#17: The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.

[Claygasm]

Is anyone who we think they are?

Seriously...BW calls me jamar all. the. time. I've gotten letters from her, sent through the mail, w/my board name and my last name. Her DH thinks my name is jamar. I've called her and said ... Hey, it's *insertrealnamehere*... and she's like ... WHO!?!?!?!?

---

I loved Listen. I think it's Angela's best to date. Beyonce who?

Heh. I almost booked your plane ticket as 'JaMar' once. Until they asked me how to spell it.

God I hope no one ever tries doing that with my screen name!

That could be embarrassing!

[ldyjocelyn]

Heh...this whole name discussion is cracking me up. I've mentioned before that I used to be active in the Society for Creative Anachronism, which is a group that recreates the Middle Ages. My name in that group is Lady Jocelyn Alewife (hence, my screen name in the Clay fandom). Two of my best friend's names are Baron Roghallach the Strong and Baroness Maria Teresa Riberio dos Santos. Of course, they have "regular" names in real life. So....this whole thing with screen names (which are MUCH easier in the Clay fandom) and real life names is something I've gone through for a long time.

Actually, my time in the SCA prepared me for Clay fandom in another way. When I first joined up, it was not uncommon at all to just throw a sleeping bag in your trunk while someone opened up their house to you for sleeping and such. Everyone was quite open in that way -- they still are. You'd end up staying in the home of someone you'd never met until that particular day. Sound familiar?

Back to the name thing for a second. I'll tell you a secret -- offer to do name tags for the next Clay party you attend. You'll learn screen names/real names toot sweet. I got to know a LOT of people that way.

CG, I totally understand your reaction to MGUCL. I've mentioned this before, that I'm NOT a lyric person. Give me a great melody, and someone could be singing all cuss words and I'd be like "GREAT SONG!" But, last Christmas, I remember listening to the AIW CD as I was on a scavenger hunt for more copies of the CD (I think I ended up buying about 17 copies my area, to be shipped to others in the country). It was a rainy, dreary evening -- almost freezing rain. MGUCL came on, and for some reason the lyrics hit me. Hard. So I was crying my eyes out. Quiana did a fantastic job, but Clay made that song his own at that particular moment for me.

[AnAmeraikenInTX]

No idea who jmh is... hard enough for me to keep track of myself....

But when I post on another board, which isn't that often, I post as mikesmom... and when in Florida, I introduced myself as mikesmom when I met people... when I started posting here, I decided since I joined eons ago as spikesmom, I'd just own that name and my silly paranoia and the coughinfamousauthorcough be damned... what can I say, I'm workin' on my self-esteem...

Ok, I get it now!!!!!!! I read a post by you a little while ago over and thought something along the line of "so many mom's"!!! It's all good!!! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[jmh123]

Okay...you're killing me here. Who is jmh? Other than jmh? And who is spikesmom? Is anyone who we think they are? stop lookin' at me like that!

Exactly. It used to drive me nuts not knowing who a few people here were on other boards, and then after awhile I thought, why do I care since I know them here? But if you pm me I'll show you mine if you show me yours.

[spikesmom]

Ok, I get it now!!!!!!! I read a post by you a little while ago over and thought something along the line of "so many mom's"!!! It's all good!!! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Thanks!

So I'm taking all my alter egos (I should have a cool one like Wonder Woman or something but nooooo, not me... doh) and heading to the sack... I'm up early for the Susan G. Komen walk tomorrow... it's going to be extra special as my sister's sister-in-law (who babysat my son when he was younger while I was working) is in the last stages of her treatment (she's a survivor!) and she's walking with us... Night all!

Edited September 23, 2007 by spikesmom

[Bookwhore]

God I hope no one ever tries doing that with my screen name!

That could be embarrassing!

You and me both. What would look worse on a plane ticket? Claygasm or Bookwhore? I think we'd both get arrested.

Heh...this whole name discussion is cracking me up. I've mentioned before that I used to be active in the Society for Creative Anachronism, which is a group that recreates the Middle Ages. My name in that group is Lady Jocelyn Alewife (hence, my screen name in the Clay fandom).

