Survivor, Mike, The Last Jedi, and Happy Holidays

Posted on December 21, 2017 by AverageAndy

Another season of Survivor has come to an end.    While 2 of the Final 3 contestants (Chrissy and Ryan) were from New Jersey (My home state), with Chrissy actually from my hometown (Lebanon Township), it was Ben who Outwitted, Outplayed, and Outlasted everybody to win the Million Dollars and be crowned champion.   Was really rooting for Chrissy, and do feel that the final advantage that she won was not really an advantage, and think it actually was a disadvantage.   While I do not think there was any conspiracy at play to have Ben win, I do feel that the way he won was a bit tainted.   Hats off to him.  He took advantage of the way the game was set up this time to get ot the finals and get the votes needed.

While the season was very enjoyable (especially with a local rooting interest),  I did feel they went a bit overboard with the number of idols and advantages.   After a while, I started to feel like the spirit of the game was taken away and switched from a social and mental game to being basically a glorified scavenger hunt.   If they keep things this way going forward, then all we will see is everybody looking for idols immediately after every Tribal Council  with whoever finds them moving on to the end.   Really no fun in that.    Going forward there should either be a limit on the number of idols that any one person can play, they should be much harder to find, or maybe something like they did with Lauren, where you needed to find 2 seperate parts.

I also felt that the  final advantage actually took away from the drama of the final immunity challenge, and will make the final immunity challenges way less interesting going forward.  The drama was with Ben believing he had to win or else he was going home.  Now, when you get to the final 4, you can try to win to guarantee a spot in the finals, but you also know that if you lose, you still have a way of getting to the finals.   As a viewer, this takes away all the drama.   Why give people extra chances.  Make them play as hard as they can knowing they have to win.   Hopefully the producers see this, and get rid of it after next season.

Few final thoughts:

Liked the idea of the 3 tribes, but think they need to lock and find people who really fit the categories they had (Heroes v. Healers v. Hustlers).  Seems like there were a few players who they just through into a group for no real reason (How exactly was Ryan a Hustler, or Ashley a Hero)

I liked the format at the final tribal council with everybody being able to ask questions.

I was a bit upset that they hardly mentioned any of the contestants at the live reunion show.      Either the contestants voted off early were so boring they had nothing to say, or any film of them doing anything interesting, or they want to promote themselves more with all the shots of Jeff running through the audience.    I may be old school, but would rather have Jeff acknowledge the players who played the game rather than question some random audience members.

All in All, another great season and looking forward to Season 36 next spring.  I really think I have never missed an episode, and have watched almost everyone on the day they aired (Do use DVR to time shift a bit).  Going way back, I  remember taping them on my VCR in the early days and hoping it worked

Discussing the Final Advantage / Disadvantage

As far as the other bid story for me,  Mike Francesa signed off as the drive time sports talk show host on WFAN Sports Radio in NYC last Friday, December 15th after 30 years.  I remember coming across the Mike and the Mad Dog show on my way home from work back in 1990, and have been a loyal listener ever since.    Everyday when I got in my car for the 1 – 2 hour drive home (yes, I drive a lot), the 1st thing I would do was to put on 660 AM (and then 101.9 FM) on the radio and listen to Mike and the Mad Dog (Chris Russo) and then Mike solo.    Really liked the insight and knowledge that Mike brought across all sports, as well as breaking format to talk about politics, movies, books every so often).   Also loved that the show was local, with most of the talk about the local teams (Mets, Yankees, Giants, Jets, Knicks, Nets, Rangers, Devils and Islanders).   And finally loved that Mike did not cater to anybody or other networks.  Remember Mike saying that if somebody wanted to come on his show to promote something, but stated that Mike could not ask about certain things, then he would gracefully decline.  An he never attacked or went after other hosts or networks in a mean way.   All this showed when numerous guests called in the 2nd to last day to congratulate him, and show their respect.

