So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen

2010 September 7

tags: adam lambert, Crystal Bowersox, David Cook, kris allen, Mike Lynche, Tim Urban

by deez

I must take this time to bid farewell to you, my well-beloved. This is most likely my last post.

As you see, TI looks well rested and refreshed.(and hopefully not too pissed off at the current state of this blog!) I’m sure I’ve been far too lenient, but I just couldn’t help myself.

Now, on to Idol news. Last night in Wallingford, CT marked Kris’s last stop on his summer tour. He will return to Arkansas for some well-deserved rest, and also to be inducted into the Arkansas Entertainer’s Hall of Fame on Sept 9th. I’ve seen some displeasure over that, but I’m sure that his selection has everything to do with winning American Idol and nothing to do with the fact that he only has put out one album. I think that merits some recognition. (after all, there have only been 9 winners. If they don’t hurry up and put some butts in the judges’ seats, that number may not increase, either!)
During the brief hiatus, Kris plans to write (with Cale most likely). I’d be curious to know if he’s co-written with any other bandmates. I think that could be interesting.

Michael Lynche is set to sing the National Anthem at his alma mater UCF’s game against N.C. State this coming Saturday. Maybe we will get a Late Night Sandwich? I’m sure all those tailgaters would set Big Mike up. If you’ve ever seen the spreads that get laid out at these games, you know that the potential is incredible! Per today’s news thread at Mj’s, Timmeh! is going to the studio to record an EP. I don’t really care. I just wanted an excuse to post the picture (above).

I looked for David Cook news. I reaally did. He is working on his album. Still. Working. On. His. Album. That’s all I got. I looked for a shot of him with a guitar slung over his shoulder to balance out this post. Three things make for better balance (or something like that). I did find one similar to the previous two. But I opted for a different picture. The more thematic shot was nice except for the unfortunate hair. It was the really weird early S7 hair. Nobody wants to see that.

That does leave me needing a picture of one more guitar-toting dude just for the sake of design.

Even^ better! Gina Orr tweeted yesterday that she is leaving 19E to manage Crystal Bowersox. I’m not sure how to interpret this really. I suppose it’s a good thing, that could give Crystal more control over what she wants.

And finally…to answer the age old question: “Will it play in Peoria?”
The answer is yes.

Spread the word. Do it.

deez

Don’t know where to put this, so….if we have any Dextards here, just wanted to remind them that the new season starts Sept 26th:

Back off Quinn, we all know how Doakes ended up!
deez

OT….I was checking for the Season Premiere of 30 Rock. This article has a very lovable commenter.

http://gawker.com/5600946/30-rock-live-episode-coming-this-fall
mtlfan

hahaha at the pic that replaces the pretty Kris’s pics! he he he, well, Kris’s summer tour is over now…

mtlfan

i’m cancelling the above comment.. is it because of my comment that you change the pic? lol

deez

???????

mtlfan

hmm since i posted my first comment, Kris’s pic was replaced 2 times and is back to what it was before. Ahh nevermind, maybe i was hallucinating (not) hahaha.

barado

I saw it as well, several hours ago, a woman’s face in place of Kris’ over-the-shoulder pic.. But, it’s not there now.

mtlfan

well the pic i saw was a couple in a ‘making love’ position on the floor. Since it was replacing all Kris’s pics, i tought it was to illustrate Kris catching up on important stuff after his summer tour haha
et

I saw the woman’s picture there a little bit ago too. Made me do a double take, lol.

deez

*twilight zone*

Why do I never see these things?? *sigh*
jukejoint

I never saw it, either. Maybe it is the wonder that is NoScripts, keeping me from seeing these bizarre things.

deez

Kris and his mom at the Ark Entertainers HoF induction last night. I think Mama Allen is on the Carrie Underwood diet.

Pandora

And she’s going for the Underwood hair too apparently. Which does NOT look good on her.

ross

I agree.

pixiepie08

Don’t you go picking on anyone’s Mama, that’s just plain mean. Make up a tad too much, hair a tad too long, but some other pics were much more flattering. However, any mature woman who puts in the work to lose a lot of weight is A-OK in my book. That’s hard to do really at any age.

auntieaimee

Ooh, I don’t know. This is going to sound mean, so I apologize in advance. Some people just look better fat, and I think she’s one of them.

margie

I don’t like the hair. Wow she has lost a lot of weight.

sj

I cringe at the hair. I cringe at Mama Allen a lot. “My sweet boy!” I mean, come on. He’s a grown 25-year-old man. Guy. Whatever.

ross

I didn’t take it like that. Come on, she’s his mom! What was she supposed to say? “My sweet man?”
rehabilitard

My sweet boy is fine when it is coming from mom. It is creepy when it is coming from OTT fan.
sj

How about “my sweet son”? Whatever, it’s just my reaction and doesn’t mean anything. So okay, it’s good he has such loving parents.
deez

About 4″ off the hair would do wonders.It’s a little too cougar-y, and she doesn’t seem the type. She seems like a sweet lady, kudos on the weight loss…tough to do post-forty!
jukejoint

It kind of looks like she got extensions, so maybe she only got them for this fancy shindig and she can take them out now that it’s over. I vote yes, take them out or get a haircut or whatever.

Sweet boy doesn’t bother me. I say that about my husband and he’s well over 25. As well as a lot taller than Kris Allen.
deez

I refer to my 16 y/o daughter as “my baby” sometimes. It doesn’t even annoy her, I guess it’s just one of those “mom things”. I agree with sj, if she was referring to someone that age who wasn’t her child, it would be weird. (bb and all that crap)
jukejoint

I also call my cat my sweet boy. But he really is. Plus it’s easy to infantilize something that size. Okay, so he’s 20 pounds, which is not really infant-sized, more like a toddler, but… I still call him my sweet boy.
http://topidolblog.com TopIdol

I call Oskar “Handsome” a lot. And “My Little Man.” Heh. And my mom still calls me her “Little Liepshen” sometimes and I like it. I’m 33, but I’m totally cool with it. Heh.
On The Edge

I still call my oldest cat “my pretty girl,” and my dad still calls me “Boo-Bear.” I’m 37 but I’m still the baby.

sj

“I agree with sj, if she was referring to someone that age who wasn’t her child, it would be weird.”

Well, after being shown that I have a cold, black, non-maternal heart (thanks everyone ) I hate to admit that’s not what I was saying, but thanks anyway, deez.

deez

LOL…I guess I was thinking of Rehab’s comment.

margie

Oh my or should it be Oh no…a new Chik-fil-A store opening is using Kris’s LLWD as the music

deez

OMG!!!! Priceless!!! (that won’t go unnoticed, I’m sure!)

ross

Can I post this here, since there’s a picture of Adam at the top of the thread? The fans didn’t like this review, and left 470 comments. Such as:

You are whats wrong with this world, and if you didn’t want to see Adam in concert, you should never have went. I’m sure there were others who would have gladly taken your place to his sold out Glam Nation Tour. Not sure why I didn’t stop reading this ridiculous article in the beginning, but I did.

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/rocks/2010/09/last_night_adam_lambert_at_hob.php

deez

Whew!! I hope the author has full body armor. He is taking glambullets with both barrels!

I do need help from someone, though…WTF does this mean?

Overheard in the Crowd: “I got vajazzled for Adam Lambert, did you?” Vajazzling’s the next wave; thank you, Adam.

et

Oh please tell me that’s not what I’m imagining it to be. I’ll vomit.

deez

IKR?? Surely not! LOL!

ross

It sounds scary. I looked it up. “Vajazzling is the art of applying genuine Swarovski crystal tattoos to the bikini area and body, usually after hair removal.”

http://www.vajazzlekits.com

Isn’t this like what Adam wears on his face?

deez

LOL! IT IS!!!!!!!!!!!! LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!11111!1!11111111!!!!!

et

OK, so, I could see a *guy* getting, erm, vajazzled to impress Adam (I can’t even TYPE that with a straight face) but… well, as far as I can tell Adam is not so interested in girls’ bikini areas, vajazzlage or not? (No, I don’t really buy the whole bi-curious thing, I mean, drunk he might play a bit but… )
muzikizmi

I don’t think a guy could get vajazzled. It would be pejazzled, wouldn’t it? We learn so much from the Glamberts. Unfortunately, none of it is useful.
jukejoint

Maybe we should make it “pubazzled” and non-specific as to gender.
DeeDee

Just exactly are they going to make Adam aware that they got “vajazzled” for him?
et

Hahaha, “pubazzled.” That would work. Non-gender-specific.

et

Vajazzle is a stupid word, lol, do not like.

JoCeekiwi

Loved that review Ross, I think the reviewer read my mind.

ross

as an adam lambert fan, i feel deeply offended and insulted by what you wrote about both adam and his fans and I DEMAND A PUBLIC APOLOGY. do we need to collect signatures to get it or will you just apologise and get it over with?

WTF? You do know that Adam did not win American Idol right? Even though he is outselling the “winner” more than 2 to 1 and it has nothing to do with feeling guilty. If anything America should feel guilty that they voted ANYONE over the superior singer that is Adam Lambert.

Hot & sexy,charismatic, brilliant & outrageous vocals, a sweetness that can’t be denied, the ability to be totally himself, incredible work ethic, and he’s becoming very successful because of all that. Oh and I forgot to mention he’s gay, which for some strange reason, makes him all that HOTTER to me! If I really wanted to go overboard, I would add that he is the new guru of love and light in the universe, spreading positivity where e’re he treads! I adore Adam lambert and thank you for the opportunity to tell everyone so, once again!! Let me also quickly add that time is running out to catch a Glam Nation concert here in the states, but Adam’s overseas tour begins end of the month.

et

Oh and I forgot to mention he’s gay, which for some strange reason, makes him all that HOTTER to me!

