The Amazing Race 10

All Stars!

2007-01-23T09:38:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

Just a note to say the pool is open for Amazing Race 11: All Stars on the new blog.

The Winners of the pool!

2006-12-12T14:57:00.000-08:00

Congrats to:

Ashlee 6520
Terry 6500
Adam 6366

You will receive an email from me shortly with your prize selections!

In the meantime, some pics from New York:

Allegra's (not too many because she always forgets she likes to just drink and talk rather than actually capture images)

Courtney's (who somehow manages to do all three)

Team Scores after week 12

2006-12-06T15:41:00.000-08:00

Sorry Sheryl et. al, here are the team scores after week 12 (I must be getting ready for the finale party in New York or something)

Rob and Kimberly 105
Lyn and Karlyn 75
Tyler and James 115
Dustin and Kandice -95 (boo! I like them)

Official Pool Scores before final wager

2006-12-04T20:15:00.000-08:00

Ashlee 3260
Terry 3250
Adam 3183
Allegra 3165
Amy 3104
Kristin, Robyn 2700
Chris 2675
Becky 2630
Boogie 2620
Chris H 2560
Ben 2536
Caitlin 2395
Curt 2330
Judy 2322
Joanna 2295
Dave 2290
Zoe 2230
Mark 2215
Michelle 2175
Caitlin G. 2126
Eric 2050
Anton 2015
Courtney W. 2000
Courtney 1995
June 1830
Sarah 1825
Willow 1790
Tracy 1700
Jill, Mary 1605
Ami 1593
Jay 1345
Linda 1275
Trina 1185
Peter 1093
Nancy 1050
Kathy 1020
Mark D 920
Bari 870
Anthony 780
Stephanie 695
Mike 645
Laura 295
Les 275
Ryan 120

Congrats to the Max Bonus point winners from last week!

2006-11-27T08:27:00.000-08:00

AMY correctly came up with the caption THIS!. It was:

I didn't know this show was called Philadelphia.

The picture is of the Cho Brothers, definitely showing some brotherly love after their elimination. Philadelphia is nicknamed "The city of brotherly love".

ADAM was the only one to send me a rap, so he got full points. And here is the text of his rap.

Week 12 Bonus Question

2006-11-27T08:20:00.000-08:00

This week's trivia comes courtesy of Peter. I just thought it was really funny.

During the episode this week, one of the stops was at Atlas Production Studios outside Ouarzazate. During the filming of the first movie filmed at this studio, the US Military got incredibly worried that Morroco had stolen something of theirs to use in future combat, when really it was a fake model (give it up for the stellar powers of the US Military leaders!).

Two part question:

1. What was the movie? (20 points)
2. What did the US Military think had been stolen? (20 points)

Week 12: Caption THIS!

2006-11-27T08:18:00.000-08:00

Team Scores After Week 11

2006-11-27T08:14:00.000-08:00

Tyler and James 145
Lyn and Karlyn 15
Rob and Kimberly 85
Dustin and Kandice 105

Pool scores after week 11(?)

2006-11-27T08:07:00.000-08:00

Terry 3150
Allegra 3065
Ashlee 3040
Amy 3014
Adam 2988
Becky 2610
Boogie 2600
Kristin, Robyn 2480
Chris 2475
Judy 2417
Ben 2346
Chris H. 2340
Caitlin S. 2280
Joanna 2180
Curt 2140
Dave, Mark 2100
Michelle 2060
Zoe 2000
Eric 1935
Sarah 1920
Anton 1900
Courtney W 1885
Courtney 1880
Caitlin 1856
June 1850
Willow 1685
Tracy 1585
Jill, Mary 1490
Ami 1480
Jay 1440
Trina 1280
Linda 1200
Nancy 1050
Peter 1018
Mark D. 920
Kathy 905
Bari 870
Anthony 780
Mike, Stephanie 645
Laura 295
Les 275
Ryan 120

Team Scores after Week 10 (and trivia answers)

2006-11-20T11:02:00.000-08:00

What a crazy episode. The ___wins get the boot in Kiev for being polite and destroying the stereotype that men don't stop and ask for directions. James run's his tank into the barbie's and they gained the first place spot. The barbies and Roberly rap their little white hearts out before the Lyns kick it Bama-style. I enjoyed the need for a costume change into tuxes for Team Model (always enjoy that need, btw). And Rob called Kimberly a "superhuman creature from outerspace", which I think was a compliment. Maybe those two can actually work things out and are still together to this day. And we learned that is such a thing as the Great Patriotic War Museum. I guess they keep the upheavels and overthrowing government-type wars on the other side of town in a storage unit. All in all, a good leg of the race.

Team scores!
1. Team Model Addiction: 135
2. Team Barbie: 125
3. Team Maybe Still Dating: 85
4. Team Bama: 65
5. Team ______win: - 140

Trivia answers: (I was a little lenient on specific times)
On Sunday, Nov 19, at 12:09 they take the train for 21.14 km (47 minutes). They will need to walk .9km and pay 6 euros for a tourist ticket or anywhere between 2 to 4 for others.

The Finnish equivalent for Aloha (meaning hello and goodbye) is Moi! Moi!

It's been a pleasure bloggin' with ya'll! Keep it real, yo. (gearing up for my rap)

Pool Player Scores after Week 10

2006-11-20T11:00:00.000-08:00

Wow! With the ____wins getting kicked off the race for bein too polite, quite a few changes to the standings of pool players.

1	Terry	2860
2	Aslee	2810
3	Adam	2743
4	Allegra	2735
5	Amy	2724
6	Becky	2360
7	Boogie	2350
8	Chris	2290
9	Judy	2272
10	Kristin, Robyn	2250
11	Ben	2186
12	Caitlin	2135
13	Chris H	2070
14	Joanna	2035
15	Dave	2000
16	Mark	1955
17	Curt	1940
18	Michelle	1915
19	Zoe	1900
20	Sarah	1815
21	Eric	1790
22	Anton	1755
23	Courtney W	1740
24	Courtney	1735
25	June	1710
26	Caitlin G	1696
27	Willow	1600
28	Tracy	1440
29	Jill, Mary	1345
30	Jay, Ami	1335
31	Linda	1185
32	Trina	1175
33	Nancy	1050
34	Peter	1003
35	Mark D	920
36	Bari	870
37	Kathy	760
38	Anthony	740
39	Stephanie, Mike	645
40	Laura	295
41	Les	275
42	Ryan	120

Caption THIS! Week I have no idea

2006-11-20T07:49:00.000-08:00

Not many photos to choose from, but here we go. Let's play Match Game, shall we? I'm thinking of an eight word caption that breaks down like this:

I *i**'* **o* **is s*o* *as *a**e* **i*a*e***ia.

Be the FIRST to guess my quote (and post it or email it to me), I'll give you MAX BONUS POINTS this week. You will, as always, receive 40 for posting your caption.

And, oh, for every three people that submit a caption, I'll put another letter into the match game caption.

Week (who knows but Allegra's back) BONUS QUESTION

2006-11-19T21:39:00.000-08:00

During the detour, the Beauty Queens and 'bama mamas had to make a fine little rap (and oh, how I was laughing).

For this week's bonus question, create your own Amazing Race rap, using countries, tasks, teams, Phil, whatever!

One point for each line. And I'm gonna post 'em all and will also choose a winning rap, who will receive MAX BONUS POINTS for the week (100).

Extra Bonus Question

2006-11-13T18:09:00.000-08:00

For a few extra bonus points, please find the translation for this sign. I took this picture in Finland, and I can't find what this means!

Caption THIS

2006-11-13T10:34:00.000-08:00

Two Photos this time!! I was impressed by those of you who followed directions last week and avoided vomit captions. MOST of you followed.... (ahem, ADAM).

20 points each. Enjoy!

Trivia for Week 9

2006-11-13T10:10:00.000-08:00

Trivia!!

First, about last weeks trivia. Thought it would be easy, eh? Ha ha! I hope you all enjoyed learning about the wildlife of Madagascar, or, at the very least, checked out the animated movie by the same name.

Answers:
1. Boulder Mabuya (I also accepted lizard)
2. Verreaux's Sifaka (I also accepted lemur - it's not a monkey! sorry!)
3. Crimson Dropwing (I also accepted dragonfly)
4. Scissortail Sergeant (I also accepted zebrafish - reasoning to follow)
5. Panther Gecko

All animals are native to Madagascar except #4, which is found in Mauritius, the past pit stop location - see how tricky I can be? Thus the accepted name thing. I figured you all needed a handicap/pity vote on answers since you were all looking at Madagascar facts and distracted by the cartoon movie.

And the Lemur is the star of Zoboomafoo, a popular kids program on PBS.

Triva for Week 9!
Let's assume Tyler and James are heading to the airport after their scary journey face first down the Olympic tower. If they take only the train around noon on Sunday, November 19, how long would it take them to reach the airport and what is the total distance and the total walking distance it would take for them to reach their goal?
20 pionts for that.
10 more if you can tell me how much their train ticket would cost.
10 more if you can tell me the Finnish equivalent to Hawaii's "Aloha".

Hint: Remember, they are tourists.

Good luck! Answer to Chris before 4pm on Sunday, the 19th!

Team Scores after week 9

2006-11-13T09:16:00.000-08:00

Wow! What an episode!!
After watching their family members on coffee house laptops, we've learned that the beauty queens are truly NOT natural blondes and that the Lyn's can drop many a tear. Loved, loved LOVED beauty tips from Tyler on the train. And I never thought waders looked particularily sexy until I saw them on Phil. Too bad David and Mary couldn't have pulled through one more leg. It would have been great to see them in a mine. Liked the various shout-outs from various team members to them during that underground excursion.

I think Rob needs a lot more of his "moments" to get the rage out. And maybe a sense of direction. He seemed keen on always going the wrong way, once almost into an actual mine. At least he didn't cut the line to the taxi and steal one from another team (BAD beauty queens!!)

Does anyone else think it's crazy to rapel face first, 236 feet, in just your socks?? That's bat-sh*t crazy, right there.

As far as points go for Episode Title, Monkey Points and Placement along the race, the Team Scores for this leg are thusly:

1. Team Well-Moisturized: 90
2. Beauty Queens: 60
3. Team Most-Likely-Not-Still-Together: -20
4. The Polite _____wins: -40
5. The Tearful Lyns: 0

Pool Players Scores after Week 9

2006-11-13T09:11:00.000-08:00

With no elimination and this leg of the race continuing, the scoring is all over the place! The Models and the Beauty Queens pulled ahead with a lot of points for being "Currently in First Place" and the ____wins being "Currently in Last Place" six times - yikes! Being Polite does truly Suck Sometime.

1	Aslee	2730
2	Adam	2678
3	Terry	2670
4	Amy	2574
5	Allegra	2410
6	Boogie	2230
7	Judy	2207
8	Ben	2180
9	Kristin	2170
10	Caitlin	2140
11	Becky	2100
12	Chris	2075
13	Robyn	2030
14	Mark	1960
15	Michelle	1920
15	Joanna	1900
16	Curt	1880
17	Chris H, Dave	1850
18	Sarah	1830
19	Eric	1790
20	Anton	1760
21	Courtney	1740
22	Zoe	1710
23	June	1660
24	Willow	1655
25	Courtney W	1605
26	Caitlin G	1496
27	Tracy	1445
28	Jay	1350
29	Ami	1340
30	Jill, Mary	1210
31	Nancy, Trina	1190
32	Linda	1120
33	Peter	1078
34	Mark D	1060
35	Bari	1010
36	Stephanie, Mike	785
37	Anthony	740
38	Kathy	625
39	Laura	435
40	Les	415
41	Ryan	260

Media Point Bonanza for me!

2006-11-12T20:40:00.000-08:00

So, I asked myself, how many points do I get for having taken a picture of a random race clue location before knowing it was a race clue location? This isn't like, say, seeking out the shoe from the Family Edition

And it's not like it is the Great Wall of China or some other well-known tourist place.

Oh contraire.

So I give to you, the Kapperi Cafe, with a bunch of people out in front of it. And why did I take that picture? Not because I had some premonition that on some random race in the random future they would go to Finland and happen to stumble upon that cafe. No. It's because all of those people were watching us on the outdoor stage we played every day.

Rosie gives Kentucky Stuff!

2006-11-09T13:05:00.000-08:00

David and Mary were on The View and in classic Rosie style, they received a ton of stuff. Thanks Laura for sharing and you get 5 points for sending along this media bit of enjoyment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW97lrksGss

Trivia Challenge Week 8

2006-11-06T16:26:00.000-08:00

First off, the answers to last weeks trivia. It was a tough one! Not too many of you got it right as we made it hard to just read it right off the web. You had to dig like racers in a big ol' pile of salt.

1. Who was the first governor of Mauritius ? Cornelius Goyer, Dutch govenor in 1638

2. Which governor started economic development? Count Bertrand-Franqous Mahe' de la Bourdannais (we just don't have fancy named rulers anymore)

3. What important thing did he build and who was it named after? (He built the city of Port Louis, named after King Louis XV

Photo Quiz this week!
Send me the names of the following animal life (5 points each)
10 Bonus points if you can tell me which one is "not like the others"
5 bonus points if you can tell what television show stars animal number two

Pool Player Scores after Week 8

2006-11-06T14:33:00.000-08:00

Pool Player Scores after Week 8

1	Aslee	2700
2	Adam	2548
3	Amy	2534
4	Terry	2480
5	Ben	2220
6	Allegra	2180
7	Kristin	2140
8	Boogie	2120
9	Judy	2112
10	Caitlin	2090
11	Robyn	1960
12	Becky	1950
13	Mark	1910
14	Dave, Michelle	1870
15	Curt	1830
16	Chris	1825
17	Sarah, Joanna	1810
18	Chris H	1780
19	Zoe	1730
20	Willow	1715
21	Anton	1710
22	Eric	1700
23	Courtney	1690
24	June	1640
25	Courtney W	1515
26	Caitlin G	1406
27	Tracy	1395
28	Jay	1330
29	Ami	1290
30	Nancy	1230
31	Trina	1170
32	Linda, Mary, Jill	1120
33	Peter	1118
34	Mark D	1100
35	Bari	1050
36	Stephanie, Mike	825
37	Anthony	740
38	Kathy	535
39	Laura	470
40	Les	415
41	Ryan	300

Caption THIS Week 8

2006-11-06T14:19:00.000-08:00

Not much to choose from this week. I could only get the first three pics to load up on the cbs site and Phil's weren't that great. Let's see how many non-vomit related captions we can get!!

Team Scores after Week 8

2006-11-06T13:48:00.000-08:00

What an odd leg of the Race. Moving mattresses bound by fanny packs? Eating cow lips? (which I had the unfortunate timing to have watched while eating dinner - NOT reccomended!!) Did anyone else notice what a calming effect cow lips have on Rob and Kimberly? Maybe they should always be eating something because it sure cut down on their typically snarky bickering. And what is up with the taxis? Can't anyone keep a full tank of gas anymore? We all knew David and Mary were most likely on their way out. I bet they will never look at 10 minutes the same.

Team Barbie continually gets their selfish groove on, which will ultimately always pull them out ahead but at the risk of sacrificing future aid from other teams. Thought it was a bit tacky to not take their busted bumper car. The poor Cho's getting stuck with them during the new Intersection.

But we're down to 5 Teams and that means it is GO TIME people! Stop this silly "let's wait for the rest of six pack" thing and get a move on! As long as we get to see Phil shake his groove thing again, I guess I can be okay with ANY Pit Stop results.

And so, without further delay - the Team Scores

Model Addiction - 190
Bicker and Snipe - 180
Beauty Queens - 110
The ___wins - 70
The Lyns - 50
Kentucky - -100

Model Addiction - 190

On my own Amazing Race

2006-11-03T14:27:00.000-08:00

IMG_0212
Originally uploaded by ajlingo.

Just so y'all don't think I'm spending all of my time sitting in hotel rooms, eating takeout and playing a show a couple times a day, here's a shot of me I think is pretty sweet.

And yes, that's the Atlantic behind me.

In three weeks, I'll post a similar one--in front of the Pacific.

Trivia Challenge Week 7

2006-10-31T13:17:00.000-08:00

Triva Time! Answers to Chris by 4pm on Sunday

Who was the first governor of Mauritius ?
Which governor started economic development?
What important thing did he build and who was it named after?

Caption THIS! week 7

2006-10-31T13:14:00.000-08:00

Team Scores Week 7

2006-10-30T10:00:00.000-08:00

1. Dustin and Kandice: 170

2. Tyler and James: 70

3. Rob and Kimberly: 60

4. Erwin and Godwin: 60

5. Lyn and Karlyn: 50

6. David and Mary: 10

Pool Player Scores after Week 7

2006-10-30T09:52:00.000-08:00

No eliminations this week, so addition is soooo easy!

1 Ashlee	2260
2 Adam	2242
3 Amy	2074
4 Terry	2030
5 Ben	1910
6 Judy	1852
7 Allegra	1840
8 Caitlin	1790
9 Becky, Boogie	1750
10 Kristin	1700
11 Mark	1650
12 Dave	1640
13 Sarah	1630
14 Zoe	1620
15 Michelle	1610
16 Robyn	1590
17 Joanna, Curt	1520
18 Willow	1465
19 Anton	1450
20 Chris	1435
21 Courtney, Eric	1430
22 Chris H, June	1410
23. June	1410
24 Courtney W	1325
25 Bari	1180
26 Linda	1170
27 Nancy	1160
28 Jay	1150
29 Tracy	1135
30 Caitlin G	1126
31 Mark D, Ami	1030
32 Peter	998
33 Trina	990
34 Mary, Jill	930
35 Stephanie, Mike	755
36 Anthony	740
37 Ryan	430
38 Laura	400
39 Les, Kathy	345

A sizeable Caption THIS! Challenge

2006-10-30T07:38:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, Allegra here, hijacking my blog back for five minutes.

In addition to the bonus and Caption THIS! That Chris will post this week, I'm issuing another challenge.

Here are my photos that I've taken so far on this crazy trip I'm on. They are sadly devoid of comments or funny captions (although, most of them are scenery and it's often hard to come up with something funny to say about that. I should know. That's mostly what I write about). For each picture that you put a comment on, I'll throw a point your way

(oh and Chris, I'll keep track of these). I think you can still comment if you're not a member of flickr. But if you can't, join! It's free, and it's the best online photo sharing tool that I've used. In fact, I heart it.

Okay, back to my creative ways.

Triva for week 6

2006-10-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

First things first. I apologize for the really tough questions last week. The answers WERE in plain site on wikipedia when we wrote them, but then they just went away like any respect we've ever held for Peter or Rob.

So, answers:
1) The name of the fast food chain that was supposedly opening in India is Bollywood.
2) The first one opened in Dusseldorf
3) Bunny Chow is the name of the popular food.

Anyone that sent me a guess got 40 points!

NEW Triva:
The first wall around Kuwait City was built in the 1760s, the second in 1814, and the last in 1920. This was demolished in 1957 but its five gates were left standing as monuments to the past. What are the names of each gate?

Caption THIS week 6

2006-10-24T12:05:00.000-07:00

Team Scores after Week 6

2006-10-24T11:52:00.000-07:00

1. Dustin and Kandace: 120

2. Rob and Kimberly: 120

3. David and Mary: 110

4. Lyn and Karlyn: 80

5. Tyler and James: 60

6. Erwin and Goodwin: 50

7. Peter and Sarah: -90

Pool Scores after Week 6

2006-10-24T11:44:00.000-07:00

With Peter and Sarah getting elimated, there is a lot of shuffling around in the scores this week!

1 Ashlee	2070
2 Adam	1922
3 Ben	1730
4 Amy	1754
5 Terry	1650
6. Caitlin	1560
7 Judy	1542
8 Dave	1530
9 Mark, Allegra	1520
10 Becky	1500
11 Michelle	1480
12 Kristin	1470
13 Robyn	1460
14 Zoe	1420
15 Boogie	1410
16 Joanna, Sarah	1400
17 Chris	1365
18 Willow	1345
19 Anton	1340
20 Courtney	1320
21 Curt	1300
22 Eric, Chris H	1280
23 Courtney W	1255
24. June	1130
25 Bari	1110
26 Nancy	1100
27 Linda	1070
28 Caitlin G	1006
29 Tracy	1005
30 Mark D	930
31 Jay	920
32 Ami	900
33 Jill, Mary	860
34 Peter	808
35 Trina	720
36 Mike, Stephanie	695
37 Anthony	670
38 Ryan	360
39 Les	345
40 Laura	340
41 Kathy	275

Week Five Trivia

2006-10-16T16:13:00.000-07:00

Three parter this week!
1. What is soon to be the new "McDonald's-type" food chain in India?
2. In what city was the first restaurant of this chain built?
3. What is the name of the scooped out bread and curry dish popular amongst Indians in South Africa in the 1940s?

Caption THIS!

2006-10-16T16:06:00.000-07:00

Team Scores after week 5

2006-10-16T15:56:00.000-07:00

Dustin and Kandice 165
Peter and Sarah 155
Rob and Kimberly 115
Tyler and James 65
Erwin and Godwin 65
Lyn and Karlyn 55
David and Mary 25

Pool Player Scores after week 5

2006-10-16T15:47:00.000-07:00

1. Ashlee 1880
2. Ben 1630
3. Adam 1577
4. Mark 1500
5. Judy 1462
6. Michelle 1460
6. Robyn 1460
7. Dave 1440
8. Amy 1424
9. Chris 1395
10. Caitlin 1365
11. Terry 1340
12. Joanna 1320
12. Anton 1320
13. Eric 1310
13. Sarah 1310
14. Willow 1295
15. Courtney W 1285
16. Courtney 1280
17. Boogie 1240
18. Allegra 1230
19. Zoe 1210
19. Becky 1210
19. Kristin 1210
20. Curt 1110
21. Chris H 1105
22. Nancy 1050
23. Bari 1040
24. Mark D 970
24. Linda 970
25. Mary 895
26. Jill 890
27. June 880
28. Tracy 855
29. Caitlin S 846
30. Ami 790
31. Anthony 760
32. Jay 750
33. Mike 735
34. Stephanie 730
35. Peter 678
36. Trina 550
37. Ryan 400
38. Les 295
39. Laura 290
40. Kathy 215

My Thoughts - Episode Four

2006-10-11T12:22:00.000-07:00

And after a short reprieve last week, my thoughts are back. I read Miss Alli's recap last week and have to say it wasn't one of her better ones, so I don't feel too bad I couldn't find much to say other than Boo! Duke and Lauren didn't need to go home this early!

Anyways. Vietnam: Part II.

We begin the episode with the *wins, sporting some awesome headlamps. I love that nearly all the teams do this now, even though it began way back in race three with one of the best racers of all time (the tall one--not the short harpy). They are told to go exchange their money in order to get their next clue.

The money, we find out from Team Zoolander, is dong. And yes, everyonce in awhile I get to giggle and stuff like that. Especially when one addict model turns to the other and says "how much dong you got?"

This is the first time, I think in the history of the race, that we have ever seen teams have to exchange money before (of course, I think Jim and Marsha are still bitter about their exchange woes, but whatever). This just leads me to believe that the editors have the same level of maturity that I do so they could see all the teams count their dong. Still funny.

The teams get their clue which says to proceed to a statue and listen for the audio clue. At this point, was I the only one thinking "Oh my God! It's Legends of the Hidden Temple! They get to talk to Olmec!"? No? Just me? Okay fine, whatever. But it was an awesome show and I used to watch it all the time at my Grandparents' house. On the way there, Mary stunned us once again with her command of Asian languages. It wasn't on the level of Quack Quack, and I really can't even do a phoenetic interpretation of what she said without rewatching the episode a couple more times. But, it was awesome. For those of you keeping score at home (even though I know none of you are since I'm doing it for you), three of the four episode titles haev been from Mary. Team Clueless (their new nickname to be explained in full later is this recap) turns to each other and says "I've very auditory", only to be followed of an amazing shot where they think the clue is in the CRICKETS. Oh, the funny. This season has proven to expect a lot from the racers, but I don't think any Dr. Doolittle tendencies is on the list. I'm really liking these new clue strategies. This is the most ingenious since the Evil Billboard in season four, I think.

The teams get the clue to go to the Hydrofoil Harbor (?) in Bai Chong Kwai or something like that. Good call on having the taxi drivers listen to it. The next taxi cab sequence is when we really saw Killer Fatigue set in (Killer Fatigue: proper noun. abbr. KF. The condition in which a racer's state of mind hits the breaking point due to stress, lack of sleep, lack of sustenance, and utter exhaustion. Main side effect is more air time, and you're liable to say a lot of stupid shit). Case in point: Rob (Mr. Mutual Loathing himself) blatantly declaring: "I'm done talking to foreigners."

Huh.

Good luck on, you know, that whole racearoundtheworld thing.

At some point right about here, I wrote down Team Zoolander saying "That's the global killer" and, in parentheses, Isn't that SARS? I haven't the slightest clue what this was in reference to and, honestly, it probably sounded funnier in my head anyways.

And onto the Roadblock, where Peter and Sarah decide that the first roadblock Sarah's going to do is one that says, "Who has strong arms and legs?" Plural, folks! The task turns out to be a 90 foot ascender climb up the Cliffs of Insanity. Granted, there's only one foot loop on there, but as opposed to the bilegged people, Sarah doesn't get the option to switch out. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of Sarah and her seemingly quick defeatest attitudes (as Bethany pointed out, "She's been missing the leg since birth? So, she never had to, like overcome anything?"), but there was quite a difference between Sarah working her leg off trying to climb the ascender, and Peter relaxing in the boat with sunglasses resting on forehead and sipping a Coke (although I admit that's probably what I'd be doing while my teammate did that challenge). This wasn't quite as exciting as the previous ascender, but it'll do. And I really didn't write down anything else.

Time for the Detour! I have to admit, I'm a bit sad it seems like Phil's traditional "A Detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons" and accompanied by the hands of exposition seem to be gone this season. But I guess I'm a traditionalist that way. Mass in Latin, Sesame Street when no one besides Big Bird could see Snuffy, Phil with his standard phrases. Whatever. We have a detour that is not unlike the one in Season three in Portugal with the kegs or bottles of Port and deliveries--either do the more physically challenging and deliver one place, or do one that requires a couple more stops. However, this one I'm just going to call the Talented Mr Ripley detour because, honestly, at any moment I thought that one team member on any of those teams was going to go Jude Law (or subsequently Matt Damon) on their teammate's ass. And it's in a boat. Which is awesome. I think my favorite line of the night had to actually go to Rob in this sequence: "What's a Junk?" (okay, maybe my tenth favorite line of the episode because there were a lot of good ones). But seriously, someone obviously has not been reading his Hardy Boys. Someone began waxing poetic on us, with some accidentally polishing off a Haiku (can't remember who it was right now...dangit):

Real live ocean

water over on your head

you fall you are dead

If that was Mary (I have to rewatch my tape) I am going to declare her an undercover FBI agent who has been posing as a coal miner's wife for the last twelve years because haikus are hard to come up with. Just look at the ones the Fringe staff tried. Apparently, we need to add "row a boat" to the list of "things to learn before going on The Amazing Race. Along with drive stick, swim, and eat your own vomit. I'm not sure I've ever seen a detour turn so many teams into so many beasts so quickly. I don't know if the sea was a bit rougher than production expected, or the tide was turning, or really that no team knew how to row, but this was just brutal. Is it wrong of me that I was hoping Team Mutual Loathing would try to dive for the pearls and, um, not come up again? Or maybe Peter. I think he's actually a Cylon. There is something just not quite...human about him. I think the kicker for me was when he told Sarah to shut up when he was trying to do the detour. That was really the icing on the cake. Of ironic disgust.

Teams row boats. Tom decides it'd be a fantastic idea to get out and tow his. People complain. Team Zoolander wonders why their junk is moving so slow (hee. sorry), and realize that the anchor is still down (this is akin to a city bus driver doing half his route with the parking break on. Come on, Vietnamese junk drivers!). Team Clueless, well, drop their clue in the water and manage to perfectly mangle it. And then they fight one of those fabulous sorority house fights where they get all bitchy and they hate each other and then a split second later they are sorry and cry (on each other's shoulders, literally! But it's a good thing they asked first)--totally Alicia Silverstone and Brittany Murphy from Clueless. These two are one pillow fight away from being the stereotypical blonde beauty queens. And I heart them for it.

Team Mutual Loathing eeks out the win and win Jet Skis. I think it's wise they won something that can be used separately.

Two more closing thoughts:

LOVED *win's Let's Hug It Out tshirt. If you're not watching Entourage, put it on your Netflix queue RIGHT NOW.
Do you think that, if Sarah continues to wise up and catch on to the Cylon that is Peter, they'll change their status at the bottom of the screen to "formerly recently dating"? Because that would be awesome.

And this is Scrappy, signing off.

Bonus Question: Week FIVE

2006-10-11T09:34:00.000-07:00

I've never though the Vietnam War was something to wax poetic about, but they still managed to make a musical out of it.

Three part question (ten for each of the first two, twenty for #3)

1. What is the name of the musical?
2. What lands on the stage?
3. What instrument tells people to hold their loved one tight and dance like it's the last night of the world?

Week Three Bonus Question Answer

2006-10-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

The former racer who was both a Vietnam Vet and had to go back to Vietnam during the course of the race was Ian of Season Three. I was never a big fan, but now he's my friend on Myspace so we're on speaking terms.

Caption THIS! Week Four

2006-10-11T09:26:00.000-07:00

Team Scores after Week Four

2006-10-11T09:21:00.000-07:00

Rob and Kimberly 145
Peter and Sarah 95
Tyler and James 85
Erwin and Godwin 75
David and Mary 75
Lyn and Karlyn 85
Dustin and Kandice 15
Tom and Terry -75

Pool Scores After Week Four

2006-10-11T09:10:00.000-07:00

Ashlee 1400
Adam 1292
Ben 1290
Amy 1244
Mark 1215
Chris, Michelle 1175
Robyn 1125
Dave 1115
Eric, Caitlin 1090
Judy 1077
Joanna 1075
Courtney W 1065
Terry 1045
Anton 1035
Zoe 1015
Allegra 1000
Courtney 995
Willow 960
Becky 955
Boogie 945
Sarah, Curt 925
Kristin 915
Chris H 885
Nancy 830
Bari 795
Mark D 750
Linda 735
Tracy 725
Caitlin S 716
Mary 675
Jill 670
Ami 660
June 595
Peter 558
Jay 520
Mike 515
Stephanie 510
Anthony 475
Trina 320
Ryan 310
Les 230
Laura 225
Kathy 150

John McCain was a Hottie!

2006-10-02T14:26:00.000-07:00

Or at least, Zoe thinks so. Here's a link to that strapping young fellow back when he was actually wearing the flight suit from his Vietnam Days.

Caption THIS! (part two of two)

2006-10-02T05:42:00.000-07:00

Caption THIS! (part one of two)

2006-10-01T20:22:00.000-07:00

I'm posting two this week because this one was way too funny to pass up. For 20 points, what would Sarah and / or Peter say to this baseball player?

Bonus Question: Week Three

2006-10-01T19:40:00.000-07:00

This week the teams find themselves in Vietnam. Duke talked about his friends who were over there but he wasn't drafted. David talked about his father. Tom and Terry and Erwin and Godwin both stopped to take a moment of reflection in front of John McCain's flight suit in the prison where he was held.

However, this is not the first time the race has gone to Vietnam, and last time there was actually a Vietnam vet who had to go back. What was the name of this racer?

Good luck!

Team Scores After Week Three

2006-10-01T19:38:00.000-07:00

Team __win 135
Team Zoolander 95
Team Mutual Loathing 95
Dustin and Kandice 85
Team Tripod 75
Team Bowling Moms *redux 55
David and Mary 45
TnT 65
Team Double D -125

Pool Scores After Week Three

2006-10-01T19:31:00.000-07:00

Mark 1015
Ashlee 1000
Adam 977
Chris 970
Courtney W 960
Michelle 920
Ben 910
Judy 892
Eric 890
Amy 889
Allegra 820
Robyn 800
Dave 790
Caitlin 785
Anton, Joanna, Becky, Zoe 780
Terry, Courtney 770
Sarah 740
Boogie 730
Willow 720
Chris 690
Curt 680
Nancy 660
Mark D 655
Tracy 640
Kristin 610
Bari 550
Caitlin S 516
Ami 500
Mary 495
Jill 490
Linda 480
Jay 430
June 420
Anthony 380
Mike 345
Stephanie 340
Peter 338
Trina 230
Ryan 160
Les 155
Laura 150
Kathy 65

Miss Alli's Week Two Recap

2006-09-30T12:36:00.000-07:00

Is up! Enjoy.

I also forgot last week to say that Carissa Gaghan of TAR: Family Edition is also writing her own recaps (the precoscious ten or eleven year old she is now). Here is her Episode One recap.

Week Two: My Thoughts

2006-09-25T17:12:00.000-07:00

Episode Two: Do horses smell fear?

Oh, hell yes. We follow up an awesome premiere episode with an equally awesome episode. I think this week I'll direct my comments to each individual team as my notes are kind of all over the place on my scoresheet.

David and Mary

Okay, I have to say it: these two are great students of the game. They took another Fern! And he wasn't even wearing this shirt which, I admit, is one that I would really, really really like to have. In case anyone was wondering.
There's something about Mary that I just really love. It's like she said in the first episode: she's never been out of Kentucky or Tennessee and doing this show is like dropping a 30 year old baby into the middle of the world and saying, "Go!" But as opposed to what I (and probably others) thought ahead of time, they aren't going through culture shock, or saying how bad and weird everything that they experience is, like another team I can think of (and we're going to reference that same team in a minute).
I think the biggest culture shock these two are experiencing is actually meeting the other teams. Best line of the night goes to Mary from the beginning of the episode, first saying (and I'm paraphrasing) "We've never met any Asians" (cut to Mary putting her arm around __win and telling him how great he is) and then saying, "we've never, um, met any gay people...I like 'em!" I have a feeling that coffee breaks in the coal mine won't be the same for awhile after that comment. I imagine that David and Mary come from a very religious small town community, and I must say that it's people like these two that restore my faith in the Christian faith (pick a denomination). They look at the world with wide eyes, ready to accept what's in front of them, not judge. Not like these two. And for that, I'm really sad they aren't one of my teams because that is an attitude that will get them far. Except, I'm a bit worried that they pointed out at the end that Mary twisted her ankle, because that might be really bad.

Duke and Lauren

I got done with my recap last week, and realized I hadn't mentioned these two at all. Sorry about that!
These two were totally on my pre-show "Hm. I don't think I'm going to like them" list, but they have totally proven me wrong (just like I asked them to in my initial thoughts, so thanks, guys!). I've decided that they played up their estranged relationship for their team's "hook", because it's clear that these two are close and know how the other works. And I think that's awesome.
Has anyone noticed how Duke is trying really hard to be "hip" with the young crowd? At least twice this episode, he'd go up to one of the younger teams and try to do a "fist-knock" and instead they move for the high-five, and it looks like he's punching their hand. Maybe it's just me that finds that funny.
It does seem that "Lola" is Duke's nickname for her, which only reminds me of Lolita and, coupled with the fact that they were mistaken for a couple last episode and his answer was, "Well, I've been trying to ask her out for years", well, that's a little squicky.
As Adam emailed me last night, "I so wanted Duke to say to Tom, 'my gay totally just beat your gay!' at the roadblock!" I think that would have been awesome. However, I was just happy to see a quite attractive gay woman shooting a flaming arrow on TV. Oh, wait, I have seen that before!

Dustin and Kandice

I love these two. In fact, I love these two so much that I'm going to extrapolate a theory that covers their ass on a misuse of the English language. In the bus station (maybe train station) at the beginning of the show, these two decided they were going to try to find better routes, and remarked that they needed to do it "conspicuously". Girls? That would probably be "inconspiculously". However, I think they're actually geniuses, and they intentionally used that word because they knew they wouldn't find anything better but wanted to make it obvious that they were up to something, and that would make the other racers overwork their own minds trying to figure out what they had found, making the other racers tired and stressed while D and K could just relax. And there you go.
And that's apparently all I wrote down this week!

Erwin and Godwin

Sorry, dudes, I totally didn't write anything down about you! I promise to pay better attention to your dorky big muscled ways next week.

Kellie and Jamie

Oh, my poor Gamecocks. There are sometimes when a team I like goes out early due to chance, and then there are sometimes that a team kind of deserves to go out early. Unfortunately, these two fall into the latter category. I can't count how many times these two got lost, but they were first when they got to the ceremony, and suddenly were last because they didn't know which way to go. And then their car breaks down (this? Probably not their fault. Lots of teams had trouble). And then when they leave the detour (which it looked like they rocked), they went the wrong way. So, this was a sad but deserved elimination
HOWEVER, it's very hard for me to stay behind a team who QUITS a task, even if they know their last. Somewhere, Lena Jensen is shaking her head and saying, "you quit on arrows? It's not like they were hay bales".
See you at TARCon with my shirt, dudes.

Lyn and Karlyn

You know, I never thought that I would be rooting for cheerleaders over single moms to stay in the race, but I don't think I really like these two. And I really hate saying that.
However, they took an AMERICAN Fern with them! And that is awesome. And, actually, I've known about it for months and have been sitting on this little gem of info. And now I can share it with all of you.
The one time I really laughed about this team this episode was at the end when, trying to leave the detour, they couldn't get their car started. They went over to check how the local Mongol (is it Mongol or Mongolian?) was doing it, and one remarked "He had a long rod...". All right, maybe I'm just a wee bit immature. But I thought it was hilarious.

Peter and Sarah

Just to warn y'all, the length of this recap might double by the time I'm done with this team.
Dear Peter: Sarah is not an organ grinder's monkey that you can parade around and then expect people on the street to give you money after you command her to perform. That was really, really strange.
Dear Sarah: Peter is not an organ grinder. And you are not a monkey. That's my title.
Am I the only one that reeled back from the TV when they showed that her "foot" had nail polish on the toes? I don't know why that was so creepy, but it was. And I never, ever, need to see that again.
I thought I'd share a little conversation that Zoe and I had during the show. Zoe: Sarah needs to hit Peter with her leg. Me: Maybe that's what the extra one is for. Anyone else want to join us in the handbasket to hell on that one?
I find it a bit ironic that the only one who had a large amount of trouble controlling the beast of burden (was it an ox? water buffalo?) was the burdenous beast himself. But unlike the beast of burden, the budenous beast does not have "fire in his eyes". I think Peter is actually manufactured from the parts that his company makes.
Irony: Did anyone catch that when Phil checked these two in, he asked Sarah, "two legs into the race, did you think you'd be in first?" Um, Phil? Come join us in the handbasket.
I totally don't understant how Peter and Sarah switched detours not once, but TWICE and still managed to win a leg. I mean, the leg.
I have finally figured out who Peter reminds me of. It's Greg Kinnear's character in "Little Miss Sunshine". And what do you mean you haven't seen that movie? Go see it now. Here are the showtimes. And then come back for the rest of the recap. It'll still be here.
Wasn't that GREAT? Did you just about empty your tear ducts laughing in the last scene at the pageant? And when...wait, it just occurred to me that some of you might not have taken me seriously. SHOWTIMES. Run!
I really like it when the kid found out he was...
Seriously, people. If you like my recaps, you'll like my movie choices.
Anyways.
Peter did have one really good line: "Sarah, hang onto your jugs!". The same part of my brain that liked the long rod line had a gleeful time with that, too.
Maybe it's just me, but why has Peter taken both of the first two roadblocks? I'm assuming the six roadblock rule is still in effect this season (better be), so why wouldn't you have the girl with one leg do the ones where running isn't involved? It's not like the clues were hard: "Who's hungry to stay in the race" and "Who's ready to aim high?" pretty much spell out, "TEAM TRIPOD: THESE ARE FOR SARAH TO DO". I'm wondering what will happen if they do bungee jumping. Can Sarah attach a bungee jumping rope around her skinny bionic leg? That's my thought for the night.
I kind of can't believe that Sarah is already melting down on the second leg. Well, it is the second leg. Maybe it reminds her that she only...okay, never mind. That joke is way too easy. And lame. Like Sarah 'cause she only...
I know that the villians make for good TV, and they give me a lot of fodder, but I kinda want these two to go away now. Sorry.

Rob and Kimberly

It's official: we have a new Kendra. While nothing Kimberly said tonight bordered on the "They keep breeding and breeding" line, but between the "Can I get diseases from that?" when some water splashed in her eye in the cab, and freaking out over having to ride the horse, I was kind of glad when she totally missed the tree branch and got knocked off.
Having said that, if there's any time for Rob to get off his high horse, it's when Kimberly fell off his.
Apparently, some of these jokes are just for me.
I don't really like these two. Not bordering on my hatred for Virginia Woolf yet, but I don't like 'em.

Tom and Terry

Terry, I have someone I want you to meet. Her name is Charla, and she is fluent in a very, very special language called "Charlades". I'm glad you're fluent in it as well! (and if anyone can find the picture of Charla doing the plane or "choo choo" from season five, I'll max out your bonus points last week because I can't find it and it's driving me nuts).
I really liked watching on the flaming arrow detour. Of course, if Tom was shooting them, they'd be flaming even if they were on fire or not.
Eric is hoping that TnT's sound and camera guys are also gay. Because, if not, these two might be a tad too much for anyone else!
And, the priceless Phil moment of the week: when Phil switched into his best New York accent to check these two in. You can always tell when Phil likes a team when he jokes around with them. I'd joke around with these two, as well.

Tyler and James

I like these two, but I don't really need to be reminded that they went through rehab. Would it be really bad of me to add "every time they say sobriety or sober" to the AR10 drinking game rules?
And the immature part of my brain is back. When these two were trying to work the carjack, "I can't get it up, man." I'm just going to leave that one right there.

A couple more random observations.

I always love it when we get random shots of crew members. My favorite this week was the audio guy chilling with his boom mike waiting for the train. Yea crew!
If they followed the Friends conventions of naming episodes, this one totally would have been "The one where all the cars break down". Seriously, this was bordering on a Dieselgate type episode.
I loved that the teams on the second bus bonded and did a little dance. It was so akin to Papa Gaghan on the way to Huntsville.

And that's it for today! This is Scrappy, signing off.

Week Three Media Articles

2006-09-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

...up in a slimy cellar,
Where rats who wanted things to eat,
to nibble her feet.

Caption THIS!

2006-09-25T08:47:00.000-07:00

Week Three: Bonus Question

2006-09-24T19:48:00.000-07:00

In the spring of 2004, a well-known actor and a friend took off on their own Amazing Race of sorts, but on their motorcycles, and with a camera crew (the trip was later turned into a six-part TV series). They had this to say about Mongolia:

There were no roads, just tracks that wandered off in different directions. When you asked someone for directions, they'd say, "Go down that valley, and at the second valley on your left, turn left. Then you'll come across two clumps of trees atop a hill. When you see them, you're headed the right way."

(Actually, that sounds like Ireland to me)

Who was the well-known actor, and what was the name of the TV series?

Team Scores after week two

2006-09-24T19:44:00.000-07:00

Team Tripod 135
Team Zoolander 95
Team Double D (I'll let you dudes figure that one out...) 115
Team TnT 95
Dustin and Kandice (still needs a nickname!) 75
Team Mutual Loathing 65
David and Mary 45
Team __win 25
Team Bowling Moms *redux 15
Team Go Cocks -135

Pool Scores after Week Two

2006-09-24T19:30:00.000-07:00

Pool scores after the second episode. Remember, if your name is in RED that means you are still in the running for the Perfect Picker Prize!

Courtney W. 850
Eric 765
Michelle 740
Dave 690
Allegra 685
Becky 670
Chris 655
Mark 645
Adam 612
Ashlee 600
Amy 594
Ben, Willow 550
Caitlin 540
Nancy, Robyn 535
Curt 520
Judy 517
Joanna 515
Anton 475
Courtney 465
Sarah 445
Chris H 435
Anthony, Zoe 430
Terry 415
Ami 395
Mark D 380
Linda 350
Boogie 340
Jay 335
Mary 325
Jill 320
Tracy 305
Kristin, Bari 285
Caitlin S 246
June 145
Mike 135
Stephanie 130
Les 105
Laura 100
Peter 68
Trina 10
Ryan, Kathy -30

Week Two: Bonus Question ANSWER

2006-09-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

Gray Moray Eel
Seahorse
Snapper
Crab
Dolphin
Shrimp
Flounder
Octopus

Miss Alli's week one recap

2006-09-23T14:53:00.000-07:00

It is up!

For those of you who haven't experienced the funny that is Miss Alli's recaps on TWoP, I suggest you start.

Another Pool Peep Tried Out!

2006-09-21T11:43:00.000-07:00

Courtney just sent me the link to her tryout video for this season. And it rocks as well. Bonus points to Courtney!!

Team Scores after week one

2006-09-21T09:05:00.000-07:00

I forgot to put these up, and we have a request for them from our Canadian pool counterpart. So let's give a friendly welcome to Saskatchewan!

Team Zoolander (Tyler and James) 115
Duke and Lauren (still needs a nickname) 125
Team Tripod (Peter and Sarah) 135
Dustin and Kandice 75
Rob and Kimberly 65
Team Go COCKS! (Kellie and Jamie) 55
Team __win (Erwin and Godwin) -5
Team TNT (Tom and Terry) 35
Team Bowling Moms *redux (Lyn and Karlyn) 35
David and Mary 25
Vipul and Arti -75
Bilal and Sa'eed -85

Caitlin S in Seattle!

2006-09-20T08:56:00.000-07:00

Caitlin S and friends at Pike's Place Market in Seattle:

Tracy and Adam's China and Seattle Adventures!

2006-09-19T21:42:00.000-07:00

Okay, the Seattle adventure is just Adam's, since it's his birth certificate from a Seattle hospital. Then some plane tickets from here to China, and a couple pictures of the Emanoffs in China. Enjoy!

Media Articles, Week Two

2006-09-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

Currently, courtesy of Adam, Sarah, and Caitlin S! And, we will continue where we left off with Roald Dahl's Cinderella.

...the children happy.
Mind you, they got the first bit right,
The bit where, in the dead of night,
The Ugly Sisters, jewels and all,
Departed for the Palace Ball,
While darling Cinderella
Was locked...

Kristin in China!

2006-09-18T13:28:00.000-07:00

Don't we have some awesome people in the pool? Kristin sent me some pictures of her in China at places where they were in the episode. Reminder, I'll give you bonus points for any pictures you send of me in places you have been that they go to on the race.

These are from January, 2002:

Episode One: My Thoughts

2006-09-18T12:50:00.000-07:00

Episode Title: Real Fast, Quack Quack!

Just like that awesome Elton John song, the Bitch is back! And in this case, that's a good thing. The TV show that holds my attention like no other, whose random facts and stats live in a special part of my silly brain. Oh, how I heart thee. What I dig even more is that now this little pool, which started with 9 people in season five, has grown to 46 for this season--the biggest pool ever. But can anyone stop Adam from being a three-peat champion? I'm beginning to think he's the Roger Federer of reality tv pools. Anyways...back to the episode.

We open in Seattle, with Phil in what I admit is a very fetching outfit. Phil has been at the mercy of some really bad clothing choices in the past (does anyone else remember the white puffy parka from season 5? I thought he was the marshmallow man from Ghostbusters), but this is good for him. We then turn our attention to the sea planes carrying all of the teams. I'm glad they got this entrance out of their system, because having to get on one of those ancient contraptions where "in case of a water landing" is actually the norm would have Philiminated me even before the race started. The teams are introduced. And here are some of my initial thoughts on them:

Rob and Kimberly: "She can't control me--I'm a human being and she has to learn that", says Rob. Huh. She seemed very much in the same vein as Brandon's "What Nikki needs to understand..." interview from season five. Of course, that one went on to explain that they have to trust in God (more on that later), but still kind of the "my girlfriend needs to learn something which usually ends with the conclusion that I'm right and in the clear." Not my favorite.

David and Mary: Oh my, I think I heart them. I can't remember what interview it was in, but Mary waxes superlative about the hotness of David, and how she didn't think he'd ever be interested in her. Well, I'm not sure anyone would usually give a second thought to someone who handed them their fries working at McDonalds. David is totally the dude who used to wear a mullet in high school, and I bet anything he was a small town football player. He's her lobster, that's for sure. Mary reminds me of Amy Adams' character in Junebug. And if you haven't seen it, go now. Netflix, video store (do those even exist anymore?), whatever. And then continue reading once you're done. Wasn't that a great movie? I have to give props to anyone who works as a miner. The idea of being down inside a mountain / big hill / hole in the frickin' ground isn't that appealing to me. I've been on tours of both old coal and salt mines, and there's always this overwhelming paranoia in my mind that there are millions of tons of ROCK above your head at all times. But, there are perks. Like transportation.

Tyler and James (but not Frey): Oh, the addict pics. Children, let this be a lesson to you. Crack is whack.

Tom and Terry: Of course their intro video shows them getting manicures. I wonder if they were at Cao Boi's nail salon?

But back to the show itself. The starting line is Gasworks Park, which we've seen on the race before. Seriously, are we out of starting lines in the country? I can think of one. While Phil gave us plenty of eyebrow pops throughout the intro, his final one between "Travel safe" and "Go!" was a disappointment. They should really amuse us diehards who look for that moment a bit more. And we're off to...China? Are we, for the first time in ten seasons, going to head the other way around the world? I am a bit afraid that this will cause higher degrees of killer fatigue and faster due to jet lag (maybe it's just me, but I always find flying east to west is when the jet lag is worse). Which might be cool and entertaining, but hard on the racers.

And in the car on the way to the airport, this is where the ___win brothers endeared themselves to me: "To the homeland...although we're not Chinese." Too funny. I have a feeling some teams might have said to them "this must be so cool for you to go back to where your family's from." That'd be like someone saying to me, "wow, that must be cool to go to Lichtenstein since your family's from Europe." Except nothing interesting happens in Lichtenstein, and I'm Danish. Same principle. And then they pulled the whole watergun stunt, giving the sound editors their first opportunity to use the "what are these idiots thinking?" music, which is my favorite next to the "nuns descending the escalator" music. I'm just glad all they got from the security agent was a stern talking to, otherwise they may have been in some trouble. But, really, as this looked like it happened at the gate, way to go Transportation Security Agency on letting those through the security checkpoint!

Then it was time for the 'bama mama's to make me smile "They like Alabamans in China because of Forrest Gump." Oh, the funny. And so true! All I had to say to someone in Ireland was that I used to live in Fargo, and they'd buy me drinks. Certainly helped out the pocketbook.

Has anyone noticed the number of shot's we're getting of Sarah's prosthesis? In her case, "gratuitous leg shot" means something a different than it would for oh, say, Dustin and Kandace or something. I just find it a bit funny. And speaking of Sarah, Eric had a discussion question for the group at my house. Sarah and Peter said that they have a few different legs for her that they're carrying with her. First off, what happens in a "non-elimination leg" (giggling at leg in that context)? I would imagine that they would take away the others in her bag, or at least they should. And second, is this actually fair? If I was faced with, say the scaling the Great Wall challenge, I wouldn't have the option to swap out my arms for ones that actually have muscle in them. I'm just saying.

Also at the airport (good lord, a lot happened there) we had "handshake-gate", when Bilal and Sa'eed refused to shake Dustin's (I think) hand because she is a woman because it's against their religion. Now, this is true. Some devout Muslims follow the practice that they cannot touch a woman who is someone other than their wife. And I liked Dustin's joking comeback "what if I accidentally shook your hand?" I took this as just a friendly joking "totally cool, I get it" kind of thing. What I liked more was the question someone at my house posed "what if she pinched his ass?" That would have been interesting.

This also led into Kellie and Jamie's question of the day: do Muslims believe in Buddha? While it seems that most reasonably aware people should know the answer to this question, I'm going to give them a little leeway because if you watch the Insider Videos on cbs.com, there's a clip of Kellie and Jamie giving the other teams nicknames, and they wanted to call Bilal and Sa'eed "The Buddha Brothers". Which is a very cute and alliterative nickname, I think. I'm really hoping that the edit of "Do they believe in Buddha?" was in reference to them coming up with nicknames or reevaluating said nicknames.

Okay, maybe I'm just willing to give them a pass because Jamie sent me a tshirt from her college last week (okay, technically she sent it two tshirts to one of the racers from last season who is an email buddy of mine, and Joni thought I'd get a kick out of it, much more so than her sister who was the other intended recipient. And she was right. Keep in mind that they are from the University of South Carolina, whose team is the "Gamecocks".)

Teams depart for China, and we are encountered with a roadblock. Why is this surprising? Only because this is the first time we have ever had a roadblock on the first episode (they did do one in the first season, but it wasn't aired and the racers were mad because it was the Ostrich Egg Eating challenge that was later done is season five, and it was pretty tough). And we're going to eat...fish eyes. But I was okay with this eating challenge. Apparently, some people consider the eyes to be the best part of the fish (if it doesn't actually taste like fish, I'd probably be okay with it), it's culturally relative, and it wasn't a quantity challenge (see caviar or questionable meat products). The only people that have problems are Dustin and Kandace, and it's not the eating, it's finding the place. And why? It wasn't because they were dumb (I like these two), it's because they were asking for the "Golden" house instead of the "Gold" house. Thankfully we didn't spend much time there and the teams took off to get the standard first episode departure times, except that one of them read "LAST TEAM". Huh? And Bilal and Sa'eed were the ones who got it. All of a sudden, here's come Phil, an ethnic greeter, and the Amazing Bathmat. Jigga what? An elimination in the middle of the episode? This is a little crazy. I can't say that I was all too sad to see those two go. I had a sneaky feeling they might turn into Weaver types with their religious talk, but I don't know. My favorite line of this sequence was Bilal saying "well, we don't have control over what the creator does." But were they referring to Allah, or Bert and Elise?

Next morning: the first detour. Labor or Leisure? The best part about this task was that what looks like the physical task actually required mental fortitude (they needed to put the grey bricks in before the lighter ones) and the "easy" route required a fair amount of dexterity (catching the ball). The main challenge designer from Survivor came over to design tasks for race this season, and if we have more like this, I will be very excited.

Detour done. Off to the Great Wall (or, as Kimberly said to her cab driver, "The Great Wall...of China!" Um, which wall did you think he was going to drive you to? The Wall of Poughkeepsie?), where to actually get to the pit stop they had to scale the wall itself. SO COOL. This is the only time I felt a bit bad for Sarah. Her leg was leaking fluid (now, if someone else's knee was leaking fluid, they'd bring a medic. Shouldn't they provide her with a mechanic?), and she had on the "running" leg (the one I like to call the "freaky one"), and that was not made for trying to climb up those loops. How long does it take to change prostheses? Does anyone have a background in that kind of stuff? I couldn't figure out why she didn't just switch to the other with the shoe at the bottom.

Props to all of 'em for getting up that wall. That was crazy. Especially Tom who, as Terry said, had to "go straight" to get up the wall. Hee.

And Vipul of the fabulous tshirts and Arti get the second philimination of the episode. Harsh, but that's the way the game is. I was actually okay with it because the most memorable thing about them was the tshirts, and that doesn't necessarily make for the best tv.

Other random thoughts from the episode...

Rob: "99.9% of the time I'm in love with this relationship. The other 1%..." Rob? That would be 100.9%. No wonder you couldn't figure out the mental math for the brick challenge. And no wonder you're a bartender.
Dustin and Kandace found the first Fern of the season! Thank god for nice strangers.
Dustin, "We worked so hard to get on the first flight." No you didn't. You drove to the airport.
Kellie and Jamie "We could have a conversation with a doorknob", followed with a shot of the rehab models. Thank you, editors.
I wonder what Tyler and James are going to buy with their $20,000? Crack is whack. Remember that, boys.
Peter is a bit annoying with his over-enthusiastic "support". He's like the lovechild of Stewart Smalley and Susan Powter.
When Sarah says, "I'm sprung a leak", she means "hydrolic fuel". In any other past season if a woman had said that, it probably would have been silicone. Yea for diversity!
Kimberly on the way to the airport, when they were trying to figure out where to park the car "I don't know what Thrifty is. I don't rent cars." At first, I was going to give her a pass and assume she was younger than 25 and really can't rent them yet, but she's 28, so this was just kinda snobby.
I figured out why the 'bama mamas don't like Sarah. They figured they would be the ones to get the "overcoming hardship and tough times" edit because they're single moms. And they got upstaged by a couple running the world's longest three-legged race.

Okay, I thought that last comment was funny. But I'm bad like that.

Week Two CAPTION THIS

2006-09-18T05:24:00.000-07:00

Week Two BONUS QUESTION

2006-09-17T20:39:00.000-07:00

In the first roadblock we've ever seen on a first leg, the racers had to eat an interesting Chinese delicacy, fish eyes. But did they know what eyes they were eating? Might help the ick factor a bit (or not). If you were faced with the eight eyes below, would you know what you were eating? Five points for each correct fish eye you identify.

Pool Scores After Week ONE

2006-09-17T20:05:00.000-07:00

Just to show you that bonus points DO matter, I am going to give you two sets of rankings. The first is the official one (team and bonus points combined), and the second is just on team points. This year, the highlighted names are the ones still in the running for "Perfect Picker" (you correctly pick the top four teams).

Official Rankings

Courtney W 410
Adam 397
Michelle 370
Dave 360
Caitlin 350
Eric, Becky 340
Judy 337
Allegra 320
Mark 295
Ashlee, Ben 280
Curt 270
Nancy 260
Chris , Linda 250
Robyn, Boogie 240
Amy 239
Mary, Willow 230
Courtney, Joanna 200
Anton, Chris H, Anthony 180
Ami , Zoe 160
Sarah, Terry 130
Jay 120
Mike 110
Kristin, Les 100
Jill, Mark D 90
Bari 80
Tracy 70
June 30
Caitlin S. 26
Kathy 10
Stephanie -30
Laura -40
Peter -52
Trina -90
Ryan -100

Rankings without Bonus Points

Courntey W 410
Michelle 370
Dave 360
Caitlin 350
Becky 340
Eric, Adam 300
Mark, Ashlee, Ben 280
Curt 270
Judy 260
Linda 250
Allegra, Robyn, Boogie 240
Mary, Willow 230
Chris 210
Joanna 200
Nancy 180
Anton, Amy 170
Ami, Courtney, Zoe 160
Chris H 140
Sarah, Terry 130
Jay 120
Mike 110
Kristin, Anthony, Les 100
Jill, Mark D 90
Bari 80
Tracy 70
June 30
Kathy 10
Stephanie -30
Laura -40
Caitlin S. -50
Trina -90
Peter -130
Ryan -140

The Amazing Race Premiere Menu

2006-09-17T17:23:00.000-07:00

So, for all of you SLACKERS who aren't at my house right now, you're missing out! Not only do we have the cutest little Pomeranian EVER (see picture of Stewie on the right), we've got 14 excited peeps waiting for the show to start! And we've got some amazing food as well, including:

Pork Tenderloin with Cranberry chutney, chips, homemade salsa, fresh salmon with cream cheese, chips, apple-cinnamon cake, fried green tomatoes, potato soup, wine, beer, cocktails and the most incredible rosemary cashews I've ever had. Well, okay, they're the only ones I've ever had, but they are awesome.

Race on, dudes.

Media Articles, Week One

2006-09-16T17:31:00.000-07:00

This season, in honor of my favorite author, Roald Dahl, we will be doing media article links in the form of Dahl's "Revolting Rhymes". If you want to read more, you will have to send articles! This week is all courtesy of Adam. Each word is a link.

Cinderella

I guess you think you know this story.
You don't. The real one's much more gory.
The phoney one, the one you know,
Was cooked up years and years ago,
And made to sound all soft and sappy
Just to keep ...

In case anyone is interested

2006-09-15T13:26:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to the Amazing Race 10 Google Spreadsheets I use to keep track of all of the pool scores. So, if you ever have questions about how I add points, now you can see it.

I heart google.

Caitlin's Amazing Race: Travel Advice #1

2006-09-15T08:33:00.000-07:00

Points to Mark!

Plane into Midway or O'Hare? Either or, both are served by the EL. Both are about the same time.

Must find hotel for under $200 close to the El. Priceline has proved sucessful for me in the past. Anywhere in the downtown area is close to the el.

