#44: We think we'll keep him!!!!

[cha cha trusty]

Thanks, everyone who posted the new party group...

Cotton...

eta... isn't it just the cutest thing!!!

addding my wishes for Happy Birthday COTTON!

just got back from bunco - so am a little tipsy!!

BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I heard that Randy and Charlie (the one who said he had taked to Clay via IM) from Survivor went to the show tonight......... I am wondering if there will be any reports on that!!

[Couch Tomato]

Happy Birthday Cotton... it's still your birthday on the west coast. I hope it was fantasic.

Randy who?

[luckiest1]

Heh, yep, Randy who? Jackson? What does he have to do with Survivor?

Spam reports via CH:

Starhorse just called...intermission!

Everyone is there tonight except for an Ensemble member.

Clay is really shrieking and made the funniest faces when he was scared. During the slo mo she said he was really funny. She said there are a lot of Clay fans around her. The theater is fairly crowded and she said the energy is so much better tonight than the last time she went. People are laughing when they should.

After show report....until she gets home...

Starhorse just called....

She was the peasant!!! She was so nervous all day. She said it was great. She said she was blushing like crazy in the picture. She was so happy! Then she either had her cellphone run out of batteries or she hung up on me....*g* Not sure which!

Hee she called back:

Clay did the BC talk and he made everyone laugh. They were doing the posters, CD and the bracelets. Did pics with Tom and Rick...not Clay tonight.

Just got back - it is bitterly cold out there folks.

Quickie recap (more tomorrow):

Rick was back and Clay and he were back to their old antics. Clay's hat in the Not Dead Yet scene stayed on properly... no wardrobe misfunction tonight! Much better audience tonight... much more receptive. Clay's fans stood up for a standing ovation when Clay came out but it took until the final bow to get everybody going. I miss the old days of a 'standing up as one' audiences.

Pictures taken with Rick and Tom ($20) - bracelets ($2), Playbills ($20), Poster ($40), CD ($20).

Clay did the spiel again - God he knows how to work an audience and I am not talking about his fans - but the general audience!!!! He was superb again tonight! Told everyone that they take all kinds of money from other countries - theirs is probably worth more than the U.S. dollar!!!

This recap may travel.

There is a report on the ofc via the CB that someone sat next to survivor Charlie and he was escorted back stage with a friend.

What a night! So EEEEEEEEE the night was awesome but I am going to start at the beginning.

So my BF and I go out for dinner around 6. I am freaking out thinking we won't be able to make it in time. So yeah a lot of stress off the bat. We eat we have plenty of time to get downtown to the Shubert Theater. But what great luck we get to the subway and a lot of people are waiting which means there hasn't been a train for a while. We wait for a good 10 mins. No luck. I am freaking out and then we hear people talking to the mta worker in the booth. She has no clue what is going on. I am annoyed and decide to take a taxi downtown to 44th street. This was a horrible idea as well. TRAFFIC all the way down. We finally get out at 45th street and get to the theater in time.

So yay I am in my seat and my BF is 8 seats away on my row. I start talking to the ladies next to me and we find out that we are all Clay fans. We chat and they say I am probably going to be the peasant. I have been thinking about being the peasant all day and I am very nervous. The ladies say "well if you don't want to do it we will!" The musical begins. Clay is his charming goofy self. He seemed very into the character. During the All for One song when Clay yodels he goes up the scale "yodelhe, yodelhhee hee heee!" and then he went back down "heeeehheeeehhheee" it was a great showing of his voice. During the Camelot scene he helps a girl off a dice and they danced and it was cute. I noticed that Clay liked to shriek a lot tonight. I don't know if anyone behind or in the mezzanine could hear but it was adorable.

The audience was much better tonight then last. Everyone was laughing and enjoying himself. My BF enjoyed it laughing along. To answer road's question this is definitely the first time he has seen me in a Clay fog! I even told the ladies next to me that my BF was here but down the row and they yelled and waved "Hello BF!" I told him in intermission that I most likely will get to go on stage. And he said that that would make the experience even better.

THE PEASANT SCENE: I was very fidgety when they got to the holy hand grenade. The hill fell and there was B101. I did a little EEEE inside. It was hilarious when Lancelot tried to figure out what it meant with "He BOOOIII" like rappers do. The hand comes down. Patsy moves towards me and tells me to stand up. Then he goes we found the grail! And he had put the giant grail on my seat. He says "She has been sitting on it all a long..." I was thinking to myself ouch that would be uncomfortable. Patsy tells me to sit back down and Clay goes shouldn't we reward this peasant? I go on stage a little nervous. The King greets me with his huge grin and squinty eyes. It was kind of comforting. He asks me my name and I go "Kathryn S_." very nervously. I am standing on stage and the bright lights are in my eyes and face and I begin to feel my cheeks go hot. I can see Phil my BF in the audience beaming up at me. I shake hands with Rick & Galahad. I totally want to shake Clay's hand but the timing wasn't right. Patsy was about to announce the winner and he looks and me and says something probably about how the winner was clear. I say "yeah this is so intense" He announces my name and I take the trophy. This entire time I am smiling constantly from ear to ear. I can't stop! The entire time I could on was taking advantage of being by Clay and staring at him the entire time. That beautiful face and eyes I think I got lost in there. The King goes hmmm look out to your fellow peasants or something of that sort. I think I was staring at clay too long. They start singing my name and I just look at Clay the entire time singing to me. *sigh* It was great. I remember that Rick was really close to me and Clay on his knees... The picture is taken and I am really smiling there. I get off stage with all my goodies. Wow it was amazing. People were congratulating me later.

So at the end Clay announces the broadways cares. He makes the entire audience laugh. He says he wants everyone to give them all their money. And if they go to other broadway musicals to take money from them. Then he tosses the wrist band out and a guy sitting next to Phil my BF puts his arm up mechanically almost and catches it. Everyone is amazed and Clay was like wow! And then does the you still have to pay $2 schtick. I liked seeing Clay being him and talking to the crowd. He says you can get a poster with the cast signing, a playbill that the cast signed, a cd of broadway songs and a picture with Rick and Tom! for $20. I was slightly disappointed it wasn't Clay but I love Rick and Tom too. So I wait and get a picture with them and Rick goes "Hey its B101 Girl!" I was like yep and smiled.

So yeah amazing night and I am extremely lucky!

[FearofH2O]

Now that's a recap!

[aikim]

Good Morning Everyone,

4 Days until Clay is on Rosie Live!

5 Days until Clay is Talking Turkey!

8 Days until Clay's Golden Birthday!

43 Days until The Closing Night of Spamalot!

65 Days until Golfing For Inclusion!

Everyone have a great day!

Kim

[claytonic]

Cotton

Here's Clay singing happy birthday - to you!

[ldyjocelyn]

I actually happened to watch Survivor the other night (as I don't normally do), and Randy is the last person to have been voted out. Supposedly he and Charlie (another Survivor cast member, I believe voted out the previous week) went to see Clay in Spamalot last night.

