Finally Blogging! New Year Resolutions: Social Media Clean Up, The HCG Diet!

new-years-eveIt’s time once again to welcome in the New Year and say goodbye to the old. Some of us are very happy to see this last one go and look forward to what the New Year will bring, while others aren’t so optimistic. I happen to be in the first group, therefore, have decided to start this blog off with my New Year Resolutions. This, of course, is after I sprinkle the Kosher Salt in front of all the entries to my home, make my New Year wishes while lighting candles and make sure a tall dark handsome male will be the first through my front door. (I will get my son to do that job!) If there is New Year Voodoo I’m missing here, do let me know below!

My first resolution? Blog.

Yes, The Yak has had this blog for quite some time now. (As you can see from the first post, since 2011!) We set it up, got it all ready to go, then just left it here with test posts waiting for a miracle to happen I guess. Well, that didn’t happen. I guess blogging actually takes someone sitting down and writing down their thoughts… Who knew? So from this day forward, us Yaksters have decided to blog. Hopefully it’s entertaining, informative, emotionally inducing in one way or the other and well, read by someone out there. We are also hoping to get some guests bloggers every now and again that you may enjoy, so stay tuned!

My second resolution, clean up my social media.

socialmediacleanupWhat I mean by that is to dispel the negativity in my life, beginning with social media. This past year I have seen my Facebook feed go WAY downhill. Between the elections and political posts, Newtown and Gun arguments, etc. going onto Facebook is just not so much fun anymore. I have actually had to “hide” friends feeds from showing up in my timeline. So I asked myself, why have “friends” that you have to hide? If I have absolutely (apparently) nothing in common with them, from politics to religion to even daily thoughts, why are they a friend to begin with? People have asked me “What about Family that you don’t agree with?” Well, I will probably still keep family (but hide their posts for the most part) but those are blood related to me, I can’t do anything about that. However, I can do something about people I have never really met in real life, or old High School buddies that just aren’t compatible with me anymore. I’m just tired of seeing post after post of fear, negativity, and quite frankly, false crap from places like “YourMamasBasement.com” posing as the latest news source. Anyone can make a site that looks real “newsy” and call it something like “The U.S. Herald” or some such thing, then post conspiracy after conspiracy. I am appalled by just how many people believe these things, then share them all over Facebook, Twitter and the like. No one has the time of day to constantly fact check them, then argue all day about it. (Heck, I even had one person tell me, when I decided to post on one of their posts, that “How dare I post on things they post on their Facebook Status!” I kinda thought that was what sharing was all about, but ummm, ok?) People are going to believe what fits their agenda unfortunately, and I say, let them. To each their own. If that’s how they wish to spend their days and make everyone who is “friends” with them spend their days, then more power to them. That doesn’t mean though that I need to read this negativity constantly streaming through my feed, hide people, or walk on eggshells every time I post. They can all have fun (or fear and negativity) on their own. I am going to consciously choose not to participate. Maybe, just maybe, if we all did this who are sick of it, they would get the hint?

My third resolution – Diet

hcg-diet-recipesHere we go again. Another year, another diet. I have done them all. Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Atkins etc.. The latter was always my go to. See, I was diagnosed with Hypothyroid in 2010. How long I had this problem I have no idea. I had the symptoms of it for, well, as long as I can remember. You name the problem, I pretty much had it. I somehow managed to not let myself get too high up there on the scale, mainly because of eating low carb for the most of the last decade, but always that chubbiness I could never get rid of, along with the sluggishness and aches/pains that go along with it.

This last year, towards the end of the year, I discovered the HCG Diet. This has changed everything. I did one round so far, before the holidays, and lost 25 pounds. Course then the holidays rolled up and I didn’t diet at all… So yeah, I got a little of that back. That’s ok though, I expected that. I mean, kinda like the blog doesn’t write itself, eating the Thanksgiving and Christmas goodies and still losing weight would take a miracle. Alas, my next round of the HCG Diet is coming up. I am due to start somewhere at the beginning of January and will be sure to blog about it. Anyone not familiar with this diet, stay tuned, I will provide info and links on the what and how. If you really want to know somewhat about it right this minute, you can read “Pounds and Inches” by Dr. Simeons. You can get the book for FREE online here: dr-simeons-manuscript. If you are looking for more info after reading that, you can also leave a comment below or come on into the Yak’s Forum HERE and post, or send a private message to me there, (TheKdd). I would be more than happy to help get you started.

Now the HCG Diet is not for everyone, you will read about that in the book. Also, though, it takes some heavy duty devotion to the diet. Thing is, the way I got through it, it’s only 24-42 days. (You choose the length based on how much you have to lose.) So I thought… heck, what’s a month out of my life? So devoted I was, to the letter… and devoted I will be again. You go through phases and rounds of the diet, as you will read. I have done one longer round and plan on doing two more shorter ones. That should get me where I want to be. Anyone else going on this journey, or any diet journey for that matter, leave a comment! We can do this together!

Resolution Number Four: Walk the Dogs

dog-walkingI really hate putting resolutions on paper (or a Blog) for all to see, mainly because at the end of 2013, I will have to look back at this and see what I didn’t follow through on. Hopefully this isn’t one of them. I do walk my dogs, sometimes, or get my kids to do it… but I know they want more time with me, and it’s healthy, so why am I not doing it? I could say because I’m blogging, but we all know that isn’t true. How about because I’m tired. Yeah that’s it. I’m tired. No? Too busy? Ugh. Fine. I will walk the dogs more. I know they will love that.

Resolution Number Five: Follow Through with Resolutions

NYRchart Ok well this one is a given. I think everyone needs to have this resolution. Every year we say we are going to do this or that or what not just to repeat it again for the next year. I have even read about people who think resolutions are stupid and to just not make them. Forget those people… negative nellies. Yes, not following through can disappoint but not making them so you don’t disappoint? So let’s not try and better ourselves so we don’t disappoint. That doesn’t even make sense. So yeah, FOLLOW THROUGH.

