Sunday, December 23, 2007
Show Notes - ETTDR 01/2008. Off season & audition updates
Welcome to the first podcast episode of Erk to the Diary Room covering the 2008 season. In this episode, I bring you up to speed with the new hosts, a new Executive Producer and Big Big Brother (who is female!). Erk, Drue and Squeak talk about the audition process that is happening now - you can still enter via http://www.bigbrother.com.au by shooting a 2 minute video and submitting it by January 7, 2008.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Blog ETTDR 02/2008 - Auditions for 2008
Auditions for the 2008 series of BB are different to the last couple of years. Instead of attending "cattle calls" at places like universities, people can submit short (1-2) minute You Tube style videos to the official Big Brother website. I thought that the audition submitting process is over but you can submit your video until 7 January 2008.
You can watch videos of people who have submitted their videos so far and vote for them. Obviously, the longer you have your video up, the more chance people have to vote for you.
After people vote and the voting period via the website closes, the top 3 people will be going into the house automatically (according to the BB website) and the next 50 go to the judging panel to decide who else goes in.
There will be a lot of videos to watch so over the next few weeks, I'll look at some as well. However, former HM and "Oh Brother" podcast host Tim Brunero has picked his Top 10 (so far). Also, Reality Cast co-host Ganesha has also selected some videos for you to look at. You can read Tim's & Ganesha's opinions on their websites but I thought I'd use their lists to start me (and you!) off. I have linked to each video so you can see the videos for yourself.
Tim's Top 10
Tim has listed his top 10.
Erk's Views on Tim's list
I thought that the videos were supposed to be under two minutes and without copyrighted stuff like music or it is ineligible but I have seen examples of both from this list. Rules are rules, init?
Monique - She seems nice. Has an unusual story as a straight married woman, fell in love with her best friend while pregnant with her second child, left husband, got married to her best friend. Is a lesbian advocate in Brisbane. BB has been severely lacking lesbians in the house compared to the amount of gay guys in the house over recent BB series. The video was OK but it was half video, half photo slide show with heaps of Photoshopped "Me" with an arrow on it. YES from me.
Athena - Add 2 parts Krystal from BB06 to 2 parts Emma from BB07 and you have Athena. Says that she likes to get her kit off. She is a personal trainer/model who will probably be as boring as anything in the house. Look at me, I'm hot. On the plus side, she does have a light sabre and she knows how to use it! She'll be the type to get in the house but that's a NO from me.
Josh - He had hair. He shaved it off. He is a church dude. He did a stunt like those that was on the Channel 10 news tonight about people who like to jump off buildings. He is one of those guys who is a dude in a bear suit at a sporting event. Unless he is prepared to spend 3 months in a bear suit, what else is he going to offer? NO from me.
Carl - Carl has Asperger's Syndrome which he is very quick to point out. He does however have a joke about it, Merlin's "Free th Refugees" protest, Channel 10 and the whole BB process. Very slickly done, he put a lot of effort into the video and is an early standout. You must watch this video. However, can he do this in the house? Is he a one trick (or a one issue) pony? I'd be prepared to give him a chance to find out. YES from me.
Em - Seriously, how did Tim pick this chick? She has a good message (the media sucks, BB is boring, blah blah blah) but dudette, if you are going to make a BB video, at least make it appear the right way up when I watch it! It was an editorial not an introduction. Maybe it is because she sounds a bit like a female version of Tim that gives her a tick from Tim and a YES from me but not because the video reached out and grabbed me. Maybe it is the hope for an intelligent woman in the house instead of one who looks at herself in the mirror. Maybe Em does look at herself in the mirror as well but this video doesn't show that. Then at the end of the video she says "I don't know if I am auditioning or not but blah blah blah blah............"
Achilles - He reminds me of a mix between Hot Dogs from 2005 and 2007's Brodie (BWNT). Is this guy serious? He wants to go into BB to win a scooter and two phones that are the same. Here's a tip, go and buy some YOU STOOGE! He lives in a garage, has some weird habits including using a heater to dry off instead of a towel and calls a can of Coke a "cooler". If he went into the house I'd throw my big remote through the TV. NO. NO! HELL NO! Next!
Ashleigh - Top marks for the video. It was fun. Will she turn into a princess in the house! HELL YEAH! I wish I was given a new VW Punch Buggy for my 18th! Watch the video for sure. Will she be good in the house? Probably not - but put her in anyway otherwise the house won't have many people in it. YES for me.
Pamela - Good on her for having a go but she will not get into the house merely on her age. People won't want to watch the video but to be fair, I did. I thought I was watching Carol from last year's UK BB. Not helped by poor audio, I think Tim picked her because of her age for his list to show that not all people applying are 18-25. At least Mike Goldman would be assured of having someone wake on Up Late but that is not enough for me to be able to say YES to so that is NO for me. Apart from being annoying, there was nothing of interest on the video.
Daniel - I copied and pasted Em's paragraph and edited it to suit. This is what Em's video COULD have been like. Funny, slick but also getting the message across. He's put a lot of thought into it and effort and there is a Tim cameo appearance. Part Chaser boy, part Tim, let's get him in there. Having said that, can he be like that without a camera and a scriptwriter and willing participants? At least Daniel made his video the right way up! Daniel and Em coul make babies together. It was an editorial not but unlike Em's video, it was also an introduction. YES from me.
Amie Jane - One of the better videos out there. She appears to be a multi-faceted person and not a one trick pony. I'd say put her in the house but she'd get voted out first if the previous seasons are any indication. Watch this video for sure. Definitely not a typical female BB contestant! I couldn't figure out why she got strapped into her car but strap her into the BB house! YES for me. How the hell didn't she kill herself?
Ganesha's Picks
Unlike Tim, Ganesha has chosen a varied list of people in no order of preference including some people who he did not necessarily like but stood out to him for whatever reason. I have numbered them merely for my convenience.
I watched these videos early on Sunday morning but before I comment I want to see the videos again. However on Sunday afternoon, the BB audition section of the site is going slower than a blindfolded Ninja so I can't see any videos! I finally managed to get some time to get onto the site on Xmas Day after dinner!
Erk's views on Ganesha's Picks
Here are my opinions about Ganesha's picks who I must point out again isn't his BEST 10 but a cross section of applicants.
Sean - Part mimed JT video clip, part cliched video. It doesn't show anything that makes me want to throw him into the house.
Jae - Says that she is a party animal but spoils it by saying that her and her friends like to play Charades and eating chocolate. There are heaps of better videos out there and the audio quality was not good on the ear which didn't help.
Emily - Think Kari from Mythbusters then think Emily. She is a self confessed nerd but she doesn't come across as an intellectual nerd like Jamie from BB07. She is more of a nerd from her videos because of her interests and quirks and self-depreciating humour rather than her psycho-analysising ability. The fact that she is cute helps too. I'd give her a chance as a non typical female BB housemate.
Jessica - Super confident traveler chick who would get awfully annoying awfully quick. If you wanted someone to fly in like Cyclone Michelle (aka HM69) from 2007 and then fly out again, Jessica would be that person. Ideal intruder but not HM material. She reminds me a little of Christie from 2005 but I don't think that Christie was ever THAT loud compared to Jessica!
Sputnik - He is an "ideas merchant" which he says is another way of saying that he can be a BS artist. He is certainly well travelled but it seems to me that he wants to get his photo taken with everyone just to say that "I have done .............. at .............. and here's a photo." I'd still have him in the house though for variety and a non-boring house. He may cop some friendly fire during the Blamestorming Session (aka Nominations). I hope he stays true to what he promises and I doubt he'll just cruise along to the normal BB rules like the conformists in BB07 were doing in the end.
Michelle - She's got an annoying voice and I thought that her part photo slideshow part video was a singles ad for RSVP rather than a BB audition. She won't make it in the house unless a token short person is requested.
