#34: So, how about that Clay Aiken?

[ldyjocelyn]

Just sending a big old :F_05BL17blowkiss: to laughn!

'night all.

[Iseeme]

I think sometimes Clay sounds a bit nasally.....but it just adds to the overall. One thing I've noticed is that his voice is sooo powerful that occasionally he comes out with a big note and then it fades too quickly. Not a musician so dont know if I'm saying this correctly. But honestly when I think of his voice there are two songs that always come to mind - Solitaire (my favorite) and O Holy Night. Especially the latter. He literally lets his voice soar....he lets it all go and the notes are just unbelievable. Strong, clear, powerful with just a bit of melisma (is that the right word? I think I learned that when Pearrrrly was writing her reviews of MOAM) at the end that shows he's in total control. The glory note in Solitaire is just so rich and full. Sometimes I still can't believe that he has that kind of lung power. You wonder where his voice would be if he'd had formal training from childhood. Probably not as interesting.....

Well shoot - now I have to go find a recipe for Better Than Sex Cake with chocolate. Are you women never satisfied???

Okay - how's this one. It's called Secret Midnight Moon Better Than Sex Chocolate Cake

INGREDIENTS

2 cups self-rising flour

2 cups white sugar

1 cup water

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup shortening

4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 cup whiskey

4 fluid ounces strong brewed coffee

1/2 cup butter

1/3 cup buttermilk

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray.

Combine flour and white sugar in a large bowl and set aside.

Put 1/2 cup buttermilk into a large glass and add baking soda, stir until combined, set aside.

In medium sauce pan over medium heat combine water, shortening, 1/2 cup butter and 4 tablespoons cocoa. Stir until shortening and butter are melted. Allow to boil on medium heat for 5 minutes.

Add chocolate mixture to dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Add buttermilk baking soda mixture, stir until blended. Add eggs and mix. Add the whiskey and the espresso and keep mixing. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and mix well. Pour into a 9 x 13 inch pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 minutes.

To Make Frosting: Combine 1/2 cup butter, 1/3 cup buttermilk, and 3 tablespoons cocoa in medium sauce pan, allow to come to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and add confectioners sugar and mix well, add 1 teaspoon vanilla and chopped nuts. Pour over hot cake. Allow cake to cool. The longer this sets, the better it gets!

How's that?????

[Gibby]

Here's the thing. Near the end of our journey, she was sorta singing along, BUT...she was singing in a 'forced' way. I gave her a funny look at one point and then said, "Why are you sounding like that?"

She said, "Well, Mom, that's how his voice sounds like to me." She was talking about how, to her, his voice sounds forced or reaching for things or...kind of whiny/nasally.

Now before everyone has a cow or baby rabbit, let me say that I know what she means. Because I hear it too sometimes. Maybe just because of the melodies of the songs themselves, but also because I've always thought that the tone of his voice at times sounds kinda brassy...in tune, on pitch, strong, passionate, yes! Sometimes...a bit harsh, too. Listening to the whole CD as Alex was, I was more aware of it than when I'm listening by myself.

GIbby and other musically inclined folks---do you think Clay's physical posture while singing is part of that sound. I do notice how he usually sings "up" to the microphone, stretches his neck...Does that have anything to do with the sound that comes out? I think some of this 'tone' is just that he's such a strong tenor, right? I mean...he's not a baritone so doesn't naturally have that deeper, fuller sound in the majority of his range...hell...whatever.

Interesting question, Muski!

The short answer is that the forced, pinched, or strident tone you are hearing is caused by not having enough space in the throat and mouth for the sound to resonate properly. The lack of space can be caused by improper pronunciation of vowels or soft consonants, not having the soft palate raised, and by tension anywhere in the neck or mouth. The tension could be caused by raising his head. When there's tension or poor placement of the vowels, the sound doesn't have a place to resonate and as a result sounds nasally.

If the soft palate is raised, the neck and mouth are relaxed, vowels are pronounced properly and the diaphragm is supporting the voice, the tones will be full, resonant and beautiful. It’s really, really difficult to sing properly on every single note, every single time. It takes most people years and years of hard practice and coaching to achieve that goal.

