Watching Survivor

Still on vacation, doing my best to survive the heat, made all the better by the plethora of fires popping up all over the place. Tomorrow, I’ll be headed up out of the Fire range, to visit with family, and hopefully to watch this week’s Survivor: China!

Aaron, of course, like all ousted Survivors is working that bitter card along the interview circuit. Victimized by the Tribal Switchup twist, he’s not exactly feeling the love. You can find interviews with him here, here, here, here and here. They all tend to touch on the same things, though my buddies at Buddy TV get straight to it and ask about the romance rumors between Aaron and Amanda. He says absolutely not – cuddling was for warmth purposes only.

Ok, Aaron, we believe ya!
No, really, we do.

Other then that, Aaron (predictably) mentioned that if it hadn’t been for the twist he would have been in a lot longer. He felt the Tribal Switch up really messed with his chances. Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t – I’m still of a mind that Peih-gee and Jaime made a BIG mistake pulling a card like that too early in the game.

So the question is – do they dare do it twice? Will James suffer the same fate that Aaron did and will I be wailing and gnashing my teeth come Friday morning? I’m not sure – but the preview does not look good…

Not sure when I’ll get my recap up – will do so asap, however!

I’ve got a whole variety of things for you today!

First off, I am going on vacation! I’m headed from the growing colder by the day deep freeze of Alaska to the sunny shores of California where I’ll regroup and relax and spend time with some friends, my BFF (not Jill. ha!) and family. I’ll be gone about 11 days, however, I will STILL be thinking of you all - in fact, I’ll be bringing my new laptop with me so I can continue updates whenever I’ve the time and a connection. Yes, I love you guys THAT MUCH! So, while my posts might not be every day, and may occur all at once in spurts, I WILL be updating. So hang in there with me folks, while I get my head back in the right space.

Next - as all the Survivors before him, Dave has been busy on the interview circuit. What amuses me is that he still says that he was changing and adjusting to make a better leader for himself. What I saw was same Dave, different day. How about you?

You can find some of the interviews here, here, here, here AND here. Also, his final words tell the true tale of what he was thinking.

“I gave it my all. Perhaps I gave it too much. At least I did it with conviction and integrity. I thought I was humble. I thought I listened. I wish that some people had perhaps listened to be a bit more. There’s nothing I can do about it. I wish them the best of luck. Ah, youth. (smiles)”

And then the day after:

“It was a very big exercise for me to bite my tongue and not illuminate the inequity of work at camp. Even though they said I was speaking fairly condescendingly to them, I think that was a grossly over-interpreted thing due to the amount of effort I put in. I don’t think it was quite acknowledged.”

Oh Dave.

And C - What does James REALLY think of his tribe?

They’ve been bothering me up there. They should know better. They should know they’re only gonna get a negative response. If you tell me, ‘Thank you,’ I don’t care. I will tell you constantly, ‘Thank you,’ means getting your ass up and helping me. Thank you doesn’t come from words. I can’t work off words. I work off physical energy.”

[...]

That’s kind of getting on my nerves, this whole liberal talk thing. It means absolutely nothing, nothing but lip service. This lip service stuff is killing me. It really is. If you don’t want to do nothing, don’t say nothing. Don’t come up to me every five minutes and ask how I’m doing, tell me I’m doing a good job and then go lay your ass down. Apparently you’re not that thirsty. Don’t complain about what I make the water in; if you don’t wanna drink it, you don’t have to. Stick your lips back in the algae-filled river.”

[...]

“Right now I’m just so aggravated with these people, I’m almost ready to go home anyway. They’re killing me. The thing is I don’t mind doing the work. It’s not the work, it’s not the weather, none of that is killing me anymore. It’s the little attitude they give me when I’m chilling and minding my own business. I don’t bother them when they’re in the pool. They want me to come in the pool and be sociable. I’m like, ‘No, we need water.’ Leave me alone, and if you keep asking me that, I will give you a more aggressive response. They seem not to learn that, because they’re on a damn learning curve. I don’t know how many times they got their hands burnt when they were kids, but I’m surprised they have any fingers. It don’t make any sense for a person to…and they don’t ever get over the hump of learning stuff.”

And last, but certainly not least - DO NOT CLICK PLAY if you are easily offended. If you are easily offended, and you are to curious and HAVE to click play? It is NOT MY FAULT.

But this made me spit out my diet coke all over the keyboard. Some people have too much time on their hands - and it’s TOTALLY worth it. With that in mind, I give you “The Pervert Song: Starting Jean-Robert”.

Enjoy - and I’ll see ya when I see ya over the next couple weeks!

