Day 46 - June 7, 2012 (Episode 7)

A shot of Holmenkollen Ski Jump from our ferry ride.
Johnathan and Alf having a boat race at the Maritime Museum!
Even in the off-days, we found ways to compete!
Today is a rest day and we all took full advantage of it!  I got up around 10:00 a.m. and hung out with Alf while watching TV.  At 11:00, when everyone else finally woke up, Alf made us all omelets.  My omelet was probably the best one I’ve ever had!  (Possibly, due to the pound of butter used to make each one!  Ha!)  After we finished eating, I cleaned up for him as a thank you.  After that, I took a walk to Vigeland Park and spent some time catching up on my journal, then headed back to the apartment around 2:00 p.m. to meet with Brita for information and

 lunch (which no one ate, since it wasn’t long ago that we had the omelets).  After that, Alf, Johnathan, Jessica and I headed to the Oslo Maritime Museum.  It was a lot smaller than I thought it would be and was okay to see, but the ferry ride and city of Oslo itself were pretty cool!  We came back at 6:30 and had dinner at 7:30.  Amy, who skipped breakfast and lunch, had to skip dinner as well, since she was still extremely hung over from the night before!  We ended the night flipping through the channels for an hour or so and then I retired to my room to write this.  A very boring day, but exactly what we all needed.  However, these are the days that make me miss you guys the most!  Today was a missing Logan and Zoe day!  It has now been 46 days since I’ve seen or talked to any of you!  How crazy is this!  As nice as it is to have a day not doing anything, the longer I’m gone, the more of that day I spend missing you guys.  Can’t wait to talk to you guys again!



Day 46 Over!!

Jessica at the entrance of the Maritime Museum.
 

Alf with his fellow sailors!
 
 

A shot to remember where we stayed for one
of the most memorable weeks of my life!
 

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Day 45 - June 6, 2012 (Episode 7)

Today was pretty boring all day, but ended up with a very special event!  It will definitely be one of my fondest memories!

Because it was an off day and we all drank the night before, all of us slept in, except for Alf and Amy.  The two of them had to go to a press conference and represent our show.  TV Norge, who owns three different TV channels, was going to have their Fall Season Release Party and we are invited!  We didn’t know what was in store for us, but it sounded like it was going to be a blast!

I woke up around 10:00 a.m. and went for a run in Vigeland Park.  (It wasn’t the best run, due to all the drinking this week, but I tried to power through it, to work some of the alcohol out of my system.)  Then, I came back and had a small breakfast.  Shortly later, Mama Brita came back with Alf and Amy in tow.  She called us all in and had us sit down for some “information”.  Apparently, the production team had some concerns and asked her to address them with the remaining cast.  She informed us that they had two requests.  The first was to tone down the amount of swearing that we’re doing on camera.  This was surprising, seeing that cussing is okay on Norwegian TV, but apparently, we were doing too much of it.  I don’t think I’ve done much of it on camera, maybe only a word or two, but off camera, I have a tendency to say “Lykke Til Mother F#@*er”  (Good Luck Mother F’er) in a Samuel L. Jackson type fashion, prior to competitions.  I think that some of the cast has started using that phrase on camera and that’s not coming off well with what the producers want.  The second request was to tone down our drinking!  She said that we can feel free to do what we want on off days, but apparently this week of drinking that’s surrounded my birthday has left some of the cast members lacking the necessary energy that the directors would like on camera.  Oops!  (I will say though, I think I was fine and had the same energy on camera.  I think it’s these younger cast members.  They haven’t quite been able to learn how to handle their booze as well.  All spoken like a true alcoholic, huh?!)  Then, in a really funny transition, Mama Brita reminded  us that there would be no filming tomorrow and tonight is going to be a fun night, so feel free to do what we’d like!  Ha!  That whole cutting back on drinking thing didn’t last long!


Showing off my Julia Roberts, red-carpet skills!
After the conversation, we all got dressed and ready to go.  Since it was nice party, they told us to wear our dressiest clothes, which for Alf is a kilt!  To see this man in a kilt, along with his sleeveless shirt and a drinking horn is quite the sight!  We headed out at 4:30 and took a taxi to a place called FolkeTeatre.  When we got there, we realized how big an event this was.  You were greeted with champagne and there was a backdrop for celebrities to take pictures in front of.  Unfortunately, because the show hasn’t aired yet, we weren’t quite celebrities yet, so we had to take our own photos in front of it.  For the next hour or so, we just hung out and drank free beer.  Then, everyone except for Alf and Amy went inside the theater to take a seat.  Those two headed backstage.  Apparently, they were going to be interviewed live, onstage!



