The Amazing Race -- All-Purpose Thread

Ok, let me give everyone here a tip on kayaking / rowing:

To go STRAIGHT, you need the same amount of pressure on both sides (so one paddle on each side of the boat at the same time)
To go LEFT, both members of the crew paddle on the right side of the craft
To go RIGHT, both members of the crew paddle on the left side of the craft

It seems very counterintuitive and can take a bit to get the hang of. The main thing is that you need to have the same amount of pressure on both sides. You can either have one person consistently paddle on each side of the boat, or switch back and forth on alternating strokes. But if you're both paddling on the same side of the boat, you will not be going straight. (Also, the person in the back of the boat needs to be the one directing the paddling.)

 

Ok, I have issues involving food with weird textures. I don't know if I could have choked that hunk of cheese down.

I would have ROCKED that road block though. I crochet. I knit. I probably could have figured out the knot configuration and busted that thing out in no time.

Pool update:
Pilot - Ryan & Dusty | 79
WolvEagle - Kim & Penn | 75
WriteThinking - Raquel & Cayla | 38
*Anthony & Spencer | 34
*Huggy - Connie & Sam | 22
*Wenders - Caro & Ray | 19
nietsroob17 - Lulu & Lala | 20
MTM - Arun & Natalia | 19
*TigerVols - Akbar & Sheri | 17
*Taylor & Isaiah | 10
*bumpy mcgee - Michael & Moe | 2

*Team has been eliminated

I bet there's some extra non-elimination legs that they threw in, for the sake of having a decently long season without having to add in new cast members or whatnot. But somehow, Arun & Natalia escape again!

 

So cute you describe that cheese as "weird textures". I'd definitely have trouble biting into any food that could bite me back! Blechh.

 

Dammit. Now I want Greek food. Also, to go to Greece. At least I already knew how to spell souvlaki. (And I can navigate my way out of a paper bag.)

That history challenge, especially if you're like me and your listening comprehension is kaka and your focus drifts easily, might have been torture. Listening to a 15-minute lecture on 10 different Greek saints could have been difficult. It amused me how everyone seemed to have some sort of pneumonic device to remember which saint was which.

We have a late surge in the pool!

Pool update:
WolvEagle - Kim & Penn | 90
Pilot - Ryan & Dusty | 82
WriteThinking - Raquel & Cayla | 42
*Anthony & Spencer | 34
*Huggy - Connie & Sam | 22
*Wenders - Caro & Ray | 19
MTM - Arun & Natalia | 21
*nietsroob17 - Lulu & Lala | 21
*TigerVols - Akbar & Sheri | 17
*Taylor & Isaiah | 10
*bumpy mcgee - Michael & Moe | 2

*Team has been eliminated

Obviously, just like the Race, this is a two-horse battle to the finish between Pilot and WolvEagle.

 

Woo-Hoo! I'm in first place!

I must say that the twins jumping into the water was a pretty cool way to leave the race!

 

The clue-printed-on-the-sandwich-wrapper thing was a real surprise -- and one that I probably wouldn't have thought to look out for, either. I felt bad for the twins, especially the one who was literally crying over having to eat another humongous souvlaki...The way she was carrying on made me want to find out just what, specifically, is in a souvlaki, as I had no idea. Apparently, it can be served with lamb, chicken or beef as the meat pieces, and it also usually includes lemon, onions, tomatoes, and grilled vegetables. It's usually served hot, on a skewer, but can also be rolled into pita bread, which, of course, is how the contestants had it.

Anyway, when it comes to clues, we're all used to either the red-and-yellow box, or else, being handed one. It would take a leap to think of what to do when the server didn't give you one, and then had to play dumb. I was sorry to see the twins go. I was rooting for another non-elimination leg. Just so someone besides Arun and Natalia could be the beneficiary of one!

 

Apparently she doesn't like onions? Which is foreign to me because the first thing I do when I'm cooking is chop up some onion and saute it.

 

Going back to the souvlaki spelling...that didn't seem like a super busy road they were on. Unless they could only guess once (which seems unlikely), wouldn't it have been so much faster to give it 3-4 attempts before running willy-nilly in the area looking for someone who can spell?

 

Have always hated the Holdernii and their videos, but damned if Kim and Penn aren't likable.

I don't see how they lose. They have a natural common sense and attention to detail that should win the Race.

 

Thinking back to last week has any team ever discovered the pit stop two tasks before they were supposed to?

 

I know there's been at least one instance where a team arrived at the mat early by happenstance and had to run back out to go finish their tasks.

This leg had Non-Elimination Leg written ALLLLLLL over it. That rock challenge looked brutal and is proof that you can be a big strong team and sometimes hit a needle-in-a-haystack challenge and just be f'ed. Also, what is with the number of challenges this season that involves carrying a bunch of heavy items up stairs/ramps?

I know they portrayed it as a race to the mat between Arun/Natalia and Ryan/Dusty, but the guys had to be HOURS behind them, no matter how woefully lost Arun was. Once they got to Thessaloniki, they were just driving around in a fairly small area. I expect Ryan & Dusty to wreck shop next week, since they'll have the big equalizer of the chartered plane back to the US.

Pool update:
WolvEagle - Kim & Penn | 93
Pilot - Ryan & Dusty | 83
WriteThinking - Raquel & Cayla | 56
*Anthony & Spencer | 34
*Huggy - Connie & Sam | 22
*Wenders - Caro & Ray | 19
MTM - Arun & Natalia | 23
*nietsroob17 - Lulu & Lala | 21
*TigerVols - Akbar & Sheri | 17
*Taylor & Isaiah | 10
*bumpy mcgee - Michael & Moe | 2

*Team has been eliminated

Two-hour finale next week!

 

The rock challenge looked brutal. I can just imagine the lady on the throne and the musicians thinking, "Come ON, people!" I hope they got some decent pay to be there for that long.

It must have felt so good for all four teams to smash the plates after the frustration of the rock challenge. I'm surprised, though, that they weren't given safety glasses by TAR.

And as far as the twins' mat error last week, I wonder if a crew member called Phil and told him to get to the mat ASAP. I can't imagine him being there that early.