Sunday, September 25, 2016

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - September 25, 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 looking for TV related stuff, this ain't that! However, that said, supposedly the cast reveal for Big Brother Over the Top (BBOTT) will be announced tomorrow and I'll be posting about that when I get the news! I will also continue posting the aftermath stuff from BB18, the current stuff about Survivor ... so, stay tuned!

What a week it's been around here! The beginning of the week started out with summer temperatures and we ended up with autumn a few days after actual autumn began. Also, the beginning of my work week saw all kinds of action as the Chelsea (NYC)/Seaside (NJ) bomber left unexploded bombs at a nearby city's NJ Transit train station. He was captured in a shoot-out in an even closer town. To be honest, I wasn't frightened ... but I did hope they'd cancel the trains and I would have a good excuse not to return to work for my first day after staycation! But, alas, that didn't happen. So, I went to work.

Let's see ... what happened (other than BB18 finale and Survivor premiere) this week? Well, they posted notices at my apartment building that they were going to do repairs to the parking lot on Wednesday and all cars must be moved. I don't have a car, so I never cared (as Paul from BB would say). I had noticed that they had gone through the lot the week before painting red boxes around every pothole, rough area. Wednesday came and went; nothing was done. Now, I don't know what day they did it -- it had to be Friday or Saturday -- but, I went out this morning to throw my recyclables in the dumpster (for them) and saw that they've cut into the pavement in all of the marked spots. I hope no one decides to go fast through the lot as some of the drop-offs are well more than two inches deep! It had to happen while I was gone because I surely would have heard the noise. Vincent was probably annoyed by them.

My sprained ankle is coming along. The swelling has gone down enough that I can actually feel that bony part of the outside ankle instead of just having it feel like a painful pillow around it. I've given up the cane and roughed it. By the end of my workday, it's a bit swollen again and it's always a bit of a nagging pain. But it's doable. Thankfully, I've been tied up at work with scheduling, hiring, training and testing people, so I've managed to stay off of it for the most part.

When I walked out to the dumpster and to get my newspaper from the front of the building today, the hallway smells SO GOOD. I felt like tracking down which apartment is cooking up the magnificent breakfast and inviting myself!

I have a quiet day planned for today. I want to watch some shows online that I missed this week. Right now I have Charles Osgood's last Sunday Morning on CBS show on. I'm going to miss him and his bow-tie. But I did watch the show back when it was hosted by Charles Kuralt. I'll watch it with a new host. It's one of my personal Sunday morning traditions. 

Onto this week's photos! Clicking on an image will bring up a larger version.
   
Yes! It's AUTUMN! Yay!

On Friday, the temperature hit 90 degrees once again. On Saturday morning as I headed to the train station to go to work, this is what I saw. YES! This is my season! These are the overnight/morning temperatures I want to see! Highs in the low 70s! Perfect!

Ladybug, ladybug ...

This cute little ladybug was kind enough to pose for me one day.

The 59 with a bike

This is the style of bus that NJ Transit runs from town to town within the state. It can only transport two bicycles at a time. If you're the third bike, you're outta luck! I often take the 59 back and forth from near my apartment to the train station when my commute schedule and the bus/train schedules work out well. My monthly train pass is good for that jaunt, so it's free for me. Well, I paid for it, I guess. I just don't pay any more for it! I also will take the 59 into neighboring towns of Westfield and Scotch Plains. I've never taken it all the way into Newark. I keep telling myself that some day I will so I can photo stomp the downtown areas of Newark.

The 113S to Manhattan

It's always tempting to jump aboard this bus as I wait at the Plainfield Train Station to head to work. Yeah, I'd rather roam the streets of NYC than go to work in New Jersey! That's a given. I've never really taken this bus into the city -- the 113N bus goes right by my apartment and I take that one back and forth to the city or sometimes into neighboring Westfield. I have, on occasion, taken the 113S bus home as its last run is an hour later than the 113N and I missed the 113N. When I've done that, I've had to walk a good five blocks or so home, though -- I almost might as well take the train which has its last run at about 2:30am! The last 113S bus from the city goes through here at about 1am. The last 113N is about midnight, but stops right across the street from my apartment. I usually try to catch that one! The NJ Transit commuter buses going in and out of Manhattan are more comfy than are the buses they use town to town within the state. They're kind of like Greyhound sans the bathroom.

