Whine & Cheese

Survivor Of The Fittest?

I think I might be done with Survivor.

Pretty much all season long, I haven't been watching the show until at least the next day.  Given how much I surf around the Web, particularly to entertainment-related sites, it is pretty impossible to avoid "morning after" spoilers... so house rule is... always watch reality television on the night it airs.  But for some reason, Survivor did get pushed to the next day... and given our pretty heavy TV schedule/commitment in the fall, Todd jumped off the boat early on (the first Survivor season he's missed since we've been co-habitating).  But it seemed like even the media was tiring of Survivor... most days I did not get spoiled... and when I did,  I really didn't care all that much.

Thanks to the TiVo, I found myself fast-forwarding through much of the challenges... stopping every so often to hear the "strategy" talk...

So it sounds like the show is on pretty shaky status... but the real sign of trouble is that, for the first time in its 14 installments, I didn't watch the Sunday night finale "live"... and yes, I know the winner and even one of the end-game backstab, but again... it was "oh well"/"so what" reaction.   

Obviously, casting is key to any reality show...  so I don't know if this crew just didn't cut it for me... but I can still name people I liked and disliked... and there were the usual unique personalities... this season was a bit low on the "hunk" meter... but I'd like to think I am a little less shallow than that (and most of the times the hunky guys are stupid and/or jerks and/or get voted off early... so usually that ultimately doesn't matter much). 

Or maybe Survivor has finally played itself out (and its not the only show I feel this way about)... is there a new way to mentally and physically play the game?  Plus the challenges just seem like a jigsaw puzzle of things we've seen over and over before... while any twists and tricks just seem lame or trying to hard to do something different.

We'll see... I'll probably give next season's trip to China a tryout... more out of habit than anything else... see what the cast and locale are like ... but if there's more than a two show TiVo conflict ... or if it doesn't immediately draw me in... well this tribe of one will speak with a torch snuffing via the TiVo remote.

Reality Recap

Well, I threw a lot at you yesterday with pix from the upcoming seasons of Survivor, Dancing With the Stars, and The Amazing Race 10... heck, I didn't even have much time to digest it all.

So here are some further thoughts...

Survivor
If the adage that there is "no such thing as bad publicity"... Survivor is already winning with initially splitting the tribes by race.  For a show to be in its 13th iteration, especially a reality show, the mere fact that there is so much press and buzz on the upcoming season is saying something.

A TV Guide online poll shows folks are pretty divided on the tribe divisions... 32% find it "shockingly offensive," 26% say "it might be interesting," and 41% chalk it up as a "typical reality show stunt."  As I said yesterday, I find it kind of interesting... but certainly lean to the belief that it is a smart "stunt."  The way I see it, given that there are only 5 members per tribe, there is going to be some kind of merge fairly early on... remember last season when the tribes were similarly split by age and gender.  So the "race vs. race" thing I see as a "hook" with a limited life span.

Now where things can get potentially ugly/uncomfortable is if the Caucasian team dominates and/or if racial stereotypes surface... i.e. African Americans "can't swim."  An interesting twist on this concept, I think would have been to have the contestants split across tribes... than see if at a merge or a team "shake-up" they are more loyal to their original tribe or to members of their race. 

Dancing With The Stars
Until I see the first episode, I won't make any predictions.... shockingly enough, my picks made the morning after the last season's premiere were pretty darn close.  I had the final 3 as Drew/Cheryl, Stacy/Tony... missing out only on Jerry/Anna with the 4th-placed Lisa/Louis. 

That said, I will predict who some of the early exits will be.  Ok, I am not intending to be sexist here, but I think this show is more difficult for the male "stars"... for two reasons, a) they have to "lead" and b) men generally lack rhythm/can't dance.  So, no big surprise, that I see the two weakest links as Tucker Carlson and Jerry Springer.  And besides, honestly I am not terribly familiar with any of the female "stars."

But as far as studs for this upcoming season... Mario Lopez is still looking might fine, pro dancer Tony Dovolani will likely continue to retain my attention... but I am guessing first-timer pro Jesse DeSoto may steal some of Tony's spotlight.

The Amazing Race 10
Again, hard to predict success based on pictures alone... but it would not be going out on a limb at all to pencil in the alpha male team for an end run... so that would be modelicious Tyler & James.  Likewise, this year's inspiration team of Peter & Sarah appear primed for good run... and Vipul & Arti seem to what it takes to fill the married/parents slot.

For early exit predictions, I will go with the not terribly well-traveled David & Mary (Kentucky parents) and Team Lyn Squared, Lyn & Karlyn... the Alabama Moms.... and one of the girly-girl teams... Kellie/Jamie or Dustin/Kandice.  On the gay side, Tom & Terry don't strike me as the next Chip & Reichen... but they should best the first leg exit of TAR9's Scott & John.

tags:  survivor, survivor cook islands, dancing with the stars, amazing race, amazing race 10

Survivor Gets Race-y

Ok... to finish off the reality television trifecta today... this morning the cast for 13th (!!!) edition of Survivor was announced.  Here they are... and take note of the groupings...

The Survivor Cook Islands twist is that they will start with 4 tribes with 5 members each... separated by race.  The back row has the Hispanic and African American tribes, the front row the Caucasian and Asian American tribes.  Interesting or inflammatory?  You decide.

I am leaning more to the interesting side... and it probably won't last two long as the tribes will eventually merge.  Also, back this season is the "exile island" component... where at least one tribe member will be sent to solitary each week with the chance to find a hidden immunity idol.

Survivor premieres on Thursday, September 14th.

