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Ar_jammer
Member
11-17-2004
| Thursday, November 18, 2004 - 7:14 am
I love this show. Been watching a long time and have decided to join the fun here. Here are some links associated with the first episode. There are tons of Iceland links. So I just thought I would post a few. Very cool online map. You can find Seljalandsfoss waterfall and Vatnajokull glacier easily on this map. I find it incredibly humorous that people got lost using highway 1. It’s the only major road across southern Iceland. http://www4.vegagerdin.is/thjonustukort/Grunnur.html?lang=eng You have to scroll down to find Seljalandsfoss, pretty cool Iceland has so many waterfalls! http://www.republika.pl/waterfalls/islandia/islandia.htm Vatnajokull map from a tour company: http://www.glacierjeeps.is/map.htm Google search: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Vatnajokull+glacier+tours And last, The Blue Lagoon in Grindavik. This is such an awesome place. http://randburg.com/is/bluelagoon/ Google Search: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=Grindavik+Blue+Lagoon&btnG=Search Hope you enjoy the sites.
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Colemank
Member
08-05-2004
| Thursday, November 18, 2004 - 8:03 am
I live in Iceland for 4 years while my DH was in the air force and we were stationed just out of Grindavik in the town of Keflavik. I am quite surprised at the speeds that the people drove and the passing, etc. Icelanders are notorious for their fast driving but those contestents were far outdoing the Icelanders! Highway speeds there are very similar to that of the states and run about 60 mph, maybe a tad more but nothing like they drove. I had to laugh at all the contestents running up to the Locals and asking for help in such a rushed manner and running away from them after seconds. Icelanders are very laid back and mellow. They are such a helpful country and actually go out of their way to help people. Made me wish that the contestants weren't in such a rush so that they could have enjoyed some of their insight. They would have been especially helpful to the women of the race. Women and children are held in the highest regard... And I have to say for Avi and Joe, "stick to the highway". Those back roads in Iceland are terrible and not known to actually get you to where you are going. Maps make it look like they continue through, but alot of times they don't. I am totally surprised that they actually made it to the Blue Lagoon taking back roads. I loved seeing the Icelandic horses and sheep on the side of the road. THat is totally how it is there. Sheep free range EVERYWHERE. They are not fenced in, and when driving you better hope you don't hit someone's sheep. You pay restitution (is that the word I am looking for?) to the family that owned the sheep. You pay for that sheep and so many generations of lambs from that sheep. All that careless driving could have cost someone ALOT of money. I have to say, I am surprised that they picked that Seljalandsfoss waterfall though. Sure it is nice and you can walk behind it and everything, but they have a much nicer water fall a bit farther out called Gulfoss and it is by far a much more amazing scene to view. Makes Seljalandsfoss look like a baby...
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Daphnematthews
Member
07-22-2004
| Thursday, November 18, 2004 - 9:35 am
Colemank wrote: I had to laugh at all the contestents running up to the Locals and asking for help in such a rushed manner and running away from them after seconds. Icelanders are very laid back and mellow. They are such a helpful country and actually go out of their way to help people. Made me wish that the contestants weren't in such a rush so that they could have enjoyed some of their insight. They would have been especially helpful to the women of the race. Women and children are held in the highest regard... * * * * * * * * * Maybe that explains when how Rebecca poured in the wrong gasoline, it was generously syphoned back out without Rebecca and Adam seemingly having to pay out of their budgeted money for the man or gas station's service to get their car running again. Maybe it was the adreneline of last night being the first leg of the race and people will calm down but it didn't look to me anybody was enjoying the race for the experience of seeing what they were seeing. It made me miss Kim and Chip.
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Max
Member
08-12-2000
| Thursday, November 18, 2004 - 10:10 am
Well, this was a first for me. First time ever that within 5 minutes of watching him, I can't wait for Jonathan to be gone! Even before the race really started, when they were just doing the interview shots, he irritated me. Needless to say, after he acted like such a jerk through the whole first leg (yelling at Victoria and calling her names, standing in the boat even after the driver told him to sit down and just generally being an irritating human being), I'm REALLY hoping that they go early. Really, so far, there's no one that I'm rooting for. We have teams that act nice to others then call them names behind their backs, teams that yell and call each other names, teams that make Americans look like buffoons in other countries, players who can't read maps, players who don't like being out of 4-star hotels and so on. It will take a few episodes before I can sort them all out and really decide if I like any of them. I miss Chip and Kim, too.
