#23: Lordy. He is one more hunkalicious dude!

[playbiller]

OK, I redid my list of things this year, probably still missing a few.

2007 - a year blessed with busy fans

Idol fans are the devil's plaything

All the great things we got from Clay in 2007, what a year filled with Clack or at least stories about appearances -

We started the year with the great AIW high from the end of the year before - not enough available, but pretty much everyone on-line got one anyway, just not the NJUs.

January

There was the Six Degrees fund raising from January through March (there has been a lot of fund raising this year!)

Then at the end of January there were questions to ask Clay at Yahoo, when he was the celebrity UNICEF ambassador of the day.

A thousand Days was released as the second single from ATDW.

February

We had the Kimmel Valentine song, then later in the month Clay got a mention in the Idols Gone Wild video by Kimmel with an exposed Clay at the end. Clay also made a surprise appearance at the Steven Curtis Chapman concert. Clay Co-hosted on the Mike and Juliet show.

March

the tour was announced

the BAF Gala where we got Clay sticking his tongue through his ring and other cute clack.

April

ticketmaster tango for the summer tour!

Clay was in Afghanistan then came back for some interviews focusing on the trip!

Clay appeared on the Leonard Lopate show (one of my personal favorites) to discuss UNICEF.

The surprise of hearing after the fact about Clay Aken getting the Children Advocacy Award (except for Merrieeee)

May

more ticketmaster

Clay giving an interview about Afghanistan on Kimmel while sitting on a horse talking about killing Osama Bin Laden and selling lots of albums because, of course, they are connected - what a treat!

We also learned that he appeared representing the state of California with the governator in Canada and attended a David Foster party. It makes you wonder how much stuff does he do that we never hear about.

Finally, there was Guiarmo's mustache skit on Dancing with the stars.

June was quiet, just some more ticket sales.

July shot off with a bang of concerts and fireworks all in one and footgate.

August

the end of the summer concerts

started off the ticket sales for Christmas!

September

AI rewind and the surprise joy of Clay's narration

the filming of Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader and behind the scenes stories

October

some photo ops with Clay at Jenna Bush's UNICEF party

sing for Sedaka

the featured celebrity on the Weekly reader

the surprise appearance speaking to teachers about inclusion.

November

AYSTAFG on TV and a full hour of Clay

filming of the Holiday one Skate show in LA and clack!

the start of the winter concerts.

December

the ending of the concerts, the skate show on TV

Clay off to mexico and UNICEF again this year.

We were truly blessed with a plethora of Clay this year, I hope everyone realizes what an exceptional year we had and will not have again for some time. While Spam a lot will give Clay some TV opportunities, it will also tie him up from other appearances, yet we will hae the Idol rewind appearances to keep us warm during those long months -

ETA - I notice the time line this year is missing a few of these things - yes, I read the time line and filled in the things I was missing.

[luckiest1]

Whoa, 4 pages since I last checked in yesterday? Hee, you'd think maybe something exciting had happened in Clay land!

I've never been a big fan of musicals. But my dad was....I remember him playing the Sound of Music record on our big cabinet stereo in the living room, when I was really young. My brother and I used to put our ears up to the speakers to listen. That's probably because my mom was yelling "turn it down!" which she always seems to do when music is on. I don't think she's ever been much of a fan of music or musicals. But my dad loved them all. Strangely enough, although he was mainly a classical music lover, he also loved Simon & Garfunkel. So I remember hearing that as a youngster as well. I came into my love of pop & rock n roll in my teens, all on my own.

I have enjoyed some of the more recent musicals though (Rent, Dreamgirls, Hairspray, Across The Universe, Moulin Rouge thanks to cindilu2). I've only ever been to one live theatre production, and that was Spamalot. But I've been to hundreds and hundreds of concerts. I could never get into the LOTR movies (they put me to sleep) but I love the HP movies & books.

Thanks for the January calendar, cindilu2! Now I need to get on creating my own Shutterfly calendar for the office.....

[FromClaygary]

Hey you're never more out of step than me when a new Harry Potter book or movie comes out...oh wait...KAndre's with me on that one right?

YES!! I am IN the right place!!! Thought I was the only one on the face of the planet that hatesssssss that Harry Potter crap!

Feeling very left out, though....as in my little 400-person town in the mountains we didn't have TV until I was about 16 (no reception in them thar hills), and no movie theatre. By the time I moved to the big city as an adult, I couldn't afford to go to movies. So I've seen NONE of these musicals you're talking about except SOM.

