lilyshine

I've been working on clearing out my Mother's house (now mine) for five f'ing years! Every once in a while I haul out another box of a jumble of treasure, trash and who knows what. My biggest coup so far was selling a tube of toothpaste from the '50s on eBay for $50. Don't even ask why Mother kept a tube of toothpaste for 50 years!

TPTB = The Powers That Be. I use it because I'm never sure who makes those editing decisions - Lythgoe, Fuller or others lower down the food chain. I know the scuttlebutt on Vincent was that the decision to lengthen it came right from Nigel L. I missed the second half and Grease last night because of a ball game. I'll have to dl it and see how it compares with my memory! ETA It's good to keep in mind that the production team on Rewind is not the same as AI and they may have very different agendas. Some people were wondering why things like the order of songs has been changed and it may be as simple and as practical as keeping the ad spacing and timing correct. They are compressing at least two hours of aired footage plus new interviews. Placement and timing of advertisements trumps the show content any day!

A little late, as usual! I thought the Julia-Kimberme was a bit of a set-up and edited to make it more confrontational than it had been, like most editing. However, I thought it was really interesting that Rewind edited out the final solution. After Julia's sister had escalated things, Frenchie (Julia's roommate?) stepped in, did some bitch-slapping all around and got everyone on track. I was really surprised at Julia's 2007 comments because it sounded as if she were still carrying a grudge. I'm wondering what question she was responding to and how that was edited. I'm sure I saw/heard things in 2003 from Kim & Julia indicating that the cat-fight was partially scripted by TPTB. Can you tell I don't trust a lot of what I see on "reality" TV???????

A little late, but I think the Amazon Mac widget was the one made by pixieglitter from CV. I'm sure she'd be happy to help anyone who is having trouble with it.

I was trying to explain the humor in the horse bit to someone who didn't "get" it and I said it was like something out of Monty Python, no reason, just funny as hell. Didn't know at the time how prescient I was!!! ETA I'm another who doesn't get the angst bug. I thought the interview answers sounded just like Clay. And Press Releases are just that Releases to the Press to get the ball rolling, set the tone and provide hard information. They aren't personal communications. What the press does with them is another matter. I expect that most PRs I send out get spindled, folded and mutilated without even being read. (Boy, does that date me!) The fact that so many of Clay's PRs get picked up by so many media outlets is amazing given his low profile.

I'm always surprised at how strongly and how differently people respond to art, whether graphic, music or performance. It really seems to hit parts of the brain/soul/psyche in a direct manner. I always think of an incident that happened to me a few many years ago. I was working in NY at the World Trade Center and a co-worker and I had gone out to lunch. On the way back we stopped to listen to a German "Oom-pah" band that was playing in the lobby. Not my favorite kind of music, but cheerful and better than going back to work! This was years before the fall of the Berlin Wall. As the last number the band played "Deutschland Uber Alles". I was enjoying the melody which I had grown up with as a favorite hymn as well as being the tune to my Alma Mater. My friend grabbed my arm and said, "Let's go." I asked him why and he told me that he had lost most of his family in the Holocaust and couldn't listen to that tune without remembering. Three different people, three very different reactions. The band was proud to play their National Anthem at a time when Germany was beginning to flourish. I was enjoying good memories. My friend was stung by bad memories. There was no wrong or right, just very different reactions to something that moved all the listeners.

Just to add another reaction to YWT. I'm fairly laid back about religious discussions and generally don't think it's any of my business what people believe, nor is what I believe any of theirs. I stay far, far away from any type of religious controversy. I went to my first concert having ignored most of the Board uproar. Listening to YWT and seeing the video, I felt as if I had been slapped in the face. The other NaTs, I kinda cowered in my seat and tried not to look at the screens. It was a very visceral reaction, not at all rational, for me. I don't know why it hit me so hard, but it did. I don't now, nor did I then, feel any need to defend, explain or agonize over my reaction. It was what is was and strictly personal to me and my life experience.

All of the park is free wi-fi, and while you are there, there's a very interesting exhibit on Jack Kerouac in the NYPL main exhibit hall on the first floor.

I'm back home from my lost weekend in New York. As usual after doing the city, I'm exhausted from walking too much! Everything is only a couple of blocks away. That adds up to miles and miles every day. On to the good stuff. Saw Spamalot twice - from first row mezzanine and SRO. The mezzanine seat was great! One of the few places in the theater that I can see everything, including the actor's feet! I'm short enough that even from the third row, all I can see is from the knees up. It does make a difference. Clay was very good - amazing considering the amount of training & experience - especially in Brave Sir Robin and as Guard II. His performance is much more nuanced than it was in January. Overheard two comments: In the line going into the theater a young guy behind me saw the poster of Clay and in a very disbelieving voice said, "Clay Aiken was in Spamalot? That must be an old poster." A few steps later he saw the merchandise table and said something to the effect of, "Oh crap, we're seeing him tonight." I would have loved to have seen his reaction after the show. Second comment came from a group next to me in the mezzanine while they were reading the Playbill. "I didn't know Clay Aiken was in this. He's the one who won American Idol." When the house isn't full of Clay fans, there is a slight pause after "I'm the Idol of the age" while the audience "gets" that this is Clay and then the laughter begins. Not as long as the pause after the "Kneel" "Dennis" scene, but there is a beat for recognition. Met some FCA'ers at the CH dinner which I crashed. Waves to Zenna & Divayenta. ETA lajeterfan, if that was after the Sat. matinee that you met Rocky'smom & jmh, I was there too! I pointed out the FCA pins to jmh.

Play, I hear you on the dentist stuff. I just paid mine $1K for a crown yesterday that was supposed to be $750. He just said that, by the way, I had to do some extra work. What am I supposed to do? Tell him to undo it? What I spend on Clay seems measly in comparison and it's a lot more fun! Takes longer too! I'll be at Spam Sat. night!!!! If I arrive through the ice storm we're having.

Thanks for the tip about Freecycle. Sounds great for good stuff. I seriously doubt that they'd be interested in some of the stuff I've put out. I didn't think anyone would take my rusted lawn furniture, but then I found out there's what used to be called a "junkman" up the road that pays by the pound. I couldn't be bothered to take stuff up there, but either he picks it up or someone else does! I never leave anything for more than 3 days, but I rarely have to bring stuff back in.

What to do with garage junk? I haul it down to the road and put a big sign on it that says "FREE" It's amazing what people will pick up - garden hoses that tangled with a lawn mower, old vacuum cleaners, pitchers without handles, ends of bureaus that somehow were separated from the rest. Almost anything. Recycling at its finest. Don't ask why I had all that junk in the first place.

Happy "Go Texas Day" for all those that are so inclined. Granddaughter is dressed in her best boots & hat! Do any other states have their own day? Sure don't think New York does.

Yes, Linda Huber's drawings are a double copyright infringement. My squawk is more with the photographer's rights than with Clay's. As the daughter of an artist, it was constantly drilled into me the difference bewtween copying - anything a photograph, another painting, a postcard, a Disney character, anything that is not yours from inception, is making "copy art" not an original. The composition belongs to the original artist. It's just visual plagarism. I could go on forever on the topic, but I'm sitting in the Cincy airport trying to get to Houston and my laptop battery is low so you are spared a rant. ETA ALL photographs, as well as paintings are automatically copyright, even if the artist doesn't file papers. I'me not sure about other orignal crafts - woodworking, pottery etc. but I am sure on those two.

Muski, best strategy in that situation is a pre-emptive strike. Start putting out feelers now so that if the day comes, you can hit the ground running and you won't be in shock. Besides, you might just find something great. I was blind-sided once and that was enough. Ever thereafter I always had something in reserve. Of course, I spent most of my career working on 3 to 5-yr. contracts. Certainly keeps one agile! Good luck.

How about, "I'm Singing Love Songs to You, But Thinking About My Quarter-Pounder with Cheese" as the title song for the album.

The woman with Clay and Quiana is Jenny Hill, a cast member in Spamalot. In fact, I think she may be the one in the sexy white underwear parading around during Sir Robin's song. Maybe she was Clay's date!

I know nothing about the music or radio industries. Simon keeps saying "relevant" and "recording artist", but if you look at the Billboard and radio play charts aren't most of the top names still rappers or hip hop or at least groups? Are there any solo vocalists that top the charts? If not, then Simon's argument doesn't make sense and the whole premise of the show is out of sync. I guess that would be asking too much.

It still amazes me that they quote Hannah, but have a picture of Clay! You'd think that she would be worth a photo. I guess they really do know what draws the hits.

I really appreciate that the winner wants to remain anonymous. That makes it all about Broadway Cares, Clay and TBAF and not ME, ME ,ME. Whomever you are - rock on.

Now that Hannah is feeling better and Clay has settled into his part, I wonder if TPTB at Spamalot are going to "invite" the critics to a show. Or do they even bother reviewing a three-year-old show just because of cast changes? And that's as far into the future as I'm going to speculate!

Just watching Gladys Knight tell someone that he is magical. She was so right.

I've been watching AI Rewind and the part that fascinates me are the small changes. I often have to go back and compare to the original. Yeah, I'm compulsive. No, I don't think the music or singing has been changed, but some of the fluff has been edited in interesting ways. There are more glimpses of the top three - Ruben, Clay & K-Lo than in the original, sometimes just a few seconds edited it. The biggest change was the Group 2 (?) dialog that Clay has with Ryan on the couch, when Ryan's playing "Name that judge". In AI it went something like this: Ryan: "Yo, Dawg, the Man" Clay: That's Randy. Ryan: No, that's Simon. In Rewind it's: Ryan: "Wow" Clay; ( in a puzzled voice) "Paula" Ryan: No that's Simon. Ryan: I love your hair yadda, yadda Clay: That's Paula Ryan Yo, Dawg, the Man Clay: That's Randy Now, why they would bother changing that, I can't fathom. The only thing I can think of is that the AI did a last minute edit to make a joke that bombed funny and when they did AIR, they just used the original tape. It also exposes the "live" show.

It's "Unheard of Curiosities: Concerning the Talismanical Sculpture of the Persians, the Horoscope of the Patriarkes, and the Reading of the Stars." Written in French by James Gaffarel. And Englished by Edmund Chilmead ... Printed in London, 1650. Interesting, but not easy reading! 17th centurythinking was very convoluted for modern minds.

BW, It's definitely an addiction, but I'm cheaper than you. I only patronize used book stores. Sometimes even that runs into $$$$$. The day I returned to work from lunch having spent $200 for a book, my workmates were ready to have me institutionalized.