Survivor, Survivor: China, Immunity, CBS, Jeff Probst, Reality TV

Heather, over at the Salon, makes me laugh, especially with her unwavering enthusiasm to making sure we’re educated about TV and what to watch, with careful consideration to those who read her column just to comment on what a waste TV and reading her column is. You gotta love that kind of dedication!

Recently, she dedicated her column to Dave - or as she calls him “the aging Derek Zoolander” and “how he represents the broad-scale collapse of the American personality”. How could you not love her?

She goes on to compare the American’s of old - strong, silent, occasionally drunk and promiscuous to Dave - the control freak who accuses you of being controlling, the bully who’s main line is what a bully you are.

The magic of Dave is that, when he gets in your face about something, he can almost convince you that you’re the crazy one. And then he goes away, and you don’t feel crazy anymore. You just want to kill him — a completely rational urge, actually.

Pop over there and read the rest of her take on the Dave’s of the world, a pox on the land!

In other news, my buddy Jonny Fairplay got a disappointing verdict in his lawsuit filed against Danny Bonaduce for the incident at the Reality TV Awards. According to the press release, the district attorney’s office Friday said that there was insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Bonaduce committed battery, due to Jonny initiating contact.

Thing is - Jonny’s really a nice guy. He’s one of the first past survivor’s to talk with me, and I find his antics mostly amusing. Bonaduce, on the other hand, has always annoyed me to the very depths of my soul. He’s a trainwreck that I gladly look away from. I think he overreacted, and really should man up and at least admit that. So I’m definitely biased in my opinion here, as most folks are. But at the core of it all? I just want to wish Jonny a fast recovery!

Get better soon, Fairplay!

Last but not least? There’s this little tidbit in the TV Guide:

Oh how I love the conspiracy theories! Especially when it’s a 99% probability that it was just editing that put things into the wrong order. *chuckles*

That’s right folks, as I mentioned in the wee hours of the morning over here, last night was the Fox Reality Channel’s 2007 Really Award Show, and gaggles of reality stars were out and shining brightly, including some Survivors!

I have to admit, I never thought I’d see two favorites and vastly different personalities - YauMan and Evel Dick posting together anywhere! That’s Fox for you, bringing fans together all over the place! Both Evel Dick and Yau Man were up for awards last night, and though I have some spoilers, I don’t have all of them just yet. I will keep looking though, and post what I have after the cut!

First, however, the internets are BUZZING over Johnny Fairplay vs. Danny Bonaduce! I first saw it over at Perez Hilton’s, then read Adrianne Curry’s account on her blog, and then went to the source of all scoopable celeb sources - TMZ.

It seems that Johnny was on stage to present an award (the last one of the night?) and he was getting boo’d - Not an unusual occurrence for our favorite Survivor Bad Boy. Bonaduce (According to Curry) asked her if he should go up and tell him that he’s hated, and she - naturally - said yes, because it IS the Really Awards, and all. Never one to be calm and sedate, Bonaduce did exactly as he said he would.

Now here’s where things start getting into he said/he said. According to Curry, when Danny went to walk away, Johnny, being the man we love to hate, ran up and jumped on Bonaduce, wrapped his arms and legs around him, and started humping him. This apparently startled Danny so much (read: he can’t ever take a joke!) he grabbed Johnny by the ass and threw him up over his head (”I didn’t know how light he was!”) and Fairplay landed on his face, smashing out two of his teeth, and somehow breaking a toe as well. Bloody and battered, Fairplay was taken from the awards by ambulance, and after treated by a dentist in the wee hours of the morning, was sent home and is resting comfortably.

He has made a police report, and declared he intends to follow through. Danny Bonaduce maintains that HE was attacked, and thus the result was provoked.

My take? Grow up boys! You know, I was married to an Irishman for 15 years - forever will love him, and he was known to scuffle just for the fun of it! A man such as mine would take all that as it was, as scuffle between boys too big for their britches, and buy each other a beer, and laugh about it for years to come.

Somehow, I don’t think that will happen with these two. However, as TMZ also reported, Johnny Fairplay and his girlfriend ANTM Michelle Deighton got some good news today - they’re having a GIRL! Congrats, Johnny and Michelle!

NOW! After the cut! Did Yau Man win an award last night?

(more…)

Since her ousting on Thursday night’s show, Ashley Massaro has been doing what all Survivors do - the interview circuit! She’s hit the top three interviewers: Buddy TV, Reality TV World and Reality News Online.

