Big Brother Craze

We all have our reasons, and now some of you can take advantage and tell the whole nation why you love the conniving, lying, backstabbing, strategizing, game play of Big Brother! With just over a month to go before the beginning of Season Ten - CBS has released a casting call for folks interested in the nationwide promo. I doubt there’s any money in it - but there IS a chance to meet and greet with the one and only Evel Dick!

Here are the official details:
You can be on National Television as part of the promotional campaign for the CBS Summer hit Big Brother. Get a chance to meet the one and only Evel Dick, Winner of Big Brother 8!

Date - Sunday, June 8th
Location - CBS Television City, 7800 Beverly BLVD. Los Angeles, CA 90036, Stage 36
Time - 12 Noon to 3pm
Parking - Enter through main gate on Beverly Blvd. Park as directed by Security
Participation - You must be 18 or older to participate. All participants will be required to sign a release form. You must have Photo ID.

Man, why can’t they have this kind of stuff while I’m visiting my friends in LA? Sheesh. If you make it out there and get in, though, be sure and let us know! We’ll be on the lookout for all of the promos that are sure to hit the air any day… right? Not that we’re addicted and eagerly awaiting it or anything. Really. Quit looking at me like that….

Of course, if you don’t make the cut, you can always go to Reality TV School and hope for better luck next time…

It’s a pretty quiet day, all told. Some campaigning but just more of the same we heard yesterday, an HOH Hen Party where the girls gathered to do their nails and gab about everything under the son not game related, there was a long nap time, bathing beauties, and nothing really all that exciting - not even for me, as I did my taxes. Whee.

Although, there were a couple of funny moments as Sheila and Natalie made fun of the Tweedles (Dee and Dum), Adam and Ryan:

So instead - we look to CBS, where they unveiled the Summer Schedule! Only one item is of importance here, of course - the premiere of Big Brother 10! Here you go:

BIG BROTHER, a CBS summer stalwart, returns for its 10th edition on Sunday, July 13 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) with all new game twists and surprises. BIG BROTHER will also be broadcast on Tuesday (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) beginning July 15 and Wednesday (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) beginning July 16 with the live eviction show hosted by Julie Chen.

It seems they’re going to continue with this wonky Wednesday evictions. I’m hoping they change that, and go back to regular Thursdays, myself. But either way - we have an official day to look forward to a whole new season of hamsters! YAY!

Neil posted the following on his MySpace blog today:

Thank you so much for the outpouring care, support, and concern from all the BIG BROTHER fans. This has been a difficult time for my family, which I am dealing with privately. The drama is slowly being resolved, and all is headed to a brighter place.

I am now happy to say, that I am spending time with close friends and family. I wish Joshuah the best of luck and hope that he keeps up our brilliant strategy to win the big prize with my replacement, Sharon. Please know that I will NOT be back to the BIG BROTHER house and contrary to some web speculation, I was not let go for health reasons. Eeek! Again, thanks to each and every one of you for your support during all of this Big Brother business.

All my Love,

Neil Garcia, BIG BROTHER 9

P.S. -Shit Happens- >: O

I’m glad that he’s doing alright, and has the support of friends and family while he deals with the unspecified ‘drama’ - best of luck to you, Neil!

And here I was considering going to bed. Ha! The CBS Official site is up, with cast photos, bios and a complete set of 30 pictures of the entire house. Whee! All before the Early Show with Julie! I know - shut up Lessa and show us the house, right? Right-o. Your wish is my command! CLick for bigger views!

Mmm… Looks like the bright red fireplace has been muted - good. And maybe… Hamsters for the Hamsters this year? Looks like it that last one! And lord have mercy, this next bathroom scares me…

See what I mean? Ugh! Next up, the bedrooms… Starting, of course, with the HOH.

And the other bedrooms:

A Boat Bed, An ultra frilly room, pull out couches and a Spa room complete with massage table and footbath? Oh my…

And outside - it seems they gave them something to do right off the bad this year!

So there ya have it - the house. Way I figure it, there’s at least one more bed somewhere, as if there are two people in the HOH room, they’re still short 1 bed. The boat room looks like there’s another area on the other side of the wall that wasn’t photographed, so perhaps that’s it. That bathroom makes me want to hurl, but other then that and the oddly frilly room, they’re pretty nice and remind me of a few Bed and Breakfasts I’ve stayed in up here. (Not the GOOD one mom, but others..) It looks to me that the far wall of the back yard has mountains on it, which makes it even homier for this Alaskan. The hamster cage makes me giggle every time I see it and I love the counter extension with the sunburst. And? A pool table right off the bat? Awesome!

