The Amazing Race 30: January 10 Blog Party

I'm ready for tonight's show! How about you? I'll be live blogging the major happenings the best I can as they air here on the East Coast. But the real party is in the comments area -- come join in on the fun!

SueGee, or as we affectionately like to call her, SqueeGee, has made the random picks for the blog pool. We don't start with the first team out because we don't even get to know them. (Sorry, Ring Girls.) Here are the picks:

#TeamBigBrother (Cody & Jessica) DeLee, ChicMc, Megan H
#TeamChomp (Joey & Tim) David, Chrob61, tbc
#TeamExtreme (Kristi & Jen) Janice from GA/FL, Kristen From Ohio
#TeamFirefighters (Eric & Daniel) Judi Sweeney, Indiana Jane
#TeamGoatYoga (April & Sarah) Sharon N, Merrilee
#TeamIndyCar (Alex & Conor) SueGee, Brian, Brenda
#TeamOceanRescue (Lucas & Brittany) Donna in FL, Glenn Allen
#TeamSlamDunk (Cedric & Shawn) Nickelpeed, Willie in NC
#TeamWellStrung (Trevor & Chris) Fred aka TwoBlackAces, Petals
#TeamYale (Henry & Evan) Jackie, Ed in Ohio

Ready? Let's GO! 

Ten teams remain. Who will be eliminated NEXT? 

They're headed to Antwerp, Belgium. Mmm ... chocolate! All teams will be on the same flight. Well, of course, as long as all make the flight! Once they land in Amsterdam, they need to take a train to Antwerp. 

Oh, the Roadblock is WAY up high on a crane, called Sky Climb. Oh my. Cedric and Shawn find it first. They have to climb a chain ladder and get their next clue before the crane descends.

Onto the Detour. Printing presses are the topic. They need to print a clue. Or the have to evaluate three diamonds. 

Cody seems to be taking to the printing idea. But then the Yale team came along and they figured out holding the card backwards to the light gives them the exact mirror image they need for the letters. 

Whoa! The NBA guys figured out the printing and are currently in 1st place! They are followed by the Ski Girls.

Now it's "Time to go head to head." A member from each team must race in a French Fry costume steering a dolly of "frites", loser races the next team. Jess and Cody will go against the NBA guys as the Ski Gals got a bit lost. The last loser from the race will result in that team being eliminated.

Cody wins over Cedric.

Pit Stop:
1. Cody and Jess -- won $2500 each

Uh-oh -- the Twins (Firefighters) switch from the printing Detour to the diamond one which actually seems a lot harder.

To the race - Shawn against Henry. 

2. Cedric and Shawn

Race -- Evan against Kristi.  

3. Ski Girls

Race - Henry against Chris. 

4. Team Well Strung 

Race - Alex against Evan 

5. Alex and Conor - The Indy Racers

Now Henry is trying again against Lucas

6. Lucas and Brittany 

Wah ... the Yalies are my blog pool team. They're wearing themselves out racing and not winning!

Race - Evan against Tim 

7. Tim and Joey Chestnut 

Race - Henry against April ... FINALLY

8. Henry and Evan! 

April against Daniel

9. The Twin Firefighters

Team Goat Yoga -- April and Sarah have been Philiminated. 

Next week has another U-Turn and ... and ... swapping partners?!?!?!

The Amazing Race 30 Blog Pool Sign Up!

Welcome to The Amazing Race 30 blog pool! The esteemed SueGee, also affectionately known as Squegee, is running the pool this season. Want in?

I want in! What do I do?

If you want in to the blog pool, you need to sign up in the comments of this post and this post only! Please don't try signing up on any other posts -- we might miss your comment.

Is there money involved in this?

Of course not! You needn't pay anything to get into the pool. You don't need to buy a pool pass or anything! Mind you, you don't win any money either. What you do win is bragging rights until the next season and the smugness that goes with it.

How does it work?

 SueGee makes random picks for the teams and the blog folks. You cheer on that team all season until they either win or get their torch snuffed along the way.

