keepingfaith

Yeah, baby, I can waltz across Texas, and gimp all over Florida, as long as you keep me cool! ETA: Hottest moment of the year: The room in WPB was ALMOST as hot as the dilapidated historic Brady. Close, but no sweatband!

The only, and I mean ONLY satisfaction I have in being here and not in Minneapolis is that today is such a glorious day! Houston, Texas December 20, 2007 2:30 p.m. Temp: 79° Dew Point: 44° Humidity: 29% Wind: West 14 mph Visibility: 10.0 miles Pressure: 29.81 in. - Sky: Clear I don't know how KAndre, Perusingone and Solo are handling the cold weather. Those three couldn't tolerate 70 degrees in a hotel room in WBP Florida in August without turning on the heat. I'm not kidding and I still don't understand it. Hi Aspiegirl! Great work as always.

The crux of the matter for me is that there isn't a record label with a halo, and never has been. There isn't a record label out there that cares more for the music than the corporate realities. There may have been a brief shining moment in the 60's with people such as Ahmet Ertegun when love of the music drove a label's decisions, but that's been gone for a long, long time. Clay was exactly right about the devil you know. And, for all that's said about Clive, good and bad, the bottom line is that he's the main man right now and it's better to be with the top dog than an also ran in this business. Any way I look at this, there's nothing for me to do but listen to the music, and I'm more than fine with that, because I don't have illusions about RCA or Warner or Capital or any of them. Nobody will be riding in on a white horse. Speaking of labels, in my Google Alert yesterday, one of the items said that Ruben was released by J. Does anyone know if this is true?

Best. Post. Ever! I'm not usually a scripture-quoter, but I can't resist this one ... By their fruits ye shall know them. My personal pick for Best. Post(s). Ever! was occasioned by the inadvertent (?) tag team of lightmyfire and jmh at OFC. Most fearless ever. Again, I'm so uninformed -- getclayaiken is a new one to me. WHAZZUP?? AND ON THE HAIR FRONT .... My vote for best look is centering on the Neil Sedaka Tribute ... He looks innocent and sweet with the blond hair and glasses and I love it -- not so innocent with the dark hair. And the darker the badder and better for me! Am I schizing? Yummiest ever -- even Tyra said so! And maybe my all-time favorite photoshop (who did this??? It's great!) .... Wow, I feel so much better now. Who knew all it would take is dipping my little toe back into AI5 Finale? OMG! merrieeee!! WATCH OUT!!! oops, too late :F_05BL17blowkiss:

This blond babe is smokin' ...

I dunno. Nothing about these two pics looks like natural color, and everything like heavy blond highlights. His natural color may never be seen. Mine hasn't since I was 13. I have such a weakness for blond men. I need to see the new blonder hair without the glasses. Yes, I need it.

Do we really know what the natural color is? I have two kids who were blond as children and teenagers and now have brownish hair. My assumption would be that Clay's hair is a brownish-auburn color. For the Gala in March, and in Afghanistan, would he have dyed his beard and moustache? Damn that was a good color for him. And that seemed to be the color of his hair in all the college pictures I've seen of him. As for NYC, I think Clay could walk down the street with spiked hair and a red leather jacket and no one would bother him. If JFK jr. could successfully navigate the streets of New York, anybody can.

muski, if only this moved. I mean, of course it moves, but I'm talking about a gif. If only this were a gif ... if only this were a gif ... if only this were a gif .... And a question for you ..... Is that a fold?

