keepingfaith

K and Scarlett: There are probably a hundred Vietnamese restaurants in the downtown area, but I've only eaten at three of them -- Kim Son, Mai's and Huynh. So y'all pick. I may need to drive myself depending on where we're going. My time is going to be tight on Thursday mid-day with meetings boxing me in. I just hate that.

This is all premised on Clay not having to do anything with the show/s. At this point, I'd watch "Springtime for Hitler" if he were in it, ditto POTO and all its incarnations, including that oft-rumored sequel *cough! sputter! choke!*. Keepingfaith, how about that Vietnamese this week (except today)? I need to deliver something that merrieeee needs to send to Shanghai with KAndre. ETA: Have a nice trip back, Kareneh! POTO requires a mask doesn't it. I prefer Clay's bare face. Re Vietnamese this week ... I need it ... just let me know day and time. merrieeee coming into downtown for lunch? Yippee! KAndre going to Shanghai? Wait a minute, aren't you required by law to finish recaps from previous Asian treks before going again? I'm so out of the loop! Kareneh, when are you planning a Houston visit? I know, you're waiting for those lovely temperate days of July and August with gentle breezes wafting across the verandas. Miss you girl ... and love Sally! Returning to the movie theme, I saw the movie M*A*S*H on opening day back in 1970 (?) without foreknowledge or any idea whatsoever as to the cast (all unknowns to me), the director (a genius in the making) or the plot -- the definitive black comedy IMO. Sutherland, Gould, Duvall, Skerritt, and the incredible Sally Kellerman (as the one and only Hot Lips Houlihan in my universe) blew me away. It was different from anything I'd ever seen on the screen before. About two or three weeks later, I was in Hermann Park Zoo and ran across Sally Kellerman being directed by Robert Altman in a scene from Brewster McCloud -- a truly bizarro film. Then came McCabe and Mrs. Miller -- one the best movies ever. I didn't like everything Altman ever did ... I was meh about Nashville, while many people think that was the quintessential film of the 70's. Obviousy not me. Chayefsky's "Network" gets the glory from me. Okay -- here's a physological profile of sort -- my favorite movies of all time in no particular order 'cause it depends on my mood and the time of day ... Avalon * Wonder Boys * Almost Famous (Director's Cut) * Pleasantville * The Big Lebowski * O Brother Where Are Thou? * American Beauty * Memento * Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil * The Green Mile * Best in Show * Love, Actually * Gangs of New York * The Hours * The Commitments * Adaptation * Big Fish * Frida * Mrs. Doubtfire * A Bronx Tale * Schindler's List * Malcolm X * Reservoir Dogs * Pulp Fiction * Kill Bill I & II * As Good As It Gets * The Usual Suspects * The American President * Master and Commander - Far Side of the World * Life is Beautiful * McCabe and Mrs. Miller * LA Confidential * M*A*S*H * Jackie Brown * Casablanca * Treasure of the Sierra Madre * For Me and My Gal * High Fidelity * Good Will Hunting * Donnie Darko * Traffic * Sling Blade * Fargo * Shawshank Redemption * Moulin Rouge! * Natural Born Killers * JFK (Director's Cut) * Salvador * Rain Man * The Ruling Class * Who Framed Roger Rabbit? * Sounder * Miller's Crossing * Easy Rider * Blow * Do the Right Thing * One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest * Parallax View * Serpico * Patton * Glory * Apocalypse Now * Godfather I and II * Moonstruck * The Last Waltz * Before Sunrise * Before Sunset * Dazed and Confused * The Last Emperor * No Way Out * Coming Home * Being There * 9-1/2 Weeks * Reds * All the President's Men * The Purple Rose of Cairo * Midnight Run * Radio Days * Z * Little Buddha * Kundun ----- And that's all I can think of right now but if I were home I could check out my DVD collection and come up with other favorites no doubt. I love movies.

I have a theory that our favorite movies turn out to be the ones we see without expectations, and without a massive hype-massage. The ones that surprise us are always best, aren't they? I'm resistent to huge ad campaigns. I saw Forrest Gump when I got upset on a Friday night and decided to sit in a movie theater by myself to cool off. It was opening day for Gump -- I'd never heard of it, but it just happened to be starting about the time I arrived at the theater .... and as it turned out, I adored it and it completely altered my state of mind that night. I laughed, I cried, it won my heart. However, I'm willing to concede that it's one of those movies I'd probably never have seen under any other circumstances. Even today, I can be turning channels and see Forrest standing under that tree saying, "He's so smart, Jenny" and I'm a blubbering mass. Ordinarily, my favorites are Robert Altman, Coen Brothers, Tarantino kind of films. Probably my all-time favorite movie, in the epic category, is Warren Beatty's Reds. At least on Sundays. On Saturdays it's probably Lawrence of Arabia, because I'm still in love with Peter O'Toole's blue eyes and wry smile. Can't comment in MamaMia. Didn't see it. Won't see it. No way in hell. Gone With the Wind? I first saw that movie when it was in a reissue run, in the backseat of my parent's car at the drive-in when I was about 5. I was scarred as a child from the burning of Atlanta scene, and the injured soldier crying out to the doctor about to amputate, "Don't cut me," That stayed a long time, which is why I'm very sensitive to people taking children to movies inappropriate for their age. Even GWTW messed with my head in the 50's. Somehow my younger sister missed it entirely, and about 10 years ago there was another moviehouse run for the 60th anniversary with the Overture and Intermission and even ushers! I made her go with me since I hadn't seen it since my early bad experience, and she'd never seen it. She was resistent. Boy was she! But she owed me and I pulled in my marker, so we went. And she fell in love with the movie. Her first comments to me were, "Why doesn't anyone ever mention the humor in this movie? It was so funny." Well, that's what won an Academy Award for Hattie McDaniel .. and it's worth seeing the movie just for her, if nothing else. Of course, my sister and I can't agree on much for too long -- we went to a restaurant after the movie, drank margaritas, and argued over whether Scarlett and Rhett ever got back together. My sister believes so. I say, NO WAY! He despised her at the end of the movie. (I'm dug in on this viewpoint!) I'd have rather seen Rhett find everlasting happiness with Belle Starr. Worst movie I ever saw ...... The English Patient. I know it got a lot of acclaim, but did anyone ever watch that movie twice? I'm sanguine about Susan Boyle. I'm happy for her in spite of the fact that her fame is being manipulated and promoted beyond all reason. Sometimes people need the help. Clay always said that he needed the help. So, good for her. Her biggest threat will be public burn-out. I read that Britain's Got Talent is still in regional competitions, and that her next appearance, the semifinals, won't be until nearly the end of May. Who knows, the world may have moved on by then, but I think she'll have a following as long as she keeps that twinkle in her eye. I'm happy the eHP had a positive Cajun experience! I love Floyd's. We tend to go when my 8-year old granddaughter is not in the group. She is an animal rights activist ... our own little combination Jane Goodall/Margaret Meade right here in our family. She would go ape-shit, literally, if she saw the fried alligator on the menu at Floyd's. There's a wonderful BBQ restaurant just down the road from us, but we can't go in there because they have mounted heads of elk and deer and such hanging on the walls. The first time we went in there she was about 5, and she turned around, looked me seriously in the eye and asked, "How did they die?" Well, we had to leave because it made her physically ill and she's refused to set foot in there since. She gets on her computer and makes powerpoint slides about cruelty to alligators, how we should not buy alligator shoes and purses, etc., much less eat alligator. Kids today just blow my mind in the best way. Thank God I'm finallly feeling better from my confluence of ailments this past week. I won't bore you with the details, but I'm feeling okay today. Had I been 100% yesterday, I still couldn't have driven out of the driveway because our street, and entire area, was completely flooded from 11-12 inches of rain in a 3-hour period. I saw our street flood for the first time ever -- including Allison, Rita and Ike. Big water! And then today it's a sunny, hot 80+ degrees. What's going on???

I carry an epipen with me everywhere ... but now I feel mistreated because all my friends don't carry one when they're with me. Seriously, I think Reed's using "epipen" as code .... for something.

You're ahead of me on Twitter because so far it's just been reading "breaking story" topics more than participating in "what I'm doing now," although most of my family is twittering away. I'd be interested to know how you added that seach for Clay in a little more detail. Are you getting results? Thanks! Desertrose ... I see a Floyd in our future. ETA: Okay, figured out the Twitter Search -- and someone saw Clay at Legally Blonde in Durham last night. No grass growing under his feet. Or as John Lennon once wrote ... "No Flies on Frank."

eHP: I wouldn't be a fit companion for lunch or dinner this week. Two members of my household were down for the past 10 days with the throat/respiratory infections going around -- and yesterday I woke up to fever, chills and the inability to swallow. The only time I was out of bed was to the pharmacy drive-thru window for a Z-Pak. But I know you'll have a great time -- Cajun seafood sounds terrific. Have you Northside girls been to Floyd's? I eat at Floyd's on the Gulf Fwy at NASA 1, but there's another Floyd's on 1960. "Floyd" is Floyd Landry, original owner of Landry's and associated seafood restaurants until selling to Tilman Fertitta many moons ago. He had a long-term non-compete but has been back in business as "Floyd's" since 2005 -- he took over the Capt. Benny's boat and expanded a lot. The only negative experience I've had at Floyd's was upon ordering a Bloody Mary once, and before sipping I pulled up the plastic spear to see whether celery or olive was attached .... and it was a jumbo boiled shrimp! Coulda killed me!!! But, the seafood is wonderful, (including buckets of fresh mudbugs for REAL Cajuns of which I am not one which is why I do not partake except of the fried tails because I can dip them in remoulade and pretend they're shrimp). Floyd's isn't fancy, and has a big oyster bar in front for half-shell lovers (of which I am a devotee) -- but it's my kind of place all the way. I almost never go to the Boardwalk restaurants anymore, except for special occasions involving my parents, where we can pay lots and lots of money for the same fresh seafood enjoyed at Floyds! I'm starving .... for Clay news. And I loved his Facebook comments yesterday. Such a cute couple! And yeah, Reed was showing off -- and Clay loved it!

As someone who knows that television and even print news is regularly censored, Twitter is a corrective that may force news organizations to come clean. If there had been Twitter in November 1963 we could have caught the shooter on the grassy knoll. I don't use Twitter for social networking at all, and if that's the intent I think Myspace and Facebook are better suited. Tweets are limited to 140 characters -- and in a "breaking news" situation it moves faster than one can read. I've noticed that most news "personalities" are advertising their Twitter addresses now so they can get scoops and instant feedback. But of course people have their individual purposes and interests and if they are celebrity driven, I'm not surprised that pictures and gossipy items show up on their Twitter pages. Ultimately, it's all about where you look. I'm on Twitter and never ever see anything about Clay except from here when it's brought over.

Heheh, not wrong this time anyway, and thank you! Your Facebook page can play music? I didn't know that! Though I did see 'leaving, on a jet plane' on Reed's Myspace page Thanks -- it must be his Myspace then, not FB. I didn't go there myself, just heard about it. Regarding the Twitter convo, there are good and bad aspects to Twitter, much like everything else. IMO, Twitter is here to stay and only getting exponentially bigger every day. I remember when YouTube came out people were wondering how long it would last. I think we had that answer about three months into it. This stuff is now a part of everyday life. When pictures and info are posted publicly, it's out there for better or worse. One great thing ... politicians can longer go around saying one thing to one group and another thing to a different group. Now they get busted in videos blasted around the world. How many people have videocams, camera cell phones, and there a world population with web access and connections to YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, et al. It's the 21st Century ... and a time of huge change on so many levels. There's no place better to go when there's a crisis somewhere in the world than to Twitter. It was amazing to follow the Mumbai situation on Twitter last year. The Tweets coming in from the scene were better than CNN. I'm confident that Clay and all other recognizable people out there are more aware of the presence of Tweets and Blabby Blogs than any of us. So, in that vein, Clay and Diane look like old pals together. And Tyra last night? Yeah, she's crazy about him. In fact, I think Tyra's a bit in love with Clay. Damn, I wish he were bisexual so he could make everybody's dreams come true. I think I'll think about that for awhile.

OOlsee, I'm hoping all the best for Jack's recovery. I have a Jack, too .... and an Oliver .... and a Lola. Jack is our only "pound pup" (a Schnoodle) and definitely the sweetest of all. Lola the new Shih Tsu puppy loves to lick my toes waaaay too much. Over the weekend, I was bent over the bathtub washing my hair and had a head full of soap and she starts licking the bottoms of my feet. I'm crazy ticklish and I thought I'd have a heart attack before I could get the towel!! Oliver is our graceful gentleman Golden Retriever. Hearing about Reed's FB playing the song "You and I" sung by Michael Buble. That Stevie Wonder song is coming around a lot these days. First, I loved it originally on Talking Book ... still do. Then I was watching PBS last month when the President gave the Library of Congress Gershwin Medal to Stevie Wonder in the East Room with Stevie and others doing some of his songs -- the others included Tony Bennett, Paul Simon, Martina McBride and others. During remarks before the music began, Michelle Obama said that "You and I" was her and Barack's wedding song -- then in the course of the tribute to Stevie, Martina McBride sang "You and I" and it was soooo romantic. Anyway -- Buble, Martina, and Mariah versions notwithstanding -- I still adore the original. And I was glad to find this YouTube of Stevie singing it -- and a great audio and visual version it is!

Seems to me we should develop a central clearinghouse of some sort between American and Canadian fans. It doesn't seem right to have to pay $20 for a BOCA when I got two at Walmart for $7 -- and one for $8.99 at Amazon. It just ain't fittin'!

Funny conversation. And how about Marcia? But I've never, ever before heard "Gar-sha" -- that's a new one for me.

That's an AP story -- and I read it here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30072665/ -- and the photo is from the GLAAD Awards. Best part is: Yeah, I got your luxurious position, Clay.

I can check the stores -- but I got my 3 via mail so don't have specific information. I'm going monitor shopping tonight so I'll look. If I find them, can I purchase some for you? And if you don't finish recaps, what's the damn purpose of you galavanting around the world on these trips? Huh? And merrieeee, are you toying with us? Or, put another way, Spill, Sister!!!!

I certainly don't get the vibe that Clay's in pain. My first thought in seeing him in some of the recent pictures is that fixing the TMJ may have necessitated an implant of some kind in the jawline -- which is not some crazy unheard of idea but something in the toolbox of fixing TMJ pain. The bottom line for me is that Clay looks incredibly handsome now, just as he did last year and the year before, etc. I think the TMJ problems brought him pain for a long long time -- what I hope we're seeing now is not swollen, but pain free. Nevertheless, this is one of those personal Clay Aiken issues that I don't care about any further than this .... HE'S GORGEOUS!!! And I was seeing a hint of some young James Spader in a couple of those profiles. Not bad, IMO.

Why, after six years of experience with doomsers and whiners, do Clay's fans give a flying crap what chronic complainers post on other boards? I'm sure the concomps don't give a flying crap that many including me think he looks sensational. So fuck them very much if they must carry on with peeing in the punch. I'm so appreciative not to have to drink at those fonts.

I can't get enough tonight. Wait a minute, Clay and Reed have been together for a couple of years??? If true, in Tampa, August 2007, when he made that "put your reed in" joke following the "be proud of your instrument" moment .... he was playing way over our heads? That guy!!!

I don't know if this makes any sense, but when On My Way Here came out and Clay discussed the songs on the road to *here* I wondered where *here* actually was for him. For me, a night like tonight finally defines *here* -- not to mention *now.* He's such a freakin' hot A-Lister! ETA: Oh, and I FLOVE this picture!!

I love that picture with Tyra's arm reaching around the Man From GLAAD and resting on Clay's shoulder. And I love that Clay has been reading in the GLAAD thread at OFC. Wow, on a night like tonight, he wants to know what his fans are thinking. He loves us, yes he does.

Clay Aiken: American Idol, Matinee Idol

I'll just biggee those up for viewing pleasure ...

I need a biggie size of that cute Clay & Tyra you posted, merrieeee! But in the meantime, here's another killer shot! Question: Virginia Slim or Kool's?

I'm about to go out and buy a pack of smokes. This is too much!

This is the hottest, finest Clay Aiken ever in the history of time.

HOLY PERFECTION!!!

Clay looks WAAAAAAAY hotter than Tyra tonight! Not that she's looking shabby, but ..... O M G!!