#33: Let's all chant "I think it can! I think it can! I think it can!"

[jmh123]

Scarlett steals KAndre's wireless keyboard....

Unless KAndre is serious about our flying to Hongkong on her birthday -- it's in the middle of monsoon season but hey, we've done crazier things before. You haven't lived until you've been through a Pacific cyclone or two.

Oh, oh, oh, and then on to Shanghai to the Museum???? Oh if only I had a job and beaucoup money I would pester you like crazy!!! Hong Kong is one of my favorite cities in the world. "Luckily" I realized my passport has expired, so I couldn't yield to temptation anyway.

[FromClaygary]

Short, skinny, older man who was a real legend. AACK!! I was about 12 and my older sister gifted me. I loved it! Still like the real old country music of this era, but not the modern country.

Hank Snow????

THANK YOU!!!! I can sleep tonight!!

Or possibly, Hank Williams?

Kim

I don't know Hank Williams, so couldn't say if that also describes him....but no, it was Hank Snow.

Scarlett steals KAndre's wireless keyboard....

FromClaygary, if you don't mind driving 1000 miles we have some good Mexican too!

Hah! Little do you know! I think we DID yesterday, up and down Transit Road!

But I would definitely consider coming to Texas for good Mexican.

My mole chicken enchiladas were AWEsome!!

Love the conversations about first concerts! I grew up up in Northern Ontario and travelled to the big city of Sudbury to see some concerts while in high school. All were Canadian artists and some have faded away to obscurity now.....Platinum Blonde, Corey Hart and of course Bryan Adams! The Sudbury arena back in those days only had general admission, so I rushed the stage with all the other teenagers and stood for too long a time, squished and sweating and screaming for these 'cute' singers! Ah....... the memories.....

Corey Hart! Oh, yes!! Me too!

[duckyvee]

but the two best pop voices, pre-Clay, IMO, were Roy Orbison and Gary Puckett.

That was my 2nd concert - Gary Puckett and the Union Gap. Talk about someone with a great voice who can't dance....

But, if you want to find out how disparate our non-Clay tastes are, we'd have to tell the concerts we go to now. My last 3 non-Clay concerts: Nickel Creek with guest Fiona Apple, Damien Rice, and The Who. Oops, I am not sure I want to admit this one, but I also went to see RockStar SuperNova, or whatever that one was called. The reality show won by Lukas somebody or other. Worst concert I have ever been to. Oh, and.....whatshername? Oh, that's going to drive me crazy. Cagney, where are you? I need help here.

[Iseeme]

Good morning. Rain has stopped temporarily. Everything is soggy and green. Verra verra nice.

What is "maple tree helicopter hell?" It doesn't sound good.....

My first concert............Johnny Mathis at the California State Fair! I think I was 8 years old and couldn't see a thing. Living in the Bay Area we have quite a few venues and there was a time when I went to concerts 2-3 times a month, had subscriptions to a couple of the venues, etc. I have seen Lyle Lovett about 20 times (ducks, giggling) but my favorite concerts and people to see in concert pre-Clay were: James Taylor, Annie Lenox, Sting, Paul Simon, Robert Cray (anytime he's within driving distance,)Kenny Loggins, Doobie Brothers and Ottmar Liebert. Now living in the mountains, it's a major effort to go to a concert and the ticket prices are outrageous. So I wait for Clay!

I need to reread LTS. So many comments have deeper meaning to me now after the past 5 years.

As for David A........I knew the "talk" would start. It's inevitable if you have a sweet, seemingly sensitive guy who isn't grabbing his crotch or has facial hair and a macho attitude that some asshat is going to start the gay rumors. I just wonder if he and his family are going to be able to handle it as well as Clay has handled it. There are times when I wish Clay would just look directly at the camera and say once again I.AM.NOT.GAY but he's stubborn and he won't do it. And frankly, even then it wouldn't make any difference. Alot of us have said he'll be 40 years old with a wife and 4 little red-headed, green-eyed kids and they will STILL talk about him.

[Kareneh]

Halifax in the 60's and 70's would have to have been the eastern equivalent of Penticton, B.C. we didn't get much of anything back then and for the size of the city it is now, it still gets precious little. Seriously lacking decent venues. Who wants to pay $100 for a general admission ticket to stand in a field all day where there is at least a 50% chance of rain....so that would really qualify as a mud field. They try to combat it with hay but really.......

