BB: “4 Days Late”

July 29, 2018August 2, 2018 ~ Piece, of the Sky

I tried to write this many times, but I am still reeling from the loss of Kaitlyn. I thought no one was going home this week – and production did too! #BBApocalypse #7StagesofGrief

The one thing about the natural disaster-level whirl of karma, that removed Kaitlyn, is that after the dust settled, we began to see what’s important and what’s not…

JC is running this game. Level 6 was all set to bounce RS, and JC said “No.” Sam, the HOH, who can fish for her dinner, weld, and purportedly ‘stomp mudholes’ in people’s chests, wanted to put JC on the block. JC said “No.” Sam caved and cried and hugged JC afterward.

JC is independent of Level 6. He is independent of Tyler. Tyler can womanize Bay, Hay, Kaitlyn, Sam, Kaycee (even though she is gay!) and everyone, everywhere – except JC. JC sees through him. He sees him for who he truly is (so does Scottie, but more on Scottie later).

On Twitter, there are pictures of Tyler, dressed as a rich man, in his real life. He’s not a “surfer.” He doesn’t need the money – but he has the intelligence to win it.

The Kaitlyn vote showed me that the house will listen to JC, over Tyler. If Level 6 doesn’t have JC’s swing vote, they will literally break camp and vote the other way. JC is the bellwether, the canary in the coal mine.

When JC voted to evict RS, every BB fan, myself included, thought RS was toast. But that was just a joke vote – and who was that poison barb aimed at? Tyler.

JC’s long game is to destroy Tyler, because only Tyler stands in the way of him winning $500K. The rest are irrelevant. It’s a game between JC and Tyler and the rest of them are just chess pieces, that those two move around. And it’s JC‘s game to lose.

Invisibility is power. If you’re not on the TV right now, that’s a good thing. Based on this rubric, the Final Five are: JC, Scottie, Angela, Rachel and Kaycee. Most casual watchers regard these HGs as “furniture,” but they are the real ones running the game.

RS is weak. Hay and Fessy are fighting now. Brett, Tyler and Sam are all way too exposed. Bay has a chance, but she has contracted HOH-itis, like Kaitlyn and Sam. Absolute power, corrupts absolutely.

Bay has also told Rachel about her power app. Who has she not told? A fake showmance with Tyler, is the last thing she needs right now (4 Days Late?! C’mon Bay! That’s your whole career and life on the line! You’re a professional model!).

Bay deserves to go home, if she too falls for Tyler’s wiles. Everyone is Faust, to Tyler’s fallen angel, Mephistopheles (look what happened to Kaitlyn!). He’s a jinx. He’s the spirit in “Death Note.” Avoid him Bay.

Scottie is still the best HOH, and he didn’t suffer an iota for it! Meanwhile, Brett is back on the block! The bros are going home.

Being HOH, gives you a chance to step out of the current fight and create a way-ahead. An airtight, post-HOH game is the sign of skillful player. Since he left the HOH suite, no one has heard from Scottie. #OutToLunch #OnBreak

Past Future

March 1, 2018April 6, 2018 ~ Piece, of the Sky

Miami synthwave, vaporwave

The smell of the sea came in off the water. They sat around a white tablecloth, on the porch of Ran’s house. Alli had put out the long, silver candlesticks. Beyond the wooden railing, tufts of beach grass flailed in the wind.

A full moon rose in the east, a crisp, silver disk floating in the pink and cyan haze, the end of another perfect summer day. Ran came out in a dress shirt holding a Merlot and two wine glasses aloft.

As they nursed the glasses, the orb of the sun slipped below their view. The evening’s last seagulls landed and pecked away at sand dollars.

They had spent the afternoon combing the beach with a metal detector, found in the basement of Ran’s house – just looking for old coins. Their search yielded an assortment of beer bottle-caps and a rusted bottle opener, “Courtesy of the patrons of some party,” Ran said.

Alli brought out the baked chicken and Ran got the baguette. She had bought the loaf at Maison Kayser, before they had left the city this morning. She cut some for the meal and broke her portion in half.

Turning the stem of her wine glass, Alli watched rabbits bound in and out of the dune grass. “What do you think about checking out the abandoned house, by the inlet?” she asked.

“Can we bring our metal detector?” Ran joked.

“Sure,” Alli laughed, “Electronic thermometers for cold spots. Radar guns. Infrared goggles. Anything.”

The last vestiges of the sun had disappeared. Only red light remained. “One day, I will teach you how to surf,” Ran said, looking out at the waves.

“Night surfing too?” Alli grinned.

Ran looked back at her, “Whatever you want.”

They cleared away the plates, folded up the tablecloth, retreated inside to the retro, floral-print couch. “Festive,” Alli remarked, “When did you get this?”

“Maybe five years ago,” Ran mused, “A going-out-of-business clearance sale.”

They sat down and watched cable on the ancient wooden set Ran had rigged up to play today’s TV. She had gutted it, cleaned out the old parts, and put the pieces of a new TV into the old case, “New wine in old skins,” Ran had explained. It still worked.

The glare of the TV shone into the night, as breakers crashed onto the shore.

so '90s