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Thursday, May 30, 2013

For Fun: Test your Knowledge about Centennial Park!





Here's a little quiz you can try out while I write up my review of Tuesday night's show.

Good Luck and Have Fun!

Oh yes, as an incentive to do well, the person with the lowest score gets to kiss old "Uncle Art"!!

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1. What are the names of the two men who founded Centennial Park?

2. What are the last names of some prominent Centennial Park/polygamy families?

3. Of the family names you listed for questions 1 and 2, which names have been featured so far on Polygamy, USA?

4. In what state is Centennial Park located?

5. What is the name of the largest non-polygamist town that is popular with Centennial Park residents?

6. Why did Centennial Park break away from Colorado City/Hildale?
    a. Better job opportunities for women with better schools for children.
    b. Better housing conditions with missionaries building homes and doing trash pick ups.
    c. Power fight between one faction that favored one man rule and another that favored ruling by council.

    d. All of the above.
7. "Uncle Art"  is a 4th generation polygamist. What was his father's full name?

8. Which of the polygamists featured on Polygamy, USA are employed at a school?

9. Which of the following houses belong to "Uncle Art"?

a.








b.
 







c.






True or False

10. The Centennial Park charter school is called The Masai Academy.

11. Ezra's mother is young enough to be her husband's daughter.

12. Hyrum and Kelly will date for two months before their wedding.

13. In Centennial Park,  marriage is based on love and boys can propose to girls as long as the Brethren allows it.

Essay Questions (haha!! just kidding!)

14. Why is Berry Knoll a significant place in Centennial Park?

15. How many years did Hyrum serve as a missionary?

Post your answers below...The person who gets the most correct answers will earn all of our admiration for a job well done and won't have to kiss Uncle Art!

I'll post the answers later in a comment below.

Feel free to discuss Tuesday's show!!! (Episode: The Priesthood Council)

Monday, May 27, 2013

Kody Brown Twitter


Meri, oh Meri where are you?


Tuesday, May 21, 2013

The Dargers: What Does It All Mean and Will We Do Another TV Show?


It's been several months since the last time I ventured over to the Dargers website, lovetimesthree.com. Holy cow! The Dargers apparently have been going through a ridiculous amount of change and stress this month!


Young Papa Joe with hair...and less stress
Papa Joe writes in his blog entry for May 7th, 2013 that he had a breakdown of sorts. In probably the most real blog entry ever, (at least from a now public polygamist) we find out the Browns aren't the only plygs with finite resources. The story he tells may be humbling, but my radar went up when he wrote about how he initially blamed wife Vicki for what happened. What was even more telling, was the fact Vicki had to call Papa Joe to fix the problem instead of trying to work something out with legal wife #1 first.

OK. Show of hands. Who was surprised Papa Joe hurt his wife's feelings with harsh words? I'm not surprised, but he did apologize later. Not that it makes his actions less egregious, if you know what I mean.

I also found it hard to believe the gas company didn't leave a 48 hour final  "love note" on their door, but it is Utah so who knows what utilities do in that state.

You can read whole sordid story, and Papa Joe's new outlook on failure here: What does it all mean?

The blog entry for May 9th 2013 is, for want of a better word, sad. Sad that in the competition for TV time, the face of polygamy Joe Darger has lost out to its hind side known as Kody Brown. Or as Papa Joe puts it "... our motives for what we do have little to do with money...[but]...we think the reality TV market will certainly seek out and flourish with such programing that frankly does not meet our values and standards."

OUCH!! Say it ain't so, Papa Joe!! (Makes me wonder what Papa Joe thinks about NatGeo's Polygamy, USA show, YIKES!!).  Of course, Papa Joe was talking about OTHER reality shows, like TLCs Breaking Amish (yeah, right).

You can read Papa Joe's entire blog entry here: Will We Do Another TV Show?


So what are your thoughts about Papa Joe and his wives (consisting of twins and their cousin)?

Friday, May 17, 2013

Polygamy, USA: Meet the Polygamists



When looking at how polygamist have been portrayed recently on reality TV, the focus has been on only two families...The Browns and their 'friends' The Dargers.

According to TLC's reality show model, polygamists are lovable, loving people who are just like the rest of America except for the fact the husband has more than one wife.

