Ah, finally, the end of an eventful semester. Being a 2L is definitely different than being a 1L, some of it "worse" different, but mostly "better" different. I remember I was barely living by the end of first semester of 1L year, and al I wanted to do was sleep + watch movies + vegetate. This semester, I had a 9-day break until my last evidence final, so I started vacation a little early and even (gasp) took a couple days off beforehand.
I started the year applying for Survivor and Big Brother, and neither really gave me a sniff (BB gave me a short email telling me to go to the casting call, for what it's worth), but the end of 2009 sees me optimistic about my prospects for 2010. As said by Liz Lemon to start off the 2nd season of 30 Rock, "This is MY year." 2010 - I'm gonna own it. Especially since I still haven't found a position for legal summer position, it would seem maybe destiny is propelling towards a reality TV summer. I'm gonna be 23 in May, perfect age for that stuff, I'm ready to take risks, I haven't started my career yet so I can afford to do something like it, I just got LASIK eye surgery (more on that later), and I live in one of the hotbed of reality TV- Los Angeles. O, and I have like 18 different celebratory dances ready for when I win my first leg/HOH/individual immunity. The stars are aligning for me, just hope it works out.
Just watched "Up" with my sister, and reports of its remarkability were not exaggerated. I, of all people, almost cried during the movie. My sister felt nothing. Mr. Frederickson is a beast, I'm glad whoever pitched it at Dreamworks got the message across that this movie is worth it, cuz it probably sounded pretty dry (what I said), some old man going up in the air w/ a Boy Scout named Russell.
San Diego Chargers, baby. Consider me a fan. Another classic Chargers-Colts playoff contest coming?
Special thanks to Aaron Rodgers and DeSean Jackson for absolutely dominanting for my USC Law football team this year. Standup job, gentlemen. Antonio Gates, the 4th straight season I've had you on my team, and I haven't been disappointed yet. And LaDanian, thanks for getting into the end zone several teams to at least conjure up some memories of '06. I thoroughly enjoyed this fantasy season, thanks to you guys.
The AFC playoff picture is an absolute conglomeration of teams, a bunch of 7-7 and 8-6 teams going for the wild-card with nobody seeming to want to win it. I'm pretty sure the Chiefs and the Raiders are still alive. For what it's worth, I'm picking the Ravens and the Titans to take those spots cuz they're the best teams of the bunch.
Moment of silence for Brittany Murphy. Her passing is getting much less media than Heath Ledger or Michael Jackson, but I'll remember her for her role in Sin City.
The whole Tiger Woods situation DOMINATED headlines for the better part of a month. It's not surprising that people are more interested in the juicy details of his many mistresses (especially when there's clear audio of him trying to conceal one of his affairs online)....people want to see others fall to hide their own problems (I admit it, I do it), especially the rich and famous, because there's a safety net where your curiosity doesn't turn into pity as you think these people don't have anything to worry about, they'll be fine. And yes, Tiger should be, financially and golf-wise. But you gotta think spiritually, a part of him has died. You don't come back from adultery, you only get one chance at the once-in-a-lifetime marriage, and now he has to one day explain to his little girl what he did. Sigh, Tiger. If you weren't serious, you shouldn't have gotten married. (That's crossing the line a bit into passing judgment/going into personal lives, so that's all I'll say about it).
Ok, so first, Survivor last night. I would have voted for Russell instantly, nothing anybody else on the jury said woudl have convinced me otherwise. Glad also that Mick got shut out of votes, I was screaming at him on a weekly basis to backdoor Russell, and the fact that he didn't make any moves just shows how oblivious he was and justifies why he got nothing.
1.) Challenges are male-oriented. The last few seasons especially, the individual immunity challenges at the end of the season, the ones that count the most, have given the women absolutely NO chance. It's been a mix of strength/swimming, digging, rope-swinging, running-through-the forest challenges that involve a LOT of physical stuff. I'm not being sexist, women have an ounce of a chance to win these challenges, but not much. That's why you've seen so many male winners, and ESPECIALLY since early in the team phase women are axed much more than men because of the "we-need-big-strong-men" syndrome. It's really disappointing to see such gender-biased challenges. They can easily balance it out too by doing more eating challenges, puzzles, memory challenges, and hanging endurance challenges (as proven by BB, more balanced for the girls). Seriously, think about it.
2.) Casting really bad Survivor players. Every season, it seems to me like 60% of contestants have NO IDEA how to play the game, 20% have some idea but play it wrong, and maybe 10% execute it the right way and get far. For example, take the end of Survivor Samoa. Russell had a deal with EVERY SINGLE player in the final 6, while the other 5 seemed to not even consider that Russell had a deal with others, submitting themselves to being voted out and not once thinking about going after Russell, even after Russell NO LONGER COULD USE HIS IDOL!!!! WTFF???? Russell's strategy had been done before, by Boston Rob most prominently (and also successfully) in Survivor: All-Stars and by plenty of other survivors before. It's a good strategy IF the people in your tribe don't COMPARE NOTES with each other and figure it out, and then you're just screwed and nobody trusts you. It's absolutely agitating how these guys get on Survivor and are just pitifully unprepared to play.