We did have Danny Kaye on '78's, though, Cindy! I love Danny Kaye and Clay has always strongly reminded me of him; not physically so much, but the voice and the sense of humor, the love for kids, the UNICEF connection. It's almost eery.

Apparently I have some musical-rentin' to do....problem is, Clay and I have the same attention span for movies. I guess Spamalot will be quite an eye-opener for me!

[cindilu2]

I think if Clay had been around in the heydey of Danny Kaye and Donald O'Connor et al, he would have been right up there with them. I could so see him standing in front of the Big Band, riffing and jazzing it up, bustin' a move every now and then. *g* NOBODY will ever convince me that he can't dance! Sure, not at the Gene Kelly level, but the boy's got rythm. Sometimes I think that's the biggest obstacle to his 'superstardom' - the world is just too damn jaded to open themselves up to that kind of entertainment today (outside of live theatre anyway). *le sigh*

[KAndre]

Yes, I just really dislike the Harry Potter books (my son freakin' loves the stuff) and seriously dislike the characters of Harry Potter (within the first two chapter I just wanted to smack him). Give me the Chronicles of Prydain any day of the week. Even the Eddings series (which went on about 4 books too long). LoTR? Liked the movies - but LOVED the books. Enough of a fangirl to be seriously annoyed with the stuff they left out - I neeeeeed my Tom Bombadil - and the cleansing of Shire is IMPORTANT, dammit!

Ooooh - Legolas - one of the few blonds I am willing to make all kinds of exceptions for. Clay will just have to live with my unfaithful self.

Musicals? I like them enough to watch them - don't like 'em enough to go looking for them. Suspension of belief is not a problem for as me as I am a serious sci-fi/fantasy fan (enough to remember the hissy fit that fandom occasionally throws about the term "sci-fi". I also don't mind "trekkie", think "trekker" is stupid but still don't care; which happily contributes to my not caring about "claymate".) - so little in the movies is realistic that a group of teens suddenly singing and dancing in unison about "Greased Lightnin'" bothers me as little people getting shot in the shoulder either falling over and dying instantly or brushing it off as a chest wound and continuing to shoot with the wounded arm.

Trying to decide if I will go out for New Year's - or stay in and listen to some Clay....decisions, decisions....

Oh yeah....

KeepingFaith! Chick, if we've told you once, we've told you a thousand times...doctors are our friends! Stitches are fun! Well, actually they're not, but taking twice as long to heal as necessary is less fun!

KarenEh, keep the lung you coughed up - someone in the Texas Medical Center can put it back.

[Cotton]

Seriously. It has taken forever to catch up!

Interesting dysfunctional family/locale/musical-movie-reading discussions going on!

And by the time I finish this y'all will probably have 3 new pages!!!

Here is a present for our newbies who might have missed it.

You don't have to download it, just click on play, it is not a good video, but the story is the thing.

Wow! Thanks! I had never seen this. I had read 'recaps', but had never seen this. Didn't even know it existed! Very Cool!

Whoa, Baby! We need slo-mo of this!

Ehhh... Monty Python is British comedy. I don't think shitty is even considered a 'swear' there, is it?

I will take any and all bets right now that Clay will say that, and indeed every other word written for the role. What the hell are people thinking? Pfffffffffffft. Will he mimic every mannerism of David Hyde Pierce? No, I don't think so. He's playing Sir Robin, not playing DHP playing Sir Robin. He'll have moves and mannerisms that are Clay Aiken. (And oh, my god, I can not WAIT to see them!!!). But follow the script? Of course he will. Oy and Vey! He will succeed on Broadway, in spite of all his shrews!

And now for something completely different...

January calendars

When will people get it through their heads that Clay Aiken ain't a prude!??!!!

Plus - hearing someone say "shitty" with a British accent is so different!

When ExDH and I lived in Aldeburgh, in Suffolk County, England, there was an older gentleman who walked in the neighborhood.

He looked like an old sea captain, but dressed a bit finer. Full grey beard, cane, etc. He walked by one day when ExDH was washing the car. There were telephone lines that ran above where the car had to be parked and - they made a mess.

First words Captain ever spoke to us.

"It's the buurds. The shiTon it." I can't recreate it. It was more like shi-Ton-it. The t was really a hard t and connected to the next word. Somehow, 'shit' doesn't sound nearly as shitty with a British accent!

I'm looking forward to hearing Clay say "shiTEE"!

Playbiller! I love the 2007 recap! Wow!

