Tonight, Tonight ... it's a Big Brother Night

While the Plainfield (NJ) Police Department seems to be more interested in Sanford and Son ... we're going to be here for the Big Brother 11 premiere tonight!

I'd like to welcome back those folks returning to the blog, welcome the new folks, and give a thank you to those who hang around all year long.

If you're new here, here's how we do what we do --

On show nights, I open up a live-blogging post in which I post the major show happenings as they air East Coast time. During the show, everyone is invited to share their thoughts in comments and we have a grand old party there. So, tonight ... expect the first show post of the season to be up at 8:00 PM ET.

Later tonight, I'll write up my actual show review for TV Squad. I'll generally zap a post up with a link after it's live.

Then there are the live feeds
TV Squad decided not to have me cover the live feeds there, so all content will be here on this blog. Since I do also have to work for a living, my feed reports don't post on every breath taken by the hamsters. I have more of a Reader's Digest condensed approach in which I tell what I deem to be the most important or things which really caught my attention on the feeds for some reason or another.

I usually post feed reports three times a day (all based on East Coast time) -- late evening, early morning, and early evening. If it's not a workday for me or if a comp is being held or something just HAS to be reported, there may be more posts in a day.

I take screencaps and post them here (once the feeds are up). This season the feeds have a flashback feature which is way nifty keen. I can check out what I missed. I might occasionally post some video. However, any video of the feeds I post will probably be short and sweet, kept to the 30 second fair use limit as YouTube and Real Networks are said to be clamping way down on the live feeds video. We'll see how that goes.

So, everyone get on your party hats, bring your snacks and beverages ... the show post will be up at 8:00 PM ET! See you there!

If You Missed Julie Chen on Craig Ferguson Last Night ...

... don't worry about it. As I expected, very little talk about Big Brother and absolutely no insight to anything behind the scenes that we didn't already know. Her big announcement was that her baby will be a boy.

That's all good and well, but it's not Big Brother!



In other news, Allison Grodner Twittered that three days in and they have a real sore loser. I guess someone pouts or has a tantrum, eh?

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.