Will be interesting to see who the replacement team does going forward.  I will give them the benefit of the doubt and listen for a while.   Hopefully they will realize what worked for Mike and stay close to the same and not try to imitate other shows that don’t work  (They don’t work for a reason).

On his last day, I had the day off from work, so I went to an early afternoon showing of “The Last Jedi”, and then was able to listen to the last hour or so in my car.  Was a great way to finish listening after 30 years.  Thank you Mike for all the memories and you will be missed

As far as “The Last Jedi”, I really enjoyed it.   While there were a few parts that got a bit hokey (they could have eliminated most of the casino part), I did like how they did not go strictly by the book and made some bold choices.   I realize that these characters are so ingrained in everybody’s mind, and everybody has a idea of  how they think they should act, that it would be impossible to please everyone.   But the movie had plenty of emotion and some great action,  Throw in that Rey is a somebody you respect and root for, and that Kylo Ren is really a great character (villain or not), and you have a movie that fits right in with the rest of them.

Here are the Star Wars Films and the 1st time I saw them in the theater

Star Wars (1977):    Wellfleet Drive In, MA (Family summer vacation)
Empire Strikes Back (1980):  Paramus Mall, NJ  (Me and my dad – Still the best)
Return of the Jedi (1983):  Essex Green Movie Theater, NJ  (High School Friends)

The Phantom Menace (1999):  Bridgewater Mall, NJ (Cindy)
Attack of the Clones (2002):  Manville, NJ
Revenge of the Sith (2005):  Sony Theater, East Hanover, NJ ( With Tom from CIT)

The Force Awakens  (2015):  AMC Theater, New Brunswick, NJ  (Verizon Free Showing)
The Last Jedi (2017):  Philipsburgh Theater  (Afternoon showing in the snow)

Hope that everybody finds some time to spend with friends and family during the next few weeks.   Enjoy some time away from your work to relax and remember the good things that happened to you in 2017.  Have a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Average Andy

 

Posted in Jeff Probst, Mike and the Mad Dog, Movies, Radio, Reality Shows, Star Wars, Survivor, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2018

Posted on December 13, 2017 by AverageAndy

Congratulations to the bands and artists that were elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame;  Bon Jovi, The Cars, Dire Straits, The Moody Blues, and Nina Simone as well as Gospel pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

I think the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame does a good job of electing all different types of bands and artists and applaud them for their diversity.   It’s a tough job and they will never be able to please everybody as music is very personal everybody has their favorites who they think should be inducted.   I was hoping for Judas Priest to get is, if just to open the doors for other so called heavy metal artists like Iron Maiden or Scorpions to get the recognition they deserve.    But the nomination is a start and hopefully leads to them getting in soon.

As far as the 2018 inductees;

New Jersey’s own Bon Jovi – Starting out as one of the 1st Hair Bands and the fact that they are still relevant today alone makes them worthy.

The Cars – Created one of the perfect albums – The Cars – The Cars (album).  There is not one bad song on the album

Dire Straits –   Great musicians with more hits then you think.  As far as albums, Brothers in Arms has a lot of great songs besides “Money for Nothing”

The Moody Blues – Just for Nights in White Satin and the 6 minutes of talking at the end

Nina Simone and Sister Rosetta Tharpe – Not that familiar with there music, but  from what I have heard and read, both were very influential in the history of Rock and Roll, and that is part of what the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame stands for

Andy

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Middle of December

Posted on December 11, 2017 by AverageAndy

Can’t believe we are only 2 weeks away from Christmas.   With the 1st snow falling on Saturday, I’m finally starting to get into the Christmas spirit.   Work should be pretty slow the next few weeks, so should be able to relax a bit after some busy weeks

Few updates

Lehigh beat Lafayette to win the 152nd meeting between the schools, and claim it 2nd consecutive Patriot League Title.   They then traveled to Long Island New York and lost to Stony Brook in the 1st round of the FCS play-offs.   Was a strange, but rewarding year for the Mountain Hawks

