Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - June 21, 2015

Good morning! It's Sunday, the first day of summer and Father's Day all wrapped in one! Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! I'd say Happy Summer, but it's not my favorite season of the year -- I'm more into less extreme weather. Give me spring or autumn weather all year 'round and I'd be thrilled. Since it's also Sunday, it's time for my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken along the way.

If you're looking for Big Brother television show content, check out this link right here for the latest. If you want to sign up to be in the blog pool for the show, you need to sign up only on this linked post. (Otherwise we might miss your request!) Later on today, I plan to post some hot gossip on some of the new house hamsters. Yikes. I said "hot gossip." I feel like a tabloid.

I really don't have much to report on from this past week. Here are some random bits and pieces:

• I managed to catch one of the illnesses going around my workplace this week -- yet another monster cold combined with allergies I've already been suffering. Wah. 
• The weather this past week has been hot, humid and rainy. I don't like that. Make it stop.
• The new guy next door, even when his adult children (maybe in their forties) came with a child about seven carrying a big ball ... hasn't moved my floorboards with thumping, nor can I hear much at all from over there. I still haven't met him. The couple was bearing groceries and I'd guess the child is a grandchild. Oh, and I should add, the boy was CARRYING the ball in the hallway, not bouncing it. 
• We're under a flood watch today. I'm staying in. But it can still stop, please.
• I'm shocked and saddened by the Charleston, SC, massacre this past week. Those folks took him in to pray with them. It speaks volumes about the goodness in their hearts and the hate in his. This world is so messed up. 

Anyway ... onto the photos. Clicking on an image will bring up a larger version.

Mug shot profile

Have you seen this bird? Heh. This is one of the adolescent pigeons born this spring at the Bridgewater Train Station. Similar to how one of the parent pigeons posed for me one day with curiosity about the camera, as did this one and its sibling this past week.

Peapod in da 'hood

I spotted the bright green Peapod grocery delivery truck down the street from me one day. Grocery delivery is really catching on. For the longest time I thought I was the only one around here getting Peapod. Nowadays, at least two other people in my building use the service in addition to this stop down the street and the times I've seen the truck pull in at apartments across the street.

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

Big Brother 17: The Blog Pool is OPEN!

Yep, the blog pool for BB17 is now open, thanks to that rockin' ORKMommy who will randomly match us up with house hamsters!

How it works:

• You need to sign up on THIS post and not in any other place on the blog! It's not that we're being cruel or picky ... it's just that if you sign up elsewhere, we might miss the request!
• The deadline for signing up is Tuesday (June 23) at NOON ET. Be there or be square. Or something like that.
• The pool match-ups will be posted prior to the season premiere on June 24.

What do you have to do?

• All you need to do is cheer on your blog pool pick (even if they could very well be someone you really don't enjoy).

What do you win?

• Because we're just such a large budget operation here, you win ... BRAGGING RIGHTS! Yes, you heard me. From now until the zombie apocalypse, you can brag about winning this pool. This will surely be a life-changing experience!

Please sign up in the comments section and let's have a fun season here on the blog!

Big Brother 17: House Tour, 16 Place Settings and Weekly Twists

Now things seem to be getting a bit complicated. Fourteen new hamsters have been introduced, yet there are 16 settings at the table. Check out the house tour video below ...

I actually kind of prefer this year's design over last year. But then there's the pesky count of seats at the kitchen table ...

And now we have a bit of an announcement regarding the expected, er ... expect the unexpected, twist(s) for the season. Hmm. From the announcement: "Each week a surprise guest will appear on the show to announce a new and different twist into the game." Um. Okay. It doesn't explain the extra two place settings.

What do you think it's all about?

Big Brother 17 New Hamsters: Part Three

This is my third and final(?) installment looking at the new cast we're going to live with all summer. Why the question mark? Well, there's only 14 houseguests listed on the CBS website yet 16 places at the table. I expect we'll have a few more coming in the house -- my guess would be previous hamsters. I just hope it's not Frankie. My other hope would be that it's two people over 40 years old or of color. This cast is very young (33 is the oldest) and quite milquetoast bland.

My previous two posts on the cast are Part One and Part Two. ALL of my Big Brother posts can be found at this link right here. Check 'em out!

Jace Agolli

My first impressions from the Jeff Schroeder interview: Skater Boi. Personal trainer. Thinks he's super-personable. Claims to be a big fan of the show. It's all about the gameplay more than the money. Fast talker for a guy originally from the south and now living in California. Adrenalin junkie. Very confident, but not all that off-putting. He could very well have game.

Jace is 23, I assume single, originally from Dunwoody, Georgia, now residing in Venice Beach, California. His bio doesn't offer up much more than I saw in the video. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. He might be a smaller version of Frank without Boogie.

*************************************

Da'vonne Rogers

My first impressions from the Jeff Schroeder interview: Finally, a woman of color -- the only one in this bland cast! Her name is pronounced DAY-vonne. Ha! A professional poker dealer who's not going to reveal her job! Maybe she'll recognize what's-her-name, the pro-poker player! Another "huge fan" of the show from the start. Although she's older than some, I'm still having problems thinking children are sitting around watching the show. She would have been 12 during season one. She does seem to know the show, though. She wants to win it to give her daughter a better life than she has had. I worry a bit because she's outspoken and that can make for enemies in the house. She definitely has the right attitude going in.

Da'Vonne is a 27 year old single mom originally from Inglewood, California, now residing in Los Angeles, California. Well, this is interesting -- she watched the show all the time with her grandmother, the one who convinced her to apply. She loved and hated Rachel -- loved her in comps, hated the emo agenda. (I can understand that although, for me, the emo bit was over the top and diminished the super comp competitor side.) She's the rebel from a family deep into religion. She should be interesting to watch!

