Survivor

Posted on December 15, 2016 by AverageAndy

Another season of Survivor has completed and while I really enjoyed the season, I was not thrilled with the winner.   I never warmed up to Adam and did not think he played the best game.  But I’m here and he is there (with the jury who voted for him) so congratulations to him.   I have read (and even commented myself) how I am not a big fan of players using personal hardships to there advantage.   As I stated, I would not wish the pain and suffering that Adam (and others) are going through on anybody, but sometimes it feels like they are the only ones who have issues.   Everybody has some sort of issue that effects them (be it a serious illness, mental health issues, financial issues, …).   This does not make you more or less deserving to win Survivor.

Based on the jury votes, it looks like Ken would not have come close to winning if he taken David to the end instead of Adam.    So unless both Ken and Hannah were so off in reading the jury,  I think Ken should have seen where the votes were going, stayed true to his allegiance with David, and taken David to the finals and let him win.   If I was in that position, and new I was not going to win, I would rather let the person I liked better win then somebody else

It has been interesting lately seeing the winners pretty much getting all the votes, while the 2nd and 3rd place players get none

Survivor Final Votes

In fact you need to go back to Season 21 (Survivor: Nicaragua) for the last time the votes were even close.

Just like the way that alliances have changed during the recent seasons (with mini alliances, voting blocks and voting clusters taking precedent over true alliances), maybe the thought process of just getting to the end will need to change.   Maybe the strategy going forward is to vote off anybody who makes any sort of big move, and hope to get to the final 3 with 2 other flipper floppers and then hope you can convince the jury that you are the best of the worst.    Seems better than riding the coattails of somebody to the end and then getting shut out.

More tomorrow as we head into the Holidays

Andy

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Hi

Posted on December 9, 2016 by AverageAndy

Been a while since I had the time to write here.    Hope everybody had a happy and safe Thanksgiving and wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Hard to believe that Wednesday is the season finale of Survivor.    Its amazing how fast the season seems to go towards the end.   One night they are merging, and the next thing you know their are already 7 members of the jury.    Been a strange season.   Liked the idea of old vs young, and its interesting that of the 6 people left,  3 are old and 3 are young.  Seems that no true alliances were formed where people get together early and try to ride things all the way to the end.   This season is seems that each person (while willing to join an alliance for a short time) were all plying and individual game.   It will be interesting to see how this plays out.  Of the 6 left,  Brett has done the least.  The other 5 have made some moves.   I’m rooting for Hannah as I feel she has played the best game both mentally and physically.  I also think Jay has played a good game

I hate to come across as cynical and uncaring, but why is it that everybody seems to have some sort of family tragedy that they use to try and convince others is why they deserve to win.  While I feel for each of them, and wouldn’t wish what they are going through on anybody, enough with the whoa is me.    Everybody who makes it onto Survivor is deserving of the grand prize, no matter if they have personal or family issues, or not.

Will be fun to watch, and I always enjoy the live Reunion show as well.

And before you know it the next season will be starting up and we start all over again.

Big game for the Giants on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys.  Will be a good measuring stick for both teams.    Coming off last weeks loss to Pittsburgh, the Giants need to play a good game to get their confidence back as they finish up the season.   At 8 – 4 they have a good shot at making the play-offs, but want to go in feeling good about themselves, and not back your way in.

Going to have to record “The Walking Dead” on Sunday.  Hopefully i will be able to avoid any major stories (if there are any) until Monday.   May be tough as some of the people I work with will probably be talking about it.

And finally – My wife got me to watch “This is Us” and I got hooked.  Its the 1st show in a while that I thoroughly enjoy.   Don’t want to spoil things for anybody who has not discovered this yet, but give it a shot and you will not be disappointed.

More to come

AverageAndy

 

 

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The times, they are a changing

Posted on November 11, 2016 by AverageAndy

Not much to day about the Election that hasn’t been said.   Do think people need to step away from the Internet (and Facebook) for a few days and take a deep breath, and just relax.  Most of what is being written and posted is false or outdated anyway

As far as Non-Sport Card Collecting, there have been some Donald Trump Card produced over the years (for The Apprentice, as well as other generic celebrity sets

Donald Trump Non Sport Trading Cards

And as a final note – Donald Trump was the commencement speaker at Lehigh University on 1988 (the year before I graduated)

