Image Credits: Book Cereal
I started watching Orange is the New Black on Netflix a couple of months ago. Okay, I’ll admit it — this show was one of the main reasons why I ever signed up for Netflix to begin with. I was intrigued after hearing so much about it from everyone else. I knew it must be good. But more than that I wanted to see Madeline Brewer who plays the role of Tricia Miller. Maddie and I went to school together years ago in Pitman, NJ. I didn’t know her very well at the time, but I always knew she was talented. She was frequently cast in school plays and I remember seeing her perform in a talent show once. I was excited to see her in her first big role, and she definitely didn’t disappoint.
Image Credits: IMDB
I really loved the Netflix series and watched the whole first season within a week or two. I couldn’t get enough. However, the show raised many questions for me and there were a few things that I had trouble believing. Some of my biggest doubts were over Piper and Alex ending up in the same prison together, drugs and sex being so common in prison, an inmate dying of a drug overdose in prison, and a guard impregnating one of the inmates. I loved watching it all unfold on tv though. The drama is what made the show so intriguing. You have to keep watching because you have to see what’s going to happen next.
Image Credits: MsMagazine
After I finished watching the entire first season I knew I had to get a copy of the book that the show was based on. I had so many questions and I wanted to see how the book would address them and what “really happened”. I was surprised by how different the book turned out to be. I’m usually one of those kinds of people that loves the book and hates the movie (or in this case the show), but here I’m able to appreciate both the book and the show despite their major differences. Both are excellent in their own rights and worthy of praise.
To those of you who have yet to read the book (and don’t mind a few spoilers) I made a list of what I felt were the top 5 biggest differences between the Orange is the New Black movie and the book.
Image Credits: FanPop
1. Alex/Nora Never Went to Danbury With Piper On the show her name is Alex and she’s one of the main reasons why Piper is in jail. She is Piper’s ex-girlfriend and is doing time with Piper after being sentenced for drug smuggling. She is one of the main characters on the show and the show frequently focuses on her past and current relationship with Piper. It calls for a lot of drama and is good tv. However, in the book her name is Nora and she’s absent until the very end. She never goes to Danbury with Piper. When Piper is called into trial in Chicago to testify against another drug smuggler in the same case she is met with Nora. Nora has to testify as well and is doing time in a different facility. They talk very little. Piper is very angry at her and frequently expresses her desire and threats to drown her in a toilet. However, Piper also reflects on how she wants to forgive Nora and move on with her life.
Image Credits: After Ellen
2. Piper And Larry’s Relationship/Faithfulness Sure, Piper starts off being extremely faithful to Larry in the beginning of the Netflix series and he shows support by visiting her frequently, but as time goes on, Piper begins to question her sexuality and become less than faithful towards Larry. She has sex with Alex and is unsure of whether to stay with Larry until Larry finds out about her unfaithfulness and leaves her. This isn’t the case at all in the novel, probably due to the fact that Alex/Nora is not in the same facility as Piper and doesn’t make an appearance until the end. Piper doesn’t seem that interested in lesbian sex or any of her other inmates in the novel. She stays with Larry and Larry faithfully visits her even when she is on trial in Chicago. They ended up getting married as planned after Piper was released.
Image Credits: Tumblr
3. Pennstatucky Isn’t Really a Religious Nut In the beginning of the Netflix series Piper and Pennstatucy got along fine. I wouldn’t say they were best friends, but they were at least acquaintances. Somewhere around the middle of the first season Pennstatucky came out as a religious nut freak who tried to use her powers to heal the other inmates. When Piper started to go back to being a lesbian with Alex Pennstatucky was completely intolerant of it, telling a guard about her “outrageous” behavior which landed Piper a stint in SHU. Things definitely didn’t get much better between the two of them as the first season ended with Piper beating the hell out of her. However, in the novel Piper and Pennstatucky remain pretty good friends and little is said about Pennstatucky’s religious beliefs.
Image Credits: TVTropes.org
4. Nobody Dies Of A Drug Overdose Who can forget the dramatic episode 10 of season 1 of Orange is the New Black? Tricia Miller’s biggest problem is a heavy addiction to drugs. During her prison sentence she goes into withdrawal once, and later overdoses on drugs that were smuggled in by one of the guards leading to her untimely death. I was right to be skeptical of this. Tricia doesn’t really exist in the novel. There are some references to younger inmates which resemble similarities and a few mentions of weed and other drugs being snucked into the prison. However, drugs don’t seem to be as big of a problem as the show makes it seem and no one died from a drug overdose.
