What’s a Great American Road Trip without a Great American Cook-Out? But of course the families can’t just sit around and have a calm and relaxed picnic – it has to be a competition. So which dad can grill up the best burger? It’s like yet another cooking reality show!,six families continued to get their kicks on Route 66. They visited the Jesse James' hideout at the Meramac Caverns. The Montgomery family took in a little fishing and the diSalvatore family punked little brother Blake. But, hey! The family that plays together, stays together, right?
The King of the Road challenge found the families in Branson, Missouri, otherwise known as "The Vegas of the Ozarks." Our teams had to come up with skits for a talent show that would be judged by music icon Andy Williams, Yakov Smirnoff, and a couple hundred unimpressed locals. Yikes! Somehow, Team Pollard won over the crowd with a southern-fried version of "Old MacDonald." No one team was eliminated this episode, but the top three teams – the Pollards, the Ricos, and the Cootes – got the opportunity to compete for a trip to Hollywood. At the historic Route 66 drive-in theater, the kids got to treat the Dads like human video games, maneuvering them through a maze of cars. Team Coote and Team Pollard make a photo finish of it, but it's the Rootin' Cootes who take the final prize.
So now our six remaining families are:
* The Ricos: Ricardo (dad), Erica (mom), Danielle (13), Ricky (8)
* The Favereys: Lenny (dad), Dee (mom), Dylan (15), Ashley (10)
* The diSalvatores (Team Dysfunctional): Silvio (dad), Amy (mom), Mason (16), Blake (13)
* The Cootes (Team Rootin' Cootes): Keith (dad), Jennifer (mom), Cassidy (12) Jake (9) The Pollards: Ron (dad), Amie (mom), Aaron (17), Anslie (12)
* The Montgomerys (Team Powerhouse): Darius (dad), Alecia (mom), Darius Jr. (15), Tyler (11)
After a night of well-deserved rest and relaxation, our teams are ready to roll from Carthage Missouri. Their destination: Independence, Kansas, where, we're told, the story of Little House on the Prairie originated. For those of you don't who remember Little House, it's a children's book written by Laura Engalls Wilder about growing up with her family in the 1800s in the midwest.
Self-proclaimed history buff Ricardo Rico knows the story (probably from watching the ‘70s TV show when he was younger). But, Amie Pollard confidently confuses Little House with that other great ‘70s show about a tight-knit, struggling Midwestern family: The Waltons. She tries to educate her family by quoting that famous ending phrase, "Goodnight John-Boy." Her kids just look simply at her as if she were nuts. Oh well, not everyone watches TV Land.
Once in Kansas, Silvio diSalvatore seems to be fascinated with the worn-torn, tornado-ridden houses lining the highway. So much so, he almost rams the family RV into a mailbox, causing Mama diSalvatore to a have a near heart attack. Another day in the life of Team Dysfunctional, I suppose.
Our teams reach the "Little House" to find a family living there, dressed in appropriate 1800s garb: bonnet, big aprons, raccoon hats... the works. I have always wondered where they get these people, willing and able to impersonate historic characters. Are they paid to stage these renowned attractions or are they avid enthusiasts who enjoy recreating our nation's landmarks for tourists and passers-by? Whatever the reason, "Little House" certainly proves to be a testament to a simpler time and family life.
The best quote of the series so far (and there have been some doozies) come from our Team Dysfunctional, of course, when meeting up with Pa Engalls for the first time. Pa remarks to the diSalvatores that he's been reading about the Brooklyn Bridge being built (remember, to him, it's 1800ish). A deadpan Silvio replies in pure "New Yawker" fashion, "We don't go to Brooklyn. We're from the Bronx." Ha! Nice one, Silvio.
Next stop, The Red Buffalo Ranch for a cook-out and a pit-stop. Everyone is pumped for a cook-out. And who wouldn't be? A Great American Road Trip would not be complete without a Great Family Cook-out.
I love how Dee Faverey is genuinely surprised at the announcement of all the stops along Route 66. She and the rest of the Family Faverey are the only ones who have never traveled in an RV before. So everything is a new adventure to them. Those of us viewers who share the same lack of travel get to enjoy vicariously their wonder and adventures equally.
