Cat

I ended up rewatching the three Slutty Island episodes of last season's RHoNY. It was better the second time around! Some thoughts: - Heather is amazeballs. What you see is pretty much what you get. She is honest, funny and tells both Aviva and Ramonja to cool it and let it go. But I especially loved when she told off Carole and Aviva for going out on a couples dinner and leaving her behind. She got emotional in a way most of us would. - Carole's amused Voice of Reason is the show's Greek chorus. - Luann needs to be a HW and here's why -- she hates Ramona and loves Sonja. And is the biggest snob ever! I also need somebody to call her out on her French. - Ramona is nuts, but also very lucid. Even when Aviva went cray, she tried to rationalize, even apologized in order to try and quell the bad feeling in the house. - Drunk Sonja blowdrying her body on the last night in St Barts is everything. But sober Sonja is even better. - Aviva -- sigh. Obviously we need this kind of tight-ass to stay on the show. She is one unsightly bath towel away from a nervous breakdown (that's a Sleeping With the Enemy reference FYI). She reminds me of people I know. Heck, if I had stayed in Manhattan, this is what I could have become. A hectoring, entitled, spoiled, frustrated, judgmental ice-princess. There is one point where she is talking about Sonja (and interesting how she limited attacking Ramona until they got to NYC -- before that, she was targeting the "weak link" Sonja who was openly hurt at her White Trash comments). She refers to her as an aging Anna Nicole Smith, having married a much older man and now found herself on the slag heap of life. The smugness and pure pleasure in Aviva's voice was sickening. She is a Smug Married revelling in the misfortune of somebody else's marriage breakdown. This is why everybody needs to call out her ass this season!

Ohhhhhh man, Ramona dancing by herself at that party where she knew nobody! It's relatable yet nutso stuff like that which makes me love Ramona. I think the phrase you are looking for is "love to hate"! I do too, I think Aviva is endlessly watchable because she is deluded and incredibly, incredibly entitled. What a combination. It is like watching a sober, one-legged Lindsay Lohan in some ways. I don't think Ramona and Sonja were entirely blameless on St Barts (Sonja was a hot drunken mess). But Aviva was nuts. And now you make me want to rewatch Season 5 all over again (leaving out the first 4-5 episodes, though, because they were a little slow). You know what was great after St Barts? When Aviva and Sonja went out to lunch, and Sonja told her to quit judging her and then told her she didn't need somebody like her in her life."I have enough friends." Sonja read her just perfectly. Oh, and that epic fight at brunch between Ramona and Aviva, when Aviva wore that fur-trim coat (your second gif). Another amazing moment on St Barts: the last night when Ramona and Sonja are in the bathroom gossiping and blow-drying their hair and bodies with one blowdryer. There must be a gif of that somewhere. All reasons why Season 5 worked for me. It took a while for the cast to gel but now I can't wait for them to return.

Self-loathing? Ramona?! She had a tough childhood, that's for sure, and I'm willing to bet she is borderline Asperger's in the way she interacts with people (either that or she has just no filter), but I think she has learned to love herself since her childhood. She has a lot of confidence in herself, and it shows in her VTs and in the way she shamelessly self-promotes. Like the pinot grigio thing. A less-confident person would have cut back on the drinking (or pretended to) but she just carries on boozing and promoting her cheapo wine and won't even entertain notions that she is an alkie! Ramona is a legend in her own mind. That is why she and Jill were always big rivals on the show. Both think they are the hottest [!@#$%^&*] in NY. Both think they are the Queens of the show. Difference is, Jill blinked when she came up against Bethenny. Ramona kept her head down, did her thing, and gaily sailed on.

Chic c'est la vie! C'est bon, c'est bon. Remember how Ramona didn't want to participate in Luann's music vid because she "didn't want to set a bad example" for her daughter?

