Amazing Race 7

Amazing Race 7

A nice poem found in the quest of question 3.

http://www.boppin.com/neruda.html

The Amazing Race 6 Finale Drinking Game

Brought to you for your viewing and imbibement pleasure by Scrappy and Smitty. Will be repeated at the Amazing Race 6 marathon in a couple weeks.

Take a drink every time:

• A Teammate calls the other "Baby".
• Phil appears on the screen wearing an ugly-ass shirt.
• Kendra says something racist, classist, or otherwise discriminatory.
• Jon calls a taxi driver "Holmes".
• Adam and Rebecca are "Currently in Last Place".
• Hayden threatens to hyperventilate.
• Kris says something nice about where they are.
• Freddy wears his army-issued glasses/doo-rag combo.
• Rebecca tells Adam, "We're over."
• Aaron brags about doing something better than the other guys.
• A racer proclaims, "This is an Emergency".
• Adam cries out for his mommy.
• CBS shows a commercial for the new season of Survivor.
• CBS shows a commercial for Dr. Phil's Jonathan and Victoria interview.
• You see a monkey, someone acts like a monkey, you hear the word monkey.
• When you see Jonathan and Victoria waiting at the finish line.

FINAL POOL STANDINGS

Congratulations to everyone! It wasn't the best season ever (in my mind, that's with season 3 and always will be), but we had fun, right? :)

Final scores:

1. Scott 6330
2. Judy 3390
3. Jan 2405
4. Jay 2210
5. Kristen 2135
6. Lee 1795
7. Jonathan 1385
8. Allegra 1030
9. Boogie 540
10. Eric 448
11. Karen 164
12. Samuel 45
13. Dave, Stephanie 20
14. Curt 18
15. Chris 11
16. Ami, Ben, Bill, Caitlin, Jack, June, Kristin, Mike 0

Which makes Scott our winner! It's fitting, as he has had his score and Karen's score taped up on the fridge in his kitchen since the beginning of the race figuring out just how much he was behind and how he could possibly win.

Prizes will be given to Scott, Judy (2nd place), and Jan (3rd place) the next time I see them.

For the record, one person thought Freddy and Kendra would take it. Ten were rooting for Kris and Jon. Two put their faith in the little monkeys Adam and Rebecca, and four were very, very sad that Hayden and Aaron got lost in whine country.

Butt Floss

I don't think we've linked to Rebecca's homepage yet. She and her dad have both set bench press world records. Who knew?

The Trifecta

Dr. Phil, Jonathan, Victoria. TV's own axis of evil. In case you missed the commercial for Voldemort and Victoria's appearance on Dr. Phil, it airs on (I believe) February 15th. Ahh, a Valentines Day special event. If Dr. Phil stays true to form, he'll hold Victoria more accountable for staying with Voldemort than he will Voldemort for the abusive behavior to begin with. I can't wait.

BONUS QUESTION - FINALE

We've been following these teams since November 16th as they traveled all over the world.

• Name the starting city plus the 10 pit stops so far.
• Calculate in miles, how far the teams have traveled (I'll accept + or - 2500 from the answer I came up with, as it's impossible to know the exact distance)

GOOD LUCK!

BONUS ANSWER - WEEEK 12

The Sri Lankan holiday is called Nikin Poya Day. My favorite new website is www.earthcalendar.net, and you can punch in any day (or search by country or religion / tradition) and it will tell you what holidays are going on all over the world! For example, today is:

• Candlemas - Liechtenstein
• Candlemas, Presentation of the Lord - Switzerland
• Dia de la Candelaria - Mexico
• Festa de Nossa Senhora dos Navegantes Porto Allegre - Brazil
• Fiesta de la Virgen de Candelaria - Bolivia
• Groundhog Day - Canada and the United States
• Kyndelsmassodagen - Sweden
• Virgen de la Candelaria - Puno - Peru
• Candlemas - for both Christianity and Paganism

For all of you non-catholics out there, here's a good article on Candlemas. Who knew Pagans celebrated it, too? Just one of those strange little usurping traditions so we can convert the locals Catholicism has hanging around the far reaches of its history.

