The Daily Bongo

August 1005

Wednesday, August 31, 2005 -- Evening

The matches at the US Open are on rain delay right now, but at 10 pm, the courts are almost dry enough for the matches to resume. Last night, Andy Roddick lost. The game was a close one actually with a final score of 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (7-1). Roddick lost to Gilles Muller. Meanwhile Serena Williams easily won her match, and so did Leyton Hewitt.

Wednesday, August 31, 2005 -- Afternoon

Tomorrow is live eviction night and the voting will be taking place on the show, so there really isn't alot going on in the Big Brother house today. April and Beau were running around taking pictures with the HOH camera. The pictures get posted after the new HOH's reign starts. Ivette seems to be in a miserable mood which is common for her. She really hates Janelle. I think that the main problem for Ivette is that James will be leaving tomorrow. Ivette has some issues and it comes across in the way that she deals with people. Ivette would really get on my nerves, and I would never be able to be a friend of hers unless she is 100% different than she is in the house. It seems that Janelle took a questionable picture, and April is going to leave it on the camera. I'll have to check out April's HOH pictures to see what the Janelle porn picture is about. Nothing very exciting is going on with the houseguests--all we have is non stop angry from Ivette about anything and everything that Janelle does. Ivette is talking to James now and explaining that the Maggots took Janelle off and put James up for strategic reasons, not because they like Janelle.

People were gathering around Kensington Palace today to mark the eigth anniversary of the death of Princess Diana. They also did some Camilla bashing. They should really get over the Camilla thing. After all, I think that Diana herself got over it. It was hurtful at the time to know that Charles married her while in love with Camilla, but I'm sure that Diana realized that it was not worth her energy to fixate on it. Life does go on.

I have been hearing from alot of folks that I must be bored because I have been off of work for awhile and at home alone during the day.

Wednesday, August 31, 2005 -- Morning

The big news today is the devastation of New Orleans. The majority of damage at this point is being caused by the levees that are giving way. Basically the city of New Orleans is 20 feet below sea level, and is right on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain. So with the levees breaking 80% of New Orleans wound up underwater. The problem now is for the levees to be plugged up to stop the damage, and no one seems to know what to do. Everyone has been told to evacuate New Orleans and they might not be able to get back for some time. All this devastation hasn't stopped the looters. The people are acting like animals breaking into stores and grabbing as many things as they can. People are wading through the flood waters to break into stores and grabbing everything that they can. Meanwhile the police are there and totally unable to control them. The people are really acting like animals, and a state of martial law has been declared in New Orleans. Personally, I think that it is a shame that people are doing things like this so that instead of putting resources towards helping people who are trapped, collecting the dead, and trying to rebuild, they are forced to police the streets. The military and police forces in the area need to be armed and the word needs to be put out that if you are going to act like an animal, you will be treated like an animal. Somehow they have to get control of the situation.

The other concern with Katrina is with oil production. Initially I was hearing on the news that the offshore oil refineries had minimal damage. Well, now there is a big concern because we get a good portion of our oil from the gulf, and with those refineries closed, oil prices are skyrocketing. Do we know for sure that the refineries are not able to continue? From what is reported from Venezuela's largest oil company that has a refinery in the Gulf with Exxon/Mobile is that the refinery is fine and they are just waiting for the government to lift the storm warning that is preventing them from resuming work. I really hate to say this, but I don't trust the government OR the oil companies. I really hate to say that I am thinking that the oil companies will take advantage of the situation to raise oil prices to make money. Is that cynical of me? It does make you wonder when you hear that the offshore sites are fine and just not pumping because they don't have the go ahead.

Apple is has a big news release scheduled for next week, but someone has managed to find out what the announcement will be. It appears that Apple in coordination with Motorola will be releasing a cell phone that also plays iTunes. The service provider will be Cingular. The phone should be like the iPod Shuffle and should be able to store 512 MB to 1 GB of songs.

Negotiations are still ongoing between Ryan Malone and the Pittsburgh Penguins. At this point, Ryan Malone doesn't know what is going to happen. Will he be signed by the Pens, will he be traded? Malone would just like to know what is going to happen so he can decide where to buy the home that he and his fiancee hope to purchase.

Even though the Steelers offense really needs some work, the starters won't be playing more than a quarter of the game tomorrow. The rationale is that the coaches don't want the starters to get injured. Considering the injuries that we already have with running bacsk, it does make sense. However, this really does make you wonder what is the point behind the preseason games. If you don't use the preseason games to get your starters syncing with each other, why have so many? One sports announcer here in Pittsburgh said that we should only have two games since that might be all that the players can handle, and maybe extend the regular season to 18 games instead of 16.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005 -- Evening

We had another episode of Big Brother this evening. On Thursday, the local station here in Pittsburgh is carrying the Steelers game, and will be broadcasting the Big Brother episode late at night. We got a recap of the week before last Thursday. Janelle said that it was difficult to say good-bye to Rachel, but she is happy to still have Howie. Beau said that it is exciting to be the last pair in the house and no one is looking at them as a target. Howie said that Rachel is strong and it was a good strategic move. Howie wants to win BB6 for Ray-Ray. Ivette says it's sad to see someone go, but it's not one of her people. April wins HOH and feels like she has been crowned Miss America. James said that it is the summer of hell because he can't win an HOH. Janelle said the force wasn't with her this week. Maggie said that it was like winning herself to have April win. April says that her prayers have been answered by getting HOH because she can stay in the house. April thinks that winning HOH proves that you gave something to the house. They talk about how no one has won HOH twice, and Janelle says not really because the week that Howie won, Maggie talked Howie into putting his own side up and really had HOH twice. As Janelle says in the diary room, she just had to call it like it is, and the girl is right! We then see video of Maggie working Howie. Maggie acts like she is confused and really doesn't know what is going on. I hate that stupidity act of Maggie's. She says to Janelle "I don't get it". I get it and so does everyone else. Meanwhile later, James and Ivette are playing chess and he tells her that he appreciates everything she has done for him. Maggie tells Beau that James is going to be working Ivette, and Beau says that she knows that she has to stick with the Maggots. Maggie sees it as a problem with the Ivette. April and Maggie run into the gold room with Howie and Janelle and say that they want to backdoor James, but to keep quiet. Basically they want to make certain that James doesn't play Power of Veto. Janelle says that she remembers the last time the Maggots said they needed Janelle's help it led to Kaysar going out. April says to trust her and that she is going to get James out. Howie says that it's been a get rid of James thing every week. Janelle says that she's scared about the plan, and Howie says they have nothing to lose. Now it is time to see April's HOH room. She has a picture of her dog and husband. Meanwhile Beau is shreeking like a girl. Then her husband made sure to send her a robe and slippers. Howie says am I kissing Busto's butt right now? Yes because she is HOH. The four Maggots are talking in the bedroom. Ivette says that she sees Janelle as a better player. Ivette says that she is really afraid of Janelle. April says that Ivette wants James because it is a guaranteed vote. April believes that James is working both sides and the only person safe with James is Ivette. April says that she wants to get James out this week. April tells Ivette not to tell James. Ivette gets innocent buy eyes and says that she doesn't want to lie. Maggie then asked if it was considering lying if you keep a secret. Maggie thinks Ivette would choose a Maggot over James, but she doesn't want to give Ivette a chance to choose.

After the break, we see Janelle go up to April's room. Howie is there. Janelle is scared because she doesn't want to be used as a pawn. Janelle asks what will happen if Ivette wins the Power of Veto and will not use it to take Howie or Janelle off. April says to just trust her because if Ivette does not use it, the Maggots will go after Ivette. April says that she has to break up something in the Beau, Ivette, James group. Howie and Janelle are obviously nervous. Janelle says that the whole house sees James as a threat. April is preparing her nominations. April admits in the diary room that you can have plans and plans can always go wrong. April also admits that she likes to have people like her. It is the nomination ceremony. April says that when you lose a partner that's when you start playing it as a game, and she never wants to hear herself called weak again. The first key out of the box is Maggie's, then Beau's, then Ivette's, and finally James'. April says that she knows Howie and Janelle have a strong bond and relationship and that's why she nominated them. April said that her goal is to backdoor James, but didn't say that in the ceremony. Janelle jokes that buxom mixed with brains is a dangerous combination and must be done away with. James asks April if she wants him for the veto competition. April says that she is going to use Maggie because they are friends. In the diary room James says that he knows the fix is in to backdoor him. April says that she knows if James wins HOH he is nominating April and Maggie. April then asks Ivette and Maggie that if they win the veto, they will use it. Of course Ivette sees him as a safety line. Maggie says that Ivette is under alot of stress right now because she wants James to stay in the game. Ivette admits that the Maggots want to get rid of James because he is after Maggie and April. we then see Ivette trying to talk Maggie into letting James stay in the house. Maggie admits in the DR that Ivette's constant petitioning to keep James does not look good in her eyes because she knows that Ivette knows that James will be targeting Maggie. Maggie tells Ivette that supporting James would be seen as going against the Maggots.

Another break. It is time for the veto competition. Maggie says that everyone has to make sure not to pick James as a competitor. April picks Maggie. Janelle picked Ivette, and Howie picked Beau. Howie says that he couldn't pick James because he couldn't beat him. James is the host (and he admits that he knew he was being backdoored). Out in the yard is a giant platform with vetos locked up on one end and a 6 lanes of mud pits. The goal is to find the key under the mud, and unlock the four vetos one by one and drop them into the frame. The one who gets all four first wins the veto. There is a bonus. Whoever unlocks the silver veto on their frame and puts it in the frame wins the combo to the second safe. Beau says he is going all for it. Basically you have to go, find the key, try it on all four veto locks, then run the unlocked veto across the mud and put it in the frame. Janelle's plan was to get all her keys in one corner and then try all the keys. Maggie couldn't get any of her keys to work. Ivette was trying to not get dirty and still win the veto. Howie says that he doesn't trust the Maggots. Beau is the first to get two. By the time April got one, everyone had one or two already. Janelle was the first one to get the silver veto and won the bonus. Beau calls Janelle a bitch. April is the first one to get four veto symbols and wins the veto. Maggie is very excited that April won the veto. In one week, April has been doing well. April says it makes her sick that Janelle is the luckiest person. Now the houseguests run to the second safe. Janelle and Beau rush in, and Janelle won a trip. Beau hugged her. She got a trip to Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Only James, Beau, and Ivette were there, and then Howie, April and Maggie showed up. Janelle also got a lucky gnome. Ivette says that Janelle doesn't need a lucky gnome, she has one already. Janelle says that she is going to take her mother with her. Janelle admits that everyone in the house is jealous of her. April and Maggie are talking and says that Janelle has to go home next week. meanwhile in the HOH room, Ivette is pulling her big eye act saying what are we going to do with Janelle, and goes through everything that Janelle won. Maggie says that everyone is looking at how lucky and skilled Janelle is. Jealous!

It is now time for America's Choice. Maggie says that everyone wants Ivette to win because she is the only one not to get anything. Ivette says that Janelle would win the phone call. Ivette says that her stomach is in knots and thinks today is a good day. The phone goes off and everyone runs over. Janelle picks it up and it is a phone calls from Michael for Janelle. Janelle admits in the DR that she was so excited, and Michael admits that he will be there when she comes out and he is really proud of her and she is doing great. Maggie asks how's the world outside. Janelle asked if Brittany Spears had her baby. Maggie said that the conversation was not very intellectual. April says that it hurts her feelings to think that America likes Janelle. She can't believe that anyone would think that Janelle of anyone in the house would deserve to win a phone call, and whoever would vote for Janelle, April questions the character of that person. Michael tells Janelle to keep her chin up and to be strong. Janelle thanks America. Janelle says sorry to Ivette. Then Ivette goes off to sob out her racist heart. Maggie goes and tells Ivette that she's sorry. Surprisingly Ivette was crying, but her face was dry. Maggie said that Ivette can't understand why America would give such a thing to Janelle. Meanwhile Janelle is very happy and saying that she knew that Michael loved her. Meanwhile Maggie and April are disgusted that Janelle wanted a call from Michael. I think that Ivette's tears were crocodile tears because her face was so dry. April doesn't think that there's anyway that America voted to give Janelle a call from Michael. April starts her crocodile tears that it should have been a call for someone who really misses someone. James quotes the Bible and says that the righetous get screwed while the wicked win everything. Then they show April (thank you BB for doing it) saying that if America did vote for Janelle to get a call from Michael that they are all pieces of shit. James said there was no way in hell that Janelle should have gotten it. As he said later in the DR, he saw a chance to bash Janelle to keep himself safe. April says that there's no way that America could love Janelle. Maggie replies that everyone loves a villain. Excuse me, but what has Janelle done that makes her a villain other than inspire jealousy in the Maggots! Ivette then makes a comment about evil prevailing. Maggie says "no not yet". April then says that she feels they got alot of evil out of this house. Not as long as all those Maggots are in there. Janelle then realizes that no one is around, and starts to wonder where everyone is and if they are mad at her for getting the call. (yes) Janelle said that she felt bad because everyone went up to the HOH and she felt bad. Janelle asks if they are mad at her. Ivette says that it's not Janelle's vote and she didn't do anything. Janelle said that maybe everyone felt sorry for her because she was just developing a relationship with Michael, and wanted to see what was going on with them. Maggie, the head Maggot, said that if she had gotten a call it wouldn't have been from Eric. Sanctimonious bitch! Janelle said that Michael and I had a relationship. April says that it was supposed to be from loved ones. Janelle replies that she did love Michael. Maggie gives a classic eye roll. Gosh the Maggots just sicken me! Janelle says in the DR that maybe they didn't know that she and Michael made out 24/7 in the house. As she said, Janelle and Michael were in the gold room. April thinks that Janelle is disgusting. Janelle says sorry. She then says that they are happy for her but they are upset. Ivette says that they can't compete with Janelle and she wants Janelle gone and out of the house. April says that folks have a right to be upset and that they are changing their minds about voting her out this week. April doesn't know if she wants to save Janelle or not. As April says, Janelle has a target on her back. The more I see of the sanctimonious, petty, and jealous behavior of the Maggots just makes me want to puke!

After the last break, it is time for the veto ceremony. April says that the pros of using the veto is to backdoor James. She would like to get Janelle and Howie. April does not believe that either of them deserve to be in the game. I hate this bunch deciding who is deserving and who is not. April calls everyone into the living room. April gives Janelle and Howie a chance to talk. Janelle says that she respects April's nomination and said that she would like April to use it on Howie. Howie said that he would ask for the veto to be used on Janelle. Both say that they respect April's decision, whatever it is. April decides to use it. Ivette looks shocked. April takes Janelle off the block. April says that she has to nominate someone else and is going to put up James. Ivette looks unhappy. April says that it is not personal and it is strictly strategic. Janelle feels fortunate to be off the block. Janelle says that everyone is jealous of her luck, but it is strategy. James hopes that he gets Ivette and Beau and then can swing Janelle to his side. As James says, he has two days and it ain't over till it's over.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005 -- Afternoon

Four inexperienced players were released by the Steelers today to get the team down to 71 players for the final week of the preseason. None of the names sounds familiar to me, and three of the players are rookies.

The US Open started yesterday. So far, all the big names are still playing. I have many fond memories of watching the US Open. When I was younger, I would spend as much time as possible watching the matches, especially throughout Labor Day weekend. I would love the tennis, but I would be so sad every year when the tournament started because it would mean that school was starting again and summer was over for the year. I hated going to school so all the things that come at the end of August even today give me twinges of sadness. So the US Open and the song of the crickets bring on the same sad feeling. I have to admit that this year the crickets seemed to be vocal earlier than usual. It sort of put a damper on the whole summer because it was a reminder that it was going to be over soon. Back to the US Open. There is a new twist to the proceedings on the court. After the match, the winner signs three tennis balls and lobs them into the stands. As the announcer said after the Roger Federer match, why not make it four balls because there are folks on all four sides of the court? As the announcer said (I think it might have been John McEnroe), the cost of balls is cheap.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005 -- Late Morning

Hines ward still hasn't gotten very far in his contract proceedings with the Steelers. The regular season starts on September 11, and everyone is hoping that the matter is settled by then. Meanwhile Ward responded to some comments that Plaxico Burress made about the Steelers fans. Burress claims that the fans had a downer on him because he was black and had cornrows. Ward said that the only thing Steelers fans have a downer on is poor performance. I agree with that statement 100%. The reason that I didn't like Burress is because he could be counted on in moments of pressure to drop the damn ball. It's all fine and dandy that you are tall, but if you can't come down with the ball, it means diddly squat. Burress is one of those people who is inconsistent and arrogant about his ability. Another point that Ward makes is that he saw alot of fans out there wearing Burress shirts. Burress was a loser, and his comments just illustrate that. The only comment Burress made that made sense was that the fans wouldn't let him forget the dropped three yard touchdown pass that probably cost us the AFC Championship. All I have to say is that if you are a highly paid wide receiver, and you drop a simple pass like that one, you deserve the wrath of the fans!

Leave it to the Japanese! Sometime in mid September, a personal robot is going to go on sale in Japan. The robot will alert you if someone breaks into your house and can act like a personal secretary by taking down notes and appointments and reminding you of your appointments. Not bad. However, I would rather that the robot alerted the police to a burglar OR pulled some sort of Home Alone move and took on the burglar.

Scientists have gotten pictures of two galaxies colliding. Basically what happens when galaxies collide the shape of the galaxies is distorted, and new stars can be formed from the effects of the collision. The scientists said that it would give them a good picture of what will happen to the Milky Way galaxy in 5 billions years when we merge with the Andromeda galaxy. I wonder which will come first--the death of our Sun which supposedly has another 5 billion years left or this event. The one scientist said that he is just glad that he won't be around for the big event. I think that is the one thing that annoys me. I wish that I could be around for it. Not that I would want to die that way, but geeze, wouldn't it be interesting to see what happens and to know what the fate of the universe will be? I am one of those who would like to believe that we live in a closed universe. I think that might make the most sense if you really give it thought. A closed is one where the universe expands only so far and then collapses in again. The collapse would lead to a Big Bang. In my mind, we believe that our universe started from a Big Bang. To me, that means that there was something before--a closed universe that came back together in a bang. Why not continue that pattern? Of course, we could believe that there might have been multiple Big Bangs before, and this time things (matter and other unknown conditions) were just right to change the universe to a flat or open universe. Both would mean a universe that continued to expand. I don't think we know enough about the whole matter to make any determination (although you know that doesn't stop scientists!) Physics tells us that absent of any external force things like to continue doing what they are doing. So the reason a ball stops rolling is the friction of the ground acting on the ball and slowing it down till it stops. So if things like to change state, then why not a continuing volley of Big Bangs?

Monday, August 29, 2005 -- Mid Afternoon

It seems that April took Janelle off, and put James up in her place. Right now, Ivette is campaigning for James with Maggie. Ivette said that she would rather lose to James than to lose Howie or Janelle. Maggie is sayind that sometimes you have to do these things. Maggie wants to get rid of James because he is a good player. Ivette says that she can't stand the way that Howie and Janelle act to which Maggie replies that you can't control the way that Howie and Janelle act--that they have tried and failed. So I wonder who Ivette will vote for, and if she can get her partner, Beau to go along with it. I think that Ivette realizes that Maggie is the one that she has to convince about James. April just talked to Janelle about cleaning up and doing dishes, etc. If Janelle is anything like me, I don't like to do things that I'm told to do. It's one thing to do something because you want to, and another to do it because someone else is being bitchy and telling you to do it. So it will be interesting to see if James does go out AND who wins HOH. Come on Janie, win HOH!

Monday, August 29, 2005 -- Afternoon

The Penguins have decided to keep Dick Tarnstrom. Tarnstrom was saying that he wanted to stay in the city, and I suppose that he was able to convince the Penguins management that he should stay. With Tarnstrom, we would have four offensive defense players.

The Steelers cut ten players today. Eight of them were rookies and two were veterans. They were Matt Cushing and Chris Doering. The Steelers will have to cut four more people by tomorrow at 4 pm. Right now the roster is at 75. The question is what will they do with the quarterbacks that they have. We have four now. How many will we have tomorrow at 4:01 pm?

It's hard to tell what the Maggots have in mind with the veto. Tomorrow will be the veto ceremony. The petty, pitiful, wenches really hate Janelle. I've never seen such petty jealousy since I was in grade school. Right now, April, Maggie and Beau are outside, and it is questionable whether they will use the veto to take someone off and put James up. Howie is the only person that I would think would be safe because he is not hated as Janelle is. It doesn't seem that Beau is as much on James' side as Ivette is. It's amazing how the Beau and April are now talking about America hating them for getting of Kaysar. April claims they were only dishonest once. Okay--maybe they can't count. Anyway, April sees it as such a revelation that America must hate the "Friendship"--or as I call them the Maggots. Well, I know that I do. It's not because of Kaysar but because the over-all demeanor and character of the people who make up the Maggots. It's going to be a sad day when the final two are both Maggots--and it will be even worse if Ivette and Beau are the final two.

Monday, August 29, 2005 -- Morning

It seems that Jerome Bettis will be out for two weeks. The injury to his calf isn't thought to be serious, and the MRI was inconclusive. So at this point, Bettis will be missing the season opener, but hopes are good that he will be back after that. It seems that Willie Parker might not play in Thursday game, but the last thing that Bill Cowher will want to do is risk the only other first line running back that he has.

There is also a nice article on one of my favorite players, Troy Polamalu. Polamalu is someone who plays whatever position is needed on the defense, and he always does the best that he can. Polamalu is a dervish on the field with his hair flapping freely from under his helmet and a perpetual smile on his face. Some folks call Polamalu the Tasmanian Devil after the whirling Looney Tunes character. The Steeler defense is really something to get excited about. Too bad the offense sucks--or at least appears to be sucky at this point.

Hurricane Katrina is now lashing the Mississippi area. Originally, it was thought that Katrina would really hit New Orleans, but it moved further east. New Orleans is getting hit though. Katrina is listed as a category 4 hurricane and that means that the speed of winds associated with the hurricane is between 131 to 155 miles per hour. It seems that the eye of the Hurricane is two hours from landfall (at 9 am EDT), and is 40 miles southeast of New Orleans. Of course, you can never tell how the winds will go. I have been watching FOXNews and I have to admit that I really wonder at how foolhardy the newscasters are because they are out in the storm! They have this one guy (Steve Harrigan) in Mississippi, and he can barely stand and pieces of roof are flying past him, and the bozo is still out there giving his broadcast. Fortunately the weather guy just called him in because it is extremely dangerous. Meanwhile in New Orleans, they were evacuating folks who could not leave the city into the Superdome. Well, it seems that the Superdome is leaking and they are not sure about the in tegrity of the roof. Also, the building is without electricity and has been on generator power which is not able to power the air conditioner. We should be seeing rain from Katrina on Wednesday here in Pittsburgh, but we are very lucky to be so far inland to not experience the brunt of the storm.

The global warming folks are blaring their horns again. This time the story is that global warming is the cause behind the mass extinction that happened 250 million years ago. Of course, it wasn't a huge meteor from space that caused a cloud of dirt to rise up into the atmosphere that lead to this extinction. It was global warming. How do they know this now? Well, they "Claim" to have developed software models that are better able to duplicate "lethal super-greenhouse climates". I always take this stuff with a grain of salt, but unfortunately most don't. They always assume that scientists are telling the truth. It's not that they are lying, but they will let bias distort their vision and allow it to unconsciously influence the results of their tests. The other thing that they don't let the general non-scientific population know is that this is an interpretation by one group of individuals and there are others who may dispute the findings or the way the research was done. We as readers of scientific material that is released to the public should realize that we should still question the findings and educate ourselves by reading more about it. Also, the media will sometimes give you only a portion of the whole report because the media sometimes has a bias. Always be aware of the fact that there is bias in the way that information is presented and released.

Sunday, August 28, 2005 -- Evening

It's the thirteenth episode of the second season of Endurance. The episode is titled Final Mission. It is down to the final two teams--Brown and Green. Brown has three pyramid pieces and Green has one. The eight pieces that Orange had are now up for grabs and will be the basis of the final endurance mission. Mike is excited to be back to play some more. Keetin thought that the Temple was cool because they weren't there before, but it was scary. Max told the Green team to go with their first intuition. So Keetin thought since there was all that water to pick water first. Then looking around, they saw fire all around so they decided to do fire next. They won. Mike said that he was pretty sad to see Orange go because Michelle was so upset. Max said that Michelle wanted to win to get the trip so she could spend time with her mom and that made him really sad. Mike agreed that if anyone deserved to win it was Michelle. Keetin was sorry to see Orange leave, but they were glad to be back. Mike was glad to say that he went to the Temple and came back. Max said that he really wants to win, but is glad that they made it this far. Jenna and Max are talking and Jenna said that they made it so far, and it would be a bumper to not win. Jenna said that she is glad that they got an extra chance. She's also glad to be against the Green team because it is the only alliance to last. Keetin said they based it on friendship and it shows how strong a friendship can be. Mike says that he really likes the Brown team and thinks they are cool, and he is glad that they got the chance to come back. Mike is concerned that the final mission will be physical because Max and Jenna are strong. Max says that he is going to play for Purple, Yellow and Orange because they should have been where he was. Keetin is nervous, but is trying to enjoy her last day there. The four go to take their final swim in the ocean. Everyone ran in except Keetin, but they ran her down and took her into the ocean. Mike says that his favorite thing about the beach is the ocean (DAH!). He says that the water is so blue and you can see the fishes in the ocean. Jenna says that the thing she loved and will miss the most are the animals--the scorpions, jelly fishes, lizards and goats. She also loves the stars and loves laying out on the beach to watch the stars. As she said, you don't get that in Chicago. Jenna says that she misses the Yellow team the most. Mike said that the first Shep-less day was really weird because they were always hanging out. Max said that he missed Jeff because he was quiet and awesome and his fellow Californian, and always say "that was crazy man". Mike also misses Annie because she was alot of fun to be around. Mike said that Jeff was fun too. Max admits to really missing Maryelle, and thought Wayne was funny. Mike said that he missed the entertainment aspect of Tyler and Michelle. Tyler was intentionally funny while Michelle was unintentional. Mike says that the beach seems empty. Jenna then says to everyone who already left that she missed everybody and that people will be disappointed and that everything happens for a reason and the friendships are what matter. Mike says if they don't win today, Green will go to the Temple with one piece while Brown has 11 so it is important to win. The final mission is set to begin. The game? It's going to be chase on the water. on the water is a square with two buckets, one each on opposite sides in the middle of the square. Four foam pyramids are in each bucket to represent the eight total pieces. The goal of the game is to run around on the planks that form the sides. As you try to avoid getting caught, you can grab pieces from your opponents bucket and put it in yours. You are out of the game when the flag tied around the waist is pulled off, or you fall into the water. The colored poles that held the pyramid pieces of the teams that have left the island were used to make up the bobbing square. The game starts with one person is each corner. Mike took a piece from Brown. Max gets a piece from Green. Max is crawling on the beam. Mike is quick and grabs another from Brown. Max eliminates Keetin. Then because Max is so slow, Mike gets Jenna's flag. Jenna as to jump off. Mike gets Jenna's piece and another. Mike has four pieces and Max ties it, and falls while getting it in. The game is tied. So the final mission will have five pieces for Green and seven for Brown. JD also tells them he has a surprise for them, and Jenna replies that she loves surprises. The gang recap the fun that they had on the last mission. Mike likes how the guys beat the girls because two guys were left at the end. Mike says that the hardest part was that the beams between the platform were thin and long and the waves were rocking the whole thing. Max said that the hardest thing was the balance because he has none. Max said that he tried to run and jump and hope for the best, and that's when he fell. Keetin thinks Green did well because Mike was last man standing, but the pieces were split evenly. Mike says that he hopes they get to pick their four pieces and don't just get something assigned. The four now get to met with JD Roth at the campsite. They each to grab four pieces. Brown wanted Heart the most because it was one they had last time on Endurance 1. Green wanted Courage. Keetin said because she thinks the lion looks cool, but Mike says it's because Courage is an important characteristic to have to play the game. Brown has seven pieces: Heart, Commitment, Strength, Perserverance, Luck, Trust and Knowledge. Green has five: Courage, Teamwork, Ingenuity, Leadership and Discipline. Brown has an edge but it is whoever has all 12. Each team is given miniatures of all their pieces that they will play with. Now it is time for the surprise. They are given a bag each. It is a necklace of stones that held together with twine and is three sided to represent the Temple. One side is Green, one is Brown, and the other side has the colors of all the other teams in the order in which they left the game. They are the only four that will have this necklace and they all put theirs on. At sunset they leave the beach for the last time and canoe to the Temple of Fate and will become Endurance champs.

The fourteenth episode is the last for the season. It is titled The Finale. We get a recap on how both teams got there. We see the kids from the first Endurance season voting to send Max and Jenna back for a second try. Then we get to see the audition tapes of Mike and Keetin. Mike is a big dork, and shows us his room. He says he does his homework and sleep-more homework than sleeping. Keetin meanwhile prides herself on her athletic ability and says "look at these guns" while flexing her arms to show us her non-bulging biceps. She doesn't look like she has any muscle actually. Keetin likes basketball, softball, track, swimming. Mike has a weight in his room and uses it sometimes, but not much. Keetin gives an example of her kickboxing. Mike shows us his Teeki Man from New Zealand who is going to get him into the Endurance show. Keetin doesn't want to go home, and Jenna says that it will be weird not being there. As Jenna says, it's like you go on vacation and then you miss being there. Jenna said that was completely different from a vacation because it was a long one and because of the things that went on during the time. Keetin says that when she goes home, she is going to miss being on the beach and watching the sun rise and set. Max says that he is going to miss the whole thing in general--playing missions and not being at home. Jenna says that Max and she did not think they could make it to the final two and thought that they would just make it to the final five. Jenna comments on how JD said they would battle it out at Temple and she wonders what that means (like they didn't watch the first season). Keetin says that if it has anything to do with chicken fighting she and Mike are gone. Keetin said that she and Mike knew they wouldn't be the strongest or smartest team. They were just going to work together as a team. Mike says that he wouldn't have gotten that far if it wasn't for Keetin and that she wouldn't be there without him. Jenna sais that she wouldn't have made it without Max and he agrees. They depended on each other alot. Max let Jenna make decisions which she liked. Mike was happy to make it past the first day. He says that you just have to believe in yourself, but it's not how smart or strong you are. Max says that friendship is better than any strategy or backstabbing. Max says that he made that mistake with the Blue team and hopes they will forgive him. Mike doesn't seem to know what go on at the Temple, and says whatever happens up there that they will do the best. Jenna said that she should be nervous because she doesn't know what goes on at the Temple, but she just feels confident. They may not have actually seen the first season of the show from the comments that they make. Max got farther than he had hoped so he will feel disappointed if he loses, but not that upset. So Max says he isn't nervous so much as he is excited to see the outcome of the game. The four of them canoe to the Temple. It looks like Mike has his Teeki Man as a good luck charm. The game is the same as the first season. There are three silver pyramids on the counter in front of them. Under one is a gold pyramid. The teams wager their pieces by placing them in front of the silver pyramids on the counter. The team can put down as many as they like as long as they leave one space empty. The team who has the piece in front of the gold pyramid wins all the pieces on the table. The team with the fewest pieces goes first. With each game another pyramid is added to the table, and the game continues until one team has all the pyramid pieces. Green goes first. They put down two and take the two closest to JD. Brown puts down one. Green wins. Each has six pieces. They now have 6 each. Since Green had the fewest last time and they are now tied, they get to go first. Now there are four pyramids. They put down two pieces. Brown has to put down two. Green has the gold pyramid. They have 8 pieces to Brown's four. There are five pyramids and Brown gets to go first. Max is feeling the last two. Green has to put down three. Green won. They have 10 pieces to Brown's 2. Six pyramids are on the table. Brown only puts down one. Green has to put down five pieces. They start flipping the pieces two at a time until they get to the final two. Max says "we have it. I feel it, I feel it." Jenna replies, "I don't". A commercial break comes before the flip. When we return, we find out that Brown has it. They now have 7 pieces and Green has 5. Back to square one. Another piece is added, and that means seven pyramids. Green puts down two. Brown has to put down five. Brown wins. (You knew they would because they flipped the pyramids in such a way that two that weren't close to each other weren't flipped as the final two. That meant to me that Brown had to have it because they had a pieced closer to Green's piece that was flipped first.) Brown has 9 and Green has 3. Max pats Mike's shoulder. Mike tells Keetin to put down the pieces because he isn't feeling it. She puts two pieces. Brown covers the blanks. Green is only holding on to Teamwork as their final piece. Green has the pyramid. They now have 9 pieces and Brown has 3. There are now nine pyramids on the table. Brown puts down one, and Green has to put down eight. Again, Green has only Teamwork in their hands. They flip the pieces, and Brown wins. Brown now has 11 pieces and Green has 1. There are now ten pyramids. Green puts down their one piece and Brown covers the rest. They flip the pieces. Keetin looks close to tears. Only the Teamwork and Luck pieces aren't flipped. Brown wins! Keetin and Mike hug, and then Brown and Green hug. Brown will be spending a week in the Bahamas at Paradise Island. As JD says Brown won against all odds. Jenna is amazed that they got that far. Max says it was the best experience of their life. Jenna said that the people they met were incredible and they will keep in touch. Max said that Jenna was the best partner you could have in any game. And so the season ends.

