Billy’s Blog: The Emancipation of Billy (June 20, 2006)

I spend a fair amount of my free time in Utah, mostly because I’m an avid skier. Truth is, I love the outdoors and choose to be as physically active as my body will allow (and wife will tolerate).

Yesterday, I went mountain biking for the first time in over 10 years. A friend from college who lives in the Wasatch mountains took me out… for a two-hour ride.

Currently my buttocks are quite tender.They’re making some very small bike seats these days. It’s wrong. I understand one would look less than “rugged” powering uphill on Pee-Wee’s bike seat, but posterior comfort (trust me) should not be sacrificed for image.

Today, on my way to the airport, the driver asked me if I own a set of bike shorts. “No way,” I said.”Shows off too much… of the wrong features.”

I then learned about mountain biking shorts: they come equipped with synthetic rear padding and an inner lining of spandex-type material.All this and they look like regular, loose-fitting shorts. I’m not only buying a pair… I’m investing.

If my new shorts don’t work, I will pull a neck pillow off my couch and duct tape it to my bike.

My adventures with Mariah Carey begin tonight.I picked her up at the airport recently… she’s here for a month to rehearse for her upcoming U.S. tour with her musical director, Randy Jackson. I am pleased to report she’s “on” and I think more great things are coming for and from her.

I have done several shoots with Mariah.When I first made her aquaintance, she was in her “slump.””Glitter” had bombed in the U.S. and “Charmbracelet” after it didn’t fare much better.

My impression was that she was over-handled: people in the camp were nervous about the future and that made her generally uptight.Well, she turned things around, and I think she did it by finally shedding the last holds that her former husband had on her.Used to following direction about “what people want,” she began making music she loved.

“The Emancipation of Mimi,” the top album of 2005 by most barometric measures, has led to “The Adventures of Mimi,” a U.S. tour that starts August 5th in Miami.

So I hijacked her when she landed and we went to Universal Studios, rode a rollercoaster, then went to the Walk of Fame and gave tourists what they never see when they hit Hollywood Boulevard: a huge star! She was loose, willing to “go with it”… the crowd went crazy and it was a blast.

Mariah is fun, really funny and self-deprecating – and thanks to her “morsel diet” (sinful foods allowed, but only a forkful), she’s looking strong. Tune in.She’s a new girl.

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