Are Tattoos Really So Tacky?

Hey World,
Just wanted to bring attention to a celebitchy blogpost about Victoria Beckham and Katie Holmes. Celebitchy was responding to a star magazine report as to why Victoria and Katie haven't been hanging out as much as before. Allegedly it is because Victoria had encouraged to get Katie a tattoo, but Katie refused, saying that tattoos are "tacky." Celebitchy criticized Katie for this by bashing her fashion sense, but I can see where she is coming from. I think that tattoos can look "trashy," especially when people: 1. have a lot of them all over their bodies and 2. are old people. And oh yeah, I have more of a thing against girls who wear tattoos. I can't stand seeing stars like Keyshia Cole, Amy Winehouse, or Eve wearing nice dresses but they're tatted up all over. In this way, the tattoos are distracting and gross. I don't mind if the tattoos are unique ones and are small and discreet, like Victoria Beckham's, but otherwise, I'm usually not a tattoo person. I just think that if I got a tattoo, I would end up regretting it later because I am fickle. I don't want to be 80 and have tattoos from when I was 25. And don't even get me started on if you work in a conservative, workplace environment or are looking for a job. I don't care what anyone says. When I see someone with a tattoo, I look at them differently. I mean, why would you want to mess up your skin on purpose? Some people have the nicest, clearest skin, yet they want to mark it up with tattoos. If Katie really said that, then I co-sign with her.

Movie Review: La Vie En Rose

Hey World,
I just saw La Vie en Rose over the weekend through netflix.com, and it was pretty good. I wanted to see the film for a few reasons. For one thing, I have always been interested in French films and French culture in general, so it was a must-see. Secondly, I have always wanted to know more about Edith Piaf's life. Up until now, I had not known much about Piaf except that she was a very famous French singer. Like whenever people think of all-time popular French singers, Piaf is usually number one. Also, I had first seen the promotions for the film while staying in London last spring, and I couldn't wait to see it once I returned to the States.
The movie basically is a typical biopic of a highs and lows of a singing legend, as portrayed by the wonderful Marion Cotillard as Piaf. The movie arguably not be as interesting if I wasn't as interested in Piaf's life as I already am, but I have learned a few interesting tidbits on Piaf, like:

1. She was not originally French, but of Italian-Algerian descent. That really shocked me because the French have adopted her so much as an icon that I had always assumed that she had a total Gallic heritage.
2. For a time, she was raised by the prostitutes from her grandmother's whorehouse. This was also shocking for me-how hard a life Piaf had lived.
3. Edith Piaf was not her real name. Piaf is a French colloquialism or slang word for "sparrow."

Those were some of the more jarring things that I had learned from the film. It had just amazed me that someone who was so talented had such heartache through her short life. What also amazed me was how Cotillard was able to play a young Piaf and Piaf when she became ill with the arthritis and the liver cancer. I mean, you could also attribute it to the make-up (The film's make-up artists have just won an Oscar for Best Makeup, which is well deserved), which was well done because Cotillard did not look like a young person trying to look sick and old. The make-up was believable. Let us also not forget Cotillard's Oscar-winning performance of the different phases of Piaf's life.

Anywho, I could go on and on, but La Vie En Rose is definitely a must-see.

Was Aretha Franklin Overreacting?

Hi World,
Even though the Grammy Awards ceremony was a week ago (boy, time really flies!) I wanted to comment on something. It was interesting how Aretha Franklin attacked Beyonce for her calling Tina Turner a "queen." On one hand, I can see how Aretha, the Queen of Soul, would be upset. She has worked very hard to get where she is today in the music business. She has been known longer than Tina Turner has, and look what happens. Aretha is lumped together with some other singers, and Tina Turner is the queen. On the other hand, maybe Ms. Franklin should chill out. I mean, when u look at Beyonce's package, it's obvious that Tina Turner is an influence. Aretha should have taken it as Tina Turner being a queen to Beyonce, and not a queen to everyone. It was a mistake for Aretha to complain to the press about it because it shows that she is insecure. I mean, with no disrespect to the Queen of Soul, but you may have the voice, but Tina Turner has the body, and looks often trump true talent, especially in the entertainment industry. Don't worry Aretha, Beyonce calling someone else the queen over u isn't going to make you NOT the queen anymore. It should, though, make you think about how others see you. Again, with no disrespect, but you need to lose some weight. I mean, A LOT of weight. It's getting to the point where it is not only unhealthy, but people have been making cruel jokes about it. You may not be young, but you are still alive and an amazing singer. This whole Beyonce thing should have been your wake up call to change up ure image. Im juat saying. U don't have to listen to me or anyone else. What do I know, I'm just a blogger, right?

