Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - January 25, 2015

I realize I was a no-show here last Sunday. You have my apologies. I really didn't have much to update and hadn't taken any photos.

For those of you interested in television, I've checked out the cast for the upcoming Survivor season in posts at this Worlds Apart Casting blog tag. The last installment of that will be up this afternoon. I also continue to post daily photos from my archives on my photo blog I Shoot Stuff I See.

Although I'm still having headaches and some dizziness, I'll be going back to work tomorrow. I have a new doctor who actually prescribed some medication instead of the last one who just kept telling me to take over the counter drugs and giving me time off from work -- roughly doing nothing for me. I actually don't think the new meds are helping a lot, but I'll see how it goes.

We had a snowstorm here Friday night into Saturday, but I didn't go out for photos. Apparently I'll get plenty of opportunity to get snow shots as we have a storm forecast for tomorrow into Tuesday ... or Wednesday. Oy. I needed that on my return to work! (No, I didn't!) Right now a Winter Storm Watch is up starting 1pm tomorrow with heavy snow expected to come tomorrow night. If it's heavy enough, it will turn to a Winter Storm Warning. And, if it's bad enough, I may end up staying home Tuesday. We'll see.

Onto what photos I've taken, none a work of art:

Vincent in nap mode

Vincent is going to miss me being around. I'm sure he'll nap a lot. But he won't have me to be his human couch. This is him in his chair by my computer chair. Yes, he has a comfy toss pillow atop the chair.

I met a dog

I actually met the dog twice in the same spot. His owner ties him up to go into the local bodega. The first day I saw the owner tying the dog and entering. A few days later, I saw the dog already tied up and spotted the owner inside. The owner seemed tickled that I knew it was his dog and said the dog is safe to pet. I got out before him, so I approached the dog. Awww, it's a sweetie. When I got home, Vincent was not happy. He knew I petted a dog.

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

Survivor: Worlds Apart - White Collar

I delved into the Blue Collar Tribe (hereafter referred to in this blog as BCT) in this previous post. I'll be tagging all my casting posts for the show with the tag Worlds Apart Casting for easy reference. I'm just thoughtful like that. Yeah. That's the ticket!

Now it's time to take a look at the White Collar Tribe -- WCT for my lackadaisical posting purposes. Sure, CBS calls them Masaya. But what do they know?

CAROLYN RIVERA:
Yes! A 52 year old corporate executive from Tampa, Florida. She's originally from Queens, NYC. Already I'm digging the age. She's been married for 36 years (which is much longer than some of her fellow castaways have been on this earth). She has three "successful kids." She likes softball and Hilary Clinton. But, what really caught my interest is that she participates in Tough Mudders. I have some friends who do that. I would never do it; I'd keel over. If she can make it through Tough Mudder events, she should be able to handle any challenge Survivor throws her way.

Definitely not a Florida accent on her, huh? After watching the video, I'm not as sure about how she will be in the social game, especially with those younger than her. I think she might come across as bossy. That said, it would be fantastic if the sole Survivor was a 52 year old woman, wouldn't it?

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JOAQUIN SOUBERBUELLE:

Joaquin is another relative New Yorker -- from Valley Stream, which is on Long Island adjacent to NYC. He's a 27 year old marketing director. Although his online bio is rather short, I'm getting smug vibes from it. He claims he likes leading the sort of life that allows him to overindulge. Now, I've never known that kind of life myself. (Except when it comes to chocolate, that is.) He says he has little tolerance for people with no common sense. That, I like. He also claims to be smart, social and "unbelievably athletic." @@

After watching the video, I feel the need to up his chances a bit. No, I don't like him -- he's not someone who'd be on my friends list on Facebook, even. I did like that he admits he has "the attention span of a goldfish." While he admits his very smug traits and seems to realize many of them aren't always ones which make a person admirable or popular, he just might have what it takes to go far in the game. I can see him being decent in challenges and underhanded, too.

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MAX DAWSON:

Here's the guy I really want to watch. Max has a PhD and he's 37 years old currently from Topanga, California. He lists his occupation as a media consultant. But, he's an ex-professor who taught a college class about the show. That is why I'm going to have to see how he does! I like a few more things about him -- he'd love to have a black cat on the island as "you always feel better petting a cat." His favorite on the show was Jonathan Penner, a pretty wise choice. He's coming across a bit smug about his brilliance factor. I'll have to see how that plays out. He's very pale, almost a Cochran level of white.

