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mandymax

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Posts posted by mandymax

  1. I missed the news of Teresa's dad passing until this morning, and while I'm not a Teresa fan at all, I immediately felt for her.  To lose two parents in just a few short years has to be unbearable.  I'm 48 years old, both of my parents are still alive, and I already dread the day I lose either one of them, let alone both.  I'm sure the girls are absolutely heartbroken, as he was a member of their household and part of their everyday lives for so long.  

    I do agree with the poster who suggested Teresa may feel some sense of relief.  I've been in caretaker positions of sorts, and it's so stressful, not knowing what each day would bring.  Her father's health was failing for quite awhile, and that's a difficult cloud to live under.  And then you feel guilty for feeling relieved that that part of it is over.  It's a tough situation.  I sympathize with her on this point.

    Poor Nonno.  He was so sad after his wife's passing.  I suspect he was only hanging on for Teresa and the girls.

  2. I was surprised Melissa didn't put copies of her CDs in the time capsule (which I'm sure was dissembled right after "That's a wrap!").

    And I'm probably wrong, but I would so like to believe that if it weren't for the show, none of these women would associate with Teresa, given how shady, immature, narcissistic, and just plain ridiculous she is.

    • Love 8
  3. Say what I will about Teresa and Joe's rationalization of their crimes and their behavior - it was so incredibly touching to watch Joe and the girls together in Italy.  You could tell that the five of them (Teresa being the sixth person and not included) were thrilled to be together again and spend time with one another.  When Joe got emotional at the dinner table and looked like he was ready to cry, I really felt for him.  And it was touching how much he was trying to win Teresa over.  I think this is a bona fide case of "Don't know what you've got till it's gone."  I believe Joe's punishment and deportation were just, but I'm rooting for him and the girls to grow even closer.

    Teresa . . . I've never seen such a raging narcissist in my life.  I'm blown away by the fact that she actually admitted to her part in the hair pulling - what motivated her to actually take responsibility???  I guess she thought the producers would just leave the whole incident out of the show and not show her in a bad light, so no one would know - that's the only thing I can figure.  She truly believes she's a goddess on a pedestal.  It's frustrating that even after this, everyone (except Margaret) still gathered around and stroked her ego.  Kudos to Margaret for not caving and actually showing that Teresa's behavior was hurtful and she can't get off easy just because she's The Teresa.

    • Love 14
  4. I've been rewatching season 5 - the Ashley season - and this time around, I actually feel a bit sorry for her.  It's crystal clear that Thomas was triangulating her with Kathryn, probably telling her all sorts of horrible things about Kathryn and how mean and evil she was and how she wouldn't leave him alone, just to play on Ashley's jealousy and get her to fight Kathryn for him and therefore feed his ego.  I was in a relationship like this years ago, and it took me quite a long time once I was out of it to realize what he'd been doing and that the girl he was triangulating me with was actually a really nice person who was probably glad to be rid of him.  I was so ashamed of all the bad things I'd thought and said about her, simply because I'd believed what he was feeding me.  I would imagine that one some level, Ashley realizes this now.  Not to say that Kathryn's perfect, because she isn't, but she certainly wasn't deserving of Ashley's vitriol, and I'm sure that somewhere deep inside - not that she would ever admit it - Ashley feels bad about it and recognizes that she was played by Thomas.  So the part of me that recognizes myself in her relationship feels sad for her.  That relationship sucked the very lifeblood out of me and turned me into someone I never knew I could be.  I actually kind of feel lucky to have survived it.

    • Love 6
  5. I thought Gia looked absolutely beautiful.

    Nonno kind of cracks me up.  And it was touching how he cried when he saw Gia come down the stairs.  I guess I have a soft spot for him (when he's not boiling octopi first thing in the morning) because I remember the beach scene after Teresa's mom passed away and Joe went off to prison, when he told Teresa, "Now you have me.  I'll take care of you," or something to that effect.  That's something my 76-year-old dad would tell me to this day, and it makes me tear up a little.

    David was more excited to see the decorator who kept telling him to get rid of his beloved bachelor furniture than he was to see the woman who is supposedly his significant other who he's "committed to."

    Danielle actually looked better than she has in awhile.

