So The Amazing Race is being moved to Wednesdays at 8/7 Central. I'm pleased about this move, since my personal "must-see TV" is now all consequtive on the same night and I won't have to stay up quite so late anymore.

Previously: Stairmaster of DOOOOOOM!!!! "The spirit of Mr. Wizard is with us"

( Now with 30% less suck! )

Next: The Beach Bums get into a German barfight (Yay!) and Wanda/Desiree get dysfuntional (Boo!)

Yes, I'm watching The Amazing Race, but I'm not enjoying it very much. Despite the producers and editors efforts, I just can't find anything worth connecting to in any of these teams; they're either too distasteful (Paolos & Weavers) or too generic (Bransens, Linzes, Godlewskis).

Although I find myself grudgingly agreeing with Mama Paolo when she said (paraphrase) "What are we going to Arizona for? I wanna go to New Zealand!" And I grudgingly find myself feeling sorry for DJ Paolo when he got cornered and godbothered harangued talked to by the Weavers.

Previously: weird bikes, the Weavers lost it (understandably this time), Stassi lost it (not sure why), Papa Schroeder just got lost.

( A man, a plan, a canal: PANAMA! )

Next week: rope bridge OF DOOM!!! Weavers get stuck in the mud. Does this mean that they'll get eliminated like the Aiellos were?

The jury-rig fix to my glasses failed this afternoon as the earpiece came completely off. So it was time for another, stronger fix: I broke off part of a plastic pen cap (the part that's supposed to clip onto a pocket) and duct-taped it securely to both the earpiece and the frame. I hope that this holds up until next Thursday. On the plus side, the plastic is much less compressible/flexible than the matchstick was and I've taped it down firmer, so my glasses aren't as floppy as they were and my low-grade headache is disappearing.

Afterwards, I finally got to see the most recent TAR episode, thanks to the copy that my dad taped for me. I believe that I can sum up my reactions in one word: Ew. The entire leg was badly designed, with a Detour with no clear advantages to either choice, immediately followed by a split-bunch that negated most of the effort teams had done up to that point, whether good or bad. The Weavers descended into madness on an 8-hour bus ride. The post-bus "tasks" (test dummy & get your hourly AOL fix, respectively) offered ZERO chance to change your position, so as soon as we the viewers saw the order they got onto that centrifuge, there was no suspense. The Paolos haven't killed each other yet, not even DJ. And next week doesn't look much better, what with one of the tasks taking place at a racetrack. You know, like the one that the Weavers' husband/father died on. Great choice, Amazing Producers. What with Jonathon&Victoria, then Rob&Amber and now this inspired choice for a task seemingly designed to mentally torture one specific team... I'm losing faith in you, guys.

First, this is A) late and B) disjointed because my net connection failed about 6:30 and I wrote this inbetween my efforts to get it back up.

EDIT, second hour: I'm back! Apparently ZoneAlarm hates the internet now. I've been having problems with it ever since the most recent update. According to the ZA forums, apparently so has everyone else. God knows why the latest build is fubared, but that how it goes. It's off until further notice.

( Let the dysfunction begin! )

Next Week: The Paolos keep freaking out on each other. Bodies are flung around. Papa mumblemumble can't keep up with his daughters.

Also? TAR SEASON 1 IS COMING OUT ON DVD!!!!!

Previously: 11 teams started. 8 of them sucked. At the Race, anyway. As people, I liked several of them.

( FREE RON! )

Next time: I dunno. Stop asking me! Rob&Ambuh get CBS to pay for and film their wedding. ::gag::

And now, thanks to my lovely co-worker Sandra, I have a copy of last night's TAR all my own! So let tonight's last night's episode begin!

Previously: Uberleg Pt. 2, giga-bunching, wedding parade, wooden hephalumps, head-shaving (poor Joyce!), camel racing, Team Queen gets lost & Philiminated

( I LOVE YOU SANDRA! IN A COMPLETELY PLATONIC WAY! )

Next week: Uchenna is too nice for his own good. Buses freak people out. Ron is a little misogynistic.

Previously: Savannah animals, head-balancing vs. goat-milking, ANGRY KELLY!! So. Many. Teams. Can't read their clues. Silly Bros, we miss thee already.

Aside: Remember how I said that I like the new M&M commercials with Megan Mulally singing to the candies? I don't like this new, shorter version.

( It's a country AND a sub-continent! )

Next week: Thunderstorm. Angry camels (what other kind are there?)

Here are the latest three TAR icons.

( Enjoy! )

As always, these and the previous icons can be found here.

EDIT: Icons slightly redone to look better.