I'M AN ALCOHOLIC. I DON'T HAVE ONE DRINK. I DON'T UNDERSTAND PEOPLE WHO HAVE ONE DRINK: NYMag ranks Aaron Sorkin's top 38 tv characters and, for once, it's not a slideshow, Isaac.

PEOPLE IN BOTH FIELDS OPERATE WITH BELIEFS AND BIASES. TO THE EXTENT YOU CAN ELIMINATE BOTH AND REPLACE THEM WITH DATA, YOU GAIN A CLEAR ADVANTAGE: A guest post from noted librarian Amy Watts:

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It's a list. About books. I imagine the Thing Throwers have opinions.

The Library of Congress, the world’s largest repository of knowledge and information, began a multiyear “Celebration of the Book” with an exhibition on “Books That Shaped America.”

“This list is a starting point,” said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. “It is not a register of the ‘best’ American books – although many of them fit that description. Rather, the list is intended to spark a national conversation on books written by Americans that have influenced our lives, whether they appear on this initial list or not.”

My initial reactions:

• Why only one book after 1987?
• Where is Dr. Atkins's diet book? Think of the influence that one diet book, originally published in the 1970s, had and still has about how America eats.
• Where the [FLEETING EXPLETIVE] is Judy Blume?

If you feel venting in comments isn't satisfying your wrath at the GLARINGLY OBVIOUS omissions, the LoC has a survey.

WE MUST BEGIN THE JOURNEY: Kind of buried in Nikki Finke's blurb indicating that the remake of The Thin Man has been delayed is news that Rob Marshall, who was attached, is probably going to move on and go ahead with the long in-development Into The Woods, with a start date late this year, which, of course, resulted in several of us exchanging fantasy casting ideas on Twitter.  Because of the year-end start, will be tricky for those with network TV gigs to take large parts (so NPH as the Baker seems unlikely), but a few suggestions we came up with:

• Jon Hamm and Matt Bomer as the Princes.
• Kiernan Shipka (if she can sing), Anna Kendrick, or Amanda Seyfried as Red Riding Hood (depending on how young they want to go with that part). 
• Sutton Foster as Cinderella (they're going to go with more recognizable names for The Witch and The Baker's Wife, you have to assume, with Streep probably leading the wishlist for The Witch, despite her dodgy vocals).
• Allison Janney or Imelda Staunton as Jack's Mother.

Fear, of course, is that we wind up with Lea Michele as Red Riding Hood, and Matt Morrison as the Baker (with a new, rap-inspired, song for him).

IMMA LET YOU FINISH, BUT THE LION HAS THE BEST ROAR OF ALL TIME:  Reports (of admittedly uncertain credibility) suggest that Kanye West may be releasing an album comprised substantially entirely of animal noises.

GROOVY:  If you enjoyed MLB's faux-future "Turn Ahead The Clock" jerseys from 1999, check out the Tampa Bay Rays' "1979 faux-back" uniforms they'll be wearing next Saturday.

NO LOUIE NOM IS A WAR CRIME. BUT NOT A SURPRISE:  Many of our favorite tv critics roundtable their Emmy nomination hopes and predictions. Nominating ballots are due next week; nominations announced on July 19.

You can see the list of performers who've submitted themselves for consideration here (and all the rest of the nominating ballots are here). New York magazine has compiled 25 surprising attempts to seek an Emmy nomination (Supah Ninjas for Best Writing - Comedy), but surely we've got thoughts of our own on all of this.  (I'm amused that Donald Glover is being submitted for best guest actor - comedy for his work as Young Tracy Jordan on 30 Rock, but, c'mon, Billy Baldwin needs that slot for his 30 Rock work.)

EXCITING, GROUNDBREAKING, AND COMPLETELY ORIGINAL:  CBS doesn't care for that new exhibitionist/surveillance reality series on ABC, and has issued a press release regarding its possibly retaliatory plans.