So much time......

.....so little to write.

Anyway, back after a long hiatus.....it's your favourite Northern Phantom. I've been around except not a lot really interesting as of late I wanted to share. However, I do have a few things that I want to rant on about.

Saw much of the Grammy's last night. I missed about an hour because A)The Simpson's were on, and I try to never miss the Simpsons, and B) I had to drive up Seymour Mountain to pick my brother up from work (It's about a 30 minute drive there and back. The Grammy's were not bad, but honestly not the best i've seen (I thought last years was great). Ok so my thoughts on the whole thing.

Queen Latifah, did allright as a host but not great. I miss the classic comedian type that is able to crack some witty punchline to break the mood. She was used sparingly as well which makes me wonder why they even bothered having a host in the first place.

U2, great song but tough to sing. Bono missed a few notes but U2 served up a good performance.

Believe it or not the best performance in my mind (the ones I saw) was the Janis Joplin tribute. Melissa Ethridge took that song and tore it up, and unlike so many of the other performances she actually sounded excited to be there.

Across the Universe was the happy "we are the world" moment of the grammy's. Raising funds for Tsunami relief, you can actually download this performance with a donation to Tsunami relief. I would suggest two donations. One to Tsunami relief, and another to get these people singing lessons. It was horrible, not even Bono and Billy Joe could save this dabacle. Word to the grammy organisers and participants. Don't F--- with a classic. Alicia Keys get additional demerit points for not actually singing anything close to the melody of the song.

The Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute was allright. I kind of missed some of it. Same beef I have with Across the Universe......these people butchered a classic in Free Bird.

Kanye West was pretty solid though I got a little offended by the whole church scene. It was kinda over the top and a little bit mocking. Maybe it's just me. Blind Boys of Alabama did a good rendition of I'll fly away though.

John Mayer was excellent with Daughters. Catchy, and he's an awesome guitarist too. I told my brother, it's not always about how fast you play, it's about how well you play it.....he's plays it well.

Overall the performances were hit and miss. Usually there are a couple performances that totally blow me away, this year not really.....the only performance worth the time was really the Janis Joplin tribute. Maybe I missed the good ones this year.

Kudos to Ray Charles for taking home the Hardware.........I'm sure he's smiling somewhere.


On another note. Yes I have heard the whole new Mars Volta album, and yes it is good. It drops officially March 1st and will a must buy.

Fela Kuti, thanks to Tarik for tipping me on this cat. Very nice, the jam is roforofo fight which is 15 minutes that you wish lasted 30 of insane afro jams.

Peace, and props to New England for their Superbowl Win