gdp's Comments

Mark Reads : Mark Demands All 'Lord of the Rings' Stuff He Has Missed

Tue, 14 May 2013 01:00:00 +0000

And yet, it somehow managed to get the temptation of Samwise better than the big budget movies...

HGTV Design Star : David on Episode 5: "Make a Room. No Walls. Good Luck."

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 18:19:14 +0000

What I really would have liked to have seen in this episode was the interaction of the party-goers with the spaces. Which ones were they drawn to, and how did they use them? I think, given this particular challenge, that it would have been useful information to have. I'd be happy to watch shows with either Danielle or Hillari (if HGTV still does design shows--every time I tune in, it's some real estate show, which is why I missed the beginning of this season entirely). Mikkel is also very camera-friendly. Brittney's design was good, but something about her is just odd on camera. Rachel seems very nice most of the time, but I haven't been as impressed with her as the judges were the first couple of challenges, and in this one, I'm sorry, she came off as bratty. It's a competition. You drew what you drew. And how are you going to deal with a client who likes the Victorian aesthetic if your whole response is "Ick! Let me tell you why you're wrong!"? Besides, making a little playroom for a party is a great way to experiment with style you wouldn't normally use in a permanent setting! (On a random note, Victorian was nineteenth century, not eighteenth.)

HGTV Design Star : Meg on Episode 3: "This is Real...It Isn't Pretend-Land"

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 14:12:21 +0000

I like pops of color, just not *that* color. I find that particular shade of green really horrid, even when it was in for a few months last year and everyone was wearing it. I've never thought it looked good on anyone or anything. That's just a question of personal tastes, of course, but did leave me a little cold on the room.

HGTV Design Star : Episode 3 Recap: Kardashian Office Makeover

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 03:47:36 +0000

Oh, I don't doubt that she's annoying as well, but in this case, he came off far worse. That habit of cutting people off, ignoring them, and dismissing them is just really off-putting.

HGTV Design Star : Episode 3 Recap: Kardashian Office Makeover

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 03:44:01 +0000

I guess I did see Rachel all over the room... but I didn't like it all that much. I hated those couches.

HGTV Design Star : Episode 3 Recap: Kardashian Office Makeover

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 03:43:35 +0000

Ah, thanks. I'd have been more interested in an actual waterfall. ;p I wondered why no one called him on that.

HGTV Design Star : Meg on Episode 3: "This is Real...It Isn't Pretend-Land"

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 03:42:25 +0000

I'm not sure what the great thing was about the sofas. I mean, bravo that the client actually liked them, but if it were me, I'd be re-covering those things the second the cameras left the building. That color was big last year in clothes, and I hated it on every dress, too--it's just not a nice color. I'm not sure *why* Rachel or Kris liked it.

HGTV Design Star : Episode 3 Recap: Kardashian Office Makeover

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 05:15:25 +0000

I don't get the Kardashian thing, either. What on earth are they famous for, other than being famous? I'll take the word of the people above who met Kris or had him design for him that he's being badly edited, but the bad editing is done with something he's given them, and I liked Miera for the first time when she told him off over that annoying behavior, which seemed to boil down to, "Ick, it's an older woman. Well, at least I can ignore her." I wish Stanley had gotten the waterfall going on that desk. I'd love to have a waterfall desk. Or was that metaphor, that it was supposed to evoke a waterfall? Agreed with the win, though I was torn on the losses. Luca, definitely, had to go. Spending all his time talking about how he was high-end, then missing the point of the room (which was to display their merchandise, not his accessories) was an automatic out. The other three all made about equal mistakes, and were all likeable. Danielle made a huge mistake with that wall, and Hilari tried to cover for it, so there's something I'd look at Danielle about... but she has two second places and has proven that she has a strong point of view. Hilari made bad accessorizing choices, but kept a cool head at the wall disaster... but has shown no point of view. Bex also made bad accessorizing choices (those little hex shelves would have been great for handbags, and she could have put hooks in them for scarves), but was right about all the mistakes Luca was making. Once they declared Hilari safe, I figured Bex was off, as they wouldn't oust Danielle after two good weeks, I guess.

HGTV Design Star : Candice's Recap: Design Star Finale

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 05:14:39 +0000

So, bye. Seriously, if they want to hire someone to do a show, there are easier ways to do it than staging a competition. I'd guess they have some idea what sort of show they want when they do their original casting, but come on... run your theory through Occam here. At the beginning of the show, everyone here was complaining that it was rigged for Cathy. Then Kellie must be the one they're pushing. Or maybe Mark... I seem to recall everyone talking about how horribly overpraised he was because they obviously had it in the can for him. Basically, every member of the cast (including Karl) has had people saying the deck was stacked. That tells me that the deck wasn't stacked, and the current run of tantrums is just a fandom thing. This is just a tv show--a game show. The network has nothing particular to gain by rigging it--if they don't want someone on, they just don't cast him or her in the first place, and not a soul is the wiser about it. That's a lot simpler than assuming that they pick an unknown person with no particular fan base before the airing, then stage the entire competition just to hire her. There are cheaper ways to do it.

HGTV Design Star : Candice's Recap: Design Star Finale

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 04:57:30 +0000

Except that we heard it was fixed for Cathy. Then for Kellie. Then for Mark. Funny how anyone other than your choice must be "fixed."

HGTV Design Star : Candice's Recap: Design Star Finale

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 04:55:52 +0000

I was surprised--usually I like Meg's camera work and Karl's design, but tonight, it was just the opposite. I thought that cabinet that Karl painted over was awful, though I liked his work around the windows to incorporate the building across the street. On the whole, I just wasn't that impressed with the room, while I loved Meg's. But the pilots... I thought Karl's looked great. Oh, well, I'm looking forward to seeing Meg's show. And at the rate we're seeing former contestants show up on HGTV, to Karl's as well. Wonder if they'll set it in Chicago.

