Previewing the Survivor Finale

Tomorrow is the finale of the 26th season of my favorite television show Survivor. I've been writing about Survivor all season long, and I can't believe it almost over. What a great season it has been. The show started off with a great episode followed by a few snooze fests. Then the show hit its all-time low with the Brandon Hantz meltdown. A few more boring episodes, and then the merge hits. And then all the sudden we've had week after week after week of great episodes. Before I fully dive in to previewing the finale, I think I should talk a little bit about the last episode, since I haven't written a recap blog.

So last episode featured the loved-one challenge, something that I think is really either really entertaining or really boring. It's been funny to see some of the player's loved ones, for example Mike Skupin's accident-prone son who was just like his dad. This loved-one visit was alright, I found Erik and his brother(s) entertaining. Erik had one of the best loved-one moments ever last time he was on the show, when he said to his brother, "LOOK IT'S JEFF PROBST! HE'S JUST STANDING THERE!" This was hilarious, and I loved it as someone that is a huge fan. The funniest moment of the loved-one visit was Cochran's analysis of his dad, who was wearing sunglasses and flipping burgers. Anyway, talking about the gameplay, Brenda was voted out in yet another blindside of this crazy season. This was one of the sadder exits in the history of the show. Brenda felt betrayed by Dawn. The two had a very close relationship, and you couldn't help but feel for Brenda. However, people were being way too hard on Dawn on Twitter. She deleted her account because of all the abuse she was getting and she didn't want her kids to see it. Keep in mind this is a game for a million dollars. That's all that really is to be said. It's a game. However, I don't think this was the best move for Dawn. Cochran said to her, "we can vote out Eddie today and then go through all of this again tomorrow." Why not wait until tomorrow? You can give yourself more time and then decide if you want to go to the end with Cochran and Sherri or Brenda and Erik. I think the second of those options is better, and she could make her case to the jury saying how voting out Cochran was the biggest move she made, and that could win her the game. But instead, she's now in a position where she will likely be a final three goat, and Cochran is well on his way to a million dollars. 

So there's my brief and precise recap. Now let's talk about all things finale and reunion show.

As I said, right now this is really Cochran's game to lose. And I honestly just don't see him losing. I can't remember the last time it looked this obvious going in to finale weekend. Cochran's played a great game and based on the amount of airtime he's had, he should win. 

Sherri, Erik and Eddie all look like none of them will win, and they are clearly at the bottom. It would make forces for the three of them to create a new majority and take out Cochran and Dawn. Do I think it will happen? No. Maybe a couple of them are thinking about it, but there is also supposed to be a med-evac, which can complicate things even more.

If I had to predict the med-evac, who would I say? My guess is it's Erik. We saw Erik acting oddly in the last episode, and he was going to climb a tree, which could put him in physical danger. He didn't look too good after Brenda was blindsided, and his odd behavior could continue. I really hope it isn't Erik, because I've been wanting to see his strategy. It hasn't been completely revealed to us what kind of game his playing, and if he is laying low as a strategy. He's positioned himself in a place that if he wins two immunities, he's in the final three. And if he gets rid of Cochran before that, he could get the most jury votes. So here's my idea. Let's assume that the med-evac happens at the final five before the final Immunity Challenge. Let's run through each scenario where someone is med-evac-ed. 

SCENARIO ONE- No one is med-evac-ed

If there was no med-evac, let's talk about what I think would happen, that way we can compare how big someone being med-evac-ed has an impact on the way things play out. So if no one were to be medically evacuated, I would expect Erik or Eddie to be voted out at the final five. Only one of them could win Immunity, and the other will be left vulnerable and most likely the next target. Again, the best play for anyone that isn't Cochran is to vote him out now. Something I feared for Cochran after he took out Andrea was that people could then look at him as the biggest threat, and the continuation of blindsides could continue even further and he could fall victim to one. I wouldn't completely rule this out. This could actually happen. But if I had to put money on it, I'd say Erik or Eddie is gone, and if neither has Immunity than I bet they finally take out Eddie here. Eddie's got some friends on the jury and while he has been a pretty awful player, he could steal some votes. Think about it, he's got Eddie, Malcolm, Andrea and Mike on the jury. He's going to get Reynold's vote for sure and he could get one or two of the other votes. All it takes is a few votes to make you a serious contender. I think Cochran will recognize this and be able to keep Stealth R Us together for another vote before the final four. So now the final four is Erik, Sherri, Cochran and Dawn. Who goes next? It appears that Sherri is in Cochran's final three plans. Sherri played a great game pre-merge, but no one will recognize that at final tribal. Maybe she gets a vote from Phillip and maybe one from Mike, but that's about it. I think Erik could steal some votes. Erik's a real wild card. He could steal some votes, and if anyone is against Cochran or Dawn he could get some. He's supposed to be one of the nicest guys to ever be on the show and he hasn't appeared to have ticked off anyone. So if Erik doesn't win Immunity, he's gone. But Erik's a great challenge competitor and he could win. The smart thing would be for Sherri and Erik to try to convince Dawn to take out Cochran. But instead, I think they will just campaign against each other to assure themselves final three. Regardless of whether or not Erik wins Immunity, Cochran wins in final tribal against whoever he's sitting next to.

SCENARIO TWO- Erik is med-evac-ed

As stated earlier, this is what I expect to happen. With a final four of Eddie, Dawn, Sherri and Cochran, Eddie would need to win this challenge. He's clearly a fit guy and he's a firefighter. He could endure a long challenge. He could win, even though he hasn't one a challenge yet this season. If he doesn't win, he's gone. The other three will recognize how many friends he has on the jury, and he will be out. Again, taking out Cochran would be the smart move here, but I just see Eddie going out if he doesn't win Immunity. Cochran wins against whoever he is sitting next to.