He comes across better in the video. He seems to have grasped the "important" lies to tell -- about idols and the social game itself rather than what he does for a living. I like that he wants to do honor to the game. Mind you, he's not saying honesty to the game. He means he wants to play the game well. You can't throw honesty into that criteria. It's Survivor, after all. He'll be interesting to watch.

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SHIRIN OSKOOI:

Shirin is a 31 year old Yahoo executive living in San Francisco, California. She's an ex-Google employee who apparently played a big part in making Google calendar the #1 online calendar. She's happy to be able to help her mother financially. She likes Larry David because he's a "hilarious weirdo" and RuPaul. She doesn't like quitters and morons. She will be good at the nasty food challenge and plans to play the "ultimate social game." I don't know. I'm actually kind of liking her touch of crazy, yet dedication to her work and family. Has she won me over?

I think she might be someone I actually LIKE on the show. Mind you, that doesn't necessarily equate to me thinking she will win it all. Other than the food challenge and perhaps puzzle solving, she might have problems with the physical parts of the challenges. No, she's not out of shape. However, she just isn't screaming POWERHOUSE to me. I hope she can work out the moodiness from the lack of sleep. I'd like to see her do well. She's been a huge fan of the show for years.

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SO KIM:

So, I wish everyone had such easy to spell short names! So is a divorced 31 year old retail buyer currently living in Long Beach, California. (Or do you live ON Long Beach? I'm so confused ... but I digress.) If she were one of the guys, I think I'd say she seems full of herself in her online bio. Instead, for some reason, she comes across as confident. Maybe it's some weird sexist agenda in my head. She thinks she's a mix of Ozzy, Cochran and Parvati. Now, if she is ... just call her the winner now! She says she wants to make big moves and not play it safe. Huh. That's admirable, but it's been the downfall of many.

She doesn't seem as cocksure in her video. I also notice that she claims to be living and working in New York City, contrary to the online bio. Her strategy is to use her intellect, but show the smiling face to the others. She might have a problem when the food deprivation kicks in big time. My personal jury is out on her at this time.

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TYLER FREDRICKSON:

Tyler is a 33 year old ex-talent agency assistant currently living in Los Angeles, California. Reading his bio, I'm a bit speechless. It's odd. He claims to like dressing as a bearded hobo and scaring children as others won't do it. He said "Ha!" when asked about his favorite sport. He claims to be a flirt. He doesn't look too athletic in the photo for the bio, yet claims to have played on seven professional football teams. On the pro side, he's never missed an episode of the show and survived the political cut-throat environment of a talent agency. Oh. But he's not there anymore. He says he has two masters degrees. Maybe the video will clear this up --

Go figure. His video has him living in Pasadena. Plus, he admits to being roughly a secretary at the talent agency. He mentions being an NFL player at one time, but I've never heard of him. Of course, that means nothing as I'm not a fan of the game. I still have no clue how he'll play the game. He seems like he might be able to do well both socially and in challenges. He could be a wild card.

Your thoughts?

Survivor: Worlds Apart -- Blue Collar

With the tribes broken into three, it makes my decisions on the casting posts much easier -- I'll go by tribe! The Blue Collar Tribe, while in my mind is BCT, is called Escameca.

DAN FOLEY:
Dan is 47 years old and very married. In his online bio, he mentions his wife more than a few times. He's listed as a postal worker, but he's also a landlord and he's a technician at the post office. Definitely a fan of the show, he thinks he should be good at all comps except perhaps for ones involving running. He also thinks he should be good at the social game as he can "schmooze."

Dan has been trying to get on the show since the second season! Y'know ... I think I like this guy. The downside might be his age although I love older people cast on reality competition shows! But if he comes against some young athletic alpha dude with Survivor smarts, he just might be toast.

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KELLY REMINGTON:
Compared to Dan, Kelly's online bio is really short. She's 44 years old, a state trooper from Grand Island, NY. For those who only think NYC when it comes to New York, Grand Island is actually an island abutted by the Niagara River, not far from Niagara Falls. Hmm ... her bio lists "commitment" as her biggest pet peeve. Well, apparently she committed to be a state trooper, that's not an easy undertaking. Hopefully, she'll commit to being the sole Survivor! One of the things she wishes she could bring is a camera. Oh! I like that!

