I received votes from 14 people - a new record. Here is how they shook out:
Barb, Grace, Georgia and Lisa all voted for Mike (obviously suckers for a pretty face)
Cheryl and Jeff voted for Russell (no so much influenced by a pretty face)
Jack and Mitzie voted for Julie (not afraid of a strong woman)
Roberta voted for David (looking for an intelligent man)
Selina voted for Steve (likes the more mature type)
Donna voted for Boston Rob (likes the seasoned veteran)
Pat voted for Grant (like the football player/yoga instructor yin yang thing)
Rick voted for Ashley (back to the pretty face thing)
Debbie voted for Francesca (hoping for a return from Redemption Island)
Hopefully I got everyone's vote. If I missed anyone please let me know (keeping in mind that I will not believe any old story you tell me).
Now on to tonight's show. Francesa (aka Fransesqua, Franseska, Franqueska etc) has arrived on Redemption Island. She has a nice little shelter with some rope and tools and learns she will receive a daily ration of rice and water. All in all things look quite comfortable. But when the woman goes to make a fire by rubbing the machete over a flint, I am pretty sure she is going to lose a couple of fingers if not her entire hand.
The rest of the Ometeepees arrive back at camp. Phillip immediately asks to talk to Rob and tells him that he was almost duped at Tribal Council and now Rob "owns his vote". Privately Rob tells us that Phillip is a "piece of work" and that he is delusional. He finishes with a warning about the stress of government jobs. Watch out all you government workers...you too could turn out like Phillip. Rob goes back to the group and suggests that they should vote for Phillip at the first opportunity. The next day Phillip goes crab hunting, telling us that Survivor puts him in a primal state. As he stalks the crabs in his pink underwear the other tribe members watch from behind a bush and keep up a running commentary as if they were filming a documentary (reminded me of The Gods Must be Crazy - if you haven't seen it rent it or download it or something). In the process of looking for crabs Phillip tells us that he was emotionally impacted by the events at Tribal Council. He talks about his pride and his love of his country. He starts to cry. I cry at Hallmark commercials but this was kind of weird. However did this guy manage to be an FBI agent? But Rob has other problems that turn his attention away from Phillip. Matt and Andrea are cozying up on the beach. Rob worries about a "pair" since he and his main squeeze Amber went through to the final in his very first Survivor appearance. Rob decides that Matt should go very soon and he enlists the help of Natalie who looks like she might faint whenever Rob talks to her.
Meanwhile Zapatera has their very own nut bar. Ralph wakes the camp by climbing on a stump and crowing like a rooster. Russell is not impressed with his tribe and he is especially not impressed with Ralph who, he says, might be the stupidest Survivor ever. What a surprise then, when Ralph is wandering around picking up rocks and accidentally comes across the immunity idol hidden in a tree trunk. All this while Russell and his alliance of Stephanie and Kristin are systematically searching for it. Easy as wiping your hiney with toilet paper proclaims the ever eloquent Ralph.
Time to head off to the combined reward/immunity challenge. Survivors dive into the water, climb up on a platform and jump into the water while simultaneously breaking a tile to release a key. Once they have collected all five keys, one team member must use the keys to open three locks. This opens a box containing a ball. Another Survivor must take this ball and use it to break 5 tiles. This comes down to a duel between Ralph and Phillip. Phillip has trouble breaking his last tile and Ralph wins for Zapatera. At the end of the challenge Matt walks over and shakes the hands of the opposing team, an act that angers Boston Rob.
The Zapaterites head back to camp carrying the basket of fishing gear that is their reward. Russell carries the basket, knowing full well that it likely contains a clue to the hidden idol. Sure enough, he sees a piece of paper sticking out of a swim fin. He pockets the paper but Ralph sees him and alerts the rest of the tribe "took the dag on clue out of the dag on basket", says Ralph. Russell shares the clue with his alliance, Stephanie and Krista. But when Ralph asks him if he has it he denies it, causing some alpha male posturing and threats. It looks like the battle lines are being drawn between these two.
