February 28, 2010

I'm going to be a little bit obsessed with him from now on, I think

So I saw Don Quixote with my mom today at OCPAC. We were in the third row. It was kind of amazing.  
Ivan Vasiliev has basically the most electric presence of any male dancer that I've ever seen. That's all.



Ivan Vasiliev from ilya kuznetsov on Vimeo.

February 27, 2010

I went to Europe! Twice!!

In my hours of procrastination over the past few weeks, I came up with a great time-consuming plan!  (I always come up with the funnest, most time consuming ideas when I'm procrastinating)  I decided to mount my world map on a foam board so that I could put pins in it to chronicle all of my adventures!  

Well I finished it today, and it actually looks really good.  Except for the fact that I want it to be in a frame instead of being held up with fishing wire, but that can't be helped right now since I don't have money to buy a frame.  

Here it is (arrows pointing to places in the world that I've been):


Sitting at my desk and looking at it makes me realize 3 things:

1.  I haven't really been that many places.  Now, I know that most people would say something along the lines of, "What!?  Well, I haven't been able to go to all of the places that you've been..." or, "Stop complaining, you're so lucky!"  And to both of these comments, I simply have to agree.  Yeah, I've gotten to visit some amazing places and seen lots of awe-inspiring things and had incredible experiences.  But when you think about it, when you think about allllll of the places that exist in the world, I haven't been to that many.

2. I really want to go somewhere new.  I have that travel itch again.  2009 was kind of amazing: January (Philadelphia, Baltimore, DC), March (New York), Summer (Spain, Florence, London), September (road trip to Hamilton across the midwest), November (Houston).  I felt pretty settled for a while... kind of like, "Yeah, it would be cool to go somewhere, but I'm fine to chill here for a bit."  Because, you know what?, it is a ton of work to plan trips.  It's hours of online searches for hotels, hostels, places to go, flights, everything.  Not to mention all the money it costs.  Actually, most of the work is done because you're trying to save money - gotta find the cheapest flight, or hotel or whatever because it blows when you get there and don't have any money to spend!  But I want to travel, so I'm going to have to figure something out for 2010.  Maybe something small for the summer, but I really want to go somewhere cool in the fall or winter (I'm hoping to convince my mom that we should take a mom/kid trip to Ireland sometime in the next 2 years).  

3.  Greenland is freaking HUGE!  What is happening there?  People live there, but why don't we ever hear about them?  I'm putting some pictures of Greenland after the jump just so that you can see how gorgeous it is!  Seriously, they need to up their travel advertising because it doesn't seem like that hard of a sell.




February 24, 2010

A poster that I want rather passionately




annie leibovitz

I'm not sure what brought this on today, but I figure you might as well hear about it.

I have a book of hers that my mom got me for christmas a few years ago.  I have to say that I've never seen portraiture quite like hers, and I seriously doubt I ever will again.  She's one of the most talented photographers that I've ever seen, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that I look at people differently since having read that book.  I wish I could find more photos from it, but alas, no one seems to care about people that aren't celebrities.  Don't get me wrong, her VF photos are stunning, but don't you think there's something incredibly compelling about a black & white portrait of a 48-year-old Las Vegas show girl in all her jewel-encrusted glory juxtaposed to a photo of her wearing Sunday morning church garb?  It's just incredible to see.  She really makes you see what she sees, that's what I love about her.

Anyhoo, here's a collection of some photographs for your enjoyment.
Is this a theme with me?

February 23, 2010

New York, I Don't Love You



The depths of my disappointment are indescribable.


"Where Paris, je t'aime overflowed with love from almost every pore, truly making me believe Paris is a city of love, New York, I Love You made me think that the city is nothing more than a place for chain smokers, hook-ups, stalkers and fights."


If it was possible to make one of the most exciting and vibrant cities in the world a place that you'd never want to visit, this movie accomplished that.  Of the 10 short films there were, what?  Maybe 4 that I can remember?  2 that I liked?  Honestly, it made Manhattan seem like it was filled with the most boring, sad, lonely people ever.  Wasn't this movie supposed to be about love?


"The glaring problem I see is that in Paris each short film had its allotted time, with no characters crossing over into one another's stories, save for one small exception toward the end. In New York, there is a constant back-and-forth of characters jumping around, in and out of multiple story-lines, rarely knowing where one ends and the next begins, lacking any real sense of focus. But worst of all, where Paris felt genuine, New York felt gimmicky."


