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 The restaraunt has since closed and has been replaced by Molly Quinn's Irish Pub, in case anyone's interested.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!