Peter - Sick of younger gay guys in the house? Here's Peter, an inked up disability support worker who we see in the video going for a swim in his Sluggos (he's a braver man than me!). I don't know if being a gay guy is enough to get him over the line nor is being the other side (to me) of 40. I wouldn't complain too loudly if he did get selected.
Peta - Peta was born a man but has had a sex change operation and is now a woman. She wants to experience the BB experience like a woman and feels a lot younger than her stated age after the operation. I'm sure it is an interesting story but is it interesting enough to get her in the house? What is she like apart from the fact that she has had a sex change? I'd be prepared to find out. My co-host Drue mentioned in Erk Pod episode 66 (also on ETTDR 1/08) that she could be used in a plot turn or a mystery task like the last two years but because of the nature of the auditions, those people who have viewed Peta's video know her secret. Also, what would happen is a male Peter got into the house? Would BB insult our intelligence and get one of them to change their name like they have in the past or would it be "male Peter" or "female Peta" or "Peter with an R" or "Peta with an A"?
Julie - Another person going for the "let's get some older people into the house" angle. She is editorializing or going for the title of "Senior Citizen of the Year". I don't know too much about her (which is the whole idea of these videos, init?) so NO NO NO.
Monique - She seems nice. Has an unusual story as a straight married woman, fell in love with her best friend while pregnant with her second child, left husband, got married to her best friend. Is a lesbian advocate in Brisbane. BB has been severely lacking lesbians in the house compared to the amount of gay guys in the house over recent BB series. The video was OK but it was half video, half photo slide show with heaps of Photoshopped "Me" with an arrow on it. YES from me.
You can watch videos of people who have submitted their videos so far and vote for them. Obviously, the longer you have your video up, the more chance people have to vote for you.
After people vote and the voting period via the website closes, the top 3 people will be going into the house automatically (according to the BB website) and the next 50 go to the judging panel to decide who else goes in.
There will be a lot of videos to watch so over the next few weeks, I'll look at some as well. However, former HM and "Oh Brother" podcast host Tim Brunero has picked his Top 10 (so far). Also, Reality Cast co-host Ganesha has also selected some videos for you to look at. You can read Tim's & Ganesha's opinions on their websites but I thought I'd use their lists to start me (and you!) off. I have linked to each video so you can see the videos for yourself.
Tim's Top 10
Tim has listed his top 10.
| | Name | Stats | Erk’s Short View |
| 10 | 32 year old married lesbian from Qld. | | |
| 9 | 22, single, SA | | |
| 8 | 22, single, NSW | | |
| 7 | 32, married. Qld | | |
| 6 | 29, attached. NSW | | |
| 5 | 22, single. VIC | | |
| 4 | 22, attached. VIC | | |
| 3 | 65, single. NSW | | |
| 2 | 22, single. NSW | | |
| 1 | 24, attached. NSW | |
Erk's Views on Tim's list
I thought that the videos were supposed to be under two minutes and without copyrighted stuff like music or it is ineligible but I have seen examples of both from this list. Rules are rules, init?
Monique - She seems nice. Has an unusual story as a straight married woman, fell in love with her best friend while pregnant with her second child, left husband, got married to her best friend. Is a lesbian advocate in Brisbane. BB has been severely lacking lesbians in the house compared to the amount of gay guys in the house over recent BB series. The video was OK but it was half video, half photo slide show with heaps of Photoshopped "Me" with an arrow on it. YES from me.
Athena - Add 2 parts Krystal from BB06 to 2 parts Emma from BB07 and you have Athena. Says that she likes to get her kit off. She is a personal trainer/model who will probably be as boring as anything in the house. Look at me, I'm hot. On the plus side, she does have a light sabre and she knows how to use it! She'll be the type to get in the house but that's a NO from me.
Josh - He had hair. He shaved it off. He is a church dude. He did a stunt like those that was on the Channel 10 news tonight about people who like to jump off buildings. He is one of those guys who is a dude in a bear suit at a sporting event. Unless he is prepared to spend 3 months in a bear suit, what else is he going to offer? NO from me.
Carl - Carl has Asperger's Syndrome which he is very quick to point out. He does however have a joke about it, Merlin's "Free th Refugees" protest, Channel 10 and the whole BB process. Very slickly done, he put a lot of effort into the video and is an early standout. You must watch this video. However, can he do this in the house? Is he a one trick (or a one issue) pony? I'd be prepared to give him a chance to find out. YES from me.
Em - Seriously, how did Tim pick this chick? She has a good message (the media sucks, BB is boring, blah blah blah) but dudette, if you are going to make a BB video, at least make it appear the right way up when I watch it! It was an editorial not an introduction. Maybe it is because she sounds a bit like a female version of Tim that gives her a tick from Tim and a YES from me but not because the video reached out and grabbed me. Maybe it is the hope for an intelligent woman in the house instead of one who looks at herself in the mirror. Maybe Em does look at herself in the mirror as well but this video doesn't show that. Then at the end of the video she says "I don't know if I am auditioning or not but blah blah blah blah............"
Achilles - He reminds me of a mix between Hot Dogs from 2005 and 2007's Brodie (BWNT). Is this guy serious? He wants to go into BB to win a scooter and two phones that are the same. Here's a tip, go and buy some YOU STOOGE! He lives in a garage, has some weird habits including using a heater to dry off instead of a towel and calls a can of Coke a "cooler". If he went into the house I'd throw my big remote through the TV. NO. NO! HELL NO! Next!
Ashleigh - Top marks for the video. It was fun. Will she turn into a princess in the house! HELL YEAH! I wish I was given a new VW Punch Buggy for my 18th! Watch the video for sure. Will she be good in the house? Probably not - but put her in anyway otherwise the house won't have many people in it. YES for me.
Pamela - Good on her for having a go but she will not get into the house merely on her age. People won't want to watch the video but to be fair, I did. I thought I was watching Carol from last year's UK BB. Not helped by poor audio, I think Tim picked her because of her age for his list to show that not all people applying are 18-25. At least Mike Goldman would be assured of having someone wake on Up Late but that is not enough for me to be able to say YES to so that is NO for me. Apart from being annoying, there was nothing of interest on the video.
Daniel - I copied and pasted Em's paragraph and edited it to suit. This is what Em's video COULD have been like. Funny, slick but also getting the message across. He's put a lot of thought into it and effort and there is a Tim cameo appearance. Part Chaser boy, part Tim, let's get him in there. Having said that, can he be like that without a camera and a scriptwriter and willing participants? At least Daniel made his video the right way up! Daniel and Em coul make babies together. It was an editorial not but unlike Em's video, it was also an introduction. YES from me.
Amie Jane - One of the better videos out there. She appears to be a multi-faceted person and not a one trick pony. I'd say put her in the house but she'd get voted out first if the previous seasons are any indication. Watch this video for sure. Definitely not a typical female BB contestant! I couldn't figure out why she got strapped into her car but strap her into the BB house! YES for me. How the hell didn't she kill herself?
Ganesha's Picks
Unlike Tim, Ganesha has chosen a varied list of people in no order of preference including some people who he did not necessarily like but stood out to him for whatever reason. I have numbered them merely for my convenience.
I watched these videos early on Sunday morning but before I comment I want to see the videos again. However on Sunday afternoon, the BB audition section of the site is going slower than a blindfolded Ninja so I can't see any videos! I finally managed to get some time to get onto the site on Xmas Day after dinner!
| | Name | Stats | Erk’s View |
| 10 | | Part video clip, part boring, shouldn't get a part in the house. | |
| 9 | | | |
| 8 | | | |
| 7 | | | |
| 6 | | | |
| 5 | | | |
| 4 | | | |
| 3 | | | |
| 2 | | | |
| 1 | | See Tim #10 |
Erk's views on Ganesha's Picks
Here are my opinions about Ganesha's picks who I must point out again isn't his BEST 10 but a cross section of applicants.