The NY Football Giants screwed things up with Eli Manning, fired their Head Coach and General Manager, while continuing to play awful football.  Even I have come to realize it’s time to clean house and start over.   The Giants have been offensively inept for the last 3 years (with or without Odel Beckham Jr.) and need to completely  change their offensive philosophy.     And they need to move on from Steve Spagnolo after the season as well.    They have had way too many defensive breakdowns for it to player related.  They give up big play after big play and never seem change.   The fan I am, I will do my best to watch the rest of the year but both Christmas Eve and NY Eve are going to be rough.    Last I will write about the Giants in 2017

Both Chrissy and Ryan have somehow survived and made it to the Final 6 of Survivor, giving New Jersey a chance for a 4th Winner.   This season has been a bit crazy with all the blindsides.    It’s also been a weird season, and some of the strategy / decisions have really made no sense.   I really have no idea what Lauren was thinking to give up an idol, and not use here advantage.    Seems almost like she wanted to go home.   Makes me a bit mad when players don’t do everything possible to stay in the game.

Also, its funny that while the producers keep trying to come up with ways to mix things up (secret advantages), they never seem to come into play.   Players have not yet figured out how or when to use them.   When I’m on the Island, I believe I would be able to use these advantages to help me stay in the game.   An extra vote could really flip things if you used it at the right time.

Finally, just a quick thought about the Yankees getting Giancarlo Stanton.   I don’t think it’s a good move.   Way too many negatives;  Long term contracts never work out great (Think Alex Rodriguez with the Rangers, Albert Pujols with the Angles, Barry Zito with the Giants), Teams that hit a lot of HRs do not always win the WS (Cubs were 13th, Royals were 24th – Yankees were 16th in 1996 , 7th in 1998, 13th in 1999, and 10th in 2000), and  pitching usually wins the big games (And right now, the Yankees need pitching).

Will write again before the Christmas holiday

Andy

 

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Great Video on Applying for Survivor

Posted on December 5, 2017 by AverageAndy

While I didn’t connect with Michaela the 1st time she was on Survivor, I grew to really like her after here Ponderosa Video.   And ended up rooting for here the 2nd time she was on.

As I’m getting ready to submit another Application (I’ve actually lost count on the number of times I have applied),  I came across the following video and thought it was one of the best and honest videos about applying to Survivor that I have seem.   Michaela is sincere and tells it like it is.  It made me realize how much I love the show and how much I would love to be a contestant.

Going to take what she said and make a video explaining what I would bring to Survivor and why the producers need to choose me for an upcoming season.   Then I’m going to make myself a brownie ice cream sundae with a cherry on top and enjoy it to the fullest

Andy

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Midway through Survivor

Posted on November 13, 2017 by AverageAndy

We are about halfway through Season 35 of Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers and I am really enjoying this season.   While there are really no standouts (People I will remember after the season ends), it has been quite entertaining to watch how the game has changed over the years.   I give credit to the producers in continuing to try and change things up to keep the players off-guard.   I think they need to re-evaluate the number of idols available as the game seems to completely resolve on finding idols.  This strategy was good a while back, but not it seems the idols just put a bigger target on your back, and unless you can find one every time you use one, you will be gone.  As for the players, it seems a bit sad that most players are way too far into game mode, and do not take the time to both enjoy the adventure, and the opportunity to get to know  the other players.   At the Outback feast for the merge, several players were still thinking about the game.  In the past it seemed that players were able to put the game on hold for a few hours.   Will be interesting to see if this comes back to hurt some players

Both New Jersey players (Ryan Ulrich and Chrissy Hofbeck) are still alive and playing good games.   It’s been extra fun watching Chrissy, as she’s from the same town as me and there is some buzz around town from people who know of her.  I keep hoping I will run into her somewhere in town.   Not sure how I would react if I did run into her. Would I simply say “Hi, I am rooting for you” and move along, or would I take the opportunity to let her know that I also have been watching Survivor since Season One, and could she put in a good word with casting for me when I submit my next audition video.   Hey, networking is everything these days, so might as well take advantage of any opportunity