If you'd like to read more, check these links out:

Segregated 'Survivor'

New 'Survivor' divides groups by race

And some interesting inside stuff via Reality Blurred:

Jeff Probst says 85 percent of racially split Cook Islands cast was recruited

Survivor Cook Islands cast includes at least three actors, 13 people from California

tags:  survivor

Survivor Panama: Exile Island News

I posted this over on Pop Culture Junkies, but thought I would duplicate it here for W&C readers:

The cast for Survivor Panama: Exile Island has been announced.   One of the twists this season is that the contestants will be split into 4 tribes - older men, older women, younger men, and younger women... with the "cut" between young and old being around age 32 (ouch!). The above pic seems to be in "tribe" order:

Back Row (from left to right):
Older Women
Ruth Marie, 48, Director of Retail Leasing
Melinda, 32, Singer
Cirie, 35, Registered Nurse
Tina, 45, Logging Sports Performer/Promoter

Older Men
Bruce, 58, Karate Instructor/High School Arts Teacher
Dan, 42, Retired Astronaut
Shane, 35, Owner Entertainment Marketing Company
Terry, 46, Airline Pilot/Retired Navy Fighter Pilot

Front Row (from left to right)
Younger Men
Nick, 25, Financial Sales
Austin, 24, Author
Bobby, 32, Attorney
Aras, 24, Yoga Instructor

Younger Women
Sally, 27, Social Worker
Misty, 24, Engineer
Courtney, 31, Performance Artist
Danielle, 24, Medical Sales Rep

As previously announced, at least one Survivor each week will be banished to "Exile Island." Torches start getting snuffed out on Thursday, February 2nd on CBS... and our Thursday nights get much more complicated with Dancing With The Stars, NBC Comedies/Olympic coverage & Survivor... yikes!

Friday Catch-All

Just one of those mish-mash posts:

Finally finished The City of Falling Angels last night.  I say finally since it seems like it took a while ... and it is not that I am a slow reader or that the book was not interesting, it just is hard to carve out time to sit down and read, especially this time of year. 

The book reminded me quite a bit of John Berendt's first runaway bestseller, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.  Midnight centered around a murder and subsequent trial while introducing us to a handful of quirky characters in the "oozing atmosphere" of Savannah, GA.  Angels centers around the fire (accident? arson?) that destroyed the historic Fenice Opera House and the subsequent trial and bureaucratic mess of rebuilding/restoring it all while introducing us to a handful of quirky charactres in the "oozing atmosphere" setting of Venice, Italy.  So Berendt gets no points for stepping outside the box, but he is masterful story teller and once again proves that "truth is stranger than fiction."  Venice has to be the most unique city in the world and Berendt weaves in the nice mix of history and insider's view of living in a city that really should not exist.  Now, if I can just get there before it really gets swallowed up by the surrounding seas!

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As mentioned, we are off to see Evita tonight as part of our season ticket package.  Evita holds a special place in my heart since it was my very first Broadway show way back in 1980 or 1981.  Patti LuPone had left the show by that time (or at least wasn't doing the matinee performances), but I am pretty sure I saw Mandy Patinkin as Che. 

This is my 3rd time I am seeing it on stage.  I saw it one other time in the early-mid 90's when the show came through town here in Arizona.  That time I had one of my more funny audience moments.  When you have a season ticket package, you likely are going to see shows that you would not see on an a la carte basis.  Older folks seem to have the toughest time with some of the more groundbreaking or rockin' shows. 

I had an older couple next to me... and moments after the lights went up for intermission, the older gentleman turned to his wife and said of Eva... "Why does she have to sing SO LOUD?!"... that still cracks me up to today and I know I have repeated that story way too often over the years.

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WARNING:  Survivor Spoiler - Avert Your Eyes!

Interesting twist on last night's Survivor with playing up the "curse of the car."  Cindy had a tough decision and I can actually defend both sides... but as far as "outwit, outplay, outlast" it was pretty much a blunder.  Now that is easier to say given the result of tribal council, but I think Cindy would have pretty good shape if she made the choice to give the four other folks the vehicle... and, more importantly, ultimately having three of those folks on the jury. 

So as always, here are my fearless finale predictions based on what we know now (granted a lot could change thanks to any last minute backstabbing):

Danni vs. Lydia - Danni wins 6-1
Danni vs. Rafe - Rafe wins 4-3
Danni vs. Steph - Danni wins 6-1
Lydia vs. Rafe - Rafe wins 6-1
Lydia vs. Steph - Steph wins 5-2
Rafe vs. Steph - Rafe wins 7-0

So no surprise that I am not giving Lydia a chance, with Steph not falling too far behind.. while I think she is deserving she will definitely have the most daggers directed at her from the jury box... with Danni vs. Rafe being the most intriguing final two.

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Recently in my pronouncing my undying love of her cover version of "All I Want For Christmas," I admitted to not following Mariah Carey all the much in recent years. (Seen here at this week's announcement of Grammy nomination)

Can someone please tell me when exactly her breasts required their own zip code?

The Emancipation of Mimi?  More like The Emancipation of Mammary!

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Finally, it looks to be a very busy weekend of holiday preparations.  With Christmas falling on a Sunday this year, it seems like time is really short... since we are robbed of an "extra" weekend to prepare for the big day. 

We still have to decorate our tree... and I really need to "deck the halls" a lot more since we will have a higher than normal amount of visitors this year.  In the past few years, we have had Todd's parents up for the day... but this year, his sister and brother's family will either be spending some time here or passing through.

Also, I need to wrap presents and get them ready to ship out early next week so they comfortably arrive well before the holiday for the family back East. 

And we need to start thinking about the holiday menu.  We are hosting Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  Yesterday UPS delivered our traditional Christmas Eve posole soup/stew mix from this place in Santa Fe that we have been using/happy with the last couple of years... the funny thing is the posole & seasonings $5.75 and I had to pay $5.95 for shipping (the lowest, non-rush price available)... that seemed pretty silly, but it is still worth it. 

Last night, we watched a hilarious episode of Paula's Home Cooking on the Food Network, Paula's banana & walnut stuffed french toast looked yummy... so maybe we'll give that a try on Christmas morn'.

And...oh, there's still gift shopping too!

And... oh... oh!   Another milestone here at W&C, this is my 700th post (yikes!) and also just passed the 600 mark with comments... and TypePad tells me I am nearing the 200,000 page view mark (just under 197k at the moment).

