mid June, 2005
- Elvis, Wolves, and The Death of Environmentalism: How wolves, the rural West, and yes, Elvis, can inform the heated "death of environmentalism" debate
By GARY WOCKNER
(TidePool, June 17, 2005)
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion." William Ralph Inge, Outspoken Essays 1919
In a provocative speech delivered last year to the Environmental Grantmaker's Association, Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger declared that environmentalism was dead. Since then, many influential environmental leaders have joined in this "Death Debate." These leaders are disputing the movement's efficacy, especially over the last ten years as anti-environmental sentiment and policy-making have curtailed past environmental gains. Resolution in this debate remains elusive; the only certainty is that environmentalism's death is as questionable as Elvis' but lacks his celebrity appeal. ...
- CASSIDY'S TALENT BOASTS
(contactmusic.com, June 17, 2005)
Veteran crooner DAVID CASSIDY is convinced his career has lasted long after he lost his sex symbol status because, like ELVIS PRESLEY and MICHAEL JACKSON he has "great talent". The 54-year-old is currently travelling around Britain with other 1970s stars including THE OSMONDS and DAVID ESSEX in the ONCE IN A LIFETIME revival tour. And the pop icon boasts people still pay to see him perform, because his enduring musical abilities have made up for his fading looks. He says, "If you look at the artistes who have gone from being a pop idol or sex symbol, beginning with FRANK SINATRA or RUDOLPH VALENTINO, the ones that have survived are the ones that have great talent, like Elvis, MADONNA, Michael Jackson and DONNY OSMOND."
- Lock up your husbands! Tura Satana's on her way
By Ruthe Stein
(San Francisco Chronicle, June 17, 2005)
Tura allure: There can't be many women who claim Elvis Presley and Joe DiMaggio as lovers and aren't shy about comparing their sexual prowess. "Elvis was much better," says Tura Satana, who hooked up with both icons after they saw her classy strip act in which she danced with a huge Buddha. "He was a very considerate lover and the old-type Southern gentleman, always saying 'yes, ma'am,' until I told him to stop because he was making me feel 100 years old. He said, 'What should I call you? Sugar?' I said, 'That's good enough.' "
Evidently she made quite an impression on the King. Borrowing a page from "Vertigo," Satana says he ordered his wife, Priscilla, to wear gobs of eye makeup like her and sport the same long raven locks. "He'd have her put her hair up in a big ponytail or a huge beehive like mine." With DiMaggio, Satana got a sense of being in someone else's shadow. "I always felt like Joe was comparing me to Marilyn. He was a very strange person, subdued and reticent. He wasn't a good lover, but he wasn't bad, either." ...
- Michael Jackson: Living with the enemy
By Pini Jason
(Vanguard, June 17, 2005)
It must have been a great relief for Michael Jackson, his family, friends and millions of fans worldwide for beating the child molestation charges. Even my teenage daughter kept vigil on the night of the verdict. I was not surprised. I am not a lawyer. But I knew from the word go, that the man the world knows as Wacko Jacko, would beat the cockeyed charges. In deed, I said to people that Michael is the real victim of racial molestation! He is not the first. There has always been this consistent pattern of finding a way to shoot down successful African American sports and entertainment stars. Sports and entertainment have been the major lifelines for many African-Americans to fight their way out of the ghetto.
Before 1963 the reigning World Heavyweight Boxing Champion was a man called Floyd Patterson. Patterson was not highly regarded among the blacks, especially at a time of the anti-segregation struggle. In fact he was derided as the white man's Champ. Then an ex-convict called Sonny Liston hammered Patterson and became World Champion. At the ring side that night was a loquacious young and very personable man, called Cassius Clay who harangued the world as the fight went on, that he was going to be the next champ; that he was the greatest; that he was beautiful! Well, that was the making of a box office for boxing promoters. But really they wanted Sonny Liston to shut the mouth of the braggart who the media had dubbed the "Louisville Lip". And so a 1964 match was arranged. But Cassius Clay beat Liston on technical knockout in the seventh round.
Soon after, a man America feared, and the mentor of Louis Farrakhan, a man America still fears, Elijah Muhammad of the Nation of Islam, stole the soul of the new world heavyweight boxing champion, converted him to Islam, persuaded him to drop his slave name and gave him a new name, Mohammed Ali! The boxing world was astonished and the American establishment was livid! How on earth can an American be parading about with the world belt and answering Mohammed Ali? What to do? Send him to Vietnam! Well Mohammed Ali told the American establishment that he was not going to Vietnam, that he had "no quarrel with them Viet Cong" and that, after all, they had never called him "nigger". Remember, Mohammed Ali threw his Olympic gold medal into a river because he would not be served at a hotdog joint for being black!
This controversy set the stage for the boxing establishment and the mafia that controlled it to strip Ali of his title and ban him from boxing. Ali was less than 26 years old then. The rest is history.
Last weekend, Mike Tyson was so beaten by an Irish journeyman called Kevin McBride, that, Tyson confessed that for him to continue boxing would bring disgrace to the sport. Mike Tyson's fall can be traced back to his rape charge and imprisonment. "Iron Mike" Tyson was becoming too predictable in his domination of the heavyweight class that he was upsetting the scripts of the boxing sharks.
He had to be fixed. Otherwise, tell me how any adult woman who walked to the hotel room of a man at 1 a.m. and had sex could claim she was raped? How could a woman, who was not forced, go to a man's room at that unholy hour and claim she was raped, if she was not a set up? From that rape case, Tyson never recovered. And that ended his reign as heavyweight champion!
Basketball star, Kobe Bryant of the Lakers just escaped by the skin of his teeth a similar rape charge. Bryant's case was that he admitted having sex with a hotel worker, but that it was consensual. Yet the woman went ahead to file a claim for rape! But as the case progressed, it turned out that Bryant's accuser was not a paragon of chastity! There are many African-American sports and entertainment stars, who have been targets of gold-diggers and agents of the racist system. That is why I did not regard as a mere humour, Eddie Murphy's joke about not touching American women for fear of being cleaned out of his fortune. A man like Michael Jackson is easily a target for gold-diggers, and the America system would easily relish anything that brings such a man down. Some obviously racist experts and analysts have already written him off as finished, win or lose the case! Jackson is not Elvis Presley. He is bigger and better that Elvis! He is the world's most gifted entertainer. He is the Mohammed Ali of the pop world.
Elvis had drugs problem and was picked up from his Graceland estate, stone dead from drugs overdose. But nobody made any heavy waters about that even before Elvis's death. But the world has followed Michael Jackson's every move, from his moonwalk to his bedroom, scrutinizing even his marriage with Marie Lisa Presley, looking for what would bring him down. This recent case was not the first. There have been various brushes and narrow escapes, some settled with millions of dollars, so that he could carry on with his life!
Jackson has a queer life alright. But I'm not sure if it is sexual perversion. A man who started being in public light from age five obviously couldn't have had a childhood and couldn't have grown up normal like other kids. So there is still a child locked up, stunted, inside an adult Michael Jackson. In many instances, Michael has turned this missing part of his life into entertainment, even when the world did not recognize the craving to fill a void. Most of Jackson's videos are full of fantasies only children dream of. Thriller is really one of those attempts by Jackson to connect to a childhood he never had. And the evidence of Macauley Culkrin, a one time child actor (Home Alone) who Michael was accused of sexually molesting, was very revealing. Culkrin said his attraction to Jackson was that he was the only man who could connect to his (Culkin's) peculiar life as a child actor. Living in adult world of glitz and wealth at a tender age has its pressures, which scar some child stars for life.
Even in the world of tennis, this problem has reared its head. Teenage tennis stars traveling round the world and performing before global audiences, becoming global brand names and earning fabulous fortunes when they should be cuddled up on the tender bosom of mom suffer certain pressures. It was such pressure that cracked teenage tennis sensation, Gabriella Sabatini and brought her career to an abrupt end. Some resorted to drugs. Other had rows with overbearing parents. But Michael decided to relive the childhood he never had by recreating himself in other children and pampering them the way he wished he had been pampered. Tell me, which child never snuggled into daddy's bed?
