Survivor, or how to manipulate your teammates for fun and profit

Usually the first four episodes of Survivor are a little bit of treading water. It is time to get to know all the characters, and allow some trimming of the weaker players that you don't really care about getting to know anyway. Every once in a while someone will, you know, declare that they have found love-at-first-sight with a member of the other team, but that kind of award-winning television doesn't often come this early.

So far, this season is breaking records and upping the ante for totally excellent Tribal Council shenanigans, and I, for one, couldn't be more pleased.

So we get the Penner/Cirie bickering right out of the way, which is fine with me. I like them both, but they are bringing out the absolute worst in each other. Fighting is only good as a motivator for devising some seriously devious outwit strategy. Otherwise it is just uncomfortable and boring. James is up to his usual tricks of refusing to let me decide if he is a hero or a villain. I was all over the map last season, and he is doing it to me again. Suddenly he turns into a bitch over Eliza. Now, I'm hardly an Eliza fan, but there is no need to be rude and dismissive. What kind of a team leader is that? Also, in a game where you never know who is going to be on that jury voting for or against you, it is simply stupid to pick meaningless fights like that with people. In any case, he has now cleared the way to make Ozzy my number one pick. (For now anyway.)

Speaking of Ozzy, he rocked out the reward challenge, as usual. What was funny is that early on Joel yells out to his team to take notice of Ozzy's strategy, but then they apparently ignore the advice. And lose. I was annoyed with them anyway though, because after all the talk about how pathetic Chet is, they decide to sit him out of a reward challenge, guaranteeing he will be competing in the immunity challenge? Dumb. Funnier was that they lost before half of their team even did anything, so it didn't even matter.

Color me unsurprised that Ozzy found the immunity idol. I'm so over Kathy, who seems to enjoy hanging out with the celebrities but otherwise has totally checked out of the game. I'd been assuming there would be two idols, one for each team member, but since there was only one I'm glad Ozzy got it. I bet the producers are mad that he found it alone, since apparently their plan was that two people would find it together and then have a Jungle Deathmatch for the spoils. I think it would have been more interesting to have two. I love it when people start cross-team alliances and strategies. How fun would it be if Exile Island was the lap of luxury, giving them time to really bond and make friends with each other? Anyhoo, it cracks me up that Ozzy must be out searching for quite a long time, but Kathy seems to accept that he is crab-hunting the entire time.

The immunity challenge we've seen before, but it is a decent one. With all the sick Eliza editing I'd been assuming they would lose, but instead they rock out and just kill the other team again. Ouch. And then, with everything seeming to be pointing to a simple Chet elimination, Tracy stops, knocks on the glass of the TV screen, beckons me over and gives me a full kiss on the mouth. She approaches Joel with some coconut milk in her hand and within seconds he is lapping it up. "I can't believe you are letting Mikey run the show like this. I'm actually kind of mad at you about it, letting yourself get played like that." Holy crap I love her. "This is your one chance, after this you won't have the numbers anymore, and he will get rid of you the first chance he gets". I know she is playing him, but she is so good even I almost believe she is being sincere. Joel seems to waver, but though I thought Tracy played it pitch perfect, I just can't see him falling for it with Chet sitting on the log one calorie away from falling into a hypoglycemic coma.

Then comes tribal, and the fraternal twins are having a disagreement. The dark haired dude who mysteriously appeared last week out of nowhere is talking about how they need to focus on tribe strength. Then Blondie is all "Physical strength isn't everything." Then my darling Tracy comes out with a devastating critique of her teammates. "Chet, Kathy and I didn't participate in the last two challenges at all, and you still lost." Sha-zam! She totally owned them! Tracy, no matter what happens after this, I officially welcome you as one of my Favorite Survivors of All Time. Brunette dude gets visibly nervous at that and literally starts pleading with his team to vote off the weakest person. But Mikey, who had already been annoying me with his "you have to give a little to get a little" attempt at strong-arming Joel, heads bitterly into the darkness.

The thing is, I have very little love for Chet or Kathy. They both seem to have given up, which is lame and boring and any other number of pathetic descriptors. But they served a purpose tonight, as much as the other two invisible girls did who voted for Chet. In a situation where the strong are being targeted far earlier than normal, I'm afraid they might make it farther than I'd like. But as long as I'm getting these kinds of tribal councils, I can't say that I really care.

Next week it looks like we have a team trade, which will shake things up. I really hope that instead of randomly picking teams, they do it four and four so they are forced to make cross-team alliances in order to survive. That is far more interesting than like last season where they just traded two making tribal council totally uninteresting for a couple of weeks. Gotta make 'em work for it.

The hidden epidemic

Have you talked to the children in your life yet?



Who thinks of this stuff? Parody is always delicious, and this is a superb example.

A warning to the Huckabee-haters

I'm probably the only person who never saw the "Leave Brittany Alone" Youtube, but even so, this is too funny:



Lewis Black used to really annoy me, but in the past few years he's really started to grow on me a lot.

Trying to sleep my days away, but so far not succeeding...

