claytonic

Hell, I was working on my degree in public health and this wasn't covered...people need to be careful! That's pretty staggering stuff, KAndre. The only possible explanation I can come up with is that bush fires, cyclones, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc all leave very visible destruction, and therefore is more newsworthy. Otherwise, it makes no sense that these stats aren't public knowledge. And having said that, it SHOULD be public knowledge because we, here on the driest continent in the world, need those stats to support the design of homes and buildings that are better suited to this climate. We KNOW to expect drought conditions like clockwork ... yet for hundreds of years, we didn't educate people about managing a critical resource like water. Things have improved (out of some dire situations) but still there is no law that requires all new houses to have a huge water tank under the house or backyard, that collects rain-water from the roof. This would do two vital things: help reduce the impact of floods and help reduce the impact of drought. The state I live in is called the Sunshine State and has the dubious honor of having the greatest incidence of skin-cancer in the world. Yet there is no law that requires all new houses to install solar power to help reduce the drain on electricity during the worst months of the year. Sometimes common-sense, as they say, isn't very common. At one time, even in a drought situation, you'd see people watering their gardens with a hose or hosing down their driveway instead of using a broom. Now, it's against the law and you no longer see people washing their car with a running hose on the ground or any of the above-mentioned situations. When it hits their bank-account, they take notice. My take is that mushrooms were growing in MacArthur Park. Well, that's certainly an interesting thought because if you watch this video, you'll see that the contestant whispers what it is about to the host, and she says, "we can't go there...." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsu0R41FwOU KC and The Sunshine Band Tu tu tu tu tu tu tu tu tu oh that's the way aha aha I like it aha aha That's the way aha aha I like it aha aha

The choice was easy for me... something to do with a fan.. What about THIS song? If I were a carpenter And you were a lady, Would you marry me anyway? Would you have my baby?That's just the start of it, the rest of the lyrics are even worse!

My JHud fan-twin just sent me this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxEj0AQiJ0Y This is going to be a very emotional song for her to do, given her recent family tragedy. I hope she really can pull through and truly reclaim her life with purpose. I think her deep faith in God will be her greatest strength and I am so glad she has that to comfort her. (Personally, I don't have that kind of faith but am always glad that it exists for those who need it. Having faith is a good thing as long as it doesn't involve condemning those who have different beliefs.) I hope she wins at least one Grammy or maybe two, especially the duet with Fantasia. ETA: Jennifer Hudson Sings You Pulled Me Through Live- Grammys 2009 (Emotional performance) JENNIFER HUDSON - Grammy 2009 Standing Ovation 4 Winner Best R&B Album! LIVE Powerful Vocal! (Whitney announces winner of best R&B album)

Hey, that's the Beach Bums Boys and THAT was the one I was trying to think of. I've always thought those lyrics were, well, corny.... ETA: Oops, posted that before I saw annabear's post, I couldn't believe someone had posted that because I was trying to think of it. Even the melody is kinda weird. EATA: John Lennon is my all-time favorite songwriter. He and Paul were a dynamite team but when the group split, it was John that I preferred although obviously, I am also a McCartney fan. ("Obviously" because how can anyone be a Beatles fan without being a McCartney fan). MacArthur Park - in XFactor 2004 (first series), one of the finalists sang this song and Sharon Osbourne (judge) said it was a terrible song and she didn't like because it was about food and should be on the cooking channel!!!!!! I couldn't believe someone with her background in the music industry would take "someone left the cake out in the rain" literally!! EYATA: I just got this in an email. I think it is worth a look... It won second place, I figured anything that wins second place warrants a second look...

Heyyyy , I saw KC and the Sunshine Band too but it wasn't a regular concert, it was at the opening of some huge event... there were other international guest performers there as well. Australia tends to need international artists for all their important events. We actually have some really talented people here but they never get the recognition they deserve until they make it in the US. e.g. no one had heard of Keith Urban when he was working in Oz. I didn't mention any of the Oz artists I've seen live because there was no point. We have even invited Paris Hilton to be a part of some of our special events like, for example, the Melbourne Cup, which is a big deal here. I can't believe she doesn't seem to have a problem with being nothing more than a piece of decoration, because she's certainly never been invited for her singing!! ETA: I like Tyra too, I think she is very good at what she does, and she loves Clay so she must have damn good taste! I really enjoyed the interview show she had with Clay when he was doing the promo for ATDW, I watched it a few times.

