Well, I don't personally hate him. Don't even know the guy.

But that's the title of the latest piece by one of my favorite
columnists in the /Berkeley Daily Planet/, Matt Cantor, local owner of a
home-inspection business who writes a weekly column on home repair and
maintenance.

Here's a sample:

I do genuinely hate these specific shows: "Hometime," "This Old House"
and "The New Yankee Workshop." I hate them for one simple reason: they
make most people feel like idiots. Even if a show only demonstrates how
to build a basic chest of drawers, it does a lousy job of preparing the
average Joe or Joan for the task. In the end, the show provides nothing
more than boutique shopping and showing off. I suppose that would be a
lot of fun if you only want to learn that you—as a homeowner or stock
broker or bank clerk—know nothing about houses or furniture or nails and
that you’ll never stand a chance of doing more than hanging a picture on
the wall.

On shows like these, the jobs are made to look so darned easy. All the
materials are waiting for assembly and nothing is spoiled, the wrong
type or missing. The air gun never misfires and the compressor never
needs to be drained (yes, you have to drain compressors daily because
they fill up with water and will rust out if you don’t do so). That’s
another thing I hate: in actuality, there are many small details that
fill a contractor’s day (or your day when you play contractor) but
they’re neatly edited out, just as they are in a cooking show. Just pop
the raw one in the oven and Voila, the new freshly baked one comes right
out of the other oven.

(See article at
http://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue.../article/33531)


--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

David Nebenzahl wrote in
s.com:

Well, I don't personally hate him. Don't even know the guy.

But that's the title of the latest piece by one of my favorite
columnists in the /Berkeley Daily Planet/, Matt Cantor, local owner of
a home-inspection business who writes a weekly column on home repair
and maintenance.

Here's a sample:

I do genuinely hate these specific shows: "Hometime," "This Old
House" and "The New Yankee Workshop." I hate them for one simple
reason: they make most people feel like idiots. Even if a show only
demonstrates how to build a basic chest of drawers, it does a lousy
job of preparing the average Joe or Joan for the task. In the end,
the show provides nothing more than boutique shopping and showing
off. I suppose that would be a lot of fun if you only want to learn
that you—as a homeowner or stock broker or bank clerk—know nothing
about houses or furniture or nails and that you’ll never stand a
chance of doing more than hanging a picture on the wall.

On shows like these, the jobs are made to look so darned easy. All
the materials are waiting for assembly and nothing is spoiled, the
wrong type or missing. The air gun never misfires and the
compressor never needs to be drained (yes, you have to drain
compressors daily because they fill up with water and will rust out
if you don’t do so). That’s another thing I hate: in actuality,
there are many small details that fill a contractor’s day (or your
day when you play contractor) but they’re neatly edited out, just
as they are in a cooking show. Just pop the raw one in the oven and
Voila, the new freshly baked one comes right out of the other oven.

(See article at
http://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue.../article/33531)



So many of my thought he printed.

They do need a reality show along those lines! The one where the victim,
aka DIY'r, turns the wrench to losen the whatever and every pipe
connected to it twists like a transmission tower that Godzilla blew his
big bad Habanero breath on.

"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
s.com...
Well, I don't personally hate him. Don't even know the guy.

But that's the title of the latest piece by one of my favorite columnists
in the /Berkeley Daily Planet/, Matt Cantor, local owner of a
home-inspection business who writes a weekly column on home repair and
maintenance.

Here's a sample:

I do genuinely hate these specific shows: "Hometime," "This Old House"
and "The New Yankee Workshop." I hate them for one simple reason: they
make most people feel like idiots. Even if a show only demonstrates how
to build a basic chest of drawers, it does a lousy job of preparing the
average Joe or Joan for the task. In the end, the show provides nothing
more than boutique shopping and showing off. I suppose that would be a
lot of fun if you only want to learn that you—as a homeowner or stock
broker or bank clerk—know nothing about houses or furniture or nails and
that you’ll never stand a chance of doing more than hanging a picture on
the wall.

On shows like these, the jobs are made to look so darned easy. All the
materials are waiting for assembly and nothing is spoiled, the wrong
type or missing. The air gun never misfires and the compressor never
needs to be drained (yes, you have to drain compressors daily because
they fill up with water and will rust out if you don’t do so). That’s
another thing I hate: in actuality, there are many small details that
fill a contractor’s day (or your day when you play contractor) but
they’re neatly edited out, just as they are in a cooking show. Just pop
the raw one in the oven and Voila, the new freshly baked one comes right
out of the other oven.

Well, don't take this personally but for many of us the shows are equal
to or shallower to our learning curve. Basically we get ideas or learn how
to do a specific detail. We don't need to see the mistakes, we have that
part covered.
I feel that if the shows start with identifying the difference between a
board and a screw that 99.9% of the viewers would get bored very soon. Take
the "Router Workshop" for instance, same old routine over and over and over
and over..... Then I get fixated on the "knot" on the old man's head and all
I remember from that point is RRRRRRRRrrrrrrrr, bla bla bla, rrrrrrrr, bla
bla bla......
I believe for our society to gain knowledge and advance intellectually that
we should always challenge ourselves. I don't like the idea of dumbing down
a class or instructional video to the lowest common dominator of it's
students intelligence level. If the show seems a bit too advanced, take a
look at the other 95% of what is showing on the DIY channel or watch a
reality show.

On Aug 23, 4:25*pm, David Nebenzahl wrote:
Well, I don't personally hate him. Don't even know the guy.

But that's the title of the latest piece by one of my favorite
columnists in the /Berkeley Daily Planet/, Matt Cantor, local owner of a
home-inspection business who writes a weekly column on home repair and
maintenance.

Here's a sample:

* *I do genuinely hate these specific shows: "Hometime," "This Old House"
* *and "The New Yankee Workshop." I hate them for one simple reason: they
* *make most people feel like idiots. Even if a show only demonstrates how
* *to build a basic chest of drawers, it does a lousy job of preparing the
* *average Joe or Joan for the task. In the end, the show provides nothing
* *more than boutique shopping and showing off. I suppose that would be a
* *lot of fun if you only want to learn that you—as a homeowner or stock
* *broker or bank clerk—know nothing about houses or furniture or nails and
* *that you’ll never stand a chance of doing more than hanging a picture on
* *the wall.

* *On shows like these, the jobs are made to look so darned easy. All the
* *materials are waiting for assembly and nothing is spoiled, the wrong
* *type or missing. The air gun never misfires and the compressor never
* *needs to be drained (yes, you have to drain compressors daily because
* *they fill up with water and will rust out if you don’t do so). That’s
* *another thing I hate: in actuality, there are many small details that
* *fill a contractor’s day (or your day when you play contractor) but
* *they’re neatly edited out, just as they are in a cooking show. Just pop
* *the raw one in the oven and Voila, the new freshly baked one comes right
* *out of the other oven.

(See article athttp://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2009-08-20/article/33531)

--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

They are definately not woodworking for dummies shows but I get a lot
of good ideas from them. Most of us know it is going to take all day
to do one step in his .project that it takes 5 minutes to do on TV.
That is just just the reality of DIY hobby woodworking. Hell it took
me 4 months to build my wife a cedar chest. Now my daughter wants one
and expects me to have it built over a weekend. Now thats the problem
with those shows. I t gives unrealistic ideas to those who want you to
use your woodworking skills for them.

Jimmie

In ,
Red Green dropped this bit of wisdom:
David Nebenzahl wrote in
s.com:

Well, I don't personally hate him. Don't even know the guy.

But that's the title of the latest piece by one of my favorite
columnists in the /Berkeley Daily Planet/, Matt Cantor, local owner
of a home-inspection business who writes a weekly column on home
repair and maintenance.

Here's a sample:

I do genuinely hate these specific shows: "Hometime," "This Old
House" and "The New Yankee Workshop." I hate them for one simple
reason: they make most people feel like idiots. Even if a show
only demonstrates how to build a basic chest of drawers, it does
a lousy job of preparing the average Joe or Joan for the task. In
the end, the show provides nothing more than boutique shopping
and showing off. I suppose that would be a lot of fun if you only
want to learn that you-as a homeowner or stock broker or bank
clerk-know nothing about houses or furniture or nails and that
you'll never stand a chance of doing more than hanging a picture
on the wall.

On shows like these, the jobs are made to look so darned easy. All
the materials are waiting for assembly and nothing is spoiled, the
wrong type or missing. The air gun never misfires and the
compressor never needs to be drained (yes, you have to drain
compressors daily because they fill up with water and will rust
out if you don't do so). That's another thing I hate: in
actuality, there are many small details that fill a contractor's
day (or your day when you play contractor) but they're neatly
edited out, just as they are in a cooking show. Just pop the raw
one in the oven and Voila, the new freshly baked one comes right
out of the other oven.

(See article at
http://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue.../article/33531)



So many of my thought he printed.

They do need a reality show along those lines! The one where the
victim, aka DIY'r, turns the wrench to losen the whatever and every
pipe connected to it twists like a transmission tower that Godzilla
blew his big bad Habanero breath on.

We got one on H&G.

It's called "Holmes on Homes".

He is always dumping on the previous "contractor" who either didn't finish of screwed up royally but still managed to make off with a ton of money.

P D Q

In ,
JIMMIE dropped this bit of wisdom:
On Aug 23, 4:25 pm, David Nebenzahl wrote:
Well, I don't personally hate him. Don't even know the guy.

But that's the title of the latest piece by one of my favorite
columnists in the /Berkeley Daily Planet/, Matt Cantor, local owner
of a home-inspection business who writes a weekly column on home
repair and maintenance.

Here's a sample:

I do genuinely hate these specific shows: "Hometime," "This Old
House"
and "The New Yankee Workshop." I hate them for one simple reason:
they
make most people feel like idiots. Even if a show only demonstrates
how
to build a basic chest of drawers, it does a lousy job of preparing
the average Joe or Joan for the task. In the end, the show provides
nothing
more than boutique shopping and showing off. I suppose that would be
a
lot of fun if you only want to learn that you—as a homeowner or stock
broker or bank clerk—know nothing about houses or furniture or nails
and that you’ll never stand a chance of doing more than hanging a
picture on
the wall.

On shows like these, the jobs are made to look so darned easy. All
the materials are waiting for assembly and nothing is spoiled, the
wrong
type or missing. The air gun never misfires and the compressor never
needs to be drained (yes, you have to drain compressors daily because
they fill up with water and will rust out if you don’t do so). That’s
another thing I hate: in actuality, there are many small details that
fill a contractor’s day (or your day when you play contractor) but
they’re neatly edited out, just as they are in a cooking show. Just
pop
the raw one in the oven and Voila, the new freshly baked one comes
right
out of the other oven.

(See article
athttp://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2009-08-20/article/33531)

--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

They are definately not woodworking for dummies shows but I get a lot
of good ideas from them. Most of us know it is going to take all day
to do one step in his .project that it takes 5 minutes to do on TV.
That is just just the reality of DIY hobby woodworking. Hell it took
me 4 months to build my wife a cedar chest. Now my daughter wants one
and expects me to have it built over a weekend. Now thats the problem
with those shows. I t gives unrealistic ideas to those who want you to
use your woodworking skills for them.

Jimmie

You probably can get it built over a weekend.

