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I miss a lot of things on BCS. I must be really thick. F'rinstance, what the heck was "Omaha Beach" and that building Kim & Jimmy were looking at while driving wine?

The Windy City woman was on a House Hunters program a couple of years ago. I remember it specifically because they showed the house she bought got stripped down to the studs. Any trace of its history was gone. I'm currently enjoying a DIY show "Cabin Masters". It's a fun crew and the cabins they rehab are done well -- no going overboard with "modern touches". I'd like one of those little cabins!

The Watertown condo was certainly a teensy bit closer than the cute fixer in Waltham, but Watertown and Waltham are right next to each other! So why was the wife whining about an hour and a half commute from Waltham? And the condo had no garage for his precious car (at least not that I noticed).

Without checking the on-screen guide, I flipped the channel at 10pm to catch "Alone" --- only to see that last 3 minutes of the Boob Brothers winning. Ugh. I didn't even bother to watch the reunion show. What a disappointing mess of a season. The producers better rethink that "Not Alone" business and go back to their original concept.

This show used to be on my Top-to-Watch list. But last night was really disappointing. The show wasted at least 4 or 5 episodes on blurry bushwhacking, didn't show enough of what the non-bushwhackers were doing, had way too many early tap-outs and now the Baird Bros are gone for no apparent reason. (I also don't buy the missing the birthday excuse). Those guys were whingeing about being miserable in their tent, but made no effort that I could see to do anything to improve their comfort. But then they showed them sitting in the sunshine on what looked to be a mostly FLAT, TREELESS, piece of ground! Instead of crashing through the underbrush looking for a new campsite, they seemed to have a perfect one right where they were sitting. I don't get it. Sam & Pete and the dopey brothers haven't done anything about moving their camp either. At least to get out of the path of floods.

Professional survivalists? Maybe Brooke and Dave, but the other 3 teams seem more like Wannabes than Reallyare. I very much didn't need to see the duck-neck-stomping. And I was a bit confused about the aroma from the duck smoking attracting bears. Whether they cooked inside the shelter or outside of it, wouldn't there be drifting smells? Aaaaand --- coming right up, another professional survivalist team plants their tent too close to the water. I think I've seen this before.

I'd like this show a lot better if there was less cackling from Karen. Not everything deserves a minute-long guffaw.

Somehow, I missed the 1st episode where they introduced the contestants. I just don't understand why Josh and Logan decided to bushwhack uphill through the tangled undergrowth. Aside from making it harder for their partners to find them by moving away from the beach, none of the areas seemed any better than just sticking to where they were dropped off. Not only that, but Josh left all his gear back at the beach. I'm not the least surprised that he tapped out and I think his ankle was his babyish excuse. That said, Brook made a terrific shelter in the same amount of time that the two boys did a lot of nothing.

Wait a second! Isn't Fowler a BOAT BUILDER by profession? While he was standing by the lake whingeing about the lack of sunlight, I expected a cartoon light bulb to appear over his head telling him to fabricate a boat to go to the "sunny" side of the lake. But noooooo. He wastes time and energy climbing up the hill to get some fragmented sunshine. Didn't he watch any previous seasons?

How about Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich - sentenced to 14 years in federal prison. I'd like to see Rick Snyder join him.

Pfffft. So Jim (Mr. PMA) couldn't even make it for 3 full days? You would think that after spending so much time applying to the show, preparing for the show, mentally getting ready for the show --- that he could "maybe"? last at least one week? I thought that the area of Patagonia looked a whole lot like Vancouver Island -- with bigger mountains. Since they are by a lake, not the ocean, there won't be any debris for them to find and use.

Des Moines episode (I think). The couple were looking for "houses with character". Good lord, stop it already with the "character". They had one veto each for any house they didn't like. The woman insisted that the house must be SOUTH OF GRAND at least 45 times. The 3 houses they looked at were older and 2 of them were beautiful. But what bothered me about this episode (and plenty of others) is that no one on HH has a clue as to what style of house they are viewing. Not even the realtors have any idea. They call any house with a dormer a Cape Cod, any two story a Colonial, any house with a stone foundation a Craftsman, any old ranch a Mid-century Modern, any older house with a porch a Victorian. I don't expect everyone to recognize specific styles, but pleeeeze say nothing about the style if you don't know what it is.

Holy smokes, was that woman irritating. I rarely watch HHI because it seems that everyone - especially the women - want a perfectly McMansionized home whether they are in England, France, Germany or wherever. They seem soooo insular and unwilling to embrace their good fortune in being able to live in a different place and experience different cultures. She is going to wind up torturing her Unnecessarily Nice Husband with complaints about how she is so lonely, has no car, has to take her dog out "to go to the bathroom" 20 times a day, there is no one around to talk to and all she can do is stare at her kitchen. Thanks to the realtor for saying "open plan" instead of the teeth-grinding "open concept". I like a "non-open" plan with DOORS!

I happened to catch a new episode of "Good Bones" and thought that it stood out from the many other flipping shows because: – the two women aren't afraid of being different in their design choices (Crikey! Screaming yellow-striped house!) – they didn't skimp on the unseen repairs, but took the house right down to the studs, including the outside walls and interior floor, and rebuilt everything. – in staging the house, they didn't go for bland, but made it a very cute design. Very "hip cottage" (if there is such a thing). Not my style, but it looked nice. – there was very little fakery that I could tell, other than nattering about not breaking the front window. There could have been a lot less yelling between the mother and daughter (not angry yelling, just the two of them being over-the-top loud). If it is on again, I'l plan to catch it.

As others have mentioned, it's very surprising that 4 guys have called it quits after just a couple of days. That guy (Joe?) who spent all day chopping down trees for a shelter, was obviously not thinking clearly when he gave up just because his marvelous plan for a fireplace wasn't going to work. These so-called outdoorsmen could have taken lessons from Richard Proenneke -- a man who lived in the Alaskan wilderness for years. Talk about self-reliance! You can see his film on YouTube if you type in: richard proenneke alone in the wilderness