S33.E08: Souvlaki

[MsJamieDornan]

2 hours ago, Netfoot said:

So, the twin that munched down maggot cheese up-chucked onions?!??

Yes, yes ! My thoughts exactly.  I do not like raw onions but I could eat a pound of them over eating the maggot cheese. 

Please put Dusty on mute.

[DEL901]

Wow.  So many have never had souvlaki.   I’m in Toronto.  Almost every decent sized food court has Mr Greek or Souvlaki Hut. 

That said, the twins weren’t the only ones stumped at first, but even Arun and Natalia figured it out without having to eat a second one, one which had the clue on the outside. 

While I would prefer if A/N don’t make the finals, I’m okay with any combination but hoping for a Penn/Kim win. 

[bankerchick]

Maybe it's because I live in a city where there is a Sammy's Souvlaki truck on multiple corners but I was surprised there were people who didn't know how to spell it (or even recognize the word.)  I also hate raw onions and would have picked them out.  Would that have been allowed?  Probably not, so my partner would have had to eat them.  I would have had better luck with maggot cheese.

[RunningMarket]

11 minutes ago, DEL901 said:

Wow.  So many have never had souvlaki.   I’m in Toronto.  Almost every decent sized food court has Mr Greek or Souvlaki Hut. 

Here on the west coast of Canada, we have Opa! in most food courts. And a lot of Greek restaurants, not to mention Greek Fest each year - where yes, I get the souvlaki plate. 😉

Anyway, moving on from that (mainly because it makes me hungry).

I tend to look off in another distance when I'm listening to a lecture. For whatever reason, it helps me retain the information. Although Ryan definitely needed to be listening better. He looked super distracted. Did the clue say it was a 15 minute lecture, or did Ryan just assume (badly) that after 5 he could take off?

[ProfCrash]

Hyperfocus with ADHD simply means that when you are really invested in something you can focus all your attention on it and knock stuff out of the park. That same hyperfocus can be a problem because all you focus on is one thing. See my babylon 5 addiction or when we started with bread or just about any hobby that I find. I make an 8 year old obsessed with minecraft look tame, really really tame.... 

The near photographic memory is a totally different thing and not associated with ADHD. I wish it was because that would be freaking amazing but it is not. 

[proserpina65]

13 hours ago, RunningMarket said:

I realize everyone has had different upbringings, but to have never had souvlaki before?! OR ONION?!

Many people have never had souvlaki before.  I didn't have it until I went to college.  The only ethnic food available when I was growing up was Italian.  Imagine how excited we were when a Taco Bell opened in the next town over!

But the onion thing, that's a bit unusual.  Although I thought she said she didn't like onion.

12 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I expected the episode to end with Phil having to eliminate them himself, as they would lay belly-up, surrounded by crumbs and crumpled napkins.

:-D

11 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I would imagine a lot of people haven't had souvlaki before. I've eaten Greek food a lot of times, and I don't think I have ever had souvlaki, though I have had numerous gyros, which are apparently slightly different.

Gyros are made with meat cooked on a vertical spit, which is then sliced and put in the pita.  Souvlaki uses chunks of meat cooked on skewers, like shish kabob.  It's all yummy.

9 hours ago, aghst said:

I wonder if the street names were in the Roman alphabet.  Or what kind of maps they were using, whether it would show street names in Greek alphabet.

The road signs we saw used both.  Don't know about their maps.

4 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

but I do think that it is bogus that a team that has been eliminated has gotten lucky enough to hit 2 NEL and been saved and that Lulu and Lala hit the elimination mat and are gone.

Well, Lulu and Lala did benefit from a "to be continued" leg themselves, so it's not like they haven't been last before.  I'm not thrilled about Arun and Natalia's being saved multiple times, but they have been to be able to take advantage of it in the next elimination leg.  Still, I'm hoping they don't make the final.

3 hours ago, Netfoot said:

So, the twin that munched down maggot cheese up-chucked onions?!?? And, after taking a single bite, couldn't the other twin have then eaten the lion's share, sparing the philistine onion hater?

People are sensitive to different foods.  Onion wouldn't bother me, but I'd definitely be upchucking fish, for example.

51 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Compounding that problem is the relative ease of the Roadblocks. Yes, the Souvlaki tripped up a couple of teams, but the Saint memorization was more of a time filler than anything else. When every team leaves a Roadblock in the same order they arrived at it, that's a poorly designed Roadblock, IMO. They might as well have teams show up somewhere, set an egg timer for fifteen minutes, then leave again. 

I didn't think either Roadblock was all that easy.  Teams definitely did not leave the dolmade roadblock in the same order they arrived.  The flight attendants arrived second but left last.  And then they caught up with Ryan & Dusty at the saints roadblock.  I actually think this leg was beautifully designed.

[ProfCrash]

I thought this leg had the largest amount of shake up that we have seen yet. People were all over the place. I thought it was a nice balance of attention to detail and navigation. There was not much that was strength related which was nice since there have been legs that were more physical then detail orientated. 

 

[proserpina65]

25 minutes ago, DEL901 said:

So many have never had souvlaki.   I’m in Toronto.  Almost every decent sized food court has Mr Greek or Souvlaki Hut. 