SCENARIO THREE- Cochran is med-evac-ed

Now this would really shake things up. Things would be a lot crazier here. This would probably make for the most dramatic finale, however it would be sad if Cochran played this great game and had it all go to waste because of an injury. Would Dawn still be in a position to call the shots? Or could the other three take over and send her home? This is a really tough one. I don't think Dawn's in a position where she can win the game. She just has too much blood on her hands. Mike Skupin talked about after last season how he felt that people were more angry towards him because he was a Christian 50 year-old father, as opposed to someone like Malcolm who is a 25 year-old bartender. I see history repeating itself here, only Dawn hurt more people than Skupin did. Skupin didn't really hurt anyone, and Dawn has. Unless Dawn can unleash an incredible final three speech, she won't win. Dawn's in a bit of a position similar to another player from last season, Lisa Whelchel. Lisa was seen as very well-liked, and a very likable and kind person, just like Dawn. But because of the game she played, people didn't want to vote for her. So yeah, if the final three is Sherri, Erik, and Eddie, that would be very interesting. I have no idea who would win that. Maybe Erik. I don't know. This is a huge wild card and don't know what would happen.

SCENARIO FOUR- Sherri is med-evac-ed

This wouldn't change things up drastically. While Cochran and Dawn would lose a member of their final three, I think they could easily get Erik or Eddie to turn on one another instead of forcing a sloppy tie. I think that is what will happen. Whoever doesn't win Immunity is gone. Again in this case, Cochran wins.

SCENARIO FIVE- Eddie is med-evac-ed

This wouldn't change a lot up. Eddie could likely be the next to go. This would help Erik out. All he would have left to do is win a challenge and he's in the final three. But again, if you're left, you need to vote Cochran out. Maybe it isn't as clear to the castaways that he's in such great shape, and we know it because of the editing and the editors are telling us a story. But if you want to win this game, Cochran needs to go. I see Cochran winning in this situation.

SCENARIO SIX- Dawn is med-evac-ed

This would shake things up. Cochran could be left in a tight spot. This could make the other three voting out Cochran more possible. If Cochran can just make it through these next couple votes, he is the champion of Survivor: Caramoan.

Another thing to add is that we could be in for some good jury speeches. We have a good mix of entertaining people, and ticked-off people. Also, you gotta love Reynold's enthusiasm. He could give a passionate speech.

As for the Survivor reunion show, things could be interesting. According to a tweet put out by Russell Hantz, Brandon will not be at the finale due to a threat he put out about fighting Phillip. If CBS is preventing him from being at the live show, that would be a good thing. No reason to have a Jerry Springer-like finale. A few weeks ago it was announced that Brandon's family won't be attending the family, after some controversy surrounding him on social media (he posted a picture of himself in bed with another woman and basically told everyone he was cheating on his pregnant wife). I'm all for less Hantzs. Russell is expected to be at the finale. I am hoping that CBS won't waste any time talking to him as there is a lot to be talked about from this season and Brandon had nothing to do with any of it. Brandon's first time on they spent at least a quarter of the live show talking to Russell, which was a blatant waste of time. Why waste any more time talking to Russell when Brandon did nothing on this season and he might not even be at the reunion? Please, CBS. Hopefully this concludes one of the worst things to ever happen to the show: the Hantz family. 

I love watching the reunion and I hope at least everybody gets a question. I expect there will be several fans that don't get questions though. Francesca will most definitely be asked about being voted out first twice, and they will talk to Brandon if he's there. Fans like Allie, Hope, Laura, Julia, and Matt might all go ignored. Shamar was someone that was focused on for a big part of the beginning of the season, so he will probably be talked to. I expect Malcolm, Cochran and Phillip to get the most time. What I look forward most to is the preview for the next season, which is expected to be a twist involving ten returning players, with each of their loved-ones also playing. I'm not sure how to feel about the season theme. Production must have recognized after this season, how good seasons with returning players can be, which is why they could be doing this next season. There are rumors floating around that the season after that could be another all-stars, we will see. I just love seeing the preview for the next season at the end of the live show each season. Gets me really excited for what is to come.

Going back to the topic of the actual game, Cochran is in the best shape to win. I'm not ruling it out that he gets blindsided, but I'm picking him to win. And what a story it would be for him to win. Going from the tiny Survivor super fan and nerd, a guy that wrote essays on Survivor for classes. Going from that guy who was afraid to take his shirt off when he first got on the island and what picked on and treated terribly by the guys in his tribe, to playing one of the best games against a bunch of other returning players. Man, that would be a great story. Cochran is the ultimate underdog. I will be extremely happy for him if he wins, and if he does, he earned it. It would close out a great season. The sad thing will be spending the next four months of our lives without Survivor. We will miss it this summer. I'm grateful for another great season. Who would have thought that after 13 years, and 26 seasons, Survivor would still be going strong. Looking forward to the finale, and enjoying the rest of the season while it is here. Don't you worry, I will continue to write about Survivor after the finale and during the off-season. But again, let's sit back and enjoy the last three hours of the season we have. Thank you all for reading. Let me hear your thoughts on the show and the finale. Let me hear thoughts in the comments below, or let me know on my Facebook fan page, or on Twitter @vellvita7. Enjoy the finale!

Iron Man 3 Movie Review

This review is coming about a week late. I've been pretty busy in the past week. I hope by the time I finish writing this review,  some of you are still in interested in hearing my thoughts on the film. As I have said, I really liked the first two films of this franchise. If there is one word I would use to describe the films, it would be fun. There's just something about Iron Man that is really fun. It's very cartoony and comic-booky. I think most of the Avengers films have been like this. But I think Iron Man is the most fun of the heroes. I like it when it feels like a comic book comes to life and it is action-packed, light-hearted and funny.

Another thing I really like about the first two films is I think they do a good job of balancing the fun and excitement with emotions. Something I always say I look for in movies is trying to find the gospel in a film. What are they teaching? Is there anything that can be connected to biblical or spiritual themes. I am not saying that they intentionally do that. But it's fun for me to try to find that. In the first two movies there were things that did stick out to me. The whole idea of Iron Man putting on a suit of armor and fighting for good, meanwhile trying to be more selfless and less self-absorbed is something I can connect to what Christians go through. I talked a lot about this in my Iron Man movie review. In the Bible we are called to put on the Armor of God and fight for God's good. Iron Man literally puts on a suit of armor and fights for the good of others. So I really like that analogy.

In Iron Man 2, there is a part where Tony Stark is watching a clip of his father talking to the camera. He says something along the lines of, "Tony, you might not be old enough to understand this, but I've created all this stuff." (You see the models of everything his dad wants to build). He continues saying something like, "I've built all this for you. One day you will be able to work all of this, and when you do, you will change the world. What is and always will be my greatest creation is you." Why don't you go ahead and check that clip out?

