Computer troubles, Martha's "Apprentice" gossip.

Sorry I haven't posted more today. My laptop has been acting up. I've turned the thing off and on about 50 times today trying to get it to work. It's an iBook G4, and the 3 times I got it going, it froze up. All the other times, it would just hang up on a blank blue screen. I've been looking at that blue screen trying to think up new strategies for getting past it for a long part of today. It's not all I did today. I did an NPR interview about Alito over at the WPR studio, and I got some shopping and wrapping done. But generally, it's been frustrating here! (I'm writing this on an old, annoying computer.)

And, yes, I know the NY Post had a gossip piece about Martha's "Apprentice."

A former contestant who was in the green room and overheard the child's remark told PAGE SIX: "Jennifer Koppelman Hutt [Charles' daughter, who works with Alexis] and her little girl were making small talk with the cast before the show. Someone asked the little girl, 'So, who do you think is going to win?' The little girl confidently replied, 'Bethenny is going to win, Martha didn't like Dawna's fashion show.' "

The shocked mother quickly whisked the tot out of the room as word rapidly spread throughout the stunned studio.

The former contestant who was there tells us, "They quickly sequestered the castmates. It was very strange. They put us all in separate rooms. The producer announced to the audience, 'We have last-minutes changes in the script. We want to keep the suspense up to the very last minute.' "

I think the grownups probably got the little girl to say that to create excitement about what was a very dull contest that Dawna was obviously going to win. That is, the girl didn't spill the answer, causing Martha to change the outcome. The girl was used as a device to inject some tension into the situation. It didn't work too well, though apparently some people who were there got jazzed up about it. It did not reach through to the TV audience.