mid September, 2006
- Return to the sender
By Joshua Lim
(theedgedaily.com, September 24, 2006)
Elvis Presley's hit song "Return to the Sender" came to my mind when I heard about a deceased person's estate complications. The problems may not return to haunt him, but his relatives are facing difficulties because his taxes were not correctly submitted. People say two things are unavoidable in life - death and taxes. Today, we are talking about the both of them: how to deal with taxes after death. This is irregardless of whether a person dies testate or intestate. ...
- 'Elvis' scores in beautiful people game
By Jeremy Watson
(Scotland on Sunday, September 24, 2006)
On the pitch he's a man's man, a rugged alpha male with a mop of hair and ever-present stubble. But Steven 'Elvis' Pressley, the captain of Hearts, is in touching distance of gaining a whole new reputation - as the most stylish man in Scotland. ...
- Thomas Kinkade paints Graceland as cozy, welcoming
(Sun Herald / ASSOCIATED PRESS, September 24, 2006)
Known for his paintings of cozy cottages, country gardens and churches, artist Thomas Kinkade has created a similar tranquil scene in his painting of Elvis Presley's famous home. Kinkade, who finished the oil painting in about three hours on Friday, said he wanted to paint Graceland as if it were a brisk autumn morning with a fire in the fireplace. The work features a wisp of smoke rising from the house's chimney and a yellowish-orange glow spilling from every window. The front of the home is framed with oak, poplar and magnolia trees in full green foliage.
Kinkade described his 401st painting set for release as a "sketchy painting," a study that he will take to his California studio to refine for a finished portrait to be released in March. Prints of the study and the finished portrait will be for sale around the same time as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of Elvis' purchase of Graceland.
The Commercial Appeal reports Kinkade said his sister was an Elvis fan and that he seemed destined to paint the famous home: "When I was growing up, I had Elvis music in the house all the time." The artist told the newspaper that in the final work he envisions "a likeness of Elvis somewhere in the painting and Elvis' Cadillac." "I really had in the back of my mind what a gracious place it was and that I'd love to paint it... . I love utilizing my art as a tool to re-create classic American themes," he said.
A California native beloved by some but reviled by the art establishment, Kinkade claims to be the most widely collected living U.S. artist. Kinkade's paintings typically include peaceful scenes of cottages, country gardens, churches, streams and lighthouses in dewy morning light. Many contain images from Bible passages. Roughly 10 million Americans have a Kinkade painting at home. The wall hangings and spin-off products are said to fetch $100 million a year.
- Court rules Tupelo owes couple $120K for digging on land
By SANDI P. BEASON
(Daily Journal, September 22, 2006)
A federal jury has awarded $120,000 in damages to a couple who sued the city of Tupelo for altering private property without permission. Bill and Linda Kinard were trying to develop 15 acres in east Tupelo into the Elvis Presley Heights Cemetery. ...
- Reviving Auburn Dam, Peripheral Canal
(allaboutjazz.com, September 20, 2006)
Elvis Presley was a young man when bureaucrats and politicians began talking about two large projects to control and use the water that in seasonal rain and snow storms dump on Northern California. Building a high dam on the American River near Auburn, water engineers reasoned, would hold more of the seasonal flows for later use while protecting the Sacramento area from flooding. A "Peripheral Canal," meanwhile, was touted to divert water from the Sacramento River around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta for delivery to San Joaquin Valley farmers and Southern California homes and industries. ...
- Gently Weeps
By John Kelman
(pressdemocrat.com, September 20, 2006)
Jake Shimabukuro | Hitchhike Records (2006)
Pity the poor ukulele. Consigned to a less-than-respectable fate thanks to Tiny Tim and movies like Elvis Presley's Paradise, Hawaiian Style, this small four-string cousin to the guitar just can't get any respect. Jake Shimabukuro has been working hard to change that over the past few years on albums like Skyline (Epic, 2003) and Dragon (Hitchhike, 2005). But while earlier recordings have placed Shimabukuro's diminutive instrument in larger group settings, Gently Weeps is all the more remarkable for being a solo recording, representative of recent touring activity. Who would have thought a ukulele could sound so big? ...
