Celebrity Big Brother: Season Premiere Blog Party

As the show airs here on the East Coast, I'll be updating and live-blogging away the best I can. Refresh the post to get the latest news! For more information on how I'll be handling this season on the blog as well as the show schedule, check my last post out. As always, the real party is in the comments area -- join on in!

Since the season is so short, I'm not going to have a blog pool going for this one. 

Not sure if big boxy red dresses are best for Julie Chen. We're into the intros. Metta World Peace hasn't a clue about the show.  Man, they're dragging this out. Brandi, Metta, Ross, Mark, Ari go in first.

Shannon is a BB superfan. Hmm. Marissa's SON is the BB superfan. Omarosa is also a self-proclaimed BB superfan.

Finally, 20 minutes into the hour-long show, all the celeb hamsters are in the house. Interesting ... Shannon and Marissa are friends outside the house.

Brandi doesn't like "pretty boys." And Pretty Boy James doesn't like her.

Shannon and Omarosa scheme for a womens alliance along with Marissa. They go after the other women to join in. There are six women and five men. They have the numbers.

HoH competition! They're all dressed in tuxes. Award to "sexiest hg not on the block" -- it's a random pick by where one chooses to stand. Omarosa wins safety for the week and cannot compete.

Award Squeezin' - must squeeze hug their trophies, hang on tight. It's kind of like the hot dog holding comps in the past. The trophies raise. They're wearing goggles -- I'm anticipating a reason for that. 

Oh geez, it's into a song and dance around them with Paul, then Rachel, Jess and Cody in the audience. No, Paul can't sing. Eek. Jesse, Mr. Pectacular.

Marissa falls.

Then the rain starts.  Metta is out. 

Now goop is on them. Mark is down. Ross is out. Chuck is down. Ari is down. Keshia is down, then Brandi.

James tries for a deal with Shannon even though he's the shakier of the remaining two hanging. James slips! 

Shannon is the first HoH of the season!

They have to go into the house and each needs to grab a gift bag. And, we get a commercial. 

Julie tells them that Shannon is HOH for now. Someone's bag will allow them to recast and take over the role of HoH. And, it's "goodnight houseguests."

Celebrity Big Brother: Pre-Season Premiere STUFF

I'm still not sure who some of these celebrities are! For convenience, I'm listing them and their supposed claim to fame:

• Shannon Elizabeth, age 44 - actress. (Who is she?)
• Ross Mathews, age 38 - talk show host/Ross the Intern from Jay Leno.
• Keshia Knight Pulliam, age 38 - actress - "Rudy" on The Cosby Show  
• Brandi Glanville, age 45 - one of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills women (I never watched the show)
• Metta World Peace (Ron Artest), age 38 - basketball coach. Have seen him on talk shows and such.
• Ariadna Guiterrez, age 24 - Miss Universe Runner-Up, the Steve Harvey faux pas. Um, okay. 
• James Maslow, age 27 - Nickelodeon actor. I have no clue.
• Marissa Janet Winokur, age 44 - Broadway actress
• Mark McGrath, age 49 - singer/front man for the band Sugar Ray
• Omarosa Manigault, age 43 - The Apprentice, recently quit Trump White House position.
• Chuck Liddell. age 48 - "UFC Legend", mixed martial arts dude.

The show schedule is as follows:
Thursday, Feb. 8, from 8 – 9 p.m. ET/PT
Friday, Feb. 9, from 8 – 10 p.m. ET/PT
Sunday, Feb. 11, from 8 – 9 p.m. ET/PT
Monday, Feb. 12, from 8 – 9 p.m. ET/PT
Wednesday, Feb. 14, from 8 – 9 p.m. ET/PT
Friday, Feb. 16, from 8 – 10 p.m. ET/PT
Sunday, Feb. 18, from 8 – 9 p.m. ET/PT
Monday, Feb. 19, from 8 – 9 p.m. ET/PT
Wednesday, Feb. 21, from 8 – 9 p.m. ET/PT
Friday, Feb. 23, from 8 – 10 p.m. ET/PT
Saturday, Feb. 24, from 8 – 9 p.m. ET/PT
Sunday, Feb. 25, from 8 – 10 p.m. ET/PT (the finale) 

My show coverage:
I plan on live blogging the episodes as they air on the East Coast.

What about the live feeds?
Yes, I will be posting live feeds reports. Right now the plan is twice daily.

