Survivor: Gabon, Finale Recap

Rock on Bob.

Bob is a superman. Slow, steady, and competent. Matty and Kenny started out with a good lead over him in the first challenge, but he came on strong, but both of them faltered, and Bob edged out Sugar for the win. I love that.

Not much to say about Kenny getting voted out. He had a really good run there for a while, but his successes clearly went to his head. His obsession with Bob not giving him the idol was totally psychotic. I was totally giving him the benefit of the doubt that he knew it was stupid, but was trying to use it as a weapon to sully Bob with the jury. The problem was that the jury totally didn't buy it (Bob was too smart and deflected the criticism handily), but worse, after he was voted off it seems Kenny had bought his own stupid reasoning. Disappointing coming from someone who seemed to be smarter than that. He was classy when he left, but the anger still got to him for final tribal.

The final challenge was a real surprise. Suzie? I was shocked at how poorly Bob did, I mean, I expected him to be right in it. I knew Bob was gone if he didn't win. Suzie, after winning, revealed again just how in over her head she was. I totally understand that she wanted to celebrate her win. I mean, we see that kind of behavior every season when someone finds a hidden immunity idol and immediately rushes to tell someone. Stupid move, always, but people can't resist the temptation to brag. Suzie was no different, and given how the move saved her life, she was excited about it. But just had no clue of how insensitive she was being. Also, she was, for the first time in weeks, feeling powerful, and wanted to explore flexing her muscles. So in her head she came up with this plan to vote off Sugar, but instead of telling Bob that, she tried to, well I don't know what she was trying to do. But no one understood her "subtext", and again she just ended up coming off stupid. The riding of the coattails can definitely get people to the end, we see it over and over again. The problem is that often the players that do that aren't really doing it as a real strategy, they are doing it because they aren't insightful enough to do anything else. I'm sure she is a perfectly nice mother and wife, but with a few very notable exceptions, she wasn't a very good Survivor.

Sugar is totally crazy. She is sweet, she is mean, she makes dumb moves, she makes interesting moves, she was just totally all over the map. But she saved this season from utter boringness, orchestrating just about every interesting twist the show has seen. Her choice to force Matty and Bob into a tie-breaker was awesome. Like everyone else in America, I had hoped to see Suzie go, just for the delight at seeing a final three with three worthy competitors. But while I totally liked Matty, he played a very boring game, just with a lot of heart, so Bob had the edge for me. Plus, BOB PRACTICED. Holy cow. I do not understand how you can go on Survivor and not know how to start a fire blindfolded and underwater. Jeff made a similar comment at the reunion show. The challenge is not a surprise. And it cost Matty a million dollars.

I usually don't really like the final tribal council. The jury members, salivating for one last moment in the spotlight, are tempted to either be an idiot or to take their silly questions way too seriously. That is one reason I will always love James, because he always kept it real at tribal and did not try to amp up the drama. Even Charlie showed how much he has been hanging out with Corrine back at Ponderosa and was just a little rude. I was shocked at Marcus, whom up until now I'd thought seemed like a cool guy. But, as boring as Suzie was, what exactly makes him think she is a bad role model for her son? Yeah, she beat you big guy, I don't see what is so evil about that. Very disappointed in him, that was totally ridiculous. Kenny was still obsessed with Bob not giving him the idol, which is laughable. Matty was a little weird, but you always expect the last person voted off to still be pretty emotional about it.

Randy and Corrine were a joke. In fact I have to say I've been defending Corrine all season because I thought she was funny, but wow, that was over the line by a mile. But you know what kept it ok? In a twist, none of the final three took their questions seriously. Usually when the jury acts up, the final contestants do their best to give the jury the answers they want to hear, or at least to do as little damage as possible. Bob though, is actually an honorable man, and was simply not going to stop giving Sugar and Suzie a little respect no matter how much the jury prodded him to do so. And Sugar was a total hoot, clearly completely unconcerned with actually winning. She came to Survivor with her own goals, and actually winning was not one of them. She knew people weren't going to vote for her, and rather than groveling for a spare vote or two (and I think she had the arguments to deserve the win) she just brushed it aside. I kinda love that. I mean, I think she gave up way too early and way too easily, but what else was she supposed to do in the face of Randy and Corrine? But she totally had the last laugh on both of them. Randy was a total ass, as expected, and once again Sugar put him in his place, calling him a jerk or something, leaving him to stand there spluttering. He didn't expect that, and it was awesome. Her flip-off of Corrine was also satisfying. Bob and Suzie, while not nearly as confrontational, also openly laughed at the ridiculousness of some of the questions. Good on them.

