# Amazing Race 3/11/12



## wendiness1 (Jul 29, 2005)

Di Giorno!


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## Ment (Mar 27, 2008)

Who knew washing statues could get so sexual? 

Bopper & Mark complaining about the natives not speaking english...meanwhile subtitles.

Well we know Vanessa has had at _least_ two plastic surgeries. Vanessa -'i haven't eaten that much salami since high-school' 

Rachel in breakdown mode...yummy. She had to be the one throwing tantrums in the breakfast cereal aisle as a kid right?


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

My first thought when the new destination was revealed: They're going to Torino, home of beautiful cars, and they're going to drive Ford Focuses (Focusi)? But I should have known it was going to be an hour-long Ford commercial. 

If the departure times from this leg accurately reflect last leg's check in times, then Art and JJ beat everyone else by nearly four hours. How is that even possible? And they were over seven hours ahead of the last place team. That's one of the larger gaps I remember in the show's history.

Had to know it was non-elim with the way Phil changed up the script on the mat. Surprised they let the Border Patrol guys come back to the mat and wait. They'd probably already been checked in for at least six hours, and we've seen in recent seasons that the teams often don't know who went home until the next leg starts. So for them to be present when the last team checked in was pretty surprising. But kudos to them for sharing their winnings with Mark.


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## JLucPicard (Jul 8, 2004)

DevdogAZ said:


> If the departure times from this leg accurately reflect last leg's check in times, then Art and JJ beat everyone else by nearly four hours. How is that even possible? And they were over seven hours ahead of the last place team. That's one of the larger gaps I remember in the show's history.
> 
> Had to know it was non-elim with the way Phil changed up the script on the mat.


Nearly FIVE hours, actually (5:10 for Art & JJ, 9:59 for Team BB). And Rachel & Dave's departure time was 10:10, so they actually arrived three hours later that Art & JJ in real time! Wow - talk about kicking butt.

And up until just a season or two ago, anytime Phil said, "I'm sorry to tell you, you are the last team to arrive", that was a dead give away that it was a non-elim. Lately, I think there's been about once each season where he's said that and it actually was an elimination. Otherwise it's, "You are the last team to arrive. I'm sorry to tell you that you have been eliminated from the race."

I'm not liking the bickering between Rachel and Dave.


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## loubob57 (Mar 19, 2001)

That was some classic Rachel. Very entertaining.
I also liked the DiGiornio comment.


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## heySkippy (Jul 2, 2001)

If the timeline we were shown was anything like accurate, then Dave definitely could have won the Fast Forward. I'll bet he has flown plenty of toy helicopters in addition to being a chopper pilot IRL. He could easily have landed the toy on the first try.


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## InterMurph (May 22, 2003)

DevdogAZ said:


> Ford Focuses (Focusi)?


Ford Foci


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## rondotcom (Feb 13, 2005)

InterMurph said:


> Ford Foci


Also known as the Ford "Forget You"

Wow! was that a lame and obscure and horrible joke.


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## Necromancer2006 (Jan 26, 2008)

Rachel is just all kinds of filled with drama. Temper tantrum after temper tantrum to get her way. It's great!!

Otherwise, kind of a boring episode, all things considered.


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## TiVo'Brien (Feb 8, 2002)

Half the time Rachel is completely *pretending* to cry - no tears. I'll bet a million dollars her PhD SO dumps her pretty soon. He's an idiot if he doesn't. Although, maybe he's addicted to her giant boobs and emotional maturity doesn't matter to him.


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## KevinG (Sep 3, 2003)

TiVo'Brien said:


> Half the time Rachel is completely *pretending* to cry - no tears. I'll bet a million dollars her PhD SO dumps her pretty soon. He's an idiot if he doesn't. Although, maybe he's addicted to her giant boobs and emotional maturity doesn't matter to him.


I'm guessing you don't watch Big Brother.... Brendan will *never* dump her, and would come crawling on his knees if she ever left him...In fact...he has.


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## andyw715 (Jul 31, 2007)

TiVo'Brien said:


> Half the time Rachel is completely *pretending* to cry - no tears. I'll bet a million dollars her PhD SO dumps her pretty soon. He's an idiot if he doesn't. Although, maybe he's addicted to her giant boobs and emotional maturity doesn't matter to him.


He won't, he whipped like butter.


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## laria (Sep 7, 2000)

Did they meet on Big Brother or were they already a couple before that?


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## verdugan (Sep 9, 2003)

laria said:


> Did they meet on Big Brother or were they already a couple before that?


They met on Big Brother. They paried up pretty early into the game.


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## martinp13 (Mar 19, 2001)

I think we decided in the BB threads that Rachel is a control freak (duh), and when she's not in control, that's the biggest opportunity for meltdown. When she's focused on a task, she does well. But when it's stop and go (like the salami challenge), she's screwed. Going back and forth between the salami store and the guessing station, I could understand if she was winded or tired and getting frustrated. But she's very athletic and did well in a lot of endurance competitions on BB. I know she played the blame game a LOT on BB, so maybe it's her way of compensating for failure: attack your partner and blame them for noticing your failure. 

What took so long that teams finished in the dark? They landed at 1030am or so, rapelled, museum, tower, statue/salami, pit stop? It didn't seem like any task took that long... maybe traffic? Maybe it just gets dark early in the winter.