Ok, enough rambling... have a great weekend!

Scumbags!

What a tasty episode of Survivor last night.   I am not going to say much since I am definitely saving this one for Todd when he gets home... but what do you think of our gal Steph?!

There seems to be considerable backlash regarding Steph on the boards... heck, she is giving Lost's fictional Ana Lucia a run for her money in the "like" department... but I am still a fan... but this is coming from a former Jersey boy.

But that got me thinking about Steph ... since she is from New Jersey and I am guessing Italian (with a last name like LaGrossa!), I think she may be taking her cues from some of Jersey's most infamous fictional characters... throw in the "mob boss" mentality of Tony Soprano ... wrap that in the guise of Adriana... and the end product is Steph.

Now, will her fate be the ever-elusive Tony or crawling thru the woods like Adriana?  You just never know when it comes to Survivor, but I thinking it just may be the latter.

Random Friday Ramblings

We built this beautiful new stadium and no one shows up! 

That is what the folks in Shanghai have been saying this week. It has not been a good first year for the brand spanking new Qi Zhong Stadium.  The stadium is supposed to resemble a magnolia blossom... and even cooler yet, the roof is retractable!

But the stadium is probably the biggest attraction at this year's Tennis Masters Cup - the big year-ending event on the professional men's tennis tour.

The event is supposed to feature the Top 8 players of the year in a round-robin event.  Astonishingly enough, 3 of those 8 either did not make over to China due to injury/personal reasons and 2 more withdrew prior to or shortly after their first match.  The ATP Tour is having a hard time explaining this to tournament officials... calling it a "perfect storm" and promising there will likely not be a repeat any time soon. 

I am guessing those who do not follow tennis likely are more familiar with the players NOT playing... Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi, and Marat Safin... than those who ARE on the court.  So the Cup is pretty much just left with #1 Roger Federer, who has been a bit hobbled with an ankle injury of his own.  Heck, even as a pretty rabid tennis fan, I am finding it hard to muster up some enthusiam over a Nikolay Davydenko vs. Mariano Puerta match!

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What exactly did Jennifer Aniston do to be named "Woman of the Year"?  Well, except to agree to be photographed on the cover of a men's magazine with half a breast exposed.

Despite being accused of some recent Jen bashing in my household, I really do like her just fine... she genuinely seems like a nice person and I do think she is quite a attractive.  It is just every so often, I experience some "Jen fatigue."  Like when news of the divorce from Brad Pitt hit... or during the never-ending "Friends is ending" media coverage... or when she got married to Brad Pitt... or when "the Rachel" hair-do was all the rage... but other than those times, I really don't mind her at all... seriously!

Now she has publicly handled the divorce with all the grace and dignity you can ask ... but I just tired of seeing her have to dance around the topic on every single talk show in the country (and also her new non-relationship with Vince Vaughn)... it is really no one's business, despite these talks shows trying to convince us otherwise.

But Woman of the Year?  Now, I realizes this is not Time Magazine... so it is of no real consequence... more of a marketing ploy... but c'mon she got a divorce, made a movie (or two), and had to go on the press junket from hell... is this really an accomplishment?  Now, Angelina Jolie wooing Pitt away from America's Sweetheart... now that's doing something!

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Note to future Survivors:  You want to keep the annoying guy!

It was another classic Survivor repeat blunder on last night's show.  With all the tribe shuffling, I have lost track of who was on what tribe... but going into the merge it was 6 vs. 4... the plan (as it always is) is for the 6 to get rid of 4 before turning on each other.  But this never ends up happening... and "the plan" got thrown to the curb again last night.

Now I could certainly sympathize with the Survivors, we only saw part of Jamie's paranoic ramblings on last night's show and I was rolling my eyes and thinking to myself "shuuuut the ff&$#ck up" ... but this is the under-rated "survival" part of Survivor.  Sure the elements, lack of food, physical contests, being away from your family are all tough... but keeping around a person you (and no one else!) can't stand ultimately ends up being the one challenge most Survivor contestants fail at.

I think anyone could have won in the finale over Jamie.  Heck, even Lydia... who Probst just stopped short of calling a "capital-L" Loser during last night's challenges.

Now, we'll just see if the women are smart enough to take advantage of this abandonment of the 6 vs. 4 plan.  The ladies now have a 4-3 advantage... pick off each of the guys.... barring an individual immunity the following week the original trio of Steph, Cindy and Lydia then knock out Danni... Steph and Cindy battle it out to take Lydia to the final and take the crown.  Easy, huh?  But we all know that is not going to happen... it never does!

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Finally (!!), Oprah's topic yesterday was When I Knew I Was Gay. 

Well, actually the first half hour was devoted to that specific topic... with the remainder of the show focused on an 18 year old lesbian dealing with her mother's not-so wonderful reaction to her relationship with a 21 year old "I never was attracted to another woman before her" girlfriend (in the name of Anne Heche, run young girl run!)

So that got me thinking... when did I know?  "Know" not being acceptance or action (that's a whole other post...or not!). 

But one memory does stand out to me... and as embarrassing as it is, I guess I will fess up.  One time when I was shopping for spiral-bound single-topic notebooks for the new school year, I remember being drawn to one featuring a shirtless Dirk Benedict of Battlestar Galatica... well, not he had a sweater with the sleeves thrown over his shoulders and tied together over his chest (quite the fashion statement, huh?).  Not this picture here... which is really quite more gay than this particular notebook cover (don't you just love the unbuttoned denim shorts?).  The funny thing is I don't even remember if I watched the show... but Dirk was pretty hunky at the time.  So how old did that make me... well a quick check shows Battlestar aired in 1978... so that would have made me 10 or 11.

But I am sure I "knew" well before that... flipping through 70s pictures to find that Dirk picture stirred up some other memories.  I seem to remember being a fan of Nancy Drew (played by future Dynasty star, Pamela Sue Martin), but having a pull towards the Hardy Boys (Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson)... both of those were circa 1977... and I think I was even guilty of getting an issue of Tiger Beat (or two)... so gay, gay, gay, gay...  I guess I should stop my mental teasing of Carson Kressley!

Another Round of Drink(ard)

Needless to say, I was happy to see Bobby Jon Drinkard return to Survivor (not that I am a fan of "second chances" on these shows... but if they had to do it Bobby and Steph were probably high on my list).  You may remember Bobby John was a former Fine-Winer and I assumed he would probably be quickly re-instated...

However, I think I just might wait a week or tow until th boy gets re-hydrated!

Things were looking good at the beginning...it looked like BJ had put on a little weight, still had those flowing locks and aw-shucks kind of charm... that we all fell in love with last season.

But then things started to go downhill.  The 11-mile hike through the Guatemalan jungle just about did our poor BJ in... first he tumbled to the ground multiple times with severe cramping... and upon getting to the camp collapsed... eyes rolling to the back of his head... he was not alone ... many of the other men in the tribe suffered similar fits of nausea and cramping... but BJ's was definitely the most dramatic and, okay a bit downright scary.   I have a feeling the tribe will be keeping the nurse practitioner (Margaret) around for awhile!

We'll see how Bobby Jon fares next week... he seems somewhat recovered in the preview clips, but is freaky/screaming about something!

Fine Wine All-Time #2

We're down to the Final 2...

At #2, with 87 days on the list is... Jeff Probst.   

Pardon this tabloid shot of the Survivor host... but it pretty difficult to find shirtless Probst pix!    I am thinking may be the only other public one... other than the cute one (with his pants down revealing Taz boxer shorts) that I posted originally.  Without much eye candy on last season's Vanuatu (unlike the recently completed Palau), Jeff pretty much remained on the FW list for that entire season... I like his snarky attitude... and heck these pix show there something going on beneath those button-down island attire.

Have you guessed who our top guy is?  Hit reload tomorrow to find out!

W&C is on vacation. Feel free to leave a comment, but this post will be deleted upon our return and replaced with a real vacation diary entry.

TV Talk: Lost, Survivor, WW

Spoiler Alert:  If you have NOT watched the latest episodes of Lost, Survivor, and West Wing... probably best just to skip by this post.

Lost
Well, JJ Abrams pulled a good one on us... doing a little reverse psychology and not doing a surprise twist with the death of Boone.  Even when Boone was on his last breath, I still half expected something else to happen... say that crazy French chick coming out of nowhere and gunning someone down.  Kind of ironic that Boone dies in a plane crash, huh? 

While I certainly appreciated the eye candy, I admit to being not quite as devastated as someone else in our household.  I can understand the whole "circle of life" thing that was going on in the episode (a surprisingly cheesy move) and how this will shake things up on the island.  Any bets that Claire will name the baby Boone?? And with his death, Boone takes to the grave that he made contact with the outside world... so that is pretty convenient as well (although I suspect the radio was probably irreparably damaged in the re-crash).

But be prepared for another lengthy wait between episodes, I hear we won't see another new Lost episode until May -- with the show ultimately closing out its first season (no surprise that it has been officially renewed) with a 3 hour "event" airing over two weeks (with a 2 hour season finale).

Survivor
Well, it was the Worst Week Ever for pretty boys on the island... as an increasingly skeletal looking Bobby Jon got knocked out of Survivor... as Ulong continued its winless streak in immunity challenges.  What do you think will happen next week?  Do you think they will just have Stephenie compete in an immunity challenge with Koror and if she doesn't win, she's out??   Have to give the show credit for surprising us and just letting the Ulongs disappear without an emergency/intervention tribe merger.

Am I the only one who feel that they don't even know some of the members of Koror?  I see some of the women every week and I honestly could not tell you their names!  I don't think we have ever got this far into a season, where I feel that I do not have clue about some of the participants... but you only get to really know them once the mental game begins... and with only one trick tribal council, Koror hasn't yet had to start scheming.

Alas, we will probably be bidding a Fine Wine adieu to Bobby Jon soon... but I will let him hang on for a few more days.

West Wing
A pretty good season finale for The West Wing ... no big surprise, that Jimmy Smits/Matt Santos pulled out the nomination at the divisive Democratic Convention (c'mon did you think Ed O'Neill/Al Bundy was going to pull the upset?)... but I am glad I remained spoiler-free that Leo ended up being the surprise VP nominee.  While it is a big surprise that a man who just had a serious heart-attack accepted the job, I guess there is a current "real-life" precedent that makes it a bit more easy to believe.  I am pretty optimistic that next season is going to be pretty darn good.  And if that was'n't enough, what about CJ?  Will she be exposed as the source of the leak about the potential use of a military space shuttle to save the stranded astronauts or do you think we are being mislead?   Tune back in this September (or even October if the show decides to go "non-stop" again)!

The Weekend
Probably be a fairly busy weekend, as you see the days are getting teasingly close with regards to our vacation... so will probably look into getting our LA flights an overnight LAX hotel booked this weekend... also get the doggies reserved at the kennel.  We are also dog sitting next week... our guest pup arrives Sunday morning.   

Tonight, we are off to our local independent bookstore to see former Secretary of State Maddy Albright... she is on tour promoting the paperback release of her memoir.  I hope Todd is able to get his hardcover edition signed as well... he is quite atwitter about meeting up Madame Secretary.  Ok, I better shut up as I think I just got myself into some trouble!

Have a great weekend!

Give 'Em Shelter??

Is anyone else all WTF?! about the rewards on Survivor?   For the Palau season premiere the commercials shouted about how the contestants were going to be given absolutely NOTHING.  Well "nothing" does include a clean water source ... and predictably the tribes were able to "win" flint for fire fairly early on.  I can accept those things -- if you want your contestants to be able to jump through hoops (sometimes literally!) they need to have water and something to provide them with some sort of nutrition...

And yes over the years... I have also been begrudgingly accepted other rewards... like coffee makers, overnight getaways, personal hygiene products... but last night I think the show "jumped the shark" with the reward...