Ometepei is preparing to head off to Tribal Council when Phillip asks them to wait a moment. He makes a rambling speech about how well everyone did in the challenge and takes the blame for their loss. Do what you have to do, he tells them. But, of course, Rob doesn't want them to vote for Phillip. He is PO'd at Matt for the handshaking incident and for playing a the Christian social game. He hatches a plot to split the votes hoping that Kristina will play her idol and that the Matt/Andrea duo will be split up. Matt and Andrea are to believe that they are going to split the votes. Rob takes Phillip aside to tell him he is not the one going home but is afraid to tell him too much ahead of time in case he blurts something out at Tribal Council (as per his Special Agent training). Rob tells him that during Tribal Council he will put his hand on someone's shoulder. That is the person Phillip should vote for. Yup yup yup, says Phillip. Rob also tells Phillip not to "go off" like he did at the last council.
At Tribal Council Phillip has a little rant about his animal tattoos but manages not to divulge any secrets. Rob lays his hand on Kristina's shoulder to indicate where Phillip's vote should go. Kristina plays her idol and Matt finds himself on the wrong side of Dimples' torch snuffer thingy. Matt is paired with Rick and I in the pool so hopefully he will survive Redemption Island and come back for revenge (or just to give everyone a hearty handshake). Everyone is still in the game so keep your fingers crossed. Until next week...
Outwit, Outplay Outlast
Pat (aka Matt my visit was short but pleasant Elrod
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Survivor Redemption Island - Feb. 16/11
We begin Survivor Redemption Island with our 16 newbie survivors on a helicopter flying over Nicaragua with only the clothes on their back (lots of itsy-bitsies and a couple of suits - who the hell wears a suit when they are going to Nicaragua to be on Survivor??). We meet Phillip who identifies himself as a former special agent, Ralph who identifies himself as a redneck and Mike who identifies himself as a former marine who has served two tours in Iraq. This all sounds very impressive but none of them impressed your jaded scribe. So the first helicopter lands and they stand on a soggy beach while Jeff aka Dimples points out a second helicopter that is about to land. All eyes expectantly turn to the second helicopter, The first to emerge is Boston Rob who is greeted with cheers and general excitement. Next to emerge is Russel Hantz who is greeted by an awkward silence followed by a smattering of polite applause. When the group is asked for an opinion on this turn of events Francesca pipes up and says that Rob and Russell "are sizing them up like prey" which gets her a significant look from Boston Rob. The Survivors have already been assigned to tribes. Rob and Russell draw buffs to determine which tribe they will belong to. Dimples advises the tribes to listen to the wisdom of these two career Survivors and accept them as leaders.
Dimples then takes a few moments to explain the other twist in this season of Survivor. When someone is ousted at Tribal Council they will not go directly home. Instead, they will go to Redemption Island where they will have the same supplies as the other camps but will have to live and find their food alone. When another person is voted off and arrives at Redemption Island they will have a "duel", the winner of which gets to stay. The loser will be sent home. At some point in the course of the game, whoever is on Redemption Island will be allowed back into the game to wreak havoc with anyone responsible for voting them out.
So the tribes head off to camp. Russell and his Zapatera Tribe arrive to find that the camp is equipped with a tool kit, rope and other useful stuff. Redneck Ralph quickly takes charge of building a shelter, but Russell declares himself the true leader of the group. He tells us he is "bringing it" and that he is no longer a rookie at the game (I guess not!). At the Ometepe camp the girls flutter around Rob like moths to a hot poker. Someone describes it as Camp Harmony, that is until Phillip opens his mouth. He bosses people around and wastes no time in revealing his big secret. He is a former federal special agent. He tells them he is an expert in analysing behaviour (behavior for my US friends) and knowing when people are telling the truth. He claims he was reluctant to tell them all this, but since it only took him about an hour to do it I rather think he was bursting at the seams to tell everyone. Meanwhile Boston Rob catches Krisina rooting through the camp gear. He rightly assumes that she is looking for a hidden idol. Rob and Phillip have a chat about a possible alliance and Phillip and Kristina also discuss an alliance.
