Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - April 27, 2014

Good morning! It's Sunday. You know what that means. Welcome to my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken along the way. Later on tonight, I'll be posting The Amazing Race blog party. If you watch the show, come watch with us!

This past week? Let's see ...

It was definitely one of the better ones as of late. The severe cold or whatever it was I had finally stopped. I only had a four-day work week as I had requested a vacation day for Saturday due to expected train issues. And, on Friday morning, a local taxi driver saw me walking and gave me a free ride to the train station as he was heading to his office and I'm a "nice lady." He was one of the regular drivers I used over the winter when the sidewalks were so dangerous. That made my day!

I'm sure many of you will be upset to hear I have no snake photos again this week. Apparently the location at the Bridgewater Train Station might have been some kind of birthing den and they've moved on. It wasn't a good place for the garter snakes anyway -- too close to people. It was good for me as I got to take photos of them. But they need to be away from people.

Our weather here still isn't really "normal." Some of the flowering trees, such as the magnolias, have suffered from the overnight freezes. The gingko trees are just starting to develop leaves. I looked at photos I took in previous years and, every year, things were in full bloom by now with all the leaves on the trees.

Onto the photos for the week -- clicking on an image will lead you to a Photobucket page of the shot, clicking on the magnifying glass at the bottom right of the photo will make it larger. You can make it larger twice. To return to the blog, just close out the Photobucket window.

Welcome

Welcome to the middle of town, that is. This new electronic sign has been erected on the grounds of Plainfield's Municipal Court and Police Department. I think they were testing it as I watched. It rotated between this welcome and advertisements for the sign company. Then it went into the temperature in blue, jumping randomly from 69 to 73 degrees. Then my bus came. Corner of Watchung Avenue and Court Place.

Even more welcoming

Church Street (Plainfield) in the sunrise hour of a spring morning.

Also quite welcoming

Tulips in a planter on a porch on Berckman Street in Plainfield. I showed the other planter last week.

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

Survivor: Cagayan - 'Sitting in my Spy Shack' Blog Party - April 23

Every week I've wondered if Tony's doings might be his undoing in the game. This week isn't any different. Perhaps it's even more likely that his paranoia and need to control the game will be his undoing tonight. We'll see.

As the show airs here on the East Coast, I'll post the major updates right in this post. Refresh the post to get the latest! As always, the real party will be in the comments area -- come watch the show with us!

The latest blog pool standings from that Lively and Lovely Lifeguard Laurie:

Pool People
Jefra Bland - David, Sharon S.
Jeremiah Wood - LostChyld
Kass McQuillen -Delee, MikesGirl
Spencer Bledsoe - Becky and Monty924
Tasha Fox - DKNYNC, Rochelle
Tony Viachos - Lynn1, Zoetawny
Trisha Hegarty - Jackie
Woo Hwang - Laurie, SueGee

Jury People
Sarah Lacina
Morgan McLeod
LJ McKanas

Survivor fans ready?

Tony makes himself a spy shack, reminding me of Tom Sawyer sneaking back to check out his own funeral.

Reward challenge has them divided into two teams of four. They have to row out, collect paddles, solve a puzzle. Tasha, Jefra, Spencer and Jeremiah are on one team. The other is Woo, Tony, Trisha and Kass. Reward is a picnic style lunch with chicken and chocolate chip cookies (amongst other things).

Tasha, etc. win reward. It's set in a stunning cave. The rewards crowd try to bring Jefra into their alliance and they all agree Tony needs to go. Oh! Jefra got a letter from her mother! Tears, tears. It's a SIGN! A final four pact is made.

Immunity Challenge time! Stand on a narrow beam while balancing a ball. Move to a more narrow beam. Last person standing wins. It's down to Woo, Tasha and Spencer. Woo is down. Tasha wins!

Tony knows he's in trouble. He scrambled looking for "iconic landmarks" for the hidden idol with special powers. And ... he found it. I swear he almost wet his pants!

The Tony alliance draws Jefra back into the fold. Silly Jefra tells Jeremiah.  Jeremiah lets go with his big secret that he's a fashion model. @@ Spencer tells Tash and Jeremiah that he has an idol.

Spencer plays his idol.



Votes: Woo, Woo, Woo, Jeremiah, Jeremiah, Jeremiah, Jeremiah, 

Jeremiah is gone.

Tony pretended he had a fake idol.

The Amazing Race All-Stars: 'Donkeylicious' Blog Party - April 20

Sure, it's the Easter holiday evening and many people may be partaking in family or church doings and the show is actually starting on time tonight. Go figure.

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! I'm not sure how well attended tonight's party will be due to the holiday, but please join us in the comments section for some good times!

The latest blog pool standings from the Magnificent Margo are as follows:

Flight Time & Big Easy - Laurie, Donna in FL, nicklepeed
Jen & Caroline - Lynn1, Buzzmaam, DLA
Dave & Connor - Becky, Auntie Leigh, Rochelle
Brendon & Rachel (Brenchal) - Terry in TX, Brian
Cord & Jet (Cowboys) - ML, Nana in NW, Delee
Leo & Jamal (Afghanimals) - Jackie, Jennamom, Merrilee

Philiminated --
Mark & Mallory - SueGee, jonMD1627, Margo
Joey & Meghan - Brenda, Zoetawny, Dusty
Margie & Luke - Donna in AL, Monty924, PDXGranny
Jessica & John - Sharon S, David, Rbennie

Let's RACE! Teams are driving to find their next clue. Jennifer/Caroline and Dave/Connor are working together. Brenchal, since winning the last leg, are in the lead. This is the last chance for Jet and Cord to use their Express Pass. And, of course, there is a double U-Turn ahead.

