Scarlett

Look at the bright side -- this year, no one will be secretly opening the hotel window to let in some fresh air! merrieeee, this week the show was 60 minutes long. The first week it was 62 minutes so if you only taped the show itself, you would've missed the tail end with Frenchie's interview. (For DVRs in Houston) If you won't be home, might be a good idea to tape Girlfriends (on Sundays) or Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (you're taping the Saturday show) and just erase them when you don't need them. When we get to top 12, there may be some Clay clips at the very end that could be cut off if you don't play it safe.

{{{{zena}}}} {{{{Clayzorback & hubby}}} Actually Clay is being very smart (& sneaky) because this gives him the opportunity to say -- "Since lunch is 1/4 the price of dinner, it really isn't fair. We should go to lunch 3 more times and I'll pay." So they have 2 more lunches. Then on the last one, he'll say "But I can't make lunch, let's have dinner." So the whole thing gets imbalanced again and he'll get on her to pay for another dinner and so on and so forth... :cryingwlaughter: :cryingwlaughter: Anytime you want to go yarn-shopping just let me know. You already have my Ponchos and Wraps pattern book. Alpaca is very warm because it's hollow and traps the warm air inside. So is cashmere & it's extra soft -- you can make a very thin, form-fitting sweater from cashmere that's hotter than Clay Aiken. I've been meaning to ask....have you gifted Clay with any "striped socks" from your colorways based on his pix? What a unique gift that would be!!I haven't though I've been learning to make socks and I know I have enough yarn for it (my stash is getting to be quite embarassing. *puts hand over Solo's mouth*). I just have no idea how to make one that'll fit. How long should the leg & cuff of a size 13 sock be anyway? OK, I can't believe that all you people calling me an evil enabler are the same ones deserting me on Sedaka. Is this really going to be my first Clay trip to NY all by myself? I don't think I'll be able to sweet-talk Continental into letting me fly home on standby 36 hours before my real flight. What am I supposed to do? Go back to all our pilgrimage places by myself??? eg. JNT06 route: Central Park (for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade '03), CBS, the Unicef snowflake corner (and I do have a picture of merrieeee under the snowflake, hee!), NBC, GMA, Bryant Park, Beacon??? And will dumpser-diving behind that swanky restaurant where they had the Clyra be a required stop now? Just want you to know that if I get mugged and killed, I'm coming back to haunt/discombobulate your keyboard & cable modem at ticket-buying time!!! On the bright side, this means I get to write my own recap and no one can refute it. Heh, heh! I can even pre-write my recap right now..... Scarlett's Scandalous Sedaka Sojourn: The cute guy stole the show but graciously stepped back to make sure Neil remained the center of attention. It was a glorious gathering of old friends that seemed to go on forever. I left the venue smugly thinking of how much the ehP would regret not being there. As I was walking to my subway stop on Central Park, who should I run into but ol' green eyes himself? And it turned out that he was headed to the same hotel as I was. Fancy that! People always whispered that he stays at the Marriot on Times Square but it turns out that the chea-er-cost-optimizing guy actually prefers Jersey City. So he walks me to the subway and we take the same one to Penn Station where we would catch our train to the hotel. Suddenly, NYC is enveloped in a massive blackout. I could only imagine all the chaos that ensued above us. However, in our little subway car all by ourselves, life was good as my Mary Poppins bag provided enough food, water and entertainment to sustain us for hours. And I had only enough yarn to knit one small afghan for us. It barely kept us both covered but we stayed warm... Ooh, I'm starting to enjoy this! Yes, a solo Sedaka trip doesn't seem so bad after all!

