It has been a busy week. Babies poppin' out, ions getting smashed, primaries won and lost at the flick of the wrist, Britney disappearing to New York and/or Mexico with the paps and the million other things that happened that may or may not matter in the long run. All in all its left me feeling exhausted and braindead and wondering whether my liter of Dunkin' Donuts coffee will be able to bring me out of the week (oh yeah, and if you're wondering "wait, there are no Dunkin' Donuts in California!", worry not considering I brought 4 lbs of the stuff back from Boston with me. Its like average New Englander crack – once you've had it, there is no going back to the badly burned "French Roast" at Starbucks or the weak-as-water stuff at the campus shops.) I'll do my best to be interesting with the spin …

Today when I booted up the ol' iPod, the PTB decided wouldn't it be amusing for Erik to write about John Wesley Harding's "When You Smile". For those of you unfamiliar with John Wesley, well, for shame! He's sort of slipped through the cracks of mild-mannered modern rock singer-songwriters, like the forgotten brother of Robyn Hitchcock. However, I find he writes a helluva a pop song, and "When You Smile" fits that bill perfectly. It is, mind you, a little too sweet of a song for many a modern jaded listener, the guitars are just a little too gentle, the drums are a little to soft and John Wesley's voice is a little to James Taylor-y. Not that the song has much in common with Mr. Taylor beyond the softness, but what you get instead is a pure, unfettered pop song that has just enough melancholy to not make it throwaway piece of bubblegum. It might not be the song for all occasions, but it is great for a Friday morning when you can't take too much cacophony and discord.