OK. I am back to give my 2 cents worth on The Amazing Race. As usual, the race has been exciting, especially with the teams competing against one another in Italy.
It's great to see Italy (though I have never actually been there) because of its marvelous variety of architectural styles which have been preserved since about 700 BC. It's interesting to see the heterogeneous mixture of buildings from the ancient times and the Renaissance and Victorian periods. What's really sad is that only a few teams actually bother to appreciate the beauty and rich culture of the countries they go to. Most are just interested in coming in first and winning that million dollars, which I think is not so important because these teams are getting the opportunity to visit the many different countries in the world for free, a privilege which most of us can't get.
Right now, my favorites are still BJ and Tyler. Those 2 really know how to enjoy every moment of the race. Everytime they visit a new country, they impress the locals with their ability to speak in the language of the country. They are also willing to thank locals profusely for helping them, a trait that is missing in many other teams. Moreover, they are one of the very few teams which respect and appreciate the various traditions, cultures and attractions of the world. Not only that, they are also very helpful to other teams even though this is a competition. Many consider this a stupid move, but I wholeheartedly praise it. The best thing one can do is to help someone even if you know he's your rival. It shows that you are not a selfish goon who wants to hog the limelight for yourself, but a kind-hearted soul who wants to help people get out of trouble (Btw, BJ and Tyler have always been either 1st or 2nd on this race so far, in spite of all this kindness they have shown which can help the other teams. This shows how good they are as racers, so for those of you who have been thinking they are stupid, think again.). I have been betting my money on BJ and Tyler to win, and their performance last week shows that I chose wisely.
The only thing that irritates me though is their goofy attitude which makes them look like lunatics on TV. Granted, they are trying to enjoy every moment of the race and keep up a positive attitude, but those wacky antics really look so lame that sometimes I find it annoying. Guys, you can be happy all you want, but quieten down a bit and become serious, ok?
So, my next favorite team, Fran and Barry (aka the old couple) have moved up from last to 4th place and have been able to maintain their lead. Everytime I see them , I just hope they don't screw up because they really are a wonderful team, but because of carelessness or some brain retirement, they lose focus and start dragging their feet. However, for the past 2 weeks, they have been doing really well, so congrads folks on a job well done.
Only problem I have with this team: please keep an eye out for that damn clue box! If you guys can't find it even though it's only a 100 meters away from you, it's going to be a tough one for you. Look all around you carefully next time folks. Thank goodness though that this time they only wasted 5 minutes in looking for the clue box.
By the way, kudos to Ray and Yolanda for your wonderful performance at the detours. This dating couple are special, because they challenge the process by choosing detours which a team would rarely choose to perform and they do those detours exceptionally well and still manage to come in as one of the top teams. In week 1, they chose to assemble the motorbike instead of traveling by helicopter (though that was easier). In week 3, they chose to search thousands and thousands of dolls instead of washing Moscow Public buses and last week, they carried a 110-pound heavy bell to a church up a hill (Ok, they did that because they are physically fit.). Moreover, unlike other couples they are decent and do not explicitly show off their lovey dovey on TV. Instead, they are one of the most decent teams that take the race seriously and put in a lot of effort to win.
So far, the Amazing race has been good, but some things still have to be changed. First of all, can the producers get rid of the concept of Yield? The yield is an absolutely selfish, crude and cheap stunt pulled by the producers to allow a team to stop another team from racing for a certain amount of time. It's a move that encourages the potential teams to be cutthroat and hog the finish line first. While I agree that the Amazing Race is a competition and will thus be cutthroat, it is absolutely evil for one team to prevent another team from gaining ground when that other team has not committed any major offences or broken the rules of the game. Everything has a limit, and so does cutthroat competition. In a cutthroat competition, it is all right to refuse to help other teams, but it is absolutely wrong to hamper the other teams' efforts even though it is legal. The only one who has the right to impose a penalty or yield is Phil and no one else, because he's the host and the judge.
When I saw the previous episode, I was absolutely appalled that Lake and Michelle chose to yield Danielle and Dani who were far behind and would never have been a threat to their position. I really wanted to smash the TV when I heard Michelle say, "oh I'm so sorry girls, but we have no choice. Please don't hate us!" So, Michelle, you have the cheek to yield, but you don't want the girls to take revenge on you. How logical is that? If your conscience really felt strongly against yielding, then you shouldn't have even done it in the first place. This is what I meant by the selfishness the yield encourages. Although I did not like the double Ds much, I could not bear to see the amount of stress they had when they knew they were yielded.
An interesting thing I noted: some teams find it very difficult to drive manual-transmission cars! Although I sympathize with these teams, I can't help laughing when they get frustrated over shifting from one gear to the next! And by the way, the inability to drive a manual car is a fault of the team. When you still have manual transmission driving lessons around in this world which is rapidly shifting to automatic cars, there must be a reason as to why such lessons are there. It's because in some countries manual cars still make up the bulk of commercial cars available. So a lesson I learnt from this (and a lesson all future drivers should learn): always learn how to drive a manual car first. Then after you have owned a manual car for about 2 to 5 years, shift to automatic if you want. This will enable you to remember how to drive a manual car because you will get very used to driving one in 5 years. So even after you have driven an automatic for about 30 years and you find yourself in a situation where you have only a manual car available, you can still drive it.
OK, that's all people. I have had enough of boring you people with my recap, so I will be back next time with something else.
posted @ 12:04 PM
