ldyjocelyn

Clay is going to be on Leanard Lopate show tomorrow - I love this show - I need to set my radio to that startion right now - oh frabulous day.

Who? Huh?

Nevermind, found it: Leonard Lopate

Looks like we can listen live....

OK who called it!

Everyone's safe.

Ding dang Frisco!

there's Bono.

I DID! I knew they wouldn't send anyone home this evening. And next week -- will be fascinating. But they've got to send two off next week, or it would really get screwy.

I love Annie Lennox, and I LOVE BONO! That was a great song, and I think the kids did a good job.

From atinal:

Clay isn't the only good guy out there. He's just the one we love the most.

Clay isn't the only good guy out there. He's just the one we love the most.

*scurries off to thread title suggestion thread*

:F_05BL17blowkiss:

But I still want to know - who gets to decide what percentage of the profits is good enough? Is there some kind of rule book I am not aware of??

I've never seen one, but I think my own copy would be titled "ldyjocelyn's Guide to Percentages in Giving" (now being sold on Amazon!). In other words, it's gonna really be on each and every individual. Some people will look at a corporation who gives 0.00001% of their profits (no matter the size of the profits) and think that is cooler than anything in the world. Others won't be happy until 1000% of a company's profits are donated to charity, and even then, they'll find something to complain about. And many people (including me) fall in the middle. The choice is theirs.

My feelings about all this is that I'm glad $5 million was donated to charity, but I've also got enough cyncisim in my blood to know that there conceivably could be a LOT more given, IMO. OTOH, I think the awareness that was raised last night, and the discussions that are following (at least here), are probably worth more than the money.

OK, here's my theory -- SPOILER AHEAD!!!!

Last night at the end of the show, Ryan said something about their being a "shocker" at the end of tonight's show. I'm wondering -- since is the night of altruism at AI -- if they will keep everyone on the show for another week? And then, in a week or so, have a double elimination, the bottom TWO being sent home. My theory was a bit confirmed as I read the TV Guide blog on the show. They wondered how they could do the semi-cruel thing of eliminating a singer in the midst of the charity stuff. Just wondering....

I watched only the last few minutes of the show last night -- thought Jordin was a bit pitchy but her emotional connection was there, so I bought her performance hook, line and sinker. From the recap, I thought Blake sounded terrible (the only person who can do that song justice is Lennon, and I'm not even a big John Lennon fan), Chris sounded pretty good (and I liked that he did an upbeat inspirational song), and that Mindy was good too.

Anyway, the reason I'm posting is that I have a theory about the contestants this evening...and one that I've seen that others in the media are thinking might happen too. Should I post it? Or try to spoiler it? (If I'm doing spoilers -- how do I do that on this board?)

Hey! Somebody come up with a clever name for my blog!

KAndre's Rules for World Domination

And for muski --

muskifest's Meaningful Meandering Musings

Totally, I believe we try our best to respect differing opinions here. I think the key to that is "try" -- I'm sure there have been a few times where I've not succeeded. I guess my feeling is don't be scared to try etiher.

NEW CLACK!!! From a video blog by Ben Patrick Johnson, a new PSA from Clay. The link to the download from Clack Unlimited is here!

I don't know who did this one but I loved the Rippa gate in the sunglasses.

OMG, I'd never seen that before. That's fantastic -- and he looked sooooooooo cool that evening, besides.

Please don't ask me to explain the contents of my photobucket account..

BWAH....and I know what you mean. I've loaded personal family photos into subalbums, and then sent the link to my family, praying to God that they don't backtrack and see my main album. There would be some 'splainin' to doooooooo!

But watching him didn't do anything funny to any of my parts, that's fo sho.

*sigh* It seems the honeymoon period is over... :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Seriously, while I think the lighting on that set really did a number on him...I think I'm mostly past the shallowness aspect of my "relationship" with Clay. I watched him on ET, and was fascinated, because I simply love to hear the man talk. His mind is what I'm finding fascinating. Oh sure, I still get a thril in the bill when he shows up looking particularly handsome (and I'm surprised how much I'm missing the beard already), I'm just so much more enthralled with the man. *off to draw angelwings on my entire picture collection*

*ducks stones from the entire FCA contingency*

And what about filling in that gap between Tulsa nd Philly??

