Countdown to RW Ex-Plosion: Social World

By DC Cueva

@DC408dxtr

And so, the cycle begins once again. A autumn with no episodes of my two favorite shows (but have been kept in very good company by the casts of Big Tips Texas & Scrubbing In) but with a lot of buzz among fans surrounding both of the shows that are closest to my heart, will now lead to an exciting several months ahead. Coming up on Wednesday, January 15th - or make that one week early on Wednesday, January 8th, we start a winter of drama in my very own Bay Area backyard with Real World Ex-Plosion, where the added spice of the cast's exes moving into the San Francisco loft will heat up what promises be an explosive season, if you couldn't tell from the title of this season. Shortly thereafter and likely after the Sochi Olympics, we'll have another season of The Challenge, for which 28 people who have been off social media during this time, will be on there.

   And having just wrapped up our coverage of Rivals II in our last post that we posted earlier tonight, to kick off DC Blog's coverage of, and countdown to, Real World Ex-Plosion (the first full RW season to be covered on here, I only started blogging towards the end of RWPDX), I'd like to take a moment to talk & reflect on about something that, in the past two years, has had a profound impact on my relationship with this great show.

With Facebook and now Twitter registered on the NASDAQ index thanks to their record-setting initial public offerings, does it seem that social networking has changed how we all communicate? Well, it definitely has, and chances are you likely have at least one social media app downloaded onto your smartphone. And this new way of communicating has also impacted MTV and its longest-running franchise, and has also enhanced my long-time relationship with The Real World. 

   Aside from the great experience that comes with watching that and The Challenge (which I talked about in my first DC SocialPulse post during Rivals II), social media has played a game-changing role in how I'm able to interact with the show I have been watching for nearly 15 years going back to watching RW Hawaii when I was back in high school. It's the one TV franchise I feel most comfortable in (RW's storytelling & laid-back feel is more to my pace than The Challenge's intense cutthroat nature) and social media has really made my relationship with the show much more stronger.

   On Twitter & Instagram, as of date I have gotten an interact - a reply, favored or retweeted tweet, a photo like, or that ultimate fandom moment of getting a follow - from well over 100 of the alumni. This extends to Syrus, Jon from LA and Kevin of the first NY season in the show's first generation, through to the recent generation extending from Brooklyn to now. Though I've had the great pleasure of talking with all of these great people since I joined, two (and soon to be, three) sets of people stand out, and they're those who I've been fortunate enough to have been on this ride with them since the beginning.

For the first cast I ever got to interact with (either in social media or in-person - which I haven't as of yet), just as soon as they returned home stateside from their stay in the Virgin Islands, the St. Thomas cast all got to their nearby internet device, logged into their social media outlets following the long vacation in paradise, and instantly became fellow Facebook friends & twitter followers with one another. And soon thereafter, many fans just like myself, fellow or forgotten friends from back in the day, and alumni who they were about to join the likes of, also sent friend requests or gave a follow to Trey, Robb, Laura, Marie, Latoya, Swift and Brandon. Together they became amongst the first to welcome Team St. Thomas into this unique, distinguished and, of course, dysfunctional family, all before their trailer debuted on Memorial Day weekend, before they amassed thousands of followers and a month before I joined twitter, which also coincided with season 27 premiere night on June 27, 2012.

   Remembering reading their tweets and posts between after filming ended in May and in the month leading up to premiere night (and also where four of them went straight to their first Challenge in Turkey just two weeks after they got home, eventually they would have their social media embargo lifted just for them to help promote the show once they were eliminated), this cast became the first to really become well aware of the social media realm and the impact that it was going to have on them, preparing for the love - and hate - that they would get once the season took shape. And just as every MTV season's casts would do since, the STT cast tweeted and responded to all their followers back at almost every opportunity to help build that buzz. While their season might not stand out to me as much as other seasons though I did enjoy watching it, it was that social media interaction that I had with all 7 of them that became one of my favorite RW memories & made the season that much more enjoyable for me. 

   I was then able to follow four of them through their first Challenge - Battle of the Seasons, where Team St. Thomas' run extended right into December, to February when Trey's Ravens beat my Niners in the Super Bowl, right on into Rivals II & even to Trey, aka Walter, on The Price is Right just recently. And though the group dynamic has changed a bit since their reunion, I give them great praise for being so fan friendly to people like me like all the fish who live in the fish tank. You never forget about being that first one in any given category.

And then, for the season that came on afterwards in Portland, I was able to do what I wasn't able to do for STT, and that would be getting to know them in the lead up to the season, which actually began all the way back in November 2012. While I was focused on BOTS, I also followed what was going on in Oregon, increasing as filming continued on. So when Anastasia, Averey, Jessica, Johnny, Joi, Jordan, Marlon and Nia all returned to social media after taping wrapped up, I gave them (at least, most of them, not all were on twitter back then) a follow and started talking with them. My very first twitter mentions of Team Portland were just Follow Friday teasers to remind followers that they would get to know them very soon. And Marlon tweeted to me a tease of what was to come: "I'm excited. It's gonna be a good season, crazy drama. It was fun doing too. I hope people watching really get to see the realness of our lives. Definitely gonna be a wild ride."

   During the long gap between the end of that Challenge and the buzz for RWPDX beginning in February, I was able to talk more & more with the cast in an efforts to establish a rapport with them before they would become well known, so when the trailer was finally released, I was able to grasp on to their season more than others. Throughout the season, I was able to interact greatly with all of them - where eventually five of the roommates would give me a follow (Marlon & all the girls except Joi), and I was more engaged with this show than ever before, thanks to watching a season I got to enjoy so much it became a standout one for me. I also live tweeted a lot of the show as well as getting scoop on their reunion from two of my followers for my blog too. And like STT, the Portlanders also became very fan friendly with their twitter followers, and tweeted with them a lot before and during the season.

   And then after the now-famous/infamous, fight, four of them went on to Rivals II (which was the reason why the girls weren't on for the premiere & the guys until later on). As much as I was rooting for everyone (most that I got to know well too) to do well in Thailand, I was secretly rooting for Team Portland to do very well too. But I never expected Jordan & Marlon to make it to the final, no less make a great impact in their very first go. For them, it was full circle to what, no doubt, is the most amazing 13-month ride anyone could have. To have followed them from when they wrapped up filming back last year, through the winter as their season was being edited, then watching a great season I got to enjoy so much, and seeing them have a great rookie showing on Rivals II, it added so much more to how I got to enjoy RWPDX.

In the cases of both casts, and though I have had the great opportunity to interact with so many people in the RW/Challenge community over the past year-and-a-half & love everyone, I have grown a greater bond with the St. Thomas and Portland casts than any other RW cast I've watched, thanks in no small part to having talked to each of the 15 roommates. And unlike most people who would follow them during their season, I'm also lucky enough to have followed their progress the entire way, starting back when I joined twitter through watching these four seasons. Thanks to the buzz fans have talking about after this Rivals II season, we should be able to see more of them coming up this spring when Challenge 25 takes shape.