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Calamity
Member
10-18-2001
| Thursday, November 18, 2004 - 10:50 am
Ar_jammer: Welcome to TVCH and thanks for those links! Colemank: Thanks for that background info on Iceland! Some day I just have to take a TAR-inspired trip around the world, visiting all the show destinations that have captivated me! I already have a list of places, lol.
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Hughie
Member
09-04-2004
| Thursday, November 18, 2004 - 12:54 pm
I read on another web site that johnathon and Victoria are porn stars and if you put their names in search engines you come up with the information.
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Sasman
Member
07-08-2003
| Thursday, November 18, 2004 - 1:02 pm
A minor point but it got me wondering: Why were there 3 flights from Chicago to Iceland all landing within 5 minutes of each other? Is there something about Iceland that appeals to Chicagoans? The wind, the cold, the lousy Cubs? (Sorry, that last one was a little gratuitous. ).
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Roxip
Member
01-29-2004
| Thursday, November 18, 2004 - 1:08 pm
Isn't Iceland one of those "midway" points where lots of flights to different places kind of land at? Maybe on their way to Europe (sorry, geography is foggy and I don't have a world map handy). Here is a blurb I got off a website... Why Iceland? Well for one thing it's close to both Europe and The U.S. Reykjavík is closer to New York than for example Los Angeles. It's clean and unpolluted to not to mention that that it's very safe. The people are friendly and multilingual. The food and entertainment are first rate and, yes it's beautiful.
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Thursday, November 18, 2004 - 1:11 pm
Too funny, Sassy. I've always wanted to go do Iceland because Bjork is from there and she's about the coolest thing going. Early episodes are hard for me. I can't keep up with the names and the narrative is too diffuse.
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Jan
Member
08-01-2000
| Thursday, November 18, 2004 - 1:16 pm
Ar-jammer welcome to TVCH. Did you join just to give us those links? Thanks for being so helpful and considerate. There's lots to see here at TVCH so don't forget to check it all out. Check theTopics thread (or maybe you are a longtime lurker and know all about this place  ) Colemank, thanks for your info also. It sounds like a great place to live. Iceland is a place I would love to visit.
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Sasman
Member
07-08-2003
| Thursday, November 18, 2004 - 2:23 pm
Tish, yeah I cannot remember the names even at the end of the race. Sometimes I manage to remember the two names of a team but not which is which. For me its because I think I am getting more and more senile.
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Lumbele
Member
07-12-2002
| Thursday, November 18, 2004 - 2:38 pm
Welcome to my world, Sasman. Nicknames for the teams always worked much better for me.
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Colemank
Member
08-05-2004
| Thursday, November 18, 2004 - 3:37 pm
You are welcome to everyone who thanked me for the info on Iceland. roxip wrote:Why Iceland? Well for one thing it's close to both Europe and The U.S. Reykjavík is closer to New York than for example Los Angeles. It's clean and unpolluted to not to mention that that it's very safe. The people are friendly and multilingual. The food and entertainment are first rate and, yes it's beautiful. ********************************************** I will agree that Iceland is a very safe country. Many of the store fronts open to the street and have wide sidewalks, when shopping the women leave their babies outside in their prams unattended. If the baby fusses, etc whoever passes talks to the baby, pats it, soothes it (does not pick it up) then when the baby is calm they go on their way. Crime is nearly non existant there. their biggest crime is dui... Their blood alcohol level is half of what it is in the states and police can arrest you for intent to drive which basically means the police park in front of the pubs and bars and if they catch you walking to the car with keys in your hands that is intent. They do on the spot breath tests and if you are caught over the limit you are arrested right there. You cannot refuse to be tested at all. Police do not carry guns either. It is the safest place I have ever been to or even imagined exhisted. It isn't uncommon for farmers in the country to leave their doors unlocked all the time and especially in the winter a light is always left on incase a motorist gets into trouble and is stranded. There is an open door policy that if you need to come in even in the middle of the night, come in, grab something to eat and drink, grab a blanket and sleep on the floor or couch and in the morning we will see how to help with the problem. Trusting huh? It was the most amazing place. Wish you all could have been there. Now what would have been interesting to see was a road block where the contestants had to eat the delicacy of "rotten shark" and drank the drink "black death" that accompanies it. My husband was in a rescue unit in Iceland while stationed there and they were called to rescue some Icelandic fisherman, anyway, a banquet was thrown in their honor and they all had to partake of the rotten shark and black death. It was considered a high honor to be offered it in a tribute. My husband said it was worse than anything he has ever tasted in his entire life and my husband can eat anything! That would have been something to see.
