Whine & Cheese

Fall 2004 Fine Wine Champion!

I started the Fine Wine list in August.  My mission to honor the men who I currently have a passing (or sometimes fairly extended) fancy with... some only lasted days, some weeks, and even a handful crossed into the "months" category.  Once I started switching them around, I decided to be anal (pun intended, I guess!) and keep track to see who lasted the longest.  That would then allow me to do no-brainer posts and crown seasonal champions.  So since it is the last day of November and with temps this morning in Phoenix at a shockingly low 32 degrees...it is time to announce the Fall 2004 Fine Wine Champion.

But first, the runner-ups... and it was a tie for the #2 spot between two ex-daytime soapers who have brough their good looks (and of course stellar acting... ahem!) to primetime:

Our first runner-up is Desperate Housewives' Jesse Metcalfe.   I was looking forward to the DH, but little did I know that my attention would sway away from the leading ladies to the underage and often shirtless gardener (let's just keep in mind that Jesse is really 26 years old!).  Metcalfe joined the FW list shortly after the DH premiere episode and remained on the list for 49 days.

Also notching 49 days and still on the list...one of my favorites, Josh Duhamel.  You can see my posts about him here and here.  I fully expected Josh to dominate the FW list, but you just never know.  He joined the list shortly after the Las Vegas premiere and last 34 days before getting knocked off by Desperate Housewives' other piece of male eye-candy Jamie Denton, but recently re-joined the list were he pulled even with Metcalfe.  Duhamel is not only on NBC these days, he is also featured in a Gap holiday commercial with Sarah Jessica Parker. 

I am guessing Josh will remain a fixture on the list for the foreseeable future.  Last night's episode of LV was simply delicious.  Josh had some sexy scenes (some gratuitous skin finally!) that just about prompted a change of underwear.  But now that his engagement to Mary looks to be off, I fear this might have been the last we'll see of his bod for awhile.

Drum-roll please... the Fall 2004 Fine Wine Champion is... Jeff Probst!

Quite the upset, and truthfully something that I was not expecting!  But Jeff outwitted, outplayed and most importanly outlasted the competition.  While I was switching around Josh, Jesse and Jamie... despite often being on the chopping block Jeff simply hung around.  [Hmmm... do I have a thing for guys who's names begin with "J"??].  Or it could be that I just really liked this picture!

I though this season's Survivor would bring on a FW candidate or two, but the hot guys simply did not stick around.  Brady, John P., John K., and heck even Chad could have made the list...but they never rose above the familiarity and sexy snarkiness of host Probst.  Jeff has been on the list longer than any Survivor on an island - a whopping 74 days (an uninterrupted run since September 17th).  This is also the new all-time FW record, but with the number of Survivors quickly dwindling alas Jeff's days are probably numbered as well.  Will Josh Duhamel be able to challenge for the 2004 title?  Stay tuned...

Six other guys who made the FW list during the Fall season:  #1 tennis player Roger Federer at 35 days (and looking all the more cute with a new and shorter haircut), current FW-er Jamie Denton at 25 days as of today, Big Brother 5's Drew had 23 of his 52 total days spill over into the fall, tennis player Tommy Haas and Canadian diver Alexandre Despatie each had 12 days, and Olympic swimmer Pieter van den Hoogenband only managed to have 4 of his 17 days on the list count for this season.

Thanksgiving Weekend Recap

Was that just a 4-day weekend?  It certainly did not seem like it... the days were pretty filled and it was one of those weekends where you feel more tired after it than before.  And now with the countdown to Christmas, I think it is going to be difficult to stay motivated work-wise.

The Big Day
Thanksgiving day was fun and yummy.  I spent the day with Todd's family who pretty much all came to the state to celebrate with his parents.  It was all drama-free, so I don't have much at all to report.  As a "guest" without any family members in attendance, it was nice just to sit back and observe.  I brought down a couple of "homemade" items to contribute to the feast (translation: mostly store-bought mix, with an extra touch or two to make it "my own"... Rachael Ray would have been proud).  My jalapeno corn-bread muffins almost did not make it to the table. 