Sean - Part mimed JT video clip, part cliched video. It doesn't show anything that makes me want to throw him into the house.
Jae - Says that she is a party animal but spoils it by saying that her and her friends like to play Charades and eating chocolate. There are heaps of better videos out there and the audio quality was not good on the ear which didn't help.
Emily - Think Kari from Mythbusters then think Emily. She is a self confessed nerd but she doesn't come across as an intellectual nerd like Jamie from BB07. She is more of a nerd from her videos because of her interests and quirks and self-depreciating humour rather than her psycho-analysising ability. The fact that she is cute helps too. I'd give her a chance as a non typical female BB housemate.
Jessica - Super confident traveler chick who would get awfully annoying awfully quick. If you wanted someone to fly in like Cyclone Michelle (aka HM69) from 2007 and then fly out again, Jessica would be that person. Ideal intruder but not HM material. She reminds me a little of Christie from 2005 but I don't think that Christie was ever THAT loud compared to Jessica!
Sputnik - He is an "ideas merchant" which he says is another way of saying that he can be a BS artist. He is certainly well travelled but it seems to me that he wants to get his photo taken with everyone just to say that "I have done .............. at .............. and here's a photo." I'd still have him in the house though for variety and a non-boring house. He may cop some friendly fire during the Blamestorming Session (aka Nominations). I hope he stays true to what he promises and I doubt he'll just cruise along to the normal BB rules like the conformists in BB07 were doing in the end.
Michelle - She's got an annoying voice and I thought that her part photo slideshow part video was a singles ad for RSVP rather than a BB audition. She won't make it in the house unless a token short person is requested.
Peter - Sick of younger gay guys in the house? Here's Peter, an inked up disability support worker who we see in the video going for a swim in his Sluggos (he's a braver man than me!). I don't know if being a gay guy is enough to get him over the line nor is being the other side (to me) of 40. I wouldn't complain too loudly if he did get selected.
Peta - Peta was born a man but has had a sex change operation and is now a woman. She wants to experience the BB experience like a woman and feels a lot younger than her stated age after the operation. I'm sure it is an interesting story but is it interesting enough to get her in the house? What is she like apart from the fact that she has had a sex change? I'd be prepared to find out. My co-host Drue mentioned in Erk Pod episode 66 (also on ETTDR 1/08) that she could be used in a plot turn or a mystery task like the last two years but because of the nature of the auditions, those people who have viewed Peta's video know her secret. Also, what would happen is a male Peter got into the house? Would BB insult our intelligence and get one of them to change their name like they have in the past or would it be "male Peter" or "female Peta" or "Peter with an R" or "Peta with an A"?
Julie - Another person going for the "let's get some older people into the house" angle. She is editorializing or going for the title of "Senior Citizen of the Year". I don't know too much about her (which is the whole idea of these videos, init?) so NO NO NO.
Monique - She seems nice. Has an unusual story as a straight married woman, fell in love with her best friend while pregnant with her second child, left husband, got married to her best friend. Is a lesbian advocate in Brisbane. BB has been severely lacking lesbians in the house compared to the amount of gay guys in the house over recent BB series. The video was OK but it was half video, half photo slide show with heaps of Photoshopped "Me" with an arrow on it. YES from me.
Welcome to ETTDR for 2008. Blog 01/2008
Welcome to the new Erk to the Diary Room (ETTDR) blog and podcast. After being undecided about covering BB in 2008 if it was to proceed, I decided to proceed.
To bring you up to speed, it was announced on October 28 that host Gretel will be replaced for 2008 by Austereo radio due Kyle & Jackie O. Apart from their breakfast radio show in Sydney, Kyle will continue to be a judge on Australian Idol. While Gretel probably stayed one season of BB too long, I'd prefer her over Kyle & Jackie O (K&JO) for BB. I do not watch Idol nor do I listen to their breakfast show. I have tried but I do not like them.
Then it was announced at the start of November that Big Big Brother Kris Noble will not be on BB next year either and that the voice of BB will indeed be female. That goes against the whole BB character. Also, a new audition process commenced and people had to submit a 2 minute You Tube style video as their audition. It is these auditions that is the subject of the next post.
So you are now up to date with what is happening in the "BB Off Season". Blogs and podcast episodes will feature this news.
To bring you up to speed, it was announced on October 28 that host Gretel will be replaced for 2008 by Austereo radio due Kyle & Jackie O. Apart from their breakfast radio show in Sydney, Kyle will continue to be a judge on Australian Idol. While Gretel probably stayed one season of BB too long, I'd prefer her over Kyle & Jackie O (K&JO) for BB. I do not watch Idol nor do I listen to their breakfast show. I have tried but I do not like them.
Then it was announced at the start of November that Big Big Brother Kris Noble will not be on BB next year either and that the voice of BB will indeed be female. That goes against the whole BB character. Also, a new audition process commenced and people had to submit a 2 minute You Tube style video as their audition. It is these auditions that is the subject of the next post.
So you are now up to date with what is happening in the "BB Off Season". Blogs and podcast episodes will feature this news.
Blog - BB 07 Finale - ETTDR MS46/2007
Erk to the Diary Room (episode 46 THE END)
Well it finally came down to ......um, sorry, I've got Big Brother in my ear ......... what the?The final 2 were ATB and Zacho and I would have been happy if either of them won. We got to see a lot of the other HM's except for Lara Bingle who was filed under "this is not happening" when she got drunk and abused hospital staff and assaulted police after watching FNL. Maybe she could have used that as an excuse and be let off but she pleaded guilty and was banned by BB from appearing. There was a short clip of her when it was her turn to feature but it was filed under "this is not happening" - no explanation given.
Longest. Finale. Ever.
The finale went on for ever. Voting closed at 8.45 EST and then they had to recount, recheck and recount again and it was obvious to even Travo that they were filling and padding when he said to Gretel something like "are you dog-paddling?" but to be fair to Travo, Gretel and Mike made it obvious that they were padding. Mike even joked that they were getting passers-by to count the votes and it was obvious that Gretel had a party to get to because by the time that Frysie added up all the votes on his calcualtor watch, it was a case of "announce the winner and let's get the f**k outta here" because they were late and wanted to get into the brittos.
The panto was funny to me in a car crash type of way and it was good to see both parents go into the house. I didn't like it when they brought the final 2 onto stage to make the announcement - to me, the announcement should be made with the people IN the house. Then you send the runner-up out, you interview them and the winner enjoys an empty house for a while and then it is their turn on stage.
After what seemed for ever (lucky for me, I wasn't watching live, thanks Boi!) the winner was announced and in a very close vote, ATB is the winner on BB07. Then after handing her an oversized novelty cheque (you can buy them on the interweb, by the way) it was time to go........viewers. Roll credits, there was no interview with either Zacho or ATB which is a shame but I don't know if you would get much out of them at that point anyway.
The finale turned out to be badly handled which turned out to be BB all over this year. As a BB tragic I hate to say it but it has to be said - worst. series. ever.
I hope that BB comes back next year and improves 1 million percento after this year's effort. Thanks to everyone who has read and commented on my blogs and especially to Jordy! You are a legend...... :)
Now that BB is over, I can go back to watching Foxtel and being able to go out on Sunday and Monday nights without feeling I am missing out on anything.
I have made a highlights package of the podcast version of Erk to the Diary Room. Erk Pod episode 32 is the highlights from Erk to the Diary Room episodes 1 to 6 and I am currently doing the highlights for Erk to the Diary Room episodes 7-22 that will be Erk Pod episode 33. You can download these episodes and more here or search for Erk Pod at iTunes. http://erkpod.mypodcast.com
This is Erk and this has been Erk to the Diary Room. Thank you and good night.
Myspace friends: Up 2 to 162
Stand Up Update: Working on new material for possible holiday gigs
BB Update: We have a winner!
