Survivor: Cambodia, Second Chance - December 9 Blog Party

Good evening! 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 -- come join in on the fun!

Here's the latest blog pool update from the Lovable Lifeguard Laurie:

Abi-Maria Gomes - Nobody is stuck with her!
Jeremy Collins - Brian, meb, Nickelpeed
Keith Nale - Tammy, gaylos, Margo
Kelley Wentworth - monty 924, Grandi, RENOthunder
Kimmi Kappenberg - Glenn, Nana in the NW, Rbennie
Spencer Bledsoe - Ellen vdW, Nancerella, Terry is a Texan
Tasha Fox - Donna in AL, Jennamom, Stephanie in Baltimore

Jury
Kass McQuillen - Donna NY, Marlo, Petals
Andrew Savage - Jennasmom, JoyzJenn, Silk
Kelly Wiglesworth - ML, Sharon N, Indiana Jane
Ciera Eastin - chrob61, Jackie, Russ
Stephen Fishbach - Brenda, Matt, Rochelle
Joe Anglim - Delee, Mother Guru, PDX Granny

Survivor fans ready?

Abi thinks everybody is happy Joe is gone. (I'd be happier if she was gone, but that's how I roll.) The girls do have a point that they now all have a better chance of winning Immunity. Tasha knows Keith voted for her to go and places that ol' target on his back. Spencer and Jeremy are (rightfully) worried about things now. They must make sure they have Tasha and Kimmi in their corner.

Reward Challenge time! Attached to a rope, unspool it, assemble a bridge, knock over blocks with sandbags. The winner will be brought to a temple, blessed by monks, eat, sleep in a temple. Keith won this very same challenge during his original season.

KEITH WINS! He chooses Kelley because she chose his wife last week, then he chooses Spencer as the second person. He said he chose Spencer because Spencer didn't get a chance for much time with his girlfriend last week. He forgot Tasha's name. Not a good move there. 

At camp they decide that Keith should be the next one to go. Abi is calm while the rest are nervous -- she says it's more fun to be a villain.  

Of course, a final three deal is made by those on Reward. Spencer is trying to think things through. Gah, Abi as their fourth might be a bit problematic. 

Now Tasha is thinking Abi should go rather than Keith. She knows that Abi could just switch alliance at the drop of a hat. Jeremy and Tasha are a bit leery of trusting Spencer. 

Time for the Immunity Challenge! Back to one person winning. Race across water through obstacles, retrieve key, solve puzzle. Tasha is doing horribly.

SPENCER wins Immunity! 

Tasha has to be pulled out of the water by medical. 

Kelley, Keith, Spencer and Abi talk about Tasha going. Tasha wants Abi out and gets Jeremy and Spencer in her corner. Or, so she thinks. Kimmi is in with Abi. Meanwhile, Abi is confident she's going to win. Spencer knows he's a swing vote and tonight he will have to show where his loyalty lies. 

The tally:
Abi, Tasha, Abi, Tasha, Abi, Keith, Abi.

Ding dong, the witch is dead! Abi is outta there! 

Abi was the sole vote for Keith. Next week is the season finale! 

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - December 6, 2015

Good morning! Yes, I'm late in posting this. But I'm here now! Welcome to my weekly off television topic reflection of the past week in both words and photos I've taken along the way! And, if you're a fan of Survivor or The Amazing Race, be sure to stop by on show nights for live blogging of the shows.

Once again, my past week was rather uneventful. It was full of going to work and just plain doldrums stuff of life not in the fast lane. Mind you, I don't necessarily want to be in the fast lane! I fear those days of my life are long gone. Hmm ... perhaps if I live to be 90, I'll just go wild robbing banks and such. After all, are they going to lock up a little old lady? 

We had a few rainy days here this past week and a few nights with a chill in the air. But we've escaped what could be possible in the month of December in New Jersey -- deep freezes, snow and ice. I can't complain. I won't complain.

I guess it's kind of sad that the most notable and (to me) interesting thing this week happened when I got off the train in Bridgewater yesterday. Birds. All I could hear was a cacophony of bird calls. Starlings. They were everywhere -- lining the entire interior of the TD Bank Ball Park, resting on the power wires and even on the field lights. The "swarm" featured below is just a small group of them in flight. Cue Alfred Hitchcock.

What's that black loud cloud?

Starling swarm!

To be more accurate, a group or flock of starlings is really called a chattering or a murmuration of starlings. I know one person who'd call it a herd. It's definitely more like a swarm to me! But I can see why they're called the two actual group names -- they're LOUD. Starlings just don't know how to shut their beaks!

Everybody's  back at it

After being closed for a few months, Everybody's Food Market on East Front Street is back in business and all rehabbed. It truly needed it! You can get everything from oxtails to chitterlings to energy drinks in this West Indian convenience store. I've never bought oxtails. But, if I were to desire oxtails, I know where to get them.