Anyway, my aunt and uncle took me to see Johnny Cash in 1968 and a year later I went with them to see Gordon Lightfoot....both in the beautiful Capitol Theater that was torn down many years ago by Maritime Tel & Tel to make way for their office building. I still think that bloody telephone company owes the city a decent theater!

Anyway, again......first concert I went to, alone, was Steppenwolf when I was in high school. They played on the football practice field at St. Mary's University, and since I had plans to go there anyway in a few years, I gate crashed. There was a huge gate crash that night, the opening act was a local band that totally rocked, Steppenwolf wasn't too happy, probably since security had just kind of thrown in the towel on the rush and I don't think they even finished their set. Didn't matter the local band that opened, Peppertree was better that night by a mile. Beyond having April Wine be a regular group at my Hi-Y dances in junior high, I can't remember seeing anyone else in Halifax until the Beach Boys played the Metro Center and by that time I was fully grown......and one of them was dead.

All in all, the best time I ever had at a live music venue was when kd lang and the reclines would come through the bars and the clubs in Grande Prairie, Alberta. Maybe it was the beer or because they were relatively small places but back in the early eighties put that girl in a cowboy bar and you had something special. Really really special.

I've had some very special moments at Clay concerts but as of yet no drunken, foot stompin', wild abandon ones.......probably because I'm not 29 anymore....oh yeah...and I'm somebody's mother.

Oh....I guess I was a mother then, actually. So....I wasn't pregnant. Yeah, that's the ticket. Not pregnant.

More recently, in addition to Clay I've seen Rob Thomas, The Doobie Brothers, ZZ Top, Stevie Nicks, and Heart. Would love to have seen Roy Orbison!

I wonder who is coming to Baku next.

What is "maple tree helicopter hell?" It doesn't sound good.....

Those would be the seeds of a maple tree, encased in these little wing-like things. When we were kids we would pry them apart and use the sap to glue them to the end of our nose....... becoming maple tree unicorns. There were lots and lots of maple tree helicopters in Halifax.

[goldarngirl]

Short, skinny, older man who was a real legend. AACK!! I was about 12 and my older sister gifted me. I loved it! Still like the real old country music of this era, but not the modern country.

Hank Snow????

THANK YOU!!!! I can sleep tonight!!

Or possibly, Hank Williams?

Kim

I don't know Hank Williams, so couldn't say if that also describes him....but no, it was Hank Snow.

Hank Sr. died in 1953, I'm thinking it might not have been him. but the description fits him too.

More recently, in addition to Clay I've seen Rob Thomas, The Doobie Brothers, ZZ Top, Stevie Nicks, and Heart. Would love to have seen Roy Orbison!

Have been lucky enough to see Matchbox20 and saw ZZTop and a few others last year. Every year we have a concert in the park for charity that covers three days, 12 bands. A lot of the older bands are doing this so I've seen quite a few in the last 3 years or so.

Roy Orbison was amazing, I saw him twice and he was just as good as he ever was. Loved Gary Puckett (have seen him twice) Saw Gene Pitney too a couple of years ago, he was great.

[Couch Tomato]

Bootsie and Parliament

Bwah KAndre. I'm not quite sure which concert was my first... it's either EWF and the Emotions but I'm leaning toward The Funk Festival with Bootsie, Parliament et al. Only thing I remember about the whole thing is that my dad wouldn't let me wear the t-short LOL. Oh man ya'll have been busy .. I'm way behind but today is my mom's birthday so it may be my day off tomorrow YAY where I catch up.

[muskifest]

My hubby wants to get into the First Concert discussion. He says "Jethro Tull and Captain Beefheart" at the Spectrum in Philadelphia 1971. He can tell you the actual date, too. Then he went on to talk about something that happened on stage during the concert...in detail. The man has an unbelievable memory. He said some guy came out in a rabbit suit as part of Captain Beefheart.

Did I ever tell you that I still have a tambourine that I caught during a Marshall Tucker concert. The guy threw it out after he finished singing and I caught it!

