Bob's Thoughts:The Amazing Race

This week on a brand new The Amazing Race Thoughts. Two teams battle is out for this week's winner, leading Bob to a controversial decision. One racer is once again and easy weaselly choice. The most interesting characters of the episode are not racers, but a car and a cabbie. And Bob is outraged at a surprise ending.  All this and more in my thoughts on this week's episode...

1. Winners of the Week: So the race to the Internet cafe was interesting, and I have been now left in suspense as to the actually winners of this leg of the race. So, I am going to put aside the race skills aspects of naming a winner and just pick which team is most fun to watch. I half to admit, this season it has taken me a bit longer to warm up to the teams. There is a broad span of personalities ranging from bland, to quirky, to deranged to unwatchable. This week two teams stood above in the watchable category. Kris and Jon are just a nice, positive couple. Maybe the fact that they are long distance daters has made them not utterly annoyed with each other, so they still find each others deficiencies cute. Yet, the reason I enjoy the team most of all is they are not have the typical fatalistic pessimism that many teams have graced us in the past. "Oh, we missed the bus. We are going to lose." "Oh, we stink at the challenge, we are going to lose." "Oh, I just dropped a penny. We are going to lose." Yet, Kris and Jon put on a good face even when they get lost, make a mistake, or have to drive a human death trap of a car, or as Kris called them, "Herbies."

2. Winners of the Week, Part 2: The second watchable team is Rebecca and Adam. This is one of the oddest, quirkiest teams in this shows history. This is proof that you don't need to purposely try to be over the top. Sometimes being your true selves, and not playing to the camera and yelling and screaming because it will get you more airtime. just is so much more interesting. Yeah, Adam is a bit overdramatic, and Rebecca can be a little brutal in his treatment, but it is the dichotomy of this relationship that is just bizarre.  Adam, the wimpy, immature man-boy with questionable hair choices and Rebecca, the ballsy, in your face muscle of the team who comes off more as Adam's Mom than his former girlfriend. This relationship is cosmically dysfunctional. Yet, at least for me, in an enjoyable way.

3. Weasel of the Week: Shocker!!! Today's weasel is one Mr. Jonathan Baker, and I have a weird feeling that the man would be proud of it. While his behavior is asinine in nature, at least when it's directed away from Victoria it is easier to watch. This egomaniac, spazzmatic blue haired meanie couldn't even bother to include his wife's name as he is signing up at the stadium. Yet, this week Jonathan received as well as he gave. Victoria decided her new tactic to motivate him was attacking his manhood. She tells him to be the man, she screams at him to do something, and then she suggest when they realize that they need 5 more balls she says, "I'll grab four, you grab one." I think this is one of the problems with this team, in a race sense. We have seen a lot of bickering teams in the past, yet some of these teams seem to use their strife as motivation. With Victoria and Jonathan is seems like more of a distraction. Maybe if they were more concerned with the race then with acting like asses for the camera, then maybe they would actually get that first place finish they covet. Yet, my guess is that this team is more likely to emotionally break down than to become more successful.

4. Lines of the Week: This season does have some very quotable people. So, lets get to it:

       Responding to Kendra's second suggestion to do research, Freddie responds, "We don't even know where we are going. What kind of research do you want to do?" She really is quite dim, isn't she...

       Bolo, on the Hayden/Aaron and Kendra/Freddie alliance. "They follow each other like a whipped puppy dog."

        Kris, after being angrily besmirched in a local's native tongue. "I know what that means. It's not good."

       Rebecca, commenting on the cannon ball's hygienic attributes "These are some dirty balls."

       Maybe the best line of the night, by Jonathan's cab driver who failed to respond to Jonathan's motivation technique. "Finito."

5. I think Aaron may be the most boring man alive. I am not trying to mean, but the guys expression doesn't change. The man is angry enough at their little clown car to injure his hand by punching it, and yet has the same goody expression. He calls out his girlfriend and become increasingly agitated with her inability to properly direct them due to her irrational fear of maps, yet, at most we get an agitated eyebrow raise. It is almost like he bought himself an Aaron mask and decided to where it the whole race. Or even better, maybe Hayden ate the real Aaron and replaced him with a Anomotronic version.

6. I like Gus and Hera. They seem like a nice couple, but, I have to admit, Gus is a bit, well odd. I'll try to explain. It seems like every time that Gus has a challenge to perform, he has some job related experience. The first episode, he talked about his work for the CIA, his putting together of the desk at IKEA was aided by his experience as an engineer, and his ability to drive the was aided by his experience as an aviator. Now, it's all probably true, but I am waiting for next week, when they have to plant a tree and Gus talks about his years living on the farm.

7. One of the things I do like about the race this season is their choices in destinations. Budapest seem like a really cool city, steeped in history, with some Amazing scenery. Plus, they have those stupid little cars. What's up with them? Those tiny little micro-machines added a fun new aspect to the race. I was waiting for the scene after Jonathan got pulled over for not having his lights on that he would get back in the car, turn on the light, and the car would explode. Kris and Jon were especially funny trying to get the car to go, Bedrock style.

8. Jeers to Gus and Hera for stealing Jonathan's tickets. It's a conspiracy, I tell you. They somehow managed to get snatch the tickets right out of the man's hands. To Shame. To Shame.  Jeers to Freddie. How could you not want to go back to the hotel to research? Come one, man. Maybe, you should have stopped at the local Community college and taken a course in conversational German too. You may need that. Jeers to Aaron. How dare you expect Hayden to read a map? She is scared of them. How dare you expect her to drive? She can't do that either. I saw a guy at a fair one time who played a harmonica, drums, and a guitar all at the same time. If he could do that, you could drive the clown care and read the map at the same time. Jeers to Bob. How could you steal TV Guides Jeers and Cheers idea, yet have no cheers? I smell plagiarism!!!!!

9. To be Continued... What the heck is that? I need my closure. I needto see Phil cheesily attempt to trick a team into thinking they lost with his patented Phil sad look. I need my episode to end with someone giving some cheesy speech about how they are sad to be eliminated but that they are proud of themselves and learned so much about their partner. Yet, instead we get the To Be Continued.  Now, I know it's hard to pack all that action into the show, and that this leg probably had so much good material, but come on. Now, I know we can't assume anything, but my guess is that Bolo/Lori will be the ones who Phil needs to inform of their Philimination. Well, maybe I'll just not finish my thoug.....

Well, that's all for now. Merry Christmas.
 

breiss319 at 10:34:48 PM EST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 3 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Now, grab as many beers as you can, and go rudely interupt the patrons of the bar and check under beers for their coaster. Oh, and make sure you take of few sips of the beer. Somewhere, on one of these coaster, are my thoughts on this week's episode...

