Monday, January 31, 2011

Hope you like prison food... and penis.

Screen Actors Guild Awards last night, but I'm just watching now.



I guess January Jones got the memo about her Golden Globes dress...

Sunday, January 30, 2011

We found your stolen Prius, it was voting for Ralph Nader.

God willing, Nicole is back! :D



So obviously there was this really big gap in her career lately where, I dunno, she was consulting her Magic 8 Ball when it came to her acting choices. (Or she was busy being a mom, whatevs.) But wow, I loved Rabbit Hole. And yes, it was totally one of those brilliant and depressing things I love when done well, not unlike Revolutionary Road.

But don't be dissuaded! Here is the thing about Rabbit Hole--and it's really important, especially when you start that argument about which makes you want to cut yourself more, this or Blue Valentine: Rabbit Hole may deal with a very difficult topic, but it is also very optimistic.

D and I saw it with my good friend L and her bf A. I also really like A, and we have very similar tastes. (More on that in a minute.) And Rabbit, though it may not seem so at first, is not just Kidman's character's story, but also her husband's, played (where is this man's effusive praise by the way? He rocked the shit out of this!) by Aaron Eckhart. And the film does a really beautiful job of telling two stories while appearing to tell only one; you can see the point at which the film becomes two different stories and I think that's sort of essential to the whole point of the movie, really.



(And look! Sandra Oh! She was also very good, and I mention this so Alex may consider a viewing.... ;))

But the neat thing was that once it was over and we were talking about it, my good friend L and my husband D both really thought Aaron Eckhart's story was more compelling and saw it as his story, but A and I vehemently disagreed that it was clearly Kidman's story. So that right there really makes an impression on me that it was a very effective film.

But I really enjoyed this film and how it was told. I get that it's a little fucked up to say I "enjoyed" it, perhaps "appreciated" is a better word? It was very well done, and the teenage kid--Miles Teller--was really a standout.

So that was my Oscar theater pic of the week. I also rented the new Jean-Pierre Jeunet film, Micmacs, not up for any Oscars, but a 2010 film (for us here in the USA, anyway). As with all his films, it was very creative. I didn't find it to be positively bursting at the seams with cute, clever and creative, like so many of his others, but it was still quite pleasant.



And I did not find the contortionist, Julie Ferrier, as cute as I'm sure I was supposed to, and she even reminded me a tiny bit of Giulietta Masina, Fellin's real-life wife and the impossibly cute face of La Strada.

But you should still watch it. After all, a somewhat less-than-impressive Jeunet film is still like "acceptable" caviar, you know? And it's always so refreshing to see someone pay attention to the details.

But oh, there were crappy movies, too, fear not. I finally watched The Other Guys.



This was really pretty awful, but I liked Will Ferrell in it. (And I'm not a Will Ferrell fan, but I don't DISlike him, if that makes sense. I think he very good at what he does, I just don't belong to that mass band-wagon of people who would readily give him their first-born.)

I have also come to the conclusion that I would probably watch Mark Wahlberg in just about anything. (Maybe it's rooted in the fact that Boogie Nights remains in my top five (a top five often characterized by seven films, I admit), but I also personally adore him in The Departed, that role never fails to crack me up. And I must think he's a solid actor, I mean, jesus, it's fucking "Marky Mark," right? Normally I wouldn't be caught dead selling this shit.) In this case, I don't know...I could appreciate the facial expression he seemed to somehow maintain for the whole film, a nice mix of mouth-breather and rage.

Aside from its two main actors, though, the only thing The Other Guys had going for it was the element of randomness, probably more accurately chalked up to a horribly inconsistent and directionless script. Otherwise, it was predictable (duh), the jokes often got old really fast, and it was just really weak overall.

But if you want some stupid/funny action, this is a solid one-time guilty pleasure, so go for it. And don't let the beginning fool you--it's very much tongue-in-cheek, which becomes readily apparent, but to me was initially quite worrisome.

