The trials and tribulations of the remote fan: Jonerz’ story

Posted on 10/15/2012 by JONERZ

Photo edit: Shelley

I don’t know who this Gladys person is but if I met her in person right now I would glomp onto her and give her the biggest “Archu-Squishes” imaginable. Look out Gladys … I’m coming for you!!!

I was in Indy over the weekend for a get-together with some fan friends. I decided not to bring my laptop. I thought I could use a break. I’m not gonna lie, lately I’ve been feeling a little bit glum about our fan futures. Since BEGIN. dropped I’ve felt there has been a new level of detachment from David and his previous “life”.  I’m not judging him, he is entitled to whatever he needs to do during this phase of his existence, I guess I was just trying to figure out what I needed to do during this next phase of MY existence and I decided to venture out into the world of “disconnection.”

I think my weekend fan friends would tell you I’m a realist. We had many heartfelt conversations about what to expect from David in the future. In my “realistic” frame of mind, I shared my thoughts that he may be quite different when he returns. He may choose to dial it down several notches and bypass the whole mainstream music scene.

Maybe, when he reflected back on his previous life, he would decide that the pressures of the industry were not for him, and that people trying to mold him into someone he’s not comfortable with, or fans dissecting every move he made in his life, had finally gotten to the point that he felt comfortable with saying ADIOS!

Maybe he was enjoying his less complicated lifestyle with no focus on what he was saying, doing, wearing or worries about how to make upcoming tours and appearances worthwhile and entertaining was very “freeing” to him.  Maybe he decided that this whole performing thing was overrated and NOT for him.

Enter Gladys.

So here I was in my Indy hotel room at 1:30 in the morning, just about ready to retire, when I decided to check twitter on my phone. Suddenly I’m seeing random tweets about turquoise ties and white hats and boxing.  WUT??????  *twitch*  *heart palpitations* *sweaty palms* 

I was FREAKING OUT!!!  GAH!!!!  OMG!!!!  What’s happening, what’s happening!!!????  (You STUPID fan for not bringing your laptop!!!)  My cellphone battery was getting low. No….NOOOOOO!!!!  I was BESIDE MYSELF!! I needed to call in the reserves!!!  I sprung into action. I sent out a frantic plea to one of my dependable followers in the Twitter DM underground, “Scooopp me!!!! What happened tonight??!!!!”

Now it starts to get funny.

When I informed my beloved fellow fan that I didn’t have my computer, her response was total disbelief: “YOU’RE TRAVELING WITHOUT YOUR LAPTOP!!!!!????,” like I was someone with ASTHMA traveling without my inhaler!!  LOL

….and then…the beloved fan phone call…

—“Eye of the TIGER???”  Seriously???  He’s KICKBOXING AND PUNCHING??  Am I in an alternate universe???

…and he is down on his knee with a WHITE hat on?! (David…no worries…you don’t have to wear white…they SURRENDERED the minute the first note FLEW out of your mouth!!) … then FLIPS it out into the audience?!?!?!?!!?  WUT???!!!!????  GETOUTOFTOWN!!!!!  NOOOOO!!!!!

FREAKING OUUTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!

OMG!!!

I’m going to be totally honest with you. This is the first night in 6 months that I went to  sleep with a smile on my face. The first time in a while that I’ve felt optimism and hope.  It was an indescribable, happy feeling…

..and a connection to all of those that “understood” what I was going through….

It was a WONDERFUL night…

…brought to all of us….by DAVID

and his devoted and beloved fans.

THANK YOU, GLADYS <3333

~ Jonerz

Posted in Fan experience | Tagged , | 40 Comments

October 13 concert cell cast (not really)

Posted on 10/13/2012 by TOfan

There may or may not be a certain musical event happening in a certain South American nation starring a certain musical genius this very evening … the publicity materials for said possibly maybe event mentioned that the songs included would be both sacred and from the m.g.’s “pop repertoire” …  no recording or photography are allowed but no mention was made of cell casts, so here we go with a transcript  (not really aka en realidad no) …

crackle, crackle, crackle

Fans around the globe hear nothing but the hiss and pop of the worst phone line in history… and yet they can’t step away … almost at the same moment they stare at their copy of the tour poster … the original smuggled out of the continent on the back of a burro that vaguely resembled Ryan Seacrest… the picture was clearly taken before the m.g. had his super-short dimple-enhancing hair trim, and while his name tag was in the wash….