What do you think of the house? Of the houseguests? I’ll put up links to the Early Show segments as soon as I can get them! Time to see the Houseguests in front of the cameras at last!

An eagle-eyed Jokester found the houseguests revealed on TV Guide.com! I knew I kept hanging out there for a reason! So without further ado, here’s who TV Guide says will be our 16 Hamsters on “Big Brother: Till Death do you part”. This should all, of course, be confirmed one way or the other by Julie Chen on CBS Early Show tomorrow morning.

1. Adam, 29, Public Relations Manager, Del Ray Beach, FL.
2. Alex, 24, DJ Company Owner, Staten Island, NY - Myspace

3. Allison, 28, Pharmaceutical Sales Rep, Boston, Mass. - Myspace
4. Amanda, 23, Paralegal, Fridley, MN

5. Chelsia, 21, College Student, Cedar Falls, Iowa - Myspace (it originally said 21/cedar falls… nice friend list…)
6. Jacob, 23, Electrician, Dallas, GA

7. James, 21, Sarasota, FL (Currently biking around the world.) - Mysace
8. Jen, 26, Bartender, Columbus, OH - Myspace

9. Joshuah, 24, Advertising Media Buyer, Dallas, Texas - Myspace
10. Matt, 23, Roofing Foreman, Charleston, Massachusetts

11. Natalie, 28, Bikini Barista, Salem, OR - Myspace
12. Neil, 29, Realtor, Los Angeles, CA - Myspace

13. Parker, 26, Paparazzo, Northridge, CA - Myspace
14. Ryan, 27, College Student, Columbus, OH - Myspace

15. Sharon, 23, Realtor from Olathe, KS - Myspace
16. Sheila, 45, Former Model, Reseda, CA - Myspace

And, of course - 9 men, 7 women, soulmates = at least 1 gay couple?

NEW: Those BB9Dish Girls are GOOD! Thanks to them and their friend Crystal, they think they’ve pegged the first POSSIBLE Soulmate Couple: Jen and Ryan. Check it out!

Stay tuned! I’ll post more as I find it!

What’s that got to do with Big Brother? Nothing, really. Especially for an eagle eyed fan who saw this commercial on CBS for Big Brother!

Sixteen houseguests? 16! The last commercials had it at 14, guess there are some shakeups in the works! There have been rumors of it being similar to a BBUK ploy, where there will be other houseguests in another house that will rotate in - and that the two houses will have different rules… there are also rumblings of perhaps it’s not two separate houses, but simply hidden people - a Big Brother Dirty Little Secret, so to speak. If so, wouldn’t it be cool if they got to eavesdrop on conversations and get additional info? Well, cool for them. Methinks the viewers would be stomping and chomping at the bit and complaining that they had an unfair advantage. Of course, the internet drama is half the fun!

It’s all hearsay, of course, but tomorrow is the day slated by those reporters who got to live the Week in a Day inside the Big Brother house that they’ll be able to talk at last and share what they learned - so tomorrow could be filled with info! Be sure to check back, and see what delights I can gather up so that you have it all in one place - a one stop Big Brother Shop, so to speak.

And, TVGasm.com has a new video showcasing Chenbot at her “But first…” best. Awesome!

..watching tonight’s Survivor: China, and what to my wandering eyes should appear? No, not Santa, but a gift none the less! With all the rumors, and the talks, and the strike, and the steadfast refusal of CBS to confirm or deny, and the slip of Robin Kass, Casting director on her Myspace… THIS is the one thing that made me go “ohhhh you know, maybe it’s really TRUE!”

What was it? A commercial asking for applications for Big Brother 9! In my experience, those only show up a couple months before the premiere of a new season – especially when in conjunction with fired up Casting Calls across the country!

With the latest press release, it also confirmed that Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan would again be at the reigns as Executive Producers, and our favorite Chen-bot would return as host. I do hope they have enough time to program her correctly!

