B-Side Blog

It’s A Lemon Sweetener Giveaway!!

Everyone, I want you to just calm down. What I’m about to say will blow your mind. Thanks to the good people at TrueLemon, I am coming to you with a deal you will NEVER believe. I am giving away TrueLemon! And not just TrueLemon, but TrueLime! And TRUEORANGE!!!

What, pray tell, are these items? Well, according to the lovely Karen Ram, who just sent me the press release, True[insert citrus here] is “a healthy crystalized beverage enhancer that does wonderful things for margaritas, coronas, plain tequila, anything. True Lemon’s ingredients are 100% all-natural and really spruce up a beverage without making it unhealthy, or ‘sugaring’ down alchoholâ€™s natural goodness.” But most importantly, it’s free!

Well, since Cinco De Mayo is maÃ±ana (look at me being all bilingual), here is the contest: the three person with the most interesting margarita story (and/or something involving tacos or other Mexican fare) will win themselves some free TrueLemon. In fact, let’s make this interesting: first place gets TrueLemon, second place gets TrueLime, and third gets TrueOrange.

Send all stories to bsideblog at gmail dotcom.

Oh, and if you want to try TrueLemon for yourself, you can get a free sample here. But it won’t be as good as what I’m giving away. I can already tell you that.

Welcome to the New B-Side Blog!

After putting it off for week after week after week, I finally got around to revamping the ol’ blog on Monday. I kicked that pesky Movable Type software to the curb, and in its place I’ve installed a shiny new interface, courtesy of WordPress. No longer will you have to sit there and wait thirty seconds for a comment to go through, and unreliable CAPTCHA codes look to be a thing of the past. Don’t believe me? Go on and leave a comment right now. The speed will blow you away. At last, it seems this site has caught up with the rest of the Internet!

But the groovy changes don’t end there. Now this site features pagination, which means that you all can browse to your hearts’ content — no longer restricted to just the first fifteen entries on the front page. I don’t think you realize how badly and for how long I have wanted this very basic functionality. Every time I tried to add a plugin for pagination on Movable Type, I would nearly break the blog. But now, now I have pagination!

I also have a randomized banner now, which makes me giddier than Oprah at a Josh Groban signing. In fact, I took this opportunity to redesign the entire site. I tried to remove the clutter; although, the necessary advertising will certainly work against me on that front. Either way, I’m going for a cleaner, sleeker look, and so far I think I’m most of the way there. I’ll surely be tweaking the look of the site though over the next few days. Continue reading “Welcome to the New B-Side Blog!”

REAL HOUSEWIVES PHOTOCAP: Okay, So ALL These Women Are Awful

The war between Bethenny and Jill on The Real Housewives of New York City has raged all season long, and it’s starting to reach an insufferable (yet HIGHLY entertaining) point. These two women just keep doing the most awful things possible to each other, and just when we thought Alex was the only cast member left on the show who was above the fray, she up and inserted herself right into the drama by delivering a message to Jill that went more or less along the lines of “Bethenny hates you and never wants to talk to you ever again.” First off, it was ridiculous to get in the middle of the mudslinging as it was, and second off, Bethenny was totally right in that Alex clearly just wanted an excuse to take a swipe at Jill. Clearly Bethenny didn’t seriously enlist Alex to make this attack because let’s be honest — Bethenny would never forgo a chance to take down Jill in front of the cameras. And if she were going to send a vessel in her place, I’m sure she would have sent someone a bit less longwinded. Maybe a Ramona or Sonja or just about anyone else in Manhattan. Certainly not Alex, who spent nearly five awkward minutes stalling before finally delivering “the message.” It was all so uncomfortable and strange, and I’m 100% positive that Alex’s message would have been a touch more effective had it not arrived with such ridiculous fanfare. In the end, it was Alex who wound up looking worst of all — coming off as seriously demented for the first time in a while. Jill was so put off that she had to walk off with Kelly, who repeatedly described the situation as “creepy,” which was a bit bizarre (“bizarre” — that would have been a good word). Eventually Jill wound up crying, and Alex began talking to the camera very slowly (and THAT was creepy), and the whole thing added a new layer of silliness to the most petty feud of all time. I can only imagine how this trainwreck cast of characters will continue to spiral out of control…

Continue reading “REAL HOUSEWIVES PHOTOCAP: Okay, So ALL These Women Are Awful”

Pics From Inside the 'Reality Matters' Party

For those of you reading this blog or following my Twitter, you know I’ve been shilling Reality Matters, the reality TV anthology that I have contributed to. Well, last night, there was a party at Les Deux for the book, and so of course I showed up all ready to preen around for the press and whatnot. Turns out the press didn’t really care about me, but just because my ego had been trampled and raped and left for dead didn’t mean I couldn’t have a fantastic time. After all, there were reality-stars aplenty there. I busted out my camera and took photos with as many as I could (although, quite frankly, I missed the majority of them like Trishelle and Charlie O’Connell and a handful of others).

After the jump, check out my pics from the evening. Fun times had by all!

