Anonymously Me And The Monkeys
Current mood: animated
Category: Writing and Poetry

Address All:

Hey every1. I need to vent. I've had a horrible day and things aren't going Gr8. Today I got a ticket! Can you believe it. I was on the freeway & I was trying to tell my mom I would be home in 20 minutes and the cop had the nerve to say I was swerving. I never did get that text message off. Mom was mad at me like I did something wrong.

Yesterday I was at school taking a test. I got a text message during a test and they said I was cheating! I told them that it was just my friend Ashley asking me what my locker combination was. Like answering a text message during a test is a federal offense! Like, yeah right!

Then at work my boss gave me a citation for personal phone usage. Like talking to my boyfriend is personal. I sell electronics for gods sake, he could've bought something! So anyway, I texted all my friends and told them not to shop their anymore. When I go back to work tomorrow I am going to laugh when sales go down.

So then after work we all went to the food court to get *bucks. The guy hands me my drink and I was on the phone and I dropped the drink on the floor. Everyone around me looks at me like I did something wrong when that Nimrod cashier was the one giving me a hot drink while I'm not paying attention. Then they won't even give me a free one! What happened to the customer always being right?

So then my boyfriend tonight was messing around with my ringtones on my phone and finds a joke picture message from another guy friend. There is a picture of this guy with no clothes on. So what we send each other funny pix! Then that jerk throws my phone down and walks out. How dare he do that. This is a very expensive phone!

So to top the whole thing off I got online with Mom so she could pay my phone bill and there is this is this enormous bill. She is threatening to take my phone away. How could she, its my right to have a phone. Everyone has one and I bet you her parents gave her a phone when she was young! I can't figure out why the bill was so big, but I have a job I can pay off some of it. That ought to be enough for her. She said that she thinks texts messages aren't unlimited, but that would just be stupid. Text messages have been around for ever, why wouldn't they be free?

So anyway, thanks everyone for letting me vent. Sorry for the long text message.

<3 Shelly

P.S. I am attaching this great pic of a monkey picking his butt. Those monkeys are so stupid!

Currently watching : Idiocracy Release date: 2007-01-09

6:09 AM - 2 Comments - 5 Kudos - Add Comment

Hello All From Anonymously Me
Current mood: awake
Category: Writing and Poetry

Hey all, its been so long since I've done anything on here.  I guess life just got in the way.  I'm sorry I've neglected all of you.  I've been dealing with so many things in my life this year its incredible I'm still standing.  Between battling depression, starting a new job, dealing with family issues and trying to finish my book I am just going crazy. 

I guess I felt the need with an election coming up to at least show up and say hello.  I am concerned about this election.  I am concerned that people will vote because of race or sex rather than politics.  I am concerned that because of wanting a white or black man in they will vote that way.  That is a horrible reason to vote.   Like the song says if you can tell the worth of a man by the color of his skin then man you are a better man that I.  And voting for McCain just so we have our first female VP is just about as dumb.  I guess I'm just concerned where our country is heading. 

Are we heading to a more enlightened place of understandings and beliefs or are we resting our heads on a racially motivated pillow of hate and close-mindedness. 

I don't care who you vote for.  I don't care if you vote Republican or Democrat or other.  But make sure you know who you are voting for. 

Which leads me to one more thing, VOTE!

Make sure you get out there and vote, if you don't then you aren't allowed to complain in my opinion.  If you didn't throw your hat in the ring for Kerry/Edwards or even Gore a few years back then you have no right to complain about Bush...Just my opinion.

Anyway, I will try to be back more but no promises. 

I understand that I probably won't get many responses any more since I've neglected everyone for so long, but I figured it couldn't hurt to say hi.

~Anonymously Me

Currently reading : Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life By Martin E. P. Seligman

6:11 AM - 9 Comments - 10 Kudos - Add Comment

Great short story. See what you think (Part 1)
Current mood: artistic
Category: Writing and Poetry

"The Shocking Reward"

"Ladies and gentlemen," A man came on the TV who looked like he was selling something, "Citizens of America I have an exciting announcement to make. So far you have seen people sing, dance, make jokes, eat disgusting things, live in strange situations and try to fall in love for the sake of reality TV. Soon you will see a show that tops all of this. A show is coming with the most shocking prize ever shown on network television. If you think you have what it takes to try out for "The Shocking Reward" then please contact this stations local affiliate. We will be holding try-outs for the next 5 months. At the end of which 10 people will be selected as finalist. Each of the 10 people will win 100,000 dollars no matter what happens. If you are in the top 10 you will not walk away broke. If you win the top prize, everyone you know and yourself will never be the same. Your life will take a massive change in direction. If you think you know what it takes, come try out my friend."

For Personal Use Only.

Daily Journal of Marvin Cotton

March 1^st, 2010, 8 A.M.

That aired on every television station in America in 4 languages for over a year. TV stations were each offered a piece of the profits if they showed the commercial and more than that each was offered a different week of competition for exclusive viewing rights. Even the movie channels got in on it and advertised for weeks. This meant that if people wanted to see the action, they would have to pay for that station just to see it. People are already ordering the station in advance.

The try-outs start in 1 week. Every person that applied was given a number. When that number is called they have to be at the door ready to try out or they don't get their shot. We have set up 20 different try-outs all across America. The big shots thought at first this was too many, but they have been proven very wrong. The first try-out is in Seattle. People started signing up as soon as we allowed them to, 3 months ago. Now we are told that people are already camping out around Qwest Field. We originally tried to rent out the basketball stadium but were told it didn't have enough parking for the event.

I am one of the judges. My name is Marvin Cotton. I have been selected by the suits in Hollywood because of my ability to find character in people. My job normally is a casting director for major motion pictures. I guess someone figures that I can look at people and see "it". I have always had the ability to find a star and it has paid off well.

I am a little confused though. No one has told me what they want. They won't tell me if they are looking for good looking, over weight, male, female, or any race. I think they honestly want me to weed people out based on good and bad quirks.

