Lantern7

So . . . how bad was Shirin's exit and the subsequent celebration? For me, three events were worse, and they're the only three that come to mind right away. 1. The time in S8 when Hatch grinding his naked dick on Sue, Sue's slow burn afterward, and her ragegasm that ended up with her quitting. I might not have loved her, but I felt for her. And then her tribe (except for Amber) celebrated, singing, "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead." If Sue had taken a hammer to Tom's kneecaps, I wouldn't have blamed her. 2. Philip pushing Brandon over the edge. I know, he didn't have to push that hard, but I hold him responsible for the shitshow that ensued. Seeing the others vote Brandon off in public also sucked, though I do understand the unwillingness to take a stand. 3. Colton Cumbie getting his way and getting Bill voted off. I'll always call him "the Boy Queen of Samoa" for his actions, and that had to be the ugliest he looked in both tours of duty.

. . . still better than Survivor. And Laurel looks a little better, though I've never dipped a fry into a milkshake. That would be weird . . . though I don't remember the last time I had a milkshake. Damn, when Ollie turns dark, he does not fuck around. It's going to be hard to wring a happy ending for this season, but I have a semblance of faith. On the other hand, I kindasorta called Felicity being armed, though I didn't think of Lyla grabbing the guns.

After watching this episode, I caught up with Arrow. I won't spoil anything, but it felt like a vortex sucking in any and all hope. And you know something? For the second week in a row, it was a better option for me to watch "live" than Survivor. Shirin's exit has to rank alongside the ugliest moments in the history of the show. It might not top Hatch grinding on Sue and her tribe's celebration over her quitting, or Brandon getting pushed into madness by Philip (with Probst's back rub thrown in), but I am fucking livid. Seriously, fuck these people. The only person worth rooting for is Mike, except 1. He's only guaranteed to make it past the next TC minimum, and 2. He's a borderline Section 8. I mean, better him winning than Tyler (awesome snark on him by Shirin, BTW) or the others, but it would be like Fabio/Jud winning . . . he won because somebody had to. Right now, I'd rather sit with Jenn and Shirin in the jury, wearing "MEAN PEOPLE SUCK" t-shirts than play with these assholes. And Dan's adopted. Is it wrong to think that his birth parents saw what a piece of crap he'd become? I keep imagining Dan being left in a basket at an orphanage. For some reason, he has his stupid beard even then. Seriously, we need better "husky" men represented. Between Tom Buchannan, Rupert, Will and Dan, fat guys do not get good representation. Good thing for CBS that I hate myself, so I'll keep watching. Maybe Rodney will get voted out before getting a reward. Maybe they'll do a "loved ones" challenge, and Dan will be stuck on his own. Maybe Shirin will deliver the mother of all jury speeches and put some of those fuckers in their place. Or maybe she'll just elect to slap the three finalists in a row, Moe Howard-style. Dare to hope, right?

I saw little of the game on mute. I read about how games have been cancelled due to unrest, but not having a crowd must be new. Also: I think any homers should be retrieved and sold at auction, with the money going to relief. Seriously, the only time I've heard of crowds not being allowed are with European soccer matches and ballparks where they're trying to set a record for lowest attendance. ETA: Gary Throne sounds a little punchy. Anybody else regretting that the Brewers weren't in town, so Bob Uecker could broadcast in the remote seats? "HE MISSED THE TAG!!!!!"

All the action this week, and the cross-promotion for the new Avengers movie, and what stuck with me? Right . .. Skye's Sonic the Hedgehog snark on Raina. Too funny. Ward's an asshole and a sociopath, but I can't stay too mad at him. I know, I'm not supposed to emphasize with Hydra agents, but I do. Liked the others staying on guard. On the other hand, I wasn't too amped by Skye jumping around and kicking ass. I don't think Laurel from Arrow has gotten that good that fast. I will give her reviving Lincoln a pass. . . apparently, vibrations work as well as shock paddles. Good to know.

Good episode. In retrospect, it seems so silly to think Wells/Thrawne wouldn't see through the traps Team Flash set up. And I figured it wouldn't be out of the question that W/T wouldn't experience the same timeline like Cisco did. Bit of a cop-out as to Iris finding out Barry's secret. Not as bad as Chloe getting Clark's other side exposed to her in Smallville, but it just seems too easy. Anybody else figure a talking gorilla will be the least of the men's problems next week? Damn, Barry creates Gideon? And becomes a big wheel with the CCPD? And marries Iris? Sweet. Of course, now I'm thinking that Future Iris might have lied on the byline to confuse Past Barry. If I think too much about it, I'll turn into Cisco . . . adorably confused.

This just in . . . Dragonball Z gets a new anime. It's slated to take place after the Maijin Buu saga. I would've focused on Future Trunks and a world without the other "Z-Fighters," but okay. While I'm at it, here's another Marvel toon recommendation: Iron Man: Armored Adventures. It lasted two seasons on TeenNick (Teenick?), and featured a lot of Shellhead's enemies, as well as Obadiah Stane. Also, Tony Stark is not publically known as Iron Man. The potential dealbreaker: Tony and the bulk of his supporting cast are teens, and you get a hankering to throttle Pepper Potts, she's so annoyingly hyperactive. And the theme song is as earworm-y as A:EMH . . .

I peeked at the first few issues of the main title. Not really worth writing home about, IMO. I did pick up the Nightwing/Oracle issue because I'll read darn near anything Gail Simone writes. She does a good job with the relationship and the "Flashpoint" versions of Hawkman and Hawkwoman, who come off as assholes. Also, I'm not sure that Kingdom Come characters should be used . . . it feel sacrilegious.

