| Author | Comment | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 gallantgarage |
#41 | |||
|
Pygmy Post-Whore
Posts: 932 09/29/09 07:14 PM Pygmy Post-Whore |
mmmmm Eliza.....
Another great post from the Houston Challenge Survivor voted most likely to get naked for $1,000,000! and me without my wallet...... 
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
gallantgarage |
nm42's recount of the weekend | #42 | ||
|
Pygmy Post-Whore
Posts: 932 09/29/09 07:17 PM Pygmy Post-Whore |
I copied this to this area cause it was so good...its NM42's recount of the weekend event...
First off I would say that anyone who is serious about wanting to be on the show really isn't serious if they don't go to one of these events (either the Kentuckiana Police and Firefighters Benefit or the Houston Survivor Event, since they both model closely after the show). The reason I say this relates back to one of the questions I asked Susie when she got back from Gabon - specifically what did she wish she has done more of to help prepare, knowing what she knows now. Her answer was that she felt one of the most important things was to actually try to compete in events where you had little knowledge of what to do or what strategies to adopt. While I thought the advice was very insightful, I struggled with a way to actually do it - and that's where these events really shine. The reality is that these kinds of events are as close as you're probably going to get without actually being on the show. Now, the social-side of the game is kind of under-represented, and the alliance side is over-represented because of the abbreviated time difference, but the events play out pretty closely (in my opinion) to how they would on the real show. Gallant did an awesome job on the challenges, and they were a mix of things that were from the show as well as his own creations, which meant you had to come up with a strategy on the fly. Now, combine that with the fact you get to spend tons of time with previous Survivor/Amazing Race winners and players, and this becomes a must-do kind of event. Anyway, enough of my pitch on going - I must admit that I'm biased, I would have liked to see more Pygmy domination in the game, but the vast majority of us were gone by the merge. So starting off, my GF wanted to do a roadtrip, so we drove from Phoenix to Houston - right around 16 hours. While we broke the trip into two days going there, because of scheduling conflicts we ended up needed to do the trip back in one day. Anyway, back to the story - I made an audition video (figured it was good practice) and set it off, made it through the phone interviews (pretty straight-forward), and confirmed that I would be a contestant about two weeks before I went. One side note for organizers of events like this - for out of state contestants, you should confirm them as contestants a month in advance - this way it would be easier to get tickets and get other people to come. I have friends I could of gotten to come as well (that aren't die hard Survivor fans), but with two weeks heads up it's just too short of notice to make it happen. Anyway, so I arrived Thursday to Houston and got in touch with WatchMeNext, who had helped me throughout the application process, and was also gracious
enough to have a Survivor viewing party at her house that night. While I thought it would be cool to watch Survivor with a bunch of other fans, the main reason
I went is that I suspected there would be at least one or two other contestants, and this would be a great way to get to setup some pre-game alliances.
9:45am rolled around, and I headed down to the lobby where a bunch of the other contestants were hanging out. There wasn't a 'handler' there, so everyone was kind of ad-hoc introducing themselves and chatting - there were a fair amount of out-of-towners, which was good because I was somewhat concerned about other Houston contestants banding together. Eventually someone from the event came over, and then notified us that there would be no talking amongst contestants, and we were ushered up to the floor that they had a couple of rooms that we'd be using. I saw Mike (mikeybear321) and Mark (imPhotog) from the previous night, so they were the first people I wanted to make contact with and get an alliance going. Once everyone had arrived (20 contestants, 5 women and the rest men) we were broken into 5 teams of four and given a list of 11 items to get in a scavenger hunt kind of format. Our team ended up getting first place, due in no small part to the fact we split into two teams and one team took a car and went to all the distant places. We were then awarded points (as a team), from 3 to 0.5, depending on the order we came in at. Once this was done, we were informed that all future points we would get would be as individuals, and that the person who got the most points would get individual immunity for the first vote. The next things we did was wait and wait and wait around in the hallway... We did this for literally hours and without food. Some people got pretty bent out of shape about this, but to my mind I kind of enjoyed it, since it was probably a truer to the actual sequestering process that real contestants go through. Periodically one of the previous Survivor contestants would come through the hallway and give us crap, since their rooms were on the same floor - it was actually pretty funny and very cool. The next test was a taste test, using baby food that we were told to bring... If they do this again, and you're unsure of what something is, guess "apple sauce", that was pretty much the most common thing people brought. Next was a memory test using the Old Maid cards we were told to bring, and then that was it, we were off to what was supposed to be a pool party, that ended up just being at a club because of weather. The club was fun, a couple people got totally wasted, and were were told to return by 11pm (points being deducted if we returned past 11:30pm). We split into two rooms, so basically 10 people per room (yes, it was tight), and slept until 6:30am, where we got ready for the days events. We were shuttled over to the wrong park (which was apparently deliberate?), where we then walked to the correct park once we figured out where that was. Once there we prepped for the game until the teams were actually announced. Teams were picked and I ended up on Green, which was comprised of: Mark T (Contestant, Me)
