In my first Sundance article, I mentioned all the goodness that was Sundance. As I have already written an introduction, I am just going to jump right in and let you hear all about the new dramatic films that will be released at Sundance.

Never Forever is the tale of an American woman that is married to an Asian-American man. The couple wishes to conceive, but for whatever reasons they are unable to, so the woman begins a relationship with a stranger in an attempt to have a child and perhaps save her marriage.
Director/Writer: Gina Kim

Hounddog is the most awaited movie of Sundance for me (I think). This movie is set in Alabama in the 1950’s and details the life of a young, troubled girl (Dakota Fanning) and her ability to heal with the Blues.
Director/Writer: Deborah Kampmeier

Teeth is all about a high school student that seems unfamiliar with her own body until she notices the physical advantage she has, when she is taken advantage of in a moment of male violence.
Director/Writer: Mitchell Lichtenstein

Padre Nuestro is the story of Juan, an illegal immigrant that snuck passage to NYC in order to flee a criminal past. When Juan arrives he meets Pedro, a man looking for his long-lost father.
Director/Writer: Christopher Zalla

Everything Else

Snow Angels:
Directed by: David Gordon Green
Screenwriter: Stewart O’Nan

Rocket Science:
Directed by: Jeffrey Blitz
Screenwriter: Jeffrey Blitz

The Pool:
Directed by: Chris Smith
Screenwriter(s): Chris Smith Randy Russell

Broken English:
Directed by: Zoe Cassavetes
Screenwriter: Zoe Cassavetes

Four Sheets to the Wind:
Directed by: Sterlin Harjo
Screenwriter: Sterlin Harjo

Adrift in Manhattan
Directed by: Alfredo de Villa
Screenwriter(s): Nat Moss and Alfredo de Villa

The Good Life:
Directed by: Steve Berra
Screenwriter: Steve Berra

Joshua:
Directed by: George Ratliff
Screenwriters: David Gilbert, George Ratliff

Weapons:
Directed by: Adam Bhala Lough
Screenwriter: Adam Bhala Lough

Starting Out in the Evening:
Directed by: Andrew Wagner
Screenwriter(s): Andrew Wagner, Fred Parnes

On the Road with Judas:
Directed by: JJ Lask
Screenwriter: JJ Lask

Well, there you have it, the drama section. Next up in posting order will be the World Cinema Documentaries.

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For the poor and deprived people like me, the Sundance Film Festival is an amazing thought. The idea of seeing tons of movies in two weeks, mixing with some of the greatest creative minds in the world, and generally living it up in ways that you just can’t do at home is something that seems incredibly peaceful to me. Sundance is a time for creative genius to be exposed and some of the best movies of the year will be unveiled.

Well, kiddies, Sundance has listed the movies that will be playing in the four main categories this coming year. Unless you’re incredibly lucky or have been saving all year, do not plan to get tickets. Rumor on the streets is that the only tickets available currently are the $2,500.00 tickets. Unfortunately, that leaves me out. However, I can tell you what I will be missing and give you a little thought or two about what I would have hoped to see while I was there.

So, without further ado…I present to you Sundance 2007

The Independent Film: Documentaries (16 chosen films out of 856 entries)

Banished is the story of three towns in the United States that forced entire populations of African Americans to leave the area in the early 20th century. This world premiere looks at what can be done to heal racial injustice. (I am looking forward to this one due to the current climate of the country and the over-obsessed racial inequality talk. I want to see the thoughts of the filmmaker on how to heal these issues.)
Director: Marco Williams

Everything’s Cool is all about messengers shouting the truth on global warming. These messengers are on a hunt to find the perfect image and the best points to ensure that people will see the problem and will look towards alternative energy. (Being a believer in global warming and the need to protect our planet I am willing to check this one out.)
Director(s): Judith Helfand and Daniel B. Gold

For the Bible Tells Me So looks at five families that are both Conservative and Christian. This film walks us through their lives and looks at how the religious right uses the bible to support the agenda of hurting the gay community and ending the separation between church and state. (So far, this is the one I am kicking myself for having to miss seeing it.)
Director: Daniel Karslake

Ghosts of Abu Ghraib tells about the abuses that had occurred in the infamous Iraqi prison during the fall of 2003. Witnesses, victim’s probes, and personal narratives are used to fuel this documentary. (This one is going to be a high powered, high emotion movie and I am looking forward to it)
Director: Rory Kennedy

Girl 27 takes us back to 1937 when an underage dancer, Patricia Douglas, is raped at an MGM stag party. After making headlines Douglas disappears. (Being a former CJ major and all-around crime buff…I’m in)
Director: David Stenn

Hear and Now involves the personal story of the director and her deaf parents. After 65 years of life they decide to have a surgery that could give them the ability to hear. (I could leave this one behind without being too upset.)
Director: Irene Taylor Brodsky

Manda Bala (Send a Bullet) follows a politician in Brazil who steals billions of dollars using a frog farm. Also looked at are a wealthy businessman who spends loads of money bulletproofing his cars, and a plastic surgeon who does reconstructive surgery for mutilated kidnapping victims. (I cannot deny how interesting this sounds.)
Director: Jason Kohn

My Kid Could Paint That is about a 4 year old who is able to paint with the magnificence and beauty that has been compared to the likes of Picasso. This documentary explores the child’s genius and raises the question as to whether she really is a genius or if her parents are exploiting her. (If only to see the child’s paintings, I am in)
Director: Amir Bar-Lev