America and the Western world are today very jittery of the permissive world they created. In Denmark, they say if you see two people of the same sex holding hands and walking the street, they are either foreigners or gays! Foreigners would not know that what is normal say in Africa, has become abnormal in the West because they have accepted homosexuality. So Michael could not see what was abnormal with his having children enjoy his Neverland ranch, which is like a theme park! He could not understand the fuss about the joy he derives from seeing himself in those happy children. In such a situation, Michael becomes a perfect target for blackmail by any family that could not pay its bills!
We must not make the mistake to think that there is no more racism out there! The better a black becomes the more an attempt to drag him or her down. They may still not leave Michael Jackson alone, even after this!
- MOBY DISAPPOINTED WITH LAS VEGAS
(contactmusic.com, June 17, 2005)
Dance star MOBY was left disappointed by Las Vegas, because he'd hoped to find a city stooped in the glamour of legendary stars such as ELVIS PRESLEY and FRANK SINATRA. While the PLAY hitmaker has made several visits to SIN CITY, the New Yorker is always amazed at some of the odd characters he runs into there. He says, "The first time I came here (Las Vegas) I had visions of Elvis and the Rat Pack. I imagined an odd, degenerate glamour. "But after seven or eight visits I've never seen anything remotely glamorous about Las Vegas. It's hard to feel excited about gambling when you're at the nickel slots in between a 75-year-old woman with emphysema and some truck driver who's been there for three days on a crystal meth bender." ...
- 'The world' flocks to family's Elvis-loving restaurant
By June Robertson
(Germantown Appeal, June 16, 2005)
When you step inside Marlowe's Family Restaurant, more than likely you will be greeted by a friendly, attractive man, who, by the time he has escorted you to your table, already has learned the basics about your life.
You have just encountered the owner, Tony Gigliotti of Germantown.
Known for his eagerness to meet every customer, Gigliotti tries to live by what he preaches to his employees (most of whom have been with him a decade or longer) -- that a warm welcome makes for a happy customer. And happy customers always come back, as evidenced by the number of Marlowe's customers returning regularly since the restaurant opened on Feb. 27, 1974.
Originally from Pittsburgh, Gigliotti and his wife, Lucy, purchased the building at 4381 Elvis Presley, originally a car dealership, and named it The Ranch House.
Later, they expanded it and renamed it after one of their daughters, Marlo (who was named after actress Marlo Thomas). As a lifelong Elvis Presley fan, Gigliotti decided to display his vast collection of memorabilia on the walls for other fans to enjoy.
A jukebox filled with Elvis tunes plays six days a week, with Sundays reserved for gospel music. But the most eye-catching sights are the tabletops, which contain hundreds of photos, magazine articles, original newspaper clippings and documents detailing almost every event in the late singer's life, to the delight of Elvis fans, who are seen daily wandering from table to table, viewing everything with fascination.
Said Gigliotti: "I get a real kick out of sharing my collection with the fans. Elvis fans are the best people, and you can never get too much Elvis."
The Gigliottis have three daughters. Lucy, who was a critical care nurse at Methodist Hospital for 18 years, said, "Marlo is our stay-at-home mom; Toni Lynn is a nurse, and Melissa is the one who is here at the restaurant, working with her dad."
Missy (as Melissa is known) is perfectly at home handling the many responsibilities alongside her father and somehow managing to help run the nearby Rock and Roll Cafe with her husband, Mike Coleman.
"Nothing is more important than family, and the secret to a happy life is doing what you love," Gigliotti said. "We have relationships with our customers that go beyond the normal; our regulars are very much a part of our extended family."
Marlowe's is known for its pink limousines and good food. Everything is freshly made, taken from family recipes. The Marlowe's City Hogs barbecue team has won countless awards.
