Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - March 23, 2014

Good morning, peeps! It's SPRING! Can you feel it? Well, yesterday we had a taste of it with weather temperatures flirting with the 60 degree mark. Tomorrow morning, they're talking windchills around zero and a possible nor'easter snowstorm Tuesday into Wednesday. Will the winter EVER end?

Since it's Sunday morning, this is my off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken along the way. Later tonight, at 8pm EDT, I'll post The Amazing Race blog party post. If you watch the show, please come by for fun discussion (and partying)!

I really don't have a heck of a lot other than work going on in my life lately. I'm so tired of cold temperatures that, even though most of our snow has melted in the sun, I don't want to be outside. I have retired my "big" winter coat for my merely "normal" winter coat. But I'd rather discard them both for just a hoodie! If the temps are that low tomorrow, I'll have to bring the big coat out of its retirement. Wah.

Conking out early most of the week, I even missed most of my TV shows and will spend some time catching up today. On the few nights I stayed up late, I watched Jimmy Fallon on his Tonight Show. I like Jimmy. I think he's perhaps one of the most talented -- song, dance, impressions -- talk show hosts since the likes of Steve Allen. I'm still loyal to my David Letterman. But, when Dave retires, I can see me watching Jimmy for years and years to come.

Onto this week's photos ... while I don't have a ton of artsy, I definitely found two new and different photo subjects this week --

Just before the dawn

Although the skies are definitely black as I leave my apartment for work on my weekday commutes, before the train arrives it's getting light(ish). Now if it would just go for warm(ish). Plainfield Train Station.

Huh? Whazzat?

What the heck is that in the air over North Avenue in Plainfield?

***CLICK THE 'READ MORE' LINK TO FIND OUT!***

Survivor: Cagayan - 'Odd One Out' - Blog Party, March 19

Judging by the promos for this week, the tribes are probably being mixed up rather than a merge. I know that, Spencer for one, needs to be able to work with his tribe mates rather than do all the work and be a constant target. He still looks he could be Neil Patrick Harris' brother to me!

That lovely Lifeguard Laurie has tallied up the latest blog pool results --

Pool Results
Beauty
Jeremiah Wood - LostChyld
Alexis Maxwell - Donna in FL, Petals
Jefra Bland - David, Sharon S.
LJ McKanas - Lorraine, ML
Morgan McLeod - Donna in Alabama, ORKMommy

Brains (???)
Kass McQuillen -Delee, MikesGirl
Spencer Bledsoe - Becky and Monty924
Tasha Fox - DKNYNC, Rochelle

Brawn
Trisha Hegarty - Jackie
Cliff Robinson - Dusty, Margo
Lindsey Ogle - Brian
Sarah Lacina - Buzzmaan, Tammy
Tony Viachos - Lynn1, Zoetawny
Woo Hwang - Laurie, SueGee

As the show airs here on the East Coast, I'll update this entry with the major happenings. Refresh the page to get the latest! But, as you know it always is, the real party is in the comments area. Come join us as we watch the show together!

After the recap, at a challenge setting, they're told to drop their buffs. And, then into commercial. Oh gee ... the suspense!

Two new tribes. It's a luck of the draw kind of thing. Orange or purple. Brains end up together still, as do many Brawn. Sarah, my blog pool person, is the "odd one out" from Brawn.

The challenge is Reward. And, it's a physical one -- trying to pull another castaway off a pole. They're playing for donuts, coffee, cookies, pastries and more.

Solana wins reward -- that's the tribe with most of the Brwn on it. Spencer loses again despite being surrounded by the Beauty on Aparri. Morgan got outed for going for the idol in the beginning and lying about the rice. The Brains, matched up with most of the Beauty, realize that they have a solidarity advantage over the gossipy Beauty members.

Immunity challenge time. Smashing logs against two walls and then getting the log through a maze. Aparri wins Immunity! The Brawn on Solana is speechless.

Cliff wants to target LJ because he got close to Trish ... GAH! I just realized my blog pool person is Trish, not Sarah. Oh my. Trish wants to target Cliff.

