Greetings fellow Amazing Race fans. We are now in season 21 of the American edition on CBS and I am hoping to maintain my weekly blog comments about The Amazing Race as I watch the broadcast every week. I started blogging about the show several years ago but failed to do so over the past couple years due to personal conflicts, frustration with the show, scheduling or teams. Basically I lost interest in blogging. So once again I will try to do this. I tried last season and have many drafts ready but things didn’t work out.
As for the last couple seasons, the selection of teams often left me cold. There are a few standouts like season 20’s “Bopper and Mark” who were a great team to watch and even though they probably never had a chance to make the final three, their success and friendship was an example of strength and courage. But generally those who won the last few seasons were the strongest competitors physically and mentally, even if the husband and wife team who won season 20 were also quite annoying. Not as annoying as some of the younger dating couples were in recent seasons, but annoying nonetheless.
Now for the ground rules of my blogging about the Amazing Race. First, these are MY impressions documented AS I am watching. My first impressions of a teams attitude and ability will be heard more than the impressions of their travel. Later in the season I may predict who will be eliminated or make it to the final three. I may even predict who will win. I will also express who I WISH to win or be eliminated and I wont be shy about why I feel as I do.
I generally don’t like whiners on the Amazing Race. I don’t like people on ego trips. I am not politically correct so I may address teams by what seems to be the tradition on the show. By tradition I mean the token selection of teams every season in an attempt to be DIVERSE in their selection and including as many ethnic or social groups as possible.
There is always an all female team of what I call blonde bimbos and or beauty queens and they often play the part. There is always the GAY couple and usually it’s a couple who appears to be more on vacation than in competition for a race. I’m gay and I am calling it like it is! Doesn’t mean I will always root for the token gay team. There is also always the token married couples, dating couples hoping this race will somehow prove they are ready for marriage. Usually there is a parent -child team and a “best friends” team that will either annoy or totally impress you throughout the season.
I may have my own names for the teams and some of those names may not be kind. Don’t take it personal. Its just my passion for The Amazing Race.
Finally, expect me to bitch about the constant problem we viewers on the East Coast with the delay of scheduled TV programs on Sunday nights because of late running Football games, college football’s March Madness and other events. They make it a nightmare to schedule recording on a DVR and often make me have to stay up later than necessary to watch and blog at the same time.
And so there are the ground rules for my blogging about The Amazing Race. I hope this time I can keep up with it.
Showing posts with label The Amazing Race. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Amazing Race. Show all posts
Monday, October 08, 2012
Sunday, October 04, 2009
The Amazing Race 15 weekly blog: Team Zebra "Movin' on Up"
This is the second weekly blog for the 15th season of The Amazing Race but we are already on the THIRD leg of the race after the two hour season premiere. The title of this blog is in reference to "The Jeffersons" and if you were a fan of the show, you'll get the references as you read the blog.
This third leg started with another new twist as the 10 teams were on a riverboat as their pit-stop in Vietnam. But the riverboat sailed to another location while the teams rested and they were not told of their location. So they began the next leg from an unknown location where they would have to take a taxi to Ho Chi Minh City. It turns out that this would be a 2 hour taxi ride from their unknown location.
Departure times only ranged 45 minutes from the father and son team Gary & Matt to the interracial married couple Brian & Ericka leaving at 6:30am. This was a rare occasion when the pit-stop departure times weren’t obscured by what I call the “Great Amazing Race Team Equalizer” which means whatever great lead a team would have is lost when everyone is forced to wait together because of a flight, train or bus schedule or a closed departure location.
Once in Ho Chi Minh City, teams had to get their first clue by locating a theatre where teams had to pull their clue from the mouths of simulated dragons in a pool. The clue was on a photo stamp enclosed in an empty bullet. Teams had to figure out that the photo was of a post office and they would travel there for the “detour” task choices of “Childs Play” where teams would have to transport a large concrete animal statue on a cart collecting balloons along the way or “Word Play” where teams had to look for letters from atop an observation deck to make out a word. Those letters would be traveling through the crowd on the ground below. Then they would use the letters to make the Vietnamese word for “independence’
Most teams had no problem figuring out the clue was INSIDE the bullet except the team I immediately disliked the most, the engaged couple Lance & Keri as they didn’t open their bullet to get their clue. They ran around aimlessly with Lance yelling at Keri until they figured out the clue was inside the bullet and later while locating the clue box. Lance and his arrogant highly competitive ego was already effecting their progress in the race. These kinds of attitudes always get in the way of success and I tend to route for such teams to fall flat on their asses. This Lance guy reminds me of ROB & AMBER who’s 15 minutes of reality show fame went on much longer than it should have. Long time Amazing Race fans may remember them. But I digress and return to this season.
Anyway most teams chose to do the “kids play” detour task of transporting the concrete animals. There were a couple problems, one team had a broken cart and another team dropped their animal and pieces of it broke off. But there was one team that would make “George Jefferson” cringe, that would be Brian & Ericka who are the “Tom and Helen Willis” of The Amazing Race choosing a ZEBRA as the concrete animal they would transport. And they were “movin on up” during the race.