No cameras are allowed in the venue, but one super ninja security guard (who wears his “I ♥ Elder Archuleta” t-shirt under his security uniform) takes this one shot because he feels our pain….

To the chants of El-der! El-der! El-der! a silhouette appears behind the curtain as a heartbeat thumping rises to a crescendo … not from the sound system but the actual heartbeats of everyone there…

A hush falls over the crowd as the curtain rises slowly to reveal a grand piano at centre stage….

Everyone listening cranks up the volume on the cell cast as the first notes of THAT VOICE ring clearly through all the crackling and hissing on the line… what IS that song? Is it a hymn? A traditional Spanish ballad? Zero Gravity?… no one has heard this music before but it’s hypnotizing, mesmerizing… every single person listening has their own personal reaction….

It seems like forever he’s been gone … and yet only yesterday that he left …. gotta get my watch fixed …..

The songs are breathtakingly beautiful so far … crackle, crackle, crackle … “I’d like to make an Announcement”

phew, he’s only announcing intermission….

“Please stop by the merch table … but only if you feel like it … and don’t have to make a stop at the washroom or anything …..”

After a second half that includes some very moving speeches, a laser light show, Modest is Hottest Dance Crew, tasteful dougie lessons, and a guest appearance by Charice (at least that’s what it sounded like on the cell cast)… the m.g. comes out for his final encore … even through the crackling you can hear the sounds of Costco-sized crates of tissues being ripped open… and this….

p.s. absolutely NO disrespect intended please please please believe me… I just can’t help myself sometimes 🙂

************

p.p.s. eeeeeeeeeek apparently our musical genius took things waaaaaay further than I even imagined, lol … and since this was a public event, I’m sharing some snippets from Gladys (who attended the event) from last night’s chat at The Voice… for more deets, stay posted at http://thevoicedavidarchuleta.com for Gladys’s story (all caps are hers… can you blame her? 🙂 :

I’M GOING TO SHARE THINGS IN GENERAL TO SWEETEN THINGS A BIT, HE SANG IMAGINE, DANCED SALSA, A SONG BY CELIA CRUZ, AND DANCED LIKE AL JOHNSON [Al Jolson?]
KARATE KICKS, DAVID WAS CRAZY
HE WORE A WHITE HAT AND AND DID SOME DANCE STEPS AND SANG CLOSE BY COELLO
HE ACTED LIKE HE WAS PREPARING FOR A BOXING MATCH, THREW SOME PUNCHES IN THE AIR AND THEN HE SANG
SONGS THAT ARE WELL KNOWN IN ENGLISH, WHEN SHE FINDS THE NAMES TO THE SONGS SHE’LL TELL US
HE SANG ITS A A WONDERFUL WORLD!!!
AS A TRIBUTE TO THE ELDERS HE SANG DIXIE BY AL JOHNSON Y KNEELED DOWN. DAVID WAS ON FIRE AND WHEN HE DANCED SALSA AHHHHHHHHH
HE WORE THE WHITE HAT TO SING THE AL JONSON SONG, WHEN HE FINISHED HE THREW THE HATS TO THE PUBLIC, I NEVER SEEN HIM LIKE THIS
HE ALSO SANG IMAGINE, A THOUSAND MILES, HERO IN SPANISH AND DREAM A MORNING? IN SPANISH
HE SANG AN ARGENTINIEN SONG AND I FAINTED, IT’S CALLED THANKS TO LIFE, ITS A BEAUTIFUL SONG
EVERYTHING WAS IN SPANISH, HE DIDN’T SPEAK ENGLISH, HE GAVE A PERFECT SPEECH IN SPANISH
WHEN HE FINISHED SINGING, HE SAID THAT IN HIS COUNTRY, THE AUDIENCE ASKED FOR MORE BUT HE DIDN’T KNOW HOW SOME THINGS WERE SAID IN SPANISH
THEY TOOK HIM OUT HURRIEDLY, HE WANTED TO GREET BUT THEY DIDN’T LET HIM
HE SMILED ALL THE TIME AND SAID THAT HE WAS HOT
HE WIPED HIS SWEAT OFTEN AND THEN HE APOLOGIZED FOR THE BOXING ACT BECAUSE MISSIONARIES DONT DO THAT AND LAUGHED ALOT, HE IS NO LONGER THIN LOOKING
E LOOKS GOOD AND HAS GROWN SOME, BIGGER BODY
HE DID ALL THIS DANCING IN A SUIT, MY GOD, I CRIED, A THE GIRL NEXT TO ME DID TOO. WE COULDN’T BELIEVE WHAT WE WERE WATCHING, WE COULDN’T BELIEVE WHAT WE WERE SEEING, NOT TIMID, IT DIDN’ T EXIST
HE SAID THAT THE DECISION TO GO ON A MISSION WAS SOMETHING THAT CAME FROM HIS HEART, JUST LIKE THE MUSIC, IT WAS A DIFICULT DECISION BUT SOMETHING HE HAD TO DO
HE SANG MANY HYMNS, AT THE BEGINNING WE WERE SCOLDED BECUASE WE SCREAMED AND CLAPPED, BUT THEN IT COULDNT BE HELPED
HE ASKED US TO STAND AND DANCE WITH HIM WHEN HE SANG SONG BY CELIA CRUZ DANCED SALSA, HE WAS SERIOUSLY DANCING, HE SAID HE LIKED THAT THE AUDIENCE DANCED WITH HIM NOT LIKE MANY NORTH AMERICANS THAT STAY SEATED
TO SEE DAVID DANCE AND KNEEL TO SING, KARATE KICK IS SOMETHING I WILL NEVER FORGET WHILE I’M ALIVE
WHEN THEY STARTED PLAYING THE NOTES OF ROCKY SONG, HE STARTED MOVING HIS ARMS TO THE BACK LIKE BOXERS, THEN TO THE FRONT, AND THEN SHADOW BOXED WITH AN IMAGINARY BOXER, IT WAS FUNNY
AND THEN KICKING THE AIR LIKE A KICK BOXER, UNDERSTAND THAT I NEVER IN MY LIFE THOUGHT DAVID WAS GOING TO DO ANYTHING LIKE THIS
 
