> Hmm, I wonder if it's confirmation bias on my end, or just a difference in what pages we each view.
Yes.
Joking aside, I will add that I've been a NoScript/FlashBlock user for quite some time (more than a decade? I honestly can't remember), and while I run into some things that are frustrating (just had to disable NoScript for a tab to order plane tickets), it is refreshingly uncommon.
Yes, you can browse with default deny to JS and Flash.