I "baked" on Wednesday night and left the muffins on the counter to cool... unsupervised.  You probably know where this is going... 5 minutes later I returned to the kitchen to see our beloved basset hound Toby with his front paws up on the counter top and attempting to work his through the plate of muffins having devoured about half of them.  Remaining remarkably calm, but somewhat peeved... I made another batch, popped them in the oven...22 minutes later the timer rang... I opened the oven to discover I had forgot to turn the oven back on!   Oy... two hours after I started, my jalapeno muffins were finally done and placed safely in the pantry for their final voyage.  They turned out pretty darn good...and we had a funny story to share as well.

Flame Up
I try to be on my best behavior when with "family."  It is really not all that difficult... we were not going to see Bette Midler on her 2nd appearance in the Valley this past Saturday night... we have no plans to see Cher in her 3rd sweep through town on her "farewell tour"... and TV talk never turned to Desperate Housewives or Will & Grace.  However, I did have one unintentional "flare up" (or as I said above, probably "flame up" would be a better phrase)... for some reason there was a mention of JC Chasez (who btw I believe is dating DH's Gabrielle in real life)... and referred to him as a member of the Backstreet Boys... I uncontrollably corrected the assertion by noting he was a member of N'Sync.  I know my boy bands!  And here I thought I was doing well when I did not pipe in when Todd's neice asked if Renee Zellweger was in Gilmore Girls!

Christmas Lights
Saturday afternoon we put up our outdoor Christmas lights... the neighborhood has not really gone full blast on it yet (though some folks did put up lights last weekend, though did not light up).  Despite having just had Thanksgiving dinner, it still felt strange... we were (are!) in serious denial that Christmas is less than a month away.

I was threatening to increase our light display this year, but we had a hard time finding the right color of lights for my master plan.  It was probably a good thing since after we recreated last year's display, I would have seriously underestimated the number of new lights needed...and likewise the number of electric outlets and extension cord combos!

We still have a fairly substantial light display... I would guess 2,000+ lights.  We have white lights strung across the house, but the real wattage is in the front yard... those three "flying reindeer" on the hill in our yard ... and around the hill we have hundreds of blue lights to create a water/lake/river effect.  A couple of strings of white chasers give the "water" some movement.   

While the display would have been quite impressive in most of the neighborhoods I have lived in in the past, we have one of those crazy neighbors right across the street from us.  The folks who put themselves in the newspaper's "holiday lights map."  They claim to have over 10,000 lights (I believe it!) and they have tons of cutout figures and other holiday cheer.  So our display ends up looking downright quaint... but that is fine with me.  I think our display is still pretty darn original...and at least all those folks driving by their house usually see ours as well.

But I must be getting old, all that squatting and stretching on Saturday still has me pretty darn sore today!

W&C's Man of Fall 2004
Since I have already babbled on for longer than expected... I will just wrap it up with a note to check in tomorrow to see who gets crowned as the first quarterly Fine Wine champion.  Yes, I am keeping track of the studly guys who notched the most days on the list from September through November (Fall 2004).  Who will it be?

TAR6: What A Bunch Of Turkeys!

Thoughts on this week's episode: "I'm Not His Wife, He Doesn't Have To Scream At Me":

While no one team has yet to win me over (it's still early), I have no clue who is going to do well in TAR6.  They all seem pretty incompetent.  Since it is Thanksgiving Eve, let's run down the teams (in order of finish) and award each of them a turkey!  The bigger the turkey.... well the bigger the turkey they are!

Kris & Jon - Well they finished this leg as Team #1, so I guess they did not do all that much wrong... or was it that everyone else was just screwing up!  We did learn that Kris was a "geography major" in college... WTF is that?  But I guess this is the best reality show to be on if that is the case.  So let's just give them a couple of slices of turkey. 

Jonathan & Victoria - Oh my, this team did not skip a beat this week.  I am really hoping that this is all an act -- they played the role to get on this reality show and now they are continuing the act to be screen hogs?  I really do not want to believe that they are like this in real life... and that Victoria is hoping the Race will improve their relationship.   From Jonathan doing the zip line task shirtless, to thinking they were the first at the detour, to yelling at anyone on the Viking ship, to coming this close to hitting his wife... though he did manage to hit her head when closing the door/trunk! Big, big turkey... let's give 'em a 24-lber... the kind you have to defrost for days!