I posted about this exact same thing a few days ago. I'm glad it's not just me! The visual deterioration is startling. It's like the production team of RHoOC from seasons 1-5 came aboard while BH's production people drove down to Orange County. Kim and Brandi's condos look like the type of place OC Lynne and her family were living in after the bank foreclosed on their home. Kyle's strip mall store (located next door to your local Papa Johns!) looks even more strip-lit and garish inside. Carlton's home looks like a cheap Valley knockoff of the Osborne's family crypt. Everything is missing their usually sparkle and gorgeous filter lighting. Heck, even Taylor's rented house (which was never the best of the original RHoBH homes) looks 100 times better than at least 3 of the 6 houses being currently featured. Heck, so did Dana's/Pam's/TwennyFiveThouZIND's!

From Brandi's Bravo blog: "OMG! Lisa planned this all along! To pit Boyce and me against each other! Lisa is an evil mastermind! It's all Lisa's fault!" Girl. Bye.

You star! Thank you so much! By waiting all this time for RHONY to air, Bravo may actually have pulled a good move. The trailer truly whets the appetite for the return of NY at a time when the franchise appears to have jumped the shark with NJ, Miami and BH. I wish Luann was a permanent HW as I think she brings the smiling, snobby, backstabbing bitchery that epitomizes the Upper East Side, but I'm glad she is featured. I like that the other wives are returning because there is plenty of unfinished business between all of them. And I see Aviva's gross dad is still trying to make himself relevant by being disgusting. Sit down, Peepaw. I wonder if I will love Carole as much as I did last season... I have a feeling Heather is going to be my ride-or-die girl.

WHERE can I see this amazing trailer?! I'm not in the States, though, so I prob won't be able to unless somebody posts it on YouTube.

Marissa and Faye both should have been back. Taylor, too. And I would have gone on bended knee to get Camille back also as a friend, if nothing else. Any combination of these four women would have been better than Carlton and Boyce. Yes, I said Boyce; once this ugly spat with Brandi fades from memory, she needs to build on the audience goodwill for her, but I fear there is nothing really interesting there, except for the hair. Marissa grew on me as last season wore on. Her tribute to her father-in-law Richard D. Zanuck in one of the episodes was very heartfelt, real and moving. Her last blog post on the show was also very gracious. And her look watching Faye tear into Brandi and then Lisa tear into Faye was priceless.

http://instagram.com/p/i6iHZSK6cu/ No LuAnn. And everybody looks effing amazing. Even Sonja with her weird pants stance. Hope this Kristen chick has some personality and gels with the ladies.

Not just the pants -- that gorgeous shirt, draped and cut to resemble a huge unfurling flower, was amazingly chic and elegant. It also brought out her creamy skin and contrasted with her dark hair and blue eyes.

I am probably around the same age as Brandi and also swear like a sailor, especially when I see red. When I get angry, it's like words literally fail me and I can only choke out the worst swear-words. However, I have never, ever resorted to angry tirades referring to the skin color/ethnicity of the other person. I would have thought the F-bomb would be bad enough, especially when other people are present. Also... I just cannot get wasted and party the same way that Brandi does anymore. Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks and all that, but my body just cannot recuperate the same way. I'm not saying I don't get giggly with the girl friends over cocktails and wine, but I can't make it through to 3am and then jump out of bed at 7am, splash some water on my face and show up at work ready for a meeting. It just doesn't cut it anymore, not when firms are fire-happy because they know they can get new people in quickly to take over your position. The fact that Brandi does not have a steady 9-5 job perhaps plays into her partying. She doesn't have that responsibility of getting up early and rushing to work every single day. But she does have one responsibility I don't have -- children. Personally, I think she is probably a pretty good mother and is there for them when they are around -- that is one of the things that struck me about the Howard Stern interview. The way she was talking about them, with a lot of understanding and empathy. She gets her kids. She is crazy about them. She loves hanging out with them. But when they are not around, she gets very bored and lonely, and because she is an extreme person, she goes from one extreme -- pizza with the kids at home -- to another -- getting totally wasted and topless with her tampon string hanging out. People are looking at her and wondering "At her age? And a mom of two kids?" It is judgmental and a double-standard but it also stems from concern, IMHO. Concern for her and her two boys. Plus I wonder if she is abusing prescription medication and using roofies to help her sleep at night. That is going to produce further irrational behavior and add an additional toll to both her mental and physical health (hello, look at Kim). I even understand the depression. 2012 was probably an awesome year for Brandi. She got lots of attention, her book became a bestseller, she was truly starting a new life for herself with opportunities and potential. And this show was making her famous. By the latter part of 2013, though, Brandi had become depressed and more self-destructive. Maybe she felt she was becoming old news (hence the attention-seeking behavior seen on this season's RHoBH). Maybe she had expected LeAnn and Eddie to have broken up by now while she would be moving on with some rich, hot guy who would take care of all her money problems. That hasn't happened. Maybe she is down because celebrity has not offered her the happiness she just assumed would go with it. In any case, I hope (despite her defensiveness that she has done "nothing wrong") that all this backlash is wake-up call. Maybe it will prompt her to rethink a few things and a few bad habits. I hope so but fear her resentment at Lisa and Yolanda for trying to "make her into someone she's not" suggests she wants to hold on to Bad Brandi as a defense mechanism. It is a sign of low self-esteem -- people already think I am trashy and self-destructive so I am just going to prove to them how bad-ass I can be! I hope her friends at Bravo succeed where Lisa and Yo have not.