1. Winners of the Week:  One of the biggest aspects of the race is history. If you understand an appreciate the history that ties all of humanity together, you will understand and appreciate the race so much more. This episode, it seemed that Gus had the greater understanding of the symbolism of traveling from the site of one of humanities greatest evils, to one of the ultimate symbols of oppression. As Gus said, "We humans are capable of so much horror." Yet, Gus's appreciation of history alone didn't win this spot. They ran a decent leg, and were involved in one of the funnier scenes of the season as Gus tried to sneak in just one more beer before they left the bar. In this season the father and daughter reversed roles and Hera became the parent and Gus the whiny child not getting what he wanted. 

2. Weasel of the Week: Choosing this week's weasel was not easy. Two people stood above and beyond the call of weaseldom. In a tight race, I had to go with Kendra. As I reread this quote, I feel happy in my choice. "This city is just wretched and disgusting. And they just keep breeding and breeding. And there is poverty. I just can't take it." In my person opinion, this was the worst comment made in the history of the race, worsened by the fact that she made this comment in front of a local man, her cab driver. Yet, unable to top that, she came close. Here Kendra shows off her total lack of historical understanding. Making this statement, in Germany, was disgustingly ironic. "It's a big difference from the ghetto third world." Maybe I am being overly sensitive, but the use of the word Ghetto in Germany brought to mine images of the worst of mankind.

3. Line of the Week: The fight in the travel agency was a bit of a hoot. Little Ms. Hayden going up against Bolo seemed to be the mismatch of the year... in Hayden's favor. I liked this exchange:
       Hayden: "Just because you are 5'5" an on steroids.
       Bolo: "I'm not on steroids."

       Later, as tempers came down, both teams decided to reconcile.

       Bolo: "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that to you..."
       Hayden "That's OK, I...
       Bolo "And I'm not on steroids."
      
       I have a feeling you could attack Bolo's character and his manhood, just don't accuse him of being on steroids.

Some other fun lines:
       Adam, on Bolo snacking during the sausage making. "Is he eating it? Ewwww.... he's eating it."
       Rebecca on the shapeliness of her sausage, "It's lengthy and it's girthy."
       Kendra, proving she may just be dumb, on the beer stein challenge, "What's a Stein?"
       Jonathan, showing his true love of Berlin. "Beautiful city. You have to have an appreciation for the people who make Mercedes."
       Mary Jean encouraging Don "I love when you drive like a madman." Grrrr..... 

4. After luckily avoiding elimination by the predetermined non-elimination round last episode, this week Mary Jean and Don just weren't so lucky. So I must say good-bye to Don and Mary Jean. I really enjoyed this team. No, they weren't especially quick, or in reality, all that adept at the race, but they never gave up and tried to get every advantage they could out of being old, even if it came down to crying to the Ikea girl. The were quick witted and fun and while I am not devastated at their loss, I will miss them. For me, they were on of the more fun of the older couples this show has seen and they did pretty well, against all those young whipper snappers.

5. I have to admit. I am not usually all that "moved" by staged events on TAR, but I was moved by the laying of the roses at the slave house. I am not an overly emotional guy. I think you can appreciate the historic nature of a place of tragedy, like this place, without coming to tears. Yet, in this instance a felt a lot of emotion. I appreciate The Race for taking the time to do this symbolic gesture.

6. I guess we should talk about Jonathan. I was actually for a minute starting to like the guy. Yeah, he's a loud mouth putz, His screams are annoying, and he over reacts to every thing to an uber degree. Just because you see another team doesn't mean you need to have to start spazzing out. Yet, he has some good qualities. He seems to appreciate his surrounding more than others. He is a decent racer who doesn't make to many mistakes. But that final scene ... oh Lord. I really thought there was a line crossed there. On a technical level, yeah, maybe Victoria should have just left the bags, but his reaction was over the top. What did he lose by coming in second? Bragging rights, a cruise or trip. I mean, the guy owns a Ferrari, is that really that big of a deal? When he punched the side of Victoria's bag, I though, "Oh, crap." That was way past the line of anything I can remember on the show. And then, to make matters worse, when Phil suggested he go talk to his hysterically crying wife, he follows Phil's advice, yet, not to comfort her, but to berate her even more. Sad.

7. The following thought is rated PG-13 for dialogue of a sexual nature. Parental Discretion is advised. Oh, guys. We get the joke. Yes, sausages are kinda like, well you know. So yes Adam, we get that you think Jonathan would be good at it, being a wiener and all. Yes, Mary Jean we understand that "Seven inches is REALLY big!" Although, Don looked a little let down by your enthusiasm. Yet, Rebecca had to be the worse, with comments like "Keep going, push, push. Come on a little more. I want seven inches. Adam, please go." And of course, "That's a big one, big one, big one. You like that. Big, big. Good. Yes. Yeah!!!." Come on guys, this is a family show. 

8. I slowed it down, frame by frame. It was a picture finish. Yet, in the end. I can't figure out who won. I think Hera vs. Jon's go cart race was a literal tie. What a cool challenge. Not really all that much danger or skill involved, but it seemed way cool. I guess it's the little boy still in me that makes me excited when I see go carts. This was one of the challenges that seemed more like a chance to do something cool. Even Mary Jeans crash at the end, was funny, with her man Don chuckling at her. I wonder why she didn't him do it since she loves it when he drives like a madman. Double Grrr....
      
Well, that all for now. See ya soon...

breiss319 at 5:57:48 PM EST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 1 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Oh, man. I don't feel to good. I think all this rocking and rolling is making me sick. Hurry up, let's finish this up before I spew out my thoughts on this week's episode....

1. Winners of the Week: One of the most interesting aspects of The Amazing Race is taking these so called typical Americans and placing them in a culture and surroundings that they are just not used to. Removing someone from their comfort zone and seeing how they react can give us a lot of good insights into a persons characters. Throughout the whole experience in Africa, which was definitely eye opening to many racers, Kris and Jon stood out as the optimistic group with good attitudes. While they may have made a few bad mistakes this leg, not checking out the opening time of the Town Hall Tower, and jumping into a cab before they really new where they were going, they never flipped out or we rude to any one. While others were saying, "Oh, this is so gross." They were saying "Dude, look how cool this is." Oh, and I'll have to agree with Jon. She did look pretty hot doing that salt gathering challenge.

