lilyshine

Scarlett, I think my son lives in Montrose. He used to be in the Heights, but they moved. They are 3 or 4 blocks from the Kroger on ??Westheimer??. I have a terrible memory for street names if I'm not driving! I'm going to be in Houston at the end of February. Any parties planned????

Before Spamalot, my friend and I were scoping out the theater and surrounds. As we walked down Schubert Alley, I was pointing things out. "There's the stage door. There are Clay's barricades ready to be moved into position. There's Jerome." I suddenly stopped and realized, I'm within three feet of a real live person and I'm pointing him out as if he were a piece of the scenery. Fortunately, he was talking on his cell and maybe didn't hear me. I gave an embarrassed little wave and moved on. Yes, he did wave back. Funny, but very embarrassing.

The night I was there, they changed their name to "ackey, ackey -- something long and incomprehensible -- Mrs. Jones" The "Mrs. Jones" almost succeeded in cracking up both King Arthur and Clay. I have no idea of the significance, obviously an inside joke.

I'm back home from NYC and seeing Spamlot and Clay on Thurs. evening. I won't say much about the production other than it was hysterical and Clay was very good. There are some excellent actors in the cast and Monty Python is my type of humor. One thing I haven't seen mentioned on the Boards is the Playbill. In front of the Spamalot pages there are some pages for "Dik od Triaananan Fol" (Finns Ain't What they Used to be). Considering that the Executive Producer of this work of art is Vlad the Impaler, the cast blurbs and scene information are incredibly funny - at least to my warped sense of humor. I was sitting reading it before the show trying not to laugh out loud. If you missed it, check it out. I waited at the stage door, but I was blocked by two tall, broad men. Since I'm very short, I had no real hope of getting an autograph, but Clay managed to spot a disembodied hand clutching a Playbill at their waist level. He signed it and even returned it to the correct person although I had to reach through several other people to claim it. There is one video where my head is on screen for exactly 0.5 sec before a poster covers me up! I guess that's my 15 min. of fame.

A propos of nothing whatsoever, I was looking at Qiuana's website and notced she has a link to Finding Clay Aiken. Unfortunately, the link is broken. I know it can't be fixed from this end, but thought you might want to know. Here's the page: Quiana's links

Being celibate and being asexual are two very different things. The first is a choice one makes, the second, as I understand it, hard-wired. Throughout history, people have been celibate for many diverse reasons - religion, lack of opportunity, economics, family and class dynamics etc., etc. In our sex-centric society, it's hard to understand that all those Victorian maiden aunts and bachelor uncles weren't all gay. None of this has much to do with Clay though. If he's made a choice to be celibate - fine. If he's made a choice to screw around with men or women very, very discreetly - fine. Nobody's business that I can see.

Preserving newspapers is a tough job because they are printed on cheap acidic paper that self-destructs easily. Light, especially UV, and moisture are the main agents that promote rapid deterioration. Rapid changes in temperature and humidity are also harmful. That's why special collections in libraries are in climate-controlled areas which rarely get above 67 degrees. Yes, people who work there freeze their butts off, but the books are happy. If you are interested in only keeping the information in a newspaper, then copying it onto acid-free paper will do the trick. If you want to preserve the newspaper itself, then a closed, acid-free container on the top shelf of a closet is the best place for it. If you want to be fancy (and expensive) there are specially made archival folders and boxes for all sizes of magazines & newspapers. ETA Some links: Gaylord University Products Hollinger Don't use any poly bags, no matter what anyone says about them being "archival". Most plastics give off gases over time that can harm paper and all will trap moisture. What you think you are sealing out, may be what you are sealing in.

This is the thing that continues to amaze me. I've never heard of a journalist getting to anyone who really knows Clay, and you know they must have tried. He is surrounded by a silent barrier of friends. In Albany a guy tried to tell me that he had talked to Jerome and found out stuff about Clay. My only reaction was to laugh in his face. I don't know Jerome, but I do know that he isn't spilling the beans to random folk.

Condescending or not, the article is still a lengthy article in a well-know magazine that's spread around lots of "pick up & read" places like doctor's waiting rooms! Plus four pages on the web. It may be damning with faint praise, but it's not mean or derogatory like some have been. As for the picture, I think it's an attempt at "arty" - more of a caricature than a portrait, similar in style to the cartoons that festoon the walls of so many NYC eating places.

My granddaughter and I were at the Houston DCAT so I'm loving all the new clack. I've always felt that particular performance was almost a "dress rehearsal" for the rest of the tour. Not in the arrangements or vocals, but in the choreography (such as it is) and in Clay's banter. To my eyes, he is trying out things, not sure where he or the girls are going to be or how they are going to interact. Later concerts were more similar to each other. Boy, the lighting was terrible there! It's also interesting that "the lies, you were the truth" line hadn't become the roar out line in BYLM yet. Roar outs are scattered at various lines. I wonder when "lies-truth" became the line. I find it fascinating to watch the twists and turns that both performance and banter take. I understand the lack of clack from Spamalot, but I miss being able to see the performance grow and change. Personally, I know it's wrong, but I'm hoping that there will be at least one video, maybe the last night, so we can relive Clay's first Broadway show when we are sitting in the CA Old Age Home.

January 31 for me!

I just had a silly thought this morning. I wonder if Clay still gets his driver's license changed when he looks different? Now how many times would he have had to do that? {{{{{{{{{{Claygasm}}}}}}}}}}}}

The "expert" Perez is on M&J talking about Heath Ledger & Brittney, so be careful not to eat before watching.

Oh, boy is Simon ever obsessed with Clay. He told that geeky guy not to do a "Clay Aiken" and change his hair weirdly or wear red leather jackets! How many other people does he remember what they wore four years ago!!!

Please, please please have that be a typo and not a prediction!

As for Clay discussions and disses -- no friends, no family ... no problems! 'though I wouldn't recommend it for everyone, just those with the hermit gene.

There are at least two people from CV who are at the golf tournament. I don't know the details, but they have been checking in and posting on the board.

Two older hotels which are convenient are the Wellington (55th & 7th) and the Pennsylvania (34th & 7th) (you know Pennsylvania 6-5000) They were both very glamorous in their day but are really basic now, but clean and fairly well kept. Rooms range from $150 - $250.

Totally OT, but sooper-sekrit insider information. I was talking to someone from Hunt Vineyards and she said that their ice wine is very good and in good supply this year.

Strange to say, I just finished reading a book that talks about the development of the English language and mentions the role of various accents, especially how the London pronunciation became the "received" one in English. It's a bit out of date, but interesting. Albert C. Baugh, A History of the English Language, Appleton-Century, 1935. Another book that explains the development of varying pronunciations is The Story of English by McCrum, Cran & MacNeil, Viking, 1986. This was published in connection with the PBS series on English.

I think HP will eventually be like all those Best Sellers gathering dust in my basement or available from Amazon for $0.01. That said, I wouldn't mind having Rowlins' income!

Progress: 100% Raised: $ 99563 Goal: $ 100000 Clay did say that he wasn't good at math.

Yes, yes, and yes again. Sorry, but i'm of the school that thinks the HP books are poorly written, devoid of real character development and have the most absurd plots of any fantasy genre I've read and I've read lots. Lloyd Alexander could write and Tolkein was a master of the English language. I used his book on "The Pearl" long before I knew anything about LoTR. In fact, it might have been before they were published. God, I'm old! Peter Jackson did a wonderful job, as well as the entire cast. I've watched all of the behind the scenes sequences on the extended DVDs - I think they are longer than the movies. When I want to veg, it's a LoTR marathon. That or Jane Austen! Six hours of P&P? Sounds good to me.

My local PBS station had wall-to-wall musical programs on for Christmas and some time during the day I flipped it on just as background. I really wasn't paying attention, but would listen whenever someone was signing a Clay song. What I heard wasn't good. There was a twangy, ear-piercing version of Star of Bethlehem, a mournful All is Well that sounded like the Well had just been poisoned, an emotionless Mary Did You Know that might have been asking if she knew what time it was. There were countless forgettable versions of the other Christmas classics. Maybe it was because I'm a fan, but the skating show music was very different. Clay has a warmth in his voice that embraces the listener. It's more than "I stay on pitch", many of the people I heard were doing that. Maybe Gladys Knight was right, way back then, it's pure and it's magic. Anyway, after listening to a lot of good music, and a few clunkers, all day, Clay stood out as one I would want to hear again, back flap and all.

I think the reaction to Spamalot will be very interesting to watch. The closest thing to a Python moment that I can think of, was the horse bit on Kimmel. Fans who didn't "get" that, will probably have trouble with a lot of Spamalot. Parts of the play are just seemingly random bits, without content or meaning, just funny as hell. I suspect the reviews will be all over the place and review the concept as well as Clay's performance. I doubt very much that "professional" critics and reviewers will bother reviewing a play that's several years into its run just because of a minor cast change. If they do, even if the reviews are awful, it is a real testament to the high visibility of Clay.