BusyOctober

I rewound this so I could show my 11 year old this woman's "chicken arms" because I thought she'd get a kick out of it. My daughter was horrified and freaked out and visibly upset. She yelled at me, "WHY would you show THAT to me??? Do you want me to have nightmares? What is WRONG with you?!?" Parental Fail #30,457 I guess.

My guess is advanced syphilis. Her brain matter has been turning into Swiss cheese as each season progresses. She gets nuttier and more delusional every year. I don't think an intervention will help. Hell, I don't think even penicillin can help at this stage. She does not listen to anyone. She thinks she is the darling of the UES and has all of society at her feet. No one with any old school JPM-type money will associate with her. The new money crowd aren't her friends either. The attention she gets/used to get was from 20-somethings who want to be on TV. Sonja wants to be the cutesy wootsey debutante boozing it up with the Ivy League frat boys AND the society maven & benevolent docent who dictates how one behaves among the blue bloods and Mrs. Astor's "400". She has never been & never will be either. Further proof that Sonja has gone around the bend? She is unaware she has no one supporting her as a friend anymore. Lu is <<kinda>> there for her now, but the rest of the ladies find her too cuckoo for cocoa puffs to deal with. If Sonja doesn't have any allies to drunkenly romp around with for camera time, her relevance as a HW is gone. If she sells Gray Gardens, she loses space for all those "interns" and all opportunities to "host" parties or show the failing infrastructure or the townhouse or flirt (unsuccessfully and cringe-ily) with various repair men on site to address said failing infrastructure. No wacky story line means no camera time means no Bravo paycheck. Sonja is the only one of these women who needs that paycheck, so she'd better get herself snapped into better mental shape if she wants to be on the show next season. Being endearingly eccentric is completely different from being flat out insane.

What happened to Kyle's/Faye's sense of style??? The old house was stunning inside. Warm, cozy, homey. Now Kyle gets this amazing 1892 classic and she is ripping out the original wooden stair rail & balusters to replace them with wrought iron & BRASS? If she wanted a Mexican/Mediterranean vibe then why did she buy a Colonial? There's nothing wrong with metal on a staircase, but I think a house's interior should reflect the exterior style. Her Palm Springs house looks fantastic with the Southwestern/Hacienda decor, so I know she knows how to do it. I also did not like any of the super shiny fabrics on the new furniture. It looks too Viva Las Vegas when that house could/should be Classic. The Chanel throw probably costs more than my entire living room furniture, but it screamed "tacky" to me. Dorit also has issues when it comes to "style". Her swim suit line...UGH-ly. Those models looked terrible too. Way way too skinny. Yes, that's what models have looked like for decades, but I would have thought for sexy swim wear (which let's face it, will NEVER be seen in actual water for you know...swimming), you'd pick curvier models to show off the shapes and lines. Like maybe select models from size 2-4 with some boobs and hips rather than size 0000-00 skeletons? The Housewives are all pretty thin and still have "shapes", so clothing looks better on these women than those ghastly ghouls walking Dorit's too-short runway. She could have made the same impact if she hung those swim suits on a clothes line & used a pulley to drag them across the stage. As for her styling of the show, did anyone else think Dorit was planning for a palm tree-lined runway the way she was carrying on? I guess getting two 20 ft palm trees into that space was a logistical feat, but just like her stupid ill fitting swimsuits, those 2 trees looked skimpy. I freaked out when Teddi's hubby and Mauricio were discussing security for the new house! Thank goodness Kyle let her followers know he hadn't installed it yet. That would have been the whole season's "drama" next year...how Teddi's husband's bad biz cost Kyle all her Birkins! Mo & Kyle will need to keep hustling to restock that walk-in.