   And for what comes up beforehand? I might not have followed the filming of Real World Ex-Plosion as much as I wanted to because of my full focus on Rivals II and then on other things during the offseason, even though it was filming up the way in San Francisco. But already, I've become good social media friends with Arielle, Ashley, Cory, Jamie, Jay, Jenny and Thomas. Already, three of them - Ashley, Jenny & Jay - follow me on twitter, and the entire original cast of seven strangers have interacted with me in one way or another on twitter or Instagram even before the trailer was released and after the revelation of the twist of their exes Ashley C., Brian, Lauren, Jenna & Hailey moving in. They, like the last two casts, have also become well aware of social media and once the season debuts, they'll likely be as fan friendly as most in the RWC world.

Thanks to the digital age we live in, The Real World & Challenge franchise has evolved from shows you could only experience by watching it on that little cable channel called MTV to one that you can not only watch on TV and MTV.com, but also on your tablet, smartphone and video on demand. And the show websites have evolved too, from offering just episode recaps, bios and cast photos, to now offering additional content such as the After Show, preseason Spy Cams and blogs, taking fans inside the RW experience just like the many members of the crew who watch over their every move. And thanks also to coverage by print & online media outlets, and to an extent blogs such as this one, it can also tell us who these cast members are. And in the case of those infamous fan forums, even down to some of their more interesting details, well before they are officially revealed to the rest of us, even as they are filming.

   No cable channel is is best suited to getting viewers talking like MTV - proof being it's one of the most-liked brands on Facebook, and it recently became the first entertainment-based TV channel to reach 10 million twitter followers. And anyone who becomes an on-air figure there has been strongly encouraged by the big wigs and by production partners such as RW/Challenge production house Bunim-Murray Productions to get a social network presence, to get those people buzzing and perhaps bring more viewers in the door, even a tabloid. Just ask the Vegas XXV cast when a scandal involving one of their roommates landed a Southern gentleman named Dustin on the cover of US Weekly, following in the footsteps of the Jersey Shore gang and those Teen Moms. A good majority of this exclusive club of Real World, Road Rules & Challenge alumni are tweeters, and many of them are on Facebook - either regulars who fill up your timeline or relative novices getting used to this new way of communicating. Even Swift, for example, actually got some help getting into the twitter-verse when Challenge vet Laurel helped him out in downloading the twitter app to his iPhone.

Like Miley Cyrus and other sudden sensations, social media has made the casts of this latest generation of The Real World, The Challenge and other MTV shows even more well known than anyone can ever imagine back when the legacy series began over two decades ago, and yet they become that much more personal and intimate. The development of this latest phase of internet communication is now allowing fans the opportunity to communicate with these same people that we watch on television in almost the same way we talk to our friends and family, as well as interact with other fans too. After all, TV is, at its core, a one-on-one medium of communication. And aside from running into any of the over 250 or so Real World, Road Rules or Challenge alumni or, of course, that rare occurrence of being casted, it's the closest you can be to actually being part of this family, without actually being casted and exposing all of what you have in front of more than just friends & family.

   In closing, my experience in the last year and a half of talking to so many of these people on twitter & social media has probably made the biggest impact on this great relationship I have with The Real World. Yes, I've been watching the show for almost 15 years now, going all the way back to those glory days of my adolescence and have seen its evolution, and yet still continue to be the pioneer in this tenure of reality TV & still follow that same playbook first conceived in SoHo in 1992. And this has allowed me to communicate with these same people who I've watched in a way I & many others could never have imagined when I first began watching with Hawaii in the summer of '99. And it's now time for Arielle, Ashley, Cory, Jamie, Jay, Jenny and Tom - plus Ashley, Brian, Hailey, Jenna & Lauren - to take the torch. And as always, I can't wait for the next chapter in this proud MTV tradition to take shape, and also being able to talk to them during these next few months. And considering the buzz surrounding this season, sure thought MTV decided to move this all up a week.

And finally, if you're a member of the RW/Challenge family who happens to be reading this post, I would like to take this opportunity to personally say thanks for being able interact with you during this past year, as well as being entertained by you all as well by what I got to see on RWPDX and Rivals II. Time has flown by, yes (it always does when you're having fun), but it feels like I have known you all for a long time now, considering I've been able to enjoy talking and watching you all these past two years, both as the shows air on Wednesdays and when the show isn't on, including this offseason. And sometimes I think of this community as the friends that I'd wish that I'd wish had in high school or college but, thanks to the interactivity & intimacy of social media, it feels like I know you all as well as my real life friends. So again, I've definitely enjoyed the opportunity of interacting with all of you in this community, and look anxiously forward to what the next several months have in store.

With our coverage of Real World: Ex-Plosion now underway, expect DC Blog to cover everything RW for you on here during the season. In addition to covering this upcoming season from taking the SocialPulse of how twitter will see the episodes to getting fans' point of view, I've already got a number of story ideas that I'll be able to touch upon throughout the season, utilizing my broad knowledge of this series. And when the buzz for The Challenge XXV starts up sometime during the season, we'll again be on top of all that, just as we did for Rivals II. Plus, we'll also be covering other things along the way, including sports and entertainment, as we reach the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014. For now, thanks for reading and happy holidays. Let the countdown to January 8th begin.

- DC

RIVALS II - That Was The Season That Was

By DC Cueva

@DC408dxtr

Editors Note: Sorry for the delay in posting this final Rivals II article, I've been busy the past few months and have been sidetracked by other things, which has taken time away from properly editing this article & posting it well after the finale. So, please accept my apologies.

For right now here as winter is in the air (including a cold snap as I finally post this), reminiscent of what we had back in early February, things have been calm in Real World/Challenge land; albeit with buzz surrounding the next season of The Challenge, and buzz for Real World Ex-Plosion about to begin, having wrapped filming recently right up the road from where I'm situated in Silicon Valley, episodes being edited as we speak and the trailer now out there for everyone to see. By now, those who follow this franchise as passionately as me are recovered from the excitement of a great Challenge season that saw two deserving veteran teams winning the Final on Rivals II, followed by the first-ever live Challenge reunion which made twitter headlines for an punch in the face that was seen live on MTV's airwaves...an explosive end to this exciting season to say the least.

   As we post this here in December at the beginning of the holidays, many of our favorite RW/Challenge personalities are back on their social platforms after being frozen for a month & a half (which also meant they weren't able to wish me happy birthday on Wednesday, November 13) as they were out of country for Challenge 25, returning on Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. And shortly after they departed for that Challenge, a new set of seven strangers re-emerged on social media from filming in the City before the RW buzz begins anew, with big shoes to fill after a standout Real World season up the I-5 in Portland, now with a huge twist. As you would suspect, I have welcomed the Season 29 cast with open arms, just as I have for the ladies of Big Tips Texas and the nurses of Scrubbing In, which both have been providing me with a good warmup for RWSFO (for which I've also extended my twitter welcome mat to both casts). For now, nearly 3 months after the finale (it's better late than never), we wrap up our coverage of Rivals II with my debrief & thoughts on the season that was in Thailand.

DC SocialPulse: The AMA's As Twitter Saw It

By DC Cueva

@DC408dxtr

Back here again for SocialPulse, where DC Blog compiles tweets from the biggest shows & events into a unique running diary so everyone checks out how famous people and fans reacted to every moment as it happened on television. During The Challenge: Rivals II, we compiled all of the tweets of cast members, alumni and fans as they watched a great season of The Challenge. And you can expect weekly, or at least - more frequent, posts such as those we did for Rivals II for Real World: Ex-Plosion and The Challenge XXV coming up in the new year. (It is, after all, the reason why I flood those timelines so I can then compile them later into these posts)

   Where available and when possible, DC SocialPulse will also cover big events too, including the lavish awards shows that bring together the biggest stars into one room. And in this first non-Challenge related edition of the 'Pulse, we will cover last week's American Music Awards. Yes, there was an epic comeback Tom Brady had against Peyton Manning, but there was also plenty of fireworks at Nokia LA Live in Los Angeles: Miley Cyrus & the singing cat, JT entertaining us again, Imagine Dragons amazes the audience, Ariana Grande shows what she's made of, plus Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, One Direction, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and a whole lot more.

   So, without further ado, here's now twitter saw the AMA's...

DC's View: Holiday Madness

By DC Cueva

@DC408dxtr

Today sees the beginning to one of my favorite times of the whole year, and it's everyone's favorite as well (let's be honest, it's everyone's favorite, my young bro loves it so much). Yes, the holidays are rapidly approaching. And if you haven't noticed from all those displays that's been going up in stores, malls and houses across the country, it's gonna be everywhere come Thursday. It's the only time of the entire year where most Americans have an extended 4-day weekend (5-day for some, and a paid holiday for many) when the country celebrates Thanksgiving and the beginning of the holiday rush.

This very Wednesday is the start to all of this: the busiest travel day of the entire year. Airports and roadways across the United States will be jam packed as families on the last day of the year's only 3-day work week either take work off or after work to fly home to spend Thanksgiving with their loved ones. I would always like to joke that for this day only, it'll almost feel like I live in L.A. with the freeways being jammed up all day long as many head off to grandma's to spend the next four days in. And airports will almost be like an actual sport with long lines at the ticket counter, large queues to the airport garage and the eventual journey of trying to find any parking spaces.

   Outside the airport, it is also one of the year's busiest nights for bars and clubs, sometimes referred to as Blackout Wednesday, as most college students & others fly back to their hometowns to reunite with family & friends and engage in a few cold ones. In the suburbs of Chicago, this night is sometimes more popular a night to party than New Year's Eve or St. Patricks Day, while it is also the top drunk driving night due to underage drinking. To say the least, it will be busy as ever on Thanksgiving Eve.

Then, of course comes the big day, that fourth Thursday in November when Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. Historically, it started out as a way of celebrating the harvest of the year and while it remains so for those who live in rural areas, as well as being rooted in religious and cultural traditions, it's become the official beginning of the holiday season. It has been celebrated annually since 1863 when, in the midst of the Civil War, President Lincoln first proclaimed it a national holiday. He thought of it as a day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dweeleth in the Heavens," just as the nation was going through that turmoil.

   This can all be traced back to what many think of as the "First Thanksgiving," celebrated by the Pilgrims after spending their first harvest in 1621 in New England. Their get-together, attended by 90 Native Americans and 53 Pilgrims, lasted all of three days. Those in the region were used to celebrating thanksgiving - back then it was days of prayer to give thanks to God for blessings like a military victory or the end of a drought.

   Numerous thanksgiving celebrations would continue on a regional basis in the years ahead before it became an official national holiday in 1863 when President Lincoln made the last Thursday in November the first Thanksgiving. And in 1939, during the Great Depression and in a once-in-a-while year that had 5 Thursdays instead of 4, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved thanksgiving one week earlier to the fourth Thursday of the year. His reasoning was to give merchants a longer holiday shopping season, and influenced by the head of Macy's (and with some early political difficulties), it would eventually become the norm in 1941.

Ever since, it has become a holiday that brings so many families together, and along with Christmas there's nothing like holidays when everyone is together. And it's also full of traditions, too. Since 1947 at the White House, the National Turkey Federation has presented the President with one live turkey and two dressed turkeys, and it has become tradition since the Reagan administration for them to be given a presidential pardon.

   In New York City since 1924, Macy's has hosted its annual Thanksgiving Day Parade, arguably America's biggest parade and televised across the country on NBC. Starting on Manhattan's Upper West Side, working its way through Times Square and right into the department store chain's flagship location in Herald Square, it features parade floats, cartoon character balloons, Broadway numbers, celebrities and high school & college marching bands. And of course, it climaxes with the arrival of Santa Claus, which serves an the unofficial beginning of the holiday season. Other thanksgiving parades take place in Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis and Pittsburgh.

   And of course, there's those Thanksgiving football games, headlined by NFL games whose tradition dates back to its 1920 founding. Since 1934 and except for WWII, the Detroit Lions have hosted a game on Thanksgiving Day. They were joined in 1966 by the Dallas Cowboys, and 40 years later a 3rd game was added on Thanksgiving night - which in 2011 saw, what turned out to be, the first Harbaugh Bowl as brothers Jim and John coached their respective 49ers and Ravens teams, two years before their Super Bowl XLVII rematch. A number of high school football games are played on this day, while college football's regular season ends over the weekend. Football aside, other sports events include early season college hoops tournaments, an NHL Friday nationally televised matinee, and local Turkey Trot road running events in numerous cities on Thanksgiving morning, ranging from 1-mile fun runs to 10-mile events.

Now to the evening festivities, and of course the food is the talk when you walk through the door to grandmas. The majority of dishes in your usual U.S. Thanksgiving dinner are comprised of foods of New World origin, as per tradition the Pilgrims received their foods from the Native Americans. And of course, the main dinner course is that large roasted turkey.

   The use of a turkey preceded the 1863 nationalization of the holiday when President Alexander Hamilton declared "no citizen of the U.S. should refrain from turkey on Thanksgiving," and many Founding Fathers had great regard for it, but didn't become standard fare until the 1800s. Since then, it's become the most common main dish at Thanksgiving, a day that's often referred to as "turkey day." These days, turkey growers are projected to raise around 270 million of them, to be processed into five billion pounds of turkey meat w/ an $8 billion value tag, with a third of all turkey consumption during the holidays and a per capita consumption of nearly 18 lbs.

   Cooking a turkey on Thanksgiving is so much popular that Butterball runs a "Turkey Talk Line" phone bank for those who need help in all this. Most would prefer stuffing it with the traditional herb of Sage along with celery, carrots and onions. And others, including one of my aunts, would deep-fry one and then bring it over to our place, just as she did a few years ago. Alternatives to a turkey, or those that's served alongside them, include ham, a goose, a duck, and, especially in Texas, a quail.

   For the side dishes, among the varied choices include cranberry juice, stuffing, dressing, gravy, sweet and/or mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, green beans, winter squash, peas, carrots, bread rolls, cornbread, green beans and a salad. If you go to other parts of the country, you may find macaroni & cheese and collard greens in the South, some lasagne at an Italian-American family's table, or see mole & roasted corn with the Mexican-Americans. For desert, many pies are on offer including apple, sweet potato, pumpkin, pecan and mincemeat. And for beverages, spirits and cocktails are sometimes available before dinner, followed by Apple cider and/or wine on the main course.

And then, on the day after Thanksgiving, as many take advantage of those leftovers, most Americans undoubtedly take advantage of this Friday off to trek over to malls & shopping centers for, by far, the busiest shopping day of the year: Black Friday. It is the unquestioned kickoff to the Christmas shopping season and many non-retail employees & students join those federal & most business workers in enjoying Black Friday off in this Super Bowl of shopping, thus increasing the number of potential shoppers into the thousands in many malls. And it's known for attracting aggressive crowds, with reports of assaults, shootings and overcrowding by some to get their hands on products before it's off the shelves. I have been in that adrenaline rush many times, and it never gets old experiencing what it's like being one of the many who go to a mall on a Friday or during the holiday weekend.