When is the cut-off for entering?

All pool requests must be in comments to this here post and submitted by midnight Monday, January 8. Be there or be square. 

We skip the first team out on the premiere as we never really get to know them.
Here's a bit on the remaining teams who will indeed be competing in our blog pool --

 

#TeamIndyCar

Alexander Rossi and Conor Daly

Both are 26 years old, both are race car drivers 

#TeamGoatYoga

April Gould and Sarah Williams

Both are 39 years old and both are from Arizona 

#TeamBigBrother

Cody Nickson and Jessica Graf

Cody is 32 years old while Jess is 26.

BB fans know all about them

#TheFirefighters or my own #TheTwins

Eric and Daniel Guiffreda

Amazingly, these twins are both 33 years old!

They hail from Louisiana

#TeamYale

Henry Zhang and Evan Lynyak

Dating debaters, they're both 22 years old and live in California

#TeamChomp

Joey Chestnut and Tim Janus

Joey is 33 years old; Tim is 41

Competitive eaters -- Joey from California, Tim from NYC

#TeamExtreme

Kristi Leskinen and Jen Hudak

Kristi is 36 years old, Jen is 30

Both are professional skiers and and more towards the X Games kind of skiing

#TeamOceanRescue

Lucas Bocanegra and Brittany Austin

He's 35 years old, she's 33

Dating Miami lifeguards

 #TeamSlamDunk

Cedric Ceballos and Shawn Marion

Cedric is 48 years old and Shawn is 39

Retired NBA players

#TeamWellStrung

Trevor Wadleigh and Chris Marchant

Trevor is 31 years old, Chris 33

Both are musicians (violin) from NYC

The Amazing Race 30: Season Premiere Blog Party

Wow. It's the 30th season of this show? It's hard to believe, isn't it? It looks like we have a very strong cast this season -- almost all of the teams seem to be very competitive. I guess we'll see what happens!

Will there be a blog pool this season? Why, yes! I'm glad you asked! SueGee has offered to run it. We're going to skip the first team out. After all, we hardly get to know them. I will be posting a separate blog pool sign up post later tonight after the show airs here. Please do not ask to join here on this blog party post! Your request might be missed! Watch for the actual blog pool sign up post.

As the show airs here on the East Coast, I'll be live-blogging the events to the best of my ability. It's often rough at the beginning as I'm try to get used to the new teams. So, bear with me. 

Amazing Race fans ready? Let's GO! 

Phil promises us the most competitive teams ever as the teams head to the starting point at Washington Square Park in NYC. (Had I known, I would have headed there for photos!) We're getting team intros now. 

They have to all go in the fountain to get the clue to where they're going. It's Iceland! 

It's gorgeous in Iceland. The teams have to pick up an Icelandic flag from a zip line. So far, all the teams seem to be likable. That, of course, may change. Some of the teams are having problems finding where they need to go.  

Uh-oh, the Goat Yoga Girls are bickering a bit. More than a bit. Not good, even if they are lost. Other teams had problems finding the zip line place, but no quarreling!  

Roadblock! The teams have to traverse in a dune buggy looking for letters and the correct order to spell the location of their next clue. 

Whoa! Cody and Jess are now in the lead! The Yale Debaters are in second place.

At the location, Jody are serenaded and asked questions to which they must find an answer. They each have to drink a shot of "The Black Death" -- a potent drink indeed.

Jess and Cody are now headed to the Pit Stop. The Skiing Women are right on their tails. Now Jess and Cody are lost. Cody won't stop to ask for directions. The Ski Women asked before they headed out.

Hmm.

Pit Stop:
1. The Ski Women -- won a trip to Greece. 
2. Cody and Jessica
3. Yalies
4. Trevor and Chris (Daytona Dudes)

Uh-oh. The Goat Yoga Girls were inadvertently assisted by the NBA Guys at the Roadblock. Now the NBA Guys are in last place. 

