jazzgirl

I don't need to know what his musical style is going to be 3 months in advance of the next album. I'd rather savor and experience it at that particular moment, without any rumors/innuendo/preconceived notions about it clogging my addled brain.

Given the dearth of info we have about whatever the upcoming album will be, it looks this will be happening. All we know is he has a producer and apparently two approved songs, with some interesting possible tidbits from fan sleuthing. I am waiting to see if Clay will be more forthcoming with info in the M&Gs; he did share a bit of a recorded song with some early in the SRHPT.

Glad to read that you are having fun, muski. Here's a quote to ponder:

"Any new venture goes through the following stages: enthusiasm, complication, disillusionment, search for the guilty, punishment of the innocent, and decoration of those who did nothing." - Unknown

I'm kind of a crusader for ethics in marketing -- and it's lonely out here. For all the talk about marketing Clay, how to, and how much, I don't see that as the issue at all. For something real and lasting, it's all about putting out a unique product that people want because it's really, really good. I can't buy into a scenario where Clay would record throwaway pop just to get on the radio and sell units. That's the old "sucker born every minute" school of marketing, which has gained control without a soul, and there's really nothing there. It's hollow and vapid ~~ just slap on that "Cool" label and push the hell out of it. It's nothing more than a vehicle to coax money out of people's pockets with the usual cynical attitude, and falls far short of anything that can be defined in the ballpark of ethics. I don't think that is what Clay is in this for. I think he wants to make great music and record fantastic songs and have people buy Clay Aiken because it's a top of the line brand.

<snip>

I like your analysis! I think the "build it and they will come philosophy" as in Kevin Costner and "Field of Dreams" works. Put out a good product and people will buy. Of course, we do have the strange saga of the AIW EP, where a really great product was out there, and no one knew about it or could find it! I am glad that the song AIW will be getting some TV exposure with the upcoming skating show.

Before I go to bed, I just have to tell this story. I went to a big classy dinner tonight and happened to be standing right behind Sandra Day O'Connor when a woman I know asked her about a mutual acquaintance and Justice O'Connor said, "You know, he got married again and they're pregnant," and my friend said, "Noooooo. Justice O'Connor, you're shitting me," and Justice O'Connor quickly replied, "No, I am not shitting you." It was terribly funny. And I can't believe I'm at this computer at 2:30 just rambling on! Too much wine.

I suppose this could just as easily go in the Caregiver thread, but it is such an interesting story for those who haven't heard it, about Justice O'Connor and her Alzheimer's patient husband who has found a "friend" in his living facility:

A new page in O'Connors' love story

By Joan Biskupic, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's husband, who suffers from Alzheimer's, has found a new romance, and his happiness is a relief to his wife, an Arizona TV report reveals.

The report, which quoted the couple's oldest son, Scott O'Connor, focused on Alzheimer's patients who forget their spouses and fall in love with someone else. Experts say the scenario is somewhat common.

Offering a glimpse into the private life of a woman who has remained on the public stage since her Supreme Court retirement in 2006 to care for her husband, the report spotlighted John O'Connor, 77. He and the woman, referred to only as "Kay," live at a Phoenix facility for people with Alzheimer's.

"Mom was thrilled that Dad was relaxed and happy and comfortable living here and wasn't complaining," Scott, 50, told KPNX-Channel 12 in Phoenix in a story that aired Thursday. The station is owned by Gannett, as is USA TODAY.

hough Sandra Day O'Connor, 77, did not appear in the television report, it gave a rare look at the life of the nation's first female justice. The family's willingness to highlight an aspect of a heart-wrenching illness recalled O'Connor's decision in 1994 to go public with her feelings about breast cancer.

In a speech to the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, she spoke about discovering the cancer in 1988 and undergoing a mastectomy.

Scott compared his father to "a teenager in love" and said, "For Mom to visit when he's happy … visiting with his girlfriend, sitting on the porch swing holding hands," was a relief after a painful period.

The O'Connors, who have three children, met at Stanford Law School and married in 1952. John O'Connor left a partnership at a Phoenix law firm to come to Washington with his wife in 1981. He worked for D.C. law firms but was limited in his ability to take on matters that could come before the justices.

As her husband's disease became more difficult to handle, O'Connor retired.

She was traveling Monday and could not be reached for comment.

Peter Reed, senior director of programs at the Alzheimer's Association in Chicago, said the frequency of Alzheimer's patients forming new romantic relations is hard to estimate. "But the underlying causes of this are fairly common," he said. Though patients lose their cognitive abilities and experience mood changes, "one of the things that doesn't go away is the need for relationships."

"Justice O'Connor is certainly to be commended for … raising awareness and helping to reduce stigmas," he said.

Lisa O'Toole, manager at the center where John O'Connor resides, said the facility participated in the TV report "to educate the public about the disease process."

Reed said 5 million Americans have the progressive brain disease that affects memory and behavior.

"Celebrate Me Home", Portland is my favorite. Someone did a blended one without the interruption.

muski, I can see taking to heart what happened today, but to look at the positive, by critiquing you, your boss is showing that he still wants to work with you; it is when someone stops berating you and becomes truly indifferent that you have to worry. Could it also be possible that he is feeling heat from someone above him and you were a convenient target today? That may or may not be accurate, but it is something worth mulling over, in other words, don't self-absorb everything.

I think Clay will find some method of long-term success in the music industry just because he is so darn obstinate. His mule-headed stubbornness behind this "let's have my fans send me Christmas stories and put on a show" proves that to me. Actually, it reminds me of those old Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland movies of unbridled youthful enthusiasm and "let's put on a show!"

The Linda Huber drawing did capture Clay's sparkle. He does have a twinkle in his eye!

Wandacleo, I was reading through what you wrote earlier just prior to your mother's passing (some of which I quoted below), and now that she has gone on, I think you should congratulate yourself for a job well done! It seemed to me that you did everything you could to make your mother's life better and you went above and beyond the call of duty for a daughter. Even in your mourning, you should be very proud of yourself! You may not think that now, but in the coming months or years, it should give you a very warm feeling that you did your best! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

I tried to organize, prepare, and take care of things--made sure I had power of attorney and paid the bills, knew where everything was, but the reality of taking care of someone with Alzheimer's (or any debilitating disease) is that it's just flatout exhausting and never-ending. I've been taking care of Mom for 17 years--and half of those were with her having dementia. <snip> If she goes to a facility, then it will have to be under Medicaid because I can't afford $7000 a month!! That's far from ideal. Plus, I know they will just drug Mom into oblivion because there's just no way they're going to put up with her fighting them.

<snip> My sisters were great about helping when all they had to do was "babysit," but they won't help now that it's difficult: "Too hard."Thank God for Clay and Las Vegas!!!

Oh yeah, Play, I can totally understand not liking her. I couldn't stand her when she was with Cochrane and Grace..she's so singularly focused and sometimes she just doesn't listen. I don't always agree with her but she entertains me, a lot.

I, too, can see where Nancy can be grating and, at times, just downright wrong, but I rather admire her and enjoy her dissertations. Giving birth to twins at 48 takes extreme fortitude! She just recently found love after mourning her fiancé who was murdered in a random act of violence years ago, and which explains her rather strident pro-victim views.

Welcome Christel!

You know, Merrieeee, you don't have to serve all the traditional foods - I serve the cabbage and the pierogi, the babka and the chruschiki and several seafood choices.

O.K. I'll bite, what the hell is babka and churschiki? Is this Russian food?

Here's one answer:

babka

1. Russian; yeast cake with grated carrot or potato and flour.

2. Polish; a cake similar to baba, but baked without yeast.

Play will have to answer about "churschiki"; I've never heard that term used.

I thought Clay looked fine in the Hollywood rounds. It was his first visual impression in Atlanta that was dorky to me. As in said, you don't get a second chance to make a first impression!

I'm thinking it's getting more and more obvious that Clay dealt with young kids and special needs kids and not grown ups as a teacher. He should have written a few more vignettes and then just had a contest for "readers". Poor guy.

I heard a very funny speaker once say that when she was told that you couldn't fit a square peg in a round hole, she responded that you could if you PUSHED!! This situation sorta reminds me of that.

Perma, I think you hit on the right analogy for the story contest!

Playbiller, I have enjoyed your "Wiglia" memories. I have never heard that specific word before but my childhood had many candlelight Christmas Eve dinners with the mushroom soup and pierogies.

I never understood why Simon could not look beyond appearance either.

Anyway, AN TI CI PA TION.

Roll out Carly Simon and the ketchup commercial!

I'm glad you can get excited about freezing your derrière! It may very well happen.

My area is a week behind on AI Rewind, but even last week, I found what Simon said very odd in regard to J. D. Adams, the distant president progeny. Simon just seemed to think that he was exactly what the competition was looking for, when, IMO, he was a poor man's Clay. I think Simon is very singularly focused on image, hence his infatuation with Tamyra and Claudia Christian in AI1, who had the right look, which makes his inclusion of Kim Locke and Frenchie in season 2 all the more interesting. Ruben, of course, got a complete pass from Simon regarding his image.

I was getting overwhelmed by the cuteness, so I started working on a montage and then realized that this series of pictures fits right into KAndre's and jazzgirl's visions of breaking into a different industry altogether....

I will continue writing my Lifetime movie script:

Scarlett realizes that she has crossed the Rubicon. Her membership in the eHP had forever changed her, just as the burning of Atlanta had forever changed her namesake. She had reached the point of no turning back to her former life as a technology maven and genteel yarn hobbyist. This last set of sexy screen caps had proved her undoing. She grabs a handful of prints and says, 'as God is my witness, I will never stop saying that Clay is cute, cute, cute! (Tara's theme of "My Own True Love' swells in the background).

Hint: Click on the YouTube "more info" to find out who the back-up band is.

Reminds me of a hotel in California.

Bringing this additional info from Generous Anonymous Donor over from the CH. I always hate it when the network starts programs early or ends them late and my recording isn't right!:

She said that it looks like the Regis segment will be in the first hour and Clay will be second. Apparently the Fox programming is now "seamless" which means that episodes don't necessarily start right on the hour so be sure to program your VCR/DVR to start a few minutes early and it's probably best to record the full two hours to be safe.

The "Penguin" upthread is so cute!

Looking forward to seeing Couchie on the TV tomorrow (maybe?).

So, back to earlier in the day when I was last following the conversation. Re: Roger Friedman

Well, I refuse to let pea-brained Fox News bloggers steal my joy. Clay Aiken produced some of the most gorgeous sounds I have ever heard last Friday night. That first "and Solitaire's the only game in town" was just breathtaking, and the whole song was a complete tour de force. Bravo, Clay!!

So, Mr. I-have-an-agenda could not really review the song OR Clay. Otherwise he would have had to mention what the song was....a song widely considered to be Neil Sedaka's masterpiece....or ANYONE's masterpiece, for that matter. He would have had to mention how appropriate it was for Clay to be there to sing it, since Neil Sedaka ceded the song forever to Clay on national television. He would have had to mention how Clay recorded it, giving Neil his highest selling single in many, many years. And, of course, he would have had to remark on how beautifully Clay sang it and that it earned the first (and one of only two) standing ovations of the night. Including from everyone in Neil Sedaka's box.

But he wouldn't have gotten hits if he wrote something nice! *g* I think Friedman's perverse "notice" of Clay shows that he was the star of the show. He was notable enough to be ridiculed. Weird, isn't it? The saying is that you have to worry when no one is talking about you. I've also heard that there is no surer sign that you have arrived than to others trying to destroy you. I prefer to look at the blog mention as a very, very, very back-handed compliment. Spamalot got some pub, didn't it? *g*

re boobgate pic...

I wasn’t going to weigh in on this, but ..... as usual, sticking my foot in.......<snip>

second...... damn, Clay, are you really dumb enough to let someone take a picture of you doing that???? Did he know???

3rd......... if you want to do that, fine........ but no pics on the internet!!!

I had no doubt it was him, but must say I was disappointed that he would let a picture be taken of him in that situation.

I don't consider myself old (and I probably never will!), but I agree with those two points. I had no problem with Clay doing this, just not for a posed picture for which he no longer controlled the distribution. I thought it was a mistake for a public figure to let someone else "own" something like that unless they gave consent as to how it would be used. Hopefully, learning what could happen to things in the public domain was instructive.

In retrospect, though, boobgate was an age of innocence compared to what came later.

This is, afterall, the same guy who wrote, "Even my hands reject me." on a condom hat in college. <snip>

I've also heard the story that the hats were pre-written. It's difficult to know what is truth and what is fiction in some of the Clay lore. In any case, he had no problem wearing a hat with a bawdy message. I found the photo funny.

Glad you all liked my trip down Solitaire lane! It was fun putting together. I mean I was FORCED to watch all that clack and listen to Clay sing over and over and over again.

Really enjoyed your "Solitaire Man" montage! I always loved the song "Solitary Man", so that's the shorthand name I'll use to remember it. That song really is Clay's; I can't imagine anyone performing a better rendition.

As for the super-sekrit producer, Team Clay seems to think it is important to conceal their identity, as if it were some top secret info, or I guess, it's just more special to wait.

I kind of get the sense that part of the DF/Kat angst is simply jealousy--that he would choose to work with an idol other than Clay. But that seems to place an excessive amount of importance on Foster, and a lack of trust in Clay's own artistic judgment.

My sense is that Foster's interest in Kat is at least partially libidinous! No wonder the boyfriend seems tethered to her. IMO, she has a nice, but not great, voice, but her greatest quality is a stunning visual presence.

We do not know how Clay found Jaymes...but it was clear she was there with label approval.

laughn, that is a great picture awaiting a title. "Shared Secrets of Mentor and Mentee"? Two Divos Caught in Stride"? "Spread Legs Subliminally Echoing Candy Corn"?

Seriously, that is the nicest picture of Clay and David that I have seen. Even at his pastiest and whitest, Clay looks luminous.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CINDILU!

I love the hand movements during the glory note as well as the little victory jump at the end!

Playbiller, thanks for the recap, especially this perspective:

Connie Francis had a sentimental ovation, she did nothing special. Neil begged for ovations - he would look at the crowd and walk up and down the stage wiping tears from his eyes until people stood and applauded. Really!

... you all know that I've been living on a couple hours sleep here & there (ok, every other day) for the past week. Between that, the gallons of Mt Dew (because I refuse to drink anything stronger) and Clay singing stupendously and tossing his head back at the most wonderful moments which would normally cause you to drop anything you're holding in your hands and go GUH! ...onsider mine as backup vid but with great sound since I was able to use the external mic.

Hope the "sleepless beauty" gets some sleep! As another Scarlett said: "tomorrow is another day". Rest well, you did great tonight!

Those pictures are great!

Meanwhile, I'm throwing things together to leave tomorrow afternoon to visit Minnesota. It sounds like MIL is getting worse, and we need to get up there...and may be up there for a while.

Safe travels for you and hubby.

KAndre, I'm glad to read you are going to an endodontist. I hope you will pleasantly surprised and sail through the procedure with just a few pain pills.