New Survivor Draws Out the Whiner Crowd

Survivor has “survived” the Reality TV wars because first and foremost, it’s a great concept. But that hasn’t stopped them from adding a wrinkle or two over the years.

Last year’s hidden immunity idol was a great idea because it forced the players to consider yet another layer of strategy. This year, they begin the show by creating the four tribes based on their ethnicity.

Now that I’ve officially passed into middle age, (Ugh, how could I have let this happen?!?) I’ve seen enough examples of political correctness to know when and where it will rear it’s ugly head. So it didn’t surprise me in the least that after the announcement, it took less that 1.39 seconds for someone to start a protest. And then to find out that it was “city council members in New York”?
<sarcasm>Shock of all shocks!</sarcasm>

Give us a break people. Don’t you have anything better to do? You know, like real government kind of stuff?

This is a gameshow, emphasis on game. Quit acting like anyone is the object of prejudice or injustice; these people volunteered, heck, probably begged, to get on the show. How long before the ACLU brings out their army of lawyers? It won’t take long before they smell the blood in the Cook Island waters.

Paladin’s ‘Five Quotes’ Meme

Via SFO Mom comes this meme. Find five randoms quotes here that represesnt who you are or what you believe.

1. Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or better. [link]
2. We can only learn to love by loving. [link]
3. This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer. [link]
4. Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict. [link]
5. The highest reward for man’s toil is not what he gets for it, but what he becomes by it. [link]

It took me 19 refreshes; a bit tougher than I thought. My I must be picky.

Rockstar: Supernova – Elimination #8

Last night’s show rocked! Best of the year, IMO. It began by Toby getting to front the Supernova song. Now, it was far from what I might call “good” but at least it wasn’t the sludge that they played last week. And it wasn’t only the improvement of having Toby sing over Dilana.

Again America put Magni in the Bottom 3… hmmm. I’m not sure what I’m missing because I just went on record saying Magni’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was Best in Show. So what does he do? He follows it up with perhaps the best performance of the season—a pumped up version of “Fire” by Jimi Hendrix. It just flat out rocked and Magni did a great job with his own part in the performance.

Thought it odd that both Toby and Magni made Bottom 3, but fortunately the band is making good choices by sending the women home. Toby did a solid job with STP’s “Plush” and promptly saved himself from heading home.

I just love “Middle of the Road” by The Pretenders. It’s one of my favorite 80′s hits. Patrice did a very good job with it, but like I predicted, she was sent packing. At least they didn’t give her the “You’re better as a solo artist anyway” crap.

Zap Car Uses Standard Electrical Outlets

Unlike most electrical cars, these cars from Zap can recharge from a standard 110-volt outlet. How does a full-charge for a dollar sound?

Cuban’s Shareslueth

I’m a big fan of Cuban. Probably because he’s a bright guy who says what he means and if you can’t handle it, tough. Because his net worth is so astronomically high, he doesn’t have a problem getting fined $500,000 for post-game comments about the sorry state of affairs with the NBA referee system.

His latest endeavor is Shareslueth.com. It’s an intriguing idea that’s got the status quo crowd up in arms. (Many because they didn’t think of it first.) The idea is that they research companies who are dirty, then short their stock and publish the results. What’s wrong with that? Nothing but people like this guy have an axe to grind.

Cuban’s desire to openly reveal the results of this experiment should calm most people, but there will always be those jealous people who will always look at those with more as somehow evil.

USA Struggles Past Italy, Stays Unbeaten

U.S. beat Italy 94-85. That’s just a 9-point win. Not exactly the dominating performance most of us expect from our All-Stars. Carmelo had to throw up 35 just to get this win. It’s going to be a challenge to win the gold. Truly the world has caught up with the origin of basketball.

Rockstar: Supernova – Performances #8

It’s becoming more and more apparent that a guy needs to win this thing. Patrice is going home this week. Dilana is a cross between Stevie Nicks and a bridge troll. Storm Large would crush everything in her path. I think it’s safe to say one of the guys will take this puppy.

Performances

“Beautiful Thing” was a decent song, far better than the compost that Supernova laid last week. But the band didn’t care for it really. Then Navarro hit her with the dreaded Positive Comment, “You’d be great as a solo artist.” Ouch. Et tu David?

Performance of the night as Magni killed it with “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, a very killable tune. Then the band asked him why he didn’t break something during his performance? Huh?

Ryan heard the band’s suggestion and promptly broke his guitar. Good to know the boy knows how to take instruction. His original tune, “Back of Your Car” was a little scary for me. But his energy was off the charts, which is something you gotta bring from now on.

“Cryin’” by Aerosmith is over-rated, in my opinion. It’s tough to sing and Storm did a solid job, but Gilbey was right, Storm’s performance just wasn’t special. Once Storm gets rejected from this show, I fully expect to go on the rampage. “Me kill little man. Bad dressing squirt… I crush you!”

“Every Breath You Take”… really? Hmm… tough to gauge… NO IT’S NOT… that sucked! She looked like a cross between Cyndi Lauper and Hopper from Antz. Did anyone else notice the subliminal message she put in there? “Di-lah-nah” during the soft chanting part? If I’m not mistaken, that was pretty slick.

The band didn’t like Toby’s arrangement of “Layla” but I thought it was kinda hip. I certainly could have done without the low-rise jeans but his performance was solid. I think Mr. Bass was drunk, so all his comments were, “Cool. Good job. Can I get another drink?”

Lukas performed The Killers’ song “All These Things That I’ve Done” and did a good, but not great job with it. His vocals were overly raspy and dwelled in that low register far too long. I thought the band would blast him but they applauded his performance.