As shown by our favorite polygamist Kody Brown, he believes "Love should be multiplied, not divided". Seemingly thousands of people became instant fans of the Browns. And Kody - a balding, long-haired, disheveled kind of guy who hasn't had a real job in years  has plopped his four wives in not one McMansion (heaven forbid they should have to share a kitchen) but in four separate almost identical McMansions in a gated cul de sac.


We also had a brief look at another polygamist family, the Dargers who, like the Browns, are independent Mormon fundamentalists. Besides having a bald head, Joe Darger possesses a look that  projects rigidity and no nonsense. His family is well disciplined, and his three wives can function under one roof, can work with each other in one kitchen and are confident enough in their relationship that Papa Joe can show affection for a wife in plain view of the other wives.

It also doesn't hurt that his wives are all cousins, and that 2 wives are identical twin sisters.

But is this really an accurate depiction of polygamy in the USA today?

Well, thank you for asking. National Geographic has taken on the task of presenting yet another view of polygamy in the USA. This time, however, instead of focusing on a single family, the focus is on an entire community: Centennial Park, AZ. The name of the series: Polygamy, USA.

Now, before you start jumping for joy, please take a look at the disclaimer shown at the beginning of the episode:

"The following program reveals the lives of practicing polygamists. 
Due to the sensitive nature of their beliefs, some individuals have requested that their names be changed."
Why would names need to be changed? OK, OK, we know that polygamy is illegal (the narrator told us so) but we here at SWB also know that as long as the polygamists aren't breaking any other laws (like marrying their 12 year old daughters to 70 year old men or their adult cousins for an example) no state law enforcement agency is going to go all Short Creek /YFZ Ranch on their behinds.

So I suppose that disclaimer is in place because many of the men who live in Centennial Park are successful businessmen whose clients may not appreciate doing business with polygamists. 

If only Kody had thought about the short term effects of his show Sister Wives and just changed his name like some of the folks in Centennial Park did, maybe he wouldn't have needed to seek asylum in Sin City...I mean Las Vegas.

I'm thinking Kody Yellow would have been a good name choice. Or maybe Kody Red.

But I digress...

Polygamy, USA uses the standard program template of reality television...but since it is NatGeo and not TLC, instead of a Kody Brown type narrator, there is a professional male voice doing the honors.  The guy's voice is so smooth if you close your eyes, you will think you're watching a documentary on the Yanomamo Indians of the Amazon. And loving every minute of it!

So here's a brief synopsis of  the first episode:
Part of large McMansion viewed from Hammon's truck
Picture of same McMansion showing most of its full glory







The polygamists who live in Centennial Park are hardcore. And some of them live in really big houses. Really really big houses that strangely enough are not shown when Arthur Hammon is driving his truck down the streets of Centennial Park. But I was able to find one on the internet.

Missionaries...the future old coots of Centennial Park
The Missionaries (composed of the unmarried 20-something men) are learning to be hardcore. Their jobs are to work within Centennial Park to keep it beautiful and safe. For example, their mentor will have them building a structure, cleaning up the town and working as trash collectors. But one thing is made perfectly clear: these young men can never date a girl or be alone with a girl outside of church sanctioned get togethers. They must prove themselves to be responsible priesthood holders. Kody Brown scruffy long hair types need not apply. These young men are expected to work hard at their J.O.B. And be hardcore. So if they are almost 30 years old and the church elders still don't feel they are ready for marriage, so be it. The young men must prove they are responsible and there's always the highway if they don't like it. Plus, it leaves more young women for the old coots in town.

The Daughters of Zion (the female population) are hardcore, too. For goodness sakes they GRIND their own wheat. When they turn 18, they are expected to marry  BUT they let God decide who that lucky fellow will be. So, if God reveals to the woman that the 90 year old geezer being propped up at the church meeting is her intended, she will approach the church elders with her revelation. If the elders approve of her choice, they will approach the old geezer and tell him he's won the jackpot once again. If all parties approve, the young lady will then be "placed" with the new family and, voila, she becomes a  wife.

