Lost

Today, yours truly counts himself lucky that he never got caught up in the whole "Lost" mania that has reached a crescendo in anticipation of the series finale.

To be sure, I gave it a shot.

I am, typically, a tv phenom junkie.

But, not in this case, I just couldn't bring myself to get "invested" in the meandering story line.

For those of you who did, however: enjoy.

But, I'm sticking with ESPN and the occasional reality tv fodder . . .

Sandra Wins!

Remember, ye socks, you read it here first.

My prediction last Thursday was proven correct on live television tonight.

Sandra beat Russell and Parvati in the jury voting to win Survivor's "Heroes vs Villains" season.

Her win proved my theory that the person who wins will be the person who follows the show's motto: Outwit, Outplay, Outlast.

Now, before any of you start sputtering and spinning out of control, let me acknowledge that Sandra never played Russell's level of mental game. Nor, did she play as hard as Parvati consistently did in the challenges. (In fact, she has NEVER won a single such event.)

But, she did enough in each of those categories to outlast all the other contestants whose strengths lay in only one or the other.

She was the most well-rounded player, and deserves a big salute . . . especially for throwing Russell's nasty old hat in the fire! Yes, ye socks, that did just happen!

Now, why do we have to wait so long for the Nicaragua season to start?!

Sandra is the REAL villain!

For ye socks who don't follow Survivor, apologies in advance.

But, it was clear to yours truly after watching tonight's episode that SANDRA is the baddest survivor ever to appear on the series.

Russell may THINK he's the king of manipulation. And, Parvati can bat her eyelashes as much as she wants. Neither one of them can stand up to the true master of this game.

Prediction: Sandra wins on Sunday.

Surviving Survivor . . .

Must-see TV around this little corner of heaven tonight centered on the 20th season premiere of Survivor.

In case ye socks don't follow the series, this time around they're reuniting former contestants and dividing them into two rival camps of "heroes" and "villains."

I was actually looking forward to seeing how Russell from last season would stack-up against Richard from the first season.

Evidently, though, Mr. Hatch was too busy serving a sentence for tax evasion to take part?!

Well, that turned out to be the least of my concerns.

With both eyes focused on the TV screen, yours truly failed to realize a certain scrumptious morsel was still sizzling hot and ended up scalding his lower lip.

@*()!&*%)#&*@($)&*)&*!!! That hurts! Imagine it's gonna leave a nasty blister, too . . .

Thoughts on the Survivor finale

If yours truly seems to be dragging a little today, it's because the regular work week bedtime was ignored so I could watch the big Survivor Samoa finale last night.

I think everyone expected season favorite Russell to win.

He must be the most ruthless player in the history of the granddaddy of all reality shows.

From day one, he was pouring out his own tribe mates' water supply.

He burned their socks.

He found immunity idols before anyone else even knew they existed.

And, he orchestrated just about every vote at tribal council.

If he was to be judged only by the show's three word motto (Outwit, Outlast, Outplay), he would seem to stand head and shoulders above the other finalists: Mick and Natalie.

But, there's more to this game, and just about every other game. And, that's the WAY you play.

In the end, Russell learned that lesson, and it cost him a million bucks.

Good lesson.

Congratulations, Natalie.

The 3's of Me

OK, apologies in advance, but I got tagged in another one of those survey things. So, here goes:

You have been tagged. You are supposed to write a note with the 3's of YOU.

Three names I go by:
1. William
2. Little Billy (yeah, I know. that one even cracks ME up!)
3. #*()&^#*(

Three jobs I've had in my life:
1. pizza delivery
2. camera shop slave
3. salesman

Three places I've lived:
1. Orlando
2. Springfield, Virginia
3. Lubbock, Texas

Three favorite drinks:
1. Diet Coke
2. coffee
3. Malbec

Three TV shows I watch:
1. Survivor
2. Big Brother
3. NCIS

Three Places I've been:
1. Atlantic City
2. New Orleans
3. Mexico

Three people who text me regularly:
I don't normally get texts (because my plan doesn't allow me to respond anymore) but my last three were from
1. Joanna
2. Howard
3. Aunt Diane

Three of my favorite foods:
1. Mexican
2. Italian
3. Chinese

Three things I'm looking forward to:
1. tap dancing on plywood (those who know, know what they know)
2. January 20, 2013 (hope and change!)
3. The end of this recession!!

Some early Christmas surprises

For ye out-of-state socks, this may all seem "ho-hum" to you, but whatever:

HOW BOUT THEM BUCS?!

I wasn't sure if it was a Nyquil-induced hallucination until they replayed it again, and again, and again.

That's right, in the long and storied history of our beloved ball team from the bay, we have NEVER seen a kick-off returned for a touchdown. NEVER.

Until today, that is. (Early Christmas surprise #1.)

And, by going on to beat the Falcons, the guys in pewter also clinched a play-off spot. (Early Christmas surprise #2.)

But, the greatest thing about this afternoon of being shut-in at the house, I discovered an unopened bag of Hall's cough drops in the "gift closet." (Early Christmas surprise #3.)

I hope all these early surprises don't mean Santa plans on disappointing on Christmas Day. He's never let us down before, but how many more surprises could he have up his sleeve?!

Perhaps some snow in Apopka wouldn't be entirely out of the question this year?!

And, maybe Denise the Lunchlady will win Survivor tonight?!

Ok, ok, I'll stop.

Eustis tornado

I went to bed early last night, right after Survivor. (Off topic tangent: How GREAT was that season premiere?! Although, Ashley should have gone instead of Chicken.)

So, I missed out on last night's "excitement."

Apparently, all those tropical disturbances off our west coast spun off a heck of a twister.

As I type this, they're telling us 50 homes were damaged or destroyed just up the road in Eustis. And, the storm(s) knocked out power to hundreds of other households in Lake, Marion, and Sumter counties.

The good news is, no one was killed or even seriously injured.

"Survivor" has a whole new meaning this morning than it did last night!!

Didn't see that one coming!

Survivor has been pretty ho-hum so far this season, but it kicked into high gear tonight.

Alex, the Harvard-educated know-it-all, was so convinced that he was facing eviction that he played the immunity idol to save himself at tribal council.

But, after the votes were read, he discovered that NO ONE had voted against him!

Instead, the rest of the tribe out-witted him, making him feel paranoid enough to needlessly use the idol, then turned around and voted off his ally Edgardo.

I guess this is just another lesson on the power of paranoia, no?