My extreme displeasure with Randall and Rebecca on Trump's Apprentice.
The ends did NOT justify the means.
Mike agrees, but thinks that the fact that they are on a TV show makes it not as big a deal.
This episode shattered the last of my delusions that the Apprentice was really about finding the best person.
Am I overreacting?
There were things to like: A good task despite the bizarre "wrapping" idea.
Once again, an extremely close result is played like a blowout.
What it would take for Randall (or Rebecca) to redeem themselves.
Using megaphones to sell things.
My pitiful failure to produce results in the Terrel Owens vs. Darth Vader debate.
Lost: considerably better this week.
We still don't LIKE Anna-Lucia, but her motivations are at least more understandable now.
"4 holopoint bullets to the chest", and not only does she survive, but she doesn't even have any scars. At least, none that prevent her from wearing tank tops.
"The Other 48 days" episode was the one ugly bruised spot on an otherwise delicious apple.
Is Anna-Lucia's unlikability deliberate?
Downloadable episodes on iTunes.
Discussion of porn on the video iPod.
I ask why, and in what situations, people would watch porn on iPods, and then regret asking the question.
Porn industry is remarkably adaptable.
I'm going to need an external hard drive soon, because my iPod is as big as my whole computer hard drive.
Amazing advances in technology.
A reminder that my For Science video podcast is now video iPod compatible.
Episode 28 is up now, in which Mike and I discuss Episode 11 of Survivor: Guatemala! It was actually up last night, but I forgot to put up the podcast notes, but here they are now.
Download the mp3, subscribe to the feed, or listen right here with the Podcast Pickle Pickle Player!
And here's what we talked about!
Do I talk too much?
Anger at being denied closure... okay, I'm over it.
Was Gary's ouster obvious beforehand or did the editing manage to give you doubts?
Gary's big mistake. Talking to Lydia so close to the camp pretty much doomed both of them.
Their fates were sealed with the first swing of Cindy's battle club.
Good to Cindy finally emerging as a more-active player.
The hunger is making Lydia lose her likability, which was her only strength in the game.
This type of reward challenge is precisely designed to force demonstrations of loyalty.
Cindy's choice of Rafe to accompany her on the challenge was the exact right decision.
Judd's surprising display of self-control impressed us both.
Yes, it IS personal!
Yes, Judd, you ARE a bad liar!
Being doomed let Gary say what he's wanted to say for a long time at tribal council, especially about Stephanie. But does anyone have the balls to stand up to her?
What's up with Danni? Is she still playing this game or what? I still think she's got something cooking, but it's just a hunch.
Cheating in the trivia quiz? "Eyes on your own answer-cubes, people!"
Stephanie: Many strengths and positive attributes, but not really all that smart.
Dr. Jeckle and Ms. Stephanie: When challenged on the food thing, negative Stephanie makes a reappearance.
Reconsidering Stephanie's chances: If she makes final two, will she win?
Taking it a step further, are any of the other players TRYING to keep her from reaching the final two?
Rafe and Cindy: Potential for mutiny?
Given all his immunities, why is Rafe still not seen as a threat?
Picking an opponent for the final two, try to get a player with a similar strategy, or a player with a very different strategy?
Judd: The best final two opponent for anyone?
Judd vs. Stephanie: How would the votes go?
Could Rafe, Cindy, and Danni turn the tables on Judd and Stephanie? Rafe's probably the tricky vote, but which pair would be a better fit for his final three?
The final five is Danni's to lose right now.
Could Stephanie and Judd be split?
"How long can you hold out?"-challenges and Stephanie: will, heart, but no patience.
Survivor History: Giving up immunity?
Did Richard Hatch make Survivor into the game it is today?
Survivor Season 1: Sean's dumb-ass alphabet strategy and Sue Hawk's infamous (and hypocritical) final tribal council speech.
Survivor: Thailand repeats start showing Wednesday on OLN.
Mike wages his hopeless battle against DVR's, just for the hell of it.
In this episode, I make a few announcements and then play some recordings I made on my trip to Auburndale, Florida. It was a great trip that really brought me in touch with a side of my family that I don't see very often, and who live in a very different place from where I grew up.
Here are some pictures I took on the trip. (My extended family out there lives in semi-rural Florida and owns a trailer park out there.)
My great aunt Polly's old house.
Driving around "the park."
The neighborhood.
My mom and my brother David.
My mom, my brother and I in my great aunt Polly's backyard.
A little visitor enjoys the pool.
"Uncle Bruce"
Walking around the backyard.
Heading into the field.
A donkey hopes for some treats.
A nice little grove.
Uh oh, I'm being surrounded, with not a single horse treat to my name.
In this episode, Mike and I finally settle on the final list of questions for our experiment to determine who is more famous: Terrell Owens or Darth Vader.
1) Who is the person in this picture? (Answer: Terrell Owens)
2) What team did T.O. play for? (Answer: Philadelphia eagles.)