Had a good weekend at work, but nothing particularly funny or interesting. I'm working three nights in a row this coming weekend, so I'm trying to stay up late and sleep in to get ready, but boy is it hard for me to sleep when the sun is up. I stayed up until 2am last night, and still couldn't sleep past nine this morning, and even that took a lot of effort. Staying up late with nothing but TV as company isn't the most fun thing either. I mean, how many episodes of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" can you watch before Ty Pennington's megaphone makes you want to kill yourself? (Answer: one.) I really need to get a book or something. A friend recommended "The Witching Hour" by Anne Rice. Has anyone else read that one?

So have all y'all who are Idol fans seen the youtube of David Archuleta singing "And I am Telling You" to Kelly Clarkson when he was 11? What is amazing about this to me, is that not only did he know that song years before the movie came out and made it popular again, but that as an eleven year old kid he wasn't embarrassed to bust out singing in a crowded hotel lobby in front of a celebrity. That takes some cojones, especially for a pre-teen. I thought most of the guys did better last night than last week, but still I think this is David's competition to lose. I think the other David has the best voice, and was glad he did so much better, but he isn't as comfortable with the performing aspect. The Aussie is a fantastic performer, but his voice is pretty thin. Chickizi, bless his heart, needs to let someone else start dressing him stat, cause he has the worst taste in clothes like, ever. (And this is coming from someone who likes colors.) I was ready for him to go after last week, and this week I thought he sang terrific. Unlike the judges I really liked the performance of the guy who has the blonde streak in his black hair. However I can't get too upset with any criticism of him because I HATE THE BLONDE STREAK and need it to be out of my world as soon as possible. Also suffering from bad hair choices are the rocker with the red-streaked hair who looks too much like Jack Black for me to take him serious, and the gay boy with full on girl hair.

Mostly I'm afraid it is time for the judges to retire. Simon seems to have gotten to the point where he hates his job, I mean he just seems miserable to have to be there. The other two still obviously enjoy it, but they have both completely exhausted their library of comments and insight. Whereas I used to love hearing Randy try to make a new attempt at coining a catchphrase, and I used to love watching Paula channel another dimension in attempts to cling to coherency in her ramblings, and where Simon used to be a mean but say-it-like-it-is kind of guy, at this point I'm just getting bored with their infighting. I love Ryan with the singers, he has good rapport with them, but as soon as he start trying to bait Simon he gets insufferably tedious. We need some new blood, or something. I love the singing, but it seems Idol isn't aging as well as, say, Survivor.

Oh, yeah, the Oscars. Got home in time from work to watch, but I fell asleep before the end. I'd seen like three of the nominated movies so I just didn't really care all that much. David loves the Hollywood glamour of it all, and you'd think I would too, but all that inane reading of the teleprompter annoys me. Really, writers, I love you, but that's all you got? Jon Stewart was funny, and I did giggle at the Halle Berry/Judi Dench bit. Is it sad though that my favorite part was Jennifer Garner getting accosted by Gary Busey on the red carpet? As someone who totally hearts Amy Adams and actually enjoyed "Enchanted", I thought all three songs came across terribly. Poor Amy Adams was abandoned in the middle of a huge stage with a novelty song that doesn't make much sense without a bunch of dancing cockroaches, and even Kristin Chenoweth seemed nervous and awkward with all the silly staging of her song. I've heard several people say they are now going to steer clear of the movie, which is a shame, because while it is hardly groundbreaking or whatever, it is very sweet and charming.

Survivor, or let the machinations continue sweetly along

Holy crap I love Survivor.

We begin with Mikey lecturing Joel over how his brilliant stab-in-the-back voting off Mary maneuver was the stupidest thing he could ever have done. Joel is just nodding while Mikey rambles on and on. Then it cuts to his private cam, and Joel takes the knife in the back metaphor one further and says something like "I can't wait until my baseball bat hits him upside the head." Mikey, I just learned from his official bio, is a commercial actor. But apparently he skipped the day in acting school where they talked about learning how to listen, cause he just talks and talks and talks. Hmmm, I'm sensing a parallel to Penner here, but that would be getting ahead of myself.

The reward challenge is sort of lame and proves that I'm not quite as evolved as I wish I were, cause I sort of enjoy watching them all wrestle and tackle each other in the mud. Curiously invisible is Ozzy, but Penner is shown working it out. The biggest gyp though (is that how you spell gyp? My spell checker seems to think so) is that we get very little in the way of James VS Joel, which is what I was hoping for. Producers, take note, at some point I am going to need a showdown here. Even more crazy is afterwards they like give each other a "good game" hug. C'mon guys, is it too much to ask for a little bitter rivalry here?

The crazy lady is again sent to Exile Island. Will someone please explain this to me???? Unless they are just hoping she is going to find the idol, I see absolutely no tactical advantage to sending her. Ami is awesome for going with her, and apparently Cirie has told them nothing about what happened. But then, uh, Kathy, right? Kathy gets there and decides she is too tired to play anymore. WTF? Why doesn't she take Ami to the fourth clue and start looking from there? This makes no sense to me, and I am officially over the crazy lady.

