I don't have very many critiques this week, because the nerds had a lot of professional help and--as quite often happens--the Nerd-Off was a matter of luck, not studying. So it will probably be short.

---

I liked both songs...they were each catchy in their own way. (I can also tell how good they were by the fact that they kept jumbling in my mind! I'd hear the hook to "Nerds are King" while the instrumental of "Talk Nerdy to Me" was playing in the background, for example.) And my girlcrush on Moo is definitely growing bigger, because not only did I think she was hot in her rap clothes (*embarrassed giggle*), but I think my favorite part of the whole song experience was her rap. <3

I definitely think that the Nerd-Off was fair and balanced. The trivia ones, you had to study for and if you didn't study the right way, you were out of luck. The other challenges were based around luck, but also on dexterity (like when Brandon lost because he couldn't control his golf cart). But this one was definitely balanced--you could either imitate what was on the screen or you couldn't. No subjectivity about it.

I'm sorry to see Virgil go, but I can't say I think it wasn't inevitable. Yes, I wanted Danielle and Ivan to go, but I also knew that--despite how potentially wonderful Blextrophy's song would be--it was almost certain they would lose, in which case Virgil would lose the Nerd-Off. I'm truly amazed at how much Viv doubted herself. Yes, she'd had very little experience with the game; but as I said before, it's a matter of whether you can imitate the screen, not chance, not luck and not hinging upon studying.

 

Based on the fact that we're in the merge and this week's theme is "Enginerds", we'll probably see everyone building their own robot or something. The preview photo on Facebook looked like something was going to be blown up, and I definitely saw glass being broken in the preview at the end of last week's show!

I have no idea what they're going to do for the final week, because the episode title is "A King is Crowned". Should be interesting!

 

Good luck to everyone trying out for next season! I wish I had the chops to join you!

---

Randomness of the Week -- Six Degrees

 

(Garfunkel and Oates star) Kate Micucci <on Raising Hope with> Martha Plimpton <daughter of> Keith Carradine <older brother of> Robert Carradine...

 

I know I keep saying that this doesn't work in the Carradine family, but fuck if I don't love this British/Irish/Aussie phrase...

 

AND BOB'S YOUR UNCLE!

I thought I'd toss around a few random thoughts that are floating through my mind...

~*~

When the show started--or just before--there was mention of a "twelfth nerd", some sort of blogger/YouTuber/someone (female, I think) who was going to give us the inside scoop on the show. (Probably...I really never even paid attention.) Well, I just went looking for this "nerd" and there's nary a mention on the TBS page anymore. Maybe they realized that the contestants are so young and connected that it was inevitable that their Twitter feeds and Facebook pages would heat up and take care of the background information and this nerd wasn't needed anymore.

It's kind of a shame, because if the position still existed, I thought it might be something I'd like to "audition" for. I enjoy watching the show, but I honestly couldn't keep up with the amount of information from popular culture required to not only make the show, but to not fizzle within a week or two when competition starts. (As I mentioned before, I'm Jeopardy/literary sorts of geek.) But--as you can see--I do a decent job with writing and would probably have a lot of fun with the opportunity to officially blog about the second season of the show for TBS. (I could honestly function within a defined set of parameters for each show...my current entries are only as long as I have ideas for, which is why they fluctuate from week to week.) Nevertheless, if anyone wants to make a suggestion to the people at Turner, I wouldn't be averse to it.

 

Moo has an IMDb page! *applauds with excitement and joy* I put in a request for it on January 23, so I'm glad to see they finally did something about it. I'm hoping they'll process my updates just a little bit faster than that. (They may not accept her birth date, though, as I submitted a link to a twitter conversation we had as proof.)

Heartmom said she needs a picture on her page, but last I checked, IMDb charges something like thirty-five or more for one freaking picture. Terrible! Oma also suggested Wikipedia, but I shot that down. Out of the two that are out there, Danielle has been recommended for deletion and Virgil gets to keep his because there are several articles out there that mention him as a hacker. They did that to me, too...said I wasn't famous enough and that even having Amazon reviews wouldn't help me, because they were subjective or something like that. Pissed me right off and made me vow that when I become a notable author someday (and it will happen, even if I only have a niche following like my favorite authors), I'll have my "people" ensure that I never have a Wiki page. If they don't want to accept me when I'm a small-time novelista, they don't get me later, either.