Please, please explain that to me. Why would being gay make him hotter? Because he’s unobtainable?

If I really wanted to go overboard, I would add that he is the new guru of love and light in the universe, spreading positivity where e’re he treads!

Hahahaha. Okie doke. Guru of love and light. Dear Lord.

ross

I liked the little plug for the tour at the end. Always selling.
rehabilitard

Exactly! Male gay is unobtainable and it brings fear or rejection to zero. is zero.
DeeDee

I’m not sure I know what the reviewer means when they say Adam shouldn’t have made it through the door at the auditions. Are they calling him a plant?
deez

That’s how I took it.
jukejoint

There have been somewhat androgynous/unthreatening teen idols (Davy Jones, David Cassidy, Bobby Sherman, Leif Garrett, Justin Timberlake and his baby fro with the Backstreet Boys, now the Beib) for a long time, so I wasn’t surprised over the Clay Aiken furor when that happened. He seemed asexual to me, but definitely non-threatening. Adam is a little different, though. Like Clay, it’s not teens he’s attracting with his powerful and hypnotic pheromones.

My guess on why the moms and grandmas find this particular gay boy so hot is that a) it makes him seem exotic and strange and altogether fascinating to people who don’t really know very many gay people and therefore can objectify the entire gay population in this one guy (kind of like how the Brits reacted to Pocahontas), b) the writer is right and his gayness makes them feel better about themselves for accepting him (in a Seinfeldian “I’m a great guy!” kind of way) and c) he’s 100% fantasy this way and 100% not a real person to them, so they can make up anything they want about him. Like he’s soooo nice and soooooo sweet and soooooo loving and giving, like Gandhi, Buddha and Jesus wrapped around Mother Teresa and stuffed inside the love child of Freddie Mercury and King Tut, and anybody who says different is a LYING LIAR and a horrible homephobe who should die in a fire!!! When they have no way of knowing who or what he really is. But they can hang all their baggage and all their desperate need on him precisely because they have no idea and no interest in who he *really* is. Being gay makes him that much more mysterious and other-wordly and not real to them. Glittery alien from Planet Fierce, anyone? SO not real.
http://topidolblog.com TopIdol

I saw many of them calling the write homophobic, which I don’t get. I did not take that from the article whatsoever. It was more the writer simply asking why these women have gotten so into an openly gay male singer half their age. So this obviously makes the write homophobic — typical Sparkle herd logic.
ross

To me, there’s something very weird about how a normal thing like being gay in the year 2010 is this big, foreign, other-worldly thing, to these people. Also, I don’t think they’d go as apeshit about him if he was just quietly gay, instead of being flamboyant to the point of parody.
ross

The whole attitude strikes me as pretty unsophisticated. If it really doesn’t matter that Adam is gay, then it really wouldn’t matter. It wouldn’t be talked about, celebrated, defended, tarded over, it would just be ignored. I think they make such a big thing of his “otherness,” because to them it’s just not in their world view. But being gay is not really that out there.
It’s embarrassing to see the reaction to it. Like trying sushi for the first time. How exotic! But it’s just an alternative lifestyle.

To me, there’s more homophobia in that attitude than meets the eye. Adam’s not a freak, from Planet Bizarro. He’s not “the new guru of love and light in the universe, spreading positivity where e’re he treads!” He’s just a guy who happens to be gay and who puts on a flamboyant act, and in real life is apparently not very flamboyant, even a little dull. I’m not saying this too well, but the attitude really bothers me.

I do think he ecourages it a lot because he himself often acts like he invented homosexuality, much the way kids who just had sex for the first time seem to act like no one but them ever did it before.
Burgundy LaRue

Maybe I’m wrong, but I think some of Adam’s fans see him as a living Ken doll. You can project all sorts of fantasies upon him and it’s okay, because he won’t respond due to his sexuality. It’s almost like they’ve given Adam an asexual persona to keep from accepting that he’ll never be interested in them in a physical way. In their minds, I think they’re neutering him and he has nothing ‘down there’ like Ken.

And with Adam coloring his hair, wearing so much makeup and jewelry, adorning his wardrobe with rhinestones, and acting flamboyantly–I think some of his fans almost view him as ‘one of the girls.’ I can’t explain it, but there’s some sort of gender neutrality/duality going on with how some folks adoringly view Adam.
caspar

‘Guru of love and light’- you’ve gotta admit, that doessound like the more smitten media talking about Obama last year.

According to a poster on the Grassy Knoll thread on TwoP, Adam stated in an interview with Kidd Kraddock a couple of days ago that the judges were just talking heads for the producers, who actually did the choosing of contestants. Now how would he be privy to that info, unless he’d been brought in by the producers? And of course, why would he admit it?
Blue Eyes

Actually, all male Idols are unattainable to these women, whether their Idol is straight or gay. I mean look at these women – most don’t have a shot in hell with any Idol and most of them know this. Even the BSC stalker knows this.

Jukebox, you are correct about the living Ken doll and how they project all their fantasies on to a doll. In their minds, this person is not real, so it’s a safe diversion from the monotony of their lives or boring husbands/family. But, when their Idol does get a girlfiend or boyfriend, or even rumors of a hookup or pictures, notice how they suddenly go nuts, because the fantasy has been broken. They now wish, more than ever, that it was them standing next to their Idol, maybe that’s when the reality sets in.
jukejoint

Burgundy said Ken doll, not me.
ross

I always thought Kris being married reduces the tarding to about 1/4 of what it would be if he were single.

barado

Apparently not a lot of “boys, boys, boys” in this audience either, but plenty of “women over 50 with husbands uncomfortably holding their purses, young girls wearing super-high boots.”
Again, those poor husbands and poor Adam.

Legend

Poor husbands, my arse!!! They need to Man Up and put their foot down!
Blue Eyes

Ooops, I mean Burgundy, not jukejoint. Sorry!

Burgundy LaRue

Guess who isn’t on my Top Idol holiday card list anymore.

Pandora

Ooh, ooh, maybe tomorrow or the next day there will be a follow-up article with the best of the comments… I don’t have the time or the stomach to read through them.

ross

I’ll be too busy getting vajazzled.
http://topidolblog.com TopIdol

I will be devoting a post to the beauty of the Houston article.

kimberly

Looking forward to it. I do agree with smugness and back-patting, clearly displayed when middle-aged women are suddenly fiercely passionate about gay rights as if they were the first to champion the cause. Would they really care if Adam Lambert hadn’t happened along? The answer is simple. It’s a resounding no.

deez

Gays existed long before Adam. Were they passionate about Gay Rights before their fantasy man lost a stupid show? Nope. I would bet 95% were not. That’s what irks about being labeled a homophobe by some of these people. It’s a convenient insult to hurl at people who don’t like Adam the same way they do. There must be a reason for it right? No one else could possibly have a different opinion (which they take personally)…it must “of course” mean those people are homophobes!!!!! There’s NO POSSIBLE WAY that other people really don’t think he’s the most talented/gorgeous/selfless/kind/brilliant person ever!!!!

Some of us like him OK, others could take him or leave him, some people can’t stand him. It’s the same as with everything else. C’mon, if I don’t think Steven Spielberg is the eleventiest!!11!!!! director ever, does that make me an anti-semite?

Ugghh.
kimberly

Exactly!! I doubt they would have gone for a gay Adam if he looked like Perez Hilton, even though he was just as talented vocally. The comments keep coming in, all very ugly. They make themselves look ridiculous. I have to laugh when they call the writer out for being a poor journalist, calling him a “looser”. It’s mortifying and I believe detrimental to Adam.

sj

I don’t much like Adam, I don’t like his music, and I really don’t like the screechy, harpy Glamberts, but I have to admit, that article was bizarre.

DeeDee

That article makes me wonder if the media tide is starting to turn a little bit for Adam. He seems to be getting less frequent tongue baths than he was getting after Idol. I don’t mean he’s getting bad reviews, just that the press seems a little less enamored with him. Maybe they’re seeing the demographic he’s attracting and that is making him seem less cool? I don’t know, maybe I’m imagining things. I do appreciate that Kris’ reviews, even when less than stellar, speak highly of his vocal ability and less and less are mentioning Adam and Idol. He’s being reviewed on his performances only and as a fan that’s okay by me. I don’t expect everyone to love him.

Burgundy LaRue

The hype and smoke is starting to burn off. What you’re left with is a talented guy who’s done fine, but has been overpraised and hurt his own cause with some boneheaded moves. It’s all about market correction for Adam now. One can only hope that things don’t tilt too negatively for him.

muzikizmi

It really looks like Clay Aiken 2.0. The bat-sh*t crazy fans are exactly like the worst of the Claymates. Darcey/KK even posted at USA Today, that Daniel Allen’s cheerleader buddies blocked Adam’s phone lines. You just can’t make this stuff up, unless you are a Glambert.

I guess the musical theatre majors blocked Kris’ lines, because I couldn’t get an open phone line until the last 20 minutes. Yes, I did vote that year. I am so embrassed that I was ever that uncool. At least I voted for the cool guy.

margie

I was wondering this too, because he has gotten some bad reviews from major newspapers. They actually criticized him. I wonder what happened because these same newspapers couldn’t praise high enough for him before.