2. Weasels of the Week: So many choices, so few times. Of all the people who handled the African experience a bit poorly, Freddie and Kendra were the worse. There dealings with the taxi cab driver really highlighted their attitudes. First of all, if a cab driver thinks it would be safer to stop and put some air in the tire, maybe you shouldn't give him such a hard time about it, and then decide you get the "we needed to stop for air" discount. Oh, and maybe I missed something, but I really didn't know that Ms. Champaign and Flowers was such an educated Economist. Yet somehow she knew to explain to the cab driver that "you made more in one day than you do in a whole year." What is she, his accountant? Oh, and I'm not a suspicious feeling, but walking on top of someone's grave is not just creepy, it's also pretty rude.

3. Lines of the Week: What a great week for quotes! I can really find a favorite, so I'll just give you a nice sampling:
      
       Victoria shrewdly learns that the word for fast is "vite" and encourages the cabbie by saying "vite vite" John of course wants to get into the action:
       Jon: "Beep, Beep"
       Victoria: "No, not beep beep Jon. It's not the word."

       Don after suffering another set back of a flat tire. "The fickle finger of fate has diddled us."

       Mary Jean's encourages Don's unique fish bating technique "You can throw up again, maybe you can attract some more."

       Is Kendra smelling blood on the water? "Why is this water red? My first thought was, maybe it's blood."

4. Rebecca and Adam's Lines of the Week: I decided that this week, the Rebecca and Adam deserve their own category. This has to be the one of the weirdest relationships I have seen on any reality show in a while. Rebecca intrigues me. She seems like a very strong and independent person, yet she ends up with a guy like Adam who is basically a man child The tone she takes with him reminds me of a mother scolding her child on public transportation. So, here are some of the most interesting exchanges between this two this week.

       Rebecca treats us to her Bolo impersonation: "Bolo's lips disappear when he gets angry."

       "Lori and Adam began at the same time. It's baffling. Lori's a women and Adams a boy..." In Adams defense, we are talking about the ultra buff Lori, but I find the choice of the word "boy" interesting."

       Adam "I'm physically week apparently."
       Rebecca "If you'd stop being a wussy boy, than maybe no one would say that."

       "I don't have time to baby-sit my girlfriend." Maybe a bit overly cruel, but he was a bit whiny at that time. Rebecca seems to turn towards emasculation as her defense against his self deprecating whiny attitude.

       Adam "Do you want me to jump out of the boat?"
       Rebecca "That would be awesome." This is the second time that Adam has made some sort of seemingly joking suicidal comment on the show. The first time he threatened to lay in front of the tracks. I think Adam may have some real issues, first and foremost, he is quite immature. Rebecca's response may be a bit harsh, but to me it is sort of understandable.

5. The standing ovation that Don and Mary Jean received was one of those great TAR moments. It's proof that some things, like rooting for an underdog, in this world are universal no matter what culture we come from.  Don and Mary Jean really didn't run  that bad of a race. They made one poor decision, and that was choosing the fishing over the fish stacking. Yet, even that turned into a positive when downs lack of intestinal fortitude attracted some fish. I guess a little spew will get you a long way.  So, it was nice to see them saved for another week by a non-Philimination round. I won't be needing to wish these guys good-bye just yet.

6, Get your hate mail and flaming ready. I actually liked Jonathan this leg of the race. He made some smart decisions and didn't seemed so perturbed by his surroundings as some of the racers. He made a smart choice enlisting a local named Ejal to act as their tour guide for this leg. Wouldn't it be nice if Ejal could travel with him across the world? Another nice TAR moment was when he gave candy to a bunch of the African kids. It was a nice moment for him. He even kept his screaming at Victoria to a minimum. 

7. I really think their should be a "stupid" penalty. Now, I don't get to worked up about the bunching aspects of the game. The world runs on a schedule and we are all victims to that. It would be nice if they could schedule a flight or open an establishment when it would most help the racers, but that is just not like. One of my problems with "bunching" is that it often nullifies what should be a more costly mistake. For a bunch of people to just take the word of some pedestrians about the tower's opening time without checking it themselves was just ridiculous. I would loved to have seen Kris and Jon or Hayden and Aaron arrive at the mat and be told by Phil. "I'm sorry to inform you, but you have been accessed a 15 minute penalty for acting like a complete moron. No go stand over there on that mat and wait out your penalty."

Well, that's all for now. See ya next week.

breiss319 at 4:46:05 PM EST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 4 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Attention IKEA Shoppers. Please be aware that today we'll have a ton of crazy mad-people running around the store counting bears. Please do not bring in any of your own personal bears, or they may get counted. Please be advised if you see a man with blue hair, step calmly out of his way or he may chastise you. Lastly, we have a special today of children's futons, retro style lamps and my thoughts on this weeks episode...

1. Winners of the Week: On reality shows there is a fine line between nice and boring. In a genre where the outrageous is often highlighted, those participants that aren't prone to yell and scream tend to disappear off our radar and become the "invisible team boring team." There was one scene in this episode seemed to highlight that. While two teams seemed to arrive at the tandem bikes at the about the same time, the camera focused on Hayden who was yelling at Aaron. All the while Kris and Jon jumped onto their bikes and glided away, without a word of complaint. Later at the Pit Stop, they waited politely behind Hayden and Aaron while Phil awarded them a cruise. For the most part, they seem supportive, calm and a strong team, and of course, that's just not compelling TV. Yet, it's enough to make them this weeks winners.

2. Weasel of the Week:  This week I decided to look somewhere else for my weasel. It would be easy to reward the over the top behavior with recognition, but instead I am going for the subtle annoyance. Hey, I am all for using every advantage you have to try to win but begging the girl to go easy on you because you're 40 years older than everybody is a bit of a weaselly move, in my opinion. Don is a nice enough guy, but he should know that trying to sway a Retail Store manager type with a sympathetic tale is futile. She's already heard it all and she ain't cutting you no slack because your older. So, go ahead, ask for your senior discount, just don''t try to get out of doing a challenge right because of your age.

3. "It's just been a perfectly horrible day." Sometimes their words describe it better than I ever can. So we now must say good-bye to Lena and Christy, our good/bad Mormon girl teams. For maybe the first time in the game, I hoped they would just break the rules and make this a non-elimination round. Not because I really like this team, but for the girl to stay there for over 100 bales of hay for 8 hours was amazing. Was this a case of bad luck where she just picked the wrong bales, over and over and over again, or was there some fundamental flaw in her bale rolling technique that caused he to miss the clues, I don't know? But for a girl who doesn't "sleep in tents" I though that he pure perseverance was impressive and would love to see how that played out in later legs of the race.

