Always spending all that stupid time with your band on the road...

And another Grammy Awards has come and gone.  Second verse, same as the first.  All the people I love and hate with all the potential in the world to bring the drama and do the damn thing.  Alas, just like last year the media's take on the whole thing was more interesting than the actual show.  Sooo...

Highlights. Lowlights. WTFs.--2017 Grammy Edition

We were on the right track when the fairest queen in all the land John Travolta introduced my all time favorite lesbian gym teacher Keith Urban (Sidenote: she should've won every award 'Blue Ain't Your Color' was nominated for).  But then a big loud mess happened when Kristin Wiig came out dancing in a skit about white girls in bad 80s movies.  Only it turns out that was actually Carrie Underwood dancing on purpose.

 

The sound quality was once again in the shitter.  And AGAIN--this gig is seriously only about music and sound quality.  It even prompted this tweet from my one true love Anne Murray.  Nothing has ever made me happier...gawd!!

— Anne Murray (@annemurray1) February 13, 2017

Again with the  tributes done by random artists thrown together who had nothing to do with anything.  And again somehow Demi Lovato ends up being the saving grace/show stopper of the whole thing.  I wish I could've given this one to Andra  Day, but she clearly had no idea where she even was.
The exception to this was Morris Day (obviously) and Bruno Mars performing for Prince.  A lot of people questioned Mars for this, but I thought it was perfect.  They're both tiny, pretty, brown men, and it was clear Mars is a fan.  He was having fun.  And wearing eyeliner.

 

Katy Perry makes me ill.  How is anything she did a "political statement" in any way?  Because she stood on a stage with a Marley?  Because she horrible danced with 1990s Christina Applegate hair? I'd still do it to her.


And then A Tribe Called Quest came out and destroyed everyone.  Just fuck everyone ever.  P.S.  'We the People' was recorded like an hour ago--so stop pretending you were listening to this song 20 years ago.  It. Didn't. Happen.


I was excited to see the Best Spoken Word Album nominees. Though I thought that category had been axed a few years ago.  Elvis Costello, John Doe, Patti Smith--all amazing. (Amy Schumer can eat a dick though.) And I'm not even sad they all lost out to Carol Burnett--because it's Carol Burnett. 

 

And finally, some coulda woulda shouldas and unsolicited opinions:

 

Alicia Keys makes my genitals explode every. single. time.
Is Beyoncé the only woman who's ever been pregnant ever?  Just wondering...
I hate everything about Ed Sheeran's new record.
How and why is Twenty One Pilots still a thing?
If Lady Gaga ever had a poser moment...

 

Why didn't we get to see

• Solange win Best R&B Performance?
• William Bell win Best Americana Album?
• Sturgill Simpson win Best Country Album?
• Cage the Elephant win Best Rock Album?  BTW--been following them since everyone thought they'd be one hit wonders.

Best Alternative Album should've gone to Bon Iver.  Don't get me wrong--I love Bowie (may he forever rest in peace and on my bedroom wall) and wouldn't begrudge him a win, but he won for everything.  Even packaging--which by the way, who gives a fuck?  But if I did, I'd have gone with Parquet Courts.

 

Anderson.Paak should've won Best Urban Contemporary.

 

Are you fucking serious with

• Justin Bieber nominated for Album of the Year--really?  I can see a nomination for pop vocal, but even with his competition in that category--really?  I do get the pop solo performance though.
• a nomination for 'I Took a Pill in Ibiza'?  First of all I feel like that song is fours years old.  Secondly, Mike Posner.
• that gold book, Beyoncé???!!!

And finally, Chance the Rapper only wins awards because white people aren't afraid him.  And I won't even entertain an educated "agree to disagree" conversation about that.

 

The Weekly Walk With Me

I've managed to survive the first few weeks of my own personal new year.  With some interesting twists.  And ups.  And downs.  But aside from the possibility of World War III and the fear that the majority of the country has turned into the cast of Winter's Bone, I'm feeling OK about it.