Big storm, the new kids are all wet and very, very sad. I only mention this because suddenly there is another guy on their team sleeping in the cave scared of spiders, and I swear I have never seen him before. It's like Ethan on Lost who just shows up and everybody assumes he has been there all the time. (Actually his name is Jason, but still he is absolutely unfamiliar to me.)

The immunity challenge seems like a good one. (And begins with another violence-laden threat from Joel about killing anyone who comes into his camp. I'm wondering if I should be scared of this guy?) However I've still had too much talk at All-Star camp (do they even have stupid local tribe names this time?) about alliances to know that they are heavily foreshadowed to lose. The editing is impossible to follow, but I guess the other team was just better with the coconuts or something. Why can't we just have a tug of war between Joel and James? Sometimes simple works you know. ;)

So it comes down to Cirie. And thus begins one of the absolute best pre-tribal shenanigans ever. Parvati and Amanda get Cirie alone, and promise her top three. Which to me sounds perfectly plausible. If James or Ozzy make it to the end, none of the girls would have a chance of winning. And regardless of the wacky hormones flying around, lust isn't worth a million dollars. Or so the girls say anyway, and at this point I believe them.

Watching from a distance, Eliza complains that the girls are "filling her head with lies", which totally cracks me up. I mean, obviously a lot is riding on what decision Cirie makes. But she isn't completely wrong when she complains that people aren't courting her vote more. Especially with a player like her, she should have been made to feel on the inside of an alliance from day one. So with her vote in the air, strategy and confrontation begins. But as the various strategies unfold - vote for Eliza, vote for Parvati, vote for Yau - I keep getting confused about who is involved in each scheme because all of the strategizing is apparently happening right out in the open. Penner is wooing Cirie with Parvati standing right behind him. Ozzy talks about voting for Eliza instead of Yau with Ami at his side. By the time Penner and Cirie start the yelling match it seems the entire team is there. Forget the stealth, these guys aren't even pretending that it isn't all about the alliance. Better yet, other than Penner and Cirie, there doesn't seem to be much animosity, just a realization that alliances are how you win. Pure naked strategy. I'm lovin' it.

All of the maneuvering is delicious to watch, but I'm unsurprised when Yau goes home. Bummed because I like him, but really I like almost all of them except Eliza. And Cirie is right, the three most dangerous are him, Ozzy and James. Yau is probably more valuable at the middle-of-the-game challenges than Eliza is due to his skill and coordination, but in these early challenges where it is all about strength it is a toss up. And even if Eliza makes it to the end, she isn't winning. So why not eliminate a threat? Penner, who I've been digging on, loses it with a lot of fake bluster about only wanting what is best for everyone, which is so ridiculous that I almost think he has convinced himself it is the truth. His strength is valuable, but his stupid fighting (and history of betrayal) makes him very, very vulnerable I think. Another great guy to go to the end with, but too untrustworthy to make it to the merge I think.

Very funny was when Penner and Cirie were going at it at tribal, Jeff was just sitting back with this smile on his face, and I half expected him to pull out a bag of popcorn. Also interesting was Ami voting for Cirie. Remember back to good old season one where every vote against you might actually mean something? Still, interesting.

Looking forward to more on the Joel/Mikey showdown. But until I start to get to know more of that team I'm still fine with them losing and getting rid of more of the excess baggage.

PS - is it just me, or is "Lost" back in a groove? Last nights flash-forward with Kate and Aaron was awesome!

My Obama woes, frogs, and can the entire country adopt one 17 year old?

First I just want to say that my finger is still hurting from when gravity made me its bitch last week when I was going to vote for Obama. At least Obama is still winning, which provides some comfort. ;)

Tomorrow David is taking the day off so we can go to the National Geographic Museum to see their new exhibit on frogs. Oh yeah baby. I'm sure fantastical frog blogging is to come.

I'm not really interested in spending a lot of time doing recaps on American Idol, because as far as the show itself goes, little changes week to week. Randy says "Dawg" and "Yo" and tries to talk about pitch as if he has any idea what that word means even though he is clearly tone-deaf himself. Paula gets loopy in her efforts to find the words to describe just how much she loves everyone and everything. For my enjoyment level, the loopier the better. Simon either tells the truth, or, if he is desperate, makes one of his stock comparisons to cabaret or weddings or cruise ships or whatever. Then my least favorite part, where Ryan tries to pick a fight with him. One time out of ten it is actually funny, but them aren't good odds dude.

The boys sang last night, and for me it starts and ends with David Archuletta. After he sang I kept expecting the judges to declare the competition over right there. But then he had all that banter with Ryan, and (my) David and I were joking about how everyone in America, regardless of age, was now looking into adopting him. Then Ryan made basically the same joke, and TV-David was all embarrassed and confused and was like "but, I'm 17!". He is so completely adorable, I really cannot fathom him not winning. Can he sing as good as, say, Melinda Doolittle? No. But who the hell cares? Bonus points because his dad is a ringer for Danny Bonnaduce, which is just funny.