Alf, Amy and Henriette getting interviewed by The Ylvis Brothers!



Inside the theater, there were about 500 people and then the owner of TV Norge came out and did some opening stuff.  Next, they played a video that had trailers for all of the Fall shows.  Ours came up first.  There I was on the big screen!  It was only for a second, but it was still pretty amazing to see!  After the video, the Ylvis brothers, who apparently host a popular TV show in Norway, came out and were the hosts for the evening.  Over the next hour they would bring out a couple of people from each show, show a video of the show, then interview them for a few minutes.  Alf, Amy, and Henriette came out about half way through.  They did a great job even though most of the interview was in Norske.



The post-premiere party! Apparently, filled with a ton of Norwegian celebrities!
After the show was over, we went outside for a mingling party.  We spent about an hour having free drinks and food.  Then, at nine, we headed upstairs to a rooftop party.  There we were, the six of us, Mama Brita, Marianne (the production manager), Steinar (the executive producer), and Sverra (also an executive producer), hanging out at an exclusive club, drinking for free and watching three different DJ’s performances, all well being surrounded by some of the biggest names and celebrities in Norwegian TV!  It was a really good time!  (By the way, remember to look up Lito Lito and Ylvis when we get back.)  Also, good to note is how to say “shall we f#%@?”  It’s Skal ve knulle?!  If my speaking Norwegian turned you on before, that should seal the deal!



Take one good look at Amy to understand how
good a party this was!  One of my favorite photos!
At 1:00 we jumped in a taxi bus to go home.  In what was one of the funnier moments of our time there, Amy was completely wasted, to the point where walking was a little bit of a struggle!  After saying some of the funniest drunken things ever on the way home, I had to basically carry her up six flights of stairs!  After helping her get to her bedroom, we left her in the hands of Jessica and Mama Brita, and the rest of us hung out for an hour or so and talked about how cool the night was.  It was a really cool time and these types of behind-the-scenes moments are some of my favorite and most memorable!!



What a great night!





 

Day 45 Over!!

 

Johnathan on the Red Carpet!
 

Amy and I on the Red Carpet!
 

A shot of the house band for the night.
 

The owner of TV Norge doing the introductions.
 

The Ylvis Brothers making a grand entrance.
 

Alf, Amy and Henriette getting interviewed.
 

A close up of the interview.  Notice how Alf
is very focused on keeping that kilt down!
 

Had to take a shot of this interview.  What a great
concept for a show!  If I understood it right, they
took adults with Down Syndrome and film them
rehauling a boat, so that they could eventually
take it out to sea!  I love the idea!!
 

Doing our TV Norge pose!
 

Jessica and Executive Producer Steinar.
 

Johnathan and I having a great time!
 

Outside of the club.  Gotta love C.J.!
 

Lido Lido!
 

Jessica and a celebrity!  Jessica
loved her legs!
 

One of the guys from the house band.  He taught
us some great lines to use on our loved ones!
 

Johnathan and Production
Manager Marianne.
 

Alf rocking Jessica's scarf!
 

Alf rocking Jessica's scarf and Jessica!
 

Amy getting her drink on!
 

Myself and Executive Producer Steinar!  Love that name!
 
 
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Day 44 - June 5, 2012 (Episode 7)

Johnathan and Jessica doing the Johnathan-pose at Vigeland.
Today is individual challenge day and will bring us down to 6!  Half way there!  The Blue Team got up to leave at 10:00 a.m., but our team didn’t have to do anything until noon.  With that, I slept in until 10:00 a.m., got up, had a 30 minute run in Vigeland Park, and met with Johnathan and Jessica to walk around the park for a little bit.  Then, at noon, we met with Mama Christine for lunch and finally headed to a park at 1:00 a.m. for the results of the individual challenge.




The remaining seven, before the results.
While waiting for the results shot to get set up, I spoke to all three participants separately and got the impression that it would be between Austin and Amy for the bottom, based on their attitudes and expressions.  Apparently, each person had to go up to a board and look at 18 different pairs of photos.  Each pair includes something that was Norwegian and something that was Swedish.    (For example:  There would be a picture of the Swedish Prime Minister and a picture of the Norwegian Prime Minister.)  Then, they would have to pick the one they thought was Norwegian.  At the results, we learned that CJ got 16 out of 18 right!  Then, the big announcement was made.  Amy got 12 of out of 18 and Austin got 11 out of 18!  Austin, who was in his first individual challenge, was going home!  A very bitter sweet thing, since he was probably my closest friend here, but possibly my biggest threat!  Crazy!  We are down to 6!