   Recently, most major retailers have moved up the holiday opening bell extremely early by offering promotional sales just days after the Halloween trick or treating ended. For years, it was commonplace for stores & malls to open at 6:00am, but a few years ago (mirroring a trend among local morning TV news) many started at 5:00am, even 4:00am. And in 2011, Target, Kohl's, Macy's, Best Buy and others opened at the crack of midnight for the first time. A year later, Walmart & others did one step further, and opened their doors at 8:00pm on Thanksgiving night in most places (except in states where blue laws protect workers from working holidays). This year, Kmart will be open around the clock from 6am Thanksgiving morning to 11pm Black Friday; while other Thanksgiving night openings include Toys R Us at 5pm, Walmart & Best Buy at 6pm; Macy's, Sears, Target, Kohl's & JCPenney at 8pm, and Simon Malls (including my hometown Great Mall in Milpitas, CA) also opening up at 8pm.

   What's the origin behind the name "Black Friday?" It originated in 1961 in Philadelphia, where had originally been used to describe the heavy, often disruptive traffic amongst people & cars which took place the day after Thanksgiving, and started gaining broader use outside the Delaware Valley in 1975. Its definition from a business standpoint is that while retailers typically operated at a financial loss from January to November, "Black Friday" marks the spot where they start to turn a profit, or going "in the black." For Walmart and other large retail chains, their net profit skyrockets from $14 billion to $19 billion in their calendar year net profit income.

For brick and mortar and locally-owned businesses, the day after Black Friday sees their biggest day, Small Business Saturday, a relatively new shopping holiday having just been conceived in 2010 by American Express and now taken seriously by those businesses. Through social media and Amex's multi-platform ad campaign, SBS encourages holiday shoppers to patronize and/or sample the small and local businesses that look to cash in on the increased business that comes with the holidays.

   Sunday sees the 2nd busiest travel day of the year when airports and roadways will be busy yet again for the return trip for so many families as the Thanksgiving holiday ends. Among the travelers include my dad, who has spent the last two weeks in the Philippines celebrating his birthday over there, and has also likely seen some of the devastation from the devastating typhoon that ripped through the motherland days before he flew there after my bday.

   And the day after that when all of us return to work and to school, it is Cyber Monday. Based on a trend that retailers began to notice about ten years ago, this is the day when all retailers who sell online experience their biggest online selling day of the year. Those retailers realized that many consumers who were too busy to go to the mall or didn't find that thing they wanted, went online to shop for bargains on that first workday after Thanksgiving, and they had to adjust their strategy to reach them online. Last year, a record $1.465 billion was spent on all ecommerce in those 24 hours of Nov. 26, 2012.

And when the final tally by the National Retail Federation is published just after the first holiday shopping weekend wraps up on Sunday, the numbers will just about mind boggle you. For last year, it was a blockbuster showing: more than 247 million people (or 79% of the entire U.S. population) spent $59.1 billion over the four days of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. And the average spending total for a typical shopper was $423.66. In all three categories, it was a record by a mile, and this coming after all of the turmoil, politically and socially, of a recession that ended during the year.

And, that is that. Nothing much more to say after all that, other than to hope everyone is all set for the wave of emotions that we will be experiencing over the course of the next 100 hours or so.

   That's my view, and thanks for reading. Until next time, DC Cueva saying, have fun, happy travels, happy shopping, and have a safe & happy thanksgiving.

Sources: Wikipedia

Articles sourced from: Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving (United States), Thanksgiving Dinner, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday, Blackout Wednesday, Christmas and holiday season

DC's View: Music World

By DC Cueva

@DC408dxtr

With the American Music Awards taking place tonight as I write this on Sunday, November 24, it's safe to say that music is one of the good handful of things I'm most into, along with sports, television and social media. I've been avidly following this world since back in high school (this goes back to the late '90s) and, though I'm not a musician myself, something always gets to me every time I something with a rhythm on the radio, my ipod or on TV.

Unlike some music fans who are into just one or a few genres, I am into the entire musical spectrum, able to handle pop, hip-hop, rock, R&B, EDM, even some country, classical and jazz too. Every time a multi-genre music event takes place, whether I'd be a music awards show (Grammy's, AMA's, VMA's & Billboard), a festival concert or even just the weekly radio countdown shows or viewing videos on my ipad, it always makes for appointment viewing or listening for me. Tonight is one of those nights with the AMA's, which I'm gonna be tuned in tonight. Often times when we have family parties at our house, including what we'll be having on Thanksgiving coming up on Thursday, we would typically put on music DVD's: any one of my parents' music DVD's from Earth Wind and Fire, Mariah Carey or Journey, or the Live 8 & Live Earth DVD's that I have with a ton of artists.

For myself, the way I consume & get my music has evolved over the years. I've devoted three iPods to my regular music listening - my iPhone and 2 iPod Shuffle's, a new 2GB & old 1GB - with which to rotate my listening around. I did have a CD player that until this year I put inside a CD bag that I wrapped & carried around my body when I go places, but I recently retired it after my recent Vegas trip since I used it only twice. I do continue to buy CD's for the principal reason that I can transfer to MP3's easily, along with buying digital tracks if I'm not into getting a full album just yet while also keeping an eye on that bank account.

For my radio listening, though I listen to sports and to podcasts a lot, I'm probably one of the handful who, for his music listening, would prefer a top 40, contemporary hit radio format over other music radio. Yes, pop radio. To me and a lot who work in the music industry either in radio or those who handle the charts, it's the most accurate barometer of what's the most popular music right now. This format has been around since the '60s and is . No music radio format features all of the biggest artists and the most popular songs of the moment like contemporary hit radio. And in a given market, no other station features the best of pop, rhythmic, hip-hop, rock, R&B, EDM and a couple country tracks too, like pop radio stations. When I go to the iHeartRadio or Radio.com apps on my iPhone, or if I travel out of the Bay Area, I would generally check the pop radio stations first over all others.

For you would think that because I'm a huge music fan that I've been to a lot of concerts, but I've been to just one. That would be in 1998 at a now-defunct radio station concert in San Jose where top 40 acts performed. I literally don't remember who performed that night since it was a long time ago, but it's safe to say that I'm well overdue to go to another one. Shouldn't be that far off. But then again, of course, there was that night nine years ago in 2004 when I met Linkin Park. I devoted a blog post to that ultimate fandom moment of mine and it still ranks as a top 5 moment in my life.

And I can't mention about my music relationship without mentioning about my brother in law. He is a part-time DJ and does some music composing on the side. In fact, three of the Vegas trips I took in '07, '09 and '11 were DJ gigs that he hosted. And because in every instance told him to bring along speakers and his DJ rig, we obviously took the long road from the Bay Area to Las Vegas. In '07, he was asked upon to DJ an event at the Flamingo, then in '09 he DJ'ed at Planet Hollywood following the Pacquiao-Cotto fight, and in '11 he DJ'ed a party at Tuscany.