Only one team chose the “word play” detour and that would be the oldest team on the race Marcy & Ron who at this point were acting more like tourists than contestants on a race. Ron even stood for a minute to say that he was “taking it all in” which I am sorry to say that is NOT what you are there for. While is cool that you are traveling around the world for free, you are not really there to sightsee, you are there to win a race. Sightseers don’t win The Amazing Race.
After completing the “detour” teams traveled to an electronics “chop shop” where they would have to disassemble a VCR and place all its parts into separate piles for recycling.
After taking apart the VCR’s teams went to the next pit-stop, Reunification Palace in Ho Chi Minh City, which is the former Saigon. And there was a foot race to the finish with the first team to make to the pit-stop mat was the Harlem Globetrotters, Nathaniel & Herbert and for their first place finish they each won a vacation package to Aruba from show sponsor Travelocity.
“Flight Time & Big Easy” had a good lead but could not get good directions from the “roadblock” to the pit-stop so they chose to follow Meghan & Cheyne’s taxi to the Reunification Palace gate knowing they would beat them in a foot race. And while Cheyne was the first to reach the mat, both Globetrotters made it to the mat before Meghan. This meant Meghan & Cheyne were officially in SECOND place.
The rest of the arrivals were..
THIRD: Gary & Matt
FOURTH: Brian & Ericka, “Team Zebra” moved on up from last place to fourth.
FIFTH: Gay brothers Sam & Dan.
SIXTH: Maria & Tiffany
SEVENTH: Mika & Canaan
EIGTH: Zev & Justin
And the final two teams are where they are at this point for traditional reasons.
NINTH: Lance & Keri, now at the back of the pack after a leg of Lance’s ego and competitiveness combined with his poor treatment of his partner and fiancée’ Keri. His ego is getting in the way of their making progress in the race. His yelling at Keri is getting in the way. She is not happy being treated with the disrespect Lance has displayed toward his team partner AND his fiancée’
And
TENTH: Marcy and Ron had a short “vacation” on CBS and The Amazing Race’s tab. Like I said earlier, sightseers don’t make Amazing Race winners and on this leg of the race, Marcy and Ron were sightseers who took a break to play a word game is if they had all afternoon to do it. Sorry, but you play Scrabble at home. You play a QUICK word scramble when it is on The Amazing Race. But Marcy and Ron can now relax for a couple weeks at the “elimination station” where they will meet Garrett & Jessica at a nice tropical cottage somewhere in Vietnam.
And at the "Elimination Station" seen only online at CBS dot com, we learn that Garrett & Jessica were the ONLY team at the hideaway. The first team to be eliminated BEFORE the race began (Eric & Lisa) didn't even get to go to the "Elimination Station" to wait for the race to complete. And while Garrett & Jessica seemed to be a little depressed at this vacation hideaway, Garrett moved up his plans to surprise Jessica with a marriage proposal and she accepted. It was done off camera but mentioned during the online segment.
Well they sort of have a pre-honeymoon until Ron & Marcy show up.
Now that we are a couple episodes into the season, I now begin my weekly blog predictions for next team elimination and my predictions for which teams will make the final three. Now to be honest, these “predictions” are really my own personal wishes and I admit that it is based on who I like or don’t like most of the time. But I try to be honest about it. You can’t deny who are the strongest and weakest teams whether you like them or not.
I definitely can’t base any prediction on the previews for the next broadcast. The previews mention that one of the teams will lose their passports but the visual shows all of the “strong” teams in some sort stress moment. But they are always in a stressful moment on the race because it is a competition. And creative editing can play with your mind. That is their intention. So my predictions for elimination are more biased and wishful.
I predict (hope) for LANCE & KERI as the next team eliminated. I cannot stand Lance for his arrogance and disrespectful treatment of his partner. You saw in this episode their relationship struggles which mean TEAM struggles in the race unless Lance makes an attitude adjustment. I would not be surprised if it turned out that Lance & Keri were the team that lost their passports. When you have attitude issues and aren’t properly focused you tend to screw up . I am looking for Lance to do just that.
My early predictions for which teams will make the final three will change from week to week. My predictions are based on who I feel are the strongest teams on the race in terms of their relationship (how they treat each other on the race) and their physical ability. I usually pick 5 teams as having a good chance to make the final three and that number decreases every couple weeks.
So my predictions for any of these FIVE teams to make the final three are.
Meghan & Cheyne
The Harlem Globetrotters Herbert & Nathaniel (or “Flight Time & Big Easy”)
Brian & Ericka
Mika & Canaan
Sam & Dan
Those five teams are the ONLY ones I think have a chance at making the final three. I do not believe that Zev & Justin, Maria & Tiffany or Gary & Matt will make the final three. The upcoming legs of the race will wear them out. Maria & Tiffany struggled through the physical running of the recent “detour” and Zev, Justin, Gary and Matt may simply be outrun by the other teams I predicted for the final three.