I remember sitting in that movie theater as a sophomore in high school getting chills. I thought about how this is like God talking to us. God has created the world, and he has put us all here on earth. He has said we are his greatest creation. And we are to continue his work in our every day lives. God can use us to change the world, with everything he has given to us, and he can work through us.

So yeah, basically that's the type of stuff I love to look for in movies. And I feel like you can find that pretty good in superhero films because they focus a lot on saving people, character development and more. There's more to it than just an action movie. Something I was thinking about doing for a future blog in the summer is writing about all the spiritual and biblical themes in the Batman movies. Maybe I'll do that. We'll see.

Something that was disappointing for me was that Iron Man 3 was so different from the first two movies. I expected it to be different considering Jon Favreau wasn't directing it (he directed the first two). But I didn't think it would be this different. Shane Black brought a very different style to this film. This Iron Man was darker and less fun. More serious. It still is funny. Yes, the humor in the film is pretty good. You would think that in a movie that is more serious, there might be a good amount of emotion and bigger themes in it. I didn't think there was. So it took me a while to digest this film and form an opinion on it because it was so different. There's still a part of me right now that is upset with the way it was.

This was a good movie though. The action is pretty sick. Like I said, the humor is good. And I think the story is good too. What is the exact plot? Well the film opens with a flashback to 1999. Tony Stark is at a New Year's Eve party in Switzerland. Tony is getting on an elevator with scientist Maya Hansen, played by Rebecca Hall. That is something else about this movie, Rebecca Hall is really good. She's someone I've looked at as underrated, not a lot of people know about her. I first saw her in The Town and then Everything Must Go. She's a great actress. So on the elevator, a nerdy-looking guy by the name of Aldrich Killian wants to talk to Tony about something sciency that doesn't make a whole lot of sense or mean much to us. He also seems to be a big fan of Stark. Stark tells him he will meet him at the roof in 15-20 minutes, something he really has no intentions of doing. Killian is standing on the roof and eventually realizes Stark isn't coming. When I saw this, I knew this was going to be important. It brought back memories to "Incrediboy" in Disney Pixar's The Incredibles. I just had a feeling this guy was going to come back and do something big later, and likely be the antagonist otherwise they wouldn't show this.

So fast forward to the present, and Tony Stark is struggling from the events in The Avengers. He can't sleep at night and he continues to build more Iron Man suits. This bothers his girlfriend, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). Basically there's a lot that is going on. A lot of different plot points. It will take me too long to cover them all, you probably don't want this article to drag on very long, and I shouldn't give away too much. Long story short is Tony Stark's house is destroyed and ends up in the middle of Tennessee, in the cold winter, with nothing but his suit, which is out of power. He's stripped of everything he has. He meets an eight year-old kid that helps him. This isn't a bad plot.

One thing I will say is there is a big twist in this movie that is completely inaccurate to the comics. This is something that will upset big comic fans. Did it enhance the story? Maybe. But I think there's another way they could have done it. I don't want to spoil anything.

So as I said, there's a lot going on in this. There was a lot going on in another third film of a superhero franchise.... Spider-Man 3. That film had too much going on it which made it somewhat of a mess. It might not be as bad as everyone says it is, but it was a disappointment of a film. I feared that Iron Man 3 might have too much going on in it, and suffer as a result. But it didn't. They did a great job of working all these different things in to the story, without it becoming a mess. It was well-balanced and well-told.

Really my problems with the film were stated earlier. I wish it was more fun, but that's more of a preference than something that makes a movie good or bad. It might not be a huge thing, but it might have been nice if they had included at least one AC/DC song in it. Maybe? Something my friend said as we got out of the theater was, "It's not Iron Man without AC/DC, therefore I want my money back." I wouldn't go that far, but it would have been nice to have at least a little bit more of the same style as the earlier movies, even if it just meant including an AC/DC song. Maybe Shane Black wanted to break away from the earlier movies, so that he could get more credit for making the movie the way he wanted it to be made. Maybe he was afraid people would call him unoriginal. I don't know. I think I would have liked this movie more if it stuck to its original style. It just didn't feel as much like an Iron Man movie. But again, that doesn't make it a bad movie.

My other problems were as I stated before, the lack of emotion. While there wasn't a lot going on, there wasn't a lot of depth to this film. The Batman movies are known for being darker superhero movies, and maybe that's what this film was trying to be like. But those films are deep and thought-provoking, which this film was not. At least not in my eyes.

So was this a good movie? Yes. I did like this movie. Maybe it's something I need to watch again to form a stronger opinion of it. However, this wasn't my favorite film of the franchise, which is something I heard a lot of people saying. My favorite will always be the first one. Was this better than the second one? 95% of people will say yes, based on how many people disliked the second one, and this one seems to be getting a lot of praise. But if you were to ask me which I prefer, I don't know what I would say. Maybe I'm giving the second one too much credit, or I'm being too hard on this one. I just didn't think this was as great as everyone said it was. This article is kind of like me talking about why Iron Man 1 was better than 3. But that doesn't mean it wasn't good. If I had to rate it out of ten, it'd be somewhere between a 7-8 out of 10. I think I should see this film again though before I immediately write it off or anything. It's just so different and it was harder for me to enjoy it because it was so different.

So yeah, I guess that should just about do it for my Iron Man 3 review. If you have any more questions about this movie, post them in the comments. I'm still getting used to writing these reviews and I don't know how much I should recap and leave ambiguous. I also don't know how much or what to talk about in these movies, so really I'm still getting used to writing these. I hope they aren't too bad though. And I hope I am improving. Did you see Iron Man 3? What did you think of it? What is your favorite Iron Man film? Comment below and let me know. Or let me hear your thoughts on my Facebook fan page or on Twitter @vellvita7. As always, thanks for reading!

Why I Don't Plan to Talk About Politics On This Blog

So this blog is a bit of a reflection and an answer to the question why I haven't written on politics and why I don't plan to do so. Something I talked about is how I wanted to serve God in all that I do this semester. And that is something I still want to do. A part of that I felt was working on this blog consistently, using it to help me grow as a writer and try to build a bigger following that can maybe help me get in to a good journalism school or find a nice journalism job someday. Something I've talked about a lot is how I really want to explore writing, writing about different things, varying from what's going on in my life to the world of sports to talking about my favorite TV show Survivor. Basically anything. Writing movie reviews. Maybe even writing music reviews in the future. The possibilities are endless. A couple of people have requested or suggested that I write about politics. And that is something that right now, I don't plan on writing about. Politics are too controversial. Why alienate half of the people that read? And even worse, it will create arguments and wars. I'm all for arguing when it comes to writing about stuff. It's better when people have differing opinions, at least when it comes to watching sports discussion shows like PTI and Around the Horn. Does anyone really want to see all four guys on Around the Horn agreeing all the time? No, we don't. Arguing makes for better entertainment.

However, with all that said, there's a big difference between arguing over if someone made the right move on Survivor, how the Cubs are doing or whether or not Pain & Gain was a good movie from arguing over political issues. Politics has a tendency of sometimes bringing out the worse in people. It can often lead to stereotyping or subtle bullying. And I don't want to bring that to this blog.

Now the next thing you might say is, "why do you talk about religion and why do you talk about your faith?" They often say you should never bring up religion or politics. Well, for me, my Christian faith is the most important thing to me. What God has done and taught me in my life has been amazing and I love talking about it. So I will write articles about what God is teaching me and how he is growing me and what I am learning. There is a place for that on this blog and there are people that read specifically for that.

So how is this different from politics? Politics are opinions on how we think our government should be run. There's SO much more to life than politics. That isn't to say they aren't important. They are very important. And I don't want to disrespect my friends that work and are very active in the political field. There are friends of mine that are doing very good things using the internet. But I don't want this to be a place where it is discussed. Anyway, getting back to how this is different from politics. Well, politics are our opinions, and they are important. But faith is greater than politics. When is the last time politics died for you, forgave you and freed you? How are politics and elections going to have an eternal impact on the destination of your soul? For me it's impossible to keep myself from talking about Jesus. We are called to be fishers of men. If you are someone that isn't interested, you don't have to read the articles. I just want it to be known that it will be written about. I'm not a professional anything. I don't know if it would be professional to write about those things. This isn't a professional site. But it is my site, and I can do whatever I want with it. Scratch that. It's God's site, and he's using me as an author.

Something that stuck out to me was in a Jefferson Bethke spoken word poem. It was in his video that went viral entitled "Why I Love Jesus But Hate Religion". In the poem he has a line where he says, "what if I told you voting Republican wasn't really his mission? What if I told you Republican doesn't automatically mean Christian and just because you call some people blind doesn't automatically give you vision?" That is in no way a jab at a political party. It just means that people often get way too caught up in the politics rather than fulfilling Christ's mission. And I fear that I could do that, and in the process turn some people off to Christianity. So there really is no reason for me to spend my time writing about politics, which is something I don't know a lot about, stir something up and do it all just to get more views on here. Another thing I don't want to do is write outrageous stuff for attention. Instead I'd rather just be myself and write about what's on my mind. I do look at requests and suggestions for blogs. I have a lot of ideas and there is a lot of stuff I am really excited about moving forward. I want to know what you guys want to see on here. I'm sorry if I am disappointing you by not writing about politics, but I hope that the other content I have been posting and have planned to post is keeping you entertained. Again, I am so extremely grateful for you all that have been reading and supporting me. To those of you that have been sharing the links to my articles: YOU ARE THE BEST! Thanks guys, please keep it up. I got more stuff planned and coming soon. This blog was originally supposed to be something else but I ended up going way off topic and so I decided to delete what I had planned and focus on writing this other stuff. So I will hopefully have that article written for you guys soon. Thank you to everyone for reading and have a blessed day!

Survivor Caramoan Week 12 Recap and Analysis

So this past episode of Survivor was a very different one. We had a double vote-off night. We saw two Immunity Challenges and two Tribal Councils. When I found out that it was going to be a double-boot week, I instantly assumed that we could be seeing both of the remaining bros, Reynold and Eddie being voted off. It made perfect sense too. If we were going to see two boring back-to-back episodes of the amigos getting picked off, why not just put it into one episode and get it done with so we can move on to the bigger strategy? The previous week's preview hinted that the alliance was going to turn on itself, but when can you really trust the previews? They were calling it the beginning of the end for their alliance, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to vote each other out in the episode. It could mean that they alliance is starting to break apart, but it isn't going to end until the following week. Well, I was wrong. Reynold Toepfer and Andrea Boehlke were voted out and became the latest members of the jury.

Reynold's vote off was a little more predictable. You didn't want to leave him in the game because he was a great challenge competitor and might get some votes if he gets to the final three. Andrea wanted Brenda blindsided at that time, but instead they decided to get Reynold out. So there's not a lot to talk about from the first half of the show. Except for the fact that Andrea got the Hidden Immunity Idol.

So Andrea wins the Immunity Challenge, and also gets a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol. She made a good call by telling her entire alliance where it was. So they all go looking for it together. This is where Reynold and Eddie made a mistake. If they were paying any attention to what happened last week, which was only about a day or two for them, they should have followed what Andrea did to Malcolm when he got the clue to the idol. Andrea staked out Malcolm and prevented him from getting the idol. Now would Reynold and Eddie have kept them from looking for the idol? No. However they could have followed them out there and looked for it where they were looking and maybe they could have found it. Poor thinking and planning on their part. Must have been tough not to have Malcolm out there to coach them.

Anyway, so Andrea and her alliance go out to look for the idol. Something interesting happens. They know the idol is buried in the ground, and Erik says something funny, saying "I come from a family of diggers." He is also a former ice cream scooper. Is ice cream scooping a form of digging? Does he have grave diggers in his family or are they all just good at digging up buried treasure? I found this funny. Erik's always got good little lines like that one for the camera, and I'm glad we're finally hearing from him more. So Erik ends up getting the idol, and he sort of hands the idol to Andrea. Maybe he meant to hand it to her just to show her and then she kept it, or maybe they told Andrea if they found it they would let her hold on to it because she had the clue and share it with them all, I don't know. However Erik didn't want to have the idol with everyone knowing he had it as he knew that would put a huge target on his back. So I think he did a good job of just letting it go. Did Andrea just rob it from him? No, she did not. And the second Erik handed it to her, I knew we were going to be hearing plenty of jokes about Erik giving up Immunity again, which is what led to his downfall the first time he played. But this wasn't a bad move.

So anyway, we said goodbye to Reynold, who has been by far the most interesting and entertaining Fan. He was recruited, so he didn't know a ton about the game however he did display a lot of enthusiasm and passion and I could see him going home now and wanting to buy a bunch of seasons and load up on knowledge of the show. Based on the amount of airtime we saw of him, I have reason to think that we will see Reynold on the show again, which is really the best thing that can come out of going on a Fans vs. Favorites season. Realistically, what I have been saying all season is that the Fans stand no shot. And they don't. Sherri and Eddie are the only fans left and neither of them are going to win this game. Which actually leads me to another little topic. But yes, we will miss Reynold.

Eddie might just be the dumbest player we've ever seen on the show. His head has never been in this game. Minutes in to the endurance Immunity Challenge, when he was down in numbers, he jumped off for donuts and gave up Immunity. Who does that? Eddie's had a lot of moments like this over the course of the season. Being a part of the cool kids alliance, his comments on the food challenge, revealing his alliance's plans to vote out Andrea to Andrea, not spending any money or bidding on an advantage in Immunity Challenge at the Survivor Auction, the list goes on. Eddie could be the dumbest player ever.

After the Reynold vote, Andrea keeps pushing the Brenda blindside. Cochran seems to be okay with that, but then he hears her say "or we could blindside Dawn first?" and that sent Cochran in to a panic. He was starting to realize that Andrea in a great player and if he wants to win he needs to get her out. If he lost Dawn then he would be in trouble himself, and if he was in the final three with Andrea, he might not win. So really, it started looking like Andrea was going home if she didn't play her idol. Erik won Immunity and Andrea kept hanging out with Eddie and insisting that she could also get his vote. This was another thing that worried the Favorites, knowing that she could control Eddie and get him to do whatever she wanted him to do. Eddie might have been the ultimate undoing of her game, as she didn't play her idol and was sent to Ponderosa. But really this all ended up coming down to a decision from Erik. Yes, Erik has had to decide many critical votes, and he says he's loving it because he feels that he is in control. Cochran had his alliance splitting the votes, three for Andrea, two for Eddie, and Erik was supposed to vote for Andrea. Erik could however swing over to the vote with Eddie and Andrea and perhaps create a new final three alliance. This would be a big move that could help him get more respect, but at the same time it could tick off three of his allies if they were voting for him on the jury. I think it would have been a better move to go with Eddie and Andrea for him. They would have three of six moving forward, and Sherri wouldn't want there to be a tie so she could easily flip over and they could take out Cochran and Dawn. Instead, the person I picked to win in the preseason is now out.

As for Cochran, getting Andrea out was huge. On paper it was a great move. However one thing I do worry about for him is now that she is gone, and she was the clear biggest threat, could Cochran now be in trouble? He got everyone to go and eliminate the biggest threat, so now will the other players see him as the biggest threat and take him out next? Before he had Andrea to take all the heat off of him but now could he be in trouble and fall victim to a blindside? It's very possible. It would make a lot of sense for Brenda, Erik, Sherri, and Eddie to make their game-changing moves and form a new final four and take out Cochran and Dawn. It could happen, but I wouldn't put my money on it. Cochran's in a great position right now moving forward.

So now we are really getting down to the end of the season. Only one more Wednesday night episode left and then Sunday is the finale! I can't believe this season is almost over. The last five episodes have been great, and while it looks like Cochran is going to win, I have no idea who is getting voted out next week. And that should mean we are in for another good episode. This has been a great season and I am looking forward to seeing how it all shakes out. I'm a little sad to see it come to an end, just as I am to say goodbye to these good characters every week. Sad that we are going to have to "survive" four months of no Survivor in the summer. It's been fun writing about it each week and I'll miss it just as I'll miss the show. So I think I pretty much covered every major plot point in this episode, so that should just about wrap up this recap blog. Thank you to everyone for reading, and let me hear your thoughts on Twitter @vellvita7, Facebook, or in the comments below. Thanks!

Backyard Baseball 2001 Draft: 8th Round Recap and Analysis

If you are reading this for the first time and you don't know what this is, please refer to my previous article entitled "The Backyard Baseball Project". We then held the Backyard Baseball 2001 Draft Lottery. On Tuesday April 23, we began the draft. Slowly we are getting it done. Our owners have busy schedules with school wrapping up, which is why you might think this is all coming to you slow. Nevertheless, our GMs love  Backyard Baseball and are dedicated to building their franchises. If you aren't all caught up on the draft, here are the links to rounds 1-7:

First Round
Second Round
Third Round
Fourth Round
Fifth Round
Sixth Round
Seventh Round

Here are the current rosters.

Little 500 All-Stars (managed by Connor Boehm)
Home field: Tin Can Alley
1) Pablo Sanchez
2) Mark McGwire
3) Chipper Jones
4) Stephanie Morgan
5) Juan Gonzalez
6) Ashley Webber
7) Sidney Webber

Kingston Bunt Smokers (managed by Will Fitzgerald)
Home field: Dirt Yards
1) Curt Schilling
2) Derek Jeter
3) Carlos Beltran
4) Alex Rodriguez
5) Jeff Bagwell
6) Tony Gwynn
7) Ivan Rodriguez

Grand Salamis (managed by Tommy Mantice)
Home field: Steele Stadium
1) Sammy Sosa
2) Frank Thomas
3) Jose Canseco
4) Mike Piazza
5) Barry Larkin
6) Shawn Green
7) Kenny Kawaguchi

Vinnie the Gooch's All-Stars (managed by Eric Benjamin)
Home field: Cement Gardens
1) Ken Griffey Jr.
2) Achmed Khan
3) Randy Johnson
4) Cal Ripken Jr.
5) Jocinda Smith
6) Jason Giambi
7) Jason Kendall

Crazy Fishes (managed by CJ Revis)
Home field: Sandy Flats
1) Pete Wheeler
2) Kiesha Phillips
3) Luanne Lui
4) Angela Delvecchio
5) Mikey Thomas
6) Dante Robinson
7) Dmitri Petrovic

Orange Wombats (managed by Grant Smith)
Home field: Playground Commons
1) Barry Bonds
2) Kenny Lofton
3) Vladimir Guerrero
4) Nomar Garciaparra
5) Annie Frazier
6) Sally Dobbs
7) Larry Walker

And now let's get back to the draft.

1) (43 Overall) Orange Wombats (Grant Smith)- Raul Mondesi
Raul Mondesi is another great value pick. I always looked at him as another underrated player. He's another guy I thought would fall, but I didn't think he would fall this far. A guy with great power and speed in the eighth round? Are you kidding me?! He's a no-brainer here. Adding him and Larry Walker with Grant's last two picks will make this already good lineup, better. Raul's kind of like a poor man's Sosa. I would always draft him when I would be playing a pick-up game and he would nearly always deliver. I love this pick and he's a great fit for this team.

2) (44 Overall) Crazy Fishes (CJ Revis)- Amir Khan
I was expecting that Vinnie the Gooch's All-Stars' GM Eric Benjamin was hoping to grab Amir in the later rounds after already picking up his big brother Achmed. Much like the Webber twins, when paired together the two play great. Benjamin commented on the pick saying, "the carpool situation for those parents is going to be heinous." Moments later him and CJ broke in to trade talks, with CJ hoping to acquire Achmed. Benjamin proposed a deal of Achmed for Pete Wheeler, which CJ laughed off and declined without any hesitation. We'll see if they are able to get a deal done but as of right now, they seem to be very far from it. As for the pick itself, I think Amir is another late round gem. CJ plans to use him in the closer role which will be perfect for him. He's got a lot of pitching. Amir also has some pop on that bat. Amir's a good pick also considering his age. He's one of the younger kids out there and given time and experience he could develop into one of the better hitters in this league. 

3) (45 Overall) Vinnie the Gooch's All-Stars (Eric Benjamin)- Mo Vaughn
Mo Vaughn is a big kid. He's another pro I expected to slide. But he's not a bad pick, especially in the eighth round. He can hit, he can field, and he can even pitch. He has average speed. Mo Vaughn's another good late round pickup. However, I think this lineup could use a little more speed. Good player, but maybe not the best fit. But if you're drafting in terms of best talent available, he's right up there.

4) (46 Overall) Grand Salamis (Tommy Mantice)- Tony Delvecchio
Tony Delvecchio is the stud. Basically he's just the coolest kid ever. Is he the absolute best player? No, but he's not bad. Tony is definitely my favorite of the backyard kids and I am happy that he got drafted. I wonder how he feels about being picked four rounds after his little sister. Ouch. But in all honesty, Angela is one heck of a player. Tony's not bad and he did fall a little further than I thought he would. This is a good pick. He's a good hitter and he's got a great arm. Also glad to see Tommy going with another backyard kid here. Tony will help this team win, and inspire his teammates with his swagger.

5) (47 Overall) Kingston Bunt Smokers (Will Fitzgerald)- Alex Gonzalez
Well, Fitz is sticking to his formula of only drafting pros. With only three pros left before making his pick, this could be the last round for him to do that. Keep in mind that this isn't the same Alex Gonzalez that screwed up a potential inning-ending double play in the Bartman Game for the Cubs, a play that would have likely put them in the World Series (*sigh*). This Alex Gonzalez is better. He's a good fielder and he's got good speed. As I've been saying, speed is very important and I think any time you can pick someone up that's fast and has some other skills this late in the draft, it's not a bad pick.

6) (48 Overall) Little 500 All-Stars (Connor Boehm)- Marty Cordova
Marty Cordova isn't the first pro you're going to pick. He's one you'll often forget. But he's sneaky good. He's a better hitter than you expect. He's got solid speed and he's a good pitcher too. This is a great pickup at this point in the draft and he will help your team win.





So with that, the eighth round of the draft is complete. I apologize for how long it took getting this article up, everyone has been busy but hopefully we'll get the ninth round up for you soon along with our Backyard Baseball wrap-up. The power is going to be in your hands to decide who the champion of this league is/will be. So thank you to everyone for reading and let me hear your thoughts on the draft in the comments, on Twitter @vellvita7, or on the blog Facebook fan page. Hope you are having a good day and a good week!

Iron Man Movie Review

Over the past few years, when a Marvel movie comes out, I see it as the official kick-off of the summer movie lineup. You know, it's really something exciting for me. A lot of people that know me will tell you that I'm a big superhero fan- mainly a big Marvel fan.

In the summer of 2009, I went on a missions trip with my church youth group to run a Vacation Bible School camp in Mancelona, Michigan. For a week, each day we played games with kids and taught them about the Bible, also eating lunch with them and doing arts and crafts. This was something I really enjoyed and this was the second time I had gone on it. Anyway each year WOW Camp, as we like to call it, has a different theme. We circle everything around the theme. And that year's theme was superheroes. We played superhero-themed games, made superhero-themed crafts, etc. I was on the skit team and over the week we taught kid's lessons from the Bible using skits. I was a superhero in it. Which I thought was pretty cool, but at that point I don't think I had ever seen any superhero movies. After that week in Mancelona, I developed a much bigger interest in superheroes and superhero films. So over time I eventually saw all of the major superhero movies that have come out during my lifetime, X-Men being the first in 2000. 

The next year I saw Iron Man 2 when it was in theaters, the night the film opened. Believe it or not, I actually saw that one before I saw the first one. Crazy, right? A lot of people hate on the second one but I actually liked it a lot when I saw it. Maybe it was just because they look at it in comparison to the first one. Anyway, I will get to reviewing the second one in the coming days. I watched the first one not long after the second one and was amazed by this movie. With the third installment of the franchise coming in just a couple days, I figured I would rewatch the first two movies and try to review them. I figured it'd be smart of me to get those done for a couple reasons. First is that it will all be fresh in my mind as I go to see and review the third one. Secondly I figured if I'm going to watch them, you guys might be interested in hearing what I have to say about them, and then you'll know more about what I thought about them when I review the third one. If I have time, I will watch The Avengers, but if I get started on reviewing that one, it might just be too much. So as of right now I'm not planning on reviewing that. Maybe I can review only the Iron Man character in the film, and/or I can review the whole movie some time over the summer. But I'm not even sure if I will have time to watch it before I see Iron Man 3. So we will see. 

