As most of you know...

... West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin is one of my writing icons (and a good bet to win a screenwriting Oscar this year for The Social Network).

Here's info on his new HBO show, and movie on the John Edwards affair (which he is also set to direct).

Hey Joe, don't let that door hit you in the ass on the way out, mmkay?

Joe Lieberman went on TV recently to insist that there really were Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq.

...or er, at least, that Iraq was "developing" them.

Now this is, in itself, no surprise. Joe Lieberman is a boob, and a two-faced one besides. We've long known that. So it's no shock, just kind of saddening in a wholly expected way, to see him trot out this old chestnut in a Q & A with Arianna Huffington (and others):

I'm basing it on the so-called Duelfer Report. Charles D-U-E-L-F-E-R conducted the most comprehensive report on behalf of our government. And it was, nobody thought it was partisan. I want to be very clear: he didn't find big caches of weapons of mass destruction. But he found, and proved I think, that Saddam had every intention, and particularly to develop nuclear weapons, was developing chemical and biological weapons, and had a structure in place including nuclear scientists that he was prepared to support if he broke out of the sanctions, which he was inclined to do.

God in Heaven, Joe. I have every intention of developing my own TARDIS so I can have Cameron Diaz, Winona Ryder, Jennifer Connelly, Helena Bonham Carter, Natalie Portman and Laura Prepon when they were good. Which I am inclined to do. Doesn't mean I can be sued for child support as the father of Natalie Portman's baby.

Another thing: Here is an item about the report he cites from the AP:

Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2004; 5:53 PM
Contradicting the main argument for a war that has cost more than 1,000 American lives, the top U.S. arms inspector said Wednesday he found no evidence that Iraq produced any weapons of mass destruction after 1991.

Y'get that there, Joe? "No evidence."

Also, from a related Washington Post article on the same report:

Duelfer's report said that no chemical weapons existed and that there is no evidence of attempts to make such weapons over the past 12 years

As I say, all this, like the fact that Lieberman is a two-faced boob, is what we already knew. But what we didn't know, or at least I didn't, is just how patronizing he could be to a woman...who just happens to have better information than he.

Because when Ms. Huffington quiered his assertion, the following exchange took place:

LIEBERMAN: ... these are not unfounded. Go read the Duelfer Report.

HUFFINGTON: There is nothing in the report that proves anything that you have said.


Dripping with condescension, Lieberman retorted, "I don't think you've read it, sweetheart."

(emphasis mine)

Ooh-boy...

New Amazon book review

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II

Ah...you can always depend upon Tennessee

Think Progress:

Tennessee Tea Party Demands School Curriculum Not Focus Too Much On The ‘Minority Experience’

You know, as I read this I'm reminded that in my play The Girl in the Boat, there is a fleeting reference to a never-seen character named José. When the play was produced in the insane state, I was asked to change the name, on the grounds that apparently, there were no Mexicans in Knoxville, Tennessee. Somewhat to my later chagrin, I agreed.

Better to change my sign than my sex, I suppose.

In September 2009, I linked to-

Sex and relationship monthly astrology: Virgo

--Virgo being my astrological sign at the time and indeed for most if not all of my life. Now that I'm a Leo, I thought it might be amusing to visit the newly-relevant page...

How to attract and date a Leo man: A Leo man needs a woman who is grounded in reality and can help him keep his feet on the ground...

Yeah, that's fair.

...Usually the royal Lion's romances do not last that long, when his emotional ideals of a grand and magnificent romance coming crashing to reality.

Well, that's kind of a bummer, if not exactly untrue. I do like being called "The royal Lion," tho, I admit it...

Sex will never be dull with a Leo, though, and they will master every move they know.

Ahem...

Oh please, Tom. If we had that kind of power, do you think we'd waste it on a small-time crook like you?

Tom DeLay: Liberals Sentenced Me To Jail

I don't know about you, but I could really use some comedy right about now

So here's comedian (and Woman My Own Age) Maria Bamford...