HGTV Design Star : Emily on Episode 9: "One Week Until We See Who Wins"

Fri, 9 Sep 2011 03:22:39 +0000

I'm not sure he was supposed to be directing it to the camera at all, though. My impression of the challenge (and certainly the way I'd have interpreted it if I were competing) was that it was to be the "scene" where the designer talks to the carpenter, giving the audience information, of course, but all on the pretense that it's all about instructing the carpenter. It has to be clear to the audience, of course, but I don't think it was supposed to be addressed to us through the camera. Kind of what we see during the client consultation part or the work-with-the-team segments on David's show. Either way, if she thought she was helping him, it definitely would have been better to do it more subtly.

HGTV Design Star : Emily on Episode 9: "One Week Until We See Who Wins"

Wed, 7 Sep 2011 16:16:48 +0000

Actually, he was supposed to make sure he was clear to the audience, not talk to the camera. The scene in question was supposed to be of him talking to the contractor in a way that was clear to both Carmen and the audience as to what he expected her to do. We've seen this scene in a lot of HGTV shows--where the designer is supposedly having a candid conversation with the show's carpenters, but of course, it's really about giving info to the audience. It's usually followed by a cut to the designer off shopping or doing something else, with a voiceover along the lines of, "While so-and-so does _____" So yes, Emily is right about this. That scene was supposed to be the staged scene with the carpenter explaining what she would be doing. His big problem wasn't that he wasn't talking to the camera; the big problem was that he didn't seem to be directing a project, which *was* the the challenge. Maybe if he'd finished up his instructions to measure, we'd have found out what he was going to instruct her to do (loft, sink cabinet, special storage area, whatever), but as it was, we never got the one thing that he was supposed to convey in that segment, which was what he expected his carpenter to build. "Talk to the camera and do a layout" wasn't the right advice for this particular challenge, since that wasn't what it was about. I kind of wonder if Mark was at a disadvantage in this part because he tends to approach things like a carpenter himself and focus on carpentry projects within the design--he wasn't prepared to have someone else to tell to do what he specializes in. (That impression was reinforced when, after she'd built the cabinets, he kept changing his layout plan.)

HGTV Design Star : Emily on Episode 9: "One Week Until We See Who Wins"

Wed, 7 Sep 2011 16:07:26 +0000

In this episode, each carpenter was playing the role of the contractor hired by the designer. There's no particular reason to suspect anything nefarious in Emily's use of the word.

HGTV Design Star : Emily on Episode 9: "One Week Until We See Who Wins"

Wed, 7 Sep 2011 03:15:15 +0000

I was wondering if that was just me! It looks like a technical glitch--I mean, if they wanted to suppress it, they'd just cut it and not show us that two minutes were missing; that's a pretty easy edit. But yes, I'd like to hear the rest of Emily's commentary, please.

HGTV Design Star : David on Episode 9: "Honey, Welcome to Television"

Tue, 6 Sep 2011 15:20:01 +0000

I liked all three, so I'd have been disappointed with whoever went home, but someone had to! In this case, I think they were right with Mark. He had the weakest of the spaces, and his camera challenges were sub-par. I like Meg and Karl, and their show ideas, quite a lot as well. I want them both to knock it out of the park and make the judges' jobs hard.

HGTV Design Star : Candice's Recap: Episode 8

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:40:41 +0000

I don't pretend to be an expert--to the contrary, I'm just starting to pick up books here and there on the history of design to get a feel for what's being said in critiques. Everyone starts getting an interest somewhere; this happens to be where I've started getting an interest. To have a solid theory about what's good design would be premature at this point; when I come up with a reaction, it's just a reaction of, "Oh, that's pretty" or "I want to try that in my space," and the rest is a personality reaction ("I like so and so" or "So and so is getting on my last nerve"). I'd like to learn more about the philosophy of design, and the differing ideas and arguments going on in the field--I'm often left mystified by both the praises and the criticisms of spaces, both on this show and elsewhere, and it would be good to have the academic context of the debate, and not just my own emotional reactions--but at the moment, I don't have any good reference points. Do you have a good book to recommend on the theories of functional design? As to whether or not it's the best place? It's where you keep bringing it up, so of course people want to see where it's coming from.

HGTV Design Star : Candice's Recap: Episode 8

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 06:43:43 +0000

Actually, erickcreature, you *haven't* been precise in your criticism. You say "Such and such is not design," but you have not provided a definition of what *is* design in your estimation. If Meg is boring as a designer, to whom is she being contrasted? The only precise thing you mentioned was that books weren't meant to be used as shelves, and I'm on board with that, so I'd like to know what other precise criticisms there are (other than the sort of shallow, "Ick! Meg's not a size zero!" sort of thing, which is just stupid).

HGTV Design Star : David on Episode 8: "It Was Like '80s Granny, Not-So-Chic"

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 18:46:36 +0000

In this case, I think it was that Mark's room didn't have a finished "feel," not that it was left (as in previous seasons) with half-done projects that HGTV would have to go in and fix. (Backsplash wars!)

HGTV Design Star : David on Episode 8: "It Was Like '80s Granny, Not-So-Chic"

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 18:40:56 +0000

Chicago Style, with Karl and Meg... designing apartments for local voters like Michael Mouse and G. Zilla! ;p Or maybe "The Chicago Way--they put one of your original design elements on E-bay, you put one of theirs in the municipal dump!" I do agree. They'd do well together. Alas, the show doesn't work like that. I'd love to see Mark doing a wood craft show. I'd also like to see the winner of the handyman contest get a show.