BB11: Hangin' in There

Hey y'all, the Banana Man is gone, but will the next Head of Household end up with egg on his or her face? Hey, it's possible. For once, CBS teases of a potential game changer was right on the money.

As expected, the cliques are no more. I think we all had that part. I admit that I didn't think Big Brother had it in them. When they said game changer, I figured it was another exaggeration. Part two of their big message was the return of the Coup D'Etat.

America's Choice for the Coup winner can negate one or both of the nominees at one of the next two evictions. Only safe people are the Head of Household and the Power of Veto holder. The week of strategizing and demonizing could be for naught ... and I love it.

Someone, like Jordan, who will never win a competition on her own, could end up with major power. You know how some people like to show their arses once the veto ceremony is over, figuring that they are safe for the week? Psych! Up and out in less than an hour on Thursday.

Jessie is still whining about America's Player getting him evicted in week 4 last season. Well, guess what ... it could happen again. Ha! Yeah, in week 4, if Jeff or Jordan hold the Coup D'Etat and Jessie doesn't have the PoV, they could put him up and he get evicted by America's Choice. That would be so evil ... bwah haha.

At the end of tonight's live eviction show, the first live endurance Head of Household competition was begun. I bet you want to know who wins, don't ya? Well, here are the results so far ...

When the feeds came back on over 30 minutes after the show, Lydia and Kevin were already out. Ronnie dropped shortly after that and after another short blackout, Natalie was sitting in the bleachers. Unofficially, Kevin won the $5000

7:20 BBT and the only ones left are Russell, Chima, Michele, Jeff and Jordan.

7:27 BBT Jordan Drops

8:00 BBT Russell, Chima, Jeff and Michele still hangin' in there

8:11 BBT After taking a heck of a lickin' from that diploma, Chima is down

8:33 BBT Feeds come back and Russell and Jeff are left

Jordan gets to pick the Have Nots for next week and Ronnie has figured out the twist.

9:00 BBT Both guys are hanging in there ... don't really trust each other enough to deal.

Guys hanging tough. They're getting smacked all to heck with that diploma. Still no deal. Russell wants a letter from his pops and Jeff doesn't trust Jessie's influence.

9:25 BBT Jeff drops and Russell is the new HoH

Jordan drew names for Have Nots and they are Natalie, Kevin and Jessie

BB11: Case of the Bitter Banana

Hey y'all, it seems that Casey, the Banana Man, will take center stage on Big Brother 11 this week. He supposedly throws the Power of Veto competition, gets stuck wearing a banana suit for the week, wins the house a margarita party and gets put on the block. Let's start the pity party.

For me, his disappearance will be just fine. He's back on the top of the Douchebag of the Week heap, if you ask me. Yeah, I know he's disappointed in being nominated, but if he was such 'a grown ass man' as he said numerous times last night, he'd be better behaved. Instead of 'grown ass man', perhaps just 'ass' would do.

As my long time readers already know, I just don't cotton to a man calling a woman a c***. Period. It's not cool. That's how he referred to Lydia last night because she didn't tell him that Jessie was talking about putting him on the block. I know the legions of Jeff/Jordan/Casey worshipers are already saying that it was the 'heat of the moment', that 'he was just frustrated', yada yada yada. If it's not in your head and in your heart, it won't come out of your mouth. He went on and on about being a man and being classy, but he didn't walk the walk ... he just talked.

Y'all know I'm not a Lydia fan, and that's the excuse some of his defenders are using. In fact, she's also on my fast train to eviction, but I'll not sit idly by while this 40 something teacher of our youth is using this term to describe her, or any female. No, Mr. Turner, that is NOT classy, nor would a real man have to sink to that level. You'd think a teacher would have a better vocabulary.

Then today, he has to verbally attack ANOTHER female. And this one he never even met. He's gone on his rampage calling Ronnie's wife a walrus or sea lion or some large aquatic animal, among other names. Hey, dude, just because you got played, it doesn't make you a man to diss someone's wife. If in fact you did throw the PoV competition, it just makes you even stupider.

Yes, there are those that will excuse him because Lydia and Ronnie are not considered part of the 'good people' *insert rolling eyes here*, but not me. I've endured night after night of you whining about the other half of the house and trying to make yourself out to be so much better than they are. I have not forgotten that at the beginning you were part of that other side, before you made the decision to vote out Chima and got busted on it. I've not forgotten that it is only because of 'white guilt' that she's still there, according to you.

Well, Mr. Banana Man, I hope you get to visit with Julie and do your Big Brother 11 exit interviews on Thursday in your little yellow suit. Knock yourself out ...

BB11: Jessie's Dilemma

Mr. Pec-Tacular finds himself in a bit of a pickle this week on Big Brother 11. He pretty much has an alliance of some sort with everyone in the house and he's Head of Household. Last Monday it seemed that this week's HoH would have a very easy week, but in true Big Brother style, the tide turned.

Ronnie had such a mucked up reign, he'd be the logical choice for eviction, and if he got nominated he still would be. But that's the rub. Ronnie lucked out when Jessie won HoH. Other than his Team Brain clique, that was his best chance of surviving this week. He must have been sweating when it came to a tie between Jessie and Jeff. He'd for sure be on the block if Jeff was HoH.

With Jessie, though, it looks like he'll be safe. Because of their alliance, Jessie has told Ronnie that he'd not be nominated. This may or may not come back to bite Jessie in the butt. Last week the entire house came to a consensus that Ronnie'd be up and gone. Jessie's decision not to put him up will for sure anger the Jeff, Jordan and Casey coalition.

Jessie's original nominees were Jordan and Michele. Everyone was pretty cool at first because they still thought that after the veto competition, Jessie would 'do the right thing'. When names were drawn to participate in the veto competition today, there were some happy faces because Ronnie was not picked to play. It also caused some consternation because Casey commented that certain people didn't seem happy enough that Ronnie wasn't chosen.

