WildPlum

According to their Facebook page, it'll be on HGTV starting March 17 2016.

I prefer Elliot a bit more toned down than he has been the last couple episodes (yes, we get it, he is head over heels) but his last interaction with Mike the Meat Sack was good. The little time shout-out by the dean was good, along the lines that now that they have started their second semester things get tough. That was a lot of stuff crammed in to 14 or 15 weeks. My impression of Marina's presence was that Julia wrote her one of those letters, like the one she was trying to write Quentin - that is what brought her there and she was feeling "generous" enough to say I'm sorry, I did sort of like you and stay out of my shit or I will kill you. Actually pretty generous for Marina. Have we actually seen the last of her, or is she an accomplice of The Beast? I was confused the first time I saw Eliza wearing a little Jane-like cape and wondered then what the connection was. Overall the story seems to be picking up but I think they did a terrible job introducing parts of it. I'd prefer slower pacing and better world-building, but I suppose I could always read the books. I tried the first one and gave up because I disliked Quentin so very much.

I was amused to listen to the part of the reveal where they show "her" the kitchen - when he'd already said he does the cooking. "But you are the woman! You must care the most about the kitchen!" Clearly not. And as for dedicated music rooms: hey, we have a music room too, wouldn't be without one, and we are older than the couple on tonight's show. It certainly isn't a "man cave" (no TV, no bar, no comfy sofa, just a lot of instruments and recording equipment). Even though I am often one of the people in there making the noise, BELIEVE ME, it is nice to be able to shut the door and not have to listen to the same solo over and over and over and over. For a lot of people making music and performing isn't something you outgrow.

Looks like Kady and Julia are bound to become a team (I cheated and looked it up on IMDB, which says she is in all 10 episodes) and maybe take on/down Marina. I'd be for that. That is just an assumption on my part, if Kady isn;t IN Brakebills there are only so many ways she can be part of the cast. A couple of episodes back we talked about how bad the memory wipe spells are and here is a great example - Julia's sister remembers James. Assuming that actually IS Julia's sister, of course, and not a Marina-construct or Marina in disguise, trying to get her locked up somewhere she can't get out of.

Vivian's chair was gorgeous but not particularly comfortable-looking. But it was art as well as multi-function furniture and fit the challenge well. The teak and the aluminum (which still looked a tad rough in close-up) were beautiful together. There is no way she could have finished 2, even if the CNC mill hadn't broken a bit - they barely got the one assembled. Sef's design was very reminiscent of his table a few episodes back, as far as the concave/convex shape - it was a bench, an adult's table and a child's easel/table. It met the challenge, it did have an art to it as well as function. None of the judges were impressed with his assertion that it was also an adult's drafting board. I have no idea why they tried to tape the power strip in there, unless it was because they felt it was too dark to see the interior detail otherwise. Miles' design had too many structural problems, and as the judge said, was just not "beautiful." It looked like something I'd go up on Amazon (or, lol, Wayfair) and find. I used to have one of those folding consoles/tables with the two stacking stools inside. http://smile.amazon.com/Winsome-Space-Saver-Stools-Square/dp/B00597KAT0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1456877271&sr=8-1&keywords=folding+table+with+chairs+stored+inside Somehow this was the "equipment failure" episode. The thing with the spray booth was completely faux, there is no way you'd just have a random cable running across the entire workshop floor to an outside spray booth. Probably they were having a problem with the fan/compressor that kept the spray booth inflated and decided to make an on-screen "thing" about it. I suspect that there are state OSHA guys hanging around off-screen, just like there are "shop assistants" to help with the heavy lifting and to hold an end to the sheet goods when they are running them through the table saw. I am absolutely fine with having various assistants sprinkled around helping. Like the guy who programs and runs the CNC machine, getting those patterns in there is NOT a simple job, it probably takes someone staying up all night to get the pattern done and some email back and forth between the designer and the programmer. Assuming, of course, that each "day" they work is actually sequential. Next year I'd like to see them given at least another day. I get that part of the challenge is seeing how they work when they are rushed, but as it is I don't believe the drama - ooo, look, everyone JUST gets done as the clock ticks off the final second! - anyway, so give them a day to do final finishes and then ding them harder for things that have rough edges and bad finishes.

