Yes, it does lend credence to her whole "I'm lazy because I'm saving it all up for challenges" argument. I think it had to have come into the deliberations at some point even if they didn't show it, if only because Dave was the perfect counter-example, hard worker around camp but sucked at challenges.

It's an argument that would get more traction if you actually made it while lazing around, rather than letting people draw their own conclusions and then pulling it out at TC. Also, there are limits. You can save your enegy for this challenge, but if it means that the rest of the tribe is exhausted, or that going forward you (as a group) are less well fed and more frustrated, that ain't gonna help.

I do think Sherea's point is ridiculous, admittedly, but in the bizarro world of Survivor where unprovable theses generally get traction when trying to make tribe decisions seem less arbitrary, she makes a point. I think it would be a good idea to tell her that her laziness makes her the next target, so she should step it up. Easy, right? Not gonna happen.

Speaking of common logic seeming special on Survivor, I loved James's talking head about JR. "Yeah, he annoyed me, but it was only me, and admittedly his language abilities were helpful." Yes! This is totally reasonable! James is still the man, and I still think he is secretly very funny.

I am disappointed that no one acknowledged how well Sherea does in the challenges.

True, but I can't stand her. She's one of those people that Survivor excels at casting--the "you didn't let me ignore everyone else and do what I want so that means that you are X (bossy, patronizing, etc.)". At least now that the wrestler is gone she being more out in the open about it, instead of all that insidious whispering she was doing before.

I would really love it if for once they didn't merge when they thought and the rest of that tribe actually had to survive on their own.

I also loved James' talking head about Jean Robert and the hugging warn-off to crazy Boss Dave. James is da man and I am interested to see more sides of him as the season unfolds.

I loved finding out that Todd has been a fan of the show since the beginning--it explains his gameplay. I am enjoying the wily little guy.

Denise talking about the food, and clearly amazed and moved by it but not having the words to describe it kinda broke my heart. She is getting everything she can out of this experience.

sumi, it's no problem. I happen to think their paper is superior to ours.

Do you like Shinsei?

It's good, but honestly nothing beats Teppo for me. That may have less to do with the quality of chef though, and the overall quality of restaurant.

Abacus is in Uptown which kinda has a rep for overrated clubs and restaurants. That may have colored some people's experience. I'm pretty sure it has better ratings than Shinsei.

This week's WNTW is nice -- she's a philosophy PhD student, so has the full gamut of issues: I don't know how to do this/it doesn't matter anyway/my hips are so fat! And she looks great at the end.

Next Iron Chef: How fun that they got to use the high tech equipment and industrial chemicals!

How rough to expect them to turn out a really excellent dish using that stuff after only 90 minutes practice.

Also, I really thought that there wasn't going to be a winner because of the way they went through the candidates.

How rough to expect them to turn out a really excellent dish using that stuff after only 90 minutes practice.

And none of the dishes came out excellent or even all that good -- but what made it an interesting challenge was the way it took all of them out of their comfort zones, with none of the usual "oh, yeah, so-and-so's The Seafood Guy" advantages. I continue to love this show.

1. Harold was on Better Half???

2. some tidbits from Grub Street including a video demo of Hung's knife skills.