touch sight taste like fire

Pirates!

2006-07-13T08:57:00.000-07:00

Saw Pirates yesterday... I could live without the first 45 - 60 minutes, but the last 90 minutes were spectacular. The best part is the bad guys... well done and creepy as heck. I'd recommend it.

Work's getting crazy. I've had the assignment to spearhead the BMO Grouse Grind Run dropped in my laps... that's not even my department :|

so many things...

2006-07-10T16:11:00.000-07:00

too much to go through...
Whistler was fun. We had our own suites and all expenses paid. Good times.

Camping was also great. Everything I wish we could stay longer - or at least go back one more time in the summer. I know at least one summer we made it out twice: once for 2 nights at Alouette Lake and again for 3 nights at Sasquatch. No time this summer. Afterall, we ARE going on a cruise in August!!

This year we went to North Beach because it's close to the part of Gold Creek that Barkley liked to play in. We pretty much spent the entire hot, sunny Saturday on the beachy part of the creek, making frequent trips to the water. I've determined that like most labs, Barkley loves the water. I've also determined that UNLIKE most labs, he's afraid to swim. If it's chest deep, he loves it. If it's any further, he'll whimper and whine. He made it to "deep" water a couple times - but only because he wanted the treat in my hand. As soon as he snatched it, he would quickly do his doggy paddle back to shallow water and wouldn't turn around until he was back on dry land. Oh well, it's not affecting his quality of life. If he's perfectly happy splashing around in shallower areas, that's fine too. I'll post some pics if I get them up some time soon.

away we go!

2006-07-05T08:30:00.000-07:00

Long weekend = no work monday.
Worked on tuesday.
Whistler retreat today where we all got our own suites. sweet. suite. sweet.
Get back thursday.
Camping friday.

Just OAR-SOME.

court time

2006-06-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

nope, not tennis court time. Real court time. A previous employer of mine is being sued by a previous employee and I've been summoned to testify. At least I get off work early on a Friday of a long weekend...

The Office has new webisodes coming out in July! Rumor has it that they are 2 minute mini shows following the supporting cast. They have their own plot... not sure if it will be good, but c'mon.. it's THE OFFICE!

back in the day

2006-06-28T09:39:00.000-07:00

Getting back to my tennis playing roots. Some time not too long ago, I played tennis 5 or 6 times a week during the summer and 2 or 3 times during the school year. That included 3 hours a day with our coach plus just hanging out at the club with Kirk, Marcel and Ryan. We ate, breathed, slept tennis. We played the BC Junior Circuit, travelled around playing on clay courts in the interior and grass courts on the island. We thought we were the best (but we weren't) and we had the time of our lives. Then we turned 18, no longer qualified as juniors and we just stopped. Not really sure why... a year or so later, our club because Soccertown. What a waste.

Now I'm getting back into the swing of things (woot! king of bad puns); enjoying the sun and recreational rallying with Jenn. Good times. I don't think getting back into competition is an option though!

how could i forget!

2006-06-26T09:15:00.000-07:00

How could I forget the big Canucks news of the weekend... maybe of the year... maybe of the decade!

The Canucks finally got their superstar goalie and the team honestly isn't any worse for wear... in fact, they probably still have the assets to improve the team immensely.

Luongo, Krajicek and a 6th rounder for Auld, Bertuzzi and Allen.

That means Cloutier is almost definitely GONE. Teams are desperate for goaltending and as much as we like to heckle Clouts in Vancouver, he's among the top tenders. What does Luongo mean for the team? Well, if nothing else, it means no more excuses. Even if Jovocop leaves, which is more than likely, we can't have a more porous D than Florida had. The hot rumor is Clouts, Morrison and a bag of pucks to TB for Lecavalier and some more pucks. That would ultimately mean there's no chance of Jovo here, but c'mon... I'd rather have Vinny.

I've seen Krajicek play - the guy has a ton of skill, but he's not a prototypical defenseman. He's similar to Steve McCarthy - only with more upside. If he's given the chance to lead the PP, he might work out great. I'm just not sure how much room he'll be given to grow because Salo and Ohlund deserve that time just as much.