One recent accomplishment involved Turner South voting Marlowe's wet ribs among the best in the South. The restaurant hosts several annual events, including those put on by local deejay and Elvis friend George Klein and Elvis World Fan Club luncheons headed by writer Bill Burk.
"Elvis fans come here from all parts of the world," said Gigliotti. "We meet so many great people without having to go anywhere. The world comes to us."
- Exceptional Emirates inflight indulgence
By JARUNEE TAEMSAMRAN
(Bangkok Post, June 16, 2005)
Although onboard entertainment is not the key factor when it comes to determining the choice of airlines, some carriers view it as a way of keeping passengers happy during flight. Emirates is one airline that makes use of inflight entertainment to enhance the pleasure of air travel. Through its ICE-equipped system, the airline is offering passengers over 1,000 No.1 pop hits that topped UK charts dating back to 1952. ICE stands for information, communication and entertainment. The songs include the hit single Here in My Heart by Al Martino which topped the charts in UK on November 14, 1952, to the 1,000th No.1 hit by Elvis Presley, I got Stung, and One Night which went tops on February 5, 2005. ... ICE offers over 500 channels of movies, TV programmes and interactive games. Passengers can also send SMS or e-mail directly from their personal screen. ...
- CRTC to rule on satellite radio
(CBC News, June 16, 2005)
Whether it's a channel dedicated to Elvis Presley, comedy skits or weather warnings, Canadians will find out Thursday whether they'll be able to subscribe to specialty satellite radio. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission will issue its ruling on three applications to set up subscription-based satellite radio services. ...
- Obituaries: Karen was true Elvis fan
By Jo Hall
(Germantown Appeal, June 15, 2005)
Karen Kay Rabenberg referred to herself while talking to a friend, as "Strictly a Mobridge product - born, baptized, schooled, confirmed and married in Mobridge." She was also one who loved to travel and she hoped to visit all 50 states. At the time she was speaking she had visited 35 states, Canada and Mexico and worried about Hawaii. "I'll have to fly there and I'm not too crazy about flying." One of her travels took her to the Black Hills and brought a memory she treasured. Elvis Presley was appearing in Rapid City, she attended his concert and he gave her his scarf. "I was in the audience and he singled me out. I was so excited!" ...
- New Memory Aid Helps Dementia Sufferers Remember As Time Goes By
(Medical News, June 15, 2005)
Classic movies such as 'Casablanca' could bring back lost memories for dementia sufferers thanks to an innovative memory aid. Based on an interactive multimedia computer system and a clearer understanding of how dementia sufferers respond to social situations, the aid aims to stimulate more enjoyable, rewarding conversation between sufferers and those who care for them.
With funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), a team of researchers in Scotland has developed CIRCA (Computer Interactive Reminiscence and Conversation Aid). CIRCA comprises a simple touch-screen with easy-to-follow instructions that require no IT competence.
When switched on, it displays a choice of three random categories (entertainment, local life etc). Selecting a category, the user is given a choice of 'music', 'photo' or 'video'. These in turn call up images, video or sound clips (e.g. of well-known movie stars such as Humphrey Bogart) from a database, acting as a memory trigger and conversation prompt. A 'stop and talk' button allows the system to be frozen at any point.
The research team has built a range of innovative features into the way the system is used. Because sufferer and carer sit side by side in front of the screen, encouraging the sense of a shared experience, and because the system relies on a touch screen, rather than a mouse or keyboard, the carer is not seen as being 'in control'. Furthermore, as the sufferer can be prompted to operate the system themselves, they feel less dependent on their carer. The result is a more positive, relaxed social experience than can be achieved using other memory-prompting reminiscence packages currently available.
During development, CIRCA was tested on 40 dementia sufferers in daycare, nursing home and family situations. The results were very encouraging, with many carers reporting that sufferers seemed like their 'old self' (see case studies below). CIRCA exploits the fact that, while dementia sufferers find it hard to recall recent events, longer-term memory is less affected by their condition.