I hate that we don't get to see the competitions on the feeds. We get trivia for hours, and CBS condenses it to perhaps 10 minutes. This one in particular sounds fascinating. It was messy and had prizes. Jessie won $2500, Casey won a margarita party for the house and a banana suit and Michele won the PoV. What's this banana suit, you ask? I guess it was supposed to be this year's version of the red unitard. Lucky for Casey, it's not a full body catsuit. It basically just fits on and over his top part.

Michele winning puts another decision onto Jessie. Who will he put up in his place? His choices are basically Ronnie, Chima, Kevin, Lydia and Casey. I, personally, would like him to nominate Lydia, but after last night that probably won't happen. Once again, Ms. Lydia attempts to use sex to ensure her safety. The last time she only gave Jessie a handjob, but last night they went all the way. Was it coincidence that she did this just hours after proclaiming to Kevin that she uses sex as a weapon? I have one word for her ... whore.

But anyway, Team Jessie (minus Kevin and Lydia) thinks that Casey will be nominated on Monday and Team Jeff (plus Kevin and Lydia) think that Ronnie will be going up on the block. Which will Jessie choose? Or will he go totally off the grid and nominate someone different? After all, in Big Brother time, it's a long time from now until Monday afternoon.

BB11: Club Jessie - Part Two

Hey y'all. What a week this has been on Big Brother 11. Ronnie sure had a memorable reign, and I'd venture a guess that it was probably among the worst, if not the worst reign. He started his week being cocky as all get out and ended the week whimpering in his Head of Household room. The puppetmaster made one too many moves.

He's not done, though. As badly as it looked for him on Monday, he will probably be around a while. It looks as though he has an alliance with Jessie, Russell, and Natalie and he has his clique with Chima and Michele. As badly as Russell treated him, and in spite of how it was shown on the CBS show, Russell snuck Ronnie food and entered into an unholy alliance. Of course, we don't really know how genuine either of them were when they made it. They are all liars, and darned entertaining about it. If nominated, though, Ronnie may very well have the votes to stay. This game is crazy.

And his chances look even better now that Jessie has won the HoH competition. I was really surprised that the offbeats did so badly. They were up late practicing last night. But, oh well. The Athletes are safe again and the populars are down to one. I thought that the producers might have produced a twist this week because the populars turned out to be not so popular.

This may end up being another crazy week. The majority of the house thinks that the target is Ronnie, but Jessie and his main core group aren't on that page of the book. They've all talked about backdooring Ronnie, so he might have some peace until the veto competition is over. After that, though, all bets are off if Ronnie does not win the PoV. They will all expect it to be used and Ronnie put in as a replacement nominee. I don't know how Jessie will play that off with all the different little factions that he has going on.

He has the clique thing going on, the Athlete/Brain thing, he has the Lydia thing (and where Lydia goes, it seems that Kevin and usually Chima will follow), he has a side deal going with Casey, and a different one with Jeff and Jordan. I think that's the entire house!

Right now, the only houseguests that have even talked about putting Jessie on the block are Laura, who is gone, and Russell. And Russell can't put him up because they are in the same clique. This might change after the PoV meeting if he has the opportunity to put Ronnie on the block and doesn't. Is it worth the chance to him? How valuable is Ronnie to Jessie's game Those are some questions that are facing Jessie this week.

So who will Jessie nominate? Russell and Natalie both wanted Casey up at one point, and they all seem to want Michele up for some reason. Jessie, though, has that secret late night alliance thing going with Casey, so it would not surprise me if he was safe. If that is the case, who will he put up? He can't put up Jeff, and that leaves Jordan as the only other person from the other side of the house.

Here's to another wild week on Big Brother 11. Right now it seems as if they're all getting along and having fun (except Ronnie), but you just know it won't last. Do y'all have your feeds yet? If not, what are you waiting for? Try them for free by clicking here. Once you have them, if you miss something overnight, check out this thread on http://boards.real.com/ for times and cams of Flashback worthy moments. Who do you think Jessie will nominate this week? What will the repercussions be? I'm interested in reading your thoughts so comment below.

BB11: Ronnie's Big Weekend

Hey y'all, very interesting weekend thus far in the Big Brother 11 house. After Ronnie won the Head of Household competition on Thursday, the hamsters started scurrying. Which side of the fence would Ronnie fall on or would he still try to straddle the fence? He met with everyone and their grandmas that night and generally held court. He stayed busy trying to convince Team Jeff that he was not the hinky vote and was still on their side.

Laura showed that she actually had a brain in addition to those boobs. She figured out what Ronnie was doing and tried to convince her teammates of the same. For the most part they believed her, but it didn't do any good. Besides that, I'm sure they had another rat in the henhouse. I'm convinced that Casey is working with Jesse and as time goes on nothing has changed my mind.

Team Jesse (or Natalie) has this serious hate on for Laura and it was pretty much a given that they'd convince Ronnie to put her up. Maybe they do realize that she's not dumb and she has them figured out. She pretty much does. Too bad that she has no power right now.

That team is just so content right now to let Jesse/Natalie run the game. If they're not careful, they'll run right to the end. They are considered bullies, but they have such control, that I seriously think that Laura would be the only one to put them on the block. The mind control is amazing. They have their own team in check and also have deals going with Casey and Jeff. I just shake my head.

Friday they had their Have/Have Not competition, with special guest Big Brother 10 winner, Dan. From what the houseguests have let out, many of them showed their behinds. Sounds like casting really scraped the bottom of the barrel with this crew. There must have been more than one part to this because in addition to one clique losing and having to live in the jail room with no hot water and slop, Casey and Chima (who are not even in the same clique) won a movie. I was not surprised to find out that the Populars lost the comp, with Jordan and Laura, they are the weakest clique.