    The only thing worse than all the Chanel was the shiny blue pants.  Dear God.

    • Love 9
  6. 24 minutes ago, LibertarianSlut said:

    Did Jackie ever—and this is an honest question, because sometimes there is too much shouting, so I don’t hear everything—but did Jackie ever say, “this is what my sons wanted.  I asked each one of them what they wanted to do for their birthdays, and they both said they want to play basketball in the front yard and eat pizza”?  

    I believe she did.  I remember thinking, "Well, THAT should shut people up" when Jackie talked about how the party was what the boys had wanted.

    • Useful 1
    • Love 9
  7. The latest Chanel location: Jennifer's phone case.  By this time, "Spot The Chanel" has become my own personal entertainment.

    And oh, dear God, the octopus.  I was so not expecting to see an octopus carcass being lowered into a pot of boiling water while I caught up on the episode over breakfast.  That was sort of an appetite-killer.

    • Love 3
  8. Oh, dear God, the Chanel.  Not that I buy a lot of designer stuff, but I will now NEVER buy anything Chanel thanks to the over saturation of it this season.  I've had more than enough of it rammed down my throat to last me the rest of my life.

    Teresa doing yoga on the beach - I'd wondered what happened to her yoga obsession.  I remember she supposedly became a certified yoga instructor.  I've recently gotten into yoga practice, and my studio provides instructor training courses.  Considering everything they have to learn - all the anatomy and physiology, all the different types of yoga practice, how to modify poses based upon the ages and abilities of their students, how to prepare for an emergency should someone seriously injure themselves during a class - I find it incredibly hard to believe that Teresa has the mental capacity to actually learn all of that in the first place and then regurgitate it correctly during certification testing.

    Jackie handled herself really well during Jennifer's interrogation and accusations.  I actually thought she did embody "class" in that situation.

    Jennifer . . . just WOW.

    • Love 21
  9. And Chanel shows up AGAIN, this time as Teresa's shoes at the nail salon.  We never saw this much of one designer brand popping up on ALL the housewives EVERYWHERE before this and last season, did we?  WTF?

    The girls cooking Mother's Day breakfast for Teresa was touching.  But what's with all the name necklaces?  I don't know that I'd wear a necklace that says my name, like a name tag.  I know my own name.

    The flowers at Margaret's party were GORGEOUS!!!

    Did Melissa's suitcase really say "On Display"???  First Dolores' "RHONJ" purse and now this.  These two examples are the first time I've ever seen product placement WITHIN the actual product itself.  Between this and all the Chanel, I can't roll my eyes any harder.

    • Love 6
  10. My thoughts this week:

    1) The Chanel window dressing is spreading.  Earrings, necklaces, purses, belts, shirts, shoes - and now a wall hanging in Jackie's bedroom.

    2) Although I think I prefer that over the clutch Delores was carrying that actually had "RHONJ" on the flap.

    3) I burst out laughing when Melissa declared that if Teresa caused trouble at the fashion show, she was going to have sprinkle cookies sent to her house every day for a year and Melissa was going to make her eat them.  That was actually legitimately funny.

    4) And I have to admit that when they showed the preview of the girls seeing Joe for the first time since prison, I got a little choked up.  Call me a sap, but that touched me.

    • Love 10
  11. 25 minutes ago, Dance4Life said:


     

    Who else was disgusted at the Giudice scene?

     

    The entire thing was surreal!

     

    These people are sitting in their formal dining room with a fireplace taller than me.....with food to feed an entire village wanting sympathy!

     

    They are talking to Joe on their iPhone....passing it around.....crying and crying!

     

    The man is in a Deportation Center!  

     

    Gia was wearing a bunch of Cartier jewelry .......on her way to college. 

     

    They are like....poor Joe.  POOR US!!!!

     

    Still not taking any blame for anything.

     

    FFS......Yall STOLE a million dollars to pay for that house!

     

    Then tried to write off 5 million dollars in a fraudulent bankruptcy.

     

    Never paid taxes!   

     

    Actually, filed fake tax returns (with Teresa’s signatures) to get fake bank loans.

     

    The irony of it all.....the man who took the fall for everything......wont have any access to it! Deported! 

     

    Separated from his greedy family........enjoying his stolen loot!  🤣

     

    I hope Joe gets a lifetime ban from USA.

     

    They really deserve an Emmy!  All of them!  Charlatans! 

     

    Especially, the crazy Nono with his burning gums! 😘🌶

    In situations like this, I see all the expensive jewelry and furniture and whatnot as window dressing.  These are still real people, and as the above post points out, Joe, who committed so many crimes in order to have wealth, will no longer have access to any of it.  And as the saying goes, you can't take it with you.  

    Did Joe and Teresa deserve to be convicted?  Absolutely.  Is Joe getting what he deserves to get for failing to become a citizen on top of breaking the law?  Absolutely.  Is Teresa in total denial of these facts?  Absolutely.  Does she drive me nuts?  Absolutely.  But they all still have feelings, especially the kids.  Gia and Gabriella likely understand all the ins and outs of the entire situation and why everything is happening as it is, but he's still their dad, and they love him, as they should.  Gia may be 18 and in college now, but she's still young - while she's at that age where she thinks she knows everything (and didn't we ALL know everything at 18?? I know I did!  LOL), she's still emotionally a kid, and she's hurting.  All of them are.  It doesn't matter who was at fault for what - they're kids, and they miss their dad, and I think on some level, Teresa and Joe do feel bad that the girls are having to go  through it.

    It doesn't matter how wealthy you are or what material possessions you own - this kind of thing is painful, no matter what.  I'm 48, and I have everything I need, and I'd still be heartbroken if that was my dad.

    • Love 22
  12. On 9/22/2019 at 10:34 PM, heatherchandler said:

    Seriously??  That’s worth something on the Real World black market.  You can’t buy them anywhere- you should put them on a disc and sell them!

    I've been wanting to put them on disc just for myself so I don't lose them!

    The best part of them, though, is actually the commercials.  Especially the computer ads.  These tapes are like time capsules!

    On 9/22/2019 at 3:03 PM, shantown said:

    If you ever decide to get these converted to digital, I would happily buy several seasons from you 🙂

    I've been working on getting them transferred to another format for awhile so I don't lose them - I need to figure this out before the tapes won't play anymore! 

    • Love 2
  13. Finding this forum has inspired me to dust off all my VHS tapes.  I recorded every single season from the very first season - original New York - through Key West, all except for the first half of Philadelphia. And Boston - I never did see the Boston season.  I still have a working VCR.  I think I need to rewatch them all.

    • Love 1
  14. This season's reunion was painful and uncomfortable to watch, in that there was so much hurt and so many bad feelings swirling throughout.  I agree that this season wasn't as entertaining as some in the past, and I think it's because this season was the most REAL it's ever been - true colors came out left and right, and they weren't the least bit pretty.

    Shep's elitism, Austen's nastiness, Cameran really having no true worries in life, Katherine's self-centeredness - I think these were all things that they had been hiding all this time, and once they hit season 6 and were comfortable with each other and the cameras, they either forgot or no longer felt the need to cover them up.  As a result, what we got was the cast at their most authentic, and we saw that these aren't very likable people.  Landon annoyed the crap out of me, and Ashley was all flustered, blustery anger, and the two of them caused some damage - but this season was different.  These people both meant to hurt each other and didn't care whether they did or not, and that's a whole different kind of damage.

    That's only half of them, though.  I absolutely adore Chelsea, I believe 100% that Craig does have a good heart, I think Eliza also means well but is too young to understand that people don't necessarily appreciate or see things as she does, Naomie has her own agenda in life (and that's fine - she's not hurting anyone by it), and Danni . . . I suspect Danni has a whole mess of some kind going on outside the show that we know nothing about but is affecting her physically and emotionally, so I can't judge her for that.

    I hope that those who need to watched themselves this season and realized that they have a lot of growing up to do.

    • Love 14
  15. I was pleased to see that Eliza did indeed turn out to be quite harmless and genuine.  She's young, and it shows, but in a good way - she hasn't yet experienced enough of life to become jaded and cynical, and therefore seems a bit childish and naive when it comes to catty people.  I don't mind her.

    I'm concerned for Danni's health - at one point, while she was talking with Madison outside, her face appeared gaunt, almost skeletal.  All of them are tiny, but where Chelsea, for example, appears fit and trim, Danni doesn't.