At this point it's worth pointing out that most of the contestants were effectively recruits... I thought this was cool, since it makes it once again
closer to how the real Survivor plays. Some were familiar with the show, some weren't - some were really into it (like once of the guys on my scavenger
team, Greg), some were a bit strange. I was actually really pleased with the team, to my mind it kind of was like a dream team, but Mark L didn't seem as thrilled. When I asked why, he said
the reason was that we ended up with all people he liked, so it was going to be hard to vote them out - which turned out to be very true. So once the team was
formed, Mark L, Rita, Krista and myself formed an alliance - I don't know if anyone else did, I suspect maybe Bob and Erik did, but none of the other
contestants did. Brad asked if it was possible to switch to the blue team, which really endeared him to the tribe. The first challenge was the whole holding a pole with a small platform at the top, where the person has to move from one pole to the other - from one end of the field and then back. We had originally thought to use the lightest person and carry them, but the rules made it so we couldn't carry the person. We were planning on using Rita, but at the last minute Erik swapped out because he had a longer stride and good balance. The challenge started and we were running strong in dead last - not a good feeling. It took us a while to get it worked out, but finally we got our stride and started catching up - and as luck would have it, the team in third place had their person fall off, which gave us a chance to overtake them. Brad was in charge of the ladder and kept moving it in front of everyone - it was a real nightmare, and finally after being told multiple times he just stood off to the side with it in case we needed it (it was to be used if the person fell off). The last minute switch of Erik REALLY paid off and is why we managed to squeak out 3rd place. It should be pointed out that there were 4 teams of 10, 5 contestants and 5 celebrities. The winning team got immunity, the teams that came in 2nd or 3rd
would vote out one person, and the tribe to come in last would vote out 2 people - so you REALLY didn't want to come in last. You also had to alternate who
you were voting out, contestant then celebrity, so there would always be a balanced number. This was actually a very good change, since it sort of means you
had immunity every other tribal council, and also meant that it wouldn't be a landslide of nothing but celebrities at the end. So while we were waiting to vote someone out, Redneck James sort of separated himself from the group and sat down - no one really wanted to vote out anyone, but he sort of 'voted himself out' since he wasn't in the mix. He was REALLY bummed about getting voted out first (I don't blame him), and he vowed his revenge against Mark L (I guess he got voted out first the year before as well, and felt it was at the hands of Mark L). The next challenge was on a big (two story maybe) inflatable waterslide thing - you had to run down, climb up the ladder in the middle, slide down the
slide, run over to a rope on a slip-n-slide, get pulled under another rope by your team, grab a flag, and then hang it on your tribe flag. Sounds easy, eh? The
slide turned out to be BRUTAL - it was super slippery, so you had to pull yourself up on these straps, on top of that it became a total battle on the stairs.
When I was going up, I had literally two other guys (I think) trying to pull themselves over my while I pulled myself up - there was no way in hell I was going
to let that happen, so I battled my way up - but at the same time some girl scampered over all of us and slide down. I finally powered up to the top and slid
down, but during all the grappling on the stairs I realized someone had broken my toe (it was hanging off my foot at a 90' angle), but couldn't let
that stop me so a ran over to the slip-n-slid, grabbed the flag, hung it up, and then laid down on the ground and waited for the EMT to check it out. He
confirmed it was broken and taped it up, and recommended that I not compete - but in true Survivor fashion, since it wasn't life threatening the choice was
left in my hands, so I went back into the game. For the next challenge I was barefoot (because the shoes I wore had individual toes, so I couldn't put them on with my broken toe taped up) which
sucked). It was a more common survivor challenge, where there was a caller, and all the tribe went out in pairs blindfolded, through a small maze, then were
guided to pick up puzzle pieces, then return it back. Once all the pieces were returned, you could take off your blindfolds and solve the puzzle. I was worried
that someone would step on my toe, but I lucked out and our team was able to get everything quickly and pretty painlessly. Scott was our caller and did a good
job, but we choked a bit on the puzzle and ended up coming in second - but as long as it's not last, it's all good. This time we need to vote out a
contestant - Brad was lobbying to vote me out, so I returned the favor. People were pretty concerned that I would be able to continue playing, and I ended up
getting two votes, but not enough to get out (one vote from Brad, and ironically one vote from my alliance, Krista). I don't blame her, because I think she
actually saw how bad the break was, and personally I probably would have voted me out. Mark L told me the reason I managed to dodge the bullet (apart from our
alliance) is that people thought my knowledge of the game would be more handy - plus Brad was annoying. At this point I found out Mike (mikeybear321) got voted out on the Slide, which sucked - he had a particularly brutal experience, although no toes broken, which was good. I told him I thought I was not long for this world either because of my toe, and he offered to let me use his shoes, which were just the right size. This was an absolute god-send for me, since they protected my toe and also allowed me to pretend like my foot wasn't that badly hurt. ------ I have to get ready to take off to LA, but I will continue this post hopefully |
|||
|
|
||||
|
firechat |
#43 | |||
|
Pygmy Pal
Posts: 35 09/29/09 08:05 PM Pygmy Pal |
Your account of what turned the game and the Alliances behind those Votes would be interesting as I understand keeping you in the game one Vote longer really cinched it for Steve and Dan. |
|||
|
|
||||
|
gallantgarage |
