OK, this will be a long and involved blog (ie, DEEP thoughts) that will have some diversions.

Let us start with the beginning.  Many years ago I was driving back from Detroit one night heading home to Oakville.  Listening to a talk radio channel (you have to love this when you have a 4 hour drive after a long day).  The commentator, or whatever the term is, was challenging his phone-in audience on what actress was the most gorgeous of all time.  He was extolling Catherine Zeta-Jones (in a recent movie) and asking phone-in listeners to give their opinions.

Over the next half hour guys would phone in with their votes and he would just castigate their choice.  (why do people phone in only to be put down?)

As I was driving along and thinking that Bo Derek would be a good choice, sure enough someone connected and voted for her.  The host paused and said.. well good looking but not a good actress.

I thought, wait a minute, you take CZJ and Bo Derek in bikinis on a beach and you would pick CZJ… what is wrong with you.  So now I was thinking what is the actual most gorgeous actress of all time?  I phoned in (hands free as that was the rule for my company car) and was connected and told him GRACE KELLY.  He paused and said “what are you 100 years 0ld?” and moved on to the next caller.  I changed the channel on the radio and finished my drive home.  I still think she is the most gorgeous actress of all time.

One of my favourite book series is by Michael Connelly about Harry Bosch, a crusty Los Angeles Detective.  Great books that always score 4 on my personal scoring system of books.

Now Harry Bosch loves Jazz and in the books talks about bars or nightclubs where he might go to drown his sorrow with some drinks and listen to jazz.  The author mentions real artists in the stories.   In the latest book that I received from Janine and Vedran, “The Burning Room”, Bosch goes to a small club and listens to a super jazz Saxophone artist named Grace Kelly playing Over The Rainbow.  I thought this was so special I had to look her up and sure enough she is a young prodigy jazz performer, and despite the fact that she is Korean, her legal name is actually Grace Kelly.

So I took some of the ITunes money that I have been given by my kids to download one of her albums, including  Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

A few years ago Blaine introduced us to the Hawaiian Kama… version and since then we have appreciated that this is a great song well covered by serious artists.

So if you have the opportunity, listen to the Grace Kelly version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow  in a quiet room were you have time to appreciate it.