For Meg Probst---I have loved Jeffy this season. I adore the way he keeps admonishing those idiots. I especially liked his terseness with Clay about the nicknames. Of course Clay couldn't spell Ghandia's name to save his life. The Survivors have never been good about spelling names. I wonder if Jeff will put up a spelling chart for them? Ave Virgo, OUR Survivors know how to spell.

Just came from reading the Survivors blog. Loud Woman, I love you, but you are a KIM? Wow! There's some cognitive dissonance there for me. By the way, Kim, thanks for pointing me in the direction of the picture of Bob Crane's putative putz. Very intriguing. I also had fun reading the autopsy report---every word. BUT I am perturbed that the ME did not write of the genitals.
The Survivors want the judges to write more, so I am being obliging. I am hooked on all of your diaries. That's the main reason I am not updating myself. I am an elderly woman who suffers from "necrotic tissue" in the "pulp chambers" of her teeth. Bob Crane might have had a woody for that. I am counting on all of you to make me merry when my teeth ache.

Ooh, Sinn, the contestants are going to make out? That's MUCH more interesting than what we did on DS3!!! Seriously, though, contestants, it's not that we're looking for a fight. I, too, would love to see you get what I hoped for. Not that I didn't enjoy myself, and not that I don't love all y'all who played along with me, but it wasn't exactly island utopia, y'know what I mean?

Congratulations, Loudwoman. Your IC, which I'm not afraid to admit I voted for, managed to cover everyone and have a little bit of interesting fact on all your fellow players while still being different. Which is no easy task with the first IC. And remember that we all know that. Mine was the same way \o/

Being a judge is VERY different from being a contestant!

Ooh, Sinn, the contestants are going to make out? That's MUCH more interesting than what we did on DS3!!! Seriously, though, contestants, it's not that we're looking for a fight. I, too, would love to see you get what I hoped for. Not that I didn't enjoy myself, and not that I don't love all y'all who played along with me, but it wasn't exactly island utopia, y'know what I mean?

Congratulations, Loudwoman. Your IC, which I'm not afraid to admit I voted for, managed to cover everyone and have a little bit of interesting fact on all your fellow players while still being different. Which is no easy task with the first IC. And remember that we all know that. Mine was the same way \o/

Being a judge is VERY different from being a contestant!

One more thing, all of the first ICs generally sound the same, it's no big deal. It's just part of the game, it's a tradition. Look at the ones from DS3, and then there were 16 of them. There were \o/'s everywhere :)

Eh don't worry about what the contestants say about us, once they became judges, it's all water under the bridge! I seem to remember warm and fuzzy feelings at the beginning of previous DS that in no way hinted at the dirty, under-the-table dealings that is really the bread and butter of Survivor! I am sure, that in time, all the dirty laundry will come out and no one will even remember the sunshine days!

Even DS1, which I think had the least amount of drama had a little lying going on!

I think the contestants are mistaken in thinking that we are rooting for them to fight. That's not true! I mean, yes it does make everything interesting, but you can bet your ass that I am not paying 50 cents for an hour of internet in some dingy internet cafe in the middle of China, hanging on the edge of my seat just WAITING for someone to start a fight. Nah, you guys can all make out the whole time through and that will be just peachy keen with me! :D

Welp, I'm here. I'm kinda hoping that the contestants actually do get along throughout the whole contest. It's what I had hoped DS3 would have been like.

Yeah, yeah, I sent candy to a whole bunch of people. And I never did join any alliance. It all just comes down to everyone's own interpretation of the game. Like a judge from DS3 said , and I quote horribly , "It is a game, and just like how if I was playing touch football with someone, I wouldn't tackle them, even though that is touching them" type thing.

So, yeah, I hope they all continue to get along. If not, I hope that they all have fun playing. Hell, I mean, even I had fun :)

Mike (racer96)

And thanks Confruzzled, for the lovely contestants blog layout! Beautiful.

Well, Pischina, you sneaky devil! Thanks for having the ads removed.
Regarding IC topics, the first one is a tradition. It's not easy, and some repetition is to be expected. It's really just a ploy to get the contestants to check out each other's diaries. Telutci suggested that we take a cue from the real Survivor, and use "all new" challenges for DS4. I agree. Which means, with exception of IC#1, no topics from other versions of Diary Survivor. So, judges, you better start sending those topics in! Or do I have to get all pissy like Jeff Probst? He's not taking shit from anyone. Did you watch tonight? He told someone not to write "nicknames" on the ballots, because - "well. I have no idea WHO this vote is for." I love that man.

If you read the ICs closely, there are quite a few who DID do their homework and read back entries. It's obvious. I follow some of them closely, and I know that some people said things about the folks I know that they would only have found out by doing some serious homework. (ugh, that was a disastrous sentence!).

And those who picked up stuff from "about me" entries or profiles, well, I can pick them out, too. Because some of them said things that you just wouldn't say if you had done a little further reading. Then again, who has time for all of that. I certainly don't.

There's always a debate about whether or not this "contest" is really about writing or not. I think, when it comes to the judges voting for immunity, it is. Yes, the contestants are all similar in that they are strong writers. So show us how strong you really are. It's when it comes to voting each other off that it might not be about writing skill anymore.

And contestants: Some of the ICs will be reruns. When you're judges, you can try to change that. ;)

PS. Yes. I agree it was hard to distinguish one IC entry from the other. However, I don't think that the topic is soley to blame. Not once in the IC does it state that it must be a narrative-- although almost all chose this genre. I also agree that requiring all the contestants be addressed in each IC entry may be a bit much and leads to the Krispy Kreme summary of some really great journalists.. but that's part of the challenge... Yes, it takes up a bunch of time for the contestants to get to know one another, but that's where the contestants have to turn on that creativity switch and use what info they could in the time they had to write a unique entry. I wanted to be convinced by at least one person that s/he'd read every entry in everyone's archives when, in fact, s/he'd only breifly skimmed the profiles. I want to be duped. That's what judging is all about, right? Getting duped by the best player?

I recall a couple of people having a honeymoon in DS3. There was all that candy swapping and guestbook signing and "I Promise Not To Join An Alliance" being said and best friend keychains being exchanged. However, dear Miss Throcky, do not think that you were left out because of your age and wonderful rotundity. I, too, was sitting alone watching all the happy DS3 people enjoy their times of merriment while I lurked alone even though I qualified in joining them with age and lankiness. I was glad to be left out, as it made it easier to not get attached to the folks that were getting el boot later. The honeymoon will soon be over and reality will set in. I'm waiting for that moment. The moment where people cry and bitch and plod and plan. In the meantime, I'm willing to wade through the types of ICs that were submitted this round if it means that we get to the moment where someone definitly declares, "GAME ON BEETCHES." Personally, I cannot wait for the voting off to start as glowing coals won't grill any ass. You got to throw some gas if you wanna see a flame. "FLAME ON BEETCHES!"

It is a little sad to see how happy the campers are right now, knowing that the honeymoon won't last. As I recall (of course I may have been left out because of my age and rotundity) there wasn't much of a honeymoon in DS3. It's an impressive group of ICs in general, although I still think it might be a better idea to have IC #1 be a focus on just two or at most three other "campers". There would be the agony about whom to write about and since so many people would not have to be squeezed into the IC, there could be some intriguing fantasy writing. It's almost as nerve-wracking to be a judge as a contestant; I don't want to see anyone voted off.

Fight! Fight! It won't be long now...they'll be at each others throats in no time. I'm amazed that everyone basically took the same approach to the IC. Come on guys! Let's see a little of that creativity that we chose you for!

Yay! It's blog time! Can we start a fight with the contestants again? That was so much fun.

yay! the blog is now ad-free thanks to the lovely pischina! tonight i will create a matching layout to the contestants blog for this blog. then we'll be all set!

"Happy Campers", hahaha, I remember last year when there was also So Much love around this time.
Soon the bickering will begin...
(Hopefully, hahaha!)