Sunday, August 28, 2005 -- Early Evening

April and Maggie are exercising and Beau is talking to them. Beau is telling them how James just told Janelle that everyone was saying that she didn't deserve the phone call, and Janelle approached James about it. Well, it seems that caused James to seal his fate. It seems that April is really angry now and thinks that Big Brother want them to get rid of Janelle, and that's why Big Brother gave Janelle the phone call, because everyone, including Janelle, doesn't think that Janelle deserves the call. Meanhwile it seems that Janelle was telling Beau that James told them all sorts of things that the Maggots were saying, so now April says that James needs to go. April just had Beau bring in Howie and Janelle, and April started her talk about how Big Brother plotted the call. So Janelle is telling them what happened that Beau came and talked to her about where James was, and then James yelled at Janelle. Then James comes into the exercise room and tries to set the story straight. James says that he thought Ivette was most deserving of a phone call because she has nothing. James says that they should be bringing it out into the open and that he should have done that in the beginning because everyone thinks that the shit talk comes from James. As James says, consider the source of the shit talk, and where it is coming from. Janelle and Howie leave, followed closely by James. After James leaves though, April, Maggie and Beau continue to rag, only this time it is Janelle. So Janelle comes back and asks if James was talking shit about her upstairs, and April says that James was just talking shit about Janelle a few minutes ago. As Janelle says though, the only person who goes to the Maggots is James. Janelle and Howie don't buddy up with the Maggots. James comes back into the exercise room, and says "well obviously you have more to talk about". James is trying to push the fact that they are trying to backdoor him and doing it secretly. James is really being persuasive saying that he is not on the side of Howie and Janelle, and hasn't been since he went up on the block. This is the most excitement in days! I wonder if James will be able to persuade the Maggots. James says that he doesn't care if he goes home now, and as he said, he can't win the game on his own, and he's not this evil person that everyone makes him out to be. James said that he wasn't shit talking Janelle upstairs, he was consoling Ivette. Janelle then asks him why he made comments to Howie about Janelle having a target on her back. It seems that Janelle also won a trip yesterday too. Janelle got called to the diary room, but James continues that he is by himself, so just send him home. James tells April that the reason people tell her things is not because they like April but because they are trying to save themselves. Maggie agrees that Howie and Janelle have no reason to make James look good. The group is breaking up and James follows Maggie and April to the kitchen to continue the conversation. James just keeps on about being there all by himself because he has no one on his side. He is doing a good job because we know from his diary room conversations that he wants to win the game, but he is trying to lead them to believe that he doesn't. If he really didn't care, why would he mind if they talked trash about him and he was evicted?

Sunday, August 28, 2005 -- Late Afternoon

There was some controversy in the Big Brother house today. It seems that Janelle won the America's choice and got the phone call. This lead to great anger and animosity in the house. According to April, the viewers of Big Brother are pieces of shit for voting for Janelle to get the call. Ivette was crying hysterically because I think that Ivette thinks that people like rude, bitchy, racists and though that she stood a chance of getting people to vote for her to get a call. Meanwhile everyone just seems angry about Janelle getting the call, and that it was rigged or that Janelle was somehow undeserving. Well, maybe I think that Ivette was undeserving of a phone call. This is not good for Janelle because she will probably get voted off the show because of everyone's case of envy. They envy Janelle her looks, her talents and her luck. I think that the rest of the houseguests are sad pitiful people who should get over themselves. After all, I wouldn't be proud to be a Maggot. Maybe they don't realize how they come across to others, but envious, petty, rude bitches isn't the way to do it. (and in Ivette's case, you can add racist to the list--the racist remark is based on comments like calling Kaysar a camel jockey and Bin Laden, making stereotypical comments about Jews). I am glad that Janelle won. I know that I gave her a couple of votes just because she was the only one that didn't annoy me, and because she wanted to talk to Michael. Hurrah for Janelle! What a sick bunch of people to blame Janelle! It's not like she did anything to get the phone call, it was because the "pieces of shit", as April and Maggie continued to call the viewers, voted for her to have it.

Sunday, August 28, 2005 -- Afternoon

It's gotten abit boring in the Big Brother house. We aren't getting the conflict and drama as we did with more people in the house. It's especially boring since four of them are Maggots and therefore really aren't scheming. These houseguests are incredibly boring with the current lack of scheming. I can only hope that a non-Maggot gets HOH next week so we can stir some things up. Right now, it's 10:30 am in the Big Brother house, and the only person who is up is James who's sitting outside looking bored.

Although the fans are nervous about the Steelers offensive line, and the fact that the first string offense hasn't scored a goal, the players themselves are confident and optimistic. They would have to be. We have another preseason game this coming Thursday at 8 pm. and we can only hope that the first string offense will final score some points.

Dick Tarnstrom was awarded a 1 year $1.6 million contract by arbitrators yesterday. Because of the cost, it's probable that the Penguins won't sign him, and Tarnstrom will become an unrestricted free agent. Tarnstrom would like to stay with the Pens. The Pens have 48 hours to sign or trade him before Tarnstrom can be a free agent and approached by other teams.

Saturday, August 27, 2005 -- Evening

I was out at a retirement party for a good part of the afternoon and evening, but I did some checking to see who won the Power of Veto competition today, and it appears that April won the veto. Ivette is now compaigning to get Janelle evicted. The Maggots are such hypocrites. Supposedly they have been out to backdoor James for weeks and yet they keep on passing on opportunities to do it. Personally I am fine with them not backdooring James because I am rooting him on to win. The guy is the only one who has really played the game and done a good job of it without being as much of a jerk and liar as the others in the house. You have to respect him for doing that, especially since he hasn't been anyone's big favorite.

This afternoon before I left for the retirement party, I watched the original Mystery Woman movie that lead to the series that is now playing on the Hallmark Channel. The movie was on Thursday, but I recorded it. The show was an interesting one, and I think that I liked some of the characters in this version. Philby in the pilot movie is played by an older white man--JE Freeman. In the series it is played by Clarence Williams III who was the black man from Mod Squad. The plot in the pilot movie was that Samantha Kinsey, played by Kellie Martin, was a photographer who was recently divorced from her husband. Her uncle, who was the person responsible for her love of mystery books, died and left her his mystery book shop in his will. That's the Mystery Woman of the title. It is the name of the bookstore. Samantha goes there with her best friend, assistant DA, Cassie. The place is a state of disrepair and houses Philby, the mystery character who could be a burned out spy who is in retirement, or just a reader of spy books if we believe Philby. Samantha gets invited to her former writing teacher's party (Jack Stenning) to announce his new book. Robert Wagner plays the author/writing teacher and winds up hanging himself. But did he commit suicide or was it murder? Samantha thinks it was murder, and with resistance from the police and help from Philby and Cassie, starts an investigation. Someone breaks into Samantha's apartment and cuts her brake lines and she knows then that she is on the right track. The reason for the murder might be tied to the true crime book that Jack Stenning is currently working on about a murder that occurred nine years earlier. Samantha is on the case and eventually does figure it all out. I liked the movie. I also like the series. Kellie Martin does a nice job of protraying someone who really doesn't have a clue, and is great at getting herself into scapes. She's the sort of average person that you can imagine bumping into on the street. Granted, she really does alot of stupid things, but this is candy for the brain. It's a fun way to pass a dreary afternoon. I have to admit that I didn't figure out whodunit, and it was a nice twist.

Saturday, August 27, 2005 -- Morning

As was to be expected, April nominated Howie and Janelle last night. Now the question is who will be playing for the Power of Veto. If I were Janelle, I would be trying to team up with James and have him play the veto. If James wins, then he can take Janelle off and it would have to be Howie against a Maggot. Depending on the Maggot, the vote could be tied and broken by April. I think that if James won and took Janelle off that April would put up Ivette. The reason for the is because I don't think that April really likes Ivette, and James won't vote against Ivette. Anyway, the Maggots are always talking about sharing their winnings with the other Maggots. The thing is that they all signed contracts saying that they can't give money to each other because then it is like you are buying someone's vote. Well, it seems that the Maggots are trying to find ways around it--like giving each other gift certificates. The Maggots just throughly disgust me. Ivette and Maggie are higher on the list of annoyance with Ivette as number one. Ivette is such a mean-spirited, rude, racist person. She is always making derogatory remarks about everyone, either behind their back or to their face. If she is one of the final two, I will just have to puke. As for Maggie, she is always acting holier than thou while dipping herself in the mud. This season is really getting to be a disappointment for me because it is just disgusting to see how the Maggots act, and to think that their behavior might be rewarded.

For the other local reality series Bound for Glory, Montour had its first football game last night, and lost to Chartiers Valley. The final score was 14-7. The Montour team's only score was an interception that was run in for a touchdown. The offense seemed to be stinking up the field, and really wasn't contributing much to the game. Something that the sportscasters noted who were at the game, was that Dick Butkus really didn't seem to be the head coach during the game. He pretty much just stood on the sidelines and did his routine either encouraging the team or looking disappointed and upset. Lou Cerro had the headset on and called the plays. Butkus claims that what he does it give direction on non-game days, and leaves the game day calls to Lou Cerro. It will be interesting to see how this plays out of television. The show will be on ESPN starting on September 20 at 10 pm.

The Steelers played another preseason game last night and it was a disappointment offensively. The touchdown that the Steelers made last night was an interception by Troy Polamalu and run in for a touchdown. The final score was 17-10. The most disappointing moment was when Ben Roethlisberger got the team down into the red zone and couldn't convert because he couldn't see open players. The announcers for the show (from FOX even showed the clip when Roethlisberger had open players to his right, but he was staring steadily to his left, and never say the guys on the right, and then finally after several wasted precioius seconds had to scramble because he was under attack from the offense. Bill Cowher said that the offense just didn't seem to be synced. That's true. The throws seem to be too short or too long. The other bad news of the evening was the Jerome Bettis strained his right calf and was pulled from the game because of the injury. Hopefully it won't be that bad, and Bettis will be back. I am not going to expect much for the Steelers this year. Of course, the preseason doesn't mean anything because it is a practice and lots of other teams are stinking up the place. The thing that I think is of concern is the lack of rhythm with the offense. As John Steigerwald said in the nightly sports call-in show last night, if Roethlisberger did not play last year, and you saw his performance so far in the preseason, you wouldn't be very excited or thrilled thinking that he would be your starter. That's the thing that I think is happening here. We are thinking that in the regular season, Roethlisberger will step up and start winning. He has a double whammy on him. Expectations are high for him to perform on one hand and on the other hand is the group just waiting to jump on every mistake. His performance so far, in my opinion, has been lackluster. I'm not saying that the guy doesn't have the potential to be really good, but to expect two winning seasons in a row from this young quarterback is expecting too much. I am expecting an average season, and no post season for us. We'll have to see if I am right. I would love to be proved wrong, but I am afraid that won't be the case.

Friday, August 26, 2005 -- Afternoon

The houseguests are just sitting around the dining room table talking. It looks like there will be no food competition today. I'm trying to remember from past seasons if they stop having the food competitions as the group gets smaller. One interesting thing is that Janelle dreamed last night that her house was hit by a hurricane, and that it was flooded. This is absolutely eerie because she would have no way of knowing that Katrina did indeed hit the Miami, Florida yesterday where Janelle lives. The interview with Rachel was a good one. She has no clue why Ivette made the comments that she made during the good-bye message. As Rachel said, Ivette was angry all week about something, and basically Rachel was the person of the week that Ivette lashed out at. I really don't like Ivette. I hope that April is smart enough to put up some of the Maggots. It probably won't happen, but I am hoping. The House Calls show today was good. I especially liked the rants that Gretchen and Marcellas had about Howie and Beau respectively. Fortunately CBS lets them rant on and express their opinions and that's what makes the show so entertaining to watch.

Friday, August 26, 2005 -- Late Morning

It is not looking good for Howie or Janelle this coming week. The Maggots are going to take one of them out this week, and then chances are good that another Maggot will win HOH next week just because there are four of them. When I think of how different the game would be today if Howie didn't turn on his own alliance, and put up Maggie and Ivette a few weeks back...there's no crying over spilt milk though. I am trying to resign myself to a Maggot winning. I think that of all the players, James is most deserving of the win. He has been playing strategically and actually winning competitions that are those stupid number games. I am cheering him on, but it's not looking good if they backdoor him this week. I'm hoping that they don't because none of the houseguests really has the smarts to compete with James when it comes to a veto competition. So he might be able to keep himself safe. The thing is that since the sequester house will be loaded with Maggots, if it comes down to James and a Maggot, they will choose a Maggot. As my boyfriend was saying yesterday, you would think that the Maggots would wise up and realize that in order to win, they would want a James or Janelle beside them. The Maggots are smart though, and will win up giving the game to either Beau or Ivette. At this point, since they are the only pair left, you know that they have the strength of numbers to go all the way unless they get broken up this week! April should bond with James and Janelle and gun down the rest of them. She won't have the smarts or the courage to do it though. Right now, it is 8 am in the Big Brother house and everyone is sleeping. Rachel was one of the last early risers on the show. It just really freaks me out to see how the Maggots all sleep in the HOH room. I'd rather have a bed than sleep on a floor, but that's me. Also, I don't like folks hanging around me all the time. So I would want some alone time if I won HOH. Whoever in the Maggots came up with this idea is smart though because it doesn't allow a weak link time alone to think about getting rid of a fellow Maggot.

Evgeni Malkin will not be playing for the Penguins this season. It seems that the team will have to give up on bringing Malkin over for this season, and will concentrate on having here for the next season 2006/2007. The word has come from Malkin's agent who says that Malkin is going to have to play in Russia for the upcoming season. The agent, Pat Brisson, thinks that Malkin could work out a deal with the Russian team for a release next year if he gives them one more season. At this point, there is nothing in Malkin's Russian contract that would allow for this deal, but Brisson thinks that it will happen. The general manager of the Russian team, Gennady Velichkin, said that he thinks that Malkin will benefit from another year in Russia. Malkin played a hand in the decision, and hopes that the Penguins will respect his decision. It seems that Malkin thinks the Russian team is a strong one and that will be good for him. Also Malkin wants to go to the Olympics and thinks he stands a better chance of doing that if he does not work for the NHL.

It seems that Tommy Maddox wants to be a starter again. He claims that he will not ask to be traded, but that when he watches some teams competing who really don't have a strong lead quarterback, he wishes that he had the opportunity to play for them. Maddox says that he loves playing for the Steelers though, and it is nothing against the team, management organization, or the fans. It's just something that he wants to do. I can understand that. If you have the ability, you want to do something with it. I just don't think that Maddox had the ability, and that's why Roethlisberger was able to keep the number one spot. Yeah, Maddox is capable of throwing the ball and handing it off to a back. The problem comes when he can't stand like a statue to do it. The guy has no manuvering ability and just looks like a garden gnome waiting for the dog to pee on it. As you can tell, I'm not a big Maddox fan. I don't think that he is the pits, but he's definitely not the heights either.

A study to be released in Science today states that the core of the Earth is spinning faster than the crust. This was first proposed in 1996 by two of the authors of the study out today. After analyzing earthquake data, the scientists have decided that the core spins one quarter to one half degree faster than the crust. The analysis was done by taking readings from stations in Alaska for earthquakes that happened in the south Atlantic and comparing the time and wave shape. Doing the analysis from those locations would mean that the wave had to pass through the Earth's core. The theory is that the core spinning at a different speed is what produces the Earth's magnetic field. The scientists involved in the study think that the speed of the core could fluctuate and at times be slower than the crust. The results that they currently have are only indicitive of current conditions.

Thursday, August 25, 2005 -- Evening

Tonight is live eviction night on Big Brother. The show started with the usual weekly recap with Beau winning HOH, the nomination of Howie and Rachel, and James winning the veto. Julie announces that it is day 54 in the Big Brother house. It's funny hearing Beau referred to as the "personal shopper". Julie looks nice in a flowing black sundress with big white beads for a necklace. Rachel said that the last thing she wanted was to be on the block with Howie. She says whoever is left behind is on a search and destroy. Howie admits that the mission is to break up Beau and Ivette. Howie, Rachel, and Janelle are sitting outside talking. Howie thinks that he is being evicted, and Rachel just wishes that she would know. We see the repeat performance of the Howie "Busto" act. Rachel wanted to see Howie succeed more in this than she does. As she tells Howie, she would love to remain in the game, but she won't hate leaving. Rachel thinks that the strategic move would be to get rid of her. If it is for vindictive reasons, they will vote Howie out. We then see Howie exercising outside while Ivette and Beau sit and watch. Beau asks how pale Howie's ass is, and Howie shows him. Beau wants Howie to streak. Howie said that he would do it if Ivette swears on the Bible that she will vote Rachel out. Maggie said that she would never swear on the Bible. In the DR, Howie comments that she wouldn't swear on the Bible because she is a lying sack of garbage and knows that she wouldn't keep to her word. Maggie looks all prim in her beach chair as she says it too. Howie admits that the consensus in the house is that they are voting out Rachel. Maggie is acting like she is a thinker and says that since Howie just referred to Maggie as the deciding vote that he must know how James was going to vote. Howie says that he doesn't know how James is going to vote, and he is just going on what people tell him. Howie says that James has been the most mysterious about his votes. Maggie tries to act intelligent and coy and says "I don't know anything about him". Howie says that he thinks that he is going to vote off Rachel, but he doesn't know. Maggie said that she thinks there are bigger things in the house than splitting up a pair. She thinks they should have concentrated on taking out the biggest threat in the game. Maggie is in the pool with Ivette and April and says that she thinks if James got HOH, he would put up Howie and Janelle so he could stay longer. But then she says that he can't. She realizes that for James safety, he has to play with them in order to last longer and not get voted off. She acts like that is a revelation. I am just amazed at the level of stupidity of these houseguests. It is James only chance. April says that as much as James loves Ivette, he would go against the Maggots. Maggie acts totally shocked at this revelation. Julie asks April about Jennifer's eviction and life without her. April said that it's weird because they felt like a pair and there's a piece of April missing. It seems that Jennifer brought April into the game. Julie asked Maggie what the shrinking table meant to her. She said that everyone discussed it and that it is huge milestone for them, and they are proud to still be there. Julie had questions for the houseguests from the Internet questionnaire. The first question is for Ivette. If they were casting Big Brother 6 the movie, who should play Ivette. Everyone says Selma Hayka, but Ivette thinks Julie DeMato. Question for Janelle. If she could leave the house for a day, what would she do? Go to Minnesota to visit friends and families.

After the commercial break, we go to the HOH room and Beau. Gosh, I don't like him. Julie brings up the partner thing and putting up Howie and Rachel. She said that there is tension with Janelle so what was the point behind it. Beau had trouble getting out the word strategic which he claims that it was. Beau says that he and Janelle made up and are on talking terms. Julie brings to his attention that they are the only pair. Beau says that the plan is to stay neutral and not bring the radar on them. Julie asks where James stands. Beau says he's on the right, then changes it to he's on the Maggot side in a positive sense. I think Beau wanted to say that as of now James is on the "right" side. Now we take a look at James. What keeps him in the game and how will he make it to the end? We first see James playing Ivette in chess. James said that he's lost weight, got grey hair, can't sleep, and is losing muscle tone. Howie thinks that James is the most dominate player in Big Brother history. Rachel replies that she's going to laugh her ass off if he is with two Maggots and wins. Howie said that he would vote for James. Howie said that the veto should be called the golden power of James. James says that April disgusts him and that she talks too much. James thinks that Maggie should go out first. James talks to the Sovereign and the Girl Scout group. James job as he says is to continue the hate against each other. We then hear him trashing both sides to the other. James said that the first one he would get out is Maggie and April if he gets HOH. They think that he is joking, but he says in the DR that is the truth. James says to Janelle that he sees them as the final two. James realizes that the Maggots have the numbers in the sequester house so going up against a Maggot as the final two would be bad because the fellow Maggots would vote for the Maggot. If he went up against Janelle, he stands the best chance of winning because the Maggots hate Janelle. Janelle rolls her eyes. James says that the Girl Scout troup would have a collective anurism if James and Janelle made it to the final two. James tells Janelle they have to cut it short before the Maggots get suspicious. I like James' term for the Maggots--Girl Scouts. Janelle thanks James for his honesty.

After the break. We hear from folks who know Howie and Rachel. Could they be more than just friends? Howie's dad says that he's known Howie all his life and that Howie is outrageous. Rachel's mom says that Rachel is the more serious one and Howie is the party person. Howie's friend, Mike, said that he's known Howie for over 30 years and used to date Rachel 10 years ago for 6-7 months, and Howie still maintained a close friendship with her. Mike says that he thinks Howie's feelings for Rachel have evolved. He also said that Howie has been obsessed with boobies since his early teens. Howie's sister, Ashley, said that they have had alot of conversations about respect for women. It seems that Howie does alot of cute things for his sister. Rachel's mom does not like how Howie talks about women, but she thinks that is just Howie's personality, and that Rachel is attracted to that. Howie's mom does not think that it is a love connection with Rachel although Howie's mom loves Rachel. Howie's mom thinks that Janelle is Howie's type. Mike said that Howie did try to make the moves on Rachel when Mike broke up with her. Rachel's mom says that she would accept Howie if Rachel brought him home as the guy she was going to marry, but she thinks Rachel needs someone more stable. Ashley wants Howie to stay. Howie's dad is so proud of everything Howie has done. Howie's mom said she would not be happy if April were her daughter with the Busto talk. We hear from the voters in the DR. April says that Howie is the most immature person. April thinks Rachel acts her age. James thinks Rachel is a good competitor. Ivette could give three co-hoots about her. Janelle is closer to Howie. Maggie thinks that Howie should go because he is close to Janelle. Ivette thinks Howie has issues because he thinks he is the star of the show. April said that last week she really wanted Howie out. Janelle thinks she stands a better chance of winning against Howie even though she doesn't think she could win against either. Ivette says the less we have of the other side the better for me.

Break is done, and it is time to vote. Julie asks Howie and Rachel to plead their case. Rachel is first and says that this has been an amazing summer and she has had alot of fun. She said they had their ups and downs, but she loves all of them and is glad to have met them. She then thanks and kisses Howie. Now Howie. Howie wants to thank family and friends and the houseguests for putting up with him, especially April. Howie said that Rachel made a big commitment for him giving up her summer. He kisses her. Howie rambles and finally says don't feel bad if I leave. It is now time to vote. Maggie is first and she votes to evict Rachel. Then it is Janelle's turn. Janelle is in a short, skintight green dress and looks like sex personified. She votes to evict Rachel. Then is it April's turn. She votes to evict Rachel. Then comes Ivette and she votes to evict Rachel. Finally it is James. He also votes for Rachel. All votes go against Rachel. Julie announces the voting results to the houseguest. Rachel smiles broadly when she is told the news. No pouty baby like Eric. Everyone gives her a hug, and Howie waits till last and gives her a huge kiss and hug and says bye Ray-Ray. Now Rachel is heading over to talk to Julie. The houseguests all gathered to see Rachel's picture change. Julie says at one point her alliance dominated. Rachel thinks it is because of nominating James and it changed the whole game. Blame it on Howie. Rachel says she can't explain Howie's behavior last week, but said that Howie was so upset personally and just needed to get it out. Rachel thinks that it was truly a strategic move to get rid of her. Julie says that folks see her and Howie as a great couple. Rachel says that they have grown closer and she has found out how truly caring and giving Howie is. Now for the good-bye messages. Howie said that she was really good this season and blows her kisses. Janelle said that Rachel helped alot in the game. April said that she was a great competitor. Maggie said that she had a great maturity and self respect. Beau said nothing because like Ivette, he is a whore. James said that it was a noble move to sacrifice herself for Howie. Then evil Ivette comes on to talk crap. She claims that Rachel's behavior is out of control and has left her speechless and with her mouth dropped. Ivette claims that she has never seen such poor sportsmanship ever before. Ivette is a whore. Rachel was crying at the other comments, and says that she has no comments to make about Ivette. She is not baffled by Ivette, and thinks that she will be seeing Ivette soon.

America's Choice is nothing exciting. It's a vote for a phone call from home. Call 22788 (CBSTV) and text 1 for Beau, 2 for James to talk to Sarah. 3 for April to talk to her husband. 4 for Janelle so she can talk to Michael. 5 for Ivette to talk to her mom. 6 for Maggie to talk to her boyfriend. 7 for Howie to talk to his mom. Or go to cbs.com to vote. I'm voting for James or Janelle. I can't stand the Maggots.

It's now time for the HOH competition. All the houseguests are blinkered. It's another question thing that I think is so stupid. A question will be asked and the answer will be higher or lower. If the houseguest is correct they stay in, wrong, they are out. Last person wins. Of the 14 houseguests, how many are taller than 6 ft? Higher or lower than 3? Correct is higher. Maggie, Ivette and Howie are out. Of the current houseguests, how many have never won HOH. Is it higher or lower than four? Lower. All got it right. How many veto competions have been played so far this season? Higher or lower than 9? Lower. All got it right. How many night have you spent in the BB house. Higher or lower than 50. Higher. James is out. Janelle and April. How many houseguest went for HOH to tossed out. Higher or lower than 4? Lower. Janelle and April still in. Tie breaker question. The answer is a number. The person closest without going over wins. If both go over the person closest wins. In the Veto competition, Goal for it, how many hockey pucks were in the red bin. Answer: April has 100, Janelle has 85. Answer is 155 pucks. April is HOH. Damn. That is very disappointing. Damn those Maggots.

We find out that there is no Big Brother this Saturday. On Tuesday we will have the nominations and veto and find out who gets a phone call from home.

Thursday, August 25, 2005 -- Afternoon

The houseguests have been busy getting the house ready for the live eviction show tonight. votes will be taken on the show to evict the houseguest so we'll find out how each person votes. If you have any question that you would like to ask a departing houseguest, you now have the chance. I don't think that some of my questions would make it on the air. I would want to know why Howie was so stupid to nominate an alliance partner. I would ask Ivette if she knew that she was an annoying racist. I would ask April if she knows that she is a lying, troublemaker. I would ask Maggie why she thinks so many people dislike her and Eric. Those are incendiary questions though, so I know they won't make it. It's what I want to know though.

The Lance Armstrong drug problem has been consuming me today, and I have to ask where are our heroes?

Thursday, August 25, 2005 -- Late Morning

Janelle from Big Brother was in Playboy a few months ago. The pictures are not bad looking, and do have frontal nudity, so be forwarned when clicking on the link. I guess this means that she won't be in the magazine after leaving the house. I don't know if any other Big Brother houseguests have posed for Playboy. Of course, come to think of it, I'm not sure who else might be good looking enough to be photographed. Maybe Amy from last season.

It does seem that Big Brother is doing well ratings wise. In fact, it appears that it has been doing well the entire summer so far. In July, there was a report that viewership for the show was down 10% from last year. I would say that you would have to look at the overall statistics for the entire season and competition on other channels to give a true picture. After all, the show had only been on for a few weeks when the USA Today reported the comparison with last year's season. I haven't been able to find a show by show ratings comparison, just the pronouncement of the 10% difference. Also, I've heard from word of mouth--nothing that I actually saw in print--that ratings have dropped when Kaysar has left the show (he left twice), but I haven't been able to find any verification of that either. It seems that this past Tuesday's show won its time slot, so I imagine that Kaysar leaving has not affected things that much. I still watch the show just because I wonder what's going to happen next.

Tonight is live eviction night on Big Brother, and it looks like the Maggots are going to vote Rachel off because they are worried about the fact that she would be a stronger competitor than Howie.

Thursday, August 25, 2005 -- Morning

I was watching the nightly sports call-in show last night, and the guys brought up an interesting story that I can't find on the Internet. It seems that there have been rumors that Ben Roethlisberger isn't very well liked by his teammates. John Steigerwald and Bob Smizik were talking about someone who brought the rumor up yesterday. It seems that Roethlisberger does have a problem (if you want to call it that) with arrogance, and he does not get along well with the media. Leaving before meeting with the media after last Saturday's game did not go over well. The question is if Roethlisberger can handle having people asking him the hard questions when his performance isn't up to par. It doesn't seem at this point that he can, and he better start learning. I hate to tell Roethlisberger this, but he's going to have some crappy games. No one is great in all of their games, and since the end of last season he has been on the borderline between good and bad. Officially, Roethlisberger is saying that he feels confident this year because he is starting the season as the starter, and has had some good practice sessions with the other players. Roethlisberger says that he doesn't screw up the huddle calls as much as he used to last year. That's good to know.

In France, the director of the Tour de France would like an explanation from Lance Armstrong about the EPO that was found in his sample B blood sample from 1999. Rumors have always swirled around Armstrong in the cycling world, especially in France, that his amazing stamina and overall performance were attributable to performance enhancing drugs. Armstrong's answer to the claims at this point is that the blood sample was mishandled, and he questioned the ethics of the lab that tested the sample last year and released the results publicly this year. Armstrong even says that the folks at the Tour de France are involved in floating the story and that this is no truth to it. His claim is that this is just a bid to smear his reputation. Armstrong mentioned the possibility of legal action, but probably won't because of the cost and the time that it would take from his schedule. Hmm! Shades of Rafael Palmeiro who said that he was going to sue Jose Canseco for saying that Canseco gave Palmeiro steroids. My boyfriend has been saying for the longest time that he believed that Armstrong had to be doing something because he couldn't believe that someone of Armstrong's age was able to be so consistently good over seven years. Of course, bicycling is a team sport, and the Armstrong team may be the reason the individual won. However, where there's smoke, there's fire.

The European Space Agency is planning another Mars mission. The ESA are the folks responsible for the Beagle mission. This time, they have been formulating a plan to send up a single rover and a stationary unit that would burrow deeper into the ground. It's possible that we may need to get deeper into the soil to find some evidence of life either present or past. Right now, only discussions are taking place because some in the program feel that the ESA should send up a twin rover mission as opposed to the single and stationary. Hopefully the ESA will have more luck than they did with Beagle which was lost on landing almost two years ago.

Now this story really gets to me. There is a woman who is upset that her doctor, Dr. Terry Bennett, told her that she was obese and needed to go on a diet in order to ensure a longer life and better health. Why was the woman offended? How dare the doctor call her obese just because she is! Why it hurt her fragile little feelings to be called fat! Yep. It's not that the woman wasn't fat, and was being told that she was. She was fat, and the doctor--who is supposed to tell you what your health problems are and how to deal with them--told her that she had a weight problem and needed to lose weight. Maybe he could have sugar coated it, and been more considerate of her fragile feelings. The thing is that sometimes unless you are blunt, people don't take you seriously. The doctor's goal was to get the woman to wake up and lose weight. When the doctor found out that the woman was offended, he wrote a letter of apology, but that was not good enough. The woman filed a complaint with the New Hampshire Board of Medicine. The Board then forwarded the matter to the Attorney General's office. The doctor was told to attend a medical education course and to say that he made a mistake in telling the woman she was obese and needed to lose weight. The doctor refused because the woman is obese and should lose weight. Now the doctor could lose his license to practice medicine in the state. This woman may not like being called obese. She may think that she is not obese. However that won't change the fact that medically she is obese. I don't think that the Attorney General of New Hampshire should be castigating a doctor from doing what should be his job. Word to the wise: if you don't like what your doctor has to say--even if it's true, turn him into the state medical board and Attorney General.

Wednesday, August 24, 2005 -- Late Afternoon

The World Anti-Doping Agency head wants Lance Armstrong investigated for drug abuse. It seems that there is controversy over blood that was taken from Armstrong after his 1999 Tour De France win. It seems that two blood samples were taken. Sample A was tested for illegal substances that were known at that time. Sample B was frozen and tested for new substances only last year. It appears that the report is that the Armstrong's blood tested positive for EPO which is an endurance boosting drug that works by allowing the blood to carry more oxygen. Tests weren't available for EPO in 1999, and didn't become available until 2001. Armstrong denies that he ever took any performance enhancing drugs at any time. The question is how can this latest bit of information be resolved. There is an eight year statue of limitations, but the only way to sanction an athlete is if both Sample A and B are found to have drugs. In this case, Armstrong lucked out that Sample A was thrown out and that there wasn't a test for EPO. This isn't the first time that Armstrong tested positive for illegal substances. Also in 1999, he tested positive for steroids, but the amount in his blood was not that large, and he claimed it was from a steroid cream that he was taking for saddle sores. Some don't think this news will have much of an impact on Armstrong because he is now retired, and is very popular. It does put a question in my mind though. Are there any athletes out there who excel and don't do drugs? I am really becoming disillusioned.

Wednesday, August 24, 2005 -- Afternoon

There is not much of interest going on in the Big Brother house. The Maggots and Rachel are playing poker, and Howie is giving Janelle a backrub while James watches. Today should be a boring day for the houseguests because there is really no need for scheming because there are no competitions until tomorrow. There is also no voting today. The only thing that the houseguests did today was to record a good-bye message for the exiting houseguest. What they do is record a message for both nominees, but we only see the one for the exiting guest. We can only hope that someone entertaining, IE a non Maggot, gets HOH tomorrow, and that the America's Choice lets us get rid of a houseguest. I think that I would get rid of either Ivette or Beau. I think that I would go for Ivette because she has the tie to James, and I think is liked better by the Maggots than Beau is. Both Ivette and Beau have to go. Maggie too. I think that I could tolerate April for a longer period, but not Ivette, Beau and Maggie. I want to see what level of poor sportsmanship they show--like not going to see Janelle's HOH room last week.

Google is expanding its horizons. Today Google released Google Talk. Finally, Google is joining the IM (instant messenger) group. The softwware is in beta form, and doesn't have all the bells and whistles that one gets with MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger and AIM. Google like the Yahoo! Messenger offers a voice call option too. Currently, only folks who have gmail accounts can use Google Talk, and the contacts list is populated by all the contacts that show up in your gmail addressbook. Some of those contacts may have gmail, some may not. Those who don't appear in Google Talk, but you won't be able to instant message that person until he/she creates a gmail account. The things that I don't like about Google Talk is that everyone in your gmail contacts shows up and anyone that you emailed, even once, is in your gmail contacts. The other thing that I don't like is that anyone can talk to you who has Google Talk. You can block the person, but I like the way MSN works where you can selectively add people to your contacts list. Right now, Google Talk isn't quite there for those of us who have been using a variety of instant messengers for years. The folks at Google do have a grander scheme though. They have been creating a suite of tools to someday make an Internet operating system. The question is will they succeed before the mammoth that is Microsoft cuts off Google's air supply?

Not to be outdone, Yahoo! has joined with verizon to offer high speed Internet via dialup access. For $14.95 a month, the user will be able to download at 768 kb/sec while uploading at 128 kb/sec. You have to commit to a one year contract, however.

Wednesday, August 24, 2005 -- Late Morning

It looks like Aleksey Morozov will not be playing for the Pens any more. There really isn't a slot for him on the team. Also, it's not sure if he will be picked up by any other NHL team. Morozov is a restricted free agent, so the only option for the Pens will be to see if they can trade him elsewhere. It is not looking good for Morozov. It's a good thing that at least for now he does have an agreement with the Russian league, so he may still be playing, just not in the US.

The Steelers are doing some thinking about the third quarterback situation. It seems that they may decide not to fill the position, and may utilize Randle El. Randle El is one of those slash folks. So he plays the wide receiver/special teams role and now it seems that he may add quarterback. It seems that in his college years he did get some quarterback experience. It will be interesting to see what decision the Steelers make. I'm sure that money will be a factor because they will probably need to get rid of someone to make up for signing Hines Ward. This wouldn't be the first time that the Steelers went with two quarterbacks. They did the same thing in 2004. Roethlisberger and Tommy Maddox were the one and two with Charlie Batch on the injury list. Brian St. Pierre was brought on at the last minute when Maddox got hurt.

Tuesday, August 23, 2005 -- Evening

There was another Big Brother show on this evening. It started with the usual recap. We see Jennifer being evicted. Ivette says that you are happy that you are staying, but you feel sorry for the other person. James said that strategically she was a very sneaky person so he's glad to see her go. It basically frees up a cot. April said that it was very hard to hug goodbye to Jennifer, but it gives her a reason to play. You see the Maggots hugging and Howie, Rachel and Janelle hugging and James walking around. As Rachel said that was for Kaysar. April says that she is playing fro herself and Jennifer, and it sucks that the $1 million is off the table. Beau was very happy to be HOH. Ivette said that it was the best scenario. As Ivette says, when one wins HOH on their side, they all win. James talks that he has to walk the fine line between the two teams and watch them take each other out. Rachel feels that she and Howie are the most vulnerable because they are a pair. Janelle feels that she is a big target because she has let America know that Beau is a raging alcohol and a male prostitute posing as a personal shopper. Howie said he was very upset and wanted to keep the team rolling and get rid of one of the Nerd Herd. The Maggots meet in the storage room and Beau tells them that he wants to put up Howie and Rachel. As he said they gave him stress and made him break out into pimples. Maggie doesn't want to take the target off of James, but said that she wanted to break up Howie and Rachel. Rachel said that they have made critical errors. It started with the HOH when Maggie walked all over Howie and got Howie to put up two his own alliance. If that hadn't happened, the game would be so different now. Rachel said that she's not a quitter and is going to keep on fighting. Neither Rachel or Janelle wants one of them to win the final. Beau got his HOH room and everyone went up to see his room. Beau got a rock with love because the foundation of his life is love--the rock of his life. Beau says that when he wins, he wins for his team and invited everyone up. Ivette brought Eric's picture up. They made a shrine to Eric with a cap on his picture. Geeze! It makes you want to puke. A shrine to a midget with no integrity! Beau says that good vibes are going around the house. Howie says that he is going to suck it up and be nice to April. Ivette claims that the Maggots have always been nice to everyone and hung out with everyone. What a bunch of crock and revisionist history! Howie apologized for what he said about April's husband and her dog, Pepperoni. April brought up the Busto thing, and Howie said that he was joking. April said that Howie screwed himself out of $1 million. Howie says that Hurricane Howie might have to bust down Busto again if she goes back to her old ways

After the commercial break, it is nominations day. Maggie asks Beau if he sees them all equally and who is the threat. Maggie said that James is a huge threat and will go after her. Beau sees it as first Rachel, Janelle, then Howie. Beau is holding James till later. Maggie says, why not earlier? Beau doesn't get it, and Maggie says that it is because James is capable of winning. Maggie says that James won't quit. April tells Beau that you have to think about the end and who you want to be up against at the end. April tells Beau that they will vote for James because he has played the game. Beau thinks that it will be more tense lately. Howie sees that it is the four of them who are possible targets, and he doesn't know what the other side is thinking. Maggie thinks . James is the biggest target because she knows he is after her. James doesn't trust anyone and will never feel safe in the house again. Beau says that he knows he will be a target next week, but he is taking it serioiusly. Janelle says that she knows they hate her and sees herself as a target. Beau brings up God and hopes that God guides him. Time for the nomination ceremony. Beau says that everyone knows what has gone in the past weeks and it is 75% strategic and 25% personal. The first key out is Ivette, then April, then Maggie, then James, then Janelle. Janelle says "thanks I guess". Beau says that Howie showed a side that scared him and that Howie is a fierce competitor. Beau claims that in the Eric days, Rachel played both sides and was a shady grey color. But now he feels that she is pitch black and pitch white. Rachel asked if it was strategic or personal. Ivette calls Rachel a sore loser and makes fun of the way Rachel looks. She calls Rachel awful, awful, awful. Rachel and Beau hugged. Ivette gets really ticked because Rachel thanks and hugs Beau after the competition. It really ticks Ivette off and she calls Rachel an old sarcastic hag, and how awful Rachel is, and how Ivette can't stand her and hates her. What did Ivette want Rachel to do? Yell at Beau. Ivette would have hated that. Ivette is one of the biggest hypocrites and deep down dispicable people. Anything Rachel did would have met with Ivette's hatred.

After the break, the Maggots run after Beau and Ivette calls Rachel a bitch over and over. Ivette admits that Rachel crawls under her skin and that she is a miserable aging woman. I really find Ivette disgusting. Rachel and Howie really can't stand the other side. She calls them the Nerd Herd. Rachel said that she is the 75%. James said that he doesn't think that's how it is, and Rachel said that she is sarcastic. James said that Rachel is hated by the girl scout troup. They see Rachel as the bigger competitor. Ivette is appalled by Rachel's behavior and just keeps on calling it poor sportsmanship and says that Rachel did not handle it well. Maggie claims that Beau was perfect because it was strategic and personal. She thinks that Beau let them know how they felt about her. The Maggots are poor winners. The other side is not the poor loser. Rachel said that she better now see Howie, James and Janelle come to the sequester after her. Janelle thinks that James will go after the Maggots before the others. James tells them that if he wins, he doesn't want a hug from Howie and Janelle. James is hoping to make it to the end because he will make fewer dumb mistakes. The dining room table has shrunk. It now has eight spots. Janelle said that she never thought she would make it this far. She says that she's the luckest girl. Janelle gives Ivette a hug, and Janelle says in the DR that she is proud of herself. Rachel says that it makes you realize how far you got. Rachel said that she really wants to win the veto and really doesn't want to leave.

Break is over. It's time for the veto competition. Beau picks James as his partner because James is on his side. Howie choose Janelle because he thinks that Janelle is the best. Rachel chose April because she thought that she had a better chance of beating her. They changed into swimming suits and were called out individually to play. The houseguests faces were floating in the pool. They had to dive down into the pool and unhook the face. Then the face had to be put in a container with 2 parts and paired up with the houseguest's partner in the house. Only one face at a time could be moved. The person with the best time wins. Howie was first. He was huffing and puffing and had asthma. Howie had 6:20. James said that he had to win so he doesn't wind up on the block. James went for the one that was closest. He got Michael and Ashlea first. His time was 5:47. April was next. April had an issue with drowning and was having problems with being underwater. I can understand. I have the same feeling. April also tripped on the stand on land, and was really screwing up because she was panicking. Also she said when you are skinny you don't think you need to work out and she is really out of shape. Her time was 9:53. Beau was next. His strategy was to get the ones furtherest from him, and he was getting tangled in the ropes. His time was 6:37. Rachel also went for the ones closest and matched got one of the pairs and then later got the others. Rachel said it was hard because of running and holding your breath. Janelle really wanted to win the veto. She also started with the ones closest to her. Beau was the stupidest in strategy. Beau's was stuck and that was the final one. We didn't see Ashlea's or Rachel's times. Ivette was the MC. April had 9:53. James thought April was crawling or incompetent. Howie was 6:20, Beau was 6:37, James was 5:47. Janelle was 5:51. Rachel was 8:52. James won the veto. Rachel said that she knows they want to split up her and Howie and Rachel would be the smartest choice. Janelle thinks she could have done better and won the veto. She was only 4 seconds off. Janelle is a very good competitor. I hope that she wins HOH next week and that Howie or James follows her.

The break is over. Ivette comments on James have five vetos. Then she says fourth. James admits he is the champion. Ivette says that you have to keep James on your side because he wins vetos. James said he had to because if Janelle won, she would have taken off Rachel or Howie. Rachel said that she would sacrifice herself because it's Howie's game. Janelle said that she is worried that she might go up. Rachel said that she is happy to go. She thinks there is some kind of deal with Beau and Ivette. Rachel doesn't want to be trapped in the house with those people if they don't send her home. James comments on how he has no allies and no friends in the game whatsoever. Although in the feeds he was doing some scheming with Janelle. James said that he doesn't give a rat's ass about anyone. James would love to put a larger target on someone else, and would love that person to be Janelle. Howie takes the pictures of him and Rachel to the chairs with them. Howie asks Rachel why he should veto her. Rachel said that to do well in this game, you have to win competitions. She respects Beau for his decision. She tells James that he is the best at the veto game, and she respects his decision. Howie echos Rachel and says that James won and it is his decision. James said that because it will be difficult to decide who to save of the two and to respect Beau's decision, he does not use the veto. James didn't use the veto because the girl scout troup would go nuts. Maggie said that of the two, she prefers Rachel. Rachel said that it would make sense to take her out, but they may see Howie and Janelle as a stronger alliance. Howie says that if he stays, Hurricane Howie may knock some people off their pedestals.

Tuesday, August 23, 2005 -- Mid Afternoon

An announcement was made today about an America's Choice vote on Big Brother that will be announced this Thursday on the live show. CBS and GoldPocket Wireless will be teaming up to combine wireless voting and the live show. Supposedly the vote will start on Thursday and the results will be announced on the Tuesday, August 30th show. Supposedly the vote will alter the outcome of the show according to the announcement. Now I wonder if it will be that either the viewers will get to vote someone off the show OR get to vote in the person who will be HOH. I'm leaning towards it being a vote someone off the show competition. I love twists. I wish that the producers of the show put more in than they do because it makes it more entertaining for the viewers.

Tuesday, August 23, 2005 -- Afternoon

There is not alot going on in the Big Brother house today. Tuesdays are notorious for being slow days where the houseguests just gossip about each other. I was watching the House Calls show this afternoon and alot of the callers questioned the lack of strategizing that goes on in the house. As Marcellas said, the calls were thinking about the game more than the contestants are. That's sad, but true. All the houseguests have to do is to sit in the house and think of the game all day. Yet all they seem to do is to fall into conversations that are nothing other than petty jealousy and griping. As Marcellas said, one of the reason they want to get rid of Rachel is that she eats too many eggs. My gosh, what a stupid reason! Nobody likes Janelle either, and based on the Maggots conversation, Marcellas has correctly identified the problem as jealous. April keeps on commenting to the others that she wonders if her husband will find Janelle more attractive. What a bunch of losers! James and Ivette are sitting outside talking and Ivette is saying that Howie and Rachel are poor sports. James tells Ivette that Maggie showed alot of poor sportsmanship by not letting Sarah sit at a chair outside when Maggie was nominated, and Ivette gets testy defending Maggie. Obviously Ivette can't see how petty and hypocritical her side is even though James is giving her examples.

I read something about how women aren't faring well in the sciences. I had to put my two-cents into the discussion.

Tuesday, August 23, 2005 -- Late Morning

Casey Hampton signed a new contract with the Steelers. He got a $6.975 signing bonus which is the third highest in team history, and a total salary of $22.775 million through 2009. The Steelers have always made sure to take care of their defensive players. Hampton was in the same situation as Hines Ward because his current contract was up next year. we are still waiting on word about Ward's contract.

Tuesday, August 23, 2005 -- Morning

Bo Bice is off the American Idol summer tour. Last Friday, Bo underwent emergency surgery in a Las Vegas hospital for a kink in his intestines. It's not really clear what the diagnosis or prognosis is at this point because of the lack of official word either from the hospital or the American Idol folks.

It seems that Garry Kasparov is having problems entering Russia. It seems that there is some problem with his passport according to Russian authorities. However, the real problem is that Kasparov has taken on a more political role in the country and has been openly criticising Vladmir Putin.

It seems that Madden Football 06 don't think much of Ben Roethlisberger this year. Roethlisberger was given ranking of 12th best quarterback in the game and is referred to a slight above average quarterback. I don't think that folks should get too upset about this ranking because for one its a game. For another, I don't think that having one good year makes someone a great quarterback. Roethlisberger is going to have to prove himself over time. The one thing that the producers of Madden Football say is that usually it takes a few years for a quarterback to gain awareness of his surroundings and considering the fact that Roethlisberger has thrown a few interceptions and incompletions towards the end of the season and in the pre-season games gives some support to the lack of awareness through lack of experience. That should improve with time--hopefully. Last night as I was watching the local sports call-in show, Bob Smizik was talking about Roethlisberger's attitude, and it seems that it leaves something to be desired. Roethlisberger is gaining a reputation as a bit of a jerk especially when it comes to dealing with the media. It appears that after the Miami game on Saturday, Roethlisberger left and did not make himself available for the usual post-game interview. Speculation is that he may not have wanted to be around for questions about his less than stellar performance. As Smizik said Cordell Stewart used to stay around for the interviews even when Stewart did a bad job.

There was a rumor that Dick Tarnstrom would be coming to the Pittsburgh Penguins, but it doesn't seem that will be likely. It seems that the talks between the Pens and Tarnstrom's agent got abit contentious yesterday so the talks might be off. Tarnstrom is an offensive defensemen which means he's someone who can actually score which alot of defensemen don't do.

Amazon has a plan to make short stories from well known authors available for download for $.49. The plan is to get the works of the authors out to a mass audience, and since digital downloads are relatively inexpensive for Amazon, it's an opportunity to make money while giving the consumer a low price. Look for your favorite author at Amazon Shorts.

Monday, August 22, 2005 -- Late Afternoon

It appears that James did not use the power of veto today. So that means that the nominations will stand as they are and either Rachel or Howie is going home. Right now on the live feeds, Rachel and April seem to be having a nice conversation talking about the game and the things that have happened in the past few weeks. April is keen on bashing James and saying that he will be spreading stories about her that just aren't true. Even Howie seems to have gotten into the act and is being nice to April, aka Busto. I think that Howie would be lost without Rachel's guidance, and the others seem to see her as the mastermind so it is probably pretty definite that Rachel will be the one going home on Thursday. At this point, I am cheering on James and Janelle, but goodness knows how far they will get it. It really does depend on the HOH competitions. Howie, James and Janelle need to win a couple to really throw a kink into the Maggots plan. The Maggots call themselves the "Friendship" which is really annoying, and some people call them the "Fiendship". I prefer Maggots because of the tie to Maggie and the fact that alot of their behvavior is equivalent to maggot behavior. Jennifer called in to the House Calls show because she is in sequester now. Marcellas said afterwards that he tried very hard not to let Jennifer know what he really thought of her because the goal is to not influence the person who is in sequester.

Monday, August 22, 2005 -- Early Afternoon

Hines Ward is saying that he and the Steelers are close to making a deal. Other sources are not able to confirm this information, but that's what Ward says that his agent is telling him. Ward wants a guaranteed sum somewhere between $16 and 18 million.

Folks are concerned about Ben Roethlisberger's performance in the past two pre-season games, but the team isn't as concerned as the fans are. The claim is that the problem is just timing issues between Roethlisberger and his receivers. Hopefully by the time the season starts the timing issues will be resolved.

The Mars Rover Spirit is approaching the peak of Husband Hill and should reach it sometime this week. The total distance yet to be covered is 70 meters. Spirit has been climbing the hill since late last year and we should get a wonderful view of the surrounding area when Spirit reaches the top. Once it is there, a determination will be made on where Spirit should go next. The crew will be looking for layered rocks because that might be the best location to look for prior existence of water. The reason is because the layering can be the result of water. It is amazing what the rovers have accomplished in the year and a half that they have been on Mars. That's what I would call bang for our buck.

There is a local controversy with the police and an anti-war protest group. The group of protesters were walking down Forbes Avenue in Oakland and were gathering to protest outside of a recruiting office. According to some of the news accounts that I saw yesterday, one of the protesters wanted to shut down the recruiting office because it is "preying" on young people. Well, in answer to that, the last that I heard, the military is a volunteer one so I'm not sure how the recruiting office is preying on people. It's not like they grab people on the street and force them into the office and make them sign up. Anyway, the police were called to the scene when one of the protesters grabbed the video camera of a news crew that was covering the protest. The protest group now wants the police investigated for excessive force because the police used pepper spray and Tasers to control the crowd. The police were trying to arrest the person responsible for assaulting the camera person when others in the group tried to stop the arrest. One woman was also bitten by a police dog on the scene, and that was actually on the news last night. The woman was standing close to the barking police dog, and the dog just lunged forward abit and nipped the woman in the back of her left leg. From what I saw of the film, it wasn't that the dog was turned on the woman. She was just standing too close to the dog, and an accident happened. The anti-war protesters don't want to hear accident though. They are sure that they were in the right in all of their actions. We all have a right to peaceful assembly, but what irks me about some of these groups is when they try to prevent others from going about their business. This particular protest group did not stay on the sidewalk, but also went into the street causing a traffic obstruction. In order to obstruct traffic, you have to have a permit. The group did not have this permit and did not want to move out of the street. As you might be able to tell from the tone of my comments, I'm really against these protesters. For one, I'm not "anti-war" and think that the military serves a purpose in our lives outside of war. It helps young men and women who may not be college material at this particular point in their life get some life and work experience. Once out of the military, they would be able to attend college with veteran's benefits. It even ticks me off that people are still referring to the Iraq situation as a war. It was a war at one point. Right now it is a peace keeping/government building mission. We can't just remove all of our troups out of Iraq right now because there is no structure there to keep the country stablized. Even with the help of outside forces, there are still terrorist attacks that no one seems able to control. The other issue that I have with the anti-war group is the fact that they go around with black bandanas covering their faces. Either they are ashamed of their position and don't want others to know who they are, or they want to perpetrate acts of violence and get away with because of their disguise. Those are the only two options that I can think of and neither is an honorable one. I have no respect for these types of groups. That doesn't mean that they should not be allowed the right to a peaceful protest. It just seems that these folks didn't want a peaceful protest and resorted to acting like the hooligans that they are.

Sunday, August 21, 2005 -- Late Evening

April and Maggie are talking in the exercise room. It seems that James won the power of veto. Gosh, that guy is the king of the veto! Maggie is telling April that they don't know what James will do with the veto, and they don't know who will be leaving this week. Maggie is telling April that the only way they can get James out is if either Maggie or April wins HOH. Maggie is talking of the final four being Beau, Ivette, April and Maggie and that over the next couple of weeks they will take out James, Howie, Rachel and Janelle. Maggie doesn't think that anyone will try to split up Ivette and Beau because anyone would feel that they can take on Beau and Ivette as a team. Maggie also thinks that Ivette stands a great chance of making it as the sole pair. I don't know. If they are smart, they have to take out the team. April is rightly upset because her chances of getting the $1 million or $500,000 second place are gone, and she really doesn't want Ivette to get it either. April thinks that the other side will and should target Ivette and Beau first because you want to get rid of the pairs.

Sunday, August 21, 2005 -- Early Evening

I am still seeing nothing but fish on the Big Brother feed today. I hear that there was a span when there weren't fish, but I missed that span of time. It does make you wonder why you are paying for something to look at the Big Brother fish tank. However, in the past there were some good things on the feeds. It's only been the past three days that have sucked. I understand from looking around on other web sites on the Internet (like Morty's and Joker's Updates that Rachel and Howie are up for eviction. I think that the Maggots are just going to run through the others (the Sovereign Three/Four--it used to be six with Kaysar and Sarah--James is playing both teams) and then it will be a Maggot fest.

Two more episodes of the second season of Endurance. It's the 12th episode titled Pathfinder. The show starts with the remaining three teams meeting with JD Roth to discuss the previous night's eviction at the Temple. JD asks if anyone has an idea to which team Purple leave their pieces. Keetin says, not us. JD reads the note. Annie said that overall everyone was great. She also told Mike that Purple trusted him and he should have sent Orange. Annie then says in the note that Michelle has gone through so much and Annie and Jeff respect Michelle more than words can say and that Michelle deserves to win. Then it says "Michelle, our pieces are yours. Sorry Brown team." Orange has gone from last place to a commanding first place lead with 8 pieces. Brown has 3 and Green has only 1. Michelle thinks that she was singled out in the note because she was really close to Annie who now knows everything about Michelle and all that Michelle has gone through. JD tells Tyler that he owes alot to Michelle and Tyler admits that he does. Brown is really upset because they thought they would get the pieces. The elimination is tonight, and the pieces from the team sent home will be up for grabs in a competition. Michelle had no idea that her friendship with Annie would lead to Orange getting the pieces. As Michelle says though, they haven't lied to or backstabbed anyone. Max then says that he thought it was inappropriate for Purple to single out Michelle. Max thinks Brown deserved the pieces because of how hard they worked by going up to Temple and winning competitions. The thing is that they didn't win the pieces and it was Purple's job to distribute the pieces. Keetin then talks to Michelle and Michelle tells Keetin that Brown is really mad. Brown really wants Orange gone so the eight pieces will be up for grabs. Michelle says that "ain't going to happen". Keetin then asks Michelle if she expected to be in the final three. To which Michelle replies that she didn't expect to make it pass the elimination, or to come back from the Temple twice. As Michelle says, you can't expect anything. Mike then tells Brown that if Orange wins today, he'll be dumbfounded. Max wants to win so bad because he does not want to go up to Temple. As Max says, they were sent up to Temple on the last two missions and doesn't want it to be a third time. Tyler says that everyone wants to win, and even Mike agreed that today's win is so important that he can't even put it in to words. To lose when you are so close to the prize will be devistating. Jenna tells Keetin that she is really happy to make it to the final three but she isn't satisified. She wants to win the grand prize and Keetin agrees. Keetin says that she has gone through enough and made enough enemies that the only way to make up for it will be to win the grand prize. It is now time for the competition. The three teams head to the beach. The mission is a test of brain power. Each team will have it's own large playing board. On each board are several tiles and four colors (yellow, red, blue, purple). Of the squares on the board there are three squares for each color marked randomly on the board. The goal of the game is to take colored tiles and place them on the board to connect the colored squares. The paths can't cross, and of the three colored squares with plus signs on the board, one must be at the end, start and middle of the path. The paths can also NOT go diagonally or cross or intersect. The first to connect all four colors wins. That team automatically goes to the final, and the remaining two teams have to battle it out at the Temple. The game starts. Max is getting frustrated and Jenna tells Max to relax. Tyler is just sort of standing there looking at the board. Green thinks they have everything connected, and Keetin starts jumping up and down saying "everything's connected". JD comes over to check it. Max said, they didn't get it because purple's not connected. Brown goes back to it hurriedly. Keetin looks dumbfounded. Jenna tells Max, "we need this". The clock is now at 18 minutes. JD reminds them that "x to x has to be connected". Jenna gets it and understands how it goes. Meanwhile Tyler takes a seat and tells Michelle that he needs to think/formulate and she should just keep on doing what she is doing. It looks like Tyler has given up on a very important game. Tyler even admits that he's really not helping right now. Brown has red and yellow connected. Max then realizes that they have it. He says this is it, we have it. He gets all the purple. JD is watching and when they finish, he confirms that Brown has done it. Orange and Green are headed to the Temple of Fate. JD congratulates Brown because they came a long way in the past year. Tyler said it was hard to figure out how to connect the paths. Keetin say that they thought they had it, but JD said that they didn't. I think Green's problem in the game is that they were clueless about what they needed to do. As Keetin said, they couldn't give up--they had to stay committed and keep going. Max admits that they had to win, and thinks it's amazing that they made it to the top two. Mike is worried because it will be the first time that Green has gone to the Temple of Fate. He thinks that they really couldn't call themselves winners if they didn't go to the Temple once (although Blue in the first season did not go to the Temple). Mike doesn't know what is up there, and would hate to lose now. Keetin said that they don't want to go against Orange and is hoping Orange's luck is going to run out and Green's kicks in. Max wants Orange to go because he wants their eight pieces. Keetin said that she doesn't want to go home. Michelle admits to Max that she really wants to come back, more than Keetin because Michelle wants to give her mom a vacation. Michelle admits that her mom works all the time and that she has off only a few days in the year and even works holidays. Michelle said that she has never gone on a vacation with her mom and would love to give her that opportunity without her mom being tired. Tyler thinks that the person who really deserves to win is Michelle because she has never been on a vacation, has worked hard to get there and really deserves it. Michelle admits that she wants it really bad. Orange and Green are headed to the Temple and all three teams hug and say good-bye. Tyler admits that at the beginning he just wanted to go home, but now he wants to try his hardess not only for himself but for Michelle because she definitely deserves it more than anyone on the beach. Tyler says he's there the third and feels that he's a veteran up there. Hopefully the turn out will be in his favor. Then Michelle in her confessional says that Orange is coming back and "guess what? We're going to win the whole thing because Brown is no competition for us." Keetin said that Green didn't want to go to Temple, but they have to. Mike admits that he is going to miss being on the beach because it is just awesome. Orange and Green are now at the Temple. In the first game, Orange chooses fire and Green chooses water. Green wins the first game. In the second game, Orange chooses wood, and Green chooses fire. Green wins and will be in the final two. Michelle is crying very hard and Tyler puts his hand around her shoulder and pats her. Tyler and Michelle got far considering that they weren't really close as a team. JD says that Orange played an unbelieveable game and that no one thought that they would go this far and last this long. JD reminds them that the friendships are the things that are really important. Keetin yells out "I love you Michelle". Tyler tells them good luck and to show them what Endurance 2 is all about. Michelle can't talk because she is so upset. Green heads back to the beach to a happy Brown.

