Some Stats

Now that two people are in danger of losing their last team on the next episode, it's time for some stats!

If Lake and Michelle get Philiminated
Bari, Dave, Eric, Jill, Kristin L, Mary, Michelle and Jeff will be the only ones with all four teams

If BJ and Tyler get Philiminated
Ashlee, Ben and Eric will be the only ones with all four teams

Peter will have no teams

If Ray and Yolanda get Philiminated
Adam, Ben, Dave, and Jeff will be the only ones with all four teams

If David and Lori get Philiminated
Adam, Ashlee, Bari, Ben, Dave, Dave A, Kristin L, Mary, Stephanie, and Tracy will be the only ones with all four teams left

Ami will have no teams

If Eric and Jeremy get Philiminated
Bari, Dave A, Trace and Michelle will be the only ones with all four teams left

If Fran and Barry get Philiminated
Adam, Ashlee, Eric, Jill, Kristin L, Stephanie, Tracy, Michelle and Jeff will be the only ones with all four teams left

If Joseph and Monica get Philiminated
Dave A, Jill, Mary, and Stephanie will be the only ones with four teams left

So now y'all know who to root for.

Team / Pool Scores After Week 5

Team Scores

1. BJ and Tyler 190
2. Eric and Jeremy 100
3. Joseph and Monica 90
4. Fran and Barry 80
5. Lake and Michelle 110
6. David and Lori 60
7. Ray and Yolanda 40
8. Danielle and Dani -160 (ouch, says everyone who had them in the pool)

Pool Scores

1. Adam 2170
2. Dave 1940
3. Kristin L 1850
4. Jeff 1840
5. Stephanie 1750
6. Eric 1730
7. Jill 1700
8. Anton 1690
9. Jan 1680
10. Mary 1640
11. Curt 1630
12. Tracy 1590
13. Michelle 1580
14. Karen 1560
15. Chris 1550
16. Lindsay 1500
17. Ryan 1495
18. Joanna 1475
19. Ben 1470
20. Ashlee, Dave A 1460
21. Les 1435
22. Bari 1400
23. Laura 1370
24. Chris H 1350
25. Jonathan 1330
26. Mark, Sarah 1320
27. Linda 1290
28. Mark D 1280
29. Kathy 1200
30. Mike 1190
31. Mary P 1180
32. Caitlin 1140
33. Jay 1130
34. Robyn 1050
35. Anne 1030
36. Liz 1010
37. Allegra 960
38. Scott 850
39. Kristin 845
40. Peter 770
41. Judy 475
42. Ami 245

Week Six - Caption THIS!

Week Six - Bonus Question

We find ourselves at the pitstop in the town of Segesta, Italy. Segesta was settled by the Elymian people. What do the Elymians and Brad Pitt's box office returns have in common?

Week Five Bonus - Answer

When it's raining beer and snowing bratwurst, that's when we ask God to keep the weather the way it is.

This is one of my favorite German drinking songs. And it has, like, 40 verses. Go here to read all the lyrics and hear it!

Team and Pool Scores After Week 4

Team Scores

1. Eric and Jeremy 180
2. BJ and Tyler 110
3. Lake and Michelle 90
4. Fran and Barry 60
5. David and Lori 50
6. Joseph and Monica 50
7. Ray and Yolanda 50
8. Danielle and Dani 40
9. Wanda and Desiree -130

Pool Scores

1. Adam 1590
2. Kristin 1440
3. Dave, Jeff 1410
4. Eric 1360
5. Anton 1330
6. Jill, Karen, Stephanie 1320
7. Lindsay 1290
8. Mary 1240
9. Curt 1220
10. Jan 1210
11. Chris H 1200
12. Chris, Tracy, Michelle 1170
13. Jonathan 1130
14. Ryan 1125
15. Ashlee 1120
16. Joanna 1115
17. Ben, Mark D 1090
18. Dave A, Mike 1050
19. Les 1045
20. Jay 1040
21. Laura 1020
22. Bari 1010
23. Mark 1000
24. Linda 980
25. Kathy 970
26. Sarah 950
27. Liz, Mary P, Robyn 930
28. Allegra 870
29. Caitlin 860
30. Anne 800
31. Scott 770
32. Peter 710
33. Kristin 545
34. Ami 345
35. Judy 295

Caption THIS!