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Hummingbird
Member
08-21-2002
| Thursday, November 18, 2004 - 4:35 pm
I thought this first episode was a bit boring in spots and I was glad I taped it so that I could take a break from it a couple of times. I'm sure it will get better if past shows are an indication. I remember watching a Sixty Minutes segment a few years ago where they talked about Icelanders having a high rate of alcolism. I thought about that when the older couple ran into a crowd of inebriated locals.
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Calamity
Member
10-18-2001
| Friday, November 19, 2004 - 10:47 am
Thanks again Colemank! Although I have to admit that I'm glad they didn't have to eat rotten shark and drink black death (what a name!), lol. Eating challenges, icky or not, aren't my thing. But congratulations to your husband in any case! I rarely can remember all of the contestants' names until about 3 teams have been eliminated. And in the case of same-sex teams, it can take me even longer to remember which name goes with which person.
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Cricket
Member
08-05-2002
| Friday, November 19, 2004 - 10:07 pm
So far I'm liking Kris/Jon. I couldn't believe the Jonathan/Victoria team. I kept getting closer and closer to the TV to make sure they weren't really Collin/Chris from last year. Wow, almost like personality clones of them with the controlling Jonathan. What a jerk! I like the father/daughter team as well, but don't think they will be quite fast enough to make it to the end.
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Lancecrossfire
Moderator
07-13-2000
| Saturday, November 20, 2004 - 1:33 pm
Colemank--tahnks for your perspectives of Iceland. I had heard some of what you said--much of it was new information though. I really like that there is still so much trust between the people--it's great to know it still happens someplace.
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Ophiliasgrandma
Member
09-04-2001
| Saturday, November 20, 2004 - 2:26 pm
Didn't they say the glacier was the biggest one in 'Europe'? Iceland must be part of Europe, sort of like Hawaii is USA.
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Gina8642
Member
06-01-2001
| Sunday, November 21, 2004 - 11:04 am
I think Colin and Christie's abbrasiveness had a lot to do with the editing. Whenever I'd watch the longer clips from the Insider, seeing the whole scene instead of snibits always greatly reduced their obnoxiousness. I'm afraid Victoria's husband isn't going to come off that well no matter how he is edited. I do wonder if it is all an act for the cameras. It always seems in the later seasons of these reality shows folks going on sheer obnoxiousness get cast. Like Jon from Survivor. Colin wasn't cast for being obnoxious - at least I don't think he was. I think he just turned into ratings gold in the editing room, not the casting couch. This guy with blue hair I'm sure was an apparent jerk right off the bat.
