And the madness continues! Jozea continues to believe that he's safe and staying in the house. He 'knows' he's got Zakiyah and Davonne on his side and that's all he thinks he needs. He's convinced he's got Paul, Victor, Natalie, Bronte, Bridgette, Davonne and Zakiyah at the very least and likely James and Frank. Meanwhile, Natalie has figured out that Jozea is in big trouble and she is being wooed by both Frank and James to join their side of the house. Natalie seems to be planning to still vote for Jozea to stay, but then reevaluate things after she sees how the vote goes. Of the Jozea disciples, she's the one least likely to be surprised when Jozea goes. She'll be going, "I told you so!"
Natalie tried to convince Bronte and Bridgette that the house would vote out Jozea, but she didn't gain much ground. Bronte is solidly pro-Jozea. Victor, Bronte, and Natalie are still planning to throw the HOH comp tonight so James won't be safe. They think James is the mastermind of the house and they really want him gone. James is also planning to throw the HOH comp so Victor and Bronte won't be safe. About the only way the Eight Pack won't be winning the HOH would be if Paul can defeat Davonne and Zakiyah. Frank's team of Frank, Paulie, Michelle and Bridgette would seem the most likely to win HOH.
Yesterday was Nicole's birthday, so there was a brief celebration for that. Bronte, incapable of hiding her dislike of Nicole, refused to wish Nicole a happy birthday. An oversight that Nicole noticed and that has kept Bronte near the top of Nicole's hit list.
Tiffany has had yet another emotional collapse after getting a lecture from Frank. She doesn't understand how he can talk to her like that. Tiffany's not especially stable mentally. How much of that is a ploy and how much is real is hard to know. Michelle and Paulie were dispatched to calm down Tiffany. Tiffany is likely on her way out of the Eight Pack alliance. Paulie really wants to be sure he's got her vote to stay and Tiffany still seems likely to vote with the Eight Pack.
Jozea is convinced that his side of the house is perfectly safe for the next six weeks and then when it's just his allies left in the house, they'll draw M&M's or Skittles to determine who has to be evicted each week. That way it's fair. (Yeah, I'm sure the rest would go along with that.) Jozea's not the sanest hamster in there. His lack of knowledge of the game is amazing to watch.
Jozea is planning an obscenity filled rant if he's evicted. He's talked about walking out the back door instead of the front. (Not a chance as BB locks down the house.) Victor was told by production that he can't punch someone in the face if Jozea is evicted. He's very disappointed about that. Paulie is planning to turn to Jozea on the couch after the last house guest has voted and whisper in his ear, "Say hi to Julie for me." It should be an interesting night.
A source at the Big Brother Branch of the Psychic Friends Network has released the following transcript of what they foresee happening tonight.
Julie: "By a vote of 7-4 Jozea, you have been evicted."
Jozea: "No Julie, that's not ****ing right! You count those ***ing votes again!"
Julie: "Jozea the votes are 7-4 to evict you. You must leave the house."
Jozea: "I'm not going! I own this house! These are my people! I'm their Messiah, their Obama, their CEO, I'm the glue that holds this place together! I'm not leaving!"
Julie: "Jozea, the house has spoken. You must leave the house."
Jozea: "**** all of you! I'm not going!"
Julie: "Jozea, you must leave the house."
Jozea: "You can't make me leave! I'm staying! I want the five hundred thousand dollars and I'm not leaving!"
Julie: "Jozea, you have no choice in the matter. You will leave the house now."
Jozea: "**** **** **** **** ****!!!!"
Julie after listening to a counselor who's advising her: "Seriously? Okay then. Jozea, you are a butterfly. A beautiful, gorgeous butterfly."
Jozea: "Yes! That's it! I'm a beautiful butterfly!"
Julie: "And the rest in the house are moths, but you're a beautiful butterfly. You don't belong with the moths, you belong with the rest of the butterflies. Come out and join the butterflies!"
Jozea: "I'm not going! You can go back to Hong Kong or wherever it is you came from, but I'm not leaving!"
Julie turns to someone off camera and says: "Give me that Taser. I'll Tase his scrawny backside and drag him out myself!"
Jozea: "I'm not going! You can't make me go! These are my people! I'm like a god to them!"
Julie: "Someone tell Grodner and Kassting they're fired for casting this moron. Send security in and drag his scrawny tail out of there!"
The cameras briefly go out and a scuffle can be heard in the background along with lots of cursing and tears. When the cameras come back on, Jozea is handcuffed and shackled to a chair and gagged.
Julie: "Jozea, you'll nod your head up and down for yes or side to side for no. Do you understand?"
The hand of a security guard grabs Jozea by the hair and tilts his head forward and back indicating he understands.
Julie: "Good. Now the first question. Are you the biggest idiot we've ever had on Big Brother?"
The guard tilts Jozea's head forward and back enthusiastically.
Julie: "Yes. I have to agree. Are you sorry for causing all this trouble?"
The guard tilts Jozea's head forward and back again.
Julie: "Well, you should be. You have a contract that you signed. You agreed to abide by the rules. You knew what you were getting into. You could have had a chance to go back into the game, but given your behavior tonight, we're removing you from the game. You've violated the terms of your contract therefore you've sacrificed your stipend and will be required to compensate CBS for the damages caused to the house in removing you. You will now be placed in a limo (put him in the trunk, mutters Julie to an aide) and driven off the lot. Goodbye, Jozea."
Tonight's show has the potential to be one of the best in recent memory. This is a seriously divided house with two clear sides that are both convinced they're in control. The half that's not in control (Jozea's group of Paul, Victor, Natalie, Bronte and Bridgette) will be in for quite a surprise tonight when they learn the truth. Tempers will be flaring and frustration will be as high as it ever gets in the house. The live feeds after the show tonight should be fantastic. Expect Davonne and Zakiyah to come under serous fire from the Jozea side of the house. Frank and James have given hints that they're not solidly behind Jozea, but Davonne and Zakiyah haven't. As far as Jozea's side of the house is concerned they're solidly with them and that betrayal will make those two the biggest targets for abuse. They expect Corey to vote to evict Jozea, so he shouldn't take a lot of heat. Nicole's not voting so she should be fairly safe. They already hate James. Frank could take a lot of heat, but he has hinted that he'll vote with the house and he'll likely tell them that he learned just before the vote that the house was voting out Jozea, so he joined them. This will likely be a good night on the feeds. We could see Jozea's side just sulk off and have a funeral for him like we saw for Cappy and Jessie in previous seasons, but this group seems a bit more volatile. I wouldn't be shocked to see an ejection or two happen tonight. Tensions will be very, very high. It should be a fun night.
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Big Brother 18 Live Feed Spoilers and Updates for 6/29/2016!!!
These are some crazy hamsters we've got this year. Natalie got upset because Victor commented on how a pair of pants she was wearing were dragging on the floor. He also said she was adding too much cheese to the food she made. (Dude, if you don't like it, don't eat it. Fix something yourself.) James, Bronte, Bridgette and Tiffany were in the room while Natalie vented her frustrations with Victor. Jozea, acting as the house Messiah, came in to try and patch things up between Natalie and Victor.
Meanwhile, out in the yard, Jozea's disciples, Victor and Paul were talking about how disgusted they are with the girls in their alliance.Victor then went inside to try and patch things up with Natalie. Jozea then came out and told his disciple Paul, that James was in there egging things on. Natalie and Victor made up then Paul tried to enter the room but was forbidden by the girls who want to have a girl talk. Paul leaves the room and Bronte follows him telling him that James is causing all the trouble.
Bronte tells the almighty Jozea and his disciples Paul and Victor that James told Natalie that Victor had asked Nicole out on a date. (I have no idea if any of that really happened, but I didn't see it and Natalie didn't remember it so it could just be Bronte trying to stir up more trouble.) This angered both Paul and Victor, then Jozea and Bronte worked for a bit to calm down Paul who was getting very riled up. (I'm guessing he wanted to go on a date with Victor instead of Nicole?) Jozea wanted to call yet another house meeting (he wants a house meeting roughly every hour of the day) but decided against it.
Bronte said she wanted to send James back to Hong Kong. (He's Korean-American, so I'm not sure why she wants to send him to Hong Kong, but these aren't the brightest hamsters in the cage.) Paul wants to tear James a new, hmmm . . . . how to phrase this so I won't get poofed? Shall we say excrement evacuation orifice? Paul called James a "little Korean man." (See? They do know where he's from!)
The brave disciple Paul has vowed to Jozea that if Jozea gets voted out that Paul will show his frustration with the infidels by punching one or more in the face on live TV. (Reminder to self, have lots of popcorn and refreshments ready for Thursday night's show.)
The almighty Jozea, having seen his ally Bridgette laughing with the condemned man Paulie, has now decided she is unfit to be in his presence. (No worries there, Jozea's leaving tomorrow so he won't have to worry about that much longer.) The disciple Paul suggested they vote out Bridgette instead of Paulie to show their displeasure, but the all knowing (Ha!) all wise (Ha!) Jozea said no. It was best still to remove Paulie.
