Cruising through the Internet is one of my favorite ways of finding ideas for ElvisBlog columns.  I doubt that there are many websites devoted totally to Elvis that I haven’t visited at least once.  But, I have a special joy in finding other sites with just some Elvis content, and often it is pretty strange.  I bookmark them, so I can share them with you from time to time.

Elvis Shot JFK – We Have Proof:  This site is 100% tongue-in-cheek, and contains some interesting elements.  I like the disclaimer at the bottom that says, “This web page is best viewed… while on prescribed doses of Prozac, Lithium and Valium.  Check out the letter that supposedly shows the startling similarities between Elvis and JFK, or the one were the writer talks about putting on his aluminum foil cap to keep the alien beta-waves from causing further brain damage.

http://www.jokewallpaper.com/elvisshotjfk/

Elvis Effigies:  I don’t think effigies is the right word here, but this website certainly has an eclectic assortment of Elvis images, and most seem to be made by Elvis fans.  Elvis has been depicted many ways, but this is the first time I’ve seen him done with balloon art.

http://www.shsclassof1956.org/ElvisEffigies.htm

Elvis Guns for Sale (Maybe):  I discovered this site back in November 2007, so I was surprised that these guns Elvis used to own are still available for sale five months later.  If you are interested in finding out, click on Home, and scroll down to the contact information.

http://www.famousfirearms.com/_wsn/page3.html

Mickey Mouse in an Elvis Jumpsuit:  Here is a joint offer from Disney and EPE, and it looks pretty good for $20.  Thanks to Photoshop, we have seen everybody else in an Elvis jumpsuit, so why not Mickey Mouse?

http://www.collectiblestoday.com/ct/product/prdid-901529001.jsp?elvis+mickey/_prod/_16&endeca=true&abbr=hm#

38 Women Elvis Dated:  It figures that a website named “Who’s Dated Who?” would have a pretty good section on Elvis Presley.  There are quite a few women they say Elvis ‘hooked up with” who I have never heard of.  No proof is offered, so take it with a grain of salt.

http://www.whosdatedwho.com/celebrities/people/dating/elvis-presley.htm\

Elvis Does Some Self-Promotion in Sweetwater, TX:  This is a six-year-old web column from Don Aly’s Celebrity Scene.  Aly is a freelance journalist with past experience in motion picture promotion.  In this article, he reminisces about Elvis performing in his hometown in 1954.  I especially like the part about Elvis going from car to car at a drive-in hamburger joint promoting himself while “That’s All Right” played on the PA system.

http://www.donaly.com/don_alys_column5.html

Elvis Bootleg Albums -- The Bottom of the Barrel:  When this site opens, your first impulse may be to get out quickly.  The two photos at the top of the home page of El Buncho’s Sound Dungeon aren’t very appealing, and neither is most of the content.  However, if you scroll quickly about 2/3 of the way down, you will spot a picture of a bootleg Elvis album with a title I won’t repeat here.  The concept is totally gross, presumably because the album is a collection of the worst songs Elvis ever recorded.  I’ve never seen a copy of this mess, but if you are curious and not easily offended, check it out. (Note to the male readers: I’ll bet something will catch your eye as you scroll down, and you will stop and look at it.  I do have this album.)

http://sounddungeon.blogspot.com/

Tag Team Match – The Oprahs versus The Elvii:  I would imagine very few of you readers ever watched Celebrity Death Match on cable TV.  It was an animated show pairing two celebrities in a no-holds-barred fight, and it was pretty crude and very violent.  Two courtside announcers provided verbal humor ((sort-of) with their commentary.  Well, there is an Internet version called WWWF Grudge Match.  There is no animation, just the text of the announcers’ commentary.  For 248 matches, the fans could vote for the winner, but the function has now been retired.  Most fights had just two combatants, but this one has both fat and skinny Oprah Winfrey and fat and skinny Elvis in a tag team match.  At least check it out to see if the Elvii came out on top.

http://www.grudge-match.com/History/elvii-oprahs.shtml

ElvisBlog’s determined search for Elvis content on the Internet has produced another winner.  Buried deep within the archives of TV Guide’s website is a wonderful selection of interesting items for Elvis fans.  It is difficult to navigate to them from their Main Page, and I can't seem to establish a normal hyperlink.  So if you finish reading this column and want  to access all the TV Guide Elvis content, please click on this URL   http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/elvis-presley/149192 .

