Big Brother 10 Season Premiere Live Blogged from the East Coast

Zoetawny has made yet another new BB10 blog logo for us ... yay! The show has started here on the East Coast. I'll be constantly updating this entry as it airs and invite everyone to jump in down in the comments section. There may be some typos -- I'm typing as I watch TV. Plus, I'm not too familiar with the houseguests yet. But I'm ready!

Julie Chen is in summer mode with a coral strapless dress ... no winter biker boots for her this time of year! We're in an intro with bits of a house tour and the rules of the game. The outside of the house has been redone with all kinds of flowers and shrubbery. It seems that Julie's bits will be right outside the door. Again, we're told that the game began before they entered the house.

Now they're getting their keys.

They're gathered on the entryway to the house getting the first good look at their competition. Julie tells them they must choose the HOH before anyone moves into the house. They must go on appearance and gut instinct. They cannot vote for themselves. Julie says it will remain a mystery ... for now.

Five enter the house -- April, Dan, Renny, (April tells us she voted Renny HOH). Four more enter the house. The final four enter. April now tells us she's having second thoughts about Renny. Angie also thinks Renny is rude. Keesha tells us she voted Jerry HOH. Now they're all introducing themselves.

Jessie thinks Renny is annoying, too. Dan tells us he'll erase any sins he commits in the house by going to Confession later. Angie is already telling everyone her boobs are real and inviting them to feel them. @@ Renny, who seems to have rubbed many wrong already in the house, thought it was totally inappropriate that Jerry felt Angie's boobs.

Julie's back. She tells us there is more up for grabs in addition to the HOH tonight. They're about to compete in their first competition. "The prize will be a classic." Jessie volunteered to sit out as they need an even number. They have to go to the storage room, get their gear on and meet Julie in the yard. Two upside-down VW bugs, two right side up classic cars. Up for grabs, one of the classic (muscle) cars. Now Jessie is unhappy.

"Bugging Out" - A car race in the sky. The teams must get in one of the VWs, transport gas can to the end. Each time they do it, a team member must leave and not get a chance to win. The teams are also playing for food. Jessie will eat no matter what.

Red team - Renny, Angie, Memphis, Steven, Dan, Michelle, Memphis wins the car and the red team wins food for the week. He chooses the 1969 Camaro.

Julie is ready to reveal the HOH ... 3 votes and second was Renny. With four votes, the first HOH is Jerry. In les than 24 hours he has to nominate two HG for eviction.

Dan thinks he can trust Brian and apporaches him. Now he's working on Ollie. He looked in Ollie's eyes and "saw the blacks of his eyes" and knew he was in with him. The BLACKS of his eyes? @@

Jerry's HOH room -- more happy than most because they voted for him. Photos of his wife. Jerry thinks he has a good chance of staying in the game and playing hard.

In the dark, Renny further annoys people screaming that the door is locked. Her laugh is worse than her voice. In the morning, Jessie complains to her and she tells him to lighten up. She tells us he's a baby. Brian laughs.

They have special music for Renny. The guys are laughing about her. Memphis, Brian, and Dan. Brian and Dan want Jessie and Renny nominated. Brian tries to work on him. Jerry is looking for a committment from Brian in an alliance. Brian tells us he's not all that loyal. Heh. Jerry thinks Dan is a loose cannon. Brian asks that he come in with them. Jerry likes Jessie, but seems to go with Brian's plan to nominate Renny and Jessie.

Noiminations are tough for Jerry. Key order -- Michelle, Angie, Memphis, Libra, April, Brian, Steven, Keesha, Ollie, Dan. Rennie and Jessie are indeed up. Jerry says it was due to the conflict the night before.

Jerry tells us he thinks Jessie and Renny will self-destruct.

I think I'm already liking this better than I liked the start of BB9. But I hope someone knocks Dan down soon.

Big Brother 10 Cast Interview Videos

I have a post in pending over at TV Squad with six of the video interviews by Diane Henry (BB5, BB7) and Jen Johnson. I'm not sure when that will publish. But I think all 13 interviews anywhere at one time will be a bit overwhelming. Without further ado, here are the other seven --

This Week's TV Briefs and Bits o' Life

Waiting to board the Hot Tamale Train on So You Think You Can Fly.