Now, before the teams reach the Red Buffalo Ranch, the GART producers want to show us two very different versions of the modern-day American family unit. Contrasts to compare, I suppose.
In this corner, Team Dysfunctional (you guessed it!). We have Family diSalvatore bickering very loudly over the "Low Fuel" sign on the dashboard. Amy yap yaps about the impending doom of having no gas and the fear of having to push the big RV to the nearest gas station. Silvio belligerently ignores her, of course until he makes the effort to look down to see the flashing light for himself. Caught in the middle is our poor oldest son Mason. He has to endure his parents’ loud back and forth. There is nowhere to go, obviously. You can see that he is wishing, more than anything, to be somewhere else. It actually gets hard to watch at one point.
Meanwhile, in the Rico RV, we see Ricardo and Erica sharing a quiet moment together. They are enjoying the passing landscapes with pure respect and gusto. He points out little red barns, weather vanes, and beautiful sights to his attentive wife. Caught up in the moment, he reaches for Erica's hand just to say, "I love you. This is awesome." Wow. It sure is.
Our teams finally make it to Red Buffalo Ranch only to find Reno waiting for them in a chef's hat, next to a big grill. Time for a wonderful cook-out, right? Kinda. Sorta. Not.
It's time for the King of the Road challenge! The Dads must cook six burgers, with whatever concoctions they choose, then the rest of the families get to sample them in a blind taste-test. The burger that gets the most points and best comments will win the challenge and a super-fabulous mega-grill! The three worst burgers will have to compete in the End of the Road challenge to stay in the game.
Right away, Team Dysfunctional gets nervous because they all know Silvio has never cooked anything in his life (which he readily admits). Still, the rules are rules. EVERY Dad has to cook the burgers. By the look of it, I figure Dad Coote and Dad Pollard has had plenty of experience grilling burgers in their day. Will it be another photo finish?
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Love Triangle
It’s eviction day in the house, and the result seems predetermined. Laura will go home. But “predetermined” results have a way of changing on the final day. Will Laura do anything to try to save herself? Let’s find out together.
At about 7:45 am, we have our first awakening of the day – it’s Russell. He goes to the bathroom and tweezes his eyebrows. He follows that up by shaving his head. Riveting. Then he goes back to bed.
While there is some other movement, nobody is really up until Big Brother issues a wake-up call between 9:30 and 10. Jeff starts making breakfast, but he realizes the ham he was going to use is expired. Whoops! In fact, it’s like nine days expired – don’t they clean out the fridge in the house? You’d think with that many people, the food wouldn’t have time to expire.
Ronnie stays hidden in his bedroom. Natalie comes up to see him and asks if Russell talked to him. In case you missed yesterday’s live feed action, Russell made an overture to Ronnie to become secret allies next week (while still outwardly torturing him). Natalie and Jessie too. And it looks like there is sympathy from Lydia and Kevin as well, though they aren’t working with the Athletes and each group doesn’t know about the other.
Watch Big Brother 11 on SuperPass. Can't see on TV
Anyway, it looks like they’re in an HOH room lockdown, so while Ronnie can stay in the room, the others have to pile in as well – they sing a rousing chorus of “rathole, rathole.” Ronnie must just be thrilled. Wait, it looks like Big Brother is intervening and making them stop.
The houseguests amuse themselves in various stupid ways in the room for a while. At one point, they accuse Ronnie of stealing all the milk for his cereal. Oh please. Casey makes a number of rat-related comments at Ronnie’s expense. You know, when Casey came into the house, I thought I’d like him. He seems like the kind of guy who would have been picked on in school – kind of offbeat, you know. Instead, he’s one of the ringleaders who is doing the picking on Ronnie! I mean, I know Ronnie deserves to be hammered in the game for the way he’s played, but this is turning into a Lord of the Flies type of situation here.
Casey, Laura, and Russell discuss Laura leaving. It doesn’t look like Laura has any illusions whatsoever that she might stick around. They indicate the first thing she will do is ask for a pizza. Russell says he expected the live audience to boo Braden when he walked out last week, but Laura notes that there are “applause” signs. Indeed, I think that’s the only reason Braden got applauded; but just today, he got what he really deserved – a Reality TV Hall of Shame Moment.