Because I predicted Lance & Keri to be next eliminated I don’t include them in anything else. I feel any further appearances by them this season is either out of luck or Lance manages to back up the bullshit he talks and his fiancée doesn’t completely give up on him. But I don’t see that happening. What I do see is he keeps treating her like crap with his Bostonian Machismo and she doesn’t take it well.
And that’s my opinion on The Amazing Race this week. See you next week!
This third leg started with another new twist as the 10 teams were on a riverboat as their pit-stop in Vietnam. But the riverboat sailed to another location while the teams rested and they were not told of their location. So they began the next leg from an unknown location where they would have to take a taxi to Ho Chi Minh City. It turns out that this would be a 2 hour taxi ride from their unknown location.
Departure times only ranged 45 minutes from the father and son team Gary & Matt to the interracial married couple Brian & Ericka leaving at 6:30am. This was a rare occasion when the pit-stop departure times weren’t obscured by what I call the “Great Amazing Race Team Equalizer” which means whatever great lead a team would have is lost when everyone is forced to wait together because of a flight, train or bus schedule or a closed departure location.
Once in Ho Chi Minh City, teams had to get their first clue by locating a theatre where teams had to pull their clue from the mouths of simulated dragons in a pool. The clue was on a photo stamp enclosed in an empty bullet. Teams had to figure out that the photo was of a post office and they would travel there for the “detour” task choices of “Childs Play” where teams would have to transport a large concrete animal statue on a cart collecting balloons along the way or “Word Play” where teams had to look for letters from atop an observation deck to make out a word. Those letters would be traveling through the crowd on the ground below. Then they would use the letters to make the Vietnamese word for “independence’
Most teams had no problem figuring out the clue was INSIDE the bullet except the team I immediately disliked the most, the engaged couple Lance & Keri as they didn’t open their bullet to get their clue. They ran around aimlessly with Lance yelling at Keri until they figured out the clue was inside the bullet and later while locating the clue box. Lance and his arrogant highly competitive ego was already effecting their progress in the race. These kinds of attitudes always get in the way of success and I tend to route for such teams to fall flat on their asses. This Lance guy reminds me of ROB & AMBER who’s 15 minutes of reality show fame went on much longer than it should have. Long time Amazing Race fans may remember them. But I digress and return to this season.
Anyway most teams chose to do the “kids play” detour task of transporting the concrete animals. There were a couple problems, one team had a broken cart and another team dropped their animal and pieces of it broke off. But there was one team that would make “George Jefferson” cringe, that would be Brian & Ericka who are the “Tom and Helen Willis” of The Amazing Race choosing a ZEBRA as the concrete animal they would transport. And they were “movin on up” during the race.
Only one team chose the “word play” detour and that would be the oldest team on the race Marcy & Ron who at this point were acting more like tourists than contestants on a race. Ron even stood for a minute to say that he was “taking it all in” which I am sorry to say that is NOT what you are there for. While is cool that you are traveling around the world for free, you are not really there to sightsee, you are there to win a race. Sightseers don’t win The Amazing Race.
After completing the “detour” teams traveled to an electronics “chop shop” where they would have to disassemble a VCR and place all its parts into separate piles for recycling.
After taking apart the VCR’s teams went to the next pit-stop, Reunification Palace in Ho Chi Minh City, which is the former Saigon. And there was a foot race to the finish with the first team to make to the pit-stop mat was the Harlem Globetrotters, Nathaniel & Herbert and for their first place finish they each won a vacation package to Aruba from show sponsor Travelocity.
“Flight Time & Big Easy” had a good lead but could not get good directions from the “roadblock” to the pit-stop so they chose to follow Meghan & Cheyne’s taxi to the Reunification Palace gate knowing they would beat them in a foot race. And while Cheyne was the first to reach the mat, both Globetrotters made it to the mat before Meghan. This meant Meghan & Cheyne were officially in SECOND place.
The rest of the arrivals were..
THIRD: Gary & Matt
FOURTH: Brian & Ericka, “Team Zebra” moved on up from last place to fourth.
FIFTH: Gay brothers Sam & Dan.
SIXTH: Maria & Tiffany
SEVENTH: Mika & Canaan
EIGTH: Zev & Justin
And the final two teams are where they are at this point for traditional reasons.
NINTH: Lance & Keri, now at the back of the pack after a leg of Lance’s ego and competitiveness combined with his poor treatment of his partner and fiancée’ Keri. His ego is getting in the way of their making progress in the race. His yelling at Keri is getting in the way. She is not happy being treated with the disrespect Lance has displayed toward his team partner AND his fiancée’
And
TENTH: Marcy and Ron had a short “vacation” on CBS and The Amazing Race’s tab. Like I said earlier, sightseers don’t make Amazing Race winners and on this leg of the race, Marcy and Ron were sightseers who took a break to play a word game is if they had all afternoon to do it. Sorry, but you play Scrabble at home. You play a QUICK word scramble when it is on The Amazing Race. But Marcy and Ron can now relax for a couple weeks at the “elimination station” where they will meet Garrett & Jessica at a nice tropical cottage somewhere in Vietnam.
