Tuesday, October 25, 2005

The Amazing Race Update:

The Race started out in New Orleans with Phil's disclaimer about the Race having been filmed in the weeks prior to Hurricane Katrina.

Teams immediately struck out for Panama City, Panama. The task was to take a boat across the Panama Canal and find the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Once there, teams would search for a man in a hammock named Ricardo Diaz. On Flight 1 were the Linz, Bransen and Paolo families. Flight 2, about 2 hours later, were the Weaver, Gaghan and Godlewski families. After a late evening arrival, teams discovered the boats wouldn't run until 7:00 am the next morning. All teams caught up.

Ricardo provided this Race’s one and only Fast Forward: go to the Pacific side of the Panama Canal and complete a tandem bungee jump. The Paolo's decided to go for the Fast Forward. The eldest son is afraid of heights [and chose to jump with his mother?!] After the commercial, the second Paolo pair finally jumped; to the dismay of the Gaghans who were waiting in the wings hoping they would chicken out.

The Paolo’s proceeded to the Pit Stop at the Miraflores locks.
Prize: a trip to Panama (Aw Phil! You’re too generous!)

Ricardo provided the other teams with this week’s Detour: Rhythm or Coos: In both cases teams take a bus, known as a Diablo Rojo or Red Devil, to either a) collect 4 musical instruments [saxophone, trumpet, conga drum, trombone] and deliver them to a band director, or b) use binoculars and spot wooden replicas of birds hidden in the trees. They must correctly identify and circle 5 birds on an aviary chart. If the wrong birds are circled, teams must start over. Weavers and Bransens chose the birds; Godlewskis, Linz and eventually Gaghans chose the instruments.

The next clue had them traveling 2 miles to a baseball stadium where they received a Roadblock: play baseball. One member of each team must get a base hit or home run off Little League pitcher. Each player gets 3 balls then goes to back of the line. (It seemed that as long as they connected with the ball, players were allowed to make it to the base and receive the next clue.)

Finally, they travel to the Miraflores locks and the Pit Stop. In an “exciting” end to the Race, the Godlewski family got stuck on the baseball challenge and the Gaghans got stuck in traffic. In anticipation of a non-elimination leg, the Godlewskis donned as many clothes as they possibly could.

Final Standings
#1 – Paolo family – Team Joisey – Travelocity trip to Panama
#2 – Weaver family – Team Florida
#3 – Bransen family – Team Powerpuff (and Wally)
#4 – Linz family – Team Cincinnati
#5 – Gaghan family – Team Rugrats
#6 – Godlewski family – Team Scream – Non-elimination

Next week: A Rainforest and the Weavers are “tired of doing things [they] can’t do!”

This update brought to you by Mrs. Viking Pundit with the approval of Senor Mas Importante who returns to his normal duties tomorrow.

4 comments:

Pat said...

Doh! I started watching the baseball game and completely spaced on TAR. Thanks for the update!

Anonymous said...

Baby, THIS is reality TV!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/25/AR2005102502037_pf.html

http://reuters.myway.com/article/20051025/2005-10-25T212533Z_01_KRA572753_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-BUSH-LEAK-DC.html

The FBI interviews suggested the prosecutor wanted to show that Plame's status was covert, and that there was damage from the revelation that she worked at the CIA.

The news of the eleventh-hour moves came on the same day that Cheney himself was implicated in the chain of events that led to Plame's being exposed. In a report in the New York Times that the White House pointedly did not dispute, Fitzgerald was said to have notes taken by Libby showing that he learned about Plame from the vice president a month before she was identified by columnist Robert D. Novak.

There is no indication Cheney did anything illegal or improper, but the report was the first to indicate that he was aware of Plame well before she became a household name.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Cheney has always been honest with the American people.

Anonymous said...

What If This Could All Happen Automatically,
with a simple push of a button.....

Anonymous said...

What If This Could All Happen Automatically,
with a simple push of a button.....