Week Five - BONUS QUESTION

According to a German drinking song, we should ask God to keep the weather the way it is (dann bitten wir den Hergott,daß Wetter so bleibt) when what snows and what rains?

Good luck!

Week Four Bonus - ANSWER

Postnik Yakovlev was the architect of St. Basil’s Cathedral. Supposedly Ivan the Terrible blinded him so that he could never build anything beautiful again.

Team / Pool Scores after Week 3

Team Scores since this was a TBC leg, all team scores are input in the scoring database as "9th" place, which boosts every team's score 10 points

• Lake and Michelle 15
• Danielle and Dani 5
• BJ and Tyler 55
• Ray and Yolanda 15
• David and Lori 15
• Eric and Jeremy 3
• Fran and Barry 5
• Joseph and Monica 1
• Wanda and Desiree -5

Pool Scores

1. Adam 1060
2. Anton 1050
3. Kristin L, Jeff 1020
4. Curt 1010
5. Eric 960
6. Jill 940
7. Dave 930
8. Laura 910
9. Stephanie 900
10. Tracy, Michelle 880
11. Karen, Lindsay 870
12. Kathy 830
13. Mark D, Mary 810
14. Chris 790
15. Linda, Sarah 780
16. Chris H 770
17. Ashlee 760
18. Bari, Dave A, Jan, Mary P 750
19. Joanna, Ryan 745
20. Allegra, Jonathan 740
21. Caitlin 700
22. Mike 690
23. Ben, Mark 670
24. Les 665
25. Jay 650
26. Peter 610
27. Liz, Robyn 600
28. Scott 550
29. Anne 530
30. Kristin 505
31. Ami 385
32. Judy 145

Week Four - Bonus Question

This week the teams travel to Moscow and met Phil near St. Basil's Cathedral, built by Ivan the Terrible. Good ol' Ivan might have gotten his nickname because of what he did to Postnik Yakovlev. Who was Postnik, and what did Ivan do?

Week Four - Caption THIS

Week Three Bonus - Answer

The answer is, Bridagerio Eduardo Gomes, and the chocolate (clever name) is Brigaderio. And it's really good--I whipped up a batch of it last night.

Vengaboys: To Brazil Video

Thanks to my favorite new site, YouTube, the Vengaboys video for "To Brazil". Sorry the picture isn't clearer. If it starts stopping on you, press pause and wait until the little grey line goes all the way across the screen before pressing play.

Week Three - Caption THIS!

Nearly forgot to put this up. I'm also not sure why I found this so funny. But quote away.

Scores after Week Two

Team Scores

1. BJ and Tyler 145
2. Eric and Jeremy 105
3. Joseph and Monica 95
4. David and Lori 75
5. Ray and Yolanda 65
6. Wanda and Desiree 55
7. Lake and Michelle 45
8. Danielle and Dani 35
9. Fran and Barry 5
10. Lisa and Joni -105

Pool Scores

1. Anton, Curt 910
2. Adam 880
3. Kristin L, Jeff 860
4. Dave, Jill 820
5. Eric 800
6. Laura 790
7. Stephanie 780
8. Karen, Lindsay 760
9. Tracy, Michelle 740
10. Kathy 730
11. Chris H, Mary 700
12. Linda, Mary P 690
13. Ashlee 680
14. Sarah 670
15. Chris, Jan 650
16. Jonathan, Mark D, Ryan 640
17. Allegra 630
18. Bari, Caitlin, Dave A, Mike 620
19. Ben, Joanna 600
20. Jay 580
21. Mark 570
22. Les 560
23. Liz 540
24. Scott 500
25. Robyn 495
26. Anne 465
27. Peter 440
28. Kristin 410
29. Ami 370
30. Judy 90

WEEK THREE - Bonus Question

Which famous Brazilian is described below?

