Survivor and things

Really enjoyed the first episode of Survivor 45. It looks to be an interesting cast with a good mix of players (although I again noticed the lack on older players (more on this below). I know a lot of fans were upset with Hannah for quitting the game. My feeling is that if she really didn’t want to be there, and wanted to leave, that is her decision and nobody elses. Everybody has been in a situation where things feel or play-out differently then you expected. Some people are scared of heights and will freeze up on things like waterslides or suspension bridges. Others are scared of confined spaces and will not get on an elevator. I have no problem with Hannah deciding that Survivor was not for her and walking away.

For the second episode, I took the trip from New Jersey to New York to attend the Rob Has A Pod Cast live taping at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center. It was crazy to watch the episode in a packed auditorium. Hearing people react to different people and cheering the team during the challenges was a cool thing to experience (Most of the time its just me on the couch watching). After the episode was over there was a live Q&A and Rob brought a bunch of past contestants on stage to discuss the episode and Survivor in general. Was interesting to see the contestants in person and you could tell they still really loved the show and the game. As for the choice to vote out Brandon instead of Emily, I would have went the same way. Loyalty is important, but you need to win and feel good about things early, and the tribe has a much better chance to win with Emily over Brandon. We will see if they made the right move

I remember the first time Yul Kwon played, he found an hidden immunity idol, told everybody and basically dared them to vote him out. I know this was early and hidden immunity idols were new and really the only advantage available, but by showing his hand, Yul was able to gain some trust as well as keep the votes off of himself. I know its not the same, but when Drew returned from the journey and told his tribe the truth of what happened, and the advantage he won, I felt he made the right move. To many time, people try to lie about things that will come out due to multiple people being involved (rather than if you found a hidden advantage by your self and nobody else new). I know if I was playing I would make sure to talk to everybody who goes on a journey what actually happened, and then compare notes. Note: I was wondering how surprised the tribes actually were when Jeff said “No getting your 1st glance of the LuLu Tribe, Hannah voted out” I would thing both Drew and Bruce would have asked Brandon who was voted off at tribal. I doubt he would refuse and tell them “You will have to wait and see”. I do like that the Beware Advantage is different for each tribe (which was also mentioned by the former contestants at the RHOPC.

As motioned earlier, Survivor has not cast many older people (like myself) and I feel they are missing out on some hidden gems. CBS, like all the major networks, skew towards an older demo and should take that into account (Just look at the popularity of “The Golden Bachelor”. At some point the older audience will have trouble relating to a bunch of 20 to 30 year old’s. Adding some older players would be better relatable to the audience, as well set up some great dynamics between the different generations. Was great to see when somebody like Mike Gables (age 51) was able to relate to players half his age to eventually become the sole survivor.

Check Out #NeverToOldForSurvivor and #GiveMeAChange

Will get my update on the Amazing Race soon (Lot of stuff going on, so be patient)

Not much to say about the New York Football Giants. As a life long fan, it is actually painful to watch them as they are so bad. I have to put most of the blame on the coach and his staff. All they seem to do is make excuses (without actually coming out and say it). “We need to be better” “Its on me” “We need to be Better” “Its on me” is all we here from Coach Dabol game after game. I wonder if the coach and he staff (Both Offensive and Defensive Coordinator) are to arrogant or stubborn to the players. Reminds me of when I was in college (Shout out the #LehighUniversity) when I had a physics teacher who wrote the book we used for the class. They guy was a genius, but could not relate to how everybody else did not understand physics to the level he did. He would become frustrated and mad when people asked questions. Not saying this is what’s going on with the Giants, but sometimes you need to read the room, and adjust to them instead of getting angry when they don’t adjust to you.

Took a break after reading the first 2 books of the “Wealth of time Series”. Really enjoyed them but need to mix things up a bit. Now reading “The Viper”, the 8th book in the Dave Gurney Series buy #JohnVerdon. Have really enjoyed all of the previous books and this one has me hooked already. Do yourself a favor and check out “Think Of A Number”, the 1st book of the series if your interested. Maybe you’ll get hooked like me

Thanks for reading and let me know if there are things you want to know more about

Average Andy

Posted in Andre Gonzalez - Wealth of Time, Books, Football, Jeff Probst, Jesse Tannenbaum, John Verdon - John Verdon, Lehigh University, Mark Burnett, Mike Gabler, NY Giants, Reality Shows, Sports, Survivor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Almost time for Survivor / The Amazing Race

Both Survivor and The Amazing Race return on Wednesday with 90 minute episodes. Looking forwarded to see what they do with the extra time. Do they just give extended coverage of challenges and tribal council, or do they change up the format by adding new things?

