gdp's Comments

Anthony Bourdain : DARK PASSAGE

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 20:11:09 +0000

Samatha Brown is one seriously good sport and hilarious to boot!

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

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 04:07:28 +0000

Personally, I really hate the "design crimes" concept. it's way too cutesy and actually pretty insulting to the homeowners. Meg's room didn't suck, while I personally hate blue walls, I know the homeowner specifically wanted blue. But it was dull compared to Karl's design. Also Karl's design was more functional for a family whereas Meg's had that showroom feel. beautiful, but cold. I know Meg can't help her voice, but it's a pretty annoying whine. Hopefully, HGTV will get her some kind of vocal coach. ____And on a totally unrelated topic, what the HELL was David Bromstead wearing? I love the guy, but he looked like a reject from a 70's disco competition.

The FN Dish : Seabirds Says Goodbye — The Great Food Truck Race

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 22:18:49 +0000

I also liked Korilla. But after the show, when back in New York they tweeted yesterday "we would never cheat on you New York". That's not exactly a denial. That sounds more like OK, we got caught, but still come to our truck when you're in New York because we learned our lesson. But I'd probably still count my change though! <g>

Star Talk : Melissa's Finalist Pep Talks

Sat, 2 Jul 2011 18:06:38 +0000

Blog filler. Why write helpful advice to contestants when we all know that all of the shows have already been filmed.

Star Talk : Code Blue

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 23:50:38 +0000

I'm thinking that Penny could donate a kidney to a homeless stanger, save a basket of drowning kittens and work to alleviate world hunger and she STILL wouldn't be able to redeem herself at this point. <g>

Star Talk : Caption It: Goofing Around

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 06:11:55 +0000

LOL at the thought that if Penny was a guy, no one would be complaining. This is a very time-worn excuse that bitchy women use to explain away their bitchiness. Here's the dea: no one admires people of either sex who are hateful and ugly to others. Men as well as women are equally despised for unkind, spiteful behavior. True, some males in power postion in a company or family may rule through fear and intimidation. But getting away with it and being ADMIRED for it are two different things. And women who emulate the worst characteristics of men because of the mis-guided notion that it makes them tough and powerful, will usually find the same lack of respect and support from the people they stomped all over on their way to the top.

Star Talk : Melissa's Words of Wisdom: Play Nice

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 18:28:22 +0000

Melissa's words are dead on. For me, Penny's biggest problem is not her ambition, but her blatent desperation. She's clearly not confident in her own cooking & personality abilities to simply win because she is the best chef and a good presenter. Instead, she's spinning her wheels making sure that others fail through manipulation. Yes, it is a competition, and I have no problem with playing to win and taking advantage of the opportunities that come your way. But the surest way to win is to simply concentrate on you, your performance, your abilities, and being the best you know how to be.

Star Talk : Man on the Street

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 01:26:50 +0000

Sorry Dude, but the only entertaining thing about Penny was when she made me laugh at her mugging and batting her eyes over her shoulder in her promo because she somehow thought that was Sexy. You know, kind of the way Pepe Le Pew thinks he's sexy.... “Stilettos in the Kitchen” LOL. Really? Is this the food network or the fetish network?

The FN Dish : Worst Cooks, Episode 7: He Said, She Said

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 03:27:55 +0000

Betty, that kind of reasoning is a both a classic and, indeed, shinning example of the Straw Man Fallacy.

The FN Dish : Worst Cooks, Episode 7: He Said, She Said

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 00:00:31 +0000

What I'm kind of amazed about is how shocked (shocked!) a few people seem to be surprised to discover that the Food Channel is gay-friendly. There have long been competitors who are gay and chefs who are gay. Cat Cora is an Iron Chef. Brian Boitano has a very enjoyable show. Heck their first "next network chef" winners year ago was a gay couple. And guess what, a great deal of their audience is gay. (Because gay people are just like straight people, they like to eat good food too) But in the end, they're just people. Personally, I don't have an issue with seeing a moment of genuine human affection between people, gay or straight. The enjoyment of good food and the kinship of cooking for loved ones is not something that belongs to just one class of people. Pleasure at seeing a loved one do well is not something that only belongs to one class of people. Actually, I would argue that it's the kind of bonding thing that makes us similar no matter what our culture or orientation.

The FN Dish : Worst Cooks, Episode 2: He Said, She Said

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 03:12:59 +0000

There's a difference between going to mommy's house for dinner because you love mommy and want to spend time with her and going to mommy's house for dinner only because you can't feed yourself otherwise and mommy is still just your built-in personal chef even though you're an adult. it woudl be nice if he to mommy's house for dinner and actually cooked dinner FOR HER once in a while.

