#21: "Surprisingly, the ice did not melt."

[Couch Tomato]

Yikes... I do remember him saying just because you are NOT contacted doesn't mean your story won't be chosen...but I'm quite sure for those that got contacted they felt it was a go. But I don't know what their letter told them.... that they were definite or majorly being considered.

I never did come up with a story so this will be sit back and enjoy time for me.

ahhh bottle. heee

[Ansamcw]

WOW....I see there are a couple of disappointed people at CV who were contacted to clarify/test their stories, but have not heard back about actually reading them for sure. THAT would be tough....I'm not sure it's over with for sure for them, but if it doesn't happen it's very disappointing.

Poor Clay~he's between a rock and hard place again! Poor let-down peeps!

Awww...I do think people should just be ready for anything when it comes to the stories...they should be proud and happy to be in the short list...

For all preparing for the concert...HAVE FUN!!!

I love first nights...its exciting to hear the setlist for the first time and to see if there is anything new...I truly hope so.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE one more sleep...

As usual...we will do the cell cert report in the Wichita thread in the Christmas in Heartland Forum...hope to see a lot of you there...

[jumpingjacks]

I was afraid that was going to happen. The two posters at CV were over the moon but I do think that may be why people weren't supposed to say anything....not that it would be less disappointing but it might have been a bit easier.

[FromClaygary]

I was afraid that was going to happen. The two posters at CV were over the moon but I do think that may be why people weren't supposed to say anything....not that it would be less disappointing but it might have been a bit easier.

Yes, me too....and I'm not entirely sure it's NOT going to...but it seems late to notify them now.

[aikim]

From Stripedshirtsat CV:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have a bit of 'soft news' about the songs-in-the-works to share w/ you all that may help put a bit more excitement into your evening....if you are already excited enough.

here's the story, & it's a long one:

Over a month back, I met Jesse Vargas for the first time, face to face here in the city. He & Sean were doing a show called Paul Scott Goodman's Songs and Stories, near my neck of the woods. It was @ a small theatre off Broadway. I saw this advertised through the online Bway bulletins so I bought a tkt to see them.

The show was in a tiny theatre w/ a space that made it more for a small living room-type of feel, so it was intimate. When Jesse & Sean took the stage w/ other band members, I didn't recognize them immediately because they were dressed so casually - the whole summer I've been used to seeing them dressed up for the symphonies that it was quite refreshing to see them in denims and tees. Jesse was the music director/conductor & Sean of course, was behind the drums.

The show was fun, there were alot of inside jokes cracked & most of the material was heavily NY-based - about the life, times, and changes of being an artist struggling in this city. Thought provoking stuff. Very interesting to see Jesse & Sean in a non-Clay concert for a change. The audience consisted of mostly friends, family & colleagues of those musicians who were performing - I think I was the only Clay fan in the audience.

When the show was over, Sean & Jesse left the stage & I didn't think I would see them come back, as people disbanded; but no sooner had I turned around, there was Jesse by the bar, chatting w/ some of the patrons. I really wanted to go & say hello, but couldn't work up the nerve as this was a B'way crowd, & everyone there seemed to know eachother -- & I felt like a stranger crashing their party.

A nonClayfan friend of mine who came w/ me to the show, seeing that I was chickening out, went himself to Jesse, started talking to him; ;then yelled at me to come over. My friend was a smooth operator - easily brought me in & said to Jesse, "my friend's been wanting to say hello to you". Jesse looked at me, said hi, then asked how I knew of him. I explained that I was a Clayfan of course, & that I found out he was doing this show from online. I came to show some support to him & Sean for their work outside of Clay, & he was flattered.

My friend who works in the business, steered the conversation, & politely offered Jesse a drink, which Jesse turned down; he had to leave soon. So I thought, oh well....this is a real quick intro & he's gotta jet, so there goes any talk about what he's working on for Clay. But imagine my surprise when Jesse came over to talk to me some more. My friend left us alone & went to mingle.

It was so cool to talk to Jesse one on one first of all, & 2ndly, he sure did look cute that night - tight jeans, tight muscle shirt & a vest, hair combed back. I'll post some pics later. I told him he looked great - I didn't recognize him & Sean dressed down as I was so used to seeing them in shirts & slacks, & he laughed. Jesse asked if I saw Sean, but Sean had already taken off. It would've been great to formally meet Sean, but maybe next time.

But here are some really cool bits from my conversation w/ Jesse that I've saved, & I will post as much as I can remember. I was w/ him for 10 minutes, & Jesse sure shared alot:

Jesse has been kept busy since the SRHP tour by Clay. He has 6 songs he has to orchestrate by the end of November for Clay. Angela, Quiana are both getting a song, & Clay is adding 2 songs. Jesse could not tell me off the top of his head what those songs are, but did say (after a bit of thinking) that these are new material that wasn't in the Xmas tours before, mostly standards. Plus, there will be medleys. Clay sure do love them medleys.

There will be 2 buses. The dogs are coming on tour - so the group will be split btwn the 2 buses.

Jesse asked me which past summer shows I went to see, & when I told him, he said, "oh, you saw some rough shows". "Rough shows???" I repeated & Jesse explained how it was a letdown working with the orchestras at Cary & Newark when there were wierd notes going off during the songs & how tough it was to try to maintain composure when the crew just wasn't getting the music right. I was surprised to hear this being that I didn't really see nor hear anything wrong - but then again, what do I know? I was so transfixed on Clay & the momentum, as I'm sure most of you all at these concerts were.

Though I did remember w/ amusement how Clay artfully described the Cary symphony (when he was in Asheville) how that concert 'amazed' him

Jesse said the summer tour was alot of fun. He learned alot from having worked on that & felt he's grown alot since; he is really looking forward to the Xmas tour. I said to Jesse "you don't have to wear a tux anymore, do you, for these concerts?", to which he replied, "no more, THANK GOD"

We talked about the upcoming Neil Sedaka Tribute. Jesse is a Neil Sedaka fan. So that explains him attending the concert back in Oct. when Clay was there; I'm guessing he & Clay met up to work on both the tour & Holiday on Ice immediately after the concert which is why they didn't stay for the rest of the concert. too much work, too little time.

I tried not to pump Jesse for too much information, but I think you all reading can understand how hard it was not to salivate over the details. But what he was able & willing to share, given at the spur of the moment meeting w/ him, was a gift enough to me & I will forever thank him for that.

Now, this conversation took place in October. Enough time has passed where any edits could have been made to the songs or the no. of buses, etc. - but based on my conversation w/ Jesse, the format of this concert sounds similar to what we've been seeing so far, but Jesse did say Clay is interested in shaking it up because they're tired of doing the same thing every year.

I did not want to post my meeting w/ Jesse at the time because I wasn't sure if I wanted to spill all beans about what's planned for the tour just yet, being that there were 2 other shows up ahead - the Sedaka tribute & the ice show, so I put it off; plus I didn't think I had enough 'hard' information about the tour to turn this into a huge headline post.

But now that we're about a short day away from the start of this Xmas in the Heartland tour, & I'm just to tingled about what's to come, I think my story is well baked enough (as well as harmless) to share.

So there you have it.....some 'soft scoop' if you will, plus a little bit of an insider's interview on Jesse Vargas. Thank you, Jesse.

[cindilu2]

Hmmmmm.

I'm glad Jesse didn't spill 'all' the beans (or any beans, really, lol). For me personally, I can't imagine revealing anything I might know about Clay's show before Clay can. I feel if he wanted us to know the songs ahead of time, he'd tell us through the OFC. JMO and all that. *shrug*

[aikim]

Hmmmmm.

I'm glad Jesse didn't spill 'all' the beans (or any beans, really, lol). For me personally, I can't imagine revealing anything I might know about Clay's show before Clay can. I feel if he wanted us to know the songs ahead of time, he'd tell us through the OFC. JMO and all that. *shrug*

Well, she really didn't tell us that much...no song titles or anything. Guess I should learn how to spoiler or just not post any concert info ahead of time.

Kim

[playbiller]

Well, his comments about Rahleigh and Newark were very itneresting. Cary was a throw together group outside in 100 degree heat. Newark had no excuse, it was the regular symphony inside. And I was at both and a few others, heh. You might sya I heard the good, the bad and the ugly this year.

[cindilu2]

Hmmmmm.

