Replies

Let's meet our contestants.

On the Foa Foa tribe:

Ashley Trainer
Age: 22
Occupation: Spa Sales

This 22 year-old woman describes herself as funny, outgoing and flirty, with an emphasis on flirty. Ashley once moved to San Diego for a relationship that did not work out, but now this bubbly former competitive cheerleader plans to use her flirty ways to endear herself to and at the same time manipulate the male castaways. Not only relying on her womanly wiles, Ashley feels that her strong determination will get her far in the game. She claims that she usually gets whatever she wants as long as she puts her heart and mind to it.

In her spare time, Ashley loves kickboxing, watching movies, and shopping. She describes her perfect day as sleeping in followed by working out and shopping, then ending her day with a nice dinner and a movie. During her time away from home, she will miss her mother, whom she describes as her best friend. She will also miss her favorite comfort item, which is her pillow.

Ashley works in a very competitive commission based sales job where she can sell almost anything. She has no qualms about selling items that she hates as long as it helps her reach her quota. She hopes that her “get it done” attitude will win her the title of Sole Survivor. Her first purchase, should she take home the grand prize, would be a condo or new house.

Jill's Thoughts: The flirt-her-way-to-the-top girl. Yawn. We've seen this before - many times. Most likely a fairly early boot, even if her flirting is successful (see: Sydney - Survivor: Tocantins).

Ben Browning
Age: 28
Occupation: Bar Manager

Ben Browning is a transplanted country boy helping to run some of the most successful bars and restaurants in Los Angeles. A bar manager, Ben is often seen with a girl on each arm and boldly claims he’s never been rejected. (Oh please). “I’m one of those people that just get lucky for some reason, if I want it, I do what I have to do to get it.”

Growing up in Kirksville, Missouri, Ben’s parents raised him with a strict set of morals and instilled in him a strong work ethic. His parents would always be there to whip Ben into shape whenever necessary.

Ben has worked hard for all he has in life and says “I don’t like cry babies, I like people who work their asses off, like people from where I’m from.” He is also quick to admit that the one thing he can’t stand is “whiners and wimps.”

When he is not hunting or fishing, Ben can probably be found on his motorcycle. Despite breaking his leg in a wreck in 2007, he is still an active rider and even part of a motorcycle club called “WhiskyBoys.” Described by friends as “a big hillbilly who will be rich someday,” Ben intends to leave his mark on the game of SURVIVOR.

Jill's Thoughts: He annoys me with his arrogance, but he's a young, outdoorsy guy. If his work ethic holds up he should make the jury, but no further.

Betsy Bolan
Age: 48
Occupation: Police Officer

Betsy Bolan dreamed of being a cop her entire life and at age 47 finally turned that dream into a reality. Her friends and family still cannot believe this mother of four is an officer of the law. Even though she is nicknamed “Officer Friendly,” Betsy isn’t naïve and knows that “nice people can be snakes.” She feels her skills as a cop will help her stand up to the possible jerks and alpha-males she could run into during SURVIVOR.

Betsy is happily married with two boys and two girls ranging in age from 8 to 16, but her world almost came apart when her husband was diagnosed with stage-four prostate cancer. Now with his cancer in remission, “all is good” on the home front, but Betsy says the money would mean a lot to her family since her husband does not have health insurance. (Obama will make it worse).

After going through a wild time in her youth, this former hippie has now been clean and sober for 21 years. Betsy’s overcome a number of obstacles in her life and is ready to tackle the next one, especially, now that she has become the person “she’s always dreamed of being.”

Jill's Thoughts: A good sentimental favorite. Her life experience and transformation from hippie to clean will help her. If she can play the game as a player, not a cop, she could go far.

Elizabeth Kim
Age: 33
Occupation: Lawyer/Urban Planner

Elizabeth Kim wasn’t born in this country, but that is not stopping her from living the American dream. “Everything I’ve gotten to this date has been out of pure determination.” Emigrating from South Korea with her parents at age two, Elizabeth grew up in Franklin Lakes, NJ and is the elder of two children. The first in her family to go to college, this Ivy Leaguer's positive outlook combined with her determination has served her well in life helping her to earn degrees from Barnard-Columbia, Princeton, and University of Pennsylvania, Law School, where she served on Law Review.