Nanking deals with the historic atrocities that occurred during WWII involving the Japanese invasion of China. Over 200,000 Chinese were murdered, thousands were raped, and a few people were on hand to perform acts that were far more heroic than one would ever expect. (I am a huge WWII buff so I definitely am looking forward to this)
Director(s): Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman

No End in Sight looks at the Bush Administrations handlings of the Iraq war. Key players offer interviews and the film is said to offer a clear picture of the decisions that lead to the problems occurring in Iraq. (Sounds like it could be enlightening although my eyes are already open to the mishaps of Dubya)
Director: Charles Ferguson

Protagonist deals with the stories of four different men. On the agenda for this documentary are a German terrorist, an ex-gay Evangelist, a martial arts student, and a bank robber. (Alright, I’m in. I am dying to know what, if anything, they have in common).
Director: Jessica Yu

War Dance deals with civil war in Uganda. Three young girls are the focus as they make a historic journey to the national music festival with their school. (Sounds heartwarming so I am looking forward to it)
Director(s): Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine

White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is all about the topic of the cost human’s pay when dealing with atomic warfare. (Again, anything with topics of war usually draw me in)
Director: Steven Okazaki

Zoo looks at the strange death of a Seattle man who died after an odd encounter with a horse. (With a description like this who wouldn’t want to see it?)
Director: Robinson Devor

The other sections of the Sundance offerings will be posted in separate posts to keep the length to a decent size. Next on the Sundance agenda is the dramatic offerings.

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In the gaming world this year has been an exciting one. While the Xbox 360 came out last year, Microsoft has never been one to truly impress in the game world (at least not by my standards). However, this year brought the two best systems out to pasture. The Playstation 3 and the Nintendo Wii were released in November, within days of one another.

In the first days of the launch of Wii, 600,000 consoles were sold along with 500,000 copies of Legend of Zelda’s Twilight Princess. This puts sales for Nintendo at about $190 million thus far, with many more to be sold if those extra Wii’s hit the shelves as planned.

So, will you be getting a Wii this Christmas, or will you be missing out on the most exciting game system of the century? Only you can decide.

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I am not a racist. I am opinionated though and that is why I am writing this post. I am sure some people will start out thinking I am racist, but until you truly read and understand what I am saying and where I am coming from and put it into the context of my background you should realize just why I am not a racist.

Third, I am a follower of the Hellenic religion. To all you ignorant fools out there…this means I am what the derogatory folks call "pagan". You may not have known that the Christians who were religiously cleansing Greece and other parts of Europe of the "pagans", coined that phrase as a derogatory way of calling those who followed the polytheistic beliefs "simple, peasants, and ignorant". I am sure when the Greeks were being raped by the Turks "in order to cleanse them" they referred to them by this Gods-awful term.

Fourth, my best friend in college called herself the ultimate minority. She was proud of it, too. African American, a woman, disabled, and a lesbian, that was my friend and we hung out all the time. I find racists do not fit in well with such a diverse group of people even if they are encompassed in one lone person.

In one of those, stories you never thought you would ever hear…ever…I bring to you a story of a man. A man named Adrian. Adrian was a good man…well he was good except for his crack habit. Unfortunately, this habit seemed to make him act a little senselessly. By senselessly, I mean doing something like…smoking crack naked in Florida. You know Florida…Alligator Country.

After being rushed to the Lakeland Regional Medical Center it was determined that he had one broken arm, a partially amputated left arm, which they were trying to reattach, and trauma to the left leg. He was listed in critical condition due to this horrifying and yet completely interesting incident.

Police were unsure of whether the man would make it out alive or not. Ordinarily they probably would have shot the alligator, but due to dark conditions they were unable to do so for fear of harming the victim. Is it just me or does that statement seem like an oxymoron, considering? All officers then descended into waist deep mud to help the gentlemen who was being attacked. Luckily (or unluckily), he came out unharmed.

The officers, as bright and talented as they are, had not realized until after the fact that the man had been smoking crack. However, no one was able to explain why he was naked or what he was doing playing with alligators during naked time.

My theory is interspecies erotica gone wrong…though I could be wrong. I am not sure if there is a kinky alli club or not…but you know who would know? Kevin Smith..and next time…in honor of Adrian…maybe he will have an alligator, crack-smoking show instead.

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I am getting my NFL picks moved over to our new set up. However, this will be the last week I skimp on information. Everything has been so crazy with the new site going up. I had a great week last week though. I went 12-4. That’s better than my highest 11-3 in the first few weeks of the season.

Anyhow, due to tomorrow’s game fast approach, here are my week 13 picks. Enjoy!

