Small Talk: Grab A Bottle

[GreatKazu]

4 minutes ago, evilmindatwork said:

Never leave. Lol. I regret it so much and it's really hard to come back and find a niche after moving. 

No, no plans to ever leave. lol 

I have heard stories from people who have left here, and when they thought about moving back, they found they couldn't because they couldn't afford it.

[AhFillAck]

@Tatum, the friends I have who own houses here in San Jose either bought before the increase and the property value has now TRIPLED, or as @evilmindatwork mentioned, they have tech jobs with ridiculous salaries. I can't even comprehend the amount of money involved in the tech industry. We got new neighbors who bought a $1.2 million house and the husband works for Google. A dad I know moved his family here last year for a supervisor job at Apple and had no problem shelling out 1.4. They have a lovely house. Nothing pretentious, just a very nice, spacious home. And when guy's kid was telling me about his dad's Apple job, he said "My dad is never home!" I know quite a few Apple employees and they work horrendous hours and the pressure at that company is mind-boggling. My husband is happy with his government IT managerial job. In the past he tinkered with the idea of working for a private company, but the security and benefits where he is are stellar. Plus, he does enjoy it. We are opposites. He's all tech, business and numbers and I'm all art, emotion and silliness. I don't know how or why we even get along at all!

@GreatKazu I love the Ventura area. Maybe you'll run into Kim Richards in Westlake Village! I was in Simi Valley for a few days this summer and took the kids to see the "Poltergeist" house and take their pictures in front of it. I am a movie location nut!!!

OH! And another thing....my sister in law and her husband live in Coto de Caza and she sees real housewives from time to time, but not to talk to. She's seen Vicki and Jeana when she still lived there, and she said Jeana is really petite. I drove by to spy on Vicki's place the last time I was there. We have a Sienna so I should have yelled "IT'S A FAMILY VAAAN!!!" and sped off.

Edited October 27, 2016 by AhFillAck

[lezlers]

6 hours ago, evilmindatwork said:

@lezlers, I am loving this trip down memory lane! It turned into Rasputin Music and was still there last time I went (a couple of years ago)! It may have closed now though.  This exchange is making me homesick :(. I am taking the California Bar in February though, so hopefully I'll be back real soon. I followed my now ex-husband (from Pacifica lol) here and ended up staying for law school etc. Sonoma County is an excellent suggestion, I just love the South Bay because of it's diversity though (sigh). Obviously, I love the city but the rents there are out of my current range. Are you still working as a lawyer? I am going to need to pick your brain about the market at some point! 

@AhFillAck,  SUCH a small world! I envy your location, my whole family is spread out living in San Mateo-Mountain View-Los Altos  now so I really want to move to Santa Cruz/ San Jose/ Los Gatos (basically close enough to visit, far enough to need to call). I wish I was more tech inclined, since those are basically the only jobs in the Bay,  but that was never in my repertoire, ironic I know. I've promised myself this is my last midwestern winter so hopefully my move will work out. 

Ooooh, good luck on the bar.  I was cleaning a couple of years and came across my see through bag with all my highlighters and other supplies from the bar exam and almost passed out right there on the spot!  I took the bar in 2007 so that tells you how often I clean.  I lived in Pacifica for a year in college and LOVED it.  I went an entire summer without ever wearing a pair of shorts there was so much fog.  I remember driving home after my late night shifts as a waitress though and being scared shitless not being able to see 2 feet in front of the car.  Where did you go to law school?  Yes, I'm employed as an attorney here, PM me any time!

[GreatKazu]

5 hours ago, AhFillAck said:

@Tatum, the friends I have who own houses here in San Jose either bought before the increase and the property value has now TRIPLED, or as @evilmindatwork mentioned, they have tech jobs with ridiculous salaries. I can't even comprehend the amount of money involved in the tech industry. We got new neighbors who bought a $1.2 million house and the husband works for Google. A dad I know moved his family here last year for a supervisor job at Apple and had no problem shelling out 1.4. They have a lovely house. Nothing pretentious, just a very nice, spacious home. And when guy's kid was telling me about his dad's Apple job, he said "My dad is never home!" I know quite a few Apple employees and they work horrendous hours and the pressure at that company is mind-boggling. My husband is happy with his government IT managerial job. In the past he tinkered with the idea of working for a private company, but the security and benefits where he is are stellar. Plus, he does enjoy it. We are opposites. He's all tech, business and numbers and I'm all art, emotion and silliness. I don't know how or why we even get along at all!

@GreatKazu I love the Ventura area. Maybe you'll run into Kim Richards in Westlake Village! I was in Simi Valley for a few days this summer and took the kids to see the "Poltergeist" house and take their pictures in front of it. I am a movie location nut!!!

OH! And another thing....my sister in law and her husband live in Coto de Caza and she sees real housewives from time to time, but not to talk to. She's seen Vicki and Jeana when she still lived there, and she said Jeana is really petite. I drove by to spy on Vicki's place the last time I was there. We have a Sienna so I should have yelled "IT'S A FAMILY VAAAN!!!" and sped off.

LOL @ the family van comment!!

I would have great luck finding Kim Richards on the 101 Freeway as she swerves while driving or better yet, when she is out doing community service on the 101 Freeway for her 889,407th violation.  lol

Oooh I love going to places where movies were filmed. We are a great spot for movie filming. Our county has cheaper permits than a lot of other locations. It is a way to get movies to film here. Two years ago Will Smith filmed parts of his movie "Concussion" here. One of my kids and I went to see them film. Got a couple of pictures of Will.

@evilmindatwork wishing you the best on your bar exam!

Edited October 28, 2016 by GreatKazu

[evilmindatwork]

Ah. Thanks all. I am really nervous because I plan to be working through bar study. Especially nervous because California is supposed to be one of the hardest bar exams in the country. Trying to be optimistic though! People do it, right?

[StatisticalOutlier]

18 hours ago, AhFillAck said:

I love the Ventura area. Maybe you'll run into Kim Richards in Westlake Village!

I saw the skater Scott Hamilton at the Target in Thousand Oaks once.  The only reason I even noticed him was he was hollering into his cell phone while walking down that wide aisle that goes along the food or clothing section, and I looked over there just to see who the asshole was.

[lezlers]

18 hours ago, evilmindatwork said:

Ah. Thanks all. I am really nervous because I plan to be working through bar study. Especially nervous because California is supposed to be one of the hardest bar exams in the country. Trying to be optimistic though! People do it, right?

Just keep answering old questions over and over and over and over again.  By the time I finally sat to take the exam, I found it to be easier than I anticipated because I had studied so long and so hard for it.   Just keep your answers simple, straight forward and to the point.  The graders are looking for key words and phrases, they're not looking to be wowed by your prose. 

You got this!

 

Funny side story:  every single day I studied for the exam (I took 3 months off work and studied full time) I had a 7 layer crunch wrap from Taco Bell for lunch (gee, wonder why I was 10 lbs heavier by the end of that summer).  Second day of the exam, halfway through the day during lunch break I went to the taco bell drive thru and was told....THEY NO LONGER CARRIED THEM.  No lie, I went back to my hotel room and sobbed.  I fucking SOBBED.  I was a goddamn wreck and was convinced not eating a freaking crunchwrap from taco bell was going to cost me the entire bar exam.  It didn't.  And I've never had another one of those damn things again. :D

Edited October 28, 2016 by lezlers

[pakalolo]

I hope were not done with celebrity encounter stories cause I have a couple to add. 

My ex was in the Hawaiian music industry and I've met pretty much any Hawaiian music artist you might know, not very glamorous but everyone was really very kind and always made me feel like family. We hung out with Don Ho one night after his show, he told jokes the whole time but in a way that made you think he was just telling a normal funny story, till he got to the punchline. Genuinely nice man.

That same ex met a guy at a party at a friend's home on Molokai and after talking for about an hour about music he asked the guy what he did since he seemed so knowledgeable about the industry, the guy smiles and graciously tells him he's the lead singer and guitarist of a band called Pearl Jam and ends up giving him his phone number and inviting him to stay at his home in Seattle the next time he visits. Another really nice guy.

Many years ago I was standing outside a club waiting for a show to start, I think it was Nine Inch Nails, (everyone wanted to tour Hawaii back then and I saw so many bands they've become a bit of a blur.) It was running late and everyone got kind of excited when we saw a limo pull up, however, when the window rolls down it ends up being Dr. Dre, weird. Anyway, a couple of young Filipino girls go running over to talk to him and when one returns to tell their friends she is leaving with him, one of them yells at her,  "Mom is gonna so mad at you!"

More recently I was in Chicago waiting at a crosswalk and see Vince Vaughn walking down Michigan Ave, oddly enough at that same time Bill Bellamy is walking by in the other direction and they see each other and stop to chat. The weirdest thing was just the huge group of people that stopped what they were doing and crowded around to stare and listen in on their mundane conversation.

Just for fun, I met Jason Scott Lee at the mall and he gave me a kiss on the cheek, and I had a snowball fight on the grounds of the Timberline Lodge that was used for the exterior shots of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining.

Edited to add that my Hawaiian music industry ex also did preliminary judging for American Idol and was told to look for wildly delusional and untalented people just as much as the talented contestants. He also met Babyface when trying to get a local group of singing sisters signed and Babyface told him he was only interested if they dropped the "ugly" sister.

Edited October 29, 2016 by pakalolo
More gossip!

[MyPeopleAreNordic]

Babyface sounds like a jerk.

Am I the only Southerner here? I live in south Louisiana, which is culturally different from a lot of the rest of the south (it's mostly a culturally Catholic area and we're all about the parties, alcohol, etc vs the areas in the south with more Baptists, etc) but in many ways still the South (ie: many Trump voters here because abortion & guns). 

I'm jealous of all of y'all that lives on the west coast. I have family in the Pacific NW and Southern California. We've visited there a lot and I'd love to move there one day. But the price of living is soooo much cheaper here. Maybe after our kids are grown. We'll see. And the food in south Louisiana is amazing, too. Plus we have drive-through daiquiri bars and Mardi Gras, which are pretty unique. Haha. :) 

[StatisticalOutlier]

2 hours ago, pakalolo said:

Just for fun, I met Jason Scott Lee at the mall

Of course.  Where else would you meet Jason Scott Lee?

Speaking of malls, back in the early days of the internet, there was a usenet group alt.asian-movies.  It was the main source for information about what was going on with Hong Kong movies.  In 1996, a guy posted saying he'd seen Jet Li walking around in a mall in San Antonio, and wondered if anybody knew why that would be.  I thought, "What?!?!?"  Someone answered that they were filming Once Upon a Time in China and America out at the Alamo movie set in Brackettville (a mere 120 miles away). 

That was the first time I thought, "The internet is truly a marvelous thing." 