Jokes.com
Maria Bamford - Cults
comedians.comedycentral.com
Jokes Joke of the Day Funny Jokes

So sue me, this makes me happy

Tom DeLay, once the most powerful man in the House of Representatives, was sentenced to three years in prison Monday.

Art by Fred Wessel

Via ArtistADay.

Have I mentioned lately that Christian Bale is a fucking self-important nutball?

Christian Bale has hit back at "patronizing" suggestions he picks movies that require him to lose weight, insisting it is "horrible" to drastically alter his body for extreme roles.

"To be honest, I find it laughable that it's considered some f**king gimmick -- it's so patronizing. For God's sake, do people not understand what a pain it is to do? It's as though it's some comment about, 'Oh, it's easy for him, because he's done it a bunch of times.' It's not easy, it's not fun -- it's horrible.

"I would never pick to do that, but (playing Eklund was) a part that I like and he's a welterweight and he's a crack head. I don't know about you, but I've never seen a welterweight with any fat on him - or a crack head. So it's just what you end up having to do. Somebody told me that somebody wrote something about my 'trademark weight loss'. I'd just like to p**s on that guy's shoes."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/dailydish/detail?entry_id=80476#ixzz1AKEbysTd

One or two of us were saying that back in August or so, but it's nice to have confirmed

The Deepwater Horizon blowout and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was an avoidable accident caused by a series of failures and blunders by the companies involved in drilling the well and the government regulators assigned to police them, the presidential panel named to study the accident has concluded.

Now I look forward to seeing the terrible price which the politicians will make those companies pay.

Also, I look forward to having an orgy with Teri Polo, Olivia Wilde, Beau Garrett, Anna Faris and a 31-year-old Blythe Danner. Seems just as likely.

Todays "Who's searching for me now?" question

Someone in Villeneuve, Bourgogne, France found this blog early this morning (my time) by googling "varkentine.blogspot.com." To the best of my knowledge I do not know anyone in Villeneuve, Bourgogne, France. I don't even know anything about it.

I wonder if it's that place where the ladies wear no pants I've heard so much about. That would be cool.

Proof positive that Karma is real

Folks who got their audio book version of President Bush's new memoir Decisions Points on Christmas were surprised to see chapter headings like "Bushit" and "Innocent Children Die" when they popped the CD into their computers on Christmas morning.

Nice going, Brainiac

The Northwest Raptor & Wildlife Center says a young bald eagle found shot in the wing is under round-the-clock care.

The center's Matthew Randazzo told the Peninsula Daily News Saturday that the eagle's wing is broken and contains bullet fragments. He says it's unlikely the bird will be able to fly.

The male bird was found floundering on the ground near Beaver, about 10 miles north of Forks. The wildlife center in Sequim and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife are seeking information about the person who shot the bird.

Shooting a bald eagle is illegal. The birds are protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.

Greetings, programs! (So I've seen Tron Legacy...)

I walked out of the theater with a stupid great smile on my face; humming the ending credits music from the original.

I was pleased.

Oh, before I go on, one quick word about the music, which as one or two of you know was and is one of my favorite features of the original.

I was hoping Daft Punk would find a way to work in a line or two of melody from that Wendy Carlos' score, but if they did, I missed it (and I was listening).

However, though nowhere near as lovely Carlos' for the original, the music in the new film does works just swell. It's just unlikely to be on whatever-the-equivalent-of-my-iTunes will be in 30 years, as Carlos' is.

Now, to the film itself: Yes, the visuals are exciting, but you expect that going in; it's really the least you expect from a Tron movie (and one of the few the first one completely delivered on).

Where it surpasses its predecessor is in the characters, human and non-human, and in the performances. In the first movie, I think, few of the performers had any idea what they were doing.

It's hard to blame them. The movie was pioneering in its use of computer graphics and imagery in a way that few if any saw coming. As a result perhaps, too much of the performances have an aimless quality which tends to impede drama.

