VMA Highlights and (Mostly) Lowlights

I knew I shouldn't have watched it. All my better judgement was telling me to turn off the TV. But I couldn't resist and I watched the MTV Video Music Awards last night. Give me some credit, I DVR'd it so I fast forwarded through all the commercials and stupid parts. And let me tell ya, I condensed that 2+ hour sucker into about 45 minutes. The format was all janky this year. It was in Vegas at the Palms. They split it up into different "parties" hosted by various stars including J.Timb, Kanye West, Fallout Boy and Foo Fighters. It was all over the place and no one even seemed to be paying attention to the awards portion of the show. The rooms that seemed to be having the most fun were J.Timb's (duh) and Kanye's. The guests at those parties were basically treated to a sweet concert all night long. Which would be really sweet, if this weren't an awards show. This new format was a big bust. But anyway...here are some of my favorite moments!
Britney's comeback. It was terrible. She seemed nervous or unprepared or something, and she was just going through the motions. Her costume was boring, her dancing was lame and her weave was just bad. If she were going to "comeback" this would have been the place to do it and she didn't.
Chris Brown's performance. Chris Brown is like 17 or something. That kid can dance. Even JT said CB made him look old. He did a Michael Jackson dance to Billie Jean and it was fabulous.
"Umbrella" by Rhiana. That song is catchy and it won at least 2 awards, including best video.
Kid Rock and Tommy Lee. They punched each other out over something, probably Pam Anderson-related. Idiots.
All the rappers making fun of Kid Rock and Tommy Lee. P.Diddy laughed about it like they were 2 kids fighting over a toy on the playground. I guess that is basically what happened, though.
The Hills Girls. They presented an award to J.Timb. Even more reason to hate them.
Jennifer Garner. I love her, but why was she there? She's got a new movie with Jamie Foxx (which he yelled out about 25 times), but she's hardly got the street cred for the VMAs. Anyhoo, the reason she's on the list is because she and JFoxx presented an award to best new artist. She announced the winner as "Gym Class Fallout." All you tweeny music lovers will know that this is a combination of two of the nominees. Gym Class Heroes and Fallout Boy. Her face when she announced it was priceless. She looked at the card for a second, then looked up and announced "Gym Class..." and then paused as if searching for the last word and out popped "fallout." It was probably the highlight of the show for me.
Lowlight of the evening - Miss Teen South Carolina. Seriously? The dumbest girl in the Miss Teen USA pageant gets an invite to the VMAs? OK. The sends a really great message to all the youngsters out there. Say dumb stuff and get to hang out with Kanye West and J.Timb! She did make fun of herself a bit, but she was totally reading cue cards and if you have to read cue cards to make fun of yourself, there's something terribly wrong.
Overall, it sucked.

Tano Queen

I love Tano purses and here is my newest addition to the collection...and by collection I mean two.

He's Better Than Us

I watched part of the Future Sex Love Show HBO Special last night (of course I recorded it!) and I have just one thing to say about Justin Timberlake...

That man can D-A-N-C-E!

If you didn't get a chance to see this, I would highly recommend looking it up on YouTube or something. It was clear that he didn't sing every single line of every single song. But I forgive him that because he was busy making me feel totally uncoordinated. I think I'm preaching to the choir when I say that he's a great entertainer. And I was aware that he could dance, I just didn't know the extent of it. He did sing quite a bit, but I was just blown away by his performance as a whole.

Note to B.Spears: See what you could of had? You really blew it.

The face of Teen Vogue

The one thing that's become abundantly clear this season is that our girls have horrible judgement, especially in men. This week Heidi continues to pretend that Spencer is a great guy, Audrina goes back out with J.Bob even after he left her at the pool party and Lauren spends even more time with Brody. It's almost as if they enjoy getting treated badly. I'm not even going to try and decipher why they continue to hang out with them.

I'd rather talk about the hidden gems of this show: Lo and Whitney. I think I want to be friends with Lo. She's the girl who says things that people think but are afraid to say because they don't want people to get mad at them (ahem, LAUREN!), even though they really need to hear it. Like when she called out Audrina for still going out with J.Bob. Why aren't you "together" already? You've been together for 4 months and still nothing? Move on! Yes. Exactly! It's like she heard me through the television. And it's refreshing to have someone who thinks rationally on this show.

Poor ol' Whitney has fallen from grace because apparently Lauren only works one day a week. If MTV is going to can someone who has been hand-picked to be a Vogue runway model by Andre Leon Talley and then fallen down the stairs in that very fashion show, then there's no hope for any of us. That is pure gold. Why is "Speidi" getting all the camera time? Send some cameras to Teen Vogue without Lauren - she works once a month, and sits at a computer, we get it. And where the HELL is Lisa Love, btw?

Also, Spencer is going to need to shave. Now. It's not a good look. The last thing you need to do if you're trying to get away from looking like Chester Cheetah is grow facial hair. Dumb. Pretty sure he dumped Brody, too. Their breakup conversation was the best of all the seasons. Spencer talking about loyalty! He's a prince.

Kelly Taylor is the new Steve Sanders

The new cast of Dancing with the Stars was announced this morning. Most of this cast is kind of boring and I have no idea who they are, but don't worry, I'm sure I'll still watch it. I am happy to see another 90210 alum join the show; Scary Spice has a reunion tour to prep for, so she's probably ahead of the curve; and finally Cheryl Burke gets someone who isn't young and nimble. Supposedly the format of the show is going to change and Tom Burgeron will be joined by a different co-host, because Samantha Harris is preggers and about to pop.

• Melanie "Mel B" Brown, 32, Spice Girls ("Scary Spice") singer (pro partner: Maksim Chmerkovskiy);
• Sabrina Bryan, 22, actress/singer (The Cheetah Girls) (pro partner: Mark Ballas);
• Helio Castroneves, 32, racecar driver (pro partner: Julianne Hough);
• Mark Cuban, 48, businessman (owner of NBA's Dallas Mavericks) (pro partner: Kym Johnson);
• Jennie Garth, 35, actress (Beverly Hills, 90210) (pro partner: Derek Hough, older brother of Julianne Hough);
• Josie Maran, 29, supermodel (pro partner Alec Mazo);
• Cameron Mathison, 38, actor (All My Children) (pro partner: Edyta Sliwinska;
• Floyd Mayweather, Jr., 30, boxer (pro partner: Karina Smirnoff);
• Wayne Newton, 65, singer (pro partner: Cheryl Burke);
• Marie Osmond, 47, singer/doll designer (pro partner: Jonathan Roberts);
• Albert Reed, 22, supermodel (pro partner: Anna Trebunskaya; and
• Jane Seymour, 56, actress (pro partner: Tony Dovolani).

I wouldn't say I'm a die-hard fan of the show. I watch it every week, but I never vote. OK, not until the final episode...we all have our addictions.

This Blog is funny

http://www.justinbobby.com/

This blogger is funny...we might add her to the list of blogs we read and we might need to begin reading her blog. She/He refers to Spencer as Steve Sanders. Funny.

Also, you guys might want to check out this site:

http://streetpeeper.com/

People magazine tried to say this is a great place to go see what is in style.... i beg to differ. This is a great place to go see what messes people make of fashion.

'Due Work!

Eric and I had another Sunday Food'n'Friends gathering at our place last night. Usually, we decide on a meal to make around Thursday or Friday and split up the ingredient list, then our friends come over and we make it together. It's a really fun thing to do and last night was possibly the most successful one we've ever done!

We decided to do a 2-course fondue meal. The first course was a three-cheese fondue with some really fancy cheeses that we picked up at Morgan & York. Micky and Jeremiah brought some dippables, including a French baguette, mini toasts (!), pretzels, bagel chips, baby tomatoes, broccoli, mushrooms, green and red peppers, zucchini and carrots. There was A LOT of food! We made some excellent flavor profiles. I believe the stand-out was a baby tomato paired with a mushroom dipped in fondue. I don't care for mushrooms, so my favorite was a baby tomato with a bagel chip. Yum!

The second course was a super easy chocolate fondue with chocolate also from M&Y. Amanda brought dessert dippables, including marshmallows, coconut macaroons, strawberries, pineapples, raspberries and bananas. The macaroons were amazing, basically like a Mounds bar. I think that due to our intake of the entire pot of bubbling cheese, we didn't take down the full pot of chocolate, but it was also delicious. I'm willing to share the recipes to all those who would like them.

It's funny 'cuz it's true

Sometimes novelty tees hit it right on the head...

Television: Part Deux

Thursday was payday. So with my new paycheck I thought I'd invest in the DVD season 1 of Ugly Betty...I was fully prepared to spend $25-$30 on this jewel. I reasoned that yes, while the regular price will probably be more, they always sell DVDs for a little bit cheaper when they first come out. So I marched my unbedazzled but into Best Buy where Ugly Betty Season 1 sat on the front shelf. I rushed over full of excitement and read the price tag: Regular price $49.99...Granted the DVD was on sale (as I had suspected) but it was still $35. I was so offended a the $50 regular price and had only emotionally prepared myself for up to $30. So I walked out empty handed...I know $35 is only $5 more than $30 but for some reason on that day, $5 seemed like a whole lot.
So, needless to say, I did not purchase Ugly Betty Season 1....hopefully I can rent it at the Movie Gallery (where I have a free rental) or Blockbuster (where I still have a little money left on gift card.)

Davie gets more press

Check this out for another shout out at Andrew's awesome skills...this time, we're talking about the dance floor!

And the Mrs. gets some press in Davie's bio at Hogwired. Go Davies!

Top Chef Spoiler Alert!

If you haven't seen the latest episode of Top Chef, you should probably stop reading. Because I have a bone to pick with Tom, Padma, Ted and the guest judge. Why Tre?!

It seems to me like the average-skilled chefs are scooting by this season because they aren't expected to step up in Executive Chef roles. They don't have to make three dishes a challenge, they just have to make salads and not totally screw up their food. I'm mad that they sent Tre home because he was one of the most skilled chefs there and he seemed like he had it together. And yet, because he was the Executive Chef, he's gone. Not fair. I really thought that CJ should have gone home because as much as I like him, he let Tre take the fall.

So, it's basically Hung's competition to lose at this point. I don't think that any of the other chefs have done all that well so far.

New Kicks

So here is a shot of my new running shoes. Unbeknownest to me, they are pretty flashy when it comes to a camera. Otherwise, they look about like any other tennis shoe out there. But now that I've spent the money on them, I feel even more motivated to run the half-marathon. This morning's run was tough. I was not feelin' it at all. Hopefully next week will be a little easier. I really want that t-shirt that says FINISHER!

Television

I am ashamed to admit that I watch Big Brother pretty religiously.

Anyway, I am thinking of buying the first season of Ugly Betty. I had a really hard time remembering to watch that show, but loved it every single time I saw it. Plus this will give me the chance to start at the beginning.

Biggity's Woes

Biggity in an email to HR: I have decided to hire Jill*. Please make her an offer and let me know what else I need to do.

HR Rep (calling Biggity immediately): Why did you choose Jill? What about Joan*, the number two candidate? Why not her?

Biggity: Well to be honest, they both have the same skills necessary for the job. I am confident either candidate could do the job and if I could hire both, I would. However, Jill came across as much more of a go-getter. Overall, I think Jill will raise the bar in my department.

HR Rep: Biggity, raising the bar is not part of the job description.

Biggity: Speechless.

Yes, a conversation very similar to this happened yesterday. I was dumbfounded. I have never had the opportunity (aka burden) of trying to hire someone. So correct me if I'm wrong, but if two people seem to be equally qualified, don't you have to move on to intangibles, such as someone's determination or willingness to not just do their job, but make a solid effort to actually improve the entire department.

Essentially, the HR Rep seems to want someone who will do the following: Get up. Go to work. Do their job. Leave. Repeat. It's no wonder the robot is in the middle of the picture!

*Names changed. I think we all know who Biggity is and who he works for.

The Hills: Letters of Correspondence

hey audrina,

you need to dump justin bobby's ass. the kid is a loser. he has terrible, dirty hair and treats you like crap. and the monologue he spun for you at the bar was probably in large part due to him being high. so, get rid of him and let's go to les deux!

xoxo,
Lauren

********************

audrina,

let's let truth and time tell all. and let's also pretend we know what that means because it sounds so profound. let's go for a ride on my bike and let truth and time be our guide.

justin bobby

********************

dearest spencer,

i love being engaged to you! wanna go shopping for normal furniture tomorrow? i mean, i guess we can keep the jelly tank and the arcade games, because i know they were gifts for me. you're so thoughtful. also, i'm not at all mad about the graffiti. i gotta run to home depot and pick up some white pa--uh, pants. they are selling pants there now, so...yeah. anyway, love ya lots!

heidi

********************

heidi-ho,

yo, spence here. grab me a couple pairs-a those home depot pants. i bet they're so fly. also, i picked up a couple more things for the apartment - a sweet new pool table and some bitchin' neon signs that say "OPEN" because it'll be like a pool hall. and i think that you'll really like them. they're vintage.

S-dawg

ps. so, did i technically propose, or, what?

But On Sunny Ones...

I just checked my University of Memphis email and had a new email about Memphis Tiger football tickets. Never say never, but I seriously doubt I will ever find myself at a Tigers game. Anyway, for some reason I read through the email and found this little gem:

"On rainy days, umbrellas are not allowed in the game."

Tragic makeovers

Back in February, the Theater hosted Oscar Night America. For this event we were given several prizes to raffle off during a Silent Auction. One of these prizes was a Christian Dior makeover. Sounds nice, huh? It included a mini facial, makeup application, hand massage and a free deluxe sample. All from the fabulous people at Dior - how swanky! The theater had some extras, so after months and months of procrastinating, Amanda and I headed down to Troy, MI to the Macy's at Somerset Collection - a super swanky mall near Detroit.

I could write a bit here how we got lost and ended up driving 2 hours instead of 55 minutes, but I would rather this post be about the makeovers that we got...at the Dior counter. Take a look!

Um, check out my eye shadow! It's ridiculous! I was wearing a purple/white striped shirt and I suppose that my makeover person thought it'd be best to match my makeup to my t-shirt. And let's talk a minute about my makeover technician. HE was a sassy biatch. First, when he asked what makeup I regularly use (Clinique), he totally snobbed it with a bitchy expression to boot! He also did not take well to criticism. When I told him that the dark purple eyeshadow was a bit too much for me, he said, "well, that's not even very heavy...what do you usually wear?" What you see in the photo isn't as bad as it was at first. He added some white shadow over the dark purple to make it less bold. My lipstick was first orange-ish (um, no), then dark pink (try again) and finally a very shiny pink (fine, just get me out of here!).

Overall, I looked like a clown-hooker at 4 pm in the mall. Not fun, but definitely funny. After getting some spinach dip at CPK (they seated us in the corner - no joke!) we headed home. We decided that we had to document our tragic makeovers and I'm glad we did. Cuz I just got myself a brand new facebook picture! If you wanna hear Amanda's side of the story, check out her blog!

Update: I think I'll bedazzle me a shirt

Picture taken down to protect the innocent...not the bedazzled shirt wearing person.
Here it is in all of it's glory...the bedazzled shirt that inspired my original post. I only wish you could also see the back...

A Fake Ring Alone...

This is just one of the many reasons that I think Heidi needs to run as fast as she can from Spencer. He had the nerve to buy her a fake ring from a store in a LA mall and then present it to her on national t.v. My opinion? If I'm getting proposed to on television at least buy me a real ring for the proposal...we can take it back after filming...Sister, that ring is a symbol of your future life with him and it ain't looking good. Fake nose, fake boobs, fake ring...real love? I don't think so.

BLAH BLAH BLAH

Today was the worst Friday ever. I think it may have also been the longest Friday ever.