Survivor 33: Millennials vs Gen-Ex - Blog Pool Match-Ups Announced!

Lifeguard Laurie has worked her mojo once again and came up the random matches for the blog pool! Yay, Laurie! And, we believe we have a record number of participants, too! Fifty people asked in for the season. We can only hope that might be an omen for a great season ahead of us!

As is our standard practice -- the blog people who have the honor of being chosen for the person who ends up the first boot of the season will get reassigned to someone else. After all, we never really get to know that first castaway out! 

Here are the matches Laurie randomly chose:

Millennials - Vanua Tribe 
Adam Klein - Brian, Kelsey NY, Sharon N 
Jessica Figgy Figueroa - Donna in Alabama, Laurie 
Justin Jay Starrett - Becky, Jackie, Shayne 
Mari Takahashi - cwcamper, Marthalight 
Michaela Bradshaw - Donna in NY, Krysta G, Pinky 
Michelle Shubert - Ed in Ohio, Nickelpeed 
Taylor Lee Stocker - Donna in FL, Janice from GA, Stephanie in Baltimore 
Zake Smith - Beachmom, monty924 
Will Wahl - Cheryl, Indiana Jane 
Hannah Shapiro - David, meb, Terry is a Texan 

Gen-X - Takali Tribe 
Bret LaBelle - Brandi Peralta, Judi Sweeney, Skyriverblue 
Ciandre CeCe Taylor - Anonymouse, Merrilee 
Chris Hammons - Cheryl in NC, Jennasmom 
David Wright - Buzzmaam, MikesGirl, Sharon C 
Jessica Lewis - Cupcake, Jean, Petals 
Ken McNickle - Dolores in Hollywood, Margo, Russ 
Lucy Huang - Delee, ML 
Paul Wachter - ChickMc, PDX Granny 
Rachel Ako - Glenn, Lanell from TN 
Sunday Burquest - Brenda, Kristen from Ohio, SueGee

If you want to check out a bit on your castaway, my meet the casts posts are at:
Millennials - Vanua Tribe 
Gen-X - Takali Tribe 

Is everybody ready for a HUGE night of television tomorrow!?!? 

BB18: Live Feeds into Tuesday - September 20

Talking her case in the dark

Here's the latest from inside that Big Brother House of Anxious Ants:

• Well, I figure the house ants have heard about the BBOTT season coming up and they're anxious to have new hamsters to annoy!
• Other than that, I really don't have hardly anything for you -- not much happened after my last report.
• They all turned to bed fairly early. 
• I think the stress of the downtime waiting time is getting to them.
• Most of the conversations are rehashes of previous conversations at this point.
• It still stands that Paul will almost 100% (almost because you can never totally predict!) take Nicole to the final two if he wins the third part of the HoH.
• It's also extremely likely that Nicole will take Paul instead of James if she wins the final part.
• James, on the other hand, seems to realize it and is pretty much settled in his probably position of third place.
• And that's that. 

Really looking like the final two

And so it goes ...

BB18: Live Feeds into Monday Night - September 19

Sadly thinking he's third place

Here's the latest from inside that Big Brother House of Torture:

• Before I get going on this report, I want to thank the commenters in the last update who were concerned for my safety. Yes, the New Jersey aspect of the NYC/NJ bomber is nearby. Elizabeth is my county seat where I serve jury duty (gah!) and Linden is just two towns over from me. We're talking small towns in square miles -- about maybe 15 minutes on back roads away. Plus, I do take NJ Transit trains for my work commute. But all is well and the good guys won! 
• Onto the BB schtuff ...
• As James would say, one more day and a wake up.
• I'm actually getting tired of the countdown being said that way.
• The yard is still open.
• Nicole and Paul spent most of their alone time together badmouthing James.
• Nicole is tired of him bringing up his daughter (family card!).
• Paul is tired of James bragging about how good he is at wall comps .. and comps in general.
• Paul tried to get James to admit to throwing comps to no avail.
• Nicole told Paul about James telling her how great it would be if the two vets made the final two.
• James told Nicole that he thinks he would only have two votes if he were in the final two.
• He just might be right with that.
• If James is in the final two with either Paul or Nicole, the best he could do is second place.
• BB decided to thrill them with a big surprise! They showed them a commercial for BBOTT (the fall online only season).
• "But what are they going to do with us?" wondered Nicole.
• They also gave them a blackboard.
• Now they can give the new hamsters tips!
• All alone, James gave a big talk to us/family/friends about how he'll be out in third place, should have kept Corey not Nicole, but no regrets.
• Aw, how sad. 
• But he should have played the game not the showmance!
• That's it for now. 