But I often think about that guy spotting Jet Li, of all people, in a mall in San Antonio, of all places.  And apparently not bothering him.  I wouldn't have bothered him, either, but that's because I would have fainted. 

And I think of this mega superstar walking around unrecognized in a mall in Texas.  Must have been a trip.

[GreatKazu]

1 hour ago, MyPeopleAreNordic said:

Babyface sounds like a jerk.

Am I the only Southerner here? I live in south Louisiana, which is culturally different from a lot of the rest of the south (it's mostly a culturally Catholic area and we're all about the parties, alcohol, etc vs the areas in the south with more Baptists, etc) but in many ways still the South (ie: many Trump voters here because abortion & guns). 

I'm jealous of all of y'all that lives on the west coast. I have family in the Pacific NW and Southern California. We've visited there a lot and I'd love to move there one day. But the price of living is soooo much cheaper here. Maybe after our kids are grown. We'll see. And the food in south Louisiana is amazing, too. Plus we have drive-through daiquiri bars and Mardi Gras, which are pretty unique. Haha. :) 

You are making me hungry for some Louisiana food!!

Drive-thru daiquiri bars? Crazy!! Why is that not in Las Vegas? Sounds like a perfect place for that kind of business. I love Las Vegas. So much to do there. It is only about a 4-5 hour drive from here on the coast.

Up in Washington,  such as in Everett, Spokane and other cities, they have these coffee drive-thru huts that feature girls in bikinis (regardless of weather), g-strings, and some of them are topless, they wear pasties., but still. One of the businesses was name Java Juggs. I remember when we were up there visiting family, we went down this stretch of road where these coffee huts were scattered up and down the road. Here is a link to an ABC News story about the businesses:http://abcnews.go.com/Business/sex-sells-coffee-bikini-baristas-brew-controversy-spokane/story?id=23615679

I have a question about the boards here. Has anyone else noticed when someone gets 25 "likes" for their post, the post is highlighted a light green? Does this mean those posts go into some hall of fame thread on PTV or something? lol

Edited October 29, 2016 by GreatKazu

[mamadrama]

Thought you all might get a kick out of this...A neighboring town recreates the "Thriller" video every year. They are in their 15th year of it. (Other places do it as well, but we were the first.) 15 years ago we only had 50 people sign up; this year we had more than 1,000. Because there were so many people we separate ourselves into 4 groups and stagger the groups. The song plays on a continuous loop and we move down Main Street doing the dance over and over. (The group at the back ends up doing it 11 times. The group at the front only 2.) So anyway, this year my son and I signed up. We didn't know he had mono when we signed up but he spent so much time rehearsing he wanted to go ahead with it tonight. On the drive over we heard that they were estimating 10,000 people downtown, watching. "Don't worry," I told him, "we'll get in the middle and blend in. There will be so many people in our group that nobody will even be able to see us." "That's good, Mommy," he replied, "since me and you don't really have the second part of the dance down."

 

So we get there and we get to the point where we are meant to part the crowd and go into the street...and there are only 18 people in our group. The one behind us, of course, has 150. And nobody in our group had ever done it before or knew all the dance. He and I ended up at the front, with people following US. So much for nobody noticing us! A television crew followed us the entire time and get getting in front of me, zooming in on our faces.

I have to say, though. We might have been scared out of our minds when we started but by the time we got to the end of the street, we felt like rock stars. And he nailed it. I am so proud of him.

[pakalolo]

That sounds like so much fun!

I've always wanted to learn a famous dance but I'm so uncoordinated. I tried learning the Soulja Boy dance with my friend a long time ago and my husband told us we looked like we were doing a bad Irish jig. (Fun fact, a friend of mine twisted his ankle at a small party trying to do the Soulja Boy dance and ended up in a boot on crutches. He didn't let on that he was hurt at all and left the party soon after, he ended up telling everyone he injured it the next morning doing something more manly, ha!)

How did you guys rehearse? Did you watch videos to learn the Thriller dance on your own or do they have teaching sessions?

I have a funny story about being on television, too, this happened many years ago. I was just running over from the beach to pick up a snack at the grocery store, wet hair, board shorts and slippers, at least I put a shirt on over my bikini top. A news reporter suddenly pops up next to the cheeses and wants to know if she can ask me a question, I say OK and she hurries me over one aisle where they already have a camera set up and she immediately asks me "Do you think [soup manufacturer] should recall their soups if they have reason to believe they could be contaminated with glass?"

I stare at her with 'no duh' face for a while and finally say "Yeeeeaaaaah" in the most condescending and sarcastic way possible cause I really can't believe she asked me such a dumb question. She thanks me and sends me on my way and I assume they are just gonna erase my segment.

I get home from the beach a while later and get a message from a friend who says she just saw me on the news while she was eating dinner... with a house full of roommates who all happen to be my co-workers. Great.

I could hear them all in the background of the message laughing and saying "Yeeeeeaaaaah" to each other. 

[mamadrama]

On ‎10‎/‎29‎/‎2016 at 0:09 PM, MyPeopleAreNordic said:

 

Am I the only Southerner here?

I'm jealous of all of y'all that lives on the west coast. I have family in the Pacific NW and Southern California. We've visited there a lot and I'd love to move there one day. But the price of living is soooo much cheaper here.

*raises hand* Another southerner here. Our primary residence is in the Appalachian Mountains. Our second home is on Jekyll Island in Georgia. :-)

I know what you mean about cost of living. Our nice, brick ranch house with 4 bedrooms, two separate outside buildings (a workshop for my husband, a writing studio for me), and 10 acres was less than $110,000. Conversely, our home in GA which is not even half the size of our other one was three times that cost.