rest of nm42's post | #44 | ||
|
Pygmy Post-Whore
Posts: 932 09/30/09 01:31 PM Pygmy Post-Whore |
 OK HERE IS THE REST OF NM42's POST
Ok, I'm in LA now (will make sure to hobble around in Santa Monica to see if I can get recruited), here's my continuation: ----------------- So, the next challenge re-introduced our friend the slide of doom, this time what happened is you had to go up and down the slide, then run up the hill and get a symbol off of three tribe-colored boards (each board had 5 symbols on them), then you had to remember the symbol and run over to a dunk tank that had another teammate in it, you would show them the symbol while they were underwater (from a little pile of wooden squares), then they would find the rock at the bottom that matched it. This rock had a number on it, you then took the number to another tribe mate who was filling in a math formula. At the start of the challenge they had us select someone who was good at math (Bob) and someone who could hold their breath a long time (Erik)... As it turned out, you really didn't need to hold your breath that long, so we probably would have done better if he had been a runner. Somehow we got fouled up in our symbols/numbers, and I don't even think we managed to finish the challenge (meaning we came in last) - oh, which reminds me, the results of the formula were a combination, which you ran out to a chest in the middle and tried to open once you had solved it - since we never made it there, I forgot about it.  For this vote out we needed to vote two people, and it turned out to be
Scott and Erik - I think Erik knew his days were numbered, because of the threat factor, but Scott was pretty much blindsided. This was really where the game
starting to be much more about alliances than performance, and the reason they were voted out was because they hadn't formed an alliance - or at least one
with us . It's also worth pointing out that everyone was
yelling "No more fighting" on the slide - it was brutal and also slowed things WAY down, so for the most part people weren't nearly as hands-on
on this pass, although it did happen a couple of times.
The next challenge was with three lengths of PVC pipe, probably about 4 to 5 feed each, a bucket at one end with holes in it and another bucket at the other end where the person would have to take the water and fill up a bigger PVC pipe with a ping pong ball in it until they were able to pull the ball out. One of our tribe had to sit out, and Rita volunteered so that I could experience more challenges, which was really cool - the challenge itself went smoothly, and Mark L saved us some good time by sucking the ball out of the PVC pipe, so we ended up with second on this one. At this point we all know that a shuffle was going to be happening soon, so we were getting a bit anxious about it - but we had to vote out a celebrity, so they all did rock-paper-scissors and Bob lost and was therefore voted out. It's interesting, but even though we had only been a team really a short time and I really don't know Bob that well, it was a REAL bummer voting him out (Mark L's prediction very apparent at this point). Sure enough, we're told to line up and drop our buffs for new teams - I end up staying on green as does Krista, and we end up with three new players; Jenifer Lyon, Steve (contestant) and Daniel (contestant). I hadn't really spoken to either of them in any way, but I had rescued Daniel's bag during the sequestering (a bit of a fluke), so we had a bit of a connection from that. All in all I thought it worked out as well as it could of, and at least I still had one of my alliance with me and it was a celebrity, so pretty good all told. The next challenge was based on the classic loop on a belt where you have to follow a rope through different obstacles - the course itself was broken up into four parts; the first part (for us) was criss-crossing through a sort of isolation booth used on a couple of the challenges, the second was a straight run down the middle of the field, the third was through a tangled mess of flags, and the final one was wrapped around a firehose (filled with water). We rocked at the challenge and basically ended up tieing for first place, they told us we won and we were jumping up and celebrating, then they told the other team they won - in the end we got second, which totally sucked because I ended up getting voted out. Mark L ended up getting voted out as well after this challenge on his tribe, so our alliance was pretty much toast at this point. As it turned out, both Krista and I were screwed from the get go, because the other three who came one were already in a solid alliance - they actually all continued on and became the final 4 of the competition - just another example of how the shuffle can be your best friend or worst enemy. I took the opportunity of getting voted out as a chance to go back to the EMT and get my toe worked on, but the next challenge looked like it was a dancing challenge where you had to learn some dance and perform it syncronized with the rest of the tribe - once they completed that, it was the end of the day as well as the end of tribes - everything was individual immunity. So there you have it, my recap of my specific experiences playing the game. There are several things that were highlights for me - my alliance members were great, I got to experience some of the challenge of trying to get people to vote a particular way, and I got to sit at a jury worried that I was going to get voted out (and then not), and I got to go to a jury thinking someone else was getting voted out and then ending up going myself. The only thing I wish was represented better was the social side of the
game, but it's really not something that easily translates to a two-day event (although I can't imagine how it was when this was just a single day
event). The challenges, while they may appear trivial were I think VERY authentic to the game - I described it to someone who was having a hard time
understanding how I got hurt on a big inflatable kids waterslide:
Imagine you have 10 people who are going to run on a track, and you have them each run separately one lap - you'll end up with one outcome. Next, have all 10 people run around the track at the same time - you'll end up with a different outcome. Now, have them run around one more time, but this time make it ok for them to hit or trip other runners - you'll have a third and completely different outcome.