POOL RULES: FINALE

Now that everyone has their final point total, we flip into "final jeopardy" mode. By Tuesday at 4 pm, everyone (regardless of whether you're answering the bonus or not) must send me two things:

• The name of the team they think is going to win
• How many of their points (0 - everything) they are betting

With the exception of next week's bonus question, no new points will be given during the finale--including the elimination of the fourth place team.

If I do not receive a bet from you, you are not eligible to win.

Prizes will be given to the top three finishing teams. I will not publish the wagers nor the teams that people decided would win until after the finale, as I don't want anyone's bets influenced by anyone else.

That's it! GOOD LUCK!

POOL STANDINGS - EPISODE 12

1. Karen 3555
2. Judy 3390
3. Scott 3165
4. Jonathan 2885
5. Mike 2725
6. Ami 2470
7. Jan 2385
8. Jay 2210
9. Kristen 2135
10. June 2115
11. Samuel 2035
12. Chris and Jill 2020
13. Caitlin 1875
14. Lee 1795
15. Curt 1735
16. Stephanie 1580
17. Eric 1525
18. Jack 1140
19. Allegra 1030
20. Ben 965
21. Dave 940
22. Kristin 890
23. Bill 615
24. Boogie 540

How do they do that?

Here's an interesting Q&A reagarding the organization it takes to produce the Amazing Race.

I've hijacked the Blog!

For those of you already disillusioned by the re-election of Dubya, you'll be further disenchanted to learn the State of the Union Address has trumped Alias. Well, the DJs at Air America have come up with the perfect solution for tonight's "reality" TV event: The State of the Union Address Drinking Game. Take a swig everytime you hear the word/phrase:

Bankrupt
Frivolous
Activist Judges
Iraq (chosen b/c Dubya managed to not mention Iraq by name even once during his inaugural address)
Behinds, or anything being left behind

What does this have to do with AR? Absolutely nothing! Nadda! Diddly-squat!

You Know AR is Getting Popular When

Today's AR Reference of the Day:

From the zap2it article on last night's Bachelorette show:

The group date with Ben, Fabrice, John Paul and Wendell starts off as a relaxed pizza party in Little Italy and turns into a segment of "The Amazing Race." I half-expected to see Phil Keoghan elbow Chris Harrison out of the way and explain to the four guys that they had to give up whatever money they had and race to the top of the Empire State Building, where Jen would be waiting to share a final one-on-one date with the winner.

After promising to send a cabbie $300 for a quick ride over, Wendell gets there first, much to his own and Jen's delight. Runners-up Ben and John Paul are informed of their loss by seeing Jen and Wendell canoodling on a couch, which must have really sucked for them. As for Fabrice, he just walked home because, he says, he's tired of playing games for Jen's heart.

Reality TV Fear Factor

Just in case anyone's interested, on February 21st Reichen (of Chip and Reichen, the winners of Amazing Race Four) will be one of the contestants on Reality TV Star Fear Factor.

Other contestants will be Omarosa from The Apprentice, Ryan Sutter from both The Bachelorette and Trisa & Ryan's Wedding, Ethan Zohn from Survivor, Jenna (not sure if it's Lewis or Morasca) from Survivor, and Nicki McKibbon from American Idol.

