These "Wives" Need a Life

I don't know if I can handle an entire season of Basketball Wives. Maybe I'll just watch whenever there's going to be a fight and then I can just comment on that. Oh, wait, there's a fight every episode, so that's not going to work. If you all like the show and want to discuss it, I'll bite the bullet and try not to dig my eyes out each week, but otherwise, this probably won't be part of my weekly reality TV intake. To see these grown women, who claim to be professional and "grown" argue over who's tweeting who and what they're tweeting about is embarrassing and quite immature. Evelyn accuses Royce of re-tweeting bad things that were being said about Jennifer, Jennifer lashes out at Royce for "following" her soon to be ex-husband on Twitter, Royce calls Evelyn a whore, Evelyn calls Royce a bum. It's no wonder Shaunie was nowhere to be found at this genius feast. The "bum" comment was laughable because, although each cast member is surely represented by their own individual agents, I'm almost positive they all relatively get the same paycheck and use their Basketball Wives fame to get paid as much as possible outside of the show. "You're a bum," Evelyn spats. "Get a job." I can't do anything but shake my head at the witlessness of all of these ladies. So again, I'll watch if the masses call for me to do so. Or I may just summarize every couple of weeks by ranting about these ridiculous characters. I'd rather watch Real Housewives of Atlanta at this point, where at least the ladies actually do have careers that don't rely on the money and notoriety of their famous pro-athlete boyfriends/husbands, and surprisingly enough, the ignorance level is much lower.

Was It Something I Said?

You know we're in trouble when comedians can't make jokes anymore. Sounds strange, doesn't it. A professional humorist that is barred from making their audience laugh if the subject is going to offend someone. And it depends on what you find offensive and then we have to figure out who makes the final call. It's a confusing conundrum: what to say, what not to say? And then you have people like Tracy Morgan that just says whatever he thinks is funny. He says what he thinks will make us laugh. Isn't that, in the end, what he is paid to do? So Tracy tells a gay joke. He goes on a gay rant, if you will. He says gays are "pussies" and that they aren't born that way, the behaviour is learned. He says if his son ever came out of the closet to him and talked in a whiny voice, he would "stab that little [n word] to death." Afterword, Tracy says, " "I don't "f*cking care if I piss off some gays, because if they can take a f*cking d**k up their ass ... they can take a f*cking joke."  Now let the outrage begin. In light of some of the recent rash of bullying and suicides by gay youth, one can understand why this subject matter should be considered in a most serious manner; EXCEPT if you are at a comedy club, watching Family Guy, or listening to a drunk man outside of a liquor store. I am empathetic to the fight for equality by gay rights activists and the need for the bullying of the young gay generation (straight generation as well) to come to an end. No one should be beat up, harassed and certainly no one should be murdered because of who they lay down with night, but with all of that said: I'm not going to march and protest and call for Tracy Morgan to be fired off of 30 Rock, banned from comedy and stoned to death. We have to see it for what it is people, a joke. It doesn't mean that it's funny, because comedy is subjective and most definitely in the eye of the beholder. It can be off-colour, raunchy, over your head or just down right offensive. It can be all of those things or none of those things. My question is why can't we separate Tracy Morgan's routine from the grave reality surrounding these very serious issues. We should be standing up for all human rights, gay and straight, conservative and liberal... the stone faced and the comedic. We all should have a voice, otherwise there'll be no one left to talk.

Girl Fight! (again)

*pheleshia's fired up over the Housewives of New Jersey, what about you? Join her here every week to discuss!*

We return to the Sunday dinner from HELL! Recapping the words that lead to an all out physical altercation between Renee and Carla, we begin to see a possible altercation between Karen and Renee. This is just all ridiculous! Carla, don't be mad because you may be hearing the truth about your man! Go take that same anger you are feeling towards Renee out on HIM! As I said last time, it is not cool for my man to touch my friends butt.  What's wrong with you, Carla? Are you scared to be treated with respect? What your man is doing is not respectful at all!  Turning to the other side of the friendship square, we find Drita and Karen.  Renee is right these two need to settle the score.  Lee is once again the topic of conversation as Drita confronts Renee for discussing the situation Carla. In this instance I feel that Renee never should have discussed this situation with Carla. We all knew that Carla was going to run back to Drita. I guess though that's where Renee just doesn't give a f$*k! However, I feel this was the factor that brought the issue up again and eventually allowed it to be resolved. At least we will see if that's actually the case in the upcoming weeks. Now that everyone made up it was time for the aftermath! This is actually the part I like to see the most. We all know that Karen and Renee are going to get together while Carla and Drita do the same. It's hard for me to believe sometimes that they are all truly friends! They seem to put on fake faces to interact with each other and as soon as their backs are turned they all retreat to their cliques and talk about each other. Once again resembling reality... don't act like you don't do it with your friends!  Continuing the focus of relationships, we were able to see Carla prepare for her ex-husband Joe's release from prison and Renee explore tools to begin dating.  Hopefully we get to see the interaction when Joe comes home, especially since his son needs that attention, and Renee overcome her fear of dating... or letting go of her relationship with her ex-husband.  Truthfully, I don't think that Renee will ever be able to let go of him.  Time will only tell or at least next week will! Tune in as we see Renee tell the others of her plans to continue a relationship with Junior.

Play Dates, Play Time, and Playboy

Is Toni Braxton -- THE Toni Braxton, preacher's daughter, Grammy winner -- really going to do Playboy? She says she's seriously considering it. The majority of her family is excited about it, except for Tamar and their mother, Evelyn. Tamar even takes Toni to a photography studio for a mock session, which she refuses to do. Her argument is that she's not showing her "$8,900" boobies to just anyone, if she chooses to pose for Playboy, she'll be showing them to Hugh Hefner. If Hugh Hefner thinks she's sexy and good enough to be in his magazine, then it must be so. She looks at it as a tribute to her present status and her ability to maintain her good looks and spirit despite her health and financial issues. Meanwhile, Tamar, resident drama princess, is planning an appreciation party for her husband, Vincent. The party, however, has underlying motives. Tamar is really using this as an opportunity to sell herself to her husband and try to convince him once again that she is ready to become the solo artist that she has been pressuring him to turn her into. She takes a sexy photo and has it blown up and presented to him in front of her entire family and all their friends. That was his gift to show him how much appreciates him. She asks her sisters, Towanda and Trina, to take a a belly dancing class and perform a sexy dance at this party. How awkward and inappropriate was that? It's obvious this family is no stranger to Tamar's antics and although Toni looked extremely uncomfortable and Vincent appeared to be slightly embarrassed, the whole thing was a mess, but fun to watch. Also during this episode, Towanda sends her mother, Evelyn, off on a blind date with, to Evelyn's surprise, a snow flake (a white man)! At first, Evelyn was a little turned off by the fact that her afternoon date ordered a scotch on the rocks at such an early hour, but once she learned he might have a little money in the bank, she warmed right up to him and seemed to enjoy herself. This is a light-hearted prequel to what's coming up next week when the girls decide to go back their hometown and seek out their father for a Braxton reunion. Being that their parents divorced after 35 years due to their pastor father's infidelity, this is going to make for some emotional and very real final 2 episodes.

Been M.I.A.

It's been a little slow around here lately and I hope you accept my sincerest apologies. I was sick a couple of weekends ago and that really knocked me off my blogging game, but I'm here now and I'm gonna get us all back on track in these next couple of days.

Birthdays, Bombshells and Bankruptcy

It's time for Evelyn's 60th birthday and the sisters are happy to throw her a party she'll never forget. They all fly out to L.A. because it was just too cold in Atlanta and Tamar was more than excited to host everyone. We get to hear the sisters sing again and the talent is obvious, even if they may need a little tuning up. It turns out their individual relationships need a little fine tuning as well. Tamar and Traci just can't seem to get along and argue for a majority of the short stay. they argue about everything from marriage to what gift to buy for their mother, but in the end, apologies are accepted and the two find a way to get along again. We also learn that Traci's son is affected by juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and though she has shown that she has many issues, this could be a source for some of her bitterness and stress. Toni starts house shopping while there, she decides that she needs to be "back on the scene" and feels that Atlanta may be holding her back. Reality TV becomes the most real during this time because although Toni can probably afford to buy one of the luxurious homes she goes to look at, her bankruptcy prevents her from being able to make such a purchase. For now, she will have to rent. Now that's actual and factual. Next week, Toni may try to take her financial status into her own hands by considering posing for Playboy! Could this be a ploy to get us to tune in again? If so, they got me, I'm there...

Teresa's Team Takes Over

*check back next week for another one of pheleshia's Real Housewives re-caps*

Ding….Ding…Ding…..the second round of the family battle royal has begun! Let's see the second episode of RHONJ and the reaction to last week’s family feud.  When we were introduced to the new players, I thought of something.  Is the series going for a family vision?  Everyone on here is now related. There are at least two sets of actual family relationships on here.  Will this make for better reality T.V. or do they want us to think this way so that we don’t continue to call “their” show fake? I think I may be on to a conspiracy. Anyway, the aftermath of the Christening is unfolding and we are privy to the opinions of not only the housewives but what seems to be all of New Jersey! I mean, even the people putting on the "Posh" fashion show had an opinion! As we get involved in the outcome of one family's battle, the other stays quiet and content.  Rightfully so, as I think that Caroline would go off, like back in the Danielle days, if her family was in a situation such as this one. As I reflect back there was however one thing that annoyed me in regards to Caroline's family. Does her son really think that "Cajun" is a language? Does she think this also as she laughed along with him without correction? What an insult to people from the south. I don't want to hear "I have Cajun friends", you know the statement that people make after they have said/done something to offend another race/ethnicity. In my book there is just no excuse!  Ignorance aside, there is so much to cover from the beginning to the end of this episode so in order to keep focused I'm going to highlight my do's and dont's of the interactions between Teresa and her family members. Beginning with the do's.  Wait there were no DO's!  What I can say is DON'T talk about how important family is Kathy and then wait to talk about an important "family" matter at a social gathering! Then you act shocked when you approach the person poorly also attacking her mothering skills! You thought she was going to give you a hug? Kathy has issues along with everyone else. Her husband is strange as well (I'm not going there tonight though, that's for another night.) Another DON'T is DON'T say you want an apology but say that you are not going to say anything to the person you want it from and be upset when they don't apologize!  Come on Melissa you even know that Teresa was not going to come and apologize to you. I don't think that it is because she doesn't want to but because she's scared of rejection! Acting aside, because we never know, it seems as though she truly wants a relationship with both her brother AND sister in-law.  It still boggles my mind to see that no one has reached out on a one-to-one level.  If they have in the past, no one is talking about it so in my opinion it hasn't happened. Next week we prepare to see the aftermath of Kathy and Teresa's conversation at the fashion show (once again wrong place, wrong time) and the ongoing battle between Teresa and her brother. Surprising enough, it seems as though a letter plays a role in the episode. Too bad the other ladies don't! Let's keep it real, do you remember seeing what is going to be going on with Caroline and Jacqueline? I don't, but it doesn't mean that I'm not going to tune in to also see what is going on with them. Until next week keep rocking Jersey style.