I watched a YouTube of an interview David Cook had with somebody after the finale...he's going to have a great run on the interview circuit---he's thoughtful and smart and has a sense of humor. Good for him!

Speaking of The Full Monty, I think Clay should give it to us.

[jamar1700]

What is "maple tree helicopter hell?" It doesn't sound good.....

Those would be the seeds of a maple tree, encased in these little wing-like things.

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&...sa=N&tab=wi

I have 5 maples in my back yard and the people across the street from me have a huuuuuuuuge maple in their front yard. IOW...they are e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. There is no good way to pick them up except raking...and you only get the first million or so. Last year we had a late freeze and so there weren't very many. We're paying for it in spades this year.

[luckiest1]

But, if you want to find out how disparate our non-Clay tastes are, we'd have to tell the concerts we go to now.

Hmmmmm.........so hard to put things in reverse order, my brain is getting old.........I think it would be Amanda Marshall (no idea why she came out of retirement to do this one-off concert last year, but it was great!), Elton John's Red Piano in Vegas when I was there for the skating thing, and Elton John when he came to this neck of the woods last year. Please note, these were different concerts. I only do multiples for Clay.

I need to reread LTS. So many comments have deeper meaning to me now after the past 5 years.

I wonder how his perspective on some things may have changed since he helped write LTS.

I've had some very special moments at Clay concerts but as of yet no drunken, foot stompin', wild abandon ones.......probably because I'm not 29 anymore....oh yeah...and I'm somebody's mother.

Oh....I guess I was a mother then, actually. So....I wasn't pregnant. Yeah, that's the ticket. Not pregnant.

Hee, even that didn't stop me! I distinctly remember climbing a fence at 3 months pregnant to get myself into Ontario Place for free one time.....not 100% sure who was playing, though. I also attended a Julian Lennon concert on my due date, same pregnancy (with doctor's blessing). Thankfully, Massey Hall is only steps away from a hospital......but I didn't need it. crimsonice was born about a week later! Hey, maybe that's why she is such a concert ho, too.............

[muskifest]

I forgot to proclaim that today is a momentous one for us at Casa Muski. It is the day that hubby and I step into another stage of parenthood. Today my second (and last!) child is a teenager. Now we are parents of two teenaged daughters.

[laljeterfan]

Forgive me, but I guess I just don't see what the value is in bringing stories like the one linked above around to all the boards???

laljeterfan, are you talking about the David A article i brought here? If yes, the reason is 1) because it has Clay mention and 2) it shows that he is not the only one facing these crap.

Yeah, I was referring to that article. I was debating saying anything, but one of my pet peeves is EVERY Clay mention, no matter how derogatory, being passed around the boards- and that includes nameless bloggers and bad jokes by late-night "comedians" and talk show hosts. I'm glad to see that I'm not alone in my dislike-(waves to Jamar and FromClaygary)

Interesting conversations about Clay not admitting to the "sexy" that we all (well, most of us!) see. I agree with the posts by Iseeme and Claytonic that it is hard for him after a lifetime of growing up not being looked at in "that way" by females, to suddenly reconcile in his head that now they're interested. It probably does make it even harder now for him to discern someone who is truly interested in the "real him", rather than the image of the famous singer. I don't doubt that he has had many girl-friends over the years,(in his younger years) but I imagine that few of them were ever "girlfriends" in the classic sense.

As for referring to himself as a geek or a nerd- doesn't bother me at all, cause I think he's been trying to "destigmatize" those words. He doesn't believe that there is anything inherently "wrong" with someone who fits those descriptions, so why would he try to distance himself from them. I believe that he likes himself well enough to not be concerned about those "labels".

First concerts- I think mine was the Average White Band, when I was in either 8th or 9th grade. Around that time, I was a huge fan of Elton John, who was pretty much the biggest thing around. The day of the AWB concert, they local DJ said that Elton might be making a surprise appearance that night at the concert. I talked my mother into bringing a girlfriend and myself to the concert- SURPRISE- no Elton! I was truly bummed- didn't see him in a full concert until about 5 or 6 years ago.

I think the first concert I actually went to of my own accord after that was.......Andy Gibb! several years later.

Others I have seen in concert- Styx, Kenny Rogers, Barry Manilow (multiple times), Billy Joel (multiple times- yeah, I've always liked piano players!), Michael Bolton , Amy Grant (pre-pop-crossover), Hall and Oates (they came to my college!)- yeah, I guess my tastes are pretty middle-of-the-road. The farthest I ever travelled, pre-Clay to see a concert was to Buffalo (from Syracuse). Clay has broadened my horizons!

ETA- I was pleased this morning to wake up to an e-mail from Clay (OK, from the fan club, darn it!) wishing me a Happy Birthday. I was not so pleased when I went to the OFC and saw that B'day wishes were listed with my age! YUCK!

[Kareneh]

Elton John's Red Piano in Vegas when I was there for the skating thing, and Elton John when he came to this neck of the woods last year. Please note, these were different concerts. I only do multiples for Clay.

Ooops! I made a big omission.....saw Elton John and the Red Piano when I went to the skating thing, too.

muski, I just watched a You Tube or some such thing of David Cook on Leno, and I agree. He will do well....cute, funny, articulate, and seems like a pretty good guy.

Everyone is gone downtown to swill a few brews...... Shakira, Madonna, and Rhianna, lovely gals that they maybe are now serving as coasters on the end tables in the living room and only one slot in that 3 CD player is full....AND IT"S MINE, ALL MINE!!

Nice to have the children visit, but when your size 18's are barely zipping you definitely don't need to be hearing "Hips Don't Lie" echoing up three flights of hardwood stairs day in and day out.

Though by Tuesday, and after 4 days of Baku Belly, I should be able to do up the 16's......Saltines make a lovely breakfast, lunch and dinner washed down with some Schwepp's.

Crap! They just came home! Must have run out of MGD at the local watering hole.

[Lotus]

For three quarters of my life I have lived away from cities so have attended very few concerts but I have been to many folk music festivals where I have seen many of the folk music legends.

In 1965, 1966 and sometime in the 70's I went to Bob Dylan concerts, was there in 1966 when he was being booed for changing from acoustic to electric and in 1967 saw the Jefferson Airplane. I was pregnant at the time and the music was so loud I had to stuff tissue in my ears. I don't remember much of the concert other than the venue was not very big and that Disney's hookah smoking caterpillar was projected behind the band as they sang " go ask Alice when she's 10 feet tall".

Recently I subscribed to Google alerts for 'Spamalot Clay Aiken' but canceled it this morning after reading yet another spiteful swipe at Clay. I find it too hurtful to read this crap.

I need some advice, some tips on how to respond to a friend who tells me that Clay is gay. Now, I do not think that there is anything wrong in being gay, in fact my daughter is gay but yes I would be disappointed if somewhere down the line Clay said he is. The reason I would be is that he sets great store in being truthful and he would have been lying to us.

Okay I'll get to the point. When I hear this my brain seems to switch off and I become less than articulate. All I usually come up with is that Clay has stated a number of times that he isn't and I believe him.

So I need some good arguments, some tips , some talking points.

Maybe i just need to smile and say "well that's just your opinion"?

Suggestions? Anyone?

[jamar1700]

Suggestions? Anyone?

Who gives a shit?

[Iseeme]

Welllllll - one response I had to someone who said Clay was gay was asking them if their husband had slept with him - elsewise, how would they know that? I've given up defending him. Clay is right. People will believe what they want to believe no matter what he says. The stereotype is so prevalent in our society and propagated by the media where Clay is concerned!!! I think that is the worst form of discrimination to decide someone is whatever because of the way they look or act! I've know extremely effeminate men that were straight. I've known extremely macho men who were very gay! You can't tell a book by it's cover! But, it's like I said in an earlier post - I wish he would say yet again on national television that he isn't!. But then there would be spin galore.... "He was forced to say it! Clive Davis made him say it! RCA put it in his contract, yada! yada!" Think of any inane explanation and we would be reading about it!

I don't think Clay Aiken lies! I don't think he would have said what he has said so far if he was gay. He has so much personal integrity in all other areas that if he were gay I honestly believe he would have admitted it early on. Then the argument is "oh, he knows he'd lose all his fans!" That to me is more of a personal attack on his integrity. I even had someone say to me the other day that Clay was gay but just didn't know it yet. Give me a freakin' break!!!!

The biggest defense I can think of to come up with is that in his nearly 30 years there has never been a published encounter other than that jackass Paulas (which was proven to be a lie......) You can't tell me that someone somewhere wouldn't have spilled the beans if there were beans to spill. I think there are people who have full-time jobs trying to prove Clay is gay!

So I guess my question is - why even bother to defend him. What difference does it make what your friend thinks. It should be about the voice and the talent.

And like Jamar said....."who gives a shit!"

[annabear]

:00003653: laljeterfan!

[laljeterfan]

:00003653: laljeterfan!

Thanks, Annabear! I'll take that cute guy in the picture as my present any day of the year!

Lotus- for anyone who asks you the question, or forces their opinion on you, why not just say "You know, the fact that you just said/asked that tells me a lot about you as a person." and then just leave it at that. No further explanations required. Let them stew in their own juices for a while.

[lilyshine]

Back to the topic of songs and songwriters. Not every good song is written from personal experience. Johnny Cash had never set foot in a prison when he wrote "Folsom Prison Blues". He wrote it while stationed in Germany after seeing a documentary.

Some people have the ability to capture a place, an emotion or message even when they've never been there, never felt that way or even don't agree. Writing is a bit like acting, you don't have to be mad to play King Lear.

[jamar1700]

And like Jamar said....."who gives a shit!"

Well she asked for suggestions of what to say and that would be mine...because for me it really says it all.

I just think it's such an inane conversation to be having about anyone who is not actually a participant in said conversation.

Now obviously Lotus does give a shit and I really didn't mean to be flip. My mama always said ... whose behavior can you change? If the object is to prove Clay is not gay...perhaps it would be easier just to accept that you can't. If the object is to get people to stop trying to convince you that he is, in my experience, who gives a shit? works well.

[luckiest1]

I need some advice, some tips on how to respond to a friend who tells me that Clay is gay. Now, I do not think that there is anything wrong in being gay, in fact my daughter is gay but yes I would be disappointed if somewhere down the line Clay said he is. The reason I would be is that he sets great store in being truthful and he would have been lying to us.

This is a very touchy subject......for most of us, I think, but particularly for me, because there is such a fine line........Lotus, I have a similar family situation to yours, and I really, really dislike even using the words "defend" and "gay" in the same sentence, because IMO it insinuates that being gay is something that one needs to be defended from being. Which, I am sure you would agree, is totally ridiculous. How to respond? I usually just say "who cares?" or "what difference does it make to his singing?" or maybe even "since I am never going to be lucky enough to sleep with him, why would I care?" and move the subject along to something else. Because seriously, if the person to whom I am speaking doesn't agree with those things, I don't have much more to say to them.

Now, hypothetically, if Clay, at some point in the future, changed his tune and said that he was gay, I wouldn't consider that he had been lying to us in the past, because I don't believe that sexuality is black and white, and some people change how they self-identify as they get older, be it for emotional reasons or because of strict religious beliefs or what have you. I am not saying that I think Clay is gay, I am just saying that I am open minded enough to let everyone define their own sexuality. No one else has that right. So I ignore all the crap that gets written, and take Clay at his word.

Happy Birthday, laljeterfan! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[Iseeme]

Happy Birthday Laljeterfan!

I hope you have a wonderful day and that the coming year is a happy one for you!

[cha cha trusty]

I've been reading thru everyone's first concert memories, and trying to remember that far back!!

I remember being highly disappointed when the Beatles came to DC and played the DC Armory, that was a a few days after their Ed Sullivan appearance, and I couldn't go because I had no idea how or where to get tickets. I grew up near DC but about 30 miles west out where it was still boonies. (As opposed to now, where it's all suburbia.)

That was February 1964, and I was in high school. So the next group who came there I was determined to go. It was the Rolling Stones. 1964. That started a long succession of concerts, including the BEATLES at Shea Stadium in 1965. (eeeeeeeeeeeeee!)

The Beatles were my first love. I have still not forgiven my husband who shrugged off the Paul McCartney Wings concert in 76, and talked me out of going by simply saying "we don't need to go to that, do we?" That's true love for ya.

I made up for it by spending the night in a parking lot in 1990 to get tickets for his July 4th Show at RFK Stadium in DC. I went with mrchach, #1 & #2 chachadotters (age 12) and a couple of coworkers.

#3 & #4 chachadotters stayed with their nana that night and so on the way to retrieve them, I heard on the radio that a record store in No Va was giving away free tickets to the next concert on July 6th. Well, I wasn't going to pass that up! I took myself and all four daughters to the record store and stood in line for about 3 hours and got TEN TICKETS to the 4/6 concert!! Albeit, they were nosebleed seats, but nevertheless, we were there, and it was fantastic! I took all 4 kids, some of their friends, mrchach, a couple more coworkers. It was great!! I saw Paul McCartney twice more in 2002 when he came again to DC to the MCI Center. More fun times. That was the first time I'd ever gotten anywhere close - it was like the 13th row or something. GAH! My friend and I got on the local news because I was handing out buttons.

As for other groups I've seen, the list is long! Lovin' Spoonful, Steve Miller Band, Iron Butterfly, James Taylor (2nd row when he was onstage with nothing but a chair, guitar & micstand), Rod Stewart (Small Faces), Crosby-Stills&Nash (pre-Young?), Steve Stills & Manassas, Deep Purple (at a 3-day Rock Festival in Germany and this is the only group I remember!), Bob Dylan & The Band, Beach Boys & Chicago, John Denver, Neil Diamond, Cher, Electric Light Orchestra, and a bunch more I can't remember. Oh yeah, I saw the BeeGees once on the Letterman Show on a trip to NY.

More recently I have seen Kelly Clarkson, Michael McDonald, Ringo Star and the All-Stars, Tim McGraw, Sons of the Desert, Linda Ronstadt, Dilana (from Rock Star in a smokey little bar in No Va), and lots and lots of Clay.

Before Clay I guess I did a bit of traveling to see groups: to NY to see the Beatles, to Cinncinati to see Cher, to Cleveland and Liverpool to Beatlefests, and PA to see a Beatles Tribute Band.

I always have a great time, and until recently, didn't mind doing some of these things alone!! With the price of gas the way it is right now, I may have to curb my road trips, but I really hope NOT!! Maybe that's another reason why Clay decided not to tour this summer.

[laughn]

I have a similar family situation to yours, and I really, really dislike even using the words "defend" and "gay" in the same sentence, because IMO it insinuates that being gay is something that one needs to be defended from being. Which, I am sure you would agree, is totally ridiculous. How to respond? I usually just say "who cares?" or "what difference does it make to his singing?" or maybe even "since I am never going to be lucky enough to sleep with him, why would I care?" and move the subject along to something else. Because seriously, if the person to whom I am speaking doesn't agree with those things, I don't have much more to say to them.

Now, hypothetically, if Clay, at some point in the future, changed his tune and said that he was gay, I wouldn't consider that he had been lying to us in the past, because I don't believe that sexuality is black and white, and some people change how they self-identify as they get older, be it for emotional reasons or because of strict religious beliefs or what have you. I am not saying that I think Clay is gay, I am just saying that I am open minded enough to let everyone define their own sexuality. No one else has that right. So I ignore all the crap that gets written, and take Clay at his word.

Just a lot of :F_05BL17blowkiss: and from me. Needless to say, I happen to agree.

Happy Birthday laljeterfan

[cha cha trusty]

:00003653: laljeterfan!

Thanks, Annabear! I'll take that cute guy in the picture as my present any day of the year!

Lotus- for anyone who asks you the question, or forces their opinion on you, why not just say "You know, the fact that you just said/asked that tells me a lot about you as a person." and then just leave it at that. No further explanations required. Let them stew in their own juices for a while.

Need to add my BIRTHDAY WISHES TO laljeterfan!!!

And as for the burning question, a good response for that would be, "Oh! Do you know him personally?" I have always wanted to say that kind of thing, but usually ended up blurting out, "No, he isn't!, why would you say that!" And then just say that he said he wasn't and I believe him. Not sure how well that goes over, but, then again, I hate it when people make assumptions about things they don't know, or believe everything they hear from the trash mongers.

Carry on............ :F_05BL17blowkiss: