A House, a gun, and a joke
My scheduled interviewees are not home, so I've got some time. Might as well throw it at the blog.
Consensus seemed to prefer the this week's second episode of "House" to the previous season premiere, but I have to go against the grain.
The first episode showed House running, pain-free, and - gosh-darn it - nicer. Yes, his mobility was generous for a guy who's missing a chunk of leg muscle, but I could let that slide. To me, the episode wasn't about the leg or manifestations of House's personality, but about the personality itself. The episode looked at self-awareness. House had for so long adopted the role of bitter, limping genius. He lost the limp, and had to test himself to learn how he could redefine himself.
Was he healthy, caring genius? Was he healthy, caring, mundane guy? He didn't know until he tried things out. Which definition would fit? Could he do that?
By the end of Episode One, we see that it doesn't much matter what he tries out. The limp and pain seem fated to return. The patients of the week can break free of their prisons - wheelchair guy is reborn without pain and all yoga girl needs to get moving is a glass of orange juice. Not House, though. He grasped emotional and physical mobility for a summer, and now as one slips away so does the other.
This week's second episode was sensationalist, and served only to show off the budget. I could be jaded. As I just commented on Diane's blog, I figured out the medical problem long before anyone on the show did. And you know what they say about audiences who are smarter than the characters - we get bored. What bothered me more than that, however, was the loose end of the metal pin. One throw-away line explains how the pin could enter a vein and wind up in the neck, but another doctor (was it Forman?) says that it;s practically impossible. House says it's the best explanation, and the matter is left there. Now, I know my anatomy, and there is precious little chance that a large object will work its way so close to the surface through the venous system. I'm still waiting for a better reason.
Nor did we learn why the foreign cells in the retina and knee hindered eyesight and motion. Chimeras usually function normally.
I was spot on in my preliminary analysis of the weapon use by the Dawson gunman, now revealed to be Kimveer Gill. His primary gun was a Beretta Cx4 Storm. It's a semi-automatic, which means it loads bullets automatically from a clip. It fires single shots only of 9-mm Beretta pistol ammunition. Pistol ammo is fatter and heavier than rifle ammo, and is slower and less lethal in general. Remember, energy is proportional to mass and the square of velocity, so velocity is the more important factor. If he'd had a true semi-automatic rifle, he'd have done more damage.
Speaking of Gill, most news outlets say he had a blog at VampireFreaks.com, but that it's no longer available. Yet they print Gill's photos and quote his messages. Either the journalists are playing censor or they're incompetent, but you can still see Gill's pages. I'm a believer in the open approach, so I'm going to tell you how to see them, and you can decide to go there or not. It's simple. Go to the Wikipedia page on Kimveer Gill, and go to the links on the bottom. You'll find links to his picture page and a link to the Google cache of his profile page (you might also find that at the Internet Archive).
Lastly, I should fill you in on the results of the Bram birthday prank. I spoke to Bram, and the only thing he mentioned is that he was surprised that my brother sent him birthday wishes. I know that dozens of you sent him e-mail, but he said nothing. He may be trolling for hints or waiting for a confession from perpetrator. The game of wits goes on....
Consensus seemed to prefer the this week's second episode of "House" to the previous season premiere, but I have to go against the grain.
The first episode showed House running, pain-free, and - gosh-darn it - nicer. Yes, his mobility was generous for a guy who's missing a chunk of leg muscle, but I could let that slide. To me, the episode wasn't about the leg or manifestations of House's personality, but about the personality itself. The episode looked at self-awareness. House had for so long adopted the role of bitter, limping genius. He lost the limp, and had to test himself to learn how he could redefine himself.
Was he healthy, caring genius? Was he healthy, caring, mundane guy? He didn't know until he tried things out. Which definition would fit? Could he do that?
By the end of Episode One, we see that it doesn't much matter what he tries out. The limp and pain seem fated to return. The patients of the week can break free of their prisons - wheelchair guy is reborn without pain and all yoga girl needs to get moving is a glass of orange juice. Not House, though. He grasped emotional and physical mobility for a summer, and now as one slips away so does the other.
This week's second episode was sensationalist, and served only to show off the budget. I could be jaded. As I just commented on Diane's blog, I figured out the medical problem long before anyone on the show did. And you know what they say about audiences who are smarter than the characters - we get bored. What bothered me more than that, however, was the loose end of the metal pin. One throw-away line explains how the pin could enter a vein and wind up in the neck, but another doctor (was it Forman?) says that it;s practically impossible. House says it's the best explanation, and the matter is left there. Now, I know my anatomy, and there is precious little chance that a large object will work its way so close to the surface through the venous system. I'm still waiting for a better reason.
Nor did we learn why the foreign cells in the retina and knee hindered eyesight and motion. Chimeras usually function normally.
I was spot on in my preliminary analysis of the weapon use by the Dawson gunman, now revealed to be Kimveer Gill. His primary gun was a Beretta Cx4 Storm. It's a semi-automatic, which means it loads bullets automatically from a clip. It fires single shots only of 9-mm Beretta pistol ammunition. Pistol ammo is fatter and heavier than rifle ammo, and is slower and less lethal in general. Remember, energy is proportional to mass and the square of velocity, so velocity is the more important factor. If he'd had a true semi-automatic rifle, he'd have done more damage.
Speaking of Gill, most news outlets say he had a blog at VampireFreaks.com, but that it's no longer available. Yet they print Gill's photos and quote his messages. Either the journalists are playing censor or they're incompetent, but you can still see Gill's pages. I'm a believer in the open approach, so I'm going to tell you how to see them, and you can decide to go there or not. It's simple. Go to the Wikipedia page on Kimveer Gill, and go to the links on the bottom. You'll find links to his picture page and a link to the Google cache of his profile page (you might also find that at the Internet Archive).
Lastly, I should fill you in on the results of the Bram birthday prank. I spoke to Bram, and the only thing he mentioned is that he was surprised that my brother sent him birthday wishes. I know that dozens of you sent him e-mail, but he said nothing. He may be trolling for hints or waiting for a confession from perpetrator. The game of wits goes on....
posted by Webs at
11:13 AM
1 Comments:
Spam filter?! :O
And I agree. I liked the first House better. I also figured that "in vitro" was important, but since I wasn't aware that the... "denouement" was a possibility, then I didn't think of it, obviously!
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