Also announced, to my delight, is that Big Brother 9 “will follow a group of strangers” – which means no celebrity edition! So here’s hoping that all this is indeed pointing to an early run of our favorite addiction! Here is the latest list of casting calls:

BIG BROTHER 9 CASTING CALL - Dates/Cities/Locations and Local Times:

Nov. 17 Los Angeles - Exclusive Casting Studios, 7700 Sunset Blvd. (12 Noon-3 PM)
Nov. 17 Columbia, S.C. - WLTX-TV, 6027 Garners Ferry Road (10 AM-2 PM)
Nov. 18 New York - NY Castings, 243 West 30th Street, 3rd. Floor (12 Noon-8 PM)
Nov. 23 Houston - Meridien, 1503 Chartres St. (7PM-10PM)
Dec. 1 Houston - Moes Grill & Bar, 5000 Katy Mills Circle (2PM-5PM)
Dec. 1 Schaumburg, IL- Woodfield Mall, “Cool Waves” Nordstrom lower level (12PM-3PM)
Dec. 1 Atlanta -America’s Mart, 240 Peachtree Street 1st Fl. Rm. A (12 PM-3 PM)
Dec. 1 Brooklyn, NY - Duff’s Brooklyn, N. 3rd Street & Kent Avenue (7 PM-10 PM)
Dec. 1 Charlotte, N.C. - Cans, 500 West 5th Street (12 PM-3 PM)
Dec. 1 Chicago - Ontourage, 157 W. Ontario Street (10 PM-12:00 AM)
Dec. 1 Hillsboro, Ore. - The Streets of Tanasbourne 19350 NW Emma Way, (12 PM-3 PM)
Dec. 1 Kansas City, MO -Screenlands Crossroads Theater, 1656 Washington St. (1 PM-4 PM)
Dec. 7 Columbus, Ohio - Spice Bar, 491 N. Park Street (10 PM-12:00 AM)
Dec. 7 Scottsdale, Ariz. - Suede Lounge, 7333 E. Indian Plaza (12 PM-3 PM)
Dec. 8 Boston - Felt, 533 Washington Street 3rd & 4th Floor (12:00 Noon -3 PM)
Dec. 8 Broomfield, Colo. - FlatIron Crossing, 1 West FlatIron Crossing Drive In the Dillard’s Court (10 AM-1 PM)
Dec. 8 Columbus, Ohio - Park Street Patio, 533 Park Street (2 PM - 5 PM)
Dec. 8 Tampa, Fla. - The Dubliner Irish Pub, 2307 W. Azeele Street (12 PM- 3PM)

What do you need to bring? Your application, filled out, and your winning personality. Good luck!

So – in light of all of that? Dig the new banner, kids. When I know more for sure, you’ll know too!

And no, this time I’m not talking ‘bout sex (baby, let’s talk about you AND me… er. Uh. Sc’use me.) but rather about the Hollywood Writer’s strike that’s due to start tomorrowish. What’s that got to do with Big Brother? Well! Two little sentences in a recent article by Variety TV, posted on November 2nd, has people in an uproar.

The article talks about the fall launch of Network TV and how it’s not really been the high note that the big networks expected it to be, and many of the head honcho’s are worried about what the strike will mean to Network TV.

“It’s been an abysmal season,” says one entertainment president. “What ultimately worries me about a strike is, are we hastening the narrowing of network TV? If we have to put up a sign that says ‘gone fishing,’ luring viewers back is going to be even more difficult.”

Sunday night, CBS showed that they’d already gone to their best bench players, and started Amazing Race – the Emmy winning race around the world. While it’s not been a complete disaster, the season may have been disappointing enough to have some execs looking for a ‘mid-season do-over’.

For CBS, our favorite network here at Big Brother Craze for obvious reasons, They’ve had some solid hits, and a few ok’s, and they’re pretty content with the numbers so far, but they do have midseason plans. There’s 48 hours mystery shows plus game shows and such waiting in the wings. In January they’ll have to fill various time slots, Kid Nation, and for a few weeks, Survivor while we’re between seasons. The contingency plan is what the Big Brother Fans in a buzz – two little lines:

Then there’s “Big Brother.” Summer staple could easily return as soon as March — maybe even with a long-rumored celebrity edition.

While the thought of a celebrity edition makes me want to throw up a little – depending on the definition of ‘celebrity’ and all – the thought of an additional run of Big Brother as soon as March? THIS makes me GIDDY and all kinds of tingly and happy!

Now it does continue to say that launching a new comedy night might be easier – but we can always hope, right?!

Advice for Applying for BB9!
So, you think you have what it takes to be locked in a house with strangers to strategize your way to winning $100k? Great! Little confused about the whole application, or want that all important insider information? Well, the folks over at Reality Wanted totally have your back! They posted an interview with BB Casting Director, Robyn Kass yesterday, getting all the scoop on what they’re looking for and what NOT to do while applying.

