Fitness routine with the guys

I was minding my own business at the Lifetime Fitness Center watching HGTV on the big screen, but I couldn't help overhearing the 3 guys next to me. Men just rag on each other. It's a hoot. They call each other ugly, bald and fat, and then they all laugh. Don't try that with women. But after the introductions it's down to business. A friend who wasn't there on the treadmill was at the hospital with his wife who was having surgery; another guy was waiting for a kidney transplant; two guys were discussing the various taxes they were struggling with; another reminisced about the old days when our suburb had its own trash department and little scooters would go to the garage to pick up the trash cans (I'd forgotten that, but it was true).

And meanwhile, I missed which house was chosen by the home buyers.

House Hunters is getting a new twist. A New 'House Hunters' Spin-Off Is Coming to HGTV with a Major Twist (msn.com)

HGTV reruns with exercycle

I'm always finding something new playing around with Roku, a streaming service which allows viewing TV without a cable box. Trying to find something to watch from my exercycle that isn't politics is hard, but the other day I found on "free channels" some reruns of HGTV, and one of our favorites--House Hunters International. Yes, I know it's all scripted and the homes they choose have already been selected, and the others were never actually in the running or even on the market. Still, they are fun to watch and we always learn about the city/country and the life styles.

So there was a family from Kansas who had been living in Amsterdam for her university job for two years who wanted to move to Scotland so he could start a "Scottish Games' business. In the process of their selecting the house in Stirling, I got to review our wonderful trip and gorgeous scenery there in 2017 where we met our friends Robin and Karen, and Gene and Barbara who live in California. 

The second one I watched was an African couple, both doctors, moving from Houston back to Ghana, Africa, so their children could be nearer family members. Their Houston home was nothing short of a mansion so I wondered what they'd find in Accra, Ghana. Not to worry, every home they saw was even more spectacular than the last, plus the city is on the ocean. I think the market scenes were for the tourists, because the 1% lives the same no matter what the country.

Marketplace—a fascinating website

Sometimes I see something on Columbus Marketplace and wonder what Chip and Joanna Gaines (HGTV) could do with this?

When selling property, it never hurts to remove the trash bags from the front yard.  Of course, it says, “as is” and I guess new owner gets the trash.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/columbus/

“4BR 2bath 1846sf SF house in Grove City OH 43123
WB fireplace, finished attic/loft (can be converted to 5th BR), finished basement, 0.3 acre lot, built 1938, Southwestern school district. As-Is. cash/hard money/conventional loan”

https://www.countryliving.com/home-design/a37022/chip-and-joanna-gaines-christmas-decor/

https://www.countryliving.com/shopping/g3403/magnolia-home-decor/

Fix your eyes upon Jesus

We really enjoy this couple on HGTV.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7iPEDnqwm0

It’s just us—the gay lobby

HGTV has withdrawn (aka fired them) a new program hosted by two Christian brothers (twins, it looks like) who had the audacity to speak of the "homosexual agenda" along with a long list of sins of heterosexuals specifically listed in the Bible—abortion, infidelity, adultery.  And their father protested at abortion clinics!  It seems they believe marriage is about more than “love.”  One brother had actually led a prayer rally outside the Democratic National Convention in 2012.  How awful—the party that booed God and voted for abortion in its platform had people praying peacefully outside.

Homosexuals have successfully built a TV and literary image of "just folks like the rest of you, give us a chance" and now they are becoming their own worst nightmare of bigotry and anti-Christian assaults.  HGTV has had a very strong gay presence in all its programs both with hosting and in their real estate shows. It has contributed to the "just folks" image, but are losing it fast.

Think of the filth, violence and silliness you can see on TV—but gays object to this? You know no script about abortion or gay lifestyle would be on the show, but it is their private beliefs that can’t be tolerated by this lobby.

“The Benhams, who are graduates of Liberty University, said they were saddened to hear about HGTV’s decision.

“With all of the grotesque things that can be seen and heard on television, you would think there would be room for two twin brothers who are faithful to our families, committed to biblical principles, and dedicated professionals,” they wrote.”