4. Lines of the Week: Is Adam as wussy as he seems? That is the question we'll need to look at in the weeks to come, but I think this quote is quite telling. "The fact that I can take care of Rebecca hasn't come out much because she's had to take care of me because I'm scared of a lot of things."  Other lines I like this week were "Is that your final answer?" From the Ikea girl to Lena and Kristy, and Aaron's attempt to sound like an Arnold Clone as he says, "Are we rolling bales like Strong Man Competition?" Finally, in probably the most ironic quote of the episode, Lena advise to Christy during the hay bale roll. "You may have to go through several." I guess a hundred, give or take, could be considered "several."

5. This week's Ikea challenge was like a bad nightmare for me. I worked as a retail manager for several years and I know how challenging doing an inventory can be. Personally, I think it that forcing prisoners of war to do that would violate the Geneva Convention. It is truly emotional and mental torture. Yet, if I had to choose one activity that would probably drive me equally crazy it would be the assembling of prefabricated furniture.  I had never been good at the whole "building" thing. Even when I do successfully put it together, I always find some mystery piece left over.

6. The Yield is back, and this time it's personal. Well, I guess it was personal last time too. Yet, this season the yield comes with an all knew aspect, it is only available during three legs of the race. I think for the producers feel that by limiting the number of times it could be used it makes it more likely to be used. Yet, for some reason, players just don't want to do it. In actuality, Lori and Bolo should have used it on Don and Mary Jean. It didn't make sense notto. Yet, people still feel it's dirty play or just don't want to cause bad feelings to others. So, if the producers really want to make people use it, make it anonymous.

7. "Don't yell, ha, ha." It seems that Jonathan antics are starting to grate on the nerves of his fellow racers as well as many TAR fans and probably cab drivers all over the world. I'm not exactly sure who yelled at Jonathan advising not to yell, but I think it was the other Jon. I can understand the frustration about being around a person who is so high octane like our blue haired friend. So far multiple teams have commented on his screaming at his wife and overall emotional outbursts. Will this be the season where someone just turns around and tells the guy to shut the hell up?

8. It seems pretty obvious that this season and last that the producers have attempted to keep from casting an all alpha male team. Last years Pizza Boys and this season geek squad of Avi and Joe were not physically intimidating teams. So, now we just finished the third week, in a season with only three same sex teams, and one by one they were eliminated. Is this just a fluke of luck, or is the game becoming more suited to the ying and yang of complementing styles? Are mixed sex teams just better suited to this newest incarnation of The Race? For me I think it is mostly luck. If it wasn't for some incredible bad luck for our Mormon sisters, Don and Mary Jean probably would have been this weeks Philiminated team, but I do feel that there is a concerted effort to make the race about utilizing multiple skills and making it less about physicality, both in casting and in challenge types.

That's all for now. See ya next week...

breiss319 at 6:02:33 PM EST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

All your doing is whining and complaining. See we're number one, we're number... what... Oh we're number three. Yeah!!!!  I'm so proud of myself. I am so great, and you doubted me. I got us here third and all you got was a massive brain contusions. You know what, now you have to read my thoughts on this week's episode...

1. Winners of the Week:  One of the true signs of a winner is the ability to persevere against all odds and all manner of adversities. So, despite starting in last place, being on the slow boat, stubborn personalities and beltless pants Gus and Hera came in a very respectable third place. This father and daughter team on the surface may not seem to have what it takes, especially physically where the father has a bit of a weeble thing going. Yet, we all know that a weeble may wabble, be it won't fall down. So don't count this team out just yet.

2. Weasels of the Week: I have been known to be one of the defenders of the villain teams of The Amazing Race. While often times these teams, like Colin/Christie or Jon/Kelly act like jerks, I tend to attribute a lot of the negative actions to the stress of the race, plus they were good technical racers which in my book matters a lot. Yet with Jonathan it's different. I imagine the guy would act like an ass while wearing a pair of warm cozy socks and getting a backrub from his Playboy Bunny wife, as long as there is a camera around to catch it. The guy is just a putz plain and simple. He pushes his wife aside, then later accidentally bangs her in the head with the car door, and he expects an apology down because she asked him to right down directions. It's one thing to fight with you mate, it's another to publicly embarrass her and revel in it. He's rude to his wife, his rude to the other racers and he's rude to the locals. What only makes it worse is he fulfills two of my biggest requirements to make my Worst Racers of All Time rankings, he is a mediocre racer who acts like he is God's Gift, and he hams it up to the cameras every chance he gets. The man seems incapable of a simple emotion, everything is overboard, and to me, that means fake. I hate fake. I may now need to make Jonathan my permanent weasel and have a separate Weasel for all the non-Jonathans in the race.

3. Line of the Week: All the wonderful quips of our fabulous racers. Where to begin. First, Kris of the invisible team of Kris and Jon had a quote that I found funny, and yet I can't really say why exactly, but I'm going to share it anyway. "I am a geography major in school. I know where we're going and I know how to get there." OK, I know, not really funny, I guess you would have to know some geography majors. For less eclectic fun, Lori may have taken top honors this week with a bit truth that is right on the mark, "But accuracy is you'se got to be accurate." Yep, textbook.

4. Well, two episodes, two New York teams bite the dust. So we must say good-bye to the two Queens, Meredith and Maria. I guess like the Yankees that can't win, when it matters. They just aren't clutch. (Cheesy pun alert!!) Now, let this be a lesson to all you future race wannabe's. A race for a million dollars is not the best time to learn how to drive a stick shift. Let's face it, these two were just not good racers. They may be one of the worst teams ever, but personality wise, they may have been fun to keep around. Despite playing from behind for a lot of the race, they kept there spirits high, and seemed to have fun, and that counts for a lot.

5. So here's a question. If Lena and Kristy were a couple of hairy men, do you think Otti's father would have let him ride with them. Even more so, if they weren't a couple of hot Mormon chicks, but instead a couple of middle aged homely Presbyterians, would they even be in the race. i guess it's all moot. Otti got some face time on TV, and a chance to hang out with a Bad Mormon Girl. Maybe he's the real winner this week. 

6. Those must have been some special glasses. Were they X-Ray glasses? Or perhaps the expensive prescription variety? Up until this point Adam, AKA Hellboy has been able to keep a cool head, despite their diesel mix-up and other race related stress factors. Yet, next time she asks him to take off his glasses, he'll never speak to her again. OK, nearly cost me a chance at a million dollars by failing to read the clearly marked gas tanks, that's cool, just don't tell me to take off my glasses or I'll cut you. Maybe who he should really be mad at is the doofus who forgot to pick them up from the boat. Well, at least he loves his Mom.