First, the reward challenge was to build a shower and bathroom (they were even given a toilet seat)... now this seemed extraordinarily nice -- but the Survivors had to build it themselves, so that was kinda (kinda!) okay... but then the reward for building the best one was... a snazzy shelter built by the Survivor production crew!! 

Talk about taking the Survivor out of Survivor!!  What's next... will the next season be Survivor: Ritz-Carlton??!  It would probably go something like this...

"In this reward challenge, teams must swim 2 laps in the heated pool, race to the spa for a facial, take the elevator back to your room, order eggs benedict from room service, eat it and race back down to lobby...  the first team to plant their flag in this potted palm wins reward... wanna know what you're playing for??"

But despite this latest annoyance, I'll keep watching... there is still plenty to keep my attention this season... like Bobby Jon... and Gregg (quickly rising up my list)... and Ibrehem... though the show manages to shake me out of my lustful revery with shots of James in his Tommy Hilfiger "showing a bit too much" boxer briefs... and Willard in only his briefs... eeek!

Fine Wine #19: Bobby Jon Drinkard

It comes as no surprise that the latest addition to the Fine Wine list is one of the guys from Survivor: Palau.  The most difficult challenge was figuring out which one it would be.  But by last night's 3rd episode of the season things were getting a little clearer.  Unfortunately, it wasn't all good news.... hottie Jonathan got eliminated even before the real game began... while last night, a slip on a cococut busted out Jeff's ankle and made him the sacrificial lamb at Tribal Council.  That was really quite unfortunate, since Jeff had one of the all-time best bods in Survivor history... it just caused me to shake my head in wonder on how you ever achieve that kind of fitness!

But as I said in an earlier post, this season of Survivor seems to have more studs than ever before... and even after two of them have left, amazingly there is still plenty more.  So, my selection is Bobby Jon Drinkard.   Despite the obvious (Hello!?!  Stop staring at the picture!  But you can click on it for a slightly better and larger view), Bobby Jon won me over with his good work ethic (in a pretty lazy tribe) and that he seems like a genuinely nice guy...plus he was sporting some pretty bad sunburn (peeling) on last night's show... that is definitely something this fair-skinned guy can relate to. 

Granted I had my concerns about him going into the show... he is from deep within "red state" territory (Alabama) and among his "favorite" activities is hunting and "reading the Bible"... and c'mon his goes by "Bobby Jon"!!  But alas, he does not seem to be the bible-thumper/hick that sometimes gets on this show.

Other than that, as with most Survivor contestants, we don't know a whole lot about him.  He was previously employed as a personal trainer, lifeguard, and farmer... he is currently (are you sitting down?) pursuing a modeling career (shocking, huh?)... and is single and will turn 28 in May.

If you are looking for more men ala the Fine Wine List check out Scott's latest blog feature Men Who Do (It For) Me... a whole new crop of men to slobber over!  So Javy Lopez is a catcher, huh?!?

Survivor: Oh Wow

Forget Palau, I am calling the 10th edition of series: Survivor: Oh Wow!  You can always count on the franchise to deal us a stud or two, but they have outdone themselves this time around.  There were so many fine bods on my television screen last night that I could not tell you what was actually going on...talking, there was talking going on??  Names, who needs to remember names at this point! 

But before I introduce them to you (just in case you are not a Survivor watcher), here is the physcial evidence:

Take a moment... stop, look, and ummmm... never mind...ok, ready?  From left to right:

Jonathan - Sadly this is about all you'll get to see of this 23 year old Texan.  Looking like the little brother of Reichen from The Amazing Race 4, Jonathan was gone pretty much before things even started.  In a surprise move, tribes got to choose their own members in a "kickball-schoolyard" selection process, with the last male and female booted off the island immediately.   So what did this fine physical speciman do wrong? Well, on approach to the island and in hopes of gaining what ended up being a pseudo-immunity reward, he was the first guy to jump of the boat and race for the necklace.  Obviously, he didn't read the Survivor handbook.  Rule #38 clearly states: If you are young, strong and opportunistic you will not last long.  Usually more than 10 minutes, but not long.  He also faced the wrath of Coby - baaaadddd idea to get on the wrong side of a gay man, even if you do look like you stepped out of an A&F catalog.

Gregg - 28 years old and a former high school football quarterback and baseball shortshop.  This picture does not really do him justice, but he is pretty much my type... if you need a definition of that, skip down to this post from the other day.

Ibrehem - 27 year old waiter from Birmingham... surprise, surprise... he has done some modeling in the past.  Excuse me while I break out into song... "Mocca chocalata Ya Ya"

Bobby Jon - Lather, rinse, repeat. Another 27 year old waiter from Alabama and you guessed it pursuing a modeling career!  In 2003, he was named Alabama's most eligible bachelor by Cosmo Magazine and lists one of his favorite activities as "reading the bible."  Now I am going to try and not generalize here, but... a model, from the South, who reads the bible, who's name is Bobby Jon... oy, I think I am gonna hate myself for lovin' him...haha!

Jeff - Jeff, Jeff, Jeff, Jeff, Jeff... wouldn't have guessed that he is 21 and a personal trainer, now would you?!  Ok, I really don't know what else to say.... for real.

I have no doubt that some of these guys will make it onto the Fine Wine list, just going to have to give them a little time and see what they do... c'mon you didn't think the list was just all about looks now, did you?

For a more "above the waist" take on last night's Survivor premiere, check out my post from today over at Pop Culture Junkies.

On that note, I think I am off to the gym... have a great weekend!

Survivor: The Road To Riches

My Survivor: Vanuatu predictions ended up being fairly good... the highway contruction worker beating out the highway repair worker -- I had Chris winning by 6-1, one vote shy of his actual 5-2 victory.  Ami threw her vote to Twila -- and was the most sound and sane member of the jury -- who would have thunk that?  The finale was the usual mix of tears and anger and folks whining about being lied to and/or otherwise betrayed.  When will people finally get the this game is "do unto others, before they do it unto you"?!?

I feared that my prediction would be wrong.  I though Chris mishandled Eliza's exit and badly as he did Julie's... but it worked nevertheless... so hard to argue with his methods.  Thankfully for him, more people were in a tizzy about Twila swearing on her son's life than any of Chris' sneakier misdeeds.  Again, another "c'mon folks" scenario -- we are only two seasons removed from Johnny Fairplay's "grandma dying" move -- swearing on the life on one's family member should now be a gigantic red flag. 

On CBS' The Early Show, interestingly enough Chris thought that he would have won vs. Scout.  I figured this would be a even larger margin of victory than Twila, but he felt Scout was not the galvanizing figure that Twila was and Scout affirms that she believes she had a good relationship with each one of the Survivors.  Everyone agreed that Chris would have won vs. Eliza (even Eliza, herself). 

So we have at least a month or so off, Julie Chen said that Survivor: Palau would start in February (though I had read earlier that it would be a March debut).  So with that we will also bid adieu to Jeff Probst as he leaves the Fine Wine list... he is still in pretty good shape to be crowned 2004 FW Champ, so stay tuned!

Vanuatu Sole Survivor Predictions

Sunday is the big Survivor Vanuatu (Islands of Fire!) finale.  I am not rooting for anyone in particular, although I think the most deserving final pairing would be Chris & Twila. 

Of the existing jury, there are two voting blocks: the men (Sarge & Chad) and the women scorned (Leann, Ami, and Julie).  There may be some split voting among the final two jury members. 

Scout always loses
Scout is perhaps the "under the radar" Survivor of all-time.  While this type of game can work, Scout is the most undeserving.  She was physically weak and I do not believe consciously "played" the game in this manner.  Should she make it to the final two, the only votes I see Scout getting is from Twila -- or someone voting against her opponent.

Chris always wins
This surprised me... but crunching the jury votes, the result always seem to favor Chris.  He definitely did some damage to himself last night with his promises to both Julie & Twila.  If he was straight-forward with Julie and Eliza (who he blind-sided last night) I think they would have respected his decision. But nevertheless I do not see his "playing both sides" hurting him in the end... with a landslide victory vs. Twila or Scout and a 4-3 win against Eliza ("women scorned" voting for Eliza).

With those broad sweeps, that only leaves one other combination: Eliza vs. Twila. Here I see a 4-3 win for Twila - with the "women scorned" block again coming up one vote short.

Here are my predicted final votes:
Chris vs. Eliza - Chris wins 4-3
Chris vs. Scout - Chris wins 6-1 (Twila for Scout?)
Chris vs. Twila - Chris wins 6-1 (Scout for Twila)
Eliza vs. Scout - Eliza wins 6-1 (Twila for Scout?)
Eliza vs. Twila - Twila wins 4-3
Scout vs. Twila - Twila wins 7-0

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.

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.

Fine Wine #9: Jeff Probst

I am sure I was not alone in watching the premiere of Survivor Vanuatu [insert dramatic music] Islands of Fire! As usual, there is always some good boy watching on this show thanks to the minimal clothing and physical challenges. This season looks to be no different -- if anything, the stud quotient seems a bit higher this time around. However, with 18 Survivors (9 of each gender) -- keeping track of them all can simply make your head spin. I know there are two lesbians on the show...but with all the back-and-forth I kept on guessing there were like four of them (for the record they are Scout and Ami). Likewise, it was hard keeping track of the guys... though a quick check of the CBS Survivor website suggests that the objects of my shallowness are Brady and the two Johns... Brook was not all too bad either and I can't for the life for me figure out why he was voted off over the balance-challenged Chris. I read the "strategy" was something about voting off the younger guys first... hmmm... really smart move guys!

But anyways... from the picture included in this entry you can see that my latest induction into the Fine Wine Cellar is not a Survivor contestant...but a face that we certainly had no trouble recognizing... host Jeff Probst! Jeff was back for his typical studly opening (39 Days! 18 Contestants! 1 Sole Survivor!)... no hanging off the edge of a helicopter this time around... been there, done that... this time it is at the lip of a South Pacific smoldering volcano!

The soon-to-be 42 year-old Probst is still looking good. I bet you didn't think he looked this good, huh? Got to love those dimples and his sarcastic (or should I say "snarky") attitude...and last night we got to see him all wet after the Vanuatu gods brought on a downpour after the guys gained possession of the magic stone. This picture was published in Entertainment Weekly (not sure where I snagged a digital copy of it). I figured I had to post it... now I can start reeling in those Google hits for "Jeff Probst shirtless" (this is the only shirtless Jeff pic that I have ever seen) or "Jeff Probst pants around his ankles" (click on the pic to see the full shot)... I have a feeling Taz isn't the only one growling! The tribe has spoken...indeed! ;-)

Amber Alert

Is the Survivor finale over yet? I know it is always a 3-hour shindig, but it seemed to go on forever.  Todd's parents were up for Mother's Day...and having not watched any of the show this season... by the end they said they felt like they knew everything that went on during the All-Star edition!

So what to think?  I was starting to think that my predictions was going to be wrong as Rob put up a much better fight in the final voting than I thought he would... but heck with his proposal he pretty much could not lose.  Is it just me... were Rob and Amber better looking after 39 days on the island than at the reunion show?

As seems to be a Survivor tradition, much of the jury questioning and reunion part circled around the moral high ground.  Bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch...about getting
lied to, backstabbed, voted off...blah, blah, blah.  I know the All-Stars was much more personal this time around given that being part of Survivor puts you in this elite members-only type of country club...but time after time, I am still amazed that people lose sight of what this show is all about. I would have expected more, especially from this group of "veterans." So kudos to the NY audience for booing Lex and Jerri for their whining. Granted I don't think Rob is an angel, but he is not evil incarnate either. 