NYRchart2

Now of course there are a few more resolutions I haven’t covered here but I think I got the main ones up top. What are your resolutions? Post them below so we can all follow along (and there is a record of it. Muahahahaha.) No going back once it’s in print!

Walking Dead Shakeup! Show Renewed for 4th Season, EP Mazzara OUT

The_Walking_DeadChristmas is not being kind to a mastermind of the hit show, The Walking Dead. Early Friday morning, AMC announced that while they have opted (rightfully so) to renew the show for a fourth season, there is a major twist. Executive Producer Glen Mazzara is stepping down as showrunner.

According to AMC, this is a mutual decision based on creative differences. The network sees the show going in one direction that Mazzara does not agree with. In a statement AMC released this morning,

“Glen guided the series creatively for Seasons 2 and 3,” AMC said in a statement. “[We’re] grateful for his hard work. We are both proud of our shared success. Both parties acknowledge that there is a difference of opinion about where the show should go moving forward, and conclude that it is best to part ways. This decision is amicable and Glen will remain on for post-production on Season 3B as showrunner and executive producer.”

Mazzara calls his experience with TWD “amazing,” but notes that it’s time to move on. “I have told the stories I wanted to tell and connected with our fans on a level that I never imagined. It doesn’t get much better than that. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this journey.”

Survivor: The Yak’s Interview with Survivor Winner Denise Stapley

Live Reuinion ShowHey Survivor Fans. The Yak was able to participate in an interview yesterday with Denise from Survivor Philippines!

As you may know Denise Stapley the physically and mentally tough sex therapist from Cedar Rapids, Iowa received a much deserved win of a million dollars on Sunday nights finale!

Denise has said that she is the one who “outed” Lisa to Penner, which is the information he so conveniently used at the finale tribal council. She has made peace with Abi even though she acknowledges it was definitely difficult to live with her. Denise was quite shocked that Abi voted for her as sole Survivor! Apparently the only person that still seems bitter towards her is Russell, a Kalabaw tribe mate who left early in the game. Ultimately Denise thinks that what clenched the win for her was that she had attended every tribal council and persevered. She also did not want to apologize for how she played the game being proud of herself in her camp life, social game and her proficiency in challenges. She said that there was a part of her leaving final tribal council that thought “I think I just did it!” She was not overly confident however and didn’t want to jinx it so she would never truly consider winning during the five month period they had to wait for the results. As much as she wanted to hope she never let herself believe it until the votes were announced.

Denise says that her family needs to decompress. She takes her stewardship of the prize money seriously and she and her husband first and foremost want to insure the future of their nine year old daughter and other family members.

The Yak: What surprised you the most watching back the season?

Live Reuinion ShowDenise: Far and above how early on Malcolm was thinking about cutting me out! Re watching it is so funny like God, that little stinker was thinking about it weeks ahead. That’s definitely it!

The Yak: Who did you enjoying hanging out with the most?

Denise: Without a doubt definitely Michael Skupin and Lisa. I think there was a difference between the friendship of Malcolm and Michael Skupin and Lisa and I, just partly because of age and life experiences . We would be able to have conversations about our kids and different things. That just doesn’t translate. So just being able to spend time within the game where it wasn’t always about strategy and it wasn’t always about the game. It was great!

The Yak: Did you ever find out what bit you in the neck?

Live Reuinion ShowDenise: You know we don’t know! We assume it was likely a centipede. They had asked one of the crew members who was a local there and from the symptoms they assumed it was a centipede. Luckily by the end of the day the pain subsided, it was incredibly painful. Dumb us you know we were sleeping on the ground and it was raining, just nasty nasty!

Before leaving home Denise wrote out a two page strategy on how she wanted to play the game and she reports it was almost by the book.

Thanks Denise for speaking with us and Congratulations on your much deserved win as Sole Survivor!

The Amazing Race: The Yak Chats with Josh and Brent

Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Brent Ridge

Season 22 of The Amazing Race concluded on Sunday night with an epic finale that kept the viewers on the edge of their seat for the entire 2 hour ride. After racing more than 25,000 miles across three continents, nine countries, and 20 cities, the Final 3 teams fought their way toward the $1 million prize. The most unlikely team in the Final 3, the Fabulous Beekman Boys (@Beekman1802Boys), pulled out the win in a nail-biting finish that still has fans talking about their amazing come-from-behind journey. The Yak took an afternoon recently to chat with life partners Josh Kilmer-Purcell (@joshkp) and Brent Ridge to discuss their time on the race, the memories they made, and how they’ll spend their prize money.

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The Yak: Congratulations on your win! It was an amazing episode, and a lot of viewers were pulling for you to take home the prize!
Josh: Thank you!
Brent: Thank you very much!

The Yak: It seemed like the first half of the race was much harder for the two of you. What was the difference or the turning point in your minds?
Brent: Well, actually, we were doing pretty well for the first few legs. We were solidly in the middle of the pack, and then we had a major setback with the missed flight connection. It’s tough to make up a 14 and a half hour lag. Maybe people didn’t really notice, but by the time we got to Spain, we were only 3 hours behind the next team, and that’s a pretty major accomplishment over two legs. We were as far back as any team could possibly be and still be in the same game, but we just kept going.

The Yak: OK, so I have to know. Did you fake the ankle injury?
Josh: No, it was actually funny watching the show because like any sprain, after I was on a plane for a few hours and had it elevated, it felt like brand new, but then I started running and ended up twisting it again. I can see how [The Twinnies] thought it might have been some evil scheme or strategy.
Brent: They were just grasping for anything at that point.

