Looks like we're all on time tonight for a change!

• RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,PepeLePew13, 09:03 PM, 11-01-09
• RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,Snidget, 09:05 PM, 11-01-09
• RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,PepeLePew13, 09:06 PM, 11-01-09
• I'm Coming....Out,Snidget, 09:09 PM, 11-01-09
• RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,PepeLePew13, 09:10 PM, 11-01-09
  • RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,jbug, 10:25 AM, 11-02-09
    • RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,PepeLePew13, 12:47 PM, 11-02-09
• RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,MsShel330, 09:10 PM, 11-01-09
• RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,PepeLePew13, 09:11 PM, 11-01-09
• Drink of the night,Snidget, 09:13 PM, 11-01-09
• RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,Estee, 09:19 PM, 11-01-09
  • RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,PepeLePew13, 09:27 PM, 11-01-09
    • RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,Snidget, 09:28 PM, 11-01-09
      • RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,PepeLePew13, 09:29 PM, 11-01-09
        • RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,PepeLePew13, 09:37 PM, 11-01-09
• RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,MsShel330, 09:20 PM, 11-01-09
• RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,PepeLePew13, 09:31 PM, 11-01-09
  • RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,Snidget, 09:33 PM, 11-01-09
    • RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,PepeLePew13, 09:36 PM, 11-01-09
      • RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,dragonflies, 01:27 PM, 11-02-09
• RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,PepeLePew13, 09:39 PM, 11-01-09
  • RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,PepeLePew13, 09:40 PM, 11-01-09
    • RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,PepeLePew13, 09:41 PM, 11-01-09
      • RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,PepeLePew13, 09:46 PM, 11-01-09
• Cravings,Snidget, 09:42 PM, 11-01-09
  • RE: Cravings,dragonflies, 01:29 PM, 11-02-09
• RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,Estee, 09:45 PM, 11-01-09
• They are not Tiger Woods.,Estee, 09:46 PM, 11-01-09
• Erica is not going to win,Snidget, 09:51 PM, 11-01-09
• RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,PepeLePew13, 09:51 PM, 11-01-09
  • RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,PepeLePew13, 09:54 PM, 11-01-09
    • RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,PepeLePew13, 09:55 PM, 11-01-09
  • Time Penalty,Snidget, 09:54 PM, 11-01-09
• RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,byoffer, 09:55 PM, 11-01-09
  • RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,PepeLePew13, 09:58 PM, 11-01-09
    • RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,byoffer, 10:14 PM, 11-01-09
  • RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,michel, 10:02 PM, 11-01-09
    • RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,PepeLePew13, 10:06 PM, 11-01-09
      • RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,michel, 11:21 PM, 11-01-09
        • RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,dabo, 00:36 AM, 11-02-09
  • RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,skeetergirl87, 11:03 AM, 11-02-09
    • RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,dabo, 11:23 AM, 11-02-09
      • RE: TAR 15 ... Episode 7, East Coast Spoiler Thread,Karchita, 07:51 PM, 11-08-09
• Is it just me?,Estee, 09:58 PM, 11-01-09
  • RE: Is it just me?,PepeLePew13, 10:00 PM, 11-01-09
  • Migawd.,Estee, 10:00 PM, 11-01-09
    • RE: Migawd.,PepeLePew13, 10:03 PM, 11-01-09
      • RE: Migawd.,Estee, 10:09 PM, 11-01-09
        • RE: Migawd.,PepeLePew13, 10:13 PM, 11-01-09
    • RE: Migawd.,Snidget, 10:03 PM, 11-01-09
      • RE: Migawd.,Estee, 10:09 PM, 11-01-09
  • RE: Is it just me?,ohmyheck, 02:40 AM, 11-02-09
    • RE: Is it just me?,realityshowgeek, 04:12 AM, 11-02-09
      • RE: Is it just me?,Zimbochick, 09:06 AM, 11-02-09
• Clarification on Quit,samboohoo, 09:26 AM, 11-02-09
  • RE: Clarification on Quit,byoffer, 10:17 AM, 11-02-09
    • RE: Clarification on Quit,jbug, 10:33 AM, 11-02-09
      • RE: Clarification on Quit,dabo, 11:10 AM, 11-02-09
  • RE: Clarification on Quit,ARnutz, 11:18 AM, 11-02-09
    • RE: Clarification on Quit,indian girl, 05:00 PM, 11-02-09
      • RE: Clarification on Quit,PepeLePew13, 05:23 PM, 11-02-09

Last week, Meghan and Cheyne finishes first and we get treated to the Mika-Canaan brawl again. That's gonna stick in our memories for a while.

