early July, 2006
- Banner year: Elvis Fest nets nearly $61K
By EMILY LE COZ
(Daily Journal July 12, 2006)
TUPELO - This June's Elvis Presley Festival attracted more attendees and generated more money than any previous festival in the annual event's eight-year history. Roughly 9,700 people turned out at the June 2-4 celebration in downtown Tupelo - double the previous record attendance, according to Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association executive director Debbie Brangenberg.
The DTMSA organizes the event, which this year earned $335,325. Revenues came from corporate sponsorships, fan club memberships, fees paid by food vendors, the carnival and activities, and from the sale of tickets, beverages and merchandise. After subtracting the $275,448 spent on hosting the festival, DTMSA retains $60,985 in profits. "We've been in the hole before, so it's nice to have this cushion," Brangenberg said at the association's regular meeting Tuesday at the CREATE Foundation.
The Elvis Presley Festival's executive committee voted to place $50,000 of that profit into a certificate of deposit or other interest-bearing account to be used as a rainy-day fund. Part of the remaining funds likely will be used to support a capital project downtown, although that project has not yet been determined.
- Elvis prepaid card rolls out
(Memphis Business Journal July 10, 2006)
Elvis Presley Enterprises and EDP Licensing Inc. are launching the first Elvis Presley prepaid Visa card, taking advantage of the growing popularity of debit cards among Americans. Last year, more purchases and bills were paid with debit cards than with checks, and debit cards are outpacing credit cards. The prepaid cards offer customers the convenience of a credit card and the no-interest charge advantage of a checking account. Paul Cleveland, founder and CEO of EDP, said collectible cards will follow the initial launch. ...
- Memories Of Elvis' Scandalous First Coast Show
By Grayson Kamm
(First Coast News July 10, 2006)
This summer marks the 50th anniversary of Elvis Presley's famous shows at the Florida Theatre. In the crowd sat a prominent Duval County Judge who wasn't there to enjoy the King's music. His job was to make sure Elvis' hips were behaving themselves. It was the first big show in the history of the First Coast. The man we've come to call the King was just a kid, only 21 years old. But the way he sang his music -- along with the way he snarled his lip and shook his hips -- rocked this town.
When this guy wiggled his waist -- he hypnotized the whole world. And on August 10th and 11th, 1956, the smokin' hot singer set his sights on six shows at the Florida Theatre.
You can still see the spot on Newnan Street where teenagers lined up around the block to get a glimpse. The mob was so stricken by the sideburns, the smile, and the sexiness -- guards slipped him in through a back alley -- the same way they sneak in some of the biggest stars today. And you can't blame the crowd for its craziness. Just read the ad from the Florida Times-Union that ran the morning of the first show. It's jazzed up with bold letters and bolder claims. "On stage today and tomorrow!" "Mr. Dynamite -- in person!" "The sensation of the nation!" In fact, "the nation's only atomic powered singer!" The three big shows each night were well worth the ticket price: $1.25 in advance or $1.50 at the door.
For plenty of parents, though, all that talk of dynamite and explosions was more than just hype. Jacksonville is where the rock -- almost met the jailhouse. "My father had gotten calls from various cities that he had visited -- by law enforcement and judges from the area -- saying that riots had been caused as a result of his performance," said Judge David Gooding, who holds the same seat his father did 50 years ago: Juvenile Court Judge. "My understanding is that a civic group filed a petition to censor the performance," the younger Judge Gooding said. So the elder Judge Marion Gooding called the "sinful" young singer into his chambers. The two talked over how much -- was too much. "My father's response, after meeting with Elvis and his lawyers, and hearing from the petitioners, was to instruct him that he would accept wiggling from side-to-side, but no back-and-forth motions," Gooding said.
"What I've been told is that Elvis behaved himself like a gentleman. He was represented by an attorney, and the petitioners got along, and everyone got along well. And I think Elvis understood the concerns that my father had at the time."
And to keep the King honest, the elder Judge Gooding sat quietly in the back row through all of the first three shows. "What I have been told is that my father was very pleased with the way Elvis behaved himself during the performances here in Jacksonville," said Judge David Gooding, who was four years old when all this went on. If you want proof the elder judge was all right with Elvis, consider this. "All three of my sisters had dates and tickets to come to the concerts... Dad let them come. He saw the performances and thought they were appropriate for them to see," the younger judge said.
And those three shows even won the King a new fan: the no-nonsense judge in the back.
"I can remember back during the '70s and '60s that my father would always watch Elvis with great fondness when he would appear on television. He was a big fan," Judge Gooding said.
One month later came Presley's first stop on the Ed Sullivan Show. Millions watched, and his fame only grew. But to this day, any true story of the King's life includes a stop in Jacksonville.
"It's really kind of a unique part of history. One that we'll never see again," Gooding said.
The Florida Theatre will be showing one of Elvis' biggest movies, "Viva Las Vegas."
You can catch that on September 3rd. There will be other activities to celebrate the history of the King in Jacksonville, including Elvis and Ann-Margret look-a-like contests. ...
- Sugar Land Express to Virginia?
By Tom Delaney
(heraldtribune.com July 10, 2006)
Although I've lived my entire life below the Mason-Dixon line, I've never been a very good Southerner. I hold no special reverence for Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson or even Elvis Presley, and it wasn't until recently that I developed a taste for grits. But there's something about the latest fix that Tom DeLay's gotten himself into that tugs at my native Virginian heart and compels me, against my better judgment, to offer my assistance in his hour of need. ...
- Elvis' Advice to President Bush
By Christopher Tidmore
(Louisiana Weekly July 10, 2006)
A new billboard sign greets visitors at Graceland. Just prior to the visit, the Mayor of Memphis, TN had written in bold letters "Welcome President Bush and Prime Minister Koizumi." Little did the Mayor expect that his greeting would be joined by a gaggle of war protesters. However, while the press featured the scene of Junichiro Koizumi crooning out Elvis' tunes in at the King of Rock and Roll's home, flanked by Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley and President Bush, the media did little to explain how Graceland may have proven as edifying a visit for George W. as it did for his Japanese counterpart.
What the media did not report was the visit to the house was supposed to last no more than 20-30 minutes. As Bruce, a security guard put it to The Louisiana Weekly, "That prime minister, he's a character. He took two hours to go through the house. We couldn't get him away. He was dancing and swinging. He and the president were joking around - It was great, but I still can't see how it took two hours to go through the house. You've been in there. It's not that big - He must really love Elvis."
The adjoining buildings on the estate house a series of mini museums about Elvis. Each were visited by the two leaders. Across the street, the visitor's center is flanked by Elvis' jets, a museum of his cars, a hall outlining his after dark activities. All received a visit, but the most time was spent in the small converted garage attached to Graceland. One enters to see a mockup of the two rooms in which Elvis was born in Tupelo, Mississippi. Cattycornered from it is a display with his recreational activities, including the King's guns and a collection of police badges from around the country. Interestingly, the Louisiana State Police granted him two.
Perhaps President Bush was looking for the famed Federal Marshall's badge that Richard Nixon famously gave Presley after the King made an impromptu visit to the White House to discuss what he could do to fight the influx of illegal drugs. It was not in the case, but beside the display, there are two room mockups from the closed upstairs. One shows Elvis's white clam shell bedroom, but the other is his office.
According to surprised guides, speaking privately to The Louisiana Weekly, President Bush stopped and lingered before the office scene. His eyes reportedly traveled up the walls to the two framed parchment plaques hanging on the wall. The first outlines the Perils of Leadership, but the second outlines President Theodore Roosevelt's famous dictum about the critic. It read, "It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
Bush reportedly left the room in good spirits. After seeing the remaining buildings and the gravesite, he suggested that he and the prime minister drop in on the Memphis Steakhouse, a stop unplanned by the panicked Secret Service. Then, one more visit to the National Civil Rights Museum at The Lorraine Motel where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. Bush and Koizumi emerged from a tour to stand on the spot on the motel balcony where King was slain. Of the visit, the President said that it demonstrated the close relationship that the U.S and Japan have built since the end of the Second World War, one that was challenged only days later as North Korean missiles said near Japanese coasts.
- Down with the King
By Jim Heffernan
(Duluth News Tribune July 9, 2006)
National Public Radio has revived the "This I Believe" series, begun more than 50 years ago by legendary broadcaster Edward R. Murrow on CBS. People read short essays they have written about things that they deem important, such as life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness -- or whatever. Most essays are liberally sprinkled with the words "I believe." NPR broadcasts them each Monday morning.
A recent visit by the outgoing (outgoing is right!) prime minister of Japan to Elvis Presley's Graceland inspired my contribution to the "This I Believe" series, although don't listen for it on National Public Radio. This is exclusive to the Duluth News Tribune. Here it is:
* I believe that standing outside of Graceland on Elvis Presley Boulevard when President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (translation: "Roy Orbison") visited were several Elvis Presley impersonators holding protest signs. I believe I don't know what they were protesting, and don't care.
* I believe the time has come in America to put a stop to Elvis Presley impersonations by fat guys with dyed hair who look nothing like the king of rock 'n' roll even when he got fat and dyed his hair.
* I believe there are entirely too many Elvis impersonators going around the country embarrassing themselves before live audiences, 99.8 percent of whose members are sitting there thinking, "This guy doesn't look anything like Elvis except for the tinted glasses, and he doesn't sound anything like Elvis, either."
* I believe the money of any American who paid to see an Elvis impersonator should be refunded through a special tax on gasoline wasted in vehicles that were used to go see Elvis Presley impersonators.
* I believe it is time for the White House to put an end to this nonsense by issuing an executive order banning all Elvis impersonations as of Jan. 1, 2007, giving current Elvis impersonators time to burn their polyester costumes before global warming gets even worse.
* I believe congressional leaders, after said executive order, should loudly complain to the New York Times that it is Congress' job to ban Elvis impersonators, and not the president's. I believe Vice President Dick Cheney should condemn Congress, the New York Times and Elvis impersonators for insulting the prime minister of Japan, himself a part-time Elvis impersonator and our strong ally in the war on terrorism.
* I believe the American Civil Liberties Union should intercede on behalf of Elvis impersonators and bring a legal case before the United States Supreme Court on grounds that free speech guarantees found in the United States Constitution include the right to sing, no matter how terribly and no matter how little it sounds like Elvis Presley.
* I believe the Supreme Court should unanimously rule that Elvis impersonators ain't got no reason to live and that they should be sent to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to await no trial. Further, justices should rule in a separate case that burning white polyester Elvis Presley costumes with high collars and sequins is a form of free expression and therefore protected under the exclusionary rule of the Constitution, whatever that is.
* I believe that for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows. No, strike that.
I have other beliefs, too, but not many. If you have beliefs, write them down and send them to National Public Radio. Who knows, maybe you could get on the radio.
- 'King' fish? Elvis, others rock underwater
By Christopher Tidmore
(MiamiHerald.com / AP July 9, 2006)
He wasn't wearing blue suede fins, but an Elvis impersonator was among the snorkelers and divers who swam Saturday in the Underwater Music Festival in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Neil Goldberg of Key West, costumed in a white-caped jumpsuit and flashy gold chains, wasn't the only one in the water. ...
AP Photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau
- Generation X googles itself to distraction
By IAIN SHARP
(stuff.co.nz July 9, 2006)
After discovering recently that Douglas Coupland was born on a military base in Germany and not in Vancouver, his long-time home and the setting for much of his fiction, including JPod, I have been toying with the idea of starting a rumour that Coupland is the secret child of Elvis Presley. Trouble is, the dates do not quite match. Elvis completed his army service in Germany in March 1960. Coupland was not born until December 1961.
But what if the novelist is, in fact, a year older than he has been led to believe by his duplicitous Elvis-protecting caregivers? That would make him a tail-end baby boomer instead of part of the first influx of Generation X, the sociological grouping he has represented so forcefully for the past 15 years. His whole career would then be based on a fallacy.
Why am I wasting my time, you might wonder, on such a blatantly ridiculous hypothesis? ...
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