Image Credits: TVTome.com
5. Bennet Doesn’t Impregnant Anyone I always rooted for Bennet and Daya. They seemed like such a cute couple and you almost felt bad about their forbidden romance. When it was announced that Daya was pregnant with Bennet’s baby, everything wa really shaken up a bit. Not only was the relationship threatened, but so was Bennet’s job. How could the prison cover this up or live this one down?
Fortunately, in the book this never actually happened. Piper did mention that prison relationships between inmates and guards do occur and she even briefly talked about a guard who almost got caught having sex in a bathroom with an inmate (similar to how Pornstache got caught having sex with Daya in a closet). The guard that is supposed to resemble Bennet in the book flirts with Piper by calling her by her first name whereas everyone else in prison calls her by her last name, Kerman. Piper doesn’t respond to his flirting and they never have a romantic relationship. No other relationships between guards and inmates were documented.
If you’ve read the book and seen the show feel free to let me know what I missed and what your thoughts are!
Image Credits: Muppet Wikia
So tonight after Thanksgiving dinner I decided to climb in bed and flip through to see what was on tv. I came across Lady Gaga singing and decided to tune in. I’ve always been a fan of Lady Gaga, although I find her more recent work to be disappointing. I was intrigued when I saw it was actually part of a Muppet special. I’ve also always been a fan of the Muppets, but I wasn’t sure how well it would work with Lady Gaga. I thought it was a very unusual mashup. Turns out the special was quite a bit weirder than I imagined. Here are the Top 5 Weirdest Moments From Lady Gaga And The Muppets Holiday Spectacular.
1. Lady Gaga And Kermit Singing “Gypsy”. Okay, so everything about this was just odd. First Lady Gaga goes off talking about how lonely she gets on the road. Okay, that makes sense but then Kermit chimes in. Uhm. Really? You’re a frog. So then they start singing Lady Gaga’s new song together called “Gypsy”. It’s a pretty decent song, but it sounds weird hearing Kermit sing it.
Image Credits: MonstersChapel.com
2. Kermit Flirting With Lady Gaga – I wasn’t sure about this at first. I thought maybe my mind was just slightly warped and I was misinterpreting Kermit being a nice little muppet. But no, “Maybe sometime you can come over to my pond” was definitely Kermit’s way of flirting and the frog’s way of saying “Maybe you can come over to my place/room”. This was reinforced by an angry Miss Piggy screaming “Come over to my pond?!?” just before smacking Kermit…awkward.
3. Lady Gaga’s Condom Dress – By now no one should ever be surprised by Lady Gaga especially in regards to her clothing choices…but that was definitely a condom dress or at least a condom hat. Uhm. What happened to the Muppets being rated G? I’m pretty sure that outfit was all kinds of inappropriate for a children’s special. Luckily, a child’s mind is more innocent than my own so Gaga should be able to get away with this one pretty easily as a kid won’t notice anything odd…hopefully…
Image Credits: Zap 2 It
4. RuPaul Being RuPaul. Why was he (or was it a she?) even there? He didn’t add much at all…other than making a very weird Muppet special somehow even weirder.
5. At The End Of The Show When Pepe The King Prawn Rubs Lady Gaga’s Knee – I feel like they’re trying to subtly sexualize the Muppets and it’s weird because they’re well…muppets. But seriously, why he is rubbing her knee? He just randomly pops up and starts sneakily rubbing her knee. Uh okay. And when Lady Gaga mentions something about it to him he claims to be “fixing her makeup”. I don’t know about you but I always wear makeup on my knees…right.
Image Credits: Mirror.CO.UK
I didn’t hate the Lady Gaga And The Muppets Holiday Spectacular…I just thought it was incredibly weird. I always think of the Muppets as being something for kids and Lady Gaga is not so kid-friendly. This special too didn’t always seem that appropriate for kids. It was just very very odd.
What did you guys think of Lady Gaga And The Muppets Holiday Spectacular? Did anyone else think it was weird?
