DC FORUM: Just Been Busy Doing What I Love...

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

BY DC CUEVA 

■ linktr.ee/dc408dxtr

Hello, it's been some time since we last spoke to you here... and we hope that you and yours are fine, healthy and alright in your part of the world wherever you are reading this little blog entry. I am okay on my part -- nothing's wrong with me... but this blogger here wants to come on to let you in on what I have been working on -- something I've been counting a whole summer & early autumn for. And as this one returns from blog hibernation this October's weekend, I am also getting prepared for another installment of the one thing I have looked forward to most every year for almost two decades.

DCBLOG is something that I take great pride in during my evolution into becoming a well-rounded and now full-time content creator -- it's been thirteen years since the very first post here. But me transitioning into doing this gig on a self-employed basis was made possible in part by what's transpired in the Cueva household the past few years: me taking on the role of man of the house after we lost our patriarch back in 2022. Those in the house I call my casa still continues to feel the absence of my late dad as we reach what would have been his 75th birthday come next month. And it's me being the dad of our family that has been the reason for me taking a step back from the blogger's chair... though we do look forward to getting to resume offering more of these here with lots of posts already in draft mode.

However, that hasn't dampened my passion for doing what I love being able to do best: create content and putting forth my very best work whatever the platform may be. Take for example what I got to do over the winter and during the summer, all leading to an autumn tradition known as #DCVegas.

DC FORUM: A Little Note on This 11/7...

A Word from the Editor...

BY DC CUEVA 

■ linktr.ee/dc408dxtr

As I write this little note this late night on this first Hump Day of November, in a week from now I will not be in this chair behind either my desktop or my laptop... but instead, I will be in Las Vegas to turn the Big 4-1 as part of my annual sojourn to that happy place in the desert. At the start of this year, I had high hopes to get back to what I do best with regular posts returning on this little hobby known as DCBLOG... but there is a reason why it hasn't turned that way, just as it has been for the past two years.

It's early on November 7th, and without elaborating on it much it has been an emotional last day or so for so many in this country. The toll the events that led up to that night has no doubt challenged so many people's mental health... and those two words have become a bigger part of the national dialogue in the course of the past decade or so. And as we approach the second straight year of commemorating a birthday without having our family patriarch with us to celebrate this night with me (and in the case of this year, doing it on the road in Las Vegas), my family and I continue to feel dad's absence... and that has been a reason for the inactivity of this site since we lost him to cancer in July 2022.

Away from this cherished site I have taken tremendous pride in doing for over a decade (and the DC YouTube channel as well), I have put family and mental health first. And in the case of what this nation has just gone through, I took bold steps to keep my wellbeing upbeat when everything else was getting out of control outside my cocoon: for the first time in my dozen years being on the platform, I am taking a week-long break from the former Twitter platform. When on YouTube, Instagram and other social channels, I am being selective in curating my feed without any mentions of current events, and keeping the focus on my passions of pop culture, sports, entertainment and the culture surrounding the city I'll be stepping foot in four days from now.

As everyone else was watching coverage of those events, just as I did four years ago I looked to escapist content for my first November Tuesday's television viewing, being stuck in my room for most of the night. In this case of this year, my TV was tuned to both days of the ISU Short Track World Cup tour stop in Montreal, Canada thanks to having that precious subscription to Peacock, and the fandom I have watching Olympic sports (which of course was at its zenith during the Paris Games). My tablet had on the usual fare of sports and Vegas things, while continuing to buy all that music piecemeal for the Vegas playlist on my laptop just so I don't have to incur extra charges on next month's phone bill as I place all my songs on my many iPods. And as I post this note, I got on another sport in women's cricket.

Remember, if you are stressed out about anything -- whether it's life matters, events taking place in this complicated world or anything else, you got favorite things to do as a way to escape all of this, and to keep you mental state happy - even if all kinds of emotions were stirred elsewhere. If you're me, - just do what I get to do of just enjoying other forms of entertainment and enjoyment like I got to do when everyone else was awaiting what the fate of this country would be through the heart of this decade. I also got both DCBLOG and YouTube as avenues to bring my slogan that I used during that year from hell to full use -- so does all of those things both silly and amazing in the daily DC Instagram stories and posts.

By the way, The Escape That We All Deserve is just around 100 hours away from getting started... and that perhaps is one of the only good things that everyone on either side of that aisle can agree on. In any case, see you on Monday from the Desert -- and finally, we can have some fun at last.

- I AM DC

@DC408DXTR

The Look: Coachella

BY DC CUEVA 

■ linktr.ee/dc408dxtr

Whether it's buying songs piecemeal to create my playlists for every major trip, having a brother in law who's done DJ gigs for a long time, or experiencing a meet & greet with my favorite band two decades ago, music is something that is a vital part of my daily life -- even though I am someone who doesn't sing or play an instrument. But live music is a different story: only a small handful of times that I have ever been to a concert -- most recently, a free live show by a local cover band on Fremont Street in downtown on my most recent trip to Las Vegas last Halloween weekend.

Every other time that I've seen musicians perform live has been through television or YouTube, most especially when we had to go through that dark time in our world that is thankfully now in our rear view mirror. It took for that long pandemic pause for music fans everywhere around the world to really and truly understand how vital concerts and live music are to the industry, and it took for the biggest summer blockbuster the music world had ever seen to bring that magic of performing of all of us once again. The immense impact of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour continues to cast an immense afterglow a year after it took to stadiums across America, shattering records and bringing her to greater superstar status.

However, it is only part of a live music story that features thousands of gigs -- large and small, chart-toppers and up-and-comers, and stadium tours to club shows -- that crisscross the country and the world every year... most especially when the summer comes around. As the live music season gets underway once again, music fans have something to look forward to: major festivals from EDM events in Miami and Vegas to Lollapalooza in Chicago and Bonnaroo in Tennessee... not to mention major tours, stadium shows and lots more. But over time, one event has grown to becoming THE event in American music.

