late January, 2006
- Wecht loses Katrina job because of indictment
(phillyburbs.com / Associated Press, January 24 2006)
Louisiana officials no longer want Dr. Cyril Wecht's help in investigating whether 64 patients at two New Orleans hospitals were euthanized in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, because he has been indicted. Wecht, 74, who resigned last week as Allegheny County medical examiner as a result of the grand jury indictment, contends he's done nothing wrong. But federal prosecutors charge Wecht used his former coroner's office employees to do work on county time that benefited his private pathology business. ...
- What I've learned about my birthday and about life
By STEVE WINTERMUTE
(timesnews.net, January 24 2006)
The world recently became one year older. As did I. If you've read my columns, you know I'm a fact fan. Here's one: my birthday is always exactly one week after New Year's Day. Here's another: my birthday is always exactly two weeks after Christmas Day. And here's a third: I get all the presents I'm going to get all year long within two short weeks. I don't like it, but I've learned lots of things happen in life that I don't like but which I can't do anything about. I've learned some other things about my birthday. For instance, some other famous people were born on it: Elvis Presley, Lowell Mason, James Longstreet, Peter Arno, Larry Storch, Butterfly McQueen, Charles Osgood, Graham Chapman and Stephen Hawking. Some famous people died on it, too. But listing them would remind me of my mortality, which is depressing. I know from past experience that there are few things worse in life than being depressed on my birthday, so I am skipping this category.
- Elvis No.1 Singles (Box Set)
by Elvis Presley
(AskMen.com, January 24 2006)
There are a couple of suspicious things about the latest Elvis box set. First off, though Elvis No. 1 Singles is comprised of 20 discs, there are only two tracks on each of them. And though they are all packaged in elegant, original artwork that seems an homage to music's purer days, the label this set is released under is "Strategic Marketing." Huh? Well, as it turns out,
"Strategic Marketing" is a Sony subsidiary, and though the packaging is deceiving, the music is still Elvis. And we love Elvis. If you've got $50 to burn, a massive gap on your CD shelf, and a hankering for some "All Shook Up" or "In the Ghetto," you've found your match.
- Session on ethics so far producing very little
(tennessean.com, January 23 2006)
If nothing else has come out of the legislature's special session on ethics so far, at least now they are being blatant. Instead of working politically and financially lucrative back-room deals, they're hanging it out for all the world to see. ... Over in Memphis, dead people went to the polls. Heck, if one of them had been Elvis, the state Senate might be offering proclamations that "he lives!" instead of trying to oust their newest member. They did just that, despite the fact that election and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation officials aren't through investigating yet. ...
- Elvis marries fairy bride to pirate groom in Capitola
By Soraya Gutierrez
(Santa Cruz Sentinel, January 23 2006)
Under a black flag, they kissed. Bride Sandy Hager walked down a path in Esplanade Park on Sunday afternoon with fairy wings attached to her strapless wedding gown, her smiling face adorned with fairy makeup. Groom Indi Mage, admiring her from a distance, wore black velvet pirate pants and a black coat that bared his chest, a skull and crossbones painted on his face. The Capitola residents attracted about 200 people to their wedding and "love parade." Many of the guests didn't know the young couple, both of whom are massage therapists. But they all knew that pirates and fairies were the wedding's theme, and they dressed accordingly. ... Then Elvis - of course - officially started the ceremony and married the pair, who had met eight years ago and got engaged three months ago. ...
- Postcard from Vegas: Viva Las Vegas!
(Norwich Bulletin, January 23 2006)
Elvis Presley may have said it best, but we tried to live up to those famous words on our last day in Sin City. We bought tickets to a Las Vegas variety show at a half-price, same-day ticket outlet and we've scraped all our loose change together to put into the slot machines on our way out of town. In Las Vegas, you can even gamble while waiting for your plane at the airport, so there's virtually no chance of getting out of town with money left. We're going to miss a lot of things about Vegas, like being able to walk from Paris to New York in a matter of minutes and finding celebrities (like Presley) just walking down the street. But all good things must come to an end.
See you soon,
Dorothy and Tali
- Countdown: Mississippi
By Mark Aumann
(NASCAR.COM, January 23 2006)
Hernando de Soto discovered the Magnolia State in 1540. De Soto automobiles found their way to Mississippi much later. In a place where cotton was king for many years, it's music that's king -- or would that be the King? -- now linked with Mississippi. Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters and B.B. King, Jimmy Buffett, Faith Hill, Conway Twitty and Tammy Wynette, Charley Pride and Leontyne Price all hail from Mississippi, along with a young man from Tupelo who turned out to be a fair singer in his own right -- Elvis Presley. Mississippi authors are among some of the nation's most influental: William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Eudora Welty and Shelby Foote. When it comes to NASCAR, Mississippi's most famous son had the perfect racing name. ...
- Theories twist history
By Heather Tyler
(Canberra Times January 23 2006, Times2 section, p. 3)
If you suspect the Bush administration knew about the September 11 terrorist attacks in advance, or that the Titanic never really sank, or that Elvis was a CIA agent, you're not alone. Such intrigues led British journalists James McConnachie and Robin Tudge to compile the best intrigues of the last 3000 years or so in The Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories. ...
- Manchin Seeks Fast Action on Mine: Governor will introduce mine safety legislation Monday
(13WOWK / Associated Press, January 22 2006)
Governor Manchin's plan to introduce mine safety legislation tomorrow will include a request that lawmakers consider and pass the bill before recessing for the day. Manchin spokeswoman Lara Ramsburg said today the legislation is so important the governor doesn't want to wait for it to move through normal channels. Manchin pledged yesterday to introduce the legislation. His pledge came less than two hours after mine rescue teams found the bodies of 33-year-old Don Bragg and 47-year-old Ellery "Elvis" Hatfield deep inside the Aracoma Coal Alma Number One mine. ...
- Real `Heartbreak' The studio where Elvis Presley recorded Heartbreak ...
(Miami Herald, January 21 2006)
Elvis Presley recorded Heartbreak Hotel is being torn down, reports The Associated Press. And some say it's just heartbreaking. ''I'm disappointed that the studio is being torn down,'' Gordon Stoker of the Jordanaires, Presley's primary background vocalists from 1956 to 1968, told the daily newspaper The Tennessean. ``But you can't hang on to everything your whole life.'' The studio at 1525 McGavock St. near Nashville's Music Row was purchased in 1999 by auto-dealership owner Lee Beaman, who had been leasing the half-acre property until recently, when he decided the dealership needed more customer parking. dDoug McClanahan, president of Beaman Automotive Group, said the area will be paved over within the next 60 days.
- Newly discovered Elvis photos part of Tupelo documentary by Roy Turner: Elvis is coming home, from Ireland
By Scott Shepard
(Memphis Business Journal, January 20 2006)
A collection of long-lost photos of Elvis that turned up in Dublin in 1997 will be included in a new documentary by Tupelo filmmaker Roy Turner. The photos are on loan from Maurice Colgan of Swords, Ireland. He's also the person who urged the city of Tupelo to erect a statue of Elvis next to his birthplace, and he gets his fans to periodically pester local officials about renaming Memphis International Airport.
Colgan found the photos in a market in Dublin -- pages stapled together in what appears to be a printer's proof, which was once used as a preliminary step to printing a book. The photos are all from the Mississippi-Alabama Fair of 1956, which was declared the Elvis Homecoming Fair. The King, with his parents in tow, were escorted from the state line at Memphis to Tupelo by the Mississippi Highway Patrol. One picture shows marching bands on parade and a street banner proclaiming "Tupelo Welcomes Elvis Presley Home."