• Was a member of the Brazilian Air Force
• Played a roll in stopping a communist coup in Rio de Janiero
• Has a round chocolate candy named after him, rumored to be because he had a testicle shot off during an urban street fight.

Seriously. You can't make this stuff up.

Week Two Bonus - ANSWER

Who were those silly people that wrote a song called "To Brazil"? None other than one of my favorite EuroPop groups of all time, The VengaBoys.

Episode One - My Thoughts

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...my show is back.

I could just end my thoughts right there, but some of you may be unhappy if I did so (although others might be totally relieved).

I'm going to need to rewatch the whole episode to comment on the itty bitty race things, but for now I think I'll just go through my further impressions of the team in a not-so-logical order.

Lake and Michelle

• You know, you gotta love it when the first team of the season has their little "at-home" intro, and the first thing you see is their son sitting on Michelle's lap totally trying to pick his nose. I don't know why that struck me as so funny, or why it just feels like such an apt metaphor for this team, but it did. Maybe because I totally expect them to pick away at my sanity with their fighting.
• I'm not sure that Lake is totally a Scott Peterson (tm Joseph) but Ray, Colin, and Voldemort are certainly saving a seat on the couch of intensity for him.
• I like that Lake is willing to admit that a big-ass mistake was "partially" his fault (calling ahead to book the flight instead of reading all the directions). Is that what he says at his dental practice? "Oh dugnabit, I gave you a root canal on the wrong molar. That's partially my fault." Same thing. I heard a rumor that many of his dental hygenists actually quit because he was a bit of a beast. Time will tell. But, even though they're one of my teams, I hope it won't be too long a time.
• Do you think he makes it a habit of introducing himself "Lake, like the ocean"? While I appreciated Ray's "Ray, like the sun" comeback, I think Lake would be more apt to say "Lake, like the pond scum that I am...".

Double D

• We all know who I'm talking about, right? Just wanted to make sure. I'm having a hard time telling if they belong more in the Coyote Ugle or Boogie Nights vein of young female contestants on the race. I admit I like hearing the really strong New York accents from their mouths. It just seems so wrong and yet so real. Kind of like a double Pretty Hate Machine.
• I loved it that the only thing they showed a Brazilian cab driver say in English was to these two and it was, "Are you celebrities?" I can't think of a single person these two would look like. Maybe it was the cameras. Or maybe he just recognizes actors from other forms of media than I watch.

BJ & Tyler

• I love these guys. But I didn't write down a single thing about them. Competent but crazy--that's a team I'm going to like watching.
• Except Eric did say at one point, "I really hope the race doesn't go through Amsterdam because, well, these guys suddenly won't care about racing any more." And I think I agree.

Ray & Yolanda

• Best moment of the episode: these two in the cab, and Ray is getting impatient, and Yolanda just turns to him and says "Stop it--how would you feel with a big black man sitting behind you and saying 'Are we close'?!" And then they BOTH laughed. I have a feeling these two are going to be around for a while.
• For the moment, these two are reminding me of John Vito and Jill from season three. Very athletic, very competitive, and work really well together. I appreciated their drive at the motorcycle task where, despite the most obvious oggling outside of India we've seen in nine seasons, they just totally ignored it and kept doing what they needed to do. The next time I go to Italy I'm taking them with me.

