Matty: ONE ROUND away from the jury. How do you think Ukiyo visits are going to affect the votes as this game goes on?

I don't think that ukiyo is going to be more of a factor rather then what's best for each individual. Now that we're moving onto jury naturally the assumption is that merge is gonna come with it so I think it's going to be something more of who can I beat in a challenge to get myself further mentality more than anything

You were unable to finish the challenge AND are appeared to be on the wrong side of a blindside last round! Nervous at all for this one?

So, on the subject of the challenge, I forgot to cross out one of the numbers when I was double checking my work and I added a duplicate. I kind of hate the number 25 now. My failure to complete it doesn't make me worry about my spot because I still took the time to finish the entire challenge, I just made one silly mistake right at the end.

The blindsides have been getting frustrating and those are the things that are making me nervous right now, not my challenge performance. I've felt really confident the past couple of votes (I think I mentioned that the last time I went to tribal council), but things have not been going my way recently. I'm hopeful that things will change tonight, but there is definitely a sense of nervousness.

As one of only two old-Coast members on this tribe, are you worried that the old trend of a Coast massacre is going to continue?

I think it's dangerous to think in terms of Coasters versus Mountaineers at this point in the game. We're getting to a point where every person has a perspective, every person has things that they want, and an entire faction that was dissolved five rounds ago isn't going to line up on those perfectly. Am I worried? Sure. But I hope that people start to see the bigger picture and look beyond the small corner we saw when the game started.

James: You got votes at the last tribal council you attended AND ended up with a less-than stellar time in this challenge. How do you think challenge strength is going to affect the vote this late into the game?

Yeah, other than not being sent home in my last tribal council, it hasn't been the best few days for ole' James. I caught some votes and accidentally deleted one of my seconds in the challenge. Not a good look at all.
Obviously, challenge strength is important. As a tribe, we want to be able to win challenges and avoid tribal council. However, it looks like with the start of jury and a possible merge on the horizon, the ability to win challenges may start to take a backseat to other qualities. I actually don't think that challenge strength will affect this vote that much.

Brad: What do you think of this swap so far? Are you happy to be away from your old tribe? How do you like your new tribe?

I think we have the most wild card of the tribe swap, we have a little bit of everyone from the old old tribes, and some from the old tribes, so it's a different dynamic that you never know what's going to happen. Am I happy to be away from my old old Sakai tribe, yes, from my old Ki tribe, kinda, how do I like my new tribe, everyone here are people I have rarely talked to, and I'm really glad we are talking now, everyone here is very nice, it's a great feeling when you can actually talk to people.