early October
- Sideshow: It's twin girls for Lisa Marie Presley
By Tirdad Derakhshani
(Philadelphia Inquirer, October 13 2008)
Lisa Marie Presley has giving birth to twin daughters, a publicist for Elvis' daughter announced over the weekend. Few details came with the release, no names or location of the West Coast hospital, but each little girl weighed over 5 pounds and will call music producer Michael Lockwood Daddy. They join Presley's 19-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son from a previous marriage.
- Twins for Lisa Marie Presley
(handbag, October 13 2008)
Lisa Marie Presley gave birth to twins girls in California this past weekend. Lisa Marie and husband Michael Lockwood welcomed the girls. who were delivered by caesarian section, at the Los Robles Hospital in Thousand Oaks. The birth takes Elvis' daughter's brood to four, she has two teenage boys from a previous relationship. “Lisa Marie is mom to four now! She’s feeling good, a little tired too," a source told Star magazine. "She is so happy and Michael is ecstatic. He’s wanted to be a dad for so long. This is his dream come true. There was no drama. The babies are healthy and beautiful."
- Twin girls for Lisa Marie Presley
(BBC News, October 12 2008)
Lisa Marie Presley has given birth to twin girls, her publicist has revealed. The 40-year-old daughter of Elvis Presley gave birth by Caesarean section on Tuesday, a statement said. "Babies and mom are happy and healthy and resting at home," it added. The girls weighed 5lb 15oz (2.7kg) and 5lb 2oz (2.3kg). {resley, who is married to producer Michael Lockwood, lives in Los Angeles. She has a 19-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son from a previous marriage.
- Lisa Marie Presley delivers twins
By Lisa Baertlein; Editing by Xavier Briand
(Yahoo! News, October 11 2008)
Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis Presley's only child, gave birth to twin baby girls on October 7, celebrity news TV show "Entertainment Tonight" said on its website on Saturday.
The girls, whose names were not given, were delivered by cesarean section and weighed 5 pounds, 15 ounces (2.7 kg) and 5 pounds, 2 ounces (2.3 kg). The twins are the first children born to Presley, 40, and her musician husband Michael Lockwood, 47.
Presley also has two children with ex-husband Danny Keough. After that union ended in 1994, she briefly married Michael Jackson and then actor Nicolas Cage.
Twins run in the Presley family. Her father, who died in 1977, was a twin and her mother, Priscilla Presley, has younger brothers who are twins, ET said. Presley is following in the musical footsteps of her father. Last year she released a version of Elvis' "In the Ghetto," a posthumous duet with her dad.
- Judge rules woman can make claim to Presley estate
By Lori Brown
(WMC-TV, October 9 2008)
A Memphis judge ruled today a woman claiming to be Elvis Presley's half sister could make a claim to Vernon Presley's estate. The attorney representing Elvis Presley's interests said the claim will not get her anywhere.
A woman who changed her name to Eliza Presley testified in court Wednesday that she has DNA evidence that Vernon Presley, Elvis' Father, is her father. Eliza Presley's attorney said the DNA evidence is reliable. "They've been tested in and retested by various labs and proof is conclusive," Eliza Presley's attorney Kathleen Caldwell said.
Cameras were not allowed in the courtroom when Eliza Presley testified about the DNA. But she said she got Elvis' DNA from an envelope given to her by a person named Jesse. When she was questioned about who Jesse is, she said Elvis is using the assumed name of Jesse.
Eliza Presley's mother Florence Clark said the story is not true. Clark, a former Whitehaven resident who now lives in Oregon, said she never had a relationship with Elvis or Vernon Presley. "A group of my girlfriends and I used to go to Graceland. We knew Elvis. I met Vernon once in a crowd and other than that I don't know Vernon," Clark said.
The attorney representing Elvis Presley's interests said it does not matter if Eliza Presley is a half-sister of Elvis or not. She does not have a claim to the estate. "Whatever relation she may be to the estate she has no entitlement to the assets," attorney for Elvis Presley's interests Bill Bradley said. Bradley said even if Eliza Presley could make a claim to Vernon Presley's estate, the estate isn't worth anything because all the assets are now in a trust to benefit specific family members.
- Presley's drummer gets the beat in capital
By KRIS MCDAVID
(dailygleaner.canadaeast.com, October 6 2008)
A number of Elvis Presley fans and curious passersby crammed into Tony's Music Box on Queen Street on Saturday morning to get up-close and personal with a true legend of Rockabilly. And even though the vocalist with the thick sideburns and bright blue unitard happened to be local Elvis impersonator Mike Bravener, the suave looking gentleman on drums was the real story.
DJ Fontana, Presley's personal drummer from 1954-68, was hammering away on drums while Bravener belted out classics such as Jailhouse Rock, That's Alright (Mama), and Blue Suede Shoes during the impromptu show. The 77-year-old Louisiana native along with Bravener's band stopped in the capital on their way to a performance in Miramichi.
"It's always fun, and I'm still having a great time," said Fontana.
On Friday, Fontana played a show at Saint John's Imperial Theatre - a recreation of Presley's 1968 NBC Comeback Special. Fontana said he looks back fondly on the days when he, Presley, and the rest of the band shook the core of American music and culture. "It seems like it was yesterday," he said. "Looking back at all of the old films and clips, we were so young then but, man was it ever fun."
Politicians and parents cringed at Presley's dance moves and provocative lyrics during most of the 1950s. "When you cut records, you never know what's going to happen. It's a chance you take," he said. But after dozens of chart-topping singles and more than 500 million albums sold, Presley cemented his legacy as a global cultural phenomenon.
"He (Presley) got lucky; he had a lot of press behind him and RCA was behind him 100 per cent so that helped him out a lot," said Fontana. "He was a good looking guy, had a lot of charisma, always had girls on his side, and he could sing. He also happened to be the nicest guy in the world."
Brian Younker, an employee at Tony's Music Box, said that having Fontana perform was an honour. "Obviously it's something that people can enjoy on a Saturday morning, so it's a real pleasure," he said. "Elvis revolutionized music and pop music in particular, so whenever you have a chance to come into contact with people like Fontana, who was attached to that sort of history, as time goes on, it's important to do so."
Fredericton resident and Elvis fan Matthew White said Presley's appeal was so widespread because of his "everyman'' persona. He said getting to meet a legend such as Fontana - the man behind the beats on many of Presley's tunes - takes him back to a time when music was simplistic. "I think because of where Elvis came from and how he came up, it really was a rags-to-riches kind of story," he said. "He was a free thinker, a changer, he thought outside the box and people who do that change things, and they're few and far between these days but when they come along, you remember them."
A tip jar was passed around during the performance, with all proceeds going to the Children's Wish Foundation.
Rocking the SHOP:
DJ Fontana, former drummer for Elvis Presley, keeps a beat at Tonyıs Music Box in Fredericton on Saturday morning.
- Elvis album tops Christmas list: SOUNDS FAMILIAR
By Baby A. Gil
(philstar.com, October 6 2008)
OK, I know it is a bit too early in the day to be reading the Christmas charts but I cannot really blame why these guys from Australia want to get this bit of news out. They sent me this message from the web. Elvis Presley fans the world over are in a state of rejoicing. This is because the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) has announced and with certification to boot, that the King of Rock and Roll's Elvis Christmas Album is the biggest selling Holiday record of all time.
Now Bing Crosby's White Christmas maybe is the most popular Christmas song of all time but it is Elvis who rules as far as albums are concerned. As of the end of December, 2007, The Elvis Christmas Album, which was first released in 1957 as a long-play album and which is now available on CD, had already sold a total of nine million copies. More copies are expected to find homes this year what with more and more of today's young music buyers starting to tune in to and enjoy Elvis' music.
The Elvis Christmas Album is a mix of traditional carols, rock and roll and country ballads. It includes Silent Night, White Christmas, Santa Claus is Back in Town, I'll Be Home for Christmas, If Every Day Was Like Christmas, Here Comes Santa Claus, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Santa Bring My Baby Back to Me, Mama Liked the Roses and Presley's biggest selling Christmas single, Blue Christmas.
Along with the announcement came this bit of trivia. Of all the songs in the album, there was only one that Elvis had to be convinced to do. It was Blue Christmas. It was not because he did not like the song. It was actually out of respect for the original artist, Ernest Tubb, who took it to No. 1 in the charts some years earlier. In rebellion, Elvis and his back-up group The Jordainers, recorded what they thought was an awful version of Blue Christmas. They thought what they did was so bad that the recording would never be released as a single. But Presley at that time, could not seem to do anything wrong and Blue Christmas with all the woh woh wohs they put in it, became one of his biggest hits.