Been busy but will write more soon

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Thoughts for November

Posted on November 13, 2017 by AverageAndy

What different paths 2 teams have taken.   After miserable starts, both the NY Football Giants and the Lehigh Mountain Hawks found themselves at 0 – 5 and looking at a lost season.   For the Mountain Hawks, they somehow pulled things together and won 4 of their next 5 games (all within the Patriot League) to find themselves at 4 – 6 and playing Lafayette this Saturday for the Patriot League Championship.   Shout be a great atmosphere for the 153 Game of College Football’s most played rivalries

Most Played College Football Rivalries of All-Time

As far as the NY Football Giants, they took the train in the complete opposite  direction and after somehow winning a game in Denver (against what is an awful Denver team), they have proceeded to shut things down for the season and now stand at 1 – 8, and looking at a complete overhaul (Both Coaches and Players).   The be fair, once Odell Beckham got hurt in the preseason, the team started to lose its way, and when they lost Odell and a bunch of other receivers in Week 5, the season was basically lost.    But a bigger issue is that I feel Coach McAdoo has never really gelled with Eli Manning, and that is a battle he will never win.  I understand that when a new coach comes in, he wants to bring in his own players who align with him and his philosophy.  But in this case, with a 2 time Super Bowl winning QB, who basically is the face of the Giants franchise, the coach is going to be the 2nd fiddle.   And if McAdoo didn’t see or understand that, he should not have taken the job (And give some blame to the Giants for not understand this as well.   They probably should have went with a coach who would accept being 2nd to Eli and doing everything to work with him until he retires, and then he could start to build a team any way he wants.  Even though it was time for Coughlin to go last season, and they did go 11 – 5 and make the playoffs,  if you look deep you saw this was a flawed team, with internal issues that were not addressed.    Now they will just be playing out the season fighting Cleveland (and the other perennial bad teams)  for the 1st overall pick.   Big changes will be made at the end of the season, and we will start to usher in a new generation of Giants Football.

Just one more thought.  If I showed up for work, but did a half-ass job, and didn’t seem that interested, I would expect that my boss would  talk to me and see if there was something going on that he could help with, and if not, let me know it’s time for me to move on and find work elsewhere.   And sometimes moving on is best for everybody.  If my boss doesn’t do that, and continues to fool himself / herself that everything is OK,  then he / she is not doing  their job as a boss, and hopefully upper management sees that and takes some action.   Now, I know things are different in pro sports, and money is a big factor, but sometimes somebody needs to make a hard decision.   In the long run the hard decisions are usually looked back on as a mark of a good leader, while the leader who is wishy / washy and never makes a decision is not a leader to long

Back later today with my thoughts on Survivor as we are almost 1/2 though the season

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Whirlwind

Posted on October 16, 2017 by AverageAndy

Ran the Hoboken City Challenge Obstacle Race on Saturday, October 7th (Thanks Kelly)

Hoboken City Challenge 2017

Went to Elsie Fest at Central Park Summer Stage on Sunday, October 8th (Thanks Katherine)

Elsie Fest 2017

Went to a Vendor sponsored diner at Butter in NYC on Wednesday, October 11th, and had a private demo with Chef  Alex Guarnaschelli  (Thanks DELL/EMC)

Butter – Midtown NYC

Ran in the NBCUniversal 5K on Thursday, October 12th  (Thanks Work)

Hiked 13 Miles of the Appalachian Trail in Vernon on Saturday, October 14th (Thanks Harris)

Appalachian Trail Map (Vernon, NJ)

Lehigh Mountain Hawks have won  2 in a row as they look to rebound from an 0 – 5 Start.   They are looking to run the table and win  the Patriot League for a 2nd straight year.   Next up is at Fordham this saturday

The NY Football Giants went into Denver and came away with a victory over the heavily favored Broncos.  Next up is a home game against the Seattle Seahawks as they see if they can salvage the season.    A must win to get to 2 – 5 before the bye week

The Philly NonSports Show is this weekend (October 21st and 22nd) at the Merchants Square Mall in Allentown PA.   Always a fun time to see what new cards are being produced and to try and try and pick up some older cards that are needed.