I have met one of the other judges. There are apparently 4 of us. The one I met was named Tina Robbins and she is a psychologist. She specializes in analyzing suspects personalities for the government. From what she told me she can spend 15 minutes with a person and tell you if they will ever commit a crime in their life or be able to hold together a marriage. I got very quiet after she told me that. I don't like people trying to figure me out.

Anyway, she told me that the directs of this asked all over the country for the best criminal personality analyst and her name kept coming up. From what she says they went straight above her head and got her paid time off and are still paying her to be here. She told me she welcomes the break from work as she hasn't had a vacation in over 3 years. I joked with her and asked what that meant about her personality. She got a very straight face and answered that it meant she was a workaholic who couldn't ever settle down. Then she laughed and said that the truth was she was happily married and very unorganized.

We have been separated from the rest of the world. We are like a sequestered jury for a high priority murder case. You would think that Britney Spears' life was on the line here. The sad truth of it is that they don't want us spilling the beans or the secret to anyone but we don't know anything. Tina and I tried to figure out what the prize or even the contest would be but figured out nothing.

Tomorrow we have a meeting with a group of Hollywood suits. I am hoping they tell us a little more about our situation as I don't really like being in the dark. I will tell you this though, its hilarious to me that all these people are showing up for a TV reality show that no one knows anything about. The prize could be a crisp 5 dollar bill and all these people are coming out for it. I think the idea is genius. People don't try out for some shows because they can't sing or dance or survive in the wild. This one, no one knows what the criteria is so they are all showing up for it. Every diva, wannabe, poor person, athlete, fake and flake is going to be here. My daughter is trying out in the LA audition, go figure. I told the officials to see if she was eligible and they said it was no problem. Scary, I hope this isn't rigged some how. I would hate to be associated with a scandal.

For Personal Use Only.

Daily Journal of Marvin Cotton

March 2^nd 2010, 1 P.M.

We just left the meeting with the suits. They are telling us that this show will make television history and blah and blew a lot of smoke up our butts. What I took from that, and Tina backed me up on this, those suits didn't know what the point of this show was either.

Apparently a young man pitched this show to 4 different networks and got yeses from all of them. His solution to this problem was to allow all of them to have a piece. Smart kid. 21 years old and has already created a monster. I hope he doesn't think Hollywood is this easy all the time.

The real point of the meeting was to tell us who to pick and to let us meet the other judges. Of course there was me, and they let everyone know I am in charge of picking talent and a spark. Tina, as they put it, could tell who was dangerous and shouldn't be allowed on the show. A man named Marshal Washington was there. If you don't know who Marshal Washington is you must've lived in a whole for the last 15 years. He played basketball for the New York Knicks and was one of the most publicized and controversial players to take the court in a long time. He was famous first off for being great at the game. Then came strippers, drugs, fist fights with refs, breaking TV cameras and the mysterious disappearance of his wife. The funny thing is that he was taken first in the draft all those years ago for one simple reason. The player who was taken number two was considered too much of a trouble maker. Marshal is a white man and the other man was black with a family in the hood. Everyone assumed he would be a punk and that Marshal would be the good white boy. Everyone was wrong. Anyway, he was chosen to help dictate athletic abilities. They said that he shouldn't pick people that were just strong or fast but should pick one of each. There should be a fast person, a strong person, a fat person, and just a nice mixture of people. They made it very clear to all of us that we weren't to pick any one type of person. Instead we should make this as diverse as possible. I personally don't think they chose Marshal for his athletic prowess, they chose him because they needed a name on the panel. Next in line was a short black woman. I didn't catch her real name but she went by Dizzy Thatch. They said that she was a representative from RACOA or the Racial Acceptance Coalition of America. Her expertise apparently lies in her ability to tell a racist from the look on their face. I won't even go into that. Apparently she was chosen to help diversify the group again.

This is a very diverse group in itself and the idea that we were chosen for our trained abilities tells me that they truly want a very interesting group.

I only hope we don't disappoint.

For Personal Use Only.

Daily Journal of Marvin Cotton

March 7^th 2010, 6 A.M.

We were told last night to get a good nights sleep as we would be getting an early wake up call. I didn't expect to be on a bus towards the football field already at 6 AM. Not to mention its a Sunday and this is when I usually sleep in.

We are only 5 minutes usually from the stadium but we have already been in the car for a half hour. Thousands of people have shown up for the try-outs. Cars from all over the state and surrounding states are here. I can't get over how many people have shown up. We are now a mile from the stadium and people are walking in droves towards it.

I am looking around and see people in crazy costumes, some with painted face, some dressed in formal wear and I've seen at least one nearly naked couple. I don't know what people think they are trying out for, but obviously they have some interesting ideas. Points for originality I guess.

This is the last mile before we reach the stadium and the trip is going much faster. The cops have roped off a road for us. We are a very auspicious limo and people are yelling, screaming and trying to get noticed. We have to make sudden jerky stops once in a while to avoid hitting morons that run out in front of us.

Okay, we are at the front door now. I will finish this later.

For Personal Use Only.

Daily Journal of Marvin Cotton

March 7^th 2010, 10 PM

That was the longest 14 hours of my life. We just interviewed nearly 10 thousand people and almost all of them were idiots. We didn't know what to say to them when they first started coming in the interview room. Most of them we just pointed to them and told them to start. It was really interesting how people reacted to this. Some would read poetry, some would sing, some would start telling us their life stories and others would tell us about these horribly miserable heart wrenching stories pertaining to their families.

I kept looking over at the other judges to see what they thought. Marshal spent most of his time with a very confused and bored look on his face. None of this proved anyones athletic ability. Well, except for the one guy that took his cue to drop down and do 100 push-ups as fast as he could. Marshal wasn't that impressed. He walked over and dropped down next to the young man and started doing push-ups with him. Every time they came to the top Marshal would say, "Do you think this is helping you win?" or something of the sort. Finally the boy gave up and walked out of the room with his head hung low.

Before the next contestant came back Marshal walked back to the table and slammed his hands down. He yelled, "I have an idea. First off, this is boring as hell and we need to liven it up. My idea, lets each new person that comes in take a different personality. Next person that comes in you can be the bad guy." and he pointed at me.

At first this sounded really dumb. Then I thought about it logically. What the hell else was I doing.

So the next person came in and we told them to start how ever they wanted. This man was a 35 year old with unkempt hair down to his back and ripped jeans. He pulled out his guitar and started playing some 70's hippie folk song.

I yelled at him, "What is this crap? What do you think you are trying out for? Do you think this is Woodstock?"

But I have to give the man credit. He put down his guitar and started to dance. Horribly. Atrociously. So I laughed at him and eventually he left. Tina looked at me and gave me this look indicating how mean that was.

I responded by saying, "You're up!".

The next person walked in and it was perfect. It was a young girl dressed completely in black. She had black eye make-up on and stripped black and white stockings and looked like she was just ready to kill herself.

As she walked in we told her to begin and she started spouting off this miserable poetry about her childhood.

Tina was on it like a hippie on weed. She said, "What is this? Do you know what my job is?" The young girl shook her head sheepishly and Tina continued, "My job is to determine who is a threat to themselves or the world. You my dear, need help. This isn't a depressing competition so unless you want to be out before it starts you better try again."

I chuckled at her attempt to play the bad cop. I didn't chuckle though when the young girl shifted her tactic. Instead of that moody poem she started singing at the top of her lungs and belted out a perfect Whitney Houston song. All four of were taken aback. I just blinked.

As the girl walked out of the room Tina couldn't help it. She yelled after her, "Good job girl."

The next man to walk in was a bald headed redneck looking man. He had a visible tattoo of the confederate flag on his shoulder. Dizzy stood up and looked around at us and whispered, "I got this one."

She walked around the table and sat on the edge looking at the man. He looked at her with fake confidence. She pointed to the floor, and said, "Well, start cracker."

The man was taken aback and said, "What?" in a violent voice.

I stood up and said, "If you want to be on this show you better start, cracker."

He looked at me with fury. I was a white man too so I guess he thought I'd be on his side.

The man started singing Sweet Home Alabama.

Dizzy started laughing as loud as she could. He kept stopping and she kept waving him on while laughing. When he finally finished his choppy rendition she wiped her eyes and said, "Man, is that how you rednecks sing? Good lord, how do you ever expect to get in this competition?"

The man took a step forward and said, "Maybe I could get in by beating up a woman. And a colored woman at that."

With that Marshal jumped up, onto his chair and over the table. He grabbed the man before he could say anything and threw him to the floor.

The man wrestled his way out and stormed out of the room talking about suing. None of us cared.

That was our bonding moment. We had a lot more fun after that. The rest of the try-outs were a lot easier. We unanimously decided that every name we got would get a grade. A grade of "A" meant that the person was interesting and fell into our personal criteria. A "C" meant that they were only one of those things, interesting or falling into the criteria. "f" meant that they were so boring they shouldn't even be considered. You would be surprised how many unanimous "F"'s we gave.

We decided to wait till tomorrow to go through these names and try to remember who was who. Anyone that was an unanimous F was automatically out. Everyone else we would pick from there.

Now I am going to sleep. I am beat. So many stupid people in this state. I hope its not this bad everywhere.

For Personal Use Only.

Daily Journal of Marvin Cotton

March 8^th 2010, 2 PM

We are breaking for lunch for 2 hours. We have been separating names all day long. We have already thrown out over 5 thousand names. Straight into the garbage because they were boring, violent or just not compatible.

We have started a pile of people we feel should move on for sure to the next round. So far that pile is only about 300 strong. The others are all maybe. The producers told us that we should have anywhere between 500 and 1000 names when we leave Seattle. They told us that all the contestants are expected to get to Los Angeles on their own accord and anyone that doesn't make it will automatically be eliminated. That will probably weed out another 10%. If we pick 1000 names in all 20 cities we could end up with 20,000 people in Los Angeles. Thats a stadium in itself. Its a stadium full of strange people, original people, non-boring people and exciting people. It will be an interesting stadium.

We only have about 2 thousand names to go through at this point. I'm about ready to started throwing away every third person to help with the elimination process but the sad fact is we have to actually try to remember every person. The auditions were all taped and will be edited and shown next Sunday night on one of the competing stations.

Every week a different station, different city and different set of try-outs. Only the judges will be the same.

Kind of scary actually. If these numbers keep up we could see over a million people. Its crazy to think that you can interact with a million people and probably not come out of it really knowing anyone new. Except the other judges of course.

For Personal Use Only.

Daily Journal of Marvin Cotton

July 11^th 2010, 11 A.M.

We have spent 5 months weeding out people from across America. We started out with almost a million. Through our little system of casting off the borings we reduced it down to about 15 thousand. A month ago everyone came to Los Angeles and the Producers did something, live on national TV that I would've never guessed. They invited all 15 thousand people to the Staple's Center in Los Angeles.

Every person that showed up (which was only about 12 thousand) got a ticket when entering the stadium. They were told to sit in the seats assigned to them.

As the show started the host, a Hollywood teeny bopper favorite named Chaz Sourly announced that there would be an elimination immediately. The show went to commercial and when it came back he asked everyone in the stadium with an Odd numbered seat to stand up. 6 thousand people stood up.

He said, "Everyone with an Even numbered seat..." He paused for dramatic effect and it worked because no one knew what was coming next, "Even numbered seats. Good bye."

All the lights in the stadium went out except for spot lights which pointed to the exit signs. The uproar was incredible. These people had passed a test with no rules and had paid to get themselves to Los Angeles and without any warning were being sent home. Booing incurred and Chaz had to try to shmoos the crowd. On live TV we nearly had a riot as security guards came out from every exit and isle. People were being horded out the door like cattle and most weren't happy about it. Some of the odd numbered seat people left too, because they feared for their safety.

It was a huge publicity stunt. And it worked. Not only did people from all over tune into watch it, they replayed it the next night and caught just as many ratings. People had missed it and the word of mouth and E! replays were making it almost impossible to hear about.

The Producers gave us Sunday July 4^th off but we were sworn to secrecy. We signed a privacy waver and were liable up to millions of dollars if we let anything spill. To say we had last Sunday off though is a bit of a stretch. I tried to have a picnic with my wife and daughters and was hounded by media and fans trying to get any bit of information out of me. I was happy to call the cops and get the squatters of my lawn but it didn't do much. It really wasn't much of a rest.

Now its only 7 hours till the show starts. It is whittled down to just under 6 thousand people and we were told by tonight we would personally make the number fall to about 2 thousand.

Tina has come to me and expressed concern about this. She was terrified during the last elimination. People were threatening us, throwing things at us and threatening to fight. We weren't exactly in the middle of the whole thing but we were close enough. She is terrified that tonight there will be 4 thousand, non-boring people who will be after us for blood. I am trying my best to calm her down but what can I say. I know as little about all of this as she does. The sad thing is that her job is to analyze how dangerous a person can be and by spending a few minutes with all of these people she knows just how scary a situation this can be.

Oh yeah, incidentally, we met the creator of the show last night. He is an interesting cat. His name is Johnathon Mort Barry. He goes by J.M. For short though. That seems like quite the introduction to me, but whatever. He is young and successful, I guess he has the right. He apparently doesn't watch TV or watch movies and according to Tina he has a very violent streak in him. I thought he was nice enough. He was thrilled with the way the show was going and at our choices for contestants. He spent a little time with each of us.

I don't really know what he said to the other three but he told me that this show would change the face of American television forever. He told me I was doing my part to, let me get this right, "form the future children of America into logically thinking humans."

I kinda thought he was nuts. I don't know how a reality show would accomplish that but he's right on about one thing. This show is making a huge impact. Its currently the highest rated show on TV and has been for months. The next few episodes are supposed to be higher rated than anything non sports related on TV.

What ever happens, I hope the "shock" at the end of this show doesn't disappoint.

For Personal Use Only.

Daily Journal of Marvin Cotton

July 12^th 2010, 1 AM

That was insane. We just got back to our hotels. Tina and I spent the entire night talking and we both feel a little guilty for making cuts this large on such a generic level. After 4 thousand people were sent home tonight most of them stayed outside to protest. We weren't allowed to leave until they left. Now its 1 and I'm exhausted.

I can't sleep. I write when I'm upset, its just always been my way.

How do I describe the insanity that happened tonight on that insane show. First we had everyone line up, single file, in a warehouse full of darkness, sheets and secrecy. The judges were brought past the sheets first and my jaw dropped when I saw what was next.

Standing in front of me was a stage, set up with microphones and a large screen behind it. Next to the stage was a large above ground pool with glass sides so you could see into it. Inside the pool was large snakes. On the other side of the pool was a table with what I found out later was some disgusting items on it. The bowls on the table contained things like maggots and scorpions. A path lead from the table onto a track that surrounded the entire area. The exit from the track led back to the stage and the other side of the stage was an arrow pointing to the exit.

I didn't understand any of this. It seemed like a combination of every reality show on TV with the exception of someone trying to fall in love with someone for money.

We took our seats in front of the stage and the first person came in. It was a man in his 20's. He was giving a piece of paper and as he got it we received the same thing. I read over it and again my jaw dropped. These people were expected, in this order to Sing, swim to the bottom of the pool through the snakes, get a key to unlock a ladder on the other side of the pool, jump out, eat maggots and bugs, run two laps and then come up on stage and dance. The first man didn't even try. This 20 year old just walked up on stage, said "sorry" and walked off the other side. I will never know what part of it turned him off.

We watched all night as people screeched out songs, dove in and out of nasty waters, ate gross things, tried to run and then attempted to dance. So many people gave up before the pool this show was doing our work for us.

A few people puked while running, which was a smell we didn't really need.

By the end of the night though, the 6 thousand people was down to 1500.

15 hundred people that were willing to do anything for money. 15 hundred people that had survived through luck and circumstance and willingness to embarrass themselves for a reward to which was still a mystery. I guess technically they were shooting for the 100 thousand dollars that each of the top 10 received. But who knows past that.

The 15 hundred people all stayed after to wait out the protesters. I didn't blame them. Luck was great, but why push it.

10:33 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Great short story. See what you think
Current mood: artistic
Category: Writing and Poetry

For Personal Use Only.

Daily Journal of Marvin Cotton

July 18^th 2010, 1 AM

Here we go again. We just had another illumination tonight and another protest. This one was bigger than the last. It seems like people from all the rounds came out to plead their case, but I suspect it was more about their 15 minutes of fame.

It also didn't help that the news and every gossip show in the country advertised the protest. Also, I expect it to be worse next week because the producers of "The Shocking Reward" showed the protest during the show this week.

We are now down to 500 people from last weeks 15 hundred. The eliminations tonight were actually kind of interesting. It was basically a huge game of musical chairs. Well thats not really accurate, it was more like 3 large games of musical chairs. The people were all split up into groups of 500 people each. The rest sat back and watched the festivities with us four judges. We watched as a game of musical chairs ensued. After the first round there was only 400 seats. The next round there was only 300 seats. Then 200 seats and finally down to 167 seats. We watched as people fought, clawed, intimidated, yelled, and accused their way into the seats. At the end of the first round there was 167 people who were humiliated, beaten, abused but were moving on. Everyone else was escorted out of the building.

We did this two more times of course and when all was said and done there was three sets of 167, which added up to 501 people. I must say, I never would've thought of that.

Then, at the end of the show Chaz came out to congratulate the winners. He said he had a special treat for everyone. He said one person was about to get a crisp one hundred dollar bill, but it wouldn't be easy to get. Everyone was seated in the auditorium seats and Chaz pointed to the air above them. Above them was a huge bag. Chaz snapped his fingers and the bag opened and thousands of dollars started falling from the sky. The producers said into our ear that there was 2 thousand 1 dollar bills in that pile, and only 1 hundred.

The cameras swirled around, zoomed in, flew over and tried to get every shot available. We watched as these tired, defeated, bruised group of people regained their strength and tried their damnedest to get get the money. I noticed a few people not even try. I noticed others shoving money in their pockets not caring what it was. I noticed others pulling that same money out of the previous persons pockets. It was a huge free for all and I was terrified someone was going to get hurt. Instead I heard it. I heard a woman scream. You would have thought she just one the lottery. She jumped up and down with her 100 dollar bill.

Chaz called her up on stage. She walked up on stage while the others grumbled and stuffed ones in their pockets and looked on in envy. Chaz put his arm around the woman, who appeared to be in her 30's. I remember her, strangely enough. She had three kids and was putting one of them through college. I liked her. She seemed sweet. She was interesting only because she told us that she could hold her breath for over 6 minutes and proved it by causing the longest try-out of the season. We let her through on that alone.

Chaz looked at the woman and said, "Congratulations on your consolation prize."

Her smile dropped. She looked at him and half whispered, "What?"

"You see," he said with his usual toothy smile, "The producers said only 500 people could move on, and there was 501. But look at it this way, you made 100 dollars to leave."

Tear welled up in her eyes as security helped her off the stage. Even most of her competitors booed, although I noticed a few of them looked rather relieved that they didn't get the bill.

That woman was in the crowd of people protesting tonight. I don't blame her. That was cruel. Sadly, I'm a part of all of this. I wish I could've caught the bill.

For Personal Use Only.

Daily Journal of Marvin Cotton

July 26^th 2010, 3 AM

I have decided that after this is all over I am going to publish these writings. I want the world to know that I had Zero part in all this planning. Tonight we dropped from 500 to 150. We were in front of a live audience again and each fan was asked to write down a suggestion for a contestant to do. I know we were asked to write down a few also.

I wrote down that I wanted my contestant to plead for his spot. My suggestion was very tame considering.

Every suggestion was put in a large spinning container and every contestant had to come choose their suggestion one by one. The first man up was asked to do a Scottish Jig. The man said flat out he didn't know how to do it and he was out. It was as simple as that. You either did you suggestion and did it right or you were out.

Sounds simple enough right? Wow. I had never seen anything like this.

One suggestion said that the contestant was supposed to run through the audience nude. I thought the producers would stop it but I was wrong. Instead they offered up a spot light to lead the way. The person did it but left her socks on. She failed.

Another was asked to sing a Japanese love song. He tried. He failed. Some were more simple. People were asked to spell funny words, to jump up and down and to scream at the top of their lungs. One poor guy had a twisted ankle from last weeks competition and was asked to jump rope for 30 minutes. He tried. He failed.

I hate to be a part of this any more. At this point its bordering on cruel and I'm not enjoying myself any more. Also the judges don't really do much any more except laugh and make stupid comments to egg on the contestants and the crowd.

Tina told me afterwards that her suggestion got someone eliminated. She said that she suggested someone recite some Shakespeare. A young black girl from the hood got it. She hardly knew who he was, let alone had the ability to recite it. Tina stood up and hugged the poor girl.

I saw that girl in the protest afterwards screaming racism. This is getting out of control.

The producers love it though. People are tuning in from all over the world to see this stuff. The Internet views are off the charts. Obviously we don't have time to show all 500 people so everyone that didn't get shown was available for free on the net. The videos have been watched so much its freezing up the network home page.

Money, success, and ratings are great. We live by them here in Hollywood. But, at what price are we getting those ratings in this situation.

For Personal Use Only.

Daily Journal of Marvin Cotton

August 1^st 2010, 6 PM

The show starts in an hour. The producers are telling me that 50 people will be going home tonight. I'm scared.

For Personal Use Only.

Daily Journal of Marvin Cotton

August 1^st 2010, Midnight

Not as many protesters tonight. The police were brought in for our safety and that kept many of them away. Tonights elimination was a bit more fair also. I don't feel like a heel for being a part of it.

We were back at the warehouse again this week. I noticed them setting up seats before hand which meant we would have an audience again tonight. I was surprised to see though that it was a much smaller seating arrangement tonight. I asked a producer and he said that there was 150 rows of 5 seats each. No more, no less and no one was allowed to mess with it. I did the math. Thats 750 people. A strange number for a live contestant show.

When Chaz came out though, he was quick to explain it. He said that each contestant was going to be assigned a row of people. The contestant was to run down, get the name of the first person on the row and bring it back to a big white board on stage. They would do this 5 times until he or she reached the last person on the row. At that point the board would be turned around and the contestant would be asked the names of the 5 people. The first 100 people to get all 5 names right with the fastest time moved on.

At least this required some skill and probably a little luck. It wasn't just random. At least thats what I thought.

The first person took way to long to get the names. I don't think she realized she was setting the bar for the entire group. It was obvious after the next few people she wouldn't make it. We sat and watched as the contestants ran back and forth asking for names and trying different tricks to remember them. A few people never got around to passing the quiz at the end so they were automatically out. Others did it too slow and were therefore bumped out by their slow time.

I felt sorry for one young man who had a couple little old ladies in his row. They spoke quietly and slowly and the poor kid trying to hear them and speed them up but couldn't get them going. He squeaked through though. He had the 99^th fastest time.

I went up and introduced myself afterwards. I felt like I wanted to meet this man who had been so lucky so far. Of course he remembered me from the try-outs but I didn't recall him at all. He said his name was Nicholas Champion. I laughed at his name at first because I thought he was kidding. The he said that his nick name was Lucky and I really fell apart laughing. I had to say though, the young man etched himself on my memory. I call him a young man but he was 24. Young to an old horse like me, but not a kid at all.

He was a nice young man. I spent an hour talking to him while we waited for the parking lot to clear. He was so excited about being here, but he had no reason why. He didn't know what he would win. He didn't know how he could stand it any more. He said he felt it deep inside him that he was supposed to be a part of this event and nothing would stop him from winning. I told him he better be glad there wasn't three old women in his row tonight or fate couldn't have helped him!

For Personal Use Only.

Daily Journal of Marvin Cotton

August 8^th, 2010, 1 AM

Lucky did it again. I am a Lucky fan at this point. I know I shouldn't be but I feel like I should pick a horse and enjoy the race at this point.

The competition this week was cooking. Each person was given a very complicated recipe and asked to cook it. I tried over 100 different foods tonight. Some where horrible, others were okay and a few (Very few) were very good. Anyone that burnt their food was out this week. Anyone that changed the recipe was out. Anyone that got a bad look from any one of the four judges was out. Basically 150 people was dwindled down to 50 tonight.

50 people who could sort of cook. Lucky cooked a complicated fruity chicken dish. It wasn't great but it was edible. It wasn't burnt and it wasn't under done so we had to pass him. I won't go as far to say it was good but he did his best.

One girl basically dropped all the ingredients together in a bowl and served it all to us raw. She was a vegetarian and was staging a protest against her cooking food. We got the point. We also sent her packing.

A few protesters again this week but its getting smaller and smaller each week. As for the ratings, they just keep going up. People just can't wait to see whats going to happen next. A poll said that no one really cared who won, fans just wanted to see how they won.

That is not a typical result on national TV. Most people don't watch just to watch. This was different. It was edgy and unpredictable. I had to give it to that creator I met. He may have been a bit nuts but he had a great idea.

For Personal Use Only.

Daily Journal of Marvin Cotton

August 15^th 2010, 6 PM

The producers are telling me that it will be reduced to 10 people tonight. I don't know anything about how its going to happen but the final ten will be selected tonight. I'm nervous and excited. I really hope Lucky squeezes in. He is a good kid. I guess its like horse racing. No one really watches it just for fun. People typically pick a horse and make a bet. Of course I didn't bet on Lucky but its nice to have someone to cheer for.

Tina is just about ready to leave the show. She is under contract and is going to stay till the end but she hates all this. Marshal is enjoying it. He seems like the low brow audience this was meant for, very Jerry Springer if you ask me. Dizzy wants to know why there are only 3 blacks in the entire 50 people left. I tried to reassure her that this was all set up as random, but I don't think she believed me. I don't really care. I can't see how this show could possibly be racist or rigged.

Internet rumors are flying that the whole thing is a set up and the winner will be a plant by the network. But blogs and such are great for ratings. People have to tune in to judge for themselves.

Dizzy got caught online blogging under a fake name the other day. She was giving her point of view on the whole "not many black people" theory and apparently they have been keeping pretty good tabs on us because with in minutes they signed her off and warned her not to say another word.

She started throwing words at them like "freedom of speech" and "freedom of media" but they didn't bite. They had an iron-clad privacy contract and she knew it. She grumbled about it for a few days but I noticed she didn't run back to her computer to try again after they left.

They are like the nighttime TV gestapo.

For Personal Use Only.

Daily Journal of Marvin Cotton

August 15th 2010, 10 PM

No protesters tonight. The show is over and we are about to go home and on time no less! I can't believe it. We are just sitting in the van waiting for them to get us back there. The final 10 are set and Lucky is one of them! I'm thrilled. He said he was going to use that money to send his little sister through college. Of course that could be a load of crap but he could be telling the truth. Each contestant was handed their one hundred thousand dollar check on live TV.

We saw quite a few tears and high fives. Of course the other 40 people were pretty upset but they had as good a chance as any to make it to the top five. Actually they had a better chance than most after making it that far. Most of them didn't complain too much. I think they were just exhausted after so many months and weeks of torture and trials.

This weeks competition was sort of interesting. I didn't think it was as original as some of the others but it got the job done. Basically all 50 people were put in a huge paint ball pit. The last 10 people standing were in. Lucky won by being aggressive, although he was actually shot but the ball hit him in the helmet. The rules stated that anyone aiming for the head or private parts on men would be eliminated immediately. The woman that shot lucky was thrown out and lucky survived the rest of the test. 1 girl won by finding a corner and hiding the whole time. When there was 11 people left though she was in major danger. One of the people found her and cornered her. She was holding her hands up and came out of her hiding place. Before the other person could take the shot though someone came up behind him and shot him. Making it only 10 people left so the hiding girl was safe. I hope she counts her blessings

Dizzy is in a tizzy right now. There is only 1 black man left and the other got eliminated. She is glad there is one and I am trying to tell her that 1 out of 10 isn't bad. There is also a Hispanic, a few women, and a gay guy so its not like its all straight, white, Christian men from Mississippi left. She didn't care. Oh well.

For Personal Use Only.

Daily Journal of Marvin Cotton

August 22^th 2010, 9 PM

The show is over and we are down to two people! I can't believe it. I don't even know where to start on this one. First off let me say that there was supposed to be three people left at the end of the night. But I will get to that in a minute.

Anyway tonights eliminations were definitely original. Basically Chaz held interviews all night. He made jokes with the contestants, he was charming, they were quirky in return and that was the whole show. This went on the whole hour. But at the end of the hour he pointed at the screen and there was a tally there. Each of the 9 contestants names where there and little black hash marks were made in the column below their names. Chaz pointed out that the young hiding girl, the black man and Lucky had the least hash marks. The three of them stepped forward.

Chaz said this to everyones surprise, "The tally you see above you ladies and gentlemen is a tally of how many times each contestant used the word 'um'. The Three people who used them the least are standing in front of you. These three people are moving on to next week. Everyone else, goodbye."

The other 7 people stood there in complete dumbfounded awe. They didn't know what to say or how to react.

Then more happened. The show was supposed to be over. The 7 people had walked off the stage and Chaz was advertising next weeks show when the black man walked up to him and tapped him in the shoulder. Chaz looked like he was going to punch him for interrupting his monologue.

The man grabbed the Mic and said, "Honey, I know your sick and the kids need me. I have 100 thousand dollars and I'm coming home. I don't want to risk getting hurt or not being there for my family. I quit." He dropped the Mic and walked out the exit door with the 7 people.

Chaz stood staring at the screen as speechless as any contestant had been all year. Some of the 7 people overheard this and tried to force their way back in but security had orders to keep them out no matter what.

Dizzy was standing up yelling at the man to come back but it was too late. I was not looking forward to what she had to say about all this. At least he quit on his own power, if he had been kicked off for some reason she would've never let it go.

So now its time to head home, there are no protesters, there are four judges and only 2 contestants. Lucky and Simone. Simone was a 21 year old Hispanic woman. She had been just as lucky as Lucky and deserved the prize (What ever that may be) as much as he did.

I still was going to cheer for him though.

For Personal Use Only.

Daily Journal of Marvin Cotton

August 29^th 2010, 5 PM

Tonight isn't the finale. Tonight we decide who the winner is though. I don't know how they are going to pick but it won't be easy. Both people have been through so much its insane. I feel for them both. I'm just glad they got the money.

Lucky already sent his money home to his family and his mom has paid some past due bills. True, not the most touching story ever but its kind of sweet. In an interview earlier Simone said that she was going to go on a cruise with her money. When asked about taking her family with her she said that she didn't like them and this was her money.

She didn't gain too much national favor with those comments.

The black man that quick was named Terrance. In an interview today he said that with the money he afforded some meds his wife was needing for a while and she was temporarily cured. The interview was given in front of his old dilapidated house. It wasn't a bad neighborhood or anything, but he just hadn't had the money since his wife got sick to do maintenance.

Poor Chaz has had to do interviews all week about Terrance walking away on live TV. He was pretty embarrassed. He has always been one of those guys that couldn't do much more than what the teleprompter told him to do. Good looks, not much wit.

Well I have to go get ready for tonights show. I'm nervous. I can't wait to see who wins.

For Personal Use Only.

Daily Journal of Marvin Cotton

August 29^th 2010, 4 AM

The protesters were back again today. Apparently they planned to take a few days off so we would think they gave up. We had less security tonight and they busted in right in the middle of the show. The LAPD had to come and break it all up. The show was on a pay channel and they just extended the entire thing so no one missed anything.

Videos of the protesters have already swarmed the Internet.

But who cares, on to the show.

Basically the first 40 minutes, before the people busted in, was recaps of the entire season. I didn't realize it but Simone had done a great job of hiding every event. The showed her during paint ball of course. Then during musical chairs she hardly left her seat and actually pushed someone off the chair. The night when they sent everyone in Even chairs home the caught her on surveillance walking out of the building with her even ticket. She saw someone drop a ticket and picked it up and it happened to be one of the odd ticket people who was scared and left. Further surveillance showed that she picked up over 50 tickets before she found a 'winner'. Then they showed her with the race and the five chairs. She ran up and using a chair to block her view she pointed to the other people in the row. Video showed her get all five names at once and run back and forth without asking anything else. She apparently has a really good memory. Lastly, during the event where she was given a piece of paper with a suggestion on it she stole someone else's paper! No one knows what her original piece of paper said but the one she ended up doing was doing the Macarena for 5 straight minutes. Easy enough.

Then they showed Lucky. Very honest, outgoing, lucky and a good sport. Then they announced how they would choose the winner.

Two phone numbers, web sites and text numbers came up on the screen behind them. One number, website and text was for Lucky and the other for Simone. People had until the end of the show to vote.

Lucky won by over 30 million votes. Lucky somehow found a way to make it from just under a million contestants to being number one. I was so proud of him.

The reason this entry was put in so late is that Lucky and I went out partying tonight. We drank and partied until they kicked us out. I am going to sleep. I can't stay up much more.

For Personal Use Only.

Daily Journal of Marvin Cotton

September 5^th 2010, 7 PM

I am watching "The Shocking Reward" along with the rest of America, live on TV. They said they didn't need the judges for the final show. The show itself was being filmed via satellite from the creators home in the mountains. I am in a sports bar right now. Tina, Dizzy and Marshal are sitting next to me. I think it just felt right for us to be sitting together for the last show.

I am writing my journal as we watch because I want to convey my feelings about the last show as I have them. There is no real way to capture feelings after the fact.

Okay here we go. The theme song just ended and J.M. The creator is on the screen now by himself.

"I am sorry," He said in a eerily calm voice, "That there is no Chaz or judges or hype tonight. I would rather you feel the full effect of this without any distractions."

The show was being sent out live on Pay-per-view right now. Its been reported that over 10 countries ordered it and millions of people are going to watch it. They said other than boxing its been a long time since anything has been this hyped on PPV.

J.M. Continued, "I want you to know why I put on this show. I created this show to prove to everyone that Americans will do anything for their 15 minutes of fame and a little bit of money."

I looked over at the other judges who had the same look on their faces that I did. That was a very scary comment for someone who is introducing a huge ratings show.

He continued again, "I'm sure by now you all know our friend here. 'Lucky' as he calls himself. He was lucky enough to win a competition that he had no idea what the reward would be. I don't know if I call that luck or just stupidity."

J.M. Pulled a remote control out of his pocket and pressed a button. The camera panned over to see Lucky in a chair, tied up, blind-folded and gagged. Everyone in the bar started screaming at the TV. Some woman next to me started crying and hitting me. She was yelling at all four of us judges for letting this happen.

The creator started again, "You people are all lemmings. You will watch anything with some cheap drama in it. You will try out for anything and make fools out of yourselves for a minuscule amount of money and this proves it. What did you really think Lucky was going to walk away with? More money? Ha. Maybe he would get some sort of new job? Yeah, right. I watched as almost a million people came to try out and win a game that would've ended badly for any of them. I heard people cry and whine about being eliminated. I heard a judge cry racism. I wonder what she looks like now."

Everyone instinctively looked at Dizzy who was shaking her head. She took a shot that was in front of her and then through it at the TV. Luckily the TV didn't break.

J.M. Started again. "Well, here you go. You want the "shocking reward" you were promised? You want drama, scandal, and something to blog about. Here!"

And he turned and shot Lucky in the chest. We saw blood and that was it. The screen went black.

For Personal Use Only.

Daily Journal of Marvin Cotton

Two Months After the Finale

These are no longer personal logs. I give these to the courts to prove my innocence in the murder of Nicholas "Lucky" Champion. I swear to anyone that will listen that I had no idea this was going to happen. I have visited Lucky's family and expressed my massive remorse for the situation.

After the PPV cut the feed that night I went to my hotel room and cried. I cried for hours. I didn't know how to react to that nut JM and his crazy ideas. When I found out he shot himself right after he shot Lucky I was furious. I knew that he would never get proper justice. I knew that everyone involved would have a finger pointed directly at them. I knew that Lucky was dead no matter what happened.

I will never forgive myself for being a part of that and not seeing the small signs along the way. I will never forgive the producers, because how you see me, is how I see them. I see them as guilty. Someone had to know.

The viewership of reality TV has gone down almost 80 % since the murder. People all blame themselves. We all perpetuated it, but no one is responsible. Except JM.

I hope that these logs show my innocence and deep regret over what happened. If it doesn't then fine I will go to jail for it, but putting an innocent man in jail to ease your own guilt is no better than what JM did.

Thank you for your time. God Bless. RIP Lucky, where ever you are.

Signed,

Marvin Cotton

10:32 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Anonymously Me wants an update
Current mood: blessed
Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes

I have a quick question.  Its been about six months, how is everyone doing with their new years resolution?  I completely mine, but this was the first time ever!  Just curious.
~Me

Currently listening : Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces By Seether Release date: 2007-10-23

11:44 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Anonymously Me Finished a Book
Current mood: animated
Category: Writing and Poetry

I've worked on it every day for 2 months.  I have written a book from start to finish now and I'm working on steps to get it edited now.  sorry I haven't been around everyone.  I just needed to keep my mind straight.
~Anonymously Me

Currently watching : Star Trek - First Contact (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition) Release date: 2005-03-15

9:55 PM - 8 Comments - 12 Kudos - Add Comment

Anonymously Me On Movies
Current mood: evil
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

            Okay, quick thought and probably complaint.  I love movies.  I get a lot of enjoyment sitting back with my wife and/or friends and seeing a good flick.  Like the surprise, the intensity, the drama, the comedy, the action and the effects.  I joke a lot about things I don't like in movies such as bad acting, predictability, and really badly written lines.  The reality is though, I still enjoy watching the movie at least once, and that way I can say I've seen it. 

            That being said, my wife really likes super slapstick comedies and parody movies.  I tell her all the time that I can appreciate a well-made movie like that, if the jokes are intelligent.  The ones that come out today i.e.: Date movie, scary movie, epic movie, etc all rely on one thing.  Every one of them has some kind of joke about farting, or pooping.  The jokes are all tired and the writing is lazily done. 

            Now though, it is expanding from slapstick comedies.  It seems like you can't rent any comedy these days with out it being about feces or farts.  I guess the two F's are very important.  Yesterday we rented the movie RV starring Robin Williams.  He has been one of my favorite actors since I can remember.  I own almost every movie he's ever made with the exception of some of the over dramatic ones that came out in the last few years.   I've always considered him a comedic trailblazer. 

            Well the plot of RV is an over worked, under appreciated, clueless father rents a RV to take his family cross country to a business meeting.  They stop at an RV park and find out that the sewage system in this rented RV is already full and they have to go to the dumping place to clean it out.  As they are driving there I tell my wife, I really hope they don't get covered in crap.  Sure enough, he can't the hoses working and after a comedy of errors leading up to a giezer full of crap, Robin Williams is covered, head to toe in other peoples waste.

            This was billed as a family film!  Come on!  I love Robin Williams but that turned me off from the rest of the movie.  I just think going straight for the waste jokes in a movie is a cop out.  There are so many original ideas out there, pouring through writers who haven't gotten their shot.  Instead we are watching the same old tired jokes.

            I don't know how other people feel about this, and I'm sure you have your own pet peeves about movies.  I mean, I know my father (an retired marine) hates watching anything where soldiers die.  My aunt hates anything with cussing, which is just about everything these days.  I have friends that refuse to watch anything about two men or two women kissing.  To me that isn't a big deal because I've had so many gay friends, but I understand.  I still got a little shaky during Brokeback Mountain.  But, I will tell you; I still got through that movie better because it didn't have any waste material in it.

            I don't know. Maybe I'm being unreasonable here, what do you think?  Also I would like to hear what peeves you have about movies, trust me I'm an aficionado so I have plenty of peeves, that is just my big one.

Anonymously Me

10:22 AM - 5 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Anonymously Me Talks about Earth Day
Current mood: argumentative
Category: Life

Yeah, so its that time of year again where everyone wants to remind us to go Green and protect the Earth.  A week from now they will all forget about it and so will most of us.  Sad.  Its like christmas time, everyone wants to do good things, help people, feed people and be nice and merry.  Then january comes around and we are all pushing our way through stores and ignoring the homeless.  these things should be going all year long.  Just my opinion.
~Anonymously Me

2:27 PM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Anonymously Me Says Never Forget
Current mood: electric
Category: Writing and Poetry