Bottom Three

Patrice, Storm and Toby. Never fear mate, Patrice will get the bus ticket.

Big Brother 7 – Power of Veto #8

It’s a Double Eviction week!

The moment Chilltown gets into the HoH room, what do they do? They target their toughest opposition and put them up on the block. See? This game isn’t so difficult. Grudgingly, I’ll admit that Will is far more crafty than I first gave him credit for. (Mike is just annoying.) But the rest of the house isn’t even in the same ballpark. Even still, I can’t bring myself to pull for the guy… he’s just too evil.

With both James and Janelle, the competition masters, up on the block, this Veto Competition had the potential to rock. And it did! And the winner is…? Janelle! Despite whiny cries of cheating from poor baby James, Janelle actually grabbed the right doll from the ground, not from James’ hands. Memory has a tendancy to distort in the heat of battle.

With Janelle safely off the block, Chilltown puts up George, all the while assuring James that he’s safe. Uh… hello? James? Haven’t you learned a thing from the pass exiting players who thought they were safe? Be sure to tune in on Thursday for James’ atomic meltdown when he realizes he’s just been played by Chilltown. I can hear him now, “I was so stupid to trust those ______s!”

Dojo Info 8/22/06

1. Faces, Too, Are Searched at U.S. Airports
   Good for them. I was listening to the author if Jihad Watch talk about how it’s just common sense to use profiling to keep our airports safe. Isreal apparently started this practice years ago and have had scant problems since. If it works for them?…
2. U.S. cruises past Slovenia, improves to 3-0
   Sure, 114-95 is a win, but is it enough? Should we be worried?
3. Playstation 3 demos look great
   Is it too early to get excited?
4. The A.V. Club’s Definitive Mixlist: The New Adventures of Jesus
   Is Jesus the new Black?
5. A Cross We Want to Bear
   We need to remember that it’s a small minority who are trying to remove Christianity from anything that could possibly be considered “public.” It’s basically a loophole in the way our country’s documentation is being interpreted and it’s intellectually dishonest.

Big Brother 7 – Eviction #7

Explosive! How grand would it have been to see “Big Boy” totally lose control and bash the Boogienator in the face. For a second there, I thought he might. Talk about being on the edge of your seat?!

James wins Power of Veto and takes himself off the block, which is good. Now the house has become a conflagration of alliances and shams. Maybe they are the same thing?

Howie may be lovable, but no one can say he’s bright. It took him this long to realize the you can’t trust Chilltown? C’mon dude. My cat knew that and he isn’t even a regular viewer.

I’m having a tough time finding someone to root for. I guess this is my order. What do you think?

7. Vaulting to the bottom of my rankings, Mike is such a low-class person. Sure, these games bring out the worst in people, but you can tell he enjoys the worst in people. Flaunting it in the camara. I just want some horrible thing to happen to the guy. What a loser.

6. Has their ever been a more arrogant reality TV contestant? I don’t think so.

5. I don’t have anything against Erika but she’s not the most exciting Big Brother player.

4. George is a doofus, but he’s a nice doofus.

3. I used to have Janelle ranked higher but she’s been making soooOOOoooo many stupid choices, it’s tough to pull for her.

2. James is working it hard, but sometimes his arrogance rises up and it makes me want to smack him.

1. She plays hard but she’s not obnoxious. Pencil her in as my favorite.

World Basketball: US Dominates China, Gets to 2-0

Why isn’t this stuff on TV? Or if it is, where? I’m lost over here. Who wouldn’t want to watch a collection of the greatest basketball talent known to man, represent our country abroad? At least there’s the Internet.

U.S. runs past China, improves to 2-0 at worlds

Ahh, found it. 6:30 AM on ESPN2. Oh how I need TiVo.

Big Brother 7 – Eviction #6, Nomination #7

It’s a Double Eviction week!

It wasn’t that Marcellas trusted Janelle, he didn’t, it was that Marcellas didn’t see it coming from a mile away. Very poor for someone with as much BB experience as Marcellas. Floaters, for a reason only the non-floaters can comprehend, have become the bane of all the BB house guests. I was greatly disappointed that he didn’t go ballistic and rip up the players sent him packing. If anyone had a right to vent.

So George wins HoH and immediately has to put up 2 people for nomination. Not one to think quick on his feet, he…

…puts up James and Erika. Poor George. He’s not really on anyone’s team, but in order to not piss off any of the powers that be, he also put up floaters. Ha!

Marbury Sponsors ‘Everymans’ Shoe

$14.98, for a pair of sneakers?!? Where do they have cheaper labor than Indonesia? Or, it could be that the next time Marbury tries to break someone’s ankles off the dribble, it’ll be his own.

World Basketball: US Gets Past Puerto Rico 111-100

Not the most awe-inspiring performance by the Americans—a team that on paper should coast to Gold. Is it effort? Is it adapting to the International style of play? Is it too many scorers, not enough defenders?

It’s tough to put a finger on it, but if the U.S.A. doesn’t win gold, where does this fall in the all-time biggest failures? Maybe in line with the last 5 World Championships. Some think the U.S. won’t get the job done. Next up is China on Sunday, a team they should handle easily.

Clarett’s Benefactor an Isreali Mobster?

Just when you thought the Clarett story couldn’t get any stranger, we learn that he’s got ties to an Isreali benefactor who’s just recently coped a plea that will land him in jail for 9 years. Is Clarett the victim here? Is he mentally unstable? There’s more to learn in the coming weeks.