she'll probably try and hook up with a weak club promoter who has a gun belt buckle and says "it's nine inches and fully loaded." Oh wait... she did that already! Brianna Taylor ladies and gentlemen!


Will Gilbert, 23
Who felt Brianna's fall-off more than Will? They each were the first cast member they met and had an instant connection. You can definitely tell he was feeling her, but once he found out from Greg that she was a stripper back home, he wasn't trying to pull a T-Pain. Fair enough.

But what does Will do? He goes after Sarah! At first I thought he was just gaming her saying he had a "kindergarten crush" on her, but this dude is really feeling her. Maybe he's just about the hunt & chase since she has a boyfriend (more on that in a bit). I dunno what all the fuss is about. She's just average right? The only thing I know is that I definitely gotta use that kindergarten crush line at some point in the near future. That junk is fiyah.


Sarah Ralston, 21
In the season premier when they were introducing Sarah, they were showing a video of her with her boyfriend. The second after I heard this nerdy guy say he was going to "beat down" any guy who tried to get at Sarah, I knew he was a lame. And on top of that, I also knew because of that lameness, she definitely wouldn't return to Phoenix still in that relationship. Can any relationship survive Real World?

Anyway, we already received hints of the impending breakup in episode #2 when she and Will swapped gum (among other things) without using their hands. Then there was the whole "kindergarten crush" incident and brining back some random dude from the club on her birthday. You have a boyfriend woman! Then she had the nerve to call her dude up, tell him that someone in the house is tryna get at her, and get all pissy at him for not being supportive of her decision to go out to Hollywood. Girls are weird.


Joey Kovar, 24
When we first meet Joey, he looked like the stereotypical dumb jock who clearly was (and maybe still is?) on steroids. But little did we know that he had a sensitive side too! And by sensitive side, I mean he cries and blubbers when he's drunk. Blubbering so hard that there was a thin sheen of snot under his nose. Yeah I'm gonna need you to man up a little bit. If you get all emotional and/or angry when you drink then either A) don't drink or B) go to sleep when you get home and not try to have a deep convo with a meth-head. I swear that makes sense.

But speaking of intoxication, this dude is a recovering alcoholic! And he claims that he doesn't want to live the partying lifestyle, but it's a struggle not to. Who goes on Real World in Hollywood when they have partying & drinking issues?! And his roommates are of no help either. He tells Dave that he's an alcoholic and not trying to drink, so what does Davey do? He hands him a glass of wine and says "dude, just take one sip -- you'll be fine." And then he proceeds to get plastered. And if that wasn't bad enough, remember Brianna? The drug addict stripper with felony warrants? Yeah, even she doesn't want him anymore. And she's a ho! And we wonder why he has low self-esteem.


Dave Malinosky, 22
Out of all 7 cast members, Dave has received the least TV time thus far. So right now he looks like the one with the least personality. Aside from being a whack roommate and giving a recovering alcoholic more liquor, the only other thing he's done is hook up with Kimberly on like a nightly basis. What I don't get about that situation is they are sleeping in the same bed every night and having sex (they showed her putting on her underwear in the morning so I think that's a safe assumption), yet he's unsure if she's flirting with him or not. Is he serious? Maybe it's just me, but if you're having sex, I think you're a bit past the flirting stage. But maybe that's just me.

Dave's gonna have to do something to get more TV time. He has to stir up a little drama. I'm not saying he should pull a Davis from Real World Denver and call somebody the n-word, but he's def gotta step his game up somehow.


Kimberly Alexander, 24
Speaking of Kimberly, she's from Columbia, S.C. and she's your typical southern belle. She actually reminds me of Trishelle from Real World Las Vegas in many ways, right down to her ho-tendencies. I mean they couldn't have been in the house for more than a week before she and Dave were hooking up. They are basically like Trishelle and Steven. Maybe there'll even be a pregnancy scare.

But her time of shine came in episode 2 in an argument with Brianna. I won't get into what started the argument (because it was dumb anyway), but Brianna started getting hype and Kim's dumb country self actually says "Now, Bri let's not get ghetto" in an attempt to calm her down. Let's just say it had the opposite effect. But her ignorance really shined through in the confessional when she said she didn't care where Brianna was from and jokingly called the place "Blackville." Well as it turns out, Blackville is actually a real city and it's in right in South Carolina. It's only an hour and a half from where's she's from too. Go figure. I wonder what the demographics of that city are.


Greg Halstead, 20
And last, but certainly not least, is Greg, a.k.a "PrettyBoy", a.k.a "The Chosen One." Real World switched it up this year, and allowed the viewers to pick one cast member, and Greg is who they voted for. This dude is a trip. He came into the house with way too much swag. Shayla would say he's a loser because of his cockiness. In fact, cockiness doesn't even fully convey who Greg is. I'd go with haughtiness. Yep, that sounds about right.

This dude the first day was calling his roommates and everyone else around him "peasants" and women his "associates." I don't know exactly what he means by "associates," but I do know that it doesn't sound uplifting. He kinda toned it down in episode 2 -- even being the mediator between Kimberly & Brianna after the whole "ghetto" incident. But he was right back to his haughty self in episode 3, when he saw Andy Dick and was basically like "who are you???" I had to give him props for that one.