Okay, with it being only half of the original crew now, it’s time to rank everyone again.  Here’s how I see each person in order of how much of a challenge they pose to me winning this thing:  1) Jessica – the most well-rounded player, with both physical and mental abilities and has proven herself in four individual challenges already.  2) C.J. – doesn’t pose much of a threat physically, but is by far the best when it comes to a memory/mental challenge.  3) Alf – Pretty well rounded, but he may struggle a little in mental challenges.  4) Johnathan – Will be the best with anything language related, but doesn’t seem to be much of a threat when it comes to physical challenges.  5) Amy – Okay mentally and at this point could probably challenge Johnathan when it comes to anything language related, but most likely would struggle in true physical challenges.  That’s how I rank everyone now, but by making it this far, each person has already proven themselves to be quite the competitor, so I can’t take anyone lightly!

After the results, we did some short interviews and then said goodbye to Austin.  (With him living in L.A. and getting back to Wisconsin to visit family, I’m sure I’ll see him again.)  Then, we headed back to the apartments to film our closing scene and hand out the troll.  Out of the six of us, CJ was the only one that hasn’t received it, so we were all assuming it would be him, which it was.  He has a free pass to the semi-finals!  However, this also means that whoever is on C.J.’s team needs to win, otherwise, they go into individual challenges with just two people!

After we finished filming, Mama Ane took us out for dinner.  We went to some Mexican place and when we were all finished up, Mama Ane took off, but the rest of us decided to stay and have a celebratory drink!  Problem was C.J. is constantly borrowing money from all the cast members to purchase cigarettes, so we knew he didn't have money, Johnathan and Amy are students or just out of school, so understandably, they don’t seem to have a lot of money, and Alf just found out that the funds that he was using for his expenditures were getting low.  Basically, Jessica and I seem to be the only ones with any money right now.  Knowing that and knowing that I just had a big sale (We are allowed to check our bank accounts from time to time) and since everybody bought me liquor for my birthday, I thought I should return the favor as well and celebrate my sale/birthday!  I bought everyone a couple rounds of some local beers and then we walked over to another bar and I did it again.  Jessica also chipped in and purchased a round for everyone.  It was expensive, but it was a lot of fun.  I just don’t want anybody to feel like they have to leave or can’t party with us because they don’t have the funds.  I may have to work a little harder when I get home to make up for my spending, but these memories are well worth it!  (The highlight of the night was splitting the 6 of us into two groups and creating a challenge to see who could get back to the apartment first.  Along with that, we did some mock-results with Johnathan playing Henriette.  Even on our off-days, we're challenging each other!)

Eventually, we made our way back to the apartments and had a few more beers there well watching the movie Snatch.  It had been a crazy day, but also very celebratory.  We had reached the final 6 and only have 3 episodes left!!


Day 44 Over!!

Jessica at Vigeland.
 

Johnathan with a bunch of naked men!
 

Jessica with a whole bunch of naked people!
 

Johnathan doing his pose!
 

 

Alf, coming out of the woods, looking like Bigfoot!
 

 
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Day 43 - June 4, 2012 (Episode 7)

Today is reality day.  Not a whole lot happens on these days, so they’re good days to rest up! However, it was a little extra special for me!

We started off doing an out-of-sequence shot at 10:00 a.m..  They had us pretend to come into our apartments for the first time.  Then, after that, they had Austin, Jessica and I go to a coffee shop and talk about how he’s feeling knowing he’ll be going into his first competition.  That turned out to be a pretty funny sequence, since Jessica and I started joking about how terrible it was that Austin would be going home after his first elimination challenge.  He went along with the joking and we had a really good tiem, but we were pretty sure that they weren’t going to use that footage, since Norwegians don’t seem to share the love of sarcasm like we do.  Once we were finished there, we headed to a park on top of the mountain for some hour long interviews!


