July 11, 2001

Kokoleka survived their second week together as a tribe. In addition to weekly challenges, to remain active, each tribal member must contribute to a weekly discussion question. Each member has to answer to discussion questions and post at least two replies, then each will submit to "The TRIO" (Aunt Binnie, Cousin Christin, and Stacy) his or her nomination for the best reply to a question. This is officially posted to their new rules. "Whew. I'm glad I read that. I interacted enough. :) I don't think you could accuse any ex-Divas of not communicating! LOL!" one obviously ex-diva laughed. Others weren't as receptive. "Personally I think doing this just to keep banter going on the list is kind of stupid. It really hasn't promoted anything other than answers to the question. We banter enough as it is! Just try going back in the message archive and going between everything else to read the discussion answers!!"

One member spoke for the others when she said she that this would be "a big pain that I don't really have time for right now. I'll just arbitrarily send in a name. I suspect others will too, voiding any validity this little competition might have. I still think the TRIO ought to pick one out on their own and let us concentrate on the game at hand. We talk plenty, IMO. See- we just had a 3-post dialogue. ;-)" Others agreed. "I don't really actually see the point of these questions eitherŠthey don't really make sense as a part of our game!!!! IMHO at least." Be it Aunt Binnie's secret plan, but this did spark much conversation and controversy amongst the tribe. Perhaps she's trying to weed them out.

This week's discussion was "What would you like to see WDW or DL incorporate into their park(s) on the 4th of July, and why?" One member suggested "How about Disney showing American spirit by helping others. For example, anyone who brings a can of food to donate to the needy would get a discount on their tickets, exchange the food for Disney Dollars or get entry to an All-American BBQ. This would put Disney in a good light for a change, help people AND show American spirit, all at the same time." Another Koko suggested "how about prism glasses for fireworks?" The others discussed options such as red, white and blue lights throughout the park as well as hanging decorative buntings. They also thought that Fort Wilderness could put on a show about American Heritage and like the idea of a giant cookout.

As the week unfolded, they were surprised to find that their discussion question was actually the start of their challenge. Their challenge was to create, in text only and in 300 words or less, a day plan for a trip to WDW on the fourth of July. "My only problem with this challenge is that I would never EVER plan to go to WDW on the Fourth of July holiday! Ugh. I would think you have to be a special kind of masochist to do so, IMHO!" one member complained. Another retorted that her first day at WDW ever was on July 4th. "Been there, done that," she laughed! "I agree, so I can imagine that planning this day will be a new experience for all of us!" one Koko chimed in. "Good Luck fellow Kokolekas!!" was cheered and they were on their way to start their writing.

It was quite for a while as the members struggled to complete the challenge, the first one on their own without any help from the other members. Aunt Binnie sent out a call to wake the dead. Not many responses were heard as they worked diligently towards completion. In the meantime, Aunt Binnie posted the rules and regulations. There were several posts traded as each member wanted to clarify the rules and make sure that there wouldn't be any loopholes or confusion. Other members thought that there were too many rules and it was starting to get confusing. Since some members were still unclear or were trying to figure out if rules could be bent, Aunt Binnie was forced to revise and add to the rules. She mandated that each person print them out so that there would be no question as to her authority. "In going over the Survivor Rules, I noticed (the following line) was omitted in the copy that was posted. The correct copy is now posted, and I am notifying you of the omission and correction" she advised.

When the deadline hit, they noticed that one member didn't turn in a challenge. The others wondered if this would be an automatic boot out. Another guilty party confessed to leaving the challenge posted to the green files for too long. The member who didn't submit the challenge was out vacationing. She apologized for not submitted and asked if it was too late to get her challenge in. "I say we just ax the non-submitting member and get on with the game. No need for disputes etc. I wonder if any of the DD members have noticed this yet (not that any of them read the challenges!)" on member thought. The Koko added, "Part of that may be that's it's not so obvious how to get to them on the DD page."

