Big Brother 17: Live Feeds into Monday Morning - August 10

Why is Jackie reminding me of Yoko Ono?

After a day of little game talk, the night was ALL game talks. Oy. Here's the latest from inside that Big Brother House of Mini-Meetings:

• Vanessa poked around her usual sources -- Steve, Austin, Liz -- for any news on what Becky might do.
• She obviously doesn't really believe the Johnny Mac renom story she's been fed.
• She WANTS to believe it, but her paranoia tells her that she will be the renom.
• Her paranoia is right this time!
• Austin checks in with Becky who confirms Johnny Mac will be the renom (with the target being Shelli).
• He reports back to Vanessa.
• Meanwhile, Meg tells James he needs to be nicer to Johnny Mac because "he's on our side." Becky told her that JM will target Austin and the twins.
• She also told him that Johnny Mac wants to go after Vanessa.
• Yep, on their side.
• Of course, they (Meg, James and Jackie) know that the Johnny Mac renom is nothing but a red herring in the whole PoV renom debacle.
• But they feel better knowing for sure that he too is gunning for Vanessa right now and they can be safe-ish with him.
• That would be opposed to Jeffish, mind you.
• Hahahaha! I crack myself up.
• Ahem.
• Becky and Jackie worked on Becky's speech for the Vanessa renomination.
• Becky told Meg that she might tell Austin (and thus, twins) about the planned renom just before it goes down. It bothered her that she knew about Jason being the target so far ahead, yet would also feel bad being totally left out.
• Although we know Steve knows Vanessa is playing him like a fine fiddle, the others (Meg, Becky, Jackie) have picked up on it. They don't know he knows. They can't really figure out Steve.
• The three women, plus James, also made note how the twins bully and pick on Steve. They're worried that he'll buckle in if he wins HoH in a double eviction.
• Time for them to bring Steve to their side!
• But, first ... Vanessa corners Steve, asking him questions about whether he's ever heard Johnny Mac say anything about her. He denies hearing much except for a bit after the big Clay smackdown.
• "You know I hate liars," Vanessa says.
• Um. Yeah. Whatever.
• Vanessa ranted about how everyone has lied to her! What did she do to deserve this?!?!
• Steve said to her that he doesn't think it's in Becky's best game interest to send Shelli home. (Of course, he's still thinking John will be the renom.)
• Vanessa said that if she goes up as a renom, she's going to blow up Becky's game.
• Steve told her it's a shame she's not because that would be interesting.
• Heh.
• It certainly will be.
• After Steve told her he was close to Johnny Mac, Vanessa told Steve that Johnny Mac never had his back and, since he's a recruit, he doesn't even understand gameplay in the house.
• Bwahahaha! Johnny Mac is the superfan who claimed in the pre-season interviews that he wasn't going to tell people he's a fan.
• But Steve should have picked up a bit on it from his talks with JM.
• Steve left and Vanessa continued her loop with the twins as the night progressed.
• Steve told us in a secluded moment, "I think Vanessa is going up."
• Well, yeah.
• Steve ended up talking with Becky. She laid it all out to him and told him he should open himself up more to James, Meg and Jackie -- they'd be receptive.
• I personally don't know about Meg. She really seems to personally dislike Steve some.
• He tells us that he must throw the next HoH, he should be safe right now. He does not want to win the DE HoH.
• He also thinks he's playing both sides too much.
• He's right. With Vanessa out this week and the only good comp player Shelli being left on the one side, it's time for him to permanently drift. The twins will have each other, Austin can't win anything for the life of him. Steve would be odd man out on either side. He may as well go with the side that might benefit his game the most and keep him in the game longer before he needs to step it up.
• That's my thought, anyway.

Steve is buying what Becky is selling?

The big Steve/Becky talk

Vanessa continues to spin her web

It's not paranoia when they are after you!

The Shelli/Jackie talk

Big Brother 17: Live Feeds Sunday into the Evening - August 9

Chillin' in his chair-bed

Sundays are usually rather uneventful in the house. Today wasn't much different. Here's the latest from inside that Big Brother House of Pool Sharks:

• Hey, let's sleep past noon!
• Lots of small talk in the backyard.
• Missing clothes and a big bug dominate the talk for a while.
• Meg and Jackie think they definitely have to get Shelli, Vanessa and Steve out.
• Maybe not necessarily in that order! The Vanessa Backdoor plan remains in effect.
• Johnny Mac told a tale about killing a wolf with his bare hands. True or just a tale, I'm not sure. I personally don't think he could do it. 
• Steve is still crushing on Julia.
• And, Steve is still not (and probably never will be) her type.
• Julia and Liz want to make sure he knows she likes him, but not THAT way.
• Julia thinks it's absurd that a guy like him would even think a girl like her likes him.
• Oy.
• No, he just might be too good for her.
• They held a mock eviction with Larry the Llama, the Top Hat and the Tinfoil Voodoo doll. The Top Hat got backdoored.
• The DR gave Becky a big inflated shark. So, they rode the shark, mostly capsizing.
• Vanessa and Julia talked about Shelli thinking that Johnny Mac will be the renom. 
• They also talked about Austin possibly throwing HoH comps and how he's not even trying.
• Hmm.
• He certainly didn't throw that last HoH comp. He had severe problems coping with the slippery stuff.
• Vanessa decided to be Steve's personal stylist or something.
• He told us he knows she's playing him. Supposedly she wants him to save Shelli with the veto so Johnny Mac would go up.
• Like that's gonna happen!
• Becky thinks Steve is a cross between Ian and Dan. Apparently he really impressed in the Veto comp. They think he's playing them all.
• Tomorrow is the veto meeting. I fully expect Steve to save himself and Vanessa Backdoor in motion.

Who could this be?

Mingling, but missing Clay

Will Meg win anything?

Shark alert!

Shark wins riding the shark game

Big Brother 17: HoH Endurance Comp Outcome, Nominations Show Blog Party - August 9

Good evening! Ready for a blog party? Tonight's episode will show the outcome of the slip and slide HoH endurance comp ... which many of us already know about, but ...! 

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!

Okay, let's get through this recap and into the HoH comp! Ohh ... they're going to show the Clay/James brouhaha! Goody, goody.

Huh. Austin says he feels like a baby gazelle on ice. He looks more like a wooly mammoth to me. Lots of falls, Becky in the lead.

Ah, to the brouhaha! James and Johnny Mac talking about Clay giving his game up for "love." JM tells Clay that sending him home isn't best for his game. He thinks Vanessa is behind all the evictions. Clay goes to Vanessa telling her that James is telling Johnny Mac that she's after him. She confronts James. He says he did NOT tell Clay that.

James confronts Clay while Vanessa finds out from JM that James is telling the truth. Johnny Mac said he came up with the story about Vanessa being in Shelli's head and gunning for him (JM). Johnny Mac points out that Vanessa's off the wall crying has sent home each person so far. Thus, he needs to win HoH.

Back to the comp. Becky gets the Never Not pass. Becky gets the money. Becky gets the HoH! She tells us she wants to send out a big fish.

Shelli cries. No Clay. She's completely alone. Call a WAHmbulance.

Becky tells us she trusts Jackie, James and Meg more and has now (finally) declared a side.

Johnny Mac tells Steve they have no worries this week. Steve is worried that Vanessa will be targeted. He considers Vanessa his biggest ally outside of John. He would like them to get along. JM hinted that Vanessa might be targeted.

HoH room time. She got healthier food in her basket than most.

Becky tells her new crew that she'll put up Shelli and Steve, act like they're going after Shelli ... then backdoor Vanessa.

A segment on Steve's strangeness.

Shelli cries to Becky. Becky goes and tells Shelli she wants Vanessa out. Hmm.

Becky tells Vanessa that she plans to put Shelli and Steve up, Shelli is the target. Immediately Vanessa vows to help her (Becky). Wants to make a deal. Becky tells her she's done with deals and alliances. Heehee. Vanessa reads it right -- she's going to be the backdoor target.

Becky and JM talk. She tells him that Vanessa will be the replacement nominee. He's thrilled. JM says Vanessa is a smart Audrey. Becky tells him that the rumor will be that he's the backdoor target.

Nominations ceremony time. Becky nominates Shelli, then Steve.  Shelli, hard to put you on the block, but the fights. Steve -- you need to get your hands dirty.

Steve tells us that Becky is his next target because everything she pointed out to all is his strategy -- superfan, laying low, no blood on his hands.

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - August 9, 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.

Yep, another week come and gone. While the children in some states are going back to school, things don't start here until September. That's more like it was where I attended school. Only college began in August. Of course, if school was year 'round, it would prepare the children more for the realities of real life!

