Late to the Game - SPOILER ALERT

OK, I have been weeks behind on Survivor, but I JUST got caught up and have finally watched the whole shebang. And I agree with all previous posts: BY FAR, THE BEST SEASON EVER. The Erik episode was amazing, I couldn't believe it, it was hilarious, masterful, and so tragic. Poor Erik, I did feel very bad for him. Those girls are phenomenal players. Cirie deserved to win the whole thing, and I'm not just saying that because she was my girl! (I just felt so terrible for her when she was crying at the end and apologizing to her family for letting them down) I think she directed the entire arc of the game and almost every single strategic move. But I also think if Amanda had taken her, she would have won, so I don't fault Amanda for going with Parvati...although that didn't work out so well either. Final thoughts: I still can't stand Parvati, and I can't believe she won. She is a "mean girl" and I'm still stunned. Right now I'm watching the reunion show, and they haven't shown yet how everyone voted, but I'm guessing even after all that happened, Eliza voted for Parvati. What an idiot, that she would claim to respect both of those girls for their game playing, but then still vote for the girl that was just flat out mean and bitchy to you. Ugh.

OK, those are all my thoughts. What an amaaaaazing season.

(Dang it, Cirie!)

non-spoiler alert

1:51 in: Ozzy is a douche bag tool.

COME ON!!!

Seriously Eric? Are you serious? I think you and Dolphin-boy Ian should get together and have a sappy insecure love child that needs to be loved so badly that it will do anything.... ANYTHING to win "redemption" in the game of Survivor. Ugh, it's like he has never watched the show. GROAN.

I should offer a Survivor prep-course:
Lesson 1. Leave your desire for "integrity" at home. You either have it or you don't. If you need to talk about your integrity, then you probably don't have any. Embrace your lack of integrity... you'll go much farther.
Lesson 2. NEVER GIVE UP IMMUNITY. If you're tempted to, refer to lesson 1.
Lesson 2a. If you have hidden immunity and you think you should play it... PLAY IT!!!! DUH!!!
Lesson 3. Listen to Jeff during Tribal Counsel. He always draws attention to what's about to happen. PAY ATTENTION!!
Lesson 4. DO NOT believe people who proactively speak during Tribal Counsel. They are liars. If they question your integrity, refer to Lesson 1 and use the phrase "pot calling the kettle black" (alternate phrase choice: "so your s*** don't stink?").

Follow my four simple rules and you will go far in the game (or at least avoid looking like an idiot when you get voted off).
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I personally felt awful for Eric. Did you see how he ran away after Jeff snuffed his torch? Poor little guy.
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I can't decide if I want Amanda or Cirie to win. I think Cirie has played a better game, but she's at that point where she needs to start letting the jury know that she's been the puppet master. You can't wait until the final tribal counsel to say, "I've been doing these things all along." People don't buy it. She has the benefit of that no one actively hates her or blames her for them getting voted off (except maybe Ozzi who hates everyone and blames everyone)... and what's the deal with Ozzi's poncho? Douche bag.

Really they should just let James pick the winner.

Oh, Eric... you let me down. Your naivety and James's bum finger undid my chances of winning.

Looks like it's down to Kim, Danielle, Jaime, and Jenny.
Original drafts:
Katherine: Yau-Man and Jason
Kevin: James and Erik
Jenny: Cirie and Mary
Danielle: Ozzy and Natalie
Kim: Amanda and Joel
Jaime: Parvati and Chet
GMo: Eliza and Tracy
Kristin: Ami and Mikey B

I am looking forward to:

• Amanda trying to convince the jury of the quality of her game.
• Natalie trying desperately to make it into the final three.
• James's commentary during the Final Tribal/reunion.
• Yau-man's return.
• and (hopefully) some awesome Jeff Probst travel shots
  

I envision:

1. him holding on to the fin of a dolphin which swims him to a industrial port,
2. where a giant crane picks him up using a claw,
3. dropping him into the seat of a rickshaw,
4. running along side a moving train which he jumps onto,
5. climbs on top of where he finds a hang-glider,
6. jumping off as the train goes over a bridge,
7. sailing near a hot-air balloon,
8. going across a zip line from the glider into the basket of the balloon (not sure how they'll work the mechanics but I think if anyone could do it, Jeff could),
9. and finally the balloon crashing through the ceiling of the studio for the finally!!

Panache!

BEST!
SURVIVOR!
EVER!

Arrived Safely in Atlanta!

Hellooooo, my friends! After a much too long period of radio silence due to car driving and apartment searching, I am finally coming back to the land of communication!

The good news is that I have an address and my belongings have been delivered from the shipping company. The bad news is the belongings are still in the pod and need to be unpacked and set up. Any volunteers to help with that this weekend?

Here is a rough sketch of my cross country journey, the highlights will be fleshed out with additional details over time and more hilariously in person I am sure, but just get everyone caught up...
- I had to search for two pregnant cows in the cactus infested terrain of Tucson, AZ
- I drive really fast and got my first speeding ticket ever in NM
- Dyer's BBQ in Amarillo, TX, is about as "pit stop" as they come and just as fabulous
- My paternal grandparents are finally getting to the mind space to move out of their home
- Driving in pouring rain for 10 hours is not fun, even if it is from KS to TN
- The Grand Ole Opry is pretty cool
- No major car troubles
- No major fights with traveling companions (I was only concerned about one and his initials are also KD)
- Fried chicken in the south really does taste better
- My new apartment is literally across the street from Target

I miss you all tons and can't wait for trips back home and visitors to the southeast!

I heart Googly-eyed plants

Ok I had to put this up because it was so damn weird and so damn funny. Perhaps it is just my strange sense of humor. See what you think.

I heart Bon Jovi

So, tonight Jaime and I went to a real legit rock concert (as long as you consider Bon Jovi a legit Rock band). It was really fun... so much fun that I might catch them on my little jaunt with KD to Arizona when they play in Glendale. I have to check with my hostess and see if she's up for it.

Daughtry opened the evening and although he was fairly good, the guitars were turned up too loud and we couldn't understand much of what he said when he was talking. Hopefully, he'll learn a bit from Bon Jovi while out on the road (mainly that you don't have to crank up the guitars and turn up the distortion to put on a good show). Also, the live versions of his songs are a bit harder than on the album. I would give him a B-.

We were happily surprised that the switch from Daughtry to Bon Jovi took only 15 minutes. I don't know that I have ever been to a concert (except Jingle Ball with its revolving stage) where the transition took less than 30 minutes.


I wanted to share with you the highlight of the evening. It wasn't singing along to fabulous favorites like Livin' on a Prayer, Wanted: Dead or Alive, You Give Love a Bad Name, Blaze of Glory, or a Richie Sambora version of I'll be There for you. Though they were all pretty awesome; there's nothing like hearing almost 20,000 people screaming "Whoah, living on a prayer."


No, my favorite part was the first encore song. The concert rocked all night long, but for the first encore song the group came out with an acoustic set-up and sang a beautiful rendition of one of our favorite OC songs.



This isn't the concert version, but the quality is a lot better on this clip. Anyway, it was gorgeous and the first time the crowd was almost silent all night.

The only thing less that 100% perfect with the Bon Jovi set was Jon Bon Jovi's dance moves. They are a cross between his big hair 80's moves, funny 80's aerobics videos, and Southern baptist church services. But he still looks amazing (*** side note for the ladies only*** especially his booty) as he creeps closer to 50 years old.


I was looking forward to this concert (thanks for the great X-mas gift mom!)- it was everything I could wish for... tons of Bon Jovi's greatest hits from the late 80's and early 90's along with a nice assortment of their cool new music. They sang 25 songs and their set lasted 2 1/2 hours. All in all it was a wonderful concert!

It's no Clue Crew, but it's something!

So I'm involved in a new little project called Shindy TV. I think I've told most of you, but if not, Shindy is an online entertainment website that focuses on cool, fun things to do around San Diego. It's sort of an online TV station, as most of it is video content. I'm now one of the hosts, and I've done two shoots so far. They are both finally online, and I'd love for you guys to check it out! Go to http://www.shindy.tv/ and the opening video that's up right now is the shoot I did on St. Patrick's Day at The Tilted Kilt. The other one I did (the first one, actually), is at Basic Urban Kitchen & Bar; you can just click on the link and it will take you to the video. Keep your eye out in the Tilted Kilt video for an unexpected cameo appearance by Murrieta Valley HS quarterback Nat Bandel!

Enjoy! And mock at will.

Let's put the collective will of the TNFTers to work!!

I don't know how well you've studied the NCAA Tournament brackets but by some random chance (or the result of the influence of a higher power) for the first (and probably only) time UCLA could play Cornell in the Final Four!!!

Among the various reasons this would be awesome (uh, Bears vs Bears game - watch out Colbert, Red/White - Blue/Gold, Cornell making it to the Final Four!!!), perhaps the best is that it would pit Katherine's alma mater versus Kevin's alma mater.

Why would I want to create such possible conflict in my marriage, you may ask? Well, for one, I don't really care who wins the game and in no way would it influence how much I love my wife. For two, I think it would be neat. And for three, it would give us an easy solution to a potential problem we'll face later in life: namely, where's Lyla going to go to college?

