Survivor South Pacific 9/28 Blog Party

Survivors ready? It's almost time for the show to start here on the East Coast. As it airs, I'll be updating this post with major events. But the real fun and active discussion can be found in the blog party comments. Stop on in and share your thoughts on the show!

It's immediately to Redemption Island for the suel between Christine and Semhar. It's concentration and balance. Semhar goes all funky with some spoken word prayer. Christine wins! Bye Semhar.

Brandon admitted to all that he;s Russell Hantz's nephew. He tells them he hates to lie and Russell is NOT him.

Ozzy told Keith he had the idol. Keith told Whitney after promising to tell no one.
Baby Hantz continues to alienate the rest of his tribe with his odd behavior.

Immunity challenge ahead -- reward is coffee, tea, etc. Upolu wins ... and Coach is still doing so much better than his previous seasons.

The tribe wants to vote out Papa Bear, but tell Papa Bear it's Cochran. Papa Bear pretended he found the idol, made a fake one and told Cochran.

The tally --
Papa Bear
Cochran
Jim
Papa Bear
Papa Bear
Papa Bear

Papa Bear is heading over to Redemption to go up against Christine.

The Amazing Race 19 Season Premiere Blog Party

It's here! Welcome to the blog party! As the show airs, I'll post major events here in this entry. But the real fun is in the comments area. Please stop in and share your thoughts on the show!

Racers ready?

Margo has the pool all set to go! Here are the random match-ups --

**POOL MATCH-UP****

Amani and Marcus - Nana in N G W, Tammy, Jackie
Andy and Tommy - Caela, DKNYNC, meb
Bill and Cathi - Pam, Auntie Leigh, Monty924
Ernie and Cindy - Brent McKee, Becky, Delee
Ethan and Jenna - BuzzmaKaylaniam, Lisanne, Sydney
Jeremy and Sandy - Donna in AL, Zoetawny, DoraM
Justin and Jennifer - Rbennie, Lynn1, Margo
Kaylani and Lisa - Donna in FL, Laurie, ML
Laurence and Zac - Ed, estelle, JOEY
Liz and Marie - SueGee, Jennasmom, ChicMc
Ron and Bill - PDXGranny, Glenn, Terry in PA

This season has a new obstacle called a hazard.

Good. One of the cocktail waitresses dropped a passport. (I'm not impressed with them.) Gotta give them credit ,,, they tweeted and good samaritans turned it in to them. Kaylana and Lisa, with the hazard for coming in last in the first challenge, have to have one bungee jump..

Ernie and Cindy arrived at the pit stop first. OMG! Bill and Cathi were last, but it's the first non-elimination in a premiere. They're still in the race. Next week is the first ever double elimination.

Off Topic - That Was the Week It Was - September 25, 2011

My new friend Ralph, the ghost crab

It's Sunday morning, time for my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken. As an on television topic reminder -- don't forget ... the new season of The Amazing Race begins tonight 8 PM ET/PT! C'mon by the blog party!

Okay, most of you know I'm on a trip. Mind you, my neighbor (who has machetes and is far more likely to use them than I) is watching my apartment. So, no funny business.

Getting to the Norfolk airport was a nightmare on Friday. The weather caused all kinds of airline delays and cancellations. My own planned route -- Newark, Detroit, Norfolk -- got discombobulated. The flight out of Newark was running so late I'd miss the last Detroit to Norfolk plane. So I was re-routed through Atlanta instead. They promised me my checked bag would be rerouted too.

They lied. My checked bag went to Detroit and missed the last plane of the night to Norfolk. Grr. I couldn't wait for that plane to come in Saturday afternoon, so they did deliver the bag to the house here (with its TSA approved lock and the nifty yellow zipper pulls ripped off).

But all is cool -- met up with Laurie, Margo, Marge, Ann, Ruth, Elaine and Delee. Despite the rainy day here, we ate well and goofed off well! I roamed the beach despite the rain. My photos aren't that great because, while I made sure to keep my camera lens away from the raindrops, my eyeglasses didn't fare as well. Haf the time I couldn't see what I was shooting! But the rain stopped during the evening and I KNOW I'll have plenty to shoot during the week.

