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Thursday, August 16, 2007

Th-Th-Th-Thursday and Elvis is Still Dead

It was 30 years ago today that the King of Rock n' Roll died on his throne. With each passing year Elvis comes to mean less to me. Sure I was only 7 when he died but I clearly remember my aunt, a huge Elvis fan, sobbing when the announcer cut into radio programming to bring the news. Boy did that ruin a family outing to the French Market! John Lennon felt Elvis died when he went in the Army and with the exception of what he did in 1968 that seems fair. Never again did Elvis have much of a cultural impact. Unless you think bad sideburns and jumpsuits are a good thing. Maybe it was Bono who summed up Elvis the best (or at least I think it was Bono who said it) when he said that Elvis represented everything that is good about America and everything that is bad.

One of my fave Elvis stories is when Bruce Springsteen and Little Steven (or as he was known then) Miami Steve were in a cab in Memphis around the time they were touring behind Born to Run. They tell the cab driver who they are (cabbie had no clue) and tell him to drive 'em by Graceland. The cab stops...Bruce and Steve climb out and decide to hop the gates of Graceland and run up the lawn to the door. Unfortunately, Elvis wasn't home (playing in Vegas they were told). I used to wonder what would have happened had Bruce and Steve been able to meet Elvis. Could they have saved them? Could they have taught him to rock again? Would Elvis had a hit with the Boss's song Fire? Would Elvis wound up in the Travelling Wilburys? We'll never know. Surely had the Boss been able to save the King, the story of Elvis would surely have ended someplace other than the bathroom floor.

Speaking of Springsteen rumors swirl that a press release to announce a new record and tour could happen as early as today:http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/music/la-et-springsteenweb16aug16,1,3940628.story?ctrack=5&cset=true

Don't laugh when I say this...but Joe Namath has always been my favorite athlete. Joe represented toughness to me as a kid the way he played on those wrecked knees. Post retirement life hasn't been kind to Joe Willie. First came divorce, then he could no longer hide that he was a drunk after hitting on ESPN's Suzy Kolber during a live broadcast and now this...Joe Willie is a grandfather...thanks to his 16 year old daughter:http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2007/08/16/2007-08-16_former_star_jet_quarterback_joe_namaths_-1.html

Great editorial in today's New York Times on how our government continues to bungle our foreign policy. President Lame Duck and crew continue to pound the war drums but is anyone scared?:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/16/opinion/16thu1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

VH1, the network that runs the same shows over and over adds a John Lennon doc to its schedule this weekend:http://www.theusversusjohnlennon.com/site/

My teenage son eagerly awaits the local stop of the Projekt Revolution tour. The boy loves him some Linkin Park. Critics say the tour isn't delivering on its promise tho:http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/music/ny-etprojekt0817,0,5782400.story

EW wants you to vote on the best and worst of summer:http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20051973,00.html

While still excited about this weeks Van Halen news, I'm less psyched about the announcement that KyMani Marley, one of Bob's 50 kids is the opening act. Guess the chances of the opening act blowing VH off the stage are now between zero and none.

There was an episode of South Park a few years back where the boys were so eager to get their baseball season over with they'd lose games by any means necessary. The way the Indians and Tigers have been playing lately makes me think they are doing the same thing.

Baseball reached a new milestone this week that for a change doesn't include talk of steroids. Braves manager Bobby Cox set a new record for ejections from a ball game. The kids at Son of Sam Malone list the best ejections ever:http://www.sonsofsammalone.com/2007/08/in-honor-of-bobby.html

More crap as it happens....

3 comments:

TFO said...

The vids of the top 5 baseball tantrums was quite entertaining..I remember seeing the #1 choice and laughing my *ss off!!

Blast Furniss said...

Speaking of baseball, did you see that former big leagure Jose Offerman went off last night in a minor league game? Got hit by a pitch and went out to take a swing at the pitcher with his bat in his hand. Instead Offerman whacked the catcher who has a concussion. Offerman now facing 2 criminal charges!

TFO said...

I saw that...I think I read that Offerman was a former all-star. Talk about a fall from grace.