Scarlett

Playing catch-up since it was commencement weekend... Sorry about missing your java question, CM. The Microsoft version of the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) is no longer distributed by Microsoft since MS and Sun went head-to-head over cross-platform compatibility and licensing, but the Java Runtime Environment (JVM + class libraries) from Sun or other 3rd party vendors like Oracle are ok.

(I had a connection to you today, though. Our keynote speaker was the CEO of Google who used to work at Sun where he led the development of Java. Very interesting speech -- 00see, he mentioned how 'friend' was a noun to his generation and not a verb like it is today)

Maybe it was just as well that I was out since I don't have much to contribute to the discussion because I don't find Simon particularly entertaining so I don't pay much attention to him. I didn't watch AI before Clay, only watched when he was there except for 1 performance last April when I was convalescing at a friend's house and despite my efforts in making us late in getting home that day we still caught 1 song at the end of the show (my friend 'discovered' AI this year); it happened to be Adam, and it's a very telling sign that I can't even recall the name of the song right now but they did it in all bluish mood lighting and apparently people liked it because the next day some other people were gushing about it. Maybe I should just move on since I can't even recall AI or Simon enough to talk about them. *throws arms out and shrugs*

djs, sorry to hear that some of your officemates were so nasty. I never had officemates mention or ask about his orientation. They knew I went to shows a lot and sometimes they'd get confused, thinking it was Michael Buble that I was watching though I always set them straight quickly with some rather vigorous head-shaking.

I took the Amtrak from Boston to NYC for the 2003 Thanksgiving Parade with my kids and we all enjoyed it. The ones I really like are the high-speed ones in Europe and Japan.

kf, thanks for the beautiful screencaps!

Based on Clay's answer to the "E! True Hollywood" question, can I just say how glad I am that I never bothered to download or watch it? (Nauseating....)

ETA: That new UM clip is fabulous! Really gives a better sense of the atmosphere and energy in the room. What a beautiful rendition!

Thanks very much, luckiest1!!!

(I'm off to see a couple of DD's daughter's friends get ordained -- and will take video for them of the ceremony, but I hope to use my iPod once in a while... is it wrong? *ducks lightning*)

I think I'm a day late....by an hour or so..BUT! Happy Birthday Solo!!

Made it to the new digs, in the new town, in the new country, safe and sound on Wednesday. The internet wasn't working my first day but it's humming along fine and dandy now, so I can enjoy this week's bounty of clack. It was so good to hear him sing again, even if it was a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Teasing is fine with me. What a treat to have gotten Unchained Melody, though. It was gorgeous....just like Clay himself last Saturday night.

I'd better git....

There seems to be a bit of work to be done around the house before our stuff gets here next week..... .....not that I REALLY believe it will get here as promised. We're out shopping this weekend for a car, closet space, curtain fabric, and groceries. I also need to find someone who shampoos upholstery. Pretty white sofas aren't so pretty when they aren't so white....ugh!

At least I got the landlord to come and collect his personal belongings.....and his wife's collection of Buddhas.

Kareneh, I'm glad you made it safely to your new home .... and happy to hear that your Internet's working (ulterior motive) since this week, I got confirmed to do our North Sea implementation which will involve a couple of site visits, either later this year or early next year! Though of course, if the cute guy announces some shows I'll probably see you over here first!!!

*waves to Caro*

Have a great trip, Chacha!

What an absolutely beautiful rendition of UM!!!

Thanks for the YouTube link! It's also an nice HBD gift for Solo!!! (a year ago we were traveling to Kimmel and the best, but unfortunately lost, version of Ashes!!!)

:bdayparty2:

Is the 30 Rock discussion on another thread?

Just checking in after spending an Internet-less night in a major American city -- luckiest1 & ldyjocelyn, I know exactly how you felt the other week! I can't believe I survived -- my Sheraton-line hotel lost its wireless service the night I arrived and somehow the hotel itself was nestled among some hills that blocked out both AT&T & TMobile signals. My only access was a shaky 2-bar connection on my kindle. *still feeling the chills of withdrawal*

I just knew there would be clack and/or a blog or both!

Congratulations, Caro!!! Belated HBD, BW!

Can't wait to see the show tonight -- yes, I'm in a different hotel now.

By the way, a belated "thank you" to Scarlett, for the great clack of Clay at David Foster's concert. Your's was THE best, at showing Clay as the handsome, funny, talented man that he is!

ETA: Too cute!!!

I don't want to start grading anybody's efforts - a lot depends on seating and opportunity. I give them all A's!

this is not an easy thing to do. People give up their full experience whether it be the gala or concert etc. to get this for us. Every effort that all of our clackgatherers make is appreciated and each may give you a different perspective on the performance. Thank you to all who gather clack, you are very much appreciated.

ITTTA, djs and gg! Just getting something and uploading it to share with all the other fans is a HUGE thing! One clip is one shot from one perspective; you're basically looking at what that particular clackgatherer wanted to see. I loved the JBT when we were able to bring and distribute 2 or 3 cameras each, handing them to people who had never taken clack and who then got "bitten" by the clack-gathering bug and are now bringing back beautiful clips from venues where we might not have had any at all. Also, it's important to let every single person who takes Clack know that their efforts are appreciated! One day, a person may be the only one in a position to film something important (who knows? cough!wardrobemalfunctioncough!cough!) but if they didn't feel they could do a good job they could just think, "What's the use? Someone else will take better clack so maybe I shouldn't even try." There are never enough clackgatherers and yesterday's newbie will be tomorrow's expert. Maybe someone was at that Seafood dinner thing but thought, "My camera's not too great! I'll just leave it to the experts." *cries*

I'm hoooome from my wonderful week-end visiting with Clay friends and seeing my HAWT or as Toni says f*cking gorgeous boyfriend. I won't mention any names of all the wonderful ladies I ate with, talked to, Eeeeeed with as I might forget someone as I don't have a memory for sh*t anymore. But, I do remember how awesome Clay looked & sang. The hair. OMG!! It was perfection. This color looks soooo GOOD on him, probably because it is close to his natural hair color. His singing was - there just are no words. He looked so comfortable up there. I basically enjoyed the whole show. I would have loved to have had more Clay but I knew it wasn't a Clay show from the get go so I wasn't too disappointed. I could have done without the opera lady but overall it was really good. I would do it again in a heart beat. I thought Cher looked reeaaaly good for a lady her age. I would kill for a body like that!!!

When they did the finale song Clay started out singing alone, briefly, then the others came in but I could still hear his voice harmony part most of the way through the whole song. His tone was beautiful. The one thought that crossed my mind afterwards was I had heard so many good voices from the Canadian Tenors to Donny Osmond and I still love Clay's the best. No other voice out there no matter how good affects me the way his does.

No, it's not technically perfect, or trained, but I love the tone, even the way he pronounces his R'rrrrs sort of hard, and the southern thing he does of dropping the er and making it an a in some words. His voice is just so distinctive. Hearing him sing just made me want a tour more!! I'm ready for a road trip ya'll. Gotta run, work calls just want to thank ymarie & eleid, & demeter for doing all you did to make it a wonderful fun time with Clay friends !!

Did I say he looked f*cking gorgeous!!

I was going to write a longer recap but ncgran4clay said it so well!!!

Y'all know what it's like to have a song stuck in your head all day? How about just a snippet of a song?!!!

But the thing is, I don't want to get unstuck! :bliss2-1:

ETA: Way to go gbmifan! :thumbup:

ETAA: Yay for a great recap from KAndre!!!

Hi! Just got home and checking in -- tired but v. v. happy. I'm not caught up but I hope my roomie got home from SJ airport?

I can finally say I've slept with Couchie!!! And unlike with Solo, she didn't make me sleep on the wet spot!!! (Ooops, was that TMI? Repeats to self, what happens in Vegas...)

Thanks for all the kind words -- what a weekend!!! We need more of this... is it bad form to say that he was fantastic and without peer, but it was too short and over too quickly? /jk

to FCA!!!

ps. It's nice to have good friends but when they call up my roomies to tell them that I'm NOT TO BE ALLOWED ANYWHERE NEAR A ROLLERCOASTER, it's a bit much! But I love y'all anyway, eHP!!! (and thank goodness I've already been all the Vegas coasters anyways) *blow raspberry like cute guy did on Leno*

ETA: *waves wildly at artquest* Your seat rocked!!!

Linked by Chardonnay@CH:

Oh Scarlett the whole experience sounds wonderful and all too brief.

How easy was it to upgraded your tickets? I'm curious, never having had that experience.

Lotus, in last night's case Artquest gave up her better seat so that I could take clack. Upgrading comes in many ways, different every time and often with total strangers. There were people selling Row B tickets outside the venue (they were in the tiers but they seemed too low for the stage and possibly vulnerable for clack)

For any Clay Aiken show, I consider a ticket as "getting my foot in the door"; my minimum requirement is to be in the house and to hear him sing -- but Clay Nation has always come through every single time.

ETA: Getty link

So sorry your flight was delayed, couchie! *I was too sleepy to suggest that you call PerusingOne before leaving -- she could have told you where your airplane was coming from and whether or not it had already left*

Thanks again, FCA, for all the good luck wishes. I'm uploading America directly to Evangeline -- lots of cute Clay parts in it!

Artquest and I were saying last night that we so miss doing this. It was wonderful to once again have a taste of what we enjoyed throughout these years -- the announcement, the frenzied ticket-buying, the angst, the ticketmaster snafus, the websites we took down (they never learn), then the day of the show arrives and there's the pre-show excitement, pre-concert gatherings, more stress & anxiety about getting into the venue on time and with all our "stuff", finding seats, swapping & re-swapping & upgrading, checking out phones and testing cellcert connections, and then... just watching him on that stage doing what he's meant to do, looking and sounding better than he ever did before (I swear, each concert I think he improves something!), pure bliss for those few choice minutes... and it's over all too soon, especially last night... and then re-living the concert by telling & re-telling it with friends and downloading Clack...recaps and recap rebuttals.... until the next one. I hope it won't be too long before we can do this again. I so loved being there last night but we need more!!!