Gus & Hera - Definitely the most improved award of the week... now if they can successfully maneuver around the new rule that one team member can not do more than 6 roadblocks (a great idea!), they may do okay.  Although they have issues, they were among the more steadier minds last night.   Based on last night's performance, let's give them a 4-lb turkey breast.

Hayden & Aaron - After finishing 1st last week, these two pretty much fell apart early on...but recovered nicely for 4th place finish.  However, the image that remains in our minds this morning is Aaron falling on his ass over and over and over again on the roller-skis.  I have to admit, initially I thought "endurance" was the better choice (over "accuracy"), but Aaron and some of the others definitely made me question it.  So a mixed evening for H&A, but given their recovery let's just give them a 6-lb turkey.

Lori & Bolo - Unlike Jonathan & Victoria, thankfully the verbal abuse leveled off a bit this week.  Once again, Lori provided one of the best lines of the week... informing Bolo that the "accuracy" option meant that "you have to be accurate."  And kudos to Lori dragging those breast implants around the globe (yeesh!) and giving host Phil a good scare when she shook him at the pit-stop.  A good enough showing this week... so let's give them an 8-lb turkey... they probably need to eat a lot anyway.

Adam & Rebecca - Another team in need of a counselor more than a race around the world.  After last week's diesel gas snafu, Rebecca was once again on the sh#t list for having Hellboy take off (and subsequently lose) his sunglasses which were apparently his most prized possession.  His fairly creepy apology and his zip line cry for mommy earns this unstable team a 14-lber.

Don & Mary Jean - It is hard not to root for the older couple.  Great moments:  MJ being "pissed" about Don doing the zip-line, MJ's truly tender apology and declaration of love after a mini-fight (obviously they haven't heard the other teams argue!)... but the best... Don requesting a senior discount on the train ride (and there was one!).   Not so great moments: A TAR first...getting in the wrong car after the Detour and taking off (do the teams leave the keys in the ignition?).   They deserve more turkey... but let's just give this sweet couple a 10-lb turkey.

Freddy & Kendra - Another TAR first of sorts... we have seem time penalties before (most times for not reading/following directions), but this was the first time it was for taking another clue after "losing" the first one.  (Hint: If a cameraman is shooting his camera at the ground, you might want to look over there)   I think you would guard your clues like your passport or plane tickets...so for this bonehead move they get a 16-lber.  Kudos to the editors for making their two-spot drop pretty darn suspenseful.

Lena & Kristy - These two probably should have received a penalty for absconding with a teenage boy upon arriving in Norway. Their local guide got them to the "traditional Viking village" (how tired did you get of that being repeated over and over again?) first, but once the girls were on their own they showed their true capabilities. Last night's wrong turn does not bode well for the future of this team... an 18-lber for them.

Meredith & Maria - Ah, our girls from Queens.  One could say their pop-up timer was protruding even before they left US soil.  I am sure there are other instances in TAR history, but they really seem like one of the few teams that never should have entered in the first place.  Now, I have to make a confession -- I do not know how to drive a car with manual transmission.  That said, I would have learned before going on TAR!   (Likewise, thanks to TAR, I would note what type of gas the car needs).  So a big feast for the Philiminated gals... a 20-lb turkey... it was fun while it lasted.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Heather Getting 'Desperate'

I was surfing around TV Guide's website and they reported a rumor (repeat: reported a rumor) about Heather Locklear joining the cast of Desperate Housewives.  Heather is out of a job with the official cancellation of her NBC series LAX.  (Sidenote: Our TiVo season pass "cancellations" are battting 1.000 - we ditched Hawaii, LAX, and dr. vegas well before the networks).  The online blurb said that all involved parties denied the casting move ... and since I decided to blog about this I can't even find it again on the TV Guide site... so perhaps it was just all a pre-coffee/caffeine mirage.

Despite the idea being totally delicious, I don't think it would ever happen...yet.   The show is one of the biggest hits of the season, so no need for a high-wattage defibrillator like Locklear.  Likewise, the four primary leads had just the right amount of fame and probably more importantly salary demands (I imagine Heather does not come cheaply). 

