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My Dirty Secret
March 02, 2005 - 7:38 p.m.

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O.K. I have a confession to make. I'm an addict.

It started so slowly. Amy was doing it, and I thought I could just do it once. One time wouldn't hurt.

But once was all it took. Just one time, and I was hooked. Soon it was a regular thing. I even became more intense about it than Amy had been. I got all worked up on the day we were going to do it. I called repeatedly to make sure everything was set up and ready. I ignored my friends and raced home to feed my addiction.

I was...I am addicted to The Amazing Race.

Back in November Amy's co-workers were putting together a pool around the show, in which couples race around the world for a million dollars. They were supposed to watch the first episode and pick teams, and I happened to be there on the night the race began.

The pool never took shape, but I was hooked. There were players you loved (Lori and Bolo, the pro-wrestlers) and players you hated (Freddy and Kendra, the obnoxious models), and one couple in particular that everyone loved to hate (Jonathan and Victoria, putting the "fun" in "dysfunctional.").

They crossed Europe and Africa and Asia. They climbed cliffs, rode elephants and made sausages. Couples fought, acted like rude Americans (one contestant commented, in Senegal, that the people were poor because they just kept "breeding") and were vastly entertaining.

Tuesday nights are now Amazing Race nights. I have a class right before the show and have been known to call Amy during the break to make sure she's ready with the VCR. The latest race just started last night...I'm afraid, however, that it won't be as good. There doesn't seem to be the same calibre of contestants. I guess it's like that magical summer at camp...you go back the next year, but somehow it's all different.

But I'm still watching...


The U.S. is "disappointed" that Canada didn't agree to join in the fun of tilting at missile windmills.

I don't know what's more infuriating, the pseudo-parental tone of the word "disappointed" or the way the Canadian press is reporting it...it's as if their nerdy little brother is in trouble. "Hey, Paul Martin won't eat his peas, and now dad's gonna spank him! Let's go watch!"

Canada is governed by Canadians. If the U.S. president wants to play Missile Command, and the American people are willing to pour money into this boondoggle, then far be it for me to argue. But don't be surprised when the rest of the world opts out. Cripes...even Regan's Canuck lapdog, Brian "Danny Boy" Mulroney, wanted nothing to do with such nonsense.


You might have noticed that my Guestbook link is missing from below the blog frame. Hazard of blogging - someone left some rather bizarre messages there last night. Nothing insulting (at least to me) or threatening (stop worrying, Mom) just odd and involving someone else's blog. I decided to remove the link for a while. Not many people left me messages anyhow, so it's not a huge loss. Sorry to those few who were regular message leavers, and whose messages I enjoyed getting. It'll come back some time, eh?

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