Everytime you mention SCA I keep meaning to tell you but then I forget. My little sister is in SCA, has been for years. Her name is Lady Cithleen. Not sure what her 'persona' is. But she was really into it when she was younger. When she got married last year she made her wedding dress in the medeival style...it was beautiful.

But if you pm me I'll show you mine if you show me yours.

Now that's just durrty. [tm CHA]

[Couch Tomato]

Okay...you're killing me here. Who is jmh? Other than jmh? And who is spikesmom? Is anyone who we think they are? stop lookin' at me like that!

ok I confess... on most boards I'm couchtomato but here I'm couch tomato. Wow, that weight has been lifted

[AnAmeraikenInTX]

Bookwhore, BWAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Edited September 23, 2007 by AnAmeraikenInTX

[Claygasm]

God I hope no one ever tries doing that with my screen name!

That could be embarrassing!

You and me both. What would look worse on a plane ticket? Claygasm or Bookwhore? I think we'd both get arrested.

We would both be on the no-fly list for sure!

I am Claygasm now everywhere but the OFC. On my first board I had a different name, but that seems like at least one life time ago. Unfortunately, when I signed up at the OFC I still used that name.

At least to most people I can still go incognito on that board - not that I post there. But it would be kind of fun to comment on Clay's blog with Claygasm....

[woo lovereyes]

OK, since couch tomato was brave enough to confess I'm strong enough to so the same. Here goes...

On my other board I'm woolovereyes and here I'm woo lovereyes. That's a load off my back!

Edited September 23, 2007 by woo lovereyes

[wandacleo]

I'm wandacleo everywhere because I'm too damn lazy and too absent-minded to come up with anything more original.

[Shadylil]

Who is jmh? Other than jmh?

Be careful what you ask for. But! I know who jmh is and I'm not telling (/sing-songy voice)

Am I the only one who doesn't think that Clay picks Q&A's songs from scratch? I think they come up with a few that they'd like to do and Clay picks from those. Yeah, I know he said he picks them, but......

Tonight I watched two hours of AI Rewind. They did a two hour retrospective of the entire Season One. The first hour was the Top Ten, the second hour was just Kelly and Justin. Justin did some new interviews for it, but Kelly didn't so they spliced in her old AI interviews to fit the narrative. Then they ran the ad for Season Two and showed a lot of Clay.

Day-um, I missed both chats.

Edited September 23, 2007 by Shadylil

[zena]

When I started lurking here fairly regularly, ( my that sounds a little subversive.....) and wasn't quite brave enough to post out loud, I compensated by copying and pasting a tidy little pile of megabytes from the main thread into a Word Folder I called "The Definitive Answers to Clayfan Angst".

You know, something I could just whip out the next time I landed face down in a puddle of angst......

In so far as screennames go, I've always just been mee. I was m.e.e. (my real initials), at the purple pages of the LBFCA; yep, i did my internship there. At CV, I branched out, (twigged out?) and became meeman. I'm soooooooo creative; my initials and man for the province I live in. One of the FAQ for me is, are you a man? heee....

Zena was my attempt at a split personality, but if you read my last post, you'll see how well that turned out.

I wish that when/if I have the chance to meet any of you in an elevator, a pre or post party, a busline, or a concert etc....that it will be memorable enough to make the cyberconnection of the boards a little more personal, and a little more real. Hey, my imagination has had some reality shockers on some of my first time encounters with bigger than life Screen people.

I wished I hadn't missed chat yesterday. I was getting ready for company who are staying the weekend with us. While it's nice to get so many things done that I've been puttting off for next to forever, it does make for long days and short nights. I was nearly blinded this morning by all the light coming through my clean windows.

Anyway, if I had been part of it, I would have expressed some serious concern about Clay's voice and where it is going. I may be treading on thin ice here. I'm not saying he hasn't improved, or that I don't absolutely love his voice. It just doesn't appear to me that Clay takes as good care of his voice as maybe he could. I went to five amazing concerts this summer, but especially when I was near the front it seemed as though it took him two or three songs to really warm up. The quality and the strength of his voice, depending on how much preachin' and getting down with Weezie he did, seemed to improve as the concert progressed. It makes me shudder though when he starts yelling those big decibels.