As I have said, the opening of a Marvel film at the beginning of the summer is something that I get very excited about. It's a great thing that Marvel has been able to open their own studios and release some the films of some their characters the way they've wanted to. And for the most part, I think they've done a good job. Iron Man started it all. It started the whole Avengers project. That little scene at the end with Nick Fury just gets you so excited, and at the time you weren't sure if it was actually going to happen. Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk came out in the summer of 2008, with both films being very solid. Iron Man is looked at by many as one of the best superhero movies of all-time. The Incredible Hulk was good, but it isn't remembered by people as well and I'm not sure exactly what most people think about it. Edward Norton, who is a great actor, gave a great performance in that film. Great actors give great performances. Clearly the most-talked about film from that summer was The Dark Knight, which well deserves it. It was a great film.

Ah gosh, I keep getting so off topic. But as I was saying, the pre-Avengers Marvel films have been pretty good in my opinion. Whenever one comes out at the beginning of May, I know summer isn't too far away (I did NOT mean to rhyme there, I'm sorry). There was really only one Avengers film I didn't like much, and that was Captain America. I thought Cap was a film with a lot of potential and it could have been WAY better. I saw it as pretty mediocre. Chris Evans was very good in it, but it felt like they montaged through a lot of it. The film had THREE montages in it. They montaged through all the cool World War II stuff I was really excited to see when I bought my ticket to the film. Maybe Captain America is better to have as a supporting character than a lead (like his role in The Avengers), I don't know. But it felt like they rushed it so they could set it all up for The Avengers. Avengers was one of my favorite films of 2012, and is one of my favorite movies ever. If Captain America absolutely had to be made the way it was, in order to make Avengers better, I can live with it. But it was a pretty weak film in my opinion. However, Avengers was great and after it's release, we have now begun what Marvel is calling "Avengers Phase Two." Marvel is releasing sequels to Thor, Captain America (not sure how I feel about that one), and of course the Iron Man films. They also plan to release a Guardians of the Galaxy film in 2014. All these movies ultimately leading to the currently untitled sequel to The Avengers in 2015, with an Ant-Man film planned to come out also in that year, which will begin "Avengers Phase Three." Whew, that's a lot.

Okay, now going back to Iron Man again. Iron Man is the film that started it all. It's what gave us all a reason to stay in the theater and actually look at the credits after a film ended. Because you knew something was coming after the credits. You knew they should show some 30 second clip that would reveal something about the future of the Marvel films. Maybe they weren't even that important. I remember when I saw Iron Man 2 and saw the little post-credits scene that showed Thor's hammer stuck in the ground. It didn't mean a whole lot. I knew Thor was coming next May. But it still left me very excited and I couldn't wait to see it.

Alright, so now let's waste no more time and start talking about Iron Man. I'm not sure how long this review will be. Also, this will probably contain spoilers. It's been around for five years. What are you doing reading an Iron Man review when you haven't seen it yet? Go rent it today!

So this is the Iron Man origin story. It shows us how Tony Stark becomes Iron Man. One of the things I love about superhero films is the character development. Seeing someone become a hero. Iron Man is perfect. Tony Stark is living life like any other billionaire- for himself. And then he's basically blown up and captured in Afghanistan and fellow captive Yinsen creates the electromagnet he puts in Tony's chest to keep him alive. The people that captured Tony want him to help them and then they will free him. Instead he decides to develop a battle suit for himself out of scrap metal with Yinsen, which ultimately becomes the first Iron Man suit. He plans to use the suit to take out those that have captured the two of them. Yinsen sacrifices himself so that Tony can have more time for the suit to charge itself up. Yinsen in some ways is the Christ-like figure who sacrifices himself, which is a theme in the movie.

Tony escapes and decides that his company will no longer manufacture weapons. He then puts his time into developing a better Iron Man suit- his last one got destroyed as he escaped- and he wants to fight for the good of mankind. This is another biblical theme I see. Ephesisans 6 talks about putting on the armor of God and fighting for his glory. Living life for Him and getting ready for battle. In some ways it's like Tony Stark is a metaphor for that. He is living a life that is self-pleasing, and then he hits his low point and builds a suit of armor and fights for the good of people. So I think that's pretty cool. There's good character development from Tony at the beginning to Tony at the end. That's not to say he's perfect in any regards, however he is caring more about others and putting others before himself.

So as the movie rolls along, there are some cool scenes where we get to see what the suit can do. Tony becomes Iron Man and it's really cool to see that over the course of the movie. Another thing to add is that the talk about science and building the suit and everything doesn't bore you. In fact, it makes you wish you were smarter! It makes you wish you were able to build this kind of stuff! So that's really well done too.

The acting in the movie is great. Another thing that I love about these kinds of Marvel movies is how the humor is used. You have good bits of humor throughout the film, even when you aren't expecting it at times. And that's what makes the movie fun. A good example of humor is when Tony's best friend Colonel Rhodes is in Stark's lab after he leaves, he looks over and sees another suit. He thinks for a moment and then says, "maybe next time...". This is funny because in the next movie he works with Tony as War Machine in his other suit! Good little comedic way of foreshadowing something. But yeah, the humor helps make this movie fun. That's what a superhero movie should be. It should be like a comic book; which is action-packed, entertaining, interesting and funny.

The villain is this guy Obadiah (Jeff Bridges). He's a solid villain. He was Tony's dad's business partner and is  Tony's second-in-command. He's a real scumbag and you don't like him at all. He's not a very memorable villain. Like you might not remember his name a couple months after you see the movie. And maybe that's because they don't give him a villain name. Regardless, Jeff Bridges gives a good performance as this guy.

Gwyneth Paltrow is good in this movie too as Pepper Potts. They do a good job of showing how her relationship with Tony starts to develop, which as we know they are dating going in to this third movie I will be seeing in a couple days.

The ending of this film is very good too. The way Tony Stark is talking at the press conference and then he just says "I am Iron Man." It ends then and you know there is still a lot to come from this series. I like to see the contrast between heroes that reveal their identities and heroes that keep it a secret. It's no fun when they're all the same! So I think this movie did a great job of handling the origin story as well as making a very good movie in the process.