Moi << Former Concert-Whore. Lemmesee ...Bette Midler, Peter Allen, Sammy Davis Jr, Don Mclean, John Denver, Bob Dylan, Cher, Abba, Tina Turner, The Village People, Hall and Oates, Liza Minnelli, Boz Scaggs, Peter Frampton, Jane Olivor, Chicago, The Beach Boys, Janis Ian, plus a couple more. My favorites were Bette M, Sammy D, Peter A, saw them all more than once, some more than twice. I couldn't believe it when Bette named her only child "Sophie", I can still hear her voice saying "Soph!" on stage. Chicago was brilliant too, as was Liza Minnelli. With the exception of ABBA and the first Tina Turner (with Ike) concert, I nearly always had house seats. Didn't like Peter Frampton at all, and a couple of others were forgettable too. Don McLean performed at the Opera House, and he told the audience the ticket price was outrageous (paraphrasing, I can't remember exactly what he said) so he intended to make sure they got their money's worth. He gave the longest encore I have EVER experienced. Some of the audience tip-toed out because it just went on and on and on! What a relief when he took a final bow! Also saw Bette Davis and Bob Hope. They didn't sing but entertained their adoring audience, and Bette D, who was my favorite actress, took questions from the audience. Actually Bob Hope did sing "Thanks for the Memory". Also saw a ton of musicals, Oz productions of JC Superstar, Hair, Chicago, A Chorus Line, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Joseph ..gosh I can't remember the rest. The Harlem Ballet was memorable. Also, heaps of small theatre productions, too many to recount. The worst concert I have ever been to was something called The Barbarians. They were a band made up of the key musicians from The Rolling Stones (I think) and a couple of other high profile bands, without the lead singer. I can't remember though which ones but I am almost sure the Stones was one of them but can't swear by it. I saw them in L.A. and hated every second of it. I would have left early except that I was someone's guest in their country. It was pure agony. Sadly, I never got to see Michael Jackson in his hey-day, something I regret. Of course, I've also never seen Clay Aiken live and even that may never happen. While it isn't important to me now to see a live act, after watching so many videos of Clay in concert, I think I would like to experience it just once so that I know what y'all are talkin' 'bout! I am not an autograph or merchandise collector, which is why I love the net so much. I can experience something (magazine articles, pics etc) without having to find a place to store it, other than on a hard drive! See, I borrowed LTS from the library, but bought the audio and e-book. I have both audio books, one with Clay reading and the longer version with someone else reading. The e-book has all the pics that the hardcopy does. (I did, however, always buy programs). When you live a 15 minute drive from a major city, you usually have the best entertainment at your fingertips. That was back then, I no longer live in Sydney and rarely attend anything these days because I don't like the city anymore. I don't even like the movies, I prefer to listen to music, which I can do whether I am doing the laundry or at the beach. People are amazed to find I haven't seen the movies EVERYONE else has been to! I think I am the only person I know who has never seen any of the Star Wars! I just happen to prefer the movie era that produced the likes of Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart. I don't like violence and I don't like borderline pornography, which is what so many movies are now. See this thread about eggs frying on the ground in Oz while at your end, people are killed by ice-storms. http://findingclayaiken.invisionzone.com/i...amp;#entry99894 Actually, Southern Australia (which includes Melbourne) is where people are sweltering and battling fires and desperate for rain, while north east of Australia, they are dealing with serious floods. Just crazy.

OMG I HATE it too! At first I tried watching it because I figured Tyra was Clay's good friend... but it became just too painful, and there are far, far better programs on TV that I won't even watch! But I'll wait for the Clay Aiken ANTM clip to show up on YouTube!! I have to say, I have become slightly "hooked" on Amy Winehouse. I knew she'd won 5 Grammys (Grammies?) out of 6 nominations in 2008, but the bad press and her awful image just killed any curiosity that I would normally have about such a runaway success. Then I watched XFactor 2008 and one of the contestants did Amy's "I'm No Good" as her audition, and I just loved the song! I particularly loved the line "I cheated myself, like I knew I would". It reminded me of myself when I was a smoker. When I started smoking, a pack contained 20 cigarettes, so I'd say I smoked half a pack a day, then it became one pack a day. Then when the pack size increased to 50, I would continue to say "I smoke just a pack a day". Yeah, I cheated myself, like I knew I would. (I've long since quit smoking - my lungs and bank balance thank me.)