Ultimately, Luongo might not be here longer than a year and that might be a good thing. Of course I'd love for him to stay long term, but with a new wife and new home in Florida, Vancouver is probably the LAST place he wanted to go - British Columbia being the FURTHEST he could possibly get from there. Nonetheless, Luongo's impact will be huge and I suspect the trade will work out great for Florida as well. It's the perfect market for Bertuzzi - he'll probably only have to talk to the media once a month while he's there and people could care less what's going on. Plus, Keenan is firmly in his corner - something Bert was lacking once Burke left town. I don't think Bert will become the massive force he was three years ago, but he'll still be a dominant player.

this could be a long post...

2006-06-26T08:55:00.000-07:00

...but I won't make it a long one.

AGM went down Thursday and Friday downtown. That meant a lot of good food, boring speeches and a plethora of old people. That also meant this formula: elderly = can't eat a lot of sweets = A LOT of chocolate mousse for me. Good times.

Thursday definitely was a test of endurance. After the AGM, I had two games of ulty on a pretty hot day. It wasn't sweltering, but when you start moving, you heat up quickly! We won both games - the second being a bit more of a challenge. Our team is fast - we handle well, strike well and more often than not, we'll run the other team into the ground. Our second opponent was nowhere near as big - in terms of height - as ours, but boy they were fast. Running on lousy cleats and a hard groundmakes for sore joints.

After that was Blue Steel vs Hell Fish. I've got a bit to say on this, but I'll keep it to myself for now. We won. They need cooler heads on their side and their leaders need to set better examples for their players. Pretty lousy performance on their part. I'm pretty resigned to the fact I'm stuck on the backend for the season. My goals total won't be going p any time soon.

My other team... which I like to say doesn't have a name played on Saturday. We had 6 players in the boiling oven that is Silver at Minoru. We played a weak opponent and scraped by with the victory (thanks to my game winner, ahem. ;)

Sunday was great. Got to spend time with my girlfriend, Barkley and the sun. Played some tennis, lounged with slurpees... good times. Practice for camping, as Jenn put it.

Going on a work retreat to Whistler in July and I'll miss a hockey game or two. Oh well... The schedule is so packed it won't be like I'll be missing much.

holy thursdays batman!

2006-06-22T08:17:00.000-07:00

What a day today! AGM, Ulty, and hockey.
In the words of my girlfriend: woot, woot!

VAG visit

2006-06-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

This was my favorite piece at the exhibit: It wasn't EXACTLY like this, but a similar print.
Oddly enough, the "new" stuff didn't impress me despite this one... it was the quality and preservation of the older pieces that were really quite amazing.

'Canes win!

2006-06-20T14:40:00.000-07:00

The Carolina Hurricane are the the 2005-06 Stanley Cup Champions!

Game 7 was fast paced and end to end - even though the result was never really in question. I guess Edmonton was always "in" it... but it never really felt like it. I might have been among the very few Canadians who didn't really want the Oilers to take it. Would it have been great for Canada? Sure... but I didn't see the series as Canada vs USA. It was Edmonton vs Carolina - top players from both sides being Canadian. Would it have been nice to see a team close to us geographically win? Sure... but I could care less. What would REALLY bother me is obnoxious fans we (as in Canuck fans) would have to endure for seasons to come. In the Northwest Division, we already have to put up with arrogant Calgary fans after their run a year ago; Colorado rivals who managed to beat us out to a playoff spot; the annoyance that is Minnesota; now had Edmonton taken it all, we would have never heard the end of it. It'll be bad enough that they made it to the finals, and I don't imagine they can be as arrogant as Calgary fans when they visited GM Place - but still... let's face it: when October rolls around, we're all enemies again.

I vow to put on "good" weight. That doesn't mean I'm going to be a muscle monkey. God knows I'll never be fat as long as I take care of myself. Good weight: eat healthy, be healthy. It's all I'm asking for.

Going to see Raven Travelling among other exhibits at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Pretty excited... VAG has had some good exhibits. I saw Massive Change when it was here and I saw the Andy Warhol exhibition as well.

all you can eat

2006-06-19T10:22:00.000-07:00

What an eat-fest on Saturday.

Went for all-you-can-eat Japanese at Tomokazu on Broadway. I had never heard of it but apparently, it's insanely popular. They made us verify who we were when we showed for our reservation. Crowds of people were waiting for tables when we left. The menu is fairly extensive, including most of my favorite. Boy did we stuff ourselves silly. I felt like I had one too many Ebi Sushi. Still, I want more.