I love reading about Clay's schtick for Broadway Cares. He's so funny and charming and disarming all at the same time. I truly wish someone would give him his own TV show....

[cha cha trusty]

Charlie is also the Survivor member who is gay, and had claimed a few weeks ago, back when Survivor had just started, that he had been a friend of Clay Aiken's and had been chatting with him via IM.

He is a lawyer in NYC. I didn't realize that he and Randy were friends, it wasn't that evident from watching the show, I could not stand Randy! The way he was voted off was hilarious, tho. They played a trick on him and he thought he had a hidden immunity idol, played it, and it was fake!! It was Brilliant!!

There was an article somewhere about Charlie knowing Clay, but I don't think I saved the link.

[Cotton]

Cotton

Here's Clay singing happy birthday - to you!

How sweet of Clay to think of me!

Thanks!

[FromClaygary]

Another great recap from MarieDrummond at the CV. Preden, you need to read this!

OK, here goes, folks.

THE BUS TOUR

With my car safely tucked away, I decided to take a tour bus to go see Ground Zero – I have never been there. Every time I have come to New York, it was late on a Friday and with matinees and night shows on Saturdays and Sundays – no time for the tour.

Sooooo, I had been told that you can get the tour bus right on the corner of the Milford Plaza (perfect for me, because I hate to walk – actually drive from one end of a mall to the other to save myself the walking – and to all the smart alecks who will ask, NO I DON’T GET LOST IN A PARKING LOT!). Well, as it turns out it is TWO WHOLE BLOCKS AWAY from the Milford (woe is me), but I bravely pushed through and managed to get myself to said tour bus. There was a man there selling tickets and after explaining that no, I didn’t want a 48-hour ticket that would take me pretty much everywhere in NYC (this man did not know that I had already done that on my own the previous day – he even mentioned seeing the Yankee Stadium – pfffft, been there, done that! – see my previous recap), nor did I need to go by boat to the Statue of Liberty (it was freezing on dry land – why would I want to get on a boat on water in a harbor exposed to all kinds of winds?). Eventually the crestfallen man sold me a ticket for a mere $35 that would take me to the one place I wanted to go, Ground Zero!

And AFTER having sold me this ‘looked down upon’ ticket, this man (read idiot – does he not know me well enough by now?), tells me I have to walk a block away to take the bus he just sold me a ticket for – but, but… there is a bus right in front of my nose, why can’t I just take that bus, I whined. Because this bus is for people who buy the ‘right’ tickets, not my measly $35 one! Well after considering taking a taxi for the one block to go pick up the bus I did buy a ticket for, I felt that the cab driver may simply kill me and I would never be heard of again… so I traipsed down the block and then SUCCESS…. There is the bus I have bought the ‘cheap’ ticket for. The bus driver is a real sweetheart and decides I’m the best friend he’s got right now… so chats me up with the thickest ‘whatever’ accent. I can make out the words ‘yes’ and ‘no’ in the conversation, but that’s about it. I did smile a lot and nodded my head and smiled in all the right places because he just kept on yakking and simply beaming at me, until the tour bus ‘speaker’ interrupted him and said we were ready to leave – thank you, there is a Tour Bus God somewhere!

Now, for those of you taking this Tour Bus, keep in mind that you are in a very CONGESTED part of Manhattan at this point and that it will take about one hour to get to anything worth looking at. The Tour Bus Speaker (to be known as “TBS” from now on), is nice enough but has a very droning tone to his voice… so I let myself be lulled into a wonderful nap and wake up just in time to see the Empire State Building – so did I miss anything? Have we passed Ground Zero? Oh good Lord, please say it ain’t so!!!! In a total panic, I turn around and ask the couple behind me if we have already passed Ground Zero – nice enough couple but they seemed confused by my question (I don’t know why, it seems to me a perfectly simple question!). They eventually stop looking at each other as if I were a Martian and tell me with a total look of disdain that No, we have not gotten to Ground Zero yet!!!!! Relieved I turn back to face the front – did not like that look they exchanged at all! Don’t they know that I have been through hell, had to walk two blocks to buy a ticket for a bus that was one more block away? Well, hummmppphhh!!!!

So, we eventually get to where Ground Zero is and I hop off in my best ‘fully awake and eager to sightsee’ manner. I look around and only see little boutiques, restaurants, etc. – no Ground Zero!!!! I turn around to ask TBS where Ground Zero actually IS – and he sweetly tells me, that I have to walk one block this way, turn right walk one more block and there will be a place where I can see it… WTF? Don’t these people understand anything? I DO NOT WALK!!!!!!! But in for a penny, in for a pound (or in my case a measly $35), so off I go through freezing cold with a wind cutting through you like a knife!!!! And then…. In the distance, I see it!!! I am at Ground Zero! There is a long pathway with a fence around it which is completely covered so you can’t see but I bravely go on, figuring at the end of it, there will be that longed for ‘place where you can see it’. When I get to the end of it, there is NOTHING!!!! A subway entrance of some sort… I ask a man in uniform (don’t know what kind of uniform – not a policeman, not a fireman, not an ‘anything man’ I can recognize) how I can get to the ‘place where you can see it’… He smiles the sweetest smile I have ever seen and tells me, to go back the way I came and go all around to the opposite side and there it will be – the ‘place where you can see it’!!!! Are you kidding me? That’s like three/four blocks!!!!! Well, there is nothing I can do but at least retrace my steps perhaps to go to the ‘place where you can see it’, perhaps simply back to the Tour Bus. But God is smiling on me, as I get to the end of the pathway one of the workers is going inside the enclosure and opens the gate to get in and lo and behold…. I see it!!!!! There it is Ground Zero!!!!! And although I am making fun about this adventure, let me tell you that it is a very powerful sight…. To see that dug out area, knowing full well what had stood there is terrifying/awe inspiring/devastatingly sad. If anyone reading this lost someone that terrible day – my deepest sympathies for your terrible loss.

Well, now I have seen what I so wanted to see and am ready to go back to the Milford. So I bravely walk that last block back to where the Tour Bus dropped me off an hour before (yes it took that long to get lost along the pathway and retrace my steps – I can get lost by car, on foot – Lord only knows what I could do if I had a boat! Now this is a different Tour Bus (they come every 15 minutes or so). So I hop on and tell the TBS that I am trying to get back to the Milford (8th and 44th). He tells me that first we are going to go to the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, Central Park but eventually back to the Milford (or close to it – his words not mine) and that it should take about an hour and a half. It’s all good, the bus is heated, I have a seat and I can nap yet again.

