The Amazing Race 25 Blog Party - October 3

I have to get used to this Friday night slot for the show. While I think it's SO much better than the Sunday slot that was delayed more often than not due to one sport or another ... I almost forgot tonight was the night! Eep!

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! As always, the real party is in the comments area -- everyone is welcome to join in on the fun!

Before we get started, an update on the blog pool is needed. Although we barely got to know them, the real estate sisters were Philiminated last week. They rubbed me wrong when they grabbed the pen out of the firefighter's hand as he was signing up for the seaplane. Although I don't condone guys pushing their way through smaller women (or anyone, for that matter), the firefighters probably wouldn't have done it had the girls not started off the ruckus by stealing the pen and the seaplane spot.

Here's the blog pool from the Magnificent Margo (and Mom) as it currently stands:
Adam & Bethany - chrob61, Kathy in Brooklyn, Kelsey NY, Zoetawny
Brooke & Robbie - Caela, Sharon, Sharon N, Willie J
Dennis & Isabelle - Auntie Leigh, Brian, David, Donna NY, sanra
Keith & Whitney - Jean, Jennasmom, Nana in NW, PDXGranny
Kym & Alli - Brenda, meb, Nicklepeed, Rochelle, Terry in TX
Maya & Amy - Ed in OH, Karen in CA, Lynn1, Margo
Michael & Scott - Donna in FL, Glenn, Jackie, Marlo
Misti & Jim - Cheryl in NC, Laurie, ML, OrkMommy
Shelly & Nici - Buzzmaam, Merrilee, Rbennie, SueGee
Tim & Te Jay - Babs, Brent McKee, Dusty, Monty924,

Sorry you have been PHILIMINATED
Lisa & Michelle - Becky, Delee, dla, Donna in AL

Who's ready to take off from this Pit Stop?

Onto London they go, six teams on the first flight.

Aw, Bethany lost a shoe on the last leg and Amy gave her a pair.

Detour - About Face or Pancake Race. The first is taking part in the changing of the guard (Buckingham Palace type). The latter has them making pancakes and run a lap while flipping said pancake without dropping it.

Bethany and Adam made it through the pancake challenge like it was child's play. They now have to take a train to Oxford.

Drop and punt ... once in Oxford, teams must row (not sure if that's the right terminology) a punting boat one lap. Bethany and Adam remain in first place. Brooke and Robbie are having trouble with About Face while the firefighters keep dropping their pancakes.

Woot! The dentists did the punting from the wrong end of their punting boat -- one stands while the other uses a stick to propel them. They have to do it over.

Adam and Bethany are first to the next clue at Christ Church College. They have a clue for the Express Pass. They go for that rather than the first place finish. Yes! They have it and they're on the way to the Pit Stop!

1. Adam and Bethany! They won a trip to Sweden and have the Express Pass, too!
2. Misti and Jim
3. Kym and Alli
4. Tim and Te Jay
 Brooke and Robbie
 Keith and Whitney
 Maya and Amy
 Michael and Scott
9. Shelley and Nici
10. Dennis and Isabelle

Dennis and Isabelle were Philiminated. The four without numbers above all pretty much came in about the same time and I'm not sure of the order.

Survivor: San Juan Del Sur Blog Party - October 1

Well, I wasn't too upset about last week's cast out castaway even though she was my blog pool random pick! I'm sorry, but I just don't see why the producers and casting are pushing the TAR "twinnies" so much. There are some folks on these shows that people love to hate ... but the twinnies just tend to bring about a heck of a lot of dislike. They're annoying.

Anyway ... as tonight's episode airs here on the East Coast, I'll update this entry with the major happenings. Refresh the page to get the latest! As always, the real party is in the comments area. Come join in on the fun!

First, an update on the pool. As Lifeguard Laurie promised, she reassigned the first boot's pool picks (as we barely got to know them in the premiere, although I feel I knew Nadiya too well already) --

COYOPA
Josh = crob61, Rochelle, Jackie
Alec = Karen in Case, Merrilee
Val = Brenda, Nickelpeed
Wes = Buzzmaam, ORKMommy, sanra
John R = Cheryl NC, MikesGirl, Terry in TX
Jaclyn = CYW Coleman, rbennie
Dale = Brian, Margo
Baylor = Glenn, maquinn78, Sharon S

HUNAHPU
Kelley = Babs Dud, ML, Russ
Missy = Ed in Ohio, Monty924, Sharon N
Keith = Donna in FL, PDX Granny
Jon M = Donna in Alabama, Laurie
Julie = Donna NY, meb
Reed = David, Kathy, Lynn1
Jeremy = Becky, Nana in the NW
Drew = Delee, Petals, SueGee
Natalie = Jennasmom, Kelsey NY

Survivor fans ready?

