Teppy, I must return the compliment by expressing a small sneaking fondness for Voinovich.

Damn. Good for him.

A guide to Pope smoke:

Black smoke = "We haven't chosen a Pope yet."

White smoke = "We just chose a Pope!"

Blueish grey smoke = "We've havin' ribs tonight."

Red smoke = "A Cardinal is on fire."

Green smoke = "Could somebody send up a VatiSmoke repairman?"

Yellow smoke = "We're pretty close, but we're letting our guy enjoy his last few hours of fallibility. It's kind of like a bachelor party, but without whores. "Fallibility" only allows you so much leeway - we're still Cardinals, after all, ha ha. Anyway, sit tight. But trust us, you're gonna love this guy."

[link]

GG was enh for me last night. people's voices seemed a bit off.

VM - I am loving so much.

TAR - I was sad that the boys lost. I really liked them. I want Gretchen and Meredith gone PRONTO. ack! I love Uchenna and Joyce and want them to win. Kelly is crazy, that is all there is to that and she and Ron are stupid for linking up with Rob and Amber.

You know, I know someone else who thinks this, and her name is msbelle.

I don't really think it, I just think it's funny. hunh hunh HUNH?!

Sandsational sand sculpting

TAR: I LOVED the Camel harness racing -- that was a blast. I was pretty amazed that Gretchen and Meredeth didn't seem more tired. I guess that they did have a good 12 hours to rest up. Kelly really needs a cluesticking.

Also, I agree with everyone that Joyce looks beautiful bald and that Uchenna was so lovely while she was upset. They are one of the few couples where you feel like they're getting stronger as they go on.

Oh, I think Gretchen and Meredith are just about at the end of their rope--they're actually snapping at each other meaningfully now. (Not horrifyingly, but with real irritation.) That said, one of the things I like about them is that even though they do look pretty wiped, they look genuinely happy when they discover they haven't been eliminated. They want to keep going.

I feel like I shouldn't've liked Lynn and Alex as much as I did, because really they were kind of asses. But I did, and I'm sorry to see them go. Ron and Kelly continue to do nothing for me; Joyce and Uchenna are lovely human beings who aren't very good at navigation; and Rob and Amber are the best racers there, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Oddly, I discovered that I like Rob a lot more when he stops trying to play cute and starts looking stressed and snappish. All of a sudden I didn't want to throttle him all of the time.

I am too crabby to live.

GG was enh for me last night. people's voices seemed a bit off.

It was weird. The whole Paris begging for change thing. WTF, and how was that resolved? I may have FFed past it, but did she just stay out there?

it wasn't resolved - they never showed her again. Not a tight episode.