Culturally Preconditioned

excerpt from Armchair Survivor :

How pathetic am I that the one-minute mention that I got from the Armchair Survivor podcast is one of my highlights this year (along with being interviewed by colllege students for their English Literature thesis and being appointed as the Malaysia correspondant for a regional Fine Dining magazine). I know, it’s rather menial if you think about it.. but I’m really glad Michael kinda dissed our local tv station for fucking around with the Survivor schedule. Yay!

By the way, here’s a link to Survivor : Cook Islands - Episode 3
Link: http://www.yousendit.com/download/aRbCVt6cYZc%3D

Anyway, are there any more sexier words than the three that were uttered by Jeff Probst in the last episode? Drop.Your.Buffs. (I really hope there’s going to be a merge buff later on.. woohoo! 5 new Survivor buffs to add to my collection!) Yessir, it’s that time of the season again, when the tribes are whittled down from 4 tribes to 2 tribes. It’s pretty expected, given that the 4 tribes from Exile Islands ‘merged’ into 2 around this time last season too.

The choosing of the new tribes were quite interesting. Possibly the most interesting pick-em ever done on the show. 4 leaders were chosen, Jonathan and Brad for the men, and Cecilia and Pavarti for the women. They then alternately choose members NOT from their old tribes, so that all the teams are integrated. Each of the men-women teams then joined to form 2 nine person teams.

Let me FIRST say, that I do NOT think the race issue will have any impact at all on this season and how future alliances is gonna fan out now that the tribes are merged. If anything, they will be voting along their original tribal lines, and not necessarily based on their ethnicities.

Roratonga tribe :

JP, Jenny, Adam, Sundra, Nathan, Cristina, Parvati, Brad, Stephannie

The breakdown of the new tribe : 2 Whites, 2 Asians, 3 Blacks, 2 Latinos.

Am I liking the new tribe? I can’t tell for sure. Was is any surprise that Brad immediately picked JP for his team? Obviously not. That made me snicker a bit and confirmed whatever iota that left for those still wondering which team he plays on. From the losing team into the majority in this group, Nathan, Rebecca and Stephennie should count their blessings. If things go well, I would have a hard time finding any of these three going home anytime soon, ALTHOUGH the other three team wise up and join forces to get rid of this majority (which is a distinct possibility). Cristina and Jenny seems to be on their own. They might find solace in each other’s company given their age range (and together with Stephennie too). Parvati.. that slut Parvati. Can she make her flirting any more obvious? She said that she always had that connection with Adam (somehow I don’t think that connection is reciprocated), and I was laughing my ass off when Nate simply dismissed her coming on to him. And good luck to Parvati flirting with the two lovebirds (Brad and JP). Dude, this girl has no ammo. She’s fucking toast. Karma is a bizzle? It sure is… poor Adam was thrown back to his old camp which they had to rebuild. That’s karma for you for being such a lazy ass, you moron.

Autituki tribe :

Flicka, Cao Boi, Ozzy, Sundra, Candice, Becky, Yul, Cecilia, Jonathan
The breakdown of the new tribe : 3 Whites, 3 Asians, 1 Black, 2 Latinos.

A lot of interesting dynamics going on at Aitu camp, possibly because they were heading to tribal council. Yul disclosed to his tight ally, Becky that he found the immunity idol. Smart move or dumb move? That’s still for us to find out, although if I had found the idol, I will never ever let anyone know. I found it pretty amazing that Cao Boi quickly dissipated to the other tribemates, as did Flicka. You’d think they would’ve figured it by now that Survivor is a game of numbers. They had that luxury and they were willing to give it up? As such, I do not want to see either Cao Boi or Flicka or any of the Hispanic tribe members winning this game. “I am here for the adventure” my ass. Please, no more Gabe players. These people are in the game to win a million dollars, and if that’s not what they’re there for, they should get booted out of the game. Sheesh! In the eternal words of the magnificent Shii Ann Huang “Stupid, stupid people!”. Sundra was a non-entity in this episode. Ozzy and Cecilia overconfidently thinks they are able to control the vote. Survivor is a game of numbers. You threw that luxury away. Karma is a bizzle.

The challenge and Exile Island :

The challenge is a rehash of one of the more interesting immunity challenges from Survivor Palau. I think the one in Palau took several hours, and this one lasted a whole lot shorter. Aitu’s original plan was to let go of all their women and move forward fast with all the men to catch up with Raro, but the plan backfired and slowed them down. The purpose of this challenge is to tackle one of your opponents down, so it bewilders me greatly as to why Jonathan/Ozzy/CaoBoi kept on going forward when Raro team have caught up with them, instead of standing their grounds like Yul and tackle one of them down. Stupidity? I think so too. So Rora won the challenge.. and as another twist, they get to choose someone from Aitu to be exiled (but also at the same time, sparing her from tribal council)… and who did they uninamously agree to send to Exile Island? CANDICE! They claimed it was because Candice is perceived to be their weakest link. Brilliant move, I must say because (1) Candice MIGHT be the weakest member on Aitu (2) Candice doesn’t look like the person who would find the hidden immunity idol (3) Candice is in the ‘majority’ of the Aitu tribe and they would lose one guaranteed vote. So buh-bye Candice. Poor Candice thinks the people on Raro were looking out for her by sending her to Exile Island and sparing her from Tribal Council, but little does she know the real reason she was chosen.

Tribal Council :

Prior to the challenge, Yul/Becky/Jonathan/Candice had an alliance of four and Flicka strung along as the fifth. When Candice was exiled, they were down in numbers. That and fucking Flicka was flipping back and forth with the CaoBoi/Sundra/Ozzy/Cecilia alliance and was being way too wishy washy for my liking. Goddamn bitch I hate her. I hope she gets Dolly-ed soon. It was then settled that it was going to be Flicka/CaoBoi/Sundra/Ozzy/Cecilia voting for Becky, while Yul/Becky/Jonathan voting for Cecilia. I have to give major props to Jonathan and Yul for working hard on CaoBoi and Flicka to have their votes.. and miraculously it worked. The votes against Cecilia were 5-3. Why Cecilia? Why not. Survivor is a game of numbers, and at this stage, you need it more badly than anything. Sundra was a lone ranger. Ozzy had an ally in Cecilia and it was definitely the right boot. Cut the ties before an uprising starts. Plus, you’re hot, Cece, but Karma is a bizzle and you shouldn’t have gone thrown that challenge last week.

I can’t wait for a double boot to happen. If I had my ways, I would throw this people off the island pronto : Cao Boi, Flicka, Ozzy, JP, Parvati, Adam. AND before I sign off.. a little something I would like to share with you guys. Here are some photochops taken off from Sucks (credits to smokeitgood and smashbox).

PLUS

EQUALS

Ahhh.. I KNEW IT. Exercising IS good for you!