This week's US Heritage lesson will include NASA. And probably regurgitation.
4 comments:
Anonymous
said...
So tell me: were the final standings determined entirely by the order in which teams pulled numbers for the centrifuge spin? Because it sure didn't look like there was much of a challenge after that. (I honestly didn't notice whether there were any changes in order beyond that point.)
Speaking of which, I've got to say that that was probably the least interesting roadblock ever. The only way I could imagine for a team to "fail" on the centrifuge was for the team with the old, weak dad to put him on, and for his heart to fail.
Meanwhile, the detour illustrated an interesting point (which Kim brought up to me): with four-person teams, any task that can be split among all four team members is probably going to be fastest. Hence the lamp-filling and the shrimp-killing being the right choices. (Yes, they were already dead, but I couldn't resist the rhyme. Anybody want a peanut?)
Meanwhile, it also looked like the lower weight of the two kids gave the Gungans (I never remember their actual name) the advantage in the mud. I wonder if that was intentional on the part of the producers? Or did they just get lucky? (Now, if only they'd been singing again this time...)
Incidentally, where was the episode title quote? I missed it. It wasn't when they guy kissed the shrimp, was it?
Pretty much on the final standings. When there's a roadblock (or other task) that only one team can do at a time, it pretty much acts as a spacer, with teams coming out like drips from a faucet. Some more so than others. :)
I suppose you could chicken out at the roadblock, after declaring you'd do it, and I don't think you can go back and switch team members. Then you take the four hour penalty, and go home because you stink and will be eliminated.
Good point on the detour. Although you could argue that the carrying took four people as well--I was surprised the Gaghans didn't take the lamp filling, as presumably the kids could do it, but I suppose they still wouldn't want them lighting the lamps....
I also missed the title quote.
I've got to say this: a bus ride of indeterminate length would drive me nuts. I supposed I'd have to start gaming the situation, and try to think of places that the Race would logically be taking. NASA-Huntsville might actually have come up on that list, at least once into Alabama.
That being said...that was some freakout by the Weavers, eh? And notice that when there's an actual family crisis, no invocations of God. Just when they're lost. Curious. (But that could have been left on the cutting room floor for all I know.)
And if they're going to go to a freakin' Waffle House (just what I always wanted to see on The Amazing Race), shouldn't they have at least had an eating challenge? Or are they saving that for beignets or jambalaya on the inevitable after-the-fact creepy trip to New Orleans?
First, about the roadblock: when exactly would they chicken out? While walking to the centrifuge? Upon seeing it slowly spinning away? At 2.2 G's? (Was there actually a way for them to say, "Stop! Stop!" at that point?) And perhaps more to the point, why would they chicken out?
Next, the detour issue: yes, carrying did take four people, but in series, not in parallel. (Were the teams allowed to split up and carry two injured soldiers at once? That might have been faster! If they had the strength, anyway.)
I didn't even connect that the Weavers weren't calling on God to give them wisdom or strength or anything during their breakdown. (Maybe it's just that I'm still getting the hang of which team is which.) That is interesting, assuming it's accurate; it would almost suggest that their conspicuous faith was a conscious effort rather than something deep and personal. On the other hand, maybe the producers just decided that a bunch of maniacally raving Christians wouldn't play well with the non-crazy religious market.
And Kim and I are both a bit concerned about a likely New Orleans stop. (We actually had the opportunity to go to a family reunion there last spring, but decided that we just couldn't make it. For both of us, one of our first non-tragic thoughts about Katrina was "Too late now.")
Chickening out was a theoretical concept; after seeing it spin while waiting for your turn, you could conceivably freak. (You've seen people do that at amusement parks.)
It's a little late for the producers to decide we don't want manic Christians; they appear two have cast at least two families of such, one of which has been eliminated.
If you were racing North America only, you'd have to take them to the Big Easy, wouldn't you? Just to see the parents of small kids try to explain the Bourbon street bead economy? The only conclusion if this really happens would be that even numbered races are cursed.