7. I've heard people scream emergency, or even emergencia. I've seen people try tonegotiate cheaper deals and attempt to stiff their cabbie. Yet, this is the first time I remember seeing someone ask for the senior citizen discount on TAR. What's next, will TAR rent Don and May Jean a super sized Buick? Will they drive it with their left turn signal constantly blinking? Will they stop for the Early Bird Dinner Buffet? And even if they do show up at the Matinee, and sit right in front of me and ask each other questions really, really loud during the whole movie, I will probably still like them. They are a plucky and fun team. It may be fun to see the old couple put a whoopin' on some of these young bucks.

8. A lot of fun challenges. I thought Bolo was a bit insensitive in finding humor in Lori's constant falling down during the roller skiing challenge. I mean, come on, she may pop something. And poor Freddy, trying to keep up with Kendra. See what you get by dating a women ten years younger than you. The boat challenge was interesting Seeing the differing approaches the teams took was interesting. The first group decided that a good team effort was key, while the other group just decided totally sucking was the way to go. It was interesting to see the teams being forced to work together.

9. It seems that The Amazing Producers came up with a new rule. I think it's called The Flo Rule. The rule is that no member of any team can perform more than six roadblocks during the race. I guess the rule is there to prevent people from being carried through the race. While in theory the rule is nice, in practicality how will it play out. Will the producers attempt more diverse challenges? Will the casting now be more focused on physical skills rather than interesting personalities? Or will it better the race by making it more strategic? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Well, that's all for now. Happy Thanksgiving.

Bob

breiss319 at 12:07:06 AM EST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

I am in the lovely land of Greenland, no wait, Iceland... Let's get this straight, which is the warm one....  Iceland, no that doesn't make sense... oh, screw it. We're just outside the lovely city of Reykjavik, riding on the a huge glacier... Down the way is a camp were we will be spending the night. Behind each tent, in no particular order, are my thoughts on this week's episode...

1. Winner of the Week: The first episode is always chaotic. We have 11 teams running around like whack jobs, fighting, and hugging, kissing and mugging. While the jerks race towards the bottom, the good often takes time to rise to the top. So, the best way to pick this week's winner, is basically to pick this week's winners, Hayden and Aaron. They ran a decent race, even better considering they were dragging a Bolo behind them the whole time.  They were civil during the bad times, and excited during the good times, and they also seemed uncomfortable around people who enjoy a healthy dose of degradation in their relationships.

2. Weasel of the Week: It's time to pull out your The Amazing Thesaurus. We have a new synonym to add. Look up the word Intense and add this synonym -- A--hole. Last year Colin was intense, and this year Jonathan, our mental midg... oops I mean magician,  takes intensity to a whole other level. It's one thing to freak out when things turn really bad, but Jonathan seems to find any time where there is a pause in the conversation to act like a total Dic-tator. Maybe it's just me, but it's the first leg of the race and your already screaming for a divorce and saying he should have brought someone else. Then, when Victoria suggest you make a specific turn, you say, "Don't talk to me like that." Also, what they hell did you mean when you said, "My whining is your incompetence." That's pretty nonsensical. No wonder your an entrepreneur, because who in the their right mind would want to work with you.

3. Lines of the Week: I probably missed a lot of gems in this fasted paced opener, but there were plenty that stuck out to me. Lori, while she was not yelling at Bolo, got in a few good quips. The one that stood out and was quite perky (Hey, I'm a guy) occurred as she was getting into her transport shuttle on top of the glacier. She says, "My implants arefrozen." Yet, the topper to that came from Maria, who if she sticks around long enough may be this seasons quote machine. As she was riding on the snowmobile she says, "I never thought I would be straddling you on a snowmobile, Meredith." Finally, as a harbinger of things to come, Rebecca let's her Hellish boytoy know that, "It doesn't matter what the signs say, I can't read them anyway." Yep, especially when they read "Diesel." 

4. It must really stink to be the first eliminated. So Good-bye to Avi and Joe, who are from Brooklyn and are Jewish. These two seemed poised to be the latest quirky Jewish guys from New York to make an impact on this the most Amazing of Races. Avi, who lives in Brooklyn, was definitely a quirky sort of guy. Joe, also a Brooklynian, seems sort of dopey in a likable sort of way. They sort of had a weird Frodo Baggins-Samwise Gangee thing going. Avi, the quirky leader of the duo with his ever faithful Joe following closely behind, not quite figuring out the implications of what is happening. Yet, when Avi makes a decision to leave the path and go the wrong way, it is up to cheerful Joe to try to get them back on the right path. Well, the main problem with this whole analogy, is that they are not from Hobbiton, but Brooklyn. Did I mention that?

5. Gus, Gus, Gus... it seems that maybe the CIA got this one wrong. There are no weapons of... no wait, sorry wrong issue... Alliances. That was what I was planning to talk about. I never liked alliances in the race, especially alliances formed on the base of, "Hey, we are all on the same train, let's target the guy in the yellow shirt." I respect your desire to take out Jonathan, but an alliance just causes more problems that they are worth. They sort of make you beholden to a group of people and when you need to screw them over, and the time will come when you will need to screw them over, it takes it from a game move to a personal betrayal.

6.  There is one thing I did agree with Gus on. No, it wasn't his topless snow bath. It was his decision to drive safely. With eleven teams, I just don't get taking the chance at an accident that may end your quest for the million, just to pass one person on a narrow road. If you are in last, yeah, take a shot, but I just don't see the point of the team in 6th place, taking the risk to move up to 5th. On that note, I can't stand this fatalistic approach some teams take. The goal each week is to beat one team. You don't need to fall into a cycle of despair because you ended up on the second of four shuttles. End up in the fourth, that's cause for concern, but if your in the second, you're sitting pretty.

7. I like Don and Mary Jean. I especially like her "I don't care if we die" attitude, and her "we can outrun anyone for a million dollars" statement. I like that, for an older couple, they didn't shy away from the harder challenge. Yet, what I like most is that they seemed to have watched the show before. Mary Jean, noticing the rocky ground they were walking on says, "Don't run. Let's not sprain are ankles." I know, a small thing, but after seeing a lot of teams over the past five races unnecessarily rush, causing sprains, twisted knees and the unfortunate running over of feet, it was good to see a team value their appendages that they will be needing to out run the young 'ens. Then they could use the ice for Don's martini.

8. In a great little nod to Our Amazing Editors, the scene between Freddy and Kendra, and Adam and Rebecca was comic gold. Adam and Rebecca commenting on Kendra and Freddy, "They're nice." Then of course comes the shot of them saying nice little platitudes about Hellboy and his lovely lady. Oh, but wait, instead we get "Hellboy and his girlfriend both are like 4' 2". They are going to be like monkeys crawling up that wall." Kendra may be one of the more interesting of this season's vixens. Not in your face aggressive like Lori, but more of the smile as she's sticking the knife in your back type. Oh, but she's nice.

9. I guess I need to get some cursory mentions of the other teams that I have failed to mention. Lena and Christy, we have the good mormon and the of course the trendsetting, party girl bad Mormon who of course let's us know of her trendsetting ways by saying, "I don't sleep in tensts." Of course, that leads me to the question, What do party girl Mormons do in tents?" Another team I need to mention, oh, hold on... Here it is... Kris and Jon... I'll have to rewatch the show to try to figure out exactly what they did. They probably were very important. Umm, were they the ones... oh, no that was Freddy. Oh, nevermind. Also, I don't think I ever mentions Hera by name, and that is a name worth mentioning.

Well, that's all for now. See ya all next week...

breiss319 at 12:34:54 AM EST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

Somewhere in the far north, it is forming like a mad mist. A thickened cloud of freezing particles, set tom change the course of events. Some called this cloud Karma, while others feared to name it anything at all. Yet to many others this was the Fog of Justice, coming down on a Canadian airport, only somewhat distorting my thoughts on this week's episode...

1. The Amazing Winners: "Chip time is over... Now it's Kim time, go for the jugular." You got to give it to the big man. He began this race with a few mistakes, but in the end pulled it all together and with the help of his wife, won the big prize. One of the big things I liked about Chip is he new where to find a happy medium to between being nice and playing ruthless. I believe one of the biggest lessons that Amazing Racers needs to learn is to how to pick your battles, and Chip was an expert at this, and because of that, and a little luck Chip and Kim are going home a little richer.

2. Weasels of the Week (Mega-sized for your pleasure):  There is so many reasons I picked Brandon and Nicole as this weeks weasels I need to break it down into groups.

a. "We're kind of sneaking behind Chip and Kim." There are some acts that I find more weaselly than lie and cheat and backstabbing and one of them is shameless mooching of another team. For me, sneaking behind Chip, letting him work to check the clue to see if it's the right flag, was just rude. Chip, in my opinion, had every right to lie straight to Brandon's face. He's not there to make Brandon's life easier, but to win the million dollars.

b. "Hey Chip. Beat it." When your floating in water, screaming "Help me,: it's pretty understandable that someone may think you're drowning Hell, watching the clip, I had flashbacks to Osten from Survivor. To treat Chip like some common thug who was just coming to steal their clue was just wrong. A simple, "Hey, it's OK. I got it." Would have sufficed.

c. Nicole has a Floment. It wasn't just Nicole's screaming, and crying during the bicycle challenge that annoyed me, but her reaction afterwards is what took the cake. The challenge was tough, and it was probably a bad choice. Yet, despite what she said, she didn't make the decision to slide. Brandon asked her if she wanted to slide, she answered, "Yeah, I guess." Then when Brandon notices the bikes and suggests that they do that instead she says, "...then let's do the bikes." Finally when Brandon is indecisive and she yells at him to stop changing her mind she adds a very helpful "Brandon, I don't know." Oh, but she made the decision to do the luge.

d. A couple of fun Brandon and Nicole quotes should nicely round out this section.
      Nicole "There is no way I can beat Chip at anything."
      Nicole "I feel so bad, I don't do anything. I won't feel so bad when I have that check in my hand."
       Brandon "Picture Jesus up there, like he has his arms wide open and you're running to him."
       And finally, in a bit of Amazing foreshadowing, Nicole "I didn't do this race to be third. I want to be first."

3. Line of the Week: I really, really wanted to like Colin. He's was a good racer, competitive, and didn't make too many stupid blunders that plague some racers. But his nuclear temper just made it so hard. That's why this quote is on the money. "Too bad I'm just an ignorant American." Yep, man, too bad indeed.

4. Slowly but surely, despite something deep in my soul fighting it tooth and nail, I became a Bowling Mom's fan. I'm not really sure where it started, but what put me over the edge was their ability to finish stunts that I thought there was no way in hell the would complete. I had them pegged to go the way of the Gutsy Grandma's, but I get that's what I get for underestimating a couple of Mom's. I loved how they stuck together, cheered each other on, despite their screechy, high pitched voices.

5. What else is there left to say about Colin and Christie. At times I cheered, at times I cringed, and times I wanted someone to turn around and pop him in the face. A lot has been made of his anger, which held them back at points like a slow third whiny teammate, yet in the end, it's not his anger that did him in. It was the Fogs of Justice, as some may call it. A delayed plane, a checked-in bag and a bit of cockiness. I haven't hid the fact that I had a tentative fondness for this team. If Colin was a little more in control, they may have nudged Chip and Kim out as my favorites. In some ways they reminded me of Kelly and Jon, from last season, who also ended in second. I guess the words of Christie may sum it up the best, "There's something called Karma..." Yep, and it's gonna get ya.

6. Yeah, I covered Brandon and Nicole plenty, but I don't want to end this season without saying something nice about them. For all their quirks, they had plenty of fun, funny and touching moments in this race. From there lovey, dovey support for each other, to one of the more touching moments of the race with Brandon and that little Indian boy, these two brought a lot of great memories. Yet, probably the best thing about them was the fun that The Amazing Editors had with them, especially their searching for God in the clouds shots.

7. For someone who always harps on and on about the skill in running the race being so crucial, I am surprised at how much I enjoyed this race despite it being one of the weaker technical group of racers. The personalities really did shine this time. Each team, in their own way, offered something special this year. Except for maybe our first team Philiminated, Dennis and Erika, I think this season may go down as the one with the most memorable characters. Just seeing Allison and Donny, Mirna and Charla, The Pizza Boys, Bob and Joyce and all the rest gave me flash backs to all the great moments in this season. This show truly deserves the Emmy that is now has a monopoly on, and even more so, deserves a Prime Time Survivor Style reunion show.

8. I'm a sucker for the finale's. Maybe it's the emotion of finishing an adventure., but I get left with this glow that sticks with me for a while.  Maybe tomorrow I'll feel differently, but this one was just a lot of fun. Colin's come from behind, was exciting, if not a bit frustrating, probably more so for most of you guys out their. The last leg didn't seem as intense as last season, but had a lot of fun, funny moments, especially Chip and Kim on the luge. I probably read a lot of opinions saying how this finale was boring but that's for another day. For now, I'm reveling in the afterglow.