I wish I knew who the three people were that voted for Suzie. Matty, well, he was in an alliance with her I guess. But give me a break. When it was clear Sugar wasn't even trying, for a moment I wondered if Bob would win unanimously. It must have been Kenny and Crystal, also voting for their original tribemate. But were I in that jury, it would take more than blind loyalty to get my vote.

The reunion show was pretty unremarkable. Marcus again came across poorly, and Randy and Corrine came off as truly sad. Crystal had no excuse for her poor performances, but at least she was a good sport about it. Kenny was a little weird, but that is because Kenny is a little weird. Count me as one who thought Ace had a fake accent, so that was surprising. More of the girls actually looked attractive rather than looking like cheap hookers though, which was nice. And then there's Sugar. Holy cow she looked amazing, in a class all of her own! I had a similar love for Kenley on Project Runway last season, I just love that 1940's glamour.

Overall, this was not a great season, but it had plenty of great moments. Now I just have to wait patiently for Brazil.

Survivor: Gabon, Episode 11 Recap

Help me! I'm falling off the Survivor bandwagon, and I can't get up!

Still watching, just not so into blogging about it. I blame you Radha, for not keeping up with me. ::grin::

In short, Bob is awesome. Since it is pretty obvious that Suzie is going to float to the end, I am perfectly fine with Crystal getting voted off. As Sugar put it, let the nice people finish. Sugar cracks me up. She has been a real mover in the game, but I can't get over feeling that all of her big moves have either been mistakes or due to what I think are stupid motives. (I mean, wasn't she totally pissed at Kenny for lying to her and getting her to vote off Ace? But she started this episode in a totally tight alliance with Kenny and Crystal. Transition much?) I totally appreciate her making every move, but I have a hard time rooting for her when she either doesn't understand or care about the glory of playing the game.

But she is also kind of a bitch, as evidenced by her open mocking of Randy, and then tonight by the way she gave her idol to Matty, rubbing salt in the fresh stab wounds in Crystals back. Subtle is not in her vocabulary, which makes for some great TV.

Bob really concerned me when he started feeling guilty about lying to Kenny, and told him he would give him his immunity if he won. Dude. "Oh, I am so sorry that I am trying to beat you in this game of chess, why don't I just give you my Queen?" I HATE IT when they talk about "integrity". Why should you feel guilty about playing the game? Isn't that WHY YOU ARE THERE? Kenny, to his credit, is totally going for it. Are they editing him to sound super cocky? Yeah, and at this point I don't know if he has the votes to win anymore. But at least he is totally owning it. I mean, wow, plotting to get the immunity idol from Bob to turn around and vote him off? Awesome. Horrible, and I'm glad his plan failed, but still awesome. And though Bob scared me there for a while, he at least wizened up and played smart.

Favorite moment - back at camp, when Matty is complaining that he is the next to get voted off, and Sugar says "Yeah, that sounds pretty accurate." HA! Matty has no game though. Complaining does not constitute a strategy. The only reason he is still around is because Crystal couldn't help but gloat, which pissed Sugar off. I don't want him to win, but I'm always happy to have more likable options in the end. Sugar said him, "Just let me do the thinking." And she was right. I mean, ouch.

Again, I just have to say that I was impressed with Crystal as she was voted off. I think a person's true character comes out in a moment like that, and she was really classy. Good for her. I hope they make her run down Broadway to the David Letterman theatre for the reunion show, just so she can show off what she can really do.

Daughters Of The Revolution like creepy dolls

NOTE: I wrote this post back in December sometime, saved the draft so I could attach the picture, and then got busy with other things. It is January now, but better late than never.

Yesterday was one of those super nice days where, despite the intermittent rain, it was 60 degrees outside, which is always appreciated at this time of year. At least by yours truly, as we all know David is insane and was dissapointed he didn't get snow. Weird, right?

He found out about an open house at the Daughters of the Revolution headquarters, and since they advertized free refreshments, I tagged along. I had other incentive, because we also met up with Christina, a friend of his from college who has a super cool job in the government getting pro-environment bills passed. We walked through the ellipse past the White House Christmas Tree, which is decorated with a hair-net of lights, which is kind of weird and funny looking, but whatever. I still like christmas trees, regardless of how badly they are lit. The DAR headquarters is in a beautiful historic building just down the street from the White House, so getting a chance to look around was cool. In the center was a huge library where they have all of their massive collection of geneology, and a few choirs took turns with the Christmas carols. One group was a foursome of women, and I noticed one was reading her lyrics from a choirbook in braille. I found that fascinating, and wonder if she was just reading lyrics, or do they have notations for music also written in braille?

The office rooms located all around the building have been "sold" to various states, who come in and decorate the rooms with historical furniture. I don't know why. But some of the old wall papers and rugs were pretty awesome. Upstairs they have what they call the "Children's Attic", and the docent there was very excited to tell me that the room had been decorated for Christmas by showing a childhood fantasy of all the old dolls having a Christmas tea party, because, you know, after everyone goes to sleep the dolls come to life and have a tea party. Of course, being fully aware that after the tea party the dolls were going to go on a murderous rampage and kill everyone in the house, I got out of the room while the going was good. As if any doll isn't evil enough, these were all 150 years old with matted hair and fading face paint and totally looked like zombie dolls that just wanted to eat brains. That docent was on crack or something, very, very creepy.

They also had door prizes, and we were confident we were going to win...and we did! Well, Christina did, which was close enough. She got a spectacular not-to-be-forgotten official Daughters Of The Revolution coffee mug. David and I were very supportive. (And happy we didn't have to carry home yet another mug to a home where no one drinks coffee, although they do sometimes come in handy for dipping cookies into milk.)

Afterwards Christina took us to this awesome little restaurant she knew that uses all farm-fresh food and stuff. We had to wait like an hour to get in, but boy was it worth it. All the food was delicious, and I can't wait to go back and try some of the other things on the menu.

Student Loan Debt

I've been learning a lot about saving money for kids lately. Savings bonds, 529 plans, vs. just opening up a savings account. Helping a kid save for the future seems like a simple idea, but of course money is rarely that simple. Lots of decisions to make, priorities to set, and tax consequences for all of it. It is a lot to think about, but I think it is time and effort well spent, trying to help the next generation get started on the important task of learning to become financially secure.

Of course, it isn't like it is just a lesson you learn as a kid and then never have to think about again either. All of us adults need to keep our eye on the prize as well, continuing to educate ourselves and set up our own financial priorities. Life has a way of getting in the way of that, making it difficult to maintain at times. But that doesn't mean we stop trying.

Anyway, I've got some awesome instrumental Christmas music playing in the background, and for some reason it is making me all philosophical. Enough with that! lol

I mentioned before that student loan debt is something I'm dealing with, and have for most of my adult life. Since I'm not the only one in the family with some student debt already accrued or looming in the near future, lets talk about that for a minute.

There are two kinds of student loans. The first are governmental, that you get after you fill out your FAFSA and are generally distributed by the school you are attending. Then there are private student loans, that are given by private companies rather than the government. Student loans are, often times, totally necessary for someone wanting to get through school, and under the right circumstances, are a necessary part of the process of getting an education. However I don't think lenders or schools often do a very good job at really explaining the consequences of student loans to young people. It isn't free money, and though everyone thinks that when they grow up they will make lots and lots of money, trust me, paying back loans is totally annoying. The more money you make, the more money you spend, and that loan payment is always preventing you from spending (or saving) money on something else.

The other thing about student loans, that they never really tell you, is that no matter what, you will pay them back. Even if you completely fall apart financially and declare bankruptcy, you still have to pay back your student loan debt. It never goes away, unless you die. Since none of us intend to die, that means you are going to pay it back. So the first piece of good advice is to take out as little as is possible. The money is tempting. I've been there, and I've taken it. But always remember it isn't free.

Loans from the government are generally at a low interest rate. I started out paying about 5.75%. Every June the rate is adjusted depending on what the economy is doing, and this year the interest rate dropped, I'm now paying between 3 and 4.5%. It is always nice when they drop, but it won't be too long and they will start going up. Private student loans are another story. They can charge you any interest rate they want. They can charge you 8%. They can charge you 15%. They can charge you 25%. So be very careful about taking them out, you really don't want to if you don't absolutely have to.

