keepingfaith

I would love a montage of TWYMMF in West Palm Beach. I've watched the various clack of that so many times from so many different camera angles and it takes several of them to tell the story. I love it when you can see Clay mouthing to Quiana, "I fell on my butt!" He was so cute in the audience. And of course Jerome. That entire concert was fantastic, with my favorite IWTKWLI ever; and Without You when he said he hurt himself; and the banter with the sleeping husband. He was in fabulous voice that night, and he was so-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o .... C U T E ! PerusingOne, you took some outstanding photographs that night. As I recall ...... you had a pretty great seat too. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

I'm too busy to participate much today--yet, but reading the mention of Walter Winchell reminded me that he was for all practical purposes a creation of J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover had the secret files and if he wanted to ruin a celebrity, or bring them to heel, he'd use Winchell to write the gossip piece. Joe McCarthy was another one of Hoover's waterboys, who operated on the government end. Nancy Grace? I'll never forget that she singlehandedly prosecuted and convicted Richard Ricci of abducting and killing Elizabeth Smart. Oops. Playbiller, I said detective, not girl sleuth!!! I'm definitely more Sherlock than Nancy!

I really do consider more shades of gray than are usually necessary and I strive to do less of that usually. I'm not in a hoping this or hoping that mode, I'm just a curious old girl with a streak of detective in me. And I call them according to what seems most likely, a bit of the old Occam's razor according to me, I guess. Regardless of who did or didn't verify what, when and how, it's undeniably in the oxygen now. I've had people I barely know and had only fleeting conversations with regarding Clay, make a point to ask me if I know he's going to be a father. I just don't see Clay letting this story appear to be an accepted fact if it's not. If it was just TMZ or some supermarket pulp I wouldn't give it the time of day. But he's had a relationship with both People magazine and the Insider. This isn't about his favorite color, or who he goes out with. It's about a baby and I can't believe he wouldn't put a stop to the story if it's untrue. If it's untrue it causes unncessary stress on Jaymes during a high-risk pregnancy. I can't see Clay refusing to clear the air if there's nothing to it. He wouldn't have to say a thing. Jaymes could. Clay's management could. It could easily be dealt with. To me, it's the most plausible thing that it's true, and they're not ready to discuss it. As far as it being none of our business, I don't quite understand that. When each of my children were born I was happy to tell the world -- I couldn't wait to have the good news spread to people I had worked with, friends in the neighborhood and friends of the family, just everybody that I thought would care about it -- and not because I thought it was actually any of their business, but because I was bursting with pride and joy. So I think that if it is true, we'll hear about it because Clay will be proud, and not because he owes us the information. Anyway, it always surprises me that the collective blood pressure goes up when this subject is mentioned. Jesus, it must have been a bloodbath out there on some of those boards. It does make me almost laugh when people mention the shoddy tactics the tabloids use, when I see similar if not worse in what masquerades as mainstream, serious journalism every single day. Usually its a case of part of it's true, and part of it ain't. I've heard many a venerated pundit make fundamental errors about historical events and never correct them because the false premise helps to spin a false conclusion. There's so much of that in the "news" that it's a crying shame. Either they are a bunch of dumb asses who don't know they're wrong, or they're deliberating repeating false information with an agenda. Either way we're screwed. You mean there have never been things that have come out in the media and proved to be true before Clay briefed the fans? I just find it so limiting to hold him to this "don't believe it unless I tell you" thing. I believe that he means exactly that when it comes to his career, but not his real life stuff. Wasn't it Eric Roberts and his wife who People quoted, saying Jaymes told them at her 50th birthday party in March? That could be wrong, but it's how I remember it. And regarding the interviews, I'm pretty sure that when Clay goes on a UNICEF interview that his intent is for the conversation to be all about UNICEF, but you can't force an interviewer to ask only the questions you want. Clay was on GMA on February 1, 2007, and it was advertised that he would be talking about his UNICEF work, but after about two UNICEF questions Diane Sawyer started asking him about AI, she even asked Clay if he had seen it the night before when the older man auditioned for his deceased wife singing "You Belong To Me" and when Clay said no, she showed the damn video! I think that's the first time I ever heard Clay say he had stopped watching Idol. Anyway, I'll be interested in how this whole thing plays out, because whether Clay says anything or not, things will get said. And, ultimately, I think it's better for him if he controls the conversation so for that reason, IIT I expect an article somewhere. And then it will be back to life as usual with songs and tours and fun.

Maybe Baby? I think it's fairly established that Jaymes Foster is having a baby. The only reason I could imagine that Clay wouldn't deny it, if it's not true, is to seize an opportunity to turn the tables on the tabloids, but I have an impossible time believing he would use Jaymes' pregnancy to do that. So at this point, if it's not true, I can't think of any good reason why it's not being denied. Just a one sentence press release that Clay's representatives categorically denies that he's the father of the baby would do it. To repeat again, if the situation was anything else but Jaymes being pregnant, I could see it as an opportunity to discredit the tabloids, but I can't believe he would let the perception continue that he's the father if he isn't. I don't think this will affect his career or his touring in any way. Babies are awfully resilient little beings and after a few months they can travel and stay in hotels and ride in buses and airplanes and stuff. I know that Paul and Linda McCartney took their entire family of four children on concert tours with them all over the world. I recall reading after Linda died that during their nearly thirty year marriage they had only spent three nights apart. I get the feeling some people think that Clay can't continue a full-time career whether on tour, in the studio, or on stage, and still be a full-time, devoted father. To me, there's nothing mutually exclusive about it.

Jaymes could be confined to bed and staying with Clay in NC. Or she could be in Canada and Clay could be flying back and forth between Raleigh and Vancouver. I can't help thinking that IIT Clay and Jaymes would want absolutely no publicity because of the high-risk nature of this pregnancy. I think the last place Jaymes would want to be during this time is at papparazzi central. Jaymes is a wealthy woman and we have no idea where she may have homes or apartments. That People Magazine so matter of factly states that Clay is only weeks away from becoming a father suggests that there may already be something in place for People to print an exclusive after the baby's born. If their confirmation was based solely on TMZ, I think it would have been mentioned as a hedge. I do recall that the very first thing we ever saw about this story stressed that Clay was going to be actively involved in raising the child. The very last thing that's believable to me is that IIT Clay wouldn't be a proud, doting father. I could believe just about anything before I could believe that Clay would have a child with someone intensely close to him and not be a dedicated father absolutely in love with his child. If it's not true, lockdown silence makes no sense to me at all. Caveat: There's a ton of stuff happening these days that doesn't make any sense IMO. But it hasn't escaped me that he didn't do the talk shows or morning shows to discuss Somalia and Kenya, as he did after Afghanistan. He has not made himself available for any publicity other than the UNICEF blogs. And you know the morning shows would have clamored to have him on to discuss UNICEF so they could sneak in the baby question. He's not going to talk about it. Whether it was from a tabloid source or wherever, the comment attributed to David Foster makes sense to me -- the family will have no comment until after the baby is born. I think that's where we are.

Am I in an alternate universe, one that's a week behind? Because I swear KAndre's recaps begin on Thursday, July 24th and in my world that's a recap of tomorrow, and, damn, I've known that KAndre has special gifts, including that great driving stuff, but time shifting is just stunning. So, if I fly to SF this weekend and rent a car at the airport, can I just pick ya'll up in front of the hotel at 11 a.m. for a leisurely drive to the Careme Room? Sounds like it's going to be great!

Looks to be like the hurricane is going to directly hit the King Ranch -- scene of the crime where Dick Cheney shot that poor man in the face with birdshot -- and the true site of the fictional Benedict Ranch in Giant. I hope the hurricane doesn't mess too much with South Padre Island, truly the finest beaches I have seen, including the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. THe SPI beaches from Port Aransas south are gorgeous and nothing like the beaches of the upper Texas coasts. Galveston Bay is a depository for the Sabine, Trinity and San Jacinto Rivers, and the Ship Channel, coupled with the extremely shallow continental shelf causes the murky waters of Galveston -- or at least that's what I've always been told. The Padre Island beaches have blue water and white sands and are real treasures for water sports, shell collecting, abundant fresh seafood, fishing and functioning as a bona fide beach bum. I met my share back in the 70's, including the legendary Boomerang Billy who was a mainstay at Port Isabel for many years. He made boomerangs and sold them on the beach. I know at one time he held the Guinness record for throwing a boomerang. He was also a shark fisherman holding several records for that. I heard he made a fortune selling shark-tooth necklaces after Jaws become a phenomenan. I remember him as always walking up and down Port Isabel with his deeply bronzed body in Birdwells and wearing an Australian bush hat on his sun bleached hair with dark, dark sunglasses. That's the only way I ever saw him. He was quite the character and after he died the local bar on the beach was named in his honor. Here's some South Padre pics: That last picture is of the causeway across the Laguna Madre connecting Port Isabel on the mainland by Brownsville to South Padre Island. I was out just a while ago to run to Walgreens, and the skies are gathering darkness over the Gulf and the palm trees are getting blown over a bit, but no rain here yet.

The places I've seen Clay are Dallas, Houston, Tulsa, Tampa, West Palm Beach, Orlando and New York -- in that order. That makes it 7 so far -- or 11 counting all 5 performances of Spamalot I was fortunate was see in one weekend, and each of the performances were distinctive and NECESSARY. My dream venue would be Red Rocks -- no doubt about it; and I would have been at Wolftrap in 2005 -- if if uh! Ultimate dream venue: Carnegie Hall ETA: JeezLueeez, that Banner picture is HAWT!

Shit, kf, what are they saying about me? There was a wild chick from Baku Who wanted Clay's body to do She bought a show ticket With dreams she could lick it But how's she ever gonna do that with a camera in her face (or her DH sitting next to her)!

I am so antsy to see where Clay is headed next, because I know he'll manage to create a stir. When I catch bits and pieces of the celebrity gossip it's always about the same old boring cast of nutjobs, dipshits, alkees, druggies, and publicity hounds. Yawwwwwn. This helps explain why any little thing of interest about Clay is so often twisted into a splash story, but the publicity is always short-lived because Clay disappears into the ether like Kaiser Sose. *and just like that, Poof!, he's gone* He leaves them no follow up opportunities. The coterie of narcissists that populate the rumor mill seem to milk any kind of publicity to the last drop of absurdity. The tabloids, print and TV, will contort, exaggerate and insinuate when it comes to Clay because he's not giving them a thing. In my opinion, this makes Clay's brand much more valuable. He doesn't sell it, he gives it away to the causes he commits himself to, and doesn't use celebrity for the sake of fame. Clay has managed to evade all attempts of the media to get any information about his personal life other than what he chooses to reveal. So the media uses it's imagination, which can be a dangerous thing in a tabloid culture where the truth isn't as important as perception. Anybody who can do what Clay did with 2-minutes on the AI5 Finale, being followed by Prince, and dominate the media and the water cooler for the next week to ten days, is in a position to explode on the public consciousness at will -- with a little help from the gods of timing. I believe that if OMWH, with Falling as a single, had been released immediately after AI5 it would have blown up and still be selling. There's no doubt in my mind that what happened at AI5 was unexpected by everyone involved, including Clay. Clay wanted to be a surprise contrast to the look-alike kid, and I don't think he realized just how hot he was going to be. I think Clay knows he has a career for life and he can go in several directions and be successful, but the big moment will happen when Venus and Mars ... , etc. etc. I can honestly say that I look forward to whatever Clay chooses to sing, including more covers. In fact, I have a fervent wish for an album of soul music covers one of these days and believe it would be a massive hit. His voice was made to sing those songs, and I can't think of another white man I could say that about. Yes, Randy and Simon couldn't believe that voice was coming out of that skinny white boy, and most of America couldn't either. The Beatles were the first white boys whose music I fell for, and I went crazy for them. But before that, from when I was ten, and maybe earlier than that, I was mostly listening to Little Richard, Jackie Wilson, the Coasters, the Platters, Chuck Berry, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, and Jimmy Reed. I watched Hootenanny and my favorites were not the Serendipity Singers or the Chad Mitchell Trio, but Joe and Eddie, who sang the best version of Follow the Drinking Gourd ever recorded, IMO. I always preferred black male voices. As a kid I would get chills listening to Smoke Gets In Your Eyes. [ETA: William Warfield singing Old Man River is in a category all by himself.] Admittedly, I thought Dion was the dreamiest, but to look at, not to listen to. The Beatles were the first white guys I liked and I think when they did the legendary cover of The Isley Brothers' Twist and Shout, the deal was done for me. They got me exactly at that crossroads. But I digress, Clay has the voice. He did from the first day. He had the best original voice to ever come out of Idol. Now I love Ruben, but when I want to hear Luther, I'll just listen to Luther. There's nothing derivative about Clay's voice and delivery, and I hear derivative by gobs in Kelly, Ruben, Fantasia, Carrie, Bo, Taylor, Kat, Kellie, Daughtry, Bucky, Jordin, Blake and the Davids. I think Clay could sing R&B successfully because it's a jolt when he does it so incredibly well. For some reason, I never expect him to do it as well as he can, and I'm shitfaced amazed by it. His voice is shockingly good on the songs that require a gifted voice to sing. Could just anybody sing a Four Tops song as well as Clay sang that little snip of (Reach Out) I'll Be There in the JBT? Hell NO! Just Levi Stubbs and Clay Aiken. I think his success was sealed on Idol with Can't Help Myself. He just kills on R&B/Soul/Motown, especially with a cool-cat hat, skinny tie and stovepipe pants! I flat out love soulful Clay and want as much as I can get. There are so many songs he could update from the fifties and sixties that would both rock and astound. Just like those bits of The Great Pretender and Only You from JBT, and I'd scream for Smoke Gets In Your Eyes. Oh God, if I could just hear him sing Jackie Wilson's Lonely Teardrops ONE TIME. Or Jerry Butler's For Your Precious Love? Oo-Poo-Pa-Do anyone? Now, to the Rolling Stones. I have two albums I couldn't part with, Flowers and Beggars Banquet. I've come to the conclusion that people hear more randomly selected music at the supermarket than anywhere else. Unless driving alone, people in cars are usually talking and not paying attention to music, and even then I'd wager that more people are playing their own iPods and CDs while driving. Today I spent over an hour in Randall's and listened to one great song after another, from oldies to current day -- and heard stuff like Rita Coolidge's "We're All Alone" which is one fine sexy song, Jennifer Warne's "Right Time of the Night," Dusty Springfield's "I Only Want to Be With You," and Clay Aiken's "Solitaire." I've heard cuts from MOAM and ATDW at retail stores for the last two years. When Clay said the label wanted to sell ATDW to the commercial market, I think this may be what he meant. I hear Clay's music at the mall, at dress shops, at restaurants, at Walmart, and at grocery stores. His music is getting heard, the issue is whether people know who they're hearing. But, I think that RCA makes plenty money from Clay. Parting question: Is is too much to ask for Blue Bell to offer their Candy Jar and Banana Split ice creams in sugar free varieties? Yeah, I thought so. Dammit.

I'll ask my son as he and his family moved back to Texas from Maine in 2003. They lived on the coast and my granddaughter was born in Portland. She's a Mainer! They loved it there, especially the summers, and seriously miss the abundant opportunities for lobster dinner.

I'm catching glimpses when I can because this has been a busy day for me, and this evening I'll be here until 10pm because I was insane enough to volunteer to proctor a final exam for a friend who had something come up ...... and I don't wanna! WAHHHH! By the time I'm back online tonight everyone will probably be asleep, but I'm looking forward to seeing hawt pictures when I get home! Tomorrow I'm taking a gas holiday and not leaving the house, a/k/a "working from home" ** wonky winky ** so see ya then!

Luckiest, I must have been picking up Macca vibes from you because I watched both the Back in the US DVD, followed by the McCartney in Red Square DVD from the Back in the World tour, specifically to watch/hear Back in the USSR on that one. Good stuff. This put me on a musical tangent that led me through Lennon and Harrison and eventually to this performance of Guitar Gently Weeps from the R&R Hall of Fame as performed by Tom Petty, Prince, George's son Dhani Harrison, and the ELO/Wilburys' Jeff Lynne + more. So ..... Because Prince totally blew me away on this, I thought I'd share. And Dhani looks so much like his father it's amazing. But, seriously, if you haven't seen this, don't miss Prince on guitar. http://youtube.com/watch?v=D7sT1HRV2qU I also watched some of that gorgeous DivX of AI5. Good times.