Did anyone catch how puffed up and self righteous Jerk got when he was patting himself on the back for “completing” the punch list Odd gave him? He was rambling off how much he got done and happily checking off boxes when Odd interjected with comments like “well, except for...” and “not really...”. She even mentioned the infamous dishwasher leak issue (that ultimately led Jerk to have to rip out his shitty renovation and call professionals in for Renovation v2.0). Jerk got all man-splainy and said “can we at least acknowledge that a lot has been completed?” He needs every one of his piddling tasks recognized and applauded. He really can’t take criticism at all can he? And Odd didn’t even make her comments in a sarcastic manner. She just stated facts. Jerk may not have his dear old dad’s physical looks, but sure as Hell inherited Daddy’s condescending attitude and superiority complex. I don’t get why Amy puts so much meaning into whether “the kids” accept Chris. It appears that Jerk is the only one of her kids (on tv anyway) that looks like he is smelling bad cheese when he talks about his mother and her dating. Zach and Tori treated Chris cordially enough. It isn’t as if all the Roloff kids are ever going to call him “dad” or “grandpa”. Amy should just let her grown adult children know that Chris makes her happy. He treats her with kindness, respect and deference (all new experiences for Amy after 26 years with Matt the human steamroller), and he is a part of her life now by HER choice. The kids should be able to respect their mom enough to accept her situation. Jerk doesn’t seem to have the same stink-face when he speaks about his father’s one time side piece & current GF. Amy needs to stop fretting over whether the kids/Jerk and Odd like Chris. Those two don’t seem to like her to begin with! For people as close to Jesus and God as Jerk and Odd claim to be, they sure missed a few of the main messages in the Bible they like to tote around....Honor Thy Mother....Do Unto Others...the sin of Pride....the sin of Sloth...Let him without sin cast the first stone...Thou shalt not commit adultery (in reference to Matt having an extramarital affair is cool, but divorced mom needs to be shuttled of to a nunnery for daring to date).

Unless Erica was purposely going for "aging drag queen who impersonates a mash-up of Britney (the costume), Madonna (the hair) & 70 year old Bette Davis (the face)", then she lost me with this particular latex "look". While I think Erica has an amazing body and can literally wear anything, I think her glam squaT has been missing on the makeup all season. In her TH's, or in scenes without the entire MAC counter at Sephora troweled on her face, Erica looks great. Once Mikey and his makeup monkeys get involved and focus on dress up day at Barbie's Dream House, oh boy. I still like Teddi. I like her vibe, her kids, her husband. Unlike some folks, I don't find her "too cool for school" on this show. IMO, she has self confidence and is self assured in a way that some of the other HW's can't attain. I think she looks stunning whether she is dressed up or (especially) in casual mode. She has lovely face. Question about LVP's rescue center...she seems to have a lot of puppies there. I would think they get homes very quickly....who doesn't love a wriggly little cutie pie puppy? Is that her "niche" for that center? Are there no older dogs in BH or the surrounding area that her center can help? Since Dorit's fashion show will be full of too much dramatic sighing and breast heaving and ridiculous, vaguely fake-foreign, over-pronounced descriptions of her stress level, I will record the final episode so I can just FF'd through it. Plus, unless A LOT of changes were made since the initial look, I think most of her swim suits were ugly AF. PK had better not plan to heavily on retirement based on the success of "Beverly Beach". The only plane I see in your future is the Fisher Price model on the 'everything must go!' table at Toys R Us.

Seconded. I don't find any of the primary, secondary or tertiary characters remotely interesting anymore. I can't even muster enough ennui to "hate-watch" any of these people. I am hoping for a grand finale of all of these loathsome fools trapped in the mansion as it burns to the ground...then a powerful rainstorm comes through to dowse the flames and wash their ashes away. And "NO thank you" to any resurrection or "Phoenix Rising" twist.

Right??? So my guess for Ember's off screen ensemble - a sleeveless ecru Carhart onesie (product placement), no tights, tan Baby UGG fur-lined flip flops (product placement) and an oatmeal colored "Beating 50%" wool beanie ( product placement ...um,DUH!) to keep in line with the WTF Roloff Hipster Dress Code.

