The Other White Presley

It seems tragic to me. Tourists are given audio headphones, tour Graceland at a breakneck clip and are deposited at the graves of Elvis, his mother, his father, his Aunt Minnie and his stillborn brother, Jesse. To die an addicted person at age 42 is a tragedy for anyone. To not have your associates and family reach out to at least try to intervene is a disgrace. Skinny Elvis. Fat Elvis. Dead Elvis. As he was so squarely in the public eye, the squalor of his death is public as well. And a tour costs only $28 dollars.

Down in the Valley...

Graceland looks like a drug hallucination. This isn't a complaint but an observation from a former observer of that scene. I find Elvis' life a tragedy. His death at 42 and how it was a human tragedy, essentially alone, is never talked about. The man lived a Rocket 88 trip to the top of the American Dream slipped, stumbled and fell all the way back down. Somebody said that after awhile, Elvis was the first Elvis impersonator.

and after Lennon?

And after Lennon? 90-95% of what Elvis produced in his life was pure schlock. His output was so prodigious that it overshadows what he did accomplish. It is easy to think of him as he declined into a pool of drugs and incoherant mumbles. Thinking back to the fire of "Baby Lets Play House" makes sifting through it all worthwhile.

What would Elvis have thought of..

Elton John. Not much, I am sure. Graceland sure is purdy....but empty. It is almost like someone died. They did but here that is what attracts people.

Son of Santa......

and to all......

It is a funky year to be an American at Christmas....gloom and doom about...hey, I don't have to tell you guys, you are going through the same things. Last July,the Greensboro Grasshoppers in North Carolina, celebrated "Xmas in July" at their ball park. White foam was spread on the outfield berm for kids to snow/skateboard. Santa roamed around....As I have a long standing tradition of being at ballparks on my birthday....and this was the date of the event, off I went. It was nice being in a place where you can actually have some fun without somebody looking over your shoulder telling you that Santa is un-PC. Just like the ones I used to know...

15 Degrees and Falling

My pal, Amy D, has just adopted a wonderful and engaging baby boy, Eric. Her laments suits the way a lot of us feel.Yesterday the weather was Arctic frigid, today it is pouring,so why couldn't her maternity leave have coincided with summer...while she could spend three months watching Eric learn to walk, gurgle and everything else babies do, as she watched all of the baseball she wanted? Since he has baseball hats, dolls, jackets, bibs and even a framed picture of mine of Nomah in his room, he is off to a good start. All I had was a beat up radio and if I was lucky, baseball cards. Tough choice over comic books in those days...

If you loved me..

half as much as I loved you.....Hank. Another causualty of an empty bottle and a broken heart.....at an early age. I visited the Hank Williams Museum in Montgomery, AL. Small. The focus being the Caddy that he died in, lots of sheet music, birth, death certificate. His music is the legacy. This makes him different than Elvis, whose voice was the legacy. Off to Memphis in a couple of weeks. Christmas at Graceland. Probably one of the most tacky events in America, next to the Green campaign..and I am the man to capture it.