From West Wing to the real thing (The Guardian)

For the last few days I have felt that Barack Obama reminded me of someone and then it hit me there is a link back to the Presidential Campaign of Matthew Santos in "The West Wing".

It was the plain speaking approach of Obama that finally reminded me of Santos. Truth often follows fiction but according to the linked article fiction followed truth only for truth to follow on again, if you see what I mean.

My question will be, in the forth coming election will the "West Wing" story line have subconsciously prepared American voters to vote Obama. Will the fact that in the show Santos won prepare voters for a Obama victory, have the lines between the show, which was almost like a documentary at times, and reality somehow blurred.

House MD

I think House is great, well written and compulsive viewing. House is your standard grumpy genius but you just cant help respecting and admiring him even if he would be hell to work with. However although he would be hell to work with you would go on to great things after leaving his team as you would have learnt so much. House challenges and inspires his team and although it may not seem obvious he is a great leader and mentor.

In HR terms House is difficult to manage as everyone around him knows. House is the loose cannon that doesn't play by the rules and thus can not be treated the same way as every other employee. To a certain extent I suspect that kind of person enjoys bending the rule in the name of doing what is right.

I am a bit House like, I don't toe the party line and I will challenge anything I don't agree with. Many will disagree but I am not in it to make friends and be nice to everyone I am in it to do what is right.

Anyway one episode of House started with a song called Desire by , someone on Youtube had put together a nice video of clips which I thought I would share with you.



I went looking for other remix videos to the same tune about House MD, here is another good one.



For the record the female doctor is lovely and I know in one episode they go on a date but I am not sure if it works out, I suspect not. However House definitely needs his head read on that subject because I would love to take her out to dinner.

Same song different show, this time it its Josh and Donna from the "West Wing", another couple that are great together. Whoever cut this video was a genius although to be fair the original script was also done by a genius.

Wait for the bit where she goes over and sits next to Josh, cross her legs. Josh says" Do you want another drink?" Donna say, "No" and gets up and walks off. Its hot, flirty seductive stuff. We are in bite lip sexy territory here.
Again I would have to say if Donna was available I would taker her to dinner too.



Which leads me to a Josh and Donna West Wing Quote

Josh: If you were in an accident I wouldn't stop for beer.

Donna: If you were in an accident I wouldn't stop for red lights.

What makes these videos good is the dynamic between the two characters and the long lingering looks and secret smiles.

20 years ago: The Great storm

On the BBC when I got up, on the news this evening, on the websites and just now I was reminded it was 20 years since the 'great storm' hit the south east of England.

Well I was in the South-West at the time where it was slightly less impressive, some trees did blow over and several roads were closed due to falling debris.

My point is yes, it was a devastating storm which killed people and destroyed property but why is it head line news today. Is it such a slow news day that we call history news, they must have been building up to this for months with all their documentaries and clips.

There are stories happening all over the world that the public need to know about and discuss. A 20 year old storm is a 1 hour documentary not national news.

I wonder sometimes whether we are raising the bar of sensationalist news so high that on most normal days nothing happens that the media feels is worth reporting. So I fear that there will be more days when it is X years since such an event occurred. News may become a five minute segment of past news.

It reminded me of a West Wing episode last night. Toby Ziegler was talking with the 4 network news editors about coverage of the republican and democratic conferences. They wanted to cut coverage down from 2 hours a night to 1 hour a night. In their words they wanted to show the acceptance of nomination speech and the balloons.

Everyone likes to see the balloons, if you have never seen the footage it is where balloons drop from the ceiling and everyone is wearing placards. Every conference would not be complete without balloons. In the UK strangely enough we are less cheer leaderish about our politics.

Toby, as I would be was incensed.

Yes, no. There isn't going to be a horse race to cover, either in New York or San Diego. But we gave you the air waves for free 70 years ago and 357 days a year you can say who's up and who's down, who won the West and who lost the South.
But what's wrong with 8 days, not every year but every 4 years, showing our leaders talking to us? Not a fraction of what they said, but what they said. And then the balloons.
- Toby Ziegler, West Wing (Quoted from Conventional viewing)

The man has a point for all that is great about humanity for all its achievements, successes and the great forum of debate that is the world, the media wish to cut current affairs programming and replace it with the latest reality TV Show.

If the public has no appetite in news it is not because it is uninteresting, it is because the media are failing in telling us the story, failing to involve us . Sensationalism has replaced debate and it can only get worse not better.

In about twenty years from now this year will be interesting, there was the great snow, the great flood x2, who knows what winter will be like. Perhaps on of the main news shows could be renamed '20 years ago today...'.

But remember 20 years ago was a great storm ...

West Wing Quotes

I found the imdb quotes page for the West Wing by Aaron Sorkin. I should mention that the internet movie database which I would think most people have found by now is a fantastic encyclopaedic reference site for anything film or tv related.

Anyway here are a few of my favourite quotes:

[Charlie seeks and obtains the President's permission to date his daughter]
President Josiah Bartlet: Just remember these two things: she's nineteen years old, and the 82nd Airborne works for me.

Charlie is the young bagman to the president for those that have never caught the show.

[the President neglected a formality transferring executive power before going into surgery]
Margaret: Can I just say something for the future? *I* can sign the president's name. I've got his signature down pretty good.
Leo McGarry: You can sign the president's name?
Margaret: Yeah.
Leo McGarry: On a document removing him from power and giving it to someone else?
Margaret: Yeah. Or do you think the White House Counsel would say that's a bad idea?
Leo McGarry: I think the White House Counsel would say that's a Coup D'Etat.
Margaret: I'd probably end up doing some time for that.
Leo McGarry: I would think. And what the hell are you doing practicing the president's signature?
Margaret: It's just for fun.
Leo McGarry: We've got separation of powers, checks and balances, and Margaret, vetoing things and sending them back to the hill.

Leo McGarry is Chief of Staff and Margaret is his secretary.

Sam Seaborn: Toby, do you really think it's a good idea to invite people to dinner and then to tell them exactly what they're doing wrong with their lives?
Toby Ziegler: Absolutely, otherwise it's just a waste of food.

Sam and Toby are the speech writers

Mandy Hampton: You guys are idiots, did you know that?
C.J. Cregg: You know, in our defense, we actually did know that.

CJ Cregg is the fantastic Press Secretary, can't remember who Mandy Hampton was.

I could go on, as there literally are 100's of quotes on the page.

I have to say it is difficult to pick favourite characters from the show as they are all damn good actors but I would also like to give special mention to the character Donna Moss who is not mentioned here, I could fall in love very easily with a girl like her.