Look with your eyes, not with your hands.


Such a minute fraction of this life do we live: so much is sleep, tooth-brushing, waiting for mail, for metamorphosis, for those sudden moments of incandescence: unexpected, but once one knows them, one can live life in the light of their past and the hope of their future.



A grad student muses on her life, film, friends, politics, reality televizzle, and music.

 
Sign-onara

This week of reality TV has certainly blindsided America, at least it blindsided me. First, on a shocking Idol finish, the tables were turned when our beloved velvet teddy bear, one Ruben Studdard, finished in the bottom two - leaving an equally stunned Joshua Gracian safe for another week on the benches. I had half-predicted this outcome because America's voting behavior certainly doesn't always reflect a judge of talent, but I guess I just expected to see Kim Locke there over Ruben. That was a shocker though - to me, American, and Simon. Perhaps it was the wake-up call needed to motivate people and get over the collective action problem we have on our hands. Since devoted fans seemed sure that Ruben was a shoe-in for the final two if not the final one, then everyone assumes that he'll just be there. This week obviously suggested that you couldn�t take anything for granted in this game and that we're all going to have to work out our index fingers when next week's touch-tones are announced. My mother and I acknowledge that we are part of this problem because after this week's show we opted to do other things and never made time to call in. That will change or we might be shocked and disappointed again. I heard on the radio that USA TODAY, the crapo adult-version of Weekly Reader that it is, does a Gallup poll every week to estimate the vote breakdown. After his stirring performance of "Solitaire," the paper estimated that 75% of the show's callers voted for Clay. I doubt that the actual vote was such a landslide, but I will say that Ruben was solid this week without being particularly impressive. I think he'll have to raise his game or be packing for Birmingham next week. How do you balance out Josh's military support?? I guess it all matters how Trenyce's loyal votes are divied up between the remaining four. I could see them naturally going to Kim Locke or Ruben, but we'll have to wait and see. I would really love to see the voting numbers from week to week to better understand the voting behavior of the average viewer and also see the changes over time. I have this idea, and it is the scam that has brought me the best luck in the past, but I'd like to write Simon Fuller (the show's creator) and try to use my student status to get access to highly coveted or rare materials. I think that by graphing the data, I could easily turn the results from raw numbers into a very interesting media conference paper - it would be interesting to review the shows and make predictions about why the numbers changed when and how they did. We'll see if it works... but I've actually looked at voting patterns in political science classes, so I am half-qualified to author this study.

So the second big surprise of the week - and even I, the keen Survivor fan that I am, - remained shocked when Christy got the boot last night. Rob, the leading commentator and puppet master of this season, turned on his new alliance this week, after he garnished just enough votes to kick Alex off on the last episode. At least he is very up-front about having allegiance to no one other than himself, but I was disappointed that neither of the so-called "cute girls" went away last night. I want the two of them to just vanish, they add nothing to the show and they bug me - because of their laziness, stupidity, and their constant talking about how young, sexy, and cute they are - when from where I sit, they only have youth on their side.

So, is Butch next to go? This seems like the likely route, but I expect yet another upset next week when someone else innocently gets lead to the slaughter at tribal council. Maybe the four will turn on Rob for all of this underhanded dealings and Butch will sneak into the final four. This immunity challenge is always a game-changer - and it always seems with this show that when your neck is on the line and the others are nipping at your heels, you manage to pull through and earn immunity. Butch needs to perform well this week or he's the moving target du jour. In related news, I admit that I am an avid fan and have a fantasy team through CBS.com (still in 6th place), but this fan site far exceeds my borderline obsession with the show, I hope this guy is friend of Rob's and not just a creepy stalker. One last thought - this week's reward challenge was very touching � but nothing will ever top the moment in the first season when Sue Hawk�s obese Midwestern husband read her love poetry on a view from home � that was classic.

Other than TV in my life, and trust me there isn't much, I've been busy working and enjoying the nice weather. I am actually on this committee for the Senior Awards ceremony, the day before graduation, at Middlebury so I came home early for a conference call. I am glad to be doing this because it helps me feel a little more connected and aware of the timeline - otherwise, graduation just remains an approaching date on the calendar. Tonight is my mother's birthday, so going out is in the stars, but we don�t know where, everything else for the weekend is very up in the air. Jack told me to see Identity, and I am long overdue for a trip to the movies.

posted by lmjasinski at 1:28 PM