ivygirl
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Posts posted by ivygirl
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What is it it with Bravo and shows in the Bay Area? They all stink. I think it's because they don't really know the area that well... and while in theory it's an awesome place to feature on TV, it's lost in translation because they don't know what to feature.
That Silicon Valley show made me want to tear my hair out, mostly because they featured the *actual* Silicon Valley about fifteen minutes out of the whole season (fourteen minutes of which were of that girl that lived in the Palo Alto Four Seasons). Most of it was shot in SF (which, yes, many *now* consider part of "Silicon Valley," but it's not, really--though of course there's tons of tech and startups).
So I think, personally, they should have flip-flopped the concepts: "hip" "techie" twentysomethings in SF, and real estate in the peninsula/south bay. Sure, you'll find mansions in SF, but most of the drool-worthy houses are further south.
Part of what makes bay area real estate so insane is not that it's so gorgeous... it's the prices. It would be a more enjoyable show if they featured what *little* you get for your money.... yet (as someone mentioned) it'd be even MORE of a HGTV show... many of which are (somewhat ironically) filmed here. I enjoy playing "guess the price" with those!
I left the Bay Area in 1987 so am decades out of the loop and didn't know about the shuttles. Used to be people would live in the South Bay suburbs and commute to San Franciso, so having these tech wienies prefer to live in the city and commute to jobs in the Santa Clara valley made me snort a little.
And hey! What's wrong with Mountain View? There's an, uh, thriving, uh... downtown Castro Street with some restaurants and a library. And Starbucks! The Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts has some world fam... well. It's Palo Alto adjacent and there are, like, uh, lots of academic types there. What more could a 20-something geek hipster want?
Tons of techies do live in the south bay (and hang out on Castro and University!)--but there's also a tremendous "reverse" commute, given that many of the people who work at Google, Apple, Facebook, and the like want to live in the city. Hence the shuttles (AKA "Google buses"), overcrowded transit, and craptastic traffic.
And yes there's a TON more hipster stuff in the south bay now. Foodie culture EVERYWHERE. You can't throw a rock without hitting a ramen joint, a craft-cocktail bar, or gastropub. :)
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Ok - so this isn't *my* favorite commercial, but it's clearly one kid's! The story is making the rounds, so I apologize if this is a repeat, but I thought it was too good not to share just in case.
A little guy in Louisiana is *obsessed* with cheesy ads from a local lawyer (which I'm sure one of us would put in the "annoying commercials" thread). So what does mom do? Throw him a lawyer-themed birthday party!
Toddler ‘Fixated’ With Personal Injury Lawyer Gets a Birthday Party He’ll Never Forget
Here's one of the commercials...
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It is a 90's song by Weezer entitled "Buddy Holly". There are some previous comments on that one here, so you are not alone!!!!!
You got me to thinking about a few others I super-love. I never realized that all of them, including "Buddy Holly," are directed by the same person. While I have never had a "type" in my choice of men, I apparently do for videos.
Aww, no--you've got cohorts here; I was an '80s teenager (though I have destroyed all the photos that prove it; I much prefer my grunge college years--and also kind of still look like those). Did you know that the video for A-Ha's "Take on Me" just turned 30?!
I love the Weezer song (and all Weezer songs) but in that commercial, I feel annoyed by the mom making a point to sing all proper and shit. She's just trying so hard to sound good (and does not) and it reminds me of Jan from The Office after she went crazy and had a baby.
I absolutely hate the Mazda commercial below. The message I take is "Have your mid-life crisis with us!"
That line "reminds you of when you were you" enrages me.
MY PEOPLE!
I can't stand either of those commercials, for the very reasons you all mentioned.
For the Mazda one, it's like: "When you were you"? Is the dude having some sort of metaphysical or existential identity crisis? When were you NOT you? Is there something about his (seemingly happy) family that drives him to the point of dissociation from real life? And if he loved his roadster so much, why didn't he just keep it?
The sad thing is, I've heard it so many times, I can recite it. :P
And for Honda: It's not even a matter of them using the Weezer song. I don't mind hearing "my" songs in commercials; heck, I even loved hearing "Hungry Like the Wolf" in that yogurt ad. It's the oddness of choosing "Buddy Holly" as a song the whole family would spontaneously bust out singing; and, it's the mom singing in her clipped, saccharine tone. And did it *really* take Jason Reitman to direct *that*? Sheesh. It's like hearing that Brian DePalma directed some non-descript Cover Girl commercial in the 80's.
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Never mind... nothing to see here. *Looks at self with judgy eyes*
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Vicki may have to open up a branch of Andale's in the South Seas so she has a place to WHOOP IT UP around the world.
Also: "Little banjos!!!"? Really, Vickster? Guess she's been too busy earning her own money to have seen a ukelele before. ;)
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What would have been an appropriate food for Halloween?
I really puzzled over that one, too -- until I remembered a (great!) pumpkin soup recipe I found in one of Mollie Katzen's cookbooks. You cook the soup in the oven, in the hollowed-out pumpkin. Obviously, you can't rip off Mollie Katzen for your own show ;) But, some variation on that theme could work. Maybe make it spooooooky or whatnot.
That, or (as someone suggested) you could make a pepita salad, and tell some story about how you'd always carve pumpkins and bake the seeds with your old Auntie Dee.
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I think David Alan Grier did something really important. He made Eddie 50% better. Eddie's big smile as he was getting teased and Eddie's ability to run with David Alan Grier's comments during the improve were, in my opinion, the best he's ever been on this show. It is hard to say if Eddie has it in him to be as charming as he was this week without David Alan Grier hanging around and setting him up, but I think he's got at least some of it.
I recognized this because it's similar to how I evaluate myself. I gravitate towards loud people or people who carry the conversation in a room, because my best skill is chiming in. Give me somebody to fill the dead space and to be the center of attention, and I become super comfortable with where I fit in the conversation and with what I have to offer.
And to me, it looked like Eddie was the very best kind of Eddie this week, and I really think it had a lot to do with David Alan Grier's interactions with him.
I had Jay pinned as a mortal lock for the final three all the way back in episode 2 when Bobby and Giada started giving him extra credit projects because he was already comfortable in front of the camera and audiences.
As of this week, keeping in mind what I just said about Eddie above and how I think he benefited greatly from not having to carry the room by himself, I think Eddie and Jay are mortal locks for the final three.
And honestly, I think I would prefer that Eddie wins and that they also find a place for Jay. Eddie seems like a better fit as the face of FNS for the next year (especially since he is distinctly different than the last one), but I think with some toning down and toning up, Jay would be fine in some capacity on the networks.
Which would be pretty impressive for this show to actually crank out two worthwhile personalities.
Agreed - I think this is the first time (or the first time in a long time) I've wholeheartedly rooted for a FNS. I really enjoy Eddie and his food, and I'd love to see a Caribbean POV on this network because YUM. I'm sure it'd get tweaked a bit (because: Food Network), but those flavors are fantastic, and it's not something I've seen much of on food shows. (If there IS a Caribbean show, let me know because I'd love to catch it!)
Now, hopefully he won't go posting idiotic vlogs to random craptastic morning DJs' bulletin boards...
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I will have to catch it whenever On Demand has it up. It sounds like she was going for a laugh, not being nasty.
Oh well, she was the only good female candidate left. Michelle just grates. She had that hair pulled forward over her shoulder and the food tonight. Why would she think that was a good thing?
It was unpleasant to listen to; it came across as mocking personal jabs, rather than playful teasing. She made a painful miscalculation that really hurt her, and she doesn't have the comedic chops or timing to pull that off in a way that would make people say "Oh, that Emilia! She's so edgy, but I still like 'er!"
Anyway, doesn't she know she's supposed to keep the snark for the talking heads? ;)
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"Talking to a camera has been a nightmare to me!" -- Dom, while talking to a camera, on a show that's all about talking to a camera, trying to get a show that's about talking to a camera.
I love Eddie.
Bye, Emilia. I didn't know that "swinging for the fences" meant you had to be a rude jerk.
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So Meghan week after proves herself to just be quite simply an idiot. In this week's blog she claims the words "prove" and "assure" are synonyms. It might be me but I do not think they are the same word or interchangeable. In this instance Shannon offered her assurance Meghan she had nothing to worry about and Meghan said she wanted Shannon to prove it. I see four more episodes of Meghan having to analyze and weigh if Shannon's invitation was genuine.
At this point shouldn't Meghan have figured out how to move? She has an assistant, the sorting should have been resolved four or five moves ago. By her own admission she was moving into a four bedroom furnished house. This means she is unpacking very little and zero concern if the furniture works in the new space. So all this stress seems very misplaced for such a self proclaimed brilliant woman. IIRC Meghan claimed the pre-move stress on her was Jimmy's reason for not inviting Shannon to the party.
Regarding the age thing-Meghan starts out by rattling off the ages of the other women and then threw in there how she would be afraid to meet her. I guess it was her being newly married to a baseball player, or perhaps being the sister of a widely photographed male model that would leave these women sucking up her dust as she cut through their lives. Time for the editors to do a better job of editing Shannon's comments about Stretch being 30 years old.
UGH. I can't even deal with the "I googled it and it's the SAME WORD." I googled "Meghan" and guess what turned up as a synonym for that!
And her discussion about moving? Totally overblown. WAAAH. From her blog: "...watching this episode made me want to throw one of my empty boxes (from yet another move) at the television for minimizing the stress and overall terrible feelings that come with a move. But it's TV and since moving isn't fun to do, it can't be fun to watch."
Is this a "synonym" for "Moving is totally as hard as losing a parent. Where's MY sympathy???"
And then she gets after Jimmy again? Yeah, that's love.
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In spite of (or perhaps BECAUSE of?) the crazy circus-oriented sabotages, I really liked the "circus" episode. Not least of all because I've actually taken cooking classes from Chef Mat. He was a super nice guy and an excellent teacher! I was surprised to see him here rather than, say, Chopped--but whatevs, it was fun seeing someone I knew on TV!
