#34: So, how about that Clay Aiken?

[wandacleo]

Interesting little tidbit for thought. The average sperm donor (90%) is a male (DUH) college student whose sperm deposits result in up to 10 offspring (JESUS!). Since many women seeking in vitro fertilization are in their 30s, 40s, and sometimes 50s, then Clay is older than most donors (and only servicing ONE recipient if the rumors are true).

I think that the changes that are coming in attitudes about reproduction are already here--just a bit under the radar for some.

[goldarngirl]

How did you all get through the drought of 2006? I wasn't around until mid June of that year and was spending my time vacuuming up as much historic Clack as I could find. I had not yet become accustomed to the kind of wealth of Clack which we have had since September of 2006.

It feels crazy that I'm going through withdrawal already.

I don't know about the rest of you, but there is no way that I can say I've watched every piece of clack out there. No way! I have probably only seen my own two CITH shows and bits and pieces of a couple of others. And the DCAT (or SRHP for those who weren't on FCA then)? I know I haven't seen at least half of those. Never mind all the radio interviews I can revisit, TV clack I haven't seen in forever, and then don't even get me started on the older tours which were so much fun.......so much clack, so little time! Yep, that's how I got through the drought of '06. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Ok so once again here I am emoticon challenged. Picture a little guy behind the desk with his hand up and saying pick me pick me. NOW for the rest of my post. hmmm luckiest1 if you are looking for clack to watch I have some ideas for you???? Just let me know and I will happily give you some suggestions coughKalamazoocough

[annabear]

One month ago

[Lotus]

Iseeme

Thanks for the recipe. That certainly looks like a tasty rich dessert but better than sex?...mmm..don't think so. For me if a cake is going to be a substitute for sex (notice I didn't say better than) it would have to have chocolate in it.

KAndre looks up from floating around in her giant reservoir of clack...

Drought? What drought?

goes back to happily dog-paddling...

Right..I can stroll down memory lane all summer...organize my Clack.

goldarngirl

luckiest1 if you are looking for clack to watch I have some ideas for you???? Just let me know and I will happily give you some suggestions coughKalamazoocough

and after that Sterling Heights?

[laljeterfan]

Thought about posting a couple of old pictures hanging out in my photobucket but not sure we're all ready for that. Seems kind of sacriligious in a way.

Oh what the hell......it's probably a fold anyway.

I just had an intense craving for a kosher dill pickle, which I indulged. Thanks for the inspiration!

[duckyvee]

Right..I can stroll down memory lane all summer...organize my Clack.

I hardly have any video Clack. I don't collect it. I'm a download-watch-delete sort of girl. But, I do have lots of audio. Not enough to have to organize, but it's something, at least.

I guess I'll just have to find the rest of my life again. It's there, still alive and promising, but a bit neglected.

[luckiest1]

hmmm luckiest1 if you are looking for clack to watch I have some ideas for you???? Just let me know and I will happily give you some suggestions coughKalamazoocough

Yes, master. ::insert bowing emoticon::

OK, I just watched

from last year's Kalamazoo concert. This was taped on his birthday in November. IF he is the father of Jaymes' baby, she would have conceived around that time. Listen to the words of this song and watch the expressions on the man's face. This is a man full of love, full of laughter, full of hope for the future......just wow. How can anyone spin it to be ugly or weird? I just don't get it. IF it's true, I think it's beautiful.

duckyvee, explore the CU vault. It's a wealth of clack and fun! Or explore youtube, if you don't want to (or can't) download. There's just so much out there!

[muskifest]

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

Ah...alas...last I heard of him (and this was about 24 years ago! ) he was in a jail in Tahiti...seems he was quite the con artist and was traveling the world, swindling women out of their jewels and money and whatnot.

Well, I taught HIM a thing or two! Ha! He didn't get any jewels or money from MOI! No sirree! The only thing he got was a helluva good time ifyouknowwhatimeanandithinkyoudo

Now what I got....

That's a story for another evening...

[Cotton]

Iseeme

Thanks for the recipe. That certainly looks like a tasty rich dessert but better than sex?...mmm..don't think so. For me if a cake is going to be a substitute for sex (notice I didn't say better than) it would have to have chocolate in it.

My sentiments exactly!!!

[duckyvee]

duckyvee, explore the CU vault. It's a wealth of clack and fun! Or explore youtube, if you don't want to (or can't) download. There's just so much out there!

Thanks, Lucky. I think I've seen most of it. I have a key to the CV vault. I just didn't save it, so there's nothing to reorganize during this drought. I don't want to download again (isn't that frowned upon?), but youtube is a great idea!!!!

[Cotton]

Never understood why length is so highly exalted when it's

breadth that really counts.

[luckiest1]

But I wanted to let people know that there's a "Circle the Wagons Thread II" at the OFC now. No one can mention anything about a baby or a pregnancy, but expressions of support are welcomed.

Thanks for bringing the link over. I think it's a great idea!

One month ago

Awwwwwwwwwww. That was some evening, wasn't it? :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Off to give the cat some pills (eeep) and hit the sack. Night, all!

[keepingfaith]

Thank the good Lord & Taylor we had the shock of the AI5 hair to tide us over for a while.

You rang?

Reminds me of my very first post on a Clay message board, the OFC, exactly two years ago. If "breathtaking" wasn't the first descriptive word I ever used about Clay, it had to be in the first paragraph. After two years, he's delivering on breathtaking in new and creative ways. I have literally gasped for air this past week.

This makes me gasp, too.

[Ansamcw]

Hey Ansa!

Muski...what songs did you think his tone was forced so we can have a frame of reference. He does use a lot of texture to his voice and at times it sounds brassy but the way he sings can be stylistic choice at times. I know that some didn't like his voice in LAA cos it sounded too weak and light...but I just love that style. So there are all kinds of tone that he uses that get different reaction. One thing I don;t notice is a nasally quality. Now that is one quality I truly can't stand in singers...so maybe I got immune to Clay's nasal quality if its there. But the one artist I thought is truly nasally is Josh Groban...specially when singing live but so many think his voice is just divine...so its all subjective.

Some parts of WIDTL grab me that way...but the first example that always comes to mind is from the last cd---in the song IWTKWLI...with that Susie chick. I wanna know what love IIIIIIIIS That word actually hurts my ears sometimes!

I'll jsut have to listen to the cd again while dog walking to find others....poor me.

Muski...now I have to listen to these songs again...what a chore...hee

anyway...I totally agree with you with IWTKWLI...the long eeee that he sometimes does is one of my pet peeves. I think its because I still remember my choir director teaching us how to round out our eee sounds to avoid doing this. But...just one of those imperfections that I embrace cos its soo Clay and it really is not in every song. But I was so glad that he didnt have that problem in the live version of IWTKWLI

I also checked WOTW and I did detect few nasal moments...but not enough to ping my nasally sound threshold so its good...and yeah WIDTL does have a bit of the long eee too but not as bad.

I do think that Clay has such a powerful voice and huge range on his chest tones that at times he would power through some high notes instead of using falsettos or his head tone. I think this is the moments that at times seen as hitting us with the frying pan of talent. I do think he doesn't do this as often as before cos now I think he uses his head tones and falsettos a bit more...which really adds to the nuance of his singing.

sigh...this CD is great.

[Cotton]

Okay. Somebody just had to make me go to YouTube!

Y'all might want to revisit this one from yollie.

The Journeyman

Some LTS over LAA with some historical/bio pics. Nicely done.

ETA:

If you go watch the MGUCL again, you'll see that he keeps his chin down during that entire song - and it sounds effortless.

I love him. Love his voice. But he does fall into some old bad habits on occasion, I think.

[duckyvee]

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.

[KAndre]

i've gotta giggle a little...Clay is the only artist I know except for some opera stars that the fans listen so very closely to individual notes...

The only thing I notices is that I can occasionally hear him take in air...and only occasionally. Far as I can tell, the man doesn't actually breathe.

[rohdy]

Ya know, I've often wondered about that......when does the man breathe? You can so seldom catch him at it!

I know when everyone was comparing baby Dave Arch----- I was confused...because all I heard was him breathing. Constantly! I wanted to yell...."Would ya stop breathing already!" at the TV screen....but that just seemed rude.

[canfly172]

One month ago

Can we go back?

[Ansamcw]

Ya know, I've often wondered about that......when does the man breathe? You can so seldom catch him at it!

I know when everyone was comparing baby Dave Arch----- I was confused...because all I heard was him breathing. Constantly! I wanted to yell...."Would ya stop breathing already!" at the TV screen....but that just seemed rude.

Yeah this is what bugs me too...cos archie's tone is not as rich and full as Clay...

duckyvee...yup I know what you mean with HYAMLC and those notes on WIDTL...it bothers me on HYAMLC cos thats supposed to be really smooth so thats jarring...but with WIDTL it actually gives it a bit pop/rock feel...more of a rough edge to make it a bit edgy...but I do know the harsh tones you mean.

I hope gibby can explain...it feels like he just does not hit those notes in a solid way. Listening to WIDTL again..its just like he puts a bit of growl on those particular words...so I think it may be stylistic choice.

[justclay12]

Even after taking a semester of music appreciation and 2 semesters of music for elementary students, I still have less grasp than an actual elementary student when it comes to music and notes and all that other technical stuff. Thank god they didn't require much to pass or I would have been screwed. But I do hear the different nuances and emotions that he puts into the words and songs, even if I have no idea what they are. I love how sometimes he'll get a little growly or how he draws out a word, sometimes into 3 syllables when they are actually one syllable words. But the effect thrills me and its what keeps me from getting bored with his voice, like I have done on occasion with other singers with great voices. I'm listening now to my mp3, mostly Clay of course, but with many of the others I feel a disconnect with the words and the songs. They have great voices but all I hear is the voice, not the feeling, at least with a majority of them.

And Muski, I have no doubts you showed that Australia a thing or two.

[laughn]

I've been AWOL for a few days. Just wanted to stop in and say hello tonight.

How about that baby them Yankees? Hope everyone here is doing fine. It will take me days to catch up, but what a lovely way to spend my time.

[jmh123]

While channel surfing I passed CNN Showbiz and stopped, since we were talking about these shows today. Did you know that according to someone from TMZ, the fact that Gina Gershon is angry that Vanity Fair implied she had an affair with Bill Clinton is PROOF that it's true? Why else would she be so angry? Lots of salacious captions, leering commentators and so on. It's 10 after and they're still on the subject. Is Gershon making a mountain out of a molehill? Will this hurt her career? If Clinton's angry, shouldn't he be talking to Gershon, not the press? (WTF?) Oh, now we've moved on to Hulk Hogans' son's jail house videos. Bleah!

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.

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 6 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.

[Cotton]

Wish I didn't have to go to bed!

(gotta work tomorrow)

I'd love to go listen to all the songs y'all are mentioning and talk about the music some!

I'm thinking some of the spots might be the break between chest voice and head voice. He almost always has great breath control, but if a vocalist is tired, sometimes the transition from chest to head can be 'tight'. Almost like the voice cracking. If you're breathing right, control the diaphragm, etc, like you're supposed to - it should be a smooth transition.

Have a good night, All!

I do wish we could get some kind of not-necessarily-baby-news. I think something positive career-wise would go a long way towards warding off the angst in the fandom.

It's so much calmer in here, y'all!

G'Night!

[justclay12]

While channel surfing I passed CNN Showbiz and stopped, since we were talking about these shows today. Did you know that according to someone from TMZ, the fact that Gina Gershon is angry that Vanity Fair implied she had an affair with Bill Clinton is PROOF that it's true? Why else would she be so angry? Lots of salacious captions, leering commentators and so on. It's 10 after and they're still on the subject. Is Gershon making a mountain out of a molehill? Will this hurt her career? If Clinton's angry, shouldn't he be talking to Gershon, not the press? (WTF?) Oh, now we've moved on to Hulk Hogans' son's jail house videos. Bleah!

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.

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.

Bleah is right, and I'm with you liking how he plays with the sounds and syllables. That's what I was trying to say but you said it better. I like how sometimes the word sounds like its coming out in a breath of air, or how sometimes it will kind of break. There is just so much that he attempts with his voice which combine to make beautiful sounds. I just love it.

And I've seen Bitter Tea of General Yen because I've been a Barbara Stanwyck fan since I was a kid and would watch the old b&w movies on one of those old tv's that we eventually had to use pliers to change the channels when the knob came off. That was in the days when we actually had to get up and change the channel. Now that makes me feel really old.