Recap: Teen Mom S2E6 - Taking Sides

My GAWD.. should I just dig out my eyeballs now and save myself from watching Chelsea being an idiot?

Yea.. yea.. I know it's my choice to watch or not to watch but this chick is like a car crash. You can't help BUT watch.

Her father needs a swift slap upside the head to.. let my kid talk to me the way she talks to him when I'm the one footing the bill for everything and and we'll see how mouthy they are.
At any rate .. so Chelsea moves her baby's daddy (here in referred to as the "Balloon Knot") in the house her father is paying for. Her best-friend Megan.. who's stuck by Chelsea's side when the baby's daddy was being a major dick.. is also living there rent free.

Chelsea loves the Balloon Knot.. Megan hates the Balloon Knot .. the Balloon Knot doesn't want Megan living in the house HE DOESN'T PAY FOR all the while whining that he has to pay child support.

Well.. maybe next time he'll invest 3 bucks for a condom.

You know what happens, right? The Balloon Knot and Megan go at it and she winds up leaving while Chelsea whines more then a Napa Valley vineyard. Chelsea calls her father but like, really? What the hell do you think HE's going to except tell The Balloon Knot that he has to pay rent.

And while I'm watching this all play out I'm thinking to my self, "... good Lord they bred!"

Leah and Corey are getting boring with their all lovey-dovey selves. The only thing worth noting in this episode is that baby Ali is still too young for an MRI but a therapist is coming over to do exercises with the baby to help her develop. The lovey-dovey couple have a conversation about communicating better and their all happy and lovey dovey and Corey goes and buys Leah an engagement ring.

Insert heart flutter < here >

Janelle's little bad ass self and her BF Keifer have been staying in a friend's run down meth lab trailer since she got thrown out. She still having issues with getting financial aid because she up and gave up custody of her son so now she needs her mother's financial information ..

Is it me or does her mom need massive amounts of zanax?

Anyway, she winds up getting the information and when she calls her mother to thank her she finds out that there's going to be a party for baby Jace to celebrate his Big Number One. Her mother has the Oh! Decency! to invite Janelle and tells her what time to be there.

Janelle and Keifer show up at the designated time but that's not good enough for the mother from hell. She bitches and complains that Janelle didn't get there early enough. She also bitches and complains about the gift Janelle bought for Jace.. a motorized Spiderman car thing.

I mean, this crazy ass woman went off saying how she wasted her money.. Jace isn't going to remember it.. she should have bought him a silver cup and how SHE didn't get her kids anything for their birthdays or Christmas until they were old enough to crawl over broken glass to kiss her ankles in thanks realize what gifts where.

My GOD woman.. can you cut this girl some slack? I know there's a history.. I know that Janelle will never win daughter of the year.. but there's a reason why your kid is the way she is and I'm willing to bet that you're responsibility falls right out of the grey area.

Thankfully.. THANKFULLY.. Kailyn has a good head on her shoulders. She realizes that there is no relationship anymore with the King of the Douchebags and that she's going to have to do what she needs to do for her and her son. King Douchebag doesn't take the news well.. he tells her she's sending out mixed signals and when she figures out when she's moving, etc. to let him know.

In the meantime, King Douchebag band-aid's things with his poppa and him, Kailyn and the baby are allowed to move back in. The Puppet Masters (King Douchebag's parents) call a "meeting" with them to find out what they're plans are and they didn't look pleased at. all. when Kailyn tells them that she doesn't want a relationship with the King Douchebag because of they don't really get along.

I don't know this for sure, but from the looks on their faces I'm willing to bet that they have the Emergency Custody paper work all filled out and are waiting for the right time to file them to take Baby Isaac.

And this just in .. King Douchebag was arrested over the weekend with his brother for driving under the influence of ".. a controlled and dangerous substance." which, according to reports, was weed.

Guess it was a slow day in cop land .. OR maybe Janelle and Keifer were hiding in the trunk. Did anyone think to look?