Almost as an afterthought, Ronnie nominated Laura and Jeff. Jeff pretty much told Ronnie to nominate him, so that he'd at least get to play in the PoV competition and that was the out that Ronnie needed. He's still trying to pretend that he's not totally in Jesse's pocket. He also gave them some story about trying to backdoor Russell. Ronnie hates Casey and there is only one reason why he would not put him up ... Jesse.

Speaking of Russell, I don't know what to make of him right now. He's running scared because I think he realizes that he's not part of the Jesse/Natalie inner circle. Last night he hung out with Team Jeff and Natalie got her panties all in a wad. He must be a traitor since he dares to speak and hang out with the others. That's all she needed to try to convince Jesse that they needed to try to get him out. It didn't help that he went off on Lydia. He was talking to Natalie and Lydia butted in with a smartass comment. He went off on her saying that it's not always all about her. She then went crying to the diary room and she, Chima and Kevin concocted this scheme to try to convince the Diary Room that Russell was a physical threat and they were afraid for their safety.

Today was the Power of Veto competition. In addition to Ronnie, Laura and Jeff, Natalie, Russell and Casey also played. After another marathon session of Big Brother Trivia, we found out that Jeff won the PoV. So now the rest of the weekend should be busy in the Big Brother house. Everyone will be trying to convince Ronnie to put up their choice. At one point, it was going to be Russell and Jeff, Jordan and Lydia are working hard to convince Ronnie to do exactly that. Jeff and Jordan might really have the votes to keep Laura, especially after last night. Lydia will deliver her vote along with Kevin and Chima's and then there will be Jeff and Jordan. Team Jeff will have survived another week without even being in power.

Who do you think Ronnie will name in Jeff's place? Who do you think he should name in his place? I look forward to reading your comments below. If you don't have the feeds yet, this would probably be a good time to give them a try. Just click here and start your free trial.

BB11: Ronnie Really Holds the Power Now

Hey y'all, what a show, huh? Big Brother 11 had to have it's drama, didn't it? HamsterDame wrote in her last post that Ronnie had the power, and she wasn't kidding. Not only did his vote for Braden to leave tie it up, but then he came right back and won the Head of Household. Must be a dream come true for such a Big Brother fan.

The problem for him is that now he's going to have to make some hard choices. I don't know how he's gonna keep straddling that fence. He's playing so hard, I'm kind of expecting him to spontaneously combust at any moment. I know he voted with Team Jock this time, but I still don't know whose team he's really on, if any. Ronnie is playing for Ronnie, which is what he's supposed to do, but sheesh dude.

I've been sitting here watching the feeds since the show, trying to figure out an angle for this post. I don't care for either side. Natalie is too loud and abrasive, and so is Chima, but I don't like Jordan either. I think she's fake and the fact that she thinks it's perfectly alright to indiscriminately use the terms 'gay' and 'fag' is very offensive to me. I cheered Michele tonight when she told Jordan that it offended her. To sit there and talk about how she's too nice for those people and the show and then turn around and use those terms just makes me want to puke. And I hate the fact that every year, you have your houseguests dividing into what they call the 'good' people and the 'evil' people.

I just don't know what to make of these people. They have to live with each other 24/7. I would think that they'd at least try to get along. But they don't. And they don't care. It has to be so tiring to be so miserable all day every day. I can see not trusting anyone, but you can at least be civil, I would think. You would also think that after 10 seasons, I should be used to asinine behaviour from the houseguests, lol.

Tonight the house is split into factions along the vote line with Ronnie still trying to play monkey in the middle. He is insisting to Team Jeff that he was not the rat. Not only that, he's insisting that it's either Casey or Michele. I don't think they believe him, but what can they do at this point? He has insisted to them that if he finds out who the rat is, he'll put them on the block. Is this setting up a Casey nomination?

You've noticed that I haven't written a word about Chima's speech. I can't believe she did it. Nothing she said was a lie, but still ... I was appalled when I found out that she said something about Braden calling Julie a whore. She had the truth on her side, but not the right. After hearing Jeff say something last night about since they were able to keep someone who makes racial comments in the house, then they could keep anyone in the house, I laughed a little when I realized that Chima was calling them out on keeping a misogynist and a bigot in the house. I didn't feel sorry for Braden, but I felt sorry for Julie. She didn't deserve that. I'm sure, though, that the CBS show only folks were confused because they made a point of whitewashing Braden's rant against Lydia and Kevin, and they didn't show anything of the games when he said that about Julie. In case you missed her rant, CBS posted the video here.

So who do I think Ronnie will nominate? I'm not sure. I'm thinking that Casey will go up, and he's mentioned putting up Laura, too. At one point I heard Kevin's named thrown into the mix, too. I haven't heard him mention any names to Team Jeff, other than the 'rat', but he can't nominate himself. But we've seen how the Big Brother house turns on a dime. The only people safe are Ronnie, Chima and Michele. Who do you think he'll nominate? Who do you think he should nominate? Comment below.

Update: Okay Team Jock (basically Jesse, Natalie, Chima, Lydia and maybe Ronnie) just named themselves NBK, for Natural Born Killers, meaning no silicone, no steroids, all natural. They have a handshake and something they do after winning. Haven't they figured out that the minute you name yourself you become losers? I'm rolling my eyes here ... later, y'all.

BB11: Braden or Chima - Who Will It Be?

Hey y'all, what a difference a day makes on Big Brother 11. Yesterday, it was all but over for Braden. There was no question that he was going home. Tonight, however, it's all in the air. What happened here?

First of all, Chima is an idiot. Yes, I know most of them are idiots, but let's talk about Chima for a minute.

Number One: She has not campaigned one iota this week. Yes, I know she thinks she is just the pawn, but really. For a self proclaimed fan, she's not playing smart. You always check in and campaign regardless of what they tell you. You count the votes yourself and work them. Don't depend on anyone for your life. This is an individual game, after all.

Number Two: Two nights before the vote you do NOT go off on a vote that you need. Yes, I agree that not cleaning up after yourself after making a mess on the toilet is nasty. Yes, these are grown folks and they should all clean up the bathroom. However comma it is not smart to keep going on and on about Michele being nasty in the bathroom ... with her sitting right there. And to keep verbally abusing your own clique-mate is not good play.

Then there's Braden. He is playing well right now. He's played it cool, after going off on Lydia and Kevin the other day. He's gone back and apologized to Kevin, although I don't know if it helped. Don't get me wrong, I think he was a jerk and he's still douchebag of the week, but he's playing it smart. He's quietly gone to people not in the jock alliance and lined up votes to stay. He's had his buddy Jordan campaigning for him, too. Will it work? I honestly don't know.

Why don't I know? Basically because some of them are playing both ends against the middle. Tomorrow night after the vote looks like it will be explosive. There are people telling both groups right now that they have their vote. The two groups right now are the jocks, minus Jeff, plus Chima and Lydia and then the Jordan/Jeff/Braden group.

The jocks have played this stupidly. They had an alliance with the brains, but they pissed it away. They also had an alliance going with Laura. They were so self absorbed, that they didn't even try to keep their alliance members satisfied. Laura was pretty pathetic in just wanting to be accepted, but they neglected to do that, and Jordan was able to move in and scoop her up, the same with Michele. Now it looks like those two votes will go for Braden to stay.

I see the vote going 4-4 right now, but I don't know about Casey or Ronnie. Both of them are playing nice with both groups and telling both groups that they have their vote. Casey and Ronnie told each other that they are voting for Braden to stay, but right after, Ronnie went running up to Jesse. Casey does not like Chima, but he, too, seems to have this thing going with Jesse.

And what about this Casey/Jesse relationship? There are videos out there with Casey and Jesse being in the same venues, participating in the same bikini contests down in Florida. We didn't have the feeds the first few days they were in the house, so we don't know if they discussed this.

Anyway, y'all, this has been quite the entertaining week in the house. Two defined groups in the house already, with your floaters and ego on both sides. Lots of people out there are so in love with Jeff that they overlook the fact that he's really no better than Jesse and Russell that they love to diss. He has an ego if you listen to him, and he's also on video making very negative discriminatory comments. But then, none of them are angels. They've all overplayed this week.

Braden or Chima, which houseguest will still be in the Big Brother 11 house this time Thursday night? Comment below and tune in to find out ...

BB11: 'Fight For Your Right'

Woohee! Hey y'all, it was a pretty explosive early afternoon in the Big Brother 11 house. Think of the Jeff/Russell/Natalie bruhaha as a prelude. Things have been brewing since then, I think, and this afternoon was a boil point. Notice I said 'a' boil point and not 'the' boil point. In keeping with the high school theme, it seems that they casted a bunch of hormonal immature personalities.

Round 1: Braden vs. Lydia/Kevin

This one's been brewing since the Veto meeting when Braden replaced Lydia on the chopping block. Braden blames Lydia for his nomination and let her know in no uncertain terms. While that is not necessarily a bad thing, the language he used was a bad thing. He threw around derogatory and/or racial slurs like they were oh so normal. Yes, Braden took over the Douchebag slot from Casey. Go check out the RealPlayer SuperPass Flashback at around 12:45 ish BBT today to watch this mess.

Round 2: Jordan vs. Lydia

I call this one the Battle of the Blondes. This was a typical non-physical high school girl catfight and my daughter and I cracked up watching it. 'I didn't do anything to you', 'but I tried to talk to you',' but I thought you were my friend' ... yeah, you know what I mean. It was really pretty funny. It comes not too long after the first round, so just keep the Flashback running.

And this was in a couple of hours, y'all. If you don't have the feeds, then you need to click on the link now and get them!

BB11: To Veto or Not To Veto

Hey y'all. It's been a crazy weekend in the Big Brother 11 house. These houseguests have hit the ground running. They're making me tired trying to keep up with the alliances and loyalties. I've about given up. For the most part today was pretty tame compared to the past couple of days. The only thing that really happened was the veto meeting. Would Russell keep the nominations the same, or would things be shaken up.

For some reason, Saturday night Jordan tried to convince Lydia that she needed to convince Russell to leave things the same. Hello? Lydia is on the block, why would she try to convince Russell to keep her up there if there was an opportunity to come down? No, Lydia was not loyal to your little group, Jordan, but she's not stupid. I had to just shake my head over that one. Jordan is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. I'm still trying to figure out if she's really as stupid as she's acting, or if it's just that ... an act. Sometimes I really think that she's got the dumb lil hick role down to a 't' Sunday she claimed not to know what an egg white was. I'm sorry, I'm not buying it. Yes, I seem to be in the minority. I don't think she's the bee's knees, just a cute lil old thing. I know quite a few of those sweet lil southern misses that are conniving as heck.

I really wanted to like Ronnie coming in to this. You know, us computer geeks need to stick together. But I tell you, he just gets creepier and creepier. Not only is he playing both sides against the middle, he seems to be in everyone's business and pops up everywhere they want to talk game. He wants to be liked so much, but he's overplaying his hand.

At this point, the only houseguests that I still like are Michele and Kevin. They seem to be the most normal. Of course, it's early. So far, though, Michele is playing a pretty good game. She gets along with everyone, but doesn't seem to be jumping into the drama. And she seems to be handling her 'have not' status very well, without the whining. Her secret about her Ph.D. is out, though. I think Casey busted her on it. I'm not sure yet if he was joking about it or not. Kevin, too, is kind of playing under the radar. He hangs out with pretty much everyone, but stays out of the drama. He's not in anyone's crosshairs.

Russell is not my favorite houseguest, but he can stay around awhile. He's not stupid, is able to carry on relatively interesting conversations, and he looks quite yummy. I may turn the sound off, but I love to watch him work out. I think he'll be more tolerable once Jesse is gone. The two meatheads together seem to decrease the IQ's of anyone around them. Wonder if Michele could work out a scientific theory for that phenomenom.

Speaking of meatheads, Lydia seems to have convinced them that Braden was a big threat. Maybe she knows more than I do, but I don't see it. The only thing I've seen him do, other than sun and swim, is drop names. He's supposedly partied with a who's who of LA celebrities and has negative stories to tell about them all. Did any of you watch 'I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Outta Here'? Yeah, yeah I know. Well they had this little segment on the celebs and their name dropping. Well, in just the few days of the feeds, I think Braden has them all beat.

But yeah, Braden is now the next biggest threat to the meatheads next to Jeff, and they can't nominate him for eviction. So what did they do? At the Veto meeting on Sunday, Russell took Lydia off the block, and Jesse replaced her with Braden. They tried to convince Chima that she was just a pawn, but she knows what can happen to a pawn. Both sides seem convinced of the votes, but they shouldn't be. I really have no clue as to the outcome. I can only presume that the brains and the athletes, minus Jeff, will vote to keep Chima and that will give her 4 votes to stay. They are assuming that Lydia and Laura will also vote with them. Braden will have Jordan and Jeff, for sure, and probably Casey. Kevin is a big wildcard.

But hey, this is only Monday, or late Sunday night. They have until Wednesday to shake things up some more. What do y'all think of the new nominations and who do you think will be the first houseguest eliminated from Big Brother 11?

BB11: A Wild and Wooly First 24 Hours of Feeds

Hey y'all, it's been a very busy 24+ hours in Big Brother 11 Land since the feeds were turned on. We've gotten to learn a bit more about the houseguests, some a little too much more, and we've seen alliances begun. We also learned that Team Brain were the first occupants of the 'Jail Room', the room with the pallets on the metal flooring.

Jesse, the first Head of Household nominated the first two houseguests for eviction and the first Power of Veto (PoV) competition was held. So did Jesse target one clique or did he share the wealth? Are the Populars and the Athletes together, as it usually happens in high school, or are they more individual than collective?

When the RealPlayer SuperPass feeds were turned on, and Big Brother After Dark (BBAD) came on it quickly became apparent that Jesse nominated Lydia and Chima. It seemed that Chima was pretty calm about it, but Lydia started working it. She went from sexpot, to cry baby, to hardcore gamer in a matter of less than an hour. She must have worked every male in that house. It was quite interesting to see that she and Jordan had changed into lingerie right before BBAD came on. And yes, there were some remarks about it. I originally thought Laura would be the trampy one, but it seems like Lydia and Jordan want that crown.

It's very early in the week, but the house seems to be almost even in the choice of who to evict and who to keep. But then again, it depends on who they talk to. The only ones I'm 'almost' sure of are Natalie and Team Brain to keep Chima, and Jordan and Team Outcast to keep Lydia. It would be stupid, I would think, to vote against someone in your own clique if there were anyone else available to vote out. Jesse promised to keep Chima if it were a tie vote, but that's subject to change, too. Especially if Lydia keeps up what she calls 'Operation Sexpot'. She was all over him last night. She gave him tears, she kissed up to his greatness, played the pitiful poor me card, etc. She worked it. And it did seem as if it were working. You know how meatheads love to be adored. She pulled the same thing with the other meathead in the house, Russell, but to a lesser extent (at least that we know of).

Natalie promised Chima that she was safe, and she is seeming to be content with that for some reason. Or maybe she's waiting until closer to the day. Natalie has been a big disappointment. I originally called her manipulative, then I softened to her after hearing her interviews, but now I just think she's not too smart. For someone who supposedly is such a big fan, she's going about this all wrong. First she told stupid lies then she became almost unbearably arrogant. She is the BB11 version of BB10 Michelle to Jesse, only she's not as sociable.

Douchebag of the week, though, goes to Casey. Why, you ask? This morning he was talking to fellow Outcast Lydia and he told her that the only way Chima would stay in the house is if it was 'White Guilt'. Yeah, he was the first to play a race card. He went on about if she stayed it would be similar to Obama winning. I want to slap him. He undid all the relatively benign feelings I had for him.

And last night, I was feeling benign towards him. He did a great job emceeing the BB11 Beauty Pageant. That was so fun to watch, and very enlightening. Little Miss Dr. Michele showed us a whole nother side. She strutted her stuff in that bikini, and she did it well. She's such a little cutie. I think she's my favorite right now (and I hope that wasn't the kiss of death for her). I honestly think that she could go far in this game. She's personable and seems to fit in with everyone, at least so far.

The nominations, though, mean nothing until after the Power of Veto competition and/or meeting. Jesse, Chima and Lydia played along with Russell, Jeff and Natalie. Weird how the entire Team Athlete got to play and it was meaningless for them. So it ended up being a 2/3 chance that the nominations would stay the same. Allison Grodner teased us via twitter that this PoV competition could change the 'complexion' of the house. Of course, we probably won't see it until Tuesday. We do, however, know that Russell won the competition. And something else we know is that something happened during the competition between Jeff and Russell because about 2 hours later, Jeff was STILL bitching about Russell. And Lydia is stirring the pot.

Seriously, though, there are about 5 days until the first eviction of Big Brother 11 and already it seems as though I've been watching these people forever. They're playing too hard, too quick. And there's already talk of the "Good People" vs. the "Evil People". The house is already being divided and that makes for a long season ... and that's too bad

.

And the Thirteenth Houseguest Is ...

Hey y'all! What a great start to Big Brother 11! Not much was revealed that we didn't know, but it sure was nice to get back to business. I LOVE BIG BROTHER! We got to meet the twelve new houseguests, see their reactions to the first two twists, and watch the first Head of Household competition.

As the houseguests got their first looks at the house, I thought it was funny how no one wanted the pool room. Jeff, Laura, Michele and Natalie were the unfortunate ones, and even more unfortunately, there were only three beds. The girls agreed to double up so that Jeff could have a bed, with Michele telling the Diary Room that if she were single, she'd double up with Jeff, lol.

My very first impressions were pretty much right on, except that I like Jeff and Russell a bit more than I thought I would and Chima and Natalie a bit less. Chima's laugh would drive me totally bonkers and she laughs often, for stupid reasons. Natalie came off as a bit cocky, which surprised me. I thought she'd play the game a bit more strategic. She was even annoying her clique mates.

Speaking of cliques (like that smooth segue?), they are as follows:

Athletes: Natalie, Jeff, Russell
Brains: Chima, Michele, Ronnie
Populars: Laura, Jordan, Braden
Off-Beats: Kevin, Lydia, Casey

The houseguests found out their cliques at the first Head of Household competition and the second twist (the first being the clique thing). Even though they might win the competition, none of them would be the first HoH. This was where the Mystery 13th Houseguest came in.

That Mystery houseguest was no stranger to the game. Whichever team won the competition would get an advantage in that they would get a fourth member. We were told (the hgs were not) that if the Brains won, Brian from BB10 would re-enter the house. If the Populars won, Jessica from BB8 would come in. If the Athletes won, it would be BB10 Jesse, and BB5 Cowboy would represent for the Off-Beats.

The competition was pretty strange, and strangely amusing. Each houseguest wore a pair of very large underpants and were told to hang on to these toilet seats with their names on them. At Julie's signal, they were lifted into the air giving them all wedgies. The object of the game was to hang on the longest. The Brains were first out with the Off-Beats following behind. It was down to the Populars and the Athletes, no surprise there, and Casey was the last Off-Beat to drop leaving Natalie and Jeff still hanging for an Athlete win.

The show went off with the houseguests all going back into the house to see who would join them. A couple of the girls guessed that it would be Jesse. We were shown very little of the interaction between Jesse and his new teammates. I know that as soon as the feeds and Big Brother After Dark come on, we'll get a better idea of where things stand in the house.

What did y'all think of the show? Are you looking forward to Jesse continuing his reign of terror? I, personally, don't think that he'll be any better than he was last summer. Who do you think that he'll nominate? Probably not the big boobed chicks, but maybe they'll surprise me. Will they nominate two from the same clique or will they share the wealth? What kind of alliances will be made? I can't wait to get the answers to these questions! Big Brother 11 has truly begun!

Tomorrow is the day!

One day left until Big Brother 11 and I'm ready. Reformatted the hard drive on my computer this past weekend and installed fresh new copies of my essential software, made sure the feeds were working, stocked the fridge, and warned the family. I even took some vacation time beginning Friday to immerse myself in this experience.

One new avenue I'm exploring this season is Twitter. I've had it for a while, but I've not experienced Big Brother with it. The season has not even started and I'm already enjoying it. I'm not talking about the repetitive spam to retweet this and that or to visit their sites or to try to get big brother as one of the top topics. I'm talking about the tweets that contain real information.

In addition to the information that you might get from me about new articles here, or from Chelsia and MissyZ tweeting about new or fun stuff with RealPlayer Superpass, or the ladies at BBDish, this year Big Brother itself is tweeting. The producers have a twitter site, the HoH (Head of Household) will be tweeting, and Allison Grodner herself has a twitter account.

The past couple of days they've been feeding us information that has just whetted my appetite and made me whinier that we don't have feeds yet.

From @agrodner22 today
We can already crown the sorest loser on BB...and it is only day 3! about 3 hours ago
Exclusive announcement from the "Chenbot" tonight on Ferguson!

from Big Brother HOH
Following the Premiere Show on Thursday July 9, check in for tweets from the Big Brother HOH!

From Big Brother Scoop
Today:
Ronnie claims that after 3 days in, he's already lost 4 lbs!
A MAJOR tantrum at the BB house last night!!
Yesterday:
Lydia is rocking her gold pants right now!
Major surprise in the Big Brother house tonight. Hope the HGs are ready!!
He's been out in the sun so long, he's starting to burn!
In memory of MJ, houseguests are out of bed and performing Thriller!!
Monday:
I never thought that she would fit in THAT clique...but she totally does!
Seriously!? Less than 24 hours in the BB house and alliances are already forming!

We are missing some good stuff! It looks like this year there will be more openness and more information flowing. Are you ready for this? I am!

Tex's Take on the Big Brother 11 Men

Hey y'all, welcome back! It's about that time again. I'm ready to give my first thoughts on the Big Brother 11 Men. They seem to be a diverse group, but not as interesting as the women. I've already posted my one word descriptions, as well as those of HamsterDame, Chelsia and MissyZ and after reading and watching more about the houseguests, a couple of my impressions have changed a little.

Diane Henry's interviews were very good and I'm sad that her interviews with Casey, Jeff or Kevin haven't been posted yet. Anyway, her posted interviews were at least 10 minutes long for each houseguest, so I was able to get quite a bit of information. I also watched InsideDish interviews and I was disappointed. Maybe at some point, he'll release the rest, but what was on his show was more about Ross than about the houseguests.

