djs111

Bwah! Just for one example, I have been told I don't like Josh Groban because I am being "faithful" to Clay. By a single person, in person, although I have seen that sentiment expressed on the internet. I used Il Divo as just an example, too - they are just not my cuppa, Simon has had many triumphs of musical finds, but I rarely want to buy anything by them. I shudder to think what he may do with Susan Boyle. I guess I would invest in some of Simon's picks, but I would not buy them. The alternative is to say nothing. And that would be wrong. I feel dissent with what one thinks is wrong is actually needed. From what I see, we express ourselves with our votes, it takes a while, bit complaining does further the dialogue. And a lot of the complaints I see do express alternatives. For the first time in my life, for instance, I have no idea how I want to vote next time. And politicians do take note of widespread complaints - if only because they want desperately to be reelected. Oh, hey, I love Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, but don't care for Pavarotti. The Flower Song is irritating, but a well-done Nessun Dorma brings me to tears every time.

My grandson wanted to see Angels and Demons yesterday, so we did! Please apply IMO, YMMV, ad. inf. to the rest of this! It was okay, "Tom Hanks" and "thriller" didn't mesh well, really, but it was interesting. Think Nic Cage's National Treasure with all the fun and detail missing, and with Cardinals. Most of the info about the Illuminati was given in odd lecture form by Tom Hanks; the movie was not nearly as good as the Da Vinci Code. Although Ewan McGregor looks quite nice in his Camerlengo outfit. To me, the heroes were not heroic, the villains not too bright. Rome looked gorgeous, the crowds and architecture looked incredible. I would like to go there some day. I read the book a while back, I loved all the details, and interesting to associate the Illuminati with the Masons. But as Ron Howard told Steven Colbert, you can only do so much in a two hour movie. Heh, one of my pet peeves, right up there with "nuc-u-lar", is "masonary". The 10 am showing was packed. The new movies look, um, nice - the Julia Child one looks funny just because Meryl Streep playing Julia is a hoot to think about, and I love cooking and Julia. New Sandra Bernhard movie looks formula-cute. There is also a tear-jerker about a girl who doesn't want to give her sister a kidney or something, with Michelle Pheiffer. And Denzel and Travolta are doing a remake of Taking of Pelham 123 - or is it that I read the book so long ago that I just think it was already a movie? Will Ferrell has a remake of Land of the Lost. Amazingly enough, he plays a clueless explorer. Funny, when I got home there was a survey from movietickets.com about the trailers, and I forgot half of them. Kind of amusing, the way trailers match the type of movie you are seeing....yes I am quite aware they are probable-market driven. Just so predictable. And evidently I love real thrillers. The only movie we wanted to see out the the batch of six or seven is Johnny Depp's John Dillinger movie, it has Christian Bale too! Yum! But I already know the ending. :-( My grandson loves Johnny Depp, ever since Captain Jack hove into view. eta -jamar - we are going to see Star Trek next, we just felt it would still be around because it is getting such good reviews.

Yep. Exactly. The night Conan equated Clay being gay with pedophilia (kid cowering in a shower) ensured that I will always think Conan is an asshole. That is feeding hate and misconception for a cheap laugh. Didn't matter if it was about Clay, it was sick. I don't get into any sort of "group think" about anyone. If I think someone is a horse's ass, based on stuff they say about anyone, I don't really care what anybody else thinks, it is not relevant to my opinion, because we are all entitled to one, and no one is in charge or "right" for everybody else. If I don't care for someone because they have said crappy things about Clay, it is because they said crappy things, it is indicative of their character, has not much to do with "defending Clay". Simon sneering at idol's charity, for instance, sealed the deal for me. Of course, when AI had a charity and splashed it all over the TV, that was an a-okay "for the children". Don't like hypocrites, again, nothing to do with Clay per se. But - everybody doesn't agree or disagree en masse - you can see that just by reading this page. I don't really think there is a "isn't cool" factor any more, that is a straw man. There is no "we all" - just look how many Clay fans seem to find more happiness in pointing out what they perceive as flaws. Plus I find Il Divo boring, like a barbershop quartet that lasts all day. Very pretty, not distinctive. Yes it is popular with a lot of people, but Simon has nothing to do with why I don't care for it. That charge gets flung around quite a bit, as if music being subjective is a thing of the past. Makes the people saying that seem silly, really. Heeee.....I bet my definition of hot is different from yours! I can say, from my experience, that Florida is not as hot and humid as anywhere else I have lived - Philly, Illinois, North Carolina. Tokyo is a humid mess in the summer. Florida, not so bad. Sunny Florida here - we won't be doing the costly air conditioning thing this year. BUT - we have discovered that cross-ventilation and ceiling fans and a couple of window fans make things quite pleasant, and the air is fresher and dust does not get endlessly recycled. And no worries about open doors and windows wasting electricity. Years ago I was looking through the John James Audobon house in Key West - he slept there, evidently - and the only part of the house that was air-conditioned was the room with his paintings. The house was filled with beautiful wooden antique furniture. I asked the docent if the heat and humidity was not bad for the wood, because everything looked so lovely, and she said it is when you air-condition only part of the time that it is bad, it is the changes that hurt the wood.