Detour: Donkey Run has the teams in a donkey race. Donkey Build has the teams building a donkey out of wood and delivering it. Brenchal finishes, still in the lead.

Gah, Brendan wants to U-Turn Dave and Connor! Rachel wanted to do the cowboys. Brendan won. Gah. Dave/Connor said they needed to U-Turn someone. They let the cowboys survive and U=Turned the Afghanimals. They told them and apologized.

Roadblock: Who's got the write stuff? The team member has to copy old style writings perfectly.

While the two teams U-Turned have their own problems, it's the Globetrotters who seem hopelessly lost right now.

Heh. The Globetrotters are finally at the Detour. Big Easy is almost crushing his donkey! They have to switch detours. They're still running in last place.

Sigh. Brenchal is on the way to the Pit Stop. The Globetrotters finally finished the Detour after switching back to riding the donkeys.

The Pit Stop --
1. Brendan and Rachel - won $7,500 each.

Eek! Connor doesn't think he can finish the Roadblock and wants to take a penalty! No, don't do it, Connor! Wow! The Afghanimals helped Dave and Connor!

2. Jet and Cord
3. Leo and Jamal
4. Dave and Connor
5. Jennifer and Caroline
6. Flight Time and Big Easy -- Philiminated

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - Easter Sunday, April 20, 2014

Happy Easter Sunday morning to all! If you celebrate the holiday, I hope it's a fantastic day for you. Heck, even if you don't celebrate the day, I still hope it's fantastic! Since it is indeed Sunday, this is my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photos I've taken along the way.

Tonight, despite the holiday, there is a new episode of The Amazing Race airing. At approximately 8om EDT, I'll have the blog party post up for it.

This week took us from summer to winter and then back to spring here in the Greater NYC Metropolitan area. Right now we're back to spring here. Hopefully that will stay for a while now!

As this post is quite photo-heavy, I'm going to get onto those right now. Some of you will be happy to know I don't have any snake photos this week!

It's the Easter Bunny!

Yes! I found the REAL Easter Bunny yesterday morning on my walk to the train station! He was hiding eggs on the grounds of the Presbyterian Church on East Front Street in Plainfield. I was surprised that the Easter Bunny was hiding his ears under a retro-Afro!

Yes, tulips

Folks on Berckman Street in Plainfield placed a couple of planters of gorgeous tulips out on their porch. I think they must have brought them in at night when we had the freeze warnings as they held up so well through our wintry temperatures this past week.

After sunset last night

The skies looked as pretty as Easter egg pastels last night as I was arriving home from work. This shot looks down Watchung Avenue from the intersection with East Fourth Street in Plainfield.

Has he found an Easter egg?

Nope, but he has an acorn! East Front Street, Plainfield.

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

Survivor: Cagayan - 'Bag of Tricks' Blog Party - April 16

Hey there, Survivor fans! Are you ready for tonight? Will Tony find his name written down a lot of times once again? I think he's going to get to the point where, unless he wins immunity, all will turn on him soon. That said, I do think he's playing a good game. But he's got a huge target on his back, methinks.

As the show airs here, I'll update this entry with the major happenings. Refresh the page to get the latest! However, as it always goes, the real party is down in the comments area. Come join us to discuss the happenings as the show airs!

The latest blog pool update from Lifeguard Laurie:

Jefra Bland - David, Sharon S.
Jeremiah Wood - LostChyld
Kass McQuillen - Delee, MikesGirl
LJ McKanas - Lorraine, ML
Spencer Bledsoe - Becky and Monty924
Tasha Fox - DKNYNC, Rochelle
Tony Viachos - Lynn1, Zoetawny
Trisha Hegarty - Jackie
Woo Hwang - Laurie, SueGee

Jury- Sarah Lacina, Morgan McLeod

Ah, the show has begun. Tony thinks he can turn everyone against LJ to get the heat off himself. I wonder how that will go.

The reward challenge has them dividing into teams of three, throwing sandbags, then trying to bounce the sandbags into baskets. It's a spa reward with a nice lunch, too.

Tony, Jeremiah and Spencer win Reward!

Uh-oh, LJ thinks Tony is loyal to him. Kasha would like to flip LJ and blindside Tony. But LJ thinks he owes his life in the game to Tony. Meanwhile, Tony keeps plotting against LJ.

Immunity challenge time! They're getting their memories tested by repeating back the colors of tiles shown to them. Hmm. Gah. Trish got the second color of four wrong and is out. Woo is next out on the third color.

LJ, Tasha and Tony are the last three. Tasha wins Immunity!

Tony is scheming to get rid of LJ, but Trish wants the alliance of six to stay. Going into tribal, Tony seems to be reconsidering his position.

Interesting tribal, but no fireworks.

The tally -- LJ, LJ, LJ, Jeremiah, Jeremiah, Jeremiah, Spencer, LJ, LJ.

LJ says, "Well played" to Tony as he goes to get his torch snuffed.