Hope everybody can take some time off this weekend and enjoy the Memorial Day Holiday with family and friends
It’s taken me a few days to digest the Survivor Season Finale. While I was not heavily rooting for Wendle, congratulations to him for winning this season.
For the 2nd season in a row, the final 4 fire making challenge led to a winner who in all previous seasons would not have even made the final 3. In both cases, they were able to withstand losing the last immunity challenge by winning the fire making contest. Here is a interview with runner up Domenik about this, and how he thinks it will play out going forward – Basically people will try not to win the last immunity challenge as it has a better chance of making them look bad by sending somebody to the jury then being able to get rid of a strong challenger
This was an interesting season. I did not think that Ghost Island lived up to what is could have been. To many times people were sent to Ghost Island and then nothing happened and it seemed like an afterthought. I did like some of the twists with old advantages and idols. Going forward, I think there are some cool things that could be done to really challenge people – Note stating that a found idol is not real, or that idols or extra votes need to played at a specific tribal council or they are no good – How about an idol that is switches between real and fake after each tribal.
I also think they need to get some more novice players. Most of the contestants have really studied the game and it is becoming a bit to calculated. KInd of like all the syber-metric stuff in sports. Need to somehow bring back some innocents from the past where every move is not calculated over and over.
No matter what they do, I will keep watching – Still find it fascinating on many levels and think its a great study of people and how they react to each other and the unknown elements
Been a while since I wrote anything. I have been busy (not an excuse), but the truth is I just have not been hit with the creativity bug for a while. Nothing really made me think “This is something I need to write about”. Hopefully that changes and I will be back writing more often
After a great start, the NY Mets have played some bad baseball the past few weeks, and now find themselves right around .500 They are a strange team and I really have no feel as to if they are going to be good or bad. I’m hoping they go on a nce roll and stay competitive throughout the season. Last year was such a mess, and they became really hard to watch as the season went on. Nothing is as worse as when a team you root for is so far out of it that the games really have no meaning.
Next week is the Spring Finale of Survivor: Ghost Island. Been an up and down season for me. I was really excited about the premise of Ghost Island, but it just never seemed to amount to much. Maybe it was that there were too many times when nothing happened (not advantage or disadvantage as given) and it just seemed like a waste of time. Also, as the players tried to outsmart the game (by searching for idols all the time, and keeping with the original tribes) and the game tries to keep the payers guessing (by having tribe swaps and an early merge) things became a bit confusing watching from home. I’m sure it was intense and exciting for the players (as described in some of the Ponderosa Videos), but just never seemed to come across that way to me at home. Maybe it’s because there was no one who I really got attached to and wanted to see win. Hopefully when I make it to the show, I can bring some charisma and excitement to the game and have people at home rooting for me to win. The more the audience likes or hates you, the better the show. Lately there has been to many boring people and people who don’t want to make big moves to try and win, but instead seem content with getting to the top 4 or 5
I will still watch the finale (I have never missed a episode, a finale, or a reunion show) and will be looking forward to next season and what the producers have in store for Season 37
Phil Keogan (Host of The Amazing Race) has updated his web site, and will soon be doing a podcast. Should be a fun listen. He has also added a section for uploading your BuckiT List and sharing it with others.
It was a fun exercise to sit down and come up with my own BuckiT List and I uploaded it to the site. Of course one on my main things it to be a contestant on Survivor or The Amazing Race, and I will be working on and submitting my videos again soon.
Was upset to see that ABC cancelled “Designated Survivor” after 2 seasons. While the show was a bit campy and over the top, I really enjoyed it and was looking forward to seeing where things went in Season 3. I did read somewhere that NetFlix was thinking about picking it up for new season, so fingers crossed. I have really liked almost everything Kiefer Sutherland has been in from his early movies like “Stand By Me” , “The Lost Boys”, and “Flatliners”. Of course he was awesome as Jack Bauer in “24”, and I even like him as Martin Bohm in “Touch”
Also not coming back for a 3rd Season is Kevin Can Wait. I don’t know why I liked it, but I did so am sad to see it go. Funny how everybody has some shows they like that everybody else seems to hate, or shows they have no interest in that everybody else loves. But in the end it’s all meant as entertainment, and if you find something that you enjoy and can brighten your life a bit then it’s all good
Malcolm Gladwell is back with the 3 Season of his pod case Revisionist History. Really enjoyed seasons 1 and 2 and am looking forward to listening to season 3 when I go on my walks (Podcasts are great for walking)
There are some cool new non-sport card sets coming out this year. Hopening to pick up a few boxes and will try posting a box break video if I get a chance. I will leave you with a box break of Star Wars Black and White, a really cool set that Topps recently released
Sad to see the passing of Bob Dorough. He’s the person responsible for School House Rock, the cartoon series that helped me (and many others) learn about history, vocabulary, mathematics, and life. While remembering the classics like “Conjunction Junction” and “I’m Just a Bill” and thinking on how he used music to teach things, I was reminded of the classic Happy Days episode where Pottsy Weber uses music to pass his biology exam. One of the classics. Hope you enjoy
Paris Themmen (aka Mike Teevee in the classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) was on Jeopardy last week. So Mike Teevee finally made it on real TV
Was awsome to see. When I saw this, it reminded me of the time I met Charlie Bucket himself (Peter Ostrum) at the Chiller Theater show a few years back
Been a bit busy lately, but was able to take a trip with a friend down to Atlanta to see Marillion play a gig on their current US Tour. They are playing venuses that they have rarely played and skipping most major markets near me this time (NYC, Philadelphia, Boston). I got lucky that one of the stops on the tour was the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta on a Saturday night. Flight from Newark, NJ to Atlanta were very reasonable so I was able to fly down on Saturday, meet a friend for the show and fly back on Sunday. Was a bit of a whirlwind, but worth the time and cost to be able to see Marillion play. I have been a fan of the band since the early days and have continued to follow then throughout the years. The area was really cool (Little 5 Points), with lots of restaurants and even a old time record store.
