Letters to the Editor
kevred
Published Letters: 74 Editor's Choice: 8
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Mistakes in the House review + my take
[Read the article: I Like to Watch]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm a fan of House, have really enjoyed this season, and was a bit disappointed in the finale too, but I have to point out a couple of inaccuracies.
First of all, the show takes place in New Jersey, not Seattle--that was even mentioned in this episode, so no excuse for that. Also, that guitar at the end was surely a gift from himself--he knew exactly what was in that box, and no one who's watched the show would guess that the other characters got together and bought him a guitar. Only something private would produce such an un-self-conscious reaction in the character, and only he could have picked out something as personal as an instrument. It's a familiar process on the show, as anyone who's watched it knows--he's publicly chastised for a flaw and then goes off on his own, in secret, and challenges it; a sort of private growth process.
That said, this was an interesting finale, even if it didn't really satisfy. Unlike many season-ending cliffhangers where you're left thinking, "what happens next?", with this one I was thinking, "what the heck happened?" Even by House standards, a lot of the action here seemed arbitrary. It did play out like a cast turnover, but as far as I know all of the cast is signed on for next year, so a false wrapup for them would explain the lack of "pomp and circumstance". It almost felt as though the audience was being brought into House's world, put through the ringer, and left hanging without an explanation, the character's classic M.O.
But we've already seen other seemingly impossible situations--House cut by Vogler, shot, having his leg pain go away, looking at inescapable jail time, going into rehab--turn disorientingly quickly back into the normal routine, so perhaps this is just another one of those mini-dramas that will evaporate. I kind of hope not--how quickly the show buries its major crises sometimes seems more like a cop-out than a natural flow.
But with performances like those on display here, I'll keep watching. Hopefully, next season we'll be shown something past the harrowed, lowered glare from House that ends so many scenes and dialogues. Hard to see where else the show can go at this point but further into his psyche.
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marktgarten
[Read the article: I Like to Watch]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In case you come back again to check for responses :) just wanted to answer your question: I wasn't responding to you about the guitar. In fact I wasn't responding to anyone--when I wrote my comment, there were no other comments here. Published it, and it was all by itself. Then came back today and saw that it was slotted after a few others--weird. Anyway, I was just responding to the original article, not any comments. Though I will respond to one of your later ones and say "good show" for the "the writing on TV is lousy, except for the shows I like" comment. How true that is, which sets the bar a lot higher for legitimate critique. A bar that most reviewers fall well short of.
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Is the goal of this whole thing to be bought out?
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's pure speculation, but could the long-term goal of this venture simply be to end up being bought out by the NFL? It would basically establish all the infrastructure for several more NFL teams (stadiums, training facilities, etc) and function as a trial run for which cities work and which don't. The NFL could then presumably close down the cities that weren't working. And the investors in this new league could end up owning real, genuine NFL teams, without waiting around for the incredibly slow process of adding new cities or teams changing hands as it is in the current system.
Maybe they really do want to have their own league, but I can't help but think this is just a way for some incredibly rich people to fast-track their way to actual NFL ownership.
Personally, all alternative-league history aside, I just don't think that many people have an appetite for another pro league in any major sport, especially in the TV area. Is there really any demand for another NBA, MLB, NHL, or NFL? You've got those leagues, college sports, and pro sports in other areas (tennis, soccer, golf) to fill in any gaps on the yearly calendar. It seems like any attempt to expand that would be a niche product. To that end, really liked King's question about why they're not trying to develop a sport that doesn't already have a major pro league.
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In defense of Tull + consumer concern
[Read the article: The problems with iTunes Plus]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]First off, just want to support Jethro Tull against all the weird criticism they've been getting here. A fantastic band, with many great albums, and "Witch's Promise" is a wonderful song. The sound on their albums is no better or worse than the times they recorded in, and once you understand that sound, you can evaluate it, so all the snippy comments seem a bit ridiculous to me. And anyway, if Apple is marketing better sound quality, you shouldn't have to listen to only a brand-new mega-budget recording to get it.
A lot of good points against and in favor of Apple's approach have been made here. What troubles me, I suppose, is how this was hidden from the consumer. Of course, with a digital system like this, no one can expect the nuts and bolts to be visible to everyone--a lot has to be concealed just for it to function. But there are certain assumptions that the average buyer makes when purchasing a product, and this violates one of them. When you buy something, you expect it to be a standalone, static entity that is the same for anyone who buys it. You don't expect that can of soup you just bought to have your e-mail address embedded in it when it crosses the supermarket scanner. In short, you don't expect the product you buy to customize itself invisibly when you buy it.
The result sounds like Schrodinger for capitalism: the act of buying something changes that which is bought. Which, in this age of dwindling privacy, is a concern.