October
- Chilean Miner Edison Pena to Meet Elvis in Las Vegas: RESCUED CHILEAN MINER HEADED TO LAS VEGAS TO BE WED.
(prnewswire.com, October 15 2010)
After nearly suffocating and starving to death, rescued Chilean miner and avid Elvis Presley fan Edison Pena has gotten a VIP invitation to meet Elvis himselvis in Fabulous Las Vegas. Elvis fan for many years, Pena was truly caught in a trap, and couldn't walk out (lyrics to Elvis Presley's famous song) and is invited to be celebrated in majestic style as only the Entertainment Capitol of the world can do.
Elvis Entertainment Inc. is offering a star studded welcome from the Official Elvis of Las Vegas (Jesse Garon), fabulous showgirls, 5-star accommodations, show tickets to the top acts, buffets, and of course a renewal of vows with the King under the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign in a 1955 Pink Cadillac.
Jesse Garon, the Official Elvis of Las Vegas, was so moved to tears by the determination of the Chilean miners in their success at beating death that he wanted to show them Las Vegas as only the King can. "How those men survived is nothing less than miraculous," said Mr. Garon. He continued with, "All of the Elvis community and fans everywhere bonded together and have been inspired by the miner trapped
underground since first hearing about the fan of the King on Facebook." Garon and many other Elvis fans are filled with admiration and love for these men, but especially fond of their Elvis brother who also loves the King. Pena used music and movies of the King including the 1960s Elvis movie Viva Las Vegas and Jailhouse Rock to pass the time and keep up the spirits of all the miners trapped underground.
Mr. Garon extending the invitation by saying, "These men deserve the best." The king inspired Garon to give generously out of his own pocket and to pay for this once in a lifetime event for the trapped miner and his wife. Las Vegas stands ready to shower the couple along with a first class, dazzling visit to the bright light city. Viva Las Chile!
- Ambassador shows off "kitchsy' Elvis display
By Natsasha Rudra
(Canberra Times, October 14 2010, p. 14)
United States ambassador Jeffrey Bleich is no hound dog but you migh check for blue suede shoes at his next public appearance.
The ambassador to Australia is about to reveal a soft spot for the King, Elvis Presley.
Bleich will appear on the ABC program, Collectors, tomorrow, talking about his exensive collecion of Elvis memorabilia.
He shows off everything from a Love Me Tender conditioning shampoo, "made with the finest ingredients". to a framed (and photographed) picture of himself serving cake at Elvis and Priscilla's wedding in 1967. ...
- Private equity firm Apollo considers CKX deal
'American Idol' producer has been on the block for months
(hollywoodreporter.com, October 5 2010)
There is new life in the long-running sales process of CKX Inc., the entertainment firm that owns the "American Idol" franchise and rights to Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali, the New York Post reported Tuesday.
Private equity firm Apollo Management has held meetings with the two main suitors - Allen Shapiro, CEO of Mosaic Media Group, and Robert Sillerman, CKX's founder and former chairman and CEO.
Amid a lack of bidding activity, CKX recently signalled that it plans to finalize a potential sale or decision to take itself off the auction block soon. Apollo is considering the best way to finance a possible deal and which suitor would yield more success, according to the Post.
Sillerman has said he is eyeing a takeover offer of up to $535 million. Meanwhile, reports have said that JP Morgan Chase's One Equity Partners has decided not to pursue a deal.
- It's now or never: Saracens stars tackle Elvis to back our Dispossessed campaign
(newkerala.com /ANI, October 5 2010)
By Miranda Bryant
Players from a top London rugby club have swapped their jerseys for Elvis costumes to raise money for the Evening Standard's Dispossessed fund.
Saracens' Kelly Brown, Michael Tagicakibau and Andy Saull busked outside the Hard Rock Café to promote the campaign. Their repertoire included Presley's Love Me Tender and club song Stand Up For The Saracens. Last month the Standard announced that it has raised £4.5million for charitable organisations in the capital.
Scottish international Brown said: "It's something that I think is a fantastic campaign and everyone at Saracens is proud to be a part of it. I've done some singing up in Scotland in bands and on the tour bus. At away games I get called to sing for corporate clients."
Club chiefs said the event was a taster for Saracens' game against Leinster on October 16 at Wembley when events including busking Elvis impersonators and a hit-the-crossbar competition will raise money for the Dispossessed fund. The club has already donated £3,150 from an auction and has pledged its commitment to the fund, which supports charities and groups helping London's worst off. The first team wear Dispossessed logos on their shorts.
It comes as businessman John Lewis, chairman of Photo-Me International, gave £5,000 to the fund.
Our campaign aims to fight poverty in the capital by creating a permanent endowment fund to support hundreds of grassroots charities.
The Standard was today commended by the judges of award scheme The Beacon Prize for its services to philanthropy.
- Brad Pitt drew inspiration from Elvis Presley for latest movie role
(newkerala.com /ANI, October 5 2010)
Tom McGrath, director of the animated DreamWorks comedy, said Brad "jumped on board" when it came to recording his character.
"Brad Pitt was fantastic to work with, he's the perfect Metro Man," the Mirror quoted the filmmaker as saying. "He really got into it with his Elvis swagger.