Times have changed.



It's no longer news that Jeff Bridges can act his ass off (Last Picture Show, Tron 1, The Fisher King). Bridges returns, 28 years after creating the role (has to be some kind of record), as Kevin Flynn, the protagonist of the original. He owns it.

It's Flynn grown wiser and more accepting of his obligations, both in our world and in the one he created. This grown up Flynn may not please some who expect the man-boy from the first film, but it was the right choice for this one.

As Quorra, Flynn's "apprentice" in the digital world, Olivia Wilde gives a performance that...I think I want to think about and maybe see at least one more time (before I label it). Suffice it to say that she seems awfully human for a program, but there's a reason for that.

The last scene in the movie focuses on Quorra's face. Beyond that I won't reveal the context. But Wilde made me feel. I don't mean she made me feel something emotionally (though she and the film did) in this case, I mean she made me feel what the character was feeling, the sensation. That's gotta be some kind of acting; she's more than just eye candy, though she does look good (pretty darn good).

Bruce Boxleitner also returns to his role as Alan Bradley. It's smaller than in the original, but key, and Boxleitner wears it comfortably.

Those are the good points, now to the bad. I'm going to try to put this so as to avoid spoilers, at least of a specific plot turn, but I am now going to reveal something I haven't seen in the ads, so if you want to go, go now.

The problem comes when Alan's alter-ego shows up. Something happens that I saw coming (one of a couple). It's an inviting idea. But the way in which it is executed suggested to me that it was done quickly and cheaply (presumably when someone realized the movie's called Tron and he's barely in it), rather than being a part of the story from the very beginning.


Garrett Hedlund is well-cast as Flynn's son, but it's an unremarkable part. However, he does everything the film asks of him, and it works, so I won't pick too hard. He may indeed have some game, but I'd need to see him in a better role.



The only woman other than Wilde with star billing in the film, Beau Garrett, merely is eye candy.

I have no idea if she's got any "game," simply because the film doesn't ask her to display any.


And then there's Michael Sheen. Oh dear. Camping it up to beat the band, he resembles nothing so more than Dana Carvey impersonating David Bowie on Saturday Night Live.

This choice of direction doesn't work for me, but at least the part is small and over with quickly.

As for the story, it's true that there are places where it slows to a glacial pace, and others where it is hard to fathom who is who and what's going on.

I don't care. First of all, it's like a Light Cycle only sputtering momentarily before continuing upon its merry way (Light Cycles sputter, right)

And second, compared to what the first one delivered in terms of character and story, this
one is frickin' Lord of the Rings.

I mean, watching a Light Cycle chase in 2010. Totally worth the wait.

And I can't say that about every genre sequel I've seen this year.

(Further to that aside, the headline on the Salon review of this film is "A $170 million insult." Trust me, I know what it feels like to be insulted by a film series of which you are a cult fan. It doesn't feel like this.)

End of line.

Well of course the gay lobby doesn't own the rainbow. Mork does.

An activist for a sub-group of the anti-gay group the National Organization for Marriage is speaking out against the use of the rainbow as a symbol for gay rights. "We are the real rainbow coalition. The gay lobby does not own the rainbow," she said.

South Park was right.

A couple of years ago, when Indiana Jones/Crystal Skull came out, I had a gut feeling that I shouldn't watch it, so I didn't. I didn't watch it in the theater, I didn't watch it on DVD, and I didn't watch it on premium cable.

Now that it has made its way to basic cable, however, I decided to gird my loins and sit through it, albeit with DVR remote at the ready. So now I have.

The China Probrem
Tags: SOUTH
PARKmore...

This has been a review.

I don't know about you, but I've really been getting a kick out of having Conan back on TV

And here's just the most recent of many reasons why.