Meanwhile on the somewhat saner side of the house, Davonne is continuing to have nonstop paranoia which is slowly spreading through her allies. Davonne has deep suspicions about everyone in her alliance with the possible exception of Nicole with whom she has a final two deal. (Nicole also made a final two deal with Frank, so Nicole's in pretty good shape.) Davonne's paranoia now has her allies looking at Tiffany askance for no real reason and they're considering becoming an alliance of seven instead of eight and tossing Tiffany aside. (Note to Eight Pack. Get rid of Davonne and you'll be farther ahead.)
And that pretty much wraps up what happened overnight and early this morning. Expect tensions to remain high today as tomorrow's eviction day is looming. Paulie's and Bridgette's apparent lack of unease at being on the eviction couch alongside the great Jozea is starting to make Jozea's disciples ponder the unimaginable, life without Jozea. But fear not, Jozea has assured them that he has the votes to survive. (He doesn't.)
Meanwhile, out in the yard, Jozea's disciples, Victor and Paul were talking about how disgusted they are with the girls in their alliance.Victor then went inside to try and patch things up with Natalie. Jozea then came out and told his disciple Paul, that James was in there egging things on. Natalie and Victor made up then Paul tried to enter the room but was forbidden by the girls who want to have a girl talk. Paul leaves the room and Bronte follows him telling him that James is causing all the trouble.
Bronte tells the almighty Jozea and his disciples Paul and Victor that James told Natalie that Victor had asked Nicole out on a date. (I have no idea if any of that really happened, but I didn't see it and Natalie didn't remember it so it could just be Bronte trying to stir up more trouble.) This angered both Paul and Victor, then Jozea and Bronte worked for a bit to calm down Paul who was getting very riled up. (I'm guessing he wanted to go on a date with Victor instead of Nicole?) Jozea wanted to call yet another house meeting (he wants a house meeting roughly every hour of the day) but decided against it.
Bronte said she wanted to send James back to Hong Kong. (He's Korean-American, so I'm not sure why she wants to send him to Hong Kong, but these aren't the brightest hamsters in the cage.) Paul wants to tear James a new, hmmm . . . . how to phrase this so I won't get poofed? Shall we say excrement evacuation orifice? Paul called James a "little Korean man." (See? They do know where he's from!)
The brave disciple Paul has vowed to Jozea that if Jozea gets voted out that Paul will show his frustration with the infidels by punching one or more in the face on live TV. (Reminder to self, have lots of popcorn and refreshments ready for Thursday night's show.)
The almighty Jozea, having seen his ally Bridgette laughing with the condemned man Paulie, has now decided she is unfit to be in his presence. (No worries there, Jozea's leaving tomorrow so he won't have to worry about that much longer.) The disciple Paul suggested they vote out Bridgette instead of Paulie to show their displeasure, but the all knowing (Ha!) all wise (Ha!) Jozea said no. It was best still to remove Paulie.
Meanwhile on the somewhat saner side of the house, Davonne is continuing to have nonstop paranoia which is slowly spreading through her allies. Davonne has deep suspicions about everyone in her alliance with the possible exception of Nicole with whom she has a final two deal. (Nicole also made a final two deal with Frank, so Nicole's in pretty good shape.) Davonne's paranoia now has her allies looking at Tiffany askance for no real reason and they're considering becoming an alliance of seven instead of eight and tossing Tiffany aside. (Note to Eight Pack. Get rid of Davonne and you'll be farther ahead.)
And that pretty much wraps up what happened overnight and early this morning. Expect tensions to remain high today as tomorrow's eviction day is looming. Paulie's and Bridgette's apparent lack of unease at being on the eviction couch alongside the great Jozea is starting to make Jozea's disciples ponder the unimaginable, life without Jozea. But fear not, Jozea has assured them that he has the votes to survive. (He doesn't.)
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Big Brother Live Feed Spoilers and Updates for Tuesday 6/28/2016!!!
And the delusional duo (Paul and Jozea) continue to insist that Jozea is perfectly safe. They're planning out the future evictions and the order in which they'll win the next few HOH competitions. Jozea will win this upcoming HOH, then Bronte will win the next one. They don't trust James and want him gone next, but they know he'll vote to keep Jozea this week since his team (Victor, Bronte, Natalie) want Jozea to stay. It turns out Paul and Jozea didn't watch a lot of BB preseason as they wanted to come in not knowing the game and trust their instincts. (Not such a great strategy.)
Oddly enough, Bronte and Natalie have more or less figured out that there could be a problem and have more or less figured out the other alliance. Their efforts to inform Paul and Jozea of this have been met with disbelief. "How could the peasants turn on their Messiah?" No, the silly girls are wrong. Bronte and Natalie have now formed a two girl, final two alliance with one another and despite their instincts telling them there's an alliance on the other side that's going to get rid of Jozea, they're still planning as though he'll be there.
The Eight Pack side of the house still has Davonne convinced that everyone in her alliance is secretly conspiring against her. The only person she seems to totally trust appears to be Nicole and she's made a final two agreement with Nicole. (I don't see Davonne making it anywhere near the final two with her paranoia.) The list of people Davonne doesn't trust goes on for days. She doesn't trust Zakiyah since Zakiyah has been flirty with Paulie. She wants Paulie gone soon so that distraction will be gone. She doesn't trust James since James spends time flirting with Natalie and Bronte. Davonne trusts no one and wants everyone gone. If she wins HOH, everyone in the house would be fair game. She's as likely to put up an alliance member as an enemy. Davonne has some serious trust issues.
Jozea has announced that he's so confident he's staying that he won't even pack his bags as it would just be a waste of time. Paulie's planning to make a big show of packing his bags and saying goodbye to everyone to help keep Jozea in the dark about who's really going home. With Bronte and Natalie slowly starting to comprehend the real status of the house they've dropped down on my list of people to watch when the outcome is announced on Thursday. I think Paul may have the most impressive expression now. He's still fully convinced that Jozea is staying.
The house guests will give their goodbye messages today and the Eight Pack side is thinking someone will come back, so they're downplaying the venom in their goodbye messages. They want to kill the early evictees with kindness which is a smart strategy. Later today the HOH camera should emerge. Expect Jozea and Paul to throw themselves into every photo. They love being on camera. They keep an eye on the cameras in the house to be sure the movable cameras are tracking them when they're moving about the house. Nicole will post her HOH blog which should be pretty good. Other than that it should be a pretty quiet day today.
It's almost a shame we won't see Paulie leaving so we can see/hear the goodbye messages Jozea and Paul would leave him. I'm thinking they'd be somewhat long and unpleasant. Those two have no clue what they're doing. Thursday's show should be a lot of fun. Jozea has joked (I think) that he'll fill the air with f-bombs on the live show if things don't go his way. We could very well see Thursday's show pretaped, or at the very least have a built-in delay of ten seconds or so. Production will want to have the capability to intervene and prevent unfiltered obscenities from pouring out of the nation's TV's. They may have to send security into the house to drag out Jozea as he demands a recount and insists there has to be some sort of a mistake. "They can't vote me out! I'm their Messiah! I'm the glue that hold this place together!" Julie could have a very interesting Thursday night ahead of her.
Oddly enough, Bronte and Natalie have more or less figured out that there could be a problem and have more or less figured out the other alliance. Their efforts to inform Paul and Jozea of this have been met with disbelief. "How could the peasants turn on their Messiah?" No, the silly girls are wrong. Bronte and Natalie have now formed a two girl, final two alliance with one another and despite their instincts telling them there's an alliance on the other side that's going to get rid of Jozea, they're still planning as though he'll be there.
The Eight Pack side of the house still has Davonne convinced that everyone in her alliance is secretly conspiring against her. The only person she seems to totally trust appears to be Nicole and she's made a final two agreement with Nicole. (I don't see Davonne making it anywhere near the final two with her paranoia.) The list of people Davonne doesn't trust goes on for days. She doesn't trust Zakiyah since Zakiyah has been flirty with Paulie. She wants Paulie gone soon so that distraction will be gone. She doesn't trust James since James spends time flirting with Natalie and Bronte. Davonne trusts no one and wants everyone gone. If she wins HOH, everyone in the house would be fair game. She's as likely to put up an alliance member as an enemy. Davonne has some serious trust issues.
Jozea has announced that he's so confident he's staying that he won't even pack his bags as it would just be a waste of time. Paulie's planning to make a big show of packing his bags and saying goodbye to everyone to help keep Jozea in the dark about who's really going home. With Bronte and Natalie slowly starting to comprehend the real status of the house they've dropped down on my list of people to watch when the outcome is announced on Thursday. I think Paul may have the most impressive expression now. He's still fully convinced that Jozea is staying.
The house guests will give their goodbye messages today and the Eight Pack side is thinking someone will come back, so they're downplaying the venom in their goodbye messages. They want to kill the early evictees with kindness which is a smart strategy. Later today the HOH camera should emerge. Expect Jozea and Paul to throw themselves into every photo. They love being on camera. They keep an eye on the cameras in the house to be sure the movable cameras are tracking them when they're moving about the house. Nicole will post her HOH blog which should be pretty good. Other than that it should be a pretty quiet day today.
It's almost a shame we won't see Paulie leaving so we can see/hear the goodbye messages Jozea and Paul would leave him. I'm thinking they'd be somewhat long and unpleasant. Those two have no clue what they're doing. Thursday's show should be a lot of fun. Jozea has joked (I think) that he'll fill the air with f-bombs on the live show if things don't go his way. We could very well see Thursday's show pretaped, or at the very least have a built-in delay of ten seconds or so. Production will want to have the capability to intervene and prevent unfiltered obscenities from pouring out of the nation's TV's. They may have to send security into the house to drag out Jozea as he demands a recount and insists there has to be some sort of a mistake. "They can't vote me out! I'm their Messiah! I'm the glue that hold this place together!" Julie could have a very interesting Thursday night ahead of her.
Monday, June 27, 2016
Big Brother Live Feed Spoilers and Updates for 6/27/2016!!!
Another night of craziness has passed in the Big Brother 18 house. Jozea continues to believe he's the Messiah/Obama/glue that holds the house together and that at most he'll get one or two votes against him. His side of the house is so cocky and arrogant that they talk about their plans right in front of the other house guests without realizing the other house guests aren't on their side.
Assuming nothing changes between now and Thursday, and Jozea's side of the house doesn't grow a brain, this blindside will be epic. They're so sure that Paulie is going home on a lop-sided vote, and that Jozea will be around to the end, that the expressions on their faces when he's booted will be priceless. I think Bronte's face will be the most interesting to watch.
We're starting to see the real personalities emerge more and more each day. Victor is so supremely confident that he's the sexiest man alive that the girls on the other side of the house are now going to make a point of telling both Corey and Paulie that they're the sexiest guys in the house whenever they're in earshot of Victor. They're pretty confident that this will drive Victor crazy. (I think they're right.)
Bronte's showing much more of a mean streak than I'd anticipated. She's going a little power mad thinking she's on the most powerful side of the house. There might be a Bronte/Paul showmance brewing. Bridgette's taking some heat from the Eight Pack for saying that if Michelle passed out again that she'd revive her, then jokingly added "and shave her eyebrows off." Jozea's little clique (Jozea, Paul, Victor, Bronte, Bridgette, and Natalie) aren't looking all that impressive right now. The eight Pack largely likes Natalie though and are planning to save her eviction towards the end of the Jozea clique. There's debate as to whether Natalie has been 'enhanced' and Paulie told the girls she'd told some of them that she'd had implants while she'd told the girls she hadn't.
James is a little frustrated that his team has three of Jozea's people on it. (Victor, Bronte, and Natalie) so he has to throw every comp until they're gone. Davonne and Zakiyah are much the same with Paul on their team. If things play out how Eight Pack has it planned, either Nicole's or Frank's teams will win HOH for a few weeks to decimate Jozea's team.
Jozea's side of the house called Tiffany a rat, but her allies are trying to keep that quiet as Tiffany's a bit sensitive to negativity and they want to keep her happy. There's a rumor that Tiffany and Vanessa are rotating into and out of the the house which has Vanessa laughing on social media. (They look a lot alike, but not that much.)
Yesterday the house had the POV meeting and Bridgette was put up to replace Paul who used the POV on himself. So the options for the house guests in Thursday's voting will be Paulie, Jozea and Bridgette. The votes to evict Paulie will be Paul, Natalie, Bronte, and Victor. The votes to evict Bridgette will likely be none. The votes to evict Jozea will be James, Frank, Zakiyah, Davonne, Michelle, Tiffany, and Corey. Nicole will be around should there be a tie, but there won't be. The vote should be 7-4-0 to evict Jozea.
When Julie announces Jozea's eviction, his allies will react with shock, and horror. They are so confident they have this game in the bag that they aren't even considering the possibility of life without Jozea. I'm not sure they're quite as crazy as Cappy's group in BB 6 or Jessie's girls in BB 11, but we could see another shrine erected in memory of Jozea as his followers devote the season to getting vengeance for him.
Things should stay pretty quiet in the house as the Eight Pack lets Jozea's side of the house continue to believe that they own the house. Comps and events in the house are now done until Thursday. We learned yesterday that on the first day in the house the house guests had gotten up at four in the morning then had three comps that first day and were all dragging by the end of the day. Michelle had passed out from dehydration and the whole house was just wiped out by that first day. Big Brother really pushed them hard at the very beginning. Now the doldrums have set in and they're looking forward to getting back to a normal weekly schedule.
Later this week the diary room will have the house discussing their voting options to make it look like it's possible Bridgette or Paulie will be leaving, but you can safely ignore that chatter. Jozea is the goner this week. It's possible that even Paul could vote to evict Jozea. He told Nicole yesterday that he doesn't always agree with the stuff Jozea says and Paul may be realizing he's on the wrong side of the house. He's not queued up for immediate eviction as Victor and Bronte are the next targets, so Paul's likely to hang around a bit no matter what. I anticipate him reorienting his game come Thursday night. It's a bit late for him to become central to the Eight Pack, but I think he's got a sense of how things might be going and he's starting to figure out the game. When you know you're on the wrong side of the house, it's not a bad idea to try to get on the right side.
Assuming nothing changes between now and Thursday, and Jozea's side of the house doesn't grow a brain, this blindside will be epic. They're so sure that Paulie is going home on a lop-sided vote, and that Jozea will be around to the end, that the expressions on their faces when he's booted will be priceless. I think Bronte's face will be the most interesting to watch.
We're starting to see the real personalities emerge more and more each day. Victor is so supremely confident that he's the sexiest man alive that the girls on the other side of the house are now going to make a point of telling both Corey and Paulie that they're the sexiest guys in the house whenever they're in earshot of Victor. They're pretty confident that this will drive Victor crazy. (I think they're right.)
Bronte's showing much more of a mean streak than I'd anticipated. She's going a little power mad thinking she's on the most powerful side of the house. There might be a Bronte/Paul showmance brewing. Bridgette's taking some heat from the Eight Pack for saying that if Michelle passed out again that she'd revive her, then jokingly added "and shave her eyebrows off." Jozea's little clique (Jozea, Paul, Victor, Bronte, Bridgette, and Natalie) aren't looking all that impressive right now. The eight Pack largely likes Natalie though and are planning to save her eviction towards the end of the Jozea clique. There's debate as to whether Natalie has been 'enhanced' and Paulie told the girls she'd told some of them that she'd had implants while she'd told the girls she hadn't.
James is a little frustrated that his team has three of Jozea's people on it. (Victor, Bronte, and Natalie) so he has to throw every comp until they're gone. Davonne and Zakiyah are much the same with Paul on their team. If things play out how Eight Pack has it planned, either Nicole's or Frank's teams will win HOH for a few weeks to decimate Jozea's team.
Jozea's side of the house called Tiffany a rat, but her allies are trying to keep that quiet as Tiffany's a bit sensitive to negativity and they want to keep her happy. There's a rumor that Tiffany and Vanessa are rotating into and out of the the house which has Vanessa laughing on social media. (They look a lot alike, but not that much.)
Yesterday the house had the POV meeting and Bridgette was put up to replace Paul who used the POV on himself. So the options for the house guests in Thursday's voting will be Paulie, Jozea and Bridgette. The votes to evict Paulie will be Paul, Natalie, Bronte, and Victor. The votes to evict Bridgette will likely be none. The votes to evict Jozea will be James, Frank, Zakiyah, Davonne, Michelle, Tiffany, and Corey. Nicole will be around should there be a tie, but there won't be. The vote should be 7-4-0 to evict Jozea.
When Julie announces Jozea's eviction, his allies will react with shock, and horror. They are so confident they have this game in the bag that they aren't even considering the possibility of life without Jozea. I'm not sure they're quite as crazy as Cappy's group in BB 6 or Jessie's girls in BB 11, but we could see another shrine erected in memory of Jozea as his followers devote the season to getting vengeance for him.
Things should stay pretty quiet in the house as the Eight Pack lets Jozea's side of the house continue to believe that they own the house. Comps and events in the house are now done until Thursday. We learned yesterday that on the first day in the house the house guests had gotten up at four in the morning then had three comps that first day and were all dragging by the end of the day. Michelle had passed out from dehydration and the whole house was just wiped out by that first day. Big Brother really pushed them hard at the very beginning. Now the doldrums have set in and they're looking forward to getting back to a normal weekly schedule.
Later this week the diary room will have the house discussing their voting options to make it look like it's possible Bridgette or Paulie will be leaving, but you can safely ignore that chatter. Jozea is the goner this week. It's possible that even Paul could vote to evict Jozea. He told Nicole yesterday that he doesn't always agree with the stuff Jozea says and Paul may be realizing he's on the wrong side of the house. He's not queued up for immediate eviction as Victor and Bronte are the next targets, so Paul's likely to hang around a bit no matter what. I anticipate him reorienting his game come Thursday night. It's a bit late for him to become central to the Eight Pack, but I think he's got a sense of how things might be going and he's starting to figure out the game. When you know you're on the wrong side of the house, it's not a bad idea to try to get on the right side.
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Big Brother 18 Live Feed Spoilers and Updates for 6/26/2016!!!
Things stayed pretty quiet in the house yesterday. There were no competitions, ceremonies, or events. It was just a nice quiet, chill out day for the house. Jozea continues to believe they built the season around him, that he's the glue that holds the house together, that he's absolutely safe this week, etc. He can't wait until they get to have a celebrity come into the house. Jozea is a world class idiot. There are going to be some very, very surprised house guests come Thursday when Julie announces the eviction.
Paul, Jozea, Victor, Bronte, and Natalie are petty much sure that Jozea is staying and Paulie is going. They are going to be blindsided by what happens. There is some potential for Bronte and Natalie to be warned in advance as Bridgette knows what will really happen and may let them know, but maybe not.
Jozea's side of the house is incredibly stupid in telling members of the other side who their targets are going to be. Victor will be targeting Tiffany, James, and Paulie while Bronte plans to target Nicole and Corey. Both Victor and Bronte told their plans to members of the Eight Pack who then relayed the information back to the alliance.
Tiffany came a bit unglued at hearing that she's a target. Davonne and Zakiyah have been picking at Tiffany a bit and don't know how much they can trust her while Tiffany doesn't know who she can trust. Nicole says they'll have to be careful around Tiffany to keep her in line for a bit. Davonne has never found an alliance she can't destroy from the inside. She did it last year and she's doing it again this year. Davonne is not a good team player. She's way more concerned about possible threats from her allies than she is about winning the game. Davonne needs to just chill out for a bit and let things calm down.
Nicole and James set out to prank Corey with shaving cream, but he woke up and caught them. Corey vowed vengeance and chased Nicole around before finally ambushing her and covering her face in shaving cream. All in all, it was a pretty normal day in the BB 18 house.
Things should stay pretty calm today. We might see the POV ceremony today even though it's typically done on a Monday. For the first week of the season the schedule is always off a bit. Starting this week things should fall into the normal routine of the live show on Thursday with the HOH comp. Then on Friday the nominations get made followed by the Road Kill comp. Then on Saturday the POV comp gets played and on Monday the POV ceremony takes place. Then the house guests are largely off until the Thursday show. Frank is still planning to name Bridgette as the replacement for Paul when Paul uses the POV. Paul seems to have abandoned his thoughts of using the POV on Jozea.
We have a show tonight! On tonight's show we'll see the aftermath of Nicole making her nominations. God willing production will show the TV audience a lot of Jozea boasting about owning the show. I'm not sure we've ever seen such an egotistical blowhard in BB before, so his fall will be epic on Thursday. We'll see the new Road Kill comp and the show will end with Paul taking a seat on the eviction sofa with Jozea and Paulie. Then the hype will begin for Wednesday's show where we'll see the POV comp and ceremony.
Paul, Jozea, Victor, Bronte, and Natalie are petty much sure that Jozea is staying and Paulie is going. They are going to be blindsided by what happens. There is some potential for Bronte and Natalie to be warned in advance as Bridgette knows what will really happen and may let them know, but maybe not.
Jozea's side of the house is incredibly stupid in telling members of the other side who their targets are going to be. Victor will be targeting Tiffany, James, and Paulie while Bronte plans to target Nicole and Corey. Both Victor and Bronte told their plans to members of the Eight Pack who then relayed the information back to the alliance.
Tiffany came a bit unglued at hearing that she's a target. Davonne and Zakiyah have been picking at Tiffany a bit and don't know how much they can trust her while Tiffany doesn't know who she can trust. Nicole says they'll have to be careful around Tiffany to keep her in line for a bit. Davonne has never found an alliance she can't destroy from the inside. She did it last year and she's doing it again this year. Davonne is not a good team player. She's way more concerned about possible threats from her allies than she is about winning the game. Davonne needs to just chill out for a bit and let things calm down.
Nicole and James set out to prank Corey with shaving cream, but he woke up and caught them. Corey vowed vengeance and chased Nicole around before finally ambushing her and covering her face in shaving cream. All in all, it was a pretty normal day in the BB 18 house.
Things should stay pretty calm today. We might see the POV ceremony today even though it's typically done on a Monday. For the first week of the season the schedule is always off a bit. Starting this week things should fall into the normal routine of the live show on Thursday with the HOH comp. Then on Friday the nominations get made followed by the Road Kill comp. Then on Saturday the POV comp gets played and on Monday the POV ceremony takes place. Then the house guests are largely off until the Thursday show. Frank is still planning to name Bridgette as the replacement for Paul when Paul uses the POV. Paul seems to have abandoned his thoughts of using the POV on Jozea.
We have a show tonight! On tonight's show we'll see the aftermath of Nicole making her nominations. God willing production will show the TV audience a lot of Jozea boasting about owning the show. I'm not sure we've ever seen such an egotistical blowhard in BB before, so his fall will be epic on Thursday. We'll see the new Road Kill comp and the show will end with Paul taking a seat on the eviction sofa with Jozea and Paulie. Then the hype will begin for Wednesday's show where we'll see the POV comp and ceremony.
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Big Brother 18 Live Feed Spoilers and Updates for 6/25/2016!!!
Yesterday we learned there were three nominees. Nicole picked two in Jozea her target for eviction, and her pawn Paulie, while Frank, who won the Road Kill comp, nominated Paul. We saw the POV players picked yesterday. Nicole picked two names out of the bag and picked Corey and Davonne. Last night was the POV comp. When the feeds went down Michelle had just emerged from the DR dressed in what looked like a fire hydrant to begin the POV comp.
Last night's POV comp involved the house guests sitting on something while dressed in dog costumes and spinning around. Apparently they had to build/assemble something as they rotated. Paul emerged victorious. Paul is a bit brain dead when it comes to the game however as he thinks the fans will love him if he uses the POV on someone else. Nicole and Frank have tried to dispel that idea and get him to use it on himself. He seems to be planning to do that at this moment.
Jozea, the self proclaimed house messiah/Obama/God is convinced he'll survive this week with no trouble. Paul and Victor seem to agree with Jozea's delusions and those three are in for a big surprise on Thursday. Paul got his first big surprise when he learned that Sunday's show isn't live and the eviction won't take place on Sunday. The more experienced house guests had to teach him the show schedule. Paul is more than a little crazy. He told Nicole that he's done nothing to annoy anyone in the house and she couldn't help but laugh at him.
If Paul does the sane thing (and there's no guarantee that Paul is even remotely sane) he will use the POV on himself and since he was Frank's nominee, Frank will have to replace him. They're somewhat limited in replacement options with the number of house guests safe, so Bridgette will be the replacement. The Eight Pack alliance (Nicole, Frank, James, Davonne, Zakiyah, Tiffany, Michelle and Corey) plan to assure Bridgette that she's safe and no one wants her gone. (Bridgette is pretty sure she's a member of that alliance, but she's only included for her vote as far as they're concerned and she's not part of the core.)
Jozea will be leaving on Thursday. Jozea, Victor and Paul are convinced they've got the votes to evict Paulie, but they have no clue what's really going on in the game. It makes the game less stressful for them thinking they're in control and the rest of the house is assuring them they've got their votes. The three dummies will learn the truth on Thursday. Bronte, Natalie and Bridgette who are allied with the three dummies are a lot more aware of what's going down, but the guys have no interest in listening to them.
Bronte, Natalie and Bridgette, who have their own private mini-alliance seem to be very willing to abandon the three idiots and vote with the house. My best guess at the vote on Thursday is at least 8-3 and very possibly 9-2 to evict Jozea with only Paul and Victor voting to keep him.
Corey's suspected homophobia is a lot less suspected and more real with the more time you see him. He's worried that people will think he's gay for some of the things he's said and he told some of the Eight Pack that he wants to tell Julie he "gaily evicts Jozea." His allies have told him that's a very bad idea and they're right. Corey's going to take a lot of heat when this season's done. His instincts on how to handle things are completely off and he needs to chill out a bit and relax.
Paul, Jozea and Victor, completely unaware of how little power they have, have decided Nicole's not as big a threat and that James is the mastermind of their opposition, so they're planning to target James. Good luck with that. Unless they win HOH this week, one of those two is almost certainly heading out next week. With the HOH comps being team competitions and the Eight Pack having members on each team, they could work to throw the HOH comp to Frank's team where only Bridgette and Paulie aren't real members of the Eight Pack, but think they are. James could work to sabotage team Unicorn with Victor, Natalie and Bronte, while Davonne and Zakiyah could work to sabotage team Big Sister and kill Paul's chances of being HOH. Things looks pretty secure for the Eight Pack for now. Barring BB changing the HOH comp to a full individual competition, Paul and Victor are at the mercy of their teams and with members of the Eight Pack on their teams, they're in big trouble.
Things should be pretty quiet in the house now until Sunday or Monday when they have the POV ceremony and there's not much suspense there. Assuming Paul's not completely brain dead, which may be a generous assumption, he'll use the POV on himself and Bridgette will be the replacement. She'll immediately be comforted by the house and assured she's safe. Jozea will be gloating and happy that he's got the votes to stay and evict Paulie. (He's completely wrong but has no clue.)
Today they should open up the yard and we'll get our first live look at the new pool and backyard furnishings. The clean-up from last nights POV comp should be over today and with no new comps until Thursday the house guests will get some fresh air and sunshine for a few days.
Last night's POV comp involved the house guests sitting on something while dressed in dog costumes and spinning around. Apparently they had to build/assemble something as they rotated. Paul emerged victorious. Paul is a bit brain dead when it comes to the game however as he thinks the fans will love him if he uses the POV on someone else. Nicole and Frank have tried to dispel that idea and get him to use it on himself. He seems to be planning to do that at this moment.
Jozea, the self proclaimed house messiah/Obama/God is convinced he'll survive this week with no trouble. Paul and Victor seem to agree with Jozea's delusions and those three are in for a big surprise on Thursday. Paul got his first big surprise when he learned that Sunday's show isn't live and the eviction won't take place on Sunday. The more experienced house guests had to teach him the show schedule. Paul is more than a little crazy. He told Nicole that he's done nothing to annoy anyone in the house and she couldn't help but laugh at him.