The FN Dish : Next Iron Chef Journals: A Look Back

Sat, 20 Nov 2010 00:58:37 +0000

LOL....FN has a bad habit of doing silly things like this. It's like on NFNS when they added Artie's name to their list of chefs on the home page a couple weeks before the finale. And the previous year they actually uploaded the page announcing the winner before the finale only to yank it back down. Clearly they have left hand, right hand issues!

The FN Dish : Next Iron Chef Journals: A Look Back

Sat, 20 Nov 2010 00:55:51 +0000

I apologize if this has been posted already ( I didn't see it) But here's a link to a really funny and enlightening video with Chef Tsai that was done a few days ago at an appearance in Hawaii where he talks about the ICA experience: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Mzh8jQi9Gk He's got a great sense of humor and a lot of common sense. It's too bad that we won't see him in the finale.

The FN Dish : Critical Moments: Best of the Best on The Next Iron Chef

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 20:44:25 +0000

Wow, screaming at the staff in FRONT of customers? And instead of apologizing he then even more belligerent when called on his bad behavior? I guess the producers really want to up the drama on ICA! If he becomes the next Iron Chef, they're probably hoping to see a screaming fit at one of his assistants.

The FN Dish : Critical Moments: Best of the Best on The Next Iron Chef

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 20:36:13 +0000

Well, There is no original chairman either. In the original japanese version, the chairman was also portrayed by an japanese actor. It's part of an elaborate fiction to support the game show story. (If you're not familar with them, Japanese game shows are very much a story onto themselves!) You're not the first person to think it's real, but FN provided Mark's bio on the Chefs and Judges link. But many just skip right past that.

The FN Dish : Critical Moments: Best of the Best on The Next Iron Chef

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 18:51:55 +0000

ICA is not run by the Chairman, it's run by the producers. There IS no Chairman. He's fictional. He's portrayed by an actor named Mark Dacascos. You can look up his credits in the Internet Movie Database. There's an interview with him here: http://laist.com/2007/09/13/laist_interview_35.ph...

The FN Dish : Critical Moments: Best of the Best on The Next Iron Chef

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 18:46:29 +0000

Oh, and I forgot to say that one who REALLY needs to go is Donatella. She's now to the point of just blithering nonsense. She's on the verge of being cringe-worthy when she opens her mouth. (With her dippy personality, she could probably get a good gig on Housewives of New York City). But really, if she never showed up again on ICA, I would be more inclined to watch. The judging panel should be primarily composed of the other iron chefs.

The FN Dish : Critical Moments: Best of the Best on The Next Iron Chef

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 18:44:47 +0000

I'm very sorry to see Tsai go. I never found Tsai in the least arrogant, he was confident and yet always acknowledged he had tough competition. For example, where the judges critiqued each other he often highly praised another chef's work (Unlike Canora who just continually found fault). Having actually won his actual Iron Chef battle, he would have been interesting to watch. I don't dislike Canora, histrionics aside, he's creative. He took good advantage of his "advantage". I can't blame him for that. As we know on FN, it's not really about the cooking so much as it's about being a certain type. But this pairing does show that the producers really believe that no real chefs exist outside of New York City. That's unfortunate. Forgione will probably lose because I believe the producers have a particular need and Canora fills the Italian Batali-Gap, clear down to the ponytail

Healthy Eats : Healthy Debate: Should Happy Meal Toys Be Banned?

Thu, 4 Nov 2010 00:29:48 +0000

It was not that the woman was unaware that coffee is served hot, it was that she was served a boiling scalding liquid that would cause deep and scarring burns in less than two seconds by a company that already KNEW its coffee was too hot for safety. The jury awarded her $200,000 in compensatory damages for her medical expenses and skin grafts. This amount was reduced to $160,000 because the jury found the woman 20 percent at fault in the spill. The jury also awarded her $2.7 million in punitive damages for their "reckless, callous and willful" disregard of the dangers in the temperature of the coffee they served and the fact that they were fully aware that the temperature was dangerous. (this amount, while it sounds like a lot, is actually about two days of McDonalds' coffee sales.) The trial court subsequently reduced the punitive award to $480,000. Having all the facts paints a little different picture.

The FN Dish : Critical Moments: On The Next Iron Chef, Tio Shines and Estes Serves One Bad Apple

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 21:21:20 +0000

I also like Chef Tsai (love his Simply Ming videos which you can find on YouTube), and I think he's made a good effort to simpify his dishes. But I'm not sure he's going to make it if he had to dumb down his dishes to the point where it must come with written instructions so that people like Donatella will know not to each the Shrimp shells. ( I will admit that I too, just love the sound of his voice.) That said, I'm over, the whole "deconstructed" food thing. I’m also over the phrase, "cooking with passion".