3) What position does T.O. play? (Answer: Wide Receiver)
4) Who was T.O.'s most recent quarterback? (Answer: Donovan McNabb)
5) Who was T.O.'s first quarterback? (Answer; Jeff Garcia)
6) What number is T.O.? (answer: 81)
7) Who is T.O.'s agent? (Answer: Drew Rosenhaus)
8) What caused T.O.'s suspension? (Answer: He said negative things about his teammates in public; also acceptable: he didn't feel like he was getting paid enough money)
9) For which team did T.O. first play? (Answer: The San Francisco 49'ers)
10) What college did T.O. play for? (Answer: Chattanooga)
1) Who is the person in this picture? (Answer: Darth Vader)
2) What is the source of Darth Vader's power? (Answer: The force)
3) What is the name of Darth Vader's weapon? (Answer: light saber)
4) Who was Darth Vader's most recent master? (Answer: Emporer Palpatine/Darth Sidious)
5) Who was Darth Vader's first mentor? (Answer: Obi-Wan Kenobi)
6) What is Darth Vader's real name? (Answer: Anakin Skywalker)
7) Who was Darth Vader's wife? (Answer: Padme Amidala)
8) What caused Darth Vader to fall to the dark side? (Answer: Palpatine promised to teach him how to save Padme's life)
9) On which planet was Darth Vader born? (Answer: Tatooine)
10) Before turning to the dark side, what organization did he work for? (The Jedi Council.)
From there, a brief bit of technical difficulties leads to a discussion of jokes, inside and otherwise, and being "too smart for your own good."
Finally, I bring up my idea for a possible new show on the PodcasterNews network, which is a great idea by itself. Whether or not my idea (Science you can use) is good, I'll leave all of you to decide.
Episode 24 is up now, and in it, Mike and I discuss the non-renewal of Martha Stewart's Apprentice, our disappointment with the most recent episode of Lost, and our feelings about this week's installment of Trump's Apprentice. Download the mp3 file, subscribe to the feed, or listen right here with the Podcast Pickle Pickle Player!
It's up a little late, but Episode 23 is up now, and in it, Mike and I discuss Episode 10 of Survivor: Guatemala. Download the mp3 file, subscribe to the feed, or listen right here with the Podcast Pickle Pickle Player!
The answer to the brain teaser I posed way back in Episode 15. (Also see my blog post from even earlier where I first brought it up.)
An update on the progress of my attempt to determine who is more famous: Darth Vader or Terrell Owens. This segment includes an audio comment from Kevin and a clip from Extra Points, a Fantasy Football Podcast, where Steve, one of the hosts, gives me a nice plug and an offer of assistance.
Or, you can listen to it right here using the Pickle Player! Just click the play button!
In this episode, I play a great podsafe song called "Sound Scientist" by Bill, from the Podsafe Music Network, then Mike and I discuss the most recent episodes of Martha Stewart's Apprentice and Lost.
The trials and tribulations of network programming schedules: Mike didn't actually watch Martha Stewart's version of The Apprentice this week, and Christiana subtly and humbly offers a possible solution.
Neither Christiana nor Mike were fans of the "Jim has been called the male Omorosa" promos for this week's MS Apprentice, but it turned out even less appropriate than we expected.
Sorry to see Howie go, but he deserved it this week.
Bethany's botched boardroom business.
Bizarre poll on NBC's website.
Dawna has a problem, but she didn't deserve to be fired this week.
Christiana gives Mike a hard time for giving her a hard time about when she didn't know who Alla was but now Mike doesn't... oh never mind.
Christiana likes Leslie.
Stupid "Next time on Apprentice" promos, but good "Next time on Lost" promos.
This week's Lost: Mixed feelings regarding Shannon's death.
Boone's stupid flashback hair.
The brother-sister storyline was left off-balance by Boone's death, so Shannon's death felt like tying up loose ends for writer convenience. That said, it was handled well.
The passion of Said, vice-president of the good guys.
Killing off popular(?) characters.
Characters and their role in the story.
Should have Locke pushed harder with Charlie and the drugs?
Locke: The flawed sage.
Michelle Rodriguez: Good actress or bad?
Looking good/bad by comparison, frex: Jeremy Piven in Entourage
Trying to predict plot points (like deaths) through logic.
Cool! I'm the Nov 11th featured profile at podcast pickle!
Check it out:
Podcast pickle, by the way, is an excellent podcast community and directory with forums and lots of podcasts, and you can also listen to streamed podcasts from that site.
Christiana explains that the planned midweek podcast was postponed because she had to take her iPod in for service, then she compares and contrasts the experience with taking a pet to the veterinarian.
Christiana and Mike discuss their intention to bring the show length a little more under control after last week’s monster edition.
“Everything’s up in the air, especially the hidden immunity idol!”
Christiana declares vindication that Gary is finally seen as a threat.
Jamie’s humble gesture: Genuine or Gameplay?
Is Jamie “losing it?”
Judd’s super-sneaky move: “It’s definitely on the ground.”
Christiana has to defend Stephanie against Mike’s criticism! Can someone check to see if hell has frozen over?
Good lies vs. stupid lies.
We put it out there: Has anyone ever made the final three without compromising any principles?