Karen Eh? what fun!!! Thanks for taking us along on this adventure. More pictures, pretty please? When can we go to the bazaar again? *missing and hugging ya!* My favorite "Neeeeed" wasn't from a song but it was the first of the 3 times David and Clay repeated just that note after UM at the Vancouver Gala. If we're picking a full song, though, Gala UM would be the best ever for me!!! Colorways are patterns of colors used to make hand-dyed yarn -- eg. the self-striping yarn that can be used to make those socks he always wears. I've been making some based on his appearances, eg. I have a Raleigh NAT, Unicef 07, Fantasy (from AI3), SCC, AAF, etc. I have a red bag that fits perfectly under the seat in front of me (it came from the LA Voices for a Change Gala, made by the Swiss Army knife folks). During the flight I pull it out a bit to have a perfect foot rest as well as a handy "Radio Shack/BB/CC" [tm:Angela] BTW, sorry for forgettig to say this earlier {{{Cotton and NC Pottery}}}. That must have been awful! LOL, I love that "dragging-Clay-off-to-bed" icon! Will keep that in mind the next time I actually go off to bed as opposed to falling asleep on the keyboard. ETA: Waves to FromClaygary who's the only other FCAer up at this hour!

Ooh! Sounds like so much fun! I wanna go next time! FromClaygary, awww, those are such beautiful pictures! I wanna come next time too! Someday, I want to make colorways out of all of them but especially these: I love the little bits of purple in this one: I love NC Clay -- does that count??! ETA: duckyvee, everyone on the road hated me this pm because I was concentrating on the syllables so much that I'd abruptly swerve or slow down or speed up speed up depending on the song. :F_05BL17blowkiss: (is there a miata smiley?) ETAA: FromClaygary, and I listened to Clay sing "O Canada" today!

I miss the growls from the JBT version *sniff* -- do you think KAndre will kill me if I pick Toledo for my DCAT recommendation?

What a Banner!!! Thanks, cindilu2! Could it have been a play of words since "Send in the Clowns" is from ALNM which was based on "Smiles of a Summer Night"? Do you think you could you spoiler the partial synopsis that you posted? Some people may want to read the original story. ps. I need something cheerful. "Send In The Clowns" is just too sad. Must watch some funny clack.

LA: Angela thanked Maxine who takes care of Aubrey so she can tour with Clay Angela pointed out her family members. Clay said she must have brought here whole church. Clay remarked that a 10 yo could dance better than him (after Aubrey danced with Angela during TWYMMF) Talked about how he is always asked about his favorite singers, then snuggled up with Angela; waved "Surprise!" to her family. Then Quiana remarked, "Guess Who's coming to Dinner" After the AITF note discussion with Quiana, he said "<something> willing to take some of that alcohol and I don't even drink." Damon was in the audience -- he was originally supposed to have Jesse's job back in the JNT04 but turned it down; and Clay bragged that "Jesse is still here" and said that Damon was a self-esteem booster. Said that Jaymes asked/encouraged/nagged/forced him to write the LAA lyrics. Both Clay and Angela threw their shoes at Quiana, who then said she was going to auction off Clay's shoe Said thank you when someone gave him some water -- noted that the TBAF logo was trademarked and then was glad when the giver said that the project was approved. He then said that he couldn't drink any of it because someone may have put some laxative in it during the break, maybe some Ruben fan. Said that he was going to be on smarter than a fifth grader. Asked Quiana what the capital of South Carolina was. She refused to answer. (meanwhile he showed us his socks). Then he said, "you know it's Columbia, right? I can't decide when you're playing dumb or being dumb." Quiana answered, "that's what you are everyday." She pointed out that his mom was in the audience and Clay said she doesn't mind if you beat me up. Said that Quiana is so classy on stage but backstage she throws things. She retorted, "that would be him. Tantrums!" Added "off the meat rack" to the not-cool banter. Told the men, "your wives will be happy when you get home." and then said that he got his dirty mouth from his mama. Said he auditioned for "So You Think You Could Dance"... "Survivor?" In Atlanta, Quiana was in the hotel while he camped out at night.