Baltimore vs. Cincinnati
Winner: Baltimore - Loss

Arizona vs. St. Louis
Winner: St. Louis - Loss

Atlanta vs. Washington
Winner: ATL - Win

Detroit vs. New England
Winner: New England - Win

Indianapolis vs. Tennessee
Winner: Indy - - Loss

Kansas City vs. Cleveland
Winner: KC - Loss

Minnesota vs. Chicago
Winner: Chicago - Win

NY Jets vs. Green Bay
Winner: NY Jets - Win

San Diego vs. Buffalo
Winner: San Diego - Win

San Francisco vs. NOLA
Winner: New Orleans - Win

Houston vs. Oakland
Winner: Oakland - Loss

Jacksonville vs. Miami
Winner: Jacksonville - Win

Dallas vs. NY Giants
Winner: Dallas - Win

Tampa Bay vs. Pittsburgh
Winner: TB - Loss

Seattle vs. Denver
Winner: Seattle - Win

Carolina vs. Philly
Winner: Carolina - Loss

NFL Picks Week 4
NFL Picks Week 5
NFL Picks Week 6
NFL Picks Week 7
NFL Picks Week 8
NFL Picks Week 9
NFL Picks Week 10
NFL Picks Week 11
NFL Picks Week 12

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Written by Dominick - Visit Website
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dominick Evans is in his late 20’s. He spends his days working as a full time writer/editor and a part time musician/composer. His passions in life include music, directing films, watching movies, reading books, watching sports, wheelchair football, politics and spending time with his family (fiancée Ashtyn, son Robert, and shih-tzu Oliver). Other interests include being an advocate for the disability and GLBT communities.

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For a show in its third season, House continues to feature top-notch writing, strong character development and great acting. Tuesday night’s episode followed House’s downward spiral into forced sobriety and teased a betrayal by one of his closest associates.

As per usual, the show introduced the Patient of the Week, a little girl named Alice, at a carnival with her father. Her father, who clearly has Divorced Dad Syndrome, was trying to coerce her to go on a head-ripping, vomit-inducing thrill ride. Alice was plainly against it, but finally agreed to go on the ride with her dad. A few seconds into the ride, Alice lets loose with a horrible, continuous shriek and the ride stopped.

Alice had complained of severe abdominal pain. Dr. Cameron speculates that it may be associated with Crohn’s Disease and asked the girl’s mother if there was a family history of it. The mother replied that her aunt had had it before flipping out on Alice’s father for not keeping track of his ex-wife’s family medical history and knowing this. See, the fun never stops, even when you’re divorced. Apparently, Alice’s father’s lack of interest in his wife’s aunt’s inflammatory bowels was quite the kicker in the dissolution of their marriage.

In another wing of the hospital, House, bored and fiending for his meds, was aiming a laser pointer through the window at Dr. Cuddy, giving her a dot in the middle of her forehead and spinning lights across her cleavage. This proved to be quite embarrassing for Princeton-Plainsboro’s administrator and unofficial dispenser of House’s pills. In the middle of hitting up some wealthy patrons for a generous donation for a new oncology lab, she excused herself from the meeting to have a little chat with Dr. House.

House explained that the laser pointer won him second place in the hospital-wide "Weirdest Thing Pulled Out of a Patient’s Orifice" contest. With the blow cushioned, House then asked Cuddy for more Vicodin. Telling him "no," Cuddy insisted that House tap into his "secret, secret, secret stash" of pills instead.

Back in Alice’s room, one concrete diagnosis that has been arrived at is that the little girl has pancreatitis. House burst into the room, got down on the floor and pulled a large lupus textbook from the bookcase. The hollowed out book contained the aforementioned "secret, secret, secret stash." In addition to visiting his personal pharmacy, House dropped some knowledge on the Doctors Three, theorizing that the girl had gallstones and that she had passed one, accounting for what had briefly caused her excruciating pain.

Cameron, Foreman and Chase questioned him, as to whether or not a 6-year-old can get gallstones. House called for a removal of her gall bladder to analyze it for other stones in there.

In the midst of all this, Alice’s parents continued to bicker in their daughter’s hospital room. (This becomes a trend throughout the entire episode.)

Back in Dr. Cuddy’s wing of the hospital, she encountered our old pal, Detective Tritter on his day off, leafing through several classified documents and profiles of the hospital staff while sprawled on the floor. Taking up for Dr. Wilson, Cuddy informed him that her Head of Oncology had to shut down his practice due to his relentless methods. Tritter, vying for the coveted Dickhead of the Year Award, replied that "this is how I get what I want," putting pressure on the unlikeliest of sources. All of a sudden, he swerved to a more altruistic approach stating his belief that Dr. House is an addict with a serious problem. The pills distort his reality, and he feared for a time when the addiction would cloud his judgment and eventually kill or harm a patient. Tritter said that in this case, the doctors aren’t helping. They’re covering things up.

Back in the hospital room, Alice’s parents quibbled with House over his suggestion that she have her gallbladder removed and analyzed. The mother claimed that her daughter shouldn’t have unnecessary surgery, without at least a second opinion. House retorted that she shouldn’t have "a moron for a mom."

House, believing that Alice would die without further analysis of her gall bladder, took the parents into the in-hospital court in a ploy to immediately get her into surgery and expedite a diagnosis and a cure for her mystery ailment.

With Cuddy as a character witness, the judge agrees to let House have his way and perform surgery. The parents continue to bicker with one another.

Post-surgery, Alice complained about her stitches itching. Wouldn’t you know it, Ma and Pa are still going at it, nitpicking one another and ignoring their daughter. After a closer look at Alice’s stomach where the stitches would be, the Doctors Three find a massive rash-like infection.’

After the commercial break, House tried to determine what the girl was allergic to and what would instantly "turn a 6-year-old girl into the English patient."

Coming to call upon the Doctors Three, House finds his associates debating a much bigger conundrum. Chase, Cameron and Foreman were on their phones and finding out that Det. Tritter had frozen their bank accounts, much like he did to Dr. Wilson. Actually, Drs. Foreman and Cameron had their accounts frozen. Dr. Chase still had access to his. Curiouser and curiouser. Foreman and Cameron found it suspicious that Chase is the only one among them who is still able to tap MAC and pay for lunch in the hospital cafeteria.

Back in Alice’s hospital room, it had finally been discerned that her infection shouldn’t cause a rash and found calcium bilirubin in the girl’s gallbladder. House called for a broad-spectrum antibiotic for the girl to work on getting the infection out of her system. Despite some bullying from House, The Doctors Three question this and much like House isn’t getting his pills, Alice won’t be getting that broad-spectrum antibiotic, either.

Foreman hit upon the bright idea to test Alice for any allergies she may have that could have caused her rash. As he pokes needles into her back to perform the tests, Alice’s mother starts complaining about her ex-husband to Foreman. Shooting her a "What the hell do I look like? Dr. Phil?" look at the girl’s mother, she finally got the hint and shut up, allowing the doctor to continue doing his job.

In yet another room of Princeton-Plainsboro, the now-dormant Dr. Wilson was seen making a peanut butter sandwich in the super-special doctor’s kitchen area. His peanut buttery-revelry was interrupted by House who taunted him saying that he was "too poor to eat in the commissary?" That’s just low, dude. Adding insult to injury, House snagged the PB sandwich and carted it off to Alice’s room.

Of course, Alice’s parents were still arguing, causing the kid’s blood pressure to rise on the monitor. I was glad I wasn’t the only one growing annoyed with the dickering divorcees. Adding to the commotion, House demanded that the girl take a bite out of the sandwich. Foreman protested, saying that if the girl had the very common peanut allergy, her system would go into shock, particularly if they hit her with the broad-spectrum antibiotic as he had previously suggested. House theorized that if the girl didn’t have an allergy as prevalent as peanuts, then it would be highly unlikely that she’d be allergic to nearly everything else BUT the tasty nut, enabling them to find the real cause of her rash and infection. Alice took a bite of the sandwich with no resulting problems. NEXT!!

House still lobbied for the broad spectrum meds to be given to Alice despite protests from the Doctors Three (and more pills from Cuddy). Taking time out of their busy, bickering schedule, the parents agreed with House.

Once again, everyone found themselves back at the in-hospital court with the very same judge. The judge, familiar with the lunacy that was currently going down, awarded temporary guardianship of Alice and all of her mysterious medical matters to Dr. Cuddy, feeling that she would make the best decisions for the girl.

With Cuddy now burdened with the life of a child hanging in the balance and at her sole discretion, House seized upon the opportunity to make a grab for some more Vicodin. Exasperated, she threw him a few to quell his angry, rambling withdrawal symptoms and get her head in the game of curing her charge.

Meanwhile, Det. Tritter’s been packing his day off chock full of little meetings. He offered Dr. Foreman a bargain. If he rats House out, he will release his brother, Marcus, from jail and on parole within two months. Appealing to Foreman’s better nature doesn’t work, so Tritter takes a different approach, calling him a "cold bastard" just like House.

Calling into question Foreman’s own juvenile criminal past, he grills him as to why he believes that he deserves a second chance and why his brother doesn’t. Tritter mentions that he saw no difference as to why he despises a brother who is on drugs and in jail when Foreman works for a man who practices medicine on drugs. Tritter predicted that Foreman would take him up on his offer, claiming that as much as he hates House, he hates hypocrisy more. But he’s still a dick.

Moving along, Alice’s parents were still bickering, inducing yet another anxiety attack in the girl. Cuddy orders them out of the room as part of her campaign to do what’s best for the child.

Back at Doctors Three central, Dr. Chase declares that his accounts have now finally been frozen. His colleagues were still very suspicious that he could be the mole among them.

Oh, yeah. That whole little girl patient thing. Right. The doctors check on Alice and find that she is gone from her room. Her father had unhooked her from the machines, got her dressed in her clothes, coat and snow hat and was attempting to book out of the hospital along with Alice. He didn’t get very far with Dr. Chase encountering him standing flabbergasted in the hospital lobby. His daughter had frozen stiff as a board in his arms.

The cranky parents phoned the babysitter. She didn’t give the girl any. Reye’s had been ruled out. Meanwhile, a cranky House managed to squeeze one pill out of Cuddy before she resumed her guardian and doctor duties with Alice. This time, she would be performing a test on the girl, hooking her up to a machine that would clean her blood. Alice expressed that she wanted her parents to get back together and asked Cuddy if it was possible. Lying through her sparkling veneers, Cuddy told the girl that it was possible. At this moment, I really wished that the ultra-testy and jonesing House would have popped into the room and asked the girl if she was certifiably insane. The constant arguing between the divorced couple was enough to drive me nuts in a mere 40 minutes. Does little Alice really want an entire life of that?

Things get worse when Cuddy realizes that the rash has spread to Alice’s arm and leg as the kid started screaming in agony.

The scenery shot back to Tritter’s room of the hospital where he had apparently set up shop with oddly no protests from anyone in the hospital who actually possesses a medical degree. This time, it was Cameron’s turn to be grilled by the relentless detective. At first, Tritter suggested that Cameron was in love with House. Offended by the detective’s insinuation that she would automatically be diggin’ on her mentor just because she has girl-parts, Cameron denied any fuzzy feelings for House. She explained to Tritter that her feelings however, did involve loyalty and respect for the man.

Appealing to Cameron’s sense of self-identity, Tritter verbally smacked Cameron down by saying that he thought she used to be a person who did the right thing, nearly broaching the subject of Cameron’s dead husband. She stopped him mid-sentence telling him not to "go there."

Not getting what he wanted from Cameron, Tritter had a lovely lunch with Dr. Chase. He explained to the unyielding young doctor the method behind his madness, making everyone else feel that he is the suspicious character who may have ratted House out. He planned on releasing the holds on everyone’s bank accounts tomorrow, only after everyone has seen him and Chase chatting it up like old buddies in the hospital cafeteria. It would all-but confirm everyone’s suspicions of Chase as the one who broke.

Back in Alice’s room, the girl’s fever had risen high enough to nearly fry her brain. House still suspicious that the girl’s babysitter had been lying and the fever is a symptom of Reye’s syndrome. Angrier than usual, House was insistent upon his diagnosis being the correct one while asserting his dire need for (you guessed it) more pills.

In a desperate attempt to get the girl’s fever down, Cutty races into the shower, purple scrubs and all with the little girl, sitting under the cold water and looking stricken.

House slammed the shower curtain back and verbally lashed out at the woman who was keeping him from his one true love, Vicodin. Hurling a devastating comment to Cuddy about her inability to conceive, House spewed out "Good thing you didn’t become a mom because you suck at it" in the most vile tone the doctor has ever used.

Having utterly crushed Cuddy, House moved on to torment the Doctors Three with his trusty, anally-retrieved laser pointer. In the midst of throwing ideas against the wall to decide what exactly was at the root of little Alice’s mystery malady, somehow, the topic of Chase’s accounts not being frozen and then frozen elicited some icy glares from House. He flat-out told Chase that he believed that Chase feels guilty for screwing him over or that he was looking for applause from him for not spilling to Tritter. House isn’t exactly endearing himself to anyone or inspiring a continuing streak of loyalty from his associates here.

In Cuddy’s office, the doctor could be seen sitting on her couch having a good cry. Her self-catharsis was interrupted by Dr. Wilson. She noted that this was the first time that House was mean for the sake of being mean instead of using venom to cajole whatever it was out of people. She argued that in spite of what it may seem like, House does have an inner censor and usually refrains from going for the ultimate low-blow to others. After Wilson inquired as to what it was that House said to her to upset her to such a high degree, Cuddy confided that she had been trying to get pregnant for some time. The first two implantations didn’t take and the third one ended in an early miscarriage.

Doubting her own maternal instincts, Cuddy questioned her ability to be a nurturer, never hugging the little girl or offering physical signs of comfort. (Uhh… Hello! The girl has a bad rash. I don’t think a hug would have offered that much comfort.) She worried that she didn’t "get the manual" for motherhood, especially when she lied to Alice that perhaps someday her parents would get back together.

Back in Alice’s room, her parents had finally stopped bickering. The cause behind this was House’s final diagnosis that she had necrotizing fasciitis — AKA - flesh eating bacteria — explaining the spreading and worsening rash on her arm and leg. The solution: Alice’s left arm and leg would have to be amputated. Shocked into shutting up, Alice’s parents acquiesced to the surgery.

Not accepting House’s final diagnosis, Chase frantically went about finding another possible reason for the girl’s spreading rash. House dismissed his search as nothing more than wanting to find another possible diagnosis for the girl because she’s "cute" and therefore is believed that she can be instantly cured with "puppies and sunshine."

After a lengthy montage of the camera panning over the surgical tools and young Alice’s arm and leg marked with a surgical pen for amputation, Chase’s research revealed that Alice was not afflicted with flesh eating bacteria, but was in fact allergic to light.

All of the tests that they had put Alice through involved her going under harsh surgical lighting. Each time she went under the lights, the rash got worse. The initial triggering of this allergy was Alice’s extended trip to the outdoor carnival, making her all the more susceptible to an allergic reaction. Chase implored House to make the call and stop the surgery. House responded by slugging Chase right in the jaw. That’s right. He cold-cocked him good, laying him out on the hospital floor.

Bruised jaw and all, the call was finally made in the nick of time to stop the amputation surgery before the doctors began cutting.

With Alice and her limbs intact, Cuddy explained to the girl’s parents that this type of disorder starts at birth and typically reaches critical mass around the girl’s present age. However, the disease is still manageable (and much better than losing a couple limbs).

Never too busy to point the finger of blame at one another, Alice’s parents quibble over who was the genetic carrier that brought the light allergy to their daughter’s chromosomal composition. Cuddy shut them both the hell up by telling them that both of them were carriers. Sweet.

Following the entire debacle, a bruised Chase and Wilson had a talk about the rapidly cycling House thanks to a severe lack of Vicodin in his life. Chase believed that House thought House potatoed him because he felt that Chase was the betrayer. Wilson believed that it was because House was pissed that for once, he didn’t solve the mystery and someone else did. It seemed as if the uber-frustrated Chase had had enough and would be en route to Tritter to dish on the doctor.

Back at casa de House, Wilson sat down with his roommate, lambasting him for nearly maiming a girl and not caring. House shrugged it off and probably contemplated a land with magical Vicodin-bearing trees and rivers flowing with anesthetics.

Flustered at House’s continuing inability to give a rat’s ass, the final scene of the episode found Dr. Wilson paying a visit to Detective Tritter, telling him that he would like his "30 pieces of silver."

It’ll be another two weeks before the audience gets to find out if Wilson really does rat out House. Next week’s scheduled episode will be a repeat of a Season 1 episode.

Without a doubt, this was a nail-biter of an episode that sustained an air of tension throughout and underlined the urgency of both the patient’s situation an House’s dependency on pain medication. Until this point, House was seen as a character with little self-restraint. The medication was what had previously held him in check and kept him from severely lashing out at those around him.

The plot advancement was logical an in keeping with the reactions expected of the characters with a few surprises. The next one should be quite interesting to see where this is headed and what the final outcome will be.

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Last night’s installment of Monday Night RAW began a new set of storylines stemming from Sunday night’s Survivor Series PPV. Live from Pittsburgh, PA, the show opened with the legendary Ric Flair receiving huge pops from the crowd and standing in the middle of the ring, fresh off of a victory at last night’s PPV. Flair ended up as the sole survivor of his team of legends, defeating the Spirit Squad. In his state-of-the-union, Ric Flair addressed the aftermath of the prior night’s match in which the Spirit Squad ganged up on him after his Survivor Series win.

Citing that he had been "beaten up by a bunch of male cheerleaders," the 16-time World Champion vowed that tonight, it would end. The entire Spirit Squad made their way to the ring to interrupt, sporting better attire than they did at last week’s RAW episode. Apparently, these boys have the market cornered on customized kelly green and white raglan baseball long-sleeves.

What followed was nowhere near as snazzy as the latest purchases of the Spirit Squad Shopping Spree. The five-some rattled off the most heinous attempt at a "cheer" that I have ever heard uttered on Monday Night sports entertainment television. The choice of wording wouldn’t have been too bad, maybe even funny, referring to Flair as "older than God" among other pithy little insulting rhymes.

D-Generation X then came down the ramp to assist Flair in a handicap match pitting Flair, his former Evolution cohort Triple H, and Shawn Michaels against all five Spirit Squadders. Before kicking off a very emotional match, Triple H and Michaels shook hands and hugged Flair.

Lightening the mood, Triple H took the microphone and accepted a huge reaction from the crowd as he launched into his usual "Are You Ready!?" DX-schpiel. Receiving an even greater pop, The H asked the crowd if they were sick of them facing the Spirit Squad for what seemed to be the millionth time. Word, Trips. Huge "WORD" on that one. He guaranteed that this would be the last time the crowd would see the Spirit Squad. Awww, and just when they were getting new outfits!

Opting for a psychological attack, Triple H slammed the microphone down and cracked open an industrial sized can of whoop ass on the Squad. Flair follows up with an impressive back body drop on Mikey, the designated whipping boy for the match, before tagging in Shawn Michaels.

Michaels was also getting a largely positive reaction from the crowd as evidenced by the loud "HBK" chants that filled the Pittsburgh arena. Taking a page out of the Flair Users Manual, HBK delivered a series of chest chops to Mikey. Flair was tagged in and Mikey instantly dropkicked Flair, dragging him to the corner where all members of the Spirit Squad began hammering away on the legend.

DX came to the rescue, tossing out two of the opposition over the top ropes and to the outside before Michaels executed a perfect plancha over the top rope to the entire Squad below.

DX and Flair celebrated with a three-way "Style and Profile," strutting it up in the ring.

Following a commercial break, the match was re-joined in progress with Michaels suplexing Johnny. Somehow, he found his way to the Spirit Squad’s corner and became the recipient of another gang-up beat down.

**I interrupt this recap with an observation brought to you courtesy of your humble recapper. I couldn’t help but realize what a poor job the referee was doing in this match. Okay, okay. We all know it’s "sports entertainment" and while the athletes are very real and very athletic, the storylines are staged. After watching 2006’s version of Survivor Series and contrasting it with 1987’s Survivor Series (I subscribe to WWE’s 24-7 OnDemand service), it seemed that the refs circa-1987 were substantially more observant and stringent with enforcing the rules of the match. The possibility of an entire corner smacking up a participant was virtually nil. In the current state of affairs in wrestling, the ref is almost all but obsolete, with the exception of turning his back and allowing for a pivotal cheap-shot to cap off the match with a reversal of fortune for one of the wrestlers. Dare I say it, but I miss the days of the strict, rule-enforcing referee.**

Carrying on with the match, Kenny and HBK go at it in the middle of the ring. Just when the Squad think they have him down, they attempt a high-risk pyramid maneuver. At the last second, Michaels rolls out of the way, tagging in Triple H who cleans the house with the Squad.

The H tags in Flair who goes for his customary chops, readying the hapless Spirit Squadder for some Sweet Chin Music, conducted by HBK. Excitedly, Ric does "the Happy Dance" as only Flair can, dancing the Horseman Shuffle before slapping on a figure four leg lock to the young man on the canvas. DX joined Flair in the ring, grabbing a Spirit Squad member of their choosing and engaging in a three-way figure four fest in the middle of the ring with the wrestling legend. It’s a mass tap-out at the hands of DX and Flair! The three men celebrate their win by crotch-chopping in the middle of the ring, DX-style!

Flair seemed to be very emotional in the ring following the high-action match up. The two younger men raised his hands in victory as a teary-eyed Flair made with the hugs. Initially, I had feared that maybe Flair would be retiring. So far, no insinuations that he intends on leaving active wrestling duty have surfaced. The only other reason I can attribute to Flair’s visibly touched condition may be that his longtime friend and wrestling compatriot, Rowdy Roddy Piper had just been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and will be undergoing radiation therapy for the disease. Perhaps the illness of a good friend accounted for the high emotion following the in-ring celebration. All speculation aside, I hope Piper makes a full recovery and wish the guy well.

After another commercial break, Triple H and Shawn Michaels are seen stuffing the Spirit Squad into a large black locked box. The H slaps a mailing stamp on it indicating that the package is bound for OVW in Louisville, KY. (Note: For the casual fan, OVW is basically the WWE’s farm-league. It is the indie-federation from which most of WWE’s new talent is culled and conversely where some floundering wrestlers are shipped down to in order to work their chops up or give them time to recover from a bad gimmick.)

DX meets with a postal representative from "OPS," (they didn’t want to spring for UPS) and instructed him to get it there by Christmas, no rush. When the clerk asked him if he wanted to insure it, Triple H replied "Nah. It isn’t worth a crap" before signing Vince McMahon’s name to the packing receipt.

Speaking of OVW and backstage vignettes, Joey Mercury is back from his hiatus in Louisville and reunited with the other members of MNM, partner Johnny Nitro and manager Melina. Looks like Joey picked up a box of black hair dye, too before he came back to the WWE fold. Not bad.

Following the backstage vignettes was the All-Divas Battle Royale to determine the number one contender spot for the Women’s Championship Belt. Mickey James defeated the retiring Champion, Lita at Survivor Series the previous night. The new and 2-time Women’s Champion came out wearing jeans and a leopard print top to guest-commentate with Jerry "The King" Lawler and Jim Ross. Conversational and confrontational, Mickey sounded game to defend her belt against anyone. Something about her mannerisms and look reminded me of a younger, cuter and tougher version of Rachel Ray.

Ring announcer, Lillian Garcia gives the stipulations for the match. As with any Battle Royale, the combatants would be eliminated not by pinfall, but by being thrown over the ropes and outside the ring.

The first contestant to make her entrance was Melina, wearing a really hot leather bustier that had her rack pushed up so high, I was afraid she’d choke on them. The King echoed a similar sentiment, fearing a wardrobe malfunction.

Up next was Candice Michelle and her incredibly irritating theme music. Candice worked the ring ramp, sliding over it and touching herself so much that the only thing missing was a pole.

Torrie Wilson followed down to the ring with her tiny pooch, Chloe. The other two contestants entrances were made during the commercial break with Maria and Victoria already in the ring.

The match began with Victoria (the only legitimate contender in terms of wrestling skill) being worked over by Torrie and Candice Michelle. I started to feel that sick, creeping of fear in my stomach that Victoria would be eliminated. The day when there is a serious challenger for the Women’s Title who can more capably perform a chair dance than take a chair shot will be the day I eat my own poop….. Or just hang it up altogether as a fan of real women’s wrestling.

Fortunately, Victoria turned the tables, planting them both with a double-armed clothesline, kicking Candice Michelle on the mat and then ramming Torrie Wilson into the corner ring posts. Victoria seemingly teamed up with Melina, giving her the greenlight to take a shot at Torrie in the corner. As Melina was running, Victoria clobbered her, eliminating probably the second-most competent wrestler in the ring. (Melina hasn’t wrestled much while in the WWE, operating in more of a managerial capacity, but I’ve heard that in her OVW days, she was quite good.)

Victoria then made short work of Torrie, eliminating her and later Maria with a clothesline. They never stood a chance.

Down to two contestants, Victoria took on Candice Michelle who nearly eliminated Victoria over the top rope. Candice scooped up Victoria in a backbreaker over her shoulders and pitched her over the top rope. Victoria held on to the ropes, her feet not touching the ground and pulling herself up to avoid elimination. Delivering a swift kick to the Go-Daddy Girl’s face, Victoria capitalized, knocking her out of the ring. Victoria is now the new number one contender for the Women’s Title.

I expected a better and longer match, considering that Eugene Dinsmore (the man behind the character) is a much better wrestler than this match would show.

Grabbing the microphone, Eugene angrily admonished the crowd for a few moments, screaming "Don’t make fun of me! I’m special!" And suddenly The Ringer seemed to possess all the warmth and sensitivity of I Am Sam in light of Eugene’s portrayal of a mentally handicapped wrestler.

Don’t get me wrong, the initial concept of Eugene’s character was cute, funny and got a very positive response from the crowd. However, it seems that the gimmick’s shelf-life has run its course and no one has any idea what to do with the character. Eugene Dinsmore is a very fine wrestler and I give the guy a lot of credit for his uncanny ability to stay in character. On a side note, I remember Dinsmore being injured on a live episode of RAW and to his extreme credit, stayed in character as they took him out on a gurney, in spite of him being in pain that merited surgery and time away from the ring. I had also seen a live WWE house show and again, although not injured, the man didn’t break character until he went back behind the curtain. I admire his dedication and hope for some better direction for this guy.