The one story that I loved was the one with Anton Yelchin and Olivia Thirlby.  It was one of the best short films that I've seen.  If you ever get a chance to see this film, please savor these few minutes because they are truly the best.  And you will laugh at the end of it.  Really hard.






February 22, 2010

Dylan

And around that time I got a call from my business office, that Bob Dylan wanted my phone number.  And I said, "Fuck you!  You get that stalker away from me.  I don't want any more 60's icons fucking up my life!" That's what I said in my head.  Out loud I said, "Absolutely!  I'll be waiting by the phone."  Dylan wasn't calling because he wanted to ask me on a date.  He was calling because this cologne company had contacted him to see if he would endorse a cologne called 'Just Like A Woman'.  Bob didn't like that name, but he liked the idea of endorsing a cologne.  And he wanted to know if I had any good cologne idea names.  Do I look like someone who would be wandering around with a bunch of cologne names rattling around in my head?  Well, tragically I did.  I did have quite a few ideas for cologne names, so I told them to Bob.  There was 'Ambivalence', for that scent of confusion... 'Arbitrary', for the man who doesn't give a shit how he smells... And 'Empathy', feel like them, smell like this.  Well, Bob actually liked those... and then he said he might like to open a beauty salon.  And I said, "What?  Like 'Tangled Up and Blown'?" - CF

February 21, 2010

Big Love

One of my favorite shows.  The title sequence from this season (season 4) is kind of mesmerizing, no?

Something I found

So I have a vinyl converter now. And it's incredible. I've been playing with it for WAY too long today and my brain feels fried. But here's the first thing that I "officially converted" from start to finish. Pretty bizarre, huh?


Both Sides Now  by  Britt.aggie

February 18, 2010

What foreign actors ALL have to do, or why Carey Mulligan has it and Romola Garai didn't... but maybe Marion Cotillard found a way around it

Remember Romola Garai?  Remember this movie and how much you loved it?  Remember how she and Keira Knightley both starred in their first American movies at the same time?  And how successful one was and how unsuccessful the other was?  Remember?  Yeah, probably not... you know why?  Because Romola Garai's accent in Dirty Dancing was unbearable.  Godddd it was bad.  And thus begins my argument that everyone needs to be able to do a good American accent at some point in their acting careers.  Unless you're Marion Cotillard and have somehow managed to get by on your amazing French accent; but, mark my words, she will have to eventually.

I know that Sarah disagrees, but I think that Carey Mulligan should win the Oscar this year.  There, I said it.  If you need me to defend my opinion I shall.


Now.  In other news with regards to said future Oscar winner (and her impeccable American accent... see??  SEE??), I feel that she is officially the most valuable asset that "Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps" has going for it.
Seriously, nothing beats an Oscar nod.  Nothing.
Well, maybe if Anna Wintour says she likes you...

Even Shia LaBeouf's Transformer movies (I never saw the second one, but I liked the first one..) couldn't beat having an Oscar winner in the cast.
Maybe the fact that Michael Douglas is actually making a movie (that's not ridiculous) for the first time in like 10 years will get some people to the movies, too.  But I remember the first trailer for Wall Street 2 a couple months ago... I'm almost positive that Carey Mulligan wasn't mentioned and certainly her name wasn't in letters equally as big as Michael Douglas.  Nosireebob.

Thus is the power of Oscar.  Oh, and watch this, I think you'll want to see it like me.

February 16, 2010

CRIMINAL

So the Oscars are coming up in a few weeks.  I'm working on seeing all of the Best Picture noms (which I want to do before the show), slowly but surely, and so far I've genuinely liked them all.  Let me refresh your memory with regards to who is nominated:

1. Avatar
2. The Blind Side
3. District 9
4. An Education
5. The Hurt Locker
6. Inglorious Basterds
7. Precious
8. A Serious Man
9. Up
10. Up in the Air

I've highlighted the ones that I've seen.
Now, my most recent obsession is "An Education".  If I had to choose between the 5 that I've seen, and this is seriously a hard decision, I'd have to say "An Education" - with "Up in the Air" as a close close second.  But it's incredible.  Seriously.  If you get a chance, you can watch it here.