Josh confessed to Baylor that he voted for her to game to cover up their alliance. Um. Okay. Not the brightest of moves.

Hunahpu has lost their flint. Jon is the one who seems to have lost it.

Reward Challenge has them balancing a ball on a pole through obstacles and then rolling them at a target. The prize is fishing gear. It's John Rocker vs. his gal Julie.

JULIE wins! John goes to Exile Island! She chooses Jeremy to go with him.

Hunahpu wants to trade their beans for a new flint, but keep the fishing gear. All Jeff would offer them is a new flint in exchange for the fishing gear. They took the deal -- they need fire.

Natalie keeps crying because Nadiya is gone.

John drew the blank clue on Exile. Jeremy, although he knows who Rocker is and his racist remarks of the past, shows Rocker his clue to the idol. He wants Rocker to help protect his wife.

Immunity Challenge -- Jeremy and John return to their tribes. It's knocking their opponent off a small platform with a padded doohickey into the water.

Heh. John Rocker got beaten by a girl earlier and now by another Jon.

Hunahpu wins Immunity! (Again.)

Whoa! Rocker found the idol from the clue that Jeremy told him. He thinks that Val also has an idol. He tells her there will be a split vote for her and Baylor. Val says (to us) that she and Jaclyn will also vote Baylor, so no problem. Josh is suspicious.

Tribal Council time, not happy campers at all. The tally: Val, Baylor, Val, Baylor, Val, Baylor, Baylor, Val. It's a tie. Revote time.

Baylor, Val, Val, Val, Val.

Rocker is upset that she didn't play her idol. Well, that's because HE has the idol she should have found!

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - September 28, 2014

Good morning! It's Sunday, time for my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken along the way. This post has no television content, but I guarantee you the next post I make will be about television! Stay tuned.

Now that I said there will be no television content, I'll have to add that I'm glad the season of Big Brother has ended! Ahh ... no more skimping on my sleep to watch silly hamsters. The show has been renewed for two more seasons, though. So, I'll be back at it next summer.

Not much has gone on this week for me. I went back to work after my staycation. While I'm glad that I've had a job (or jobs) all these years through good economies and bad and I've never been unemployed, I'll be happy when the time comes for me to retire. I could find plenty of things I enjoy doing to keep me occupied. It's just that pesky money thing that keeps me going to work.

Perhaps today I'll pretend I'm retired. I'll peruse my Sunday newspaper over coffee and a leisurely breakfast. I'll watch the CBS Sunday Morning news show. I'll later take a leisurely bubble bath while playing jazz, maybe classical, music in the background. I'll bake some blueberry muffins. I'll read. I'll fix a nice little dinner for myself, perhaps accompanied by a Weyerbacher Merry Monks Belgian-style tripel beer (yes, I bought some of that this week). I'll watch some television, play with Vincent.

And then tomorrow, it's back to work.

Sigh.

Onto this week's photos! Clicking on an image will bring up a Photobucket window. There, you can make the image larger twice by clicking on the magnifying icon at the top of the image. To return to the blog, just close that page. With the flowers slideshow, the diagonal arrow on the bottom right of the page will bring you fullscreen.

Pardon me, I have a lot of relaxing to get in today ...

NJ Transit, the way to go

Or, so say their ad slogans. The trains on my line (Raritan Valley Line) are usually on time. It has to be recorded with the government if they're more than six minutes late. The buses, on the other hand, aren't all that timely. The schedule isn't bad at all. But, the traffic is! I took this shot on a beautiful (obviously) afternoon at the Plainfield Train Station.

Whatchoo lookin' at?

Nature truly makes better aliens than does Hollywood. This was a huge grasshopper I met the same day I took the photo above. As a matter of fact, he was on the train station platform. After taking some photos of him, I helped him get to the grass. He wasn't too spry. However, I thought the grass was a better place for him.

Reflection in a puddle

The just post sunrise sun lights up the red brick building reflected in this puddle. I never get tired of taking puddle shots! Bridgewater, NJ

*CLICK THE 'READ MORE' LINK TO SEE THE REST OF THE PHOTOS AND THIS WEEK'S FLOWER SLIDESHOW!**

The Amazing Race 25: Season Premiere Blog Party and Pool

Are you ready? On your mark, get set ... blog party! It's the 25th season of Philiminations and people who don't take the time to learn how to drive a manual transmission car! 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! As always, the party is in the comments area (we've soundproofed the comments room so our party doesn't disturb the neighbors). Come join us there!

Before we get started, the Magnificent Margo and Mom have made the random picks for the blog pool. Yes, she rocks and that's how we roll! I'm making a bit of a "cheat sheet" with small photos of the teams, names, brief bits and the blog members whose pick they are. Without further ado:

Keith and Whitney: engaged couple, both 29, both Nashville -- #TeamNashville, she's a singer/songwriter, he's an energy advisor, they met on Survivor. They are no longer engaged. They recently married.

Pool Pick for: Jean, Jennasmom, Nana in NW, PDXGranny

Kim and Alli: friends, 30/26, Master Instructor for Soulcycle and YouTube MOGUL er, (sorry, Frankie outburst) channel and Alli is a personal trainer, Brooklyn and New York, New York. Of course, Brooklyn is part of NY, NY. Hmm. Maybe Manhattan? #TheCyclists

Pool Pick for: Brenda, meb, Nicklepeed, Rochelle, Terry in TX

Lisa and Michelle: Sisters, 28/22, both in real estate, both from Miami, FL. They already work together as a team in real estate, so that should benefit them in the race. Together, they're one of the top sales teams in Southern Florida. #MiamiRealtors

Pool Pick for: Becky, Delee, dla, Donna in AL

Maya and Amy: Lab mates/friends, 29/24, both are Ph.D. students (Food Science) at The University of Wisconsin, Madison. They're out to prove scientists can be fun! #SweetScientists

Pool Pick for: Ed in OH, Karen in CA, Lynn1, Margo

Michael and Scott: Friends/firefighters in the same ladder company, 40/39, Boston, MA/Chelsea, MA. I can only think that their jobs will help them in some of the Detours and Roadblocks -- you know they're not scared of heights! #TheFirefighters

Pool Pick for: Donna in FL, Glenn, Jackie, Marlo

Misti and Jim: Married dentists (married to each other -- she's a cosmetic dentist, he's an orthodontist), 36/37, Columbia, SC. Hmm ... we may have the Bickersons here. She says there's no filter between his brain and mouth. He says they may have problems working as a team. #The Dentists

Pool Pick for: Cheryl in NC, Laurie, ML, OrkMommy

Shelley and Nici: Mother/Daughter, 42/24, both are flight attendants, Detroit, MI. Ah, flight attendants! That may be a plus in airports! Heh. Shelley says she's proud to have raised children who don't seek out therapy. I think I'll like these two! #MomDaughter

Pool Pick for: Buzzmaam, Merrilee, Rbennie, SueGee

Adam and Bethany: Married, 24/26, she's a pro surfer and motivational speaker; he's a "professional husband." (Now, there's a gig for ya!). Both Princeville, Hawaii. She's the woman who lost her arm to a shark while surfing back when she was a teenager. #SoulSurfers

Pool Pick for: chrob61, Kathy in Brooklyn, Kelsey NY, Zoetawny 

Brooke and Robbie: Dating, 29/30, both professional wrestlers, she's from Houston, TX/he's from Woodbridge, NJ (hey, NEIGHBOR!). We might have the Bickersons Redux here. I'm not too keen on them although they just might do well. #TheWrestlers

Pool Pick for: Caela, Sharon, Sharon N, Willie J
 

Dennis and Isabelle: Dating, 30/28, she's a model; he's in financial accounting. Both come to us from Tustin, CA. More bickering possibilities? Eek. #TheDatingCouple

Pool Pick for: Auntie Leigh, Brian, David, Donna NY, sanra

Tim and Te Jay: College sweethearts, 23/24, flight attendant/server and female impersonator. South Pasadena and Pasadena, CA. They think they're fabulous. Maybe by the end of the race (or their end of the race), they'll think they're fierce. I dunno. #CollegeSweethearts

Pool Pick for: Babs, Brent McKee, Dusty, Monty924  


Ready to race around the world and PARTY! GO! 

They're starting the race from Manhattan like they did 25 years ago. They're starting out in Times Square. How did I miss going over there to see that?

The winner of the first leg also wins The Save -- if they're in trouble, they can use it at any time to save themselves.  Going to St. Thomas, only five teams on the first flight. The second flight is 40 minutes behind the first. 