Threadless is due with some new shirts today, and the hot rumor is there are EIGHT new ones. I haven't seen any yet, but I'll keep checking.

Played probably the dirtiest team I've played this season. The Goat Mountain Grinders have this one catalyst of chippiness and the rest of the team follows. Yeah, I'm talking about you stickerhead. If you want to play that style, take your f'n cage off. You slash, hack, elbow and talk shit. Next time you talk smack, I'll do more than lay you flat on your back with a gloved punch and Alan will do more than run you straight into the ground. Thank god we didn't lose.

it's all fun and games

2006-06-16T12:11:00.000-07:00

This article about Major League pitchers using Video iPods to their advantage is pretty interesting. I guess the technology was always there; intriguing that they're using it now! Boys and their toys... we'll always find a way to make the most of it all!

damn my thumb

2006-06-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

"Sometimes men like to wear stretchy pants... just for fun."

Nacho Libre is a really fun comedy. It's not crude (but also not exactly sophisticated) humour. Jack Black plays the role incredibly perfectly. His ability to make the audience crack up by breaking into his song and dance, figuratively and literally, is fantastic. If you ever plan on seeing it, I would advise seeing it while the crowds are there. "What?!" you may ask. "When it's crowded??" Yup... see it when the crowd is rowdy, loud and in the mood for a lot of laughing. It really helps the atmosphere of the movie. At last night's screening, the crowd was absolutely ROARING. Laughing was seemingly contagious.

My damn thumb is not healing. I guess the inability to NOT use my thumb is not helping. It seems like everyday, I do something that extends it one way or another and re-aggrevates it. What a pain. Haha, what a pun.

....

2006-06-15T13:48:00.000-07:00

geez. I just went through every FSA in the province, trying to determine which are ideal for our campaign and which are a waste of time. Speaking of a waste of time, that took the better part of two days of compiling data and I still have too many.

In other news, my order from Threadless came! Much excitement to be had when i finally get to wear that badboy.

Hockey was insane last night. Played a team called "The Hot Carls." For the love of God, where do they come up with these names?? There's another team called "The Clevland Steamers." For those of you that don't know what those are, check it out on the Urban Dictionary. There's a level of maturity that seems to be lacking...

Anyway, the game itself was crazy. We only had eight players and we were disgustingly short on defense. For a while, it looked like Russell and I would have to play the entire game - and neither of us are true defensemen! We were up for most of the game, ended up giving up the tying goal with 4 seconds left and finally ending with a draw in OT. Boy were we tired! I made a few strategic errors with player shifting, mostly because we got into a bit of penalty trouble and a certain player wanting to play more than most of the team felt he should. Tough call when it's rec league hockey - even though everyone wants to win.

Final Nachooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo screening is tonight.

More threadless goodness

2006-06-13T12:09:00.000-07:00

Threadless redesigned their site and lauched $10 shirts until the 15th. Made a combined order with Ryan. They re-printed some stuff... but they didn't re-print my Fish Tank shirt! Instead, I settled for Captain Awesome.

World Cup Madness!

2006-06-12T09:55:00.000-07:00

So the world's greatest tournament has officially kicked off and there's been some excitement already. I usually HATE watching soccer. I went to a Whitecaps game once and I was bored stiff. It was even a "thriller" that saw the 'Caps win in extra time but it was still a major snoozefest. That said, the World Cup is a different animal with beasts from around the world showing their national colors. With no Canadian entry, it leaves me free to enjoy the game unbiased - although I do like England, Italy and Brazil.

The first full game I got to catch was a match between the heavily favored Swedes against Trinidad. The game was a 0-0 draw but it was uber exciting!! Trinidad played most of the game short two men and using their backup goaltender. The Swedes dominated but couldn't bury the ball. The sheer ecstacy of the Trinidad fans after the game was glorious and the Swedes looked like someone shot their best friend. With 60,000 fans with opposing views crammed into a stadium, a thought a brawl would definitely ensue. Instead, I saw fans with red jerseys shaking hands with the those in yellow; I saw a Swede reach out and pat a Trinidad fan on the back in congratulations; I saw yellow and red hug as they departed from the stadium. Seriously, only in soccer.

