the friending meme, and the TAR season finale

[arduinna]

First off, I spent the weekend adding a bunch of new people from the friending meme, and with a bunch of new people subscribing to me. Hiya! It's very cool to see the new voices on my reading list. If you haven't checked it out yet, you should; the word spread pretty far, and it's up to more than 1,200 comments over 11 pages. A big chunk of that is people responding to each other, but that still leaves hundreds of entries.

And if you're thinking damn, you should have jumped in -- jump in! It's still going, with new entries and new conversations. I started tracking it early on so I wouldn't forget to go check for new people, and then it hit a tipping point on Friday night and whoosh. It may have finally started slowing down a bit, but it hasn't stopped. I suspect the mention it got on f_fa is what did the trick, so yay to whoever did that!

I'm about a hundred comments behind at this point (by dint of ignoring basically all the side-chatter, which is a pity because I bet there was some good conversation, but -- 1,200 comments! oof.)

Meanwhile, I took a break from DW last night to watch the Amazing Race finale.

... Wow. That was completely unexpected. The goat farmers (*looks up* Josh and Brent - no idea why I can never remember that!) were on my early list of "rooting for, even though they won't make it past the midpoint", and for the entire race they stayed in that place of "oh yay, they're still there. They'll probably get eliminated next week" (and now in my head Phil is the Dread Pirate Keoghan...). Go them for sticking it out and getting it done! That's awesome.

I had been rooting more strongly for the Chippendales, since outside of the stupid "1-2-3 alliance" thing I really liked them a lot -- good guys, strong racers (once they started eating again, at least), no drama, and totally willing to not only bring along their Chippendale collars and cuffs, but wear them. (... what? they're pretty.) And since I figured the goat farmers (Beakmans? Maybe? I kept missing the name, and forgetting their first names) had no shot, the Chippendales were the best of the rest. (At least after we lost James and Abba, WOE -- they were who I wanted to win most.)

But really by the end, what I was mostly doing was hoping very hard that Nadiya and Natalie didn't win, and Trey and Lexi by association. I'd been rooting hard for the twins early on, but as soon as they stole James and Abba's money, and Trey and Lexi went along with it, and they all just giggled about how awesome they were for doing so -- yeah, shitlist, big time. UGH.

And then N&N were *worse* last night, which -- ugh ugh ugh. They were so awful about, and toward, Josh and Brent, omg. I have already repressed most of what they said, but it was enough to make me pause almost any time they opened their mouths and go do something else for a while because I couldn't cope. (This ep took a looooong time for me to watch.)

And they were even entitled about their "allies" (wtf, it's the final legs! You do not ally with two other teams to keep everyone together! It's a RACE!)."Everyone should wait for us while we do the Speed Bump! Oh no they're all leaving us!!" Gah.

I was very stressed out when N&N and the farmers were heading toward the mat, and so freaking relieved when it was the farmers.

And then in the second half, I really would have been okay with either of the m/m teams, as long as Trey and Lexi didn't get it. That was a great final challenge, and clearly tough enough that all three final teams were on pretty even footing -- and then given how astonishingly bad Josh and Brent are at directions, them finishing the task first was no guarantee that they wouldn't straggle in third regardless.

So, yeah. Phew.

I would have been absolutely happiest with a James and Abba win; those guys were just awesome. But go go goat farmers! \o/

Comments

[kass]

Holy wow, watching that friending meme explode has been amazing. I'm having so much fun paging through the replies, finding some old friends again and meeting a ton of new-to-me people, too.

[arduinna]

Man, me too -- I've rediscovered people I lost track of and have met all kinds of new people. My reading list is hopping! I'm having a blast.

[natmerc]

To make errors in the last leg is horrible, but Josh and Brent held it together and didn't go into a meltdown. They were my favourites of the three teams left as well, but when I saw one of the challenges involved directions, I figured they were toast. Glad to be proven wrong, but I would've been happy with a Chippendale's win too.

Nadiya and Natalie became their own worst enemies in the last few legs, but they never pretended to be anything other than their self-serving selves. They lost a lot of fans during that money-grab fiasco. Strong team overall. In a weird way, if the Amazing Race ever did another reunion show (I normally dislike those), I'd like to see them on it. I'd be interested to see if some life lessons sink in.

The money-grab incident was very interesting for me. Self-serving is one thing, but having qualms and letting your better instincts be overrun by the moment is one with potentially longer after-affects (I'm speaking of Trey) and it's something you can't get back. The world watched him be convinced to take the less "socially acceptable" choice.

Good show. Amazing editing (as usual). There was a bit about halfway through the last hour where I went "are they foreshadowing a Josh and Brent win?".

[arduinna]

I was always sympathetic to the racers who were frustrated/annoyed with Nadiya and Natalie's style, because god knows I don't handle loud, yell-y people well, and their default setting seems to be top-of-lungs yelling. But sitting at home, I could deal with it; whatever, people are how they are. And I could admire their willingness to dig in and get things done; the time the one of them kept sticking her entire head and all her hair in the barrel of rotting fish, wow. That is determination and grit right there, and I love that in a team.

The money grab tipped it over the line from willingness to do whatever it took to succeed to willingness to do whatever it took to make someone else lose, and there was just no going back from that.

... huh, reunion show. They'd be a great pick for that, between being such a strong team and the chance of a redemption arc. (But hopefully without calling each other "twinny" all the time. It's as grating as all the endless "babe"s on the dating teams.)