After several years of practicing litigation at a top New York City law firm, Elizabeth now works as an urban planner in coordinating and managing industrial real estate development projects for New York City government, although just how much she’ll reveal to her fellow tribemates is still up in the air. “I’m not sure I’m going to tell people where I went to school or that I'm an attorney.” A self-described “social butterfly,” Elizabeth sees herself as an “outgoing people person" who is opinionated and passionate about life. She admits that this behavior often leads to her being blunt with others and putting her foot in her mouth, and that her biggest challenge will be “being assertive without being abrasive.”

A runner and avid tennis player, Elizabeth tries to stay active as much as possible. She recently completed training for a marathon, and is looking forward to tackling the game's many physical and mental challenges.

Jill's Thoughts: I don't think there'll be much of a middle ground with her. Either her intelligence and athleticism will carry her far in the game, or her abrasive, blunt attitude will get her booted very early.

Jaison Robinson
Age: 28
Occupation: Law Student

Both physically and mentally prepared for the game of SURVIVOR, Jaison is a very educated 28-year-old, who is currently working on his law degree from the University of Chicago. Before deciding to obtain his undergraduate degree from Stanford University, this goal-oriented academic was given a congressional nomination to attend both the Air Force and the Naval Academy. Even though Jaison chose a route other than the military, he still contemplates one day working in the armed forces in order to serve his country.

In addition to his current focus on education, this Eagle Scout is extremely active. Named “Mr. California” by Cosmopolitan magazine, Jaison is also an avid sports lover and enjoys basketball, football and hiking – he has even scaled the top of Venezuela’s Angel Falls, the highest waterfall in the world. He also feels that one of his greatest achievements is making the U.S. National Water Polo team. In addition to his love for physical activities, Jaison plays both the piano and the cello.

He dreams of waking up to the view a top Mount Everest and boasts that, for a million dollars, he would snowboard all the way down. His favorite board game, “Diplomacy,” gives a bit of insight as to how he plans to play SURVIVOR. Much like SURVIVOR, “Diplomacy” is a strategy game that uses communication, negation and deception in order to win. Even though he plans to use positive elements such as strength and intellect to win, he will not hesitate to betray others if it wins him the title of Sole Survivor.

Jill's Thoughts: A classic alpha male. I think he has the potential to go far because he doesn't seem as cocky as some of the other alpha males.

Marisa Calihan
Age: 26
Occupation: Student

Marisa Calihan is no stranger to surviving off the land. This 1st generation Appalachian was born on a farm in Ohio and learned many of her survival skills from her father. Growing up with eight siblings, in a blended family with many adopted children, Marisa learned from an early age how to take care of herself. “I am paying my own way through school and have been on my own since I was 17.”

Aside from her early roots in farming, Marisa also has experience working in third world conditions. While abroad, she worked with street children in poor countries with no plumbing or running water and it changed her life. Although after eight years of being a free spirit and living abroad in such places as El Salvador and Spain, Marisa returned home to go back to school and help take care of her family.

For Marisa, the money would go a long way in making her family’s lives better and helping her achieve a few long term goals. “There are so many things I can do if I just had a nest egg to start with. I won’t have to fight tooth and nail for everything, if I just had a little bit of money.”

Jill's Thoughts: Growing up on a farm in a blended family should give her both physical survival skills and social skills. The comment about her being a"free spirit" makes me somewhat less enthusiastic, though. I think she makes the jury.

Mick Trimming
Age: 33
Occupation: Doctor

Smart, funny, charming and a doctor, Mick is every single woman’s dream and every single man’s nightmare. At 33 years old, this Idaho import is a resident anesthesiologist at UCLA who takes great pride in his intense occupation. He is highly motivated to do whatever it takes to win the million dollar prize in order to pay off the hundreds of thousands that he owes in student loans.

Involved in an all consuming residency life, Mick’s pet peeve is when patients, who have neglected their health throughout their whole lives, come to him with extraordinary demands. With all of the stress in his life, he candidly describes his perfect day being one where he is able to sleep in until 7:30 (or maybe 8:00) a.m. In addition to reading trade magazines, he enjoys the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine and the ones hidden underneath his mattress.