IF YOU WOULD’VE SEEN WHEN HE STARTED THE AL JOLSON SONG, HE STOOD NEXT TO COELLO AND THEY STARTED SINGING, THEN BOTH PUT ON THE WHITE HATS AND DAVID CAME TO THE CENTER OF THE STAGE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP
AND SANG AND MOVED ALOT AND TO FINISH HE KNEELED DOWN AND MOTIONED TO COELLO TO KEEP PLAYING
DAVID WAS IN ANOTHER WORLD 

WHEN COELLO STOPPED PAYING,HE ASKED HIM TO KEEP PLAYING!
TEN CHAIRS AT EACH SIDE, 20 ROWS AND MORE PEEPS IN THE BACK
JUST HIM AND PIANO PLAYER POCO
TURQOUISE TIE

Song list?

despues (after the church songs)

I’m strong
un minuto mas (one minute more)
sueñas (dreams)
heroe (hero)
Heaven
A thousand miles
Eye of the Tiger

[From David Archuleta Venezuela]

-David sang in English: How Firm A Foundation, I’m Trying To Be Like Jesus, Everybody Hurts, A Thousand Miles, Heaven, I’m Strong, Eye of the Tiger, Imagine, Dixie, and What a Wonderful World.

-David sang in Spanish: Hero (Hero de Mariah Carey Spanish version), dreams, One Minute More (Spanish version), Gracias A La Vida, the life is a Carnival and several hymns.

Posted in Fan experience | Tagged , | 22 Comments

Going with the flow, part 2: Archugeezer’s story

Posted on 10/12/2012 by TOfan

Source: Tumblr/peacelovedavid

The lovely Archugeezer sent me a response to my last post about “soft-selling” David and “going with the flow” that was too long to go in the comments (yay! 🙂 ) … I loved every word and wanted to share with you guys …

I relate. I finally figured out why relatives scattered in droves when I showed up flashing David Archuleta CDs. I am doing much better at “going with the flow,” but I tend to remain at high risk for a relapse. This past weekend we went to Utah for a football game. Hubby tends to plan business errands all the way down and back. What I call a “getaway,” he calls “efficiency,” and for some reason this little road trip had David Archuleta along as the unexpected guest. For instance:

We have a second store in Twin Falls (South Central Idaho). It is only a few miles off the beaten path, but we stopped to deliver stuff and pick up stuff. The manager there (guy, late 20’s) greeted me and said, “I know you like David Archuleta’s music. Have you heard his album, BEGIN.?” I said “a little.” 🙂 He proceeded to praise David’s voice and interpretation, etc. Of course I joined in on the gushing, and then when we left, I thought about David and his music for at least the next 100 miles.

