FearofH2O

Have a great birthday muskifest

:EmoticonRingAround: :hb2:

I hope your family treats you with respect and admiration today. And gives you a great tasting cake.

Thanks atinal, I'll check out that site too. My son gave me glassyeyes.com .

I'm with you luckiest, I voted for WY. That song always does something to me. jmh, loved the contest. Is it run daily? My cat got me up at 4AM by breathing her not so fresh breath in my face, so it was a good time to watch those videos.

Ah weddings. Mine was big but cheap. In our family you always had to know somebody or at the least ask for a discount all the time. The receptionist at the office I first worked at in NYC had a husband in the bridal veil business so she referred me to a wedding gown manufacturer in the garment distict- wholesale of course and the veil was from her husband's business. The rings were supposed to come from a friend of my fathers but my husband rebelled because it became a little complicated and we got them at a jewelry store instead. We used my uncle's band. A friend of my father's was the emcee. And on and on.

I hope no one gets offended about another persons opinion on all things Clay. Even playbiller and I differ on what we want to know vs what we need to know. It even extends to our family. Whoever came up with the saying "different strokes for different folks' was head on. Just as I don't mind if someone scrolls over my posts (probably due to boredom *g*), I absolutely feel free to scroll over a post that I find upsetting.

I just don't get insulting Clay and his family under the guise of "snark", which I think is often an excuse rather than something fun. JMO

O/T- I found out yesterday that I was paying twice as much for my eyeglasses as I needed to, Costco is way cheaper and some of the frames are pretty nice. A lesson learned from this old dog. Now i did promise my son that I would look at the online eyeglass sites for prescription sunglasses. He bought a pair for $70, photoshopped them on a picture of himself and emailed it to us. Cracked us up.

Except for a quick peruse of topics at the CB to see if there's anything new (an uncensored) in the world of Clay, I don't go anywhere but here. I do not remotely care what Clay does with his life and wouldn't dream of passing judgement on any part of it--and have no interest in reading when others do.

I don't need to know what every crackpot and bitch has to say about Clay. They're out there. I don't care.

Have I mentioned lately that I love Clay?

Honestly, planning for concerts got me through the darkest period of my life when I was so sick I felt like curling up in a ball somewhere. There is NOTHING Clay could do that would disappoint me because I completely trust him to be a decent and good man.

I trust my instincts.

I so agree with you. IMO I'm just a fan of Clay's. I don't really need to know about his relationships or his family. I am interested in following his career and his philanthropic causes. If he asks me to help with any of these and I am able, I'll be there. Clay has a team of people when he needs advice and he trusts them. My opinion is worth nothing to him although I've had opinions many times.

I don't even know about my sons' relationships except for when they bring it up. They want help on their terms not mine and I learned this the hard way.

I don't think I've ever been angry or disappointed in Clay. Why would I? He is an entertainer and his choices don't affect my life. Now if he was president al bets would be off. :thsign27:

Here is a copy of an article I read in the Washington Post yesterday. It had me upset in two ways:

1. That there are such bigoted people in the world. How many people are too lazy to think for themselves and do their own research? It definitely explains why Clay has such a difficult time.

2. That a "journalist" would take that limited view expressed by people who are connected to one another to paint this bigottedness on a whole town. Whatever happened to scientific polls?

The article was the most emailed yesterday and had over 1400 comments. It resonanted in many different ways to the commentators.

In Flag City USA, False Obama Rumors Are Flying

By Eli Saslow

Washington Post Staff Writer

Monday, June 30, 2008; Page A01

FINDLAY, Ohio -- On his corner of College Street, Jim Peterman stares at the four American flags planted in his front lawn and rubs his forehead. Peterman, 74, is a retired worker at Cooper Tire, a father of two, an Air Force veteran and a self-described patriot. He took one trip to Washington in 1989 -- best vacation of his life -- and bought a statue of the Washington Monument that he still displays in a glass case in his living room.

He believes a smart vote is an American's greatest responsibility. Which is why his confusion about Barack Obama continues to eat at him.

On the television in his living room, Peterman has watched enough news and campaign advertisements to hear the truth: Sen. Barack Obama, born in Hawaii, is a Christian family man with a track record of public service. But on the Internet, in his grocery store, at his neighbor's house, at his son's auto shop, Peterman has also absorbed another version of the Democratic candidate's background, one that is entirely false: Barack Obama, born in Africa, is a possibly gay Muslim racist who refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

"It's like you're hearing about two different men with nothing in common," Peterman said. "It makes it impossible to figure out what's true, or what you can believe."

Here in Findlay, a Rust Belt town of 40,000, false rumors about Obama have built enough word-of-mouth credibility to harden into an alternative biography. Born on the Internet, the rumors now meander freely across the flatlands of northwest Ohio -- through bars and baseball fields, retirement homes and restaurants.

Faced with polling that shows about one in 10 Americans thinks Obama is Muslim, the candidate's campaign has launched an aggressive effort to discredit rumors and clarify Obama's past. It created a "Fight the Smears" Web site and a new television ad that reiterates Obama's Christian faith, patriotism and family background. Dozens of volunteers have been sent to Ohio five months in advance of the election so they can spend extra time educating voters.

But on Peterman's block in Findlay, the campaign's efforts may already be too late. A swing voter who entered this election leaning Democratic, Peterson faces a decision that is no longer so simple as a choice between Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain, he said. First, he must pick the version of Obama on which he will stake his vote.

Does he choose to trust a TV commercial in which Obama talks about his "love of country"? Or his neighbor of 40 years, Don LeMaster, a Navy veteran who heard from a friend in Toledo that Obama refuses to wear an American-flag pin?

Does he trust a local newspaper article that details Obama's Christian faith? Or his friend Leroy Pollard, a devoted family man so convinced Obama is a radical Muslim that he threatened to stop talking to his daughter when he heard she might vote for him?

"I'll admit that I probably don't follow all of the election news like maybe I should," Peterman said. "I haven't read his books or studied up more than a little bit. But it's hard to ignore what you hear when everybody you know is saying it. These are good people, smart people, so can they really all be wrong?"

'Funny About Change'

Peterman bought his single-story house here in 1959, a few months after he left the Air Force and married. His wife, Mildred, had grown up in Findlay, and they never considered moving anywhere else. On College Street, the couple found all the hallmarks of America's heartland: a house for $9,000; a neighborhood where their two boys, one handicapped, could play outside after dark; a steady "pencil-pushing" job up the road for Jim at Cooper Tire headquarters.

The neighborhood built up around them. Leroy and Wanda Pollard came in 1962, drawn from southern Ohio by a booming auto industry that offered Leroy plenty of work as a mechanic. Mary Dunson bought the place next door in 1963. Don LeMaster, a police officer, moved in up the street with his wife, Margaret, in 1970.

Every newcomer to the block was white, working-class and Midwestern, and the neighborhood jelled easily. They babysat for one another. They complained to one another about their teenagers. They helped raise one another's grandkids. In all, seven different families have lived on the same block of College Street for at least 35 years.

"We all just found a great place at a great time," Leroy Pollard said.

Peterman hung the American flag on his porch first, in 1960, and the rest of College Street followed his example. By 1980, patriotic displays had grown into an unspoken contest of one-upmanship. Sixty flags planted in one yard on Memorial Day; a living-room window painted red, white and blue; a Buckeye tree decorated with Christmas ornaments celebrating Americana; a gigantic plastic unicorn perched on a front porch and draped in an American flag.

The entire block -- and, soon, the entire town -- shared in unabashed pride and gratefulness for the country that had given them this place. In 1968, a local congressman persuaded the House of Representatives to officially declare Findlay as Flag City, USA.

But with their pride came a nasty undercurrent, one that Obama's candidacy has exacerbated: On College Street, nobody wanted anything to change. As the years passed, Peterman and his neighbors approached one another to share in their skepticism about the unknown. What was the story behind the handful of African Americans who had moved into a town that is 93 percent white? Why were Japanese businessmen coming in to run the local manufacturing plants? Who in the world was this Obama character, running for president with that funny-sounding last name?

"People in Findlay are kind of funny about change," said Republican Mayor Pete Sehnert, a retired police officer who ran for the office on a whim last year. "They always want things the way they were, and any kind of development is always viewed as making things worse, a bad thing."

When people on College Street started hearing rumors about Obama -- who looked different from other politicians and often talked about change -- they easily believed the nasty stories about an outsider.

"I think Obama would be a disaster, and there's a lot of reasons," said Pollard, explaining the rumors he had heard about the candidate from friends he goes camping with. "I understand he's from Africa, and that the first thing he's going to do if he gets into office is bring his family over here, illegally. He's got that racist [pastor] who practically raised him, and then there's the Muslim thing. He's just not presidential material, if you ask me."

Said Don LeMaster: "He's a good speaker, but you've got to dig deeper than that for the truth. Politicians tell you anything. You have look beyond the surface, and then there are some real lies."

Said Jeanette Collins, a 77-year-old who lives across the street: "All I know for sure about Obama is that we're not ready for him."

Only one man on College Street remains open-minded, and recently even Peterman has started to sway. Like most of his neighbors, he dislikes McCain for his stance on the Iraq war and would like to cast his vote for a president who will bring the troops home. But on a recent visit to his son's auto shop, Peterman overheard misinformed customers talking again about a Muslim in the White House.

"I don't know. The whole thing just scares me," Peterman said. "I'm almost starting to feel like the best choice is not voting at all."

The Truth Squad

So far, those who have pushed the truth in Findlay have been rewarded with little that resembles progress. Gerri Kish, a 66-year-old born in Hawaii, read both of Obama's autobiographies. She has close friends, she said, who still refuse to believe her when she swears Obama is Christian. Then she hands them the books, and they refuse to read them. "They just want to believe what they believe," she said. "Nothing gets through to them."

The new advertisement running in Findlay, in which Obama is pictured with his white mother and white grandparents as he talks about developing a "deep and abiding faith in the country I love" while growing up in the Kansas heartland, is dismissed by residents of College Street as the desperate lies of another dishonest Washington politician. And they say that Obama's moves to put distance between himself and the Muslim community, with his campaign declining invitations to visit mosques and Obama volunteers removing two women in head scarves from the camera range at a rally in Detroit earlier this month are just a too-late effort to disguise his true beliefs.

For the past month, two students from the University of Findlay have spent their Tuesday nights walking from door to door in the city to tell voters about Obama. Erik Cramer and Sarah Everly target Democrats and swing voters exclusively, but they've still experienced mixed results. Sometimes, at a front door, they mention their purpose only to have a dozen rumors thrown back at them and the door slammed. "People tell us that we're in the wrong town," Everly said.

Soon, on a Tuesday night, they'll walk down College Street -- past the American flags, past the LeMasters, past the Pollards -- and knock on Jim Peterman's front door. They will ask for two minutes of his time, and Peterman will give it to them. He will listen to their story, weighing facts against fiction. For a few minutes, he might even believe them.

Then he'll close his door and go inside, back to his life. Back to his grocery store, back to his son's auto shop, back to the gossip on College Street. Back to the rumors again.

cagney said:

couchie, you earned an F in accessing bonus material, I am right behind you at D-. Haven't looked at the videos or listened to other songs on QVC bonus and haven't downloaded my music pass stuff. Still stuck on that pretty picture

Add me to that list.

Something O/T really upset me yesterday but I couldn't comment as my eyes were still dilated when I wen to bed. They are still slightly irritated today but after I'm back from the gym I'll post my rant in the political thread.

I'm quite happy with Clay so no rant there. I just hope OMWH gets a lot more play.

Congratulations Iseeme! It's good to be able to pay bills.

When I retired as a CPA, in order to keep my certificate I had to promise not to earn $1. ever again. Although I volunteer doing taxes people have tried to tip me quite often. I tell them to donate the money in my name.

I had my eyes dilated for an eye exam today so I'm having trouble reading. But whatever song it is I like it lots.

Thanks for the nice birthday wishes. I believe I've met a lot of you one place or another although I must admit Las Vegas was a fun time. We had the FCA breakfast and the Clay Nation party and after the show snacks. And that combination of Clay Aiken and ice skating was amazing. Absolutely loved it.

Didn't we do the family rate on the roller coaster despite a few, luckiest and crimson having Canadian accents and gibby and I having American accents? It was a really good coaster.

The last night of Spamalot was something else. Will we ever forget that waving from the Schubert or all the actors sitting down when Clay was breading the ribbons. And later meeting up at the pub.

There are so many good memories of the last five years. And here's hoping for so many more. I've enjoyed meeting each and every one of you and I hope to meet many more of you. Good times and good friends. :04:

excutive producer might be more important than stylist now IIU of course.

Now ain't that the truth!

I don't know what words I like to hear Clay sing other than pretty much all of them. I love that break in his voice that he uses so much. It's so distinctive.

I'm getting a little worried that my husband is becoming more of a Clay fan. We went out to dinner tonight and he asked me to turn off the radio and put on Clay. It was probably because Garrison Keiller was trying to sing on NPR.

Wanted to say hello to TayforClay and gothedistance. I don't think I've ever met you but your names are familiar.

Wow claytonic, you have been very busy. I will be exploring that glossary. This is a good time to explore all things Clay.

I bought two music passes yesterday at Target. They were out on the shelf in full glory with some missing already. I also bought a baby gift for a young woman who went to the 2006 Christmas concert with us in Greensboro. She loved the concert and said she wanted to go with us to the next concert. Unfortunately there have been none nearby since then. But I wanted to give her a cd or maybe the music pass too.

I almost hate to say this because I know I would be stoned on most boards, but I think Clive was right in thinking that a lot of people who watched Clay on AI like cover songs and ATDW fit the bill.

Ouch that hurt!

:bigemo_harabe_net-24:

I only watched AI for the first two seasons and then lost interest. Well that and refusing to watch the FOX network for political reasons. I prefer OMWH and like it even better than MOAM, mostly because of Clay's voice growth and his absolute commitment to the songs. But then I still enjoy ATDW. Clay can sing these songs like no other.

I really like ETIDN. This is a very different take for Clay. Can't say I ever heard him sing angry before. It's sad that the reviewers didn't give him the chance to grow and change.

I asked son #2 to give me his opinion on the cd. This was his favorite song on the cd. Unfortunately he related to the musicians and said that he thought the cd had an organic feel to it. He really liked the sound despite thinking some of the songs were schmaltzy but admittied he liked schmaltzy. He is extremely knowledgable about music but hates a lot of what is called music currently. He played, sang and wrote music from the age of 13 when he was in a punk band with adults and went on to every other kind of band after that.

I'm afraid I scroll over negative posts. I just don't care. There is enough unhappiness in the world and I like to read about what makes me happy. In our home namecalling was never allowed. The action might be wrong but the person wasn't. Both of my sons have turned out to be very caring men.

I have even blocked posters at the OFC. Amazingly none of them have posted since the renewal. They must have left the fandom or changed their names.

Am I on the wrong song? It's been a long day.

Yep, to each his/her own, I guess. I loved the way he sang MGUCL and also WTOW at times, almost whispered/spoken rather than sung, but then building towards the end. Same thing with TRM. I think it's very effective, and it doesn't bother me in the slightest if he uses techniques like that in song (recorded or live) rather than in theatre.

Also let me just word heidi ho. Shpping is harmless, it's the tearing down of any woman associated with Clay that I hate. Even Klo despite the little tiff that may have occurred which I'm sure by now has been settled. I always have to give Clay because he does not ever tear down his peers. I wish I could say the same about the peers and some fans.

Waves to FromClaygary See you at the gala?

rohdy I enjoyed your video.

Tom Hanks, I hated Forrest Gump but loved Charlie Wilson's War Tom did some mighty fine acting in that role. Mike Nichols directed by the way.

The Real Me, I almost can't wait for it on the cd. I don't think I have ever heard Clay sing finer. From the little bit we hears on QVC, he won't have a problem singing it in concert. Without You is the only other Clay song that hits me the way this does. He may be doing some serious acting on these songs. I have to admit I haven't read the lyrics so I may have a lot of misinterpretations of the songs.

I love the way TRM builds in intensity, almost has a tension that leaves the listener anticipating the climax of the song.

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but on our last weekly drive to meet son#2 for dinner in a nearby town, I was putting NPR on the radio since my husband was in the car. Amazingly he told me to put on Clay's cd instead. I think he really likes it.

Beware political announcement:

Anyone in NC, we are having a runoff today for all democrats or unafilliated who voted in the democratic primaries. I've been trying to get people to vote today. The runoff is for labor commissioner. Vote, vote vote.

Long restrospective post. Scroll at will.

It has been almost five years that I have been a Clay fan. I was never on any boards during AI2 and didn't even know of any internet sites. Playbiller kept trying to get me interested but I had my own business and that was what my computer was for. I started my business in 1983 and bought an IBM with two diskette drives, printer and software, visicalc, for about $6300. I still have the receipt for that. By 2003 I had sold my business. was on my 10th computer and was working from home. By then I had taken back my clients who were unhappy with the owners of the business I had sold them to.

During the summer of 2003, playbiller convinced me I had to go to the AI2 tour. I whined and complained but she found me a ticket to Charlotte. I learned how to IM to Julian, I don't remember her screen name, and we met halfway in Statesville. We went to a few more concerts together but i lost track of her a few years ago, she entered a new relationship which was taking up her spare time. I met people with pictures of Clay and homemade tee shirts. It amazed me. Clay came on the grounds to be interviewed by a radio station and it looked like the reincarnation of Elvis. I ran in the other direction as mob scenes never thrilled me. When someone got near the door of the trailer of the radio station, an army of guards pulled Clay out and escorted him to the coliseum.

When MOAM was released I didn't go to the cd release party as I didn't know any fans in town. It got a full page spread in our local paper. Other than Fantasia and a little bit of Daughtry our local paper has held all AI participants in disdain.

I finally bit the bullet and downloaded the first Invisible video. It didn't break my computer so from there on I became a downloading fool and participant on Clay boards. I retired in 2005 because my husband had taken early retirement and started trying to advise me how to run my business. Not a good idea.

If anything I am a more ardent fan of Clay now than ever before. I can listen to his voice forever and admire his humanitarian side. I have a lot of time to get involved in charitable and political ventures and this fits in well with Clay time. So here I am and I promise not to talk about myself ever again.

Welcome all you newcomers. I recognize quite a few names from other boards.

Impossible to pick the all time funniest moment, so I won't try. A hilarious bit for me was the whole bats and bugs thing in Asheville. Bust a gut funny.

I thought this was great too. As well as the puberty comment in Phillie.

Another that cracked me up was in West Point when he was so ill. There were two women theredressed as nurses, white caps with red crosses on them. I believe they were the clambulance owners. Clay asked them if they were from Switzerland. He's so funny. I believe they went on to say what they represented which wasn't so funny.

Hope you have a great week at work luckiest.

I'm one who never lets others see me sweat. Grudges, I hold more of them than anyone else in the world. But this week I blew my stack at another board after a most righteous poster ran off a litaney of the most disgusting adjectives under the guise of describing what "others" think of Clay. Amazingly I wasn't trouted for my rant. And then she had the gall to say that she loved Justin Timberlake, who I guess would never be mistaken for a closeted gay man. So I guess a proud and self proclaimed drug taking, womanizer is a much more upstanding citizen compared to a humanitarian who won't talk about his private life.

Oy, now I'm sweating. Okay, I'm over it.

Hope everyone has a great day. I have the feeling we will hear from Clay real soon, assuming he is already on his UNICEF trip. If not I can wait a couple of months.

We had five cats at one time. That Christmas we had someone over who was extremely allergic to cats. Amazingly many others declared they were allergic also. Instead of candy canes we passed out Benadryl.

Lover All Alone is one of the most difficult songs to sing on OMWH. But it is a "Clay Aiken" song for sure. I can't even imagine anyone else singing it. Clay's voice is so tender and feeling. I have to agree with playbiller, you have to pay attention to the song to get the full effect. If you are doing something while listening to it, you will not get anything from it.

Back in the olden days, Eeck, I think I've even heard Clay say something like this, I listened to the words of songs. It was not background noise. It was poetry or at the least meaningful to me. What happened? Don't people feel anymore? Don't they relate to a feeling or emotion? Do people go straight to sex without feeling? Thats what I would surmise from the type of music that seems to be popular. I just saw a male cardinal and a female cardinal on my back deck picking up the bird seed that fell from the feeder. The male cardinal went over to the female and put a seed into her mouth. At least birds still have feelings.

I had to crack up this afternoon. We were in the sunroom , my husband watching golf and I was on my laptop. I looked up to see a commercial for viagra. It actually had a theme song, "Viva Viagra". Sounded like "Viva Las Vegas." Unbelievable that someone somewhere is singing about viagra. Seriously!

FromClaygary, the jewelry you made was fantastic. Didn't you also make those fabulous quilts? I'm envious of your talent.

I sure can relate to middle of the road music. My favorite singers have been Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin and James Taylor. Not to mention my favoritist one now, Clay. Not exactly indie music but very feel good.

I have no idea what the name of today's song is other than the muppet song. Whatever happened to short song titles? Have they all been used already?

I like the muppet song but it doesn't stand out on the cd. I wasn't familiar with it before but I think it's very simple and sweet. Clay sings it real good.

I had to go digging through my old cd collection to remember some of my favorites. Although I really like the songs that all of you have mentioned so far. Couchie, Good News, when I saw that in Madison Square Garden I knew that Clay had some wonderful acting talent. It mesmerized me.

My Clay three that I really like because of the memories and the chills that I get from them:

1. Suspicious Minds - I thought that this was one song he outdid Elvis. Saw him sing this in person at GMA.

2. The Real Me- Oh man, what feelings I get listening to this song. Would have been perfect for a James Dean movie. Sensitive and revealing.

3. Invisible- An oldie bit goody. Always brings a smile to me and love Clay's face when he sings it.

Add every single song Clay ever did to that list.

My other three favorites:

1. Poveri flori from the opera Adrianna Lecouvreur- Only saw it once at the Met but it has remained my all time favorite opera.

2. Guantanamera- Celia Cruz- My favorite ever latin singer. She passed away last year, I think. Never saw her in person.

3. Miss Chatelaine- KD Lang- I remember first hearing her in the Olympics at Calgary, I thought she was a country singer. Saw her again on the Tonight Show with Roy Orbison. They sang a duet and blew me away. I've been a fan ever since.

I've discussed music with my sons since they were very small. I always had classical music and opera on when they were small. They evolved into their own quirky music styles. They both play instruments and sing. The oldest built an electic upright bass using hand tools. It resides in our garage. Now he plays a ukelele, a lot easier to carry around.

The youngest was in many bands since the age of 13 and was making it his career until his wife thought otherwise about it. He still has a publishing contract with Bugg Music but I don't think he has submitted any new songs for the last five years.

I really like For the Grace of God. You don't have to be a religious person to appeciate the message. This is something I think about a lot. But in most cases there is not much one can do. It doesn't make me depressed, rather I can see positivity in that not everyone's life is painful. Enjoy yours if things like this don't affect you.

Also Clay's voice is amazing on this song. He really shows his vesatility here. On songs like this there is no one who sounds like him.

Hips Don't Lie is one of the songs we dance to in our Saturday morning Zumba class. But we have a Latin version rather than a reggae type. And that hip swivilin stuff really works. My clothes are getting looser in the waist. Obviously I don't look as good as Shakira but I'll take any small improvement.

AND Most Importantly:

:hb2: :bday:

:00003653: :04: :EmoticonRingAround: :bday:

Wow! Thanks for all the great analysis. I knew there was a reason I liked his voice. I guess I'll have to listen to "Falling" again. I like the song but having that beat makes my mind wander. My focus has been pretty bad lately.

Have a great Tuesday all. The weather is finally breaking from the nineties here today so I may get a little yard work in today.