lasu

I am SO GLAD I'm reading so many of the same complaints here that I am having with this season's storylines. 1. Are we the viewers supposed to be on Crenshawn's side? He entered into an agreement. He agreed to certain parameters on his show. He broke his agreement. But Issa's the bad guy? No, as it has played out HE took advantage of HER. He gambled with HER professional career (if the waterboy hadn't liked it, he would have blamed Issa, not Crenshawn). If he wanted to tell her she was a sell out, that she didn't have is back, that he didn't want to tailor his show, those are all fair things to do...BEFORE. Instead, he used her professional connections to get ahead regardless of the consequences it might have for her, and now that he got EVERYthing he wanted exactly the way he wanted it, he's trying to ruin Issa? It's not fun watching Issa grovel over this this close to the end of the season. I don't get it. 2. Is Molly's work so cutthroat you can't even admit you are having a real family crisis without it looking like a weakness, or is it the kind of place where you can get blackout drunk and turn out with your coworkers and everyone sees it as a good time? Because it can't be both. 3. Why was Issa wearing a sweater (THAT WAS NOT A SWEATER DRESS!!!) and heels? Ain't got no pants on! Those were my complaints, the rest are my comments: I was bummed when I realized the baby scene was a dream, but for a different reason. When I thought it was real, I thought that meant they weren't going with Lawrence as end game, and I don't want Lawrence as end game. I genuinely like him and I actually liked him and Issa together, but with the baby it's too much for me personally to root for. It would be different if he already had a kid, but watching this bond form between him and another woman (an appropriate and healthy bond, I might add - it's best for their child) would be too painful for me. I 100% know he was not cheating and did nothing wrong, but it would feel wrong to me. As far as Issa making Condo the bad guy? Totally normal. Just like Lawrence in my last paragraph, Condo did nothing wrong. I get that. But as long as Issa is just drop kicking her in fantasies, I can't get mad about that. It might not be reasonable or fair, but it's understandable to secretly hate the "other woman" in this case, because she was so close to getting her dream, and in no version of that dream is there a baby momma. Even if they work it all out, I think Issa will always live with the "what if" Condo hadn't gotten pregnant, "what if" Lawrence didn't have a child with another woman? It's a tough pill to swallow, even if there isn't anyone who did anything actually wrong. Shit, maybe that makes it even worse. I don't hate Taurean as end game for Molly; it works for me - they make sense together on paper, so if the sparks fly...But, that said, I wish they had developed it a little more. It seems to obvious they just needed a male character who had screen time prior to this season.

This is really late response; I've been staying out of this thread mostly because I can't get the newest season yet. But, while I don't hate Jordan, I don't love him either. His suspension comes from his original season, when he got into a fight with Nia. She (from what I remember) really was the one who instigated things, but the whole thing was very uncomfortable, and Jordan ended up doing an ape imitation at her (there might have been more to it than that, but that part I definitely remember because my immediate response was, "oh no." She later basically molested him on a season of The Challenge. Which earned her a suspension as well. But I don't really care if he comes back or not, as long as this time he doesn't look like he's channeling Johnny Depp playing some weirdo Stephen King character.

I absolutely agree. I see no reason to call bullshit on Leroy speaking out now. It's not like we don't know it actually happened, that part is factual. Camilla verbally assaulted Leroy in a racist way, and went on to make half a mil that same damn season. I'd be fucking salty too. And he doesn't seem to want anything or be gaining anything from telling his perspective today. I have no reason to doubt what he is describing as his feelings are his feelings.

