Just when you thought reality television couldn’t possibly get any worse..

Along comes a show on VH1 called “The Pickup Artist.” Yes, worse than “Flavor of Love”, “I Love New York”, and even “Charm School.” The premise: a former nerd turned suave ladies man (pfftt..sorry, hehe okay let’s be serious now) takes 8 average Joes with no success in dating and promises to turn them into pickup artists too.

Sigh.

Okay first of all, I hate this “Mystery” guy (yeah your real name is Eric Von Markovik). I seriously think he time traveled back to 1998 and went shopping at Allston Beat where he obtained the faux-fur pimp hat, black eyeliner, black nailpolish, (umm it was cool when the Crow did it, but not when you do it), and that god-awful soul patch. And don’t get me started on how corny the whole heroin-chic skinny guys with long hair bit is..

Check out the doofy website here for a good snicker: http://www.venusianarts.com/sl/va/VenusianArts.aspx. And if you’ve got $5,000 to blow, you can take attend one of his bootcamps. Or you could give me $5 and I’ll give you my advice: get some exercise, develop your interests, be confident and be yourself. Oh and pluck the monobrow.

Weird Jobs

Weird job #1 http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/tfr/390074215.html

While searching for a new job, I have come across some very strange job descriptions, so I have created a new category of postings: Weird Jobs. This one sounds normal: watch an episode of a TV show and tell them what you think. Until… you see the pictures of the SWAT-like vests?!?!

Study: Get paid $50 to watch an episode of a new network TV show starting this fall.
Company: InnerScope Research (http://www.innerscope.com)
To participate, fill out the following short survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ii9EBIqV4UXmxL1O06OltQ_3d_3d
What we need from you:
* You will wear a health monitoring vest (like a bicycle shirt) under your regular clothing, but over a new T-shirt we provide
* You will watch a new network television show that will air this fall (you may have already seen previews for it)
* You will answer a short survey and some demographic questions
* At the end of the session, we will pay you $50
* Languages: Fluent in English
* Minimal Experience: Have watched American TV for the last 4 years

Indian Thriller with English Lyrics!

Just when you think you’ve seen it all-

No…more…pah…

 T. J. : We are planning an intervention.

Japan: Land of…

 The fearless group of Artful Dodger Travel Correspondents traveled to the beautiful land of Japan. Here are some photos from their trip. Japan is a land of…

Geishas

Serene temples

Incredibly Confusing Toilets

and Kenny G.?

Schadenfreude

Pronunciation: 'shä-d^&n-"froi-d&
Function: noun
Usage: often capitalized
Etymology: German, from Schaden damage + Freude joy
: enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others

ex. Paris Hilton being sent back to jail to serve out the rest of her sentence fills me with a smug sense of Schadenfreude.

What I’m watching on TV (that you should be too)

1) The Simple Life Goes to Camp– Trust me, there is nothing more hilarious than watching a 90-pound Nicole Ritchie giving a 300-pound man an enema. At first, I thought the producers were pretty sadistic sending these stick-thin, gorgeous girls to a fat camp, but the campers seem to like them just fine! Especially since P & N sneak off the camp with the fat campers and buy trashbags full of candy. And Nicole, god love her, brings a flaming red Chanel classic flap bag with her to the rustic camp. Watch some scenes here: http://www.eonline.com/on/shows/simplelife/index.jsp

E! channel, Sundays at 10:00PM EST

2) Rob and Big– Reality show about a famous skater, Rob Dyrdek, and his bodyguard, “Big Black”. Favorite episodes so far- Rob finds Big making breakfast one morning (bacon and eggs) while he’s eating a pre-breakfast of a burger. Rob tries to get Big to lose some of his 416-lb bulk. Another great one- Rob gets a mini-horse as a pet, so Rob and Big play Will Smith’s “Wild Wild West” soundtrack, get all dressed up in cowboy gear and dance around, and keep the horse in the living room.

Tuesdays at 10:30 PM EST on MTV, but they play repeats on weekends. Check out past episodes here: http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/rob_and_big/series.jhtml