Some random observations and musings from the past week:

• Plainfield Police seem to be chasing the ne'er-do-wells from the 4th Avenue side of the Plainfield Train Station to the North Avenue side and leaving them there. Every morning, riff-raff is occupying all the shelters with benches on the platform and the lawn on the North Street side. People using the train to commute back and forth to work, shopping, whatever, shouldn't have to deal with this! I'm talking MORNING. Nighttime is even worse.
• The humidity has been gone for most of the week, but it's still warmer than I like. I really don't care for temperatures over the early 80s. 
• I enjoy the fact that my apartment building superintendent is named Mario. I can call him Super Mario. I just can't get him to address me as plain old "Jackie." He's always so formal with me! I hope it's not because he thinks I'm old.
• The elevator button light for my floor still doesn't work. At least the elevator itself works.
• I'm spending an inordinate amount of time working on the blog and, though I do love the community it generates, I'm not getting much income from it. There used to be a time that writing BB through the summer would pay my rent for three months. Sigh.
• My new-ish neighbor remains quiet. I found out it's actually his brother I've met in the hallway and elevator. The brother's about my age, perhaps a bit younger. Late at night, I can occasionally hear the thumping of the wild child now living below them.
• I'm biding time until my week off from work next month.
• It's too long away!

Onto the photos for the week! Clicking on an image will open it in a larger form.

Train/bike combination rider

This man gets off the train in Plainfield every workday morning with his tie, suspenders and bicycle.

Look into my eyes

I'll tell you no lies. The pigeons of the Bridgewater Train Station remain curious about my camera. Or me. Not sure which it is.

There was a rabbit

I'd say this looks like a new one born this past spring. I kind of wonder about that growth on his nose, but he's cute nonetheless.

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

Big Brother 17: Live Feeds into Sunday - August 9

Taking out the queen

Here's the latest from inside that Big Brother House of Cards:

• Y'know, eventually all houses of cards fall down.
• Vanessa claims that production screwed up on her medication times and it messed with how she did on the PoV comp.
• Again, I ask, much as I've asked for many seasons: What the hell is it with all these young people on various medications? When I was the age of these house hamsters I had no psych meds (although I admit I probably could have used them). I had no anti-anxiety drugs. And, if the hamsters are taking medications, why do they drink alcohol whenever they can? Maybe BB should look into hamsters who don't need Mother's Little Helper to get through the day.
• /rant
• More info about the PoV comp was brought to light. It was comic books, as I said before. Vanessa was the Mad Hatter in hers. Liz is a bit upset as she was "The Evil Twin." After Jace's photo was removed to make room for Julia, they were glad his face was included in the comics. Apparently Audrey's comic had her in her shroud (whatever).
• Becky told her group (Jackie, James, Meg) that she'll take the heat for putting Vanessa up because Vanessa has nothing to dish on her.
• Huh. Steve doesn't know who Howard Stern is. What a sheltered life the boy leads ...
• Johnny Mac thinks Austin should be targeted as he's close with Vanessa.
• Heh. Liz doesn't like Austin's ponytail rat-tail beard and said it! Plus, she mentioned Austin's girlfriend at home. You just know, when it comes down to it, she'll be with her sister and Austin will be tossed to the wayside.
• Shelli told Austin that Liz doesn't like his beard. He told her his girlfriend (ex?) didn't like it either. But he just might trim it for Liz.
• I say, don't bother. Just keep your shirt on.
• Does Julia really like Steve? Hmm.
• Vanessa questioned James about what Becky might do. He said he really doesn't know other than she told him she was going to stick to the deal. Of course, he's implying the deal he and Becky made for his safety.
• But there's another deal entirely -- the Backdoor Vanessa deal.
• Becky talked to Shelli, telling her that she is targeting Vanessa over her because Vanessa isn't trustworthy.
• Meanwhile, Vanessa told James that if Becky backdoors her, she's going to be a bitter jury member and turn people against her.
• Um. As Becky mentioned afterwards when James told her, the first jury member can't "poison" anyone. Everyone is already in the house and knows what's been going on. It's the later jury members who might taint others.
• James told Vanessa he'd rather Shelli go as she bullies people into voting the way she wants. Hmm. Liar, liar, pants on fire.
• James reported the talk to Becky.
• Becky told Vanessa that she thinks she'll put Johnny Mac up as the replacement nominee and Shelli will be voted out.
• Liar, liar.
• Vanessa thinks that, if she goes on the block with Shelli, the votes might be there to keep her in.
• Ha.
• Becky complained that Austin and the twins aren't really playing the game -- it's as if they think they're at summer camp.
• Steve and Shelli had a long and pleasant non-game talk. At least it was a good change over Vanessa's paranoid non-stop ramblings.

Is Vanessa cheating on her hat?

Good social game, bad knees

Keep the shirt on, PLEASE

The Meow Meow reincarnated?

Becky! Don't lie on your transmitter!

Cold without her armor, I guess.