Erk Pod Update: One highlight episode of ETTDR up, another in production
Blog - ETTDR MS45/2007
Erk to the Diary Room (Episode 45 - 2 weeks for the price of 1)
I haven't blogged or podcasted about BB for a while because simply once DanYELLa left, it hasn't reached any great heights and we are limping towards the final eviction tonight and the finale tomorrow.After DanYELLa was evicted, Travo won FNL and took Billy and Zacho into the RR. On that weekend, Rove and Zoltan were evicted and no one really cared. I'm still struggling to work out why Rove is the funniest HM in there. And on Oh Brother, someone commented that Zoltan is the best.HM.ever. Not likely, dude!
It is lucky that Zacho is still in there entertaining us because if it wasn't for him, it would be snoredom. Zacho won the final FNL and tonight they (ATB, Billy, Zacho and Travo) are all up and it is a double. Although I liked Travo in the begining in the long long ago, Zacho has grown on me and my final dream finishing order is Zacho, Travo or ATB then Billy. WTF is Billy still doing there? He was Mr X and has done ................ since. I'm waiting for him to be attacked by a Ninja. I'm hoping...........
So I think that Travo and Billy will be gone tonight but I won't be disappointed if ATB goes. It will be a travesty if Zacho is punted but I don't think he will be.
Now the wait for tomorrow night and the finale..............
After BB finishes, I will be returning to blogging and podcasting about other stuff.
Myspace friends: Up 12 to 160
BB Update: Limping to finale
Stand Up Update: Preparing new material for potential holiday gigs
Erk Pod Update: Erk to the Diary Room about to close down, general EP episodes to continue.
Blog - ETTDR MS44/2007
Erk to the Diary Room (Episode 44 - Erk's road trip to find the Diary Room chair)
The DR chair disappeared from the house and it went to Sydney and Melbourne for a promotion to do with the next lot of nominations. But more on that in a second..........
Anyhoo, we left the HM's just prior to FNL which Pirate Night. Aaarrrrr me hearties, walk ye plank! And that's what happened again with the final game being yet another f**king quiz! It was a cross-promotion where the HM's had to watch some footage (from Channel 10 show "Pirate Master"!!!!!) and answer questions and the first person with 6 questions wrong had to walk ye plank.
ATB had to walk ye plank and arrrrrrrr! Rove finally won FNL not because of his brain power or being co-ordinated but just because he was in the right place in the right time. He was knocked out in round 1, got back in and did f**k all but still won. I had to laugh at BB when he said "Joel (as BB doesn't know I call Joel Rove), you finally won Friday Night Live" and then BB called Rove into the DR to find out who Rove would take into the RR, he said "Joel, who would have thought.....congratulations!" For the record, Rove took Zoltan into the RR.
It is good to see that BB does indeed have a sense of humour..........
Anyhoo after FNL I recorded another podcast episode of "Erk to the Diary Room" and on Monday I recorded another episode dealing with the predictable eviction of HM69 who does a fair impersonation of the Energizer Bunny!
Noms and the following evictions will be different. The HM's would nominate and BB would allow any reason and the HM's chose some silly reasons, mainly related to people's personal appearance. But the HM's did not know that their nominations were useless as the public were nominating (more money for BB's big fat beefy wallet!) but the HM's do not know yet that on Sunday, they will be evicting one of their own and it isn't up to the public. There will also be 4 nominees.
If the HM's were nominating, it would have been DanYELLa, Zacho and Zoltan and Rove (the holder of the FNL Super Power). However as I said, their noms were worthless (more than usual!) and the public nominated DanYELLa, Billy, Zacho and Travo but Rove saved Travo and replaced him with ATB. Now it will be rather predictable again but the hottest chick in the house (DanYELLa) is going on Sunday.
This week's task is rather crap and rather recycled and is a "Music Video" task.
Myspace friends: Steady at 148
Stand Up Update: Could have had a gig tonight but am on Super Duper Early Mornings at work so I couldn't do it
BB Update: HM's have no water and Zacho can't wash his hair!
Erk Pod Update: Going along OK.
Blog - ETTDR MS43/2007
Erk to the Diary Room (Episode 43 - Massive Update)
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities
In the last episode, I looked at the start of the Numbers task. Mid week, BB changed the numbers around which was good to see because some people weren't doing anything. The new task allocations were:
1 - DanYELLa - Pamper/Rewards Room
2 - JTN - Repeating everything that he said. Repeating everything he said.
3 - ATB - Mirror Mirror, counselling task. She was quite good at it and earned some respect from me.
4 - Zoltan the dog
5 - Rove got a bag of clothes back (his own)
6 - Billy had to become Belinda
7 - HM69 had to count worms
8 - Zacho had to swap two HM's tasks so he swapped 1 and 3
9 - Travo had to walk under a ladder and sprinkle salt over his shoulder.
In the end the task was OK but the HM's in the end had to pick an envelope to choose their prize and picked #9 and won $100K. So they didn't have to worry about doing the right thing in the end up hindsight is a wonderful thing.
DanYELLa won FNL again but it was dominated by quizes. A spelling bee is not the way to end FNL BB! She took Zacho into the RR. So DanYELLa holds the FNL Super Power again.
During Up Mike with Late on Friday night, there was a massive fight between ATB and HM69 and ATB got quite upset but HM69 wanted to continue it. Basically it was about HM69 swearing at people which ATB doesn't like that and HM69 would not let ATB speak. It dominated Up Mike on Friday and the Sunday daily show.
The eviction was not surprising with JTN, Rove, BTB and ATB being up. JTN was always going to be evicted. Right from the start, it was a mental war between JTN and Gretel since JTN noted that his first week in the house was highly edited and he said that the editor should get an award for editing. Gretel got really defensive and from then on she was on the attack. Postive Jamie moments to sum up his time in the house wasn't shown until he was on the stage checking out his new car and not on the couch next to Gretel as normal.
This continued on Noms the next night with Jamie ready to come onto the front foot but he barely got time to sit down before Gretel started again including telling him that he should have stepped in to the HM69 V ATB fight and also by her telling him that he can not assume anything about Rove's motives for being in the house despite JTN and Rove being HM's for 10 weeks together.
This week in a huge money grab, viewers were able to vote for people to be nominated. The person with the highest percentage got 2 points and the next person got 1. Prior to the viewer's points added, HM69, Zacho, DanYELLA and Zoltan were up for eviction. The public selected HM69 and DanYELLa for 2 and 1 point respectively so this saved Zoltan. This made the evictees HM69, Zacho and DanYELLa prior to DanYELLa's FNL Super Power.
Why HM's continue to nominate the person with the FNL Super Power is beyond me but they continue to do so. Obviously DanYELLa saved herself and put ATB up. Interestingly DanYELLa broke her female-free noms policy for nominating ATB for personality along with BTB. Rove voted for Travo for strategy, HM69 tried to nom ATB for 2 points but couldn't get her point across to BB so she got a point's penalty (not that she needed it). BTB also nom'ed DanYELLa for personality. Also interestingly HM69 nom'ed Zoltan for swearing at her. Pot. Kettle. Black.
So the evictees are HM69, Zacho and ATB but obviously HM69 is going to take a seat on the eviction bus on Sunday.
I won't be online over the weekend because I am going to Canberra but I will record some Erk Pod episodes including Erk to the Diary Room when I am down there and upload those when I return, most likely to appear on the interweb on Monday afternoon.
Myspace friends: Up 1 to 148
Stand Up Update: Was asked to do a gig next week but can't due to work
BB Update: HM69 in the punishment room for stealing chocolate from BB
Erk Pod Update: Latest ep is EP 27 which is ETTDR 18
Blog - ETTDR MS42/2007
Erk to the Diary Room (Episode 42 - Noms 9 Review, Zacho and HM69's Excellent Adventure)
This week started with the eviction of Mr HTB and Ian Thorpe and the next lot of nominations. DanYELLa has the FNL Super Power but that didn't stop some stupid HM's from giving her points anyway. It was no surprise to hear that ATB was up for eviction because of the previous task where she failed and was automatically up. Also up were BTB, HM69 & JTN.