Until next time...

Review: Downsized

When I saw the trailer for this new WEtv show, I wanted to watch it... but then I didn't want to watch it.

Like many of us .. too many of us .. Todd, Laura and their mix of 7 kids have been hit hard by the economy.

They lived the high life.. a home.. an investment condo.. a million dollar plus construction business.. but then the economy tanked and so did their roughly 15,000 a month  lifestyle.

I feel their pain. Without the big home, investment condo, million dollar business and 15,000 a month  lifestyle, their story could be mine and that's why I was reluctant to watch it.

Like me, they have a hard time making their rent. On this episode, they were 300.00 short and two days late on the rent and Laura resorted to calling her father and stepmother. And when she told them that she felt like a failure for having to call them, I was right there with her.

Having to recently close our business and with only 5 months left on my unemployment, our anxiety level is beyond high. Trying to move to reduce our rent and not finding anyone willing to rent to us because of our financial situation keeps us too late at night worrying about keeping the house.. providing for the kids, etc.

You feel lost.. you over analyze every decision you've made in your life even though you can't go back and change anything.. a lot of tears are shed.

But anyway...

Todd's reaction to Laura calling her parents is common. It's a blow to the ego.. especially when it comes with a lecture. Been there.. done that. And what makes it worse is when you have to tell the kids. I'm a firm believer that kids should remain kids for as long as possible but sometimes they need to know what kind of situation the family is in.

But it's obvious that Todd and Laura raised some good kids because upon hearing that the rent was short, the boys (all teenagers) tried to come up with ways to make money. Their solution was "dumpster diving" for plastic and glass to recycle. Honestly, I'm not sure if that was done for the cameras or not but the scene where the family searches the furniture and van for change to turn in at the bank could be written out of my book of life.

The family does receive food stamps and in this episode, one 16 year old daughter was beyond embarrassed in the only way a 16 year old girl can be because she didn't have enough to pay for everything she needed to get.

By the end of the episode, with still a 100.00 short on the rent and the stomach knot because the landlord has to be paid, the day was saved by one of the boys who sold his prized baseball glove for a hundred bucks.

And even though I should have gotten the warm and fuzzies, I got to thinking that maybe that was a little bit of a coincidence and perhaps maybe a little set up. While I don't doubt that the family has to make a huge adjustment, it dawned on me that they're getting paid to let us look in their window.

The majority of us in the same situation aren't.. and what might have been sympathy very easily turns into resentment.

Recap: The Fashion Show S2E1

Y'know sometimes imitation ISN'T the sincerest form of flattery.

Sometimes imitation is just another way of saying OMG! We Fucked Up!

Which is what I think Bravo was thinking when lost Project Runway and witchery stitched The Fashion Show.

Even thought I wasn't impressed AT ALL with Season 1 and basically just watched it because it was the only thing On Demand at 3am I figured I'd give Season 2 a shot.

Truth be told, I had forgotten all about it. But beings that it is now 2am and the opener is on BravoTv.Com I figured what the hell.. I had too much coffee so sleeping isn't an option right now!

Isaac Mizrahi (didn't he used to be like.. a BIG deal back in the day?) and Iman are the hosts and I have to tell you, I haven't even been though the opening credits yet and hearing Iman say ".. yull owt uf fasheen" is starting to great on my nerves.

Even though the designers had to put on a fashion show in the first five minutes of the episode, the premise this season is one "house" versus the other with the gaggle of designers split into two teams .. um.. "houses".

Stand outs were Calvin Tran .. who really SHOULD have stood out since he owns three stores in three major US fashion markets, don't you think?

I like Rolando Tamez Jr. but I think it's only because he's adorable. Sort of like a young Lou Diamond Philips (MAjor crush when I was a teen!)

I really dug Tamara Jones's coat and her attitude. She's a 'hood girl and I mean that with all the love and respect another 'hood girl can give her!

