Monday, November 20, 2006

Amazing Race 10 - Episode 10

The show started at about 7:20p after 60 Minutes.

Aired Nov. 19, 2006

First, threw was a quick review of last weeks show showing an Airbus A340 taking off in the night.
Picking up from where they left off last week, they had to go to capital of the country in which Chernobyl is located, which none of them knew was Kiev, Ukraine. No blame there the average person does not know this anyways.

James and Tyler were the first to get the clue as they repelled down the tower first.
Next Kandice and then Dustin went down the Tower; while Kandice was coming down and the camera was looking up there was an airplane flying right over at the time; I was not able to see what kind it was though.

Lyn and Karlyn were the last to start the task.

Tyler and James arrived at the airport, and then Dustin and Kandice were behind them
Then Lyn and Karlyn deserted Edwin and Godwin and headed for the airport
Next were Rob and Kimberly to finish and head for the airport.

It was quite late when they arrived at the airport; 9:17p at night. There were no flights that day to Kiev; the next flight was at 8:25a the next morning arriving at 1:25p via Vienna; so of course they were pissed as they had lost their lead.

There was also another choice to take another airline that left at 9:25a via Warsaw. Strangely enough they did not show the airliners; I was pretty upset about the aviation aspect of this segment.

Really the choices through Vienna was on Austrian Airlines; a Fokker F70 connecting to an Airbus A319; it is hard to be certain about this as I am not certain when the race was run. If it was say in June then Finnair has a 10:00a nonstop flight that arrived at 2:00p

The Warsaw options were on LOT Polish Airlines; possibly an Embraer 170

The interesting thing is that had they not gotten to the airport so late that night, they would have perhaps made the 8:45p Lot Polish flight to Warsaw, Poland, overnighted and gotten to Helsinki first thing in the morning, but oh well.

It is still hard to figure out the schedule since it is post facto.

Rob and Kim have to get their tickets at 6a. as they arrived after the ticket office closed.
They then showed a Qantas Boeing 767 at the gate while all this was going on; I don’t even think that Qantas flies a 767-300 into Helsinki; geez…They codeshare with their partner Finnair over Bangkok or Singapore.

So they all get in at the same time at 1:35p despite the different flights. Oddly enough they did not show a map of the route…

Next morning, they showed an Airbus A340 taking off, then an Alitalia Boeing 777 landing, then another A330 taking off; good Lord, is there no one at CBS into aviation or travel?

One of the flights was delayed; the one going through Warsaw, so those three teams were not happy.

Then they showed a Boeing 737 landing in what I assumed was Kiev.

The teams found the clues in the parked cars in the airport; they had to go to the Oster tank school for war training.

Dustin and Kandice and James and Tyler were the first two out and followed a cab driver to their destination; smart.

They then showed a Lot Polish Boeing 737 landing with the other three teams; Rob and Kim; Edwin and Godwin and Lyn and Karlyn.

It is funny or ironic that one of the Cho brothers was wearing the “LOST” shirt as they got lost… Finally one of the Cho brothers found a cab to help them.

This was a Road Block to Drive Tanks; one team member had to do this task.

Rob was having difficulty driving the car.
James and Dustin drove the tanks.
Dustin passed James as James stalled the tank.
Dustin finished first ahead of James to collect the next clue which was to drive 43 miles back to Kiev to apartment #33 in a building to receive their next clue.

Kim took the road block for Rob and Kim
Finally Lyn and Karlyn arrived and Godwin and Lyn did the driving.
So the Cho brothers waited for the girls; they really need to get it together, this waiting thing is driving me crazy, it is a race guys.

Rob and Kim’s car broke down as it overheated, hey were given a replacement car, but no time credit.

The Cho brothers were going the wrong way and had to ask for directions. Meanwhile James and Tyler and Dustin and Kandice found the lady and got their next clue.

It is a Detour: Make the music or find the music
Make the music is to do a rap song about all the countries they’ve visited.

Find the music – go to the National music academy to find a piece of music and give it to a player.