Television has been a bit stagnant for me this week. But here's a few things which made an impression on me one way or another:

• Although I was a bit irked that The Late Show with David Letterman is in repeats again this week, one show made it all worth while. Y'see, Jack Hanna is my all time favorite Letterman guest. Back on May 14, the day I was having my surgery, he was scheduled on the show. I forgot to tape it and was in no shape to watch anything that night in the hospital. Lo and behold, Monday's show was a repeat of that show! Woohoo! I found it very interesting that Jack Hanna had mentioned surgery on his knee and a blood clot. I feel akin to the guy.
• America's Got Talent - Eh, another week. Once I'm a bit more in action I'm going to have to film some of the street acts in Manhattan for uploading on YouTube.
• The First 48 - Since I don't have to rise early for work these days, I'm loving how A&E schedules the episodes late into the night for repeats after their primetime debut. I've definitely gotten myself hooked on the show and find myself watching consecutive hours almost into the dawn as long as I haven't previously seen the episodes.
• So You Think You Can Dance - Yes! About time Comfort got the boot! And, of the three guys in the bottom three it had to be Thayne's time to go. I really think if he didn't have that huge smile on his face so much I would have liked him more. But Will is easily the most talented dancer on the show and, well, Twitch is Twitch. I loved his solo, but as I have said before -- he's my sentimental favorite on the show. It'll be interesting when they switch the partners up.
  
• I'm still digging (heh) Mad About You when I find it on TV Land at all kinds of odd hours. Thankfully the baby hasn't arrived yet in any of the episodes I've caught.
• America's Greatest Dog - Cute mindless fluff of a show. I like the dogs, but some of those owners are whacked. My cat liked swatting the dogs on the TV screen.
• Hopkins - This reminds me of the ER Trauma shows on the Discovery Health channel. Hey, maybe they'll show a knee replacement!
  

In Bits o' Life

On Thursday I actually walked to the train station, accompanied by my cane of course. It's about a six block walk, perhaps a bit short of a half-mile. I stopped in at the shops I used to frequent on my work commute, saw friends I haven't seen in a while, and enjoyed the gorgeous summer day. It was in the high 80s, sunny, but no humidity at all and breezes galore.

Once at the train station I didn't see Roofus, but he might have other cat things to do. I looked for him, though.

I did all of this because I was en route to have my blood drawn (for my INR levels for the Coumadin) at LabCorp in the next town over. I've been using the county para-transit, but they were so undependable the week before that I decided to give the walk a try. It was a very pleasant time indeed. Well, except for the needle part, of course. Sigh ... I'm actually getting used to needles. That can't be a good thing.

After the blood draw I hopped the train further east one stop, getting out in Westfield where I could catch the NYC/Dunellen bus which would let me off directly across the street from my apartment. Ah, but I had time to stop in Starbucks for an icy beverage between the train and the bus! Thanks to a blog reader, I have a Starbucks card and it hit the spot.

As for my health -- the knee itself seems to be doing fine. Unfortunately, I've developed a severe pain in my calf where the blood clot is/was. According to the doctor's office, the clot won't move but it's adhered itself on the wall of the vein and the pain I'm feeling could very well happen on and off the rest of my life. Here I thought it dissolved, but it's only resolved -- a big difference. As long as my Coumadin levels are monitored and my INR is in line, I shouldn't develop any new clots. On a side note, that woman who died in the waiting room at a psychiatric hospital in the city died from blood clots. Scary stuff. But mine is under control and I just have pain and tired issues remaining at this time.

Today is the big "free" Bon Jovi concert in Central Park. No, I'm not going. But in honor of New Jersey's native son, I'm playing my Slippery When Wet CD as I write this. It's the only Bon Jovi I own.

Whoops! The bird will never catch the Hot Tamale Train on this track!

Today's musical non-sequitur:
You're a loaded gun
There's nowhere to run
No one can save me
The damage is done

Shot through the heart
and you're to blame
You give love a bad name
I play my part and you play your game
You give love a bad name.
-- "You Give Love a Bad Name" - Bon Jovi

Big Brother 10 Cast in Depth Part 3

Here it is ... my final in depth post introducing the new hamsters we'll be spending a few months ridiculing ... er, watching. I've been doing this alphabetically by first name. If you haven't checked out Part 1 and Part 2, then you're missing most of the house. ;-)

Gee, according to her bio on the CBS website, Michelle is an "East Coast firecracker." Hey, I thought I was one of those! (But then I grew up.) She's currently single and had the nerve to object at her brother's wedding. Now, I can imagine that made her very popular with her brother. Mine would disown me! I get the feeling that Portuguese culture and cooking is important to her as well as sports and running.

Her chances of winning? I just don't know. I'm not getting great vibes from the bio information. If she's the type to actually object when the priest asks if anyone objects, I think we might see fireWORKS in the house, not just a fireCRACKER.

Ollie, Ollie oxen free! (Sorry, had to do that.) Ollie is originally from Des Moines, IA. From his bio, he's the son of a Pentecostal minister and seems to have led quite the straight and decent kind of life. I'm not quite sure he understands the concept of The Brady Bunch as he refers to his family as "the black Brady Bunch." He must be going for squeaky clean rather than the idea of two families coming together as one. On the AOL picture doohickey of the cast, he says he's never had a girlfriend.

All I can think is that this guy is going to find himself a kitten fed to pit bulls. I think he's probably very likable, but he's going to be out of his league with the deception, sneakiness, nastiness and all that other fun stuff going on in the house.


Renny is our other person over 35 on the show. You know, such diversity in ages and all. @@ Her bio on the CBS website makes it sound like she's going to be quite a character. She's a New Orleans socialite into wigs, being the life of the party, hanging out in the French Quarter, and having a ball. She does Elvis, Judy Garland, and Marilyn Monroe impressions. Well, that could be interesting on the feeds.

I have a feeling I'm either going to get a kick out of her or she'll be annoying as all get out. One thing I will say -- I don't think she's going to be a Sheila. I think she might end up being a strong player.


And, finally, the last houseguest for BB10 is Steven, a gay bull rider. Somehow, that seems very appropriate -- a bull rider in the house! According to his bio, graduating from college is what he considers his major accomplishment. (Much better than being proud of leaving home to become a waitress at Hooters, methinks.)

I think I'm going to like this kid. He thinks he'll get along well with the women in the house and has plenty to discuss with the guys, too.

Big Brother 10 Cast in Depth Part 2

Continuing on from my previous cast post, here are the next four houseguests and my take on them!


I don't know. Maybe it's my "not as fit as I should be" persona screaming from within, but I think Jessie may be a turn off for me. As with my impression of Dan, I fear Jessie might want to be a controlling so-an-so. Although I have never been a bodybuilder, it's far easier to be in shape when you're 22. This kid is wet behind his ears -- I hope he's not pushy about the health regime.

Alas, his bio on the CBS site makes it sound like he might be a health guru know-it-all. Uh-oh. Hopefully he just wants to be inspirational. I guess. He does like Hamburger Helper so he might not be a total bodybuilding nut. I'm still a bit concerned that he seems to be so impressed with how much he helps others. Heck, I'd rather see someone who's been to the other side be inspirational rather than some kid who's lifted weights a lot. Geez, Richard Simmons comes to mind. Love him or hate him, he's a fat man gone in shape. What was this kid before bodybuilding? A high school student?

Onto the Daniele Donato doppelganger ... Keesha. Blond, annoying voice, Hooters waitress. According to her bio, she doesn't eat red meat and is a PETA enthusiast. She has all of her career ideals thrown into her Hooters. Ah. but I'm sure if this "blond bombshell" can get her foot in the door to Hollywood, she'd give up those Hooters dreams in a moment.

Her proudest accomplishment is leaving home, moving to California, and making her way with her Hooters job. Yep, that's a truly worthy accomplishment as you face your thirties. @@

According to her bio, Libra isn't a Libra. She was born August 6. What she seems to be is a very politically active Obama supporter and possibly very vocal in her beliefs. I've already mentioned that pushy people aren't my cuppa. If she is indeed of the school of "I'm right and you're wrong and everyone should think my way" -- then she will lose me.

I think she's going to be a bit too political for my liking. Oh, not that I'm totally apathetic when it comes to politics -- I just find it all the same old rhetoric on all sides with folks who are so passionate about the subject. Your mileage may vary.

Memphis the mixologist, eh? I don't think a houseguest can ever get more stereotypical of a reality show contestant than the fake "cool" name and the fancy-schmancy title for "bartender." According to his bio, he is from Tennessee, but not from Memphis. I guess being called "Collierville" doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

I'm not overly impressed. Something screams shallow or mimbo (Seinfeldese for male bimbo) about him.