ELVIS COMMENTARY MINI-NUGGETS — # 9

That Guy Looks Familiar:  There is an interesting story about how Elvis hooked up with Ed Parker, his long time Karate instructor.  Parker and several advanced students were giving a Karate demonstration at the Beverly Wilshire Health Club.  Elvis, who was staying at a nearby hotel, heard about it and came over to the demonstration.  Elvis walked up to Parker and said: “Hi, my name is Elvis Presley and I wondered if you would mind if I watched your demonstration.”  This story really tickles me.  Here is Elvis, probably the most recognized man in the world, and he says, “My name is Elvis Presley.”  Can there be any doubt how humble and unassuming Elvis was – in spite of his immense fame.

Elvis’ Favorite TV Shows:  A few weeks ago, I was looking through Priscilla Presley’s old book “Elvis and Me” for some background on the dancing lessons she took as a young lady.  In one chapter, she talked about all the TV shows she and Elvis watched (because they were his favorites, of course).  Here’s the list.

            Laugh-In

            The Untouchables

            The Wild, Wild West

            The Tonight Show

            Road Runner

I watched them all, too.  How about you?

Elvis’ Favorite Classic Movies:  Priscilla also mentioned several old movies that Elvis loved:

            Wuthering Heights

            It’s A Wonderful Life

            Miracle on 34^th Street

The Way of All Flesh

Mr. Skeffington

Les Miserables

Letter From An Unknown Woman

“Eh-hulla havva huh baluuuuuuue kariss muss:  This is what the idiots at Spinner.com think the first line of Elvis’ “Blue Christmas” sounds like.   They call it the best example of the King’s signature breathalizing – whatever that is.  On a more positive note, Spinner.com rates “Blue Christmas” as the #3 best Christmas song.  Good call, but there’s an even better Elvis song of the season.  ElvisBlog.net rates “Santa Claus Is Back In Town” as the best Christmas song ever.

Would Elvis Really Eat at This Place:  The Third Avenue Café in Louisville, KY has a thing about Elvis.  Their website has a caricature of Elvis seated at the table, knife in one hand, fork in the other, ready to go.  They also have a mannequin suited up as the white-caped Elvis that sits at a window seat (or in the outside seats during the summer).  That may not seem so interesting — until you realize that the restaurant specializes in vegan and vegetarian food.  Seems strange that they would want to connect with a person who ate meatloaf at every supper for two years and ate a pound of bacon at breakfast most of his life.

Well, Maybe Not:  If you have ever seen video of Elvis performing “Polk Salad Annie” on stage, you know he gives it quite a workout.  In 1971, he said this about the song: “If you ever have a weight problem, just do this a couple of times a night.”  Maybe, but we know that doing it once a night didn’t get the job done.

Two-Headed Elvis Clone:  Titles like that used to be limited to the supermarket tabloids, but the Internet has changed all that.  If you Google “Two-Headed Elvis Clone,” they come up with 156 references.  Here are my three favorites:

Space Alien Weds Two-Headed Elvis Clone

            Two-Headed Elvis Clone Marries Ghost of Marilyn

            Jennifer Aniston Weds Two-Headed Space Alien Elvis Clone

There is also a blogger on LiveJournal.com who says in his bio that he is the child of a two-headed Elvis clone and a Martian.  If you think that’s bad, try Googling “Elvis’ Two-Headed Alien Love Child.”  There are even five entries for that one.

Elvis Reincarnated As A Tree Branch?:  American Forests is a sensible, conservation organization that cares about trees.  On their website, they have a section called “The Trees With Soul – Highlighting Historic Trees.”  Here’s what they report about the day of Elvis’ funeral.  “Inside the house [Graceland]… a private funeral was held.  Afterward, as the coffin was being carried out the door, a limb from one of the big oak trees out front snapped and fell, barely missing the funeral party.  Elvis’ friend Lamar Fike didn’t miss a beat.  ‘We knew you’d be back,’ he wisecracked. ‘Just not this soon.’”

Elvis told This Story, So It Must Be True:  In 1975, Elvis went to a football game.  While he was in the bathroom, a woman came up to one of his friends and said, “I hear Elvis Presley’s here at the football game.”  The friend said, “Yeah.”  She said, “I hear he’s in the bathroom.”  He said, “Yeah.”  She replied, very seriously, “I didn’t think he did that.”

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