If Paul does the sane thing (and there's no guarantee that Paul is even remotely sane) he will use the POV on himself and since he was Frank's nominee, Frank will have to replace him. They're somewhat limited in replacement options with the number of house guests safe, so Bridgette will be the replacement. The Eight Pack alliance (Nicole, Frank, James, Davonne, Zakiyah, Tiffany, Michelle and Corey) plan to assure Bridgette that she's safe and no one wants her gone. (Bridgette is pretty sure she's a member of that alliance, but she's only included for her vote as far as they're concerned and she's not part of the core.)
Jozea will be leaving on Thursday. Jozea, Victor and Paul are convinced they've got the votes to evict Paulie, but they have no clue what's really going on in the game. It makes the game less stressful for them thinking they're in control and the rest of the house is assuring them they've got their votes. The three dummies will learn the truth on Thursday. Bronte, Natalie and Bridgette who are allied with the three dummies are a lot more aware of what's going down, but the guys have no interest in listening to them.
Bronte, Natalie and Bridgette, who have their own private mini-alliance seem to be very willing to abandon the three idiots and vote with the house. My best guess at the vote on Thursday is at least 8-3 and very possibly 9-2 to evict Jozea with only Paul and Victor voting to keep him.
Corey's suspected homophobia is a lot less suspected and more real with the more time you see him. He's worried that people will think he's gay for some of the things he's said and he told some of the Eight Pack that he wants to tell Julie he "gaily evicts Jozea." His allies have told him that's a very bad idea and they're right. Corey's going to take a lot of heat when this season's done. His instincts on how to handle things are completely off and he needs to chill out a bit and relax.
Paul, Jozea and Victor, completely unaware of how little power they have, have decided Nicole's not as big a threat and that James is the mastermind of their opposition, so they're planning to target James. Good luck with that. Unless they win HOH this week, one of those two is almost certainly heading out next week. With the HOH comps being team competitions and the Eight Pack having members on each team, they could work to throw the HOH comp to Frank's team where only Bridgette and Paulie aren't real members of the Eight Pack, but think they are. James could work to sabotage team Unicorn with Victor, Natalie and Bronte, while Davonne and Zakiyah could work to sabotage team Big Sister and kill Paul's chances of being HOH. Things looks pretty secure for the Eight Pack for now. Barring BB changing the HOH comp to a full individual competition, Paul and Victor are at the mercy of their teams and with members of the Eight Pack on their teams, they're in big trouble.
Things should be pretty quiet in the house now until Sunday or Monday when they have the POV ceremony and there's not much suspense there. Assuming Paul's not completely brain dead, which may be a generous assumption, he'll use the POV on himself and Bridgette will be the replacement. She'll immediately be comforted by the house and assured she's safe. Jozea will be gloating and happy that he's got the votes to stay and evict Paulie. (He's completely wrong but has no clue.)
Today they should open up the yard and we'll get our first live look at the new pool and backyard furnishings. The clean-up from last nights POV comp should be over today and with no new comps until Thursday the house guests will get some fresh air and sunshine for a few days.
Friday, June 24, 2016
Big Brother 18 Live Feed Spoilers and Updates for 6/24/2016!!!
Well, that was an informational first night of the live feeds. Among the things we've learned is that there was another competition where the winner apparently wasn't announced, but a third person (Paul) was nominated for eviction. The two nominee chairs have now been replaced with a nominee couch. The nominees at this moment are (I believe) Paul, Paulie, and Jozea, with Jozea still apparently the target for eviction with Paul next in line should Jozea win the POV. Jozea tried to convinced Paul to use the POV on Jozea if Paul should win it. (That won't happen unless Paul is truly brain dead.)
The vets, Davonne, James, Nicole, and Frank have recruited four newbies as solid allies in Tiffany, Michelle, Corey and Zakiyah. (Zakiyah is sleeping in the HOH bed with Nicole as I type this.) They're calling the alliance the "Eight Pack." Paulie and Bridgette are also sort of allied with those eight giving them a solid voting block. James expects the first eviction to be a 8-3 or 7-4 vote with Jozea or Paul going home. The "Eight Pack" has a code where if they ask one another if they've got "tea" they're asking if they've got information.
We've also got a five girl alliance in Nicole, Zakiyah, Tiffany, Davonne and Michelle that calls themselves the "Fatal Five." And another three girl alliance in Bridgette, Natalie and Bronte that calls themselves the "Powerpuff Girls."
On the other side of the house we have Victor, Jozea, Paul, Natalie, Bronte, and they think Bridgette (though she seems to be playing multiple sides which is clever.) Bronte and Natalie have largely concluded the guys in their alliance are in a smaller alliance with each other and that they may be in trouble down the road. (Don't be shocked to see them try to ally with the other girls of the Fatal Five.) We could actually see a successful girls alliance this year.
And in the least surprising news yet, the ants are back and dominating the kitchen. You would think BB would have solved that problem by now, but no.
The Mysteryland punishment is a costume. The four (Frank, Paulie, Bridgette, Michelle) are wearing nude looking costumes with a cardboard/foam blur covering their privates. The cardboard/foam thing is held in place with velcro which is apparently a tick uncomfortable.
Jozea is doing a very good job of annoying the heck out of many of the house guests. He's pretty much a sure thing to go this week barring a major change between now and Thursday. If he wants to survive, he's got to win the POV. He's said stupid stuff about the military which has James and others in the house upset. He hammed it up for the cameras once he learned the live feeds were on. Jozea is doing a very good job of showing how not to play Big Brother.
At this moment things don't look great for the Victor, Paul, Jozea trio. One of those guys is likely gone this Thursday and unless one of them wins the next HOH, the other two are likely nominees the next week. I'm not sure Bronte, Natalie (who reportedly had a brief fling with Victor that's now ended) and Bridgette wouldn't sell out the guys if they won HOH. The four vets seem to have done a good job of building a solid alliance and seem pretty safe.
The vets, Davonne, James, Nicole, and Frank have recruited four newbies as solid allies in Tiffany, Michelle, Corey and Zakiyah. (Zakiyah is sleeping in the HOH bed with Nicole as I type this.) They're calling the alliance the "Eight Pack." Paulie and Bridgette are also sort of allied with those eight giving them a solid voting block. James expects the first eviction to be a 8-3 or 7-4 vote with Jozea or Paul going home. The "Eight Pack" has a code where if they ask one another if they've got "tea" they're asking if they've got information.
We've also got a five girl alliance in Nicole, Zakiyah, Tiffany, Davonne and Michelle that calls themselves the "Fatal Five." And another three girl alliance in Bridgette, Natalie and Bronte that calls themselves the "Powerpuff Girls."
On the other side of the house we have Victor, Jozea, Paul, Natalie, Bronte, and they think Bridgette (though she seems to be playing multiple sides which is clever.) Bronte and Natalie have largely concluded the guys in their alliance are in a smaller alliance with each other and that they may be in trouble down the road. (Don't be shocked to see them try to ally with the other girls of the Fatal Five.) We could actually see a successful girls alliance this year.
And in the least surprising news yet, the ants are back and dominating the kitchen. You would think BB would have solved that problem by now, but no.
The Mysteryland punishment is a costume. The four (Frank, Paulie, Bridgette, Michelle) are wearing nude looking costumes with a cardboard/foam blur covering their privates. The cardboard/foam thing is held in place with velcro which is apparently a tick uncomfortable.
Jozea is doing a very good job of annoying the heck out of many of the house guests. He's pretty much a sure thing to go this week barring a major change between now and Thursday. If he wants to survive, he's got to win the POV. He's said stupid stuff about the military which has James and others in the house upset. He hammed it up for the cameras once he learned the live feeds were on. Jozea is doing a very good job of showing how not to play Big Brother.
At this moment things don't look great for the Victor, Paul, Jozea trio. One of those guys is likely gone this Thursday and unless one of them wins the next HOH, the other two are likely nominees the next week. I'm not sure Bronte, Natalie (who reportedly had a brief fling with Victor that's now ended) and Bridgette wouldn't sell out the guys if they won HOH. The four vets seem to have done a good job of building a solid alliance and seem pretty safe.
Thursday, June 23, 2016
"The Campaign" is on sale!!!
My first published novel "The Campaign" is now on sale for just $0.99! If you haven't gotten it, now's a good time to make the buy. The sale will end around June 28th, so keep that in mind. Come July first all of my novels will increase in price to $4.99 for the e-book version. The $4.99 price is more in line with mainstream self-published novels, so my novels are getting a price bump up to that level. They're still a bargain compared to the traditionally published e-books.
Here's a copy of the review from Publishers Weekly that "The Campaign" earned as a semi-finalist (then the top fifty of five thousand general fiction entries) in the 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards. The novel has been revised since then to address the issue raised in the review, but is essentially the same story.
"ABNA Publishers Weekly Reviewer
Here's a copy of the review from Publishers Weekly that "The Campaign" earned as a semi-finalist (then the top fifty of five thousand general fiction entries) in the 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards. The novel has been revised since then to address the issue raised in the review, but is essentially the same story.
"ABNA Publishers Weekly Reviewer
In this fun romp, newspaper reporter
Ronald Grey gets laid off and decides to try writing a book about the
development of a national ad campaign. He chooses WNLT (We’re Not Like Them), a
boutique agency that has just gained national attention for Fluffy, a
toilet-paper commercial which premiered during the Super Bowl. The resulting
money allows WNLT to move to more upscale offices and hire new staffers to
supplement the original employees -- who include levelheaded Robert Smith,
sensitive artist Kate Hatcher, colorful writer Sara Hackman, and
business-minded Steve Winkler. When the agency gains the Sassi Sausage account
-- which, like Fluffy, is a small company looking to go big during the Super
Bowl -- Ronald figures his book is in the bag. Hijinks ensue after the creative
team revolts, and it’s up to the business side to produce the Sassi campaign.
Despite memorable characters -- especially Myrtle Perkins, owner of Mr. Pinkie
the trained pig -- the plot meanders in the first half. Things really pick up
about halfway through the book, as Ronald chronicles both the Sassi Sausage
effort and the creative department’s work on a campaign for
Wide Bodies, an exercise facility for obese men. Both sides learn valuable
lessons about the dangers of making assumptions in this
charming tale. An original plot, solid characters, and a good jolt of humor
make this a winner."
"The Campaign" has also earned an average review of 4.8 stars out of five on Amazon and an average of 4.2 out of five on Goodreads.
If your interest is piqued, you can click on the photo of the book cover to the right to take you to the Amazon page for "The Campaign."
Thanks for taking the time to read this and consider "The Campaign." And if you like what you read, my other books are also available with a new one, "Annie's Gift" coming out soon.
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Countdown to Big Brother 18!!!
The new season of Big Brother 18 is already underway, we just can't see any of it yet. Based on past seasons, here's a hint of what we've missed so far.
The season typically starts with the house guests getting their keys and being given an hour to pack their little Big Brother duffle bag. In reality they're never surprised by this as production calls them in advance to schedule the key ceremony. And the one small Big Brother duffle bag does get packed, but so does a suitcase or two besides.
On Wednesday's show, after we see the key ceremony we'll then see Julie calling them on stage where she'll announce, "This is the first time the house guests are seeing the people they'll be sharing the house with." That's largely a lie as they've been in sequester at the same hotel for a week or more. Many have seen one another at auditions and callbacks for the casting. In some cases they've flown in on the same flights and been picked up and driven to the hotel in a group. They're often taken shopping as a group to buy any supplies they need for the three month stay. They often will get packed together into vans for the trip from the hotel to the studio. They'll be in hair and makeup together backstage. By the time they're all together on the stage, they've pretty much all seen one another quite a few times.
Then Julie will announce three or four names and into the house they'll run. This is one of those, "Holy crap! I'm really here and doing this!" moments. Then all twelve of the house guests will be in the house and after a few "Oh my God!" moments, they'll settle in the living room for the first of the semi-scripted sessions of the year. The meet and greet with champagne.
At the meet and greet we'll get our first look at how the house guests will perform in the Diary Room as they intersperse their first diary room segments with that session. We'll get comments on how this person or that person is hot, setting the stage for the future showmances. At the meet and greet the more observant of the house guests will realize there are only twelve of them. Some are likely to notice that two of the house guests also bear a remarkable resemblance to former house guests. I don't think either Tiffany (Vanessa's sister) or Paulie (Cody's brother) will avoid detection for long.
Towards the end of the meet and greet Julie will come on their television and give them her usual chat about "expect the unexpected." About then the doorbell will likely ring and the four mystery house guests (Davonne, Nicole, Frank, and James) will charge in with their small little BB bags in hand. After a few minutes of "Oh my God" from the newbies Julie will come back on to announce the initial twist. Coaches, mentors, team leaders, whatever and likely announce that the returnees are safe from eviction.
I'm guessing that the returning house guests may be named team captains and a schoolyard pick will take place for them to assemble teams from the newcomers.
Next up will be the first HOH challenge of the season. This is typically an endurance comp of some sort that few really want to win. They all think if they lose the first challenge it won't make them look like a threat. Sure. That never works. The only way you're safe in Big Brother is if you're the HOH. I would never throw any HOH comp. Someone will default into being the HOH likely by not quitting fast enough, and we'll get our first live look at the new HOH room. (I love the fish tank headboard, but the doorless bathroom is annoying. Now friends of the HOH can't lurk in the bathroom eavesdropping as easily.)
The HOH will then form a gazillion alliances with everyone in the house, assuming they haven't already. Everyone will swear their undying loyalty to everyone else, knowing full well that they don't mean a word of it. The HOH and his/her alliances will think the game is easy and map out their road to the finale. "I won HOH this week, you'll win it next week, then you'll win it. We can't lose!" (Oh, yes they can!)
Then will come the first nominations. At this point two of the house guests who thought it was a good idea to throw the first HOH will learn that they were wrong. This would typically end the first show, but we've got a two hour debut on Wednesday so unless they sneak in a lot of filler material, something else will occur. We'll find out what that will be on Wednesday.
Things to look for in the first show. The bathroom floor. Sand covered the bathroom floor in the very early house tours, but oddly none of those doing the house tours mentioned it in the taped segments that aired. A later photo of the bathroom from The Hollywood Reporter showed the sand gone. I'm guessing production figured out the sand wasn't worth the trouble and killed it and asked to have any mention of it removed from the Entertainment Tonight, and other house tours. The producers could have also asked for them to just not mention it so it'll be a surprise. We'll find out on Wednesday's show if it's still there or not but, I'm betting the sand's gone.
We have some sort of a new mystery comp/ceremony to take place on Sunday's show. This takes the place of the fatally flawed Battle of the Block. We don't know what that comp will be or how it will affect the game just yet, but we'll find out soon. Hopefully it's not something that's as easy to rig as the Battle of the Block was.
Things to look for over the course of the season will be preferential treatment given to any of Alison Grodner's pets. The four returning house guests, Frank in particular, she loves Frank, will likely get some sort of early advantage. I strongly suspect Paul (bearded, tattooed, MMA fighter, model, musician, etc.) will be a new favorite of Grodner's too. I'd be very surprised to see both Frank and Paul out of the house before jury. One might go, but I doubt that both will.
The countdown to the new season is pretty much done! It's almost show time! Let's hope this cast doesn't disappoint and production behaves themselves. (Like that will happen!)
The season typically starts with the house guests getting their keys and being given an hour to pack their little Big Brother duffle bag. In reality they're never surprised by this as production calls them in advance to schedule the key ceremony. And the one small Big Brother duffle bag does get packed, but so does a suitcase or two besides.
On Wednesday's show, after we see the key ceremony we'll then see Julie calling them on stage where she'll announce, "This is the first time the house guests are seeing the people they'll be sharing the house with." That's largely a lie as they've been in sequester at the same hotel for a week or more. Many have seen one another at auditions and callbacks for the casting. In some cases they've flown in on the same flights and been picked up and driven to the hotel in a group. They're often taken shopping as a group to buy any supplies they need for the three month stay. They often will get packed together into vans for the trip from the hotel to the studio. They'll be in hair and makeup together backstage. By the time they're all together on the stage, they've pretty much all seen one another quite a few times.
Then Julie will announce three or four names and into the house they'll run. This is one of those, "Holy crap! I'm really here and doing this!" moments. Then all twelve of the house guests will be in the house and after a few "Oh my God!" moments, they'll settle in the living room for the first of the semi-scripted sessions of the year. The meet and greet with champagne.
At the meet and greet we'll get our first look at how the house guests will perform in the Diary Room as they intersperse their first diary room segments with that session. We'll get comments on how this person or that person is hot, setting the stage for the future showmances. At the meet and greet the more observant of the house guests will realize there are only twelve of them. Some are likely to notice that two of the house guests also bear a remarkable resemblance to former house guests. I don't think either Tiffany (Vanessa's sister) or Paulie (Cody's brother) will avoid detection for long.
Towards the end of the meet and greet Julie will come on their television and give them her usual chat about "expect the unexpected." About then the doorbell will likely ring and the four mystery house guests (Davonne, Nicole, Frank, and James) will charge in with their small little BB bags in hand. After a few minutes of "Oh my God" from the newbies Julie will come back on to announce the initial twist. Coaches, mentors, team leaders, whatever and likely announce that the returnees are safe from eviction.
I'm guessing that the returning house guests may be named team captains and a schoolyard pick will take place for them to assemble teams from the newcomers.
Next up will be the first HOH challenge of the season. This is typically an endurance comp of some sort that few really want to win. They all think if they lose the first challenge it won't make them look like a threat. Sure. That never works. The only way you're safe in Big Brother is if you're the HOH. I would never throw any HOH comp. Someone will default into being the HOH likely by not quitting fast enough, and we'll get our first live look at the new HOH room. (I love the fish tank headboard, but the doorless bathroom is annoying. Now friends of the HOH can't lurk in the bathroom eavesdropping as easily.)
The HOH will then form a gazillion alliances with everyone in the house, assuming they haven't already. Everyone will swear their undying loyalty to everyone else, knowing full well that they don't mean a word of it. The HOH and his/her alliances will think the game is easy and map out their road to the finale. "I won HOH this week, you'll win it next week, then you'll win it. We can't lose!" (Oh, yes they can!)