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/05/08/ex-hgtv-hosts-if-our-faith-costs-us-tv-show-so-be-it/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2014/05/07/hgtv-nixes-benham-brothers-series-anti-gay-extremist-abortion/8810393/

Blogger's stats

I've recently switched over to a new Blogger template, and although it takes some getting used to (I guess they have to have something for the younger employees to do), I am paying more attention to the stats feature. Today for the first time I looked at country of origin for my visitors (for December 2011).

USA -- 1,789
France -- 283
Russia -- 152
Switzerland
and Germany -- 101 each
U.K. -- 81
Taiwan -- 71
Canada -- 68
India -- 50
Turkey -- 19

Of course, my all time big winner is a HGTV story on Tony Chau moving to Las Vegas. 534 page views since Oct. 15, 2010. So many people want to get rich on the internet.

Edward Bernays and Wallpaper

Glenn Beck did a program tonight on the original spin doctor, Edward Bernays, a double nephew of Sigmund Freud. He's the guy who decided the word propaganda needed to be changed to "public relations." He's the guy who invented a healthy breakfast for a company that wanted to sell more bacon and got us eating bacon for breakfast (which is odd since he was a Jew). He helped President Woodrow Wilson gin up the public sentiment for WWI (after being against war in his campaign).

So I think his followers must be working for HGTV, one of my favorite cable channels. Virtually every home buyer or apartment hunter on their "reality" shows 1) hates wall paper, 2) hates formica counter tops, 3) hates wall to wall carpeting, and 4) wants to have hard wood floors and granite counters. And the comments are suspiciously consistent in every show. If there are nice hard wood floors they rave; if there is carpet, they talk about the cost of replacement with wood. If there is wallpaper in the kitchen or bath, it's "Oh yuk, this is so dated."

Today I stopped at Lowes which used to have a fabulous wall paper department with a huge selection of books, and at least some in stock, particularly borders. No longer. The section is now tiny--I had to ask how to find it--maybe 20 books. I happen to like wallpaper, and carpeting. I think tile and hardwood floors are cold and difficult to keep clean with a pet (carpets get dirty too, but you just don't see the dust bunnies).

Think of all the self-employed guys who used to lay carpet or clean carpets or hang wallpaper, now out of business.

The American public didn't decide on their own that they preferred wood floors to carpeting--it came about through decorating and women's magazines, and TV shows like we see on HGTV. Someone has already picked out the popular colors for 2015--we just don't know it yet. Dark woods are coming back for kitchen cabinets after about 20 years of popularity of white and blonde. Afterall, how else would they convince people to remodel and replace perfectly good cabinetry?

Tony's Ready to Move the Party

My site meter rolled over to 385,000 yesterday primarily because I wrote about a HGTV program which featured Tony Chau of Las Vegas buying and remodeling a home in Hollywood. That entry is getting about 35 hits a day. I think most people are looking for an easy way to make millions on the internet, and Tony apparently did that. I don't know if HGTV even uses real names--after all, it is a "reality" show.

Collecting My Thoughts: Tony's Ready to Move the Party from Las Vegas to Los Angeles with the purchase of a Hollywood Hills Vacation Home

Tony's Ready to Move the Party from Las Vegas to Los Angeles with the purchase of a Hollywood Hills Vacation Home

I love to watch HGTV--programs are "reality shows" just a tad unreal if you've ever owned, remodeled or purchased a house, but they are fast paced, well-produced, and the advertising is appropriate for the programming. Some times I yell at the set--especially when a young woman is buying a home and planning to be a landlord to her boyfriend of 3 years. Oh lordy lady, how dumb can you get? If you break up, you may not be able to move him out of the house without legal action.

But last night they had the story of Tony Chau of Las Vegas on House Hunters buying a second home in Hollywood. He is a Vietnamese immigrant (name sounds Chinese to me, but there are Chinese families living in Vietnam, called Hoa ), but came to the USA at age 10 and is now 26 and a millionaire. He has some sort of marketing company on the internet. He was house hunting with his decorator who has done several houses for him. What he ended up with was fabulous--and we heard several times during the program how much he likes to party. Well, maybe so, but I do like success stories about immigrants because they are visible, physical evidence that America is still the land of opportunity and dreams if you want to work hard and have a marketable skill.

Tony's Ready to Move the Party from Las Vegas to Los Angeles with the purchase of a Hollywood Hills Vacation Home : House Hunters : Home & Garden Television