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## laria (Sep 7, 2000)

martinp13 said:


> What took so long that teams finished in the dark? They landed at 1030am or so, rapelled, museum, tower, statue/salami, pit stop? It didn't seem like any task took that long... maybe traffic? Maybe it just gets dark early in the winter.


It must have been near-ish to Christmas with all those Santas on the streets... days are pretty short at that time of year.  Around here the sun sets at about 4pm at that time of year.


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## martinp13 (Mar 19, 2001)

laria said:


> It must have been near-ish to Christmas with all those Santas on the streets... days are pretty short at that time of year.  Around here the sun sets at about 4pm at that time of year.


I had forgotten about the Santas. I bet the production team cursed seeing all that... it would have been perfect to have a challenge based on that, or even have Phil at the Mat in a Santa suit, surrounded by Santas.


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## ElJay (Apr 6, 2005)

I'm about ready to give up on this season. I want to watch a fun show. Vanessa's over the top nastiness and Rachel's tearless crying is not at all fun to watch. Part of the race is certainly watching the teammates deal with frustration and conflict, but the balance so far seems off.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

It's really mean of the producers to taunt me with footage of Rachel and Brandon threatening to quit the show.

Yes, The Amazing Race should be fun -- to watch -- so take your whiny double-dipping asses home already. 

Also ready for Vanessa and what's-his-name to leave.


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## tiams (Apr 19, 2004)

I'm rooting for Team Kentucky! They get along way better than any of the dating or married couples. You can tell they really love each other. Border Patrol is also at the top of my list.

It would have been awesome for Brendan to have quit and told Rachel she was right and the wedding is off!! But I know he never would.


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## ScottE22 (Sep 19, 2003)

Rachel's crocodile tears are ridiculous. Despite the fact that it was a 60-minute Ford commercial, I enjoyed seeing a little but of Torino.

I especially loved when one of the Kentucky boys said something like how excited he was to finally go to "the tropics." Torino: the tropical home of the winter Olympics...


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

As much as I hate regular commercials, the auto-park product placement here was actually entertaining... though of course they did repeat it too many times.. (though it was simultaneously funny and annoying when one team just 'had' to do it the next time they parked).

Still not gonna buy a Ford.


Oh, and I swear Rachel said on BB she used to do something smart (I don't remember what it was), even though Amazing Race says she's a cocktail waitress or something like that.. I also find it hard to believe that Brendan has a bachelor's and master's in physics!!!


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## Mikeyis4dcats (Oct 2, 2003)

awesome for the Border Patrol guys to share their winnings. I have a much higher opinion of them now.


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## Einselen (Apr 25, 2006)

I really wanted someone to not hit the brake at the end of the parking and smash in to the car behind them, much like Leo Laporte.


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## tiams (Apr 19, 2004)

mattack said:


> I also find it hard to believe that Brendan has a bachelor's and master's in physics!!!


He must have bought them online or something.


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## fmowry (Apr 30, 2002)

I think they should pair Rachel with the Dave.

Didn't Vanessa and her boyfriend meet at the gym? She was winded going around the first turn of the rappelling challenge.

I'm not sure I get the hate for her though. She's mean to Rachel but Rachel is so annoying I can understand it. And at least she's joking around a lot and seems to get along with her boyfriend.

I think Kentucky's time is up. I can't see them starting from the back of the pack and moving up unless Rachel actually does quit.


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## heySkippy (Jul 2, 2001)

Did I miss Phil telling the hillbillies that they would need to complete a Speed Bump on the next leg?


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## fmowry (Apr 30, 2002)

heySkippy said:


> Did I miss Phil telling the hillbillies that they would need to complete a Speed Bump on the next leg?


It might have been muffled by the dueling banjo song playing in the background but I don't remember it either.


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## TonyTheTiger (Dec 22, 2006)

Border Patrol guys are my new favorite now after what they did at the end for the Hillbillies. I thought that was very generous of them.


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## Jebberwocky! (Apr 16, 2005)

TonyTheTiger said:


> Border Patrol guys are my new favorite now after what they did at the end for the Hillbillies. I thought that was very generous of them.


yea, the really messed up my desire to not like them.


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## ScottE22 (Sep 19, 2003)

fmowry said:


> I'm not sure I get the hate for [Vanessa] though. She's mean to Rachel but Rachel is so annoying I can understand it. And at least she's joking around a lot and seems to get along with her boyfriend.


I agree. She's clearly just doing it to antagonize Rachel which, IMHO, is pretty much a victimless crime. My guess is she's seen BB and just how nasty Rachel can be when she doesn't get her way so she's mounted a strong offensive. Unless I'm forgetting something, Vanessa very civil to the other teams.

I will admit to developing a new respect for Rachel on BB last summer after Brandon left the house. Whiny, pouty, crocodile tears Rachel walked out the door with him and she was (almost) likable. Seeing the last leg, though, I'm mostly back to disliking her immensely.


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

mattack said:


> As much as I hate regular commercials, the auto-park product placement here was actually entertaining... though of course they did repeat it too many times.. (though it was simultaneously funny and annoying when one team just 'had' to do it the next time they parked)....


I was disappointed we didn't see the hillbillies' reaction to the auto-parking. They jumped past that....