One of the funniest comments had to do with the way she prepared herself to be on the show by sitting outside in the rain for 10 minutes. Says Ashley:

You know what was funny? I went outside and I sat in the rain. I’m not even joking you. Just one day for like 10 minutes to see what it felt like. And I’m like, “This is probably not going to be the case. But I just wanted to feel like every element. It might rain a few times.”

I had no idea it was going to be monsooning. That showed me a second perspective. There’s nothing in the world that can prepare you as much unless you’ve actually slept in monsoons for six days. For the entire time. In the rain. You can sit in the rain all you want but you have to sleep overnight in it one night. It’s unbelievable. If it’s pouring rain, you can’t really get a lot done. It really threw a wrench in everybody’s plan.

As we know, Ashley spent the majority of the first episode sick, and then couldn’t pull herself back together enough to make up for that deficit. Her bickering with self-proclaimed leader Dave didn’t help either. The six days she was out there, the Zhan Hu Tribe never once had a hot meal, due to Dave’s insistence on building a proper fire pit first, further depleting his tribe’s strength. They were obviously weak in the Immunity challenge, which resulted in Ashley’s being voted off, despite her good showing in both the reward and immunity challenges. Who didn’t love watching her drive Leslie into the mud? I sure did!

When asked to compare her two stints on reality competitions - Reality Diva Search and Survivor, Ashley laughed. “One loss, one win. I’m ok with that.”

Of course, no one seems to ask the question that would be first on my list! These contestants have seen the show, they’ve watched previous seasons, they know that when Jeff tells them the game can start AT ANY TIME, that it means they will not have more then the clothing on their back. So my question is - WHY ON EARTH was Ashley wearing those boots, that bustier, and that poor totally trashed dress? That, and the boys in their tight jeans, and the other inappropriate footwear - don’t these people EVER learn?!

Survivor, Survivor: China, CBS, Jeff Probst, Reality TV, contestants, Ashley, Dave

Can’t wait another 4 hours to know more? ME EITHER! Fortunately, CBS loves to indulge our obsessions, and has posted Jeff Probst’s thoughts on tonight’s episode. I can’t wait!

Survivor, Survivor: China, CBS, Jeff Probst, Reality TV, preview, contestants

This morning, Jeff was on Live with Regis and Kelly this morning, talking about Survivor: China!
And! It includes a clip from tomorrow night’s show!

Also - Do you and you’re buddies like to hover around the water coolers Thursday morning and debate who will be voted out next? Do you compare notes Friday? Jim, at Fun Office Pools, grabbed me for a link exchange, and I thought I’d point it out for you, so you and your office have a great place to root on your favorites all season long! (If it hasn’t gone live yet - it IS coming along the links on the sidebar - promise!)

Survivor, Survivor: China, CBS, Jeff Probst, Reality TV, rumors, contestants

The day is almost here! Survivor: China premieres in just TWO MORE DAYS! So here’s some more Jeff Probst fun to watch while we wait!

This clip is from actober.com, they’re having a contest - re-enact an immortal postseason moment and you could win a trip to the World Series! Jeff Probst shows us how it’s done Survivor Style!

And, for the fourth year in a row, Probst is acting as spokes person for St Jude’s Children’s Hospital fundraiser, createapepper. In partnership with Chili’s Grill and Bar, St. Jude’s invites people to get creative for a worthy cause between now and September 30th.

What can you do?

Make a donation to St. Jude, for which patrons will receive a Create-A-Pepper coloring sheet. Guests’ coloring sheets will be displayed in restaurants during the month.

Purchase Create-A-Pepper T-shirts that can be customized with permanent marker.

Purchase Create-A-Pepper Gift Cards and dog tags. Chili’s will donate $1 to St. Jude for every $25 purchased in commemorative Create-A-Pepper Gift Cards.

Eat at Chili’s on Monday, Sept. 24, when Chili’s will donate 100 percent of its profits from restaurant sales to St. Jude.

Jeff Probst, host and producer of the Emmy™ Award-winning CBS-TV series “Survivor,” serves as spokesperson for the campaign and is featured in a public service announcement that can be viewed at www.createapepperpresskit.com. Probst urges people nationwide to participate in the campaign, explaining that “you go into any Chili’s during the month of September and simply make a donation to color a pepper. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but every dollar helps the children who depend on the life-saving research and care provided by St. Jude.”

Check it out!

Also - remember Billy Garcia’s walk for Diabetes? I’m THRILLED to say that he’s met his goal, thanks to Barbara (aka - mah mama!) at Diabetes Health Talk! What say you take a peak over at his fundraiser page, and see if you can’t help him DOUBLE his goal before the walk?

Survivor, Survivor: China, CBS, Jeff Probst, Reality TV, rumors, contestants

Miss the preview on the TV Guide channel? Don’t worry, I did too! But folks on YouTube have our back, for sure! Hosted by Earl Cole, we get the first view at what we have to look forward too on Thursday, from the Immunity Idols, the opening ceremony, and more in-depth intros to the contestants to a tour of the Tribal Council! Check it out!

It’s almost here, ya’ll! Who are you’re early picks for the season? Make a prediction or four by clicking the comment button below!

Survivor Fever has done it again, as they do so often! Vern, sent pictures and information about their time spent sneaking about the Production Camps! Check it out here!

Survivor Fever - always the best and baddest resource for all our spoiler needs, has an almost complete cast listed for Survivor: China! While such leaks should be considered possible, at best, Survivor Fever has an incredible record for up to date and CORRECT information! They have 15 contestants listed of what is said to be a 16-member cast.

Aaron Reisberger: 32-year-old from Venice, CA.
Ashley Massaro: 28-year-old WWE wrestler.
Courtney Yates: 20-something model.
Dave Cruser: 37-year-old from Simi Valley, CA.
Denise Martin: Information Unknown.
Erik Huffman: 26-year-old musician/model from Nashville, TN.
Jaime Dugan: Information Unknown.
James Clement: Information Unknown.
Jean-Robert Bellande: 36-year-old professional poker player from Los Angeles, CA.
Leslie Nease: 38-year-old Christian talk radio host from Charlotte, NC.
Mike Zernow: 20-year-old street stunt performer from Chicago, IL.
Peih-Gee Law: 29-year-old in Sales from Los Angeles, CA.
Shereah Monet Lloyd: 26-year-old teacher from Stone Mountain, GA.
Steve Morris: 50-something Pasture Operator from Saltville, VA.
Todd Herzog: 22-year-old from Provo, UT.

The only two famous-ish names are the ones we spoiled a while ago, the wrestler Ashley and the poker player Jean-Robert Bellande. Looks like quite an eclectic group again, though! I’ll keep ya posted as more becomes available!

Survivor, Survivor: China, CBS, Jeff Probst, Reality TV, rumors, contestants

…CANCELED! With just FIVE EPISODES LEFT, CBS has pulled Pirate Master from the lineup effective immediately!

They will be offering the episodes online at cbs.com but today’s episode - episode nine, refuses to play the final 10 minutes or so. Many fans are irritated, especially those who cannot get the InnerTube at cbs to work for them.

I will still do recaps WHEN IT WORKS.

Hopefully tomorrow.

Sigh.

In case you haven’t heard, CBS recently announced the Series Premiere date for Survivor: China!

CBS’s [...] SURVIVOR: CHINA, Thursday, Sept. 20 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT).

Currently the Survivor: China series is being filmed in the Zhelin Lake reservoir area of Jiangxi province in the People’s Republic of China. Filming is speculated to wrap on or around August 2nd.

And that’s not all - Mark Burnett dropped us a tidbit or two about the upcoming season as well!

Burnett was at the semi-annual networks’ press tour on Thursday to promote “Survivor: China,” the 15th edition of his still potent reality show. Instead of the usual tropical island setting, the latest round takes place in an ancient setting in mainland China, a first for an American-produced series.

Sixteen participants are currently filming the series. They face a few new twists.
“We got rid of exile island,” said Burnett. “We still have a hidden immunity idol but it is right under their noses.”

Burnett says this latest round reminded him the most of the very first Survivor. He continues to be amazed that “people still can’t make fire” and that, instead of staying safely under the radar, people are still trying to assume a leadership role “five minutes into the game - the exact opposite of what you are supposed to do.”

Not only THAT, but Survivor Fever let’s us in on some costumes that have been ordered for the season, and the background of them all. I have a feeling we are in for quite a treat this fall!

Survivor, Survivor: China, CBS, Jeff Probst, Reality TV, rumors

Recent tryouts in Bakersfield created quite a rattle among the producers and other Survivor hopefuls. 44-year-old Tehachapi resident, Brent Sheibel waited until the middle of his tryout video, removed a live four-foot rattle snake from his bag, skinned it and took a couple of bites from the exposed flesh. Scheibel told the staff at the event that he was going to eat the snake, but they didn’t believe him, and were “shocked” when he did. The Bakersfield Police animal control division is investigating to see if charges of Animal Cruelty can be filed.

About 160 people showed up in Bakersfield to try out for the popular CBS show. Each contestant makes a two-minute video tape for their audition.

