What Do You Want To Do Before You Die?

Ride in a hot air balloon, travel to Australia, swim with dolphins, meet a celebrity, be on the jumbotron at a major sporting event… these are just some of the things that are on my bucket list.  I think… If I could find where I put it.

Most people have a list of things that they want to accomplish before they die, whether it is written down or just in their head.  The four boys on MTV’s hit show, The Buried Life, take their bucket list to the extreme.  After watching this show, I can’t help but feel inspired to dig out my old bucket list and actually accomplish the items and live my life to the fullest.

Picture taken from http://www.mtv.com/

With items like steal a lock of Robert Pattinson’s hair, escape from a deserted island, and ask Taylor Swift out on a date, my items seem small and easily achievable in comparison.

The four boys on this show are Ben Nemtin, Dave Lingwood, Duncan Penn, and Jonnie Penn. They are all in their mid-twenties and are from Canada.

Picture taken from http://www.papermag.com/

Nemtin is the brains behind all of the operations.  He will do whatever he needs to do to get the item crossed off the list.  He is not afraid of dressing up, stealing media passes, or sweet-talking whoever is standing in his way.  He comes up with all of the ideas to make things happen and has the persuading words to make them happen. He is also the narrator for most of the episodes.

Lingwood is the free-spirit of the group.  On an episode where the boys were planning on streaking at a sporting event, they decided to go to a nudest camp in order to try to get comfortable being naked.  Lingwood was the first one to strip down and was dancing naked on a dock for the camera.  He is also seen in an episode where the boys were trying to cross “Marry a Stranger” off of their list- of course Lingwood participated in that one.  He married a girl in Las Vegas that he met a day before, and they are still married!!

The Penn brothers are the realistic boys in the group.  Duncan is the one who always seems to turn Nemtin’s crazy ideas into a concrete plan for the boys to work with.  Jonnie, the most shy out of the group, brings the boys back to a state of focus when they get off on their crazy ideas.  He also does a lot of the filming and editing for the show.

The boys travel around America in a big purple bus that actually has their list items painted on the side.  In every episode they cross something off of their list, as well as help somebody else cross something off of their list.  They do not stop at anything and welcome challenges in their tasks.  It’s nice to see a reality series whose characters use their rising fame to do something good for society!

What do you think? What do you want to do before you die?

Kendra Wilkinson- Living the Single Life

For people that get as excited about trashy reality TV as I do, they might be excited for the season premier of Kendra on the E! Network.  Previews show Kendra Wilkinson and husband, Hank Baskett, fighting over the stresses of his job moving him all around the country. 

Wilkinson is upset that Baskett’s job as a professional football player has moved the family 5 or 6 times in 2 years.  She is trying her best to put her past behind her and create a good life for Hank Baskett Jr. For her, a good life for her child includes a permanent home where he can grow up with stability.

The previews for the show hint that the couple is going to have some problems with this in the future, but luckily we do not have to wait until the season to start to find this out.

Wilkinson and Baskett Jr. Photo taken from OK! magazine

Because Baskett got released from the Philadelphia Eagles in September, he has recently signed to play with the Minnesota Vikings.  Wilkinson does not want to move to Minnesota, so she has decided to leave Baskett and move to the west coast with Baskett Jr.

“Moving across the country by myself makes me think of my own mom who raised me and my brother by alone,” she told Life & Style magazine. “Hank’s not going to be there forever, but with him not physically here, I’m a single parent now.”

I commend her for wanting to do what is right for Baskett Jr., and raise him in a permanent, stable home, but I can’t help but feel sorry for Baskett.  He is doing the only thing he knows how to do to support his family, yet he doesn’t get to see them.  I would also be hurt if I heard my wife calling herself a “single mom” just because she didn’t want to live in the city where I needed to be to work.

On the other hand, as some headlines could be misleading and could be interpreted as the couple is separating, but this is not the case!  In fact, Wilkinson tells the Huffington Post that they are able to keep their marriage alive long distance.   “We definitely keep things spicy even though we’re not together in person,” she said in an interview.