Mikeyis4dcats said:


> awesome for the Border Patrol guys to share their winnings. I have a much higher opinion of them now.


It was VERY generous and one of the top moments we've see on TAR since we've been watching...


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## loubob57 (Mar 19, 2001)

Einselen said:


> I really wanted someone to not hit the brake at the end of the parking and smash in to the car behind them, much like Leo Laporte.


I was hoping for that too. Must not have happened because I can't imagine they wouldn't show it.


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## VegasVic (Nov 22, 2002)

fmowry said:


> I think Kentucky's time is up. I can't see them starting from the back of the pack and moving up unless Rachel actually does quit.


Virtually every leg has a bunch up so they have a shot, even though they have to do the speed bump.


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## laria (Sep 7, 2000)

If I was the border patrol guys, I would be kicking myself for not finding out if it was an elimination leg before giving them the money.  I'm guessing they gave it to them because they thought the hillbillies had lost their shot at the million.


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

laria said:


> If I was the border patrol guys, I would be kicking myself for not finding out if it was an elimination leg before giving them the money.  I'm guessing they gave it to them because they thought the hillbillies had lost their shot at the million.


Disagree. I think they genuinely wanted the hillbillies to have the money regardless of the outcome.

Truthfully, I don't think they have much of a chance at the million, but wouldn't that be a hoot if they won?


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## Jebberwocky! (Apr 16, 2005)

Bierboy said:


> Disagree. I think they genuinely wanted the hillbillies to have the money regardless of the outcome.
> 
> Truthfully, I don't think they have much of a chance at the million, but wouldn't that be a hoot if they won?


Hey, the HillBilly said he would return the favor.


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## VegasVic (Nov 22, 2002)

Bierboy said:


> Disagree. I think they genuinely wanted the hillbillies to have the money regardless of the outcome.


So if the hillbillies had come in fourth this leg you think the Border guys would have been at the mat to give them the money? I don't. I think when they won the money they decided to give it to the hillbillies when they were eliminated. They thought they were being eliminated this leg and that's why they did it at that time.

But regardless, it was a cool thing to do, I didn't like Border Patrol at first but I do now.


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## WhiskeyTango (Sep 20, 2006)

While everyone else is being annoyed by Rachel's meltdowns, I'm finding them hilarious. It's classic Rachel from her time on BB. Watching her flip out over something as minor as salami just makes me laugh. I think the blonde Rachel is more annoying and generally a passive aggressive *****. I too think Vanessa knows who Rachel is from BB and is intentionally trying to get under her skin to get her into meltdown mode.


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

VegasVic said:


> So if the hillbillies had come in fourth this leg you think the Border guys would have been at the mat to give them the money? I don't. I think when they won the money they decided to give it to the hillbillies when they were eliminated. They thought they were being eliminated this leg and that's why they did it at that time.
> 
> But regardless, it was a cool thing to do, I didn't like Border Patrol at first but I do now.


I do understand what you're saying. I'd probably modify my answer by saying they wanted the hillbillies to have the money regardless of whether it was a non-elim leg. But I would tend to agree that they figured they'd lost any chance at the million....

But I also agree with you and most others here that it was a great thing to do.


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## VegasVic (Nov 22, 2002)

I have to say I was surprised at what the Border guys did, I didn't see that coming at all. 

Right now I'm rooting for 1. Kentucky, 2. Border guys

I originally wanted soldier guy/wife because they're from my hometown but they've got on my nerves


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## heySkippy (Jul 2, 2001)

loubob57 said:


> I was hoping for that too. Must not have happened because I can't imagine they wouldn't show it.


Since Ford no doubt paid handsomely for this episode, I can easily imagine they wouldn't show the auto-park failing.


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## loubob57 (Mar 19, 2001)

WhiskeyTango said:


> While everyone else is being annoyed by Rachel's meltdowns, I'm finding them hilarious. It's classic Rachel from her time on BB. Watching her flip out over something as minor as salami just makes me laugh. I think the blonde Rachel is more annoying and generally a passive aggressive *****. I too think Vanessa knows who Rachel is from BB and is intentionally trying to get under her skin to get her into meltdown mode.


I too am entertained by Rachel. If all the people we hate are off the show early it isn't as interesting to me. Everybody getting along is kinda boring.



heySkippy said:


> Since Ford no doubt paid handsomely for this episode, I can easily imagine they wouldn't show the auto-park failing.


OK, I see your point there. Money talks.


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## KevinG (Sep 3, 2003)

WhiskeyTango said:


> While everyone else is being annoyed by Rachel's meltdowns, I'm finding them hilarious. It's classic Rachel from her time on BB. Watching her flip out over something as minor as salami just makes me laugh.


This.

While my son wants them gone (he doesn't know them), I take great pleasure from Rachel's misery. MOAR!


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## martinp13 (Mar 19, 2001)

WhiskeyTango said:


> While everyone else is being annoyed by Rachel's meltdowns, I'm finding them hilarious. It's classic Rachel from her time on BB. Watching her flip out over something as minor as salami just makes me laugh.


+1000


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## loubob57 (Mar 19, 2001)

As soon as Brendon and Rachel picked the sausage challenge rather than cleaning the statue I knew we were in for a treat.