You will open to what in essence is a TV Guide Elvis home page, complete with its own toolbar of links.  To the right of Elvis’ picture is a very brief biographical outline.  If you click on the Biography tab in the toolbar, you get a bit more, but probably not much that you don’t already know.  The one new thing I learned is that Vernon’s second wife Dee’s real name was Davada Stanley, but I don’t really care.  Why they have her listed and not his grandkids I’ll never know.

The next tab is News, and clicking it will bring up 45 TV Guide articles since 2000 that mention Elvis.  Admittedly, Elvis is not the sole topic of most of them, but I found it interesting that someone who has been dead for so long can still be a point of reference in journalism about modern TV viewing. 

When I clicked on the next tab, Photos, I didn’t get what I expected, but I liked what came up.  The link shows all 33 of the TV Guide issues with Elvis on the cover, and it’s fun to view them all.

This is a photo of the first TV Guide cover with Elvis on it: September 8, 1956.  I can tell from his sport coat that the photo was taken at RCA Studios in New York two months earlier on July 2.  Al Wertheimer took dozens of shots of Elvis wearing that sport coat during the recording sessions for “Hound Dog” and “Don’t Be Cruel.”

Back in November 2005, I discovered that someone had Googled “odd websites,” and Elvisblog came in # 8 out of 3,170,000 results.  I told my wife, and she asked, “Is that a good thing?” 

“Not really,” I answered, “but it’s not as bad as it sounds.  Google isn’t evaluating web sites.  It is looking for sites with those exact words in it.  Elvisblog had an article earlier this month called New Archive Items, Some Odd Websites, And A Tease, and Google is finding that.”

“Oh.”  She didn’t really care.  Hoping you Elvis fans do, I offer a few more websites with odd stuff about Elvis.

The Elvis and Jack Nicklaus Mysteries:  This one is pretty cool.  It is part of a site called Icebox, which seems to be a place for animators/writers to show off series ideas in hopes of moving them up to TV shows or theatrical shorts.  The Elvis and Jack Mysteries are the creation of Jeff Martin.  There are four stories, each lasting only a few minutes.  The Elvis voice is done well, both in dialog and in the singing of the catchy theme song at the end of each episode.  The lyrics tell it all:

            Elvis and Jack Nicklaus

            It may sound ridiculous

            They were once as close as friends can be

            Evil-doers best beware

            Hillbilly Cat and the Golden Bear

            Teaming up to solve a mystery

Have some fun and watch all four stories at http://www.icebox.com/index.php?id=show&showid=s1’

Arm Of Elvis:  (Sub-titled “Elvis’ Arm Has Left The Building)  This silly site from England is dedicated to the ongoing plight of the arm stolen from a small hanging Elvis figurine owned by “The Dexter.”  The Dexter provides readers with both verbal and sketched histories of the brutal attack.  He has a link to official and visitor sightings of the missing arm and also a sightings forum that degenerates into some stupid stuff.  Another link enables readers to post nasty ransom notes, which will be posted on Visitor Threats, but so far there aren’t any.  My favorite link on this site has five related games, although the missing arm has returned to Elvis for one of them.  If you have some time to kill, click on http://www.armofelvis.co.uk/.

Bela and Elvis:  Believe it or not, someone has done research to show that Elvis and Bela Lugosi had much in common.  The author states, “There is a most amazing psychic link that draws these two charismatic performers together in a chain of synchronicities that seem almost too strange to be just a coincidence.”  Well, I don’t know if I’d call it all that, but it does start with the fact that they both died on the same date (21 years apart).  For an interesting, but not too convincing, theory, click on http://www.horror-wood.com/belaelvis.htm.