Oooh, FromClaygary, do post some pictures from your art trip! liney23, I use descriptive titles on my banter clips so that might help with your compilation ('course it would have helped more if I were done with Orlando, Syracuse, Philly, Newark, Frisco, Asheville, Cary, Columbus and Canandaigua but I'm working on this disk that Muski wanted of WPB) saltwaterdog, I'm with you on WBMY but not on Iris -- and for some reason, people I've met who never heard it before the JBT seemed to like it too. One of my most repeated segments of JBT is the EOTR/Iris segment. It's only behind the CompleteStumpTheBand/JY/ATD series! LOL, Claygasm! Actually, I've almost talked Solo into Williamsport -- maybe you should wear a helmet. But CG, I am usually a lyrics person and it was the weirdest thing that ATD seemed to conjure up 3 of my favorite stories on the Science Fiction Hall of Fame Vol. 1: Asimov's "Nightfall", Keyes' "Flowers for Algernon" and Zelazny's "A Rose for Ecclesiastes". (We heard later about the song background and that explained the 3rd story but I still don't know about the other two) Speaking of songs & lyrics, I would love to hear Clay sing something by Sondheim sometime -- maybe this one since it's not too dark... Being Alive Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim Someone to hold you too close Someone to hurt you too deep Someone to sit in your chair And ruin your sleep And make you aware of being alive Someone to need you too much Someone to know you too well Someone to pull you up short And put you through hell And give you support for being alive - being alive Make me alive, make me confused Mock me with praise, let me be used Vary my days, but alone is alone, not alive. Somebody hold me too close Somebody force me to care Somebody make me come through I'll always be there As frightened as you of being alive Being alive, being alive Someone you have to let in Someone whose feelings you spare Someone who, like it or not Will want you to share a little, a lot of being alive Make me alive, make me confused Mock me with praise, let me be used Vary my days, but alone is alone, not alive Somebody crowd me with love Somebody force me to care Somebody make me come through I'll always be there As frightened as you to help us survive Being alive, being alive, Being alive, being alive.

You're right. This is why I was focusing on the Wildcard clip (and it has to be a particular one; there are 2 versions). Just looking at something (no matter how often you're caught doing it) is safely "within the line." OTOH, running a hand along someone's thigh is stretching the "not really a pig" image though, yeah, it could've been an accident from being "overcome with anxiety." LOL :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Does anybody know how many ClearChannel/LiveNation venues we've already seen Clay in? If I were picking venues (and I'm not), I'd definitely put Kansas before them in my book. ETA: Just to explain, in my mind the ClearChannel and Wichita folks are cut from the same cloth; the difference to me is that CC directly affects other people's lives through power and influence

Before all these Clay Aiken concerts, I hadn't set foot in any casino here in the US despite living here for almost 10 years. I don't necessarily see them as sinful but I just had no use for them. I wasn't planning to go to any in the near future. However --- I just loved the Borgata!!! And the Fort Lauderdale HRH!!! And the River Rock in BC!! And Pala!!! (uh Indio, not so much; I wish I had been able to use my Mohegan Sun tix). I don't really have a thing against casinos (besides I won big at the slots back when I was eight years old and yes those were real slots, but that's another story); I'm just saying that venues are venues. Clay's singing? I'm there. As long as he's not doing OPP directly above known/prominent graves or shrines or gas chambers, I'll probably go anywhere in the world. The most important things about a venue to me are: the acoustics, the camera policy, is there a pit?, how high/far the stage is, the lighting, is there a place for a pre-or-post party? and will there be a bus line?

That could have been any of the group numbers*g* I know, heh, ...she was the hairdresser...it is right on the tip of my tongue.....ARRRRRGH.... Julia? She was on the NY clip last week. No no no, a *NICE* guy pig! This is how I see it --- I used to belong to this huge socio-religious organization in college. Most of the guys there were really dedicated to the principles and objectives of the group (some, literally laying their lives for what we believed in) but at mass and at the many Agape Feast-style gatherings (with emphasis on the Agape part), those same guys seemed to really enjoy all the kissing & hugging; it was a part of life they enjoyed, sort of like rainbows and fireflies only they enjoyed those a lot more. And when some newbie applicant creep got too much into it and crossed an unspoken line, the other guys would go have a talk with him about it. I think Clay's like that. You can trust him, but what he can get w/o crossing that line, he will!

You're right! I think there was one group number where he missed his cue because he was staring fixedly at *uh, something* LOL!!! Could you remember which ones? Not that I mind going through every single show once again...

