UConn James

Actually, I'm fully expecting them to use the argument that since Bin Laden is now dead, *POOF* Al Qaeda is no longer of much/any consequence. You know, like in "He-Man," "Thundercats," et al. when the leader dude is incapacitated/ostensibly killed, all of his underlings magically disappear? Oh wait. We have our first taker! Link

As I just wrote in the OTW thread.... Like they wouldn't have done this anyway under some other pretext?

And they wouldn't have done this anyway, under some other pretext?

Rob does have Natalie in his pocket. They have had the strongest alliance this season. I don't think there's a chance she's going to break. As happens when the numbers dwindle, it'll depend most on who wins the immunity challenge. If Ashley does not win, she's a goner. If Ashley does win, Rob and Natalie are going to have to sell Ashley on Phillip... and it likely won't be a difficult sell after what happened this week b/w them WRT rice apportionment. Where the hell does Phillip get off on that? That the girls should eat less b/c they need fewer calories? Six scoops of rice doesn't even begin to near the "1,700 calories" that Phillip claims women need. It's not like they're getting excess/spare calories. Why should they have to sacrifice an equal share of the scarce supply? Once again, all Phillip has done is alienated another potential jury vote... if his plan to be #2 to Rob by being a crazy mofo actually works. I also think the RI winner will be coming back into the game after the next challenge there. So it will be going back to 5. And in that case, there could be a reprieve for Ashley or Phillip, depending on who comes back. If it's Grant, it'll get interesting. Anyone else, they'll probably be the first off. As he said in the aside video, Rob is probably going a little nuts more than anyone b/c he has to figure out when is the last time he can use or offer the hidden idol.

There are a number of upward camera shots like that through the series. Through a pot of boiling water, through toilet water, a crash clean-up person in through the pool.... It's done for a lot of characters, iirc. Like the use of time-lapse shots, I would peg it more to cinematography method rather than an interpretive point.

Link I understand that there exists a kind of insular coterie of qualified people for these gov't and industry positions at the higher levels. I understand that Ms. Baker wants to work. But this smacks hard of 'You wash my back, I'll wash yours.' Candidate Obama vowed he would end the "revolving door" with ethics reform. Well, we're still waiting on that....

Wait until you get to IFT.... Such a small detail, but they have great titles. They mean next to nothing when you go into an ep, and then by the end, they usually sum it all up perfectly (often have a double-entendre or chemistry term link), and give an immediate recollection of what happened, or a crucial part/monologue of the ep. For instance, "Half Measures" and Mike the Cleaner's story.

Yep. I think he viewed Spiller's role much like what Darren Sproles brought to SD when Nix was there. Sproles' individual numbers may not have been spectacular, but his presence added a facet to that offense / a change-up pitch to LT.

As I've said previously, the soon-to-be-replaced uniforms are the nylon representation of this team not having its own identity for the past 10 years. We had the Titans yokes, the Broncos color-splotch side gussets, the Patriots* navy blue. And in playing style,respectively, we tried the 46, went light on OL and heavy on RBs, and traded for/signed Bledsoe & Milloy.... I hope that we can stop being some cheap-o imitation/amalgam of what other teams are doing and get back to Buffalo Bills football. It may just be laundry, but changing the uniform back to a traditional Buffalo set is the first step. As Polonius said, both rightly and wrongly, "Clothes make the man!" Let's hope Buddy is able to follow suit with the guys who put on those unis.

I was getting a bandage changed from a dog attack yesterday. I figured that was more important than a reality show.... Only caught the last 10 minutes, so I'm going to be watching on cbs.com when I get a chance. Sorry to see Grant go to RI; he was a strong competitor, but in this game, these final few immunity challenges are the most crucial. Rob did not use his hidden idol tonight, so the next hour on Sunday night will evidently be his last chance. I think there's a good chance he doesn't use it, to avoid pissing off jury members. Question: if he doesn't use it, does he get to keep it?

