Cat

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-8011711/Champagne-Dame-Kyla-Kirkpatrick-set-join-upcoming-season-Real-Housewives-Melbourne.html

OK I am getting lowkey worried now that they are editing out the Denise-Brandi 'affair' ! Yes, I know I said that Brandi and the whole thing was trash. That doesn't mean I didn't want to watch that mess! Teddi is onto her third season with BH, Dorit her fourth. Let that sink in. And Rinna and Erika have spent the past two seasons totally checked out in some weird silent protest at LVP's presence on the show. What will be their excuse this time?

@Chris B @NothinButAttitude Oh, I'm not sorry Jackie is gone -- I was ready for her departure that one season when all we saw was her interminable Shine, Shine, Shine tour. I did enjoy her last season when she went up against Lydia, when Lydia said Janet had been speaking out of turn about Jackie. Which I believe, although Lydia exaggerated it. I also believe Lydia boinked Shane Ward (cricket legend who used to date Liz Hurley but couldn't keep it in his pants) and that's why her husband does not appear on the show anymore. In fact, it was Jackie who first revealed that rumor onscreen in S2 or S3, I think. Lydia has been gunning for Jackie ever since. My feeling is that Jackie told Foxtel she would only stay if Lydia was fired, and the producers balked at her demand. The hate is genuine with these two.

Wait, Jackie is out?? She is hugely popular in Australia! Glad Lydia is back, totally the dumbest b*tch on reality TV. And glad the show is back to filming after a long hiatus. I suspect the terrible bushfires postponed filming earlier this year. Sad to think that so much of Australia's natural greenery and unique wildlife perished. I wonder if RHOMel will touch upon it this season. Part of the fun of the show involved weekend jaunts to a beautiful country vineyard or horse lodge (unlike BH nowdays, which is a jaunt to an Erika Jayne concert!). Melbourne is the most glamorous show for me. The faraway locale is part of it, but also the lifestyle whispers (as opposed to screams) legitimately great. It probably won't be screened until later in 2020 but I'm really looking forward to it. I wouldn't mind Venus given a second season, and I'm almost sorry Sally didn't get a second go. She was snooty and unlikeable (another Andrea from S1), but sometimes you need a character like that on these shows. I definitely wish Chyka would return, but she won't without Jackie there.

Oh no! I hope nobody was seriously hurt!

I mean... I dread to think of the drunk Tres Amigos making fun of an Asian newbie. They are really keeping Garcelle on lockdown over at BH. When news was announced that she had been hired (seems like AGES ago), the excitement around her was really high. She sounded amazing in her quick People interview. Since then... tumbleweeds. Wendy Williams asked Erika about Gracelle last week but Erika didn't really say anything about her. I hope Garcelle gets to do some press for BH soon.

Ooooo, finally an Asian American! (Korean-American if her last name is anything to go by). And she has an actual vocation! She sounds outgoing and interesting, too. A shame Cary Deuber is no longer a regular HW as she and Tiffany would have the medical field in common. Dr. Tiffany Moon obviously being smart, a physician, etc., I hope Leeanne doesn't become all insecure and turn the entire season into how the edumacated newbie looks down on her. Also: what the hell do Dr. Tiffany and Brandi have to talk about? Or her and Kary? Can't wait for those convos about Kary's necklace line. Meanwhile, at NY fashion week: Issa Rae, creator and star of Insecure (can't wait for S3) is pulling a I don't know ha. I just want to say that the link to this tweet was from a gossip blog which referred to Rinna and her offspring as "a Real Housewife and her dollar store Hadid daughters." I recognised the dark-haired daughter who went through anorexia (though she might have a new nose now). But woah, did anybody recognise the other one? She looks completely different! Rinna looks the same surprisingly, and thankfully.

Sometimes I love it (see above) but sometimes I wish she would get some help. She can't hold her drink. In any case, the funniest Sonja is Lucid Sonja in her VTs, talking about how she cropped Cindy Chupack out of all her Morocco photos. Omg I can't wait for Potomac either! Usually it starts around Easter but all the RH shows seem to have been pushed back a few months. I don't know if I can take fake ass Ashley pretending she has a hot n steamy marriage with oh-so-hetero Michael, though, lol.

