Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - June 22, 2014

Good morning! For those now cruising the blog for Big Brother television show news, I'll be posting the blog pool sign-up post later today (don't sign up for it on this post, please!). This here post is my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken along the way.

As for the week gone by itself, it wasn't a heck of a lot of much more than work, work, work. The big news is that Big Brother started revealing the new hamster house, new hamsters and new twists. I've covered those things in previous posts and will be posting more daily as we head into the season premiere on Wednesday night.

The weather here in my area of New Jersey hit the nineties for the first time this year. As it was only two days, it wasn't a legitimate heat wave. It still felt like it. I'm not a big fan of summer with ultra-hot and humid days. If summers could have an 80 degree cut-off with low humidity, I'd like it much more. I don't like sweating!

I had good luck with critter photos this week -- a pigeon with its wings expanded during landing and the Plainfield Train Station groundhog, along with a rabbit and a squirrel. Had I been more prepared, I would have had a nice deer shot last night. I climbed up the stairs at the Bridgewater Train Station only to practically walk into a large doe. I gasped. She gasped. She ran so quickly that I couldn't get the shot. She even scared a bunch of rabbits who also hopped away quickly. I was happy that she ran into a fenced area rather than towards the train tracks.

Onto the photos for the week ... clicking on the photo will show it in its Photobucket page. In that view, there's a magnifying glass on the bottom right. You can make the photo larger twice there. To get back to the blog, just close the Photobucket window.

Can you see the hidden groundhog?

This groundhog at the Plainfield Train Station thought he found the perfect place to hide from me. Yeah, right. I've got you, groundhog!

Religion and Politics Shouter

With a nod to Stephen King's "Monster Shouter" in The Stand, I came across this man with a megaphone at the corner of Park Avenue and East Front Street in Plainfield one afternoon this this week. He was shouting against gay marriage, abortion, Obama ... you name it. No one was paying any attention to him. Also, no one was at the chess tables in the sun!

My flower slideshow teaser

If you're reading this post from the main page of the blog itself instead of the individual post, this week's flower slideshow is after the jump.

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

Big Brother 16: Cast Interviews

Now, I watched all the Jeff Schroeder interviews with the new hamsters at the CBS website. They're short, they're CBS-controlled. I've also made it clear that I'm very tired of Rachel Reilly. But, to give her credit, she does know the BB world inside and out. These cast interviews, which play after the initial intro ones, are longer and much more interesting. If you click to watch them on YouTube, you can pick and choose which cast members to watch in what order.

I'm getting more and more partial to Donny here. It's definitely not the beard. He's watched every season and is way into reality television. Good. Every video I watch of Zach annoys me.

These come from BiteSizeTV/Reality Relapse --

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Big Brother 16: Cast Revealed

The big cast reveal was today. Hmm. Again, we have little diversity in age or race amongst the hamsters and it looks like they shot for folks who look good in bathing suits and/or might go for some hanky-panky under the covers. (Hopefully UNDER the covers! I don't want to see THAT!)

That said, it does seem like they aimed for more than the mindless unemployed bartenders for the most part this season. I'll be going more into the cast over the days leading up to the season premiere, but here's a quick lowdown --

Coming from a family with a single mother and raised in low-income housing, Amber Borzatra says she'll do anything to win. Um. Okay.

Brittany Martinez in the mother of three children. (Who's watching the kids?) She's divorced after eight years of marriage and thinks she's sneaky because she once faked labor to get out of a traffic ticket.

Caleb Reynolds served in the military as a jail guard in Iraq. His family owns a hunting business. He wears a cowboy hat. Hmm.

Christine Brecht has been to Disneyland over 50 times and has lived to tell the tale. She also was in a hot air balloon accident in high school and lived to tell that tale as well. Will she make it though Big Brother?

Cody Calafiore gives teenage girls dating and fashion advice in Seventeen magazine. He likes chick flicks and was drafted to a professional soccer team in college, but an injury blew that for him.

Derrick Levasseur might be the brains of this operation. He had a full baseball scholarship to college, went on to get his Business Administration Masters, He started police work as an undercover agent at 20 and has been a sergeant for ten years. How come he looks 22? I'm feeling old now.

Devin Sheperd played pro baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals. Oh. And he's tall. He bio bit was really a bit!

Donny Thompson comes from a small town where he was the janitor in Kelly Pickler's high school. (Remember, American Idol country gal?) He's never been on a plane. Well, I bet he didn't WALK to California to be on the show! So, now he's been on a plane and is all kinds of worldly.

Frankie Grande is a former Broadway actor. (Never heard of him.) He's also a YouTube sensation. (Never heard of him.) His sister is pop star Ariana Grande. (Never heard of her. But I'll admit modern pop isn't my area of expertise.)

No, not OUR Hayden! Hayden Voss is a pedi-cab driver who recently moved to Los Angeles. (Probably looking for that big break. He's more the typical hamster we get.) He plans on using his "surfer dude" persona to win. Good luck with that.

