I’ve been writing this blog for a long time (My First post was way back in September of 2010). I would talk about the CBS reality show Survivor at work, and how I was a huge fan and dreamed of one day becoming a contestant. Finally, a co-worker told me, “We all know you are a fan and are rooting for you, but you need to reach out to others and get the word out. You should write and post about your quest and journey on a blog”. How do I do that? I asked. At that time, there was MySpace, Tumblr, and Facebook, which was just starting to be a place for News Feeds and Status Updates. But if you really wanted to get your name and message out to the masses, you had to have a blog.

The next day, my co-worker registered and set up www.averageandy.com using the free version of WordPress. And for the past 16 years, I have been writing on this blog about Survivor, other classic reality shows like Big Brother and The Amazing Race, as well as a running history of the Television shows, Movies, Books, and Music that I have watched, read, and listened to over this time. I have also posted about vacations, sports (Professional, college, and Lehigh University; my alma mater), as well as a lot of random thoughts, and things that I found interesting (including both the good and the bad). I have posted about my love of Non-Sport Card Collecting, including pictures of cards I picked up at the Philly-Sport Card Show, or on e-bay, as well as clips of my favorite movies on YouTube.

As for my quest to be on a future season of Survivor, it’s still going strong. I have submitted numerous videos, gone to Open Casting Calls, and followed many Survivor contestants on Social Media platforms to keep up with all the latest casting news. I had a lot of fun going to a live showing hosted by Rob Cesternino, and the Survivor 50 Idol hunt (Found the Idol in Asbury Park, NJ). I do have a copy of Rob “Boston Rob” Marianos “The Boston Rob Rulebook: Strategies for Life” and am looking forward to reading books by Richard Hatch, Coach Benjamin Wade, Parvati Shallow, and others

Since the beging of my obsession with Survivor, and keeping up with and reading about the casting process from original Casting Director Lynne Spiegel Spillman (who left Survivor in 2018) to Current Casting Director Jesse Tannenbaum, Its been a long and fullfilling ride, and hopefully it will continue as a future contestant.

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About the title — I was scrolling through the news, and came across the following story from the Independent:

Experts warn that Trump’s AI fakery in Iran will destroy public trust: ‘Breaking our shared reality’

I had seen the AI video that the idiot Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social site yesterday, and at the time thought it was insane that the President / White House would publish an AI-created video and tout it as real. Makes no sense to me how Trump, his high-level cabinet members, MAGA, and all the idiots and jerks that blindly follow him would see this and not be horrified. But that’s the world we currently live in, and it sucks.

Say what you will, but what the President of the United States says and does has major consequences. People will believe and follow whatever he says and not consider that he may be spreading false and dangerous information as fact. This leads to false narratives getting spread among the citizens. People need to understand that Donald Trump doesn’t care about anybody but himself. Everything he does is meant to keep him in power and take away all rights and freedoms from anybody who disagrees with him. He also knows that once he is out of office, he will most likely face numerous criminal charges that could land him in prison. He will do and say anything to avoid this, which includes spreading lies and false information and then insisting that he and only he can protect the people from all the terrible people and crimes that are destroying the country.

According to him, everybody is evil and is conspiring against him and his close acquaintances. So if you want to be safe from the world, your only choice is to follow whatever he says.

What does get me is the lack of protest and action from the United States Citizens. As Donald Trump continues to place his name and image on everything he wants, people seem to just shake their heads and move on. Who cares that Donald Trump destroyed the White House? Who cares that Donald Trump destroyed the John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts? Who cares that he disrespects the US Military? Who cares if he continues to have ICE agents terrorize and deport people illegally?

I say we start outing the people who attend his gathering at Mar-a-Lago. Let’s out the people who pay thousands of dollars to be members of his Golf Courses around the world. Let out the people who donate huge sums of money to him. Let’s post the names of all the members of the Senate and Congress who vote yes on anything he wants. Let’s call out the members of the Supreme Court who have traded their moral values for power and the destruction of the rule of law.

If we continue on this path, we are going to wake up one day and look back and say, “Why did we let this happen?” as Donald Trump declares himself the King

I really have to, or like to post about politics, but this is getting too crazy to stay silent.

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Now back to our original programming

Lehigh with a big 35-10 win over Holly Cross on Saturday to start the 2026 Season. The win was their 18th straight regular-season win over the past 3 years, putting them on top of every other team. Also, with the Patriot League expanding this season, it was good to get off to a good start and get a League win.

Big Brother is getting near the end. All players left have guaranteed themselves a spot in the jury and a vote at the Finale. It has been an enjoyable season, and I like hearing all the different strategies about how to play with the Icons (returning player Angela and former Survivor players Dee and Rick Devins)

Glad to see that WR Odell Beckham Jr. made the NY Giants final roster in his comeback attempt. It’s also fitting that the Giants cut WR Jalin Hyatt, who was wearing Odell’s old number 13. Odell was wearing Number 3 during the preseason, but can now switch back to his Number 13 when the season starts on Sunday Night, September 13th, at home against the Dallas Cowboys

As we approach Labor Day, remember remember that Labor Day is only the unofficial end of the summer, with September still having plenty of beach days to enjoy.

PEACE

AverageAndy

#NeverTooOldForSurvivor
#GiveMeAChance

Marillion – A Better Way of Life

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#Season51
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