With both Survivor and The Amazing Race running for 90 minutes, it removes the Wednesday edition of Big Brother 25. Wonder if they will add another day, of just go with Sunday (Which is being pushed back by Football and Yellowstone) and Thursday. I’m sure its all out on the web but I have been avoiding things until Wednesday to not see any spoilers or contestant information (I am old school and like to be surprised when watching Survivor or The Amazing Race)

Its Official — Both the NY Mets and NY Yankees have been eliminated from the baseball playoffs with a week to go in the season. Was a disappointing season for the Mets. They dug themselves a hole that was just to big to climb out of. Time to revaluate things for next year. Number one on the list is they need to get some solid starting pitching. They will get Edwin Diaz back next season, and hopefully he brings back the excitement that seemed to be missing this year. There offense is solid – Just need to figure out 3rd base, and get themselves a good solid outfielder.

As far as the local NFL Teams – Both head coaches have got to so some soul searching and figure out a way to get the best out of there players. The Giants need to look at how they played the 2nd half against the Cardinals. They played aggressively and through the ball down the field. Not sure why the reverted back to their old boring dump off offence against the 49rs. Let Danial Jones throw the ball and see what happens. As for the Jets — They just need to avoid getting blown out by the Chiefs on Sunday night.

Having issues with my Xfinity X1 Cable Box (Will not allow me to access any streaming services). Was on a chat and call with Xfinity support, and it appears that this is a major issue along the east coast. Hopefully they can figure out what’s going on and get everybody effected back up and running (They already gave me a credit for this, so they must be aware of the outage).

More soon on Books / TV / Music as well as updates on Big Brother

AverageAndy

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Just some updates as it been a long few weeks

Been busy the past few weeks, so here are some updates of things I have been reading / watching / listening to

I attended the Bruce Springsteen Concert a few weeks back at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey . Had a great time with my wife, daughter and here boy friend tailgating before the show and then seeing Bruce perform. I am not a super fan, but enjoy his music and he played a lot of great songs (Including “Jungleland”, “Atlantic City”, and his cover of “Nightshift” by the Commodores). Was lucky to catch him, as he has had to cancel the rest of his current tour do to health issues. Wishing him a speedy recovery, and hope he can continue touring next year.

As great as the Springsteen Show was, the New York Football Giants were awful during there opening game against the Dallas Cowboys. They were un competitive and had the look of a team that wasn’t ready to compete. This points to a disconnect somewhere between the players and the coaches. Head Coach Brian Daboll should read this article about what former Head Coach Tom Coughlin did after his team started to look lifeless. The job of a Head Coach (or any leader) is read his team / audience be able to make some changes within yourself to get the best out of them. They have a test this week against the Arizona Cardinals — Lets see what Daboll is able to do off of last week, and which way the season goes. Hoping for the best

******

I had written a bunch more, but lost network connection, and was unable to autosave. Tried going back to drafts, and this was as much of what was saved

So to briefly summarize:

Survivor and Big Brother are back starting Wednesday, October 27th with 90 min episodes

Submitted my Survivor Application in August, and may submit a small follow-up

Past Survivor Winner Adam Klein is hosting a Group Workshop on Wednesday, September 20th

Really enjoying the Wealth of Time books by Andre Gonzalez

The Lehigh Mountain Hawks are 1 – 1 and take on Cornell tomorrow

The Mets hired David Stearns as their new President of Baseball Operations

PEACE

Andy

Posted in Adam Klein, Amazing Race, Andre Gonzalez - Wealth of Time, Baseball, Big Brother, Books, Bruce Springsteen, Football, Jeff Probst, Jesse Tannenbaum, Lehigh, Lehigh University, Mark Burnett, Music, NY Giants, NY Mets, Reality Shows, Sports, Survivor | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Remembering those who are no longer here

On the 22nd anniversary of 09/11, we should all take some time to remember those who lost there lives that morning, both those who were in the two towers and those who raced to the scene to try and help. We should also take some time to say a prayer for the family members and friend we have personally lost over the years as well as those who lost their lives to tragedies such as senseless shootings, acts of nature, or the recent covid pandemic