Episode 11 - My Thoughts

And I'm back. In somewhat good creative form. This post may grow after I rewatch the episode, but these were my first impressions:

Poor Kendra getting all sick from the Ethiopian food. I totally feel for you. Note: Skip down to the next paragraph unless you don't mind reading a fairly gross comparision and a potentially offensive movie quote. My introduction to Ethiopian food was in the movie When Harry Met Sally. Billy Crystal is talking about a date he just went on, and he explains "She said she wanted to go for Ethiopian food and I thought, 'Great! We'll order two empty plates and go home!'". Keep in mind, the movie was taking place during the Live Aid era. I got suckered into going to an Ethiopian restaurant a few years ago, The House of Lalibela in Minneapolis. The restaraunt has since closed and has been replaced by Molly Quinn's Irish Pub, in case anyone's interested. I'm not the most adventurous of food eaters, but I do dig a lot of Egyptian and Middle Eastern food, so I thought I'd be fine. The people in my group decided to order the combination platters, and what came were these huge plates with mounds of different unidentifiable lumps all over it. There wasn't any silverware and instead we were given these cold, rubbery gray pancake things that you put in your hand, placed over your desired cuisine, and put in your mouth. The only thing I can compare it to is, well, you know how when you walk your dog (not that I really know 'cause I've never owned one, but I want one of these and name it Gatsby) in the park and there are those stands with plastic baggies that you use to pick up the poo? Yeah, like that.

Okay!

I'm going to miss Lori and Bolo, mainly because they kept giving me these great one liners (and if you want to hear another great Boloism, check out their Early Show interview from this morning!). My favorite from last night? "I'm gonna run like the police are chasing me, 'cause I know how to do that 'cause I'm used to it." Lori can totally hold her own on that front, too. Right before she starts running, "I wish I didn't have to pee!" To be honest, I would think that's maybe an advantage--wouldn't it make you go faster?

And on to Sri Lanka. I imagine it must have been so surreal for these racers to hear about the Tsunami after having just been there. The train in this picture was the one the racers took between Colombo and Galle. Normally I hate it when TV shows go all sentimental and "dedicating episodes" on our ass about stuff. Maybe I'm just cynical, but I see it as a ratings getter--especially in the wake of 9/11 when every single sitcom had someone wearing an FDNY hat or shirt at some point in the show in the episodes that were filmed after everything happened. But this was different, seeing as how it was filmed months before and they had to show the leg otherwise everyone would be like, "now, where did the frozen implant woman go?!". I thought Phil's introduction was very good, and actually heartfelt, and that's all I'm going to say about it.

I liked this detour a lot. Climb like a monkey, or ride an elephant? I'm not sure what I would have chosen, but it would have been harder had they not provided coconut slabs to step on while climbing, or make the players drive the elephants as well as hit the polo ball. My favorite moment was Hayden after she completed the task and she looks at the camera and says, "The only way to get over your fears is by...is by...um, doing them?!" There was a lift at the end of that statement that she wasn't exactly sure of herself. I think her fear of heights is one that she's not ready to let go of yet, and I feel a Flo coming on next week.

Hey! Adam said monkey! I gave anyone who had Adam and Rebecca five points.

I think I've found my favorite mode of transportation, and it's a Tuk Tuk. They've been around in this show for a while, and I just think they're cool. I want one. But maybe only if it has Bolo's head peaking out of it, because that was awesome.

And Adam and Rebecca's Tuk Tuk stops for gas. Seriously, do these guys have bad car-ma or what?!

And onto one of my favorite Roadblocks. It's totally a rip-off of the Season 1 Episode 2 Eiffel Tower / Arc d'Triomphe roadblock, and it's really too bad Freddy didn't pull a Lenny.

They swam to the pitstop? I'm going to just call that a shoutout to the Twinkies from last season.

This is it for now, I will hopefully be back later with some more. Woo hoo! Scrappy's thoughts are back!

WEEK 12 BONUS QUESTION

So, I've found a new website that I'm totally addicted to. But I'm not going to tell you what it is until next week, because it would make the answer too easy!

Question: The teams ran the race from mid-Augustish to mid-Septemberish. Chances are, they may have been in Sri Lanka on the holiday that is described as such:

During the month of August the conducting of the first Dhamma Sangayana (Convocation) is commemorated. This was held three months after the passing away of The Buddha. Five hundred Arahat Theros participated in the convocation which was help over seven months in the cafe at the foot of the Rajagahanuvara Vebhara Rock.