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

loubob57 said:


> As soon as Brendon and Rachel picked the sausage challenge rather than cleaning the statue I knew we were in for a treat.


Ha...I get it...."treat"....

I agree... she is definitely worth watching the show. I'm usually pretty bored until they whittle it down to about four or five teams. I hope she and her boy-toy make it to the final two or three....then has an incredible meltdown when they screw-up just narrowly missing the million bucks.


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## fmowry (Apr 30, 2002)

I know many people have trouble parallel parking but geez, it's on the driving test. Don't you think it would be something that should be practiced? I guess I don't want to be driving down the road with parking on both sides and have to stop to let someone attempt forward/back 10 times to park but I also don't want a car taking over steering at any point at which I'm driving. The fact that the car CAN do it just seems like another expensive point of failure to me.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

mattack said:


> I also find it hard to believe that Brendan has a bachelor's and master's in physics!!!


This. Most physicists I know are WAAAAY smarter than this guy.


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## Ment (Mar 27, 2008)

fmowry said:


> I know many people have trouble parallel parking but geez, it's on the driving test. Don't you think it would be something that should be practiced? I guess I don't want to be driving down the road with parking on both sides and have to stop to let someone attempt forward/back 10 times to park but I also don't want a car taking over steering at any point at which I'm driving. The fact that the car CAN do it just seems like another expensive point of failure to me.


I think I've parallel parked less than 3 times last year. Meaning going past and then backing in, so alot of people are out of practice. Its definitely a selling point for Ford. The auto park feature surely has overrides so there isn't a safety concern at low speeds. As cars have more add-on features, rear-cameras, HUD etc of course there are more maintenance problems but thats life.

Now something else came to me. If you can't drive stick why would you volunteer to drive at all. This was when cousins Kerri & Stacy had to switch drivers. Its not like TAR mandates certain drivers per leg right?


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

Mikeyis4dcats said:


> awesome for the Border Patrol guys to share their winnings. I have a much higher opinion of them now.





TonyTheTiger said:


> Border Patrol guys are my new favorite now after what they did at the end for the Hillbillies. I thought that was very generous of them.





Bierboy said:


> It was VERY generous and one of the top moments we've see on TAR since we've been watching...





Jebberwocky! said:


> yea, the really messed up my desire to not like them.


I'm with Jebberwocky! Based on the University of Arizona gear that one of them always wears, I was predisposed to hate that team from the beginning, but so far, I can't really find anything else wrong with them.


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## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

A backup camera makes parallel parking sooooo much easier than it used to be. Since this is a required component of an auto-park system I'd rather save the money & just have a camera and a display.


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

fmowry said:


> I know many people have trouble parallel parking but geez, it's on the driving test....


There are LOTS of great drivers who are terrible at parallel parking -- my wife is one of them...


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## fmowry (Apr 30, 2002)

My definition of a great driver is one who can operate a car in all of it's gears and use mirrors properly. That includes backing up to parallel park.

But to each his own. The US driving test is way too easy.

Back to the show.

Every time I see/hear Rachel whining to Brendan I hear the "whipped" app from BBT in the back of my head.


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## laria (Sep 7, 2000)

fmowry said:


> I know many people have trouble parallel parking but geez, it's on the driving test. Don't you think it would be something that should be practiced? I guess I don't want to be driving down the road with parking on both sides and have to stop to let someone attempt forward/back 10 times to park but I also don't want a car taking over steering at any point at which I'm driving. The fact that the car CAN do it just seems like another expensive point of failure to me.


I don't even know if I can parallel park. I had to do it one day in practice in Driver's Ed, but that was the last time I attempted to parallel park, and that was 20 years ago. It was not on the state test.


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## brianric (Aug 29, 2002)

I'm aging myself, but back when I was getting my driver's license if you took the test using an automatic it was stamped automatic transmission only.


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

brianric said:


> I'm aging myself, but back when I was getting my driver's license if you took the test using an automatic it was stamped automatic transmission only.


Wow...and I thought I was old....


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## martinp13 (Mar 19, 2001)

I suck at parallel parking, and the only reason I passed it on my driver's test is that you did parallel parking immediately after the narrow cones. It brought you out 6 feet away from the parking spot with not much room to get set up. I asked the tester about it and he said "Do the best you can." So I maneuvered a bit and started in on the fender bump parallel park (where you inch into the space by going back and forth). I got 15 seconds into it and the guy said "Nevermind, you know how to do it." Um ok. And I had practiced! 

I would love to have a car do it for me.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

fmowry said:


> My definition of a great driver is one who can operate a car in all of it's gears and use mirrors properly. That includes backing up to parallel park.
> 
> But to each his own. The US driving test is way too easy.
> 
> ...


Stole my thunder, was going to say that


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## Inundated (Sep 10, 2003)

WhiskeyTango said:


> While everyone else is being annoyed by Rachel's meltdowns, I'm finding them hilarious. It's classic Rachel from her time on BB.


I don't really care if she clubbed baby seals on BB. I'm sick of the references to her time on that other show.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Ment said:


> If you can't drive stick why would you volunteer to drive at all.


I don't doubt that we've all talked about this in threads before, but I don't remember a conversation exactly like it.

Most important thing to learn for a specific reality show:

Survivor:
How to start a fire

Amazing Race:
How to drive stick

Oh, and was the thing they rappelled in a parking garage? It sure SEEMED like it, but I didn't see stripes for parking spaces, and the 'loop' for the ramp seemed fairly tight.


