Tidbits 11/15

• Malaysia The Star - American Idols far from idle ... with new Chicken Soup collection -

  f you’re an Idol groupie, and you just love all things Idol related, then get the new Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul. Yes it’s true, we’re not making this up.
  
  Amazon.com describes it as “the perfect marriage of the No. 1 show in television history and the No. 1 non-fiction book series in publishing history... celebrating the triumph of spirit over adversity, the fulfilment of dreams coming true, and the power of love”.
  
  There are personal accounts from Underwood, Clay Aiken, Ruben Studdard, Sparks, Doolittle, Blake Lewis, Sanjaya Malakar and many AI fans.
  

• Reality TV Magazine - Kellie Pickler to appear on "5th Grader", following Clay's footsteps -

  Two weeks ago American Idol 2 runner-up Clay Aiken made a guest appearance on Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? This week, another American Idol finalist will be making an appearance on the popular game show.
  

• Christmas tour mentions:
• Penn Live - The Patriot News
• Baltimore Sun -

  Concert Artists of Baltimore to back up Clay Aiken
  
  The Concert Artists of Baltimore, the fine orchestral and choral ensemble founded and directed by Ed Polochick, will branch out this holiday season -- providing the accompaniment for singer (and, for many, heartthrob) Clay Aiken in a Washington concert of Christmas favorites. Aiken, who shot to fame as an American Idol finalist in 2003 and will join the Broadway cast of Spamalot in January, will include on this program songs from his 2004 bestselling CD, Merry Christmas With Love.

• Wichita Eagle
• Scranton Times Tribune

• Carolina Clay's official fanclub version of Carolina On My Mind celebrated its 10,000th comment post yesterday ... WOW! What an impressive achievement -

  Blog Celebrates 10K Milestone
  
  NOTE: The OFC version of this journal is today celebrating its 10,000th comment.
  
  Mailbag blogs allow me to share the inestimable dimension that reader responses contribute to this journal. Some comments add new material to the selected subject, others compliment the effort, and all are greatly appreciated.
  
  The topics about which "we" have written in the past two months document everything from Clay Aiken's appearances to new grandson Kai, my first Woot-Out during which I purchased a Roomba robot, the celebrated return of LAP and LACIE, and Halloween compositions by my students.
  
  It's as if I bake a cake every 3-4 days, and you folks supply the frosting. Thank you for your collaboration blog after blog.

World Blog Day: Our Favorite Blogs

I woke up this morning and through ClayKat's blog "Let's blog about Clay today, World Blog Day" found out that yesterday was World Blog Day! Did you even know such as day existed?

Well... better late than never, we're taking up ClayKat's challenge:

BlogDay posting instructions:

1. Find 5 new Blogs that you find interesting
2. Notify the 5 bloggers that you are recommending them as part of BlogDay 2007
3. Write a short description of the Blogs and place a link to the recommended Blogs
4. Post the BlogDay Post (on August 31st) and
5. Add the BlogDay tag using this link: http://technorati.com/tag/BlogDay2007 and a link to the BlogDay web site at http://www.blogday.org

CDD is thrilled that ClayKat chose us as her #1 blog:

1. Clay's Daily Double (my favourite)

My #1 source of information, links, clack and everything else on Clay - I highly recommend it. Sometimes I think the gals at CDD know what Clay's up to before he does himself! Last year, Clay's Daily Double was named the Best Clay Aiken Website 2006 by the Clammy Awards, a well-deserved recognition.

So, here's my top 5 blogs, a few of them Clay related a few of them not...

1. Carolina On My Mind
2. ClayKat
3. Excuse Me While I Take A Moment
4. Engadget ... not Clay... but a very cool blog about technology and gadgets
   
5. Download Squad ... also not Clay... but essential reading for computer geeks like myself ;)
   

CDD Congratulates Carolina On My Mind - 200 Blogs!

One of my personal favorite blogs, Carolina On My Mind, has surpassed their 200th blog mark! Congratulations to Carolina Clay and her team! What a fine achievement!

For days readers have strongly suggested that one's 200th blog is reason for a major celebration. I checked the archives and noted that #100 was a simple personal remembrance of two dear friends no longer here.

One delighted in Clay's vocals and American Idol successes with me. The other, my college roommate, never knew the man with the golden voice from her home state; but she would have hopped the Clay Train instantly had she heard him sing.

Putting cake, party streamers, and favors aside until the second anniversary of the initial entry on July 7, I propose, instead, that we celebrate the countless communities, close friendships, and special times we share in our support of a singer whose magnificent voice and caring heart affect lives throughout the planet. I thank you for your readership and for your many kind comments throughout the 200 blogs.

Update: you can join the 'celebrations' over at Clayveristy. Carolina Clay has asked us to thank the many PAH'ers both on Clayboard Pavillion and at Clayversity's "Department of Fine Arts" for their regular contributions to the blog. Special mentions go out to Clay Aiken The Ambassador of Love, Cindilu2, ABeautifulMind, AmazingCA, Katt45, and Sally.