*********************************

Shelli Poole

My first impressions from the Jeff Schroeder interview: Oh, geez ... another perky blonde gal. She plans on laying low in the beginning and observe. Her strategy is to continuously adapt as you never know what's coming. Even she thinks she's "older" at 33 and has an edge in playing the game.

Shelli is 33 (the OLDEST member of the cast, sigh), single, an interior designer originally from Marietta, Georgia and now living in Atlanta. She has an etsy.com site for selling her custom designed jewelry. She got married when she was 28 and divorced a year later. I don't know. She's very perky and blonde. I'm not sure I can take all this perkiness.

**********************************

John McGuire

This guy is still the hold-out on the Jeff Schroeder interviews at cbs.com. That's why the funky photo of him. I had to take it from his online show bio.

John is a 27 year old dentist originally from Scranton, Pennsylvania who now lives in Jefferson Township, Pennsylvania. He doesn't like the "nerdy know-it-alls" on past seasons (like Ian, Derrick, Nicole) because they let their knowledge of the game turn into hero worship. He says he's loud, obnoxious and energetic.

Hmm ... maybe he said something evil to Jeff? I don't know why no interview. I'm probably not going to like him, but I'll hold my judgment ... for now.

Big Brother 17 New Hamsters: Part Two

You can find my first post on five new houseguests at this link here. Here goes the second group of five --

Meg Maley

My first impressions from the Jeff Schroeder interview: Another "people person." Oy. Another "big fan" of the show. "Goofy girl" -- okay, the second one of them! Similar to Steve, she wants to play innocent until she backstabs. This one just might be the voice which makes me cringe on the live feeds.

Meg is 25, seems to be single, originally hails from the rather mellow South Jersey town of Collingswood (known for its farm markets and such), currently resides in NYC where she works as a server. How typical is that casting? At least she's not a mixologist. I don't know. Perky tends to turn me off a bit. I'll have to see with her. Uh-oh. In her bio, she says Frankie Grande was her favorite. Can she be first out, please?

**********************************

James Huling

My first impressions from the Jeff Schroeder interview: Oh, my. I didn't expect such a strong Southern accent from him! Another "people person." He has a daughter and an adopted son. Aw. Downright country boy? He thinks he's in for a great experience. He wants to play the game with integrity. We all know how well that works. But he really would like to win the money for his family. He mentioned that he's the first "hillbilly Asian" ever in the house.

James is one of the "old" guys on the show -- he's 31! He's a retail associate originally from Sumter, South Carolina and currently living in Wichita Falls, Texas. He lived in a boys home after his mother died and his father couldn't care for him. He was adopted by a Caucasian family whom he thinks the world of. He served six years in the military. He seems like a really good guy. That integrity bit might just trip him up, though.

**********************************

 

Liz Nolan

My first impressions from the Jeff Schroeder interview: Is there a reason she came all exposed to the interview? That dress is cut almost down to the navel with no bra. I think I'll have to refer to her as "Sex Kitten" for the summer. That's apparently the image she wants to have. She talked of her heels, bikinis and rocking her body. Ew. She's single and wants a flirtmance. I'm sorry. Call me a prude. But I can't get behind someone who introduces herself to the world with her boobs hanging out. She claims to have been into the live feeds. That doesn't make me like her. Although sitting, she seems to dwarf Jeff.

Liz is 23, a marketing coordinator from Miami. One of her worries about being in the house is that she has to remember not to walk around naked. @@ Yes, I'm rolling my eyes. I don't want or need to see that. I think she forgot to wear clothes for the interview! She likes Jeff and Jordan ... and Frankie. She's a mainstay on the Miami nightclub circuit. Why am I not surprised? NEXT.

*************************************

Jason Roy

 

My first impressions from the Jeff Schroeder interview: Superfan, live feeds fan. He talks about missing his girls but my gaydar is going off. I could be wrong. It doesn't really matter. He says he will probably losing his job stocking groceries. Ah, okay ... now he's talking about being the "gay glue" and working with a girls alliance on the show. I wasn't wrong. He's also a fan of all the English speaking international BB shows. I can see where this guy might be fun to hang out with, but could be annoying living with him day in and day out.

Jason is 25, lives at home with his parents in Fall River, Massachusetts. He seems to have a lot of girls for a supermarket overnight stocker. His fandom level seems just a bit shy of writing blogs and monitoring AOL message boards since season one. (Now, who's THAT crazy?)

********************************

Clay Honeycutt

My first impressions from the Jeff Schroeder interview: Well, hello, good-looking young man! Here's my eye candy for the season! One point against him -- in the first minute of the interview, he used the phrase "at the end of the day." I'm so tired of that bunch o' words! He just discovered the show four months ago. Hmm. Sigh. He's a repeat user of "at the end of the day." Like we needed another one of those! He says he's a Momma's boy and also loves his Dad and siblings. If he wins, his first use of the money will be paying for grad school. He seems like a nice guy, but being nice and not really knowing how nasty things can get, he just might be out of his element. Third "at the end of the day." He needs to stop that.

Clay is 23, from Dickinson, Texas. He currently resides in College Station, Texas and is a graduate student at Texas A&M. He's single. What I find the coolest (besides the eye candy factor) is that his mother keeps exotic animals and is a wildlife rehabilitator.

That's all for now! I'll be posting Part Three tomorrow morning. Right now one Jeff interview isn't up on the site. Hopefully it will be remedied by morning.