Been a busy couple of weeks and I am really looking forward to a three day weekend. For the first time in a while, have nothing planned so will take the time to relax, hang with friends, and get some stuff done around the house (cleaning my office and lawn work)

Last week I attended the Philly Non-Sports Show which is held twice a year (spring, fall). Trying to same some money, so was mostly just looking around to see what was available. Like always, I was able to pick up a bunch of free / cheep promo cards. You get a pack of promos with your admission, plus companies like Rittenhouse Archives and Cryptozoic will had out promos for upcoming sets. Some dealers / artists will also give away promo cards. Would like to personally thank Ed Webb, George Wright, and the others who were generous enough to offer free promos (and even take the time to sign them) Here are some pictures promos and cards I picked up as I walked around.

Before I write about the Survivor 44 Finale, would like to pay some respect to the great Tina Turner, who passed away at ager 83. Although she had a lot of ups and downs, she ended up having a great career and impacted musicians and women around the world. RIP Tina Turner. You will be missed

Here is one of my favorite songs of hers.

As far as Survivor 44, It was a solid, but a bit underwhelming season. The producers through a bunch of stuff out there to try and shake things up, but unfortunately the players seemed to be one step ahead and most of the idols and advantages ended up not being used, or used in a underwhelming way. With the players getting more and more familiar with the setting (all seasons are now shot on the same beach in Fiji), as well as the challenges (to the point of 3D printing the puzzles at home to practice on), its hard for the producers to surprise them. So it then becomes more of a battle of personalities, which is harder to present to the viewing audience. Also, to me it seems that some of the contestants lately have been treating the game as a self help / life reflecting adventure, where they just want the experience of hanging out among friends. I may be reading this totally wrong (Which is one of the maid reasons I keep applying to be on the show. I really want to see how I would play the game and react in the situations that they experience. I think I would be more mad and upset if I was being considered at a vote, and pull out everything I had to stay in the game.

Congratulations to Yamil “Yam Yam” Arocho for playing a great social game and figuring out how to vote people off, while still having them respect his game. That is the ultimate idea, and its interesting to see how many people can get to the end, but have no connection with the jury members and end up getting shut out of the votes.

I still am not a fan of the Final Four Fire contest (again showing that is more of a disadvantage to win the final challenge. After a big win for Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt, she was basically forced to give up her immunity that she fought so hard to win and give it to one of the 3 losers, if she had any chance of winning the game. Even with winning the fire challenge, Heidi was only able to garner 1 vote. Luckily for the show, had she kept her immunity, and made 2 others make fire, she still would have most likely lost as well. Might be time to shake things up a bit to put more emphasis on winning the final 4 challenge (Make the 3 losers all make fire, and the winner goes to a final 2)

Just a few statistics before I go

As of the end of Survivor 44, there have been 662 individual players

Of the 662 players, there have been 16 players who were aged 58 or older when they played, for a total of 2.413% Of those 16 players, 5 finished in the top 5 with 1 player finishing as runner-up

Of the 662 players, there have been 19 players from New Jersey for a total of 2.87% Of those, there have been 4 Winners, 3 Runners Up, 3 2nd Runners-up, and 2 more in the top 5

So as a 56 year old from New Jersey, I will have some good company when I get selected and end up winning Survivor

Hope everybody has a safe and healthy Memorial Day Weekend. Be sure to spend some time relaxing with family and friends

Looking forward to writing more in the future

PEACE

AverageAndy