Archive for the 'Design' Category
Image of Urban Horror
When I jumped on Photoshop I had time on my hand. Several hours later, I’m now running behind, but I have an updated logo that I’m proud of
Done with Design Star
By BLAINE CRIMMINS, bcrimmins@acnpapers.com
Though it’s a little embarrassing to admit, I’ve been sucked into the past few seasons of HGTV’s “Design Star” reality show. My wife likes it, so that’s one reason, but I’ve also enjoyed the personalities of the contestants and seeing what they’d come up with week to week.
Last season was particularly interesting, as I latched on to a clear favorite early in the show and rode out the competition for a couple months hoping he’d win, which he did. I’ve written about my man Antonio in this space before.
But no more! This year’s edition of the show sucks. New producer, new look, bad result.
The show has been transplanted from suburban Los Angeles to Manhattan. The challenges have gone from being room-makeovers and useful renovations to gimmicky games wrought with corporate promotion.
The worst part is the contestants. Unlike 2009, when any of the final four seemed worthy of having their own show, no one in this year’s crop seems to have much talent at all.
Bereft of a contestant who has the right blend of inspiration and know-how, I chose Alex Sanchez as my favorite because he simply seemed more competent than the others.
After watching Alex finish a project one of his teammates had to abandon because he shot himself in the hand with a nail gun, I thought, “Oh, look! There’s a guy who can build something without screwing it up. I like him.”
Alex also was the guy who noticed that another teammate had affixed her crown molding upside down, well into the second wall. Both of those teammates, Michael and Casey, are still alive in the competition but Alex is not. He was booted on Sunday in what looked to me like a conspiracy.
Granted, Alex had the least personable camera style of the five that remained, and he wasn’t likely to win the whole thing as a result. That’ll probably be Courtland because he’s the only one with a personality strong enough to carry his own show.
But Alex got screwed in the elimination. With four contestants on the hot seat, the judges chose to focus on the last two finishers from each team, instead of simply the bottom two of four, as determined by criteria I won’t explain here.
So, rather than be judged against his talentless teammate Michael, who in my opinion conspired with Casey to squelch Alex’s influence on their stupid kitchen photo-shoot project, he went up against Emily, a cute, bubbly blonde woman whose previous professional experience played into this week’s challenge.
Alex had a shot of beating Michael but no chance against Emily. It’s like the producers were hell-bent on getting rid of him, perhaps because he just wasn’t wacky enough to be entertaining.
Thus, I’m done with “Design Star.” I might watch again this year after Michael and Casey are eliminated but we’ll see.
The show just isn’t the same anymore. In fact, it’s now more like other reality competition shows, most of which are terrible. And given Alex’s demise, it doesn’t seem fair either.
By the way, Antonio’s show has gone through various scheduling changes this year, and HGTV has been cagey about why. I wrote an e-mail to the network months ago inquiring about the show’s status, to which an auto-reply indicated I’d hear back from someone. In my mail, I mentioned I’m a newspaper reporter/blogger, and wanted to share what I learned with my readers. They never wrote me back.
The next season of “The Antonio Treatment” debuts Aug. 15. Watch it. But blow off “Design Star.”
Blaine Crimmins is the community editor of The Colony Courier-Leader. He may be reached at bcrimmins@acnpapers.com.
Change U Can Believe in
AT&T is betting on it
Jean-Michel Basquiat Radience
“Jean-Michel Basquiat first became famous for his art
And then he became famous for being famous
And then he became famous for being infamous”
Jean Michel Basquiat new documentary
Bottom Line: Lively and touching doc combines insider view of its art-star subject with smart present-day interviews. click here
This Magic Moment
This video speaks to the power of Youtube as the rare footage below from 1983 shows the late Michael Jackson and Prince dancing and singing for the late James Brown the godfather of Soul, I’ve followed Micheal Jackson and Prince most of my life I didn’t know there was ever an event where the two was in such close proximity
Next Level
A stunning commercial by Nike
You R So Color Struck
Bet you can’t get 100% on the first try!
It takes an average of 5 tries to get to 100%. Follow the directions!
It’s harder than it seems, as it should be!
A brain waker-upper for today!
This is pretty neat! See how you do with the colors! Have fun!
Click here and Good Luck
Model Mayhem is a great site if you are in the industry, it features top models, make up artist and photographers who can all communicate to one another . A beautiful site.
However, 95% of the talent featured on MM are individuals trying to break into the business and are looking for work. This is where MM usefulness goes south
What most of the models don’t know, is that unless you list an email or myspace/facebook address outside of MMan then anyone that wants to hire you can’t, because only members can communicate with you and guess what? they are not hiring!!!!!!!!!!
There are seveal models that I would like to hire for my 3rd book cover, but there is no way to contact them. I was successful with 2nd novel
If you are a model on MM and haven’t heard from anyone take a look at you contact info. and if you are a model with locs contact me
Dada the Mother of Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members.
Surrealist works feature the element of surprise, unexpected juxtapositions and non sequitur; however, many Surrealist artists and writers regard their work as an expression of the philosophical movement first and foremost, with the works being an artifact. Leader André Breton was explicit in his assertion that Surrealism was above all a revolutionary movement.
Surrealism developed out of the Dada activities of World War I and the most important center of the movement was Paris. From the 1920s on, the movement spread around the globe, eventually affecting the visual arts, literature, film, and music, of many countries and languages, as well as political thought and practice, philosophy and social theory. click here for full wikipedia article
In the Begining
Surrealism as we know it today is closely related to some forms of abstract art. In fact, they shared similar origins, but they diverged on their interpretation of what those origins meant to the aesthetic of art.
At the end of the First War World, Tristan Tzara, leader of the Dada movement, wanted to attack society through scandal. He believed that a society that creates the monstrosity of war does not deserve art, so he decided to give it anti-art–not beauty but ugliness. With phrases like Dada destroys everything! Tzara wanted to offend the new industrial commercial world–the bourgeoisie. However, his intended victims were not insulted at all. Instead they thought that this rebellious new expression opposed, not them but the “old art” and the “old patrons” of feudalism and church dominion. In fact, the bourgeoisie embraced this “rebellious” new art so thoroughly that anti-art became Art, the anti-academy the Academy, the anti-conventionalism the Convention, and the rebellion through chaotic images, the status quo click here for full article
