# 12 An Evening With His Royal Highness Fantasy Fodder

[Couch Tomato]

couchie, I am beginning to think that the inmates are now running the assylum or else I have entered an alternate universe where good is now evil and right is now wrong.

I can't believe that TOAD get's air time now. WTF

We'll see how it goes. A website is one thing. Television is a visual medium and he is not easy to look at. And that's all I'll say about that.

Jomar..great post. Yeah I learned all the things your kids learned in journalism classes and "if it bleeds, it leads" has taken on a whole new meaning.

I worked for a woman who worked tiredlessly to keep what she called a junk store out of her neighbordhood. She wanted a grocery story. It worked. Took a very long time though...but these type of stores are the new wave. Hell they may put walmart out of business. Food has gotten so expensive that I've started going to the 99cent store to buy drinks and a few other things before I hit the regular store...no perishables..scared of that. But a 6 pk of diet soda for 99cents? Yeah I can live with that.

[muskifest]

Oh, what a glorifurous day! The weather was perfect in Santa Cruz yesterday and as I stood on the boardwalk and watched the people playing volleyball on the beach, the kids squealing and running back and forth to 'not let the waves catch" them, the sailboats just lolling around, a kayak or two....it hit me as absolutely BIZARRO that less than 24 hours earlier I'd been standing on the beach on the other side of the continent, looking at a completely different ocean (in terms of water color, temperature and temperment), sand color and texture, and most definitely demographic of people enjoying the day. It was one of those surreal moments in life where both the sameness and incredible paradoxes of things blew me away.

Anyhoo...perfect weather, fun, fun, fun....the girls had a blast off all day with a day pass while Kenny and I had a couple of beers and a burger at a beachside grill, took a walk down the wharf to the end and back, then got our chairs and blankets from the trunk and vegetated on the beach quietly for a blessed while. Met up wtih the girls and went to a diner for dinner and then back home. I had the girls in my car on the way home and we sang along to the soundtrack of "Chicago" all the way! Kewl!

Now...the girls are still here (spent the night) and my hubby and I are gonna leave them to go to the movies. He wants to see "Live Free and Die Hard" and I want to see "Harry Potter"....hmmm....we're going to a 25-movie cineplex so maybe we'll each go to our own show when we get there! (After sharing the large-sized popcorn, of course...heh)....

I miss hanging around here, FCA women, but am rolling with these days of real work and play and family....back when I can! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[Couch Tomato]

why did I take so long to start watching clack. I'm only on song number three of the Houston clack and I'm dead already. That voice! That voice! So sweet on HYCA and EIH. That wall of sound he creates with Angela and Quiana on I Want To Know What Love Is sends shivers down my spine. How will I get through the day. Back to watch that last one again.

:F_05BL17blowkiss: to Muski

[keepingfaith]

Houston Clack? I'm still in Frisco. And although I'm slow, I did write a Frisco recap and just posted here:

http://findingclayaiken.invisionzone.com/i...amp;#entry31804

And if you're interested, I have determined that I'm not back.

[luckiest1]

I want to hear more reviews because it is important to know if it's worth the cash. That should be a part of the dialogue.

Well, looks like you'll be getting one from crimsonice aka luckiestdaughter. She apparently convinced luckiestmom to accompany her to a showing today, after they took a double decker bus tour of the city, and visited ground zero.

Home, sweet home. And internet connection that actually works! Off to see if I've missed downloading any clack since Friday......

[Couch Tomato]

Houston Clack? I'm still in Frisco. And although I'm slow, I did write a Frisco recap and just posted here:

http://findingclayaiken.invisionzone.com/i...amp;#entry31804

And if you're interested, I have determined that I'm not back.

yay thanks for the recap. Houston is the first clack I've watched because it's MY concert to recap for the FCA concert pages. I normally concentrate on my concert pages then after the concerts go back and look at the concerts assigned to Ansa.

Yay for more reviews of Idol the Musical. Looking forward to their opinon. I do think a younger crowd is what this show is aimed at as far as the message goes...so I'd really be interested in what they have to say. Did anyone else get the impression from that N&O article that the creator didn't know many of Clay's fans were of a certain age, in the beginning?