The 13th episode is titled Home Stretch and it is a recap of the episodes with the last six teams. There isn't any new material in the show. We just get to see all the things that we already saw in the original episodes.

Sunday, August 21, 2005 -- Afternoon

The Steelers won a pre-season game against the Miami Dolphins last night. The final score was 17-3. There were some good moments in the game, and some others that made you thankful that it was only a pre-season game. One of the latter moments was when one of the special teams guys touched the football on the kickoff, but didn't grab it and hold it, so the other team wound up with the ball. The game was postponed for abit over an hour because of some violent thunderstorms that came through the area around an hour before start time. The rain was done by the time the game would have started, but the teams needed to get a warm up, and the officials had to be assured that another storm wouldn't whip through. The problem was that it was a lightening storm, so you can't have people out on the field playing in those conditions. Ben Roethlisberger did not play a very good game. He wasn't bad, but he wasn't good--average would be an accurate description. I think that the fans have to remember that it is only his second year in the NFL, and that he is definitely not going to have as good a season as he did last year. It was amazing for a team to be 15-1 in the regular season, and we are going to have to expect some loses.

The original manuscript of Albert Einstein's 1925 paper on Quantum Theory of the monatomic ideal gas was found in the archives at the Leiden University's Lorentz Institute for Theoretical Physics by a graduate student who was working on his thesis. According to the school, the graduate student is sure to get top marks on his thesis because he also found some other documents that the school did not realize were in the archives, such as a letter from Niels Bohr. I wonder if the thesis is on how the school is not very good at cataloging its archive! The Einstein paper was about how particles in a gas an near absolute zero will clump together into one huge "mono-atom".

Saturday, August 20, 2005 -- Evening

Finally we have Big Brother show. It starts with the review of the past with Jennifer breaking her word more than once. I love the review of Janelle and Beau fighting and Howie with the Busto. It's day 49 in the Big Brother house. The person evicted tonight is the first member of the jury of seven who decides the winner at the end. Jennifer says that she has nothing against Kaysar and it was purely strategic. April said that there was a reason America brought them back, and they have to get rid of them. James said the first time Kaysar went he felt bad, but not this time. Rachel was hurt by the fact that Kaysar went out with an unanimous vote made it even worse--not that she voted for him. Janelle said that Jennifer did not deserve HOH last week, and Janelle wanted to screw Jennifer over. Janelle wins HOH. Ivette said that Janelle ran out like a bat out of hell. We see Janelle say "give me the key bitch", but Jennifer threw it and said "call me a bitch, go and get it like a dog." Janelle says these people have it coming. We get to see the nomination again of Jennifer and Maggie. As Janelle says, James used to be public enemy number one, but not any more because Jennifer and Maggie got rid of Kaysar and it's personal. As Janelle leaves the room, she says "good bye Bitches". Maggie said the Janelle is such a poor winner. Jennifer claims to have sacrificed herself for the team because the HOH always winds up getting nominated the next week. April says that she wants to hit them. Jennifer says that "they say the Kaysar gave it to me". Howie and Rachel get into another argument. Howie tells April that she sucks to bad to waste an HOH on her. Rachel says that Howie needs to calm down and not rub it in their face so bad because it will come back to bite him in the butt. James comes over and gets Howie out of the room. He admits that he is trying to show that he cares about Howie and that he cares about the other side. James is playing a very smart game and is trying to play both sides and have they pull each other apart and play them against each other. April claims that she isn't like Howie because she isn't on welfare. Howie says that April may have a good life, but her husband doesn't because he has her. Rachel tells Howie that he really needs to drop it already because there is another competition tomorrow for HOH (meaning Friday). Rachel tells him he'll be laughing out the other side of his butt if they win tomorrow and tells him to let it go. Rachel says that she is going to talk to James about plans. She says they want Jennifer and will help him get out Maggie next week if he gets rid of Jennifer this week. Janelle has her HOH room. James asks the Maggots if they are going to see the room. Jennifer says, "are you kidding" to which James replies, "I went to see every HOH house, what do you mean?" James tells the guys upstairs that the others didn't want to see Janelle's HOH room and James says that he has been nominated four times yet he still goes. Meanwhile Jennifer is downstairs saying that Janelle just called her a bitch twice and she refuses to go upstairs. So only Howie, Rachel, Janelle and James get to see the stuff which includes a picture of Janelle's pomeranian dog. Janelle admits that she has got ot every HOH too. James says his plan is not to spend too much time with either group. Ivette says that everyone hates her because she talks to James. Ivette thinks that James has her back and that it might bite her in the butt. James tells her that having Jennifer and Maggie up will show if the group stays together and calls it a blessing in disguise. Jennifer and April plot behind a couch about voting off Ivette because Ivette is out to get her. Jennifer says that they can't trust Maggie. Meanwhile April says that she is angry that Jennifer is going up before Ivette and James. As April says the Maggots should have realized there was a problem when Ivette started hanging out more with James. April seems bothered by the fact that Ivette is in the game for herself, but then isn't everyone?

After the commercial break, it is time for the veto competition. Janelle picks Howie. Jennifer choose April, and Maggie chooses Ivette. In the backyard, there is a hockey setup with goalie nets and their pictures at each goal. They all have shirts with their names. Rachel is the MC for the competition. One at a time they go to the center circle. They have to start with the first goal which is Howie. Each guest must score a goal for each contestant, and then the person who does it in the fastest time wins. They have to start with the first goal net, and can't move on until they score a goal in that net. Howie's time was 2:41. April's goal was to get the veto to take Jennifer off, but she wanted to score better than Howie because Howie thinks he is the greatest gift to the world. April scored in 2:33. Howie gave April a hug and hopes we all do see Busto beat him. Next up is Janelle. She comes from Minnesota which is a hockey town and she and her brother play hockey. Janelle wanted it. She did it in 1:45. Janelle gave it all she had. Ivette wanted to win so she doesn't get backdoored. As Ivette says she wasn't from a hockey town. Maggie wanted Eric there because hockey isn't her sport, but it is Eric's I guess. Maggie go through the first few fast, but then was stuck. Jennifer threw a whole slew of pucks on the ground. Ivette says that Janelle was next to her and Ivette could fill the sweat on her body. Ivette wa hoping that Jennifer didn't get it and was praying. Janelle won the power of Veto. April makes a snide remark about Janelle dating a couple of hockey players. As Howie says, once again Janie stepped up.

After the break, how did Janelle winning veto change the game. James is up talking to the group in HOH. Ivette says that it is personal against Jennifer, James reports. James says that he feels it in his gut that Maggie must go home. James blames Maggie for playing a role in getting Sarah out of the house and targeting him. James says Jen is breakable, but Maggie is not. James says that honestly, he wants Maggie out. James said to put Ivette up because he would vote out Jennifer. Janelle feels that she made the right decision, but that she now has a huge target on her bag. It is now veto ceremony time. Maggie and Jennifer get the opportunity to say why Janelle should veto them. Maggie said she would love to be vetoed and that's all, and gives this little girly smile. Then it's Jennifer's turn. Jennifer says that the display shown last week was uncalled for and that it should not have happened playing the game strategically. Janelle chose to her power of veto on Maggie. Ivette looks unhappy. Janelle says for strategic reasons she would choose to evict, then says excuse me, I choose to nominate Ivette. That was really shocking, and Maggie was completely speechless. Maggie said she shouldn't have any comfort in being removed. Ivette didn't like the "chose to evict" Ivette. James is in the gold room listening in, trying to gather as much information as possible. Jennifer realizes that it is for safety by nominating Ivette because Beau and James won't vote against Ivette. Jennifer says that either way they win because they are splitting up a pair.

Break is over, we now are seeing the eviction ceremony. Ivette and Jennifer get to talk first and then the houseguests will vote on who to evict. Ivette goes first. She says that she already said thank you to the family last week, and then thanks everyone in the house and says that everyone serves a purpose in the game. She tells everyone to take care. Jennifer thanks her family and friends and says that she may not be winning the game in the end, but she has a rich life at home and making friends in the household. The houseguests enter the diary room one at a time to vote. Beau is first. His vote is to evict Jennifer. Maggie is next and votes to evict Jennifer. Howie votes to evict Jennifer. April is next and votes to evict Ivette. James votes to evict Jennifer. Rachel evicts Jennifer. The votes are 5 to 1 against Jennifer. Jennifer is evicted. Maggie whispers something in Jennifer's ear and so does Ivette. April cries over her. Jennifer goes and talks to Julie and gets out her picture of Dan. Ivette and Maggie have a long hug. Maggie consoles April and says that they will win HOH and take one of the other side out. Jennifer said that she knew the minute she got HOH when was sacrificing herself for the team. Jennifer said that in the past there wasn't as much division in the house. Jennifer said that the reasons were personal for why Janelle wanted her out and said that she has no idea while Janelle didn't like her.

It's now time for the HOH competition. It's another one of those guessing games. The game is called On The House. There are ten questions. If you buzz in and get the answer right, you get a point. If you get it wrong you are eliminated. The person with the most points win. What are the color of the stools in the kitchen? Orange and Red. Beau guesses it and gets a point. How many seas are on the map? 17. Ivette has a point. What are the numbers on the subway? Howie guesses wrong--it's 3-17. What color are the squares on the downstairs bathroom door? Ivette guess red and grey, the answer is blue. Ivette is eliminated. What is the combo to the gym door? Beau answers 5-3-4 and has 2 points now. What color is the rug in the gold room? White. Rachel has a point. How many pb&J sandwiches were removed from the safe? James guesses 11 and has a point. How many safes in the gold room..? Rachel answers 1, but the question is how many safes in the gold room are the same size? Rachel is out. (answer is 2) What famous landmark is framed above the desk in the HOH room? Answer is Eiffel Tower and April is out. How many key slots are in the nomination box. James answers 13 and we have a tie between James and Beau. How many puzzle pieces are on the wall? Beau answers four and he is the new HOH. He gave a very girly shriek. That's how the game is. What goes around, comes around. Janelle gracioiusly puts the key around Beau's neck. The Maggots are very happy, but Howie is talking about how stupid he was because he didn't hear the question when he buzzed in. That's the problem when you try to be first with an answer. I am imagining that Beau will nominate Janelle and HOwie.

Saturday, August 20, 2005 -- Late Afternoon

The news that the New York City Health Department wants restaurant owners to get trans fatty acids off their menus has my blood boiling. Where will it all stop?

Saturday, August 20, 2005 -- Afternoon

Still fish in the Big Brother house. Supposedly the feeds were supposed to restart at 11 am ET, but that was not the case. I am just expecting that we won't get official word that Jennifer was evicted until this evening. I'm just hoping that Rachel or Howie wins HOH tonight. Actually I am rooting on Rachel because I think that she might make the best decision in getting rid of the true enemy which are the Maggots.

Discovery is being shuttled back to Florida today. Part of the trip was made yesterday, and the final destination should be reached today. Discovery gets back across the country on the back of a Boeing 747 jet. It's amazing to see how small the shuttle is in comparison. It looks like a baby chimp hanging on to its mum.

Hamas is still vowing to continue terror attacks against Israel. Mahmoud Abbas is under international pressure to control the terror groups like Hamas because it doesn't look good to say that you want to have a stable country that is willing to have peace while terrorist groups are allowed to run rampant through said country. What just strikes me as ironic is a comment that is made in the news story. "Abbas, who is under intense international pressure to disarm militant groups, has been urging them not to flaunt their weapons in public." So Abbas as we can see is not really trying to disarm anyone. Keep your weapons--just don't flaunt them in public so everyone knows that you have them. I would imagine that the goal here is to paint a rosy picture while behind the scenes it's still business as usual. What I don't understand is why are so many in the international community blind to this behavior? One thing that Abbas has done is to set January 25 as the long awaited legislative election day. Hamas will have candidates in the election, and are claiming that their terror campaign removed Israel from Gaza in the hopes that it will garner votes.

Good news for Pens fan. The Pens have actually managed to pay off almost all of their creditors from their 1998 bankruptcy claim. It seems that usually creditors can only expect to get back 50% of what they are owed, so this is really an amazing feat. It seems that most of the credit probably should go to Mario Lemieux because he's done alot to turn around the team financially, and also gave up claim on $7.5 million dollars that was owed to him. Meanwhile the campaign to get a slots license for the Penguins continues. The guys who run Slots for Mario want people to take action and to go to board meetings and City Council meetings to make sure that the licenses don't go to cronies or those who contribute money to political campaigns.

There's a Steelers game tonight, and it may be the last chance for Charlie Batch to show that he should be the number three quarterback. Right now, Tommy Maddox is a sure bet for the second position, and it's down to Batch and Brian St. Pierre. Right now, the money is on St. Pierre because he is the younger player.

The University of Pittsburgh has moved up in the ratings that the US News and World Report puts out on colleges and universities. Pitt is now 39th on the Top 50 Public Universities and 59th on the overall list.

Friday, August 19, 2005 -- Late Evening

Rumors are swirling around the Internet. The offical word from CBS is that live feeds will not continue until after the Big Brother show tomorrow evening because they don't want results to leak out. It appears that sporatically throughout the evening, the feeds would come in, and folks were commenting that Jennifer was no where to be seen and April was crying. Of course, this leads to the rumor that Jennifer left the Big Brother house. Of course, without live feeds it's going to be difficult to separate truth from fiction. I suppose that we will just have to wait until tomorrow's show to find out what the heck is going on.

Friday, August 19, 2005 -- Early Evening

There is still fish on the live feeds. It seems that the rumor on the Internet is that the feeds will be down until 9 am ET tomorrow morning. I don't know why. If CBS doesn't want folks to say who has the Power of Veto (which I assume is the issue here), then why have the live feeds at all. If they have a paid service, that service should be available. If not, there should be some sort of explanation. There is another rumor that Ivette won the Power of Veto, but I'm not sure how the person who states that knows without the feeds. As soon as I find out more information about the veto, I will post it.

Friday, August 19, 2005 -- Afternoon

The fish feed has been on the live Big Brother feed for the past two hours. I imagine that the POV competition is being played, and it must be a lengthy one. The thing that I found from watching the food competitions live is that the process takes awhile even if the game is quick. Why? Because the producers keep on stopping the action to make sure that the houseguests are abiding by the rules. I did find out something interesting from looking around on the web. Janelle was involved with a pilot for a planned travel series called Nautical Angels. I'm not really sure if the "pilot" was actually shot. I think that they may have taken pictures of Janelle and the other two girls in locations to make it look like they went to around the globe in this yacht. It seems that casting was taking place in February of 2005. Kaysar was on House Calls this afternoon, and it was very entertaining. What Big Brother should do is give Kaysar some sort of role in promoting the show. Since they know he has a large fan base and is one of the most popular houseguests every on the show, you think they would want to take advantage of that popularity. Kaysar also denied that there was any romantic chemistry between himself and Janelle. As Kaysar said, Janelle is going to date Michael, and Kaysar wouldn't come between that. This lead to Gretchen saying the famous phrase, "bros before hos".

Friday, August 19, 2005 -- Morning

The space shuttle flight are on hold until March of next year. The biggest issue right now, which may be time consuming, is that that engineers will have to find a solution for the foam issue. I'm imaging that they won't go back to tried and true method that they used to use because of the freon issue. It does make you wonder though if they should. It might be that environmentally safe/politically correct and safe space flights might not go hand in hand.

Penguins tickets are selling like hotcakes. I put off getting tickets until today, and wasn't able to get anything in the south end. I did manage to get tickets in the North End. Now there were tickets still left in the south end (where the Pens shoot twice), but they were underneath the overhang. I've had seats there before, and the seats sucked because it was difficult to see the scoreboard, and you felt like you were in a tunnel. So I went for the north end. Whatcha gonna do when you wait too long?

Thursday, August 18, 2005 -- Late Evening

There is alot of action going on the Big Brother feeds tonight. James is scheming with Janelle in the Gold Room about how Maggie is the leader of the other bunch. Jennifer is scheming with Ivette in the stockroom until Howie walks in on them. The other controversy that everyone is talking about on the Internet is how Jennifer took the key off her neck and threw it to the ground behind her instead of giving it to Janelle. You could see Jennifer do that just as Janelle was coming toward her. Jennifer claims it was because she was afraid of being attacked. Please! What Maggots! Sour grapes and poor losership on the Maggots part. It seems that the Maggots will quickly turn on each other, and it will be entertaining to watch them implode. Now what we need is to have Rachel or Howie win on Saturday. That could mean two good evictions in one week. What more could one ask for?

Thursday, August 18, 2005 -- Evening

This is after the Big Brother show. There appears to be some controversy over Janelle cheating over the HOH competition. It's more Maggot envy. I just rewatched the show, and Janelle had the card held up with 300 upside down on it while she was writing 275 on the other side. Julie told her the card was upside down, and Janelle said "sorry" and held up the 275 which she had just written. I listened again to the rules and Julie did not say at any time that once you wrote down an answer that you weren't allowed to change it. The thing is that Janelle wrote one number and instantly changed it on the other side. The Maggots think the game is rigged because of course they would. They are Maggots. I think that it is funny how they berate the others for taking things badly when the Maggots are crying foul and threatening to quit the game. My favorite is Maggie saying that you can't compete with people like Howie and Janelle, but that the Maggots have won in the Game of Life. Give me a break! Maggie needs to go back to her ER where she misdiagnoses chicken pox for strep throat. One the feeds a few days or so ago, Maggie was talking about the time she came down with chicken pox, but didn't know that it was that. What an ER nurse! Remind me to avoid her hospital!

Meanwhile Team Kaysar is trying to raise $2 million dollars that will be divided between Kaysar, Janelle, Howie and Rachel if they are evicted without winning the prize. The question that I would have is how do we know that the folks at the web site will actually give the money to the aforementioned. We don't. So if you are into risks, and want Kaysar and company to get some money, Team Kaysar is for you.

Thursday, August 18, 2005 -- Evening

Tonight is live eviction night on Big Brother. The usual recap starts the show. It's day 47 in the Big Brother house. We also get the news that this will be double eviction week. In less that 48 hours someone will be out of the door and another HOH/nomination will take place. We see film revisiting the Kaysar nomination. Kaysar said that it was shocking and very filthy. Kaysar says Jennifer has convinced herself it is okay and he has no respect for her. James is shocked. April says that all along the Maggots have kept their promises, but this week they didn't. Kaysar asks Jennifer if she is proud of herself and asks is she feels that she accomplished something. Kaysar calls Jennifer out to find out what he did for her to justify stabbing him in the back like that. Jennifer said "things change on a dime". Janelle says you were crying and swearing on your life. Jennifer says that she can totally understand how Kaysar would never believe her again. Kaysar says that non of the Maggots can explain what he did to cause the lie. April tries to defend Jennifer by saying it was a group decision, and not Jennifer. Meanwhile Howie makes comments about April really hasn't won anything and expects to win money. Howie's plan is to attack April personally and make her crack. Kaysar does try to control Howie abit. Howie said that he let April shoot her mouth off, but no more. Howie said that he was afraid of getting voted off, but not now. April now says that she didn't make the decision--which she just said she did. April says that Howie looks like an idiot. Janelle says "at least he doesn't look like a liar". Howie then said he's not stuck with a fat husband and ugly dog. April goes to the HOH bathroom to cry and pray for the strength not to crack. Boo-hoo! She then cries more crocodile tears in the DR.

The commercial break is over. We hear how the house has degenerated. Janelle tells Rachel she is beautiful and tells Maggie she's a bitch. Howie likes what Janelle is doing because she thinks that it will put people off their HOH game. April then tells Janelle she is drunk and Janelle calls her a gold digging bitch. Then Janelle calls Beau a whore who sells himself to old men. Then Beau calls her "polyester hair". It seems Beau is really drunk, and all the houseguests go off to break up the cat fight between Beau and Janelle. Ivette takes Beau off and tries to talk to him and calm him down. April and Beau say they are going to vote off Janelle. Ivette says that they can't go against their decision. Then Howie starts calling April Busto. Then April says something about Howie not being able to compete because his is missing the little finger on his right hand. April says that Howie won't make her break down. Then we see Howie the next morning asking April how she feels about America hating her. Howie does not stop and April tried to ignore him. Then Howie was carrying on outside and saying he wanted pepperoni pizza. April starts crying crocodile tears because Howie was saying that he was going to eat her dog because he said that he wanted pepperoni pizza. April's dog's name is Pepperoni. Ivette tries to get them a pep talk to let the other side be so wired about hating the Maggots that the other side loses HOH. She tells them not to lose sight of what they have done so far. Now Beau, James and Rachel vote. Rachel calls both good competitors. James would prefer Janelle to stay in. Beau hates Janelle but thinks Kaysar is creating an army. James thinks that Kaysar can admit he makes mistakes and that Kaysar is someone to learn from and is someone that James respects. Rachel says that Janelle is a strong player and she is going to vote her guts.

Another commercial break. Julie talks to Jennifer in the HOH bedroom. Julie asks about giving Kaysar her word about nominating two people from her alliance and then Kaysar. Jennifer claims that since Kaysar didn't remove his finger immediately, the deal was off. Jennifer said that putting Kaysar up was the group's decision not hers. Julie asks about Jennifer lying in the house, and Jennifer says that it doesn't say you can't lie in the rule book. And she decided to step it up a notch and come out from under radar. Jennifer would want to nominate James next week. We go to hear Maggie, Ivette, Howie, and April in the DR. Howie says that he loves both people. Maggie says that Janelle has alot of luck. April says that she has no respect for Janelle, and knows all of Janelle's weaknesses. Ivette says that only the stupidest things come out of Janelle's mouth. April likes Kaysar because he is always there for her and he is always there to console her. Howie wants to keep Kaysar in the house. Ivette says that Kaysar has admitted to being the leader of four other people. Julie goes into the living room. Howie says he is doing great and has all week. Julie asks Kaysar for final words. He stands and says that he would like to thank America for voting him in, and would like to apologize to them for what happened in the house, and for handing over HOH and being voted out. And he says that he is truly sorry. Janelle says thanks to all her family and friends and that she hasn't lied and can leave the house with a clear conscience.

Commercial break is over. Who will be evicted? By a unanimous vote, Kaysar has been evicted from the Big Brother house. His own "army" didn't even vote for him. Howie, Rachel, and Janelle hug him, and he really doesn't get hugs from the others--except for Beau. Howie and Janelle are the only ones saying "what up Kaysar". Again Kaysar is with Julie. Julie comments on how Kaysar was given a second chance and he's back. Kaysar said that he trusted the untrustworthy. Kaysar wanted to gain the Maggots respect and what happened is that the Maggots turned on him. Kaysar said that he was in the pressure cooker a long time and Jennifer was crying. Julie asked if he underestimated the other team. Kaysar said that he wanted to play the game a certain way and that's how he wound up leaving the game. Kaysar says if honesty and integrity mean nothing to them that is how it is. Julie asks how Kaysar feels knowing that he had 82% of the over 5 million votes. Kaysar said that he was duped into thinking he could trust these people, but he couldn't. Howie tells Kaysar that he loves him. Janelle says that he is one of the smartest and most compassionate. Ivette says that someone else has to play dirty not just Kaysar. Jamses said that they took out his Queen so he had to take out the King. Jennifer says that she didn't intentionally lie--she wound up breaking her word. Kaysar said that he had to take the flack for the team going off the rails when Howie was HOH. So Kaysar was blamed for something he had no control over. I just loved Jennifer---I didn't lie--I just broke my word.

The HOH competition is one of those guessing games. The nomination will have to be made immediately after the competition. The competition is "Face the Facts". It has five sides and has the faces of Eric, Ashlea, Michael, and Sarah on it. The fifth side is blank for "none of the above". If the answer is incorrect, that person is eliminated. Last person standing is HOH. Which evicted houseguest won the chance to see the movie? Answer is Sarah. Everyone got it right. Next: in the veto competition high and dry who finished second. Answer is Michael, everyone got it right. In the food competition, snack shack from hell, who ate snails and noodles. Answer none of the above. Maggie got it wrong. Next in the food competition, will spell for food, who passed on jalepano. Answer Sarah. everyone got it right. After HOH competition, majority rules, who gave the HOH key to Kaysar. Answer Eric. Everyone right. In the veto competition rectangle, which evicted house guest untangled the orange rope. Answer Ashlea. Howie and Ivette got it wrong. Which evicted houseguest misspelled two words in the Will Spell for food? Answer None of the above. James and Rachel are eliminated. Tie break time with Beau, April and Janelle. How many light bulbs did it take to spell sold out in the luxury competition? Answer 286 and Janelle got 275 and is the HOH. Janelle goes crazy with Janelle over winning. Then Julie says that Janelle has to immediately go to the Diary Room while everyone else take a seat in the living room. Julie explains to Janelle what is going on. Janelle can't hear Julie. Janelle is excited to hear it is a double eviction week. Janelle has to decide right now who to put up on the chopping block and will stay in the diary room until she goes out to reveal her decision.

Julie now congratulates everyone for making it to the halfway point. Julie says that Janelle's reign is being cut short, and someone is going out. Howie gets excited and yells out. Janelle is going to go out to announce her choices. Janelle and Howie smack hands. The first nominee is Jennifer. The second is Maggie. Howie and Janelle celebrate. We leave the house seeing Howie, Rachel, and Janelle hug while the others try to act like they don't care.

Thursday, August 18, 2005 -- Late Afternoon

I have been reading the Case for Israel by Alan Dershowitz for the past week. It is a very good book, and does a nice job of both identifying the common misconceptions about Israel and providing the evidence that proves those claims wrong. As the settlers are evaluated from Gaza, this is a good time to read more about Israel and get an understanding of the issues that the country faces. I read the following interview with Binyamin Netanyahu were he details his concern about the safety of Israel with the evacuation of Gaza. As he states, 300 million Israeli dollars have been poured into the western Negev. This is the area of the country that abutts the Gaza. In the past, security issues weren't as big of a concern in the area because the Israeli forces were in Gaza and were able to staunch attacks to deeper areas of Israel. Now as Netanyahu says, the front has just moved back, and areas that weren't vulnerable to attack are. The proof will be in the eating of the pudding. We will have to see what happens in Gaza over the next few months.

Thursday, August 18, 2005 -- Afternoon

It seems that NASA is having problems learning from their mistakes. It seems that the members of the oversight panel that have been working on the space shuttle are disappointed in NASA's ability or inability to make matters right after the Columbia disaster. The panel is quoted in the report saying "We expected that Nasa leadership would set high standards for post-Columbia work...we were, overall, disappointed" and "It is difficult to be objective based on hindsight, but it appears to us that lessons that should have been learned have not been." Not only hasn't NASA done what it should to make the shuttle safe, but what it did cost more, took longer and was more complex than it needed to be, at least according to the panelists. We shall have to see how NASA addresses the issues given a second change. Right now, the administration at NASA should be thanking its stars that they do have a second chance, and that this past mission with Discovery didn't go horribly wrong.

Over in training camp yesterday, Ben Roethlisberger had his foot stepped on. I know how much it can hurt to have someone trod on your foot. The team doctor looked at this foot, and it looks like it will be a-okay for practice today. Hines Ward is getting back into the swing of things in training camp. The first thing he did is go around to his teammates and apologize for any disruption that he may have caused. That was a classy thing to do. I've always liked Ward. I just didn't agree with the salary demands and everyone insisting that we had to pay Ward whatever he wanted or else we wouldn't win the Super Bowl. That's not how business works, and football is a business. Also, I don't like the psychological ransom/threat--pay him or we win. Come on! Ward may play and we won't win! Or he may get injured and we still win. Who knows about these things.

Comcast has made a deal with the NHL to broadcast games over the next two years. The games will be broadcast on the Outdoor Life Network (OLN). OLN will broadcast the first two games of the Stanley Cup and then NBC will broadcast the rest of them. Comcast is paying $65 million this year and $70 million next year. This is Comcast's challenge to ESPN. It seems that Comcast wants to have a sports channel, and this will be a good start.

It seems that big butts are in. Ever since Jennifer Lopez flaunted her big butt, we have been inundated with images of big butts all over the place. As the Madison advertisers say, women in general tend to be larger sized in the real world, so to get some big butts in the media is just realistic. Geeze, I guess that I need to pull out the padded underwear!

Wednesday, August 17, 2005 -- Afternoon

Mario Vasquez has supposedly signed a record deal with Clive Davis. The deal is supposed to be officially announced after Labor Day. The deal is similar to what he would have gotten if he had stayed on American Idol. The only difference is that he isn't under a managment deal with Simon Fuller. So Mario lucked out and make a really smart move.

Today is voting day in the Big Brother house. As is usual for this day, there isn't alot of activity in the house except for houseguests being called to the diary room to cast their votes for the evictee. Right now, the Maggots minus Ivette are camping out by the pool. Ivette is playing chess with James, and the Maggots should be taking note of the bond between the two because it will be to the detriment of the Maggot alliance. The Maggots also seem to have issues with the fact that Rachel isn't holing herself up in a room, hiding away and not taking advantage of the resources of the house. Obviously the Maggots feel they own it all, and April has commented that Rachel has some nerve to think that she can go and be out by the pool. I'm glad that Rachel ignores them and continues on with her usual routine. Janelle also went out to sunbathe by the pool too. After all, it is open to all houseguests. Other than the voting, Wednesdays are usually boring days. There's no point in trying to persuade folks to do something because the decisions are made, and the only thing ahead is the live show and HOH competition on Thursday. Thursdays during the days tends to be boring also because the houseguests spend time cleaning the house and primping for the cameras.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005 -- Early Afternoon

The big news today has been the forced evacuations from the Gaza Strip. The deadline for evacation was set for 11 pm EDT last night. Since then Israelis soldiers have gone into the areas to make the settlers who are still in their houses, pack up and leave. For the most part, the settlers have gone without problems. There have been instances of screaming and refusing to leave, but in the end, the packing begins and the people leave. The ones who are the most entrenched at this point are the people who have come into the area who aren't settlers and who are protesting the evacuation. These people aren't leaving as easily and can cause the process to be held up. The images that are being shown are television are heartbreaking with both settlers and soldiers crying. As the officials explain, this is a process that was agreed to so that peace can be made with the Palestinians. Meanwhile the settlers are saying that all it means is that the front that the Palestinians fight from moves closer to the main body of Israel. An Israeli settler on the West Bank grabbed a gun from a soldier and killed three Palestinians. The settler was a driver who was transporting two of the Palestinians in his car to an industrial work area. He then ran into the industrial area and killed another person while injuring three more. The settler was captured and turned over to the police station.

Ben Roethlisberger caused a scene at the filming of the ESPN reality series at the Montour school district. He stopped by to say hello to Dick Butkus and to give the players some words of encouragement to go for an undefeated season. Bound for Glory is scheduled to start on ESPN on September 20.

On the Steeler front, there is some concern about the running game. With Duce Staley out for awhile, and Jerome Bettis really not meant to be playing all the time because we don't want to have him get injured and be out for a portion of the season, we have to rely on others. So far in the first pre-season game, those others weren't really pulling their weight. This does not bode well for a team that bases itself on its running game. Meanwhile, our defense wasn't too good in the red zone and let in four touchdowns and a field goal the five times Philadelphia got into the zone. That's not very promising but hopefully some work can be done to improve it. We do know that special teams is doing well since they brought in two touchdowns. Three standouts for the team were Nate Washington who had four receptions for 76 yards, Ike Taylor who had the 100 yard touchdown return, and Larry Foote who did his usual good job with two tackles that resulted in losses for Philadelphia.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005 -- Evening

Tonight was another episode of Big Brother. It starts with a review of James being up on the block and then saving himself, and Kaysar's return. Then Jennifer's HOH win and duplicity. We first see Janelle call Jennifer a bitch and how she deceived everyone. Rachel says that Jennifer's credibility went down the tubes. Kaysar approaches Jennifer and says that Jennifer misunderstood Kaysar's intent. April Told Ivette about Janelle calling Jennifer a bitch. James approaches Jennifer and says that he knows what's going on. He doesn't think that backdooring is nice because it removes the person from competition and he can't defend himself. Meanwhile Janelle is saying that Jennifer swore on her life. Rachel says that she thinks that Jennifer is going to screw Rachel over. Howie says they will win the veto, and it's James who's going to leave and they are just pawns. Janelle just says that it's not honest. Meanwhile Kaysar throws his cap across the room violently. Kaysar said that he didn't come back to see his team dismanteled in front of this eyes. Howie tries to keep everyone calm. Howie says, no one's out the door yet, they are still in complete control. Howie tries to remind them that the plan is to get rid of James and everything is still on track. Meanwhile Ivette is on James side and is trying to rally the troups around James. Meanwhile Jennifer tells James about Kaysar wanting him out. James says, "America you wanted Kaysar back in, and I'm sending him back to you". Howie and company were right that James and Ivette are on the same side. Meanwhile we see Rachel crying and Kaysar and Howie consoling her in the Gold Room. Rachel doesn't want the other side to see it because it is a moment of weakness. James then tells Jennifer that he wants to talk. James said you made a deal with Kaysar for HOH, and James says that he at least understands what's coming. Jennifer says that she is honest. James tells Jennifer that he gave up in HOH was because of seeing Ivette so upset. James also said that he mouthed to Rachel "am I safe?" and Rachel gave him an evil, mean look. James says that he doesn't want to be like Rachel, Howie, Janelle or Kaysar. James says that by showing the Maggots that he thinks other things besides the game is important, that they think James is human. Jennifer says that James thinks the backdoor plan in unfair, and he had other times to make up for all his other behavior. James also asks to be safe because he will be a very strong ally. Then Kaysar asks to speak to Jennifer. Kaysar said that he was rusty from being out for a week, and he didn't want to let America down for chosing him. Kaysar realizes he made a bad decision in stepping down and letting Jennifer get HOH. Jennifer said that Kaysar is understandably upset because she lied to him in the pressure cooker. Meanwhile Jennifer tells Kaysar what happened last week. Then Jennifer says that Rachel, Howie and Janelle tried to talk her and April into getting rid of Ivette, which was actually the opposite of what happened. Kaysar said that Jennifer should have told him this, especially before the decision. Jennifer said that she didn't want to tell him and be swayed. Jennifer says I'm still doing what you want, and James is gone. Kaysar says that James fate is sealed and the real war starts when James walks out the door.

Back from commercial break. We see Ivette and Beau talking Howie into putting on the black Speedo that he got last week. Howie broke down and put it on. Howie said that he felt weird and Ivette has to adjust it for him. Then Beau goes to assist Howie. Howie thinks the Speedo is awkward. April said that he looked as good as you can in a Speedo. It's nice to see everyone laughing together because it will be short lived. It's Maggie and Kaysar's birthdays. There is a party for both of them. They each got their own cake. Kaysar got a huge homemade card from his family. Maggie got a card from her boyfriend. They got presents from K-Mart. Maggie got a Playstation handheld. Kaysar got a 20 GB song player. Jennifer asks Ivette about James. Ivette does his best. She says that James has been made to look untrustworthy, and Ivette tries to make it sound like the other side is responsible for James. Ivette thinks that James was misunderstood. She also says that the other side wanted to get rid of Ivette and team back up with James. Jennifer says that we know where the other team is, but we don't know where James is. Ivette says if they take James back in, then they are 6 to 4, and then they can get rid of one and just have 3 to get rid of. April says that as a numbers game they can use him to their advantage. Ivette says why not take him in and use him. Ivette wants them to make sure that the decision that they make is the real wise one.

Another commercial break. It is time for the Veto competition. Rachel says that it's possible they aren't telling her the truth that they want to get rid of James. Jennifer picks April. Rachel chooses Howie. Janelle chooses Kaysar. She knows that if Kaysar wins, he will use it for her. James, of course, can't play. Maggie was the hostess. There was a giant round table in the center with two huge chairs. It seems Big Brother is going to have a coaster like game. That's the game they play with coasters and the coffee table. The table has five rings for the five weeks that someone was evicted. The coasters have the pictures of the evicted houseguests, and the goal is to get the coaster with the houseguest on the week he/she was evicted. You get points for each of the houseguests that you get rid--Ashlea is 1 point for the first week. If no one scores any points, then no one wins the veto. The person throws from the green chair and the leader is in the orange chair. April got the Ashlea and Eric coasters for a total of 4 points. April says that it didn't matter who got the veto because everyone was on the same page. Rachel got Ashlea, Eric, Kaysar for a total of six points. Kaysar was next. He got Ashlea and Michael, and missed all the others. He had three points. Jennifer got Ashlea and that was it. She had only one point. Janelle is the only one who hasn't played the coaster game. She got Michael and Eric and got five points. Rachel was glad that Janelle didn't get it. Howie was up and got Ashlea and Eric and got four points. So Rachel won the power of veto. Rachel said that she's going off the block and is 100% sure that she isn't getting evicted. James said that he isn't going out like this. Even Custer had a last stand.

James says that he knows that it's not over till he is out the door, but he knows that only Ivette is on his side. As Howie says, who knows in this house. Ivette starts spreading lies in the HOH room. She tells Jennifer, Beau and Maggie that Kaysar was trying to get the veto to keep himself in the game. Ivette says that it is so dangerous to keep Kaysar. April said that it was great to put up Kaysar. Maggie says that she has a problem with giving your word and then going back on it. As Maggie says, she has to stop pushing that Jennifer gave her word. She says no one else is playing that way. Jennifer says that they will be pissing off America. Maggie says she doesn't know which is worse the person that they are trying to get rid of and can't, or the person they got rid of and who came back. Jennifer doesn't want to let the others think they are influencing her. Rachel says that she does not believe that Jennifer will put James up. She thinks that it will be Howie. Kaysar says that it would be dumb not to put James up because next week they will make Jennifer pay. Jennifer says that she wants to know individually how Maggie feels, and what she would do if she were HOH. Maggie said that she would get rid of Kaysar instead of James because Kaysar runs the other group. Jennifer then called Beau into her "office". She asked him the same question. He said James because Beau felt that he could beat Kaysar in the veto but not James. IVette says that she wanted to get rid of Kaysar. She doesn't want to give Kaysar a second chance to come back and screw them. Then Jennifer asks April, and she says Kaysar because he is the leader of the group. Jennifer says that the opinions are making her think. She doesn't want anyone to know what she is thinking, and wants to make up her own mind. April tells Jennifer that they have to save their asses.

The last commercial break. Kaysar talks to Maggie. He asks if she will answer honestly, and she says she will do what she thinks is best. He asks her if Jennifer is going to follow through with the deal. Maggie said that is her impression. Kaysar says that he thinks that Jennifer wants attention and wants to go out with a bang. Maggie says Jennifer is 100% independent. Kaysar goes to Jennifer and asks for assurance that the game is going according to plan and wanted to touch base with her. Jennifer said that it is. Jennifer said that she knows she made a deal with Kaysar to get HOH, but when she has an opportunity, she has to run with it. Jennifer said that the only person Kaysar should have trusted is himself. Jennifer tells the Maggots "I'm so evil." Rachel says that James should be the one going up today because that was the house's wish. Rachel calls the veto ceremony. Rachel has Janelle speak first. Janelle says to Rachel "just do what you have to do". Rachel says that it natural to save yourself, so Rachel is using the veto to save herself. Jennifer now has to make another choice. Jennifer says no one in the house trusts James, Kaysar is the leader of his group and it fell apart without him last week. Jennifer nominates Kaysar, and James is shocked and open mouthed. He was almost ready to get up out of his seat. James does a good job of acting shocked because I think that he knew. Jennifer says that it doesn't say that you can't lie and break your word. James said that it is revenge because Kaysar came in to get James out. Janelle says that she is targeting Jennifer next week. Howie says he is going on a rampage. Kaysar says, "forget integrity, forget honor. They just wanted me out. They are cowards." I think that it's fairly obvious that they want Kaysar out, and he will be gone on Thursday.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005 -- Late Afternoon

Howie is really going off the deep end. The houseguests are on lockout outside, and Howie is constantly yelling things at April and calling her "Busto". I think that's in reference to her breast enlargement. He is really going abit far in my opinion by just constantly screaming. I know that everyone else is afraid of him, or probably thinks that if they speak up, Howie will attack them verbally. I think that someone should just tell him to shut up. Rachel especially. I don't care how you feel about April, it is really not appropriate for him to be yelling at her like that while no one says anything. I know why Big Brother lets it continue--because of ratings. But stuff like that just sickens me. What Howie needs to do is just put his money where his mouth is and win HOH next week and do what he wants. Not verbally berate someone who is emotionally a weakling.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005 -- Afternoon

The Maggots are just sitting around the table outside repeating themselves. They are still talking about Howie and April getting into it yesterday. Or maybe Howie yelled at April again today. It's hard to tell because the Maggots make a living out of regurgitating gossip like a cow chewing cud. The more often they bring something up the better it gets. I think all of the swearing and name calling is petty. I really can't stand the Maggots, but this is a game. I just want them to get their comeuppance by sending some of them home. I think that will change their tune because they are thinking that they will be the final five. What is boring is hearing both groups bad mouth each other behind their backs and brag about the knock down, drag 'em out fights they will get into if the other side says something. The House Calls show had a psychologist on to explain the inner workings of the minds of the houseguests. I think that the reason folks are becoming so bitchy is because there are so many immature lay-abouts in the house. From what I can figure out, the only person who may have a real job is Maggie--if she is an emergency room nurse. The others have jobs that are transitory in nature or not really careers that the average working person has. However, that must be the pool of people that the producers have to pick from.

Konstantin Koltsov resigned with the Pens today.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005 -- Early Afternoon

It seems that the atmosphere in the Big Brother house has really disintegrated. What can you expect though when the Maggots do all that they can to lead the other side into thinking that James is the target, and then go back on their word in a massive way to target others? Personally I am just amazed that the Maggots can live with themselves without even acknowledging that they are hypocrites. I suppose that's what you can expect from people who really don't have the honesty and integrity that Maggie proclaimed on her "Bring back Eric" shirt. I don't blame the Maggots though for the other side falling for their phony statements and crocodile tears. I do blame the gullible stupids, in particular Howie. The only people up this morning are Rachel and Janelle. Rachel is abit ticked because it appears that Big Brother has stocked the storeroom with dairy items that expired August 13. It seems that there is alot of "f***ing idiots" comments being made on both sides, and it seems that the groups are having difficulty being brought together as a group. It seems that the nomination of Kaysar was the straw that broke the camel's back and all civility has flown out of the window. I don't know how others feel about it, but if I gave my word that I would do something and then didn't, I would not be able to live with myself. Yes it is a game, but there should at least be some honor. Rachel is now trying to explain to Janelle that it makes the Stupid Four better people. It does make them more honorable, and perhaps it was the wakeup call for their brain cells to start functioning. I am really hoping that Howie, Rachel or Janelle wins HOH. Janelle is telling Rachel that Beau is a male prostitute, and the feed just went to all fish. It seems that Janelle came to this decision because of some common about Beau going out with an older man and getting money from him. The tension does make for a more interesting game, especially if the HOH competition goes against the Maggots.

It seems that there is a new security policy at Heinz Field. Everyone is getting physically patted down. I have an opinion on that.

The Gaza pull-out is not going well. There have been clashes between the settlers and the soldiers, and it is just supposed to get worse. Emotions are running high, and that is always a dangerous situation. As expected, Hamas is claiming that this is a victory for terrorism and that the terrorism will continue until the prime objective of regaining all of the land, including all of Israel, is accomplished.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005 -- Morning

The Steelers won the game last night with a final score of 38-31. The big news though, was the return of Hines Ward to the team and the sidelines. The players are excited to have back a player who is known to be a team motivator. It seems that there are players who are talkers on the field and during practice and Ward is one of them. You need a talker on the team to rouse the rabble into fighting the other side, and Ward and Joey Porter are two guys who do that. With Ward holding out and Porter out with an injury, the practices have been quiet and there hasn't been a good motivating force among the other players.

The Penguins have been signing up a storm. The latest storm though has been with older players. Some may say, myself included, that the players might be past it. However, maybe Craig Patrick knows what he is doing, and I shouldn't be second guessing him, but I do wonder what the goal is. John LeClair has been dropping off in the past few years and is 36 years old, so I'm not very hopefully that after a year off he will have a restoration of his playing prowess from a few years earlier. The other player that we signed yesterday was Steve Poapst. He's also 36 years of age, and plays defense. The interesting thing about Poapst is that he only had a full NHL season starting in 2001-2002. The previous years were spent going back and forth between the AHL and the NHL. Meanwhile, it doesn't look very promising for the Pens to get Evgeni Malkin. There have been problems with the Russian Federation signing an agreement that will allow the Pens to bring Malkin over to the US. I am going to wait for the season to see how these players work together. After all, it might be a matter of synergy. The individual parts might not be too exciting, but together they might spell Stanley Cup!

Monday, August 15, 2005 -- Later Evening

We are nearing the end of the third quarter in the Steeler game and the score is 31 to 17 with the Steelers leading. The team is doing really well. I love the way the NFL shows the live games with a field and down lines.

Monday, August 15, 2005 -- Evening

The Steelers have been doing very good so far, and we just started the second quarter. Right now the score is 21-7. The Steelers made their scores with an interception and two kickoff returns for touchdowns. In fact the second one was a 100 yard return by Ike Taylor. The special teams players are doing really well, and the defensive players are doing well too. We really haven't seen much of the offense to make any decisions. Hines Ward is on the sidelines, and right now, is being interviewed by a sportscaster. Here's a play-by-play of the game.

Monday, August 15, 2005 -- Early Evening

Breaking news! It is an hour before the game tonight and Hines Ward is having a press conference right now stating that he has ended the hold out. He talked to Bill Cowher last night, and decided to come back to work and restart the negotiations. Hines has said repeatedly that he needed to hear from Cowher that he was a valued player and that he was wanted back on the team. Obviously cowher had the right words and Ward is back. Ward is saying that his agent has given him options of what he can do, but Ward is the one who calls the shots. Ward said that he wants to retire as a Steeler, so he wants whatever needs to be done to actually be done. So, let the negotiations begin. Ward was already offered the best deal in Steeler history, so it's not to surprising to think that it will happen in actuality.

Monday, August 15, 2005 -- Afternoon

Because I love the curried chicken Salad from the Cafe at Frick, I decided to try the recipe that I got from the wait staff the last time I was there. The salad is very tasty, and I'm not sure that even with the recipe that I did it justice. I have it cooling in the refrigerator now, and we will see how it turns out. Here is the recipe:
Curried Chicken Salad
olive oil
2 chicken breast halves, diced
2 1/2 tsp. curry powder
1 3/4 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground coriander
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1/2 to 3/4 cup mayonnaise
Heat enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a heavy skillet. Add garlic and spices, and cook over medium heat for about one minute. Add diced chicken, stirring to coat with spices. Cook over medium heat (to keep the spices from Scorching) until chicken is fully cooked. Remove the chicken from the pan. Deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar until the pan is clean and vinegar is syrupy. Pour over chicken and cool completely. When the chicken is cool, chop it by hand to a medium-fine texture. Add 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar and enough mayonnaise to make a spreadable mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

From the sampling bite that I took, I noticed that the taste of balsamic vinegar is stronger than I think it should be. As I said, I'll let it sit for abit in the refrigerator, and then see what it is like.

The Pittsburgh Penguins signed John LeClair today. There isn't any word on just what the deal entails. I'm not sure what the point was in getting LeClair. Do we need another winger whose stats have been falling over the past few years? I think that LeClair might be abit past it, but I could be wrong. We also resigned Josef Melichar.

Today is Princess Anne's 55th birthday.

Kaysar was nominated for eviction, and will more than likely be voted out. It is a sad turn of events for him, but the only one that he has to blame at this point is himself for giving up the HOH competition to Jennifer. That's what Kaysar got for listening to and believing the lies of the Maggots after they circled around him and said that it would be James who was going out this week because the Maggots promised that. Kaysar's stupidity is surpassed by Howie's who believed the Maggots last week and put up two of his alliance. Just think how different the game would have been this week if Howie kept to the program and got rid of someone from the other alliance instead of ihs own alliance. You just really have to wonder if they give everyone a IQ test before selecting someone for Big Brother, and then picking the sludge of the crop. Hopefully a Maggot won't get HOH next week, and it will be Howie, Rachel or Janelle so there can be some real stir up in the house.

Monday, August 15, 2005 -- Morning

There is a Steelers pre-season game tonight. It's going to be held here in Heinz Field, and will be against the Philadelphia Eagles. It will be interesting to see how the team does although pre-season games don't really mean much. You can have a bad pre-season and a great season and vice versa.

There is controversy in the Squirrel Hill area. It seems that the Schenley Park is going to have to relocate a maintenance shed that houses 16 employees, two pickup trucks, two dump trucks and a number of tractors that are currently being kept near Phipps Conservatory. The new location proposed is Prospect Drive which is known locally as "Gay Lane". The area is a nice location, and I have walked there in the past because it is close to where I live. It's a short lane that ends or loops around in a cul-de-sac. Well, the local gay community doesn't want the lane used because it will put a crimp into the activity that goes on in the lane. I know that when I have walked there during the day time it was not a welcome atmosphere--for someone who wasn't gay. The men would give you looks as if questioning why you are there, and heaven forbid that you were a man walking through there. I would walk through with some male friends and cars would slow down to check them out. One time we even saw a man sunbathing in the nude abit away from the road. Even though the lane is close to my house, I stopped walking there because I felt so uncomfortable and unwanted. Just as it is not appropriate for heterosexuals to be outside in the park openly having and propositioning for sex, it is also inappropriate for homosexuals. I don't think that the argument that the gay community has that the lane should not be used for the maintenance shed because it will drive such action out of the public park. Such action should not be taking place in a public park anyway. It would be nice to have the lane back for the general public as opposed to one population. Some folks who live on Pocussett Drive are also concerned about the maintenance shed because more truck traffic may be on Pocussett because another currently unused lane leading from Prospect to Pocussett may be opened.

Sunday, August 14, 2005 -- Evening

It seems to be definite on the Big Brother front that Jennifer is going to put up Kaysar and he is going to be gone yet again at the end of the week. It seems that the plan now is for James to stay in the house, and they will get rid of Howie, Rachel and Janelle. The only thing that will stop their plan is if one of the three gets HOH next week and isn't stupid enough to put their own alliance up again. James has been meeting with the Maggots, and is now on their side yet again. What can you say? I feel sad about seeing Kaysar go again, but it was plain stupidity on his part to trust Jennifer and throw the competition, and for Howie to get HOH last week and put up two people from his own alliance. The Maggots may be stupid, dishonorable and sleazy, but they are true to each other.

ESPN has an analysis of the Steelers training camp. The first item that Michael Smith mentions is the Hines Ward situation. This writer refers to Ward as an elite receiver and the best complete receiver in the league. However, he does mention the point that I have made--that Ward has NOT been the victim of double teaming. Surprisingly, the competing teams don't see this elite receiver as someone worthy of double teaming. It's probably because they were double teaming Plaxico Burress. Some of the local media are making a big deal out of Ward completing 75% of the passes thrown to him. I think that the only reason for that is because he has not been double teamed, and I think his stats will fall when that does happen. Right now, his number of touchdowns don't match the other "elite" receivers, and I shutter to think what it will be like when he is the only game in town for the opposing defense. Being offered the largest salary/bonus package in Steeler history isn't the slap in the face that Ward believes it is. I say to Ward--play, show us what you have, and see if you get better offers next year.

The tenth episode of the second season of Endurance was on today. It is titled Aqueduct. We see the scheming from the ninth episode that lead to Brown and Yellow going to the Temple. Now we are down to the final four--Purple, Brown, Green, and Orange. Today's mission will be an Endurance mission and will net the winner a pyramid piece and the Samati. The show starts with the meeting to discuss the Yellow piece leaving the previous night. JD comments that the Yellow team didn't win anything, and now they are gone. He comments that the Orange team is the only left who hasn't won anything. Tyler says that the same thing can happen, but Michelle disagrees and says "it's not going to happen". JD asks why, and Michelle replies "I'm staying". You go girl! JD then asks Green about the alliance which Green calls a friendship. Jenna says that now it is down to four teams everyone is out for themselves. Each team says they are going to be the final winners. Now it is time to read the note, and JD gives it to Annie. Yellow says they will miss everyone, and tell Brown to do whatever it takes to get rid of Purple, and they leave the Commitment piece to Brown. Green looks envious. Today's mission is for Ingenuity is the piece up for grabs today. Jenna comments to the Orange team about not winning anything yet. Michelle says that she is going to try to win today. Michelle sees that Max's strategy is to go to each of the other teams and say that he will be in the final two with that team. Annie, Michelle, Keetin and Jeff talk about it, and realize that Max is making deals that he can't keep. Keetin says that Max is doing anything he can to stay in the game, and he is making deals and is such a liar. Keetin says that Jenna doesn't lie, but Max does. Jeff tells Keetin that the game isn't about making friends, but about winning. We are back at the beach for the mission. Each team has to build an Aqueduct out of pipes that are of different lengths. They have to start at the end and go to the barrel. When they are done, they have to turn on the water at the barrel and hope that it comes down the aqueduct that they have created to enmpty at the end. The barrels are on a raised platform, and there are ten poles leading to it that are unevenly spaced. The game begins. The pieces are at the barrel end and have to be raced to the end. Orange and Purple start out in the lead. The Orange team is on a roll as JD comments. Green only had two pieces left, but it wasn't working. There's only one way to match up the pipes so they connect. Michelle and Tyler look like they are working together well. Brown and Orange are getting close. Orange has their water on, and is waiting at the end. They win their first mission! As JD says, they haven't won one, but they won a big one and says there is now a power shift on the beach. Tyler says to everyone else--can you believe it?--as they congratulate him and Michelle. Mike thought Green started out strong, but none of the pieces fit. Annie admits that everyone under estimated Orange. Michelle says there is a very good chance that Orange can win it all. Tyler says that the hardest part is deciding who to give the Samati to is the hardest part because you have to decide who to make enemies with. Jenna and Keetin are whispering about how Orange should give it to Purple. Tyler tells Jeff that he might give him the Samati, but he feels safe if Purple wins. Jeff talks to Annie and asks if they have to send Orange to Temple, and Annie says no. Jeff says do we have to send Green? Annie replies "yeah because Orange will be easier to beat". Jeff says that the plan is to tell Tyler that if he doesn't give them the Samati, and they go to Temple and lose, they will give Purple their pieces. Tyler thinks they should give it to Brown. Michelle likes being in power because people are making deals with Orange that they don't need to make. Jeff tells Annie that he thinks Max is trying to manipulate Tyler into giving the Samati to Purple. Max tells Tyler that he should give the Samati to Purple. Tyler asks why. Max says because Purple has six pieces and that if Orange wins tomorrow, they will send up Purple, and Purple will give their pieces to Green. Max tells Tyler that he always liked Orange and never did anything to Orange. Annie says everyone thinks Max and Jenna are cool, but that strategy wise they will do whatever they can to win, and everyone is sick of it. Max says Purple give them the Samati and Green sent them to Temple twice. It seems that everyone's strategy is to send two strong teams to the Temple. Mike asks Michelle if he is getting the Samati, and Michelle tells him that right now he is safe. Tyler tells Michelle that they will give the Samati to Green because Brown is vindictive and Purple will give them pyramid pieces and Green has nothing to offer. Michelle says she can't do it, and Tyler says that she won't have to because he will do all the talking. It is the smartest way that Tyler can think of, and because Green is not expecting it, it will be a total shock. We are now at the Cove for the Samati meeting. JD congratulates Orange and asks how it feels. Tyler says that it is nerver wracking because he doesn't want to make anyone mad at him. JD says that there are alot of people who have done something to Orange so they shouldn't feel bad. Tyler says it's strategy. JD asks Max if he is in trouble with Orange. Jenna replies that she doesn't know. Annie admits to worries. Keetin admits they sent Orange to the Temple twice. Mike says that it wasn't a big deal that they sent Orange to the Temple and that they told him he's probably safe. Then Mike says, unless Orange is lying or something or is two faced (to which Michelle rolls her eyes). JD says that Tyler is going to have to think strategy so Orange can't be two-faced. Mike says, yeah but they promised me. So then JD asks Michelle about how tough it was to decide and Michelle says yeah it was tough, and they ended up changing their minds at the last minute. Keetin's mouth drops wide open at that one. Michelle says the change came from Tyler. He says that it's strategy and each team has ups and downs. Tyler admits that pieces are more important because when it comes to the final two there are no alliances. JD says that on their own today, Orange has figured out what is the most completed game to date (the Aqueduct game). Tyler asks a question first, and asks if he can take the Samati out of the game, and make it a fair fight tomorrow. JD says why not use it as strategy to get pieces, and Tyler thinks the sensible decision is to take the Samati out because whoever wins tomorrow won't send Orange to the Temple. JD asks for comments from the others. Keeting says that it is better to eliminate. She says she is not sure if she will get it and can't trust anyone. JD has a condition to take the Samati out of the game, he has to admit who he was going to give it to. Tyler says the Green team. JD takes the Samati back from Tyler at that point. There will be no Samati in the next mission and it will be fair and square. Mike says that Orange was trying to slip further under the radar and he doesn't know if that will work. Michelle hopes she is safe tomorrow and that she doesn't know who she can trust.

The eleventh episode is Plank Maze. Purple has six pieces, Brown has three, Orange has two and Green has one. We hear first from Tyler about not giving the Samati to anyone and how that makes Oranger safer. Keetin says that Orange is safer. She says that only the team that wins the mission will be safe. Jenna says that the game today is important. Mike says that whoever wins today is sending two up to the Temple. It is time for the mission. The team has to start on top of one of a group of barrels with planks in between them. They have to walk along the planks from one barrel to another collecting tiles. If they don't have a plank to the barrel they have to back track. Once they collect the letters, they have to unscramble it to form a word. There are 1o tiles that have to be collected. Green and Purple get tiles first. Green takes an early lead. Orange and Purple are trailing. Orange fail and had to start from the beginning. Green and Purple are in the lead. Green almost feel. Brown is having problems moving some of the planks from one barrel to another. Max is too big to move easily. Green has all 10 tiles first. They spread out the letters, and Purple now has all the letters. Green spells the word first and it is leadership. Green has won and will have to send two teams to the Temple. Keetin starts dancing around. Max says that the hardest part was fitting his big feet and her little body on the blanks. Annie thought the hardest part was lifting the plank because it was heavy. Mike said that it felt good to win. Tyler doesn't feel worried aobut it. Annie and Michelle were talking and Michelle says that she doesn't want to go. Annie doesn't want to see another team use her pieces to win the game. Mike and Keetin are talking about how they are in an awesome position because they can send up any team they want and not fear retribution because in the next game, whoever wins stays and the other two teams go to Temple. Mike and Keetin seem to think that it should be Orange and Brown. Mike says that Purple thinks they are working with them to take out Brown and Brown thinks that Green is helping to take out Purple. Michelle says that if Green make the decision based on friendship it will be Purple and Orange. Strategically they should send Purple and Brown though. Jenna asks Mike is they should pack. Mike then has Max, Jenna and Keetin talk. Green admits that they are sending Brown because they have to, and won't admit who they are sending with them. Keetin says it's not about friendship but about strategy. To which Jenna comments on how Brown was helping Green win the entire time. Brown took it as Green totally backstabbing them. Max says that if they get sent up with Orange he will make swear that Green were sorry they ever played the game. Max says that it hurts that Green is breaking the alliance and friendship with them. As Mike says, they have to win, and it's not about friendship. It's about winning. Mike was going to sent Brown and Orange, but now is afraid about being against two strong pieces at the final three. Max talks to Purple and offers them his pieces if he leaves, and he begins to pack. Jeff says that even though they have an agreement with Green he doesn't know if he can trust them because they can change their mind. Annie says that she has been friends with Green since the beginning and she is going to trust him and take his word. It is not Temple selection time. JD asks if the outcome could have changed if Orange gave Green the Samati, and asked Michelle if she made a bad decision. Michelle says that she hopes not as Annie has her arm around Michelle's shoulders. Jenna is giving Green the evil eye. Mike says that they came to a point to choose between friendship and strategy. They are sending Brown and Purple. JD says the two strongest teams are going head to head at the Temple. Keetin says to Annie and Jenna that one of them is leaving and she doesn't want them to leave without getting a hug because they are good friends and it was strategy. Annie walks away. Michelle says "they understand". Jeff tells Annie that they did what they had to do and not to take it personally, but Annie says that Green could have told them. Annie then says that Mike is a backstabber. Annie says that if this was all strategy then Green would not be there today. Mike says that everyone says that they would understand, but when it comes down to it they don't. Tyler asks Mike who he wants to come back, and Mike says Purple because he doesn't want someone else to have that many pieces. Tyler says that Brown won't give their pieces to Purple and Mike replies that he can see it happening so Brown can say "ha, they have nine and you have one". Purple, Brown and Orange are talking. Annie said that she thought Purple and Brown would make it to the end. Max said he thought he was safe when Green won, and Annie said that she thought the same. Max says that Green thinks they will win with one piece. Max promises his pieces to Purple and Purple offers theirs to Brown. Max said that it is the clash of the Titans because whoever comes back will win in the end. whoever comes back will control the beach even more. Jenna says that if Brown doesn't come back, she wants Purple to win. Annie says that if she leaves it won't be frustrating because they came so far. It will be disappointing because the grand prize is right there. Jeff says that there is so much that he learned from it and it was a great experience. He says that he made alot of friends, and it was so different from anything he ever did before, and it was alot of fun. Purple and Brown are now at the Temple. For the first game, Purple picks water and Brown picks wood. Brown wins the first game. In the next game, Purple picks wood and Brown picks wood. It's a tie. Purple now picks water and Brown picks wood again. Brown has two wins and are still in the game. Annie is still smiling and Jeff looks emotionless. JD tells Purple that they were the strongest team and to think about who to give their pieces to carefully. Brown and Purple hug and Purple leaves. Brown heads back to the beach and have a joyous reunion with Orange and Green.

Saturday, August 13, 2005 -- Evening

I feel so sorry for Kaysar. After being stupid enough to give up the HOH competition to Jennifer, it seems that the Maggots are planning to put him up for eviction instead of James. It seems that the Maggots have decided that they will keep James in the competition, and backdoor Kaysar and vote him out this week. Then they will take out Rachel, Howie and Janelle. Finally, they will get rid of James, and it will just be Maggots. I really, really hope that someone on the other side wises up sometime soon and realizes that they are screwed. They need to win some competitions and take out some Maggots because I really don't like that fivesome (Maggie, Ivette, Beau, April and Jennifer). I don't know if I will be able to keep watching if they are the final five. As for today's action, it looks like Rachel won the power of veto. That's not surprising because a Maggot couldn't win something unless it was handed to them like stupid Kaysar. I think that the issue is that the Maggots claim to be honest, decent people when really they are the most dishonest. I really can't stand the hypocrisy of people calling the others the lowest of the low for not keeping their word when doing the exact same thing. That's the Maggots for you. And they are totally graceless at all times. Let's just hope that the Maggots don't go unchallenged to the end as they would like to do. I'd say that the two that I would have targetted that should have gone up last week are Maggie and Ivette. Please, please, let it happen!

Now onto this evening's show. As before, it starts with a recap, and a show of Howie's stupidity last week. We hear how both alliances kept their word on getting rid of Sarah, but that's because the Rachel, Howie, Janelle side is honorable, if stupid. We pick up the new segments of the show with the HOH competition. Everyone is back in the glass house, and we are hearing that if someone lets go of their button, they have to open one of the boxes in the center of the room. The first box had flies. Jennifer was commenting on how they were afraid that Beau would wind up running away screaming. Kaysar surmises that something in the box could be money or a phone call home. 1 hour and 45 minutes and everyone is still there. Now for some DR clips. We hear James commenting on how Sarah is his weak point, and how they thought that getting rid of Sarah would break him down on a personal level. Ivette was saying that the votes came back 6 to 1 and if it had gone the other way, the house would have gotten ugly. But as Ivette said, surprisingly enough it came back 6-1--Ivette was expecting the worse. Rachel then comments that Sarah was a really nice girl, and everyone in the house really loved Sarah. James said that the reality was sad and painful. Maggie said that no one really disliked Sarah at all. She was just leaving for being James allie. Janelle thinks everyone is still gunning for James. We then hear James talking to Ivette saying he really needs HOH. Ivette says that she will always be James friend and will tell him the truth. James trusts Ivette. She claims that she will always tell the truth, and he says that he thinks that he can trust her. Surprising because she ratted him out to the Maggots. James tells Ivette that she will be safe and she is not on James' list. Kaysar said that James has to think of Kaysar as a backup and not know that he is after James. Maggie said that she was really excited that it was going to be Eric coming back into the house. Kaysar said that he was just mobbed and tackled to the floor by Howie. James said that everyone who was after Kaysar was kissing his butt a week later because of fear of him getting head of household. James didn't care. Meanwhile Ivette mutters to Maggie "we are back to square one". Maggie said that it was absolutely devistating and a personal blow that Eric wasn't voted back in. Ivette thought that America fell in love with Eric the way that she did. April says that everyone who won HOH should let go of the buttons. Kaysar said that he would love to, but under the circumstances. Then Kaysar is updated on everything that happened while he was gone. The big news is how everyone saw Beau's penis and how it is supposedly quite large. Howie looks first, then Ivette and Jennifer. Jennifer looks, squeals and runs off to tell others. April and Rachel were the only ones left. April didn't want to at first because she is married and didn't want to get her husband jealous. She and Rachel look, and April yells out WOW! Meanwhile Beau was shreaking like a girl. In the glass house, we get to the five hour mark, and a new rule comes into play. They can't sit of kneel. The only thing that they can do is squat. Howie then gives them a sneak peek of the boxes by opening a box. He goes into the house, and opens the green box. It has dead fish. It seems that the smell was really bad. Rachel was saying after five hours, noone was budging. Everyone wanted HOH and everyone felt they needed it especially with James in the game.

After the commercial break, we are at the six hour mark. It is now after midnight and the PB&J restriction has been lifted and there is tons of food in the storage room. April said that it was hard not to take her hand off the buzzer and get food. Jennifer tells us that she has been dancing since she was two years old, and has been doing professional dancing for two years. Then she did her little routine. Rachel said that she really admires her and thinks Jennifer has good skill. Rachel says that she loves to dance, but can't do it well. Jennifer says that Rachel is very uptight and needs to lossen up. Jennifer says that also applies to her dancing. RAchel could not get the snake movement down, and looked like she was having seizures. Kaysar comments that everyone seems determined to get HOH. Beau then claims that he "supposedly" touched the ground, and we see the film. He does touch the ground. Beau starts acting like a pissy babby over it. Beau picks a box and gets a cocktail bar. It has several small bottles of alcohol. Beau made himself several drinks. Janelle was jealous of what he got because there is no real liquor in the house, and she loves martinis. Janelle comments that Beau can not hold his liquor at all, and it looks like he got really drunk. As Ivette says, Beau makes himself cocktail after cocktail and it was funny at first, and then Ivette started seeing everyone's faces, and they show Maggie and April looking disgusted. Beau slaps Kaysar's ass, and Kaysar tells him to stop. Ivette tries to put him in place. James said that he ready to knock Beau out. It is now seven hours in the glass house. Janelle starts dancing and her finger comes off the button. Janelle picked a red box and got a free membership to Netflix, a DVD player and a 42 inch plasma screen television. Jennifer was so mad to see that Janelle got it. Jennifer says Janelle is so lucky she hates her. Ivette calls her the Barbie Doll and is not happy that Janelle won. They have to have one more person let go of a button to leave. Janelle starts drinking with Beau. They totally left out the part where Beau was claiming that the only reason it was claimed that he touched his knee to the ground was because he is black. Of course, pull the race card.

Back in the glass house it is the 8 hour mar, and April asks Jennifer if she is going to win. Then April says to Janelle that she will let go of her button if Janelle gives her the plasma television. Janelle asks why she should give it to April, and April says that because Janelle wants someone to let go, and Janelle says but I don't want to give it to you. April says that these people are going to duke it out and it will get ugly. Meanwhile April says that she will let go if no one puts her up. All of them are agreeing except Maggie. Then Maggie says if April is willing to give up HOH to get out. Maggie says in DR that she knows April wants to leave, but numerically they need her to stay in. So April lets go of the button and claims it was an accident. Maggie gives her an evil look. April could tell that Maggie was PO'ed but April didn't want HOH> April picked the Orange box and there was $3000. Janelle, April and Beau then get to leave the glass house. April is swearing to Jennifer that she didn't let go on purpose, but Jennifer says that she doesn't know if she can believe her because April was talking about it for half an hour before that. It is now 9 hours. New rule. They have to pick one hand, and then can only use that hand for the rest of the game. Ivette touched the box with her other hand, and had to let go of the button. She also claims it was an accident, but it didn't look like that. Ivette cries some crocodile tears. She claims that she was doing it not for HOH but for her girlfriend. Yeah, yeah! Crocodile tears. Ivette has to pick a box, and gets an airhorn. She apologizes and Maggie tells her it is okay. James looks at Ivette and saw a face of a demon--someone so confused by greed and so confused by fear that he really saw the true Rachel. James then lets go of his button. He didn't want to be like that. James said that seeing Ivette break down and crying really got to him because she wanted to win HOH for her family. Maggie then let go too because since James was gone and he was the one she was most concerned about and she wanted a box. James got pizza and Maggie got rotten eggs. Rachel, Kaysar and Jennifer remain. Rachel's goal was for herself or Kaysar to beat out Jennifer because Jennifer can't be trusted. Jennifer cries and tells Rachel and Kaysar she won't put either of them up as pawns. Jennifer admits that her crying was an act and that she was just doing it for sympathy. Rachel claims that she didn't throw the competition, but her finger slips off the button. Maggie then tells Kaysar from outside of the box that last week everyone in the house except James and Sarah agreed and promised that this week they would get James out. Jennifer whines that she just really wants HOH to get pictures of her family. Kaysar wanted HOH so he could personally take James out this week. Jennifer asked him how he would get rid of James, and he says that he would backdoor him. Jennifer asks who would go up as pawns, and Kaysar honestly answers it would be two of the Maggots and the best two because he would want to make certain that they won the veto so James could go up. Jennifer says that there is a strong bond in her group and they would trust her if she did something. Kaysar says that he wanted to push Jennifer. Both held their buttons till dawn. Rachel asks Jennifer what her plan is if she gets HOH. Jennifer snidely remarks "well according to Kaysar, he wants to backdoor James, so that's what I'm going to do". Kaysar says, "yeah, but who's going up?" Jennifer says, "hmm, Maggie and somebody?" Kaysar says someone from your team, and Jennifer says that she has the trust of her team. Kaysar says, "so Jennie, I have your word?" Jennifer replies, "we are backdooring James". Jennifer swears on her life. Kaysar says "ok Jennie" and removes his finger. The Maggots go wild. Jennifer says that Kaysar and she made a deal that she would nominate two of her allies to backdoor James.

Then we see Howie, Janelle and Kaysar talking in the exercise room. Kaysar tells Janelle and Howie why he stepped away from the button. Kaysar says that we have to hope that Jennifer stays true to her word. Kaysar believes, but has some doubts. He hopes that she will choose one from each team at the least. Jennifer gets her HOH room, and grabs her pictures. She has two pictures of her boyfriend Daniel. One was from when he was 10 years old, and the other was more recent. Daniel wrote something on the back of each picture. On the 10 year old picture, he says that "this little boy is proud of his girl. I love you". On the other, he wrote about being a goofy guy and saying I love you. Ivette says that those things mean the world. Jennifer is crying away again. Jennifer tells April that Kaysar was going to backdoor James and was going to put up Maggie and someone else. April says "he doesn't want you to put up two of us does he?" Jennifer says that she thinks so. Jennifer says that she will do whatever Kaysar wanted. April says that we shouldn't have to put two of our people up. And Jennifer says maybe we can do one of ours and one of theirs. Jennifer says that Rachel and Janelle were trying to get rid of Ivette in the middle of the week, so she doesn't trust them, and doesn't care if she gets them mad. April said that regardless they shouldn't put up one of theirs.

Back from commercial break, and it is time for nominations. Jennifer is gathering keys. Howie feels confident that he is not going to put up and voted off, but he is going to hope for the best. James said that for Jenn to nominate him would be dumb and not a strategic move. Rachel says that no one is safe until it's done, and she is going to wait until they are done. Jennifer says that promises are null and void in this house, and come and go like people changing underwear. Jennifer claims that she is going to try her best to stick to her word. Kaysar says that he doesn't think that it will be in Jennifer's best interests to nominate him because he has a deal, but if she nominates someone from his side the deal is broken. Janelle also says that she hopes for Jennifer's sake that she doesn't nominate Janelle because Janelle would be really pissed off at her. Jennifer says she has butterflies because she doesn't want to piss people off and things will still go as planned. The ceremony begins. The first key is for April. Then Maggie. Then Ivette. Then Beau. Then Kaysar. Then Howie. The last key is James. Rachel and Janelle are nominated. Jennifer says that she and Kaysar had an understanding, but she couldn't put her people that she thought of as family in the house. Jennifer says that you can't trust anyone in the game except yourself. Jennifer says that she does trust Kaysar, but no one else in his group. Rachel admits that she is upset because there were promises that were made and those promises were broken. Rachel is crying and saying it's not about the money. She is there for the money. Janelle says that Jenn is the biggest bitch of the house and the biggest liar of the house. Janelle was surprised to be nominated. She is more pissed and wants to take Jennifer out of the game. Kaysar says if Jennifer thinks that giving your word and breaking it is okay, Jennifer has another thing coming. Kaysar says if he gets HOH next week, Jennifer will pay.

Saturday, August 13, 2005 -- Early Afternoon

The Gaza pull-out will start on Monday. I have my opinion of how I feel about the situation. I am quite disheartened to hear that Hamas and other groups are saying that acts of terror will continue after the pull-out. After all the terror groups want the destruction of all of Israel, not a two state solution. It is what I expected not only to hear, but to see evidence of as time passes. That doesn't mean that it makes the news any easier to hear. You hope that both sides will want peace, but that doesn't appear to be the case. When will it be the case is the question that I don't think anyone can answer.

Saturday, August 13, 2005 -- Morning

I feel like a broken record about the stupidity in the Big Brother house, but Ivette has now aligned herself with James and is campaigning hard with the Maggots to make sure that James doesn't even go up on the block this week. The others were planning on backdooring him by winning the veto, using it, and putting James up instead. Ivette is playing a mind game on them all though. So far, Maggie doesn't appear to be buying it, but the others are weak-minded jelly fish. Alot of the moves in the past three weeks have been stupid moves, but what can you expect when a bunch of brainless beauty babes are thrown into the house. We'll have to see what happens with the veto competition today.

In other reality news, Paula Abdul will be remaining with American Idol after the independent investigation into the allegations of her having an affair with Corey Clark while he was a contestant on the show was found to be groundless. It appears that the lawyers hired by FOX could not find any proof that Clark's claims were true. Next season, there will be more stringent guidelines governing the relationship between the judges and the contestants.

The Steelers are still having discussions with the agents for Hines Wards, but it appears that there is a rumor that the Ward might come back, play out the season, and then become an unrestricted free agent in the following year. That would mean that he could be picked up by another team at the salary and bonus that he wants. The thing that I think would be interesting is if there is a fall in his statistics this year because he will be THE prime wide receiver for the team. It might prove my point that he is a good, serviceable, workhorse of a player, and that the Steelers offering him the biggest deal ever by the club was nothing to sneeze at. we'll have to see how the season plays out though, and it Ward returns. I used to be a big fan of Ward, but I have to admit that I am turned off by his attitude this season.

Google has put its plan to digitize the books of several university libraries on hold due to claims that the move violates copyright laws. Google wants to make the books accessible to everyone, instead of just the smaller number of individuals who have access to the libraries. Also the promise of being able to search through a book for a snippet of information will be easier if the book is available in an electronic format. However, copyright laws should be observed. I'm sure that Google will find a way around the road block. The libraries that were being digitized were Stanford, Harvard, Michigan University, and the New York Public Library. The only library that Google should not have trouble with is Oxford's library because only books that are no longer in copyright are being digitized there.

Friday, August 12, 2005 -- Evening

It seems that a few minutes ago, around 10:30 pm EDT, that Jennifer nominated Rachel and Janelle for eviction. Howie is trying to assure them both that they are pawns, but you can never trust the other side. The thing is to get rid of the folks that are known to be on the other side. I don't think that Jennifer cares who leaves as long as it isn't someone from her alliance. Kaysar was incredibly stupid to have given up the battle to her. I think that if he just held out another half hour at the most that Jennifer would have not been able to finish. After all, she was shivering and looked in horrible condition. I'm not liking how the game is going because I can see Maggie, Beau and Ivette getting further in the game, and I really don't like their characters. I guess that Jennifer and April don't bother me as much. After all, Jennifer was playing the game by making promises to Kaysar so she could win knowing full well that she wouldn't stick to it.

I was just listening to the local sports show, and they were saying that there was a report in the Pro Football Prospectus 2005 that said that Hines Wards was one of the most complete wide receivers and that he was an elite wide receiver. That doesn't really fit in with the statistical comparison that I did the other day, and it doesn't fit in with this analysis of the wide receivers that USA Today had. That report referred to Ward as a notch below the elites. Even looking at the ESPN statistics provided for all wide receivers in the NFL doesn't put Ward at the top of the pack. Some even say that Ward is a consistent Pro Bowl receiver. This past year, Ward was on the reserve list. Chad Johnson made the starting line of the Pro Bowl, averaged 2.6 yards more per reception, and had five more touchdowns in 2004 (9 for Chad to 4 for Hines). Chad is also looking for more money, but isn't a holdout. Don't get me wrong in this situation. I'm not saying that Ward is not a decent and very good player. I'm just saying that I think he was given a fair and reasonable offer by the Steelers. In the stats from the Prospectus, it is mentioned that Ward makes 75% of the passes thrown to him. I would love to see if this statistic continues in the upcoming year, if Ward plays. Why? Because last year, Burress was getting double coverage while Ward did not. What will his stats be, if like the "elite" quarterbacks, he has to receive with constant double coverage? All of the good and decent quarterbacks want more money and more money. The thing is that someone needs to set a cap so the monetary expectations don't get out of hand and wind up crippling a team because the plethora of good players want elite salaries.

Friday, August 12, 2005 -- Afternoon

Foolish, foolish Kaysar! Only in the house for 14 hours, and he makes the mistake of making a deal with Jennifer that he will give the competition to her if she puts up two of her own. Well, as Jennifer and April are in the HOH bed with the Maggots around them, they are planning on putting up Rachel and Janelle and then maybe backdooring James. You really do have to wonder if it was lack of sleep or something else that caused him to make such a stupid move. I am afraid to admit that we will probably be stuck with a houseful of Maggots at the end because no one is smart enough to get rid of them. It's not that the Maggots are playing a smart game because they are on the dumb side too. It's just that the "smart" folks are playing dumb too.

Would you like to know what my addiction is? It's just another random thought.

Friday, August 12, 2005 -- Morning

I can't believe it. Kaysar just gave up the battle for HOH, and Jennifer is now the new HOH. This could be bad news because who will be going out? I would imagine that she will nominate James, but who else will she nominate? Or will she nominate two other people--like Kaysar and Janelle in the hopes to backdoor James, but then no one wins the power of veto. Right now, they carried Jen into the living room and Maggie and Ivette are taking care of her because Jen is shaking and acting like she is dying. It appears that she is shaking so much. Ivette is saying how thrilled she is. Obviously because it means the Maggots are safe this week. It's disgusting to see the Maggots gathered around Jen. The only Maggot missing is Beau. I am just so shocked because I don't think Jen could have lasted much longer from looking at her. Meanwhile Kaysar doesn't look any the worse for wear as he talks to Janelle and Howie in the exercise room. Howie is saying that at least they can compete full force next week. Kaysar said that he gave it to her because he told Jen he would do it if she put two of her people up and she agreed to it. Now hopefully they can get rid of James, but these things have a way of backfiring. Jen and Kaysar held out for 14 hours. Howie is just concerned about winning HOH next week, but Kaysar says that they need to get one of the Maggots out. Jen promised Kaysar and said to trust her that she would put up two of her own. Kaysar and his crew are screwed! I really hate to say that, but I don't think that liar Jen will keep to her word.

Friday, August 12, 2005 -- Early Morning

It is now 7:30 am and the HOH competition is still ongoing! It seems that only three of the houseguests are left at this point. It's Kaysar, Jennifer and Rachel. Ivette is walking around inside the house and everyone else is outside, so it seems that it is down to the final four. I hope that Jennifer lets go of the button before Rachel or Kaysar. I really do not want one of the the "Maggie and the Maggots" group to win because they will just send the other home which will mean a final with a Maggot. That would really suck because they are the most annoying people! Ivette was just consoling James in the Gold Room telling him that Kaysar would not want to get rid of James. I think that they missed their opportunity in getting rid of Ivette when they should have. Rachel just let go of her button, so now it is down to Kaysar and Jennifer.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter just launched at 7:45 am EDT. It looks like everything has gone well, and it is on its way to Mars. Safe trip Orbiter!

The earliest that the space shuttle will launch will be November. Before they fly again, NASA has to resolve the issue with the foam on the launching rockets. That might be an expensive and timely proposition.

Sidney Crosby made an impression on his fellow rookies with his poise and maturity. It seems that he has been a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers in his youth, and was impressed with the sight of Pittsburgh as he came through the Fort Pitt tunnel.

The Steelers have brought back Alonzo Jackson to replace Joey Porter. Poor Jackson! Last year, he was asked to gain weight to play for the team, and this year, the position they want him to play would require a weight loss. Meanwhile training camp was a changed place yesterday. The field is quiet because the noise makers are all injured and not playing. You have the noisy folks who encourage others, and those who just quietly go about their jobs. You need the noisy guys because they are the ones who really set the tone for the team.

Thursday, August 11, 2005 -- Late Evening

It is now an hour and a half into the endurance HOH competition, and it looks like everyone still has their hands on a button in the glass house in the backyard. I just hope that someone that I want to win doesn't get cocky and wind up taking his/her finger off of the button. That's what happened last year when Jase was fooling around and wound up falling off the platform where he was holding his button shut. Right now there really isn't anything exciting going on in the backyard, but I'm hoping that they will do something like put water into the glass house, or start something shaking. Anyway, it looks like a long night unless something happens soon.

Thursday, August 11, 2005 -- Evening

The live eviction show of Big Brother is now starting. As usual, the show started with the usual recap. I am getting excited, and keeping my fingers crossed for Kaysar. We go inside the BB house live. Sarah looks very nice in a shoulderless yellow print dress. We revisit the nomination of Ivette for eviction. Howie said that he assumed James would take himself off, and he had to make a choice. Then we see Ivette talking to Beau about how some people think she is a threat. Ivette says in the DR that she was promised that the votes would go in her favor. Ivette is told that the votes should be 6 to 1 for her to stay, but that April and Jennifer are lose cannons and might go against her, and she can't trust Rachel or Janelle. We see April approaching Howie, Rachel, and Janelle about how they can't trust Ivette and how she runs to James all the time. April admits to being pissed off at Ivette. Howie says that Ivette does have cross talk, and she is the unknown element. April admits that Ivette hasn't said one word to April since yesterday. Jennifer tells Maggie that we know where Sarah is coming from, but we don't know where Ivette comes from. Maggie realizes that Howie and Rachel are trying to swing April and Jennifer (not realizing the plot was April and Jenn's). We then hear Ivette expressing her worries and crying. Ivette says that she thinks that April and Jennifer realize that it might be easier to get rid of Ivette then take off James and Sarah. Maggie says that she is realizing that folks don't keep their word. Maggie asks Jennifer and April about it, but they won't say anything. Maggie says "are you thinking about it? Your silence is telling me something". We then go back to the live household, and Julie asks Maggie about the chance that Eric might be returning to the house. Maggie says that it would be the most awesome thing every and it is something she is expecting. Julie then asks Rachel about Kaysar or Michael. Rachel claims she would like to see either of the three. Julie asks James about using the veto on himself and Sarah going home. James said that the way things are in the house, it might be easier for him to stay an extra week than Sarah. Then Julie asks Beau about eating PB&J or eating a week of desserts. Beau says that he would like to eat a week of desserts because he's a sweets person. Now we hear Beau, April and Janelle preparing to vote. Janelle says that Ivette talks alot of crap. Janelle isn't bothered as much by Sarah. April says that Ivette riles things up and then about Sarah says that if you can't cut off the head of the snake, cut off the tail. Beau thinks that Sarah is annoying because she is young and naive. We hear that Beau votes for Sarah, but we don't hear how Janelle and April vote.

After the commercial break, we talk to Howie in the HOH bedroom. Julie tells Howie that it was a tough week for Howie, and did he regret nominating James. Howie said that he told James that James turned on him, and says that it might come back to bite him. Howie says that he doesn't trust James and thinks that it was going to be quicker than later. Howie says that his brains are hurting and since Kaysar was the brains around the house it would be nice to have do the thinking for Howie and Michael caused alot of problems, and then says that Eric and James didn't leave on the best of terms so he isn't for anyone one over the other. Howie says that he thought being put up would be stressful, but that being HOH was pretty stressful. We then go to the diary room to hear from Maggie, James, Rachel and Jennifer about their votes. Maggie says that strategically people see Ivette as a bigger problem than Sarah. Jennifer says that she didn't like Ivette from the beginning. Rachel says that Ivette will cling like Saran Wrap to Eric if he comes back and that would be bad for her. James doesn't have any friends other than Sarah. Maggie says getting rid of Sarah will weaken James. Jennifer claims to not know who she will vote for. James voted to evict Ivette. We now talk to the two nominees. Sarah thanks everybody who made her a part of it, and that she knows it is a game and she understands why she is there, and no hard feelings and that all are friends to her. She also says that she got to know James better. Then Ivette talks and thanks everyone and to all the beautiful friendships that she made there. And she thanks Beau and says he is amazing. Ivette then says "strength in the game, and remember actions speak louder than words." The moment is here. Who will go? By a vote of 6 to 1, Sarah has been evicted from the house. So everyone kept to their word to keep Ivette. That has to throw a monkey wrench in Maggie's claim that Rachel voted for Ivette to leave. James and Sarah have a long hug good bye. Both seem upset. Sarah goes over to talk to Julie and says "you better have tissues". James wanders the house looking very glum and sad. Julie said to Sarah that Sarah thought she was safe, but Howie tricked them all. Sarah said that she knows it's a game, and she doesn't hold grudges. Sarah thought that she really thought that Kaysar should be back in the house, but thought he might be a strong enemy for James. She says that James got rid of them before and will do it again. Then we see James video tape telling Sarah that she is an amazing woman, and he sounds very teary eyesd. He ends by saying that he loves her, and Sarah starts to cry. Julie asks where the relationship is going after the game, and Sarah says that it will last forever and she loves him so much. Sarah also said that being in the house changed their relationship because they experienced things and brought them closer than ever, and 50 years from now, they will be laughing about it. Sarah thinks that James is a strong person and will do well in the game without her, and she would love to see him be HOH. Sarah will be on the Early Show and Housecalls tomorrow.

After the break, we have Michael, Eric, and Kaysar together again. The three have been sequestered and don't know who was evicted or what went on since they left. Then we see the houseguests talking about the America Choice. As Jennifer says "we are trying to get people out now back in". Then we see Ivette screetching about bringing her Cappy back pleeze! Real annoying. Then Maggie says that she thinks she would have to push Ivette out of the way to get to Eric. Janelle doesn't think that Eric stole America's heart, strolling through the house and throwing tantrums like a small child. Rachel says that America doesn't want to see Eric come back into the house. Howie wants Kaysar back to think for him again. Rachel says that Michael will piss alot of people off coming back into the house. Janelle really wants Michael to come back even though Kaysar is a better game player. She wants to spend time with Michael. Beau and April are talking, and she says that she would rather have Eric come back because Eric, Ivette, Maggie and Beau will take each oher as far as they can. Maggie is saying that they have the votes. Ivette says they do now, but who knows who will come back into the house. Maggie says that America's Choice will make a huge impact on the game. First we see Michael come into the room. Julie asks Michael about reflecting on the game. Michael doesn't know what is going on in the house, so he will have to do get some more info. Michael wants to see Kaysar and then Janelle. Then next up comes Eric. Michael looks surprised to see Eric. Eric gives Michael a hug. Julie asks if Eric has anything to say to Michael, and Eric says no, we cleared it up in the house. Julie asks Eric what we can expect from him, and he says more of the same. Please don't let it be Eric! Now they bring out Kaysar. Michael and Eric look really shocked. Michael admits to be very surprised, and is happy to see Kaysar, but not in this context. Kaysar says that he is going to try to stir things up again. Then we head back to talk to the houseguests. Julie tells them that all three are there. Everyone waves. Julie says the response was overwhelming. Over 5 million votes were cast. The two with the highest votes are announced. First is Eric and second is Kaysar. I know that it would come down to those two. Janelle looks disappointed. Julie thanks Michael, and then we got to a commercial break. Damn those breaks and the tension buildup!

The break is finally over. That was the longest break ever! We check in with the houseguests. They are ready, and the doorbell will ring and they will then find out who wins. Going back in is Kaysar. Yippee! I knew those votes meant something! Kaysar's group minus James grabs him, and Kaysar is knocked over. Then Maggie and the Maggots come over to give him a hug. Howie hurt himself hugging Kaysar. Kaysar got an overwhelming 82% of the vote. I am so happy right now. My heart was pounding with nerves because I really couldn't stomach Eric or his cronies feeling justified in their behavior by Eric going back in.

Now begins the Head of Household competition. Julie welcomes Kaysar home, and tells everyone to go out into the backyard. The competition is called Pressure Cooker. There is a glass house in the yard. There are nine buttons on the inside wall. Each person has to find a button. Once Julie says go, they can't let go of their button. Ivette is making problems. The game begins. Whoever can hold the button down longest wins. YOu can only get out of the house in threes. So while the pressure builds up, you have to wait for three people to let go of the button before you can get out. There is more to the game than we realize and we will hear about it when Julie comes back from yet another commercial break.

We find out what happens in the house in the backyard. There are eight boxes in the center. There is a surprise inside the boxes. Julie opened the first box and it's flies. As Julie says there are some good things and some bad things in the boxes. Julie then leaves and the only way to know what happens is by watching the feeds. I have it open now, but it is only fish.

Thursday, August 11, 2005 -- Afternoon

There isn't alot going on in the Big Brother house today. They are doing their typical cleaning chores and Sarah is packing her stuff while Howie is preparing to move out of the HOH room. Tonight's episode will have the eviction of either Sarah or Ivette (I would love to see Ivette go because she annoys me so much with the phrase "do you understand what I mean?" coming out of her mouth every other sentence and her racist comments) and the reentry of Michael, Eric, or Kaysar. I have to admit that I did alot of voting for Kaysar so I am hoping he makes it back into the house. It will really be a big disappointment if Eric comes back into the house. Also, even though I would love Ivette to go, it will probably be Sarah who leaves because of the stupidity of Howie. I heard on House Calls today that last night Howie was showing everyone his penis. The house guests this time around are an annoying, stupid bunch. At this point, I am cheering on James, Janelle and Kaysar, if he comes back, for the final three.

I am adding a random thoughts section to my comments page. Today I comment on the meaning of dreams. The random thoughts section will just be personal observations without any references to outside resources for the most part.

Thursday, August 11, 2005 -- Morning

Sidney Crosby arrived in Pittsburgh last night to some fanfare. It appears that some fans were able to figure out when and where he might be arriving, and were there to greet Sidney along with a gathering of sports journalists. It seems The Kid was late because of some problems with immigration and a flight delay in Chicago. I have to admit that as I watched his arrival on the late night news last night, he was a cutie, and there were a bevy of young girls there to greet him. I'm sure that he will be a babe magnet while he is here.

At Steeler training camp yesterday, we had another injury. This time Joey Porter hyperextended his knee and had some cartilage removed yesterday. Porter should be out for a month.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been delayed yet again. This time problems where found when hydrogen fuel was being loaded for the mission. It appears that the issue was due to a computer glitch that showed up as the rockets were being fueled. It was a problem similar to the one that was noted with the space shuttle prior to its launch were the sensors weren't accurately measuring the fuel that was being loaded into the rocket. At this time, there is no time mentioned as an alternative launch time or date.

Set your alarm clock to get up before sunrise tomorrow to see the best display of the 2005 Perseid Meteor Shower. The meteor shower occurs every year from the end of July through the beginning of August, and there is always one day that is the best. This year, the best time to check things out will be tomorrow. Get out anytime between 2 am and sunrise. Try to get away from the city lights, hope for no cloud cover, and look to the east for the show. You will also be able to see Mars at the same time because it will be in the same location.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005 --Afternoon

It seems to be official. The Pens have a goaltender. Today the goalie in question is Jocelyn Thibault. It seems that the Pens traded a fourth round draft pick to get Thiabault from the Chicago Blackhawks. Now we still have to sign Thibault because he is a restricted free agent.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005 -- Morning

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter launch has been delayed until tomorrow for safety reasons. It seems that there are problems with the rocket that is going to be used to launch the orbiter. The rocket is the Atlas V. It seems that there was a failure with the Redundant Rate Gyro Unit (RRGU) when the rocket was tested at the manufacturer. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is also going to see if Beagle 2 can be located. Beagle 2 was the British Mars Rover that was lost on Mars in December 2003.

Practice starts today for the Pitt Panthers. They have a problem though because Joe Flacco who was the backup quarterback didn't return to school, and is not considered part of the team anymore. So that means that the team will have to resort to having one of two freshman players as backup.

