…for one thing, pretty weird sometimes. I was just reading an AP story headlined “Iran Test-Fires Nine Missiles, Warns It Will Retaliate.” Serious business, that, with ramifications that could affect the future of the entire world. But the Internet doesn’t know that; it just picks up on the word “Iran” and on the right side of the page I get a picture of a pretty Middle Eastern girl and the words “Meet Persian Singles Online.” Or maybe I’m not giving the Web enough credit…maybe there’s a subtle “make love, not war” message being sent by Skynet’s future ancestors.

I’m feeling very modern today, listening to Beck’s new album Modern Guilt, which I downloaded last night and transported into work on my memory stick. (Note to self: Someday record Ian Dury cover called “Hit Me with Your Memory Stick.”) So far I’m digging it. The first song for some reason reminds me of “You’re So Vain.”

A lot of this album sounds about like what I would have expected a Beck/Danger Mouse collaboration to sound like, somewhere between Odelay and Demon Days.

The last song, “Volcano,” is a keeper. Sample lyric: “I’ve been drifting on this wave so long, I don’t know/If it’s already crashed on the shore.”

Hmm…they’ve definitely done something here, but it’s going to take a while to figure out exactly what.