He "says" he doesn't warm up; who knows if that is true or not. If he really doesn't, it isn't nice of him to expect those yummy vocal cords to start thrumming at full tilt right off the bat. I don't understand why he wouldn't.

I'm not angsting here, honest. Just bein' selfish, I guess. I want Clay singing to us for a long time, and he needs to take care of his instrument, not just be proud of it. Okay I'm done.

My disclaimer is that I have an opera singer in da house, and I want Clay to be professional about protectin' his assets.

[Couch Tomato]

good point Zena... I don't know much about singing and what singers do to preserve that gift..but instinctively I wish he'd warm up as well. Gibby?

[playbiller]

Well, Zena, I don't know if this is a comfort or not, but Clay seems to keep comapany with modern voice instructors.

I remember watching a video where Byrd said that warming up was not really needed and was more or less a singing myth. She said the thing is not talking much on the day of the show Now that is soething you could worry about.

Then I read something said by Quiana, also a voice instructor She also indicated that warming up is not neccessary. Not getting sick is neccessary - hence my concern about meet and greets.

Now, Kelly Clarkson warms up every night, but she seems to have more vocal problems, cancelling shows and singing every other night and singing in a way that seems to stress her throat. So I am starting to believe it is strength training (Clay siinging over his teacher as a child) and singing sensibly (Clay having Quiana cover some notes for him on the harder songs, pacing so he does not just sing one song after another and just plain common sense.)

When I was a child (no this is not walking 3 miles to school in a snowstorm story, although I could talk about walking home in the height of a hurricane because the school let us out in the eye of a storm and we did have to walk over a mile home) Broadway theaters were not miked and the singers had to project 8 shows a week - and they did it singing into thier eighties.

Edited September 23, 2007 by playbiller

[JennaZ]

I just thought I'd post here what I posted at CH. If you're looking for American Idol Rewind, keep in mind the following:

American Idol is on Fox, but American Idol Rewind is distributed by Tribune Entertainment, a sister company to Tribune Broadcasting, which owns many stations including:

New York City WPIX 11 CW

Los Angeles KTLA 5 CW

Chicago WGN-TV 9 CW

Philadelphia WPHL-TV 17 MyNetworkTV

Dallas - Fort Worth KDAF 33 CW

Washington, D.C. WDCW 50 CW

Houston KHCW 39 CW

Tacoma - Seattle KCPQ 13 Fox

Miami - Fort Lauderdale WSFL-TV 39 CW

Denver KWGN-TV 2 CW

Sacramento - Stockton - Modesto KTXL 40 Fox

St. Louis KPLR-TV 11 CW

Portland, Oregon KRCW-TV 32 CW

Bloomington, Indiana WTTV 4 CW

Indianapolis WXIN 59 Fox

Kokomo, Indiana WTTK 29

San Diego KSWB 69 CW

Hartford - New Haven, CT WTIC-TV 61 Fox

Waterbury, Connecticut WTXX 20 CW

Kalamazoo, MI WXMI 17 Fox

Lancaster - Lebanon, PA WPMT 43 Fox

New Orleans WGNO-TV 26 ABC

You'll note that many of the stations that we know that aired this (WGN, KTLA, KCPQ) are on this list. Some are Fox affiliates, some are CW affiliates, and at least one is ABC. (BTW: I did a spot check of the New York, Washington DC, St. Louis, Denver, Houston and Dallas web sites. They all show a banner for American Idol Rewind Season 2). Interestingly, I did not see Rewind on the non-CW sites I checked [New Orleans, Hartford, Indianapolis, but I didn't check them all.

Idol Rewind is syndicated, so it can be licensed by any station. However, I think there's a good chance that the stations above may carry it due to corporate synergy. But check local listings.

Edited September 23, 2007 by JennaZ

[zena]

I won't even pretend to "know" what is right or wrong for the professional development and preservation of the kind of gift Clay has in his amazing tenor voice.

I have just been learning by osmosis, and observing, as my own DS; my other favorite tenor, has been working at what he hopes to become his career. At an eight week intensive opera workshop he attended this summer, they did yoga for an hour and a half before they were allowed to sing.

zena imagines Clay in downward facing dog posture...

okay, there goes any constructive thought pattern i might have had.

see ya tomorrow.....good nite!

[muskifest]

So I finally pop in here and what do I see?

zena imagines Clay in downward facing dog posture...

Oh GAWD.

I'm done.

I'm going to bed now.

Oh, GAWD.

Wait! Wouldn't it be better if I were in the facing dog posture and Clay was....

heh...yeah....that seems so much more....

comfy.

So I finally pop in here and what do I see?

zena imagines Clay in downward facing dog posture...

Oh GAWD.

I'm done.

I'm going to bed now.

Oh, GAWD.

Wait! Wouldn't it be better if I were in the facing dog posture and Clay was....

heh...yeah....that seems so much more....

comfy.

ETA: Yeah...I see that for some reason this got posted twice in the same post...odd. I was told when I hit "Reply" that the board was exercising "flood control"...

well...too damn late. After that Clay in "downward facing dog posture" line, the flood's already out of control...

Edited September 23, 2007 by muskifest

[atinal]

Play, I'm glad you posted about Kelly, I was thinking the same thing. When they toured together, she talked about how she couldn't believe that Clay didn't warm up. She does seem to have more voice problems than he does. I guess I should take into consideration that in Kelly's last year of touring she did do longer tours than Clay has done lately.

Speaking of voices, I was flipping through our bazillion channels trying to find something to watch a little while ago and landed on Justin Timberlake's HBO show. The guy probably is mad talented, but man, he sounds like he just sucked on a helium balloon, and while he can hit some pretty high falsetto notes there doesn't seem to be much strength to them. Is that what people are referring to when they say someone's voice sounded thin? I listened to about 2 and a half songs and came back down to get on the computer. Although I'm getting a little tired of the TV medley. (still working on rating those songs), I would rather listen to them the umpteenth time than the rest of that concert by JT.

Another comment on voices, I like Faith Hill, I like her well enough to have bought 2 of her CDs, don't really follow her, but I watched her special that was on I think it's been almost 2 years ago now. She sang When the Lights go Down. If I remember correctly they made a big production of it, with an orchestra. In my opinion, Quiana kicks Faith to the curb on WTLGD. Again, IMO, both girls were show cased in songs that were well suited for them and they both kicked butt.

[JennaZ]

I know Clay has good people around him, but I sometimes wonder if he takes his voice for granted, just a bit. I just get this sense that vocally, he's always been able to do easily what others have had to work hard for, and so perhaps, he doesn't pamper his voice as much as he should. In all likelihood, he probably shouldn't talk too much before concerts, but I have a feeling, he always does.

It is interesting that Kelly seemed to warm up more, but has had more vocal problems, despite shows that are often considerably shorter than his. It may be that she's toured longer, but her throat may just not be as strong as Clay's.

I think he's been able to get away with what he does, because he is young and talented. However, can he continue to do that forever? I don't know.

[Gibby]

I enjoyed Quiana and Angie's solos so much this tour - more than any other tour. Plus, I just have to "word" Bookwhore who I believe posted earlier about never hearing the lyrics of "My Grown Up Christmas List" until Clay sang it. He blew me away and it became my favourite Christmas song. I love Q but I had never heard the words until Clay sang it on (I think) GMA! GAH!!! I was toast!

Hmmppphhhh!!!! I say something interesting, and it gets attributed to BW!! See - here's what I said:

I had the same experience with MGUCL - when Quiana sang it, I was thrilled with her performance. I thought it was amazing. But I somehow didn't hear or understand the words as much as when Clay sang it. MGUCL has a beautiful message, and it was like a beautiful revelation when Clay sang it. I think he really tries to project the meaning of the song, and his diction, while not overdone as it was on AI, is still very good. Of Clay's Christmas music, MGUCL is one of my favorites.

See? I said it first.

God I hope no one ever tries doing that with my screen name!

That could be embarrassing!

You and me both. What would look worse on a plane ticket? Claygasm or Bookwhore? I think we'd both get arrested.

good point Zena... I don't know much about singing and what singers do to preserve that gift..but instinctively I wish he'd warm up as well. Gibby?

Well, you will find opinions all over the place about anything having to do with singing, including warming up. Some people swear by it, and others, like Clay, Quiana, Bryd and others, say it's not necessary.

I accompany a number of vocalists, and work with them while their vocal coaches are getting them ready for competitions. The coaches are very careful to thoroughly warm them up, and work on technique right before they perform. That way, they're at the top of their game on the first note they sing. And I hear a definite improvement in vocal quality after they are warmed up. But this is where Clay has a definite advantage - his singing seems so natural to him, almost like breathing. At least, that's how it seems to me. He probably thinks about vocal technique a bit, but not to the extent that most other singers need to, because he has such a natural vocal gift. So, he wouldn't need to warm up to make sure his technique is good.

However, think about an athlete - would a runner go into a race without warming up? For the most part, athletes work out a bit before playing a game or competing so that their muscles are warm and supple. That way they are better able to perform and are less prone to injury. Because the voice is a part of the body, the same thing holds true - the voice will perform better when warmed up, and will be less prone to injury. At least, that's how I understand it. I'm sure there are a great number of people who would disagree, including Clay and Quiana.

Now, Kelly Clarkson wars up every night, but she seems to have more vocal problems, cancelling shows and singing every other night and singing in a way that seems to stress her throat. So I am starting to believe it is strength training (Clay siinging over his teacher as a child) and singing sensibly (Clay having Quiana cover some notes for him on the harder songs, pacing so he does not just sing one song after another and just plain common sense.)

When I was a child (no this is not walking 3 miles to school in a snowstorm story, although I could talk about walking home in the height of a hurricane because the school let us out in the eye of a storm and we did have to walk over a mile home) Broadway theaters were not miked and the singers had to project 8 shows a week - and they did it singing into thier eighties.

I think Kelly's trashing her voice by the way she sings. It doesn't matter whether she warms up or not when she screams and yells during her performances.

And I totally agree with you - Clay may not warm up, but he does take care of his voice by pacing himself during concerts when Q & A sing, and by being careful with really high notes. He was smart during last year's JNT to wait to do AIW at the end, since it has high, difficult notes. He was fully warmed up by that point in the concert.

Those Broadway and Opera singers who sing without mics? They are probably trained to warm up thoroughly, so that they don't damage their voices when they project.

Of course, all of this is IMHO, YMMV, etc. etc.

Oh, and by the way - I volunteer to warm up Clay before any concert or performance. Yes, indeedy. I could keep him quite warm.

[playbiller]

Just to clarify, I have no idea what itsthe right thing to do and have no musical training at all, jsut read a bit after seeing those comments by Byrd and Parlar.

Now I can see Yoga helping people do pretty much anything, but especially perform. I used to go to yoga lunches when I worked in NY to survive stressful afternoons, but after I moved to NJ, there just wasn't any of that near by. Sitting on a cubicle floor or my office with it's glass wall - not practical (note caged animal comments fit in nicely there).

[luckiest1]

Seems to me that Clay's way of "warming up" is to put songs that are more mellow and easier to sing at the beginning of the show, and ease his way into the ones where he has to belt. Like HYCA and EIH being 1 & 2 on the DCAT. I don't worry much about his voice, because it seems to be getting stronger with every tour.

It's funny, I've been luckiest1 since I came online waaaay back in '97 (during the height of my previous fandom, figure skating) and I now have friends who refer to me as "Lucky" in real life. It is especially helpful when there are 2 or 3 people with the same first name as me in the same room. LOL.

But I gotta tell you, it was pretty freaky when someone referred to me as "Licky" at a concert this past summer.

OK, this is fun, no one is up but me, so I can just keep posting and posting.....how weird is it that even up to 2 years later, I can still find something funny in clack that I have never heard or seen before? Yesterday I was reviewing some JBT AC video, and heard Clay, talking about the 2000s, say that the music from the year 2002 "didn't curl my toes". BWAH. Just now I was clipping some TV Theme songs from Atlanta, and in introducing Full House, he said " you know that TV show with the twins...who became anorexic?".

*wipes tears* Oh God, now in Tampa, at the end of Full House, he says "you know it's a shame what happened to those girls....somebody needs to give them a cheeseburger, they are too skinny".

What, am I the only person who gets up before sunrise on a Sunday? Now I'm onto watching Houston clack from this year. I swear, I got teary watching the different versions of HYCA. Do you think he was happy to see "us"? I love him. *where's the "I'm schmoopie and I miss him" emoticon???*

Edited September 23, 2007 by luckiest1

[ldyjocelyn]

I remember way back in 2004 (almost the olden days *g*), I used to wonder how Clay could get away with "back loading" his shows -- putting the most difficult songs at the end. He did it with the NAT and Solitaire; he did it this past Christmas with AIW. He kinda sorta did it with DSIAFCD (although we did have GN to follow). And I'll admit I used to worry about that, especially when he would have 4 or 5 shows in a row. But the more I think about it, I think lickiest luckiest might be right -- he uses pacing in his shows to give his voice a chance to get into the groove. And as others have said, that's one of the reasons he gives his backup singers solos -- not just to push them into the spotlight, but to also give his voice a little downtime.

OTOH, if this theory kinda sort fits -- doing UM during the JBT must have been rather interesting for him. That was one of his toughest songs, and that was definitely early in the show.

I also have a damn hard time imagining Clay not talking the day of a performance.

I have no problem with people calling me ladyj when they meet me in real life. If nothing else, it's totally unique -- as compared to my real first name. I know of at least 4 others with my RL name in the fandom, one of them on this board. But I'll have to admit that meeting Claygasm last summer, it was a bit easier to talk to her using her real name. *g*

You know what? We need pictures around here. It seems there hasn't been any good pictures posted here in, say, 24 hours....

[FromClaygary]

luckiest, you're not the only one...but I am cheatin' a little, cause I'm in an earlier timezone than you.

Funny discussion about the names. I'm one of those people that has to "visualize" someone's name to be able to remember it well. If your name is Diana and you don't "look like a Diana" to me....I have a hard time remembering your name! Isn't that the stupidest thing??

Funny thing is, you don't LOOK like a "insert luckiest's real name here" to me; now Lucky....yes! Maybe even Licky!

I was just watching scruffy's WPB banter where Quiana mentions that she called Clay that day to say that she misses him and Clay says that he misses her too. I mean, here they are on the road together - sharing a bus - for over a month and she doesn't see him for a few hours and she misses him. That was a real AWWW moment for me. I love seeing Quianna and Angela on stage with Clay because he loves having them with him.

Definite Awww...I haven't been able to listen to it all yet, and hadn't heard that. I'm delighted that he has dear friends...or whatever that are willing and able to tour with him. I'm betting last year Christmas wasn't nearly so fun. I know that after he was ill, in Detroit when Quiana showed up out of the blue, I literally burst into tears like a fool when I saw her, I was so relieved. Until then, I hadn't realized how worried about him I was. I don't know whether her visit was a surprise to him or not, but I'm betting it was the medicine he needed at that moment. I love Q's voice, and generally like some of A's work; but this tour, I was blown away by the choices.

Just wanted to add my thanks, too, Cindi for your posting of the lyrics to WTLGD; I had picked up on some of them but couldn't get the whole thing. It IS a beautiful, beautiful song no matter who picked it.

Well, Zena, I don't know if this is a comfort or not, but Clay seems to keep comapany with modern voice instructors.

I remember watching a video where Byrd said that warming up was not really needed and was more or less a singing myth. She said the thing is not talking much on the day of the show Now that is soething you could worry about.

Then I read something said by Quiana, also a voice instructor She also indicated that warming up is not neccessary. Not getting sick is neccessary - hence my concern about meet and greets.

Now, Kelly Clarkson warms up every night, but she seems to have more vocal problems, cancelling shows and singing every other night and singing in a way that seems to stress her throat. So I am starting to believe it is strength training (Clay siinging over his teacher as a child) and singing sensibly (Clay having Quiana cover some notes for him on the harder songs, pacing so he does not just sing one song after another and just plain common sense.)

When I was a child (no this is not walking 3 miles to school in a snowstorm story, although I could talk about walking home in the height of a hurricane because the school let us out in the eye of a storm and we did have to walk over a mile home) Broadway theaters were not miked and the singers had to project 8 shows a week - and they did it singing into thier eighties.

I am enjoying this discussion about voices and the physical necessities around keeping them...interesting.