And at the "Elimination Station" seen only online at CBS dot com, we learn that Garrett & Jessica were the ONLY team at the hideaway. The first team to be eliminated BEFORE the race began (Eric & Lisa) didn't even get to go to the "Elimination Station" to wait for the race to complete. And while Garrett & Jessica seemed to be a little depressed at this vacation hideaway, Garrett moved up his plans to surprise Jessica with a marriage proposal and she accepted. It was done off camera but mentioned during the online segment.
Well they sort of have a pre-honeymoon until Ron & Marcy show up.
Now that we are a couple episodes into the season, I now begin my weekly blog predictions for next team elimination and my predictions for which teams will make the final three. Now to be honest, these “predictions” are really my own personal wishes and I admit that it is based on who I like or don’t like most of the time. But I try to be honest about it. You can’t deny who are the strongest and weakest teams whether you like them or not.
I definitely can’t base any prediction on the previews for the next broadcast. The previews mention that one of the teams will lose their passports but the visual shows all of the “strong” teams in some sort stress moment. But they are always in a stressful moment on the race because it is a competition. And creative editing can play with your mind. That is their intention. So my predictions for elimination are more biased and wishful.
I predict (hope) for LANCE & KERI as the next team eliminated. I cannot stand Lance for his arrogance and disrespectful treatment of his partner. You saw in this episode their relationship struggles which mean TEAM struggles in the race unless Lance makes an attitude adjustment. I would not be surprised if it turned out that Lance & Keri were the team that lost their passports. When you have attitude issues and aren’t properly focused you tend to screw up . I am looking for Lance to do just that.
My early predictions for which teams will make the final three will change from week to week. My predictions are based on who I feel are the strongest teams on the race in terms of their relationship (how they treat each other on the race) and their physical ability. I usually pick 5 teams as having a good chance to make the final three and that number decreases every couple weeks.
So my predictions for any of these FIVE teams to make the final three are.
Meghan & Cheyne
The Harlem Globetrotters Herbert & Nathaniel (or “Flight Time & Big Easy”)
Brian & Ericka
Mika & Canaan
Sam & Dan
Those five teams are the ONLY ones I think have a chance at making the final three. I do not believe that Zev & Justin, Maria & Tiffany or Gary & Matt will make the final three. The upcoming legs of the race will wear them out. Maria & Tiffany struggled through the physical running of the recent “detour” and Zev, Justin, Gary and Matt may simply be outrun by the other teams I predicted for the final three.
Because I predicted Lance & Keri to be next eliminated I don’t include them in anything else. I feel any further appearances by them this season is either out of luck or Lance manages to back up the bullshit he talks and his fiancée doesn’t completely give up on him. But I don’t see that happening. What I do see is he keeps treating her like crap with his Bostonian Machismo and she doesn’t take it well.
And that’s my opinion on The Amazing Race this week. See you next week!
Monday, February 16, 2009
The Amazing Race 14 weekly Blog: Who drops the Cheese?
Greetings everyone.
This is the first of my weekly blogs expressing my own observations of a favorite television contest, “The Amazing Race” season 14. I have been doing this for the past three years and this will be the first time that I posted my weekly Amazing Race blogs on blogspot. I posted the previous season’s opinions on MySpace but it has become more difficult to post blogs there because of their ever changing settings that mess up a good blog posting many times forcing me to go back and “fix” problems with my blog’s appearance. Also, I think for more access and less drama, its time to go a more mainstream and intelligent route.
This is not to say that I am in any ways “intelligent”. Actually when it comes to “The Amazing Race” I can be a bit of a bitch. I am totally biased against certain types of people but I try my best to be open minded.
I love the show for I feel this is one of the greatest competitions on television. I love to see the adventure and certainly love to watch as they travel worldwide. It inspires me to want to travel abroad which I never have. I also had a few minutes of insanity when I for some reason thought I too could be a contestant on The Amazing Race. Then I see the teams in some foreign land where they would have to ride on filthy trains then over eat fried exotic rodents or worms in some alleged fine dining establishment and we sometimes see one of the contestants vomiting on the side of the dinner table. Those moments tend to cure me of my dream of ever becoming a contestant on The Amazing Race.
And just to put “for the record”, as you read my blogs you will see that I often give teams my own nicknames often referring to specific “tokens”. What do I mean by “tokens”? Well if you haven’t noticed, there seems to be this formula in selecting teams for The Amazing Race. You have a “friends” team. Then you have to have the token young married couple, the token older married couple, the newly dating couple and the couple with relationship issues, the token siblings, the token best buds who are either horny jock type wannabes, blue collar working stiffs or bumbling nerds. There are also either “the country bumpkins” or “Hillbillys” or “hippies” team. Usually one of those at a time especially the one year there was the “goth” team. There are the token parent/child teams and you ABSOLUTELY have include the token Black (or “African American) couple so as for the show to not be considered “racist” and they could also be any of the other “tokens” that I mentioned. One of my favorite teams in the history of The Amazing Race are the winners of the show from 2005, married couple Uchenna & Joyce.