The more I think about it, the more I am excited about seeing RHONY again. I hadn't realized how much I had missed the show until that trailer. I've said this before, but the show has this way of making viewers feel like the RHONY just go their merry business and do whatever they want, regardless of whether a camera crew is there or not. And the women have this quick wit and weird bond which keeps the show moving and grooving. They can literally say anything to each other and its NBD. As you say, RHONY often delivers on the light and genuinely funny stuff. RHOBH is going to be somewhat mean-spirited, I can feel it. I am genuinely surprised there hasn't been a trailer yet. Which makes me wonder if production is re-working the season, perhaps even re-shoots.

I hope this doesn't dissuade people from turning in, because RHONY is my favorite franchise and I want it to get all the viewers it can! It's been a little slow on the HWs front recently so I cannot wait for this to start. Wish it was March instead of April. Cons: yes, it does look like the last 3 seasons. And the new HW is giving me Braunwyn vibes -- without the interesting backstory. Pros: Luann looks amazing, and woahhhh I felt her thrill when she sipped that vodka. Speaking of vodka, looks like we are finally delving deep into Dorinda's issues. I am excited for the chemistry and focus on the Core 4 which is far and away my biggest reason for loving this franchise.

@chrisml if you hate Shannon, you may want to speed jauntily through the end of S10 as well as seasons 11 and 12. She hits peak self-righteous mode then. Shannon and Tamra had such a good cop/bad cop mean-girl vibe together that it will be interesting to see Shannon without Tamra there to do all the dirty work.

I saw that. She also did one of her Chicago numbers with what looked like a minimum of steps (and minimum of Fosse hands). Ann Reinking she ain't, though she looks the part. I don't know why, but a part of me likes Erika and always hoped she and LVP would reach a meeting of the minds. I like that she reads people well. Another part hates that how contrived she has become -- and how bitter and bored she seems on the show. I wish Bravo would release Garcelle from whichever dungeon they put her in and let her do press for BH. Wendy even asked Erika about her so it's not just me who is curious about how she handles herself on the show.

S9 was a great season with variety and both newbies worked well. But for whatever reason, Tamra lobbied hard for Lizzie to be dropped and production acquiesced, even though Tamra vs Lizzie was good drama. She even released Lizzie's home address on social media to some of her rabid fans, which tells you a lot about how vicious Tamra is. S10 didn't quite work for me. Meghan talked about cancer the whole time and so did everyone else. It was a toxic, exhausting season to watch. I still cannot stand snotty Meghan because of it. The only bright spot for me was Jim Edmonds whose disdain of his wife was entertaining in a Jim Bellino way. But overall... OC never really got over this season. It is only this last season (14) that I felt the show truly managed to extricate itself from S10's toxic shadow.

http://news.lalate.com/2020/01/28/vanderpump-rules-firing-fears-amid-7-mil-talent-budget-exclusive/

Bernie's followers are braying for a witch-hunt over who is to blame for this (read: Dem hierarchy). It's a bad day for Dems all around. State of the Union tonight (and I'm sure DT will go wildly off-script in order to lay into his opponents), while Gallup has just farted up the Dear Leader's poll ratings for January, which were the highest they have ever been -- admittedly at a mediocre 49%. https://news.gallup.com/poll/284156/trump-job-approval-personal-best.aspx

No more math m'kay?

Mess. Overly complicated and prone-to-failure voting techniques don't help. I mean, there was a 'voting app' and it crashed repeatedly. Should've just had people mark an X on a paper ballot and called it a day.