The good news in this week's edition of TV Guide is that creator Marc Cherry has no intentions of dragging out the mysteries of Wisteria Lane.  Mike Delfino's secret life and the events surrounding Mary Alice's suicide will all be revealed by the end of the first season.  Now, in a second season, I can see the show shaking up things with a new neighbor ala Locklear.  One can only hope... just as long as the ex-Melrose Place casting predisposition doesn't sink down to Daphne Zuniga (no offense, Daphne but you were the only one I could think of off the top of my head!).

Speaking of Mike Delfino... and I seem to be doing a lot of that these days (Really folks I am not obsessed with the show...I think I am more crazed about The Amazing Race and Scrubs)...  I have decided to re-rotate in Jamie Denton and knock out his pretty boy castmate, Jesse Metcalfe.

Denton was rightfully featured in this year's edition of People's Sexiest Man Alive issue ("won" by Jude Law this year).   And I have included a different picture of Denton in this post... as I debated in post earlier this week, I think this a little more dressed picture is even sexier than the shirtless shot that I had previously posted.

For my original Denton FW induction (and the shirtless and sweaty gardening pic).... click here.

Is There A Gift Tax On This Stuff Too?

Oprah had her Oprah's Favorite Things show yesterday... the self-proclaimed "hottest ticket on television" is Oprah's annual Christmas show where she bestows an insane amount of over-priced merchandise to each audience member.  This year she honored teachers.  Like every other OFT audience, the hundreds of teachers were reduced to screaming, jumping, crying, shaking, hair-pulling banshees.

If you want to see the full list, go here.  Here are some of the more extravagant items:

Dell 30" Wide-Screen LCD TV - retail $2,229
Maytag Neptune Top Load Washing & Drying Center - $2,198
Museum Automatic Arte Watch by Movado - "just under $1,000"
Williams-Sonoma 990-thread count Silk & Cotton Sateen Sheets - $745
The Magellan Roadmate (satellite navigation for your car) - $1,499
Sony Notebook computer - $2,000

There was also a price undetermined 3 day/2 night stay at the Mirabel Resort & Spa in Tucson, AZ - which included airfare and allowed for a guest.  Also, a bevy of "smaller" ticket items as well ... like a $495 leather handbag, $59 jeans, $26 Key Lime bundt cake, and $30 bubble bath.  But you get the idea.... the grand tally for the hour approached $13,000.

So I wonder how much all this will cost these teachers?  You remember the bally-hoo over Oprah's season opener where she (well Pontiac gave it away... as did the companies on yesterday's show) gave each member of her audience a $28,500 car.  But you remember "free car" = around $7,000 worth of taxes.  Still a smokin' deal, but while a car is a necessity (or at minimum a life-altering item) for most ... it is hard to say the same for a $316 tea set or a $225 cashmere scarf? 

I don't know what the tax rules, but I would guess these underpaid teachers will have to shell something out in order to claim their bounty.

The days of "Remembering Your Spirit" seem long gone after this annual materialistic meltdown!

Men of the Weekend

I don't have any really good things to really write about today (which means I just should just spare the dear readers of this blog)... but when it doubt, I guess it is easy enough to talk about men.  This weekend had a bevy of hot guys on the tube.  None quite made it to the Fine Wine list (or returned...since many of them are "regulars"), but why not talk about them anyway...

Hope & Faith & Nick
I only watch the somewhat pathetic excuse for a sitcom Hope & Faith on ABC for Kelly Ripa.  Despite the uninspired acting and writing, I still find Regis' better half quite appealing.  Most of the time, I do not subject Todd to the show... we have enough good television to watch than to waste 22 TiVo minutes on this.  However, this week Nick Lachey was guest-starring as a single father who Faith (Kelly Ripa... not the Faith Ford...go figure) tries to get romantic with... the sitcom dilemma?  Nick's character only dates women with children... so Faith pretends her nephew is her son... and semi-hilarity ensues.  But who really cares, Nick was looking good... had a couple of nice kisses with Kelly and really did not do an all that bad acting job.   Rumor has it that a future Faith love interest will be none other than Kelly's real-life hubby, Mark Conseulos.  We'll be watching for that one.  Next up for Nick, a second ABC special with wife Jessica... Nick & Jessica's Family Christmas airs Wednesday December 1st...

