purple haze

Regarding the purple curtain situation, as I've said earlier, in this episode the judge' biases and blind spots are starting to get more and more blatant.

It was ridiculous the way the judges got so breathless over Erik's little curtain: "It was so fresh!!!! Like they'd never seen a cream and black roman shade before.

Furthermore, the girls liked the curtains. Those customers were far more satisfied than Goil's customer (i.e., the dog). In this case the judges should have just left Michael alone: the curtains were beautiful, useful and functional; he did what the leader asked him to do; and he provided what the client wanted. Instead the judges (as discussed in a previous post) should have made Goil stand up there and defend his doggy wagon.

Then there is the matter of accusing Michael of spending too much time working on the curtains. Those curtains were a lot of work and they were the most aesthetically important part of the garage especially since Ryan didn't create any art. There was even a rumor spread -- by the judges! -- that Michael may have focused so much on this task because he was flirting with the tailor. So does that mean that Goil had a crush on the dog?

For the record: Michael's appearance on Watch What Happens and subsequent postings on Pink Navy (utterly delicious!) put this matter to rest.

I'm wondering if the judges have some sort of allergy to aubergine. Have they ever liked any one's use of that color? Or do they just associate that color with Michael and because they have it in for Michael they don't like the color?

Michael's color choice may be based on criteria other than the one that the judges accuse him of (i.e., that he just likes every shade of grape that he's ever seen). Honestly, could they BE any more condescending? Why don't they just make him wear a helmet and call him a REtard while they are at it? In fact, there may be a reason that demonstrates Michael's professional skills.

Maybe Michael picked that color because it was the color Mr. Bell was wearing earlier in the day? Consciously or not -- an astute designer would register those kinds of things.

I'm sure that if Matt had made the curtains would they have lavished praise on him as having a keen sensitivity towards clients and color (See: why matt can do no wrong).

NOTE: I have noted in an earlier post "accentuate the positive" that Jonathan Adler's blog was less snarky this week but when it comes to Michael: it is still sour grapes.

The final problem has to do Andrea's leadership, and in some ways, her integrity (although that is not a reality tv show value where the idea is to do what ever it takes to win). Here's the deal: Elizabeth had to take the hit for colors that weren't entirely her choice. And she got kicked off for this. (Although that was probably a trumped up charge just to get rid of the boring decrepit old lady in her forties. Yeah. Speaking of purple: someone who threw parties for Prince's Purple Rain tour couldn't possibly be very cool or hip or interesting.) But I digress.

In this situation Andrea had immunity. It was really quite small of her not to take responsibility for the color choice. She had to know that blaming Michael for that shade of purple -- which was not entirely his fault after all [added 03/12: see the quiet one for evidence] -- could have gotten him kicked off the show that night.

NOTE: Yes, I've been defending the boy a lot lately (although I was not an immediate fan). Lest anyone think I'm in danger of sounding like one of Michael's minions, let me be clear: I'm nobody's minion. (He can be mine, however: mainly shades, banshees, that sort of thing. It's better than cleaning out garages -- or picking up after the the hell-hounds of hades -- but unless you get an Elysian appointment it isn't very glamourous work. Of course I'd find a good place for him in the organization. Hell needs a lot of redecorating.)

2: elizabeth & goil

Practically speaking at least both Elizabeth and Goil provided desks but the rooms were rather low on storage. I thought that they both designed rooms that felt a bit institutional.

Goil

I was not as fond of this room as the judges were. To be frank, it feels a bit precious: too "baby Einstein." It looked like a spiffy new test lab in some child cognitive psychology laboratory.

Where are the toys? And what is with that damned pepper again? It's kind of like "eat your spinach" decorating: as if you can shut a child off in a pure educationally stimulating environment where he would develop only tasteful interests and never want to hang posters of his favorite athletes (or movie stars etc) on those Spartan white walls or put up basketball hoops or get a rug and pillows for the floor so he and his friends can sit around and play video games.

Elizabeth

At least Elizabeth's room has the sensibility of her client's actual interests. Practically speaking, you could put a group of boys in that room and they could practice soccer and rough house in there and not do a whole lot of damage. The trade off is that despite the bright colors it felt a little bleak because the furnishings were few and spare.