Donald Trump – Lehigh University 1988

Now onto other things…

Was able to attend 2 Marillion concerts last week  (At the Keswick Theater outside of Philadelphia) and the PlayStation Theater in New York City.   The band was in top form and both shows were awesome.    Glad that the band switched up the set lists so was able to hear a few extra songs.   Here are the set lists per the awesome site http://www.setlist.fm

Marillion – Keswick Theater – November 6th, 2016

Marillion – Playstation Theater – November 8th, 2016

Was awesome to hear them play a lot of songs of their most recent album (F.E.A.R).   They are one of the few band who’s fans appreciate the new songs as much as the older material.  With 18 Studio Albums, they have a lot of songs to choose from, and coming up with a set list that pleases everybody would be impossible.  Glad they choose to play what they want and not pay it safe with a set of greatest hits.

I did take a few pictures but I like to enjoy the shows live and am not obsessed with taking pictures videos like most these days.

Already looking forward to there next US Tour which will hopefully will be sooner than the 4 years since their last tour

We have reached the Merge (which is usually considered the 1/2 way point) on the current season of Survivor.   Been a great season so far, and will be really interesting to see which group  (the Generation  X’s , the Millennials, or a mix) will band together and make it to the end.  Been very interesting how each group has been voting off their own members instead of sticking with the numbers.   Looks like everybody is playing much more of an individual game then the past.   And compared to last few seasons where the strategy was voting groups, this season has been a complete change.  Will be fascinating to see how this plays out.

Got a chance to see a bit of Jeff Probst on Facebook Live answering questions about Survivor.   Some questions were interesting and it was great to see that Jeff is still super passionate about  the show and having a great time.

He mentioned at the end that he was heading to a casting meeting for future seasons.   This made me Happy (that we will continue to have Survivor to watch), Sad (As I have not heard anything back from my last audition video), Appreciative (on how much I have enjoyed the show since the beginning), and Motivated (to figure out a way to get cast and have a change to play and win the title of Survivor)

Got me thinking,  If you look at the way people are told to look for jobs today, most will tell you that you can no longer just send in you resume, or submit it through the major job sites.  It will just get lost in a black hole with all the other generic resumes.   You need to get creative and make yourself stand out by doing things differently.   But when applying to Survivor,  I read that you need to submit your video on-line and to not reach out to the Casting Associates, Creators, or Producers of Survivor as they are very busy and it would make you look desperate.

So I will ask any of you out there who read my blog (which is truly appreciated), and have read taken the time to read this far to let me know your thoughts.   If you wanted to be caste on Survivor (or any other show), would you play it save and follow the rules they have laid out,  or would you look to do something different that could make you stand out, but could also make you look desperate.   And if you were casting for a show, what would you look for?    Any feedback would be appreciated.

Hope all is well and wishing everybody the best

Average Andy

 

 

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Congratulations to Lehigh

Posted on November 7, 2016 by AverageAndy

Big congratulations to the 2016 Lehigh Mountain Hawks who claimed the 2016 Patriot League Championship and an automatic bid in FCS play-offs  with a victory over Bucknell this past Sunday

Lehigh Mountain Hawks – 2016 Patriot League Champions

After an 0 – 2 start, the Mountain Hawks stormed back and have won 8 straight games and are currently 5 -0 in the Patriot League.

They will look to go  undefeated in the Patriot League when they take on arch rival Lafayette on Saturday, November 19th  (The 152 Game in the nations most played college football rivalry).

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Rejection Proof

Posted on October 20, 2016 by AverageAndy

Cool video based on “Rejection Proof” by Jia Jiang


Highly recommend book  – Pick up a copy on Amazon or at a bookstore near you

And check out Jia Jiang at http://fearbuster.com/

Andy

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Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2017

Posted on October 18, 2016 by AverageAndy

The nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class of 2017 were released this morning. Always interesting to go through the nominees and think of who I would vote for if I had a vote.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

I am a big fan of all types of music (excluding most RAP – Not that its bad, I just don’t get it), and most country music – (Probably due to living in the North East where both Country Music and NASCAR are just not popular).

I also have now problem with artists such as Neil Diamond and Madonna making the Hall of Fame (I would have voted for both).    I do have an issue on them not giving enough consideration to Heavy Metal acts such as Iron Maiden, Scorpions, and Judas Priest, and Arena Rock acts such as Boston, Foreigner and Styx.   Was happy to see Journey making the list and hopefully this will open the doors a bit for other similar acts to follow.

And while I agree that things such as actual record sales, and ticket sales should not be the determining factor,  it should count for something.   By ignoring these,  you start to alienate the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame from the people who keep the music industry alive.   It also makes the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame committee seem a bit elitist.   Like they know what is really good music, and most of the fans just don’t understand.   Kind of like movie reviewers who think all big budget action movies are junk and only like small are house films.   There is room for both and each should be celebrated.

As for who Average Andy would vote for for 2017

Joan Baez – Just because

Journey – They were one of the early pioneers of Arena Rock.

Pearl Jam – Not the biggest fan, but they deserve the credit for creating the grunge movement of 1990’s

The Cars – Their debut album “The Cars” does not have a bad song on it

Yes – Pioneers of progressive Rock

Most of the other nominees are well deserving, and its really tough to leave bands such as Depeche Mode, ELO and J. Giles off.

I’m sure there will be much discussion over the next few weeks until the final list is reviled.  Best of luck to all

Andy

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Survivor Gen X vs Millennials

Posted on October 14, 2016 by AverageAndy

Really enjoying this season of Survivor (as if that’s something new).   Been there for every season since the summer of 2000.   In fact, I was even a Survivor fan before it ever premiered when I saw the following on the slash dot web page and thought this is the coolest thing.

Survivor on Slash Dot (1999)

I have loved how Jeff Probst and the rest of the Survivor crew have constantly tried new things to keep the show interesting and relevant.

I have applied to the show over the years, from filling out the multiple page applications they used to post on the CBS website, to sending in VHS Tapes and DVDs, to the current way of uploading my application video directly.   Hopefully somewhere along the way, I was able to portray to the casting department that I would be a great contestant and bring a lot to the show and the Television audience.

The last few times I tried to apply, I got a message that “my application was already on file”.    Did some searching to see how often the application process resets, and found suggestions to use a different e-mail address to apply.   Doing this, I was able to upload my latest application so now the waiting starts.

As far as this season,  I like the idea of Gen X vs Millennials.    It really is amazing how much the world in general has changed in the past 20+ years, and to see it played out in Survivor make you realize this even more.   Will be fascinating to see which philosophy (the Gen X way – work hard, more structured way of doing things, or the  Millennials way – just go with the flow, and things will work out) is better suited for the game of Survivor.

It will be very interesting to see how things play out going forward after the two tribes switch, and then when the two tribes merge.   Will the 2 Generations be able to co-exist, or will each generation remain solid with there own no matter what.

Survivor Gen X vs Millennials Cast

As for who I am rooting for, even though I fall into the Gen X side, I am rooting for some of the Millennials to do well.    Will try to break things down in the coming weeks an let you know who I think will win.

 

Will be attending the 65th Annual Philly NonSport Show (as well as the always fun and informative Card Talk Breakfast Sunday morning) this weekend in Allentown PA.

65 Philly Non-Sports Card Show

Hopefully will be able to pick up a few promos needed and will post what I am able to get

Big week for the NY Football Giants at home against the Baltimore Ravens.    Need to pick up a win before heading across the pond to take on the LA Rams in London the following week.

And hopefully the Lehigh Mountain Hawks can keep things going and go 2 -0 in the Patriot League against Georgetown

And finally,  during my daily commute, I have come up with something that makes me happy.   After every song I hear on the radio (I’m one of the few who still enjoys listening to local radio), I think of the 1st person that comes to mind and wish them a happy day.  No thinking, just the 1st person that pops into my mind.

Wishing everybody a great weekend and will write again soon

Average Andy

 

 

 

 

 

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Still Alive (and doing well)

Posted on October 7, 2016 by AverageAndy

It’s been a while since I have had the time, (and the motivation) to write something for all you out there.   Sorry for the delay.

We will start with sports.   The NY Mets overcame injures to many of there key players (both hitters and pitchers) and managed to make the play-offs as the 1st wild card team. Unfortunately they ran into the San Francisco Giants and their ace pitcher Madison Bumgarner who pitched a brilliant game in shutting the Mets out 3 – 0.    Cant put all the blame on Met’s closer Jeurys Familia, who was unable to follow up on his regular season and allowed a 3 run home-run which was the difference in the game.   Combine this with the home run he gave up to Alex Gordon in last years World Series, and you have to at least question his makeup in a big spot.   While I will gladly go into next season with him as the closer, I do not want to hear any thing about his saves next season.  He could save all 162 games next year, but until he can retire the side in the play-offs, he will have to deal with the criticism thrown at him.    It’s going to be an interesting off-season with a lot of questions to answer.   I would love to see the Met’s sign Yoenis Céspedes to a long term deal as he has become the face of the franchise.  Hopefully all of there pitchers will be healthy and ready to go next season so should be another fun year.  All in all it was a fun year and and cant wait to do it all again.  Winning and Play-Off baseball is fun and I want to keep experiencing it year after year.

The New York Football Giants continue to frustrate me (and all of there fans).  They should be better than they are, but for some reason, they are missing that killer instinct to put away teams when the have the opportunities.  They should never have lost to the Redskins but instead have allowed them to stay in the mix.   I still believe in Eli Manning  (Us Giants fans don’t realize how lucky we are to have him start every game year after year) and once Odell Beckham Jr. gets straitened out (which he will), hopefully the Giants can get on a roll and win some games.

Lehigh Football got off to a slow start loosing their first 2 games to Monmouth and Villanova.  But since then, they have won 3 in a row while putting up insane offensive numbers.  Hopefully they can keep it up this weekend at home against Colgate as they start  Patriot League play.   Would be nice to see them have a good year and compete for the league title an an automatic play-off bid.

Switching gears —

Was another good season of Big Brother and congratulations to Nicole for taking home the grand prize.   I was rooting for Paul and wad glad he made it to the end.  Glad to see hes doing well for himself after the show

Paul Abrahamian – Big Brother 18

The show sucks me in every year.   I still find it a fascinating study of people

I did not sign up for CBS All Access to watch the Web Season.  I already pay form enough TV services (Comcast, NetFlix, Amazon Prime).   Will be interesting on how it works out for CBS and if it helps or hurts them when the new Star Trek Series arrives in 2017.

And finally Survive is back for its 33rd Season.  Subtitled Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X
it pits generation against generation.

More to come….

 

 

 

Posted in Baseball, Big Brother, Football, Lehigh, NY Giants, NY Mets, Reality Shows, Survivor, Television | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

RIP Gene Wilder (Mr Willy Wonka)

Posted on August 29, 2016 by AverageAndy

Very sad day as Gene Wilder passed away at the age of 82.    He was in some of the all time classic moves like “Young Frankenstein” and “Blazing Saddles” but stared in countless other movies that shaped my childhood.  I remember watching “Silver Streak” and “Stir Crazy” with him and Richard Pryor countless times on HBO.   And I laughed every time I saw “The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother ”

 

But it was his magnificent  portrayal as Mr. Willy Wonka in one of my all time favorite movies of all time “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory“.    I have tears in my eyes as I remember watching it during Thanksgiving at my cousins house years ago.  It has stuck with me ever since (the sign of a great movie) and I try to watch it ever so often.   So many times I will quote scenes from the movie (or have people quote thins to me)  (another sign of a great movie and actor)

And how many times has everybody thought of winning a Golden Ticket when opening a letter or package  – One of my friends once had a party and the invitations were actual chocolate bars with Wonk Wrappers and a Golden Ticket as the invite – pure genius

There is no words for the sadness I feel

Rest in Piece Mr. Wilder – You me laugh and forget about my problems for a while and  for that I thank you

 

 

Average Andy

 

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Bad New Bears

Posted on August 19, 2016 by AverageAndy

“The Bad News Bears”, and “The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training” are 2 of my favorite movies while growing up.   While in elementary school, I though Tanner Boyle (Christopher Barnes) was the coolest  kid.   Any always liked Kelly Leak (the great Jackie Earl Haley), who also was in “Breaking Away”, another one of my favorites

I was thrilled a few years back when Panini put out a Bad News Bears Subset as part of their Golden Age Card Set, which included autograph cards of some of the Bears.   I have been slowly adding them to my collection, with only a few more to go.

Panini – Bad News Bears (Golden-Age-Baseball)

Was sad that Tanner Boyle was not included, but not shocked as after the Bad News Bears movies, Christopher Barns stopped acting, and basically disappeared.   Over the years, I have tried to see if there was any way to contact him and thank him and  let him know how his character has stuck with me for over 40 years.

If anybody has any idea how to contact him, please let me know, it would really be appreciated.

Here is a fantastic article from this past April about the movie.   A great read for fans of the Bears.

Bad News Bears 40th Anniversary Article

And finally, here is a clip from one of my favorite scenes of all time.

 

Later

AverageAndy

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