A couple of the others are good too though. I like the Australian guy, and though he needs to loosen up I thought the first guy had a really good voice. Maybe his name was David too. My favorite song was the guy who the judges hated most. He sang just a really nice quiet song, and I thought it was really effective, and then they all told him it was forgettable. Well, I remember it more than most of the others, so poop on you judges.

Happily, all of this nonsense by Ryan about how this is the most talented crew ever, was finally shown instead of just talked about. I actually thought all of the boys could sing, which is an improvement over past years. But, as always, some just aren't ready to be a superstar. At the bottom for be was Chickezi, or whatever his name is. I wish he were better, because he has as good a name as Sundance Head did, but, boring. I wasn't impressed with either of the gay boys either. (I know, I know, but you know which two I mean.) I just can't take either of them seriously with the hair, even if both of them did better than I expected.

Tonight come the girls. Bring it on!

A busy night at work

So last night did not begin auspiciously. I began my shift with two patients asking for pain meds while a third was just being admitted from the PACU with some huge bloody dressings and two JP drains. The day nurse was nice enough to get the new admission settled while I was madly drawing up percoset and dilauted. My one guy had a chest tube following a partial lung resection, and they had just dc'd his epidural that afternoon, so he was really hurting, and my lady was recovering from sickle cell crisis. My fourth patient is a regular on our floor, an older lady with afib and rotating infections (including, of course, MRSA isolation) and issues with a big dose of dementia who enjoys putting on her "coat" (a gown) and walking off the floor. The day nurse told me she was more oriented than usual, but that she had stepped on her foley tube and her urine had since turned to a nice shade of cranberry.

OK, I can do this, right? My charge nurse was extra awesome and helped set up my continuous pulse ox while I was dealing with my poor lady whose heart rate had been in the 130s since early afternoon. She had been given a few meds, but nothing had really worked, and, well, I don't know what people were thinking, but it was making me very uncomfortable. So after the hydralazine, po metoprolol and then an IV push of another 5mg of metoprolol, I called the cover docs and said, listen, can we do something here? They said give her another 5mg. I did, and though it was difficult to get a very accurate assessment of her (at one point when I was asking her if her chest hurt she said simply "I'm just going to agree with anything you say") she finally started breathing 40/min and was clutching her chest. Out came the EKG, and a third dose of IV metoprolol. Still her rate was in the 130s/Afib, so we started her on a Cardizem drip, and FINALLY she calmed down into a more comfortable 80s-90s range.

Just as she is getting settled, my chest tube dude calls me. I've been giving him rotating doses of oxycodone (q4) and dilauted (q3) and oxycontin (q12), but suddenly his heart rate is in the 150s. I guess it was a lesson the health care gods wanted me to learn tonight. So on came another round of 3 IV pushes of metoprolol and an EKG, portable chest xray, and lots of meds including ativan, ambien and more dilauted to calm him down. (I thought giving him ambien at 3:30 in the morning was kind of mean, but he was anxious and sweaty and he did finally fall asleep after that, even though his heart didn't slow at all.) Just as I was leaving he went off to get a CT scan to eval for a pulmonary embolism.

Things were crazy, but all my night shift peeps totally stepped up to help me out, drawing labs and giving pain meds and just helping out wherever they could. My charting probably left a bit to be desired, but everything got done and at least all my meds and vital signs were well documented. It made me very aware of how glad I am where I am, where there is a real sense of a team and I wasn't just left to flounder, or given reluctant help or an attitude. I'm definitely baking for next week, because they totally rock and deserve to be fat and happy.

I'm at that stage with nursing where for the most part I am holding my own, but still I learn something every single shift. I really feel like I learned practically nothing in school, not because the schooling was bad, but because when I was busy learning how to do an assessment I wasn't really able to absorb many of the practical details of what I was really assessing. Now that I'm comfortable in the setting, all the details are finally making sense. Or to put it another way, all the stuff I memorized without necessarily understanding is now starting to make practical sense. I'm absolutely tired of often feeling just a little bit lost at work. But with every new experience I get that much more, well, experienced. And I am sure glad that it just keeps getting better and better.

I dare you not to be charmed

Survivor, or let the machinations begin

Once more, a huge sigh of relief that Fairplay is gone. With his toxic brand of "notice ME" patheticness gone, the show can now get back to its non-toxic but still hugely entertaining shenanigans that make it such a delight. (though I wouldn't have minded had he left his "Will lie for food" hat behind, heh.) And boy, were there shenanigans this week. Yes, that singing you are hearing is my heart celebrating the perfect delight of plotting survivors.

So the other all-stars are, like us, scratching their heads over Fairplays mysterious exit. I forget where i heard this, but somewhere I heard or read that Fairplay and his pregnant girlfriend are planning their own reality show. So he didn't come on Survivor to compete, but merely to advertise. Lame. I would rather be forced to watch the totally sucky (and totally cancelled) Dance Wars: Bruno VS Carrie Ann's search for the ultimate cruise ship performer in perpetual repeats than watch a reality show based on Fairplay. Ick.