Johnathan getting interviewed on top of Holmenkollen Ski Jump!
After our interviews, we thought we were done for the day, but then our car, which had Johnathan, Alf and myself in it, stopped on the way back to our apartment at the Holmenkollen Ski Jump, a huge ski jump that sits up on the mountainside and is one of Norway’s most visited tourist attractions.  It was our prize for winning!  The scene was amazing with 360o views over the entire area of Oslo!  How cool!  (By the way, after seeing how the ski jump is, there is no way that I would ever do anything like that!  Those ski jumpers are crazy!


C.J. in front of some resistance graffiti that we found.

Eventually, we got back to our apartments and after a quick break, we ended the evening with Mama Christine and Mama Ane taking us to a nice Italian restaurant.  (While there, we started looking for cameras.  It was the weirdest thing!  The whole place was probably filled with 90% attractive women.  We thought it was some kind of practical joke, seeing that we’ve now been away from our women for over 40 days now!)   After dinner, we all went back, watched Kill Bill II on TV and then called it a night.  It was time to catch up on some sleep, plus Austin, Amy and CJ have an individual challenge tomorrow!  Good night!  I miss you!


 
Day 43 Over!!

I finally found someone uglier than me!
 

Johnathan, the troll and I!
 

Alf looking at home!
 

I couldn't pull off the look
as well as Alf did.


We found this manequin with leg
warmers and it reminded me of
Mary Caryl, so I needed a photo.
 

Looking down Holmenkollen!
 

On top of the ski jump!  Incredible, 360 degree views!
 

 

A moose/elk statue in the ski jumps museum. I like
how they added the "droppings" to make it more real!
 

Found this display with my
hometown area of Selbu listed!


Johnathan with the resistance graffiti!
He's in his element and so happy with this!
 
 
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Day 42 - June 3, 2012 (Episode 7)

It’s my birthday and with it, today will be a very memorable one!
We got started early, around 9:00 a.m..  The plan was to film us waking up after our night with the Swedes, however, most of us had gotten up a little earlier, ate a breakfast and showered, so we had to get back into bed and act like we were waking for the first time.  With that, I’ve discovered that I might be the best actor ever!

We were told that after that scene, we would immediately be going to our second team challenge.  As with everything, it took a lot longer than anticipated.  Instead of being there by 10:00 a.m., as we were told was going to happen, we didn’t get there until 11:00, then had to sit around and wait for another hour or so in the parking lot, before we finally did any filming. 


The night of drinking with the Swedes was
difficult, but especially hard on Johnathan!
He was a good man!
We were told to bring a change of clothes for this competition, so we were very intrigued to see what they had in store for us.  When we walked up to the camera area, we discovered it was a large park.  In the middle of this park, we discovered six guys in Sweden shirts, Henriette, and two tables full of whipped cream pies!  Looks like we were going to have a pie fight!

The challenge was pretty simple.  Both the Red Team, our team, and the Blue Team would compete against a team of 3 Swedes, then the other team of 3 Swedes, finishing it off with a head-to-head face-off with each other.  For each round, each team had a table full of 15 pies filled with whipped cream.  For every pie that you could successfully land on an opposing player, you would receive a point.  If you land all 15 pies, you get 15 points.  At the end of the round, whichever team accumulated more points, would win that round.  At the end of the three rounds, whichever team, Red or Blue, with more wins, would be the ultimate winner and be safe from the elimination challenge!


The Blue and Red Teams with the Swedes, pre-competition!
Because we won yesterday, our advantage was that the first team of Swedes would only get 13 pies to our 15.  Knowing this, our strategy going into that first round was to avoid throwing any pies.  Simply, run up to their team and place them on them, regardless of whether or not they got us with a pie.  If we don’t miss any of ours, we’re guaranteed to win that round!



With our plan in place, we got started against the first team of Swedes.  It was a ton of fun!  Slamming each other with these pies!  Plus, the grass was pretty slick with whipped cream everywhere, so we were slipping and sliding everywhere!  What a great competition!  Plus, it was a little more physical, which we haven’t done a ton of yet.


The Red Team after our fights with the Swedes!
When the first round was all over, our plan seemed to have worked out well.  We weren’t sure, since they didn’t give us the results until later, but from talking to Alf and Johnathan, it sounded like they didn’t waste any pies and I know I didn’t.  The next round seemed to go just as well!  I even got to pie a Swede in the face!!  After two rounds, we were pretty sure that we had to have two victories under our belt.  The only match left would be against the Blue Team, which we felt pretty confident that we could win!



When we finally lined up to face off against the Blue Team, it looked as though Austin was pretty clean following his first two rounds, but Amy and C.J. looked as though they’ve been covered with the cream!  This made me even more confident that we could beat them.  The director lined us up and then told us to talk some trash to each other.  At that point, what is now known as “The Fury” came out of Johnathan!  He went a little crazy and said he may have even blacked out a little.  What a nut!  We got things started and followed our strategy to a T.  We had planned on not even going after Austin, since he’s probably quicker and tougher to get, and just focus on going after C.J. and Amy.  It worked perfectly!  Again, not sure what our final numbers were, but we all felt pretty confident!




The Blue Team after facing off with the Red Team!
After it was all said and done, they let the two Swede teams face off against each other.  That was pretty funny, since they just went after each other’s faces!  Good times!  After that and some interviews, we lined up for results, which is when we first noticed how awful we collectively stunk!  This whipped cream that was caked all over all of us was now about an hour old and smelling terrible!

At the results, not only was it announced that our team won, but we destroyed all the other teams!  We were through to another week!!  What a great birthday present!  Plus, this meant that Austin would have to go to his first elimination challenge!  I love that guy, but he’s one of my biggest threats here, so if he had to go home, that would help me out a lot!  (Although, there’s always that competitive side of me that wants the best there at the end.  In order to be the best, you have to beat the best!)

After it was all over, we were a little bit messier and a whole lot smellier!


After interviews, we went back to the apartments to shower.  It was the worst ride ever!  We all smelled so incredibly bad and were packed into this van.  Plus, it was really hot in the van and our driver ended up getting lost.  What should have been 15 minutes turned into 45 minutes of awful!

When we finally got back, we all cleaned up and gave our clothes to Mama Ane to get cleaned.  (By the way, the worst part was the first 30 seconds of the shower.  The hot water reactivated the cream and the smell was over-whelming!)  After showers, Mama Christine and Mama Ane ordered some delivery for dinner, which we consumed in the Red Team’s apartment.  Because it was my birthday, I felt I should partake in my birthday presents (Austin got me a bottle of whiskey, Jessica got me a bottle of whiskey, Amy got me a small thing of Jagermeister, and the Crew got me a bottle of Aquavit!  Might be a bad sign if everyone thinks I should have liquor as my presents!  Ha!)  I invited everyone to join me, which I didn’t think they would do since we all drank the night before, but I was wrong.  Everyone except for Austin had a drink (I can’t break that kid!  He’s incredibly disciplined!)  Amazingly, over the next few hours, we finished all the liquor and were all telling stories our “first times”!  As a group, we’ve grown incredibly close!  It’s amazing how close all of our relationships have come!  Definitely going to be good friends with a lot of these people for a long while!

Jessica, Amy and I after returning the "borrowed" skateboard.


When we were finished with the liquor, Jessica, Amy and I decided that we should return that skateboard that we “borrowed” the night before.  The three of us made our way to find the house, which we weren’t too sure we would, since we were slightly inebriated the night before.  After a little searching, we found something that looked very similar.  We pulled out our camera and looked at some photos from the night before and noticed a chandelier in the window that matched one of our photos.  We knew it was the right one, so we snuck up, dropped off the skateboard and a note apologizing for taking the board.  Hopefully, they’ll understand and find it funny!


After returning the skateboard, we walked around and found a bar that was open.  We sat down and had a couple of drinks.  I befriended a guy in the bar and asked him to join us.  He was a little strange, but it made it fun!  We made our way back around 3:00 a.m. and called it a night.

It was a very good birthday!  Good times with good friends, a second team victory and a lot of birthday wishes from cast and crew!  A very good day!!  (Although, I hope we get to celebrate again when I get back….if you know what I mean!)

Day 42 Over!
 

 
Amy didn't fair too well!
 
 

The Swedes after competing against each other!
 

Our opponents that day!  We took them down!
 

We discovered that Austin and Jessica have some
freaky feet!  Here's a shot of Mr. Web-toes and
Mrs. One King and Four Pawns!
 

Amy giving me a ride on the skateboard.
 

We discovered that skateboards are a lot easier
to ride sitting down than standing up!
 

A shot of the skateboard and our apology letter.
 

Jessica riding a stranger who made
the mistake of giving us directions
to the next bar!


Amy and I with the bartender that night.  We weren't
allowed to use the internet, so we convinced her to
pull up "Euphoria" for us!
 

Myself and some stranger that
bought us drinks!


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