Rent a car. Find parking for the car. Parking will be $20 a day anywhere downtown.

Stay in the suburbs? Nope, stay downtown.

Is Lincoln Park technically a ring suburb or a neighborhood? Its in the Chicago city limits. Neighborhood
How to see friends and get drunk with them while working early the next morning? Start right after work so you can be in bed at 10:00.
Okay ... get up at 5 to beat traffic to college fair at Navy Pier ... or catch the El? Nope, sleep til 7am and take a cab from downtown hotel. $5.
El to Adlai Stevenson High School... No clue.
where's the train schedule? http://www.transitchicago.com/
Can I overnight 400 road pieces to Navy Pier? Or carry them on the El? Its a pain to carry anything on the El. Overnight and expense it.
Crap. How to get out of the city and to Milwaukee and back in two days? Crap crap crap. Take the Hiawatha Amtrak train $20 each way or the MegaBus $5-$10 each way
Oh, and I'm gonna need a martini at the top of the Hancock Tower,
because otherwise why go to Chicago? I can expense the martini,
right? All three of them? All three of them. If it's the rules at my work anything under $25 doesn't need an itemized receipt. Check (discreetly) with your finance department first.

JUST IN: A pool peep tried out for the show!

2006-09-11T14:31:00.000-07:00

Mark just copped up to the fact that he tried out last season, and sent me the link to his audition video. GREAT stuff. You can see it here!

And Mark will also be getting bonus points for that.

Help Caitlin with her own Amazing Race Episode!

2006-09-11T09:55:00.000-07:00

A plea from Caitlin, a six time race pool player, who recently begun a new job that requires her to do some travel planning. She will be going to Chicago for a conference and needs a bit of assistance on the planning side.

She'll offer a case of beer for the first person to make sense and give a good travel plan. I'll throw bonus points your way. And here's the scenario:

Plane into Midway or O'Hare? Must find hotel for under $200 close to
the El. Rent a car. Find parking for the car. Stay in the suburbs?
(No way.) Is Lincoln Park technically a ring suburb or a
neighborhood? How to see friends and get drunk with them while
working early the next morning? Okay ... get up at 5 to beat traffic
to college fair at Navy Pier ... or catch the El? El to Adlai
Stevenson High School... where's the train schedule? How much would a
cab cost? What's faster? Shoot, high school visits only at noon.
Okay ... El to Benito Juarez High School ... how far is that from the
El stop? Is that the school in the scary neighborhood or the one near
Boystown? Is it off Halsted? How far out is Hyde Park? Deerfield?
How did those admitted kids test last year? Can I overnight 400 road
pieces to Navy Pier? Or carry them on the El? Crap. How to get out
of the city and to Milwaukee and back in two days? Crap crap crap.
Oh, and I'm gonna need a martini at the top of the Hancock Tower,
because otherwise why go to Chicago? I can expense the martini,
right? All three of them?

Have fun.

Watch Out, Sarah!

2006-08-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

Airline Loses Athlete's Leg

Let this be a reminder that you can get bonus points by sending me media articles about the race or racers and I'll get them on the blog!

Week One Bonus Question Corrections

2006-08-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

I made a couple mistakes on the crossword.

31 across should have 12 spaces

20 down can have either 8 or 10 spaces (it is listed as 10 on the puzzle).

I have problems spelling sometimes. Sorry!

WEEK ONE: CAPTION THIS!

2006-08-25T15:49:00.000-07:00

A little small, I know, but that's our fabulous Phil, doing...I have no idea. So, leave a caption, and remember to sign your name so I know who gets the points.

WEEK ONE: BONUS QUESTION

2006-08-25T15:39:00.000-07:00

A hard question for the first week.

To keep you busy before September 17th, I present the Amazing Race 9 review crossword puzzle!

You will receive one point for each correct answer your send back in whatever form I happen to get them back from you.

Good luck!

The Teams - My Initial Thoughts

2006-08-25T10:44:00.000-07:00

Bilal and Sa'eed

Our first Muslim team on the race! They've traveled a lot. They were both in the military for a number of years. Both of these bode well for them. But what doesn't bode well is that one has a fear of heights. I'm glad that the race is pushing diversity in a positive and uncontroversial way this year unlike that other show, but let's think about the sense of putting two men who follow the Islamic dress code (at least it looks that way to me) on a show where you are on PLANES EVERY DAY. I fear that what will do these two in is not a lack of athleticism (from the pictures they don't look like they would win a foot race), but getting held up in airport security. If one of them starts singing "Cleveland Muslims in New Zealand" or something, I will be very very happy and want them to go a long, long way.

David and Mary

Oh, the joys of a Kentucky coal miner and his McDonald's working wife. I can hear the soundtrack that the Amazing Music Editors are putting together already in my head. What worries me most about these two (well, there are lots of things, actually) is that they are Big Brother fans, which means that they can be totally entertained by watching sixteen people stuck in the same house together for three months. I need a little more panache with my reality TV, thank you very much. The quasi-matching t-shirts (daddy's little devils, mommy's little angles, each with the same picture of their three kids on it) really have to go. They have no travel experience which would be fine, except that in their video Mary goes on and on about how they want to enjoy everything that they're seeing, and something to the effect of "I mean just think--we might get to see the Eiffel tower!". If that's as far as her travel imagination can take her, I'm not sure she's ready for, oh, let's say, a train in India? I don't have high hopes, but if they can pull out an "I concur" and prove me wrong, well, I'll be on the love coalmine train.

Duke and Lauren

Please enter team competitive contention. Even though they are father / daughter (and, I might add, the first out gay woman we have had on this show in all ten seasons, which is kinda cool), the overwhelming vibe I get is akin to Ray and Deana. Is that icky and wrong? A little bit. They need to bond. They're trying to work on their relationship. No international travel, very competitive, treat each leg as the last leg (which means pouting in second place--ugh). I want to like them more, but I just can't. So, Rhode Islanders? Prove me wrong, please!

Dustin and Kandice

I never thought I would say this, but my favorite pre-show team is a pair of beauty queens. But they don't seem to be like the beauty queens of yore, they seem awesome. First, in their video, they must have asked them how they did at the Miss America pageant and their answer was, "pretty good--we were in the top 50!" which I thought was really funny. And then they won me over even more when they started quoting from the big-ass release form you have to sign when you get far enough into the interview process for the show (although no one besides me reading probably knew that's what they were doing, but there is actually a line in the liability section that says "CBS is not responsible nor can be held liable for injuries or death resulting from political situations, war, transportation, challenge equipment, contestant choices, acts of god..."). They're like a funny Double D, a non-bimbo Heave, and I'm guessing they won't go looking for the mountains of Argentina on the Chilean coastline. Sassy, smart, strong, big fans of the show...I hate to keep going on about them because I'm afraid it will jinx them. So I am now done with my Dustin and Kandice lovefest.

Erwin and Godwin

Ah, the competitive brothers team. But as opposed to the competitive brothers of previous seasons, it seems like these two are more concerned with competing against each other? No that could be fun to watch, or get old really quickly. Not sure which way it will go. A couple quick observations: 1) they both have win in their name. 2) the one who feels the pressure to live up to his brother also has God in his name. I find that funny. Despite their muscles and brainpower (I'm assuming by the UC Berkely--or is it UCLA?--shirt), these two are little chickenshits! My favorite line of their video was that they'd make decisions on roadblocks about who had more absorbant underwear. Oh, that's a good one. I'd like to see these two go far, but I have a feeling they will be more of the Shola and Doyin rather than the original Double D team.

Kellie and Jamie

Fame seeking cheerleaders. We'll see these two on the next "Battle of the Network Reality Stars". I really don't have too much else to say about them, other than one little comment. As a former teacher, it kind of pains me to hear someone say, "Well, I took Spanish all throughout high school so I can say 'Hola', but that's about it." Dude, I have never taken Spanish, and I can say Hola. I've never taken Welsh either, but I can say Ca arall bîr blesio like a native. I have a feeling Kellie and Jamie will say φιλώ εμένα to get what they want at least once on the race. Bring it On, girls.

Lyn and Karlyn

I'm going to just call this team Bowling Moms part deux (unless that title should go to BJ and Tyler?). Even their first names are kind of the same! Hopefully they won't screech as much. And that's really all I have to say about them.

Peter and Sarah

With these two, I made a mistake by watching their video before reading their short bio, so I was totally confused and a bit put off when Peter was the one talking about how hard it is to travel with an artificial limb. I was like, "um, dude, you have both your legs, at least until she burns it off with the stare she was giving you, dope. Then I realized that he actually is a clinical prosthetist, so I guess it makes a bit of sense, except for the whole she's staring you down with her eyes and you so don't notice bit. I like her. She isn't all "oh my god, look at me because I'm different and I'm really out to prove something" (yes, I'm looking at you Charla. And Reichen), but is more like, "yeah, this happened, but it doesn't stop me. And you know how I know that? I'm this kickass triathalon grrrrrrrrrrrl!" (I don't usually spell "girl" like that. I'm all about proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar. However, I think she might just qualify as a grrrrrrrrrrrrrl). I'm still getting a creepy vibe from him. Like a Colin vibe, I think. They are either going to go away quick, or be a team to watch. I'm just not sure which one yet.

Rob and Kimberly

Blah. That's really the only impression I have. Or maybe it's just because I've been working on this post for quite sometime and I really hadn't written anything interesting about them before. Oh, except that they are going to try not to fight, because teams that fight or work together as a team don't win. They obviously didn't see season three.

Tom and Terry
Tyler and James

Oh, the alpha males that reconnected in rehab? This is awesome. But I do have a little bit of an issue when the production team could possibly design challenges that they couldn't take part in, even if it is a detour or something. There will be no vodka shots off swords for these two. Other than that? The usual fun lovin' good lookin' twenty something guys. They'll have fun with Kellie and Jamie, I'm guessing.

Vipul and Arti

You know, I'm beginning to think race is the new gay in the world of reality tv. I'm not sure what that means, but I think it's true. And I'm sure I wil pontificate upon this more in future recaps. I like the look of these two. Vipul's got on the silly tshirt, they are fans, they look like they get along really well. I have to say, though, Arti looks absolutley shell-shocked by the cameras, the whole Kami and Karli in the headlights look. Hopefully she'll be able to get through this stage.

