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Why I don't like Sponsor Boycotts

http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/allamerican_muslim/2011_Dec_10_lowes-pulls-ads

The post directly before this one, is a plea to see less of the Kardashians. No where in that post, did I suggest boycotting, or even contacting the sponsors of the show. On my NJ Housewives blog, my most recent post does mention my own personal-protest, which involves my resolve to NOT tune-in to The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, except for re-runs. So, that is a bit of a boycott, but in no way do I ask anyone else to join me in my protest. I DO support letting producers, (Bravo), and responsible parties know how we the viewers feel about what is broadcast. And yes, I support organising-efforts in that regard (link to my NJ Housewives blog here) , and in the instance of certain highly controversial events, for example allowing the people who didn't want to be known-as the White-House Party-Crashers, to appear on The Real Housewives of DC.
I recently visited a site called, "Boycott Kim Kardashian", http://boycottkim.com/ and I was surprized to see the call for a massive sponsor boycott, which takes-up the bulk of the site.
In yet one more example, (with a twist of course), today on Reality Blurred (link to article here), I see a request to avoid a sponsor, because the sponsor pulled its advertising from a reality-show that could be considered controversial.
Advertising and sponsoring popular programs has been-around longer-than television. Its the reason why AM/FM radio is still "free". "Soap"-operas, got their name from the companies who advertised their products to the audience. Even William Shakespeare had wealthier patrons who supported, (and they still do!), bringing entertainment to the public. And that is why you will never see me calling BOYCOTT!, on a sponsor.
Why punish the sponsors for giving us something? I consider it to be a compliment, that a sponsor would choose to spend its advertising dollars to pay for my entertainment.
Advertisers do extensive research in viewer demographics. One thing that the BOYCOTT people and I agree-with, is that most commercials and ads are not random. They are specifically targeted to reach YOU and ME, and what they have identified as reality-television viewers. How can alienating sponsors, or asking them NOT to pay for reality-television, benefit the viewers?
Ultimately, sponsors can determine advertising effectiveness with product sales. There is an old rumor that razor companies produce sharper and better razors, to entice consumers to stick with their brand, to coincide with the increased sales that are expected as a result of the Superbowl Sunday advertising blitz. 
So we develop intimate relationships with these companies, and when something disturbs us in the shows that they sponsor, we naturally want to hold someone responsible. The list-of sponsors that we are asked to avoid on the Boycott Kim page, is so extensive that if anyone seriously tried to abstain from all of them, it would make shopping difficult. I saw one brand-name in there that I use due to allergies to other products. How would my family breaking-out in hives, affect the Kardashian empire? It wouldn't. And that's another reason why I'll leave the manufacturing-of quality products to the companies who advertise. And the responsibility for the content of the programs with the networks and those that have more direct input into the editing and production of the shows.

Let's ALL Divorce the Kardashians-please? Beaking-up with the Kardashians (again)

Today was a monumental and extraordinary day. Not because it happens to be Halloween. And not because Kim Kardashian announced that she has filed for divorce right-after after her stupid, fake "Fairytale"-(was that supposed to be a hint?) Wedding". No, today October 31st, 2011, is the day that we welcome our 7 Billionth Person! to the world. (link to story here). Out-of 7 Billion people, it sure seems like The Kardashians take-up a lot of space in the headlines, doesn't it?
What was it that made today seem like a good-day to file for that divorce? Personal reasons? Maybe not. I don't really know, but today was a significant deadline for the NBA-lockout, according-to ESPN (link here). Any hope that Kris Humphries had of earning money in basketball this year just got a lot dimmer. If the NBA-lockout had not occurred, it would not have seemed so strange that the newlyweds are separated by continents. But people were starting to wonder why Mr. Humphries and his bride were not spending their honeymoon together.
When the news broke today that Kim Kardashian had filed for divorce from her bridegroom, I was not surprized to hear it, but I am puzzled by my reaction. I feel like I got played. And just kind-of disgusted with all of them.
Personally, I "divorced" myself from the entire Kardashian circus, and their reality-show, last-season, when two episodes in particular rubbed me the wrong-way. I stopped "keeping-up" with the Kardashians, because I discovered that one episode in particular was a complete lie. And another one was so absurd, (the one where brother Robert "accidentally" overdosed on Viagra© and, (supposedly, but not likely), needed medical-attention for priapisim. (don't ask me how I even know that jargon, I really don't know).
But the one that caused me to break-up with the whole crew, was an episode that I believed to be true. OK-maybe I didn't want to believe that Kim would be so stupid as-to try to feed a dog cookies, but I believed it enough to go online to try to find-out if Princess the chihuahua had survived and recovered from surgery.
I wasn't the only one online asking. As it turned-out, Princess was fine, (allegedly). But I also discovered that the whole story had been a lie.

On the show, Kim just happened to find a dog and bring it home with her. The plot went-on from there-ending-with some dramatic veterinary surgery. The only problem with the story is that it turned-out that yes, the dog did have surgery, but the surgery had been scheduled by it's real owner, an "E"-Network employee-and the dog was never lost at all.
At least that was the explanation that was given to everyone who asked, "What happened to Princess?", after the episode aired.
I really don't know what the truth is in this matter. For all that I know, maybe Kim got tired of the dog, or the dog died, or?????? For all that I know, maybe the Kardashians would rather admit to being liars and fakers than admit to getting rid-of a pet?
Either-way, just , I knew that I was done with them.
Vapid. That word seems to be this month's, "no filter", another over-used media meme that I keep bumping-into. Although I'm now annoyed every time that I see this word being used, it was the first adjective that I thought-of when I attempted to describe the Kardashians. Would it be too much to ask that the media back-off from featuring anyone who could be described as "vapid" for a while?
The "E" Network seems to specialize in bringing the vapid. Although I feel like the Kardashians fit that role, it was also "E" who shamelessly propped-up the beautiful Anna Nichole Smith, who should have her picture next to the word in the dictionary.. And that creepy family who were gorgeous, but they turned-out to be burglars. (and they weren't even really a family, but little details like that don't seem to matter to "E"). At least no one had to die this time, and the only ones who were robbed, were us, the American Public. And all they stole from us was a little-bit of our attention. So the couple will be forgiven and wished-well. But I am taking the extreme step of using the parental controls on my remote, and blocking the "E" Network from my television. At least for a little while.
Yes, they are beautiful eye-candy. Almost too perfectly beautiful to be real. I found myself studying  the "Fairytale Wedding" photos, not to try and identify the designer trademarks, but to search-for the tell-tale fringe of a lace-front wig on Kim's hairline. (I couldn't find it, she was flawless as usual). So-before this made-for-television divorce news broke, I guess that I was starting to get sucked-back-in to the fake drama. Sure a lot of us have seen the, "before they were famous" photos, and it appears that this family has always been "cover-shot"perfect. But what's to stop them from re-writing visual history with a little Photo-Shop©?
Being attractive isn't a "bad"-thing, but like the rest of it, I'm sorry to say that it is a fake thing for most reality celebs. Besides the obvious Botox©, and an especially photogenic blue-black hair-color that they must be buying in industrial-size drums, I decided that it wasn't really the Kardashians at all that made their looks so mesmerizing. I wasn't surprized to find-out that Kim Kardashian shared her brand of artificial-eyelashes, and make-up artist with Kim Zolciak and some other famous-faces. I do find it amusing that the man-behind-the-illusions, artist Steven Moleski, calls his line of lashes, Smoke and Mirrors (link) .
Speaking-of Bravolebrities, The Real Housewives of New Jersey viewers, have been hearing accusations against Teresa Giudice from her not-as-"fabulous" co-stars, of "not-sharing" the headlines, the limelight, and being a "selfish" attention-hog.
I can only imagine how Jessica Simpson must feel today when she finally decided to make her announcement, and it was almost overlooked. The poor girl has been hiding the news of her pregnancy so long, that her baby looks big-enough to get-up and sell newspapers, as my Grandmom would say. The rumor is that she couldn't find a buyer in the media to pay her asking-price for her baby-news, yet we all know that the Kardashians cashed-in for obscene sums for the "Fairytale Wedding".
Remember when the media made a pact to give us all a break from Paris Hilton, and they promised not to run any stories about her for a week or so? At that time there really wasn't much more we cared to know about Ms. Hilton. She had even taken to flashing the paparazzi in a desperate bid for publicity. Lindsay Lohan, and anyone related to her is another TMZ-favorite who isn't really all that interesting, but they continue to be forced on us whether we want it or not. And I can't quite figure what was behind the idea to put Melissa Gorga into a shocking-pink Sumo-wrestler's fat-suit, but I think it was the only opportunity that she had to be photographed? That display was pathetic and embarrassing, but not for overweight people. She may as well have had a sign on her gigantic fake rear-end, that said, "My husband collects $62 grand in Section 8 rent from the government every month, and this is what it bought".
When Kim Kardashian's statement was made this morning, she made a brief request for "privacy", but then thought-better, and invited everyone who ever heard of her to express public condolences. "E" released their own statement saying that they are, "sad" about the news. The only thing that is sad about all of it is that being famous for being famous seems to be the most profitable career right now.(besides politics and stealing from the government of course).
With six billion nine hundred ninety-nine million nine hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine OTHER people to focus-on, is it too much to ask that I never have to hear about Kim K.again?