Elvis In The Holy Land:  It won’t take long to check out this site featuring “The Elvis Inn” in Abu Ghosh, Israel.  Sounds like a hotel, but a better description would be a cross between a 7-11 and a souvenir stand.  Imagine this: babaganoush, shwarma, and Elvis coffee mugs all at the same store.  For more proof that Elvis really is everywhere, click on http://www.ibiblio.org/elvis/elvisinn.html.

Elvis, For The Ladies:  This is not really an odd web site, but it has an unusual feature.  It is a four-minute video on You Tube set to a song by Mariah Carey.  Dozen of photos of Elvis scroll up and down the screen, and most of them are ones I have never seen before.  What might be of special interest to you ladies is a string of ten photos early in the video that show Elvis without a shirt.  So, if you want to see bare-chested Elvis, click on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9g_Ck8Ao7o.

Smells Like Catfish:  This is a site I found by linking from a July 10 article on www.elvis.com/news.  Considering the content, it’s hard to believe that anyone at Graceland ever checked it out.  Maybe there are just too many official EPE licensees to keep up with everything they all have on their websites.  Anyway, Lowell Hays was Elvis’ jeweler and friend in the 1970s, and on his site you can purchase official licensed replicas of the custom pieces of jewelry Hays made for Elvis.  You can also read several “great memories” Mr. Hays has of the years he spent with Elvis.  Be sure to check out the third one at http://www.elvisjeweler.com/Stories.html.

When I make my frequent trips into the web looking for ideas for Elvis articles, one of my regular stops is www.elvis.com/news.  This is the news section of Graceland’s official Elvis Presley website, and they do a good job.  With so many Elvis-related things going on these days, several new posts show up almost every week.

However, there may be a new trend going on.  Twice in the last three months, Elvis.Com has illustrated an article with a photo of a pretty woman showing lots of skin.  I’m not complaining.  In fact, I like it. 

The photo above was shown on February 15 as part of the Sports Illustrated photo shoot for their annual swimsuit edition.  You may recognize the Graceland “Jungle Room” as the background.  Posting photos on Elvisblog is not a regular thing, but it’s necessary here to provide a reference point the rest of this article.  Unfortunately, I can’t figure out how to post two photos on one article, so it has to be split into two.

Both photos have reappeared on other Elvis news websites, including www.elvisnews.com, which publishes lengthy lists of reader comments about them.  Let’s take a look at some of the more interesting comments on ElvisNews.Com.

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Layout in the Jungle Room:

           Yummy.  Elvis sure would have loved to be there…

            No!!! and I do mean no.  This is utterly outrageous.

Elvis may be gone but it only gets better.  The King lives and this will show the world who is still #1.

I think it’s a sexy and thrilling idea to keep Elvis memories alive … a very handsome man who had lot’s of women adore him all his life.  (Editor’s note:  Interesting argument.  Elvis was handsome, so let’s have more scantily-clad lovelies on his websites.)

Like the song says – there’s a pretty little thing, waiting for the King, down in the Jungle Room.

This is a terrible temptation for lust and greed.  Actually, everything Elvis did not believe in.  (I’m not so sure you can give Elvis a pass on lust.)

I don’t get you people……something associated with Elvis being “risqué”???  Elvis WAS risqué!!!  The swiveling hips, the sneer, the hair, the clothes….that’s what made Elvis “ELVIS”….I think it’s cool as hell these beauties are posing in the Jungle Room….and don’t think for a minute he’s not up there somewhere smirking.

©  2007   Philip R Arnold   All Rights Reserved   www.elvisblog.net

This photo appeared a week ago and is Miss USA competing in an Elvis-themed outfit in the recent Miss Universe competition.  She was styled to represent her home state of Tennessee, and didn’t she display a clever concept – and other stuff.  That’s my kind of news.  Here’s a look at the better comments.

Miss Tennessee in Elvis-Style Outfit:

            She’s got her mojo workin’ and it works on me.

“Holy Frejolis” I’m in love!

She’s got the right hairstyle to start with, but that wasn’t the first thing I noticed.