Oh, totally not related to anything? I went to the dentist last week and.....NO CAVITIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :O

1 1/2 years since my last dentist appointment. I landed a dentist assistant with a fantastic personality 5 minutes from my place. She did a panoramic scan of my teeth; I always get nervous when the dentist has bad-ass new technology and they act as if it has been standard for the past five years--WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! It makes me nervous. Luckily, it was all good.

So I'd like to take this moment to thank my parents and the wonders of genetics that I just have AWESOME TEETH.

Because based on my horrendous--however well-intentioned--up-keep, I should have had about eight root canals by now.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Wow, that dinner smells good. Let me guess... meat?

So apparently I spent the better part of lunch yesterday near the company of Emeril Lagasse. Woot.

As per usual, I am just that oblivious. Though to be fair, I'm not sure I could say for sure what the man looks like. I know I recognize him in context, i.e., cooking shows on TV, but on the street? Or even at a lunch spot doing interviews and having his film people shoot people eating? Apparently not even then, as it turns out.

After all the shenanigans were over (I just assumed it was a slow day with the local news, to be honest), some guy from the bar wandered over to my table.

Weird Random Dude: "Let me guess, you must be a LAW STUDENT."

Me: *beat*, *looks at heavily highlighted casebook in front of me* "What gave it away?"

WRD: "Well, you just look really sophisticated and you're drinking wine..."

M: "Really? Most of the law students I know drink the cheapest beer they can get their hands on!"

WRD: *indistinct mumblings* ... "...so how is that, I'm sitting there and there's Emeril!"

M: *totally lost* "?"

WRD: "That was Emeril just now!"

M: "Oh! Really? Neat."

WRD: "Emeril Lagasse, you know?"

M: *shrugs* "I'm more of a Bourdain fan myself."

WRD: *mumbles, wanders off*

This might be why I suck at networking, come to think of it.

Anyway. Emeril. Neat. Good for him. I actually don't mock him as much as I used to, he may not be the total celeb-whore I used to imagine him as. My friend L said the exact same thing--she ate at his restaurant in Vegas and says she just can't mock him anymore--the food was beyond nom.

We had another foot of snow last night, more in the vein I expect from Boston--blistery late night winds that pile the snow onto the balcony and dump at least a foot. Usually just unearthing the car from the snow is enough, but I think at this point we'd have to shovel the snow out from behind the car, too.

And in the interests of knocking out the last few Oscar noms I need, I will be trying to catch a late-night 127 Hours at the Landmark here in town. I have been here nearly 2 years and have yet to track down the Landmark. Long story with my love/hate for Landmark, you probably know the story, but in any case, I just hope I can find the theater!

Tomorrow night it's a double date with L and her bf A for a nice upbeat show of Rabbit Hole, aka Nicole Gets Her Awesomeness Back on Track.

Un-Oscar-related, I am mad curious to check out Somewhere, the new Sophia Coppola. I adore SC, and my film critic friend in Austin adores her even more--and HE was disappointed. So I'm going in with lesser expectations. :( But I still wish I could smuggle in a batch of homemade truffles and red wine. Her films tend to be quite slow, arty (in a good way!) and I would just love to savor the whole thing properly.

Anyway, that's at the Landmark, too, as is Mike Leigh's Another Year, which I've heard great praise for. I may be popping over there a bit in the next few weeks, let's hope I can find it!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

It's very Kafkaesque.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH, I can't fucking win. It's supposed to snow LATER today, and I have a dentist appointment this AM. It's quite closeby, but still, I wake up, and apparently it snowed JUST ENOUGH last night to totally cover the car, especially the front. GOD. DAMN. IT. Unearthing the car, as you can probably tell, is one of my favorite things. And I don't mean there is a LIGHT DUSTING. I mean, the front of the car has it PILED ON. Sigh.

I also appear to be awake before the Oscar nominations are announced, which is weird, because I always thought they did it at some ungodly hour, but no, 8:30 EST, it seems.