Today, Australia was dominating Japan. Japan scored a controversial goal early; the Japanese player definitely interfered with the goalkeeper and the harmless ball sailed freely into the net. With ten minutes left and the shots 15-5 in favor of the Australians, it looked like that goal was going to stand for the Japanese. Suddenly, the Australians erupted for three quick ones and they earned a well-deserved win.

Right now, the much hated Americans are down 3-1 to the high powered Czechs. The US came in ranked 5th - 5 spots higher than the English. It's been often said that the US team can't play in Europe for whatever reason; that's holding true right now!

exploding mentos!

2006-06-09T08:40:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard/seen this, you need to check this out. I'm going to try it someday.

Holy blogger sucks

2006-06-08T11:21:00.001-07:00

Blogger's been down for over twenty-four hours... why couldn't it happen over the weekend when i don't blog?! I was reading another blog comment over at Threadless, and the person was commenting how she was so glad she maintained another online journal or she'd go crazy. I guess some people really need their online creative outlet. Or she really is just crazy.

My head-to-head fantasy baseball team was going along very nicely. I was drifting in and out of first and second, but motoring along at a pretty good clip. Mauer, Pujols, Glaus, Wells, Sizemore, and Rollins were providing a fantastic mix of speed of power. Liriano, Halladay, Lackey and Zito were mowing batters down for me. My weakness (strategically planned, really!) was with my closers. On draft day, I wanted load up everywhere but at that position; my rationale being that closers always are being demoted/promoted. I ended up stacking my roster with fringe closers, out numbering my competitors closers on a daily basis almost 2-to-1. Chris Ray, Kenny Ray, Jorge Julio and JJ Putz (really, that's his name!) are my closers right now. God knows that's going to change multiple times from now til the end. Now my problems have grown substantially. My favorite masher, (and my girlfriend's favorite name in baseball) Albert Pujols (yes, as in POO-HOLES) went down with an injury that will sideline him indefinitely. How do you replace a guy that's leading the league in almost every statistical category?? The waiver wire is thin in a 12 team league - I'm hoping young Andy Phillips who's getting a shot with the Yankees pans out - at least for the short term.

Finally got around to booking a camping trip. The big dilemma was all the regular "hot spots" were booked: 2/3 at Golden Ears, 2/4 at Cultus. We usually go to Allouette at Golden Ears, but that was booked solid. We wanted to take Barkley to Gold Creek because he loved splashing and playing in the water there. Cultus had space at Clear Creek - sounded like the ideal alternative - until I looked at the map. Clear Creek looked more like water from a running hose, as opposed to an actual creek. Not much swimming is happening there! In the end, we decided to go back to Golden Ears, close to Gold Creek, but staying at North Beach. No flush toilets there, but I guess it IS camping! Jenn, the dog and I - all in a 12 man tent. Yes. Really roughing it!

I got roped into being the staff rider carrying the walkie-talkie and first aid equipment for our pre-Trek bike tour. I was never a hardcore biker, but 60km seems like a lot, particularly when it happens in the heat of summer. Ugh.

Oh yeah, and Edmonton is screwed. 5-0 last night in a huge loss to Carolina. I always felt the Oilers were playing WAY over their heads, but I didn't think they'd crash and burn like this. Yikes.

oil not so slick

2006-06-06T12:11:00.000-07:00

The Oilers aren't nearly as slick after losing their goaltender for the rest of the series with a knee injury. I've never been a Roloson fan, but he's been a force between the pipes. I'm sorry, but Conklin and Markanen are not going to do the job. Case in point, what the heck was Conklin doing on the game winning goal? He was Canada's nation goat when he woke up this morning. I'm not a huge fan of Carolina either, but they've got the definitive edge now. The only x-factor is if the Oilers somehow rally, Conklin becomes lights out, or Pronger puts on the goalie pads himself. Carolina in 5.

The weather is apparently going to take a huge turn for the better (well, better than rain anyway) the sun will make its annual summer appearance. High of 31 by Monday? Sounds good to me! Two bad I won't get on the ulty field for two weeks to enjoy it. Blue Steel has a game at the same time this week and next week we're screening Nacho Libre.

yes, it IS a slow monday

2006-06-05T11:22:00.000-07:00

Seriously addicted.

Vanilla Clodhoppers.
'Nuff said.

One of the scariest pieces of news to come out this past weekend: Terrorists with Canadian targets. I guess we've always known of the threat, but this is as close to reality as it's come on our own soil. Some pundants are blaming Harper's heavy involvement. That in addition to Canada's seemingly revolving door policy could spell disaster.

Threadless has new stuff, being Monday and all. Must say, not overly impressed. Oh well, there's always next Monday. I put in an order last week and it's own the way. I got the "Communist Party" (get it?!) shirt for Jenn and "This just sucks" shirt for myself.

Weekend madness

2006-06-05T10:16:00.000-07:00

Or lack of madness.
It was an eventful, yet seemingly calm weekend of events.

I did manage to catch The Da Vinci Code on Friday night. While it didn't deserve the lashing it took from critics everywhere, it wasn't exactly masterful film making. That said, I did enjoy it as a mystery thriller. Having been the only person in the world not to have read the book, I was prepared to screen the film as a movie with no preconceptions. While the Church has reason to be in an uproar over the plot, it's never presented in a way other than fiction. The mystery is entrenched in a theory, which Dan Brown "backs up," but his assertion is hardly one worth batting an eye. Why is it completely contentious to assert that Jesus was human in his actions? Without getting preachy here, Jesus' human ways seem to endear him more to a wider populous, I would think. I'm being intentionally vague because I don't want to give anything away too much. (Although like I said, there's probably no one in the world that doesn't know.)
I also have an issue with Da Vinci's role in a particular part in the story, but I'll save that rant for another time. I'm told that reading the book will clear that section up for me, but I'm still doubtful.

Saturday was a hockey day. I played two games; one beginning at 2pm, the second at 4:20pm. I love playing back-to-back games - I sometimes feel like it takes me a full game to really get my legs under me. Boy was that the case on Saturday. Both my teams were short benched, so I saw a lot of floor time. In the first game, I didn't feel like I had any energy in my legs at all until there was about three minutes left on the clock. It was a fight for first place, we were down by one with three minutes left. After a timeout, Jason elected to put out what he called a "Power" line of me, Colin, Alan and Ray. The problem was I had NEVER played a shift with Colin. We ended up getting a weak shot away, but that was about it. With about 35 seconds left, we pulled the goalie and I hopped on as the extra attacker. Part adrenaline, part getting warmed up, I had legs. I raced into the play and the puck happened to come to me. I fired a shot, it pinballed its way to the side of the net and someone tipped it home. No score in OT, but we were pleased to come out of it with a tie.

Blue Steel was the second game, in another battle not only for first place in the div, but a battle for pride (and a bit of glory) over our rivals, Mojo. It was a really good game; back and forth, good speed, close match. We ended up pulling out despite getting into penalty trouble a few times. We've seemingly adopted a new penalty killing strategy after going something like 0/4 at the beginning. Instead of dumping the puck, we'll rag the puck until we can't hang on any longer. Pretty good for killing time and deflating the other team. Having lost Kevin Levitt as my linemate, and shifting back to D, I was determined to not be as passive as a player, where my assists outnumbered my goals more than 6-to-1! I started the season ok, but the goals aren't coming - the assists are again. Regardless, I'll take the win over personal achievement anyday.

This post is too long now. I'll post something later about terrorism in Canada and stuff on Threadless.

its like... x-men!

2006-06-02T11:17:00.000-07:00

Saw X-Men last weekend and I enjoyed it as a good, popcorn movie. It's one of those films you don't really need to become engrossed in - you can enjoy it with a group of friends and talk about the various mutants and not miss much. It's a lot of fun; nothing more, nothing less. As for the social commentary that's buried within the context of the film - take it for what you want: you can pretty much relate it to whatever you want to.

Probably going to see Da Vinci some time this weekend (maybe tonight). I somehow managed to avoid reading the book, despite reading a new book every week or so. My opinion is untainted, so I'll see it in it's true form on film.

Saw the most bizarre thing in the news the other day: a baby was born with three arms!! (Hence my lead-in with X-men). I couldn't even believe the picture, but I promise you, I didn't photoshop that. While his three limbs aren't all operational, you can't help but imagine that one day, a baby will be born where the extraneous pieces are functional. Then we'll see a whole new debate and situation arise...

Looked forward to playing ulty all week after finishing strong last week. It rained throughout the day. Myles and I weather-watched during the working hours and as it would turn out, we got to play. The weather was anything but ideal; it was wet and showery, yet strangely humid. Strange tropical weather. Anyway, I didn't personally play particularly well, but the team is uber strong for our current div. I ended up getting my thumb jammed and I can't bend it right now. Hopefully I can at least hold a hockey stick for two games on Saturday.

love da tube!

2006-06-01T09:25:00.000-07:00

TV is a strange past time in North America. There's an underlying aura of sloth and obesity than surrounds the television, but yet, it remains a central figure in modern pop culture.

That said, I can admit that I am a victim of this particular technology; though I do not find myself particularly lazy and fat. There's a lot of show that interest me, a few that I love to watch. I don't religiously watch anything - I just happen to enjoy some shows more than others.

I'm on this rant because yesterday, I was quasi-excited to see this show called Extras. It was by the people who do The Office, and I think that's the best comedy out there (partially because of the removal of Arrested Development from our airwaves.) Yesterday's episode featured a guest role by Ben Stiller - seriously, could this get any better? The man behind Zoolander on a show by the creators of The Office??
Wow. I don't even think I bothered watched past the first two and a half minutes. I might be willing to chalk it up to being just a bad episode - or even a bad segment I happen to catch - but it sucked. Mucho disappointe!

Since I'm on the topic of television, I've got to hail my favorite show of the moment (since everything good is seemingly in reruns): Mythbusters. Yes, they're in re-runs themselves like it's going out of style, but it's so freaking informative. They make it fun and entertaining - and they bust myths! How much better can that get? Check it out: Discovery Channel.

H-E-double hockey sticks

2006-05-31T10:44:00.000-07:00

So I've been contemplating getting a new stick. I got a new shaft recently, so why do I want a new one? I want a new one piece. I have an old Nike Apollo which I might ressurect. And the key word is new. I like new things.

It also looks like green is the new "in" color. I personally like the white sticks, but bright neon is popular with the newer composites. Warrior, Reebok, Bauer and Mission all have the green theme. I'm looking at the Mission Axis. Clearly a lower end product on their spectrum, but it'll probably suit my needs. At less than $60 from Inline Warehouse, how can you go wrong? But again, I don't NEED it. I'm on a five game goal scoring streak with my Easton Ultralite, so hmmm....

All American Rejects

2006-05-31T08:37:00.000-07:00

AAR is the band of choice right now.
Heck, I even got tickets as soon as they went on sale for their small performance down at the Croatia Cultural Centre in July.
Favorite song right now is Dance Inside, followed closely by Dirty Little Secret, It Ends Tonight, and Move Along. All the other tracks on Move Along are great too. That list doesn't even mention their older stuff I like such as Swing Swing and My Paper Heart. Good stuff.

In other music news, I heard on Z the other day that James Blunt music was being banned on UK airwaves? The reason: it wasn't because he said something stupid, or was behaving poorly - it was because his music was being overplayed. Overplayed. Geez, way to cut the guy a break. And the ultimate irony was that it was Z reporting something was being overplayed.

Threadless

2006-05-30T13:01:00.000-07:00

I'll admit it, despite my obvious manliness. I love shopping, buying new things. I'll also admit I have a thing for shoes (mostly diesel or similar styles) - but as the warm weather rolls around, I absolutely love seeking out those funky t-shirts that no one else will have, i.e. you can't run down to American Eagle and pick one up for you and your dog.

Segue to Threadless.com.
I love that site and someday soon, I will make an order. I'm just waiting for my "Fish Tank" to reprint and I might pick up the Red Cross shirt. It's for a good cause and, well, it's cool.

The start of something new...

2006-05-30T08:33:00.000-07:00

Why did that title just remind me of eggs? Or at least an egg commercial?

Starting a new blog that will be more random and more about nothing more than something.

I think I'm alone on this. Well, at least I KNOW I'm at least in the minority on this - I think America has lost touch with the purpose of American Idol. You want someone who is talented. You want someone who is marketable. You want someone who can represent you. In the battle of Taylor Hicks vs Katherine McPhee, it should have been no contest. Katherine is by far the better choice in the long run. Taylor has zero marketability and he'll go the way of Rueben and Fantasia. He might achieve some early Clay success, but he'll be no Kelly Clarkson.