The RIAA also mentioned seven more albums that made the grade in its Christmas chart led by the fairly new Miracles: The Holiday Album by Kenny G from 1994 with eight million copies. The others are Now That's What I Call Christmas by Various Artists from 2001 with six million; A Fresh Aire Christmas by Mannheim Steamroller from 1988 with six million; Mannheim Steamroller Christmas from 1964 with six million; A Christmas Album by Barbra Streisand from 1967 with five million; Merry Christmas by Mariah Carey from 1994 with five million; and Merry Christmas by Johnny Mathis from 1958 with five million.
Top 30 Christmas songs
As for the singles, Billboard Magazine has also started putting out its Christmas hit list and here are the carols in the Top 30 led of course by Crosby's White Christmas. Here goes: The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) by Nat King Cole; A Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl Ives; All I Want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey; Please Come Home for Christmas by The Eagles; Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms; Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee; It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Andy Williams; Happy Christmas (War is Over) by John Lennon and Yoko Ono; Feliz Navidad by Jose Feliciano.
Merry Christmas Darling by The Carpenters; Jingle Bell Rock by Daryl Hall and John Oates; It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas by Johnny Mathis; Wonderful Christmas Time by Paul McCartney; Do They Know It's Christmas by Band Aid; Last Christmas by Wham!; Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer by Gene Autry; Winter Wonderland by The Eurythmics; Happy Holiday/The Holiday Season by Andy Williams; Blue Christmas by Elvis Presley.
Same Old Auld Lang Syne by Dan Fogelberg; Christmas Eve (Saravejo 12/24) by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra; Santa Claus is Coming to Town by Bruce Springsteen; Little Saint Nick by The Beach Boys; Christmas Canon by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra; It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Johnny Mathis; Step into Christmas by Elton John; The Christmas Shoes by New Song; O Holy Night by Josh Groban; and Where are You Christmas by Faith Hill.
- 'Dead Elvis' sets an imaginative season for Northwest Sinfonietta
By R.M. CAMPBELL
(seattlepi.nwsource.com, October 5 2008)
The enterprising and ambitious Northwest Sinfonietta, whose reach encompasses the whole of the Puget Sound area, opened its new and expanded season Friday night at Town Hall.
MUSIC REVIEW
NORTHWEST SINFONIETTA
WHEN/WHERE: Friday night at Town Hall
Led by founding music director Christophe Chagnard, the ensemble has been in residence at the First Hill venue for several years, but this year is returning to Nordstrom Recital Hall for four concerts. The opening and closing concerts will be in Town Hall.
Not willing to be confined to conventional corners, Chagnard has created an array of programs with unusual pairings of composers and soloists. A good share of the new season is devoted to music of the 20th and 21st centuries but given new contexts that should illuminate the music at hand.
... Opening night was equally inventive, something not-so-new and something almost new, something familiar and something not familiar: Michael Daugherty's "Dead Elvis," composed in 1993, and Stravinsky's "L'Histoire du soldat," from 1918. The theme of the program was that Elvis Presley and the hapless soldier sold their talent to the devil, for which they paid dearly.
Shed of its programmatic overlay, "Dead Elvis" is essentially a bassoon concerto. It is a clever, well-crafted work that employs the solo instrument to great effect. Francine Peterson swam through the treacherous waters, such as double tonguing, with apparent ease. She did not appear on stage in her usual concert clothes: She was Elvis in drag, which gave the whole affair a comic twist rather than a serious one. But without the costume and the mannerisms, the point of Elvis would have been lost. ...
- Texan Woman Claims She's Elvis' Lost Sister
(au.launch.yahoo.com /Soundbuzz, October 4 2008)
Elvis Presley's estate has been hit with a new bombshell - a 46-year-old Texan woman insists she's the late rocker's sister. Eliza Alice Presley claims to have the DNA tests that prove she's Vernon Presley's secret lovechild. Presley states she was raised by a Texan couple after her birth mother, Florence Juanita Sharp, gave her up for adoption.
The divorced mother-of-four claims Elvis' father Vernon is her father. Her representative, Donald Yates, reveals DNA tests carried out in Arizona match the genetic make-up of Elvis cousin Donna. He tells America's Globe, "I'm 99.99 per cent sure that Eliza Presley and Elvis Aaron Presley are half siblings."