That video doesn't tell us too much more about her. One thing I picked up on is that she seems a very young 44. She seems pretty upbeat, too. I personally hope she can escape the "Mom" stigma which seems to follow any female castaway over 40.

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LINDSEY CASCADDAN:

Okay, Lindsey is more of the ilk we often see on Survivor. Pretty, 24 years old and a hairdresser. She lists dating as her favorite sport. Um-hmm. She knows she's pretty. She uses extraneous exclamation points in her bio!!! "I’m the most strategic, stubborn and athletic girl I know! I’m resourceful, I’m vicious and I think I do very well under pressure!" Okay! You can talk the talk but can you walk the walk, Lindsey?

The video reveals that she's a single mom. So what. Half the world seems to be single moms these days. Have her come back to me when the kids are adults and we'll see how things go. One thing I picked up on in the video is that she says nothing should make her quit. Wha ...? Why would quitting even come into the conversation? I peg her for not being a worker at the game and for possibly being a quitter. So there. We'll see.

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MIKE HOLLOWAY:

Mike is 38, an oil driller from North Richland Hills, Texas. He sacrificed with a lot of ramen noodle nights to pay his house off in two and a half years. Good for him. What is it with this disc golf stuff? Dan Foley also mentioned it. I have no clue what it is. I'll have to Google it. He's a punctuality and proper spelling fan. I like that in a man! His favorites are Cochran, Ozzy and Boston Rob. Decent choices. Huh. He mentions quitting too -- as in "I'll die before I quit!" But, with him, I don't think there's any possibility.

Oh my gosh. He sounds like he's talking with a throat full of gravel. Maybe he's been breathing in too much drilling debris. In a way, I want to cheer him on. But I have some kind of nagging feeling that, for some reason, he might rub some of his fellow castaways the wrong way unless he can really turn on the country charm.

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RODNEY LAVOIE, JR. :

Rodney is 24 years old, a general contractor out of Boston. His online bio is fairly short, but quite full of himself. I get that he's a big football fan still living his high school football glory days. That's fine. Maybe when he hits 30, new dreams will take the place of his high school jock days. He mentions his bachelor's degree as almost an afterthought. While he's probably going to be strong athletically, we've seen so many young dudes like him before. Onto the video ...

No surprises there. He's very cocksure and full of himself. While he isn't bad-looking, he's no Tom Brady (his apparent idol). I really don't have too much more to say about him other than I love to see young blowhards fall hard. I can only hope! Maybe he'll come across differently during the game. I reserve the right to change my mind about him. But, you've got my first impression!

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SIERRA DAWN THOMAS:

Sierra is another pretty blonde rather young'un, but seems different to me. She's a cowgirl! She's 27 years old, a "barrel racer" from Roy, Utah. What's a barrel racer? I don't know. It's something to do with rodeo, not an area of expertise for me. She's a national champion at it, though. Dang ... she's 6'1" tall! She's going to dwarf some of the men! She's very country with fishing, hunting and hiking. She's also into sports other than rodeo. She's a big fan of chocolate milk and Parvati Shallow. 

Hmm ... the only drawback I can see from the video is she might be a bit too trusting although she mentions she can't be. I think she'll be good in comps, probably a good worker. She seems smart. But, with her life being so "good people" based, will she be cut-throat enough for the win? I don't know. I do think she's got a lot more game than the other blonde gal on BCT.

Your thoughts on this tribe?

Survivor: Worlds Apart -- Casting Video

Earlier I brought you the casting announcement video for the upcoming season of The Amazing Race.

Now it's time for the Survivor: Worlds Apart casting video of the same ilk.



As with the cast of TAR, I'll be delving into these castaways as the days go on. After all, the season premiere for both shows isn't until February 25!

One quick observation -- that professor is going to sunburn SO bad.

The Amazing Race 26 -- Dating Couples

Of course, the hitch to this is that some are on a whirlwind competitive race around the world on a BLIND DATE!



I'm wondering who might have the edge here. We've seen how actual dating couples bicker at each other constantly. Will "strangers" be better off? Will they end up being bickering couples by the end of the season?

The CBS website has the bios of the teams up. As the days go by, I'll be sharing my thoughts on the teams. Have you any initial impressions or thoughts about the strangers on a race bit?

And, yes. I'm still alive.