Thanks for the birthday wishes!

Birthday Sophia Happy (have a)!

Aaaa, chaos. The entire office is talking about Hurricane Rita.

aaaaaaaaa.

Also, my arms really hurt.

Much hurricane-ma to Texasistas.

Also, my arms really hurt.

You ought to walk around moaning loudly. That might change the topic of conversation.

From Wired:

Clinton Gets a Good Ribbing
Forget about the William J. Clinton Presidential Library. A Chinese company plans a more down-to-earth tribute to Arkansas' favorite political son: the Clinton condom. The politically themed prophylactics will hit store shelves in southern China at a cost of $3.72 a dozen alongside a less-expensive sister line of Lewinsky rubbers, named after the president's most-favored intern, according to South African news site Independent Online. "The Clinton condom will be the top of our line," said Guangzhou Rubber Group spokesman Liu Wenhua, adding that Clinton should be honored by the product. "The names we chose are symbols of people who are responsible and dedicated to their jobs," he said.

It's not that House is a medical show. It's that it's a mystery show, and unless you're The Inside, it's probably going to be solved preeety close to the end of the airing hour (with enough time for "chase" and "arrest," if needed).

I only have a(n incomplete) handful of episodes to go on, but the few I saw did seem more obviously formulaic to me than say E.R. or Chicago Hope, which are really the only med shows I ever watched, regularly.

"The Clinton condom will be the top of our line," said Guangzhou Rubber Group spokesman Liu Wenhua, adding that Clinton should be honored by the product. "The names we chose are symbols of people who are responsible and dedicated to their jobs," he said.

Ugh. Should someone market a line of pink caskets as the Mao line?

The one thing that I appreciate on House -- aside from smart people playing smart people, and the rude zingers -- is the understanding that medicine is so often a total guessing game. They start treating a guy for disease X, and the treatment almost kills him, and only then do they figure out he's got disease Y.

With that baseline, it's sort of a miracle that any malpractice lawsuit goes forward.

I think the show is a lot easier to take if you swallow the notion that all the head-scratchers all end up in the same place, and that one doctor can be conversant in that many specialties.

the few I saw did seem more obviously formulaic to me than say E.R. or Chicago Hope

The A story in 90% of the episodes is "Why is this person dying?" The beats are of a Law and Order-type regularity. The B story is about House pissing people off.

Which was why "Three Stories" stood out so -- completely different rhythm.

Oh! Rent trailer! Man, I've never seen it, bu that damned soundtrack is embedded in my brain -- don't own it, never have, never even cued it up.

But did it really define a generation? Which one?