Other “token” categories in my biased and sometimes bitchy blog expressions are the all-female teams. One is almost always the blonde bimbos or beauty queens depending on my mood and their success in the race. Then there are the brunette bimbos or beauty queens. And for some reason, the brunettes tend to be rather bitchy but can kick some ass on the show.
And finally, there is usually the token gay or lesbian contestant. Every show must have at least one but the Amazing Race may have missed in a couple seasons. One gay couple won the Amazing Race in its early years. They were two good looking athletic guys named Chip and Reichen. And for some reason the guy named “Reichen” (pronounced RYE-KEN) is assumed to be some sort of gay male god. To me he appears to be a self involved “think he is so cute” asshole who must drools while checking himself out in front of a full length mirror naked every morning. I think he is an arrogant no-talent shallow shit.
Yes, that is one of the biased opinions I tend to post about The Amazing Race. Oh and there have been gay drama queen types on the show over the years too. Lesbians have been represented on the show as well but I regret it was not with much success.
This season’s gay team is also a father and son team. BOTH the father and the son are gay! And I predict that neither of them are going to get much respect in the gay community because they aren’t picture perfect for any centerfold. I still wish them well.
Sometimes The Amazing Race will include a team member with a special condition showing the world that despite whatever disability or impairment, a person CAN achieve. One year the show had a woman who lost one leg but still triumphed in athletics. Unfortunately she partnered with a whiny control freak idiot who was fully capable in athletics but also full of poor attitude which I think was the biggest disadvantage for their team. They were eliminated half way through that season. This season will include the first ever DEAF contestant as part of the parent/sibling team on the show.
As you read my weekly postings you will see that I tend to support the underdog and the older and more mature contestant. I detest crybabies, arrogance and control freaks on The Amazing Race despite my being a bit of a control freak myself. I believe in real teamwork and partnership in The Amazing Race. I think of alliances on the race as a recipe for disaster and eventual deceit. I could go on to warn you of further biases I have as a dedicated fan of The Amazing Race but I hope you will take time to read my weekly ramblings to learn for yourself. You may love me or hate me for it but I will have fun posting it.
And I must advise you that I watch and compose my blog as the show is being broadcast. Here I will post my immediate unfiltered observations. I most likely will post them BEFORE the show is broadcast in western time zones. So consider this a spoiler warning.
I also offer my own predictions and wishes for winners and people being eliminated each week. I am usually WRONG in my predictions and I will admit it when I am wrong and brag like a brat when I am right, especially if it is a team that I don’t like.
As you read my weekly Amazing Race blog I am assuming that you have researched the teams and read their bio’s on The Amazing Race website. At least I hope you have.
If you want to know how I have expressed myself about previous seasons of The Amazing Race, AND if you have too much time on your hands, then search the archives of my blog on MySpace. You’ll find any title with “The Amazing Race” as my weekly blog entry.
Now on to season 14, the first in a couple years to begin in February. The show has been on since 2001 and I became a fan in 2005. Normally there are TWO seasons in a year with one in the Fall and the other in the late winter and early spring. I tend to enjoy when the show airs new episodes in the winter as they aren’t so frequently delayed due to sporting events on a Sunday afternoon, (ie: NFL Football).
As usual the show begins in Southern California with the 11 teams arriving in marine helicopters then teams got to drive nice Mercedes Benz vehicles through the maddening Southern California traffic to the airport in Los Angeles. The teams had to choose one of two specific flights to either Milan or Zurich then take a train to Switzerland. One team, Jennifer & Preston (a dating couple from South Carolina) missed their train connection and while waiting found themselves in a heated discussion. One would think that missing that train would put the team behind but once in the town of Locarno, teams had to travel on foot to a church and any lost time that some teams had would be made up.
This is what I call the “Amazing Race Team Equalizer” where because of flight schedules or closed facilities teams that had fallen behind will catch up and possibly surpass other teams.
Teams had camp out in front of a church and signed up for an assigned departure time the next morning. Each time had a few teams leaving in 15 minute intervals. The next morning gave teams their clue to travel via taxi to a water dam for the season’s first “Roadblock” task of bungy jumping from the water dam.
Did I mention that BUNGY JUMPING is another cure of my dreams of being a contestant on The Amazing Race? Somehow a million dollars isn’t enough for me to do some things. There isn’t a bungy cord strong enough for my fat ass nor am I crazy enough to attach one to me and go over. Sorry but it aint happening for me. I don’t want to be the first Amazing Race contestant to shit my pants on national television.
Well, after the teams Bungy Jumped, they traveled by train to the city of Interlaken where they would have the next task of hiking up a steep and slippery hill then transport heavy blocks of cheese on racks attached to their backs to the bottom of a hill. Teams would have to stack two cheese blocks each at the bottom of the hill.
Several struggled by slipping on the hill, breaking the racks and dropping their round blocks of cheese. This task was especially difficult for 68 year old MEL, the gay father teamed with his gay son MIKE. Mel struggled to carry the 100 pound block of cheese and summoned help from his son to return to the top of the hill. A very early indication that any openly gay representation on this season’s Amazing Race will be very short lived. Also struggling throughout this first leg of the race was 53 year old LINDA, the wife of STEVE in what I could call the token “country bumpkin” team from small town Virginia. Linda was a little emotional and whiny about most things and her husband Steve who is ten years her junior often fussed at his wife to keep up the pace. She was no match for climbing the hill.
After the cheese on the hill, teams were sent to the town of Stechelberg where they would have to locate a group of yodelers at the site of the first PIT STOP. The first to arrive at the pit stop were the mother and son team MARGIE & LUKE and for the first time in Amazing Race history, host Phil Keogian used sign language to tell Margie & Luke their position in the race.
For their first place arrival at the pit-stop, Margie & Luke won a vacation package to Mexico from Amazing Race sponsor Travelocity.
The remaining arrivals were as follows
SECOND PLACE: Siblings TAMMY & VICTOR
THIRD PLACE: Brothers MARK & MICHAEL
During this time, an emotional Luke expressed how he wanted to show the world that deaf people can achieve things. So far, he and his mother made first place.
FOURTH PLACE: Gay father and Gay son MEL & MIKE. Who made it by the luck of other teams being slightly delayed in their travel prior to having to carry the heavy cheese.
FIFTH PLACE: Dating couple AMANDA & KRIS
SIXTH PLACE: Older married couple BRAD& VICTORIA
SEVENTH PLACE: Former Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders JAMIE & CARA.
My bias as a lifelong fan of my hometown Miami Dolphins requires me to support this all-female team, a couple of red head beauty queen cheerleaders who I hope will do better on The Amazing Race than the team they used to cheer for does in a regular NFL season.
EIGHTH PLACE: Sisters (or “Sistas” if you wish) KISHA & JEN
NINTH PLACE: Country bumpkin married couple STEVE & LINDA made it to the pit stop despite the drama dragging and crying of Linda. Something tells me that ninth place is the best we are going to see out of them. But then underdogs do tend to wake up and surprise us. Or stay along just long enough for comic relief.
And then the final two arrivals are an example of creative editing and surprise leading to a foot race to the finish.
TENTH PLACE was the team that appeared most likely to be eliminated as CHRISTIE & JODI were outsmarted into taking what they thought was the “earliest” train to Interlaken but turned out to be the one that would arrive later by taking a longer route. They were last at the final task but barely beat PRESTON & JENNIFER who have upheld the tradition of South Carolinians that have been ELIMINATED very early in The Amazing Race.
It has happened in at least two previous seasons where a team from South Carolina was the first team eliminated. I notice this because my family is from The Palmetto State.
But the people of South Carolina should not feel bad for Preston & Jennifer as they will get to spend the longest time at “The Elimination Station” which is basically being held at a hideaway resort vacation spot while everyone else completes the race. So although they won’t win a million dollars, they still get a pretty nice vacation. See the Amazing Race website for details about the “Elimination Station”.
I notice at the pit-stop that the eliminated PRESTON was wearing an AUBURN UNIVERSITY sweatshirt! And he is from South Carolina, home of the GameCOCKS!
So I guess there may be some happy “cocks” over an Auburn loss.
I know a few Auburn fans who might get offended by that, but its just a blog and I am a smart ass!
Finally, I normally save my predictions for elimination for the second or third episode but I can’t help it. I must predict that STEVE & LINDA will be the next team eliminated. We already see that she is slow and very whiny and Steve is a bit of a klutz. I just don’t seem them surviving another leg.
Now will you survive my next Amazing Race expression to be posted next week? I hope you can. I will do my best.
So see you next week, same Amazing Race time, same blogspot channel.
This is the first of my weekly blogs expressing my own observations of a favorite television contest, “The Amazing Race” season 14. I have been doing this for the past three years and this will be the first time that I posted my weekly Amazing Race blogs on blogspot. I posted the previous season’s opinions on MySpace but it has become more difficult to post blogs there because of their ever changing settings that mess up a good blog posting many times forcing me to go back and “fix” problems with my blog’s appearance. Also, I think for more access and less drama, its time to go a more mainstream and intelligent route.
This is not to say that I am in any ways “intelligent”. Actually when it comes to “The Amazing Race” I can be a bit of a bitch. I am totally biased against certain types of people but I try my best to be open minded.
