Christmas in August
Clay Aiken
Minneapolis Orchestra

I meant to do this last month - you know, Christmas in JULY? But, the summer is slipping away, camping trips, gardening....all the things that fill my days. I had forgotten I had these videos from the 2007 Clay Aiken Christmas Concert in Minneapolis.

Although it's not far to Minneapolis from where I live, it was my first Christmas in snow country and I was a little afraid to drive so I flew!! I was meeting up with a friend and we connected at the airport and made our way to the hotel which was only a block from an entrance to the skyway. Downtown Minneapolis has a skyway linking all the big buildings so one can move around without having to go outside. Very cool - or warm, in this case. There are 8 miles of these glass "tunnels" connecting buildings. Minneapolis has the largest skyway system in the world, linking nearly 80 blocks of downtown attractions, businesses and hotels.

This concert was a twofer, December 19th and 20th at the Minneapolis Orchestra Hall.

Here's Don't Save it all for Christmas Day from the first night. Sorry, I missed a bar or two at the beginning, LOL.




I had wonderful seats, second row right in the middle and he looked and sounded marvelous.

And this one is obviously from Jingle Bells, LOL.

A silhouette during one of the story readings.

And for those that appreciate the hands on the microphone.

These last two videos are of medleys from the second concert. Again, I missed a little here and there and they aren't the best, but there are some wonderful moments that I think you will appreciate. It's glasses Clay - complete with the twinkle in his eye. Enjoy.

Remember, above, that I mentioned I was nervous about driving in the winter? Well, after two wonderful concerts and beautiful Christmas lights and atmosphere in downtown Minneapolis I arrived at the airport and discovered my flight was cancelled and since it was Christmas time - yeah, you guessed it - no flights available. I'll have to give them credit, though. They had a whole fleet of buses outside and they loaded us in and DROVE us back to Madison, Wisconsin. So, I ended up "driving" anyway!! And, I was only 6 hours late getting in. It was a scary ride, but I had my trusty ZEN to listen to and when I got to Madison at 2:00AM, my son picked me up and we slid into his driveway just as the roads turned to ice and the torrential downpour turned white. All in all and exciting adventure. And we had a white Christmas.

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Whooping Crane

International Crane Foundation

Baraboo, Wi

This last weekend we went camping at Devil's Lake State Park, located a little south of Baraboo, Wi. As I got there first and had a morning before the rest of the family joined me I took the opportunity to visit the International Crane Foundation facility. As a birder, I wanted to add the bird to my life list. Chances were slim I would see this endangered species in the wild, so I was excited about my visit.

Frankly, knowing they were almost extinct at one point was about all I knew about whooping cranes, but I came away from my visit a member of the foundation and I am looking forward this fall to watching a group of captive bred chicks follow an ultralight airplane from Wisconsin to Florida on their first migration. Who knew?

At one point during the 1940's there were less than 20 known whooping cranes left in the wild. Their migratory path originated in Wood Buffalo National Park in the Northwest Territories of Canada, where they nested and raised their young. In the fall they flew south 2500 miles to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas where they spend the winter and early spring. In 1993 a second flock of Whooping Cranes was reintroduced in central Florida. An average of 20 chicks, hatched and reared in captivity, have been released at the Florida site each year in an effort to establish a new flock of non-migratory Whoopers. The third flock, however, is being trained to migrate. The birds spend spring and summer at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin and migrate to Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in west Florida for winter.

Today, the total population of the three flocks has increased to over 500.

Birds like geese and cranes who migrate during the day have no inbred sense of where to go - the chicks learn the path by flying south with their parents and the next trip they are on their own and remember the way home. Obviously, with captive bred chicks (or orphans) that first trip is not going to happen naturally. So, man has come up with a clever way to lead young cranes on their first migration - the ultralight airplane. They call them trikes - and that's what they look like. Here's a picture I borrowed from one of the sites linked in this blog.

In Necedah (say Nuh SEE duh) National Wildlife Refuge in Central Wisconsin 16 chicks hatched in captivity in 2008 are being readied for their first flight to Florida. Here is the website to track their progress - Whooping Crane Journey South. This is a great site for children to participate and comes with downloadable booklets, etc. aimed at the younger crowd.

I don't pretend to know much about this yet, but since I am so close to the ICF and the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge I plan on learning more. I also plan to watch thse little guys head south starting in October. You can see their pictures on the link above.

A website with tons of information, additional links, pictures, etc - Operation Migration. This is the 8th year of this program, in which pilots wear crane costumes to teach the young birds to bond with and follow the pilot.

The facility I visited - International Crane Foundation says -

The International Crane Foundation (ICF) works worldwide to conserve cranes and the wetland and grassland ecosystems on which they depend. ICF is dedicated to providing experience, knowledge, and inspiration to involve people in resolving threats to these ecosystems

In addition to conservation methods, the foundation is also a founding member of the Whooping Cranes Eastern Partnership, which is a group of non-profit organizations dedicated to bringing a migratory flock of whooping cranes back to the eastern USA.

At the ICF there is a natural wetlands habitat for the whooping cranes and they house many other international cranes in enclosures. They are presently under construction for a new natural habitat which will be home for some of those cranes.

International Crane Foundation (ICF) page on the Whooping Crane - ICF - Whooping Crane

There are many nature walks at the facility, lots and lots of wildflowers - I am told it is spectacular in May but the best thing of all were the whooping cranes.

Here are a couple of my pictures.

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As Long As We're Here
Katee & Joshua

Last month I posted links to some videos using Clay Aiken songs.....I wanted to add this very awesome video of Katee and Joshua from "So You Think you can Dance". They are now in the final four and I have my fingers crossed for them in the finals.

Click off the Jukebox before you play the video.


And, of course, totally adore Clay's song!!!




ETA - Here's another one for SYTYCD - with Twitch and Katee.

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Kohler-Andrae State Park
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
July 2008

Guess I have the camping bug back again!! With gas prices I don't feel like wandering too far from home so when I found this campground less than 2 hours from home I was off for a couple of nights under the stars.

This place was wonderful!! Not as "rugged" feeling as Peninsula State Park, in fact the lady across from me lives in Sheboygan and ran home every morning to shower and put on her makeup. Then she came back to camp and sat in her chair and read, or rode her bike or walked her very adorable King Charles Spaniel. Now that is a dog I would love to have.

Anyway, the camp is right on Lake Michigan with tons of lake front beaches and sand dunes to visit and wander. At the back of the campground is the Black River and Marsh area. There is a 1/4 mile boardwalk loop out over the marsh which I walked several times to watch for birds and other critters.

Black River Marsh Boardwalk

Lots of red winged blackbirds and sparrows, but the prize was getting a picture of a Marsh Wren as they are supposedly very shy. The one I saw, although a ways out in the Marsh hung there on the pussy willow and sang his little heart out.

Marsh Wren

Not only was there a boardwalk over the marsh, there are several cordwalk's out over the sand dunes along the beach. I walked one of them twice and the second one only went halfway and came back as it wasn't a loop. A cordwalk is a series of boards strung together with rope/cable and laid on the sand. They are pretty cool. Here is a picture of a section in the sand dunes. That is Common Yarrow along the path.

As I said, this campground has everything; a playground, a laundry, a shelter for storms - Sheboygan had an awful storm a couple of weeks ago including a tornado, so I'm sure the shelters were used that day, a nature center, lots of hiking trails - I didn't get to all of them, several beach areas, including the North Beach area which allows dogs - even has a drinking fountain with a doggie level bowl and free plastic bags to carry away any doggie deposits, firewood, ice.....and, it's two miles south of Sheboygan and a few minutes away from a gas station, Piggly Wiggly and a shopping center with Target and Home Depot. Not exactly the wilderness, but very pretty.

I found lots and lots of wildflowers again and here are a few of them.

Common Milkweed

Starting in August the Monarch Butterflies head south, Kohler-Andrae is one of their layovers because of the abundance of Milkweed in the area. Another reason to go back, butterfly pictures. I believe this is a Monarch caterpillar on this milkweed picture.

Bittersweet Nightshade

Harebell
AKA Bluebell

I guess I don't want to forget about the critters. Yes, the raccoons got a loaf of bread, sigh....here's a couple of other critters I saw.

A couple of links if you are interested - Kohler-Andrae State Park

Wikipedia Monarch Butterfly Page

All pictures by marhaven.