3.) Lack of minorities: maybe one that's a little personal to me, but after the Survivor: Cook Islands season where the race experiment was nixed after 2 episodes, where has all the diversity gone? Samoa was OK, I guess, but the previous season before that, I think there were like 17 Caucasians and 1 African-American. Seriously? After Ozzy, Yul, Yau-man, James, and others, you cast 1 or 2 minorities per season? Have your people call my people if you need an intelligent and charming Chinese law student who writes fantasy sports blogs.
4.) The middle-of-season recap episode: Let's just do away with that. It kills my excitement for the show and drags the season on, really no need for it.
5.) TOUGH final challenges: I remember a time when the final immunity challenge was HUGE, almost game-defining, the days of Rob Cesternino beaten by Jenna Morasca cuz of final immunity, when Jonny Fairplay tried to sweet-talk in Pearl Islands only to get flat rejected, when the winner of that final challenge PICKED the one person she sat next to in the finals. Because of the magnitude, it was a straight endurance challenge, a test of will and how much you wanted it. Truly a test of survival. Nowadays, because it's the Final 3, the final challenge winner does NOT decide by himself/herself who gets to stay w/ him or her, so it's not that important. Correspondingly, the challenges have gotten more gimmicky, to who can hold up the most bowls with their hands, to stacking teacups, to the last season, which was even admitted by Probst to be a "carnival game." Really, that's the LAST and most important immunity challenge? Urg.
Final thought: I could see why Russell didn't get the votes, but it doesn't mean I agree w/ the decision. The reason Eric gave vicariously for the jury in voting for Natalie is that her integrity and trustworthiness got her as far as Russell did, so she doesn't deserve to win any less than Russell. Uh, no. If trustworthiness and integrity were all you need to win, you might as well just have everyone try to get in a 10-person alliance at the beginning and pick off everyone else, then have a popularity contest in the final 3 to see who everyone liked. That's not survivor. That's checkers, not chess. Playing survivor is (and IMO, was meant to be) a social game where you mainuplate anything and everyone to stick in longer than everyone else, make moves because th end justifies the means, change alliances when you need to. Just imagine how boring it'd be if it was a bunch of Micks and Jaisons walking around playing the game. That's why I feel for Russell; he did everything he could, played the game every minute he was on the island, WON THE FINAL IMMUNITY CHALLENGE WHEN HE ABSOLUTELY HAD TO (against Brett) and still lost. What did Natalie do? Look cute in a bikini and vote with Russell. I wouldn't want to win that way, and it's the ultimate problem with Survivor that someone did win that way.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
I started the year applying for Survivor and Big Brother, and neither really gave me a sniff (BB gave me a short email telling me to go to the casting call, for what it's worth), but the end of 2009 sees me optimistic about my prospects for 2010. As said by Liz Lemon to start off the 2nd season of 30 Rock, "This is MY year." 2010 - I'm gonna own it. Especially since I still haven't found a position for legal summer position, it would seem maybe destiny is propelling towards a reality TV summer. I'm gonna be 23 in May, perfect age for that stuff, I'm ready to take risks, I haven't started my career yet so I can afford to do something like it, I just got LASIK eye surgery (more on that later), and I live in one of the hotbed of reality TV- Los Angeles. O, and I have like 18 different celebratory dances ready for when I win my first leg/HOH/individual immunity. The stars are aligning for me, just hope it works out.
Just watched "Up" with my sister, and reports of its remarkability were not exaggerated. I, of all people, almost cried during the movie. My sister felt nothing. Mr. Frederickson is a beast, I'm glad whoever pitched it at Dreamworks got the message across that this movie is worth it, cuz it probably sounded pretty dry (what I said), some old man going up in the air w/ a Boy Scout named Russell.
San Diego Chargers, baby. Consider me a fan. Another classic Chargers-Colts playoff contest coming?
Special thanks to Aaron Rodgers and DeSean Jackson for absolutely dominanting for my USC Law football team this year. Standup job, gentlemen. Antonio Gates, the 4th straight season I've had you on my team, and I haven't been disappointed yet. And LaDanian, thanks for getting into the end zone several teams to at least conjure up some memories of '06. I thoroughly enjoyed this fantasy season, thanks to you guys.
The AFC playoff picture is an absolute conglomeration of teams, a bunch of 7-7 and 8-6 teams going for the wild-card with nobody seeming to want to win it. I'm pretty sure the Chiefs and the Raiders are still alive. For what it's worth, I'm picking the Ravens and the Titans to take those spots cuz they're the best teams of the bunch.
Moment of silence for Brittany Murphy. Her passing is getting much less media than Heath Ledger or Michael Jackson, but I'll remember her for her role in Sin City.