I'm glad Jesse didn't spill 'all' the beans (or any beans, really, lol). For me personally, I can't imagine revealing anything I might know about Clay's show before Clay can. I feel if he wanted us to know the songs ahead of time, he'd tell us through the OFC. JMO and all that. *shrug*

Well, she really didn't tell us that much...no song titles or anything. Guess I should learn how to spoiler or just not post any concert info ahead of time.

Kim

aikim, I think you misunderstood me. I realize there isn't any real concert info in the post/story. And I'm glad for that - that's all I am saying. I wouldn't respect Jesse very much if he revealed Clay's concert plans to a fan in a casual conversation. Nothing about you posting the info.

[ldyjocelyn]

Oh man, I'm watching "60 Minutes" right now (damn football game running over, postponing TAR for a bit), and they are doing a profile of the Eagles (hope kf is watching). I've just gotta say that Don Henley has aged VERY nicely. He's a fine looking man. (Yeah, he's another of my boyfriends -- what of it?)

Wasn't Newark the show with the "screw it?" I thought that show had some of the best banter from the DCAT -- maybe Clay got the sense from Jesse about the possible problems with the orchestra?

I can't believe tomorrow is the first show, and that my first of two is on Tuesday! I'm pumped -- but not packed or anything!! AAAAGH! Hey -- will there be merchandise? I know Clay didn't last year, but I'm still hoping....

[aikim]

Hmmmmm.

I'm glad Jesse didn't spill 'all' the beans (or any beans, really, lol). For me personally, I can't imagine revealing anything I might know about Clay's show before Clay can. I feel if he wanted us to know the songs ahead of time, he'd tell us through the OFC. JMO and all that. *shrug*

Well, she really didn't tell us that much...no song titles or anything. Guess I should learn how to spoiler or just not post any concert info ahead of time.

Kim

aikim, I think you misunderstood me. I realize there isn't any real concert info in the post/story. And I'm glad for that - that's all I am saying. I wouldn't respect Jesse very much if he revealed Clay's concert plans to a fan in a casual conversation. Nothing about you posting the info.

Thanks for clarifying; sorry I took it personally.

Kim

[gbmifan]

It is so exciting to hear the little tidbits about the tour. I did not win either the story or the M&G, but that is fine. Did not really think it would happen and I am just glad to be able to go to Kalamazoo. That is the first time I will be back to this campus since by middle child graduated in 2004 from WMU.

Today was my first day doing ski patrol for seven hours. Tomorrow my legs are going to feel it. We came home and hit the jacuzzi and had a beer. The sore spots are the lower part of my calf on both legs. I have big calves so the top of the boots pinch that area. I swear they do not make boots for most ladies legs.

[bottlecap]

gbmifan, the jacuzzi part sounds good - the seven hours in the snow (man-made I assume?) not so much.

AACCKK! I'm not ready to think about winter weather yet.

:F_05BL17blowkiss: Sweet Clack Dreams, y'all!

[gbmifan]

Yes it was man made snow. It has been cold enough to make snow, so there was enough to open three hills. I only had one injury today, a 11 year old who hit his friends snowboard after he fell and lacerated his chin. Cleaned it up, put a butterfly on it and called his mom to take him for stitches. I was suppose to have patrol tomorrow but it looks like a mixture of rain and snow so they are thinking of not opening up. I hope so, I need to go to my Moms and take her grocery shopping, set her pills up for the week, and whatever else she needs done.

[PuddinsJoy]

Hi FCA! Hey, I saw me some Clay Aiken this afternoon in Wichita! eeeeeeee!! It was only a few seconds as he left the hotel and climbed onto his bus with Jerome, but he looked great!

Here's my CH post:

lindylo wrote:

eta from CV Quote:

Talking to KSChristian4Clay and she and Puddinsjoy are in Wichita. She was just at the church and someone dropped off Clay, Jerome and Mary. Clay was wearing jeans, a primary color striped shirt and his bucket hat. Meesa said he looked really skinny.

We actually saw he and Jerome walking out of his hotel to the bus (we're staying at the same place), which then drove to the church and we assume dropped them off there. We did see Mary sitting out front of the church, but didn't see Clay. We went to supper and on our way back to the hotel a couple hours later, noticed that the bus was still parked at the church's main entrance, so wonder if they might have attended evening services, as well as possibly rehearsing some. Wearing bucket hat and horizontal, inch-wide-striped, primary-colored shirt I haven't seen before (very tight-fitting), faded blue jeans & sneaks. What little we saw looked very good! It was great to see him, if only a glimpse! He was slim, but in a very good way *g*.

eta - in the category of only semi-important Clay info - there are two buses this go round - one with Clay's usual swirl designs (another board friend said it's the same bus as his SRHPT bus) and the other is the same beige color, but with no detailing - very plain. The plain bus was parked across the street at another hotel. By luck, we arrived about ten minutes after both buses did - so we just timed it right *g*

[atinal]

Oh man, I'm watching "60 Minutes" right now (damn football game running over, postponing TAR for a bit), and they are doing a profile of the Eagles (hope kf is watching). I've just gotta say that Don Henley has aged VERY nicely. He's a fine looking man. (Yeah, he's another of my boyfriends -- what of it?)

LdyJ, I saw that interview too, while I was waiting for TAR to come on. I really enjoyed it. I appreciated their candor. I bought their new CD a couple of weeks ago, I really like it, especially the first disc.

I haven't started packing yet either, except that I haven't completely unpacked from going to St. Louis and the Faboulous Fox for the Doo Wop show a little over a week ago. It is the most beautiful theater I have ever seen.

[Couch Tomato]

Thanks for the update!! whoo hoo. Looking foward to tomorrow and your recap after the show!!

[liney23]

Puddinsjoy... thank you for the sneak peak of Clay in Wichita... and for this wonderful saying:

When we walk to the edge of all the light we have, and take a step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe one of two things will happen - there will be something solid for us to stand upon, or we will be taught to fly." ~ Anonymous

I LOVE this! I'm at this kind of crossroads right now and this just fits so well.

eeeeeeee!!! I'm just slightly excited and I'm not even going! THANK YOU CLACK GATHERERS AND CREW!!!

[Claygasm]

I hate Sunday nights because it means I have to go to work tomorrow.

And I still haven't thought up an excuse to tell my boss I need to leave work early, like 1pm, on Dec, 7th so I can drive to Albany.

I can't believe Christmas concerts are starting already. It seems like just yesterday we were salivating over the DCAT!

Time passes so quickly - way too quickly sometimes.

[PuddinsJoy]

Puddinsjoy... thank you for the sneak peak of Clay in Wichita... and for this wonderful saying:

When we walk to the edge of all the light we have, and take a step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe one of two things will happen - there will be something solid for us to stand upon, or we will be taught to fly." ~ Anonymous

I LOVE this! I'm at this kind of crossroads right now and this just fits so well.

Thanks liney23 - the saying meant a lot to me when I was at a career crossroads about 1 1/2 years ago - it continues to mean a lot to me today - reminds me that sometimes you need to listen to your heart instead of your head. I'm really glad I did.

[jazzgirl]

Puddinsjoy... thank you for the sneak peak of Clay in Wichita... and for this wonderful saying:

When we walk to the edge of all the light we have, and take a step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe one of two things will happen - there will be something solid for us to stand upon, or we will be taught to fly." ~ Anonymous

I LOVE this! I'm at this kind of crossroads right now and this just fits so well.

Thanks liney23 - the saying meant a lot to me when I was at a career crossroads about 1 1/2 years ago - it continues to mean a lot to me today - reminds me that sometimes you need to listen to your heart instead of your head. I'm really glad I did.

Interesting, I immediately thought the saying referred to the afterlife. We'll just have to ask anonymous what he or she meant *g*.

[Couch Tomato]

:attention_whore3:

heee.. it was just mighty quiet.

Looking forward to first concert!

[bottlecap]

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

FIRST CONCERT!!!!!!!


:xmas07a: :xmas07a: :xmas07a:

[laughn]

It's finally here!!!! :xmas07a:

Safe travels one and all!

[Scarlett]

I was going to say Eeeeee! Happy First Concert Day but it's better to quote bottle:

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

FIRST CONCERT!!!!!!!

:xmas07a: :xmas07a: :xmas07a: