BB18: Live Feeds into Monday - September 12

Joy! Joy! They're playing cards!

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

• Locked inside while the comp set-up is being built in the yard, they turned to playing cards, cooking and eating for most of the evening.
• During the extended card games with all five playing, there was absolutely no game talk.
• Well, no BB talk ... there was plenty of cards talk.
• BORING
• The BB game talk turned on when it was just Paul and James in a room together in the late night hours.
• Paul makes a good case -- they need to team up together to split up Corey and Nicole because Corey and Nicole would take each other to the final two. He also pointed out that neither of them (himself or James) could win against either Corey or Nicole.
• It's definitely a sound strategy.
• Paul thinks it needs to be them (him and James) in the final two if either has any hopes of winning.
• Yeah, sounds logical and it's probably true.
• BUT ... rumors have it that James and Nicole have a pre-season pact to be the final two.
• If James gets in power and Corey is out of the picture ... would he take Nicole or Paul to the end?
• I think it would be more strategical to take Paul.
• However, I also think James would lose against either if the jury isn't a bunch of bitter biddies.
• Paul is a totally obnoxious person. But he's escaped the block after nomination numerous times. He's a good strategist. He has won some comps.
• Nicole has never been on the block. She could claim to be playing a game like Derrick's -- puppetmaster.
• What can James claim? That he's a nice guy? That he slept most of the game away and let his showmance take over?
• Any scenario of a final three that includes James at this point (even throwing Corey in the mix) has James taking second place.
• But Paul is right ... they do need to split up Corey and Nicole or those two would be the final two.
• While I think there quite possibly is a final two pact with Nicole and James, I think James would uphold it while it's extremely possible Nicole won't. It's quite likely she would take Corey.
• I guess we'll see! 
• Oh, yeah ... it will be Victor going out tonight. There are no doubts about that bit. 

Excitement abounds!

Breathtaking action!

BB18: Live Feeds into Sunday Evening - September 11

Much better than that horribly messy "bun."

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

• Well, they were thinking the schedule would be changed up a bit as we head into the final days of the season.
• Now they know for sure as the PoV meeting was held this morning instead of its usual Monday slot.
• There weren't any surprises. 
• Nicole chose not to use the Power of Veto.
• Paul and Victor will remain on the block and one of them (Victor is the plan) will go home ... tomorrow.
• Sure, the show will be on Tuesday evening (8pm ET/PT). But the actual eviction will be taped tomorrow night. Tuesday's show should have the comic veto comp and meeting, plus the first eviction of the week.
• I expect an extended live feeds block from sometime tomorrow afternoon to um ... whenever.
• Everything remains calm in the house. Victor and Paul continue to be friends with all and friendly to all despite Victor's initial outbursts after being betrayed.
• They have their cards once again. I'm surprised BB hasn't brought in the dollar store arts and crafts stuff.
• The dominoes remain among the missing.
• And, of course, Pablo has never returned. I hear he's getting psychiatric help for stress from being attached to Paul so often.
• Lots of small talk, production talk (You are NOT allowed to talk about PRODUCTION), previous hamster talk, final comps of previous seasons, how much Victor and Paul miss boning ... you get the drift.
• They had the yard for a bit, but complained of the heat.
• Now they'll probably complain about being locked inside for comp set-ups!
• Victor and Paul practiced their speeches. They want to be witty, yet biting. I think they think they're ZingBots.
• That's about all I have for you tonight!

They have the cards again.

Eat, eat, eat. Sleep, sleep, sleep.

Like a kid stealing from the cookie jar

BB18: HoH Comp Completion, Nominations Show Blog Party - September 11, 2016

Hamster watchers ready?! Who will rule the slip and slide?

As the show airs here on the East Coast, I'll be constantly updating this entry. Refresh the page to get the latest news! As always, the real party is in the comments area!

But first ... we have to sit through "previously on Big Brother."

Okay, we pick up on the slip and slide HoH comp! Paul and Victor are still thinking their final four with Nicole and Corey might keep them safe. Victor can't compete in the comp as the outgoing HoH. Nicole tells us it might be best to get either Paul or Victor out this week. In a clip, Corey tells James they have his back. He then talks to Nicole about it. Then both talk to James.

Uh-oh -- Victor and Paul need to watch their backs! 

These slip and slide comps always have plenty of funny falls. I wouldn't want to be the one falling, though. Nicole is going for the smaller container to get the big scoop. Corey is in the lead with the big container. James is in second. Paul isn't doing well at all. 

Nicole gets the big scoop. Paul is still trying to go for the big scoop. They edited this to make it seem like he was closer to Nicole than he actually was. Corey is doing the comp amazingly fast. 

Corey wins HoH! 

Paul and Victor are pretty confident that they'll be safe this week even though one would have to go up as a pawn with James. 

Victor says it's great to finally have an alliance that wins and keeps their word.
:X

Into a segment about how James and Natalie patched things up before the live show. He apologizes to her for the things he said. She hides under a blanket. She still claims she never threw him under the bus, but if she did, she apologizes. Say what?

A Corey on Nicole salty water prank bit, then onto the HoH room reveal. He got Taylor Swift music, not surprising at all.   

Corey and Nicole talk. Corey wants to put Paul and Victor on the block, Victor the target.  

Paul is starting to worry about "sneaky" James getting in Corey's ear. Too late and James didn't need to get in Corey's ear anyway! Paul offers to go up as a pawn against James. Heh.

They're editing the show like there might be doubts about the nominations.

Corey goes on an anxiety-driven cleaning jag.

It's time for the nominations ceremony!

Corey nominates Victor and Paul. He tells them that strategically it's not in his best interest to put James up. If one was up, they could win veto and he'd have to put Nicole up. Victor and Paul took it okay on the surface.     

Victor tells us how betrayed he is.

I say, hey ... it's Big Brother. Trust no one.  

Remember -- the next episode is TUESDAY AT 8PM ET/PT this week! 

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - September 11, 2016

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 photographs I've taken along the way. If you're here for Big Brother news, everything I have for you can be found at this link. I'll be posting another live feeds report late tonight as well as live-blogging the aired show. But this ain't that. This post is a year-round regular "feature" while Big Brother is a summer obsession. Or, something like that.

That said, this week's off topic post is a bit abbreviated for a few different reasons. First off, today is the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. That struck this area, the NYC Greater Metropolitan Area, quite hard. Many folks here work in Manhattan. Several people in the local area died in the attacks. My company lost seven people on one of the planes. It's a somber day and we'll never forget.

Also, my sprained ankle and the heat factor this week limited my desire to take photos although I did work this past week. I'll include a few of those in next week's off topic photo post.  

911 Memorial, Scotch Plains, NJ

September 12 is Vincent's "birthday"

On September 12, 2009, I went into the city to New York City Animal Care and Control (NYCACC), the shelter system which handles all the strays, abandoned, etc., animals in all five boroughs of the city. I went to the East Harlem (AKA Spanish Harlem) location and met a cat they called "Sal." Unfortunately, due to volume, the shelter system is a fairly high kill one. People want kittens. I wanted a cat. Sal, whom I decided wasn't a pizza delivery guy, I renamed Vincent. He was due to be euthanized the next week because he was a cat, not a kitten. When I opened his cage door, he leaped on my shoulder and purred so loud I could hear him over the cacophony of dogs barking and busy street traffic. He was the one and he's been my best friend ever since. This is a shot of him on the train home on adoption day.

Good food, good company

I went to a big backyard cookout with friends yesterday. The food was amazing! The company was great and a good time was had by all.

BB18: Live Feeds into Sunday - September 11

I have a few days left

Here's the latest from inside that Big Brother House of Dwindling Days and Deflated Egos:

• With Nicole winning the Power of Veto, Victor sees the writing on the wall.
• He's expecting to be evicted for the third and last time this week.
• Paul is a bit resigned that he'll be following Victor out of the house. 
• Oh, he's asking a lot of questions and plans to study for a mental HoH, but much of his bravado about how he and Victor are ruling the game has ended.
• He knows that, without Victor, he's not horrible in most comps (except the slip and slide!). But he's not the competition beast kind of guy. He's more the guy who stands behind the competition beast kind of guy.
• Victor and Paul, in a talk with each other, spoke of the good run they've had in the house.
• Victor, in particular, is proud of his integrity and loyalty.
• I would guess that would make his parents proud. His potty mouth might be another matter.
• But we ... the constant audience for the hamsters ... know that integrity and honestly don't get you far in the game of Big Brother.
• Loyalty, on the other hand, is indeed a good thing in the game. But it's the loyalty between a few people from the start that seems to work best. Think of Danielle and Jason. Think of Derrick and Cody. When hamsters allow the flip-flopping alliances with the weekly power that be, it's not a good thing. Victor and Paul were loyal to each other, but they flip-flopped with the powers. Would they have made it to the end as a lone wolf duo? I don't know.
• I'm kind of surprised that neither Paul nor Victor are trying to convince Nicole to save one of them. But that would be futile. Whichever one saved if James went up ... the other one would go home.
• I think we're in for doldrums this coming week because Victor and Paul are accepting their fates so peacefully and everybody is in the "we're all friends and it's a game" mode.
• About the only excitement would be if Paul manages to win the upcoming HoH or veto.
• Otherwise, we're going to be on auto-pilot.
• You can unbuckle your seatbelts and return your seats to recline. 

Nine days and one wake-up left!

I'm an a__hole. I know it.

That bun always looks like a rat's nest!