3 hours ago, pakalolo said:

 

I've always wanted to learn a famous dance but I'm so uncoordinated. I tried learning the Soulja Boy dance with my friend a long time ago and my husband told us we looked like we were doing a bad Irish jig.

How did you guys rehearse? Did you watch videos to learn the Thriller dance on your own or do they have teaching sessions?

 

 

We are not really "dancers" ourselves. Nobody is ever going to stand back and watch us admirably, ha ha.

A local school-turned-community-center opened their gym to us. There were 10 main rehearsals and then 5 staging rehearsals. We went to them but then we also practiced at home with You Tube videos. To be honest, we practiced everywhere we could-doctor's office waiting room, grocery store line, front yard, etc. :-)

The thing about the Thriller dance that I didn't know before we signed up for it is that it is NOT a line dance. You don't repeat the same steps over and over again. This shit is actual choreography. It is damn hard, at least for someone like me who doesn't regularly dance outside of folk and contra dancing (which is also repeated steps). Our goal for the big night was to stand behind the people who REALLY knew it so that if we forgot we could just follow them.

Ironically, in our group, WE ended up being the people who knew it. God help the people behind us.

[MargeGunderson]

That sounds both awesome and frightening (I can't dance). Good for you for doing something out of your comfort zone, and enjoying I!

[mscav]

Another southerner here! My dad is from NOLA. I always loved going there to visit family....and eat:) Trying to get DH to go there for our anniversary this year. 

[Tatum]

On 10/29/2016 at 0:56 PM, GreatKazu said:

I have a question about the boards here. Has anyone else noticed when someone gets 25 "likes" for their post, the post is highlighted a light green? Does this mean those posts go into some hall of fame thread on PTV or something? lol

 

I've noticed that too! I've only hit the green level twice though. I guess it's like in news articles when a comment gets a lot of likes or upvotes, it gets moved to the top?

[druzy]

When I was eleven years old my friend and I were roller skating in Central Park and saw Haywood Nelson from What's Happening. We asked him for his autograph. We thought he was so nice because he looked at the man who was with him (his manager?) and said sure come with me. From what I remember we followed him (on our roller skates) into a van. He didn’t have any paper so he gave us his autograph on rolling paper. When we met up with my friend’s parents who took us to the park we told them about our amazing celebrity encounter.  Not only did they immediately take us back to Queens, they also took the autographs that Haywood Nelson so kindly bestowed us with.  

[Brooklynista]

12 hours ago, druzy said:

When I was eleven years old my friend and I were roller skating in Central Park and saw Haywood Nelson from What's Happening. We asked him for his autograph. We thought he was so nice because he looked at the man who was with him (his manager?) and said sure come with me. From what I remember we followed him (on our roller skates) into a van. He didn’t have any paper so he gave us his autograph on rolling paper. When we met up with my friend’s parents who took us to the park we told them about our amazing celebrity encounter.  Not only did they immediately take us back to Queens, they also took the autographs that Haywood Nelson so kindly bestowed us with.  

Wait.  They stole the autograph from you??

[GreatKazu]

14 hours ago, druzy said:

When I was eleven years old my friend and I were roller skating in Central Park and saw Haywood Nelson from What's Happening. We asked him for his autograph. We thought he was so nice because he looked at the man who was with him (his manager?) and said sure come with me. From what I remember we followed him (on our roller skates) into a van. He didn’t have any paper so he gave us his autograph on rolling paper. When we met up with my friend’s parents who took us to the park we told them about our amazing celebrity encounter.  Not only did they immediately take us back to Queens, they also took the autographs that Haywood Nelson so kindly bestowed us with.  

They took your autographs?  How sad! I guess because they were on rolling papers?

I actually happened to contact him once via Facebook. He was our city's honorary chairman for our Candy Cane Lane festivities which included him being part of our holiday parade. This was back in 1986. I even have the newspaper article. It was during the time when his series "What's Happening Now!" was airing.  About two years ago I sent him on Facebook the photo I took of him as he was he was pointing at me and smiling during the parade. He responded to me and mentioned he clearly remembered being part of the whole festivities and how friendly our city was during his time here. He mentioned something particular about the kids who were part of the holiday parade. It put a smile on my face.

On 10/31/2016 at 5:45 AM, Tatum said:

I've noticed that too! I've only hit the green level twice though. I guess it's like in news articles when a comment gets a lot of likes or upvotes, it gets moved to the top?

It doesn't move to the top that I can tell, but I just happened to notice on various show pages how some posts were a light green and they all had received the minimum of 25 likes. It would be awesome if they did get moved to a special place somewhere around here. lol

[druzy]

On 11/1/2016 at 9:48 AM, Brooklynista said:

Wait.  They stole the autograph from you??

They did steal my autograph! I never thought of it that way because they were adults and I wasn’t allowed to question their authority.

@GreatKazu I love to hear about celebrities who are down to earth unlike the Justin Biebers of today.

[GreatKazu]

On 11/3/2016 at 9:34 AM, druzy said:

They did steal my autograph! I never thought of it that way because they were adults and I wasn’t allowed to question their authority.

@GreatKazu I love to hear about celebrities who are down to earth unlike the Justin Biebers of today.

Same here.

One thing though about celebrities or well-known people is, they sometimes can't catch a break and people will say nasty things about them. For example, I was a watcher of the Oprah show. There was an episode, I think it was during her road trip. Anyways, Oprah is going up an escalator in a department store and she is smiling as she is  trying to acknowledge the camera while also acknowledging some people who had recognized her. One woman says out loud to the person she was with, how Oprah didn't acknowledge, therefore, she was rude. Oprah heard what that woman said. I wish I could remember what she actually said about that woman, who IMO, was the rude one.

[SPLAIN]

I know we were asked if our spouses or partners were watchers of Teen Mom. What I want to know is, how did you become a watcher of Teen Mom? What drew you to this show? I know many of us are in our 40s and 50s. I am just curious.

I, for one, have been a MTV watcher since its first day on the air back in 1982. I was in high school. Not every program on MTV has interested me, but something about watching pregnant teen girls and the dilemmas they faced, intrigued me. I love documentaries and docu-series type programming. When TM was announced, I was thinking it was going to be a Real World-type show. Not the RW that is airing now. I am talking about the original RW before it jumped the shark.

By the time Teen Mom came along, I was hooked into what had transpired to the girls after 16 & Pregnant. I was especially interested in what Catelyn and Tyler were going to do with their lives. I was a very sympathetic person towards their trials and tribulations. Tyler did tug at my heart. I didn't see him then as I do now. My perspective has certainly changed. I am a sucker for this stupid show only because of the snark I get out of this board. When I discovered TWoP many years ago (wow, I can't believe how long ago that was), I discovered that others had the same sarcastic and funny attitude that I had about this show. I could share my thoughts with other people other than my husband.

Edited November 5, 2016 by SPLAIN

[AhFillAck]

On ‎10‎/‎31‎/‎2016 at 5:54 PM, druzy said:

When I was eleven years old my friend and I were roller skating in Central Park and saw Haywood Nelson from What's Happening. We asked him for his autograph. We thought he was so nice because he looked at the man who was with him (his manager?) and said sure come with me. From what I remember we followed him (on our roller skates) into a van. He didn’t have any paper so he gave us his autograph on rolling paper. When we met up with my friend’s parents who took us to the park we told them about our amazing celebrity encounter.  Not only did they immediately take us back to Queens, they also took the autographs that Haywood Nelson so kindly bestowed us with.  

"followed him into a van" LMAO! That's the one thing my mom always told me, and STILL tells me not to do! Walk alongside a van, let alone go near one with a man! LOL! The door can slide open really fast, slide shut and you're never seen again.

That is a GREAT story!! I have only heard nice things about Haywood over the years.

On ‎11‎/‎1‎/‎2016 at 8:27 AM, GreatKazu said:

They took your autographs?  How sad! I guess because they were on rolling papers?

I actually happened to contact him once via Facebook. He was our city's honorary chairman for our Candy Cane Lane festivities which included him being part of our holiday parade. This was back in 1986. I even have the newspaper article. It was during the time when his series "What's Happening Now!" was airing.  About two years ago I sent him on Facebook the photo I took of him as he was he was pointing at me and smiling during the parade. He responded to me and mentioned he clearly remembered being part of the whole festivities and how friendly our city was during his time here. He mentioned something particular about the kids who were part of the holiday parade. It put a smile on my face.

That is awesome, and how sweet that he sent you such a nice message back.

I still watch "What's Happening!" on YouTube. Dee is my favorite. I like to demand quarters from people. "Bein' rude? That's an extra nickel." I also like to humiliate my son by dancing like Rerun. He CANNOT. STAND. IT. I threaten to do it at school or in front of his friends. I can keep him in line that way! He's 12. He hates when I dance at all, and when I sing, too. LMAO! In public is the absolute worst. I tell him that next time we're at Disneyland I'm going to make a video like the Dancing Disneyland Mom. He would probably walk the 364 miles home. 

[AhFillAck]

3 hours ago, SPLAIN said:

I know we were asked if our spouses or partners were watchers of Teen Mom. What I want to know is, how did you become a watcher of Teen Mom? What drew you to this show? I know many of us are in our 40s and 50s. I am just curious.

I, for one, have been a MTV watcher since its first day on the air back in 1982. I was in high school. Not every program on MTV has interested me, but something about watching pregnant teen girls and the dilemmas they faced, intrigued me. I love documentaries and docu-series type programming. When TM was announced, I was thinking it was going to be a Real World-type show. Not the RW that is airing now. I am talking about the original RW before it jumped the shark.

By the time Teen Mom came along, I was hooked into what had transpired to the girls after 16 & Pregnant. I was especially interested in what Catelyn and Tyler were going to do with their lives. I was a very sympathetic person towards their trials and tribulations. Tyler did tug at my heart. I didn't see him then as I do now. My perspective has certainly changed. I am a sucker for this stupid show only because of the snark I get out of this board. When I discovered TWoP many years ago (wow, I can't believe how long ago that was), I discovered that others had the same sarcastic and funny attitude that I had about this show. I could share my thoughts with other people other than my husband.

I was in high school too, and even saw the very first video. I loved loved loved MTV back then. It boggled my mind that I got to see videos of my favorite songs. VIDEOS! It was everything I'd ever dreamed of. And THEN to record them on the Betamax and watch them back at my leisure? I never had to leave the house AGAIN!!