So yeah, I don't know what else there really is to cover with this movie. I didn't want this to be too long, so I guess I'll wrap things up here. But again, this is the movie that really started it all. It's a great fun film. Not sure how interested you all are in reading a review of a film that came out five years ago, but I figured why not. Also this is still one of my first reviews so I'm hoping to keep getting better at this review thing.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading and as always, let me hear your thoughts! 

Survivor Week 12 Live Journal

Last week I posted my first live journal of an episode. It seemed to be pretty well-received, so I figured I would try my luck at writing another one. So here are my thoughts, as I see them:

Pregame thoughts- Episode is a double elimination. Makes perfect sense if Eddie and Reynold are both voted out. No reason to have that drag on for two weeks. Get rid of them now and move on to the action. Let's assume one of them is the next to go. The next will be the easy target. HOWEVER: if that guy wins Immunity, Stealth R Us has to turn on each other sooner than they expected. In that case, Andrea could be in trouble if she plays as aggressive as she has and gets targeted much like she has in previous weeks. She's collected more votes against her than anyone else currently on the show.

Reynold is so optimistic

Renold not smart to say: "I'm gonna win the next five Immunities." Only going to make you a bigger target next time you aren't immune.

Lot of talk about Reynold needs to lose. What does that normally tell us? He wins.

Another endurance challenge? *BORING*

Lot of talk about Cochran and his confidence. When you become too cocky, sometimes you're the next one gone. Let's see if this editing is setting us up for something.

Another time Reynold talking about how he needs to win. I think he does.

Eddie is the dumbest player to ever play. Period. Letting everyone talk him into getting donuts instead of going for Immunity. If Reynold wins, YOU'RE GONE

I still think someone from Stealth R Us isn't going to win.

If Reynold wins and then finds the idol... gives it to Eddie... Could be trouble for Stealth

So obvious that Reynold's going win

Reynold's gone. Surprised

Could this be that Brenda and Andrea don't trust each other and this could lead to something later?

Probst is willing to take whatever will make best television. Just like when Penner and Skupin made a deal trading rice for sandwiches in the middle of the challenge.

Splitting votes? Could get sloppy.

If they are splitting the vote, now might not be a bad time to jump ship because it's guaranteed Final Four and two and two. Just something to think about.

Erik: I come from a family of diggers! (And Ice Cream Scooopers!)

Uh oh. Andrea could be playing too hard.

DON'T TALK TO DAWN. She's been the biggest tattletale this season. But that could be different now that Phillip's gone.

Get Reynold gone now.Can't let those two strong guys stay in the game

Voting Brenda out would be a big mistake. You need to take out the biggest physical threats when they aren't immune. Take out Reynold and if Eddie wins the next one, you know who to vote for.

Good point by Brenda. Reynold has been too cocky. If he didn't come off as so cocky, people would be more willing to go along with the plans. When he had an idol and tried to intimidate Dawn, that just made him less approachable.

Commercial before the reading of votes? Hmmmmm... could either be a blindside or the editors deceiving us. We will see

Probably would have been smarter for Brenda to give up Immunity

Eddie and Reynold can't even put two votes together? Man, more respect for Malcolm for dragging the bros as long as he did

Once Andrea said "Dawn", I could see Cochran going after Andrea

This could be a brilliant move from Cochran, but then again, he could become the next big target if they blindside her. Probably better to wait and take out Eddie

This challenge could begin Erik's crazy Immunity run

Erik looks like he's in the lead. How bout that prediction?

Good challenge

Erik has put himself into a good spot. Immunity and an idol

Jeff wasting no time talking about Erik's big blunder from last time out. Was just about to say and now all the Immunity jokes are about to come

This might actually be a tougher decision than we think. It makes sense to take out the biggest Immunity threat. But the biggest threat is also the dumbest player left who doesn't have a strategic bone in his body. So do you take out the strongest strategic threat who could become a physical threat with Eddie gone? Or do you immediately take out the physical threat and then wait to take out Andrea? It's tough. I think it'd be smarter to go after Eddie

Andrea would be smart to stop talking to Eddie. People are going to know he's in her back pocket and she has another vote

I honestly think Andrea's going home.

Cochran starting to sound like BR

Splitting the vote? One of these times what happened to Tyson is going to happen. That's my biggest fear for that plan

Erik is playing a good strategic game, which has been a hot topic of debate lately

Sounds like an idol bluff. She should play it at this time. It's a big gamble. Why not just play it and hope to find another one?

I don't think Andrea is going to play it

Andrea's gone

Yep. Andrea voted out.

Another crazy episode

On paper it looks like they made the best move. At least for Cochran, Dawn and Brenda. Not sure about Sherri or Erik, but Andrea started putting herself in danger when she started hanging out with the enemy, Eddie.

The big thing with Cochran will be: will this move inspire the players left to eliminate bigger strategic threats, putting him on the chopping block? Or will eliminating the biggest threat immediately allow him to coast to the end? I fear for him going forward.


Well, another crazy episode tonight. When people are blindsided and there are big shakeups, that makes things better for everyone. Was rooting for Andrea to win and sad to see her leave. I have a feeling things could get even crazier.

Honestly have been thinking in the past few weeks that right now I'm not as excited to watch the show. While it has been great, each week losing one of the great personalities has been hard. Losing Phillip and not having him last week was difficult. And then we lost Malcolm who has been stirring everything up. Now we lost another strong player in Andrea. While there certainly are strong players left, why didn't they show more of them leading to this? I was hoping we would lose Eddie, who has proven to be the dumbest player on this season and his made himself not very likable, as well as not entertaining in the least bit. Another reason why I've been kinda sad is that the season is very close to coming to an end. After tonight there is only one more Wednesday episode left and then there's the finale on the following Sunday. And then there's a long four months before we get back to Survivor in the fall. And then we'll have a bunch of less-interesting new people. I felt this way sort of during Heroes vs. Villains. All the more likable people went out such as some of my favorites (Stephenie, Tom Westman, Boston Rob, Amanda, etc.) while the despicable Russell and Parvati went to the end. The redeeming quality of that season was that the great Sandra Diaz-Twine won. Anyway, I'm sad to see Andrea leave. And I hope we don't lose another Favorite next.

Again, thank you to everyone for reading. I'll have another Survivor recap blog for you in the next couple of days. Let me hear your thoughts on the episode!