Philly NonSports Card Show

Survivor has been fun to watch as usual.   Nobody has really grabbed me as somebody to really root for but still enjoying the season.   Hopefully things will get more interesting this week as the team merge.

 

 

 

 

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Sports, Survivor, and the World in General

Posted on October 6, 2017 by AverageAndy

Been an awful start for both Lehigh (0 -5) and the New York Football Giants (0 – 4).  Looking at the bright side, things can only get better.   For Lehigh, they start Patriot League play this Saturday against Colgate.   Since the winner of the Patriot League gets an automatic bid to the BCS Play-Offs,  If the Mountain Hawks are still alive and just need to win all their league games.   For the Giants, they just need to take things one game at a time.  While they have not played good football, they have not been awful.  A win against a 0 – 4 Chargers team this week would be a start to try and get back towards .500 and then you go from there.    They need to put all this Odel Beckham stuff and other distractions behind them, and just play so football.

Enjoying another season of Survivor.   Hard to get a read on anyone after just 2 weeks, as nobody has really stood out to me.   I do have some rooting interest in Chrissy Hofbeck as she is from my hometown.   I have heard here kids are in the same schools as my daugher was in (they are a few years younger).  Also from the great state of New Jersey is Ryan Ulrich.

Over the years, three other New Jersey contestants, Michele Fitzgerald of Freehold, Natalie Anderson of Edgewater and Tony Vlachos of Jersey City took first place in their respective seasons.

Survivor Season 35 – New Jersey

Been a strange week starting with the shooting in Las Vegas, followed by the death of Rock Legend Tom Petty.   Both hit me in different ways.

I just felt numb as I read about Las Vegas.   I found it hard to imagine what it must of been like to be there.  Just the sheer terror as things unfolded.   I feel sad for all those people directly affected and wish them the best as they go through their recovery.   The thing I thought about was what it would be like in the police / FBI headquarters.    I imagined somebody standing up and saying “You will not sleep for awhile,  I want to know everything about this guy, every place he’s been, every person he’s talked to, every meal he’s ate for the past few months”  and then seeing people start running to gather information.

As far as Tom Petty,   as the news broke and people started naming their favorite songs, It really hit me of how many hit songs he had.    No wonder he had his own channel on SiriusXm.    I do feel a bit older as the artists of my youth die.  Want to give a shout out to Walter Becker of Steely Dan as well.    Been a sad few years and while the music of all who have passed will live on, and bring happines and joy to people for years to come, they will be missed.

On the bright side this week, I made my way into Washington Square Park in NY City on Sunday to catch the live start of The Amazing Race Season 30.   Saw a message on Facebook about this on Saturday, and showed it to my daugher.  She said we had to go as we missed it the last time they started in NY (Was in Time Square at 3:00 AM).  This time it was in the middle of the day (12:00 PM) so there were no excuses.   It was a lot of fun as we got to see Phil  up close – We were right next to him as he signed the bottom of a Travelocity Gnome that a lad had brought with her.  As far as the contestants, most people were there to see Cody and Jessica from Big Brother.  Other than them (who I had heard ahead of time were going to be on the race)  we got to see Tim Janus and Joey Chestnut (Competitive Eaters), and 2 basketball players (who I looked up and saw were NBA players Shawn Marion and Cedric Ceballos).   Was a lot of fun, and looking forward to watching The Amazing Race when it premiers in the spring.