PEACE to all

Was going to write about the awful performance by NY Football Giants, the Bruce Springsteen Concert I attended last week, this season of Big Brother and other shows I have been watching or want to watch, Books I’m reading, Lehigh Football, and NY Mets Baseball but all that will be moved to tomorrow

Today I am just going to leave you with the new Barenaked Ladies song, which I find as a perfect reminder for today

Smile, be Happy, and Love Life

Average Andy

Posted in Baseball, Books, Family, Friends, Lehigh, Lehigh University, Movies, Music, NY Giants, NY Mets, Sports, Star Trek, Star Wars, Survivor, Television | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Just some thoughts

Been a strange few weeks. Had a family gathering in upstate New York to celebrate the life of my cousin Alex who passes away a few months ago. Then had another gathering to celebrate the life of my mother-in-law who had passed about a month ago. Was strange in that is was great to see a lot of friends and relatives I hadn’t seen in a while, but sad to see them under these circumstances. I did do a lot of thinking, and realized that its true when somebody say “Life is short, so enjoy it while you can”

I created and submitted another Survivor Audition Video (With editing help from my daughter). I think it came out really well and hopefully this is the one that gets me noticed. Survivor need to cast some older players to go along with their stated goal of getting a more diverse cast. I feel people are getting a little tired of seeing the same basic makeup season after season. I also feel CBS in general needs to mix things up a bit. Do we really need to see the same people from Survivor and Big Brother brought back on The Challenge? I give Big Brother credit for casting Felicia, Cirie, and Bowie Jane, who are showing that older people can be just as fun and energetic as younger players.

Speaking of Big Brother, the show can drive my crazy. Every time I think I need to take a break and tune it out for a bit, I get sucked back in wit a crazy blind side, or challenge that I need to see who wins. This season has been a bit strange in that everybody who has stepped up and made moves has then been immediately voted out (Kirsten, Reilly Hisem). Also, there isn’t really anybody who has really caught my attention who I really want to win.

Unless the Mets go on a wining streak starting tonight against the similarly bad Angels, the season will become a showcase for young players as they play out the last month. Not horrible, but just not good enough, the Mets have had a strange season. They look good some days, and awful the next. There just isn’t any consistency and they got a bit to far back, that playing .500 ball the rest of the way will not be good enough. I will still follow them (As a lifelong fan, its in my blood). But in a few weeks, when Football season starts, it will be tough focus on the Mets unless….

Started reading “Live Learn Love Well: Lessons from a Life of Progress Not Perfection”
by Emma Lovewell to mix things up a bit. Wasn’t sure what to expect, but so far it is very enjoyable and plays well with the “Life is Short, Enjoy it while you can” theme.

Looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend. Not much planned, and will be good to have some down time for one. Will be needed and I have tickets to Bruce Springsteen at MetLife Stadium the next weekend (Which is the Labor Day Holiday Weekend) which should be a fun way to transition from summer to fall.

Will write more soon

Peace

Average Andy

Posted in Adam Klein, Baseball, Big Brother, Books, Concerts, Emma Lovewell - Live Learn Love Well: Lessons from a Life of Progress Not Perfection, Friends, Holiday Weekend, Jeff Probst, Jesse Tannenbaum, Mark Burnett, NY Giants, NY Mets, Reality Shows, Sports, Survivor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Books and Baseball

Just finished reading “The Ferryman” by Justin Cronin Really enjoyed this book and overall story. I did read “The Passage” a while ago and enjoyed it and the way it was written, so was looking forward to “The Ferryman” and it did not disappoint. While the plot line has been done many times before, I did like how the author was able to incorporate the story into the plot while keeping things interesting. I like any book that makes you think when your reading it and when your done, and there is a lot to think about in this book.

After reading a bunch of non-fiction book recently, It was good to get back into fiction and just enjoy a story. I have now started reading “Camino Winds” (Camino Island, #2) by John Grisham, As a longtime reader of John Grisham, I enjoyed the 1st book “Camino Island” and am enjoying reconnecting the the characters. Did see that there that John Grisham has written a new Firm novel “The Exchange: After the Firm” and have added it to my list of books to read

I am also excited about the new Dave Gurney Book “The Viper” by John Verdon. This is the 8th book in the Dave Gurney series, and I have thoroughly enjoyed every one, going back the the first book “Think of a Number”. Great stories, characters, and locations make his novels a great read and I highly recommend checking them out

I need to adjust my time to read more, as there are always new books by authors I like, either fiction or non-fiction to read and allow me to expand my mind and learn new things.

As far as baseball goes, the Mets decided that their current roster was not working, so dished off a bunch of players (Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, David Robinson, Tommy Pham, and Mark Cahna) at the trade deadline. While I agree changes had to be made, and agree with most of these players being traded away, its going to make for a tough watch the rest of the way in 2023. After the trades, the Mets went out and got swept by the awful Kansas City Royals, and then lost 2 against the much btter first place Baltimore Oriels. I know there trying but it tough to not feel that team is basically packing it in until next year. Playing a bunch of young players (most who will not be on the roster next year) has got to be tough on the veteran players who know how hard things are.

The Mets do seem to have a plan in place — Bringing in a new President of Baseball Operations after the season, and then seeing what pitchers are available to join next years rotation. Buck Showalter may or may not be back, depending on what direction the new President want to go. Will be interesting to see how things play out. But for the rest of the season, I will still try to watch some games, but admit it will be tough to stay interested

There are some interesting storyline going on in MLB and it will be interesting to see if teams like the Reds, Cubs, Giants in the NL and Texas, Toronto and even the Yankees have a run in them to make the play-offs.

Average Andy

Posted in Baseball, Books, John Grisham, John Verdon - John Verdon, Justin Cronin, NY Mets, Sports | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Big Brother is Back for Season 25

Hard to imagine, but Big Brother is back for its 25th Season. Every year it returns, I think to my self, I cant watch this time, but then their I am every Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday tuning in to see who wins HOH, who wins the Golden Power of Veto, and who gets sent packing. After all these years, I still find the show fascinating and addicting. Just as a public service announcement to all those who are casual fans, or who are late to the party, here is a list of all the Winners of Big Brother starting in July of 2000

I have been their from the beginning, but scanning through this list, even I have trouble remembering some of the past winners and runners up. Of the ones that I remember and really liked, some of my favorites were Dr. Will Kirby, Mike “Boogie” Malin, Dick “Evil Dick” Donato, The great Dan Gheesling, Rachel Reilly, Derick Levasseur, Nicole Franzel, and Cody Calafiore

But there are also players that I remember and rooted for that were eliminated before the final 2. Here are those who stood out to me (aka – I see or hear there names, and instantly get a picture of them in my head.

Season 1 George Allen Boswell (Chicken George)
Season 3 Roddy Mancuso (Who is a Lehigh Graduate)
Season 6 Jannele Pierzina
Season 8 Daniele Donato
Season 11 Jeff Schroeder
Season 12 Vincenzo “Enzo” Palumbo
Season 13 Porsche Briggs
Season 14 Britney Haynes
Season 16 Frankie Grande
Season 17 Meaghan “Meg” Maley and John McGuire
Season 18 Paul Abrahamian
Season 19 Christmas Abbott
Season 20 Christopher “Swaggy C” Williams
Season 23 Derek Xiao and Claire Rehfuss (Who went on to win The Amazing Race)
Season 24 Matthew Turner

On one hand, I think to my self , What a colossal waste of time I have spent watching Big Brother, but on the other, I think of all the interesting people and situations I have been able to experience over the years from my living room. For that I am grateful to CBS, Julie Chen Moonves, and everybody else involved with Big Brother over the past 25 years. No matter how stupid the show can be at some times, its been a great ride, and I’m looking forward to this and future seasons.

Be Back later with more

Peace

Average Andy






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Time for an update

Been a while since I wrote anything. No real excuses, I just haven’t really been in the right mood, or mindset to write. Hopefully writing this will get me back into the swing of things.

The Black List ended its 10 year run and I was there the whole time. I was actually working for NBCUniversal when it started, and even remember watching a sneak peak of the first episode before it officially aired on NBC. I was a big fan of James Spader – Loved him in Boston Legal (A great show with an All-Star cast that seems to have been forgotten. He ended up doing a fantastic job as Raymond ‘Red’ Reddington and kept the show entertaining for its entire run. Ending a show after a long run on a high note is hard (and rare). I did feel the Black List did a very good job with the last few episodes, although I did feel a little sad that some of the older members of the task force were not brought back (or even mentioned) — Its a tough thing to do without feeling fake or forced, but by not even mentioning them, it feels unfinished and unfulfilled. Over-all it was a great 10 year run, with lots of great actors and characters, and I will feel a bit sad when next season never comes.

