# TAR Finale! 02/08/05 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 8, 2005, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tar-finale-02-08-05/289004 "2005-02-08T15:41:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tar-finale-02-08-05/289004/61 "2005-02-09T16:37:38Z")
And if TAR7 wasn’t enough…on [The Early Show](http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/earlyshow/main500202.shtml) today, Phil announced that they’re casting for the 8th Race which will be…a FAMILY EDITION! With teams of FOUR instead of two! It’s not as jump-the-sharkish as a full-blown Celebrity Season, but still… ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tar-finale-02-08-05/289004/62 "2005-02-09T17:04:07Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > And if TAR7 wasn’t enough…on [The Early Show](http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/earlyshow/main500202.shtml) today, Phil announced that they’re casting for the 8th Race which will be…a FAMILY EDITION! With teams of FOUR instead of two! > > It’s not as jump-the-sharkish as a full-blown Celebrity Season, but still… I do NOT like this idea. What is this? The Family Feud? ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tar-finale-02-08-05/289004/63 "2005-02-09T17:17:24Z")
> [@annieclaus](#): > > I live in Milwaukee and I have never heard of Ping Tom Memorial Park. What an odd choice for the race ending. I would have loved for it to have ended in Millennium Park. Now THAT would have been a great choice! (But probably too many Chicagoans would have known who won the race and then wouldn’t actually watch the show! Fooey!) Well, it could be the fact that according to [this article](http://www.boingboing.net/2005/02/06/chicagos_public_scul.html), the big public sculpture in Millennium Park is copyrighted. (I can’t vouch for its credibility tho). > [@](#): > > Chicago spent $270 million on its Millennium Park, placing a big public sculpture by Anish Kapoor in the middle of it, bought with public money. Woe betide any member of the public who tries to photograph this sculpture, though: it’s a copyrighted sculpture and Chicago is spending even more money policing Chicagoans who try to photograph it and make a record of what their tax-dollars bought. > > The copyrights for the enhancements in Millennium Park are owned by the artist who created them. As such, anyone reproducing the works, especially for commercial purposes, needs the permission of that artist. > > Brian McCartney sez, “Just a note, the piece was not publicly paid for, it was a gift from SBC Communcations.” ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tar-finale-02-08-05/289004/64 "2005-02-09T19:03:07Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > And if TAR7 wasn’t enough…on [The Early Show](http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/earlyshow/main500202.shtml) today, Phil announced that they’re casting for the 8th Race which will be…a FAMILY EDITION! With teams of FOUR instead of two! > > It’s not as jump-the-sharkish as a full-blown Celebrity Season, but still… As someone who is applying, I like the idea. It’s gonna make travel a heck of a lot harder though. Not sure how far along in the process I’ll get. It depends on what they consider a family. ---
**Author:** ![Hooleehootoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/eada6e/32.png) [@Hooleehootoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hooleehootoo)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tar-finale-02-08-05/289004/65 "2005-02-09T19:23:25Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Rebecca…That “3 testicles” line was hilarious. I liked better the unintentional humor of “Nice long strokes, Adam!” (when painting the car) ---
**Author:** ![annieclaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@annieclaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/annieclaus)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tar-finale-02-08-05/289004/66 "2005-02-10T04:15:04Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > Well, it could be the fact that according to [this article](http://www.boingboing.net/2005/02/06/chicagos_public_scul.html), the big public sculpture in Millennium Park is copyrighted. (I can’t vouch for its credibility tho). Well, I have several photos of it right here on my very computer! Let 'em come and get me!!! ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tar-finale-02-08-05/289004/67 "2005-02-10T13:30:57Z")
Oh! Did anyone else notice… It’s an open and obvious secret that teams travel with their associated cameraman and soundguy, so when they buy plane tickets from point A to point B, they need to buy _four_ tickets, not just _two_. However, TAR likes to maintain the polite fiction that only the two team members are traveling anywhere, so you’ll always hear teams asking for “two” tickets, not “four.” I’ve always wondered just how that was arranged. Did anyone else notice, that at one of the airports, Kris leaned over the counter and asked for _two_ tickets, and to emphisize, held up… _four_ fingers? Ah! Epiphany! A voiceover! ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tar-finale-02-08-05/289004/68 "2005-02-10T15:56:17Z")
That’s always obvious, but I think the cameraman and/or producer can travel first class. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tar-finale-02-08-05/289004/69 "2005-02-10T16:13:22Z")
> [@Mullinator](#): > > As someone who is applying, I like the idea. It’s gonna make travel a heck of a lot harder though. Not sure how far along in the process I’ll get. It depends on what they consider a family. To quote from the Eligibility Requirements: > [@](#): > > This cycle of the Program is open to all different types of families, including non-traditional families and families in-the-making. Some examples include an engaged couple and their in-laws-to-be or a blended family. You can apply with up to five people on your team, but then the producers will cut one person. Team members can be as young as 12, but at least one person must be 21, and any minors must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. You’ve also got to be U.S. citizens, with a U.S. passport, living in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tar-finale-02-08-05/289004/70 "2005-02-10T16:34:02Z")
I don’t love the concept, but I am willing to see how it works out. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tar-finale-02-08-05/289004/71 "2005-02-10T23:37:40Z")
I also didn’t see how such a large gap developed between the last two couples when they were both on the same train but then were several minutes apart at the pizza parlor. FWIW, somebody on TWOP is saying that there was actually another stop between the water tower and the pizza place that was cut, which would explain both the time lag, and the hailing of a cab nowhere near the water tower. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tar-finale-02-08-05/289004/72 "2005-02-12T03:26:40Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > I also didn’t see how such a large gap developed between the last two couples when they were both on the same train but then were several minutes apart at the pizza parlor. FWIW, somebody on TWOP is saying that there was actually another stop between the water tower and the pizza place that was cut, which would explain both the time lag, and the hailing of a cab nowhere near the water tower. I was thinking about this very point this morning. The train they got on at O’Hare is called the Blue Line. It does NOT stop at Chicago Ave., two blocks east of Michigan Ave. That is a Red Line stop. They had to take the Blue Line into the Loop, get off at Washington, walk two blocks through an underground connection, and transfer to the Red Line. All of this transfering was obviously edited out to make it seem like they went directly from O’Hare to the stop on chicago Ave. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tar-finale-02-08-05/289004/73 "2005-02-12T05:13:44Z")
Interestingly enough, today’s Chicago Tribune had an article with the headline “Where _is_ Ping Tom Park?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tar-finale-02-08-05/289004.md?page=3)