Now this new TBS must have gotten the zest for life that the droning TBS missed out on, because this guy is basically shrieking the whole way – and he thinks he’s the funniest man alive (NOT!) – so there went my coveted nap. Well, we couldn’t actually see the Statue of Liberty if we didn’t get off the bus, yea right, like I’m getting off again! Because of heavy/difficult traffic, we drove one block along Central Park, nice trees! Then onto Wall Street - does anyone want to get off? Not me, I say, but there are others who seemed interested so we let them off and a whole slew of people get on – standing room only on the lower deck where I am sitting – well as uninterested as I was before, now all I have is a view of this woman’s big butt in front of my face – please… are we there yet? I am watching the street names and we are driving along 1st Avenue and we get to 45th street – I ask the driver if this is where I should get off to get back to the Milford – he says ‘yes, it’s about a mile that way’!!!! I think that my turning red, than blue, than violet alerted TBS that he should take charge of the situation and told me to stay on the bus and that it would get me back to the Milford – breathing reflex kicked in and am now feeling much more confident that walking a mile in my own shoes is not in my future. Anyways, a half hour later after going in circles it seems to me – the Tour Bus stops and we are told “It’s the end of the line” – huh where is the Milford? Nowhere do I see my beloved “Lullaby of Broadway” sign. Where is it? Where is it? Oh this is 7th and 49th just five blocks away TBS says. Did he not understand my question earlier? I want to be dropped off at the Milford!!!!!!! TBS has no heart and tells me to get off the bus NOW – WHAT? I was just asking him to give me a ride to the Milford, the least he could do after preventing me from taking my nap! But noooooooooo…. After all I only bought the ‘cheap’ ticket which does not include a door-to-door service…. So not one to give up, I start walking (with tears in my eyes – it’s the wind folks, I swear) and eventually get to 45th Street, turn up the block and find myself on 6th Avenue – darned I should have turned the other way!!!! But who can tell which way is up after all the turning and driving in circles the Tour Bus did!!!!

So to recap this two and a half hour tour, took me four hours – grrrrrrrrr. I swear to not go anywhere for the rest of the weekend. I DO know my way to the Shubert. I never fail to find Junior’s from the Shubert, and know that I am not to leave the sidewalk to make it back to the Milford. So that’s what I’m sticking to for the rest of this weekend. Sadly, I will have no more adventures to recap on – thank you lucky stars ladies – Lord knows what else I could do to screw up a perfectly easy tour!!!!!

SPAMALOT

I sat in seat A1 (right next to the tower where Clay comes out at the beginning). At stage level of the tower, there is an entrance with heavy material slats. During the Historian and Finland, I could see Clay kind of moving them apart to take a peak in the audience (almost waved at him, but thought it might be in poor taste – what I have class (forget my tour).

Rick was back and the Coconut scene was a lot more fun tonight.

During the Not Yet Dead scene, Clay’s hat remained firmly in place and did not require any adjustment to correct a wardrobe malfunction. In the last part of the scene, when Tom says he will be their singer, Clay poked him with the stick (that he uses with the triangle thingie – dunno what it’s called). That was cute.

During the KOTRT – Clay actually got a hold of the skirt of one of the dancers and yelped with joy – oh so cute!!!!!

During the French taunter scene (they’ve really ratcheted the crudeness up folks), Clay was standing with his back to me and I could see his whole back and shoulders shaking with laughter and even when he went into the Run Away song, you could still see that he had the giggles. As he exited just before intermission, he yelled “Wait for me” with so much fear, I wanted to tell him that I would wait for him and to not be afraid – but again I restrained myself (pats herself on back for being so grown up).

When the confetti fall at the end, Clay picked up a bunch of them and kind of spread them apart in the palm of his hand and at the very end, make a semi-opened fist and blew them out!!!! Really funny!

BC

Clay did the spiel again. Mentioned again the $85 Million raised over the last 20 years by Broadway and Off-Broadway shows and that he expected Spamalot to do the same on its own this year. Big guffaws from the audience. Then he showed the same items as yesterday with the same prices except for the rubber wristband which is now $2, he tossed one in the audience and this guy literally grabbed it out of the air!!!! Clay told him he was very impressed, but that would be $2 nevertheless. Audience rolling in the aisle with that one. He also said that they take money from other countries seeing as that would be worth more than the American dollar. Audience is now lapping it up. Clay then said that this is a competition and that people should take money that they were going to give at other shows and give it to Spamalot instead, a wink and a smile – and they’re all eating out of his hand by now. Give this man his own show for heaven’s sake!!!!

Pictures were with Rick and Tom for $20. There was a decent line up of people waiting for their pictures, so I left to retreat to my nice room at the Milford (never left that sidewalk folks!)

More recaps tomorrow – but no more adventures, please God!!!!!!

This recap may travel.

...and another good one from Marilyn....was it full moon yesterday LOL?

Well I can top people tonight for doing the wrong way Corrigan bit. I live on Long Island, have for oodles of years. Taken the train into Penn Station umpteen times- even commuted for a year and a half.

Well tonight I must have eaten a humongous dollop of stupid- because I GOT ON THE WRONG TRAIN!! There were trains side by side- I asked this female conductor if this was the train to Babylon and she nodded yes. Perhaps my accent made her ears hear different. Anyway, I am getting my ticket ready, juggling my coffee and donut, and failed to check the board in the front of the train car.

Yes, folks, first stop was SECAUCUS NEW JERSEY!! Holy schmolies!! Was my face red!! I had to confess to the conductor and he told me in Secaucus to cross to the next track for the train going back to Penn Station. And it was COOOOLD and kinda scary -not too many people around.

However, the lady behind me on the train, who had a British accent (what? I dont!) said she had once taken the express train from LONDON to SCOTLAND and cried all the way because that was NOT where she was going!!

Anyway, Spamalot was great- the French taunters were mega raunchy, and you could see Clay's shoulders shaking!!

I dont know whether it was intentional or not, but Rick skipped the Oops I said IT again line- he just stopped-and then went into his KNight of Ni bit. I think he did a rap song but Clay was openly laughing at him- Rick was hysterical

Brother Maynard SANG a short aaaaMEN!!

And Starhorse made an ADORABLE peasant!! Clay was funny when she won- he ran over to us and was jumping up and down and making the "Up" motions with his palms to cheer for the peasant- which is why he was late going to get the handshake.

Clay is a natural when it comes to getting the audience pumped. His spiel for the BC-EFA was so good the audience was laughing. I know Marie D will give good recap, so I will leave it to her. But I just realized she sat in the row in front of me. Wish I had known that to say hello!

Tonight was purely "accidental". I got an email from a sweet sweet person who could not come from out of state to the show. She was out of state and had not been able to sell the tickets. She emailed me and asked me to give the second one to a deserving person. When I went into the show, I looked along the rail for the SRO people, and I saw this young girl. I asked her if she was alone and she said yes. I asked her if she wanted to sit in second row on the side and her mouth dropped open- she was soooo excited. She is a sophomore at Princeton and she comes into the city and gets student tickets, but she couldnt tonight. Turns out she absolutely ADORES Clay- she started talking about how he was sweet and had a wonderful voice and a great personality! She has never been to any concerts or to Spamalot, but She LOVES his new CD!!

She was so excited it made me feel wonderful- she is also a big Monty Python fan and has seen the movie many many times. She said she had gotten a ticket to the show on his last run, but her brother came in from Kansas and she let him have the ticket. He thought Clay was excellent.

Well, she laughed hard throughout the show, and thought of course that Clay was wonderful. She did not recognize him as Brother Maynard at first- when I glanced at her, her mouth had dropped open and she said "Oh my GOD!!" and laughed. It was so great to enable a newbie- thankyou MOM11- wish you could have been there

[jmh123]

Will someone who posts where mariedrummond posts please tell her there are these things called taxis in New York. You can take one anywhere you want to go, and they'll even drop you off at your destination. And for a whole lot less money than she paid.

[FromClaygary]

Will someone who posts where mariedrummond posts please tell her there are these things called taxis in New York. You can take one anywhere you want to go, and they'll even drop you off at your destination. And for a whole lot less money than she paid.

But you know, I can relate...I grew up in an area, and in an era where you DID NOT take taxis. They were WAY too expensive, and they ripped you off and drove you all over where you didn't need to go, and charged you for it, and....and...... So a taxi isn't something that occurs to me immediately unless someone else suggests it.

[cha cha trusty]

My thought was to try what they do in The Amazing Race.

Flag a taxi and pay them to let you follow them to your destination.

But GPS units are good for that too!!! Even when they "Recalculate!!"

[muskifest]

I'm going to see Twilight in an hour or so....by myself since both daughters have already seen it and hubby is passing on this one! heheh...

Hey! Couchie! Wanna come to my little town and go see a movie with me? We can share a big assed bucket of popcorn! Movie's at 11:30...

[preden]

Another great recap from MarieDrummond at the CV. Preden, you need to read this!

OK, here goes, folks.

THE BUS TOUR

With my car safely tucked away, I decided to take a tour bus to go see Ground Zero – I have never been there. Every time I have come to New York, it was late on a Friday and with matinees and night shows on Saturdays and Sundays – no time for the tour.

Sooooo, I had been told that you can get the tour bus right on the corner of the Milford Plaza (perfect for me, because I hate to walk – actually drive from one end of a mall to the other to save myself the walking – and to all the smart alecks who will ask, NO I DON’T GET LOST IN A PARKING LOT!). Well, as it turns out it is TWO WHOLE BLOCKS AWAY from the Milford (woe is me), but I bravely pushed through and managed to get myself to said tour bus. There was a man there selling tickets and after explaining that no, I didn’t want a 48-hour ticket that would take me pretty much everywhere in NYC (this man did not know that I had already done that on my own the previous day – he even mentioned seeing the Yankee Stadium – pfffft, been there, done that! – see my previous recap), nor did I need to go by boat to the Statue of Liberty (it was freezing on dry land – why would I want to get on a boat on water in a harbor exposed to all kinds of winds?). Eventually the crestfallen man sold me a ticket for a mere $35 that would take me to the one place I wanted to go, Ground Zero!

And AFTER having sold me this ‘looked down upon’ ticket, this man (read idiot – does he not know me well enough by now?), tells me I have to walk a block away to take the bus he just sold me a ticket for – but, but… there is a bus right in front of my nose, why can’t I just take that bus, I whined. Because this bus is for people who buy the ‘right’ tickets, not my measly $35 one! Well after considering taking a taxi for the one block to go pick up the bus I did buy a ticket for, I felt that the cab driver may simply kill me and I would never be heard of again… so I traipsed down the block and then SUCCESS…. There is the bus I have bought the ‘cheap’ ticket for. The bus driver is a real sweetheart and decides I’m the best friend he’s got right now… so chats me up with the thickest ‘whatever’ accent. I can make out the words ‘yes’ and ‘no’ in the conversation, but that’s about it. I did smile a lot and nodded my head and smiled in all the right places because he just kept on yakking and simply beaming at me, until the tour bus ‘speaker’ interrupted him and said we were ready to leave – thank you, there is a Tour Bus God somewhere!

Now, for those of you taking this Tour Bus, keep in mind that you are in a very CONGESTED part of Manhattan at this point and that it will take about one hour to get to anything worth looking at. The Tour Bus Speaker (to be known as “TBS” from now on), is nice enough but has a very droning tone to his voice… so I let myself be lulled into a wonderful nap and wake up just in time to see the Empire State Building – so did I miss anything? Have we passed Ground Zero? Oh good Lord, please say it ain’t so!!!! In a total panic, I turn around and ask the couple behind me if we have already passed Ground Zero – nice enough couple but they seemed confused by my question (I don’t know why, it seems to me a perfectly simple question!). They eventually stop looking at each other as if I were a Martian and tell me with a total look of disdain that No, we have not gotten to Ground Zero yet!!!!! Relieved I turn back to face the front – did not like that look they exchanged at all! Don’t they know that I have been through hell, had to walk two blocks to buy a ticket for a bus that was one more block away? Well, hummmppphhh!!!!

So, we eventually get to where Ground Zero is and I hop off in my best ‘fully awake and eager to sightsee’ manner. I look around and only see little boutiques, restaurants, etc. – no Ground Zero!!!! I turn around to ask TBS where Ground Zero actually IS – and he sweetly tells me, that I have to walk one block this way, turn right walk one more block and there will be a place where I can see it… WTF? Don’t these people understand anything? I DO NOT WALK!!!!!!! But in for a penny, in for a pound (or in my case a measly $35), so off I go through freezing cold with a wind cutting through you like a knife!!!! And then…. In the distance, I see it!!! I am at Ground Zero! There is a long pathway with a fence around it which is completely covered so you can’t see but I bravely go on, figuring at the end of it, there will be that longed for ‘place where you can see it’. When I get to the end of it, there is NOTHING!!!! A subway entrance of some sort… I ask a man in uniform (don’t know what kind of uniform – not a policeman, not a fireman, not an ‘anything man’ I can recognize) how I can get to the ‘place where you can see it’… He smiles the sweetest smile I have ever seen and tells me, to go back the way I came and go all around to the opposite side and there it will be – the ‘place where you can see it’!!!! Are you kidding me? That’s like three/four blocks!!!!! Well, there is nothing I can do but at least retrace my steps perhaps to go to the ‘place where you can see it’, perhaps simply back to the Tour Bus. But God is smiling on me, as I get to the end of the pathway one of the workers is going inside the enclosure and opens the gate to get in and lo and behold…. I see it!!!!! There it is Ground Zero!!!!! And although I am making fun about this adventure, let me tell you that it is a very powerful sight…. To see that dug out area, knowing full well what had stood there is terrifying/awe inspiring/devastatingly sad. If anyone reading this lost someone that terrible day – my deepest sympathies for your terrible loss.

Well, now I have seen what I so wanted to see and am ready to go back to the Milford. So I bravely walk that last block back to where the Tour Bus dropped me off an hour before (yes it took that long to get lost along the pathway and retrace my steps – I can get lost by car, on foot – Lord only knows what I could do if I had a boat! Now this is a different Tour Bus (they come every 15 minutes or so). So I hop on and tell the TBS that I am trying to get back to the Milford (8th and 44th). He tells me that first we are going to go to the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, Central Park but eventually back to the Milford (or close to it – his words not mine) and that it should take about an hour and a half. It’s all good, the bus is heated, I have a seat and I can nap yet again.

