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Archive through May 10, 2005

The TVClubHouse: Amazing Race ARCHIVES: Amazing Race VII: AR General Discussions: General Discussion (ARCHIVES): Archive through May 10, 2005 users admin

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Julieboo
Member

02-05-2002

Monday, May 09, 2005 - 6:57 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I think Rob is nice mainly when there is potential for it to help him.

Jimmer
Member

08-30-2000

Monday, May 09, 2005 - 6:58 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Rob was clearly being funny when he referred to Meredith in that manner. It may not have been nice and it may have been in poor taste but there was no real meanness or anger to it and no one could think that Rob was remotely serious. And, sure Rob is nice to locals when he wants something, but my point is that he continues to be nice to them when he no longer needs to be. In fact he is nice and polite pretty much all of the time. And, I can’t imagine what people would have been saying if Amber had acted like Gretchen. Picture people's reaction to Amber climbing into the elephant and screaming at people to get out of the way!

With respect to U/J giving Meredith and Gretchen clothes, if Rob and Amber had done that some people would argue that Rob was only doing that for his own benefit to keep a weaker team in the game. All part of his nasty "evil" strategy you know.

All I'm saying is that it is a matter of interpretation. Some people see negativity or something self-serving in Rob's every action. I think this is a hangover from his performance on Survivor and something which I'm sure many of the successful Survivor players have to live with.

Auntiemike
Member

09-17-2001

Monday, May 09, 2005 - 7:05 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I wonder if we can ever assess Rob and Amber fairly, because as you said Jimmer, they have their previous reputations to 'color' the perceptions. I would be curious to imagine what this season would have like with R/A on TAR and we did not know them. Just like all the other couples; starting with a clean slate.

How would we look at them then? I would think that we would think pretty kindly towards them (with a few flaws, of course). But then all the other 'nice' couples have a few flaws too. Hmmmmm.....

Kep421
Member

08-11-2001

Monday, May 09, 2005 - 7:12 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
There were times when Rob almost won me over at the beginning of this season. At one time I actually thought, hey...maybe I got him all wrong. But then he went back to refering to people as "too stupid", "no where as good as us", "blind leading the blinder", and countless other "funny and non-malicious" statements that he "didn't mean seriously". There were times when even Amber looked embarrased by his statements about other people.

I agree its all in the interpretation. Ah...the power of the beautiful smile. Lets you say the ugliest things......

Julieboo
Member

02-05-2002

Monday, May 09, 2005 - 7:13 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
:-)

Jimmer
Member

08-30-2000

Monday, May 09, 2005 - 7:32 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
You’re right about that smile! It does let him get away with saying some things because people do not take it the same way as they would if he said it without a smile. My wife is always telling me "It’s not just what you say – it’s how you say it" (which drives me crazy by the way ). But I’m not sure that this is wrong?

And, I agree that Rob really seemed to get on a negative roll on that one show.

The funny thing is that you don’t have to convince me that Rob has shown some less than perfect qualities on TAR (as Auntiemike and I mentioned I’m not sure it’s fair to include Survivor as we can only imagine how other TAR couples would perform in that game).

But I still enjoy watching him and Amber more than 80% of the other teams we’ve seen over the years. And, like very few people here it seems, I am a very big Amber fan.

Kep421
Member

08-11-2001

Monday, May 09, 2005 - 7:50 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
That's funny Jimmer...I think the non fans of Rob/Amber are the minority!!!

Juju2bigdog
Member

10-27-2000

Monday, May 09, 2005 - 10:31 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Surely I am not the only one who agrees with Rob? The whirling dervishes did look dead. I mean the expressions on their faces. Dead dead dead.

The montage of them all whirling together was quite beautiful.

Jimmer
Member

08-30-2000

Monday, May 09, 2005 - 11:42 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Yep .... To it put another way, they certainly didn’t look full of life – kind of like spinning marionettes. It’s certainly not something we see everyday. That’s just an observation – not an insult. I also thought that they looked quite beautiful, though I can’t imagine watching them for an extended period of time.