Okay, so that was just sort of a primer for what I'm about to say:

Best Original Song is usually filled up with a bunch of Disney shit, which is fine because it's usually good (if not sadly predictable).  However, what is upsetting to me is that "An Education" was cut out.  What the hell is that!?  And don't be fooled - this is not some dusty 60's LP that they dug up for the occasion.  This was written and performed specifically for "An Education".  I'm going to post all of the Best Original Song noms and follow it with the Beth Rowley song "You've Got Me Wrapped Around Your Little Finger" and you can be the judge.  For me it's painfully obvious that the only competition would have been the song from "Crazy Heart" (but mostly because people love redemption) and that Beth Rowley would've walked away with a statue.  Too bad.  


February 14, 2010

AN EYEBALL AND A DOZEN ROSES

This is a short anecdote by one of my favorite bloggers, Sheila.  I never cease to be amused by her stories, and this is no different.  It's kind of long, but I think it's worth it simply because I feel like I can relate.




I was living in Chicago, having a grand old time. There were a couple of men buzzing around me. One of them, who was so sweet, so nice, a guy I had seen perform numerous times, approached me at a party and, after chatting me up for a while in a very humorous and effortless way, asked me out to dinner.
I said Sure, I would go out to dinner with him. I already knew he was very talented and very funny (having seen him on stage. Henry Kissinger was wrong. Power is not the ultimate aphrodisiac. Talent is. Or, I would say, more specifically, for me: Comedy is the ultimate aphrodisiac. Make me laugh? I'm yours.)
As I have said before, I'm not a real date-r, I haven't been on too many "let me pick you up and we'll go have dinner" kind of dates. I kind of cut to the chase, for better or worse. But this guy was very traditional, and so - like a true gentleman - he set up this entire date (picked the spot, picked the after-dinner spot, etc.)
It turned out being one of the best dates I have ever been on before IN MY LIFE. Not because there were amazing sparks between us (there weren't, at least not romantic ones) - but because of where he took me to dinner, and the people we met there, and what we ended up doing. We went to dinner at a great old-school Greek restaurant, where the coffee they gave you at the end of the meal was so thick that your spoon could stand up in it. The food was amazing. We stayed there for hours, and then, after 11 or so, the music started. There was a round dance floor in the middle of the tables (it was like a nightclub you see in 1940s movies, although falling apart), and people started dancing. These people were all Greek. They weren't doing the Macarena. They all danced in a circle, holding hands, shouting and whooping. To give you a more specific image, it involved a bunch of 70 year old Greek women, caked with makeup, dancing around in a circle, holding hands, gesturing majesterially out to us to join their dance, as their 70 year old Greek husbands, or lovers, stood on the outskirts, throwing money up into the air. 78 year old Greek women picked up 20 dollar bills and plastered them onto their sweaty necks and sweaty 78 year old cleavage. Everyone was laughing, and dancing, and whooping it up, and everyone except for us was over 70 years of age. It was 3 a.m., and he and I joined the geriatric Greek dance, as money swirled through the air. We scuffed through the bills on the floor.
But that's a tangent, and not the story I want to tell which is the story of the Eyeball and the Dozen Roses.
During the great date at the late-night Greek place - for some UNFATHOMABLE reason - I told him that my eye doctor had taken a picture of the back of my eyeball. (Great date banter, Sheila. Way to go.)
He: "Your grey eyes look so lovely. I could drown in their sparkley depths."
Me: "Oh yeah? I should show you a picture of the BACK of my eyeball, pal."
I have no idea how the subject came up - but anyway, he (bless him) seemed completely fascinated by the idea of having a picture taken of the back of his eyeball. (Or maybe he was just being polite. Politeness was in this man's veins. He did gentlemanly things instinctually. Holding out the chair, holding out my coat, holding open the door ...) The photo was very weird and I was kind of obsessed with it - a big red ball, basically - a circle of red. It looked like a close-up photo of the red storm circling Jupiter in the cold depths of space. That was my eyeball, apparently. I didn't have ahowling Mr. Bill face inside my body, but it was close.
During the date at the Greek place - he already set up the next date. "Okay, so Valentine's Day is next week. And I know we don't know each other at all or anything, but I think it would be fun to have a date on Valentine's Day. Whaddya say?"
I said, as I Zorba-the-Greek'ed my way through the carpet of money, plastering 20 dollar bills on my sweaty arms, "That sounds like fun!!"
So.
A date on Valentine's Day. I'm not big on Valentine's Day - not being a romantic type (as this story will OBVIOUSLY prove) - and also: it just seems like a hell of a lot of pressure. But he and I had such an unbelievably fabulous time on that first date, I thought: It's cool. It's cool. We'll have a good time again.
And then I came up with what I considered to be an inspired idea.
Instead of getting him a nice Hallmark-y little Valentine's Day card, I put the photo of the back of my eyeball into a little red envelope, with his name on it. On the margins of the photo I wrote, "Happy Valentine's Day."
I know it is insane.
I cannot defend it.
I am just reporting the facts of the case, which are: I put a photograph of the back of my eyeball into an envelope to give to a guy on Valentine's Day.
I went over to his apartment. We were going out to dinner or something like that. He greeted me at the door, so nice, so sweet. He let me into the apartment - he got me a drink. We didn't really know each other at all, but we had had (hands down) the best date EVER. One for the books. We were kind of proud of ourselves for that.
He went into the kitchen, and came back out, holding a dozen red roses for me. For Valentine's Day.
He got me a dozen red roses.
I gave him a picture of my eyeball.
Let me say it again, just so we all are clear:
He got me a dozen red roses.
I gave him a picture of my eyeball.
The second I saw the roses (and I don't know why I didn't anticipate that he would do such a thing! He was such an old-fashioned gentlemanly kind of guy - I should have expected it - but I have never received a dozen red roses in my life - I never expect that kind of behavior) - Anyway, the second I saw the red roses coming at me, I remembered the little red envelope in my purse, and I could feel my face getting all hot with mortification. My face was as beet-red as the back of my own eyeball.
Oh my God. I am such an asshole. I have given him a photograph of the back of my eyeball. What the hell was going through my mind at the time that made me think that was appropriate??? My head was literally burning with embarrassment and shame about my eyeball.
I could no longer bear the agony.
I said, "Okay, so this is completely embarrassing, seeing as you gave me a beautiful bouquet of roses ... but here's what I got you."
He opened it up - looked at the Polaroid - and then he BURST into laughter. (Thank God.)
Throughout the night he kept making jokes, pretending he was describing his Valentine's date to friends who didn't know me:
"Hey, man, did you go out on Valentine's Day?"
"Oh yeah, dude, I went out with this sweet girl I just met."
"Really? What does she look like?"
Long long pause.
"Oh .... she looks like a circle."
Or - when someone would ask him, "What did your date look like?", he would take out the photograph of the back of my eyeball and, smiling proudly, give it to them.
He ended up being very kind about the whole thing, turning it into a huge joke - which I appreciated.
But that is the mortifying story of a man who gave me a dozen roses, while I only gave him my eyeball.