Of course, DanYELLa had to decide to save one person and after previous arguements with ATB and the gender based way that her and HM69 talked about in the Rewards Room over the weekend, there only was going to be one person saved and it was HM69 and she put up Rove instead.
I had to laugh at one part of Noms where Travo was nominating and he was talking about the beers but in typical Travo terms he called them Britoes which is his slang for Britney Speers which is rhyming slang for beers. However despite BBB having heard Travo for the last 9 weeks, he had to ask Travo what he was on about.
The task this week is a really good one for a change and it does not rely on the HM's working as a team but on a series of personal challenges (for the lack of a better word). The extended Wednesday daily show showed the task starting and the following tasks were assigned to HM's as they all had to select a number.
In brief, the following happened:
* 1 - Zoltan. Gets a pampering room and gets to drive around in a golf cart.
* 2 - BTB. Has to be Zoltan's slave.
* 3 - JTN. Had to take 50kg of other HM's clothes (not his own) and BB would consficate them. The clothes were to be of his choice but due to interference from other HM's, he had to find another 20kg.
* 4 - Travo. He had to be a dog.
* 5 - ATB - Could only pick 5 words and is only allowed to say these 5 words. She chose yes, no, come, help, thanks
* 6 - DanYELLa. Homeless outside the Diary Room. Had to wear a hessian sack (still looked hot). Any food or drink had to be donated by HM's.
* 7 - HM69. Got told to either go to the Diary Room and leave the house or swap with someone else.
* 8 - Zacho. Got told he is leaving the house with HM69
* 9 - Rove. Immune from being nominated next week.
In the end, HM69 and Rove got to see baby tigers at Dreamworld. ATB, Travo, DanYELLa and ATB were funny in their tasks and Zoltan had fun driving his cart around the yard. BTB did SFA as usual. On Thursday night's show, the tasks are re-allocated. I like this task and a lot of the fan comment on BBBBBA has been positive as well. It's good to see someone is thinking.
I think JTN might get evicted this week but can we PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get rid of BTB. His "relationship" with HTB was the only thing that got him into the house (don't forget, he didn't have to audition and he was in Canada at the time) and his "relationship" with ATB (whatever you think of that) is the only thing keeping him in the house and that tEEnAgE gIrLs (the voters) think he is hot.
I hope this week is a good week. The house is heading down to the finish line fast. If things kept going like they were, no one would be interested. I think this week's task may help save the good ship BB.
Myspace friends: Steady at 147
Stand Up Update: Nothing doing. Have been working Mondays so the Sando has been out
BB Update: Travo says "woof" and ATB says not much.
Erk Pod Update: Trialling some post-production sound effects. EP 24 uploaded today, EP23 Tuesday, EP22 Monday.
Blog - ETTDR MS41/2007
Erk to the Diary Room (Episode 41 - HM's on Patrol, Eviction 8 Review, Noms 9 Preview)
G'day and welcome to episode 41 of Erk to the Diary Room. I'm Erk (in case you missed it). And this is episode 41 of Erk to the Diary Room (in case you missed it).Now let's get to know one another better by taking a leisurely stroll around the campus. MOVE IT! MOVE IT! MOVE IT!
Of course, the HM's were in the middle of their Police recruit task but I hope there won't be 6 more sequels of it. As is usually the case, the BB producers decide to show us on Sunday if the HM's failed the task or not despite showing FNL and Friday night Up Mike with Late since the task is finished in time for FNL.
The HM's had to run an obstacle course and ATB played the role of Captain Harris (it was a Police Academy task, after all) and had to lead her recruits. They did a benchmark run of the obstacle course and the HM's naturally thought that BB said that they had to improve their times. After all, that's what they'd want you do to in a real Police Academy. A Police Academy isn't all dancing at the Blue Oyster Bar, you know..........
But no - the world of BB isn't fair as former HM Tim Brunero keeps reminding us in his podcasts. Actually what BB wanted the HM's to do was to go slower but improve how they did stuff like sit ups and push ups but because they didn't (they did improve), they failed and ATB failed her secret task and is up for automatic nomination this week. Had they passed, she would have been immune. They also failed the stakeout task but did earn $25K for the prize pool because ATB got the HM's to do enough push ups.
So we have 4 boys up for a double eviction tonight. Ian Thorpe, Mr HTB, BTB and Rove are facing the public bullet. And as I said previously, I don't really care who goes. Gretel is dressed like a bloke in a suit tonight. Is that because it is man boot out night tonight?
JTN revealed to the house that he saved himself (gee, what a surprise!) and put Rove up instead but all the possible evictees got told to say goodbye and they are leaving. Leaving to a holding room, maybe? We haven't had that........this year.
So the four evictees are in the departure lounge and they still don't know that there will be two passengers on the plane instead of one. And oh my god, Gretel just used a variation on that line while talking to Ian Thorpe's sister but I hasten to point out that I am not one of Gretel's writers.
Now they are doing the eviction but are announcing a person to stay (for the first time this year) and savee (is that a word?) #1 is Rove. So Rove is back in the house amid lots of squeals from Intruder 69. Evictee #1 is Mr HTB and he is fired up, possibly for the second time this season. He got 24% of the merged vote to evict and the next person was 22% to evict and then the last two were to save, 23% and 31% (Rove??). Mr HTB looked confused at the graph and then Gretel said to him that she's been working there for years and doesn't understand the graph. Mmmmmm, interesting.
So remaining in the departure lounge is BTB and Ian Thorpe. Mr HTB goes on stage and HTB joins him after a while. Then what happens is interesting. The HM's in the house and those in the departure lounge see Gretel on screen and she says "It's time to go.............."
......... to a commercial break via a black screen. Has someone been fuddling wuth the swutch or has Gretel been to the Eddie McGuire school of suspense? Was it a blunder, another f**k up or just part of BB's plan?
Back from the break and Ian Thorpe thought it was no accident and is evicted immediately. I can't say I am shocked or disappointed. BTB is saved and goes back to the house.
Now for noms. Don't forget that DanYELLa has the FNL Super Power and that ATB is up for nomination because of the Police Academy task. Intruder 69 will be nominated for sure - she better be able to nominate and be nominated this week, BB! Zacho could be nom'ed but he seems to have fit in well from what little we have seen of him. Zoltan and JTN could be up alongside Intruder 69 along with DanYELLa but I predict there will be at least one stupid HM who will be dumb enough to nominate her even though she has the FNL Super Power.
Myspace friends: Steady at 147
Stand Up Update: Nothing to report.
BB Update: Mr HTB and Ian Thorpe out.
Erk Pod Update: About to record another ep after this blog
Blog - ETTDR MS40/2007
Erk to the Diary Room (Episode 40, Erk falls asleep)
Intruder 69 had Zoltan as a partner. While Zoltan was in the toilet, Intruder 69 had to wait outside as during the task, you had to be 2 metres or less away from your partner.
In the meantime, ATB was dressing as a Ninja and she hid outside. The HM's decided to play a trick on Intruder 69 and made it so it was her turn in the car on stakeout with Zoltan. So with ATB in place, the duo made their way into the car.
So when Intruder 69 was not ready, ATB ran from her hiding spot and Intruder 69 sees her and acts very un-cop like and screams "there's a f**king robber" and variations thereof and decides to go after ATB the Ninja. Zoltan (playing along) tells her to stay in the car but she doesn't. She puts her coffee cup on the dashboard of the car which spills and then she chases ATB into the bedroom. The rest of the HM's are laughing in there when she says something like "did you guys see the f**king robber?"
She took it will and came out with the comment that "Big Brother must be in there p***ing himself laughing at that", as was I. It sure was the highlight of yet another dull week. Maybe BB needs to keep the HM's busier and give them more to do.