Kep, When I talked about being in the minority, I was referring to my being a big fan of Amber. Although many people here seem to enjoy Rob and like Rob & Amber as a couple, most are pretty indifferent or even negative about Amber.

Brenda1966
Member

07-03-2002

Monday, May 09, 2005 - 11:51 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I thought they were kind of creepy too. Neat and amazing, but strange.

I agree with most everything you've said recently Jimmer. I also agree that Amber fans were few and far between. I think she has gained a few with this show. I certainly like her a lot more than I did from Survivor.

Kep421
Member

08-11-2001

Monday, May 09, 2005 - 11:56 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Well we are in concert when it comes to Amber Jimmer...I like her...liked her in Survivor too... She seems like a kind person with a gentle nature...

...have no clue what she's doing with Rob....but she certainly seem to be able to handle him...

Fruitbat
Member

08-07-2000

Monday, May 09, 2005 - 1:07 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Jimmer, I agree with both you AND your wife.

Juju, me too. I have seen them in person and they look like they are in a bizarre moving stasis waiting for an alien force to awake them and take over their minds, eat them or whatever they do.

Twiggyish
Member

08-14-2000

Monday, May 09, 2005 - 2:30 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I would think the dervishes are in some sort of trance in order to keep whirling without getting dizzy.
I'm also liking Rob and Amber much more with TAR!

Calamity
Member

10-18-2001

Monday, May 09, 2005 - 3:03 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
The whirling dervishes: Yikes. Not to nag but that's a rather harsh way to describe someone else's religious and cultural tradition. I thought it was fascinating and beautiful, even more so when I read up the subject. One of the things I love about TAR - learning more about the world! All about Turkey

Amber: I wasn't a fan of Survivor: The Australian Outback (basically gave it up during that horrible pig hunt although I did tune in to the show for a few minutes every once in a while after that) but I did see a Reward Challenge where they had to throw a boomerang. Jerri was the only one who had done well and when it came to Amber's turn, she copied Jerri - throwing the boomerang in the same direction that Jerri, but no one else, had. End result was they were the only two who were even close to the target. I think that shows that Amber can be very observant and shrewd. I also remember how the other players practically froze out the winning pair when they returned to camp after the Reward (whatever it was) which I thought showed pretty lousy sportsmanship on Colby's/Tina's/et al's parts. And then in All-Stars, Amber certainly held her own. So while I wasn't a fan of her's, I certainly respected her. I simply don't like the nasty side Rob has shown repeatedly, their let-our-guide-basically-do-all-the-work strategy, their Survivor-esque scheming, and their blandly shiny tv personas that leave me with the feeling I'm watching an hour-long Old Navy ad and not TAR. Plus they used the d*mn Yield, grrr! In my defense, I have complimented them at times too. Even though it felt like it would almost kill me, lol.

No offense intended

Seamonkey
Member

09-07-2000

Monday, May 09, 2005 - 6:45 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I'm a fan of both Rob and Amber.

And I do believe it was Amber who said the dervishes looked "creepy". Seems like an honest opinion. Can't imagine why that is harsh.. remember last season when some religious leader was blessing the teams and one of the women got all huffy about it.. THAT was harsh, I think.

I heartily agree that preconception plays a huge part in our reactions to these teams. In the last episode, Uchenna, nice guy that he is, clearly a friend to Meredith and Gretchen, even tried to help them with the boats (I bet Joyce would have let him have it had they lost that footrace to the pitstop later).. anyway, a bit later when Meredith and Gretchen showed up at some place said something like "there's the old people". Just imagine if ROB had said that

Tntitanfan
Member

08-03-2001

Monday, May 09, 2005 - 7:16 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I too think the dervishes must be in a tracelike state to not get dizzy - this from a person whose head spins after three or four turns in ballet class. I noticed the very strange positions of their heads - way over to one side. Wonder if that position would help my turns??

Spear
Member

08-06-2001

Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 1:04 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
It was Ron who said, "Here comes the old couple", not Uchenna.

Kep421
Member

08-11-2001

Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 4:14 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I watched a special on dervishes on a special HD Discovery channel...they detailed how they learn to dance and what the dance means...

