The Newsroom

(I think there was more of Artis in the recap opening this show than there was in the previous 6 episodes.) At Mike's tribe he told his tribe that it was at this point in the season 24 seasons ago that he fell in the fire. He told them this with scabs on his face and missing a bunch of skin on his right shoulder. One of his tribe mates noted the small irony to him. A boat arrived on the each of the respective tribe beaches saying they were merging and that they had 10 minutes to pack up what they could. The new merged tribe had the traditional tribe feast. Lisa went through everyone's bags to hang up their clothes. Because she's helpful, not nosy, and discovered the Hidden Immunity Idol in Malcolm's clothes. So Malcolm confronted Lisa, who instantly fessed up, and Malcolm decided that it was, on the one hand, fine because the "church lady" found it, but, on the other hand, not fine because he was now in an involuntary alliance with Lisa. Meanwhile, Jonathan, w...

We start with James engaging in a video chat with his wife, where he finds out that his dad has really bad cancer. It's a rare glimpse behind the scenes on the show. The teams had to a bazaar for their next clue, and then it's off to find another clue under a bridge. The Roadblock involved constructing a scale and then balancing 4 rocks with wood on the other side. Abby and James completed the task while maintaining their lead. From there, it was the Detour - making a jute bag, or deliver bamboo to a construction site. Abby and James picked the bamboo option. Back at the Roadblock, there was much "GO TWINNIE!" again. Please, let the twins be eliminated. The non-participating twin even got a kid screaming it. Argh. Meanwhile, back at the start line, the Goat Farmers were having trouble finding their first clue, which was at a marked taxi stand. Trey and Lexi caught up to them in a battle for the basement. The Twins passed Abbie and Ryan at the Roadblock and moved into ...

At Jonathan's tribe, Katie has realized her position is precarious, and she moved to get rid of Jonathan so that she can get through the merge. At Mike's tribe, Mike is eating raw rice and there's not a lot left for the tribe. Even Artis was upset! And Artis is making only his second appearance in six episodes. So he must be mad! So, basically, 5 minutes into tonight's episode, the theme is both returning Survivors are being targeted. The reward challenge was a version of American Gladiators' Atlas Ball competition. The winning tribe got a Survivor bistro. After an hour, it was a total stand off in the mud. So they started negotiating an agreement to end the game, considering they had to score 3 points to win and no one had scored anything after what seemed like 100 days. Jonathan was willing to trade the rest of their rice for the sandwiches. Artis wasn't happy. Jonathan's tribe chowed down from lunch and also got their letters from home. Everyone cried. Ba...

I've said repeatedly that all albums should be recorded live, and the Newsboys "God is Not Dead Live in Concert" release out today (a rare Monday music release?) is just another example of why. There is an energy with live music that just can't be replicated in a studio setting, and I daresay that anyone who has ever performed with a band in front of a live crowd would agree. And this is a fantastic live album - full of songs that are better than the studio versions of same, and pumped up full of vibrancy and the kind of passion that comes from singing with a big crowd. It's at least as good as the "old" Newsboys previous live album, Houston We Are Go, which is another tremendous collection of songs. As an aside, I've done a complete 180 on the "new" Newsboys. When Michael Tait joined the band, I was really kind of "meh" on the whole deal and some of the early concert videos I saw on YouTube of him with the band didn't r...

The teams are off to Bangladesh and then have to head to a bus repair shop for their next clue. Of course, the first flight isn't until the next day and everyone is on the same plane, so it's another airport equalizer that drives me crazy. At the airport, all the teams rushed out into traffic to get a cab and the Monster Truckers casually walked over to the taxi stand and ordered a cab, and got into first place. Although they didn't arrive at the Roadblock first as they took a scenic tour of a garbage dump first. The Roadblock also had the Fast Forward clue. One member of the team had to repair and refurbish a bus. The Rock/Law team went for the fast forward, that involved grabbing dead rats from three different locations. From a bucket. So the rat part wasn't that much of a challenge. It was harder to find the locations. The Chippendales struggled with the bus task while the Twins not only did well, they annoyed everyone with their "GO TWINNIE!" screaming. Wh...

I'm up a couple of pounds from my last post 2 weeks ago, which I'm not thrilled with, but sometimes these things happen. Will redouble my efforts and keep trying to move that number back down.

So, we have a tribe of 2 now. I'm thinking that tonight is either the merge or some kind of draft to split them up, because otherwise there's no real resolution to THAT Tribal Council vote. The 2 of them went looking for the immunity idol and Malcolm eventually figured it out and got it from the top of the rice basket. At the reward challenge, Malcolm and Denise were, in fact, drafted to the other tribes. Malcolm went to Mike's tribe and Denise to Jonathan's tribe in a blind buff pick. The reward was coffee and cookies. The challenge was hand to hand combat that involved knocking an idol out of the other person's hand. Malcolm brought home the victory of his new tribe, making himself very valuable and a target at the same time. Everyone on Mike's tribe was happy to have Malcolm except RC, who suddenly had flashbacks to being bullied in school. That was strange. Pete grabbed Malcolm and worked him into his alliance and he told Malcolm that he has the idol. Over a...