Jocasta Odom is a minister who says she'll swear on the bible to win and plays pranks on her husband. Well, that's different, I guess.

Joey Van Pelt -- perhaps a relative of Linus and Lucy -- was the big girl on campus in her high school. She was the team mascot (a tiger), homecoming queen and class president. She's liberal, big on recycling and wants to save the world. Or something like that.

Nicole Franzel has wanted to be on Big Brother since she was EIGHT. Eep. What was she doing watching this show at that age? That should be the sign of a superfan. Then she goes and says she'd like a showmance with someone like Ian. @@

Now, Paola Shea just might be a contender. She's a Maxim magazine girl, a top-rated gamer and wants to be the best female DJ ever. The gamer part could definitely work in her favor.

Victoria Rafaeli isn't our standard hamster. She was raised by Israeli parents and is expected to live at home until marriage. Did she bother telling her parents about this? My gosh, I hope they don't get the live feeds! She started her own photography business at 19.

Zach Rance recently received his degree in economics. He thinks of himself as a con artist. Well, that goes well with his chosen academics, doesn't it? Lofty goals in mind, he wants to be a professional caddy.

So, there they are. I haven't really looked into their ages much, but it's doubtful that more than one or two are over 30 even and probably none over 40. What do you think?

Big Brother 16: Twist(s) and House Photos Revealed

Hamster watchers ready? It's not long now!

On The Talk today, Julie Chen revealed the new twist(s) for the season. Here's the skinny:

• There will be two HoH each week all summer long.
• Each HoH will make two nominations, making for four nominees weekly.
• The HoHs themselves aren't safe as there will be a new competition introduced -- Battle of the Block.
• "Team America" will be able to influence the game.

Hmm. Well, this will be different. Alliances are going to have a harder time to grow, at least the larger half/house ones we've seen the last several seasons. I'm not sure what will happen when the numbers dwindle. I'm not all that keen on the viewers taking more than a very non-influential part. People often tend to want the most interesting people (often villain types) gone and, to me, they're what makes the live feeds and show more interesting!

Your thoughts?

Also, the Hollywood Reporter revealed the house photos today. You can find them at this link. Their article about the new house is right here.

There is also a video at the CBS press site with Julie touring the house. I can't seem to embed it here, but you should be able to watch it at this link.

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - June 15, 2014

Happy Father's Day to everyone out there! My own father passed away young, decades ago. Yet I think of him almost every day.

Since it is Sunday, 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. By the end of this week, all the quietness on the blog will go kerflooey as my coverage of the Big Brother live feeds and shows commence. I'll still post this weekly off topic post, but there will be multiple daily content spoilers and such for the show. It's our summer guilty pleasure! Also, Under the Dome and Falling Skies return!

The weather here this past week was similar to the week before -- rain during the weekdays, nice weekends. You would think, with all the technology in the world, instead of spending money on wars, mankind could focus its attention on doing things like harnessing the weather -- redirecting rainfall to areas of drought and such. I'm sure the money spent by all nations for wars could handle that, as well as research into cures for diseases. But, nah. Mankind would rather just kill each other off, I guess.

I realized this past week that I've apparently become allergic to mosquito bites. To those who saw the photo of a bite I posted on Facebook, the bite is okay. Yeah, still obvious and all, but no longer inflamed. If a mosquito bites me on the nose, I'm going to have to hide from all society.

I don't have much more for you right now. Look for BB posts and announcements by the end of the week! If you click on any of the photos, you'll be brought to that image on my Photobucket page. You can make the image larger and really larger from there. Have a great week!

My train arrives

Yes, it's MY train. I'm getting tired of all the strangers and tourists aboard. How dare TD Ball Park in Bridgewater have a Saturday daytime game coinciding with my work commute! Is there a reason that parents and children don't understand that the phrase "inside voice" applies to train travel? Sheesh. I'm seriously frightened that the large percentage of children these days who are never taught how to behave in public places are going to make it an even more ill-mannered society in the future. Sure, children will be children. However, if parents don't address unacceptable behavior at a young age, the kids aren't going to listen to them at all later on. On the other hand, I compliment both child and parent whenever I see good manners and well-behaved children. It makes both the child and parent feel good!                                                      

Approaching storm

I thought Friday's storm was going to miss us as I straddled the line between storm and sun. It was hot and humid with the air so thick that breathing didn't really come easy. To the north and west, dark clouds made the skies look like night was coming. To the south and east, the sun was shining brightly. On the new electronic sign by Plainfield's Municipal Court, the temperature hit over 100 degrees. Of course, the temperature is still whacked on that -- it's still over ten degrees off. It wasn't THAT hot. It was only in the high eighties with severe humidity. The storm hit hard about ten minutes after I got in the door at home. Lightning, thunder, wind and hail. Oh my.

Coming up next!

After the jump (if you're reading from the main blog page, not the individual post link), you'll find this week's flowers slideshow.

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