The music editors for the regular Challenge as well as All Stars have been insanely good for the past few seasons. It's amazing how much great editing can make a show. Ayanna helping Leah finish was really one of the greatest shows of sportsmanship this franchise has ever seen. I honestly was moved by it, and nothing warms my cold black lump of coal, so I really appreciated that even though they were giving us this completely genuine moment, I also laughed out loud when they could cut to Kendal with black streaks running down her face, and most especially, that the whole things was done to Wind Beneath My Wings. This song extra made me laugh, because I have always found it to be shady AF, so I was dying. This is how I like my wholesome moments, cut with sprinkles of complete irreverence. Also, GAH, I hate Nehemiah. There has always been something I never liked about him dating back to Austin. Of course, I hated Wes about 10x more that season and have grown to love the villain he is, but I never made the transition with Nehemiah. And this episode, he was just gross. First, I don't have much time for contestants who think they are more entitled to win because they are parents, and now we've got this asshole getting all MY FUTURE CHILDREN. Ease up there, nelly. And, dude, picking the two smallest gay dudes to go against? One of whose names you said you wouldn't say? The optics are BAD, m'friend. Is this what you want to teach your future children?? I wish that Derek had won, because I would have loved to see Future Father go down to one of the small gay men he thought was such a layup. And obviously I would have loved to see Derek win for himself. What a complete and utter tragedy he was/is going through. I clenched up as soon as I realized there was going to be a death (I watched this the day after the 18th anniversary of my dad's death), but to find out he JUST lost his younger sister to suicide was a bad shock. My heart absolutely broke for him, and the pain his sister must have been going through. I'm glad that his faith in she is no longer suffering and is cheering him on from above brings him solace. My heart goes out to him and his family.

Cardi B: Siri! Tell Alexa to stop! 🤣

Just found this thread, and I'm going to come precariously close to defending Family Album, if you'll bear with me. I read this book for the first time when I was about 11/12, back when it came out. I got my hand's on my mom's copy. I probably read it four or five times through middle school. Now, let me pause here and say I've reread this book as an adult, and I was shocked at how bad it was, despite having grown out of enjoying DS's books by the time I was in my early teens. I was especially surprised at how terribly homophobic even the most "open-minded" characters were. The two gay men are written incredibly with awful stereotypes. I couldn't stop cringing, BUT: Lionel (the gay son) and his lover (whose name I can't remember) were presented as being a real couple who loved each other. Keep in mind, this book came out in the height of the AIDS epidemic, and gay men especially were especially being villainized and shunned (I honestly can't remember if AIDS was part of the book or not...I don't think so??). So, while when I read this as an adult who has been exposed to more ideas, I see how awfully it was written and the stereotypes and language make me cringe so hard. That said, I had never knowingly known a gay person at age 11, and almost everything I'd ever heard about gay people was negative. So this was the first gay couple I ever "knew." And even though so much of it was crap, like I said, they were presented as truly loving each other. I actually consider myself lucky, because I've spent my entire life never questioning that two men can love each other. Learning that lesson at such a young age was really beneficial to me, I think. Stupid book, good life lesson. One of the dumbest things about the book is that when Faye meets her husband, he's a high ranking officer taking care of business in Guam during a war. But later, he's suddenly a rich wuss who can't handle having a job or not being coddled all the ding dong day because he has no work experience. Um...I'm pretty sure being a war vet counts as work experience and would have toughened him up. It was just stupid.

Like wizard magic going on. You could have told me those were old clips from them and I would have believed it. Tina also really looked a lot the same, and sure as hell acted the same! Her intro clip bragging about her pool and her husband that works? Blugh. Still got that same bluster! But I also laughed when she called out TJ. As much as I also love Disappointed Dad TJ, I also had to roll my eyes. If someone successfully plays not to lose all the way to the end? They won. He wanted them to take the extra risk (walking, possibly falling and coming in last, going into the battle, losing, going home) when there was no reward to be had. Don't get mad at people for playing safe/smart when the occasion allows for it. Enjoyable first episode, but the end did seem abrupt.

I get that - but that doesn't mean she couldn't use her special voice right? Like if I was a weirding woman, and someone one was all, I can't challenge you so I'm going to fight your son to the death, I'd be like, [special voice]KILL YOURSELF INSTEAD[/special voice] and call it a day.

I watched this in the theater, and I went in completely cold and knew absolutely nothing. I didn't find it terribly hard to understand or follow, though I did spend about 10 minutes thinking, "THIS IS ALL OVER SOME FUCKING OREGANO??" I also didn't understand why Jessica needed Paul to be her champion instead of just using her special voice. But otherwise, I enjoyed it just fine without knowing anything about it beforehand, and I wasn't surprised by an ending that made it clear there would be a sequel (I did know part two had been greenlit when I went into watch this one).

For me, the difference is whether behavior is understandable verses justified. I can understand someone losing their temper when pressed, but I can't justify it. As far as upscale goes, if a place where you can watch 18 year old boys take shots (they literally have non alcoholic ones [they are premade in little syringe shots being carried around by girls dressed up as naughty nurses] specifically so underage kids can get in on the action) from between a woman's boobies is upscale, I don't know what to say. But I personally have been to much nicer strip clubs. So I can compare and tell you it's not nearly as upscale as Mia made it out to be. I'm not disparaging her for having worked there - it seems to have worked out very well for her.

But, it's not ok, lol. Tired or not, it's still true. I'm not sure how you're quoting me and then saying that about Candiace doing nothing wrong when I literally said sometimes Candiace is in the wrong with her words. And I'm not sure how you measure who wins and loses, but I'd say the one who used her words and kept her paycheck is more of a winner than the one who used her hands and got fired. (All other things being equal.) There's a reason it's against the law to put your hands on someone, and to my knowledge, there are no exceptions of "but she said something really nasty" that then makes it ok to go ahead and assault someone. I'll fully admit I'm slick with my words, and if you take it to the next level and lay hands on me, trust me, you'll be paying for it long after my fat lip is all healed up. I'm not going to be happy about getting a busted lip, but it's better than an assault charge on your record. I'm not going live scared to open my mouth because some people don't know how to control themselves, and I'm not going to stop wearing short skirts just because some people can't control themselves and take that as an invitation for harassment or assault.

I don't care AT ALL that Mia worked at a strip club. As mentioned, I've had friends and a roommate who worked at that exact club, and I wouldn't describe them or their jobs as trashy, nasty, disgusting or low rent. I wouldn't describe Mia that way either. That said, Mia didn't just maneuver around her description of things. She flat out lied on more than one point. And as I went into detail in a post above, I can assure you from PERSONAL experience, this is NOT a high end gentlemen's club. It's not a trash place, but it's a strip club. Mia had to PAY to work there. She used it for a come-up and I'm not the least bit mad about it, but this isn't some exclusive upscale place. A collared shirt, and ID that says you're 18, and $20 gets you in the door. Another hundred gets you into the VIP Champagne Lounge. That's not big baller level. If anything, I would give Mia MORE props for landing a big fish in a place mostly filled tadpoles.

It's truly disappointing how quickly this reverted back into just being a shorter version of the regular Challenge.

But...you, as the jaywalker, would be in the wrong, but you expect other people, the drivers, to control themselves and not run you down just because you're in the wrong. The same should apply to Candiace. She may be in the wrong sometimes with her slick mouth, but that doesn't make it ok for others to punch her in the face. I don't think anyone has denied the possibility of it happening. That would be weird since we have literally seen Candiace be assaulted for the words she used. But I can't fathom why the onus is on Candiace to control her mouth, and not on others to control their hands. Yes, lots of things that shouldn't happen can indeed happen. I still wear short skirts.

Same. I think it's entirely possible, but this isn't the kind of place that is going down routinely. You should take a shower to get rid of all the glitter. And shame, lol. Not at all. And the fact that she had a ME franchise locked down before she even married him is impressive.

Well, I never thought my questionable past would pay off on a reality show forum, but here we are! In my life I have probably been to 5 different strip clubs, culminating in maybe 20 visits. And the vast majority of them? THE MEN'S CLUB IN RALEIGH NC! I had to hit pause when I realized that's where she worked. Not only have I been there a bunch of times, my roommate about 15 years ago worked there while we lived together. If I was still in touch with her, I would definitely ask her if she knew Mia, if they overlapped. What I can tell you: For a strip club, it's nice. When it first opened in (I think!) the early nineties as Thee Dollhouse (I still call it Thee Men's Club, lol), it was honestly one of the nicest clubs in Raleigh, because there wasn't much here. It was actually a fun place to get dressed up and go. However, it's about 30 years old now, so it's not as nice. It's not the nicest or newest strip club since Capital Cabaret opened about 10 years ago. I would guess when Mia was working, The Men's Club was still the best one to work at. Most of the women I knew who worked there started at The Men's Club and worked their way down as they got older or more into bad scenes, if they didn't work their way out of the strip clubs all together. (My roommate's best friend who got her the job there was the story you always hear and never think actually happened - she stripped her way through college and law school, buying a townhouse along the way, and last I heard was a successful practicing lawyer. My roommate didn't do so well, but I heard she's doing better these days.) While, yes, for a strip club, it's nice, but it's not NEARLY on the level Mia makes it out to be. Not even close. Like any sleazy strip club, you have to pay to work there. My roommate once had to call and get my boyfriend and I to come up there at 3 in the morning on a weeknight because between her bar bill and her fees, she hadn't made enough to pay the club and couldn't leave. Strip clubs don't treat women well as rule, and this one is not the exception. The only thing that really makes this "upscale" is that you have to pay an entry fee and you have to wear a collared shirt. You only have to be 18 to get in. Other than that, there are shot girls you can take shots between their boobs, bartenders and servers are in lingerie (not ballgowns), lap dances, girls giving massages, all the girls coming out on stage in a line up to Motley Crue's Girls, Girls, Girls...it's a strip club. It's not some fancy exclusive gentlemen's club. Oh, the one other concession to "upscale" is the women had to cover their tattoos. They let women into the foyer area of the men's bathroom, which actually was really nice with an attendant and all that shit. The women's bathroom was laughably run down in comparison and always full of strippers blowing lines, or once getting into a fist fight! Both bathrooms had their appeal! lol There is a pole on the center stage, she lied about that. There are also poles for the naked girls dancing in go-go cages. She might not have been a pole dancer (that shit is HARD. Legit respect for people who make it look easy), but there are plenty of poles in that place. There are back rooms. I have no idea why she would front on that. I haven't personally been in them, but you can go get semi or completely private lap dances. My roommate said some girls make plans to go further elsewhere later, but not much happens other than a guy ruining his pants in the backrooms. The Champagne Lounge is NOT fancy. Because I've always gone with a group, there is more group seating in the VIP area, so we almost always headed straight there. Entry point is a jacked up $100 bottle of cheap champagne. Five people throwing in $20 buck to get into the VIP area isn't exactly big balling. I'm also not sure how her husband "built" it. What she said about there being a make up artist and all of that is absolutely true, but the dancers pay out of pocket for those services. Most do their own for just that reason. The women do wear dresses like Mia described, and you buy them at Adult Stores. She failed to mention that the reason she would take it off is that she was giving a lap dance or dancing on stage, and she didn't complete her thought when she said she would then be in her boyshorts. Yes, accurate, but then she would have taken those off too, because the money goes in the g-string. You absolutely would see dancers with their dresses fully on talking with men. In a very sleazy way, the club absolutely encouraged the women to get as many free drinks as they could. So sometimes a dancer would be sitting there with a free drink, but not actually getting "paid for her time." I don't question for a second that they would sometimes get paid to sit and chat, but not at $10K an hour, lol. A lap dance would run about $25-$40 for about five minutes, and I'd imagine that's the same price would get. So, maybe topping out at $500 an hour. I doubt that kind of money for time happened often though. Yes, they have a restaurant with lobsters and steak. I have no idea if it's any good. The last time I went, about 10 years ago, was on my birthday (I share a birthday with a male friend - we went bowling for my part and to the strip club for his. It was an epic night known as the Balls and Boobies Birthday), and I did pay for the breakfast buffet that happens right after closing, but then I was like, "It's 3AM and I'm about to eat scrambled eggs in a closed strip club." I decided this wasn't the direction I wanted to take my life and left. So I can't speak to the food. This is neither here nor there, but the first time I ever went was my first experience at a strip club, when I was about 21 years old. I was with a group, and two women at a table behind us pulled my hair (not in a mean way, just a tug to get my attention) and we chatted for a few minutes. Then I turned back to my table, and was like, "Y'all, they are so nice!" and every died laughing because it had never occurred to me I was being hit on. Ah, my sweet naïve young self.

Well, I never thought my questionable past would pay off on a reality show forum, but here we are! In my life I have probably been to 5 different strip clubs, culminating in maybe 20 visits. And the vast majority of them? THE MEN'S CLUB IN RALEIGH NC! I had to hit pause when I realized that's where she worked. Not only have I been there a bunch of times, my roommate about 15 years ago worked there while we lived together. If I was still in touch with her, I would definitely ask her if she knew Mia, if they overlapped. What I can tell you: For a strip club, it's nice. When it first opened in (I think!) the early nineties as Thee Dollhouse (I still call it Thee Men's Club, lol), it was honestly one of the nicest clubs in Raleigh, because there wasn't much here. It was actually a fun place to get dressed up and go. However, it's about 30 years old now, so it's not as nice. It's not the nicest or newest strip club since Capital Cabaret opened about 10 years ago. I would guess when Mia was working, The Men's Club was still the best one to work at. Most of the women I knew who worked there started at The Men's Club and worked their way down as they got older or more into bad scenes, if they didn't work their way out of the strip clubs all together. (My roommate's best friend who got her the job there was the story you always hear and never think actually happened - she stripped her way through college and law school, buying a townhouse along the way, and last I heard was a successful practicing lawyer. My roommate didn't do so well, but I heard she's doing better these days.) While, yes, for a strip club, it's nice, but it's not NEARLY on the level Mia makes it out to be. Not even close. Like any sleazy strip club, you have to pay to work there. My roommate once had to call and get my boyfriend and I to come up there at 3 in the morning on a weeknight because between her bar bill and her fees, she hadn't made enough to pay the club and couldn't leave. Strip clubs don't treat women well as rule, and this one is not the exception. The only thing that really makes this "upscale" is that you have to pay an entry fee and you have to wear a collared shirt. You only have to be 18 to get in. Other than that, there are shot girls you can take shots between their boobs, bartenders and servers are in lingerie (not ballgowns), lap dances, girls giving massages, all the girls coming out on stage in a line up to Motley Crue's Girls, Girls, Girls...it's a strip club. It's not some fancy exclusive gentlemen's club. Oh, the one other concession to "upscale" is the women had to cover their tattoos. They let women into the foyer area of the men's bathroom, which actually was really nice with an attendant and all that shit. The women's bathroom was laughably run down in comparison and always full of strippers blowing lines, or once getting into a fist fight! Both bathrooms had their appeal! lol There is a pole on the center stage, she lied about that. There are also poles for the naked girls dancing in go-go cages. She might not have been a pole dancer (that shit is HARD. Legit respect for people who make it look easy), but there are plenty of poles in that place. There are back rooms. I have no idea why she would front on that. I haven't personally been in them, but you can go get semi or completely private lap dances. My roommate said some girls make plans to go further elsewhere later, but not much happens other than a guy ruining his pants in the backrooms. The Champagne Lounge is NOT fancy. Because I've always gone with a group, there is more group seating in the VIP area, so we almost always headed straight there. Entry point is a jacked up $100 bottle of cheap champagne. Five people throwing in $20 buck to get into the VIP area isn't exactly big balling. I'm also not sure how her husband "built" it. What she said about there being a make up artist and all of that is absolutely true, but the dancers pay out of pocket for those services. Most do their own for just that reason. The women do wear dresses like Mia described, and you buy them at Adult Stores. She failed to mention that the reason she would take it off is that she was giving a lap dance or dancing on stage, and she didn't complete her thought when she said she would then be in her boyshorts. Yes, accurate, but then she would have taken those off too, because the money goes in the g-string. You absolutely would see dancers with their dresses fully on talking with men. In a very sleazy way, the club absolutely encouraged the women to get as many free drinks as they could. So sometimes a dancer would be sitting there with a free drink, but not actually getting "paid for her time." I don't question for a second that they would sometimes get paid to sit and chat, but not at $10K an hour, lol. A lap dance would run about $25-$40 for about five minutes, and I'd imagine that's the same price would get. So, maybe topping out at $500 an hour. I doubt that kind of money for time happened often though. Yes, they have a restaurant with lobsters and steak. I have no idea if it's any good. The last time I went, about 10 years ago, was on my birthday (I share a birthday with a male friend - we went bowling for my part and to the strip club for his. It was an epic night known as the Balls and Boobies Birthday), and I did pay for the breakfast buffet that happens right after closing, but then I was like, "It's 3AM and I'm about to eat scrambled eggs in a closed strip club." I decided this wasn't the direction I wanted to take my life and left. So I can't speak to the food. This is neither here nor there, but the first time I ever went was my first experience at a strip club, when I was about 21 years old. I was with a group, and two women at a table behind us pulled my hair (not in a mean way, just a tug to get my attention) and we chatted for a few minutes. Then I turned back to my table, and was like, "Y'all, they are so nice!" and every died laughing because it had never occurred to me I was being hit on. Ah, my sweet naïve young self.

Why does it seem the onus is on Candiace to control her temper and her words, but not on others to control their tempers and their hands?

Why in the entire world would Heather put this out there? I'm not a big Sonja fan, but this is absolutely vile on Heather's part. If Sonja needed "saving", then this sounds precariously close to assault. If that's the case, you keep your fucking mouth shut about it until the end of time. If she wanted to explain that she felt betrayed by Sonja, she could have said so without going into specifics. As is, it sounds like A) she expected gratitude for "saving" Sonja from being further assaulted, and B) when that gratitude didn't pan out, she used the assault to shame Sonja. Fuck Heather and fuck any man who participated in this. Certainly I have plenty of "fuck Sonjas" to spare, but not for this particular thing. Fuck that.

I LOVED this movie, and I can be quite squeamish about violence. I did avert my eyes a couple of times, but something about highly stylized violence bothers me less. But damn this movie was FUN! Clever, witty, slick, I enjoyed the whole thing. I enjoyed the anachronistic use of music, settings, costuming, language - it worked very well. The characters weren't deep and the plot won't hold up to much picking, but it's a great classic Western, gang vs. gang revenge story. It's coming out on Netflix soon and I'll certainly watch it again, and don't regret the $10 I shelled out to watch it in the theater.

I just saw this trailer in the theater and WAS SO EXCITED. Then the singing started and I was completely out. I'm a good for a musical, but this just wasn't it. So disappointing because I think it could have been an excellent movie, but this isn't it.

I watched this over the weekend, and first, I just didn't think it was that great of a movie. I went in knowing nothing about the movie, and left absolutely baffled. I left and was like, wait...did I just watch a male-centric medieval #metoo movie? With Ben Affleck and Matt Damon? Two men who A) absolutely cannot fade into a period piece, and B) the quote above? I'm not sure I wanted or needed that. But even if you completely removed those two and put in different actors, I still don't think it would rate more than a B-. As is, I'm giving it a C.

So, Heather has to be the long lost mother of The Challenge's Evelyn, correct?

Damn, Vicki says Steve took the other girlfriend to her condo in Mexico. Regardless of Vicki's past transgressions, that's a truly shitty thing to do.

I'm a bit late to your question, but I actually was coming here on a very similar topic. For audiobooks, if the print is written in dialect, it should be spoken in dialect. But for print books, I think you need to be careful writing dialect. There's a huge difference in the dialects used in Huck Finn and the ones in The Help. But, I just finished My Sister, The Serial Killer, and it is set in Nigeria. They hired an American actress for the reading, which I don't have a problem with, but...she voiced the protagonist and her sister with American accents! Everyone else had a Nigerian dialect, but these two had American accents! I know there is no reason for the "standard default generic accent" to be English, except it always is. It really, really through me off to hear words like "bonnet" and "lift" and it took me a while to figure out WHERE the book was set. It's a good book and good reading, just I couldn't get used to the American accent on just the two characters.