Now this new TBS must have gotten the zest for life that the droning TBS missed out on, because this guy is basically shrieking the whole way – and he thinks he’s the funniest man alive (NOT!) – so there went my coveted nap. Well, we couldn’t actually see the Statue of Liberty if we didn’t get off the bus, yea right, like I’m getting off again! Because of heavy/difficult traffic, we drove one block along Central Park, nice trees! Then onto Wall Street - does anyone want to get off? Not me, I say, but there are others who seemed interested so we let them off and a whole slew of people get on – standing room only on the lower deck where I am sitting – well as uninterested as I was before, now all I have is a view of this woman’s big butt in front of my face – please… are we there yet? I am watching the street names and we are driving along 1st Avenue and we get to 45th street – I ask the driver if this is where I should get off to get back to the Milford – he says ‘yes, it’s about a mile that way’!!!! I think that my turning red, than blue, than violet alerted TBS that he should take charge of the situation and told me to stay on the bus and that it would get me back to the Milford – breathing reflex kicked in and am now feeling much more confident that walking a mile in my own shoes is not in my future. Anyways, a half hour later after going in circles it seems to me – the Tour Bus stops and we are told “It’s the end of the line” – huh where is the Milford? Nowhere do I see my beloved “Lullaby of Broadway” sign. Where is it? Where is it? Oh this is 7th and 49th just five blocks away TBS says. Did he not understand my question earlier? I want to be dropped off at the Milford!!!!!!! TBS has no heart and tells me to get off the bus NOW – WHAT? I was just asking him to give me a ride to the Milford, the least he could do after preventing me from taking my nap! But noooooooooo…. After all I only bought the ‘cheap’ ticket which does not include a door-to-door service…. So not one to give up, I start walking (with tears in my eyes – it’s the wind folks, I swear) and eventually get to 45th Street, turn up the block and find myself on 6th Avenue – darned I should have turned the other way!!!! But who can tell which way is up after all the turning and driving in circles the Tour Bus did!!!!

So to recap this two and a half hour tour, took me four hours – grrrrrrrrr. I swear to not go anywhere for the rest of the weekend. I DO know my way to the Shubert. I never fail to find Junior’s from the Shubert, and know that I am not to leave the sidewalk to make it back to the Milford. So that’s what I’m sticking to for the rest of this weekend. Sadly, I will have no more adventures to recap on – thank you lucky stars ladies – Lord knows what else I could do to screw up a perfectly easy tour!!!!!

SPAMALOT

I sat in seat A1 (right next to the tower where Clay comes out at the beginning). At stage level of the tower, there is an entrance with heavy material slats. During the Historian and Finland, I could see Clay kind of moving them apart to take a peak in the audience (almost waved at him, but thought it might be in poor taste – what I have class (forget my tour).

Rick was back and the Coconut scene was a lot more fun tonight.

During the Not Yet Dead scene, Clay’s hat remained firmly in place and did not require any adjustment to correct a wardrobe malfunction. In the last part of the scene, when Tom says he will be their singer, Clay poked him with the stick (that he uses with the triangle thingie – dunno what it’s called). That was cute.

During the KOTRT – Clay actually got a hold of the skirt of one of the dancers and yelped with joy – oh so cute!!!!!

During the French taunter scene (they’ve really ratcheted the crudeness up folks), Clay was standing with his back to me and I could see his whole back and shoulders shaking with laughter and even when he went into the Run Away song, you could still see that he had the giggles. As he exited just before intermission, he yelled “Wait for me” with so much fear, I wanted to tell him that I would wait for him and to not be afraid – but again I restrained myself (pats herself on back for being so grown up).

When the confetti fall at the end, Clay picked up a bunch of them and kind of spread them apart in the palm of his hand and at the very end, make a semi-opened fist and blew them out!!!! Really funny!

BC

Clay did the spiel again. Mentioned again the $85 Million raised over the last 20 years by Broadway and Off-Broadway shows and that he expected Spamalot to do the same on its own this year. Big guffaws from the audience. Then he showed the same items as yesterday with the same prices except for the rubber wristband which is now $2, he tossed one in the audience and this guy literally grabbed it out of the air!!!! Clay told him he was very impressed, but that would be $2 nevertheless. Audience rolling in the aisle with that one. He also said that they take money from other countries seeing as that would be worth more than the American dollar. Audience is now lapping it up. Clay then said that this is a competition and that people should take money that they were going to give at other shows and give it to Spamalot instead, a wink and a smile – and they’re all eating out of his hand by now. Give this man his own show for heaven’s sake!!!!

Pictures were with Rick and Tom for $20. There was a decent line up of people waiting for their pictures, so I left to retreat to my nice room at the Milford (never left that sidewalk folks!)

More recaps tomorrow – but no more adventures, please God!!!!!!

This recap may travel.

...and another good one from Marilyn....was it full moon yesterday LOL?

Well I can top people tonight for doing the wrong way Corrigan bit. I live on Long Island, have for oodles of years. Taken the train into Penn Station umpteen times- even commuted for a year and a half.

Well tonight I must have eaten a humongous dollop of stupid- because I GOT ON THE WRONG TRAIN!! There were trains side by side- I asked this female conductor if this was the train to Babylon and she nodded yes. Perhaps my accent made her ears hear different. Anyway, I am getting my ticket ready, juggling my coffee and donut, and failed to check the board in the front of the train car.

Yes, folks, first stop was SECAUCUS NEW JERSEY!! Holy schmolies!! Was my face red!! I had to confess to the conductor and he told me in Secaucus to cross to the next track for the train going back to Penn Station. And it was COOOOLD and kinda scary -not too many people around.

However, the lady behind me on the train, who had a British accent (what? I dont!) said she had once taken the express train from LONDON to SCOTLAND and cried all the way because that was NOT where she was going!!

Anyway, Spamalot was great- the French taunters were mega raunchy, and you could see Clay's shoulders shaking!!

I dont know whether it was intentional or not, but Rick skipped the Oops I said IT again line- he just stopped-and then went into his KNight of Ni bit. I think he did a rap song but Clay was openly laughing at him- Rick was hysterical

Brother Maynard SANG a short aaaaMEN!!

And Starhorse made an ADORABLE peasant!! Clay was funny when she won- he ran over to us and was jumping up and down and making the "Up" motions with his palms to cheer for the peasant- which is why he was late going to get the handshake.

Clay is a natural when it comes to getting the audience pumped. His spiel for the BC-EFA was so good the audience was laughing. I know Marie D will give good recap, so I will leave it to her. But I just realized she sat in the row in front of me. Wish I had known that to say hello!

