I love a good Conspiracy Theory

Tonight we have an episode regarding the Bilderberg Group.  Never heard of them?  Then you are not controlling the world.  

I am enjoying his show…  mainly because Jesse Ventura does not sugarcoat anything.  Tonights episode is the discussion of a secret society which may be organizing a global death plot. This group supposedly meets yearly in order to brainstorm how they are going to run the world.  They are also trying to get rid of the common man, most likely with the poisoning of our food system. 

TruTV: Wednesdays at 10pm e/p

Don’t worry though… the group will need to keep some of us around in order to plow the fields for them.  And I am assuming that their food is not contraminated. According to the theroy, they are only able to have 500 million people in the world.  This is according to American Stonehenge and is clear to all. Disease and vaccinations are also discussed.  According to the show, if you are wondering why you’ve never heard of this secret society, it’s because “the people who control the mainstream media are heavily involved.  What else are they hiding from you?”  

Tune in January 6th when JesseVentura investigates rumors that the CIA has restarted the project to turn ordinary citizens into programmed assassins, and meets a man who claims to be a real-life Manchurian Candidate.

Boring building

Dream House – HGTV – Saturdays 7am ET

Meanwhile, back at the vineyard…

More work on the framing, months behind schedule.  Alas, there is a setback – someone scribbled some graffiti on one of the timber frames.  It is fixable, it will just be more time to make the exposed timber look like it should.  The elevated stage is also installed incorrectly.  It is going to be impossible to see any band performance while seated at the tasting bar so that will need to be taken down and rebuilt to its correct height.  The star window is in and it is painted and looking fabulous.  I just love that color!

Shannon, getting very close to her due date, is looking tired and haggard.  I mean, she really doesn’t look good.  Beyond pregnancy tired, she looks just plain worn out.  It must be so hard trying to build the new house and business and still take care of the their little boy, who is an active little one year old.  Add in the fact that both are still working their regular jobs and living in their tiny one bedroom rental.  At least their first batch of wine and jam is done and turned out ok.  “Christmas shopping is done” declares Steven.

I have to respect them.  They are working hard at getting things together.  Steven is working his regular job, tending to the grapes, and is doing all the house wiring himself as well as some other things he can do inside the house to save them money.  He spends hour upon hour working on this house and we see scenes from upcoming episodes that he is sleeping at the house in a sleeping bag in order to get things done.  I feel for Shannon.  It is hard to tend to all the other things that need to get done for the rest of the household, including child rearing AND making, while he is gone working on the new house.  The show doesn’t focus on that, but she must be Superwoman.

More dreaming

This week the timber frame went up.  Something like $250,000 for the frame alone.  More than three and a half times my house in it’s entirety.  That’s about the extent of it all.  Yup.  Boring.  We found out, according to them, that Notaviva means “Music of Life”.  Since I don’t speak Italian I looked it up.  I can’t find that word anywhere, and when you put it into some translation web sites, music of life translates to ‘musica di vita’.  Notaviva doesn’t come up as anything.  Nota means famous, viva means it lives.  Nota di musica means music notes.  Musica means music.  So I don’t get it.  Perhaps they just made the translation fit what they wanted it to and thought Notaviva sounded better than Musica di Vita Vineyards.  They name their wines according to different types of music, so If they didn’t make it work maybe they would have needed to figure something else out.  Who knows.  This show is getting boring.

Quick check in

Project Runway

Kenley sucks.  Should have listened to Tim.  I told you the man knows what he is talking about.

Leanne is the winner.  I use the term ‘winner’ losely since it was a lackluster season.  If I see one more wavy petal I may puke.  Yuck.  Give me Korto’s “overdesigned” designs any day over that white and boring blue palette.

 

Grey’s Anatomy

Note to self:  If I ever get sick, do not go to Seattle Grace.  Death may work out better for me.  I don’t need a hospital where the staff is more worried about pimping it or where they are ranked or where they are living.  The veterinarian down the street may be a better option.

 

Knight Rider

I tried watching this show three times.  This was the first I have gotten through an entire episode.  Even KITT is disapointing.  That car better drive itself because it’s droning voice would put me asleep at the wheel.

 

Dream House

The house of dull.  Imagine that – delays, problems, trouble with the wine press.  Shannon Mackey is working too hard while pregnant and looks like crap and is worried about money.  Not a very exciting week.

 

Rock of Love Girls: Charm School

I love bad TV, and this is some good stuff.  Castoffs from the Rock of Love I & II seasons are here to learn from Sharon Osborne.  Deja Vu – Courtney gets drunk, passes out, and is kicked out.  It’s so bad, but my DVR knows if it’s bad tv, I’ll tune in.  Some need better manners, but all need more clothes.

What does it really take to create a vineyard?

Dream House

HGTV ~ Saturdays 7am ET

 

I have watched Dream House in previous seasons.  In one season it was a stay at home mom acting as her own contractor, trying to get a million dollar home built in Chicago area.  In another season it was a group of three young kids remodeling their dream home in California by trying to do all the work themselves while living there.

 

This season, filmed in 2006, we follow Stephen and Shannon Mackey and the building of their 4300 sq. ft. Notaviva Vineyards winery and dream house.  They have a delusion dream to become winemakers.  It came to them six years ago when they were at a wine tasting event at Breaux Vineyards Harvest Festival.  Shannon asked Stephen, “Do people really get to do this for a living?” to which he replied, “You wanna?”  So armed with a wine consultant and a loan, a winemaking we will go.  [FYI – A new grape vineyard will give you a small crop after three years and in seven years you may break even.]  From what we have learned so far, we don’t know if they have EVER made wine before.  That’s OK.  Why not borrow $1.2 million to get into a new hobby?  Sounds like a plan to me.

 

All of this is going on while working as full time event planners, raising 10 month old Tristan, being pregnant with baby number two, and living in a one bedroom home.

 

OK, the $1.2 million isn’t just for the hobby.  $820,000 is for the winery/dream house.  Built in Percelville on an abandoned 42 acre cattle ranch in northern Virginia, will be a 4300 sq. ft. winery/dream house.  All they were able to salvage from the site was an old corn shed.  The 200 year old farmhouse was too far gone to be saved, hence the building of the winery/dream house.  The winery/dream house is a timber frame structure designed by the couple.  It will have a 600 sq. ft. kitchen and wine tasting bar on the main level.  Above will be a catwalk open to the main floor for people to sit and enjoy their wine.  And the music loft will be where the live entertainment and music is.  The basement will have the main living quarters.  It will have the den, two bathrooms, three bedrooms, and au pair’s room, and will be closed to the public.  The couple is hoping to have lots of kids to fill the bedrooms.  I would think all those kids would come in quite handy around the vineyard.  Someone has to stomp the grapes, right?

 

The couple is using cost saving techniques as they go along.  In this week’s episode, they decided they would burn the debris of the main house instead of paying $55/ton to haul it away.  The main obstacle {and what would a reality show be without one?}of this week’s episode was drilling for water.  It costs $10/foot to drill a well, and there are no guarantees that they will reach water, or an acceptable flow.  At 480’ water was found but it was only at one gallon/minute.  This meets minimum code requirement, but in order to meet the needs of a vineyard/winery/dream house they will need more.  They continue drilling to 600’ and stop there.  The flow was still the same as it was at 480’ and it looks like they will need to drill another well at future date.

 

Beyond that, the building permit is delayed and Shannon finds out that she is three months pregnant.  So that means NO vineyard work due to all the herbicides/fungicides/pesticides they use.  It seems this dream has some nightmares too.

 

Next episode – adventures in winemaking.  They make [their first?] wine.