Badmouthing James at every chance

Will the jury be bitter?

BB18: Live Feeds into Monday - September 19

Take James or Paul? Gotta win first!

Here's the latest from inside that Big Brother House of Days to Waffle:

• Once again, they stayed awake for quite a bit ... for them.
• It seems that Nicole might be waffling and considering taking Paul if she wins the third part of HoH.
• Paul, on the other hand, seems pretty dead-set to take Nicole if he wins the third part of HoH.
• BB gave them some alcohol -- just about as much as they were issuing the whole house of hamsters earlier in the season!
• Both Nicole and Paul imbibed more than James.
• Nicole is worried that Natalie is influencing the girls' vote in the jury house and that James might have more votes than she had given him credit for.
• And, (due to alcohol?) she pretty much said the same to James.
• He said he won't be mad with either way she goes.
• I say he should have tried harder during the game and "gotten blood on his hands" instead of now sitting back thinking both will take him to the final two.
• They still have three days or, as James would say, two days and a wake-up.
• It still looks like, due to speech practices, Paul will take Nicole to the final two if he wins the last part of HoH.
• Now Nicole's choice is looking a bit doubtful.
• But that's subject to waffling. 

If he gets to final two, he could win it all.

On shaky ground with both now? Hmm.

BB18: Live Feeds into Sunday Evening - September 18

Practicing her speech to the jury

Here's the latest from inside that Big Brother House of Schemin' Demons:

• Okay, so there's not much scheming going on lately.
• They were awake for hours today and also had the yard.
• Woohoo.
• Nicole and Paul separately practiced their speeches and possible answers to juror questions.
• A bit of interesting insight to those speeches ...
• Nicole's speech and "answers" seem to put James in the other chair.
• Paul's practice seems geared towards Nicole in the other chair.
• What we can probably infer from that is that if Nicole wins the third part of HoH, she'll be taking James. If Paul wins the third part, he'll probably be taking Nicole.
• I think I'd rather the latter -- Paul and Nicole.
• With James in there, the end game is too predictable. He would win second.
• Another interesting thing to note is that they were talking hamsters of the season. Both Nicole and PAUL commented on Bridgette's potty mouth!
• Now, Nicole has a case. She generally isn't cussing all over the place.
• Paul, on the other hand, can't say a sentence without using profanity.
• Not much exciting to report on.
• Jackie out. 

Sleepy Jamesy

Fashion police! I think there's a crime here.

Both of them will take me!

Guffawing once again

Let it end already!!! The madness!

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - September 18, 2016

Good morning! Since it's Sunday morning, it's time for my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken along the way. If you're here for Big Brother news, everything I have for you can be found at this link. I'll be posting another live feeds report late tonight (for what it's worth at this point). But this ain't that. This post is a year-round regular "feature" while Big Brother is a summer obsession. Or, something like that.

Also television-related in this off television topic post -- if you want to be in the blog pool for Survivor 33: Millennials vs. Gen-X -- you need to take action and sign up on THIS LINKED POST. The cut-off for the blog pool is tomorrow, so get in there today! Every season we have late people wanting in and it would be nice if everybody made the deadline!

Okay, as for this week ... it's been a staycation. The timing is good as I'm still trying to recover from my sprained ankle. It's to the point now that, unless I'm on it a lot like I was on Friday, I can actually feel that bony bit that should be felt on the outside of the ankle. I've been trying to stay off it the best I can and pampering it at home with ice and elevation.

As a result of the ankle, I didn't go into the city (Manhattan) at all this week although I had hoped to go photo-stomping the Feast of San Genaro in Little Italy. I did attend a cookout, got together the photos for the library contest and delivered them (Hi, Jeff!) and got a few things done around the apartment but not as much as planned.

A few random things:

• Someone put about twenty books atop the mailboxes for people to take. I looked them over. None of them looked like my cuppa tea. I hope someone takes interest in them, though. I'm just not into historical romance novels.
• Some jerks in a white van with a 908 area code phone number and "Carpet Cleaners" logo pulled up outside last night and filled our apartment dumpsters with carpet remains and other debris. I yelled out the window at them that I was calling the police for illegal dumping to scare them. (There are also signs.) I didn't call the police because I'm not sure of my standing with a complaint as a tenant. I'll call the landlord's office sometime this week to see what they want. I should have gotten the total phone number off the van to give to the landlord. Hopefully, they won't return. But now the tenants in this roughly 40-unit building have no room to put trash in the dumpsters until tomorrow when they're emptied. Grr.
• If there were to be a zombie apocalypse overnight tonight, I wouldn't have to go to work tomorrow.   

Onto the photos for this week (and last). Clicking on an image will open it in a larger version.

The Vincent

I messed with this shot with a photo editor. I really should turn that one couch pillow around. It does match the couch on its other side! I blame it being backwards on the couch because of Vincent the Cat. He knocked it over to sleep atop of it and, without thinking, I put it back up with the wrong side facing out. Yup. All the cat's fault!

Banded bird

Is this my best side? I saw this pigeon watching me at the Bridgewater Train Station. It wasn't until I started shooting him that I noticed the ankle bands. He's someone's bird, whether racing or homing. I don't know what he was doing hanging around the train station!

**CLICK THE 'READ MORE' LINK TO SEE THE REST OF THE PHOTOS**

BB18: Live Feeds into Sunday - September 18

Don't cry. It's almost over!

Here's the latest from inside that Big Brother House of Hapless Hamsters:

• With nothing but time on their hands -- no comps to play, nothing expected to happen -- these are some bored (and boring) hamsters.
• Thankfully, BB opened the yard up to them, so they aren't just cooped up in the house.
• Paul continues to work at being Nicole's bestest buddy to make sure she will take him into the final two if she happens to win the last part of the HoH comp.
• Nicole continues to say things to Paul about how James doesn't deserve to be in the final two in case Paul wins the final part.
• Meanwhile, James thinks for sure that Paul will take him to the final two if he wins and that Nicole also should if she wins. He thinks he's sitting pretty right now.
• James feels he needs to keep Paul and Nicole from being together without him.
• But he's really doing a horrible job of that.
• For the past couple of days (since the champagne brunch), the hamsters have let the kitchen go. Paul kept saying he was saving it for a cleaning blitz when he was bored.
• However, Nicole couldn't take it any more and started cleaning. 
• I've noticed that the gallon of orange juice from the champagne brunch was still sitting out of the refrigerator on the table THREE DAYS LATER.
• She complained about chicken in the sink, etc.
• Of course, Paul guilt-tripped about the kitchen, as did James.
• Nicole is in one of her many insecure jags.
• She's so lucky to have Paul to console and encourage her!
• Ha.
• As it stands with these three, I really think that if either Paul or Nicole take James into the final two, James would end up second place.
• It gets a bit trickier if Paul and Nicole are the final two (and I personally don't think it will happen because they both have better cases to win against James).
• If the case is Paul and Nicole in the final two, if the jury considers who played the game best ... Paul should win hands down.
• No matter how obnoxious he can be.
• No matter that he's my blog pool boy.
• He played the best game, especially considering he made some horrible choices (Jozea, for example) in the beginning and had to overcome his own lack of knowledge about BB.
• I've decided that BB wants to psychologically torture both the hamsters and us by having the final three cooped up so many days with nothing happening.
• And the beat goes on ... 

James tells us what a good position he's in.

Paul plays solo Jenga.

Nicole aghast at kitchen mess.

BB18: Live Feeds Overnight into Saturday, HoH Part Two - September 17

Chef Paul

Here's the latest from inside that Big Brother House of Perpetuated Plans:

• Finally.
• Late late at night their time.
• It came.
• The Part Two of the Final HoH comp, pitting Nicole against James with the winner to compete against Paul (Part One winner) in the final part on finale night.
• Now, we know that Nicole and James had earlier made an agreement that James would throw the comp to Nicole so she could go against Paul at the end. Supposedly, this is because she would have a better chance of beating Paul than would James. In their theory, Nicole would win the last part and take James with her to the final two.
• (Of course, Paul and Nicole also have a final two deal, but we're not dealing with that right now. I'm thinking that might be, as Howie would say, "A spool of lies!")
• Anyway ... the feeds returned from the comp block and they all have little Adventure Park t-shirts on.
• Guess what?
• Nicole won Part Two!
• Whether it's due to their plan or not, I don't know.
• From what they said, James did pretty well and didn't max out on time or anything. Did he really try?
• It's possible.
• It's also possible that he knew how Nicole was blowing through the comp and he wanted it to look like he tried.
• Since the feeds came back, it's either been all three hamsters together or just Paul and Nicole.
• When it's just Paul and Nicole, they're gleeful, hugging, laughing and talking final two.
• Paul is nothing but buttering up Nicole.
• I have yet to see Nicole talking to James alone.
• And that's where we stand.
• I do think it's all going to hinge on the final part of the comp. Despite all the friendship from Paul, Nicole just might take James for a better chance of winning.
• Despite all the friendship Paul is giving towards Nicole, he might just take James to the final two for a better chance of winning.
• Oh, the suspense!  

Nicole guffaws. She started out chuckling.

Threw it as planned? Yes? No?

BB18: Live Feeds into Friday Evening - September 16

Paul is really bored

Here's the latest from inside that Big Brother House of Why Are We Being Tortured With This Boredom:

• Basically, nothing has happened.
• Nothing.
• Lots of small talk.
• Some Nicole getting her feathers ruffled by both real and imagined slights.
• Lots of comp talks.
• Some comp studying.
• Yet, no comp.
• The second part of the HoH MIGHT play out tonight, but no guarantees.
• If it does, the feeds will probably be blocked for it.
• Paul has said he's bored 745 times today.
• I might be embellishing that a bit. 

Nicole paints her toenails

James is bored

They're all bored

BB18: HoH Part One, Final Three Reminisce Show Blog Party - September 16

What to we want? Hamsters! When do we want them? Now!

As the show airs here on the East Coast, I'll be constantly updating this entry. Refresh the page to get the latest news. As always, the real party is in the comments area -- come join in on the fun!

Don't forget! If you want to sign up for the blog pool for Survivor (premiering the same night BB ends), you need to sign up on this linked post. The cut-off for signing up is approaching!

On with the show ... and the blog party! 

Starting off with a recap, like always! 

Lots of final three positioning and celebration. Nicole finds Corey's dog pillow and is feeling sad. Oh, geez. Poor baby.

Ahem. 

James stands at the tall table and talks final two with Paul. Cut to another final two talk with them. Then Paul talks to Nicole about being in the final two with her. Oh, my. What webs we weave ... 

James tells us he plans to honor the final two. Nicole tells us she's not sure it's in her best interest.

Champagne brunch, memories time with the tiny table. 

Clips of crying, freaking out and Paulie reacting to a butterfly. Into a Paulie being obnoxious clips set. James pranking and others pranking him clips ... much better than obnoxious Paulie!

Diary Room clips. Onto showmances and the bromance. Victor coaching James in Spanish so he can use it on Natalie. Onto COReeeee! (And Nicole)

Onto the memories of the other hamsters -- Bridgette and her basil plant, Mr. Jenkins. Onto a Michelle segment. Next up, Victor's laugh (which annoys me to no end). Paul being obnoxious segment. 

Onto a segment reminding me of the death toll on Talking Dead. 

HoH Comp Part One -- They're dressed like cats, the lawn has a giant litter box, bowls and a couch. They chase laser lights and must climb up on ramps. Last cat standing goes to Part Three. We only see the start of it and the show ends. (My feeds report from yesterday has the winner listed.)

BB18: Live Feeds into Thursday Evening - September 15

She has Corey's doggie pillowcase!

Here's the latest from inside that Big Brother House of Dragging Days:

• BB woke them up way early (for them) to have their champagne brunch memory "walk" for the season.
• That, of course, was blocked to the live feeds.
• They were still imbibing champagne (mostly Paul) and snacking on food when the feeds returned.
• Paul made a huge 22 year old boy kind of deal about how drunk he was. 
• To me, it looked like, unless they had other bottles, they really didn't drink a lot of champagne.
• But, I guess I should say to his credit that I don't drink champagne -- something about the bubbles seems to make me woozier than actual hard liquor.
• They pretty much have nothing to do except eat, drink champagne, nap or play cards.
• Heck, even the kitchen looks cleaner than it ever did when Victor was there! There isn't a ton of food left out among cleaning supplies all over.
• James and Nicole washed up all the dishes from the caterer and put them in the supply room. That was James's idea and he did most of the dishwashing.
• Paul sat and drank some more.
• They rehashed comps, memories of the season, what and whom they expect at the wrap party and yada-yada-yada.
• They napped.
• They played cards.
• Most of their time was spent together or napping, so there wasn't much insight to end games except ...
• ... in a few moments alone, Paul and Nicole talked about going to the final two together. Nicole told Paul she'd never take James.
• (We know that Nicole told James that he needs to throw Part 2 of the HoH comp to her and she has a better chance of winning the last part against Paul and she will pick him -- James -- for the final two.)
• I'm kind of up in the air what she does plan to do. Obviously, she can't take both to the final two.
• I do think Paul just might take her to the final two.
• I don't think James will be in any position to take anyone, but has a good chance of one of them taking him.
• They still have no clue about the schedule changes for the television show from now until the finale.
• I think that Part Two will probably happen tomorrow. But, with no show on Sunday or Tuesday, it could happen later as it probably won't air until finale night. 

James always stands at that table

"I'm SO drunk!" - 11am-ish their time

They got the tiny table

BB18: Live Feeds, HoH Part 1 Results - September 15

Pre-comp jitters

Here's the latest from inside that Big Brother House of the Tenacious Trio:

• They didn't start the comp until way late.
• And, of course, they blocked it to the live feeds.
• I remember years ago that this, the final HoH Part One, would actually play out on the live feeds.
• This season, they've played out most HoH comps past the live show and aired them on the live feeds, thus pushing the CBS All Access for the live feeds.
• But, you get to an important comp at the end?
• Nah. We're not gonna let you see it!
• It was physical, as expected. Something about them swinging from a rope. And, James made a comment that men shouldn't be expected to spread their legs that wide.
• Hmm.
• Paul had on a form-fitting body suit which first gave me the impression he was naked.
• But I saw no tattoos. So, I realized he had on clothes of some sort.
• PAUL was the winner of the first part.
• So, Nicole and James will go up against each other in the second part (which should be in the next day or so). The winner of the second part will go up against Paul in the third part live on the finale next Wednesday.
• Paul is playing both of the others to work his way into the final two.
• It's to the point that I think he'll take Nicole if he wins part three.
• He comes across a lot more sincere when he talks to her.
• Of course, he's schmoozing up James, too. He thinks he has a final two deal with him as well.
• But then there's the deal that James and Nicole have, possibly (probably?) dating back pre-season. They have a final two deal, too.
• It seems to me that James would be the one to take for either of them. 
• Both Paul and Nicole have played stronger games with a mix of social and comp wins.
• James threw comps and now can't seem to win them if he tries. Plus, he spent most of the season cuddling with Natalie and sleeping.  The best he could get against either of them is second place.
• I think both Paul and Nicole know that.
• On a side note: During one of the feeds blocks (it's Jeff and Jordan), Jordan pronounces the W in sword. Heh.
• When Nicole and James were alone, he said he'd be throwing the next comp to her. (Still throwing comps.) She promised him 100% that she would take him to the final two.
• Now, that's assuming that Paul won't win that final comp.
• He just might. 

Lost yet another comp

Is working both sides

Pablo's lesser cousin Luis