So I'm kind of digging on the double couple alliance. For one, it is always fun to watch attractive people get all gooey eyed. Plus I just naturally like all four of them. But despite their cautionary voice-overs that they realize it could put targets on their backs, they are still arrogant enough to start macking it up in the middle of camp. This behavior is just amazing. Because it is completely stupid. I can see how impossibly romantic it must feel to them, but it is funny to see their hormones completely overtake their knowledge of how the game works. I hate to say it, but unless they start dominating challenges (which, with Ozzy and James around, is definitely possible) I see an early exit for my darling Amanda.

The challenge was typical, but fun. I was sort of bummed that Chet was so pathetic, because I'm really curious to see how the teams match up on even terms. But it was fun to see Ozzy just dominate his blond guy rival in the opening. But it was pretty telling watching Chet struggle to walk out of the water up the beach, contrasted with Jonathan forcing himself to run those last few steps even though he was clearly tired. Experience counts.

I'm curious why they chose the crazy lady to go to exile island. The first person there never finds the idol. That lady was sat out of the challenge, so she was already weak, how is making her more weak going to help you? I would have sent someone either reasonably strong to tire them out, or someone to hurt morale, or to break up an alliance, or something. I don't know what choosing her really achieved them. But I liked that two of them were sent, and good on Cirie for volunteering. Unless I was worried about camp, I would've volunteered too.

The scavenger hunt idea is totally rocking. Get someone strong like Ozzy there and the idol is found. What I'm curious about, are there two? Or do they have to fight over it? Also, points to Cirie - she was constantly complaining about how tired she was, but notice she was at all times a dozen strides in front of the other lady. Experience counts. She also did a great job at making friends with the lady, which is always something that could help you later on, although I'll be surprised if that lady lasts even to the merge. But still, you take your opportunities where you can, even if they don't end up panning out.

The fans team seems hopelessly fractured. I hate it that there is a division between the old and the young. Boring, even if somewhat understandable. Mostly it seems to suck for the builder woman who doesn't really seem all that old to me, but was clearly dumb enough to align to the two weakest players on the team. That they have two separate shelters is a new low though. I love that the young ones evicted the old ones from the cave, then came around and saw how much better the old ones shelter was, and then had the nerve to ask for help in building another one. Wow. I know we've met relatively few of the fans, but so far I'm not terribly impressed with them yet. I will also be tickled to death if they use up their flint and lose their fire, because that would just be funny.

However, I loved the twist. Voting Chet off seemed completely obvious, but Survivor is at its most fun when it eschews the obvious for some crazy scheme. Mr. Over-Analyze guy was drunk on his own intelligence, and the Hulk totally smacked him down for it, which was awesome. Of course who pays? The poor pretty girl with the big boobs. They didn't even kiss. Oh, Amanda, your days are numbered aren't they? I felt a little bad for boob girl, because I am a total shallow snob and even though I didn't know or really care about her at all yet, I always feel sad when unexpected bad things happen to attractive people.

Now that Mr. Examine Every Possible Outcome In Excruciating Detail has been given the smack down, I can't wait to see how he reacts next week. Will he take a step back and pretend he doesn't really care and just wants what is best for the team? Or will he start plotting against the Hulk? Ah, I can dream, right? Because if the rest of the team didn't like that he was becoming the leader, do they realize that they just made Hulk the leader? Or are they just allowing the alpha males fight it out and are falling in line behind the strongest? All interesting.

I'm also trying to figure out why Hulk didn't even play his own game, and still voted for Tracy. Like, what was that about? Is he trying to maintain some level of deniability? I can't really figure out what his game was with that, but he clearly made that choice for a reason. I hope it comes out.

PS - If I were Cirie, I'd align with the couples. Not only are they stronger and will be better at winning, but assuming they stick together until the end, when it gets down to five the couples will turn on each other and Cirie will again be the swing vote, so she could make it to the top 3 easy.

Our first baby visitor

Last weekend we had some more visitors, which we always love. Brian went to college with David, and he and his wife Sarah just had this adorable bundle of fun, Morgaine. Morgaine is a super lucky baby because both of her parents are super great singers, so she will be totally spoiled in the lullaby department.

David's contribution to the blog

Excerpts from my personal dictionary:

Adorable: see photo.



Obsession: The way David won't stop talking about this photo.

More political humor, this time at the expense of the democrats

Hey Rick, this one is for you. (This one even features good actors, a rarity for this genre.)



And yes, debate is always good, so keep it up. I won't even deny that Hillary is more experienced than Obama is. I just don't think experience is the only qualification, and still most of her experience is de facto through her husband. Anyway, if she is running on experience, than what exactly is her argument against McCain? She is a classic liberal with a very pragmatic, moderate approach to getting things done. Once she is elected Congress will likely turn Red again, which proved to be a very productive combination in the 90s. (well, other than their obsession for sex.) But for me Obama is about change, and hope, and optimism. I like that better.

Anyway, the website you linked to also says that even Hillary has a poor attendance record relative to their peers. They are missing votes because they are campaigning. Their records on bills introduced and enacted are basically equal, and average. I didn't realize what an awful ratio of bills introduced vs. bills actually enacted our Senate has.

But you know what? I'm sure happy that we are trying to pick between two qualified candidates. The poor Republicans are split between the moderate (which apparently for many of them is a dirty word) and the preacher, and they are clearly having a tough time making up their minds. It is pretty amazing to me that Huckabee is getting so many votes when I thought I heard it was now mathematically impossible for him to actually win at this point. I guess he will go on to make millions on the lecture circuit. But I'm amazed that that many Republicans dislike McCain that much to humiliate him like that right before the election where I'd imagine they will still want him to win over Obama. (Or Hillary, sorry Rick. ::grin::)

Obama swept DC. It was expected, but I don't think anyone expected it to be THAT decisive. He won my district with over 60% of the vote, which was actually less than his overall win which I think was closer to 75%. He won in all 142 districts, and in only ten was Hillary able to keep Obama under 60%. So I guess I could have saved myself the injury and humiliation of my fall yesterday. But hey, I still got a free sticker. Oh, and potential bragging rights, which is even more valuable for a guy with a blog.

I got my vote on, and it looks good!

David came home from work so, since we are responsible types who want our voices heard, it was time to vote. Honestly, it is cold and drizzling freezing rain, so we did briefly consider not going (the idea that Obama won't win in our neighborhood seems next to impossible), but I realized I would be too embarrassed to blog about being that lazy, so we went. As I stepped out on our porch I quickly learned that the freezing rain had, indeed, frozen on our stoop, and I proceeded to slide down on my butt all the way down the stairs and halfway across the sidewalk. Ouch! See how dedicated I am, that even after suffering injury (not to mention humiliation and a cold embarrassing wet mark on my jeans) we still walked the four blocks to vote. David said that with the umbrella I was carrying it looked pretty cool. I need a camera crew following me more often, because I bet that would have been a $10,000 winner on Funniest Home Videos. The sidewalk was also frozen over, and we both almost fell several times on the way. We finally started walking in the street where it was less slick, and fortunately the rush hour crowd isn't out yet so there weren't too many people as stupid as us still walking around.

The polls were close to empty, but I bet they fill up again in another hour. As I was leaving work this morning some of the nurses came in directly from the polls and said they were packed. So that was good for us. And I got my "I Voted!" sticker, so I can show off my civic pride. I had thought we had a caucus here, but I guess I was wrong, because it just seemed like any other vote I've ever been to.

Anyone want to guess who I voted for? Some girl was doing a little exit poll for a college project. An older woman was there with us, and we all said the same thing, the we would vote for Hillary if she is the nominee, but that we are sure hoping Obama gets it. The woman was clearly sympathetic to Hillary, and I got the impression it was a recent decision to back Obama over her. I wonder if that trend will continue through Texas/Ohio? Fingers crossed! Cause Obama is the Man and will solve all of our soil erosion problems. Sorry, inside joke, but David will laugh when he reads that. (and maybe Todd, if he still reads this anymore.)

My fingers are killing me from where I was trying to slow my fall down the railing on the stoop. See kids, democracy is not free. But probably worth it.

Hillary and the Band

I've made it clear where I stand, but I always give props for funny.

A defense of Obama

I've been asked to defend Obama more than once, and if he wins the primary and it comes down to him and McCain, I'm sure I will take the time to get more informed to be able to make the argument of why I like him over the Republican. But for now the only person running against Obama is Clinton, and to me the choice is pretty clear. Most of their policy differences are relatively minor, so it comes down to a preference of character, and I much prefer Obama. To me Clinton represents an opportunity to exact sweet partisan revenge on the right for some of the more outrageous things they've done over the past eight (or even sixteen) years. But I'm not one to think revenge tastes all that sweet, and would rather choose someone who has appeal across the aisle and can bring more people together rather than to continue to split us apart.

I hope the "Mama for Obama" is at my caucus next week. :)

In any case, here is a brief article by blogger Matt Yglesias, which casually examines the meme that Obama somehow isn't prepared to be President. Since we are still in the primaries, it is geared mostly towards people choosing between him and Clinton, but any Republicans reading this blog are still welcomed to read it. ::grin::

There is substance behind the hope

This is satisfying video, a conservative with a video camera approaches a young Obama supporter with the idea of showing how uninformed people must be to support the "fairytale", but he wasn't ready for this kid, who even seems to win him over in the end. I wish I were this eloquent.

Survivor, or the one that proves Fairplay is no match for Rob

So I wasn't positive that I was interested in doing recaps of Survivor again. I mean, the last season just finished, and as much as I love the show I think I was ready, well, to "take a break". Not a break-up or anything, I just wanted some time off to enjoy Idol and Runway, which provide more than enough TV for me. But last night proved that even in its 17th season, the best show on TV can still provide a surprise or two, so I guess I'm hooked again. Oh well, I never liked those hour-long Idol elimination shows they schedule against Survivor anyway.

So this season is "Fans VS Favorites", which to me sort of muddies the appealing concept of the all-star approach. Yeah, it was cool when they brought back Stephanie and Bobby-John, but at that point Stephanie was my all-time favorite. This time I feel torn, because I have a lot of residual loyalty to some of the "favorites" (a term I kind of hate), but what I love about this game is meeting new and interesting people, so I also want the newbies to kick butt. So I'm in a quandary about whom to root for.

Of the all-stars, the good guys happily outweigh the bad ones. Amanda and James, two of the best players from last season are back, and are great choices. Even though Amanda sort of blew it right at the end, I'm hoping she learned her lesson and keeps her game strong throughout this time. Of course, they probably filmed this version before she saw the last season, so who knows if her or James had any chance to really watch and learn. I was always very hesitant about James last season, but even if he isn't the smartest tool in the shed, the wisdom and maturity he showed when he was kicked off really have made me a fan.

Ozzy is a machine and he and James should make a kick-ass team. Yao-Man is awesome. Parvati is perhaps a bit one-dimensional, but remains very appealing. I'm really excited about Amie, whom I had wanted to win her season (where a lame catfight resulted in the most boring of all Survivor winners, was his name Brian or something, I can't even remember). Eliza I can't remember as well as the others, so I don't remember exactly why but somehow I have some rather negative feelings towards her. (And the rumors were that Julie, also from her season, who is or at least was dating Probst, was supposed to be coming back, and I would have much preferred her.) However the only person I was really disappointed to see was, of course, Fairplay, who is an idiot. As one who appreciates the outwit part of the game, you might think I'd be fond of him, but the loser is so slimy that he just grosses me out. So when the producers gave him the star entrance, all of my nightmares came true at once as I realized that not only were they counting on him being the villain, but they were going to give him every opportunity to do so. ::sigh::

Other than him, things start off fun enough with a mad inter-island swim to win an individual immunity. One of the cocky newcomers wants to show that he can keep up with Ozzy, and actually does. Me like. However both of them run right past the idols, leaving good old Fairplay to find it. Unfortunately he finds the other teams, so he and Yao rush the right one, and Yao gets it. Fairplay then proceeds to complain about how poor little him was tackled and beaten up by an evil man who, of course, is like three times his age. My head was in my hands, I really can't imagine dealing with this for long. Then the evil Yao helps a woman from the other team find hers. He probably wanted to tackle her too, but Fairplay held him back.

Prior to the immunity challenge, we get brief introductions of the new players, but then spend a lot of time watching the Favorites pick alliances and talk about who they want to vote out. Hmmmmm, I wonder who is going to lose the challenge? I call this way lame editing, because it makes the actual challenge totally boring since I know the outcome before it even begins. Anyhoo, in an interesting sort of tangled twist, Ozzy and Amanda start flirting, and James and Parvati start flirting, and somehow before you know it four of my favorite players are in an alliance of couples. I'm loving that, and am very curious how it will unfold. Unfortunately that leaves my darling Amie stuck with Eliza, Jonathan and Yao, which leaves my loyalties divided. Jonathan I might even end up liking, he did well in his season until his attempt at Outwit totally backfired. Also I like him because if you close your eyes when he is talking he sounds exactly like Alan Alda. So each of these teams of four turn to Fairplay as the swing vote. Apparently there has been a time/space vortex of some kind, because Cirie has vanished without a trace. No one consults her, no one talks to her, no one considers, hmmm, maybe it would be good to get her on our alliance rather than wait for the other team to get her. I had mixed feelings about her last time, but she lasted a long time which impressed, and also she is a nurse, so I have to have her back now.

The challenge was an interesting one, but, as was heavily foreshadowed, the Favorites were routed. Whatever. So it will be a showdown between Eliza and Parvati, because these Survivors know the ropes and aren't wasting time voting off the invisible Cirie, they are out to solidify their power alliances.

But then Fairplay starts talking about wanting to go home, because his girlfriend is 7 months pregnant and he wants to be responsible for once in his life. Him lying about home is of course nothing new, but before he lies to his teammates, he lies to the camera, to us the viewers. He even starts fake crying, which is obviously fake crying, but then the weird part happens, and after he fake cries he doesn't start laughing about his evil plan to trick everyone. He just keeps fake crying. What kind of weird trick is he up to with that? Parvati comes to the rescue and tells him to tell the other team to vote for him, and they will vote for Eliza. And he starts telling them. But dude, even for you it is WAY too early to be playing that hard. Ozzy is my hero and totally calls him out on his need to play the villain. But David and I are chatting away and can't seem to see the logic behind his move here.

At tribal, Jeff lays into him, which is always satisfying. He accuses him of quitting, which Fairplay denies, and his teammates defend him. But I would defend him too, because I know he has to be up to something. And the crazy thing is, he isn't. He gets voted off unanimously. Now, this is by far the best of all possible worlds for anyone who enjoys Survivor, because there is no way he would have been anything but torturous to watch. But still, I just don't get it, like at all. Why would the villain, the guy who claims to be the best player in the history of the game (totally untrue of course), quit at the very first tribal of the season? In his see-ya-later confessional, he claims to be doing the responsible thing, and talks about how everyone has seen a different side of him and have grown to like, even to love him. And suddenly it dawns on me. We are watching a guy who has the absolute worst self-perception of all time. For whatever reason, maybe it even is his impending fatherhood, he has decided to seek redemption. But rather than, you know, actually earning it, he devised this plan to "show" America that he cares more about his unborn child than he does Survivor. But dude, you just aren't that good of an actor, or a screenwriter. I still don't like you, I know for sure the producers of Survivor don't like you, and I doubt your master plan to gain the love of America is going to work. You are one crazy, weird, and unlikable guy, trying one last time to manipulate me. Sorry, but I'm not buying.

But he did surprise, and for that I'm actually grateful. He didn't shout "DAMN!", or declare love at first sight with someone from the other team (although he did demand a hug from an obviously reluctant Probst), but still I always love a good first episode ending. I just couldn't be happier that evil Yao got the immunity idol. Even better, whatever their flaws, I'm left with nine all stars that I actually like. (Well, I don't love Eliza, but she does have those big Disney eyes that are kind of mesmerizing.) And ten newcomers that I can't wait to get to know. This is gonna be fun.

Thoughts from the first week of February

I worked on Tuesday night, so yesterday I was just pretty tired and headachey, but when David got home from school the weather was just so nice that we went for a walk and only wore sweatshirts, and I was in heaven. It has been weeks since we've really been able to go on a walk of decent length, and it reminded me that taking those walks every day is a huge part of the reason I love this city, and is when I am at my happiest. Exploring a city on foot with David is one of my most treasured activities, even when we are walking up streets we've been on dozens of times before. We talk, we plan, we catch new details of the landscape we'd not noticed before. More confirmation that I have to live in an environment that is warm enough for comfortable outdoor activities all year round.

I had a patient this week that, long story short, had an operation for a bowel obstruction. They pulled out all of his intestines and started looking for the obstruction (which ultimately wasn't there), but before they could put him back together his blood pressure dropped to zero. It them took them three days to stabilize him enough to put his intestines back inside of him, and another week before they could completely sew his belly back up. Can you imagine having your intestines spread out on the bed with you for three days? Some of this medical stuff is craaaazy. (He still has major health issues, but other than a nasty scar his intestines are all working the same as they did before.)

My birthday was fun, thanks to everyone for all the cards and emails. We'd been thinking of where to go for dinner, and suddenly I realized I just wanted fondue. So we did that. It is such a simple thing, yet was better than anything I'd have found in a restaurant. David made cupcakes just to be different, and they were, of course, good too. Almost anything edible is made better by being bite-sized.

We tried getting into watching "Dance Wars: Bruno VS Carrie Ann", but in the end it just was too...boring. I loved watching cruise ship performers when I was on a cruise ship, but on TV it just comes across as being silly. Plus, having never watched Dancing With The Stars, I could care less about Bruno or Carrie Ann and get majorly bored by their antics. Besides, the show has been on how many weeks now, and I still don't really understand how the show is going to end, and who it is that will get a recording contract, a person, a team? What if one team gets decimated in six weeks? I think the kids on Bruno's team are a tad better, but Bruno annoys the heck out of me, and it is unclear if I'd be voting for his team or for him. Anyway, I imagine this is one of the last-minute attempts at filling a slot the writers strike opened up, and it shows. Instead, we saw a commercial for some Randy Jackson dance team show on MTV which seems similar but much more interesting. Of course, Survivor starts tonight, so between that and Project Runway my TV viewing is doing just fine at the moment.

Radha, check out Blog Cabins, Fletch has a great post on some ideas for future seasons of Survivor. My favorite: no tribes, with everybody together competing individually the entire time.

I really need to post on politics, but I don't have the time right now. I'm very excited about Obama, but realize it could still go either way. Today at the grocery store we saw an older woman in a wheelchair, to which she had affixed a big sign that said "Mama for Obama". I wanted to hug her. lol

Romney, well, I should save the thought, because it is a more nuanced argument, but I was at the gym watching TV today when he "suspended" his campaign, whatever that means. I'll always think of him as the candidate that might have been. Had he run on his strengths, he might have had more appeal. Instead he decided to pander to the new base of the Republican party, the Christianists, and in doing so made a fool out himself over and over again. He has Rove and Bush to thank for that. But today when he said a vote for a Democrat is a "surrender to terror", he really pissed me off. If that kind of taunting fear garbage is the best he can do, then he hardly deserves to be president. I just read some excerpts from McCain's speech from today, and he makes a similar argument that he will be better at security, but does so in a way that isn't just insulting to people who might disagree with him. There are no absolutes in politics, and anytime a candidate says "Vote for me or die", well to me it only makes you look desperate, stupid, or perhaps just an incredibly sore loser. As lame as it is, I get pandering when you are trying to get votes, but why be so divisive if you are dropping out?

Also, we had some company the other day, but I will post on them as soon as I get the photos uploaded to the computer, because they have a super cute baby.