The little clip we get of tonight’s happenings is interesting - Mika shows her extreme fear of heights having to go down a TALL water slide and it looks like Canaan is trying to push her down - that’s not very Christian, now, is it?
Leaving the Pit Stop, teams have to choose a locked briefcase and taxi to the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club for their next clue. Meghan interviews that she can’t remember when she was more stressed than on the Race, and Cheyne laughs that “that’s saying a lot because Meghan gets pretty stressed out.” The clue at the Golf & Yacht Club is a Road Block. One team member has to row a small inflatable dingy out to a yacht anchored in the water, where a sheik will present them with a watch which is the Arab custom of hospitality. Then they have to row back to the dock and unlock their briefcase. They have to figure out that the combination is the time on the watch, 8:35. Their next clue will be in the briefcase.
As Cheyne is rowing, he yells out to Meghan “Do you love me?” and all she does is grin. (I guess she’s not willing to commit unless he kicks butt in the challenge!) Brian & Ericka leave the Pit Stop saying that Ericka starts every day with good hair and makeup, but by the end of the day it’s all gone - “but you gotta try.” Flight Time & Big Easy talk in the taxi about how hot it is (very hot. Really hot. Did he say it was hot?) in Dubai. Gary & Matt re-dyed Matt’s hair, which got a laugh from Gary - “I never thought I’d be dying my son’s hair.”
Cheyne figured out right away that the lock code was the time on the watch, and their next clue told them to taxi to the Abra Station, a water taxi stand in “Old Dubai.”
Brian chooses to row the boat, saying Ericka “does not do water.” Sam & Dan talk about their alliance with Maria & Tiffany, saying that it’s advantageous, and they could outrun the girls if need be. The cab driver takes Flight Time & Big Easy to the wrong marina, making them think they are in last place. Gary can’t row the little boat to save his life, so he ends up laying in the boat on his stomach and using one paddle.
Meghan & Cheyne get to the next clue box to find a Detour - Gold or Glass. In Gold, teams must find a jewelry store and use a scale to weigh out exactly $500,000 worth of gold. They have to figure out how much to weigh out using the gold exchange rate - which changes constantly, meaning they have to work quickly. (This is where the cell phone calculator comes in handy!) In Glass, teams have to go to a spice market and open a crate of pieces of Middle Eastern smoking pipes called Hookahs. They will have to assemble 12 of three different styles of pipes. Meghan & Cheyne decide to try Glass.
Maria & Tiffany are leaving the Pit Stop, saying “Please, Jesus, let us leave Dubai.” (I guess the heat is getting to them.....) Tiffany says “it’s very James Bond, taking a briefcase to some location - although I’ve never seen James Bond sweat.” (Yep, they don’t like the heat). Matt & Gary leave the challenge after opening their briefcase saying “can you just see Big Easy in that little raft?” They called it, because Big Easy decides to do the challenge. Flight Time yells instructions and Big Easy just looks confused trying to row. (I didn’t realize that so many people had problems knowing how to row. Maybe doing it is tough, but knowing how to do it shouldn’t be all that hard!)
Meghan & Cheyne make it to the spice market and pick a crate in the shade. As they start assembling, Meghan starts getting stressed as Cheyne tells her to relax. (It really didn’t seem like anything to panic about - they knew they were ahead just for the fact that no other teams were showing up). In the taxi, Ericka tells us she’s dying to go shopping, seeing all the beautiful textiles hanging at the shops. Big Easy decides to forgo the paddles and uses his hands to row and is making pretty good time, with Flight Time yelling that “you’re going to go down in history as the biggest man in a rowboat made for a 5-year-old.” Dan does this challenge also, following Big Easy’s lead and using his hands to row. Flight yells at Big Easy to “do it for the ‘hood!” and Sam yells for Dan to “do it for the suburbs!” (Heehee)
As Maria & Tiffany show up at the yacht club, Big Easy is trying to open his briefcase. He correctly figures out that the watch has something to do with the lock code, but looks at it too literally - little hand on the 8, big hand on the 7, “and the third number would be the date.” On a close-up of the watch, I didn’t see the little square in the center where the date would be, so I had no idea what prompted that - but it messed them up big time. Dan got it right away, and the Globetrotters watched Sam & Dan leave. Big Easy is trying 8-7 and every other number in order, and not getting the case open. Flight Time, seeing Mika & Canaan at the docks, says “if we stay here long enough Lance & Keri might show up.” Mika then mentions that she’s pretty scared of water (and heights, and can this girl do anything without fear?)
Brian & Ericka find the jewelry store to attempt the Gold challenge. It’s taking him awhile to do the math for the gold weight - and Ericka says “my American education has dumbed me down, to use a calculator for everything.” (Pretty sad comment from a former Miss America!)
Mika & Canaan finish the task at the marina and get their case open, and leave the Globetrotters still trying to figure it out. (Now, don’t you think they could have at least yelled the code to them as they were leaving, considering the Globetrotters helped them out last time telling them to take their coats into the snow challenge? Bad karma, kids!)
Big Easy finally figures out that it’s the time on the watch, and remarks that he was “doing it for the ‘hood, the ‘hood is mad at me now.”
Meghan & Cheyne have some pieces left over and are told they don’t have the pipes put together correctly. In the meantime, Brian & Ericka are having problems figuring out the gold. Ericka says she just “spends the money, rather than counting and keeping it - I’m sure glad I married up.” Their first attempt at the weight is wrong. (Looks like both of these challenges are not easy ones!)
Gary & Matt, talking about what challenge to attempt, talk about the pipe assembly - and as Matt describes what a hookah is, Gary says “we used to call it something else.” (You old hippie, you!)
After being told once again that they are wrong weighing their gold, Brian & Ericka run off to try to assemble pipes, while Meghan & Cheyne finally realize they have extra parts left over that need to be used. They put the leftover washers on the pipes and get their next clue, telling them to go to the Atlantis, The Palm Dubai resort and search the water park for a slide called the "Leap of Faith.” They have to slide down the 6-story slide at nearly a 90ยบ angle through a shark tank and they will get their next clue.
Sam & Dan choose to do Gold and take off for the jewelers, as do Maria & Tiffany. Brian & Ericka, meanwhile, are putting together the pipes with Ericka saying “I don’t think the colors matter” and then saying “it’s got to be something miniscule” when their pipes are rejected. (Ya think it might be something like the COLORS?)
Sam & Dan bought a calculator at Wal-Mart before they left on the Race, and pulled it out of their bag - but didn’t know what to do to figure out the amount of gold they needed. Maria & Tiffany borrowed the calculator and knew what to do, and told the guys, but just as the guys got their gold on the scale, the price changed and they were told it was wrong. They have the girls recalculate the amount and both teams get it right, finally.
Meghan & Cheyne see the slide and admit they are afraid of heights, but both enjoy the trip down the slide (which looked like wicked fun!) Meghan asked if they were “real sharks” down there (they were). The clue told them to search for Dolphin Bay Beach, which was the next Pit Stop. They dash off down the beach and make it to the Mat first, and go falling into the water - then run back to Phil saying “okay, what did we win?”
Back at the hookah challenge, Ericka is letting Brian do all the work, saying “I don’t think that matters that much” when Brian wants to assemble them a certain way. (C’mon, if you’re supposed to build something, and there are samples to look at, wouldn’t you think the samples are what they need to look like?) The heat starts getting to Matt, who has to sit down because he fells like he’s going to pass out. Mika wishes she were naked (and I bet a bunch of guys watching second that!) Brian finally figures out the combination of the pipes and gets their next clue. As the Globetrotters see Brian & Ericka leave, they figure that Brian & Ericka were two hours ahead of them, and it took them two hours to do the challenge, so they were going to switch tasks and go do Gold. (They may have been 2 hours ahead, but they took so long at the challenge because they were STUPID!!!)
Tiffany & Maria both get close to using their bikini tops going down the slide (oh, what this show could have been for the guys watching!)
