Big Brother Australia...Emotional Hijacker

First word of the day..."Whinge".

Whinge is Aussie slang for complain persistently in a peevish or irritating way.

Tully managed to be both peevish and irritating, FOR FIFTY-SEVEN DAYS. Even in situations where a positive attitude would have served her better, Tully radiated negativity, polluting the positive air with her constant whining, ABOUT ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING.

Second word of the day..."Sook".

Sook is Aussie slang for sulk, often to the point of behaving like a small child. It is also used to describe an overly emotional or sensitive person.

"Typhoon Tully" threw a tantrum whenever she didn't get her way, which was often. Attempts by reasonable adults to address her immature behavior were met with hostility and resulted in more tantrums.

Tully also used frequent histrionics to emotionally hijack situations that revolved around others. One of many possible examples of this was Tully's predictable sobbing fits during evictions that drew the attention away from the evicted housemate and onto her.

Last word of the day...

It is a universally recognized word for a woman that flagrantly disrespects the feelings of her significant other by engaging in romantic behavior with someone else.

I don't think that any of you need me to tell you what it is.

Survivor: Blood vs Water...Hasbeens and the Meatheads That Love Them

I am cautiously optimistic. I cannot allow myself to become enthusiastic about this new season of Survivor because the last time I did that Jeff Probst and his accomplices (fellow producers) pulled a bait and switch and assaulted us with the Phillip Sheppard Show for most of the season. Lesson learned.

One of my hard and fast rules regarding reality television is to be disdainful of hasbeens (returning players), however, I am happy to make exceptions when Boston Rob, Phillip Sheppard, and Russell Hantz are not invited to play, and the newbies entering the game know that they are going up against hasbeens and are good with it.

That being said, let's review some of the finer moments from the season premiere.

Colton threatening to smack Kat with his paddle if she didn't stop yelling at him made me almost like him.

Candice massacring a coconut while she plotted revenge against those responsible for her banishment to Redemption Island made me smile in anticipation of the good times ahead. A pissed off Candice is a fun and entertaining Candice.

Candice slaving at the Redemption Island camp while Rupert lounges about like he's on holiday can only be fueling her aggravation. An even more pissed off Candice has even more potential.

Gervase conveniently forgetting that he was useless and had severely handicapped his team during the Immunity Challenge made his obnoxious victory celebration that much more ludicrous.

Hayden sheepishly admitting that he and his fellow tribemates are a bunch of meatheads saved us the trouble.

Which brings us to our favorite shit stirrer. When Jeff is not making the survivors spill their guts at Tribal Council, he is exploiting their dysfunction by openly mocking them during challenges. All for our amusement.

All of this fun almost makes one enthusiastic for the new season. Too bad history tells us that we must not label a season of Survivor "good" until we are sure that none of the survivors are pretend secret agents disguised as Boston Rob disciples.

Time will tell.

Big Brother 15...Game Over

It ends today. A floater will be declared the winner. The loathsome bigots will return to the real world where they will face some very real consequences for their abhorrent behavior. And, hopefully, the certifiable nutjobs that have been masquerading as "fans" will abandon their harassment of the families of the houseguests that they "hate" for normal pursuits such as gainful employment or community service. After today, life should return to whatever passes for normal when Big Brother is not twisting it into something virtually unrecognizable. Finally.

But first...

A few last words.

Huge disappointment.  McCrae had what it takes to dominate this game, but inexplicably chose to let his obnoxious hook-up dominate him and his game.

Go Candice.  Amanda thought that she was going to bully her fellow jury members, until Candice led the charge that shut her down.

Poor Judd.  Judd is the lone man trapped with a group of bitter women. Enough said.

Repugnant.  Anyone with Spencer's views of women and people of a different race or sexual orientation should be segregated from civilized society.

Appalling.  There is no legitimate excuse for someone GinaMarie's age to be as ignorant as she is.

Irritating.  Everything about Andy grated on my last nerve. All. Season. Long.

Shameful.  CBS perpetuated hate, and then tried to deny responsibility. This season of Big Brother will be its legacy.

It will never be forgiven or forgotten.

Big Brother Australia...Sleep, Gym, Eat, Tan

Word of the day..."Figjam", which is an acronym for Fuck I'm Good Just Ask Me and is an Aussie nickname bestowed upon people who have high opinions of themselves.