At about 12:30, the lockdown is finally over. Not to say they were bored, but at one point they were resorting to reading the nutrition information on a can of chili!
As everybody leaves the HOH room, Ronnie is forced out as well – and he has to take his stuff and vacate the premises. As they’re leaving, Natalie hangs back and asks him again about Russell, and Ronnie tells her that Russell did indeed talk to him, but she can’t say anything or he’ll kill Ronnie. Naturally, she immediately tells Jessie.
Various routine activities occur, including prepping for the live show, cleaning the house, getting dressed, etc. Nothing of great import here. The feeds blink out from time to time. Still rather dull. They’re all just pretty much waiting for the live show.
Finally, the live show arrives. Did you miss it? Then read all about it right here. In short: Laura is gone; Jessie is HOH again.
Before moving on to new game talk, Jessie mentions the goodbye message he left for Laura – flexing his bicep and making fun of her for saying he would be going home in the second week.
Natalie tries to stir things up a bit by bringing up the lone vote to save Laura. Of course, we know it was Natalie herself who cast that vote, but the others don’t. She says she had just told Julie Chen that the house was united and then that happened! Most of them seem to be taking it with some humor, though Chima is trying to figure out who cast the vote. When somebody asks for a show of hands, they all say they voted to evict Laura. Russell says they should just let it go.
Natalie is already planning who she wants to leave this week. She tells Jessie he can’t put up Ronnie or Ronnie is gone. She does want Casey out, though, if only because he wanted to put the Athletes on slop. Jessie says Jordan and Michele are obvious choices to be nominated since they are not in the NBK (Natural Born Killers) alliance. But he points out that they still need to act like Ronnie will be headed home. If he doesn’t end up putting Ronnie on the block, he recognizes others will be gunning for him. Natalie suggests maybe they should just be honest about keeping Ronnie. (Honesty?! In the Big Brother house? Shut your mouth, child!)
Getting back to the lone vote issue, Kevin tells Jessie and Natalie that Jordan thinks Michele cast the vote. Meanwhile, Lydia and Chima talk and believe Casey and Michele should be nominated. They also agree that if four of the final five are Athletes, they’re gonna be pissed. Well, duh, since that means at least one of you wouldn’t be there!
At about 7:45 am, we have our first awakening of the day – it’s Russell. He goes to the bathroom and tweezes his eyebrows. He follows that up by shaving his head. Riveting. Then he goes back to bed.
While there is some other movement, nobody is really up until Big Brother issues a wake-up call between 9:30 and 10. Jeff starts making breakfast, but he realizes the ham he was going to use is expired. Whoops! In fact, it’s like nine days expired – don’t they clean out the fridge in the house? You’d think with that many people, the food wouldn’t have time to expire.
Ronnie stays hidden in his bedroom. Natalie comes up to see him and asks if Russell talked to him. In case you missed yesterday’s live feed action, Russell made an overture to Ronnie to become secret allies next week (while still outwardly torturing him). Natalie and Jessie too. And it looks like there is sympathy from Lydia and Kevin as well, though they aren’t working with the Athletes and each group doesn’t know about the other.
Watch Big Brother 11 on SuperPass. Can't see on TV
Anyway, it looks like they’re in an HOH room lockdown, so while Ronnie can stay in the room, the others have to pile in as well – they sing a rousing chorus of “rathole, rathole.” Ronnie must just be thrilled. Wait, it looks like Big Brother is intervening and making them stop.
The houseguests amuse themselves in various stupid ways in the room for a while. At one point, they accuse Ronnie of stealing all the milk for his cereal. Oh please. Casey makes a number of rat-related comments at Ronnie’s expense. You know, when Casey came into the house, I thought I’d like him. He seems like the kind of guy who would have been picked on in school – kind of offbeat, you know. Instead, he’s one of the ringleaders who is doing the picking on Ronnie! I mean, I know Ronnie deserves to be hammered in the game for the way he’s played, but this is turning into a Lord of the Flies type of situation here.
Casey, Laura, and Russell discuss Laura leaving. It doesn’t look like Laura has any illusions whatsoever that she might stick around. They indicate the first thing she will do is ask for a pizza. Russell says he expected the live audience to boo Braden when he walked out last week, but Laura notes that there are “applause” signs. Indeed, I think that’s the only reason Braden got applauded; but just today, he got what he really deserved – a Reality TV Hall of Shame Moment.
