Survivor: Caramoan - Blog Pool List and Season Premiere Blog Party

Tonight, tonight, tonight we party, tonight! Yes, it's time for the big Survivor: Caramoan Fans vs. Favorites season premiere blog party! Jeff Probst has been saying this is going to be one of the best seasons yet. While he tends to get excited and try to give out positive vibes each season, I myself think we're in for an entertaining season. And, after all, that's what we're here for, right? Entertainment!

Lifeguard Laurie has stepped up the pool a bit for us this season -- giving each of us a fan and a fav. Here's the pool list -- if you didn't submit your name on time, feel free to just declare a favorite (or fan or both) to cheer on through the season! It's all in fun.

	Favs		Fans
Becky	Andrea		Sherri
Brent McKee	Brandon		Shemar
Brian	Brenda		Reynold
DKNYNC	Corinne		Michael
dla	Dawn		Matt
Donna in AL	Erik		Laura
Donna in FL	Francesca		Julia
Ed in Ohio	John Cochran		Hope
Glenn	Malcom		Eddie
Jackie	Phillip		Allie
Joey & Julie	Andrea		Sherri
Karen from CA	Brandon		Shemar
Laurie	Brenda		Reynold
Lynn1	Corinne		Michael
Margo	Dawn		Matt
meb	Erik		Laura
Merrilee	Francesca		Julia
ML	John Cochran		Hope
Monty	Malcom		Eddie
Nickelpeed	Phillip		Allie
Nana in the NW	Andrea		Sherri
PDX Granny	Brandon		Shemar
Petals	Brenda		Reynold
Rbennie	Corinne		Michael
Rochelle	Dawn		Matt
Shayne	Erik		Laura
SueGee	Francesca		Julia
Terry in TX	John Cochran		Hope
Zoetawny	Malcom		Eddie

As the show airs, I'll update this entry with the major happenings. However, the real party will be in the comments area. Jump in! The water's fine!

Survivor fans ready?

It's all starting out with a physical competition for beans and the all important fire. Favorites win!

Immunity Challenge has them climbing up a structure by twos, flinging crates to break them, the crates contain sandbags. Then they toss the sandbags into a grid for the win. FANS WIN FIRST IMMUNITY CHALLENGE!

Tribal - the tally:
Andrea, Andrea, Andrea, Francesca, Francesca, Francesca, Andrea, Francesca, Francesca, Francesca.

They did it again, Francesca is first out.

Survivor: Caramoan - Checking Out the New Castaways

The series premiere will be this coming Wednesday night, February 13, at 8pm ET/PT. As always, the blog party post will be up and running! Laurie is running the blog pool (she rocks, y'know) and you can get aboard with that by contacting her at lifeguardlaurie at gmail.com.

I checked out the returning "Favorites" in this post a bit ago. Tonight I'll be looking a bit more at the newbie "Fans." While I'm not huge on returning players on reality shows, I think I'm actually looking forward to watching some of the returnees this time around. Well, that is, except Brandon Hantz. He can't have changed enough for him to ever be in good graces with me. I'd like him to be the first one off, thank you very much.

For a peek at the new castaways, check out the Jeff Probst cast assessment --

My own quick assessments from reading their bios on the CBS website:

Laura Alexander: Age 23, from Washington D.C. Um, well. She seems to have a bit of a chip on her shoulder. Unless she's too abrasive, some of her qualities might lead to a win. That's not to say she's someone I think I'll like.

Sherri Beithman: Age 41, from Boise, Idaho. Hmm ... in her bio, she twice refers to herself as "lovable." That makes me not love her all that much. I could be wrong, though. I guess she could be lovable. Maybe.

Matt Bischoff: Age 38, from Cincinnati, Ohio. Ah, the weird beard dude! His inspiration in life is the man who grew the longest beard ever (17.5 feet). Okaaay. He thinks he's going to play a good social game. I think he's going to be easy to differentiate from the other new male castaways until I get the names down.

Hope Driskill: Age 23, from Jefferson City, Missouri. A recent college grad hoping to use winnings from the show to finance law school. I kind of like this kid. She seems bright and athletic. She might do well.

Eddie Fox: Age 23, from East Brunswick, NJ. Homeboy in da house! He's eye candy and a fireman, too. Huh ... not far away from where I live, either. Hummahumma! Ahem. Actually, in reading his bio, his chances look good. If anything, he might be not sneaky enough, I say.

Julia Landauer: Age 21, from Stanford, California. Racecar driver, eh? She apparently has turned 21 since the season was filmed, so she's but a child. Despite being a child, I think I'm going to like her and she just might be a strong competitor. We'll see.

Allie Pohevitz: Age 25, from Oceanside, NY. Oceanside would be on Lawn Guyland (Long Island for the non-natives) as that's the only ocean side New York has. She's a bartender and probably of the ilk we'd see on Big Brother. For some reason, the word "annoying" comes to mind as I read her bio.

