Groundbreaking JFK doc

We take for granted that today's politicians are extensively media-trained, unable to offer anything spontaneous (or honest) in front of a television camera. This was not always so, however, and that is the amazing quality that stands out in Robert Drew's two documentaries on JFK's presidential race and adminsitration, Primary and Crisis.  Here we see Hubert Humphrey asleep on the way to campaign against this New England Upstart; Governor Wallace speaking freely about his thoughts on segregation; Jacqui Onnassis fidgeting nervsouly behind her back as she speeks to a delegation of Polish-Americans. Adding to this cinema-verite is the amazing mobility of the camera, allowing Robert to capture the full scale of a political campaign, from the jungle of the convention floor to the cramped siderooms where the real deals are made. It doesn't hurt that its subject is one of the most telegenic and dynamic political creatures of the 20th century. 

All in all, this is a ground-breaking documentary that captures the dawn of the media-politician right in a way that can never be replicated. Check out more about the doc here. 

On the Sunny Side

It isn't the most innovative. It isn't the most technically spectacular. But  every time I hear Tommy Dorsey's version of "On the Sunny Side of the Street", I feel completely at ease. Its the quintessential feel-good swing song. The melodic riffs and punchy brass of its first half are great in their own right, but once those chorus gals come up on the second half, you just get carried along. It helps that their four-part 40s-style harmonies are some of the tightest I've ever heard.  I know its corny as all hell, but you can't help but feel the kind of hopeful outlook many Americans felt as we were getting out of WWII. Other countires have had bouts of optimism, but few really felt as confident as we did in the immediate post-war years. Of course, it couldn't last. I'm happy now to be living in a time when technology (internet) and certain politicians (Obama) are once again giving us a "yes we can" attitude, but you won't find songs like this coming out anytime soon. Only through their self-contained cultural products, like this song, can we vicariously live through the past. Thank goodness for youtube.