No Thugs in Our House

I have decided that I will no longer perform post-mortem analyses of House episodes. Instead I shall devote every Wednesday morning to....POLKA!



Just kidding. I simply don't have time today to provide you with those cunning insights and thoughtful commentary you have come to expect in my House posts. Instead, I refer you to the excellent Polite Dissent. Enjoy!

Dog House

Last night's installment of House had our merry medical band discussing the ethical dilemma of allowing a patient to die. The medicine is analyzed thoroughly by the excellent Polite Dissent, so I will not go into it here (which works out, since I have no idea what I am talking about). The patient of the week is an elderly researcher who collapses while dissecting rats (who, in a nice "Twilight Zone" moment, take advantage of the situation and turn the tables on him). For various medical-sounding reasons, it looks bad for the researcher. He wants to die, preferrably assisted by a giant dose of morphine.

Chase is for it, Cameron is against it, and Foreman is against it but not emphatically so. House strikes a deal with the patient: give us 24 hours to solve the problem. If we fail, we will help you die. When they do fail, House pretends to follow through on his promise. This scene was the most telling one in the episode, as it shows us glimpses inside each character as they react to stress. Cameron looks aghast and protests vigorously, but ultimately leaves in horror. Foreman hesitates between stopping House and helping him, but finally leaves when it becomes apparent that House will follow through with it no matter what Foreman does. Chase calmly stays and closes the blinds.

Cameron and Chase represent the opposing viewpoints in this debate. I was surprised by Chase's firm stance on this. In most episodes, he is portrayed a weak person, easily swayed by strong personalities or the prevailing political winds. Here he presents his case and follows through with it (although I must note that a premise of his argument is that "everyone does it, even if no one acknowledges it"). There are no negative consequences to his actions, since House does not actually kill the patient, but he is "rewarded" in the story by actually being right about the diagnosis.

Cameron is true to form. She has a strong conviction but she does not directly confront anyone with it. Her response is passive-aggressive: she refuses to work. House is frustrated by this, of course, and attempts to deal with this in a similar manner (by assigning her the task of reading some of the researcher's controversial articles, for instance). She is eventually roused into action by following through on her conviction to treat the patient no matter what the patient wants, to cure him as painfully as possible.

In the end, House tells Cameron that he is proud of her. It is quite clear that House does not want his patient to die but his actions do not help his position. He lies constantly to everyone around him. A scene in this episode implies that he is doing this in response to the Big Lie Cuddy and Wilson told him in the beginning of the season. He also does it to trick the patient into giving him more time to solve the problem and cure him. Of course, everyone assumes that his motives are more selfish, that he is stringing the patient along so that he can assuage his ego and solve the unsolvable. Although House seems to take this in stride, he is once again leaning on a cane and popping pills. A psychosomatic response to the peer pressure, perhaps?

I see a prime opportunity to bring in Stephen Fry as a psychologist brought in to treat House. Mr. Fry can even keep the British accent!

On a different note, I learned yesterday that a British composer named Simon Matthews composed a movement named after Pluto, as a sort of addition to Holst's "The Planets." There is an excellent discussion of it over at Something Old, Nothing New, complete with links to other lively discussions. Although the obvious facet to this story is the fact that the new piece made its debut at the same time the astronomical community decided to "demote" Pluto, the consensus appears to be that the piece itself is not that good. I must admit that this whole notion intrigued me. I have been a fan of "The Planets" ever since I was a kid and I often wondered why Pluto was not included. Apparently, others wondered too. Despite the negative reviews, I could not resist an opportunity to hear this thing. I downloaded it from iTunes and gave it a good going-over. Short review: it's not half-bad, but it's not half-good either.

Talk Like A Pirate Day

So keep a sharp lookout, mateys!

Arrr!

With a "Yo Ho Ho Ho" to Notorious Mjt!, who sent me this link.

Hippies!

And now, hippies.

First, the Fairport Convention. This was Richard Thompson's band in the 60s and early 70s. I suppose they weren't hippies in the strictest sense of the word. But they sure had hair! Mr. Thompson rocks in this thing. If you are not buying his records, you are totally square.

Next, Jethro Tull. This band features hippies playing flutes. As we all know, Mr. Anderson went on to become a giant in the salmon fisheries business. I know this music from the "Living in the Past" album, an album I was exposed to at a very early age and is a huge influence on my taste in music. It introduced me to jazz, classical and rock music all at once.