Well, obvs I would love that idea! Though I haven't had a chance to get into RHoA this season (is there an episode I should start watching that gets right into the good stuff? I've seen episode 1 but I'm too lazy to work my way through 2,3 and 4 etc), I think you have hit on something that audiences have been dying for -- the glamorous African-American reality soap opera. RHoA has aspirational, dream-come-true elements but the HWs -- even the ones we might hate -- are all relatable, or at least recognizable, in some way. Plus it has a mix of drama and humor. I think that balance is very important.

Cheap, thanks for the link. I read her blog -- and Lisa's, and Yolanda's -- with interest. I don't usually read the Bravo blogs unless you guys on this thread indicate they are worth reading. I just assume ghostwriters put these blogs together, and so many times the "HWs" refuse to acknowledge when they are in the wrong (Brandi being one striking example). But Boyce definitely backed up her argument and was quite charming about how she touches her hair as a nervous tick, as well as the "chastise" thing which made her look really dumb when I first watched it. Boyce is growing on me! I still think she is a Stepford Wife, but I certainly am not going to knock her for being proud of her roots. It is awesome that she is so proud of being from PR. As for the show... JAMIE LEE CURTIS!!!! I just love her. And the charity seems like a wonderful local cause, so kudos to Kyle and Mauricio for being generous donors. Having said that, those clothes... yikes. They make Forever 21 look elegant and fashion-forward. Indeed, the show seems a lot more budget and grubby lately. Palm Springs wasn't all that, Brandi and Kim's condos are not especially cinematic, KYLE by Arlene Too looks like it should be wedged next to the pizza takeout at your local strip mall, and even the transition shots are lacking their usual glossy sparkle. Lisa and Yolanda's houses are still spectacular, though. How I wish we could watch Camille's many homes in Malibu/Hawaii/Aspen! Contributing to the trash quotient IMHO are Carlton and Brandi. I'm not saying I want a boring show where everybody sips tea and talks about the weather. And I don't dislike Carlton per se. But she belongs on a different show, possibly on a different network. She knows it, and so does Bravo, because she is barely interacting with any of the other HWs. As for Brandi's non-apologies... girl, bye. Just accept that you spoke out of turn and say I'm sorry. I appreciate she loves her missing dog, but she can't use that or every time she breaks a nail as an excuse to attack someone. Obviously Brandi is depressed, but no doubt the excessive drinking and drugging are contributing to her mood swings and paranoia. They make her even more belligerent and irrational. She looks completely self-destructive. Though I can't hate on Lisa, Ken and Yolanda who really, truly want to see her for the (probably) nice person she once was.

Boyce looks like Camila Banus from Days in that photo, Cheap! Will watch RHoBH as soon as I can and come back here for comments.

If I look like Yolanda at 50, I would gladly tolerate an errant zit! Yolanda looked beautiful makeupless in her bathroom, moreso than in her talking heads, I think. But your acne prevention advice is always excellent and welcome. And yes, no Kim mention. I actually deleted what I wrote about Kingsley running around with other dogs in the countryside and how cute it all was... but even then, there was no mention of KR. I think that when we get to her son's breakdown, we will see more of her.

Isn't it Cobweb, Misty and Moonshine? LOL I think Cross is definitely one of the names, Destiny might be another.

And I have to say that while being a diehard Lisa fan to the death, as hostess, she should have nipped that argument in the bud. Everybody sat there like "WTH are we doing here?" Obviously it was all set up for the camera because normally Boyce and the hubby would have walked out once Brandi got belligerent and Lisa would have pulled Brandi aside. But both Boyce and Brandi were determined to make it all about them.

Brandi probably doesn't feel that she is racist, and she would argue that she hates Boyce not because she is Hispanic but because she is Boyce. However, she immediately goes to the gutter to attack her, by calling her every insulting name she can think of, racist and otherwise. I don't think she realizes just how hateful it comes across. And we haven't really seen what is causing this pent-up anger, so it ends up looking irrational. However, Boyce is all over this [!@#$%^&*] because it gives her a SL. She is practically gleeful at the prospect of having it out with Brandi. I have to say I felt embarrassed for her husband more who seemed truly repelled at Brandi's language. As did Mohammed and Martin, the Hair Twins from the 1970s. Martin especially looks like he is so over Brandi. As for the other stuff -- I just can't with Carlton rubbing herself against her MIL at Hustler. Though having seen her husband, I now 'get it.' He wants a dominatrix and doesn't care who knows it. BTW, who is looking after the kids Misty, Trixie and She-Ra when the 'nanny' is in the Play Room with Carlton. Regardless -- Carlton is out of place on this show. I feel like she should be on another show following Guns 'n Roses ex-groupies, but not RHoBH. Kyle's exclusive boutique looks like a strip mall TJ Maxx.

I wouldn't necessarily say so. BH had an ensemble where each woman used to contribute something specific to make up the whole. It worked well, I thought. It is only with the loss of TayShanna, Camille and even Catwoman Adrienne, along with Brandi's thirst and the inclusion of the two latest nonentities, that Lisa's position "above the fray" has really come to the fore.

Benefactor is perhaps the wrong word. I don't mean they support her financially, but Yolanda does support Brandi morally, invitex her around and is her friend. David Foster appears warm and friendly with her, too. I am not surprised at the way she talked about Lisa as Brandi has been hinting at turning against her, but I was surprised at her tone regarding Yolanda because Yo is her biggest supporter. I am sad at the disconnect between the women, too. The Lisa/Yol/Brandi friendship was my favourite and even the Lisa/Kyle dynamic was interesting to watch. It's just now these women are turning on each other for fame and a SL. Lisa could happily live without any of them and that's probably what pisses the others off the most.

I can see why they buried this episode of RHoBH two days before Christmas. What a snore! PLEASE do not tell me that Placecardgate is going to be the main SL driving the rest of this season. PLEASE. Because I just CANNOT bear to see that vile ho-bag Kyle sniffle about Yolanda not putting a heart on her place-card like she did on Lisa and Brandi's (and some guy named Thomas who was also at the party, but nobody singled him out!). For !@#$%^&*]'s sake. Grow the !@#$%^&*] up! And stop thinking that you are funny feeling up Lisa or eating that giant strawberry, because you are not. There is a reason your "acting" career is practically non-existent. Speaking of the Duchess, I just adore her glass fridge and taste in flowers and Grand Marnier-infused strawberries. But my Duchess is getting increasingly smug and [!@#$%^&*]-stirring. Also, can you imagine how dull some of Yo's dinner parties must get after a while? The food and surroundings are stunning, but then to sit for hours on the sofa to listen to King David belt out some of his Greatest Hits -- which nobody but he and Natalie Cole are allowed to sing? Bye. Times like this I wish TayShanna was around to get grumpy and start squawking at David. I wish Camille were around to throw exquisite shade. Heck, bring back Adrienne and bring on her druggy toyboy, Rod Stewart's son! At least there would be some real tension at this dinner party! So the dinner was to honor the Canadian Tenors -- who were obviously banished to the kitchen with the other servants until they were trotted out to perform? On their one evening off? Ouch. Carlton is trying so hard to be edgy. I really did not need to see her prison-like, windowless Adult playroom. The ball-and-gag thing was tacky, I can't think of anything less of a turn-on than to be choking on some plastic ball while somebody whips you. Carlton's hubby is probably hiding in mortification and ruing the day he ever agreed to this mess. Boyce is trying so hard to act and she just can'. "As long as I'm with my baby, I always have a good time!" What are you, 15? While I despise Brandi for bullying her, Boyce by herself is a like a Stepford Wife robot, only less interesting. Brandi is just awful. This woman has no respect for herself if she is allowing the cameras to portray her this way. Just so trashy and classless. And now throwing her last remaining benefactor Yolanda under the bus to Kyle? You really are stupid. Lisa is so over all them hoes. I don't blame her. I'd rather hang with Ken at a building site, too.

