What has gotten into the shampoo of two of Massachusetts' best-known figures? One man cut all his hair off, and another is sporting a mullet that would impress even Denise of Survivor: China fame. First, Deval Patrick is sporting an especially close shave. His hair has never been long, at least as long as the state of Massachusetts has known him, but he's exposing some scalp these days. We're not the only ones who wondered......

Is Denise Martin, fourth-place finisher in Survivor: China, a lunch lady? Is she a janitor? Is she a pawn of the "reality show" system? Or does the Massachusetts resident just have ladyballs as bold as her mullet? Denise Martin admitted that she had been promoted before leaving for China on CBS' Early Show in an extremely awkward interview. Apparently, a lot of people are visiting the site looking for more information on Denise the Lunch......

Last night, Denise Martin, who worked as a lunch lady in Douglas, said the school district she worked for didn't let her return to work as a lunch lady and that she had to work as a janitor and she was not happy at all. She received $50,000 from Mark Burnett as a result. (Having another castmate make a demeaning comment about "welfare" and saying Denise "sucks at life" probably also prodded Burnett to......

Survivor: China wrapped up tonight with a bang, including perhaps the meanest comment ever uttered on reality television and a rough welcome home for local competitor Denise Martin. Every challenge counts at this stage, and all four Survivors need to try as hard as they can. Last Thursday, we became nervous about Denise because she wouldn't finish the chicken fetus in the Immunity Challenge, and it looked like she was losing energy. As for Courtney......

Survivor: China: In the next-to-last episode of Survivor: China, Denise has been struggling with a question--who does she think she can win against if she were in Survivor's final two? Denise had a tough choice after she won the immunity challenge, which involved players giving each other arrows. When the challenge started, Denise wound up with the next-to-least number of arrows and admitted that she was low on the totem pole of her alliance. To......

Now that David, the Somerville LARPer, took the grand prize in Beauty and the Geek, we are focusing our attentions on Denise, the martial-arts aficionado with the heroic hair. Denise has hung on throughout several rough rounds of Survivor:China. This week, Denise caught a break since the reward challenge involved the presence of family members. The producers saved Denise's husband for last--for good reason. He is a big, burly dude who looks like he would......

--Ah, Beauty & the Geek, how do we love thee? This week, the show threw a twist into the proceedings and allowed the nation to vote for either Somerville LARPer Dave & Jasmine or Tufts grad student Nicole & Sam. How could Bostonist possibly decide between the two locals? As an added bonus, the show sent each of the finalists back to their hometowns so they could show their respective friends how much they've changed.......

Beauty and the Geek: For the next-to-last episode, the teams traveled to wine country for an "I Love Lucy" challenge. They had to pick grapes, stomp them, and bottle grape juice--while tied to each other. Despite the disturbing sight of Big Dave and Little Jasmine hunkered over each other while stomping grapes, the pair won the challenge, prepared three bottles of grape juice laced with Eau de Foot, and guaranteed themselves a spot in the......

Beauty and the Geek: This week, the geeks pick up flair bartending skills, while the beauties attempt to learn zoology, which is a thinly veiled ruse to give the beauties a chance to scream at animals. Yet again, Sam, the male beauty and Tufts Nicole's partner, dominated the competition, and Jasmine, David the Somerville LARPer's partner, freaked out at holding the icky animals. To make Jasmine feel better after bungling the beauty challenge, David made......

Beauty and the Geek: Somerville LARPer Dave surprised everyone this week by revealing his inner dancer on the show's trip to Mexico. Fueled by a lump of salt and some booze from a botched tequila shot, he did a round-off back handspring. His partner, Jasmine, was so impressed that she gave him a kiss. The look on Dave's face was priceless. Getting that kind of attention from a woman, no matter how platonic, made it......

Survivor: China: This week marked the all-important tribal merger, not to mention heaps of shenanigans involving the Immunity Idol. Yet Denise, our beloved Denise, barely spoke. What is with all this drama drama drama and no Denise? Is this a subtle hint that she may have won the whole thing? Since no one is letting Denise talk, we decided to check out her bio over at the official Survivor: China site. She's a badass. She......

Beauty and the Geek: Our locals held on for another week. Tufts girl geek Nicole learned why bunk beds suck. She sleeps on the bottom bunk while her beauty male partner, Sam, enjoys the top bunk. Sam took another beauty, Rebecca, into his bed and started getting it on. An outraged Nicole began to cry, not because she harbored any attraction to Sam, but because it is rude and an invasion of private space......

--Beauty and the Geek: The challenges this week are for the geeks to compose and perform a rap song and for the beauties to debate current-events issues. Dave from Somerville is not happy because his partner, Jasmine, is slow on the uptake - and, in a burst of antisocial behavior, he tells her so! But he sucks it up and works on his rap song. One look at him (image left), and you can guess......