Today marks the 35 anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley. A record 75,000 fans were on hand at Graceland for the candlelight vigil held every year beginning last night.  This morning, his ex-wife Priscilla and their only daughter Lisa Marie were interviewed side-by-side for the first time inside the mansion.  Remarkably, Elvis’ biggest fear was that he would be forgotten as quickly as his fame rose.  Obviously, it can be argued that he is at least as popular today as he was in his prime.

Also highlighted in a 24 hour marathon is the Hollywood years. 31 movies made in only 13 years (in 1968 he made at least 4 movies).  A few show what he could have become.  Many are fun to watch while a lot are painful to watch and for him, personally, to make.  This afternoon while sick in bed, I tried to watch Double Trouble.  In one scene, he sings “Old MacDonald” to a 17 year-old girl who throws herself at him every chance she gets.  I gratefully rolled over and went back to sleep.

This morning, I also heard a rendition of one of my 3 favorite Elvis songs performed as a duet with Lisa Marie and found a video of it to share. Almost remarkable how much daughter resembles father. Over the years, I have come to not only appreciate the power and heart that he brought to the more “meaningful” songs but to prefer them.  What a loss at only 42 years of age.

Tonight was another rare American Idol viewing. We are to start Tuesday night rehearsals soon but nit was ice to be off early on a Tuesday night.  This week the top nine took on the task of attempting to channel their inner King of Rock & Roll.  For the most part, they all did a great job with two very notable exceptions.  I have to say how much I idolize the performer who came from nothing and achieved such a memorable place in entertainment history.  Not only was he instrumental in the evolution of pop rock music but he also crossed over to country and sang gospel/spiritual music like no one else.  I have always appreciated the religious side of Elvis more than any of the other genres.  I think these songs showed a personal, vulnerable side that few of his “hits” conveyed (with the possible exception of “In the Ghetto”).

In what has been called the “’68 Comeback Special” after the Hollywood era of a long list of movie attempts, the King set out to do what he had done best… perform in front of a live audience.  Not only did he perform many of the crowd pleasing songs, but also included a montage of gospel songs.  I’m not going to post the nine minute section of the special but here is an equally moving piece that closed the concert:

Remember, it WAS the late 60s.  If you put the song into the context of the turbulent times, the song speaks for itself.  I don’t think he was exceptionally vocal about his world view but his music spoke volumes.  He may not have written a large number of songs but the songs he chose to perform was his genius.

Last night, I had the worst dream I’ve ever had in my life.  I didn’t realize it was a dream while I was having it, but I remember waking myself up on purpose anyway – it’s difficult to explain, as many aspects of vivid dreams usually are.

The gist of it was –  a member of my family (who in real life has been estranged from the family for 25+ years) was buckling my kids into her car for a sleepover.  She began doing so at a frantic pace, which alarmed me, so I called it off.  But before I could do anything, she was pulling out of my driveway with the kids, and I was screaming at her that this amounting to kidnapping and I was calling the police.  She didn’t stop.  My two older girls found their way home, but she still had my younger two – they’re 3 years and 20 months.  Meanwhile, the pre-planned game night at our house (but it didn’t look like our house) was beginning to take shape as guests were arriving.  A friend from college (who I haven’t seen since) shows up with my cousin (the kidnapper’s daughter) as his date, and she is sullen and seems really angry.  We manage to get out of her that her mother hasn’t been herself lately and somehow come to the conclusion that she is intending to commit a murder / suicide.  Where the police were at this point, I don’t know, but for some reason, I couldn’t go out and look for them myself, and I was inconsolable.  It was the most helpless, panicky, horrible feeling I could imagine, and I had to watch my parents watch their daughter go through this as well – the whole thing was just awful.  Even though I didn’t know it was a dream, I squinched my eyes shut and woke up – thank goodness.  It was one of those where I woke up out of breath, my eyes darting around my bedroom.  I realized it had all been a dream, and I suppressed the urge to get up and have a reassuring look at my kids – what good would it do to interrupt their sleep?  Besides they’d be getting up soon enough – I could see the light starting to come in through the window.  But when I looked at the clock, it was only 1:45 am!  What the heck?  I had felt like I had a full night’s sleep!  For once (and I honestly can’t remember the last time I felt like this) I felt well-rested and actually wanted to get out of bed – and I didn’t want to put myself in the position to have another horrible nightmare.  So I laid there and mentally composed my blog post depicting my terrible dream, and I was able to fall back asleep.  The dream I had next was actually quite a comical episode involving a (non-threatening) alligator in a restaurant.  When my alarm went off hours later, I was back to normal – tired as can be, not ready to get up…

