Survivor: Cambodia, Second Chance - September 30 Blog Party

Survivor fans ready? 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!

To remind folks, Lifeguard Laurie has made the random picks for the blog pool and here they are:

Bayon Tribe
Andrew Savage - Jennasmom, JoyzJenn, Silk
Ciera Eastin - chrob61, Jackie, Russ
Jeremy Collins - Brian, meb, Nickelpeed
Joe Anglim - Delee, Mother Guru, PDX Granny
Kass McQuillen - Donna NY, Marlo, Petals
Keith Nale - Tammy, gaylos, Margo
Kimmi Kappenberg - Glenn, Nana in the NW, Rbennie
Monica Padilla - ChicMC, Kelsey, sanra
Stephen Fishbach - Brenda, Matt, Rochelle
Tasha Fox - Donna in AL, Jennamom, Stephanie in Baltimore

Takeo Tribe 
Abi-Maria Gomes - Nobody is stuck with her!
Jeff Varner - Donna in FL, Linda in MA, SueGee
Kelley Wentworth - monty 924, Grandi, RENOthunder
Kelly Wiglesworth - ML, Sharon N, Indiana Jane
Peih-Gee Law - Becky, David, Joanie,
Shirin Oskooi - Cheryl in NC, Kelly D, Sharon C
Spencer Bledsoe - Ellen vdW, Nancerella, Terry is a Texan
Terry Deitz - Anonymouse, Merrilee, ORKMommy
Woo Hwang - Ed in Ohio, LafayetteLisanne, Laurie

Out
Vytas Baskauskas 

Varner wants his tribe to go with the new school of thoughts. He's hooking up with Terry and they want to "really play this game." Varner thinks Abi will be easy to get out and is more worried about Spencer and Shirin. 

Uh-oh. Joe's tribemates think he's much too good at everything. He needs to watch his back by merge.

Abi meanwhile wants to show that she's a new Abi. Spencer isn't happy that he needs her in his camp. Jeff Varner considers her entertainment.

Kass thinks her fellow tribemates are great people and they make her a better person. I guess we'll see. She said that after Andrew Savage told them a touching sad story of his wife. Stephen tells Andrew that Jeremy went off looking for an idol when Jeremy actually just needed a bit of alone time because his own wife is pregnant and he's worried. Andrew told Jeremy about what Stephen said. That puts another nail in the Fishbach Coffin, methinks.

Aha! Abi has started a cat fight with Peih-Gee and Shirin! So much for the New Abi-Maria. Aw, Terry goes to console her and now she'll be forever loyal to him? I guess we'll see how that goes! Varner reels her in, too. After her own alliance laughed at her to her face, she's a Happy Abi once again. Until the next time she can be a drama queen, that is.

Immunity Challenge -- Obstacle course over walls, haul a heavy crate, solve a puzzle. Reward is a Survivor tool kit with all kinds of stuff. Ciera sits out. BAYON wins Immunity and Reward again.

Varner thinks either Spencer or Shirin should go home and their poor performance in the challenge should get the deed done. It sounds like the numbers are against Spencer and Shirin. Varner is leading the pack. Kelley thinks she will follow the numbers. Shirin thinks she has Varner in her corner and wants to try to make good with Abi.

Argh! Abi, thinking she's a smarty-pants and getting even with Shirin, tells Shirin that they all want to vote her (Shirin) or Spencer out. Shirin runs to Spencer. Shirin tries to bring Woo in and he reminds them that they have never talked to him before. "Absolutely not!," says Woo. Heh. Good for him.

Spencer is in tears. I can't feel sorry for him. He should have known better than to team up with Shirin! 

Tribal Council time. Aw, Shirin is going to go for the sympathy card. Spencer speaks a good piece trying to stay. Ack, Jeff lets Shirin speak last. I prefer Spencer stay! Spencer votes Shirin.

The tally --
Spencer, Shirin, Shirin, Shirin, Spencer, Spencer, Spencer, Shirin, Shirin.

Shirin is voted out!