 

And finally, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame released its nominees for the Class of 2018

Rock Hall 2018 Nominees

Be sure to check them out and cast your votes

Here is my ballot:   Bon Jovi, The Cars, Dire Straits, Eurythmics and Judas Priest

Have a few things planned for this weekend and will share them with you next time I write (which hopefully will be sooner or later)

Posted in Amazing Race, Lehigh, Music, NY Giants, Reality Shows, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, SiriusXM, Sports, Survivor, Television, Volume 106 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Quick Update

Posted on September 22, 2017 by AverageAndy

Big games this weekend for both the Lehigh Mountain Hawks (Home against Penn) and the NY Football Giants (at Philadelphia).   Both teams desperately need a win or their seasons may be over before we even get to October.

I went to see E.T. The Extra Terrestrial on the big screen on Wednesday which was presented by Fathom Events  – They present classic films and other types of entertainment in theaters.

E.T – The Extra Terrestrial (IMDB)

After 35 years, the movie still stands up and really is a great movie.  Was very interesting to see how much the music was a big part of the film.   And I forgot how great Henry Thomas was as Elliot.   If you haven’t seen E. T. recently, I highly recommend you find a way (TV, On-Demand, Blue Ray) to watch it again and appreciate how good it is

Fathom Events – Classics on the Big Screen

I finished reading Curtis Armstrong’s autobiography and will be starting a new book soon.   Will update the site as soon as I find my next book.   Going to try and read more if I can find the time

And finally,  most TV shows return next week with new episodes, including Season 35 of Survivor.    As always looking forward to another great season

Survivor Season 35 : Heroes-vs-Healers-vs-Hustlers

Enjoy your weekend everybody

 

 

 

Posted in Announcement, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Football, Lehigh, Movies, NY Giants, Reality Shows, Sports, Survivor, Television | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Big Brother 19 is in the books

Posted on September 22, 2017 by AverageAndy

Big Brother 19 wrapped up on Wednesday, and while this wasn’t one of the best seasons (according to a lot of critics and fans) it was one of the most interesting as far as game play was concerned.  As the season progressed, it became apparent that Paul was playing the best game.  He came in with a plan and stuck with it all the way to the final 2.   He played brilliantly, manipulating people to vote out who he wanted when he wanted them to.  It looked like it was his game to win.   Except he made 2 miscalculations that mattered far more than all the good things he did.

The 1st was that he misused his goodby messages,  while the winner Josh used them strategically to influence the jury. Each time Paul successfully got who he wanted voted out, voted out, he continued his charade in his goodby messages.   But Josh used the goodbye messages to let the voted out person know what was really going on.   This made each jury member madder at Paul.   If Paul has simply stated that he was sorry, but he had other alliances that he felt would get him further,  he may have been able to make the person voted out feel better about their game and appreciate his game, rather than feel bitter toward him.

The 2nd thing Paul did wrong was to misread the jury.    I saw several articles about this and agree with them in that the jury was simply bitter against Paul, and were going to vote against him no matter what.  Paul was banking on the fact that the jury would rise above their feelings and simply see that he played the best game and vote for him.   But as been seen on several seasons of Survivor,  sometimes the jury members just get in there mind that they will not vote for somebody no matter what and that is what happened here.  The two couples (Mark and Elena, and Jason and Alex) were so stung by Paul and how he voted them off, that they voted for Josh just so they didn’t have to for him.   Had Paul won the final HoH challenge and taken Christmas to the finals, he still would’ve lost.   There were 5 votes (the couples plus Cody) who were never going to vote for Paul.

Fascinating stuff and something that should be studied to see why some people can put their feeling aside when making decisions,  while others hold grudges and make decisions strictly based on feelings.

I admit I was rooting for Paul once it became apparent that he was able to manipulate everybody and would most likely voted for him if I was one of the jury members, but I was not, and that’s what makes shows like Big Brother and Survivor so fascinating to watch.

More to come

 

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