A Gag-Bag of Sleeze and De' pissed

I posted an update about Dina, (Claudine), Manzo's Project Ladybug on my NJ Housewives blog today, mainly because I've been monitoring the NJ Charity registration website for a more recent-than 2008 financial form.
I noticed that the 2009 filings had finally been uploaded to the database, so I re-visited  Project Ladybug. I could not find one mean thing to say about PL-and its not because I didn't look ;).
I'm wondering right-now if Mercury is in Retrograde because I also stumbled-upon another topic to update.
And a developing issue which I hope to monitor as well.
Also-(I told you this was a grab-bag-didn't I?), what led me to the "gag", (as-in gag-order), topic, was a little searching for the recent condition of Vicki Gunvelsen's daughter Brianna, which I'm happy to report is much better than what I heard earlier this week. According to Vicki's personal website, Brianna had a tough and scary week, but pathology reports from the serious surgery were an answer to prayers, and Brianna is recovering at home.

Where did it go?

I went searching for Vicki's other "ex". Remember "Wolfy"? Michael Wolfsmith, and the scandalous blog that I discovered last year? It's not there anymore! But don't worry, (or-if you are Vicki, you may be worried), he has it up and running on another URL.
Apparently, "Wolfy", took the blog offline for about ten-days, and then they, (he and his girlfriend/partner), restored it. This is where the 1st "gag-order" begins.

 "I wonder if she or any of her cling-ons have discovered we are back? You know we had suspended this blog in good faith waiting for the signature she promised you but you did not receive." -The "New" Conversations With Wolfy

You can read it all yourself, linked here http://whisper2meslowly.wordpress.com/ , but the gist of it from the way that I understand it is that Wolfy alledges, and provides what he claims are private emails between himself and Vicki ,that Vicki made Wolfy an offer to sign a legal document stating that he, (Wolfy-Michael Wolfsmith), is no longer responsible for certain arrears  from his child-support case that she had with him. Arrears are usually any unpaid amounts, say if a person pays some, but not all of their child-support obligation, the amount that they owe is labeled as "arrears". If the amount is over $500., the arrears can follow a parent forever, and in some cases prevent them from driving, getting licenses to work in a profession, and all-sorts of problems. It can also discourage someone like Gretchen from Marrying Slade Smiley for example, because in some cases, the "new spouse", becomes responsible for the delinquent parent's debt.
Here's where the "gag" comes-in: Wolfy claims that Viki offered to sign whatever he wanted, as long-as he, (and his gal-pal), shut-down his dirty-divorce blog, AND, basically, never besmirched her or her beloved business in any way online or otherwise, ever-again.
The new incarnation of his blog, claims that he kept his side of the bargain by taking-down the blog, but that he waited 10-days, and the promised signature was never received, so he put the blog back online again. And added even more dirt for good measure.
IF. (notice that it is a very big "if", but it all looks "real") this is even-close to being true, one has to ask if this could even be considered legal. It smells-of extortion and ugly control-games to me, and what does unpaid child-support have to do with blogging anyhow? I can only hope that Mr. Wolfsmith and Vicki have had a profound wake-up call with the news of their beautiful daughter's recent health problems. The fact that Brianna is even remotely connected to this sordid business is terrible in my opinion.
I'd be lying if I said that I didn't love to see one of our Real Housewives being exposed online-The editors at Bravo, and The Real Housewives, and Bravolebrities themselves may want the public to see things the way they intend for us to see them, but, (again-unless and until a disclaimer is added to the programs), when you sign yourself and your family up for reality-tv, expect your version of reality to be tested and fact-checked. There is no such thing as taking the option to investigate reality away from the viewer. But they can try to restrain the 'lebrities from telling us what really happened. (in "reality" lol). Which brings me to yet another "gag";
THE LINKS IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH ARE DOWN AS-OF 10/15/11.I HAVE A COPY OF THE PAGE ON MY HARD-DRIVE,IF ANYONE NEEDS IT EMAIL ME- DIET-REVIEW has a story http://www.dietsinreview.com/diet_column/10/james-garrison-blows-whistle-on-extreme-makeover-weight-loss-treatment-of-contestants/ (click URL to read Diet-Review story)
This one is not a Bravolebrity, but a weight-loss competitor who has a story that is disturbing (currently linked here) and HeRE-for what happened not-only to to this young man, but as he professes, the implied health dangers that the American Public is exposed-to by way of the false and misleading "reality" that ABC Television is forbidding him from exposing. I hope that you will visit his story, and in the event that the ISP is ordered to take it down,copies have been made.

• ABC has threatened him with a 2 million dollar penalty and worse unless he deletes what he has posted because-of the confidentiality contract that he signed.
• (the cease and desist letter is posted and in my non-lawyer/not legal advice opinion it is a bluff. A scary bluff, but possibly non-enforceable with competent legal representation). They, (ABC) may be able to force a temporary gag-order, with a court-order.
• Dr. Oz is involved, and other ABC Extreme'lebrities and health professionals.
• Allegations of trickery that were intended to fool and impress the viewer. Serious risks were taken with the blogger's health such-as forced dehydration, and taking diet pills, in order to make better episodes.
• The blogger expresses concern that someone may try what they think they saw him do on television, at home, and he maintains that it is unsafe, unhealthy, and impossible because it didn't even happen the way that they claimed.
• Also-the blogger sadly spent the last eight months being very ill and he required surgery. He attributes his own medical problems directly to what he did for this television show/diet.

It is my hope that the above man is restored to a healthy condition, but also, that his appeal for attention and legal representation is successful. I would love to see some of the terms and conditions of reality-television confidentiality contracts defined by the law. Ex-Real Housewife of New York City Jill Zarin has made-noises about wanting to test the waters and write a real tell-all, (Danielle Staub threatens it in almost every-other-Tweet) but one- she is too smart to make herself look like a bad risk to future employers, and two, unlike the Extreme Dieter, she has more to lose. (in assets-this poor guy has already lost his health and his gall-bladder along-with a few hundred pounds).

Top Chef Season 9 *UPDATE* NEW RULES!

So-far Bravo has been teasing us with that "Honky-Tonk" commercial featuring Padma wearing that crazy blue-dress, eating ribs and licking the sauce off of her fingers. But that isn't the only surprize they are planning for this season on Top Chef Dallas when it returns in November.
Bravo has changed the rules of the game, and eliminated contestants will now go into The "Last Chance Kitchen"-online!
10-minute or less webisodes, featuring Tom Colicio, and eliminated contestants will be posted online, AND viewers will have a chance to vote for the, "fan favorite". The winner of the "Last Chance Kitchen" will return to the on-air show, and have another chance to be in the finale.
Bravo is rolling-out this interactive/online addition to Top Chef for free to a wide-array of devices and formats including,  BravoTV.com, m.BravoTV.com,  BravoNow iPhone, iPad and Android apps, as well as Hulu, iTunes, Amazon, VOD, Zune, Playstation and wireless carriers.
Meanwhile, over on the Bravo blog, The Dish, a past contestant was asked to provide a recipe for RUM HAM, which was seen on It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, last week.http://www.bravotv.com/blogs/the-dish/its-always-sunny-with-top-chefs-recipe-for-rum-ham

Was Biggest Loser Winner's Fall Another Reality-Show-Suicide Attempt?

Here's a clip announcing the new line-up on The Doctors.Its not the promo that was shown during breaks on today's episode, and I don't know what they are saying because my audio isn't working-but Jillian Michaels is featured in this short YouTube and I'd have to guess that she's saying something in her typical obnoxious, bullying way. Click "play" and read on...

The popular winning contestant from a previous season's The Biggest Loser, Sam Poueu, is reportedly still in critical condition after falling from a three-story building according to TMZ (story linked here).

I hope that he makes a full-recovery from his injuries, and any other problems that he may, or may not have.
It is quite possible that the injuries were caused accidentally, and no official or media source that I know-of has mentioned a suicide-attempt, but the reportedly, unknown/unreported circumstances of his fall begs the question.
                                             
                         "It's unclear how he fell"-(TMZ)
 

TMZ commenters were quick to speculate that suicide was the unspoken reason for Poueu's condition.
At the time that Poueu was competing for the title-of "Biggest Loser", Jillian Michaels was a show-host, and cross-between a personal-trainer, drill-sergeant, and masochistic beast.
I was watching The Doctors, on CBS this afternoon, when I was rudely assaulted by a promo for Ms. Michael's upcoming addition to the cast of The Doctors.
What struck me about Michael's was her violent, aggressive screaming. It was directed towards what was apparently someone who had put themselves at the mercy of The Doctors for some help for their problem. She was doing an "in your face"-accusation of a mother of "child abuse", along-with any other mothers who have obese toddlers. She was also shown going-off on a mother who smokes, with some overly dramatic, loud, did I mention violent?, "advice".
In an article titled "Sparks Promised as Outspoken Jillian Michaels Joins The Doctors" in The Chicago Sun~Times, they say;  
"She wants to get to the bottom of why people aren’t taking the necessary steps to be as healthy as possible. “Why aren’t you getting that mammogram, that pap smear, or [cholesterol testing]?”-(Chicago Sun~Times) Really? Oh HELL NO!
I don't mind it if Kathy Griffin wants to spread her legs for the viewing-public as a gimmick and call it a public-health service, but I certainly don't need to hear a message that I may or may not agree is a healthy choice for MY VAGINA, My Breasts, and My Heart, being yelled at me by a bitch. And the vagina's, breasts, and hearts, of my sisters, daughters, and women everywhere as well.
How DARE she? After seeing the clip, I honestly thought about kicking Jillian Michael's ass. I wondered for a moment if she possesses any fancy martial-arts, or hand-to-hand combat-training in her bag of tricks, as I mentally fantasized about gaining a lot of weight, getting myself on The Biggest Loser, being a secret saboteur, and calling-her-out for the big, fat, (metaphorically-speaking), BULLY that she is.
But Michaels is not on The Biggest Loser anymore. Tennis pro Anna Kournikova will be taking her place in the next-round of that series. So I don't have to start binge-eating. But I was so offended by what I heard and saw during the breaks on The Doctors today, that it raised my personal suspicion that the once overweight, now Biggest Loser, and hospital patient Sam Poueu, may just be the most-recent Reality Celebrity, to make the leap from cast-member to a self-inflicted attempt at death.
What Michaels does may be entertaining to herself and some people, but it is the opposite of "healthy".