 

When I get my life a little more in order, I'm going to make a mini-Moo! I wanted a full size doll of the good doc, but prices have gone up twenty-two since the last time, so mini it is. They come three in a package, so I'm giving one to Oma and Moo has said she'll take the third. If I get more interest (and enough people), I'll place orders for multiples, so they'll all look the same. (Can you imagine mini Moogegas spread throughout the world? HA! Nerdvana indeed!)

Mini-Moo's hair might not be as fluffy as real life due to size constraints, but--having a full size already--I can promise you that they will do an excellent job and the dolls will be ours to love and cuddle (and send positive energy through, in my case) for years to come. Here's the one I have of my beloved Jamie:

(Taken on the day I got him...can you tell?)

I promise that as soon as I get things straightened out, I will let you know about ordering...and I'll post a photo when I get her.

---

The week is still ahead of us, beloved nerds! I was sick at this time last week (I have 2:22 on the clock and I was so nauseated, I couldn't sleep! OI!) so I will have to do my best to take care of myself this week.

Have a good few days and I'll see you on Friday (or Saturday) when I'm ready with the blog for "Nerdy Dancing". Ciao!

 

 

 

 

P.S.: Hey, did you all let your nerd colors fly and support Bobby's daughter Ever by watching this week's episode of Bones? I did...and I have to chuckle, because now that my dad knows who "Lewis Skolnick" is, he always asks me to point Ever out when she shows up on something we're watching.

Since I can't think of a witty opening this week, I'm going to start off by saying, "I don't have a high intelligence quotient." (At least as far as I know. I took a test once, but I'm pretty sure the proctor never contacted my parents with the score, or my mother would've told me.) (Besides, who gives those tests out of their home?!) Now, if "IQ" stood for "imagination quotient", my number might be rather high. I may not be a famous, best-selling author like Stephen King or Suzanne Collins (yet!), but I knew that I had a huge, vivid imagination even before a psychic told me so last month. (Both my mothers and more than a few of my friends have mentioned it, and I may have even had an inkling when I was a little girl. After all, what better company can an only child have than her own mind?)

But I've drifted. Off to this week's game.

 

While I've never solved a Rubix cube (the only person I've seen do it other than Celeste re-stuck some of the stickers--she claimed it was necessary), the puzzle element reminded me of those...ah...I think you'd call them "spatial reasoning" tests that some employers give you. (When they get into complicated figures, pattern sequences and algebra, it makes you wish for the personality tests of old...and wondering what the hell it has to do with retail!) If I was in the mix, I'd probably stand back and allow someone like Celeste to take the lead; but if I really had to, I'd try to figure it out. If I can manage those spatial reasoning puzzles with a bit of thinking, surely those cubes wouldn't be too hard.

My heartmom (yes, I converted her!) mentioned Thursday night that SFO crowded Moo when she was trying to solve the Sudoku puzzle. While the crowding wasn't quite as bad as I imagined, I do agree that the good doctor should have been left alone. She solves those puzzles for relaxation, for the sake of the Goddess! What the hell did y'all think you were doing, getting in her way?! I though Rob's reaction to the teams going through the fountain was funny. Yes, one would think that the teams would go around the fountain, especially since they wouldn't have to worry about crashing into each other, but who says nerds have to be logical?! *giggle*

The big topic of the week seemed to be "drunk Moo". (Okay, so that's all Doc seemed to be tweeting about Thursday night. HA!) As someone who has only gotten drunk once in her life (in Ireland, of course), I can see where this might be a big deal. At least I know when I finally meet her that I can happily accept all the hugs she promises, but will have to politely deny any alcohol that isn't prepackaged. I may not like Josh, but I'm going to trust him when he says Moo makes a kickass drink!