CIRCA could become available on the market in 2-3 years. The research team is now looking at whether it could also be used for people with learning disabilities or head injuries. In addition, they have secured EPSRC funding to develop an interactive multimedia activity system that dementia sufferers can use on their own.
Dr Arlene Astell of the University of St Andrews School of Psychology is leading the research team. Dr Astell says: "Dementia sufferers' declining ability to hold normal conversations causes a lot of stress and frustration. Helping them access their memories will make living with dementia more bearable and less distressing for sufferers and their carers."
CIRCA case studies:
1. Jane was a 56 year old with early onset dementia, cared for at home by her husband Richard. Jane needed a great deal of help with all aspects of daily life and her dementia was so advanced that she regularly used only single words to communicate.
Richard and Jane were invited to use CIRCA in their home and were given brief instructions on how to operate the system. Richard encouraged his wife to comment on the contents of the system and Jane looked at the screen and touched it when prompted by Richard. The most striking episode occurred when Jane watched a video clip of Elvis Presley. Jane smiled, took Richard's hand and proceeded to swing their hands in time to the music. Jane continued to smile and laugh during the music and at one point moved in close and rubbed noses with her husband. Richard was visibly touched by this - he later commented that he thought it was Jane's attempt to tell him that 'she remembered'.
Richard felt using CIRCA was a worthwhile experience for both himself and his wife, allowing them to have an enjoyable shared experience. He commented: "We can do it together... it gives a common ground... we can see and hear the same things." Richard also felt CIRCA allowed him to communicate more effectively with his wife. ...
- Jacko's wacko escape
(New York Daily News, June 15, 2005)
Elvis Presley, remember, was also seen as a sexual deviate. All that sweaty pelvis gyrating that we so celebrate today created true outrage at the time. it was viewed as obscene. That's why Ed Sullivan went out of his way to praise Presley for his decency and politeness. Because the public cared that its entertainers weren't creeps.
Do we still care? Obviously, we don't. Not based on the reaction to Michael Jackson being found not guilty of sexually molesting a child. It's disturbing. He may have gotten off, but he's still one twisted dude. He likes to sleep with little boys - he's admitted that himself - and seems to feel the need to pay tens of millions of dollars to a few of them, apparently to keep quiet. So why aren't we allowed to ostracize Jackson? He never lacks supporters, from the pathetic fans camped around the courthouse to once-respected leaders such as Jesse Jackson, the most visible of race-trumps-everything activists who never saw a celebrity of any race they didn't like. (Jesse Jackson expressed doubts that a jury without blacks could be fair to Michael Jackson - I suppose his apology for insulting the judgment of white people, generally, is forthcoming.)
I'd say Michael Jackson gets more than fairness - he gets a pass.
The media always ask the less-interesting question. For Jackson, it was almost universally this: Can Michael Jackson regain his early 1980s superstar status? The obvious answer is, "Of course not." A star has a moment and then that moment passes, and though they may reinvent themselves a time or two, eventually they slip and are replaced by others.
Jackson - even without this trial - certainly will never be the star he once was. How could he? Despite this unarguable truth, music industry types lined up to give advice and explain what Jackson must do to regain the heights - leave Neverland, cut out the boys, drop the mascara - as if his deeply sick and strange personality was a marketing tool that could be changed at will.
A far more interesting question is this: How worrisome is Jackson's escape from punishment for society? Given that Elvis' open sexiness once seemed degenerate and now is the norm, is it possible that Jackson's skeezy strangeness will also become more common?
I think it will. Our standards have slipped, so that now criminality is our benchmark for social acceptance. So long as you don't actually commit crimes, then, hey, it's an open party? Jackson is a nightmare horror on not one but two counts - because of the way he maimed himself through plastic surgery, in a self-loathing struggle to become Diana Ross. And because of how he preys on vulnerable young boys in a way that, while not landing him in jail - not this time - is something that decent people should draw away from in horror.
I feel old-fashioned suggesting that there should be acceptable standards of behavior. But I am also convinced that we will not enjoy living in a world without them.
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