Ansa, ITA. I think we should give feedback and the OFC would have been a good place to do it. I believe Clay does value others' opinions and would like to see some discussion. But all that gets lost if it turns into, "I'm going to post my idea again because these idiots didn't seem to understand it the first time and hopefully if I say it many many times, I'll be able to beat into their brains the absolute brilliance of it! And if that doesn't work, I get my homeboard minions and we'll stake ownership of this thread though sheer numbers & level of enthusiasm!" NE will only matter to groups like the "Pure Ones" who apparently think that a pure image is more important than the truth. In a strange way, this is good because it's almost like a touchstone for the people and organizations Clay deals with. Right after AI2, it was difficult to tell the sincere from those enamoured of celebrity. If the Wichita, Kansas church is as it should be, this shouldn't change a thing except maybe getting additional security during the show. BTW, I hope that scum watches the AI Rewind Wildcard show intently -- the one where Clay feels up every single girl in the room while playing for sympathy. *GGG* (thanks to KAndre for pointing this out)

I don't venture out of FCA very much these days, but I had to recently and caught a bit of this from fans who seem bent on forcing a commercial Christmas show out of Clay. I really want to say to people... If it's not your cup of tea, well and good. Go off to Vegas for the holidays and just sneak back into the fandom in the summer -- no need to raise your blood pressure because Clay forgot to mind-meld with you before planning this (or any part of his career). Better yet, write Quiana a letter so the rest of us can have a good laugh when he reads it out loud on stage. Or, knowing you, secretly hang on to your tickets and sneak back on to the representing lists when you realize that he's still as irresistible, entrancing and adorably yummy as ever. (and sings purty too!) If Clay were looking to do JNT the quickie way, he would just: (1) get Jesse to pick a dozen whatever songs with varying tempos (2) hold a couple of practice sessions (3) shake out those pants from JNT04 (and maybe add a rivet or two) (4) run his fingers through his hair and he's all set. Singing is something he can do with little or no practice, while simultaneously thinking about the pizza he had for lunch. With the way the current plan is structured, there's a LOT of EXTRA work for him because HE has to make it work. Yes, fans can be boring. He needs to think through that, plan as much as he could and then be on his toes at every show. Are we so warped that in order for something to be entertaining, it mustn't touch us? Anything that goes beyond appealing to our basic senses necessarily has to be cheap and cheesy and worthless? Clay isn't a member of the eHP (or did you sneak him in through the back, KAndre?) but he can find the most non-boring ways to send messages like, "let's make the world a better place -- so when we finally achieve world domination, we'll get better property values." Also, didn't anyone see this as an opportunity for a fan who sits on the 55th row (does that exist? /jk) to have an equal chance to come interact with him as the usual suspects on the first 5 rows? *shakes head* Unconditional -- you keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. [tm:Iñigo Montoya to Vizzini] Me too, if it comes with arrows.

Thanks!!! I hope you had a good night's sleep. Unfamiliar noises bother me -- maybe it would have helped if you had blasted Clay Aiken from everything electronic. That's what I do. Thanks a bunch, Gibby! MUAH!!! :F_05BL17blowkiss: Awww, I just ::heart:: TOA, recorded and live! Looks like it's time for weird song confessions. I loved every single new JBT song except TRD (yes, I'm strange, couchie, but I'll hold & fan you and bring the margaritas if ever someone else "takes" TRD), love ATD so much [whispers]that during the DCAT I lost the first line of MOAM twice while switching tapes to protect ATD[/whispers] and (don't peek if you love LAA) [/even smaller voice]when I had enough battery power for just 1 song, (*sniffs at Solo*) I unconsciously picked Listen over LAA. If I had stopped to think I would have picked LAA because other people love it, but by then it was too late.[/end smaller voice] There, oooh I feel nice and clean now -- and ready for the lynching. *giggles* And I'm a weird mom too. I love having kids running around and making lots of noise -- as long as they don't hog DDR (switching to an appropriate siggy below...)