I don't think we have discussed Sammy Davis Jr before. Mr D was a superb entertainer. It is tragic that he died prematurely but it was not surprising since he didn't look after himself. He chain-smoked and drank too much, and didn't eat enough. The irony is that his rider stipulated cooking facilities in his suite because he loved to cook, but he didn't eat his cooking, it was always for others. His voice was in a league of its own, I agree he was the best of the rat pack. Just talking about him brings back memories of his Mr Bojangles performance at the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House. You know, I thought of him when Obama was elected because if anyone had reason to punch a "YES" fist in the air, it was him. Could it be James Morrison, the famous jazz muso from Down Under? (Only kidding!) If I had a dying wish to see one artist in concert in a house seat, I might have to choose Michael Jackson over our beloved Clay. But it would have to be the Michael Jackson of the Thriller era. IMO, there just hasn't been any other artist (in their prime) quite that talented as an all-round entertainer. It does appear that he has "lost his mind", it is just so sad that he's still around but not really. ETA: Someone who went to the premiere of THRILLER - LIVE at the West End Lyric Theatre said it was just brilliant. Some of the Jackson siblings were there as well. I don't really have a favorite female singer, it tends to change but a lot of the time, I'd have to say CA (hey, same initials!) is the front runner. I also agree about the melisma, that's the reason I am not overly crazy about Mariah, and what I found also annoying about Guy Sebastian, the first Aussie Idol. Tribeca's sig

jmh123, so sorry to hear about your mom but, my goodness, she sounds amazing! 95, wow you have some great genes!

Tina Turner always sang live, you could hear it in her voice that she was singing AND dancing to a fast beat. ( I have seen her in concert several times, once with Ike, then on her own). ETA: It is probably unfair of me to say that only a real singer sings live. It is a well-known fact that Barbra Streisand's greatest fear was singing live, her studio albums were always so incredible. But I have some LIVE albums, from concerts and some of them are amazing. I have a Sammy Davis Jr LIVE album, and it is fantastic.

That's because he is a real singer. http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=oc-aI1A9zzk Clay Aiken sings the SSB at NASCAR 6-6-04 I love his low register, that's the thing about his vocals that first grabbed me.

Hm, I didn't know that. I thought lip-synching was cheating... Britney was a guest performer at the UK X-Factor, and everyone knew she was lip-synching. The contestants were interviewed about it and they all avoided saying anything except how wonderful it was to have Britney on the show, and that included Simon Cowell. For me, the mark of a true artist is one who can sing live. Beyonce, I have to admit, sang live on XFactor and absolutely showed-up Britney not just in her singing but her performance. I would walk out of a concert if I knew the artist was "miming".

I always thought clack was for sharing, at least the YouTube clack , which is, after all, available to anyone. I send YouTube clack to people all the time... not everything I watch... I select stuff that I think someone will like. I've never come across an NJU who doesn't think Clay has a good voice, they may not want to watch clack every day and twice on Sundays BUT I am pretty sure they usually click on the YouTube links I send and they send feedback if they really like it. I send clack because I enjoy it and want to share the joy, it is no different to sharing jokes or interesting information and pics that I have received and want to share with others. However, in the case of clack, I am always hoping to convert a new Claymate crazy person Clay fan. ETA: HUDSON LIP-SYNCED SUPER BOWL PERFORMANCE Is this true? I know that there have been past super-singers who also lip-synced. Has there been a disastrous incident with the SSB at the Super Bowl, with someone messing up?

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=wgrrQwLdME8 Paul McCartney, eat your heart out!!! http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=aTcSi7c06oc Australian Pornography Even if you have seen this before, it is worth a second look. . The Odd Couple - BFF

