auntlada

I was not a big fan of the "not like us" comment. I mean, in some ways, Brendan (Brendon?) and Rachel aren't like Caroline and Jennifer. But in all the ways I didn't like Rachel, I kind of think she is like Caroline and Jennifer. The pettiness, the flirting to get what they want (or just get ahead or get by), the "I've got to win this million dollars." I don't think Caroline and Jennifer can really even say they don't want to be famous and be on TV the way Brendan and Rachel (apparently) do, as this is their second time to be on The Amazing Race and given their careers (such as they are) in country music. TAR isn't even their first go-round with reality TV, although it is their first time on a show that actually got produced. Perhaps they meant that Brendan and Rachel weren't like them in that Brendan and Rachel are capable of finding their way out of a wet paper bag on their own.

He'd just sing "Beth" and still be a cliche.

Oh, that song. I hate that song. It just makes me think about when Aerosmith did good music.

I know almost nothing about livestock, but my theory was that if the donkey had just pooped (I have a 2-year-old; pooped is the word I use now), then it wouldn't have to stop on the racecourse to poop.

They might at least have stayed on better than, say, Rachel.

They got the printed directions, so that was good racing, but I don't think they even bothered to read the directions or look at the map until they lost Dave and Connor, which was stupid. Can they do that? I've always assumed that the only pictures in the box are for teams that are still in the race. If I had been Rachel and Brendan, I would have u-turned Caroline and Jennifer or the Globetrotters just because they seemed more likely to have serious problems with tasks and navigating. As it was, if the Globetrotters hadn't gotten so lost and then double baldsnarked, Dave and Connor might have been in serious trouble since they kept helping the people who were behind them. And I don't have a problem with people using the u-turn, and I don't have a problem with someone who has been u-turned saying, "We had to u-turn somebody," (although I do agree that they should have to finish their u-turn before they get the chance). But I hope I never have to hear again, "We had to u-turn (insert specific team names here)," because no, you didn't. You wanted to u-turn that team. Rachel and Brendan did not have to u-turn Dave and Connor. They picked them out of five teams. Dave and Connor did not have to u-turn Leo and Jamal. They could have u-turned four other teams, including the one that was standing right next to them and was going to pass them immediately. (I figure they didn't u-turn Jet and Cord because they just didn't have the guts to do it right in front of them.) I think Connor was there first and then Jet and Cord and then Dave, and Jet and Cord let Dave join Connor on the mat. Maybe if one member of the team is on the mat, that team is first there, and another team can't jump on (opposite of the pit stop when they both have to be there). I'm glad they didn't get u-turned, but I did want to see Jet and Cord try riding the donkeys. I'm guessing they could have done pretty good at it. At least they know how to ride something. Also, did Dave really say a donkey is more stubborn than a mule? Anybody know if that is true? I wouldn't have thought so since people talk about being stubborn as a mule and being muleheaded, but nobody talks about being donkeyheaded. (I'm a little prejudiced against mules, though, because my grandfather had one that bit his hand, and he only had partial use of the hand after that.)

The asteroid song?

It was season 4, episode 2, The City That Never Sleeps.

On the subject of Col. Flagg: Hawkeye: "The wind just broke his leg." I'm also very fond of the episode with the desk. Col. Blake: I bet you don't know what kind of wood this is. Radar (or any number of other people): It's oak. Col. Blake: Nope, it's oak.

Maybe there's something in her contract that Jennifer Lopez will be the last woman standing on the show. After they get rid of Jessica, she'll be gunning for Jena.

I usually attribute that style to crappy pop music, the kind that's all breathy. I don't know if anyone sings that way anymore, though. But I don't listen to much modern country (because I think it's mostly crap also) so I don't know what they do. I just figure Dexter never met a consonant he liked.

I've wondered that about almost every cop show on TV. I've never figured out why they don't try to unobtrusively walk by the suspect and grab him -- at least the detectives. Cops in uniform have a disadvantage in that case. But it seems like the ones in uniform do a better job surrounding the suspect first.

Her voice sounded thin and screamy -- and not in a good Aerosmith way -- on the duet. I did too. I didn't notice a lack of rhythm this week because she seemed so much more engaged that my attention didn't wander so I didn't start noticing how she moved and other stuff. I also liked the way she worked with the guitarist.

I keep hoping they'll show Harry more because I keep trying to catch the little smile the contestants said indicates he likes something. So far I haven't caught it. I don't know if they don't keep the camera on him long enough or if I'm just missing it.

It kind of looks like they cut her face out and stuck it on someone else's body and didn't do a very good job of it. I mean, it looks like the paper dolls I used to make by cutting out people from catalogs.

After listening to the Firefly remixes, I wish they'd all get the same song (one that isn't in any of their styles) and have to rework it into their own styles. I'd like to hear how different they are and how good or bad they can do with that. Except most of them probably aren't capable of that.

I'm not sure where to ask about this as there doesn't seem to be a speculation topic or one for the next episode (if that would be the appropriate one), and I'm nervous about starting topics. Since Jet and Cord have the Express Pass, though, it primarily concerns them. If they decide to use the Express Pass on the detour, do they have to declare which side of the detour they want and go there before declaring they're using the pass? Or do they declare they're using the pass when they get the detour clue? I can't remember what the awful people did last season. I'm just wondering because I think next week is their last chance to use it, and apparently there will be a double U-turn. (I think I saw it in the previews. I don't follow spoilers once I know the cast, so if it wasn't in the previews, I'm making it up and never mind.) I'm trying to figure out their best strategy for using it at the detour, and it might depend on whether they have to pick a side first. If they have to pick a side first, they should pick the harder (for them) task so if they're U-turned, they will do the easier task. And if they don't pick a side and get U-turned, then do they get to pick which side they'll actually do since they used the Express Pass for the other side? I may have thought about this too much.

Here's an interesting story about some women from Minnesota who ended up helping Jamal in the roadblock in Rome.

I was disappointed no one got the Roman Holiday clue in the clue. I wondered if they had mentioned that to the cabdrivers if the drivers would have figured out they wanted the Spanish Steps, not Via John Keats, which is pretty far out of the way. And no one seemed to know who the happy couple was supposed to be. Gregory and Audrey. For me, it's not so much that Rachel thought the Eternal City was Ethiopia, which is not a city, but that when Brendan asked her about it, she just said, "I don't know." It seemed like another case of her taking off and knowing she didn't know where she was going, but running anyway. I also couldn't figure out why Brendan and Rachel kept talking about how badly they'd been doing without even mentioning the leg they won earlier. I've never seen Piazza Venezia not torn up before. We were there just after Christmas in 2007 and again in 2008, and both times the grassy area was torn up because they were putting in a new subway line. It's nice to see they got it finished there (or gave up because they kept running into ruins of something).

I don't think he meant any disrespect necessarily, but he showed it just the same. And I don't make disparaging remarks about kids' weight. He's 22. It's time to learn to take his foot out of his mouth.

I think it's not just the word "old," but the whole phrase, "old ladies," which brings to mind little old ladies bent over their canes and tottering along with a Boy Scout helping them cross the street. Had he said "older women," it would not have been as offensive. Although really, I'm almost as offended that he would think anyone would cry at "Faithfully." I loved Journey (and still do), but that's never been one of their best songs, in my opinion. And it's certainly not something to cry about. I'm not sure any of their songs are, but the closest I can think of is "Open Arms." But it probably wouldn't get tears out of me either, at least not from someone I don't know singing it on TV.

Thanks, Joystickenvy. I grew up on country music but for the life of me could not think of any from the 80s right then.

Class of 86 here, and I did not cry. I did not really even like it. It sounded like a bad cover version to me, like he was trying to sing the song just like Journey and was just messing up. The only guy I've heard who can do justice to Steve Perry is that Filipino guy who's been singing with Journey. Caleb can't. He possibly wasn't trying to, but to me it sounded like he was trying and just couldn't do it. On the other hand, I was surprised to find that I really liked Alex's version of "Every Breath You Take." I loved that song when I was 15 so I expected to hate a reworking of it, but I didn't. I am wondering exactly what Harry and Keith were trying to say, though. The closest I have come to an explanation of Keith's push-and-pull is Paul Simon and how he never seems to sing a song the same way twice. So if you learn a song from a live album, when you hear another version, it won't be quite the way you know it. It's not big changes, but it's just different. I suppose because he just feels it differently each time. Is that what they mean? I'm also not sure what Harry meant about the shuffle when he was talking to Jessica. What I thought was missing in her performance was a rhythm to her walk. She sang really good, I thought, but she just walked around. There was no beat to the walking. It was like she sings the music, but doesn't feel it. (Is that what he meant?) ETA: Who picked out those duets? They were all horrible choices. I remember hating all of those songs. And I knew someone was going to do the George Michael and Aretha Franklin song.

I don't know (although I never think of it as creepy because I was 15 when it came out so I just thought it was a great song). I was expecting to hate it after the rehearsal footage because he was changing it so much (and again, I was 15 when it was a hit for The Police and you don't mess with hits from when you were 15), but I really liked it. I could really feel that the song was about heartbreak.

And one that (at least at the time) was not country. I don't know if it's classified that way now, but I wouldn't. I hear it on the classic rock stations. I'm not sure what 80s country he could do, though, based on the kinds of newer country songs he's been doing. And all I can think of now is Randy Travis.