Ok - so this is a page I decided to write for those that actually come here and look around.  Thank you!!!!

I always get a kick out of finding people linking to my site - most of the time in "Blogs" or message boards - some days I wonder if anyone really comes here more than once and then I will get an e-mail from someone saying they really like my site.

A couple of times I have considered starting a blog myself but honestly I don't have the time (Edited 6/06 errrr - famous last words - I have one now for Big Brother) - I mean this site has gotten bigger than I ever expected since March of 2003 when I decided I wanted a place where I could do my own thing related to the reality show Big Brother (edited 8/05 to add...  the Big Brother area really is a form of a blog anyways - and I HAVE started a 'blog' but the only stuff there is stuff you will fine here anyways.  I am just testing it out.).

So thats where I am going to start - and chances are I will ramble a bit - I hope you decide to stick with me and see this little (haha) note through.

BigBrotherFanClub.com and TVClubhouse.com:  I have been a fan of the CBS show Big Brother since about a week into the original show (the USA version that is) - I came across the show one night and then the next day I guess I found out you could watch it for FREE over the net - thats right - FREE - not one dime (or course that ended after the first year) and there were six different "feeds" to choose from (last year there were four and a lot of times it was really just two).  So I went looking for a place where I could spout my never ending opinions on the show - not the TV show - but the net show I was watching.  I came across a site appropriatly titled "bigbrotherfanclub.com" and started posting. 

The site owner, Neil, contacted me and asked me if I wanted to help with the upkeep of the site since it was becoming too much for him and his wife to do on their own.  Eventually he had to move to another location because the site was just too popular.  The first attempt was a bust because after 3 or 4 days the host said the bandwidth was being used up and Neil was going to have to pay an incredible sum to keep it running.  A fan of the site came to the rescue and volunteered his server space AND bandwidth and so the move was made to bigbrotherfanclub's current home at bomis.com. 

Along the way Neil also registered the name tvclubhouse.com which is probably the sites better known name now since it deals with so much more than just Big Brother.  Also along the way many many other folks helped out with the moderating of the website and they continue to work hard every day for free to help maintain a site that is very much a community now.

Big Brother vs. other reality shows:  Big Brother is different from every other reality show out there in that when it starts - no one knows who will win or who will be eliminated.  For comparison take the other show that started about the same time, Survivor.  That show is basically over when the first episode airs - so while we the viewers dont' know who will be eliminated, the producers do - and they shape each and every show towards that end. 

While people that only watch the TV episodes of Big Brother are in a similar situation, those of us that watch the "live feeds" see all (or many) of the developments as they happen.  Many of us watched "Chicken" George as he attempted to get the entire cast to walk out during BB1, we also saw Justin hold a knife to Krista's throat as a joke during BB2 (we did not see him get kicked out later that night as they stopped the feeds until he was gone).  On BB3 many people listend to Chiara attempt to talk in code to the other girls about a relationship she had recently been in with a famous person - the sharp folks watching figgured out her code and posted the information on the internet and within an hour Chiara was being admonished by the producers and calling the folks watching over the internet nasty names.  Lastly during BB4 we witnessed Scott throwing his final tantrum before being thrown out of the house by the producers.  Are these things you see on other reality shows?  Possibly, but not live and unedited!!! 

One of the coolest things about the whole Big Brother phenominim is the part I am heavily involved in - we call it "Live Feed Posts" - where many of us watch and record, on the net in the form of text posts, virtually everything that happens in the house.  This started out as a service for others - we helped each other out so that when some of us were away from the computer we knew we could come back and catch up by reading what had happened.  There is NO other reality show out there where that happens and most likely never will be.  Not only do we help each other - we help people that cannot afford to pay to see the feeds, those that are handicapped and can't hear them, and those that do not have a computer capable of receiving the feeds.

Why I started ilovereality.com: There actually are a couple reasons.  The initial idea came about when we had people that wanted to read the old posts from previous seasons of Big Brother.  Due to limited space on bomis.com we can't keep the old stuff around forever - so Neil will "zip" up the important stuff and people can download them to their computer.  The problem is not everyone has the know-how or ability to work with those type of files.  So I went looking for a free site to host the files and while I found a couple possibilities, I was never happy with them. 

About the same time I was thinking about the possibility of a place where I could express my own opinions without the restrictions I would have to impose on myself as a moderator - somewhere I could say what I wanted about the goings-on in the Big Brother house and if I made someone mad - tough beans.  I decided to combine the two things and came up with the name ilovereality.com - its kind of a play on words - at least it was.  I do not consider "reality television" reality - its not.  I really never expected to make money - I just hoped to break even.  By the way - I do make money now - the advertising adds up and while it will never be enough to quit my day job - it has certainly allowed me to buy a few things for myself that I would not have otherswise (DVD's, computer gadgets, etc) - I have also treated my family for dinner a couple times :) .  If you want to read an old thing I wrote on how to make money with a website - click here.

Who am I anyways?:  I'm a 40-something (edit 6/06 - damn - I hit 40!!) husband to a wonderful wife and father of three boys living in Indiana.  I am the only person that runs the site - I don't have any help - with the exception of a very few instances where others have sent me things I felt worth posting (and in each case credit was given). 

You made it all the way through that stuff?   Way to go!!  I'm done writing for now - I might add more later.  Thanks again for visiting my site and I hope you find it useful.  I apologize for area's that might be out of date - its HARD to keep up on everything with the currently wealth of reality shows on the air.  I also apologize for any typos - I make a lot and only catch some of them!!!

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