So who should win the $1 million popular vote?! I am certainly not going to be participating...these folks have already been justly rewarded with both publicity and money (though not sure what the payouts were this season, but rumor has it that the All-Stars were quite nicer than usual on the financial side).  I certainly would not vote for anyone who won the million already (Richard, Tina, Ethan, Jenna M, Amber), Boston Rob though deserving already has the benefit of the $1 mil, the whiners (Lex, Tom, Alicia, Kathy, Jeri) just deserve to continue chowing down on sour grapes, and those who didn't last long this time around certainly don't deserve it.  So that gets it down to (for me at least) to) Shii Ann, Rupert and Jenna.  Out of that group I like Shii Ann the best...especially for her calm perspective on the whole game, but she did pretty much coast through the game. The other two were personally annoying... Jenna (wouldn't shut up, too desperate for the $$), Rupert (delusions of self-importance, babyish demeanor)...but I suspect that the wildly popular Rupert will probably win the bonus pool.

Goodbye To Thursday Night TV

After all the fuss maybe it is a little hard to believe that Friends is no more (well, except for living on in infinity on syndication)!  I have to say that I haven't watched the show as much in the past few years once Survivor decided to go head-to-head with it.  But with TiVo joining our household, I have been back watching the final season. 

Thought it was a pretty good episode, nothing spectacular or shocking...but a fitting, if all too predictably happy, end.  Though I am not sure these friends are meant to be parents!  When she decided to move to Paris, Ross pined over the loss of Rachel but nary a mention about baby Emma.  But alas Emma was given a brief mention, though still unseen, last night as we learned she would be joining her Mom in a week's time.  Then we have the one shock of the evening - the birth of surrogate twins for Monica and Chandler.  The birth was surprising emotionless with not a tear of joy shed during the delivery - this was only topped by the new parents repeatedly leaving the newborns alone while dealing with their other baby, Joey!   

But alas they are not totally gone... I believe I have read that a special Friends Thanksgiving "reunion" show is already in the can... and then we have the debut of Joey in the fall... though I think I will have a hard time thinking of Drea de Matteo as Joey's sister as opposed to Adrianna on The Sopranos.
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Speaking of Survivor... as we head towards the Sunday final I was starting to think we had the stupidest bunch of Survivors for not knocking out the power couple of Rob and Amber.  Week after week, we see these All-Stars put all their trust in Rob only to find themselves on the sidelines. 

But now I am thinking that the smartest thing any of the remaining Survivors could do is bring Rob into the finals.  But figuring out how to get to the final two with him is probably the biggest challenge...given that Rob/Amber seem to be best prepared for the immunity challenges (the last one usually being one of endurance). 

There is an angry bunch of jurors with enough knives in their backs to start their own Ginsu collection that the lovebirds could not possible win in the end.  Often their is talk of "respect" the way a person outwitted and outplayed them (this is where I see Amber having a chance)...but given the outcast interviews I have seen, no one is speaking kindly of Rob even months after being off the island. 

Fearless predictions:
If Amber gets to the final 2, she wins.
If it is Rupert or Jenna vs. Rob, Rob loses.
If it is Rupert vs. Jenna, Rupert wins.

Angels & Survivors

After a couple of frantic holiday preparation weekends, it was a total crash-and-burn this weekend.  Except for some minor and final "decking the halls," most of the weekend, and especially, Sunday was spent in a slump.  I am sure that next weekend will kick it back into gear before the big day.

A couple of TV notes from the weekend:

Finally caught the first half ("Millennium Approaches") of Angels in America.  I have seen this first part twice on stage (and loved it), so I pretty much knew what to expect.  But (and maybe it was just above stated funk), I was not bowled over by the movie version.  Was I just distracted by watching the "big" names (Pacino, Streep, Thompson, Masterson) in the roles? The enhanced special effects that a filmed version allows over the stage that made the fantasy/hallucination sequences seem all the more (too?!) wacked out?  Or maybe just my inability to manage my own expectations?  Everything I read made Angels it seem like it was the second coming (double entendre on top of double entendre intended)...so, unfortunately, one of my favorite adages came true:  "the anticipation of the event is often greater than the event itself."

Now before you get all Grey Davis on me and start a gay card recall campaign, let me say I did not think there was really anything wrong with it.  The performances across the board were excellent (particularly Masterson) and some there were some incredible scenes (the Harper/Joe vs. Prior/Lou brilliant break-up scene jumps immediately to mind). 

I am hoping that Part 2, "Perestroika," saves the day (I will probably watch it next weekend) -- I really do want to love it....really!

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Final thoughts on Survivor: Pearl Islands.  An interesting end to, overall, one of the better chapters in the Survivor series.  Sandra was certainly a deserving winner.  She played just right... not too hard or under the proverbial "radar" -- and certainly took advantage of each and every mistake that her fellow castaways made along the way.  I thought it may have been closer result with Lil, but she certainly self-destructed during jury questioning.  I can sort of understand some of the intense grilling of the "good scout" turning bad, but I still wait for the day when the jury stops ragging on the final 2 for telling lies to get there.  I can not imagine a Survivor where the below equation is NOT true:
Outwit+Outlast+Outplay=Lies, Lies, Lies

Errands, Stamps, Survivor

One of the advantages of working from home is the ability to run errands during the week while the rest of the world is "at work."  It is certainly one of the major reasons that I do not think I could ever go to work in a "real" office and work under the eyes of a boss (or anyone else for that matter).

I was might productive this morning -- in 25 minutes, I was able to run to the vet to pick up cat food (the old guy needs a special Science Diet blend), drop my Christmas cards off at the post office, deposit a paycheck in the ATM, and get a haircut.  I am not sure that it takes a whole 7 minutes for my hair cut at the local SuperCuts is really a good thing!  I guess I should be glad I still have more hair than my dad and brother...even including the grey ones that are increasingly starting to slip in.
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I don't really like the Christmas postage stamps this year.  They are fairly gaudy cartoonish renditions of Santa or a reindeer playing musical instruments. 
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I really think being on Survivor seriously messes with one's mind.  Burton's exit speech was simply delusional...stating that he hopes that Lil (the very name he wrote down) can live with her decision to vote him off.  Hubris claims yet another castoff.  I guess I am rooting for Sandra at this point.  She is a just devious enough for me.  In the fantasy movie version, I cast Judy Reyes (Carla from Scrubs) to fill her role.

