Le Tour de Palm Harbor

Look out 727, I'm on the road, and not in a car. After watching the Tour de France this month just like I do every year, I had the urge to start riding myself. My dad had a road bike that he hasn't been on in probably 5 years, and we took some time today fixing the tubes and tires and getting it rider ready. After about an hour we finally got it in decent shape and I took off up the road and did a couple of laps around the neighborhood. It wasn't entirely comfortable, so I brought it back into the garage and we lowered the seat and I headed back out. I then took off and left the neighborhood traveling 7 miles, man am I going to regret that tomorrow. As I'm writing this there's a part of my butt that's so sore, and I never even knew this part existed. I'll live though, I'm taking the bike tomorrow to chainwheel drive to get the gears fixed (after 5 years of no useage they need a little tune up). I'm so psyched about riding and having an awesome new way to get in shape for hockey in September. Not only is this going to help me breeze through the weight loss competition I'm currently in with my family, (suckers!) but riding a road bike is fun and gives me something else to do over the next month while I have no school and work only 4-6 hours a day. I can only take so much video games and television in a day. Look out Lance, I'll be seeing you in Paris next year.

BB 11: Let the Backstabbing Begin

Big Brother returned tonight, and it did so with unexpected twists and turns just like every other season of BB. Let me start off by saying I've been a faithful BB fan since season 3 or 4. I was a little young for the first couple years and couldn't really comprehend the deceit and deception the game requires. BB is one of the few, "True" reality shows that I can stomach. Mainly because it runs in the summer and I have nothing else to watch except for sports (and now True Blood). However the lure of this show goes a little deeper than having nothing else to watch. Sure the competitions are fun to watch, and faithfully picking a houseguest from the start and watching them go all the way to the final two or three is a real thrill (Dr. Will: BB Allstars). But the true reason I'm drawn into watching this show and I'm sure I'm not alone, is the ability to just watch other people live their lives for three months. It's extremely interesting to see these 13 strangers get thrown into a house that they cannot leave, and learn to co-exist with all the other people. Some become great friends; others begin to completely despise their new housemates. The animosity and hostility that builds throughout the season is unbelievable. Heated words are exchanged every season and fights nearly break out over the littlest things, simply because you can't walk away from any problems. Sure you can go to your room and think about something for a while, but eventually you have to come back out and face the person you just called a, "White trash whore". These are the defining moments that make BB stand out amongst other reality TV shows today and it is the reason it's been on the air for 11 years. Every conversation and emotion is completely and utterly real and of the individuals own accord. Few shows can boast that fact.

This season started off with a great new gameplay element involving high school cliques. Just like back in high school, you had the popular kids, the brainiacs, the athletes, and the off-beats. This season splits the 12 houseguests unwillingly into those four cliques. The big reveal tonight was that if someone from your clique wins Head of Household then they cannot nominate anyone from their own clique. It's like a forced alliance from day one. This is sure to change the game right from the start, and anyone who had their mind set on building an alliance with certain people upon stepping through the front door has most likely had a change of heart after hearing about this. After winning the HOH competion, the athlete's were given a fourth member to their clique who was then designated the HOH. This person was Jesse from BB 10. I was not happy with this news, considering the guy is the biggest meat head in the world and adds almost nothing to the intelligence department that the BB game requires. He didn't win BB 10 and he's not going to win BB 11.

After all was said and done, and the episode came to an end, I think it's safe to say that this season should be a dandy. You've got everything you need to make it a classic. A gay guy, a bisexual girl, the girl with huge fake boobs, the older guy that won't get evicted until the rest of the house is done using him, and the black chick that nobody likes but they keep around because she can't win anything. Let the madness that is Big Brother begin; I Can't wait for the stupid and outrageous things that will happen on Big Brother After Dark.