Small Talk: The Inner Circle

[luckyroll3]

On Tuesday, August 16, 2016 at 6:12 PM, Lantern7 said:

Update: There's going to be a mixer after the Sunday show. Please don't let me be the only Challenge fanboy there.

I'm still up for this depending on the time.

[Lantern7]

It happened already. Sarah was good in her role, but it took me too long to reintroduce myself to her. She was the one that invited me to Calico Jack's back in 2003, and I was as squirrelly then as I was on Sunday. She still is cool, though. She doesn't do much on her site, but I like reading her tweets.

[luckyroll3]

7 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

It happened already. Sarah was good in her role, but it took me too long to reintroduce myself to her. She was the one that invited me to Calico Jack's back in 2003, and I was as squirrelly then as I was on Sunday. She still is cool, though. She doesn't do much on her site, but I like reading her tweets.

Ah, that sucks.  I thought it was this coming Sunday!  Oh well.  I get into town Sunday morning.

[Lantern7]

Damn. How long will be visiting NYC?

[Lantern7]

Another "Thinking Of The Show" Item: Here are the official rules in the Wile E. Coyote/Roadrunner cartoons. Once again, I thought of Wes and his losing record against Johnny.

[Lantern7]

Anybody here in the NYC area? On Monday, a crapload of Challengers will be doing meet-and-greets in the city, as well as presiding over exercise classes. The fun ends with a a screening of the first episode of Dirty XXX. I think that all the "tickets" have been sold out. BUT! The meet/greets do not require RSVPs. I was planning on going to the screening, but now I'm thinking of stopping by earlier and get a whiff of the atmosphere. I apologize for the short notice, though I did mention it in the Media thread. If any of you are interested, and want to swap notes with me, I would be more than happy to meet you.

[Lantern7]

Good news: Went to the city today. Bad news: Could not bring myself to interact with fans or Challengers. I wonder if I can allow myself to talk shit about these people ever again. To be honest, I think the feeling will pass in 24-48 hours. Here are the pictures that came out well. Idiot that I am, I didn't bring a camera with a flash, and the iPad was not much of an improvement.

Oh, and I saw the first episode. Without spoilers, I can say a lot happens. And TJ has a first for his Challenge "career."

[BK1978]

On ‎7‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 1:47 AM, Lantern7 said:

Good news: Went to the city today. Bad news: Could not bring myself to interact with fans or Challengers. I wonder if I can allow myself to talk shit about these people ever again. To be honest, I think the feeling will pass in 24-48 hours. Here are the pictures that came out well. Idiot that I am, I didn't bring a camera with a flash, and the iPad was not much of an improvement.

Oh, and I saw the first episode. Without spoilers, I can say a lot happens. And TJ has a first for his Challenge "career."

Thanks for the pictures!

Was there a lot of people there?  For some reason I always feel like me and the people on here are the only folks who watch the show.  I know of nobody in real life who even knows what the show is.  Most know what the Real World is and most are shocked that it is still on, but I have yet to find a person in my real life who knows anything about this show.

[Tatum]

8 hours ago, BK1978 said:

Thanks for the pictures!

Was there a lot of people there?  For some reason I always feel like me and the people on here are the only folks who watch the show.  I know of nobody in real life who even knows what the show is.  Most know what the Real World is and most are shocked that it is still on, but I have yet to find a person in my real life who knows anything about this show.

Agreed. The last time I remember any real talk about this show was in college, which would have been 2001-2004. But I think they've posted the ratings and the viewership is only like around 700,000-800,000. Probability therefore isn't that high that you'd run into people who watch it, and probably less than half would ever admit it. I certainly don't advertise that I still watch this show.

[Jobiska]

On 7/18/2017 at 1:47 AM, Lantern7 said:

Good news: Went to the city today. Bad news: Could not bring myself to interact with fans or Challengers. I wonder if I can allow myself to talk shit about these people ever again. To be honest, I think the feeling will pass in 24-48 hours. Here are the pictures that came out well. Idiot that I am, I didn't bring a camera with a flash, and the iPad was not much of an improvement.

Oh, and I saw the first episode. Without spoilers, I can say a lot happens. And TJ has a first for his Challenge "career."

Only looking at this thread now...looks like Camila is not in those shots, as far as I can tell?  Very interesting given this past week's episode!

[Lantern7]

I wasn't keeping track. Too busy not interacting with people. I don't remember thinking, "Shit, that's Camila. With my luck, I'd activate Camilator by accident." More like "Don't look directly at Jordan's stub hand" and "Holy shit, that's Veronica. I still don't like her."

[Mann2210]

http://moviesonline.ac/watch/ox1yEBxN-school-of-rock-season-3.html

[Lantern7]

Just wondering if anybody reading this is in the New York City area. There's going to be a Challenge-heavy get-together in June, and I reckon that I can only work up the nerve to go if I had people I knew (or kinda know) coming as well. I mean, the last time I went to an event, I basically kept to myself . . . and that shit was free. Here's the latest poster . . . Emily is the latest addition. I swear, I am not looking for an excuse to go in order to lure Johnny to the restroom and beat the snot out of him. This would be under TARCon rules . . . setting is holy ground, don't start trouble.

[Lantern7]

Update: Heaven help me, I got admission to that. The 20 percent seasonal discount didn't hurt, even after I threw in a $5 donation. I figure that I could get a good story out of that, and maybe I'll meet people from the Challenge group from Facebook. Still, if you're reading this, can make it out there, and would like to partially ease my social anxiety, please let me know.

[Lantern7]

Nowhere else to put this: on this day in 1998, Road Rules: All-Stars premiered on MTV. Seems longer, right? Also, how would we celebrate? Maybe send a cake to Sean and Rachel? Hey, we know where he works.

[Lantern7]

Heaven help me, I’m at Caroline’s in NYC for the ChallengeMania podcast. And later, I’m going to the event I posted about months ago. Will I have fun? Could go either way . . .

[Lantern7]

Well, I could've had more fun. I think the peak was Caroline's, where we had Derrick and his podcast partner shoot the shit with Mark, Emily and Darrell. Lots of old-school reminiscing made me smile. The party tonight? Oy. Between my anxieties and the massive throng, I was not in my element. Once again, didn't talk to Challengers. It's more about my weird hang-ups in general than being "starstruck." You could have made it a more formal shindig with breathing room and folks I can like for extended periods (Nicole, CT, Leroy, Jenna), and I would probably wuss out of meeting any of them. Last year, I saw Sarah Greyson at the Fringe Festival, and it took me about an hour to say hi. And I had met her already, albeit in 2003. If I had been any more squirrelly near her, I would've grown a bushy tail.

In two weeks, I going to a comic con in Brooklyn. Jamie Chung will be there. I'll wait in line, pay a little too much for an autograph and picture, but that's less weird for me than tonight. Fuck it, I might go full nerd, get a sketch of her character of The Gifted to sign, then bring up my Inferno II recaps.

Anyway, here are my pictures.  And here's the one person I managed to talk with tonight. Baby steps, right?

Edited June 3, 2018 by Lantern7

[Unclejosh]

I notice CT never does any of these things.  I know he used to do that tour with TJ a few years back but almost never when any other cast is doing one of the big shows.  Wonder why?

[Lantern7]

I got a picture to share later. In the meantime . . . anybody here in the NYC area? The "ChallengeMania" podcast guys (Derrick being one of them) are having a viewing party for Final Reckoning. Would anyone here be interested?

ETA: I met Jamie Chung at BoroughCon. Really nice person. She was tickled at the sketch I had gotten of her character from The Gifted earlier that day. I know, he only did Inferno II, but that still counts as being a Challenge, right?

 

Edited June 27, 2018 by Lantern7

[Lantern7]

"Flyer" for the next ChallengeMania event in New York City. Marie, Derrick and Susie? Yeah!! Kenny? Ugggggggh. Would anyone here be interested in something like this?

[Lantern7]

Tickets are still available. The show is in two weeks. I'll be commuting to Brooklyn that weekend for a comic show, but I thought you guys (especially in the NYC area) would like to know. Once again: Kenny was a dealbreaker for me.

[Lantern7]

New ChallengeMania event in NYC next Saturday. I got a ticket in advance .  . . it will be Derrick's birthday. Then Paulie got announced as a guest, followed by Cara Maria. I was starting to think of selling the ticket (or at least unloading it) . . . and then Ruthie got announced. Now I'm conflicted. It's on the same day as a comic show, but the locations are close enough to each other where I could do both. Any advice? 😊

[Zima]

On 8/7/2019 at 11:20 PM, Lantern7 said:

New ChallengeMania event in NYC next Saturday. I got a ticket in advance .  . . it will be Derrick's birthday. Then Paulie got announced as a guest, followed by Cara Maria. I was starting to think of selling the ticket (or at least unloading it) . . . and then Ruthie got announced. Now I'm conflicted. It's on the same day as a comic show, but the locations are close enough to each other where I could do both. Any advice? 😊

Go and tell us all of the details!

[Lantern7]

23 hours ago, Zima said:

Go and tell us all of the details!

Social anxiety and my disdain of Paulie Maria might prevent me from doing that. That day, there's an independent comic show in Times Square, which isn't far from Caroline's. I got the ChallengeMania ticket and a FlameCon weekend ticket, figuring I could do both. Like I said, it'll be Derrick's birthday, and I'm usually good with him. But I think Paulie Maria outweighs the awesomeness of Ruthie. And like I said, she rocks the short hair. Do a search on Google Images. Here is one result.

It's a pity Ruthie doesn't strike me as a comic genre geek. If she was, I'd figure she'd come to FlameCon.

Edited August 13, 2019 by Lantern7

[luckyroll3]

Apparently the first Real World cast is getting back together for a show on Paramount

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-news/real-world-new-york-cast-reunion-paramount-plus-1127961/

[lasu]

Does anyone else here watch The Challenge on a app, on a Roku or FireTV, or anything like that?  I can't find this season anywhere.  Every other season I could get on the MTV app with a cable log in the next day.  Still had commercials, but no big deal.  Now I can't find it on the MTV app or Paramount+ with the older seasons plus All Stars.  I watched the first couple of episodes at work (DON'T JUDGE ME, YOU DON'T KNOW MY LIFE, lol) on MTV.com, so I didn't notice the season doesn't appear to be on any apps I can watch on my FireTV.  

Are other people having trouble finding it, or am I just blind and crazy (a distinct possibility)?

[Lantern7]

I made this last week. Gotta get hyped for the next season!

[Lantern7]

Bumping up again to see how things are going. Last Challenge meetup I hit really sucked . . . for me, anyway. I dunno, it was at a bar, there was little room to maneuver, and the more open space was reserved for people who got the deluxe stuff (or whatever). I bailed after about an hour. Says more about me than them, really. It was a Thursday night, and I took off the next day ahead of time so I wouldn't have to go to wake up early.

I keep saying I want to socialize more, but it's tough for me. I just feel like a putz most of the time. I hit an event that was airing an episode of All Stars 2, and I had to keep it together to talk with Sophia. And I had to talk to her because I interviewed her back in 2001. And yeah, I know she wouldn't remember that, since she probably had to take interviews from any putz . . . . including one from grad school. And I didn't talk to any other Challenger. I actually tried with Aneesa, but she was way too popular.

Anyway, the next event near me is in June. The guest list so far is three alumni, but I know that can expand. There's a teeny-tiny bit of me thinking maybe one of the NOLA kids would stop by. And by "one of the NOLA kids," I mean Melissa. So far, they got Mark, Marie and Rachel, along with Derrick and his podcast buddy Scott. Rachel . . . ech. Yeah, it's been ages since she was on MTV, she's probably a great partner and mother, but I still feel she's been overrated as a player.

I apologize if I'm going too deep about this crap. Just figured maybe I could use prodding in either direction.

[Lantern7]

Twenty years ago, I recapped Real World/Road Rules Challenge. Today, I'm trying to figure out a way to both commemorate that and get some recognition. I'm honestly not thirsty for attention, but I'd want people to read my stuff to see that it held up over two decades. Any suggestions would be welcome. Here is my blog where I copied and pasted the recaps.

Edited January 15 by Lantern7

[shantown]

17 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Twenty years ago, I recapped Real World/Road Rules Challenge. Today, I'm trying to figure out a way to both commemorate that and get some recognition. I'm honestly not thirsty for attention, but I'd want people to read my stuff to see that it held up over two decades. Any suggestions would be welcome. Here is my blog where I copied and pasted the recaps.

I remember reading your recaps 20 years ago... how could the time have flown by so quickly?!

[Lantern7]

1 hour ago, shantown said:

I remember reading your recaps 20 years ago... how could the time have flown by so quickly?!

Right? I know that I wasn’t the first, but I’d like to be recognized for my work. I guess that on some level, I want to be remembered for something, especially if my writing is concerned.

Do you have any favorite recaps? Or is it a blur to you? I won’t blame you if it’s the latter . . . it has been twenty years after all

[shantown]

The only season I remember reading was the original Gauntlet season, with Queen Sarah! That was the first season I remember being really involved with the old TWoP boards (might have still been MBTV at that point even) and them getting posted. I was a casual fan at that point but finding a group of other people who were watching and discussing sucked me in. Here we are 20 years and 30-some odd seasons later!

[Lantern7]

I convinced the editor at Reality News Online to let me recap the series because TWoP wasn't going to do it anymore. And yeah, it is wild that we're still talking about it.

I'm still looking for a way to make my stuff more prominent. Any ideas?

ETA: For anyone who's interested, here are my Gauntlet recaps.

Edited January 17 by Lantern7

[Lantern7]

Thinking about it, I guess I just want to be appreciated. Once again: does that make sense? The Challenge is a huge thing now, and they only ran two things from the pre-TJ era in the "Untold History" specials.

[Jobiska]

On 1/24/2024 at 1:28 AM, Lantern7 said:

Thinking about it, I guess I just want to be appreciated. Once again: does that make sense?

Of course it does.  Well, I for one always appreciate your take, even though I value Wes and Devin more than you do, and I watch Big Brother also (but you seem to agree with me that TAR is the pinnacle of reality shows....).  I like when you post Erik's cartoons on Survivor threads.  It would be fun to see his take on the Challenge eps, but I think he'd better reserve his talents for other things.

[Lantern7]

17 hours ago, Jobiska said:

Of course it does.  Well, I for one always appreciate your take, even though I value Wes and Devin more than you do, and I watch Big Brother also (but you seem to agree with me that TAR is the pinnacle of reality shows....).  I like when you post Erik's cartoons on Survivor threads.  It would be fun to see his take on the Challenge eps, but I think he'd better reserve his talents for other things.

I meant for my recaps, not in general. I really appreciated that, though. 🙂🙂🙂

[Jobiska]

5 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I meant for my recaps, not in general. I really appreciated that, though. 🙂🙂🙂

Well, I figured, but I don't recall reading them then, and I don't have the brainpower to go back over old seasons, but I figure your posts probably give one the flavor of your recaps, so!