5. Joey Chestnut and partner
6. Who are they??? 
7. ?
8. NBA but not allowed to help -- one called out to the other. Penalty.
8. Twins
9. NBA
10. Goat Yoga Girls
11. Ring Girls

It all came down to the last few seconds as the NBA waited out their penalty and both women teams raced in.  The Ring Girls have been Philiminated.

The Amazing Race 30: Meet the Cast

Tomorrow night -- Wednesday, January 3. at 8pm ET/PT. it's the season premiere! Had I known they were taking off from Washington Square Park when they did it, I would have been there. It looks like a strong cast; hopefully it will be a good season! I only "know" three of them -- Cody and Jessica from BB and Joey Chestnut because he's always in the big Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island every summer. I'm wondering if the twins might have an edge because twin's are so bonded together. We'll see!

Off Topic: That Was the Year It Was - 2017

It's not only a Sunday, but it's the last day (Sunday or otherwise) of the year. This is my last off television topic photo post of the year. Television fans should make note that The Amazing Race season premiere will air this coming Wednesday, January 3, at 8pm ET/PT. I will be posting about the cast before the premiere and, of course, live blogging the show and hosting the blog party as it airs.

So ... to the off television topic stuff. Between really feeling horrible and the bitter cold this past week, I don't think I took any photos at all. That's a first in years. What I did do for this week's post is go through photos I've taken during 2017 and pick out my personal favorites, one for each month. Then I threw random photos I took of Vincent the Cat just because he's such a big part of my life.

To be honest, I won't be sorry to see 2017 go away. Between the political landscape disharmony, my increasing dissatisfaction with my workplace, declining health and more ... it's not been a good year for me. For years I had planned to retire this year. Health insurance costs, not a benefit for retirees in my company, have made that impossible. Maybe in 2018 I'll have some way to get out of the rat race. 

I even had more problems on the blog this year than in the past. I was about ready to throw the towel in on it with the Big Brother blogging this past summer. I find it ridiculous that people get so hung up on the show that they feel the need to turn their vitriol on "fans" of cast members they don't like. Sheesh. Not only was there controversy, but BB used to be my summer cash cow. I once got paid good freelancing money to cover the shows and live feeds. Neither the ads revenue nor the donations make the work I put into it worth the headaches I had this past year with it.

I am grateful for the friends I have, the roof over my head, enough money to live on without worrying that there will be more bills left than month to pay them in. I've certainly gone through worse financial years in my life. I've also gone through worse personal loss times in my life -- flashing back on decades (scores) of years ago when I lost my parents five months apart. So, it hasn't been a good year for me ... but, in many ways, it hasn't been the worst year of my life, either.

I hope 2018 is a better year for everyone!

January

My train home arrives in Bridgewater as the snow comes down. I must have left early that day because it was still daylight! I probably headed out early due to the snow.

February

Historic train wheels captured in a sculpture at the Somerville Train Station.

March

After snow cover went and before new snow cover arrived, this is a shot of the main building at the Plainfield Train Station.

April

A hawk on the stadium lights at the TD Bank Ball Park in Bridgewater. He seemed to be watching the game.

May

The coolest looking potato beetle (or false potato beetle, not sure which) posed for me at the Bridgewater Train Station.

June

Making eye to eyes contact with a starling.

July

I took so many photos of the Plainfield 4th of July Parade that it was hard to pick just one. So, I picked none. Instead, I went for this photo I took of one of the painted utility boxes in Plainfield. This one is at the corner of Watchung Avenue and East 4th Street.

August

Gull on a lamp post on North Avenue in Plainfield.

September

The marigolds in planters at my workplace were fun and colorful to photograph.

October

Yep, like birds, the trains and train stations are repeating photo fodder for me. This was taken as the sun was setting at the Bridgewater Train Station.

November

What year would be complete without a moon shot from me? This one is the Full Beaver Moon.

December

The great escape from the rat (pigeon) race. I envy that bird.

And then there's Vincent ...
He isn't always sleeping, mind you. But it's easiest to photograph him when he is!