The Yak: It appeared that the rilvary with The Twinnies lit a fire under you. Is that how it happened on the race?
Josh: Absolutely! Up to that point in the race, we had been very cordial, as we always are in our everyday lives, with all the teams, but once we found out that there was an alliance that was more “us versus them”, that was our first kick in the butt. Then, once the twins, who are just wonderfully competitive people, realized we were their biggest threat, they really helped fire us up. We were firing each other up, and making us the best competitors that we both could have been. That’s what sportsmanship is, it’s making your competitor the best competitor that they can be.

The Yak: How were you able to make up so much time over a couple of legs? I’m not sure that any other team has been able to accomplish that during the race.
Brent: Thank you so much for pointing that out!
Josh: Nobody gives us credit for that!
Brent: The thing is that we did very well was at the tasks, when we were able to get to them. Part of our strategy for racing with Ryan and Abbie was that we knew that whichever one of our teams was going to survive, they would only survive to the final leg if we could eat into that lag time as much as possible, so by working together, we were able to blow through the tasks in Russia.

Josh and Brent prepare the dog food during the last leg of the race

The Yak: From another teams perspective, what was it like to be racing against Abbie and Ryan, knowing they were up for $2 million as the prize?
Brent: That had no bearing on us, and I think some of the other teams felt that Abbie and Ryan would be racing harder, but we know Ryan and Abbie and they were going to be racing hard even if it was for $1. The only time that the $2 million really came into play is in terms of the pressure that was put on the other teams was during that first leg of the race. Everybody was really gunning for it, but then after that, people were just running the race.

The Yak: Was working with Abbie and Ryan as helpful as it seemed? It appeared to be during the show, but we don’t get a sense of what it was like actually on the race. Was it that helpful?
Brent: Yes! It was entirely strategic! I know people think it was touchy-feely, like we were in last place and we wanted to hug it out, but Abbie and Ryan are very strong and very strategic, as are we, so we knew that only one of us was going to continue in the race, and the only chance was to make up that time. So, it was not selfless, it was selfish on both of our parts.

The Yak: Do you think it was better to be the underdogs rather than the ones to beat?
Josh: I definitely think it was better for us to be the underdogs. Only because we knew going into the race that every team has their own specific set of strengths and weaknesses, so we knew from the moment we were on the starting line that we weren’t going to beat half of these teams in a physical challenge. We had to rely on some of our life experiences, like having lost our jobs and picking ourselves up by the boot-straps and starting over. The “go with the flow” mentality that it taught us was one of our strengths. I think when you’re in the back of the pack, that strength is really, really valuable. By the time that we got to the finish line, all the other teams who approached the race with an “I have to win and come in first as many times as possible” mentality were mentally and physically more exhausted than we were.
Brent: And you can see that on the final two legs. The top three teams were starting to get frazzled.

The Yak: Taking a look at the final Road Block, how much pressure did you feel when you’re there with the other two teams, trying to get this finished?
Josh: There was a moment, and we all experienced it, when you had three right that we thought we knew, but you realized that there were thousands of combinations that we were going to have to try and that was the only way we were going to finish. It was a really bleak moment, and I think you saw it on Lexi’s face, as she had a hard time dealing with that. I knew that the only way to get past that place mentally was to try every combination of flags, so I had no choice. It was either step down and wait for somebody else to do it or get going on the flags.

The Yak: Did you do anything special to prepare for the race after you found out that you had been cast?
Brent: We trained and trained. We’re also long-time fans of the show, but we watched every season we could get our hands on and rewatched it. Josh went to the gym a couple of times. [Josh and Brent laugh] No, we trained, physically, as much as we could. We quizzed ourselves with world maps. Most importantly, what we talked about in the last few weeks leading up to the race was how we were going to communicate with one another on the race. Having watched 20 seasons of the race, we knew that generally it wasn’t one team beating another team, it was a team defeating itself, and a lot of that comes down to how you support one another and how you communicate with one another on the race. So, we really worked amongst ourselves to say, “Hey, in this scenario, how do you want me to talk to you? If it happens, what do you want me to say?” That was really what we spent most of our time focused on.

The Yak: You can tell from watching the season that the two of you got pretty close with some of the other teams, but have you kept in touch with any of them since the race has ended?
Brent: Absolutely! We’ve kept in touch with all of them. We text with them frequently, and we actually watched the finale with half of the teams on Sunday night.

Josh and Brent celebrate their $1 million win

The Yak: So, what are your plans for the $1 million dollars?
Josh: We have three things planned. First, we’re going to pay off the mortgage on our farm, so that I can finally move up and be with Brent full time again after 5 years apart. Second, we’re hoping to buy a building in our village to become the headquarters for our business, so we can reinvest the money back into the town. Third, we want to start a line of food products for other small businesses so they can pay off their mortgages.

The Yak: What’s next for Josh and Brent?
Brent: Well, Josh will move to the farm full-time in January. That’s our next big step in the evolution of our business and our farm and our relationship.
Josh: We’re also working on a new cookbook, so we can put back some of the pounds that we lost on the race. We’re also going to be working with our village. Hopefully, being on The Amazing Race has made people aware of our village in upstate New York, and people will come to visit and help out the entire economy.

The Yak: Thanks so much for your time, and, again, congratulations on your win!
Brent: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us!

Kelly Clarkson, Bruno Mars, Rihanna, & The Killers Bolster THE VOICE Finale

UPDATE: NBC just announced the artists the Top 3 will perform special duets with Tuesday night during The Voice finale. Cassadee Pope will perform side by side with Avril Lavigne, while Team Blake teammate Terry McDermott sings alongside Peter Frampton. Nicholas David of Team Cee Lo will perform with Smokey Robinson.