Tonight was purely "accidental". I got an email from a sweet sweet person who could not come from out of state to the show. She was out of state and had not been able to sell the tickets. She emailed me and asked me to give the second one to a deserving person. When I went into the show, I looked along the rail for the SRO people, and I saw this young girl. I asked her if she was alone and she said yes. I asked her if she wanted to sit in second row on the side and her mouth dropped open- she was soooo excited. She is a sophomore at Princeton and she comes into the city and gets student tickets, but she couldnt tonight. Turns out she absolutely ADORES Clay- she started talking about how he was sweet and had a wonderful voice and a great personality! She has never been to any concerts or to Spamalot, but She LOVES his new CD!!

She was so excited it made me feel wonderful- she is also a big Monty Python fan and has seen the movie many many times. She said she had gotten a ticket to the show on his last run, but her brother came in from Kansas and she let him have the ticket. He thought Clay was excellent.

Well, she laughed hard throughout the show, and thought of course that Clay was wonderful. She did not recognize him as Brother Maynard at first- when I glanced at her, her mouth had dropped open and she said "Oh my GOD!!" and laughed. It was so great to enable a newbie- thankyou MOM11- wish you could have been there

Think I'll pass on the bus tour since I've seen most of the sites. Poor Marie, she wasted a lot of time and money on that tour. I want the Rockerfeller tree and go to Macy's. I could join my roommates for a couple of sites though. Thanks Claygary for the message.

[preden]

Another great recap from MarieDrummond at the CV. Preden, you need to read this!

OK, here goes, folks.

THE BUS TOUR

With my car safely tucked away, I decided to take a tour bus to go see Ground Zero – I have never been there. Every time I have come to New York, it was late on a Friday and with matinees and night shows on Saturdays and Sundays – no time for the tour.

Sooooo, I had been told that you can get the tour bus right on the corner of the Milford Plaza (perfect for me, because I hate to walk – actually drive from one end of a mall to the other to save myself the walking – and to all the smart alecks who will ask, NO I DON’T GET LOST IN A PARKING LOT!). Well, as it turns out it is TWO WHOLE BLOCKS AWAY from the Milford (woe is me), but I bravely pushed through and managed to get myself to said tour bus. There was a man there selling tickets and after explaining that no, I didn’t want a 48-hour ticket that would take me pretty much everywhere in NYC (this man did not know that I had already done that on my own the previous day – he even mentioned seeing the Yankee Stadium – pfffft, been there, done that! – see my previous recap), nor did I need to go by boat to the Statue of Liberty (it was freezing on dry land – why would I want to get on a boat on water in a harbor exposed to all kinds of winds?). Eventually the crestfallen man sold me a ticket for a mere $35 that would take me to the one place I wanted to go, Ground Zero!

And AFTER having sold me this ‘looked down upon’ ticket, this man (read idiot – does he not know me well enough by now?), tells me I have to walk a block away to take the bus he just sold me a ticket for – but, but… there is a bus right in front of my nose, why can’t I just take that bus, I whined. Because this bus is for people who buy the ‘right’ tickets, not my measly $35 one! Well after considering taking a taxi for the one block to go pick up the bus I did buy a ticket for, I felt that the cab driver may simply kill me and I would never be heard of again… so I traipsed down the block and then SUCCESS…. There is the bus I have bought the ‘cheap’ ticket for. The bus driver is a real sweetheart and decides I’m the best friend he’s got right now… so chats me up with the thickest ‘whatever’ accent. I can make out the words ‘yes’ and ‘no’ in the conversation, but that’s about it. I did smile a lot and nodded my head and smiled in all the right places because he just kept on yakking and simply beaming at me, until the tour bus ‘speaker’ interrupted him and said we were ready to leave – thank you, there is a Tour Bus God somewhere!

Now, for those of you taking this Tour Bus, keep in mind that you are in a very CONGESTED part of Manhattan at this point and that it will take about one hour to get to anything worth looking at. The Tour Bus Speaker (to be known as “TBS” from now on), is nice enough but has a very droning tone to his voice… so I let myself be lulled into a wonderful nap and wake up just in time to see the Empire State Building – so did I miss anything? Have we passed Ground Zero? Oh good Lord, please say it ain’t so!!!! In a total panic, I turn around and ask the couple behind me if we have already passed Ground Zero – nice enough couple but they seemed confused by my question (I don’t know why, it seems to me a perfectly simple question!). They eventually stop looking at each other as if I were a Martian and tell me with a total look of disdain that No, we have not gotten to Ground Zero yet!!!!! Relieved I turn back to face the front – did not like that look they exchanged at all! Don’t they know that I have been through hell, had to walk two blocks to buy a ticket for a bus that was one more block away? Well, hummmppphhh!!!!

So, we eventually get to where Ground Zero is and I hop off in my best ‘fully awake and eager to sightsee’ manner. I look around and only see little boutiques, restaurants, etc. – no Ground Zero!!!! I turn around to ask TBS where Ground Zero actually IS – and he sweetly tells me, that I have to walk one block this way, turn right walk one more block and there will be a place where I can see it… WTF? Don’t these people understand anything? I DO NOT WALK!!!!!!! But in for a penny, in for a pound (or in my case a measly $35), so off I go through freezing cold with a wind cutting through you like a knife!!!! And then…. In the distance, I see it!!! I am at Ground Zero! There is a long pathway with a fence around it which is completely covered so you can’t see but I bravely go on, figuring at the end of it, there will be that longed for ‘place where you can see it’. When I get to the end of it, there is NOTHING!!!! A subway entrance of some sort… I ask a man in uniform (don’t know what kind of uniform – not a policeman, not a fireman, not an ‘anything man’ I can recognize) how I can get to the ‘place where you can see it’… He smiles the sweetest smile I have ever seen and tells me, to go back the way I came and go all around to the opposite side and there it will be – the ‘place where you can see it’!!!! Are you kidding me? That’s like three/four blocks!!!!! Well, there is nothing I can do but at least retrace my steps perhaps to go to the ‘place where you can see it’, perhaps simply back to the Tour Bus. But God is smiling on me, as I get to the end of the pathway one of the workers is going inside the enclosure and opens the gate to get in and lo and behold…. I see it!!!!! There it is Ground Zero!!!!! And although I am making fun about this adventure, let me tell you that it is a very powerful sight…. To see that dug out area, knowing full well what had stood there is terrifying/awe inspiring/devastatingly sad. If anyone reading this lost someone that terrible day – my deepest sympathies for your terrible loss.

Well, now I have seen what I so wanted to see and am ready to go back to the Milford. So I bravely walk that last block back to where the Tour Bus dropped me off an hour before (yes it took that long to get lost along the pathway and retrace my steps – I can get lost by car, on foot – Lord only knows what I could do if I had a boat! Now this is a different Tour Bus (they come every 15 minutes or so). So I hop on and tell the TBS that I am trying to get back to the Milford (8th and 44th). He tells me that first we are going to go to the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, Central Park but eventually back to the Milford (or close to it – his words not mine) and that it should take about an hour and a half. It’s all good, the bus is heated, I have a seat and I can nap yet again.

