A Musical Celebration on Ice

MAGICAL -- Clay Aiken and world class skaters will tape the Holiday Celebration on Ice in Las Vegas this week. Graphic by ABeautifulMind.

In Holiday Ice Show

Clay, Skaters To Spin Magic

World class skaters performing to eight holiday numbers sung by multi-platinum recording artist Clay Aiken promises to be spectacular and entertaining. Magical!

The Capitol One Holiday Celebration on Ice Show will be taped live in the Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, Tuesday with a host of representatives from the Clay Nation in the audience. The two-hour NBC special will be telecast at 2:30 p.m. Christmas Day, but this is the Digital Age and the "magic" will be previewed and recapped almost immediately for fans back home.

The star-studded evening will open with Clay singing "Christmas Waltz" and close with the entire cast skating to "What Are You Doing New Years Eve?"

Headlining the event on ice is 2006 US national champion and Olympic silver medalist Sasha Cohen, who will be joined by Todd Eldredge, six-time US champion and world champion; Philippe Candeloro, two-time Olympic medalist; and world champion Yuka Sato.

Also world bronze medalist Caryn Kadavy; Shae-Lynne Bourne, world ice dancing champion; eight-time British champion Steven Cousins; world medalist and Las Vegas resident Surya Bonaly; Jenni Meno and Todd Sands, three-time US pairs champions; and reigning world ice dancing champions Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon.

Screen cap links to 'Holiday on Ice' commercial.

Promos Tout Musical Guest

Advertisements about Clay have been well-written and appreciably thorough:

Tapped as the exclusive musical guest for the Capital One Holiday Celebration on Ice, singing sensation Clay Aiken will lend his powerful voice to some of the most loved and classic holiday songs of all time. Since 2003, Clay Aiken has garnered a number of different titles.

Multi-platinum recording artist, television personality, Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF (visiting children in war torn Afghanistan, Uganda, and tsunami-stricken Indonesia), best selling author, and advocate for individuals with disabilities through his Bubel/Aiken Foundation.

An item in the SHOOTING STARS column in Monday's Las Vegas Review-Journal revealed some news -- Clay will be given a skating lesson by Sasha Cohen:

Ice, ice baby: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, at least at the Orleans Arena, where NBC's "Holiday Celebration on Ice" tapes Tuesday for broadcast Christmas Day.

Clay Aiken will sing eight numbers -- and take a skating lesson from Olympic silver medalist Sasha Cohen, who's joined by such skaters as world medalist (and Las Vegas resident) Surya Bonaly, plus past world champs Todd Eldredge and Yuka Sato.

Vegas Publication Praises Clay

Early arrivals among the Clay Nation were excited to locate a Las Vegas magazine with this summary about their favorite singer:

"Aiken has been a household name since competing on American Idol in 2003, but it has been his outstanding professional career and personal accomplishments since being catapulted into stardom that have secured his place in America's hearts."

Besides including info about The Bubel/Aiken Foundation, UNICEF, and the Presidential Committee appointment, the article ends with this statement: "Aiken has a unique credibility that makes this holiday performance ring especially true."

Besides including information about The Bubel/Aiken Foundation, UNICEF, and Clay's Presidential Committee appointment, the article ends with this statement: "Aiken has a unique credibility that makes this holiday performance ring especially true."

On Sunday, Luckiest1 shared a Not.Just.Us Vegas encounter with Finding Clay Aiken board members:

At breakfast we met a nice woman from Alberta while waiting for our table. She asked what shows we were going to and when we told her, she said she really wanted to go to "Holiday On Ice" but wasn't sure her elderly mom would like it. I told her Clay Aiken was singing; and she said, "I know! That's why I want to go!"

'Federalist Papers' Baffle Google

Apparently, Clay's appearance on "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" had unexpected ramifications within the Google empire, perplexing the search engine's experts. This explanation comes from Marsha Sponder's post at Web Metrics Guru: What Drives Google Hot Trends -- the Missing Piece.

Sometimes I look at Google HotTrends and it's interesting to look at what is suddenly "hot" but what's often missing, despite Google's attempt to add that information, is why something is happening, why it's hot, and what's driving the HotTrend - for that, most of the time - human analysis is needed.

Or it could be what you know. Here's an example - last Thursday, November 1st, it so happened that the term Federalist Papers was #3 on Google HotTrends and it peaked at about 8:30 PM EST time (no location was given - sometimes, Google HotTrends gives us a location).

Looking at the search results and news citations actually did nothing to tell me why "Federalist Papers" was peaking on November 1st around 8:30 PM. Not one listing in news articles, blog posts, or web results gave the actual reason.

The reason -- Clay Aiken Was Great on “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” -- turns out the question was asked to Clay Aiken while he was on the AYSTAFG show and his fans and TV/Internet audience did a query on Google to find out about "Federalist Papers" since he had a lot of money riding on the answer, which I think he got correct.

The remainder of the article can be read here.

PHOTO INTERLUDE: This clickable interlude features a variety of visual artists, including Ambassador of Love, 1 and 5; Clayquebec1, photo by PermaSwooned, screen cap by SecretlyLovesClay, 2; Katt45, photos by Falcon94, 3; and Fanclaysia, 4.

Dancing the Roomba

As reported two entries ago, I purchased a Roomba during the Oct. 25 Woot-Out. The minute I received the FedEx tracking link, I noted that "square one" was Carrolton, TX, and promptly pushed that info to the back burner until 9:53 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 1.

Imagine my amazement as I traced the robot's trek through two Texas locations, two more in Carolina, and read the final memo: Nov 1 -- 8:53 a.m. DELIVERED Left at front door. Signature service not required.

The little dude had been sitting on my porch for an hour! I immediately welcomed the robot into my home. An overnight battery charge is required before the first use, so I set up the docking station -- beside my vacuum cleaner, no less -- and went about the day's routine.

Delayed a few more days while I gathered necessary "D" batteries for the virtual wall barriers, my newly-purchased cleaning robot finally took its maiden voyage Sunday during the hour prior to NFL game kickoffs.

A Mind of Its Own

After attempting to gobble its own cord and paying no heed whatsoever to the invisible wall boundaries I obviously set up incorrectly, Roomba and I cleaned the living room -- somewhat. I moved chairs, piano bench, instruments, and music stands from area to area while Roomba did its thing. Mostly, I sat and watched, fascinated by the whole process.

The pedals of the grand piano proved the most frustrating as the thorough little dirt devil attempted to spin its magic, but could get no closer than my regular vac. A couple of times I had to call my own personal "customer service" representative, Sally, but we made it through the hour.

As the green light turned red and the Roomba showed signs of timing out, I waited for him to come out from under the piano. Grateful to be docked at home base, he promptly began recharging.

My afternoon was booked with football and a flute rehearsal; so we called it a day. Hopefully, we will get to know each other's dance steps better the second time around as we complete the living room and beyond.

Kai loves his Ducky
Clickable photo edited by Sally

Inspiration to Roomba

At the heart of my belated -- or very early -- spring cleaning is the possibility of a visit from my new grandson in the next few months.

It's never too early to rid my house of the dust bunny colonies and get this place ready for Kai and his mother. Meanwhile, he seems very happy and is growing like a Texas tumbleweed!

Below is a clickable of ABeautifulMind's opening graphic:

Have a wonderful week, Clay Nation!

Caro

RELATED TAGS: Clay Aiken, Capital One Holiday Celebration on Ice, Sasha Cohen, Todd Eldredge, Orleans Arena, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, Federalist Papers, Google HotTrends, Web Metrics Guru, The Bubel/Aiken Foundation, UNICEF, Roomba, Official Fan Club, Clay Nation