I have become a big fan of sudoku since I have been out of work because of the bunionectomy. If you like puzzles and logic games, then sudoku is for you. The puzzle is a 9 x 9 box that is broken into 9 3x3 boxes. The goal of the game is to use the numbers 1 through 9 without duplication in each 3x3 box AND in each line that goes down or across in the 9x9 box.

Tuesday, August 9, 2005 -- Evening

Leave it to the Canadians to make you look bad. It seems that Sean Burke did NOT sign with the Pens. Instead he wound up turning down their offer and going with the Tampa Bay Lightening. It shows what happens when you listen to unoffical news reports. From now on, I am waiting for the Pens to announce their signings before I believe anything.

Big Brother was on tonight. As usual, it started with a recap of the last week. We get to see the stupidity of Howie nominating two from his own alliance. I am still really shocked at Howie's total braindead decision. James is at a loss for words because he is so shocked at Howie's decision. Maggie keeps on saying the "Friendship" would have looked poorly on Howie if he didn't put up James and Sarah. In the Gold Room, James talks to Sarah and says that he finds it such a betrayal. James wants to talk to Howie, Rachel and Janelle about it. James then confronts Maggie about how she won. Then April says to James, don't you think that word would get back to Howie that you were going to nominate him for eviction--don't blame Maggie. Howie tells James that they swore allegiance to each other, and then Howie tells James that he knew James would put him up. Of course, James lied. Howie admits that James and Sarah were right and that if James and Sarah goes that Rachel and Howie are out next. James claims that he reads the bible before veto competitions for strength, and he denies that he swore on the Bible. Howie says that James and Sarah took it as betrayal. Sarah then confronts James and ask if he swore on the Bible when they are alone. James admits it, and Sarah says that she told him not to talk to those people. James knows that Ivette ratted him out. Then we see Sarah crying because as she says they are not bad people. As Sarah says, she doesn't want to leave, but she doesn't know if she can stay there without him.

Sarah sees the pinatas outside and knows everyone is upstairs in the HOH room, and she calls James. Sarah and James start partying on their own. Then Jennifer comes out and Sarah says, come join us, we are having a party and don't want to tell anyone. Sarah and James are busy eating and doing everything. Jennifer goes up and gets everyone. Each houseguest is supposed to get a pinata doll and make it into their own likeness. There was even a black one for Beau. Sarah made her doll sad with tears. James had his hold up its middle fingers, with the power of veto around its neck and a halo on his head. Howie got help from all the girls to make the doll look very good. Howie says there are going to be two good looking guys in the house, Howie and mini-Howie. Howie thinks the veto is in one of the dolls. After the dolls are decorated, Sarah approaches April because Sarah doesn't understand what she did to make everyone turn against her. James follows Sarah and says that he understands the strategy. April tells them both that James was lying. Sarah tries to argue, and James tells her to shutup. James says that he knows the strategy. April says that Kaysar told them all that James was a liar, but James doesn't believe it. April also said that James has Sarah do his dirty work for her. James, Janelle and Sarah talk, and James said that he wasn't after Janelle, Howie and Rachel. James said that he was against Maggie. Janelle says that she doesn't know who to trust because everyone is telling different stories. James says that its disgusting that she believed them over James and Sarah. Janelle tells Howie that James may have been saying things to get his butt off the line, and that the stories from the other side just came out when James got himself off with the power of veto last week. Obviously Janelle and Howie are confused. I think it was stupid to ever listen to the other alliance and put up TWO people from your own alliance. Howie wins the stupidest BB contestant ever.

It's time for the veto competition. Howie picks Rachel. Sarah picks Jennifer. Sarah picked Jennifer because he wanted someone weak. James picked Ivette and said that if Ivette did win the veto and didn't use it, he would believe her motives. For the veto, each competitor was sequestered in different parts of the house and were then called out to compete in the game. They did not know what the others did in the game. Rachel goes out, and the six pinatas were hung up in the air. In the game, each player gets ten pieces of candy and must put their candy in at least two pinatas. You had to get your pinata as close to 20 without going over. Rachel put 2 in Invette's and Jennifer's and three in hers and Howie's pinata. Then it was Sarah's turn. Sarah put one into her, and all the rest into Howie's. Howie is next. Howie put five in James' and Sarah's. Jennifer put three candies in hers and in Sarah's and four in James. Ivette put nine in James and one in Sarah's. James put four each in Howie and Rachel's and one each in Ivette's and Jennifer's. Janelle was the MC for the game. Ivette smacked open her pinata after much hassle. Ivette had three pieces in hers. Next was Sarah. She said it felt so good to hit something. Sarah would have liked to take the bat to someone else. Sarah had ten pieces of candy. Then was Howie's turn. He has 16 pieces of candy. Next was Jennifer. Jennifer had six pieces of candy. Then was James' turn. James had 18 pieces. Then it was Rachel's turn and she had seven pieces. James won the game. As Janelle said, those people were so stupid because they should have really gotten James if they wanted him out. They were really stupid. As Maggie said, he didn't win it, they fricking gave it to him. As Ivette said, there wasn't alot of thinking going on there, and she was right. Those folks are some of the dumbest folks that I have ever seen in my life!

Back at the BB house, James was wishing it was the Olympics because he would be a rich man. As James said, you can't kill him. Maggie said that they should have put all of their candies in James and Sarah. AS she said, four of them couldn't outthink two. Everyone except James and Sarah head up to the HOH room. April says that she would go up in his place. Ivette looks to the ground and volunteers herself. Rachel says the whole house wants James out of the house. Maggie says James has to go because he is the strongest player and they can't compete against him. James said that he doesn't know what to do. Sarah says that one of them is going to go, and she wouldn't want to stay in the house without him so if James uses the veto on himself that is okay with her. James whispers to Sarah that he is sorry. James said that he will miss Sarah, but that's the way the game goes. April is talking to Ivette and says that as soon as James would see that she is up, he would go after April. April thinks that Ivette is the better choice of going up. Ivette says that April volunteered herself and then thinks Ivette is the better choice. April says that it is starting to piss her off that Ivette is second guessing her. and Ivette says that it is pissing her off that April is saying that. Now there is a surprise from Big Brother. We got to see the America's Choice. Janelle misses Michael, and thinks Kaysar's was very distinguished. Maggie thinks that Eric did a good job of selling himself. After the houseguests saw the ad, they got to go into the storage room and there were t-shirts there for them to paint and tie-dye with a message for America. James' shirt said to get rid of them all and to keep Sarah. Then we see April and Ivette arguing. April denies that she said that she didn't want to go up for eviction. Ivette starts arguing with her. Ivette said to stand up and be a woman and admit to her actions. April said to Ivette why can't you listen to me. Maggie said that dissention amongst the "Friendship" isn't what Eric would want.

Maggie said that she doesn't know James and Ivette's relationship, but they obviously has a rapport with Ivette and they have a trust. April and Maggie are talking about how they can't trust James. April says that Ivette may be giving James information. April also talks to Howie, Jennifer and Janelle about her distrust of Ivette. AS April says, she is so pissed off with Ivette and doesn't trust her anymore. April says Ivette is very defensive as if she is guilty. Jennifer says that Sarah isn't a threat--she will just vote for James, but Ivette is. Howie thinks James and Ivette are more of a threat than James and Sarah. James calls everyone into the living room for the veto ceremony. James lets Sarah speak first. Sarah says that James taught her to have faith and trust, but since she is in the house, she has learned to not trust. James doesn't know what to say and forgets. James says the game is being played based on fear and a popularity contest. James said he was able to win the veto because people didn't make strategic decisions, they made dumb decisions. James is using the veto to save himself. James said Howie, you have to nominate someone else. Howie says that he has to put another threat up, and he nominates Ivette. Sarah says, if you guys evict me, James will be after them so watch your back. James says he has to be more cunning. Ivette says that she volunteered to be put up, but April and Jennifer have not been acting the same towards her. Howie says you can't backstab and be safe. Who leaves and who comes back will be dealt with on Thursday.

Tuesday, August 9, 2005 -- Afternoon

Hallelujah! The Pens have finally gotten a goalie. That means that we don't have to rely on young, unreliable goal tending. We signed Sean Burke to a two year $3 million deal. Maybe the team is shaping up okay. I do know that I am looking forward to the coming season.

Tomorrow NASA will be launching another Mars probe. This one is the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), which will orbit Mars looking for good landing locations for future robotic or manned missions. The probe will also be looking for signs of water on the planet. The probe has a launch window starting around 7:54 am EDT.

Tuesday, August 9, 2005 -- Morning

The space shuttle Discovery landed safely this morning at 8:12 am ET. The shuttle had to land at Edwards Air Force Base due to unstable weather in Florida. Because of the change in landing venue, the cost to transport the shuttle back to Florida will be around $1 million. Everything with the landing went just as it should have.

Jerome Bettis is going to be taking the lead role as running back because Duce Staley will be out for the next month. It seems that during yesterday's surgery it was found that Staley had a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee. This episode has to have the Steelers thinking because last year, Staley was out for most of the last half of the season, and still isn't at 100% at the beginning of this season.

Some dodo has a petition that folks can sign if they want Hines Ward to get the money that he wants from the Steeler management without any compromise on Ward's part. Over the past week or so, I have really changed my mind over Ward's no show at training camp. I believe that based on what I have heard of the offer, the Steelers made a good offer to Ward. It was the best offer that the Steelers have ever made to anyone in a Steeler uniform. Of course, what Ward wants it the type of salary that the elite wide receivers of the league receive. That would mean a signing bonus over $10 million and obviously a fairly decent yearly salary. What folks don't appear to realize is that the Steelers have made an offer that they believe is fair. Ward can turn it down. Currently he is still under contract to the Steelers for another year. Next year, if he thinks that he can get the money, then he can go to another team. The Steelers really aren't a passing team, but a running team, so maybe Ward can get the money that he believes he deserves from a passing team. Personally, I don't think that Ward deserves the money that an elite wide receiver would make. If you do a comparison of the career statistics of Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, Plaxico Burress and Hines Ward, you will note that the average of yards per reception are lower for Hines that for either of the other three (Moss has 15.9 yards, Owens has 14.6 yards, Burress has 16.9 and Ward has 12). In fact a comparison between the career stats of Moss and Ward is probably more telling because the number of years in the league are the same. The difference in the number of receptions is in Moss' favor--he has 69 more receptions than Ward, but Moss has 49 more touchdowns. Now there can be any number of factors that might account for the difference is average yards per reception and the number of touchdowns, but I would say that at this point, I don't see Ward worth the same amount that Moss, Owens, and maybe even Burress is worth based on statistics. I'm not saying that Ward is not a good player, or that he would not be an excellent player. I'm just saying that maybe his monetary expectations skewed. Ward should reconsider his stubbornness and show up at training camp.

Over at Montour School District, filming has begun for ESPN's reality series, Bound for Glory, that will show Dick Butkus coaching a local high school football team. The goal is supposed to be a championship, but considering the fact that Butkus has never coached before, it's probably not likely. Yesterday was the first day of training camp for the Montour Spartans, and things seemed to go well without Butkus really stepping on the toes of coach Lou Cerro. So far, Butkus only "knows" about 12 of the student players, but considering that he doesn't know how to pronounce their names, he must not know them that well. It just goes to show to what depths a school district will go to get some money. I don't think this was a move to get to a championship. Hiring Cerro was the thing that would get them to the championship. Having Butkus come in deters from the work that Cerro could do. I will be watching the series though since it is Pittsburgh based.

Monday, August 8, 2005 -- Afternoon

Ivette is up in place of James, and it appears that there is a plot in the house now to actually vote Ivette out. I think that is really interesting because the folks in her own alliance are going after her. April is in the HOH room talking to Howie, Rachel, and Janelle and she is saying that Ivette is not talking to her, and it seems that April, Jennifer, Howie, Rachel, and Janelle are saying that they aren't sure where Ivette stands on issues. As Howie keeps on saying "we know where Sarah and James stand, but we don't know where Ivette stands". It also seems that Ivette's temperment has been really irratic and this is ticking off April and Jennifer, and she has been mean to April. April is really ticked that Ivette was running around saying that April was crying because she didn't want to go on the block. Meanwhile, April is suffering from severe nicotine withdrawal. April is noting that Ivette appears to be the only one who is talking to James, and she is trying to play both sides. Boy, this Thursday could be a good one with Ivette gone and Kaysar back. That's what I am hoping for!

The veto ceremony must be happening right now because the Big Brother live feeds have only had fish on for abit now. That usually means that somethng is up, and that's the only thing that I can think is happening at this point. An update should be on the way on whether James used the power of veto and who is up in his place. It seems that Ivette has been saying to put her up on the feeds. She has to be careful because what could happen is that there might be a backlash against her, and she could be the one gone instead of Sarah. Now that would really be good because I can't stand Ivette--Evilette.

The MRI that Duce Staley had yesterday was inconclusive, so they are going to do arthroscopic surgery on his knee to find out what is wrong. I know what the problem is with Staley. I think that he is injury-prone and that is a problem for us. I'm not the only one who is concerned about the fact that Staley is injury-prone. It seems that he has a history of not being fit to play. I don't know why we picked him up last year. I guess that the management thought that he would be fit enough to give Jerome some down time.

Monday, August 8, 2005 -- Morning

It's a good thing that I didn't get up in the middle of the night to watch the landing of the space shuttle. The landing has been postponed for 24 hours due to cloud cover in Florida. The shuttle should definitely be landing tomorrow because they are looking at other locations besides the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. They can also attempt a landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California. It seems that the weather is still unstable in Florida, so it was a good idea to scrub the landing. I'm not sure why the alternate landing site could not be used today. Okay, so it takes 24 hours to get ready for a landing (I'm just guessing here). The issue that I have is that you would think and hope that the areas are ready and prepared for a landing whenever the shuttle is in space. After all, you never know when an emergency might happen. Also, even if you have to change trajectory, you would not think that would take 24 hours. I suppose that that biggest issue is that the shuttle has to get back to Florida in the end, so they would rather it land there, than to land elsewhere and have to be ferried back.

Sunday, August 7, 2005 -- Evening

Two more episodes of the second season of Endurance were on today. The first is Face to Face. It starts with Brown winning the mission and sending Purple and Blue to the Temple with Purple returning to the beach. JD starts the show by bring Blue's two pyramid pieces back to the beach. JD is wearing Blue in their honor, and Max offers to read Blue's note, but JD gave it to Annie. Blue says that Brown had guts giving them the samati and sending them to the Temple. They hope that Green wins, but leave the pyramid pieces to Purple. That gives Purple five pieces. We hear Jeff mutter "we have way too many". Purple has five, Brown has two pyramid pieces and the others just have one each. Calley said that everyone hates the Purple has Blue's pieces. Mike is also upset that Blue wanted Green to win, but didn't give the pieces. Calley and Annie appear to have made up their differences. Annie apologized to Calley, and as they both admit, Calley is the girlie girl while Annie is a tomboy. Purple knows that if they don't win, they will get the Samati, and then be sent up to Temple with Orange. It is important that Purple win the game! All the teams meet on the beach. Today's game is set in the water. Up for grabs are the Courage piece and the Samati. JD asks what it will take for Yellow to win, and Shep says it's for them not to be kicked off. Shep says they are going to win today. Jeff and Annie both say that they want to win. Tyler claims that the Brown team is running the show, and that right now it is good for Orange because others are being targeted. The game today is for the teammates to stand face to face on a platform in the water. Each player is also attached to a truss. When the game begins, each player is going to be lifted into the air and pulled away from the other teammate. The last team that is holding on will win the game. Jeff tells Annie "this is it, or we go to Temple". Green team let go before they even left the platform. Mike fell over and Keetin just let go. Calley let go fairly quickly too. She is too weak for physical games. Then Michelle's hands were slipping, and Orange was out. Then we hear Jenna saying that her hands were definitely slipping. Then Jenna gave way, and the winners were Purple. Purple now has six pyramid pieces. Mike said that they tripped off the board. Shep then said that Calley couldn't hold on. Tyler thought if they held on longer Orange could have won. Jenna said her hands were ready to fall off, but she should have let that happen because they would have won. Meanwhile Keetin is bitter because Blue gave Purple their two pieces. As she says, they would only have four right now, and we would have three. Jeff admits it makes him look like more of threat. Calley said that every Temple mission she would tell people to send Purple. Jenna tells her, you should have won something and sent them. Annie is ready to break up Yellow, Brown, Green alliance. Shep and Jenna are talking and Shep says that they will have to rely on Green because Brown will probably get the Samati, and Jenna adds that Yellow isn't winning. To that Shep replies, "I wonder why" implying the weak link is Calley. Shep then says that he is really getting pretty frustrated at the lack of Calley's athletic ability. Calley says that she is trying her hardest. Max said that he is sure they will get the Samati. Max tries to talk Annie into not giving him the Samati. Max said to give it to Yellow. Max is saying that if he wins, he won't send Purple up. Annie said that Max promised Scooter, and she doesn't trust him. Max insists he can be trusted, and Annie says, "if we give you the Samati, you aren't going to win". The Samati ceremony. JD mentions that today is special because they have reached the half way point. They are 10 from 20. Annie and Jeff already have half the pyramid pieces needed to win the game. JD also says one pretty big alliance is still intact. JD says "it's not an alliance, it's a friendship". Max said that it's not an alliance it's a friendship because Yellow hasn't won anything, and if it wasn't for friendship, someone would have already sent Yellow to Temple. Shep looks stern as he says this, and Calley looks pissed. Max says that alliances break, but friendships stay strong. Max said that he won't necessarily not send Green or Yellow to Temple because he may need to send them for strategy reasons. Mike says that it was an embarrassing day for the Green team, and both take responsibility. JD says Brown and Purple are running the beach. Calley and Tyler think that Purple controls the beach. Who will Purple give the Samati to? Annie said that it wasn't a hard decision, and they are giving it to the Brown team. Jenna thinks that the reason they got the Samati is because Brown is winning stuff and they are strong. JD asks if it might be because they sent Purple to the Temple already. Jenna admits that could be the reason too. In the Samati is a tape that is 24 inches long. They will be handicapped by 2 feet, which is close to the height difference between Max and Jenna. Max doesn't think the Samati will make much of a difference. Jenna says that she is just going to live in the now. Max says that he will backstab Purple and send them up tomorrow if Brown wins.

The next episode is Cherry Picker, the ninth episode in the series. Mike starts by saying that Yellow isn't pulling its weight. Keetin even admits that Yellow needs to step it up and win something so they can prove that they deserve to be in the alliance. Max says that Purple can't stomp on them and they will win the game. Today's game. Each team has to connect three poles and carry a huge team colored ball and put it into the tower across the sand from them. The winning team is the one that gets three balls into the tower. Brown's tower is 24 inches taller than anyone else's. The game starts. Purple team is the first on the move, followed by everyone except Yellow. Orange got the first ball in, and then Purple. Yellow was the only one with the second ball on its way. They finally got it into the tower. Green got it in shortly after them. Then Purple and Orange. Yellow was the only one on their way with the third ball. Then Purple took off. Purple got theirs in while Yellow lost theirs as it feel away from the tower. Calley whines that they had it. Well, close only counts in horseshoes. Mike said that he was really surprised when Purple just flew past everyone. Meanwhile it was Shep only who was trying to get the ball in while Calley was just standing with her back to the tower. Shep was so furious and disappointed that he wanted to snap his helmet in half. Keetin and Michelle are with Annie, and Keetin says "if I were in your position, I would send Brown and Yellow" (funny since Green is a stronger team than Yellow). Calley is sure that Yellow and Brown will go to the Temple. Jeff asked if Mike would stick with Purple if Yellow and Brown went up. Mike shakes hands with Jeff on that. It will be Purple and Green for the final two in their plans. Keetin says that she would send Brown because Brown is a big threat and the alliance is crumbling. Max made a deal with Annie about him getting the Samati, but then not going to Temple. Max asks Jeff about it, and he says that he has to ask Annie. As Annie said, she has no problem with sending Brown. Max is telling Annie that she made a deal. Annie said that she wished that she could have talked to Brown before they sent him up. Annie says that she knows what he is trying to do. Everyone sees that Max is scheming with everyone to get out of going to Temple. Max even admits that he wouldn't trust himself if he were them. Jenna said that Max is trying to strategize too much and that's not cool. Annie is talking to Jeff and says that Max is trying to make them feel guilty, but Brown is back for a second chance. Mike admits that the strong alliance of Green, Brown, and Yellow is going to lose one of its members. Annie and Jeff meet with JD. Which two teams are they sending? Annie says their choice is based on strategy and what goes around, comes around. They chose Brown and Yellow. Jenna says to them, "un uh--not cool". Calley said that if Purple was smart, they would have sent Green and Brown because they are the stronger teams. Max said that he saw Mike and Annie walking together on the beach. Max thinks Mike is trying to backstab him. Shep tells Max not to think like that. Shep also tells Annie not to be torn up about it. Calley tries to say that she won't be, but you can just see that she is hyper-emotional. Everyone hugs Brown and Yellow, and Jenna said that they will come back to get rid of Purple. Max says that everyone is learning from him, and he is going to come back and give the Samati to Purple and sending them to Temple. Calley thinks they are going to Temple for personal reasons, but Shep doesn't take it personally and says that it is just for strategy reasons. Shep said that he had an experience of a lifetime, and right now all he can be is grateful. Brown and Yellow arrive at the Temple. The platform on the sea that represents the Temple is really rocking because a storm is coming in and causing alot of waves. JD says that it is strange seeing Brown up at the Temple of Fate because they were there last time as the Grey team in the earlier season. In the first game, Brown picks water and Yellow picks wood. Yellow wins the first round. In the second game, Brown picks water and Yellow picks fire. Brown wins the second round. For the third and final game, Brown picks fire and Yellow picks wood. Browns stays. Calley starts crying heavily, and Shep comforts her and keeps on saying over and over, don't worry about it. Brown is headed back to the beach. Annie does not go rushing over to greet Brown, and looks disappointed that they are back. That is understandable considering how strong Brown is.

Sunday, August 7, 2005 -- Afternoon

Interesting news on the hockey front. Wayne Gretzky is going to be coaching the Phoenix Coyotes. So the Great One is trying to emulate Le Magnifique. After Mario took over an ownership role with the Pens, Gretzky did the same with Phoenix. At least Mario had a connection to the Pens so it made more sense. Mario is an owner/player, and now Gretzky is an owner/coach. I wonder if he would be a good coach. Just because you can't play doesn't mean you can coach.

Sunday, August 7, 2005 -- Morning

There is abit of concern about the physical well-being of Duce Staley. Since training camp has started, Staley has been complaining about his knee and not playing very much. The Steeler managment don't think there is a major problem, but Staley is going to have an MRI taken of his knee today to confirm whether there is a more serious problem with the knee.

Binyamin Netanyahu left his position as finance minister in the Israeli government over the Gaza pullout that is starting today. Netanyahu has given indication in the past that he wasn't happy with the pullout. I have to admit that I have been conflicted about the pullout. Basically what is happening is that the Sharon has said that all settlements will be dismantled and abandoned in the Gaza Strip. All settlers are being given the opportunity and money to relocate into another part of Israel. If they don't willing more out before the deadline, the settlers will be forceably removed by the Israeli army, and they will receive no financial compensation. Now the settlers don't want to relocate because they feel that the area is theirs, and they have built up a social community that they don't want to lose. The government on the other hand wants to make a move towards piece by giving the Palenstinian Authority (PA) the land in the hopes that this will lead to fewer terror attacks. What some on the government's side feel, Netanyahu and Natan Sharansky in particular, is that the government should not be giving up the terroritory without some concessions on the side of the PA. Personally, I have been abit conflicted over the pullout. I agree that Gaza should be given up because the liability of safeguarding the lives of the settlers from terrorist attacks is huge. However, I do question doing so without getting some sort of agreement or offer from the PA. I understand that Arik Sharon is trying to show that his urge for peace is a strong one and that he is willing to accept a two state solution. My question is that I don't believe that the want for peace is a strong on the side of the PA. The PA has been notorious for supporting the acts of terror either directly or indirectly due to inaction on tracking down and punishing the terrorists. If you pull out without concessions, the PA and the terrorist groups will see this as a win for terror, and will just continue such actions until they achieve their true goal which is the annihilation of the state of Israel.

Saturday, August 6, 2005 -- Evening

Big Brother was on this evening. As is usual with these shows, there is the recap of the past week. We hear first from Maggie that she got rid of a strong, strategic player. We see the "Whatup Kaysar" song that Howie makes up, and it looks like everyone says "Whatup Kaysar". Howie says that everyone loved Kaysar, enemies and allies. Sarah is sad that the vote was only 7 to 1 because he deserved more than that. James said that it sucks that Kaysar is gone and that he is going to miss his presence. Janelle said that Kaysar was so composed and nice to others. Rachel admits that she didn't try to get HOH when it came down to the two of them because she knew how much Howie wanted to be HOH. Then we hear James talk about how glad he is that Howie won, and how safe he feels and how he won't have to commpete in a Veto competition. Maggie and company were worrying because Rachel took out April before Sarah. I know that they want to be safe, and felt safer with Sarah than April. Ivette is worried because she took out James from the HOH competition. Maggie said that she would like Eric to come back into the game (obviously). Then we hear Rachel, Howie, Janelle and Sarah talking about how bad it would be if Eric came back. James hopes that Howie nominates Maggie. He would love Maggie to pass Eric on the way in. As Howie says, if you aren't Janie or Rachel, you should be nervous because no one is safe, even James with his known backstabbing. Then we see Howie's HOH room. He got alot of snack food and black Speedos. It seems that Howie used to be a stripper. We also saw a pictures of Howie with his father, mother and sister. Howie says, "first of all, I want to say congratulations to me". Now we see Howie, Rachel and Janelle plotting on who to put up. I think that they thought they may want to put Maggie up because she is dangerous. But James is the most domininant person in BB history. As Rachel says, with the odds and numbers, they would be better off screwing Maggie than screwing James because the numbers could be six to three against them.

After the break, we see April and Jennifer in the HOH room with Howie and Janelle. April and Jennifer said that they don't trust James at all, and that they can't stand her. Then Ivette and Beau show up and April and Jennifer leave. Ivette says that James is heartless. Ivette claims that her word is as good as gold. Everyone is telling them that if they put James up that Howie and Rachel and Janelle are safe. Then James shows up and Ivette and Beau freaked out and ran. Howie tells James that they told Howie that James was gunning for Howie and Rachel. Howie says that they told him that James is on the other side. Rachel says that she doesn't trust him, and hasn't liked him from the beginning. Rachel says that the threat of Eric coming is big. James says that he isn't scared and will send Eric back the next week. Sarah says that they need to get Maggie gone. Then Maggie comes in and talks to Howie one on one. Maggie says that James is talking about being on Howie's side. Maggie is trying to talk Howie into taking Eric out because if she reduces their numbers the "friendship" will be stronger next week. You know that Maggie and company are really playing Howie. Howie admits that he and Rachel will be sitting ducks if Eric comes back. Now we see April and Beau talking, and April admits that her back is hurting and that she has a tail. Beau refused to touch it. April says that her tail bone was bent because she fell off a horse. As Ivette says, she thought April was beautiful, but she has a tail. Sarah says that is is like a boxer's tail that has been clipped. Jennifer asks if she can wag it when she is happy. Back to HOH, and at night, Howie and Rachel are talking about strategy. Rachel says that you should go for Maggie. Then Howie admits that he promised everyone James on a silver platter. Rachel freaked out because she couldn't believe that he told that to everyone and promised it to them. Rachel thought that she thought Howie was going to talk to everyone and not make promises. It seems that Rachel really wanted Maggie out. Rachel tells him that he needs to shut up and not tell people what they are planning. Rachel said that she should not have left the room. Rachel said that she threw the contest for him, and wished that she didn't. She said he screwed up everything in two hours of being HOH. She says now they are screwed because he made the promise and folks are going to come gunning for them. Rachel tells him that it is a big mess. They do seem to act like a married couple. I know they are supposed to be friends, but just watching them, they seemed like a married, bickering couple.

After the commercial break, we see Michael asking to go back in and then Eric saying he wants a favor and have people put him back in so he can stir things up. Kaysar says he's only been gone for a short time, but he wants to go back in again. Then we see the food competition. As Howie says, he and Janelle get to eat regardless. We see the conveyor belts. It is the Big Brother bakery. They have to eat everything that spits out of the machine. The team that eats the most and prevents the food from going down the belt and into the bucket. The lightest bucket will win. First out is a Hersey's kiss. Then there were snowcaps, then cookies, then bigger fruit tarts. Maggie is allergic to dairy so was trying to avoid dairy. That girl is a loser. We see everyone stuffing cake and milk into their mouths. Maggie is such a loser. No meat, no dairy. She is a blight on the whole household. Ivette admitted that Janelle was really making an effort for them, but as Janelle says, all she did was smash food in her face and didn't eat any of it. The thing is that the four (Ivette, April, Beau, and Maggie) thought she took one for the team. What a bunch of folks. Blue team (Maggie's side) had 35.5 pounds, and Red had 35.15 pounds. As James said, thank God they get to eat. Blue team eats PB&J. Janie has the pass, and says that she is keeping the pass for herself. What a win/win for Janie!

Another commerical break, we see April smoking. She claims that she usually didn't smoke that much. Ivette said that April said that she didn't smoke. Then she was smoking a couple of day. Then she was out there smoking like a chimney. April brought three cartons of cigarettes, and now is running out. As Ivette says, you need to bring enough for three months. April was dumb and didn't. She also was begging cigarettes from Janelle. Rachel said that the other side screwed it up by not getting him out last week. As Rachel says, Maggie screwed it up by not putting both of James and Sarah up. Maggie said that she thought James was on Rachel's side, and Rachel says no. Rachel says that she knows that if Eric comes back Maggie and Eric are strong. April claims that the other side doesn't have an alliance. Bull donkies! April said, what sort of promise are they looking for. Rachel says that if someone comes back in, they don't want to be on the block. Maggie says that if she wins HOH, she will honor the deal, but there is no guarantee that others would honor the deal. So the plan is to take out James and Sarah in the next two weeks, but Rachel and Howie are stupidly committing themselves to taking out one of their own. Or at least someone who is more likely to be on their side than the others. If I were Rachel and Howie, I wouldn't be worried about James. He was saying that he would put up Rachel and Howie to save himself, but if he had power, he would go after the other side because of the numbers game. Rachel and Howie are too stupid to see their hands in front of their faces. Notice when James got veto last week, he switched and said he would have to put up Maggie.

Now we see Howie getting the keys out and contemplating the nominations. We hear Sarah say that she really trusts Howie. Maggie says that she doesn't feel safe. Ivette says nothing is safe or guaranteed. I think that folks need to start targeting her and Beau. James is thinking it will be a nice relaxing week. Howie thinks that he is doing the best for himself and his close partners in crime. Fool! Everyone is gathered for the nomination ceremony. Howie says that he has seen good and bad things, and that he is trying to be strategic to win BB6. The first key is Janelle. Then comes Rachel. Then Beau. Then Ivette. Then Jennifer. Then April. Last is Maggie. James is nodding as it gets near the end, and looks squinty-eyed. Howie says that James is a dangerous, dangerous player, and he thinks that James will prevent Howie from being champ. James says that he doesn't know about Sarah, and thinks that James and Sarah working together can be disasterous to his chances of winning. Sarah says that this is very mixed up. Sarah says that she can't take losing her boyfriend or being in the house with not a single friend. James says that Sarah and he will decide who leaves the house.

From what I have seen and heard on the live feeds, James won the power of veto. Now the big question is whether he will use the veto to save himself, or if he will use it to save Sarah. In a way I hope that James saves himself because it will put a whole heck of alot more drama in the game if he stays--and gets HOH next week. I think that James is a strong competitor, and one that everyone distrusts, so he is one that I would want to take to the end with me so folks would pick me over him.

The Pittsburgh Penguins signed Ziggy Palffy today. I'm really trying to figure out what is going on with the folks that are being picked by the Pens. I'm not sure that I see what the bigger picture is, but I am really wondering if they have been making the best choices. I think that what will happen is that we will see what happens when the season progresses.

Saturday, August 6, 2005 -- Morning

It seems that Mario Lemieux will still be a majority owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins. A few months ago, William DelBiaggio was going to get to purchase a majority share of the Pens, and there was some concern that the Pens might wind up moving from Pittsburgh. However, winning the lottery and getting Sidney Crosby changed everything. It seems season ticket sales have been so good that the current Pen ownership feels more comfortable letting DelBiaggio in with only a minority share.

Friday, August 5, 2005 -- Evening

Howie nominated James and Sarah for eviction. I think that was a stupid move because if they get rid of James, then it is three against five or six depending on what Sarah or James does next week, and if Eric comes back--heaven forbid. I don't think that Howie, Rachel or Janelle were thinking long term. I would have kept James close just to even the power struggle, then have gone after him. After all, it is obvious that Maggie and company were after James--and to save his hide, James would have targeted Maggie and company first. Once he and Sarah are gone, it will be Rachel, Howie and Janelle. This really was a stupid strategic move.

Friday, August 5, 2005 -- Late Afternoon

It's funny to watch the live feeds. Maggie and company are sure that Eric is coming back this coming Thursday and that he is going to win HOH when he comes back. Maggie and April are putting the pressure on Rachel and Howie to put up James and Sarah. They say that if James gets off the block that Eric will be back in the house this week to get James out the week after that. Rachel asks why should she put up someone from her group. Good point. April claims that he isn't part of anyone's group. Rachel sees the problem. You don't want Maggie and company to outnumber you because their agenda is to get rid of Howie, Rachel, and Janelle. Howie and Rachel would be incredibly stupid not to put up two people from the Maggie group. They keep on talking about how when they win. The problem is that so far that group has not won anything be it a food, veto or HOH competition. Why would you want to be part of that group? Beau is such an idiot. I think they should put up Ivette and either Maggie or Beau. I just hope that Rachel or Howie aren't dumb.

Friday, August 5, 2005 -- Afternoon

The Big Brother houseguests were let out into the backyard for the food competition around 2:15 EDT this afternoon. The houseguests are split into two teams, the red team and the blue team. From what I understood from Howie, a conveyor belt of food is going to go by the teams. The team that eats the most food off the conveyor belt, leaving the lesser amount in the bucket at the end of the belt will get food for the week. The other team will be on PB&J. Janelle, Maggie, Ivette, Beau, and April are on the red team, and James, Sarah, Jennifer, and Rachel on the other side. All this food was coming down the belt, like chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies, sandwiches, milk, and a huge wedding cake for each of them and they had to grab the food and eat it before it got into the bucket. Even though Janelle was with Maggie and company, she was trying hard to eat the food with her face all covered in cake. The thing is that she doesn't have to eat PB&J because she has the pass. Blue team's bucket was 35.50 pounds. The red team bucket was 35.15 pounds so the blue team will be eating PB&J.

I am watching Kaysar on House Calls, and I have to admit that after that interview, I love Kaysar more than I did just from watching the show--and he was my favorite houseguest. I really hope that he gets selected to go back into the house. I have been doing my voting all morning, and will continue until it ends. If Eric gets back it, it would be so disappointing because I really don't like Maggie and company, and they would just be so obnoxious in thinking that the public loves them and Eric. I am not alone. Marcellas just lost it over Kaysar. He said that Kaysar touched Marcellas' leg at one point, and Marcellas said that he could have just fallen to the ground and died. Vote Kaysar! Go to the America's Choice Poll and vote for Kaysar or text number 3 to 22788 (CBSTV).

Friday, August 5, 2005 -- Morning

Jerome Bettis ran over Ben Roethlisberger yesterday during practice. This lead to some slight injury and bruising on Roethlisberger's part, but as he said, for Bettis, it was just like "going over a speed bump". Because of the slight injury, Roethlisberger had some ice on his leg and right hand for abit, and stopped practice for abit. He did return to practice later on in the day. The bigger concern was that Duce Staley did not practice for the second day in a row, and he had some fluid removed from his knee on Wednesday.

Sidney Crosby was on the Tonight Show last night. He was only on for a few minutes, and some of the highlights were watching some old video of Crosby playing hockey when he was a kid. One of the scenes showed him skating into an adult referee and knocking him over. We also got to see a picture of the Crosby family dryer. It appears that Crosby used to go into the basement as a kid and he used it as a training rink. The dryer was the goal, so he would shoot the puck at the dryer. It was really banged up, and all the buttons were knocked off. As Crosby said, his mum was abit upset at first, but she just learned to live with Crosby banging up her dryer. It seems that the family has been using the dryer all along, and just replaced it recently. So Jay Leno brought out a dryer and had Crosby shoot some pucks at it with the door open. Well, the first three veered to the right of the machine. The fourth one hit the open door, the fifth hit right below the dryer opening, and the sixth went in for a goal.

Dan Marino will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Sunday.

Thursday, August 4, 2005 -- Evening

Tonight is live eviction night on Big Brother. We had the review for the past week that is typical for all these shows. The main review was showing how James is two faced. As Marcellas says on House Calls, Maggie is playing this game with emotion and not strategy, and that will bite her on the butt. Julie tells us about the other twist which will involve the viewers. I think that it will be that next week we get to vote to evict the houseguest. Kaysar talks to Janelle and says that he knew something like this would happen. We see April asking Kaysar to talk to him. She asks Kaysar why she should not evict him. He tells her that he would not put her up on the block next week. I don't think that she's the biggest target for him. April lets Kaysar know that James was not thinking of putting Maggie and company, but Howie and Rachel. Kaysar then lets Rachel and Howie know about it. Kaysar also lets Maggie know that he knows what James was plotting. Maggie admits that Kaysar has obviously been told things, and says that both sides have to join against James because they need to get him out. Kaysar is talking to Janelle and he admits that he would love to stay behind to get rid of James. Julie asks Jennifer what she would do with the million dollars. Jennifer wanted to share it with the others, but that's a big no-no because that's like buying votes. She did say she would give it to charity. Then Julie asks April about getting the card from her husband, and she said it was the best thing that she received. Julie asks Sarah about getting the veto and saving James. Sarah said it felt wonderful and she would like to spend a few more weeks with him. Julie then asks Ivette about the invention she is more most proud of in the house, and Ivette says her ghetto slide of hefty bags and water.

After the commercial break, we find out how Eric's alliance is carrying on his legacy. Ivette says that when Eric left, her heart left with him. Janelle, James and Howie are talking about how Eric is a martyr now. Maggie and company all put their keys in front of Eric's picture. They show Ivette calling out "where's Cappy?" because she couldn't come up with an answer. Howie shows how they make fun of Eric by walking on their knees because he is so short. Kaysar and James don't think that Maggie can compete on her own--she's wearing his clothes and hat. We see Maggie then telling Ivette that she is going to do what Eric wants. (I refuse to use his nickname.) As Howie says, the ghost of Eric's past is in the house. Julie now talks to Maggie in the HOH room. Julie asks about Eric leaving and her avenging his eviction. Maggie said that it was more important than she would admit, and she has to admit that she isn't playin strategicly. As she said, it's a big deal to lose someone you are so close to. Maggie thinks that she is absolutely a target in this game. Julie brings up how Maggie gave James the impression that he was a police officer. Maggie was trying to give the impression that she can read him, and can't be read herself. We hear Howie, Sarah, Rachel and Ivette voting. Rachel says that Janelle's not perfect. Howie says Janelle is misunderstood. Ivette says Kaysar has to go by sending away Eric. Sarah doesn't know if she can trust Janelle. As Rachel says, unfortunately for Kaysar, he had a good hand, but he showed all his cards.

Coming back from the break, we get more information about James and Sarah. Their families are interviewed for the segment. We hear Sarah say that she will be married by 25. James mom looks sort of old. James sister says that she thinks Sarah is perfect for James, and he tends to get tired of his dates. Sarah's parents say that Sarah is not a weak person, and that it's not in her nature to lie and go behind people's back. As her mother says, Sarah has only been dating for 4 monts, and the parents are not too impressed with James' honesty. Sarah's mom doesn't like his putting her down. James' mother tries to say that she gave James a good basis in the Catholic faith. James' sister also said that she hopes that James will pick her over money but she can't guarantee that. Next week an evicted player will be voted back into the house for a second chance to play the game, but the viewers will be doing it. Now we hear April, James, Beau and Jennifer voting. Jennifer and April seem to think they might be safer with Kaysar than with Janelle. Jennifer says that Janelle can not be trusted because she is the ace manipulator. Meanwhile James says that it's a hard decision to make.

The commercial break is over and eviction time is at hand. Janelle's final words were to say thanks to her friends and family, and wished the houseguests luck. Kaysar said that he enjoyed his time there and has memories of each of them that will not change. By a vote of seven to one, Kaysar has been evicted. Kaysar got all his hugs and everyone said goodbye. Now we have Kaysar meeting with Julie. It is sad, but I will be voting to get Kaysar back into the house. Julie asks him about targetting Eric. Kaysar said that he wanted to stir things up. He wanted to change the balance of power and putting pressure on Eric. Kaysar says that he leaves the house with no regrets. Julie asked if the friendship will continue with Janelle. He says that he does believe so because she has heart and brains. Kaysar says that Janelle can take care of herself. Kaysar think that Janelle, Rachel and Howie have a great chance of winning the game. Julie asked if he could go back, what would he do differently, and he said that he wouldn't show all his cards.

After the commercial break, we have the HOH competition. The game is Eliminator. If you answer a question correctly, the first person to buzz in can answer and then eliminate one of the houseguest if they answer correctly. You have to buzz in and answer in five seconds. If you answer incorrectly, you are eliminated. "at the end of the food competition, who was elected to spin the wheel". Kaysar. Sarah eliminated Jennifer. "in the veto competition, which houseguest finished with the slowest". Ivette guessed Eric and eliminated James. "In the veto competition, Knight moves, houseguests had to move like the letter..." Janelle said "knight" but the answer was L. Janelle was eliminated. "in the food competition spelling bee, how many letters were misspelled" Sarah answers four and eliminates Ivette. "how many admit one movie tickets..." Howie answers six and eliminates Beau. "In the veto competition, Couch potato, what color was the on/off button?" Rachel answers red and eliminates April. "When Jennifer won the bonus prize, matching munchies what were the numbers." Rachel answers 46 and 57. Rachel eliminates Sarah. "In the veto competition, couch potato, the channel had to be in what position". Howie answered number 5. Howie is the new HOH. Howie yelled out "what up Kaysar!" Which was in answer to Maggie and company yelling for Eric after Maggie got HOH.

Julie is going to let the houseguests and us know the twist. Julie congratulates Howie. Howie said that Ivette said that she dreamed that Howie won HOH. Howie also said that Kaysar gave Howie his shirt and hat for him to wear. Julie tells everyone that four people have been evicted and sequestered since their evictions. Next week, once of the houseguests will be coming back. It will be either Michael, Eric or Kaysar. Ashlea left sequester so she will not be coming back. The decision is up to the viewers. How to vote? Go to cbs.com to vote, or text number 1 for Michale, 2 for Eric or 3 for Kaysar on your Verizon mobile phone to number 22788 (CBSTV). Poles close Wednesday.

Thursday, August 4, 2005 -- Afternoon

The folks at NASA have decided against another spacewalk. They have decided that the thermal blanket does not need to be fixed and all should be good for reentry on Monday.

It seems that there aren't any lakes or rivers on Saturn's moon, Titan. It seems that the Huygens sent back imagines from Titan that on closer examination don't reveal any signs of liquid on the surface. The study was mostly on the southern hemisphere of the moon, so there is still a possibility that there is something in the northern hemisphere.

The Pens have signed Andre Roy. I'm not understanding the logic that the Pens are using in their selections. Maybe they can't get anyone better, but I am disappointed in this signing. Hopefully there are others that are waiting in the wings for a signing that will inspire me with more confidence.

Thursday, August 4, 2005 -- Morning

There are more problems with Discovery. It seems that thermal blanket that lies under the cockpit window has been damaged. This damage alone isn't a problem. The concern is that the blanket will come loose during re-entry and will cause damage elsewhere on the shuttle that could be catastrophic. A decision will be made later on to determine if a spacewalk is needed to repair the damage, and what the repair will be. The thing is that some of this damage might have happened in previous flights without problems, but now with the scrutiny of NASA on every square inch of the shuttle, more things are coming to light.

The Montreal Canadiens have resigned Alexei Kovalev so he won't be coming to Pittsburgh. I am waiting to hear that the Pens have gotten a goalie.

Terry Bradshaw was at the Steelers training camp yesterday. Bradshaw had something to say about Ben Roethlisberger. As Terry said, Ben should wait until he retires to ride his motorcycle. The other thing he commented on was the Hines Ward situation. As Terry said, you have to do what you have to do. Terry never was a holdout because he thought that you should play. When I saw the interview with Terry on television, I got the feeling that he didn't really like Ward being a hold out, but that he understood why he was doing it. As Terry said though, you can't let this disrupt the team too much.

David Beckham has yet another tattoo on his body. This time he has his whole left forearm tattooed with a phrase in Hebrew from the Old Testatment. The phrase is: "I am for my beloved, and my beloved is for me, who grazes sheep in rose-like pastures." It's supposed to be for his wife, Victoria, and she loved it so much she is having a smaller version tattooed on the back of her neck. Why Hebrew? Because Beckham has become a follower of Kabbalah like Madonna. This whole fad of following Kabbalah is becoming annoying, and it is hiliarious seeing these folks following a Jewish philosophy tattooing their bodies which is contrary to the Jewish faith. Celebrities!

Wednesday, August 3, 2005 -- Afternoon

Some exciting news on the Pittsburgh Penguins front. We signed Sergei Gonchar. The deal is for $25 million dollars over five years. Gonchar is a pretty good player and has played in three All-Star games.

Wednesday, August 3, 2005 -- Morning

I am watching Steve Robinson removing the gap filler material from the underbelly of the space shuttle. They are showing it live on FOX News. He was able to easily remove the filler by pulling it out. Now he is moving on to the second area of concern. The second piece which was around ten feet from the first was removed even more easily than the first. So the mission was a success.

The Pittsburgh Penguins didn't signed any free agents yesterday. This doesn't mean that we aren't going to sign anyone, just that matters are still in the negotiation stage. In the meantime, Marty Straka has signed with the NY Rangers. I am not disappointed over not signing Straka. Ever since he broke his leg a few seasons ago, he has been injury prone, and hasn't had the stats that he had prior to the leg break.

Shaquille O'Neal signed a $100 million, five year deal with the Miami Heat yesterday. This means that Shaq will be taking a pay cut because he was scheduled to make $30.6 million next year. However, on the plus side, he will be making a guaranteed salary over five years, and there is talk of incentives that were added to the package that would make up for any lost money.

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 -- Evening

Another episode of Big Brother was on tonight. It started with a recap of the past two weeks. Ivette said that she was not surprised it was Kaysar and James because that's what Eric wanted. As Kaysar said, he wasn't surprised because he knew that some people in the job didn't think for themselves. Maggie expects an incredible week of fighting ahead. We then see Sarah crying in the shower with Ivette. She was bawling her eyes out because of James. James said that Sarah is the world to him. Then we got to see them smashing lips. Meanwhile Janelle tells Kaysar that she will fight her ass off to save him. Kaysar says that he will not compaign against James. James wonders why Maggie doesn't go after pairs. Kaysar and James agree that there is no strategy there. The question is who will compete for POV, and James thinks he has to have Sarah do it because she is the only one who wouldn't screw him. Then we see Ivette going into the toilet with April following her. Ivette is just crying her foolish racist heart out about the "good guy--the hypocrite---Eric leaving. Then we see James consoling Ivette. James admits that he likes Ivette, but he is going to take advantage of her. James admits that he has to play both sides. James thinks that it is psychological warfare because Maggie had Sarah pick the last key which was Janelle's, and he comments on how both names start with Ja. Kaysar admits that the veto competition is key because they have to win. James thinks that if Janelle or Kaysar wins the POV, then Sarah will go up in Kaysar's place. James wants to ensure the safety for both of them. James tries to explain that Sarah needs to win the POV competition because that will keep them both safe.

After the commercial break, we see James going up to the HOH and ask Beau to borrow a Bible. Beau denies it. April tells Beau that he can't deny someone a Bible. So James tells Ivette that he is going to put Howie and Rachel up if he wins HOH and promises with his hand on the Bible. James tells Ivette that she can't get a stronger word than his. Kaysar says that he needs to get the veto to save his butt, and James needs the same. Meanwhile James is stressing Sarah out with his nerves. Kaysar tells Janelle to just go out there and try her best. So starts the competition. Maggie picks Beau. James picks Sarah, and Kaysar picks Janelle. James says that Sarah is the only person he can trust in the house. Now starts the competition. There is a couch with televisions in front of it with the houseguests photo above it. They had to sit on the couch and had to use balls to hit the buttons to turn on the television and change the channels. They have to get to the number 5 channel. James and Sarah were going to Sarah's and Janelle and Kaysar were going for Kaysar's. James got the tv on first. Maggie noticed that James was only working on Sarah's and managed to turn off the tv. Kaysar said that he threw the ball like a sissy girl. James said that Beau claimed to play baseball for nine years, but he sucked so he must have been a catcher. James managed to get Sarah's tv to channel 5 and she has the veto. It wasn't like she won it though, James won it on Sarah's tv. Kaysar doesn't know how to save himself. As he said, James is saved and Kaysar is defenseless. You just can't seem to get James.

With the commercial break over, Sarah is feeling great for winning the veto competition. Kaysar says that it's not over yet, but he is one step closer to eviction. Everyone on Maggie's side thought that she was shocked. She said that she wanted to be a recipient of information and not give it out. James says that he respects Kaysar a great deal. James tells Kaysar that he didn't want to send him home. Meanwhile up in HOH Ivette says that she really wants Janelle to go home. April says that they are there as a team and need to make decisions based as a team. Maggie calls it the friendship--the group of five--and says that she should not go against what the friendship decides. James asked April what she was going to do for her birthday. She is only washing clothes. But Big Brother made up a birthday party for her--with presents from K-Mart. She got a digital camera with a docking printer. April got a birthday card from her husband and her dog, Pepperoni with their picture on the cover. April thanks K-Mart for the presents. Ivette goes to James after Sarah wins POV to find out who he will get rid of and nominate. James now says that he would put up Maggie. Ivette realizes that James is not honorable, and says he making stupid decisions. He said that Maggie tried to take him out in the veto. Ivette said that he swore on the Bible that he would take out Rachel and Howie, and James said that what Maggie did made the promise null. Ivette says that for her in this game, James has died too. (she is referring to the fact that she is acting like Eric is dead and not just out of the house.)

Back in the house, Beau finds the first quarter and everyone except Jennifer starts finding quarters. They realize that they only could do into the gumball machine. Sarah gets a movie pass. Beau got a ticket too. It seems there were six movie passes in total. Ivette, Beau, Maggie, Sarah, Rachel and Howie all got passes. Howie was very gracious and gave the ticket to Jennifer because she didn't get it, and she always talks about movies. It seems that the six got to compete to see the movie of which only three could attend. The movie was Four Brothers. The six had to break into two teams of three. So Maggie, Bean, and Ivette were on one team, and Rachel, Jennifer and Sarah on the other. There were marque and lightbulbs. They has to work as a team to screw in lightbulbs and to put the bulbs in to spell a message. If the lightbulb lights, that's the spot for it. If not then you have to move the bulb. Idiot side (Maggie and company) started in the center. Rachel and company took three sections. Maggie and company were slow and Rachel, Sarah and Jennifer won. As Sarah said, it's nice to beat Maggie. The HOH room was setup like a movie theater. There was candy everywhere. Howie took charge and made folks leave without tickets. Jennifer said that she was so excited that she was missing parts of the movie. Rachel said that there were guns and action. Everything a man would love, but they were chicks.

In the last segment of the show, we had the veto ceremony. Kaysar was trying to save himself, so Kaysar comes up with a plan with his group to put up someone from her side so Maggie would be safe next week. Kaysar approaches Maggie in the gym, and says that if Maggie is interested in a deal, she should put up someone from her side and that would take her off the radar. Maggie just listened and didn't say much. Kaysar thought it was a 50-50 chance that she might take the offer. Sarah calls the veto meeting. Maggie says that she is undecided on whom she will put up. Sarah gives them both a chance to talk. Kaysar says that he won't ask her to use the veto on him, but to use it on her boyfriend. He then passes it to James who says, whatever you say. Sarah says it is obvious what she will do, but it doesn't make it easier. Sarah says that she knows it will be some with a great heart, a great mind, and a great character. Meanwhile Maggie is looking around with wide eyes, like "who are you talking about". Maggie puts Janelle up on the block. Maggie says that Janelle was a good person to put up because she was a vote for Kaysar. Sarah is glad that they are safe another week. Kaysar is going to try to get himself out. As he said, it's not impossible, but it is improbable, and he would like to do it without backstabbing anyone.

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 -- Afternoon

I have been catching up on recorded shows, and watched the seventh episode of the second season of Endurance. This episode was titled Halftime which gave highlights of the first six episodes. Basically the show was a recap of tidbits from the first six episodes without any new material added. The eighth episode was called On The Ropes. This episode recapped what happened in the sixth episode which ended with Blue getting the Samati. The mission today is a Temple mission which will send two teams to the Temple. Tyler comments that the Blue team needs to win because everyone is out to get him. No one trusts Scooter, and Max is sure that he will go up if Blue wins. Scooter says that ten seconds is not that much and Blue will win and send Yellow and Brown to the Temple. The competition today? One player from each team takes a team colored rope and string it through the poles. There are basically around six poles that have to be done. The player threading the rope will be blindfolded while the other stays at the start point screaming commands. Blue team has a ten second delay. Brown team had a big lead. Scooter was running and making a fast move through the poles. It came down to Scooter and Max battling for the lead. They both got to the second to the last one at the same time and shoved around abit. Max went past the final pole. Then he came back and fell into the pole and won the game. Scooter was very close to it, and almost had it. JD Roth commented that he saw Jenna hugging the Green and Yellow team and asked if they were safe to which Jenna replied, we'll have to see later. Shep said that the game was a strategy game. Actually it was more than that. Jeff said that everyone was screaming and it was hard to hear your partner. Michelle liked how Tyler listened to her--meanwhile he said he couldn't hear her after the first pole. Max said the hardest part was the second to last pole because Scooter was fighting for it. Christa had a sinking feeling after Max got through faster than Scooter. Scooter was 99% sure that he would go to the Temple, but his goal was to win at the Temple. Keetin and Calley said that they wanted to send Purple and Blue. Meanwhile Annie is telling all the boys that Jenna is the leader and all the girls just follow her like lapdogs. Jeff thinks that Annie could ruin the game for him because of how the girls who feel about Annie. Jenna said that Purple was going to send Yellow and Brown. Max said that it was Yellow and Blue--but Jenna insists that's not the case. Max won't let Purple go though. The question is, who will go up to Temple? JD mets with the teams to find out who goes to Temple. The shocker though--Brown sends up the Blue and Purple teams. Callie is extremely happy. But little does she know that the team that comes back will have a vengence. Annie said that it was total backstabbing. Christa agrees that Max totally used Purple. Callie says though that they didn't want to be in an alliance with Purple. Annie says that she just can't stand Callie. The girls want Christa to come back, but the guys want Annie to come back. Annie says that she just thinks that Callie is immature and that Annie does not have low self esteem. Calley confronts Annie and Annie says that she doesn't like her immaturity. Calley goes off crying and Annie said that maybe she should say that she hates Calley because Calley is on the same beach. Purple and Blue go up, and Scooter refuses to hug Max good-bye. Scooter says that if he comes back, he is going to be after everyone. Annie says that she is going to come back and get Calley. Both teams head to the Temple. In the first game, Blue picks wood and Purple picks water. Blue wins the first game, and Scooter is really excited. In the second game, Blue picks fire and Purple picks water. Purple wins. It's now tied. In the final game, Blue picks fire and Purple picks water. Purple wins and is returning to the beach. Scooter looks very somber. As Scooter leaves, he says "good luck Purple. Finish what we have started" and shakes hands with Jeff. At the beach, the welcome is subdued with the girls, especially Calley, not being happy. The episode ends with Jenna telling Calley "you can't let her get you."

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 -- Morning

The shuttle crew are going to remove the hanging material from the underbelly of the shuttle tomorrow. The astronaut who is going to be doing, Stephen Robinson, said that he feels comfortable with the task. This will be the first time that any of the shuttle crew has gone to do a a repair on the underside of the shuttle while it is in orbit. The plan at this point is to remove the dangling piece. First Robinson will attempt to pull the piece out, and if that doesn't work, he will cut it off. The pulling bit always makes me nervous. You wouldn't want it to be like the proverbial string that hangs from the sweater and a yank winds up unravelling the sweater.

Ben Roethlisberger has a new buddy who has been giving him advice and support. That buddy is none other than Dan Marino. It seems that the pair have been talking regularly on the phone for the past month. Roethlisberger is interested in picking Marino's brain to figure out how to be a winning quarterback. The one thing that he doesn't want to repeat is Marino's lack of winning a Super Bowl.

In the meantime, Bill Cowher has been saying that no calls have been made Hines Ward. So far, there is no word on what is going on with Ward, and no comment has been made on whether Ward will be fined $6000 a day for not showing up to camp. That is the fine that is levied on players who don't appear to training camp. I think at this point, they don't want to be hostile. However, it is equally obvious that no negotiations will be proceed as long as Ward isn't at camp.

Shaquille O'Neal should be signing a long term contract with the Miami Heat. There is a moratorium on signings until Tuesday, and it is assumed that Shaq will be signing with the team shortly after that.

After denying vehemently last March that he took steroids, Rafael Palmeiro was tested positive for steroids. Believe it or not, Palmeiro denied that he knowingly took the steriods. So how does he account for the steroids? Maybe he was taking flaxseed and BenGay just like Barry Bonds. The part of this story that I find positively abhorrent is that Palmeiro tested positive for the steriod on July 1. At that point, he was still not at the 3000 hit mark. That mark was finally achieved on July 15. So while the MLB knew the results of the testing, they still let Palmeiro play so he could achieve his goal of 3000 hits. What penalty does Palmeiro receive for taking steriods, lying about it under oath, and besmirching Jose Canseco's name by claiming that Canseco lied in his book about Palmeiro's steroid use? A ten day suspension. Yep, you read that right. Ten days--not ten games. Major league baseball's reputation has been muddied beyond repair in my mind by this incident. Not only do they not adequately penalize someone for abusing the regulations, but they keep it on the downlow so the miscreant can achieve a record that he probably doesn't deserve. Tell me with a straight face that Palmeiro would have achieved his results without the drug. I know that I won't believe it.

Monday, August 1, 2005 -- Afternoon

It seems that Bo Bice broke his foot during a tour with his other American Idol castmates. It seems that Bo switched from boots to sneakers because he thought they would be better for his energetic routine. Well, he jumped up during his routine, and wound up breaking a bone in his foot. This happened last night, and supposedly, he will be able to rejoin the tour and just have to wear an air cast to protect his foot.

I just finished reading Die Laughing by Carola Dunn. The book is the twelfth in the Daisy Dalrymple mysteries. This time around Daisy has to go to the dentist because of a sore tooth, and finds the dentist dead in his chair with the gas mask around his face. The dentist died laughing from laughing gas. Who is the murderer? The dentist was cheating on his wife and she was cheating on him. Was the murderer his wife, his mistress, his wife's lover, or someone else. Daisy is on the case helping out her husband, Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher. Ms. Dunn did an excellent job with this mystery. The number of suspects was a small one, and each was lying or hiding something. Although I had an inkling of who the murderer was towards the beginning of the story (and it did turn out to be the murderer), the twists and turns were well done and made me really wonder if I had gotten it all wrong. The book is a good, light, quick read, and perfect for a lazy day at the beach or in the park. Or lying around in bed waiting for your foot to heal. So far, the series has been an enjoyable one, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes a light, historical cozy.

The veto meeting is over, and obviously Sarah removed James from the chopping block. Maggie and company ran upstairs to panic and consult. Now, what I don't understand is what was the big shock and concern to them? They knew a few days ago that Sarah won the Veto, and that she would obviously remove James from the block. Maggie should have known or had time to think of who she would put up in his place. So it's no shock to her on who is now on the block with Kaysar. Maggie and company aren't known for their brains, however. Instead of using the one brain cell that they share between the five, they must have left it in a jar in the bathroom. There was alot of "oh my gosh, it is going to come down to a tie" and "what are we going to do?" etc. From what I can gather from their conversation, it sounds like Maggie replaced James with Janelle. I suppose Maggie sees this as a strategic move because she is afraid of Howie or Rachel winning HOH next week and then nominating Maggie out of vengence. So she is trying to keep herself safe. Also for some reason, probably lack of smarts, Maggie sees Kaysar and Janelle as a pair like everyone else. Duh! Neither would get a million dollars if they make the final two!

Monday, August 1, 2005 -- Morning

The Pittsburgh Penguins are going to start making some offers for the plethora of free agents that are available. With the new changes in the collective bargaining agreement, we might actually be able to get some quality players for a reasonable cost. Last night on the local call-in sports show, there was the usual talk about Kovalev, and some new talk about Marty Straka. It will be interesting to see who we do get.

There is a standoff in Latrobe this morning. That's where the Steelers have their training camp. Hines Ward did not show up for training camp as he promised, and the Steelers have announced that they will not negotiate with anyone who is not at training camp. Now we should be clear that the offer that Ward was given would have made Ward the highest paid player in club history. So the offer was not a shabby one. Ward wants more though because he believes that the overall price that other teams are willing to pay for the work that he does is higher. This is the first major holdout that the Steelers have experienced since 1993. In that year, Barry Foster returned to training camp and negotiations. In 1988, Mike Merriweather sat out the season because of stubborness. We'll have to see which route Ward chooses.

Today will be the POV meeting at the Big Brother house. Obviously, Sarah will be removing James from chopping block. The question is who will go up? Will it be Janelle, Rachel or Howie? It doesn't seem that Maggie is going to fall for Kaysar's offer to put up someone from her side to keep herself safe. So from the looks of it, it's pretty definite that my favorite player this year, Kaysar, will be going home this week. That's the way that games go. Too bad that some folks take this all personally and don't seem to realize that it's a game. I guess if I were in that house (which I would never be able to do because I would be bored out of my mind), I would start to take things personally, but you have to realize that everyone's agenda is to win. At least it should be the agenda.

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August 1005

Wednesday, August 31, 2005 -- Evening

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