I'm pleased that they had better (and more original) games on FNL this week. The first game in particular was good with a blindfolded sleepwalker having to avoid a blindfolded boogeyman while carrying a pillow with a noise maker in it. I had to laugh when BB told Zacho to get into the closet and also when BB told the Ninja to put Ian Thorpe into the closet even when Ian was taller than the closet!
In a shock that partly came about because the HM's didn't listen to the rules, Mr HTB didn't win FNL again this week. Instead that title went to DanYELLa who defeated BTB but she decided to take Intruder 69 into the Rewards Room. So DanYELLa has the FNL Super Power next week and she'll probably need it to save herself. Interestingly, DanYELLa was eliminated in a game but she was given another chance to even up the teams when the HM's had to scream into a noise meter and she screamed the loudest. If Intruder 69 was not already in the game, she would have won easily but DanYELLa sure lived up to her name.
Speaking of names, Mike slipped up with Lara Bingle's name and called her Lara (instead of Laura) so I had a little chuckle to myself.
In the double male eviction this Sunday, Mr HTB, BTB, Ian Thorpe and Rove are up for eviction and I really could not care who goes. In fact, I am looking forward to more intruders (yes, I know I said I was against it but this mob needs a shakeup) so can we please have a couple of lesbian or bisexual females in there? It will address the gender inbalance and it will introduce the female side of homosexuality to the house for the first time this year.
Myspace friends: Up 8 to 147
Stand Up Update: Bumped into my long lost train driver mate Arthur who would be a brilliant stand up comic
BB Update: DanYELLa wins FNL
Erk Pod Update: 2 new eps tonight now online, recorded for the first time on my laptop with a proper mic and proper intro music
Blog - ETTDR MS39/2007
Erk to the Diary Room (Episode 39 - Massive delay, thanks Vista! NOT!)
On Thursday, I purchased a new laptop and a new phone. It is only Monday night that I am managing to catch up and getting things to work OK due to various Vista issues. So this episode and the associated Erk Pod podcasts are running late.In summary:
* HM's passed the task because they were able to judge it themselves.
* BB returned for FNL and Up Late but the result of the task and how BB returned wasn't shown until Sunday's show.
* There was some good quad bike action on FNL but some HM's nearly didn't get a go
* JTN won FNL (the final game was a quiz!) over Mr HTB but he took Ian Thorpe into the Rewards Room.
* As I predicted on the podcast, Lara Bingle was evicted and BB decided to make noms so only males can be nominated. However, the boys are steaming about that but they don't know it is a double eviction!
* Somehow Zacho has been in the house for a week now so he was immune from noms last week but is also immune this week!
* For noms, JTN, Billy (BTB?), Mr HTB and Ian Thorpe were up but not surprisingly JTN saved himself and put Rove up instead. JTN made it look like he had to think long and hard about saving himself.
* I got to watch some UK BB (see next episode in a day or two)
Myspace friends etc will return from the next episode.
Blog - ETTDR MS38/2007
Erk to the Diary Room (Episode 38, Erk Recaps & BB Podcasts Update)
This section of the blog deals with some of my abbrievations and HM names that I have come up with and refer to in various blogs. Some of them are purely based on their personality or something that has gone on in the house but others are merely to save me typing (and/or learning to spell) the HM's name.
HM (or HM's) - Housemate (Housemates)
BB - Big Brother
xTB - The x stands for someone's name with "the blonde" added. For example,
HTB is Hayley the blonde.
Mr HTB - Andrew. So named because HTB (Andrew's partner) was basically controlling him during her time in the house.
Team HTB - Refering to both HTB and Mr HTB together.
Rove - Joel. Some people say that both Rove and Joel are the funniest thing but I've seen no evidence of either.
BWNR - Brodie with no R. HM Bodie got called Brodie by some of the HM's because they thought that was his name just like Brodie from another season. So Bodie said that his name was Brodie with no R, shortened by me to read BWNR.
DWNT - HM Demet's name has a silent T but on some occasions, both BB and Gretel pronounced the T so I called her Demet with no T (or DWNT) like BWNR.
Jamie the Nerd (JTN) - Easy peasy. He basically called himself this from zero hour. JTN is my recent short hand.
Ian Thorpe - HM Thomas looks like Ian Thorpe.
FNL - Friday Night Live
Up Mike with Late - A spoonerism of "Up Late with Mike", sometimes I call Mike Late.
Lara Bingle - HM Laura likes getting around in her bikini like Lara Bingle and her name is so similar.
The Brazilian - HM Daniella is from Brazil.
DanYELLa - How Gretel (and now Mike) pronounces HM Daniella's name.
Travo - HM Travis puts the letter O on the end of a lot of words so I thought I'd do the same to him.
Zacho - For the same reason as Travo but I did it to Zach merely for my own amusement and to fit my headline that Travo was the first to meet Zacho
Intruder 69 - New Intruder Michelle seems like she is Intruder 69 for the series. When she becomes a HM, she'll probably become HM 69.
Zoltan - HM Zoran. I can't (and never have) claimed credit for this one. I think it was the boys from the Behind Big Brother podcast that thought of it and I think it is good.
There is also the podcast version of this blog (also called "Erk to the Diary Room" which is a part of my podcast family called "Erk Pod") and it is available at http://erkpod.mypodcast.com and that is currently up to episode 14. I have only been podcasting for a few weeks and the early pod episodes sum up the first 5 weeks of this season of BB and later episodes look at the events in the house just like other members of the BB Podcast community but with no bells and no whistles but just all Erk, all the time.
I actually scored a mention at the end of the current episode of Big Brother Weekly (episode 8) after I left the team a message during last week. Thanks, guys. Also, I was interested to hear in the current episode of Reality Cast that the guys were thinking along similar lines to me in relation to last week's so-called environmental task.
In addition to Big Brother Weeklyand Reality Cast,. Behind Big Brother and "Oh Brother" with former BB HM Tim Brunero continue to give their opinions on all things BB as well.
Also, I decided to check out some of the previous HM's who are now on radio (and podcasts) and listen to their podcasts. FNL's Frysie can be heard via Nova in Adelaide, Nathan from BB02 is doing the breakfast shift as well for Nova in Perth and Camilla from last year can be heard on B105 in BrisVegas. There may be others that I haven't heard on podcast but these three are three that I listened to over the weekend on podcast. As is usually the case on the breakfast shift on Australian radio, these aren't solo shifts with at least 1 other on-air person as well. In addition, BB HM interviews continue across the Nova and Austereo networks.
Myspace friends: Up 3 to 139
Stand Up Update: Thinking of doing another "material podcast"
BB Update: The Leader has control of the house
Erk Pod Update: Next episode due to be recorded soon.
Blog - ETTDR MS37/2007
Erk to the Diary Room (Episode 37, BB leaves the house and Erk talks Simpsons)
Did BB jump the shark when BB was nowhere to be seen on the Wednesday night daily show? The HM's woke on Tuesday to find that the Diary Room door was open with a lot of supplies inside and when Intruder 69 (Michelle) went and sat in the Diary Room chair, there was no answer. So she wondered out loud if BB had a heart attack or something. Eventually, she woke the rest of the HM's up after debating for 2-3 hours if it was OK to put the food away or not.
There was two main groups that formed after the theory was that BB had disappeared. The "Bart Simpson" group was Intruder 69, Zacho, Lara Bingle and the Brazilian. This group wanted to eat the food and have a good time and act like their parents had gone away for the weekend. Needless to say, no original HM's were a part of that group and it fits - the last two lots of intruders want to have fun but the original HM's want to sit on the couch.
The "Lisa Simpson" group consisted of most of the other HM's who were worried about not breaking the rules and not eating the food and it reminded me of the Simpsons episode where Homer and Flanders were stuck on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean and Flanders wanted to ration their water and Homer points out that they are floating on an ocean of, well, water. Homer calls Ned "Mr Let's Ration Everything" and eventually Homer's sense of smell saved them as they found a Krusty Burger joint on an oil rig off Mexico. It was the same sort of situation here, there was some food and Bart wanted to eat it and Lisa wanted to save it and share it evenly.
Rove's sense of hearing saved the HM's from imploding when the often wondered about phone rang. It was pointed out on the first night of the show and several people on the interweb wondered what it was going to be used for and when it was going to be finally used.
The phone rang and the conversation went something like this:
Rove: Hello, Joel speaking (he doesn't know I call him Rove)
BB: Joel, this is Big Brother. (he doesn't call himself BB). I've left home.
Rove: What do you want me to do about it?
BB: I've left you a Dear Joel letter in the backyard that will explain more. From time to time I'll be phoning to check on you (just turn on the TV, BB!)
It's pretty bad when the main character decides to leave. BB's voice and character has been a constant throughout the years and it is strange for me not to hear him and it would have been strange for the HM's.
The HM's went outside and they had a Tribal Council meeting and offered Zacho as a gift to the gods as he was the last one to enter. No, not really! They had to pick a leader. In the end, Ian Thorpe was elected as The Leader. I wonder if that is because he is the biggest? They had to decide on the rules of the house as a group because all of the BB set rules were placed on hold.
You'd think that they'd be smart and decide on some rules that are the total opposite of the rules in the house. For instance, they could decide if the BB rules were on hold that they did not have to wear microphones or that from now on, they could live in the Rewards Room. But no, they decided to decide on a lot of different rules and impose more rules on themselves than Marge (BB) had ever done.
But then again, it was the powerful Lisa group that were making a lot of the rules and then a couple of the Bart group were saying that they are making too many rules and that if you make more and more rules, it is going to be harder to follow them and the task will be harder to pass. Smart thinking, Bart!
Ian Thorpe finally exploded because he was The Leader (reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Homer joins the Movementarians and the only way they could convince him to join the cult was to change the Batman theme to "Leader") and Lara said that she had the stick so she was allowed to talk. One of the BB rules that he set before he left basically said that while you are at Tribal Council, the HM with the stick has the floor. (I should try that at my next RFS meeting!)
So Lara had the stick and she used her sticktime ("It's Stick Time!") to try and argue her point and Ian Thorpe swore at her and told her to grow up even though she had the stick and she is allowed to argue the point. It was at this point that maybe the true personality of the Thorpedo came out after 7 weeks in the house because he has the power. Too bad if they decided that Mr HTB had the power because he is the regining FNL winner. That would have been interesting.
Later, it was revealed that Ian was allowed to live in the Rewards Room for the week (I remember reading about this from an overseas BB some years ago) and he was allowed to have 2 overnight visitors each night if he wanted. He eventually used the RR to apologize to Lara for his behaviour. Was this partly because he realised that he could use the power to sleaze onto her? Now Up Mike last night makes more sense.
So has this latest task meant that BB (the show, not the guy) has jumped the shark or is it a good move? I have to say that I enjoyed the Daily Show for the first time in a while and I am looking forward to see Up Mike tonight as well. Will The Leader be followed or will Bart and Lisa still be at war? No wonder BB decided to leave home! Maybe if they were smarter, they could make it a rule that the task is unlosable but then again they aren't that S-M-R-T!
I think that this task is a good one. It is different to what the HM's have experienced before and BB needs to keep the HM's on their toes. He needs to challenge them and not just do the same thing the whole time. After all, the HM's are used to leaving work, going to Moe's for a couple of drinks and then staggering home. And maybe just like the action of Marge cracking the sads and leaving home has saved the Simpsons on more than one occasion, maybe the actions of BB this week will save the show..............we shall see.
Myspace friends: Up 3 to 139
Stand Up Update: Thinking of doing another "material podcast"
BB Update: The Leader has control of the house
Erk Pod Update: Next episode due to be recorded soon.
Blog - ETTDR MS36/2007
Erk to the Diary Room (Episode 36, Travo meets Zacho, ETB is human, Noms 7 review)
Then there was the voices from the grave from the two evictees and ATB (the only original female HM) and the Brazilian and Lara had a heated discussion in relation to bitchiness and ETB and talking about people behind their back and poor ATB could not see any fault in the recently departed ETB.
Speaking of poor person, Zacho was kept in the Rewards Room until about 3 minutes to midnight and Up Mike finished 3 minutes later. Another poorly handled intruder entry, BB. Interestingly, Travo was the first person to meet Zacho and Travo took Zacho around the house and was very accepting of him which was a surprise.
Nominations were interesting. They were told that they could nominate for Under the Radar, Strategy or Personality and even with that hint from BB, a few HM's struggled especially Ian Thorpe and JTN. Just on JTN, he no longer looks like the obvious fat guy in the house. Well done to you, Jamie.
It was no surprise to see the HM's continually nominate Lara and the Brazilian and they were in the top 2 spots. Despite Mr HTB having the Friday night Super Power yet again, some HM's nominated him and he was the third possible evictee. Not surprisingly, he elected to save himself, partly to save himself (in my opinion) but also because he nom'ed the other two evictees. BB brought up the fact that Mr HTB chose to save someone he nom'ed before (Zoltan from memory) but in the end despite M HTB struggling, BB accepted it and Mr HTB saved himself and put Rove up instead.
Finally to close the ETB and her dead father story from my point of view, the daily show showed that she did get the news prior to eviction and it does show that she cried (which is good, considering the circumstances) and ETB appeared for a moment to be a real human with real emotions rather than a cold, heartless, detached biatch like she had been shown during a lot of her stay. Also to her credit, she did appear with RTB on Noms with Gretel tonight. I am not sure how many radio interviews they did today as some states had a public holiday today.
So let's tune in and see what the joint is like now that it isn't the Big Emma House and let's give the new intruders a chance to see what (if anything) they can do.
Myspace friends: Up 2 to 136
Stand Up Update: Watched Noms instead of going to the Sando. Watched some guys on DVD though with friends
BB Update: Rove, Lara and the Brazilian up for eviction, Mr HTB saves himself
Erk Pod Update: Ep 14 recorded based on the above and last night's eviction this morning and being uploaded now
Blog - ETTDR MS35/2007
Erk to the Diary Room (Episode 35 - Eviction 6 Review)
This episode isn't in the order in what happened but for the ease of reading, certain topics are together.
First to the eviction. I predicted that the Brazillian would be certain to go and the other spot would be either ETB, RTB or JTN. But that did not turn out to be the case. This afternoon, I recorded a podcast prediction for the eviction and then 5 minutes later my mate Leigh called me. He predicted that if ETB was to be evicted, her eviction would be announced first and she'd get ushered away to get told about her dad's death and I'd read reports that she'd be given the option to appear on stage or not. Then the other evictee would be announced, go direct to the stage and do their thing. By this time, ETB would have had an extended chat to her family and a counsellor if she needed it and I joked that the NRMA (or RACQ, really) would be on standby in case she needed a jump-start. And then if she decided to go onto stage, she would.
And to Leigh's credit (he's appeared in another piece!), he was pretty much correct. ETB was announced first and she went off in a golf cart and then there was a break. Gretel then said that she was speaking to her family off camera and then they did the remaining family loved one's bit. Later after evictee #2 was evicted, ETB did return to the stage, seemingly as if nothing had happened. So Gretel welcomed ETB to the stage and ETB said that she wanted to grieve in private which is fair enough. Interestingly though, she did say that she was told yesterday and not during the show tonight. Apart from that, you would have thought that nothing had happened. I do have to say that I am glad that ETB has left the house as I was getting sick and tired of watching the Big Emma House and maybe some of the tension will disappear. ETB had a rather large set of numbers, the total evict vote in the end was over 70%, daylight second and then the other HM's.