Next stop for Brandi: porn. Obviously. I miss TayShanna, too, TBH. I never outright hated that grifter to begin with. She really called it like she saw it last season. Her scene with Formerly Twenny-Five ThouZIND, Now Broke-Ass comes to mind, as does the episode when she refused to stop yapping at Yolanda's dinner party while King David was humping the piano But Andy seems to hate Shanna; he wouldn't even let her travel with the other ladies to Paris! Major snub.

Uh because she kissed Carlton and bitched out brainless Boyce? And got an attack of the racists? Yeah, I'm sure that appeals to a certain section of the audience. Whatever, loon. She needs to stop believing her own hype. I liked her so much before she got deluded.

OT: I am loving all the hot Yoncé sigs people have! RHoBH: This episode finally felt like the season is picking up some momentum. Although if this Palm Beach trip is the only trip for RHoBH, then woah. I expect more glamour than this self-catering weekend! Felt a bit bad for Kyle but at the same time, Kyle is both an actress (well, loosely) and a younger sibling, so she is adept at turning on the waterworks. And it got Yolanda and Lisa to soften, so it worked. That's why she got so pissed at Kim for making it All About Her. Doesn't she know it is All About Kyle?! Kyle finally had Lisa on her bed (no sexual allusion intended), they were going to have the heart-to-heart that Kyle has been longing for (and for a minute there I was getting flashbacks of the Lisa-Kyle friendship in season 1-2)... And then Peeing Kim stomps in and tries to start a fight with Lisa. Honey, pull your big-girl pants up, go flush that toilet and take a seat. Seriously, when Lisa shut the door on her peeing, that was AMAZING. Nobody has time for that mess! Still, is it wrong that I find Kim so entertaining sometimes? Like when Carlton said about wanting to take home a squirrel and Kim responding, totally seriously, "I have my purse." Carlton and Brandi were so obviously going to hook up if the cameras hadn't been there. Carlton took fright because she has to present some semblance of an image, even though she probably has an open marriage and the nannies aren't just there for the children. IMO DrunkBrandi wasn't all that drunk. I think Brandi can somewhat hold her liquor IRL, it's just when she mixes it with coke (not the drink) and uppers/downers that she gets really wasted. She knew what she was doing when she went after Kyle at dinner, and she certainly knew what she was doing shading Lisa with the "strategizing" comment. I do not for a second believe that Lisa is busy controlling everybody and forcing these women to badmouth the other women. How? Why? Is she paying them? Blackmailing them? Hypnotizing them?! Lisa is a wily social operator, sure, but masterminding entire hate campaigns against Adrienne and now Kyle? Please. She's not Dr. Evil, calling the shots from her secret island lair. She's a reality star. It was clear that Adrienne was the one briefing Radar Online about the other ladies, as the site later admitted, and as for Kyle's sanctified marriage, this is a SL that Bravo has been actively promoting as part the main story of the season. Since Kyle prides herself on being BFFs with Andy, she obviously signed off on this charade. She certainly talks about it enough in every episode.