Then will come the first nominations. At this point two of the house guests who thought it was a good idea to throw the first HOH will learn that they were wrong. This would typically end the first show, but we've got a two hour debut on Wednesday so unless they sneak in a lot of filler material, something else will occur. We'll find out what that will be on Wednesday.
Things to look for in the first show. The bathroom floor. Sand covered the bathroom floor in the very early house tours, but oddly none of those doing the house tours mentioned it in the taped segments that aired. A later photo of the bathroom from The Hollywood Reporter showed the sand gone. I'm guessing production figured out the sand wasn't worth the trouble and killed it and asked to have any mention of it removed from the Entertainment Tonight, and other house tours. The producers could have also asked for them to just not mention it so it'll be a surprise. We'll find out on Wednesday's show if it's still there or not but, I'm betting the sand's gone.
We have some sort of a new mystery comp/ceremony to take place on Sunday's show. This takes the place of the fatally flawed Battle of the Block. We don't know what that comp will be or how it will affect the game just yet, but we'll find out soon. Hopefully it's not something that's as easy to rig as the Battle of the Block was.
Things to look for over the course of the season will be preferential treatment given to any of Alison Grodner's pets. The four returning house guests, Frank in particular, she loves Frank, will likely get some sort of early advantage. I strongly suspect Paul (bearded, tattooed, MMA fighter, model, musician, etc.) will be a new favorite of Grodner's too. I'd be very surprised to see both Frank and Paul out of the house before jury. One might go, but I doubt that both will.
The countdown to the new season is pretty much done! It's almost show time! Let's hope this cast doesn't disappoint and production behaves themselves. (Like that will happen!)
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Garden update!
My Purple Wave Petunias are dominating things early on this season, but so far, so good.
The Impatiens are now starting to come on pretty well. I put the first seventy two of the Impatiens out in late April when the long range, ten day weather forecasts were showing days in the seventies or higher, and night temps in the upper forties to fifties. Unfortunately those forecasts were wrong and a few of those nights dipped into the mid-thirties which dinged the Impatiens and those first plants are just now rebounding.
That large green mound in the front of the screen is a Japanese Anemone that when bought twelve or so years ago was supposed to only grow twelve inches tall with two to three foot flower stalks. As you can see it grows a lot more than twelve inches tall. It's also nearly impossible to get rid of. I've dug it out multiple times, hit it with Roundup, weeded it out constantly and it still comes back. I've now largely conceded defeat and have opted to live with it. It's a very pretty plant even if it does try to take over the world.
For the first time since we added the porch I'm going with no hanging baskets. My old baskets were getting a bit brittle and several had come crashing down last summer, so I put pots on the railing instead and added vines (Thunbergia and Cardinal Climber) to climb up the posts and across the top to more or less form a curtain of green dotted with flowers. We'll have to see how that works, but so far, so good.
My back garden, which had been largely ignored for the last few years as I cared for my mother, is in the process of being reclaimed. The majority of the bad stuff is now gone and the perennials are doing well. It's still got a ways to go, but I'm back on top of it and things are looking good.
The Impatiens are now starting to come on pretty well. I put the first seventy two of the Impatiens out in late April when the long range, ten day weather forecasts were showing days in the seventies or higher, and night temps in the upper forties to fifties. Unfortunately those forecasts were wrong and a few of those nights dipped into the mid-thirties which dinged the Impatiens and those first plants are just now rebounding.
That large green mound in the front of the screen is a Japanese Anemone that when bought twelve or so years ago was supposed to only grow twelve inches tall with two to three foot flower stalks. As you can see it grows a lot more than twelve inches tall. It's also nearly impossible to get rid of. I've dug it out multiple times, hit it with Roundup, weeded it out constantly and it still comes back. I've now largely conceded defeat and have opted to live with it. It's a very pretty plant even if it does try to take over the world.
For the first time since we added the porch I'm going with no hanging baskets. My old baskets were getting a bit brittle and several had come crashing down last summer, so I put pots on the railing instead and added vines (Thunbergia and Cardinal Climber) to climb up the posts and across the top to more or less form a curtain of green dotted with flowers. We'll have to see how that works, but so far, so good.
My back garden, which had been largely ignored for the last few years as I cared for my mother, is in the process of being reclaimed. The majority of the bad stuff is now gone and the perennials are doing well. It's still got a ways to go, but I'm back on top of it and things are looking good.
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
My View on Gun Control
Whenever there's a mass shooting like that which took place in Orlando, the cry goes up for more gun control. Our Democratic elected officials in the House of Representatives disrupted the moment of silence for the victims of the shooting by shouting out more demands for gun control.
The fallacy of the argument that more gun control would save lives and end these shootings can be traced to one simple fact. Those who commit such acts don't care what the law is. If they cared what the law was they wouldn't murder people as murder is against the law. The fact that they're willing to murder people tends to imply that they wouldn't care if the guns they used were legal or not.
Arguing that we can prevent these crimes through better gun control is like arguing that we can prevent drug addiction by making drug use illegal. Wait? What? Drug use is illegal? But, how do so many people get addicted to drugs if they're illegal? There's a black market you say? Well, how about that.
What those arguing for stricter gun control don't like you to know is that a recent survey by the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that 79% of prison inmates convicted of a gun related crime bought their gun from the street, a friend, or family member. This despite guns being readily available in retail establishments. Rather than go through the background checks, registration, and comply with the existing gun control laws/statutes, they buy their weapons on the black market. A black market that's thriving by the way.
Reports indicate that a brand new, never used, high end gun will sell for about $100 to $200 more on the street than in a retail shop. In some cases, with lesser quality weapons, the price difference disappears and can even be lower on the street than in a retail establishment.
The people who get shot by the bad guys aren't less dead if the weapon is from the street rather than a reputable gun shop. Those who wish to hide their acquisition of a gun will always buy on the black market where the laws don't apply. The more restrictions that are placed on the legal sales of guns, the more people we'll drive to the black market.
Laws serve two purposes. They serve as a guideline for acceptable behavior and as a means to punish those who go outside those lines. The vast majority of gun owners never use their gun to commit a crime. They obey the laws, register their guns, purchase them legally, and cause no trouble. Their guns spend most of their life safely locked in a storage cabinet.
Those who are acquiring guns for illegal use now typically (79% of the time if one believes the survey by the Bureau of Justice Statistics) get their guns through sources other than licensed gun dealers. If we shut down every gun store in the country and banned possession of all guns at this very moment, it would have little to no impact on shootings and gun related deaths. Those who are willing to break the law in taking another's life would have no compunction against acquiring a gun illegally. We'd make the black market dealers a lot more money and keep them a lot busier, but we wouldn't solve the problem.
Gun laws aren't magically imbued with pixie dust that makes those willing to kill someone unwilling to break a lesser law to get a gun illegally. The bad guys will pay any price necessary, break any law you can write, to get the guns they want. Fully automatic weapons have been banned for decades but they're readily available on the black market. Convicted felons are routinely caught in the illegal possession of a firearm. "But that's illegal!" They don't care. It's that simple. They don't care. That's why any additional gun control legislation won't work.
And guess what? When any new legislation doesn't work and there's another shooting, and there will be regardless, those crying for more legislation now will say, "Clearly we didn't go far enough! We must be more aggressive." And when there's yet another shooting after that, you'll hear that same cry. It'll be repeated time after time and this is a problem that will never end.
We learned from prohibition that criminalizing alcohol consumption doesn't work. We learned from the drug wars that drug consumption isn't stopped by making drug use illegal. What on Earth makes anyone think we can stop gun violence by putting more restrictions on gun sales? There's already a thriving black market in gun sales. Seventy nine percent of felons surveyed bought their gun illegally now.
"But we've got to do something!" Not if it won't achieve anything, and additional gun control legislation won't achieve anything other than driving even more sales to the black market. Far too often our politicians "do something" but ultimately achieve nothing. Right now they want to "do something" about gun control. What will they achieve? Nothing.Why? Because the bad guys who are going to murder fifty people don't care what the laws are. If they cared about the law, they wouldn't murder fifty people. Murder is against the law. They don't care what the laws are. That's why adding more barriers to possessing a gun won't work. Those wanting a gun will just get one off the street as the majority do now.
The fallacy of the argument that more gun control would save lives and end these shootings can be traced to one simple fact. Those who commit such acts don't care what the law is. If they cared what the law was they wouldn't murder people as murder is against the law. The fact that they're willing to murder people tends to imply that they wouldn't care if the guns they used were legal or not.
Arguing that we can prevent these crimes through better gun control is like arguing that we can prevent drug addiction by making drug use illegal. Wait? What? Drug use is illegal? But, how do so many people get addicted to drugs if they're illegal? There's a black market you say? Well, how about that.
What those arguing for stricter gun control don't like you to know is that a recent survey by the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that 79% of prison inmates convicted of a gun related crime bought their gun from the street, a friend, or family member. This despite guns being readily available in retail establishments. Rather than go through the background checks, registration, and comply with the existing gun control laws/statutes, they buy their weapons on the black market. A black market that's thriving by the way.
Reports indicate that a brand new, never used, high end gun will sell for about $100 to $200 more on the street than in a retail shop. In some cases, with lesser quality weapons, the price difference disappears and can even be lower on the street than in a retail establishment.