Lastly, you all want to know, which artists are my favorites and what's in my iPod? Well, of course, because they're my favorite band, Linkin Park has the most tracks of any artist on my iPod including all of their albums. But aside from Chester, Mike & company, I've got a lot of the staples of top 40 radio on my iPod: Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Jason Derulo, Eminem, Imagine Dragons, JT, Pitbull, Drake, Maroon 5, Adele and even 1D (sometimes people have their guilty pleasures, right?). And among them, those are among my favorites right now along with a whole slew of others. I can thank getting the NOW That's What I Call Music CD's and checking the current charts for helping me get my fill of what I should my music mix with. And because I'm into a lot of music, it's hard for me to single out some favorite track as well. I'm that deep of a music fan who's into everything, even including production music that's used in television and movies, as well as some classical & jazz if I'm in the mood.

Okay, so that's that. There are a good number of television events that I always look forward to watching, and music awards shows are one of them. And it should be another fantastic night of music coming up tonight with artists who I'm looking forward to watching, as always. It's one of the very few nights where I have to cut out of watching Sunday Night Football, even with this big Manning vs. Brady matchup, for events such as this. So, time for me to grab that popcorn & get set. Talk to ya on twitter when I live tweet the big show coming up shortly.

- DC

DC's View: Real World Ex-Plosion

By DC Cueva

@DC408dxtr

Okay, so amidst all of this excitement surrounding my 30th birthday today and getting a lot of love from the social media world (and again, thanks to everyone who've sent me birthday wishes throughout this day), there's also been a lot of talking on twitter today surrounding the show I've been watching & following the most for almost half of that time, and that would be The Real World.

  The mere luck of the draw has seen three big developments in the past day or so in RW/Challenge world. First, last night I got my copy of The Challenge: Rivals II DVD in the mail, and I'll be looking forward to watching it a lot coming up (that long promised season wrap should be posted very soon, promise). Second, there's been a lot of hot stove talk over the last month about the cast & format for the upcoming Challenge, currently taking place in South America. And third & perhaps the biggest one of all is season 29 of The Real World. Yesterday, cast members teased on twitter to expect big news coming from them on this Wednesday, and today we got that big news.

For 28 seasons starting in SoHo and then most recently in Portland, The Real World has followed in that same tried & true formula of, as its mantra likes to say at the beginning, telling the true story of seven (& sometimes more) strangers picked to live in a house & work together, to find out what happens when people stop being polite & stop getting real. Now, the show has taken a bold step by, for the first time in the show's long history, of tweaking that formula, and adding some spice to this upcoming season, taking place up the way from where I'm situated here in Silicon Valley, in the good old City by the Bay.

   Just like any other season, the season 29 class of the chosen seven strangers of Arielle, Ashley, Cory, Jamie, Jay, Jenny and Tom will all move into their loft in San Francisco, doing what every other cast of recent times do: living it up, partying it up and hooking up in their loft in the Polk Gulch neighborhood, which for locals like me is right near City Hall & the Civic Center. But the dramatic twist that will radiate all throughout this season is that at one point during their stay when these people go on one of their usual trips around the Bay Area, the ex-girlfriends & ex-boyfriends of the original seven strangers will actually fly into SFO, move right into the house and no doubt surprise the SFO Seven when they come back from their excursion. Yes, the occupancy rate in the house will reach more than the usual seven and we could almost have a mere house party every day there.

   As usual when those new relationships blossom inside the house at the start of all this, it will definitely become a very awkward situation for the roommates to live with their exes when they move on, with loyalty and romance being tested to its limit and, of course, more tempers flaring than in your usual Real World. Obviously, the SFO seven are gonna learn that it can be a curse and/or a blessing for them to live w/ their former significant other, and we may even see more love triangles than in the past with this new twist. Some are gonna find newfound romance while others will find realization to all this. And had this been used in St. Thomas involving my favorite roommate from Baltimore, imagine what it would be like if you're Trey and you're living with Laura and with Chelsea. That would've been gold.

Almost immediately, the reaction to this was broad, and much of it has been negative. Those tradition-minded people, including even a member of a season that won Favorite Season at the Awards Bash, complain that it deviates more from the old school from the pioneering ways of the old school seasons where social issues were much prevalent, and that this season could lead to its downfall into cultural obscurity behind the much more popular Challenge and other reality shows. And I also took the necessary steps of sending that kiss of death of blocking a couple people who've shown some discontent over this issue. These people are those who aren't open to change, but they must learn that saying that if you get the same things in life, you'll always get the same results in the end. And for me, I'm not going to start any drama by venting things publicly in the social media world, that's something I don't value myself in. No drama kind of guy, always someone who prefers to be in the background and let everyone else grab the mic.

For me, I've always been a huge Real World fan for as long as I can remember, going all the way back to high school in 1999, and watching most every episode (or at least one episode) of every season since Hawaii. And even with both the new twist to this upcoming season & being engaged more in The Challenge, it will still be the case. I'll still give the legacy show priority over the spinoff as far as stature & preference when it comes to remembering cast members in this franchise.

   While I do have some traditions & occasional tweaks to the things I do everyday, I'm always someone who is open to any changes in the format, provided that it would be beneficial in the end. I am able to handle anything & everything that the show focuses on each season whatever the case may be. I've been able to handle the old-school oriented seasons where social issues & life experiences are focused more, and the new generation of the casts are having fun in exotic locales. And of course, I can handle whatever twist TJ gives the Challengers more than others.

   And The Real World one of those shows where I feel I'm most comfortable in watching, where I can just simply sit back, relax, watch and be engaged. Unlike The Challenge where I'm on the edge of my seat watching the drama that occurs on the competition field and in the house, The Real World is much more my comfort zone: more laid back, more storytelling oriented, and more of a steady pace of following young people & their everyday lives, the same people who I've been talking to a lot in social media since I joined the night of the St. Thomas premiere.

As for my thoughts on this twist of the cast's exes moving in, I think it's a good idea to tweak the system a bit if the formula gets stale & predictable. And though I've enjoyed watching this recent generation of the show, the folks realized that their playbook was becoming somewhat outdated and felt it was time to a page out of The Challenge, take a bold gamble and tweak it a bit. If what we see all the time of twists being made to everything that goes on in Challenge land, such as the ones we saw a lot of on Rivals II and the one that inspired this RW season in the first place - Battle of the Exes, then it should be beneficial in the end. There's nothing like getting making a big twist to a good formula to try & get people talking and get themselves interested in something once again. If viewership is very good (even though I would still have to miss watching two episodes live in February due to the Winter Olympics), then it should get a whole new generation of viewers right into the door of the show that Generation X & Y have watched since the '90s and breathe some new life into this franchise instead of being one that's just there to cast potential new challengers.

   But we all have to remember that saying, you shouldn't really judge a book by just glancing at that cover. Just as I've been seeing with my good friends of Scrubbing In where lots of people have been pouring haterade on the cast for the nurse life that they live in and outside the hospital, I feel that instead of continuing to go off on this new twist, we should show a touch of class in just waiting for the trailer to come in a few weeks (and by then the entire RW/Challenge community will be at capacity after those doing Challenge 25 will be able to tweet again) and then for the season to finally premiere before we can give our judgements. I'm going to do exactly that and wait it all out with everyone else.

So, that's my view. And to Arielle, Ashley, Cory, Jamie, Jay, Jenny and Tom (and the extra roommates we'll be seeing eventually), welcome to Team MTV. Let the countdown to the fireworks begin.