If you live somewhere rural in the US, it's likely you've never encountered Greek food.  Hell, I live midway between Philadelphia and Baltimore, both of which have big Greek communities, and there were no Greek restaurants anywhere near me growing up; there still aren't any in my county although there are some about a 15-20 minute drive away now.  And the local malls definitely didn't have anything like Souvlaki Hut in them.  To a lot of Americans, especially those who didn't grow up in a big city, Greek food is really exotic.

And now I really, really want Greek food!  This weekend, maybe.

[Tango64]

I loved both roadblocks. Putting the clue on the souvlaki wrapper was the kind of devious move I love in TAR. Add the souvlaki lady to the great locals we keep seeing this season.

Including the priest! "Don't talk to the priest." "Why you in such a hurry?" 

If the one twin was so very averse to onion, why not have the other twin eat all the onion? I mean, that might be a lot of onion for one person but she probably wouldn't be retching and so upset over it.

[Chicago Redshirt]

46 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

Gyros are made with meat cooked on a vertical spit, which is then sliced and put in the pita.  Souvlaki uses chunks of meat cooked on skewers, like shish kabob.  It's all yummy.

I'm wondering if someone could blind-taste test the difference between a gyro and a souvlaki served in a pita (which, as I understand it, is sometimes how they are served.) I mean I guess one can tell the difference between shaved meat and a chunk of meat by size, but not sure about taste.

[proserpina65]

1 minute ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I'm wondering if someone could blind-taste test the difference between a gyro and a souvlaki served in a pita (which, as I understand it, is sometimes how they are served.) I mean I guess one can tell the difference between shaved meat and a chunk of meat by size, but not sure about taste.

As long as it's the same type of meat (lamb, chicken, etc.) in both, and the same spices are used, probably not.  Although there may be some difference in how the meat reacts to the way the heat hits it.  Oh man, now I really need to try this.

[HurricaneVal]

I happen to have a Greek food truck about a mile from my house.  I'm thinking that might be what's for dinner tonight!  Souvlaki is not on their menu, but various types of gyros are.  The gyros come with raw onion on them, but I either order it without or I pick it out.  I'm not a raw onion fan, but that's because they don't agree with me and the following 24 hours is a little miserable.  I'm not a fan, but if I were at someone's house and they served me something with raw onion?  I'd eat it to be polite, perhaps discreetly pulling aside larger chunks if I could.  For TAR money and bragging rights?  I could probably do raw onions in a sandwich like that.  I wouldn't be able to do some of those "eat an enormous volume of stuff" challenges though, my appetite isn't that big, so sharing that one serving of souvlaki on the pita bread would be entirely doable.  Eating a whole one by myself might not be, unless I was really, really hungry.

Speaking of.......I didn't pay attention to the clue (I know, I'd make a terrible racer), were they actually required to eat the souvlaki?  I mean, I assumed they would  just because it looked really good and I don't think the racers get much in the way of sustenance during their race day, but was there anything in the clue that said "you must eat your entire souvlaki before you can receive your next clue?"  When one of the twins opened her mouth wide and stuck her tongue out to the food truck chef to show she'd eaten it all, the chef looked a little nonplussed about that, like she was not really a judge of if they ate the whole thing or not.   I wonder if they could have just recognized the clue on the wrapper and either taken it to go, or pitched it in the garbage.

Dusty and Ryan sure looked like they enjoyed the souvlaki what with the way they were chowing down on it.  That didn't just look like perfunctory "get this done then get the clue then get on with it" eating, they were nodding and "mmmmm"ing as they went.  It almost looked like habit took over and they were going to order a second helping....  Ryan's jumpiness at the saint challenge was the first time I've seen him not be all zen about something.  Is Dusty's competition anxiety rubbing off on him, or is he just really not a "sit and listen to this lecture" kind of guy? 

So.....two roadblocks, no detours?  That's what felt "off" about last night's episode.  I didn't realize that until today.  I like the tension in the detours, the "which is better?" followed by the "should we switch?"  I like sitting in my easy chair at home wondering which I would choose.

I'm rooting for team K&P now.  Never in a million years would I think I would do that.  But they did win me over, they seem to work hard at everything they do whether it is their marriage, their business, the race....  They have weaknesses, but despite that they are a strong team because of that hard work.  I would like to see them struggle with something, just to see how they work through it.  And I mean struggle beyond bungee jumping which was only difficult because of Kim's fears.  I want to see them struggle at a difficult or complicated task (putting together a windmill, setting up a bedouin's tent, etc.) and watch how they power through it.  I want Penn's ox to be broken and see how they manage, and compare/contrast to Colin's response from oh so long ago.

[Seelouis]

16 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

 

Speaking of.......I didn't pay attention to the clue (I know, I'd make a terrible racer), were they actually required to eat the souvlaki?  I mean, I assumed they would  just because it looked really good and I don't think the racers get much in the way of sustenance during their race day, but was there anything in the clue that said "you must eat your entire souvlaki before you can receive your next clue?"  When one of the twins opened her mouth wide and stuck her tongue out to the food truck chef to show she'd eaten it all, the chef looked a little nonplussed about that, like she was not really a judge of if they ate the whole thing or not.   I wonder if they could have just recognized the clue on the wrapper and either taken it to go, or pitched it in the garbage.