Joining ETB on the stage was RTB. I was really shocked, I thought that the Brazilian would be gone but because ETB's numbers were so large, the rest of the totals were very close and it could have been anything. However, it was time for RTB to leave the house and I think that is a shame. I thought that being an intruder would have had the Brazilian signing her eviction papers but some people probably thought DanYELLa who? RTB has come a long way in the house and to me at least, she was less and less annoying as the weeks went on and it is a shame that she won't get to experience an ETBless house.
Now to the intruders............
As usual, they promise the world and promise to be up vibe and interesting but in the end they usually turn out to be a less interesting version of Homer Simpson sitting down, smiling politely but doing not much else. Intruder #69 for the series is Michelle and she is now the oldest person in the house, not that she acts it. She is married with a child and based on what I saw of her, her husband will be glad for the peace and quiet for a week. I get the feeling that her outness and her loudness is an act and she is loud but not as loud as she is tonight. But yes, she is loud. Did I mention she's loud? She's loud and proud but not as proudly out there as Intruder #70 in the form of Zach.
Even people without a gaydar didn't need one. BB has had some gay HM's in his time (not that there is anything wrong with that) but this guy is surely the gayest and campest HM ever. Zach meeting Travo, that will be an interesting experience. And Zach has the hots for Ian Thorpe who has a new sleazebag target in the form of Intruder #69. But Ian knows that I69 has a husband so he might back off now.
Overall it was an interesting night but also a long night starting with the daily show at 6.30pm and stumps being called at 9.20pm instead of 9pm. And that was without one intruder going into the house!
"Attention passengers, the 9pm service to Rove has been delayed by 20 minutes for today only. Big Brother apologies for any inconvenience caused."
Myspace friends: Steady at 134
Stand Up Update: Might go to the Sando tomorrow night
BB Update: ETB and RTB gone, intruders 69 and 70 in
Erk Pod Update: Eps 12 and 13 produced over the weekend.
Blog - ETTDR MS34/2007
Erk to the Diary Room Episode 34 - Camping Out and Welcome to the Jungle FNL
The task this week was supposed to be based on World Environment Day. For some reason, BB thought that meant that the HM's needed to rough it outside and they had to camp and be on staples (again).
Under normal circumstances, that might not have been too bad for the HM's but this last few days, there has been a lot of rain at the BB house and also along a lot of the East Coast of Australia. The rain and the lack of shelter outside meant that the task was that little bit harder for the HM's.
So the HM's only had a couple of minutes to grab what they could before BB slammed the doors of the house shut. I dare suggest that for most of the week that there were Ninjas wearing HazMat suits working in the bedrooms. Boy it must smell in there by now with no windows that can open and no fresh air in there. Maybe they should have spent the week locked in the Rewards Room or something. I'd like to see 20 people share a little space like that room.
Now this year, BB has said that the house and the HM's have to be friendlier to the environment but part of the task this week was transferring one lot of water in a barrel to another. And they didn't have buckets to do so but little shells. 2 HM's had to watch barrel A because BB would activiate it at will. Now I didn't think that wasting water in an inane task was good for the environment but it could have led to an interesting incident but according to the Daily Show, it did not happen. According to people who saw the incident on the live stream and then relayed the incident to Behind Big Brother, Lara Bingle (my new name for Laura) threw a shell as part of the task which all of the HM's were doing. The shell from Lara hit ETB and Lara said sorry but ETB actually hit Lara in the arm.
Now you might remember that KTB was warned during her short day for threatening violence against ETB but here we have ETB actually hitting a HM as a reaction to an incident. It appears to have gone un-noticed in the official BB world but some forum members on Behind Big Brother have called for ETB to be booted. Now it can't be said that the hit was meant in fun or that Lara wasn't a participant unlike a time that Joel, Zoltan and Thomas were joking around and one of Joel's shirts got ripped a few weeks ago. It could have been a perfect way to re-inforce the expected standard of behaviour in the house to the HM's but BB has seemingly ignored it. I wonder if the fact that ETB is up for eviction is a factor, after all if she is evicted early, those votes to her would be in effect wasted and there would be one less evictee.Also, there is the ETB's dead dad situation. I wonder if BB had that in his mind.
While all of this was going on, BB set up an "Ice Room". Filled with luxuries, there was 4 HM's picked (Travo, Ian Thorpe, Mr HTB and RTB) to go in. Part of the task was for the newly re-titled Ice Mates (IM's) to chip away at ice and fill an esky. BB showed footage to the non IM's of the IM's chipping away at ice and filling buckets and filling an esky (or a chillybin to any Kiwi readers out there!) full of ice. The room was set to sub-zero temperatures but the IM's also had use of an air hockey table and various food and part of their task was to ensure that the HM's did not catch on. Again, I have to question the expense and the environmentally friendliness of this part of the task simply for the sake of a task.
Needless to say due to the cold conditions in the Ice Room, the IM's could not stay there for long periods and when they exited into the backyard, the HM's felt sorry for the IM's, unaware at first of the IM's luxuries.
Midweek, BB told the IM's and HM's that BB needed ice production to be stepped up and two HM's had to become IM's. In a good strategic move by the IM's (mainly thought of by Mr HTB), they decided to take Brilly and JTN into the room. Again, JTN was proving to be smarter than the average HM and the nerd entered the Ice Room.
Meanwhile, the HM's are struggling outside but to be fair, the IM's were sleeping outside too. And in a rare move by Channel 10 this year about showing anything resembling adult comments or boobies this year, the same shot of ETB in a pink bra (with it looking like a couple of soccer balls under not much material, not that I'm complaining) was shown on 3 separate occasions - once in the daily show itself and then twice in the "previously on BB" snippet at the start of the show.
On Thursday night on Up Mike with Late, Late promised that the HM's would be seening the IM's on the screen and it would be revealed that the IM's are living in relative luxury. BB even got Dougie the Pizza Boy to deliver some pizzas to the Ice Room. So Late kept promising and the night got longer and later and after several false starts, it finally happened about 15 minutes before the end of the show. The HM's saw the IM's on the screen and the HM's thought of revenge (including urinating on the IM's stuff, which wasn't shown on the daily show) but BB said that the HM's had to keep the fact that they saw the IM's on the screen to themselves. If the HM's did it, they would be rewarded.
But because of all the stuffing around, by the time that it happened and that the IM's returned to the HM's and after some short banter, it was time for Up Mike to finish. So now we we have to wait until either Up Mike on Friday or Sunday's show to find out the conclusion and to find out if they passed the task. Again, BB has reused ideas and went for the Masters/Servants or Haves and Have Nots idea. Will the HM's be rewarded by a visit to the Ice Room? It only seems fair and BB can get more use of the Ice Room before it is taken down.
FNL was it's typical self and my usual comments stand. They decided for the first game to reuse the "Giant Fan at the end of the Slip & Slide" game of previous years with predictable results. Jamie outlasted ATB, Rove (aka Joel), Travo & the Brazillian on a game of hanging onto the monkey bars for the longest time (another reused idea) as a way to get back into the game after being eliminated and boy oh boy I have to give Jamie this, he was very pumped up. In the end it didn't help him as Mr HTB beat Zoltan in the final game but Mr HTB elected to take Jamie into the Rewards Room as he is the only male that hasn't been in there for the weekend.
And as I type this, Up Mike has just started and the non IM's are now in the Ice Room enjoying it while the IM's are sitting on the couch watching the action in the Ice Room - as I predicted!
There is a double eviction on Sunday and I'll predict now that the Brazillian will be gone as she is the only evictee up for eviction and she will be joined by ETB as a lot of people are sick of her. But really, the other spot could really also be filled by RTB or Jamie or Ian Thorpe as well. I think that Travo and Mr HTB are quite safe at the moment.
Myspace friends: Up 2 to 134
Stand Up Update: Could go to two venues as a punter next week
BB Update: Mr HTB wins FNL again!
Erk Pod Update: Episode based on the above to be recorded Saturday or Sunday
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