skywaterblue

A new father doesn’t need any extra incentive to worry but I had one. Four years earlier mom was pregnant with what should have been your older brother, Charlie. In the eighth month of the pregnancy, Charlie turned the wrong way in the womb and accidentally strangled himself on the umbilical cord and died. You and I have that in common. Grandma and Grandpa planned on having three kids—first your Aunt Debbie, then Uncle Noah and then my brother Daniel. But Daniel died at birth, and that’s why I’m here. I’m the understudy. (You might notice a lot of characters named Charlie and Danny in the stories I write—now you’ll know why.) This time around, come hell or high water, I was bringing my whole family home from the hospital.

-- Aaron Sorkin, in a public letter to his daughter.

I wish he wrote everything for his daughter, because this is the most genuine thing I think he's written in ages. Of obvious interest to fans of his work for the backstory, but the rest of the letter is just as painful yet loving and wry, the tone that made me fall in love with his work.

Write for Roxy all the time, Sorkin, and you could win my heart back.

1. So you all heard the news that Aaron Sorkin's new pundit show is going to HBO, right?

I deleted a long post about how I wanted Richard Schiff to be in it (he's the perfect temperament to be Keith Olbermann. Sorry Bradley, you know I love you.) And if he's in it, I want Janel Moloney to be in it because, though they don't have many scenes together, ever scene between Toby and Donna has an interesting frisson. She could be his producer, perhaps.

Well, I scrapped it because I thought The Schiff would be too busy with the Criminal Minds spinoff. Then I checked his wikipedia last night and it's only recurring so: DREAM CASTING BACK ON.

2. And then they day after that, Keith Olbermann got quitfired from MSNBC.

Bringing the ripe speculation that since everyone knows the new Sorkin show is about Olbermann, maybe he's going to staff it? And the great Sorkin-MSNBC connection goes full circle.

And yes, if you haven't seen the video: Olbermann did reference Network in his live-to-the-nation I QUIT message.

In less optimistic news, I and most American progressives are now concerned about the consequences, as he single-handedly brought MSNBC around from a third tier network, to second place and voice of the Democratic party combating Fox.

3. Being Human US edition

Not much to say, except I think I liked it a little more than the current UK cast. (I never got over when they recast the vampires.) I'll keep watching.

4. Lost Girl

I gather that lots of people on my friend's list love this show, so I gave it a try and downloaded the first season. It is a Canadian fantasy drama in the tradition of Highlander. (I keep thinking of it as Girl Highlander.)

Five episodes in and it's MY FAVORITE THING SINCE SLICED CRACK. It's the story of a bisexual succubus named Bo who grew up without knowing she was a member of the Fae, and her teenaged pickpocket runaway. They solve crime! Every episode passes the Bechdel test!

It has a bit of an Anita Blake meets Buffy vibe, to be honest, as Kenzi the teenager uses a lot of internet slang. (She described Bo as 'in lurve' with another character.) There's a free hand about the sex - after all, the main character needs it to live. Rather than drag it out, the intended OTP have been shagging since the second episode and the barriers to getting together in happiness seem to be: 1. Fae politics and 2. nigh immortality.

And like all great science fiction/fantasy dramas, there's a wise Bartender up to more than he seems.

Handlebars by chaila.

I debated whether I wanted to make a West Wing vid to this song for a while and ultimately dismissed it because I decided it was a. overplayed in fandom and b. pretty dark.

Now I wish I had. chaila has focused it strictly on Bartlet and it's an absolutely chilling look at the character. Go watch.

Which reminds, me, I saw "The Social Network" Thursday on screener passes. I tweeted about it but I never got around to writing an entry on it. Let's do that now, shall we?

Non-spoilery: While maybe not the 'greatest movie of the year', the glowing reviews have been fairly on the money. Easily the best thing Sorkin's written since 'The West Wing' and in many ways the apogee of a lot of things he's been working through. Thus I recommend highly that you see it, especially if you are a fan of his and on the fence - it's always good to see an artist finally LAND the theme they were circling around for ages.

( Spoilery )

Also, any film where part of the plot involves drunken emo break up Livejournaling? You guys should all be lining up for it.