Tribal Council time. 

Gah. LJ doesn't use the idol.

LJ. Cliff, LJ, Cliff, LJ, Cliff, CLIFF!

Woot! They kept LJ and booted Cliff. Tony isn't happy.

It's an act! Tony was the flip vote ... he voted his ally out!

The Amazing Race: All-Stars - 'Smarter, not Harder' Blog Party

Again we're starting on time? They're spoiling us! As the show airs here on the East Coast, I'll update this entry with the major happenings. Refresh the page to get the latest news. However, as always, the real party is in the comments area. I hope to see you there!

The latest pool standings by that Magnificent Margo are:
Flight Time & Big Easy - Laurie, Donna in FL, nicklepeed
Jen & Caroline - Lynn1, Buzzmaam, DLA
Dave & Connor - Becky, Auntie Leigh, Rochelle
Margie & Luke - Donna in AL, Monty924, PDXGranny
Brendon & Rachel (Brenchal) - Terry in TX, Brian
Jessica & John - Sharon S, David, Rbennie
Cord & Jet (Cowboys) - ML, Nana in NW, Delee
Leo & Jamal (Afganimals) - Jackie, Jennamom, Merrilee

Philiminated --
Mark & Mallory - SueGee, jonMD1627, Margo
Joey & Meghan - Brenda, Zoetawny, Dusty

Let's get the party started!

They're staying in Malaysia at least for the start of the leg.

Roadblock -- Who's got a spring in their step? It entails jumping on a trampoline thingee supported by locals to pull down a clue.

Next they're off to Kuala Lampur with only three flights available. Dave/Connor are still maintaining their lead.

Margie tells us Luke came out to her as gay. Not a problem.

Uh-oh, the second flight is delayed and the third flight will get there before it. Dave/Connor, the Cowboys and the Afghanimals are on the first flight.

Detour: Mixmaster or Master Mix -- They have to learn how to DJ and show their scratching skillz. Or they have to mix a drinks into a pyramid of glasses.

Most of the teams go for the drinks part of the detour only to find out it's very difficult. The Cowboys have taken over the lead and are heading to the Pit Stop.

The Afghanimals and Dave/Connor are also heading there.

Pit Stop --
1. The Cowboys - Won a trip to London
2. Dave and Connor
3. Leo and Jamal

Luke is breaking down with frustration (deja vu) on the drink task. I don't see where switching tasks could help him as he can't hear. They HAVE to do this task. Brenchal is also stuck on the drink task.

4. Carline and Jennifer
5. Jessica and John

Rachel, of all people, pep-talked Luke/Margie and Brendan. It really helped Luke. He did it!

6. Flight Time and Big Easy
7. Luke and Margie
8. Brendan and Rachel -- but it's a non-Philimination leg!

I predicted that early on in comments, mind you. They will encounter a speed bump in the next leg.

Heck, Brenchal has improved and they're just about bearable this season.

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - March 16, 2014

Good morning, world! 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 photos I've taken along the way. At 8pm ET tonight, I'll be posting The Amazing Race blog party post. C'mon by and enjoy the show with us!

This has definitely been the winter of my discontent here. It just won't stop! Even though we haven't had any more snow lately, we go from a warm (relatively speaking) day in the 50s to windchills below zero, up and down every other day. Yesterday it was around 50, tonight we're expecting a coating of snow by morning. The storm is supposed to be south of us, but we're due a dusting. Sure, the sun will take away any snow now that the snowpack is gone. But I want SPRING!

On Thursday when the windchills were below zero, all of the NJ Transit Raritan Valley line trains were delayed, canceled, suspended or whatever. That was due to a gasoline-filled tanker trailer which rolled over and exploded near the Newark Penn Station. Thankfully, I had heard about it as I have the early morning news on as I get ready for work. I then watched the website and managed to catch the ONE TRAIN they let through that morning. All of the folks who had been heading to the city for work were on that train, heading their way right on back home. No one could get through.

The only good news other than I really lucked out time-wise and spent little time in the cold, no one was hurt in the truck fire. The tracks, signals and overhead electrical wires were hurt, but no people.