Thank you so much for all the Clack-gathering well-wishes, good thoughts and crossed fingers and toes!!! Anyone still awake? This is a temporary link until it's uploaded to the vaults:

DF Medley 178MB (mpg version)

Many, many thanks to artquest for letting me use her seat!!!

ETA: {{{beryl}}}

Via janfan821 at CV:

Just saw Clay on "30 Rock"promo on NBC. I bet they are going to promo the dickens out of this one! He is the first celebrity shown!

It was part of a promo for their Thursday night lineup -- Earl, The Office, 30 Rock. I looked up just in time to see him. I think his hair was combed down, not it spikes -- but don't hold me to that. His name was on the screen, too. After they showed Clay, they showed Mary J. Blige, Elvis Costello and Sheryl Crow, maybe some others.

It was great!!!!

I can't cap things so maybe someone else can keep an eye out for it in the coming days.

ETA:

ldyj, sending you good thoughts for tomorrow.

thank god I checked the weather. I was about to pack all wrong.

waves at KAndre..can't wait for your report!!

*waves wildly at KAndre! Safe travels!*

HBD, ncgurrl!!!

Now, LdyJ and Scarlett, I made my avatar out of a photo in my photobucket file a long time ago. I'll try to find it and see if I tagged it -- but I have a lot of photobucket albums to go through!

Hope you get well soon, tribeca!

ldyj, thanks for the OMWH anniversary reminder!!!

*Looks around the empty room, closes the door and goes searching for the missing FCAers... aha! I knew it! The Overcome By Cuteness Car!!!*

Eyelashes!

Thanks again, wanda!

Let's not forget the original cute one!

ETA:

ETAA: Yes, ldyj and kf, I want to know where the avatar came from too!!!

I want to pinch his little cheeks!!

I love it when Scarlett gets sexy with her code.

where I shoulda gone hours ago!

Why oh why do I have to work? Would much rather sit here and stare... And I have to go a United Way event tonight -- if more pictures show up today please stare&sigh for me!!! (and don't melt all the pictures before I come back)

Ok, maybe it's time to stop & take a look at the Dad...

Just remembered that I haven't posted this in a while...

...off to bed, happily!

ETA: but not without a last look... and a last squeee!

ETAA: wanda, the sample code to display the picture above is in blue below: (copy & paste, don't reply)

[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y249/ldyjocelyn/parkerhichair2.jpg[/img]

Awwwwww, he's so cute!!! Such adorable toesies and that serious look and lipbite!!! *gurgles and dissolves into a puddle of goo!!!*

And the smiling picture?!! Totally adorable!!! Ahhhhhhh! *alternately sighs and coos*

There seem to be other pictures (of someone with similar features only somewhat taller) that are just beyond my field of vision but I'll check on those & comment later tonight. This is all the cuteness I can handle for now!!!

*and somehow, gazing at total cuteness relieves itching better than Bendadryl... all's well with the world!*

claytonic, thanks! I didn't know they could be applied after the fact.

ETA: Wonders... would it be worthwhile to ask friends who carry The Filipino Channel to watch for Charice news between now and Saturday? Thank goodness Clay wasn't in Vegas yesterday -- hotels must have been packed for the boxing match.

Lol, bottle! So happy for your find!!!

Thanks v. much, jmh, wanda and 00lsee!!! *will.not.think.of.scratching.will.not.think.of.scratching.will.not.aaargh!*

ETA: How did I miss your post? Thanks as well kf!!! (and with a Clay mention too!)

I use the Benadryl Clear Gel, and it's applied topically, and works great for bug bites and plant allergies. Oooooo my sis was doing a charity walkathon this weekend so she probably needs a bottle right now.

Clay content: I'm so excited about next Saturday night!!!!

And I FLOVE his answer about the Hometown Connection where he joked about being jealous that Frankie Munoz was a star. I loved it when he said it was surreal reading the question, and that people would tell him he would be a big star someday but he never believed it. And he still has to pinch himself. I'm happy that he's so happy that he still needs to pinch himself. What a darling man he is. I hope he's pinching for a long time. He may need a bottle of Benadryl himself!

*itches all over*

Liquid Benadryl gets right at the itch. I've never tested it with multiple bites, but it works really fast when I have just two or three.

Hi jmh! Just want to clarify, Liquid Benadryl taken orally or used in place of calamine lotion? I don't have any but there's a CVS right around the corner...

HBD, preden!!!

Whew! Just got back from an attempt at hiking and after all these years in Houston, I just found out the most important thing to know about it -- Do NOT attempt to go hiking after it's been raining for some time! The mosquitoes were Texas-huge and very hungry!!! *itches all over*