According to Amazon, the Quarrel/Crackerjack arc will be collected in November. It'll also have the gorilla two-part arc. I've been getting AC-themed sketches: Jitterjack, Confessor, Loony Leo and Atomicus. I got references for more characters . . .. I'll see what I can get in the events to come.

Damn. Not even Barbara deserved to get destroyed. I would've preferred a slow burnout, with Selina and Ivy pointing and laughing. Seeing her get tortured by Ogre (trying not to think Revenge of the Nerds) and getting her folks killed was brutal. And Jim prefers Leslie over her. Anybody else think the guy playing Lucius Fox was trying to channel Morgan Freeman? Maybe a little? Poor Ms. Kringle. She needs better taste in guys. Hopefully, she'll see Eddie on his trail of outfits with question marks all over, and she'll avoid him. And "read between the lines"? Oy. 99 percent of the people you encounter aren't that swift, Ed. And the one percent that is that smart don't want to play. Anybody else miss Fish? Penguin's machinations and Harvey at the Foxglove did take away from the absence of JPS's overacting.

Or maybe she could host. Gotta be better than Probst, right?

This just in . . . D. F. Puffenstuff elects to blame the victim. Seriously, if Dan doesn't get some sort of humiliation by season's end, I'm gonna be pissed.

Nice we get to see one of Sanji's signature moves debut . . . the ability to spin around really fast and have friction cause his leg to catch fire. Jabra had it coming, what with lying about Robin being his little sister. In other news, I'm sill waiting for Luffy to break out Second Gear on Lucci, but I'm guessing he's waiting until all the other plots get resolved first. Oh, and Spandam calls Robin "stupid" a lot. Joy.

Well, things definitely took a turn. Deathgun reveals himself to Kirito, and our hero figures him to be an SAO survivor . . . though the final set of flashbacks confused me, since it's been a while since I saw the SAO arc. Also, Kirito outs himself to Sinon after she strips to her underwear, much to her disgust. You think it might have been necessary for Kirito to mention the virtual wife and kid? Question: how does the show get away with "photon swords"? Legally, I mean . . . they even make the whooshing sound like light sabers.

Well, now I know why that girl had something over her eye. "Patch" didn't occur to me. Some episode . .. a lost eye, wanton destruction, Lady Satuski breaks out her Kamui, Ryuko loses control . .. and the biggest takeaway for me is that Mako is a stealth badass.

Anybody up for a trip to Citi Field? I'm think a Saturday game at 4 would be adequate for me, now that I'm working. Hopefully, deGrom or Harvey would be pitching, but I'm not too picky. ETA: Here's the Jacob deGrom garden gnome that's going to be given away next week. Is that a new thing for fans to collect?

Bummer about Shirin. While it's nice to have a fan playing the game (again), that also means that 1. She lost S30, and 2. There's a good chance she'll be surrounded by jackasses that make those from S30 look like pikers. This is assuming she has enough fan support.

My first thought was more or less, "Well, it's too late for an April Fools joke." After DKSA, I think I'll take a pass on this one.

Anybody else wanting a non-elimination leg? It's not that I adore Matt & Ashley (Mashley?), but I feel that they're a better bet to win than Mike & Rochelle. If a "blind date" couple wins, it would send the wrong message to CBS. Cue twenty-two strangers racing for the million bucks. If there's a finale with three sets of strangers? That would be a guarantee. I'm not feeling the season in general. I mean, the leg was exciting, and the tasks were good and demanding, but it doesn't compare to the shitstorm that is Survivor: Worlds Apart. As bad as Hayley can be, I wasn't shouting, "Fuck you. Go to jail" at the screen like I did with Will two nights ago. The emotions aren't as prevalent. Also, I think Blair was purposely biking as far ahead as he could manage, because he needed a break. About the title quote . . . anybody else think back to the State Farm commercial with the college bros getting stuff from their agent, concluding with the one guy shouting, "And can I get a hot tub?"? Or is it just me? Also . . . yeah, I agree that Jelani & Jenny should have been penalized for not getting the clue on their own. In their defense, I didn't make the "I's = Ice" connection right away. And as good as Hayley & Blair playing dumb was, it paled to Chip trying to deke Brandon & Nicole in TAR5. "SHUCKS!"

This week: Finn and Jake visit their brother, Jermaine. Hijinks ensue . . . I figure this is a story about taking too much responsibility, with Jermaine curating his father's supernatural bric-a-brac. Jake also farts, so there's that. Good episode all around.

Shirin goes for broke on Twitter. Or does she just go broke? I hope there's a happy ending with her . . . but with the dullards surrounding her, I'm not putting any money on that.

I never even noticed that three blind date teams were leading. If they make it to the final leg, it might be an indicator that the concept works. That's not encouraging.

Mets tied their winning streak record with their eleventh in a row. Maybe I should jump on the bandwagon while there's still time.

Somebody in the latest episode thread figured we could get a Dan/Rodney/Will finale. If that happens, I will be ill. Also, the winner would probably get more attention from Probst at the Reunion than Natalie did last season.

Shirin, if you're reading this (not counting on it, but fingers crossed), know that you have at least one person on your side. Why? Because she wants to have fun. Because she's goofy enough to commune with the howler monkeys. Because there's no one left to root for. Because the biggest assholes have targeted her. It might be cool to see her eviscerate her tormentors on Day 39, but I'm not counting on it. I'm 99 percent on the Shirin train. Running around bottomless was weird, but it's not a dealbreaker.