From "Homer the Smithers" episode, when Homer wakes up early.

Marge: Homie, it's 4:30 in the morning. Little Rascals isn't until 6.

Homer: I know, I'm taping it. I want to get to Burns' house bright and early to make his breakfast.

Marge: Hmm, poor Homie. Poor, poor… [snores]

Went to a restaurant today for lunch. The waitress asked me if I was "from the high school down the street." Ack.

I was wearing a t-shirt and blue jeans, but do I really look that young? More importantly, what should I do about this? I'll take (appropriate) suggestions. Suggestions cannot include growing a mustache or buying a suit.

The Berkshire Botantical Gardens in Stockbridge, Mass., is offering a "Chainsaw Safety and Operation" class on September 21. "Chainsaws are powerful tools but can be intimidating to use. The importance of safe operation of this dangerous machine cannot be stressed enough. Learn the correct way to safely operate, maintain and store a chainsaw. Observe a demonstration on chainsaw use and discuss when to call a professional."

Someone (who shall not be named) sent this listing to me today. Let the record show that my chainsaw accident was not caused by unsafe operation. The blade hit a knot in the tree and bucked up, so it's the tree who was unsafe.

The Chicago Tribune's Daywatch e-mail was at the top of its game this morning. One of the blurbs: "Chicago police say the shattering of a $70,000 glass sculpture in the Dale Chihuly exhibit in the Garfield Park Conservatory seems to have been an accident."

The headline for that blurb: "NOT CHIHOOLIGANISM."

-The VW "co-pilot" ad is now available online. (Ads.com seems to be well on its way to being what Ad Critic was, pre-subscription era.) It spurred the post on driving, but I wasn't able to find the video at the time.

-Arguably the most fun ad on television now is Kmart's "Dancin' Man." If you haven't seen it, watch. You know you want to dance too.

-Georgetown's Fight Song is terrific. Much better than Gustav Holst's "Mars, the Bringer of War," also known as "NUMB, the Bringer of Repetition." Compare: Them (mp3, large file) versus Us (midi).

-Atlanta driving described. (Free registration required to view.)

-What's the difference between "amid/amidst" and "among"? Courtesy of Lindsay and dictionary.com, we turn to Webster's Revised Unabridged explanation. "Amidst denotes in the midst or middle of, and hence surrounded by…. Among denotes a mingling or intermixing with distinct or separable objects…. Amid and amidst are commonly used when the idea of separate or distinguishable objects is not prominent."

In April I offended several members of the Georgetown community. I ripped on the Georgetown Chimes, and the post ended up in Google's first page of results for the a cappella group's name.

I stick by my comments from April, but the generosity of a Chimes member has given me more to say. Baritone Dan Phillips has sent me a (free) copy of the Chimes' latest release, "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Chime," and asked for a critique.

The album shows how underrated good, stark harmonies are in today's music. I listened to PSR&C yesterday afternoon and to the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds last night. Both bring harmonies straight to the front, and they sound wonderful. Most of today's music tends to drop harmonies into the mix. But no matter how good they may be alone, they don't sound interesting with electronic strings, synthesized guitars and vocal layering piled on top.

PSR&C has its best moments when their harmonies have everything going for them. Opposing harmonies and back-beat distract too much, and the sounds roll smoother without them. Soaring pop like Billy Joel's "And So It Goes" and U2's "Running to Stand Still" get excellent treatment here. Traditional songs like "My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose" and "Loch Lomond" are hauntingly beautiful. "Donne" cries out to be a (good) soundtrack for a car commercial or an Italian movie's dance scene.

Boasting the strongest lead vocals is "Viva La Mamma." The singer seems happily oblivious to the sunny chorus behind him. Such a disconnect, between the lead and the rest, is needed more often on the album — and in the wider college a cappella scene.

College a cappella groups often seem to suffer from what I'll call "confused harmonization." Harmony spillover, basically. A group's members harmonize so much that, when it is time to take a solo, the harmony impacts what should be the soloist's independent voice and mindset. The result is weaker solos.

The Chimes' album suffers this trend somewhat, but avoids it far more than most a cappella groups I've heard. Their leaning toward a classical sound — and away from a harder pop sound — is what helps them. With all voices going in the same direction, there is no conflict or confusion between soloist and chorus.

But if an a cappella group devotes itself to harder pop, with all the back-beats and juxtaposed elements, the group should be cautious. Send the soloist to another room to practice. Record the soloist separately in the studio. Do anything you can to let the solo be as strong and as leading as possible. The instant the soloist picks up an inflection or a pitch change from the harmony, turn off the lights. Because in that instant, the singing has become about the group and not about the song. Limited instead of limitless.