    Shep reminds me of a high school jock who has always had his athletic talent to rely upon for acceptance and as a lifestyle, and who, upon reaching middle age, discovers people are no longer impressed and has nothing else to fall back on.  He was always the good-time guy, and that was fine when he was younger, but the younger generation didn't know him as such - they just see a crotchety old man who never grew up, and that's not "cool."  Meanwhile, his aging body can't keep up, but he doesn't know what else to do with himself.  Hence the hostility.  Part of me feels sorry for him.

    As frustrated as I get with Craig, I've said before and I say again - he clearly has a sensitivity when it comes to treating people with respect.  Every time, when it comes down to it, he winds up expressing regret, and approaches people in distress with compassion - Austen, Ashley, Katherine.  I truly don't think his "What does it cost you to go see if Katherine's okay?" challenge to Whitney was producer-driven - I really believe it was genuine, because it was in line with the way we've seen him approach such situations before.  I think he has a severe attachment still to Naomi which is troubling, but I do like the side of him who ultimately knows how to treat people with dignity.

    Along those lines, I absolutely loved that Katherine came right out and told him to his face that he was a dick for joining Shep in bringing the video women to the party.  I think maybe that was the tipping point for Craig when he fully realized he'd done something very not nice.

    I adore Chelsea.  Someone mentioned in another thread that she's just comfortable with who she is no matter the situation, and I admire that.  She has to be the most authentic of them all.  And she's Tyson's mom, which makes her even better.

    I think Cameran is at that age where she's torn between who she used to be and who she is now.  Sometimes it's a hard thing to realize you've grown up and everything you loved about your younger life no longer fits.  I can't give her a hard time for that.

    Call me crazy, but I actually wouldn't mind having both Ashley AND Landon on next season at the same time.  Both of them drove me nuts but were fun to love to hate.

    • Love 20
  16. Ashley - wow.  I  - eh - I mean, I just - uhh . . . *sigh*  Wow.  That was . . . wow.

    The abrupt, whiplash-inducing changes of tone and intentions every ten seconds were truly disturbing.  I've never seen that.  It was like two completely different personalities taking turns talking, and neither was aware of what the other had just said.

    • LOL 2
    • Love 18
  17. On 6/26/2019 at 9:58 PM, absolutelyido said:

    I laughed when they showed the montage of Craig, Austen and Shep primping in front of the mirror...while Whitney is sanitizing the remote control. 

    I loved that we had three different shots of Craig continually brushing his hair, and then he came out into the living room wearing a hat.

    • LOL 7
    • Love 5
  18. 11 hours ago, rideashire said:

    I think it's because he seems to have a good heart, especially compared to the other men on this show. Correct me if I'm wrong, but we don't see him bullying anyone or being a dick just to be a dick. He's just as lazy and shiftless as Shep and the others, but he's not calling people white trash in his spare time, for example. 

    Granted, the bar is low on this show, so maybe by now my expectations are warped. 

    You're right.  I've noticed more than once - most recently during last season's reunion with Ashley - that he has a way of asking pointed questions pertaining to a person's well-being, and he does it in such a way that it's non-confrontational, non-accusatory, and shows genuine concern.  He does have that gift.

    • Love 12
  19. I've never really understood why people were so quick to defend Craig, as he's been shown to be one of the laziest people I've ever seen in "action."  For someone who has had such incredible opportunities handed to him as a result of this show, he certainly doesn't seem to grasp how fortunate he is and instead is wasting it all with no foresight to recognize that one day, all of this will go away, and he'll then be left to his own devices.

    However, even I was cringing at how horribly Shep and Whitney treated him while he was trying to build the fire and cook for everyone.  I felt sorry for him, and admired how well he controlled himself.  I didn't blame him in the least for retreating to the motorhome to get away from them, and was impressed that he didn't lower himself to their levels in retaliation.  He certainly would have been within his rights to do so.

    Patricia cracks me up with her fast-food love.

    And Tyson needs his own show.  Maybe the cat from the sporting goods store could costar.  I was so hoping one of the guys would ask the store clerk about it!

    • LOL 1
    • Love 16
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