Good luck!

Pool Standings After Week 11

1. Karen 3345 3 teams (Hayden & Aaron, Kris & Jon, Adam & Rebecca)
2. Judy 3100 3 teams (Hayden & Aaron, Freddy & Kendra, Adam & Rebecca)
3. Scott 2905 2 teams (Kris & Jon, Freddy & Kendra)
4. Jonathan 2845 2 teams (Kris & Jon, Adam & Rebecca)
5. Mike 2385 2 teams (Hayden & Aaron, Freddy & Kendra)
6. Ami 2380 1 team (Kris & Jon)
7. Jan 2255 1 team (Kris & Jon)
8. June 2165 1 team (Adam & Rebecca)
9. Jay 1910 2 teams (Hayden & Aaron, Freddy & Kendra)
10. Jill 1890 1 team (Hayden & Aaron)
11. Samuel 1865 1 team (Hayden & Aaron)
12. Kristen 1835 2 teams (Hayden & Aaron, Freddy & Kendra)
13. Chris 1800 2 teams (Hayden & Aaron, Kris & Jon)
14. Curt 1745 1 team (Adam & Rebecca)
15. Caitlin 1705 1 team (Hayden & Aaron)
16. Lee 1665 1 team (Hayden & Aaron)
17. Stephanie 1590 1 team (Adam & Rebecca)
18. Eric 1355 1 team (Hayden & Aaron)
19. Jack 1010 1 team (Hayden & Aaron)
20. Allegra 940 1 team (Kris & Jon)
21. Ben 925 0 teams
22. Dave 900 0 teams
23. Kristin 850 0 teams
24. Bill 615 0 teams
25. Boogie 540 0 teams

And that's how the scores stand going into the last two rounds. It's time to start thinking about those final wagers! After next week, everyone needs to send me the name of the team they think will win as well as how many points they would like to wager. It will be out of these four, as next week will be a non-elimination round due to the "Phil turns into a mugger and takes all your money" rule they have (I don't think they'd make a team run the final leg with no cash). Here are how the teams have placed in the legs so far:

Adam and Rebecca: 7, 6, 5, 6, 6, 5, 1 (Fast Forward), 5, 4 (average 5)

Freddy and Kendra: 4, 8, 6, 5, 1, 6, 2, 4, 3 (average 4.33)

Hayden and Aaron: 1, 4, 1, 4, 3, 4, 6, 1, 2 (average 2.89)

Kris and Jon: 2, 1, 2, 1, 4, 2, 4, 3, 1 (average 2.22)

As a comparison, these are the average placings of the five teams that have won the race:

Season One: Rob and Brennan: 1, 3, 3, 6, 4, 3, 3, 3, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1 (average 2.46)

Season Two: Chris and Alex: 6, 2, 7, 7, 1, 6, 2, 2, 1, 3, 3, 3, 1 (average 3.38)

Season Three: Flo and Zack: 2, 5, 3, 2, 4, 2, 1, 2, 5, 3, 2, 3, 1 (average 2.69)

Season Four: Chip and Reichen: 9, 2, 3, 5, 4, 2, 5, 2, 1, 2, 3, 2, 1 (average 3.15)

Season Five: Chip and Kim: 8, 8, 7, 1, 4, 2, 1, 3, 2, 4, 1, 2, 1 (average 3.38)

OVERALL AVERAGE: 3.02

So, what does this all tell us? If your name is Chip, you have a good chance of winning.

Reality Recycle

If you haven't already heard, It's official: Amber and Rob from Survivor will be running the next Amazing Race. Ish. Scrappy is all for it. I have my doubts.

WEEK 11 BONUS ANSWER

The two athletes who raised their fists on the medal stand were Tommie Smith and John Carlos. It was the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, and the event was the 200 meter run.