Now this new TBS must have gotten the zest for life that the droning TBS missed out on, because this guy is basically shrieking the whole way – and he thinks he’s the funniest man alive (NOT!) – so there went my coveted nap. Well, we couldn’t actually see the Statue of Liberty if we didn’t get off the bus, yea right, like I’m getting off again! Because of heavy/difficult traffic, we drove one block along Central Park, nice trees! Then onto Wall Street - does anyone want to get off? Not me, I say, but there are others who seemed interested so we let them off and a whole slew of people get on – standing room only on the lower deck where I am sitting – well as uninterested as I was before, now all I have is a view of this woman’s big butt in front of my face – please… are we there yet? I am watching the street names and we are driving along 1st Avenue and we get to 45th street – I ask the driver if this is where I should get off to get back to the Milford – he says ‘yes, it’s about a mile that way’!!!! I think that my turning red, than blue, than violet alerted TBS that he should take charge of the situation and told me to stay on the bus and that it would get me back to the Milford – breathing reflex kicked in and am now feeling much more confident that walking a mile in my own shoes is not in my future. Anyways, a half hour later after going in circles it seems to me – the Tour Bus stops and we are told “It’s the end of the line” – huh where is the Milford? Nowhere do I see my beloved “Lullaby of Broadway” sign. Where is it? Where is it? Oh this is 7th and 49th just five blocks away TBS says. Did he not understand my question earlier? I want to be dropped off at the Milford!!!!!!! TBS has no heart and tells me to get off the bus NOW – WHAT? I was just asking him to give me a ride to the Milford, the least he could do after preventing me from taking my nap! But noooooooooo…. After all I only bought the ‘cheap’ ticket which does not include a door-to-door service…. So not one to give up, I start walking (with tears in my eyes – it’s the wind folks, I swear) and eventually get to 45th Street, turn up the block and find myself on 6th Avenue – darned I should have turned the other way!!!! But who can tell which way is up after all the turning and driving in circles the Tour Bus did!!!!

So to recap this two and a half hour tour, took me four hours – grrrrrrrrr. I swear to not go anywhere for the rest of the weekend. I DO know my way to the Shubert. I never fail to find Junior’s from the Shubert, and know that I am not to leave the sidewalk to make it back to the Milford. So that’s what I’m sticking to for the rest of this weekend. Sadly, I will have no more adventures to recap on – thank you lucky stars ladies – Lord knows what else I could do to screw up a perfectly easy tour!!!!!

SPAMALOT

I sat in seat A1 (right next to the tower where Clay comes out at the beginning). At stage level of the tower, there is an entrance with heavy material slats. During the Historian and Finland, I could see Clay kind of moving them apart to take a peak in the audience (almost waved at him, but thought it might be in poor taste – what I have class (forget my tour).

Rick was back and the Coconut scene was a lot more fun tonight.

During the Not Yet Dead scene, Clay’s hat remained firmly in place and did not require any adjustment to correct a wardrobe malfunction. In the last part of the scene, when Tom says he will be their singer, Clay poked him with the stick (that he uses with the triangle thingie – dunno what it’s called). That was cute.

During the KOTRT – Clay actually got a hold of the skirt of one of the dancers and yelped with joy – oh so cute!!!!!

During the French taunter scene (they’ve really ratcheted the crudeness up folks), Clay was standing with his back to me and I could see his whole back and shoulders shaking with laughter and even when he went into the Run Away song, you could still see that he had the giggles. As he exited just before intermission, he yelled “Wait for me” with so much fear, I wanted to tell him that I would wait for him and to not be afraid – but again I restrained myself (pats herself on back for being so grown up).

When the confetti fall at the end, Clay picked up a bunch of them and kind of spread them apart in the palm of his hand and at the very end, make a semi-opened fist and blew them out!!!! Really funny!

BC

Clay did the spiel again. Mentioned again the $85 Million raised over the last 20 years by Broadway and Off-Broadway shows and that he expected Spamalot to do the same on its own this year. Big guffaws from the audience. Then he showed the same items as yesterday with the same prices except for the rubber wristband which is now $2, he tossed one in the audience and this guy literally grabbed it out of the air!!!! Clay told him he was very impressed, but that would be $2 nevertheless. Audience rolling in the aisle with that one. He also said that they take money from other countries seeing as that would be worth more than the American dollar. Audience is now lapping it up. Clay then said that this is a competition and that people should take money that they were going to give at other shows and give it to Spamalot instead, a wink and a smile – and they’re all eating out of his hand by now. Give this man his own show for heaven’s sake!!!!

Pictures were with Rick and Tom for $20. There was a decent line up of people waiting for their pictures, so I left to retreat to my nice room at the Milford (never left that sidewalk folks!)

More recaps tomorrow – but no more adventures, please God!!!!!!

This recap may travel.

...and another good one from Marilyn....was it full moon yesterday LOL?

Well I can top people tonight for doing the wrong way Corrigan bit. I live on Long Island, have for oodles of years. Taken the train into Penn Station umpteen times- even commuted for a year and a half.

Well tonight I must have eaten a humongous dollop of stupid- because I GOT ON THE WRONG TRAIN!! There were trains side by side- I asked this female conductor if this was the train to Babylon and she nodded yes. Perhaps my accent made her ears hear different. Anyway, I am getting my ticket ready, juggling my coffee and donut, and failed to check the board in the front of the train car.

Yes, folks, first stop was SECAUCUS NEW JERSEY!! Holy schmolies!! Was my face red!! I had to confess to the conductor and he told me in Secaucus to cross to the next track for the train going back to Penn Station. And it was COOOOLD and kinda scary -not too many people around.

However, the lady behind me on the train, who had a British accent (what? I dont!) said she had once taken the express train from LONDON to SCOTLAND and cried all the way because that was NOT where she was going!!

Anyway, Spamalot was great- the French taunters were mega raunchy, and you could see Clay's shoulders shaking!!

I dont know whether it was intentional or not, but Rick skipped the Oops I said IT again line- he just stopped-and then went into his KNight of Ni bit. I think he did a rap song but Clay was openly laughing at him- Rick was hysterical

Brother Maynard SANG a short aaaaMEN!!

And Starhorse made an ADORABLE peasant!! Clay was funny when she won- he ran over to us and was jumping up and down and making the "Up" motions with his palms to cheer for the peasant- which is why he was late going to get the handshake.

Clay is a natural when it comes to getting the audience pumped. His spiel for the BC-EFA was so good the audience was laughing. I know Marie D will give good recap, so I will leave it to her. But I just realized she sat in the row in front of me. Wish I had known that to say hello!

Tonight was purely "accidental". I got an email from a sweet sweet person who could not come from out of state to the show. She was out of state and had not been able to sell the tickets. She emailed me and asked me to give the second one to a deserving person. When I went into the show, I looked along the rail for the SRO people, and I saw this young girl. I asked her if she was alone and she said yes. I asked her if she wanted to sit in second row on the side and her mouth dropped open- she was soooo excited. She is a sophomore at Princeton and she comes into the city and gets student tickets, but she couldnt tonight. Turns out she absolutely ADORES Clay- she started talking about how he was sweet and had a wonderful voice and a great personality! She has never been to any concerts or to Spamalot, but She LOVES his new CD!!

