What is this Speed Racer the Next Generation: The Beginning DVD?

This movie is a complete 180 from what I am normally a custom to watching, I have never watched an episode of Speed Racer before today, the only animated series that I can compare it to would be The Transformers which I watched regularly years ago, is very simpler to this Speed Racer. The Speed Racer The Next Generation: The Beginning on DVD focusing on Speed's orphaned son as he juggles school life at the Racing Academy which includes the pursuit of building a car with a gasless engine, while uncovering secrets behind his father's disappearance. The movie features Peter Fernandez (as Headmaster Spritle) which is the voice of Speed Racer in the classic TV series and the man responsible for the lyrics of original Speed Racer theme song.

The DVD which is released on Tuesday, May 6th, the bonus’s include The Making of Speed Racer: The Next Generation, The Virtual Track Racing Game, Trailer Gallery and more. Speed Racer The Next Generation: The Beginning sets up and launches the new animated half-hour TV series which airs Fridays at 7pm ET on Nicktoons Network and also coincides with the Warner Bros. live-action feature film which hits theatres on May 9th.

This Speed Racer movie is a good one for kids and even though the movie is only 66 minutes long, this would entertain just about any kid.

Now only if automakers could build a car like the Mach 6 in styling and that runs on alternative fuels, we would be all set, I know I would with today’s gas prices, I would like to thank Torr Leonard of M80 and Lionsgate Home Entertainment for providing me with this preview.



The Mach 5, looks like a Chevrolet Corvette to me... Comments.

- Racedriven

What did you think about Big Brother 9: Til Death Do You Part and Adam being crowned the winner?

Well that’s it for Big Brother 9, what a good season this was. I read on a couple of blogs where fans were asking if this was the worst season of Big Brother ever and my response is simply this, no way, Like I said, this was a good season, Big Brother had a good group of characters, the twist of having the 16 houseguests compete as couples was a first in BB history and it was good for a little while.

Now the couples were: Ryan & Allison, Shelia & Adam, James & Chelsia, Matt & Natalie, Amanda & Alex, Parker & Jen and here’s where it got tricky, Jacob and Sharon were the first evicted couple and Neil left due to personal issues, so Joshuah choose Sharon as his partner, so the final couple was Joshuah & Sharon. The couple’s twist which had them play as couples, compete in challenges as couples, vote as couples and interestedly enough, be evicted as couples that gave an interesting element, it forced the houseguests to work together with their partners and if they couldn’t or one of the two in the couples couldn’t get along with the other houseguests, then they were evicted.

I would say there was a huge turning point in the game and boy most houseguests were thrilled to see this come with the once ‘til death do you part twist was no more and each one was on their own, playing as individuals. This new twist would not only save Ryan from being evicted, but in turn he would win him Head of Household, what a power. However with Ryan being saved and Allison being evicted, this would be the week were I believe Ryan made the biggest mistake in the game, Ryan knowing that the POV would be played had to put up another houseguest and some wanted Matt up to backdoor him and Ryan decided to lie to Joshuah, Sharon, Chelisa and I think James instead of just saying he wanted to keep Matt, at the POV meeting, Ryan made his choose to say Matt… in turn I think it cost Ryan with those very jury members.

The other turning point in the game was for Adam came when Chelisa was evicted, in her exit piece, she called out Adam, I believe that Adam by this point was playing a strategy game only, but after this, it set Adam off with winning HOH’s and POV, you know really playing the game.
One move by Big Brother set me off and my headline “Big Brother 9: America’s vote denied by house as James is evicted and voted back in?” says it all. The america’s vote is a way to get the fans involved and for this season it was bring an evicted houseguest back into the house and America choose Alex… well Big Brother decided to let the house decide that and that move was the biggest disappointment in the game, which would lead to the evictions of many. The house voted James back in instead of Big Brother just having Alex return, what a mistake. James wins HOH and promises not to put up Natalie and Matt, but at the POV meeting, puts up Matt and backdoors him. That move put most against James, once James kept winning POV, that’s were Natalie set out to get everyone in that alliance out, James wins POV and Chelisa, Joshuah and then James get evicted one by one.

Finally I look at the jury questions after Natalie, Sharon, and Shelia were evicted, nobody should be judged on what they plan of doing with the $500,000 if they win. Most likely the winner will pay down debt, buy a new vehicle, help their parents, maybe a charity or whatever, they shouldn’t be judged on that period.

During the jury questioning, I wasn’t surprised with Joshuah at all after his display in the house, as far as Shelia goes, she won one HOH that was handed to her (stupid move by Natalie, never give away an HOH, it’s safety in the game), I believe Adam got her as far as he could period, she did nothing and shouldn’t be bitter about anything. As for Sharon and Chelisa, I expected that. I was surprised with James, Matt and Natalie, no real hard feelings.

In the end, I’m happy to see Adam win Big Brother 9, he earned it and you can’t say he didn’t play or win, two HOH’s and at least one POV, plus good strategy. Well, for full details of what I through throughout the season, check out my previous pieces on Big Brother 9 which includes: Big Brother 9: ‘Til Death Do You Part – My Take on the first 18 days and what might happen next., Revealed: Big Brother 9 ‘til death do you part turns to individuals as Allison is evicted?, Big Brother 9: America’s vote denied by house as James is evicted and voted back in?, Payback for Matt’s backdoor eviction continues with evicting Chelsia in Big Brother 9, who’s next for Natalie?, And the award for best dramatic moment goes to Joshuah in Big Brother 9 as the final six is determined. And finally what I thought before the finale Who will win Big Brother 9 - Ryan or Adam?.

In closing, good season of Big Brother, but: 1) no couples twist next season, 2) when the fans vote to put an evicted HOH in, put them in and 3) a four hour Big brother after dark from 11PM to 3am would work better. I can’t wait until Big Brother 10 on July 13. Comments.

- Racedriven

Who will win Big Brother 9 - Ryan or Adam?

Well it all come down to this, Big Brother 9 started off back in February with the first ever winter edition of Big Brother with 16 houseguests by pairing them off into couples and it started with two by two they were nominated together, completed in challenges as couples, voted as couples and finally evicted as couples.