Chillaxin' on the job

The crane operator for the NJ Transit bridge work on closed-off Gavett Place takes a digital break. The actual crane operators seem to have the cush job in the group. All the others end up moving stuff around for the crane to snag, cutting holes with torches and doing physical labor. 

Firetrucks responding to ... um ... something

I have no clue as to where they're heading. I see and/or hear firetrucks an awful lot in town. Thankfully, most of the times, it's nothing all that serious. However, when they're called, they have to go. I took this shot on East Second Street downtown. 

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The Amazing Race 27: December 4 Episode Blog Party

Hi, everybody! As the show airs here tonight, I'll be updating this entry with the major happenings. Refresh the page to get the latest news! As always, the real party is in the comments area. Come join in on the fun! Since they're hinting in promos that Justin and Diana might be out, I'd bet they're not! What do you think?

The Marvelous Margo's blog pool update:

Justin and Diana #TheGreenTeam - Chauncey, Cherry Pie, Monty924, Nickelpeed
Kelsey and Joey #TheReporters - beachmom, ChicMc, David, Grandi in MD,
Logan and Chris #ThePaparazzi - Delee, PDX Granny, Rbennie, SueGee
Tiffany and Krista #TheCheerleaders - Brenda, Brian, Cheryl in NC, Ed in OH, Nana in NW

Philiminated
TMZ girls (not in pool)
Adam and Alex #TheCousins -Anonymouse, DKNYNC, Jackie, Kelsey, Sharon C
Ernest and Jin #TheDancers - Glenn, Marlo, Nancerella, Russ
Jazmine and Danielle #TheTrackStars - Joanie, LafayetteLisanne, Margo, Merrilee
Cindy and Rick #ChacAttack - Donna in AL, Donna in FL, Jennasmom, Sharon N
Tanner and Josh #TeamTexas - Buzzmaam, chrob61, meb, ML
Denise and James Earl #TeamAlabama - Becky, Ginniejulie, ORKMommy, Willie J

Ready? Let's GO!

Logan and Chris are swearing they're going to go after the Green Team for U-Turning them. Teams are off to Hong Kong! They're all on the same flight so it's even playing ground once again.

Huh. They get to ride in Rolls Royces. The girls, then Kelsey and Joey have taken over the lead.

Detour: Sams, a tailoring of a suit. Or, Cells ... cellphones, searching for a certain cellphone (needle in a haystack type task). 

The girls are doing really well! They're heading for the next clue ahead of all others. Justin and Diana get a bad cab and have lost time. They're arguing. It's not a good side of Justin for sure.

The three teams (sans Justin and Diana) are on the way on the ferry. Uh-oh. It looks like they're getting on the WRONG ferry. 

Roadblock: Who wants to rise the the occasion?  Water performance. Logan/Chris and Kelsey/Joey move ahead. The girls have to redo the Roadblock. Justin and Diana just got there.

The first two are heading to the Pit Stop. 

Eep. The girls have to redo it AGAIN. Justin is crying AGAIN. Diana is going up for the Roadblock now. Diana has the water clue, Krista still doesn't.

Pit Stop:
1. Logan/Chris (sigh) - won a trip to Peru
2. Joey/Kelsey 

Krista wants to quit. She's tried four times at the Roadblock.

3. Justin/Diana -- took the wrong ferry. 30 Minute penalty, plus 25 minutes more because the ferry they took is faster. Total 55 minutes penalty. 

Justin is crying again.

Uh-oh. The girls made it through the Roadblock and then got a bad cab. 

3. Justin and Diana
4. Tiffany and Krista - Philiminated by a mere few minutes.

Survivor: Cambodia, Second Chance - December 2 Blog Party

Good evening! 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 -- come join in on the fun!

Here's the latest blog pool update from the Lovable Lifeguard Laurie:

Abi-Maria Gomes - Nobody is stuck with her!
Jeremy Collins - Brian, meb, Nickelpeed
Joe Anglim - Delee, Mother Guru, PDX Granny
Keith Nale - Tammy, gaylos, Margo
Kelley Wentworth - monty 924, Grandi, RENOthunder
Kimmi Kappenberg - Glenn, Nana in the NW, Rbennie
Spencer Bledsoe - Ellen vdW, Nancerella, Terry is a Texan
Tasha Fox - Donna in AL, Jennamom, Stephanie in Baltimore

Jury
Kass McQuillen - Donna NY, Marlo, Petals
Andrew Savage - Jennasmom, JoyzJenn, Silk
Kelly Wiglesworth - ML, Sharon N, Indiana Jane
Ciera Eastin - chrob61, Jackie, Russ
Stephen Fishbach - Brenda, Matt, Rochelle


Survivor fans ready?