She was so excited it made me feel wonderful- she is also a big Monty Python fan and has seen the movie many many times. She said she had gotten a ticket to the show on his last run, but her brother came in from Kansas and she let him have the ticket. He thought Clay was excellent.

Well, she laughed hard throughout the show, and thought of course that Clay was wonderful. She did not recognize him as Brother Maynard at first- when I glanced at her, her mouth had dropped open and she said "Oh my GOD!!" and laughed. It was so great to enable a newbie- thankyou MOM11- wish you could have been there

Think I'll pass on the bus tour since I've seen most of the sites. Poor Marie, she wasted a lot of time and money on that tour. I want the Rockerfeller tree and go to Macy's. I could join my roommates for a couple of sites though. Thanks Claygary for the message.

Just wanted to add that it's a sight to see Ground Zero, seen it twice and makes you reflect on what happened there.

[cindilu2]

For any of you crazy foolish southern people who wax poetic about snow.... my Jetta is under there somewhere. What happened to AUTUMN???

Hee - this house at the end of my street is kind of pretty though.

[liney23]

Whoa, cindi... that's a bunch of snow! It's sooo pretty to look at when you don't have to live in it!

I'm cleaning my den today and what I'm basically doing is moving things to new piles... I've got 3 bags of books for the library so far and only one bag of trash. LOL I'm going to have to do better than that or I'm sunk!

[annabear]

Not caught up, but checking to see if my RoadRunner is working - it is! Thank you to all for the good wishes for me & my mom. We're just taking things one day at a time & will deal with whatever we have to, when we have to. In the mean time.....

All moved into the condo, just trying to clear a path through the sea of boxes! Of course Clay helped - as soon as everything was loaded into the truck & I hopped into my car to lead the movers to my new place, I turned the radio on. OMWH, of course, was in the CD player and it randomly switched to the song, OMWH. I thought that was somewhat appropriate as I was on my way to my new home.

[cindilu2]

annabear, glad to hear you're all moved in, and even had boyfriend join you on the journey. Way cool! I hatess moving, but I always kind of liked the unpacking part - finding places for all the stuff and making it just right. I wish you loads of good times and good luck in your new home!

[HeidiHo]

Charlie is also the Survivor member who is gay, and had claimed a few weeks ago, back when Survivor had just started, that he had been a friend of Clay Aiken's and had been chatting with him via IM.

He is a lawyer in NYC. I didn't realize that he and Randy were friends, it wasn't that evident from watching the show, I could not stand Randy! The way he was voted off was hilarious, tho. They played a trick on him and he thought he had a hidden immunity idol, played it, and it was fake!! It was Brilliant!!

I hated Randy too!! The last couple episodes of Survivor have been great – I loved how they were all laughing as Randy got the boot. Hilarious.

Charlie is pretty cute, but we didn’t get to see too much of him the last few weeks because he was on the “good” team and got less air time.

[playbiller]

Apparently buying stuff for all you guys made me an angel for BC/EFA and I got their limited edition newsletter.

here are all the Clay mentions

A beautiful day in Shubert Alley!! 22nd Annual Flea market and Grand Auction Raises $496,380!

<snip>

A special Spamalot package, which included a chance to meet Clay Aiken backstage after a performance, was the top auction lot, selling for $10,000. The 2009 Tony Awards Experience = featuring tickets to the noinations perss conference, rehearsals, and VIP seats to the show at Radio City and Gala sold for $5, 250.

There is a picture, but the dog eats my mail it, so not worth trying to get up here.

The 22nd Annual Easter Bonnet Competition Breaks Its Own Record and Raises $3,734,129!!!

<snip>

Highlights included

<snip>

Spamalot juxtaposing a stirring duet between stars Clay Aiken and Hannah Waddington with a roller-skating nun, Spamalot's Lee wilkins, scuttling back and forth across the stage in accompaniment.

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The other Broadway fundraising champs were" 1st runner up/Spamalot (264,900), 2nd runner up/Wicked ($197,889); 3rd runner up/The Phantom of the Opera ($151, 267): 4th runner up.The Lion King ($147,283)

In the list of donors who made a non-event or merchandise related donation, I see what might be the clackhouse or another Clay board - who made an anonymous donation there is listed Anoanymous in honor of the Spamalot cast and Clay Aiken. in the 2000 - 4999 donation amount.

NOTE: if you want Spam BC/EFA stuff - jelly bracelet, poster, playbill or CD, PM me before Thanksgiving. I wonder if they are going to have enough Jelly bracelets from the number I have to get already! - the bracelet is sold at different prices of $2 or $5 depending when you get it. If my PM box is full, be patient and try again the next day, I am trying to keep it empty, but failing. I will add you to the spreadsheet, and get back to you after I have the item, since they don't always have everything every time.

[luckiest1]

Just back from seeing Twilight the movie (which I loved, tepid reviews be damned). Would gladly go see it a second time! Can't wait for the sequel. Was fun to catch up with alspaz and her daughter, who were there too. *waves*

cindilu2 it seems like you got a ton more snow than we did. Funny what a difference a 25 minute drive can make, isn't it? I mean, we have plenty of snow, but we did not get a foot overnight or anything.

I can't imagine going to NYC and not walking. Does not compute. Never done a bus tour, just taxi or car, train or subway and lots of walking to our destinations. Next month, Macy's and Top of the Rock are the only things on my agenda besides Spamalot.

[muskifest]

luckiest, I just got back from Twilight, too! I really had fun...well, except for three women who were sitting behind me who kept laughing loudly whenever there was an especially 'teen' moment or a campy scene --- I just wanted to turn around and say, "Enough already! I understand that you're adults and find all this teen love stuff amusing...but you're pissing me off!"

I can understand the tepid reviews by so-called 'experts'---the critics, etc. But I enjoyed it. I thought the girl who played Bella was perfect in the role---at least the character that I'd created from reading the books. Edward? Well, he's not MY Edward, but he'll do, I guess.... The way they ended the movie makes it quite easy to imagine the next book being made into a movie, too, doesn't it?

NOw...after all that hard work , I'm gonna read my book and perhaps allow myself to slip into a glorious afternoon nap....

[Gibby]

It's interesting to hear your thoughts about Twilight, lucky and muski.

I went to see Twilight last night with my daughter and her best friend. Unfortunately, by the end of the movie I was feeling seriously ill (not because of the movie) and went home and worshiped the porcelain god all night. I'm sure that colors my reaction to the movie, which is rather tepid, like the reviews. I thought that the acting got better as the movie progressed, and that the directing and flow of the movie could have been better. But I liked it well enough to see it again, hopefully when I'm feeling better. Perhaps my feelings about the movie will be better on a second viewing.

At any rate, it looks like it's on track for a big opening weekend gross, which may help to give the next movie a bigger budget. I do think that some of the problems with the movie may have been solved with a bigger budget.