Two kinds of players: “Playing a game” versus “Reality”
Is lying and deception inherent in the game, or has it just turned out that way?
Christiana is amused by people lying to Gary.
More discussion of Judd’s super-sneaky move.
Gary gains respect points for catching Judd looking into the trees, then loses them again at tribal council.
Gary votes for Cindy? What was that all about?
Was the reward challenge designed to “out” Gary as a QB? We agree that the reward challenge this week was mostly luck, not skill.
Did Judd pick the right people to eat with him?
Is Stephanie really in control?
It’s nice to see Rafe doing well in the challenges.
Obviously it’s moot now, but could anyone have resisted the temptation to use the hidden immunity in the first tribal council they went to after finding it?
Predictions for next week: Gary goes home unless he gets immunity again, in which case it’s Danni.
Lydia sows the seeds of her own destruction: “It’s a difficult decision.”
Is anybody thinking more than one step ahead?
Getting drunk on Survivor: probably not a good idea.
Christiana reminds everyone that not one, not two, but three of the original 18 Survivors have an identical twin, (Jamie, Cindy, Judd,) and points out that all three are still in the game. Still, it seems unlikely that this will impact the game in a significant way.
Making plans. A visual metaphor for Judd’s plan and discussing the scheming ability of the remaining players.
Then, to close out the show, Christiana plays a few of the audio comments she has received.
You too can be famous! Leave comments here on the blog or leave me audio comments at 1-206-202-3280! Say anything even remotely interesting and I'll play or read them on the show! I'm that desperate. Thanks everybody!
--Being pretentious and the iPod-compatible "Teeny-tini".
--The Rockr vs. The Roker.
--"The Office" is a funny show.
--Christiana reads Part 2 (of 4) of her original short story: Pool Rules.
Remember you can leave feedback comments here or leave me an audio comment at 1-206-202-3280! And believe me, my standards for comment quality are really low. The only reason you don't hear me playing comments all the time is because nobody will send me any. It makes me sad... :(
Okay, sorry it's a bit late getting up, but we've finally resolved the technical difficulties we've been having and the sound quality is finally at an acceptable level.
And it's a good conversation this week, a super-sized edition covering all sorts of things regarding episode 8 of Survivor Guatemala!
It contains:
Recap of last week's predictions.
Gary — Good player, Bad Liar or both?
Bobby John's Lifelong dream — WHY will he be voted out?
Is Stephanie and Bobby John's second chance still an issue?
Ian last week, Tom this week: Guest hosts on Survivor Live.
The numbers game.
The hidden individual immunity ratchets up the tension.
Brandon's lookin' hot on Survivor Live.
Brandon's a man of action rather than words.
Brandon and Jaime: In another world, could they have been allies?
Stephanie: The Top Dog?
Why no insurance votes?
Rafe's dilemma.
Rafe and Lydia: Final five? Four? Three? Two?
Did Cindy miss her chance?
Where has Danni's game gone?
Insurance votes again. Why no defectors from the minority?
Listener Comment: Kevin's thoughts on Gary and Bobby John
In this podcast, I start by talking a little bit about NaNoWriMo, also known as National Novel Writing Month. I play a little bit of my NaNoWrimo theme song (Download the whole thing right here).
I also relate a massive wordcount setback I suffered last night, then update how I've recovered so far. Check out my Wordcount Tracker Spreadsheet!
From there, I relate a really interesting brain teaser that some of my regular readers may have seen before. (If you have, don't cheat and ruin it for everyone else. K?)
You're on a game show, and you have to choose one of three doors. Behind one of them is a prize. Behind the others is nothing. (At this point in the podcast, I'm having to really fight the urge to sidetrack into movie quotes.)
You choose one of the doors, but then the host, without telling you if you were correct, opens one of the remaining two doors and reveals that it is empty. You now have the opportunity to change your pick. So the question is this:
Do you want to keep your original pick, change to the remaining door, or does it not matter either way?
Think about it carefully, the answer may not be what you expect! I'll report the answer in a future podcast. (Probably this weekend.)
I then go on to talk a little bit about Malinche.net and some othersites that provide text adventures and interactive fiction for the iPod format.
It occurrs to me that this could be taken one step further to actually make Interactive audio fiction, and I talk a little bit about what I have in mind, and how I may attempt to create one at some point in the future.
Finally, I talk a little bit about how I've thought about putting out one of my original short stories on the podcast, but someone else beat me to it! Mur Lafferty over at Geek Fu Action Grip (Is that a great title or what?) just started doing it over at her podcast!
I think it's a neat idea, so I decided to give it a shot too. As such, I read part one (of probably 4) of my original fantasy story: "Pool Rules"
Note also, my flash cartoon based on the same story is still here on the site. You can find the button on the right hand sidebar, but note that it features a scene that is not in the story as read on the podcast. You can think of it as a prequel, because it takes place immediately before the scene that opens the story.
Enjoy!
And please leave me comments either here on the site, or leave me audio comments at 1-206-202-3280!
Name:Christiana Ellis
Christiana's LiveJournal
Name:Mike Meitín