4 Twists, 5 Ups, 2 Downs

1. My news embargo officially ended  on Feb. 9.  I did of course cheat a little.  There were some headlines and outfits that just could not be ignored.  BTW, this is old news, but I wouldn't have gone with a robin's egg shoe in January.  I get that pastels are in for winter this year, but I think an oxblood shoe and glove with that blue dress could've been everything.
When I did finally delve into the real stories, I  had a meltdown reminiscent of Karen Walker on the 'I Second That Emotion' episode of Will and Grace.  The lesson?  Keep the wall up, choose Us Weekly over The Washington Post.  Always.  Oh--and hit every dive Mexican and/or Cuban restaurant while you still can.

2. Learning my mother likes Bob Dylan.

3. And hearing her use the word butch.

4. And thinking I saw a Liberator in her closet until I realized it was something from a medical supply store.

5. But now my Mom knows what a Liberator is.

6. This article that made my heart happy:
Launch Pad

7. Ryan Adams tickets.

8. Mikki Blanco tickets.

9. Deerhunter tickets.

10. This Bed Stu bootie purchase:

11. I learned that corneal abrasion is a thing.  A painful thing actually.  I also learned what it's like to have an eyelid flipped inside out. And everything that irrigating an eye entails. I do not recommend. It's just something I can't quite get behind.

I was one of them pussy boys cuz I hated football...

I love Super Bowl Sunday.  Some of my best drinking stories, hook ups, recipes, athleisure outfits, and what the fucks come from that day.  But I'm the 'only in it for the commercials and chicken wings (and occasional half-time controversy)' asshole.   I know nothing about football.
The only sport my Dad cared about was boxing--so instead of Friday night lights, I grew up with Friday Night Fights on HBO.  Eating Mary Janes on the couch beside him.  I'd pull them and twist them.  Wrap them around my finger.  And every time he'd tell me not to play with my gum, reach for a Marlboro red and move his headphones off one ear so he could hear the TV and whatever was playing in his head at the same time.  
I vaguely remember my brother having a Pittsburgh Steelers belt in high school but I never saw him watch a game.  And I know he didn't play.  In fact the only ball I even remember being in the house was probably for the dog.  So I learned to celebrate America's great athletic past times with a cocktail and a perfectly useless pair of fashion sneakers.
It stands to reason that my championship picks are in such high demand.  You don't need stats or plays or even the players' names to know who's gonna win these things.  All you really need is good sound logic.
I'm told this year the New England Patriots are up against the Atlanta Falcons...


The word patriot of course brings to mind conservative politics.  Those described as "true patriots"  tend to be your John McCain, American Sniper types.  However, New England as a general rule skews liberal.  The so-called tree huggers and hippies, Ben & Jerry and all that.
And it would appear as though the patriots are winning right now.  They certainly did manage to turn democracy on its head.  But, isn't the American way founded on the freedoms to disagree and voice descent?  Are the liberal protests and rallies sprouting seemingly out of the ground not one of the most American priveleges we have?  So are the patriots-in the most basic sense of the word-really losing?  Or is the definition changing?  And maybe patriotism actually is winning?


Atlanta has been a hot-bed for quite some time now.  Atlanta is an alpha city.  The Atlanta ladies consistently rank as the favorites among the Real Housewives fanatics.  Atlanta gave us Goodie Mob and Killer Mike and Outkast.  And Bubba Sparxxx. (I dare you to argue with Miss New Booty!)  But Atlanta also gave us Young Thug and 2 Chainz, so...  You can also find The Flying Biscuit, which is the best hangover food ever--period.


New England has Murder She Wrote.


Atlanta hosted the Olympics.
No state in New England ever has.
But Atlanta's Olympics were bombed...


The only Patriots player I am aware of is Tom Brady.  Everyone loses their shit over him, but I just don't get the attraction.  His eyes are shifty--I think one of them is actually lazy.  (Would that pass a football physical?)  And he left his pregnant wife/girlfriend for Giselle. (OK, it is Giselle.)  But he wore a turtleneck in a mattress commercial, and that pretty much confirmed that I will never let him do it to me.
I don't know a single player on the Falcons.


Falcons have actually come back from extinction, and they are some of the fastest creatures on Earth.  But they are trainable and somewhat controllable--even though a crazy glove is required to handle them.  Patriots put themselves in harm's way for their cause.  But the American Sniper died at the hands of some fuck up at a Podunk shooting range--and as of 2015 his widow was still wearing French acrylics.


A falcon will grab a patriot's labrador puppy right out of his own back yard.  From! The! Sky!




I'm going with Falcons for the win.