So watching the Grammy Awards on Feb. 11 might’ve been a total waste of time had I not just set up a wireless Internet connection in my house. Nonetheless, a handful of observations, because I know you care:

1.) Even though I had been rooting (though "rooting" may be a strong word) for Gnarls Barkley in the key categories that The Dixie Chicks were also nominated in, I was nonetheless happy to see the Recording Academy hand the now-genreless band an award for every nod they received (five total). Apparently, the voters are merely conservative in their musical tastes — as the list of Grammy winners reveals — and not with respect to their politics. Wins for Best Country Album, Song of the Year (songwriting) and Record of the Year (performance) in particular gave the girls some vindication after being blacklisted from country media outlets following the infamous comment by Chick Natalie Maines, about feeling shame for being from the same state as George W. Bush. What’s that sizzling sound? Egg frying on the faces of Nashville’s Music Row, country radio programmers, Clear Channel broadcasting execs and any right-wing pundit. (Additional kudos for Maines, who replicated Nelson’s "Hah-Hah!" from The Simpsons.)

2) The Police reunited and played one song: "Roxanne." Meanwhile, an Eagles tribute went on for three songs. It took considerable willpower for me not to take a knife to my wrists. (Speaking of The Police, its reunion tour touches down June 15 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Ticket sale information has yet to be released.)

3) The gimmick with voting for the up-and-coming artist to sing with Justin Timberlake proves the increasing influence of Fox’s American Idol — and how desperate the hemorrhaging music industry is in general. It’s no wonder the A&R pool at the major labels is evaporating by the minute.

4) "Respek!" to Gnarls Barkley — a double-winner that night — for sonically tweaking "Crazy" during its performance, rather than reverting to karaoke mode like most of their Grammy-performing peers.

5) Best moment of the night: James Brown’s cape laid to rest on a microphone by a silent Danny Ray — Brown’s longtime associate — following a tribute to the recently deceased Godfather of Soul. Following closely behind: when the ticker at the bottom of the screen displayed a win by none other than Slayer.