At Camp Zapatera, Russell is flirting with Stephanie, telling her they will travel together to the merge. The pair is noticed by Mike and David who seem to recall that Russell has a history of attaching himself to cute little girls. They quickly decide that Russell needs to be gone as soon as possible. Similarly Kristina has noticed that Rob is busily gathering up all the pretty young things at the Ometepe camp, and that even the guys admire him. Knowing the danger in all of this she commits to finding the hidden immunity idol that she knows must be around somewhere. She looks for landmarks and pokes around trees and under rocks, not unlike Russell in past seasons. And, like Russell, she finds the idol! She quickly relocates it in a new hiding spot. She seeks out Francesca to discuss getting rid of Rob. The two also talk to Phillip. Phillip, however, needs corroboration. " Where are the numbers? Don't interrupt me when I'm talking. No I'm not finished. Blah blah blah blah". This guy is like some weird hybrid between Archie Bunker, a tough old high school principal and the Ayotollah.
The tribes are called together for a combined reward/immunity challenge. The winner gets fire in the form of a flint. The loser gets to go to Tribal Council to vote off their first member. The challenge involves moving four very large, very heavy stone blocks into position against a wall.The team must then climb the rocks and use a machete to cut through several ropes. This releases a set of steps. The then climb up to the next level where they solve a three dimensional puzzle to create a mini-pyramid.Ometepe falls behind early, nearly recovers during the puzzle part of the challenge, but eventually loses to Russell and the Zapaterians.
Now its game on at the Ometepe camp. Kristina tells Francesca about the immunity idol, still bent on getting rid of Rob. Francesca wants her to think about getting rid of Natalie instead, keeping Rob around for his strength in challenges. Kristina then goes to Phillip. She can't get the man to shut up so she takes his hand and leads him, still blathering, to the idol. We don't need numbers, she says, we have an idol. Phillip is now entirely down with getting rid of Rob since he can then be the leader. Boston Rob tells us that he initially wanted to vote Francesca off because of her early comment that Rob and Russell were sizing them up like prey. To Rob that indicated that she knew he was sly. Now that he has seen Kristina looking for the idol though, she has become his target. He tells the others that he thinks she may have the idol and suggests that the girls vote for Kristina and the guys vote for Francesca. This will get rid of one of them and possibly flush out the idol.
At Tribal Council all hell breaks loose. Phillip interprets some comment as a change in plan. He freaks out and in the process tells the group that Krisina and Francesca wanted to vote out Rob and that Kristina has the idol. It is not difficult to see why this man is a former special agent. Who the heck would trust this man with information that was even remotely sensitive?? Rob asks Kristina if she does have the idol. When she admits she does, he asks her to give it to him and she will be safe. She refuses. In a show of either courage or stubbornness, she also chooses not to use her idol but continues to clutch it in her hand as the votes are counted. In the end Phillip gets two votes hastily cast by Francesca and Kristina after his outburst, Kristina gets three votes and Francesca gets four. And so Francesca heads off to Redemption Island. Francesca is represented by Kathy in our pool. Since Francesca technically has not been sent home yet we have to assume she is still in the game. So Kathy, you may get your money back, but then again, you may not! Stay tuned to see how Francesca does in her first duel.
Remember to cast your votes for the Survivor that you believe will win the million. I will take votes up until the start of next week's show. The winner will receive a Survivor Redemption Island buff in the colour of MY choice hehehehe.