Michael Snow: Age 44, from New York City, NY. I'm not sure if film, theater, knitting and photobombing are great qualities for competing to be the sole Survivor. I do think his social game might be good. But if his physical game sucks, he's gone.

Shamar Thomas: Age 27, from Brooklyn, NY. My gosh, my little corner of the world is getting well represented in this cast -- NJ and NYC Metro Area! I'm of two minds about this guy. On one hand, he could very well do well. On the other hand, it seems with all he's out to prove, all may backfire.

Reynold Toepfer: Age 30, from San Francisco, California. He's the wild card player according to the Jeff Assessment. He claims (twice) to be a charmer and says he "dazzles" people. Let us be the judge of that.

So, there you go. Ten new "fans" aboard the cast. Most are young. They're all fans of the show. I think it's going to be an interesting season. Your thoughts?     

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - February 10, 2013

Good morning! It's Sunday. You know what that means. 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.

Survivor begins this coming Wednesday. Of course, we'll be partying here along with the show as it airs in East Coast time. A week from today, it's the start of a new season of The Amazing Race. I will have posts up before the shows make their debuts. I promise! I just feel like I've been running on empty a lot lately.

Another winter week behind us, we had our first more than an inch or two storm. Although nowhere near as bad as hyped, nor as bad as any of the big storms a few years ago, it provided some beauty to the season. Some areas got record snow totals, us not so much. 

I ended up taking a vacation day due to it mainly because the streets and sidewalks weren't cleared as quickly as they would have been on a weekday storm. No way was I going to struggle through the snow on the sidewalks all the way to the train station! As usual, cars weren't towed from my street even though there are signs that it's a snow emergency route. So, the snowplow just plowed about a lane and a half worth of a swath.

Onto this week's photos! If you click on an image, it will open up in a new Photobucket window, clicking again will make it larger. To return to the blog, just close out the Photobucket window.

Looking out the window

This is Saturday afternoon, looking out my window at the fallen snow. I didn't go to work and remained inside all day. So, this was as close as I got to it.

On the windowsill

According to my ruler, that's nine inches of snow on my windowsill.

Gimme Shelter

Although you can't tell, it is snowing in this Friday morning photo. I edited it to leave only the shelter in color. Plainfield Train Station

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

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - February 3, 2013

It's Sunday morning, time for my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photos I've taken. If you haven't checked it out yet, I have a post about the returning castaways on Survivor and hope to get the remaining cast up soon. If you want in on the blog pool for that show, email lifeguardlaurie at gmail dot com or reply to the show cast post. Please don't ask for in on the pool on this post as I'm not sure she'll see the comment!

Today is Superbowl Sunday. Huh. I don't watch football, not at all. I can catch the commercials on the internet. I will have to keep track of when the game ends as they're broadcasting a new episode of Elementary after it. That's one of my favorite new shows even though I think Sir Arthur Conan Doyle might disapprove if he were alive to see it. Two shows down, I'm still intrigued by The Following on FOX, too. It makes me feel a bit creeped out to be an Edgar Allen Poe fan, but I'm not about to be part of the cult! Heck, my latest favorite shows are quasi-literary related and feature killers. But I'm normal. I swear I am! Really! Er, maybe not normal-normal ... but not dangerous. We'll leave it at that.

I apparently am a danger to myself, though. On Tuesday, after a smattering of icy snow the night before (when I took a cab home from the train station as the sidewalks were icy), it was nearly forty degrees. The sidewalks I encountered on the way to the train station were just wet. That is until I hit North Avenue by the train station. ICE, ICE, BABY! I went right up in the air and slammed back down on the concrete (whatever). I'm still bruised and a bit sore. Thankfully both knees made it through the event without permanent damage. I SO don't want to have those operations redone! I hit my head pretty hard, but I do have a pretty hard head. That's fine -- a bit sore to the touch still, but it's a surface hurt, not a Hillary Clinton double-vision hurt.

It snowed last night, maybe an inch or two. Everything outside is pretty and white, but I doubt I'll be going out in it. I don't have much on the table for today other than housekeeping which has suffered a bit here this week as I felt sore due to my fall. On Friday I went into Westfield to run some errands as well as a Trader Joe's run (thank you, Russ!). So, I have some cool Trader Joe's goodies in the house. Vincent can have cat treats. Have a great Superbowl Sunday, folks!

Clicking on an image will open it in a new Photobucket window, clicking again on it will make it larger. To return to the blog, just close out the Photobucket window and, like magic, you're right back where you left off! 

Track 1 Sign

I took this shot at the Westfield Train Station, South Avenue side. I felt it screamed for black and white.  Although it's not particularly noticeable, there was a snow squall going on cutting visibility down quite a bit. The spiky things which look like comb's teeth are there to keep pigeons from the top of the sign. Gee, maybe they could put little fake coyotes up there!

Plainfield Train Station

And this is the Plainfield Train Station last night after I got off the train and everyone had boarded. I used a cartoon effect in my photo editor which seemed to lend itself for this photo. There wasn't a crowd on my train home and the regular train bums must have warmer new diggings. So, I was all but alone. Even Omar, the regular train station homeless dude, has gone missing again in this rather indecisive winter (very warm, then very cold). Of course, his missing is quite likely jail related rather than warmth issues.

Kale

Yay, decorative kale! This was in Westfield. I do see some growing across the street from my apartment, but don't want to upset folks by going up on the lawn there.

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

Survivor: Caramoan Fans vs. Favorites - The "Favorites"

Survivor: Caramoan Fans vs. Favorites cast

Although I'll be focusing on the "favorites" in this entry, here's the new cast video featuring all --

 The season premiere is Wednesday, February 13. Be there or be square. Lifeguard Laurie has once again graciously volunteered to run the blog pool -- you can contact her at lifeguardlaurie@gmail -- just add the dot-com at the end. I don't want her getting swamped by robots, y'know!

For those unfamiliar with the blog pool, not to worry ... you won't lose your shirt in this one. Well, unless you're swimming, maybe! Cast members are randomly selected for our blog community members. We cheer on our chosen castaway until they get the boot or perhaps become the sole survivor. That, of course, is not to be confused with the Soul Survivors. Those folks who get the ultimate sole surviving castaway retain any bragging rights until the next season when the slate is wiped blank once again. 

Okay ... onto the returning so-called favorites. Yes, that term certainly doesn't apply to at least a few for me.

Brandon Hantz. Say WHAT? Why must we endure this little whining sexist wussy jerk Hantz again? What kind of hold does this twerp have over the producers? He wasn't even enjoyable to watch, not at all. Of course, we could always bet on when he'll cry or try to push his extremely narrow-minded ways upon others. 

Brenda Lowe. She was in Nicaragua. While she certainly doesn't bring about such vehemence and vitriol in me as much as does Brandon, I'm not classifying her as a personal favorite. If memory serves, she played well and managed to manipulate folks some, then depended on Sash to save her with an idol. He didn't, she fell and went boom. I didn't NOT enjoy her before; I was just a bit ambivalent.

Corinne Kaplan. Gabon, 12th castaway out, 4th jury member. Um. Okay. She didn't make much of an impression on me the first time around. I recall her mouth tended to get her in hot water with others at times. My favorite? Nah. I'd have to actually remember her more for her to qualify.

Erik Reichenbach. Now, here is someone who's certainly memorable on the show. Memorable for making the most foolish naive bone-headed move ever in the game, that is! He's the guy from the Micronesia season who trusted the girls and gave up his immunity in a wham-bam-off the island eviction. Let's see if he's smartened up a bit. Not really a favorite, but it might be interesting to see if the past repeats and he's trust foolworthy.

Phillip Sheppard. SAM is back, the best drinking game ever on the blog! SAM stands for Secret Agent Man -- every time he mentions secret agent work, we drink! He was on the original Redemption Island. I was initially annoyed by him, but the man has an odd way of growing on a person. He's a hoot to watch and very entertaining in a whacko sort of way. I see he has fresh new pink tidy whities (pinkies). For some reason, I actually liked him while I didn't like Coach (another whacko).

Malcolm Freberg. Hey, wasn't he just on last season? And, I really don't doubt that he would have won it all if not for Denise. He's a strong player, smart, likeable, easy on the eyes.

Francesca Hogi. Or, as SAM would say: Franquesca. The most memorable thing about her for me was the tribal council smackdown with SAM. She was a fairly decent player, but I'm more interested in seeing her reunite with Phillip Sheppard, this time supposedly having to work together.

John Cochran. Huh. The Woody Allen of Survivor has returned. Most likely the palest castaway ever and most inept at the game to have actually made an impact on the game. Sure, there have been more inept folks on the show. However, they leave little impression on me. I actually liked Cochran and, if I have to suffer through returning castaways (never my favorite reality show gimmick), I'd just as soon watch him again. Will he win? Bwahahaha!

Dawn Meehan. Dawn was in the South Pacific season. I remember her as a strong woman in the game, but not surrounded with the best crowd. She was an ally with Cochran, so this reunion should have them working together again. I'd like to see her do well.

Andrea Boehike. Another Redemption Island alumni. She's hoping all the crazy people target each other and she will rise to the top. 

I'm not sure of the criteria used to select these "favorites." Some we could almost predict would be multi-season -- like Cochran, Phillip Sheppard. Others seem to be favorites of casting, not of the real fans -- Brandon.

What's your take on the returning castaways?