It might save money from the "time value" standpoint but it isn't going to save money from the "ooops" and rushed work standpoint. It takes time to do things right, and it particularly takes planning in advance to do things right. Say you need to tile the kitchen floor. Day 1 would be demo and floor repair. Day 2 would be tile install. That has to sit and cure 24 hours and no work can be done in the kitchen while it cures. Day 3 would be grout and that should sit at least 24 hours when you are done as well. What about plumbing, electric, cabinets, counter tops, appliances? 2 days for that? I think not, particularly not if you have to have plumbing and electric inspection. The only show I've seen address the time value standpoint is Flip or Flop, where I've seen them talk about the cost of the loans they are paying on a property that they are renovating - since they are generally dealing with investors and not banks, they have what you could think of as "payday loan" style payments. They are borrowing, say, $400,000 for 3 months and they owe 10% or so, which works out to an annual rate of several hundred percent. Of course, that is how house flippers go bankrupt. On Flip or Flop they've worked themselves up to a point where they have a better cash flow and multiple projects and what I think is a pool of investors, but I have a friend locally who flips lower-end houses and he has some serious problems with tight margins, cash flow and payment deadlines.

Re: 5 Day Flip - unless the title is supposed to be symbolic ("a flip so fast it LOOKS like it only took 5 days!") or the flip required just paint and maybe a new sink somewhere, there is no way on earth I'd buy a house flipped in 5 days. "Here, subcontractor, I don't care what the quality is, just have the house entirely re-plumbed in 24 hours." Hmmm, no.

And not just a fountain (because that alone didn't hide the entire sound), little outdoor speakers playing running water sounds as well. In my state, they'd have to disclose both the fact that the substation is there and the noise it makes. I have no idea about Florida rules.I've watched 3 episodes of that show and am done. The only likable person on the show is someone that I am not even sure what he is doing ON there, as he doesn't seem to have any actual skill (but a cute dog). Either there is far too much producer-driven drama (Designer goes over budget behind everyone's back! Builder misses OBVIOUS key problems!) or these people have no business flipping houses.

I am okay with the shiplap on a vintage house - it is a unique local building feature, nonexistent in my part of the country. Shiplap on a modern house as something other than a wall accent, not so much. Of course, I have ripped out lathe and plaster and replaced it with drywall before, so I am not entirely about the "keep it vintage" thing. ETA: Provided the wall behind it is well insulated, Waco weather in the summer looks unbearable.

Some of these episodes feature houses in what look to be nice neighborhoods that fit in with one of Joanna's statements in the beginning of each episode about finding a house in a good neighborhood that just needs some work. But the little glimpses you got tonight of the other houses and the area (overgrown lots, run-down houses, commercial dumpsters on the other street) make me wonder about the neighborhood. (The big "NOTICE - property under 24 hour surveillance" sign while it was under construction made me a little nervous about the neighborhood.) They took a $35,000 house, took it back to then foundation and a few lone stud walls and then rebuilt it and when they are done they have THE most expensive house in a neighborhood by how much? If houses in the area in better condition are going for, say $100,000, and you now have a $275,000 house in the same neighborhood, you've made a financially unwise decision. Sure, you might get exactly the house that you want, but you've badly overbuilt for the neighborhood. What happens when your job transfers you or you need to sell?

I watch a few of the shows because I like some of the storage ideas and because I can see building a small vacation cabin (small = 300-500 sf with a lot of outdoor space). I've lived in some small spaces before - temporarily - like an RV and a sailboat. The thing about some of the tiny homes as compared to the same size RV is that the interiors of the tiny homes tend to be much less plastic (literally). Some of the tiny homes I have seen on these shows are cheaper than a new RV as well. On the other hand, when you have a tiny home with drywall, tile and a big sliding window, it is not meant to be hauled around the country frequently and you will get damage from doing so. RVs are designed to be portable first.