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## Amnesia (Jan 30, 2005)

I agree with your skill list. Maybe 2nd for _Survivor_ would be to practice making a shelter out of jungle materials. 2nd for _TAR_ would be some basic phrases in Spanish.


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## MarkofT (Jul 27, 2001)

It isn't a parking garage. It was an automotive factory with a test track on the roof. Now it's a public space. We saw a quarter of the space. The rest is filled with concert halls, a theatre, a convention centre, shopping arcades and a hotel.


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## laria (Sep 7, 2000)

Amnesia said:


> I agree with your skill list. Maybe 2nd for _Survivor_ would be to practice making a shelter out of jungle materials. 2nd for _TAR_ would be some basic phrases in Spanish.


All you need to know is how to shout "RAPIDO! RAPIDO!" at the top of your lungs.


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## GoHalos (Aug 30, 2006)

laria said:


> All you need to know is how to shout "RAPIDO! RAPIDO!" at the top of your lungs.


Especially when you aren't in a Spanish speaking country.


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## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

laria said:


> All you need to know is how to shout "RAPIDO! RAPIDO!" at the top of your lungs.


As well as any phrases you may have (mis)heard Speedy Gonzales saying, such as "Andele! Viva!" that I heard the Kentucky guys say last week.


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## bikegeek (Dec 28, 2006)

GoHalos said:


> Especially when you aren't in a Spanish speaking country.


Isn't that when you say it louder and slower?


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## WhiskeyTango (Sep 20, 2006)

Inundated said:


> I don't really care if she clubbed baby seals on BB. I'm sick of the references to her time on that other show.


What crawled up your ass?


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## VegasVic (Nov 22, 2002)

Since Phil didn't mention the Speed Bump I wonder if there is one. But he didn't mention any other penalty either and there has to be something. I'm glad they no longer do the "marked for elimination" or taking their money away so they have to beg for cash.


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## KyleLC (Feb 6, 2002)

WhiskeyTango said:


> What crawled up your ass?


+1 LOL


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

Inundated said:


> I don't really care if she clubbed baby seals on BB. I'm sick of the references to her time on that other show.


But that's what she's famous for. In any discussion of her, you are going to get references to BB. As you did when Rob and Amber were on about Survivor.


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## Boston Fan (Feb 8, 2006)

Inundated said:


> I don't really care if she clubbed baby seals on BB.


How did I not hear about this? Makes me glad I've never watched BB.


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## WhiskeyTango (Sep 20, 2006)

Boston Fan said:


> How did I not hear about this? Makes me glad I've never watched BB.


Because it was overshadowed by the story of her pushing old ladies down an elevator shaft.


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## WhiskeyTango (Sep 20, 2006)

Oh, and let's not forget when Rachel took her BB winnings and opened up a children's cancer center only to have the children locked in cages, only to be released after they'd competed against and won their weekly fights against wild boars.


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## brianric (Aug 29, 2002)

mattack said:


> Amazing Race:
> How to drive stick
> /QUOTE]
> 
> I'm againg myself again. My second car was four on the column.


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## KyleLC (Feb 6, 2002)

brianric said:


> I'm againg myself again. My second car was four on the column.


Four? I remember cars with three on the column. I thought four was uncommon back in those days.


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

KyleLC said:


> Four? I remember cars with three on the column. I thought four was uncommon back in those days.


Back in the mid-80s, the TV station I worked for had Chevy's (can't remember the model) with a three-speed on the column. I wasn't aware they made a four-speed on the column...


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Yeah, I can't remember when I've driven a car with the shifter on the column.. I think I have, but I can't remember when. Even automatics haven't been on the column in a long time, right??


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## GoHalos (Aug 30, 2006)

I hadn't thought about those in a while. My buddy had a "three on the tree" stepside pickup truck when we were in high school.


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## brianric (Aug 29, 2002)

KyleLC said:


> Four? I remember cars with three on the column. I thought four was uncommon back in those days.


I was counting reverse. Standard H pattern.


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## jradosh (Jul 31, 2001)

Ment said:


> Well we know Vanessa has had at _least_ two plastic surgeries. Vanessa -'i haven't eaten that much salami since high-school'


She mentioned her nose job in this episode. Has she mentioned anything else that I missed? 

BTW, I don't find her as annoying as some here. I think she's taunting Rachel which is fine with me, but otherwise she hasn't really been mean to anyone else, and she seems to get along OK with her man. Why the hate?


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## Jebberwocky! (Apr 16, 2005)

KyleLC said:


> Four? I remember cars with three on the column. I thought four was uncommon back in those days.


that would be three on a tree BTW

ETA Too late


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

Boy, are we old or what?


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## loubob57 (Mar 19, 2001)

Bierboy said:


> Boy, are we old or what?


Yup 

I learned to drive a standard in a 6-cylinder '70 Nova with 3 on the tree.


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## Jebberwocky! (Apr 16, 2005)

I drove a Dodge Dart in High School, push button tranny on the dash.


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## Squeak (May 12, 2000)

jradosh said:


> She mentioned her nose job in this episode. Has she mentioned anything else that I missed?


Nose job, plus the implied boob job as well.