More on Marriage & Survivor

I got a comment...hurray!  And here I was thinking I was writing in some vacuum that only 3 people (who I personally know) were maybe reading at all. Thanks Nick, I am a Zionide fan!  If there is anyone else out there (Bueller, Bueller.... Bueller), feel free to let me know.

Anyways, Nick's comment definitely got me thinking more deeply about my last post about gay marriage.  I agree with you -- having it be a "marriage" would absolutely be the ideal scenario.  However, I just do not think the climate right now will allow it.  Heck, this is a country that I don't think is even going to consider electing a non-white male president any time soon.  Unfortunately, I see same-sex "marriage" further down Acceptance Road... there is significant public opposition, a Republican president and Congress, a Supreme Court with a shaky future (present?), and even "friendly" Democrats who seem to be unwilling to take on the issue.  Now I know that the women's and civil rights movements were not easy battles either (and certainly worth fighting for), but I fear waging this battle now will set things back more than they will move it forward.

As I said in the last post, the word "marriage" carries a lot of (too much?!) baggage - and that seems to be the initial (and very high) hurdle.  Do I like the phrases "civil union" or "domestic partnership" -- no, not really...they are both pretty antiseptic.  But then again, I don't like any of these either:  husband or spouse (too "straight"), partner or significant other (pretty sterile), lover (ugh!), boyfriend (getting too old for that).  I tend to use "we" and "us" a lot.

Do I want to be "married"?  Not really.  (Can I still register at Crate and Barrel though?).  It is yet another word/label that I am not totally comfortable with.  However, would I like the legal rights of it...absolutely!  I don't  consider "civil unions" or the ilk to be riding on the back of the bus -- across the aisle perhaps -- but as long as I can go along for the ride (and maybe that is settling), that is good enough for me.
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Okay, back to your regularly scheduled trivial blog entry...

This time last week, I was lamenting about Rupert's invincibility and the inability of his fellow castaways to vote him off Survivor: Pearl Islands.  Well, what do you know this week the big lizard was mercilessly swallowed up by the island snakes (please, CBS if I wanted to really see that I would watch The Discovery Channel). 

It was time for Rupert to go.  His hubris outgrew his man-skirt to the point where anyone winning a challenge or having a strategic game thought that did not include him was an affront to morality and goodness.  This was only summed up in his exit speech... lamenting over that he always gets hurt trusting people and that somehow winning Survivor would have righted the wrongs he experienced in life.  I've watched  Survivor seven times now...when are people going to realize that the show is not about trust, goodness, morals, and "deserving" to win?

That said, I know I have been pretty tough on Rupert, who arguably is the most popular Survivor contestant ever.  If his portrayal on the show is accurate, he is certainly an  upstanding, honest, big-hearted, highly capable, and loyal human being.  I was not rooting against him - but just frustrated that he thought his best qualities would take him to the end.  His popularity, ability and "goodness" sunk him by the end of Episode 1.  I am sure his post-Survivor life will be all the things he wished for even without being the sole survivor.  And I have a feeling we'll be seeing 'ole Rupert again...he was mysteriously "unavailable" for the usual CBS's The Early Show morning after interview this morning.  Could he be off surviving again?!

Rupert Love-Fest

Should CBS just fast-forward through the rest of Survivor: Pearl Islands and just hand Rupert the $1 million? I do not know how many more episodes I can stand of seemingly everyone talking about getting rid of Rupert but than wimping out or, as they did last night, simply handing him immunity. Now I know that Rupert's reign will come to an end before the finals (or else this may be the most stupid Survivor crew ever), but I dare say not since Richard Hatch has one contestant seemed to have such a hold over his fellow castaways.

Unfortunately, it looks like we are going to be stuck with dweeby Jon for awhile -- since his is well ensconced as the one everyone feels they can beat in the end. That is, if snippy Jeff Probst does not ring his skinny neck before then. Speaking of annoying, are there any two more annoying voices than Darrah and Christa? I think my ears would bleed if I had to listen to a conversation between those two. And "Ryno"...very scary with your final words... "you have got to remember one thing: I'm on the jury!!" -- ummm, your vote is really not going to matter.

Oh, stumbled across the "unofficial" cast for the All-Star edition of the next Survivor. If it is accurate, it is a pretty interesting mix. Will alliances form between the past returning winners, between people from the same show, or the ever popular gender lines?

Survivor & Carnivale

Guess it is time to add my two cents about Survivor: Pearl Islands. Not bad so far, I have to hand it to the producers for continuing to "shake up" the game. The "(wo)man overboard" start and forcing the contestants to buy/barter for supplies was pretty inspired. Other than that I do not really have any major thoughts. As with the opening stages of most reality shows, there are just too many people floating about to begin forming any real opinions. It does amaze me that even after six previous shows the amount of tactical errors already being made by some folks.

Just a couple of questions... what ever happened to the shoes that Rupert "pirated" from the other tribe? While the incident was quite a hoot, we never got the payoff scene of the Morgan tribe discovering that their footwear was MIA. Also, do not totally get the whole Three Musketeer-ism ("all for one, one for all") with the Morgan men dropping trou. Heck, it's Osten's problem if he is wearing shorts w/out a waistband ... and this was not exactly a friendly game of naked volleyball! But ala The Amazon's Jenna and Skeletor Heidi, gratituitous nudity or any "blurred out" activity is certainly the dream scenario for the producer of any reality show.
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Think I have my first "victim" of the fall TV schedule. While it appears to be a well-done show, HBO's Carnivale will probably be coming off my TiVo Season Pass list. With the supply of TV programming far outweighing the demand at the moment, I think I am going to be pretty picky with any new show. So even though I do not mind the challenge of a Twin Peaks-ish type of show, I just do not feel like I have the mindset to "figure it all out" with Carnivale. Episode 2 is still lurking in my "Now Playing" list, so we will see if I get to it.