Hopefully this gives some insight and helps people pull the trigger on going next year (I'm assuming of course that it's happening again) - even if you don't compete, I think you can't go wrong by going to either this event or the Kentucky one if you're a fan of the show. You'll get the hang around with many of your favorite contestants, hear stories that you've never heard before from the game, and get to ask the questions that you've always wanted the answer to. All in all a total blast! |
|||
|
|
||||
|
survivor300 |
#45 | |||
|
Pygmy Prophet
Posts: 464 09/30/09 02:20 PM |
Welcome to PI Eliza!!!!
300
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
nm42 |
#46 | |||
|
Pygmy Pal
Posts: 20 10/07/09 01:08 AM |
Hey mikeybear, I just imported the footage I have from the event, and I have about a solid minute or two of you on the slide - it's pretty brutal, I must
say it's amazing how long you managed to hang on, definitely a testament to your tenacity! I'll post it up on YouTube HD in a few days so people can
truly appreciate it... Definitely one of the most brutal Survivor moments.
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
imPhotog |
#47 | |||
|
Pygmy Elder
Posts: 2753 10/09/09 08:20 AM Smile |
Can't wait to see it. Maybe some footage for the next Application video.
signed: DIRTY WHITE BOY
Get off your ass and just DO IT!!! |
|||
|
|
||||
|
mikeybear321.survivorsucks |
#48 | |||
|
Pygmy Poster
Posts: 76 10/09/09 11:10 AM |
nm42 wrote: That would be great my friend. In a weird, sick and twisted way I'm actually looking forward to seeing it. Don't ask me why.........LOL! |
|||
|
|
||||
|
imPhotog |
#49 | |||
|
Pygmy Elder
Posts: 2753 10/09/09 01:59 PM Smile |
Hey Mikey, how bout your write up dude.
signed: DIRTY WHITE BOY
Get off your ass and just DO IT!!! |
|||
|
|
||||
|
mikeybear321.survivorsucks |
#50 | |||
|
Pygmy Poster
Posts: 76 10/09/09 06:33 PM |
Your wish is my command Photog.......
Like nm42, after reading Photog's review from last year, and talking with him about it, I knew that I had to make it to Houston by hook or by crook...and let me say that the experience did not let me down. Wednesday night was just hanging out with Mike H at the Hard Rock talking Survivor. We both got into Houston early, me because I wanted to make sure that I was there to experience the whole thing on Friday and not want to chance airline delays, etc and Mike H because he drove in from Atlanta. Thursday was a day of trying to find all the stuff needed on our list that I didn't get ahead of time. I got the list of what we needed to bring for the challenge, the day before I left for Mexico to visit a friend. From there I was going straight to Houston, so if I didn't have it in the house, I was going to have to get it when I got to Houston. Managed to get most of the bizarre/obscure items, and after a phone call back and forth with Photog, between the 2 of us, we managed to help each other out and came in with everything on our lists. While waiting for everyone to arrive at the hotel on Thursday, met Steve....fellow FaceBook friend, and Survivor nut like the rest of us. Had a good time talking with him in the lobby while waiting for everyone else to show. Little by little everyone started to arrive, and we started getting plans together to car pool over to WMN's house. She had graciously offered to host a Survivor Samoa viewing party, and we were all pretty jazzed to go. She called me during the day, put me in touch with nm42 and we arranged to meet in the lobby to head over. While we were in the lobby we managed to get Sandy Burgin (Tocantins duh!) and Bob Crowley (Gabon double duh!) to join us! So we all squeezed into 2 cars/trucks and we started out. Along the way we needed to make a quick pit stop for beer for the alcoholics in our group and just general provisions to bring to WMN's house. We
didn't want to be inconsiderate guests! After finding a supermarket, getting the necessities, we were back on the road. Now, did anyone know that nm42 is
dating Mario Andretti's daughter? Girl's got a lead foot! LOL! I felt bad for Mike H who was following us with his truck. Nevertheless we made it to
WMN's place just in time to help move the TV, set up the cable, and watch the show. It was a BLAST. WMN was a wonderful host and everyone just had a great
time talking about all sorts of stuff. Sandy & Bob are awesome people, and I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone to say otherwise.
We didn't stay out too late, because we had a big day ahead of us on Friday, and conveniently...we all had a an alliance going in to Friday. Me, Photog, nm42, Donnie (don't know if he's got a screen name on here) and Steve. Friday comes, and we all meet in the Lobby at 10am. We're all chit chatting with the other contestants when Jolanda (Palau) comes over and initiates the "no talking" rule. Game on. Now, I for one got a huge kick out of it. It gave the feeling of the real deal. However, there were about 13 of the 20 people that grumbled throughout the day about this, and other rules that were set in place. The ones complaining....were the recruits. That's right my fellow pygmies....in a F#$%ing charity SURVIVOR event there were recruits. It was most disheartening to see. They made no attempt to hide the fact that they never watched the show and weren't big fans.....absolutely heartbreaking. Don't get me wrong....some of them were really nice, and I'm not hating on them, but ....it's bad enough that we have so many recruits on the actual show.....do we have to have them at the events too? *sigh* After reading Photog's review from last year...we had it easy this year. Friday was nowhere near as physical as it was last year. We had a scavenger hunt...no big deal...the concentration challenge....and then the baby food test. And in between all of this we sat in the hallway in silence as past reality contestants came by and mocked us. It was great! LOL! At around 5:30-6ish we were divided into 2 rooms (10 per room) and we all had 2 mins each to shower and get ready for the evening's festivities at bar/club. Really uneventful, but hanging out with everyone at the bar where the "no talking rule" was lifted and you got to mingle with everyone was a lot of fun. Alliances were made, people sizing each other up....the game was on. And what was funny was that we knew who the 20 fans were, but we didn't know which of the 34 reality contestants were going to be the 20 to compete in Saturday's challenge. Skip ahead skip ahead...we're back in the rooms ...10 people per room...made for interesting sleeping arrangements. I gotta say, and I think nm42 will agree, that our room was pretty much drama free and everyone was really considerate of each other's space or lack thereof. Saturday morning....the big day....I for one was STOKED. Butterflies in the stomach...constantly having to pee....as nerdy as it sounds...it felt so much like the real thing. We were shuttled over to the park and something just didn't feel right...no Survivor music....nothing that looked like a challenge....it turns out that our driver dropped us off at the park that was hosting a benefit for the homeless! Nice right? So we walked over to the right park, and then everything was right in the world again. Survivor music playing.....gallantgarage and chopping block setting up INCREDIBLE challenges on the lawn....WOW! Waiting for everyone to arrive was killing me. I was just ready to get it on! U'chenna (Amazing Race) comes over the speaker system and welcomes everyone, and now it was time to be divided into tribes. I was really happy with my tribe. We were the yellow tribe, and I had Steve, who I had met on Thursday and had a preliminary alliance with, Adrianna & Donovan (married couple who we didn't know were married at the time), and Amanda (who I felt was still hungover from the night before). When it came time for the past contestants we got Boo (Fiji), Yau Man (Fiji), Jenn Lyon (Palau), Cristina (Cook Islands) and Sandy (Tocantins). We all came together and initially we had a 4 person alliance: me, Steve, Boo & Cristina. I figured "Great start," plus I knew Sandy and felt that we could be a good alliance as well.
Last Edited By: mikeybear321 10/09/09 09:43 PM.
Edited 1 time.
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
mikeybear321.survivorsucks |
#51 | |||
|
Pygmy Poster
Posts: 76 10/09/09 09:42 PM |
Okay, so we have our team in place and the 1st challenge of the event is the one from Cook Islands & Micronesia, where we had to balance our lightest
member on two pole with a platforms and move them to a designated point, and then bring them back. Jen is light, and was not afraid of balancing atop the
poles. Our original idea was to have Boo and I steady one pole, and Steve and Donovan steady the other, with the rest of the team supporting Jen from the side,
and Sandy following alongside us with a ladder, in case Jen was to fall. Our plan got shot about 30 seconds in. We realized that we only needed Boo & Steve
to steady the poles, and me and Donovan would steady Jen on each side. At the same time, we realized that it was better for us to lean the poles into one
another so that Jen didn't have to reach as far.
It took us a bit to find our rhythm but once we did, we worked really well together. We reached the line and some people thought it was over, and we're like "NO! We need to go back!" The way back to the start was a bit more stressful, as we had a few near tumbles where me and Donovan had to grab Jen's booty to prevent her from falling. (Sorry Jen!) But at no point did her feet ever leave the platform! Go team! We crossed the finish line a good 10 - 15 seconds ahead of the 2nd place team! I gotta tell you....coming in 1st was like no other feeling! It felt sooooo good. We knew we were safe from Tribal, we functioned well as a team, and each of us hoisting that Immunity Idol over our heads....it's like the MasterCard commercial....PRICELESS. We were on top of the world...only to have it come crumbling down shortly after
The 2nd challenge was born from the depths of hell. Each tribe had to send one member up this ....slide, which only had nylon straps to help pull yourself up. Once you made it up the slide, you had to come down one of the slides on either side into the wading pool, run out onto a slip and slide and grab a rope, where your tribemates would have to pull you to a designated point where you grab a flag and you can then get up and put the flag on your tribe flag, and then the next person would go. Once you have all 10 flags, you win. In the first 5 seconds it was obvious that the other tribes wanted us to lose....and everyone was out for blood...literally! Everyone was fighting like MAD to get up that slide and it was brutal. No one was spared. This was where nm42 broke his toe, Amanda on my tribe got a black eye...and then there was me. Remember the game when you were a kid? "Pile on the Rabbit?" Well guess who was the rabbit? I think I was the 5th person to try and go up the slide from my tribe, and I got walloped! I tried to get up that F#$%ing slide I don't know how many times, and I just took a beating! Oh and did I mention that they're pelting you with WATER FROM A FIRE HOSE while you're trying to climb up the slide? At one point, Photog said "Grab a hold of me, and I'll get you up." Bless his heart I tried, but when I grabbed onto him, someone grabbed on to me and yanked me down, and after a while I was just gassed. I know Cristina came to the side of the pool and said "Get out!" and Amanda went up. Needless to say I knew what was coming, but I still held out some hope. Hope as I may, we came in last and therefore we had to vote out one fan & one favorite. I knew that the target was dead on me because of my poor performance, but I was trying to get it onto Amanda who was still hungover, but I looked like hell after the beating I took, and everyone thought that I wouldn't last. Unfortunately, I only had minutes to recuperate and try to change the tide, as opposed to hours, but the writing was on the wall. Sandy wound up being voted out from the favorites (which I didn't like because she really wanted to play) and of course, yours truly was eliminated as well. I gotta say, I wasn't blindsided, I had a smile on my face the whole time, and I hugged each of them on the way out. I HAD A BLAST! Did I go out the way I wanted? Absolutely not. Do I blame them? Absolutely not. Would I have reacted the same way if a million dollars was on the line? Who knows? But I gotta say, as a fan of the game, this was an INCREDIBLE experience. So as sore, and as beat up as I was, I had so much fun cheering my tribe on...wishing that I could be there, but living vicariously through them. At the same time, trying to stir sh#t up in between rounds. That was the one thing that was different, and kinda unavoidable. Everyone got to mingle in between rounds regardless of whether or not you were still in the game or booted out. So of course you do what any fan of the game would do...cause trouble!