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## laria (Sep 7, 2000)

jradosh said:


> She mentioned her nose job in this episode. Has she mentioned anything else that I missed?


No, but I think people are referring to her boobies.


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## Inundated (Sep 10, 2003)

WhiskeyTango said:


> What crawled up your ass?





KyleLC said:


> +1 LOL





Steveknj said:


> But that's what she's famous for. In any discussion of her, you are going to get references to BB. As you did when Rob and Amber were on about Survivor.


Here's the thing - I have ZERO interest in BB. It's a show where they throw together a bunch of vapid (mostly) young people together in a house just to see if they mess with each other's heads.

I was blissfuly unaware of Rachel and Brendon's existance until they pulled this stunt casting, and every thread this season has been half full of "Oh, she did such and such on BB! Wait till you see it! You haven't seen nothing yet!".

Add to that that Team BB is an AWFUL team, and annoying even without their previous "fame", and I'm a bit annoyed, yet.

For all the Survivor hype, at least Rob and Amber proved pretty quickly that they were a worthy TAR team, and they were there to compete in THAT show, not just live on their Survivor past.

Meanwhile, this episode, Rachel was whining on the streets of Torino that everyone hated them because of who they were (the BB team). And this poor young Italian woman was looking at her with a sincere "who are you and why do people hate you?" look.


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

loubob57 said:


> Yup
> 
> I learned to drive a standard in a 6-cylinder '70 Nova with 3 on the tree.


THANK YOU...that's the Chevy our TV station had as their "fleet" of cars....


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## jradosh (Jul 31, 2001)

Inundated... I get your frustration with the CBS execs for the stunt casting, but it sounded like you were venting at the peeps here for discussing it. I can understand the first part but not the second.


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## jradosh (Jul 31, 2001)

Squeak said:


> Nose job, plus the implied boob job as well.





laria said:


> No, but I think people are referring to her boobies.


Oh I assUmed as much  Even before she mentioned a nose job I thought they're too much to be real, but now I feel even more confident. Of course I'd like to confirm this (somehow).


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## markz (Oct 22, 2002)

Jebberwocky! said:


> I drove a Dodge Dart in High School, push button tranny on the dash.


I try not to push any tranny buttons!


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

markz said:


> I try not to push any tranny buttons!


The mere fact that you would be close enough to a tranny to push their buttons is disturbing to me....


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

jradosh said:


> Inundated... I get your frustration with the CBS execs for the stunt casting, but it sounded like you were venting at the peeps here for discussing it. I can understand the first part but not the second.


I can understand the first part AND the second part.

I watch TAR.

I don't watch BB; I don't watch Survivor.

I don't give a rat's ass about what anybody did on BB or Survivor before they were on TAR. I'm watching TAR to see what happens on TAR.

When the volume of "backstory" discussion about what happened on BB / Survivor threatens to overwhelm the discussion of what actually went on during the episode of TAR that the current thread is supposed to be about, then sure, I can understand why someone would get annoyed and want to vent about it. Because it is tiresome.

What's not to understand?


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## WhiskeyTango (Sep 20, 2006)

All of the Rachel/BB discussion in this thread has related directly to her actions in this episode. I don't see how it's detrimental to the thread to provide more info so that everyone watching has a better understanding of what is going on.


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## Roadblock (Apr 5, 2006)

Inundated said:


> Here's the thing - I have ZERO interest in BB. It's a show where they throw together a bunch of vapid (mostly) young people together in a house just to see if they mess with each other's heads.


Not really, that's Jersey Shore. Have you watched Big Brother? It's first and foremost a strategic game where the last person standing gets a half million dollars. Yes, they do cast people they think will have conflict, but so does Amazing Race.


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## jradosh (Jul 31, 2001)

murgatroyd said:


> I don't give a rat's ass about what anybody did on BB or Survivor before they were on TAR. I'm watching TAR to see what happens on TAR.
> [snip]
> What's not to understand?


So we're not allowed to discuss _any_ backstory? Is Border Patrol, FBI and/or Clowning totally off limits? We can only discuss what is actually shown on the show?

I don't want each thread to be 100% Big Brother dicussion. But they're not... so if BB comes up once and again it's not a big deal. Somewhere between zero discussion of backstory and 100% is a middle ground. I just don't know where your (or Innundated's) middle ground lies. _That_'s what's hard to understand.


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## Jebberwocky! (Apr 16, 2005)

My Mom always said if you have nothing nice to say then zip it.




. . . . . .


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## kettledrum (Nov 17, 2003)

Jebberwocky! said:


> My Mom always said if you have nothing nice to say then zip it.. . . . . .


There would be a lot less discussion on internet forums if that happened. Many of the threads I read here there is talk every week about how poor the writing and/or acting is and every week there is someone who threatens to cancel their SP. Even AFTER people delete their SP, they come back to complain about the show in later threads. I think some people just like being negative....

On topic, I too was surprised by the border patrol agents, and they went up a few notches in my book.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

jradosh said:


> So we're not allowed to discuss _any_ backstory? Is Border Patrol, FBI and/or Clowning totally off limits? We can only discuss what is actually shown on the show?
> 
> I don't want each thread to be 100% Big Brother dicussion. But they're not... so if BB comes up once and again it's not a big deal. Somewhere between zero discussion of backstory and 100% is a middle ground. I just don't know where your (or Innundated's) middle ground lies. _That_'s what's hard to understand.