What a way to go out and then to see the game suddenly change in a heartbeat from couples to individual was heaven, but during all this time of seeing each one of the houseguests being evicted, if you were to ask me who the final two would be, I would have never guessed these two would be the final 2 and completing for the $500,000 grand prize.

From this point on, this is one of the best parts of the game namely watching the jury members question each of these two houseguests for all of their dirty deeds in the game and to listen to each of them in why they should win. When you look at the route that each of these two houseguests has taken from the very beginning and who they have had a hand in evicting, what a comparison, but who should win?

First things first, when it came down to the final four, if Sharon would have made it to the final two, I have no doubt that the jury would have voted for Sharon hands down, she really didn’t screw with anyone in the house, she played a non-win game and friends with just about everyone. So it was only fitting that Ryan didn’t change the nominations and Adam voted to evict Sharon. That’s a little sad to see.

However you know that would only leave us with the final three and after seeing Adam threw the first HOH comp and then win the second HOH comp, I knew that the final HOH comp wouldn’t really make that much difference, but it was more of who would chose to evict who and when Ryan won the final HOH, I wasn’t surprises none the least that he chose to take Adam to the final two as they promised each other, in turn finally evicting Shelia, thank you.
So who will win Big Brother 9: ‘Til Death Do You Part, Ryan or Adam?

Personally predicting who the jury will choose to award the grand prize to is completely up in the air for me, on one hand you Ryan, who up till he was saved when the surprise eviction changed from a couple going home to just one individual going home, that was the turning for him. From there, Ryan won a couple of HOH’s, but also made a couple of HG’s mad at him including James, Joshuah, and Chelia and they are on the jury, that could spell trouble, also how will Sharon vote since see knows that Ryan was in an alliance with Adam. One thing Ryan has going for him is a lot of HOH wins and POV victories, he played the game period.

And on the other side you have Adam who finally came alive in this game just after Chelia left by winning a 2 HOH’s and a couple of POV’s, but who in the jury house might vote for him, there’s your question as Adam a lot of the time never really did anything early on.

Yet believe it or not I am picking Adam to win Big Brother 9, why??? Simply put he has pissed off less jury members and the ones that Ryan had pissed off, might just choose the lesser of the two evels and award Adam as the winner. Good Luck to both, let the best man win, personally I could care less which one wins, however one thing to consider and I know this is a long shot, the house didn’t like Ryan’s girlfriend Jen that could go against Ryan too. Comments.

- Racedriven

What a performance of Picture to Burn by Taylor Swift as she takes top honors at the 2008 CMT Music Awards.

A picture is worth a thousand words and for this country music fan who enjoys listening to music from Reba and Carrie Underwood to Sugarland, Trace Atkins and the newest star Taylor Swift, last Monday night’s CMT Music Awards was one of the best shows yet. I really didn’t know how the whole two host father daughter team of Bill Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus would work, but I have to say combined with the comedy and there duet performance during the show was entertaining.

I could believe just how many country music stars came out for one event and yet Snoop Dog doesn’t come to mind and yet he was a presenter. Really this show is all about the performances and the awards that are voted on by the fans and while I loved seeing Carrie Underwood close the show with All-American Girl along with Sugarland come away with Duo Video of the Year for “Stay”, Rascal Flatts winning Group video of the Year with “Take me there” and Trace Atkins win in Male Video of the Year category for “I Got my Game on” I like that song, but the highlight of the night had to be Taylor Swift.

I noticed in the voting process a couple weeks before the show that Taylor Swift was up for a good number of categories, but after last year with Taylor winning breakthough video of the year which see passed on to her friend Kelly Pickler this year, I wasn’t surprised to see her video “Our Song” win for Female Video of the Year, however I was stunted by Taylor Swift’s performance of “Picture to Burn”, she has a killer video and in her the performance, she really brought that that video of picture to Burn to life, and then to see her win for Video of the year was incredible boy, she was speckles, great job.

Like I said in the beginning, a picture is worth a thousand words and this picture taken during her performance describes it all, congrats to Taylor Swift, now I can’t wait to buy her next CD and to see something about Taylor and Carrie Underwood co-writing a song together, that will be big.

Photo Credit: Scott Gries/Getty Images

- Racedriven

Oh yeah! Disney/Pixar announces Toy Story 3 in 2010 and Cars 2 in 2012.

This is big news for me as I love animated movies and while there is no official word on when or if there will be sequels for the Incredibles or Monsters Inc., however Disney/Pixars have announced in a press release that two of my favorite movies will each have another installment…


Credit: Disney/Pixar

First up is Toy Story 3 that is slated for June 2010, it is rumored that the store line might be that Buzz lightyear is recalled. This should be a good edition to my DVD collection as I already own the first two DVD’s.


Credit: Disney/Pixar

The second one, Cars 2, I love this movie, I purchased the Cars DVD the day it was released. There is word on who will be back or what the story line will be, I’m interested in seeing if the King Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip, along with Paul Newman will all be in this movie… Darrell Cartrip, cool. Comments.

Credit: Cinematical and PRNewswire.com

- Racedriven

Who does America want to be in The Biggest Loser finale - Roger or Mark.

This is something a little bit different, here I’m usually blogging on Big Brother, American Chopper or even a little bit on Survivor, however since I’ve been watching the biggest loser for years now and I like the Couples twist this season in the game, this caught my eye, this season has been a season of first's, it’s all about one pound, the extras, like trips that included going down under Australia and one team going to Las Vegas, one player having a second chance by winning their way back in to the game by losing the most weight which for the guys was Mark and for the girls was Ali, but you know, I love it when all of these shows ask for America to get involved by voting something, whether its voting a favorite player back in or voting for a challenge, it’s cool to see just what America thinks, I mean where the one’s watching the show.

Well this season, now America has a vote and it’s big, America gets to choose either Roger or Mark into the finale at a chance to complete for a $250,000 prise. Personally, I had been voting for Dan or Roger to win the entire game and while Dan will be at the finale hopefully like in seasons past completing for the voted off prise, I want to see Roger, who has lost the most weight in The Biggest Loser history – 144 pounds.

Vote at NBC.com - America's Vote. This should be interesting, the finale will have Ali, Kelly and ??? (My vote is for Roger), who will win and be The Biggest Loser. Comments.

Update after last night's Biggest Loser Finale: American voted Roger in as Ali became the first woman to win The Biggest Loser at last night's season finale.

- Racedriven

First NBC is creating the American version of Top Gear and now the remake of Knight Rider?

Wait a minute, right now I am having a hard time trying to imagine just what the American version of Top Gear is going to look like, I mean I am a huge fan of the UK Top Gear that is airs weekly on BBC America, the show has three hosts and it works, but its more comedy than anything else. These three guys are not afraid to tell you what they really think of the vehicles they are test driving and that would including test driving the Chevrolet Corvette that in their minds is a good track car, but not a daily driver and the Shelby GT500 which didn’t impress them much because of the Suspension, it just wasn’t there. In the end they pointed out that the Roush Mustang that Jeremy Clarkson test drove, he would rather purchase that as it was better overall. The point is, NBC isn’t going to be able to duplicate this, I mean they are not going to be able to really voice their opinions on these cars, it would be interesting to watch, however I don’t see it.

Like I said, I am having a hard time trying to imagine just what Top Gear is going to look like when it is premiered and now they announce in there (month early) Upfront that a remake of Knight Rider in a weekly series is on the fall schedule. Wow, I mean I a huge fan of Knight rider and while I loved the look of the car in the remake movie let along the original KITT and the Knight Rider 2000 KITT, the movie wasn’t all that bad, but not good neither and here I thought that after a pair of KITT’s where auctioned off this past weekend at the Barrett-Jackson Car Auction in Palm Beach for $300,000 and I might add that that price includes the rights to the last 2009 Shelby GT500KR #1576, that was the end. Needless to say, I will check it out, at least they seem to be using the same cast as the movie and a bold Mustang, could make that perfect combination…

Staying with NBC’s upfront announcement, they not only introduced there fall schedule, but a look at the 52 week schedule which showed that a couple of my favorites were renewed after all including American Gladiators, The Biggest Loser, Lipstick Jungle, and The Celebrity Apprentice (which was good, however I would have rather seen Trace Atkins win last season then Piers Morgan, at least his charity the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund received $250,000 and that’s what it’s all about.) (Read more of the Upfront…)

Well I like the 52 week schedule, it tells me or gives me an idea of just what to expect not only next Fall, but both next Winter and Summer. Comments.

- Racedriven

And the award for best dramatic moment goes to Joshuah in Big Brother 9 as the final six is determined.

Well another week down in the Big Brother house and yet another evicted houseguest, what can you say as the outgoing HOH Natalie continues her payback against those who had a hand in Matt’s backdoor eviction and for Natalie, last week she had a hand in getting Chelsia evicted while Adam was HOH and this week, she had to settle for Joshuah being evicted after James for the third straight time won the POV even with the entire house against him and it will most likely continue to be that way until he losses both HOH and POV in the same week.

However you have to give it to Joshuah, he tried just about everything to get another week in the house including, well he won the award for most dramatic moments as he attempted to sway Adam’s vote as he on cue cried in to Adam, what a moment, but it backfired and Adam along with Ryan and Shelia all voted to evict Joshuah, leaving James as the sole vote to evict Sharon.
With Joshuah finally out of the house and now on the jury, the game once again shifts towards another Head of household and I couldn’t believe it as for the second time, Adam is HOH, the bigger question here that is almost asked every week, who will he nominate for eviction? Thinking of course James and maybe either Shelia or Sharon…

Looking past all of what has happened so far, let’s now look at the remaining houseguests, who are the players and who are not…

Adam: This guy, who needs to learn manners, is the spoiler in this game, the other HGs are under estimating what Adam can do, and his game play is good. He is the current HOH for second time and he hasn’t really mad anyone mad, however that will change this week. Don’t count him out, final three.

Sharon: Knows the game, but now doesn’t have her partner Josh who she somewhat carried throughout the game, however she is a target this week and I wouldn’t be surprised to see her on the block. Survival is possible, because she has girl power behind her, yes there is a girl’s alliance.

Shelia: At this point, I am really surprised she is still in the house, she has pissed off just about everyone in the house and would be very surprised to see her in the final four, unless others can win against her, jury votes, in that case, maybe one HG could bring her to the finals, she would be so lucky as she has no game.

James: The strongest player in the house with the second chance, the other HGs shouldn’t have voted him back in and now they are regretting it. He can and will win challenges, this week, since he isn’t HOH, he will be up on the block and wouldn’t be surprised if he wins POV, however if he doesn’t, he will go home. I could see him as a possible final two player.

Ryan: Very surprised to see still in the house next to Shelia, he has aligned himself with Natalie as it seems to be. Currently not a target and not a gambler neither. Where’s the game play?
Natalie: You could be very well looking at a final two player, the second strongest player in the house, most of time is think game play, she plays everything out in her head, but her downfall is she talks to much, she tells all and something’s she shouldn’t. I wouldn’t predict victory her for anyone including Natalie because I really don’t know what the Jury will do… bottom line, she is a combination of Sharon and James, Strategy in one hand and strong player in challenges in the other hand.

Well it’s still too early to predict the final two and I am convinced that there is one more twist in this game still to come, just one question for Big Brother, can you show the sequester house and the three jury members… Matt, Chelsia, and now Joshuah, there has to be something there including a DVD each week. Comments.

- Racedriven

Payback for Matt’s backdoor eviction continues with evicting Chelsia in Big Brother 9, who’s next for Natalie?

The past couple of weeks have been interesting to watch to say the least, two weeks ago, the house voted for James to re-enter the house by a vote of 5-3 as America’s Vote was denied and what a stupid mistake that has turned out to be as James started his comeback with winning HOH and in the process, striking a deal with Natalie to not put her or Matt up for eviction. Like I said, a stupid mistake, I even voted for Alex to return, everyone knows that whoever the returning houseguest would be, would be at a disadvantage in the game.