- Schilling returns to the desert for book signing
By Bruce Fessier
(The Desert Sun, September 19, 2006)
Jerry Schilling has been coming to Palm Springs for business and pleasure since 1964. He's been a business associate and close friend of a couple of late part-time Palm Springs residents named Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys and Elvis Presley. He'll return to Palm Springs at 7 p.m. Wednesday to sign copies of his new memoir, "Me and A Guy Named Elvis," at Peppertree Bookstore & Cafe.
Schilling, 64, was with Elvis when the King of Rock 'n' Roll began his honeymoon with the former Priscilla Beaulieu at the Honeymoon House in Palm Springs in 1967. He was with Elvis and other members of the so-called Memphis Mafia when they made an unannounced call on the visiting U.S. vice president, Spiro Agnew, in Rancho Mirage in 1970. And he and Elvis bodyguard Sonny West were still with Elvis when an epic journey that began at Agnew's place culminated with a visit to Richard Nixon in the White House. Schilling, who lives in a Los Angeles house that Elvis bought him, said in a telephone interview only the latter experience made his list of five most memorable moments with Elvis. His top recollections with and without him:
The first time he heard an Elvis recording on the radio in his Memphis hometown in 1954. "As a 12-year-old boy, I felt something personal out of that record, maybe because he was from my neighborhood."
The next day, when Elvis saw him at a Memphis park and asked him to fill in for a pick-up football game.
"When I went into the huddle, I knew that was the guy on the radio."
The first time he left Graceland with Elvis on a cross-country caravan to California as one of Elvis' guys. "That was a moment where I felt I was a different person somehow."
The day he met Nixon in the White House as Elvis' guest. "The moment of walking in the Oval Room with the door being opened by Elvis Presley and seeing the President signing something at the end of the Oval Room. I was frozen."
Being there for the birth of Elvis and Priscilla's daughter, Lisa Marie. "I brought them back from the hospital. That's the most excited, happy and natural I ever saw Elvis."
- Star-studded line-up for TV's 50 year
(NEWS.com.au, September 18, 2006)
A STAR-studded line-up of television royalty has celebrated five decades of Australian television in style. The old and new generations of Australian TV came together with the likes of veteran actor Bud Tingwell, multi-Logie winner Lisa McCune and the famous Daddo brothers - Lochie, Andrew and Cameron - uniting for the historic milestone. More than 300 well-known names of Australian TV came out in force for the Seven Network's 50 years of television event, broadcast live from Sydney's Star City Casino last night.
The red carpet oozed glamour, dripping in designer frocks and jewels, as the stars braced themselves for a night of entertainment, including the unveiling of the nation's most memorable television moment. Tingwell, who has graced Australian screens for more than three decades in programs including The Sullivans, Cop Shop and Homicide, said his career highlight was simply "just working".
Hosted by Sunrise co-hosts Melissa Doyle and David Koch, TV Turns 50: The Events That Stopped A Nation, showcased the top 20 TV moments from the past half-century as voted by the Australian public. Everything from Stuart Diver's dramatic rescue following the Thredbo landslide of 1997 to the tragic events of the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York city and top sporting triumphs, were broadcast complete with candid interviews with the people who were there.
A special tribute to music king Elvis Presley by David Campbell and Human Nature intrigued guests and viewers in the three-hour broadcast, while a dance off between the Dancing With The Stars judges - Helen Richey, Mark Wilson, Todd McKenney and Paul Mercurio - amused. ... Television was first broadcast to Australian homes on September 16, 1956 with the birth of TCN-9 and Bruce Gyngell uttering the words "Welcome to television".
- Wecht completes second autopsy on Anna Nicole Smith's son
(WREG TV / ASSOCIATED PRESS, September 18, 2006)
A pathologist who consulted in Elvis Presley's death investigation and was hired by Anna Nicole Smith has completed a second autopsy on her son, Daniel, in the Bahamas.
Cyril Wecht, a forensic pathologist from Pittsburgh, said before the exam he would retrace the procedures of the local coroner's office. The local examiner had labeled the 20-year-old's death "suspicious" because the cause was unclear. Afterward, Wecht said the repeat autopsy did not produce conclusive evidence of what killed Daniel Smith. Wecht says he has requested Smith's medical records from the United States and ordered further analyses that could take weeks to be completed. He ruled out several potential natural causes, including heart disease or stroke. He also said that foul play was not involved. Daniel Smith died September tenth in a hospital room where his mother was recuperating from giving birth three days earlier.
- 'Cool' investments sometimes turn cold
By ANDREW LECKEY
(St Paul Pioneer Press, September 17, 2006)
Cool can be elusive. Elvis Presley and Jack Nicholson remain cool. Britney Spears and Tom Cruise have suffered coolness erosion. In investing, the cool factor is fun but difficult to pin down because popularity can be an unreliable way to select investments. Internet companies Yahoo, Amazon.com and eBay - once sparkling topics of cocktail conversation - have suffered setbacks this year of 28 percent, 35 percent and 34 percent, respectively. ...
- Clay Robison: Win or lose, Kinky's campaign will be fodder for Hollywood, book
By ANDREW LECKEY
(San Antonio Express-News, September 17, 2006)
Kinky Friedman may not win the governor's race Nov. 7, but if you thought his quotable road show would be forever silenced then, think again. Win or lose, Friedman has a contract for a documentary on his campaign, which explains why a camera crew has been following him around. The Los Angeles producers are Wayne Miller and David Steinberg, the comedian/director of "Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" fame. ... Friedman's agent, David Vigliano of New York, has a habit of corralling celebrities - some instant and some more durable - for book proposals. His company's other clients have included Willie Nelson; baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra; Elvis Presley's estate; singer Britney Spears; Jayson Blair, the discredited former New York Times reporter; and Michael Schiavo, husband of the late Terri Schiavo, whose persistent vegetative state sparked political debate over the so-called "right to die." ...
- Elvis' pathologist to probe Smith's son's death
(CNN / ASSOCIATED PRESS, September 16, 2006)
A pathologist who consulted in the death investigations of Elvis Presley and JonBenet Ramsey said Saturday that Anna Nicole Smith had hired him to perform a repeat autopsy on her son. Daniel Wayne Smith, 20, died September 10 in a hospital room where the reality TV star and former Playboy model was recuperating from giving birth three days earlier. Investigators have said they did not find evidence of drugs in the room or obvious signs of a crime. The Bahamas coroner's office, which labeled the death "suspicious" because the cause was unclear, performed an autopsy Tuesday and ordered further analysis, including a toxicology test to be completed next week. Cyril Wecht, a forensic pathologist from Pittsburgh famous for his expertise on celebrity death investigations, told The Associated Press by phone that he had been hired to examine the remains of Daniel Smith. Wecht, reached in Arizona where he had been attending a professional conference, said he hoped to reach the Bahamas on Saturday night but might not arrive until Sunday. He declined to comment on his role in the Smith case. ...
- Jerry Lee's got a whole lotta album comin' out
By WOODY BAIRD
(Sun Herald / ASSOCIATED PRESS, September 16, 2006)
Jerry Lee Lewis' hardheaded life of self-destructive recklessness - filled with drugs, booze, scandal and broken marriages - didn't seem like it would be the formula for a long career. But "The Killer" is still rocking. Just shy of his 71st birthday, Lewis - who had his first hell-raising hit 49 years ago with "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" - is releasing his first studio album in more than a decade. "I just felt like I was ready to do it again," Lewis said with a smile. Its title? "Last Man Standing."
As a pioneer rock 'n' roller for Sam Phillips' legendary Sun Records, Lewis was a member of the so-called "Million Dollar Quartet" with Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash. Together, the young Sun stars carved a special place in the history of American music for Phillips' label and influenced generations of future rock 'n' rollers. Of course, though they toured together in the early days, they never really performed together as a quartet - even though a photo from Dec. 4, 1956, shows them gathered together at a Sun Studio piano, with Presley, not Lewis, at the keyboard. Now, Lewis is the only one left. Presley died in 1977, Perkins in 1998 and Cash and Phillips in 2003. "I AM the last man standing," Lewis said. "And the last one breathing." Though Lewis didn't have the popularity of the King of Rock 'n' Roll or the critical legacy of Cash, he is still one of more important figures in the history of rock 'n' roll. His rollicking piano licks, along with his own fiery voice, fueled a few of rock's most influential songs - most notably the ultimate classic, "Great Balls of Fire." ...
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