We’re just under a week away from the third finale of NBC’s hit singing competition, The Voice, and NBC announced some of the headlining megastars that will be taking center stage for the finale. Bolstering the popular competitions finalists – Cassadee Pope, Terry McDermott, and Nicholas David – the show is bringing about a diverse group of artists to keep you entertained throughout the night.

American Idol champ, Kelly Clarkson, will take the stage to perform her single “Catch My Breath” from her Greatest Hits Album, which is in stores now. Joining Clarkson will be R&B star Rihanna performing her hit single “Diamonds.” On the heels of his new album release, Bruno Mars will be on deck to perform his new single “When I Was Your Man” for the first time on television. Finally, rockers The Killers are set to appear and perform.

It’s likely the show’s coaches – Blake Shelton, Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, and Cee Lo Green – will in some way participate in the show’s festivities and NBC is promising a few more surprise performers along the way. The finale will surely have appearances and group performances featuring contestants who have been a part of the season, as well. The Voice airs it’s performance finale Monday at 8/7c, with a two-hour results finale on Tuesday night!

Who are you most excited to see? Which other artists would you like to see added to the lineup?

The Amazing Race: The Yak Chats with Jaymes and James

Jaymes Vaughan and James Davis

Proving that there’s more to the Chippendales team than just a couple of pretty faces, Jaymes Vaughan (@JaymesV) and James Davis (@James_MNE) showed fans of The Amazing Race their competitive drive, their incredible stamina, and their ability to don the infamous cuffs and bow ties when the situation called for it. Fighting their way into the Final 3 teams racing for the one million dollar prize, Jaymes and James escaped  straight jackets, delivered pizzas to hungry New Yorkers, and raced their way into a second place finish at the last leg. The Yak recently had a chance to chat with the dynamic duo from Las Vegas about their drive for the grand prize, their supportive families back home, and what the next step is for this pair of pals.

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The Yak: Congratulations on making it to the Final 3 during the race. It was great watching you both, and we were all pulling for you to bring home the win! We were big fans, and you did a great job at representing yourselves and the Chippendales.
James: Thank you!
Jaymes: Thank you so much! That means a lot, and I really appreciate that!

The Yak: After watching all the episodes now, what is your overall feeling about the race?
Jaymes: We had an amazing time on the race! We met some absolutely amazing teams. They had some inspirational stories. Look at Dan and Amy and everything they accomplished in life. The fact that Amy has become an amazing world-class snowboarder. Trey and Lexi – the love and support that they showed for each other. Josh and Brent were an amazing couple. We really met some amazing people on the race, and I feel like we came back with a family of 22 in our Amazing Race family. We love everybody that was on the race with us. We had a great time with everybody, making wonderful memories.

The Yak: James, have you had a chance to give your new car to your mom?
James: You know, I have not. We haven’t received the phone call yet. We’re wondering how it works. Do they mail it out? Do they ship it to us? We haven’t gotten the cars yet, so we’re still waiting to see how the prizes actually happen. I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet that we’ve won these prizes. I’m sure my mom is going to be so happy once she gets her new car, she’ll probably do a back flip! [laughs]
Jaymes: We’re pretty dang-gone excited!
James: I’m so stoked about giving her this car.
Jaymes: I can’t wait to see the look on his mom’s face when she gets the car! We didn’t get the million, but one of our goals was to get his mom a car and we accomplished that. Another thing we can do, I can give my car to my parents to sell, so we can help pay for his expenses. We did win something. We didn’t leave empty handed, so we feel great that we did accomplish something for our families.

Jaymes and James complete a task

The Yak: It was nice to see you both working so hard, not only for yourselves, but for your families as well. Speaking of your families, Jaymes, how is your dad doing?
Jaymes: My dad’s a fighter. He’s in a new treatment for his cancer… sorry, it’s hard to talk about this, as I get upset really easily thinking about it… He started a new course of treatment with chemo and radiation, and he’s doing the best that he can to be the first person to take this incurable cancer and say, “Yo, it is curable! Check it out! I beat it!” My dad is a Marine, he’s a fighter, he’s hardcore, and he’s gone through this with an amazing attitude the entire time, and I feel like he might really be the first one to beat this thing! The best we can do, as family and loved ones, is to give him the means to take care of it, and that is by financially telling him to stop working. My dad is still working. It’s ridiculous. He goes to work, leaves and goes to chemo. He goes back to work, leaves and goes to radiation, then goes back to work. You’re not supposed to do that! So, I’m trying to do everything I can to help him. We’ve set up a website for him, www.forgetcancernow.com, and we’re trying to spread the word about it.
James: Every little bit helps. People think a dollar doesn’t matter, but the power of one dollar is big. It all adds up and makes a huge difference.
Jaymes: I still have faith, you know, that we were put on this show for a reason. I think it was because we were supposed to achieve that goal of me going to my dad at Christmas and saying, “Here you go. Stop working and get better!”

The Yak: What was the hardest challenge you faced during the race?
James:  Man, I had so many… you saw me struggling with the Bondo, you saw us struggle with the bamboo, you saw us struggle with the abacus lady. For me, mentally, the flag challenge at the end was the most demanding, just because of it’s proximity to the end. You’re at the end, this is the last thing you’ve got to do before you get the million, and the pressure is on. You could have cut the tension with a knife. I have to say that was the toughest challenge of the race. Honestly, we had great notes on all the greeters.
Jaymes: We wrote down everything, down to the fingernail paint color they had on.
James: We had every other details, except for “Hello” and “Goodbye”, so we knew the flags of the countries…
Jaymes: We were even looking at the mat to make sure it was the same mat every time at the Pit Stop. We took notes about everything, and we had a whole notebook full of notes. We knew “Thank you” in every language, but we didn’t know “Hello” and “Goodbye.”
James: A tip of the cap to the Amazing Race crew because they slipped that one by not just us, but everybody. Everybody was struggling with that challenge. It was extremely hard, especially when it’s at the end like that and your adrenaline is pumping and you want to get it done as quickly as possible, yet it’s something you just could not get done in 10 minutes.
Jaymes: I just want to brag about my best friend here for a second. You know how much taxi trouble we had in New York, it really got us behind, and we got to that flag challenge pretty late. James was actually able to complete that flag challenge faster than anyone else. We just got there so far behind. Leave it to a Chippendale to figure out, if we don’t know these “Hello” and “Goodbyes”, then lets make some algebra out of it. X and Y are going to equal Z, so he just went through and did it like a mathematical equation. He figured it out, so I just wanted to brag about him and say how proud I am of him that he did accomplish that. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t get anywhere fast enough.
James: Honestly, it was mere minutes. It was an epic finish to an epic race, I feel.