Pandora

Maybe it’s because the TV reviewers loved him on Idol? And if the papers are sending “rock” critics to his shows, based on his Idol persona, they probably feel like victims of a bait-and-switch. If you’re expecting a rock show and are met with the makeup, the costume changes, the lack of spontaneity… you’re going to feel like you got lost on the way and ended up in a theater somewhere.

barado

It was bizarre for a concert review to emphasize that what happened between songs – the kissing and grinding and whatnot – was more significant than the music. I guess I’d have to attend a glam nation event to understand what the reviewer meant by that, – a step I’m unwilling to take.

ross

Better to be underhyped, and be a pleasant surprise, than overhyped, and be an unpleasant surprise.

muzikizmi

Trudat! I think a lot of the newspaper entertainment columnists were sold a RAWK GAWD and got the Scissor Sister instead. I really don’t think it is homophobia, I just think they are boomers who wanted Robert Plant to be young one more time.

IMO, the reviewer picked up the one thing that is my biggest turn off for Adam’s music. The shtick, glitter, and most of all the celebrity is the most important thing to him. Music is just a means to the end. If it had happened for him through the theater, he would have been just as happy.
muzikizmi

Oh, and Ross, speaking of underhyped and pleasantly surprised, did you notice how many reviews of Kris’ shows for the last couple of months said that he was really good and surprisingly so? Hehehehe

mtlfan

yeah bizarre article. The sociology attempt is weird to me and a bit forceful. Adam was showing a likeable personality on the show + an OTT rock personae + big voice … i don’t think we should more rack our brain as to his successful run. AI audience traditionally love big voice. The reviewer’s ‘otherness’ theory.. hmm i don’t really buy it. After the show, it’s another story and I think it holds more true. But what is fabulous and glamglittery for the hard core base is for me just too kitch and i think it was a turn off for the reviewer. I don’t like much reviewers though; often they are all ‘black’ or all ‘white’ in their reviews which i don’t find very intelligent. For me there are plusses and minuses and on their balance you like more or less a show, music..

ross

Oh, and Ross, speaking of underhyped and pleasantly surprised, did you notice how many reviews of Kris’ shows for the last couple of months said that he was really good and surprisingly so? Hehehehe

I’ve read a couple of those.
http://topidolblog.com TopIdol

I never read the review, just the herd story about him being a godlike creature. Concert reviews often bore me so I don’t even bother.

JaneRochester

I made it to the second paragraph of that article. I hate hate hate it when writers are more in love with the sound of their keyboards than they are with telling the effing story. Dudes, do the world a favor and re-read your Hemingway, especially the quote where he talks about the hundred-dollar words, then try and wrap your tiny brains around that concept enough to extend it to cover hundred-dollar pretension.

Sorry. I went through this just a couple of hours ago with an article on Slate, and I’m still testy, I guess.

(In the photo at the top of the story, does anyone else see a face much like Munch’s “The Scream” in the drapery of his…draperies? I look at it and that’s all I can see. It’s staring at me with its huge zombie-empty eyes. Screaming.)

mtlfan

ha! in French we call that ‘intellectual masturbation’ … don’t know how well it translates in English..

magnacarta

hahaha, you made laugh out loud. The number of times I’ve used that expression to describe the Reform in education…

deez

There are some authors I refuse to read for that very reason. The writing is so tedious.

Someone recommended Eco’s “Foucault’s Pendulum” to me. Perhaps I’m a ninny, but after going online to look up obscure reference#456, I said “To hell with it.”

http://topidolblog.com TopIdol

You know who bothers me, in a similar yet dissimilar way as you mention above? Jonathan Franzen. I think his writing is rather pretentious shit, even if it is easy to grasp. He tries too hard to prove he is sooooo much better than growing up in St. Louis. All of his books revolve around the fact he can’t get over growing up in OMG HORROR Webster Groves (a lovely liberal suburb, btw). This bothers me. I’m a pretentious snob but I’m proud to be where born & raised there.

And you know who else is proud of being from St. Louis? JON HAMM. So screw you, Franzen!

deez

ST LOUIS IS AWESOME!!!!

Double screw you, Franzen.

I read “The Corrections” a while back. To tell the truth, I can’t remember much about it.
(Some slacker’s dysfunctional family??)

Yeeps!!! I am looking right now at the copy of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” that I picked up on your recommendation, TI. I STILLLLLLLL have not gotten around to reading it! (talk about slackers)
JaneRochester

I should be all over the Larsson books, but something is holding me back. I get a Nancy Drew vibe* from the heroine. Is that wrong of me?

(*she knows it all, can do it all, and in heels two hours before luncheon)
http://topidolblog.com TopIdol

Lisbeth Salander rules!

The books are “beach reads,” per se. I need my junk reading to still be somewhat intelligent (that’s why I also watch a ton of L&O), but they are good suspense novels. You’ll just blow through them. At least I did.
jukejoint

I personally did not like “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” I’m too squeamish. Lots of violence, including graphic rape and sexual violence all over the place, and at first I was all, oh well, that’s why the heroine is so damaged and so kick-ass and it’s important to the story, but after awhile, it became so over the top I almost felt like it was there for pervier reasons than the author would want to admit. (He’s dead, so he can’t defend himself.) He said he was trying to expose and condemn sexual violence against women, and that’s why there’s so much of it in the books, but… I don’t know. I do think Blomkvist, the main guy, is more of a Mary Sue (or Nancy Drew) than Salander, the girl with the dragon tattoo. He’s kind of a middle-aged schlub, but so smart and hot that all the women throw themselves at him and get boob jobs just to feel womanly for him or worthy of him. I found that distasteful.

But I tend to not like violence in books or movies too much, and obviously, the books are incredibly popular, so a lot of people like them a lot better than I did.

mtlfan

this is funny.. i gave up on that same book a few years back after my xxth unsuccesful attempt at finding words I didn’t know in a dictionary and not finding them because they were not common enough (and i wasn’t using a child dictionary). I got this book because i love the movie ‘the name of the rose’ wrote by Foucault. I would have gotten the book but after the Pendulum.. hm hell no.
I don’t want to dish though all difficult-to-read authors.. cause some of their writing is utterly genius

deez

I read “Name of the Rose” as well. I enjoyed it, which is why I thought the recommendation would be a good one. (wrong) I don’t mind reading classics (you can literally skip through pages of Hardy expounding on the beauties of the Wessex countryside and miss nothing) that are a “little wordy,” but it’s pretty obvious when something is stylistic and when someone’s just showing off. Some people forget that the point of writing fiction is to tell a compelling story. I took a creative writing class in college; our professor’s mantra was “economy, economy, economy.”

( I probably should’ve failed, as it seems to take forever for me to make a point )
DeeDee

Someone just recommended “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” to me, but I haven’t gotten around to picking it up yet. Is it worth reading?
magnacarta

Wait, if I’m not mistaken The Name of The Rose is written by Umberto Eco…

jukejoint

I read a very interesting book about how so many of the current writers who are big critics’ favorites are big shams. Either they’re impossible to read and way too wordy and that’s somehow lauded as complex and smart when it’s really just a bunch of crap thrown in a blender, or they’re endless lists instead of actually trying to craft a plot that makes sense or characters who actually sound like real people, or… I can’t remember the other complaints. But this person took people like Annie Proulx and Don DeLillo and Cormac McCarthy and made fun of them. I enjoyed that.

Okay, I looked it up. “A Reader’s Manifesto,” by B. R. Myers. He didn’t mock Jonathan Frantzen, though. More’s the pity.

JaneRochester

mtlfan, “intellectual masturbation” translates just fine, and is a perfect description of the activity. Viva la France! (You’re also right about some difficult authors being worth it. The guy Hemingway directed the hundred-dollar-word comment at, William Faulkner, is one of my all-time faves, and he’s a bitch & a half.)

jukejoint, I actually printed out that Myers article and kept it. It’s a lulu.

Franzen was interviewed on NPR Thursday morning, and when it came time for him to read, he picked a selection from the very beginning of the book. What was it? A list! A loooooooong list. If I ever went to the grocery store with a list that long, I’d have to wear hiking boots and bring a water bottle.
ross

I only read nonfiction now. I read so many novels that were overpraised, that I didn’t like, I gave up.
JaneRochester

Best Book of 2010 is non-fiction: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Have you read that one?
ross

No, I’m not interested in reading it. Have you?
JaneRochester

Yes, I did. That “Best Book” accolade was from me. I barely passed every science class I ever took, and that book grabbed me by the neck from moment one. It’s a five-star winner.
Burgundy LaRue

I’ve purchased the book, but haven’t read it yet. Your endorsement is good, Jane. It sounds like a sad, but interesting story.
JaneRochester

It’s very sad, and it will have you debating with yourself into the wee hours. But it’s fabulous.
ross

A recent book I liked was Three Chords For Beauty’s Sake – a bio of Artie Shaw.
mtlfan

one adventure fantasy novel i enjoyed a lot is “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel.

Thanks deez … seems “the name of the rose” was a more ‘reader friendly’ book than the pendulum
kimberly

I like Proulx and McCarthy. THE ROAD is a departure stylistically for McCarthy. BLOOD MERIDIAN was a bear to get through, but the language, the imagery was well-worth it. Proulx’s short stories are terrific.

My husband reads quickly and he reads a lot, zipping through a novel before I’ve even finished a chapter of my own book. Yes, a bit of an exaggeration. lol I became aware of his speed-reading ways when we went to a local Book Barn. I was browsing through old musty hardcovers while he sat in the car waiting, plowing through Erskine Caldwell’s Tobacco Road purchased that day. When I returned to the car, he told me he had finished the book. I didn’t believe him. I’d only been shopping for an hour tops. He insisted he did. From that I became aware of two types of readers: those like myself who savor the written word, love language, its cadence, rhythm, and the imagery it conjures, and those like my husband who read soley for story, the rest just muddling things up, getting in the way of plot.