Hopefully Sam Poueu will make a speedy-recovery, and live to tell us all what happened. IF his treatment at the hands-of Jillian Michaels  had anything to do with his condition, we need to know about it.
Maybe The Doctors can do a segment about how the risk of death and serious injury seem to go-along with becoming a part of reality television? I cannot imagine that verbal, emotional, psychological, or mental-abuse by bullies will be a topic of this season's episodes with Jillian Michaels on the stage.

Are The Real Housewives Union-Busters? Kathy Hilton's Unclaimed Union Funds

*

http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/home.htm

*This is a long entry for Labor Day Weekend. The main topic here is the question of Reality Television and the Labor Unions and Artist's guilds that work with the television industry. Although I don't have any specific details connecting The Real Housewives franchise to any particular unions, I did come-across a lot of information, and a little bonus of some unclaimed SAG $$ for Kathy Hilton. I also posted my own ideas about The Housewives contributions to the productions. It remains to be seen if the rewards of fame and infamy, are worth the investment.

I commented in a discussion about Russell Armstrong's financial predicament on Lady Brook's blog, (here "At What Price Fame?") , because she took-notice of a statement made by Armstrong's lawyer about the financial-pressure involved in "bankrolling" a Housewife's career. Brooks as well as myself considered other Real Housewife Husbands who apparently made the same type-of, "investment", in their wives. In Russel's case, all-signs point-to some fancy-footed arbitrage and embezzlement, where investments in his medical-records company funds were used to finance the appearance of a lifestyle that would make Taylor whatever her name is, a candidate for The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. In essence, the "props"-that Russell financed, Cars, Clothes, the rented home, the plastic-surgery, maintenance... were an investment in a "brand", instead-of a television production or "entertainment". He made the final-installment on Taylor's brand-name, with his life. Too bad she has so many different names, and all of them are mud.

Russell Armstrong's suicide was something that we didn't see coming, but in retrospect it is crystal-clear.
Jill Zarin articulated the emotional impact of the pressure of  The Real Housewives of New York, in Season 3 when she said, "What do you want me to do-jump-out the window?". Jill may not have been suicidal herself, but she verbalized the intense hatred and bad-will that was being directed her way courtesy-of reality television. 

Risk to one's reputation, is part of the bargain a person makes when they become a Bravolebrity.  We call them "fame-whores", when they put themselves and their families in the public-eye and flaunt their interpretation of "reality". But the comparison to street-walkers, can also be made with the employment conditions that they are willing to accept. They're on-the-street when it comes to pension and retirement, health-insurance, representation for decent working conditions and the other security that unions provide.

Andy "Mac Daddy" Cohen

A major sticking-point of the Television Writer's Strike of 2008 was Reality Television. The strike ended without the issue being solved, but there has been progress since then, mostly on a show-by-show, production company by production company basis. ALL of the major show-biz unions and guilds including The WGA [West and East], DGA, SAG, and AFTRA, have demonstrated an eagerness to work with individuals and groups who wish to organize their productions. It is a little messy and more complicated-than standard scripted-shows, but all of the unions linked here have been able to accept reality show workers. The Writers Guild of America    (--link) has a great reference-page and documentation for reality shows where they list shows that have a union contract.:(copied from the Writers Guild page linked above)
CURRENT AND PAST REALITY AND GAME SHOWS COVERED BY A WGA AGREEMENT INCLUDE:
Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?
Intervention
The Dog Whisperer
Jeopardy
The new Match Game
Star Search
The Weakest Link
Hollywood Squares
The Singing Bee
Tic Tac Dough
Sale of the Century
Let’s Make A Deal
Million Dollar Password
1 vs 100
Here is another list of productions that have union representation for editors and post-production staff from http://www.realityeditors.com/
America's Next Top Model
American Gladiators
Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? 
Big Brother
Dancing with the Stars
Deal or No Deal
Project: Runway
World Poker Tour
Somehow game-shows, competition, and reality television all get lumped-together, and it is not only the cast members who deserve and need union protection. There are writers for example who work on The Real Housewives, who also deserve decent working conditions, but due to the concept of "reality", they are given other titles.
But for the purpose of this post I'll focus-on the cast-members. The line is blurry between what is "real", and what they want us to see-which adds to the confusion, but for a moment,  let's just consider them as performers, or actors.
Which is impossible, because there are no actors who "put-out" so much of their own resources that a Real Housewife is expected to provide;

• the location and sets for the production (their homes and general environment)
• wardrobe
• the script ("drama" and dialogue)
• content
• internet content rights
• internet content such-as Bravo Blogs

Some of them probably got smart and negotiated stipends or allowances for wardrobe and other things into their individual contracts. And I think that professional hair and makeup service when taping plus a lifetime supply of fake eyelashes are one of the free "perks" that a Bravo Real Housewife can depend-on. But there are not many of the current Bravoleb-Housewives who have the means to donate all of these services, let-alone refuse the compensation or financial rewards and lifetime worth of residual payments for the final product/work that they are giving-away by not joining-forces with a union.
We know that a lot of them get perks from merchants who want the free advertising, (although there are legal limitations involved such-as when Rush Limbaugh and others gave such "free advertising"). But Bravo is getting multi-million dollar "sets", for free when they tape in the Housewive's homes. All on the backs of the cast.
Here is an example of set/location prices that is posted on the CalState website:http://www.csun.edu/licensing/prices/?lid=8

Filming Prices

	Per 14 Hour Day	Hourly Rates (Minimum 4 Hours)
Feature Film: Strike & Preparation:	$5,625 $2,342	$505 $210
Television: Strike & Preparation:	$5,065 $2,085	$455 $190
Commercials: Strike & Preparation:	$4,500 $1,800	$405 $165
Still Shots: Strike & Preparation:	$2,250 $1,125	$205 $100

Using a location for taping scenes, normally incurs costs. The Real Housewives are offering their homes as free "sets", and locations, and also procuring their own "costumes". No wonder the cost to get Reality TV on-the-air is so much lower-than scripted television.
Union-wages are blamed for the disparity, but many union-rules which are for member's protection, forbid employees from having to furnish their own sets and costumes.
While researching this topic, of course it occurred to me  that Kim and Kyle Richards and probably a few other of the Real Housewives, must be union members. Kyle, and Kim have extensive experience working on union productions and they most-likely receive residuals today for work done decades ago. There are ways to "work-around" the union-rules, and being labeled a "producer" of a project is one.

I searched the Richards name in the SAG database of unclaimed funds, and surprisingly I found that Kathy Richards has some money waiting for her there. (link)
Here is an interesting discussion about "Global Rule Number One" , where the question about a union actor working on a non-union production is asked.
I'm never going to let Bravo off-the-hook for the emotional risks that they allow their cast-members to take, and there will probably never be a shortage of people willing to take those risks. But the financial risks that our Housewives are taking upon themselves and their families are plainly and devastatingly leading these families into future losses that could be prevented with some reasonable actions.

The Real Housewives are currently the most obvious here, but even shows that provide everything except the "drama", are taking something from their non-union "reality" performers when they don't offer them everything that a standard union-actor would expect. Perpetual residual payments are generated to future beneficiaries  who haven't even been born yet, and I bet there are a lot of elderly retired actors and actresses who are grateful for those union-checks and health and pension benefits.

Bethenny Frankel stands-out as an example of  hitting-the-lottery with the exposure gained through Bravo. But Bethenny is a business-woman first, using Bravo to attain her professional goals. Teresa Giudice could also be considered a Bravo "success story", but at the same time the exposure has put her husband's questionable dealings under the microscope, and made it impossible to hide or ignore. The Bellinos , the Armstrongs, and those dreadful people from DC who don't want to be called, "party-crashers", have all discovered that living in a glass-house just makes them an easier target for the (alleged and otherwise) victims of their scams to throw rocks and deliver subpenas. 

I don't really know how many of our Housewives cast-members have union cards.But I do know that for many of them, such as Ashley Holmes, and others, Reality Television is their main occupation. When the majority of a person's income is derived from Reality Television, clearly, they are performers. The Unions and Artist guilds have proven that they are willing to make accommodations for the grey-areas of Reality and other new media even including video-games and internet content.  If there ever was a time to hammer-out the details and examine the numbers to include the majority of Reality performers as members, that time is now.

Did Russell Armstrong Kill Bravo's Real Housewives as We Know it?

http://www.jjchandler.com/tombstone/

Along with the shocking-news that Russell Armstrong was found deceased, apparently by suicide, is the question about Bravo's re-action.
The question is not if something must be done, because they have already acknowledged that this event has had an emotional and logistical impact at the network and on The Real Housewives franchise. Here is the statement issued  today by Andy Cohen:

"We're all still trying to process yesterday's very sad news, and looking at how to proceed with the series, which has finished primary production and was set to premiere on Labor Day. We'll let you know what we decide when we do. In the meantime, we're sending our thoughts and prayers to Taylor and the rest of Russell's family. "

Most of us know that Season 2 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, taped the ongoing marital-strife between Russel and Taylor, and that it was a featured storyline for the upcoming season.
Russell Armstrong was found dead, apparently by suicide, in the home of his lawyer and friend Ronald Richards who made the rounds on the news stations and media outlets.
Although there was a rumored gag-order sent by email to all of The Real Housewives principals, Ronald Richards did not get the memo, or just decided that talking to the media while in a state of shock and grief is a good idea. And he did a lot of talking.
Richards let the world know that Armstrong's credit-cards have recently been declined, and that his divorce was troubling him. He, (Richards-the lawyer/friend), also revealed the fact that Russel was deeply disturbed and troubled by the way that his life had been affected-by The Real Housewives.
In particular, Richards mentioned the intense level of "scrutiny" that Armstrong, (and his past), had been subjected-to because of the publicity , and the financial stress that was caused-by, "bank-rolling" Taylor's career as a Real Housewife, (which he could not afford).
So Bravo's Real Housewives have directly been implicated as part-of whatever Russel Armstrong felt was  a reason to end his life.
We currently do not know how much, if any, of Season 2, Russel had seen. Usually cast-members are given advance copies of up-coming episodes two at a time. We do know that video of Taylor's turmoil over her marriage was being previewed on Bravo.com, but it was deleted as-of today. We do know that Russell Armstrong was being portrayed in the media as a physically-abusive man with a history of physical domestic violence. And that marriage counseling between Taylor and Russell had been taped as part of the up-coming season. And that they were involved in a divorce.
The question now is will the viewers see the episodes that were set to be aired, or will extensive editing/changing be done? Or will Bravo decide just to cut the entire Taylor/Russell storyline from Season 2?
Do we really want to see whatever it is that Russell Armstrong was dreading for us to see?
And- although nobody can ultimately blame Bravo , (or anyone. Suicide and thoughts-of suicide are a symptom-of acute mental illness), for Russell's suicide, will Bravo make any changes to their policies, to protect would-be and current fame-whores and their families from themselves? I've seen Bravo's contract for The Housewives and it states the risks to one's reputation very clearly.
As a viewer and a blogger, I can personally say that a simple disclaimer would go a long way. Something that we could point-to and reference when we're tempted to dig-up those old court-records, tax-forms, and tidbits that are posted online as public-information. 
We know that Countess Luann didn't sponsor a trip to Morocco for The Real Housewives of New York. But by not having a disclaimer, we don't exactly know who paid-for Taylor's 50-thousand dollar kiddee-party. Its very possible that the investors who are suing Russell Armstrong because they thought that they invested in a medical product, paid-for Taylor's entree into reality television?
Is it really necessary to lie there? NeNe's husband, (or is it ex-husband?) Gregg, threw-out a figure-of 300 thousand for his, "investment" in Nene's reality career. And how much-of Joe Giudice's 11 million dollar debt, could be considered a down-payment for Teresa's brand?
Maybe its about time that people can walk into a bank, or the Small Business Association, and tell the truth instead-of lying, scheming, and stealing, all in the name of "reality"?
Reality television isn't going-away any time soon, and maybe the circumstances-of Russel Armstrong's death will help some of the participants? Maybe this very real tragedy will help to highlight the very real risks that people are taking with their own lives and the lives of their families?

Bon Voyage Jill Zarin? Predictions and Ideas

http://regent-sevenseas-cruises.com/

Is it true? Is Jill Zarin leaving The Real Housewives of New York City?
I put on my special read-between-the-lines decoder glasses, and attempted to find clues in the press release, "scoop", that Naughty but Nice Rob  published on The Huffington Post (article link here).
This press release fly-on-the-wall report, basically said that Jill will not be returning to RHWONYC.
Andy Cohen Tweeted a message this week stating that changes are being made, so I think its safe to say that there is a good chance of a shake-up in the NYC cast.
But what's to become-of Jill? Hmmm. She's hinted-at some new project with her radio-braodcasting/co-author sister, Lisa. And she also posted about her husband, Bobby Zarin becoming a "Tweeter".
Of all of The Real Housewives, I must say that Jill Zarin is the least-likely to just sail-off into the sunset never be heard-from again.
So I looked real-hard at that press-release, Huff-Po article, and the following statement made some sense to me.

"...it’s time to take her parents on the cruise of a lifetime they have always wanted to do...." (Huffinton Post)

Ahhh.....was this just a throw-away comment? I don't think-so. It appears that Gloria and Sol, (Jill's parents), have already earned their "sea-legs", along with Jill and Bobby Zarin. I don't know for sure if they actually cruised together last February as  was planned, (link here), where Jill invited people to

"Please join Bobby & Me, and my parents, Gloria & Sol for 7 days to the Caribbean" (from Cruising with Jill & Bobby)

 But what exactly is a "cruise of a lifetime"? Now that I've firmly planted myself in my traveling-armchair with Bobby, and Jill, and Gloria, and Sol, I'm excited about this trip! Regent Seven Seas, which is the cruise-line that Jill was promoting last year, actually does have an "adventure of a lifetime" (cruise link here) category of journey. I'm thinking that this is probably a 7 to 21 day voyage? But further-on down the list of itinerarys, is what really catches my eye. The Grand Voyage.
Now that's what I'm talkin' about. Regent Seven Seas offers several Grand Voyage packages, ranging-from 71 to 120-day journeys.
Armchair-traveling is all-about imagining the perfect trip, so I'm doing just that. The perfect trip, and perfect departure from NYC, for Jill Zarin, would be in my imagination at least, a Grand Voyage, for Jill and her entourage, PLUS, the Bravo cameras. (so that we all get to go too!).
The Morocco trip was a rating-bringer for Bravo this season, and remember how Jill became homesick for Bobby and wished that he were there? Bravo likes to send Housewives on trips, but other than that, they, (Bravo), haven't delved into the travel-industry as a theme for Reality-television.
Am I psychic? Or did I just give Andy, and Bravo a great idea? If I did just invent this show idea by myself, I'd love to tell Bravo that I'd like to be paid for my idea with a free ticket! Unfortunately, I personally suffer from Mal D'Barq from the French,"bad dis-embarkation". Not sure if I spelled it right, but it's a real ailment and the only way to prevent it is to not get on boats. Basically, its the opposite of sea-sickness, where you become sea-sick after you get off the boat and it can stay with a person for months after traveling.
So I'd be perfectly content to watch Jill and her zany travel companions sail the high seas from the comfort of my armchair. How about it Bravo? Jill re-arranging the seating at the Captain's table? Jill and Gloria climbing pyramids? Jill and Bobby visiting The Pope?.....as-far as the rest of the crew from NYC, I'm sorry but there are just some Housewives who have passed their expiration date for me. Alex and Simon have hinted at an Egyptian opportunity in their future, and a short excursion to visit them , (on Jill's Grand Voyage-see I even thought of a title!), would be enough of them for me. Personally, I've seen more than enough of Ramona and Kelly, but I wouldn't mind it if Lu-ann got on-board. Maybe she could be the lounge-act? I'd like to see Sonja remain as a housewife. So in my opinion, Sonja could be the anchor to the original cast, and as far as I could care, Bravo can clear-the-deck, and bring on a whole new crew for the rest.
Ever since I've seen CoCo and Ice T on E, I've been thinking that CoCo would make a great Housewife. And I always wonder why Howard Stern's wife Beth Ostrosky's name isn't brought-up when nominating NYC Housewife candidates? She certainly doesn't need the $$, but from what I've seen she does invest a lot of work into charity related to animals. And why must Bravo continue to ghettoize the Housewives?
Miami gave us some ethnic diversity, which was a big plus. But can't they find any Housewives-of-different-colors in New York City OR New Jersey? I'm what you would call, "a white person", myself, and I wouldn't consider myself to be overly racially sensitive, (because I'm not)- so if someone like myself finds the stereotypical NY/NJ Housewife to be racially offensive, (by lack-of diversity), then believe me, its very offensive.
Cindy was just another dud. When the most interesting thing about a cast-member is whether or not they have an incestuous relationship going-on with her brother Howie, I think its safe to say that nobody wants her to return.
Blogger was acting funny, so I haven't blogged here for awhile, and I think that I still owe you guys one more final chapter to my "epic" series, and I haven't really wrapped-up Season 4. But from what I've seen everybody is in agreement that the Re-unions, (and pretty much the entire season!), were stinkers.
So those are my ideas  and predictions about Season 5 of The Real Housewives of New York City. I wonder if I'll get any right?

You Take the Good, You Take the Bad...and then You Have-A Gay-Old time?

Is Bravo trying to tell us something?
The reason I ask, is because the idea of Ramona seriously believing that she is pregnant at her age, well that's one thing. First of all-its Ramona, and second of all, any one person could be a little deluded about her health.
(Ask my own doctor. He treated me for rabbit-fever just because I insisted that I had been exposed).
This is why God invented reality-checks, and friends to give them to us! (NOT phony pregnancy-tests!)
But what happens in the world-of Reality television?
Sonja plays-along! Why do I have the strange feeling that this is not the first time that Sonja has administered an impossible pregnancy test?
Maybe this is why she was elected to be the Grand Marshal of the Gay Parade????
So maybe Ramona was really having a flight-of-fantasy, and maybe she just happened to pick the one person who would get completely sucked-into it right along with her?
But I don't think so.
And I apologize in-advance for imagining that this is some kind-of homosexual party-game. I know that I don't play games like this with my friends who also happen to be gay,  so I'm really stereo-typing Sonja here, and trying to guess in what culture would this make sense.
The only culture that I could even remotely see myself acting-like Sonja in this situation really, is the, (again-sorry for ignorantly applying a stereo-type to try and make it fit a cultural group, I'm trying to figure-out, "Who does this?", "Where would this fly?"),-locked-ward in a hospital. Why Sonja's and Ramona's behavior here makes me think of something that mental-patients would do to entertain themselves-I don't know either. Acting really goofy and out-of-touch with reality is just what I imagine could go-on between heavily-medicated people who supposedly define the word "crazy", but maybe that's not as much fun as I would like to imagine.
I think that someone wanted The Real Housewives of New York City to act-out a scene from The Waltons, Little House on the Prairie, and All in the Family to name a few.
Is Reality-television seeded-with people who are acting like actors? Was this scenario a joke played-on us AND Bravo by Ramona, Sonja, and Mario? Just like what StoopidHousewife.com suggested could be the case with the entire Gorga-Giudice- feud? A little conspiracy-of-drama?


Ultimately, the joke is on women. And I really didn't find it to be funny or cute.
Women in Ramona's age-group have been lied-to about these things for years and it never was really that funny-was it?
Did you hear the one about how using The Pill to prevent unplanned pregnancy enables a woman to "save her eggs" for when she is ready?
(umm, except it is not true, and an entire generation is not here thanks to lies like that!)
I have a question for Ramona Singer. She said that she was able to have other children besides Avery and that she regrets that she didn't, does that mean that she used prevention/protection?
The reason I ask is because I have to assume by those statements that she made that she did, and seeing her general ignorance about how these things work, I want to know if she knows that women using hormonal birth-control, don't get their periods.
Because that would be TWO health and medical dis-informations that Bravo has insulted people with in one episode.
(One--that it is even possible for someone Ramona's age to have an "ooopsie", and Two--that people using hormonal birth-control or, "the pill", have periods.)
Ramona is even going to tell Andy that she is "having her period" during the reunion. Sorry Ramona---it doesn't work both ways. If you prevented pregnancy with hormonal birth-control as you allude-to, you just don't get periods. You bleed because the pills tell your body to bleed but it is not a menstrual cycle.
I'm going to ask myself WWJS? (What Would Jill Say), here, and say, that if I were Jill, my diagnoses would be that IF Ramona is really this confused/ignorant, the only way that that could reasonably happen is IF Ramona was/ is on "The Pill", or hormonal birth-control, which mimics a woman's natural menstrual-cycle. THAT is the only way that I know-of to explain someone "missing"-menopause.
I would also use the word "malpractice" applied-to any physician or pharmacist who would allow such ignorance about a patient's health to persist.
What message is Bravo sending here? Is it all a joke? Folly? I have to hope that by "jumping the shark" in such a ridiculous manner, that Bravo is trying to tell us without telling us-exactly that.
The sad reality is that there are too many people suffering the consequences of medical and fertility misinformation right now. If Bravo is trying to tell people to "lighten-up", that's fine and there's always room for silly, but what it looks-like to me is more-like Bravo is helping to take the "informed" out-of "informed decisions".
Ramona may very well have a young-for-her-age uterus, but her eggs are way-past their expiration date, unless she has had them removed from her body and stored in a freezer. (and I don't care what science says, time marches-on frozen, or NOT!, so I would only recommend that option if someone had to have them removed  for some reason and don't wait too long to use them).
How long is "too long", realistically?
Maybe you should ask Jill Zarin if you really don't know? (If you notice Jill refused to go-along with this. Her credibility with me just keeps increasing now that the "I-Hate-Jill"-spell has been broken).
You know what? I'm going to be guilty of weaseling like I've accused Bravo-of here, but women really do have a lot of different circumstances among ourselves, so I agree that it is a personal decision and choice.
I will let you all in on a conversation that I eavesdropped-on a couple-of decades-ago. I was shocked at what I heard being said at that time, but now in hindsight, I think they were speaking with wisdom.
30.
(*This post is becoming pretty long for only having one picture to look-at, but I think that its worth adding here that I was a fly-on-the-wall for that nugget in a pharmacy, and the discussion was being whispered behind-the-back of Jerry Lewis's current wife at-the-time, who had just exited the store with a home-pregnancy-test, which later proved to be negative.)
If you are over-thirty and reading this, DON'T PANIC! You still have a little bit of time. (very little)
Do you know that there is a Latin medical term for pregnant women over Thirty?
Its something horrible-sounding like "Senile Elderly Gravida".
They will write that in YOUR medical chart momma, if you are thirty-ish and preggo.
OH-and if you are Bethenny's age, (over 40), and you somehow find yourself "in-the-family-way", that is considered remarkable/unusual to say the least, but if you are Bethenny's age and trying to get pregnant, if it doesn't just happen, please do not refer to that as "infertility".
"Infertility" is a condition that some women, (and men), struggle-with when they are at an age when one would normally be considered "fertile".
People of Bethenny's age are not considered to be fertile, so there is no "infertility" to be had.
They have simply aged-out of their fertile years, and frankly whatever the Latin-term is for "miracle", and very, very fortunate and lucky to give birth to a perfectly healthy child is what you would find or at least read-between-the-lines on Bethenny's chart. (along-with that scary Latin diagnoses).
Is it fair to women to perpetrate the disinformation? Ask a 45-year old woman who "forgot" to have children.
So I'm sticking-with 30. That's my answer and it may be shocking and scary to some, but it could be a wake-up call to a few late 20-somethings and 30-somethings.
Over-50? Ask your doctor, ask your mother, or ask Jill if you don't believe me. But don't ask Ramona or Sonja, or Bravo.
I'm pretty sure that they have had all-of the children that they plan on having and they obviously don't care about anyone else.
I have one other question for Ramona, if her daughter Avery waits 'till she is fifty-four, (Ramona's current age),  to have children, (and even-then I think it would be scientifically/medically discouraged at that age), how old would Ramona be when she welcomes her first grand-baby?
I'm going to do-the-math, just in case Ramona is also challenged in mathematics and because I want to know.
Congratulations Ramona!
92.
If Ramona  and Sonja want to (wait), to be a grandmother 'till 92, well then God Bless them I guess is all I can say.
I'm sure they'll be the best-looking 92-year-old grandmas around...(ok-now I'm getting my facetious on but I think I've proved my point here?)
It is waaaay too late for Ramona to seriously consider giving-birth again. (I'm sure that there are exceptions, but I'm talking-about mostly/all 54-year-old women in general).
It is so ridicoulous, that maybe Bravo assumed that we would ALL be in-on the joke?
I don't know who said it first, but I'm pretty sure that someone has already said, "never underestimate the ignorance of your audience"-(unknown)
Like that old Larry Bud Melman skit on David Letterman, sometimes you just have to come-out and say what you mean. "Don't eat paste!"-(Larry Bud Melman), and while I'm at-it with the quotes, "There's a sucker born every minute."-(P.T. Barnum)
And that is why Bravo is so far past the due-date with a clear and understandable disclaimer.
I get it Bravo-I want to laugh with you, not at you. But like Jill, I cannot play-along when the future is at stake.
If Ramona and Sonja are comfortable with waiting 'till they are in the ninth decade of life before they see their own grand-babies, that's their choice.
But please don't take that (informed)-choice away from myself, or others, due to what I perceive as propaganda disguised as humor, for those of us who know-better, and tragic-disinformation for those who do not.
To end this rant on a happier-note, I'll use another quote that I heard on the (FM) radio this morning. Its a little piece of advice, from my future grand-children to yours if you're so-inclined to wish for them, "Lets dance, Lets dance, We may not get another chance..."(-classic rock).

Awards time here! Presenting The Wire-Hangers

After watching episode 15 of Season 4 of The Real Housewives of New York City, AND reading the cast blogs, there are not enough words. So I'm posting this video to Alex McCord, on behalf of the State of Kansas,  and The Countess. Although Alex blushes and chokes on the word, "Class", in attempting to prove that she possesses some, she reveals her cultural ignorance, and dare I say it, her crudeness?
Apparently, Bravo gave our gals some homework this week and asked them to expound on the topic of, "Class". Alex makes the mistake of using Countess Luann as an example-of what class is not. Tsk, tsk, for all-of Alex's to-the manor-born chatter, where did she learn her manners?