I think it was after the next challenge that nm42 was a bit worried. He had gotten a few votes because of his broken toe...which was clearly broken due to the lovely shade of purple that it was turning. I offered him my shoes to act as protection because if I could help him get a bit further...why not? I was glad to see that they helped, and we later learned that we should have kept our shoes on when trying to go up that damn slide....oh well. Hindsight is always 20-20. The rest of the day was so much fun...watching everyone compete...get voted out...scheme, plot....it was awesome. Unfortunately, our whole alliance was gone by the end of the day, with the exception of Steve. He was the only one of the 5 of us to make it to the merge. Good on ya mate! Back at the hotel it was really funny. Some of the recruits were grabbing their stuff and going home (they were all locals) because they were voted out of the game. And some of them were really bitter! "I don't get it! I did well in the challenges, and they still voted me out! That's why I hate reality TV and I don't watch Survivor. I can't handle doing well and still losing. If someone does better than me, that's one thing. But to do well and still get voted out?" That was pretty much the jist of what they were complaining about. I had to laugh and just say, "That's the game of Survivor." Now, by this time I was exhausted, sunburned and just beat up. There was no way I was sharing a room and sleeping on the floor. I grabbed my stuff, got another room, and was in bed by 10ish. I know...lame...but I felt like hell and just needed a decent night's sleep.
Last Edited By: mikeybear321 10/09/09 09:56 PM.
Edited 2 times.
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
mikeybear321.survivorsucks |
#52 | |||
|
Pygmy Poster
Posts: 76 10/09/09 10:14 PM |
Sunday...the individual challenges were fun to watch. Skip ahead, skip ahead to the final 5 challenge which was a recreation of the Gabon card stacking
challenge. the was one point where Steve was a good 2 feet above everyone else. I'm screaming at him, "Steve STOP! LOOK TO YOUR RIGHT!" At that
point he could have stopped and rode out the time. He tried going a little higher, then stopped, and won immunity. I would like to think that I had a hand in
him winning that. And if you feel otherwise....F#$% you. Don't rain on my parade!
Skip ahead skip ahead...Final 4 tribal where one fan and one favorite have to go. It's Steve, Daniel (another fan and really nice guy), Debra Beebe & Jen Lyon. Deb had final immunity and unselfishly gave it to Jen. It was such a classy move, given all that Jen has been through over the years with her battles with cancer, etc. It was a really emotional moment and just something special. 'nuff said. Final Tribal was Steve & Jen, and Steve won. I know that there are HUGE gaps left out of this. Trying to recap everything would take waaaaay too long, but suffice it to say, YOU SHOULDA BEEN THERE. Each of us are huge fans of the game, and most of us are trying to get on the show. This is the closest that you'll get to it, unless you actually get "the call." Is it exact? No. But as fans, you can truly appreciate all that goes into this event. Chopping Block and gallantgarage were OUTSTANDING! I don't know if they truly get the credit that they so truly deserve for trying to recreate an authentic game of Survivor. The props were incredible....the Immunity Idol & Necklace...the challenge props....Tribal Council...the voting urn....you have to see it to believe it. Thumbs up to both of you guys. You're both Rockstars in my book. THANK YOU BOTH! To my fellow competitors (fans & favorites...and even the recruits) I cannot properly express how much fun I had and how much of a role each of you played. I can't wait to do it again next year. THANK YOU. Photog...a special shout out to you....you were the one who kept telling me, "You have to go, you have to go." Thank you buddy. You were so right. And you can always rub it in with "I told you so! Wasn't I right?" Love ya buddy! To my fellow Pygmies....get your butts down there next year. Save your money...do what you gotta do... you will not be sorry. Between this and the Kentuckiana Challenge....those are THE TOP 2 events to make sure you're there for. That's them....THE BIG 2. |
|||
|
|
||||
|
nm42 |
#53 | |||
|
Pygmy Pal
Posts: 20 10/10/09 09:30 PM |
hehe, awesome writeup Mike! I have to emphasize how you saved me bigtime with your shoes - I was toast without them, for sure. It was challenge #2 where I
had broke it, and challenge #3 (the blindfolded puzzle) I did barefoot, but I knew I was numbered (I got a couple of votes). When I came over to you and found
out you were out (which was a total bummer), that's when I told you I didn't think I was long for the game - and then like an angel descending on a ray
of light, you handed me your shoes and all was good again! Unfortunately for me I never knew that we had some sort of alliance with Steve, but I asked him at the 70's party if it would have made a difference, and he said no - he was already in on with Dan from before coming, and it had to be a fan so my time was up. You know, even though this is Survivor Preschool, it gives you a much deeper fundamental appreciation of the game and how these changes affect how you play.