In his tape, Scheibel is seen in safari-type clothes. At one point, he talks about his wind energy job in Tehachapi. Then he talks about survival strategies, “…taking things that look like they don’t look like they’re really good for you or really fun — and make the best of them,” he says.

A bit later, Scheible reportedly dug his fingers into the four-foot long rattller, peeled back the skin and bit the snake. The photographer who was video-taping says about 20 people were in the area, and saw this incident.

While investigating, Bakersfield Police stated:

“There is a law which prohibits animal cruelty,” Sgt. McDonald told Eyewitness News. “It’s somewhat convoluted, but it does appear that venemous animals — and it’s my understanding in his case it was a rattlesnake — are exempt from that, as well as those used for food, food production and things of that nature.”

Jenna Morasca, winner of Survivor: Amazon has also spoken out against the stunt and calls for a full investigation and jail time for Scheible, as well as demanding that the organizers of the event be held liable as well.

It’s not the first time that Survivor has heard allegations of animal cruelty against the series either. There were mutterings when Vanuatu killed a life chicken, as well as when Australia’s Mike hunted and killed the wild pig.

As for my opinion? Um. It’s a SNAKE. A poisonous, nasty, slithering, writhing, SNAKE. If some idiot wants to be stupid enough to skin and bite a life reptile… (Shudders - SOOOOOO nasty! My longtime readers KNOW how much I can’t handle reptiles!) The other incidents were of tribes that needed food, and whine and bitch all you want, but a chicken and a pig were both killed and eaten in case of Survivor need. You don’t see these groups complaining about all the fish and stingrays and even the occasional shark caught, killed and eaten on the show, do you?

It was a stupid stunt, probably, but it was also a SNAKE. It’s not like he grabbed Jeff Dimples Probst, skinned and bit HIM, now is it? It was a snake. It probably tasted like chicken. Get over it.

It’s been seen time and time again that once the game is over, once the lying, backstabbing, conniving, strategy, winning is over - Reality TV stars stick together - even if they’re from different shows. Now is no different.

Big Brother star - Howie Gordon and his girlfriend Sonia recently received the devastating news that their 4-year-old goddaughter, Rabekah, was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Here’s a bit of what they have to say about her:

This past week Howie and I received devastating news. My God-daughter Rabekah (”Bekah”) was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. The specific type of tumor is a Pontine Brain Stem Glioma. They were told it is inoperable.

Rabekah’s parents, Shannon and Glenn, are now in search of the best treatment option. This has become very expensive as they are no longer working and a lot of travel is involved. Thus we have set up an account entitled the “Rabekah Fund” to help cover Rabekah’s medical treatment and expenses.

Rabekah is a beautiful 4-year old little girl. She was born April 16th, 2003. Aunt Sonia was so very lucky to be right in the birthing room as Rabekah was welcomed into this world. She has one older sister, a younger sister and mommy has a baby on the way. Rabekah can’t wait to be a big sister for the second time!

Rabekah has a light about her that emanates for everyone to see, and a wonderful imagination. She likes dressing up like a Disney princess, wearing crowns and jewelry. She loves to sing and dance. Every time Aunt Sonia comes over, the first thing Rabekah does is turn on her music and show off her new dance routine. Bekah’s favorite color is purple and she loves, loves, loves kittens! She especially adores Hello Kitty and the Barbie princess Serafina Kitty.

When Howie first met her last year, he and Rabekah hit if off. They played all night and watched the movie “Free Willy.” They sat on the floor and watched the entire movie from start to finish singing and laughing all the way through. Then the following week after Howie had long since returned to his home in California, Rabekah was helping set the dinner table and set one extra spot. When Rabekah’s mom asked who the spot was for, Rabekah exclaimed, “It’s for Howie!!” Shannon called me right away to tell me that story which I find so sweet. Then a few months later Rabekah found out it was Howie’s birthday and she took her own personal movie of Free Willy from her collection and gave it to Howie for his present!!

Many Reality Stars are banding together to help raise money for Rabeka and her parents to help offset the medical costs of the treatment.

Where does Survivor come in? Mookie of Survivor: Fiji has generously donated an autographed shirt and hat to be auctioned off at Bids for Rabekah. The shirt is the only one that was signed by Mr. Dimples himself, Jeff Probst, as well as many other cast members. It’s a one of a kind item, and for a fantastic cause to boot.

There are many, many other very cool items as well (A 10 minute phonecalls from Big Brother’s James? HELLO!) So what are you waiting for? Go to Bids for Rabekah right now and help raise treatment funds for an adorable little girl!

Survivor, Survivor: Fiji, Jeff Probst, Reality TV, Mookie, Big Brother, Howie