Colgan's collection also has pictures of Elvis on stage for a daytime and a nighttime show. There's also shots of Elvis enjoying the fair and accepting a guitar as a gift from the mayor.
Turner's documentary, "Elvis Homecoming 1956," will be released June 3. Theater screenings are still being negotiated. It will also be available on DVD.
- Prominent Coroner Indicted in Pittsburgh
(Yahoo! News / AP, January 20 2006)
Dr. Cyril Wecht, a nationally renowned medical examiner who consulted in the deaths of Elvis Presley and JonBenet Ramsey, was indicted Friday on federal charges of using county employees to campaign for him and handle his private lab work. The indictment also accuses Wecht of trading unclaimed bodies stored by the county coroners office, which he headed, to a Pittsburgh university in exchange for use of a laboratory there for his private practice. Wecht, 74, immediately resigned from his $105,000-a-year post as Allegheny County's medical examiner after learning of the indictment. ...
- Moorpark 'King' invites residents to student musical, 'Elvis' performance
By Sylvie Belmond
(Moorpark Acorn, January 20 2006)
Popular Moorpark High School chorus instructor, Raymond Michael Hebel, inspires his students as much by example as his teaching - he also portrays Elvis Presley and Tom Jones in a world-famous act that has received rave reviews. Standing beside his 91-yearold father and his three young sons, Hebel keeps an eye on a group of teens who are talking loudly across the school hallway. The youth are taking a rehearsal break from the student-created musical, "Time Warp." Hebel's mentoring the students as they put the final touches on the show, scheduled for tonight in the school's Performing Arts Center. Hebel, who uses the stage name Raymond Michael for his impersonations, credits his more than 30 years of success in show business to his audience, not himself.
Hebel takes his imitation of Presley seriously. The Moorpark singer respects the idol's talent and foresight. ... Elvis is in the history books because he helped start the new trend of rock and roll and make it cool, Hebel said. He introduced the black sound to white audiences and revolutionized music. Elvis should also be credited for playing a role in the civil rights movement, said Hebel. ...
- Elvis Revealed as Architect of Iraq Invasion
By Nikolai Stephens
(Brainsnap Newsletter, January 20 2006)
Elvis is alive and working for the Pentagon. A Pentagon source has revealed that the true architect behind the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was none other than the king of pop, and officially deceased, Elvis Presley. The sensational revelation follows an anonymous email sent to Brainsnap central news center in Boston last year. The email contained a number of highly controversial and seemingly unlikely claims about the workings of the Pentagon and the decision making process underlying American military policy in the Middle East. Most notably, it claimed that Elvis Presley had been working secretly for the Pentagon since the 1970s and was actually the chief architect of the Iraq invasion.
Of course, as a respected and admired news organization, such a sensational claim was not immediately accepted as credible by Brainsnap staff. However, after exhaustive research and journalistic delving, we uncovered evidence that confirms Elvis is indeed alive and working at the Pentagon. His involvement with the Iraq invasion is also incontrovertible. Our source in the Pentagon has leaked highly secret documentation proving conclusively that Elvis was present during and had substantial input into the planning of the Iraq invasion. His signature appears clearly on military procurement documents, and we have sighted video footage of an older, even fatter, yet still clearly Elvis in deep discussion with military generals.
Indeed it appears that he may have been the key proponent of the mobile, fast form of warfare favored by Donald Rumsfeld and used to deadly effect during the early weeks of the war. An essay purportedly written by Elvis was leaked to Brainsnap. In it, Elvis argues for a decrease in military expenditure on heavy artillery in favour of lighter, mobile armoured transportation vehicles.
Furthermore, Elvis argues that troop numbers could be kept relatively small if the force is equipped to move swiftly and destroy enemy infrastructure.Unfortunately, this approach to war has been largely discredited since it failed to ensure enough troop numbers to maintain stability in Iraq in the years after the fall of Saddam Regime.