With that said, as Big Brother fans know already that James as HOH in fact put up Ryan and Shelia on the block, however James winning the POV, not only removed Shelia, but put up Matt on the block and in the process going back on his word. At the live eviction, the house voted 3-3, putting the eviction in the hands of James which evicted Matt. Now why do I bring this up, well two reasons, one, I don’t speck last week and two, more importantly it serves as a back drop in the story before I get to the happens in the house now.

Since Matt’s eviction, one thing is for sure, Natalie is out for payback and in my eyes, its working, to a point. You can never get rid of all threads in a very short period of time, however she is off to a good start, first with one in her alliance winning HOH this past week, yeah, its Adam getting HOH and with Natalie’s help, he made the right calls in who to put up. One thing, what’s with the baby food, I mean normally what each HOH gets in there room wouldn’t even draw any attention, I mean it’s normally normal items, CD, chips, cereal, you know general snacks, but baby food, what????

Anyway, Adam as HOH went as expected, he put up James and Chelsia on the block, they are a power couple and also not in their alliance. Of course the POV proved to be interesting, not for who won the POV (he’s a hint, James), but for guest, the man himself that played a nasty, but effective game, Evil Dick returned at day break and in style (Entertaining guy, but don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Dick, but he just played a nasty game), I liked what he said, the exact same pots, as he banged them together in the first bedroom to get everyone up for the POV competition in 10 minutes which was similar to what he did last season in BB8 to some houseguests during the night or early morning.

At the POV meeting, I thought it was a nice touch to put up Sharon against Chelsia, that basically sealed the deal that Chelsia was going home and if that didn’t do it, Chelsia loosing it a couple of times sure did. At the live eviction, in a way I can understand why no one voted against Sharon, I mean if anyone did, they would have been targeted, however, aren’t they already targeted now anyway…

Anyway, Chelsia evicted… nice, and the new HOH in an interesting HOH competition, congrats to Natalie, the payback continues…

I will leave you with this thought, Natalie only has three choices to put up, so a safe bet is that she will put James and Josh or maybe a little change, Josh and Sharon and if the POV is won, James will be backdoored. If Natalie doesn’t get James out, she must get Josh out. Now, I can’t wait for the final 6. Comments.

- Racedriven

Big Brother 9: America’s vote denied by house as James is evicted and voted back in?

I will get to my comments about the headline in a moment, however first, last week’s twist in the game turned couples into individuals and I’ve got to say, all hell has broke loose and with Ryan as the HOH to start of this new twist, the house has become divided, everyone needs to pick as side, however those sides changed regularly.

For alliances, I see Ryan/Matt/Natalie/Adam/ vs. James/Chelisa/Sharon/Josh, Shelia is a tosh up in my eyes right now and let’s be honest, so is Natalie in some ways at least aligning with Matt.

Even with watching the Big Brother Afterdark for 3 hours a night, it still is hard to say who is with who, and the players change almost daily or should I say nightly because when the sun goes down in this house, the true player does come out. I really didn’t know what to think about Ryan becoming head of household, he’s a wild card and he really doesn’t speck all that much, he really had his hands full dealing with his partner Allison (who is very interesting to watch because od her game play), however one thing I like about playing the game as individuals, you have to think for yourself or you are going home, you have to make moves that are best for you to advance further in the game and hopefully into the finals.

For Ryan, he originally took the advice of James and put up Sharon and Chelsia which was a strangle move at first, but in order to show he (James) can stand on his own, it was an interesting move none the less. So up goes those two, however that wouldn’t be for long as the POV showed Ryan passing by the POV and taken $10,000 and I might add, Shelia in a unitard, that is best left alone. That was a good move for Ryan, let Chelsia use the POV on herself and put up another, I really thought that Chelsia might be the pone anyway, although voting her out would have been a good move because she is strong and her mouth got he in trouble twice this week alone.

The POV meeting was picture perfect, Ryan heard what James/Chelisa/Sharon/Josh had to say and with a two week save deal included, I thought that that might be a sure move, however I don’t trust anyone in this house including Josh, so instead acting on something he learned after a late night meeting with Shelia, he choose to originate from the plan of backdooring Matt and instead made a huge power move and aligned with Matt to put up James. Yeah, that worked… he’s were Josh on the feed showed more by dumping either ice water or pickle juice over Natalie’s head, I think it was pickle juice, because both happened. One thing, Ryan looks to have a secret deal with josh…

Fast forward to tonight as for the past week, America had been voting to vote back in one of six evicted houseguests and America chose Alex. I choose Alex, from the comments online, I thought maybe Allison or Alex, I was surprised to see Parker came in second in votes.

My headline for eviction night: America’s Vote gets denied by house… after all the voting, America got no say tonight, what was that for anyway? Once James was evicted, the house learned that either the box with a once evicted house guest or James would be voted back in, then the house voted 5-3 for James and sent America packing.

“My Take” This could have gone down in two ways, 1) The house could vote in America’s two chooses (evicted houseguests) in, Alex and Parker as unknowns or 2) the house would votes in James and Alex, not the choose Big Brother gave use, nothing.

I want to see a shack up in the house, not the same houseguests from a week ago, the game is too have twists and turns, not a free week, fine James comes back, but with Alex and the game shifts again, What’s Next? Who will be the new HOH? Do you feel the same? Comments.

- Racedriven

Revealed: Big Brother 9 ‘til death do you part turns to individuals as Allison is evicted?

What a night for Big Brother 9 fans as at least for this fan, it couldn’t have come at a better time. The headline doesn’t give what happened justice, but does say a lot as Big Brother has turned the tables on houseguests and at just the right moment for one houseguest in particular.

Just as the house had evicted Allison and Ryan in tonight’s live eviction, the horn (that the houseguests learned would sound in the coming weeks earlier this week) sounded and for one houseguest, it was heaven. The fans would learn just before the houseguests that the once ‘til death do you part twist was no more and each one was on their own, playing as individuals, perfect.

Because of this, the night turned for Ryan (thank you, he didn’t do anything really wrong to get evicted) as he was saved and for the time beginning, Allison was evicted. The reveal itself showed new light on the game for the current houseguests as well as evicted ones. After Allison’s eviction, houseguests found themselves already in the next HOH competition were Josh and Sharon couldn’t compete in it and now there fate would rest in the new HOH, Ryan, oh yeah, this one’s dangerous as he hasn’t said much, who knows who he will nominate, I would say Josh for sure, other than that, Natalie and James? Yeah those two might be over the top.

I will say one disappointment this season up till now is that the fans don’t have a say in anything, like I said until now as one (hoping for two) evicted houseguest will be voted back in, who will it be, Jacob, Jen, Parker, Amanda, Alex or Allison… who knows, I vote now. If Allison gets back in, she will be evicted just that quickly, Amanda and Jacob, the same way, so Parker maybe, Jen, I am not sure, the House may though he back out because of her real life relationship with Ryan, so Alex? Alex would be a good pick if he was willing fight and campaign.

So what’s next? The horn sounding is going to part in this game even more, I expect it to go off again and what about your former partner, what did you tell them?

- Racedriven

Big Brother 9: ‘Til Death Do You Part – My Take on the first 18 days and what might happen next.

What a different game this time around for the first winter edition, for the first time in Big Brother History, the houseguests are playing as couples and I have to say as a result of that, the action in the house has been hot and heavy with several fights that might not normally come about in a singles type of game. Basically you play as couples, compete in challenges as couple, vote as couples and interestedly enough, be evicted as couples. Personally while the couples twist is unique, it does pose some problems including the fact that the game only has 8 couples, one was evicted the first night, the second was evicted last week and the third will be evicted this Wednesday night, that’s 6 houseguests gone in three weeks and for a full season game, there on record pace.

These couples were paired as CBS puts it, as sole mates, they matched up perfectly, well I really don’t think so, but you never know… What a pairing, when the game started:

Alex and Amanda: Which were the week two HOH couple, Amanda doesn’t stay quite and has started things with several houseguests and his been in a couple of fights including one huge one with Josh.

Ryan and Allison: Ryan is dating Jen (another houseguest) in real life for about the past year now. Allison originally started a rumor with Sheila that they were a lesbian couple, however has come clean within the past couple of days… did it back fire? So far, nope.

Adam and Sheila: These two have either not really talked or fought from the beginning, now are steady in the house.

James and Chelsia: Are currently (week 3) HOH couple and have already nominated two houseguests.

Josh and Sharon: This couple wasn’t originally paired together, Sharon along with her ex-boyfriend Jacob were a couple was evicted in week one, however Josh’s partner Neil left due to health reasons and since Josh needed a partner, he choose Sharon since she was in sequester.

Matt and Natalie: They just had a blowout last night on the feed.

Parker and Jen: First power couple in the game, solely evicted Sharon and Jacob, however evicted in the second week due to they are a strong couple and Jen and Ryan lied about there relationship outside the house and the other houseguests thought it was an advantage.

Neil and Jacob: Enough said in the Josh-Sharon couple.

So after some 18 days in to the game, what now… a couple things that I have noticed while either watching the three CBS shows a week and the nightly Sho 2 Afterdark feed, the drama in the house even last night has been wild, last season didn’t even have this much drama including during the peak time, I remember quarters game last season with beer and a houseguest that played dad, this year, nope, not even close. This season, they have a pool table outside and what looks to be more to do.

The second, the evictions, one trend that has played out so far started with the first power couple Parker and Jen where they evicted one couple and since they were the power couple combined with Jen going off on others, became the second evicted couple, last week, Amanda and Alex were the HOH couple and this week they are nominated and if the nominations stay the same, I would expected them to be evicted. So if the trend continues and the couples twist also continues, James and Chelsia should be up for nominations next let along evicted next.

Third, while I have to say that the couple twist has made the game interesting, that twist has passed its prime and its time to let the couple out and let them be free and play the game as singles. I would almost expect it to happen this week right after evictions.

Oh yeah, CBS, please get rid of the sloop, if you have to have food competitions, have it a PB&J (peanut butter and jelly), not sloop, think of it as for health reasons.

A shootout if you will to Big Brother Access.com, they have everything including the BB9 logo above I am using.

- Racedriven

One Tree Hill finally returns – Part Two

I’m remaindered of the quote over the door in Brook’s new store, “Somebody told me that this is the place where everything’s better and everything’s safe…” so with that, welcome home to Tree Hill.

Continuing on from last week’s return of One Tree Hill, fans found themselves still left with some questions including what happened to Karen, her four year old daughter, Dan and some of the other cast members, plus why was Brook, being bossed around by her manager when see owns the company, but fans did learn where there favorites landed and I have to say, “You can go home again, but for how long?”

Well, if you were to title this one, first, Nathan finally wakes up and sees the light and second, Is Haley totally insane for hiring a hot nanny? The second one works…

While I still don’t know about Karen, Dan is still alive, this guy must have nine lives and yet still in prison and for that matter, so does K-Fed’s acting and singing career as he too made his debut as a rock star that had signed with Peyton’s music label, did anybody not see this coming...

I’ve got a question for the shows creator, when will Peyton’s and Lucas’s wedding be, you know those two should be together.

During this one, I have to admit that I was shocked at a couple of moments, first with Mouth kissing his boos only to be fired, as I watched it, I was thinking that’s not going to work… and then seeing Mouth tell his ex-boss just what he thought of her only to end up let’s just say, getting together, but what an ending, I finally somewhat understand why Brook even gives a damn what her manager has to say, let along continues to let her boss her around, all I got to say is, I’m coming mother… bye Mrs. Davis.

- Racedriven

One Tree Hill finally returns

Normally I really don’t write pieces or in this case reviews sort of speck on television shows, but I have been waiting for One Tree Hill to premiere for months now and considering it was the only show of my favorites from last season on the cw not to be cancelled or have its series finale, it still meant a lot to me to watch.

Last night I was very interested in seeing just what the new season of One Tree Hill would be like including the fact that the story line jumped from there last days of high school and children being born to 4 years ahead (to be pacific, 4 years, 6 months and 2 days…) this season.

After watching last night’s two-hour premiere, it was a good move, its always interesting to see where people are four+ years later after high school. I had to keep in mind that some had just finished college or so I thought. Going into the premiere, I believe that a lot of the fans wanted to see how Haley turned out, was she working, still married to Nathen and what about her son?

