Montage Spotlights Clay Aiken's Signature Song

Clay Aiken - Unchained Melody 2011
View montage by SueReu full screen at YouTube.
Download the video with this Sendspace.

NIP Swings from #8 to #11

Video Frames 'Unchained Melody'

This blog was supposed to be about the signature version of my favorite Clay Aiken song, "Unchained Melody," which SueRue this week fashioned into a beautiful new montage.

Since she uploaded the video a couple of days ago, links for the montage zipped through Clay Cyberspace and social networking sites faster than the speed of light. Video credits include ClayIzzaQT, MBlovesClay, dlh7777, Scarlett, canfly172, and goldarngirl.

If you are part of the minority who have not yet seen this montage, enjoy. If you have already played and downloaded it a zillion times, enjoy again. Included are five clickable screen caps SueReu created from the video.

NIP Supporters Set $50k Goal

With Monday evening's drop to #11, supporters of the National Inclusion Project scrrambled for new avenues to add to the foundation's total votes in the August drive for a $50,000 Pepsi Refresh grant.

For days the NIP has held onto the 10th position, the lowest a charity can be to win a grant in the $50k division. Renewed efforts paid off, and the foundation moved up to slots 8 and 9, slightly safer waters, before slipping back to #11.

What's your latest creative move to round up additional votes? Several of my music students and their parents are texting daily. Some have promised to bring power codes from yellow Pepsi/Diet Pepsi bottle caps.

Remember the wedding queenmama247 attended this past weekend? Here is her report:

The wedding went off without a hitch. There were 210 guests. The DJ was so sweet when he asked everyone to take out their cellphones. He kept saying, "It's for kids."

We counted approximately 180 votes texted. Some people were having a hard time getting through, but it was a thrill to hear all the phones going off when the thank you messages started coming back!

Power Voting Can Be a Blast

Sunday afternoon Scarlett and I enjoyed a Power Voting Party via Facebook Chat with codes from several 20-ounce Pepsi bottles she had purchased at a 99-cent store. Our grand total was 445 extra votes for the NIP and was it ever fun!!!

My friend doesn't drink Pepsi, but she used the liquid remains as a type of Draino in her sinks. This morning she said her tub was a mite bit sticky. I have located at least three "Pepsi suppliers," so I hope to contribute additional codes soon.

One of the NIP's new voting partners, Nerdy Science, seeks to foster an early love for the science through multi-week, hands on programs.

Check out Exploding Soda in the Nerdy Baby blog. The Pepsi geysers provide an excellent science experiment for young children and provide an alternative way to utilize power code bottles for those who don't drink soda.

This week CVS has 2-liter Pepsi bottles on sale for 88 cents. Just be sure the caps are of the yellow power code variety!

See the previous entry, Clay Aiken Fans Pull Out Stops for Inclusion, for detailed voting instructions. Partner links and text numbers are in the NIP Voting Widget now situated in the Carolina sidebar.

Please share your successes for enlisting more voters and gathering power codes in the comments.

Dr. Phil and Clay AikenTake on Bullying.
View 2005 video full screen at YouTube.

Bullying Headlines Google Search

Somewhere there's a workshop ... or teachers are making lesson plans ... or students already have a school assignment related to preventing or stopping bulling.

During an eight-hour period Monday, Feedjit, the tracking tool associated with the Carolina blog, registered visitors who arrived by googling the phrase Clay Aiken End Bullying. The hits came from all corners of the US, as well as Aruba in the Caribbean and the Republic of Mauritius, an island nation off the southeast coast of Africa.

It's heartening to think that individuals from 27 cities wound up at the October 2010 entry: Clay Aiken Shares Insight on Bullying. Even then, the blog was pointing out the relevancy of remarks the singer had made five years earlier on the Dr. Phil Show.

Recent suicides by young people who reached the breaking point from constant bullying, hatred, and harassment have spurred nationwide efforts to bring an end to this epidemic.

