Survivor Update - 3/17/2011

Another crazy night... Ometepe came out on top of Zapatera in the immunity challenge, only the second trip to tribal council for Zapatera. Russell's old alliance of Stephanie and Krista did their best to shake things up, but to no avail as Krista was sent to redemption island. It looks like Stephanie will be next if Zapatera loses again. Again there was a lot of attention paid to Phillip, I'm starting to think he's been sponsored by an underwear company with all the time he spends on camera in his peach colored briefs, not a pretty sight. It's also interesting to watch him act like he's controlling the game when he really doesn't have any alliances to speak of. Very strange.
I guess my favorite part of the show was at the beginning when Matt (see picture) won his third consecutive duel on redemption island, sending Kristina home for good. Matt is looking like he could become a force after all...

Winners to Elton John!!

Congrats to our winners! Over 400 people entered, and here are the winners of a pair of tickets to Elton John at the LaCrosse Center on April 19th!
Pat Steele, Onalaska
Diane Jorstad, Holmen
Vicki Thornton, Holmen
George Keane, Onalaska
Congratulations to our winners!!

Survivor Update - 3/10/11

Well it finally happened. Russell is done, defeated by Matt in a great battle on Redemption Island. Yup, gone... out of there... cannot return. And when he'd lost he cried like a baby, proving to me and the rest of the world that he's just a loser after all. No thank you's to Jeff, just harsh words for his teammates and anyone else he happened to think of. And all the while he kept calling different people idiots, what an ass.
Meanwhile the battle intensified as Boston Rob's tribe lost the next immunity challenge. In one of the least surprising votes ever, Kristina (see photo) was voted off, sent to Redemption Island to battle Matt next week. As usual, I can't believe the Ometepe tribe let Phillip stay in the game... the majority of his tribe is sick to death of this guy and truth be told watching him parade around in peach-colored tidy whities every week is my least favorite thing about Survivor.
Finally, hinting at some major power plays next week by Russell's former Zapatera alliance, Krista and Stephanie, we got to see some previews that led us to believe we're going to see some shocking moves. But after seeing Russell go away, I won't be shocked by anything for a while...

And the next day...

It's one of those vivid memories... and it happened the day after the DC5 was on Ed Sullivan back in '64. As many kids in my high school did, I walked the five blocks to downtown for lunch and saw several magazines that looked just like this picture on the rack in the Ben Franklin store. Every single teen magazine had this theme "Who is better... The Beatles or the Dave Clark Five?"
That may have been my first exposure to aggressive marketing. "How ridiculous, why can't these people just enjoy both band's music for what it is - great rock and roll?" I thought.
And as I walked back to school I remember thinking to myself "and of course the Beatles are better".

March 8, 1964 - The DC5 on Ed Sullivan

The second British Invasion band to invade the USA was the Dave Clark Five. Hot on the heels of knocking the Beatles out of #1 in England when "Glad All Over" replaced "I Want to Hold Your Hand" at the top of the British charts, the DC5 brought us the Tottenham Sound (the Beatles of course had given us the Mersey Sound).
With Mike Smith on lead vocals and Dave Clark on drums they went on to appear a record 18 times on Ed Sullivan and had a string of hits lasting through 1967. Refusing to adapt to the psychedelic music gaining popularity in '67, they faded from the U.S. charts... but not our hearts!

Elton John at the LaCrosse Center!

Yes! Elton John and his Band, Tuesday April 19th, 8:00 PM at the LaCrosse Center! This is called the "Greatest Hits Live" concert featuring number one chart hits and classic album tracks from throughout Elton's career! Tickets will go on sale Monday, March 14th at 11:00 AM. Tickets at ticketmaster.com and all ticketmaster outlets, the LaCrosse Center Box Office and charge by phone at 800-745-3000.

Survivor Update - Episode 3, 3/2/11

I'm still in shock today! Finally, Russell Hantz (see picture) got voted off! And he was blindsided by the type of treachery he's known for. Hilarious! His reaction actually made me laugh out loud! It was cool to watch Russell send his little minion Stephanie to enlist Julie to their alliance, and then believe that Julie fell for it. Russell - they did the same thing to you that you've done many times to others... live with it! So next week we'll see Russell square off against Matt on Redemption Island. And I'll be rooting for Matt all the way, hopefully we'll be rid of Russell Hantz on Survivor for good!
Editorial note - I think it's time Jeff Probst and the Survivor brain trust quit bringing players back from previous seasons. First it's not fair to the new players. Second, why can't we see the new players evolve without the onus of these has-beens? Sure Russell is an idiot and he's doomed to fail by virtue of his game, but right now Boston Rob is completely controlling the other tribe and I doubt they'd be playing the same game without him. By constantly plopping these guys back in the game, Survivor develops a sameness from season to season that I don't think is healthy for the show.