Hopefully this means that we won’t see an end to the couple any time soon! On her reality show, the couple can be seen working through their issues and being there for each other through anything.  In fact, despite all of their recent problems, Wilkinson has told the Huffington Post that they are looking forward to baby number two!

She hopes to have a baby girl, and compares her ideal baby to Shiloh.  “She’s going to be a tomboy.  She’s going to be out there rolling around in the dirt,” she said.

I am happy to see the couple looking towards the future, and that this is just one more bump that they are going to work through and come out stronger in the end.  I can’t wait to follow them through the journey when the next season of Kendra starts on November 7!

Kim Kardashian uses birthday to get rich

As we have all heard over and over by now, Kim Kardashian has turned 30 years old.    If it wasn’t enough to see and hear all about the several weeks full of celebration, we now find out she used her birthday to earn almost $1 million. 

I’m not really sure what Kim Kardashian is exactly famous for—except for showing her crazy family on TV, dating a new guy every week, or posing for risqué pictures.  Now that she’s “famous”, all she has to do is show up to her own birthday party to make the big bucks.

Although she didn’t actually turn 30 until October 21, she was celebrating in Las Vegas and New York many weeks before.  According to popeater.com, Kardashian is not really a nightclub type of girl.  “She only makes those kinds of appearances, even on special occasions, when she is being paid quite well to grace an event with her presence,” the article says.

The Venetian in Las Vegas had one of Kardashian’s first birthday parties on October 15.  It was heavily promoted and definitely brought Kardashian fans to the hotel.  It is estimated that she made nearly $100,000 from this premier alone.  I wonder what it’s like to get paid that much money to attend your own party?

Example of poster promoting one of her birthday parties- Taken from http://www.hollyscoop.com/

 

Because her birthday was stretched over several weeks, she was able to get stories in many Celebrity weeklies which was free advertising for her, and cost the magazines nearly $350,000 total.  She also earned nearly $1 million in revenue for her brands.  For Kardashian, appearances are a great way to “connect with people in places like Oklahoma, where I would never go otherwise.  Those girls going to the clubs will be buying my perfume.”

It seems like everything she does is aimed at making money.  She is using her “fame” to get fans to spend money on her.  She has learned that people want to meet her, and has used this to her advantage.  My question is:  When is enough really enough?

Personally, I get extremely tired hearing about all the Kim Kardashian hype.  She doesn’t do anything to earn the fame that she is given.  She gains fame through press and publicity.  People want to know what she’s doing and where she’s going at all times. 

Peter Madden, founder and president of the branding and public relations agency AgileCat claims that if Kardashian keeps up the way she’s going, she is just going to be an over publicized carbon-copy of Paris Hilton.  “There is a fine line between increasing brand equity and overt brand saturation,” Madden says.  “If she wants to raise her profile the right way, she is going to have to differentiate and develop a more sustainable plan that Paris Part Two.”

I’m not sure how much more over-publicized and over-rated Kimmy can get!

Teen Mom in Trouble!

Amber Portwood, the 20-year-old Teen Mom, is going through a rough patch in her life.  Since getting pregnant in 2008, her life has constantly been a rollercoaster of ups and downs.  This is especially true with her off-and-on relationship with 23-year-old fiancé Gary Shirley.  Trying to work things out for their 23-month-old daughter, Leah, can get messy—and things are about to take a turn for the worst.

Since the first season of Teen Mom, Amber and Gary’s fights have been caught on camera, but it wasn’t until lately that their fights have blown into physical fights nearly every time.  Many fights end with Amber screaming that she never wants to see him again as crying baby Leah follows her dad to the door, only to have it slammed in her face.

Their most recent fight was caused when Gary threatened to call Child Protective Services and take Leah away forever.  The fight included Amber punching Gary in the head, hitting him repeatedly, and almost kicking him down the stairs.  According to an interview in US Weekly, Amber barely remembers hitting Gary.  Although she tries to avoid watching these actions on the show, these give her a strong reminder.