I don't recall any series being on at all back when I faithfully tuned in. I think the first one may have been the Real World years later but only saw bits and pieces of that. I went for quite some time without cable. Since I also love documentaries and that type of program, and am always interested in people who have vastly different lives than my own and who make vastly different choices than I do (I'm a huge true crime fan, for example), I was interested once I stumbled upon 16 & Pregnant. I think the first episode I saw was Cate & Tyler's, and I also liked them back then and felt so horrible when they cried handing over Carly. As a mother my heart ached, regardless of the decision being a wise one, and Cate's tears were so raw.  As with @SPLAIN, it just progressed from there and I wanted to follow all the stories as they spilled over into Teen Mom and Teen Mom 2. And 3, which I watched, but the girls were so forgettable, although I did like Mackenzie because she was so sweet and airheaded. She just recently had her third baby, BUT all three are with the SAME GUY that she married. The SAME GUY! Unheard of!

[monicageller]

6 hours ago, SPLAIN said:

I know we were asked if our spouses or partners were watchers of Teen Mom. What I want to know is, how did you become a watcher of Teen Mom? What drew you to this show? I know many of us are in our 40s and 50s. I am just curious.

I, for one, have been a MTV watcher since its first day on the air back in 1982. I was in high school. Not every program on MTV has interested me, but something about watching pregnant teen girls and the dilemmas they faced, intrigued me. I love documentaries and docu-series type programming. When TM was announced, I was thinking it was going to be a Real World-type show. Not the RW that is airing now. I am talking about the original RW before it jumped the shark.

By the time Teen Mom came along, I was hooked into what had transpired to the girls after 16 & Pregnant. I was especially interested in what Catelyn and Tyler were going to do with their lives. I was a very sympathetic person towards their trials and tribulations. Tyler did tug at my heart. I didn't see him then as I do now. My perspective has certainly changed. I am a sucker for this stupid show only because of the snark I get out of this board. When I discovered TWoP many years ago (wow, I can't believe how long ago that was), I discovered that others had the same sarcastic and funny attitude that I had about this show. I could share my thoughts with other people other than my husband.

I'm in my 20s, and not American/Canadian, so MTV wasn't something I knew about before I found 16 and Pregnant. I was/am a member of a celebrity gossip site and not long after I joined there, members started discussing this show and I thought it sounded interesting. I started with Maci's 16&P and here I still am, 7 years later!

[GreatKazu]

Quote

Dee is my favorite. I like to demand quarters from people. "Bein' rude? That's an extra nickel."

I could hear Dee's voice as I read this. lol  "Ooooh...I'm gonna tell mama!!!"

I was that little sister. Always bugging my older brother. Good times!!

Ahhh the Real World. Love, love, love the early seasons. Trishelle/Vegas? I watched the first episode and I was done with the show. It was no longer the show I had come to love. I am glad MTV Classics has aired the first four seasons. I already had the Los Angeles season on DVD, I just needed to record the other seasons. I am hoping they return to airing the early seasons, not the ones they are airing now. I want to watch the Hawaii season with Ruthie and Tek.

As for the topic of MTV touting how this show is the reason why teen pregnancy has dropped, are they really trying to say that TM showcases what not to do such as, don't have sex with or have any relationships with the likes of Farrah, Jenelle, Leah, Amber, and Kail because this is what will happen to you?

For me, TM is that scary documentary I saw in driver's training. The one with the car crashes. What was it called? Red Road? Teen Mom is on that same level - Don't let this happen to you! Don't allow any female to abuse you. Don't allow a douchebag boyfriend to con you into dropping your panties. It is okay to have an abortion. Don't think having that baby will change your partner. Look at Adumb and Ryan.

As for how I started watching this show, I saw the promo and I knew I had to watch. It was so gritty and heartbreaking. MTV hooked me in. Finding a forum that specialized in snark and sarcasm was even better. I didn't want a place where everything was all sugar and sweet. I wanted a place to snark on the people on these reality shows who put their business out there for the world to see.

Edited November 6, 2016 by GreatKazu

[StatisticalOutlier]

I watched An American Family on PBS when I was 15.  I was the only person I knew who watched it, and I don't know how I even knew it existed.  But I loooooved it, so when the Real World showed up 20 years later, I was totally in.  It took me way too many seasons to finally give up on it.

I'm just always fascinated by how people live their lives. 

[GreatKazu]

46 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I watched An American Family on PBS when I was 15.  I was the only person I knew who watched it, and I don't know how I even knew it existed.  But I loooooved it, so when the Real World showed up 20 years later, I was totally in.  It took me way too many seasons to finally give up on it.

I'm just always fascinated by how people live their lives. 

I knew about it because there were so few channels back then. A little channel surfing and TV Guide helped to guide me with what was on the air. When one only had access to so few channels, we learned to watch what is on the air. I watched so much programming that was geared towards adults because there wasn't that much for the younger crowd past a certain hour.

One of the earlier reality programmings I loved to watch was the NBC show Real People. Soon after it was That's Incredible on ABC. I so miss the 70s.

[RamonaSenomar]

On 10/29/2016 at 11:09 AM, MyPeopleAreNordic said:

Am I the only Southerner here?

I've become one, but only by way of relocation back in 2007 (lol).  I'm originally from Connecticut, lived in Rhode Island for 4 years, and now live in North Texas. 

Anywho, someone upthread mentioned 'Real World'?  And 'What's Happening!!'  Is this conversation taking a shift to "popcorn?!  you mean to tell me I'm going to jail fo' long time and all I got to show fo' it is a tape of a fat kid eatin' popcorn?!"

sorry, I'll show myself out ...

[Katt]

There's a new show starting on Lifetime tonight called "Knocked Up". They just finished a 3 parter, "30 Something Grandma" which wasn't too bad at all.