Until next week,
Outwit, Outplay, Outlast
Pat aka Matt who? Elrod
Dimples then takes a few moments to explain the other twist in this season of Survivor. When someone is ousted at Tribal Council they will not go directly home. Instead, they will go to Redemption Island where they will have the same supplies as the other camps but will have to live and find their food alone. When another person is voted off and arrives at Redemption Island they will have a "duel", the winner of which gets to stay. The loser will be sent home. At some point in the course of the game, whoever is on Redemption Island will be allowed back into the game to wreak havoc with anyone responsible for voting them out.
So the tribes head off to camp. Russell and his Zapatera Tribe arrive to find that the camp is equipped with a tool kit, rope and other useful stuff. Redneck Ralph quickly takes charge of building a shelter, but Russell declares himself the true leader of the group. He tells us he is "bringing it" and that he is no longer a rookie at the game (I guess not!). At the Ometepe camp the girls flutter around Rob like moths to a hot poker. Someone describes it as Camp Harmony, that is until Phillip opens his mouth. He bosses people around and wastes no time in revealing his big secret. He is a former federal special agent. He tells them he is an expert in analysing behaviour (behavior for my US friends) and knowing when people are telling the truth. He claims he was reluctant to tell them all this, but since it only took him about an hour to do it I rather think he was bursting at the seams to tell everyone. Meanwhile Boston Rob catches Krisina rooting through the camp gear. He rightly assumes that she is looking for a hidden idol. Rob and Phillip have a chat about a possible alliance and Phillip and Kristina also discuss an alliance.
At Camp Zapatera, Russell is flirting with Stephanie, telling her they will travel together to the merge. The pair is noticed by Mike and David who seem to recall that Russell has a history of attaching himself to cute little girls. They quickly decide that Russell needs to be gone as soon as possible. Similarly Kristina has noticed that Rob is busily gathering up all the pretty young things at the Ometepe camp, and that even the guys admire him. Knowing the danger in all of this she commits to finding the hidden immunity idol that she knows must be around somewhere. She looks for landmarks and pokes around trees and under rocks, not unlike Russell in past seasons. And, like Russell, she finds the idol! She quickly relocates it in a new hiding spot. She seeks out Francesca to discuss getting rid of Rob. The two also talk to Phillip. Phillip, however, needs corroboration. " Where are the numbers? Don't interrupt me when I'm talking. No I'm not finished. Blah blah blah blah". This guy is like some weird hybrid between Archie Bunker, a tough old high school principal and the Ayotollah.
The tribes are called together for a combined reward/immunity challenge. The winner gets fire in the form of a flint. The loser gets to go to Tribal Council to vote off their first member. The challenge involves moving four very large, very heavy stone blocks into position against a wall.The team must then climb the rocks and use a machete to cut through several ropes. This releases a set of steps. The then climb up to the next level where they solve a three dimensional puzzle to create a mini-pyramid.Ometepe falls behind early, nearly recovers during the puzzle part of the challenge, but eventually loses to Russell and the Zapaterians.
Now its game on at the Ometepe camp. Kristina tells Francesca about the immunity idol, still bent on getting rid of Rob. Francesca wants her to think about getting rid of Natalie instead, keeping Rob around for his strength in challenges. Kristina then goes to Phillip. She can't get the man to shut up so she takes his hand and leads him, still blathering, to the idol. We don't need numbers, she says, we have an idol. Phillip is now entirely down with getting rid of Rob since he can then be the leader. Boston Rob tells us that he initially wanted to vote Francesca off because of her early comment that Rob and Russell were sizing them up like prey. To Rob that indicated that she knew he was sly. Now that he has seen Kristina looking for the idol though, she has become his target. He tells the others that he thinks she may have the idol and suggests that the girls vote for Kristina and the guys vote for Francesca. This will get rid of one of them and possibly flush out the idol.