“When I see myself in that position, it really opens my eyes,” Amber tells US Weekly. “I want to stop it because I don’t want to be like that.”



Picture of Portwood and Shirley taken from http://www.perezhilton.com/



Well… it may be too late for that Amber.  Members of the Department of Child Services (DCS) in Indiana are investigating the incidents seen on the show.  According to Indiana state law, domestic violence in front of a child under 14 can be considered a felony. 

“We have an ongoing assessment with regard to the family of Amber Portwood, and we continue to work with law enforcement on this matter,” Anne Holton of the Anderson, Ind. DCS department told OK! magazine.

In the next few weeks, DCS will be conducting a formal interview with Amber as well as interviews with “everybody that knows Amber and Gary.”

In regards to taking proactive steps to make things better, Amber tells US Weekly that she is facing her angers head on.  She claims that she is “working with a counselor ‘on how to calm down when things happen’”. 

“We are getting closer to a solution,” she states. “If I get mad, I always try to think about Leah and how an [outburst] will affect her.”  

She is also dating a new man named Chris who puts a lot of positivity in her life, but also comes with his own set of troubles.  He reveals on the show that before he met Amber, he was in jail—but it is not confirmed why.  Rumors say that he was convicted of Child Molestation in 2005.  This is probably not a good person to have in the house during DCS interviews!  I hope Amber can dodge this bullet and finally achieve happiness in her life... what do you think??

'Snooki' shows classy changes in her life

Between all of the fist fights and fist pumping that is seen in every episode of MTV’s Jersey Shore, it is surprising to hear that cast member Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi is taking some steps to move her life in the right direction.  Yacht parties and book writing have been added to Snooki’s agenda, giving her a classy look that she does not portray very often.

Earlier this year, Snooki had a “make-under” by US Weekly for an article called “Trashy to Classy”.  She was put in dresses that covered up a lot more of her body than we see on MTV.  Her hair was slicked back in a pony-tail which made her almost unrecognizable!

Unfortunately, Snooki was not a fan of these new looks.  “I feel like my grandmother,” Snooki told US Weekly.  “I wouldn’t be caught dead in this outfit.”

On September 27, Snooki surprised us again!  She hosted a yacht party in California to promote the product “Beautiful Eyes” by Frownies.   The event was complete with a white carpet, celebrity and VIP guests, and hors d’oeuvres.

The product, said to reduce facial wrinkles, is perfect for the over-tan diva.   Hollywood Today reports Snooki saying, “I love tanning, so I really like the Immune Shield from Beautiful Eyes because it repairs and protects my skin from the sun.”

In contrast to the usual crazy hairstyles, fuzzy slippers, and diamond-covered sunglasses she is seen wearing on the show, Snooki looked elegant in a knee-length black dress and large sunhat.  She remained classy throughout the whole evening and even refused to accept a dare to jump overboard as a crazy publicity stunt!

Classy Snooki was on a roll that week!  Just the next day, as fans were starting to catch wind of the high class boat event, Snooki came out with another surprising statement.  She officially announced that she has been working on writing a book!

“I’m pumped to announce to my fans a project that I’ve been working on for some time,” explains the 22-year-old reality star.  “This book will have you falling in love at the shore.”

The book is called A Shore Thing and is about a girl looking for love on the boardwalk.  According to www.popeater.com, the book is fictional and the main character has “big hair, dark tans, and fights galore”!  Hmm... sound familiar? 

Many critics are already bashing Snooki’s book—as she claims to have only read two books herself!  As for me, I can’t wait to read it! Snooki has an outrageous personality and thoughts that are never short of entertaining!

The book is scheduled to release right after the first of the new year.

Will Snooki’s classy streak continue?  Probably not.  The last two episodes of Jersey Shore Season 2 are airing the next couple weeks, and they have already filmed Season 3—which are sure to catch Snooki in her normal, crazy light!