 

The clue said they had to eat the souvlaki before leaving the stand. But I did laugh when one of the twins thought they had to eat what fell on the ground and the judge quickly put a stop to that. She must have thought they were insane!

Edited February 17, 2022 by Seelouis

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, DEL901 said:

Wow.  So many have never had souvlaki.

That includes me. There probably isn't a Greek restaurant for 1600+ miles of where I live. 

I've had any number of doner when I lived in Britain. It was a must each time I visited London. (They weren't common in the town where I actually lived.)

I can't really see what's the difference between the doner and the giro. The souvlaki seem to differ in that the meat is cooked in chunks on skewers as opposed to on a large, vertical rotisserie. And also that the dish includes chip fries.

 

[dbklmt]

7 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

That includes me. There probably isn't a Greek restaurant for 1600+ miles of where I live. 

I've had any number of doner when I lived in Britain. It was a must each time I visited London. (They weren't common in the town where I actually lived.)

I can't really see what's the difference between the doner and the giro. The souvlaki seem to differ in that the meat is cooked in chunks on skewers as opposed to on a large, vertical rotisserie. And also that the dish includes chip fries.

 

I guess that means you won't be making any for dinner for you or Little Mo 😀

[greyhorse]

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

Many people have never had souvlaki before.  I didn't have it until I went to college.  The only ethnic food available when I was growing up was Italian.  Imagine how excited we were when a Taco Bell opened in the next town over!

 

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

If you live somewhere rural in the US, it's likely you've never encountered Greek food.  Hell, I live midway between Philadelphia and Baltimore, both of which have big Greek communities, and there were no Greek restaurants anywhere near me growing up; there still aren't any in my county although there are some about a 15-20 minute drive away now.  And the local malls definitely didn't have anything like Souvlaki Hut in them.  To a lot of Americans, especially those who didn't grow up in a big city, Greek food is really exotic.

These.  I don't think it's unusual at all that some people have never had souvlaki or a gyro.  Just like I'm sure some people have never had Indian food, which would be a shocker to Arun and Natalia.  

I'm curious why there was no detour on this roadblock.  Maybe Penn and Kim will talk about it in their recap?

When Phil says "self driving car", did anyone else expect a Tesla AI auto-drive?  That's what I thought of and still what I think of if the term "self driving car" is used.  Why did he say that?  Why not just say "drive yourself", which was clearly the intent?

Didn't like Natalia saying "well, we have to drive ourselves, which we're not really good at".  It's sort of a self-defeating philosophy.  It doesn't take a whole lot of skill to drive and find a location by following a map or directions.  Yes, some people are just directionally challenged.  But two people in the same car?  it's a cop-out.  It's not like they're being asked to drive a NASCAR road course and finish in under 3 minutes.  It's really not that hard to drive somewhere.

Dusty is ultra competitive, you can't fault him for that.  But the "Me Tarzan You Jane" beating of the chest schtick is plain annoying.  He's the guy who if he dunks on an opponent would turn to the crowd and flex with arms down and hands clenched while yelling in jubilee.

[Tango64]

5 minutes ago, greyhorse said:

Dusty is ultra competitive, you can't fault him for that.  But the "Me Tarzan You Jane" beating of the chest schtick is plain annoying.  He's the guy who if he dunks on an opponent would turn to the crowd and flex with arms down and hands clenched while yelling in jubilee.

I keep trying to give hiim a pass for just being naturally exuberant and in a competitive situation. But the silverback gorilla display after rolling a little bit of rice in grape leaves? C'mon Dusty, not every achievement requires that level of display. What are you going to do if you win the whole race? Make your head explode all over the losers?

[aghst]

1 hour ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I'm wondering if someone could blind-taste test the difference between a gyro and a souvlaki served in a pita (which, as I understand it, is sometimes how they are served.) I mean I guess one can tell the difference between shaved meat and a chunk of meat by size, but not sure about taste.

 

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

As long as it's the same type of meat (lamb, chicken, etc.) in both, and the same spices are used, probably not.  Although there may be some difference in how the meat reacts to the way the heat hits it.  Oh man, now I really need to try this.

The meat on a cylinder which is shaved is also called schwarma.

They're common  throughout Europe including places like Paris.

Here in the US, at least in my neck of the woods, there are various "Mediterranean" restaurants and they serve things like felafel and the skewer plates.  The schwarma is the regular option and you can pay a buck or two more for grilled chicken or beef, which takes longer.

I think possibly to make those cylinders they may process the meat in such a way as to make them uniform in texture, so maybe like ground or minced beef in a way.

I go for the skewers but I prefer chicken, not pork.

[eel21788]

6 hours ago, Zonk said:

If you'd asked me to spell souvlaki, I would have done it just like this. But then I think that's a bit closer to how a german would write it than a native english speaker. Of course with the vendors accent I'm not quite sure if I had recognised the word.

I do have a quibble with that task: If you're trying to spell the transliteration of a word in Greek into English, is there really only one correct English spelling? 

[Fukui San]

16 hours ago, RunningMarket said:

I realize everyone has had different upbringings, but to have never had souvlaki before?! OR ONION?!

Dusty is definitely a bit OTT, but I did laugh at his line about knowing how to roll based on his "Colorado past time" (paraphrasing). I figured Ryan was going to bust out a fact like he read about Greek saints while in prison. Alas, just learned the mental game.

Kim and Penn are running away with this, and I'm not unhappy about that.

Coming here just to say I can't believe they had a harder time eating Souvlaki than maggot cheese. And yet they did.  

Arun and Natalia are lovely people, but them progressing so far is just getting more and more surreal, let's say.  Who's to say they won't be top three? If they were to win everything it'd easily be the most shocking result in Race history.

[greyhorse]

Another thing that I thought was a little gross - although not grosser than maggot cheese - is that the teammates had to share the souvlaki.  Why couldn't the woman cut it in half?  I think no big deal for Penn and Kim, the pink sisters, and perhaps Arun and Natalia.  But even if Ryan and Dusty are best bros and Raquel and skinny girl as well...do they really swap spit with each other?  I guess in a race, you do what you have to do.  Just seems a little unnecessary to make them share a sandwich.

[dgpolo]

49 minutes ago, greyhorse said:

When Phil says "self driving car", did anyone else expect a Tesla AI auto-drive?

Oh that reminds me, did anyone else see the plastic in the cars? Saw some around the gearshift in, I think, Penn and Kim's car and the steering wheel in A and N's car. Covid cleaning maybe?

 

[preeya]

3 hours ago, greyhorse said:

Raquel letting the girls say hello again during the wrapping challenge.

A boob show every week and the cameras are not shy about accommodating her/them.

[grandmabegum]

13 minutes ago, dgpolo said:

Oh that reminds me, did anyone else see the plastic in the cars? Saw some around the gearshift in, I think, Penn and Kim's car and the steering wheel in A and N's car. Covid cleaning maybe?

 

Yeah, I thought I saw it in the flight attendants car around the gear shift.

[Fukui San]

It's fine if people live in a place where there is no Greek food and have never tried Souvlaki.

The twins are from North Bergen, New Jersey, just across the river from Manhattan, though. So no idea how they could've avoided this bit of culinary literacy for their entire life.

During one of the clue openings, one of the twins was wearing a mask, so there were probably a lot of various safety rules they didn't spell out on screen.

[grandmabegum]

3 minutes ago, Fukui San said:

The twins are from North Bergen, New Jersey, just across the river from Manhattan, though. So no idea how they could've avoided this bit of culinary literacy for their entire life.

And some people just aren't into exploring new foods.

[RunningMarket]

22 minutes ago, dgpolo said:

Oh that reminds me, did anyone else see the plastic in the cars? Saw some around the gearshift in, I think, Penn and Kim's car and the steering wheel in A and N's car. Covid cleaning maybe?

Probably on there for the people who dropped the cars off.

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, dbklmt said:

I guess that means you won't be making any for dinner for you or Little Mo

I actually thought about it... but I'm not sure I could pull it off. If it turned out horrible Mo wouldn't complain, but...

23 minutes ago, Fukui San said:

If they were to win everything it'd easily be the most shocking result in Race history.

Ah-hem! TAR-21. The Beekman Boys. 'Nuff said.

19 minutes ago, greyhorse said:

Another thing that I thought was a little gross - although not grosser than maggot cheese - is that the teammates had to share the souvlaki.  Why couldn't the woman cut it in half?

Maybe it's a cultural thing, but I can't see myself running a Race Around the World with someone I was unwilling to share a sandwich or a bottle of water with.

17 minutes ago, dgpolo said:

Oh that reminds me, did anyone else see the plastic in the cars? Saw some around the gearshift in, I think, Penn and Kim's car and the steering wheel in A and N's car. Covid cleaning maybe?

Nothing so dramatic, I think. I believe the cars were brand new, and the protective plastic that covers the seats/upholstery, etc, of all new cars had simply not been fully removed.

10 minutes ago, preeya said:

A boob show every week and the cameras are not shy about accommodating her/them.

Again, nothing wrong with the top that she chose to wear, and nothing unfortunate happened that would require any pixelation. Or frankly, a raised eyebrow. They were in Greece, the southernmost nation in Europe, where many europeans go for hot sun and blue sea. If she had chosen to spend the entire day in a pair of shorts and a bikini top, it would be no different to what many, many tourists do when they come on vacation here. She was probably wearing "go-forwards" as well. it's not like they were in and out of hallowed cathedrals or formal law offices. I'll check on the "go-forwards" if I re-watch.

[blackwing]

I don't understand the point of making the racers spell "souvlaki".   I guess those that failed just went and asked someone.  If they were going to make people spell the word as a delaying/separating tactic, then at least have in the rules that they cannot ask another team or a stranger for help.

How many times did Ryan fail at the saints task?  His first try, he left after five and failed, went back and started hearing the speech again.  But then when Kayla showed up, he was only two minutes into the speech.  Was there another failed attempt somewhere in between or did the guy wait for Kayla?  Because Ryan seemed awfully tired of the whole thing, like it was his third or fourth go-around.  I was curious about what would happen if someone walked in at minute 8 or so, and that didn't seem to happen.

There's no reason why anyone should have needed more than two listens.  Once you fail the first time, you have all the questions, and can selectively listen.  More dumbing down of the race.  It would have been better if the questions were random each time.

53 minutes ago, greyhorse said:

Another thing that I thought was a little gross - although not grosser than maggot cheese - is that the teammates had to share the souvlaki.  Why couldn't the woman cut it in half?  I think no big deal for Penn and Kim, the pink sisters, and perhaps Arun and Natalia.  But even if Ryan and Dusty are best bros and Raquel and skinny girl as well...do they really swap spit with each other?  I guess in a race, you do what you have to do.  Just seems a little unnecessary to make them share a sandwich.

I would assume that any friends who are willing to travel around the world together are close enough that they don't think anything of sharing water and/or food with each other.  And perhaps some people don't care.  I am watching "Next Level Chef" and it always squicks me out on all the Gordon Ramsay cooking shows how all of the judges eat from the same plate of food.  They don't even attempt to cut it up or divide it into three equal portions or spoon a portion onto their own individual tasting plate.  They just each dig into the presented plate with their own fork and knife.

[greyhorse]

39 minutes ago, blackwing said:

I don't understand the point of making the racers spell "souvlaki".   I guess those that failed just went and asked someone.  If they were going to make people spell the word as a delaying/separating tactic, then at least have in the rules that they cannot ask another team or a stranger for help.

How many times did Ryan fail at the saints task?  His first try, he left after five and failed, went back and started hearing the speech again.  But then when Kayla showed up, he was only two minutes into the speech.  Was there another failed attempt somewhere in between or did the guy wait for Kayla?  Because Ryan seemed awfully tired of the whole thing, like it was his third or fourth go-around.  I was curious about what would happen if someone walked in at minute 8 or so, and that didn't seem to happen.

There's no reason why anyone should have needed more than two listens.  Once you fail the first time, you have all the questions, and can selectively listen.  More dumbing down of the race.  It would have been better if the questions were random each time.

I would assume that any friends who are willing to travel around the world together are close enough that they don't think anything of sharing water and/or food with each other.  And perhaps some people don't care.  I am watching "Next Level Chef" and it always squicks me out on all the Gordon Ramsay cooking shows how all of the judges eat from the same plate of food.  They don't even attempt to cut it up or divide it into three equal portions or spoon a portion onto their own individual tasting plate.  They just each dig into the presented plate with their own fork and knife.

I didn't understand the point either.  I think it was the twins that asked somebody in a car how to spell it?  It was just a bad attempt at interjecting some Greek culture into the task.  A better option would have been to make the racers look at a menu without names and ask them to pick the souvlaki and make them consume it.  If they picked a gyro?  They have to finish it before they pick something else.  A moussaka?  They have to eat that first.  They'd know if they picked wrong if there was no clue.

I think Natalia also showed up after the lecture had already started.  Was curious if she would have listened to the beginning again.  Good point about just needing to do it twice since you would just listen for the answers to the questions.  I also wonder if the racer waiting to guess was sequestered away from the table where they couldn't see the pictures or hear the questions.  Because all you have to do is observe what the person in front of you did and then just copy.  I would find it hard to believe that the racers got that complicated story and remembered everything so quickly.  I think the race in general does a bad job of making people don't just copy off each other (thinking back to the husbands and the cake decorating).

As far as germs, I suppose.  But I'm a self-admitted germaphobe.  I'd chow it down just because it was a race.  For a million dollars, I'd probably share even underwear, but I wouldn't like it.

Still confused how the twins ended up at the pit stop in the first place.  Wonder how much time they lost.

[Chicago Redshirt]

1 hour ago, eel21788 said:

I do have a quibble with that task: If you're trying to spell the transliteration of a word in Greek into English, is there really only one correct English spelling? 

I would have to think that the consensus among dictionaries is that there is only one way to spell "souvlaki" correctly.

Soo/su/sue

phla/fla/ffla/ohlaw/flaw/fflaw

cki/ci/cci/kki/cky/cy/ccy/ckie/cie/ccie/kkie

would probably all be valid ways to spell the various components of that word.

I think that one of the contestants should have responded to "But first you have to spell it," by going "OK, I-T. Gimme my souvlaki"

Ended up opting for souvlaki-adjacent shawarma for lunch. Best I could do at the mo.

[grandmabegum]

3 minutes ago, greyhorse said:

Still confused how the twins ended up at the pit stop in the first place.  Wonder how much time they lost.

They said they saw a race marker and followed it.

[ProfCrash]

1 hour ago, blackwing said:

I don't understand the point of making the racers spell "souvlaki".   I guess those that failed just went and asked someone.  If they were going to make people spell the word as a delaying/separating tactic, then at least have in the rules that they cannot ask another team or a stranger for help.

How many times did Ryan fail at the saints task?  His first try, he left after five and failed, went back and started hearing the speech again.  But then when Kayla showed up, he was only two minutes into the speech.  Was there another failed attempt somewhere in between or did the guy wait for Kayla?  Because Ryan seemed awfully tired of the whole thing, like it was his third or fourth go-around.  I was curious about what would happen if someone walked in at minute 8 or so, and that didn't seem to happen.

There's no reason why anyone should have needed more than two listens.  Once you fail the first time, you have all the questions, and can selectively listen.  More dumbing down of the race.  It would have been better if the questions were random each time.

I would assume that any friends who are willing to travel around the world together are close enough that they don't think anything of sharing water and/or food with each other.  And perhaps some people don't care.  I am watching "Next Level Chef" and it always squicks me out on all the Gordon Ramsay cooking shows how all of the judges eat from the same plate of food.  They don't even attempt to cut it up or divide it into three equal portions or spoon a portion onto their own individual tasting plate.  They just each dig into the presented plate with their own fork and knife.

There is a bonus clip that follows the twins asking about 5 or 6 different people to spell it. One dude spells it in Greek and tries to translate it. It was hard to find someone who could spell it in English.

[aghst]

I've probably never would have spelled it correctly if I never visited Greece or gone to Greek restaurants.

Some of them were way off in spelling.  

I don't know how to spell those leaf wraps.

 

 

[blackwing]

3 minutes ago, aghst said:

I've probably never would have spelled it correctly if I never visited Greece or gone to Greek restaurants.

Some of them were way off in spelling.  

I don't know how to spell those leaf wraps.

 

 

I would have called them "dolmas".  Trader Joes sells a canned dolmas which is not bad.  But apparently the proper plural of "dolma" in Greek is "dolmades".

Phil called them "dolmades" but Dusty said he knew what those were, he was making "dolmas".  Did I hear him correctly and he said he has Greek heritage?  Or was he just being facetious?  I thought it was great of him to recognise that the vein sides of the leaves had to be on a certain side, considering that some of the others did not.

For that task, I disliked how when Kim approached with her plate, she said something like "here we are, these are BEAUTIFUL aren't they".  It was just like in the flag cakes when she and Penn first approached the judge and she said something about how their cakes were beautiful.  I get that she is trying to influence the judge into passing her, but I'm sure the judges know what to look for, and I thought it was annoying.  It was great when the judge was all, no, in fact, they are not.

[ProfCrash]

1 minute ago, blackwing said:

I would have called them "dolmas".  Trader Joes sells a canned dolmas which is not bad.  But apparently the proper plural of "dolma" in Greek is "dolmades".

Phil called them "dolmades" but Dusty said he knew what those were, he was making "dolmas".  Did I hear him correctly and he said he has Greek heritage?  Or was he just being facetious?  I thought it was great of him to recognise that the vein sides of the leaves had to be on a certain side, considering that some of the others did not.

For that task, I disliked how when Kim approached with her plate, she said something like "here we are, these are BEAUTIFUL aren't they".  It was just like in the flag cakes when she and Penn first approached the judge and she said something about how their cakes were beautiful.  I get that she is trying to influence the judge into passing her, but I'm sure the judges know what to look for, and I thought it was annoying.  It was great when the judge was all, no, in fact, they are not.

I thought she knew that they didn't look beautiful and was being facetious, especially with the grape wraps. And Kim was fine when the judge said they were not and went back and fixed them.

[Chicago Redshirt]

53 minutes ago, blackwing said:

How many times did Ryan fail at the saints task?  His first try, he left after five and failed, went back and started hearing the speech again.  But then when Kayla showed up, he was only two minutes into the speech.  Was there another failed attempt somewhere in between or did the guy wait for Kayla?  Because Ryan seemed awfully tired of the whole thing, like it was his third or fourth go-around.  I was curious about what would happen if someone walked in at minute 8 or so, and that didn't seem to happen.

There's no reason why anyone should have needed more than two listens.  Once you fail the first time, you have all the questions, and can selectively listen.  More dumbing down of the race.  It would have been better if the questions were random each time.

Ryan had to have done it at least three times: his initial fail, his fail when Cayla showed up, and then one additional time when he finally got it. There probably was at least one or two other fails not shown. It didn't seem like the greeter started from the beginning when Cayla showed up. I'd guess that someone showing up halfway through the lecture would have to stick around and wait for him to start from the top to get the first half, or they could just presume to take the quiz from the part they did catch. I think Ryan seemed awfully tired of hearing it pretty much from the start.  

I agree that most people should be able to get it in two listens, but I could see confusing something and having to go for a third. And of course, the Ryan mistake means that you would be lucky to do it in three. (In fact, it looked like he got two right when on his first time when he had only listened to the first five, so good on him). A fourth seems right out, though. 

[Hera]

9 hours ago, Zonk said:

I like that there is some ADHD-visibility out there finally (although the race show it in a touch too positve light for my liking, but oh well).

I know what you mean. As someone who doesn't have ADHD, it's interesting to hear it discussed like this. But on the other hand, I've known people with ADHD who weren't nearly as high-functioning as Penn. I don't know how I'd feel in their place—maybe it would be inspiring, but if I were really struggling to manage it, I think seeing the way its presented on the show with Penn would make me feel worse about myself. And I don't think that's necessarily Penn's fault. He mentioned in his talking head that he drives his family nuts. I'm sure he's mentioned other downsides and it, but the race has decided to go with an inspirational narrative for him.

6 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I'm really frustrated with the bunched start times. Especially with so few teams left. It's making it too easy for the first group to stay out front and too hard for the trailing groups to catch up. 

I don't like it because Raquel/Cayla and Ryan/Dusty must have arrived within just a few minutes of each other, but will be in different departure groups, if the pattern of leaving 1/2 and 3/4 continues. Because I like the Flight Attendants more than I like Ryan and Dusty, this bothered me more when I thought Ryan and Dusty were going to come in second, but either way, it's not really fair. Based on the impression given by the show about check-in times, Kim and Penn should get to leave by themselves, Raquel/Cayla and Ryan/Dusty should leave together, and Arun and Natalia should leave in last place by themselves again.

Speaking of Ryan and Dusty, I've never seen a team so bummed out to arrive in 3rd. They were definitely ahead of the flight attendants leaving the first roadblock, and it looked like they left the second roadblock ahead as well (though only just), so they have no one but themselves to blame for falling back behind them.

[HurricaneVal]

I actually think (Raquel's chest notwithstanding) that the flight attendants are starting to flag and show exhaustion more than the other teams.  They both seemed (Raquel's chest notwithstanding) flat and subdued in last night's episode.  Not as much spunk or enthusiasm, and they've stopped wearing the amount of makeup they used to in the first several legs--even after The Amazing Reboot.

That may just because they really don't care anymore about their appearance and are race-focused, or it could be indicative that they're getting exhausted and are sleep-deprived, so they're sacrificing a full cosmetic regime for an hour more of sleep.  Or perhaps they ditched or lost their cosmetics somewhere along the way.  If camping out is the pandemic accommodation of choice this season, then that could be contributing to poor sleep.  Or another racer might have a horrible snoring problem!

[Netfoot]

29 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

I actually think (Raquel's chest notwithstanding) that the flight attendants are starting to flag and show exhaustion more than the other teams.  They both seemed (Raquel's chest notwithstanding) flat and subdued in last night's episode.

So you're saying Killer Fatigue is sort of protruding into their performance, and the resulting impact on their racing sticks out?

[dbklmt]

2 hours ago, grandmabegum said:

They said they saw a race marker and followed it.

They did, but not only them also Arun and Natalia found it but didn't go to the pitstop as Lulu and Lala did.

It's all explained in Kim and Penn's recap (:53)

 

[GenerationX]

Random thoughts on episode 8 - "LoLo":

• The twins must have gotten navigation advice from Arun and Natalia at the last pit stop.
• The backdrop of Mount Olympus may have reminded viewers the Olympics were on another network, but do figure skaters ever have to look at the bottom of their skates for their next destination or learn how to properly Zamboni the ice?  They do not.
• Olive trees, dolmades, and souvlaki ... this was the foodiest episode ever!

The Amazing Ladder reminded me of the old all-text adventure games.

> get clue

You cannot reach the clue.

> look

You are at the corner of a well-maintained olive tree grove.  There is a ladder here.

> climb ladder

You scale the ladder.

> get clue

Taken.

> open clue

You cannot open the clue without your partner.  This is the 8th leg, you should know that by now.

Edited February 19, 2022 by GenerationX

[Mediocre Gatsby]

17 hours ago, PaperTree said:

Understatement of the season:

"Navigation is not our strong point"  LOL

Yeah, Martin Short is stronger in men's synchronized swimming than they are in navigating. 

 

9 hours ago, greyhorse said:

Ryan leaving after the first five saints was hilarious, and he was about to do it again along with skinny FA when the priest quickly interjected "And next" or something like that.  If I were the priest, I would have let them run off again.

Yes, I was wishing the priest wouldn't give Ryan that second chance. 

I've never had souvlaki but I could spell it, just from reading a lot I think. I too am not sure what the spelling added to the task. 

[Aradea]

How big were on Youtube prior to the pandemic. I only found them during lockdown when they went pretty viral with several covid parodies. So I knew who they were when Amazing Race started but obviously in real time I was seeing them on YouTube after they had ran those initially 3 logs.. if that makes sense?

[ProfCrash]

15 minutes ago, Aradea said:

How big were on Youtube prior to the pandemic. I only found them during lockdown when they went pretty viral with several covid parodies. So I knew who they were when Amazing Race started but obviously in real time I was seeing them on YouTube after they had ran those initially 3 logs.. if that makes sense?

Big. They got bigger during the pandemic but they were already well known.

[J-Man]

7 hours ago, aghst said:

8 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

 

The meat on a cylinder which is shaved is also called schwarma.

And it's the basis for the Mexican method of cooking meat called "al pastor." It was supposedly introduced to Mexico by Lebanese immigrants. 

[ByaNose]

I watched the Holderness TAR recap. They didn’t really add anything I hadn’t seen or heard but they do a great job with the recaps. They had their kids at the beginning. They were nice kids but I’m not into their YouTube stuff so I didn’t really care what they had to say. They did think Kim & Penn were setting them up for failure and were shocked that they came in first again. Personally, I think they are going to win the whole race. They are just so in sync with each other and perfect that I will be shocked if they don’t win. I always try to pick up clues and slips from people on TAR and Survivor in exit press but I never know who is going to win. I just don’t have the gene. LOL!!!! 2 more episodes left. I think next week is an hour and the Finale is 2 hours but don’t quote me on that. 