I understand your POV. There have been elections where I did not vote either, either because of apathy or fatalist feelings. It is only after Brexit and Trump that I realise what a fragile thing democracy is, and how much I would miss it if it were gone. I would always regret not having tried to keep its small flame burning if it were ever snuffed out. Also, I have friends who have grown up or lived in autocracies or dictatorships and they have talked about how places like that impose a sort of 'prison of the mind' on people. People learn early on to second-guess their words, their jokes, their creative endeavours, so as to avoid trouble with the authorities. The state essentially installs enough fear in people that they start to police/censure themselves. I don't think I could live that way. VICE has a show called States of Undress; one time the show went to China to look at its fast-growing fashion industry. One avant garde fashion designer designed an all-white collection, but as the models walked the runaway with white umbrellas, a red rain came down on their clothes, purposely staining them. This was part of the designer's concept: he was trying to make an environmental point about state destruction of natural habitats in China and the death it brings. He was arrested -- for 5 months. Ostensibly because the use of umbrellas made reference to Hong Kong's umbrella protest movement of 2014. When he came back to fashion, his next collection was a bunch of conservative day suits. When I think that designer's creative impulses and ideas reduced to this, it makes me want to cry.

It is way too early to call it, but if Bernie wins Iowa (likely) and NH (also likely) and the momentum starts to escalate on his behalf... I think there will be very little to stop him getting the nom. Unless his health seriously worsens. Yeah, I think Klobuchar will get a decent score in Iowa but she is helped by being from a next-door state.

No RHOA for second week in a row. To tide us over (luckily it returns next Sunday), here is the interview Kenya gave ET recently. It's a good one too. Kenya was in reflective mood. https://www.etonline.com/why-kenya-moore-is-optimistic-about-saving-her-marriage-to-marc-daly-exclusive-140676

I've been hearing that Amy Klobuchar is building a fair amount of support in Iowa. She also has a moderate stance -- might she eat into Biden's caucus vote? @Khan Thanks for the reminder. I need to re-register -- as a US voter living abroad it sometimes is more difficult for us to register. Especially if we don't have 'property' in the US (sorry, I'm not a millionaire). P.S.: What is your new avatar pic going to be?

So David Beador asked his girlfriend to marry him. His mullet tho

Oh for sure! You could stick Ramona, Sonja, Luann, Dorinda and Tinsley in a car to the Hamptons (along with a cute chauffeur for Ramona and Sonja to paw over, before Luann steals him from under their noses), and that whole 4-hour journey would be gold. Brandi's tweet is trash basically. A poor attempt at titillation and so very thirsty for a spot on the show. I can see her sweaty desperation from London. I wonder how a lesbian/bi viewer might feel about that crude little bash? I don't care how many women Brandi has slept with, that tweet exposes her as sniggeringly prurient -- weird for someone who claims to be a free spirit and friend to the gay community. And yet we have known Brandi and Denise to be about that life for years -- open relationships, constant cheating, swapping partners. Denise was married to Heidi Fleiss's biggest client! Why is this shocking now? This is production-scripted click-bait, and by the time Bravo gets around to screening BH (I assumed late-February; now probably March), we will have had the entire season laid out for us, who we should be 'rooting for,' who we should be hating.

And this is why I love Ramona. "Nevermind losing your job, what about me? Did they mention me?" Tamra kicked twice in one week! Last season I speculated that Ramona might be given the chop because she really didn't give a [!@#$%^&*] last year. She left events early to attend fancy parties WITHOUT A BRAVO CAMERA CREW. She was obviously doing some major social climbing! It would have been fascinating to watch her penetrate a new swanky clique. I love that Ramona just lives her life regardless of whether the cameras are there or not. Still, that kind of flippancy is dangerous for a RH ! I would be devastated if Ramona were fired. Ramona is the cat with nine lives. She perpetually lands on her feet and reinvents herself, seeing off Jill Zarin and Bethenny in terms of longevity. I get such a kick out of her and still enjoy watching her after all these years. With Bethenny having left so suddenly, I do think she is safe. For now.

Oh me too. But so much talk out there has been about Bethenny leaving and how that's the death knell of the show, plus the fact that we haven't really heard about filming. It got me worried that people are writing off the show before it even airs. NJ: I'm starting to warm to Jackie. Even if she is smug. Jennifer picking a fight was so contrived, and everyone knew it. I did enjoy Frank getting involved over the phone though. He is such a wannabe HW! Also liked the Feank and Two Joe's scene at the bar.