More Big Brother 11 Bloggy Bits

Somebunny is getting anxious for his Big Brother! Off topic image: I'm beginning to think rabbits will be New Jersey's next Canada geese. They're all over my neighborhood while the feral cats have all but disappeared.

Okay ... let's talk BB11 stuff:

• For those of you on dial-up, I plan to be linking all new entries on Twitter. By following links from Twitter, only one post at a time will come up. That may help downloading time. Yes, I'm talking to you AlbGlinka (and welcome back)! My Twitter page is right here.
• Julie Chen will be on Craig Ferguson tonight. Um, that just sounds odd, doesn't it? Supposedly she's going to share some big BB11 surprise with us. I'll let you know. And, I'll believe it when I see it.
• My latest scoop on BB11 is up over on TV Squad. It's mostly my take on the clique bit. There is a fun poll, though.
  
• A fun poll is never to be confused with a fun pool. This is the latest from Jackie's TV Blog Pool Monitor Margo:

********POOL REMINDER*********

Swimming Suits are NOT optional
No running
No Roughhousing
No Horseplay
No Name Calling
No Swearing
No Glass containers

We are only here to have fun so everyone please PLAY NICE.

Which ever team wins the Pool gets bragging rites until the next season starts.

The teams as of 3 pm CT are:

Braden – KarenCA, Monty924, DonnaAL
Casey – PDX Granny, Jackie, Patti in kzoo
Chima – Brent McKee, Delee, DonnaFL
Jeff – sizzie, dla, Margo
Jordan – Becky, meb, Lynn1
Kevin – Tessa, NanaNW, Laurie
Laura – nomad, SueGee, Sasha
Lydia – Witt, RBennie, Gaylos
Michele – Sydney, ORKmommy, Susan FL
Natalie – Caroline, Jennasmom, Plaidchick
Ronnie – Sally, Catonine
Russell – TerryCA, Zoetawny
??? – Lars Eller, Feral Cat, Petals

I will fill in the ??? when it is available. If it is more than 1 person I'm gonna have to shuffle some peeps around. I'll keep you posted.

Margo aka Pool Monitor

Big Brother 11: A Closer Look at Russell and Ronnie

Ah, finally ... I'm down to the last two hamsters! You can find all of my "closer look" posts as well as a cast cheat sheet by clicking on the "BB11 cast" tag on the bottom of the post.

Well, Russell ... what can I say? His last name is kind of fun. According to his CBS bio, his friends call him "Russell the love muscle." Um, I'm already getting the idea that Russell and I don't run in the same social circles. Oh, how I'd love to see him fall flat and be the first one out of the house after I read this on the bio -- "Loud and brash, Russell holds nothing back and is always ready for a fight. In fact, his brash personality is probably his biggest asset outside the house, where he is a mixed martial arts fighter. He claims nothing scares him and that includes the game of BIG BROTHER."

On second thought, he might be interesting to watch. Let me amend my previous thoughts. I'd like to see Natalie (the girl martial arts champ) whip his butt while Michele (the neuroscientist) humiliates his probably weak "brain muscle."

Diane Henry's non-embeddable video interview with Russell is at this link. The Reality Wanted interview is below. He apparently does have a strategy. I don't care. His neck is as big as some folks' waists. He scares me. Plus he's wearing a Dustin-esque v-neck.





It's onto Ronnie ... kind of a polar opposite of Russell. I think my biases are showing as I look at this cast. I'm definitely gravitating more towards the non-physical bunch although I think Natalie is going to be a strong contender in the game. But I LIKE the non-physical bunch better. I think Ronnie might have a strong game going.

According to his CBS bio, Ronnie is a gamer, debate champion, and a huge BB fan. All in all, the bio doesn't give us a ton of information about him. Diane Henry's interview tells us more.

Big Brother 11: A Closer Look at Natalie and Michele

BULLETIN: According to various sources, the HG entered the house last night and had their first HOH comp. The mystery hamster is supposed to be a male from Season 10 who will create drama in the house. Most of the guesses are Brian. I personally (with no insider information) fear it might be Jesse. He was the drama that season!

Continuing on with my slightly more in-depth looks at the new hamsters --

She's tiny; she's feisty. Not only is she a martial arts champion, according to her CBS bio, she's a poker player. Let's see ... tough, strategic game ... she better not be a Wahmber!

Diane Henry (season um ... five? - Drew's buddy) now covers reality television for the CBS affiliate in Los Angeles and interviewed Natalie. It's not embeddable or you know I'd embed it. I'm an embedder. It's better than being an enabler, right?

Poking about the web, we have a similar case to Jeff Schroeder Hamster isn't Jeff Schroeder Smashing Pumpkin. Natalie is NOT the actress who comes up immediately upon Googling her name.




Onto Michele! I know I have someone else in the blog pool, but I'm going to be cheering the local gal on. No, I don't live in CA and haven't since I was six years old. She's born and raised in Iselin (NJ), about a town and a half away from me. Okay, maybe six miles. And she's a neuroscientist. I so want her to do well.

According to her CBS bio, she's one of the three married hamsters. Casey and Ronnie are the other two. Her strategy is to be a bit under the radar, but consistent with winning comps without dominating them. Her interview with Diane Henry is interesting -- she answered a Craiglist ad looking for people with interesting jobs to audition for a reality show. She's a fan of the show. Alas, she thinks she's like a female Eric (BB9) and says she's doofy like him.

Off Topic: Roofus the Cat

Summer isn't the time to find Roofus the Cat up on his roof. Between the rain and then hot weather, Roofus tends to seek out shade (or dry) this time of year. Other than one sighting a week or so ago when I didn't have my memory card in the camera, I haven't seen Roofus.

But, I have spies. Local Plainfield blogger Bernice peeked into the "abandoned" ex-Budget Rental Car building and there's Roofus! He's hanging out with the big grey cat who's hiding in back of him in this shot.

Somehow they can get in and out of the building and the last time I peeked in closely, there was a fresh litter pan, food, and water. Although the place is definitely abandoned, cat food keeps mysteriously appearing.

I return you to your regularly scheduled blog now. And thanks go out to Bernice!

Big Brother 11: A Closer Look at Lydia, Laura, and Kevin

Continuing on with my slightly more in-depth pre-season takes on the Big Brother 11 hamsters, I give you Lydia, Laura, and Kevin. You can find all of my cast related posts by using the BB11cast tag at the bottom of this post. By the way ... have you noticed that CBS has dropped the season number from the website and show references? They're listing it as plain old Big Brother. What's up with that?


Ah, tattooed gal Lydia. In the initial Early Show cast introduction, she's the one who touted her bisexuality. She's attractive, but sports more tattoos than a Hell's Angel member. Looking at her CBS bio, she seems to be a rather excitable girl -- one who will definitely speak her mind. She appears to be a contrast of contradictions -- daughter of a cop, close to family, yet "eccentric" and heavily tattooed. I think she'll probably be interesting to watch. I hope she doesn't have obscene or offensive tattoos like James in season nine. We'd have to see a heck of a lot of Band-Aids.

Insider.com has taken over some of the dearth with the loss of Housecalls. He strays way off topic of the show and I find him annoying, but Ross Mathews has this interview with the women of the BB11 house online --



Diane Henry has a non-embeddable video interview with Lydia online. Now, there's a good video! I actually like Lydia ... I think. Hmmm ... she cries about spiders. I guess she shouldn't go into the backyard at night, eh?

Laura is a bikini model. I'm seriously going to have to overcome my bias against folks who are bikini models. After all, it could just be jealousy, right? They can't all be shallow obnoxious folks, can they? According to Reality Wanted, she's a huge fan of the show with her favorite season being BB8 and her favorite players being Evel Dick and Daniele (although she would have offed 'em early had she been on the show).

According to her bio on the CBS website, she's going to "live in her bikini." Oh joy. Just what I wanted to watch 24 hours a day -- a flashing tramp stamp. Sure, the guys will like it, but ...! I just don't share her values, I guess. Bikinis and suntans aren't my way of life. But she just might have some gameplay.


Then there's Kevin, the out gay guy representative of the season. In his CBS bio,"He describes himself as ghetto, fabulous and inappropriate, and warns his fellow Houseguests that, although he doesn't have a temper, he can get bitchy. He knows how to find the slightest flaw in a person and magnify it for all to see." In other interviews, he says he doesn't want to implode like many of the past gay men in the house.

He's estranged from his family and I just keep getting the drama queen vibe from him. I hope I'm wrong. He does know the show. Does he have a chance?