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Door County, Wi
Peninsula State Park
Camping Trip
July, 2008

Door County has always been on my list of places to visit. Last week the kids decided to go camping at Peninsula State Park and I went along for a couple of nights. My short visit certainly whetted my appetite - I will be returning soon for a longer stay. Peninsula State Park is huge - here is a link for their website: Peninsula State Park

The campsites here are wooded and shady, the bathrooms have flush toilets and free showers with hot water, there is a beach, lots of waterfront to fish from and lots, lots more. We went during the week and had no trouble getting a site, but if you want to go on a weekend plan ahead. Way ahead.

Some scenes from the beach:




Everyone enjoyed the beach and joined in the fun:




Click to make Larger

In addition to the usual birds -


Mallard


Ring-Billed Gull
Click to make Larger

I discovered lots of wildflowers. Here are a few. All are clickable.




Oxeye Daisy


Spotted Knapweed


St John's Wort


Wood Anemone
Click to make Larger

Door County is a magical place I plan to visit again. Barely scratched the surface this first trip. The antique stores as you enter Egg Harbor are calling me back. I stopped at a market store and sampled cherry strudel, cherry salsa and chunky cherry jam. Yummy stuff.

Here is a link to the main Door County website where you can check it all out.

Door County

See you there!!

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On My Way Here

Clay Aiken's newest album is spectacular. I have listened to it many times since it was released in May. Following a link to Youtube this morning I realized I had accumulated a variety of videos people have created using songs from On My Way Here. All kinds of montages, all kinds of very diverse subjects. This album clearly connects with many demographics.


Note - some users are having problems viewing these videos in Firefox 3.0

So let's see - there are those that bring two of my fandoms crashing together - for example, to the song Something About Us -



Who can forget the Apolo & Julianne season of "Dancing with the Stars"?




One of my favorite shows this last year which appears to be in danger of not being renewed. Moonlight. Mick and Beth definitely have chemistry. Unlike Jericho (RIP) where fans donated tons of peanuts in a rally to save the show, Moonlight fans are donating blood. No kidding.

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Another Dancing With the Stars Video.


Set to Sacrificial Love

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One of my all time favorite movies, Gone With the Wind has even had the Clay Aiken treatment.



Set, of course, to Sacrificial Love.

ETA - the following great video is also set to Gone With the Wind.



And, what better song to use - Everything I Don't Need.

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A couple of shows/movies I haven't watched - but worthy videos, none the less.



The Gilmore Girls - using Lover All Alone.

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Grey's Anatomy lovers will adore this video set to Lover All Alone.

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The movie Ironman - using Weight of the World. I want to see this movie when it comes out on DVD.

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And, The Notebook - again Lover All Alone has been used. Another movie to add to my Netflix queue.

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Last night I watched "Singing in the Rain". I sure had a huge crush on Gene Kelly when I was young - the following video is for all of us who love "the legends". Fred & Ginger. Judy. Sigh.



There certainly was Something About Us.

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And for those who play video games we have:



Final Fantasy to the beautiful song, Ashes. I have no idea what this about, but the video is verra verra cool.

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On the political front we have a couple of great videos featuring Barack Obama. So far, I have not seen any for the opposition. Get busy, montagers.



Grace of God. This video is very powerful. The montage maker did a great job matching the pictures/video with the words of the song.



After watching this touching video, I get all smooshy. There is, indeed, Something About Us in the Obama family.

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Last one for today - a haunting video about homeless children set to Lover All Alone.



Well now, that's the show for today. Hope you enjoy all these beautiful & well made videos.

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Genealogy Blog
Lucien Brockunier Martin
The Fostoria Glass Years

The other day I received an E-Mail from Ancestry.com regarding a new feature they had, and in checking it out I ended up thinking about my great-grandfather, Lucien Brockunier Martin. Lucien was born in 1853 and was the 19th child of Ebenezer Martin of Martins Ferry, Ohio. How Lucien came by his middle name will always intrigue me and will never, I am sure, be discovered. There is no family connection that I can determine between the Martin's and the Brockunier family. Lucien did work for the Hobbs, Brockunier Glass Company of Wheeling, WV and, along with William S. Brady and others, moved to Fostoria, Ohio to start up the Fostoria Glass Company in 1887.

Old postcard with a picture of the factory.