With no additional snow this past week and the sun melting most of our snowpack, I was finally able to go to the Target store nearby my workplace this week. No, I wasn't boycotting the store as they compromised my card and I had to get a new one issued. I was boycotting it because snowplows blocked the sidewalk at the crosswalk with a ten-foot high snow pile and no way was I going to trudge through snow up the Target "hill." My friend Donald broke his leg on that hill! Sure, I could walk all the way to the Home Depot entrance. But ... no.

Because I did get to Target, I'm having an actual corned beef and cabbage dinner today for St. Patrick's Day. I always get cabbage from Peapod as I make some other dishes with it. But I wasn't enamored with the price of their corned beef when I last ordered. Target had it on a decent sale. Yay!

I don't have a ton of photos this week. I was too cold and the weather was irking me. But, here's what I got for you --

Just waiting on a train

If my morning train is just a few minutes late, the skies go from totally black to a pre-dawn beauty. Well, at least since the clocks lost us an hour this past week. Eventually it will be lighter for my early morning commutes.

NJ Transit train in the sunset

However, due to the time change, my Saturday later working day is now just past sunset as I wait for my train home. This is last night at the Bridgewater Train Station.

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

Survivor: Cagayan - "It's Our Time to Shine" blog party - March 12

Who says reality television isn't educational? I'm certainly learning not only the existence of, but how to spell, several bizarre islands. Tonight's show has one of the blindfold challenges in it. Ah, it's always such fun to watch them crash and tangle! Yeah, I know it's cruel to take delight in the suffering of others. But they're the ones who went on the show, not me!

Lifeguard Laurie, keeper of the blog pool, could use our kind thoughts and prayers on a loss this past week. Nonetheless, here are the latest pool standings:

Beauty
Jeremiah Wood - LostChyld
Alexis Maxwell - Donna in FL, Petals
Jefra Bland - David, Sharon S.
LJ McKanas - Lorraine, ML
Morgan McLeod - Donna in Alabama, ORKMommy

Brains
J'Tia Taylor - Knickelpeed, Merrilee
Kass McQuillen -Delee, MikesGirl
Spencer Bledsoe - Becky and Monty924
Tasha Fox - DKNYNC, Rochelle

Brawn
Trisha Hegarty - Jackie
Cliff Robinson - Dusty, Margo
Lindsey Ogle - Brian
Sarah Lacina - Buzzmaan, Tammy
Tony Viachos - Lynn1, Zoetawny
Woo Hwang - Laurie, SueGee

As the show airs here, I'll update this entry with the major happenings. However, as always, the real party is in the comments area. Come join us!

The blindfolded challenge is reward. First tribe to finish wins live chickens, second wins a dozen eggs, third place is nothing. Beauty wins first place! Brawn gets second place! Beauty had been leading, but J'Tia blew it by panicking.

Jeremiah found the clue to the idol in with the chicken feed. He read it aloud. Gah, Good think LJ already has the idol.

Woo and others think Cliff should go away. They're talking about throwing the immunity challenge to get rid of him. Woo might need to be convinced to go that far. Woo actually likes Cliff, but they see a threat when the tribes merge.

Immunity has them diving releasing buoys. Must retrieve and toss five buoys into a basket. Oh my, J'Tia screws it up again. I'm not surprised at all.

Beauty tribe wins! Spencer is really doing all the work for the Brains. It's between Cliff, NBA player, and Spencer shooting baskets. Spencer has to keep waiting for the balls to be returned. Brawn wins second place and Immunity, Brains will go to Tribal Council. Of course, that's after Brawn (except for Cliff and Woo) tried to throw the challenge. They (Brains) really do suck. If they vote out Spencer, we'll know their real tribe title is LACK OF Brains.

Tribal Council -- the tally --
J'Tia, Spencer, J'Tia, J'Tia.

Too few brains too late, probably.

Ah, the look at next week shows it's the merge. I'm surprised any of the brains have made it that far after such stupidity and ineptness!