And now we are getting ready to go into nearly 4 months of knowing where he is! I hope we see some Clay-about-town shots from the paparazzi while he's there! Even though I think his free time will be quite limited!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

[ldyjocelyn]

*puts on a surgical mask and then hugs Kareneh*

My Mom was a big musical fan, via the soundtracks -- as far as I know, she didn't go to the movies very often during the heyday of musicals. I remember her singing Oklahoma at the top of her lungs! As for me, I really do like musicals too, mainly because the music is so good in them, IMO. Sure, there's some suspension of disbelief, but I can handle that (as a Trekkie, *waves at KAndre*). I'm much more into the more modern ones though -- Moulin Rouge was fantastic, and I loved Chicago. Going back further, though -- I'm surprised no one has mentioned Jesus Christ Superstar. Because, you know, nothing quite equals the Savior of the Known World breaking into a rock song. *g* One musical that I simply loved, but as far as I know has never been made into a movie, was Pippin. "Corner of the Sky" is a fantastic song. Oh, and then there's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I saw that with Donny Osmond -- and he kicked butt! OTOH -- I was actually bored when I saw Phantom, and I have no desire to see Les Miz. *shrug*

Legolas? Yummy. Loved LOTR, and really love Harry Potter. When those pictures of Daniel Radcliff came out last year for Equis, with him, the horse, and no clothes on either....oh man, I was having the guilts for being a woman twice his age lusting after him. (Strange, I've never felt that way about Clay though -- I love having those thoughts about Clay!)

So, here's a question for you today: what are YOU doing New Year's Eve? Hubby and I are going to go to the gym this morning, and then I'm buying food for the evening. At that point, we'll stay in and watch movies. We've got Ratatouie to watch from Netflix, plus the next episodes of Season 1 from Heroes. Then, we have our Christmas present DVD's -- I got my husband Help! (He's a huge Beatle fan....), and then "our kitties" bought us Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Wonder why they got us that one....

[Cotton]

Okay.

Am I dreaming?

Did he thread title change for a bit? And now it's back to the shorter version?

New Year's Eve?

DH and I are very boring. We'll probably do what we always do. No party for us. We'll sit here with Droopy watching the ball drop, trying to find a celebration on tv that's NOT hop-hop crap!

Then head to bed. To sleep. If we even make it to midnight!

*yawn*

[annabear]

Support Clay Aiken and the United States Fund for UNICEF!

Progress: 90%

Raised: $ 89575 Goal: $ 100000

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For NY Eve this year, I'm going to enjoy the last of the goodies I have left from the holidays - all sugar is going in the trash come midnight! - and watching movies & Clack. I'm loving the heck out of having this 4 day weekend and not having to be anywhere or do anything on anybody's schedule but my own!

Big get well wishes to Kareneh. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[aikim]

Hubby works nights, so I imagine he will fall asleep early tonight and I will probably just watch TV, have the first season of Scrubs DVD that I got for Christmas, so I will probably watch that.

ETA: Don't you just hate when you put all the Christmas decorations away and then hours later find something that you missed?

Kim

[muskifest]

My hubby and I are---for the first time in many years---actually going out for New Year's Eve. He made the plans and of course they're sports related. We're going to a fancy fundraising dance for the high school booster club. The invitation actually said "Black Tie Optional"!!! Gotta be kiddin' me! He's wearing a suit and I'll don some gay apparel, but some extra bling will be the extent of my black tie. We'll eat and dance and chat and then after the stroke of midnight, we'll go collect our kids, who are celebrating at their respective friends' houses. Guess Shadow has to watch the new year come in all alone...

play...loved your 2007 list, thank you! :F_05BL17blowkiss: It's really great to see it all in print---and a wonderful reminder, too.

KarenEh, whoa mama! Get well, babe, and SOON!

Keepingfaith, one must NOT minimize the importance of a digit---digits are so useful for so many things...

I hope the UNICEF drive makes its goal, but even if it doesn't quite hit the $100,000 mark, it will have been so very successful. I love how Clay can bring in the dough for UNICEF, don't you?

Off for a walk in the brisk winter air and then to read a bit with a latte in a warm room. :bye2:

[laughn]

Progress: 91%

Raised: $ 90,925

USA Fund for UNICEF

Fieldnotes/Update: Clay Aiken's Appeal for Children in Mexico

Because of the generous response to Clay Aiken's appeal, we're closing in on $100,000 to support UNICEF's work for the children of Mexico! Thank you! We'll keep you posted during the day.

[underthespell]

Progress: 91%

Raised: $ 90,925

:nana:

I love to see those UNICEF numbers go up !!