Image Credits: Avril Band Aids
Oh my gosh. First off let me say I am completely OBSESSED with Avril’s new single, “Let Me Go”. Today alone I must have listened to it about 100 times. Avril’s always been one of my all-time favorite musicians, but I must admit I was a bit disappointed with her first two singles off of her upcoming self-titled album. “Here to Never Growing Up” and “Rock N Roll” were both good, but neither one was great. The thing I always loved about Avril is how deep and personal some of her songs could be. I could always relate to them no matter what I was going through. I have been missing that from her new album…until now.
“Let Me Go” is so beautiful and deeply personal, far more than any of the other singles she’s released from her upcoming album thus far. I personally relate it to my relationship with my most recent ex whom I’ve had a really hard time letting go of. I feel like we had that “love that once hung on the wall” and that it “used to mean something but now it means nothing” and I’m really working to “break free from these memories” and “just let it go”. Damn, I just relate to it so much that it almost makes me cry.
One of my favorite parts of “Let Me Go” is how hopeful it is. It’s so sad, but there’s still that sense of hope especially at the end when Lavigne sings of a “brand new life down the road”. This makes me wonder if perhaps she is referring to her new marriage to Chad Kroeger. Perhaps she was singing about one of her ex’s Deryck Whibley or Adam Brody before and now she’s seeing how she got through the pain of those relationships and is better off with Chad. Just a thought.
Image Credits: Direct Lyrics
The video is equally as beautiful as the song. It’s a bit dark and depressing as it arguably should be, but Avril and Chad are both dressed very, well, classy. It’s the pure definition of beautiful tragedy. All of the paintings and the piano definitely adds to this feeling of tragic beauty.
The video makes it out that the song is more about losing a lover to time. Chad transforms back from himself to an older man. Perhaps in the video, Lavigne is showing herself as a widow struggling to cope with loss? But even when he’s gone, he’s still with her even if she cannot see him. Seeing the video in this way makes the whole element of beautiful tragedy play out like a funeral, which could also very well explain why everything is black in the video.
You can view the music video for Avril Lavigne’s “Let Me Go” below. What do you think of her new, more serious video and single?
Video Credits:AvrilLavigneVevo
Image Credits: SomeGossip.com
Congratulations to Halle Berry and her husband, Oliver Martinez on the birth of their son. This is the couple’s first child together. The name along with other details such as his time of birth and weight have yet to be released.
Berry married Martinez in a wedding ceremony held in France this past July. She has a five-year old daughter from a previous marriage to Gabriel Aubry.
I wish the best of luck to Berry, Martinez, and their new bundle of joy!
Image Credits: My Music Show
Chris Brown is no stranger to controversy and he’s never been known as being “shy”. By this point it’s hard to be surprised by anything he says. But when he recently revealed the age at which he lost his virginity to UK magazine, The Guardian I couldn’t help but be completely shocked.
The age? 8. Eight years old. Not a teenager,and not even what most would consider to be a pre-teen. And no, it was not rape or molestation. It was Chris Brown apparently being Chris Brown.
Brown stated that the girl he lost his virginity to was between the ages of 14-15. He defended his choice by telling the magazine:
It’s different in the country…by that point, we were already kind of like hot to trot, you know what I’m saying? Like, girls, we weren’t afraid to talk to them; I wasn’t afraid. So, at eight, being able to do it, it kind of preps you for the long run, so you can be a beast at it. You can be the best at it.
Ok, I don’t care how much porn he watched with his friends. He was 8. This is just disturbing. He was still a child. And yet I feel like a part of me shouldn’t be surprised at all. This is Chris Brown we’re talking about. He’s pretty much a professional douchebag, which apparently began at a very early age. I think this helps to explain so much about Brown and the way that he treats women like Rihanna. He doesn’t seem to have had much of a childhood at all. He just wanted to grow up and dominate women through sex. He himself even said in the interview “It preps you for the long run, so you can be a beast at it.” I hate the way he says that. Like it’s a game for him that he always has to win. It’s not about love at all, it’s about dominance.
Image Credits: Rolling Out
Dominance is something that Brown frequently and very negatively attempts to show in his relationships. He has been arrested numerous times for beating women, the most well-known case being his beat-down of Rihanna in 2009.
What are your thoughts on this? Are you surprised? Disgusted? Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.
Image Credits: Necole Bitchie
Engagement season is in full swing! Just in case you were worried that the trend might be dying out. Celebrities seem to be determined to keep the trend going strong getting engaged quicker than ever before. The latest culprits? Glee’s Naya Rivera and her boyfriend of six months, Big Sean!
