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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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Now following the boys underhanded recommendation I watched the first season of "House, MD". Others have recommended it as well, and I think I understand why.
First of all the lead character, Dr. Gregory House played by Hugh Laurie, a splendid character full of wit, charm, personality, and both pithy and perspicacious observations on fellow staff and patients.
This is why I suspect most people watch it. Funny no one's offered me a T.V. show.
Now to the rest of it...
A CSI rip-off, merely set in a Hospital rather than a Crime Lab. A main plot involving a mysterious disease that usually reveals itself just before the end. There sure are a lot of "One in a Million" diseases out there, folks, watch out. CGI graphics zoom inside the patient to reveal the inner workings of the human body while the attending physicians puzzle over improbable symptoms to arrive at a diagnosis.
The plot follows a predictable path: A primary patient, who’s situation is grave and demands a thorough 45 minute investigation by both House and Staff, and a secondary patient (his assigned Clinic hours) whose primary purpose is to provide comic relief. Some politics and friction between the main characters.
It is of course complete and utter balderdash. Much like people like to believe CSI and other such "Law and Order" type shows demonstrate some aspect of the real world, there is no way a team of dedicated experts are working on resolving your murder/mystery ailment for days on end, let alone 45 minutes. The way they treat both the homeless and poor with the same care and dignity as they do the rich and privileged is as well ridiculous, it's the "Fairy Tale" of healthcare. And the way they use "Seizures" to indicate the situation is serious - well, it's a bit predictable, isn't it? As predictable as the "Human Interest" aspect of every show and the invariable cheesy ending.
But this is in general the state of television at the moment. What is missing in the series is the fact that the healing is seldom put in the charge of the patient, the psychological or inner life of the patient is seldom probed (apart from when House exposes it with his witty repartee), and there's missing (so far, I've only done Season 1) a more spiritual view of medicine that confronts placebos, belief, deathbed visitations, wonder and the mysteries of existence. House is a purely material, atheistic view of medicine and the body which I think we have somewhat cast doubt upon, if not clearly disproven.
House really needs a miracle.
Now I've downloaded Season 2, I'm hoping for more of a character "arch" - where the characters develop over the season, than was present in Season 1, but - well, I'm also quite prepared to abandon it. While Hugh Laurie is great he's hardly enough reason to waste 45 minutes watching the show. I'm a bit sad the boy has invested so much time in it, but I suspect it's just that he's missing my caring parental style...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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Merely high praise for a grocery store out of Trail and Rossland. Fine specialty Italian foods, pastas, ethnic specialties, general fruit and vegetables, meats, sausages, etc, stopped in on a failed thrift tour of Rossland and was once again amazed at how much better the store is than anything we have in Nelson, the breadth of variety, economy, and quality.
Real Pasta. And for the same price as the Sh*t you buy around town here.
We need one in Nelson. Bad. Until then the once-a-month tour to Trail.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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One of the local artists on display on the gallery opening:
Link: https://www.bykowa.com/
Funny, I passed her on the way out of the gallery, excusing myself that I didn't need to hear the artists spiels; she lives in the building and I didn't know she was an artist or showing or I might have stayed.
Amusing, in that when I see her on the street, or run into her in the common areas of the building she always looks very serious, at odds with what she's creating..."Book by it's cover" and all that....
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More there to support the owner than anything else, and maybe hob-nob a bit with the hoity-toity of Nelson.
It takes 5 minutes to survey the exhibition, trees, landscapes, a few abstractions, competent but not good, grab a few hors d'oeuvres, a mocktail, chat briefly with an attractive woman approaching my age, she asks my favourite of the works and I'm at a loss, hopefully she's not one of the artists and I realize I can't possibly hold in my opinions too much longer and bail.
The crowd, mostly in their late 60's to 80's, well attended with about 30 or so people, bloody hell, and the artists are going to speak on their work that requires absolutely no explaining or interpretation - none at all, more excusing than anything, and I'm out...
I was glad of the no wingman, had I been dragged to sit through their speaking - unless their eloquence lay in words (clearly not form or colour), had I had to sit through that I might have topped myself...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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Thursday night off and it's been a few months since I've been to the Nelson Museum.
Knock on the neighbour's door, invite her along. She's in, agrees, and pops back in to her place to grab a sweater and takes 15 minutes and emerges asking for a zip, fully dressed for a night on the town.
I admire this, she looked at my shirt, read the situation, and adapted Pronto. She's a fine wingman.
***
The artist, David Garneau, I've never heard of him but a Metis Artist out of Saskatchewan, University of Regina, his work, very good. He's done well.
His paintings, competent, resembling things I've also conceived (in the 3D, not the 2D because I'd rather find things and assemble them then render them with a talent I don't possess), and so we've this in common. While I'm not thinking from the indigenous bent or the highly politicized (rightfully) injustices done to the First Nations and Metis, we seem to have come to similar juxtapositions of the natural, literary, contemporary worlds.
I enjoyed the exhibits, the quality of the paintings - painting these things is not my goal - but his - and his renderings are fine. The accompanying poetry, political statements, well...aptly chosen, and they inspired my date to infinite weeping, but I'm at an art gallery, not a library...
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The Wingman, she enjoyed it all, and I had to tear her away, she'd have stayed long past closing reading and crying at every article. She's an interesting one, this neighbour, she's grateful for every kindness shown, makes the effort, seems to understand, and yet - well, there's something else going on entirely in her head that I can't fathom. Other minds.
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Link: David Garneau on Wikipedia