The next stop was in Brigham City, Utah, and another store — not ours, but affiliated in our buying group. David’s BEGIN was playing in the store! Why were people moving about?? Stop! Pay attention! I was wounded, LOL.

Later that day, shortly before the game in Provo, we made a stop at the MTC (Missionary Training Center). You must have security clearance to get into that place these days, so while we waited for the guard to call and make sure our name was on the list, I looked around at several flocks of missionaries. Some were walking between classes; some were exercising (running); several were just coming back from the temple across the street; all were smiling. When we got to the front door, another friendly missionary flock came out to take the packages out of the car for my husband. If one doesn’t think of David in those surroundings, one never thinks of David.

It was a fast trip, an overnighter; and I was wiped out by the time we drove the 350 miles back to Boise the next morning. I crashed in front of the TV long before dusk and was channel surfing for something, anything. I landed on a documentary called “The White Palace.” It was a 90-minute piece about the 100-year history of Hotel Utah. I used to work in downtown Salt Lake City, so I settled in to watch. I found it to be quite interesting and began to record it for my husband to see later. During the last five minutes of the program, I spotted David! What??? Yep, there he was, in a collage of famous people whose presence had graced that building.

So, if you are a longtime (circa 2008) David Archuleta fan who has relished his every word and note and deed, you can attempt to just relax and go with the flow; but sometimes you have to swim upstream to do it.

~ Archugeezer

P.S. I can totally relate … all in one day last week, these three things happened:

1. I was browsing in my favourite store, Winners, at lunch and heard this:

2. A friend called to say he’d discovered a really fun new game … Apples to Apples …

3. I had dinner at a Thai restaurant, looked up and saw this photo beside me on the wall 🙂 :


Dang you, Archuleta!!!!!!!!!

How about you guys, can you relate?

Posted in Fan experience | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Don’t know what I’m doing here, how I landed in this space… but it’s a good place

Posted on 10/09/2012 by TOfan

These stats cover the period of September 30, 2012, to October 6, 2012.

How awesome are these David Archuleta stats on the right? A 97% jump in Facebook page likes?! … 46.8% new Twitter followers?!?

Thanks to the lovely @jonerz, I subscribe to “Next Big Sound,” a service that tracks social media stats for performers.

After David made his big Announcement, I almost cancelled my subscription, figuring it would be too depressing to watch the numbers steadily fall for two years. But something stopped me from doing that, and I’m glad.

Sure, there’s been some fluctuation here and there, but considering I was expecting the worst, it’s been nice to be pleasantly surprised by David slowly, but steadily, gaining new followers/likes/views etc.

I must admit though, I’m trying not to care so much about the progress of David’s career. In fact, this past Thanksgiving weekend, I took a short road trip with my sister to visit my niece at her university town and asked if my sister wanted to hear BEGIN. in the car. (I’d gifted her the album via iTunes, and she said she was looking forward to downloading it to her iPod and listening to it.)

Imagine my shock and dismay when I plugged her iPod into her car stereo jack but couldn’t find BEGIN. anywhere on her iTunes. She hadn’t even listened to it yet. sheesh

A year ago, I probably would have started ranting to her about how amazing it is and how she NEEDS to download it right away and listen. But this time, even though I was disappointed, I didn’t say anything. I’ve come to realize browbeating people into listening to his songs probably isn’t doing David any favours, lol. So now I gift his CDs to only those people I think would enjoy them and then say no more…. “soft sell,” I think they call it. 🙂

Sure, I want more people to hear his amazing music, but I’ve come to realize that coming on too strong — whether to friends, family, radio peeps, media, bloggers, or on Twitter — can be a big turnoff and can backfire. I also don’t want to do any more worrying or second-guessing about his career choices. That’s his business… literally.

Instead, I’m gonna go with the flow … wherever that goes…..

Posted in Fan experience | Tagged | 12 Comments

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving weekend!

Posted on 10/04/2012 by TOfan

Does it not look like he’s playing a harmonica here? 🙂

This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving waaaaaay up here in the Great White North (not white yet, but give us a few weeks), coincidentally coinciding with the two year anniversary of David Archuleta’s “The Other Side of Down” album release.

