A few words from clauderainsrm:

The Summer continues to take it’s toll, like a long walk through the Red Waste. The topics took their own toll, with some rising to the challenge while driving others insane. Well, more insane than they already were... which many doubted was possible!

Somehow though, most people did make it across to the Promised Land of the poll. “Most”, but not all. bringing_words, emileonus and myrna_bird notified me that real life was taking them out.

While the elements got to annaonthemoon, barrelofrain, bewize, cacophonesque, i_id, jennickels and sweeny_todd

forcing them to collapse in a heap within sight of their goal.

They will most definitely be missed, and I hope whenever the heat stroke wears off, that they will be able to continue to Home Game, as well as supporting their favorites in the entries, and hanging out in the Green Room!

As for those who got here - first off, congratulations. Second off, welcome to your new tribes!

How were they decided? You did it yourselves, when I told you to declare your topics last week. The tribes have been broken down by what you posted on Week 4. The only exception to that was the two people who decided to write *all* of the topics, and I’ll admit, I was tempted to put them in a tribe by themselves to watch them fight it out. But instead, I put them on the two tribes with the fewest amount of members, to help balance things out a little. Of course, that was *before* the drops... so it didn’t work out quite as well as I’d hoped. Apparently choosing certain topics in Week 4 made one more likely to drop in Week 5!

We will be losing one from each tribe. So, on top of those who “self-eliminated”, we will be losing four more contestants. That should satisfy some of the more bloodthristy members of your ranks! ;) At least for a moment or two!


The polls will close Thursday, June 20th at 9pm EDT

Good luck to everyone!

I am almost out of my apartment. There are still some major things to be moved – not the least of which are my cats. But I’m more “out” than I am “in” right now.

This is the place that I moved into 10 years ago, after my divorce. It made me into “the guy who lived over the ice cream shop”, which became a huge piece of how I was identified.

I’m moving away from the city where I’ve spent the last 29 years of my life – from the county where I’ve spend the last 31. It’s bittersweet, because I *know* that I am gaining things that I could only dream about (I received my first Father’s Day card yesterday!) but I’m also saying goodbye to a large chunk of my life as I knew it.

So please excuse me if I seem a little “off” this month. ;)

Between that and the toothache, well, I AM a little “off”.

Awkward transition – the people who *aren’t* off are the ones who have already posted their entries: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/663790.html I know that some of you had a difficult time, but man, the people who have posted so far (that I have read) have raised the bar! The deadline is tonight. So I’m looking forward to seeing what the rest of you come up with!

Happy Father's Day! Because I'm pretty sure that this applies to the vast majority of folks who follow Idol. Just a ton of men with kids! You know how it is, Idol is just teeming with them!

Well, considering how many women with kids we have - who end up spending all their time in the Green Room, I guess we *do* have a ton of Dads with kids, kids who are wondering what their Mother looks like! ;)

Taking up more of your time, here is the link to the new topics: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/663790.html that will continue to torment you until you use that "creativity" thing people keep talking about and knock some socks off.

You'll be happy to note that I'm suffering through a toothache. You'll be sad to note that I'm suffering, so I'm more likely to make YOU suffer as a result!

You'll be noting that the topics have been posted: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/663790.html

You'll also note that the note you left is gone, as is your copy of The Notebook.

You will note that this is the last sentence in the Green Room. Unless of course, it isn't.

The new topics are up: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/663790.html and if the reactions are any indication, you are in full agreement with me that the contestants of Exhibit B who submitted them are insane. Of course, that applies to every contestant who submitted a topic for Exhibit B, those who signed up, those folks cheering from the sidelines and random people walking by while you are reading this!

So really, should it be all that much of a surprise?

It IS interesting though – that of the 4 topics, *3* of them were submitted by CONTESTANTS STILL IN THE GAME.

Or maybe that is just interesting *to me*.

What *isn’t* interesting to me – but I’ll ask anyway, so what are your plans for this weekend?

Week 5.

Which means that we are entering into our second official month together. Oh how the time flies!

Once again, there are four topics for you to choose from. Pick one and make sure to let me know which one that is, since we want to keep track of such things, don’t we? Yes, we do.

They are:

South Indian Cuisine
ha-ha [not to be confused with laughter]
It's Not Tacky If You Wear It Well.
Go tell the Spartans

Link your entries back here by Monday, June 17th at 9pm EDT

Have fun!

It’s pretty simple. I said that the two contestants with the fewest votes would be leaving today.

There are two, at the bottom, with exactly the same number of votes. So, there you go - they are leaving... but wait... there is something you didn’t know!

Heck, it was something that didn’t come up until this afternoon, so really there is no shame in not knowing it. But still, I have to point out that you didn’t.

unmowngrass decided to sacrifice. Which means that one of those two spots is being filled by her.

Which means that there is a tie for that second spot - which in turn means that no one else is going home this week. The craziness that is Exhibit B continues to twist and turn!

Aren’t you glad you read this?

The further we get into “the summer months”, the rougher it gets on LJ. At least that’s been my personal experience with it. Other people have their own takes – but things tend to die down once the kids get out of school and families start taking vacations. Which might say more about the Idol demographic than LJ’s in general. Given Livejournal’s current demographic, I’d say that they probably have more of a “low turn-out” ratio when the Russian government isn’t coming out against homosexually. When it is – everyone shows up, and overloads the servers.

The reason that I bring this up, is that word of mouth is going to be even more crucial for the rest of this mini season than it usually is – granted, Idol has gone into this time of year before, but never “one month in”. Even in the early seasons, we always came in with some serious momentum, and people following what was going to happen next.

Which means that if you want to see your favorites stick around – start talking about them. Not just to each other (which is always a good thing to do, regardless). But also mentioning them wherever it is that you go when you aren’t here. Which – I still don’t “get” that. You should just give those places up. They don’t love you like we love you! ;)

Take a look at the poll: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/662330.html - who isn’t getting the love you think they deserve? What is it that you like about their entry? Or, if this might have not been their best, what is it that you think that they are bringing to the table that will end up showing up in their future entries that you don’t want other people to miss?

I try not to advertise “other things” here very often – but I’ve been watching this, and have been surprised at just how good it’s been:

www.realitygamemasters.com

It’s a web series, produced by Rob Cesternino (Survivor: Amazon and All Stars) featuring 3 former Survivors and 3 former Big Brother houseguests, playing a game of RISK.

Yes, web videos of people playing a board game. But, like I said, it’s a lot better than the basic premise. So, if you have an interest in any of those things – or if you are just really, really bored, you should check it out. They are on Episode 3 right now – but the videos are short, so it’s easy to catch up!

***

But what you should *really* check out is our poll! http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/662330.html
Who wrote something that made you want to jump back and kiss yourself?

In the aftermath of the 6/10 disaster, I’m sure everyone is still walking around shell-shocked, wondering what it all means.

I’ll help you – it means that anything can happen, to *anyone* and that it’s never over, until it actually is over! Every season, or in this case, mini-season, has a few events that you look back on and say “Wow, that really impacted how that played out”. I have a feeling that this week is going to be listed as one of those times in the coming weeks.

That said, because it’s something that I think isn’t getting enough attention right now – kudos to everyone who *did* find a way to get something up this week. Not only ‘something’ but it looks like there is a lot of “really good” things to read out there! I hope everyone takes a few moments to read the entries and vote to keep their favorites in this thing! http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/662330.html

Make sure to send those people some good old fashioned love! Or maybe some “new-fangled” kind as well!