I want to stop blogging daily, but I can’t seem to help myself. I keep finding stuff I want to share or log… Yesterday’s post was something of a “victory lap,” but today’s is just compulsion.

This Pick Your Candidate page is pretty nifty. I ran my issue stances through it in under a minute and it spit out my most- and least-compatible candidates (rated by simple point-based arithmetic). For me, it was surprisingly accurate. Here’re my top four:

Paul 12
Gravel 7
Kucinich 6
Thompson 5

And my bottom four:

Huckabee -12
Brownback -7
Romney -6
Clinton -2

It’s obviously not very comprehensive, but it might give you some leads for research if you’re feeling overwhelmed by the plethora of options.

I finally got around to watching Music & Lyrics. Great movie! I wasn’t expecting much (romantic comedies aren’t usually my thing), just something watchable: Like, slightly better than What Women Want but not as good as When Harry Met Sally. I was very surprised. It actually had some interesting things to say about music, the pop genre, and being true to yourself despite public opinion (that sounds incredibly banal, but I can’t think of any other way to phrase it ATM). I love how self-aware the film is. It actually acknowledges the clichés and the irony of its storyline; it doesn’t talk down to the audience or manipulate them shamelessly. Great dialogue too.

Here’s an exchange I liked:

Alex: It doesn’t have to be perfect. Just spit it out. They’re just lyrics.
Sophie: “Just lyrics”?
Alex: Lyrics are important. They’re just not as important as melody.
Sophie: I really don’t think you get it.
Alex: Oh. You look angry. Click your pen.
Sophie: A melody is like seeing someone for the first time. The physical attraction. Sex.
Alex: I so get that.
Sophie: But then, as you get to know the person, that’s the lyrics. Their story. Who they are underneath. It’s the combination of the two that makes it magical.

That really made me meta-think about how I experience songs. I’ve always said I could care less about lyrics as long as they have an appropriate rhythm and the melody’s nice. But this gave me pause. I don’t know if it’ll change my opinion, but it’s worth consideration.

BTW, the soundtrack for this movie is awesome.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.