Once you start paying them off, pay them off. Sometimes you can defer payments, but unless it is a real emergency, don't! Even if they aren't demanding payments, the interest is still accruing. Even at a low interest rate, that interest can really add up. When I first started paying off my 30K I was paying about $200 a month just in interest. So if I had been making the minimum payments they were asking for, which was $356, over half of my payment was instantly eaten up just by interest alone. I don't know about you, but I thought that sucked. So for the entire year I put every extra penny I could dig up into my loan payments, doubling and tripling the payment every month. It wasn't always easy (we SO WANT to go see Tina Turner in concert, but it is just too much money for us right now), but by making those extra payments I've saved thousands of dollars in interest payments. I'm still paying about $100 a month in interest. But I'm closer to where I want to be, which is paying $0 in interest. :)

Even if you get all your loans from the same lender, they are still broken up into how much money you took every semester. When you graduate you can consolidate them into a single loan, and there are pros and cons to doing that depending on how things are set up. If you don't consolidate, when you start paying them off, identify which loan has the highest interest rate, and put all of your extra pennies into getting that one paid off first. I mean, that makes sense, right?

Debt sucks. And it can be overwhelming. But whatever you do, don't think you can just ignore it or wait until later. There are times money can be tight and you have to make tough decisions about which debt to prioritize. But as a general rule, make sure any student loan debt IS the priority.

(Have I freaked you out yet Kyle? Heh.) Anyway, this is partly why I wanted to start all the kids saving money. If they have a little nest egg to help out come college time that decreases their need for loans, well, I can't think of any better gift to give someone. Let's get them started out right!

Comments? Questions?

survivor: Gabon, Episode 10 Recap

Is this 10 or 11? I don't know.

Look, I'm busy with Christmas planning. But last nights episode reminded that even from an overall lackluster season, brilliance can emerge from the most unlikely of places.

Bob is so brilliant that with one fell swoop (well, plus his first fake idol) he quickly made up for the fact that he has been miserable at the outwit for the past twenty whatever days. He came up with a brilliant plan, then totally let Corrine have the credit for coming up with it. Smart.

And I have to say, I was totally rooting for them too. They had Kenny and Crystal wrapped around their finger. "You guys are so smart, what do you think we should do?" At that moment, I wanted Corrine to win it all. She is mean, but she isn't uncomfortably miserable like Randy or Fairplay or that crazy guy who quit smoking. I just love her. Unfortunately, Kenny was just smart enough to insist on flushing the idol out, although whether it was smart or not is now totally up for debate, as he just painted a huge target on his back. (And, knowing he was doing that, why didn't they change plans and try go to Matty instead? I think, had they swayed Matty instead, Corrine would still be there.) Frankly, I think Kenny just lost. If he could make it to the end he has a shot, but I wonder if Matty and Sugar and Suzie will forgive him. As they all know, Bob will walk away with it if he were to make it, so I'm pretty sure that they will get rid of him at the first opportunity, but sometimes anger makes people do stupid things, so who knows.

What is funny, is that everyone seems to have forgotten that Sugar still has the idol. At this point, assuming Bob doesn't make it, I think she has a great shot at winning. For me, voting between her and Matty is a total tossup. He played a better physical game, but Sugar has done more that effected the games outcome. Crystal has done a lot too, but she just seems too unlikable to win. Suzie has no shot, but at this point she will be final three for sure. If I were Sugar, I'd gun for Bob, Kenny and Matty, in that order.

My favorite at this point is Bob, with a virtual tie for second between Sugar, Matty and Kenny, then Crystal and finally Suzie. I think any of the top five have a decent argument to make though, and heck, even Suzie won the fire challenge by a mile. Just depends on what psycho Randy thinks.

He made TWO FAKE IDOLS. And people believed him both times!! Bob deserves a special place in Survivor heaven for that.

Cape Onion and the very rare weeds

I never did finish talking about our Canadian vacation. Where did I leave off, up in Newfoundland I think.

After we left Gros Morne, we drove up the coast up towards Viking territory. Well, what was Viking territory, for a little while, a long time ago. On the way, right at the northern tip, we stopped at nature sanctuary that was called, if I can still remember right, Cape Onion. It was right by this picturesque little village, very beautiful. The park itself was unremarkable, a bunch of limestone gravel with flat bushy plants on this little hilltop with the ocean on three sides. A park guide took us and a couple of others around to show us what there was to see. When we first got out of the car, she led us over to a bunch of little weeds and said "By the time I'm finished with you, you are going to be terrified to take a step all around here." In my head I was like "Yeah right." I mean, I consider myself pretty environmentally conscious, but still, like I'm gonna be afraid to step on a weed?

The first thing she showed us was a small, flat, bush. "This," she said, "is a 400 year-old tree." Say what? Turns out that because of the cold and the high winds, nothing can get tall. These same trees grow all over the place, and grow nice and tall elsewhere, but here on the cape they are no more than a few inches tall, growing flat along the ground in cute little bonsai fashion. "Step on one of these and you could kill something that has been growing for hundreds of years." Point taken, but still, the trees were pretty obvious.