What kind of American English do u Speak?

Hello Cyberspace:

Check out the link for this interesting quiz. Here are my results:


50% General American English

35% Yankee

10% Dixie

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofamericanenglishdoyouspeakquiz

Too Good to be True

I knew that something funny was going on after I had downloaded the Qtrax software. When I had first heard about Qtrax, the music file sharing software that was supposed to provide free music to its subscribers, I had jumped for joy, at least inwardly. The downloads were supposed to be paid for by advertisers, so no worries there, right? WRONG! Dead WRONG!! I thought that there may have been something awry with my computer because I was unable to start downloading, but alas, I have just found an article from SKY News http://news.sky.com/skynews/xml/article/tech/0,,91221-12508,00.html that basically says that the record companies deny ever giving Qtrax permission to distribute its music. I knew that these companies would NEVER, EVER give out their stuff so easily, but when I had first heard about Qtrax on the news, I figured it was a go. But of course, you should never take what you hear, see, or read in the media at face value, but why do I keep making the same mistake? Now, qtrax is on hold. It's as if music downloaders have tasted the fruit of Eden like Eve, and the record companies are like God, telling them that they are banished, or something like that, lol! Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

10 Most Twisted Animated TV Shows

There have been a lot of great TV cartoon series over the decades, but only a few deserve the moniker of “twisted.” Here are our choices for the ten most twisted cartoons on American TV.

read more | digg story

John McCain Campaign Ad

Hello World,
I was checking out youtube.com's channels for the presidential candidates, and I stumbled upon this web campaign ad from John McCain's channel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9w7OKBAT0Fk

The ad's tag line is "John McCain: The Democrats' Worst Nightmare." It is a funny tag line because it implies that McCain is such an imposing adversary that he is making the Democrats shake in their boots. The ad is a simple 38-second montage of video clips of journalists, strategists, and the like uttering McCain's name. Of course you have the usual Republican commentators such as Larry Elder praising McCain's attributes. It is funny how a such a short ad can say so much, or perhaps so little.

Obama Wins the Hearts of South Carolinians

Hey World,
Have you heard? Barack Obama has just won the South Carolina primary, with no small help from the likes of celebs such as Usher and Kerry Washinton. Check out the bossip.com link for pictures:
http://www.bossip.com/11231/sc-stand-up/

It's interesting that The Associated Press http://news.aol.com/elections/story/_a/obama-wins-big-in-south-carolina/20080126073309990001 made a point to mention that black women especially came out in support for Obama. The journalists could have just been stating the facts, but nonetheless, it's notable. Perhaps Obama strikes a chord with Black women, I don't know. Hopefully, none of them are vying for his affection. You'd better watch out, Michelle (just kidding!).

What I thought unworthy to note was the fact that John Edwards was born in South Carolina. I mean, that's a nice fun fact, but it seems like the media is attempting to imply that Edwards should win brownie points just because he is from there. Like it's ironic that Edwards didn't take South Carolina because he was born there when he has had more to do with North Carolina than anything else, since he was a Senator from there for a number of years. Man, the news media can be so predictable.

Well, good job Obama. Hillary Clinton must be annoyed, but we can't always get what we want.

Heath Ledger

Words can't express how terrible that I feel about the whole Heath Ledger situation. It is trite and cliche to say that he was so young and promising and blah, blah, blah, because even though that is all true, his life was a human life, and that made him special enough, whether he was a Hollywood star or not.

No disrespect to the dead, but a part of me wonders if I would care as much if Heath was just a regular person who died suddenly. I fear that while, yes, I would be saddened, but not as much because the person is not a celebrity or another famous person, and that makes me question myself as a person. It makes me question who I consider to be important to worry and cry about, and how celebrities make you feel like you know them personally when you don't and most likely never will.

Another issue in this Heath Ledger tragedy is the issue of whether or not it was accidental or suicide. I personally don't want to think it is suicide because he had too much to live for. He had a successful career and a daughter. At the same token, I don't want to think that it was a drug overdose either, but if I could choose, I'd choose the latter. When u think about it, though, there is a slight bias. I think that if Heath was not successful, people would be more inclined to think it to be suicide because that is the "sexier" story. In news, as they say, if it bleeds, it leads.

Well, I guess we will know more when the full autopsy report comes out, but the circumstances of the whole thing are bizarre. It's like an episode of CSI or something. A naked, dead body. The odd supporting characters such as the masseuse who found Heath and, of all people, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen! That is a WTF moment if I have ever heard of one.

I am exhausted from the whole thing, at least for right now. Whenever some other thought comes to mind, I will post it.

One Smart Model

Hello World,
Check out this aol/bloggingstocks.com article a/b supermodel Gisele Bundchen. She refuses to be paid in U.S. dollars because the dollar is lower in value than the euro. What a smart cookie (Wow, even I can't believe I used a cookie to describe a model!). I mean, one of her "people" could have advised her of this, but I don't think so. I will give her some credit.

http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/11/05/giselle-bundchen-still-with-patriots-tom-brady-dumps-the/?ncid=NWS00010000000001

Tacky, Tasteless Halloween Costumes (SMFH!)

Hey World,
Check out this article from mediatakeout.com. This definitely deserves a SMH. It shows some really tacky, tasteless Halloween costumes. The only one I really like is the Amy Winehouse one. Someone should shoot the guys wearing the WTC costume. They must not be from New York City, because you know if they were, they would have had their asses kicked. The Virginia Tech guy should also get his ass whupped for that costume. He must not be living in Virginia. Besides the two obvious troll costumes, I am also angry at the boy dressed as a suicide bomber/terrorist. I am not as disturbed with the dynomite attached to his body as much as the headdress he is wearing. I guess he wanted to make it obvious what kind of people he thinks are suicide bombers. SMH! I'm telling you, people learn racism when they are young and when they are at home. It just makes me sad that the boy's parents let him go out dressed as that like it's a joke. I mean, maybe his parents didn't know, but I doubt it.

http://mediatakeout.com/15149/happy_halloween_check_out_some_of_these_tastleless_costumes.html

What I Miss a/b London

Hello All,
As some of the NFL's teams set off to London, I will share with you what I miss about the city. For me, it has been about five months. Here are some key places:

1. Marks and Spencer: I REALLY miss this department store! There, you can shop for clothing and FOOD. Think Target, but more sophisticated (I know, how could anything be more sophisticated than Target?!) . And by food, I don't just mean frozen food and cereal. You can also shop for fruits, vegetables, meats, and other perishables. Oh yeah, I also miss the tax-free shopping (All of London's stores are tax-free). For example, if you want to get your favorite scent of lotion at Marks, you can buy the lotion, the shower gel, and the body spritzer for 3 pounds and not 3 pounds plus tax.

2. Tesco's: Lily Allen mentions this supermarket chain in her song "LDN." It has all the basic essentials for a supermarket if you are on the run and you don't want to buy a whole load of things. It puts the "convenience" in convenience store.

3. Topshop: Three words- America NEEDS Topshop. This department (sort of like H&M or Forever 21, but BETTER!) store sells great clothes, but what really drew my attention to it is was the jewellery. Ohh, wonderful! The jewellery is organized by brand when you come in to the store. For example, if you have 2 items by designer A and one by designer B, then you would go to the A designer's cashier, and then the B designer's cashier. It can be really annoying though, if you want to buy from a bunch of different companies because then you would have to go to each cashier to pay for it, but at least everything is organized.

4. Nando's: This is a Portuguese restaurant chain that specializes in rotisserie-style chicken. It is an interesting restaurant because you have the option to order the food and pay for it before eating it, which helps with the hassle of dealing with paying for food after you eat it. The chicken is eaten with different flavors of sauce from mild to very spicy, and you can have anything from French Fries (chips) to rice as a side. Nando's is not very expensive, and they encourage people to eat with their hands.

5. Boots: Boots is a phamaceutical chain in a similar vein as CVS or Walgreens. As with any British store, everything is super-organized, and they make their own cosmetics as well as their own medicines. Don't make the mistake, though, of thinking that the store-brand isn't good quality because you would be dead wrong! The quality of a Boots brand of cough medicine is just as good as another brand. Worth checking out especially if you have a cold like I did during my trip. Hell, it's hard NOT to go into a Boots since it seems to dominate the market of phamaceutical stores in Britain (There's also Superdrug, but it's not as prevalent.). I mean, it literally seems like there is a Boots in almost every area in London that you can think of.

Well, if you are heading out to London anytime soon, be sure to check out these key places., and when you're there, tell them I said hi (wink!). Sorry, I had to add a corny joke to end this post (lol!).

SMH (Shaking My Head) 10/26/07

Hello World! I am back after a long hiatus, and I am fiercer than ever. First off, an article care of AOL's Black Voices message boards:


Miami Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder has reportedly admitted he didn't know people spoke English in London.

Miami Dolphin Channing Crowder
The NFL player might want to check a map before he gets on board a plane for Sunday's prestige game against the New York Giants at Wembley Stadium.
Crowder, from Atlanta, may be praised on the field, but confessed geography was not his strong point.
He admitted he didn't know until Tuesday where London was - or that they spoke English.
"I couldn't find London on a map if they didn't have the names of the countries," he said.
"I swear to God. I don't know what nothing is. I know Italy looks like a boot. I learned that.
"I know [Washington Redskins linebacker] London Fletcher. We did a football camp together. So I know him.
"That's the closest thing I know to London. He's black, so I'm sure he's not from London. I'm sure that's a coincidental name."
The Miami Dolphins will play New York Giants at Wembley this Sunday in the first NFL regular-season game to be played outside the USA.


http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1290248,00.html?f=rss


As someone said, I am sorry that it had to be a brother (double SMH!)! And even worse, he is from the South. Now while I know that many people from the South are smart, Crowder certainly isn't helping change THAT stereotype! He not only makes Blacks and Southerners look bad but also Americans in general. British people as well as other Europeans are going to read this and think,"See, I KNEW that Americans were this dumb!" And I think that SKY news talked to this man because they had a feeling he was going to say something ignant like this. What a dummy.

Mark Your Calendars for Sept. 18

Hello World,
Fab news! Josie and the Pussycats is finally coming to DVD! I am so excited!!! Check out the link:

http://tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=7349


Later dayz

Bad News

Bad News: Veronica Mars is Cancelled.
Good News: The CW is turning the book series "Gossip Girl" into a series.

http://news.aol.com/entertainment/tv/articles/_a/the-cw-cancels-cult-hit-veronica-mars/20070517121309990001?ecid=RSS0001

Is this true?

Is Gayle King really adopting a South African child? Check this out:

http://mediatakeout.com/5921/exclusive_gayle_king_to_adopt_south_african_child.html

If this is true, then I'm very happy for Gayle. I wonder if she'll talk a/b this on her show on XM?

OJ Simpson refused service.

OJ's lawyer is a donkey. OJ wasn't refused service because of race but because he's a murderer, plain and simple. Stuff like that should happen to OJ more, but maybe it doesn't happen because people are afraid of ending up like Nicole and Ron (seriously!). Good for the restaurant owner. He has courage, but now I'd walk with some security or a gun if I were him.



read more | digg story

Patrick Moore complains women ruining BBC

What the hell is up with this guy? What a mysoginist [sic]! If he hates women so much, why doesn't he just become gay? But you know, I don't even think the queens would put up with that crap!



read more | digg story

Are They For Real?: How Do Fictional Soaps Deal With Real-Life Situations

How have soaps dealt with certain issues such as rape, abortion, AIDS, cancer, and eating disorders? Do they show realistic portrayals, or do they tend to sweep these issues under the rug?



Every once in awhile, soap operas have a storyline where a character has been raped. It is always difficult for soap opera writers and directors to portray a rape because they cannot graphically show a woman being raped due to TV censorship. In the past, rape was not as graphic as it is today. In the late 1970s on General Hospital, the character of Luke Spencer raped the woman he loves, Laura, on the dance floor of a club. The way, though, that the rape was portrayed was as if it was a seduction rather than a rape. Luke is dancing with Laura, and he slowly drags Laura to the floor and rapes her, but the camera does not show that part. What’s interesting about after the rape is that Luke and Laura’s love not only survived, they married, had children, and became the most famous soap couple of all time. An interesting anecdote to this is the actor who plays Luke, Anthony Geary, has said that he would be bothered when he would go to fan club events, female fans of Luke would cry,” Rape me! Rape me, Luke.”



Another example of how rape in soaps was portrayed in the past was in the soap opera Guiding Light in the early 1980s. The character of Holly was raped by her husband, Roger. At least in this case, as opposed to the Luke and Laura case, Holly is shown struggling on the bed with her husband. What was interesting about this rape was that it was the first time on television viewers could see that rape is rape, even within a marriage.



In later years, the subject of rape in soap operas still remains a delicate issue, but the difference between now as opposed to the past is that: 1. The rapes are a little bit, but not much, more violent and graphic and 2) The soap opera shows the repercussions of the rape. This means that viewers don’t just see the rape and it is forgotten. There is the rape, and then comes the constant reminders of the rape spanning from months to even years. In 1998 on General Hospital, the character of Elizabeth Webber had been raped by an attacker, and viewers of the show saw how, after the rape, Elizabeth had been affected mentally and emotionally. Her rape led her to fall in love with Lucky Spencer, who is not only Luke and Laura’s son (who was not the product of Luke’s raping of Laura), but he also happened to find Elizabeth after she was raped. Elizabeth’s rape lead to Lucky eventually finding out that his father had raped his mother twenty years before, and after many years, viewers were not only subject to Laura’s anger at Luke over being raped but also Lucky’s anger at Luke for raping his mother. In other words, General Hospital had finally shown the repercussions of the rape, even though it was long overdue.



Like rape, another serious issue carefully dealt with in soaps from time to time is abortion. Because of censorship rules, soap operas cannot show the graphic details of an abortion. Because of this, and the political issue of pro-life versus pro-choice, is why abortion is an issue rarely discussed on soaps. Whenever a soap character has an abortion, the show is quick to move on with the storyline and forget that it ever happened. For example, both General Hospital and Days of Our Lives had young, female characters that had abortions, were anguished about it for awhile, and then moved on with life. This is great for the characters, but perhaps not so great for young girls watching these shows because they may think that having an abortion is not a big deal and there are few repercussions.



Medical conditions on soap operas like AIDS and cancer are discussed every once in awhile, but there seems to be more of a bias in soaps towards discussing cancer over AIDS. In the past, soap characters, particularly the female ones, have had leukemia, breast cancer, and lupus. In the 1990s, One Life to Live had made strides by featuring a character with a little-known disease such as lupus. But two other ABC shows, All My Children and General Hospital, are noteworthy for their portrayal of AIDS in soap operas. In the early 1990s, a character on All My Children learns she is HIV positive, and she is later a victim of an attack because of her HIV. General Hospital also featured the character of Robin Scorpio, a character whom long-time viewers had seen grow up from a child to a teenager, contract HIV from her boyfriend. Viewers later saw her boyfriend die from HIV-related complications, but the Robin character is not only still alive, she has become a doctor despite having to live with being HIV positive for the rest of her life. Robin is a very important General Hospital character for a few reasons: 1) She is the daughter of a popular couple, so viewers feel like they have known Robin all of their lives. 2) She is an example that people who contract HIV are not social deviants but normal people. Anyone can get it. 3) Having HIV does not equate a death sentence. 4) Robin is a woman, and statistically, women contract HIV and AIDS more than men.



Compared to life-threatening diseases, eating disorders are mentioned comparatively less often. All My Children’s Bianca, the same character who had come out of the closet, was a bulimic in her pre-teen years. On As the World Turns, pre-teen Faith is suffering with a bit of anorexia, a bit of bulimia, and body image issues in general. As with other heavy issues like rape and abortion, eating disorders can never be accurately portrayed, especially the vomiting that is involved with bulimia, which may be a reason why it is not shown very much on daytime soaps.

Even violence is a delicate issues on soap operas. The producers of ABC's One Life to Live scrapped a bunch of episodes about a student shooting up his high school in light of the Virginia Tech shootings. Usually in soaps, when violence such as shooting or stabbing is involved, there is either a killer on the loose or there is spy/mob activity going on. General Hospital is probably the best example of this because of the character of Sonny Corinthos, who is a mobster. Ever since Sonny came to town years ago, Port Charles, the fictional New York town where General Hospital is set up, has experienced non-stop shootings which are usually between Sonny and a rival mobster.


A tactic soaps often use is to implement violence in a situation where all or most of the soap's characters are involved, and this is usually done during a sweeps period to get ratings. The situation is usually very emotional and intense, more than usual for a soap opera. For example, during February sweeps, General Hospital had a hostage situation where the majority of Port Charles' citizens were being held hostage at a hotel. By the end of it, one person was shot (It happened to be HIV-positive Robin), a veteran character was dead from heart complications, and the hotel exploded due to a bomb. This is exciting and entertaining television but not all that realistic. Port Charles in particular has had so many fires, bombings, shootings, and virus scares that it makes one wonder why anyone would want to live there if it really existed.

Soaps Get Technical: How Daytime Dramas are Using New Media To Survive

Daytime soap operas represent a past time of television. In the past, people in general had more time on their hands to watch television. Now, with the Internet, cable TV, and other distractions, television networks are constantly looking for new ways to get and keep audiences. Daytime soaps are no exception, especially with low ratings to worry about. The soaps are using technology as a life preserve to save them from cancellation.


A good example of technology being used to seal the fate of a soap in danger of cancellation is Passions. A few months ago, NBC announced that it would be cancelling Passions, which was a shock but at the same time, it wasn’t. The cancellation news was a shock because Passions has earned a good amount of ratings, especially with teenaged girls and young women, but its ratings are always horrible in comparison to the other ten soap operas on TV. Of the ten, Passions is always rated the lowest, and Passions has been network television for eight years. In 2007, NBC says it is cancelling Passions because it wants to add another hour to the morning show Today, and also the network wants to cut back on its budget. As soon as NBC announced Passions’ cancellation, there was immediately speculation that SOAPNET would pick up the show. SOAPNET is a network owned by Disney which repeats soap operas such as General Hospital, The Young and The Restless, and Days of Our Lives (the other NBC soap) at night. It would have made sense to put Passions on SOAPNET, but SOAPNET did not want it. It seemed like there was no hope for Passions, but it was recently announced that DIRECTV would pick up the show. New episodes will run five days a week, and reruns will be shown on the weekend.
Passions will be the first soap opera that was saved in cancellation in this way. Producers of popular cancelled soaps of the past must be kicking themselves for not having the option to have been saved by satellite television. Even if DIRECTV did not catch Passions before it fell, the Internet could have saved it. Passions fans can already watch episodes of the soap on NBC’s website. If it wasn’t already going to DIRECTV, Passions could have made history by becoming the first soap opera that was on television but could now only be seen online. It’s not as if it would be the first time that a soap opera moved from one medium to another. Shows such as Guiding Light and As the World Turns are the only soaps on television today that originally started on radio, so why not with a show like Passions that is in danger of cancellation. With dwindling ratings, it is an option that soaps should definitely consider.



Although the majority of soap operas are not in as much relative danger of cancellation as Passions, let’s face it. Daytime soaps are considered by many in America to be archaic, boring, and lacking in creativity and innovation, so what better way to spruce up the viewing public’s image of soaps than to use it together with new media technologies. For example, two soap operas-As the World Turns and Guiding Light-are available for download on iTunes. What’s interesting about this is that the downloads are only audio and not video downloads, which hearkens back to the radio years of those two particular soaps. It is a positive thing because Proctor & Gamble-owned As the World Turns and Guiding Light have comparatively older viewers than the other two CBS soaps: The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, so iTunes is an alternative to get viewers, especially young, technologically savvy viewers, interested in the P&G soaps.



With the exception of the P&G soaps and Passions, the other daytime soaps don’t offer their shows on iTunes. So for a soap fan that misses their favorite show, SOAPNET is another alternative. As previously mentioned, SOAPNET’s allure is that you can watch your favorite soaps even at night if you miss them during the day. SOAPNET, as with anything in life, had good and bad points. The network is good if you, for example, do not feel like watching General Hospital at the time it is broadcast on your ABC-affiliate. SOAPNET is also useful if you forgot to program your VCR or TiVo. On the down side, SOAPNET does not show all of the soap operas. Another big downer is that SOAPNET is very biased towards ABC’s soap operas, which isn’t surprising since both SOAPNET and ABC are owned by Disney. It is only very recently that SOAPNET introduced The Young and The Restless and Days of Our Lives to the lineup; before, the lineup was all of ABC’s soaps.



Basically, if you are watching SOAPNET for the non-ABC shows, you will feel cheated and that there is nothing much for you to watch, but the network wants to show that it has a cornucopia of programming for a soap viewer. What is great about SOAPNET is that it has original programming such as I Want to Be a Soap Star, a reality show where aspiring actors and actresses compete to win a 13-week contract on a soap. The network also has Soapography, a series about the biographies of soap opera stars.



Of course, what about the person who doesn’t have iTunes or SOAPNET? Well, of course, there is always the good old-fashioned Internet. All three of the major networks have websites for their soap operas. The websites contain information on the soap characters, cast bios, story synopses, and more. These sites are also interactive so that fans can vote on polls and write on message boards.