Blue Spring Manatee Preserve

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Very cool. Over 253 manatees. On the photos, zoom in and you can see tons of fish and some huge manatees.

My Bachelor 2011 (Brad 2.0) Predictions

You can ask my wife, Elia, I am very good at predicting the outcome of The Bachelor. Not perfect, just pretty good. After two full episodes, I am ready to make my call. Here we go:

[Picture from abc.com]

1. Winner - Food Writer, former gymnast - Britt, 25

She is cute, interesting, but a little shy. I know the bed scene it looked like they kissed forever on the bed, but that was editing together multiple takes. Nonetheless, she is my call. This is a very high-risk call as she could EASILY go out next show. If so, bump all my picks up.

2. Ricky-Bobby's former fiancee - Emily, 24 (she could easily win also) - Adorable, charming, single-mom, great back-story, also incredibly hot. He is taken with her. My guess is her little girl, Ricky (natch), will be the star of the show when they go to her "home" visit. She could possibly lock it in next week with her "big reveal".

3. Crazy Philly Dentist with the over-the-top boob job - Ashley H., 26 - Great, two good looking people with SERIOUS daddy issues. She might drop a spot, but I think her education and fun quotient will keep her around a long time.

4. Birthday girl and the least nice person from Utah ever - Michelle, 30 (today, "It's my birthday, did you hear?") - Easy to dislike, single-mom, but super hot and extremely adept at getting Brad's attention. Not a chance she will win. Definitely being overdone in editing as the "bad girl". Will get eliminated for causing crazy drama about other girls with her man. Predicted line - "I don't fight for men, men fight for me!"

5. Super-cute, but totally naive NYC nanny from the mid-west - Ashley S., 26 - Too nice for this competition. Will get her heart stomped. Brad might cry when he lets her go.

6. Adorable Boston bartender - Stacey, 26 - Not sure what to thing of her, but a) I like her and b) the editing suggests she sticks around. In the end, I don't think she brings enough dimension to stay interesting.

7. Psychotic vampire chick that the producers will insist stay around long enough -Madison, 25 - Clearly here to appeal to the Twilight generation, she must have a great agent who sold that story line/appeal to the producers. Her presence on the show weakens the argument that Brad is serious each week. Also - if she is a model, she must be a plus size model. Just sayin'.

It's hard to predict exact spot, so take my guesses as +/- 1 slot.

Other thoughts:

• Am I crazy or is that artist chick, Jackie, 27, completely a intentional attempt to draw on the appeal of Rachel Berry from Glee? (not working)
• Lisa M is the easiest elimination from the next episode ever. I can't even remember a segment with her and Brad alone in the editing = death nell.
• Sarah P will likely get her shot next week and may not get the rose on the date, sending her home immediately.
• I really like the mortician dame, Shawntel, 25, but she isn't hot enough, is too shy and frankly is too nice for this show. Best line from Brad on her - "You could make anyone look good" Heh.
• Taking a look at the multiple name-pairs, one stands out - Ashley (#2 in 1985), Sarah (#5 in 1985) and Chantal/Shawtel (Nowhere in the top 250). Not sure what it says, but it says something.
• Last time, Brad ended up with two brunettes, yet idiotically, I am predicting two blondes this time. This could bite me in the butt.
• Did anyone else notice that there were no black or asian women in the original 30? I wonder why not. They have been conscientious about that in the past. Historically, they have all been summarily dismissed in the first couple episodes, which might have been embarrassing to the producers so they skipped it this time.

Think I have it way off? Have you own prediction? Let me hear about it in your comments.

The Sequel Map

via neatorama.com

Proof that sequels pretty much always suck. Only exceptions - Toy Story and Godfather.