At Tribal Council all hell breaks loose. Phillip interprets some comment as a change in plan. He freaks out and in the process tells the group that Krisina and Francesca wanted to vote out Rob and that Kristina has the idol. It is not difficult to see why this man is a former special agent. Who the heck would trust this man with information that was even remotely sensitive?? Rob asks Kristina if she does have the idol. When she admits she does, he asks her to give it to him and she will be safe. She refuses. In a show of either courage or stubbornness, she also chooses not to use her idol but continues to clutch it in her hand as the votes are counted. In the end Phillip gets two votes hastily cast by Francesca and Kristina after his outburst, Kristina gets three votes and Francesca gets four. And so Francesca heads off to Redemption Island. Francesca is represented by Kathy in our pool. Since Francesca technically has not been sent home yet we have to assume she is still in the game. So Kathy, you may get your money back, but then again, you may not! Stay tuned to see how Francesca does in her first duel.
Remember to cast your votes for the Survivor that you believe will win the million. I will take votes up until the start of next week's show. The winner will receive a Survivor Redemption Island buff in the colour of MY choice hehehehe.
Until next week,
Outwit, Outplay, Outlast
Pat aka Matt who? Elrod
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Find out who your alter ego is for Survivor Redemption Island
First let me say that I am PO'd that Boston Rob and EGG aka Russell Hantz get another crack at Survivor. Helloooooo...this will be Rob's 4th appearance on a Survivor series and Russelll's 3rd. In my books that only qualifies them as the two players who have lost more Survivor games than anyone else in the history of the game. But that's just me.
On to the business at hand. First of all we needed to consolidate our group a little bit. Earlier today I sent out a message asking if anyone would be willing to pair up in order to bring our numbers down to 18. I had already agreed to partner with Rick. Four other people indicated they would be willing to pair up. Lynn and I did a random draw and the other dynamic duo is Roberta and Lorelee. So you ladies only have to send me $5.00 each.
We then drew the names of the Survivors who will be your best friends during Survivor Redemption Island.
Roberta and Lorelee will be studying Survivor strategy with Andrea Boehlke a 21 year old student from Random Lake Wisconsin.
Jack will be practising his bedside manner with Ashely Underwood, a 25 year old nurse from Benton, Maine.
Mitzie will be looking for legal loopholes with David Murphy, a 31 year old defence attorney from West Hollywood, California.
Kathy will also be carefully considering the legal ramifications with Francesca Hogi a 36 year old attorney from Washington, DC.
Pam will be experiencing the Yin and Yan of working with Grant Mattos from West Hollywood, Ca, a 29 year old yoga instructor and former NFL player.
Jan will be feeling the heat with Julie Wolfe, a 50 year old firefighter from Oceanside, California.
Barb will be self-medicating along with Krista Klumpp a 25 year old pharmaceutical rep from Columbia SC
Selina will learning the rules with Kristina Kell a 46 year old law student from Malibu California. (sorry Selina, I'm running out of material for lawyers!)
Pat and Rick are paired with Matt Elrod, a 22 year old pre-med student (that means he is taking a lot of arts classes) from Nashville TN.
Cheryl will be marching in step with Mike Chiesl a 31 year old former marine from Del Mar, California. ( I love the ones that are "former" somethings but apparently have no life in the present day.)
Lisa will be trying to stay in step with Natalie Tenerelli, a 19 year old professional dancer from Acton, California.
Donna will checking the tech stocks along with Phillip Sheppard, a 52 year old technology executive from Santa Monica California and the senior citizen of the group.
Grace will be sowing seeds with Ralph Kiser a 44 year old famer from Lebanon Virginia.
Lynn was not pleased to learn that she has a budding relationship with Rob Mariano who is 35, lives in Pensacola Florida and apparently has nothing to do but go on reality television shows. This will be his fourth appearance as a Survivor contestant.
Jeff has been paired up with Russell Hantz who is 38, lives in Dayton Texas, and who is on Survivor for the third time. Russell is known as a wiley villain who believes he deserves to win Survivor. We'll see.