I nearly bit my arm off when I first seen this photo, wow!  (No shortage of lust with these readers.)

If only all 50,000 “impersonators” looked like this J

It’s a pretty girl, dressed in a jumpsuit and showing a bit of flesh in a show in which the ladies are supposed to represent their homestate.  How on earth can that be considered the same as some fat old loser trying to sing and look like the King?  But, if she must be punished, I’d be the first in line to spank her bottom.  (Written by another fat old loser?)

I recently wrote that I thought chat rooms were a big waste of time, but I still check out a few when the subject tickles me.  Hopefully, you’ve found Elvisblog’s selection of the best comments an interesting read.  At least, it saved you some time.

©  2007   Philip R Arnold   All Rights Reserved   www.elvisblog.net

Most readers of Elvisblog are probably familiar with www.elvis.com, the official website of Elvis Presley Enterprises.  I don’t know what year it got started, but they have been posting news items since 2000.  Currently, 263 items are still available in the News Archives, along with the five current items that have yet to be archived.  An article posted this past January 19 led me to a most interesting file.

I followed this link:  News and FAQs / 1/19/07 Zakk Wilde is Graceland’s Latest Celebrity Guest / Click Here for article on Graceland visitors since 1982.  Sure enough, up came eleven pages of celebrity names - famous folks that have visited Graceland since the first year it opened.  The dates of their visits are not listed, except in the case of celebrities who came back a second time.  Unfortunately, I’m not sure who some of these famous people are (Zakk Wilde for instance), but I stopped keeping up with current pop culture fifteen years ago.

2006 had two very notable visitors.  In July, Pricilla and Lisa Marie hosted President Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at Graceland.  This visit generated tons of press for several days. As I chronicled on the 7/2/06 Elvisblog entry, Koizumi is a real Elvis fan with an interesting taste in Elvis songs.

In October, Oprah Winfrey and a film crew blew into town to tape a segment that appeared on her show a few days later.  I seriously doubt that Oprah is any where near the Elvis fan that Koizumi is, but Oprah managed to get into the mysterious “Secret Room.”  This is the fireproof, hurricane-proof, humidity-controlled warehouse of Elvis memorabilia.  Among other things, it contains 60,000 photographs and 88 jumpsuits, and it is never open to the public.  Maybe Koizumi didn’t know about the “Secret Room,” but Oprah obviously did her homework and negotiated permission to see this very private, off-limits treasure trove.  At least, Graceland officials didn’t let her film crew in, but they did provide her with still photos taken by in-house staff.

In addition to politicians and TV stars, the list of famous visitors to Graceland includes movie stars, sports figures, models, country singers, pop music singers, and rock groups – lots of rock groups.  It seems like every music act that ever performed in Memphis also make a visit to the home of Elvis Presley.  I was especially impressed with all the heavy metal bands that came to Graceland.  You know that the music of groups like Ratt and Poison is about as far from “Hound Dog” or “Suspicious Minds” as you can get, but they still paid their respects to rock music’s seminal pioneer.  Here’s some of the bigger names in heavy metal music that checked out the Jungle Room and the rest of Graceland:

            Metallica

            Judas Priest

            Motley Crue

            Kiss

            Robert Plant and Jimmy Page (Led Zepellin)

            Axl Rose (Guns and Roses)

And check out this line-up of hard rock bands who made the pilgrimage to Elvis’ home:

            Aerosmith

            Bad Company

            Bon Jovi

            Cheap Trick

            Crosby, Stills, & Nash

            Doobie Brothers

            Duran, Duran

            Van Halen

            38 Special

            Styx

            Keith Richards & Ronnie Woods (Rolling Stones)

            REO Speedwagon

            Pink Floyd

            Tom Petty

            Moody Blues

            Meat Loaf

            Journey

            Don Henley (Eagles)

            John Fogerty (Credence Clearwater Revival)                     

            Fleetwood Mac

Bruce Springsteen is listed just like everybody else on the list, but his visit to Graceland has an interesting story.  He jumped the fence and tried to get into the house before the security guards escorted him off the premises.  This was back in 1976, just after Springsteen had blasted to the top of the music scene.  His picture had recently appeared on the covers of both Time and Newsweek.   Memphis was a stop on his Born To Run tour, and after the concert, Springsteen took a cab to Graceland.  He noticed a light on up at the house, so he climbed the wall and ran up to the front door.  When security nabbed him, he asked, “Is Elvis home?”  They informed him Elvis was in Lake Tahoe (true).  Springsteen tried to explain who he was, but the guards apparently hadn’t heard of him yet.

