Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - March 30, 2014

It's Sunday morning! 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. Later on tonight I'll be posting The Amazing Race blog party post -- please join us if you watch the show! I keep up with the major events on the entry itself as they happen on East Coast time while commenters hold a party down below.

Okay, I guess we have spring. It was still winter-cold for most of the week. While I was down to my normal winter coat instead of the huge one, it was in no way whatsoever SPRING. It finally got a bit spring-like on Friday afternoon, then the rain started yesterday morning. Now we're under flood watches and warnings. It's probably around 50 degrees, but with the wind and rain, it's a raw chilly weekend. Better than snow, but ...!

I have to say it was relaxing last night to go to sleep with the sound of rain against the windows. Much more calming than sleet against the windows!

It was a rather mundane week here. So, onto the photos ...

Plainfield Train Station beauty

Pre-sunrise turned the clouds a gorgeous pink and blue one morning as I waited for my train. It's a shame that such beauty is always so fleeting.

And then there's the ugly

The tunnel under the tracks at the Plainfield Train Station is really rough these days. It looks like they've put in a new light fixture or two, but another light is totally removed -- probably because of water dripping through it. Other areas of the station need work recovering from the rough winter, but the tunnel seems to be deteriorating daily.

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

Survivor: Cagayan - 'We Found Our Zombies' Blog Party - March 26

The first casualty of the not-a-merge recombination of the tribes was Cliff, a member of the new Solana tribe. Although the tribes recombined, many were able to stay with members of their previous tribes. Here's the new breakdown:

Solana
Cliff, Woo, Trish, Jefra, LJ, Tony, Lindsey

Aparri
Alexis, Jeremiah, Kass, Morgan, Spencer, Sarah, Tasha

I dunno. I think that Kass and Lindsey should switch to keep Solana all short names!

As the show airs here, I'll update this entry with the major happenings live time from the East Coast. Refresh the page to get the latest! As I'm sure most of you know by now, the real party is in the comments area. Come join us!

Before we get this party on the road, here are the blog pool standings from that Lovely Lifeguard Laurie --

Aparri
Kass McQuillen -Delee, MikesGirl
Spencer Bledsoe - Becky and Monty924
Tasha Fox - DKNYNC, Rochelle
Sarah Lacina - Buzzmaan, Tammy
Jeremiah Wood - LostChyld
Alexis Maxwell - Donna in FL, Petals
Morgan McLeod - Donna in Alabama, ORKMommy

Solana
Trisha Hegarty - Jackie
Lindsey Ogle - Brian
Tony Viachos - Lynn1, Zoetawny
Woo Hwang - Laurie, SueGee
Jefra Bland - David, Sharon S.
LJ McKanas - Lorraine, ML

Survivor fans ready?

Uh-oh. Lindsey and Trish have a blow up. Lindsey goes to Jeff to whine about it and QUIT THE GAME over a personality clash with one other person. Sheesh! She leaves Jeff to give the tribe the news. Now they're down two people.

Reward challenge time. Two members of the winning tribe get to raid the other tribe's camp. The challenge is one on one, holding an idol, the first one knocking the other's idol down wins the round. Salana wins reward! Woo and Tony go to camp with a note they can't open until they get there.

The note lays out particular items they can take and also gave them a clue to the hidden idol. They took comfort and fishing gear items. They decided to give the clue to Jeremiah thinking it would make a target of him. He read it aloud to his tribemates.

Tony, feeling all warm fuzzies with his new tribe, admitted to them he's a cop. He also told them he bamboozled the other tribe with the clue to set up Jeremiah. He says the clue they (his own tribe) has is for their own camp.

Jeremiah tried to convince his tribe mates that the clue Tony gave him was the old clue from the old camp. They're not buying it. But he IS telling the truth.

Immunity Challenge time -- build a staircase, through a maze, obstacle course, bunch o' stuff, machete, puzzle pieces. You know the routine.

Solana wins Immunity!

Alexis and Jeremiah seem to be the targets. I'm personally hoping it will be Alexis gone. The brains seem like they'll vote together.

The tally -- Jer, Alexis, Alexis, Alexis, Alexis.

Woot! Jeremiah stays!

It sounds like everyone except Alexis might have voted Alexis.

Alexis weeps as she walks away ...

Aw, I didn't care much for her, but she's really devastated about it. And, to think one castaway just threw it all away and quit tonight.

The Amazing Race All-Stars: 'Can't Make the Fish Bite' Blog Party - March 23

With CBS hosting the March Madness college basketball games, I'm surprised to see ANY new primetime shows. I'm not surprised it's delayed. 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! As always, the real party is in the comments area. Come join us!

60 Minutes started at 7:42pm EDT, so I expect we'll start at 8:42-ish. 

Since last week was a non-Philimination leg, Magnificent Margo's pool standings remain ...

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

Ah, it's 8:41 and the show is starting! It's weird that they're in the same place where the missing Malaysian flight took off from.

The teams are heading to Sri Lanka.

Uh-oh ... Brenchal is closed out of the flight that has everybody else aboard. Instead of a direct flight, they're taking one with a thirty minute connection. They're desperate and know they're taking a big chance. Luke and Margie are also closed out of the main flight. They're going standby on the main flight as the Singapore connection scares them.

The other teams didn't realize it was a non-Philim last week until Flight Time spread the word.

Brenchal made the connection. Luke and Margie have to take the next flight, putting them way behind. Brenchal gets there first after taking their desperation move.

Once in Sri Lanka, they must visit a Buddhist temple for a blessing and their next clue. All the teams except Margie and Luke are on a scenic train to Galle.

Detour -- Fishing pole -- wade into surf on stilts, each catch a fish. Spin control has them performing a native dance that combines dancing with spinning a disc-like plate on a rod.

Cool ... Dave and Connor are first through the Detour! They're my favorite team. (Although, of course, I want Leo and Jamal to win because of the blog pool.)

Margie and Luke finally arrived and are on their way to the temple. The majority of the teams have already finished the detour. Jessica and John gave up on the fishing and are heading to the dancing.

Roadblock - Who wants to put the pedal to the treadle? Sewing a shirt. Connor thinks he has no skills, but at least he took a semester of sewing in junior high! That's more than many have done. I took my course in 8th grade. I'd fail the task.

Whoa! Jessica and John made it through the dancing like a quick breeze. Margie and Luke are on the train. Brenchal has hit the speed bump and have to silk screen fifteen t-shirts.

Woot! Connor got his shirt approved first! They're on the way to the Pit Stop. Caroline and Jennifer are next done.

Pit Stop --
1. DAVE AND CONNOR - each won 5 grand. This is the leg they bowed out with Dave's injury in their season.
2. Jennifer and Caroline
3. Jet and Cord
4. Leo and Jamal
5. Jessica and John
6, Flight Time and Big Easy
7. Brendan and Rachel (I can't believe I'm kind of liking them this season.)
8. Margie and Luke -- Philiminated.

Luke held up well, saying that it was a fantastic experience to be on the race three times.

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!