The people who get shot by the bad guys aren't less dead if the weapon is from the street rather than a reputable gun shop. Those who wish to hide their acquisition of a gun will always buy on the black market where the laws don't apply. The more restrictions that are placed on the legal sales of guns, the more people we'll drive to the black market.
Laws serve two purposes. They serve as a guideline for acceptable behavior and as a means to punish those who go outside those lines. The vast majority of gun owners never use their gun to commit a crime. They obey the laws, register their guns, purchase them legally, and cause no trouble. Their guns spend most of their life safely locked in a storage cabinet.
Those who are acquiring guns for illegal use now typically (79% of the time if one believes the survey by the Bureau of Justice Statistics) get their guns through sources other than licensed gun dealers. If we shut down every gun store in the country and banned possession of all guns at this very moment, it would have little to no impact on shootings and gun related deaths. Those who are willing to break the law in taking another's life would have no compunction against acquiring a gun illegally. We'd make the black market dealers a lot more money and keep them a lot busier, but we wouldn't solve the problem.
Gun laws aren't magically imbued with pixie dust that makes those willing to kill someone unwilling to break a lesser law to get a gun illegally. The bad guys will pay any price necessary, break any law you can write, to get the guns they want. Fully automatic weapons have been banned for decades but they're readily available on the black market. Convicted felons are routinely caught in the illegal possession of a firearm. "But that's illegal!" They don't care. It's that simple. They don't care. That's why any additional gun control legislation won't work.
And guess what? When any new legislation doesn't work and there's another shooting, and there will be regardless, those crying for more legislation now will say, "Clearly we didn't go far enough! We must be more aggressive." And when there's yet another shooting after that, you'll hear that same cry. It'll be repeated time after time and this is a problem that will never end.
We learned from prohibition that criminalizing alcohol consumption doesn't work. We learned from the drug wars that drug consumption isn't stopped by making drug use illegal. What on Earth makes anyone think we can stop gun violence by putting more restrictions on gun sales? There's already a thriving black market in gun sales. Seventy nine percent of felons surveyed bought their gun illegally now.
"But we've got to do something!" Not if it won't achieve anything, and additional gun control legislation won't achieve anything other than driving even more sales to the black market. Far too often our politicians "do something" but ultimately achieve nothing. Right now they want to "do something" about gun control. What will they achieve? Nothing.Why? Because the bad guys who are going to murder fifty people don't care what the laws are. If they cared about the law, they wouldn't murder fifty people. Murder is against the law. They don't care what the laws are. That's why adding more barriers to possessing a gun won't work. Those wanting a gun will just get one off the street as the majority do now.
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
The new Big Brother house guests!
We've now got the names, bios, and early interviews for the twelve new house guests for Big Brother 18. What we're seeing so far is a glimpse into them, with lots more to come.
We've got mostly twenty somethings again this year with one fifty year old guy (Glenn) tossed in. It's a generally pretty cast. Here are some early impressions.
Bronte is a bit goofy, but I like what little I've seen of her. She's in it for the money which is nice.
Paulie is the brother of Cody from BB 16. He wants to follow Cody's social game. I'm pretty sure the other house guests will figure out his identity pretty quickly. Will that make him a target?
Corey seems like a pretty solid, all American guy. He's a baseball coach and won't compromise his morals to win.
Paul is next up. (I hate having both a Paul and Paulie in the house. One of those two has to go to keep the updaters sane.) Paul has an odd Mohawk style haircut and a long beard. He's our designated tattooed guy this year. He seems okay, but we'll learn more as the season goes on.
Jozea is a guy who I thought would be a Frankie clone from the photo, but he seemed pretty solid in the interviews I've seen. I'm guessing he's a recruit to the show as he seems to have very little knowledge of the game.
Bridgette is a traveling nurse who's literally bursting with energy in the interviews. She has a cat named Hercules. She thinks she'll be great at the game. We'll have to see.
Tiffany is up next and she plans to lay low for the first few weeks. She's the sister of Vanessa Rousso (the pro poker player from BB 17) and doesn't plan to tell the others she's related to Vanessa. (She looks enough like her sister that they'll figure it out quickly.) She'd rather win and be hated than lose. She's afraid she may be too competitive and win when it would benefit her to lose. She's got an owl tattoo on her right shoulder and several written tattoos on each arm.
Michelle is a huge fan of the show and is thrilled to be in the house. She's kind of nerdish in a cute sort of way. She has no trouble lying, breaking alliances, or doing anything to win. I think she's my early favorite so far. She's a dietitian and may drive the other house guests crazy if she's too dictatorial about it. She'd rather win and be hated than loved and lose. She's planning to be a big time game player.
Glenn is our designated old guy at 50. I'm betting endurance comps won't be his strong suit. He's a very "normal" looking guy in that he's not super buff. He's a former cop turned dog groomer. (I have a feeling Glenn will feel very, very old in that house.) He thinks his mouth will get him in trouble if someone gets under his skin. (Thank God! When I heard he was a former cop I was afraid he'd be another Derrick and look to calm things down.) He'd rather win and be hated.
Natalie is originally from Caracas, Venezuela. She loves glitter. She's very pretty and has long dark hair. I was expecting more of an accent, but there's not a lot of an accent there. She wants there to be an all girl alliance. (Good luck with that!) She seems like the most girly girl of the group.
Zakiyah is our African American house guest. She's a preschool teacher and a fan of the show. She's single (as is pretty much everybody but Glenn this year) and is willing to flirt to win. She's trusting her ability to read people to tell her if someone is just playing her. She's expecting to be more of a mental threat than a physical threat.
Victor is from New Orleans and is a fan of the show. He's only watched a couple of seasons. He thinks he's a triple threat in the mental, physical and the social game. He's hoping to flirt with as many girls as possible. (Dangerous if they compare notes.) He's the one player who's not sure how far he'd go to win the money. He's worried about the endurance comps as he doesn't run much.
I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll see some good game play this year. Nearly everyone wants the money which is a nice change. Too many times in past years people have wanted to play for the experience, to meet new people, to find a romance, etc. This group wants the money! Greed is good when it comes to BB.
We've got mostly twenty somethings again this year with one fifty year old guy (Glenn) tossed in. It's a generally pretty cast. Here are some early impressions.
Bronte is a bit goofy, but I like what little I've seen of her. She's in it for the money which is nice.
Paulie is the brother of Cody from BB 16. He wants to follow Cody's social game. I'm pretty sure the other house guests will figure out his identity pretty quickly. Will that make him a target?
Corey seems like a pretty solid, all American guy. He's a baseball coach and won't compromise his morals to win.
Paul is next up. (I hate having both a Paul and Paulie in the house. One of those two has to go to keep the updaters sane.) Paul has an odd Mohawk style haircut and a long beard. He's our designated tattooed guy this year. He seems okay, but we'll learn more as the season goes on.
Jozea is a guy who I thought would be a Frankie clone from the photo, but he seemed pretty solid in the interviews I've seen. I'm guessing he's a recruit to the show as he seems to have very little knowledge of the game.
Bridgette is a traveling nurse who's literally bursting with energy in the interviews. She has a cat named Hercules. She thinks she'll be great at the game. We'll have to see.
Tiffany is up next and she plans to lay low for the first few weeks. She's the sister of Vanessa Rousso (the pro poker player from BB 17) and doesn't plan to tell the others she's related to Vanessa. (She looks enough like her sister that they'll figure it out quickly.) She'd rather win and be hated than lose. She's afraid she may be too competitive and win when it would benefit her to lose. She's got an owl tattoo on her right shoulder and several written tattoos on each arm.
Michelle is a huge fan of the show and is thrilled to be in the house. She's kind of nerdish in a cute sort of way. She has no trouble lying, breaking alliances, or doing anything to win. I think she's my early favorite so far. She's a dietitian and may drive the other house guests crazy if she's too dictatorial about it. She'd rather win and be hated than loved and lose. She's planning to be a big time game player.
Glenn is our designated old guy at 50. I'm betting endurance comps won't be his strong suit. He's a very "normal" looking guy in that he's not super buff. He's a former cop turned dog groomer. (I have a feeling Glenn will feel very, very old in that house.) He thinks his mouth will get him in trouble if someone gets under his skin. (Thank God! When I heard he was a former cop I was afraid he'd be another Derrick and look to calm things down.) He'd rather win and be hated.
Natalie is originally from Caracas, Venezuela. She loves glitter. She's very pretty and has long dark hair. I was expecting more of an accent, but there's not a lot of an accent there. She wants there to be an all girl alliance. (Good luck with that!) She seems like the most girly girl of the group.
Zakiyah is our African American house guest. She's a preschool teacher and a fan of the show. She's single (as is pretty much everybody but Glenn this year) and is willing to flirt to win. She's trusting her ability to read people to tell her if someone is just playing her. She's expecting to be more of a mental threat than a physical threat.
Victor is from New Orleans and is a fan of the show. He's only watched a couple of seasons. He thinks he's a triple threat in the mental, physical and the social game. He's hoping to flirt with as many girls as possible. (Dangerous if they compare notes.) He's the one player who's not sure how far he'd go to win the money. He's worried about the endurance comps as he doesn't run much.
I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll see some good game play this year. Nearly everyone wants the money which is a nice change. Too many times in past years people have wanted to play for the experience, to meet new people, to find a romance, etc. This group wants the money! Greed is good when it comes to BB.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)