I love the show for I feel this is one of the greatest competitions on television. I love to see the adventure and certainly love to watch as they travel worldwide. It inspires me to want to travel abroad which I never have. I also had a few minutes of insanity when I for some reason thought I too could be a contestant on The Amazing Race. Then I see the teams in some foreign land where they would have to ride on filthy trains then over eat fried exotic rodents or worms in some alleged fine dining establishment and we sometimes see one of the contestants vomiting on the side of the dinner table. Those moments tend to cure me of my dream of ever becoming a contestant on The Amazing Race.
And just to put “for the record”, as you read my blogs you will see that I often give teams my own nicknames often referring to specific “tokens”. What do I mean by “tokens”? Well if you haven’t noticed, there seems to be this formula in selecting teams for The Amazing Race. You have a “friends” team. Then you have to have the token young married couple, the token older married couple, the newly dating couple and the couple with relationship issues, the token siblings, the token best buds who are either horny jock type wannabes, blue collar working stiffs or bumbling nerds. There are also either “the country bumpkins” or “Hillbillys” or “hippies” team. Usually one of those at a time especially the one year there was the “goth” team. There are the token parent/child teams and you ABSOLUTELY have include the token Black (or “African American) couple so as for the show to not be considered “racist” and they could also be any of the other “tokens” that I mentioned. One of my favorite teams in the history of The Amazing Race are the winners of the show from 2005, married couple Uchenna & Joyce.
Other “token” categories in my biased and sometimes bitchy blog expressions are the all-female teams. One is almost always the blonde bimbos or beauty queens depending on my mood and their success in the race. Then there are the brunette bimbos or beauty queens. And for some reason, the brunettes tend to be rather bitchy but can kick some ass on the show.
And finally, there is usually the token gay or lesbian contestant. Every show must have at least one but the Amazing Race may have missed in a couple seasons. One gay couple won the Amazing Race in its early years. They were two good looking athletic guys named Chip and Reichen. And for some reason the guy named “Reichen” (pronounced RYE-KEN) is assumed to be some sort of gay male god. To me he appears to be a self involved “think he is so cute” asshole who must drools while checking himself out in front of a full length mirror naked every morning. I think he is an arrogant no-talent shallow shit.
Yes, that is one of the biased opinions I tend to post about The Amazing Race. Oh and there have been gay drama queen types on the show over the years too. Lesbians have been represented on the show as well but I regret it was not with much success.
This season’s gay team is also a father and son team. BOTH the father and the son are gay! And I predict that neither of them are going to get much respect in the gay community because they aren’t picture perfect for any centerfold. I still wish them well.
Sometimes The Amazing Race will include a team member with a special condition showing the world that despite whatever disability or impairment, a person CAN achieve. One year the show had a woman who lost one leg but still triumphed in athletics. Unfortunately she partnered with a whiny control freak idiot who was fully capable in athletics but also full of poor attitude which I think was the biggest disadvantage for their team. They were eliminated half way through that season. This season will include the first ever DEAF contestant as part of the parent/sibling team on the show.
As you read my weekly postings you will see that I tend to support the underdog and the older and more mature contestant. I detest crybabies, arrogance and control freaks on The Amazing Race despite my being a bit of a control freak myself. I believe in real teamwork and partnership in The Amazing Race. I think of alliances on the race as a recipe for disaster and eventual deceit. I could go on to warn you of further biases I have as a dedicated fan of The Amazing Race but I hope you will take time to read my weekly ramblings to learn for yourself. You may love me or hate me for it but I will have fun posting it.
And I must advise you that I watch and compose my blog as the show is being broadcast. Here I will post my immediate unfiltered observations. I most likely will post them BEFORE the show is broadcast in western time zones. So consider this a spoiler warning.
I also offer my own predictions and wishes for winners and people being eliminated each week. I am usually WRONG in my predictions and I will admit it when I am wrong and brag like a brat when I am right, especially if it is a team that I don’t like.
As you read my weekly Amazing Race blog I am assuming that you have researched the teams and read their bio’s on The Amazing Race website. At least I hope you have.
If you want to know how I have expressed myself about previous seasons of The Amazing Race, AND if you have too much time on your hands, then search the archives of my blog on MySpace. You’ll find any title with “The Amazing Race” as my weekly blog entry.
Now on to season 14, the first in a couple years to begin in February. The show has been on since 2001 and I became a fan in 2005. Normally there are TWO seasons in a year with one in the Fall and the other in the late winter and early spring. I tend to enjoy when the show airs new episodes in the winter as they aren’t so frequently delayed due to sporting events on a Sunday afternoon, (ie: NFL Football).
As usual the show begins in Southern California with the 11 teams arriving in marine helicopters then teams got to drive nice Mercedes Benz vehicles through the maddening Southern California traffic to the airport in Los Angeles. The teams had to choose one of two specific flights to either Milan or Zurich then take a train to Switzerland. One team, Jennifer & Preston (a dating couple from South Carolina) missed their train connection and while waiting found themselves in a heated discussion. One would think that missing that train would put the team behind but once in the town of Locarno, teams had to travel on foot to a church and any lost time that some teams had would be made up.
