#BB15 NYC Launch Party

Last year, I put out an innocent call via Reality Nation (RIP?) for fellow fans to gather for the launch of Big Brother 14. It evolved into a huge production with input from Big Brother alums, and was repeated this year through the stewardship of BB14's Adam Poch at Murray Bar 34 in midtown.  This year, relieved of hosting duties (relieved being the operative word), I hit the party as a spectator with my good Big Brother buddy ST in tow.

The night was interesting, to say the least - it was a hot and humid night in NY, and if you can't tell from the party pictures, the place was about 95 degrees and even more humid inside. That didn't stop fans and houseguests alike from mobbing the place for hours, squeezing through and stepping on each other's toes for photo ops and strategic debates.

A few highlights:

-The bar was 21 and up, and a group of young kids were unable to get into the bar. When we arrived, a considerable number of houseguests were kindly posing for pictures outside with the forlorn kids, including Porsche, Enzo, Ian, Adam Poch, Monica, and JennCity.

-Porsche was considerably taller than I expected, especially in her six-inch heels. She was pleased to hear that I was rooting for her at the end of BB13, then whispered: "Even against Rachel?" Yes, I said, even against Rachel. She seemed satisfied with that.

-I was squeezing through some close quarters and ended up standing in front of BB2's Monica for a few moments. I felt compelled to share with her, truthfully, that I've been re-watching Big Brother 2 on my iPhone at the gym lately, and I hope she wins this time.

-Somehow ST and I ended up chatting with Chef Joe Arvin of BB14 for awhile. We struck up a conversation as the show was airing, and ended up getting into a detailed consideration of whether Elissa should come clean about her family relations. Joe, who famously got Russell Hantz's brother Willie booted, was of the opinion that everyone would know immediately about Elissa's family connections. His prediction proved to be right.

-Joe also informed us that on BB14, while he wasn't familiar enough with Survivor to make the connection, he found out very quickly about Willie's family ties from his fellow housemates.

-Chef Joe Arvin is possibly the loudest human being I have ever met in my life.

-One more great Chef Joe moment: While discussing his season, Joe noted to us that, while his game may have been lacking, he at least knew what was going on in the house the majority of the time. The fan standing beside us piped up: "When the lights were on, anyway." Ouch. I took the opportunity to ask Joe how that conversation would have gone if Dan hadn't outed himself. He said he was planning to tell "Shane" that Dan was still with Danielle, and not to believe any of it.

-We also had a chat with BB14's JoJo, who was very into the premiere episode. She wasn't a Big Brother fan before going on the show, but like most former houseguests, she now claims to be obsessed, to the point that she even watched Big Brother Canada online. JoJo was a fan of The Sheyld and Talla, which makes sense, since Talla was basically the Canadian JoJo.

-Michelle Maradie was in attendance ("Who?" First boot on BB4, look it up!), which made us note her more-than-passing resemblance to BB15 houseguest Aaryn.

-Eric Stein remains one of my favorite Big Brother houseguests of all time. He did not seem pleased about his recent loss in Risk, which he was quick to point out was just a silly board game. Duly noted, Eric.

-Michelle Costa was audibly shocked when McCrae won the first HOH.

-ST wanted a picture with Ian, who was looking quite adorable as he got a little more drunk and sweaty. Not that I'm planning to rob the cradle or anything. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't consider it. We asked Ian how Jun's matchmaking service is working out for him. (ST is Jun's honorary sister.) Ian admitted that it wasn't. Hopefully ST can use her honorary family connections to make that happen for Ian.

-On a similar note, ST and I both noted Elissa's misspelling of Jun's name on her dreamboard and immediately docked her points for that.

-All in all, it was a great party, and shoutout to our new bar buddies, Karen and Jeffery, as well as all of the houseguests who put up with the heat, humidity, and harassment of fans to enjoy the premiere with all of us.

The BB NYC party is becoming a fun tradition, and I'm already looking forward to next season. Thanks for keeping it alive, Adam!

Around the Web: #BBCan Fallout Matchmaker Edition

Now that the Big Brother Canada houseguests have returned to the outside world, most of them are on Twitter, with the notable exceptions of Topaz, Emmett, and Jillian.

OTP

As I had hoped, The Shield The Sheyld have been particularly responsive so far, with both fans and with haters, though Peter seems more comfortable on Twitter than Alec.

Vs.

Needless to say, the pair aren't getting a uniformly cheery reaction on Twitter, but they're able to find the positive:

In other news, the Alec/Topaz "thing" continues its weirdness, unabated:

Ohhhh, she probably did. 

In other Big Brother news, there's a new development in the Big Brother US winner's circle, with BB4 winner Jun Song starting a dating service focused exclusively on finding love for BB14 winner Ian Terry after a particularly self-deprecating tweet from the founder of the Quack Pack.

Wonder if she'd expand the circle outside of Big Brother winners to include Big Brother losers? Since it sounds like Alec might be back to the drawing board in that department.

And speaking of Big Brother winners and love, someone in the UK has had a little time on their hands:

Indeed.

I wonder if Jay and Louise's rumored breakup had anything to do with Aaron's Big Brother marathon - I can't shake the feeling that he and Faye are privately giddy about outlasting JayLou to be the longest-lasting showmance of BBUK Season 12. I imagine their reaction looking something like this:

Maybe Jay can get a leg up now from JunMatches.com too, if she expands the circle to include Big Brother losers. (Warning: link is to Jay's very unflattering leg tattoo of Louise, don't click while eating.)

I guess all that's left to say on that can be summed up by the Bit on the Side caption team:

Confidential to Peter

Peter finally realized tonight what most of us realized days ago: his game is over, and his goose is cooked.

In a fitting tribute to Ian Terry, he launched into a lengthy monologue on the hammock that was at times astonishing, sad, bittersweet, and freaking depressing.

I'm a little worried for how he's going to fare once he realized that his game was heavily critiqued on the internet, given how much personal stake he seems to put in it, and how high he seems to have valued it himself. It seems like, based on both his Diary Room comments tonight and the hammock monologue, that he's not entirely happy with the current state of his real life, and was counting on success in Big Brother to redeem himself.

Peter:



And you is funny, not that comedy is an easy career, but there's a reason you won the heart of not one but two mooses.

And you should base your self-worth on something more than Big Brother. Seriously. You had a nice spring as the innocuous star/narrator of a relatively popular Canadian TV series, but there's more to life, and it's time to do what others have done before you: enjoy your fifteen minutes of fame, and use it to figure out where you're going next, rather than let it bring you down and spend the next years dwelling on it.

Cause right now, you're sad about the fact that you've come in fifth place on a second reality show, but that's not even true, because you're actually sixth (behind Gary, most likely).

So chin up, pull up those bootstraps, look in the mirror, and remind yourself that it doesn't matter if you win or lose, it's how much money you can pull in off your Youtube channel now.

And if all else fails, there's still a moose somewhere that loves you.

Big Brother Around the Web: Ian Sounds Off on Big Brother Canada

The Survivor Sucks Big Brother Canada thread was visited this evening by poster Flipbox, better known as Big Brother 14 winner Ian Terry.

I don't know if I share Ian's faith in Peter as a mental gamer, and neither do other posters in the thread. Ian still comes back minutes later to insist that:

What do you all think? Is Peter capable of pulling an Ian-like mental superfan run at the endgame?

It is worth noting that Ian hadn't done much at this stage in the game either - I don't think he won a single competition before Day 48, according to his favorite website.

As for me, I would argue that the difference between Ian and Peter is: Ian was conspiring to see strong threats going home at this stage in the game, while Peter is doing very little to eliminate Jillian, Emmett, and three-time competition winner Andrew from the competition.

Sunday Evening Feed Outage: A Clue?

Feeds have been down for a few hours this afternoon and evening, for unknown reasons. The POV ceremony probably isn't until tomorrow, but Sunday afternoons have been used for twists, like Andrew's carbonara disaster the other week.

This could be related to Canada's vote (for a pool table or air hockey table - obviously, it will be the air hockey table). Two other possible clues went out over Twitter early in the blackout, and were retweeted by the official Big Brother Canada account:

Hold up - mooses don't quack. 

Could the moose be bringing a visitor into the house? The latest tweets from Big Brother 14 winner Ian Terry placed him in New Orleans last night, but a flight from New Orleans to Toronto isn't that long, and the Big Brother Canada house is right by the airport. 

I'll be happy if this indicates the return of the moose and her sass. I just hope feeds come back before Alec and Topaz's scheduled HOH date tonight.

Topaz was planning to make mashed potatoes and eggs for some bizarre reason, and I was looking forward to seeing how that would go over with Alec.