HAPPY NEW YEAR FCA ! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[spikesmom]

ldyj - I saw Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Donny Osmond when it was at the Chicago Theater many moons ago... it was fabulous!!! He was very, very good in it and that was during his stage fright/panic phase... you never would have known it... and he was quite hot in that loin cloth...

Of the new ones, I've seen Wicked twice (and I'm looking into going again! - I just love that one), Rent, Jesus Christ Superstar, Hairspray, Jersey Boys and The Color Purple (with Fantasia who was very good). Spamalot is coming here in spring (as is The Lion King in early 2008) and I'm planning to see both. Don't know that I'll be able to get to NYC so I figure I'll catch Spam here to be able to see it live... I really love live theater... don't see anywhere near as much as I'd like to...

I've never read or seen any of the LOTR stuff - my mom was totally into the books, didn't live to see the movies, which I know she would have loved...

I admit to loving me some HP... started reading them with my son, and when he threw in the towel, I kept with it... have all the books, all the audio books (Jim Dale is a fabulous reader - he's currently the voice on Pushing Daisies) and the movies.... and as far as suspending belief - I think you do that for pretty much a lot of fiction... so not so hard for me to do... sometimes you make a bigger jump than others...

Tonight? Staying home... maybe I'll finally watch the skating show... lol. It will be a nice, quiet evening (I hope)...

[keepingfaith]

play, I recall that Clay had a GMA appearance with Diane Sawyer sometime last January/February? Maybe February 1? He had the really long, dark hair and those tight pants -- tighter when he bent over for the fancam -- and those shiny hot shoes. I just remember Diane showing a clip from the just-aired Idol audition show with the older man whose wife had died and he sang You Belong to Me. That's about all I remember, Clay wanted to talk about UNICEF and Diane wanted to talk about Idol.

Did anyone happen to catch Michael Buble on a CNNHN interview a few days ago? Buble talked about how bad he sucked when he filled in for Tony Bennett on Idol last season and he blamed it on Simon and stage fright. Buble said that after he sang the opening line of the song, Simon Cowell crossed his arms, looked to the side and made an ugly face, which completely unnerved him, along with the realization that he was singing for 25 million people. Anyway, it made me realize again just how important was the training Clay received from singing in front of millions of people week after week, and often with a disapproving Simon glaring at or ignoring him.

Musicals? I like the modern ones -- Moulin Rouge, Chicago, Dreamgirls.

Harry Potter? Never got into it. Huge LoTR fan, though, and was incredulous that Peter Jackson was able to bring that thing to the screen. Sir Ian McKellen was a great Gandalf and the visuals were stunning. I missed the Scouring of the Shire as well, KAndre.

And Scarlett, thanks a bunch for the download link for the avi conversion tool. It's perfect.

I was thinking this morning that it was such a big thing in my younger days that I not receive impersonal house/kitchen gifts at Christmas. Of course, that's because from time to time I received such lovelies as a new vacuum cleaner and a Remington 20-gauge shotgun. No, I didn't shoot him with it. My husband was a skeet shooter and he thought I should learn the sport (the official reason), but since he had been wanting this 20-gauge to go with his 12-gauge Remington, I never accepted that reasoning. Anyway, I took some of my Christmas cash this year and went to Macy's and what did I end up buying for myself but an 8-quart and 4-quart stainless steel pressure cooker set, and new knives. So I'm hanging in the kitchen a lot these days with a new, extremely sharp set of knives. No emergency room for me ... my DIL in nursing school finally got me fixed up.

[spikesmom]

I was thinking this morning that it was such a big thing in my younger days that I not receive impersonal house/kitchen gifts at Christmas. Of course, that's because from time to time I received such lovelies as a new vacuum cleaner and a Remington 20-gauge shotgun. No, I didn't shoot him with it. My husband was a skeet shooter and he thought I should learn the sport (the official reason), but since he had been wanting this 20-gauge to go with his 12-gauge Remington, I never accepted that reasoning. Anyway, I took some of my Christmas cash this year and went to Macy's and what did I end up buying for myself but an 8-quart and 4-quart stainless steel pressure cooker set, and new knives. So I'm hanging in the kitchen a lot these days with new extremely sharp knives. No emergency room for me ... my DIL in nursing school finally got me fixed up.

kf - glad to hear you're fixed up - careful with those knives now...

I got a set of snow tires one year... if that doesn't say love, I don't know what does... he's lucky I didn't run him over... although his clothing choices weren't much better at first... he learned but it took time...

And to me, the difference is that YOU bought the kitchen stuff for yourself... you got to make the choice... if I ask for something kitchen-y, then it's cool, but I prefer it's not assumed I would love something for the kitchen as my gift... just me.

[luckiest1]

Woo hoo for the Unicef numbers continuing to climb!

I will most likely spend my afternoon/evening in the laundromat, as the dryer broke last night and I have a mountain of laundry to get done, some of which is wet. Usually my son & I sit and watch whatever station shows the least offensive musical acts while the ball drops to midnight.

Knives? I am not allowed to use sharp knives. I almost cut my finger off once....severed the tendon. I learned my lesson.

[00lsee]

keepingfaith, please don't mess around with a serious cut...if you won't take it to get stitches, take it to the drugstore and pick up some steri-strips or something similar to bring the edges together yourself and stop that bleeding. An open wound is open to infection...and something that was too much of a bother to get treated when it happened can become a real bother for weeks and weeks. It's a case of "pay me now or pay me later". Take care! eta: glad to hear your "nurse" got you fixed up...((HUGS))...keeping it elevated will help with the throbbing. eta again...oh, bwah on me...sometimes the smut just writes itself!~

Okay, true story, promise. My niece cracked me up this week...She's sixteen and has never claimed to be a fan of Clay's...in fact, that season, she told me she preferred Ruben. heh Anyway, we were at my sister's for Christmas and I happened to walk in while she was in conversation with my Clay fan kid...who turned to me and said, "Can you believe it, after all these years, she still calls Clay a leprechaun?"

I gave niece a mock-stern look and replied, "Well, she must not have seen him lately, that's all I can say."

"Oh, I've seen him," niece said, "He's gorgeous."

"What?" I ask, astonished.

"He's gorgeous," she repeated, sheepishly.

A few days later, we were taking her to the movies and I asked, "What did you call Clay Aiken the other day? I can't remember."

"I said he was gorgeous," she answered, "But what can I say, I have a thing for short men."

"Short?!" my Clay fan kid and I say, at the same time.

"What do you mean short?" I said.

"Yeah, SHORT?!" Clay fan kid says, "He's 6'1" for crying out loud."

"6'1"?" niece repeats, bemused. "Well, I guess he always looked short next to Ruben, then, huh?"

"Only because Ruben is like, 6'7"!" Clay fan kid says.

"No, he's really 6'4"," I add, "but yeah, most anyone would look short next to Ruben."

"Huh," said niece, mulling it over. "So I guess that makes him a hunk now. He is gorgeous."

I smile at Clay fan kid in the rearview mirror. She's grinning at me. "Yes, he is."

[annabear]

A shot gun? Snow tires? As gifts from hubby? Sometimes I think it's not so bad being single, afterall!

Glad you had someone look at your thumb, keepingfaith. :F_05BL17blowkiss: And yes, I did see that interview with Michael Buble. It was interesting.

Thanks for mentioning Wicked, spikesmom. It's going to be in Cinci soon and I completely forgot about it. I need to see if I can still get tickets as I missed it last time it was here because I was going out of town to see - who else - Clay.

ETA:

Support Clay Aiken and the United States Fund for UNICEF!

Progress: 92%

Raised: $ 92105 Goal: $ 100000

[Couch Tomato]

Well I'm ringing in the new year thus far babysitting. And one of the kids is sick. How do I know? Because it's been two hours and I haven't once said, stop jumping on the furniture, stop that Tyler, put that colander back in the kitchen, and my favorite, leave your sister alone. Not only did he not want to fix his own eggs, but he didn't even eat the yummy breakfast I put in front of him. He asked for juice and yogurt. Call the paramedics. The biggest clue was his normal torturer, his sister, said, Poor Ty Ty.

I'll probably ring in the new year asleep or right here. I've never been a partier and the prices of everything goes way up on New Years Eve. And I don't like countdown shows. heee how boring am I. For everyone going out, have a great time and be careful.

Yay for the little red line goign up. I'm sure he'll go over the top.

wandacleo, thanks for the joke.

LdyJ I think I laughed the most with you dawning a mask before you gave Kareneh a hug.

I'm also a Moulin Rouge lover. My sister and I started watching it one day and after ten minutes she made me turn it off. I think I agreed with her. But after she left I watched the whole thing and just loved it. Have never been able to convince her to watch it though.

First season of Heroes was so good. I'm on the last disk and then I'll watch this season online. Then we're moving on to House. I've never seen any of those.

[JennaZ]

Yes, I just really dislike the Harry Potter books (my son freakin' loves the stuff) and seriously dislike the characters of Harry Potter (within the first two chapter I just wanted to smack him). Give me the Chronicles of Prydain any day of the week. Even the Eddings series (which went on about 4 books too long). LoTR? Liked the movies - but LOVED the books.

I enjoyed the Harry Potter books, although I haven't gotten around to reading the final novel (even though I've had it since the week it came out). I adored the Chronicles of Prydain as well as the Chronicles of Narnia. And David Eddings "Belgariad" series is probably my favorite series ever. I must have read the entire series at least 10-20 times. Never got into his non-Belgarion series, though. LoTR - For years, people told me that as someone who loved fantasy, I had to read the series. Could never get into The Hobbit, and so I never read the rest of the books.

Those Unicef totals are impressive!

Saw Sweeney Todd a few days ago. Not bad musically or dramatically, but JEEZ! it's bloody. Even my husband, who loves to watch Ultimate Fighting, said he was turned off by how bloody it was.

Couchie, Heroes was great last year!

[cindilu2]

Well I'm ringing in the new year thus far babysitting. And one of the kids is sick. How do I know? Because it's been two hours and I haven't once said, stop jumping on the furniture, stop that Tyler, put that colander back in the kitchen, and my favorite, leave your sister alone. Not only did he not want to fix his own eggs, but he didn't even eat the yummy breakfast I put in front of him. He asked for juice and yogurt. Call the paramedics. The biggest clue was his normal torturer, his sister, said, Poor Ty Ty.

I'll probably ring in the new year asleep or right here. I've never been a partier and the prices of everything goes way up on New Years Eve. And I don't like countdown shows. heee how boring am I. For everyone going out, have a great time and be careful.

Yay for the little red line goign up. I'm sure he'll go over the top.

wandacleo, thanks for the joke.

LdyJ I think I laughed the most with you dawning a mask before you gave Kareneh a hug.

I'm also a Moulin Rouge lover. My sister and I started watching it one day and after ten minutes she made me turn it off. I think I agreed with her. But after she left I watched the whole thing and just loved it. Have never been able to convince her to watch it though.

First season of Heroes was so good. I'm on the last disk and then I'll watch this season online. Then we're moving on to House. I've never seen any of those.

Aww, hope Tyler feels better for the New Year.

As for Moulin Rouge - I have to say BWAH! That was exactly the reaction I had - the opening 10 minutes really are a WTF??? series of shots (that only become clear and apropos after multiple viewings). But then it was on satellite one night, and I was reading and too lazy to change the channel so I left it on. Well!! The elephant love scene played out, and I? was hooked! I don't even know how many times I've watched it now. 'Come What May' still slays me though - and the finale is spectacular! (Or should I say Spectacular!Spectacular!). LOVE!

[jumpingjacks]

Aww, hope Tyler feels better for the New Year.

As for Moulin Rouge - I have to say BWAH! That was exactly the reaction I had - the opening 10 minutes really are a WTF??? series of shots (that only become clear and apropos after multiple viewings). But then it was on satellite one night, and I was reading and too lazy to change the channel so I left it on. Well!! The elephant love scene played out, and I? was hooked! I don't even know how many times I've watched it now. 'Come What May' still slays me though - and the finale is spectacular! (Or should I say Spectacular!Spectacular!). LOVE!

I love Moulin Rouge...I watched it with a good friend and after the first 10 min. we looked at each other and said "what the hell was that????????" Then we rewound it and watched it again.

I love the dancing in the "Roxanne" scenes....stunning.

[cha cha trusty]

Hey! I don't know if it's too late - but I found a pic of the chicken shield!

Tonight we will bring in the New Year right around the corner with our bunco group's "Party of the Month Club"! We were invited to a couple of other parties, but decided to go to the closer one. The hostess says it's BYOE - Bring Your Own Everything. My daughter says I should show up with a roll of toliet paper!

The kids are either party-hopping or pub-crawling, depending on who you ask!

[keepingfaith]

I'm also a Moulin Rouge lover. My sister and I started watching it one day and after ten minutes she made me turn it off. I think I agreed with her. But after she left I watched the whole thing and just loved it. Have never been able to convince her to watch it though.

I saw Moulin Rouge at the theatre on opening day, in the afternoon, alone, but I can't remember why. I was one of about five people tops in the whole theatre and had no preconceptions about the movie. About thirty minutes in, I was thinking somebody put acid in the popcorn.