Masters Cup
This week was the final week of the tennis season - with the Top 8 ranked male tennis players competing in the Master's Cup in Houston, TX.   The seedings held with the Top 4 making the semifinals... so a good weekend for tennis fans.  However, if you are not all that interested in tennis -- the four guys just happened to be some of the finer specimans in the sport.  The international quartet was: Roger Federer (Switzerland), Andy Roddick (USA), Lleyton Hewitt (Australia), and Marat Safin (Russia).  The semifinals were Roddick vs. Hewitt and Federer vs. Safin. 

Deciding to keep things interesting while watching the matches, I asked my other half of those pairings who would you most like to... ahem!!... play tennis with.  We both agreed on Hewitt in the first pairing.  I know this may come as a surprise since our fellow American Roddick is pretty much the poster boy of the ATP Tour.  But alas, we are not teenage girls and Roddick just did not do all that much to the nicely aging (at a whopping 23 years old!) Australian.  It was a house-divided about the second pairing.  I slightly tipped towards Safin, while there was little discussion from the other recliner about #1 Federer.  The final ended up being Federer vs. Hewitt ... which Federer easily won... both on the court and in our little scenario.

Desperation Time?
Jesse or Jamie?  Jon or Mike Delfino?   Cute or rugged?  "Boy" or man?  Ah, the weekly dilemmas of ABC's Desperate Housewives (which didn't skip a beat -- or apparently lose any audience members -- post-Monday Night Football).   Jesse/Jon was in his normal mode of shirtless-ness on Sunday, while Jamie/Mike kept his clothes on but was still pretty darn smoldering.   We discussed Jesse/Jon and came to the conclusion that his chest was pretty darn distracting...and while certainly no complaining...but not in a 100% great way. 

As in the pic I posted of Jesse Metcalfe here on the Fine Wine list, you see there is something strange going on in the middle of his abs.  Jesse has definitely beefed up more since that photo...but last night on DH it almost looked like he had pec implants or something.  We kind of decided he looked sexier [gasp!] with his shirt on... you get the hint of those pecs and see his nice arms... so I guess sometimes clothing is a little sexier than none.  Not always, but sometimes....

I hate to say the same thing about Jamie Denton, he looked a little chunky in that gardening scene of few weeks back.  The scene on TV was just fine, but the still picture cap looked a little beefy.  So since he seems to like tight t-shirts, he is looking just fine.  He is on this week's cover of TV Guide (with Teri Hatcher) in a cut-off sleeveless flannel... and well... I might just have to switch around my DH guys on the FW list... stay tuned!

Survivor Stupidity

Haven't written too much about Survivor: Vanuatu.  While I don't think it is one of the greatest seasons, I still think it is fairly enjoyable.  What strikes me about this season is how stupid... or maybe I should say short-sighted... the contestants have been this season.  In its 9th edition, you think folks would have it figured out by now -- well maybe they thought they did.

First, the men voting off the strongest contestants.  While this was frustrating for me on a purely eye-candy level, it just did not make much sense in the big picture and probably the reason there is only one man left standing as of this week (quite ironic that it is Chris since he was the one who should have been voted off the first week when he couldn't get across that darn balance beam in week one).   Sure some athletic men have made it far in past Survivors...but how many of them have won?  Only 3... Hatch (Borneo), Ethan (Africa), and Brian (Thailand) -- and out of that group Ethan was the only one that could really be considered a physical threat, though he probably won more because he was a nice guy.   Granted the older and/or unfit guys did it in an act of self-preservation...but they should have held onto a strong guy or two at least until the merge.

The women have been much better... granted much of their success is thanks to the men's ineptitude.   But now that they appear to be on the road to "eating their own" ... one has to question why some of the women, particularly Scout and Twila, did not break out on their own.  I know they talked about and were torn... but once it is down to all women, these two should have realized that the gender war will probably turn into an age war.   Despite all the Eliza talk, she appears to be one of the best people to take to the finals at this point. 