Nacho may be a very nice man and a good baker, but...he annoys me with all his "surprise" faces, followed by his "shocked" face and his "OMG!" face. I've already stated many times how stupid the twists are. They do nothing to enhance the show, just derail it. And speaking of 'surprise/shock/OMG reactions....why do all the bakers consistently seem unprepared for these twists? The host du jour presents one...every. single. challenge. And yet when he appears on set with the latest ruinous idea, the bakers are always "Oh no! I didn't see that coming!" I'm still unclear on the judges and their critiques. There isn't any consistency, especially with Nancy (who I like the least). Her main complaint is always "It isn't 'spring-y' enough". Yet she applies that in a seemingly random way. Brown pastry basket = OK. Yet chocolate items are not? Unless the final results are covered in whatever color Nancy finds seasonal enough to her liking, she reprimands the baker. I would rather have a simple, amazing looking & tasting chocolate bon-bon over a lemon verbena parsley-sage-rosemary & thyme cupcake with elderberry extract, and smothered in pink, green and yellow buttercream roses. I loved the patterned rolled cakes! So pretty! I have made buche de noel & jelly rolls before, but never one of these beauties. Do they use colored cake batter for the decorations or colored chocolate melts? I may try to do one of these if I can find the technique. If I fail, I can always cover it in buttercream roses, right?

I can understand buying the house because they liked it and didn’t want to miss out if another buyer came along. However, if I were 2 months or less from giving birth, I would have either moved into the house in “as is” condition and wait to make repairs or cosmetic fixes OR I would have bought it, stayed with relatives until I had the baby, then moved in slowly as I made whatever updates I felt “had” to be completed before my family could live there comfortably. If I remember correctly, the house seemed to have had working plumbing, erect walls, a sound roof and doors that locked. There was no need to rip out the functioning kitchen so soon other than for vanity reasons. They wanted the perfect hipster kitchen NOW without thinking it through. Why these two idiots felt they HAD to buy a house and move in and do a kitchen remodel while 38 weeks pregnant is just further proof of their inability to make good decisions (hair styles, fashion choices and blogging without using spellcheck are a few other poor choices made). Ultimately, we learned their decision to redo the kitchen & using Jeremy as the contractor and laborer are further evidence these two have questionable IQs.

I don't care enough to check, but so far I feel like this season has a whole batch of new writers who never watched Seasons 1-4. The characters are not behaving "normally"- specifically Sister Julienne & Dr. Turner. Sister Julienne has been so laissez faire. Concerned residents of Nonatus House: "Gee, Sister, it's so awful how one of your oldest friends and your Sister in God is so afflicted and frustrated and scared! First her mind is failing her. Now the poor woman will be blind if she can't be convinced the surgery will help! Whatever should we do?" Sister Julienne: "Meh. Not my circus, not my monkey." YES!!!! My point exactly. Did no one from the production team or the continuity team or even the actors ever raise a hand during a table read and say, "Um, I thought Sister MJ was too far gone around the bend? Didn't she have dementia that lead her to wander off and have her duties reduced significantly? We don't let her see patients, cook or even answer the damn phone! Now we want a mentally unbalanced septuagenarian with dementia and a mile wide streak of stubbornness to slowly go blind?? AND we expect her to learn Braille and how to navigate halls, stairs, the kitchen with a cane??" I would assume if they had let the poor lady go blind, they would have had to have sent her to a home because there is NO WAY she could have stayed on at Nonatus with dementia AND being blind.

JD must have real Magic Mike moves, because on the surface... huh? Not attractive physically IMO. I bet what made him such a hot prospect was the fact that he paid attention to these women who were desperate for love/ attention. Robin’s own mother said Robin was always looking for the next boy b/c she felt like she needed a man. And Katie is the poster child for “Daddy Issues”. Not having a father and living with an unstable mom set that girl up for low self esteem and a lifetime of looking for “love” in all the wrong places. As for JD, he thrived off the women fighting over him. His ego (among other things) were being stroked by at least these 2 women. He got to feel like King of P***y Mountain by pitting the women against each other. Like all of these stories, my heart breaks for the kids involved. I hope Katie’s daughter has had a better, healthier foundation than her mom had.

I know this, however the Tenant's Assoc can be vocal and raise complaints and contact city housing authorities, etc. Yes, this is a TV show & not "real", so I will have to let this go. My attention on minutiae needs to be suppressed. If only I had a food truck parked outside my house...