I think this is the first week where I've had no idea what the Nerd-Off was ahead of time. While matching is a reasonable game that even I can handle, I'm used to viewing the board from above, as with traditional matching games. I'm not sure how well I would've done with the puzzle at eye-level and the Gauntlet of Distraction was--as promised--quite distracting. (I would've muttered Kan'non wa watashi o tasukete!* when I was heading for the sumo!) That being said, the funniest part of this week's episode was Josh being tossed around like a rag doll, especially since he had the audacity to claim he was immovable! Hey Josh...how 'bout you have a few dozen bowls of chanko-nabe** and come back and try that again, hm?

---

Now that we're more than halfway through competition, it's time for the unenviable task: running down who should be in the final four. So I don't play favorites, I'm going to take the remaining competitors in alphabetical order.

 

Celeste Anderson: My heartmom pointed out that she doesn't think Celeste has any real talents other than solving cubes. Whether or not this is actually true, I still like Celeste. She has a certain no se por que and she might surprise us with her abilities in the end.

Danielle Mackey: I've developed a bit of a love/hate relationship with Danielle. I thought she was a decent player at first, but now there is just something about her that is getting on my nerves. If she has to go to the end, fine, so be it...I'm certainly not going to cry foul over it. But otherwise, let's see her out in week seven. 

Genevieve Pearson: has pep and drive. I can't point out any specific reason why she should be in the final, yet I can't readily pinpoint a weakness that might make her an ineffective competitor for the crown, either. (I only recently realized she's a fellow novelista. If she has books, I'd like to read them!)

Ivan Van Norman: As much as I'm disinclined to see SFO lose for three weeks straight, some serious paring needs to be done in order to have the best team for the final four. Although I would settle for week seven, I would like to see Ivan out next week. He is becoming progressively cockier as the weeks go on and I am surprised at the temerity he demonstrated when he visited Blextrophy's sleeping chamber to demand whether they felt that he was truly the right choice for this week's Nerd-Off. Not only that, but if he is allowed to stay, he will continue to attempt to form new alliances behind everyone's backs--and that is something that cannot be permitted.

Moogega Cooper: I have a "womance" going on with Moo. Do I really need to defend her? I don't think so. I'm just going to say that I don't like the fact that the good doctor was mentioned as a possibility for the Nerd-Off this week, but that I find it necessary for her to be mentioned (and possibly even put at risk) if I intend to see her take the crown at the end of the game.

Virgil Griffith: I stand by my earlier statement that while screwing Viv over wasn't the best idea in the world, the whole issue got blown out of proportion in the end. Virgil has worked hard to redeem himself in the past few weeks and has done an excellent job of blending into the background lately. I agree with my heartmom that an all-female final would be great, but if I had my way, I would choose Virgil over Danielle to go all the way to the end.

 

Your thoughts on the final four are welcome. Hit me up at @DayaRyelle on Twitter...or if you're really lucky, I might answer you at my new Tumblr.

 

 

===

*"Kannon help me!" (Kannon is more popularly known as Kwan Yin)

**The protein rich stew famously consumed by sumo.

Greetings, nerds and nerdettes! Another weekend is upon us and that means another new episode of our beloved King of the Nerds! Huzzah!

 

This week's Nerd War was the best since "Imaginary Realms". I have to admit that I didn't really form an opinion on each argument...I was paying more attention to who was more forceful in their convictions, made a better presentation, etcetera. My thoughts on each round are below--bold is my personal choice for winner, italics is who actually won the round.

Round One: Alana versus Ivan (two stars) -- I couldn't make a decision, because while I feel Alana had a reasonable argument, I agree that Ivan had a strong presentation. Nevertheless, Ivan's argument seemed rather roundabout and circular and I had a hard time figuring out what side he was on--even with identification shown on the screen!

Round Two: Joshua versus Genevieve (five stars) -- Viv trounced Josh, easy. I love how enthusiastic she was and she has a point when it comes to heroes attracting villains. To me, it's really hard to argue with the evidence that Mr. Mxyzptlk came to Earth for the sole reason of pissing off Superman.

Round Three: Danielle versus Celeste (four stars) -- I really felt bad for Celeste. She knew nothing about the topic and had massive stage fright to boot. I wish I could've gone on for her, actually. I don't get stage fright that easily (I'm more nervous of missing my lines, which wouldn't have been a problem with that debate) and once one of the competitors pointed out the whole task was really to write a short paper on the topic and present it, I realized it would've been a breeze for me.

With my scores (and possibly deciding for Alana in my tie, considering how confused Ivan left me), Virgil and Moogega would have had to have debated. And that, of course, I would've liked to see! But at least I got plenty of fulfilling Moo-ness this week. <3

 

Bitch Move of the Week: Ordinarily, I wouldn't advocate for giving these "awards" to those outside the game; but exceptional circumstances call for exceptional moves. This week's award goes to Kevin Smith. What kind of dickhead praises Viv right and left and ultimately awards the round to Josh?! At first, I thought Viv's reaction was a little overdramatic, but it was one of those things where, after you think about it for a couple of minutes, you realize she's absolutely right and you'd probably be freaking out in the same fashion. (Or at least I would!)

Dumbass Move of the Week: "My husband and I have a whole storage unit full of comics. I don't need to study." Kids, always study! I know I don't practice what I preach (I hate studying), but for that Nerd-Off, I definitely would've been on Wiki the whole two hours. In fact, I'm not sure I would know what to look for, so I would've taken any advice I could've gotten from my teammates.

---

Slightly off topic from the show, I read a review Thursday night that complained that Bobby (yeah, there I go with "Booby" again..."Rob" for the rest of the post) looked like he was there for the paycheck only, and that Curt looked like he was alternately ready to torment the teams and join in.

Yeah. Okay. Sure. How 'bout you run right back and check the four Nerds movies, hmm?

Booger was Off. The Freaking. Wall. Calm was not in his dictionary...or at least not in his dictionary as it related to him. Lewis was the antithesis of Booger. Calm, perhaps somewhat reserved, very polite and very rational. Remembering that and seeing Curt and Rob in action, how then can you expect them to be any different?

Oh yeah. You can't!

 

Never having met Rob, I can't say for certain, but he's always struck me as quiet and reserved. If you want him in a movie or on a television show, you have to pry him out of the (proverbial) woodwork first. I don't mind saying that he's probably perfectly happy at home with his lovely wife and his music. (I read a while back that he likes to play guitar, among other things.) Plus, his youngest is twenty, so he and Edie are probably still in the first flower of their "empty nest romance renewal" (or whatever you'd like to call it).

You want action and adventure, check out the movies of his late brother, Dave. After all, what was he best known for? Kwai Chang Kane and Bill (of Kill Bill fame), of course--kick-assery right to the end.

You want wit so dry, it makes the English laugh? (I'm sure of it!) Check out his next older brother. (Better to go for season two of Dexter or his appearance on Big Bang Theory...Cowboys and Aliens was great, but he gets abducted partway into the picture.)

But if you want sweet, quiet and unoffensive, Rob's your man.

I almost thought I wasn't going to be able to see this week's episode, owing to the fact that the feed I've been viewing decided it was going to buffer like crazy. But last night, I decided I was going to tough it out and I'm glad I did--it finally stopped and I was able to watch in peace.

---

This week's episode title makes little sense, I'm going to say right off. I realize that another word for "frontier" is "border", but that still doesn't really make sense in a real life gaming situation.

That being said, "Games without Frontiers" skewed to the boring side of things. I honestly thought an episode involving "live gaming" would be a little more exciting, but I guess every episode can't be "edge of your seat viewing". (Or "fall out of your bed", if you happen to like to watch KotN while lying on your bed, as I do.) Honestly, if you're going to do something with live gaming, try making it a little more challenging, a la Legends of the Hidden Temple. What's more fun, flying around these little helicopter things or running around obstacles, attempting to put puzzles together and constantly looking over your shoulder for temple guards? Yeah, I thought so!

Oh and what was up with the Nerd-Off? Driving golf carts via remote control? In the words of Seth Meyers: "Really?!" Could the properties department not put in some sort of restraint system in each cart, hand out a pair of helmets and say "go to"? Gods, I could imagine getting into one of those carts, flooring it and yelling my head off as I tried to get the ball into the goal! Better yet, make it a little more difficult...hand out Nerf guns and let the competitors shoot at each other while they're trying to score. WeeeeHA!