Just don't tell her which one. LOL

P D Q

On Aug 23, 3:25*pm, David Nebenzahl wrote:
Well, I don't personally hate him. Don't even know the guy.

But that's the title of the latest piece by one of my favorite
columnists in the /Berkeley Daily Planet/, Matt Cantor, local owner of a
home-inspection business who writes a weekly column on home repair and
maintenance.

Here's a sample:

* *I do genuinely hate these specific shows: "Hometime," "This Old House"
* *and "The New Yankee Workshop." I hate them for one simple reason: they
* *make most people feel like idiots. Even if a show only demonstrates how
* *to build a basic chest of drawers, it does a lousy job of preparing the
* *average Joe or Joan for the task. In the end, the show provides nothing
* *more than boutique shopping and showing off. I suppose that would be a
* *lot of fun if you only want to learn that you—as a homeowner or stock
* *broker or bank clerk—know nothing about houses or furniture or nails and
* *that you’ll never stand a chance of doing more than hanging a picture on
* *the wall.

* *On shows like these, the jobs are made to look so darned easy. All the
* *materials are waiting for assembly and nothing is spoiled, the wrong
* *type or missing. The air gun never misfires and the compressor never
* *needs to be drained (yes, you have to drain compressors daily because
* *they fill up with water and will rust out if you don’t do so). That’s
* *another thing I hate: in actuality, there are many small details that
* *fill a contractor’s day (or your day when you play contractor) but
* *they’re neatly edited out, just as they are in a cooking show. Just pop
* *the raw one in the oven and Voila, the new freshly baked one comes right
* *out of the other oven.

(See article athttp://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2009-08-20/article/33531)

--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

Its a Show, you are to only get ideas from it, or do you think they
should spend alot of their time scraping paint, taping, cutting etc,
then it would be boring and off tv. I bet they make a very good
living, and thats why they do it.

On 2009-08-23, David Nebenzahl wrote:

I do genuinely hate these specific shows: "Hometime," "This Old House"
and "The New Yankee Workshop." I hate them for one simple reason: they
make most people feel like idiots.

I don't know about that.

average Joe or Joan for the task. In the end, the show provides nothing
more than boutique shopping and showing off.

That's my bitch. Let's make a box. Here, we have my new nuclear
powered, laser guided, atomic clock timed, whiz bang hand saw........
The last episode of This Old House I watched, in disgust, a huge crane
and crew of 10 lowered pre-stressed concrete walls into the basement
of the rustic cabin, which they had apparently completely dismantled
and stored away in a climate controlled warehouse, somewheres. And
Yankee Workshop. "Today we will show you how to construct and use
this pre-Columbian horse drawn hand plane........"

That was the old PBS stuff. Today's DIY is much better. I tuned in
for the much needed "deck" episode. "Here's the old deck. Sucks,
doesn't it. Here's our crew of twenty. Look at'em go! Done. Tune
in next week" WTF!

I get more info here, in a day, than I got from years of watching
those useless shows.

What I've been looking for, and have only been teased, is a dead
simple, dirt cheap, outdoor woodfired bread/pizza oven. Apparently
the Ancients could build millions of them for centuries using only
dirt, water, spit and elbow grease, but for some reason, now it's
utterly impossible with anything short of $1500 worth of brick and
mortar and another $129 for plans. Not sure if I need the whiz bang
hand saw.

nb

David Nebenzahl wrote:
Well, I don't personally hate him. Don't even know the guy.

But that's the title of the latest piece by one of my favorite
columnists in the /Berkeley Daily Planet/, Matt Cantor, local owner of a
home-inspection business who writes a weekly column on home repair and

What do you expect? It's Berkeley, where the odds of using any tool
for its intended purpose (as opposed for deviant sexual practices
between consenting gophers) is next to nothing. They are good at
"building" Molotovs and joints there, I have to admit ...



maintenance.

Here's a sample:

I do genuinely hate these specific shows: "Hometime," "This Old House"
and "The New Yankee Workshop." I hate them for one simple reason: they
make most people feel like idiots. Even if a show only demonstrates how
to build a basic chest of drawers, it does a lousy job of preparing the
average Joe or Joan for the task. In the end, the show provides nothing
more than boutique shopping and showing off. I suppose that would be a
lot of fun if you only want to learn that you—as a homeowner or stock
broker or bank clerk—know nothing about houses or furniture or nails and
that you’ll never stand a chance of doing more than hanging a picture on
the wall.

On shows like these, the jobs are made to look so darned easy. All the
materials are waiting for assembly and nothing is spoiled, the wrong
type or missing. The air gun never misfires and the compressor never
needs to be drained (yes, you have to drain compressors daily because
they fill up with water and will rust out if you don’t do so). That’s
another thing I hate: in actuality, there are many small details that
fill a contractor’s day (or your day when you play contractor) but
they’re neatly edited out, just as they are in a cooking show. Just pop
the raw one in the oven and Voila, the new freshly baked one comes right
out of the other oven.

(See article at
http://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue.../article/33531)




--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tim Daneliuk
PGP Key: http://www.tundraware.com/PGP/

"notbob" wrote in message
...
On 2009-08-23, David Nebenzahl wrote:

I do genuinely hate these specific shows: "Hometime," "This Old House"
and "The New Yankee Workshop." I hate them for one simple reason: they
make most people feel like idiots.

I don't know about that.

average Joe or Joan for the task. In the end, the show provides
nothing
more than boutique shopping and showing off.

That's my bitch. Let's make a box. Here, we have my new nuclear
powered, laser guided, atomic clock timed, whiz bang hand saw........
The last episode of This Old House I watched, in disgust, a huge crane
and crew of 10 lowered pre-stressed concrete walls into the basement
of the rustic cabin, which they had apparently completely dismantled
and stored away in a climate controlled warehouse, somewheres. And
Yankee Workshop. "Today we will show you how to construct and use
this pre-Columbian horse drawn hand plane........"

That was the old PBS stuff. Today's DIY is much better. I tuned in
for the much needed "deck" episode. "Here's the old deck. Sucks,
doesn't it. Here's our crew of twenty. Look at'em go! Done. Tune
in next week" WTF!

I get more info here, in a day, than I got from years of watching
those useless shows.

What I've been looking for, and have only been teased, is a dead
simple, dirt cheap, outdoor woodfired bread/pizza oven. Apparently
the Ancients could build millions of them for centuries using only
dirt, water, spit and elbow grease, but for some reason, now it's
utterly impossible with anything short of $1500 worth of brick and
mortar and another $129 for plans. Not sure if I need the whiz bang
hand saw.



*I've seen at a couple of festivals in NJ a restored 1930's truck with a
wood fired pizza oven mounted on back. The guy makes delicious fresh
gourmet pizza. I can't remember the name of the company.

"Red Green" wrote in message
...
David Nebenzahl wrote in
s.com:


They do need a reality show along those lines! The one where the victim,
aka DIY'r, turns the wrench to losen the whatever and every pipe
connected to it twists like a transmission tower that Godzilla blew his
big bad Habanero breath on.

They already have it... Renovation Realities on HGTV. I thought I'd see or
heard about every wrong way there was to do things until I saw this show!
The failings of man are clearly unlimited! LOL

John

On Sun, 23 Aug 2009 13:25:43 -0700, David Nebenzahl
wrote:

Well, I don't personally hate him. Don't even know the guy.

But that's the title of the latest piece by one of my favorite
columnists in the /Berkeley Daily Planet/, Matt Cantor, local owner of a
home-inspection business who writes a weekly column on home repair and
maintenance.

Here's a sample:

I do genuinely hate these specific shows: "Hometime," "This Old House"
and "The New Yankee Workshop."

First off I don't think it's fair to lump Hometime in with TOH. The
latter no longer offers any educational value whatsoever while the
former does a pretty good job. And they have even spent time showing
how to assemble knock down cabinets, so if that's over their heads
then please don't ever let them touch a hammer. In any case the idea
is really to give the homeowner some idea of what goes on so they are
better able to ask the right questions of the pros, not necessarily to
make them able to do it themselves.

Norm, well I doubt I would be where I am today if it weren't for him.
Sure everything always goes swimmingly for him, and really you learn
the most from your mistakes and by never showing anything going wrong
that opportunity is never presented. As the saying goes, the
difference between an amateur and a pro is the pro knows how to fix
his mistakes. But for the format of the show it just isn't feasible.

There's a lot of accumulation of knowledge that has to happen. If
Norm makes it look easy and people try and give up, that really isn't
Norm's fault. But if he gives you a look at what is possible and you
find your own way from there, that's a good thing. There's a lot of
well equipped shops out there with everything but someone who knows
what to do with it, but that's true of every hobby.

-Kevin

David Nebenzahl wrote:
Well, I don't personally hate him. Don't even know the guy.

[snip]

As has been written here many times, Norm probably didn't frighten
Maloof or Krenov a whole lot. We all wince when the glue bottle, the
brad nailer, or the poly brush come out, but he probably had more
influence on the popularity of hobby woodworking than anybody. Even if
a fan never brandishes a jig saw in anger, there can be an appreciation
of the effort (and talent) involved involved in making a decent bench or
dresser and that can't be bad for those trying to make a buck.

mahalo,
jo4hn

ransley wrote in
:

On Aug 23, 3:25*pm, David Nebenzahl wrote:
Well, I don't personally hate him. Don't even know the guy.

But that's the title of the latest piece by one of my favorite
columnists in the /Berkeley Daily Planet/, Matt Cantor, local owner
of a home-inspection business who writes a weekly column on home
repair and maintenance.

Here's a sample:

* *I do genuinely hate these specific shows: "Hometime," "This Old Ho
use"
* *and "The New Yankee Workshop." I hate them for one simple reason:
they
* *make most people feel like idiots. Even if a show only demonstrate
s how
* *to build a basic chest of drawers, it does a lousy job of preparin
g the
* *average Joe or Joan for the task. In the end, the show provides no
thing
* *more than boutique shopping and showing off. I suppose that would
be a
* *lot of fun if you only want to learn that you—as a homeowner or
stock
* *broker or bank clerk—know nothing about houses or furniture or n
ails and
* *that you’ll never stand a chance of doing more than hanging a pi
cture on
* *the wall.

* *On shows like these, the jobs are made to look so darned easy. All
the
* *materials are waiting for assembly and nothing is spoiled, the wro
ng
* *type or missing. The air gun never misfires and the compressor nev
er
* *needs to be drained (yes, you have to drain compressors daily beca
use
* *they fill up with water and will rust out if you don’t do so). T
hat’s
* *another thing I hate: in actuality, there are many small details t
hat
* *fill a contractor’s day (or your day when you play contractor) b
ut
* *they’re neatly edited out, just as they are in a cooking show. J
ust pop
* *the raw one in the oven and Voila, the new freshly baked one comes
right
* *out of the other oven.

(See article
athttp://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2009-08-20/article/33
531)

--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

Its a Show, you are to only get ideas from it, or do you think they
should spend alot of their time scraping paint, taping, cutting etc,
then it would be boring and off tv. I bet they make a very good
living, and thats why they do it.


Yea but at least once in a while, ya know..like first Saturday of the
month or something, show a DIY roofer plug a nail into his kneecap. Make
a nice lead-in to removing it on the Operation show..

Tim Daneliuk wrote:
David Nebenzahl wrote:
Well, I don't personally hate him. Don't even know the guy.

But that's the title of the latest piece by one of my favorite
columnists in the /Berkeley Daily Planet/, Matt Cantor, local owner
of a home-inspection business who writes a weekly column on home
repair and

What do you expect? It's Berkeley, where the odds of using any tool
for its intended purpose (as opposed for deviant sexual practices
between consenting gophers) is next to nothing. They are good at
"building" Molotovs and joints there, I have to admit ...

LOL, those were my thoughts exactly. Someone from Berzerkely finding
something to whine about, yeah, why am I not all that surprised?

Jon (who also enjoys watching NASA launch rockets into space, and doesn't
feel that incompetence should be encouraged to make idiots feel better about
themselves).

On 2009-08-23, Red Green wrote:

Yea but at least once in a while, ya know..like first Saturday of the
month or something, show a DIY roofer plug a nail into his kneecap. Make
a nice lead-in to removing it on the Operation show..

LOL......

You kid, but.... My late brother, a master carpenter, DID put a 16 box
through the last 3 fingers of his hammer hand w/ a nail gun.
Amazingly, missed all bones. He was hand hammer framing within a week.

nb

On 2009-08-23, Dave Balderstone wrote:


Have you seen this one?

http://mha-net.org/docs/v8n2/wildac07b.htm

Lots mo

http://mha-net.org/html/lyle/lyle01.htm

I can imagine the materials bill for either of them.


(no bricks!)
http://mha-net.org/html/lyle/lyle04.htm
http://www.geocities.com/mosesrocket/

Now this is more like it. I'll definitely check out both sites,
specially the masonary heater site. Thank you.

nb

"David Nebenzahl" wrote:

snip
I do genuinely hate these specific shows: "Hometime," "This Old
House"
and "The New Yankee Workshop." I hate them for one simple reason:
they
make most people feel like idiots. Even if a show only
demonstrates how
to build a basic chest of drawers, it does a lousy job of
preparing the
average Joe or Joan for the task.
snip

Trying to lump the NYW with the rest of these DIY operations is like
trying to compare a VW bug with a race car.

Personally I wouldn't consider building more than maybe 20% of Norm's
projects; however, every one of his projects illustrates at least one
new method to solve a problem that is unique.

The specialized fixtures, and some very interesting problem solutions
using a lathe, are just a couple of things that come to mind.

Yes, that damn brad nailer drives me nuts, yes he is dangerous with a
paint brush in his hand, but the shows are well written, the camera
work is quite good and the plans I have purchased were complete and
quite useful.

OTOH, most of the rest of these DIY shows are little more than shills
for the remodeling industry or totally inept wood butchers.

Lew


Te

notbob wrote:

What I've been looking for, and have only been teased, is a dead
simple, dirt cheap, outdoor woodfired bread/pizza oven. Apparently
the Ancients could build millions of them for centuries using only
dirt, water, spit and elbow grease, but for some reason, now it's
utterly impossible with anything short of $1500 worth of brick and
mortar and another $129 for plans. Not sure if I need the whiz bang
hand saw.

nb

Mother Earth News has plans on how to do this.


http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It...arth-Oven.aspx

David Nebenzahl wrote:

On shows like these, the jobs are made to look so darned easy. All
the materials are waiting for assembly and nothing is spoiled, the
wrong type or missing. The air gun never misfires and the
compressor never needs to be drained (yes, you have to drain
compressors daily because they fill up with water and will rust out
if you don’t do so). That’s another thing I hate: in actuality,
there are many small details that fill a contractor’s day (or your
day when you play contractor) but they’re neatly edited out, just
as they are in a cooking show. Just pop the raw one in the oven and
Voila, the new freshly baked one comes right out of the other oven.

This really misses the point. Shows like TOH aren't meant to provide
all-encompassing A-Z instruction for people who have never held a hammer in
their entire lives, that's probably not possible on TV as there are too many
things people have to experience themselves to really understand. They know
there are some things we'll pick up quickly (that's why they have experts
who coach the homeowners through the basics) while there are more
complicated jobs aimed at those who already know the difference between a
jigsaw and a drill press.

Watching a video isn't a substitute for having the tool in your own hands
and learning how to use it via the time-honored method of making mistakes.
TOH and similar shows provide ideas to people with some experience of using
tools, with tips and guidance to made the job easier, and frankly with
inspiration--"Hey, I think I could do that." Expecting such a show to teach
someone how to tie their shoes and wipe their nose is ridiculous, that isn't
the purpose. Anyone who has done household repairs and upgrades knows it
will take a lot longer and involve a few mistakes as compared to a TV show,
who believes otherwise?

NYW is a whole different animal, it's aimed at people who already have a
garage full of tools and some idea of how to use them--that Norm appears on
both shows is irrelevant. Seriously, who expects things to go together as
easily as Tommy or Norm make it look? What a misplaced complaint, but if
the guy gets paid to write such foolishness I suppose he's laughing all the
way to the bank.

On 2009-08-23, sbnjhfty wrote:

Mother Earth News has plans on how to do this.


http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It...arth-Oven.aspx

Excellent. Not as detailed as I could wish, but enough to give me
solid ideas in right direction. Thank you.

Funny you should find it in MEN. I read that magazine for years after
its first issue. Musta given away a few hundred copies. Glad that
stuff is online.

nb

On Sun, 23 Aug 2009 16:03:21 -0500, Red Green
wrote:

David Nebenzahl wrote in
rs.com:

Well, I don't personally hate him. Don't even know the guy.

But that's the title of the latest piece by one of my favorite
columnists in the /Berkeley Daily Planet/, Matt Cantor, local owner of
a home-inspection business who writes a weekly column on home repair
and maintenance.

Here's a sample:

I do genuinely hate these specific shows: "Hometime," "This Old
House" and "The New Yankee Workshop." I hate them for one simple
reason: they make most people feel like idiots. Even if a show only
demonstrates how to build a basic chest of drawers, it does a lousy
job of preparing the average Joe or Joan for the task. In the end,
the show provides nothing more than boutique shopping and showing
off. I suppose that would be a lot of fun if you only want to learn
that you—as a homeowner or stock broker or bank clerk—know nothing
about houses or furniture or nails and that you’ll never stand a
chance of doing more than hanging a picture on the wall.

On shows like these, the jobs are made to look so darned easy. All
the materials are waiting for assembly and nothing is spoiled, the
wrong type or missing. The air gun never misfires and the
compressor never needs to be drained (yes, you have to drain
compressors daily because they fill up with water and will rust out
if you don’t do so). That’s another thing I hate: in actuality,
there are many small details that fill a contractor’s day (or your
day when you play contractor) but they’re neatly edited out, just
as they are in a cooking show. Just pop the raw one in the oven and
Voila, the new freshly baked one comes right out of the other oven.

(See article at
http://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue.../article/33531)



So many of my thought he printed.

They do need a reality show along those lines! The one where the victim,
aka DIY'r, turns the wrench to losen the whatever and every pipe
connected to it twists like a transmission tower that Godzilla blew his
big bad Habanero breath on.

I hope the DIY's come out on the Internet. I have already seen some
pretty useful ones.

What I really want to see is something you have to bring home and
assemble that comes with a link where you can watch the assembly of
the exact product on the Internet.

They do need a reality show along those lines! The one where the victim,
aka DIY'r, turns the wrench to losen the whatever and every pipe
connected to it twists like a transmission tower that Godzilla blew his
big bad Habanero breath on.

That's almost been done (remember "Home Improvement?")

The problem with PBS is that it gets a lot of "donations" from the folks who
make stuff they install. If they make it look too bad or hard the
effective sponsors will not be happy.

On 2009-08-23, DGDevin wrote:

TOH and similar shows provide ideas to people with some experience of using
tools, with tips and guidance to made the job easier, and frankly with
inspiration--"Hey, I think I could do that."

Nonsense. In the later shows, it was just getting ridiculous.
Insanely expensive hi-tech options that any home owner, renovating or
not, if they were well off enough to afford it, they were at a level
where they probably didn't give a good goddamn about the technical
merits/details. Just, "Here's my account. When will it be finished?"
There was often no owner even on camera, just what's-his-face and the
contractor. "Well Rick, tell us about these new boron fiber
impregnated laminates. I understand they're the exact same ones used
in the latest space shuttle toilet paper."

Sure pal. I'll take a dozen to go.

nb

On Sun, 23 Aug 2009 15:42:10 -0700, "Jon Danniken"
wrote:

Tim Daneliuk wrote:
David Nebenzahl wrote:
Well, I don't personally hate him. Don't even know the guy.

But that's the title of the latest piece by one of my favorite
columnists in the /Berkeley Daily Planet/, Matt Cantor, local owner
of a home-inspection business who writes a weekly column on home
repair and

What do you expect? It's Berkeley, where the odds of using any tool
for its intended purpose (as opposed for deviant sexual practices
between consenting gophers) is next to nothing. They are good at
"building" Molotovs and joints there, I have to admit ...

LOL, those were my thoughts exactly. Someone from Berzerkely finding
something to whine about, yeah, why am I not all that surprised?

Jon (who also enjoys watching NASA launch rockets into space, and doesn't
feel that incompetence should be encouraged to make idiots feel better about
themselves).


It is pretty sad that part of the launch reporters feel the need to
report that nothing is falling off the shuttle, though.

notbob wrote:
On 2009-08-23, sbnjhfty wrote:

Mother Earth News has plans on how to do this.


http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It...arth-Oven.aspx

Excellent. Not as detailed as I could wish, but enough to give me
solid ideas in right direction. Thank you.

Funny you should find it in MEN. I read that magazine for years after
its first issue. Musta given away a few hundred copies. Glad that
stuff is online.

nb

I haven't built one but I plan to. I think the key to success is
making sure you have enough sand in the mix to control shrinkage.
Otherwise when it dries it will crack and it will fall apart possibly
into what you are cooking.

notbob wrote:
On 2009-08-23, sbnjhfty wrote:

Mother Earth News has plans on how to do this.


http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It...arth-Oven.aspx

Excellent. Not as detailed as I could wish, but enough to give me
solid ideas in right direction. Thank you.

Funny you should find it in MEN. I read that magazine for years after
its first issue. Musta given away a few hundred copies. Glad that
stuff is online.

nb

MEN has an archive CD available and it's only $60. It goes back to
1970...

http://www.motherearthnews.com/shopp...temnumber=3629

notbob wrote in
:

On 2009-08-23, Red Green wrote:

Yea but at least once in a while, ya know..like first Saturday of the
month or something, show a DIY roofer plug a nail into his kneecap.
Make a nice lead-in to removing it on the Operation show..

LOL......

You kid, but.... My late brother, a master carpenter, DID put a 16 box
through the last 3 fingers of his hammer hand w/ a nail gun.
Amazingly, missed all bones. He was hand hammer framing within a
week.

nb


I chose that bit because a guy I worked with did roofing on the side and
actually did it. Firemen brought him off the roof with a strap around his
thigh and lower leg to keep it from unbending it and moving. It was
pinned.

A 1-1/4 is a lot different than a 16 but then again, I never heard anyone
actually make a choice between the two.