This conflict is already bubbling over the surface, with each parent trying to make the case early for their school. Instead of letting this carry on for the next 17+ years, a Final Four match-up could serve as a fair way of picking for us. I think both of us would submit to the arbitrary authority of a national supporting event as the basis for a pivotal decision in our daughter's life.

I've mentioned the Collective Will of the TNFT Group before. Based on the composition of the South and West brackets, I don't think anyone will object to UCLA and Cornell making it to the Final Four. So, if you don't mind, start well-wishing the Bruins and the Big Reg all the way to San Antonio. Cornell first plays Stanford tonight at 5:00 pm (and I think everyone can get behind a Cornell victory).

Let's Go Red!!!!

U! clap clap clap clap C! clap clap clap clap L! clap clap clap clap A!

Do You Has?

Happy Saint Patrick's/Monkey Day!

Lyla wants to know where she can get one of those sweet green mustaches.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Top o' the mornin', everybody! Please enjoy this festive greeting from two angry Irishmen.

Something interesting for my fellow random-knowledge geeks

Came across this website: http://www.damninteresting.com/

It's a collection of articles on various topics all either history or science related. Very similar to the types of programs they play on the Discovery or History channels. Enjoy!

Forget March...it's Lost Madness!

So every Friday on washingtonpost.com there is a Lost analysis in their Celebritology blog. Today they introduced a very exciting development: Lost Madness! You can go through the bracket and pick your favorite Lost characters, much like your favorite basketball teams! You can even choose from various random Others, the Polar Bear, and Arzt. I picked UCLA in the finals against the Smoke Monster. Click HERE to start voting! Then get back to work.

Perusing my SPAM folder - the following contains bad innuendo and euphemisms

Every once and awhile I look through my Gmail SPAM folder to see if anything semi-important got sent into there. I always chuckle at the solicitations I receive (I have 4 email accounts that I forward to Gmail and some of them are so old I've lost complete control of them). I wasn't sure about the appropriateness of posting something risqué so I've left out the real bad ones.

*Warning - if you are offended by bad innuendo and euphemisms, do not read any further*

Here's some of the better SPAM subject lines I've received recently. These are all real emails. Oh, (sic) for all of these.

Let’s start with “direct and to the point.” No ambiguity here:

Most popular shlong enlargement

Why be a tiny cocktail sausage, when you can be a mighty wiener.

These next ones know it’s really all about the ladies:

Pick up a chick anytime with this.

Enjoy the last laugh over the sports jocks by getting ALL the hot chicks.

Enlarge your instrumment and you will be popular among girls

When unzipping means unleashing a monster... watch ladies ooh and aah with delight.

And, of course, there are the attacks on my self esteem:

Be a member of the Big Boys' Club.

I want to be a macho man

Enhance your reputation with this.

She is trying to damage your reputation

Let's bet that my male aggregate is bigger than your

Don't be looser increase your male aggregate

Only losers have small male organ

And my personal favorites – the Practical Considerations:

When you reach the growth size that you want to achieve, you no longer need to take VPXL

An increase in cells allows for more blood to enter the ----- making the ----- larger and the -------- more intense.

You'll need larger pants

And finally:

where did you get that sofa?

Pre March Madness... Madness

As the resident sports nut, a title I happily claim, I just want to give Kevin congratulations for his team beating us all to the big dance later this month. The first invitation was officially granted to Cornell this weekend for becoming the Ivy League champ.

Who's ready for brackets??!!?

But what about the fake idol?!?

I find Kevin's earlier observations about James to be quite astute, but can we please talk about Ozzie carving a fake idol and re-hiding it??? Brilliant, just brilliant. I love it. And also, Lost is the greatest show in the history of time. Good thing I don't have a tendency to exaggerate.

James solved a puzzle? He might just be the best player ever.

I was shocked when James quickly solved the reward challenge puzzle on this week's Survivor. I mean, I know he's a great player: strong, hard working, understands basic Survivor strategies like keeping a strong alliance together. But to add on top of that puzzle-solver, he just might be too good to be true. I think the best part of it was that he was as shocked as the entire audience that he got the puzzle right. "'Triumphant'? Is that a word?" I love it.

Fortunately he also displayed some negative qualities in this past episode that will hopefully protect me from getting too attached. Namely, the rudeness he exhibited toward whatsherface. I think that, combined with the fact that he couldn't influence his way out of a paper bag, are the two chinks in his armor. But for now, with Yau-man out of the way, the path is clear for James to show just how smart his is (and use all that physics he's learned while digging graves).

That's What She Said

This just made me smile for one minute and 49 seconds straight. I can't wait for new episodes of good TV!!!

Happy Birthday GMo!

Though Genevieve's Oscar picks last night didn't come in quite the way J-Wed's did, there's still reason to celebrate....today is GMo's birthday! Happy birthday....hope it doesn't turn into a case of the Mondays!