I don't want to go all Spoiler Nazi on you about the backstory -- I'm just saying it's Boring As Hell to those of us who aren't interested in it.

Mostly it's a matter of proportion.

Take _Once Upon a Time_, which is made by the same people who did LOST. In the first couple of threads, people posted LOST visual in-jokes and did a lot of talking about what the showrunners were doing that was like what they did in LOST. Now that the show has gone on for a bit, people have settled in and are actually talking about the show that is going on now, and the LOST conversation has fallen away.

I don't mind the LOST in-jokes spotter posts -- those don't take up much bandwidth, and that kind of thing is a lot of fun if you like visual in-jokes. But long involved conversations that reference stuff that half the people in the thread haven't watched are boring.

Clearly the TAR producers feel that they have to include these cross-show people in the cast to satisfy their target audience. And they do satisfy the target audience.

One part of the audience loves to talk about the backstory, so they love seeing these teams on the show.

And for the other part, these teams are the Teams We Love to Hate and Wish That They Would Drop Into A Giant Black Hole As Soon As Possible.

If it's okay for the backstory people to enjoy knowing the backstory and talking about it, why is it not okay for the anti-backstory people to gripe about the producers casting these Teams We Love To Hate and wishing they would all fall into the giant black hole as soon as possible?

Because clearly the show has been designed to cause both kinds of reaction.

In that respect, griping about Teams We Love to Hate is not the same as thread-crapping on a scripted show. It's more like talking about a character that's designed for Everyone to Hate on a soap opera.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

mattack said:


> I don't doubt that we've all talked about this in threads before, but I don't remember a conversation exactly like it.
> 
> Most important thing to learn for a specific reality show:
> 
> ...





Amnesia said:


> 2nd for _TAR_ would be some basic phrases in Spanish.


Let's get back to something that everyone who watches TAR can talk about.

I agree that #1 on the TAR-skill list is to learn to drive stick. My husband's #1 would be to get in shape first.

Somewhere on my list would be (picking up on Amnesia's idea a little) to learn how to say "thank you" and maybe "faster, please!" in as many languages as possible.


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## WhiskeyTango (Sep 20, 2006)

murgatroyd said:


> If it's okay for the backstory people to enjoy knowing the backstory and talking about it, why is it not okay for the anti-backstory people to gripe about the producers casting these Teams We Love To Hate and wishing they would all fall into the giant black hole as soon as possible?


The 'backstory' being discussed has consisted mostly of how she did the same crap on BB that she is doing on TAR. It's not like it's some super deep discussion that excludes everyone else. You all are free to gripe about the cast, but that's not how the discussion started. It began with griping about what others were posting. If you find that topic boring, you're free to skip past it. I'm sure we all find some discussion here boring but does that mean that we can now decide who is allowed to talk about what based on how interesting or boring a few find it to be?


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

murgatroyd said:


> Let's get back to something that everyone who watches TAR can talk about.
> 
> I agree that #1 on the TAR-skill list is to learn to drive stick. My husband's #1 would be to get in shape first.
> 
> Somewhere on my list would be (picking up on Amnesia's idea a little) to learn how to say "thank you" and maybe "faster, please!" in as many languages as possible.


I've always thought that it would make sense to get a list of 10-15 common phrases that would be helpful on the race and have a little notebook where you have those phrases spelled phonetically in 10-15 of the most common languages.


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## flyers088 (Apr 19, 2005)

Little off topic, but watched a great movie by Phil Koeghan this weekend called "The Ride". Those of you that like TAR for Phil will really like this story about his personal journey.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

flyers088 said:


> Little off topic, but watched a great movie by Phil Koeghan this weekend called "The Ride". Those of you that like TAR for Phil will really like this story about his personal journey.


Trailer here:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMeqF5VxHaY[/media]


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

WhiskeyTango said:


> I'm sure we all find some discussion here boring but does that mean that we can now decide who is allowed to talk about what based on how interesting or boring a few find it to be?


Forgive me for the thread hijack yet again, but my personal preference is for threads where people to talk about the episode we just watched instead of bringing in extraneous stuff from elsewhere.

I think the threads should be about the episode, and the stuff in prior episodes (of the same show) that led up to this one. I think people should talk about the show we're watching now.

Not the ratings, which really don't have anything to do with the show itself, or what so-and-so did on some other show (the exception being, in an all-star season of TAR, what some other team did on their prior appearances of TAR, although you could make an argument for that being too spoiler-y).

I violate this rule myself from time to time, but when I do, I try to put things in spoiler tags, or do it in such a way that it doesn't disrupt the main flow of conversation about the episode at hand. And if I do violate the rule, I want to do it to be inclusive rather than exclusive.

For instance, suppose there was a classic Rachel meltdown moment on BB that someone had posted on on YouTube, and I wanted the people in the thread to be able to see for themselves what she was like on there. I might link to that, so people could see, rather than just talking about it. That puts everyone in the thread on an even footing -- the ones who missed it in the original show can go see it if they choose, or ignore it if they choose.

IMHO it is intuitively obvious that Rachel must have done similar crap on BB or the producers wouldn't have cast her on TAR, so confirming that my deduction was correct is totally redundant. But if you enjoy talking about it, by all means, go ahead.

