keepingfaith

The American Idol website opens, but I see nothing there about Spamalot. Is it hiding?

Hey you Prolific Peruser you! I miss you!! Happy New Year! Oh yeah, my grandmother made hot water cornbread. She made so many things that we don't have anymore since she's been gone -- like a butter roll. And I trust you completely about the best shows to render, and I'm patient and will be right here waiting. Interlochen is one of the venues where he had that sexy "ohh" cry in his voice with Reach Out I'll Be There - that's the draw there. I loooove goldarngirl and luckiest's Interlochen montages. Thank you every one of you beautiful people who bring me clack! :F_05BL17blowkiss: I dunno, KA, it almost sounds like a Roger operation to me. Hugs to everyone having emotional stress as this new year begins, and especially to those who have suffered separation with a loved one. I wish I could dry the eyes of the living with the knowledge that death is an illusion since our bodies are only vehicles and that we're not physical entities having spiritual experiences, but the opposite in fact, and that we all make it in the end, and that I know this from personal NDE or OBE or whatever other name that doesn't touch the reality of it -- but since we all know it at the seat of our consciousness anyway, nevermind.

Add? Add? It's now my middle name: Gimpy Klutz Keepingfaith. If there's a door I can walk into, I'm headed that way ... My thumb sucks. Was at Randall's yesterday and reached for a frozen pizza which slid out of my right hand and the corner of the box landed with force on the very exact cut location of my left thumb necessary to open it right up through the heavy bandage ... I won't go into it. KAndre thinks I eschew doctors and medical attention. Contrare. I just know the drill by now. I spent the first twelve to fourteen years of my life in hospitals, clinics, and doctors' offices -- I had severe asthma, was allergic to life on Earth, couldn't see, contracted every childhood illness in circulation, had several surgeries, but never had accidents because I wasn't allowed to do anything, and only got to go outside when Jupiter aligned with Mars. My childbearing years were fabulous -- I was totally healthy for those years -- those child-bearing immunities are fantastic! But that's all over now, baby blue. I've entered my serious klutz period -- breaking my toes on the legs of furniture, cuts, bruises that I have no idea where they came from, twisting my ankle stepping off a curb, breaking my pinky finger playing water volleyball, burning myself in the kitchen, cutting myself in the kitchen, okay that's enough, huh? I've had it all, I've done it all ... I don't need no doctah ... I need a padded room. Or as my son says ... SLOW DOWN!

Hey Clayze, have you ever made Black Eyed Pea Cornbread? I got the recipe out of the Fort Worth newspaper years ago -- although it's not technically bread -- made with ground beef, a can of black eyed peas, a can of cream style corn, onions, buttermilk, cheese, eggs, cornmeal, flour, and jalapenos. The things we do with peas!!!

Me, me, me Moulin Rouge beginning to end -- as much energy as I've ever felt in a movie theatre. Doctor sings: The hills are animated with the euphonious symphony of descant... *** Satie: What if he sings "The hills are vital intoning the descant"? Doctor: No, no, no, the hills are… Argentinean: The hills are incarnate with symphonic melodics. Christian: The . . . the hills . . . Doctor: The hills are chanting . . . Satie: The hill . . . Christian sings: The hills are alive with the sound of music! Argentinean: "The hills are alive with the sound of music!" I love it! Satie: "The hills are alive with the sound of music". It fits perfectly! Christian sings: With songs they have sung for a thousand years! Toulouse: Incandiferous! Audrey, you two should write the show together. **** Christian: I--I don't even know if I am a true Bohemian Revolutionary. Toulouse: Do you believe in beauty? Christian: Yes. Doctor: Freedom? Christian: Yes, of course. Satie: Truth? Christian: Yes! Doctor: Love? Christian: Love? Love. Above all things I believe in love. Love is like oxygen. Love is a many splendored thing. Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is love. Boo-hoo Scarlett, am I out of your consciousness for Interlochen/Motown? OHNOOOOOOOOO! After your timely technical expertise on file conversions, I burned a skating DVD yesterday from your xVid files, and it turned out beautifully. :F_05BL17blowkiss: I'm concerned that my first opportunity to go to NY for Spamalot will be in March during Spring Break. Anyone going in March? Or should I wait until April for the second wave of eHP? Decisions, decisions. HAPPY NEW YEAR, FCA Silly me I thought everyone ate black eyed peas for good luck and cabbage for prosperity on New Year's Day. And now I find out there are people who don't know what black eyed peas are! I like jalapenos in mine. Yeah, baby. Ehhh, I'm not much for cabbage though, which could explain the prosperity issues I'm having. RECIPE: Does anyone have the recipe for a chocolate cake with fudgy icing that starts with boiling butter (shortening?), cocoa and water in a pot and pouring it over the flour and sugar? I remember that it's easy and that I made the fudgy topping while the cake was in the oven and then poured it over the hot cake. My son has requested this, and I'm trying to find my recipe. I do know it's easy and, oh yes, has pecans too.

I saw Moulin Rouge at the theatre on opening day, in the afternoon, alone, but I can't remember why. I was one of about five people tops in the whole theatre and had no preconceptions about the movie. About thirty minutes in, I was thinking somebody put acid in the popcorn.

play, I recall that Clay had a GMA appearance with Diane Sawyer sometime last January/February? Maybe February 1? He had the really long, dark hair and those tight pants -- tighter when he bent over for the fancam -- and those shiny hot shoes. I just remember Diane showing a clip from the just-aired Idol audition show with the older man whose wife had died and he sang You Belong to Me. That's about all I remember, Clay wanted to talk about UNICEF and Diane wanted to talk about Idol. Did anyone happen to catch Michael Buble on a CNNHN interview a few days ago? Buble talked about how bad he sucked when he filled in for Tony Bennett on Idol last season and he blamed it on Simon and stage fright. Buble said that after he sang the opening line of the song, Simon Cowell crossed his arms, looked to the side and made an ugly face, which completely unnerved him, along with the realization that he was singing for 25 million people. Anyway, it made me realize again just how important was the training Clay received from singing in front of millions of people week after week, and often with a disapproving Simon glaring at or ignoring him. Musicals? I like the modern ones -- Moulin Rouge, Chicago, Dreamgirls. Harry Potter? Never got into it. Huge LoTR fan, though, and was incredulous that Peter Jackson was able to bring that thing to the screen. Sir Ian McKellen was a great Gandalf and the visuals were stunning. I missed the Scouring of the Shire as well, KAndre. And Scarlett, thanks a bunch for the download link for the avi conversion tool. It's perfect. I was thinking this morning that it was such a big thing in my younger days that I not receive impersonal house/kitchen gifts at Christmas. Of course, that's because from time to time I received such lovelies as a new vacuum cleaner and a Remington 20-gauge shotgun. No, I didn't shoot him with it. My husband was a skeet shooter and he thought I should learn the sport (the official reason), but since he had been wanting this 20-gauge to go with his 12-gauge Remington, I never accepted that reasoning. Anyway, I took some of my Christmas cash this year and went to Macy's and what did I end up buying for myself but an 8-quart and 4-quart stainless steel pressure cooker set, and new knives. So I'm hanging in the kitchen a lot these days with a new, extremely sharp set of knives. No emergency room for me ... my DIL in nursing school finally got me fixed up.

My family is Irish. Bubba's father was Italian, so with the mix of Irish and Italian he could be so persuasively entertaining with his bold and intricate tales that people who didn't believe a word of it would still give him the money.

Marnie Nixon played Sister Sophia in TSOM. Marnie Nixon provided the voiceovers for Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, for Deborah Kerr in The King and I, for Natalie Wood in West Side Story, and for Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, among others.

That was a new one for me, playbiller. Thank's so much. I got a kick out of hearing KLo tell the story. Probably not as challenging as it was for Clay. And I say that not to disparage his parents, but I understand what it's like from a child's perspective under similar circumstances. It's lonely. That too can have it's ultimate payoffs, but when you're a kid and nobody's speaking your language, it can be brutally isolating. KAndre -- never lived in South Park, and it's been a long time since I heard it referred to as South Park, but I used to go to a Kip's Big Boy on South Park and Griggs(?) in my teen running days. After the Heights, I lived in Oak Forest, North Shore, Clear Lake, briefly in the Beechnut/Bissonnet area, then back to Clear Lake and then finally I settled in on the South Shore of the lake in League City. And they've all seemed like little townships to me. My nephew just moved into one of the lofts by Minute Maid Park -- they party at the clubs on Main Street on Saturday night and walk home, and I'm sure he's got that urban feeling. I could write more, but I sliced my thumb open with a paring knife this afternoon and it's still heavily bandaged and bleeding. I probably need stitches -- but nahhhh, I've got that old Gimpy feeling. I could NOT fail to confess that my eyes slurred over that sentence and "Clay to live" somehow became "Clive" in my brain. And I thought .... Good God Almighty, now there are fans who expect Clive to live up to their own moral code!" Okay maybe you had to be there, but it made me laugh hard. Maybe it's the loss of blood. muski you mentioned multiple family marriages -- my grandfather was married seven times. When I was in school I entertained classrooms with the antics of my relatives in Dallas, every last one of them. One of his marriages ended when the woman was arrested for shoplifting. Grandad said, "Hell, that woman walked out of Sanger-Harris with a g-damn TV between her legs!" I must have been about 12 at the time and I'm still laughing about that. Grandad was a certifiable piece of work. (His only son, my father, has been married once, to my mother, since 1943.) I've got to write a book one day about these relatives of mine, including my cousin, Bubba -- the funniest master manipulator that ever lived, and I'm sure he's still a legend at Woodrow Wilson High School. Last anybody heard from him was about 20 years ago when he was in Walnut Grove, CA. God only knows where he is now. What is this, true confessions and flashbacks? I probably need to go to the emergency room.

to you and your family today and in the coming days, merrieeee. You and ldyjocelyn have both lost MIL's this year, and wanda lost her mother. It's been a sad year for several here at FCA. Here's looking at 2008 .....

I don't think that cousins marrying is just a Southern thing. It's been a practice of the landed gentry and royalty for centuries -- you know, keeping it all in the family. Lot of famous cousins have married and off the top of my head I'm thinking of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt ... and they were blood cousins, too, and not Southerners. jj -- thanks so much for the tip on you're so cute -- they both look so cute. 00lsee, you're so right about the white space. I get carried away in stream of consciousness sometimes a lot and lose all sense of spacing. Why am I watching AI Rewind's Best of the Worst -- again -- just to hear Clay's voice? It's totally irritating to watch the show, but I love to hear his voice. I'm pathetic and I don't understand it.

I think there's a Southern culture thing going on regarding the rural meme. I was born in a city with half a million people which has grown to a metropolitan area of between 5 and 6 million today, and Houston remains a series of loosely connected small town neighborhoods to me. Strangers talk to each other in department stores and food markets. I rarely walk around downtown without someone approaching me to ask directions, which often turns into a chat. I was born in The Heights when all the neighbors were from Texas rural areas -- people who grew up on farms and ranches who came to the city to work during WWII. They bought the houses and cars produced in the 50's and stayed in the city to provide their children with a better education and more opportunity. But the relatives who stayed in the country were barely enjoying rural electrification, and using primitive phones under the inquisitive eyes of Miss Annie who plugged people in from her living room in town (my grandmother's ring was two shorts and a long), baths in the big gray washtubs on the back porch, which also contained my grandmother's wringer washing machine, just yards from the water well, and far from the outhouse beyond the railroad tracks. And the family would gather together when the city cousins were visiting to play dominoes or 42 on Saturday night in my grandmother's parlor and it was the most entertaining, wittiest, most clever and intelligent way of expressing thoughts and ideas that I've ever been exposed to, and included monumental political arguments, wonderful storytelling, and laughing until we hurt. When I'd sleep with my grandmother, who was always ancient, we would lie in her big feather bed and she would teach me poems and saying from her youth, or she'd have me memorize whole chapters from the Bible. I remember being 8 years old and memorizing Isaiah 53. I so vividly remember a favorite uncle who never cracked a smile and never made a serious comment. And then there were the walks down the rr tracks picking blackberries for cobblers, or going to the country church on Sunday morning that my great-great grandparents had donated the land for a hundred or so years before, and my grandmother always cooking for the visiting preacher every Sunday afternoon. And, it was a matriarcal society. Women ruled and the men complied, and hid their beer. I remember a little red-headed girl with glasses and freckles who lived close to the church, and whom I saw every time I went up there. When we were about nine she was reviewing a movie she had seen as a typical "farce" and I didn't know what that meant, so she explained. I always learned things from her, somehow she was always ahead of the game. I always learned stuff when we went to East Texas, sometimes stuff I didn't want to learn like wringing a chicken's neck. I also learned that no one at church could carry a tune and they sang through their noses, which is why to this day I can't listen to white people singing hymns like In the Garden, Shall We Gather at the River, or I'll Fly Away (with all the motions), and especially Just As I Am for a hundred verses. But the place abounded with original thought. The food was wonderful -- and yes I know we should all have died from food poisoning since the fried chicken sat out on the table all day covered with a cloth, but we survived. And the little red-headed girl came to the city after she graduated from that country town school, then with highest honors from UT/Austin, followed by law school -- and she married a lawyer, and has a son who is now one of the political kingmakers in the state. Not that I agree with a damn thing they now espouse. I guess what I'm saying here is that the rural experience was rich and real for me and definitely enhanced my life and made me a better person. I think that everything I learned I learned hiding behind the counters in my uncle's general store and listening to the people going in and out and discussing their lives and being so open and loving with each other -- before I ever went to kindergarten in the city. And it always floors me when people think that Clay's high-pitched giggle isn't manly -- oh yes it is!! It's the man with a great sense of humor laugh, the practical joker laugh, and I've heard it all my life.

Had to remark about this because I only know this singer named Clay. Clay Aiken. That's the name I first heard for him on AI and it's the name on the tickets. I never thought Clayton was a different person, only that Clayton had shortened his name to Clay because the name "Clay Aiken" has a certain star quality to it -- and he was going for it. I don't think there's another persona when he's performing. He can be silly and teasing, most often at his own expense. He can be a prankster on stage, and I've watched the person once named Clayton Grissom do the same things on Hometown Connection. I've seen old photos and videos when he had dark brown hair, auburn hair, brighter red hair, glossy blond hair, and he's worn it straight or permed, in various cuts and styles, and frequently changed back and forth, from what I can see. That's the same guy. So I don't get it so much when people say that he's going back to Clayton with lighter hair combed off the face and glasses. Going through all the combinations of however he can look, one by one, seems to be a lifelong journey for him. Maybe he'll settle on something and stay with it for a while, or maybe he'll have different looks for different tours, depending on his mood. Also, I think the man that takes the stage with command, control and who oozes charm and confidence, with a mastery of the limelight, and inimitable instincts for comedy -- that's Clayton too -- same guy. I see him as having a large personality that encompasses his time on the stage or in the public eye. I understand the way he feels about what people call him. I go by a nickname with 3/4 of the people I know. But quite a few old friends and family call me by my given name. I would think it totally weird if people started calling me something different from what they normally do, and I'm the same person regardless of what I'm called. Yeah, I know that was a straight line you could drive a truck through! Anyway, my umpteenth reiteration of love and admiration for Clay is upon me. I'm refusing to put limits on him in my mind and imagination, so I don't think he should limit himself. He's capable of whatever he wants to do and he's been demonstrating that quite handily for a few years. Of course, I don't see him as a rock star -- but then I don't see anybody as a rock star anymore. Jim Morrison was a rock star. Bono was a rock star. The Beatles were musical genius. Clay is a singer who happens to be a pop star, among other things, and as a pop star the sky's the limit for him. He can move around and explore different types of music under the pop umbrella and I expect him to do just that in his long and winding career, a career unbound by the definitions and limitations of others -- hopefully. Maybe the phrase I'm most tired of hearing is musical direction (and marketing). The fight of artists to deny labeling is a long one. One of my favorite Dylan moments was at a San Francisco airport press conference in 1965(?) when a reporter asked him if he was a folk singer and Bob said, "I've always thought of myself as a song and dance man." The snark on his face was unforgettable and it was a great moment. Defying and denying labels and niches and genres, and all the places the world wants to put you and keep you, is a part of the artistic consciousness, not to mention human development, and I shake my head whenever I hear an artist being asked to define himself or explain himself. My guess is you'll get snark every damn time. Including from Clay. Especially from Clay. I have read over several pages about Sasha telling Clay that he's cute -- but I am missing this completely. Can someone direct me to this -- please, please, please -- because I would love to see it. I thought they had some cute, flirty chemistry together. I liked it when Clay asked her where she lives. He was trying to be nonchalant, but I think he was really interested in knowing. I am one, btw, if anyone cares, who prefers pop star Clay -- Summer Tour, JBT, etc. -- to Christmas Clay. I love Christmas, but traditional Christmas music for me is Tchaikovsky. And when I feel the need for a closer walk, Beethoven takes me there. But no composer or artist living or dead can deliver the kind of thrills and chills that I can get just from watching clack of Clay walking down those JBT stairs singing "Now if you feel like you can't go on ..." , and the swooning that overtakes me when I hear him sing "Without You" or "Broken Wings" or "Everything I Do" or "Run To Me" and so many others. I know that Clay is the real deal, and I know his appeal is different for different people. It's fascinating for me to discover what it is about him that others love. I know what it is for me, but, Jesus, the man covers a lot of territory. That's no niche artist.

I'm shocked that there's pile-on complaining at some of the fanboards -- about as much as Captain Renault was shocked about gambling at Rick's. I watched the skating show with my extended family, including a couple who had not seen Clay since AI2. Here's the comments I remember -- from other than my sister and me: I wouldn't have recognized him. He looks so much better now that he's filled out. That guy's got a voice. Whatever happened to the big guy? That's the best I've ever seen Todd Eldredge skate. Clay has such a cute smile. Anybody want a chocolate covered strawberry? There was not one negative comment among the roomful of people. Apparently, those who didn't like it were Clay's dedicated fans. Man, that sucks. My fortune cookie for the day: Microcriticism yields not happiness and serves no useful purpose.

Yes, I do think you're right. It would be a narrative fertilized with manure. Hope you feel better, Kareneh. These are supremely good days for blankets, hot tea and chicken soup. Hmmmmm, that sounds so inviting, and I'm not even sick. Okay so I've missed the flap flap. And since I've missed it all except for the general discussion that I've picked up here at FCA, I have a stupid question. Are we sure that coat had a back flap? Certainly not all of them do. Maybe it was a fold. ETA: Listing Clay favorites is completely impossible for me. There are a few songs I don't care for as much as others, and a few performances that I wouldn't be drawn to watch again -- the remainder of his recording and performing repertoire is my very, very favorite. The AI5 Finale has a special place since that's when Clay exploded in my heart and mind and I fell hopelessly in love with a singing star I'll never meet. For me, the totality of what he does is beyond categorizing.

Playbiller, thank you for the duo and the trio! I'd never seen the trio with Tupac. Danger in the manger. Hilarious!!! Wow, I actually had a lucid moment and remembered to set my DVR for Holiday on Ice so I'll have it when I get home. Can't believe I actually remembered it as scattered as I've been lately. Big Christmas Hugs to everyone -- and especially couchie and CG and merrieeee and everyone!

I'll have a good evening -- when we break out the delicious food, sweets, martinis and eggnog. (Personally, I save up my sugar content for Christmas Eve B-52's) -- over the ubiquitous It's a Wonderful Life on TV, and my youngest playing Christmas carols on the Les Paul. But before that -- from now til then -- pure insanity -- not enough time -- OMG! MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERY ONE -- AND ..... MERRIEEEE CHRISTMAS TOO!

The Today Show has Todd Eldridge skating to All Is Well (?) -- and the Holiday on Ice special is on from 3:00 - 5:00 on NBC. I snagged some of those cute Christmas graphics from you. Love' em. Heading over to the family Christmas celebration this afternoon and won't be home until Wednesday -- but I'll be online and will definitely be around to EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE over Holiday on Ice. I'm looking forward to seeing Clay on TV more than to opening my Christmas presents from Aunt Frankie, which are always doozies! I talked to my son this morning, who will not be home for Christmas, but he did get to meet and spend time with the USO troup Friday night and Saturday morning -- including Robin Williams, Lance Armstrong, Kid Rock, Lewis Black and Miss USA. He said Robin Williams is funnier off stage than on, and who he really, really, really liked was Lewis Black. After the performance my kid took them to a bar in the little town where he lives off base (he was doing personal security that night for the CJCS), and I'm sure he got to know Lewis Black the best since they are both smokers and had to spend time outside -- but my son said LB had the most screamingly ascerbic wit (as I already knew from being a Daily Show watcher of several years). Anyway, it made for a fun and memorable Christmas experience for him this year. What I am most thankful for this year is finding out that he's coming back to the States in 2008. Georgia here I come! Regarding the Josh Groban discussion. I like his voice and listen to a song here and a song there -- but would not willingly listen to a whole album of Josh Groban at one sitting. He sings with detachment, and that je ne sais quoi is not there. Or, as the French say, he doesn't have that I don't know what. Pure voice with lots of texture and tone -- but verve and excitement is missing. A friend who saw him in concert last spring said she was bored before it was over. Could you imagine looking at your watch at a Clay Aiken concert? Nevertheless, I think both Josh and Clay will be big stars for the rest of their lives. Ultimately, artist competitions are silly. I didn't understand people arguing over Chopin or Liszt -- Beethoven or Haydn. Nobody ever needed to choose. Great music will ever be heard.

Because it's that time of year, I am compelled to mention my all-time favorite piece of Christmas clack. There are so many that are wonderful, beautiful, inspiring, and memorable, and among my top picks would be DSIAFCD from Clearwater (so hot), and Celebrate Me Home from Portland, MGUCL from GMA, and so many more. My whole heart will always belong to MGUCL from last Christmas in Red Bank. He was sick, looked like he had just sweated off a fever, tugged on his ear with the pain being quite evident, yet it is the most inspired performance ever for me. His voice was perfection, he was giving so intensely, and I do encourage somebody to watch this and tell me if it does to you from 2:05 - 2:15 what it does to me. It melts me to the core. If you're game to tell me if I'm delusional about this being the sweetest most wonderful Clay ever, check out MGUCL at: http://www.clackunlimited.com/clack/Concert_Clack/JNaT_2006/Red_Bank/Joanne/ It makes mush out of me, every time. Have I mentioned lately that I love him? Yes, I love him.

She was lucky it was only with a pillow. Oh no! The Queen is at it again!!!

It's definitely picture time .... I have to slip this one in. I fell in love with it again today. Giddyup!

My heart's desire for 2008, lmf? Watching Clay on the Broadway stage will do just fine, for me. You guys talking about AIW ... I doubt there will be a hard release of the EP because Clay has strongly suggested more than once that he'd like a reissue of MCWL to include the four AIW songs, and to rerecord Silent Night with another arrangement. I think that will happen ... hopefully next Christmas. But at least those four songs are available for download. Albums used to come and go, and by go I mean GO, but it all stays available now. I'm just glad that AIW got a digital release in advance of showing up as part of a reworked MCWL.

muski - take a really close look!! Oh, if only there were deep pelvic thrusts to go with that bulging, throbbing ........ I'm goin' home. See ya'll la-tah.

I downloaded AIW the first day available from iTunes and was curious that it never hit my credit card. Yesterday the transaction was posted. My understanding is that iTunes will hold small transactions for X number of days in order to to potentially bundle with other small purchases -- .99 here and .99 there. I wonder if the download is not counted until the financial transaction is processed? If so, Clay's numbers could have a lag in there, just because it's priced at $3.96. Don't know, just a thought. The man would have never made it out of Houston that night.