“Type Bee” this week is brought to you by the humble but effective postcard. With an eye-catching graphic and a simple message, the postcard is an easy form of communication. For example: “Wish You Were Here” (message), “Michigan State Bird: The Mosquito” (humorous), “Portofino” (scenic), and…wait for it… “Two Thumbs Up, David!” (DA Honeybees) Oh, I know it is the 21st century and I’m not living in the past. I’m a techie—I send e-cards. But I still love postcards! The real ones that come in my mailbox from anywhere and everywhere. Remember, you can’t delete a postcard.

DA Honeybees Postcard Blitz

David Archuleta will release his first Christmas album on October 13. He and his production team have been working long hours on this album and from what we hear, Christmas from the Heart will be a holiday album to treasure always. Wouldn’t it be great if David received a congratulatory postcard from each and every Honeybee? Let’s get the hive together and send this “Two Thumbs Up” postcard to David on October 13. DA Honeybees is a hive that works together! We can give David “two thumbs up” and tell him how much we appreciate him. We have six weeks to get ready for DA Honeybees Postcard Blitz.

To participate in DA Honeybees Postcard Blitz:

1. Order DA Honeybees postcards soon and have them ready to be mailed on October 13.
2. Write a Thank You and Congratulations note to David on the postcard.
3. Sign your postcard “Honeybee USERNAME”.
4. Mail the postcard to David’s address given below on October 13.

David Archuleta
c/o Azoff Music Management
1100 Glendon Ave Ste 2000
Los Angeles, CA 90024-3524
U.S.A.

For your return address, you could use a mailing label or just write it by hand on the card. I suggest that you ask your post office to hand-stamp the postcard instead of using a machine to cancel the stamp. That way David will see the postmark “October 13, 2009” and perhaps your town’s name.

When you order multiple postcards, you get a better per postcard price. So, you might order extras and have your friends and family send David a postcard too. If you have any questions, please contact me soon. I hope everyone can participate!

Tar in my Throat

David Archuleta has a way with words. Have you noticed? A phrase he used on Twitter the 9th of August caught my ear. Trying to sing while suffering from allergies, he described the feeling so well I knew instantly how he must feel.

Minnesota! Why are you always so awesome! I felt like there was tar in my throat lol. but I still had such a great time! Thanks!

Tar in my throat is an expression which I had never heard. Can you imagine having a big bowl of tar for dinner and then trying to make polite conversation? What a terrible and scary feeling for a singer, knowing he cannot simply excuse himself, but must go on stage and sing! As a well-trained and dedicated singer, David knows how to protect his voice when he must sing with allergies, illness, or other difficulties. Antihistamines can cause dryness and corticosteroids can harm the voice. But when singers must perform, they do use these medicines. Some singers get by with non-drug therapies, such as rinsing the nasal and sinus passages, using saline nasal sprays, and taking bee pollen tablets. David often raves about the benefits of steam baths. He told us he had his Neti Pot with him on the summer tour and used it to help clear his sinuses.

Neti Pot demonstration; sorry, it isn’t David!

Note: Let me explain my circuitous thinking. I heard “tar in my throat” and that made me think about a bowl of tar. My brain then went all loopty loop and came up with the art of repoussé. For centuries artisans have created beautiful objects, usually in metal, by pounding a design in relief from the inside out. Sometimes they coat the object with Chap Stick to help remove the metal from the tar or ‘pitch’ after the chasing on the front of the object is done. Repoussé is an ancient art of which a contemporary example is the Statue of Liberty.

Buzz-word

There is a word for the hobby of collecting postcards. Deltiology (from Greek δελτίον, deltion, diminutive of δέλτος, deltos, “writing tablet, letter”; and -λογία, -logia) is the study and collection of postcards.

Sounds so important, doesn’t it? We Honeybees are deltiologists!

Check out last week’s column. I’ll be back next week. Will you? And, now, let’s have a drumroll, please….

Buzz-phrase

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

– Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862), Walden, Conclusion, 1854

Creating Sweet Buzz for David Archuleta

Songs After shopping all weekend with my son for his back-to-school wardrobe and supplies, I must share that I was a frazzled mess. Having to deal with the swarms of shoppers and the crowded parking lots. Waiting for what seemed like forever to find a free parking space. Well, it was not very pleasant at all. So, when we were finally done and back in the car to go home, I put my car radio on and told my son, “Please, play some David Archuleta, I need to find some peace!” He complied and put my iPod on. He carefully selected David Archuleta and hit the ‘Play’ button. Ahhh, the music was exactly what I needed! It soothed my headache and calmed my frayed nerves.

David Archuleta’s voice has the ability to lull me to a peaceful place. His voice is a tonic for my soul. As I was listening to the song that came on, I felt the words and David’s beautiful voice slowly put me back together. The song playing was one from his days on American Idol. It was a song that he chose for one of the “Beatles’ Weeks.” Actually, it was the second round of Beatles’ music for the American Idol contestants. The first week, many who watched Idol will remember, David had a difficult time singing “We Can Work It Out.” With problems—strep throat, staircase choreography, and a disco beat—it was not his best performance on the show. As a matter of fact, he forgot the words and the judges were very harsh on him. However, David Archuleta used it as a learning experience and came back the next week to prove to the judges, and I think himself, that he could sing a Beatles’ song. He not only sang the song beautifully, he nailed it! So without further ado, the song for this week is….

“The Long and Winding Road”

“The Long and Winding Road” was written by Paul McCartney and produced by George Martin for Apple Records in 1969. It appeared on The Beatles’ album Let It Be. It is a rock ballad that Paul McCartney said was inspired by the increasing tension among his fellow band mates. It would be the last #1 song for The Beatles as a group in May 1970. The song also went platinum. In a move that angered Paul McCartney, it was reproduced by Phil Spector in April 1970. McCartney reportedly did not like Spector’s remixed version.

On American Idol David Archuleta performed “The Long and Winding Road.” It aired live on March 18, 2008 during the Top 11 show. Many have said it was a ‘master class’ performance.

David Archuleta’s AI performance of “The Long and Winding Road”

David Archuleta’s AI studio recording of “The Long and Winding Road”

David Archuleta, the Voice