Dustin and Kandice – Make the Music
James and Tyler – Find the music

Edwin and Godwin stopped again to ask for directions; good grief, it is driving Lyn and Karlyn crazy and me too…

Rob and Kim chose make the music.
Finally the Alabama girls left the Cho brothers and tried to find the place on their own.
James and Tyler found the piece and gave it to the player as the blondes did their rap.
The girls got the clue and so did the boys: drive two miles to the great patriotic war museum which is the next pit stop. So now the race is on between Dustin and Kandice and James and Tyler for 1st place.

Ron and Kim did the rap
So did the Cho boys and Lyn and Karlyn
Rob and Kim then headed to the memorial accompanied by two locals
James and Taylor were the first to arrive and they won a trip for two from Travelocity to Puerto Vallarta
The Chos were still asking for directions
Dustin and Kandice were #2 to arrive
Rob and Kim were #3
The Chos’ switched to Find the Music
Uh oh, the Chos are in trouble as they drove down a closed street and had to show documents to the cops
Lyn and Karlyn were team #4 to arrive; good bye Chos…
Finally the Chos were released and arrived at night at the monument with the somber music.
They were eliminated.
Looks like next week they are in Rome; let’s see if they get the aviation aspects correctly, but somehow, I doubt it.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Amazing Race 10 - Episode 9

I made it home quite early and was able to watch the show in its entirety after watching "60 Minutes" tribute to reporter Ed Bradley who had died the previous week.

The Nov. 12, 2006 episode
On the 4th largest island in the world (says the narrator Phil), Dustin and Kandice were the first to leave at 2:56a. The new task is to fly to Helsinki, Finland (HEL) where they had to find the coffee house.

They then showed a Boeing 737 taking off from some airport, then showed an Airbus A340 taking off; I could not really tell which airliner it was.

They were all given tickets to Paris, France as flights were limited, and then they could get to Helsinki after that. However, they did not have to use those tickets; they could also make their own arrangements. The flight left to Paris left at 9:40p. I think this was on Air Madagascar’s Boeing 767-300 service. There is an Air France flight, but that was just after midnight.

Tyler and James left at 3:06a.
Ron and Kimberly 3:14a.
Edwin and Godwin left at 3:24a.
All teams received $265 for this leg of the trip; this perhaps means they have a lot of traveling to do.

The blondes were looking for other travel arrangements at the airport when they were joined by James and Tyler and then Rob and Kim showed up as well
Their inquiries had yielded a routing going through neighboring Johannesburg, South Africa (JNB) then connecting to Helsinki to arrive at 10:20a.

Lyn and Karlyn were the last to leave at 3:55a and ended up catching up the others and barely caught the flight after talking to the person in charge to get them a ticket for the flight at 4:55a for the 5:00a departure. The others were not too happy when they showed up.

I was still unsure of the exact routing, but Phil did explain that they flew first to Johannesburg to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (ADD) to Frankfurt, Germany (FRA) and then to Helsinki.

They were initially shown boarding a Boeing 737 on Air Madagascar which was parked at the hard stand on the ramp. Then they showed an Airbus A340 taking off and finally showing a Lufthansa German Airlines (LH) Boeing 737 landing in what I guess is Helsinki.

The teams would have flown Ethiopian Airlines’ Boeing 757-200 to Addis Ababa, and then I’m guessing Lufthansa’s Airbus A340 to Frankfurt via Khartoum in the Sudan, then a Boeing 737 from Frankfurt to Helsinki arriving the next day after they departed Madagascar.

Now had they taken the 9:40p flight to Paris, they would have arrived in Helsinki at 11:35a as opposed to their journey through four countries arriving at 10:20a.

Rob and Kim were arguing again as they drove to the café in Helsinki. The teams found the computers at Kapelli's café where they all got messages from their families:
Tyler's mom
James' sisters Kandice's mom
Dustin's family

The owner of the café gave them their next clue which was to make their way to Soppeernhaul (sp) school. To do this they had to take a train and car for a total journey of 125 km

Next Erwin arrived and listened to their message
Erwin's girlfriend was on the message and then their mother and sister
Last to arrive was Rob and Kim who listened to Kim' mom and dog give their message.

Lyn and Karlyn kids’ gave them their message as they cried while listening/viewing it.
Edwin and Godwin had trouble finding the train station.

They all were on the same train to Tampere.

Dustin and Kandice & James and Tyler got two cabs that were waiting
Rob and Kim begged on Kim's knees to get ahead of someone.

Lyn and Karlyn just jumped ahead of everyone in the queue and stole a cab
Edwin and Godwin stayed in line and waited; complaining that good guys finish last.

Once at the school they had a Detour
Swamp This - trudge a muddy field in skis
Swamp That - slog through an obstacle course in the mud

Swamp This – The Blondes
Finally Edwin and Godwin got a cab and were now on their way.

Swamp This – The Black girls
Rob and Kim got dropped at the wrong school
Tyler and James did Swamp That
Lyn and Karlyn did Swamp This as well; although they’ve never been on skis before
Swamp That - Rob and Kim
Swamp That - Edwin and Godwin

Once completed, they had to travel by trains to Turku then to Lojya and then take a tram into a mine to get their next clue.

James and Tyler were first then Dustin and Kandice
then Rob and Kim
the Lyn and Karlyn
then Erwin and Godwin
The Blonds passed James and Tyler and took the 3:11p train. Only the Blondes plus James and Tyler got on the first train. Rob and Kim just missed it and have to wait for the next train. Rob was pissed. An hour later they got a train.

Edwin and Godwin met a guy that works for the mining company on the train and he helped them with directions. Basically all the teams asked for directions
Rob and Kim so hates the Black girls

James and Tyler found the mine first, then the Blondes, as they have only one tram, the Blondes had to wait.

Edwin and Godwin needs to get it together and quit waiting for people; after all this is a race and it is everyone for themselves.

The next clue was a Road Block - ride a bike down a steep incline and search for a piece of limestone that has their clue in the town of Lohua; a mining town.

James and Tyler were the first to complete the task
Drive to the Olympic stadium in Helsinki is the next clue
The blonds were right behind them.

Edwin, Godwin, Lyn and Karlyn all arrived the same time so they took the same tram down. Ron and Kim got lost once more and continue to argue
Finally they found the place.

Rob caught up pretty good as he rode pretty hard.
Godwin came up first, then Rob, then Karlyn
they all got on the train to come back up to the surface.

The blondes asked for help and followed a guy, meanwhile at the stadium James and Tyler could not find the flag that marked the door to enter; once they found it, they had to go to the top of the Olympic Tower and perform one more task; rappel down the tower face first; so I think this will continue next week I'm sure.

Tyler was first down; James is afraid of heights though; all three teams arrived at the same time.

The next clue for James and Tyler says "Keep Racing..."
Next week, they go into battle...

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Amazing Race 10 - Episode 8

I had two friends tape the show for me as I was out of town on Sunday. It was great as I had a chance to watch it over and over while on a plane, having downloaded it while waiting at the airport. Thanks guys.

The Nov. 5, 2006 episode

The race started with the teams on Mauritius (MRU) at Chateau Bel Homme.
Dustin and Kandice left first at 3:00a.
The next task is to fly 700 miles to Antananarivo, Madagascar (TNR) [an island just off the coast of southeast Africa], the girls had trouble pronouncing that word, but I could understand that. The teams had to search for the Black Angel that has recently been painted white.

As Phil narrated the task ahead, they showed an ATR 42 landing somewhere (I’m assuming Madagascar). The aircraft did have Air Madagascar markings so I’ll give them some credit. They had a choice of either flying Air Mauritius or Air Madagascar.

These airlines don’t share their schedules so you have to go to their Web sites at www.airmauritius.com and www.airmadagascar.com. Looks like the flights are not daily and there is only one per day at 11:30a and sometimes at 3:00p or 4:30p, depending on the day of the week on Air Mauritius.

Air Madagascar has a better schedule at 10:10a on Mondays and they codeshare with Air Mauritius at 11:30 on Tuesdays, 6:30p on Wednesdays, 9:30p on Thursdays, including the same schedule on Tuesdays. 3:00p with Air Mauritius on Saturdays and 4:30p on Sundays also with Air Mauritius

Then Tyler and James left at 3:05a.
Rob and Kim at 3:09a.
They were quarrelling about choosing the car as the two girls left their broken car that was in an accident but it still worked.

As usual, Tyler and James are confused about directions
Erwin and Godwin left at 4:04a.
Lyn and Karlyn left at 4:05a.
David and Mary left at 4:08a.