Here ya go ...

EWR

Nuff said.

Gate Gourmet

At EWR

Rain, fog and plane

The fog was so heavy that the airplanes taking off soon vanished from sight. Once I was flying and saw the sunset above the clouds, that was striking -- a deep shade of red over the floor pillows of clouds. No photos as I didn't have a window seat because I was on a plane going to Atlanta instead of my original flight.

Virginia cool 'shrooms

Laurie pointed these out to me by the parking lot of the hotel we stayed at Friday night.

From the same area

'Shrooms from the side

Note Santa runs the locksmith

The sign adjacent to this decrepit business said something about super security. Maybe the Claus ... I don't know. This is in Virginia. I think. Maybe North Carolina.

Corolla NC 'shrooms

I suppose it's okay if you carry it in the open.

Wet bird

Wazzat?

Why ... it's a herd of pelicans!

Don't tell me it's a pod. I don't want to hear it. I like herd.

Vincent at his Best Friends

Whenever I bring him there, the big monitor flips to photos they've taken of him. Sniffle. I miss him! But they do treat him well there.

Survivor South Pacific 9/21 Episode Blog Party

Survivors ready? It's almost time for the show to start here on the East Coast. As it airs, I'll be updating this post with major events. But the real fun and active discussion can be found in the blog party comments. Stop on in and share your thoughts on the show!

Semhar is miserable on Redemption Island. Too bad, so sad.

Ozzy found the hidden idol without a clue. He says he won't tell anyone. We'll see about that.

Brandon told Coach he's Russell's nephew. So they now pray together. @@

Christine found the clue to the idol, but hasn't a clue.

Immunity is mainly physical. Reward is blankets, pillows, a hammock. Savaii wins!

Brandon wants the strongest woman, Mikayla, voted out because she "tempts" him. That Hantz kid is whacked in an entirely different way than his uncle. Great Tribal Council!

The tally:
Sophie
Edna
Christine
Stacy
Christine
Stacy
Christine
Stacy
Christine

Christine was voted out.

The Amazing Race 19 - Meet the Cast!

Our Emmy-winning favorite whirlwind trip around the world returns this coming Sunday for its 19th season. As we always do, we'll have blog parties here all season as the show airs East Coast time.

That great gal Margo is running the blog pool for the show. If you want in, please respond to this post. If you're an anon, you'll have to give some sort of name to participate. It's all in fun with no real wagering -- teams are picked randomly for each pool participant so we can cheer them on all season. The folks with the winning team earn bragging rights!

Racers ready?


The cast (left to right): Top row -- Ron and Bill, Kaylani and Lisa, Amani and Marcus, Jeremy and Sandy, Bill and Cathi, Andy and Tommy. Bottom row -- Liz and Marie, Justin and Jennifer, Ethan and Jenna, Laurence and Zac, Ernie and Cindy. [Clicking on the image will open it larger in a new window, then hit the back button on your browser to return to the blog entry.]



Here are my quick takes on the cast accompanied by a bit of information and the links to their CBS bios:

Ethan Zohn and Jenna Morasca -- Oh, I HAVE to do them first! Everybody knows I'm not a huge advocate of folks returning or crossing over on reality shows. That's because most of the time, it's folks who are "notorious." So, each of them are previous million dollar winners of Survivor. Why am I happy they're on TAR? Because I admire both of them so much! Ethan fought off cancer and is such a great guy, too. Jenna is intelligent and so not devious. They're dating and, even though they've both had their big reality payday, I wouldn't mind at all if they won this season. I like 'em that much! He's 37, she's 30 and they both live in NYC.

Amani and Marcus Pollard -- They're a married couple. He's 39, she's 36. He's on Phil's competitor list in the video above because he's a retired NFL player/coach. Their hometown is Pine Mountain, GA. They have four children. Hmm ... I'm not getting any real vibes off of them. I'm not a football fan, so I have no clue who he is. One thing in their favor is that they seem to have a solid marriage and will probably work well together as a team.