Well that was quickly answered when viewers saw her just finishing up her teaching degree to only starting her first days as being a teacher at none other than Tree Hill High with her little 4 year old son Jamie right next to her. What about Nathon…

The biggest surprise was Nathen to me, wait, before you say what, let me explain. The vision of Nathon at the end of last season was he was still going to be a big basketball star and in the first episode, he was to be drafted to (I believe) Seattle, but wouldn’t you know it, it wasn’t to be, he was in a wheel chair… all throughout the episode, he kept saying I have nothing, I have nothing, at times I was just sitting there saying what are you talking about, you have a cute 4 year old little boy who idolizes and loves you, who wants to be like you and a gorgeous wife, wake up.

I had thought that Nathen had injured his legs in a basketball game, but nope, something that was so Nathon, he got thrown out a plate glass window landing on concrete saying to his brother Lucus, I can’t feel my legs.

It was surprising just how any had stayed in Tree Hill or was living there after who ever completed college. I expected that Lucus the writer would be somewhere nearby and he was… writing he second book and dating his editor. The big writer, nope, the new head coach of the Tree Hill Ravens that hasn’t done anything since their championship four years ago. It was a good touch to see Lucus as the Head Coach and even better to see Skalls as the Assistant head coach, but were was his girlfriend?

Mouth, looked like he just finished college and was on the unemployed level for a while and having no luck finding work, I know how that can be, the search now a days gets harder and harder with fewer jobs to be found. He who also lived in Tree Hill landed a entry-level job reviewing tapes with a boss that hired him, just to say strike two, well he hasn’t been fired yet.

From the look on preview commercials leading up to the premiere, no surprise to see that Payton was struggling to find success with a record label that in her eyes doesn’t know good music at all and with a boss that well was more interested in seeing Payton with one more button out then listening to her advice and comments on who might they sign for the next big hit. She finally got it right when she said I quit and left to meet Brook in Tree Hill and both went to home to see what life was like now.

Wait I said, Brook… which finally brings me to the career successful women herself, please tell me that nobody was surprised to see (the 21 year old) Brook was running her own multi-million dollar business called Clothes over bros. Considering a couple seasons ago her clothing sold out big times… that was perfect and yet didn’t have a man anywhere in sight.

What an ending to the two-hour episode, nothing better describes this one then saying “you can always go home again” as someone finally wake up… as one after another decided to live in Tree Hill with Brook buying business space in none other than Karen’s café to run her Clothes over bros. business from to Haley waking up Nathon to only find him walking in water, touching… now what about the parents and whatever happened to Karen’s Cafe? Did anyone else watch?

- Racedriven

TV Spotlight: American Chopper in 2008

It’s been months since I have written on one of my favorite shows American Chopper and since then there has been a lot of going on including some new choppers built and some departures. Two choppers that got my attention were the HP Intel Chopper and the Silver State Chopper.

The HP Intel Chopper was nothing like I have every seen, a chopper with two engines mounted side-by-side and an on-board computer that controls everything from the electric kickstand to the thumb print needed to start the chopper, even the massive front tire added a interesting and appealing look to it.

The Silver State Chopper, an airline piece of artwork and you really can’t miss that air induct on top of the gas tank. The unveil had its moments too, trying to scare Paul Sr. with Mikey flying the helicopter and dropping a fake bike while Paul Jr. takes the real chopper out for delivery. Both pictures are courtesy of Orange County Choppers Website.

The final two episodes of last year that focused on the Iowa Farm Bureau chopper had a few surprises and ended with one departure of Vinnie and a corn chopper. Getting back to American Chopper for a moment, I saw the new episode list on the OCC website and what a list, but what is the My Name is Earl Chopper? Anyway, the list is below…


(Credit: Autoblog Posting and Gallery)

01/17/08 at 9:00PM(EST) - Army National Guard 1
OCC locks and loads as they pay tribute to the troops with a custom bike for the Army National Guard. Then, Sr. takes a walk down the aisle with Beth.

01/24, 2008 at 9:00PM(EST) - Army National Guard 2
01/31, 2008 at 9:00PM(EST) - My Name is Earl 1
02/07/08 at 9:00PM(EST) - My Name is Earl 2
02/14/08 at 9:00PM(EST) - Gander Mountain 1
02/21/08 at 9:00PM(EST) - Gander Mountain 2
02/28/08 at 9:00PM(EST) - Craftsman / Die Hard 1
03/06/08 at 9:00PM(EST) - Craftsman / Die Hard 2
03/13/08 at 9:00PM(EST) - Klipsch
03/20/08 at 9:00PM(EST) – Viega

While I had written on the Iowa E85 chopper months ago just after the press release with the official photos, I hadn’t watched the episodes yet and while the chopper was the main focus, that wasn’t what was talked about afterwards, it was Vinnie’s leaving OCC. Since then I can also tell you that Cody has left OCC as well, for were you might ask, Cody and Vinnie have gone into business together in New York State, they build custom choppers and repair them too, its called V-Force Customs. That’s cool that Vinnie and Cody are building choppers in New York and repairing them too, Best of luck to them.

Also on the final episode, the OCC gang went out to put up steel at there new World Headquarters in New York (picture on the right is courtesy of x635: The Blog), its almost finished and I have to say, it looks somewhat like a huge barn with something out front. What a look, I hope its big enough, they have already expanded once and moved twice.

- Racedriven

Survivor: China ends with Todd being named the Sole Survivor.

Two words best described this season and in most cases, most seasons of Survivor, numbers and strategy, from the season premiere of Survivor China, I picked out Todd as a strong player, not for winning challenges, but for his outwit way of playing the game, he had a way of getting into peoples heads and that got him through the game, plus winning a couple of challenges and I picked James for the outplay part of the game, he was by far the strongest player, he could win challenges and he know when to keep quiet at camp.

To me, there were two turning points in this game, first, James getting both of the immunity idols, but doesn’t use them at Tribal Council when it counts, in the game of Survivor, you don’t trust anyone, including your alliance, this is a game for a million dollars, not real life. Just think what would have happened if James had gone with his gut and played the idol, Todd would have been voted out and not been in the final three. The second turning point was also at Tribal Council when Denise voted to keep Todd and vote out PG, had she had kept PG, there was a good chance she would have been in the final three and Todd wouldn’t have.

Survivor China had a lot of interesting moments, challenges and good rewards including having dinner on the great wall of china, private plane rides, riding on a yate having dinner, but I was shocked to see that this season had a first, no winning a vehicle, what’s up with that. Remember, no castaway/player in Survivor history has ever won both the vehicle and won the game becoming the sole survivor, I would have liked to have seen if Todd could have been the first.

While I was watching the finale, I began to think, who really should have won in the finale four and who would have been voted out, I believe that if Denise was in the final three, she would have come really close to winning everything, second place for sure. It was really no surprise to see Denise voted out including the fact of what I just said… now looking back at the final three – Todd, Courtney and Amanda, I was fine seeing anyone of those three win, each of them played the game differently, Todd for his outwiding everyone in getting numbers on his side and winning a couple of challenges, Amanda for creating an alliance with Todd, winning challenges, as for Courtney, she won one challenge and well she was the under dog period, I was impressed that she made it the entire 39 days period.

However, I see why the jury voted Todd as the winner of Survivor China and not Courtney, he did play a good game.

Think about this for a minute, is it possible to play and win a game of Survivor or Big Brother for that matter without lieing and backstabbing the other players? I haven’t seen it yet, but if I have missed one case, let me know.

I was even more shocked during both the final Tribal Council and the reunion show when one, Todd was able to shut JR up and two that JR voted for Todd, that was the winning vote. All in all good game.

Now, Survivor fans are in for a treat, during the reunion show, they let fans in on what the next edition of Survivor was good to be and the fact that it starts in Febuary 2008 is great… Survivor 16 will be Survivor: Micronesia that puts Fans vs. Favorites. It sounds like another group of castaways vs. former castaways, plus one of the 16 Survivors from this edition will be in the next edition, that should be cool to see.

Well that’s it here, Congrats to James for winning Most Popular player of Survivor China ($100,000 prise) and and to Todd for becoming the sole survivor and winning $1 Million Dollars and now I’m out.

- Racedriven

Big Brother 9, Survivor 16 and Jericho premiere in February 2008.

Yesterday, CBS sent out a press release of the CBS Winter Schedule lineup and among the winter lineup is the first ever winter edition of Big Brother (9), a new season of Survivor (16) and Jericho.

What a lineup, it's been rumored for the last couple of months that with the writer's strike is going on, CBS might create the first ever winter edition of Big Brother. Keep in mind, CBS can do this because one, CBS holds casting calls all year long and two, they own the house. With that, its been rumored as a three week or so celebrity version with limited feed, hopefully (Big Brother 9) this is a full three month season with a full cast of new charactors and not only the full online feed, but a three+ hour a night of feed on Showtime 2.

I was surprised to Survivor 16 on this list considering Suvivor China has not even had there finale yet. I've been watching Survivor China and it's good. It has been rumored that Survivor 16 with take place on the island of Palau for the second time in Survivor history and that it might be an All-Star cast, everything is yet to be confirmed by CBS.

However, its no surprise that Jericho has returned to the schedule considering the fan response after Jericho was originally cancelled months ago. It will be interesting to see who survivored that big gun fight just outside of the town of Jericho, I haven't seen a episode of Jericho in months, time to go online.

From yesterday's CBS press release on the winter schedule: The 16th edition of SURVIVOR premieres Thursday, Feb. 7 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT). Hosted by Jeff Probst.

The first ever winter edition of BIG BROTHER premieres Tuesday, Feb. 12 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) with additional broadcasts on Wednesdays (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) beginning Feb. 13 and Sundays (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) beginning Feb. 17. Julie Chen returns as host of the live weekly eviction broadcast.

Back in response to one of the most unprecedented and impassioned displays of fan support on behalf of a television program, JERICHO, the drama about what happens in the aftermath of a nuclear explosion in the once peaceful town of Jericho, returns for its second season on Tuesday, Feb. 12 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT). JERICHO stars Skeet Ulrich, Ashley Scott, Lennie James, Kenneth Mitchell, Brad Beyer and Alicia Coppola.

- Racedriven

Was this the best season in Big Brother history?

It’s been just about a week following the somewhat shocking season finale of Big Brother 8 and while I am already heavily into the new season of Survivor which is in China this year, I am already looking forward to the next season of Big Brother with the 9th installment.

At the beginning of the summer, I started watching Jessica, Eric and somewhat Dustin along with the twists to see how things played out and while Dustin turned out to be more power hungry once he got the head of household, I was impressed with Jessica and Eric though to the end. Also at the beginning I had made a couple of predicts that were right on at times, but one predict that was completely false was the alliance of Dick and Daniele and that it wouldn’t last, boy was I wrong as they did it making it to the final two

When I look back at the season that was Big Brother 8, there had been times that I said wow that’s a good idea and other times of what is CBS thinking. When looking back you have start with the nemesis twist that while it did produce one or if not the best alliance in Big Brother history with the father-daughter team of Dick and Daniele, it was really no different then seasons past, but on the opposite side of the game, the America’s Player twist was thinking so far out of the box and while I have to give credit to CBS for it, at the same time it was something I hated and with that it also created one fan to get involved with fling a banner over the house a couple of times. The America’s Player twist basically didn’t let Eric had a voice on who he nominated nor who he voted to evict and that’s wrong.

Basically I would have liked to have seen just what Eric could have done if he wasn’t the America’s Player, he is one of the smarted players in terms of Big Brother knowledge to come into the house I have ever seen and after watching him, he can sell just about anything to anybody. In the end, Eric completed over 20 tasks earning $40,000, what a payday if your counting...

I will say this bold statement, if Eric wasn’t America’s player, the final two would have been different, it wouldn’t have been Dick vs. Daniele.

