He Didn’t Break The Rules… He Made Them Rewrite The Rule Book

Early July 2022, Rawai, Phuket, Thailand. This place had been my home for about a year and a half. I frequented a particular bar quite often, primarily because there was a lady who worked there—a former fling. Occasionally, I’d stop in for a drink and a chat.

One night, as I was sitting at the bar, a gentleman walked up to me and said in American, “Hi, I’m Russell Hantz.” It rang a bell. I looked at him, then at his hat, and said, “You’re Russell Hantz!” Now, that might not mean much to a lot of people. Sure, Russell is a TV star, but TV is so fragmented these days that you wouldn’t necessarily know him unless you were a fan of the Reality TV genre.

Back in the day when you had only three networks, if someone was a star, everyone knew. But Russell Hantz happens to be one of the biggest stars ever in the reality TV sphere. And the biggest reality TV show of all is CBS’s “Survivor.” Anyone who is a fan of “Survivor,” at least from its early days, would recognize him.

From the beginning, “Survivor” was captivating. It had been on the air for a few years before Russell showed up in the 2009 series. He was on the show three times. “Survivor” is great for developing or giving a platform for some truly outlier, iconic figures to emerge. That’s a big part of the show’s allure. People come out of nowhere and suddenly become somebody everyone knows. Russell is arguably the best of those.

Later, you’ll be able to access the video conversation I had with him just a few hours ago…

… Originally, the way the show worked was that each episode ended with a vote where someone got voted off. Competitors could win immunity from that vote through various challenges. Then they introduced a twist: the hidden immunity idol. The production crew would hide an immunity idol somewhere on the island and give out cryptic clues to its location. Competitors had to decipher these clues to find the idol.

Here’s where Russell changed the game. While everyone else waited for clues, Russell thought, “Why wait?” He started searching for the idol before the first clue was even given. And he didn’t just find one. Not two. … Not even three or four hidden immunity idols this way…

Five.

So when they had him back for a third season, they’d rewritten the rule book.

… During a month of hanging out with him two years ago, I asked him how he did it—found those immunity idols without clues, on tropical islands. He explained that if you’re looking for a hidden immunity idol, you don’t search where you’ve never seen the production crew. You look where you’ve seen them filming stock footage, setting up shots, and so on. He…DUH…started looking around there and asking himself, “now where would I hide it?”

Here’s a clip I found on YouTube. You don’t need to watch the whole thing; it’s 20 minutes long. But if you watch a bit, you’ll understand why Russell Hantz was one of the most loved and hated guys in all of “Survivor.”

Fast forward to just a few hours ago, and my LINE app, which is the go-to app for communication among Thai folks, starts going ding, ding, ding. I look up. It’s Russell. Now, in life, you’ll meet many people who come and go. It’s rare to end up with a lasting kind of brotherly connection, especially if one person has somewhat of a higher social status because there’s always that nagging question: Does he like me because I’m his bro, or does he like dropping my name? Dropping Russell’s name? Sure. I don’t lie about stupid shit like that. We all have this pecking order.

The thing is, it wouldn’t happen without seeing what kind of dude he is. We’ve kept in contact over the last two years since he’s been home, and he’s been talking about coming back again. That’s the plan. That’s in the video we recorded.

… Once we got chatting, we said, “Hey, why don’t we record this and do a video?” Because Russell has a lot to say—not only ’bout himself, but also his then-17-year-old son, Michael. I hadn’t mentioned him before, but Russell was with his son during that whole trip. So, I know both of them. And they’re coming back to Thailand soon.

Russell and I had an hour-long conversation. What’s interesting about it, and why I’ve written this post the way I have, is because it dovetails so perfectly. Russell explains how clueless both he and his son were the day they landed and hit Bangkok with Houston, TX expectations. Then, I’m going to relay what I witnessed in Russell just a few weeks later when he landed on my doorstep.

To kick this off, I want to give you some background for those intrigued enough to dig deeply into this. I’m going to give you some of the things I’ve published previously and other stuff. Also, Russell has a YouTube channel, so I’m going to link some of his videos. Then, we’ll get into that amazing hour-long conversation we had just a few hours ago.

So let’s add some background.

• Villains Are The Kindest People
• CBS’ Survivor Star Russell Hantz Interviews Me: Taboo Topic
• Checking out Big Buddha wth Boi. Monkeys try to steal Mikes food! Phuket Thailand
• Feeding 2 Adorable hungry kids in Rawai Phuket,Thailand
• Street food market with Boi & Mike! Phuket Thailand
• First date with Thai girl and she’s amazing!! #thailand
• Best day and video i’ve ever done! Thank you! Thailand
• Very nervous! Going to Por’s/Boi’s village and meeting Family already! Udon Thani Thailand
• Donate $1000 & give gifts to children in very poor village! Today was special! Rawai Thailand

Let me break it down for you, plain and simple. If you’ve been paying attention, what we stumbled upon in this video mirrors what Russell Hantz did on Survivor. The man came to Thailand with his 17-year-old son, clueless. Deer in headlights. It’s a funny story.

I didn’t know this before.

When I met him a few weeks later, he was already a master and impressing me—and I had 42 years of Asian “bar-girl” knowledge by then, going back to ’82 as a US Navy Midshipman on my “summer cruise” that started off in Pusan, Korea.

That’s key here.

If you’ve watched Survivor, it’s a reminder of what it means to be a man. A real man quickly assesses a situation and becomes competent as fast as he can. He doesn’t need to hit a home run every time or be a superstar. Competence is key. He must show and demonstrate this, not just for himself, but for others if he intends to lead. A leader in any social circle must prove he can lead and that follows a demonstration of competence.

Most males in these days spend countless hours researching rather than experimenting to determine best practices. Most males are barely distinguishable from chicks.

“Better safe than sorry!”

This is what a man does. And this is what Western civilization is hell-bent on losing. But it won’t lose it without a fight. I won’t delve too deeply, but if society tries too hard to eradicate this essence of manhood, there will be a backlash like you’ve never seen.

Real men, the true inheritors of the Earth, are not meek in the conventional sense. They keep their swords sheathed until absolutely necessary. This is inviolable.

I’m fine if you say that’s God’s will. Because it is, no matter your sense of God.

Now onto the fantastic 1-hr video with Russell Hantz.

What did you think?