If Bruce Springsteen ever decides to visit Graceland again, it’s a good bet the security guys will recognize him.  He will certainly get the VIP treatment.  Maybe he can even use some Oprah-style clout to get into the “Secret Room”.

As your dedicated Elvisblog host, I spend a lot of time on the Internet looking for interesting Elvis-related subjects to write about.  Once in a while, this causes conflicts with my wife when she wants to get on the computer to check e-mail, play games, read a few news stories, and find out Today’s Special Value on the Jewelry Television website (we had to cancel the JTV channel on cable, but that’s another story.)

The other day she grew impatient with all the computer time I was hogging.  “Are you nearly finished?” she asked with an edge in her voice.

“Almost.  Give me a few more minutes,” I answered.

Fifteen minutes later she came over and stood behind me to see what I was doing that was so important.  “Hey, you’re just doing stupid Elvis trivia.”

“It’s not stupid.  It’s research for my blog.”

“Yeah, right.  You’ve had the computer long enough.  Move it.”

The truth is, it really was research for Elvisblog, because I wanted to recommend that you visit www.funtrivia.com.  In the interest of your valuable time, I was testing all of the trivia challenges they offered, so I could direct you to the only best ones.

FunTrivia.com calls itself the world’s largest trivia website, and I wouldn’t doubt that a bit.  It started in 1994 and now boasts over 1,300,000 trivia questions in 10,000 categories.  All of this has been submitted by visitors to the site and checked by one of their twenty-five+ volunteer editors for accuracy.  FunTrivia.com also encourages quiz writers to provide interesting additional information on each question topic to provide a better experience for the quiz takers.

The reason my research took so long is that there are 47 Elvis challenges with ten to twenty-five questions each.  Some are very easy or even stupid, so we’ll skip them and recommend the good ones.  However, if you have lots of free time (and a wife who doesn’t bug you if you stay on the computer too long), go right ahead and play them all.

When you open the home page, you will see the box on the left where your type in the topic you want.  Type in ‘Elvis’ and a page opens showing eight categories related to Elvis.  You can forget the two for Elvis Costello and Elvis Stojke.  Also forget the “Quiz Search Results” farther down on the page, because it shows some, but not all, of the same Elvis quizzes.

If you click on the first category, Presley, Elvis [Movies], the quiz I recommend is “Elvis Presley Movie Characters.”  I didn’t do as well on this as I thought I would.  It is multiple-choice, but it’s hard to remember the movie where Elvis was Ted Jackson, or Mike McCoy, or Charlie Richards.

The next category, “Presley, Elvis [Music]” contains 24 quizzes.  I don’t like anagrams, but if you do, try “Elvis – All Shook Up.”  Some clues, like “A Hulks Loop” are easy, but “A Cheeseburger Nil Tiny Yin” is too tough for me.  The answer page tells you what percent of the quiz takers got each question right, and only 6% got that one.

All three of the “Ultimate Elvis” quizzes are worth your time.  “Ultimate Elvis: Part 3” advises, “All facts are taken from UK National Press, so correct me if necessary.”  That is easily done, because the bottom of each answer page gives you a link to submit a correction if you find an error.

 “Oh, Elvis” is a good one.  I liked it because I learned some interesting stuff from the questions and the extra trivia added after each answer.  I got nine out of ten right on “Elvis, You Shook Us Up,” but I caught an error.  Elvis did not record “That’s All Right (Mama)” as a birthday present for Gladys. 

The rest of my recommendations will be offered without comment.  The Category is listed first and the good quizzes below it.

Elvis Presley [Music]:

            Elvis Presley Trivia

            More Elvis

            All About Elvis, Parts 1, 2, and 3

            Elvis and the Colonel

            Elvis is in the Building

Elvis Movies [Music]:

            Elvis Movie Soundtracks

Elvis Songs [Music]:

            Elvis’ “Jailhouse Rock”

            Elvis Songs: How Much Do You Know? #1

Elvis Lyrics [Music]:

            Elvis Lyrics, Parts 1 and 2

            First Lines of Songs by Elvis Presley.

Cover Songs by Elvis [Music]:

            Elvis Presley Cover Songs

That’s it – the twenty-one nifty Elvis quizzes on FunTrivia.com that I recommend.  You’re in for a lot of fun if you visit the site and give it a try.  You’ll learn a lot of new things about Elvis, too.  I hope I can find another Elvis site equally interesting, so I can put in a bunch more hours of research.

 Back in 1997, 24-hour news network CNN decided to do something special for Elvis fans.  As the 20^th Anniversary Elvis Week festivities approached, CNN added a special link to their website.  It was called “VIVA ELVIS,” and it must still get enough hits to keep it accessible deep within their archives.  If you are looking for something different to fulfill your need to connect with Elvis, may I suggest you click on http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/9708/elvis/

You will see the site boasts “7 Great Selections,” but the passage of time has rendered some of them less satisfying (especially links to sites that are no longer available).  However, the first choice, “Destination Elvis” is still a good one.  The subtitle, “All Roads Lead to the King,” is an apt description of what you will find.  There are short articles telling you about all sorts of lesser known Elvis-related places and things you might want to check out when you plan an Elvis pilgrimage.

A sample of these includes:  wax images of Elvis in four different wax museums around the country, various private museums of Elvis memorabilia, the famous (?) “Plywood Elvis” of Bozeman, Montana, the “Elvis Inn” in Israel, and a bronze statue of Elvis, one of his guitars, and a jumpsuit on display in the lobby of the International Hotel in Las Vegas, where he performed in the 70’s

“Destination Elvis” also includes “Graceland Tour de Force,” which is a brief slide show of Graceland, inside and out.  Other websites do a more complete job with this, but you might as well check it out while you are there.  The next category is “Meet Me in Memphis,” which would have been of value for any fans traveling to Elvis Week ’97.  It’s a bit dated now, but one link shows the limited list of events and features offered at Elvis Week nine years ago.  There sure were a lot more this year, and there will be even more for the 30^th Anniversary next year.

I would suggest you skip “Interactive Elvis.”  This would have been fun if you could access the overall votes for best and worse Elvis movies and songs, but the results are no longer available.

The next category is “The Elvis Presley Story,” and most of it is familiar stuff for long-time fans.  However, the “Long Live The King” section has some information on the old Elvis Is Alive theme, and “Elvis Almanac” has a list of interesting Elvis statistics (I didn’t know his favorite toothpaste was Colgate).

“King of the Web” is not of much value, because most of the links to suggested websites no longer work.  “Arcade Elvis” offers quizzes on Elvis song lyrics, movie promos, and who made quotes about Elvis, but again you can’t click to find out the correct answers.  I think I’ll do some research to get it all straight, and then steal the ideas for Elvisblog. 

So, if you’ve got some time to kill and want to have some Elvis fun, check out “VIVA ELVIS.”  You might want to do it before January.  Maybe the CNN website archives automatically delete when they reach ten-years old.

©   2006   Philip R Arnold   All Rights Reserved   www.elvisblog.net

As promised some weeks ago, earlier Elvisblog articles are now archived by month.  Please see the list in the left column.  This should have happened sooner, but a problem with the placement of the “MyBlogSite” banner had to get fixed first.  Man, it took a bunch of e-mails to finally get some action on that.

