Teach the world to 'chill'?

"I'd like to teach the world to chill, take time to stop and smile / I'd like to buy the world a Coke and chill with it awhile."

I heard these lyrics tonight during an advertisement prior to a movie. I shall save the rant about advertisements before movies, which I paid to enter, at another time. For the time being, though, I'd like to stand up and say I'm sick of the whole retro movement, especially if they're going to ruin it for the benefit of promoting something called "Coke Zero," which is roughly the amount of interest I have in this product.

Obviously these lyrics harken back to the "Hilltop" scene Coke made famous in 1971. It came at a time when the world had some unifying to do, and it involved people who looked vastly different, standing next to each other. They sang about wanting to teach the world to sing and live in perfect harmony in a time that was less than harmonious.

Now they're talking about the need to "chill," which, as far as I understand it, means doing absolutely nothing and being happy about it. I'm not against chilling, but I do hate it when we try so hard to harken back to something from a previous generation that we'll rewrite perfectly good songs. What happened to original thoughts?

Of course, since I'm ripping on original thoughts, I might as well rip on myself. I found the following other bloggers who wanted to talk about the Coke chill maneuver:
Philadelphia: Teach the World to Sing
Teaching the World to Sing
G-Love Teaches the World to Chill
Adland
Partially True Adventures of High Adventure

I suppose you get the idea. Now it's time for me to chill, man. Teaching the world to sing in perfect harmony is so 70s. I need my me time.

Bad judgments

Tonight I went out with some friends who appeared to need a little prompting to improve their social standings. In each case, a male friend offered some intrigue to a lady in the establishment where we imbibed. In each case, I offered suggestions to help.

Case 1: Gentleman who broke up with his long-time girlfriend. Advice: If you're ready, get back on that horse. Talk to that girl who intrigues you. Ignored the advice the first time. Later changed his goal to a different young lady, who happily talked to him for nearly half an hour. Conversation later ended with this woman hanging on another guy. Declared a failure.

Case 2: Gentleman who showed some interest in a female anchor(ette?) of a local TV station. Gentleman spoke with her earlier in the evening, and she seemed engaged. Encouraged the gentleman to be mroe aggressive in his pursuit. Later ended with him asking her out, to hear "no." Declared a failure.

Case 3: Gentleman who showed some interest in a woman within our group. Gentleman truly missed his opportunity several months ago. Encouraged the gentleman to pursue this option in particular, in part because of indirect ramifications from Case 1. He did speak with her, but he didn't offer a full-go effort. Declared a draw.

So tonight, I feel somewhat responsible for three friends feeling worse than they had to, in part because they went after things. What's odd about this is I often try to convince myself I should pursue possibilities that a nagging voice in my head says might be unattainable.

Nagging voice in my head: 3. David: 0.

Aren't I punny?

Every so often, you run across a news story that permits some silliness and cleverness.

Such is the case when you're writing a story about someone challenging a chicken citation in a small town.

To save yourself the trouble of looking, the following puns were abused:
- fowl mood
- playing chicken
- fine feathered friends
- felt plucky
- hen-pecked
- place to roost
- hatched a theory
- crack open their arguments
- egg on their faces

It might not be the most pun-ridden writing I've ever done. I still attribute that to another story about a girls basketball team in Bluffton that arranged ducks in the coach's yard the night before games. But it's close, and it's gotten some chuckles in my neighborhood.