Scout and Twila should have rolled the dice and went with the men (since they pretty much exposed themselves anyway during tribal council).  There chances of lasting in the game would have been just as good either way... plus it would have been a much needed shake-up in this pretty predictable season.  But that said, who knows what will happen... Chris seems to be stirring the pot next week.

Desperate Times

Admittedly late to the subject but here it goes...

I know this may come as a surprise...but I do not watch Monday Night Football.  So I did not see the now infamous Nicolette Sheridan towel drop sequence... or should I say I did not see it on Monday night.  I have seen it about 56 times on the news, talk and entertainment shows. 

I really find this amusing.  If it was so "indecent" on Monday, why is it out there on a seemingly endless loop all day long on Tuesday and Wednesday for all the innocent and impressionable children of America to see again and again (and again!)... including during the [gasp!] dinner hour.  This is all very similar to the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction (which now appears to fully be the watershed moment in American "moral values" history).  I was actually watching the Super Bowl and did not see it... until the next day when it was impossible not to see Miss Jackson's mammary gland.

Another thing that cracked me up was Entertainment Tonight... no matter how irrelevant the subject, ET must give us celebrity reaction.  Patricia Heaton of Everybody Loves Raymond (and vocal protector of family and fetuses) said that the unexpected assault of Miss Sheridan's naked back... "pissed me off."  Patricia please! I am trying to eat some spaghetti and meatballs and I hear such language as "pissed off"... couldn't you have just said you were "upset" or "angered"... good thing I don't have children around!

I don't know what all the fuss is about.  When did professional football become the bastion of wholesomeness and all things good?  With all this talk you'd think families across America were gathering around their TV sets on Monday to watch a frickin' Wonderful World of Disney feature.  Heck, my mother wouldn't even let any of us play football because it was "too rough" (not that she ever received any resistance from little 'ole me). 

One of my childhood memories of professional football was the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders... heck, I even had a poster (peer pressure I'm guessing)...and those ladies were not famous because of their brains and athleticism.  A lot more T&A there than Sheridan displayed on Monday night.  I am guessing that the MNF target audience probably felt the locker room sequence did not go far enough!  If guys want to see breasts on Monday night they should just flip the dial over to NBC's Las Vegas and see what outfit Nikki Cox (Mary) is trying to remain in for the night.

This is all another example of the conservative Christian movement taking over... and I think eventually the tide will turn and there will be a backlash.  Heck, it may already be happening... after all Sheridan's show Desperate Housewives is one of the most popular shows on television these days... with a married woman having an affair with a high school student, a "naked" Teri Hatcher getting locked out of her house, and one of the show's most memorable lines talking about ejaculation. 

TAR6: Dysfunction Junction

It's back.  Here are my thoughts on TAR6's opening episode "The Game's Afoot"

Detour!  Yell or Be Yelled At?
It looks to be a quarrelsome season on TAR6.  There was no honeymoon on the first leg.  Map throwing, the silent treatment, divorce threats...and yes, lots and lots of yelling.  In it's two-hour premiere this already seems to be the most dysfunctional group of people ever to compete in the race at one time.  Needless to say most of the attention was on Jonathan - a swarmy entrepreneur from LA who seems to have already earned his place with previous ultra-competitive jerks, TAR5's Colin and TAR2's Wil. 

And then we have the wrestling team of Lori & Bolo who look like they will take turns being nasty with each other... self-admittedly their "communication" method is yelling. I was hoping this team would be the one that would provide us with some funny moments (ala Charla and Mirna), but Lori's "frozen implants" line was the only moment of levity on the opening leg.

Addendum to the TAR Guidebook
Ah, history repeats itself.  When in a foreign land and you need gas, check what type of gas your vehicle takes before sticking in the deisel (or non-deisel) pump.  Adam & Rebecca got off relatively scott-free from this deja vu moment... but as noted above, this appears to be another couple that will not be getting back together thanks to the Race.

Cutie Alert
The mildly hot guys were eliminated fairly early on in TAR5 (Dennis and Donny...while the godly Brandon just didn't do anything for me), but my early "hmmmm" selection goes to Aaron - who won the opening leg with partner Hayden. 

Freddy, one of the many models, and Jon from right up the road in Scottsdale have potential... but the flurry of activity and the sheer number of teams made it pretty difficult to keep everyone straight ... errr... so to speak.

Predictions
I refrained from making any pre-Race predictions -- but here is my not terribly "out on a limb" predictions after episode one.  A male-female combo will win. 

This takes out the already eliminated team of Avi & Joe, who even before the Race I suspected would not last terribly long (though admittedly there were a few teams that I thought would go before them).  This also elimates the all-female teams of Meredith & Maria (even more bumbling than equally alliterative TAR5 twins Kami & Karli?)... while the Utahan sisters, Lena & Kristy, did not leave any impression that they have the goods to get far.

So that gets it down to 8 male-female combos and I think there are some easy eliminations there:

• Don & Mary Jean - I enjoy your spirit, but the Race is simply not kind to older folks.  They are a tad too old to be competing (I think late 40s/early 50s might be the threshold, ala TAR3's Teri & Ian).
• Gus & Hera - Another case of a parent (ex-CIA or not!) physically dragging down a child (even an athletic one). Gus was moving pretty darn slow in the opening leg and on top of that they seemed to have some other issues going on.
• Lori & Bolo - A lot of factors going on with the wrestlers.  There is the yelling, but even their physical prowess was immediately thrown into question when Bolo had a calf cramp in trying to get to O'Hare.  I think their intimidating size (and personalities) may also be a liability on foreign soil.
• Adam & Rebecca - While the two 20-something personal trainers should have what it takes to get far ... they split up for a reason (though after a quick scan of other reviews I see I wasn't the only one who had a gaydar blip re: Adam)... next week's previews looked to be even worse than the deisel snafu).

So that leaves us with a bunch of interchangeable young and pretties (Freddy & Kendra, Hayden & Aaron, Kris & Jon).  Without a Chip/Kim-like duo in sight and since the show has moved away from casting all-male A-type teams, this type of combo seems to be the most likely to succeed.  I am keeping Jonathan & Victoria in the mix - after all an important ingredient of any TAR season is having a team we love to hate.

Coo coo ca-choo, Mrs. Robinson

Figured I needed to follow-up on our trip to theater on Friday night to see The Graduate.  As suspected, it was not very good.  There was a noticeable "walk out" factor at intermission (including the gay guys a row behind us), but we stuck around for the entire show... where the production received an unusually tepid 25-30% standing ovation (we remained seated).

So what was wrong?  Well, I don't think the groundbreaking film translated all that well for the stage.  Some of the things that I think made the film great was how it was edited, the use of the Simon & Garfunkel music, and that it was current commentary of the mid/late 1960s.  Here it became a period piece and despite a sprinkling of "The Sound of Silence" the musical interludes included The Beach Boys and The Mamas and The Papas... a S&G medley was played at the end.

The success of this production seems to lie in the hands of who is playing the iconic Mrs. Robinson.  Here our Miss Morgan Fairchild struggled to get a passing grade.  While the 54-year old quite buxom Fairchild looked incredible, she played Mrs. Robinson as a perpetually sloshy drunk whose sole role was to toss out one-liners.  I don't know whether this was how it was written for the stage or if it was Fairchild's interpretation of the role.  Whatever the case, Fairchild did not 'act' drunk which much skill (or success).  The role still goes for laughs in the latter half...as opposed to the film where Mrs. Robinson emotionally crumbles.  In this respect, the script is much more to blame than whoever is inhabiting the role.   That said, Fairchild is no Anne Bancroft (not that we ever thought that possible/probable).

The pre-pubescent looking actor who played Benjamin also did not stand up well to the role that made Dustin Hoffman a star.   Again it is tough to know where to place the blame ... but the stage Benjamin did not have that odd combination of earnestness, innocence, confusion, and vulnerability that Hoffman brought to the role.

But this is the way theater (both plays and musicals) seems to be going these days.  Not much originality.  Producers want to temper the considerable financial risk by creating shows that have a recognition factor ... i.e. a translation of a movie or a songbook (ala the ABBA musical "Mamma Mia!" or Billy Joel's "Movin' Out").  Sometimes it works, but in the case of The Graduate -- which was not the total disaster I am making it out to be -- I think it was probably still better left undone.