It may not be the largest one of its kind... nor does it take place during the actual summer months themselves. But like golf at Augusta signals the arrival of springtime in the sports world, it's the annual gathering of hundreds of thousands of music fans, fanatics and those lucky to get those precious tickets to an event at a polo ground 120 miles from the country's second largest metropolis that has grown from humble beginnings to become the single most highly anticipated annual live event in American music. That is the case with Coachella -- now twenty-five years young.

DC FORUM: Capping Off A Light 2023...

A Word from The Editor

BY DC CUEVA 

■ linktr.ee/dc408dxtr

Back at this time last year, I was about to embark on the tenth anniversary year of this site with some ambitious plans for 2023. However on this last weekend of the year, some different plans were waiting for me... most especially in the house that I've called home almost as long as I've been alive.

It has been eighteen months since the seminal and earth-shattering moment that changed all of us in the Cueva household and in our close-knit inner circle, and me taking on the permanent role of man of the house has caused me to take a detour from this site... a much different 2023 than I had expected. We continue to feel the absence of my late dad every day since that summer's Saturday of a year ago when he passed away, and it has affected me more than I thought even though I'm one who always stays even-keeled in this imperfect world of ours.

Going into 2023, I had big plans for this site to mark a full decade since I started up this DCBLOG site this year, but the new family reality we are having caused me to take a step back when it comes to covering and following my favorite blog beat. For that reason, for the first time in a while I've been watching The Challenge as just a fan and interested viewer... and while this season of Battle for a New Champion is quite a bit different than the others that came before it in this generation of the show, it is always a nice and refreshed change of sorts.

This is the 31st and final blog post of 2023... but this is definitely in no way the last one ever on here. I still have some big plans for covering this MTV world on this site: changes in the platform formerly known as Twitter and my new situation has forced me to take on a new format for weekly episode coverage, and we hope to put that into play on a regular basis in the new year. Other than that, things won't change that much with those obligatory and must-do posts like previewing seasons, introducing rookies and storytelling... and it's the ladder that I plan to put greater focus in for our next generation.

DCBLOG has always been about covering my biggest passions, and going Inside MTV Reality has always been one component of that vision. With the coming Olympic year, I plan to put more focus into shining light onto the sports world... and that Summer of Sports series will be returning with plenty of content related to the Paris Games and other facets of that wide world. I also have a slew of other posts covering my two other big passions of music and Vegas... and I have even become fascinated of late with another TV show that's been around the lifetimes of all of us and there may be a post on it too.

The past several years have seen me evolve quite a bit as a well-round content creator... and outside of this Blogger page has been where I have put my best foot forward in that evolution, one that has now seen me devote my full-time energies to being as such. And there is no better example of that growth than with my YouTube channel... and to me, there is no better place to put all of that work together than in Las Vegas. Of late, creating the #DCVegas XII vlog series has been my primary focus... and the same amount of time and effort I gave to this site has been devoted to creating videos that have garnered me more traffic than my past efforts, and I am certainly proud of all that.

This year of 2023 was one where all of us can finally and safely say that things are back to normal... even if this one still has to have his mask on whenever he goes out for errands. For me, this year has been one where I am now taking on greater responsibilities of being both a creator and being the family man, all while still being that one who loves to live his best life -- most especially after turning the Big 4-O. What does 2024 have in store? We'll see... and Happy New Year to you.

- I AM DC

@DC408DXTR

DC FORUM: Here's to The Next Ten Years...

A Word from the Editor

BY DC CUEVA 

■ linktr.ee/dc408dxtr

It might be a little bit strange, but it has been a while since we got to speak to you on here. But more than a week ago marked something of a milestone around here: last weekend while I marked Mother's Day with the most important person in my life of my mom -- and having my sister, bro in law, their kids and two puppies at my house to mark this day with her, it also marked the ten-year anniversary of DCBLOG. But that milestone was marked a little bit low-key due to something else that has taken place off of this favorite hobby of mine.

The situation my family has been in for over a year now -- us having to go through the process of being one person short in our house -- has really given me a new appreciation of how precious life is, and of how my responsibilities as the family man have grown in the wake of the passing last summer of the most important man in our lives of my late dad. That is the reason for why I have decided to take a break from doing much blog work on here: necessary to do my part in helping out everyone in my life, but also in a way much deserved after having done a decade of doing posts like these... and for a change, I have been able to enjoy watching these MTV shows and my favorite content I love just as a viewer.

During this time, I have also been thinking about what the next ten years of this hobby will be like, and of how I would want to still fit in doing these posts and my supplemental YouTube work around my increased duties as man of the house... and it's also been necessitated by something I got in my inbox this week. As you might have noticed -- and having just spotted it with the notice I got from the folks who run this Blogger platform, some editions of the Pulse have now been tagged with a disclaimer... we always put one at the top of those as a precaution. That now will mean a change in how I will do things.

Starting with the summer and fall cycle of covering The Challenge and everything else Inside MTV Reality when that begins in short order, I will be shifting my weekly episode coverage to doing it in a traditional way -- that is, focusing on recapping the shows with the top moments of each week, and embedded Twitter highlights from them too. This is what I call the MTV WRAP and the format I have used with a few of the shows I've covered the past few years, and now it will become permanent when we begin to cover the weekly episodes again starting with Season 2 of The Challenge USA on CBS and Season 4 of The Challenge All-Stars on Paramount+.