By (mostly) avoiding this pitfall, PSR&C is enjoyable. The album holds together, and is a refreshing notch above the standard Amateur Comedy/Harmony Night of college a cappella. Fifty-six years after their founding, the Chimes still show a dedication to their music and tradition.

I am interested to see where their next album finds them. The world's current situation has presented the arts with a challenge, but mosts artists have chosen escapism so far. It's easy to keep doing what you're doing.

But I think the Chimes are in a position to accept the proposition. PSR&C shows the group's base is solid; it is enough from which to start. And when this is the view from one of your dorm rooftops, the inspiration should be available as well. Scary and difficult, yes. But available.

"Harmony" has many meanings, and with work they can tie together. It's a building process, really. What pieces should be together? What pieces should be apart? Cheers to the music-makers who realize there are pieces at all.

Adams has an album of unreleased demos coming out September 24. Listen to samples of the Demolition cuts here. Some of the material is a notch below the Gold and Heartbreaker material, and it proves again that he hasn't figured out a good rock sound for himself. But there are some standout tracks. "Desire" and "Dear Chicago" make the album worth the money/download.

The guy certainly leaves you guessing. Does he care about his audience or not? Can't tell by his concerts. Does he care about other people or not? Can't tell by his lyrics. Where's his career headed? Can't tell by this release.

I realized a sad thing last night about my Atlanta driving. In the eight weeks I've been here, I've had a total of one passenger in my cousin's old car. That was a 10 minute ride, driving a fellow fellow back to CNN Center from Turner's entertainment campus.

Otherwise, it's just been me. Driving with a city map crumpled in shotgun, the 10-gallon gas tank always halfway to empty and the headlights firmly in the off position (until I figured them out a few weeks ago). But I haven't found it that lonely. The radio works well, and rolling down the window gets a good breeze and the rest of the world.

Plus, without a navigator, you get lost and get to see new places. Remember when that road was blocked off? One of those days, I ended up driving by a concrete block factory on my way home. It was a nice diversion from my usual route by the railroad tracks.

I'd like to give a shout out to cousin Anderson. Last week most television anchors bantered mindlessly about the 25th anniversary of Elvis' death. Smiling anchor one: What's your favorite Elvis song? Smiling anchor two: Ha, ha, that's funny, I really don't know.

But cousin Anderson — CNN anchor Anderson Cooper (not really a cousin) — gets my great respect for his work on the subject. Working the early morning hours last Friday, Anderson did the King proud. Live on air, he practiced his Elvis sneer. Behind him, he had an Elvis impersonator walk around the newsroom. To close, he let the guy sing a few tunes, including the terrific "Love Me."

This kind of effort… I can appreciate.

It all began in fifth grade. The theme for the Blessed Sacrament School musical that year was rock and roll. The musical wasn't an actual musical; each grade sang a song based around a theme. Long story short, my grade ended up with "Blue Suede Shoes."

Not really knowing who this Elvis character was, I went with my mom after school to Mazza Gallerie and stopped at the record store. We searched through the Elvis cassette tapes until we found one with "Blue Suede Shoes" on the tracklist. The tape was Elvis: A Legendary Performer, Volume 2. I popped it in my tape player when I got home, and it was something. I had walked unfamilar to the ways of rock and roll for so long, but Elvis on a tinny kids' tape player changed my life that day. When my mom went out to run an errand, I turned it up loud and danced on the living room couch.

It snowballed from there. I slicked my hair back for the musical and painted black sideburns down to the bottom of my ears. I worked up an Elvis impersonation, which impressed the relatives. For a Christmas, I got a set of Elvis stamps from the island nation of St. Vincent. (They passed my name on to Graceland, who continues to mail me offers on Elvis-themed credit cards.) For the same Christmas, I got the USPS Elvis stamp bath towel. (I voted repeatedly for Young Elvis in the competition.) These years are cloudy for me now, but I know there was a "Why Elvis is a good role model" school essay involved too.

Ridiculous? Yes. But fun. One year I was the King for Halloween, and I raked in the candy. The next year I was "Elvis Goes to the Supermarket," dressed the same but carrying a grocery bag with a Cheerios box inside. Sure, creativity was down, but enthusiasm and candy-collection totals remained high.

In high school, Elvis faded for me a bit. I found my dad's LP of CCR's Gold and got into them. Then Springsteen showed up on my radar, and my rock and roll trifecta was complete.

But last week. Last week was pretty cool, and I'm understating here. Elvis on the television, Elvis on the radio, Elvis in the food. It threw me back to fifth grade, to the time when music got me all shook up and kept me that way.

Ridiculous? Yes. But have you heard the news? There's good rockin' tonight. And I thank Elvis for that.

The New York Times headline "Pope Warns Huge Polish Crowd of World's Evils" looks very strange at first glance.