Seriously! I NEEEEEEED shows during that time that are close to me. NEEEEEEEED I tell ya!

One man, with a couple of pleas on the internet, a caring fanbase and I'm sure some generous "not just us" types thrown in, has been able to raise over a quarter of a million dollars for UNICEF in less than a year. That is impressive. Bravo, Clay. Now if you add in his Bubel Aiken Gala the Six Degrees effort and other BAF fundraisers, it would probably push the numbers to close to half a million. He is making a difference, and it has been acheived with relatively little fanfare. A lot of people will be helped as a result of these efforts.

Well said. Clay is a money making machine -- both for his own personal gain, and for those charities that he feels passionate about. I seriously believe that my point number 2 is what makes him feel better about himself, as well.

So these are my various thoughts and speculations. Yours??

Thanks for doing that jmh! I'm pleased as punch, and yet not really surprised, that MDYK is at the top of the list. He does it incredibly well, and I know a number of people whom I've introduced to Clay Aiken via that song. It's also interesting to me to watch the shiftings of the ATDW songs -- for example, BYLM moved up, which I like, because I think that's one of the strongest songs on the album. I'm a bit surprised at the showings for BW and especially HYCA though -- two more incredibly good songs, ones that I wish more people would hear.

ETA: I still think MOAM is underrated, and some of them young 'uns ought to give it a listen.

Yes! I still pull out MOAM from time to time, and just love listening to the entire thing. He was so young, and green...but he pulled out a pretty darn good album, IMO.

And I'm with all of you in the ENOUGH ALREADY! :angry22: at the angsting and pontificating and theorizing about how the world is holding its breath to find out why Clay is being dissed. If he's on this show tomorrow in some capacity, wheeeeee! Clay's on my teevee! If he's not, I hope he's sitting home in his jammies (or out of them heh) watching the show and saying after every performance, "I could sing that better."

Ha!Ha! (tmCHA)

That's my feeling too -- weariness at the endless pushing by AI and the media (while good to publicize the cause, it just got to be too much in the last few days), and weariness in so many fan's reactions, waiting for that one little diss (or non-mention). BTW, I like the idea of Clay watching TV without pj's. Hmmmm.....

I think this must be why Clay was supporting Sanjaya -- the kid actually is an amateur, unlike most of the other contestants, and is a innocent thrown to the wolves. I thought it was ridiculous for better singers to be voted off with Sanjaya remaining ... but now I'm feeling it for the kid. I hope he makes some money.

Between that, and the fact that Sanjaya really did pull some ballsy maneuvers (I liken the ponyhawk to Clay's red leather jacket), and I agree. I hate seeing someone put down in any way, shape or form -- and so much of what I've read and seen lately has made me totally cringe. I hope Sanjaya can keep his sense of humor in tact.

It's still around....the pictures are in the gallery here! Hope that's what you need.

Latest UNICEF FieldNote

Clay Aiken's Afghanistan appeal raises over $180,000!

Yesterday was the final day of Clay Aiken's ten day appeal for Afghanistan.

Congratulations! We raised $181,783.03 for the kids of Afghanistan during this ten day campaign. That's $80,000+ more than the original goal we set for this campaign!

This total includes all online gifts made online in the U.S. and Canada. We're expecting some checks to come in through the mail and will post a final total next week.

Very cool!

diva, I'll join you in that dream -- I think that would be pretty darn cool. I feel like it, though, like I feel about the IGB thing. If he appears -- fantastic. If he doesn't....eh, I'll deal.

You know what this thread needs? PICTURES!!!!! We haven't had a picture fest in while.

With apologies to those who have images turned off at work:

I like how all the characters have crossed paths with each other, someway, in their past. I think this is going to be part of what makes the show cohesive towards the end of it's life. Right now, it does seem like they are just writing and making it up as they go along. LOL

I agree Clayzorback. I feel about this show the way I think of anything Clay does -- I have faith. For some reason, I just gotta think that as the show nears its end, they will pull some points together. They may be some pretty far-fetched connections, but I do believe they will at least try. My Entertainment Weekly magazine last week had an article in it about this show, and hinted at some of the things that will be coming soon. I think they said that the episode on May 2 will allude to something from way back in season 1. This gives me some hope!

So. Kenny comes in after parking the car with an empty beer bottle. It has a piece of notebook paper rolled up in it. Next to the bottle in front of our doorstep, he said, was a flower (evidently picked out of a neighbor's front yard) with more notebook paper wrapped around it. I opened the paper in the bottle neck. It read:

Carrie: I want to go out with you. I picked these flowers just 4 U. From _____. P.S. I heart U. (Then there's a heart drawn with his initials + Carrie's initials.)

Cute?

Sure. Except the guy who wrote this is the guy who supposedly asked a friend of Carrie's to have sex.

I haven't shown this to Carrie yet. She just got home from spending the day with a friend and needs to do her homework. If she sees this, she'll HAVE to call her friends to talk about it and homework will come in last on her 'things I can concentrate on' list.

AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!

Oh my. Oh my. Oh my. Teenagers and hormones. Dangerous combination. Good luck with all this muski.

Oh, and AI's IGB? Meh. Whatever. They'll raise a bunch of money (Yeay!) and get big ratings (Meh.) with or without me. I haven't voted on the show yet this year, so most likely I won't do it this week. But I say, "Vote if you want to!" It doesn't hurt anything to do that; you know Idol is going to break its arm patting itself on the back, regardless of the final # of votes, which I'm sure will be ignormous and record breaking and all that.

That's how I see it too. I don't mind that they're trying this, but I also don't really care all that much either. I just keep that in mind, and try my best to keep my emotions in check, on both sides of the coin; it will help me just survive this week I think.

I had this sudden vision of Clay holding a television telathon for UNICEF! Can you imagine the $$$ he'd rake in? Sing a song. Banter. Sing a song. Banter. CHA-CHING! Do a little Doves Cry grinding and I'll put another mortgage on the house! :TourExcite: :TourExcite:

Oh don't tempt me. If he did that, I'd be selling off my husband to make a donation. *g*

SHIT!!!!!!!

God, I hate Eric and Dani!

*sob*

WOOOHOO!

Nevermind....

Oh man -- I hope this yield thing doesn't mess up the ChaCha's. And it looks like it might. Damn.

Go Charla!!!!!!! Mirna -- annoying! Charla -- pretty cool, actually!

Oh man, that jump would scare the crap out of me.

Sweating Blood for Clay Tickets

Oh, that's too funny. Yes, I think that takes the cake so far for most interesting piece of clack....

Am I the only person who buys flowers to plant, the garden soil, etc. and then sets everything on the patio to 'do a little later', only to one day realize that she's let some of the flowers wither away to sad remants of their former glory?

carry on...

No...

What Clay memorabilia could I not live without? Can I say my computer? Because I'd miss the clack more than anything else. Other things: the People magazine from last fall, with that WONDERFUL centerfold picture (I said "goodnight" to that picture for 3 months after it came out. TMI?); and my one lowly autographed piece, a copy of MCWL that musicmama from the CH so generously got me during her Stub Hub M&G. I'm also inordinately in love with my long-sleeved Christmas 2005 t-shirt -- I love long sleeved t-shirts as a general rule, and that one has one of my most favorite pictures of Clay on it, with him and the Christmas tree. He's wearing a FINE pair of jeans in that picture. Anyway, I keep wearing it, afraid I'll eventually wear it out, and then I'll be sad.

IGB? If I'm home, I'll probably tune in, just to keep myself up on pop cultural literacy. Will I vote? Maybe -- depends on how Jordin does, because the few times I've seen her this year, I've really liked her. But that would be the first time I've voted since season two, and I've not got an overwhelming desire to vote either. I'm keeping my options open.

I think I figured out what is missing from this show...there really is a lack of underlying concept that pushes the story forward. For example...for xfiles...its the aliens....For Heroes...its the fact that people are mutating and developingpower. For Lost ...there is a lack of real direction...is it about survival??? No all the mystery of the island has overshadowed that. I wish they gave a more solid scifi backbone to whats been happening to them...but right now, its more just questions than answers. I do hope the establish what the island is soon...and what is driving this whole mystery. The individual stories are just not jelling without that.

As usual, the opposite viewpoint from me -- I really don't want to have a sci-fi background for this show. I like having the mystery BE the storyline, and actually like the idea of answers leading to more questions. Don't know why, really, maybe it's because the X-Files burned me out. (And I don't watch Heroes yet, so I can't tie with that either). I think if they establish what is driving the whole thing, it's gonna be kinda like Maddie and David Addison finally "getting it on" on Moonlighting -- the excitement will be lost. JMO, of course.

This episode? I really like Desmond, think he's a great character. But -- this one didn't do it for me. I pretty much had it figured out that it wasn't going to be who he thought it was in the flight suit. As for the Sawyer/Kate thing -- well, I pretty much tuned all that out, since I don't care for either of them. Liked the Sawyer/Jack game though.

UNICEF Fieldnote

We started working on Clay Aiken's field report yesterday afternoon. I thought you might like to see the cover we're working on.

We're sorting through the pictures and they're great. I'm looking forward to hearing more about the trip to Afghanistan my UNICEF colleagues when they get back to the office next week.

We will e-mail a PDF copy of the field report to all donors who give $50 or more to Clay's Afghanistan appeal. We'll mail a printed copy of the Field Report, autographed by Clay Aiken, to all donors who are able to give $1,000 or more.

Included is a picture of the cover...

In other charitable news....

Six Degrees Winners

You can listen to Kevin Bacon's phone call with Kristy Barnes and Aron Hall. If you click on Kristy's name, you can also read her blog on this.

GO BAF!!!!!

GO UNICEF!!!

GO CLAY!!!

I do get a sense from Clay that his humanitarian efforts is a seperate focus than his career. It is a priority in of itself and not just something he does to enhance his celebrity status and recording career.

Just for the record, in case there is any doubt, I agree with this completely.

I do as well.

It seems to me that Clay has clearly marked "lines" in his life -- he's a singer; he's a celebrity; he's a humanitarian (AN humanitarian? I could never remember that grammar rule...); and he's a private citizen. He knows that, for example, he can rely on his celebrity status to help his humanitarian causes (as we so well saw this past week -- $160,000?!?!? WOW). But for the most part, I think he knows how to keep these different aspects of his life fairly separate.

The problem to me comes from some of the fans. Some cannot stand that he spends time on doing humanitarian work when he should be recording an album. Some think he shouldn't take vacations; he needs to be a pop star and celebrity all the time. And some feel that the humanitarian work is actually something that is working toward the goal of him selling more records. IMO, that's just the tip of the iceberg for some fans -- I won't even get into the "private life" stuff.

To me, though -- he is a combination platter of all these things, and yet, things don't get mixed together too often. He lives his life exactly the way he feels it should go. I'm sure there is some planning involved, maybe even a 5 year plan -- I think we all do that somewhat as human beings. But my point is that he does these things on his own terms, he really doesn't do all this stuff because people are in the background suggesting he do certain things ALL THE TIME. And I think some fans need to realize that he's gonna do things that don't fit into THEIR plans for him, and they'll have to make a choice -- either relax and let Clay Aiken take them on a ride (heh) and ignore the stuff they don't care for, or else just let their fandom go.

OK, soap box over. I think I'll go back to watching Clay with the baby a few gazillion more times.

You know, the last few pages have been relatively emoticon free. What's up wit dat?

:EmoticonRingAround: :music-smiley-023: :medium-smiley-075: :nana:

Clay to the baby: "all done, darlin'..."

*sigh*

*sob*

And may I add to that list of reactions:

gah

holyshit

me next

slurp

uhn

dayum..

Yeah, I thought about applying Clay's words, said in that beautiful voice of his, to some other situations that I can imagine....but I thought it best to leave it to my imagination. *g*

Greetings Totally! Hope you like it here!

Claygasm, scroll down to the bottom of the screen, and type in the scrambled code, and then hit the submit button. Then you have to wait a certain number of seconds (I think it was 30) before it will let you download.

Clay to the baby: "all done, darlin'..."

*sigh*

*sob*

God, am I post whorring today or what?

Latest Field notes from UNICEF -- WITH VIDEO!!!!

Clay Aiken Thanks Afghanistan Donors + Tune In Tonight

Today is Day 8 of the campaign for Afghanistan and we've already far surpassed the goal. Clay Aiken asked us to share his thanks with you.

Also, Clay is scheduled to appear tonight on Entertainment Tonight. Tune in to hear Clay's thoughts on his trip with UNICEF.