After the show, I was able to ask one of the tech guys for Pete Trewavas’s set list of the show and he was nice enough to hand it to me. A great silvanaire from the show.
I would highly recommend seeing Marillion if you get a chance. They have a very loyal following, and its really an experience to see.
Back next week with my thoughts on the Big 3 (Survivor, The Amazing Race, Big Brother) as some come to an end and others start up again
Also pitchers and catchers reported, and position players are reporting which means its baseball season. Time to start looking through things as I have a few Roto Baseball Drafts to get prepared for.
I have read some articles lately regarding MLB players and the lack of Free Agent signings this offseason. Most acticals state the reasons being either there are teams trying to get under the luxury-cap threshold to reset penalties, or that there are teams that have already decided to tank the upcoming season. To me, the 1st reason makes business sense. Why put your team in a position to pay a huge tax if you don’t need to. As far as the 2nd reason, that teams are purposely tanking, I don’t buy it. When was it decided that if you don’t give huge salaries to marginal players, that you are tanking the season and don’t care about winning.
Everybody should have seen this coming. There was no way the salaries being give out the past 5 – 10 years were sustainable. Teams started looking at the contracts given to Albert Pujols, Giancarlo Stanton, David Price, etc., and realized they were not getting a good return on investment. They also looked at the way the last few World Series winners (Royals, Cubs, Astros) were built and saw that it really makes no sense to dish out huge contracts for multiple years.
I say instead of complaining about the owners, we should be questioning the attitude of some of the players who are thinking of holding out unless they get every last penny. I understand that the owners need to spend money to be competitive (and those that don’t would bother me as a fan), but the players need to realize that the game will survive without them, and they should be grateful for the opportunity to make a living playing baseball. Time are changing everywhere, and the players need to realize they don’t just automatically get a huge salary increase once they become a free agent.
Now I’m sure some players will end up getting signed to big money contracts before the season starts, while others will reluctantly take a few million less than they wanted, and the 2018 MLB season will go on as always. But at the end of the season, I don’t want to hear from angry fans, or read any more articles on tanking when the teams that give in and sign these players are watching from home, while the teams that don’t spend the big bucks, but had a plan and stuck with it are playing in the postseason.
Happy New Year to everybody out there. Hope you all got to spend time with family and relax and recharge for 2018. I enjoyed some time of ang had a lovely Christmas at my inlaws and a fun New Years Eve at a neighbors
Wednesday, January 3rd brought the return of the Amazing Race. I had gone to the live send of with my daughter last October in Washing Square Park in NYC and it was really neat to see the start on TV. While I didn’t see myself close up, there were some long shots of the crowd where we were standing. Was fun to see info on the teams, as we know nothing about most of them when we were there. We knew Cody and Jessica were on this season. We also saw Joey Chestnut and Tim Janus (who I recognized) hanging out by the starting line, and figured that Cedric Ceballos and Shawn Marion were NBA Players – Although didn’t know which ones)
I really enjoyed the episode and was happy that the NBA guys were not eliminated due to a technicality. Was funny as I was watching with my daughter, and they showed Henry Zhang And Evan Lynyak (#TeamYale). She looked at me and said – That’s a Vanck and Ashot (From Last Season) Ripoff. See for yourself below
Henry and Evan
Vanck and Ashton
Looking forward to another great season. Still find it great to see all the different places they travel around the world. After 29 Season, it amazing how there are still so many places that they have yet to visit.
Been a fan of TOPPS Digital cards since the started a few years back and have been collecting them for Football (Huddle), Football (Bunt), Star Wars, and The Walking Dead. While I don’t buy coins or crystals, I try to log on daily to get free coins. These allow me to collect some of the sets – The best beeing Fans Choice. Topps Bunt has started a new set of Fans Choice during the off-season of past greats. It’s been fun to see who wins the vote each week. Here are the 1st 8 cards of the set
Looking forward to the rest of the set as we get closer to Opening Day 2018
Finally, saw this video of Steve Jeffs setting the Guiness World record for the fastest Par 5 Hole of Golf. I didn’t realize how far 500 Yards actually was until you watch him running down the fairway with the clock running. Always find stuff like this interesting
AverageAndy 