I’ll always remember Kate Moses’ Wintering a novel of Sylvia Plath because the language is so beautiful, the story, of course, so tragic. I enjoyed another author, Allessandro Baricco. He wrote SILK and WITHOUT BLOOD. Gorgeous writing, even when the subject matter is horrific. “The machine gun burst lifted the child off the floor and hurled him at the wall in a mess of lead, bone, and blood. Like a bird shot in mid-flight.”

Those interested in mainstream gay fiction, I recommend Peter Cameron’s THE WEEKEND. I can’t believe I bought it 15 years ago. The pages are now yellowing. Beautifully written. Truman Capote’s SUMMER CROSSING is very good, a fledgling writer’s bright beginnings in literature. I love Capote’s short stories.

You hit on a subject I love. Sorry for being self-indulgent. It’s all personal taste really.
deez

LOL on the speed-readers. It takes me forever to get through a book, I read, re-read, and look things up. My daughter creates her own wind currents with the page flipping. She will even read two books at a time. (not simultaneously of course, that would be freaky) I’ve tried to tell her that slowing down would increase her enjoyment of the book, but I don’t think she could read any other way. I think she’s developed her style from necessity. Generally, when there’s something I want or need to do, I begin immediately, and take my time. She puts things off until the last possible minute, and always manages to finish in a flurry at the last second. I never have understood that.

Thanks, everyone, for all the book-talk, I’m writing down suggestions .
mtlfan

quickly another novel recommendation.. “The Baron in the Trees” by Italo Calvino. Written in 1957 in Italy so it’s not recent but gosh that I enjoyed this book
kimberly

“My daughter creates her own wind currents with the page flipping.” — Deez

LOL My daughter has finally taken an interest in reading besides what she needs to read for school, although she chooses more young adult novels than the classics. She’ll be getting a dose of those soon enough in high school. I did give her my S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders and bought her the movie. Tom Cruise as Sodapop. LOL She gets the obligatory summer books completed and then reads her book choices for pleasure. I hope reading remains an enjoyable past-time for her.

songkat7

Many thanks, Deez! Ya done good!
JaneRochester

Hey, you’re good! Yep, that’s her. She’s moved on to YA now—she’s on the last book in a 3-book deal with S&S. The pay is better (though nowhere near great, as you probably know), but I think in some ways she enjoyed writing for Hq more.

JaneRochester

Jeez, this should be waaaaaay down at the bottom of the page.
jukejoint

The world of romance writers is a fairly small one. I was kinda surprised I knew all but a handful of all the people who ever wrote for Duets. I pretty much dropped out of the romance social network, so I’m sure there’s a zillion people writing for Blaze and American now that I’ve never heard of.

kimberly

Michael Sleazak just confirmed that Allison has been dropped by Jive. She’s still with 19R. Maybe they’ll hook her up with Universal. I know a lot of people have been blaming Jive and her A&R people, et al. I don’t know if they did their jobs correctly or not. I was not at the meetings. I do know that Allison has Simon Fuller and Ann Edelblute as Managers. Ann Edelblute also manages Carrie Underwood. Whether Edelblute had time for Allison is another story, but they didn’t cast her off with some schelpy underling, at least on paper. The information came from the back of Allison’s CD. Her A&R Executive is Theresa L. Whites. Gina Orr was VP of publicity for 19 E if this link is current: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ginaorr Gina Orr has started her own company with Crystal Bowersox as a client. ::scratches head on that one::

David Cook and Adam Lambert have the same management: Simon Fuller and Iain Pirie. (An episode of IICD House had Pirie lining up something for Alex Lambert. I can’t remember if it was his music video or what.) David Cook and Chris Daughtry have the same A&R people: Ashley Newton & Pete Ganbarg. Chris Daughtry and Kris Allen have the same management: Simon Fuller & Stirling McIlaine. Kris Allen’s A&R person is Jeff Fenster who is Senior VP of A&R at Jive Records. Not too shabby in my book. http://www.dreambighustlehard.com/video/jeff-fenster-of-jive-records I don’t know who Adam’s A&R people are — it seems that Ashley Newton & Pete Ganbarg might handle the Rock people. I think Ashley was listed as A&R for Velvet Revolver.

I know people have been blaming Jive and Gina Orr and 19M for all of this. Maybe they are culpable, maybe not. On paper, it appears the above artists have been given the best people to work with on their albums. Whether underlings really did it all and did it badly is another story all together. The Lambert fans petitioned to keep Allison on the Glamnation Tour, but apparently couldn’t afford to buy her CD. As someone who has bought a few copies of Allison’s CD, I feel guilt-free at pointing fingers at the ones who only gave lip service when it came to Adam’s “little sister”.

Allsion is young and talented. She might very well hook up with Universal. I’m sure another lable will scoop her up right away. American Idol is not the end all and be all of the music industry. In fact, in most cases any association with American Idol can be a real career killer in the long run. I’m sad, but part of me is relieved that Allison might find a better fit for her in music without all the bizarre Idol trappings. Allison was also the authentic rocker, the real deal. She can forge her way like Carly Smithson is doing. If her heart is legitimately about the music and not stardom than she’ll be just fine.

tl;dr again. lol

Blue Eyes

Allison is another victim. Like everyone before her, Jive/Sony forced her to do pop crap. Allison is clearly a rocker. If I were her, I would form a rock band and market herself to all labels. It’s clear to me that 19 has done nothing to help her career, except get her a gig with Madam, which hasn’t helped her cereer one bit. The old ladies are there to see Adam. They could care less about her.

mtlfan

I never buy the victim theory in this business; I wonder how Allison defines herself artistically but if she’s a rocker at heart and went to sing pop, she’s 100% accountable with her decision.
She’s in a similar position as was Carly Smithson. Both rockers but no original music
or rock style (other than generic imo) behind them. Wish for Allison to meet an original rock band in need of a lead singer.

Blue Eyes

I doubt new artists get any say in what type of music they want to sing. The label just wants to make money – PERIOD. If by chance they get someone who dares to stand up for themselves, like Taylor Hicks, then that person gets black-balled by the industry.

It’s cut-throat and dirty business.

et

Yeah, I’m doubting Allison had much say. She’s just a kid for starters, and she’s a new artist. Sucks that she got dropped, I hope someone else picks her up. It’s a nasty business.

ross

I agree with mtlfan. I doubt it was a bait and switch situation where they promised her rock and then “forced” her to do pop. They must have explained to her what they had in mind for her, and she must have agreed. She signed with them, after all. I know nothing about the situation but unless there’s proof I can’t see her as a victim. Just someone who didn’t make it on that label. Maybe it’s her fault, the label’s, or the public’s. It’s impossible to say.

Personally, I never thought she had the popularity to make it big right out of the gate. She was in the bottom three too much, for one thing (unless my memory is bad). I think they took a chance that it might happen – but really, she’s someone who has to work her way up the hard way, like a lot of other artists, not be an “instant star” in the Idol manner. She’s talented and she will probably be around a long time.

muzikizmi

I think Allison and Orianthi were added to Adam’s tour to bring in some younger fans. It has worked well for Adam, and I think that is what they wanted. It was never intended to help Allison, IMO, or they could have hooked her up with a better tour match.

ross

I agree. I always wondered how being on that tour was supposed to be good for her. I also thought Adam would duet with her, but that didn’t happen, did it?

Pandora

I’m wondering what some of the supposed “industry insiders” over at MJs have to say about it. (I don’t go there at all any more.)

I remember a whole chorus of them saying that Jive just completely adored her, saw huge long-term potential, and were not viewing her as tied to Idol at all. That they were going to treat her as a completely new artist and give her time to develop and grow, etc.

From the beginning I thought that was bullshit; if they had really seen her that way, theywouldn’t have rushed out the CD so quickly, and they certainly wouldn’t have given her so much pop crap (i.e. Friday I’ll Be Over U).

http://topidolblog.com TopIdol

I am afraid to start reading my blog…what does this say about me?

HELLO FREAKSHOWS! MOMMA’S BACK!

mtlfan

your pic at the top is so freakin good!!!
welcome back
Pandora

Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!
et

LOL, TI, it says that you are sane. Welcome back, Momma! I believe that Queen Deez zapped most of the trolls but left some entertainment for your reading pleasure (and ours). Hee.

deez

Can I give back my crown and scepter now???????

kimberly

Welcome back! I’ve been away myself so missed a lot
of the ruckus. Saw some smackdown on trolls. Deez was a seasoned pro.
Just stopped by to share my Keith and Kris concert experience. I just can’t bring myself to call them Kreith. lol Kradam, Krim, Kradison, I can handle …

Oh, and this Allison thing took everyone by surprise. This will give credence to all the old time Idol fanatics’ warnings about low sales equal the axe. I’m still amazed that the rumor about a missing roster name and Allison being dropped actually turned out to be true. Although, I did have a bad feeling about it.

No fanbase can be too smug at this point, well, maybe Carrie’s. There is musical life outside of Idol. lol
Burgundy LaRue

Can Auntie Deez come back? Can she, can she, huh, can she?

I hope you had a good time on vacation, TI.
Miz

Welcome Home, Melinda! I’ve missed a lot as well (moving, moving, moving) and am trying to catch up between the endless mountain of packing materials.
deez

I am afraid to start reading my blog…what does this say about me?

That you know us too well??
http://princessleia04.livejournal.com SarahBeth

WELCOME BACK!

Pandora

SarahBeth, I just noticed that your monster looks a lot like a Pac-Man monster!

songkat7

Welcome back!!! *looks around nervously* We were good! Honest!
On The Edge

Hoorah! You seem refreshed after your trip! Welcome back to the insanity!

undercooked

I bought Allison’s album. I was hoping one of her singles would take off. I think she can regroup and form a band and do well.

As far as Glamberts buying her album, she did sell over 100,000. Really how many hardcore Glambert fans do you think there are? I certainly don’t think the number is as high as 100,000.

undercooked

My post is in reply to Kimberly’s.

kimberly

I didn’t say Glamberts. I said Adam Lambert fans, such as yourself.

deez

I will sneak in (just under the wire) a “couple” of pictures for final tarding purposes.

Those ^ have to be from the “windstorm” concert. LOL @ the hair.

ehhh…I’ll just post everything I saved and didn’t use. Mom can delete later if she doesn’t want all these posters on the wall!

(LOL. just wanted to see if you were paying attention)

justpeachy

Pretty funny, deez. Hey, what if these two guys switched personalities? Would we feel differently about their music?

mtlfan

Not for me. I don’t dislike him at all, his music just dont appeal to me; it’s a very good
pic of him, nobody can argue that he’s not kind of pretty.
Let’s take Archie’s personality.. who is, i think, very liked. Do I like his music because
of it? no.
Kris has it (more) in terms of musicality (for me anyway)
ross

Hey, what if these two guys switched personalities? Would we feel differently about their music?

Nope.

mtlfan

cool pics deez
et

Hahaha, deez, way to make sure everyone is paying attention. I’m like, “Aww, look at Kris, aww… ah! Gokey!” And I don’t even really hate Gokey much, it was just jarring I think because tattoo + Gokey is weird to me. Why? I don’t know Gokey. Just is.

JaneRochester

That’s quite a tat, Danny boy.

DeeDee

I do not find Gokey attractive in any way. I did however laugh very loudly at deez trying to slip him by us. Welcome back TI. Deez did you proud. If any meatrolls come a calling, she’s the one to take care of them.

wino

great job deez! i dont envy you or melinda. must be difficult to write, edit AND (on top of it) monitor posters…..i get a headache just thinking about it. well done chica

deez

That’s why I did a consistently half-assed job at all three!!!! LOL

nekola

Nah, Deez. You did a great job at zapping the trolls and keeping us in line.

streeta

Don’t leave before you read this article about the Houston Glamberts aged 38-78. Check out the pics as well:

http://blogs.chron.com/tubular/archives/2010/09/glamberts_unite.html

ross

Check out the comments, too.

However, the crowd was way different there than what you are describing. At Hampton it was a much, much younger crowd and a whole heck of a lot of boys, boys, boys!! Beach boys – 20 something year old surfer guys. But there were a lot of couples and kids and yes I did see quite a few older women. I remember the guy who asks for ID when you go to the bar area remarking on how surprised he was to see these women. He said to me (I’m 26) this is not the crowd I was expecting. He said he was expecting 6 to 15 year olds and all girls. Instead there were a lot of 20 plus year olds right up to about 60. But again, maybe because it was the beach area there was almost the same amount of men.

We’ll have to ask TI about the whole heck of a lot of boys, boys, boys!!

comer

lol, ross. We will have to ask TI about the plethora of boys, boys, boys, because we all know that’s a lie. I think the article depicts pretty accurately the type of fans Adam has.
http://topidolblog.com TopIdol

There were a few younger boys, all with girls. By younger I mean late teens, early 20s. A VERY VERY VERY small percentage. Other men were middle-aged/40s/50s/early 60s, mostly with wives or families.

et

So it wasn’t boys!boys!boys! it was more like… some boys. Hee. I can’t even pick on that anymore, it’s such a stupid argument anyway.

“No YOUR Idol has more old ladies!”

“Nuh uh, MY IDOL has BOYS! at his show. Boys!Boys!Boys! Cute boys! Surfer boys!”

“No way, your Idol has middle aged fat ladies! I saw them! Lots! Neener neener!”
kimberly

Not trying to be mean here, but that 54 year old looked pretty bad for a 54 year old. She just looks so much older. And they had front row seats. Tom Jones to Adam Lambert. lol They make it too easy. Some of the women in the background were no young beauties. Adam must have nightmares. How does that not come back to haunt you?

Blue Eyes

That 54 year old is clearly overweight. Anybody who is overweight, you automatically look older than you really are.

Adam must have young pretty girls? I’m sure he only gives the pretty girls, and pretty guys any attention.
kimberly

That doesn’t always hold true, Blue Eyes. It’s more than the weight issue. It’s the haircut, the glasses, the clothes. You can be overweight and older and still be fashionable. You can be overweight and younger and be fashionable. I don’t understand the question: “Adam must have young pretty girls?” Well, when the audience is predominantly 40, 50 and 60 somethings, Adam’s got no choice in the matter as far as who gets his attention, unless he directs it at Tommy through the entire show.

I wonder what those gay bars are like when these women show up in droves. Amusing or appalling?

auntieaimee

Too funny!

kimberly

I just read the entire article. It’s pretty sad.

caspar

“These women are activating a very savvy kind of spectatorship that entertains and motivates their desires for a particular kind of public pop star. And for them, Adam Lambert fits the bill,” says Dr. Jennifer Tyburczy, a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality at Rice University.
“Some women may be very attracted to a pop star who so unabashedly performs a type of masculinity that isn’t predicated on the propagation of the myth of the opposite sex.”

What’s ‘performing a type of masculinity’ and what’s ‘the myth of the opposite sex’??
Dr. Tyburczy is, I assume, a Glambert herself.

ross

Dr Ruth Westheimer and Dr. Joyce Brothers were unavailable for comment, apparently.

http://princessleia04.livejournal.com SarahBeth

BUT DID YOU SEE THE PICTURE?

*dies laughing*

ross

I watched the clip, and I still don’t get why I read all the time that it’s “indisputable” and “a given” that Adam is a great singer. What am I missing? To me it’s very disputable.

ross

Didn’t mean to go off topic – just couldn’t help making that l’il ol’ observation, I guess.

Re the article, I think it’s cool when people say that following a performer brought them back from the brink, or brought them some happiness. It reminds me a bit of Franny and Zooey, but I won’t go into it – just the part where F and Z talk about when they were kids, and had to be on a radio quiz show, they both imagined some sick old lady listening to them and how it probably gave her pleasure.

rehabilitard

I think it is sad actually, if following a performer (and spending all retirement money on him) brings them happiness. Really sad. I hope when I get that old I have other things in life to be happy about.
ross

I didn’t mean following like “following around to shows,” I meant being a fan. Of a TV show or a performer, recording artist, whatever. It helps some people and I don’t think it’s a bad thing. Even if it’s Adam’s fans.
ross

Of course, if they act like assholes, that’s different.
jukejoint

I said this somewhere else around here, but the whole thing of combining sexual feelings with maternal feelings and spiritual feelings for a pop star really squicks me out. Isn’t it kind of weird for all of those things to be smushed together?
auntieaimee

jukejoint, I so agree that the maternal/ sexual feelings these women have are twisted. It skeeves me out. Also, the woman who wants to die and come back as a young gay guy so that she can have a chance with him. It’s just weird.
jukejoint

And in what theology do you come back as a 20-something? If you believe in reincarnation, wouldn’t you be expecting to come back as a newborn?

Is this the Church of Quantum Leap or has she watched “Heaven Can Wait” a few too many times?
ross

Also, the woman who wants to die and come back as a young gay guy so that she can have a chance with him. It’s just weird.

Okay, I was trying to find some good in this stuff, but I forgot that part. I now join the rest of you in finding this insane.
Mysterioso

I find it creepy that so many of the commenters on his articles use the word “ooze”. He oozes this, and he oozes that.

I don’t ooze anything. If I did, I’d go to a doctor.
ross

Haha. You’re right. When I think of ooze, I think of green slime, or something.
Blue Eyes

Their obsession with a good-looking gay guy is very weird to me. I really don’t get it at all. If it was just about liking the music, that would make sense, but it’s gone way beyond that.

There is one post in that article where he described almost God-like. These women don’t even know him. He could be the biggest asshole in real life.
muzikizmi

Mysterioso, I agree. Anyone who is oozing should not approach any closer than three feet.

justpeachy

Deez, just wanted to say that I think you’ve done a terrific job filling in on this blog. I enjoyed seeing your take on things, what with the college football post and the meatroll situation. Well done!

I am a little worried about Lauren, though. I hope she’s just biding her time until TopIdol returns. I sure would hate to lose her.

et

I miss Lauren

wino

what happened? troll-related incident?

deez

Nah. She’ll drop in from time to time. She’s a senior in HS this year, and is taking 5(!!!) AP courses. Like the super-smart girl she is, she has decided to devote the bulk of her time to school. Lauren, if you see this… 2 enthusiastic thumbs up!

et

Go, Lauren, go! If you pop by here, Lauren, I hope you have a fabulous senior year!

http://topidolblog.com TopIdol

Lauren is A-OK, as Deez mentioned before me. She’s just buckling down during the last semester “that counts” before college.

et

Good for her to not buy into the notion that you can just slack off and let your grades go to crap your senior year. My brother made that mistake and it cost him a soccer scholarship because his grades weren’t good enough to get into the school that was offering!

Pandora

I’ve been away for the past few days, so missed whatever hijinks took place, but I shall join the line of those bowing before Queen Deez and her most excellent babysitting.

JaneRochester

It has been an honor to be one of your subjects, my liege. You trolled the trolls just fine.

magnacarta

I know Lee is not supposed to be discussed on this page, but I’ve been linked to this special gem:

magnacarta

ophelia64

Hahahah. What in the heck was that supposed to be? Was he auditioning for Sesame Street?

magnacarta

Lyrical masterclass!
deez

LOL…That was sorta cute actually.

comer

hahaha, what in the bloody hell is that song? So terrible, lol.

JaneRochester

It was a favor for a friend.

magnacarta

Thanks for the explanation. I was scratching my head over this one.

deez

Just heard from our beloved leader. She is on a plane back to Boston as we speak. I will be relinquishing my crown and scepter on Thursday, thanks to everyone for the kind words!

muzikizmi

Deez, you should start a blog. I don’t want to get either of us in trouble with ur fearless leader, but TI would probably be happy if I split my Kris tarding, so only half of it is done here.

deez

LOL. I would be the WORST. I just spent 7 days stealing stuff from MJ’s .
http://topidolblog.com TopIdol

Perhaps Deez can make guest appearances whenever she wants!

Pandora

Random unscheduled posts by the erstwhile Queen would be fun!

muzikizmi

Well, I hope this isn’t one tard over the line, but look at Kris’ back muscles in that pose? I used to think he was slumping, but it is just some overdeveloped rhomboids. Timmeh has some nice pecs, but he has some catching up to do on the backside.

http://princessleia04.livejournal.com SarahBeth

Kris has INCREDIBLE back muscles. And arms. It must be from the years of guitar playing. Boy is ripped.

/is done tarding.
jukejoint

Besides, “one tard over the line” is a very amusing turn of phrase.
Pandora

As tarding goes, we as a group are not very good at it. A few squees, a flail here or there. Where are all the superlatives, the ELEVENTIES? Heck, not one person claimed Kris was the bestest-ever anything. This post should be referenced whenever someone claims that TI is nothing more than a bunch of Allen-tards.

deez

LOL. We had carte blanche for a week, …I was actually expecting much worse! The squeeing, thudding, and flailing were pretty much tongue in cheek. I agree with your assessment, Pandora!!

I don’t think some people get that a lot of what is said here isn’t 100% life and death serious. Some of the outrage last week was pretty funny.

DeeDee

I just want to say that I really appreciate that this blog allows different opinions and even disagreements to be aired (not in a troll like or nasty way of course). It seems at times all the other Idol blogs want is combined flailing and squeeing and sometimes serious discussion is squashed. I believe Kris once said that he likes to make people think with his music, and I do believe that many of his fans are thinkers. I enjoy when people air their opinions in a sensible way and I don’t know why this is discouraged at times. I don’t know what is going to happen with the Truth, but I think it is a great song and better than most of the crap that is on the radio. I also don’t know why people think Kris will not get a 3rd single when Allison did and both of Kris’ single did much better than hers.
Burgundy LaRue

First of all, let me raise a claw in appreciation to Queen Deez and her hard work over the past several days. My right claw salutes the Queen! My left claw will be making a grab for the elusive scepter. Forget squeeing and thudding over Idol contestants. I flail for a cartoon scepter, LOL!
http://princessleia04.livejournal.com SarahBeth

Thanks for babysitting Deez!

You are definitely a stealth ninja in addition to Queen.

This video of Kris and Keith singing Jack and Diane is great. Includes major lyrics fail and Keith mocking him:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8GbZ_z1Vg0

Kris has definitely grown by leaps and bounds as a performer – I last saw him and his band in December at a local radio Christmas event and this show was definitely quite a change – he’s so relaxed. I can’t wait to see him in October w/Lifehouse.

kimberly

I keep thinking the lyric fail was on purpose. It made for some laughs and was far more entertaining than just singing the song. Watching Kris’ face and the huge smiles he kept giving Keith before he even sang that last verse, made me wonder if it was planned. The lyric fails have been fun to watch and made for some pretty funny banter sunday night. Either way, it was great to watch the performance live. I’ll be seeing Kris and Lifehouse in October as well.

muzikizmi

Kris and Lighthouse aren’t coming anywhere near me. The closest, I think, is Atlanta, and that ain’t close. Sadness.

jukejoint

They’re coming to Chicago at a time when I will actually be within 200 miles, but the tickets for that show aren’t listed at Ticketmaster or at the Chicago Theatre. It is very aggravating.

kimberly

I’ve stopped in every so often during the week and I think Deez has done a great job handling things and is a terrific writer to boot.

Interesting about Gina Orr leaving 19 and running her own business. Perhaps 19 gave Gina “Crystal Bowersox” as a parting gift. I think there’s a definite shake-up going on in the ranks. Must be cleaning house at 19 and Jive. I’m not sure what to make of the Allison rumors. Sure Jive has P!nk and Britney along with Timberlake, but they also have some artists that haven’t had a hit in years, namely the Backstreet Boys. I haven’t heard much from Britney or Justin T. in some time, either. And how about Chris Brown? At least he got himself an acting gig. I think Jive really needs to amp up their efforts at getting the best out of their artists. What a waste of talent if they don’t get their act together. I’ve got a couple of Relient K CDs, but no Cage The Elephant. The likes of P!nk and unreliable mega-star, Britney, and the seemingly retired Justin Timberlake can’t keep Jive afloat. Kris Allen’s so-called measely record sales “for an Idol winner”, far exceeds (in one year’s time)many of the artists on Jive’s roster. Allison certainly is well worth the time, money and effort on Jive’s part. I’m waiting to see how this all plays out.

I’m still not giving up on The Truth. I think radioplay will increase. Kris has the same management as Daughtry — McIlaine and Fuller. I think Daughtry’s song has been the priority. Medibase show it top 6 HAC. I’m hoping to see Kris’ song getting some love soon. I could be kidding myself, but I see the song hanging in there throughout the fall and winter. P!nk’s Glitter in the Air took forever to move up the charts. One Republic’s All the Right Moves had an odd run as well. The Script’s The Man Who Can’t Be Moved was on the charts before Live Like We’re Dying and it’s back on the Pop charts. Nothing is set in stone.

I was at the Wallingford show and it was amazing. I could listen to Keith Urban play the guitar forever. I took the family: husband, son and daughter. Husband was content sitting through the entire show with his beer. Perfect venue for him — room to wander and buy food and drinks. My osn asked if it was wrong to laugh at the older women there. I said no, but really Keith Urban is 42 so I didn’t actually see them as cougars. There was a group of “sexy” blondes behind us, young-looking until you really got a good look at them. They thought they were pretty hot. A younger group of girls sat directly behind us and then three other women, slightly older. One was a real bitch and I had words with her, during the encore. She complained she couldn’t see when my 6’2″ son stood up for the first time during the entire concert. I told her to stand up herself, if she couldn’t see. My son is a gentleman and sat down for her, but my husband was pissed and stood up to prove a point. This was the ENCORE for Christ’s sake. I wanted to say, get off your fat ass and put down your oversized can of beer. She knew I was pissed and backed off. After the concert, one of the woman’s friends touched my son’s shoulder and said thank you to him. Now I know why at one point, another of her friends called her an ass. Needless to say, this woman hated the troupe of blondes. Despite that, the show was fantastic. Can’t Stay Away is my daughter’s favorite Kris Allen song. The Heartless/Gangsta’s Paradise was really, really good. I was surprised at how good it was and couldn’t stop saying “wow, wow” over and over again. I was impressed, hearing it live for the first time. Is It Over is amazing live as well. The buildup at the end of the song with DeRobert’s guitar playing is terrific. Live Like We’re Dying went over quite well, people were singing along loudly. Kris and the band are polished and professional. He really is a main act at this stage. His confidence and interaction with the audience has really grown by leaps and bounds. I think the small solo venues along with the openers have really honed Kris and the band’s skills. It’s what he needed and Kris’ management was smart to see this. They’re nuturing him to be a long-term success. Keith mentioned opening for Brooks & Dunn years ago at Oakdale. All the greats started out that way. It’s got to be worked for and earned. Kris is doing just that. Keith Urban is really the only country artist I love. I said to my son, “it’s all about the guitar”. I’d love to see Kris gain more confidence in his guitar playing and put on a show like Urban. I think he can do it. tl;dr. Sorry Deez.

ross

Thanks for the recap! I’m not giving up on The Truth, either. As for Kris, I had the same reaction as you, I guess. Like I said before, my mouth was hanging open in awe of great singing, and I guess, raw power. He kills.

I thought Keith was great. I’m not really a fan but he puts on a great show. That light-up guitar is corny! But fun. I tried to picture Kris playing a neon guitar, but had to laugh.

kimberly

I agree about the light-up guitar, but people seem to like it.
My son who plays guitar himself told me he thought the guitar was
stupid, too flashy, too midnight cowboy. I didn’t even know he
knew the movie. lol He was amazed that Keith could play guitar
like that and sing full-out at the same time like he did during
Stupid Boy or when he ran through the crowd not missing a note.

I know CT radio when more than likely ramp up The Truth and All In
when the concert gets closer for Lifehouse, contests and such.

kimberly

Just because it’s bugging me — son said, midnight
cowboy, but I think he meant rhinestone cowboy. Of
course, he also could have been thinking electric
horseman. lol

deez

I bet he meant Urban Cowboy. (Lol, THAT would’ve been the best)

auntieaimee

I think if Alright With Me had gained some traction from the Ford commercials, they would have considered releasing it. It didn’t catch on, so I don’t think they would release it at this point. That ship has sailed.
deez

Timmeh seems to be wearing Lee (DeWyze) Jeans.

ross

testing….

ross

Very recent comments on the Ford commercials and Alright With Me:

http://bullit.ditttos.com/general/10-kris-allen-alright-with-me-hq-album-version

I don’t think the commercials represented test marketing. If so they would have used longer snippets. They were about two and a half seconds long. And the song did sell based on the commercials, though how it did I don’t know – only a fan would recognize it enough to buy it.
ross

It’s not letting me post this, but if you Google –

“ford automotove news 10 kris allen alright with me”

– you’ll find the page. Recent comments about the song and the commercial.

I don’t think the ship has sailed. I don’t think the commercials were supposed to be a test of the song. If so, why use mere two or three second snippets that were almost unrecognizable to non-fans? ( I don’t even know how people knew what it was, to order it – I read on MJ’s at the time that a lot of people were buying the song based on the commercials.) But I don’t know how much you expected it to take off when it wasn’t a single.

magnacarta

I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that 22k copies of Alright With Me were sold just based on the commercial. Nothing to scoff at.

ross

magnacarta, thanks, I thought I read that, too, but I wasn’t sure of the figure so I didn’t post it.

deez

Ross, I checked, there’s something in that link that the spam filter doesn’t like. People should be able to find the article from your info, though.

ross

Thanks, deez.

ophelia64

Um, feeling dumb, but am I the only one who doesn’t recognize who that is in the picture next to Kris. I have a feeling I’m way out of some “cool kid” loop.

ross

I just asked the same thing. My guess was Tim U.

Legend

Judging from the pecs I’d say its a shorn Timmeh!

deez

Yes, Timmeh!

Timmeh! is going to the studio to record an EP. I don’t really care. I just wanted an excuse to post that picture.

Haha…I didn’t realize how unclear this was. I originally had the picture posted below this statement. Then I moved it beside Kris’s because their poses were so similar. (I forgot to clarify!) Thanks!

ophelia64

Well, in that case, the boy should cut his hair. Timmeh looks much better without the Bieber-mop.
deez

Bieber would look better without the Bieber mop.

jukejoint

How odd that shorn Timmeh! looks like Billy Warlock. Never would’ve guessed that.

ross

To me, he always looks like the young Ronald Reagan.
JaneRochester

I can’t believe that’s Timmeh. He looks so grown up. Definitely cut the hair!!!

ross

deez, I don’t think Kris will do too much new material opening for Lifehouse – because Lifehouse fans haven’t even heard his old material. Plus he and the band are tight re their songs, now, and the Lifehouse tour is only five weeks away. He’ll do some new stuff but my feeling is he’ll do more of that when he headlines on some dates during the tour.

Brand New Shoes? I never even got through the whole album. I would blame starry-eyed fantards if he ends up resurrecting that old stuff from five years ago. They should realize he’s not playing in coffee shops. He’s a major label artist with his music on the radio all over the country. I don’t know if they’re trying to kill his career or what. lol

ross

I forgot I was going to ask something about Crystal. If G. Orr is leaving 19E to manage Crystal, I don’t get that arrangement. Isn’t Crystal managed by 19E? Or does she choose her own management? I don’t know a lot about this stuff.

margie

From what I have gathered, Gina Orr was Kris, Lee and Allison’s PR person at 19. She is leaving 19 all together to manage Crystal. I personally was not thrilled with Gina’s work with Kris’s PR. I don’t know how this will play out with Crystal.

With the Lifehouse tour, I am thinking we will get the main songs of his album that he did this summer and maybe new covers? Doesn’t Kris hate Brand New Shoes so why would he do that?

ross

I get it. She’s going from PR to being a manager.

deez

You’re right about BNS and the starry-eyed fantard support. I did really like the one song, though. I think it has potential with a little tweaking. I know he wants to take his time with the next album, but I hope it gets done in a fairly timely fashion. Cook fans are getting impatient since it’s nearing 2 years since the release of “David Cook” (I don’t think the time interval is THAT bad…yet) Fans get restless, and other people sort of forget about Idol Alums unless they are constantly in the news (but IDK if that’s ever really happened.) If he can get it done within a year or so, I think that would be fine. Hard to do when you’re touring.

et

The natives are definitely restless in Cooktardistan. Probably a lot of it has to do with the fact that Camp Cook is the Impenetrable Fortress of Silence and people don’t like when they don’t get tidbits, lol. Well, and that Cook’s fans (and I love many of them dearly) are the angstiest angsters ever.
ross

deez, I only really liked the song, Land Of Smiles. And it helped to know the background on it.
But any song on Brand New Shoes would have to be reworked. That’s not even his style any more. I’m sure he wants to write new stuff. Next single (if any): Kris needs to do something that suits him as an artist and personality, for the public to buy it. I think Alright With Me is the one. If not that, then Can’t Stay Away.

Who is that a picture of, above, with the guitar on his back? Tim Urban?

muzikizmi

Alright With Me was tested at Hit Predictor recently. In the forums someone asked how it tested, and the answer was ‘extremely well’ with top 10 potential at Top 40 and top 5 potential at Hot AC. I don’t think Hit Predictor just picks songs at random for this type of testing, especially from albums that have been out for most of a year. IMO, Jive would be nuts, if they don’t at least run it up the flag pole.

DeeDee

I believe fans put Alright With Me on Hit Predictor.

pixiepie08

Ross,

You have lured me out of lurk-dom. I hope this comment ends up in the right place. It is in response to your harping on about BNS. Give a college kid a break! From the tarding I have done it seems like sometime during his inglorious college career Kris made a pilgrimage to Nashville where he was well received. “Come back with a demo, son” they said. So Kris dashed home and put down his cd BNS in 2 half day sessions which was all he could afford. He returned and shopped it around but got no love so went home to play bars, plan a wedding, and go back to school. But then, opps he won Idol.

It seems like all the remaining unsold BNS live in a box under Katy Allen’s bed. She gave out a few via twitter for suggestions for Xmas gifts. I seriously do not think Kris would ever consider putting out anything from BNS. It only got a life on the web when friends of his posted some songs because Kris was getting no air time on Idol. I down loaded it because I’m a big, fat tard for Kris. It’s on my ipod, I confess. But I would never, ever expect Kris to perform anything from that cd. He said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly 6/5/09 “I can’t even listen to that thing. The music and the songs were really immature. But that’s okay. Everybody goes through that.” OK that’s my BNS rant. Please continue with your witty and entertaining conversation. I do so enjoy all your posts. I if have offened in any, please forgive.

pixiepie08

one more thing; I am not fat, but I am a big tard for Kris
mtlfan

i’m one big Kris fan and it’s the first time i see the Nashville and BNS connection. I must be kind of slow.. People he saw in Nashville must have been kind of surprised with his outstanding AI run.
Anyhow thanks for the info
nekola

Pixiepie 08

I agree with you wholeheartedly. I first noticed Kris when he sang “Ain’t No Sunshine” on Top 9 night. I literally said to myself, “who is that?” His soulful voice and emotion intrigued me. Around Top 2/Finale night, I found BNS and from then on I was hooked. I loved the raw emotion in those songs and he definitely showed promise as a songwriter.

In some ways, I prefer BNS to Kris Allen The Album *(KATA) even though BNS had virtually no production. The production on KATA is so uneven, some songs were overproduced, while others could have used more production. Although, I like the songs on KATA, I think the most of songs sound too similar in tone. This is why I barely listen to KATA anymore as I prefer his live performances on Youtube. You can really appreciate his fabulous lower register as well as the emotion in his voice in his live performances.

I am hoping for his next album, he can sort of blend the best of both worlds of BNS and KATA in terms of songwriting and production. I remember reading an interview where he definitely wanted to be more involved with the production side of his next album, so I am really forward to hearing his next effort.

*Oh, I just want to give a shoutout to Deez for letting us use acronyms!
JaneRochester

“Ain’t No Sunshine” will forever be one of my most favoritest Idol moments ever.
http://topidolblog.com TopIdol

I heard an ambient (electronic) version (no idea of the artist) of Ain’t No Sunshine 3x at Burning Man. Once when I got there, another when I woke up one day, and the last time as I was packing to leave.
RarelyC

I only listened to songs from Brand New Shoes very recently, and I really liked the sound (especially liked Wipe It Away and Brand New Shoes). I agree with Nekola: in some ways, I think that BNS is more Kris’s sound than what the label has him doing and a more interesting sound. And, sadly, I think the production/recording values on some of the BNS songs are better than his current album. The BNS songs are not radio songs, however — which is always a challenge. I would like to see Kris have more of a hand in the songs and production of his next album. Of course, Kris and Cale are not the next Lennon and McCartney. No one is. The question is whether they make each other better as songwriters, and sometimes there needs to be a creative “edge” between artists to make that happen. We’ll see. I actually think that their arrangement of Let It Be on American Idol was a very clever, subtle arrangement. I think they collaborated with a friend on that. I must confess that I do like the BNS sound and would like to see that developed.
barado

The BNS song I was most impressed with was “I was Played.” – Oh, well.

Kris and Cale aren’t the next Lennon and McCartney, but if they can come up with more songs like IIO (taking liberties while I can), they’ll do just fine.

Deez, your reign will be remembered as just and fair, although short.
ross

I agree with Nekola: in some ways, I think that BNS is more Kris’s sound than what the label has him doing and a more interesting sound. And, sadly, I think the production/recording values on some of the BNS songs are better than his current album. The BNS songs are not radio songs, however — which is always a challenge.

The trouble with this is while you feel this is more Kris’s sound, he doesn’t agree. I mean, he has said he can’t even listen to it.

Have you guys been to his concerts? If you’ve seen what he does now, I don’t understand what you mean. I like who Kris is now. Not who he was five years ago. I just saw him perform Saturday in front of about 10,000 people, with his band. He’s evolved into a great vocalist and frontman. His band kicks ass.

He sings rock. It’s his own style, but it’s rock. He seems to like it and audiences like it. I don’t get how this is not his style. It’s not something the label is making him do. He does all kinds of material and he arranges it himself, as far as I know. He’s clearly happy in what he’s doing.
deez

@ Barado I lasted a little longer than Lady Jane Grey. I hope TI is more forgiving than Bloody Mary.