A Coda:
He and I ended up going on something like 4 dates, stretched out over an 8 week period. Obviously there wasn't a sense of urgency to it all. We weren't hot for each other, we weren'tburning to see each other. I didn't mind. We were in the same place with it. Occasionally we would go to a movie, or out to dinner, whatever - but nothing ever really happened beyond that. There were no games, no weirdness, nothing like that. It just was what it was. I would forget for weeks at a time that he even existed, and then he would call and invite me to do something. I was dating other people, I'm sure he was too. Whatever. No biggie.
So the whole thing ended when I called him up, after another 3 week "break", and asked him to go to a movie, or something like that.
He sounded very hesitant. I could tell immediately something was up.
I said, "What's up?"
He said, "Well ... I guess I'm thinking that we should slow down."
I sat there, on the other end, filled with utter blankness. I thought nothing, I felt nothing - I was completely blank. There was nothing to say, but obviously I was required to respond. In some way. But I had lost my verbal capacity for a moment.
4 dates in 8 weeks? Slow down?
And what finally came out of my mouth, was: "I literally do not know how much slower I can go."
This was greeted by a deafening silence.
And then what came out of my mouth was: "If I go any slower, I think I will stop."
An even louder silence from the other end.
I wasn't being bitchy. I'm not bitchy with men I like. But I am, God help me, truthful, and the entropy was already swirling me into its vortex and I could not, conceivably, in any biochemical quantum-mechanics-based universe, go any slower than I was already going, without stopping outright. So I said so.
Needless to say, we stopped.
And to this day, amongst my group of friends, "If I go any slower, I think I'll stop" is a favorite phrase. It really works well in a multitude of situations.
I ran into him a couple of years ago at a party in Chicago, and we had a hilarious conversation about our dating. I said, "To this day, that date at the Greek place is the best date I've ever gone on." He said the same was true for him as well.
But I didn't ask him if he had kept the picture of my eyeball. That would have been too embarrassing.

February 12, 2010

Are you going to DEBATE me on this??