And what post featuring hippies would be complete without Jefferson Airplane? My parents had a copy of Surrealistic Pillow too.

My parents were not hippies in the strictest sense of the word, but they were very, er, hip to the scene. Much like young Ted Nugent. And we all know what happened to Mr. Nugent!

God help me...I love this music! This stuff definitely made its mark on me. Damn long-haired hippies.

He Sits Around the House

To be frank, I am not sure what to make of last night's episode of House. As always, I refer you to Polite Dissent for a most excellent analysis of the medicine. The soap opera storyline, in which Cuddy and Wilson attempt to keep news of House's major medical victory from him in order to prevent him from putting on airs, begins from shaky premises. Can anyone seriously think that something like a near-miraculous cure will be kept under wraps for long? And does anyone really think that keeping such news from someone deliberately will produce anything positive? I am all for conflict in my drama, and conflict is the inevitable by-product of such a set up. However, I have a hard time with the idea that two intlligent characters would concoct such a scheme and then carry it out.

On the other hand (and this is where the "I am not sure what to make of last night's episode" part kicks in), we know that Wilson is capable of making some boneheaded personal decisions. We also know that Cuddy is constantly flummoxed by House's behavior. Based upon these characterizations, one could make the argument that these characters, despite their intelligence, are capable of making such a move. I am almost persuaded by it. Except that the idea still sounds stupid to me.

Despite this, the ultimate fate of House's ailment interests me. I enjoyed watching the Young Guns interact with each other (Chase's attempt at a witty comeback was pretty funny) and I especially liked Cameron's reaction when she learns about the Wilson/Cuddy plot and how she dealt with that. Well acted all around.

If you would like to experience cognitive dissonance, then you can't go wrong with an episode of House followed immediately thereafter by an episode of A Bit of Fry and Laurie. Mr. Laurie has range! I REALLY want to see Stephen Fry make an appearance in House!

Youtube, Brutus?

I discovered youtube recently. What did I find there?

1. Richard Thompson performing "Vincent Black Lightning 1952" (shout out to 2 Blowhards for first showing this video and praising Mr. Thompson).


2. Hugh Laurie rapping.

And a great homemade video by a band called Ok Go.

9/11

I have nothing pithy to say, so I leave it to Mr. Stewart (with a hat tip to X-Ray Spex for first posting this video):

Housewarming

House began its third season last night. As per usual, I refer you to the excellent Polite Dissent for a discussion of the medicine in the show. In this episode, Dr. House returns from an extended hiatus after being shot in the second season finale and having undergone a treatment that eliminated the pain in his leg. House seems to be a changed man. He is willing to interact with his patients and their families. He asks Dr. Cameron out on a date. He seems happier and more engaged. However, he gradually slides into old, familiar patterns of behavior and, by the end of the episode, he engages in some behavior that signals a reversion back to type.

In my opinion, the most interesting development was not in House's character but in his supporting cast. Everyone, from Dr. Cuddy to Dr. Cameron, resists the notion that House can change. They even seem to resent it. I applaud the writers for taking this approach, which runs counter to the expected reaction to House's change for the better. An argument can be made that this resentment, and the ways it manifests throughout the episode, contributed to House's return to form. It makes for better drama and I look forward to seeing how this plays out over the season.

In other news, The Areas of My Expertise is now out in paperback. If you have not experienced this book, written by the fellow who plays the PC in the "Mac and PC" commercials as well as acts as an expert commentator on The Daily Show, then you owe yourself the pleasure. You will laugh your ass off. Guaranteed.

And try Pandora. This is a streaming audio site that generates a playlist for you based upon an artist or song that you like. Pandora has a database of over 500,000 songs, categorized by specific characteristics (e.g., big band arrangements, subtle use of vocal harmonies, etc.). Once you enter the name of an artist or song, the service identifies your entry's characteristics and pulls music from its database that share those characteristics. You can tweak the results by voting a selection up or down. Those songs you vote against are never played in your playlist again. You must subscribe to take full advantage of the service, but you can do this for free. Highly recommended!

Welcome Aboard!

My nephew Robert Logan was born this morning. Glad you could join us!