Arthur with his not so hardcore son Ezra
Arthur Hammon (his real name) has scary cold rheumy eyes, wants outsiders to mind their own business, is mentor to the Missionaries, and is HARDCORE. He expects his missionaries to exemplify their religious calling - to become strong priesthood leaders and to look the part, and to have a firm understanding of the responsibilities that go with marriage. He leaves no doubt that if he says a young man is not ready for marriage, that guy will not be married. Not in Centennial Park. And his favorite punishment for a disrespectful missionary is throwing his nasty boot at the guy. Full force, aimed directly at the head. 

This guy is so hardcore he makes General George Patton look like a freakin' coward. And he can't hide his disappointment in his less than hardcore son, Ezra.

I suspect even the cats and dogs are hardcore too, but strangely enough, none were shown at all. Weird...like do they serve the strays ground up in the meat loaf at the Merry Wives Cafe up the road in Hildale?

Like any other reality TV show, there's got to be drama and Polygamy, USA does not disappoint.

 Even though the narrator said Arthur had 3 wives, something immediately caught my attention. He has all these little kids. Now, these little ones did not come from the 2 wives introduced in the show...frankly, those 2 women looked older than Arthur. And we weren't introduced to wife #3. Of course, I have come to the conclusion that Old Arthur has hooked himself up with some young Daughters of Zion to give birth to his spirit babies. When you factor in the conflict between Old Arthur and his son Ezra because Ezra wants to date and kiss a girl, oh yeah, this looks like it's going to be good storyline. Especially when later it's mentioned the reason for single young men not being allowed to date was because that young man could be dating another man's future wife.

If you ask me, it's simple. Ezra might be dating a future wife of his father. And what is sad about this is the Centennial Park Daughters of Zion are taught from a very early age this is their lot in life: to be married at 18, have lots of children and lots of sisterwives. And to cook and grind wheat and clean. And to braid their hair FLDS style. And to be ready to accept marriage to any man between the age of 18 to whatever. They are told it's God's will - He will show them who they are to marry, but why do the elders need to have a final say? Shouldn't God's will suffice? Not with this group, apparently.

We met two of Arthur's nephews, Hyrum and Joseph Burton (not their real last name). Their mother, called "Aunt Susie" by her brother Arthur, apparently was gravely ill. When a picture of her was shown, I suddenly realized I'd seen this woman before. Her name was Susie Timpson, married to the man considered as the Leader of Centennial Park - John W Timpson and she passed away in November 2012. She was in a documentary on polygamy that was featured  here on SWB: TLC goes inside the world of POLYGAMY - Part 1 - Part 3 . She appeared in Part Two, towards the end. She's the lady who speaks last and is wearing yellow with the matching yellow earrings.

There's no denying that Hyrum is one good looking dude, with some very prominent eyebrows. He's also one of the oldest of the missionaries (oh oh...that's not good).

But don't fear, I found a picture from the NatGeo website and it appears to point to a young Daughter of Zion being called to make Hyrum her husband. Since he's literally wrestling with this young woman, I have a feeling they are now married to each other.

Or is this his brother Joseph?

You know, I don't know for sure now since those boys all have the Hammon eyebrows.

We also met the Thomsons (not their real name). Now, they were featured in Lisa Ling's documentary on Centennial Park. I believe on that show they were living in double wides. They now live in a beautiful big home.

I get the sense the two wives, young 2nd wife Becca, and older wiser 1st wife Marleen, are still trying to adjust to each other. I mean it's gross they share the same man, but unlike the Browns, hubby Isaiah doesn't race from one wife's bedroom to another every 2 days, the wives go to HIS bedroom instead. Let's just hope he change those sheets every 2 days, yuck. And on a 2's company, three's a polygamist date at a Thai restaurant, Marleen tries to make light of another sister wife joining their 'happy' family by requesting that the new wife be either Mexican or Chinese so she can cook up Marleen's favorite foods for dinner. I think Isaiah failed to see the humor of her 'joke'. In fact, I think Isaiah thought she was serious.  And then the look on Marleen's face when Isaiah brought up the subject of more babies. Don't worry Marleen, more babies mean Isaiah will be spending even more time away from home making money to feed those mouths. And for you that means more time alone with Becca, making her young life more miserable.

Yep, I can't wait to see how the 'Thomson' circus plays out this season.