This is what I call the “Amazing Race Team Equalizer” where because of flight schedules or closed facilities teams that had fallen behind will catch up and possibly surpass other teams.
Teams had camp out in front of a church and signed up for an assigned departure time the next morning. Each time had a few teams leaving in 15 minute intervals. The next morning gave teams their clue to travel via taxi to a water dam for the season’s first “Roadblock” task of bungy jumping from the water dam.
Did I mention that BUNGY JUMPING is another cure of my dreams of being a contestant on The Amazing Race? Somehow a million dollars isn’t enough for me to do some things. There isn’t a bungy cord strong enough for my fat ass nor am I crazy enough to attach one to me and go over. Sorry but it aint happening for me. I don’t want to be the first Amazing Race contestant to shit my pants on national television.
Well, after the teams Bungy Jumped, they traveled by train to the city of Interlaken where they would have the next task of hiking up a steep and slippery hill then transport heavy blocks of cheese on racks attached to their backs to the bottom of a hill. Teams would have to stack two cheese blocks each at the bottom of the hill.
Several struggled by slipping on the hill, breaking the racks and dropping their round blocks of cheese. This task was especially difficult for 68 year old MEL, the gay father teamed with his gay son MIKE. Mel struggled to carry the 100 pound block of cheese and summoned help from his son to return to the top of the hill. A very early indication that any openly gay representation on this season’s Amazing Race will be very short lived. Also struggling throughout this first leg of the race was 53 year old LINDA, the wife of STEVE in what I could call the token “country bumpkin” team from small town Virginia. Linda was a little emotional and whiny about most things and her husband Steve who is ten years her junior often fussed at his wife to keep up the pace. She was no match for climbing the hill.
After the cheese on the hill, teams were sent to the town of Stechelberg where they would have to locate a group of yodelers at the site of the first PIT STOP. The first to arrive at the pit stop were the mother and son team MARGIE & LUKE and for the first time in Amazing Race history, host Phil Keogian used sign language to tell Margie & Luke their position in the race.
For their first place arrival at the pit-stop, Margie & Luke won a vacation package to Mexico from Amazing Race sponsor Travelocity.
The remaining arrivals were as follows
SECOND PLACE: Siblings TAMMY & VICTOR
THIRD PLACE: Brothers MARK & MICHAEL
During this time, an emotional Luke expressed how he wanted to show the world that deaf people can achieve things. So far, he and his mother made first place.
FOURTH PLACE: Gay father and Gay son MEL & MIKE. Who made it by the luck of other teams being slightly delayed in their travel prior to having to carry the heavy cheese.
FIFTH PLACE: Dating couple AMANDA & KRIS
SIXTH PLACE: Older married couple BRAD& VICTORIA
SEVENTH PLACE: Former Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders JAMIE & CARA.
My bias as a lifelong fan of my hometown Miami Dolphins requires me to support this all-female team, a couple of red head beauty queen cheerleaders who I hope will do better on The Amazing Race than the team they used to cheer for does in a regular NFL season.
EIGHTH PLACE: Sisters (or “Sistas” if you wish) KISHA & JEN
NINTH PLACE: Country bumpkin married couple STEVE & LINDA made it to the pit stop despite the drama dragging and crying of Linda. Something tells me that ninth place is the best we are going to see out of them. But then underdogs do tend to wake up and surprise us. Or stay along just long enough for comic relief.
And then the final two arrivals are an example of creative editing and surprise leading to a foot race to the finish.
TENTH PLACE was the team that appeared most likely to be eliminated as CHRISTIE & JODI were outsmarted into taking what they thought was the “earliest” train to Interlaken but turned out to be the one that would arrive later by taking a longer route. They were last at the final task but barely beat PRESTON & JENNIFER who have upheld the tradition of South Carolinians that have been ELIMINATED very early in The Amazing Race.
It has happened in at least two previous seasons where a team from South Carolina was the first team eliminated. I notice this because my family is from The Palmetto State.
But the people of South Carolina should not feel bad for Preston & Jennifer as they will get to spend the longest time at “The Elimination Station” which is basically being held at a hideaway resort vacation spot while everyone else completes the race. So although they won’t win a million dollars, they still get a pretty nice vacation. See the Amazing Race website for details about the “Elimination Station”.
I notice at the pit-stop that the eliminated PRESTON was wearing an AUBURN UNIVERSITY sweatshirt! And he is from South Carolina, home of the GameCOCKS!
So I guess there may be some happy “cocks” over an Auburn loss.
I know a few Auburn fans who might get offended by that, but its just a blog and I am a smart ass!
Finally, I normally save my predictions for elimination for the second or third episode but I can’t help it. I must predict that STEVE & LINDA will be the next team eliminated. We already see that she is slow and very whiny and Steve is a bit of a klutz. I just don’t seem them surviving another leg.
Now will you survive my next Amazing Race expression to be posted next week? I hope you can. I will do my best.
So see you next week, same Amazing Race time, same blogspot channel.
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