The only thing I could focus on through the whole episode was the #$%& elevator. If Sheldon had the power as Tenant Tsar all these years, why is the elevator still broken?!?!

Matt wants the Big House because he is a whiny child who didn’t get the whole enchilada in the divorce. It galls him that Amy got the house. Doesn’t matter that he can barely maneuver around a single floor dwelling. He wants it because he perceives it as “his” vs. marital, communal property. It was his idea to build the Farm, the huge house, the pumpkin patch, yaddah yaddah. Amy was just along for the ride apparently, and has no intellectual, financial or emotional investment in any of Matt’s holdings. And Matt’s shitty attitude has been passed on to his son, Jerk. They have been pretty vocal about why either one of them is more deserving of the bigger house than the woman who cooked, cleaned, educated, chauffeured and nursed the family for 20+ years. That said, I don’t think Amy really needs all that space now that the kids are grown and married. Both she and Matt would be better of in ranch style houses. Two or 3 BRs, big areas for gathering the family and a good sized kitchen for Amy would be manageable. But Matt needs to have everything “big” to compensate for all the pain and suffering and things denied or not achieved as a child and teenager. Why doesn’t he just doesn’t build his own damn Barbie Dream House somewhere on the far side of the property, or at least out of Amy’s sight line? If he hates the double-wide so much, stop bitching and moping like a martyr and do something about it. Did anyone else hear Amy’s snarky response to Matt when he said he wasn’t “dying” anymore? She said something like, “so you’re NOT dying? Karen gets to have this after I had 27 years of you “dying”? The previews for the season look like Jerk, Matt and maybe Karen are ganging up on Amy and the house/farm BS. I think Jerk even said something like “we need to know where you stand”. Insufferable like his dear old dad.

I couldn’t finish the screaming sugar baby stripper from today...the shrieking and her stupidity was just too much for my poor sad old brain today. As a parent myself, I can only hope I never have to do it, but my advice to the parents are “run, do not walk, to child protective services to get the baby removed from that dim wit. Next, close the door and your wallets to the idiot daughter. She is beyond reason and needs deeper help than you as parents can provide.

I echo all the WTF's from the recap re. the inconsistent way the nurses/nuns behaved with the Lunt family. Several of them witness the dirty home and/or children and don't jump into action as they've done for other cases? Yes, Trixie went to clean the place up several times (though, honestly it didn't look any better to me), but the kids were still wearing the same filthy clothes and had no food! I know Dr. Turner got them medical attention and arranged for poor Wendy to go to a group home, but the mom, dad & kids still looked filthy and had no clothes after several visits from Nurse Crane & Trixie and trips to the doctors' and clinic. I find it hard to believe that Mrs. Turner or Trixie wouldn't have found some donated clothes for the kids while they were hanging out at the clinics. Or that Trixie or Nurse Crane wouldn't have brought some food and clean clothes on one of their visits. Or Sister Winifred wouldn't have been so "Oh well, pass the crumpets!" after describing poor Wendy's condition at the school. These women have shown more compassion and rallied for families with less harsh conditions for cripes sake! Also getting more frustrated with the slicing & dicing PBS has done to this show for US viewers. Sure, it's "very important" for PBS to use those precious few minutes at the front and back of these episodes to tell me to send PBS money so I can keep seeing these quality shows. But- can your editors maybe cut non-essential tidbits instead of vital character exposition? For example, seeing Fred in a tux was cute, but I would give up that scene to have learned about Magda's experiences escaping Hungary and the abusive BF in Paris. I also didn't get Trixie's speech about Christopher going back to his "wife". He's divorced so he doesn't have a wife. Also, I don't think Trixie would ever have dated him (or continued to date him) if she knew he were only 'separated'. It is totally the ex-wife screwing with the little girl's mind re. her daddy & Trixie. Divorce did have a stigma in the 60's (and sadly, even now), so the little girl was probably very sad and confused about why her mom & dad weren't together. It's very natural. But when one parent talks trash about their ex (or the ex's new squeeze) in the presence of the child, it makes it 10x's worse.