Andy Finch and Tommy Czeschin -- Yet another one of the "competitor" teams, Andy is 30, Tommy is 32. They're both from smaller towns in California. And, they're both professional ex-Olympics snowboarders. Now, I don't expect snowboarding to take place on the show this season even though they often visit colder climes. But I think these two bear watching. I know from my skiing days that snowboarders are a special breed -- they're definite risk takers. Something like that is going to work in their favor on the show. I hope they're really likable because I'm going to bet they have a strong chance at the win.

Bill and Cathi Alden -- These two are my sentimental favorite for the win right off the bat ... but they probably won't. He's 63, she's 62. While they seem to be in great shape, we all know those years work against them. They're married and live in Albany, Oregon. He's a retired teacher, presently a rancher. She's a retired high school principal and presently an online professor. They have three children. (Most likely grown children, I'd hazard to guess.) I like them. But the race is grueling on teams decades younger. We'll see.

Ernie Halvorsen and Cindy Chiang -- This engaged couple -- he's 29, she's 30 -- hail from Chicago. He's a project manager while she's a brand manager. Um. Okay. That's better than mixologists, I guess! (The bios do explain the positions a bit more.) I see a possible foods stumbling block as she's gluten-free, not a bad thing in the normal course of life, but it might have inherent problems running the race. I'm not getting either winning or losing vibes from their bios.

Jeremy Cline and Sandy Draghi -- A dating couple, he's 35 and she's 33. He hails from Alamo, CA while she's from Dublin, CA. He's a commercial real estate broker while she's a nurse practitioner. They have no experience working together under stress. Uh-oh, they better watch out! She says he reminds her of George Clooney. I'm just not seeing that. They want to build a stronger relationship together on the race. Well, I hope they don't bicker or call each other "babe" a lot.

Justin and Jennifer Young -- This brother/sister team hails from Stone Mountain, GA. He's 31, she's 26. He's a doctor and she's a special education teacher. Man, their parents did something right with them, huh? They both seem like nice people, but their bios make it evident that they might have some sibling rivalry issues. I usually enjoy sibling teams, but if he does indeed always treat her like a kid sister, that might not be too cool on the race. They'll have to work as a team or they won't make that finish line.

Kaylani Paliotta and Lisa Tilley -- My gosh, haven't we had enough VIP cocktail waitresses out of Las Vegas on reality TV shows? Kaylani is 33, Lisa is 32. They're friends. I'm just not overly enthusiastic about them. Not only is there the Vegas girls thing, but I know I'm not going to be able to tell which one is whom. Maybe they'll surprise me and do well. Hopefully they won't have annoying laughs.

Laurence and Zac Sunderland -- This father (48) and son (19) team is from Thousand Oaks, CA. They're on Phils competitor list because the son was the youngest person to sail around the world alone back when he was 16. The father is a yacht manager. So now we know where the kid got his boat! Oh my gosh, there are eight kids in the family! Zac could have gone off sailing and not be missed! These two could possibly be a strong team. I'm getting little clue about their personalities, so I'll chalk them up as a "we'll see" team.

Liz and Marie Canavan -- Oh, great. I already have one female team I fear I won't be able to tell apart and what does the show do? They give me twin sisters! Both girls are 24 and from Deerfield, IL. Liz is a marketing assistant while Marie is "soul searching" as she goes through her quarter-life crisis. @@ They seem to fight a lot. Yeah, we all love that so much with teams on the show, right? I'm not too enthused about these two.

Ron Zeitz and Bill Smith -- Domestic partners living in Laguna Niguel, CA, they're both flight attendants. Ron is 44, Bill is 49. Neither have a fear of traveling (a good thing considering their careers) and they might have an edge in airport travel. But how will they do at the rest of the racing? Hmmm ...

What are your thoughts on the teams? And, don't forget ... speak up in comments here if you want to be in the blog pool!