i think the koto/banjo mode (active muting) is the coolest thing about it. not too crazy about its looks, but then i am in the gibson 335 school of aesthetics. i actually think it would be cooler with the design aesthetic of the mini moog, all 1940's bomber radio lookin' with patch cables sheathed in gum-rubber, toggle switches, etc. etc.

i believe it is saying "where is there always love where there isn't trouble," which is the only thing i could get from it that actually made sense. and it makes a good deal of sense, so i am going with it.

this kid has a future in this stuff, i am thinking. rock on!

when i worked in an office, one evening the power went out and we all played hide-and-seek. for over an hour. i was the seeker when the lights came back on, and i was surprised to find myself face-to-face with my boss, who was sitting on top of a file cabinet with a potted plant in his lap and his shoes were off.

strange things happen in offices, man. i wouldn't be surprised either way, nor am i concerned as to its authenticity. it's plausible, and that's all it needs to be effective commentary on cube farming.

as to the cords on the monitors, has anyone besides me actually yanked a CRT off a desk? intertia, people. cords pop right out, whether screw-in or not. try it some time. it's kind of fun.

man, if i don't get that food court feeling, it just ain't the same.

glass is definitely the way to go with these. being pyrex, they are also oven-safe, which is a huge win if you don't own a microwave. you can also be certain you've scoured out the nastiest of rotten food, should you happen to forget about something lurking in the fridge.

that is just ten kinds of awesome

ten pins of awesome, even.

@zikzak - Of course that stuff tastes good. It is engineered to taste good, and thus it sells well. It tastes like valuable and prized foodstuffs of old taste, and by golly there are many folks hard at work to systematically make it even tastier. You can hardly be blamed for liking it, 'cause we're practically hard-wired that way. It's just important to understand that the stuff is incredibly, beautifully destructive. The cake is a lie, and I don't like being lied to.

@scott - From what I understand, Pollan himself finds the idea of him being some sort of nutritional prophet absurd, and he knows the science of nutrition to be very important, just incomplete. At least for now, as progress is being made and will continue to be made, regardless of whether we eat real food or processed food products, regardless of whether a journalist reminds an eager audience of common sense, regardless of who writes what book and who thinks that book is bullshit. To paraphrase, we may soon have a complete picture as to what makes a carrot a carrot, but this doesn't change how you should probably just eat carrots rather than powdered beta carotene.

I don't know how a journalist doing what a journalist will do has any effect on whether peer-reviewed studies continue to be produced, continue to be relevant. The two types of writing serve different purposes for different audiences, and that is an okay thing.

@annc - we're told what to eat all the time, though. It's part of culture, isn't it? Cuisine? I think it's more that we don't want to be told we are wrong, and especially that the experts we've relied upon thus far are also wrong.

@threefjeff - I haven't had the chance to try pastured eggs, unfortunately, but I do work at a large vibrant farmers market and am lucky enough to trade my booth's vegetables for just about anything else (and take home the veggies for free). So for me, eating real food is cheaper than anything else could possibly be--it's all free!

@don - My thoughts exactly, and such behavior is certainly not limited to gastronomic literature. Again, I think this stems from someone telling us that Progress, with a capital P, is more complex than the linear ideal we've been spoon-fed. It's not uncommon to hear all unsolicited advice as "you're doing it wrong," and it's kind of sad.

I've met a number of people who are ready to reject Pollan as a new-agey buffoon, people of all different stripes. I don't get why a dude telling you, urging you to eat delicious, real food is something to guffaw about. It's not some moral thing, it's not politically motivated, and the recommendations are broad, diverse, and tasty. Say what you will about the man himself, but what's not to like about the message?