- DC

DC30: Reflections on 30 Years in the Life of DC

By DC Cueva

@DC408dxtr

And so, here we are. The day has come - Wednesday, November 13, 2013...one that has been exactly three decades in the making.

It was 30 years ago on this very day, on a Sunday night in 1983 at a hospital in San Jose that I entered the world as the 2nd child to two proud parents and a daughter. That month, the country's government shut down, the made-for-TV movie The Day After depicted nuclear war, Larry Holmes became heavyweight champ, and Miranda Lambert was born, 3 days before me and just before now-disgraced major leaguer Ryan Braun. That year, we saw what would become two huge parts of our lives take their first baby steps, the mobile phone and the internet, along with the moonwalk, the space shuttle, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the McNugget. And in events, there was a U.S. embassy bombing in Beirut, M*A*S*H's farewell, Australia II winning the America's Cup, and the AIDS scare was just beginning.

What has transpired in the course of the last 30 years is worth a whole lot of boxes to put these memories in, both in the world and in my own life. I have lived through five U.S. presidents, five schools in the Milpitas school district, 16 Olympic Games, trips to the Philippines, Las Vegas & New York, countless number of relatives and school friends too many to mention on here. And of course, there's been a whole lot of memorable events that we have lived through from that decade of the 80's, into the 90's and to now in this 21st century, both good & bad, triumph & tragedy, again all too many to mention in this post.

As I wrote on my opening blog post last summer, I'm just your typical person who's living life as much as I can. I have a great loving family, great cousins & relatives who care about me, and a great group of friends who know who I am, people who I now talk to again regularly thanks to this platform known as social media. Though I sometimes might be shy and don't spend as much time going out as much as everyone else, I'm someone who likes to be friendly with everyone, and is that guy who people can trust & talk to. I'm, as my twitter profile likes to call me, a people person.

Something I talked about in my opening blog post was that I have a symptom of autism carried over from when I was born. As everyone is aware, it is a serious disorder that affects many children & families, and my family has dealt with not only one, but two people with this condition, the other being my younger brother which affects him much more seriously than I am. Over time from when I was in my early childhood, I have gradually grown from being very autistic to becoming far more high functioning, right to the point where people can hardly think that I had autism at one time.

I have lived through a lot of my own personal events over the last 30 years: the aforementioned trips to the motherland, the big apple, sin city, SoCal & Hawaii. There's those weddings that my family have had in the last several years: my sister & bro-in-law on 7/7/07, and recently with my cousin Jeff last year. There's my strong relationship with the sports world & many sporting events I've went to, starting with that very first one, a Warriors game on Halloween 20 years ago. I got to meet Linkin Park almost a decade ago that ranks as my all-time favorite celeb & music moment, matched now by the many dealings I have everyday with MTV people on twitter. And the moment that tops them all, graduation day back in June 2001 when me & 561 people got our diplomas at Milpitas High School. I've was great friends w/ a lot of them back then and, now through Facebook, I'm able to talk to them regularly, just like those good old days.

Thanks so very much to everyone from the bottom of my heart who have sent me happy birthday greetings today, both from the inner circle of people who know who I am and for whom I'm proud to call my family and friends, as well as a new group of people who I've never met in person but have become good friends with in the social media world. These messages mean so much and it makes me feel good and thankful. The great support & respect I have received from you all - whether on my birthday or during the year - is very gratifying, and as always I'm most appreciative. It has been an amazing ride over the course of the last 30 years, and of course we can only wonder what the next 30 will have in store.

From me to you, here's to 30 years, and here's to 30 more. And once again, thank you for all of your birthday wishes. I cannot thank you all enough.

- DC

A DC Blog Primer on Orange County

By DC Cueva

@DC408dxtr

As autumn rolls on and some of my very good twitter friends have now flown out of the country & out of the social media world for the next month or so, my attention in the MTV world turns to two sets of great people who I've become great social media friends with as of late. In fact, most of them - all but three in total - have given me a follow, much in the same manner that some in the Real World & Challenge community have given me ever since I joined twitter last year.

   First, there's the beautiful ladies of Big Tips Texas who currently occupy the night usually accompanied by RW/Challenges: Wednesday. And Typhani, Kristin, Morgan, Amber, Jillian, Claire, Mercedez, Sabrina, Macy and Mimi will all keep me company on hump day until Real World Back to San Francisco takes over in the new year. And tomorrow night on that Thursday 10pm slot recently occupied by Jersey Shore and once owned by the medical drama E.R., the nurses of Scrubbing In will take center stage. And the great interaction among cast members of both shows, their fans and, most especially, between both casts, have caught my attention so much that they've caught on to my idea that they're part of "Team MTV."

   The ladder will see its premiere this Thursday (or "NurseDay" as they're calling it) with buzz being generated by press on both sides of the ledger. And it was this fan who's done his part to help build buzz for the show, and although I don't like starting any drama, I inadvertently added some extra fuel to the fire too - albeit in a good way. When I posted a screen-cap of my iPad lock screen changing over to a newly-posted press pic of the Scrubbing In cast and tagging all of the cast members/nurses - Tyrice, Chris, Chelsey, Michelle, Crystal, Nikki, Heather, Adrian & Fernando, it caught their eye almost immediately on Instagram & they were able to help spread the word as well.

The place that will serve as the backdrop for Scrubbing In is a familiar one to MTV viewers: Orange County, California. Nine years ago, this was host to Laguna Beach, that groundbreaking high school melodrama that made LC and Kristin household names. This time around, although we'll be seeing the cast have plenty of fun, it's not necessarily your typical summer vacation as these people are also registered nurses and are very skilled in what they do: saving lives, while also enjoying themselves after work.

   Some facts on Orange County: it's the 3rd largest populous county in the nation's largest state: over 3 million people live in the O.C., placing it behind only Los Angeles and San Diego Counties. As it is the smallest county in area in SoCal, it is also the region's most-densely populated county, and placing second only to San Francisco County in California amongst all counties. It's the 6th largest populous county in the U.S., also joining Cook County, IL (including Chicago), Harris County, TX (including Houston), and Maricopa County, AZ (including Phoenix), and placing it ahead of counties that include the Bronx & Queens in New York City, Dallas and Miami. And unlike other major population centers, there is no defined urban center in the county, as there are more suburban areas than usual, aside from county seat Santa Ana, tourism hub Anaheim, Irvine - anchor city of commerce, Huntington Beach and Fullerton; with the first three having populations over 200,000, Anaheim being the largest at over 330K followed by Santa Ana at 326K.

   Before Detroit went broke earlier this year, Orange County was the largest U.S. county & municipal area to declare for bankruptcy - that happened nearly 20 years ago, but it has since recovered to become one of the most-affluent counties in the country. It forms part of the Tech Coast where a number of information technologies call the Southland home, much similar to the Silicon Valley. A number of Fortune 500 & Fortune 1000 companies call the O.C. home (largest being computer hardware company Ingram Micro), while Irvine also lays claim to a number of start-ups and other key corporate headquarters/hub offices. And while it shares most of the same attributes of whites being majority & Hispanics being the largest minority, the thing that differates the OC from LA in its racial makeup is that the largest concentration of Vietnamese people living abroad resides in the county - nearly 190,000, part of nearly 370,000 who've deflected from the country to the LA market.