The man of many hats (literaly not figuratively), condensed matter physicist, passionate baseball and hockey fan, devotee of the late, lamented Satellite of Love, mutli-pronged geek.
4 comments:
So tell me: were the final standings determined entirely by the order in which teams pulled numbers for the centrifuge spin? Because it sure didn't look like there was much of a challenge after that. (I honestly didn't notice whether there were any changes in order beyond that point.)
Speaking of which, I've got to say that that was probably the least interesting roadblock ever. The only way I could imagine for a team to "fail" on the centrifuge was for the team with the old, weak dad to put him on, and for his heart to fail.
Meanwhile, the detour illustrated an interesting point (which Kim brought up to me): with four-person teams, any task that can be split among all four team members is probably going to be fastest. Hence the lamp-filling and the shrimp-killing being the right choices. (Yes, they were already dead, but I couldn't resist the rhyme. Anybody want a peanut?)
Meanwhile, it also looked like the lower weight of the two kids gave the Gungans (I never remember their actual name) the advantage in the mud. I wonder if that was intentional on the part of the producers? Or did they just get lucky? (Now, if only they'd been singing again this time...)
Incidentally, where was the episode title quote? I missed it. It wasn't when they guy kissed the shrimp, was it?
Pretty much on the final standings. When there's a roadblock (or other task) that only one team can do at a time, it pretty much acts as a spacer, with teams coming out like drips from a faucet. Some more so than others. :)
I suppose you could chicken out at the roadblock, after declaring you'd do it, and I don't think you can go back and switch team members. Then you take the four hour penalty, and go home because you stink and will be eliminated.
Good point on the detour. Although you could argue that the carrying took four people as well--I was surprised the Gaghans didn't take the lamp filling, as presumably the kids could do it, but I suppose they still wouldn't want them lighting the lamps....
I also missed the title quote.
I've got to say this: a bus ride of indeterminate length would drive me nuts. I supposed I'd have to start gaming the situation, and try to think of places that the Race would logically be taking. NASA-Huntsville might actually have come up on that list, at least once into Alabama.
That being said...that was some freakout by the Weavers, eh? And notice that when there's an actual family crisis, no invocations of God. Just when they're lost. Curious. (But that could have been left on the cutting room floor for all I know.)
And if they're going to go to a freakin' Waffle House (just what I always wanted to see on The Amazing Race), shouldn't they have at least had an eating challenge? Or are they saving that for beignets or jambalaya on the inevitable after-the-fact creepy trip to New Orleans?
First, about the roadblock: when exactly would they chicken out? While walking to the centrifuge? Upon seeing it slowly spinning away? At 2.2 G's? (Was there actually a way for them to say, "Stop! Stop!" at that point?) And perhaps more to the point, why would they chicken out?
Next, the detour issue: yes, carrying did take four people, but in series, not in parallel. (Were the teams allowed to split up and carry two injured soldiers at once? That might have been faster! If they had the strength, anyway.)
I didn't even connect that the Weavers weren't calling on God to give them wisdom or strength or anything during their breakdown. (Maybe it's just that I'm still getting the hang of which team is which.) That is interesting, assuming it's accurate; it would almost suggest that their conspicuous faith was a conscious effort rather than something deep and personal. On the other hand, maybe the producers just decided that a bunch of maniacally raving Christians wouldn't play well with the non-crazy religious market.
And Kim and I are both a bit concerned about a likely New Orleans stop. (We actually had the opportunity to go to a family reunion there last spring, but decided that we just couldn't make it. For both of us, one of our first non-tragic thoughts about Katrina was "Too late now.")
Chickening out was a theoretical concept; after seeing it spin while waiting for your turn, you could conceivably freak. (You've seen people do that at amusement parks.)
It's a little late for the producers to decide we don't want manic Christians; they appear two have cast at least two families of such, one of which has been eliminated.
If you were racing North America only, you'd have to take them to the Big Easy, wouldn't you? Just to see the parents of small kids try to explain the Bourbon street bead economy? The only conclusion if this really happens would be that even numbered races are cursed.
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