This season looks like it's going to be another great one. And I'm feeling the fact that the episodes are an hour long this time around. There's going to be 13 1-hour episodes, so the season finale should be some time in August. The one interesting thing that I just realized is that both Brianna and Greg are not even 21, yet I'm fairly sure I've seen them drinking in Tokio, the one and only spot they go to. It's like the Dizzy Rooster of Real World Austin. MTV must make some sort of deal with these clubs/bars.

In the next episode, Brianna goes back to Philly to face the warrant for her assault charges. From the previews, it seems that she may not be able to go back to Hollywood. What's going to happen?!?! I guess we'll find out...

Onto the 2nd Round

It's funny that out all of the supposed competitive series the NBA had in the 1st round, the only one that is going 7 is the Celtics and Hawks. Can the Hawks pull off the biggest upset ever? I don't think so, but hey I didn't think they would win a game. The last conference semifinal prediction will come Sunday or Monday after that Game 7.

I believe the 2nd round this year is due for some memorable moments like the one above. Onto the predictions.

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BenMVP's note: Before we get into the predictions, I just wanted to note that Dr. Hoops went 4-3 in his first round of predictions and has the potential of going 4-4 if the Hawks can manage a monumental upset on the mighty Boston Celtics. In the series that he did get the correct winners, only the Utah-Rockets one finished in the games that he predicted (6 games). The Cavs won in 6 (not 7), the Pistons took 6 games to knock of the 76ers (not 5), and the Lakers surprised many by sweeping the Nuggets (not 5). And even if the Celtics do win tomorrow, it would have taken them the full 7 games and not the predicted sweep. If you put money on some series based on his picks, I'm really sorry. Let's just hope that Dr. Hoops can do a better job in the 2nd round...

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Eastern Semifinals

1st round performance in parenthesis
2. Detroit Pistons (4-2 over Sixers) vs 3. Orlando Magic (4-1 over Raptors)

This is a very interesting series. Detroit seemed to wake up during halftime of Game 4 and completely dominated the Sixers from that point on. The Magic handled the Raptors with ease even though they didn't shoot the three well besides the 1st quarter of Game 1. The Magic are clearly a lot better than Philly but Philly only caused problems when the Pistons were sleeping. I think the Pistons will be more mentally prepared this series. Dwight Howard is going to cause a lot of problems for the Pistons especially if they don't double him. But the only two Magic players really having a good series are Howard and whoever Prince doesn't guard between Turkoglu and Lewis. The Pistons don't like the double and they will prevent the Magic from getting a lot of open 3's. I believe the Pistons' offensive versatility will be the key. If Billups gets everyone involved and the team moves the ball I don't believe the Magic can stop them defensively. The Magic also don't have someone like LeBron who can completely dominate from the perimeter inward and expose the Pistons' unwillingness to double team. The Pistons' arrogance could cost them a game or two but not the series. Pistons in 6

Western Semifinals

1. Los Angeles Lakers (4-0 over Nuggets) vs 4. Utah Jazz (4-2 over Rockets)

This could possibly the best series of the entire playoffs. Both teams have a lot of offensive firepower with some questions on the defensive end. Both teams run their offenses very efficiently. Utah has clear advantages at PG and PF with Deron and Boozer. Los Angeles has clear advantages at SG and C with The MVP and Gasol. SF could go either way as Kirilenko is known for his defense and Vlad Rad is known for his shooting. I believe the benches could be very important. Both teams bring scorers and bangers off the bench.

I believe there are a few keys to this series. Can the Lakers contain Deron Williams? They can't allow him to score at will and get others involved. They must guard the pick n roll well. Can Utah slow Kobe down at all? Kobe has torched them during the regular season even though they have some good defenders like Brewer and AK-47. Kobe is going to get his regardless but if they let him do it very efficiently then they are in trouble. I'll believe the Lakers having the best player in the series and homecourt advantage will lead to victory. Lakers in 7

2. New Orleans Hornets (4-1 over Mavs) vs 3. San Antonio Spurs (4-1 over Suns)

Both teams easily handled their first round opponents who had made major trades during the season. The Hornets simply outclassed the Mavs while the Spurs simply outexecuted the Suns. The Hornets showed that talent can trump playoff experience while the Spurs showed that you have to TAKE out the champs instead of expecting them to go away quietly. Although the Spurs have not repeated following a championship they have lost to the Shaq-Kobe Lakers in '04 and the Mavericks (who should have won the title) in 7 games in '06. In '00 Duncan missed their 1st round loss with an injury. It's safe to say that they will not go away quietly. I do believe the Hornets have the talent to take it away from them. I do not believe they are mentally ready to do so. I believe teams must experience tough playoff games along with some heartbreak before they are ready to defeat a great veteran team.

There are some great matchups. CP3 is the best point guard in the game while Tony Parker might be the quickest. Neither is a great on the ball defender so I can see them both having ridiculous numbers. Duncan might the best power forward of all time but I can see Chandler and West doing a decent job on him. They also will not allow the pick and roll with Parker and Duncan to work as well as it did against the Suns. If I'm a Hornets fan I worry a lot about Ginobili. Neither Peterson nor Peja can guard him and I think he will be the X-factor. The Hornets have impressed me a lot this season but the Spurs are most definitely not the Mavs. Spurs in 6

Dr. Hoops