Archive for January, 2009

Rahul Chauhan asked:


(ARA) - “Reality” shows have saturated television programming, especially in the area of home and garden design. You can “trade spaces” with a neighbor, enlist a professional to recreate a high-end designer room on a budget or secretly call in a design team to remake a room as a surprise for a loved one. This makes for compelling television watching . . . especially when the transformed spaces and the shocked reactions of the room makeover “victims” are revealed. But these reality shows are not real. They do little to showcase the benefits of working with professional interior designers who can help you “trade spaces,” “change rooms” or “design on a dime,” but better.

Although some design show hosts have a formal education and professional background in interior design, many do not. The professional design talent would be the first to tell you that the magical world of television, with its strategic editing and instant gratification, is far different from the real world of interior design where good results require careful planning, patience and expectations.

Although a design show’s budget may be $500 to $1,000, that amount doesn’t include the cost of hiring and using professional labor. These shows have designers and multiple contractors on staff who make sure the inexpensive supplies are translated into aesthetically pleasing (although not necessarily functional, practical or safe) furniture, accessories, window treatments and wall coverings.

After watching episodes of these shows, some viewers may mistakenly believe that any home improvement project can be accomplished within a very limited price range and a smidgen of time, creating unrealistic expectations that can only lead to disappointment. Disillusionment will turn into delight, however, if you take the time to find and hire the right professional interior designer who can develop a design solution and practical budget specific to your needs.

Qualified interior designers can make a huge impact when it comes to home renovation and remodeling. Designers are creative problem solvers who can analyze lifestyles and needs, optimize traffic flow, organize and effectively use available spaces, select color palettes, and interpret personal preferences. And unlike most of the design reality shows, professional designers listen and adhere to their clients’ needs and preferences before recommending a design course to take.

If you are an avid “do-it-yourselfer,” a designer can set a cohesive renovation plan so you can tackle your own project efficiently, realistically and on budget. When a job is more complicated, a designer can assemble a team of specialists, provide access to a variety of resources that you might not be familiar with and seamlessly manage your entire project from beginning to end. Designers can be consulted for their skills and expertise at any level of need or any size or scope of project. You’ll find that the collaboration between homeowner and designer leads to tremendous results, which will exceed expectations. Best of all, you’ll be surprised at how little designer fees add to the overall renovation budget, especially when you factor in eliminating the risk of costly mistakes.

Design reality shows have made the world of interior design accessible to viewers of all ages, income levels and cultures. People are learning that a well-designed space increases functionality and contributes to a family’s sense of well being. You should view these shows as a source of inspiration and entertainment, but work with a professional interior designer to create a home you can live in and enjoy for years to come



Replica Panerai Watches

Erin Ryan asked:


This summer has seen some of the most interesting developments in the watch industry with designer watches leading the change in the watch fashion world. Designers watch labels like Dolce & Gabbana and DKNY launching summer ranges that wowed the public and have seen watch sales sore and now with other labels like Miss Sixty joining these well established brand names the choice on the high street this season has been even greater for the general public.

Women’s designer watches have really changed the consumer’s perception of watches this summer, with the likes of the Italian fashion legends Dolce & Gabbana launching their summer season styles in conjunction with Italy’s largest watch manufacture Binda Co to much acclaim.

Watches like the Turtle and the Prime Time have captured the essence of the Dolce & Gabbana wearer and have changed the way that the women look at designer watches. Women’s designer watches now double up as pieces of jewellery as well as timepieces.

Other companies have followed suit with the likes of Fossil launching a new range of DKNY watches which have all the wow factor you would expect from a product baring the DKNY name. With a strong presence of Swarovski crystal in the DKNY range this summer Fossil ltd have created watches that women will want and aspire to the likes of the NY3746 and the NY3950 DKNY’s womens designer watches have pushed the DKNY label further into the consumer mind and have made women want these watches.

This season’s new watches have come with high profile advertising campaigns both on the Television and in press. The use of the media gas pushed the designer brands into the public realm even more and has validated the designer brands importance in the watch industry.

Dolce & Gabbana open this season with sexually charged Television campaign which pushed the profile of D&G watches and particularly the Prime Time which has been difficult for retailer to keep on the shelf. Other companies like Police brought in the high profile figure of Antonio Bandarass and Breil have used high profile rock star JK and Eva.



Replica Bvlgari Watches

David Ansell asked:


There are millions of watches all over the world because consumers like to wear them

Thousands of watches are manufactured every year and it is up to the watch companies to design watches that they feel are going to sell. Every effort is put in to make sure the watch is as pretty and presentable as possible, amalgamating fancy colours and additional features on every model produced. The prettier the watch is to the human eye, the more likely it is that someone will purchase it.

There is no harm in saying consumers like to buy pretty watches, but looks are not enough. Each watch needs to be branded in the best light possible. Companies try to build their own brand as best as possible, creating a strong image and reputation that consumers can identify with. Big brands can pull this offer better than smaller ones as their name is more reputable and recognisable in the world. They have had a long and established history and have been producing top quality watches for many years. When people find a watch they like, the bigger the brand is makes it all the more harder to pull away.

Watches are sold in just about every jewellery shop in the UK. They can be found up and down the country in all kinds of areas. These may include the high street which is one of the most popular places for shopping activity. They may also be found in big shopping centres where a number of jewellery shops may be very close to each other. They may also be found in less inhabited places in the country, perhaps in little towns and villages. All shops are likely to have a large selection of watches as the desire for watches grows.

The watch market is continuing to become a very competitive marketplace fraught with competition, so much so that consumers are finding it more and more difficult to know which watch to choose. They want a trendy and fashionable watch, one that looks cool, but they also want one that looks nice and reflects their own personality. So to pick the right watch can take time. Whether that be time spent researching on the internet - going from one website to another and comparing different brands, styles, and prices - or from going into shop after shop on a sunny Saturday afternoon when there is no space to move and sales assistants are trying their best to earn a sale. Either way, finding the exact right watch can be very difficult.

No matter how visually appealing and how fashionable a watch is the watch is only really good for one thing, the time. As more and more people want to own the best watch they can afford they lose sight of the simple fact that the sole purpose of wearing a watch is to know the time. Despite this, consumers still search for the most popular watches, fashionable watches and desirable watches all the time. The choice is endless, and now more than ever, consumers have so many alternatives to choose from.



Replica Patek Philippe Watches

Alfred Thomson asked:


Why compromise for low end cheap replica watches which lose their glitter and be subjected to malfunctions? What a loss of reputation would it be if your replica watch is easily identified as a fake one once you have declared it to be an original? Why do we purchase a replica watch? The most probable answer is that the cost of the original designer watch is often beyond the reach of a common man. When a person can get a watch, which is a copy of original high end version in its looks and that too at an easily affordable price, it becomes irresistible not to have it. Our next question would obviously be which replica to trust. There are hordes of websites selling fake replica watches, so which ones to choose? In this context, the best solution would be to get a watch that looks precisely like an original, comes at a much lower price and all the while the quality of the watch is not compromised. Most of the people would prefer such a replica watch which retains its looks for a long period of time as well functions accurately.

In an online survey people were asked which watches were the most trustworthy and stood for quality? The overwhelming votes went in favor of Swiss watches. It is a very well known fact that Swiss watches are acclaimed internationally for their fine design and accuracy. We are presenting to you this unique combination of quality and designer looks through our exceptional collection of Replica Swiss Rolex Watches. These replicas are a matchless combination of Swiss quality and brand image of Rolexes.It is a dream of any person to adorn his/her wrist with a Rolex watch. Rolex watches are famous for their class looks and are being liked by the elite segment of the society. They are known to be status symbols. Thus, their pricing too is done keeping these factors in consideration. Their exorbitant price makes the dream to own them beyond the reach of common men. Here comes the opportunity of owning them at a much lesser price through Replica Swiss Rolex Watches.

The Swiss Rolex replica that you get from us is exact copy of the original Rolex. All the distinct markings and logos that make the originals special are religiously copied in these replicas. One can be rest assured that no one can mark these replica watches to be fake even on careful examination of the people around. The stainless steel used in the casing and the straps in our replica watches is of genuine quality, while most of the low end cheap models use metals coated with stainless steel. This results in the cheap end models losing their sheen in a very quick time.

There is good news for small time retailers too; we announce Swiss replica watch wholesale. You can get these quality watches at greatly discounted prices. One can also start a new business of retailing these watches and expect good profits.



Replica Panerai Watches

Jonathan Blocker asked:


New Designer Watches

movado womens watches are often welcome as gifts – but in some cases, have real symbolism. For example, in Spain, just like many other Western countries, it is traditional for men to present women with engagement rings when their proposals are accepted. However, Spanish women often return the gesture by presenting their future husbands with designer watches. This is only one of the more unique ways in which mens watches are presented as gifts.

A Short History

Designer watches and luxury watches have actually been around for about 500 years, although they were usually signs of status or a tool of one’s trade, as was the case for railroad mens’ pocket watches and dive watches. The first men’s watches appeared around the time of Martin Luther in the mid-16th Century; they were essentially miniature versions of the spring-wound wall clocks that had been invented less than a century earlier. Rather large and unwieldy, these early men’s watches were worn around the neck, fastened by a chain.

“Bracelet watches,” which were the first true wristwatches, were not mens watches at all; first appearing shortly after the American Civil War, they were actually intended to be worn by women. Men used pocket watches exclusively. It wasn’t until the invention of the airplane that it became necessary to develop a time piece that allowed pilots to tell time without removing their hands from the stick.

Louis Cartier, who later became well known for the production of luxury watches, was actually the first to come up with a practical mens watches designed to be worn on the wrist for the benefit of those early aviators.

Citizen watches are yet another famous name in luxury watches. These were first manufactured in 1918 by a Japanese company, Shoshoka Watch Institute, which changed its name in 1930. To this day, Citizen watches are considered some of the finest and most accurate timepieces in the world.

However, the standard by which true luxury watches are measured is Movado. Watches by this famous Swiss company have been famous since the first one came out in 1912. Movado diamond watches and Movado gold watches are known not only for exceptional quality, but for sleek, minimalist design. Women’s movado womens watches come in almost 100 different designs. Movado mens watches also come in many different designs – so if you are planning on presenting one as a gift, it may take you some time to decide on which one to buy!



Replica Bvlgari Watches

mirrorwatch asked:


A watch besides being the source of knowing time has now become a very valuable fashion accessory. Wearing an expensive and a branded watch is considered a symbol of prestige and status among people. But in reality not everyone can afford the hefty price tags associated with these designer watches. This desire of the people to wear designer watches as a fashion accessory and a status symbol initiated the trend of replica watches in the market.

Because of the advanced technology of the current times, it is hard to determine the difference between a real high-end product and its duplicate. Same is the case with Replica watches. Replica watches are reasonably priced timepieces that provide reliable timekeeping, a great variety of functions and distinctive design. These are in fact the clones of the original designer watches. Offering the same splendid features and looks, replica watches are specially designed for people who cannot afford to buy the original designer watches. There are many brands for which the replica timepieces are manufactured. Most prominent include Omega, Rolex, Cartier, and Breitling watches.

When we think of Breitling watches, excellence is the first word that comes into mind. The whole history of this popular brand is marked with incredible achievements and discoveries in the field of watch making. Its history can be traced back to the 19th century when Leon Breitling set himself an objective to manufacture high quality technical watches. From then onwards, it underwent a lot of concept and design changes and reached to its highest accomplishment when in 1936, Breitling signed an agreement with the Royal Air Force for supplying watches to British pilots. From then till now, Breitling is considered as one among the top manufacturers of watches in the world.

Being one of the best luxury watches, the Breitling watches are quite expensive. That is why, during the 80’s, Breitling replica watches started appearing in the market. These replica watches are very carefully crafted timepieces, very close to the original Breitling watches and quite affordable. These replica watches would fit any individual who appreciates style and technical reliability.

Breitling replica watches come in vast variety of design and colors. Those models of Breitling that are most often replicated include Breitling Sports, Breitling Crosswind, Breitling Aviator, Breitling Fighter and Breitling Navitimer. The precision and appealing dials are main components of Breitling replica watches. Other features that distinguish the different models of these replicas include water resistance, weight, the gold, jeweled movements, the stainless steel, the crystal and warranty.

The spectacular rise in the replica watches trend offers new challenges as the technology to duplicate watch designs has drastically improved and therefore the competition in the replica watches business has increased radically. Each company wants to sell the best replica watch and therefore tend to adopt ways to attract the watch lovers. The first thing they try to implement is the accuracy i.e. closeness to the original model. The designs, logos and features of the original watches are included in the replicas are included during the fabrication process. Another very important factor on which the companies emphasize is the quality of their replica watches. They make sure that besides being closer to the original in the looks, the quality of the replica watches does not get overlooked because buying the replica watch does not imply that there should be a compromise on quality of the product.

Therefore if you want to buy a Breitling watch for yourself or for the one you love and you also want it to be of first-rate quality and reasonably priced, then you will have to find high quality Breitling replica watches from reliable and reputable online sellers. For that you have to carry out proper research to find the online company that is best for you and offers high quality and precise replica watches. Because a replica watch from a reliable source can last a lifetime, without burning your pockets.



Replica Breitling Watches

Jerry Bader asked:


Taking Advantage of The Experience Factor

We read the newspaper, we watch television, and we listen to the radio, but we experience the Web; this is what makes ‘The Website’ one of the most powerful marketing tools available to today’s marketing executives. Unfortunately conventional wisdom has stifled the ‘experience factor’ on most website presentations.

Traditional circulation based advertising biases and pitch-mandated direct mail practices from metric-minded agencies have limited businesses’ ability to take advantage of the Web’s capacity to provide a more active, creative, and penetrating sensory experience aimed at furthering marketing objectives.

As consumers of information we all filter what our mind considers irrelevant. When we go to a website we quickly recognize where banner and text advertisements have been placed and proceed to ignore them for the rest of our visit. Even television ads are becoming increasing less effective, even as their cost increases. Yet people will watch and even look forward to creative, entertaining advertisements that capture our imagination and inform our ability to make better decisions about what we buy and who we buy from.

Does Anybody Really Know What Works?

It is easy to rely on after-the-fact number crunching and projected head-numbing statistics to justify how marketing campaigns are constructed rather than on the less predictable but more relevant elements of psychology and human nature. But do numbers really tell the true story, or are they just protect-your-butt justification designed to ease everyone’s mind when it comes time to commit to a budget?

Take the entertainment industry for example. Here is an industry that can tell you how many people watched a particular television show on a per minute basis. So if these and the other cerebral-cortex-boggling figures are so telling, why do networks have such a hard time delivering programs that people will watch; or do they yank new potentially successful shows off-the-air based on their initial numbers before they ever have a chance to find an audience?

Television is such an expensive medium, its practitioners have come to rely on seemly safe, tried, hackneyed old formula, knowing that it is easier to sell sponsors what used to work, even when they know there is little chance of it working again. The fact is nobody really knows what combination of stories, writers, actors and producers is going to capture the publics’ imagination.

So what does this have to do with Web-marketing? Everything. The Web is not an expensive production medium and that allows marketers to experiment with different techniques and creative. Unless your Web-business is a circulation-based advertising model, there is no reason to limit your creative marketing to worn-out concepts and number-based incentive formats that for the most part, no longer work.

Sensory and Experience Design Concepts

The essence of good advertising and its big brother marketing, is creative story telling; stories presented effectively, inform, persuade, and penetrate our consciousness based on their ability to tap into our sensory experiences. There has developed over the last few years two new approaches to design that acknowledge this powerful aspect of human nature: Sensory and Experience Design.

The implications of Sensory and Experience Design can be found in everything from product development to package design. When we talk about SenEx Design we are talking about how real people react to their experience with products and marketing presentations.

We experience the world through our senses: sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste. Stand in a supermarket and watch people shop for fruit and vegetables; they pick them up, squeeze them, turn them over and over looking for flaws, smell them, and if the store keeper isn’t looking they may even have a taste. When people buy a car, they look at the specifications listed in the brochure, but they still go to the showroom, kick the tires, run their hands along the shinny new paint, smell the leather interior, and take that sucker for a test drive to see how she handles. It’s all about experiencing the product through our senses – it’s that sensory experience that becomes imbedded in our memory.

To date most companies have lagged in their efforts to implement these new SenEx marketing communication approaches on their websites due to their obsession with search engine optimization issues that focus on the volume of traffic rather than the quality of the marketing message. Business seems to be stuck in a circulation-based advertising and mass-market mindset that runs contrary to the Web’s niche market ‘Long Tail’ nature and its ability to communicate by presenting information that appeals to a variety of senses.

Search Engine Optimization Issues

No one will argue with the desire of website owners to attract large numbers of viewers to their sites. But this desire has spawned an entire industry of people claiming to be able to provide website owners with the holy grail of search engine optimization: making it to the top spot in an organic search on your favorite search engine.

Not everyone willing to pay for an S.E.O. expert to optimize his or her site can be number one in an organic search. And of course there is the issue of paid search placement that trumps organic searches.

As fast as search engine optimization experts develop ways to beat the search engines, the experts at the search engines change their algorithms, and my money is on the guys at Google.

When it comes to search engine optimization consider the following important issues and questions:

1. Do the search engine tactics employed on your site degrade, obscure, or in some way diminish the ability of your website visitors to quickly find the information they want?

2. Do these search engine tactics impede your ability to effectively deliver your marketing message in a way that attracts attention, triggers relevant sensory experience, and embeds your message in your visitors’ memories?

3. Do tactics like outbound reciprocal links and inline body-text links send people away from your site when you want them to stick around and hear what you have to say?

4. Do you have excessive repetitive copy-text on your site aimed at being indexed by search engines rather than read by people for clear concise understanding?

5. Have you reduced your complex message or instructions to a series of bulleted points that confuse rather than clarify?

6. Do your search engine tactics concentrate on the volume of traffic rather than the quality?

7. Is the traffic you’re attracting leaving your site as fast as it’s arriving?

The lesson we should learn from SenEx Design concepts is that websites need to be designed for people not search engines. Delivering a clearly understandable marketing message is achieved by tapping into the psychological and emotional responses triggered by sensory experiences. That is how you need to communicate to an audience separated from you by the vast expanse of the Internet.

SenEx Web Design Using Audio and Video Techniques

People are hungry for information. In today’s fast-paced world the average person needs to constantly upgrade their knowledge of ever changing and more complex products and services. Things that were good for you yesterday today are harmful; products that don’t exist today will exist tomorrow. So it doesn’t matter if you are a homemaker, retiree, or a buyer for an international corporation, the need-to-know is constantly with us and it creates what Richard Saul Wurman has described as “Information Anxiety”.

We just don’t have the time to study everything we need-to-know or want-to-know that affects our business and personal lives. We need the information fast and in an easily digestible format. And we need that information presented in a way that will make it easy for us to retain it.

The power of Web-audio and video is their ability to illicit experiences by presenting information in a linear narrative that appeals to the senses of sound and sight. This ability attracts and focuses an audience’s attention on the material you want highlighted; it presents that material in an easily digestible format; it clarifies the meaning and significance of critical details; and it penetrates viewers’ consciousness so that the information is retained.

The following types of audio and video SenEx Web-presentations can be used to deliver a variety of material:

1. Web-commercials and Email Campaigns

2. Special Promotions and Product Offerings

3. Product Descriptions and Overviews

4. Testimonials and Reviews

5. How To Instructions and Tutorials

6. Frequently Asked Questions and Q&As

7. Expert Lectures, Analysis and Opinion

8. Background and History

9. Personality, Staff, and Business Profiles

Conclusion

We all have something we want to sell: a product, a service, a plan, an idea, or even ourselves. And anyone who has ever run a sales department will tell you the best way to sell is through human interaction and the best way to emulate that on a website is with Web-audio and video that uses Sensory and Experience Design techniques to deliver the message.



Replica Longines Watches

Abhishek Agarwal asked:


After the birth of your bundle of joy, if getting back into shape is right on top of your agenda, then you can think about picking up exercise videos for post pregnancy. These exercise videos are especially designed to enable you to shed all that flab and get your body back into great shape.

Midwives and gynecologists suggest watching these videos, which are presented by certified fitness instructors. It could be tough to come up with some extra time and effort, after childbirth, which is exactly why exercise videos for post pregnancy are just the right choice for you. You are at liberty to decide on the time that you can allot to exercise and the kind of exercise regime that you can take on at home. You could be feeling embarrassed about your figure and concerned about leaving your baby alone if you signed up for exercise classes.

In case you lead a hectic lifestyle and are not in a position to go to exercise classes, then purchasing an exercise video for post pregnancy is to your advantage. Postnatal exercise will assist you in bonding warmly with your little one and relieves any emotional mood swings you may be going through. There will be a significant boost in your energy levels, thus presenting you with more strength to handle the ups and downs of motherhood. If you follow the exercise videos on post pregnancy, you will be relieved of shoulder and backache brought about by delivery especially if you had to undergo a harrowing birth or caesarian section.

With this video, you can tone up your body, enhance your figure, and consequently build up your energy reserves to carry around your baby.

There are plenty of exercise videos for post pregnancy

for you to select from like Pilates and yoga. Quite a few of these videos elucidate on how to perform pelvic floor exercises that are quite necessary to prevent prolapses and incontinence that generally occur after childbirth. In addition, there are exercise videos for post pregnancy that are so designed that you can exercise with your baby. If a large family is what you have then, yoga may be ideal for you. Yoga enables you to unwind and lighten up after an eventful day and helps you feel good about yourself.

Once you have bought an exercise video for post pregnancy, there are some things to be borne in mind if you wish the exercise videos to be effective in realizing you goal. Draw up a regular schedule as to when you wish to exercise, selecting a time span when you are aware that the baby will be fast asleep or when your husband is back home to tend to the newborn. Slip on a comfortable brassiere, dress in stretchable clothes and wear trainers.

Gulp down lots of water, more so if you are still breastfeeding, and never try to do more than you can or should do. Begin your exercise routine with easy exercises, keeping in mind that you body is still recuperating from childbirth.

Albeit you can devote only 10 minutes every day, remember that you are getting your daily dose of exercise, which is good thing for your health and overall well-being.



Replica Gucci Watches

Frank Jones asked:


You probably have a bunch of simple questions you need answers to, if you are new to designer watches. Well that is exactly what we are going to do. This should be a good enough start off point that you can feel comfortable beginning your search, however, this is not going to be a comprehensive look at everything relating to designer watches.

Basic Designer Watch Questions And Answers

The first question most people have when buying designer watches is where to purchase them. While there is no simple answer to this question there are a few guidelines you can follow. The first is to not be afraid to buy on the Internet. There are many designer watches that you can only get directly from manufacturer in the U.S. In addition, many jewelers will mark up their products a lot so you can probably get the best price online. The only downside is that there are disreputable watch dealers out there so you have to be careful. The best thing to do is ask the dealer for a serial number. If they are unwilling to provide you a serial number, then move onto someone else. If they do provide you one check it with the manufacturer to assure that it is the genuine article.

What exactly does water resistant mean is another commom question often asked? Well it means exactly what is says, the watch is resistant to water but probably will fail at any depth.  For watches that are depth rated they will specifically say to what depth they are rated. Some watches are rated in bars, as one bar equals approximately thirty three feet of depth. This just means they are water resistant when watches say they are rated to three bars. Be careful. Contact the manufacturer to be absolutely sure of what your watch is rated.

Another often asked question, what is a unidirectional bezel? Simply put this is a marker that is put into place to mark time. In general this was used to mark the time for deep sea diving, but many of the higher end watches now have them on them for more stylistic purposes. Although their practical use is somewhat diminished today, they can be used to set reminders and mark when you want to do something.

Well there you have it, a look at some of the more common designer watches questions. I recommend going directly to the watch manufacturer if you have more specific questions. If you are unable to get a hold of them or unable to find the right answer, chances are they will not be able to provide you the service level you need in the future.



Replica Omega Watches

Titus Hoskins asked:


There is something totally appealing about Flipping Out, a Bravo TV reality show based on LA real estate speculator Jeff (I Can Still Move My Eyebrows) Lewis. Watching it is akin to taking a bath in the narcissistic, self-absorbed world that only a place like Southern California could produce. It is a visual and sensual homage to LaLa land and neo-narcissism; me to the power of a billion.

Home design as fodder for great comedy or should that be Greek tragedy? For there is something innately tragic about this program; maybe it’s the real human sentiment that’s running just beneath the surface of all that buying and flipping, not to mention all that firing and hiring.

It is also a testament to how far human evolution has progressed - where’s that meteorite when you need it? If Jeff Lewis is a symbol of how far we have come as a species - Darwin would not be amused; but then again, maybe he would be tickled pink - maybe this is just what we (mankind) rightly deserve.

Point is, Flipping Out is as entertaining as it gets. The characters are much more enjoyable than anything you will find on today’s hodge-podge of TV shows… only House comes anywhere close to capturing the quirkiness that is human nature at its finest.

Actually, it’s extremely hard to believe this reality show is not scripted. The characters are so odd-ball only a well marinated screenwriter could produce them in such abundance, or maybe real life in Southern California is such a magnet for eccentricity, anything is possible. Even then, to assemble them all in one reality show is a masterstroke, from Zoila the sassy Nicaraguan housekeeper to Chris the bumbling trash guy to the well-grounded partner Ryan - they all come across as solidly sketched and etched in our minds.

The only TV comparison that comes close to Flipping Out is Seinfeld. Perhaps this comparison is inevitable since Jeff’s sidekick and personal assistant Jenni bares an unnerving resemblance to Elaine. She calms Jeff down through one crisis after another… whether it be a foul-mouthed client, to removing human ***** left behind by renovation workers, to buying the next multi-million dollar property.

While Jeff has an obvious talent for finding run-down real estate properties and totally re-designing them into highly profitable ones - he is, without a doubt, one of the most selfish and self-absorbed people you will ever have the pleasure of viewing. Everything in this neatly controlled world centers around Jeff and Jeff’s needs. Ordering take-out (which is the show’s favorite past-time) takes on a whole new meaning in this reality show. Hundred and Forty Degree Coffee, Anyone?

Watching Flipping Out is highly addictive; like any good reality-based show we are drawn into the characters’ lives without any holdbacks. We see all of Jeff’s flaws magnified: his obsessive compulsive disorder, his childish behavior, his self-absorbed personality, his obsession with balance and detail… he makes Holmes on Homes look like an amateur DIY builder. Well, not really but they do share the same passion for true build-quality that’s totally reassuring in today’s mortgage closure wasteland, aka mainstreet USA.

Jeff gets no respect, at least not from his employees whom he treats more like personal slaves than anything resembling equal human beings. From Jeff’s own admission, he consider himself the biggest babysitter in all of California rather than an employer. That’s probably for the best because the way he treats his employees it’s amazing how anyone could work for him and keep their self-respect intact. Just make sure you quit before he fires you so that you can hold on to that last hanging chad of human dignity.

Why Jeff comes across as ultimately a very likable guy is a total mystery. Maybe deep down we see more of Jeff in ourselves and our own actions than any of us would like to believe or even admit to - through empathy comes compassion. Who doesn’t want to be a total selfish jerk every now and then? Hedonism does have its takers, and narcissism does have more than a bit of fascination for the inner child in all of us. OCD aside, Peter Pan and Jeff Lewis got it right; nobody ever really grows up.

Who would have imagined it, home design as a life-lesson for all of us. Only in a reality TV show could such profane silliness be captured and enjoyed. Don’t be bothered that you should be bothered that bothers you… just welcome yourself to Flipping Out.



Replica Roles Watches