I'm beginning to think that snark is overdone. It's delicious as a side dish, but as a main course it can cause indigestion and acid reflux. Now, I can bitch, mind you. Don't get me started on TV. A couple of nights ago I clicked through a couple of hundred TV channels and there was no live programming on even one of them. Even the cable news channels were canned. I believe people are hungry for entertainment and news actually happening in the here and now, which is why AI and Dancing have been ratings juggernauts, and why people watch live awards shows, and why cable news streams "Breaking News" across the screen no matter how insignificant the story. I was never a fan of variety-type shows in the past, but I think a live entertainment show could be huge. The day is approaching when the public at large will tire of the manipulations of "reality" TV, which is just as canned as CNN Headline News.

This keeps running through my head for some reason .... Words said in anger aimed at someone are hard to take back once the damage is done. Let's stop now.

What was Maureen looking at? What is Clay looking at? What am I looking at? A Clay debit card? I didn't know debit cards were sold; I thought the banks just issued them. I didn't have to buy my debit card.

Because I'm so completely entranced by Clay and what he does, and because I can't predict the future, I have no emotional attachment to any outcome I can imagine about anything in Clay's life. He likes to surprise; I like to be surprised. It works out. Thus, I am excited for the possibilities IIT, or IIU. Maybe the tabloids have it right, or maybe Clay is playing a huge practical joke on the media and the fans, or something else altogether. Whatever it is, it's good for me, because the essence of my fandom, the bottom line of it all, is that Clay fascinates me, without my needing a script to describe who he is, or what he's planning to do. I think he's amazing, and I have a hard time understanding people who jump to any conclusions at all about him. More power to you if you think you know him, but the only thing I'm pretty darn sure about is that Clay Aiken is a free spirit and an old soul, whether he knows it or not. That, and he has that amazing voice and magnetic charm == and then there's the physical gifts he possesses, not to mention the quick wit and humanitarian heart -- roll it all up in one person and I'm not even capable of getting emotionally attached to any projection I may fleetingly entertain. I think Clay is incredibly good at this celebrity thing. I've read for the last couple of years that quite a few fans want Clay to get endorsement deals. The fact that he doesn't do celebrity endorsements, other than for humanitarian and charitable efforts, underscores my admiration for him. I, for one, am never impressed to see a so-called artist selling potato chips, or blemish cream, or vitamin water, or Fords. It may not be the current conventional attitude, but an artist that uses celebrity or reputation to attach their name to a commercial product in exchange for money has always turned me right off, and I see them as less than "stars" and more as lesser lights or plastic opportunists, actually. Michael Jackson lost my interest early on because of the crass commercialism with Pepsi, followed by selling out The Beatles' music after undercutting Paul and Yoko to so sneakily obtain the rights to the Lennon-McCartney songs, which Lennon and McCartney never ever owned. I knew then that Michael Jackson could dance and he could sing, but he still wasn't shit to me. Sorry, MJ fans. Britney Spears, same thang. Also with Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, and countless others. All those country singers who sell trucks, same deal. So, I never feel like Clay is not being respected enough to be offered commercial whore deals. I think Clay intends to only lend his celebrity voice, or "whore himself out" to causes he truly believes in. There an undiluted power in that, and it contributes to making him a huge superstar in my eyes. I've been working too much this week. So much that I didn't get a chance to wish a very happy birthday to Playbiller, who shares a birthday with my mother. I hope you had a grand day, Play! :F_05BL17blowkiss: Yes, work has sucked this week. I'd rather be in SF. And, Couchie, the Honeycrisp apples come in during the fall season. At least the best ones I had last year were purchased in October/November.

Are we still talking about "firsts" here? My first kiss was a summer vacation romance in Miami when I was 15. He was a crewcut blond from Indiana and we met at this resort on Biscayne Bay, and wrote each other for a few months after. It was sweet. There's a possibility I could have been interested in pre-AI Clay in high school if I had gotten to know him. There was this nerdy guy in thick glasses named Larry who was a sophomore when I was a senior, and he followed me around everywhere in school. He had a heavy NYC Jewish accent that really stood out in Shitkikker, Texas, if you know what I mean, and I know that you do. Larry was in my speech/debate class, and Latin II, so I did see a lot of him. At first I thought he was a bit of a pest, so I was nice but not overly so. Then he started cracking me up seriously. He mimicked people and especially the pompous show-offs in class -- and oh we had some doozies. One of Larry's victims was a guy who ended up on local TV for a while, Roger Gray, although that was an alteration of his real name. I grew to adore Larry and the way he could make me laugh, but I would never have considered dating him, probably because I already had a boyfriend whose ring I wore around my neck on a chain, but also because Larry was a total doofus. Okay, I was shallow. The boyfriend whose ring I wore around my neck, I eventually married him and we had a daughter. He was not a nerd, but he was an asshole. That's when I learned to swim in the deep end. My second marriage was to a guy who was a sophomore at my high school when I was a senior, who I didn't know then but his older brother was in my Latin class and was somebody Larry mimicked, and the night I met my second husband he was with another guy from my high school speech class and homeroom, who was celebrating his first night back from Vietnam, and this stream of consciousness is going to force me to stop and think about a couple of things for a minute or an hour. First votes: My first election was the mid-term in 1970 and I voted against George Bush for the Senate. He lost. My second election was to vote against Nixon. He won, but I don't think he enjoyed it much. Nixon was at a real disadvantage that second term because my grandmother passed away in 1972 and I know that when she got to the astral plane and beyond she used all her powers to see that he was exposed. One of my first memories of her is being at her house in Dallas when I was about four with her pointing to the man on TV and saying, "You see that man? Don't ever believe a word he says." She was on to him from the beginning, and I do believe that Hunter Thompson had a higher opinion of Nixon than my grandmother. Clay's not perfect? Who knew?

OMWH still at #28 on AC. Still has a bullet with +4 spins. I still think it can. Local Fox interview with Eric Idle regarding "Not the Messiah" -- http://www.myfoxhouston.com/myfox/pages/En...mp;pageId=7.1.1

I love this picture of Clay with the girls. And I suspect that the girl smiling at him on the extreme left may have the Aiken Fog descending upon her. OMG he's so gorgeous.

Thanks for the beautiful work, Cindilu. My desktop was never more breathtaking. Now I need to go look at it again!!!

Good News! Clay got his bullet back this morning at Mediabase. It's a +1, but it stems the spin declines of the past week and puts OMWH in the right direction -- and he's still at #28. I think it can. ETA: I think news people and tabloid people, et al, can miss the forest for the trees so often. Was just hearing a discussion about why oh why did Angelina and Brad name their new son "Knox" and whether that could be a family name on Brad's side, or whadda whadda what. The first time I read the story on the web the other day and it listed the childrens' names I saw that the boys were Maddox and Pax. Obviously they wanted another boy whose name ended in "x" so how mysterious is that?

That banner picture from GMA looks verra verra familiar .... ummmm, oh that's right, the laminated, blown-up poster of that pic is right up there on my wall! Hello, Darlin'! Thanks again to merrieeee for fixing us up ... and of course to Kareneh for capturing that smile, that face, those eyes -- the whole picture is perfection. The bigger and shinier the better -- I can take an oath on that. I was just recalling with Scarlett the night we first "slept together" -- my first Clay-related sleepover experience, after choosing our fave posters, which turned out to be GMA and AMA. That picture brightens my days, and enriches my nights. Are you getting the idea that I kind of like it? I so love my Clay posters, including a huge B&W of a certain sexy singer with the cutest bangs and the hottest stubble ever, who's knitting something that he must certainly be donating to TBAF! GAH to infinity on that one. LDYJ: I'm crazy about you, you know. Get well at warp speed, Sweetie! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

I voted for DLTSGDOM -- first song I ever heard Clay sing and it still does something to me. That's the first time I've seen that video of WDC from IT and he almost seemed embarrassed. I think I prefer the JBT version, which had more fever in the vocals and definitely was hotter physically -- for me, anyway.

It also helps explain why they wouldn't let me in. I just can't explain it, gorilla suit notwithstanding, unless this was a Mystery Science Theatre moment.