The fun, friends, and snark on the boards more than made up for it, believe me. Bolt Babes, Sucksters, PROCers, Broads, and on and on - it really was fun and also some very very funny laugh out loud stuff. Alas, a lot of the snark is gone, too many people taking themselves too seriously or something. There is a lot of fun stuff stored in the public archives at the CH, tho. And the sharing was, and is, just incredible.

Yep, sorry, I am referring to the boards. A lot of us were ultra-sensitive about Clay. And we caught ALL the interviews. And vaulted them. And dissected them. Also, "most people" who mentioned Clay to me who were not fans seemed weirdly and compulsively compelled to mention that Clay was obviously gay. Family, friends, work acquaintances, wide variety of people. A few years back I shared an office cubicle (IT work) with two adorable Indian guys - one older, married, the other younger, single - and a woman who was the most negative and judgmental person I have ever had the misfortune to have known. NOTHING was exempt from a scathing remark. When they asked me what I was doing on the next weekend, I said Clay Aiken concert. Older guy - oh I love his voice but he is gay. Younger guy - he has a nice voice Happiness-sucking beeyotch - never heard of him. So she googled. And brayed at the top of her lungs - Look at him!!!! He is gay gay gay! I just asked what that had to do with anything - no answer. And the media had already started with the gay rumours. So we have just had different experiences.

Converse Slips - I have about seven pairs - they are really comfortable. Not untied - there is a band of elastic under the tongue that holds the shoe on your foot, it is not made to use shoelaces. Of course, I am pretty sure Clay wears the $125-or-so John Varvato designer slips. I wear the $50 (but I can always find them on sale for lots less) Chuck Taylor slips. choose chuck taylor all star or pick slip-on I think most people assumed Simon meant "gay" when he said "Broadway". Season 2 was still in the We Are Only Looking for a Pop Star stage of American Idol, plus Ruben was so much the judges' favorite that anything Simon said to Clay seemed like something that was meant to discourage votes for him. Broadway of itself is not a pejorative, but that is how Simon seemed to use it - it is all in the delivery and intention. Doobie Brothers. (Cannot stand his voice, but prolly am quite alone there.)

Just that it is cute, and Reed chooses which comments to display, is all. Not a big deal, just a pleasantry.

O/T EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! I just found out my little domain name that I thought I lost is still mine!!!!! Evidently I somehow paid for the name through Feb 2013. I have not done much with it, but maybe now I will. I think Yahoo ran a special at one time, dirt cheap multi-year registration - long since discontinued - and I got seven years for $35. Can we hear Clay's voice on the official download of Kidney Now?

He did seem to have a lot more chin-age during the Paxil. Good for him! I love all of his looks. Hey, many many years ago, when I first started working, my first purchase was contact lenses. I am hilariously near-sighted, and dear old dad never tired of mentioning my coke-bottle glasses. When I got the contacts, my entire family - dad, aunts, cousins - were horrified. Who did I think I was? How conceited I was!!!!!! Phone calls, dinner conversation - I was forced to go and buy a black wig that dwarfed Annette Funicello's hairdo, just to add fuel to the fire :-) Anyway, soon after that, due to some other stuff, I moved out and never had anything to do with most of the family ever again. Never missed that negative put-down crap, ever. 30 Rock was great! I love it anyway, and I love the rapid-fire talk. They manage to get a LOT into that 30 minutes. At the end, during the song, I mostly stared at Clay, it looked like he was lit up or something, standing on the top row at the microphone. Or maybe he just always stands out, to me. I have not been feeling well, and my son and grandson actually made a cake!!!! They read the instructions on the box!!!! And cleaned everything up - only thing in the sink was a big stainless steel colander. Which makes no sense at all, but I will ask about that tomorrow.