While we have what seems to be the requisite bar recruits, I was pleased to see that many of the houseguests are actually fans of the show and actually applied, whether it was online, at open casting calls or by answering ads on Craigslist. I was very pleasantly surprised by the number of hamsters that classify themselves as big fans or even as Big Brother nerds. With very few actor wannabes, I am getting excited for the game to start. There should be some interesting strategizing, especially as many of them say that their plan is to strategize on the fly and to be very flexible.

Let's talk about the males:

Jeff Schroeder - My one word for him was 'meh'. He didn't stand out to me at all ... a big whatevah. He played football in college and he says that that is his proudest accomplishment, okay Mr. Jock. He comes across as very sweet, though, in interviews, almost too sweet. He admits to wearing his heart on his sleeve and would be open to a showmance. He says that he plans on being true to himself. I think I want to change that word from 'meh' to 'sucker'. Some of the less scrupulous players will play him like a fiddle.

Braden Bacha - I used 'pfft', a couple of others used 'douche'. I haven't changed my mind. Other than finding out that he was nude in an episode of what reality blurred called a 'supernatural gay soap opera' what else did we learn about him? Well, he plans on 'rockin' the show' for exposure for his acting career. He says that he can cry on cue and plans on using his acting skills in the house. Arrogance, ignorance and two-facedness piss him off and says that he'll work to get rid of negative energy in the house. Yes, I rolled my eyes quite a few times while reading and watching. Okay, maybe I'll change my word to 'douche', too.

Ronnie Talbott - 'Know-it-all'. I think Ronnie might get far in this game. He looks like such the sweet little nerd, but he's got that competitive drive thing going. He was a champion debater and many hard core gamers are very, very competitive. He's also a huge big brother fan. He's studied the game and can name in order all of the evictees from all the prior seasons starting from 2. He says that he can compartmentalize like Dr. Will, but tends to be more emotional. That could actually work for him. If he can play mild mannered cub reporter, I think he can fool everyone and be a monster at the end.

Russell Kairouz - 'Macho'. Hmm, I may have to steal Chelsia's word and call him a 'meathead'. I really wanted to like him because he's a MMA fighter, and I love MMA, but I don't know. He actually says they call him 'Russell the Love Muscle'. Good grief. I think I will just stop there. I hope he doesn't think the Big Brother house is 'The Ultimate Fighter' house. Cuz that's usually a house full of meatheads, a giant frat house. He does come off as charismatic, though, and that might work for him, strategically.

Kevin Campbell - 'Fabu'. He's the token flamboyant gay guy, I guess. He describes himself as 'ghetto fabulous'. He says that he was in the closet so long that he has the tools to deceive anyone. His strategy is going to be to highlight and magnify others' flaws. I see him as Marcellus x2, and that's not necessarily a compliment. Will we see Marcellus/Amy version 2 with him and Jordan? I can see that happening, actually.

Casey Turner - 'Ugh'. I don't know. Diane didn't have her interview with him posted and with Ross he did this stupid rap. He's the oldest guy in the house, but his night job is that of a DJ, so he may have something in common with the others. He confesses to being worried that the camera will focus on him picking his nose, which is a big turn off. I do NOT want to see that montage, hence the ugh. All of the interviewers seem to like him and say that he's a nice guy, though, so I guess we'll just have to see.

So there you have it, Tex's Take on the Big Brother 11 Houseguests. Take it with a grain of salt. I'm invariable wrong on these things. Remember that at the beginning of last season I couldn't stand Dan or Memphis. What do you think? Vote and comment below.

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Tex's Take on the Big Brother 11 Women

Hey y'all, welcome back! It's about that time again. I'm ready to give my first thoughts on the Big Brother 11 Women. They seem to be a diverse group of women and very interesting. I've already posted my one word descriptions, as well as those of HamsterDame, Chelsia and MissyZ and after reading and watching more about the houseguests, a couple of my impressions have changed a little.

Diane Henry's interviews were very enlightening, in particular, and I'm sad that her interviews with Laura, Casey, Jeff or Kevin haven't been posted yet. Now I know a lot of people don't like Diane, but I do. I felt sorry for her in season 5, cuz she got played, but I didn't dislike her at all. Now some of her fans ... that's a different story. Some of those so called Divas were scary. Anyway, her posted interviews were at least 10 minutes long for each houseguest, so I was able to get quite a bit of information. I also watched InsideDish interviews and I was disappointed. Maybe at some point, he'll release the rest, but what was on his show was more about Ross than about the houseguests.

While we have what seems to be the requisite bar recruits, I was pleased to see that many of the houseguests are actually fans of the show and actually applied, whether it was online, at open casting calls or by answering ads on craigslist. Yes, Lydia and Michele were Craigslist applicants. I was very pleasantly surprised by the number of hamsters that classify themselves as big fans or even as Big Brother nerds. With very few actor wannabes, I am getting excited for the game to start. There should be some interesting strategizing, especially as many of them say that their plan is to strategize on the fly and to be very flexible. Many of them claim that they're going to pretty much hide their talents, for example Michele says that she won't tell anyone about being a neuroscientist and Natalie says that she's not going to tell about being a tae kwon do champion. Wonder how that will work for them since Big Brother 11 has that classification twist going.

Let's talk about the females:

Jordan Lloyd - 'Ditzy'. I'll stick with that. I saw two interviews where first thing she did was tell that she got a boob job three weeks ago. Say what? I think she got the America's Sweetheart role this year and she might pull it off. She was recruited and never saw an episode until about a month ago (hmm, get recruited, watch some tape, get a boob job ... see a connection here?). She's gonna use that small town country girl persona to the max, and I'm not sure I buy it. She interviews very well and comes across as such the innocent little sweetheart. She claims that she's a bad liar and that she's worried about getting on people's nerves because she talks a lot, especially when she gets excited. I'm gonna keep my eye on this one.

Natalie Martinez - 'Manipulative'. That was harsh, I'm thinking now. I really liked her after her interview with Diane. She's another huge fan and went to an open audition in her town. She's tiny, but tough. A champion tae-kwon-do competitor, she seems to have her head on straight. She's also a poker player, which means she's good at reading people. It'll be interesting to see her game play. Will she be manipulative, or merely a good game player? Jury's still out on this one.

Michele Noonan - 'Brainy'. I stand by that one. She has a Ph.D. in neuroscience for pete's sake! Neuroscientists study the brain and as she's a research scientist, the houseguests will be her lab rats. She's a big fan and answered a Craigslist ad for a woman with an interesting occupation. She thinks she will hide her Ph.D. and says that she won't be wearing the 'dork costume'. Michele says that she's a pretty tough Jersey girl, and that not much gets to her. She uses yoga to diffuse her anger. I think I'll have to root for her because my daughter is a Jr. Biochemistry major and is another non-stereotypical science nerd.

Chima Simone - 'Chameleon'. I'm not sure about her. She has this bigger than life personality that will either endear her to the others or quickly get on their nerves. She even knows it. She says that she will have to dial back on her energy at first. She's an 'in your face' type person that will go off on people if they piss her off. Sigh ... I'm hoping that she can control that and not have very many ABW (angry black woman) moments. She's all about Girl Power and really wants a female alliance to work, but says that she has to be cognizant of those women that will throw her under the bus. She was a high school teacher for two years after graduating, so she should have a good handle on the nonsense in the house. She's another of my favorites.

Lydia Tavera - 'Interesting'. I'll stick with that. She looks tough, but seems like she's a softie inside. She does say though that she will flirt with the guys and the girls to get herself farther in the game. But she also says that her goal is to get everyone's trust. She's a huge Harry Potter fan and has a HP tattoo, and she has the Prince symbol tattoo'd on her finger (I knew I liked this girl). In fact, she says that all of her tattoos mean something to her. Her mom told her to leave her bitchiness at home, wonder if she did, lol. She hopes that people won't judge her on her tattoos and gets to know her, but it won't bother her too much if they do. In fact the only thing that will bother her is spiders.

Laura Crosby - 'Tramp'. Huh, that will work. She says that she's worried that her cleavage will be a disadvantage, but then she goes on to say that she wants there to be some pushover men types in the house so that she can use her body to manipulate them. She may just be the biggest beyotch in the game. She says that she is not afraid to hurt feelings, lie or manipulate to win. She claims to be a Big Brother nerd, has studied the game and strategies, and that she's spent a lot of time on the message boards during past seasons. I'm fully prepared to dislike this trick.

So there you have my first impressions of the Women of Big Brother 11. I know I'll probably change my mind a number of times, and my favorites never win. What do y'all think? Vote and comment below.

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BB11: Random Thoughts Before the Start

Hey y'all! There's lots of information out there on the house, the houseguests and the game. I'm not ready yet to do my first thoughts article, but I didn't want to let any more time go by without posting some of what I'm thinking. This is where my head is:
House
Earlier in the week, CBS posted photos of the house. I'm not too impressed with it overall. I think my favorite rooms are the HoH room and the red-orange bedroom. The kitchen and dining areas aren't too bad, but there's not really too much difference in these from previous seasons. I see a washer and dryer, so the washboard theory is blown. And it seems as if they have all the running water they need. That's really a shame. I think they dropped the ball on their eco-friendly theme by not having touch control or sensored water faucets. In fact, the only things I really saw eco-friendly was the recycled materials on the walls and the recycle bins.
One room actually has bubble wrap on the walls. Great. So the houseguests will to to that area and pop bubbles while they discuss strategy so that the microphones don't catch what they say. The room that they have decorated like a pool is a cute little room ... for kids and not for sleeping. In the spa room there are a couple of bikes with light bulbs. Will that be for a competition similar to season 1? Will they have to take turns pedaling for power in the house, perhaps for the hot water heater? That'd be cool. And what's up with the locked room? Is that the room that will look like a slum for their Haves/Have nots theme? The red-orange room looks like it could be a Haves room. It has a very classy look to it. But that doesn't fit with the pool room, so I don't know.
Houseguests
I'm not sure yet how I feel about them. There are the requisite models and wannabes, but there are also some that look interesting. One rumor out there that is everywhere is that they will be broken down into the four groups: jocks, populars, nerds and outcasts. I can see this cast fitting into those cliques. There is only one guest over 40, three in their early 30's and the rest are 20 somethings. The Bi-sexual tattooed Nanny, Lydia, fascinates me, as do the Gamer, Ronnie, and the Neuroscientist, Michele. CBS released the photos and bios of 12 houseguests today, but said that the mystery 13th would be released next week. That doesn't make me happy. What's up with that? It seems to be feuling the Sheila return rumor. I just don't see the purpose of it. Why bring her back? She finished third, she wasn't all that interesting OR popular, and she doesn't seem to have the fan support to justify her return. But then I don't want any of them back, so ...
No Housecalls
Well, CBS, or rather Gretchen, announced the end of Housecalls, but there are plenty of contenders for that spot. CBS seems to have crowned Ross the Intern as the official host for the post-Housecalls-era show. I don't particularly care for him, don't really find him funny, so I probably won't be a regular watcher of his Friday only web show. Real SuperPass has their Thursday and Friday lunchtime show with Missy and Chelsia (BB9), which I'll catch the archives of. And at one point Evel Dick (BB8) was promoting his own show with Janelle (BB6 & AS). It'll be interesting to hear how each show does.

Well, I'll be back later in the week with more of my thoughts on the houseguests, after I catch the pre-show interviews that are bound to pop up. And check out the Film.com/bigbrother page for more stuff about Big Brother 11.