I'm waiting for them to cut away to a press conference that should be starting any second now. Four people were shot in Mayberry Mount Airy so...

Hopefully I'll be here the whole time.

Meghan and Cheyne get their clue as they're first out ... we're off to Amsterdam, the Netherlands!

Sam/Dan decide to make an announcement.

Interesting. When all of the teams were bunched up at the airport, the Globetrotters were the last to arrive and met up with all of the other teams sitting by a food court, they were asked "what happened with Mika and Canaan?"

It sounds like they didn't have much of a pit stop and that the teams didn't gather together there.

I thought I noticed that the first team left at 1:13 pm or something like that?
But they also arrived on the beach in the day light. So they must have had a 24 hour PS instead of just 12.

Yep, whether 12 hours or 24 hours, teams usually have time to gather and eat around the same table at the pit stop -- food is usually provided to them, from what I know of in the past.

This time, it's clear that Big Easy and Flight Time didn't have time to hang out with the others or the producers changed things up and didn't let the teams hang out during this pit stop.

The brothers announce to everyone that they're gay at the airport waiting for the flight.

Brian didn't know how to start their car and he starts freaking out.

Brian can't get the car started, and he & Erika have a little brawl.

Martinis?

Who knew they came with bells?

Poor Brian. Looks like Ericka's last comment was just a little too cutting.

Karma's nice, eh?

"43! No, let's try 56! Errr, how about 75?"

I don't know what is happening but that last view of Brian it looks like he loses a limb every time she gets the number wrong.

LAST EDITED ON 11-01-09 AT 09:33 PM (EST)

It's to keep him from strangling Erika when she finally gets down.

"It's only a flesh wound!"

After the umpteenth time, Erika finally comes up with 62 to get the clue.

They're really waaaaaay behind. Brian better be a good golfer.

All of the teams got the right number of bells, 62, on the first try except Erica who counted 43 so she has to try again.

Ok, if anyone actually believes that farmers strip down and just wear thin long johns, swim through a dirty creek and then hammer away at a ball in a type of "golf", then I've got a bridge to sell you. This was done purely for comedy gold.

What? I thought all TAR challenges were 100% authentic.

Although that might explain the whole locals giggle fits if they aren't.

In this case, it was the cows that were doing the giggling.

Agreed. I'm Dutch, and have never heard of that game.

The dancing and herring on the other hand, completely legit. I was totally drooling for that herring!

Sam and Dan finishes first at the pit stop.

Maria and Tiffany are now on their 30th attempt to ring the bell where they have to hit a button with a mallet to ring the bell. Meanwhile, Big Easy does it on the first try.

Meghan and Cheyne are team number 2 at the pit stop.

LAST EDITED ON 11-01-09 AT 09:42 PM (EST)

Brian and Erika walk right past the bikes that they were supposed to ride! While wearing traditional Dutch clothing and wooden shoes...

And I'm stunned they were able to find wooden shoes big enough to fit Big Easy. He's 6'9".

Brian and Erika are *still* walking in their wooden shoes. I wonder if they'll be forced to walk back and get their bikes?

Maria and Tiffany gave up after about 30 tries to ring the bell, went over to try the golf thing, gave up there, swam back and tried again to ring the bell. After about 20 completely pathetic tries (Maria, in particular, was only able to get the ball up about 1/10th of the way), they break down into tears.

I want some herring?

I'll dance for it. *shimmy*

Me too! I was totally hoping someone would do that challenge so I could see them eat the herring. Fresh, dipped in onions is completely the best way to eat them!

Realistically, how much upper body strength does it take to handle a pair of hole cards?

Poor Maria & Tiffany. First they couldn't ring Sam & Dan's bells, and now...

Bear in the woods, maybe...

Miss Congeniality for compassion on this leg of the race.

Flight Time and Big Easy finish third at the pit stop.

Brian and Erika, after walking for miles, finally decide to re-read their clue ... and they realize they were supposed to get their bikes!

Gary and Matt are fourth at the pit stop.

Maria and Tiffany have quit trying to ring the bell for the second time and they're now trying the golf thing for the second time.

Meanwhile... Brian rings the bell on the first try and they're off to do the dance. Wait until Erika sees the herring she has to eat. ::glee::

Maria and Tiffany are still hopeless on the golf course.

Brian and Erika are the fifth team to arrive ... but they didn't get the bikes. They've incurred a 30-minute penalty.

Won't matter, though, as the poker girls are utterly hopeless. They'll still be there for the next 12 hours.

Maria and Tiffany have decided to quit. Right on cue, Phil walks over to them on the golf course and says he understands they want to quit.

They're out! NO NEL!! Thankfully, I don't have to worry about a NEL for my episode summary this week!

For walking instead of biking Brian and Erica have a 30 minute time penalty.

Meanwhile Poker players still trying to golf.

Were these two challenges unfair for teams with 2 females? The sledge hammer was obviously tough for the ladies, and even the golf would sort of required one team member with the ability to drive the ball. Those roughs were not very forgiving for non-golfers.

Unfair elim in my mind.

Eh... I think there probably could have been someone there to offer swing suggestions for the golf part, but it was do-able if you just gave it a good whack.

The sledgehammer was do-able as well. These were some of the most pitiful swings you ever saw - you really had to lift it over your head to be able to do it, but Maria didn't even try while Tiffany didn't raise it high enough to get the maximum oomph (she did come very close on a few occasions, missing by inches).

But a guy with poor swing style would likely have been able to muscle through.

Usually when there is a physical challenge there is a choice to do a non-physical one.

Unfair? Not only unfair, I say it's BS. One team knows they made a mistake, they don't even try to correct it and are only penalized 30 minutes while another tries for hours to complete the task correctly and are eliminated.

I wonder what would have happened if the girls had skipped the bell and gone for the dancing? A 30 minute penalty? Why not. Better than following the rules.

Yeah, when I think about it, *that* part was unfair. The challenge itself wasn't unfair IMHO, but having Brian/Erika not follow the clue resulting in 30 minutes while the girls stuck it out for an indeterminable time.

Although... Brian and Erika did punish themselves in the first place by walking in uncomfortable wooden shoes which, undoubtedly, took much longer to do than to ride bikes.

It's just that it wasn't really "the" challenge. The challenge was golf or dance. The ringing of the bell was quite superfluous so it shouldn't have been the deciding factor of the leg.

Agreed that Brian and Ericka punished themselves but reading the clue should be simple. Maybe it's just that I'd rather see lack of brains punished instead of lack of muscle.

I'm not sorry to see them go. But, I agree, it is a shame how they got eliminated. What is the purpose of a bell like that other than for trying to win a stuffed animal at the carnival? Anyway, it wasn't even really all that funny to watch.

Brian and Ericka making mistake after mistake after mistake, now that was comedy!

My hubby and I had a "discussion" about that. He said that that it didn't really require a lot of strenghth and that all you had to do was hold the hammer as close to the end as possible and let the momentum do the work. I agreed, but a lot of women aren't strong enough to lift the full weight of a sledge hammer and swing it far enough up for that to happen. All of the men were able to do it on the first swing - or that's the way it looked. I think that if it took them any more swings, they would have showed it. I'm not saying that a woman couldn't do it, but it looked almost automatic for the men.

They should have just skipped it and incurred whatever penalty was assigned. Has there ever been a case where a team knowingly didn't complete a part of a challenge?

Those carnival hammers aren't genuine sledgehammers, though. And the ring-the-bell game isn't actually about strength, it's about accuracy of aim and how much pound-fource you can bring to the hit.

Women are at a disadvantage simply because they have a lower center of gravity, the male center of gravity is in the chest while the female center of gravity is in the hips. (Note, this is an advantage for women in ballance tasks.)

Anyway, yes, there have been cases where teams have chosen to take the time penalties rather then complete a challenge. The most memorable would be Rob and Amber, they sat out the disgusting numnums challenge and convinced other teams who came later to do likewise.

I've done a fair bit of chopping wood and specifically splitting wood with a maul, which is somewhat similar.

I would start my swing with the maul on the ground and go up and down in one uninterrupted, circular motion. Just before impact, I would let the forward hand slide a bit on the shaft to maximize force and, most importantly, bend my knees so I was using my lower body muscles and not just the upper body.

I don't think I would have had much trouble with that task, but a woman needs better technique than a man to do it. Experience would come in handy, too. It did seem a bit unfair, but most women could probably do it better than Tiffany and especially Maria. She was pathetic.