The whole Mommy & Me case was so whack-a doo. I really wanted to hear more about this dynamic! Mommy moves kid to college & decides to stay on as care taker? It sounds like John-John was living off campus in a rented room vs. any housing associated with the school. I could kinda get it if he were in an apartment or even a loft space on his own, and Crowding Dragon - Flying Helicopter Tiger Mom stayed a few weeks to get him settled. But they were jammed into one room in a house filled with other renters??? And I really wanted to hear more about the "desk" she set up for herself in the front of the house! Was she playing concierge? Or hotel detective? I need to know what the F is UP, people! And she's so over-protective and pervasive in her kid's life, that she sleeps at the foot of his bed like an old fashioned amah, but Sonny Boy is allowed to dye his hair magenta on Mommy's watch? This clan needs its own reality show. I was so grossed out by the description of the condition of that poor lady's house after Ms. Mumbles and her Tasmanian Devil spawn destroyed it. She sounded so proud when she said she always gave "punishments" for the 8 yo's bad behavior. Well, genius, I'd venture a guess that it didn't work since she kept up the bad behavior. It's a good thing I had CC'g on or else I wouldn't have understood what nonsense that woman was mush-mouthing! And then her mother was just as intelligible! I fear for the teachers and students at the school where Ms. Mumbles' kids attend.

Random thoughts... Hey, Sea Bass (ugh)- that is not a conch shell. Looked more like a larger cowrie to me. Um, Bradley? You are in fact not as fantastic a player you think you are. You have done nothing to improve your game; the only reason you are still present is b/c of the production crew's team manipulations. You have not schemed or plotted or been strategic once. You have bitched about your intolerable living conditions incessantly through that much too small mouth for your face enough for me, so shutty! Speaking of mouths/face proportions, what is it with the lack of chins and jawlines with this cast? Sebastian, Laurel, some others I do not know...all are missing mandible bones. Kellyn is one of the most annoying people ever. I can't imagine being at a cocktail party or in a college classroom with her. She doesn't shut up. If asked a simple question, answer it simply. No one wants to hear your dissertation on philosophy when all the waiter asks is "red or white". Chris....sigh. He is one of those people I would spend time with just to passively-aggressively play mind games. I would bring up different careers and see how many he dabbled in "over the summer". I'd mention as many cool, edgy bands as possible to see how many he says he's seen or gone back stage or knows the drummer. I'd talk about extreme sports to hear him tell me how he was on track to go to the X Games &/or Olympics until he got called to an emergency modeling job. How is it that the most self absorbed people are the lease self aware? What a douche-bro tool this guy is!

The money laundering thing has sooo many unreal facets, it's hard to pick on one. However here's the one that popped in my head immediately. If I buy $3k-$5k worth of products at a store with cash, first- way to call attention to yourself. Second, most stores have a policy for cash return that large; the store will send a corporate check to you in a few days. They DO NOT clear out all the cash registers to give you your $5k back.

Right?? Waaaay too many bad choices going on there. The nose ring, the sea-sick green hair dye and hair done via weed whacker were bad enough. But I was totally distracted by the teeth/mouth/lipstick. People who have yellowish teeth should never ever ever wear orange-based reds! Go for the blue-based tones to cancel out the yellow dinge! What the hell did Candy Crush have to do with any of this? I have heard of the game, but I thought the rage died out in 2015, no? And none of the designs made me think "Candy Crush" or "video game". But then again NONE of the product placed shills ever have, so yay for consistency?

As soon as Haley told the family not to touch the tiara, not only did I know everyone would touch it and that it would be broken, I also knew Haley did it prior to the clan arriving at the house. Things I did like...Phil and Cam dancing, that Oprah stole Michelle Obama’s candy dish and passed it off as hers (M.O. or O. W.???) Either lady could get way with absconding with a lot of loot from the other person’s houses! Manny the character and the young actor playing him have run their course. I don’t find either of them funny or entertaining any more.

