Why Do I Watch 'The Wire'?
Having had enough of the constant articles telling me how great it was, and finally being persuaded by the recommendation of a work mate of good taste, I finally watched series 1 of The Wire.

I watched an episode about once every 3/4 weeks and every time I watched it, or thought about doing so I had an odd feeling about it. Now I've finished watching it I have come to realise why this is. For a TV drama, The Wire seems 'real' on a level that few are. There's little in the way of humour or stylistic touches, it's not shot in that documentary/cinema verite style but is real in the sense that there is virtually no bull involved - It tells it like it is in a way few programmes do.

So I came to this conclusion - In some sense, watching The Wire is like watching the news or reading a newspaper. You know there is seldom anything positive reported, that most of what you will see and read will hold a mirror up to world and show you the most unpleasant and base aspects of what men do to each other in pursuit of power and cold, hard cash. Yet, you still watch and read because you know you should. This is what watching The Wire is like - it's not pretty, it's seldom uplifting but you know you should watch it because it's telling you about the real world and you should know how that is, lest you bask in blissful ignorance and believe the way things are is acceptable and that you can do nothing about it.

Crohn Can Keep his Disease to Himself Thank You Very Much

So, my Gastro consultant says a biopsy I had taken on my colonoscopy (Done on Christmas Eve, 2007, what a great early Christmas present), shows signs of Crohn's Disease. Bit of a pain in the arse in more ways than one!

Thinking about this reminds of that scene at the start of City Slicker's, when Billy Crystal - demonstrating signs of the mid-life crisis so collossal that dressing up as a cowboy was need to resolve it - relates the escalation of old age beginning in your 30s with surgery, which you call a 'procedure'.

It seems in your teens nothing is bigger than the angst of not getting enough of everything your not supposed to do. In your 20s you get some cash, enjoy yourself and don't much worry about your health - you seem to be able to drink what you want, eat what you want and generally be OK providing you spend the first half of both Saturday and Sunday sleeping.
Then you get to the 30s and it's all work, spending, earning and never seeming to have enough dosh and then more visits to various doctors and consultants and then an odd condition like this.

I suppose the irritating thing is, once you develop Crohn's your stuck with the bugger. It can be put into remission by treatment but it's always waiting to jump out and get you again. And it seems the majority of folk end up with some sort of bowel surgery - not the most attractive medical proposition. Still, it doesn't kill you, so it could be a lot worse and Anastascia seems fine on it : )

So, I'm now on 4 x 1.2g (Yes, 4.8g folks) of Mesalazine every morning (Reducing to half that after 8 weeks if it is working OK). Basically, this is like swallowing 4 jelly beans with your breakfast, and I'm not talking the itsy bitsy Jelly Belly ones.

So, fingers crossed it works OK - I'm sure it will and that I have a pretty mild case. And I'll be doing all I can to ensure it stays that way, beleive me.

http://www.ulcerativecolitis.org.uk

Curb Your Enthusiasm - The British Disease?
(With apologies to Larry David)

While watching Dan Cruickshank's Adventures in Architecture (BBC2, Wednesday, 9PM), it ocurred to me that all of the people I pay attention to on TV and elsewhere all have something in common - enthusiasm. Real, honest to goodness enthusiasm and passion for their subject is what makes them interesting to read and / or watch. OK, ability and communication and presentation skills matter too but with a good dose of enthusiasm and command of your subject, you're most of the way there.

I can easily rhyme off a list of such people whose programmes or books I am happy to consume :

Dan Cruickshank (Of course)
Dr Iain Stewart
Ray Mears
James Burke
Henry Rollins
Dr Kathy Sykes
John Simpson
Derren Brown
Stephen Fry
Gordon Ramsay
Sir John Harvey Jones (RIP)

What this got me thinking though, is that, as a country (WARNING - Sweeping generalisation ahead), it seems this is something we often find quite irritating. Moreover, I think this is a big part of what we often find annoying about the US character. We seem to be a lot more pessimistic and this seems to make us desparate to suspect the motives of the enthusiastic proponent of some subject or other - what's he/she really up to? What are they trying to sell? Why are they so bloody enthusiastic??!!

Personally I blame that Jamie Oliver ; )