Debbie will be creating illusions with her partner Sarita White , a 35 year old visual effects producer from Santa Monica, California.
Georgia will be seeking tips with her partner Stephanie Valencia, a 25 year old waitress from Long Beach, California.
Marie will be calling plays with Steve Wright, a 51 year old from Huntington Beach, California and the second of our former NFL players.
There you have it. Don't forget to check the Survivor website at http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/ to see bios of your favourite Survivors and to see some great photos of Jeff Probst in a (wait for it...) blue shirt. Remember to send me your votes on who you think will be the final winner. Don't do it too quickly though, because you have until the start of the second episode to get your votes to me.
Looking forward to another season. Stay tuned on Wednesday February 16 for the first show.
On to the business at hand. First of all we needed to consolidate our group a little bit. Earlier today I sent out a message asking if anyone would be willing to pair up in order to bring our numbers down to 18. I had already agreed to partner with Rick. Four other people indicated they would be willing to pair up. Lynn and I did a random draw and the other dynamic duo is Roberta and Lorelee. So you ladies only have to send me $5.00 each.
We then drew the names of the Survivors who will be your best friends during Survivor Redemption Island.
Roberta and Lorelee will be studying Survivor strategy with Andrea Boehlke a 21 year old student from Random Lake Wisconsin.
Jack will be practising his bedside manner with Ashely Underwood, a 25 year old nurse from Benton, Maine.
Mitzie will be looking for legal loopholes with David Murphy, a 31 year old defence attorney from West Hollywood, California.
Kathy will also be carefully considering the legal ramifications with Francesca Hogi a 36 year old attorney from Washington, DC.
Pam will be experiencing the Yin and Yan of working with Grant Mattos from West Hollywood, Ca, a 29 year old yoga instructor and former NFL player.
Jan will be feeling the heat with Julie Wolfe, a 50 year old firefighter from Oceanside, California.
Barb will be self-medicating along with Krista Klumpp a 25 year old pharmaceutical rep from Columbia SC
Selina will learning the rules with Kristina Kell a 46 year old law student from Malibu California. (sorry Selina, I'm running out of material for lawyers!)
Pat and Rick are paired with Matt Elrod, a 22 year old pre-med student (that means he is taking a lot of arts classes) from Nashville TN.
Cheryl will be marching in step with Mike Chiesl a 31 year old former marine from Del Mar, California. ( I love the ones that are "former" somethings but apparently have no life in the present day.)
Lisa will be trying to stay in step with Natalie Tenerelli, a 19 year old professional dancer from Acton, California.
Donna will checking the tech stocks along with Phillip Sheppard, a 52 year old technology executive from Santa Monica California and the senior citizen of the group.
Grace will be sowing seeds with Ralph Kiser a 44 year old famer from Lebanon Virginia.
Lynn was not pleased to learn that she has a budding relationship with Rob Mariano who is 35, lives in Pensacola Florida and apparently has nothing to do but go on reality television shows. This will be his fourth appearance as a Survivor contestant.
Jeff has been paired up with Russell Hantz who is 38, lives in Dayton Texas, and who is on Survivor for the third time. Russell is known as a wiley villain who believes he deserves to win Survivor. We'll see.
Debbie will be creating illusions with her partner Sarita White , a 35 year old visual effects producer from Santa Monica, California.
Georgia will be seeking tips with her partner Stephanie Valencia, a 25 year old waitress from Long Beach, California.
Marie will be calling plays with Steve Wright, a 51 year old from Huntington Beach, California and the second of our former NFL players.
There you have it. Don't forget to check the Survivor website at http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/ to see bios of your favourite Survivors and to see some great photos of Jeff Probst in a (wait for it...) blue shirt. Remember to send me your votes on who you think will be the final winner. Don't do it too quickly though, because you have until the start of the second episode to get your votes to me.
Looking forward to another season. Stay tuned on Wednesday February 16 for the first show.
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