Big Woopsies Get Our Undies in a Bunch
Big Woopsies Get Our Undies in a Bunch by Roxanne McDonald
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Mea culpas and big thanks to forestpal and stet21—for catching two erroneous comments (words/phrases) of mine. |
First, I am truly apologetic for the foul wording in the astrology article I posted: I suggested that Stacy was the “only woman left,” making me appear to have forgotten Cassandra (though in the same article I do talk about Cassandra—and in general do have much respect for her, thinking she could very well win).
Next, I mistakenly gave Rob Mariano the wrong last name [writing Cesternino]—something I have no idea about how or why I did so, as I have written, oh, twenty or thirty articles about my affinity for fellow New Englander Rob (see Rob and Amber Against the Odds category, for examples).
These blunders triggered responses from how I could be misread as a racist to how my credibility was utterly destroyed. Oh, my, a little harsh, huh? But okay, I concede to the mistakes and thank forestburning and stat22…uh, woopsie, that’s forestpal and stet21!
We get old, we get tired, we make boo-boos despite the relentless working toward accuracy, but it doesn’t mean we don’t continue to have the reverence and passion for our favorite of TV personae.
Respectfully,
RM
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Mea culpas and big thanks to forestpal and stet21—for catching two erroneous comments (words/phrases) of mine. |
Survivors in Their Elements
Survivors in Their Elements by Roxanne McDonald
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How will the final eight play through—according to their astrological signs? |
To get it clear from the start: I have no expertise in the astrology department, just a healthy curiosity…and a tendency to tweak.
EARTH
Just as there was last season, this season with the final eight the majority of elementary substance is in earth, of which there are three of the eight Survivor players. They are “playing” on earth more than in the air (of course) or in or on the water, as besides competing in luxury and immunity challenges in the sand and soil they have home bases on earth. Alex is a Taurus; Cassandra is also a Taurus; and Yau Man is a Virgo.
Notice, that Virgos, for example, are very insistent about control, about maintaining self-control and not being controlled by others. Yau Man may be subtle in his Virgoan ways, but he has maintained his brand of control and I would not be surprised if he lasts to the final three at least. People have often considered him for alliances, and other people have come to him for advice of sorts, grounded and in
control as he is: last night (in episode 10), for instance, he was very quietly and gently asking Stacy to vote out anybody but Earl, and, if her heart would let her, to vote out Alex.
Virgos, ever the pragmatic ones, are like Capricorns and Taureans, grounded, stable, and stalwart. As the earth element, they can offer foundational support, can shape and direct, but too, are so driven to succeed (almost more so than any other signs), they can smother and stifle … regardless of how good their intentions appear.
Earth signs have won “Survivor” three times: Capricorns Tina Wesson and Tom Westman won “Survivor: Australia” and “Survivor: Palau,” respectively; and Virgo Chris Daugherty won “Survivor: Vanautu.”
AIR
There is only one air sign left, Stacy, who is a Libra (and also the only woman left, of course). Maybe the air element is needed to sustain the fire (give it life), maybe for the balance Librans are known for aiming toward, or maybe for communications challenges is Stacy still around….
Then again, of the 14 seasons of Survivor, air signs have won three times–with Aquarian Yul Kwon winning last season on “Survivor: Cook Islands;” with Aquarius Jenna Morasca taking the first prize in “Survivor: Amazon;” and with Libra Aras Baskauskas winning “Survivor: Panama” – and even with most popular (as the humanitarians of the astrological wheel) Aquarius Rupert Boneham taking a million-dollar “Special Survivor: America’s Tribal Council” prize.
Dancing with the Fijians
Dancing with the Fijians by Roxanne McDonald
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Any day now, these reality TV programs are going to morph into one big show. And Lisi will be one of the ones to help them along. |
The immunity challenge is based on criteria that requires players to dance with authenticity, appearance, and spirit.
The back-dooring strategies and maligning maneuvers by Mookie this week outdo, outwit, and promise to outlast those of the most evil of reality TV players like Boogie and Dr. Will. As Edgardo says, “The game’s about to get a lot nastier.” Oh, yes, Ed, and crazier.
And the coo-coo flip-flopping of loyalties and slip-sliding of strategic decisions by Lisi rival any backstabbing finalists—from Ron Jeremy breaking his trust with Rob Van Winkle on “Surreal Life Fame Games” to…well, to Slimy Jon or Lying Jon, or whatever his name is on “Survivor” games past.
Too bad while shooting off her mouth Lisi shot off her own foot…or feet.
As Jeffrey D. Sadow of Reality News Online contends, her “strategic dullness…rubbed off on Alex and Edgardo.” But further, it got her—along with her luney toons deterioration at the end, there—voted off, despite her earlier allegiances
and alliances with the latter.
“They know me,” she tells us. She and Edgardo and Alex are the the three tightest in all of the game. Sure, they have had their times when they have gone to the brink…but they have come back!
Well, two of them have, anyway. Methinks you are still teetering, there, Lisi.