(grrrr…no more “Tudors”)
pixiepie08

Nekola, thanks for your comments. I very much agree with you. What I like about BNS in terms of production is that it is very cohesive stylistically. KATA suffers from too many different producers.

Ross, regarding the fact that Kris says he can’t listen to BNS, well he also says he turns off the radio whenever one of his songs comes on. He is just that hard on himself.

BNS is like a sweet time capsule of who Kris was. I can never get the smile off my face when I listen to BNS, The Real World; “strum‘in on my six string, wondering what this world might bring little old me.” Kid, you are going to win American Idol! Do you believe that kid!!

I adore who Kris is now and can’t wait to see who he grows into as an artist. I love his live performances. Kris has said he wants his next cd to have a more raw sound. By that I hope he means more of the sound of his live performances. Kris rocks and his band rocks.
ross

regarding the fact that Kris says he can’t listen to BNS, well he also says he turns off the radio whenever one of his songs comes on. He is just that hard on himself.

Haha. That’s true. In the case of Brand New Shoes, though, it’s justified. lol

That album is nothing to be ashamed of, it’s just the work of a talented amateur. Forget what he says, he’s had plenty of chances to resurrect those songs and he hasn’t. I think that says it all about his opinion of them and how they fit in with who he is now.

Anyhow, no problem if people like the album – that great. I often wish he could collect royalties for all the times it’s played.

RarelyC

I am trying to reply to something, but can’t figure out where to reply on this blog. So, I may have done this incorrectly. Anyway, someone asked below if I’ve been to any of Kris’s concerts (in reference, I think, to my liking BNS and thinking that is Kris’s true sound). The answer is: Yes, effin’ yes. I have been to so many of his concerts that my family is thisclose to staging an intervention. The same poster (can’t remember who) said that Kris is a rocker. In my humble opinion, that’s crap. Kris is not a rocker, at least in the sense that I think of a rocker. But no American Idol person (including Daughtry or Cook) is a rocker, in my sense of the genre. I think that Kris’s true sound (and this is just my opinion obviously) is in the Mat Kearney vein with more blues (and a little more “pop”) thrown in. That is obviously just my opinion. I wish I were more of a musician to convey this, but I think that Kris could come up with a unique-ish sound (Amos Lee, Mat Kearney, with more “amp” and “pop” to it). And no one (including Kris himself) will deter me from liking BNS. I like that sound. In fact, driving home from work tonight, one of the BNS songs came on. I heard the intro, but did not recognize it as a Kris song. However, I immediately thought: what the heck is this; I like it. But, of course, this is a matter of personal taste.

ross

I guess that would be me. I didn’t say Kris was “a rocker.” I said: “He sings rock. It’s his own style, but it’s rock.” I meant it in a general way. Soft rock, or pop rock. That’s how he himself has described it.

I think that Kris’s true sound (and this is just my opinion obviously) is in the Mat Kearney vein with more blues (and a little more “pop”) thrown in. That is obviously just my opinion. I wish I were more of a musician to convey this, but I think that Kris could come up with a unique-ish sound (Amos Lee, Mat Kearney, with more “amp” and “pop” to it).

But why are you saying that’s his true sound? That’s what’s confusing me. You mean his current sound is not his true sound? I guess that’s where we disagree.

This is what he sounded like to me (it’s my video) from where I sat Saturday night.

I just don’t see Kris heading in a Mat Kearney-Amos Lee direction. This is also just an opinion, but it’s based on what I see him doing now. I just saw him do Heartless/Gangsta’s Paradise, Can’t Stay Away, Come Together, Live Like We’re Dying, in front of @ 10,000 people. He has a big voice and he’s a very dynamic pop rock performer, with a rocking band, not an acoustic folkie. I think this is by his own choice and I think a lot of his fans are happy with it.

So that’s all I’m saying. Why should he change? I like it.

ross

Sorry – I couldn’t embed this for some reason.

Blue Eyes

You did a great job, deez! The trolls couldn’t even rattle you!

deez

A couple of them annoyed me greatly, however.

et

They would annoy a saint, lol. You got some super special trolls!

jukejoint

MEATROLLS!! The supah speshul kind of troll. Or roll.

et

Yes, indeed, I don’t think we ever had MEATROLLS. Super speshul roll troll.

Plus we got poetry! Sanjaya! Woo!
deez

I have to say that Mothra was entertaining in a strange way. Luscious Lips versions 1&2 were INSANE, BUT DID LEAVE US WITH SOME LASTING REFERENCES! KLA’s pottery was nice. Gene fled before being banned (dammit)
et

I have to admit to kinda enjoying Mothra too. It was bizarre. And when’s the last time anyone talked about Sanjaya here? I forgot that it was POTTERY! Pottery is extra speshul!

I can’t believe Gene fled the ban. You can’t outrun the zap!?!?

DeeDee

Deez you make a great blog babysitter! Good work in beating off the trolls and for keeping the rest of us in line as well. You did TI proud.

mtlfan

yes! this! thanks queen deez
love the pics you posted — especially the first one

mtlfan

well i like T.I but above I meant the 2nd picture .. oups

Salleyanne

Thanks deez for all your hard work. Hope TI isn’t too upset with all the crap we had to deal with while she was gone. Thanks also for the pic of Cook. Man just keeps getting better.
ross

Gina Orr must have huge faith in Crystal Bowersox if she’s leaving her lucrative sure thing to manage a not very sure thing. Maybe she hopes to get more clients and Crystal is just her first? Has Crystal shown any particular abilty to sell her songs or herself as an artist? People say Gina O. doesn’t do a very good job keeping Kris’s publicity updated. Maybe Kris will get someone who is hungry and might do a better job. Or not.

I hope Kris writes with some professional songwriters or successful singer-songwriters. As well as some of the people he wrote with on his first album like Joe King from The Fray. Even singer-songwriters like Matt Nathanson seem to do that. I’m not sure Kris and Cale are the next Lennon and McCartney. It remains to be seen if Kris has commercial appeal as a songwriter without collaborating with experienced songwriters. So far the only big hit he’s had wasn’t written by him.

deez

True. I keep hoping AWM gets released…but I kind of doubt it. I’m looking forward to the new material that they are going to do opening for Lifehouse. Maybe we’ll finally get to hear the Mat Kearney song that Jim C liked. Someone speculated he might rework some old BNS songs for his tour with LH. I did like “Beautiful Moon” from BNS.

old bat

I keep telling people but it never sticks. No one has heard the Kearney song except for Kris and Mat that we know of. The one Jim C liked was From the Ashes, though Jim C speculated for a while if it was the Kearney song. Secretive Kris is secretive.

caspar

Great job, deez, but next time bring out the ban hammer faster. Sheesh, those SHOUTTERZ!

Thanks for the bee-you-ti-ful pic of Cook, don’t think I’ve ever seen that one.

et

Yeah, I’m impressed, I thought I’d seen just about every picture of Cook and that’s a new one to me. Deez is a super sleuth in addition to being Queen!

jukejoint

Re: Gina Orr… Maybe she just wants to move on and do something different. Maybe the handwriting was on the wall at 19, like Nigel doesn’t like her and she was going to get fired or sent to the telemarketing department or Outer Mongolia or something, anyway. She used to do PR for Jive. I found her name linked to statements about Britney Spears around the “Womanizer” time. So I guess she hasn’t been with 19 all that long.

I used to write for Harlequin Books in Toronto, and their main PR person was Katherine Orr. Coincidenza? PR Orrs all around.

Re: Cook’s album… I didn’t like his stuff prior to Idol. I know — anathema! I can’t help it. That dirgy post-grunge stuff bores me silly. So I hope he gets good collaborators, too. He’s another one who didn’t write his post-AI hits. I think they don’t trust them the first (or second) time out or something.

Re: Kris Allen’s album… My favorite song off his album is “Is It Over,” so I don’t mind if he collaborates with Cale again. Or Mike Elizondo. But, yeah, unlikely to be the new Lennon and McCartney there. (Another coincidenza — last night I was watching a show about architect Daniel Burnham on PBS and they called him and his business partner, John Root, the Lennon and McCartney of the late 19th century architectural world. Who knew?) Anyway, I thought Brand New Shoes was sweet but young and unformed. He needs time to develop and deepen his ideas.

ross

And then there’s that Canadian called Bobby Orr.
JaneRochester

Burnham & Root are the best. You could’ve knocked me over with a feather when I saw their names written here!

My best friend wrote about a half-dozen books for Harlequin US back in the 2004-06 timeframe. When were you with them?

jukejoint

1985-2005

I did books for Harlequin American, Temptation, Love & Laughter, Duets and Blaze.

justpeachy

Are you actually saying that you wrote Harlequin romances? Because that’s the coolest thing I’ve heard all day. Did you have a pseudonym? And more importantly, did you meet Fabio?
JaneRochester

Far out! She wrote for Duets too, but mostly HR. I’m with justpeachy: are you willing to spill your pseudonym?
jukejoint

I used my own name, not a pseudonym, so I am not willing to spill. Sorry! But I did meet Fabio. Well, I saw him in an elevator at the RWA (Romance Writers of America) convention. He had chest stubble that you could see in the deep vee of his low-cut, er, blouse, and split ends all over the famous hair. He was really pretty icky. I wrote all contemporary books and not historicals and he was on very few contemporary covers, so he wasn’t on any of my covers.

JaneR, I didn’t know anybody wrote for both Duets and HR. Duets didn’t do very well. Are your friend’s initials HB? I see that she did some Romances as well as half of a Duets. There are a few more names I don’t know, but that one seemed to fit.

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