John & Scott

• If it's possible, I think we have found the gayest contestant ever to be on this show. If Lynn and Alex combined were a molehill, John is a (Brokeback) Mountain. Maybe he should apply for Survivor where if he keeps FTFOHF (and if anyone can figure that out, well, good on yeh) he might actually find them useful!
• These two lost me when they decided to get out of the cab and wander aimlessly around Sao Paolo, and not even pulling out Barbara Eden could put me back on their bandwagon. Besides, it doesn't work. I tried it this morning before I left the house in hopes that the coworker I'm not a fan of would be home sick, but instead Anton was. I'm not trying that again.
• These two might have pulled out a 10th place if John hadn't stopped to pet the snake. I mean, I know he's gay and all, but seriously. There are times to pet the snake. And there are times to race.
• As John and Scott left the show, Chris M. turned to all of us in the room and said, "Well, that was a lovely platonic handhold...and will share a lovely platonic twin bed later." I think I'm just going to leave it at that.

David & Lori

• It's not far. We can totally road trip down and meet the best little nerds ever. Who's with me? We can take my convertible.
• And we are learning the handshake.
• How can you not love these two little sweethearts? Every time nerds kiss, a clown smiles (tm Chris)
• And David says, "Oh mylanta!"
• I want these two to do well. For every geeky mid-20s / 30something midwestern person who is a fan of this show. I think I just described about 3/4 of this pool.

Eric & Jeremy

• They came in first on the leg. Woo hoo. This puts them at a bit of odds--only one team who has come in first on the first leg has gone on to win the whole thing (that would be Rob and Brennan, for those of you who aren't race encyclopedias like myself)
• In the three seasons that they have given away the $20,000 on the first leg, Eric and Jeremy are the first men to get it. It was the Godlewski sisters last season, and Debbie and Bianca the season before that. Just a random fact for y'all.
• And one of them has both nipples pierced (ick). Another random fact for y'all.
• We'll wait to see if their obvious attraction to DD does them in. And then they can all go be beach bums together.

Fran and Barry

• You know, from their profile, I had hopes for the oldster team this season. But after it took them more than five lenghts of the bridge to find the second clue box of the race, I may be rethinking that optimism. At least Don and MJ waited until leg five to fall apart locating a clue box. And until Barry starts saying stuff like "The fickle finger of fate has diddled us again", I'm reserving my like for this team.
• And Barry needs a haircut. It's like the non-mullet, with long in the back and bald on top. I'm not a fan.
• And, um, if you've traveled to 45 countries, wouldn't you know that it's SAO Paulo, not SAN Paolo? I don't know why that bugged me so much, but it totally did.

Lisa & Joni

• Hey, ladies? The Bowling Moms just emailed me. They want their shriek back.
• Actually, these two are a combination of the Bowling Moms, the Godlewskis and Ma Weaver. But for now, I'm loving the fact that they stuck around another leg because their giving me a lot of material.
• "Slow and Steady wins the race!" um, no. Slow and steady can get your far on Dancing with the Stars, but not in this game.
• Apparently, according to their intro video, these two are going to Bedazzle their way to independence (tm someone at the party last night). I know someone they'd get along well with.
• No, Texans, Spanish is not the Universal language. That would be Esperanto. So learn how to say a few words of portugese and get on with it.
• My favorite exchange of the night: "Did you fart?" "Is it the city?" this, from women who are from Texas.
• "I'm so excited I just peed my pants". Of course you did. You're over 50. I'm guessing you brought Deterol LA or Depends with you, because your backpacks are bigger than the Double Ds' Double Ds.
• I could hear the scream all the way through the glass at the helicopter. Through the glass and the time space continum right into the living room.
• As long as these two are around, I'm planning on picking on our favorite Glamazons. Thanks for making my job a bit easier.

Joseph and Monica

• Team MoJo. Thanks for making up your own nickname.
• I can't decide on this team yet. First they're really fun, then she's almost crying at the airport because they didn't get on the first flight, and then he's snarking with the best of them, and then their fighting, and...I don't know. I need another episode or two to get a handle on them.
• Note to Monica: You are not in India yet. Just because it's a local traditional custom, it doesn't mean you have to respectfully bow with your hands pressed together. But nice gesture all the same.