I feel about the same way. The main difference is that I didn't know celebrity fans from jacksquat. All I knew was that it felt like a pack of hellhounds were unleashed whenever anyone countered the latest weird RCA theory as void of common sense. I'm the happiest person I know almost all of the time, disgustingly so I'm sure, and yet I admit to feeling bitterness over this. I think it's because the truth behind the madness, to the extent I know it, turned out to be so preposterous and wacko that I'm fucking furious that that was it. The very idea that right-thinking people were slammed for not buying into insane crap like this! And that certain mods sympathized and protected it because some fans' posts were, what, holy writ? It's shameful, disgraceful and I don't yet feel forgiving to the perps, dupes, and particular board authorities that protected this cancer instead of cutting it out in the early stages. I still, unfortunately, recall those posts on Clay's own board where delusional fans were insinuating rather strongly that Clay himself didn't want ATDW to succeed, just to spite Clive. This was allowed to stand when other posts were edited for merely questioning the logic of such hurtful and harmful nonsense. I'm a free-speecher and I'd fight for the right of any fan to express any honest opinion, but I never felt like these were honest opinions. There was too much desperation in them, and a near-maniacal need for this bullshit to be true so that no counter-opinion was allowed to stand without mocking in the most shallow, obnoxious and rude manner. I'm not on any secret boards, or boards that have secret threads, so I may be missing a lot of the goings on that a lot of you know about, but I know enough to know that a whole bunch of people that should be embarrassed and contrite probably aren't. I'm mad at myself, too. I'm a questioner of institutions, and that Clay's major fanboards had become institutionalized did set off a few red flags for me, so I shouldn't be surprised at all. But I just feel sick about this. On the other hand (okay I'm a triple Libra and there's always another hand), I'm incredibly proud to have fought the good fight with Clayzorback, lightmyfire and LovesClaysVoice -- against an avalanche of lies. Like Wavy Gravy said ... there's always a little bit of heaven in a disaster area!

Just before seeing this, I spent a couple of minutes hooked on the new banner. Then the 1-2 punch. I can only repeat what merrieeee said, OMG the lips...the lips! I've often delved into my memories trying to recall that one first moment when I thought Clay was hot. It certainly wasn't from the beginning. Looking at the banner and this picture fires my memory to precision. It was Buttercup. I remember what those lips did to me that night. Clay has dangerously hot, seductive lips, and he uses them with acute awareness of that fact. Which makes him ever hotter.

Great recap, laughn! "The little drummer boy" is priceless. What a wonderful night for you.

Thank you, thank you YSRN. :F_05BL17blowkiss: Nice way to wake me on a Monday morning! I've come to the conclusion that I love all of Clay's various incarnations, which can change from day to day and on a dime, but there's something about the darker hair and longer bangs that do me good. For me, it's the difference in a cute, unassuming, slightly nerdy guy, and a devastatingly hot piece of manhood. Clay has killer eyes and eyelashes, and the longer, darker bangs frame his deep eyes and bring them out like nothing else ... and the darker eyelashes are, well, visible, which is my preference. Yummmm-meh! Happy Birthday to the Birthday Girls today and over the weekend -- zena, keldanker and wandacleo. Keep on celebrating. Don't ever stop! Deepest thanks, from the bottom of my heart, to Scarlett. I'm in the OHN car with Luckiest -- and this one is a direct hit on me. Stay Pink, Sweetie, to match your cheeks up in the cold Northeast!!

Hmmm. Wouldn't it be more of a flare than a fold?

Left for another artist? What is it about that that I can't wrap my mind around? I guess the fact that there is no other artist for me but Clay. If I left the fandom, I'd still be Clay's fan. I wasn't a fan of another artist when I got here, and I can't imagine there would ever be another down the line. Only other fan club I ever joined in my life was The Beatles, in 1964. Left for another artist? Is that like when someone resigns under pressure to "spend more time with the family?" wandacleo, you're the poet laureate!

I just spent about an hour talking to my son and telling him this sordid tale, to the limited extent I know it. When I finished, he said .... "So is this a Simon Cowell operation? He's the only one I can think of with a vested interest in souring Clay's career." One thing that sticks in my craw is the number of "fans" who trashed ATDW at Amazon and iTunes and all over the internet because "Clay" didn't want the album to succeed so he wouldn't have to record another covers album. And if not trashed, then damned with faint praise -- purportedly on Clay's behalf. It's puking time. These people are being protected? For God's sake, WHY?????? Maintaining secrets won't clear the air, and unless it's cleaned up, no good will come. Shake-ups are in order.

I had a similar experience, and I'm still a little miffed about the whole thing. But I don't have a lot of sympathy, maybe none, for the dupes. These people believed crap that flied in the face of common sense. I knew something was behind it, just had no idea what. Now it looks like the heart of darkness was behind it. If those people hadn't run like a pack of dogs to tear into any and all who thought it was questionable, not to mention STUPID, for Clay's fans to attack his record label -- then maybe I'd have a softer heart about this. But how this played out is inexcusable to me. I have to give a shout out to lightmyfire. Honey, you fought the fight against this madness for so long, and with so much being thrown against you because of it. If only people had listened to reason many moons ago ... I used to tell my mother, an avid watcher of soaps, that the only reason these soap characters had so much drama in their lives was because everybody kept secrets from everyone else. If they all got in a room together and spilled their guts ... no more show. I think the quickest way to destroy any group or family is through secrets ... and this business caused a serious breach. I almost left the online fandom within weeks of joining last year, and I'm sure many, many actually did leave. I know that I met scores of fans during the summer tour who told me they aren't on the boards anymore because of the inside information and condescending attitudes. I think that keeping big important secrets is always an abomination, and a source of great misery. Bottom line for me is when inside information doesn't pass the smell test, and the common sense test, or any test I can think of, and yet it abides, and is protected, fostered and spread intentionally, and the questioners of it are pounced on and ridiculed with immunity ... I doubt I could ever trust anyone I know to be involved with it. Oh, some will be running for the hills and disavowing any knowledge just as surely as Mr. Phelps did in Mission Impossible ... but I'll not forget. At least it was chilly enough this morning to burn a log in the fireplace. It's already warming up, but the fire was nice for a change. Not to worry. According to Scarlett, Clay was busy with the fingers last night, and everybody got it! (Yeah, she said it, take it from there ...)

Okay, so my latte is on the wall now. WTF!!!!!???? Down, muski, down girl.

Psssssst ..... just so ya know ...... the bangs are the bomb! As the concerts go by and Clay remains in the glasses, I think there's a possibility that glasses lovers could be having a last hurrah .... because laser eye surgery could mean no contact lenses in his eyes for at least a couple of weeks in advance of the exam. Of course, Clay could be going through a period of soreness from wearing the contacts and figures the Christmas tour is a good time to give his eyes a break before Spamalot. As usual, I'm sure he'll surprise us. And you're not going to identify that specific piece of clack because ......? I think it's high time, woman!

and now one for ldyjocelyn ...

And a few more ....

CG, I'm sending good thoughts, visions of white light, and prayers for your Dad. I hope everything goes well. :F_05BL17blowkiss: This must be the Zen board. First, Wherever you go, there you are, and now, If you don't expect anything, you are never disappointed. I want to play! There is nowhere to go; there is nothing to do; there is no one to become. I have a preference for that Great Zen Master Oscar Wilde: When people agree with me I always feel that I must be wrong. One's real life is often the life that one does not lead. Picture Time! I thought somebody wrote that Jamie said he didn't like the bangs? Looks like she's had her scissors out.

You have a lovely flair for cutting straight to the obvious with aplomb. Thank you. Well, it sounds like I was the fortunate one being away from those other boards all day. I'm almost curious to go look around to see who's saying what ... but naaaaaaaaah. From the synopses I've read here, am I to conclude that a wide swath of the fandom is in a frenzy to lay blame for something fairly meaningless? Something they don't know about, didn't participate in, but are, nevertheless, worked into a lather over? All the while leaping willy-nilly to conclusions, and getting contusions, and making accusations, or angsting and fretting? Oh the tragedy of fretting! Well, seriously, unless I've missed some damning facts, I see this as some world-class sweating of the small stuff. Guinness Book material. Like, maybe the fandom should have been on Paxil. I actually have just one comment to make on the matter. I am the biggest fan in the world of couchie and ansa and ldyj and KAndre, and Everyone here at FCA!

My personal preference is for Clay to have long, dark bangs and no glasses, so I come in with a bias, and the pics from tonight, and recent nights, bear a striking resemblance to old pictures of Clay ... the strawberry blond hair, the cut and style, the glasses ... but it's the knowing look on his face and the utter confidence in his eyes that are kicking my ass tonight. Even behind those glasses, his eyes are devastating. I can adjust. But when I look at these pictures and realize that Clay looked like this for about three shows and then put on the glasses and combed back his hair, it makes me wonder if he's not making a concerted effort to look serious, professional, and less ferociously sexy. Because why else would you change this look?

I snagged this photo from OFC tonight. It's made a big impression on me. This one, too. I adore the tousled hair.

What more do you think clay nation should do. I frankly think we are moving in the right direction. What more is there. I guess I don't understand the question. What more is there for clay nation to do? Be happy.