However, none of this episode's contestants were that heinous. They snarked each other, but even that was pretty low key, considering some of the obnoxiousness I've seen on the show.
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I'm with Vicki: It's not her money, it's Jimmy's (and who in their right mind goes by "Jimmy" after childhood?). I'm sure he and his lawyers figured out a sturdy prenup before they married. He's no kid anymore.
Jimmy's new in town. Jimmy's been watching you. Jimmy would like to get to know you.
Jimmy's got some new moves.
Oh wait. Jimmy's DOWN!
Jimmy doesn't like misunderstanding. Jimmy and misunderstanding kinda clash. JIMMY HOLDS GRUDGES!
Watch out or Jimmy's gonna dis-invite you to his OC benefit.
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Here's my "Meghan is a ..."
Two face-- and by that I mean, she can look pretty at certain angles, but her smile???? The horror.The horror. I look away at the end of every one of her THs (which she always ends with a big smile) for fear I could be turned to stone!
Well, it's a good thing she's not a low-talker... or else someone might end up wearing a puffy shirt at the reunion! :)
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I wanna add my "Meghan is...." ;)
Meghan is the boyfriend who dumps you unexpectedly in the middle of your favorite restaurant, then gets all, "WOAH, stop crying, don't make a scene..." And then goes and talks to all his buddies like "She's cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs."
If I knew someone like her, I'd steer super clear.
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I still like Dom and think Giada's being hard on him as he seems to be doing pretty well for someone who obviously doesn't have much on-camera experience. He's actually very engaging and "relatable" in the talking heads. Not every food star needs to be great in front of huge audiences, IMO. If that were the case Melissa D'Arabian should never have won.
Nor would Giada ever have had her own show to begin with, if we're to believe her backstory. She wasn't all that engaging when she started out, and perhaps that's why she's a little soft on Dom (as well as Luca). I do think she genuinely likes Dom -- as do I -- but perhaps her own path to becoming a Food Network fixture plays into her approach with him.
I can't believe I'm defending Giada :P
Anyway, Sandwich Boy and Emilia can go any day now. I used to be "eh" on Sandwich Boy, but his inattentiveness to the time limitations set me over the edge. Emilia has bugged since episode 1. With my luck, this means she'll make it to the end. (I don't think she'd win, though.) I still can take or leave the rest of them, but I favor Eddie or Arnold to win.
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Momof3 seems to be rockin that Seinfeldian two face thing. Ykwim? Depending on the lighting or something,
I tuned in a bit late, so when I first saw her onscreen, I actually thought she was Haylie "'Real' Girl's Kitchen" Duff.
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I've invested too much energy today in considering what the story arc of Alex McCoy, Pretender to the Sandwich Throne, will be. Either he's cannon fodder and will be gone in the next week or so (due to the fact that he's not all that interesting AND he's got an idea that's already used by a former FNS), or he's going to have his POV rewritten and he'll be, like, THE REAL MCCOY, serving up "authentic" cuisine of some sort or another.
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Matthew is #pretentiousdouchebrat
#hashbrag
Dude's all up in your grill like Pah Stahl with that rapid-fire jargon. Except instead of the faux-rockabilly argot, he's all about the "hashtag social media millenials InstaTwitter squadgoals hashtags Hashtags #HASHTAGS!"
Yup, like Pah Stahl minus the charm.
But I did love Sooz's insistent "No one knows what a hashtag TASTES like!"
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I'm rewatching (don't judge) and LOL'd for the second time when Ramona said, "It's over! Door-gate."
Oh, I'll do you one better: I was just walking down my hall and thought of "Door-Gate," and couldn't stop chuckling.
I'm pretty sure "Door-Gate" is my absolute favorite "[Whatever]-Gate," ever. Pair that with Ramona's delivery, and it was gold, Jerry! Gold!
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I am 100% certain that Scheana takes diction and elocution lessons from SNL's Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation With at a Party. Good grief.
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Was it just me or was her vocal fry extra pronounced this week?
Oh yeah. Noticed it especially when she got back to SUR after her honeymoon. "They went? Snerkling....?" And I think it was MMMazing?
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With her melodramatic breakdowns and wedding-spoiling antics, Kristin is reminding me more and more of Eunice from "Mama's Family"...
Oh, man. Nothing I love more than a "Mama's Family" reference, especially when embedded in a Vanderpump Rules post!
I was instantly reminded of this magic moment. I can just see Kristin singing in this manner... "Whut IS a promise, FI Tom?!?"
And there's even a "ring on a string" (at 5:15)!
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S11.E09: Live TV
in Food Network Star
· Edited by ivygirl
I noticed that he was handling a hot tart, too.
Ha! I agree re: the line. And about her voice as well. She reminds me of Joanna Barnes' Gloria Upson from "Auntie Mame." And if I didn't know who her father was*, I'd swear he'd soon be on the show to demonstrate how to make a really top-drawer daiquiri with honey.
* OOPS, Apparently I REALLY don't know who her father is. My apologies...