Wanda and Desiree

• Could it be that we have a functional all-female family team?! Oh my god--if they hadn't gotten screwed by the cab driver on the way to the helicopter, these two would have been in first.
• My favorite moment with these two was when they got off the helicopter and into that lavish apartment, and Wanda just couldn't stop looking around at all the beautiful furniture. David Sedaris has this story in his newest collection, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, about going to Amsterdam (without BJ and Tyler, otherwise he wouuld have been in the, um, cafes all day long) and touring the Anne Frank house, and the whole time he just couldn't believe how cute the flat was, and how he wanted to buy it, and he figured the reason the next door neighbors turned them in is because they wanted to upgrade to the three-bedroom flat the Franks were hiding in. Wanda was kind of like that.
• I don't want to predict too early (because we know how quickly teams can go from first to last), but these two stand a chance of getting really, really far

And, before I go, some more random thoughts:

• The only thing I could think about at Red Rocks (where I've actually been before, and will try to remember to scan pictures) was "oh, producers are evil. They're trying to create an accident right away!" But surprisingly, no one bit it. They apparently learned from Jim.
• Could this be...a flight right away? Like, out of the country? To a different continent?!?! How many people were shouting YEA! at this point?
• That hotel is certainly...unique. I guess they named it correctly.
• You know, if Charla had been on this season, finding those clues under the stairs on the helicopter task wouldn't have been much of a challenge.
• I giggled that CBS has included Race as a part of ACTION TUESDAY. I mean, I suppose it is, but it just seems a bit odd.
• That is quite the talented greeter! But the Hungarian will always be first and foremost in my ethnic greeter hall of fame.
• Phil...multiple eyebrow pops...
• This is the third season in a row (not counting TAR8, of course because, well, we like to pretend that never happened) that an all-male team has been the first off. Interesting. Do I see a trend starting?
• Question of the day. What is a worse reality show idea: Going on Amazing Race with a big fear of flying, or going on Survivor and quitting your three-pack a day smoking habit the day you get to the island? Discuss. Amongst yourselves. Or as comments. Or whatever. Because I'm done.

Scrappy, signing off.

Scores after Week One

Team Placements and Scores

1. Eric / Jeremy 125
2. BJ & Tyler 105
3. Wanda & Desiree 105
4. David & Lori 75
5. Lake & Michelle 65
6. Joseph & Monica 55
7. Ray & Yolanda 45
8. Fran & Barry 25
9. Danielle & Dani 5
10. Lisa & Joni -5
11. John & Scott -105

Pool Scores

1. Curt 460
2. Anton 455
3. Jeff 435
4. Jill 430
5. Adam 425
6. Stephanie 420
7. Mary P 415
8. Kristin L 405
9. Kathy 400
10. Dave 385
11. Linda, Mary, Laura 380
12. Eric, Lindsay, Sarah 375
13. Karen, Les 370
14. Ashlee 365
15. Jonathan, Ryan 360
16. Michelle 355
17. Joanna 350
18. Ben, Tracy 345
19. Allegra, Mike 335
20. Jay 330
21. Dave A, Liz 320
22. Chris H 315
23. Bari, Caitlin, Kristin 305
24. Mark D 295
25. Chris 280
26. Jan 270
27. Ami 265
28. Scott 255
29. Mark 250
30. Robyn 210
31. Anne 200
32. Peter 195
33. Judy 70

Week Two - Caption THIS!

Week TWO - BONUS QUESTION

So, we find ourselves at the first Pit Stop in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

What EuroDance group, who became popular at the tail end of the 1990s, has a 2001 hit with To Brazil?

WEEK ONE BONUS - Answer

The answer I was looking for was Lex from Survivor: Africa! However, as I have a theory that anyone from California is a bit bat-shit crazy, I took any answer that people sent that were reality show people from Santa Cruz.

Good job everyone!