Going to Angels-Red Sox playoff ALDS Game 2 today, VERY excited now that Halos have broken the spell and stifled the Nation last night 5-0. The tide's turning. I feel a little hypocritical/ disloyal now that I have no allegiance to the Cubs and bash them at every turn, but I think it's time. I followed the Cubs since I was a little kid, wasted many an afternoon watching their day games, and they never delivered. Time to move on. And I think the rules of fan-dom can be bended so that you can change teams if you move to a different city and have no foreseeable plan to go back to the old city at any point. It's a different culture; you can hear every angels game on the radio, see people wearing angels hats, catch the end of angels games on Fox Sports West; it's hard not to convert loyalties.
Plus, I woulda never found a Cubs playoff ticket at Wrigley Field for $31: the Angels really treat their fans well. And I have a man-crush on Kendry Morales. Just sayin'.
Halfway through the semester, I feel like I really haven't worked that hard in all my classes. However, realize that last year I had 4 classes PLUS legal writing, so I'm not that concerned. Anyone at USC Law, please take note: Evidence w/ Professor Lyon is an AMAZING class. The man knows how to get your attention, and not in the Michael Scott make-awkward-comment kind of way. More importantly, he TEACHES, what a concept.
You know, my life is really pretty enjoyable, I can't complain, but the only thing that's missing is financial security. If I had that out of the way, I swear I'd be the most easygoing, free-spirited, no-worries kinda guy. But threat of homelessness/living with parents/ no career prospects is a constant stressor, like a brick that you gotta carry around on your neck. Hopefully I can release that stranglehold soon.
Anyway, the main course of this post is an explanation of Survivor's defects. I first started watching the show on Survivor 7 ( the one with the pirates) and I must say I was hooked. The intrigue of the show, as with most of the reality programs, is watching "normal" people navigate through social relationships to attain sole survivor status, with competitions thrown in to make it more interesting. However, Survivor suffers both from having so many seasons (we're on 19) and the problem that naturally comes with that: predictability. Each season is pretty much the same as the last season: Same host, same amount of people playing, recycled challenges, same game format. Some may say that's actually an advantage: After all, we watch football, baseball, jeopardy, and all those programs have the same format. However, some nuances of Survivor are PAINFULLY predictable: the order of eliminations. EVERY season, when players separate into 2 tribes, you KNOW absolutely who's gonna get voted off: the physically weak, a.k.a. women and older folks. It's not gender, racial, or age discrimination: it's actually logical, in that you HAVE to keep your team strong for the physical challenges. However, that means if you're a 20-something adult male, you are safe for the first 8 eliminations. Automatically. No questions asked, you're staying. There's no interplay, no consequences for your actions; as long as you STAY a 20-something adult male and don't get eaten by a snake, you stay in the game. Nothing about that is strategic, it's just evolution. For a guy like me, who LOVES alliances, scheming, competition, lying, and knowing that everyone is vulnerable, it's a definite turn-off, as in I literally turn the TV off.
Apparently, though, Survivor seems to be ending after the 20th season, an all-star season? Rumor not started by me. I say it's been a good run, they've made 20 rather successful seasons ratings-wise after becoming an INTERNATIONAL sensation w/ Survivor 2, so it's time that the show has run its course. For a guy who use to want to get on that show REAL bad, my focus has somewhat shifted and the intrigue of getting on that show is gone.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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