Amazing Race

I've been meaning to post about this week's episode of The Amazing Race. A few quick points:

1. Didn't Phil look super cute in his khaki shirt in Chennai?

2. I'm so happy that they have changed the rule about what happens if you come in last in a non-elimination leg. No longer will we be forced to watch people begging in impoverished countries or throwing on all of their clothes as they run to the finish line. Not only was this not good television, but I can't think of a time that it mattered. There is almost always a bunching point near the beginning of a leg, which lets people collect money and catch up to other teams. And the lack of stuff never mattered, especially since they always seem to supply them clothing for the cold-weather destinations.

And the new penalty has the potential of making the ending of the next leg pretty interesting, unless Dave and Mary stay at the back of the pack.

3. If given a choice between wrangling a crocodile and putting rice flour in an elaborate pattern, who in their right minds would choose the latter? Sure, you don't know how far it's going to be and all that, but croc-wrangling!

4. I get tired of all of the drama about whether people should tell each other about their flight plans. It's not a question of right or wrong because (a) it's a race and (b) it's not selfish not to share, because doing so has an equal chance of hurting you -- you could just as easily be on the worse flight, and you're forgoing the chance to find out. Given that, no one should be all indignant when other teams don't want to share, and -- equally -- it's stupid to be all coy about it; just say "We're not telling."

5. I sort of like Tyler and James. They seem to have really dry sense of humor, and so far they have not shown the arrogance that we've seen from a lot of the alpha male teams in the past. Although I could do with a little less recovery talk.