I just looked up the cast bios, and it turns out Trey and Lexi were the youngest racers this year, just 23 and 22, respectively. I have a little more sympathy for Trey in that case; 23 is really young to be under that much pressure, especially given how overwhelming Nadiya and Natalie can be. But still. Dude. Bad form.

I love the editors so much! And the cameramen, whose ability to pointedly film a clue box without the racers noticing them doing so is unparalleled. *g*

[natmerc]

I'm not suggesting a reality TV show, but if/when they cancel it, a 1-2 hour special on "Life on the Amazing Race Road" with footage on how they managed to get some of their shots and some of the things they had to deal with would be fantastic. I love behind the scenes shows though.

[marthawells]

I first thought they might win on the leg in Spain, where they ran up to the windmill and calmly said, "We have one of these on our farm, but it's not nearly as nice as this." So glad they beat the Twins.

[arduinna]

I loved that! They had this lovely competent vibe going -- when they weren't flipping out, anyway.

[meganbmoore]

Hi! I didn't do the friending meme yet (so shy about those!) but I'm guessing you may have found me through people there? I trust umadoshi's taste in people.

I look forward to reading more of your posts.

[arduinna]

Hiya! And heh - I had to go hunting back to figure out how I found you, if it wasn't through the meme; I had your journal open amidst a bunch of others I'd opened to poke at from there and assumed that was where I'd found it.

Turns out it was actually via fandom_icons! I saw your Call the Midwife icon announcement the other day and clicked through -- I'd sort of randomly found the series on PBS a couple months back and loved it, but haven't seen much about it fannishly. I still have that icon post open in a browser on a different computer to leave a comment (and snag one or two *g*), but in the meantime I'd glanced through some of your other entries and saw that you watch Haven, OUaT, Revenge, POI, Elementary -- bunches of stuff that I'm watching and liking. I would ordinarily have been more shy about adding someone out of the blue, but since I thought it was via meme, I just went ahead. Glad I did, though, as long as it's not a problem for you! You seem very cool.

[meganbmoore]

YEah, CTM managed to go completely under the fandom radar, sadly. (So did The Paradise, it seems, another recent good one, if not as pro-female relationships as CTM.)

We have mutual good taste, it seems.

[arduinna]

Oh, I hadn't heard of The Paradise! I'll keep an eye out for it.

[ithildin]

I always make myself do friending memes, even though my little voice says no one will be interested. Then, of course, my little voice is right! LOL Usually, when I ask if someone would like to be friends, I friend them and they don't friend me back. Oh well, life is always some form of grade school, I suppose.

As for Amazing Race, I totally missed them stealing money. I must have missed part of an episode. Wow, if I'd known that, I'd have disliked them even more. They were totally obnoxious last night, and I desperately wanted them not to win. I was rooting for the goat farmers against the threesome alliance. No idea why the Chippendales, who seemed decent guys, threw in with that lot.

[arduinna]

Aw! FWIW, if you did the LJ version but not the DW, try the DW one -- it seems way more active, and people are definitely still posting their info and getting some response.

And, er. *kof* I never ask; I figure if someone's put their name in, they're okay with being added, so I just add them. If they add me back that's cool, but even if not, I've got more people to read, and if I comment on their journals they'll get to know me eventually that way. I think I've added more people than have added me for this, but there's a fair amount of reciprocation happening in both directions.

The theft was *so wretched omg*. There were three teams in a travel agency: Nadiya and Natalie, Trey and Lexi, and James and Abba. J&A had put their bags down, then picked them up to go talk to an agent, and didn't notice that the hundred bucks they'd gotten for the leg had fallen onto the counter (very neatly, even; it must just have slid out of a pocket in a backpack).

Nadiya and Natalie saw it, and where any other person EVER would have said "oh, hey, you dropped your money!", they just took it, saying "oh look, someone left their money" and giggling. They showed it to Trey and Lexi; Lexi was as amused as they were, and willingly went along with splitting it between them to "share the guilt". Trey was more doubtful, but let himself be talked into it. They never told J&A, who never once suspected that the money had been stolen by another team (because that is such an unthinkably crappy thing to do!); they assumed it had gotten lost in the cab or something, and that it was on them to replace it. They had to go out on the streets of Bangalore and beg for money, which they felt completely gross about, and did what they could to make it as non-gross as possible.

Meanwhile, the other two teams giggled about it off and on for half the episode. It was revolting.

I'd been rooting for the twins early on; I'm not a fan of their loud style or personalities, particularly, but they were motivated and strong and willing to do what it took, and I thought they were good racers. But that money-taking, man. That was the end. (They never got called on it because *technically* it wasn't stealing; they didn't take it from James and Abba's possession. They were just picking up "abandoned" money. But it was still completely gross, and even worse when they turned out to be the sort of people who expected everyone else to wait for them to finish their speed bump instead of taking advantage of an actual Race-induced advantage. Bleah.)

I don't think the Chippendales had any idea what the other two teams were like; for them it seemed to be all good-natured competition with no malice at all, and all I can think is they projected that onto the other teams.

[ithildin]

Hmmm... I always feel like I have to ask if it's okay. Maybe I'll try your version :)

I must have been pulled from the room, which is very likely. UGH! Well, I'm extra glad the goat guys won. I was rooting for James and Abba before they lost the passport.

[arduinna]

Yeah, James and Abba were my first pick right up until they finally had to go. Such good, solid, competent, nice guys!

[natmerc]

Hey there. Added since I didn't know you're on DW too. Starting to play in this sandbox now that I have more time.