At a meeting February 1, 1888 in Fostoria, Ohio, the following were elected as directors of the new Fostoria Glass Company. W.S. Brady, Otto Jeager, L.B. Martin, Charles Foster and Charles E. Beam. Lucien B. Martin was elected president of the firm. The largest holder of stock was Sarah Zane (Hildreth) Brady (Mrs. W.S.) whose brother, B.M. Hildreth, was the Sales Manager.

Interesting genealogical note - Sarah Zane (Hildreth) Brady was Lucien's second cousin.

When the glass supply diminished in Fostoria, the company closed its doors (December 31, 1891) and moved to Moundsville, WV. They, of course, retained the name "Fostoria" and most of the workers moved with the company.Unfortunately, I only have Lucien's wife - Mary Emma (Lewis) Martin's diaries from 1900. It would have been interesting to read more about their years in Fostoria and Moundsville.

A Young Mary Emma (Lewis) Martin

Lucien B. Martin, his wife Mary & Phil Martin

at Home in Glendale, West Virginia

William Brady resigned from the Fostoria in 1900 but retained a financial interest. Lucien followed in 1901.

Mary's diary entry on March 1, 1901 -

Lucien home from Pittsburgh, he came early in the afternoon and went to factory. He says "I've gone & done it & if not for best you and Phil are to blame for it & if good follows, I did it!"

The Martin's, including their son Phil are off to Pittsburgh, Pa. The subject of the next blog being the National Glass years.

To read Mary's diary from 1901:
1901

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Goodbye Arizona....Hello Wisconsin


From -


To -


Have been thinking about all of the places I have lived and I counted up 29 of them. Of course, when I was in college and right after and lived in apartments I moved around a lot, but I lived in 5 houses in 3 states when I still lived at home. I've added 4 states to that - so we have Ohio, Texas, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Arizona now off to Wisconsin. Arizona and Wisconsin are the only two states I have actually opted to live in as all the others were family or work related.



What a contrast this is going to be. Hot to cold.....and doing it just as winter starts. Brrrrr. Boy, I have really hated the heat here in Arizona and while it is true you do get kind of used to it after awhile it's just not fun to play outside - plus you just can't garden. So, I'm psyched.



Two more days and off I go.

Nice thing is........I will be located more centrally and be able to drive to Clay concerts. Watch. He will decide he's neglecting the Southwest and the West and I'll have to go back to flying. Nah.

I haven't finished the summer concert blogs and hope to get to them soon. Or not

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Clay Aiken - Summer Tour 2007

Last week I hopped a plane to Houston & Tulsa to see Clay's new tour. Coming from dry Arizona at 110 degrees to humid Houston was a shock! I forgot what humidity is all about - lived in Chicago for 5 years, but you do forget. It poured rain and was overcast the whole time I was there, but downtown Houston is very attractive and of course I WAS there for the concert.

The pre-party was at an Italian Restaurant and was well attended. Won several pins I did not have in the raffle, which was nice. One was a new Clay in Texas pin, one the Clack Gatherers and the third was the Clay Nation Hurricane Relief pin. I have quite a collection of these pins.

After the party we strolled down the block to find this:



Nice start to a wonderful evening. My seat, although to the side was excellent and I had a great view of the stage. Clay started off with "Here You Come Again", strolling onto the stage singing, followed by "Everything I Have" and then a duet with Quiana that was even better than the Suzie McNeil duet on the album.




A couple more songs from the album and a medley of TV theme songs completed the first half. Quiana did a very nice version of "When the Lights Go Down".

Second half started off with an excellent "Without You", which I almost missed as I decided to visit the ladies room and got into a conversation with a couple of young ladies who were there more because of the symphony than Clay, but who were having a wonderful time and were full of all kinds of questions about Clay....which I was more than happy to answer. Always fun to run into new fans.

Some Pictures:





The highlight of the second half of the concert is a toss up between the hilarious "classics" medley and the poignant and bittersweet "Lover All Alone". Check out these two segments - via You Tube. Go to the Clay Jukebox in the right hand frame and click on the square to turn of the jukebox before you click on the You Tube links.

Classic's Medley

Lover All Alone


Next blog....a little about Tulsa.

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More Ancestor Sightings.....

I spent some time recently starting a little story about one of my collateral ancestors who had always interested me. Then, while googling, I discovered someone else had already put a story together and had done it so much better than I could ever do.

In a nutshell:

Two of my 4th great grandfathers were brothers, Jonathan and Ebenezer Zane. Yes, this makes me my own 6th cousin. There was another brother by the name of Isaac. When Isaac was 9 and Jonathan a couple of years older they were captured by an Indian raiding party and ended up in the Wyandotte camp of Tarhe. Tarhe adopted Isaac and Jonathan was returned to his family. Tarhe had married a French girl reputed to be of the Durant line. Their daughter Myeerah was a childhood friend of Isaac and when Isaac came of age the two were married. He was 18 and when their first child was born Myeerah was 14. Isaac returned many times to his birth family, but always came back to his beautiful Indian bride.

I won't get into it all here, as it has already been done for me - Click here and follow along with the story of Myeerah and Isaac.

Myeerah

There are a lot of interesting links. Enjoy.

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Genealogy Update

Darling
Deierling
Direling
Drierling

As this is Mother's Day and I have been working on my mom's genealogy I thought I'd post some notes I have made regarding her grandfather's family. I wish she was alive so I could share this information with her.

I have been spending the last few days chasing after a possible relative (if I am correct he would be a great-uncle) through the archives of the Federal Census. The last time I worked heavily on my family history I had to go to the LDS Library in Oakland and load up a roll of microfilm on a viewer and crank and crank and crank. Nowadays you just log in to ancestry.com ($$$) and put info in a search engine and voila! - up pops your information, along with a (usually) very readable copy of the original document. Nice!!

This latest endeavor started with my thinking about my mom's grandfather, Gottleib Darling. I had done a little research on him many years ago, but became discouraged, especially as mom promised me I would find nothing, that they had known little about him prior to his life in Lancaster, Ohio. Years ago, in a 1912 book "History of Fairfield County Representative Citizens" I found an article on Gottleib's son Jacob (a son by his first wife) which included the following sentence.

Gottleib Darling was born in Bavaria, Germany, a son of Philip Darling, who came to the United States and died of yellow fever at New Orleans, in 1848.

So, we thought we had at least one more name beyond Gottleib....but, maybe not. First, that sentence is ambiguous. I am not sure it means Phillip came to America in 1848 or he died of yellow fever in 1848. Secondly, there were other relationship errors in the article and I have always taken it with a grain of salt. In addition, there is the matter of how the name was spelled. "Darling" is how it evolved in America, but what was the correct German spelling? Darling, Direling, Deierling, Dearling, Dueuerling all all variations I have seen.

So, with the new internet technology available, I went looking for Phillip. I used the Deierling spelling for a couple of reasons:

In Elmwood Cemetery, Section C, Row 36 there are three graves for babies who had a short life -

Deierling, Clara, d. Apr 20, 1862, aged 9M12D
Deierling, Mary Alice, d. Sept 1863, aged 8 yrs
Deierling, Charles L., son of G & M.A., d. Aug 9, 1864, aged 4M1D

So sad, all the little children who died so young in those days. My aunt and I visited Elmwood Cemetery many years ago and she had not been aware of these youngsters. Elmwood is very old - here is an interesting website regarding the place -
Elmwood Cemetery

Also, I have Gottleib's signature and there are enough letters before the 'ling to sink a ship. One of them is an i.

First of all, I found what might be Gottlieb's immigration record. Name is close, Gottleib Deuerling. This Gottleib arrived in New York on Aug 15,1853 at age 25 (check). Port of Departure was Le Havre, France, Place of Origin was Bavaria (check) and the ship's name was "Tempest". I also found his name in the Index to Naturalizations of Fairfield County, Ohio. Naturalization 1860 and the name is spelled Gotleib Direling. This, I am sure is my Gottleib. I am currently attempting to find out where to obtain copies of his naturalization papers as they will surely answer the question as to whether I am correct on the immigration of Gottleib Deurling being my guy.

So, on to Phillip for awhile. One of the great features of ancestry.com is that they have census records for 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 and 1900 through 1930. In the 1870 and 1880's I found something interesting. There seemed to be three "groupings" of Deierlings that interested me. Mine in Lancaster, Ohio, a Phillip Deirling in (of all places since I am moving to Wisconsin soon) Watertown, Wisconsin and a Jacob Philip Deierling who was in Schuyler County, Missouri. To be sure, there are also some Deierlings in Washington state and scattered about, but they didn't seem to fit in with the three larger pockets.

Jacob Phillip was born in 1816 in Bavaria.
Phillip was born in 1822 in Bavaria.
Gottleib was born in 1828 in Bavaria.

I have information on Gottleib and his family, of course. Jacob was a farmer and he had at least 7 children who married and also had very large families. There are still Deierling's in Schuyler County, Missouri today.

Now, Phillip has become my passion. Why? Because I can connect this Wisconsin Phillip to Phillip Deirling in New Orleans. New Orleans birth records Index shows two children born to Philipp Deierling and Barbara Langenbacher. Heline on 8/21/1855 and Charles Moritz William Deierling on 8/8/1857. Next, I found Phillip in Watertown, Wi in the 1870 & 1880 census but with a different wife and new children...but Heline is still there..right age and she couldn't be a daughter of the new wife, Charlotta because Charlotta is much younger than Phillip. Still not proof because all the children are listed as born in Wisconsin. Spend considerable time trying to find 1860 but finally was successful - the name was spelled Dearling.

There is little Heline (Helena) age 5 and this time she was born in Lousiana. HooRay!! But, to throw another interesting tidbit into the puzzle, there is another young girl by the name of Elizabeth who is 11 year old. Who the heck is this? Would have made her born in 1849 and it states she was born in Bavaria.

More later........

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Just a couple thoughts rattling around my head this lazy Sunday.

As we watch the media swarm all over Anna Nicole Smith I found a statement that hit home with me -

The media frenzy drives ratings and ratings drive profits. Truth is too often too boring.....Lin Wood

Link to article by Attorney Lin Wood on the subject of "media frenzies". Very interesting read.

freespeech


It is all about the money in the end. It doesn't matter whose lives we destroy as long as the ratings soar and the corporation coffers overflow.

There was a Yahoo! Answers question recently where someone asked who watched Fox and who watched CNN. It was interesting to see how both sides were adamant the other side had an agenda. And, of course they do. It is extremely hard to find places to find unbiased, accurate, un-spun news anymore. I answered the question that one had to watch both, evaluate the spin and do further research before making a decision.

Speaking of Yahoo Answers, Clay Aiken has a Question as Ambassador of Unicef -

What can we do to get more Americans committed to supporting programs that help children?

Take a look, there are lots of interesting responses and a few days left to post your own answer.
Yahoo! Answers

Don't forget to catch Clay on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Valentine's Day, February 14th.

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The Clay Aiken smear process continues. Sigh. Frankly, I am tired of the whole thing as it is so patently absurd. Perez Hilton and other gay gossip mongers really do not display qualities I would deem appropriate for a gay role model. At least, I hope not!

It is frightening, however, how this smear campaign parallels what is going on around us all the time. When we hear something on Fox news, or anywhere else for that matter, do we take the time to research their sources? Do we even notice if they have even quoted any sources? And, if the piece of news seems cockeyed to us, how many times does it have to be picked up by other media, friends and associates, etc. before we come to believe it is true?

I want to cite a debunked news story from the past couple of weeks that is politically based. It has to do with Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton.

From Obama's website -

In the past week, many of you have read a now thoroughly-debunked story by Insight Magazine, owned by the Washington Times, which cites unnamed sources close to a political campaign that claim Senator Obama was enrolled for “at least four years” in an Indonesian “Madrassa”. The article says the “sources” believe the Madrassa was “espousing Wahhabism,” a form of radical Islam.

Insight Magazine published these allegations without a single named source, and without doing any independent reporting to confirm or deny the allegations. Fox News quickly parroted the charges, and Fox and Friends host Steve Doocy went so far as to ask, “Why didn’t anybody ever mention that that man right there was raised — spent the first decade of his life, raised by his Muslim father — as a Muslim and was educated in a Madrassa?”

Link - Barack Obama

Further information on the debunking of this lie can be found at an interesting site I found.

Link - Snopes.com

Wait, it gets better. Enter the conservative talk show hosts who then proceeded to report that the Obama story was leaked by Hilary Clinton!!

Summary: Melanie Morgan, Lee Rodgers, Rush Limbaugh, and John Gibson all forwarded the accusation made by a website controlled by Rev. Sun Myung Moon that Sen. Hillary Clinton was responsible for spreading information linking Sen. Barack Obama to a madrassa, or Muslim school. None of the four cited any evidence, other than the article, that Clinton was responsible for promoting the madrassa story, and the article cited no one by name.

Link - Medidamatters.com

Well now, the debunking of this story has actually been highly reported on. CNN, I am sure, delighted in breaking their expose as it shows their competitor, Fox, in the poorest of light for perpetuating a story without checking sources. But, how many people now have a half buried thought that there could be something valid about the story even though it was proven inaccurate. After all, where there is smoke, there is fire. Right?

This kind of thing has been going on forever, of course, what is an election without smear campaigns? How does this relate to Clay Aiken? Well, it is basically the same thing, make something up that is calculated to destroy his fans belief in him . Rally together some team members (haters) (talk show hosts) and get the word out over the internet. The gossip mags and media will pick it up and pretty soon the main stream press is reporting it as news. And, no one along the line has done any checking of sources.

I have decided to rely on my own instincts as regards Clay Aiken. I watched him on AI, I have been to many concerts, I have read his book "Learning to Sing", I have listened to many interviews and watched him on countless tv talk shows and I have met him briefly in a Meet & Greet. This isn't "knowing" him, obviously, but my instinct tells me he is who he says he is and that's good enough for me. Always has been.

Some other interesting blogs I can recommend:

A heartfelt essay on Clay's journey from AI2 until today, the 4th Anniversary of Clay's AI audition.
TheConCLAYve

And, the 911 blog has a new entry that is thought provoking.
Claymate 911

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AI6 - Is it my imagination or are the judges even meaner and the contestants even wackier than last year? Or, is it like childbirth, and we somehow forget the pain by the time we get to the finale?

I watched the last two nights, and on some level I am ashamed of myself. Did I cringe, you bet!! And I read a magazine and turned my attention away from the screen as soon as I determined it was another bad singer. Why do I even have it turned on? Well, I honestly don't know. Maybe hoping to see a first glimpse of the next winner. I can tell you I enjoy it much more when we get past the abusive period.

Perhaps next week I will TIVO it and fast forward past the nastiness.

Now, I realize the auditions are not real. I know those bad auditions are staged. AI wouldn't take individuals who are horrible singers and/or have non-conventional looks and/or possible mental and psychological issues and string them along and put them on TV to be humiliated by the nation. Would they?

Tis perplexing. I also don't understand those that come back year after year to be humiliated. Well, those people obviously LIKE to be humiliated, and those that know they are put through as a joke, those who agree to be a laughingstock for a few minutes, I have no problem with them trying for a few moments of "fame". They signed up for it and get what they are looking for. Don't they?

What I really worry about are those that appear to be a little unhinged; I hope AI, in their eagerness for ratings & revenue, isn't causing actual pain above and beyond what is necessary to kindly inform those individuals they aren't right for the show. They wouldn't, would they?

Each year since the first I watched, AI2, has become more manipulative and contrived. I wonder if AI hasn't finally jumped the shark. It was lots more fun watching this cute singer guy evolve than anything I've seen since.



Clay knocking them dead at the finale of AI5

The claymate911 blog has been updated. Check it out. claymate911

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I am a fan of Clay Aiken. As a fan I follow his career. I go to concerts, I watch him on TV and I read about him in the media.

As a fan, these are the things I am supposed to do. And, it is enjoyable for me - it is a hobby to add to my many others.

Unfortunately, this hobby has given me a sad lesson in learning the truth about today's press and the media. Because of my "Google alerts" and the fact everything Clay does seems to be "in the news" I have discovered that I no longer believe what I read or see in the news.

I watch Clay Aiken on TV or in an interview and then I read what is written about what I have just seen and find it's spun into something completely different. And the nastiness? Unbelievable. I have been wanting to blog about this, but haven't been able to put the words together. In the last couple of days two blogs have been posted that I would like to share. This first one was posted on Clay's Official Fan Club Blog and is reposted here with the permission of the very talented author. Thanks for writing it and thanks for letting me share it on my blog.

01/13/07 : Public Relations or Media Integrity Issue?

“We are in the process of creating what deserves to be called the idiot culture. Not an idiot sub-culture, which every society has bubbling beneath the surface and which can provide harmless fun; but the culture itself. For the first time, the weird and the stupid and the coarse are becoming our cultural norm, even our cultural ideal.” ~ Carl Bernstein

Chuck Taylor of Billboard magazine recently wrote a review of Clay Aiken’s latest single A Thousand Days in which he barely spoke about the song itself, the music, or the artistry but stated, “Aiken's challenge at this point is more a public relations issue. As press reports continue to spread repeated tales of his lack of humility and haughty, diva-like disposition, how much longer before fans retreat and any semblance of radio support fades like a Christmas wreath?”

Press? I contend that Clay Aiken doesn’t have a public relations issue as much as our society has a journalistic integrity issue. When did rumor mongering become tantamount with journalism? Why is credence given to faceless blogs and gossipers? The internet, while a powerful resource is also like the Wild, Wild West of old where there are no rules and anything goes. Where faceless people hide and are spreading malicious rumors as fact and where publications that once researched before reporting, such as Newsweek, are now using the plethora of gossip sites and blogs as legitimate news sources.

“The media tends to report rumors, speculations, and projections as facts... How does the media do this? By quoting some "expert"... you can always find some expert who will say something hopelessly hopeless about anything.” ~ Peter McWilliams

I recently watched the debut of a new show starring Courtney Cox-Arquette on the Fx channel called, DIRT and it scared the hell out me. The show depicts the goings on at a tabloid called DIRT and “shows” all the machinations of how they get their stories. I found it to be very realistic and saw that IF you are a celebrity and someone has it in for you, they will stop at nothing to trash you, right or wrong.

I wrote about this subject in my blog almost a year ago and it is sad that in this time, not only has the issue not gotten better it has gotten worse. When the likes of Perez Hilton and TMZ.com have become more mainstream and are made credible by being given a forum on radio and TV, we have a problem.

“Never make negative comments or spread rumors about anyone. It depreciates their reputation and yours.” ~ Brian Koslow

If Clay Aiken has a public relations issue it is ONLY because sensationalism sells and ALL the good, legitimate stories of his compassion, his philanthropic works and the stories of how he has changed lives for the better are deemed not newsworthy.

I am sorry, but would a “diva” perform a concert while suffering from vertigo so badly they need help to just stay upright? Would a “diva” visit elementary school children and reward them for writing a book about one of their classmates who lives life with a disability and the lessons they learns from her? Would a “diva” take the time to film a public service announcement for a local children’s choir who shared the stage with the orchestra with which he was performing? Do “divas” worry about making a difference in the world? Do “divas” graciously spotlight and encourage those with whom they share a stage? In my experience the answer to all of these questions is no.

It is a shame when society and the media have made it so easy for people who have experienced disappointment, based on their own contrived expectations, are allowed to publicly berate and trash another person solely based on twisted opinion of facts. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?

“Man is a being with free will; therefore, each man is potentially good or evil, and it's up to him and only him (through his reasoning mind) to decide which he wants to be.” ~ Ayn Rand

It appears to me that many have decided to be evil.

The second blog that I recommend can be found here : claymate911

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Sorry, haven't blogged in awhile....but couldn't resist this.

'nuff said, don't ya think?

Some other recommended blogs:

Something that Really Happened

Conclayve

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Kelly Ripa

So You Think You Can Dance? - Gosh, It's been so long since I've blogged so have to catch up on some things I've been doing. When tickets for SYTYCD became available I was able to snare one pit ticket and one in row 6. To get two together would have put us way back in the theatre. So, my daughter in law and I didn't sit together and we exchanged seats at intermission so we both could have the treat of the pit ticket - but we had a great time and the show was great.

I got a lot of pictures....don't know what was wrong with me, I do know how to take pictures, but I was so entranced by the dancing I just couldn't distance myself enough to set the camera for sports mode so I just took pictures in still mode. LOL.



Ivan was one of my favorites during the show. I love his personality!!!



Travis and Heidi.



Benji and Donyelle



Benji and Travis made a great team and did their dance from the show!!



Ivan again!!! He was very entertaining !!!



Not terribly sharp, but I kind of like it !!



Benji was great as an announcer and, of course, as a dancer. Such a goofus sometimes, ya gotta love him.



I like this one of Travis.

It was a very energetic and fun show. The crowd had a good time and it was over much too quickly.

A little slide show of all my pictures.


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