Sorry, this is a little in the day.... From "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part II)" Professor Frink: "Whoa, hey there, DNA testing takes 6 to 8 weeks.... [Chief Wiggum hands Frink a big bag of money]. Did I say weeks? 'Cause I meant seconds."

I was a little unsure about his reasoning for the initial 'I can't work with you Gale. <Was it because I put the setting at 8.5? blah blah blah...> I can't explain it. I just can't work with you.' I had partly pegged it to Walter's ultimate control freak nature (see: the "Fly" episode), his pride at being the best and wanting the credit for his product, and in his interest of silencing Jesse by putting him to work. I hadn't connected that dot at that point. Then again, I watched most of these marathon-like from midnights-4 a.m. so the contemplation time wasn't really there.

I would add that the analysis lines of "Full Measures," vis. "Gale's final definition as collateral damage" and "someone who is merely in the way" is something that is at least debatable. SPOILER ALERT: In his discussion with Gus, it was highly intimated that Gale needed to learn every detail of the "cooking recipe" as soon as possible so that Gus could have Walter and Jesse killed. Gale played along --- 'I could do it in, say, four cooks..... Two? Oh, OK. One cook.' Right there, he went from "collateral damage" who made a perfect cup of coffee and recited Whitman, to an active player in a double murder plot. That part cemented my thought that Walter wanted Gale out originally, not b/c he was so head-over-heels or cared about Jesse, or to keep Jesse from potentially giving up "Heisenberg" to the police/DEA if/when he got caught cooking and selling his own product, as Badger did. No, Walter's vision was a little longer- (or is it shorter-?) term than that. Once Gale knew the recipe, the $3M man wouldn't be needed anymore. It's like the story of an old press operator my father knew. This guy was the only one in the plant who knew exactly how it ran. When he was a young kid first starting out, an old guy who was about to retire showed him everything and told him never to show or tell this to anyone else. So when our guy got to retirement, two weeks out, he did the same thing with another young kid starting out, whom he got along with. Being the only one who knows a formula is valuable. Gale may have been something of a shrinking violet when it came to personally-doled violence, but he was definitely a conspirator, under threat of force from Gus or not.

The 'Television Without Pity' forums are very good as well. I haven't spent any time there since "The West Wing" ended, but it looks like the same format and level of contributors.

Another.

As the article mentions, Whaley is stepping back from the pro personnel side and being more of an overseer there. Someone else in the FO will be handling the day-to-day stuff of that. I don't mean to make a thing of it, but why is it a surprise?

Maybe Gailey would find a use for a TE if he had one that were worth a warm bucket of spit. It might do our OTs good to have a big body helping them with a chip block or two, and make the DEs/LBs have to think about not letting the TE get past them into the seam, and to give Fitz another safety valve. There looks to be several prime TEs available in UFA whenever a new CBA comes out. I just hate it when a staff almost completely writes off an entire position. For example, Donahoe did this with kickers --- a position where a guy with a good leg can actually put points on the board, especially in late-season weather games --- until Lindell settled in. It wasn't until Graham and another dude actually lost us games that they decided to get serious. Why do the Bills always have to wait until after they get burned to do things other teams do routinely? By the by, it's nice to hear that the uni event will be "soon" so we can just get that over with. I really don't see the logic there WRT rookie jersey sales. The Bills Store can't be moving m/any of those, can they? This is one of the prime times of the year and people won't buy when they know it's going to change.

There is a bit of comedic value to grown man in his underwear, tho.... At least it's not as often (or as grotesque) as Dennis Franz in NYPD Blue. The versions I saw were edited, so I do send a thank you shoutout to whoever had the diligence to blot out BC's ass. There's also a side that comes out as the series progresses of Walter just not caring anymore. Pinning it all on the lung cancer would probably miss the mark, b/c his anger has built up for a long time, with no vent --- from apparently being axed at the company he/his work helped found (I really hope they get more into that in flashbacks) that led him to have to switch from chemistry practice to theory/teaching uninterested teens and from having a son with a disability who has had to endure the stigma of being different. The 'not caring anymore' led Walt to, as you write, overcompensate and finally burst on the guy in the clothing store, overcompensate and not only cook meth, but to prove to himself (and some others) that he is a brilliant chemist, overcompensate and have his whole family man role just crumble. It's going to be something to see if this whole S3 finale stuff with the 11-year-old changes him as much as I think it has/will. As for the actor who plays Walter Jr./Flynn, he has a mild case of CP and has had to work on accentuating it for this character. I think it's awesome that in a teevee world where relatively few people have been portrayed with mental & physical handicaps --- and them being defined by the handicap --- that Walter Jr. is a pretty normal kid, notwithstanding.

A nuclear family member is a relief (Saturday) carrier and has said that in the several years they've done this, he's picked up one can of peas. That's it.

Then again, embarrassment implies a sense of shame....

tgreg, how can you say that the players assume all the financial risk? If the league were to fold, the players could walk away. The owners would be left with empty stadiums, practice facilities, vending contracts, facilities staff, unused uniform stock, and buttloads of litigation. The owners provide everything. The players just show up. The players assume almost no financial risk, other than missing out on their salaries.

Per the preview, it looks like there's going to be a lot of stuff going down this week as they're now in the nitty-gritty. Andrea had been a no-brainer, given her questionable loyalty with her link with Matt (although she was the deciding vote in sending him to RI the second time), and no strong mini-alliance / "buddy system." Remember going into this week that Rob's list now probably has Ashley at the top (or perhaps, finally, Phillip) with her not telling him about Ralph's & Steve's offer. As ever, it's all going to depend on who wins the individual immunity. Also, is this the last week for Rob to use his hidden idol, or is it next week?

You know, some people might say that Rob had an unfair advantage going in. I did, to a degree (the all-stars also had huge targets on their backs, as Russell found out). But after seeing Rob win the challenge like he did last week... wow, he wants this bad. Back when I ran track, stadium steps at the old UConn football field on-campus were known as suicides. They just kill everything in your legs --- quads, hamstrings, shins (I had shin-splint issues previously), calves, hips. I thought Grant, as a former NFLer, would've done better on that, to be honest. But yeah, Rob pushed himself hard on that, to the point of collapse. Probst was really concerned there; and almost missed catching a swaying Rob while he was looking off-camera for a second.

I don't think I would have survived the hot waxing. when Justin said he was going to punch the woman in the face if they did any more... but he was probably serious. That was a really sucky challenge. To be fair, there's a lot of that happening inside the season as well, not just the finale. If you're playing, the best option would be to first ask how long someone's been a cabbie in the town rather than the standard "do you know where X is?" They will almost never pass up a fare and tell you that they don't know exactly where X is. That dude screwed over Gary & Mallory... they fired out the drinks, then went from first to last because of one (*^*&amp;%^&#036;^#cabbie. How do they not have GPS?!! Jen and Keysha(?) had a very good race, never won a leg but never finished very far behind in the pack. And the great thing about this show is the attitudes are completely different from other reality contest shows. Maybe it's the travel that produces this... maybe it's easier to be bitter if you've just been stuck on some island or a mini-mansion waiting to be given a rose. There is real euphoria in travel, it breaks down barriers. It would be easy for Gary & Mal to be bitter about it, but they didn't give up. She was still like a buttercup out there (AJ, I think this is what you meant when you said that once you get to see Jaime vs. Christina or Mallory, the exterior matters but little) and they appreciated the experience to travel around the world with each other (for free!). Nor were the Globetrotters too down about being just a couple of minutes behind. They were all cheering for each other in the closing shot. Hard to find attitudes like that in other games.

... and blame women for getting sexually assaulted because they wanted the PR.