I would definitely wear Eduardo Del Las Casas confection.. that is, if I was 20 with legs that went on for miles and a size -0 ass!

Anyway.. so after the runway show, Iman tips out like she's had Botox IV'd in her joints and tells the designers that they were to use her as their muse for the first challenge and then drops the bombshell that they're going to be in teams.

Their looks are priceless.. especially the ones who were already talking smack about their competitors!

The blue team, renamed NAMI ( Iman backwards.. get it?) consists of Mike, Dominique, Cesar, Rolando, Edwardo and David,  all seem calm, laid back, open to suggestions and definitely working like a team.

The green team, renamed EMERALD SYX (don't ask) is the polar opposite. Calvin, Tamara, Francine, Golnessa, Cindy and Jeffry all have strong personalities and Calvin is nothing short of a complete diva bitch. His best line of the night was ".. I am the team, you have no opinion". Like I said.. diva bitch!

Time leading up to the runway show is just what you expect... bickering.. panic.. trash talking.. same old same old. What I did like about TFS's runway is that it's a production. The Houses' work with a runway producer so it's more then just PR's drab catwalk. Kudos.

Emerald Syx presents their collection first .. a drug induced rainbow of bright yellows, purples, navy and some other color that I can't remember right now. Honestly wasn't impressed. All the pieces, except for Calvin's gown, looked like something coming out of a freshman sewing class. Or maybe that's just the way it came off on tv.

Nami's collection is a study in white, as we'd say in my old art school days. And let me tell you.. I'd wear every single one of those creations... if I could fit in them!

Hands down, the clear winner is Nami. No question.

I'm not going to go into individual pieces because there are so many designers and this post is already long enough.

Ceaser won the individual honor with is subtle grey printed one shoulder gown.

The losing designer... the one who's owt uf fasheen was Franchine.

But not before Calvin got a dressing down for his attitude.

While I think this may be fun to watch when there's absolutely nothing better to watch, I'm still giving it a thumbs down.

Review: Apocalypse, Pa

A few things you should know before reading this review:

We are in the process of making a move to the mountains of upstate Pennsylvania

As long as I've known Tim, he's desired nothing more then to become self-sustaining. Believe me, this man could survive on just twigs, berries and a bow.

So he was nothing short of bursting out with corn grain when he happened to come across this show on the History Channel.

No Frank, you are NOT crazy!

If men can become BFF's then I'm sure Tim and Frank Belcastro, the show's focus would be it.

Belcastro and his family (wife, daughter and son) live in rural Pennsylvania. I know where they live and it's not as "Pennsyl-tucky" as it's portrayed but still not like your in the middle of Philadelphia.. if you know what I'm saying.

At any rate, Frank wants to be self-sustaining. Get back to living like Americans lived back in the day.
He says he wants to be prepared .. and believe me, Frank.. I know the feeling.

In the episodes that aired tonight, him and his boy converted an old truck from running on gasoline to wood chips or manure because what if there was a time when there was no gasoline. Believe me, we've had those conversations.

What was really funny was when he sent his wife and daughter to buy goats.. initially for the milk but as he said to his son, "... there are other uses for goats" and states that he hopes his daughter isn't getting too attached to them. Meanwhile, she's taking the baby goat to the feed store to have it's picture taken with the Easter Bunny! Again, me and Tim have had those conversations before.

I liked the show.. I liked where Frank was coming from even though in interviews he appears to stay level on the actual reasons for his belief. Maybe this is just something he's always wanted to do.. or maybe he sees what we see and knows that there will be a time very soon where you either survive or you don't.

At any rate.. if for nothing else, you'll be entertained by his quirkiness.. his wife's reactions to his ideas and to the things he builds.

If you're of like mind.. you'll be taking away much, much more.

New episodes, I believe, will be airing after Thanksgiving but the History Channel hasn't decided if they're going to pick it up as a series yet.

I hope they do.