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

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Big Brother: Jeff and Jordan TV

I've been decompressing a bit from my three months with little sleep due to Big Brother. I have, in between my work schedule and needed rest, been peeking at various BB18 backyard (and other) interviews online. In my travels, I came across this one. It gives a bit of a different perspective to it all. Now, these two I enjoyed watching on the live feeds -- the showmances this season, not so much. And, of course, the Amanda/McCrae one was absolutely horrible to endure.

 

Friday, September 23, 2016

BB18: Those Season Finale Backyard Interviews



Julie Chen didn't only show up for Jeff in the backyard, she also talked to Rob Cesternino -- did you realize there's going to be an online at CBS All Access Big Brother season coming up soon? I thought I'd let you know if you hadn't heard!

Heh.

Onto some of the action in the backyard after the season finale ...





More to come!

Thursday, September 22, 2016

The Scoop on Big Brother Over the Top (BBOTT)

Please vote Jason, not Jozea. Thank you.

The first thing I'd like to address is the voting of a "veteran" player into the cast. I have no clue what CBS has been smoking to even think that we want to see Jozea again! Please, if you have CBS All Access, throw your votes to Jason on the CBS website. Most of us will be eternally grateful.

That said ... 
Last night I watched most of the backyard interviews on the live feeds. But I was a bit too burnt out from the long (Survivor premiere, BB18 finale) live-blogging night to write more on them on the time. An unusual interview, a person I've never seen in the backyard interviews, was Julie Chen. Of course, she showed to plug BBOTT.

Here's what I garnered from her interview and some scouting about:
  • There will be 12 brand spanking new hamsters and one (JASON) returning hamster for a total of 13.
  • Everything will ONLY be through CBS All Access online -- NO television aired shows, etc.
  • It's to be a shortened season -- 10 weeks.
  • The cast reveal will be Monday morning and I should be able to cover it as long as the reveal happens when it should (around 10am ET). 
  • There will be Julie Chen hosted weekly eviction shows at 7pm PT or 10pm ET on Wednesday evenings. 11pm ET would be the live eviction with the HoH comps starting a midnight ET. Eek! I'll try my best to do what I can with those!
  • Julie Chen will be doing the evicted hamster interviews on Thursday.
  • The Veto comps should be Mondays at 4pm ET (which I won't be able to cover live here).
  • The Veto ceremony should be Tuesdays at 4pm ET (which I also won't be able to cover live here).
  • They have live Diary Rooms on Tuesday and Friday nights at 10:30pm ET.
  • On Saturdays, at 4pm ET, the Have Not Reveal
  • On Saturdays, at 10pm ET, there's a new "Safety Ceremony." From what Julie said, if you don't get safety there, you get nominated. Not YOU literally. That's a figurative YOU.
  • Then, just to confuse things more, there's a Safety Ceremony and Nominations Sunday night at 10pm ET.
I'm SO confused! There's some conflicting information out there right now. I will definitely be doing some kind of coverage of the season. But until the show goes live, I'm not sure exactly how I'll be covering it. However, I will promise to post something daily so that the blog readers with CBS have a place to discuss things daily.

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

BB18: Season Finale Blog Party



Which one will win?

Welcome to the BB18 season finale blog party! I'll be live blogging the events as the show airs here on the East Coast, so refresh the page to get the latest news. As always, the real party is in the comments ... please feel free to join us there!

But, first ... before we get started with the show, here are the remaining blog pool peeps -- and, yeah, I'm one of them! 

Paul Abrahamian - Jackie, Arf Barf, WolfpackRed, chrob61
Nicole Franzel - Kelsey NY, Grove Wiley, Nickelpeed, Sharon C  
James Huling - Becky, Donna in Alabama, Sharon S, Willie J

Yes! Let's set these house hamsters free!

For a change, let's start the show with a recap. 

Finally to the cat/laser beam/endurance comp that started at the end of the last show. The winner of this first part goes on to the last part while the other two face off in the second part comp. 

This part one comp is great! I love the cat theme and the mix of endurance tossed in!  

Nicole almost loses it, swinging around on a rope and then falls. James fell right after. PAUL wins the Part One Comp!

Julie tells us that we'll be able to impact the BBOTT (fall online BB season premiering next week) before the houseguests even move in. Hmm. 

Second Part HoH - "Snapshot" - Roller coaster in the yard, it sounds all discombobulated to me -- taking photos of previous hamsters, gathering the photos by clues, sending up on the roller coaster, taking photos. Yikes! Nicole goes first. She's nervous but at least knows all the clues.

Then it's James's turn. He's not as good with the clues, nor the photo taking.  He did better with his second and third rounds.

James: 19:06
Nicole: 7:24

WOW! She won that by a landslide!

So it will be Nicole versus Paul in the third part.   

Jury Roundtable with Will Kirby. Corey walks in. They talk James first. He gets kudos on his social game, not getting blood on his hands, under the radar. Day wants to see him take risks as does Victor and Corey. The consensus is that Paul is a very strategical player. Day says Paul the player is phenomenal but Paul the person is obnoxious. The words he said have people bitter against him. Michelle is very bitter about Nicole. She makes nasty comments when others say decent things about her. Oh, geez. Michelle cries because everybody is "picking on her" over her hatred of Nicole. Bridgette thinks women are bitter. Day gives her kudos.

DANGER ALERT! We can vote either Jason (BB17) or Jozea (BB18) into BBOTT. Everybody, PLEASE vote Jason. Thank you. 

Aww, Pablo is in the audience.

Time for the third part of the final HoH comp. It's the Scales of Just Us once again. Paul and Nicole compete. Eight questions.
1. Both right
2. Both wrong
3. Both wrong 
4. Paul gets a point
5. Both wrong
6. Paul gets another point leads 3 to 1 
7. Nicole picks up a point 
8. Both right.

PAUL WINS THE FINAL HOH COMP! Now we get tears from him. But they're not as annoying as Michelle tears.

It's time for Paul to evict either James or Nicole. He votes to evict JAMES because he kept stabbing him in the back. 

Nicole and Paul are the final two (just as I hoped).  

Jury interrogation time! Day wants Paul to stay in the house. James appears on stage with them. Three questions for each.

Natalie: Paul, very good player, some of the things said vulgar and across the line. Why should we vote for you? Love to have fun, always crazy.

Michelle: One move earn it? Had to convince Natalie to put up Paul and Victor.

Corey: Paul, great shot? Six times on the block.

Victor: Nicole, aligned with men riding coattails? I was the brains behind a lot of it, planted seeds.

Zakiyah: Paul, why deserve? Apologizes to vets, first timer, involved, always a target.

Paulie: Nicole, why deserve? Gave 100% 1000% of the time, gave it her all.

James: Paul, lost the second part of HoH, were you ever honoring the deal we made? Nicole relayed all back, you weren't as loyal.    

The speeches:
Paul -- Easy target, worked ass off, won Veto when needed, teamed up with others at the right time, no help, no care package, won his way to the end. Most comp wins. Stayed true to self, nothing to hide. Friendship!

Nicole -- Crap, that was good. So happy to be here, watched since 8 years old. Called a snake. Convinced Paulie to be a pawn. Convince Natalie put up her people. Time to win comps, struck against Paul and Victor. Gave it all I got. 

Voting time:
Da'Vonne first, Zakiyah (so far they all say they love them both), Bridgette, Paulie needed a speech gave to best game, Michelle, Natalie, Victor, Corey, James.    

The pre-jury is introduced. Onto the vote tally.

James - Paul
Corey - Nicole
Victor - Paul
Natalie - Nicole
Michelle - Paul
Paulie - Nicole
Bridgette - Paul
Zakiyah - Nicole
Da'Vonne - Nicole

NICOLE wins BB18!   

For the first time, a woman has won against a man in the final two.

Faves vote: Victor, Natalie and James top three.

VICTOR wins favorite houseguest!  

And there you have it. BB18 done and over. I want to thank everybody for hanging with the blog this season and welcome the new folks who came aboard.

What? It's not over? Nope.

Over the next few days, I'll be posting BB18 interview links and things like that. Don't go away just yet! (Well, you can go for tonight. I've been posting a lot and a certain cat wants shoulder time.) Thank you all again!