light shows and banjos

[lampshade_days]

A Grammy telecast has not made me so excited about music since, I think, 1996, when a 14 year old version of myself watched Alanis Morissette as she sat up on stage and sang "And are you thinking of me when you fuck her?" without missing a beat. There were some really incredible performances last night.

Highlights included:

• Eminem. Always seemingly operating at a slow burn, his performance was a full on blaze. When he's on, it is impossible to take your eyes off him.
• Mumford & Sons, The Avett Brothers, Bob Dylan. I will say, to begin with, that Dylan's portion of this performance seemed pre-recorded. No shots of the audience? Weird entrance during which he stepped over a cello with a shrug of his shoulders? I was saddened, also, by how positively ragged his voice has become. I saw him in concert in November of 2006, and he was gruff then, but I think the contrast of Mumford & Sons' and Avett Brothers' crisp vocals really unintentionally emphasized the degree of degradation that has occurred. Bob is Bob, though, and the harmonica and spirit were spot on.
• The Aretha Franklin tribute. What a great group of talented, beautiful women.
• Mick Jagger. As I said on Twitter, I need some of whatever he is putting in his coffee. The man is 67! He was amazing!
• Cee Lo and Gwyneth Paltrow. Feathers + beautiful piano + dancing Muppets + Gwyneth Paltrow in great shoes definitely makes up for the fact that "Forget You" never sounds as good as "Fuck You".
• Long live Gaga. I still think the song is not much more than mediocre, but the girl knows how to perform.
• Arcade Fire wins Album of the Year. Recovery and The Fame Monster were also deserving, tough competition, but it is really nice to see "indie" (or whatever you want to call it) get some recognition. The Suburbs is stunning. LOVED that they went back up and performed "Ready to Start" after their win. "We're gonna play another song because we like music." ♥! I couldn't have been more proud of them.

Though I am intrigued by the notions that (1) Walternate does, indeed, draw the line at experimenting on children, (especially given that our Walter did not have such qualms in the past), and (2) Walternate possibly engineered the present circumstances (i.e. pregnant Fauxlivia), at the bottom of it all, the pregnancy storyline feels lazy. How do we get the viewers to buy into the whole love triangle thing and feel conflicted about Olivia vs. Fauxlivia? Get Faux pregnant! Ugh. I feel a churning sensation in my stomach, and it ain't morning sickness.

On Wednesday night, Scott and I are planning on attending the local public school's open house in order to gather information that will hopefully help us decide whether or not we will sign Abi up for junior kindergarten. Needless to say, my anxiety level is through the roof. Registration takes place starting today up until the 25th. Registering in February for your kid to go to school in the fall! Too soon! I thought I would have more time to think about it and do research. What I believe I'm going to end up doing is registering her with the admission that her attendance will depend upon whether or not I feel she is ready come September. GAH.