As well as the scientific proof, Yates reveals his client has :sworn
testimony from family members relating to who her biological father is." Eliza Alice Presley has filed papers in Memphis, Tennessee, claiming she's entitled to be "recognised as his daughter and allowed to inherit her statutory share of his estate".
- Elvis Is Alive Museum is apparently set to die
(Arizona Republic / Associated Press, October 3 2008)
The Elvis is Alive Museum will not live, at least not for now. Andy Key tried to sell the Missouri museum twice on eBay. He received no bids by the time the auction ended Friday. He did get one bid at his first asking price of $15,000, but it turned out to be from a child playing on a computer. Key bought the museum on eBay last year for more than $8,000. He says military duties will keep him away from home and he can't operate it.
The collection includes photos, books, FBI files, DNA reports and other memorabilia that aim to support the theory that Elvis Presley never died. Bill Beeny, a Baptist minister who started the museum in 1990, says he has no plans to buy it back.
- RFID passport hack has scanner seeing visions of Elvis
By John Timmer
(arstechnica.com, October 2 2008)
Back in August, a security researcher named Jeroen van Beek demonstrated a method for manipulating information in the RFID tags used in recent passports; more details of the process were discussed at the Black Hat conference held in Las Vegas that month. Now, a member of the group The Hacker's Choice (THC) has built on that knowledge to describe how anyone can use some free software and cheap hardware to manipulate the personal data on a passport RFID tag. The hack comes accompanied by a video showing a machine in Amsterdam's airport reading Elvis Presley's personal information off a hacked chip.
The process, as described by someone going with the handle VonJeek, is pretty straightforward. Software that emulates passport RFID behavior, apparently written by van Beek, is uploaded onto a blank card. Using a free Python application, an existing passport's chip is read and the data transferred to the emulator. In the process, the bits that call for active verification of the encoded information can be shut off, limiting the verification process when the card is read in the future. Instructions for modifying the information prior to uploading it are also provided.
The instructions come with a video of the hacked card in action at the Amsterdam airport. At a self-service boarding pass machine, the hacker slipped the modified RFID card into his passport, and placed it in a scanning device. Up popped Elvis on the screen. Ars' man near Amsterdam, Chris Lee, indicated that this wouldn't get anyone past security - it simply saves waiting in line for manual check-in - but it is a clear indication that the hack was functional as far as the RFID readers were concerned.
In an accompanying blog post, THC recognizes that the use of the (currently limited) centralized certification authority would allow the hacking to be detected, as was the case with van Beek's work. THC argues, however, that this makes the authority a single point of failure that could compromise every RFID-based passport out there. Its proposed solution - human security screeners - creates a different set of issues, however, by providing multiple potential points of failure that won't compromise the entire system. ...
- Make way for the bad guys: Vegas names mob museum
By OSKAR GARCIA
(Yahoo! News / Associated Press, October 1 2008)
The Las Vegas City Council unveiled the name of its planned mob museum Tuesday, along with logos resembling court documents with material blacked out - The (redacted) Museum: The Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement. The first redaction obscures the word "mob."
"I don't think anybody is able to do tongue-in-cheek the way Las Vegas can do it," said Mayor Oscar Goodman, a former criminal defense lawyer who represented organized crime figures before representing voters in City Hall.
The museum showcasing southern Nevada's colorful and storied Mafia past is expected to open in spring 2010 in downtown Las Vegas, at the site of a former federal courthouse where Goodman tried his first case. As city officials unveiled the plans, council members tossed around T-shirts that said: "There is no such thing as a mob museum nor have I ever been there."
Plans for the museum are supported by the FBI, which has pledged to locate organized crime artifacts in Washington and lend them for museum displays. The former head of the Las Vegas FBI office, Ellen Knowlton, is chairwoman of the museum's board. Goodman has pushed for the museum since 2002. Officials say the museum won't glorify organized crime, but instead will give a candid look at its influence on Las Vegas, how law enforcement worked to extract illegal influences from gambling, how mob operations in various cities around the country were connected and famous hearings on organized crime.
The city believes the museum could draw as many as 800,000 visitors each year. It's part of an attempt to revitalize downtown Las Vegas. Its mob theme was picked after a poll of 300 tourists showed more than 70 percent ranking the idea among its top three concepts. Other options included a behind-the-scenes look at gambling, a magic museum or a museum dedicated to Las Vegas icons such as Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley.
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