We now return you to your regular viewing.....

Well, the TAR season has finished, so now I have to start spouting my own brand of crap again. To be honest I'm not sure what to say now.....which reminds me of the one and only internet date I went on, so I'll tell you about that.

I don't even remember how it started, but I met a girl online, sight unseen, and started chatting with her via email. I think it was probably 7 or so years ago (I'm really bad at remembering specific years). We were both at uni and had crappy jobs so at least had that in common. The emailing was very friendly and we seemed to get along really well in text. Sharing stories and laughs.

After some back and forth over a period of time we agreed to send each other a photo. She had originally played down her looks before doing so and was somewhat reluctant to send a pic, while I had accurately described my chiselled abs and stunning appearance...*cough, cough* Anyway, she apparently liked the way I looked and after seeing her photo I had to explain that I don't date transexuals. Ok I'm kidding about that, but it would've made this story more interesting. I'll be nice and say she was pretty average looking, but seeing as how I'm not a shallow prick I agreed that we should meet up and have a date. We spoke on the phone before hand and made her laugh with my Sean Connery impersonation. I have no idea why I impersonated Sean Connery, but it must have been good cause she still wanted to go on a date.

We decided to go and see a movie, so that if things didn't go well at least there would be a period of time where I didn't have to speak to her. For all the friendlyness we had on the web, when we finally met face to face, there was no chemistry. Absolutely 0%. So we got the tickets (I paid) and walked around for a bit to kill some time before it began. Rarely has there been such awkward silences between two people. We had pretty much discussed all the small talk stuff on the net, so neither of us had any material to break the ice (my Connery impression having been used up).

Long story short, we watched the movie, afterward I walked her to the train station, said goodbye, with no physical contact, and drove home myself. The next email from me pretty much stated that I didn't really know what to say to her now and she replied that she didn't know where to go from there either. After that we didn't email each other again. I moved on and I only hope she didn't have any hard feelings and didn't blame herself. So there you have it, that was my one and only internet date. Perhaps next time I'll tell you about picking up hookers in seedy bars.

TAR - All Stars Episode 13 FINAL

... Spoiler Alert! ... Spoiler Alert! ...


If you haven't yet seen (and you intend to see) episode 13 of The Amazing Race Series 11 – All Stars Edition (TARAS), do not read any further!


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The last TARAS episode we saw here in Australia ended with Eric & Danielle being the last team to reach the Pit Stop but the third team to be saved from elimination on the All Stars edition of the show. The Pit Stop was located at Umatac (Fort Nuestra Señora de la Soledad) in Guam, an organised unincorporated territory of the USA. The Finish Line was located inside the San Francisco Botanical Gardens, back on the mainland.

In the Detour for this leg of the race, teams had to choose between ‘Under’ or ‘Over’. In ‘Under’, teams had to swim underwater to gain access to a cave where their next clue was anchored to the cave’s floor. In ‘Over’, teams had to use a paddle board to reach a buoy to which their next clue was fastened.

Photos on the official CBS website suggest that the unaired Roadblock involved jumping off a cliff into the water below (because Mirna and Danielle were shown doing this task in the photos). The location of the Roadblock was most likely in Hawaii near the Detour, though the exact location is unknown.

At the San Francisco Mint (in the Race's final task), one team member had to answer four questions relating to their opinion of other teams on the Race. Their answers corresponded to a four-digit code. The other team member then had ten minutes to guess the answers and enter the code into a safe containing the last clue. Success meant that the lucky team could get a head start on the other teams, but if they failed, teams were still allowed to proceed once the ten minutes had passed.

For the record, this was the order in which the teams reached Phil on the mat last episode, and the order in which they started this leg of the Race:

1. Dustin & Kandice
2. Eric & Danielle
3. Charla & Mirna
4. Oswald & Danny


Note: As always, I’ll provide my thoughts on each team in this episode, listing them in the order in which they arrived at the Finish Line (hence the 'Spoiler Alert!').



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1. Eric & Danielle: WINNERS!


Last week: 2
This week: Up one place

Am I surprised that the couple I least wanted to win, won the million dollars? No not really. I’ve made it pretty clear that I don’t think much of Ken and Barbie, but personal feelings aside, they were the only team in the final three to have finished last in another leg, and thanks to non elimination were also the only team to be given a second chance in the race. A pretty big advantage to a team that didn’t come first in any other legs. Just goes to show that only when they’re up against two beauty queens and a psychotic chick and her handicapped cousin do Eric and Danielle really shine. ;)

I like to think that in games such as this the best team or person should win and in this case I don’t think that happened. I can see the million being blown on booze and partying quite frankly. I understand from reading Bevis’s review that they are no longer a couple, so presumably they had to half the million after tax.

In this final leg E&D gave what I thought was their only good effort on the race and they seemed focused, didn’t fight and didn’t make any mistakes. Good for them.



2. Dustin & Kandice: ELIMINATED! (2nd Place)


Last week: 1
This week: Down one place

These girls were the ones I thought most deserving to win. So let me explain why…firstly they came first in 4 out of the previous 12 legs and of the other two teams even Charla and Mirna managed 2 first place gets in those legs. But such accomplishments count for nothing in this ‘competition’ (well, maybe prizes).

I also made a note of the places that each final three team came in all previous rounds and added them up. Naturally the team with the lowest score did best at coming closer to the front of the pack in all rounds in comparison with the other two teams. And the winner with 38 points is…..Dustin and Kandice!!! Next closest was Eric and Danielle with 47 points! (including the round they came last and rightfully should have been eliminated). Charla and Mirna had 54 points.

But….the game is mostly dumb luck (though experience with travel arrangements, navigating and negotiation certainly help), so such considerations are mostly for my own amusement.

Dustin and Kandice really felt the pressure in the final leg and had the first fight that I think we’d seen on the race. Thankfully they were able to resolve it pretty quickly and all was well.

The producers had done their best on this round to ensure that all teams would be very close together and it seemed that in most tasks everyone could watch what everyone else was doing cause they were only minutes apart from each other. If this type of situation could have occurred on all legs of the race I think the show would be even more interesting.



3. Charla & Mirna: ELIMINATED! (3rd Place)


Last week: 3
This week: No change

If Eric could be said to have been hampered by Danielle’s intellect, then certainly having a team member who is a little person should have made things much harder. Charla was clearly at a disadvantage in any tasks where running or physical strength was a factor and even running between connecting flights or to finish lines was something of a chore. In spite of this factor they did very well and were justified in their pride of being able to accomplish what many fully able bodied teams were unable to. I also felt that these two were the underdogs of the race…certainly far more than a strong, athletic, all-American Ken and Barbie type team like someone I could mention.

Although they started off strong by catching an earlier flight than the other two teams, they had to wait until the place opened up and so everyone else caught up. As hinted at above, in any situation of a mostly physical nature this team was at a rather big disadvantage and this leg had a good share of the physical, so their clever flight booking was to no avail and throughout the rest of the leg they had to chase the pack.

I had a love/hate relationship with this team, but I do believe that they did well to get into the final three.


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Well that’s this season of TAR over and I don’t think I’ll try one of these series reviews again (I’m sure some are cheering out there!). Way too much commitment. I think I’ll stick to posting comments on Bevis’s TV blog in future!


If you haven’t already done so, check out the review of this same episode that BEVIS posted on his blog.


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