My mom should know better than to try and start an argument with me, especially when she knows how much I love DATA.  So when she says something like, "Ya know, I bet more than half of the Best Actress nominees have been prostitutes.  The Academy loves prostitutes," she should know that I see that as a Challenge.

So, when she DID say that, I did the only thing I could thing of (because she loves data too, so simply telling her wasn't going to solve anything): I looked up the occupation of every Best Actress nominee since 1970 and made a spreadsheet.  Then I made a bar graph so that she could easily understand what was happening when I took her theory out.

Oh and just FYI: the number of prostitutes totals 4.0404% of the total number of women nominated.


February 6, 2010

Happy Place

Saturday Morning Shuffle List

Sometimes you just need to search "Rock" on iTunes and let it take you where it will.

“Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” – The Police, ‘Best of Sting & The Police’
“No Complaints” – Beck, ‘The Information’
“Molly’s Chambers” – Kings of Leon, ‘Youth & Young Manhood’
“Not Myself” – John Mayer, ‘Room For Squares’
“Knock-Down Drag-Out” – Weezer, ‘Green Album’
“Dreams (Previously Unissued Outtake)” – Fleetwood Mac, ‘Rumors: Expanded & Remastered’
“Gold Dust Woman #1” – Fleetwood Mac, ‘Rumors: Expanded & Remastered’
“Carrying Cathy” – Ben Folds, ‘Rockin’ the Suburbs’
“Lithium Sunset” – Sting, ‘Mercury Falling’
“Race Car Ya-Yas” – Cake, ‘Fashion Nugget’
“Tripping Down The Freeway” – Weezer, ‘Ratitude’
“Where Eagles Have Been” – Wolfmother, ‘Wolfmother’
“Love On The Rocks” – Sara Bareilles, ‘Little Voice’
“Don’t Speak” – No Doubt, ‘Tragic Kingdom’
“Man Of A Thousand Faces” – Regina Spektor, ‘Far’
“Zak & Sara” – Ben Folds, ‘Rockin’ the Suburbs’
“Wicker Chair” – Kings of Leon, ‘Youth & Young Manhood’
“Mrs. Robinson” – Simon & Garfunkel, ‘Bookends’
“I Feel The Earth Move” – Carole King, ‘Tapestry’

What's your favorite version?

I'm sure you probably already know mine.




February 2, 2010

Actually, I'm a Celtic Nation... but this other definition works, as well

And just to defend myself, no one actually had this name when my mom chose it.


Urbandictionary definition of me:
Brittany: A girl usually born in American in the 80's or 90's. Brittany's are very attractive, popular, and have good hearts. Everyone wishes to be as cool as the Brittany's and are jealous when they can't compare. Sometimes Brittany's are a little blonde, but it's simply because they love life and laughing, and enjoy seeing other people laugh as well. Brittanys are usually envied by less popular people. Brittanys can be insecure but they shouldn't be, people try to bring them down but Brittanys will always end up winning... they need to realize how wonderful they are. Guys are intimidated to ask them out just because Brittanys are so unique and awesome. 


Brittany = Popular, outgoing, loved by all, sometimes teased out of jealousy, loved by adults, kids love them too (and the higher order of plants), smart, & funny.
"Wow, I wish I could date a Brittany."
"Sorry man, she's WAY out of your league."



Cornwall Kernow
Ireland Eire
Isle of Man Mannin
Scotland Alba
Wales Cymru
Unfortunately It is more commonly known as a girl's name, especially in America, often misspelled as Britney. (By STUPID people) 
Brittany is located in North Western France
The Breton language is closely related to Welsh and Cornish 

Just for fun, here's a map of me:

February 1, 2010

Awkward Turtle

I watched the Grammy's last night.  It probably wasn't a great decision considering how much overwhelming shit I have to do... but I love a good celebrity gathering and I couldn't resist.

Let me just start with the important categories, who won, who should have won, and why.

Record of the Year: 
*Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
Halo - Beyonce
I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas
Poker Face - Lady Gaga
You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift

Personally, I feel like Kings of Leon are a bunch of sellouts who've traded their souls (and probably original fanbase) for popularity.  They're on the bubble - my final judgement will come when I hear some new music from them.  Let's just say I got "Youth & Young Manhood" when I was a sophomore in high school and they didn't sound anything like they do now.  Or look like it.  You might recall.  I don't know how I feel about the rest of the nominees.  Actually, I like them all, although Poker Face isn't my favorite of Gaga's songs.  Oh, and Beyonce couldn't have won because her song sounds exactly like Kelly Clarkson's, so that was kind of a dealbreaker.  If it were up to me, I'd choose Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling" merely because it's literally the most popular song in the world (according to a poll distributed and taken by ME).  Over the summer I heard it in Valencia, Granada, Sevilla, Pisa, Florence (okay, Paulina was just singing it here), and London.  Did I hear any of the other ones?  Noooo.