[luckiest1]

Hee, couchie, she just texted me to say that the audience consisted of her, my mother, two teenaged girls, and bunch of people "over 80".

[keepingfaith]

Houston Clack? I'm still in Frisco. And although I'm slow, I did write a Frisco recap and just posted here:

http://findingclayaiken.invisionzone.com/i...amp;#entry31804

And if you're interested, I have determined that I'm not back.

yay thanks for the recap. Houston is the first clack I've watched because it's MY concert to recap for the FCA concert pages. I normally concentrate on my concert pages then after the concerts go back and look at the concerts assigned to Ansa.

Yay for more reviews of Idol the Musical. Looking forward to their opinon. I do think a younger crowd is what this show is aimed at as far as the message goes...so I'd really be interested in what they have to say. Did anyone else get the impression from that N&O article that the creator didn't know many of Clay's fans were of a certain age, in the beginning?

Has this changed? Because from the parties and hotels and concerts I attended, I couldn't pick one predominant group other than female. Transcending demographics. I thought it was funny that the TV talk shows I've seen Clay on did feature what looked to me as a predominantly senior group -- but not last week at all. I noticed a crowd of young, hip-looking chicks that were in multi-cities last week. And everybody was 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, and on and on. I brought an enthusiastic 11 year old to Houston, and a 32 year old, and a 15 year old that wanted badly to come and she couldn't make it and was crushed. It's all happening.

Edited July 15, 2007 by keepingfaith

[Couch Tomato]

Oh Clay definitely has fans of all ages.... believe me I don't buy into a stereotype...which is why I said many and not all. I do think if you are putting together an expensive proposition like this, I don't think it's any surprise that first of all the internet fandom would be more intuned to it, and would want to be first to see it. Older in this case is over 30. This is probably aimed more to high schoolers and if they were depending on Clay's high school demographic to keep the show going they'd have a tough time. That's my guess. I would love it if the theater filled up with a bunch of young people and hopefully they are marketing this show to that demo some how.

Also it's not suprising on talk shows that the older demo takes over as they often take place on a school days and requires you to be there either very early (morning shows) or stand around all day (Kimmel etc).

Hey Lick heee...so is your daughter one to think everybody over 40 is 80? heee

god, sorry for posthoing..but I'm just sitting around watching clack today...

ETA: HELP what do I need to play Scarlett's videos. I want to see HER perspective of Clay catching her in the act. Never mind..I downloaded the codec eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[luckiest1]

Hey Lick heee...so is your daughter one to think everybody over 40 is 80? heee

Oh probably....

[cha cha trusty]

Clickable

Bottlecap your clickable didn't open for me.....

Try double-clicking on it - it's in imageshack because of the size.

===============================================

A couple from this morning at CV:

"Is your card the Three of Hearts?"

This one doesn't need a caption as much as it does an emoticon.

these needed to be reposted!!!

==================================================

TO jmh124

I missed a bunch of birthdays this week!! :00003653: to all I've missed starting with jmh!!

The most common question I got was not what am I doing know, am I married, do I have any kids etc. Nope. The most common question was "So, is your hair naturally curly or naturally straight?" Even the bartender asked me! I guess my curly hair was a shock?

Soooo, I am curious as to what the answer to this question is??

UPDATE ON ECUADORIAN TRAVELERS... Still OK but have not received their luggage yet (consisting of one huge jam-packed backpack each), but seem to be coping well. They have decided they had brought way too much stuff anyhow!! Good attitude I think!! I have visions of them arriving back at Quito airport to find their backpacks sitting there waiting for them to check them for the flight home!! We'll see!!

I am pages behind in this thread - but thanks for all the pretties!!!

:party038:

SOON!!!

ONLY TWO MORE SLEEPS TILL PHILLY!!!!

Edited July 15, 2007 by cha cha trusty

[ldyjocelyn]

bottlecap, are you getting away from your chicken fetish and becoming enamored with squirrels instead?

Karen Eh?, thank you so much for your Frisco pictures. The B&W ones are especially droolworthy, IMO.

My two favorites:

I love this one....it looks like the concert was a religious experience for him too.

I like the second one for two reasons -- first of all, Clay's laugh is so damn infectious. Gotta love that. Then....you also got Jesse in there. Slurp. There's a whole lot of pretty in that picture.

IMO because they are furiously trying to keep up. For better or worse the internet has changed journalism. Both of my sons graduated with related degrees. One in Broadcast Journalism ('03) and one in Media Communications ('04). They both have learned that the "old model" that they were taught just isn't realistic in today's internetsavymusthaveitrightnowbecauseI'llforgetaboutittomorrow society.

I happened to be working in a HS library right on the cusp of the internet, when the netscape browser was first introduced and just before IE. What I noticed was that the easier and faster the kids could get the information ... the easier and faster they wanted it. I don't think it makes it right, but I think it is the way it is.

Amen Sistern jamar! The internet has changed so much how we obtain and process information...and as someone who is in the information business, it's really caused a bunch of changes in my career as well. Your point about the old working models in journalism is spot on, in my opinion, as well as those HS kids wanting things RIGHT NOW. I personally think the internet has given so much good....but unfortunately, there's also so much BAD with it too. Or as you said....

Has the internet changed journalism by focusing on cheap and quick. I think so. Will it ever change back? I think not.

Wow...I guess that's been building up or something given the recent conversations elsewhere.

We're here for you, you know...

So ... is it TUESDAY yet!??????!

:TourExcite: :Tour3: :TourExcite: :Tour3:

NO KIDDING! I need a new Clay fix, even if it is only via cellcerts at this point.

[muskifest]

Just got back from seeing "Life Free and Die Hard"...great entertainment! Nonstop action and fun! I'll take Carrie and a friend of hers to see Harry Potter at some point. We were having a blast until we went by Lowe's to follow up on our investigation into getting a new floor for our damaged downstairs.

After hearing the quote, and then hearing news that we couldn't qualify (after a credit check) for a Lowe's card for even half the amount....it would seem that we'll be living with our concrete slab floor for quite a while..... We used to have great credit---but that was before the additional thousands due every month for Mom....sometimes payments get paid...late now, you know?

Enough of that.

Lovin' the pictures being posted....in fact, I think I need some serious CLACK time to get my sense of humor back after that bucket of ice water splashed on us at Lowe's.

Hope y'all had a great weekend :Tour3:

P.S. I got the San Diego tickets in the mail. One is Claygasm's, one is Salud's and one is supposed to be mine, with one other one still to sell. Now, it would appear, MINE needs to be sold, too.

Anybody looking for San Diego tickets?

[treenuts]

What We Don't Know

So I had a thought.....

(shut-up, it could happen)

We know Clay has said he had to take some time off from the tour for his friend's wedding. We know most weddings don't go for ten days. Most. We also know that he will need some travel time in that space as well. Aaannd we know he mentioned he was a little nervous as to whether the "classics" medley would be a success or a failure.

So....I can't help but think perhaps he took the opportunity of the timeframe for the wedding to allow a few extra days for retuning the show if needed. For instance if the medely was, as he put it, a colossal failure, then he might have to rework or replace it.

Now from what I have read or heard it seems it was more of a success than a failure thus far. I personally love it and hope he doesn't change one bit of it. Nada! But I'm curious if anyone here thinks he may come back with some changes of any kind. Anyone? He may even take the luke warm response to the TV show themes medely and make some changes there. Or he may shorten one or both of the medleys to include more songs from either of the CDs that folks have been asking for.

Or maybe he had scheduled his annual colonoscopy like the diligent individual that he is. Wait, too young. Perchance being fitted with some new more "riveting" jeans?

Any other ideas... Hmmmmmmm?

Is it Tuesday yet

ETA {{{{{{{muski}}}}}}}

Edited July 16, 2007 by treenuts

[bottlecap]

bottlecap, are you getting away from your chicken fetish and becoming enamored with squirrels instead?

Never!!! Squirrels just happened to inspire a bit of shtick last night.

[luckiest1]

Well, I think there is always the chance that Clay may fine tune something, or swap a song in for something else.....who knows what surprises he has in store for us. But, my God, I think there'd be a riot at this point if he cut the classics medley! I'd say 99% of posts that I've read love the darn thing. I think it is a colossal success! :Tour3: :Tour3: :Tour3:

So, seeing as how my son has a baseball game smack dab during the Philly cellcert, I will be going into Syracuse "unspoilered" as to any changes that may or may not be made to the show. Personally, I'm gonna continue to believe that he's adding Right Here Waiting, just for meeeeeeeeeee.

[jamar1700]

But I'm curious if anyone here thinks he may come back with some changes of any kind.

Not me.

I just think the nature of the show doesn't lend itself to much change. IIRC Jesse had to arrange all of those songs for the symphony's and I'm sure they need to have the music somewhat in advance.

[Carolina Clay]

Good Evening, FCA! :Tour3:

Adding to Treenuts' post about "What We Do Know" ... at CV, Eleid paraphrased a Saturday radio interview with Sunny 106.5 FM Las Vegas. She let me include this in my blog and is in hopes there will be a link on the station's website soon. Clay did the interview sitting on his kitchen counter in his pajamas. They talked about the skating special, the hoopla over the airplane incident, etc.

Two More Sleeps for all the PhillyFans!!! This is the theme of my new blog in which I included the gorgeous "Lover All Alone" graphic shared here by Cindilu2 three nights ago:

Clickable by Cindilu2

Hope y'all enjoy: OFC and Carolina On My Mind.

JaMar, I agree -- I think the show is pretty much set; and there would be riot if Clay messed with The Classics. He is actually getting some pretty good press with that medley.

Love all the pix that have been posted here. Thnx for directing me to the photo album links. I lost mine when the computer crashed in March and have been rebuilding my list. Karen Eh, your B&W's are amazing. The ones in color, too!

ChaCha -- good to read about your explorers in Ecquador!

Have a great evening, all!

Caro

[muskifest]

Clay tweaking something? Yummy!

As for changing anything about the concert? Well, I did take a look at some clack from all three of the first ones...and I'd personally like to see:

1. Clay performing without having to look at the stage to see what song is next or what the words are! I know he's just cute as a button about forgetting words and I actually don't care if he DOES! But something about him seeming to need to look at the 'cheat sheet' in the middle of a song or between songs screams "lack of rehearsal!" or "nervousness!" or "not quite polished"...(Of course, if ever Clay needs something of his polished, he needs only to crook that long index finger of his in my direction and I'm soooooo there. :medium-smiley-070: )

2. New hairdo. 'Nuf said.

3. Shortened or severely slashed TV Theme Medley. This is one part of the clack I haven't even downloaded.

4. Him singing IFYDMBN, dang it!

5. Him singing LNM, dang it!

6. Continue being Clay Aiken...damn, that man is entertaining! :Tour3: :TourExcite:

[playbiller]

Perhaps it is time to get ready for Philly.

BREAK OUT THE BAND!!!!

[muskifest]

Just read an interesting little article in the Sunday SF Chronicle Style section....entitled "Uncovering the truth about women's pleasure"...and discussed the pros and cons of the circumcised vs uncircumcised penis...

from the viewpoint of women...how the difference in physical structure enhanced, detracted from or had no impact on the woman's sexual experience...

hmmmm.....

let me see....

please.

[Ansamcw]

Jamar...great post on journalism. Yup the world is evolving and with information just right at our fingertips... there is no desire for accuracies anymore.

treenuts...I do think its possible there will be tweaking. I was hoping that the also have arrangement ready for other songs like LNM and IYDKMBN. and that they may swap songs around I really just want to hear LNM.

I think the medleys are set though.

Its possible his hair got longer in 10 days...puhleeze...

[jmh123]

CNN HN Showbiz Tonight just did a feature on celebrity fandom. I was kind of glad our fandom wasn't mentioned. We may be known as fanatic, but at least we're not top-tier fanatics, if that makes any sense. They focussed on fandom itself, while they showed pictures of the celebrities who are in the magazines all the time. It was interesting, actually. They mentioned that while Angelina Jolie was of huge interest to people, her latest movie tanked. People don't always buy the product of someone they worship primarily as a celebrity.