 

Jerk of the Week: Josh. Did you really have to tell Danielle that you were going to vote for yourself in the Nerd-Off? Was that really necessary, among teammates and friends? What was the point?

Dumbass of the Week: Danielle. Usually, you're pretty sharp on the uptake, so I don't get why you believed Josh when he said he was going to vote for himself, when he clearly said he was going to vote for you five minutes before. I didn't think you were actually that thick, but people can surprise me.

The I Almost Shot You Award: Genevieve. Fortunately, she covered her tracks on Twitter, saying that she's not usually a morning person...she was just up early in that particular episode because she was nervous. (All right, then. :> )

 

Can't leave out my favorites!

Brandon: WAH! He lost the Nerd-Off! I'll miss his razor sharp wit (and a few things I didn't even know were going on behind the scenes, 'til I saw them on YT. Heh, heh!) The show (twitter) feed said, "Good night, sweet prince...we'll miss you." I'd like to take the opportunity to use the full Shakespearean quote: Good night, sweet prince. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest. (Hamlet) | Typical that he was kicked off the show just as I was starting to "fall in like" with him.

Celeste: Was this week's episode as much of a...ah...clit block for you as it was for me? You have phenomenal cosmic powers and they had you blow them on a simple little quadcopter course, where the most exciting thing was the fire gate. *sigh* | I hope they don't waste your talents so badly in the future. (Though way to psych up Virgil for a great run! Woohoo!)

Moo: I know I saw my beloved Dr. Moo this week. I saw her giving...what do they call it? Confessional interviews? I saw her flying a quadcopter. But I think my Twitter interactions with her this week were far more entertaining than what I saw on the show. Oh well...every week can't be perfect.

~*~

Sorry for such a short blog this week, but that's what happens when the episode lacks pizzazz. I know most of you come in from Twitter/the internet to read this, so you probably know my handle, but if you don't, I can be reached for questions and blog ideas @DayaRyelle.

 

Until Friday...or later...

---

 

Recently Finished: Oh Myyy! (George Takei), For Love of Evil (Piers Anthony)
     I've seen lots of memes from George, but I didn't like his page or follow him on Twitter until one day when I stumbled on the fact that he had a book. So I read an excerpt on his site. And then I read the first three chapters for free on Amazon. And finally I pirated the whole damn book and found it a worthy read. He hit his intended point--the book was so amusing that I followed him on Twitter and liked his Facebook page immediately after.
     I'm not into fantasy, per se (despite something a psychic once told me), but I read the Incarnations of Immortality books when I was younger and decided I wanted copies to keep on my tablet. The only one I have yet to read is the much-maligned Under a Velvet Cloak...I'll let you know how that turns out.

Currently Reading: And Eternity (Piers Anthony), Endless Highway (David Carradine)
     AE has become what many see as the official end to the IoI series. I've discussed EH before, but let me just say that you shouldn't label Bobby as "plain" and "upright" until you read stories about the stuff he and his brother used to get into. (Nerds, can you imagine him in a Ferrari, tearing around the track at Daytona at 150 MPH? Yeah, I can't either. But David said it happened. xD )

Currently Writing: Back from the Edge, a story seed I've been nursing for a long time. I was re-inspired to work on it while re-reading For Love of Evil. (I won't bore you with a blog entry about it, unless I get some interest from the twitter folk.)

Looking Forward To: Monday Mornings (on Tuesday nights, thanks to having to watch it online). I've been a fan of Alfred Molina since Spider-Man 2 and some suggest that the "Chelsea General" of Dr. Gupta's book is a veiled reference to the hospital at the University of Michigan, so I'm in. (If mentioning that I like Spider-Man doesn't built my "nerd cred", check out my first novel. I didn't mean to write a glorified fanfic, but the annotated edition explains all that.) (Which reminds me...I really need to redo the annotated edition, so I have more than the hardcover, and eEditions out!)