Image Credits: USA Today
Various sources have confirmed the engagement of Naya Rivera and Big Sean after Rivera was spotted showing off a gorgeous engagement ring. Her ring was estimated to be a platinum and diamond Micro Pave Ring of about 5-6 diamond carats and is estimated to be worth anywhere from $50,000 to up to $125,000.
Image Credits: USA Today
Congratulations to this lovely couple! I wish them the best of luck! What are your thoughts on Naya Rivera and Big Sean’s Engagement? Do you like the ring he bought for her?
Image Credits: Sound On Soundhea
Hey guys for this week’s Music Monday I decided to feature Ed Sheeran. I have heard so much about him over the past year but never actually heard his music before. I assumed he was an indie rocker and I always thought he seemed very sweet when I saw him on tv and in magazines. I also like hearing that he’s British. 😉
First I did a quick listen to his album, “+” on Spotify. I loved every single song. I was a bit surprised by his sound. He’s very mello. He reminds me a little bit of Jack Johnson. It’s nice though. One of the first songs that really stood out to me (and was recommended by some friends) was “The A Team”. This was the very first Ed Sheeran song I ever listened to. I was blown away by the lyrics as well. It came to me like a beautiful form of poetry, yet it was sad. A beautifully tragic poem. The imagery Sheeran uses here is so strong and beautiful. It seems to chronicle the life of a struggling young woman who just could never catch a break in life. As sad as this song is it still seems a bit hopeful especially at the end where it seems like the young woman is still holding out trying to make things better for herself.
Video Credits: Ed Sheeran’s YouTube page
Another Ed Sheeran song that I really loved was “Give Me Love”. This is another tragically poetic song. This song is very difficult to listen to without at least feeling the strongest urge to start bawling your eyes out. Sheeran sings with a sense of pain and utter heartbreak in his voice. If you’re going through a tough break out at the moment, maybe you should avoid this song. You’ll definitely relate to the pain Sheeran shares, but it will make you feel worst. Great job on Sheeran’s half for capturing that strong sense of emotion. He even remembered to make the analogy of blood turning to alcohol…He really did think of it all.
Video Credits: Ed Sheeran’s YouTube page
I had to give “Lego House” a listening to. It has the word “Lego” in it — that right there told me this song was probably going to be extremely epic. I also thought it would be a little more upbeat than “Give Me Love” and “The A-Team” were. I wasn’t disappointed. With lyrics like “I’m going to pick up the pieces and build a lego house. If things go wrong we can knock it down”, this song was full of hope. This song sounds like a sweet tribute to Sheeran’s love. It sounds like he’s singing to her, that he’ll make her a lego house and that everything will be okay. My one criticism for Sheeran here though is the music video for “Lego House”. I thought it was extremely boring and lame. Yeah, Sheeran plays around a bit with Legos, but c’mon man, this song is LEGO HOUSE. I was expecting the video to be so much more fun and playful. Like I thought it should feature nothing but legos…
Video Credits: Ed Sheeran’s YouTube page
Overall though I really loved Ed Sheeran. I definitely want to hear more of his music and pick up a copy of his album. I think he’s a real true ARTIST in multiple ways and that’s rare to see in musicians these days. He’s bursting with talent an you can tell he really puts his all into his music. My only regret is that it took me this long to discover him…
Image Credits: Huffington Post
A rep for Big Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco recently confirmed that the actress is engaged to her tennis player boyfriend, Ryan Sweeting.
The news of the engagement came as a bit of a shock as the couple have only been dating for three months. Cuoco seemed to have started dating Sweeting immediately after calling it quits with boyfriend Henry Cavill. Cavill and Cuoco dated for just a couple of weeks before calling it quits. Cavill has yet to comment on Cuoco’s engagement, but photos that were snapped of him while on the set of his new movie, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. suggest that he is in complete shock by the news.
Image Credits: E! Online
Sources have been saying that even though the couple have not been dating for long, Cuoco knows that Cavill is “the one”. The couple do seem very happy together. They made their first public debut as a couple at the Emmy’s last Sunday.