At the airport first to arrive there was Dustin and Kandice
They checked with Air Mauritius for tickets and the earliest flight at 11:00a; I hate when the teams think they have an advantage and they don't really do; this is so crazy.
Eventually all the other teams arrived and they were all on a level playing field

They showed them getting on a single aisle airplane and then showed a Swiss MD-11 taking off, geez... I don't even think that Swiss serves Mauritius and actually I think they have gotten rid of all their MD-11s! Then they showed an Airbus single aisle plane or a Boeing 737 aircraft landing in where I assume was Madagascar. It was hard to see the logo on the tail, so I can’t really tell who the operator was. I know for sure it was neither an Air Madagascar nor an Air Mauritius plane as the colors were wrong; it was all white. So chances are the plane was not even landing in Madagascar!

They did show some of the contestants arriving at the “Arrival” sign at the airport and then getting into the cars. As they drove along, Kim said something about breathing in exhaust is bad for you and Rob said that these people die a lot younger here; wonder when he became the expert on that topic? Adding that most of them don't get enough protein and so their brains don't develop as much...Sure Dr. Rob.

Three teams saw the Angel and as it is not black, they all passed it and continued their search. Smartly enough James and Tyler saw it first and went to it. They found a new twist; an Intersection (two teams must partner and work together) as the next clue for the game.

James and Tyler teamed with Rob and Kimberly, there was also a fast forward; eat cow lips was the task. The blonds arrived at about the same time and now they had to wait for another team to arrive.

The other three teams (the six pack) were just driving around at this moment, trying to find the place. Soon, David and Mary showed up followed by Lyn and Karlyn. Edwin and Godwin were approached by the Beauty Queens as they did not want to work with any of the others...

The tasks:
Long Sleep - wrap mattresses and deliver them
Short Letter - travel by van 3.5 miles to make 23 sheets of hand crafted paper

Long Sleep - Dustin and Kandice plus Edwin and Godwin also Lyn and Karlyn plus Mary and David (they wanted to do the Fast Forward, but were talked out of it by Lyn and Karlyn)
Fast Forward - James and Tyler plus Rob and Kim; they all had a hard time eating the cow lips. Now they were all arguing about whether or not they made the right decision about eating the cow lips.

David and Mary argued while they got the beds wrapped.
Edwin and Godwin had the girls ask for directions; it was weird as they were dirtying the mattresses...finally the eight mattresses went crashing down for Mary, David, Lyn and Karlyn.

The other groups were not having much luck as well.
Dustin, Kandice, Edwin and Godwin's guide left them to fend for themselves
The next task is to first split back into their normal teams and then travel 4 miles to Tohotohobato Ambonorona Analakel for their next clue.
Try pronouncing that one, ha!

The team of Edwin, Godwin, Dustin and Kandice were the first to start on this task.
Meanwhile the other team of four was dragging the mattresses through the streets and also going the wrong way.

The cow lip eaters were also having a very hard time as well puking all the time.

Dustin and Kandice found the clue first; Edwin and Godwin had difficulty finding a cab and also their cab ran out of gas.

The task:
Find 4 Rubber Stamps then go to the Cathedral Andohalo
Dustin did this road block while Kandice waited at the pit stop for her to arrive
Then Erwin and Godwin found the clue and Godwin went to find the stamps while Erwin waited by the pit stop. By now Dustin was done.

Tyler kept saying that the other teams would never get done before the others (little did he know...) Finally the cow lip eaters finished and got their next clue now we had four teams heading to the pit stop.

Dustin ran out of gas in her cab. So did Godwin. Dustin and Kandice were the first to arrive and won a trip for two to Hawaii.
Lyn did the stamp search for the two girls and Mary did it for the other team.

James and Tyler were the second to arrive.
Rob and Kimberly were the third to arrive.
Where is Godwin?
Finally they (Edwin and Godwin) both arrived as team number 4
So now the race is on for David and Mary plus Lyn and Karlyn
So who will arrive last?
David and Mary arrived fifth; but as they were marked for elimination, they had to wait 30 minutes; so Lyn and Karlyn now have 30 minutes to get there; will Lyn do it?
So of course, the cab runs out of gas.

So you hear the music as Lyn arrives and here and Karlyn are checked in as team number 5, which means that David and Mary were eliminated; with still twenty minutes to go on their wait clock.

I’m actually sad to see them go...