Last, we met the Cawleys (real name). There's really nothing exceptional to say about them except that the husband, Michael, talks as if he's channeling Mister Rogers. Or Warren Jeffs.


Buffalo Bill Michael with his eldest daughter Rose Marie
If I had to pick out the one person on this show that could pass as a serial killer, it's definitely this guy.

I can hear him now..."It puts the lotion on it's skin and rubs it in. It does this whenever it is told."

I'm sure he's a nice enough fellow, but I'd check to see if he's hiding something in his basement before being his best friend, if you know what I mean.




Next episode: The Winter Ball.


Saturday, May 11, 2013

UPDATED: POLYGAMY USA ADDED...Where are those Sister Wives? Mother's Day Treat!

Lots of tidbits on this post, feel free to discuss any shown or whatever is on your mind!

ADDED: POLYGAMY USA Tues. (S01E02) “The Winter Ball”

Living in a fundamentalist Mormon community, young men and women don't have many opportunities to socialize. An exception is the town's New Year's Eve celebration. Arthur puts his boys to work decorating the hall. When the work is done, the boys put on their best for the single women. The oldest Cawley daughter, Rose Marie, is nervous to attend. She's hoping to receive her inspiration from God about whom she should marry, and the ball provides an opportunity— if she can get over her shyness.
You may go to NG Website to see a clip:

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/polygamy-usa/videos/get-lucky/

_______________________________________________________________________________

Twisted Sister has created some Mother's day treats on Twisted Sister's Closet for a limited time!
http://www.cafepress.com/twistedsisterscloset

Happy Mother's Day to all! Free Discussion Area Below.





 Wonder if we will hear from them soon?

_________________________

ALSO ADDED:
Lorin Holm, who has been excommunicated from the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints since 2011, invited us to his home to give us a first-hand look of the house he once shared with his three wives and 25 children. (Source: Mormon Lost Boys: Lorin's Story (VICE on HBO Ep. #5 Extended)

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

VERDICT ANNOUNCED: JODI ARIAS IS....




FIRST DEGREE MURDER!!!!
 
 
Also just announced by their attorney... the surviving siblings of Travis Alexander will be filing a wrongful death civil lawsuit against Jodi Arias in the near future.
 
Stick a fork in her, Arias is done...


Arias when verdict was announced

Her reaction when she realized majority of jurors agreed  pre-meditation and felony murder


Her reaction as the jurors were polled of their decision - Jurors didn't buy her story

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

UPDATE 5/6/2013 Lasvegasweekly.com: Parsing polygamy with the ‘Sister Wives’ family on one side and anti-polygamists on the other

Thank goodness lasvegasweekly.com filed a brief report about the panel discussion recently held on the UNLV campus featuring our favorite "plural" family, Kody Brown with his Kodettes. I'm just hoping there's a film version on youtube soon so we can see Kody defending his 'lifestyle'.

From what I've read, sounds like the panel saw beyond the facade and contradictions the Browns love to display and got under Kody's thick hide for a change. And lasvegasweekly.com got Kollene's last name correct. The UNLV public relations website called her Kollene Brown (say what?) and the McAfee redlisted UNLV campus online newspaper Rebel Yell called her Kollene Star (say what again?) Her last name is Snow...like Ivory. Good job lasvegasweekly.com.



Parsing polygamy with the ‘Sister Wives’ family on one side and anti-polygamists on the other


When you’re an American with four wives and 17 children you’re going to be vilified for your plural marriage, no matter how wholesome, healthy and loving a portrait you paint on your reality television show.

So forget for a minute that members of the Brown family from TLC’s Sister Wives swear that they are consenting adults living the life they choose. Nobody really wants to hear that. Opponents would rather see polygamy deemed patriarchal and abusive to everyone it touches. There is, after all, plenty of evidence to suggest that. Just consider Warren Jeffs and his FLDS group in Colorado City, Arizona.

But the Brown family throws a wrench into the mostly well-deserved stereotypes, challenging the intolerance that so many have sworn to based on reports of sexism and child abuse. The Browns invited cameras into their homes to counter negative representations of polygamy. And if defending such a nontraditional lifestyle isn’t daunting enough, last Thursday they joined a UNLV panel with noted anti-polygamists whose personal experiences have led them to speak out against the lifestyle. Professor William Jankowiak urged the audience to consider each person’s story without drawing one generalization, but that didn’t go quite far enough. Generalizations shouldn’t even apply here.