I don't think I've ever been so depressed to be proven right

Me, this blog, September 24th, this year:

Honestly, I am not worried about the tea party movement. They (and their effect on the GOP) are handing Obama and the Democratic party everything they should need to hold onto or even increase their majorities in the senate and house.

What I'm worried about is that they won't grab onto those teacup-nuts and use 'em to knock down some bodies. What I am worried about is that Obama will react to a mid-term "whacking" as Clinton did.

No, not by having an affair--by all accounts President Obama is deeply and passionately in love with his wife, and devoted to his family. But by resorting to the straddle-every-issue, don't-offend-anyone strategy that Clinton embraced from (at least) 1994-1996.

Howard Fineman, HuffPo, today:

The tax-bill fight is revealing a crucial fact about President Obama's new, post-"shellacking" White House: it is increasingly being run by veterans of the Clinton era.

The significance of this staff shift is beyond the operational. The Clinton-era alums, by outlook and experience, represent a centrist, pragmatic, pro-business "wealth-creation" wing of the Democratic Party that flourished during the Clinton presidency in the 1990s.

Outside the White House per se, the president is getting key support from John Podesta, whose Center for American Progress has placed dozens of staffers in key positions inside the administration.

CAP supports the tax-cut deal, perhaps not surprising given that Podesta was once Bill Clinton's highly regarded chief of staff.

In which my love/hate relationship with Aaron Sorkin continues

Okay. You all know how good a writer I think Aaron Sorkin is, how thankful I am for his work, how much I prize my West Wing and Sports Nights DVDs. Also, I saw The Social Network this week, and thought it was the best film made from one of his scripts since The American President.

Sorkin has a piece on the Huffpo this morning attacking Sarah Palin for, in so many words, torturing and killing and slicing up animals for pleasure.

Now, lord knows I hold no brief for Sarah Palin. I think she makes Pamela Anderson look like a genius, I honestly don't get the whole "It girl" thing, and I hope that on his death bed--far away may that be--John McCain dies knowing exactly what he inflicted upon his country.

And though like Sorkin, I eat meat, I don't want animals tortured (not even John "Jigsaw" Kramer did that). So given all of the foregoing, why do I have any problem with Sorkin's new piece? Two reasons. First, this sentence:

Like 95% of the people I know, I don't have a visceral (look it up) problem eating meat or wearing a belt.

"Look it up?" Geez, Aaron, condescending much?

And second, the whole rest of the piece just isn't as well written as it could've been...or as I've seen such statements made before. For example:

Now, the trick in shooting deer is you gotta get 'em out in the open. And it's tough with deer, 'cause these are clever, cagey animals with an intuitive sense of danger. You know what you have to do to get a deer out in the open? You hold out a Twinkie.

That animal clopped up to me like we were at a party. She seemed to be pretty interested in the Twinkie, so I gave it to her. Looking back, she'd have been better off if I'd given her the damn vest. And Bob kind of screamed at me in whisper, "Move away!" The camera had been re-loaded and it looked like the day wasn't gonna be a washout after all. So I backed away, a couple of steps at a time, and closed my eyes when I heard the shot. Look, I know these are animals, and they don't play bridge and go to the prom, but you can't tell me that the little one didn't know who his mother was.

That's gotta mean something. And later, at the hospital, Bob Shoemaker was telling me about the nobility and tradition of hunting and how it related to the native American Indians. And I nodded and I said that was interesting while I was thinking about what a load of crap it was. Hunting was part of Indian culture. It was food and it was clothes and it was shelter. They sang and danced and offered prayers to the gods for a successful hunt so that they could survive just one more unimaginably brutal winter. The things they had to kill held the highest place of respect for them, and to kill for fun was a sin.

And they knew the gods wouldn't be so generous next time. What we did wasn't food and it wasn't shelter and it sure wasn't sports. It was just mean.

That speech, as if you're not already all way ahead of me, is from a television episode called "The Hungry and the Hunted," of the TV series Sports Night, and was written by...Aaron Sorkin.