[Claygasm]

Clay tweaking something? Yummy!

As for changing anything about the concert? Well, I did take a look at some clack from all three of the first ones...and I'd personally like to see:

1. Clay performing without having to look at the stage to see what song is next or what the words are! I know he's just cute as a button about forgetting words and I actually don't care if he DOES! But something about him seeming to need to look at the 'cheat sheet' in the middle of a song or between songs screams "lack of rehearsal!" or "nervousness!" or "not quite polished"...(Of course, if ever Clay needs something of his polished, he needs only to crook that long index finger of his in my direction and I'm soooooo there. :medium-smiley-070: )

2. New hairdo. 'Nuf said.

3. Shortened or severely slashed TV Theme Medley. This is one part of the clack I haven't even downloaded.

4. Him singing IFYDMBN, dang it!

5. Him singing LNM, dang it!

6. Continue being Clay Aiken...damn, that man is entertaining! :Tour3: :TourExcite:

ITA on all points!!! Guess I'll be finding out for myself in TWO DAYS!!! :Tour3:

Oh, and muski, I watch HGTV. Concrete floors are very in right now! Seriously! Of course, they are usually polished and/or painted and sealed, but they are very, very chic!

You are cutting edge and just don't know it! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[luckiest1]

Clay Aiken, of 'Idol,' to perform with SSO

Clay Aiken just spent a week relaxing at home in Raleigh, N.C., between shows in his summer tour. There was a thunderstorm while he was home, and it rained so much that the yard flooded, Aiken, 29, says during a phone interview from Raleigh. Then his cellular phone rings, and he excuses himself to answer it. He tells the caller that he can't talk and will call back later. "That was my family," Aiken says. "I even got rid of them to talk to you." After some much-needed rest and a dispute on an airplane that made news headlines earlier this month, Aiken is getting ready for the rest of his 23-city tour, "An Evening With Clay Aiken." The 2003 "American Idol" runner-up will perform at the Civic Center with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra on Wednesday night. He previously played in Central New York in July 2004 and December 2006. This is Aiken's third tour singing alongside a symphony. He's done it before on his first two Christmas tours. "I just really fell in love with it and had such a great time with the orchestra and decided this time we wanted to do it without the Christmas music," Aiken says. "The sound is so much better, and the musicians are so amazingly talented." His debut single, "This Is the Night," sold more than 392,000 copies during its first week. His debut album, "Measure of a Man," hit No. 1 on the Billboard chart and went triple platinum. Aiken answered some questions about the show and Central New York.

Q. What is like to work with orchestras from all over?

A. With this concept, we go in, and the orchestra is new every day. We meet the orchestra for the first

time, and they rehearse 21/2 hours, and they're done. They're all set to go. We're talking amazing musicians. I like it more. I think it keeps it new every day. I think it keeps it fresh, and so I like that.

Q. What can the "Claymates" or other fans expect from this show?

A. This time we decided to something a little different ... I decided, well, let's go with some songs that would be completely wrong for an orchestra. So, we do a medley of songs you wouldn't expect to hear with an orchestra. It has songs like "Like a Virgin," "Sexy Back" and "Beat It," "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy." ... not your typical symphony show songs. That's been a lot of fun for us.

Q. You've been to Central New York a couple times; what do you like about the area?

A. You don't realize that Central New York is American. Does it make any sense at all? It's very, very middle-American in a way. It's clean. It's so green up there ... I kind of think it's a breath of fresh air to go through an area like that. It's misunderstood so often, and people assume that it's gritty like the city is, but it's so green and beautiful. It's so America. That's my main memory of the first few times I've been to CNY."

Q. So, what really happened on the airplane?

A. Read my comment, my statement, and that's what you can have. It's online. It's everywhere. I think "Entertainment Tonight" has it.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee! :TourExcite:

1 more day 'till Philly!!!!!!!!!!!!11!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111 :Tour3: :Tour3: :Tour3:

2 more days 'till Syracuse!!!!!!!!!!!11111111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!