Big Brother 17: Live Feeds Monday Daytime, PoV Meeting - August 3

Talking periodontal stuff

Here's the latest from inside that Big Brother House of Future Psych Patients:

• Vanessa swore her allegiance to whomever stays if the nominations remain the same.
• Which, of course, they did. James stayed true to his word and Shelli/Clay remain on the block.
• Shelli cried.
• There apparently was bad behavior from either Shelli or Clay (or both) at the veto meeting.
• The feeds are blocked for that, so we have to depend on what they say in the house after the fact.
• Austin, Liz and Julia all agree that they don't trust either Shelli or Clay. They want to keep Vanessa and Steve around, though.
• It sounds like it's going to be a bit of a toss-up which one will go home.
• James wants Shelli out because she's the stronger player and a larger threat for the win.
• On the other hand, Shelli has played more of a social game with those on her "side" of the house and it looks like most of them want to keep her over Clay.
• Vanessa is going to work on getting votes to keep her.
• Again, they're worried about a double eviction this week.
• Again, I doubt that will be this week -- too much stuff which has to be addressed in both shows, Wednesday and Thursday.
• After the veto meeting, Clay and Shelli exiled themselves and have been sleeping most of the day.
• I can't really blame Shelli -- she went through that grueling knight sword 2400 times within 24 hours stuff, then was up past dawn trying to talk James into using the veto.
• At least Clay got up to eat Meg's chicken and/or chips. I haven't seen Shelli.
• That's it for now! 

He's chosen a side

They didn't throw that hat away. Grr.

Will the Save Shelli movement work?

Stuck to his guns

Big Brother 17: Live Feeds into Monday Morning - August 3

Will he waffle?

They made up for the lack of game talk during the veto punishments yesterday by going at it all night. Here's the latest from inside that Big Brother House of Tense Turmoil:

• Clay and Shelli have played such an honest game, y'know.
• Just ask them.
• Wait, no need to ask them! They'll tell you without any prompting!
• They're scrambling.
• That's what they are.
• First they try to throw Vanessa under the bus.
• It's not like James is thisclose to Vanessa anyway. Yeah, he's willing to work with her, but he's smart enough to not really trust her 100%.
• Next, they go for Steve.
• Now, the Steve bit has been ongoing, but James and Meg have planted a few seeds to see if it would grow.
• James has told Steve he will not put him on the block.
• And, that's a promise he's going to keep.
• As the night progressed, their latest target became Austin.
• Oh, gee. They're giving James the option of definitely breaking up the power duo, hopefully sending the brains of it (Shelli) home against a huge doofus who's probably not got a chance of winning a comp.
• Before the present as I post this meeting between Clay, Shelli, James, Jackie and Meg, James and Meg had both claimed the nominations will remain the same. The plan is to just let them talk, gather any info they'll give and keep the nominations as they are.
• Even though Shelli spills about Judas/Austin, I doubt James will change his mind.
• James is really good at this stuff. He's not making any promises. He's just saying he wants to make sure the person who goes home needs to go home. He won't say one person made worse decisions than another at this point. 
• James thinks show fans probably don't like him now because he put Clay and Shelli on the block.
• Au contraire, silly James! From what I can tell, the sentiment has gone overboard in approval even.
• Despite how much they lie about playing an honest game, despite who they throw under that proverbial reality television bus ... as James says, "The train has left the station. One of them must go home."
• Heh. He ain't no Vanessa.

Making promises, telling lies.

I just don't know.

Steve plays the hammock strings.

Sad Shelli

Better in a shirt, thank you.

Big Brother 17: Live Feeds Sunday into the Evening - August 2

Shelli workin' that sword!

Here's the latest from inside that Big Brother House of Kinda Sorta Medieval Times But Not Quite:

• I've made it clear that I'm not a Shelli fan. Oh, I don't hate her or anything like that. She's just not someone who'd be a friend of mine in real life, I don't think.
• But I have to give her credit where credit is due. She rocked that punishment! (Which, by the way, was given to her by James who then took the veto away from her.)
• To give her even more credit, whomever runs her official Twitter is following my Twitter -- first hamster account to do so. Hey, maybe we could be friends in another life!
• 2400 times in 24 hours, she had to walk a triangle in the yard. First she had to hit a hanging punching bag with her sword, then put the sword through a target, then knock a bar down with it.
• She did it, finishing about two hours shy of the 24 hours she had.
• Meanwhile, Clay has been little but a bad example of a recruited player.
• He's going around saying that people should vote him out and let Shelli stay in the game.
• True, she has a better chance of winning it all than he does.
• That's why James and Company want her out instead of Clay.
• Clay isn't much more than an interfering oaf who thinks he's all that and a bag of chips.
• Steve even apologized to the camera, saying that he's sorry that Clay took a space instead of those who would really play the game and want to be there.
• You don't throw away a chance to win a half-million dollars for someone you met a month ago!
• Julia had an interesting talk with Meg and James. She totally gets that Shelli is the more dangerous player and why James made the nomination choices he did.
• I only wish she didn't come with the baggage of Austin and Liz. If they offed Austin, Liz would probably be better off. But I do see why Julia is the "nice twin." She's also the smarter one, I think.]
• Clay seems to think being on the show is his ticket to Big Time Hollywood. Silly boy.
• Vanessa is still worried that she'll be backdoored.
• @@
• I think Vanessa is paranoid a bit too much. She too would drive me crazy in real life.
• Hmm ... when I think about it, I believe all of them would get on my nerves. Don't let me in that house with a sword!
• A skywriting plane flew over the house merely writing "I <3 --="" a="" didn="" it="" li="" love="" name.="" specify="" t="" you="">
• They all freaked out. 
• Huh. This morning's wake-up music (blocked on the feeds) was 'Psycho Killer' by the Talking Heads. Appropriate.
• They had photo booth today. Whoopie.
• The time came for Vanessa to stop shining Jackie's knight armor, but Jackie is still stuck in the armor for the week if I'm not mistaken.
• Hey, at least she won't be on the block in it!
• There ya go!