Unfortunately -- and with this post taking place during season (and series) finale time in TV land, this will mean the end of the Pulse presentations as you have known it over the last decade. But with the lack of Twitter activity for the World Championship series that just wrapped up a few days ago, the growing sentiment among those who still use that platform in its new formation and everything else, it is a necessary change to make that evolution in the way we cover the episodes each week -- and also, it gives this site a safety net of sorts to prevent us from possibly going off the air too... and let's hope that doesn't happen to us as it may happen to your favorite show during the current work stoppage plaguing the TV industry as this post goes out on the last Friday of the regular season.

Hopefully this won't be a disservice to those of you who have visited this site for years, and we look forward to doing our weekly Challenge WRAP's during the summer and fall... and even starting with recapping the top moments of the World Championship coming before the summer Challenge seasons kick off -- we'll give you plenty of time to watch that before we offer our Things to Know season review coming up then. And even then, those will have to wait until after posting all three editions of our rookie primers... plus there's the many ExtraTime stories that we're doing also around all of that. That will all be coming up as we get into this summer of 2023... and it's hard to think we're a week away from the start of all that.

But most importantly -- and while we marked this anniversary several months back ago, the fact that DCBLOG is now officially ten years old is something this site and its blogger in chief is proud of. I have worked tremendously hard to make this site a place for all of you to come and indulge in my biggest passions through the power of the written word in this world dominated by TikTok, YouTube and all else. And to those who have made visiting this cherished site a regular habit in your life -- and those who have visited this page at some point in the last ten years, thank you... and here's to the next ten years.

- I AM DC

#DCBLOG

DC FORUM: Back from My Spring Break...

A Word from the Editor

BY DC CUEVA 

■ linktr.ee/dc408dxtr

Instagram @dc408dxtr

It's hard to comprehend... but it has been a while since we spoke to you here. We greet you once again during this Easter week at this outset of springtime, one that is always a time of renewal in our world... and one that is certainly needed in this manic world of ours. And for us in the Cueva circle, it's more than needed -- it's one that we've been wanting for some time after a year that has been unprecedented in our lives and in mine.

It has now been more than a year since the news that turned upside down this perfect of mine in our family inner circle when we found out of my father's cancer diagnosis... and it's been three-quarters of a year since that summer day that changed all of our lives. It's with that in mind that I have taken time away from the thing I do best of sitting behind this screen putting together both outstanding blog content and quality YouTube videos that so many of you have turned to for a much-needed escape from everything that has transpired in the thirty-seven months since this world totally lost our minds.

For a life update of sorts, this past month our family drove out to our sister's house out in the Central Valley to spend eight nights babysitting my niece & nephew when my sister & brother-in-law flew down to Mexico to mark wedding day for one of their friends. It marked the first time in a year & a half that I got to go to their house, which is always a nice place to go to when the summer weather heats up... but all of you know that we here in California have had quite a dreary winter & spring weather-wise, and I couldn't go out in the cold and wet weather to enjoy some quality time in their amazing backyard.

This vacation doubled as what I termed "#DCSpringBreak" as I got to do something I didn't get to do in over a year: utilize my secondary Twitter portal to live tweet a bunch of TV shows, sports and music every day during my stay. There, I watched a bunch of figure skating, the Ultra Music Festival in Miami, the iHeartRadio Music Awards, and that standard daily dose of live YouTube streams from that happy place known as Las Vegas... as well as that thing known as the MTV Challenge. This doesn't factor in a couple other movies that kept me entertained in rekindling that life in lockdown we had three years ago.

Perhaps the highlight of Spring Break was getting to do something I haven't done since my last stay in their pad: indulge in daily sessions of Netflix & Chill with the sister's account. By the time I checked out of their hotel, I watched three full seasons of the streamer's reality shows: Hype House (which we did a post on featuring Nikita and her SnapChat show date with MTV alum Corey Brooks), the much-hyped Real World sendoff Twenty Somethings Austin, and most important of all -- Perfect Match.

The ladder had to be added at last minute to take the place of Season 9 of Are You The One? after a season finale coming a week earlier than expected (we will cover all of that on here coming then), and even before that it was of interest to me for that an alum of the last season of that MTV show prior to its pandemic-forced hiatus, Kariselle Snow, was cast onto the streamer's big reality crossover mega-series thanks to extending her 15 minutes of fame as the panda on Sexy Beasts (which we also featured here previously) after being on the LGBTQ+ friendly season of AYTO. Obviously, there was a lot of buzz for Perfect Match... and I plan to do a blog review of that on here coming up this spring. In fact, I loved watching those shows so much that I will soon add a Netflix subscription to the trio of Hulu, Peacock and Paramount+ which I currently subscribe to... with maybe more to come beyond that.

In addition to covering the Challenge World Championship with a series of "Who Are These Newbies?" on the international players and a bunch of other things in our MTV coverage, also forthcoming on this site is something I have never done before: do a movie review. My stay at sister's saw me watch three of those: the Filipino-themed Easter Sunday with Jo Koy, the film version of the play my niece took part at her middle school 13, and a film that also doubled as my very first purchase for a non-fungible token that starred one of the unsung heroes to me of these past three years.

Though I'm getting up there in age, Now United has become a favorite artist to me in that it blends my passion for music with a favorite aspect of mine from the Olympics and World Cup in bringing different nations together. The supergroup from eighteen different countries wrapped up the cycle of their first generation by doing a full-length musical along the lines of 13 and High School Musical... and with how tense the world is right now even as things have gone back to normal, the energy of the stars of that film, the positive message of its soundtrack and the film's underdog story is exactly what this world needs... just as the group burst on the scene when the world needed that pick-me-up. And if it's worth spending that $10 to buy a ticket on OP3N to watch it with your kids this coming Easter weekend, then you'll be entertained by The Musical: Welcome to the Night of Your Life. Perhaps, your young ones may even find your favorite new pop group just as I did.

But above all of that, the most important reason for Spring Break was based in one thing that’s very much still fresh in your memories, even as you try to get away from what we had to put up with in this decade. You do not need to be reminded of what we all had to put up with three years ago, but if there's something I've been able to better appreciate during this time, then it is the importance of family... and after a year things still do not feel normal just over 250 days since my dad left us. Had he beaten that opponent known as brain cancer, our trip would've been a few weeks earlier to watch the niece in her first play... or he & my mom would've added more stamps to their passports. Instead, we continue to press on in this time without him... and the days have pressed on as we continue to grapple with this reality, and my mom hasn’t visited his gravesite for the first time since that funeral weekend.

Family is something that ranks right up there among the things that mean to me the most - and you all have been reminded of how important that has become in the 1100-or-so days of this time in our world. We ourselves are not exempt from heartache and have learned that lesson quite a bit... and our week with those who loved being around has been one we needed the most to remind ourselves of important and precious quality time with those who we love truly is. That is why I took time away from here to better appreciate that very reality... but we are now ready to resume doing what this site does best: cover reality of a different kind and a few other things. See you on here this holiday weekend.

- I AM DC

#DCBLOG

DC FORUM: Welcome to December

A Word from The Editor...

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

And so, we bring you into the month of December around here.... and if we haven't spoken to you that much in the past few weeks, then we wish for you and yours our very best for this holiday season. We know that this has been quite the year... and for us in my family that has truly been the case, and if you have noticed why things have been light around here over the past several months, then you'll know why I have taken time away from this site for that reason.

Over the course of the past month, I have laid off as far as my online activity has been concerned to take advantage of spending as much time as I can to spend with family as we celebrated Thanksgiving at our house with most of my relatives... it also happened to be my late father's birthday. Understandably things have not felt quite the same since he passed away back over the summer, and I have taken on the role of being the man of the house in helping out as much as I can with my mom, aunt and brother... and with my sister, her husband and their kids whenever they come over here. And as I speak to you on here right now, we also caught the cold bug... we are extremely aware of the current health situation as it stands as we are taking it easy, although it's not as serious as what many are going through right now.

We continue to be in a state of mourning some six months after my dad's death, as my mom has made daily visits to his gravesite and done nightly vigils for him. But this past month from when I marked my birthday back on November 13th to until the first weekend of this month, I got to do something I've never done before in paying it forward and holding my first-ever charity fundraiser on Facebook and Instagram for my inner circle. The efforts I made to put out the word to everyone in our family saw that appeal raise $500 to benefit the American Cancer Society... and I plan on doing another one of these around the one-year anniversary of his passing next summer.

It's with all of this in mind (plus problems with our home internet) that I have been well behind in DCBLOG's usually timely coverage of the fall 2022 MTV cycle, being headlined by The Challenge: Ride or Dies. Usually, content like the weekly episode Pulse and the ExtraTime series would go out in a timely manner... but because of the various things that have been happening to me off of this site (and the DC YouTube page) it has not been the case during this year. Not that anyone out there would mind because of the low-key nature of how things operate around here, but if you're a loyal viewer of this site then please accept my apologies in the slow nature of getting these posts out to all of you.

A serendipity to all of this is that this month should be quite busy with plenty of episode coverage, stories, the second part of "Who Are These Newbies?" for Ride or Dies, our first look at the first new cast in four years of a show we've covered from day 1, and other matters... and that is just for this site alone. This doesn't even put into account the DC YouTube site, as the Coast to Coast: Disneyland series is just underway... and you can look forward to plenty of holiday cheer there and on here. And we'll see you here this weekend.

- I AM DC

#DCBLOG

DC FORUM: A Labor Day Update...

A Note from The Editor...

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

As we enter these last twenty-four hours of the summer period, normally this would be a time for celebration and one more opportunity for those like me to simply enjoy a day like this. There's nothing like a hot day or a cool night outside having some barbecue with family, relatives and friends... just like any of the fifteen weekends that we've had in the 104-day period from when we begin this season on Friday evening of the Memorial Day holiday, right up until the day that brings it all to an end on Labor Day. Unfortunately, that's not been the case this time around in the Cueva household... and if you thought you had the worst summer ever two years ago, then we had ours this year two years later.

Usually, I would be busy breezing along on what I do best: blog posts like these covering MTV reality TV, sports, pop culture and Las Vegas... or the occasional YouTube video. But understandably, DCBLOG activity this summer has been considerably lighter than in the first ten years of this site, and it's for the reason that we, as a family, are continuing to deal with the passing back on July 23rd of my late father, Mariano Cueva... being taken away from us much too soon after battling brain cancer. And dealing with all of what has happened the last 40+ days has taken its toll on us, especially the funeral services that we had for him last week when our entire family gathered to say one final farewell.

All of what's happened the past week for us here is why things have not been quite up to speed as of yet on this site, and also why I've had a little difficulty having to pick things back up mentally from our emotional week back into this thing I love doing. But at least, if you've been seeing my Instagram stories in showing all sorts of viral videos there along with the occasional look-in on my world, I'm keeping my spirits up in that part of the digital world. Still, blog work has always been a place for me to get away from all that's going on this world especially now... and whenever I'm in that element of wanting to provide everyone with "The Escape You Deserve," then we get to offer our finest work.

Tomorrow -- or later today on Labor Day itself depending on where you are at 11 o'clock out here in California, ExtraTime will explore America's fastest growing sport and the link it has to The Challenge: USA... and shortly thereafter our episode coverage will resume. And as we now enter the month of September, expect things to gradually pick back up as we've entered this special time of year to be in the TV fandom. Have a safe Monday to come...

- I AM DC

#DCBLOG

DC FORUM: 7/24/22 - A Note from Me...

A Note From The Editor...

A pleasant Sunday to all of you... if you are fine and okay, then good for you. You should be able to enjoy this summer's weekend, whether you're going out to enjoy the sun or just being at home and indoors when either the conditions of either a meteorological or health concern doesn't allow otherwise. But no matter what, we are all here... and be thankful for that.

Let's get the important thing out of the way: the content that DCBLOG had planned to feature this weekend -- including Week 3 of MTV's The Challenge: USA and a blog recap of my 2021 trip to Las Vegas -- will not be posted on here either today or the next few days. Sure, I will be working on those posts on here off-air but, posting it right now would be the farthest thing from my mind considering what has been happening over the past few days... and this site's regularly scheduled programming will return here hopefully next weekend or perhaps later at the appropriate time.

Instead, this will have to do... and it involves something that represents one of those things that always take priority in family, and one of the reasons why there has not been as much busy activity on this site this year as it has been in the previous ten years. And if you can indulge in what I'm about to discuss on here, then make sure to have a box of tissues next to you. This is going to be a tough one.

The Look Ahead: June '22's Last Weekend

A Note From The Editor

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

As we're into the last weekend of June, as this blogger speaks to you it has been both scorching hot outside my house in temperatures reaching 100 on Summer Solstice Day on Tuesday, and then cloudy the next day thanks to an unseasonal monsoon coming up to California. But thankfully, plenty of fans in my room and our AC system is keeping us all cool as summer is now officially on, meteorology wise -- and I'm also doing this post wearing my ideal summer attire of a tank top & shorts.

Along with everything that this site offers with weekly MTV Reality coverage and occasional posts not related to it on sports, pop culture and the Vegas beat, sometimes DCBLOG will offer these sort-of update posts on what we have planned in the days and weeks to come. This Friday check-in will give me the chance to peek in on what's ahead... and it's all made possible by something that hasn't happened as of yet on The Challenge All-Stars... and if you've seen this week's episode we don't really need to elaborate on it on here for the sake of everyone else who haven't seen it yet.

As we have stated on here before, DCBLOG has a policy in place that, if any episode of shows that we cover end in cliffhangers, then that week's episode coverage is instead pushed back to the following week for the sake of continuity and with our utmost respect to those who prefer to binge-watch rather than watch live. To that end, we will have what happens in this weeks episode, along with what happens next week in the same weeks offerings... or maybe the following week as we are getting closer to the finale of All-Stars 3.

A serendipity of saving coverage of this week's All-Stars to next week is that it does clear away the time for us to focus in on the following posts that we will be featuring on here in the next couple of weeks.

● DCBLOG came online at the same time as the Portland Real World season, and where it has been a focus of All-Stars 3 one of them got to do something brave before the cast of this season was revealed. Our ExtraTime story for this All-Stars season will feature Jordan as he and another multiple champion head across to Ukraine to take part in the humanitarian effort during the early weeks of the conflict the nation had with Russia earlier this spring.

● A week from now sees the premiere of an upcoming new series that debuts on Paramount+ called All-Star Shore. We got to do a "Look Ahead" post at the start of this year to get our feet wet on what we called "the biggest MTV crossover event ever," and now that the cast has been officially revealed we will offer our traditional season preview coming up in the days ahead.

● On the back of that, two weeks from now will see CBS reality alumni take to the same stage that the Stars are in right now: the heat of battle. The Challenge: USA will see those from Big Brother, Survivor, The Amazing Race and Love Island USA compete in the same game as Paulie, Josh and everyone else has played... and next week we will be previewing all that, 

● In both of those instances, we will stay true to the policy we have that you don't meet a new castmate on these shows for the first time on the premiere: we will several editions of Who Are These Newbies? to introduce us to the many CBS alumni going onto the U.S. Challenge, and the cast of All-Star Shore -- but not everyone will be featured in those posts... we'll explain that in due course.

● And in the spot in between our All-Stars doubleheader next week, we will have yet another Look at the world of Dre.Media and a first for the one person who this site has focused on more than any other: the latest season of The Life We Live sees it return to a previous destination for Season 8... and the Poconos will be where Dre & friends will have plenty of fun and drama.

So, that's what we have in the next few weeks... hope you enjoy what we have to come. As always, bookmark this site, subscribe to the notifications on my social channels & the email list, and of course like, comment and share, and tell a friend so they can also become fans of our insightful content. But as you can see from a new statement that appears in the comment section below, please be mindful and courteous... I discovered that I got some hate for my post on CT's brother getting murdered -- you don't see that there anymore as I promptly disabled the comments there for the sake of protecting my mental health. Please, DO NOT leave negative comments... that's why they are now subject to my approval -- and also to promote a judgement free zone during this Men's Mental Health Month of June.

But to leave you here on a positive note: this coming Monday will mark my tenth Twitter anniversary... which coincided with the season that came before Portland in that Real World season that took place in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Joining that social media community changed how I would get to experience not just this MTV beat, but also the sports and music world as well. And though it can be a wreck just checking out your Twitter feed, just glancing over at my @DC408Dxtr channel you can see my passion for the things I'm most passionate about on display, along with offering everyone "The Escape You Deserve." Let's go for ten more on there, and ten more on this blog... we'll see you here then.

- I AM DC

#DCBLOG

DC FORUM: DCBLOG at Ten Years, 1500 Posts & Counting

A Note from the Editor

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

On this the premiere day of Season 3 of The Challenge All-Stars, today --Wednesday, May 11th -- marks the start of the tenth year of DCBLOG... and this is also our site's 1500th overall posts. In truth, this is actually the ninth anniversary of my very first blog post on the site back on this very same date back in 2013, which was just a simple little post that was titled "I'm here." But for the sake of both the record keeping and for the factor of celebration whenever the last number ends in a "0" or "5," for all intents and purposes this is the beginning of what will be an 18-month long celebration on here.

Whatever the case may be, I am proud of the work that I have been able on here to offer over the course of the past decade... all of which began with just a simple suggestion by a longtime Twitter fan to bring my obsessed episode content from Twitter to this Google Blogger platform. That recommendation by one who's been a friend of mine ever since my first summer on Twitter ten year ago in Andrew Kirk -- who pioneered the world of getting to podcast on this thing most of us who watch the show call "the fifth major pro sport" -- has more than served me well, and the rest has been history.

Since the beginning of this site, I have evolved both as a person and as a blogger in turning this simple hobby on the side into something that feels like a profession to me, in addition to the great thing that I get to do every day. Even now in these past few years where we have been stuck at home in this pandemic -- and even as this blogger is going through an unprecedented time in his life as yours truly has been dealing with serious family matters (which if you saw my Instagram post or the finale of the DC Vegas XI vlog series on YouTube, you have an idea about it), I have seen this blog as a much-needed place of escape... like so much of what we've had to endure these past twenty-seven months -- and for which our "Escape You Deserve" slogan has really rung true.

Over the past decade, DCBLOG has evolved in the way we get to tell the stories of this fascinating world of MTV Reality, offer the unique weekly episode coverage via the weekly Pulse and traditional recaps, and also have time to delve into my three other biggest passions of sports, music and Las Vegas. The manner of storytelling, reliving the big moments and so much more give this site its unique personality in this increasingly complex world of ours, and yet give us this distinctive place in this coverage beat. And thanks to the increasing exposure, acclaim and readership we have been getting, then we know that you enjoy this exceptional work, and this blogger is most appreciative of it... the result of countless numbers of hours the past nine years of perfecting the very best content there is. 

But a lot has changed over this time, some things just don't change or evolve much: I have done most of this work on the same home desktop computer -- and now I get to do an increasingly amount of these on a laptop that my mom gave me for Christmas back two years ago. And another thing that hasn't changed a bit has been this site's unwavering commitment to quality and excellence we do... and if you thought that this past decade has been quite the ride, then we look forward to what the next ten years and beyond await us on this site. And from this blogger, thank you... and welcome to DCBLOG Year 10.

- I AM DC

#DCBLOG

DC FORUM: Farewell, River Zain...

A Word from The Editor

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

This week, DCBLOG returns from a few weeks' hiatus from this hobby where this blogger got to follow both the Winter Olympics and Super Bowl LVI during the just-completed month of February, and being able to create plenty of escapable content in the latest series of Vegas YouTube vlogs from my trip last fall. But before we begin this spring cycle of going Inside MTV Reality and our tenth year of covering TV's most-talked about reality fare with a new season of Siesta Key that debuts this coming Thursday night, we would like to take this brief moment here to remember a friend of this site.

It's obviously been a rough couple years for all of us -- the two-year anniversary of the pandemic declaration is this week... and that is on top of politics, Black Lives Matter, plenty of panic, and now the war in Ukraine with Russia & its leader in the middle. But above all, it's likely that you have had to deal with the death of a loved one or an idol in the twenty-six months of this lost decade: over the winter holidays, my extended family got to say farewell to one who welcomed us into her home for many a family gathering for so many years -- our beloved nanny who we all called "Inong." And it was just last month that I found out about someone who I featured on this site back eight years ago, and one who I discovered from watching the shows I love.

Occasionally on here, the DC FORUM segment gives this blogger a chance to bring on someone from the MTV fandom or those podcasters who cover The Challenge and other shows every week to do what those in the ladder profession do best: talk about the fifth major pro sport or whatever is going on in the wide world of reality television. In one of those instances -- and in this case, two in fact -- we featured one who got to become a loyal fan of the shows you love to watch.

DC FORUM: 2021 is a WRAP….

A Word from the Editor

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

In just a few days, we will say farewell to this year of 2021 where things just started to feel normal to a degree, but where in many ways things felt the same as it was at this time last year when we just wanted 2020 to just go out in a blaze. A lot of you who are reading this might feel the same way as we are about to ring in 2022 in around seventy hours from right now.

But as it has many times during the course of the past twenty-two months or so, you have found a haven in the shows you love to watch, the music you love to listen, the sports that unite us and the passions that bind us together. That's the premise that I have brought to DCBLOG over the past nine years, and where I have also done quite a bit of video work during the past five years.

This has formed the premise of what I call The Escape You Deserve, which I have been preaching over this traumatizing and exhausting time in our world in offering something else for you to check out: blog coverage of television's most-talked about reality shows and occasional posts covering sports and music. And there's also been a few posts covering that fourth passion of Las Vegas, which has evolved into the DC VEGAS vlog series that just premiered on my YouTube channel.

To keep this all short and sweet and simple -- and without wanting to elaborate much as I tend to be a private person and would prefer to keep it all to myself and to the inner circle, I am taking a break from both DCBLOG and YouTube for the remainder of this holiday period and perhaps for a week or two after we ring in the New Year this weekend. Being able to have worked my rear end off to bring you this outstanding content especially with posting fourteen videos on Christmas weekend alone and getting close to reaching 1500 articles on this site, the time feels right to take a deserved break

Once I come back from this self-imposed sojourn, we will have a ton of episode coverage and other things to cover from the MTV beat before we turn the attention to whatever comes in the first few months of the new year, plus another series of sports posts and other things on the side. And on the vlogs, there's my first-ever visits to Downtown Las Vegas, Resorts World and the World Series of Poker, as well as this fall's 20th anniversary reunion of my Milpitas High School graduating class.

I hope you all got to enjoy the amazing, quality work I got to offer all of you this year, and I look forward to resuming it all in the new year after this time to rest, relax, reenergize and recover while also spending quality time with my biggest fans -- my family and relatives. Enjoy the rest of the holidays and be safe out there especially right now... we'll see you soon.

- I AM DC   #DCBLOG

#TheEscapeYouDeserve

DCBLOG Look Ahead: A Busy End of Summer Coming Up...

A Word from the Editor

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

We hope you are enjoying this last month of summer so far, and if you are stressed out about having to go back to work or to school tomorrow amidst the crazy world we're in, just be okay.... you'll be alright. It also applies to those who don't want to worry about the next wave of the pandemic coming, the events that are ripping apart the world elsewhere or, if you live out here in California, the upcoming gubernatorial recall. After all, you've come for a moment at least to "The Escape You Deserve."

For me, I got to spend the past few weeks up until last week getting to enjoy the only thing I get to binge watch: the Tokyo Olympics. And as I write here on this Sunday evening, my family and I just got to do one thing we've not been able to do since Christmas last year and the holidays the year before that: get together for a family party with my relatives to celebrate my aunt's 80th birthday on both Friday and yesterday. And need not worry -- we've all gotten what I like to call our "flu" shots, so no need to panic about that, although she did have a health scare just recently in spending a week in hospital not related to the pandemic, but she is fine and okay and we are all thankful for that.

It's with all of this in mind that, because of this busy past month I've had watching the Games and having this quality time with family, the DCBLOG content we've been planning to do on here to cover what has gone on since been away from the MTV Reality world and the first act of Season 37 of The Challenge will be offered to you a little bit later than first planned. I know it is of a big inconvenience to those of you who visit this website, but this is also worth taking this opportunity to explain it here.

DC FORUM: 2020 - The Year of DC, The Content Creator

A Word from the Editor

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

And so, we have finally made it: three-hundred sixty-six days ago tonight, we were anticipating the start of the decade of the twenties in the twenty-first century. But then, reality set in... and obviously, you don't need to be reminded of the loads of depressing, negative and decisive headlines that have plagued this year of 2020. In the true spirit of the message that this person has been preaching since spring of this year in this bring "The Escape You Deserve," we will spare you the expense of making even one small mention of any of those.

   However in this brief retrospective of the year that will soon be history in a few hours from now here in the United States, if there is something that I can take away from this year it's that I have made great strides in my hobby of being one now considers himself a content creator. The almost nine months that I have spent at my own house has allowed me to take advantage of the ample amount of time of being in lockdown and in quarantine to further my standing in the social universe as not just a great blogger and writer, but now in being a part-time YouTuber too.

As I wrote here on New Year's Eve last year, I have worked tremendously hard over the course of what's now seven & a-half years of perfecting this very DCBLOG site. It is something I take a great deal of pride in having now posted over 1,300 posts and devoting the lions' share of that to going Inside MTV Reality... with occasional posts on my other passions of sports, music and the culture of Las Vegas. And this remains a big part of my identity to most of you, and my biggest contribution to the fandom of The Challenge and other aspects of TV's most-talked about reality programming.

   Despite two of the major series I cover not airing this year because of the ongoing pandemic, this is the fourth straight year that I have published over two-hundred blog posts in a single year, and I launched a Twitter promotion campaign to help bring more users to the outstanding content this site provides - the 'Pulse of the episodes, the stories behind the story that ExtraTime offers, and other things. Despite the expansion of internet coverage of the likes of the fifth major pro sport and Siesta Key to other blogs and to most especially the audio medium of podcasts, I continue to look at my baby as the gold standard... and we are looking forward to continuing this great tradition in the new year with new shows & seasons, compelling stories and much more.

But something that has also kept me from devoting the same amount of time and effort to putting this site together this year has been my progression in creating original videos for YouTube. When just relaxing, I have the pleasure of watching a lot of content on there not only encompassing my biggest passions in reality TV, sports, music and Vegas, but also many other things such as local newscasts, tours of million-dollar homes, theme park live streams, and slot play -- something I got to do before I won on the slots last year and for which now my parents have been obsessed with this year.

   It's from watching all of those that inspired me to post not one, but well over 1000 videos of eight of my travels to Las Vegas and from a 2008 trip I took to New York City. With just a few reposts of my own live streams from last year's trip to Sin City, most of my DC Vegas and DC Coast to Coast vlogs are all post-produced by me with broadcast-quality graphics, ambient audio and other enhancements to give it a different & distinctive feel compared to most other original YouTube content. And there are still plenty of good videos from the Big Apple and Disneyland that will be up very soon

As for what's next: as many of us have done most of our holiday shopping online, this month my parents were brave enough to go the traditional route and drive to the store to buy two awesome gifts that makes this Christmas a good one for yours truly. First, I got a much-needed upgrade to a new iPhone in retiring the first model SE I've been using for four years in favor of an iPhone 11 - a move that I can equate from going from the age of The Flintstones to flying with The Jetsons. And second, they gave me my very first laptop so I that I don't have to worry about queueing for the upstairs computer when my mom is checking her stocks or when my kids come over to play around with Minecraft.

   As much as we're ready to finally put 2020 out of its misery shortly, I'm most looking forward to 2021 like many of you, but not just for that we hope this year will bring us hope, health, happiness and humanity to this world. It's also that I'm looking forward to what the future brings with having those two toys along with the tablets and other gadgets I have. When we drive over to my sisters' for a weekend, instead of cramming all of those before we drive there the next day, I can now have some time to work on blog posts like these around quality family time and dealing with their new puppy.

   But I'm most especially anxious for the big one: when the time finally comes to go back to Sin City once it's safe to fly there and when things get back to a sense of normalcy, I plan on taking the DC Vegas YouTube experience to the next level. I'll be able to post new videos while I'm in town and on the same day instead of waiting to fly home & edit those later, just like Vegas vlogger Matt Bridger does when he flies in from the UK. I can offer better live streaming and cinema-quality videos of my walkthroughs on the Strip with my gimbal & vlogging camera in hand... and those are just a couple ideas.