Boogie arrested!
Reports say that Mike ‘Boogie’ Malin was arrested in Denver at a sports bar after getting into an altercation with a woman! Apparently the big bone of contention? The fact that he was wearing his Boston Red Sox jersey, while the Rockies lost the World Series in a 4 game sweep. There’s little to be found in the way of further details, just that he was celebrating the win, and spent 15 hours in jail before making bail, for “Allegedly assaulting a waitress at a local sports bar.” His PR group says they’re working with the legal team to handle the ‘misunderstanding’.

Are the Dastardly Donatos still talking?
According to their postings on MySpace, Evel Dick and Daniele Donato are still on good terms, and on October 31st, hopped a flight to Europe, headed to celebrate their win in Dublin with some of ED’s friends. A last minute decision, they both said that’s the way they prefer to travel, and that things are going well with them. They text often, talk often and get together for the occasional meal and random flight overseas. Guess being locked up together for months and winning $550k goes a long way toward mending relationships!

Surprises
Yup. Still coming. At this point I’ll be just as surprised as you when they occur….

Just where are all the Reality stars shining last night?

In LA, baby, where they are filming/holding the Fox Reality Channel 2007 Really Awards! It won’t be shown on FRC until October 13th, but you know I’ve been scouring the web, waiting for any and all hints of who of our favorites were nominated, and who won…

So - Without further ado, here are some of the first pictures of the event - and a list of the categories and nominees!

Favorite Showmance
Eric and Jessica from “Big Brother 8”
Nate and Jenny Lee from “Beauty and the Geek”
Jackie and Rebecca from “Workout”
CT and Diem from “The Real World/Road Rules Challenge”
Dr. Will Kirby and Mike “Boogie” Mallin from “Dr. 90210”
Danielle and Nick from “Big Brother 8”

Favorite Fight
“Chance” Kamal Givens vs. “Mr. Boston” on “I Love New York”
Rocky vs. Dreams on “Survivor: Fiji”
Sharon Osborne vs. Piers Morgan on “America’s got Talent”
Leilene vs. Pumpkin on “Charm School”
Evel Dick vs. Jen on “Big Brother 8”
Saaphyri v. Htown on “Flavor of Love 2”

Favorite Tears
Jenn on “Big Brother 8”
Aaron on “Hell’s Kitchen”
Paula Abdul on “Hey Paula”
Amber on “Big Brother 8”
Ashley Ferl on “American Idol”

Favorite Winner
Tyler and James from “The Amazing Race”
Rock from “Hell’s Kitchen”
Evil Dick from “Big Brother 8”
Traci Bingham from “Surreal Life: Fame Game”
Yul from “Survivor: Fiji”

Favorite Villain
Dustin Diamond from “Celebrity Fit Club”
Cecille from “Beauty and the Geek”
Johnny V from “Scott Baio is 45 and Single”
Evel Dick from “Big Brother 8”
Renee from “America’s Next Top Model”
Larissa from “Charm School”

Favorite Hottie
Bridget from “The Girls Next Door”
Jenn from “Big Brother 8”
Brooke from “Hogan Knows Best”
JP Calderon from “Janice Dickenson Modeling Agency”
The “Olley” Girls from “Sunset Tan”
Bob Harper from “The Biggest Looser”

Favorite Potty Mouth
Chef Gordon Ramsay form “Hell’s Kitchen”
Dustin Diamond from “Celebrity Fit Club”
Evel Dick from “Big Brother 8”
Adrianne Curry from “My Fair Brady: We’re Getting Married”

America’s Favorite Reality Show
“Survivor”
“Dancing with the Stars”
“American Idol”
“America’s got Talent”
“Big Brother”
“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

Favorite Moment of Prayer
Jamekah from “Big Brother 8”
Saaphyri from “Charm School”
Dog from “Dog: The Bounty Hunter”
Amber from “Big Brother 8”
Sister Patterson from “I Love New York”

Favorite Competition Program
“Hell’s Kitchen”
“Big Brother”
“I Love New York”
“The Biggest Looser”
“So you Think you can Dance”
“Survivor”

Reality Performer of the Year
Adrianne and Chris Knight from “My Fair Brady”
Sanjaya from “American Idol”
New York from “I Love New York”
Len Goodman from “Dancing with the Stars”
Evel Dick from “Big Brother 8”
Ant from “Celebrity Fit Club”

And now? AFTER THE CUT I have the FIRST SPOILER from the event. That’s right - through diligence and simply knowing WHERE to look, I happen to know the winners of one award. Oh yes I do. So if you WANT to know… click the ‘read more’ tag below. Don’t click if you must wait! Don’t blame me IF you click…. You can’t say I didn’t warn you!

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Funniest thing said in the house today? Daniele, upon leaving the DR, where she was going to ask for something to do - arts and crafts or anything. “Apparently we’re supposed to entertain ourselves in this house! I didn’t get that memo! Was that in the rule book?!”

It was funny. Maybe you had to be there. She started to entertain herself by going upstairs to mess with Zach and steal his doorbell and got a “Daniele. Stop it.” from BB before she even got close. Now she’s redressing the rabbit shrub by the door. OH THE EXCITEMENT! WE CAN HARDLY HANDLE IT!

However, earlier, Daniele was the first in the house to put together the untold facts and realize that there would be a live show tomorrow night. No one would confirm it for her, saying only to “Expect the unexpected!” The main telling fact was, of course, that there was no POV Meeting today. That will happen on the Live Show tomorrow. BB let the houseguests sleep in until 2pm, which is going to bite for those who want to get a good night’s sleep tonight!

The conversations have been boring, and repetitive, so! Here are some things to read and talk about instead!

BB8 Dish has an interview with Mike, Zach’s college roommate.

Reality Wanted has a follow up interview with Kail. In it, she admits that she is now glad that Eric won’t win because of the Jen comment he made as he left. She clearly wasn’t aware that it’s a longstanding joke in the house. She’s not the only one, but oh well! I thought it was funny.

Big Sister complains about Dick and his son’s admission to ‘cheating’ by sending a coded letter that got through Big Brother’s watchdogs - though her main complaint (as with other’s I’ve seen) is that BB did nothing about it. Perhaps because the message was outdated? (And Vince said elsewhere that Dick missed well over half the message anyway. Ha!) So, What’s your take on it?

And last but not least, I received this comment via the feedback button from Kathleen: (For the record - only comments under an entry show up to everyone!)

Double Standard used for Asians.
T.V. show - chat rooms & news services ignore derogatory comments @ Asians but burn up the wires in outrage over anti-semantic slur of same type. Pathetic rant by Big Brother’s Amber on “selfish, money-hungry Jews, w/ big noses” (sic) caused national outrage, but Big Brother’s golden girl Dani’s “Asian people are stingy though” as with Jameka’s (the sole African American House Guest) “Eric has chinky eyes” (sic) has garnered no attention. Even more troubling is the lack of concern from posters & denial that the Asian comments compare in any way to Amber’s comments. The handful of posters that have raised the issue in fact have been booed & accused of going overboard in “pc-edness”. Ironically, one poster stated “that compares in no way to Amber’s vile comments”.

Dani’s statements start at about 6.40 minutes in this clip. HG’s talk about wedding rings, credit scores, tippers and Asians (see at @ 6.40 min)

My thought on the comments is they all should not have been made, they’re all wrong and un-pc and such. However, this is a pressure cooker situation, and while many of us swear that we’d never be caught saying such things, we’ve all - admit it or not - said something we regret, that’s against someone and can be an ‘ism of some sort - racism, ageism, etc. None of us are perfect. None of us can say we’ve never once made a comment that would hurt another person, or multiple persons. It’s just that most of us have managed not to stick our foot in our mouths on live TV.

Should all the comments get the same apology from CBS and the people involved? Probably. Should they cause the uprising they have? Most likely. Will it change anything? Probably not - not until we as parents teach our kids not to hate - to accept everyone for the people they are, for personality, not race, size, sexual preference, age, etc. It is not the government or schools or CBS’s job to make sure our children learn these lessons. It’s up to us, and we make mistakes.

Live. Learn. Love.
Move on.

/soapbox. What’s your take on it all? Sound off! I’ll even let you use my soapbox!

And! Don’t forget! TUESDAY LIVE SHOW! We’ll see the Veto Competition, and an eviction and the beginning of the Final Three HOH competition! See you here!

Big Brother, BB8, BBUSA, BB USA, houseguests, CBS, hamsters

Here’s some more vids:

Now they’re on lockdown outside.. the Statue took a bow, the Mad Hatter waved goodbye..

The houseguests had better have been paying attention! Can’t wait for tomorrow’s show! Keep checking back - as things pop up, I’ll be sure to post them for you!

(PS - thanks to all the hard working live feed video capturers - my vid record keeps crapping out. You guys are the bomb!)