At about 12:30, the lockdown is finally over. Not to say they were bored, but at one point they were resorting to reading the nutrition information on a can of chili!
As everybody leaves the HOH room, Ronnie is forced out as well – and he has to take his stuff and vacate the premises. As they’re leaving, Natalie hangs back and asks him again about Russell, and Ronnie tells her that Russell did indeed talk to him, but she can’t say anything or he’ll kill Ronnie. Naturally, she immediately tells Jessie.
Various routine activities occur, including prepping for the live show, cleaning the house, getting dressed, etc. Nothing of great import here. The feeds blink out from time to time. Still rather dull. They’re all just pretty much waiting for the live show.
Finally, the live show arrives. Did you miss it? Then read all about it right here. In short: Laura is gone; Jessie is HOH again.
Before moving on to new game talk, Jessie mentions the goodbye message he left for Laura – flexing his bicep and making fun of her for saying he would be going home in the second week.
Natalie tries to stir things up a bit by bringing up the lone vote to save Laura. Of course, we know it was Natalie herself who cast that vote, but the others don’t. She says she had just told Julie Chen that the house was united and then that happened! Most of them seem to be taking it with some humor, though Chima is trying to figure out who cast the vote. When somebody asks for a show of hands, they all say they voted to evict Laura. Russell says they should just let it go.
Natalie is already planning who she wants to leave this week. She tells Jessie he can’t put up Ronnie or Ronnie is gone. She does want Casey out, though, if only because he wanted to put the Athletes on slop. Jessie says Jordan and Michele are obvious choices to be nominated since they are not in the NBK (Natural Born Killers) alliance. But he points out that they still need to act like Ronnie will be headed home. If he doesn’t end up putting Ronnie on the block, he recognizes others will be gunning for him. Natalie suggests maybe they should just be honest about keeping Ronnie. (Honesty?! In the Big Brother house? Shut your mouth, child!)
Getting back to the lone vote issue, Kevin tells Jessie and Natalie that Jordan thinks Michele cast the vote. Meanwhile, Lydia and Chima talk and believe Casey and Michele should be nominated. They also agree that if four of the final five are Athletes, they’re gonna be pissed. Well, duh, since that means at least one of you wouldn’t be there!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Soundtrack : Transformers Revenge of The Fallen (Preview)
01. Linkin Park - New Divide
02. Green Day - 21 Guns
03. Taking Back Sunday - Capital M-E
04. The Fray - Never Say Never
05. Nickelback - Burn It To The Ground
06. The Used - Burning Down The House
07. Theory Of A Deadman - Not Meant To Be
08. The All-American Rejects - Real World
09. Hoobastank - I Dont Think I Love You
10. Staind - This Is It
11. Avenged Sevenfold - Almost Easy
Visitor in my Bedroom
I had just gotten out of prison a couple of months earlier and had a hard time adjusting to my sleep routine. I had a full time job at a factory working the day shift. I would wake up at about 3:00 am every morning, therefore I usually was crashed out by 6 or 7:00 pm every night. One night, I was laying in bed watching TV. I was living with my parents at the time. I was a little scared to be at their house because it is in the country and they have no dusk to dawn light. I usually slept with the TV on. I had rolled over to face the wall and go to sleep. As I layed there, relaxing and almost asleep, nature called. I rolled over to get up and there, in the corner of my room, stood a young man. To this day I can still tell you what he looked like. This happened almost 7 years ago. He stood very still, looking down at the floor. He had blonde hair, pale complexion. He wore a navy blue hoodie with pockets in the front (both hands were in the pockets), tan colored pants and dark shoes. I looked at him for a few seconds and then rolled back over. My heart was beating fast and once I got the nerve I flew out of my bed and into the living room. My parents thought I was nuts when I told them the story. I know what I saw and I know it was real.
Lady Dressed in Black
I heard this story when I had started working at a local nursing home which is home to around 80 residents. We have 3-4 spirits in our nursing home which all have different personalities.
There was a nurse who worked at the nursing home where I am currently working, who had suffered from post natal depression and after looking after 6 children and working long hours, she couldn't take it anymore, I was told she went home after her night shift had finished and had left notes for her six children and her husband. She had proceeded to overdose on painkiller medication. Her sister had gone around that day to find her deceased on her couch.