Otherwise, it seems today will be a good day to stay inside and keep studying/researching. I still like my tax professor quite a bit. It's a huge class, but yesterday she was trying to describe "imputed income." She frequently uses stories to illuminate her point, so she was telling us about a douchy professor she met on a train, which lead her to make a side reference to The Squid and the Whale. She couldn't recall the line, so she asked who had seen it. Naturally, 100 or so people just sort of sit there and I awkwardly show my hand...

(So in the movie--which I have not seen since it first came out, so bear with me--these two teenage kids are talking, and the one (son?) has a professor for a father,--and it's hard to describe how well-done and totally depressing this movie is--but let's just say he's raised in a very intellectual/pretentious household, not necessarily in a good way, but there you have it. I believe the son and the girl he's trying to impress are discussing The Metamorphosis, and he says something like, "It's very Kakfaesque," which he says all the time about lots of books, if memory serves. But in this case, obviously, it's quite douchey, and she looks at him...and she's like, "Well, yes, Kafka wrote it...")

So anyway, long story short, my prof couldn't quite remember who the author was the kid kept referencing, she looks at me, and she's like, "Was it Sartre?" And I thought it was Kafka, but hell, it just popped in there and I hadn't seen it in years, so I just said I wasn't sure. But she also kept saying how funny this movie was, completely recommending it to the whole class. Wow.

I did actually run into her at some point after class and had to tell her how disturbing it was that she thought the movie was hysterical rather than totally fucking depressing. (I get why she thinks it's funny, because she can really appreciate the Jeff Daniels character, but I also love the total lack of warning that btw, it's also mega-depressing.)

So that was a really long and somewhat useless story but I was just so proud to brag that I have a tax professor who makes references to The Squid and the Whale in her class, even if it's a movie I don't need to see again. (Though apparently she could watch it repeatedly. Weird. She is also eager to see Greenberg (same director, Noah Baumbach), which I just saw for the first time and I'm pretty sure I could have done without.) Anyway. I hope all the 22-year-old idiots in my class go watch Squid and expect it to be funny.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

I swore on a stack of black-eyed peas and candied yams, it's messy but binding.

What the fuck was that? If The Fighter gets a Best Picture nod, then it's obvious that nominating ten movies is a totally worthless exercise. Because I guaran-fucking-tee you there were ten better movies in 2010.



I even got to have a couple cosmos before, I was in a good mood, expecting a good movie--nothing amazing--but I had constantly heard that even if you don't like boxing movies (I'm neutral), this is a great movie. OH MY. The pacing, the structure, the point...the story, guh, all of it. Fuck. BORED.

To be fair, there were sequences that were really well done. There was some great tension set up in certain sequences, but they were not enough...not even close. And the only thing I would nominate for could possibly be acting.



These three people were really great. Now, I love Amy Adams, I do, but I'm not sure her character really says AWARD WINNING PERFORMANCE. It's not her fault, I just think the story screwed up by not showing any sort of progression or changes, she was just suddenly with him (Mark Wahlberg) all the time. And Wahlberg was really good, as always (but I'd give him an award for The Departed over this POS, if were just looking at him as an actor). Christian Bale is the clear This Is So Getting An Oscar Nomination role, and man does he look like a crack fiend.

And sure, whatever, he did really well by the role, but I was just so unimpressed by the movie overall I don't think I can even really get behind any actor nominations, either. We'll see come nomination time, but this one was a major yawn for me.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Well, you don't know my cat, it's very demanding.

Oh, and instead of starting my tax law reading, I was poking around on youtube because everyone around me was (of course) recording at the Sarah McLachlan show I went to...so here is a clip! This was my show, my view...hell, the guy in front of me could have been the one to record it.

They did two Q & As where the audience got to write down questions before the show or at intermission, which was fun. (Except for dumb ones, like "What's the most important thing in the world to you?" I think I'd freak out if she didn't say her two daughters...) The sound quality gets dodgy towards the middle of Fallen, but whatcha gonna do...it gets better. And after Fallen is Out of Tune, a new one.



And fuck it, if you're bored, three more songs...(it's fun to see the in-between bits, the introductions to the songs). This is Answer, I Will Remember You and one of my favorites, U Want Me 2 (even though it kills me to type the title). Same person recording...I don't think s/he recorded the whole show...



And I still totally covet that shirt.

Can I have another one of these with some booze in it?

Damn, I've apparently already used "I'll give you a winter prediction: It's gonna be cold, it's gonna be grey, and it's gonna last you for the rest of your life." Which is a shame cause it would be far more appropriate today. It's snowing again. Like, a lot. I don't have class today or tomorrow (actually, that's not true, I have class tomorrow but it's via Skype) but it still sucks to feel TRAPPED. I could go outside, but I also don't really have a reason.

It's pretty, though?

At least I can see past the balcony. First thing this morning? Not so much.

I have a ton of reading to do involving economic international law, tax, and international law in general. I also have trial stuff to prep for Sunday, and it would probably be a whole lot easier to do that if they would send me an email telling me WHAT TO PREPARE. Sigh.

I do have some good movies to watch (this is the part where I desperately try to redeem myself for the shitty TV viewing), including the new Jean-Pierre Jeunet film Micmacs, Inception (re-watch), The Grand Hotel (part of my attempt to watch Best Picture Oscar winners I have never seen, this one's from 1932) and uh, The Other Guys.



Fine, so not everything is of high intellectual caliber...

But I have so much reading to do, I'll be impressed if I get to watch one.

And it's still snowing. Sideways, actually.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Kat, such a good girl. Where did we go wrong with her sister Daisy?

Look, apparently Project Runway isn't going to be airing ANY TIME SOON, probably not til fall? WHAT. THE. FUCK. I need some weekly drama (that's "drama" with a short "a")...apparently something even more shameful than Gossip Girl or Glee (in fairness, I would not watch Glee anymore but D adores it, so I just watch for shits; it finally crossed the line of just being too...I don't know, too gross, too self-aware, too embarrassing).

But don't put any weight into what I consider shit, because I just watched the American Idol premiere. I blame my friend L--she got me watching last season for the Cape Cod girl, then the programming instruction was still on the Tivo, meaning it taped on its own...so I watched.

There's a girl from Richardson, TX, and she's cute, so I got my eye on her. ;)

I've never started watching it from the beginning--they got 51 people from the NJ area, 37 from New Orleans, and then they're going to Milwaukee next? Um. That's a lot of people. And this show is a lot like Project Runway in the sense that people are not always chosen for their amazing singing voice, they consider other factors, whatever bullshit things those may be.

I know because Kat Edmonson was on way back, years ago, and was eliminated from the top 48. So, pretty early on.

And the voice on that girl (Kat) is ridiculous; she's fucking adorable, radiant and stunning. So clearly, they just get shit wrong constantly. Real wrong.



(She starts singing at 1:50, if you care...and even before I looked at the text I knew this was The Elephant Room, *LE SIGH*!) I don't think this song really showcases her as well as some of her other tracks (I really love Just One of Those Things, but youtube had no offerings...) Anyway, this lady makes me frickin' swoon, I just love getting to see her sing live.

So anyway, I'm totally ashamed I watch something as wrong and shameless as American Idol, but there it is. I already have my favorite though, my Richardson Girl. Apparently her name is Sarah Sellers, so she also has my fake Coffee/Pizza Name going for her.

I only saw her sing for like, 20 seconds on the show, so I'm just fickle I guess.



So there it is. I am owning my shame. Whatever gets me through the semester.

Inconceivable!

Shitballs.



I have been waiting to see when Katy Perry's going on tour because I really enjoyed her second album (more than her first, actually), and the woman can put on a show.

I saw her back in Dallas in the cheap seats and it was quite fun. I really wanted to get better seats for her upcoming show, not by breaking the bank but just by snatching up tickets in a more timely fashion.

But it totally doesn't matter anyway. That cow is going to be touring in Europe until just about the time I fly over there, at which point she starts her North American tour. Dammit. She's playing Boston June 18th, and wraps up in July. Whatever, money saved, I guess... *grumpyface*

I just think it's worth it for the fun artists who rock out with the Over-The-Topness.



Though to be fair, I think the queen of that may indeed be Lady Gaga...



...and however much I would love to see her in March, I have a feeling ponying up for the cheap seats would even break the bank! Perhaps in a future wherein I am actually gainfully employed, it might happen.

Oh well. Katy Perry song, no images, for no real reason. :D

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

We've had nine classes together since kindergarten... ten if you count Religion of Other Cultures, which you didn't and called it science fiction.

Easy A was surprisingly cute! I mean, it was no Clueless and it wasn't even Saved!, but it was so much better than I thought it would be. Definitely what I needed.



I wish the Jesus freaks had been a little more believable...there was something really accurate and bitter about Mandy Moore's performance in Saved! that I just loved. This was more like watching someone do a Jesus freak who'd never actually interacted with one. And I guess it's nice that that could even be possible?

Anyway, the only reason the film was really worth watching was definitely Emma Stone. I understand the Golden Globe nod. When you are the reason the movie is watchable and in fact you lift it up above the mediocrity it would other be condemned to, you're probably pretty awesome.



Great comedic timing and she's pretty damn cute, too. Again, I'm not saying this was a great movie or anything, but considering I went in with super-low expectations, I was very pleasantly surprised. Guilty pleasure WIN.

Well, I don't eat anything and when I feel like I'm about to faint I eat a cube of cheese.

Man, the parking lot is covered in snow again! It is snowing, snowing, snowing. And this afternoon promises "wintry mix," meaning, I presume, ice. And there's a book up at school I need. Groan. How badly do I need it...

Anyway. Good thing I got to the movies yesterday! I went to see The King's Speech finally...



...starring this dude! Yes, any excuse to post Colin Firth pics, I'm on it.



Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter were really a huge reason the film was as good as it was, but Firth really was a stand out.



(HBC sees to have mostly reigned in the crazy for this pic...)

I really don't think it will win Best Picture--it was quite enjoyable and funny, but it just didn't really say Best Picture to me. Not that I get to have a say, obviously...but especially with them nominating 10 films, I think a nomination is at least in the bag!

Completely unrelated to anything, here is ScarJo's hairdo from the Globes the other night, you just had to see what I was talking about. Damn. The dress was actually quite pretty, but WHO WAS LOOKIN' AT THE DRESS?



And I can't make up my mind about Christina Hendricks here. She always look va-va-voom, and she can even pull off red usually, despite her hair, but somehow it's not quite doing it for me here? Then there is the issue of the GIANT FLOWER. But she still looks pretty damn amazing almost-pulling-it-off.



Sigh. Professional Responsibility reading is calling my name. That and lunch.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Don't beg on this corner, boy.

Yay Natalie Portman! Great role, bad-ass performance...and her acceptance speech was the perfect mix of humble, humorous and classy. Well played...



Yay also for The Kids Are All Right. That whole category was simply wretched this year, so I'm glad it won.

And The Social Network wins! I have not seen it! But I will! But not with Nefux because they are lame douchebags or rather, Blockbuster is, and it is not available with them for another month. FAIL.

Everyone go home and get a good night's sleep. We're all getting up at noon tomorrow.

Yay Annette Bening! :D



The Kids Are All Right was decent enough, but she was really fantastic in it. So hooray!

I'm sorry, but Robert Pattinson gets uglier every time I see him. And I don't even watch that Twilight shit. Like his eyes get further apart and his expression more vapid. I'm sorry, but I just don't get it.

On the other hand, Olivia Wilde: rock out with your cock out.



Helen Mirren is always crazy smoking hot, but I'm not totally loving her sparkly gold dress this year.



Not that it matters, she is insanely radiant and brilliant regardless.

Totally unrelated, here's that anorexic Angelina I was talkin' 'bout...



And Nicole bein' all MEH.



Man, her dresses used to be great showstoppers. What's up with that.

I'm turning over a new leaf. I'll never be caught again!

Chris Colfer from Glee won, which seems to be a surprise. Glee is some really awful trash, but this character is a really great character for gay kids and I know that Colfer as an actor relates very much to the role; he was always ostracized in school, being "the gay kid," and now look, he's getting a fucking Golden Globe. So that's pretty fucking awesome. And Lea Michele is totally crying for him, which is pretty damn sweet, too.



It's nice when someone neat wins.

Okay. You people sit tight, hold the fort and keep the home fires burning. And if we're not back by dawn... call the president.

I'm watching pre-Globes shows for dresses and glitz, but I have no pictures...maybe they'll pop up as the night wears on. But I'm ranting anyway, sorry.

(Editor's Note: Pics now!)

What the fuck is Natalie Portman wearing? It would be quite flattering (with her noticeable baby bump) but for the giant rose on her chest. It's less awful than it should be, but it's still wrong.



January Jones...um, her dress is just too...obvious? I wish I had pictures. She must feel weirdly naked?

Gofugyourself said it well: Maybe we're distracted because the bodice of her bright red Versace is basically two ribbons wrapped around her boobs. Ryan is outwardly confused and distracted by this. It is a very obvious choice, and Jones smarms to Ryan that she didn't wear it to be ignored. We get it, honey. We get it.




ScarJo....HAHAHAHAHAHA. Total Bride of Frankenstein hair, WTF.

Helena Bonham Carter...dude. It's OTT and ridic and normally I'd give her shit, but you know, she's actually kinda pulling it off. Damn. Way to bring the crazy, girl. Mismatched shoes and all.



Nicole's dress is a huge meh. She is also looking very cakey.

Jesus, Ryan Seacrest is such a goddamn douchebag. How does this man seriously have a job? Who dates this loser? Anyway.

Elizabeth Moss looks smokin'! Great emerald dress!

Jon Hamm is looking awesome AND being goofy, that's great. I'm charmed.

Okay, the other E! host is literally a fucking skeleton. She is creeping me out. She's overly bronzed, skeletal and oozing desperation.

Speaking of skeletal, I want to like Angelina's dress, it's sparkly AND dark green, but damn, eat a couple cheeseburgers, girl.

Ok, show time...

You sound sweet, but you don't make sense.

Ok, so I didn't get to finish my xmas movies, maybe next year. I didn't get to watch a couple essentials which, to be fair, I do like to omit for a couple years now and again so they get a little new again. Particularly, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Christmas in Connecticut and Miracle on 34th Street.

I did get to watch a couple more but didn't write them up, one of which was Rambo: First Blood. Now THAT is a classic example of desperate. Rambo is only a Christmas movie in the sense that towards the end of the movie when the fightin' moves into town, there are clearly Christmas lights and decorations in a few scenes. That's it. But still, one could argue it counts.

So now it's more about awards season and catching up on 2010 movies, be they good or just mediocre (I'm looking at you, Please Give). Maybe even a few wretched ones (I totally want to check out The Tourist).

I saw Black Swan with my mom just before Christmas and really, really liked it. It was incredibly well done, stylish and just really well executed. I'm not sure I need to see it again, it's quite intense (like all his films, I suppose) but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Great acting, too, no surprises there.

True Grit was also a really good time. It felt surprisingly mainstreamy for a Coen brothers flick, but not in an objectionable way. Pretty great acting there, too. Even Matt Damn was watchable. (It's probably safe to say I don't have a problem with Damon anymore, but I do find him distracting in that Tom Cruise sense that I often can't see JUST the character, it's still MATT DAMON.)

Most recently, I saw Blue Valentine, starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. Now THAT was incredibly well done, and jesus I do not need to see it again.



It's about a couple whose relationship is just about over, and the story has flashbacks mixed from the beginning of their relationship. The acting is fucking superb and the filmmaking is damn effective. Everything from the camera shots to the space-age-theme sex motel room has a smothering, oppressive feel to it that almost makes it hard to watch. (That motel room, jesus. It just feels like there's no ventilation, and there is no light.) I know, this isn't really a way to sell seeing it, but I think you either already want to see this one or not, there is no "maybe." My only beef was that Gosling's character went from punk to white trash in a way that made him much harder to relate to or be sympathetic for. I thought if he'd been more middle of the road it would have been a more difficult scenario.

I really wanted to see The King's Speech before tonight (Golden Globes!) but it just didn't happen. That is next on the list followed by The Fighter; naturally the Bostonians here are quite proud of their boy! This week, hopefully it'll happen.

Well, completely unrelated, I think the best thing of the year so far events-wise has to be the Sarah McLachlan concert at the Boston Opera House. Wow, that is going to be impossible to top. I was in row CC, which is apparently the third row. I couldn't see her pores, but it was really impressive how close I was. When it's an intimate show, I think it is nicer to be closer--I could see facial expressions and it was just more enjoyable.



I want her shirt, btw. It was SPARKLY.

I also felt a little old to realize that I have been listening to her sing since about 1991 and I really don't think she has any bad records, so I've really kept up with her and lots of her music really reminds me of specific events or times in my life. So it was a pretty moving show for me. Even her newest album is already tied to something--it came out when I was in Sweden and I listened to it a shit-ton, then when I was in South Africa I would usually play a particular mix for falling asleep, which started with Forgiveness, totally the best track on the album even though it wasn't the first single.



I do think it's funny that two of her uber-hits kinda bore the shit out of me. Naturally everyone flips out and goes batshit for Angel, which I have just never been big on. I am sure I liked it more at one time, but when something you like moderately gets shoved down your throat enough, you start to get Real. Tired. Of It. And Adia. Meh, I never got the Adia craze. I get that it's a huge song for her personally (her best friend broke up with her boyfriend, and that boyfriend and McLachlan then realized they were in love, AWKWARD, but yup, she did it, she dated her BFF's ex. I am not judging, I'm sure it was a terrible decision to make. They did end up getting married, so I guess it was a good decision...although they are divorced now...anyway, I think things were pretty bad with her BFF for a while. They are BFFs again, though). Anyway, my point is I get it, but I just never really liked that one much.

The best part of the show was that there was no opener, instead she included Butterfly Boucher



and Melissa McClelland



in the entire show. I'm familiar with Boucher and she's great, but I was really impressed with McClelland. Apparently she's married to Luke Doucet, who I'm familiar with because he's been McLachlan's guitarist since...well hell, since as long as I've been listening to her!



You also cannot see it here, but McClelland is wearing a very cool black dress, black tights and some spanking bright red heels that are quite bitchin'.

I saw Butterfly Boucher before when she opened for McLachlan several years ago. I've tried to keep up with her, but apparently she had a new album in late 2009 I missed the boat on. She's also Australian, so her stuff can be harder to find or it takes longer to get released over here.



But anyway, she is still awesome and it made for a really great show for all 3 of them to be playing together, no doubt an effort spawned from Lilith Fair. I'm just glad I got there on time--how many people dawdle because they don't care about the opening act? I thought Boucher was opening, so it was a surprise when the woman next to me explained how the evening was going to work. (The woman next to me who, for the record, only had her newest album, given to her with the tickets by her husband for Christmas. Uh, great present and all, but the teenager in me is still bitter about the fact that people like that are in the 3rd row and other die-hard fans who can't afford it are stuck in the nosebleeds. Shit, I can't afford it, but this is the only artist other than Simon & Garfunkel for whom I'm willing to make especially poor financial decisions.)

Ok, back to research for another couple hours til show time tonight!