Gary & Matt get their clue (after Gary does most of the work assembling the pipes). Brian & Ericka go down the slide, commenting that Brian is afraid of heights and Ericka hates water - but they do just fine and seem to have fun in the process. Gary & Matt love the water slide after the heat of Dubai. At the top of the slide, Mika is in a panic and has floaty things on her arms (to go down a water slide? Good grief!!!) Canaan is trying his best to get her down, telling her “it’s a million dollars, just go down the slide.” He gets her close to the slide and tries to push her at the opening, which of course doesn’t work and sends her into more of a panic. He implores her to just sit down in the water as she prays. She sits down and Canaan gets behind her as if to go down with her, or push her - no such luck. Big Easy & Flight Time show up, and we find out that Mika & Canaan have two minutes to either do the task or let the next team go ahead. Big Easy & Flight Time start yelling to Mika “don’t do it! It’s a big way up!” and Mika ends up wasting time and the Globetrotters go ahead. Canaan tells Big Easy that “it’s crap, dude.” Canaan goes down the slide and Mika finally decides not to go down the slide, and they walk up to the Mat in last place and get eliminated. Canaan interviews that he doesn’t hold it against Mika - give him credit for that, I suppose. My hunny is bitching that the Globetrotters did a cheap shot by goading Mika about her fear - but I don’t see a problem (during the eating challenge in Survivor, the other team was making gagging and vomit noises when Ashley was drinking the goo). It’s a million dollars!!! The Globetrotters didn’t sabotage their equipment, or Yield them, just talked some trash, and if Mika couldn’t handle it, shame on her.
So Mika & Canaan are gone - do you think the Globetrotters were low class or just trying to win the Race? Are Meghan & Cheyne becoming the team to beat? Who are you rooting for? We’ll talk more next week!
1 - Meghan & Cheyne
2 - Maria & Tiffany
3 - Sam & Dan
4 - Brian & Ericka
5 - Gary & Matt
6 - Big Easy & Flight Time
7 - Mika & Canaan - eliminated
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Directionally Challenged People Just Don't Do Well on The Amazing Race: Bye Bye Lance & Keri
Well, Lance & Keri (those of the major Boston accent - "nothing could tear us apaaaaaaat") are gone. Their lack of direction finally did them in.
Sorry this is late, but I watched the show in New York, there for my granddaughter's christening - didn't get home till Tuesday. Better late than never!
The teams are told to fly to the Persian Gulf and find the world's tallest building. They're not told where in the Persian Gulf, and they have to figure out that the building is "the Burj Dubai, a colossal structure still under construction that is nearly twice the height of the Empire State Building. They had to figure out they needed to fly to the city of Dubai. Sam & Dan give us a taste of Stupid Americans by asking the Cambodian cab driver where the Persian Gulf is. They're from Liberty, Missouri, which I guess doesn't have TV or newspapers - or Sam & Dan live under a rock. Brian & Ericka say that they're trying to be nice to the other teams because this Race is "all about Karma." (No, it's all about A MILLION DOLLARS!) I just really looked at Cheyne's hair, too, and it looks like he styles it in a wind tunnel! During Lance & Keri's interview Keri tells us that they have a strong bond - and then Lance, ever the romantic, says that "we have a lot of nonrefundable deposits on our wedding, I'm not gonna miss out on that." Mika & Canaan, our little Christian couple, show the first cracks in their sunny relationship...they see that they have to go to the world's tallest building, and Mika is petrified of heights. Canaan tells her that "you need to change that little tune" and she tells him "you need to quit telling me what to do." Love the look of "wha-a-a?" on his face!
We see Sam & Dan at a window asking for tickets to the Persian Gulf, and hear them say the first sensible thing - "The Persian Gulf isn't even a country." Brian tells them they need to go to Dubai, which bums me out, I would have liked to see how long it took them to figure it out. Brian tells everyone as they get to the airport where they need to go. Lance & Keri stop at an internet cafe and try to get tickets but the website is slow (although Lance decides that it's because all the tickets are being bought up). Lucky for them, they get to the airport in time and get on the same flight with all the other teams.
As they jump into cabs, the teams all remark on the heat (and we can see the cameras fogging up). They have to make their way to a fountain where they would sign up for one of two groups scheduled to ride the elevator to the 124th floor of the Burj Dubai the following morning. Maria & Tiffany get there first and sign up in the first group, followed by Brian & Ericka, Sam & Dan and Meghan & Cheyne.
Mika & Canaan get a cab driver that doesn't know where the fountain is, and we see Canaan throwing a hissy fit. They make it and get into the second group. As they waited for their turn, Mika stressed herself out even more worrying about having to jump off somewhere. To his credit, Canaan was a bit more supportive this time. It turned out to be anticlimactic, because once on the 124th floor, the clue simply told them to go back down and look for a parking structure, get in a marked car, and drive to the desert. There is also a Fast Forward (the only one of the Race). "In this Fast Forward, teams had to travel to the Dubai Autodrome, the only racetrack of its type in the Persian Gulf. Then, driving in an F3 open-wheel racecar and accelerating up to speeds of 100 mph, one team member must complete a lap in 45 seconds or less." Meghan & Cheyne decide to go for it, and the other teams didn't want to challenge them and possibly lose, losing precious time. The second group gets their clues and gets back down to ground level, and Mika is breathing probably the biggest sigh of relief she's ever done. Lance & Keri, our directionally challenged couple, take off in the other direction while looking for the parking garage (even though Keri tells him that everyone else was going the other way. And remember, according to Lance, Keri is the stupid one!)
Mika & Canaan don't follow the other teams to the desert and end up very behind everyone, except for Lance & Keri who continue to get themselves lost. Meghan & Cheyne, meanwhile, get to the Fast Forward and Cheyne is excited to find out he gets to drive a race car around a track, and if he finishes the lap in less than 45 seconds, they'll get their clue. Meghan is in tears watching him, being afraid for his safety. Cheyne decides "I'm the man!" and gets around the track in time on the first try. They're instructed to drive a Maserati to the Pit Stop, where they get to the Mat in first place.
The other teams made it to the desert and get to the clue box, which has a Roadblock. "In it, one team member had to choose a traditional bag and search the desert for water that was stored in urns buried in the sand. However, not all of the urns contained water. When they found enough water to fill their bag, they had to give it to a Bedouin and his thirsty camels in order to receive their next clue." Dan, Tiffany and Brian started off in the sand, and Tiffany was the first to find an urn - but no water. Brian found an urn with water and secretly filled his bag, then told Dan and Tiffany where to find it. "If you help people now, they're gonna help you down the road." (Not necessarily, Brian - not if helping you hurts their chance at a million bucks!) Dan's ladle broke as he was getting the water, but Tiffany let him use hers and waited for him as he filled his bag. Mika & Canaan managed to beat Lance & Keri to the task, but both of them wandered in the sand looking for water - Lance showing his wonderful attitude once again when he found an empty urn and chucked it into the sand, breaking it. Canaan found water and got done ahead of Lance.
The clue told the teams to "drive back into the city and find Ski Dubai, an indoor ski resort with more than 22,000 square meters of snow." As Maria drove off in their car, she ran over a spike and punctured a hole in the radiator. She commented that "I have an excuse because I'm an Asian female driver." Sam & Dan hung around with them until they got a new car, which can either be seen as stupid or chivalrous depending on your point of view.
Once to the "ski" resort, the clue was a Detour "with the choice of Build a Snowman or Find a Snowman. In Build a Snowman, teams had to carry snow from the frigid winter conditions inside, to the blistering heat outdoors. Once there, they had to build a traditional snowman complete with two coal eyes, a carrot nose, and top hat. In Find a Snowman, teams had to take a chairlift up the mountain and then sled down to a mound of snow. Once there, they had to search through the massive pile of snow for a tiny snowman buried within it." They had to take their snowman to a polar bear and they would get their next clue. (That polar bear was a little creepy too). Matt & Gary get there first and decide to Find a Snowman. Shortly Maria & Tiffany, Brian & Ericka, Sam & Dan, and Flight Time & Big Easy join them and Ericka manages to find the snowman in the snow first. They take off for the Pit Stop and arrive in second place. Maria & Tiffany and Sam & Dan take off with Matt & Gary to switch tasks and build a snowman, but the Globetrotters stick with the snow pile and manage to find a snowman. As they rush off to the Pit Stop, they run into Mika & Canaan on their way in and told them to grab their coats, which Mika & Canaan appreciated, saying "The Globetrotters really helped us out."
The other teams manage to get their snowmen built, and they didn't melt as fast as one would have expected - although the snowmen weren't actually works of art either. They got the required parts together, though, and all got their clues.
Lance & Keri went right to making a snowman, and when they finished Lance confused the clue-giver by asking if he could kick the snowman apart before he got his clue. This guy is something! All their bad choices piled up on them, though, and they were eliminated.
So here's the order the teams finished:
1 - Meghan & Cheyne
2 - Brian & Ericka
3 - Big Easy & Flight Time
4 - Sam & Dan
5 - Maria & Tiffany
6 - Mika & Canaan
7 - Lance & Keri - Eliminated
So, sorry that the bickering Bostonians are gone? They did add a little spice to what seems to be a bunch of teams that like each other. See any good fights coming or are we destined for a bunch of good-Karma-seeking, helpful teams? Stay tuned!