Whoa! Next week it's "drop your buffs" and they get split into three tribes!

Survivor: Cambodia, Second Chance - Blog Pool Match-Ups Announcement

The blog pool match-ups for this season are IN! Lifeguard Laurie has made the random picks and here they are:

Bayon Tribe
Andrew Savage - Jennasmom, JoyzJenn, Silk
Ciera Eastin - chrob61, Jackie, Russ
Jeremy Collins - Brian, meb, Nickelpeed
Joe Anglim - Delee, Mother Guru, PDX Granny
Kass McQuillen - Donna NY, Marlo, Petals
Keith Nale - Tammy, gaylos, Margo
Kimmi Kappenberg - Glenn, Nana in the NW, Rbennie
Monica Padilla - ChicMC, Kelsey, sanra
Stephen Fishbach - Brenda, Matt, Rochelle
Tasha Fox - Donna in AL, Jennamom, Stephanie in Baltimore

Takeo Tribe 
Abi-Maria Gomes - Nobody is stuck with her!
Jeff Varner - Donna in FL, Linda in MA, SueGee
Kelley Wentworth - monty 924, Grandi, RENOthunder
Kelly Wiglesworth - ML, Sharon N, Indiana
Jane Peih-Gee Law - Becky, David, Joanie,
Shirin Oskooi - Cheryl in NC, Kelly D, Sharon C
Spencer Bledsoe - Ellen vdW, Nancerella, Terry is a Texan
Terry Deitz - Anonymouse, Merrilee, ORKMommy
Woo Hwang - Ed in Ohio, LafayetteLisanne, Laurie

Out
Vytas Baskauskas

Well, look at that. In her infinite wisdom, Lifeguard Laurie knew that no one could really cheer on Abi-Maria. After all, how did she even get voted back in except to torment her fellow castaways?

Insightful Big Brother Article (Not Inciteful!)

This HuffPo article is really, really long. I mean REALLY long. And, since Sheila is one of the ones speaking, I brought up an old Zoetawny GIF of her. It still stands today.

But First, an Oral History of Big Brother 

But, any Big Brother fan who's invested all these seasons watching the show should give it a read. It features various hamsters from season one on asked questions regarding aspects of the game. From the day to day action (or lack thereof) to whether production takes part in the game and how it's evolved over the years. They even talk about sequester and the jury house, places we hear or see little of ... well, we see what that want us to see from the latter.

I'm not going to chime in with my thoughts at this time because you're going to have enough reading ahead of you.

But I will be in comments after you've absorbed it! See you there!

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - September 27, 2015

Good morning! Yes, I slept in today. It was very relaxing not to have to stay up late watching the Big Brother live feeds, then get up early and flashback on the feeds, then post a report!

This is my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photos I've taken along the way. For any folks new to the blog, I do this every Sunday. After all, we can't be couch potatoes watching television all day every day! Can we?

It was the first full week of actual normal temperatures here as we welcomed autumn mid-week. I love it. I'm so not a summer heat and humidity kind of person! Give me the high 60s and low 70s and I'm a happy camper.

No, I did not go camping, mind you. I returned to work after my staycation the week before. Sigh. If not for pesky things like keeping a roof over my head and the bills paid, I'd just pursue things I enjoy doing. Alas, I can't earn enough money at those things. So, work I must.

Some random stuff of the week gone by and what's ahead:

• I'll be posting links and videos of the BB hamster interviews tonight and during the week.
• If you want in on our blog pool for The Amazing Race, the cut-off is tomorrow and you'll need to sign up for it on this post right here.
• If you watch The Amazing Race or Survivor, I live blog those shows and throw blog parties as they air East Coast time -- Survivor on Wednesday 8pm ET and The Amazing Race Fridays at 8pm ET. New folks are always welcome to join in on the fun!
• Today I plan on heading to nearby Westfield for their FestiFall Festival. Yes, I'll bring my camera.
• This past week wasn't too exciting. I've overloaded this week's post with photos of a deer who was extremely curious about me.
• I worked, ate, slept and paid attention to Vincent (the cat).
• I dropped off my photos for this year's photo contest at the Plainfield Public Library. This year's theme isn't really the best for me, so I'm not all that optimistic about winning any prizes. A few of the photos I would have been able to use for the theme were already submitted in previous contests and they used them on the entry forms and announcements for this year's competition.
• I noted, between the amount of riff-raff who have been constantly hanging out at the Plainfield Train Station, on the streets and apparently at the site of some sort of encampment I saw downtown ... it appears the homeless problem in town continues to grow. The folks who were hanging out on the bench on the corner of Richmond and East Front (causing the city or someone to remove the bench and put up No Loitering signs) have moved to sitting in front of the Monarch Building on the benches there.
• Yet, Omar remains gone from the train station. He must be in jail, er ... "away" again.
• That's what drugs and excessive drinking will do people. 
• And, it's a reason to keep working. That's no kind of life to live.

Enough ... onto this week's photos. Clicking on an image will bring it up in a larger version.

I'm watching you ...

This young deer at the Bridgewater Train Station was just as interested in watching me as I was in watching her ... or him. I swear the deer must have wanted me to take her home with me or something! So curious! This was Friday on my way home from work. The whole saga in photos is after the jump.

 Eid Al-Adha

This past week marked the two day Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha, otherwise known as the Festival of Sacrifice. Traditionally, the faithful would slaughter animals to feed the poor. However, I doubt that was happening at the Plainfield Islamic Center. I believe it was just the feast part! More photos of this after the jump, too.

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

The Amazing Race 27: Season Premiere Blog Party

Are you ready for a whirlwind race around the world with all brand new teams? I am! As the show airs here on the East Coast, I'll post the major happenings. It's not easy for me to get all the names right in the beginning, so please bear with me. Refresh the page to get the latest. As always, the real party is in the comments area. Come join in on the fun!

If you want in on the blog pool for the season (run by the Magnificent Margo), please enter on this post linked here. Please don't ask on this season premiere post because your request might be missed. The team Philiminated tonight (if there is one) will not be included in the blog pool. The cut-off for joining the pool is Monday!

Let's GO, teams!

They're starting off on Venice Beach in California. The first destination is Rio! The team who wins a bike race (after a cab) wins the only ticket to the first flight. The others are all on the second one, a half-hour later. The team who wins this leg also wins an Express Pass. Once again, FitBit monitors have worked their way onto a show.

The bikes turn out to be water bikes. That's an interesting twist on it. Justin and Diana won the first flight ticket. The alpha male team came in last -- they broke their bike. Some of the female teams are getting a bit catty. Hmm.

Justin and Diana go for the Fast Forward which seems like it's hang-gliding.

The other teams go for the helicopter trip which will end in them having to answer a question.

Uh-oh. Due to wind conditions, the Fast Forward can't be done. Justin and Diana have to head back to the helicopters. They're going from hero to zero here. They'll be in last place. Aw, he's in tears. They're the team who has done their own replica of the race down to proposal under the Northern Lights.

Detour -- Beach soccer-volleyball or Sidewalk. Score against pro soccer players in a volleyball game or do a slide-puzzle which matches the mosaic walk.

No Roadblock this week. It's onto the Pit Stop from the beach.

Pit Stop -
1. Josh and Tanner (the alpha males) won. They get the Express Pass and, once they use it, they must give it to another team.
2. Jazmine and Danielle (best friend atheletes)
3. Cindy and Rick -- the doctor and dentist married couple
4. James Earl and his mother. (Eep ... warned you about the names!) DENISE!
5. Logan and Chris (dating)
6. Alex and Adam (the little dudes)
7. Ernest and Jin (the dancer dudes)
8. Kelsey and Joey (the dating news couple)
9. Justin and Diana. He cries again.
10. Tiffany and Krista (Cheerleaders)

Uh-oh. Phil comes to visit the last team just as they finish the puzzle. It's the TMZ gals -- Kelly and Shevonne -- PHILIMINATED!