Some Final Thoughts

First off, I LOVE the new videosite that they're using on cbs.com, innertube. It works perfectly for me, it's easy to create a playlist, and it's fast and clear. Although, that could be my cable modem that I've got here at the house.

Second, I think I kind of love this cast. There is only one out of twenty four that gives me immediate ick vibes (Peter, I'm giving you the same stare Sarah was), but the rest seem excellent. I'd rather see smart, good racers than drama any day. I know drama garners ratings, but so does Emmys. And this show's already won three and possibly a fourth on Sunday. Time will tell, and keep your fingers crossed.

How Allegra picks her teams

2006-08-25T07:58:00.000-07:00

I have kept the same strategy since the beginning of the race pools way back in season 5. The only time I've actually placed in the top three was season eight, but this could be due to the fact that I don't make myself eligible for as many bonus points as y'all. Anyways, here's how the stat obsessed pool host does things.

If you work off the theory that what it takes to win the race is a combination of experience and athleticism, it seems that the best determining factor would be age. So, therefore, I look at how each age has placed in all past seasons, and come up with the median placement for each age, combine that with their team mate, and figure out the median of the combined team. These are then ranked in order from best average to worst, and that's how I get my placements.

With me so far? Here's how each team fared this time around:

Bilal age 37 (past 37 year olds have placed 6, 4, and 3 = 4.33)
Sa'eed age 39 (7, 4, 10, 10 = 7.75)
6.04

David age 32 (11, 11, 11, 6, 3, 10, 6, 4, 4, 7 = 7.30)
Mary age 31 (8, 8, 10, 11, 7, 7, 8, 4, 2 = 7.22)
7.26

Duke age 52 (5, 5 = 5.00)
Lauren age 26 (1, 2, 8, 4, 9, 10, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 10, 2, 9, 5, 5, 7 = 6.12)
5.56

Dustin age 26 (6.12)
Kandice age 24 (9, 1, 5, 6, 7, 2, 5, 1 = 4.50)
5.31

Erwin age 32 (7.30)
Godwin age 29 (2, 3, 2, 5, 7, 1, 6 = 3.71)
5.50

Kellie age 22 (8, 8, 9, 1, 2, 5, 11 = 6.29)
Jamie age 22 (6.29)
6.29

Lyn age 32 (7.30)
Karlyn age 32 (7.30)
7.30

Peter age 35 (12, 3, 4 = 6.33)
Sarah age 31 (7.22)
6.78

Rob age 31 (7.22)
Kimberly age 28 (3, 11, 2, 5, 1, 5, 8, 5, 11, 11, 2, 10 = 6.17)
6.70

Tom age 39 (7.75)
Terry age 45 (4, 7 = 5.50)
6.63

Tyler age 29 (3.71)
James age 27 (3, 3, 2, 6, 7, 3, 6, 6, 11, 7, 7, 8, 8, 1, 10, 7, = 5.94)
4.83

Vipul age 29 (3.71)
Arti age 27 (5.94)
4.83

A point of interest: this is the first time that two teams have had the same average, and they also happen to be the lowest average which, if my method works this year, we are in for a fun finnish. After crunching these averages and assuming that age is a fair predictor of race placement, the order might look something like this:

Tyler and James
Vipul and Arti
Dustin and Kandice
Erwin and Godwin
Duke and Lauren
Bilal and Sa'eed
Kellie and Jamie
Tom and Terry
Rob and Kimberly
Peter and Sarah
David and Mary
Lyn and Karlyn

Of course, I reserve the right that this is completley false and whatnot . In fact, someone had already taken my top four teams when I went to figure this all out, so I'm playing with my 1, 2, 3, and 5 teams.

2006-08-21T07:49:00.000-07:00

All right, yo. The teams are up on the CBS website, which means it's time to get this pool up and running again. Here are the rules:

Each pool participant will pick four teams. No two pool participants can have the same combination of four teams. This is to eliminate the chance of a tie.

Based on what happens in each episode, people will receive the following points:

1. Place at the Pitstop
First Place: 100 points
Second Place: 90 points
Third Place: 80 points
Fourth Place: 70 points
Fifth Place: 60 points
Sixth Place: 50 points
Seventh Place: 40 points
Eighth Place: 30 points
Ninth Place: 20 points
Tenth Place: 10 points
Eleventh Place: 5 points
LAST (ALL ELIMINATIONS): -100 points

2. Team Uses the Fast Forward: 100 points

3. Team uses their Yield: 50 points

4. Team Gets Yielded: -50 points

5. Screen shows the team "currently in first place": 10 points

6. Screen shows the team "currently in last place": -10 points

7. Only team to complete a detour option: 20 points

8. Team gives up on a detour option: -10 points

9. MONKEY points: a team says monkey, 10 points. They show a monkey on the screen, 5 points to all teams.

10. Team says the quote that is the episode title: 10 points

Active Participation Points:
Bonus Questions: Answer the weekly bonus question: 40 points
Media: send me an article to post on the blog, have been to one of the places and send me a photo to post on the blog, etc: 5 points

The ADAM rule is still in effect. In order to be eligible for media points, here are some ground rules:

You must have already sent in an answer to that week's bonus question.
You may earn a maximum of 100 bonus points per week (i.e. 40 bonus question, 60 media articles).

As a reminder, I am playing for real again this time. So be on your guard. I'm going to kick ass this time around.

People's Picks

2006-08-21T07:39:00.000-07:00

Eric:

Duke and Lauren
Peter and Sarah
Tyler and James
Vipul and Arti

Mark

Erwin and Goodwin
Peter and Sarah
Tom and Terry
Tyler and James

Anton

Erwin and Goodwin
Peter and Sarah
Tyler and James
Vipul and Arti

Tracy

Erwin and Goodwin
Tom and Terry
Tyler and James
Vipul and Arti

Kristin

Erwin and Goodwin
Rob and Kimberly
Tyler and James
Vipul and Arti

Adam

Erwin and Goodwin
Kellie and Jamie
Peter and Sarah
Tyler and James

Chris

Peter and Sarah
Tom and Terry
Tyler and James
Vipul and Arti

Nancy

Duke and Lauren
Erwin and Godwin
Peter and Sarah
Vipul and Arti

Ami

Duke and Lauren
Erwin and Goodwin
Tyler and James
Vipul and Arti

Jay

Duke and Lauren
Dustin and Kandice
Erwin and Goodwin
Vipul and Arti

Sarah

Dustin and Kandice
Erwin and Goodwin
Peter and Sarah
Vipul and Arti

Terry

Dustin and Kandice
Erwin and Goodwin
Tyler and James
Vipul and Arti

Mary:

Kellie and Jamie
Peter and Sarah
Tyler and James
Vipul and Arti

Chris H

Rob and Kimberly
Tom and Terry
Tyler and James
Vipul and Arti

June

Dustin and Kandice
Erwin and Goodwin
Lyn and Karlyn
Vipul and Arti

Anthony

Bilal and Sa'eed
Duke and Lauren
Peter and Sarah
Vipul and Arti

Michelle

Duke and Lauren
Erwin and Goodwin
Peter and Sarah
Tyler and James

Amy

Dustin and Kandice
Peter and Sarah
Rob and Kimberly
Vipul and Arti

Ashlee

Erwin and Goodwin
Peter and Sarah
Rob and Kimberly
Tyler and James

Peter

Bilal and Sa'eed
Erwin and Goodwin
Lyn and Karlyn
Vipul and Arti

Caitlin S.

Bilal and Sa'eed
Erwin and Goodwin
Tyler and James
Vipul and Arti

Allegra

Duke and Lauren
Dustin and Kandice
Tyler and James
Vipul and Arti

Mike

Erwin and Goodwin
Kellie and Jamie
Peter and Sarah
Vipul and Arti

Jill

Bilal and Sa'eed
Peter and Sarah
Tyler and James
Vipul and Arti

Ben

Erwin and Goodwin
Lyn and Karlyn
Peter and Sarah
Tyler and James

Stephanie

Bilal and Sa'eed
Erwin and Godwin
Peter and Sarah
Vipul and Arti

Linda

David and Mary
Kellie and Jamie
Lyn and Karlyn
Peter and Sarah

Mark

Erwin and Godwin
Peter and Sarah
Tom and Terry
Vipul and Arti

Courtney

Bilal and Sa'eed
Erwin and Godwin
Peter and Sarah
Tyler and James

Judy

Dustin and Kandice
Erwin and Godwin
Kellie and Jamie
Peter and Sarah

Joanna

David and Mary
Peter and Sarah
Tyler and James
Vipul and Arti

Becky

David and Mary
Duke and Lauren
Dustin and Kandice
Tyler and James

Curt

Duke and Lauren
Erwin and Godwin
Lyn and Karlyn
Tyler and James

Ryan

Bilal and Sa'eed
David and Mary
Erwin and Godwin
Vipul and Arti

Kathy

Bilal and Sa'eed
Kellie and Jamie
Tyler and James
Vipul and Arti

Robyn

Peter and Sarah
Rob and Kimberly
Tyler and James
Vipul and Arti

Caitlin

Kellie and Jamie
Lyn and Karlyn
Peter and Sarah
Tyler and James

Courtney W

Duke and Lauren
Peter and Sarah
Tom and Terry
Tyler and James

Laura

Bilal and Sa'eed
Duke and Lauren
Erwin and Godwin
Vipul and Arti

Les

Duke and Lauren
Erwin and Godwin
Kellie and Jamie
Vipul and Arti

Bari

David and Mary
Erwin and Godwin
Peter and Sarah
Tyler and James

Willow

Erwin and Godwin
Peter and Sarah
Rob and Kimberly
Tom and Terry

Trina

Bilal and Sa'eed
Dustin and Kandice
Erwin and Godwin
Vipul and Arti

Boogie

Dustin and Kandice
Erwin and Godwin
Kellie and Jamie
Tyler and James

Dave

Duke and Lauren
Kellie and Jamie
Peter and Sarah
Rob and Kimberly

It's time to pick your ponies!

2006-08-21T07:22:00.000-07:00

The AMAZING RACE 10 pool is officially OPEN. Rules will follow shortly, as will teams that have already been picked.

Let's get it going on!
Allegra