American Ninja Warrior Returns!

Finally, the newest installation of American Ninja Warrior is upon us. The Season Premiere is July 1 on NBC and once again, episodes will air on both NBC and G4 aka Esquire. Will we finally crown the first American Ninja Warrior?! Can't wait to find out!

For more info, check out the official ANW wesbite.

HGTV Design Star: Lofty Ideas

Deisgn Star Season 8 Cast (photo courtesy of HGTV.com)

The contestants in the second episode are given the task of transforming an old industrial warehouse loft into a multi-functional space for living and working in.  Each designer must creatively update a vintage item and integrate it into the space.  The contestants teamed up and each took a different section of the loft.  They all have to agree on who the loft is going to be designed for (rock/glam client) and it needs to be cohesive.  They'll have their first camera challenge of the season!

The four distinct living areas are: living, eating, sleeping, and working.

The teams are:

Brooks and Jeribai - workspace

Jessie, Boris, and Abby- Kitchen, dining, and foyer

Tylor and Cris- Living area

Tiffany and Anne- Bedroom space

• They all agree on using cooler tones since it's a warm space.
• Brooks and Jeribai are going to create a drum space.  They take off and have the crazy ideas.
• Anne starts off bossing Tiffany around, sounding like a total B!  They want the bed to be the focal point.
• Tylor doesn't want to work with Cris, he thinks he has to babysit her.  It's the oldest with the youngest designer on this one.  
• Jessie is going to work on the kitchen, Boris on the dining, and Abby on the foyer.  Jessie has bragged about how much she has worked on kitchen spaces and she's the master.
• Boris wants a large backette, a seating area against the wall.
• The camera challenge is taking a vintage item and refurbishing it for something new and then they will have 45 seconds to explain what they're doing with it.  More on this later.
• Tylor wants to take an old VW bug hood and he's going to make into a piece of wall art.
• Jessie sends Abby home to paint instead of allowing her to shop for her furniture.
• Abby is painting 4 or 5 twenty foot walls.
• Jessie is trying to find a bunch of accessories for the kitchen.
• When everyone comes home, Abby has painted most of the walls, everyone loves the colors.
• Boris and Jessie decline to help Abby with painting, leaving her to work on the walls alone, again.
• Cris is taking an old camera and making it into a floor lamp.  I wasn't sure what she would do.
• Brooks and Jeribai are playing the drums and dancing, totally carefree.
• Brooks wants to have a coffee cup with old coffee in it and used up whiskey bottles.  Jeribai talks him out of it.
• Jessie is taking old safety deposit boxes and refurbishing them into spice racks.  Actually pretty cool.
• Tiffany is taking an outdoor sign to make into a headboard.  She wants to paint it but Anne talks her out of it.  She's the "expert".  She slept on it and decided not to paint it.
• Tylor is outside banging on his hood and Cris sees it, and is not impressed.  She pretty tells him that is on him.
• Jeribai is putting corrugated metal on one wall and it looks pretty cool.
• David comes and immediately hates the paint.  Calling it juvenile.  He also makes it known that they should be appealing to the HGTV audience, because they should want to do this to their own home.
• Camera challenge time.  The best camera challenges: Anne, Abby, Cris  The worst: Brooks, Tylor, Jeribai.
• Brooks was surprising at how bad he was.  I think he'll step it up in future episodes if he survives. (He does)
• Tylor talks about his cigarette machine table, it sounds clever, but he sucks.  He really does.
• Now Abby is helping sew for Jessie, so she has yet to work on her space.
• Brooks is hanging 500 feet of rubber making it into a chandelier, and everyone is loving it.  He then hangs lightbulbs in the spaces.
• Cris hates the hood, she says it looks cheap, Tylor doesn't care because he is so arrogant.
• Tiffany hangs blue string lights throughout the headboard, I think it takes away from it, but what do I know?
• Abby lays down the curtains she has been sewing on the counter, but Jessie had painted that counter.  I feel bad for Abby, she isn't getting any help here.
• With five minutes left, Abby starts to arrange her furniture.
• TIME IS CALLED, time for judges.
• I love Genevieve.
• The judges aren't in love with the foyer.  The dining room doesn't get a lot of love either.  The kitchen was a fail, she didn't stock the shelves.
• The bedroom got some kudos for the side tables and the bedding.  The blue lights in the headboard were pointed out but otherwise they liked it.
• The space of Brooks and Jeribai had all good responses.
• They liked the living space, except for the stupid car hood.  The refurbishing of the camera was praised.
• Tylor and Cris were saved.  So, they were in the middle.
• Anne won the competition, so Tiffany was saved.  Brooks and Jeribai also were safe.  The trio was held back, but then Boris was safe.
• Taylor Swift, I mean, Jessie was kicked off.  Thank God, in my opinion, she was over confident, to the levels of cockiness, which was unfounded.

