Off the Top

AP — who’s spent a lot of time overseas lately — comments: “America smells good”

Here’s a happy people you don’t want to see without being warned first. I promise no more; I just had to share this one.

On Saturday, I had the opportunity of a lifetime. C planned a super-surprise event involving skydiving with friends and then a party. The video is now available!

MG has reminded me of something I was thinking about when I wrote about instant foods. Namely, there are certain of these foods — for example instant oatmeal — that we have begun to like better than the real deal. Probably, we could compare this to enjoying a football video game more than we enjoy real life football.

Yesterday brought to me the new Switchfoot, Nothing is Sound, and after the first 2 listens, I’m finding it quite enjoyable. For what my opinion is worth, I think this record ranks with The Legend of Chin and New Way to be Human for listenability. Learning to Breathe and Beautiful Letdown were solid but I found that they lacked the musical freedom of the first two. Well, I think Switchfoot have recaptured some of that freewheeling spirit. Lyrically, one could make the case that Jon [again] focused too narrowly on excoriating narcissism. Howsoever, as much or more than any other lyricist in my CD player, he writes about interesting subjects using specific words; specific and interesting enough that I’ll keep on listening.

Did you ever notice how many “instant” versions we have of foods that are already quick and easy in their regular form? These “instant” versions may be superfluous:

- Frozen Waffles

- Gas fireplaces

- Instant coffee

- Instant oatmeal

- Instant potatoes

- Instant pudding

- Instant tea

- Microwave bacon

- Microwave brats

- Microwave popcorn

- Premade cookie dough

The savings in time that these “instants” offer do not begin to pay for the taste, quality, and character they swindle.

3 Doors Down: Possibly the most mediocre band ever.

Available for the first time today, a Half Nelson remix of Deja Vu

Have you noticed the prolification of “generic happy beautiful people” in ads, banners, Web sites, and so on? These are not the pictures of members or employees that put a human face on an organisation. These are the images of anonymous people who ostensibly are really happy and/or really enjoying themselves at what they’re doing.

- Here are some people who really enjoy the HR department:

- Customer support always provides happiness.

- And if customer support makes you happy, how much more the Department of Homeland Security!

- Of course cellular phones are happy machines.

- And what is better than broadband internet access?

Yes, the stock happy man is now officially annoying.