How fortuitous. Like many (hopefully most) of you, I am very very very thankful for TOSOD. Since David’s given us so much more music since then (live and on record), going back to listen to TOSOD now is like a taking a lovely trip back home to visit dear friends.

My very first listen of the album (I confess it was from those blasted leaked youTubes) was with the lovely Refnaf, KT and RamblingDA (Lorna). My instant top faves were TOSOD, Elevator, STR and MKOP. Even though I’ve come to love other songs, those are still my favourites. And when the ATE edition came out, I also loved Love Don’t Hate and Notice Me.

I’m still convinced that if stoooopid Jive had done their job properly and booked David on some live performances of those songs on prime time TV (which is where many of us discovered him, after all), he’d have had some hits from that awesome album. It’s weird to see random people on Twitter discovering those songs only now, better late than never I guess.

Anyway, back to Thanksgiving … I’m grateful for David, of course, and all the music he’s left us, but most of all I’d like to say a big huge thank you to everyone who’s reading this or who has ever dropped by, lurked, hovered, or taken the time to share your thoughts… I can’t tell you how grateful I am that I connected with such a fun, funny, fascinating, quirky, diverse, just-as-crazy-as-I-am-but-with-exquisite-taste-in-music bunch of people as you guys. Who’s in for a group hug?

I was trying to think that if I had to pick one David-related thing to be thankful for, what would it be and, wow, my list got really long. What I kept coming back to was that night I stumbled on him singing Shop Around… 1:54 minutes that changed my life.

How about you guys? What David-related thing/moment/event/perf. are you most grateful for?

P.S.

Just read this from @weiyannn on Twitter and had to share! 😆

Reasons why I love The Other Side Of Down (the song):

1) The lyrics are amazing. It’s hopeful, positive and uplifting, without sounding too cheesy.

2) He sounds super sexy in the song.

3) I love how he sounds so sexy AND optimistic at the same time. It’s like a “F*ck you life, I’m sexy and you’re not gonna knock me down that easily.” kind of thing.

4) It has an addictive bassline.

5) The backing vocals are cool. Especially in the chorus, at “other,” “stride,” “climbing,” “fighting,” and obviously the “down, down” parts, and also the bridge where he goes “the other side of down.”

6) His cute “one foot front of the other” dance when he performs this song live.

7) The acoustic version is ace.

8) The “hah!”

9) The first time I heard this song live, we made him laugh because we were singing along and he went “you guys know this song!” Any interaction with David makes me happy. It is also a happy memory.

10) When he performed this at Avalon (in Singapore 2012), the fans were all singing along and it was the best 3 minutes of my life because I felt like the love we felt for him was mutual. And it was so so much fun. We even did the “hah!” for him and everything, and we knew all his rifts and all the little changes he does to the song when he performs it live that he had to come up with new ones.

11) It is a very non-fan-friendly song. All my friends who aren’t big fans of David love this song, and it makes me happy. I have friends who listen to very little english pop who actually like this song. A song with a good message that people love!

12) I love how it represents David so well, sexy and optimistic. (See point 3.)

13) It is David’s favourite song on the album, so I love it even more haha.

14) It was influenced by A Fine Frenzy and I fricking love her.

15) Sometimes it reminds me of how David had to fight (not literally FIGHT) to have this album the way he wanted it to be, and this song in particular makes me feel very proud of him.

Random story: TOSOD was one of the only previews I listened to from this album, other than SBL and Elevator. The first time I listened to it I loved it so much I fell off my chair and just laid on the floor like a fish out of water, as if I was having a seizure or something. It was scary and weird, but nevertheless a funny memory. Lol.

P.P.S.

Gonna add “grateful for Kari” to my list…. 🙂

Posted in Fan experience | Tagged , , , | 24 Comments

So why don’t we go, somewhere only we know

Posted on 10/02/2012 by TOfan

I took this video driving through Vermont last week (holding my iPod out the sunroof… don’t worry, I was in the passenger seat). Driving along, David was on the stereo (surprise, surprise) and this song seemed like the perfect fit for this country road.

I walked across an empty land
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand
I felt the earth beneath my feet
Sat by the river and it made me complete

Oh simple thing where have you gone?
I’m getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you’re gonna let me in
I’m getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

I came across a fallen tree
I felt the branches of it looking at me
Is this the place we used to love?
Is this the place that I’ve been dreaming of?

Oh simple thing where have you gone?
I’m getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you’re gonna let me in
I’m getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

And if you have a minute why don’t we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything
So why don’t we go
Somewhere only we know?
Somewhere only we know?

When I transferred it to iMovie, my little narrow iPod view widened into this strange, distorted view but it looked sort of dreamy so I left it like that.

(Sorry in advance for any motion sickness. 🙂 )

Posted in Fan experience | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

@DavidArchie vlog tags revisited

Posted on 09/29/2012 by abanana77

In honour of abanana77’s birthday, I was planning to repost her amazing David vlog tags blog (especially since those beloved tags have mysteriously disappeared from his vlogs 😦 ), but major fail, I missed her actual b-day (which is the same as Google’s, so I have no excuse). So please join me in wishing Agent Banana a belated happy birthday, and enjoy rereading her tag blog below. —TOfan
*****************

Photos/collage: Miss Bianca

In this Archu-drought, I know a lot of people have been rewatching David’s old vlogs (I know I have). It’s great because you can watch his smiley face talk about how excited he is for stuff that is “coming up,” and we know how it all ultimately turns out. It helps remind me of all the amazingness that David and the fans have been through in the last couple of years.

I love every part of the vlogs: The “Hey guys, it’s David here,” his giggles and random smiles, his “more info” section and his “I’ll talk to you guys later!” But one of my favourite parts of the vlog (which, in my opinion, is super-underrated) is the tags. I find they give a teeny tiny bit of insight into David’s quirky self. So let’s take a quick look at some of my favourite YouTube tags:

“Blog in Canada“:

More info: So I’m not sure why these take so long to get up and going after uploading them. If you have suggestions on what I should do so they are uploaded sooner I’d love to know haha – I did this early in the morning haha, so I’m a little tired but I guess I wouldn’t make too much more sense if I was awake either. I’ll try to make another one as soon as possible!

Tags: David Archuleta Canada video blog Toronto

I love this vlog, and I’m sure it’s also very close to a lot of your hearts. But I got a little bit more excited about it when I discovered that the first tag David ever typed that wasn’t his name was “Canada”! How awesome is that? I know technically this isn’t his first vlog (he had those Q&A ones before), but the tags on that one are: david archuleta american idol season archie archuletta james simon cowell radny jackson paula abdul id, which I think we can safely say is not David himself just purely based on the lack of capital letters and the misspelling of “randy”. The Toronto vlog tags are his first tags, and they are quite short and to the point. We’ll see him get further away from that in later vlogs.

“New York” vlog:

More info: FINALLY got another blog up giving an update on what went on this weekend. Sorry it took so long, I just avoid making them since I have such major issues making anything that involved me talking. I should probably find a way to take blog-making classes or something.

Tags: and Archuleta at blogging Break concert David Matt Method Nathanson New Repair Suck The York.

At first when I saw this, I was really confused about the lack of order of his tags. Then I realized (I am a little slow sometimes) that youtube, for some reason, put his tags in alphabetical order. So I took it upon myself to solve the puzzle and figure out what he was saying: Obviously “David Archuleta” goes together, “The Break and Repair Method” was a band he was talking about at the “Matt Nathanson conert”, and “New” obviously goes with “York”. This leaves us with “Suck at blogging”. Haha, oh David.

“Atlanta Airport” vlog:

More info: At the airport wandering around with Kendra, the keyboardist on tour, during a layover. Sorry, I know my voice is excruciatingly gaspy and more hoarse-sounding than it already usually sounds. But it’s because my voice really dries out on airplane rides haha. Just thought I’d share our interesting finds in one of the stores there. I was late uploading it because it took me forever to find a cable to hook up the camera to my computer.

Tags: David Archuleta Kendra Atlanta Airport Wind-up snake animals doo

The “doo” speaks for itself.

“Days off. Rising Star Outreach.” vlog:

More info: Just talking about what has gone on this week. I know it’s not that exciting haha. But just thought I’d share what’s been going on. Also if you want to learn more about Rising Star Outreach go to Risingstaroutreach.org. Thanks!

Tags: David Archuleta Arizona Rising Star Outreach orange pen tired Oklahoma Mom Kendra Coraline Texas Albuquerque New Mexico

I think this is the first vlog where I really noticed his hilarious tags. I guess I’d never really looked at them before that, but when I read “orange pen”, it really struck me as funny. And ever since then I became an avid tag reader.

“May Day” vlog:

More info: I apologize for the lighting. Had a good week of writing! I have the weekend off in LA so I’ll be spending time with some friends. Back to work on Monday. Took a cab drive which was pretty expensive, left my suitcase in the trunk, and took the Metro for my first time to go back. Fun week 🙂

Tags: David Archuleta May Day Cinco De Mayo Metro Cab

I find this one amusing because he went a little bit Capital Letter Crazy. Haha

Here are a couple more that I find hilarious:

“Allentown Blog“:

More info: I made a video quick backstage at the Crocodile Rock venue in Allentown, Pennsylvania. You can hear Lesley performing a little in the background haha. But I just talk a little about what’s been going on, and how I’ve been trying to stay healthy haha. I’ve been eating a lot more vegetables and fruits lately, thanks to Kendra haha. She’s keeping me in line. I’m trying to stay away from a lot of chocolate and unhealthy stuff to keep my health up, which kills me sometimes because I love that stuff so much! 😦 . But it’ll be worth it if I can keep it up! Thanks for coming to the show you guys! Can’t wait for the rest of the tour!

Tags: David Archuleta Allentown Pennsylvania Backstage Crocodile Rock Lesley Roy Treats unfortunately are unhealthy for you he

“Empty Airport Hall” vlog:

More info: Back in the states for a bit. Notice how the hall I’m in never ends!! I was wondering if I was going the right way or not. I apologize again for how scary-looking I am. I had been traveling for like 20 hours, with the last flight being for a straight 16 hours. It was a fun flight though. Singapore Airline flight attendants are really nice. haha.

Tags: David Archuleta Airport creepy empty hall echo Malaysia Singapore Manila Philippines McFly UK

“My voice is back!” vlog:

More info: I’ve been on voice rest for the last little while since I lost my voice, and it’s been pretty rough. But it’s back! I’m glad for that. My buddy Ashlee has been on tour so I have a friend, and so everyone else does too because everyone gets along with her pretty well haha. I’m sorry that this is so long without much meaning to it. I’ve been kind of out of it for the last few days. Maybe it’s because of my allergy medicine I was taking lol. Anyway if you end up watching it all I hope you were at least somewhat entertained.

Tags: David Archuleta Demi Lovato Tour Jordan Pruitt KSM Michigan Clarkston Ashlee Lame long boring makes no sense

“Bye bye wisdom teeth” vlog:

More info: So today is the day that my wisdom teeth will be getting pulled out. Oh joy. It’s an exciting time guys lol. But I’ve been enjoying running this week and getting some exercise in! Today might be my last day of running for a while though since Idk how long I’ll need to recover… But I’m just anxious to get this all over with!

Tags: David Archuleta wisdom teeth pulled running dentist medication

“Haircut?” vlog:

More info:Should I listen to my mom and wait for a haircut? Or no? ha..

Tags: David Archuleta Duke Haircut beach

“Puffy Cheeks-B-Gone” vlog:

More info: I gave up on the last blog, so I just made a new one. My cheeks are finally back to normal! I’ve had a nice time recovering though and relaxing. Went to the Colbie Caillat concert! Was awesome getting to see her again. She’s one of the nicest, casually cool people you could meet. Been exercising and getting back in shape! Going to Nashville for the week to start working on some writing and new projects. Christmas album comes out October 13th! Next week! woot woot

Tags: David Archuleta Colbie Caillat Nashville P90X Benton Paul wisdom teeth cheeks puffy

“Happy Late Mother’s Day!” vlog:

More info: Sorry this is so late! I really did try hard to get a video blog up on Saturday but it just wouldn’t work. Hope everyone had a great Mother’s Day though! What did you guys do for the weekend?? “Chords of Strength” comes out in a few weeks! Going on the book tour soon too.

Tags: David Archuleta Mother’s Day mothers madres mom mama sisters Chords of Strength

Random facts you probably did not know about David’s tags:

1. The fewest number of tags used in one vlog: 5 (in the Haircut vlog and the Claudia’s birthday vlog).

2. The greatest number of tags used in one vlog: 18 (in the vlog about his sister’s new cats).

3. There’s a total of 331 tags in over 30 videos. That’s an average of about 11 tags per video.

4. 70% of the tags are capitalized (either because they are names of people or places or he just felt like putting in capital letters).

5. David made no spelling mistakes in his tags.

6. Surprisingly, “haha” never made the list of tags.

7. The Detroit Airport vlog is the only one where words should have been capitalized but weren’t: indianapolis, detroit, david, cook all should have been capitalized (he did capitalize his own name though). Oh, and in the Christmas tour vlog he had “Christmas from the heart” which could have been capitalized since it’s the name of his album.

8. Only in two of the vlogs does his name not appear in the tags (the Invisible Children and the Christmas tour vlog).

9. Three of his family members made the list of tags: Claudia, his mom and Jazzy. Three of his family pets also made the lists of tags: Katsu, Tsuki and Duke.

Well, there you have it! A teeny tiny peek into the weird and wonderful brain of David Archuleta through his choice of vlog tags 😀

— abanana77
P.S. Download Miss Bianca‘s full “postage stamp” Twitter background HERE.

P.P.S. If you’d like to download any of David’s vlogs, the lovely Sarah at Absolute Archies has all the links HERE.

Posted in Fan experience | Tagged , | 19 Comments

Tweet poll: Decoding David

Posted on 09/28/2012 by TOfan

Sorry for the absence, all, I’m away on vacation in lovely Vermont and Quebec.

The pic above is my favourite tree I’ve seen so far, if anyone’s interested, lol.

Vacations are great for pondering and I got thinking about David’s last “tweet” … since we won’t be hearing from him directly till 2014, we need to confine our obsessing to these indirect messages, right? 🙂

Please take this (tongue firmly in cheek) poll and share your own thoughts, outrage, or random musings in the comments!

P.S.

Thx. Kari, but we need videooooooooooo

Posted in Fan experience | 5 Comments

Feelin’ groooovy

Posted on 09/23/2012 by TOfan

brb, dying (source)

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Fast-forward to 2012…..

“Ha ha, most amusing … I am SO much more mature now….”

P.S.

Full Guitar Hero commercial that I only vaguely remember from the AI7 Tour, lol:

Posted in Fan experience, Utter nonsense | Tagged , | 9 Comments

That brief moment when @DavidArchie sang Adele

Posted on 09/21/2012 by TOfan

The lovely and amazing @betsyjane25 tweeted a link to this vid last night and it was just what I needed to see, can’t really explain why.

What I can tell you are some of the random thoughts that ricocheted around my brain as I watched it… thoughts like:

Omigosh I forgot about this videoooooo!!!! … how on Earth can she sing while David freakin Archuleta’s playing the piano?????? … wow he’s really playing, so focused and serious… is that a Josh Bradley jacket? … she’s actually pretty good … yay, she stopped!! … go, David, go! … aww he’s trying to help her remember the words …. eeeeeeeeeee HE’S SINGING …. HE’S SINGING ADEEEELLLLLEEEEEE … asdlfkasjdflkasjdflkajflkajlfj *turns up volume* asd;lfksdjfksdajfasldkfsdjfksdjfkak “Yesterdaaay was the tiiiime of our liiiiiiiiiiiiiives” … yes it was, David … Feb. 2008 to March 2012 to be exact … ***SOBS***… girl with the striped shirt I’m sure you’re wonderful but PLEASE SIT DOWN NOW …. why is she not sitting down???? … he is way too nice… who could not love him, I mean, seriously … all those lucky peeps just hanging out jamming with The Archuleta nbd … random singing and playing during NA breaks … no wonder he loved it there … *SOBS MORE* … omigosh there’s Jasmine, playing it cool, looking not interested in the amazingness going on … just like Anya… ya right, hahaha … what does he need to do to impress her? A handstand?? lol … “NEVER MIIIIND I’LL FIND SOMEONE LIKE YOUUUUU”… yikes he is pounding the life out of those keys, he must be tough on pianos, lol … bring it home, David!!!! ….aww, he messed up and flashed his dimple…adorbs… I wonder if it’s harder to play that if you’re left-handed? … wait, he doesn’t know the rest of the song???… we do not believe you, David…*rewinds to David singing parts*

How about you guys? What went through your mind while you watched it?

P.S.

More info from Miki Hahn (girl singing):

Killing time on the set of TV5’s “Nandito Ako”

Impromptu singing session, I was so starstruck that he was playing the piano that I could barely sing. haha
Thank you to the people who recorded this when this happened. haha

BTW,I was the stylist of David and the whole cast on the show.

Can I just say that despite his enormous talent, David is one of the nicest, most humble and down to earth people that I have met in my entire life.

I’m really proud to say that I have become a true fan.

Posted in Utter nonsense | Tagged , , | 10 Comments