Off Topic - That Was the Week It Was - July 18, 2010

It's Sunday morning, time for my weekly off topic look back at the week gone by in words and in photos I've taken. I'll be posting the late night/overnight hijinks of those lovable (cough) Big Brother hamsters a bit later this morning.

This week, like so many this summer, found us in yet another heat wave. While I have air conditioning I can adjust to my suiting (as long as I'm willing and able to pay the bill) at home, my office at work leaves a bit to be desired. The commute, especially in the afternoons going home, has been horrendous.

I don't like being sweaty just walking out the door. The latest heat wave is expected to last well into the week. Then it will drop down to 89 and not be classified as a heat wave. In my mind, it's a heat wave until I stop being miserable in the weather!

I don't know if it's the weather or what, but I took many odd photos this week, nothing artsy. I seemed to be running too late or sweating too much to really be energetic about the camera. Work and the BB coverage added to the weather seems to be taking a toll on me. Onto the photos -- clicking on an image will open it larger in a new window.

Can I get a witness?

Yep, I've been summoned. In a way, I'm looking forward to it -- things like jury duty can be interesting for someone like me who likes to observe and write. Plus, it will give me a chance to roam around Elizabeth (NJ), camera in hand. For BB fans -- Elizabeth, the county seat, is adjacent to Bayonne (where Enzo's from) and Staten Island, a borough of NYC. It's one of the cities/surroundings used in the opening of The Sopranos. I've been through it, but never explored it. This will give me a reason to explore.

On a quasi-related lawyer related note -- I saw that Robert Shapiro, the attorney who represented OJ Simpson in his murder case, is now representing Lindsay Lohan. Did you know he's from Plainfield, NJ? Born here, currently elsewhere.

Resting damselfly

I'm not seeing my regular amount of bugs in this weather. However, the blue damselflies are darting all about in Bridgewater, NJ.

One day of rain and ...

We got ourselves some fungi (other than stinkhorns).

In which I defy authority

Yes, that's my foot. I turned the image upside down so the tape was right-side up, if you follow that! And, no. I'm not being defiant. There's been a long piece of police tape tied at one end and drifting all over the sidewalk at the TD Ball Park near the Bridgewater Train Station for weeks now. The crime? Um ... no crime. I think it was used to channel a queue and never taken away.

A bumblebee enjoys the sunflower

My flash went off accidentally while I was taking this. The sky isn't usually really that color, although that was a cloudy grey morning. East Front Street, Plainfield.

Skinnier stalks and smaller blooms this year

I blame the weather -- the excessive heat and lack of rain. While any sunflower is impressive, other years the blooms have been the size of dinner plates here. East Front Street, Plainfield.

'shroom in dry grass

This grass is in a shady area. Much of the grass around here looks like the kindling you use to start a fire.

When men on the chessboard
Get up and tell you where to go
And you've just had some kind of mushroom
And your mind is moving slow
Go ask Alice
I think she'll know - "White Rabbit" by The Jefferson Airplane

No, don't eat the mushroom! I don't know my poisonous ones from the safe ones. But since I don't really care for any mushrooms, it's not a problem. Photographing them is always safe.

Explosion of the stinkhorns

Surely you don't want to eat these mushrooms! They're popping up (heh) overnight and deflating by evening. Bridgewater, NJ

Surrounded by Jesus People

I witnessed an ambush in front of Danny's Bakery at the corner of Watchung Avenue and North in Plainfield. Four, count 'em, four Hispanic Jehovah's Witness street patrol people snagged this single dude coming out of the bakery.

When you walk through the garden
You gotta watch your back
Well, I beg your pardon
Walk the straight and narrow track
If you walk with Jesus
He's gonna save your soul
You gotta keep the devil
Way down in the hole - "Way Down in the Hole" by Tom Waits

Two dead soldiers still stand guard

As I mentioned, the yellow jackets have taken over this prime piece of real estate. They've grown more ornery with the heat, so no close-ups this week! I can't afford to get stung.

But I can see where the nest is

No, I'm not opening that door. Maybe in February I will. Sheesh, and they wonder why the housing market is down. The yellow jackets have taken it over!

These vagabond shoes ...

... are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it,
New York, New York. - "New York, New York" as popularized by Frank Sinatra

A pair of shoes waits at the Plainfield Train Station, probably heading to the city. Frank Sinatra was a Jersey boy, of course. But not from Plainfield.

Mmm ... DONUTS!

If you travel through Plainfield, you NEED to stop at the Plainfield Donut Shop on Watchung Avenue. Nowhere near the cost of those chain donut shops, these are fresh from the ovens and served with a smile by Maria and her husband Tom. They have a full breakfast and lunch menu, too. Originally from Greece, they've made the donut shop an institution in town.

How much is gas in your area?

In NJ, all service is full service as it's against the law to pump your own gas. But since our state tax itself is low on it, our prices are the cheapest in the tri-state (NY, NJ, CT) area. Note that this shop still offers "break" work and "alingments." I'm not talking one sign, I'm talking two with the same misspellings on FOUR sides.

Since NJ dropped the safety inspection on cars (WHAT? WHY? Isn't that going to lead to even more moving wrecks?), a lot of these some guys are probably going to be hurting. They charge $75 for that service, pass or fail. Church St and East Second in Plainfield.

Even the flag is wilted

You can almost see the humidity in the air in this shot of Richmond Towers on East Front Street.

Another blue damselfly

We're all Bozos on this bus

Tell me where that line's from or who is involved! I took this shot Saturday with my cell phone camera, then edited it to bring out the clown. I don't know why there was an excessively tall clown shopping in the store. It's not Halloween. It's way too hot for clown make-up and clown clothes. Maybe he's related to Pennywise the Clown.

"We all float down here" - Stephen King, It


Eep, another one

Forget the birds! Forget the Russians! The clowns are coming, the clowns are coming!

But where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns.
Don't bother, they're here.

Isn't it rich?
Isn't it queer,
Losing my timing this late
In my career?
And where are the clowns?
There ought to be clowns.
Well, maybe next year. - "Send in the Clowns" by Judy Collins

And Vincent yawns at it all

Leading the life of luxury on his own chair, he doesn't even know there's a heat wave.

How was your week?

Big Brother 12 - Live Feeds, POV, Saturday, July 17

Monet has more reason to worry this week -- Britney won Power of Veto. No, I'm not kidding. Mean Blonde Gal did it.

Here's how the day went down in the Wonderful World of Habitrail:

• BB woke them up very early. I'm talking before 8 AM their time. Maybe they'll eventually learn to go to bed earlier.
• Kathy thinks Monet is giving her the cold shoulder and might be upset that she (Kathy) isn't a Have Not while she is.
• Gee, Kathy is talking more to Rachel this week. What a shock. I wanted so much for Kathy to be a good player. But she's horrible in comps and a true floater, following the power. She generally gets along with everyone. But instead of Olivia Benson we have Barney Fife.
• Britney, playing cards of her own, cried to Kathy. She said someone (Monet) is throwing her under the bus.
• After the pick for POV, Monet claimed she was going to go after Kathy.
• Britney said she didn't want to campaign against Monet, but her back's up against the wall.
• Matt and Kristen commented on how it's four days of nothing, then boom-boom with challenges.
• Tell me about it.
• The POV comp was blocked to the feeds (of course). Ragan was the host while Brendon, Enzo and Lane played.
• Then Britney won it.
• Argh.
• Rachel actually tried to talk Britney into not using it.
• Mind you, Britney is mean ... not stupid.
• Rachel really doesn't want to nominate anyone else. She's a bimbo with an annoying laugh who latched onto a guy right away, but she seems to be sensitive.
• Sensitive isn't a good quality for a BB hamster.
• They want to put a pawn up, but not one that would vote to evict Monet as they don't want to lose a vote.
• They're thinking of Lane as the pawn.
• They want to get a deal with Matt not to put them up if they don't use him (Matt) as a pawn. They think he's sneaky.
• They're right.
• They, but of course, are Brendon and Rachel.
  
• But you knew that.
• When Rachel talked to Lane, she told him he was safe. He told her he planned to vote out Monet.
• Britney went to Rachel to tell her Andrew should go up.
• That would probably split the vote because Andrew isn't too good with his people skills.
• Maybe that's why he's a foot doctor. He doesn't need to make a lot of eye contact or interact with as many situations which call for a good bedside manner.
• Hayden of the quieter showmance with Kristen says that the Brendon/Rachel showmance is disgusting.
• Monet is also pushing an Andrew nomination. She seems to realize that he might be the only one she might be able to beat.
• Rachel is worried that the girls will be taking one after the other girl out.
• Didn't I say that before?
• Rachel and Brendon talked about a "big move" in the game, but I'm not certain what's going on.
• Right now I'm not even sure who she'll put up. Maybe Lane as a pawn, then go for the backdoor? I don't know.
  

Big Brother 12 - Live Feeds Into Saturday Dawn, July 17

Two hapless hamsters are up for eviction while two showmances seem to be flourishing. Here's the latest from inside that Big Brother House of Bumbling Bores:

• Britney told Monet she wouldn't campaign against her -- she won't say a word.
• Enzo, who should be happy not to be on straight slop, complained about his Have Not food. The fish sticks are too fattening and the fruitcake is "caca." Of course, he can still have slop and various condiments. They checked out a list of allowable foodstuffs. He's not happy.
• Britney said she had hoped the fruitcake would have tasted better. She likes the fish sticks okay.
• Britney talked with Rachel, throwing Monet under that proverbial bus as she claimed she can't win comps like Monet and Monet, the more dangerous player, should go home instead of her.
  
• So much for Britney's promise to Monet, eh?
• Enzo ate some ketchup. Well, it's an allowed condiment, after all.
• Monet talked to Rachel. She cried. Rachel told her that she was nominated because she thought Brendon and herself would be targeted if Monet won HOH.
• Not only have Monet and Britney been crying, so has Rachel. She seems very ill-equipped to play the ruthless HOH card.
• Ragan says he lives by the Golden Rule, treat others as you would want to be treated yourself. He's in the Big Brother house. What was he thinking?
• Ragan is pretty nice to all.
• Monet said that she hates Kathy because her eyelashes look like spiders. Meow.
• Enzo has issues with his lawn chair bed in the Have Not room.
  
• I think Enzo is used to comfort and food.
• Sometime today will be the POV comp, not sure exactly when. I'll be posting on it this evening.
  

Big Brother 12 - Live Feeds Through Friday, July 16

Hayden picks his feet in front of his fellow hamsters ... and the world. Ew.

The elusive, perhaps mythical, Kristen was sighted.

First, my apologies for only two reports today. And, this is on a day which things actually happened in the house! As I mentioned in my previous post, Rachel put Monet and Britney on the block as expected. Here are the other happenings of the day:

• Kristen and Hayden continue their secret alliance. They think they have a lot in common. They also would like to see Kathy win if neither of them win.
• Yeah, that's what they say.
• I believe a showmance is developing. At least they waited a week.
• Rachel told Kristen she wants to form an alliance with Hayden and her (Kristen).
  
• Both Kristen and Rachel agreed that Britney and Monet need to be the next two gone from the house.
• I love how all the women are heading out the door. What about the guys?
• Enzo and Brendon found the last of the cricket/beeping devices.
• Rachel told Monet that she will be one of her targets this week. She avoided telling Britney the news.
• Monet told Rachel that had she won HOH, she didn't plan to put up either her or Brendon.
• Hayden told Rachel that he's afraid that if the house sees that he and Kristen are getting close, they'll be targeted.
• The feeds were blocked for a long time while they did the Have/Have Not comp.
• When they came back, Enzo and Monet were looking at a box of fish sticks. So the vote must have been fish sticks and fruitcake.
• Enzo, Monet, Brendon and Britney are Have Nots.
• Enzo said he'll be too weak to give "the face" this week. I wonder if he'll mew instead of meow?
  
• The feeds were blocked again, then we came back to the hamsters cheering -- BB told them Annie was the saboteur and they were happy it was over with in the first week.
• Then the feeds were blocked for a long time once more as the nominations ceremony was held.
• Britney is pouting. Monet feels she was targeted because she won the $10,000.
• Enzo was the first one to go to the girls to console and pep talk them a bit. Meow.
• Hayden and Lane don't really understand which girl is the target.
• I know that Britney is -- it's not that hard to understand!
• Monet thinks that Kathy didn't come to talk to them because she's the one who threw them under the bus.
• No one threw them under the bus.
• Rachel had her mind set on nominating them since minutes after she won HOH. Brendon didn't even suggest it to her, nor try to talk her out of it.
• There you go ... except for Britney and Monet, things are going fairly smooth. They're all relieved about Annie being the saboteur and now feel they did the absolute right thing in evicting her.
  

Big Brother 12 - Nominations are In

As expected, Britney and Monet were put on the block. "I don't care, I don't want to be here anymore anyway," says Britney.

A full report on the day's house happenings will be posted a bit later.