Additional stuff --
For those on you on mobile devices, a fellow BB blogger -- Dan Murrell Jr -- has his Mutant Soup Big Brother Soup app available for Apple download at this link.  His Android app is at this link.

And, as always, I like That Dingo on Hamsterwatch. She and I have been through a lot with our BB coverage!

Over the years, the number of us covering the show has diminished. There was a time when the fan sites could make decent money with not all that much controversy. Lately it seems the show fans are taking the show as badly as the state of politics these days. 

I myself used to earn good money freelancing for AOL Television, Weblogs, TV Squad (now Huffington Post) covering the show recaps and live feeds. While Dan hopefully will make money with his app (something I have no clue how to do, kudos to him!) and That Dingo will make money on CBS All Access sign-ups, I'm dependent on donations and very meager ad revenue. While I do enjoy doing this and I really enjoy this blog community, it is work to do this show. I'd appreciate any and all donations if you can make one. The donation link is on the sidebar ...

Merci!  

Celebrity BB: Another Live Feeds Taste Today

Some (right) have costumes on

They gave us another fifteen minute feed taste. Hmm.

• Some seem to be wearing onesies and bibs and Marissa has either dog or mouse ears.
• Once again, they're aware the feeds were turned on.
• Chuck (the UFC fighter dude) impressed me, taking care of Ari's knee injury and mixing in well with others.
• Omarosa told James she's in his corner. We'll see about that. I think he's on the block.
• Metta kept to himself chomping on an apple and exercising alone.
• Practically no game talk. 

James, Omarosa in background

No slop ... yet

Is she a mouse or a dog?

Celebrity Big Brother Update and Stuff

Well, it seems that they're really pushing this "celebrity" version of the show -- even though I don't know half of the new house hamsters! What I saw yesterday was not the start of the live feeds, nor was it a leak. It was a planned preview. The hamsters knew it was going on, too. Hmm.

I wasn't able to flashback to either yesterday's preview nor the one they had on Friday. Sorry, but I'm not going to sit with the annoying feeds music on until they do it again. If I catch it, I catch it. If not, oh well.

Here's the gist of what I got so far:

• One of the women is HoH
• The women are working together
• The guys aren't too happy about that
• The guys think the women cheated
• Omarosa is actually getting along with the other women
• Ross seems to be getting along with the women
• I think, could be wrong, that James and Chuck might be on the block
• It seems PoV already went down, a spelling word thing

I'll be live-blogging tomorrow night's show and the actual start of the live feeds should be tomorrow at midnight (after the show airs on the west coast).

Additional stuff --
For those on you on mobile devices, a fellow BB blogger -- Dan Murrell Jr -- has his Mutant Soup Big Brother Soup app available for download at this link. 

And, as always, I like That Dingo on Hamsterwatch. She and I have been through a lot with our BB coverage!

Over the years, the number of us covering the show has diminished. There was a time when the fan sites could make decent money with not all that much controversy. Lately it seems the show fans are taking the show as badly as the state of politics these days. 

I myself used to earn good money freelancing for AOL Television, Weblogs, TV Squad (now Huffington Post) covering the show recaps and live feeds. While Dan hopefully will make money with his app (something I have no clue how to do, kudos to him!) and That Dingo will make money on CBS All Access sign-ups, I'm dependent on donations and very meager ad revenue. While I do enjoy doing this and I really enjoy this blog community, it is work to do this show. I'd appreciate any and all donations if you can make one. The donation link is on the sidebar ...

Merci!  

Celebrity BB Live Feeds are Live

Why they're live, I don't know. The season premiere is Wednesday, 8pm ET/PT.

I guess I'll have the first feeds report in the morning. Right now there isn't a heck of a lot happening and they seem to be more into playing celebrities than actually BB.

Plus, I don't know who most of them even are!

Wait, now they cut the feeds again. Oh, well, I'll flashback and have a report in the morning anyhow.

Off Topic: That Was the Month It Was - February 4, 2018

Good morning. My apologies for not posting a weekly off television topic photo post for the past month or so. I really haven't been taking any photos. As some of you might know, I've been having some health issues which are keeping me from running around with my camera.