Of course, thanks in no small part to the fine Mediterranean climate & sunny skies that SoCal enjoys year round and brings travelers in from all over the world, the O.C. is well-known to most of us for its tourism, which represents a huge chunk of their economy. And you've no doubt heard about that great theme park Disneyland: two theme parks, three hotels and the entertainment district Downtown Disney, and I've been there three times when I was a kid. It's also home to Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park and many beaches along its 40+ miles worth of coastline. Across the street from "the happiest place on earth" is the largest convention center on the West Coast, the Anaheim Convention Center. And the largest mall on the West Coast calls Orange County home - South Coast Plaza.

   In the sports front, Anaheim is home to the Angels, who broke my heart when they beat the Giants in the '02 World Series, and later divided OC fans when they changed their name to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to tap more into the market of the larger neighbor city to the north. The Ducks became the first West Coast NHL franchise to lift the Stanley Cup in 2007, years after it came into the league and bearing the original nickname of the Disney film The Mighty Ducks. And Huntington Beach, "Surf City USA", is at the heart of SoCal's surf culture as home to the U.S. Open of Surfing & other surfing competitions, along with AVP volleyball, skateboarding and being home to USA Water Polo.

   For pop culture fanatics, most of us know Orange County has served as host to a number of movies & TV shows. As mentioned above, there's Laguna Beach, plus there's The O.C., which helped to increase tourism even more to the places seen on those shows, as well as The Real Housewives of Orange County and Arrested Development. In movies, the films Orange County, Better Luck Tomorrow and Ocean's Eleven, among others, were filmed there. All that aside, a recent local TV shakeup saw OC-based public TV station KOCE become the LA market's primary PBS member station when cost-cutting measures saw longtime member KCET disaffiliate from the pub-caster.

   And some other factoids: what article on this SoCal locale wouldn't be complete without mentioning automobiles? Three interstate and 13 state highways form the OC's highway system. Several colleges and universities call the OC home, including the University of California-Irvine, Cal State Fullerton and the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising. And who is the county's most well-known resident? Richard Nixon, who was born in Yorba Linda, became the 37th President of the United States and settled in San Clemente after his resignation. A presidential library in his hometown bears his name, just like the area's international airport, which is named for Newport Beach native John Wayne. Others who are natives or residents of the OC area include No Doubt & front lady Gwen Stefani, Will Ferrell, Kevin Costnwr, Tiger Wooda, Kobe Bryant, Linkin Park's Chester Bennington and MMA fighter Tito Ortiz.

Lastly, I forgot to mention in my BTT/SI post about the reason why I'm looking forward to watching Scrubbing In, and I actually told one of the new people, Chelsey, about this too. While I might not be interested in working in the healthcare profession - at least for now, in a way I can relate to the cast. I having great respect for the job they do, especially working in a tough, demanding and pressure-filled environment as working in hospitals, where lives are often on the line. My mom works for a company that provides renal testing facilities to kidneys. My uncle who lives in the New York area works in a hospital in Queens. And one of my high school friends, who also got to meet Steve Nash in my IG repost, also works in a hospital, also based in Southern California. Those reasons, along with having some of the same attributes I'm accustomed to on The Real World & other reality shows (laid-back atmosphere, some partying and drama) and the fact that this actually features those who have career aspirations (reminiscent of old-school RW), will all give reason to look forward to watching tomorrow night.

So, there's DC Blog's primer of Orange County. And a decade has past since I last went not only to the OC, but to Southern California, having last went in 2002 for my sister's college graduation. And because I'm so fascinated with SoCal, I feel like I'm well overdue for a trip. And especially since I have a couple kids, maybe soon we'll be taking them to Disneyland. So to sis & bro, can we make it happen?

   Stay tuned here to DCB as we cover sports, entertainment and some other things too. If you're a Real World/Challenge fan, check out my full coverage of Rivals II, with a season wrap up coming up soon, followed by RW Back to San Francisco. For now, thanks for reading and until then, have fun. And enjoy Scrubbing In. And to the nurses, welcome to Team MTV and good luck.

- DC

Sources

- Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_County,_California.

DC SocialPulse: Real World & Challenge - Cast Quotage

By DC Cueva

@DC408dxtr

Over the course of the last 16 months, I've been so fortunate to have the opportunity to talk & interact with people from the TV franchise I follow the most - MTV's The Real World & The Challenge. Of the over 200 people who've appeared on those shows and Road Rules, I've gotten a reply, favored tweet, RT or even a follow from over 100 of them on Twitter or Instagram. Yes, that's just about half of the entire community, a pretty remarkable feat considering it's my favorite show.

  With The Challenge: Rivals II in our rear view mirror after crowning a pair of deserving champions, filming of Real World Back to San Francisco rolling along in the City by the Bay, and buzz among fans continuing surrounding potential competitors on the next Challenge, this is the perfect time for DC Blog to share with you many of the comments the RW/Challenge family have left me in the social media world during this ride.

   Here now are a sampling of the best quotes, starting all the way back just as soon as I joined Twitter on June 27, 2012 - fittingly enough, season premiere night of Real World St. Thomas.

"Thank you so much I'm glad to be a part of it! I can't wait for the show to start ahhhh I'm going nuts!"

- Laura Waller, Real World St. Thomas (@LauraLeeMTV) - just before season premiere, and first comment

"It definitely wasn't easy to watch, but it was a lesson I has to learn by watching it."

- Robb Schreiber, Real World St. Thomas (@RobbMTV) - just after seeing himself do self-harm during EP

"Living in that house is harder than you would think! No communication back home and isolation with competitors all trying to win."

- Dustin Zito, Real World Back to Las Vegas (@DustinZito)

"Agreed (Dustin). Living in that house alone was harder than any challenge we ever did."

- Nany Gonzalez, Real World Back to Las Vegas (@NanyMTV)

> Both on the atmosphere of The Challenge BOTS house in Turkey as members of Team Vegas, and after she got in an argument with Knight & threatened to leave

"Thank you. I know I live 35 minutes away and have 2 god babies so it was a little too close to home for me."

- Ashley Kelsey, Real World Back to San Diego (@AshleyMarieMTV), just after the Sandy Hook school shootings in her home state of Connecticut

"Thanks homie I'm excited. It's gonna be a good season, crazy drama. It was fun doing too. I hope people watching really get to see the realness of our lives. Definitely gonna be a wild ride.

- Marlon Williams, Real World Portland (@JDeezyMTV), during the season lead up

"I am a twitterholic and love everyone so you'll def be hearing from me babe. I'm just a normal person just like y'all. Just fortunate to be on TV for a minute and learn a lot! I feel almost like a new person."

- Jessica McCain, Real World Portland (@MTVJess), during the season lead up

"Thank you dear...2013 is going to be a beautiful whirlwind! Hopefully you will enjoy me, you won't be disappointed! It's real this time, promise. ;)"

- Anastasia Miller aka "Bird", Real World Portland (@QueenBirdness), during the season lead up

"Wasn't difficult to mesh with them at all! I love being the new kid on the block. Plus I'm super comfortable in my own skin. :)"

- Nia Moore, Real World Portland (@TheRealNiaMoore), during an OK Magazine tweet chat on moving in as the new roommate & having to fit in with the present cast after replacing Joi

"Thanks brother. Keep getting the word out. I've stayed on them for years but they've never giving me the chance. Now's the time."

- David Leach, Road Rules Viewers Revenge (@MrDavidLeach), on his future aspirations on being on a Challenge

"Realllllllly? It's not like baseball where they play until the sun comes up as long as someone wins lol."