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Jan
Member
08-01-2000
| Sunday, November 21, 2004 - 11:43 am
OphiliasGrandma, here's what the national Georgraphic site hasa to say about Iceland: "A volcanic island, Iceland is Europe's westernmost country and home to the world's northernmost capital city, Reykjavík. Although glaciers cover more than a tenth of the island, the Gulf Stream and warm southwesterly winds moderate the climate. Most residents occupy the country's southwest. Established in 930, the national assembly, or Althingi, is the world's oldest continuous parliament. Under the Danish crown for more than 500 years, the country became a republic in 1944. Almost all of Iceland's electricity and heating come from hydroelectric power and geothermal water reserves. Explosive geysers, relaxing geothermal spas, glacier-fed waterfalls like Gullfoss (Golden Falls), and whale watching attract more than 270,000 visitors a year. "
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Gina8642
Member
06-01-2001
| Monday, November 22, 2004 - 1:24 pm
My early impressions of the teams: (I'm curious to see if these change much as the season goes on...) Hayden and Aaron - Currently first. Seem like fairly decent types. Seem to work together well without too much bickering - but that is easy to manage from the front of the pack - will it remain so when they are under more pressure? I imagine they will be highly competitive. CBS is probably happy to have two attractive people doing well. Kris and Jon - currently 2nd Wow, it's only been few days and I can hardly remember these two. LOL... Lena & Kristy - currently 3rd I like these two. I've actually asked my sister if she'd do the amazing race with me, so I'm loving it watching two sisters compete. Sisters are different then friends, you are sisters and love each other even when you are very different people. I like the bleach blond’s sense of fun. I think they will be competitive for awhile as long as they don't make a major mistake. They do seem to work fairly well together. Freddy & Kendra - currently 4th Definitely snippy with each other. But I still think they will likely be competitive because they both seem pretty driven. I like the guy better than the woman right now. Jonathan & Victoria - currently 5th Clearly cast to be the villains of the show. I think this guy is probably very obnoxious in real life, but I also think this is an act for the TV cameras. He's attempting to gain attention for his business by being on a TV show. I see Victoria as a trophy wife who's willing to go along for the ride but gets a little frustrated with the act. I think these two are too dysfunctional to last for long, but they may make it several more eppies. I personally don't enjoy this type of stunt casting. I prefer the obnoxiousness of reality TV participants to be more organic (read Colin) and less acted for the cameras (read Jonny Fair Play). BTW - Victoria had the best line of the night when she said: "I'm thinking of changing my name.... I'm tired of hearing 'V..I..C..T..O...RRRR...IIII...AAAA!!!!". Me too Vicky!!! Lori & Bolo - currently 6th The second deliberate casting for a villain. Lots of sniping between the two. Somehow they bother me less than J&V from above. Perhaps because they do this for a living? Or maybe I figure the steroids caused it? I don't know. Again, I'm expecting this team to self destruct sooner or later - too much conflict and not enough logic in their play. Adam & Rebecca - currently 7th. Another dysfunctional couple cast on TAR – shocking, just shocking. Oh well. Their sniping is likely to hurt them, but they seem smart and fit enough to stay in the running for awhile, as long as they don’t melt down on each other. Meredith & Maria – currently 8th I like them, really I do. They seem like one of the most real couples in this entire cast. They aren’t models, they aren’t gay military officers, they aren’t brute strength pro wrestlers – they are just ordinary folk. Which this cast is woefully short on. Unfortunately I do not think they have the chops to go very far in this season. First, they aren’t all that bright about the game. They just seem to go with the flow – i.e., following that other team 1 ½ hours out of the way. They don’t seem quick off the block getting into cars or out of airports. They don’t seem to be working the system to figure out the fastest way to do anything. And, they don’t seem like much of a physical threat. Neither seems particularly fit or daring. Sweet girls, but I expect to see them go very, very soon. Don & Mary Jean – currently 9th Probably my favorite team so far. I like M.J. (as her husband calls her – great nickname by the way). On a shallow note, I think M.J. is one of the prettiest ladies her age I’ve ever seen. I love the hair do. On a game note – I think they are a bit doomed. Like Meredith and Maria, they don’t seem particularly adept at airports, cars, or directions. Nor are they terrible strong. They do seem smarter than M&M and have good people skills. If they are lucky their sheer intelligence may keep them in it for awhile, but I don’t think they will last for long. Gus & Hera – currently last Gus is slightly obnoxious, but Hera is less so. Cool name – Hera. Overall their likeability seems fairly good. However, these two seem a bit over matched by the rest of the field. Gus doesn’t seem terribly fit, but does seem smart. Hera also seems intelligent about the race, but isn’t nutso enough to take stupid risks (good for her in the real world – not sure if that’s a good or bad thing within TAR). I think they have too many liabilities to last long, but sorta hoping they might surprise me. Overall, I seem to like all the teams I think of as weaker. Can’t the TAR casters cast a strong team who is also appealing? Looking forward to the rest of the season.
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Ar_jammer
Member
11-17-2004
| Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 4:12 am
Jan, Well I joined thinking I might have time to post here. Life is kind of busy right now. But I love TAR and I plan on posting more links associated with each episode when appropriate. I used to contribute a long time ago for BB but it doesn't hold my interest any more. Looking forward to tonight!
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