No, I'm not dying or anything like that. It's the sciatica I had which worked its way into severe nerve damage in my right leg and foot. Due to back pain, I'm finding it hard to walk or stand (or even sit at times) for any extended period of time. I've started walking like some stooped-over old person. I've fallen down due to either weakness in the affected leg or misstep because my foot is numb. I've had strangers walk up to me concerned with my welfare. Ack! I should be having an MRI this week and, hopefully, some sort of treatment. 

I have been covering The Amazing Race and will be covering Celebrity Big Brother on the blog. At this time, I'm not sure how intensive I will get with the live feeds coverage, but we'll see. I will be posting more on it before its season premiere on Wednesday.

One thing I did this week was that I finally used the Sabrent USB to SATA/IDE hard drive adapter that I bought a couple of years ago for about $12 on Amazon. I had kept telling myself that when I had time, I'd use it. Dang, it's been a long time since I took a computer apart! I was able to remove the hard drive from the computer before this one, hook it up to the adapter and my current computer and access all my old files from the old non-running computer. I recovered photos and music that I haven't been able to access for years. Some of those photos are the ones I'm sharing with you here today.

I also removed the hard drive from the computer before that, a 1998 Compaq desktop. I can hook it to the adapter and power unit, but the hard drive isn't starting up. I think the problem might be due to master/slave and jumper settings which aren't on more modern computers. I'm going to have to research a bit. I'm not a computer technician. I don't even play one on television. 

Oh, well. Onto the photos I'm posting this week. There is a new cell phone photo of Vincent at the end! 

Abandoned

I used to hike all around Plainfield and adjacent North Plainfield looking for photo fodder. If memory serves, I found this abandoned bike along the Green Brook in North Plainfield. Sepia tone seemed to serve it best.

Thomas Fine Furniture

Oh, it certainly doesn't look like this today! This Park Avenue (Plainfield) building has been through many changes just in the time I've been in town. This is what it looked like in the early 2000s. The furniture store wasn't really there. On the ground floor was a company named Atkol which I think was some sort of sex or porn film business. Yet in the windows, they had full-size cardboard cut-out figures of Alfred E. Neuman (MAD Magazine), Batman and other characters. It was all very odd indeed. The upper floors seemed vacant.

It was originally the home of the local newspaper, The Courier News. A few years back when they were rehabbing the building, the ghost sign across the top front touting the newspaper was brought to life. Also, the original marque unveiled the building's name -- the Frost Building. It's now a mixed use building with businesses on the first floor and pricey (but very nice) apartments on the upper levels.  

Roofus the Roofs Cat

For more than two years, perhaps three years, I photographed a feral cat who roamed the roofs on North Avenue across from the Plainfield Train Station. A few times I even saw him with a pure black little cat buddy. Once I spotted him in the back of the row of buildings. He was gaining access to the roofs via an abandoned derelict building. When that building was demolished, I never saw Roofus again. It's rare that a feral cat survives more than a few years on the streets. Roofus beat the odds and made himself a fine little cat life with a following of fans here on the blog. He may have survived the demolition and moved on to roofs not in my view. But, I'm sure that by now, several years down the road, he's been roaming the roofs past the Rainbow Bridge. 

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

The Amazing Race 30: January 31 Episode 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! 

Next week the show moves to an hour later -- 9pm ET/PT as the new Celebrity Big Brother will air in this time slot.

The Left Coast Lovely SqueeGee SueGee has updated the blog pool --  

#TeamBigBrother (Cody & Jessica)    DeLee, ChicMc, Megan H
#TeamExtreme (Kristi & Jen)    Janice from GA/FL, Kristen From Ohio
#TeamFirefighters (Eric & Daniel)    Judi Sweeney, Indiana Jane
#TeamIndyCar (Alex & Conor)    SueGee, Brian, Brenda
#TeamOceanRescue (Lucas & Brittany)    Donna in FL, Glenn Allen
#TeamWellStrung (Trevor & Chris)    Fred aka TwoBlackAces, Petals
#TeamYale (Henry & Evan)    Jackie, Ed in Ohio

Philiminated    
#TeamRingGirls (Dessie & Kayla)   
#TeamGoatYoga (April & Sarah)    Sharon N, Merrilee
#TeamSlamDunk (Cedric & Shawn)    Nickelpeed, Willie in NC
#TeamChomp (Joey & Tim)    David, Chrob61, tbc 

Are we ready? Yep! Let's get this show ON!

Teams are booking flights to Prague ... through Tavelocity product placement apps. Double U-Turn ahead! There are two flights, arriving an hour apart.

