Always nice to see a big corporation with a sense of humor. Check out the directions on this link, and specifically point 23. Atta boy Google.

I’ve been digging LCD Soundsystem’s newest album release like nobody’s business. The Sound of Silver is ridiculously good and should be purchased immediately if you have any interest in melodic-groovy-electro music. I do have an interest in this and have been looking forward to this CD since first hearing LCD’s eponymous release in ’05. This is easily my album of the year so far. My only regret is that Pitchfork has already latched onto this one and, given LCD Soundsystem’s already proven penchant to commercialize, it’s only a matter of time until these tracks are saturating Grey’s Anatomy and Clear Channel radio.

“Someone Great” (song 4, you might remember this one from a good chunk of the Nike+ release) is probably the best song on the album, though really there aren’t any particularly glaring weaknesses. For the moment though, “All My Friends” (song 5) is winning the playlist battle on my car stereo. A song about growing up and figuring out your priorities and realizing that really all you want is to have fun and be with your friends, mistakes and all. Check out the whole album here. Go listen. Go now. Or sneak a peak below (shhh though, it probably won’t be up long – 10 MB stream).

I know rain and cooler weather are in the forecast and really it’s probably only a matter of weeks until we’re already hitting the muggy, buggy season here in mosquito paradise, but the weather the past couple of days has been perfect. Spirits have been raised, outdoor chores have been vanquished, windows have been opened, trails have been run. Right this second the dogs are sprawled out in the back yard, panting with their lips caked in dirt. Copacetic. I need to purchase a new bike soon. Or maybe just a stuffed tiger, a flag, and an explorers hat.

It’s funny though. In spite of the goodness in the air (I also just found out I’ll be heading up a hiking trip to Montana with the kids at work this summer), I can’t help feeling pangs for what we had at the end of last summer. I feel the sun here and it makes me want to feel it reflecting off of the ocean as I bob up and down, watching otters watching me. Salt-flecked face. Neck chafed from pivoting inside neoprene. Beaten and happy. I mean, look at the header image at the top of this page. Undeniably gorgeous coast. We were right there watching whales swim and spray on the very day that that picture was taken. It’s tough to go back when you’ve seen something higher.

Then again sometimes you just have to wish for a sandwich…

Speaking of Entourage, if you’re at all interested in checking out the series and don’t have HBO, I just stumbled on this link today. The video quality is pretty rough and I can’t imagine this is being done with the happy permission of HBO (so stream before the inevitable copyright hawks bring the cease and desists), but good enough for a taste. Or I suppose you could just Netflix/purchase the DVDs.

Wanna be your super hero… Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah!

Or something like that. I’ve been digging into the Entourage series over the past week or so. I’m about halfway through season three at this point. I gotta say it’s pretty good. Though it did take me a few episodes to warm up to the characters and the story arc. My first impression was not a good one. I actually stopped watching about fifteen minutes into the first episode saying out loud “Man, this is boring.” But I eventually returned, motored through a half dozen episodes and was hooked. The acting is enthusiastic and solid. There are generally a couple of laugh out loud moments each episode. And the premise and vicariousness of the whole series is good.

So, I was giving some thought this afternoon to my initial impression and what caused that to change. Why the initial boredom? Well, I realized that I went in with expectations of the standard laugh/gag-a-minute sitcom. And when that didn’t happen (Entourage is most definitely not a sitcom) it seemed like the pacing was all off. Anyway, I now realize what kind of show it is and I like the pacing. I like the way the characters can dialog without having to resort to gimmickry. When you watch a show like The Office it sometimes feels like everyone on the set is trying too hard to set up the big punchlines. Okay, cue over the top Michael Scott statement. And now Dwight confused repartee. And now Jim raised eyebrows. I mean don’t get me wrong. It’s great and you look forward to the shenanigans, it’s just neat to enjoy a show that doesn’t do that all the time.

The humor is kind of that natural college boy banter. Jab, jab, sarcasm, open mockery, over-the-top profanity-laced outburst… And on it goes. And that brings me to another point: a good profanity-laced tirade adds a nice dose of the authentic to a show. I mean, how much better would Lost be with profanity? With all the yelling that goes on and all the panicked situations and all the villainous characters it sure would come in handy. There are times when a character (say Sawyer for example) seems to have his dialog clipped from what would be natural without the censors. Oh well, what can you do?