Sorry this is late, but I watched the show in New York, there for my granddaughter's christening - didn't get home till Tuesday. Better late than never!
The teams are told to fly to the Persian Gulf and find the world's tallest building. They're not told where in the Persian Gulf, and they have to figure out that the building is "the Burj Dubai, a colossal structure still under construction that is nearly twice the height of the Empire State Building. They had to figure out they needed to fly to the city of Dubai. Sam & Dan give us a taste of Stupid Americans by asking the Cambodian cab driver where the Persian Gulf is. They're from Liberty, Missouri, which I guess doesn't have TV or newspapers - or Sam & Dan live under a rock. Brian & Ericka say that they're trying to be nice to the other teams because this Race is "all about Karma." (No, it's all about A MILLION DOLLARS!) I just really looked at Cheyne's hair, too, and it looks like he styles it in a wind tunnel! During Lance & Keri's interview Keri tells us that they have a strong bond - and then Lance, ever the romantic, says that "we have a lot of nonrefundable deposits on our wedding, I'm not gonna miss out on that." Mika & Canaan, our little Christian couple, show the first cracks in their sunny relationship...they see that they have to go to the world's tallest building, and Mika is petrified of heights. Canaan tells her that "you need to change that little tune" and she tells him "you need to quit telling me what to do." Love the look of "wha-a-a?" on his face!
We see Sam & Dan at a window asking for tickets to the Persian Gulf, and hear them say the first sensible thing - "The Persian Gulf isn't even a country." Brian tells them they need to go to Dubai, which bums me out, I would have liked to see how long it took them to figure it out. Brian tells everyone as they get to the airport where they need to go. Lance & Keri stop at an internet cafe and try to get tickets but the website is slow (although Lance decides that it's because all the tickets are being bought up). Lucky for them, they get to the airport in time and get on the same flight with all the other teams.
As they jump into cabs, the teams all remark on the heat (and we can see the cameras fogging up). They have to make their way to a fountain where they would sign up for one of two groups scheduled to ride the elevator to the 124th floor of the Burj Dubai the following morning. Maria & Tiffany get there first and sign up in the first group, followed by Brian & Ericka, Sam & Dan and Meghan & Cheyne.
Mika & Canaan get a cab driver that doesn't know where the fountain is, and we see Canaan throwing a hissy fit. They make it and get into the second group. As they waited for their turn, Mika stressed herself out even more worrying about having to jump off somewhere. To his credit, Canaan was a bit more supportive this time. It turned out to be anticlimactic, because once on the 124th floor, the clue simply told them to go back down and look for a parking structure, get in a marked car, and drive to the desert. There is also a Fast Forward (the only one of the Race). "In this Fast Forward, teams had to travel to the Dubai Autodrome, the only racetrack of its type in the Persian Gulf. Then, driving in an F3 open-wheel racecar and accelerating up to speeds of 100 mph, one team member must complete a lap in 45 seconds or less." Meghan & Cheyne decide to go for it, and the other teams didn't want to challenge them and possibly lose, losing precious time. The second group gets their clues and gets back down to ground level, and Mika is breathing probably the biggest sigh of relief she's ever done. Lance & Keri, our directionally challenged couple, take off in the other direction while looking for the parking garage (even though Keri tells him that everyone else was going the other way. And remember, according to Lance, Keri is the stupid one!)
Mika & Canaan don't follow the other teams to the desert and end up very behind everyone, except for Lance & Keri who continue to get themselves lost. Meghan & Cheyne, meanwhile, get to the Fast Forward and Cheyne is excited to find out he gets to drive a race car around a track, and if he finishes the lap in less than 45 seconds, they'll get their clue. Meghan is in tears watching him, being afraid for his safety. Cheyne decides "I'm the man!" and gets around the track in time on the first try. They're instructed to drive a Maserati to the Pit Stop, where they get to the Mat in first place.
The other teams made it to the desert and get to the clue box, which has a Roadblock. "In it, one team member had to choose a traditional bag and search the desert for water that was stored in urns buried in the sand. However, not all of the urns contained water. When they found enough water to fill their bag, they had to give it to a Bedouin and his thirsty camels in order to receive their next clue." Dan, Tiffany and Brian started off in the sand, and Tiffany was the first to find an urn - but no water. Brian found an urn with water and secretly filled his bag, then told Dan and Tiffany where to find it. "If you help people now, they're gonna help you down the road." (Not necessarily, Brian - not if helping you hurts their chance at a million bucks!) Dan's ladle broke as he was getting the water, but Tiffany let him use hers and waited for him as he filled his bag. Mika & Canaan managed to beat Lance & Keri to the task, but both of them wandered in the sand looking for water - Lance showing his wonderful attitude once again when he found an empty urn and chucked it into the sand, breaking it. Canaan found water and got done ahead of Lance.
The clue told the teams to "drive back into the city and find Ski Dubai, an indoor ski resort with more than 22,000 square meters of snow." As Maria drove off in their car, she ran over a spike and punctured a hole in the radiator. She commented that "I have an excuse because I'm an Asian female driver." Sam & Dan hung around with them until they got a new car, which can either be seen as stupid or chivalrous depending on your point of view.
Once to the "ski" resort, the clue was a Detour "with the choice of Build a Snowman or Find a Snowman. In Build a Snowman, teams had to carry snow from the frigid winter conditions inside, to the blistering heat outdoors. Once there, they had to build a traditional snowman complete with two coal eyes, a carrot nose, and top hat. In Find a Snowman, teams had to take a chairlift up the mountain and then sled down to a mound of snow. Once there, they had to search through the massive pile of snow for a tiny snowman buried within it." They had to take their snowman to a polar bear and they would get their next clue. (That polar bear was a little creepy too). Matt & Gary get there first and decide to Find a Snowman. Shortly Maria & Tiffany, Brian & Ericka, Sam & Dan, and Flight Time & Big Easy join them and Ericka manages to find the snowman in the snow first. They take off for the Pit Stop and arrive in second place. Maria & Tiffany and Sam & Dan take off with Matt & Gary to switch tasks and build a snowman, but the Globetrotters stick with the snow pile and manage to find a snowman. As they rush off to the Pit Stop, they run into Mika & Canaan on their way in and told them to grab their coats, which Mika & Canaan appreciated, saying "The Globetrotters really helped us out."
The other teams manage to get their snowmen built, and they didn't melt as fast as one would have expected - although the snowmen weren't actually works of art either. They got the required parts together, though, and all got their clues.
Lance & Keri went right to making a snowman, and when they finished Lance confused the clue-giver by asking if he could kick the snowman apart before he got his clue. This guy is something! All their bad choices piled up on them, though, and they were eliminated.
So here's the order the teams finished:
1 - Meghan & Cheyne
2 - Brian & Ericka
3 - Big Easy & Flight Time
4 - Sam & Dan
5 - Maria & Tiffany
6 - Mika & Canaan
7 - Lance & Keri - Eliminated
So, sorry that the bickering Bostonians are gone? They did add a little spice to what seems to be a bunch of teams that like each other. See any good fights coming or are we destined for a bunch of good-Karma-seeking, helpful teams? Stay tuned!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Karma, Heat & Snow in Dubai
Well, Lance & Keri (those of the major Boston accent - “nothing could tear us apaaaaaaat”) are gone. Their lack of direction finally did them in. I'd really like to know if they actually stay married for more than six months (after Lance gets his money's worth from the wedding!)
The teams are told to fly to the Persian Gulf and find the world’s tallest building. They’re not told where in the Persian Gulf, and they have to figure out that the building is “the Burj Dubai, a colossal structure still under construction that is nearly twice the height of the Empire State Building" which was in the city of Dubai. Sam & Dan give us a taste of Stupid Americans by asking the Cambodian cab driver where the Persian Gulf is. (He didn't know.) They’re from Liberty, Missouri, which I guess doesn’t have TV or newspapers - or Sam & Dan live under a rock. Brian & Ericka say that they’re trying to be nice to the other teams because this Race is “all about Karma.” (No, it’s all about A MILLION DOLLARS!) I just really looked at Cheyne’s hair, too, and it looks like he styles it in a wind tunnel! During Lance & Keri’s interview Keri tells us that they have a strong bond - and then Lance, ever the romantic, says that “we have a lot of nonrefundable deposits on our wedding, I’m not gonna miss out on that.” Mika & Canaan, our little Christian couple, show the first cracks in their sunny relationship...they see that they have to go to the world’s tallest building, and Mika is petrified of heights. Canaan tells her that “you need to change that little tune” and she tells him “you need to quit telling me what to do.” Love the look of “wha-a-a?” on his face!
We see Sam & Dan at a window asking for tickets to the Persian Gulf, and hear them say the first sensible thing - “The Persian Gulf isn’t even a country.” Brian tells them they need to go to Dubai, which bums me out, I would have liked to see how long it took them to figure it out. Brian tells everyone as they get to the airport where they need to go. Lance & Keri stop at an internet cafe and try to get tickets but the website is slow (although Lance decides that it’s because all the tickets are being bought up). Lucky for them, they get to the airport in time and get on the same flight with all the other teams.
As they jump into cabs, the teams all remark on the heat (and we can see the cameras fogging up). They have to make their way to a fountain where they would sign up for one of two groups scheduled to ride the elevator to the 124th floor of the Burj Dubai the following morning. Maria & Tiffany get there first and sign up in the first group, followed by Brian & Ericka, Sam & Dan and Meghan & Cheyne.
Mika & Canaan get a cab driver that doesn’t know where the fountain is, and we see Canaan throwing a hissy fit. They make it and get into the second group. As they waited for their turn, Mika stressed herself out even more worrying about having to jump off somewhere. To his credit, Canaan was a bit more supportive this time. It turned out to be anticlimactic, because once on the 124th floor, the clue box was sitting on a balcony and the clue simply told them to go back down and look for a parking structure, get in a marked car, and drive to the desert. There is also a Fast Forward (the only one of the Race). “In this Fast Forward, teams had to travel to the Dubai Autodrome, the only racetrack of its type in the Persian Gulf. Then, driving in an F3 open-wheel racecar and accelerating up to speeds of 100 mph, one team member must complete a lap in 45 seconds or less.” Meghan & Cheyne decide to go for it, and the other teams didn’t want to challenge them and possibly lose, losing precious time. The second group gets their clues and gets back down to ground level, and Mika is breathing probably the biggest sigh of relief she’s ever done. Lance & Keri, our directionally challenged couple, take off in the other direction while looking for the parking garage (even though Keri tells him that everyone else was going the other way. And remember, according to Lance, Keri is the stupid one!)
Mika & Canaan don’t follow the other teams to the desert and end up very behind everyone, except for Lance & Keri who continue to get themselves lost. Meghan & Cheyne, meanwhile, get to the Fast Forward and Cheyne is excited to find out he gets to drive a race car around a track, and if he finishes the lap in less than 45 seconds, they’ll get their clue. Meghan is in tears watching him, being afraid for his safety. Cheyne decides “I’m the man!” and gets around the track in time on the first try. They’re instructed to drive a Maserati to the Pit Stop, where they get to the Mat in first place.
The other teams made it to the desert and get to the clue box, which has a Roadblock. “In it, one team member had to choose a traditional bag and search the desert for water that was stored in urns buried in the sand. However, not all of the urns contained water. When they found enough water to fill their bag, they had to give it to a Bedouin and his thirsty camels in order to receive their next clue.” Dan, Tiffany and Brian started off in the sand, and Tiffany was the first to find an urn - but no water. Brian found an urn with water and secretly filled his bag, then told Dan and Tiffany where to find it. “If you help people now, they’re gonna help you down the road.” (Not necessarily, Brian - not if helping you hurts their chance at a million bucks!) Dan’s ladle broke as he was getting the water, but Tiffany let him use hers and waited for him as he filled his bag. (All this Karma going on!) Mika & Canaan managed to beat Lance & Keri to the task site, but both of them wandered in the sand looking for water - Lance showing his wonderful attitude once again when he found an empty urn and chucked it into the sand, breaking it. Canaan found water and got done ahead of Lance.
The clue told the teams to “drive back into the city and find Ski Dubai, an indoor ski resort with more than 22,000 square meters of snow.” As Maria drove off in their car, she ran over a spike and punctured a hole in the radiator. She commented that “I have an excuse because I’m an Asian female driver.” Sam & Dan hung around with them until they got a new car, which can either be seen as stupid or chivalrous depending on your point of view.
Once to the “ski” resort, the clue was a Detour “with the choice of Build a Snowman or Find a Snowman. In Build a Snowman, teams had to carry snow from the frigid winter conditions inside, to the blistering heat outdoors. Once there, they had to build a traditional snowman complete with two coal eyes, a carrot nose, and top hat. In Find a Snowman, teams had to take a chairlift up the mountain and then sled down to a mound of snow. Once there, they had to search through the massive pile of snow for a tiny snowman buried within it.” They had to take their snowman to a polar bear and they would get their next clue. (That polar bear was a little creepy too). Matt & Gary get there first and decide to Find a Snowman. Shortly Maria & Tiffany, Brian & Ericka, Sam & Dan, and Flight Time & Big Easy join them and Ericka manages to find the snowman in the snow first. They take off for the Pit Stop and arrive in second place. Maria & Tiffany and Sam & Dan, along with Matt & Gary, decide to switch tasks and build a snowman, but the Globetrotters stick with the snow pile and find their snowman. As they rush off to the Pit Stop, they run into Mika & Canaan on their way in and told them to grab their coats, which Mika & Canaan appreciated, saying “The Globetrotters really helped us out.”
The other teams manage to get their snowmen built, and they didn’t melt as fast as one would have expected - although the snowmen weren’t actually works of art either. They got the required parts together, though, and all got their clues.
Lance & Keri went right to making a snowman, and when they finished Lance confused the clue-giver by asking if he could kick the snowman apart before he got his clue. This guy is something! All their bad choices piled up on them, though, and they were eliminated.
So here’s the order the teams finished:
1 - Meghan & Cheyne
2 - Brian & Ericka
3 - Big Easy & Flight Time
4 - Sam & Dan
5 - Maria & Tiffany
6 - Mika & Canaan
7 - Lance & Keri (Eliminated)
So, sorry that the bickering Bostonians are gone? They did add a little spice to what seems to be a bunch of teams that like each other. See any good fights coming or are we destined for a bunch of good-Karma-seeking, helpful teams? Stay tuned!
The teams are told to fly to the Persian Gulf and find the world’s tallest building. They’re not told where in the Persian Gulf, and they have to figure out that the building is “the Burj Dubai, a colossal structure still under construction that is nearly twice the height of the Empire State Building" which was in the city of Dubai. Sam & Dan give us a taste of Stupid Americans by asking the Cambodian cab driver where the Persian Gulf is. (He didn't know.) They’re from Liberty, Missouri, which I guess doesn’t have TV or newspapers - or Sam & Dan live under a rock. Brian & Ericka say that they’re trying to be nice to the other teams because this Race is “all about Karma.” (No, it’s all about A MILLION DOLLARS!) I just really looked at Cheyne’s hair, too, and it looks like he styles it in a wind tunnel! During Lance & Keri’s interview Keri tells us that they have a strong bond - and then Lance, ever the romantic, says that “we have a lot of nonrefundable deposits on our wedding, I’m not gonna miss out on that.” Mika & Canaan, our little Christian couple, show the first cracks in their sunny relationship...they see that they have to go to the world’s tallest building, and Mika is petrified of heights. Canaan tells her that “you need to change that little tune” and she tells him “you need to quit telling me what to do.” Love the look of “wha-a-a?” on his face!
We see Sam & Dan at a window asking for tickets to the Persian Gulf, and hear them say the first sensible thing - “The Persian Gulf isn’t even a country.” Brian tells them they need to go to Dubai, which bums me out, I would have liked to see how long it took them to figure it out. Brian tells everyone as they get to the airport where they need to go. Lance & Keri stop at an internet cafe and try to get tickets but the website is slow (although Lance decides that it’s because all the tickets are being bought up). Lucky for them, they get to the airport in time and get on the same flight with all the other teams.
As they jump into cabs, the teams all remark on the heat (and we can see the cameras fogging up). They have to make their way to a fountain where they would sign up for one of two groups scheduled to ride the elevator to the 124th floor of the Burj Dubai the following morning. Maria & Tiffany get there first and sign up in the first group, followed by Brian & Ericka, Sam & Dan and Meghan & Cheyne.
Mika & Canaan get a cab driver that doesn’t know where the fountain is, and we see Canaan throwing a hissy fit. They make it and get into the second group. As they waited for their turn, Mika stressed herself out even more worrying about having to jump off somewhere. To his credit, Canaan was a bit more supportive this time. It turned out to be anticlimactic, because once on the 124th floor, the clue box was sitting on a balcony and the clue simply told them to go back down and look for a parking structure, get in a marked car, and drive to the desert. There is also a Fast Forward (the only one of the Race). “In this Fast Forward, teams had to travel to the Dubai Autodrome, the only racetrack of its type in the Persian Gulf. Then, driving in an F3 open-wheel racecar and accelerating up to speeds of 100 mph, one team member must complete a lap in 45 seconds or less.” Meghan & Cheyne decide to go for it, and the other teams didn’t want to challenge them and possibly lose, losing precious time. The second group gets their clues and gets back down to ground level, and Mika is breathing probably the biggest sigh of relief she’s ever done. Lance & Keri, our directionally challenged couple, take off in the other direction while looking for the parking garage (even though Keri tells him that everyone else was going the other way. And remember, according to Lance, Keri is the stupid one!)
Mika & Canaan don’t follow the other teams to the desert and end up very behind everyone, except for Lance & Keri who continue to get themselves lost. Meghan & Cheyne, meanwhile, get to the Fast Forward and Cheyne is excited to find out he gets to drive a race car around a track, and if he finishes the lap in less than 45 seconds, they’ll get their clue. Meghan is in tears watching him, being afraid for his safety. Cheyne decides “I’m the man!” and gets around the track in time on the first try. They’re instructed to drive a Maserati to the Pit Stop, where they get to the Mat in first place.
The other teams made it to the desert and get to the clue box, which has a Roadblock. “In it, one team member had to choose a traditional bag and search the desert for water that was stored in urns buried in the sand. However, not all of the urns contained water. When they found enough water to fill their bag, they had to give it to a Bedouin and his thirsty camels in order to receive their next clue.” Dan, Tiffany and Brian started off in the sand, and Tiffany was the first to find an urn - but no water. Brian found an urn with water and secretly filled his bag, then told Dan and Tiffany where to find it. “If you help people now, they’re gonna help you down the road.” (Not necessarily, Brian - not if helping you hurts their chance at a million bucks!) Dan’s ladle broke as he was getting the water, but Tiffany let him use hers and waited for him as he filled his bag. (All this Karma going on!) Mika & Canaan managed to beat Lance & Keri to the task site, but both of them wandered in the sand looking for water - Lance showing his wonderful attitude once again when he found an empty urn and chucked it into the sand, breaking it. Canaan found water and got done ahead of Lance.
The clue told the teams to “drive back into the city and find Ski Dubai, an indoor ski resort with more than 22,000 square meters of snow.” As Maria drove off in their car, she ran over a spike and punctured a hole in the radiator. She commented that “I have an excuse because I’m an Asian female driver.” Sam & Dan hung around with them until they got a new car, which can either be seen as stupid or chivalrous depending on your point of view.
Once to the “ski” resort, the clue was a Detour “with the choice of Build a Snowman or Find a Snowman. In Build a Snowman, teams had to carry snow from the frigid winter conditions inside, to the blistering heat outdoors. Once there, they had to build a traditional snowman complete with two coal eyes, a carrot nose, and top hat. In Find a Snowman, teams had to take a chairlift up the mountain and then sled down to a mound of snow. Once there, they had to search through the massive pile of snow for a tiny snowman buried within it.” They had to take their snowman to a polar bear and they would get their next clue. (That polar bear was a little creepy too). Matt & Gary get there first and decide to Find a Snowman. Shortly Maria & Tiffany, Brian & Ericka, Sam & Dan, and Flight Time & Big Easy join them and Ericka manages to find the snowman in the snow first. They take off for the Pit Stop and arrive in second place. Maria & Tiffany and Sam & Dan, along with Matt & Gary, decide to switch tasks and build a snowman, but the Globetrotters stick with the snow pile and find their snowman. As they rush off to the Pit Stop, they run into Mika & Canaan on their way in and told them to grab their coats, which Mika & Canaan appreciated, saying “The Globetrotters really helped us out.”
The other teams manage to get their snowmen built, and they didn’t melt as fast as one would have expected - although the snowmen weren’t actually works of art either. They got the required parts together, though, and all got their clues.
Lance & Keri went right to making a snowman, and when they finished Lance confused the clue-giver by asking if he could kick the snowman apart before he got his clue. This guy is something! All their bad choices piled up on them, though, and they were eliminated.
So here’s the order the teams finished:
1 - Meghan & Cheyne
2 - Brian & Ericka
3 - Big Easy & Flight Time
4 - Sam & Dan
5 - Maria & Tiffany
6 - Mika & Canaan
7 - Lance & Keri (Eliminated)
So, sorry that the bickering Bostonians are gone? They did add a little spice to what seems to be a bunch of teams that like each other. See any good fights coming or are we destined for a bunch of good-Karma-seeking, helpful teams? Stay tuned!
Monday, October 12, 2009
Going to Sean Penn and Going Bananas - Until a Lost Passport
What a way to go! Totally a bummer that Zev & Justin get knocked out for losing Zev’s passport. And after coming in first for the leg! I was really liking this team a lot, and I like them even more now after seeing their reaction (not complaining, no blaming each other) and realizing what good friends they are - and what friendship is all about. Damn shame! Another shame is missing the alleged masturbating monkey - I haven’t deleted the TiVo version yet, gonna have to go back and look for that one. I have a feeling that some editor on the show may get canned for that one!
The teams leave the Pit Stop with the instruction to fly to Phnom Pen, Cambodia. I was amazed at how many of them couldn’t pronounce it (but then, they are a bunch of young’uns). Zev cracked me up calling it “Sean Penn Cambodia.” When they got there they had to find the Foreign Correspondent’s Club and find the “assignment editor” and ask him in a whisper “what their next assignment is.” All very intriguing, no? (No. Cute, but no intrigue).
As the teams get to the airport, they find out that only one airline, Vietnamese Air, flies to Cambodia, and the next flight is at 12:25 p.m., so they’re all looking at a night’s sleep in the airport. Lance & Keri (Lance says they’re getting married after the Race, and they’re good because “the Amazing Race is like 5 years of marriage stress”) and Zev & Justin are the last two teams to get to the airport and find out the flight is full, so they have to book tickets on the 2:15 flight. Both teams get on the waiting list for the first flight, and after a little sweating, they find out they will get on the first flight after all. Lance sees the teams boarding the plane and yells “no cheap wins, bitches!” I’m sure that really endeared him to the other teams.
Zev & Justin get lucky with a great cab driver, Terry, who tells them he’ll stick around with them for as long as they need him. Zev tells him “don’t leave us or I’ll tell your mother” which cracks Terry up. He seemed to be a really nice, good-natured guy and really helped Zev & Justin a lot. Getting to the Foreign Correspondent’s Club, the teams saw two guys looking very shady, reading newspapers and hiding their faces, and those were the “assignment editors.” They walked up and quietly asked for their next assignments, and got a folded-up newspaper with a manila folder in it. (Canaan had major trouble with this challenge because he kept asking for his “next task” instead of “next assignment.”) The folder had a photo of Jackie Kennedy Onassis in a motorcade with the President of Cambodia, and the teams had to find “the same picture in a hotel that has a suite named after the famous woman. Teams needed to figure out that their next destination was the Hotel Le Royal where they had to find the picture of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis on her only official visit to Cambodia in 1967.” I was absolutely flabbergasted that only two teams knew who Jackie Kennedy was (Gary & Matt and Zev & Justin - and isn’t Zev supposed to be mentally handicapped?) Obviously their history classes were lacking or they cut class a lot! Flight Time said she was a Cambodian queen, while Mika & Canaan decided that she was either a Queen or a Cambodian dignitary (“she looks to be of Cambodian descent.” Idiots!) Lucky for them, their cab drivers knew who she was and where they needed to go.
The clue at the hotel was a Detour - Cover or Wrap. “In Cover, teams had to find a helmet stand and choose four motorcycle helmets. Then, using only their powers of persuasion, the teams had to sell the four helmets, for ten dollars, to a family of four consisting of two adults and two children. Once the teams returned the money to the helmet shop owner, they would receive their next clue. In Wrap, teams had to find the Russian Market and locate stalls 980 and 981 where the shopkeeper would hand over an intricately patterned silk sca rf. Then, the teams had to search the confusing corridors of the market for a woman wearing an identical scarf. When they correctly matched the two scarves, the shopkeeper would hand them their next clue.”
All the teams except Lance & Keri decided to do Wrap (which I thought was a much better idea). Zev & Justin’s cab driver got them to the Russian Market quickly and Justin told him “you’re the smartest man in Cambodia! I’m going to name one of my children after you.” Obviously this impressed Terry so much that he helped them find the market stall and stayed with them to find the woman with the matching scarf. Brian & Ericka and Matt & Gary got behind after their taxi drivers took them to the wrong place. Lance & Keri managed to sell their helmets, which surprised me (hey, $10 in Cambodia must be a fortune!) but they still were at the back of the pack. Flight Time & Big Easy, wearing their Globetrotter jerseys, find two girls from Pennsylvania in the Russian Market who help them find the stalls and the woman with the matching scarf.
The next clue tells the teams to go on foot to Wat Tuol Tom Pong and look for the clue box. Zev & Justin run behind their cab driver who leads them straight to it. That clue was a Roadblock - “Who wants to monkey around?” “In Cambodia, monkeys are so revered that the royal family employs a royal monkey master who trains dancers to behave like monkeys. In this Roadblock, one team member had to put on a monkey mask and tail and complete three monkey maneuvers, as demonstrated by their monkey master. If they could keep up their simian act during the maneuvers, the monkey master would hand them their next clue.” I’m looking forward to this one (and hoping it doesn’t involve throwing poop)!
Zev decides to try it, and has to put on the monkey mask and tail. He’s doing great until he has to climb across a log (about 4 inches off the ground) on his feet and hands. He’s having problems with balance, and gets ticked at Justin who is shouting encouragement to him, telling Justin to shut up. Zev ended up rolling off the log onto the mat, panting that he just had no energy left, and felt like he was having a panic attack. That allowed Sam & Dan to breeze through and pass them. Somehow Zev mustered the energy to finish correctly and they took off after Sam & Dan to the Pit Stop.
Sam & Dan had a very slow ride to the Pit Stop and with Zev & Justin’s super cabbie, they got to the Mat in first place. Sam & Dan actually thought they made it first and were really bummed when Phil told them they were second. After Flight Time & Big Easy made the Mat in third, we see Zev & Justin looking through their things for their passports, saying they couldn’t find them. They go back to Phil and tell him, and Phil tells them to dump their backpacks. Phil spotted a passport and it was Justin’s but Zev’s was nowhere to be found. Phil tells them they cannot continue on the Race without their travel documents, and if they could find Zev’s passport and get back before the last team checked in, they would not be eliminated. They called Terry the cabbie to retrace their steps and hoped they’d be able to find it. As time wore on and they couldn’t find it, Justin mentioned that he’d “let Zev down” and Zev told him no way, it was a freak happening and it was no one’s fault. Zev then blamed himself: “We finished first and now it looks like we’re gonna be last because I lost a little piece of paper. We would’ve won the whole thing too.” Tell you the truth, they could have. They seemed to really have a good rhythm going and were very level headed compared to some other teams (Lance bigmouth egomaniac and Keri please-don’t-talk come to mind).
Lance showed us how utterly goofy he is yet again as he performed a roundhouse kick before he stepped on the Mat. Phil looked afraid - let’s see, Lance challenged Phil to a fight and now is showing off his karate mo ves - maybe next time instead of a cute little local lady, they should have a couple of goons with Phil at the Mat to protect him from Lance. Especially if they come in last and Phil has to eliminate them!
Maria & Tiffanyshowing up technically in last place, were told by Phil that they were in last, but they would not be eliminated because of one other team’s problem with travel documents. Getting lucky once with a non-elimination round and now this, they said “I wish we had this much luck with poker because we’d be zillionaires.”
So here are the standings after this leg of the Race:
1 - Sam & Dan
2 - Flight Time & Big Easy
3 - Brian & Ericka
4 - Gary & Matt
5 - Meghan & Cheyne
6 - Lance & Keri
7 - Mika & Canaan
8 - Maria & Tiffany
9 - Zev & Justin - from worst, to first, to worst and eliminated
So another team gets first place. They all seem to get lucky at different times - who will keep the luck and win the Race? Tune in next week!
The teams leave the Pit Stop with the instruction to fly to Phnom Pen, Cambodia. I was amazed at how many of them couldn’t pronounce it (but then, they are a bunch of young’uns). Zev cracked me up calling it “Sean Penn Cambodia.” When they got there they had to find the Foreign Correspondent’s Club and find the “assignment editor” and ask him in a whisper “what their next assignment is.” All very intriguing, no? (No. Cute, but no intrigue).
As the teams get to the airport, they find out that only one airline, Vietnamese Air, flies to Cambodia, and the next flight is at 12:25 p.m., so they’re all looking at a night’s sleep in the airport. Lance & Keri (Lance says they’re getting married after the Race, and they’re good because “the Amazing Race is like 5 years of marriage stress”) and Zev & Justin are the last two teams to get to the airport and find out the flight is full, so they have to book tickets on the 2:15 flight. Both teams get on the waiting list for the first flight, and after a little sweating, they find out they will get on the first flight after all. Lance sees the teams boarding the plane and yells “no cheap wins, bitches!” I’m sure that really endeared him to the other teams.
Zev & Justin get lucky with a great cab driver, Terry, who tells them he’ll stick around with them for as long as they need him. Zev tells him “don’t leave us or I’ll tell your mother” which cracks Terry up. He seemed to be a really nice, good-natured guy and really helped Zev & Justin a lot. Getting to the Foreign Correspondent’s Club, the teams saw two guys looking very shady, reading newspapers and hiding their faces, and those were the “assignment editors.” They walked up and quietly asked for their next assignments, and got a folded-up newspaper with a manila folder in it. (Canaan had major trouble with this challenge because he kept asking for his “next task” instead of “next assignment.”) The folder had a photo of Jackie Kennedy Onassis in a motorcade with the President of Cambodia, and the teams had to find “the same picture in a hotel that has a suite named after the famous woman. Teams needed to figure out that their next destination was the Hotel Le Royal where they had to find the picture of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis on her only official visit to Cambodia in 1967.” I was absolutely flabbergasted that only two teams knew who Jackie Kennedy was (Gary & Matt and Zev & Justin - and isn’t Zev supposed to be mentally handicapped?) Obviously their history classes were lacking or they cut class a lot! Flight Time said she was a Cambodian queen, while Mika & Canaan decided that she was either a Queen or a Cambodian dignitary (“she looks to be of Cambodian descent.” Idiots!) Lucky for them, their cab drivers knew who she was and where they needed to go.
The clue at the hotel was a Detour - Cover or Wrap. “In Cover, teams had to find a helmet stand and choose four motorcycle helmets. Then, using only their powers of persuasion, the teams had to sell the four helmets, for ten dollars, to a family of four consisting of two adults and two children. Once the teams returned the money to the helmet shop owner, they would receive their next clue. In Wrap, teams had to find the Russian Market and locate stalls 980 and 981 where the shopkeeper would hand over an intricately patterned silk sca rf. Then, the teams had to search the confusing corridors of the market for a woman wearing an identical scarf. When they correctly matched the two scarves, the shopkeeper would hand them their next clue.”
All the teams except Lance & Keri decided to do Wrap (which I thought was a much better idea). Zev & Justin’s cab driver got them to the Russian Market quickly and Justin told him “you’re the smartest man in Cambodia! I’m going to name one of my children after you.” Obviously this impressed Terry so much that he helped them find the market stall and stayed with them to find the woman with the matching scarf. Brian & Ericka and Matt & Gary got behind after their taxi drivers took them to the wrong place. Lance & Keri managed to sell their helmets, which surprised me (hey, $10 in Cambodia must be a fortune!) but they still were at the back of the pack. Flight Time & Big Easy, wearing their Globetrotter jerseys, find two girls from Pennsylvania in the Russian Market who help them find the stalls and the woman with the matching scarf.
The next clue tells the teams to go on foot to Wat Tuol Tom Pong and look for the clue box. Zev & Justin run behind their cab driver who leads them straight to it. That clue was a Roadblock - “Who wants to monkey around?” “In Cambodia, monkeys are so revered that the royal family employs a royal monkey master who trains dancers to behave like monkeys. In this Roadblock, one team member had to put on a monkey mask and tail and complete three monkey maneuvers, as demonstrated by their monkey master. If they could keep up their simian act during the maneuvers, the monkey master would hand them their next clue.” I’m looking forward to this one (and hoping it doesn’t involve throwing poop)!
Zev decides to try it, and has to put on the monkey mask and tail. He’s doing great until he has to climb across a log (about 4 inches off the ground) on his feet and hands. He’s having problems with balance, and gets ticked at Justin who is shouting encouragement to him, telling Justin to shut up. Zev ended up rolling off the log onto the mat, panting that he just had no energy left, and felt like he was having a panic attack. That allowed Sam & Dan to breeze through and pass them. Somehow Zev mustered the energy to finish correctly and they took off after Sam & Dan to the Pit Stop.
Sam & Dan had a very slow ride to the Pit Stop and with Zev & Justin’s super cabbie, they got to the Mat in first place. Sam & Dan actually thought they made it first and were really bummed when Phil told them they were second. After Flight Time & Big Easy made the Mat in third, we see Zev & Justin looking through their things for their passports, saying they couldn’t find them. They go back to Phil and tell him, and Phil tells them to dump their backpacks. Phil spotted a passport and it was Justin’s but Zev’s was nowhere to be found. Phil tells them they cannot continue on the Race without their travel documents, and if they could find Zev’s passport and get back before the last team checked in, they would not be eliminated. They called Terry the cabbie to retrace their steps and hoped they’d be able to find it. As time wore on and they couldn’t find it, Justin mentioned that he’d “let Zev down” and Zev told him no way, it was a freak happening and it was no one’s fault. Zev then blamed himself: “We finished first and now it looks like we’re gonna be last because I lost a little piece of paper. We would’ve won the whole thing too.” Tell you the truth, they could have. They seemed to really have a good rhythm going and were very level headed compared to some other teams (Lance bigmouth egomaniac and Keri please-don’t-talk come to mind).
Lance showed us how utterly goofy he is yet again as he performed a roundhouse kick before he stepped on the Mat. Phil looked afraid - let’s see, Lance challenged Phil to a fight and now is showing off his karate mo ves - maybe next time instead of a cute little local lady, they should have a couple of goons with Phil at the Mat to protect him from Lance. Especially if they come in last and Phil has to eliminate them!
Maria & Tiffanyshowing up technically in last place, were told by Phil that they were in last, but they would not be eliminated because of one other team’s problem with travel documents. Getting lucky once with a non-elimination round and now this, they said “I wish we had this much luck with poker because we’d be zillionaires.”
So here are the standings after this leg of the Race:
1 - Sam & Dan
2 - Flight Time & Big Easy
3 - Brian & Ericka
4 - Gary & Matt
5 - Meghan & Cheyne
6 - Lance & Keri
7 - Mika & Canaan
8 - Maria & Tiffany
9 - Zev & Justin - from worst, to first, to worst and eliminated
So another team gets first place. They all seem to get lucky at different times - who will keep the luck and win the Race? Tune in next week!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Nice Couples Finish Last - Bye Bye Marcy & Ron!
While they were nice people, Marcy & Ron went at a challenge in a backasswards fashion and ended up in last place and got eliminated. It really is a shame because people like Lance & Keri (he of the monster ego and her with the annoying Fran-Drescher like voice) are still in it - but with the way they’re going, they’re not long for this Race either. They seemed to forget the most important mantra of the Race: Read your clue!
The last leg of the Race had a Pit Stop on a boat - and to begin this leg, the boat moved, but the teams were not told where they moved to (which was My Tho). I didn’t see any of the teams asking the locals where they were, which struck me as really odd ... but then, it could just be the editing. We hear from Big Easy who says his Dad passed away two days before the Race began - not sure if it was the airing of the Race or the actual Race - and if it was the actual Race, I guess BE didn’t stick around for the funeral (or he was Jewish and they got it done in one day). He wants to win it for his Dad. Marcy tells us that her Dad was an Air Force general who got shot down in Vietnam and ended up being rescued, but gets emotional talking about the Vietnam War and how nice the Vietnamese people are - “and thinking about all the people who died here.”
The first clue told the teams to “taxi to Ho Chi Minh City” and go to the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater, where their “next clue awaited in the mouth of a water dragon.” Gary & Matt left first but got stuck in traffic (which was mostly mopeds) and Big Easy & Flight Time beat them to the theater. It was fun watching the teams try to grab the clues - there were dragons swimming around in a 2-foot deep pool, and one team member had to try and grab the “tongue” of the dragon for their clue. The dragons spit water and seemed to dodge away just as the teams grabbed at them. Everyone was getting pretty wet and some teams had ideas on how to grab their clues - Meghan & Cheyne ducked down and “snuck up” on the dragons (I guess if the dragons couldn’t see them ....), and Mika & Canaan tried to join ‘em and danced alongside the pool to the music. How they figured that would help, I don't know!
One by one they grabbed their clues and inside found a bullet, which they unscrewed and rolled open a postage stamp with a building on it. It was the post office and the teams had to figure out that they had to find this building to get their next clue ... and they all did except for Lance & Keri, who left their brains in the boat, obviously. First, they decided they were in Ho Chi Minh City to begin (never mind the clue said “taxi to Ho Chi Minh City”) and started running around looking for the puppet theater. They finally meet a local who tells them it’s a two-hour trip to where they need to go. After getting their bullet from the dragon, they now think that they have to give the bullet to someone at the theater to get their yellow and black clue envelope. Everyone else is hopping into cabs, with no clue envelope in their hands, but Lance & Keri are going back into the theater looking for one anyway. Finally it dawns on them to open the bullet and they figure out where they need to go - but once getting there, they go inside the post office and totally miss the clue box sitting in front of the building. They were almost a Keystone Kops routine - but nowhere near as funny, because Lance decided it was always Keri’s fault. Lance needs to get busted in the chops.
Once at the post office, the clue was a Detour, “having to choose between Child’s Play and Word Play. In Child’s Play, teams traveled to a local park and chose a concrete animal from a kiosk. Then, they had to transport the heavy and unwieldy animal along the bumpy pathways of the park, picking up five different-colored balloons from vendors along the way. After delivering the animals and the balloons to the children’s playground, they would receive their next clue. In Word Play, teams traveled to a hotel and located the observation deck. Then, scanning the crowded intersection below, they had to identify six Vietnamese letters moving with the congested traffic. Once they checked with the security guard that they had the correct six letters, they had to leave the hotel and get assistance from the locals to unscramble them to spell DOCLAP, the well-known Vietnamese word for independence. “
All the teams except Marcy & Ron tried Child’s Play. Zev & Justin find a local to go with them to talk to the cab driver and help them find their way around. Flight Time & Big Easy grab a sheep, thinking it’s lower to the ground and will transport easier, and take off to get their balloons. Big Easy wants to go faster but Flight Time tells him to cool it because he’s afraid of breaking the sheep. Zev & Justin decided to take a (very tall) giraffe, and ended up in trouble when the giraffe tipped over and hit the street. They had to collect all the pieces before moving on. Maria & Tiffany’s cart broke as they went over a curb, and Sam & Dan, nice guys, stopped to help them try and fix it. After a couple of minutes, the girls told them to just go ahead and they’d go back for another cart. Niceness all around!
Mika & Canaan finished the task and after putting their animal in its stall, Canaan (the nice Christian boy, remember) simply snatched the clue from the lady standing there, no thank you, kiss my foot, or acknowledgment that she was even a human being. I guess they don’t preach niceness to strangers at his Christian church. After Brian & Ericka got done, they clasp hands and show the knuckles and say “Team Zebra,” which I thought was cute. (Okay, I’m easy).
Marcy & Ron, in the meantime, get their letters (after a little bump in the road thinking the “D” was an “O”) and instead of grabbing the first person they see to help them unscramble the word, they decide to look around at street signs to see if they can decipher it themselves. They wasted a lot of time before they finally decided to ask people, and ended up going through a few locals before they figured it out.
Lance, in the meantime, got all worked up while carting around the animal and ended up letting a balloon go, and of course, it was Keri’s fault. In the taxi, she finally got fed up, asking Lance “what, I’m the direction queen?” and demanded an apology, and got one .... er, sorta. Lance offered, “'All right, well, if that's the case, I'm sorry.'' You could see how verklempt he was for upsetting Keri...NOT.
The next clue had the teams “travel to Dien Co 008 at the busy intersection of Durong Vinh Vien and Durong Ly Thurong Kiet.” Once there, their clue was a Roadblock. “In it, one team member had to break down two VCRs using a set of provided tools and toss the parts into separate piles.” Big Easy started unscrewing the VCR and Cheyne and Matt soon joined him and it was a race to see who could get their parts apart faster. Big Easy managed to get done and hold the lead, getting the clue and finding out they had to head to the Reunification Palace, which was the Pit Stop for this leg of the Race. They had major problems finding a taxi that knew where it was, and that allowed Meghan & Cheyne to get going ahead of them, and Flight Time & Big Easy told their driver to follow Meghan & Cheyne’s cab. Meghan & Cheyne knew it would be a losing battle in a footrace with the Globetrotters but were determined to give it their all - but in the end, the long legs and athleticism won out and the basketball guys ended up in first.
Tiffany got a laugh at the Roadblock when she grabbed the electric screwdriver and said “now how do I make this thing go?” As Lance was ripping apart his VCRs (which he did with his bare hands, he didn’t take the time to unscrew anything) Keri was yelling encouragement and I decided that she has one of the most annoying voices on the planet. She needs to do all the challenges so I don’t have to listen to her yelling at Lance any more. And Lance needs to put a sock in it so I don’t have to hear his asinine comments any more. Lance proves his jerkishness once again at the Mat, where this little conversation takes place: Phil - “Lance, you’re the most competitive person on this Race.” Lance - “If you want, I’ll wrestle you right here.” Zev then pipes up - “We’ll do it for you, Phil.” I like this Duck Whisperer guy, and now he’s offering to take on Lance for Phil - endears him to me even more!
So here’s how the teams ended up:
1 - Flight Time & Big Easy
2 - Meghan & Cheyne
3 - Gary & Matt
4 - Brian & Ericka
5 - Sam & Dan
6 - Maria & Tiffany
7 - Mika & Canaan
8 - Zev & Justin
9 - Lance & Keri
10 - Marcy & Ron (eliminated)
So is it just me, or do you wish that Lance would fall off a cliff too? Are you rooting for Zev & Justin? With all the jockeying for position, who seems to have the best shot at actually winning the million? We’ll find out more next week!
The last leg of the Race had a Pit Stop on a boat - and to begin this leg, the boat moved, but the teams were not told where they moved to (which was My Tho). I didn’t see any of the teams asking the locals where they were, which struck me as really odd ... but then, it could just be the editing. We hear from Big Easy who says his Dad passed away two days before the Race began - not sure if it was the airing of the Race or the actual Race - and if it was the actual Race, I guess BE didn’t stick around for the funeral (or he was Jewish and they got it done in one day). He wants to win it for his Dad. Marcy tells us that her Dad was an Air Force general who got shot down in Vietnam and ended up being rescued, but gets emotional talking about the Vietnam War and how nice the Vietnamese people are - “and thinking about all the people who died here.”
The first clue told the teams to “taxi to Ho Chi Minh City” and go to the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater, where their “next clue awaited in the mouth of a water dragon.” Gary & Matt left first but got stuck in traffic (which was mostly mopeds) and Big Easy & Flight Time beat them to the theater. It was fun watching the teams try to grab the clues - there were dragons swimming around in a 2-foot deep pool, and one team member had to try and grab the “tongue” of the dragon for their clue. The dragons spit water and seemed to dodge away just as the teams grabbed at them. Everyone was getting pretty wet and some teams had ideas on how to grab their clues - Meghan & Cheyne ducked down and “snuck up” on the dragons (I guess if the dragons couldn’t see them ....), and Mika & Canaan tried to join ‘em and danced alongside the pool to the music. How they figured that would help, I don't know!
One by one they grabbed their clues and inside found a bullet, which they unscrewed and rolled open a postage stamp with a building on it. It was the post office and the teams had to figure out that they had to find this building to get their next clue ... and they all did except for Lance & Keri, who left their brains in the boat, obviously. First, they decided they were in Ho Chi Minh City to begin (never mind the clue said “taxi to Ho Chi Minh City”) and started running around looking for the puppet theater. They finally meet a local who tells them it’s a two-hour trip to where they need to go. After getting their bullet from the dragon, they now think that they have to give the bullet to someone at the theater to get their yellow and black clue envelope. Everyone else is hopping into cabs, with no clue envelope in their hands, but Lance & Keri are going back into the theater looking for one anyway. Finally it dawns on them to open the bullet and they figure out where they need to go - but once getting there, they go inside the post office and totally miss the clue box sitting in front of the building. They were almost a Keystone Kops routine - but nowhere near as funny, because Lance decided it was always Keri’s fault. Lance needs to get busted in the chops.
Once at the post office, the clue was a Detour, “having to choose between Child’s Play and Word Play. In Child’s Play, teams traveled to a local park and chose a concrete animal from a kiosk. Then, they had to transport the heavy and unwieldy animal along the bumpy pathways of the park, picking up five different-colored balloons from vendors along the way. After delivering the animals and the balloons to the children’s playground, they would receive their next clue. In Word Play, teams traveled to a hotel and located the observation deck. Then, scanning the crowded intersection below, they had to identify six Vietnamese letters moving with the congested traffic. Once they checked with the security guard that they had the correct six letters, they had to leave the hotel and get assistance from the locals to unscramble them to spell DOCLAP, the well-known Vietnamese word for independence. “
All the teams except Marcy & Ron tried Child’s Play. Zev & Justin find a local to go with them to talk to the cab driver and help them find their way around. Flight Time & Big Easy grab a sheep, thinking it’s lower to the ground and will transport easier, and take off to get their balloons. Big Easy wants to go faster but Flight Time tells him to cool it because he’s afraid of breaking the sheep. Zev & Justin decided to take a (very tall) giraffe, and ended up in trouble when the giraffe tipped over and hit the street. They had to collect all the pieces before moving on. Maria & Tiffany’s cart broke as they went over a curb, and Sam & Dan, nice guys, stopped to help them try and fix it. After a couple of minutes, the girls told them to just go ahead and they’d go back for another cart. Niceness all around!
Mika & Canaan finished the task and after putting their animal in its stall, Canaan (the nice Christian boy, remember) simply snatched the clue from the lady standing there, no thank you, kiss my foot, or acknowledgment that she was even a human being. I guess they don’t preach niceness to strangers at his Christian church. After Brian & Ericka got done, they clasp hands and show the knuckles and say “Team Zebra,” which I thought was cute. (Okay, I’m easy).
Marcy & Ron, in the meantime, get their letters (after a little bump in the road thinking the “D” was an “O”) and instead of grabbing the first person they see to help them unscramble the word, they decide to look around at street signs to see if they can decipher it themselves. They wasted a lot of time before they finally decided to ask people, and ended up going through a few locals before they figured it out.
Lance, in the meantime, got all worked up while carting around the animal and ended up letting a balloon go, and of course, it was Keri’s fault. In the taxi, she finally got fed up, asking Lance “what, I’m the direction queen?” and demanded an apology, and got one .... er, sorta. Lance offered, “'All right, well, if that's the case, I'm sorry.'' You could see how verklempt he was for upsetting Keri...NOT.
The next clue had the teams “travel to Dien Co 008 at the busy intersection of Durong Vinh Vien and Durong Ly Thurong Kiet.” Once there, their clue was a Roadblock. “In it, one team member had to break down two VCRs using a set of provided tools and toss the parts into separate piles.” Big Easy started unscrewing the VCR and Cheyne and Matt soon joined him and it was a race to see who could get their parts apart faster. Big Easy managed to get done and hold the lead, getting the clue and finding out they had to head to the Reunification Palace, which was the Pit Stop for this leg of the Race. They had major problems finding a taxi that knew where it was, and that allowed Meghan & Cheyne to get going ahead of them, and Flight Time & Big Easy told their driver to follow Meghan & Cheyne’s cab. Meghan & Cheyne knew it would be a losing battle in a footrace with the Globetrotters but were determined to give it their all - but in the end, the long legs and athleticism won out and the basketball guys ended up in first.
Tiffany got a laugh at the Roadblock when she grabbed the electric screwdriver and said “now how do I make this thing go?” As Lance was ripping apart his VCRs (which he did with his bare hands, he didn’t take the time to unscrew anything) Keri was yelling encouragement and I decided that she has one of the most annoying voices on the planet. She needs to do all the challenges so I don’t have to listen to her yelling at Lance any more. And Lance needs to put a sock in it so I don’t have to hear his asinine comments any more. Lance proves his jerkishness once again at the Mat, where this little conversation takes place: Phil - “Lance, you’re the most competitive person on this Race.” Lance - “If you want, I’ll wrestle you right here.” Zev then pipes up - “We’ll do it for you, Phil.” I like this Duck Whisperer guy, and now he’s offering to take on Lance for Phil - endears him to me even more!
So here’s how the teams ended up:
1 - Flight Time & Big Easy
2 - Meghan & Cheyne
3 - Gary & Matt
4 - Brian & Ericka
5 - Sam & Dan
6 - Maria & Tiffany
7 - Mika & Canaan
8 - Zev & Justin
9 - Lance & Keri
10 - Marcy & Ron (eliminated)
So is it just me, or do you wish that Lance would fall off a cliff too? Are you rooting for Zev & Justin? With all the jockeying for position, who seems to have the best shot at actually winning the million? We’ll find out more next week!
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