None of the first four teams U-Turn anyone -- Twins, Yale, SkiGals, Ocean

This or That Detour. Czechs drink more beer per capita than any other country. Teams must restack beer, then deliver a keg to a party boat in This. In That, teams must pay attention to details about the Earth being flat or round, remember details and orate. 

The second set of teams arrive.  Jess and Cody U-Turn the Violinists.

The Twins did the almost impossible oration Detour. The next stop is bathing in beer. Woot woot. Too bad they only see rather large men doing so!

The Roadblock is the gazillion phones in a room, only eight have a recording of a word. Put the words together. Kafka-esque indeed."The meaning of life is that it stops."

Pit Stop:
1. Kristi and Jen - won a trip to Australia

The twin and Yale Evan worked together on the phones and made it through.

2. The Twins
3. Yale 
4. Alex and Conor
5. Lucas and Brittany
6. Cody and Jessica
7. Trevor and Chris -- Philiminated 

Sigh. I liked them.

Celebrity BB Cast Announced

Well. Um. It's only for three weeks!

From this article --Omarosa and ...
"American Pie actress Shannon Elizabeth, Sugar Ray's Mark McGrath, The Cosby Show's Keshia Knight Pulliam, Real Housewife Brandi Glanville, UFC light heavyweight champ Chuck Liddell, actors James Maslow and Marissa Winokur, TV personality Ross Matthews and Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez will also be moving into the Big Brother house this week."

Okay, I know Omarosa. I know the one from The Cosby Show and Ross Matthews. 

It's only three weeks.

Update -- That article left out Ron Artest -- World Metta Peace (whatever). I know who he is, but not well.

The Amazing Race 30: January 24 Episode 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! Remember -- tonight's show is TWO hours!

The Left Coast Lovely SqueeGee SueGee has updated the blog pool -- since last week was a non-Philimination leg, all the prior teams remain. The NBA guys, Cedric and Shawn, will face a Speed Bump tonight. I'm still in it to win it!  

#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
#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

Philiminated    
#TeamRingGirls (Dessie & Kayla)   
#TeamGoatYoga (April & Sarah)    Sharon N, Merrilee

Are we ready? Yep! Let's get this show ON!

Nine teams remain. Who will be eliminated next?

Teams are heading to France, to Saint Tropez. 

At Saint Tropez, they're faced with a Roadblock which has them sailing a dinghy without a lesson and picking up two parts of a clue.

Kristi makes it through the Roadblock first. Detour -- Make baguettes or ...? I guess I missed the other part. Please excuse me -- I'm not feeling well. Update - assemble a pair of sandals is the other part.

NBA and the Twins are both woefully behind the pack. As are Brittany and Lucas.

Cedric and Shawn are finally at their Speed Bump, stacking small sailboats in numerical order on a rack. They seem to be making quick work of it. They and Brittany/Lucas are finally doing the Roadblock. The Twins are still having issues driving the car.

Now it's the Twins and NBA struggling for last place in the dinghies. 

Meanwhile, Kristi and Jen head off to the Head to Head Battle (no one else is there yet). It's a game of Pétanque. 

They go against Alex and Conor. 

Pit Stop:
1. Alex and Conor -- won five grand each. 

Kristi and Jen are now against Cody and Jessica. 

2. Cody and Jessica 

Kristi and Jen against Trevor and Chris.

3. Kristi and Jen 

Trevor/Chris against Joey/Tim

4. Joey and Tim

Going against Lucas and Brittany now.

5. Trevor and Chris 

Henry/Evan against them.

6. Henry and Evan 
7. The Twins 
8. Lucas and Brittany
9. Cedric and Shawn -- Philiminated. Sigh. I liked them. 

Teams are now driving to Les Baux, France. Something about a Medieval Chateaux. It's going to be a bunch-up as it doesn't open until 8:30am.

Definitely Medieval. And, it's a Roadblock. Teams must make a catapult thing while one team member is in the stockade.

Lucas and Brittany take over the lead. 

Onto a Detour -- Pull a Bull or Colorful. Teams have to remove three things from numerous bull statues or a Van Gogh puzzle thing.

Lucas and Brittany get through the Detour first and are on the way to the Pit Stop. 