When Erika was telling the ladies about her past life as a boy in Spain...I swear she said "...and I lived in the bottom of a shoe." I rewound twice and figured out it was "ship". Either one, both are equally plausible....not. The whole psychic thing is such a joke, especially when done on these reality shows. Talk about phishing for info. How do these women not see it? "I am seeing a "f" name 'Francis...or Frances...?' and Rinna pipes up "My Dad was Frank!" (even though it sounds like the man never went by his formal name, just Frank). Wow...info that ANYONE of us could Google or pull up on Wikipedia just magically "comes" to this woman! It's amazing. And the dolt admitted she looked at Twitter re. LVP's dog dying. If she's been employed by Kyle for 10+ years, then this "psychic" has surely picked up tidbits of info about Kyle's friends, family, etc. Also, there is a TV show aaaallll about these people that has been airing for 8 seasons. I could do a "cold reading" on these women and guarantee 80% accuracy. The whole Girl Cult thing was weird. The pep talk from Mikey, Erika's Fluffer, about the amazing "young" women on the panel. Tyra Banks?? Kimora Lee Simmons?? I've heard that 40 is the new 20, but COME ON! Then the MC's get up...was Mikey and his Insane Clown Posse in charge of styling her too? What the hell was she wearing? I thought at first she was Rebel Wilson doing a bit. I am not as young and fresh as the Ms. Girardi (b.'71), Banks (b.'73) or Simmons (b.'75). I was born in 1970, so I am old and haggard, and therefore do not know that what young women need to feel empowered. Way back in my day (365 whole days BE -Before Erika), young women were encouraged NOT to dress like Japanese anime hookers to be taken seriously. But what do I know... I'll just be over here in the corner on my Lark Scooter, waiting for the Home Town Buffet to open for dinner...at 4pm.

I am still watching, but the tone of this is starting to bug me. The message every season seems to be strong, successful women are just a mixed bag of psychosis, neurosis, cattiness, bitchiness with a sprinkling of the notion that the “right” man will make them better human beings. And if you are an up-and-coming wannabe ball busting female, then you’d better learn how to give amazing blow jobs to advance your career. Quinn might have been brilliant at one point in her life, but now she is just the bitter, barren hag to pity and despise. Rachael is a walking time bomb and the younger Madison wants to be a Rachael or a Quinn despite how dangerously broken they are? I won’t even get into the Serena character...I hate her and I don’t think the actress is very good. I will keep watching just to finish out the season, but if this gets picked up for another season, I don’t think it will be on my DVR list.

You would be amazed at what people return at stores. I've seen everything from half eaten box of cookies to stained bridesmaid dresses to broken toys from 5 years ago come back through the various service desks I've worked at over the years. Had one family return 4 complete sets of skis, boots, bindings and poles after their long ski weekend in VT. One set of poles was bent, one ski was scuffed up and boots had dried mud on them. "They didn't fit" was the return reason.

Yes, this all very far-fetched, but I still like it. Rhetta is kicking some serious ass as Ruby. The shopping/laundering money scheme would only work for a very short time. Even if the ladies move out of state to keep it going, there are cameras and recorded transactions everywhere. Ruby and Beth are pretty easy to describe if customers or store staff were asked to do it. The only way I see this farce continuing is if Beth, Annie & Ruby flip on their crime boss and become informants for the cops. And typical of most tv shows, they will then become double crossing agents who flip on the FBI. I knew the husband was faking the minute he announced he had cancer. How is he going to play this off when it's time for a "doctor appointment" or when he needs a scan of some kind? Again, total fantasy stuff, but how many of us would love to tell off a bully or insufferable jerk like Annie & Ruby handled their situations? I would love to walk up to any of the little pissants at my daughter's school and "strongly suggest" they cut out all their shitty behavior. My child hasn't been a victim of bullying (yet), but a few of her friends and classmates have dealt with a lot of crap and they are only in 5th grade! I have never been a server in a restaurant, but I have worked in retail. It shouldn't shock me when I hear or see how awful people are when dealing with customer service folks. Every waitress/waiter was probably cheering Ruby on for shutting down the kid and his mom.