A man of humor, another one of Mick’s pet peeves is when people cannot admit they are wrong. He also admits that the quickest way to get him angry is to throw dirt clods at him. Definitely a conversationalist, topics that are off limits to Mick are ridiculous situations that people find themselves in, and he absolutely refuses to talk about the sexual escapades of people’s grandparents.

In addition to his desire to pay off student loans, he hopes to buy a vacuum cleaner with the winnings. Oddly enough, the wildest thing he would do to win would be to “give a homeless person a tongue bath” but he would never go as far as disabling someone … well at least not permanently.

Jill's Thoughts: Smart. Successful. Weird. I've known doctors like him (brilliant, but with a totally weird sense of humor). If A and B trump C, he could win it all. If not, he could go home early.

Mike Borassi
Age: 62
Occupation: Personal Chef

This California transplant, originally from New York, will do or say anything to become the next SURVIVOR. After a career as a college football coach at Boston University in the 1970’s and over 30 years in the food industry, he currently works as a personal chef.

Married without children, he enjoys gardening, reading, working out and spending time with friends. He is funny, dependable and quiet, yet, he is never afraid to tell it like it is. He can’t stand bad drivers, Republicans or bigots and admits that the easiest way to make him angry is to move around his kitchen equipment.

At 62 years old, he has been preparing for his experience on SURVIVOR by working out with a personal trainer on a daily basis and has lost over 30 pounds in preparation for his chance at the million dollar prize. A true SURVIVOR fan, he has watched every single episode from the very beginning and came close to being part of the cast last season. His strategy includes remaining cooperative and low-key so the “stupid, cocky ones self-destruct.” Rather than making aggressive moves, he plans to allow his leadership qualities to emerge naturally which may mask the fact that he can, at times, be competitive and almost predatory.

Jill's Thoughts: Of course, no season on a SeeBS show is complete without the obligatory militant liberal jerkoff. Frankly, although his age will put him at a disadvantage, his "be cooperative and low-key" strategy, I have to admit, sounds like a good one. However, the fact that he has a twisted and inaccurate view of what conservatives are really like may make him unable to successfully use the strategy he has planned.

Natalie White
Age: 26
Occupation: Pharmaceutical Sales (where have we heard this before?)

Natalie White is your typical Southern Belle, but she is definitely not afraid to get her hands dirty. “Friendly and savvy” are two of her attributes that her fellow castaways will pick-up on right away.

White plans to bring her background in pharmaceutical sales into the game and knows that if you do not make the cut, you are more than likely going to be cut. You either “make the numbers or go home.”

Natalie’s convinced that her ambitious personality will help her during the game. “I’m literally so competitive and scrappy that I don’t care if I have to dive on the ground and get bruised and scraped up, I’ll do it. I’ll do it to win. I love to compete.” Natalie will not waste any time changing her game plan if needed. “I’m observant and flexible, not to mention smart enough to know how to adapt to my surroundings.”

Jill's Thoughts: The producers love to cast these uber-aggressive alpha females. Not that I'm criticizing - I'm kind of like that myself. But many of these types cast for the show fail to live up to the hype.

Russell Hantz
Age: 36
Occupation: Oil Company Owner

Russell Hantz’s personality speaks for itself when he proudly displays a missing tooth that he refuses to fix! This married father of four is visually memorable. Standing tall at only 5’6”, he is built like a brick house with a bald head. At 200 pounds of pure muscle, Russell’s solid figure and sharp tongue has helped him carve out a multi-million dollar business in the oil-tanking industry.

A huge SURVIVOR fan, this self-made man built his business from scratch by working hard, speaking his mind and stepping on anyone who got in his way. Russell won’t apologize for his style of game play either saying, “I’m not going out there to make friends. I’m just not doing it. But everybody is going to think I’m their best friend, because I’m just such a lovable character.”

Russell can’t wait to get in the competition and show “these morons how it’s done” and he “plans to play the game dirtier, smarter and more cunning than anyone can imagine.” It is those skills that have allowed him to achieve his biggest accomplishment in life and that is being able to provide for his family.

Jill's Thoughts: His extreme arrogance trumps his strength and work ethic. It would not surprise me in the least if he butted heads with one too many of his tribemates and got booted early. People who say things like "I'm going to show these morons how it's done" usually end up eating their words.

OK... I know you have all been dying to hear LG’s breakdown of the contestants, :-) so here we go.

Ashley Trainer — As Jill, said, we’ve seen the flirt before. Bad news for Ashley...she’s not that hot.

Ben T. — “Ben is often seen with a girl on each arm and boldly claims he’s never been rejected.” It strikes me that the two aspects in that sentence are not necessarily connected.

Betsy Bolan — “She feels her skills as a cop will help her ...” She’s been a cop for ONE year! PUH-LEASE. Such a self assessment says she is not so great with self assessment.

Elizabeth Kim — An elitist lawyer. The worst kind of contestant.

Jaison Robinson — “boasts that, for a million dollars, he would snowboard all the way down Mount Everest.” I’d pay five bucks to watch some dumb ass kill himself like that. With an idiotic statement like that you gotta wonder if it was Zero who nominated him for military academy. The fact the didn’t take advantage of it tells me he’s some kind of pampered rich kid.

Marisa Calihan — working her way through college. Money would help her family. Gorgeous. Hard to not like her.

Mick Trimming — Mick’s pet peeve is when patients, who have neglected their health throughout their whole lives, come to him with extraordinary demands. Gotta love that.
“Oddly enough, the wildest thing he would do to win would be to “give a homeless person a tongue bath”...” Aw, man! That shi’ite won’t fly in camp.

Mike Borassi — Obamatron. First to be booted material. Will blame it on Bush.

Natalie White — “White plans to bring her background in pharmaceutical sales.” WTH! She’s gonna cure people’s headaches? Sale them coconuts? “I’m observant and flexible,...” I guess she’ll be able to bend over and see herself kissing her @ss goodbye. Sorry... couldn’t resist.
I love Southern Belles. But they don’t win Survivor.

Russell Hantz — “Russell can’t wait to get in the competition and show ‘these morons how it’s done.’” OH YEAH. That’s the attitude that will win.

Brett Clouser — T-Shirt Designer. BWAHAhahahahahahahah.... Is he wearing an example of his work? If so, he sucks as a designer. Will probably suck at survivor.

Dave Ball — “...he has a knack for reading people which has helped him through the rough spots. His innate intelligence...” Thinks a lot of himself. I’m sure the other tribe members will be impressed.

Erik Cardona — “His top hobby is skirt chasing....he does have a special female in his life … his dog, Adrian.”
Did anyone check to see if poor Adrian is wearing a dress?!

John Fincher — Rocket Scientist. Model good looks. Off to a great start. “He finds unskilled people amusing, and has no problem telling them to their face.” What?! How stupid is that. He’s going to get into some poor day laborer’s face and laugh at him? WTH is that about?
Please, please, please, create conflict with me.

Kelly Sharbaugh — most likely to take her clothes off in hopes of getting an offer from Playboy.

Laura Morett — grandmother,fitness instructor, Harley rider. I love it! But like Jill says, she better keep her religion to herself or she will be a target.

Monica Padilla — Oh, lord. A law student. Good looking and knows it. Easy to write this one off. HOWEVER, if she plays the game the way she says she will she could go far.

Russell Swan — lawyer. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Come on, Survivor! Enough with the freakin assclown lawyers. “Russell’s hero is his dad...” At least he’s not all bad. “...he feels that others usually have a hard time dealing with his conversation style.” Translation: Russell has anger control issues and believes “the man” has been keeping his people down since...” Whatever....

Shannon Waters — Man. She’s all over the map. Hard to get a read. If she keeps her military career to herself and pretends she one of the “sisterhood” the lib lawyers and idiot young people might give her a chance. Otherwise...

Yasmin Giles — Geez...two freakin hair stylists? This season should be feature some of the most well-groomed layers ever to be stranded on an island. Is there a manicurist in the crowd? “...working in a beauty salon has helped her learn how to hustle because she is constantly competing with the other employees for new clientele.” LOL! Who knew that hairstyling was a contact sport?

All in all, a pretty sorry lot. Maybe it will be a good season bec the tribe members are so bad. I’ll follow up with my picks later.