More vids after the cut!

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According to what the hamster’s think and various sources around the net, there are indeed banners being flown over the BB house, causing the “immediate lockdown”. These are different in that they rush everyone inside, instead of giving them five minutes or so to comply. They say things like yesterdays “I need to see everyone up and moving, immediately.” and they send them inside into lockdown.

Everyone’s been dying to know what the banners say - and Reality BBQ says they’re in the know. Here’s what was just posted after the last inside lockdown:

“Banner Alert!
7/31 2:10 BB time
“Trust Nick. Dump Kail. Amber Lies.”
I’ll drive by later to check if there are any props out.
Take Care.” - Anon

Oooooh would that they had SEEN that one - especially as Kail is not the only one lying…

There was also another banner reported yesterday:

“I work on the CBS Radford lot where the BB house is.
Thought you would like to know a banner plane just flew over. It is Monday, 7/30 at 2:30pm BB time. It said “We see the D.R. Trust Nick. Eric Lies.” I know BB has 2 prod. asst. stationed on the roof of our parking structure and 1 at the small airport.” - Anon

Glad they missed that one. I like Eric! Though I do find it amusing that fans will spend the cash for banner planes that will most likely never be seen.

Big Brother, BB8, BBUSA, BB USA, houseguests, banners, plane, CBS, hamsters

[I posted this last week at Watching Survivor, and while we’re waiting for the live eviction show tonight, why not do some good?]

It’s been seen time and time again that once the game is over, once the lying, backstabbing, conniving, strategy, winning is over - Reality TV stars stick together - even if they’re from different shows. Now is no different.

Big Brother star - Howie Gordon and his girlfriend Sonia recently received the devastating news that their 4-year-old goddaughter, Rabekah, was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Here’s a bit of what they have to say about her:

This past week Howie and I received devastating news. My God-daughter Rabekah (”Bekah”) was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. The specific type of tumor is a Pontine Brain Stem Glioma. They were told it is inoperable.

Rabekah’s parents, Shannon and Glenn, are now in search of the best treatment option. This has become very expensive as they are no longer working and a lot of travel is involved. Thus we have set up an account entitled the “Rabekah Fund” to help cover Rabekah’s medical treatment and expenses.

Rabekah is a beautiful 4-year old little girl. She was born April 16th, 2003. Aunt Sonia was so very lucky to be right in the birthing room as Rabekah was welcomed into this world. She has one older sister, a younger sister and mommy has a baby on the way. Rabekah can’t wait to be a big sister for the second time!

Rabekah has a light about her that emanates for everyone to see, and a wonderful imagination. She likes dressing up like a Disney princess, wearing crowns and jewelry. She loves to sing and dance. Every time Aunt Sonia comes over, the first thing Rabekah does is turn on her music and show off her new dance routine. Bekah’s favorite color is purple and she loves, loves, loves kittens! She especially adores Hello Kitty and the Barbie princess Serafina Kitty.

When Howie first met her last year, he and Rabekah hit if off. They played all night and watched the movie “Free Willy.” They sat on the floor and watched the entire movie from start to finish singing and laughing all the way through. Then the following week after Howie had long since returned to his home in California, Rabekah was helping set the dinner table and set one extra spot. When Rabekah’s mom asked who the spot was for, Rabekah exclaimed, “It’s for Howie!!” Shannon called me right away to tell me that story which I find so sweet. Then a few months later Rabekah found out it was Howie’s birthday and she took her own personal movie of Free Willy from her collection and gave it to Howie for his present!!

Many Reality Stars are banding together to help raise money for Rabeka and her parents to help offset the medical costs of the treatment. They’ve recently moved all the bidding over to Ebay - and there are some fantastic swag and other things to be had - including:

Phone calls from Holly King and Marvin Latimer from BB5, Rachel Plencner from BB6 and Alison Irwin, BBAS, photographs and photochops, autographed and much, much more! Check it out today!

There’s a new article promoting Big Brother 8 at the Variety website, and it’s very promising for fans of the show. Check out these little tidbits:

“This year, there will be something die-hard fans will love,” [executive producer Alison] Grodner hints. “It will give them the opportunity to participate even more than they have in the past.”

“It’s important to make sure you don’t betray the vision of the show,” [Ghen Maynard] says. “If you do too many tricks and stunts, you betray that.”

More interactive and true to the “vision of the show.” These are good things!

big brother 8, bb8 us, big brother news, alison grodner