Today at Flavorpill, we were excited to hear that Up in the Air was named best picture by the National Board of Review. (The previous two winners — No Country for Old Men and Slumdog Millionaire — have gone on to win best picture at the Academy Awards.) We learned some things about the art market, and then looked at the art world vs. the world of art. We decided that there are many things out there that are easier to understand than Google Wave. We were thankful that Hipster Runoff’s Carles has decided to return to blogging. The virtual world needs him. We marked Animal Collective’s film premiere at Sundance on our calendars. We got the nutritional facts on the Comcast/NBC merger. We went whale watching. We liked these weapons carved into wooden desktops. And finally, we studied years and years of George Clooney’s smirks and smiles. We don’t care what the FUG Girls say, we know that this man has always had talent.