My beef was with Jeremy's being amazed that other people could find commentary like that annoying.

Yes, commentary like that is annoying. What some of you enjoy, I don't enjoy. What I enjoy, some other people here don't enjoy. This should not be a _surprise_ to anyone here. 

Does that make things more clear?

To me, a season of TAR that has a team with a backstory is kind of like a book that is a middle part of a series. A good author writes enough material into the current book that knowing the entire backstory isn't necessary to enjoy the current book. The people who have read the earlier books know more, but that's not the same as _needing_ to have read the earlier books in order to understand the current one.

The really annoying thing is when the fans who have read the earlier ones insist that you MUST have read the earlier books first, even when the creators have done their job and made sure each book will stand by itself.


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## Amnesia (Jan 30, 2005)

DevdogAZ said:


> I've always thought that it would make sense to get a list of 10-15 common phrases that would be helpful on the race and have a little notebook where you have those phrases spelled phonetically in 10-15 of the most common languages.


Can you bring stuff like that with you? I would figure that if you could bring written materials like that, we would have seen contestants with Spanish phrasebooks or the like.

To expand upon my original idea, I think that if you get sufficient notice between the time you're accepted for the show and the time you need to depart for the starting point, you and your partner could each learn a few common phrases in, say, 5 different languages (so you'd have 8-10 between you). Things like "how do you get to _____?" and "where is the nearest travel agent?"


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## Boston Fan (Feb 8, 2006)

FTR, I don't watch BB and don't mind the discussion of it here at all. But the discussion _about_ that discussion is boring as hell and far more distracting than what's being complained about.


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## jradosh (Jul 31, 2001)

Boston Fan said:


> FTR, I don't watch BB and don't mind the discussion of it here at all. But the discussion _about_ that discussion is boring as hell and far more distracting than what's being complained about.


I'm amazed that you feel that way. 

...

Jan, I can understand that you don't necessarily enjoy back story discussions, but calling people out for having them is rude IMO. And that's what "amazed" me... that Innundated was basically saying the BB references were somehow against a rule of forum etiquette.


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## brianric (Aug 29, 2002)

Jebberwocky! said:


> I drove a Dodge Dart in High School, push button tranny on the dash.


You're bringing back memories.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Boston Fan said:


> FTR, I don't watch BB and don't mind the discussion of it here at all. But the discussion _about_ that discussion is boring as hell and far more distracting than what's being complained about.


Hell, yes! So let's talk about the episode instead. 

BTW, I'm of the opinion that the Border Patrol agents are genuinely good guys and wanted to give the guy from the Kentucky team the money to help his kid, and might have done so even if they knew the other team wasn't being eliminated.

I think the BP agents are smart enough to realize that there are non-elimination legs in the race, so they wouldn't assume that team Kentucky would be eliminated, and good enough judges of character to figure that if the Kentucky boys are still in it, they will find a way to return the favor somehow.

It's a win-win for them. I don't see the downside.

So I disagree with the earlier comments that the BP guys must be kicking themselves for having given up the money.


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## laria (Sep 7, 2000)

murgatroyd said:


> So I disagree with the earlier comments that the BP guys must be kicking themselves for having given up the money.


Well, what I actually said was... 



laria said:


> *If I was the border patrol guys*, I would be kicking myself for not finding out if it was an elimination leg before giving them the money.


They may or may not have been, but I sure would have been. 

I still think they did it as a big gesture at the end of the episode because they thought the Kentucky guys were getting kicked off.


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## Inundated (Sep 10, 2003)

jradosh said:


> And that's what "amazed" me... that Innundated was basically saying the BB references were somehow against a rule of forum etiquette.


You may have gotten that impression, and others may have, and I apologize.

It just annoyed me that the weekly threads were turning into TAR Episode With A Side of Big Brother threads.

Remember, though, I got over it after complaining about Rob. He and Amber became TAR Players, not We're Only Here Because of Survivor, Did We Mention We Won Survivor players.

Rachel, meanwhile, complained as recently as last week that everyone "hated her" because of her reality show past.

OK, I'm getting just as bored with this as everyone else is getting bored of me talking about it, so it's the last Rachel/Brendon/BB complaint from me. She's doing more than enough on TAR itself to complain about.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

laria said:


> I still think they did it as a big gesture at the end of the episode because they thought the Kentucky guys were getting kicked off.


Oh, sure, and the producers may have encouraged that by having them offer the money on the mat.

But how often is the end-of-episode prize a cash prize? (I've only watched TAR a couple of seasons, so I don't have a good feeling for that yet.)

It could also be they offered to split the cash prize because it was cash. (IIRC, they did share the prize, not give it all outright -- am I wrong?)

http://www.cbs.com/shows/amazing_race/episodes/101173



> Running into Piazza Castello, Bopper & Mark stood and waited to hear the inevitable news, but were in for a surprise when Phil called Art & JJ to the mat. Knowing about Bopper's daughter and his reason for running the Race, the Border Patrol Agents generously offered to split half of their $10,000 prize money with Bopper & Mark.


Maybe you're selling yourself short, laria -- perhaps if you had offered to split the prize (and not give up the whole prize) you wouldn't be kicking yourself after all.


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