- Sandy Kang, The Challenge: Fresh Meat II (@SandyKang), after the 49ers/Rams 24-24 tie during the 2012 NFL season

"Really appreciate that my man. He was a great dude for sure."

- Dave Sky, Real World Hollywood (no longer on twitter), just after the death of cast member Joey Kovar in August 2012

"...I wasn't living the good life. But I'm glad people have someone to look to."

- Brandon Kane, Real World St. Thomas (@B_Brutality), on the struggles dealing with drugs & trying to stay sober during RWSTT

"Well it's something we used to back in the day. All the 'fun' stopped happening after the Inferno 2."

- Veronica Portillo, Road Rules 1999 & The Challenge (@V_Cakes), on comparing early & recent challenges and their environments

"I was absolutely stoked to get a shot at a Challenge. I would never allow myself to feel 'drawbacks' from such an amazing experience/opportunity. I am always aware of how lucky I am. World travel with friends? Yes plz!"

- Lacey Buheler, Real World Austin (@ImaLacey), on experience on being on her first Challenge, Battle of the Seasons as part of Team Austin

"I'm blessed and thankful for everything."

- Brandon Swift, Real World St. Thomas (@BSwiftMTV) - during a week where he was a key figure in a RWSTT episode and hosted Wiz Khalifa at Temple University

"Thanks brother! It was an incredible experience. Zach is a beast and one of the best athletes I know."

- C.J. Koegel, Real World Cancun (@JDeezyMTV), on , after posting pic from their arena on The Challenge BOTS, which also aired during week of his birthday

"Yes, definitely watch it all...it was a great movie with a touching story."

- Mike Ross, Real World Back to Vegas (@MikeRossMTV), on the movie Slumdog Millionaire

"@gaby she is awesome!"

- Jasmine Reynald, Real World Cancun (@JazMTV), on Gaby Douglas

"I'm always on vacation"

- Carley Johnson, The Challenge (@CarleyJohnson)

"Thanks! Will be a great season."

- Trishelle, Real World Las Vegas (@TrishelleC), before Challenge BOTS

"Yes we did."

- Derek Chavez, Real World Cancun (@MTVDerek)

"It was pretty awesome man."

- Joey Rozmus, Real World Cancun (@Joey_Rozmus)

> Both on LMFAO appearing on an episode of their season, two years prior to their 2011 breakout year

"...indeed I am truly blessed to have friends like that... #thankful"

- Eric Banks aka "Big Easy", The Challenge (@EricBanks), on being friends with GB Packers players including Aaron Rodgers

"I am beyond excited and can't wait to cheer for my teammates. #TeamNOLA"

- Ashlee Feldman, Real World Back to New Orleans (@AshleeFeldman), before Challenge BOTS

"SUPER excited. I can't wait to watch #TeamCancun #TeamSanDiego. Or should I say...#TeamSancun"

- Emilee Fitzpatrick, Real World Cancun (@EmileeMTV), before Challenge BOTS

"Thank you DC. Happy birthday."

- Trey Weatherholtz, Real World St. Thomas (@JDeezyMTV), on my 29th birthday

"#GOTEAM ;-)"

- Camila, The Challenge (@CamilaMTV)

"So gnarly bro!"

- TJ Lavin, The Challenge (@TJLavin), on the hardest mission on BOTS, Logged Out

"Happy Happy Birthday!"

- Devyn Simone, Real World Brooklyn (@DevynSimone), on my 29th birthday

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!"

- Latoya Jackson, Real World St. Thomas (@JDeezyMTV), on my 29th birthday

"BadabingBadaboom! :-)"

- Theresa Gonzalez, The Challenge (@TheresaMTV)

"Only the best come from the mitten."

- Wlll Gill, Real World Hollywood (@WillGill)

"So stoked! Don't know what to expect. Thank you!"

- Joi Neimeyer, Real World Portland (@PeaceLoveJoi), before the cast's first public appearance at Portland Comic-Con in February

"It's true. I couldn't just leave her."

- Averey Tressler, Real World Portland (@Ave_Tress), on her dog Daisy and why she decided to bring her to Portland

"@dc408dxtr welcome back Johnny. All of your fans have missed you on here, glad you're back." "RT Not as much as I missed all of you."

- Johnny Bananas, Real World Key West (@MTVBananas), after returning to twitter following filming of The Challenge: Rivals II

"I may not ride bikes but I own the slopes!"

- Luke Wolfe, The Challenge (@L_WolfePack)

"Filipinos represent!!!"

- Heather Cooke, Real World Back to Vegas (@CookeMTV), before Rivals II

"Never seen this before... Where you find?"

- Davis Mallory, Real World Denver (@DavisMallory)

"Cute... But the main promo shot they chose is a lot cuter! It's super cute, was in US Weekly!"

- Brooke LaBarbara, Real World Denver (@BDoll82)

> Both on my TBT pic of the RW Denver cast from the RW calendar

"Only one of the most amazing!"

- Preston Charles, Real World NOLA (@PrestoMagicMTV), on the Frank vs. Dustin fight on BOTS

"living in the house is the hardest part of the challenge."

"the friendships with me. Plus you learn a lot about yourself when you are put in those type of situations

- Jemmye Carroll, Real World New Orleans (@JemmyeMTV), on the living environment during The Challenge: Rivals II, and her favorite parts of her Real World NOLA & Challenge experiences

"the rivals2 house is awesome!! Tune in on July 10th at 10pm to see for yourself!!""

- Sarah Rice, Real World Brooklyn (@SarahRiceMTV), during the season lead up

"Get the Elmer's glue ready! Rivals II is a goody!"

- Paula Walnuts, Real World Key West (@PaulaWalnutsMTV), during a pre-season marathon of The Challenge Rivals

"Thank you DC! You're the best! Always so supportive! Continue being amazing."

- Anastasia, Real World Portland (@QueenBirdness), after she & Jessica were eliminated in the first girls jungle on Rivals II

"it was really hard to watch it again."

- Trey, Real World STT (@MTVtrey), after watching episode where he & Zach were disqualified & eliminated in the jungle on a technicality

"What its a real condition?"

- Diem Brown, The Challenge (@DiemBrownMTV), after finding out from me that EP9 of Rivals II was being appropriately titled, "Diemnesia"

"Thanks man, it's been a ride!"

- Jordan Wiseley, Real World Portland (@JordanMTV), after he & Marlon finished 3rd on Rivals II

In the course of the past year-&-a-half, I've had a great time talking and interacting with the RW/Challenge community on social media, not just these cast members, as this extends also to a slew of fans who I talk to regularly about these shows & a few other things. Though time has flown by considerably, it feels like I've know these people for so very long, and I know them just about as well as my actual friends, and I've been great supporters of all of them.

   If you're a cast member who happens to read this, watch DC Blog in the coming days for a thank you note as my way of saying thank you for these great seven months I've had of talking to you here.

Our coverage of The Challenge: Rivals II will officially wrap up in the coming days with a full recap of this exciting season, from covering all of the episodes to giving away my season awards. After that, DC Blog will cover sports, entertainment & more during the fall & winter with an occasional RW/Challenge post sprinkled in between, before it goes into full-blown mode again once the buzz starts for RW Back to SF. For now, thanks for reading and until then, have fun.

- DC

@DC408dxtr