Jaymes and James dance their way through a Detour

The Yak: It was a great season! It was a nail-biter right down to the very end.
James: We were biting our nails, too!
Jaymes: That guy in Indonesia [at the Pit Stop] was probably biting all of his long nails off!

The Yak: Did you get close to any of the other teams and have you kept in touch since the end of the race?
Jaymes: Oh yeah, we’ve got an entire Amazing Race family! We are forever part of the Amazing Race Season 21 family. Nobody will understand this experience like they will. Are you kidding me? We all keep in touch.
James: You really get to see who people really are in these crazy situations, and we met some real genuinely great people to the core. We’re very fortunate and blessed with the teams that we had.
Jaymes: Absolutely! I can’t wait for that Beekman Boy wedding, and we’ll get to get back together and go congratulate them. I’m so excited for them!

The Yak: Did you do anything special when you found out that you had been cast for the race?
James: No, but we were very hesitant at first. We actually had decided not to do it. We were just a little concerned with reality TV, and we thought people would see us as just “those Chippendales.” We thought they might wanted to portray us negatively, and we have families that watch television, with nieces and nephews that look up to us, so we didn’t want to put ourselves in a situation where there could reflect negatively on them. We should have paid attention to the fact that Amazing Race has won all these Emmys for a reason because it’s true to life. If you did it on The Amazing Race, you really did it in real life.
Jaymes: We were just a little hesitant of that, but you know, then my dad got sick and there was no more hesitation. We thought, “We’ve got to go win this million dollars. Whatever it takes. Let’s go do it!” We went and did it, and thank God, the Amazing Race won all the Emmys that it does because it’s true to life. If it happened on camera, it happened for real.

The Yak: What’s next for Jaymes and James?
Jaymes: The main focus right now is helping my dad. Also, James has got his band, My Name Engraved. They just had a new EP that came out, and they have more stuff in the works coming. My new single, called “Tonight”, will be out at the end of the year, but right now, it’s about taking care of my dad. Everything else can wait. We have our whole lives to work and make money. Right now, it’s about my dad.

The Yak: Thanks so much for your time, you guys. We wish you all the best!
Jaymes: Thank you so much! Have a wonderful day! We appreciate it!

The Amazing Race: The Yak Chats with Trey and Lexi

Trey Wier and Lexi Beerman

As one of the Final 3 teams racing for the one million dollar prize, Trey Wier and Lexi Beerman represented their home state of Texas during a leg that whirled them around the Big Apple – New York City! After fighting their way to the final leg of The Amazing Race, Trey and Lexi (@LexiBeerman) powered their way through Coney Island,  became the first team to reach the Houdini escape Road Block, and burned up the streets of New York by delivering pizzas. Even after leading the pack for most of the leg, the final Road Block tripped up Lexi as she attempted to match the greetings and salutations to the corresponding countries they visited. The Yak got a chance to sit down recently with the Texans and discussed their involvement with the Rockers found money, the toughest challenges, and what the future holds for the dating couple.

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The Yak: It was awesome watching you two on the race, and you had a lot of fans pulling for you to win the million dollar prize!
Lexi: Thank you. That’s very sweet of you!

The Yak: Let’s jump right into it – the situation with the found money and the Twinnies. How did that come up between your two teams? Was there any discussion of giving it back to James and Abba?
Lexi: When we watched the show, it was edited in a way where was was shown wasn’t exactly what happened. We found the money on the ground, we weren’t even 100% sure it was Abba and James’ money at the time, and Natalie and Nadiya found the money on the ground. When the CBS promo put “stealing” into the viewers minds, it came across even worse then it should have been. If anyone knows the rules of the race, even touching someone’s bag is illegal in the Amazing Race rules. So, we got permission that it was okay that we found the money, and we really didn’t think too much of it after that. Not knowing that it was going to be a big scandal on the race.

The Yak: With the race, what was the hardest challenge that the two of you faced?
Lexi: Physically, the hardest challenge was in Bangladesh where we moved the bamboo. It was 120 degrees, and because we were in a primarily Muslim country, all the girls had to wear long sleeves and long pants. So, we’re moving heavy bamboo and it was just an exhausting day. Physically, for me, that was the most challenging. Then, mentally, obviously, the last challenge of The Amazing Race – translating “Hello” and “Goodbye”. It’s so simple when you really think about it, but it was hard for me because I felt like every single challenge that we did, we had control over the outcome. We couldn’t move the bamboo fast enough. I couldn’t figure out the time zone challenge in Russia. It was all on me, and I felt like with the “Hello/Goodbye” challenge, I just lacked the control over the situation and it really just came down to a tricky math problem. That was the most challenging challenge of all.

Trey and Lexi catch a ride in Bangladesh

Trey: The physical challenges when we were in Indonesia and Bangladesh really took a toll on all of us. The first real time I ever got stumped was having to complete the bus challenge. The whole time, I was trying to stay positive, yet all I could think of was how I was doing terrible at it. I was looking over at Rob and he was killing it when he was puttying the bus. He does that for a living with his monster trucks, and I’ve never done anything like that before, so I was thinking that I was letting the team down. It was so physically demanding, and then it became emotionally demanding when I realized I was one of the last two teams standing there. So, that was really rough. Then, we had the bamboo challenge, where we knew if we screwed up on counting the bamboo, we had to go back, so those were some tough legs. Once we got through that, it seemed like we really picked up momentum and speed and we stayed in the top after those legs, so we struggled in the beginning, but it seemed like we kept getting stronger and stronger after every leg.

The Yak: What was your favorite part of the race?
Lexi: Hmmm… I think there were two things that were my most favorite part. Number one: Trey and I have never traveled outside of the country before, and we got to go to nine different countries together. It was just insane. One of the camera guys said that we looked like wide-eyed puppies the whole time because we were just taking everything in for what it was. It was incredible. Opening our eyes to countries like Bangladesh and countries that nobody every goes to for a vacation was really, really special. Even though I was kind of scared being in those countries, I’m so grateful that we had the opportunity to go. I think that’s a really cool part about the Amazing Race – it’s that they open the eyes of the viewers to countries that don’t get a lot of attention in the media or toursim in general. That was incredible, and number two, spending 30 days with Trey. The year leading up to going on the race, Trey was finishing up his final year at college and playing football, and I was working 60 hours a week for my mom’s tee-shirt company. It was a hard year, and we only got to see each other once a week, so having 30 quality days, traveling the country and being competitive, which is something that is instilled in both of us, it was absolutely incredible and definitely a dream come true.

The Yak: When you found out that you had been cast for the race, did you do anything special to prepare?
Trey: I don’t know if we really did anything special. We watched the episodes over and over again, trying to catch on to certain things or anything we needed to train for. We tried to get in as best shape as possible. I tried to teach Lexi how to drive a standard transmission.
Lexi: [laughs]
Trey:  You know, in case we ever got into a pickle. Just things like that.
Lexi: It’s hard to study for something like going into the race because you’re like, “Where do we start? We have the whole world to study!” Having gone nowhere and knowing nothing about anything outside of the US, it was quite a challenge and a little overwhelming when you though about it, so we concentrated on just being in the best physical shape that we could be. We did a bunch of random things, like going bowling and doing random tasks that you don’t do on a normal basis. Anything to just put us ahead.

Lexi and Trey search through a Russian library card catalog

The Yak: What does the future hold for Trey and Lexi?
Lexi: [long pause and then laughs]
Trey: We don’t really have anything planned out as far as our relationship. Lexi and I have wanted to get married for the past couple of year, but we’ve been in school and I haven’t really had time to work because of football. Now, I have a good paying job, and I want to be able to give her the ring she deserves and support her, so the future for us – maybe marriage soon. Who knows? As for now, we’re just going to enjoy being together.
Lexi: We’re excited for the holidays. We love Christmas!

The Yak: We wish the two of you the best of luck, both in your relationship and in your lives. Thanks for taking the time to talk with us!
Trey: Absolutely!
Lexi: Thank you so much!

Screen Actors Guild Awards: And The Nominees Are …

‘Tis the season! Awards season, that is. While we are all preparing for the hustle, bustle, jolly and joy of the holiday season, Hollywood is busily preparing away for the upcoming awards season, which kicks off with the Golden Globes on January 13. The Golden Globe nominees will be revealed Thursday at 8am ET, but today is all about the Screen Actors Guild. Early Wednesday morning (5:45am PT, to be precise), the Guild – joined by Taye Diggs (Private Practice) and Busy Philipps (Cougar Town) – announced the nominees in television and music from West Hollywood, CA. While the Academy Awards are what the season builds towards, the nominees between the SAGs and the Globes should start to shape what the Oscars elite list will be looking like. So who was nominated for a SAG? Homeland and Modern Family lead the TV drama and comedy nods, with four nominations each.

Check out the full list of nominees below. The Screen Actors Guild Awards air LIVE January 27, 2013 at 8/7c on TNT & TBS.

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And the nominees are …

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE, MOTION PICTURE
“Argo”
“The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”
“Les Misérables”
“Lincoln”
“Silver Linings Playbook”

OUTSTANDING MALE ACTOR, LEADING ROLE
Bradley Cooper, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Lincoln”
John Hawkes, “The Sessions”
Denzel Washington, “Flight”
Hugh Jackman, “Les Miserables”

OUTSTANDING FEMALE ACTOR, LEADING ROLE
Jessica Chastain, “Zero Dark Thirty”
Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Helen Mirren, “Hitchcock”
Naomi Watts, “The Impossible”
Marion Cotillard, “Rust and Bone”

OUTSTANDING MALE ACTOR, SUPPORTING ROLE
Alan Arkin, “Argo”
Robert De Niro, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “The Master”
Tommy Lee Jones, “Lincoln”
Javier Bardem, “Skyfall”

OUTSTANDING FEMALE ACTOR, SUPPORTING ROLE
Sally Field, “Lincoln”
Anne Hathaway, “Les Misérables”
Helen Hunt, “The Sessions”
Nicole Kidman, “The Paperboy”
Maggie Smith, “Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE, DRAMA
Homeland
Breaking Bad
Boardwalk Empire
Downton Abbey
Mad Men

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS, DRAMA
Claire Danes, Homeland
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story Asylum

OUTSTANDING ACTOR, DRAMA
Damian Lewis, Homeland
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE, COMEDY
Modern Family
30 Rock
Nurse Jackie
The Big Bang Theory
Glee
The Office

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS, COMEDY
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Betty White, Hot, CLeveland

OUTSTANDING ACTOR, COMEDY
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Louis CK, Louie
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

OUTSTANDING ACTOR, TELEVISION MOVIE OR MINISERIES
Kevin Costner, “Hatfield and McCoys”
Woody Harrelson, “Game Change”
Ed Harris, “Game Change”
Clive Owen, “Hemingway and Gellhorn”
Bill Paxton, “Hatfield and McCoys”

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS, TELEVISION MOVIE OR MINISERIES
Nicole Kidman, “Hemingway and Gellhorn”
Julianne Moore, “Game Change”
Charlotte Rambling, “Restless”
Sigourney Weaver, “Political Animals”
Alfre Woodard, “Steel Magnolias”

OUTSTANDING STUNT ENSEMBLE, MOTION PICTURE
“The Dark Knight Rises”
“Skyfall”
“The Bourne Legacy”
“The Amazing Spider-Man”
“Les Miserables”

OUTSTANDING STUNT ENSEMBLE, TELEVISION
“Game of Thrones”
“Homeland”
“Breaking Bad”
“Sons of Anarchy”
“Walking Dead”
“Boardwalk Empire”

The Amazing Race: The Yak Chats with Natalie and Nadiya

Natalie Anderson and Nadiya Anderson

As we neared the end of Season 21 of The Amazing Race, one team has stood out above all the others for their loud voices, big egos and even bigger personalities. Yep, I’m talking about the Sri Lankan twin sisters – otherwise known by their catchphrase, “Twinnie!” – Natalie Anderson (@NatalieeAnd) and Nadiya Anderson (@NadiyaaAnd). With this leg of the race taking the teams through Barcelona, Spain, the final four teams duked it out for a spot in the Final 3 in the race for $1 million. Between the Speed Bump (lacing a corset), the Detour (Chow or Plow) and the Road Block (picking mushrooms), the Twinnies found themselves at the bottom of the pack and the last team to reach the Pit Stop. The Yak got a chance to chat with Natalie and Nadiya to discuss their roles as the most nerve-grating team, the story behind the stolen money, and their thoughts on remaining friends with the other teams.

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The Yak: As fans of the show, you must have been heartbroken to make it that close to the end and get eliminated right before the Final Leg.
Natalie: It was tough.

The Yak: After speaking with the Texans (Trey and Lexi) regarding the stolen money from the Rockers (James and Abba), there was talk about speaking with the Production Team and you had received the okay to keep the money and share it amongst yourselves. Were you surprised at all with how it was portrayed on the show?
Natalie: Yes. Me and Nadie were completely caught off guard with the advertisements. What was bad was the reactions of people who were taking the event as it was shown. For us, we would go back and do the same exact thing we did the first time. I have no regrets keeping the money. It was completely within the rules. It’s not a real-life situation, it’s a fucking race, and me and Nadiya have no regrets. You know, me and Nadie have thicker skin then Lexi and Trey and we did feel partially responsible, so I feel bad for them, but they had a great attitude about it and we realized that you can’t please everybody, so what can you do?

The Yak: In speaking with some of the other teams, there has been talk that you two had such fun-loving spirits and were so easy going during the non-race moments. We had hoped to see more of that during the race. You did have some great moments, but it seemed like it was edited to make you look like you were the nastiest of the teams.
Nadiya: You know, the way that me and Natalie are, we have so much personality and what you see is what you get. We don’t fake it. We can’t fake it, so I think we gave the show a lot of stuff to work with, and it’s easy to portray us in a certain light, but at the end of the day, we have no regrets and we can’t go back and say, “We wish we had done certain things in a certain way.” However, with the racers and the people that know who we are in real life, they know who we are as people and that’s what matters to us.
Natalie: Also, there are a lot of teams that are so cute and so nice and so everything else, me and Nadiya had those moments, but what’s more interesting to watch: 11 teams competing nicely together or… every team needs an asshole team, and we happened to be it. We were assholes, and we just own it.

Nadiya chows down on Hasma, a traditional Chinese dessert made of the fallopian tubes of frogs, while Natalie cheers her on

The Yak: What was the hardest challenge for you on the race?
Natalie: For me, the hardest challenge was the windmill challenge.  You know, Nadiya and I got there at the same time as the Beeks. When we got to our blades, we didn’t realize they were numbered, so we had to take them off and put them back. They also didn’t show it, but the windmill guy was really cute and I was getting distracted. Me and Nadie were joking around the whole time, and we weren’t paying attention, so we messed up.
Nadiya: You know, it’s a testament to how we are because the windmill challenge was the only challenge we struggled with during the entire race. It wasn’t a difficult challenge, it was just a matter of me and Natalie focusing and getting the job done, which we didn’t execute the task, so it was really up to us to have done a better job. It wasn’t the challenge that was a problem, we were the problem.

The Yak: What was your favorite part of the race?
Nadiya: My favorite part of the race was racing with Natie and having a great time, winning or losing. Just having an awesome time and that was the best part. Having fun at every moment, winning or losing.
Natalie: For me, it was also just meeting everybody. Watching the finale with Josh and Brent and being able to enjoy with them and congratulate them, but still walk away with friends. I like our relationships, so that was pretty cool.

The Yak: Speaking of the relationships, since the race has ended, have you kept in touch with any of the other teams beyond the Beekman Boys?
Natalie: Yeah, we’ve kept in touch with almost everybody, except for the Freakazoids – the Monster Truckers (Rob and Kelley), we don’t talk with them, but who cares? With everybody else, for me and Nadiya, the people we can see being friends with in the long run, we’ve been in touch with Abbie and Ryan, Lexi and Trey, who will always be our “best friends from the race”. We’ll always be friends with them. Also, the Beeks, Jaymes and James, who will always be close to our hearts. Brittany and Caitlin. We love them all.

The Yak: After you had found out that you had been picked for The Amazing Race, did you do anything special to prepare?
Natalie: Nadiya and I did the more physical training. We did some kind of country memorization, but no extreme mental preparation. We started Cross Fit, and we cross fitted hardcore – 5 days a week. We focused on upper body strength because we knew we were going to go against tough guys. Cross Fit was our number one prep we did for the race. As a testament, we were running around with our backpacks, and our backpacks weighed 45 pounds each, but it never slowed us down.

Natalie and Nadiya sort fish in a Detour task

The Yak: So, what’s next for the two of you?
Natalie: We get so much feedback and so many responses from people, and I feel like people are not ready to say goodbye to us. All our Twinnie Fans are completely amazing. They’ve stuck with us through all the drama this season, and we’ll see what’s in the works, but our fans are just the most amazing people. They’ve been so supportive.

The Yak: We appreciate you taking the time to talk with us!
Natalie and Nadiya: Thank you so much!

Survivor: The Yak Chats with Carter Williams

Carter Williams the 24 year old track coach from Kansas, was eliminated on the last Survivor episode. Carter’s friendly social game and physical ability went a long way in his tribe mates decision to view him as a solid threat in the final three. We talked to Carter today to get his take on the game.

Q: Looking back now how do you view the voting?

Carter: I think it’s fairly clear we’re not playing old school Survivor. This is the game where you’re real threats. Early in the game you’re trying to keep your tribe strong and keep people you like around but the end is so close. Everyone can see it. I barely lost the last 2 immunity challenges and I’d like to think if I got a third shot that I could take it home, but who knows. That being said I think people woke up and said why would we take this guy to the end with us when he can beat us in immunity challenges? I put money on myself even though as tough as Denise is and as clutch as Malcolm was. Abi pulled some magic out and they had an alliance of four that they were going to stick with.

Q: When Abi revealed that she had another idol, what did you think?

Carter: I thought it was bogus. I mean she was acting so dang strange about it. (laughs) She was reading that note super strange and talking about it in a really strange way. No one believed her I hope that’s not why I went home. Those people are smarter than that. But, she was definitely flaunting around an imaginary idol.

Q: How did you understand Abi as compared to the others, did you get to know her?

Carter: I actually did get to know Abi. That’s kind of the thing that a lot of people don’t get to see. If I have a friendship with someone or a beef with someone you’re not going to see the friendship, they’re going to show the beef. It sucks that they kept her over me and that she pulled out some magic. I had no problems with Abi. She was bossy and she was nasty at times, but none of it was ever directed at me. Abi is an interesting girl, I can’t imagine what it’s like to hear all this stuff being said. It’s got to be tough to know your friends and family are watching but hey she’s 33 years old so she’s a big girl.

Yak: Has there been anything that has surprised you watching the Season so far?

Carter: When we left the game Penner told me; hey you need to remember as much as you can about what happened out here because when it gets shown it’s going to be completely different. They are going to show 3 days worth in 45 minutes. A lot of things went on that weren’t shown like I would climb coconut trees every day and get coconuts. That was a big part of my experience out there and no one got to see that. I had friendships with those guys. I became friends with them. You didn’t get to see how much fun we had. It was so hard, it was difficult but we would laugh, we would talk about things and play goofy games.

Yak: Aside from you not winning was the experience what you hoped it would be?

Carter: It was pretty dang close. I really wanted to go on an immunity run. I was really excited about having my back up against the wall and saying like “take this” and winning out by taking immunity. It would be so cool, I was really pumped to go for it. Most of my favorite players have done that. I liked when Fabio and Ozzie did that. It was such a cool experience I feel super lucky to have played this game. I know so many people that wished they could play this game, even the people that work on the show. They say they wish they could play but they can’t because they’ve worked on it. Wow I feel very lucky to be a part of this 30 million dollar production. I’m very appreciative.

Yak: As far as the celebrities in the game; Jeff Kent and Lisa, did you have any idea who they were?

Carter: I had no clue. I told Jeff Kent when the game was over I totally thought you were just some Texas hick and he responded. Oh yeah, cuz that’s who I am. You got to know me you just didn’t know I played baseball. I thought it was really cool to get to know them apart from that. My Mom was telling me, how funny would it have been when she walked into that challenge if she would have said. “Hey it’s Blair from the Facts of Life!” That would have been so funny if some random loved one had said Hey that’s Blair! My Dad would have totally called her out. (laughs) Jeff Kent told me at Ponderosa that after this game was over I would hear some stuff about him. I couldn’t figure it out and he wouldn’t tell me so I said can I google you? He smiled and said, yeah you can google me. I didn’t think it was something that big. I thought maybe he was really rich or something but I was a Jeff Kent fan before I knew he was a baseball player.

Q: You were aligned with Penner often times but it seems that you weren’t really loyal to him in the end. What was it about returning players and how much influence did Jeff Kent have on you with that?

Carter: Looking back on that I really wish we could have been a tight 3. I really, really got to know and like Penner. It was kind of this thing that I was aligned with Jeff day 1 on the beach it was kind of like let’s figure out what we need to do. My main ally I desperately wanted to be working with Penner too. Anyone who’s seen Boston Rob or Coach walk his way to the finals, it does leave a bitter taste in your mouth and when you’re watching at home it’s like oh man I would so get them out. They’re too good, they’re too smart, they’ve played before. But then you get to know them and I ended up loving Penner and wishing things had gone differently. I wish when we merged we had all agreed to do something differently. It gets confusing out there. I was listening and working with Jeff and wanting to work with Penner and it gets crazy. Jeff obviously had a big target on Penner’s back which led to him being voted out.

Speaking with Carter it’s apparent that he cherished his time in the game and made many friendships. He actually says he likes and respects all cast members. He said that he, Pete and Malcolm became close partly due to them being the same age. Taking into consideration his genuine caring for his tribe mates and their reciprocating his feelings it was probably a wise move to vote him out.

Thanks Carter for speaking with us at the Yak!!