Backstage, DX was planning a party in honor of Ric Flair. The camera found DX chatting with fellow F.O.F’s (Friends of Flair), Arn Anderson and Dusty Rhodes. Michaels excitedly rambled on about how he had the ginger ale on ice, chips, dip and he that he managed to score a karaoke machine. Yes, this would be "soooooo AWESOME!!!"

Triple H, Dusty and Double-A look similarly perplexed with Shawn’s choice of party fare. Triple H interjects reassuring the F.O.F.’s that he’s got two words for them: "Booze and broads." Ron Simmons (and his fabulous shirt!) popped his head around the corner to utter one word: "Damn!"

I got a kick out of this particular vignette. Nodding to his status as a Born-Again Christian, Michaels isn’t afraid to have a little fun and goof on the squeaky clean image wrestling fans seem to expect from him due to his religious beliefs. It’s good to see him still standing by what he believes in and still entertaining the crowds.

After another commercial break, Edge is in the ring with his talk-show segment, "The Cutting Edge." He congratulated DX on beating the Spirit Squad…. for the millionth time and pimped a possible beatdown on the recently re-united Team Extreme, "Young Matthew and Jeffrey" Hardy later in the program at the hands of Edge and Randy Orton, dedicating the match to his retired paramour, Lita.

Claiming his very special surprise guest has bailed on him, Edge enlists his partner, Orton to try to rustle up this guest. Looking underneath a table near the far corner of the TitanTron, Edge and Orton dragged a bloodied Ric Flair out from under it. He called out DX to challenge them to intervene on the nearly unconscious legend’s behalf, however, no one came to the rescue. Orton and Edge took turns delivering several more chair shots to poor Ric’s head before he was carted off on a hospital gurney for medical attention.

Hard to watch and extremely bloody, I’m not sure where the WWE intends to take this angle, given the poignant and celebratory mood revolving around Flair at the beginning of the episode.

Up next was a long-overdue match up with Jerry "The King" Lawler abandoning his announcer’s headset and taking on The Masterpiece, Chris Masters. Shrugging off his spiffy new robes, the cocky, young Masterpiece strutted his way to the ring. Lawler had nearly broken Masters’ finishing maneuver, the Masterlock a few weeks ago and was out to seek revenge for the shameful whooping Masters unleashed on him and settle the score.

The two men locked up with Masters breaking free and scooping and slamming Memphis’s other favorite son before clenching Lawler in a massive bear hug. The King hit Masters in the nose to break the hold, following up with a mean dropkick to the younger wrestler.

Going for his signature move, Lawler nailed the Masterpiece sprawled on the mat with three fist drops from the top rope in succession. The Masterpiece kicked out. Upon full rejuvenation, Masters screamed out "It’s medicine time!" ( I honestly have no clue what that was supposed to mean. On the level of "WTF" that the Spirit Squad set a standard for the evening’s program with their botched cheer, Masters’s outburst was several steps below that bar, but no less "hunh?!"-inducing.)

The Masterpiece clamped the Masterlock on the King. Carlito came out to intervene on Lawler’s behalf, spitting huge, honking chunks of apple at the Masterpiece, who flung The King aside. Lawler attacked Masters from behind and managed to score a pin, defeating the Masterpiece.

The next-in ring segment featured the as-yet-undefeated Umaga and his manager, Armando Alejandro Estrada, petitioning the RAW Champion, John Cena for a title shot. Cena accepted, so now we get to see Umaga punch and kick his way through a title match. Oh, goodie. Just let me know when so I can set my Finesse-o-Meter up in time to monitor it.

The highlight of the spot was a camera shot of a "Umaga Ate My Sign" sign in the crowd. Oh, those whacky sign makers! What will they think of next!

In a slightly (and only slightly) better comedic spot, thug-themed tag team, Cryme Tyme took revenge on a Michael Richards-esque comedian, asking him "What’s really good?" before booting him to the face. While Cryme Tyme has much better delivery than Richards ever had, the segment wasn’t all that funny and seemed to be a too-obvious attempt at being socially relevant. They’re funny guys, but the segment dragged on too long and was trying too hard to squeeze in a referential parody to the incident.

Backstage, prior to the main event of Tag Team Champions Rated RKO (Edge and Randy Orton) squaring off against Team Extreme (Matt and Jeff Hardy), Edge cornered Jeff Hardy, telling the 2-time WWE Champion the "most overrated piece of crap" ever in an attempt to psyche him out before their match. The history between Edge and his former partner and "brother," Christian and the Hardy Boys’ storied tag team rivalry with each other four years ago was touched upon, highlighting a possible new rivalry between the the Hardys and Edge and his new partner.

The match began with Champions Edge and Randy Orton coming out to their sublimely spliced music and the reunited Hardy Boys entering the ringside area while doing some horribly spastic dancing.

Jeff Hardy and Orton locked up with Matt being tagged in shortly after. Matt wrenched Orton’s upper extremities into a painful looking rear armbar. Jeff was tagged back in, only to have Orton mercilessly hammer away on him.

Orton tagged in Edge before stomping Jeff repeatedly and landing a massive jumping knee to the lighter-haired Hardy’s chest. Jeff was about to receive more punishment with Edge nailing him with a standing dropkick.

Matt entered the ring again, cleaning house and clothes