While the Brown sister wives—Meri, Janelle, Christine and Robyn—spoke of great childhoods with multiple mothers and grandmothers, along with loving fathers, Willie Steed (from the documentary Breaking Polygamy: The Reeducation of Willie Steed) talked about child labor, an abusive father, a lack of education and hiding from the feds because of his family’s ties to Jeffs. A former FLDS child, he was also instructed not to show affection toward his mother, he said. “My experience of polygamy was hell. They say this life was about free agency. This was not free agency. Children really take a beating in polygamy.”

While Christine Brown talked about growing up with her father’s sister wives and wanting that for herself and for her children, Kollene Snow (formerly of the polygamist Mormon Kingston Clan) talked about not knowing what love was and how sister wives “hate each other.”

Adding to that was Kristyn Decker, author of Fifty Years in Polygamy: Big Secrets and Little White Lies, who spoke about the heartbreak of having to share her husband and the physical abuse she saw as a child. Decker is also the aunt of Christine Brown on "Sister Wives." Also on the panel was Christine Marie Katas, who was swindled and prostituted out by a man claiming to be a prophet, then later founded the organization, Voices for Dignity, which (among other things) takes a stance against legalizing polygamy.

The discussion grew tense with both sides throwing barbs, but the Browns mostly defending their lifestyle.

"Secrecy is a Petri dish for abuse," said Kody Brown to his critics on the panel, who said polygamy is harmful to families. "We have a transparent family. Our experience isn't your experience."

You can read the rest of the article here:

Parsing polygamy with the ‘Sister Wives’


 
In other news (namely the Jodi Arias Trial)

Well, it's now almost 8:30 pm and they are STILL in the courtroom with defense attorney Wilmott cross examining prosecution expert witness psychologist Jill Haze. The day started almost 12 hours ago, so the Judge really meant they were going to keep going until the end.

Now, I watched Arias carefully today...she was obviously drawing a picture (or pictures) for most of the day...she apparently draws with her right hand and writes with left. For all the time and money being spent to defend her, I think the very least she could do would be to pay attention. Let me clarify that...if the discussion is about her, or about the gruesome murder she is all ears. Any other time she can't be bothered. But the closing arguments start on Thursday, so we should know soon how the jury will decide her fate.

Hey, Juan Martinez just rested his case, and the Judge dismissed court for the evening! The trial will be coming to an end soon!!! Eleven and a half hours has got to be a record!

Guess who's tweeting about you know who? Yep, the Donald!





Coming soon...The Browns Twitter Nonsense and Robyn posted a new blog entry today.  She should have called it 'It's not easy being skinny...'


UPDATE 5/6/13


All morning, I've been waiting for the jury decision on Jodi Arias AND watching a backlog of DVR'd shows from this weekend.

As we all know, TLC has not been promoting the 'return' of Sister Wives. So what's a plural family to do to get their faces out to their diehard fanbase?

  1. Make an appearance on their Facebook fanpages (including MSWC and TLC's official fanpage)....(are you krazeee?????)
  2. How about making an appearance on a national morning show, like The Today Show or ABCs Good Morning. Heck, how about CBS The Morning Show? (again, that would make too much sense so are you still krazeee?????) 
  3. Okay, why not have your "manager" tweet ONLY to the plural family in question to watch Fox5, and then have Janelle (and so far just Janelle) retweet to all her fans? (now THAT sounds like an act of futility if I ever heard one)

 Hmmmm.....I wonder which would have the least affect on the least number of fans??? Yep, you got it....the winner is......NUMBER THREE!!!!

Okay, so it was to promote a charity drive, but goodness gracious, Fox5 is a local Vegas station! And it's a FOX affiliate for crying out loud!

Oh, how the mighty have fallen....

 But we are in luck, Fox5's morning show put the two videos of the Browns online for all of us across the USA to enjoy. So here they are, enjoy!!!

FOX5 Vegas - KVVU

FOX5 Vegas - KVVU


This is an off topic zone, so discuss away!!