Pit Stop:
1. Lucas and Brittany -- won a trip to Bali 
2. Kristi and Jen 
And, we cut to commercial just as Lucas is about to propose. 
So, he does. Touching indeed.
3. Eric and Daniel arrive to witness it. 
4. Henry and Evan
5. Alex and Conor 
6. Cody and Jessica
7. Trevor and Chris
8. Joey and Tim -- Philiminated 

The Amazing Race 30: January 17 Episode 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!

The Left Coast Lovely SqueeGee SueGee has updated the blog pool! I'm still in it to win it!  

#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
#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

Philiminated    
#TeamRingGirls (Dessie & Kayla)   
#TeamGoatYoga (April & Sarah)    Sharon N, Merrilee

Are we ready? Yep! Let's get this show ON!

Ohh ... teams are going to Tangier, Morocco. The have to find a clue in the "Sea of Chaos" -- a rather crowded and unorganized seaport. Then they have to meticulously stack fish in a crate thingee. Both Cody and Evan speak some Arabic, a rarity in cast members these days! 

The fish smell is really affecting NBA, as well as the others. More the NBA guys, though. Heehee, Jess is being distracted by the stray cats hanging out at the fish stacking! Unfortunately, the TeamExtreme gals are totally lost. I think they might be the only team not yet making it there.

Jess and Cody make it out of the fish first. Other teams finishing up. The Ski Gals finally arrive at the fish. Teams will head out and pick up the TAR traditional Roaming Gnome. Whoa! The gals beat out Alex and Conor, now they're in last.

Roadblock -- Who's ready to rock the Casbah? -- The Roaming Gnome will get to ride a zipline! Once the gnome does the zipline then the chosen team member must go find it. Interesting and different. They don't just have to do it one time -- once they find the gnome, they have to go to a second zipline. The leading teams are working together. They did well the first time. Not so good the second time. Jess and one of the Indy Car drivers seem to be getting very frustrated. The local cats still like Jess.

CEDRIC of the NBA is in the lead! How cool is that? He loses that, though. Sigh. 

Now the Yalies are in the lead, Detour. Pick up foodstuffs and deliver them. Or belly-dancing. Oh my. 

Oh-uh. Brittany forgot her gnome at the Roadblock. Jess knows that she's one of the last two teams and just can't call her back to retrieve it without putting her own race in peril. I don't really blame her.

Yay! My blog pool Yalies are now in the lead, first out of the belly-dancing! No, they didn't have to really belly-dance so much themselves. It was more like dancing around reading clues. Conor and Alex are on their tails.

Pit Stop:
1. Evan and Henry! Won a trip to Switzerland. 
2. Alex and Conor 
3. Kristi and Jen
4. Trevor and Chris
5. Cody and Jessica

Joey Chestnut is totally screwing up finding the clues at belly-dancing.

6. Joey and Tim
7. Eric and Daniel
8. Lucas and Brittany 
9. Cedric and Shawn ... and it's a non-Philimination leg! YAY!

Next week is a two-hour episode and another head-to-head challenge.

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! 

Off Topic: That Was the Week(s) It Was - December 24, 2017

An oldie, but a goodie

I'm not sure where the Santa suit is these days. Vincent probably destroyed it!

Another oldie, but goodie. This was created some years back for the blog by Zoetawny. I miss her! Not quite the best photo of Vincent, though.

I apologize for my absence the past few weeks with the exception of covering Survivor. I've had a mix of bad health issues, overwork and severe stress on my job, a lost camera memory card and, to be honest, the holidays in general aren't a good time of the year for me. They were great when I was a child and I do have precious memories of those days. 

Tomorrow I'll cook the small ham I bought on sale, make some side dishes and bake the Mrs. Smith's apple pie to round out my feast. Vincent and I will be alone for the day. That's been the story of my big holiday doings for most of my life. Well, not always with Vincent, but with a cat or two. Oh, well. It could be worse. I could have to work. I've had to do that some Christmas days in the past.

I hope those of you with families and loved ones have a good Christmas -- but try not to overeat!

The majority of the photos this week were taken with my cell phone camera. Although I have a different memory card in my camera, I just didn't see much in the way of photos to take this past week.

Brightly lighted these days

The white lighting at the Plainfield Train Station does seem to cut down on the vagrants hanging out at night. Yet, they're still there in the daytime.

Crescent moon

My camera picks up detail not noticed by the naked eye. You can actually see the whole moon, even a touch of detail with the markings.

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