Besides the twists, this season was the first to add the Showtime 2 live feed from the house for 3 hours a night and I found that to be great to watch. In past seasons I would only watch the CBS stuff each week, but once you watch the feed even if it’s the sho feed, you learn so much, strategy changes hourly and so do alliances. The talk is amazing and shocking at the same time. However I also learned that life in the Big Brother is boring at times as well.

I do remember in past seasons seeing houseguests having something to do namely a board game or something, you can only talk about the same old strategy just so many times and other than that and of course beer pogs or quarters, all they would do is sleep and for feed watchers, watching houseguests sleep sucks.

Specking of alliances, this one you needed a score card for, first you had the Mrs. Robinson alliance with Kail, Zack, Mike and Nick during week one and two, but that went out just as quickly, then the LNC and the LNC 2 and the to the final four alliance/LJC, just so much. One thing I was really surprised with was how much the house hated Jen from Day 2, she cried over her house photo and that was what killed her in the game.

Viewers also saw two romances in the house and while the whole Nick-Daniele thing was interesting to some, to me it was the relationship between Jessica and Eric. That one reminded me of Survivor All-stars with Boston Rob and Amber, they were a powerhouse and had alliances with a couple of people though out, I just wonder if it will turn out the same as Boston Rob and Amber as they got married not to long ago.

In the end, this wasn’t the best season of Big Brother and while at times it was a difficult season to watch, it wasn’t the worst. Well that’s a wrap for another season of Big Brother and I am looking forward to next season and congrats to Dick for winning Big Brother 8.

Finally as I look ahead to next season, I would hope to see the Sho live feed return with a showing for at least three-four hours a night like maybe 11pm-Midnight to 3am EST, board games for the houseguests to play. A little bit better competitions and a new house, I wonder if they could move the location of the house, but mainly a some new interesting twists with America voting, just no America’s Player. One idea might be putting a non-player into the house to live among the houseguests and can’t be voted out…

I leave you with this, I couldn't possibly put everything in this final piece, if you are a regular reader here, you already know most of my thoughts on this season as we went, but if no, just search keyword Big Brother 8 or its in the 2007 July though September archives. I'm out.

And damn here we are with Big Brother 8 Final Two after Zach got evicted.

With the last power of veto competition, POV meetings and live eviction beyond these two houseguests, all that awaits this father-daughter team is the question & answer session with the jury members that always proves to be intense and the final two were America still has one more job left, to vote for Eric once again. Now Big Brother fans are left looking at the final two in what was one weird and at times very difficult of a season to watch sort of speck, we now begin to ponder who will win the entire game (as if that even really matters because its already a D&D victory…) and that really comes down to who the jury members might or might not vote for and what there reasons might be.

First up is: Dick (Commonly referred to as Evil Dick): I’ll make it really simple, I would be more surprised if he does win, then doesn’t, he’s the man who has made just about everyone’s life in the house a living nightmare even if he hasn’t gone off that houseguest. His tackics are terrible, but effective, he scares people into making a mistake or into doing what he wants. The reason why Dick is still in the house is because of two things or should I say people, first I will give him credit, one reason is because of winning HOH’s and POV’s, but the second is the America Players Eric, more towards America and there voting, America wouldn’t vote Dick (or for that matter Daniele) out, look at Eric’s voting history… see and the second person is Daniele with good reason, following him would keep some of the attention off her and he’s good. He would win only if the Jury felt bad for him or his played game being the best strategy wise.

And the second is: Daniele, her game was simple, win, win, win, get Head of household, get vetos, stay right with her father that’s it. She’s basically the Janielle of Big Brother 8, its that simple and unless for some strange reason, if she is in the final, 90% of me thinks she will win and out of the three of them, it’s a safe bet and the most logical one.

Now I do have to state two things, first being the Dick and Daniele themselves, the way the season started off and too at times, I thought that one of these two mainly being Daniele would have dumped and evicted one the other one, but I was wrong, these two stayed togther through out the game and second, second I am proud to give Zach is credit in this game, most of this game, Zach really didn’t do very much except stick with Dick and Daniele, but as the game got closer and closer to the end, Zach began making the right moves to secure him to the final four and finally the final three which included not only making deals with others, but mostly winning head of household competitions and veto competitions and that was the ticket. In the end, I truly believed that Zach would go to the final two and if he did, I would have predicted that Zach would be the winner of Big Brother 8.

Final Thoughts going into next Tuesday night’s season final, one I can’t wait to see Eric finally reveal that he is the second twist of the game and that he is America’s Player, that in itself would explain most of his moves in the game, the very same moves that America made and second, the jury members question and answer session with Dick and Daniele, that always proves to be interesting including the deal that kept Dick in theis game with Jessica and America, oops Eric and third and final, who will be the winner and hopefully after all that Dick has done, it will be Daniele, its better to go to her.

I leave you on this final two edition with this to ponder, looking back at Big Brother history, this is still anyone’s game, on one hand sometimes the jury votes via best game play being strategy or they really need the money… that would go to Dick (example would be Big brother All-Star with Mike Boogie winning over Erica – although no one really wanted to give Erica the money.), if the jury votes based on winning and/or over someone else, then Daniele would win (Example would be season 4 with Jun won over Allison, need I say more.).

That’s it for me here, wow what an end to interesting, yet difficult season, What’s Next?

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I left my last piece with a pondering thought on that this was anyone's game, but after America voted on there final task namely who should America's Player Eric vote for and campaign for, there was no doubt of who would win this game and why. For the second straight year, the winner would be the bully, yet as the jury would call him the strategy player, so congrats to Dick for winning Big Brother 8.

American Chopper: OCC Intel Chip Chopper

Photo from Flickr

Originally uploaded by medcteam.

It's been a while since I have blogged on one of my favorite television shows American Chopper. I just found a couple of photos of the Intel Chopper that was unvealed at Embedded Systems Conference in Silicon Valley, I really have no idea what ESC is, but the Intel Chip chopper is interesting to look at. On really don't know about the extra large front end with I believe a big front tire, itjust looks a little off in terms of looks, I see where they mounted the on board Intel hand-held computer is a plus, right on the trees. Plus I have to give credit where credit is due on the paint job, but I still return to the front end with the big front tire just throughts me off in the looks category.