they’re asking about the five best political films of all time. my picks (forgive their youth, due to the fact that i was born in 1987):

1: the contender (2000) – joan allen, gary oldman, jeff bridges, sam elliott, christian slater

a female senator (and former Republican) is nominated for the vice presidency by the Democratic president in his final term. true trench fighting and mudslinging.

2: the west wing (i’d like to consider the series, with particular emphasis on the last season, of 2005-2006) – martin sheen, allison janney, bradley whitford, rob lowe, richard schiff

the last season is a highlight on the presdential campaign, primary and general. an erudite wit encapsulates the writing of all seven seasons of this, my favorite show. i get a lot of my more clever one-liners from this.

3: good night and good luck (2005) – george clooney, david straithairn, robert downey jr., jeff daniels, patricia clarkson

a black-and-white montage of mccarthy’s speeches, interpolated between fabulous acting portraying the workings of the news station of edward r. murrow, the noted journalist.

4: charlie wilson’s war (2007) – tom hanks, julia roberts, philip seymour hoffman

a texas congressman, a sultry socialite and a quirky but resilient cia officer take on afghanistan. done by some of the same filmmakers responsible for the west wing, it’s no surprise that this movie is enjoyable, well-made and at times utterly humorous.

5: primary colors (1998) – john travolta, emma thompson, billy bob thorton, kathy bates

the thinly-veiled impressions of bill clinton’s 1992 presidential bid, as seen through the eyes of journalist joe klein, were penned into an anonymous novel, and made into this film. if one is to take the film at it’s face value, it’s well acted and entertaining. if one imbues the notion that the characters are based on actual persons….a lot of things make sense about the hillary clinton campaign.

p.s. i really like this website.

gomez – sweet virginia

i really don’t understand what has been going on lately. at some point, i think i told myself that this section of my site would be explicitly not for all the emo-rambling that i do on pssssst. but then, i probably thought about it, and realized that i do very little of that. so maybe this will be the catch-all. i’ll probably migrate some of the old entries over, and then maybe i’ll disable the account. it was becoming somewhat of a nuisance to me.

side thought: i am a really big fan of words. and quotes. i should do a post of some of my favorites. nah, i’ll probably just try to incorporate some into every single entry. for example, and this is one that i just read tonight: “I gave up the thing I loved more than anything, and I’m trying to get it back.” i can’t imagine that there are a lot of people who are so easily moved. reading this line, in conjunction to listening to the last minute and a half or so of “sweet virginia,” are really striking me. i suppose it has something to do with the actively morose strings, underlaced by a distinctly escalating piano chord, and the whispering of the reeds hitting the snare drum, and the notion of loss conveyed in those words, coupled with a desire to negate that loss. i told you, i make emo look cheery.

marvin gaye and tammi terrell – ain’t no mountain high enough

brian fennell – colors

i’m mildly distracted by updating photos to my gallery. it’s reasonably relaxing. crap it, i have to be up by seven tomorrow morning, if i plan to be a person at all and work out in the morning. and i HAVE to do it in the morning, or it will be a nightmare trying to work out around the football players schedule. guh.

sam cooke – a change is gonna come

so, recently i’ve picked up some tv shows. i should be appalled and my sensibilities are usually far more advanced than to be entertained by paltry and feeble acting. but i have to say it. i fucking love south of nowhere. the whole spashley drama….let’s start by saying that one of the main actresses affiliated with the show, one mandy musgrave, is absolutely adorable.

beck – e-pro

grand national – joker and clown

kilowatts – close the door

at this point, i’m kind of just embracing the notion of sleep before three am with a sublime ease that would usually come from being high. in my case, from listening to kilowatt. my relationship with music is multi-layered and organic, unquenchable and inexplicable, a dash of heat to an otherwise rather ordinary and lukewarm existence.

who am i kidding? in the past year, i have lived five lives. when you migrate into a new crowd of people, you usually have some sort of adjustment period. last summer, i had an adjustment kick in the ass. and then fell face forward into sandy depths.

dixie chicks – the long way around

i saw the dixie chicks documentary. and sort of a little bit fell in love with them. not enough, as a friend of mine pointed out, to make me go out and buy their album. but i did torrent it, and about seven of the songs are on this playlist. that’s my real indication of how much i like an artist. did i download your entire album? well then. speaking of which, i need to get the new transmission update. apparently, now i will be able to select files withing a torrent to download. i was used to this before i made the move to mac about four months ago (please don’t think me a neophyte, i have been obsessed for years. since probably the eighth grade), because i used utorrent, which is the best torrent client i used on a windows machine. i like transmission, but this was a glaring omission in terms of features, so i’m really glad they’ve gotten their act together.

enya – carribbean blue

does anyone else think enya is absolutely flipping amazing? my father used to listen to her stuff a lot when i was younger, so i have all these pleasant childhood memories that flood my brain when i listen to her or seal. we have a rocky and sometimes unpleasant relationship, my father and i. but whenever i can take the time to listen to this, i can remember a time when that wasn’t the case. this song came on earlier tonight, and i sent my dad a text telling him that i remember the best moments of my childhood with enya. he told me that it had the same effect on him, that he remembered the best things about his daughter when he listened to them. that really did make me cry. and fuck me if i’m not crying again.

ok, that’s probably a sign to quit. but i’ll leave a couple of thoughts…

would anyone want it? – think about it as an abstract

it’s no accident many accuse me of conducting public affairs with my heart instead of my head. well, what if i do? those who don’t know how to weep with their whole heart don’t know how to laugh either. – golda meir, one of my personal heroes

please explain to me the scientific nature of the whammy. – special agent dana scully, the x-files

the saddest part of a broken heart isn’t the ending so much as the start
the tragedy starts from the very first spark, losing your mind for the sake of your heart – feist, let it die

mae – summertime (“…driving away, leaving it all behind…”)