Llais Ifanc Reloaded

Saturday, May 21, 2005

Well Done!

This week's Apprentice finale was very, very good compared to last years finale. In saying that, there were a few differences. In seasons one and two, part of the show was taped and the rest was live. Not this time. The entire hour was live. The set decor was very weird. It seemed like Trump, his advisors, and the two previous winners were in a courtroom. Again, very weird.

The show itself started were last week's episode left off. Tana was questioned at length about her behavior last week. On mocking her employees, she apologized. Trump and the advisors said this was a good move, but it still was not a good thing to do. She also got asked as to why she walked pompously to her limousine. She claimed it was her sense of humor. Tana's failure was illustated when she and Kendra got into a verbal match over who did more on the car pamplet task. Trump ended it by saying they both did well.

No one brought it.

Kendra got called out by Trump by crying, but he admitted it was touching due to the way her team loved her. The employees were asked what they thought and they came on opposite sides. Kendra also got criticized for not tossing her weight until the midpoint of the season. This season, Trump asked them to pick what job they wanted. Tana picked running the Miss Universe contest. Kendra picked fixing up a mansion in Palm Beach, Florida. She made her pick due to the fact that the job was up her alley (she is a real estate agent) and they it would be the perfect way to fit in with Trump's people.

There was also an update for on the two previous winners. Bill Rancic was working in Chicago on a new Trump building. Kelly Perdew as mainly working on buildings in New York and running Trump Ice. Overall, they have done well.

When the time came, Kendra got the job! I hope she does really, really, well.

Roll on season four!

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Judge Me

In recent days, there has been a big blow-up over the usage of the filibuster to block nominees for various federal judgeships across the land. To counter this, some have proposed what is known as the nuclear option. This option would stop filibusters for judges. Some support this, others do not.

Here's my take:

I believe the Senate - as part of it's "advise and consent" powers = should keep the filibuster. Why? I want a judiciary that is fair and not owned by any group, power, or ideology. From what I have read about these judges, this appears to be the case. This leads to another point. If we go ahead and ban filibusters on judges, were do we stop? It's a Pandora's box I don't want to open.

Sunday, May 15, 2005

Work Never Ends

Last weeks Apprentice began were the last left off.

Kendra, stuck by Sony's threat to pull out, decided to take the lead and
work to make the space more to Sony's liking. Michael tried to cause
problems, but he was quickly put down. Meanwhile, Tana was back working at
the Olympic 2012 event. She put Kristen in charge of the pamphlets. After
that, she ran out to Brian and Chris and found them putting up the posters
wrong. Kristen was ticked off. Chris was as well, feeling that she had
overstepped her bounds. This lead Tana to exprees no confidence in the team.
The morning of the event, Tana woke up the team early. They were not pleased
by this. In return, Tana mocked them even more, criticizing them for not
working on her timetable.

Kendra had a better ride. She managed to get most of the important stuff
done, such as setting up a boxing ring, with a cheerful attitude. Thw Sony
folks took a tour of the event hall, and were impressed. Tana was in
meltdown. She did not give tasks out to others. She failed to proofread the
programs, which had insults against the athletes; she kept Governor George Pataki (R-NY) waiting, which his
people did not like. The event did not go well. Governor Pataki wanted to
carry in the US flag, but one was not available. Instead, the Puerto Rican flag was offered. An announcement got mangled because Tana communicated poorly with Chris. Overall, the event was a complete bust. Even with this, she boasted she had the job in the bag.

In contrast, Kendra's event was very, very good! The people playing video
games had a great time and Trump seemed pleased. As the teams said their
goodbyes, Kendra cried, but felt impressed by the work ethic they showed.
With Tana's lot, there was no love. When both of them got back into the
suite, Kendra and Tana talked a bit, but as Kendra asked a question, Tana
failed to answer. In the boardroom, everything came out about Tana's
proformance. The contastant mocking, the missing US flag, and the insulting
comments were brought up. She failed to take responsibility, blaming everyone
but herself. The questions then turned to Kendra. She was put to task for
letting Danny start off a meeting without her. Talk then turened to their
education and Tana's suitability for the job. Both ladies took opposite sides. After this, Trump called the employees in.

It's close, but I feel that any postitive things Tana had are now gone. She mocked her employees, insulted the athletes and the Governor, and had pride. That can lead to a fall.
Because of this Kendra is in good position to win due to the fact she kept everyone under control and got along with the sponsors of the event.

But with Trump, what do I know?

Saturday, May 07, 2005

Being Grilled

This episode of the Apprentice was the week the last three were interviewed. As with last year, Trump outsourced the interviews to other CEOs. This time, the CEOs were from the companies who had provided products this season. They came back and said Craig was someone who drifted. Kendra seemed too aggressive and scripted; Tana had that right spirit, but couldn't adapt to the urban life. After they reported, Craig got fired on the spot. No questions. No time to talk. When they went back to the loft, they were greeted with bottles of Wine and a book with photos of the people who been fired (or in Verna's case, quit). They sat there chatting like old friends. not thinking of the battle to come.

The tasks then came down. Tana was charged over a sports expo for NYC's 2012 Olympic bid. Kendra was charged to put on a video game championship. After this, Tana asked if she could switch out some of the street smarts folks with book smarts folks. This was overruled. When they were in the loft, both seemed unhappy with Trump's picks.

As they went to scout out the locations, things happened along the way. Tana's team fought, interuppting her during a meeting to find a parking space. She had earlier told her team to make decisions free of her. Bad move. Kendra's team was slightly worse. She was late to her meeting, leaving the Best Buy folks unhappy. She angered the Playstation folks by placing their game kiosk next to the bathrooms, threating a withdrawal.

Things are getting good...

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

T-Shirts and DVR

From what I can tell of last week's Apprentice, each team was asked to build a t-Shirt. Alex got fired, which I expected. I thought it was time for him to go.

For more details, see the NBC website.

I was going to watch it, but I guess the DVR feature needed it more than I did.

Oh well.