9. So I'm going to end it like I began it. Praising Chip and Kim. It was a pleasure to watch this team perform and probably the most rewarding victory in The Amazing Race history for it's fans. There was no Flo this time, no Chip and Reichen, and no anonymous, uninteresting boy team. It was a fun and flawed, not physically gifted, goofy team that took home the prize this year. Good job.

Well, that's all for this season. See you all again soon. 

breiss319 at 9:15:39 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 4 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Goddarn Ox. Why won't my constant tauntings and insults get it to stay inside the appropriate plowing area? I just don't get this @$%#@!& beast. You know, you could help me. Just get right down in the mud and see if you can fins my thoughts on this weeks episode...

1. Winner of the Week: "Oh, my God. I'm spaghetti."  I'm finding it increasingly interesting that the team that has basically had the biggest "yawn" factor for me throughout the race has put together two very strong, impressive legs. The Bowling Moms once again defied the odds and impressed the heck out of me. Their impressive performance putting together that weird looking car thing had the boys stunned. I have to, though, specifically honor Linda this week. Her performance on the 70 foot rope ladder and walking the beam was truly an Amazing Race moment. Now, if Karen would only stop her whining and sulking.... 

2. Weasel of the Week: "It's OK. Just run them over. Run them over!" Inevitably, with every reality show, you will hear the editing argument at least once while someone is defending the seemingly inexcusable behavior of their favorite. Usually, I can't stand that argument, but something had been bothering me this whole season of TAR. I just never felt we had seem the real Christie. Well, this week I think we did, and it wasn't pretty. The producers seemed to go out of their way to paint her as the submissive, enabler of Colin's rage. Yet, today we saw a frantic, obnoxious person who not just enables Colin's rage, but feeds it. It was obvious that Colin was on the verge of losing it during the Ox challenge and it was obvious that she should have been in there helping him by leading the ox and not just coaching from the sideline. Yet that's what she did, standing their, not helping, but taunting the volcano, yelling things like "Is there anyway possible for you to not wander aimlessly?"  I was about ready to scream "I hate you" at the girl myself.

3. Line of the Week: None of this excuses Colin's behavior. Yet maybe I have become desensitized to it. Each week Colin's outburst seem less scary and more comical. I should feel ashamed by this I guess and I can just imagine my emails this week. "Hey Bob, you insensitive coot. Colin's abusive nature is no joking manner." Yeah, yeah, yeah. Admit it though, even you stifled a chuckle when Colin screamed, "My Ox is broken."  Yeah, the guy is a putz, but I can't promise you I wouldn't be having an equally ridiculous tantrum if I was in a similar position.

4. "I can't even look at them, I feel so ashamed." Chip and Kim have really run a great race. Yeah, they are prone to the stupid mistake, but they've done an excellent job cultivating the image of a sweet, nice team, while not hesitating to play cut throat when they really need to. This was the same "sweet, nice" team that purposefully held up the twins cab in order to prevent them from gaining to big of an advantage. After last week's possibly fatal "Yield" blunder, it made sense that they would want to make a big move to help them win. I was slightly confused though. All three teams were screaming "Yield Colin and Christie" and yet they all were racing to be the team that did it. Wouldn't it have been a little smarter to get to the mat first, not yield him and make one of the other teams use their only yield. Otherwise, what was the point of racing to it, pushing and pulling at the other teams.

5. "Oh, Brandon, you're so good." "You're good baby." I just had to write it out, it cracked me up so much. Our two Godly, sugary sweat virginal models are good for a few laughs, and not all that much more.  Ask me a few weeks ago and I would have told you that they were a player in this race, but now I am not so sure they have the commitment necessary to take this thing. I think their decisions to not go sledging, and not to cut their hair was a real eye opener for me. Hey, I get it, they're models and they need their beautiful faces because, Lord knows they ain't gonna make much money with their brains, but from a race stand point if at least one of them isn't fully committed to winning, I can't see them pulling it off.

6. "Can you take us to The Coconut Place?" "The Cookie Palace?" Another humorous Brandon and Nicole moment I just had to mention. When Brandon was trying to get his bad cabbie to understand that they wanted to go to The Coconut Palace, he was making an interesting hand gesture to illustrate his point. The gesture seemed to show Brandon cupping some, well....ummm.... coconuts.

7. "They are going to be flying and yapping." I have never been one for drastic rule changes but with all the trouble that the producers go to make two separate tasks for the detour you'd think they'd do something to make sure that both tasks were performed by at least one team. Already we got ripped off from seeing a team covered in bees. And let's not mention our balked at Fast Forward depriving me of my opportunity to see Ms. Texas bald. This week, I would have loved to see Mr. Angry himself chasing after 1,000 yapping ducks trying to intimate them into their holding pens. But, no. So Mr. Producer that's my free advise for the week. If no other team has performed a task, the last place team has to do it. Now, let's talk about a reunion show.

8. "We're third. I don't want to be third." I guess in a week were Brandon and Nicole offered very little beyond good quotes it would only be appropriate to end this thing with one more line from our loveliest of couples. This week was a big week of foreshadowing for Out Amazing Editors. Who out there didn't see impending doom coming Colin and Christie's way after their cocky comments like "Well, it's not just that the other teams suck..."? Did anyone doubt that Linda would be successful at climbing the rope ladder after Chip guaranteed that she wouldn't be able to? Does that now mean the mom's will be our big winners? Well, the big finale is coming next week, and I for one just can't wait. Oh, and back to Nicole's highlighted quote at the top of this section, exactly what place did these models finish? Yep, third. Damn those editors.

Well, that's all for this week. See ya at the finale...

Bob

breiss319 at 5:09:18 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 5 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

In a bit of a format change and due to such a plethora of great material I am going to be using some of the racers own words to introduce my various thoughts this week. Quite frankly, some times they just say it better than I ever could. So with that being said here are my thoughts on this week's episode....

1. Winners of the Week: "We did it right this time." I haven't been a big fan of our matronly ball and pin divas Linda and Karen. I never really like the team theme, cutsey, wutsey matching shirts thing. I don't care if you're gutsy or what your weird looking little dog's name is, just run the damn race. Yet, for the first time since the race has begun I found the "bowling moms" interesting. They ran the race hard and fast, with very little whining this time. To be honest, I thought they would have been gone a while ago. I was impressed with their focus and attitude this week, even when they thought they were in last place.