It seemed like the buckets are designed from a "pick your stuff up" point of view. They were supposed to be for his sports collections? It was so sad to see the boy looking at those buckets like, "what the hell??" Kids like to treasure the things they collect not throw them in buckets. It was a tough balancing act and she erred on the side of restraint and practicality. She's the mother of a small boy and she designed as a mom more than as a kid. This may have been a case of being too informed about the subject!!

myspace amusements

The folks at blogging top design have helpfully put up links to the designers who have myspace pages. I have a tendency to find myspace pages ugly and irritating. Generally I don't get the point of them.

When I say things like that I realize that I'm old. Like when I look at boys who are wearing pants so that they are falling down off their butts and I think, WTF? Or when gauchos came back into fashion and I said, "No, not this time around. Once is enough."

That said, I am not very many years younger than Elizabeth. How many I am not going to say. I also went to high school not too far away from her. Yet when I went to her myspace page and that music starting playing I thought, is this a joke? It sounded like something that hippy teacher on Beavis and Butthead would play.

Nearly as scary was realization that my taste in music has more in common with the kid practically half my age who (aside from the jazz, naturally) apparently likes the Shins so much that he listed them twice.

It's interesting that the person with one of the most obnoxious Bravo bios has one of the more appealing myspace pages. It's a bit precious but he's young and the Corinne Bailey Rae sort of lets him get away with it: the widdle chipmunk, as the gayboys so inimitably call him.

Anyhoo -- what led me to soften my rather harsh view (based on the Bravo bio) was that his list of favorite movies included Junebug, Little Miss Sunshine, Gaslight, and *especially* the 1934 version of Imitation of Life. The 1956 version is fab but that 1934 film is much more obscure and totally mind blowing. The Good Girl and Clueless are also choices that would be in my list. I think Clueless is one of the best of the Jane Austen films.

But all my warm fuzziness is undone by this statement: "I would like to meet people who would rather be wanted for murder than not wanted at all." [i.e., fame is the most important value above all else: there is no point in meeting someone who is not wanted by others because that person has nothing to offer.] It's certainly characteristic of the kind of person who would want to be on a reality television show: it's all about celebrity narcissism. (And famous criminals are just narcissistic sociopaths.) No wonder he likes In Cold Blood. He also liked the film Capote but from this quote he appears to have missed its point.

Still, if it weren't for narcissists we wouldn't have reality television. Think of what we'd miss.

la women

Click here to read the note on the purpose of these annotations of Top Design biographies.

felicia

Felicia grew up as part of a very spiritual family in Los Angeles.
What does this mean? They were Holy Rollers?

A self-proclaimed health nut, Felicia has completed 15 marathons and now does triathlons.
READ: high-strung

She says: “I approach design like a marathon. I don’t stop until the end.”
Prediction: Will annoy others with her exercise and diet routine

elizabeth

… has a master’s degree in Spiritual Psychology [READ: New Age hoo-ha] from University of Santa Monica

Design style: Creative and eclectic
This pretty much includes everything so it is basically meaningless.

Elizabeth realized she wanted to be an interior designer when Prince gave her money to design the after parties for his Purple Rain tour.
Okay. That is actually pretty cool.

lisa

Lisa owns her own firm called Interior Obsession in Beverly Hills, California, where she says she works all day and all night.
What is it with these people? Don’t they realize that insomnia is a sign of a severe psychological problem? Obsessive Compulsive Disorder comes to mind.

Casting note: Lisa looks like she might be a reasonable and sociable person with her own unique personality. But reality tv show producers have an appalling attachment to casting and/or editing stereotypes. And once again we have the token black woman. God forbid there should ever be two. So according to the script she should be a bitch because for too long the man has kept her down and it improves the ratings.

heather

Design style: Historical and progressive
Does that mean that her design style is from the progressive era in history?

Heather is extremely passionate about design as a whole and chose interior design due to its ability to affect thousands of people, whereas a couture dress only has the ability to affect one.
READ: Blow it out your ass Project Runway.