With AI becoming a big topic and looking to be the way of the future, we have a test site set up at work. I asked it to list all of the characters on the Black List and this is what was returned:

Several other shows I have been watching ended their seasons, and most went with a cliff-hanger to try and get you exited about the following season. For the most part it worked, even though the cliff-hanger has become over used.

Silo (Apple TV) — I actually had to go on line and read about some of the things that were revealed at the end of Season 1. And the cliff-hanger was not that unexpected.

From (MGM) — Actually liked the cliff-hanger at the end of Season 2. For this type of show, the ending of the show is always going to be tricky (and disappoint some people). But the way they ended Season 2 does open the door to a lot of possibilities — Hopefully they can pull things off in a satisfying way.

Platonic (Apple TV) — Not sure where there going with this (Season 2 hasn’t been officially announced). The rules are a bit different with comedies, with the Cliff-Hanger using being a funny (Chandler and Monica in Friends) or life changing (Rachels pregnancy) moment that continues the story into the next season. Platonic left the door open for Season 2, so will have to wait and see

Will be filming some stuff for my next Survivor Video. I am debating if I should get some help from Survivor winner Adam Klein, who is working as a casting coach. Once I get some stuff filled and edited I will think about setting up a session with him.

Looking forward to both Survivor and The Amazing Race returning in the fall. Looks like each will be One Hour Thirty Minutes long (as CBS and the other broadcast networks deal with the on-going strikes)

Not much to say about the NY Mets. They look awful most of the time, but continue to throw in some winning streaks just to keep you interested. In a few weeks, it will become either to late to realistically make the play-offs, or a bit interesting if they somehow turn things on against the Red Sox and Yankees

That’s all for now. Felt good to write, so hopefully more to come soon

Average Andy

Posted in Adam Klein, Amazing Race, Baseball, From, Jeff Probst, Jesse Tannenbaum, Mark Burnett, NY Mets, Phil Keoghan, Platonic, Reality Shows, Silo, Sports, Survivor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

RIP Judith Bogan (Grammy)

My mother-in-law Judith Bogan passed away at her home last week. It wasn’t a total shock, as she had been bed-ridden and suffering from chronic pain for the past few years. Still it was tough on my wife, her brother and sisters, and the grand children who lost their “Grammy”. She is now in a better place, joining my father-in-law who passed away in 2021.

Grammy loved her son (Jim) and daughters (Cindy, Barbara, Erin) and adored her 6 grandchildren. She loved to take them shopping and out to lunch, and we are grateful for the memories she created for them. She loved to travel and was able to see places like Australia / New Zealand, Russia, and South America.

For me, I will always have fond memories of watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune with her most weeknights. Even towards the end, she was sharp as a tack

She was a lovely lady, and I am glad I got to spend time with her and get to know her

She will be missed.

Judy Bogan (Grammy) 1939-2023
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Manifest did it Right

Finally was able to complete watching the final season of Manifest in Netflix and I have to say, for all the ups and downs, and sometimes truly unbelievable story lines, the writers came up with the perfect ending. They didn’t try to hard, and wrapped everything up in a believable and plausible way. To many times when a series end, the writers will try to be to cute, try to bring back old characters for a last cameo, or try to predict the future of the characters with flash forwards. Most of the time, the writers over think things, and the feeling of the finale is different than the entire run of the show. Also, there is usually a let down when characters with friction between the, finally get together. After years of slowly building, it usually ends up all feeling awkward and rushed.

With Manifest, the writers ended the show just how it should have ended. No crazy twists, awkward moments, or cliff-hangers. It ended exactly how I thought it should end and I thank the producers, writers, and actors for that. It was a satisfying pay-off after watching for 4 seasons.

It is really hard to end shows and while several have done it very well (M*A*S*H, Newhart, Friends), others were simply OK, but a little to generic, (The Middle, Seinfeld, 90120) Then there are a few that missed the mark (and usually was not entirely their fault). Both ‘How I Met Your Mother” and “LOST” comes to mind — I believe both had a plan from the beginning on how the show was going to end, but then the storyline and chemistry between the characters changed from what was planned, and put everybody in a tough spot. Both shows ended up going with an ending that left most people unsatisfied, and a bit confused.

So thanks Manifest for ending the show the way it should have ended. It was a fun ride

More to come on this subject (A few more shows I watch but am a bit behind have ended, or are ending soo so we will see how they do

Average Andy

Posted in 90210, How I Met Your Mother, LOST, Manifest, Seinfeld, Television, The Middle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment