Candles in a man cave? Tony Siragusa is having none of it.
"What's up with the candles?" the former Ravens defensive tackle booms in mock (but not totally mock) indignation. "Where are the design girls? Yoo-hoo, design girls? You got candles in my man cave. I don't like them."
The crew filming an episode of the DIY Network's "Man Caves," in Baltimore to create a personal space for Charm City Cakes owner Duff Goldman, laughs a little nervously, and there's a flurry of activity as those responsible for the offending candles - both women, of course - are ferreted out. Designers Hilary Reuben and Becca Citrone stand their ground, however, and the candles stay.
"At least they're not scented," grumbles Siragusa, the show's say-anything co-host who rarely hesitates to mouth off about things he doesn't like. The rest of the crew smile and laugh. Minor crisis averted.
And so the work goes on. "Man Caves," airing Tuesday nights on DIY, offers guys the chance to get a space of their own, where they can be men, do manly things and not have to worry about what anyone else - especially anyone without a Y chromosome - thinks about it. Last week, co-hosts Siragusa and Jason Cameron (who's the licensed contractor here), along with their crew, spent two days in the basement of Charm City Cakes in Remington. The goal: turning a dingy 14-by-25-foot room into a space where chef Duff and his band, soihadto, can jam, record and otherwise hang out, preferably without traumatizing anyone else, not to mention all the yeast struggling to rise in the upstairs kitchen.
"A lot of times, we're practicing downstairs, and we make so much noise," says the confectionally proficient Goldman, host of "Ace of Cakes" on the Food Network. "We have big amps, and we're a loud band. When we're playing, my staff has to pretty much leave. These guys are going to help us fix that problem."
Any specifics Goldman is worried about? Not really. "It's definitely going to be a nice place to hang out, but its primary purpose is to work. We need a working space ... but still, it's got to be cool."
Cameron, who's been hosting the show since it debuted in 2007, is unfazed. He and his crew - electricians, designers, floor installers, security consultants, etc. - have built man caves for Snoop Dogg and for a group of soldiers stationed in Iraq. Sticking a man cave in the basement of a 119-year-old former Lutheran church, for a guy who bakes for a living?