In fact, when we recorded him he didn't want to sit behind a podium, he wanted to walk around the stage holding this mic and it really suited his character," said McGrath.
- Ladies and Gentlemen -- Elvis Has Entered the Governor's Race
(arkansasnews.com, October 4 2010)
A friend passes along this picture of Elvis Presley speaking at a candidate's forum in Russelville tonight. Presley is running as a write-in candidate for governor. Reports are that he actually did fairly well. I hope that Gov. Mike Beebe and Jim Keet don't get all shook up. Seriously, if "Elvis Presley" actually had his name on the ballot instead a write-in he might get a sizable chunk of the vote. It worked for Charlie Daniels.
- Kin owns Elvis, not his lifestyle
By JOSH SHAFFER
(newsobserver.com, October 3 2010)
Elvis Presley's stepbrother rolled up to church in a blue Cadillac SRX. He stepped to the pulpit in a pair of brown leather cowboy boots. And as the congregation fanned itself Sunday night, Rick Stanley pounded a phone-book-thick Bible and explained how he had traded one king for another - how he'd dropped easy sex, hand-out drugs and Las Vegas flash for the life of a itinerant preacher.
Here was a man who grew up in Graceland, jetted between Beverly Hills and Palm Springs, knocked about with the likes of Led Zeppelin and Wayne Newton - a man so trusted by Elvis that he fetched The King cheeseburgers at midnight.
And the lesson he carried away, the news he brought the flock at St. Peter's Church of Christ was this: Elvis had too much. People aren't built for that kind of wealth. Live simply and kindly.
"I've heard enough about Elvis!" Stanley shouted, going red in the face. "I don't care for idol worship. He's my brother, and I love him, but I don't use his name to draw attention to me. I use it to draw attention to Jesus!"
This was happy news at St. Peter's, where some of the parishioners hadn't been alive half the years since Elvis skipped the planet.
Still, "Us older people remember Elvis, amen," Bishop R.W. Johnson, St. Peter's pastor, said from the pulpit. "'Jailhouse Rock.' 'Blue Suede Shoes.' That man could sing, amen."
These days, Stanley works for love offerings, trying to make $1,000 to $1,500 a week, but showing up free if he has to. God, he says, trusts him with this story, and he intends to tell it right.
First things first: Elvis resides in heaven.
At 5, Stanley was already living the tough-break life a Memphis bluesman might describe: beaten by an alcoholic father, shipped off to boarding school, and fed Tabasco sauce for punishment. He and his brothers endured their exile for a year, until one day their mother pulled up in a Lincoln Continental alongside a stranger she introduced as "Daddy."
The stranger was Vernon Presley, she explained, a beau she had met in Germany while divorcing their ne'er-do-well soldier father. He was driving them to Graceland to live with his boy - Elvis, The King of rock 'n' roll.
This was 1960, and Stanley walked into a palace of gold records and armed guards. He grew up as Elvis' little brother, 18 years younger, catching footballs with The King, selling his faked autograph for $5 a pop.
Then when Stanley turned 17, Elvis took him on the road, welcomed him into the entourage.
This was not the Elvis of Sun Records years, not the man who shook his hips to "Heartbreak Hotel." This was an aging star living on uppers, downers and leggy female fans, whom Stanley would often fetch.
"He used to kid me," Stanley recalled. "He'd say, 'Rick, there's only one thing better than a 5-8 blonde.' I'd say, 'What?' and he'd say, 'Two 5-8 blondes.'"
But Elvis had a quiet, humble side. Along with his "kit" full of drugs, which Stanley sometimes carried, Elvis kept a green leather Bible - also Stanley's to tote. They'd watch Rex Humbard and other Sunday morning TV evangelists together, and those are moments Stanley misses most.
"The greatness of Elvis Presley was not singing," Stanley said, "but the godly ease he moved with around people, making them feel special."
Happy with less
To hear Stanley tell it now, he's got less ego in his cosmos, and less money. All he misses from the glitzy days is flying first class. He'd rather find a tattooed kid, or a girl with a nose stud, and make them feel welcome in the pews.
Elvis' hips may have been the devil's disciple with the church crowd, but he could sing a good gospel song. He read his Bible, and he loved his mama, and that's enough for Rick Stanley.
- Elvis Presley's favorite coaster getting new life at Wisconsin park
(realitytvworld.com / UPI, dated (September 24 2010, found October 2 2010)
A replica of the Zippin Pippin, Elvis Presley's favorite roller coaster, is being built at Bay Beach Amusement Park in Wisconsin, it has been announced.
The original wooden coaster, which was 63 feet tall and stretched out 740 feet, was shut down in Memphis because of real estate development, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said.
It is being rebuilt in Green Bay, Wis., and is slated to open to the public May 7.
The city bought the Zippin Pippin design and naming rights for $10,000 and builders will likely use some of the original wood for signs and a ticket booth, the report said. The ride will be built using all new materials, however.
Presley rented out the Memphis amusement park where the Zippin Pippin was originally located so he and his entourage could enjoy the ride as often as they wanted. He is said to have done this for the last time just eight days before his 1977 death, the Sentinel said.
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