Very cool...
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
nm42 |
#54 | |||
|
Pygmy Pal
Posts: 20 10/11/09 02:36 PM |
Ok, for all those who are ready to experience one of the most brutal Survivor charity event moments, then head over to Youtube and take a gander:
Mike Brutality on Challenge #2 YouTube video Make sure to check it out in HD to get the full effect. He got on the slide about a minute before this footage, the footage is about a minute long, and he stayed on for another minute and a half after this, so it lasted about 3 and a half minutes!! Thanks to my footage, I know when I climbed up it took 30 seconds, but let me tell you, it felt like it took forever, so I can't imagine what it must have been like for you Mike! It definitely shows how much heart you have for this game to not give up and keep battling for THAT LONG!
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
mikeybear321.survivorsucks |
#55 | |||
|
Pygmy Poster
Posts: 76 10/11/09 02:56 PM |
Thanks dude! When you're in it, you don't realize how it looks from outside, but the best I can say watching it again is....."Man that
SUCKED!" LOL! But it's all good. I can still watch it and smile. Words cannot fully express how much fun I had with the whole thing.
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
WatchMeNext |
#56 | |||
|
Pygmy Chief
Posts: 2323 10/25/09 08:58 PM The Pygmy Island Architect |
and Mark L saved us some good time by sucking the ball out of the PVC pipe, so we ended up with second on this one. There is something really wrong about that comment! lol Sorry I have been woefully absent since the challenge. As some of you know, my "mother in law" has been hospitalized for about 2 months now, fell, broke her back, coded, in two different hospitals and two different ICU's, and two days before the challenge on my birthday, she went unresponsive, put back into ICU, and since then, back awake, then unresponsive again, and was to the point we're making final arrangements, so my recap won't happen as I've forgotten everything that was cool. On the upside, MIL has since come back to responsive, gotten out of ICU, has started eating again after refusing food (even asking for food to be brought in - hamburgers and enchiladas!), and even asked to be taken outside for a short while today. So, no recap from me, but like the guys have said - it's a great event and yes, next year will happen again, so start saving your pennies for a plane ticket. nm, mikeybear - I had no idea some of the players were recruits. It's interesting because I know for a fact that the interviewers rejected at least one person because they didn't like their attitude when they were called late at night on the phone for the interview. Kudos go to Gallant and Chopping Block for the amazing thought and creativity that went into the challenges, and all the work involved considering a crapload of props went missing and had to be recreated in less than half the time from last year. My absolute favorite was called The Bermuda Triangle - the one that nm described that had you running up the slide, going to look at a number, going to your teammate in the dunk tank and bringing the number back to another teammate to figure out a math problem. I thought it was particularly amusing that once again, Bob didn't get the math problem worked out right! It's an exhausting few days, but worth every minute. |
|||
|
|
||||
|
nm42 |
#57 | |||
|
Pygmy Pal
Posts: 20 10/26/09 06:59 PM |
WMN, I liked all of the competitions, but some I liked more than others (I'm speaking only of the ones I participated in)... I'll put this in the
constructive criticism category but it really isn't criticism, it's really more tweaks that might make it more enjoyable to play/watch.
The one that was your favorite was probably the least favorite for me - of course we came in dead last on it, so that could have something to do with it.
The problem for me on that particular one was not so much that it was complicated and had multiple stages (I like that), but the fact that it wasn't what I
would call "Amazing Raced". Now I call it that even though Survivor does it as well, but Amazing Race uses it virtually every episode - and that is
the challenges have basically sync points where other teams can catch up. This helps to keep momentum, even if you're behind... A great example of this on
Survivor was in Cook Islands (I think) when they had to put together wheels and then put them on a cart, then clear rocks from the path, then run the carts
across the sand to the finish line (I'm missing a few steps in between). But basically instead of teams competing as a big loop with one member from each
(more common towards the end of the season than at the beginning), the team works together and goes phase by phase.