I don't remember why the head is tilted...but if you noticed their hands...they had one tilted palm up towards the heavens and the other palm tilted down towards the ground. The dervishes believe that by spinning in this way, they are being conductors for God....bringing His love, energy, etc. to the peoples of earth. Its a huge honor to be a dervish... and they practice for hours and hours. There is only one shop that makes the hats (they showed us how...fascinating). When a young man decides to become a dervish, the hat is made especially for him.

Julieboo
Member

02-05-2002

Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 6:37 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Yes, Spear is correct, it was Ron. And even still, using old in that context is not mean, just descriptive.

Tntitanfan
Member

08-03-2001

Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 6:39 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Thanks, Kep! That is interesting information!

Dancers "spot" to (supposedly) keep from getting dizzy. This means to pop the head around and focus on the same place after each turn. Skaters "blank" their vision as their turns are so much faster and usually more numerous as well. I suspect the dervishes do something like the latter technique

Texannie
Member

07-16-2001

Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 7:30 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I can't wait for tonite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cinnamongirl
Member

01-10-2001

Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 11:14 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Karma is on the finish line for 'Race'
By Robert Bianco, USA TODAY

Win or lose, it's Rob and Amber's Race.

And that's the whole problem.

There's no denying that Survivor transplants Rob and Amber have brought a sharper edge and energy to The Amazing Race, which sprints to the finish line Tuesday night with a two-hour finale (CBS, 9 ET/PT). From the opening episode, they've been the team to beat and the team everyone wants to beat.

Like it or not — and I can't say that I do — in the reality world, Rob and Amber are stars. And like many stars, they've done more than just attract fans and detractors. They have reshaped the show in their image.

In the short term, that's fine. Ratings are up for this Emmy-winning series, long the best of the reality crop, and the show has never been a hotter topic. But if the change is permanent, watch out. Even if you love them, do you really want to see an entire Race contingent made up of mini-Robs and Ambers?

What Rob and Amber did was transplant to Race the tactics, strategies and snippy attitudes they used on Survivor. This around-the-world Race has always attracted competitive people; races are, after all, competitions. But where previous racers mainly focused on finding a way to win, Rob and Amber devoted considerable energy to making other teams lose. That particular form of bad-sport ugliness is their gift to the Race. My fear is that it's a gift that will keep on giving.

The flaw in their approach is that many of their more blatant efforts to undermine the other players — fiddling with bus doors, tying up computers, planting seeds of doubt — used up more time than they gained. Some of their tricks were even counterproductive, which is the price karma extracts for deviousness.

Oddly enough, they were far more successful when they just sat back and relied on the kindness of star-struck strangers, who either recognized them from Survivor or were drawn to the cameras and offered their services as guides and aides. We can question whether the show should have allowed them to take such help, but we can't blame them for accepting it.

We can, however, blame them for the dismissive insults they hurled at their helpers behind their backs. And that behavior illustrates the danger of contestants drawing on the reality-TV well once too often: Eventually, we're going to see more of them than we like.

Yet somewhat to my surprise, the show's virtues as a game and as a travelogue have managed to compensate for newfound flaws, particularly in the home-stretch scramble from India to Istanbul to London. And after all, Rob and Amber isn't the only team left.

True, we've lost Meredith and Gretchen, a delightful older couple who, given the chance to make a wrong choice or turn the wrong way, invariably did so. But we still have Ron and Kelly, who were responsible for one of the season's most amusing "What can you be thinking?" moments: her insistence that his stint as a POW somehow reflects poorly on his ability to commit.

Best of all, we have the married couple Uchenna and Joyce, who have taken great joy from the race and brought amazing grace to it. I'm hoping they win, but even if they don't, they may prove that it is possible to make it through the Race without embarrassing yourself or annoying a watching nation.

That's a victory right there.





Kep421
Member

08-11-2001

Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 11:19 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
wow....only thing this guy left out was the conspiracy theory...He nailed it!!!

Cinnamongirl
Member

01-10-2001

Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 11:20 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
except for maybe calling Gretchen delightful

Kep421
Member

08-11-2001

Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 11:25 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
LOL Cinnamon...as much as I liked that couple, Gretchen's voice 'bout drove me to shoot myself...