Album of the Year:
*Fearless - Taylor Swift
I am... Sasha Fierce - Beyonce
The END - Black Eyed Peas
The Fame - Lady Gaga
Big Whiskey and the Groogoux King - Dave Matthews Band

Um, here's what I think.  Well, besides what you already know.  This was obviously going to be between Taylor Swift and Beyonce.  Hm... well.  They were both kind of amazing this year, no?  I mean, look at the facts: they were both incredible crossover artists who got people you would NEVER expect to listen to their music to listen to it.  Both of them!!  And they both sold millions of albums.  And tour tickets.  And they both have strong, solid personalities that reflect incredibly well on them and their music.  So, what exactly was the tie breaker?
I don't think it was a genre thing because most people like both of their albums.  In my opinion, Taylor Swift is like a mini-Beyonce.  And the voters realized that.  She's obviously got some work ahead of her, but I think the way that she handles herself and her career is eerily similar (making movies, too, I see).  I theorize that people voted for her potential and they're hoping that her career follows a similar path to Beyonce's (and to someone else).  And don't go feeling too sorry for B - she did win 7 other Grammy's last night.

Best Contemporary Folk Album:
*Townes - Steve Earle
Middle Cyclone - Neko Case
Our Bright Future - Tracy Chapman
Live - Shawn Colvin
Secret, Profane & Sugarcane - Elvis Costello

Do I even need to say that Neko Case should have won this?  Middle Cyclone was one of my favorite albums of 2009, and is near the top of my all-time favorites list, probably #1 in the country/folk category.  A recent article stated


"And I can only imagine the reaction had a performer with a voice that can shake walls like Neko Case or Mavis Staples been allowed to cavort with the pop celebs in prime time.

Case’s sixth studio album, “Middle Cyclone,” was nominated for a minor award (best contemporary American folk album), and didn’t win. Yet Case is exactly the type of artist that Swift aspires to be: an accomplished singer, songwriter and producer who keeps getting better with each year. Case is at the top of her game right now, and her breathtaking voice is a powerhouse of longing with a tart edge. She drummed in punk bands before embracing her love for mountain-soul ballads on her solo albums, and along the way she’s honed her chops as a lyric-writer and arranger, developed as a guitarist and pianist, and learned how to use the studio as an instrument to enhance the rich atmosphere in her voice and songs. The strike against artists such as Case is that they’re too esoteric, too underground, for a mainstream audience, but that’s bunk. A “Middle Cyclone” song like “People Got a Lotta Nerve” is as catchy as anything Swift has ever written."
I'm sure it's no surprise to anyone that the Grammy's continue to be all about revenue.

Best Spoken World Album:
*Always Looking Up - Michael J. Fox
A Very Special Time - Jonathan Winters
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates - Richard Dreyfuss & David Straithern
The Maltese Falcon - Various Artists
We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land - Jimmy Carter
Wishful Drinking - Carrie Fisher

This one I'm just throwing in because I almost had an "accident" (peed in my pants.) in the car when I was on my way to school while I was listening to Carrie Fisher's audiobook.  I'm sure Michael J. Fox's album was inspiring and everything, but I was literally rolling on the ground when I listened to Wishful Drinking.

Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists:
*Quiet Nights - Diana Krall
A Change is Gonna Come - Seal
Dedicated To You - Kurt Elling
In The Still of the Night - Anne Walsh
My One And Only Thrill - Melody Gardot

Okay, so I'm sure no one is familiar with any of these either, but I'm putting it up anyways.  Diana Krall is one of my favorite jazz vocalists and her arrangements are really good... but, Melody Gardot's album is  incredible.  My beef with Diana Krall is this: this album has a very similar arranging style to those of her previous albums (which were also very good), so my question is what made it so much better than her previous albums that it deserved a Grammy?  (Note: she already has 2, one from her 5th album in 1999, the other is from her live album which is probably the best live jazz album I've heard)  Just food for thought.  My 2 cents - Melody Gardot should have gotten the award.