Month: September 2003

Word is that the BBC is going to be returning Doctor Who to the small screen after a ten year sabbatical. No details of the show are available.

The natural question, of course, is…who do you cast? I personally would have been happy with several of the Doctors we saw in “Curse of the Fatal Death,” including Rowan Atkinson and Hugh Grant. Doubtful, however, that either would commit.

So who would I want to see in the role? Y’ask me, only one guy for the job:

Anthony Stewart Head.

He can handle everything from comedy to action to involved exposition. It’s as if Giles has been a seven year warm-up for the role.

Bring in Julia Sawalha, who played the companion in “Fatal Death,” and you’re good to go.

Runner up to Tony Head would be Chris Barrie. But ASH is definitely the way to go.

PAD

Well, we saw the debut of the first Aaron Sorkin-less “West Wing” last night.

Although the show no longer feels like a rat-a-tat-tat dialogue 1930’s-esque film, it’s still a good drama. The continuation of the search for the President’s daughter, the growing strain on the President’s family (including the arrival of one of his never-before-seen elder daughters), and the grudging acknowledgment amongst the staff that fill-in president Walken came across in his first news conference as “presidential” (and the devastating observation that Sheen’s Bartlett seemed “so small”) made for compelling viewing.

I’ve never understood, though, the criticism over the show being “too liberal.” The series was obviously Sorkin’s idealized Democratic White House. Yes, it didn’t bear resemblance to reality. So what? “Marcus Welby” and many other medical series portrayed idealized versions of doctors that bore no resemblance to typical overworked doctors normally encountered in our day to day lives. John McClane of the “Die Hard” films is a super-cop. Rambo is a super-soldier. But, what? We draw the line at presenting a “super-Democrat commander-in-chief”–tough minded, literate, knowledgable, confident, eloquent. That’s just too over the top for people to accept, and Sorkin is lambasted for it? Sorry. Just not seeing it.

PAD

Caroline is presently in what I call the Wile E Coyote stage of child development.

You know how the coyote can run past the edge of a cliff and keep going, but doesn’t fall until he notices he’s standing in mid-air, at which point gravity takes hold?

Well, Caroline is at the same point when it comes to standing. She’ll be standing in her playpen by means of holding onto the edge and get interested in some toy. She’ll reach down and pick it up. Now she’s gripping the playpen with one hand and examining the toy in the other. At some point invariably she’ll release her grip and start playing with the toy with two hands, oblivious to the fact that she’s standing. And suddenly she’ll blink and look down, realize what she’s doing…and promptly fall.

My guess is she’ll be walking within a month, at which point–with all the books on the shelves–we’re well and truly screwed.

PAD

This from Gwen:

Knock knock.

Who’s there?

The interrupting dyslexic Jew.

The interrupting dyslex–?

Yo.

Well, THAT was exciting.

Continue Reading “NEW YORK IS BOOK COUNTRY” →

I’ll be at New York is Book Country tomorrow, signing from 2-3 PM at the booth being sponsored by Midtown Comics and Marvel Comics. It’s at 49th and 5th.

And in the morning, I’ll be checking out (and I suggest you do so if you can) the Broadway Flea Market over in Shubert Alley. Every year many shows and cast members turn out to sell all manner of wares in order to raise money for AIDS research. It’s from 10AM to 7 PM.

PAD

Today be “Talk Like a Pirate Day,” matey. In honor of that, we actually watched “Survivor: Pearl Island,” ye scaborous dogs. We be liking Rupert, because he’s big and bearded and named “Rupert” and he’s piratical by nature, ye bilge rats.

Drink up, me hearties, yo ho!

PAD