Since then, she has been a regular visitor to that nursing home and 10 residents and 5 staff members have been witness to her standing at the end of their bed, donned in a black dress and hood, and has been seen walking into residents room, but if a staff member followed her in the room, it was empty.
While on night shift, one night I brought along a pendulum to see if she was still there and began asking questions like "are you grounded?", "would you like to be released?", and so on and the nurse I was on with started asking questions that only the deceased nurse would know the answers to. We have found out from our Q & A with this spirit that yes she is grounded and she spends most of her time in the chapel with her photo. And that she would not like to be released, probably she may not like what might await her if she does cross over completely.
The chapel in which the lady in black stays or Helen, as she is called, has a very ominous and depressive feeling to it.
I'm not very good at telling stories, they always come out not the way I want them to... lol
There was a nurse who worked at the nursing home where I am currently working, who had suffered from post natal depression and after looking after 6 children and working long hours, she couldn't take it anymore, I was told she went home after her night shift had finished and had left notes for her six children and her husband. She had proceeded to overdose on painkiller medication. Her sister had gone around that day to find her deceased on her couch.
Since then, she has been a regular visitor to that nursing home and 10 residents and 5 staff members have been witness to her standing at the end of their bed, donned in a black dress and hood, and has been seen walking into residents room, but if a staff member followed her in the room, it was empty.
While on night shift, one night I brought along a pendulum to see if she was still there and began asking questions like "are you grounded?", "would you like to be released?", and so on and the nurse I was on with started asking questions that only the deceased nurse would know the answers to. We have found out from our Q & A with this spirit that yes she is grounded and she spends most of her time in the chapel with her photo. And that she would not like to be released, probably she may not like what might await her if she does cross over completely.
The chapel in which the lady in black stays or Helen, as she is called, has a very ominous and depressive feeling to it.
I'm not very good at telling stories, they always come out not the way I want them to... lol
Demon in the Motel Room
Let me first tell you a little about myself. Through my entire life, I have always had encounters with demonic spirits. I have always been able to sense their presence, and am always the first to be attacked by them.
I was staying in a motel room on the coast with my family one night. I had a dream that I was in the motel room when all of a sudden an evil spirit appeared. It was about as tall as I was, (about 5 1/2 feet). I immediately recognized it as an evil spirit and began to rebuke it. When I confronted the spirit, it opened its mouth and let out a paralyzing scream. I was unable to move or speak, but could hear my spirit still yelling at it.
I began to fall backwards and when I fell back all the way, I woke up. At least I thought I was awake. It turns out I was still in my dream. The spirit again appeared and I again confronted it. It screamed, my spirit yelled at it, I fell backwards, and I woke up. (this time for real).
I thought it was just a bad dream and quickly fell asleep. This scenario repeated two more times before I was finally awake. I believe I was fighting the spirit which dwelt inside of the room while I was asleep.
When I was finally able to actually wake up, I woke my mom and explained what had happened to me. She got up, turned on the lights and spoke to the spirit. She told it that it could no longer stay and must leave.
I went back to sleep and wasn't bothered since.
I was staying in a motel room on the coast with my family one night. I had a dream that I was in the motel room when all of a sudden an evil spirit appeared. It was about as tall as I was, (about 5 1/2 feet). I immediately recognized it as an evil spirit and began to rebuke it. When I confronted the spirit, it opened its mouth and let out a paralyzing scream. I was unable to move or speak, but could hear my spirit still yelling at it.
I began to fall backwards and when I fell back all the way, I woke up. At least I thought I was awake. It turns out I was still in my dream. The spirit again appeared and I again confronted it. It screamed, my spirit yelled at it, I fell backwards, and I woke up. (this time for real).
I thought it was just a bad dream and quickly fell asleep. This scenario repeated two more times before I was finally awake. I believe I was fighting the spirit which dwelt inside of the room while I was asleep.
When I was finally able to actually wake up, I woke my mom and explained what had happened to me. She got up, turned on the lights and spoke to the spirit. She told it that it could no longer stay and must leave.
I went back to sleep and wasn't bothered since.
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