2. Weasels of the Week: "I hate this kind of thing." "Yeah, but I want a million dollars" Brandon, no matter how pretty she looks in her little modeling pictures, you're not racing with a China doll here. While, I guess, it's nice that your concerned about Christie's head bouncing off the rocks, for some reason I get the feeling that it was you who were intimidated by the whole sledging thing and you're just playing "manly protective guy" to cover up your own fears. If not, then you just greatly underestimate your girlfriend, who seemed more than willing to take the chance.  Either way, it's all weasely. Yet, even if God answered your prayers and lead you to the clue, you should have realized it was going to be tough. I mean, it was called, "Hell's Gate." For a good Christian boy, that should have been a big clue.

3.  "Wouldn't it be funny if we were going in the wrong direction again?"  So, I must now say good-bye to Kami and Karli, our googly eyed twins. It took me this long and I never really found out which one was the actual evil twin, but my money was on both of them. For the life of me, I just don't get why you would choose to go to the mud puddle, than the much faster sledging route. Well, we'll let the twins explain it, "I'd rather be in hot mud than in cold water right now." Translation: We better keep our skin nice and fresh looking to maintain our cute features, because no way in hell are we going to win this million dollars."

4. Line of the Week: Oh, there were so many. The material was great this week. I think the most amusing little line of the whole show was Karen's "They are screwing the helmet to my head... This can't be good." It seemed to have just the right balance of humorous whining and plucky determination that highlighted the bowling mom's performance this week.

5. "Ummm...are you the least bit excited about white water sledging?" It seems that ever since Egypt, there has to be at least one Bad Colin moment in each show, and here he gets annoyed with Christie when she told him he was going the wrong way, then when he realizes he was wrong, clumsily tries to change the subject. Yet, this was only a slight bump in the road in another well run and entertaining leg. I said it earlier, and I still believe it, Colin may be the best racer of all time. Yes, he's a time bomb waiting to explode, again, but he does have skills. Colin was everything a good racer should be on this leg, smart, decisive and excited about the adventure and if he could control his temper, he would easily become one of my all time favorites.

6. "It may have been the stupidest thing I've done in my whole life." I don't know about his whole life, but in the game, it was pretty dumb. Yielding the twins should have been a no brainer. Both teams have been in the race long enough to know that you never assume you know where the other teams are. It's getting down to the final legs and any chance at separation should be grabbed. Chip, while running a good race, now needs to run his own race, not worrying about entertaining the other teams, he doesn't need to make friends or be the "jokester."

7. "I'm gonna back hand you boy, you won't be able to model again in this town." After a week where she showed off ability to say to incredibly goofy things, Nicole was pretty funny this week. Her little Pre-K/Kindergarden exchange with Brandon, was the kind of sugary sweet, I love you more, sort of interplay we've seen before but with a little more wit and dark humor. She seems to becoming the comedian to Brandon's straightman. I specifically found it humorous after finding the clue that Brandon was so desperately praying for she said, "Thank God.... literally."

8. "I just lied." So we are down to our final four, and the most unique final four of all time, in my opinion. While I think this may be one of the weakest group of technical racers we've had in this show, it's been one of the most entertaining. I mean, seriously, did the twins actually think that the "reservation" ploy would work. Did they think the ticket agent would have said, "Oh, you had reservations. Well we must have screwed up. We don't have any seats left, but you can sit in the aisles if you want." Yet, it was amusing. The teams that seem the most physically threatening, one seems always on the verge of a breakdown and the other seems unwilling to take a risk. So right now it's anyone's game, and that's how it should be.

Well, that's all for now. See ya next week...

breiss319 at 5:07:47 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own

Every body push. Yeah, come on. Grab a bumper, grab a window.  Push, push, push. Let's make this taxi roll to the specially marked parking lot and my thoughts on this weeks episode....


1. Winner of the Week: OK, guys. I know you are all going to hate me. I cleared out my mail box to make room for all the hate mail that i should be receiving Just remember, these are always based on an individual episode. I really enjoyed Colin and Christie this week. Maybe it's because they were in first, but they seemed to be having fun. Yes, Colin got a little pissy once and there were plenty of things to be annoyed by. But his comments about how beautiful Calcutta was and the his women driver comment, which would usually annoy me, seemed to be said out of genuine attempts at humor. Of all the teams, only Chip and Kim and Colin and Christie seemed to enjoy themselves and work together well. If Chip would have read the clue right about driving themselves they probably would have won the honor, but instead I went with the devil spawn.

2. Weasel of the Week: OK, this one was pretty easy. There were many reasons to choose Brandon and Nicole as weasels this week. The made a few seemingly culturally insensitive comments, one of which I will talk about layer. They whined, and couldn't handle the pressure. I am not going to fault Nicole for her comments on the train. Long time TAR fans will understand why. Nor am I going to fault their constant praying. I had no problem with that, as long as it the "Thy Will Be Done" type. Now, here comes the main reason. Let me let you in on a bit of a secret, I really like the bald look on women. I know, weird, huh? I always have. I can't explain why. But Ms. Texas had to go and ruin my chances to admire her in her total lack of hair. How selfish.

3. Line of the Week: A great jaw dropper by Nicole. One of the all time classics
Nicole: "What with all those church things here?"
Brandon: "What Church things."
"What do you call them? Mosques. They are on every corner. It's like Starbucks."
I can see my dearly departed Muslim Great Grandparents shaking there fists in anger.

4. OK, I finally realized something. The twins are just creepy. They are like female Chucky dolls with blonde hair. If I was a guy and they approached me, I would pay quickly. Not because of any sexual attraction, but out of fear that they would chase me down and slice open my throat with a highpitched girlish chuckle.

5. Yeah, another Cab-Gate. Of course, I have to side with the Bomo's on this one. From my perspective, the cabbie offered to lead them to the airport because he was going there already Now, it's real hard to say without a careful rewatching. In the end they handled it well.

6. While I like most of these teams, or at least find them interesting, they are the sloppiest final 5 I've ever seen. Each team made seemingly fatal and stupid mistakes. Chip not reading the clue. The Bowling Mom's forgetting their bag plus not exchanging enough money. The twins made plenty of bonehead moves. It seems like we've been cursed with some of the dopiest group of stooges. Oh, but it's fun.

7. A lot of fun quotes this time around. You had to get a chuckle out of Chips, "Colin has one flaw" speech and I particularly chuckled when Nicole asked the waterslide operator, "Is it scary?" as if a waterslide was an exotic structure. Yet, what put a smile on my face was the various interactions with the people of India. Brandon talking to the little boy was a bit touching and Karen patting the kid as he pushed the car was cute too. All the teams seemed to really enjoy there interactions during the taxi push, even those who seemed freaked out by their surroundings.

breiss319 at 8:42:49 AM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 0 comments: Add your own