On Oct. 28, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, giving the Department of Justice the authority to prosecute hate crimes, including attacks based on sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, and disability.

Paralleling the new legislation, more and more citizens have begun recognizing the epidemic of hate and are choosing to go proactive, becoming informed and getting involved. Too many, however, remain silent.

The information trail continued into the evening. For whatever reason, surfers in these cities were on the Net exploring the topic of bullying: Birmingham, AL; Bessemer, AL; Phoenix, AZ; San Diego, CA; San Francisco, CA; Santa Rosa, CA; Denver, CO; Seymour, CT; Millsboro, DE; Miami, FL; Orlando, FL; Hephzibah, GA; Round Lake, IL; Wichita, KS;

Also Arnold, MD; Baltimore, MD; Genesco, NY; Cleveland, OH; Lebanon, OR; Malvern, PA; Addison, TX; Chatfield, TX; Woodway, TX; Bothell, WA; Ellensburg, WA; Oranjestad, Aruba, and Curepipe, Plaines Wilheme, Mauritus.

And they were still coming when I uploaded this blog. Hopefully, we are witnessing a nationwide -- maybe worldwide -- movement to end bullying forever!

Have a wonderful week, Clay Nation!

Caro

Clay Aiken Shares Insight on Bullying

Dr. Phil and Clay Aiken take on bullying.
View 4/19/05 video full screen at YouTube.

2005 Remarks Relevant Today

Nation Targets Hate Epidemic

Hate crimes can happen anywhere, at any time. In fact, in the U.S., one violent act of hate takes place almost every hour of every single day.

It’s time to give a damn because hate crimes involve beatings, rape, torture, even murder. Victims are targeted because of their sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religion, race, color or any number of superficial factors. - We Give a Damn.org

Turn on the TV, read a newspaper, look around your neighborhood -- bullying, acts of intimidation, and hate crimes have reached epic proportions in this country; and change is long overdue.

Recent suicides by young people who reached the breaking point from constant bullying, hatred, and harassment have spurred nationwide efforts to bring an end to this epidemic.

On Oct. 28, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, giving the Department of Justice the authority to prosecute hate crimes, including attacks based on sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, and disability.

Paralleling the new legislation, more and more citizens have begun recognizing the epidemic of hate and are choosing to go proactive, becoming informed and getting involved. Too many, however, remain silent.

Clay Speaks About Bullying

More than five years ago, Clay Aiken appeared on the Dr. Phil Show to discuss bullying with three teen-aged guests, recent targets of ridicule at school. Anyone who has read Clay's book -- Learning to Sing, Hearing the Music in Your Life -- knows the candor with which he shares his history of being bullied and the lessons he has learned.

Not surprisingly, today's Dr. Phil website is loaded with links on the topic: Middle School Kid Bullied ... Do Your Part to End Cyber Bullying ... A Call to Action Against Bullying ... LGBT Teens Speak Up About Anti-Gay Bullying ...Dr. Phil's Interview with Anderson Cooper on Suicide.

Many of the insights Clay shared in April 2005 are relevant today:

When I was young, I was teased by other kids as if it was their job. It's about finding out who you are, being happy with who you are, and being comfortable with who you are.

Once you have that and carry it with you, everybody else wants to know what you've got that they don't.

The photo below links to "Stars Who Were Bullied," a current feature in Celebrity News at US Magazine online:

Clay autographs OMWH albums at Virgin Mega Store.
Click on photo to link to US Magazine feature.

Among the celebrities quoted in the feature are Michael Phelps, Winona Ryder, Chad Michael Murray, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, Rosario Dawson, Tom Cruise, Christian Bale, and Victoria Beckham.

Tragically, the Internet abounds with articles about bullying, cyber-bullying, and recent stories of young people bullied to the point they ended their own lives.

Blog Overviews Cyber Bullying

Prior to her death in December, Joan Martin (Ashes) dedicated her 11/1/09 blog, Clay-The Man, to the epidemic of cyber-bullying. Having gathered the information for a non-Internet friend whose granddaughter, a university student, was being bullied online, Joan also shared her research with her readers. Here are the highlights:

My friend thought bullies were only physical beings in elementary school or maybe gangs. I compiled the following information and printed it out for her. She admitted to living a very sheltered life and was horrified that things like this were done.

What could I say, other than I see it everyday on the Internet no matter how much I try not to and have learned to quickly pass it by.

What is bullying?

Bullying is persistent unwelcome behavior, mostly using unwarranted or invalid criticism, nit-picking, fault-finding, also exclusion, isolation, being singled out and treated differently, being shouted at, humiliated, excessive monitoring, having verbal and written warnings imposed, and much more.

History is full of stories about the bullies of their times. Why? How do children learn this despicable act? They learn it from their parents and peers.

Unfortunately this bad behavior has spread with the advent of the internet. People both young and old seem to get a kick out of being rude and disrespectful. It's sad./span>

The Internet provides the perfect forum for cyber bullies, individuals whose aim is to gain gratification from the distress caused by provoking and tormenting others.

The anonymity, ease of provocation, and almost infinite source of targets means the Internet is full of predators from pedophiles targeting children to serial bullies targeting ... anybody.

Cyber bullies get a perverse sense of satisfaction (called gratification) doing this. Serial bullies harbor a lot of internal aggression which they direct at others.

People who bully are adept at creating conflict between those who would otherwise pool negative information about them.

The method of creating conflict is provocation which bullies delight in because they know they can always coerce at least one person to respond in a manner which can then be distorted and used to further flame and inflame people. And so it goes on.

The bully then sits back and gains gratification from seeing others engage in destructive behavior towards each other. This is known as trolling.

Most serial bullies are also serial attention-seekers. More than anything else they want attention. It doesn't matter what type of attention they get, positive or negative, as long as they can provoke someone into paying them attention.

It's like a two-year-old child throwing a tantrum to get attention from a parent. The best way to treat bullies is to refuse to respond and to refuse to engage them - which they really hate.

Understand that it is not possible to communicate in a mature adult manner with a disordered individual.

You can read the entire Cyber Bullying/Cyber Stalking entry at Clay-The Man.

Visual artists have created many appropriate montages to accompany the topic of bullying, several from songs on Clay's 2008 CD, On My Way Here. In addition to the title track, explore YouTube for the singer's versions of "The Real Me," "Weight of the World," "Falling," and "Ashes."

Below is Aspiegirl's montage for "On My Way Here."

'On My Way Here' performed by Clay Aiken
Montage by Aspiegirl can be viewed at YouTube.

Inclusion Project #7 in Pepsi Refresh

Just one week into October, supporters of the National Inclusion Project are on the way to proving This.Is.The.Month for the foundation to secure a $50,000 grant in the Pepsi Refresh Challenge.

US citizens at least 13 years old have 30 votes to use daily via text, Facebook, and through the Pepsi site. That's three votes a day for the National Inclusion Project from each eligible voter/account in a family.

See the previous Carolina entry -- Clay Aiken Fans Campaign for Inclusion -- for detailed voting alliance/partner lists, "tried and true" suggestions for enlisting new voters, etc.

By registering at the National Inclusion Project home page, you will receive a daily voting reminder and be be eligible for an iPad if the foundation wins the $50k grant this month.

Remember, October is the month!

'Bridge Over Troubled Water' - Clay Aiken
Performance from American Idol 2 Finale.

Who Sings BOTW Best?

The entertainment section of the New York Magazine is asking, "Who did BOTW Best?" The Keytones, Radojka Sverko, Bobby Darin, Clay Aiken, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, or Glee?

You can listen to all seven versions of the gospel classic, but no doubt you already know the correct answer. Be sure to vote here!

Have an awesome week, Clay Nation!

Caro