Vivian is definitely going to be one of the last two designers left - in one way because she deserves to be, she's had some interesting stuff, but also she is the only woman left and I think that makes a difference on "Ellen's Design Challenge." Her original design with the metal above the cushions was very "wtf?" and I am not sure it was another producer-drama-driven thing - or she has never built a sofa before, which is also likely. I looked through her website and there is one chair which has cushions, everything else is (beautiful) swoopy metal. As someone who does a little hobby welding &plasma cutter work, I stand in awe of her abilities. I didn't like Sef's sofa for the challenge but it wasn't a bad design for a waiting room, which is what he designed it for. It was kind of neat that the cushions folded up into the back and you could stretch out on it. I don't think the "fix" is in for Sef, but I do see him as the eventual winner, simply because he is a pretty good furniture designer (go look at his portfolio). There is some great stuff there. I don't care for his personality (as it has been portrayed on the show) and I thought he should have been booted last week for using premade drawers from the studio and for some pretty marginal craftsmanship due to poor time management. Miles' sofas seemed plain, but I really liked the arm detail and the way it tucked/curved in to the back. I thought the sheet metal panels should have been patterned the way the support frame was as well. Also, he got 2 done. I liked the look of Kyle's sofa - I am partial to mid-century modern, which he really gets - but didn't like the bright yellow fabric (he clearly has a thing for yellow) and I didn't like the height of the arms, which were too high to use as armrests. It was a nice-looking sofa, though. I really liked his chair from a few weeks ago, but he has had some hit-and-miss stuff. So far this season there have been a number of poorly-worded design "assignments" maybe that is a theme for the year.

The "James mind wipe" thing seems more like something that Marina would have done in annoyance with Julia hanging around Pete than something Pete and the other "lesser hedge witches" would have done. And from what we have seen of mind wipes in the past, they don't work very well. Maybe that was what the Dean was talking to Quentin about - yes, with magic you can do some things but other things just don't end well. James currently has no idea who Julia is, but that won't last and then things will be even more screwed up than they are now, which goes along nicely with it being something planned by Marina to screw with Julia. I do like Penny's arc so far, although I'd like to see the limpet Kady removed from him, and I did like his scoffing at her about turning to thievery. Also, we see why the characters have been aged up - now they are all presumably over 21, so showing drinking and sex aren't pushing any broadcast boundaries. I'd rather the producers spent more time showing actual PLOT related things than the sex and party scenes, myself, which don't add anything for me as a viewer.

Okay, the quick version: Tim won last year's challenge. After the shows, including the "awards" show, had been filmed, but before it was aired on TV, someone somewhere noticed that the winning piece was VERY similar to a piece that had been featured in a major design magazine. So Tim's "title" was taken away and given to the second place finisher, Katie, and an epilogue added to the show when it aired, explaining that Tim was disqualified. Much noise ensued. I read somewhere that Tim will be back on one of the shows this year (possibly as a judge) - we'll see how true that is.

Liked this week's judge, at least. Pretty sure they did this "and no one goes home this week!" last season, too (just checked - yes, it was the 3rd episode, halfway through). They are down to 4 very competent furniture designers and want to keep that number apparently. According to the Wiki, there will be 9 episodes this year, although maybe the 9th is just the awards show episode. So if we'd lost one this week, that would be 3 designers on episode 7, 2 designers on episode 8 and .... one designer on episode 9? How much of the Sef thing was producer-driven or at least producer-inspired I have no idea. We've seen flashes of this before, so maybe this week they just chose to show more of it for the "drama" - faux or otherwise. Loved Vivian's green room comment when Chip started babbling about what a pleasure it was to work with Sef (something along the lines of "Stop talking, Chip"). You can see a lot of frustration in the interactions between Sef and Chip. The producers also left in a quick disparaging comment from, I think, Matt, Vivian's carpenter, when they were raiding the workshop for drawers. I noticed one of the judges examining the dovetail joint on one of the drawers, not realizing they were looking at the workshop drawers. Miles' table was okay, although I didn't like the pointed edges at all, nor did I care for the purpleheart and white. Also, an extra hour didn't seem to help him with the craftsmanship part - they showed some really rough edges. It was sort of not a table and not really a desk either, it didn't shine at either function. Liked Kyle's min-century mod chair, although I have to agree with the judge that it needed a different fabric. It actually did look comfortable. Also note that Kyle and his carpenter were able to build a mock-up AND the real thing in the allotted time and the chair was just as complicated as Sef's dresser. Normally I am a huge Vivian fan, but this week's coffee table was ... eh. It is always fun watching how hard she works, though, and how good she is at metal fab. At this point we are: Miles - 2 wins Sef - 1 win Vivianne - 1 win Kyle - 0 wins.

I complained about Tarek's tile work somewhere upthread and had to laugh at the last episode I saw where they were flipping the house with Pete in the gated community (that might have been a rerun) and in a scene both Christina and Pete were giving Tarek a very hard time about his very messy tile work. Re: the unpermitted stuff - very common in the LA area, particularly in mid- to lower-priced houses. It is SO expensive to find a new house that it is just easier to add on a new room "on the sly." They don't usually mention the permitting process on FoF, except as "is this addition permitted?" but I have yet to see a reno on this show that would not require permits and inspections. Depending on the municipality issuing the permits, it takes between 4 and 12 weeks to get a full set of permits, more if you have to argue structure with them (a friend of mine with a $200,000 reno on a $600,000 house is going on 6 months).

Bend episode - just about fell off my chair when the couple repeated the Chamber of Commerce lie that Bend has "300 days of sun" - ah ha ha, not even close, it's actually around 200. It is high desert and winters are cold, cloudy and occasionally snowy from about mid Nov to about May. Sure there are sun breaks in the winter, but there is no way you can say Bend has "300 days of sun" - you have to go several hundred miles south for that. The growing season is about 55 days because of late and early freezes (not frosts).

Well, if we can believe the exposition we got from the Dean (and his attempt to help Quentin by dropping vital wards to help him at least somewhat demonstrates his goodwill), the way magic is taught matters - that being taught the wrong things in the wrong order leads to problems. I forget the exact quote, but it is along the lines that learning and using magic changes you and it needs to be done the "right" way. The exposition came in a montage feature of Julia learning spells out of a book the hedge witches had, presumably to demonstrate that Julia was learning the "wrong" way.

The cell phone thing felt entirely staged. "Hmm, I am upgrading to a new phone, how about we do something "fun" with the old one?" I can't see the assumed future bride liking that "bachelor pad" as they kept calling it. Although they did a reno a few weeks ago with a lot of the same charcoal paint. Watched the Home Town show and, while I liked the couple a lot and her magic CGI sketchbook, the premise has a couple problems, namely: they don't do any of the work, just design, a little demo and maybe some furniture work. Not that I believe Chip does a lot of the work on Fixer Upper but I think he at least CAN. I'd be willing to believe that Chip has a contractor's license (assuming Waco requires one). Also, I looked up the city (Laurel, Mississipi) and the median income is $21,200, compared to Waco's $35,000 (presence of Baylor probably has a lot to do with it). My point is that it is a very poor town in a poor area and $100,000 renos can't be too common. Also, that was a very "white" pilot for an area that is 28% white - the mayor was black, but every other face on the show was white.

I don't think Quentin's internal world would have been that bleak if just Julia had been designing the "acid trip" - Marina was the one who really wanted to punish Quentin for coming to get the book. I also suspect they were dragging bits out of Quentin's mind and turning them against him (ragingly horny Alice and Dream Penny) Lol, Penny's reaction to Dream Penny was pretty amusing. As far as the order of episodes, I think this channel has been known to show things out of order (ie: Firefly), maybe that happened. Pretty sure the show Dresden Files was also shown out of order - that was a kind of episode-of-the-week show though, so it didn't have a lot of running plot. That was a show that slowly grew on me, riiiiight up until it was cancelled.

Wow, we have had some real winners as guest judge but this week's fashion-challenged guy with the white glasses and the red-and-white shoes was the worst so far. How surprising it was that in his opinion the number one thing about a design was that it would sell well. In the words of my English friends, "what a git." Nothing really stood out this week as an exceptional design although everything look pretty well-executed and was fine as furniture went. Sef's chair was right out of Ikea/Dania, the room divider was right out of a Target catalog (right colors and everything). Viviane (admittedly my favorite) had an okay but not "wow" design, the French makeup table was okay for the right person - yes, somewhat garish and overwrought, but I know people who would swoon over it. I liked the legs on the Moroccan piece, at least. Maybe they should have, I don't know, more than a DAY to come up with a design and start building? Edited to add: I looked up "rashid design" on goggle - his stuff all looks like it was designed for Barbie's Jetsons Dream McMansion. He would have LOVED Katie last season.

I don't think Quentin and Alice have romantic chemistry but I also don't think they have to. They are the ultimate in non-cool kids sticking together mainly for that reason. I actually LIKED Quentin this episode, for all of his "confused follower" thing, he actually had the initiative to grab the box and take it with him. That's more thinking than I have seen from him anywhere else in the episodes and I chose to interpret it as character growth, just as his "researching" Alice's problem to try and help her is. What their arc in the books is, I neither know nor care. As far as the hedge witches, I am not sure that any of them, except their leader, is actually all that powerful, but I think Julia is, which is why she is getting the 1-on-1 instruction (and so very helpful the cut-to-exposition scenes with the dean explaining why magic is dangerous). The Julia and Quentin confrontation is what I'd expect from two people (particularly Quentin) not used to verbalizing things and lashing out because he/she is hurt and wants to inflict that hurt back. Quentin, Julia and Alice all seem about 15 years old to me, based on how they act.

Given the heavy-handed foreshadowing we have seen in the Dean and the Sweeper or whatever she was called agonizing over the "they aren't ready!" thing, which pretty much implies that they are going to pitch the students head-first into a horrible confrontation that the "adults" are sure they are going to lose and Fillory-girl deliberately branding Quentin's hand with the thing that directly results in him helping to summon the Beast (after she warns Quentin not to walk the garden path or The Beast will get him), I'm not sure that there IS a "well-intentioned" side. Everyone seems to have their own agendas. The last time I watched this channel it was still SciFi and I think MST3K was still in repeats, at least on Thanksgiving. At least this show seems to have set budgets and a bit of special effects budgets, which is good.

Do you mean if he had just made the single bench larger? Then the blond judge would have complained that her feet didn't touch the ground, instead of the way she could tuck her feet under the bench. I do think the firebowl was oversized - if you take the height the bench had to be (around 20") and guesstimate, based on the photo of the bench in-situ, the firebowl was probably at least 3' high and about 4-5' across. A big outdoor feature and it needed a larger scale treatment

The "german smear" technique definitely looks better from a distance. It was okay, but then I don't really care for brick exteriors, naturally red, painted or, my LEAST favorite, the natural muddy yellow-brown. There was a lot in this episode that was definitely the client's request and taste, filtered through Joanna's taste. Didn't really like the dark gray/black in the house, felt it made everything look dark and ponderous, but then you can never tell with the interior lighting for TV. Didn't care for the fake mantle in the bedroom, either, I would personally have gone for a big shallow book wall, but then it would have been too cluttered for Joanna's sparse style. That 8-piece beam was one of the biggest they have ever put in - surprised that they managed to stay on budget with some of the massive structure stuff they have to do. The little shot of Chip "welding" at the silo? That bit of his arm between the glove and the rolled-up shirt sleeve would have gotten a horrible UV sunburn if he'd done more than about the 5 seconds they showed in the shot. Either he does no welding and doesn;t know any better or it was just a little goofy set-up for filming. Also, on the last house they were shown, what the heck was up with the three over-sized columns supporting the porch roof? Those were odd. The interior was actually lovely.