On 2009-08-24, sbnjhfty wrote:

I haven't built one but I plan to. I think the key to success is
making sure you have enough sand in the mix to control shrinkage.
Otherwise when it dries it will crack and it will fall apart possibly
into what you are cooking.

My problem will be finding clay soil. Most my area is sandy porous.

nb

"Leon" wrote in message
I don't like the idea of dumbing down
a class or instructional video to the lowest common dominator of it's
students intelligence level.

I don't like the idea of dumbing it down too much either. There's plenty of
shows that do that already ~ shows that with a budget of .69 cents and some
decorative flair, anyone can drastically improve their home.

But, I do watch for two things. The first is the new idea, technique or tool
that I haven't seen before. And the second reason I watch is to get an idea
for building something. I'm certainly not the greatest woodworker out there,
but if I see some project I like, I'm advanced enough that I can usually run
with it and build my own modified version.

Did anyone catch the quote from the TV Show "House" about Norm?

House's oncologist friend Wilson was staying with him between
marriages. He noted surprise that House had New Yankee Workshop
marked as a favorite on his on-screen menu.

He said "Gee House, I never figured you as the woodworking type."

House responded (paraphrase): "Oh yeah. A total moron in a building
full of ultra-sharp woodworking machinery. As a physician, the
suspense is unbearable!"

But I still like Norm.

RonB

"Metspitzer" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 23 Aug 2009 16:03:21 -0500, Red Green
wrote:

I hope the DIY's come out on the Internet. I have already seen some
pretty useful ones.

What I really want to see is something you have to bring home and
assemble that comes with a link where you can watch the assembly of
the exact product on the Internet.


Do you think that a Chinese instructional video is going to help much? LOL

"Dave Balderstone" wrote in message
news:230820091638432433%dave@N_O_T_T_H_I_Sbalderst one.ca...
In article , notbob
wrote:

What I've been looking for, and have only been teased, is a dead
simple, dirt cheap, outdoor woodfired bread/pizza oven. Apparently
the Ancients could build millions of them for centuries using only
dirt, water, spit and elbow grease, but for some reason, now it's
utterly impossible with anything short of $1500 worth of brick and
mortar and another $129 for plans. Not sure if I need the whiz bang
hand saw.

Have you seen this one?

http://mha-net.org/docs/v8n2/wildac07b.htm



You think you can order the plans for the pizza cutter they were using? LOL

RonB wrote:
Did anyone catch the quote from the TV Show "House" about Norm?

House's oncologist friend Wilson was staying with him between
marriages. He noted surprise that House had New Yankee Workshop
marked as a favorite on his on-screen menu.

He said "Gee House, I never figured you as the woodworking type."

House responded (paraphrase): "Oh yeah. A total moron in a building
full of ultra-sharp woodworking machinery. As a physician, the
suspense is unbearable!"

But I still like Norm.

RonB
Norm is a machinist that happens to work in wood rather than metal. For
a few shows, they made of point of explaining how some steps could be
done with normal tools versus the high-dollar specialty tools, but I
haven't seen that lately. But him and his buddy Tom are definitely
master carpenters, and if I was a (very) rich man, I'd happily hire them
both to build or rebuild a house for me. You can't fake that easy
familiarity with the tools, the materials, and the process. I grew up in
the business, and saw and worked with enough real carpenters and idiots,
to know the difference. Other than making me feel like an inadequate
klutz, watching the pros work was always an educational pleasure. Most
of them, unless they were on deadline, didn't mind me watching and
asking questions. I learned a lot from them.

I liked TOH much better in the early days, in spite of that idiot BV.
The projects had something to do with reality back then, and Norm was
still a working contractor. (Not sure if Tommy still is- I never see him
wearing the 'Silva Brothers' shirts any more.) They also had the owners
actually doing work back then, unlike most of the current 'This Old
Mansion' projects. The New Orleans arc a couple years ago had a little
of that old flavor, with some things actually going wrong. On the out of
town projects, they aren't involved as closely, and things still go
wrong that can't be edited out.

I think people bitching about the yuppification of TOH is why they
started the companion show, Ask TOH. Around here, that has basically
driven NYW off the schedule- I only trip across that a few times a year
any more, on the local PBS.

--
aem sends....

"Red Green" wrote in message
...
David Nebenzahl wrote in
s.com:

Well, I don't personally hate him. Don't even know the guy.

But that's the title of the latest piece by one of my favorite
columnists in the /Berkeley Daily Planet/, Matt Cantor, local owner of
a home-inspection business who writes a weekly column on home repair
and maintenance.

Here's a sample:

I do genuinely hate these specific shows: "Hometime," "This Old
House" and "The New Yankee Workshop." I hate them for one simple
reason: they make most people feel like idiots. Even if a show only
demonstrates how to build a basic chest of drawers, it does a lousy
job of preparing the average Joe or Joan for the task. In the end,
the show provides nothing more than boutique shopping and showing
off. I suppose that would be a lot of fun if you only want to learn
that you-as a homeowner or stock broker or bank clerk-know nothing
about houses or furniture or nails and that you'll never stand a
chance of doing more than hanging a picture on the wall.

On shows like these, the jobs are made to look so darned easy. All
the materials are waiting for assembly and nothing is spoiled, the
wrong type or missing. The air gun never misfires and the
compressor never needs to be drained (yes, you have to drain
compressors daily because they fill up with water and will rust out
if you don't do so). That's another thing I hate: in actuality,
there are many small details that fill a contractor's day (or your
day when you play contractor) but they're neatly edited out, just
as they are in a cooking show. Just pop the raw one in the oven and
Voila, the new freshly baked one comes right out of the other oven.

(See article at
http://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue.../article/33531)



So many of my thought he printed.

They do need a reality show along those lines! The one where the victim,
aka DIY'r, turns the wrench to losen the whatever and every pipe
connected to it twists like a transmission tower that Godzilla blew his
big bad Habanero breath on.


Or twists the wrench and every bad word the victim ever learned plus some
made up on the spot comes out of his mouth as he tries to stop the bleeding
and quell the pain ...

Jon Danniken wrote:
Tim Daneliuk wrote:
David Nebenzahl wrote:
Well, I don't personally hate him. Don't even know the guy.

But that's the title of the latest piece by one of my favorite
columnists in the /Berkeley Daily Planet/, Matt Cantor, local owner
of a home-inspection business who writes a weekly column on home
repair and
What do you expect? It's Berkeley, where the odds of using any tool
for its intended purpose (as opposed for deviant sexual practices
between consenting gophers) is next to nothing. They are good at
"building" Molotovs and joints there, I have to admit ...

LOL, those were my thoughts exactly. Someone from Berzerkely finding
something to whine about, yeah, why am I not all that surprised?

Jon (who also enjoys watching NASA launch rockets into space, and doesn't
feel that incompetence should be encouraged to make idiots feel better about
themselves).




Well, in fairness, Berzerkely did give us BSD Unix ... sort of ...
with the help of the best and brightest from the then Bell Labs crowd.
This ultimately gave us TCP/IP and the internet. The irony is that
this was funded by ARPA - the research arm of the Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil
government military technocrats. I wonder how many of the smelly
hippies stumbling against the cause of the day realized that their CS
department was building a technology infrastructure designed to be
survivable (by the military) in the face of nuclear exchange.

As to Norm - I rather like his show. I am smart enough to realize that
you do not build an armoire' in 22 minutes plus commercials, even with
every tool Porter Cable makes. I also don't much care for his
aesthetic sensibility. BUT ... it's nice to watch a master craftsman
doing his job. It's an good insight into how grown up WWing is done
for us relative rookies.



--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tim Daneliuk
PGP Key: http://www.tundraware.com/PGP/

notbob wrote:

TOH and similar shows provide ideas to people with some experience
of using tools, with tips and guidance to made the job easier, and
frankly with inspiration--"Hey, I think I could do that."

Nonsense. In the later shows, it was just getting ridiculous.
Insanely expensive hi-tech options that any home owner, renovating or
not, if they were well off enough to afford it, they were at a level
where they probably didn't give a good goddamn about the technical
merits/details. Just, "Here's my account. When will it be finished?"
There was often no owner even on camera, just what's-his-face and the
contractor. "Well Rick, tell us about these new boron fiber
impregnated laminates. I understand they're the exact same ones used
in the latest space shuttle toilet paper."

Of course they feature some razzle-dazzle stuff that no homeowner is likely
to be able to install himself, but that doesn't invalidate the basic premise
of the show. Many of us could handle framing or drywall or painting but
would think twice about trying serious plumbing or wiring. That's no
different than being unable to handle the high-tech stuff on today's shows,
it's just a matter of degree. I agree that the "This Old Mansion" thing is
sometimes carried too far, but the companies supplying that gee-whiz
technology help to pay for the show too. And five minutes later Tommy is
showing us how to install a garage door or sharpen a chisel--it ain't all
big-bucks high-tech stuff.

Tim Daneliuk wrote:

Well, in fairness, Berzerkely did give us BSD Unix ... sort of ...
with the help of the best and brightest from the then Bell Labs crowd.
This ultimately gave us TCP/IP and the internet. The irony is that
this was funded by ARPA - the research arm of the Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil
government military technocrats. I wonder how many of the smelly
hippies stumbling against the cause of the day realized that their CS
department was building a technology infrastructure designed to be
survivable (by the military) in the face of nuclear exchange.

There were certainly quite a few brilliant minds to came from that area at
the time, that is certain. Pioneering minds, embodying the spirit of the
West, as it were.


As to Norm - I rather like his show. I am smart enough to realize that
you do not build an armoire' in 22 minutes plus commercials, even with
every tool Porter Cable makes. I also don't much care for his
aesthetic sensibility. BUT ... it's nice to watch a master craftsman
doing his job. It's an good insight into how grown up WWing is done
for us relative rookies.

The thing I got from watching Norm was the intricacies of his jigs. While
the 30 seconds he showed using the jigs didn't illustrate the time spent in
creating and aligning the jigs, it still sparked the concept in my brain
that the prepwork was really the fundamental reason for success in making
things.

Jon

"DGDevin" wrote in message
m...
notbob wrote:

I agree that the "This Old Mansion" thing is
sometimes carried too far, but the companies supplying that gee-whiz
technology help to pay for the show too. And five minutes later Tommy is
showing us how to install a garage door or sharpen a chisel--it ain't all
big-bucks high-tech stuff.



PLUS! Tommy keeps us up to date on all the new Festool stuff!

On Aug 23, 11:29*pm, aemeijers wrote:
RonB wrote:
Did anyone catch the quote from the TV Show "House" about Norm?

House's oncologist friend Wilson was staying with him between
marriages. *He noted surprise that House had New Yankee Workshop
marked as a favorite on his on-screen menu.

He said "Gee House, I never figured you as the woodworking type."

House responded (paraphrase): "Oh yeah. *A total moron in a building
full of ultra-sharp woodworking machinery. *As a physician, the
suspense is unbearable!"

But I still like Norm.

RonB

Norm is a machinist that happens to work in wood rather than metal.

I think you are right. My father in law was a machinist for years and
then started doing wood. He and Norm have a lot in common in the way
they work.
While my father in law can turn out some really beautiful pieces often
there seems to be something missing. Maybe its that the lines are too
straight and the circles too machine perfectly round.

Jimmie