Matthew drew nominations from members of the "misfit" group for his perceived arrogance toward them. He was also regarded as a "meathead", a muscular guy that talks of little besides weights and the proficiency with which he lifts them, and couldn't be bothered to deviate from his rigid daily schedule of sleeping, working out, eating, and tanning with his fellow "popular" housemates to talk to anyone outside his group.

Consequently, Australia's voting public couldn't be bothered to vote to save Matthew, the fourth consecutive "popular" housemate to receive the least number of votes to remain in the game.

Matthew is also the fifth consecutive housemate that has been nominated by Tim to be forsaken by the voting public.

Coincidence? I don't think so.

Big Brother Australia...Galah

Word of the day..."Galah", which is Aussie slang for a loud-mouthed idiot.

Though Heidi was not an idiot, unless you count that time she picked a fight with Tim, she definitely had the loud-mouth part down like a champ. Her normal speaking voice obliterated all other sound in her immediate vicinity, and her voice raised in irritation or anger had the power to deafen. A bullhorn could not be more effective.

Heidi was a member of the "popular" group who frequently fraternized with members of the "misfit" population, earning their trust and then using the information that she got from them to foment gossip and cause trouble. Perhaps my memory is faulty, but didn't she castigate Tim for doing the same thing?

When Big Brother mandated that the housemates base their nominations on strategy last week, Heidi tied with Tim for the most nomination points because she was considered one of the biggest threats in the game.

And then the voting public of Australia gave Tim three times the number of votes to save than it gave Heidi, sending Heidi packing and making us wonder...

Who will the public choose when it is down to Tim and Ben?

Big Brother 15...Offensive Hypocritical Bully

Julie Chen is a coward. She seemed to be as intimidated by the verbally aggressive Amanda Zuckerman as most of Big Brother's houseguests were this season. After Amanda plunked herself down next to Julie to a chorus of boos from the audience and then joked about not being liked, it was clear that she couldn't have cared less about what people think of her. Amanda had proven all season that she lacks a filter of any kind, and her post-eviction attitude seemed to make Julie afraid to do her job.

Amanda Zuckerman bullied her fellow houseguests into letting her have her way. Failure to get her way led to taunts and other pathetic displays of immaturity that would make any self-respecting teenage mean girl cringe in embarrassment for her. She constantly played victim and claimed that she was being bullied, as she was threatening people. In a feeble attempt to appear as if she was doing her job, Julie gently inquired about the perception that Amanda was a bully, then let Amanda vehemently deny it, then let Amanda claim to hate bullying, and then let Amanda get away with contradicting herself by admitting that she bullied Elissa.

Like Aaryn Gries, Amanda Zuckerman made many offensive comments while in the Big Brother house, but, unlike Aaryn, Amanda was not confronted about any of them. Nor was she confronted about the hypocrisy of her warnings to Aaryn about her comments leading to her being perceived as a racist. Aaryn Gries was not treated unfairly by Julie Chen and CBS when she was confronted about her racist remarks because she should have been confronted, but it seems that she was not treated equally because Amanda Zuckerman should have been confronted as well.

As for Elissa...She entered the game with an unfair advantage, and should be grateful for the "angel" edit that she got, considering the reek of superiority and entitlement that emanated from her all summer long. Her remarks to Julie during her post-eviction interview proved that she was too clueless to have gotten that far in the game without a lot of help, and, if her classless exit from the Big Brother house is any indication of what life is going to be like in the Jury House, then Amanda and Aaryn are in for a miserable time.

Good.

Big Brother Australia...Gobsmacked Again

Phrase of the day..."Shits me up the wall", which is popular slang among Australians for "drives me crazy".

Caleb was a slob, particularly in the kitchen where some of his messes were potentially hazardous to the housemates' health, and irritated Tim, who declared Caleb messy and stupid and then nominated him for being "a sheep".

Caleb also ate a lot, which irked Ben, the self-appointed Condiment Police, enough to throw some nomination points Caleb's way.

Lastly, Caleb was a good bloke and pegged to win by his fellow housemates, making him a target for those who base their nominations on strategy (Jade).

For the second consecutive eviction, the voting population of Australia has shocked the housemates with its choice, and it is clear that it is not as in love with the "popular" housemates as they are with themselves. Why? Probably because they are not as fun to watch as the self-proclaimed "misfits", who manage to find more to do than just work out all the time...I am looking at you, Boys Club.

It should also be clear to anyone paying attention in the game that, while Tim's shit stirring may drive his fellow housemates to declare war, his shit stirring is the thing that endears him to the public, and, since it is the public that will have the last word, Tim's enemies openly oppose him at their own peril.

Just ask Jasmin.