A lot of pop/rock artists sing with a forced or pinched tone, either because they don’t know how to sing any differently or because they think that the music calls for that type of style. Clay doesn’t usually sing that way, but does on occasion, perhaps either as a stylistic choice, or because he’s tired or he's thinking about something else. Every singer has different notes and vowels that are challenging for them, but most people have a lot of trouble with the eeeeee (as in the word me or is). This is because we tend to widen and flatten the inside of the mouth when we pronounce eeeeeee, as opposed to opening it more when we say ahhhh. That’s why you hear the more strident tone on ‘iiiiiiiis’ in IWTKWLI.

However, I’ve heard Clay sing stridently many, many times, on different vowels and soft consonants, in the songs others have mentioned and other songs, too. Sometimes I do find it bothersome, but sometimes it’s just a little bit and it adds to Clay’s interpretation of the song. Sometimes he will start a note somewhat stridently but soften it quickly for a lovely effect. I think that Clay sings so well for the most part that a few little strident tones here and there can be forgiven. Especially since he hasn’t had all of the training that many less-talented vocalists have had!

As far as the tenor/baritone question - Clay is definitely a tenor, but he really has some beautiful low tones, too. Tenors can learn to sing with a really full, resonant sound, but in their own register. If they are really dedicated and have a lot of training at this they will sound like operatic tenors, which is probably not something Clay particularly wants!

But I often "fuss" at Allison in my head.

Why didn't she train Clay to . . .

1) lower his chin when reaching for the higher register - he leans back and tightens in his neck sometimes instead of relaxing.

2) pronouce "uh" as "ah" - much prettier vocal sound - on words like "love" and "enough"

He does do it sometimes, but I see him fall back into the habits my voice teacher father would have ragged on him about.

Yup, you’ve got that right! And that’s just it - it’s so difficult as a vocalist to sing every note perfectly every time. Singers easily fall back into bad habits from time to time. Especially since a singer needs to interpret the music and entertain, as well, and not just concentrate on having proper technique.

And about Clay’s voice on LAA - I think he sings it gorgeously. His voice is relaxed and beautiful, with no straining at all. It’s really, really difficult to sing well softly. Just think - how many pop artists sing slow, soft songs well? Not many! That’s because it’s difficult! I think Clay sings The Real You with that gorgeous, full tone, as well.

I think duckyvee asked some questions too - I’m off to find them and see if I can come up with an answer for her!

[playbiller]

OK, I am not going there, but apparently there is some article at Too Much a Zero.

The title of said article is "big brown shows clay whos hung like a horse"

OK, what fan picture have the stolen?

[Ansamcw]

Gibby that is exactly how I remember my choir teacher explainingg it to us...just difficult to get the terminology right.

:F_05BL17blowkiss:

[00lsee]

So Muski, is that Australian guy still available? And I knew you'd help bring the smut.

I heard he was busy down under?

[Iseeme]

OK, I am not going there, but apparently there is some article at Too Much a Zero.

The title of said article is "big brown shows clay whos hung like a horse"

OK, what fan picture have the stolen?

eep!

[wandacleo]

I have no idea if Clay has strident notes or not. He sounds great to me.

Of course, in my sole experience in choir, when it came time for a recital, the choir director asked me if I could just mouth the words and pretend to sing.

[justclay12]

Wandacleo, how do you always manage to put so much funny into such short posts?

[cha cha trusty]

slipping in for a fast reply , still no internet or cable, except for the portable w rabbit ears on which i can get 3 channels. so im racking up the mins on my phone! i also lost phone service til about 40 mins ago. now i wanna go bake a caake or make pudding or something. i didnt have any peach schnapps so i have to settle for a beer!

i need to go listen to omwh some more, there are notes that bother me too, but i cant think of what they are!

cha cha joins kandre in reservoir of clack, singing "that's what friends are for..."

yaaay! i am mastering this keyboard! TTFN! (CODE FROM MEMORY) :F_BL17blowkiss: (sorry if thats not right!)

[wandacleo]

The TMZ story about the well hung horse is LITERALLY about a fucking well-hung horse.

The story's EVERYWHERE.

At least they didn't attach Clay's name to a story about fucking mosquitoes.

[Iseeme]

Hmmmm - I always wondered how mosquitoes did it!

[canfly172]

I bit the bullet and went over.

Picture is just a headshot of spikey hair Clay on the right and the horse on the left and a needle up through the middle.

Insult to Clay part was at the end:

When it comes to getting chicks pregnant, size really does matter.

Superhorse Big Brown will reportedly make as much as $50 million in stud fees if he wins the Triple Crown. That's as much as $100K per mare.

Not sure how much Jaymes Foster had to pony up for Clayken's swimmers, but we're guessing he didn't command quite as much -- especially for being such a long shot.

:fssign:

If you want to look at it, without going to TMZ, I posted it at the Shed here:

http://theclaymatewoodshed75085.yuku.com/topic/3201?page=34

Back to your regularily scheduled OMWH vocal performance dissection, lol.

[liney23]

I don't know where all you plebians got your fake "better than sex" cake recipes, but pfffft... here is the real chocolatey EASY recipe:

Cake layer:

1 chocolate cake mix (I have gone the devil's food dark chocolate and the milk chocolate route... your choice.) Ignore directions on box and just use these ingredients.

1 box instant chocolate pudding (for shopping purposes, 2 more boxes are needed for the pudding part below)

1 cup mayonaise

4 eggs

1 cup water

Mix all these ingredients together and bake at 350 for 1 hour. Cool

Pudding layer:

2 boxes of instant chocolate pudding

3 cups of milk

Mix pudding after cake has cooled.

Candy layer:

4 bars SKOR candy, crushed

Whipped cream layer:

12 oz. Cool Whip

Take a glass bowl (I have one with flat sides, looks fantastic when finished)

Break up 1/2 cake into chunks and layer in bottom of bowl.

Spread 1/2 of pudding

Spread 1/2 of cool whip

Spread 1/2 of crushed SKOR bars

Repeat for other 1/2 of the above.

Refrigerate until you can't stand not to eat it.

I have also done this with vanilla cake and pudding and strawberries instead of candy for someone who was allergic to chocolate and it was yummy.

There you have it... Lin's Better Than Sex Cake... unless it's muski's Australian guy, then all bets are off!

[Gibby]

There you have it... Lin's Better Than Sex Cake... unless it's muski's Australian guy, then all bets are off!

YUM, all of these recipes are making me hungry! Lin's sounds fantastic. But it would be so rich that I'd only want a few bites. I'll have to say that I'll take sex over cake any day, no matter how good the cake.

Hmmm, was Muski's guy Austrian or Austrailian? She's told me a bit about him in the past. Heee, he might give Big Brown in the 'well hung' category!

But really, does size matter in getting pregnant? Sure, it's more pleasurable, but even small guys father children just fine.

At the risk of being accused of thinking Clay's voice is the most perfect one in the universe, the imperfections are what keeps his voice interesting for me. Sometimes he'll sing a note that seems a bit strident, and about the time I'll decide it is too much so, he'll round it out and make it so pretty. I like the way he plays with sounds and syllables, and lets some of them be "natural". I don't care for singing that is too perfect. It has no life, no character, for me. Don't like Il Divo or Josh Groban. So yeah, his every note is not perfect, but I like it like that. Now if he was out of key all the time, that would be a different story. That would bug me.

I agree, jmh! I like Clay’s idiosyncrasies in singing. He does things that many other singers don’t do, and some of it isn’t even improper technique.

I do like some of Josh Grobans’ stuff, and a few of Il Divo’s songs. But they don’t have those interesting idiosyncrasies that Clay has! Or his personality and charm.

Well, if we're going to talk about those aspects of Clay's voice that are less than perfect, and they are few, I'd say that he has an occasional strident sound that isn't pleasant to me. On this CD, I hear it only in WIDTL. I love the song, and think Clay sounds great on it, overall, but the sound that sort of grates on me a bit is in the following words: kiss, fate, the 'ful' in beautiful, pain. Are they all the same note? I hear this quality in some of the Christmas songs as well, especially Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. When Clay is on, he modulates them, but when he's less than at his best, I hear this harsh quality, and it sounds like it's always on the same note or in the same range to me. Maybe the musicians around can clarify. I don't have a sophisticated ear. Since I heard it on the CD, and it would be possible to alter that in production or through re-working it until it's right, I'm assuming the sound is meant to be there.

His long e's and hard r's don't bother me at all. Sometimes pronunciation really bugs me. I gave away a Dashboard Confessional CD because I just couldn't tolerate the way the lead singer pronounced his final r's.

That being said, I think Clay sounds amazing on this CD.

ducky, I listened to the notes on the bolded words above. They are all Db except for pain, which is on Eb. I’m wondering if you’re bothered by the way he pronounces those words. It sounds like he’s deliberately flattening the inside of his mouth, causing a more pinched tone. Perhaps he’s doing that to convey the angst in the song.

I hear that quality in some of the Christmas songs, too. It does bother me on a few of them, but again, for the most part, he sings them beautifully.

I think sometimes Clay sounds a bit nasally.....but it just adds to the overall. One thing I've noticed is that his voice is sooo powerful that occasionally he comes out with a big note and then it fades too quickly. Not a musician so dont know if I'm saying this correctly. But honestly when I think of his voice there are two songs that always come to mind - Solitaire (my favorite) and O Holy Night. Especially the latter. He literally lets his voice soar....he lets it all go and the notes are just unbelievable. Strong, clear, powerful with just a bit of melisma (is that the right word? I think I learned that when Pearrrrly was writing her reviews of MOAM) at the end that shows he's in total control. The glory note in Solitaire is just so rich and full. Sometimes I still can't believe that he has that kind of lung power. You wonder where his voice would be if he'd had formal training from childhood. Probably not as interesting.....

I totally agree that Clay’s voice would be different if he’d had formal training from childhood. Many trained singers have a gorgeous tone, but don’t use the variation in techniques that Clay uses. He is such a good song interpreter, and uses a lot of vocal techniques to convey the meanings of songs.

Regarding noisy breathing while singing - if you have correct breath control, your breathing will be very quiet. So, Clay uses good breathing technique for the most part. He also doesn't need to breathe as often, so it almost sounds like he's not breathing at all!

Heeeee, he has such a fiiiine instrument, doesn't he??

[duckyvee]

Thanks, Gibby and Cotton, for your explanation of the sounds I posted about. It is so interesting to me, and I found the information to be helpful in processing what I hear. Analyzing Clay's voice doesn't impact my enjoyment of it at all. I can't think of another voice in my lifetime that has captivated me in the way that Clay's does. Sometimes it literally makes me gasp. One of the things I love so much about OMWH is the variety of sounds from Clay. Magnificent. Lots of interest. So versatile.

I got my first question about what's going on with Clay today. It came from my sister, who is a casual fan. She knows I 'follow his career closely,' and sometimes asks me what's going on with him, as she did today. I asked her how long she had, and she said that she heard something about him having a baby with a middle-aged man. Someone named James. We didn't get into how she thought he might accomplish such a thing. Totally cracked me up. Apparently she was doing some paperwork with the TV on in the background, so she didn't see any pictures and was only half listening. I filled her in.

[Cotton]

Heeeee, he has such a fiiiine instrument, doesn't he??

Thanks, Gibby.

Yes. I believe he does.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE his voice. I have some favorite notes, too!

But that will have to wait. Have to work today.

I wish I could remember. One of my favorites is from MOAM. There's this pure, clear bell-like clarity with a bit of vibrato. Just lovely.

I may have to listen to MOAM instead of OMWH on my drive today!

I hope nobody says anything about this to me at work. Only a couple know about my fandom. We can't listen to iPods, etc, at work.

Y'all have a fun day! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

ETA:

You know what really pisses me off about all this?

What if C&J are in love?

What if they made a baby the "old fashioned way"?

What if he didn't want to hear her called a "beard" and chose to stay mum about their relationship and wait til baby was born to announce they had brought a baby into the world?

Because - how can he counter this "story" now?

It's just shitty. No matter if it was in vitro (which makes more sense to me) or AI or the "old fashioned way", something beautiful is coming with so much crappiness poured all over it.

I wanna hit somebody.

Any suggestions?

[djs111]

OT, because I think some here will be interested. TCM is doing a series this month, every Tuesday and Thursday night, on "Race and Hollywood: Asian Images in Film." http://www.tcm.com/2008/aif/index.jsp. There are 4 to films every night, starting at 8 pm. Here are the films and times: http://www.tcm.com/2008/aif/index.jsp. I'm really sorry I didn't know about this last night and missed The Bitter Tea of General Yen. I've long wanted to see that. There are some really good essays on the site about each film too.

Oooh! I love more recent Asian movies - Raise The Red Lantern (stunning), The Scent of Green Papaya, The Vertical Ray of the Sun, anything with Tony Leung (I do love Hong Kong Express!)

Clay's voice - oh, I hear notes I don't like, but am in love with the sound. I can understand why others don't care for his voice, though, just as others presumably (I am looking at my sister) can accept that I cannot bear to listen to Josh Groban because I just do not like his voice. I don't know about y'all, but I do get accused of not liking a singer because I feel it would be disloyal to Clay. Jeezy-creezy.