Although cooking isn't my favourite thing to do, it is something I have tried really hard at on a regular basis, for health reasons. My health improved dramatically when I found a doctor who practiced nutritional medicine. I am not a health fanatic but I only have 'treat' type foods in moderation. Fortunately for me, I love vegetables and used to be a vegetarian, but my doctor wanted me to have a more balanced diet, so I now eat some meat. (I avoid pork, I still remember science class and what the teacher told us about pork, but lots of people who do eat it are walking around so that's just one of my mind-over-matter quirks. However, in social situations, I have learned just to eat what someone else has taken the trouble to cook, as long as it isn't offal because that would make me gag.) I don't like cold weather but the one thing about winter I look forward to is cooking in bulk the kinds of healthy meals that can be easily frozen into meal portions. I have been desperate enough to buy those supermarket frozen meals but I'd eat it wondering what I was really eating ...!! One of the best tips I have come across is to make creamy soup without any cream or water. The tip is to juice your vegetable, and use that liquid to make your broth, using fresh bones. For example, if you put fresh corn through a juicer, and then cook chicken bones in the corn juice, the flavor is amazing. Just add your preferences for additional flavor, such as sea salt, cilantro etc. When serving the soup, I like to add some fresh crunchy garnish, such as green shallots, Chinese coriander (cilantro) or finely chopped raw red onion. I have at least a dozen garden pots producing fresh Italian parsley, curly parsley, shallots, chili, cilantro, lemon grass, basil, regular mint, Vietnamese mint, "perpetual" celery, "perpetual" lettuce, and a few other fresh herbs that I can't pronounce, let alone spell! Cilantro is probably the easiest thing to grow, i.e. the Mexican one with jagged leaves, not Chinese coriander which is totally impossible to grow even though it is a great garnish, so it is one of the few fresh herbs that I buy. Nothing beats fresh, organically grown herbs, snipped just minutes before being added to your food. One thing I notice about Americans is that you guys love your cookies! (We call them biscuits or bikkies) I have never made them and I can't remember when I last bought a packet, but I do remember what kind they were - TIM TAMS!!! Anyone who is coming here, don't leave this country without sampling them! If you have an Australian coming to see you, make sure they have packed some Tim Tams for you! When Hugh Jackson was on an American talk show (promoting the movie "Australia"), he took along enough Tim Tams for the entire audience!

Oh absolutely, I would seriously never trust a sane person until they demonstrated some kind of craziness.

There is no way I would have allowed anyone to continue doing that for more than 60 seconds. I might have allowed the first 60 seconds of indulgence, then I would have turned around and put my finger to my lips. If it continued, I would have then said something. I rarely go to the movies now but years ago when I went every week without fail, I had movie buddies who would not even tolerate the slightest distraction because this was their precious time to relax away from work etc. Those who were actors themselves or involved in the production of movies were the least tolerant and would usually never hesitate to express their extreme annoyance. With the movies, you could often just find other seats to move to, but at a live show, it usually wasn't possible to do that. When you've paid for tickets, taken the time to travel to the theater, be it a 10 minute walk or 10 hours of air and ground transport, you're entitled to fully experience the show, and those who don't know how to behave at a live performance of any kind really need to be enlightened. (At least with a movie, you have many more opportunities to watch it again).

That is a great idea annabear You know, a Japanese style fan with a hot pic of Clay, with the words "He is, therefore I fan" on it would make a great fund raiser. The reason for a Japanese style fan is that it can be folded neatly and placed in a handbag (you guys call them purses, I think!). Also not too bulky to ship. A regular style fan would be too fragile and wouldn't last long. OK, I know this is the wrong thread but this is where it was inspired!

You beat me to it.... that's the first time I have seen something that i immediately thought "thread title". HA there should be an emoticon of Clay, with someone fanning him....

Well, this is too funny for words... The Cleed on YouTube Caption for THOSE photobooth pics reads" Doncha wish your boyfriends were hot like mine" And just to the right of that, you see the Video of Clay and Ruben, singing "Jesus is Love"

Yes maybe they are both in Florida to go to the super bowl...we know how much clay loves his sports Assume IIT IIU on any and all squeeing pictures of Clay and Reed from now for the rest of their lives Add Bookwhores disclaimer to make sure it sticks. Claytonic..Bookwhore's disclaimer should be in the glossary. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! LOL It's been there for ages, i.e. from when you first asked for it to be included!! See : Disclaimer

Thanks, I LOVE that video, so many of my favorite clips gathered together. The only problem I have with it is that it is a female voice singing when I'd rather hear Clay's voice when I am viewing his pics. There are so many montages like that, i.e. great montage but the wrong person singing.

That's the only part that made sense to me..... If you need inspiration, go here An 87 year old woman doing the Salsa TO GET A FULL SCREEN: Click on the little square, bottom right of the video. The 2nd half is better than the first, and the last quarter is best of all. ETA: AHHHHH, I am not familiar with bodybuilding terms!! But the first explanation reminds me of a question someone at work once asked me: "What do you call that useless piece of skin at the end of a penis?" I said "what?" Answer: Later on, I went and asked the same question to a gay guy in the office, and he immediately replied:

OH!! So is the list correct when it shows more than one tour in other years?