[AhFillAck]

On ‎11‎/‎7‎/‎2016 at 10:29 AM, RamonaSenomar said:

Anywho, someone upthread mentioned 'Real World'?  And 'What's Happening!!'  Is this conversation taking a shift to "popcorn?!  you mean to tell me I'm going to jail fo' long time and all I got to show fo' it is a tape of a fat kid eatin' popcorn?!"

sorry, I'll show myself out ...

LMAO! The Doobie Brothers episode!!

(Sorry, I haven't been in this thread in a long time!)

[SPLAIN]

On 11/7/2016 at 10:29 AM, RamonaSenomar said:

I've become one, but only by way of relocation back in 2007 (lol).  I'm originally from Connecticut, lived in Rhode Island for 4 years, and now live in North Texas. 

Anywho, someone upthread mentioned 'Real World'?  And 'What's Happening!!'  Is this conversation taking a shift to "popcorn?!  you mean to tell me I'm going to jail fo' long time and all I got to show fo' it is a tape of a fat kid eatin' popcorn?!"

sorry, I'll show myself out ...

The Doobie Brothers!!! love that episode.

[GreatKazu]

I have a question about a tv show I watched a few times, but for the life of me, I can't remember what it was called.

I watched it late at night. I am not sure what channel. It was hosted by a black guy and there were three people. Not sure if they were comedians or what, but they would give funny responses and score points. They would sit in chairs on the stage. It is NOT the show @Midnight. I am not sure if the show was canceled. It was pretty funny. Anyone?

[RamonaSenomar]

GreatKazu, your description brought to mind 'Whose Line is it Anyway?'.  Could that be it?  I believe there was a US version and a UK version.  It was hosted by Drew Carey, but Wayne Brady became a regular.  Not sure if he ever hosted this show, but it was improv-type where I think they did score points based on funny responses.

[AhFillAck]

2 hours ago, RamonaSenomar said:

GreatKazu, your description brought to mind 'Whose Line is it Anyway?'.  Could that be it?  I believe there was a US version and a UK version.  It was hosted by Drew Carey, but Wayne Brady became a regular.  Not sure if he ever hosted this show, but it was improv-type where I think they did score points based on funny responses.

Yeah that sounds like Whose Line, most likely, but I don't remember them sitting in chairs except some of the time. I used to love that show! A friend of mine went to a taping of it and was surprised to see that they did take after take after take, and that it was not as spontaneous and off the cuff as the edited show led viewers to believe. I would have loved to get plucked from the audience and have one of them make up a song about me.

Wayne: "You're not on my root....or is it route?" One of the funniest things to me. I still say "on the root route".

[DudeLeaveMeAlone]

2 hours ago, AhFillAck said:

Yeah that sounds like Whose Line, most likely, but I don't remember them sitting in chairs except some of the time. I used to love that show! A friend of mine went to a taping of it and was surprised to see that they did take after take after take, and that it was not as spontaneous and off the cuff as the edited show led viewers to believe. I would have loved to get plucked from the audience and have one of them make up a song about me.

Wayne: "You're not on my root....or is it route?" One of the funniest things to me. I still say "on the root route".

The funniest moment to me on that show was Colin Mockerie and Ryan Stiles were interrupting the documentary "Baggy: The Anorexic Elephant" for ... something.

[GreatKazu]

LOL I love Whose Line!! Miss Drew hosting.

The show I am referencing is a newer show. It might have been canceled. I swore it was on Comedy Channel, but not really sure.

[mamadrama]

May I take a moment to bitch? 

My husband is a professor. His university had budget cuts this fall and he fell victim. Starting January, my book royalties are all we have. I did consulting for a few years but parred down because it was interfering with the writing but I can take that up again. He is also helping me put together an online publishing/marketing course for people. So I have things in the pipeline. Still. It's scary. Book sales are super slow right now. And what a crappy time to tell someone they aren't returning. He's been with them for almost 10 years. 

[Katt]

This is THE right place to bitch about finances @mamadrama. Sticks in my craw to think about these people being wayyyy overpaid just for opening their legs while underage, AND doing sod all with the opportunity 
Hopefully, you'll get some Christmas book sales. Tell us who you are in case we haven't finished our gift shopping. :p

[GreatKazu]

7 hours ago, mamadrama said:

May I take a moment to bitch? 

My husband is a professor. His university had budget cuts this fall and he fell victim. Starting January, my book royalties are all we have. I did consulting for a few years but parred down because it was interfering with the writing but I can take that up again. He is also helping me put together an online publishing/marketing course for people. So I have things in the pipeline. Still. It's scary. Book sales are super slow right now. And what a crappy time to tell someone they aren't returning. He's been with them for almost 10 years. 

I am so sorry to read this. I am sure many of us can understand what you are going through. First, allow me to give you a virtual ((((hug)))).  If there is anything that pisses me off is that people like the Teen Moms get the kind of money that they do and just squander it or don't prepare for the future. Here you are an example of how things can happen. You and your spouse are in my thoughts.

Bitch, vent, do what you need to do. We are all eyes here.

Hopefully, your husband's experience will be allow him to find employment quickly.

[mamadrama]

16 hours ago, Katt said:

This is THE right place to bitch about finances @mamadrama. Sticks in my craw to think about these people being wayyyy overpaid just for opening their legs while underage, AND doing sod all with the opportunity 
Hopefully, you'll get some Christmas book sales. Tell us who you are in case we haven't finished our gift shopping. :p

 

11 hours ago, GreatKazu said:

I am so sorry to read this. I am sure many of us can understand what you are going through. First, allow me to give you a virtual ((((hug)))).  If there is anything that pisses me off is that people like the Teen Moms get the kind of money that they do and just squander it or don't prepare for the future. Here you are an example of how things can happen. You and your spouse are in my thoughts.

Bitch, vent, do what you need to do. We are all eyes here.

Hopefully, your husband's experience will be allow him to find employment quickly.

Thanks guys. And yes, it frustrates me that these bozos make what they do, doing essentially nothing. And then do little with the money they earn. In the meantime, I know lots of folks who work almost nonstop and still have a difficult time getting a break. But, I am still #soblessed (Ha ha, just kidding. That's my least favorite hashtag.) I know things will work out. Nothing lasts forever-even the bad times. :-)

Katt, I write paranormal fiction and nonfiction. I do a humorous cozy mystery series and a more straight ghost story series. I can PM you the "real" me. :-)

[AmyFarrahFowler]

On 12/9/2016 at 1:48 PM, GreatKazu said:

LOL I love Whose Line!! Miss Drew hosting.

The show I am referencing is a newer show. It might have been canceled. I swore it was on Comedy Channel, but not really sure.

Could it be Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen? He seems to host a lot of these type of shows.

@mamadrama I am so sorry about your husband's job. I am never very good at this type of thing but please know that I care <3

[Calm81]

@Tatum @mamadrama Neagan is not only hot but he's domesticated. Did you see that yummyilicios spaghetti dish he made?  ? 

The villain is always misunderstood. ?

Edited December 21, 2016 by Calm81

[Tatum]

OK, I hated Negan (for obvious reasons) up until they went to Alexandria.

 

Spoilers below!

 

The first moment I thought Negan was kinda hot was when he is gloating to Rick about how he's going to ask Maggie to come back with him and how it's not so farfetched that she would bone the guy that killed her husband, and then he's cut off by Father Gabriel asking if he'd like to pay his respects to Maggie's resting place. When Negan, joking but visibly unsettled, says, "that is scarier than shit you sneaking up on me with that smile on your face,"- well I started thinking there's some humanity there. And then, when he's gloating to Rick again about something else but hears a gunshot in the distance (which was Carl) that look he gets on his face is just incredible. It's like anger, and a little frustration, while still trying to play off cocky, happy go lucky mr. murderer- Jeffrey Dean Morgan just knocked it out of the park. It was after that episode I thought that Negan was kind of hot, in a messed up way. I haven't watched it since though- watching Rick get figuratively kicked in the nuts time and time again just isn't much fun. 

[Brooklynista]

It took a while for the Negan live to hit my ladybits. I knew I was in love when he clowned Olivia about not really starving to death. I dunno, I just love sarcastic assholes.

Then, he shaved. Let sigh...the magic is gone.

[Tatum]

54 minutes ago, Brooklynista said:

It took a while for the Negan live to hit my ladybits. I knew I was in love when he clowned Olivia about not really starving to death. I dunno, I just love sarcastic assholes.

Then, he shaved. Let sigh...the magic is gone.

 

"I can't be the only one to notice you've got a fat chick in charge of the food"- in regards to food being heavily rationed.

 

I have to admit I did laugh really hard.

[mamadrama]

It's weird because Negan is a bit of a psychopathic madman, and yet he still has values and morals. Granted, not the kind that most people have, but they ARE there. He does have strict principles he follows. I love seeing him with Judith. And hey, the man can cook, take care of a baby, listen to music, and take charge. If it weren't for his murderous tendencies, he'd be a real catch. I guess in the ZA he IS a real catch!

I've gone from being all "Daryl needs a shower-I'll volunteer to scrub him down" to "Uh, why don't you just call me when you get out?" Dude is looking greasier than Matt. 

You guys are my spirit animals. I trust your opinions and insights more than most. In the real world I'd be posting book covers to you all and asking you to vote. 

[Tatum]

Ugh I had a HUGE crush on Norman Reedus in the late 90s. His Irish accent in Boondock Saints was way hot. But between his constant swollen eyelids, long greasy hair, and perpetually dirty face he does nothing for me anymore. I would have happily accepted his demise over the season openers second victim. Even knowing that was the likely outcome all summer didn't make that moment any easier. 

[mamadrama]

52 minutes ago, Tatum said:

Ugh I had a HUGE crush on Norman Reedus in the late 90s. His Irish accent in Boondock Saints was way hot. But between his constant swollen eyelids, long greasy hair, and perpetually dirty face he does nothing for me anymore. I would have happily accepted his demise over the season openers second victim. Even knowing that was the likely outcome all summer didn't make that moment any easier. 

LOVED the Boondock Saints. 

I don't think they know what to do with the character. He was so great for the first few seasons, kind of a Renaissance Man. But his character hasn't done jack shit in the past 2 or 3 years. It's sad because there's a lot of potential there. I knew they wouldn't kill him off because he's very involved with the community of Senoia. He and one of the show's producers opened a restaurant there over the summer (we ate there) and the gift shop i basically all Daryl items. But I agree with you-I'd have rather seen his demise. 

My kids and I totally stalked the Walking Dead people back over the summer when we were returning from our vacation house on coastal Georgia. They are HUGE TWD fans. Here they are at the Alexandria Gates. Little Bit's kind of ornery. She thought we'd get to just walk up and see Glenn and was highly upset that it didn't work that way. :-P