I love this photo. See all the trees on the ground? This is a forest, just the craziest forest you've ever seen. Love it.

Then, she pointed out another tiny plant, one that was a similar color to all the gravel and so blended in and was much harder to see. "This is called" -crap, I forgot what it is called, sink foil? Something like that, David will remember, I'll update this when he gets home - "and it grows here and no where else. Step on this and you risk killing off an entire species of plant."

Holy crap! She was right, we were all on tiptoes for the rest of the trip. About halfway through the tour a couple of cars drive up to join us. These people hadn't heard the warnings, and my group was totally hating on them as they carelessly walked over to see us, trampling on these precious plants all the way. It was a group reaction, I could see everyone getting angry, which was really pretty funny.

Down by the water, we saw some Minke whales jumping around in the ocean, which was really cool. Out in the horizon we could see mainland Canada, Labrador to be specific. Our guide told us that in the winter, the ocean can freeze solid all the way across, and occasionally polar bears will wander across looking for food. Wow. We were at the wrong time of year to see any icebergs ourselves though, darnit. Many restaurants in town will take boats out to harvest the iceberg, and then sell drinks to tourists using "15,000 year old ice-cubes". Heh.

The last awesome thing were these bizarre formations in the gravel, and unfortunately my photo doesn't really show the phenomenon very well. But there were these little circles all over the place. Turns out it is a product of the frost. As the ice forms, melts, freezes, melts, the process slowly pushes the larger rocks out, leaving the smaller pieces in the center. The process can take a long time - I can't remember if she said decades or centuries now, but probably centuries, because the shift would be miniscule each season. So there are just all these little circles in the ground all over the place. It was pretty awesome.

Do you want to work forever?

I am obsessed with money. It is a trait that I'm sure has annoyed people over the years when I tell them I can't go out to dinner because I have to triple my student loan payment that month. But it is a trait that has been a real asset, considering that until very recently the periods where I was making good money were inconsistent at best. (Hey, hey, an actor's life for me!) But despite the lean times, I've never had to live paycheck to paycheck, and I find that a real blessing.

Now that my paycheck is steady, I'm finally getting close to realizing some of my financial goals. I paid off $13000 in student loan debt this year, which is something I'm pretty proud of. Of course, that isn't even half of what I owe, but it is still awesome progress - I think I've saved myself somewhere around $7000 in interest had I been making minimum payments for the life of the loan. Not bad! However, I'm going to have to cut back on that this year, as I also need to focus on some of the other goals I have - getting my emergency savings account fully funded as well as getting a Roth IRA going. I've done lots of research over the years, but only had a portion of the money I needed to get serious about my retirement. The time to get serious, is now. And if you are reading this, you should start thinking about it too. In fact, if you are related to me, then I absolutely insist that you keep reading this. Considering how perfect our family is, I still suspect that none of us are particularly educated on the financial stuff or the importance of planning for retirement. Well, something tells me Liz knows a little something about what I'm talking about. And I'm sure Scott knows plenty about taxes and investments that the rest of us mere mortals will never need to know. lol But there is no reason why all of us can't get it together. Take that power for yourself. Because what better feeling is there knowing you have the resources to take care of yourself and your family?

Maybe what I'll do is break this into a couple of posts, because obviously people write whole books on this. But, as we get into the Christmas season where we all want to spend more money than we have, lets remind ourselves to stop and think about it. Credit cards, while certainly a useful tool, are also a road into financial oblivion. Do not be tempted to buy things you cannot afford. If you have credit card debt, then you've just identified goal #1. Pay that debt off as soon as you can. I use my credit cards for just about everything, because it is easier than paying cash most of the time, and also because I get 1-3% cashback on all purchases, which is a small but nice discount. But I pay off those credit cards at the end of every month. I haven't paid interest on my credit cards in years, with a few exceptions associated with moving expenses. Never just make the minimum payment, or you will be trapped forever paying interest instead of earning interest with that money invested somewhere else. Seriously, pay those cards off, in full, as soon as possible.

Ready, set, go! Next time I'll talk about how much money you should have in your savings account, and then I'll get you excited about how totally awesome Roth IRA's are. There is great power in becoming financially secure. And once you taste it, it becomes addictive. So join me in the journey, I promise you won't regret it.

Alphacat

Who needs Saturday Night Live when you've got this guy on Youtube? With apologies the SNL guy, this is best Obama impersonation I think we are likely to see. (Bonus: Morgan Freeman!)