Love, Love, Love The Man

My dear friend Lisa Short just sent me a link to this video and I am in love once again. The footage in this is brilliant--there is nothing better than the Elvis of the Fifties--the Rockabilly, pelvis-banned, ball of energy young Elvis. Can you get much cooler than this or, even better-- this?

Maybe some of my love for Elvis comes from my Memphis roots--and from the fact that my Mom was friends with him. I grew up hearing my grandmother exclaim, "Oh what a sweet boy!" whenever Elvis' name was mentioned. She actually hired him twice to play for a fundraiser in Forrest City, Arkansas. One day soon I want to formally interview my mother and grandmother about their Elvis experiences and post them here.
I also love thinking about Elvis not only as an icon not only of energy and style, but also as a symbol of a movement forward in American race relations (in fact, I gave my composition class a mini lecture on this the other day).
I have one question concerning Elvis' legacy that has always bothered me: why are Elvis impersonators always characterizing the 70's, tacky, fat, white Jump suited Elvis? I have never seen a sleek, twisting 1950's Elvis. Why?

Aaron Belz and Ectoplasm

I had a privilege of seeing my good friend Aaron Belz give a fantastic poetry reading last Thursday. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time (not at Aaron, but at the poems--okay, maybe a little bit at Aaron). I encourage you all to check out and purchase his new book (pictured above). You can take a look (it's searchable) and buy it here on Amazon.


Here is one of my favorites from the reading the other night:

The One About the Ectoplasm and the Osteoblast
Aaron Belz

Some ectoplasm sits next to an osteoblast
at a bar. The ectoplasm asks the osteoblast,
"Why do you form bones?" And the osteoblast
responds, "Why are you the outer relatively
rigid granule-free layer of the cytoplasm usually
held to be a gel reversibly convertible to a sol?"
And the ectoplasm is like, "Wow, that is such
an awkward question." And so the osteoblast
goes, "Seriously, why are you? I form bones
for the same reason." The bartender, an osteoclast,
asks them what they want to drink. The ectoplasm
asks him what he recommends that's on draft,
and he says the Dead Guy Ale, it's a fresh keg.
They both break into fits of laughter. "Oh my gosh!"
says the osteoblast, "Dead Guy is a German-style
Maibock that's deep honey in color with a malty
aroma, rich hearty flavor and a well balanced finish.
Now does that sound like the kind of beer we drink?"

Very Exciting!

Wow--long blog silence. Sorry. I have just been reading about the first full length study of Douglas Coupland--written by Lancaster University Professor Andrew Tate. I have known about this up and coming book for quite a while as Andrew was my external examiner for my PhD Viva. I am thrilled to finally be able to order a copy and read the whole thing!! Yipee!! You can read a bit about the new book on this guy's blog.