I hear he said something like just because he is gay that is not all he is interested in - from his lips to some fans' ears.......

Plastic surgery is a reflection on character? WTF?????? Hell, if I ever win Lotto I am getting that lifestyle lift thingy, if I need to get new friends it will be worth every penny just to find that out. (I somehow don't see getting one's jaw broken due to TMJ surgery as plastic surgery, either).

Yay!!!!!! Thanks!!!!!! I have tuned into games where they were ahead by 15 points with a minute to go, and watched Shaq get fouled until they lost! And this year has been like that (except, of course, Shaq-less). Now, I just need to forget that there will be another game, entirely. I am still not over those ##!!%&&$# Rocket fans and their blankety-blank brooms. Which they could have stuck, um, well, beagoodsportbeagoodsport...... I love the snowflake pictures. That was a great show - they managed to get a lot of storylines in, and Clay got a lot of face time, considering how many guest stars they had - Cyndi Lauper - I'm one of the drunk ones! Heeeee!

I think Justin was asked about it since he does have access to AI through that TV Guide Channel show where they interview departing idols and report on dribs and drabs of the show. Justin's answer was pretty much a non-answer, really, just vaguely negative, he didn't see anything or whatever. All the conspiracy stuff has been bloggers and tabloids. There is no chance whatsoever that the entire Clay fandom will embrace Adam just because he is said to be gay, so IMO it is just errant crap that has taken on a life of its own. Or someone wants to get Adam's name out there even more than it is now, and knows that a Clay mention gets a number of hits. Tempest in a teapot. I am LOTS more worried that Angelina has told Brad to leave because she doesn't need him in order to have another baby, and that Brad is heartbroken.

We actually do not know that AI planted anything at all - that was the opinion or hearsay from the blogger, Justin did not say all that stuff. And if Clay replies to anything it will become even more of a story - I think if someone asks him to his face, he will just laugh and shake his head. Don't give the story legs. Hell, all the hits is going to keep it up there. No matter what Clay says, the general public will go with the gay thing. And if anyone asks Idol about it they will just laugh, too. Damn, we have a huge rainstorm here - we desperately need rain, but not all at once!!!!! But then again, I should have known this would happen when I broke down and topped up the pool. Dang NBA finals - I watched for one freaking minute, and the other team rallied to beat my team.

It would be hilarious if the contract thing was what most people are going to run with. But I would bet most people are just gonna go with the gay angle. I am certain that if Clay wanted to talk to Adam, a phone would do nicely, his people, Adam's people, whatever, I don't think Clay needs to storm the AI studio holding a baby in front of himself as a diversion. :-)

Since I never miss 30 Rock if I can possibly help it - this is going to be such a treat!!!!!! Clay fits right in with the snark and sarcasm, perfectly. Tina Fey deserved every Emmy she won last year. As did Alec Baldwin. I just wish all my favorite comedies were on the same night, on the same channel. Flipping around channels last night, I see the AI judges have really gotten ridiculous. Maybe Fox or 19 can do a spin-off where the judges just look at random clips for 10 seconds and then spend 20 minutes babbling egotistically about them. Would be cheaper, and the judges might not even notice they were not on AI. Or maybe they can just do those half-hour infomercials and push their faves, that is what they look like to me, maybe because I rarely watch and never watch an entire show. Heh, I think Simon has lost track of the fact that the folks in America might vote how he wants them to, but he hasn't yet figured out how to make them actually buy the music. So Clay asked what we do for a living? OMG, we are going to see resumes from some people, this should be a hoot! I think he is giving busy-work or doing research.

I dunno, Scarlett's Clack is superb, but I don't want to start grading anybody's efforts - a lot depends on seating and opportunity. I give them all A's!

When I first started watching Monty Python on PBS in the '70's, I had no problem with the accent, and there were certainly no subtitles. But I noticed that when BBCA started MP reruns last year, Eric Idle had a little intro wherein he advised people to put closed captioning on if their televisions supported that. My grandson is partially deaf and hatessssss his hearing aids, so he always watches closed captioning-style, and it is sometimes pretty funny to read.

Heeee......That is done for Last Restaurant Standing on BBCA and a few other shows, too. For Last Restaurant Standing, the opening narration actually mentions the subtitles, because not even the English restauranteurs could understand the French chef who was the judge.

I think Scarlett should follow Kandre around the world, filiming her adventures, like the premise for The Office.

Just want to mention that years ago, some thought they could go to the box office and trade their tickets in for better ones, thus "upgrading". Nope. Like Scarlett says, upgrading is usually getting or buying or trading better tickets from others, and then selling/passing on the tickets you had. Something funny that has happened to me and others is that when the concert is about to start, and floor seats or better seats have been scored, it is surprisingly difficult at times to "Clay forward" the unused tickets, people think you are tricking them somehow. I have gone to people in the very highest row in an arena, just to give them tickets I am not going to use, and been turned down by the first one or two people I offer them to. Even when I said hey it is not like I am asking you for the tickets you already have!

Nope. No mainstream whatsoever. I love all of Paul Anka's songs except for those two you mentioned, and I absolutely adore Frank Sinatra. I cannot stand Chicago. Just blaring noisily away, to me. I am fairly sure that not many here love Portuguese fado music, but I do. When this fandom started, there were those who thought the "Clorilla" could have other singers/stuff marketed to it en masse. Nah. Not unless it is Clay stuff. And we are pretty picky and watchful about Clay stuff, too. Anything illegal on ebay gets reported, for instance. Just downloaded Scarlett's clack - FIOS makes quick work of that. He looks and sounds wonderful. And yes, he does light up the stage, and the room, or anywhere he is appearing. "Ease" is maybe what strikes me when I see him. Thank you, Scarlett!!!!! and Couchie, thanks for the commentary!!!!! Hmmmmm, my childhood was sadder and more grim and violent than anything I have read here or anywhere (Angela's Ashes comes to mind), but it is funny how different people process things - I never give it much thought, and I mostly remember thinking I would eventually get out, and I did! So I won, really, and don't give a flip if anyone else in my family remembers much. My sister still chews over some of it. Which is fine, except when she is still using kitchen table analysis to explain things. If I can blame stuff on my parents, then they can blame stuff on THEIR parents, and so it goes. I am here now, I don't care. Like Couchie said, paraphrased, they are dead and I am happy. Not as happy as Clay, for sure, but happy. Heeee.....it used to be hard to buy a card that didn't sound sarcastic. That's the funny thing about trying to analyze people you don't really know - even sisters who lived through the same storm see things differently, plus no one ever ever really knows what anyone else is thinking, they just know what they would think if they were that person, which is different filters entirely. Happy mother's day to all who qualify in any way, shape, or form - ya don't need to bear a child to nurture someone else - I went to Barnes and Noble early today and got yet another Feng Shui thingy, this one has a compass. So I will spend the rest of the day walking around and pretending to evaluate stuff and drive my son crazy wondering if I am crazy. He will eventually ask me if there is anything he can do around the house - this year I want a Moroccan arch to separate my bedroom from the closet and bathroom area, and I will go and get the plywood for it. (He loves making arches, if we had the money my home would look like a Moroccan monastery. Yes I know there is no such thing. :-O) Good times!!! I missed much of Obama, but Wanda was funny, once she got going, it looked to me like she was tentative and then thought oh what the hell. go for it! Her Leno rant about the bailout is also hilarious, and her stand-up routine about Bill Clinton's impeachment is fabulous. She is one of my girl crushes, and has been from the first time I ever saw her on TV. It was interesting to see all the assorted invited guests, I think there are no "messages" being sent, just maybe messing with minds at most.

I should have qualified that, I know! Heeeee......someone just twittered that the dinner is like the Nerd Prom.

Yep. Me too. Jeezy Creezy. Must.stay.at.FCA...........no good deed goes unpunished, that's for sure!!!!!!!

Cool to have our own play-by-play announcer on site! I will be watching the White House Correspondents' Dinner at 8, I believe Wanda Sykes will be just as funny as Steven Colbert. A whole evening of entertainment!!!!!!!