The whole Tiger Woods situation DOMINATED headlines for the better part of a month. It's not surprising that people are more interested in the juicy details of his many mistresses (especially when there's clear audio of him trying to conceal one of his affairs online)....people want to see others fall to hide their own problems (I admit it, I do it), especially the rich and famous, because there's a safety net where your curiosity doesn't turn into pity as you think these people don't have anything to worry about, they'll be fine. And yes, Tiger should be, financially and golf-wise. But you gotta think spiritually, a part of him has died. You don't come back from adultery, you only get one chance at the once-in-a-lifetime marriage, and now he has to one day explain to his little girl what he did. Sigh, Tiger. If you weren't serious, you shouldn't have gotten married. (That's crossing the line a bit into passing judgment/going into personal lives, so that's all I'll say about it).
Ok, so first, Survivor last night. I would have voted for Russell instantly, nothing anybody else on the jury said woudl have convinced me otherwise. Glad also that Mick got shut out of votes, I was screaming at him on a weekly basis to backdoor Russell, and the fact that he didn't make any moves just shows how oblivious he was and justifies why he got nothing.
1.) Challenges are male-oriented. The last few seasons especially, the individual immunity challenges at the end of the season, the ones that count the most, have given the women absolutely NO chance. It's been a mix of strength/swimming, digging, rope-swinging, running-through-the forest challenges that involve a LOT of physical stuff. I'm not being sexist, women have an ounce of a chance to win these challenges, but not much. That's why you've seen so many male winners, and ESPECIALLY since early in the team phase women are axed much more than men because of the "we-need-big-strong-men" syndrome. It's really disappointing to see such gender-biased challenges. They can easily balance it out too by doing more eating challenges, puzzles, memory challenges, and hanging endurance challenges (as proven by BB, more balanced for the girls). Seriously, think about it.
2.) Casting really bad Survivor players. Every season, it seems to me like 60% of contestants have NO IDEA how to play the game, 20% have some idea but play it wrong, and maybe 10% execute it the right way and get far. For example, take the end of Survivor Samoa. Russell had a deal with EVERY SINGLE player in the final 6, while the other 5 seemed to not even consider that Russell had a deal with others, submitting themselves to being voted out and not once thinking about going after Russell, even after Russell NO LONGER COULD USE HIS IDOL!!!! WTFF???? Russell's strategy had been done before, by Boston Rob most prominently (and also successfully) in Survivor: All-Stars and by plenty of other survivors before. It's a good strategy IF the people in your tribe don't COMPARE NOTES with each other and figure it out, and then you're just screwed and nobody trusts you. It's absolutely agitating how these guys get on Survivor and are just pitifully unprepared to play.
3.) Lack of minorities: maybe one that's a little personal to me, but after the Survivor: Cook Islands season where the race experiment was nixed after 2 episodes, where has all the diversity gone? Samoa was OK, I guess, but the previous season before that, I think there were like 17 Caucasians and 1 African-American. Seriously? After Ozzy, Yul, Yau-man, James, and others, you cast 1 or 2 minorities per season? Have your people call my people if you need an intelligent and charming Chinese law student who writes fantasy sports blogs.
4.) The middle-of-season recap episode: Let's just do away with that. It kills my excitement for the show and drags the season on, really no need for it.
5.) TOUGH final challenges: I remember a time when the final immunity challenge was HUGE, almost game-defining, the days of Rob Cesternino beaten by Jenna Morasca cuz of final immunity, when Jonny Fairplay tried to sweet-talk in Pearl Islands only to get flat rejected, when the winner of that final challenge PICKED the one person she sat next to in the finals. Because of the magnitude, it was a straight endurance challenge, a test of will and how much you wanted it. Truly a test of survival. Nowadays, because it's the Final 3, the final challenge winner does NOT decide by himself/herself who gets to stay w/ him or her, so it's not that important. Correspondingly, the challenges have gotten more gimmicky, to who can hold up the most bowls with their hands, to stacking teacups, to the last season, which was even admitted by Probst to be a "carnival game." Really, that's the LAST and most important immunity challenge? Urg.
Final thought: I could see why Russell didn't get the votes, but it doesn't mean I agree w/ the decision. The reason Eric gave vicariously for the jury in voting for Natalie is that her integrity and trustworthiness got her as far as Russell did, so she doesn't deserve to win any less than Russell. Uh, no. If trustworthiness and integrity were all you need to win, you might as well just have everyone try to get in a 10-person alliance at the beginning and pick off everyone else, then have a popularity contest in the final 3 to see who everyone liked. That's not survivor. That's checkers, not chess. Playing survivor is (and IMO, was meant to be) a social game where you mainuplate anything and everyone to stick in longer than everyone else, make moves because th end justifies the means, change alliances when you need to. Just imagine how boring it'd be if it was a bunch of Micks and Jaisons walking around playing the game. That's why I feel for Russell; he did everything he could, played the game every minute he was on the island, WON THE FINAL IMMUNITY CHALLENGE WHEN HE ABSOLUTELY HAD TO (against Brett) and still lost. What did Natalie do? Look cute in a bikini and vote with Russell. I wouldn't want to win that way, and it's the ultimate problem with Survivor that someone did win that way.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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