Jeremy's worried because Spencer flipped the vote. Could he be next? Kimmi tries for an all girl alliance voting out Joe, then the guys all in a row. Hmm. An all girl alliance? I wonder why no one has ever come up with that before?

Ha. 

Reward Challenge time! Jeff asks Probsting questions about family, then mentions the inevitable loved ones visit. Yep, it's that time again. Then the loved ones arrive one by one. Jeremy gets the news that he's going to have a son, but doesn't share that news with the others.

They have to race to collect bags in sand, spin, get dizzy, balance beam, solve puzzle. The winner gets a barbecue with their loved one. 

Kelley wins. She has to pick three others to go with her. Keith, Abi and Kimmi. She can choose one more. Joe, because the reward meant so much to him.  

The three not participating -- Spencer, Jeremy and Tasha -- decide to be a final three. Tasha thinks she has good options for staying. She has that three and the girls alliance. Once again, Joe is a target despite the reprieve last week. 

Immunity is back up for grabs! They have to balance wooden statues on a pole. At intervals, the poles will be lengthened. Two get immunity -- one man, one woman. They have to add the sections onto the poles while still balancing the statues.

Kimmi is first out. Abi out. Tasha out. Kelley wins immunity!

Spencer and Jeremy out. Keith and Joe are up to 16 feet of pole. Uh-oh! Joe collapses! Keith wins, but Joe's out cold. Yikes!

The medics say it was low blood sugar. Joe said his legs went out. He says he wants to play the game as hard as he can. He's not in danger of being pulled from the game. That's good. But he's still the target. 

Abi is gleeful that Joe lost to a 52 year-old man. He seems to be more of the target than ever. At least, of Abi and Kelley. Joe works on Jeremy with his thoughts that Abi is the most dangerous to get to the end as everyone wants to sit with her as she'd never win.

Tasha tells Jeremy and Spencer about the all girls alliance. She didn't want them to hear it from someone else. Tasha still really wants Joe out.

Tribal council time -- Abi and Joe are both worried about their futures and talk against each other. Abi votes Joe because he's "moldy" and looks like a clown.

The tally:
Joe, Abi, Tasha, Joe, Joe, Joe.

Joe is voted out. The women are thrilled, Spencer and Jeremy not so much.  

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was: November 29, 2015

Good morning! Since it's Sunday morning, it's time for my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photos I've taken along the way. If you're a television fan, please make sure to stop by on Wednesday and Friday evenings for the blog's Survivor and The Amazing Race live blogging parties!

I hope everybody had a nice Thanksgiving! Vincent and I had a quiet one here. While he had his turkey with gravy canned cat food -- he loves to lick the gravy off and then pick at the turkey -- I didn't have turkey this year. I'm just one person. I can't eat a whole turkey before it goes bad, nor could I find any acceptable (to me) sales on turkey breast. Some years I go for Cornish Game Hens or even chicken. However, I found a nice sale on butterflied leg of lamb. So, that accompanied by mashed potatoes, asparagus and apple pie was my Thanksgiving feast. Yes, I can eat an entire apple pie before it goes bad! I'm having the last of that today!

We are continuing to have fairly warm weather (outright unseasonable at times) here. I love it. I'm dreading icy and snowy sidewalks and streets. I really don't mind the cold so much; it's the ice and snow.

A couple of random things:

• I can still hear that screaming thumping child downstairs and one apartment to the side. I don't hear the screaming, but I hear the thumping. Let's see if they're out of here in February when their lease is up. I saw the woman going down to the laundry room this morning as I went for my Sunday newspaper. I said hello and she didn't even acknowledge me. Her and her family should go live on their own private island or something. They make way too much noise and aren't even cordial in the hallways.
• Meanwhile, I ran into five other neighbors in the hallway on Thanksgiving day when I went out for a walk. All greeted me enthusiastically with holiday greetings and were friendly. That's more like it.
• I can't believe one showed up with his wife and toddler. When he was ten, he used to clear snow off of my car. He was here to have dinner with his parents.
• Yes, I've lived here that long, I guess.
• I've always tended to think of that family as "the hardest working Jamaican family in the world" reflecting back on the old skits from In Living Color. Those parents still seem to be working around the clock! 

Onto this week's photos -- clicking on an image will open it larger in a gallery window.

Posing pigeons

You can tell I'm lacking photo fodder when I take several photos of the pigeons atop the Corolla Apartments building on North Avenue in Plainfield.

Too much turkey?

More like too much catnip for Vincent!

Almost full

Or, partly empty if you're a pessimist. The Beaver Moon, the 12th full moon of the year, was full on the 25th. I took this shot on the night of the 23rd. 

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