I think Clay's voice will get deeper and richer through the coming years, I am quite anticipating that!

Can't contribute a cake recipe, so here's something completely different - Eddie Izzard on using computers - and if you like Eddie, find his bit about the Corinthians writing back to Paul (saint, somewhere outside of Corinth)

[laughn]

It's going to be impossible to catch up, so I'm just going to post. I need to give bottlecap a thank you out here, and it's long over due. I'm just going to copy over the bulk of my post at getclayaiken because i am too tired for anything else.

My son and daughter in law asked about the news the day after we heard it on TMZ. They read about it onlone. They simply were happy for him. They were most surprised that it was his executive producer for some reason. lol.

The last few days I have found myself recovering from a rather painful surgery. On top of that, I was doing most of that recovery in a ward where there were a lot of hurtin' people around me. Some woman named Pat never stopped screaming and moaning. Really. Never. Stopped. They even had a psych. guy come in and try to talk ducks and geese and pretty clouds and stuff to her to get her mind off the pain. PG, "Just think of all those cute baby geese out there on the lawn" Pat, "aghhhhhhhh" PG, "I bet they're enjoying the warm weather" Pat, "aghhhhhhh" PG, "I imagine they like staying close to their mom" Pat, "aghhhhhhh"

You get the idea.

So, what does this story have to do with Clay Aiken? Well, I'll tell you, (TM Prince Herbert)

To get me through all this and to get me to, you know, relax, I would slap on my headphones and turn Clay on (don't I wish) and fall off to sleep listening. My friend bottlecap :F_05BL17blowkiss: put a whole bunch of Clay onto my MP3 player. OMWH and just random stuff. Three different times I woke up when I got to AOL Sessions MOAM. Somewhere in there I would think in my very addled, drug soaked head, that I was listening to the most beautiful sounds on earth. Once I remember thinking I was in church or something. Not everything was making sense. I just knew each time that I was listening to something out of this world beautiful. Then I would drift back to sleep. I woke up once for The Prayer too. My point? Shit, do I have one??!?

It doesn't matter to me if Clay is going to be a daddy. More power to him. If he wants to talk about it to us, the fans, I'll listen. If he doesn't, I won't. I just want him to keep singing pretty angel music to me. That's all I need. If there is a heaven, and I make it there someday, and the angels don't sound like Clay Aiken, I'm going to be pissed and feel a little cheated.

[ldyjocelyn]

Cotton, I understand your feelings -- the media is really having a field day with this story, and it does make me sad. And yet, when you said this...

something beautiful is coming with so much crappiness poured all over it.

...I immediately thought of all sorts of babies in the world who are coming into the world with so much more crappiness. Born into poverty, for example. Or, babies born when their parents really don't want them to begin with, and are then destined to a life of abuse and neglect. Recent story in our area: a mother and her boyfriend were arrested...for they left their 5 month old child strapped in a baby-bounce seat for over a week.

When I think about things like that, I feel that this possible Clay/Jaymes collaboration will be filled with love, and will be able to deal with the pitiful crap that the media throws at them.

On happier news...

...later tonight I'll pull out my easy-peasy chocolate cake recipe. It's great because you mix it in the pan you bake it in, I ALWAYS have everything it calls for in my kitchen, and if I need a quick chocolate fix, it's so moist and goooooooood.

ETA:

It doesn't matter to me if Clay is going to be a daddy. More power to him. If he wants to talk about it to us, the fans, I'll listen. If he doesn't, I won't. I just want him to keep singing pretty angel music to me. That's all I need. If there is a heaven, and I make it there someday, and the angels don't sound like Clay Aiken, I'm going to be pissed and feel a little cheated.

That was beautiful. Glad you're doing better laughn.

[bottlecap]

:F_05BL17blowkiss: to laughn.

I'm sure your fabulous new lips and smooth, unlined forehead will be worth the pain.

Wait, was that supposed to be a secret? Sorry....

[djs111]

Lovely post, laughn.

Especially after reading elsewhere that Clay is only being quiet so he can sell this to the highest bidder for PR purposes.

[luckiest1]

So, what does this story have to do with Clay Aiken? Well, I'll tell you, (TM Prince Herbert)

To get me through all this and to get me to, you know, relax, I would slap on my headphones and turn Clay on (don't I wish) and fall off to sleep listening. My friend bottlecap :F_05BL17blowkiss: put a whole bunch of Clay onto my MP3 player. OMWH and just random stuff. Three different times I woke up when I got to AOL Sessions MOAM. Somewhere in there I would think in my very addled, drug soaked head, that I was listening to the most beautiful sounds on earth. Once I remember thinking I was in church or something. Not everything was making sense. I just knew each time that I was listening to something out of this world beautiful. Then I would drift back to sleep. I woke up once for The Prayer too. My point? Shit, do I have one??!?

It doesn't matter to me if Clay is going to be a daddy. More power to him. If he wants to talk about it to us, the fans, I'll listen. If he doesn't, I won't. I just want him to keep singing pretty angel music to me. That's all I need. If there is a heaven, and I make it there someday, and the angels don't sound like Clay Aiken, I'm going to be pissed and feel a little cheated.

Loved this post! Hope you are feeling better soon.

I was kind of thinking about this on my drive into work...how my life is quite stressful, but when I want to relax, to get away from it all, to soothe my soul, I listen to Clay. Some notes make me tingle down to my toes. Some lyrics make me cry. But generally, I can just float away while I'm listening, and leave all my stress behind (as long as I'm not driving, hee, that would be dangerous! )

Lately, I've been listening to the lyrics from both OMWH and ATDW with a mind to the possiblity of Clay becoming a daddy, and all the controversy that seems to be surrounding it. Really makes some of the lyrics take on a whole new meaning, for me.

Check out the new June wallpapers on cindilu2's yuku site:

http://cindilu2.theclayboard.yuku.com/

Love, love, love the June 08 v. 2 one - the smile is just what I need every time I turn on the computer. And the words are perfect too.

In other news, all is well - we have cat pee! The patient is doing well.

[Scarlett]

OT, because I think some here will be interested. TCM is doing a series this month, every Tuesday and Thursday night, on "Race and Hollywood: Asian Images in Film." http://www.tcm.com/2008/aif/index.jsp. There are 4 to films every night, starting at 8 pm. Here are the films and times: http://www.tcm.com/2008/aif/index.jsp. I'm really sorry I didn't know about this last night and missed The Bitter Tea of General Yen. I've long wanted to see that. There are some really good essays on the site about each film too.

Oooh! I love more recent Asian movies - Raise The Red Lantern (stunning), The Scent of Green Papaya, The Vertical Ray of the Sun, anything with Tony Leung (I do love Hong Kong Express!)

Eeeeeee! I can't believe I read Tony Leung's name here --- "In The Mood For Love" (with Maggie Cheung) was sublime! I've been trying to get a copy of Hong Kong Express for ages!

Thanks for sharing these movies, jmh and djs! Other favorites -- "Eat Drink Man Woman", "Farewell my Concubine", "Kagemusha - The Shadow Warrior" and "The Road Home". Was expecting more from "Hero" but I enjoyed it anyway because of Tony and Maggie.

Gibby and Cotton, thanks for the explanations about Clay's voice. I have to admit that I've been playing hooky lately and listening to this guy (who's Australian BTW, Hee!) who I think, after reading Cotton's post, swings between his head and chest voice as easily as Clay runs his hand through his hair. Cotton, can you check this song (Bui-doi) and let me know if that's what you were talking about? I now have 4 CDs from Australian guy with another one arriving soon but if Clay were to sing these songs they would get tossed so quickly that heads would spin faster than Tsathy's. He's kinda like Josh Groban with a personality but it's the sound of Clay's voice that I love!!! A few other songs from the Australian dude (for now) that I wish Clay would do some day because it would be absolutely gorgeous... Luck Be A Lady, Lily's Eyes, Hello, Little Girl!, Manhattan and Once Upon A Dream. Wouldn't Clay just kill on these?!!

I agree with KAndre, what drought?!! I have tons of stuff to render (including laughn's Christmas Story and a "few" things I owe some other people here... *hides face*)!!!

Thanks for all the cake recipes -- should I make some for kimiye's party this Saturday or is "Better Than Sex" cake too dangerous to serve at a pool party?

{{{{ all who hurt }}}}

[djs111]

Scarlett said:

Eeeeeee! I can't believe I read Tony Leung's name here --- "In The Mood For Love" (with Maggie Cheung) was sublime! I've been trying to get a copy of Hong Kong Express for ages!

Oh, I love Eat Drink Man Woman immoderately - and I am afraid I meant Chunking Express, which can be had from Amazon for not very much. I should buy a copy, myself. I have one of those DVD players that plays PAL and NTSC, which comes in handy.