Hi all!.  Just checking in.  I'm thrilled for Val and absolutely love Laurie.  I think she'll give him a run for his money, and they may just win in.   She has such a winning personality.

I think I will actually enjoy watching Maks with Amber.   I like Marilu Henner, but I can't stand Derek.   If I couldn't stomach him with Bindi, it's not going to happen with Marilu.  Love Jenna and am curious to see how she does with her partner as a first-time pro.

I also wanted to say a word about Ryan Lochte.   He certainly was old enough to know better.  He was drunk, in a foreign country supposed to be representing his country, and lied about a lot of things.  But he wasn't alone.  No one is saying anything about the other 3 swimmers with him.  They were younger, yes, but still in their mid-twenties and old enough to know better, too.

I'm willing to cut him some slack.   Just put yourself in their shoes.  It's the middle of the night.   You're in a country where you don't speak the language.   People are talking to you, angry with you, and a guy draws a gun.   It becomes obvious they are asking you for money to let you leave.   The Rio police, in the press conference, called it "armed extortion."   According to several reports I read, including Sports Illustrated, the "vandalism" they committed was peeing outside the building and tearing down a poster.   There was no visible or claimed permanent damage to anything.  A poster in an all night gas station cannot have been great art.  

Most of all they were drunk.  If they had not been, probably none of this would have happened.   Then they lied about it.  That was worse, but not a hanging offense.   They paid, albeit involuntarily, for any "damage" they caused.   And the one swimmer to make a "contribution" to be allowed to leave the country.  The money changing hands should have been the end of it.   I'm sure their understanding and recollection of events diverged wildly.   They were drunk!

Frankly, if someone in a foreign country pulled a gun on me, drunk or not, I'm sure it would appear a lot bigger and closer that it really was.  And the nice word for someone demanding money at gunpoint or to allow me to leave the country would be extortion.   I've been to Rio, and although it's a lovely country, being out at night (except on the main beachfront thoroughfares) is a scary experience.  We were in a taxi about 11 p.m. along the beachfront.   We noticed that the taxi driver was driving through red lights but stopping for green and we commented on it.  He explained that no driver wanted to stop at a red light because of potential car jackings (although you were unlikely to be injured, only robbed).   But if your light was green, you had to assume that someone coming the other way would run the red light, so you had to stop.  The doormen at our (very nice) hotel would not let us leave the hotel on foot after dark.

I think the whole thing was blown out of proportion.  A profuse apology from all involved should be sufficient.   To my knowledge, Ryan is the only one who apologized publicly.   But he has been and will probably continue to be villified by the press and social media while others who have done far worse things are ignored.

Dancing With the Stars Cast's First Impressions Revealed: Get the Scoop on Early Favorites and Which Pair Hasn't Even Met

http://www.eonline.com/news/791134/dancing-with-the-stars-cast-s-first-impressions-revealed-get-the-scoop-on-early-favorites-and-which-pair-hasn-t-even-met
 

Robert is speaking at a conference in Florida. Lets hope him and Kym go to  Disney and post cute stuff! haha

artemchigvintsevworld👏🏻👏🏻💃🏻💃🏻 #Repost from @momccormick7 Sneak preview of our fabulous dancing skills #DWTS @dancingabc @theartemc


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