scowl

The final three weren't my favorites but this wasn't too bad. I liked the Cho brothers' idea of aligning with, uh, less agile teams so they could always win a foot race. This season must have set the record for kidnapping locals for help. The blondes had no problem finding guys who were willing to hop in their car and give them directions all day.

I keep expecting Debbie to end an interview with "Now fly, monkeys!!! Fly!!!"

I lost all faith in editing in the last episode when they faked the end of the immunity challenge to make it look like went down to the last second when all witnesses said it was a blowout. I don't believe anything I see on my TV this season.

Same here. Last week I was "Go, Jenn, go!" and this week I was "No, Jenn, no!"

I like Tai.

I think Ma vs. the Indians was Michael Landon making the show more politically correct in later seasons. From what I've read the first LHOTP TV movie/pilot followed the book more closely and included the Ingalls's fear of being attacked by natives. And barely related: I kind of miss the 1970's practice of testing a series' potential by airing the pilot as a "TV movie special". I loved the Six Million Dollar Man's TV movie and I still remember being excited when I heard they were going to turn it into a series.

It looks like Retro TV may have gotten a few more episodes. They aired "Attack of the Giant Leeches" last night and I don't remember seeing it on Retro before.

Yes, I was using the bulky 240V->120V transformer. I do know Ohm's Law.

No, the voltage was 120 volts since it was going through an adapter. The problem was the AC fan in it was running too slow to keep it from burning itself up. I decided to keep my dryer at home for my subsequent trips into 50 Hz countries.

Anything with an AC motor will have trouble. Back in the 90's I took a hairdryer and an adapter to the UK (back when I had hair). I plugged it in and turned it on. The insides quickly glowed red like an oven set on broil, while the fan slowly puffed out smoky air. I turned it off before it burnt up.

Another problem is that a hair dryer will burn itself up in a country with 50 hz power because the motor won't turn fast enough. Trust me on this one.

OK so Peter is going to be the jerk of the season but only to his one-legged partner, Sarah. I like how he shot off his mouth a couple of times at her and then in an interview Sarah says effectively, "I'm rockin' one leg so I don't need this jerk on my ass."

Apparently everyone because no one else held onto their mask either.

Before they purposely damaged the tank, it had no problem containing a near-vacuum.

While Beauty is celebrating, for a fraction of a second you can see Brawn's puzzle in the background. It looked like a bunch of loose pieces were still stacked on it. The "neck and neck" ending they showed seemed a little too miraculous.

I'm skipping this season. I've seen enough of Boston Rob on Survivor.

I started watching this one (since my Tivo insists that Amazon Prime doesn't offer Season 9) and I noticed that something was missing. Where are the jerks? Everyone seems to be nice and most of the teams are even nice to each other. Yeah, the partners scream at each other but they get over it. I think I'm going to like this season. Climbing up the Great Wall with a hoop ladder looked very difficult. I don't know how every team did that.

I'll look again but the season listing jumped from eight to ten on my Tivo.

For some reason this season is not available on Amazon.

I wish Portlandia was more mean-spirited. I live here!

So the "They keep on breeding!" girl wins. I was all for Hayden and what's his name from the beginning but man did she fall to pieces in the end. Matching a key to a lock is not a physically demanding challenge but giving up with a half an hour left made no sense. Also if you don't want to get out of a cab in the middle of nowhere, don't say, "I want to get out of this cab and find another!"

Wasn't Wil the only one who tried the blowtorch on the ice and nearly set every other tool on fire with it?

Lori and Bolo looked like the most unbearable couple of the season but at some point they got much more pleasant. Their arguments became much less heated. They got along with the other teams better after they started acting like people instead of pro-wrestling cartoons. In episode ten the worst thing Bolo said to Lori was, "Well then you do it, Miss Perfect!" which was kind of cute. There was a strange thing. Bolo was in an argument with everyone when they were in line at a travel agent. Someone accused Bolo of being on steroids and he totally flipped out. "I am NOT on steroids!" But a minute or two later, everyone calmed down and was laughing about the comment like a bunch of adults. I never understood how that happened but it was nice to watch.

I forgot about Jonathan shoving her. In the last episode Victoria said that she likes Jonathon because "he always keeps it interesting". Isn't Jonathan that guy who gets thrown out of bars and parties?

Everyone remember this? Jonathon and Victoria are in a foot race to the mat with another couple in Berlin. Victoria is screaming in tears dragging her heavy backpack while Jonathan is screaming at her to get her stupid ass moving because they're losing. "I can't do it! It's too heavy!!!" They run by shocked bystanders. Of course they come in second with Victoria standing there nearly hysterical while good old Jon is not even looking at her cuz he don't look at losers! Phil, clearly uncomfortable, tells Jonathan, "I think you should speak to Victoria." Great idea, Phil. He stomps over to her and starts screaming at her again all over again! This guy is a lunatic.