The Koko who was on vacation did not notify Aunt Binnie in time that she was going and it was too late to use her vacation immunity. She was not allowed to submit a challenge for the week and was automatically placed in the elimination pool. She sadly accepted the consequences. This sparked other members to quickly get their vacation immunities in to Aunt Binnie. One member requested a vacation immunity if she is still in the game, for the week of July 9-16. Aunt Binnie asked her to submit her request the week before she was leaving and to wait for a reply to ensure Aunt Binnie received the request. Others sent in their requests as well just to be sure that what happened to the one Koko, wouldn't happen to them. Nothing, other than being voted off, would eliminate these members foolishly.

The challenges were posted for everyone to read. There was much dispute over the rules for the challenge as some members used a pass that was considered invalid for this particular challenge. There had been much previous discussion as to which pass could be used; some members had used a pass that was invalid for July 4th. "Looks like more than half of those who submitted challenges used this invalid pass and would have been turned away at the gates!! (including me!) That's what ya get for not reading the fine print!" one member sulked. The members that used correct passes felt that these submissions should be disqualified as per the rules. This would reduce their numbers quickly and would give others an upper hand in staying in the game they felt. In the Section entitled "Violations": Any Survivor which has had his or her challenge disqualified or has had their name "automatically" placed in the SG Elimination Poll for any other violation, will be prohibited from voting in that particular elimination poll. One member thought was stupid to test the challenge. Another Koko quickly replied, "That's not stupid, it was very wise to test it! Stupid is trying to use a pass that is not valid for a day at the parks!!"

Other members, who may have been jealous for not thinking of it first, complained of another member's use of ascii art in the submission. She felt that it went over the allowed 300 words maximum. The Koko who wrote the challenge at question quickly replied that (Koko) had counted, recounted and hand counted the text and it came out to exactly 300 words, including the artwork. This sparked members to try their hand at ascii artwork. One member shared the link for the artwork with the rest of the tribe, only to be scolded for giving away trade secrets by the member who used it in the challenge.

Aunt Binnie, who had been dealing with amendments to the rules all week, replied, "I'm home now and ready to work on a decision. It should be posted soon. I would like to comment on (Koko's) challenge however. Stacy and I all looked through the rules and the challenge directions. We both agree that there is absolutely nothing that would disqualify (Koko's) challenge. In fact, we feel the sentence, "All answers must be in plain text, but like a good resume' you are free to do anything creative to make your challenge submission stand out," even invited that kind of creativity." The accusing Koko admitted to liking the submission, "but not enough to vote for you" she joked. Aunt Binnie went on to add, "Congratulations (Koko)! And when I posted today on the DD list about how creative and entertaining all the challenges were, I really did have a great time reading them. How do you all think of that stuff :-)"

It was overheard by one Koko commenting about the new Pick the Ultimate Survivor Contest,"Personally, I thought that was a brilliant marketing ploy to give MFL people a personal stake in us. I'm picturing Binnie as a bookie, now, with all of us lined up at the gates like thoroughbred racehorses. Hee hee."

There was also much chatter about how they could plan strategies for elimination. Aunt Binnie said that they could email each other off list, but copies of their transmissions had to be sent to her and the reporter. They did just that. One member wanted to be sure, "So we can email each other to our heart's content off list, and it's all okay as long as we email it to you? Or fill the mailboxes of every single green team member until they are stuffed! Hehehe." A few strategy posts were exchanged off list to various members, none of whom I shall mention.

At the end of the week, the members sent in their nominations for who they thought had the best ideas during the discussion questions. Also, members who didn't get as many TheMouseForLess votes were put into the elimination poll along with the others who had their weekly challenges disqualified. The winning member of the challenge (Koko who got the most TheMouseForLess votes) was granted immunity from being cast into the poll. Members disqualified from the challenge were unable to vote in the poll. There was a tie between ex-diva Mickey and ex-Kungaloosh Tracey with 50% of the votes each. Tracey was eliminated in the end due to the fact that she did not have any tribal council attendances, a pre-determined tie breaker. As Tracey's flame was extinguished, the others celebrated and congratulated each other on getting through their first individual challenge.

"And you expected smooth sailing!? Never, this is survivor!"