Thanks, Bill.  I've tried a triangular shoulder harness, and looked
ridiculous, certainly not seemingly as sensible as a monopod.  I agree,
nothing's as stable as a tripod.  Question is, how did you feel about the
monopod for everyday utility, unplanned set-ups where you normally would only
have had your hands or maybe an inevitably wrong-angled building or tree to
rest your camera against?  Was it worth the effort?  Maybe I'm overstating
how unobtrusive a monopod is.  I'm picturing it as something I could lash to
or have poking out of my camera bag and always be there with me (tripod just
too clumsy for this kind of everyday presence) or even just be using as a
walking staff (although head may make it too silly for that.  I toured
Eastern Europe a couple years ago and carried a letter bag (12" x 12" x 3"
soft sided affair carried against my back or hip with a single strap either
over the shoulder or across the chest) with a 19" collapsed walking stick
carried diagonally inside, sticking out about 5" at the upper edge, and to me,
that was unobtrusive and convenient for quick use.  I'm picturing something
like that.  With new carbon materials, I assume there are monopods of a
suitable weight and strength in a reasonably thin collapsible form.  I'll
look up the brand you mentioned and see what they offer.  Main question I
pass back to you, though, is if your monopod effective for that 80% of the
time you touted your camera bag along with no clear vision in mind, or was it
just dead weight?  Again, thanks for responding.

Thanks for responding.  Check out my response to Bill Funk if you don't mind
taking the time.  Does that suggest anything?  Am I imagining the impossible?
I think your comment about being another supplement on top of IS is a good
one and possibly answers a lot of my uncertainty, because add them together
and you sure enough do get more added stops than IS taken alone, and that's
starting to sound pretty good.  Again, thanks.

Thanks for the assist.  "Marginal assist" and "light weight" seem to be the
advice of the day, and makes sense.  I'm off to local shop tomorrow to have a
look first hand.  Valuable, though, to have gone through the thought process
in advance.  Again, thanks.

Good comments, and thanks.  Guess decision will be based on juxtaposition of
inconvenience of having it in my pack vs. some level of assistance on
marginal shots.  I'm off to local shop tomorrow to have a first-hand look.
Again, thanks.

 Thanks for response.  Your style of wisdom makes sense.  Being new to high-
end digital, I hadn't considered the low noise level of a 30D or especially a
5D at higher ISOs .  Liked graininess for certain shots on film, but not for
the things I have in mind here.  I see there could be value for a 300mm, and
will remember that.  Otherwise, guess I should consider a monopod of limited
value, juxtapose that against the inconvenience of having it in my pack, and
make judgement from there.  Thanks again.

Thank you for thoughtful response.  This is kind of the way I'd reasoned it.
I'll most certainly take a look at the Canon 100, along with others
recommended through this thread.  I truly feel that aside from planned pre-
set shoots where a tripod is a matter of course, a monopod just has to be the
way to add steadying assist convenient to everyday life.  Assuming I go IS,
which seems to have improved over the years to 2 or even 3 stops effective,
the mono seems even more appealing for non-planned catches.  Boils down, I
guess, to how unobtrusive the mono is, a matter of convenience vs. benefit,
so I'll take a look at local shops and make a judgement. Also, a plain screw
ball head probably is fine, maybe even preferable, because it's probably less
massive than a quick release.  At least that's the way I'm envisioning it.
Probably will end up with something pretty close to what you have, but
knowing me, I'll spend more just for that little extra saving in weight, that
little extra compactness, that little greater stiffness.  Kind of the way I
am with big boy toys, certainly not with anything else, so don't even feel
guilty.