Whine & Cheese

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.