MY TOP 9 DESIGNS

1. Brooks

2. Anne ^

3. Cris

4. Jeribai

5. Tylor

6. Tiffany

7. Boris

8. Jessie*

9. Abby (Just because she didn't get to do anything)

MY TOP 9 DESIGNERS

1. Brooks

2. Jeribai

3. Cris

4. Abby

5. Anne^

6. Tiffany

7. Tylor

8. Jessie*

9. Boris

^-Winner *-Eliminated

Share your thoughts below. Who's your top designer at this point? To see some pictures from this week's challenge visit the HGTV Design Star blog by clicking here.

HGTV Design Star: Season 8

Episode: A Brand New Season- Original Air date 6/9/2013
There are spoilers in this, beware! 

One note before reading.  I have no expertise in design, only in what I think looks good and what I might actually like to use.  With that being said, if you're offended, please say something in comments because I love banter and it gets my rocks off.  Or at least, my heart-rate.

The Contestants:

Anne Rue from Florida, she categorized her design style as "beautiful, functional and livable eclectic." She also says she loves to incorporate color into her designs and enjoys mixing classic and coastal design styles. *all of these quotes are from the HGTV website unless I put a parentheses around it. (She looks like Connie Britton, which orange hair)

Tobin Green from Florida constantly strives to evolve and step outside his comfort zone while creating his signature vintage industrial spaces. 

Tiffany Brooks from Illinois is the owner of a residential interior design business favors contemporary spaces with an out-of-the-box twist. 

Abby Vasek from Texas has a clean, bohemian design style by adding in masculine lines. (Bubbly, might be over the top)

Tylor Devereaux from Michigan creates warm, modern rooms that are classic and simple, but loves putting his design over everything. (This guy is the guy who I totally forget about)

Boris Eckey from California has a European background that informs his luxurious yet comfortable design style. (Uh oh, early villain!)

Jessie Miller from Missouri describes her style as urban regency. (No idea what that means!)

Jeribai Tascoe from California likes to create modern, edgy spaces that feature an element of fun and his initials.

Cris Mercado from the Dominican Republic draws inspiration from her tropical surroundings to create a look she calls "bold contemporary." (One of my faves from minute I saw her)

Brooks Atwood from New York is a creative director and design professor, likes to push the envelope with his cutting-edge, modern style that he classifies as futuristic and avant-garde. (Stole top spot from Cris)

Show Commentary:

• David Bromstad is the host/mentor of this show and his challenge for the contestants had to turn an empty space into an example of their brand.  They can design their own fabric and wall paper.  They're encouraged to show the panel something inventive and something that is "you".  They had two days to make this thing happen.
• I think the coolest thing about this challenge was the creation of the wall paper.
• Brooks is freaking out early because he has never created an entire room, he usually teaches students about designing more than actually designing.
• I really love Brooks, his hair, beard, and personality have star quality written all over him.
• Tylor apparently has a lot of talent, but I can't imagine watching his show, boring!

ANW: Final Stage One Runs

(Mid-South Top Qualifier Paul Kasemir)

We are back to Mt. Midoriyama for the conclusion of Stage One. So far, eighteen ninjas have advanced to the second stage. Let's get straight to the recaps...

Andrew Karsen: A very likable competitor, this the single father and former Pistons cheerleader (DETROIT!) looked great until the Half Pipe Attack, where a bad approach on the ramp left him slipping into the water.

Luis Moco: The stuntman who lives out of his van is competing for his family. With a knee brace on his left leg, he quickly aggravated his injury but continued to fight through the pain all the way to the Warped Wall, where there was no hope. His fight was inspiring but he was clearly unable to climb the wall, he finally gave into the injury. Note: we learned after the run that he was running with a TORN meniscus. Ouch.

Drew Drechsel: Speaking of injuries, Drechsel has been battling back for the past year since he destroyed his knee in Japan. His remarkable comeback continued with a smooth run through the stage (outside of a slight scare on his dreaded Half Pipe Attack) and a finish with over twenty seconds on the clock.

Jesse La Flair: We learned that during the break, the notable "youtube sensation" failed on the Jumping Spider. A surprise, for sure.

Brandon Douglass: Also during the break, Douglass ran the course but, unlike La Flair, he was able to conquer Stage One and advance to the next one.

David Campbell: As Iseman said, no one comes into the competition with more expectations than Campbell. Not surprisingly, Campbell lives up to the hype through the first part of the course, but a stumble on the first ball of the Spinning Bridge doomed his run and sent him diving into the water. And just like that, the most experience ninja in the competition is out.

Now for the top finisher from each region:

ANW: Mt. Midoriyama Stage One

With all region finals completed, the top 100 (top 15 in 6 regions + 10 wildcard) ninja warriors in the country have convened in Las Vegas to take on Mt. Midoriyama which has been painstakingly relocated from Japan.   There are 8 obstacles in Stage One and a 2 minute, 10 second time limit.

• Step Slider
• Rolling Log
• Giant Swing
• Jumping Spider
• Half Pipe Attack
• Warped Wall
• Spinning Bridge
• Final Climb

With so many competitors trying to conquer Stage One, coverage of the runs was a bit choppy this week. We saw several runs through the course, while learning the fates of others during breaks throughout the episodes...

• Brent Steffensen: As expected, Brent destroyed the course finishing with plenty of time left on the clock
• Stephen Volcko: Perhaps a little caught up in the mental aspect of the course, Volcko made an error on the Jumping Spider as a terrible trampoline jump put him in the water below
• Bull Bullard: The Harlem Globetrotter was able to complete the course but not before time expired. Having just reached the cargo net on the Final Climb, the clock hit zero and his ANW dreams were dashed
• Kole Stephens: Focused throughout his run, 37-year old Stephens finished the course with over 25 seconds still on the clock.
• Jake Smith: Knowing endurance was a problem in the Region Finals, Smith worked tirelessly to try and improve his lasting strength. His hardwork did not pay off as fatigue left him unable to get to the top of the Warped Wall, an obstacle he has completed hundreds of times before.
• Ahmed Toure: Though we did not see his run, Toure put in a good effort as he finished the course in a timely manner.
• Danny Johnson: This lengthy ninja was not profiled this time around, but he turned in a great time, finishing just a second slower than Brent Steffensen.
• Elet Hall: The Maryland outdoorsman came to Las Vegas meaning business as he finished in 1:46.00
• Remi Bakkar: This acrobat quit his Cirque du Soleil job to compete. In perhaps the most stressful run to this point (his wife was shaking with nerves), Remi looked the part of American Ninja Warrior as he finished with just under 20 seconds left on the clock.
• Travis Rosen: The ANW veteran turned in a good time of 1:51.00, setting himself up for a chance to go far this year
• Nathaniel Spencer: The former pro golfer was the first to complete the course, finishing just as time expired with a time of 2:10.00

With some big names still to run (Flip Rodriguez, David Campbell, Tim Schieff) next week, we will surely add to our list of 18 finishers of Stage One.

Who disappointed you in Stage One? Who is your favorite to be the first American Ninja Warrior? Share your comments below.

Masterchef: Top 9 Compete

After eliminating two chefs last week (Tonya and Mike), the competition is narrowed down to the Top 9. To this point, the strongest chefs appear to be Frankie, Becky and (to everyone's surprise) Monti. Let's dive right into the recap of tonight's episode:

Mystery Box Challenge:

• Tonight's challenge is Sea Urchin.
• Tali, when looking at the moving sea urchin says, "It looks beautiful...it kinda represents me right now." What?
• Gordon Ramsay shows the contestants the proper way to kill, cut and empty the sea urchin.
• Sixty minutes on the clock.
• Josh's choice to under perform: David Martinez
• Christine's choice: Monti
• Becky wants to see Monti go home. She "questions her as a Masterchef" and once again mentions that "this isn't best home chef on a budget." Catty.
• After tasting throughout the challenge and judging presentation, the top 3 sea urchin dishes are:
• Felix (second time in top 3)
• Josh (first time in top 3)
• Stacy (second(?) time in top 3)
• The winner of the Sea Urchin Mystery Box Challenge: Felix

Elimination Challenge:

Masterchef: Top 12 Compete

The Round of 12 opens in Venice Beach where the chefs have been dropped off wondering what their next challenge will be. Next thing they know, the three judges roll up in three food trucks, horns blaring.

For the first time, the group will be divided into three teams. Because she won the previous challenge, Stacey gets the advantage of picking all three teams:

Stacey’s team – Tali (chosen surprisingly #1 because he is a team player and weak opponent in the event of a pressure test), Frank, Becky

Second Team – Monti, David, Anna, Tanya

Third Team – Christine, Mike, Josh and Felix.

Next, Stacey gets first choice of the different coloRed food trucks, not knowing what each color will mean. Stacey chooses the Red truck – Mexican cuisine. Monti’s team is given the Yellow truck – American cuisine. Josh’s team is given the third and final Blue truck – Indian cuisine.

Each team must elect a team captain. Obviously, Stacey is her own team’s captain. Josh decides to be captain of his team, as does Anna.

Each team must plan and prepare one $7 dish to serve the impending crowds, with 90 minutes before service.

Right off the bat, David and Monti butt heads with differing ideas on the side for their burger. In the end, David wins out with chips.

For the Blue team, Josh and his team decide to go with a Chicken Tikki Masala (though Michael has no idea what the dish is).