Jackie in shining armor

Leave 'em both on the block!

Willing to give up his game

Steve apologies to us for Clay taking space

Big Brother 17: HoH Endurance Winner, Nominations Show Blog Party

Good evening! Ready for a blog party? Tonight's episode will show the outcome of the HoH endurance comp ... which many of us already know about, but ...! "It's going to be a tense week." And, we love tense!

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. I hope to see you there!

Recap, recap. (Of course.) Cut into the endurance comp in action. The rain comes down, the wall tilts forward and the stuffed birds attack. Now they're getting glopped with "bird poop." Steve out first, immediately followed by Austin. Julia down, then Meg. More stormy weather and bird attacks. In DR, Johnny Mac thinks it's awesome.

Jackie's out. James knows he needs to win it. Liz is out. Vanessa tells us anyone but James would be okay for her. Becky out. Clay out. Shelli tries to make a deal for safety for her, Clay and Johnny Mac. James agrees. Johnny Mac goes down. Shelli jumps. 

James is HoH, promises to get blood on his hands and go for big targets. To us, that is, not to the fellow hamsters. Shelli is sure he'll keep his word.

Heh.

They show Julia has shown up on the Memory Wall but don't point out that they put her in place of Jace.

Liz and Julia talk about Austin. Liz tells Julia that Jason twisted everything. Julia is less than thrilled with him. She doesn't trust him at all. I like Julia!

Vanessa is bothered that Shelli didn't include her in the safety deal with James.

James, Meg, Jackie and Becky talk about how Shelli and Clay are running the house. "What they did to us, we'll do to them." James wants Shelli out.

Becky runs to tell Chelli that a backdoor plan is in motion.

Vanessa ran to James to make her own plea for her own safety, throwing Clay and Shelli under the bus -- about the Jason thing and the fact Shelli didn't include her in the deal. They never showed James's HoH room reveal. Is that a first? She offers him a safety deal down the road.

Clay and Shelli visit James. They throw Austin under the bus. James is just telling them what they want to hear at this point.

James tells Meg he might just throw both Shelli and Clay on the block, that way one would go home.

Nominations Ceremony time! James nominates Clay and Shelli. Ha! He says his contract wasn't valid. Shelli pleads her case. 

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - August 2, 2015

Good morning! Welcome to my weekly off television topic reflection of the past week in both words and photographs I've taken along the way! This post is a year 'round "feature" on the blog. If you're looking for Big Brother posts, they can all be found at this link right here. If you're not interested in this particular post, please feel free to skip on by it. I'll be posting a Big Brother blog party post coinciding with the East Coast airing of the show and, late this evening, another live feeds post. Stay tuned.

Here in the NJ/Greater NYC Metro Area, we had another hot week with temps hovering around and often going over 90 degrees. While the city itself (NYC) didn't have enough 90 degree days in a row to qualify as a heat wave, we in the inland areas did. The heat never actually broke. But, storms coming through towards the end of the week broke the humidity a bit. By tomorrow, the humidity is expected to return. I am NOT a summer, high heat, high humidity person! I would like autumn weather, please.

I had another rather uneventful week here -- working, working on the blog, not enough sleep, rinse, repeat. I kind of wanted to take my folding chair and head across the street for a free outdoor showing of Selma the city was putting on Friday night (raindated from Thursday). It was right at the Aristacare center where I would have gone for rehab after knee surgery had I been forced to do time in rehab.

But I guess I'm getting too old and crochety or something. I thought of lugging my chair which is wood and heavier than a lawn chair, jaywalking across the street with it, bug bites, the heat and how tired I was after work. I ended up posting a BB live feeds update on the blog, then napping. After napping, I went to bed.  Such is my life these days.

Onto this week's photos! Due to the heat, I didn't take a ton of shots, nor really seek out photography fodder. I went for the easy stuff that was right in front of me. If you click on an image, it will open it up in a larger version.

Posing pigeon

The two young pigeons born this past spring at the Bridgewater Train Station seem to have a real curiosity about my camera. As a result, I often end up with many photos of them.

Help me! Help me!

Oops. I should have posted a human head on his face to be posting "Help me!" with this fly shot. I believe this is a flesh fly, not the kind of housefly you might have to battle with in your home. (Of course, I let Vincent the Cat battle flies that might sneak in here.) They feed off dead animals and such. Ew. But he was kind of cool to photograph.

Eek! A bus!

While it might appear that I'm risking my life for the shot, I'm not. Or, to be more accurate, I wasn't. I took this shot of the 59 bus headed to Newark from the westbound platform of the Plainfield Train Station. It was rounding the corner from Gavett Place to North Avenue. 

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