My proudest moment as his daughter is when Daddy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.... :F_05BL17blowkiss: Since you posted this at OFC, has someone approached you with a plan to bump Daddy off so that a Clay Aiken fan could inherit the keys to the kingdom? <small voice>I still watch him toss that mikestand around once in a while... </sv> but if he didn't like it, he didn't like it. Getting ATD on the album was wonderful enough for me. As for that Rock Star thing... this year I watched both Classic Rock, Alternative Rock and Clay Aiken summer concerts (plus a Chicago concert that doubled as a cellphone/cellcert dry run). Guess where BFM belongs? ps. I will cry for "Just You" if someone takes it, though. pps. At the Alternative Rock concert, I wanted my son to dare me to do a "mellow touch" wave in the middle of the crowd (as a shoutout to the tipsy people at Pala) but DS said he didn't want to die yet. The cute thing was that the rock band actually had a sloooooow song segment where everyone lined up stools up front (kinda like on the Independent Tour), making it an awww-I-miss-Miami moment for me. KF/Muski, wha-wha-what???!!!! I'd still do him.

Hey liney! That's ok. Living about 1000 miles from here never stopped PerusingOne. Come join us! I think KAndre is still giving away toasters to new minions. Yes, I also noticed that keepingfaith was between you and ialreadyam... been misbehaving a lot lately.... (wonder if Clay still has that whip?... sporking might be preferable, though)

Uh-oh!... Belated Happy Birthday to Liney23 and ialreadyam!! Hope your birthdays were wonderful.... so glad you don't use sporks.... (or do you)?

My Red Banks partner, LonelyNoMore, won't be going after all so I think I'm going to skip this and substitute Williamsport instead.

Happiest of birthdays, keepingfaith! Have nothing against Broadway, used to watch some of these shows the way I do Clay Aiken concerts, enjoyed half of Spamalot here in Houston last April, and it would be nice to be able to say ("Oh, I want to see Clay this weekend, let's check those Continental/JetBlue specials to NYC"), but doing 8 performances a week of exactly the same thing (ie. someone else's vision of a show) doesn't seem to be a good match for Clay's style and personality. At most, I see a limited run like the time when Ricky Martin (I think) was Marius in Les Mis. And back then many Les Mis fans were horrified and annoyed by the behavior of fans whose sole purpose was to hear him, not watch the show itself.

*sniff* Yes, her evil stepsisters never ceased tormenting poor, sweet Cinderella. (of course I'll substitute/photoshop an appropriate picture) Yes, "Cinderella and her Wicked Stepsisters' JNT 3-fer" sounds appropriate. Yikes -- Wheeeeeee!

If you're not taking it, I am. And it'll be from my POV... *v. sneaky smile* --- Is "Cinderella and her Wicked Stepsisters' JNT 3-fer" an appropriate title?

No, no, no --- just dig up your recap of the LongIsland/WestPoint/RedBank 3-fer. That fits the bill -- it's a holiday story, friends-are-family [tm:Clay], it's roll-around-the-floor hilarious, there's lots of parts that are non-Clay (our visit to the Statue of Liberty's butt, our NYC/shopping/pilgrimage/MamaMia day, etc) and we can even make a Clack+nonClayPics montage to prove that it actually happened. All the elements of a great story are there: the funny, the drama (hee, hopefully we can get playbiller to re-enact dinner), the pranks (ok, the ATM pic was beyond that but how about re-parking to be 6 ft closer to Clay's bus in West Point and then playing StarWars with camera flashbulbs), suspense (the truck that backed up on the Turnpike, the Long Island dinner at Legal Seafoods that almost never happened), the silly (merrieeenot recognizing Jerome, etc), the shmoopie (how merrieeee didn't tell Clay that she really needed the binoculars from the 4th row and how we watched our favorite guy struggle through vertigo to give us an astounding perfomance -- not that he'll read that out loud), etc.

Sorry, couchie, I didn't go to Gilford. But Clack partner-in-crime LonelyNoMore was there & she's awesome (why-oh-why-didn't I find a way to give her my camera)!!! I have her (unrendered) Clack from Philly, Syracuse and parts of Orlando -- working hard on those. And thanks for your reminder/post!!! :F_05BL17blowkiss: And ITA with playbiller about the non-Hollywood look! I think it's great that he doesn't see the need to look like a walking magazine cover every single time and I applaud his gumption (and courage?) to do so -- can we not imagine every female in his harem staring at him as we walked out, exclaiming (or groaning or chortling), "You're going to Jenna's party looking like THAT?!!!" *oooh, being at the top of the page feels like that split-second in a rollercoaster where it pauses right before plunging down the track*