So, how I could have seen that one working would have been all the members of the tribe need to go up and over the slide, once all the members reach the other end, they can go around and memorize the symbols. Once they think they have the symbols, they move on to the tank and translate them - and they fill in the formula. Finally, instead of one chest everyone dives for, each team has it's own chest, and I would put multiple locks on them. This way it's easier to gauge how behind you are, and when you get to the same obstacle as the other team, you feel like if you hurry you might be able to beat them. After going through the footage that my GF shot during the event, I can appreciate why they try to do things like that - in many cases, it was really difficult on video to tell what was happening, it's just alot of people running all over the place.
My personal favorite challenge was probably the one I got hurt on (the second one, the first using the slide)... While it had elements from the show, it felt original and flowed pretty well. It did suffer from the same problem (filming wise) as the one I talked about above, and I think could have been improved by making it staged instead of a bunch of big loops. Once again, this is not to diminish or take anything away from the challenges - on the contrary, I think it's probably just about as Survivor as you're going to get without causing more injuries. 
To my mind, after hearing the adventure of the lost ones from last year, really the only difference would have been that the challenges might have been more polished, but I doubt they could have been much better.
----- On the whole recruit thing, personally I kind of like it - let's face it, if you're looking for an authentic experience of the show, there has to be some recruited people. At the same time I hope more people apply and come next year, but I certainly don't mind the recruits. Some of them were tools, but most of them were great - plus they give us free people to vote off because they don't realize the alliance side of the game. Bwahahahah!
On the person who got rejected, that sucks for them but I look at it this way - this was training for Survivor, plain and simple. I tried to take it as seriously as I would if it were real - push past the rules when I thought I could, play by them when I wasn't sure. I also treated the people doing the casting the same way I would have if it had been Survivor calling - I don't care if there were 2 other people applying or 2000, it's a great chance to practice. I imagine that the if it were Survivor that called, they wouldn't have cared what time it was - so on that fact alone they could have called me at 2am and I would have been thrilled. Hell, when they called I'll be honest I was thrilled - sure, it isn't Survivor, but it's the NEXT BEST THING. And I may never get on Survivor, but at LEAST I've had a taste, albeit a small one, of what it's like. Absolutely great experience, got to meet other fans (which was very cool), got to meet some previous contestants (many of whom exceeded my expectations), had a great time (even with injury), and hopefully helped to do a little bit of good at the same time. Can't beat that.
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
bellt27 |
#58 | |||
|
Pygmy Pal
Posts: 20 10/26/09 08:28 PM |
Lol let this get this straight!
"It's interesting because I know for a fact that the interviewers rejected at least one person because they didn't like their attitude when they were called late at night on the phone for the interview." That was me. First of all thought it was unprofessional for a charity event to be calling at midnight on a Friday night. The only people calling me that late are hookups and wrong numbers and I had no problem telling them that. If they didnt like my attitude then deal with it. And I have never heard SEG calling during non office hours for first contact but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. It wasnt anyone but Jolanda who decided in regards to that even Uchenna had said she didn't think it was an appropriate time to call. Funny thing is they then contact me again the week of the event asking me to participate! Jolanda if you don't like my attitude then deal with it maybe you should be more concerned about underaged drinking happening at your events then suppossed dirty dancing and suppossed bad attitude. Also maybe if they didnt do everything so last minute there wouldnt have been this problem. Last year they called during the day and actually stuck to the schedule they had posted. And they even had a hurricane to deal with. I love the event and what its there for and this is no way directed towards those who make the challenges(gallant or wmn) or produced what the challenges did because yall were on the ball but this is about behind the scenes. Sorry but lets call a spade a spade! |
|||
|
|
||||
|
WatchMeNext |
#59 | |||
|
Pygmy Chief
Posts: 2323 10/26/09 11:57 PM The Pygmy Island Architect |
Kudos to WMN, she kept a "level head" in all the koas, the talents of Rob Harmon unsung genius, FYI it's considered in poor taste to pat yourself on the back for your participation. Also, negative comments on behind the scenes stuff really don't have a place here. Try directing more constructive feedback to Jolanda herself - that would be the appropriate target for it, or her sister Uchenna. And that's all I'm going to say about that. belt - I had no idea that was YOU that was called late at night! Jees - you almost won it last year, you should've been a sure "in"! I was glad to see you came down for the festivities anyway. Next year dude. Next year! Photog - still waiting on your recap. How did this year compare to last year? |
|||
|
|
||||
|
firechat |
#60 | |||
|
Pygmy Pal
Posts: 35 10/27/09 12:32 AM Pygmy Pal |
When this thread was started I thought it was for all comments good or bad about the Houston Challenge. Your a smart women to limit the conversation to the
insider's who are certainly intelligent enough to know of what I speak. If its not broken don't fix it. By the same token DONT TAKE CREDIT for anything
related to Saturday and Sunday. That's what the General is doing. She gone way overboard in claiming Brett relied and welcomed her advice on WHO
participated when. I am not an idiot the morale of the contestants and everyone else subject to this abrasiveness was a critical factor in the success of
Jolanda's Houston Survivor Challenge. Everything you did you did correctly. APPLAUSE Yes the yelling was unnecessary "baggage" APOLOGIES to
celebrities, sponsors, staff and contestants.
|
|||
|
|
||||
