Name: Murtz Jaffer
Age: 26
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Occupation: Survivor-Central Webmaster
Luxury Item: Picture of Mother

Biography

Murtz Jaffer is a 26 year old webmaster/writer and is currently pursuing legal studies. He is a man marked by mystery as his sly demeanor has not been seen by many.

In 1997, Murtz began writing articles on professional wrestling and eventually landed a job at TSN where his columns were featured in the wrestling section. He was later picked up by ScoopsWrestling.com where he enhanced his reporting skills and was sent to cover various events in North America.

After Scoops folded in 2000, his obsession with Survivor led to creating Survivor-Central.com where his initial aim was to create the biggest Survivor fan site on the web. Since that time he has been able to get many former players to write for the site and has befriended many former contestants.

The secrecy surrounding him remains unparalleled. Murtz has not allowed his picture to be taken often and there are many rumors about his desire to remain so private.

Murtz has often professed to be the best Friday morning Survivor quarterback. Survivor Okinawa is his chance to use the strategy that he has been working on since the show premiered. He says that the strategy is smart in theory, but vicious in practice and says that fans of the show will not believe the lengths he is willing to go in order to secure the status of the Ultimate Survivor. He said that he considers making it to the Final 2 the same as winning the game, because he believes you can control everything in Survivor (barring unforseen twists) except the jury vote. His primary objective is to lie, cheat, and Rupert his way to the final 2 and he would consider that a victory.

When asked what his most prized possession was, he admitted that it is his vast collection of Survivor tapes. He said that he has not been out on a Thursday since Pulau Tiga premiered and is consumed by pausing out commercials during the show.

In addition to Survivor, Murtz enjoys reading John Grisham novels, watching professional wrestling, and going to the dentist. He says that anything worth getting in life needs some sort of sacrifice/pain before it can be achieved. He trusts that this philosophy will help in Okinawa.

Application Essay

I should be included in Survivor Okinawa because I think that I would be a fun character to watch. I think that being remorseless is a necessary ingredient to winning the game, and while "sweet" winners like Tina/Ethan have won, I generally believe that they are the exception and not the rule. The real winners are men like Rich and Brian. People who not only cut off anyone who was in their path of winning, but also laughed about it. I want to assume another identity and I want to see if I can play the game as a completely different person on the outside. I believe that you do not have to be the strongest or even the smartest player to win Survivor. You just have to be willing to do anything that lets you stay another 3 days. Usually that is an alliance, but in some cases it isn't.

I have this funny idea that I was thinking about as I watched the greatest television show in the world. I refer to it as becoming the “surviving Survivor.” I think that as long as you can convince the other people that you are a Survivor (with or without the game), they will not only trust you…but genuinely want to see you do well. My plan rests on gaining their respect for what my character has gone through and using this weakness against them as I continue to move further in the game. I plan on picking on sympathetic people and using their honestly to move ahead. They will serve two purposes. Not only will they stick to their word. They will also make good potential jury votes since when I spit in their face, I can explain by just saying that I had to do what I did to move further because no one needs the money more than me. Even this isn’t the appeal to me. The real appeal of winning would be winning the money (after telling them that I would use it to help disadvantaged people like my aunt) and then inviting them to visit the hospital where she is. The look on their faces as they arrive with flowers to a frat party with strippers is what is the appeal of winning the game to me. There will be no way for them to prepare for the lies that I will tell. They may know the game. They don’t know how I will play it.

Finalist Essay

Why should I play the game? Hmm. I think that I would be an entertaining character to watch and I know I would be fun to write for. I have always wanted to try several things in the game that haven't been done before. I have wanted to communicate with the other team during challenges (although I haven't figured out how this would be possible yet... I think the Survivors in the Pearl Islands have been blessed with an unbelievable opportunity with the reward challenge to talk strategy with the other team and I would definitely take advantage of this. I also think that my "Survivor" Survivor strategy to gain sympathy and favor with my teammates is something that should be interesting to watch.

I am not sure which luxury item will be the most useful in my strategy. I am thinking one of the photos, but I think Monopoly could also be fun because it would give me a chance to release my pent-up frustration. Why is David Roth frustrated? It's because I have to pretend like I am sympathic when I am the most cut-throat player involved in the game. I just think the photo is hilarious because at a TC (hopefully the final one), I want it to be insanely funny. I mean can you imagine sitting on the jury, finding out that I have been lying the entire time, tossing the photo into the fire, and saying that I chose my name after Brian Heidik's name in porno movies? It would be hilarious. I think that I am strange in the fact that I consider getting to the final 2 as a win. I truly believe that you can control everything in Survivor (minus the various twists) except for how the jury votes. So that shouldn't be the goal. The goal for me is to put myself in the best position to win by doing whatever is necessary and then seeing if the jury will appreciate it or not.

Also, from a character development standpoint I think that it will be difficult to totally assume a new personna. As a result, the solution that I have been working on is to pretend that I was a rowdy young adult (currently true) but had to change my ways after my mother got sick. This way I can still have shades of Murtz in the Roth character when I talk about my "youth".

Come on... how could I not be cast?! :)

Post-Game Links (spoilers)

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