Image Credits: E! Online
I am happy for the couple, but at the same time skeptical. Cuoco has proven that she moves on very fast. I wonder how much of this engagement has to do with the $65,000 2.5 carat diamond ring on her finger. It’s gorgeous and she’s definitely not shy about showing it off! Also, I’m a little surprised there are no pregnancy rumors as that is usually the first thing people think of when engagements happen this quickly…
Image Credits: Huffington Post
Image Credits: MTV Style
Miley Cyrus released her latest music video for “Wreaking Ball” yesterday and in less than 13 hours it has already broken the record previously held by One Direction’s video “Best Song Ever” for the most viewed Music video!
Coming from Cyrus this shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Cyrus is known for her controversial performances and music videos and while “Wreaking Ball” is mild in comparison to her scandalous MTV Video Music Award (VMA) performance, it is still a bit controversial as it leaves little to imagination.
Image Credits: JustJaredJr
The music video opens up with a close up of Cyrus. She appears a bit overly emotional but honestly all I can concentrate on is how white her teeth are and how big her eyes are. This scene is repeated numerous times throughout the video. Cyrus then grabs hold of a sledge hammer. I’m never too sure what the deal with the sledge hammer is (perhaps is Cyrus’s way of wrecking havoc?) but Cyrus seems to find it incredibly sexy. She literally makes out with it numerous times with her infamous tongue in the video. Uh okay, Miley. I guess a sledge hammer can be sexy?
Image Credits: JustJared
Throughout the video Cyrus wears just a plain white wife beater and briefs. Some have been mocking her wardrobe choice, questioning if perhaps this isn’t her music video after all, but rather a commercial for or Fruit of the Loom.
As walls begin to break, Cyrus temporarily ditches her sledge hammer to ride upon a giant wrecking ball. She manages to sexualize that, too. At one point Cyrus decides she’s just not feeling the whole bare essentials thing, so she bares it all. Yep. Miley Cyrus is but naked on a wreaking ball, practically having sex with it at this point. Only Miley…
Image Credits: Billboard
Miley takes frequent breaks from her wreaking ball to go back to her beloved sledge hammer, once again licking it and cradiling it against her body as she lays in a pit of demolished walls. This video is just getting a little too weird for my tastes.
There are two things in the video (other than the obvious sledge hammer and wrecking ball thing) that really bother me. 1. When Cyrus is wearing clothes (which isn’t often) she’s wearing a LOT of white. White is thought of as being a color of purity, but this video is anything but pure. She has a white t, white undies, and even white nails. Is she trying to make some kind of a statement with that?
Image Credits: Idolator
and 2. The friggen combat boots. She’s wearing a pair of red leather boots that look like Doc Martins. Even when she is completely naked she has on those damn boots. I don’t know, but if I wanted to be naked and show off my nakedness I wouldn’t bother wearing shoes…or at least not boots. Heels are almost understandable. Boots? No, that makes no sense.
Image Credits: Celebrities Temple
I actually really do like the song “Wreaking Ball”. I like the lyrics and Cyrus has a really nice voice. But this video? Ick. It’s distasteful, immoral, and utterly disgusting. It’s a shame to see Cyrus waste all of her talent like this. The video just ruins it all for me.
You can watch the music video for Miley Cyrus’s “Wreaking Ball” below. What do you think of it? Did Cyrus once again go too far?
Video Credits: MileyCyrusVEVO’s YouTube
Image Credits: Tumblr
Travie Mccoy is back and he’s bringing Jason Mraz with him! The rapper and Gym Class Heroes front man just released his new single featuring Jason Mraz, “Rough Waters”.
The song centers around a relationship and how even through the “rough waters” the couple will make it through. Mraz begs his partner, “Heyo never let go of me” because he’ll “never let you drown”. Mccoy emphasizes this in the other verses where he pinky promises to never let his girl down and swears to be the “Leo Dicaprio” to her “Kate Winslet”.
Image Credits: Billboard
I think that the lyrics for “Rough Waters” are a bit clever and it was obvious that Mccoy really took his time to make everything fit the theme of “Rough waters” from the Titanic reference to messages in a bottle and sailing. Mccoy is known for his great collaborations and I think that Mraz was a great choice for this song. His chorus is very catchy and balances Mccoy’s rap verses perfectly. I can see this as being another big radio hit for Mccoy and Mraz. I can’t wait to see the video when it comes out!
Image Credits: The Guardian
You can listen to “Rough Waters” in the audio video below. What are your thoughts about the new song?
Video Credits: Ryan Seacrest
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