"I don’t want to be attached to a song about "cl--s" lying within the soul. When she's ready to stop with the pretension and have fun doing Kurt Weill or Foxy Brown, great." Alex's blog on the "C"-word, (here)

It wasn't enough for Alex to win the Ultimate Taco Grande' Supreme Pope-hat in the category of "Pretty" for the evening, she also walked-off with the "Kelly" award for cognitive dissonance.
There are so many bitch-slaps in this video, that it would be wasteful to dedicate all of them to Alex. Again on behalf of The Countess, I'd like to award Ramona a paper-plate with money glued on it, and her own royal title, Grand pooh-bah of Bitch, and Ultimate Nacho-Supreme of Nastiness.
In IIlana Angel's Keeping It Real Recap, (link HeRE), she wonders if LuAnn cried when she walked-out after Ramona dished-out a huge helping of mean for lunch. I would have too. And let's not forget that in real-life, and real-time, Ramona took it a step further by mean-Tweeting an incriminating video of Luann's daughter Victoria misbehaving to thousands, while LuAnn was making her video in Frantic City.
While I'm handing-out prizes, can someone please send Sonja Morgan a new toaster-oven? Do those eggs come with a tetanus-shot? Or was that just a case of the old new-girl trying to bump-off the new new-girl?
Jill Zarin wins the USO-Trooper award for this episode. I'm hoping that she gets some good zingers in at Ramona during the upcoming Re-Union. There've been rumblings of a Jill vs Ramona feud off-screen, and I can only hope that we get to see some of that before the season is over.
I'm awarding Cindy the Hair-today, gone tomorrow award, because she is so BLA and because she made the crucial mistake of implying that her WORK, is so much more important than Sonja's dance-class, or breakfast at Sonja's.
Kelly doesn't get a prize because she has an agenda. She's about as much fun as a hairy bucket of recycled-wax in Cindy's salon. In the "Class will out, Class will tell", category, The Countess stole the show by exhibiting Grace under Fire. Well-done LuAnn. These slaps are for you!

Ladies and Gentlemen..LuAnne has Arrived!

The EleGents were in Atlantic City for the Fourth, and LooK! what they did!
Is it her deep voice? The way she carries a showgirl hat? I don't know, but The Countess has become a sensation with Chic, C' est La Vie.
Thank-you EleGents for sending it in to share with the readers of this page!
This tune is definitely starting to grow on me. No offense to The Housewives, but after watching this version, I like the song so much better.
By the way, I know the owner of that hot-tub on the roof that the "Gents" we're in! I can tell you where it is if you're over 21.

Interrupt for Something FUN!

You Want one? Click HeRE!

An update to this site's policy

I just finished answering an email and I would like to share it with readers of this blog. Sorry to be so confusing. I do love to receive email and contributions, but I am very strict about not posting emails unless I have permission. Some of you may have received emails from me that are marked, "confidential" etc., and I would hope that that request is honored, but you never know.
In any event, I like to make it a policy to regard ALL emails as "private", unless explicitly stated otherwise.
(even the mean ones ha ha)
I think that I have already mentioned that I LOVE ♥ open-comments, but that moderating them myself is just not something that I want to volunteer-for.
THANK-YOU to everyone who visits here and responds on Twitter, or email, but I also want to be sure to let you know that I also value your privacy so I will not post your messages/names...unless you let me know that it is OK. (something like "OK to post this").
Here is the email that I mentioned above. (name deleted)

Hi (name deleted)-thanks for reading my blog. And to answer your question, sorry right now I have comments turned-off. Sorry I am so late getting back to you but I am in the middle of moving back into my home after a fire.
There IS a way to have your comments posted on my blog-(the NJ or NY one?).
Sorry if I am not to clear about it, but I do receive email and I make it a policy to never re-post email UNLESS I have explicit permission to do so.
Otherwise I just say, "a reader", or some generic thing.
But I DO accept guest-blogs, and I DO credit all contributions, as-long-as I have permission.
In an emergency, I would open the comments, but it has never come to that. Or maybe just for fun temporarily.
The problem is that I did run a message-board for ten years and I am burned-out on babysitting comments. It really is difficult and I even have to give IHJZ credit for attempting it in the first place.
Thank-you for letting me know that you visited my blog, and if you ever want to comment, or guest-blog, just let me know and I will be happy to re-post it. (credited or annon however you like).
Even-if you are critical, that would be fine.-TY-Housewifehater

Part 1: Why I heart Jill Zarin and h8 IHJZ

(*This is a long story. So long, that I had to break it into pieces. The beginning of this post is copied and pasted from what I originally began. "Part 1" was originally titled, "Who is The Real Housewives Hate-Blogger and who is behind it?". The story got complicated so I saved Part 1 in "draft", and published Part 2, 3, and 4. "Who is Behind it?", has been hinted-at. But I can only guess because I really don't know. Because this is so long, anything that I have left-out will have to be included in Part 5, or "The End" of this series. I've added information to "Part 1", and it is finished. Some of the information is repeated, or expanded-on in the other parts of this series, so I apologize in-advance for being redundant and repeating portions here.) Here is the current view from my Blogger editor. You can see how this series evolved:

Yes I am confused!

Episode 12, Season 4 of The Real Housewives of New York began a sub-plot that had some bloggers, and blog-readers feeling like they had entered a time-warped, reality television, Twilight Zone.
I'm referring to the moment when Bobby Zarin pulled Simon Van-Kempen aside, to confront him about fraternizing with a "Hate-blogger".
A "hate-blogger", who specifically proclaims her never-ending devotion to the hating of one Jill Zarin.
The Real Housewives of New York, have been pulling about 2 million, three-hundred thousand, viewers each week this season.Lynn Hudson claims to have many more unique visitors to her,"I Hate Jill Zarin" blog than that which I find peculiar. But there are many other strange and contradictory things about
"IHJZ" besides that. The latest being that the "I Hate Jill  Zarin" blog, has now become part of the story-line for this season's Real Housewives of New York.
I don't usually blog criticism about other bloggers here, but now that Lynn, or the blogger known as Lynn Hudson, aka, LynnNChicago101, has become a part of the show, that's different.
Another thing that I don't usually do, is download and save entire pages of blogs because I have a funny feeling that they will be deleted. I only did that ONE TIME with "I Hate Jill Zarin", and I didn't have any evidence that Lynn had been deleting portions of her blogs up to that point, but I did it "just in case". Some-time later, Lynn posted an item, about-you guessed it, deleting that very page that I had downloaded for safe-keeping.
More about that later.
Google-Reader is a way of following blogs that have RSS-feeds available. As people on StoopidHousewives.com <-----link, and other interested, helpful people have explained to me, items that are posted to blogs that have RSS-feeds, are not deleted, even when the blog author goes-back and changes things.
It has been pointed-out to me that the RSS-feed for IHJZ, has been very revealing when it comes to contradictions on that blog. Entire blog-pages and comments that were deleted, for example, are still available for people with reader-subscriptions.

Why would someone be concerned about contradictions on the IHJZ blog? Well, maybe because according to Lynn, and QuincyIl,  her co-blogger, the only rule there is;   

"...to be kind to others. Everybody doesn’t have to agree, but you can dispute and argue opinions without attacking each other.  That’s what we do here..." (-most recently posted by QuincyIl, but repeated often)

 Unfortunately, after spending any amount of time on the blog, visitors become aware of the many unsaid and unwritten rules. Not only that, Lynn and her cohort claim to not ban or block comment posters unless they are violating the "no attacking" rule and specifically name TWOP, and Bravo-blogs as examples of offenders who do.
Please do not imply that I am advising people not to read or visit IHJZ. If I am warning anybody about anything, besides questioning the true origin/owners of IHJZ, I am only issuing a warning to use caution about posting comments there. The blog itself is extensive and detailed and much of the content is original to
IHJZ by Lynn and QuincyIl, and much of the copy-cat content is properly credited. (although it will be considered an "attack" if you happen to point-out copied material, such-as photographs, and ideas/information that have been used without proper credits or permissions or criticize any opinions, or point-out any mistakes made by Lynn... ).
If you can't get enough of The Housewives--the blog is worth a visit if only for it's massive content.
After I was "attacked" myself, (in a bloggy-way, not physically of course) and thrown-off the blog in a very rude manner by Lynn and her self-proclaimed troll~hunters, (who ironically turned-out to be masters in the art of trolldom;)), I discovered that IHJZ didn't have anything else than many other Real Housewives blogs have, but they did have The Van-Kempens!
Namely, Simon who has had his comments posted there.
Which brings us to the mystery, Is Simon behind IHJZ? Apparently, that is what Bravo, would like us to think that Bobby and Jill Zarin think.
The double-whammy  mind-freak of the entire thing is the time-line and now vs. then, versus, real-time, versus real-life, versus reality television. The "Sweet Sixteen"-party episode, where Bobbby Zarin has a moment with Simon about collaborating with a "hate-blogger"-was taped months ago. It would seem to be correct that Simon made his IHJZ blog-comment-posting appearance months ago as well. Lynn has also frequently featured a meet-up that she had with the Van Kempens in her home town of Chicago, on her blog, but that was while last season's episodes were airing. It would appear that Alex and Simon have been friendly with IHJZ, since almost the very beginning of the blog-which was sometime early Spring last year, (2010). IHJZ began on TerryAlley's site and moved-to HubPages when episodes for season III of Real Housewives of New York  were being aired.

(*end of unpublished version 1, Part 1 of this series)

(*Here is where I tried to wrap-up Part 1 of this series again. It probably should be divided into another separate post but I really want to finish the whole hot mess.)

I have a confession to make. I ♥ Jill Zarin. There are a lot of reasons to love Jill. She's a red-head. She's attractive, but not in-a sex-object way. She likes a good deal. She's funny. She's egotistical but doesn't take herself too seriously. She knows how to get things done. She likes to help other people. She has a nice family...when it comes-to The Real Housewives, I'd consider Jill Zarin one of the more admirable ones of the bunch. If Andy Cohen asked the question, "If you had to choose which Housewife would you would hope that your children grew-up to be like?"- I'd probably pick Jill.
I've kept that little secret to myself since last-season, (Season 3), when The Real Housewives of New York were confronting her about what a terrible bitch she is and she owned it all, and apologized, and then she said something like, "What do you want me to do-jump out the window?"
(I kept my ♥ for Jill Zarin a secret because I didn't want to get in trouble with IHJZ. The peer-pressure there is the "group-think" mentioned below and elsewhere.)
At that point as far as I was concerned, Jill was forgiven. (although I do have a problem with the girdle-thing. nobody should bring-back girdles.They need to become extinct.)
Actually, I forgave Jill as-soon as she found-out that Betheny was expecting a baby, and when she said that she didn't know that Betheny was pregnant during some-of the big argument/war that they were having. Because Jill did exactly the right thing then. She backed-off of Bethenny.
Last season of The Real Housewives of New York was hard for viewers to watch. We saw Bethenny live through the death of her father while she was expecting her first baby.
What we didn't want to see, (what we did see), was any unnecessary drama, or stress, for Bethenny while she was in such a delicate and stressful situation. But we did see it and its name was Jill.
It was never a fair fight because the pregnant-lady wins by default. So Jill was the bad-guy. Never-mind that Jill was hurt too, that she lost a friend. Never-mind that Bethenny and Jill both have a right to their careers, yet Jill had-to make concessions to her own career to protect Betheny's health because Betheny wasn't going-to give-up her career either. Betheny had the pregnant-card, and she played it well.
We saw Bethenny cry and break-down from the stress. That was hard to watch. Everybody hates to see a pregnant-mother suffer don't they?
But we saw it, and because Bethenny was exempt from even her own decision to participate in The Real Housewives, we looked-for the villain. Viewers were emotionally affected by seeing the drama play-out.
We hated what we were seeing, and because Jill was doing what The Real Housewives do, we hated-on Jill.
Some people even went so far as to enter "I Hate Jill Zarin" into their search-bar. Some other people, (Lynn Hudson), even went so far as to create an entire blog devoted to the hating of Jill Zarin.

http://lynnnchicago101.wordpress.com/

Bravo's Real Housewives put themselves, (and consequently, their families), into the public-eye for their own reasons. Financial opportunity, fame, exhibitionism,... Fame-whoredom. And we the viewers eat-it up. The device of reality begs-for our attention in a way that fictional drama does not. Reality changes the question from "What-if that happened?", to "It happened-what do you think?". "Reality" asks us to judge.
Reality-television goes beyond entertainment because it is real. Its interactive, just like the www. And because they put themselves out-there for it, we can judge The Housewives. One-shoulder dresses?-hate them. Hair-extensions? Fake-eyelashes? Red-velvet cake? Blond or brunette? Home-maker or Career gal? Little dogs? Exotic cats? Plastic-surgery? Team Nene or Team Kim? Margarita or white wine? Just like Andy Cohen takes polls on Watch What Happens Live, Reality-television and The Real Housewives, ask us to choose. Love it or leave it is not an option because this is "real-life".
Albert Manzo from the Jersey Housewives held a position on a major water authority in North Jersey. Many of The Housewives are the worst examples of the current real estate foreclosure crisis that affect every single person in the USA and some that aren't even born yet. We drive on the same roads that they do, even-though some of them shouldn't be driving. What they wear, and those fashion-shows they attend, is what we will find in the stores when we shop. Because it is real, it affects all of us and we must judge them. Sometimes we hate.
If you follow The Housewives on Bravo-there must be something you like about them.  We "love to hate" The Housewives, mainly because they can not hate us back. If my Sister-in-law wears a one-shoulder-dress, I might not tell her my real opinion. But if Luann or Caroline Manzo wear one, I might even consider it a community-service to get online and tell the inter-webs what I really think. If my opinion is shared with enough people, together we may even influence the fashion industry.
Jill Zarin found herself on the wrong side of tormenting a pregnant woman. That's something that everybody can agree-on. Hating Jill Zarin, or hating what we were watching happen to Bethenny, was a no-brainer.
And that is where I Hate Jill Zarin, the blog came-in.
When I Hate Jill Zarin began, the sentiment was valid. The blog became a magnet for Housewives viewers. I found the blog when I was just starting my-own Real Housewives blogs. I was searching for unique details and information about The Housewives, and not just a recap, or rehash of what everybody else had.
I started my own Housewives blogs because I had a few things to say about The Housewives, and I was not satisfied with what Bravo had made available. The Bravo-blogs leave room for comments, but they were completely moderated and most-of-the-time messages would not even be posted there. TWOP is a lot more entertaining, but the moderators there had a bad habit-of shutting the board down just when things got interesting.
I was drawn to I Hate Jill Zarin, incidentally, not by what Lynn had blogged, but by information that was contributed by had been swiped from @BravoMaxine that was re-posted on Lynn's blog.
@BravoMaxine (live link to Maxine's Twitter) had a different name at that time. Maxine is the reason why I have a *rumor disclaimer at the top of this website.
Maxine likes to remind people that she was the first, the original, and that all-others are "imitators" and "copy-cats". In some ways that is correct, because there still isn't anyone who does what Maxine does. But Maxine doesn't have a blog. Maxine has been independently chroniciling  Bravo's Real Housewives (mostly on Twitter), since 2008. But there are other independent bloggers like Absurd2Sublime.com, who can also claim that they were there first.
In the Hub-Page version-of I Hate Jill Zarin, (circa 2010 which is no-longer available online), Lynn Hudson had quite a bit of  re-posted information that came-from Maxine. If you haven't followed Maxine on Twitter, or on her Facebook page,( currently suspended. Absurd2Sublime explains here) I suggest that you do because I can barely begin to explain what it is that Maxine does that is so different from everyone else. Usually a quick-peak at what Maxine is up to will have a Housewives fan in Housewife Heaven. "Inside-info." and juicy gossip-that you really won't see anywhere else. Unfortunately, (especially for Lynn-but I'm getting to that), a lot of it just is not true.
Maxine has explained in the past that because she has so many sources sending here information, that sometimes she gets it wrong. Wherever she gets her dish-I love it! The more outlandish the better but readers have been warned.
Before everyone had learned that Maxine's info. was raw and wasn't verified, Lynn was using it on her I Hate Jill Zarin Hub-Page blog as factual and credible. At some point, Lynn caught-on or was called-out and she apologized to her readers. Since-then Maxine has-been an unmentionable on IHJZ. (except-for the incident where Jill Zarin accidentally announced that Bethenny had given-birth to a boy because Jill and Maxine both posted the incorrect information.).
Anyways, (thanks again Lynn for correcting me on that one. (anyhow/anyways), even-though you were vicious, I do appreciate it), that's how I landed at IHJZ in the first place. -Not by entering "I hate Jill..." into Google© like many have commented to IHJZ. And it was the open-comments that kept me there. (ha ha-and eventually pushed me away).
I love comments. Some people will tell you that hit-and-run, anonymous comments can't be trusted, (they can't but I can think for myself thank-you). I've been criticized before for not leaving my comments open. I have a reason for not opening comments here. I was a board-moderator on a political message board for ten years. I'm retired from moderating comments. (I still reserve the right to open comments on any or all items, but I'd rather heard cats!).
So when Lynn left comments turned "on", on IHJZ, I was particularly interested in how that would work-out. Maintaining a comment-section is also a great way to drive visitors to a website and rack-up web-traffic stats. One offended reader of IHJZ paid Lynn the ultimate insult by announcing that the only reason they bothered to visit IHJZ was to browse the comments. It is true that without comments, IHJZ is just another Real Housewives blog.
It appeared to work beautifully. (yes "appeared" is a hint).
Housewives, and peace and Kumbaya. And Kumbaya we did.
After awhile it became necessary for Lynn to make some rules about the comments. (it always becomes necessary to make some rules. Just ask Strega and TWOP).
Except for the "H"-word in the title, the rules that Lynn posted were a continuation of the perception of the Esprit de corps  in comments area. "Be kind rewind", I mean "Be kind to each other". Lynn and and QuincyIL continue to regurgitate and repeat this rule to this day. They have promoted the blog with this sentiment. They repeatedly invite would-be commenters to join the discussion, posting assurances that no one will be blocked, or banned, or deleted. There are "no rules", other-than the "play nice amongst each-other" rule.(quote above)
When you have a stated policy people have a choice to either accept it, or not. Comment-posting policies are serious business. In my opinion, it is better to not post a policy, unless you intend-on enforcing it.
It is especially better to not promote one policy when you really have a different agenda, and when you do exactly what you claim that you don't do.-(in other words, they brag about not-doing actions that they do whenever they want).
They assure people that everyone's opinion is welcome-That no subject is off-limits, that you won't be banned or blocked unless you break the only stated "rule".
Well it isn't true and I'm not telling anyone not to post comments there, but I am telling them that if you've seen people warning about "group-think", and "herd-mentality", when referring to the comment-area "rules" on IHJZ, -that is more like the unwritten and heavily monitored and enforced "rules" there on IHJZ.
I would say that the number 1 unwritten rule, is to never alert IHJZ to any errors or outright accusations/questions about any uncredited content-theft that Lynn Hudson has posted.
And although IHJZ claims that they welcome links to other blogs and websites, she really doesn't like it.
This was made most painfully clear, not when she accused me of trying to steal her visitors (because we both knew that I wasn't getting any traffic from IHJZ), or when she jumped into www.stooopidhousewives.com's (link) celebration of one million visitors to Stooopidhousewives's blog with the same claims, but when she did it to one of her own inner-circle.
Sometime this Spring, (2011), the commenter who goes-by the name Boston02127 innocently opened a live chat-room on a site that wasn't IHJZ and promoted it and posted links to it there. I guess the chat became popular, and Lynn decided that the chat was causing a drain on visitors to IHJZ. I was lurking in the comments, and watched it play-out (I'm always lurking if I visit there ha ha because the last time that I checked I was blocked, but I wouldn't post there anyhow. Or is that anyways? ).
Anywhoo. Boston02127 was publicly admonished and called-out on IHJZ, to please STOP with her chat because it could "hurt" IHJZ by stealing visitors. Lynn Hudson is terribly concerned with the IHJZ visitor-count.
But Boston02127 was allowed to stay. And the "chat" was redirected to the comment section of IHJZ. I hope that Boston02127 has her own reasons for putting-up with that kind-of treatment. She's been used by Lynn so much, that I really hope she's getting something for herself out of it.
It is true that "hating " Jill Zarin is not required for commenters to IHJZ, but there is another unwritten rule that no smack-talk of Lynn's favorite Housewives is allowed.
That would be Betheny, Alex and Simon, and curiously, Cat O'Maney from the defunct Housewives of DC.
And if you have a problem with the title of the board, or the hating of Jill Zarin in general-I would suggest that you keep it to yourself.
I personally supported the IHJZ banning of a commenter who goes by the name of Gwen Bridges because Gwen laced her comments with terroristic extortion and blackmail.
After Gwen was blocked, she continued her attack. You can still see remnants of that mess in Google-searches for "I Hate Lynn Hudson", or Gwen Bridges, or even "I hate Alex McCord" but that blog is long-gone. (there are some virus sites that look-like they have it, but they don't)
Those blogs were payback to Lynn from being blocked  from IHJZ and carrying-through with what Gwen had threatened. Gwen made the demand that Lynn drop the word "hate" from IHJZ. She warned that if Lynn didn't, that she would post vile, slanderous, nasty, information about Alex McCord because Gwen knew that Alex was one-of Lynn's favorite Housewives.
Gwen's "hate" blogs looked-like they had comments too. But those comments were all fake as far as I could tell. They all supported Gwen and if you sent Gwen a comment disagreeing it never saw the light of day.
Of course I can understand Gwen's frustration from being muted from IHJZ, and sadly some real garbage about Alex was posted online just because Alex and Simon had apparently befriended Lynn and the IHJZ blog.
Would Gwen have gone that far to try to hurt Alex and Simon if she wasn't frustrated with the inconsistencies and flat-out fake niceness that Lynn presented on IHJZ?
I don't know, but by the time that I was being thrown-off IHJZ, there were more "Gwens"-out there. People were being blocked from posting comments there left and right. Yet the status-quo was all that most people saw. People were being accused-of being "trouble-makers", and being blocked, and being talked-about. (but they could not respond because they were blocked, yet "WE DON'T BLOCK ANYONE" was the ongoing motto).And this is just what was posted visibly for anyone to see online. Because aside-from IHJZ, there is plenty-of hate to spread-around. In e-mails, on Twitter, other blogs...At that time, I supported IHJZ, even-if I didn't actually *hate* Jill Zarin, because I supported the "love-to-hate"-hating of The Real Housewives in general. I honestly thought that was the point of IHJZ. Eventually I learned otherwise. 
If anything negative was posted elsewhere online about Lynn, it was explained-away as being from a "paid Jill Zarin" supporter, a jealous blogger, or someone who had gone too far like Gwen.
Some bloggers who had previously been favored, were mocked and discounted because they posted opinions that Lynn didn't like. One in particular is Illana Angel, (link to her blog on left-hand side of this page). Ilana doesn't seem to approve-of Saint Bethenny very much. If people posted links to bloggers that Lynn didn't like, the thought-police would post a warning."Lynn has warned us about that before...", or some-such nonsense.

I decided to ignore IHJZ, and quit reading the blog, mostly, since there are so many other blogs that allow comments, to choose-from. I also wanted to make sure that I wouldn't copy, (with credits of course), anything else from her blog, unless she was the only source that had that particular information. I noticed that IHJZ really didn't have much that was unique to the site aside from Lynn and QuincyIl's recaps, so I wasn't missing anything. I love recaps, but I like to sample a lot of different ones, and I was relieved to read my favorite recaps without so much Jill-hating.
The Hating-on Jill had become stale to me, but it was the meat and bones of IHJZ. I was bored-with the list of Jill Zarin's "sins", which are a proud liturgy on IHJZ.At times, the hate behind-the-scenes, involved-with IHJZ and some-of the blog's inner-circle became waay more interesting than anything on the blog. I decided not to blog-about the hate and try to focus more on The Housewives. Because the hate was real and it was ugly.
The "hate" went-on elsewhere: online, on Twitter, real-life, email- Lynn Hudson is/was always pretty careful to maintain her image, but her friends did her dirty-work. Certain online personalities were not getting marching-orders from Lynn, but while they were busy invading other Real Housewives's bloggers real lives, Lynn continued to praise and support them publicly.
A very talented writer and Reality television blogger found herself in the cross-hairs of the IHJZ followers.
At first-it was funny. Then it got real. I'm not mentioning the blogger's name right now because she has recently been sentenced to four-years in a maximum-security women's prison, and she cannot have contact with the outside world for another two-weeks. I want to get this writer's permission before posting any identifying information here.
The stalking of that blogger carried-over to "elsewhere", and yes the girl had financial problems, and upcoming court cases. Intensity38, and other of Lynn's "favorites", proclaimed judgement on the blogger and openly stated that they wished she would be sentenced to hard-time, (and worse!). Comments on another blog devoted to exposing this other blogger's real-life, (name with-held to protect the innocent), stated that judges, court officials, and people involved in the blogger's real-life legal problems, were being contacted and influenced.
Four years. -We can say that the blogger did it to herself, but I cannot help wondering what if-any effect the "haters" had on what appears to be an overly harsh sentence.
I myself was warned that the haters/trolls/friends-of IHJZ could do to me what had been done to this blogger, and worse.

Currently, I like to comment back-and-forth with other people on Stooopidhousewives.com mostly, because SHW posts more quality Real Housewives content than I would be able to find on my own, (original content and best-of-the-rest).  Comments are allowed and lively and you never know who will pop-in. Does SHW do everything that I just posted that Lynn does? SHW moderates the comments. SHW deletes, and blocks, but SHW makes no excuses or claims to the contrary. My comments are safe there because I'm getting exactly what SHW promises. Here is SHW'S comment policy which was posted after someone tried to disrupt SHW's site by posting offensive comments.

*Copied and edited for clarity and space

What you see is what you get. No phony platitudes. No false promises...just the facts. SHW-(or SH), also reminds readers that foul-language and personal-attacks towards others/ or their opinions are not-allowed.
I bring-up StooopidHousewife as a good example here because there are many ways to moderate comments if you choose to have them. What IHJZ does is try to lure visitors to her site by allowing the freedom to comment, but she alienates people when they learn the truth. Stooopid also gains visits by having comments, but SHW is not so desperately looking-for page-loads that they trick people under false-pretenses.
Well I see that this post is quite lengthy and I still haven't delivered everything that I promised. I still have some things to say about the Hate-Blogger that is Lynn Hudson and I Hate Jill Zarin. I think that I covered a lot with this post, and explained some of the "hate" that is I Hate Jill Zarin. So I think that I will post this as Part I. Unfortunately, there is more to this story. A story that would not be on this blog at all, except for the fact that I Hate Jill Zarin became part of The Real Housewives Of New York.
So I'm going to call this entry Part 1 and let it go. I'd really like to wrap-up this series altogether, but there are a few more things that I may as well blab. Thank-you to everyone who took the time to read all of this! Part 2, 3, and 4, have already been posted so with this, (Part 1), the series is almost finished.
Whatever I've left-out here and in the other posts will have to be another blog. There is a little more to this topic, but I'll save it for another post and since the series is finished it will be Part 5,The End, Footnotes, Scraps, and Credits.