"It was Elvis' idea" stated the anonymous source. "Rumfeld only got behind it because he's a big Elvis fan. The generals thought it was stupid but Elvis kept insisting, and of course he got his way. This is America after all. Our political leaders have to listen to entertainment superstars like Elvis over simple minded military men."
Indeed it seems that Elvis coined the term 'shock and awe.' "That's an old Elvis term from way back," said Bernard Bryant, a former roadie for the pop star. "He used to say to me, 'Bernie, I'm gonna blow this audience away until all they have left is shock and awe.' As soon as I heard Rumsfeld use that term I knew Elvis was alive and behind our country's military planning."
Elvis was supposed to have died in 1977, though millions of fans across the world have refused to believe it. While most of these people are most likely crazy weirdos with no sense of reality or taste in music, it appears that they have been correct all along. Elvis is alive.
- Wisconsin Weekend Package
(Mercury News, January 19 2006)
By MARK HORNICKEL
For hours they streamed steadily toward the short, balding man with wide smiles filling their faces, their minds momentarily focusing back to their youth. For instance, when Dorothy Spease, a 65-year-old Kansasville woman, met Joe Esposito last Wednesday at an auto dealership in Kenosha, the memories came like she was a starstruck 16-year-old all over again. In 1956, Esposito's first encounter with The King was still a few years away, but Spease was in the front row when Elvis Presley performed in Houston. For a $2.50 ticket, Spease and her cousins had an experience they will never forget. "There he was in those bright blue pants, white shoes and an emerald green jacket and his black hair hanging down and he just really gave a show and the girls were taking their bras off," recalled Spease. "Elvis was forever to me." She would see Elvis perform again years later in Cincinnati and she's toured Graceland twice. But now, Esposito is the closest Spease and dozens of other Elvis enthusiasts who flocked to LeMay's will get.
Elvis' best friend and right-hand man, Esposito spent much of the day in Kenosha at LeMay's, signing photos of Elvis and swapping stories about the American icon. Dealership owner Keith LeMay met Esposito about a year ago in Las Vegas with the help of Kenoshan Rick Aiello, who had begun doing business with Esposito. LeMay then sold a Cadillac to Esposito, who agreed to make a stop at the dealership. "There's so many Elvis fans and I'm an Elvis fan myself," LeMay said. "I mean that's the closest thing to Elvis. Here's the guy that was with him for 20 years. It doesn't get any better than that."
Esposito and Elvis were drafted into the Army two weeks apart in March 1958 and trained together at Fort Hood, Texas, before being transferred to Germany. Esposito knew Elvis was at the height of his career when they entered the Army and routinely spotted him around their camp. But it wasn't until one of Elvis' buddies invited Esposito to one of their weekend touch football games that Esposito's life began to change. "He came over and introduced himself to me, we started talking, played football that day and before I left his house that day, he said, 'Listen Joe, any time you want to come out and hang out over the weekend, come on over,'" Esposito said. "And that's how we got connected and that's how my whole life changed from that day forward." When the pair was ready to leave the Army, Esposito had no plans other than to go back to an office job he had in Chicago. But Elvis had other ideas.
"He said, 'Why don't you come to work for me?' and I said, 'You got a deal,'" Esposito said. "And that was it. Two weeks after I got out of the Army, I went to Memphis and he was there and my whole life changed." Esposito would live at Graceland for the next three years until he married in 1962 and started to raise a family. He became Elvis' right-hand man, handling much of Elvis' personal and business matters. Esposito made travel and tour arrangements, and always made sure Elvis and his entourage knew where they needed to be. When Elvis married his first and only wife, Priscilla Beaulieu, Esposito was the best man. For 18 years, Esposito had not only a front row seat to the making of Elvis' legacy - Esposito never missed a show - but an intimate view of Elvis' character and personality. And for that reason, the questions were almost endless as a patient and polite Esposito signed pictures, books, CDs and any other Elvis paraphernalia fans brought to him. ...
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