Once there, they have to sign up for seaplane flights. Yikes! The sisters stole the pen from the firefighters as they were signing up for their flight. Okay, that was down and dirty. 

Take a leap of faith, must leap two stories into the sea from an outcrop of rocks to retrieve their next clue. They're off to a pirate ship where they get the next clue. And that leads them to their next clue.

Roadblock - Navigate beach with compass, shovel and use coordinates to find a treasure chest in the sand to find their next clue. 

The Dentists dude is the only one who seems to know how to read the compass. They're heading to the Pit Stop. He even helped several other teams understand the compass. 

The Pit Stop! 
1. Misti and Jim -- they win the Save 

All of the other teams are having problems with the Roadblock. Finally a few are getting it. 

2. Tim and Te Jay
3. Kim and Alli
4. Brooke and Robbie
5. Adam and Bethany
6. Amy and Maya 
7. Dennis and Isabelle
8. Shelley and Nici 

The sisters and Keith/Whitney want to take a four hour penalty and not finish. The firefighters agree to do it, too. 

Good. The firefighters stole the cab from the girls.

9/10 - Mike/Scott and Keith/Whitney (not sure of their order)

Lisa and Michelle are Philiminated. Good. Karma. The firefighters wouldn't have pushed their way into the cab had the girls not stolen their pen from them to sign up for the seaplane. 

Big Brother 16: Hamsters do Interviews Galore

First thing ... we all must bow to blog pool winners Ed in Ohio, Jessica UNderwood, Marlo, Stormy, Erinkate. They had Derrick in the blog pool and we know how that turned out! I myself had PaoPao. Lucky me.

Okay, I was up way too late last night watching the one website which was streaming the backyard interviews live (linked at the top of last night's finale post). I know the guy was in the media day at the house, but he drove me crazy last night -- although I'm thankful that SOMEONE live streamed some of the interviews.

How did he drive me crazy? You don't realize how many times you say the word "when," especially WHEN doing interviews. Instead of the word "when," each time he would say "whenever." Ack! Maybe it's a regional thing out of Topeka, I don't know. The only hamster to call him on it was Jocasta. Praise the lord! Hallelujah! It wasn't just me!

The things I picked up in last night's interviews more so than these select CBS ones I'm posting are:

• I was right. I know I saw on the live feeds whenever Donny promised Cody he'd vote for him if he made the final two.
• SEE HOW AWFUL "WHENEVER" SOUNDS WHEN YOU MEAN "WHEN'?!?
• Donny promised him once. When he promised him, not whenever ... that implies multiple promises! But that is why Donny voted for Cody.
• That said, every time it was mentioned that Derrick is a cop, Donny really reacted a bit off to me. He seems to have a dislike of police officers going on there.
• Donny also admitted to be the one to cross Victoria's name off the bathroom stall wall. Everyone (including me) figured that was Zach's work.
• Nicole and Hayden are officially dating. They're even talking about both relocating to perhaps the Chicago area. I like them as a couple and think something might just happen with them down the road.
• Not like the split-up of McCranda. I saw that one a mile away.
• What I missed on the live feeds is that Jocasta also promised Cody she would vote for him if he made the final two.
• So, there ya go. The two votes for Cody to win weren't bitter jury member doing at all. BOTH were promises made and kept.
• Although, though I really like the guy, Donny seems to be a bit bitter about Derrick in almost all the interviews I've watched. Whether it's the cop thing or just the fact that he tried to get people to realize Derrick was the mastermind and no one listened ... I don't know. The man does have an edge to him that I saw very little of in the house. Maybe the time in jury had him stewing.
• He's absolutely thrilled with America's Favorite.
• On the other hand, Cody has been absolutely fantastic even knowing that he pretty much gave away nearly a half-million.

I'm posting mainly the interviews I'm interested in watching from the CBS website. You can find other interviews at --

• Rob Has a Podcast (Rob Cesterino) has interviews with the final three.
• Don't ask me who Kelli Green of KFROG is, but she has her own backyard interviews with the hamsters.
• I know I kept seeing Rachel and the dude she's with on YouTube (not Brendon, a working thing) in the backyard. But I'm not finding her interviews online.
• Onto my select CBS ones ...

 

Remember ... if you wish in on the blog pool for The Amazing Race, you need to sign up by Friday noon ET on this post << that would be the post! Not THIS post!