Continue reading “Pics From Inside the 'Reality Matters' Party”

REAL HOUSEWIVES PHOTOCAP: Before You Die, You See Bethenny's Ring

Big news! Bethenny Frankel got engaged! All those who actually care, raise your hands. Okay, that’s about three of you. Nevertheless, this week’s episode of The Real Housewives of New York City centered around Bethenny’s engagement, which consisted of her explaining how she’s simply not the type to make a big fuss about the news before going on national TV and making a big fuss about the news. First stop on the celebration tour was Alex’s humble abode in Brooklyn where within two seconds after exchanging pleasantries, Bethenny dropped the bomb. She did it in a casual way, as if to say “Hey, no big deal,” but clearly it was a big deal because Bethenny then reiterated over and over again how nice it was to have someone be happy for her with no strings attached (although, I personally believe there were strings attached, but only because Alex sort of reminds me of a gangly marionette).
Nevertheless, Alex was sincerely happy for her self-absorbed friend, and her reaction was certainly sweeter and kinder than the rest of the wolf pack’s later in the episode when Bethenny broke the big news at an event hosted by Kelly. Once again displaying faux-modesty, Bethenny casually shared the news with Ramona, who flipped her lid in true Ramona style. Of course, Bethenny could have announced that stockings were on sale at Macy’s, and Ramona would have reacted just the same, but that’s neither here nor there.

Continue reading “REAL HOUSEWIVES PHOTOCAP: Before You Die, You See Bethenny's Ring”

REAL HOUSEWIVES PREVIEW: More Bickering, More Cattiness, More Awesomeness

My internet connection is a bit slow right now; so I’m embedding these Real Housewives of New York City clips into this post SIGHT UNSEEN. I hope they’re good. How could they not be? (Don’t answer that)
One video above, and one after the jump…

Continue reading “REAL HOUSEWIVES PREVIEW: More Bickering, More Cattiness, More Awesomeness”

Come To The 'Reality Matters' Reading Tonight!

If you live in Los Angeles and love reality TV, you should bust a move to Barnes & Noble at The Grove in Hollywood tonight at 7 PM. Why? Because there’s going to be a reading of Reality Matters, the new anthology about reality TV, and guess what? Imma gonna be a-readin’ from it tonight! That’s right, I’ll be reading as well as fellow contributors Melissa de la Cruz, John Albert, Wendy Merrill, and the book’s editor Anna David.
I’d like to think that our collective presence alone would be enough to draw you to the reading, but in case it isn’t. I have further reasons why you should come after the jump.

Continue reading “Come To The 'Reality Matters' Reading Tonight!”

I Have High Hopes For Gabourey Sidibe's 'SNL' Debut

Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe is hosting this week’s Saturday Night Live, and I’m oddly excited for it. And no, it’s not just because I love the back-to-back rhyme pairing with last week’s host, Ryan Phillippe (although, coincidentally, my friends and I decided both would make for a wonderful celebrity couple name: Phillippedibe). There’s just something lovable about the girl, and her amazing rise from no one to Oscar nominee / Oprah darling / SNL host is pretty awesome. Plus, these promos are laugh-out-loud funny. Let’s hope the actual episode follows suit (ie. no Kenan Thompson or Will Forte, please).
Via Movieline

Is This Countess LuAnn's New Love?

Is this LuAnn De Lesseps’ new man? After all, he’s younger, somewhat dark skinned, and his name begins with a J.
AH HA!
Oh wait. It’s actually just B-Side Blog reader Jason, who snapped this photo with the Countess at this past weekend’s GLAAD Media Awards. I’m not sure how their interaction was, but I think we can assume LuAnn (a.) pressed Jason for dirt on Ramona, (b.) asked if he would be paying for her drinks, and (c.) told him at least three times “no, no, no, no, no, my love.”
So to answer the question in the headline — is this Countess LuAnn’s new love? JE CROIS PAS!

REAL HOUSEWIVES PHOTOCAP: Giving Us An Eyeful

How crazy have things gotten on The Real Housewives of New York City? Well, let’s put it this way. A ridiculous, turbulent fight involving at least three women and resulting in one of them storming out of a party didn’t even make it into the show promos because such imbroglios are practically commonplace now. Yes, in an episode that I assumed would center around Ramona’s crazy catwalk eyes, we were given a surprise fight that was so silly and unnecessary, I had a hard time believing these women hadn’t already been locked up in a loony bin. To be fair, the instigator was Ramona, who is not perhaps the best example of mental soundness. It all started when she arrived at some event involving Jill and Kodak. Rather than let Jill enjoy her night, Ramona decided to chime in with her CNBC business analysis of Kodak, saying they were a company in decline and as such, Jill should be wary of partnering with them. A normal human being would have nodded politely at this strange nugget of advice and then moved on, but Jill is not a normal person. She’s — how do I put this lightly? — a pitbull. In some ways it’s admirable, but often times, it’s just garish. I’m not sure where this incident fell on that spectrum, but needless to say, Jill was having none of this silliness. She snapped at Ramona — who clearly has the business foresight of a Sloan grad — and ultimately demanded that the Tru Renewal skincare czar leave the premises at once. Jill then stormed off, leaving a googly-eyed Ramona to stand there and sort of smile at the absurdity of the request (which, I must remind you, was a response to the absurdity of Ramona’s accusation). Absurdity begets absurdity on the Housewives, and soon Kelly picked up the reins of the fight, accusing Ramona of threatening Jill’s all-important Kodak endorsement. The bickering bubbled over, coming to a head just as Jill was up on a stage, relishing her big moment. Somewhere in the mix, I believe LuAnn fanned the flames, and eventually, Ramona told Kelly that she had no brains and then stormed out of the party. And then the episode ended.
What the hey just happened??

Continue reading “REAL HOUSEWIVES PHOTOCAP: Giving Us An Eyeful”