But that's what the future brings... and we hope this will come sooner rather than later. But here in the final hours of this chaotic year, I can look at 2020 as the year that I became more than just a blogger, but now as a Content Creator on both the written and the visual side of things. And may we wish you all a safe, peaceful and a very Happy New Year.

- I AM DC

#DCBLOG

DCBLOG Look Ahead: Welcome to September...

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

We hope you are safe and sound and just soaking in whatever we have of the summer of 2020 that we wish it would be better than it has been, but are just trying to keep yourself healthy and cool in this tense time in the world right now. This has been quite the past few days, and the past month for that matter, as we are headed towards Labor Day coming up, and we can finally get on into that time full of holidays known as fall, or autumn as some of you like to call it.

Over the weekend, yours truly and my family got to spend this late summer's weekend at my sister's in the valley as she, my bro-in-law and their kids got to celebrate my nephew's 11th birthday with us and some of their neighbors. That has allowed me to take some time away from social media and from working on both this DCBLOG site and my burgeoning YouTube channel for much more enjoyable and quality time with family. It's always a refreshing thing for me to get to spend time with them in knowing that it's time with my loved ones ranks ahead of what I get to do online, especially in our changed world, although I did get the chance to premiere three videos over the weekend, in addition to two that debuted just as our President took to the mic last Thursday.

Now, this does change up my plans for what I had for both DCBLOG and for my YouTube channel for this first week of September, and here's what ahead...

● Besides last night's Video Music Awards, last week's big thing in the MTV circle was the season 3 finale and reunion for Siesta Key. Because of my YouTube work taking precedent last week as well as my family outings, I haven't gotten a chance to watch it just yet, but once I get to do so tomorrow (as this post goes up on Monday, August 30) I'll then do the last WRAP for it on here afterwards - so, don't get on me for wondering why it's not up yet.

● There's also some other blog content coming your way here after that: on Friday, the world was saddened by the passing of Black Panther's Chadwick Boseman after a private four-year battle with colon cancer... and we'll share the memories two of the guys of Floribama Shore had meeting him at the 2018 MTV Movie & TV Awards. We'll also join a past Challenger as she got to take her talents to HGTV to help a local couple pick their new house in their hometown, and there's also a look ahead at who has been cast for the next season of The Challenge.

● In fact, we are so pressed for time around here that we will have to bring you the Pulse Xtra for last week's episode of A Double Shot at Love as part of next week's blog wave. I have also not been able to watch it as of yet, and will do so in due course... and there's also all of the social content to also sift through and compile as well, and that will appear for you on here on Friday to kick off Labor Day Weekend as a part of a special doubleheader covering that and this week's episode as well.

● And aside from DCBLOG, there is all of those #DCVegas videos: tonight I am transferring my second camcorder tape to digital which will cover the 2009 trip, the one where I spent my birthday in Sin City... and maybe, I could also convert to digital my 2010 trip as well if I have time. There are also several videos left in my 2007 series of vlogs, and they will be posted as part of the spiritual last weekend of summer, coming up at the end of the week.

So, that's what is ahead both on here on DCBLOG, and over there on DC YouTube. See you then...

- I AM DC  @DC408Dxtr
#TheEscapeYouDeserve

DCBLOG Look Ahead: A Change for Your May Day Weekend...

A Word from the Editor...

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

We hope you're enjoying this Thursday - the last day of April as we are about to head into the month of May. And we hope you are safe and sound and healthy, and wish that this coming month will bring you some good news, wherever you are. And we at DCBLOG want to take a break from the endless weekend of sort to take a look at what we have coming up here this week and the month to come...

We have developed a routine on here where our coverage of the weekly episodes of The Challenge will typically begin on Saturday or sometimes afterward when the SocialPulse diary covering all the action, reaction and interaction from the Twitter sphere on the episodes will be posted for everyone to see. However, that will not be the case this week as last night's episode of Total Madness ended with three dreaded words that we won't even want to utter out on here.

We have a policy around here that, if any episode of shows that we cover end in cliffhangers, then that week's episode coverage will be pushed back to the following week instead to maintain a sense of continuity and with our utmost respect to those who prefer to binge-watch rather than watch live. And to this end, we've decided that it's best to have the Pulse for this week wait things out until next week so we can see that elimination and what goes down on the following week. It's best for us here to cover what goes down this week and next week in the same wave of blog posts in order to make things fair for everyone.

Here's what we got planned: the Episode 5 edition of the Total Madness SocialPulse will instead be posted as a Backtracked post - that is, it being posted a week behind schedule of it airing on TV. That will be presented to you a week from tomorrow, next Friday night to lead off next week's blog coverage before we offer the Episode 6 edition of the 'Pulse the day after in its traditional spot on Saturday. And our WRAP which is our original portion of the episode coverage, will combine the big moments of Episode 5 with what goes down in Episode 6, and that will come afterwards. We'll be looking forward to covering it then.

DCBLOG Look Ahead: No Ordinary Week in March...

A Word From The Editor
BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

We at DCBLOG hope that you are having a good Thursday - or if that's not the case, we hope that you are safe, sound and alright. Without making any one single mention of anything that has gone on in the past few days, it's safe to say that this has been such an eventful week. However, there are times that the overwhelming amount of news going on in this world stresses you out so much that it will give you reason to want to escape a bit from all the worries and negativity that's gone on lately.

It's with great hope, awareness and sensitivity that we here proceed as usual, and as we always do, with the business that is on our table with all of the great content planned for this weekend, for this month and the springtime coming up. And we hope you will find some something good to take the stress out with us going Inside MTV Reality on here, and everything else on both this site and on the DC YouTube channel as well. And we have such a busy time ahead of us ourselves here, too.