[SVNBob]

On 2/16/2022 at 9:02 PM, Lola82 said:

I’m officially rooting for Penn and Kim. I love their calm, efficient approach to the race. Penn is just rocking everything - he knew French at the last leg, he easily reached the clue in the tree this leg…as someone who has a kid with ADHD, my heart dropped when he chose to do the saint quiz. I know how easily he could have spaced out with someone droning on for 15 minutes and he still managed to use the ADHD to his benefit and hyper focus instead, I love it!

Penn didn't exactly have a choice when it came to the quiz.  Whenever there's been 2 Roadblocks in a single leg before, the people that didn't do the first one are required to perform the second.  While none of the teams read aloud a note on the clue to say so, they all followed that rule.  So I presume it was written there.

 

On 2/16/2022 at 11:06 PM, Lantern7 said:

Honestly, how many of the fifteen saints are keeping Arun & Natalia in the race? Gotta be at least ten. They're not bad people, but they are horrible Racers. They've been eliminated AND saved in two non-elimination legs. I dread the idea of those two winning, purely from the standpoint of wanting a team that was eliminated to stay eliminated*.

 

At least St. Christopher... but as the patron saint of TAR overall, he ought to be watching over all the teams.

18 hours ago, AZChristian said:

What we can't figure out - and we've already deleted the episode so we can't rewatch it - is how the twins ended up where Phil was so early.

What I assumed:

The clue from the first Roadblock said to go to the beach to find the souvlaki stand.  The twins found the ocean, then followed the roads there to the pier.

18 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Logic would suggest that next week (#9) will be another NEL, then an elimination in #10 and the final three race to the mat in #11.

Depends on how many episodes there are.  And with Survivor starting on the 9th and Celebrity Big Brother (🤮) still on, there's only two weeks left for TAR.  Now, there could be another double-length episode, like the premiere, so there could be 3 Legs to go.  But there could also be just the 2.

 

15 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I'm really frustrated with the bunched start times. Especially with so few teams left. It's making it too easy for the first group to stay out front and too hard for the trailing groups to catch up. 

Compounding that problem is the relative ease of the Roadblocks. Yes, the Souvlaki tripped up a couple of teams, but the Saint memorization was more of a time filler than anything else. When every team leaves a Roadblock in the same order they arrived at it, that's a poorly designed Roadblock, IMO. They might as well have teams show up somewhere, set an egg timer for fifteen minutes, then leave again.

The facts that the BFFAs started in the first group, left the first Roadblock last, got to the second Roadblock 3rd, then finished in 2nd place again seem to belie what you're saying here.

13 hours ago, greyhorse said:

Didn't like Natalia saying "well, we have to drive ourselves, which we're not really good at".  It's sort of a self-defeating philosophy.

Less self-defeating philosophy and more self-awareness.  They at least know that it's their main weakness.

6 hours ago, GenerationX said:

The backdrop of Mount Olympus may have reminded viewers the Olympics were on another network, but do figure skaters ever have to look at the bottom of their skates for their next destination or learn how to properly Zamboni the ice?  They do not.

That reminds me that while watching the episode last week, I was trying to come up with a way to turn TAR into an Olympic event.  If you include the changes they made in order to complete this season (plus a couple other modifications I came up with), I think you could reasonably run TOR (The Olympic Race) in either Games with teams starting during the Opening Ceremonies, and finishing during the Closing.

[bearcatfan]

I also do not like raw onions and always ask that they not be included or I pick them off. Cooked are fine and onion rings are delicious. I think the raw is just too strong for my taste.

Dusty is becoming annoying, but I don’t hate him. Ryan is fine usually. I actually don’t hate anyone. 
 

Penn and Kim had Sheri and Akbar on their Tuesday podcast, not the race recap one. They talked about Akbar’s school. It was heartbreaking. He talked about how several students have been murdered. He and Sheri are doing good things to try to help these kids. They put washing machines and dryers in the school so kids can wash their clothes after Akbar realized that some students were skipping school because they had dirty underwear. Detergent is provided. 

[ProfCrash]

7 minutes ago, bearcatfan said:

I also do not like raw onions and always ask that they not be included or I pick them off. Cooked are fine and onion rings are delicious. I think the raw is just too strong for my taste.

Dusty is becoming annoying, but I don’t hate him. Ryan is fine usually. I actually don’t hate anyone. 
 

Penn and Kim had Sheri and Akbar on their Tuesday podcast, not the race recap one. They talked about Akbar’s school. It was heartbreaking. He talked about how several students have been murdered. He and Sheri are doing good things to try to help these kids. They put washing machines and dryers in the school so kids can wash their clothes after Akbar realized that some students were skipping school because they had dirty underwear. Detergent is provided. 

Akbar and Sheri are doing amazing things for kids. I am not sure that their time on the Race was great for their image. They both seem happy and fine with their relationship, which is all that matters. The other racers seem to think that they are great people and have been highly supportive, which leads me to think that the snapshots we saw are really the rare moments. That said, the way Akbar tried to motivate Sheri was not comfortable to watch.