Also, there are two new additions to the archives of my articles in Elvis International, the Magazine.  Both are from the 28^th Anniversary Issue published last summer.  The first, “DJ Fontana Belongs In The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” deals with the injustice of DJ not being in the Hall six years after the Sidemen category was created.  The other, “Where Do Elvis’ Hits Rank In The Top 100 Songs Of All Time?” analyzes the shabby treatment of Elvis music in rankings by VH1 and Billboard magazine.  Sounds like I was on some kind of quest to right the wrongs in Elvisworld, doesn’t it?  Well, both articles are still good reading.  Please note, when you click on Archives – Articles from Elvis International Magazine, a list of all 21 of them will drop down.

If you’ve got some time on your hands and would like to visit some odd Elvis-connected websites, here’s a few I’ve discovered while surfing the net:

“When Nixon Met Elvis,” from The National Archives, of all places. www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/when_nixon_met_elvis/index.html   There are lots of good pictures and an interesting description of the historic 1970 event.

“Elvis Presley In Scotland”  www.rockmine.music.co.uk/elvi.html  Rare pictures of Elvis stopping over at Prestwick Airport in Scotland for two hours on March 3, 1960 (on his way home after Army service)

“The Pumpkin Gutter”  www.pumpkingutter.com   I hope this site continues on even though Halloween has passed, because this artist has incredible talent.  Elvis is just one of dozens of subjects he has carved on pumpkins.

“Elvis Presley & Karate”  www.elviskarate.com   This is the website of Kang Rhee, the man who taught Elvis karate.  Lots of good pictures of The King and Kang.

“Elvis Lives In a Flash”   http://albinoblacksheep.com/flash/elvis.php   This is an alternate video for “A Little Less Conversation,” and it’s worth watching once or twice. 

The last regular article for Elvisblog in 2005 will be posted on Sunday December 11.  The following Sunday, I will post a special Christmas treat.  It is a previously unpublished short story of Elvis fiction titled “ELVIS CLAUS – Santa’s Favorite Brother Gets A Present.”  Be sure to check in during the Christmas holidays and read this one.  Then print it out, send it to all your Elvis buddies, and tell them to visit Elvisblog in 2006.

©  2005   Philip R Arnold

Once before, this blog listed a link to a website I thought a lot of readers would enjoy visiting.  Here’s another one:  www.paperdollheaven.com   This site offers a cyber version of the old children’s pastime, but now you don’t have to cut and glue anything, just drag and drop.  Paper Doll Heaven can be the source for hours of mindless fun.  It has hundreds of celebrities you can choose to dress, from categories like singers, actors and actresses, models, and royalty.

There, nearly buried in a long list of female singers, is our man – Elvis.  If you enjoyed swapping outfits on the old Elvis refrigerator magnets, you will love this site.  It provides three racks of clothing to mix and match.  Check out this list:

            2 pair of jeans

            2 pair of shorts

            4 dress/performance jackets

            2 sweaters

            2 vee-neck T-shirts

            2 golf shirts

            4 long sleeve dress and casual shirts

            3 tank tops

            1 pair of black boots

2 jumpsuits

I played with all this stuff on the computer while sort-of watching a baseball game on TV, so I had a couple of hours to experiment.  Here are a few observations.  Forget the boots.  They look stupid with the shorts and are mostly covered by the jeans and jumpsuits.  The two jumpsuits are pretty good, especially the black one with the blinking lights along the collar and lapels, but you can’t mix them with the other items.

The most fun thing is trying each of the jeans and shorts in combination with each of the shirts.  I particularly like the blue jeans with the tank tops.  Think about it.  Have you ever seen a picture of Elvis in a tank top?  Now you can make your own.  Another good combination is the black jeans with the jackets and long-sleeved shirts.

The clothing goes over a drawing of the young Elvis, not a photo, and they drew him in a nice pair of tight black briefs.  Just for kicks, compare Elvis’ drawers with those on Usher, 50 Cent, and Eminem.  The artist who did the drawings obviously liked Elvis better than those guys.

So, go ahead, check out Elvis in Paper Doll Heaven, and have a ball putting clothes on Elvis (and taking them off).