No Girlz Allowed
No Girlz Allowed in the new Ravu by Roxanne McDonald
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Tribes get all switched up, and Ravu, now all the men (well, almost all of them), get all macho’d up, as well. |
Once the switch on “Survivor: Fiji” was complete, choosing new teams, and all, the boys were named the new Ravu and were raving mad. That’s not all they rant about, however.
Back at their digs, they munch on fruit and cheese, no one glad they haven’t gotten scurvy yet, but instead mad at having to continue the losing streak legacy, I suppose. Rocky is, however, excited in a good way about eating healthy food and getting to “hang out with the boys,” he says. No offense to women, he adds, as he loves women, but now with all he-man tribe there will be no
“distractions,” no “silly discussions.”
Nope. Just talk of getting’ laid, instead.
Anthony expresses to us his despondency or being less than one of the boys, noting how this is what it was like for him in high school—what with, as he mocks, “cook the fire, make the fire, tend the fire” while “all the boys” go out huntin/fishin’.
The boys, the men, actually go swimming, and conspiring. So far, so right. Sex and war, baby. (more…)
Stupid Survivor Tricks According to Rocky and Ravu
Stupid Survivor Tricks According to Rocky and Ravu by Roxanne McDonald
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Looks as though the theme for the week was stupidity—stupid comments, stupid thinking, and stupid choices. |
Rocky’s still on a raging roll, having called out Anthony last week for crying. What is with men and tears?
Tree Mail announces each tribe gets to choose two “luxury” items each from the list (items they will win if they take the next challenge or lose if they lose). Though others suggest choosing wisely, checking off two items they need, Rocky strongly counters with the suggestion to choose one want and one need, the want being food
(chocolate cake I think they are fixated on, so that they don’t consider a need).
Rocky gets all charged up again when the teams arrive for the luxury challenge and Boo is eating juicy mango. Well, the eating in front of Ravu is bad enough, but what really irks him is how they giggle and laugh. He out and out challenges them to keep laughin’…just keep laughin’.
Next, Rocky is disgusted with Moto’s stupid and frivolous luxury choices, coffee and toiletries [though Moto has it so good any needed items are not given a second thought]. Just for that, Rocky steps up for the first chance to bash Dreamz’s head in. He can’t sustain, however, and Dreamz knocks him off raft and into water and you know what that means—yup, next level of rage comin’ on.
Tivo Let Me Down and I missed Survivor
I’ve come to depend on my my two TIVOS to capture and record all of the stuff I like to watch on TV.
Article by Mike Liebner
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Tivo has been so dependable and for the most part does an excellent job of gathering my “must see” tv shows. |
Of course, being a Tivo guy going back at least 4 or 5 years (I’m guessing on this, maybe longer) I have had a few hiccups along the way.
It happened again last week.
On Thursday night Tivo let me down big time.
I was doing other stuff and did not think twice about whether Tivo was recording Survivor Fiji, one of my favorite shows. I have a season pass on my living room Tivo (the bedroom Tivo is more for talk shows and the occasional program that overlaps with other programs) for Survivor Fiji and do remember glancing at it and seieng the record light on so I assumed it was getting Survivor.
NOT!
At around 50 minutes into the hour when I was ready to actually watch the program I go to Tivo and find it was recording some other B.S. and not Survivor Fiji! I quickly tried to find if it at least was on the right channel so I could record the buffer BUT no - it was on other channels! So I scrambled and caught the tribal council just as the vote was revealed!
What a bummer! TIVO let me down!
GEEZ! Does anyone have that episode on tape??? Or on their PC? (more…)
Survivors have much to be Proud Of
Survivors have much to be Proud Of by Roxanne McDonald
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Both tribes have made advances they can, ostensibly, write home about. |
First, I was wondering when somebody from Ravu would think of using magnifying lenses to start a fire! Two pairs of glasses, which are rare on Survivor, if you think about it, and which is what caught my eye the first week, leading me to the idea of having a ready-made fire-starter kit. No, really, I swear to gods and goddesses I was thinking it, though can I prove my brilliance as I play the game from the comforts of a clean and cozy home with a real roof, all kinds of luxuries, and all kinds of fire? Did anyone else think this as you were watching?
Anyway, brava, Michelle!
Next, when Gary takes the fall during the greasy running track challenge, he feels the after-effects: he cannot get a full, deep breath, he says, and may have a cracked rib. The tribe swiftly calls for the medics, at his request. But rather than immediately rub their hands together—mwoohaaa–to plot to pick him off as the weakest member of the tribe, or interview that they are grateful to have even less competition—neener, neener (something somebody like Cici from “Beauty and the Geek” would think of and have no qualms about admitting out loud), they are sensitive to his suffering.
Cassandra comes to the edge of crying, as she tells us how fearful she is he will die and how empathetic she is to his disorientation (Gary telling medics he was disoriented, didn’t know who or where he was for a minute there). And Alex as a kind of spokesperson for the tribe tells us how the Motoans are respectful of Gary and of how they wish him nothing but well in their prayers.
(more…)
Two Immunity Idols, One Survivor, and a New Boston Rob!
Two Immunity Idols, One Survivor, and a New Boston Rob! by Roxanne McDonald
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He’s a mush mouth mumbler, but Rocky recalls for us the sly Boston Rob as do the snakes remind us of someone and the nuts remind of someone else…. |
As Mike Liebner of TV Robot says, Survivor is one of the most engrossing of reality TV shows, and it’s baaack. The players seem more excited, more vocal, and even more positive, supportive, and forward thinking.
We have the token elders—Yau Man, 54, is also Malaysian, if that says anything. Yau immediately jumps inot the tasks, chopping and digging and cooking (making health tea) and interacting with the others who establish themselves as the workers of the bunch. And Gary, 55-year-old bus driver from Minnesota, is keeping pretty low-profile.
We also, then, have the workers of the bunch (as opposed to the talkers and self-appointed leaders)—Cassandra, Jessica, and Earl, for example, who seemed to be keeping up with Yau and Ed and Erica and big silent Boo.
We have the type A, bossy, fussy ones like Sylvia, who is already bitching to the cameras how they still have to do the kitchen, build those latrines, swab those decks…. Whhoooo. Exhale. But, hey, if it’s any indicator, she is first to go to Exile Island. Hmmm.
We have the real-life survivor who touches hearts—Dre, with his story of being homeless and poor when he was a kid but who expresses natural gratitude for all these new opportunities.
We have the necessary limber, lanky, but tough “guys” like Erica and the intellectuals like Mookie and others, the latter of whom have kept quiet for now. Heh heh.
We have our typical lawyer—or is he? Alex seems softer, soft-spoken and gentle in his speech and approach to the game. Will the others eat him up? Figuratively, of course.
We have the chatty Cathies (a.k.a. the early alliance-makers) like Liliana–and don’t forget Dre, who is already irritating some of the players.
And we have Boston Rob…er, I mean James, a Bostonian transplanted in California. James is all rushed and anxious chatter, confronting the first night’s intruder upon their sleep (Dre), and expressing himself all over the place. I don’t recall Rob being quite so vociferous on day one, though.
Hey, it is clear who the big players are: those who are featured in the first episode the way developed characters in a movie are in from the start and not killed off till the end of the film, if ever, are those who have likely been edited in to the Survivor: Fiji—those who have the most air time, obviously.
But then again, with all the promised twists and surprises this season, the highest profile, the loudest, and the most expressive might not necessarily be around as long as we might think.
I’m tired already.
SirLinksAlot Survivor:Fiji Links
CBS Season Premiere of Survivor Fiji Islands on Feb. 8
CBS Season Premiere of Survivor 14 Fiji Islands on Feb. 8 by Mike Liebner
Are you ready for the season premiere of Survivor: Fiji on February 8, 2007?
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I am ready for Survivor 14 Fiji! In fact, I have been craving Survivor more than ever! |
Over the Christmas holiday while visiting family I finally removed the plastic off the DVD and watched every single episode of the first Survivor!
Which one was that… oh yeah… Survivor Borneo Season One.
I must admit I tried like crazy to NOT watch Survivor the first 4 or 5 seasons when it came out. I was one of those “no time for Reality tv” type peoples. That all changed with Survivor Thailand when I gave in and watched. I was immediately hooked.
So now, here I am in between Survivor Cook Islands and Survivor Fiji and I am having cravings for Survivor! So I did rapid fire burn through that season one DVD and I was very happy to see it. I must say that it was PALE by comparison to the current day Survivor shows as Jeff Probst and the gang have come a long way. But it was fun to see the rough and tumble creation of what would become a TV dynasty for Mark Burnett. (more…)
Survivor: Fiji One Month Away, Having Survived More than the Sharks
Survivor: Fiji One Month Away, Having Survived More than the Sharks by Roxanne McDonald
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Coups and cash demands aside, Season 14 of “Survivor” should begin airing in February. |
During the Survivor Cook Islands finale, host Jeff Probst promised the next installment of Survivor, played and filmed in Fiji (or is that on Fiji?) will “[turn] the tables on two tribes, as one lives the life of luxury while the other is left with virtually nothing.”
Also as promised, the 14th season will begin in February—though an exact date and time has yet to be announced.
According to Reality Blurred, ClayCritters.com, et.al., production was to begin in October on Vanua Levu, “the second largest island in the Fiji group,” says ClayCritters.com writer, while alternative reports at Babasiga say that more accurately, Macuata is the actual spot of production.
Regardless of the exact location on the Fiji islands, “Survivor: Fiji” promises to (or will inevitable) feature the seclusion of the beaches, the return exclusion of Exile Island, the imbalance of access to resources, the dangers of natural denizens–such as the fierce Bull Shark (of Wainkoro River), a cliff-top setting for Tribal Council, and maybe, hints and speculations suggest, RAVI names, orange colors, and a cannibalism theme… (more…)