There must have been something going on last night because my 5-year-old told me about a nightmare she had had involving a circle of chicken pox.

So was that light coming into my room at 2 in the morning the light of a full moon?  Do full moons cause nightmares or vivid dreams?  I know my family and friends in law enforcement tell me that they are extra busy and have some of their most interesting calls on full moon nights, but now I remember driving home last night and seeing the moon – and it wasn’t full.  So why was it so bright in my room last night?  Most nights I can’t see without my flashlight, but last night I could see easily – I had just assumed it was the sun rising until I looked at the clock…  that one’s a mystery that remains unsolved.

I have some guesses as to where certain parts of the dream came from – I had been reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban before I went to bed.  Could my dream have been my own version of a boggart (a magical creature from the series which is a shape-shifter that takes the form of its intended victim’s worst fear – ie, something bad happening to my kids)?  And I was listening to an old Don Williams song in the car yesterday (If You Could Read My Mind), which reminded me of a time when I was a little kid and Don Williams was playing as we were heading to my aunt’s house (the kidnapper in my dream).  I don’t know why my college friend suddenly appeared or why he was dating my cousin, but the game night significance could come from the game night we have scheduled for tomorrow…  just a few theories; I think the bottom line is obvious – dreams are WEIRD!!!

(and this is unrelated – but as I was looking for the Don Williams song, I came across this wonderful version of In The Ghetto by both Elvis and his daughter Lisa Marie Presley – a posthumous duet.  I’ve made my youtube references as links in this post rather than videos so as not to force anyone to watch/listen to anything if they don’t want to)

This morning, I was able to catch most of Regis and Kelly (the ONLY celebrity focused morning show I enjoy watching).  As I made mention of earlier, John Stamos is now in previews for Bye, Bye Birdie for its return to the Broadway stage since the debut 50 years ago (WOW!).  Mr. Stamos will be playing the lead part of Albert Peterson.  Dick Van Dyke originated the role of Conrad Birdie’s manager in the original production as well as the original movie.  The cinematic experience does not do the stage version justice at all.  Not sure why but like many musicals it is much better to have that live, theatrical experience.  I honestly cannot think of many musicals that have translated better or at least as enjoyably on the screen.  I guess I would say The Sound of Music only because it has been so ingrained into pop culture as a movie that many forget or don’t realize that is was Rodgers and Hammerstein’s theatrical swan song.  That reason and the puppet show version of “The Lonely Goatherd” is my favorite part of the movie and IS NOT in the stage version.

Ok… back to my original topic.  During the interview, Reege made mention of the fact that Ann-Margrock (err.. Margret) played the young girl, Kim MacAfee in the movie.  Shortly after the movie was filmed, Ms. Margret would be Presley’s leading lady in my mother’s favorite Elvis movie, Viva Las Vegas.  However, Mom was not aware that she was in the cast of Birdie.

Here’s a few more tidbits: one of our fellow tangenteers has played the role of pop singing idol/draftee Conrad Birdie. I assisted in the directing of my high school alma mater’s production a few years ago.  AND there was a veery short lived sequel (4 performances) entitled Bring Back Birdie which was set twenty years following the events of the original.  Twenty years is quite a LONG time to wait to attempt a comeback.

After auditions tonight, I came across a new game show that in a game night format would probably have me banned from playing.  “The Money List”  seems to be a update on the classic show 21 (scandals galore) in which two teams compete.  The teams are made up of two complete strangers who are placed into sound proof rooms.  The object of the game is to outbid the other team to complete the given list.  For instance, the category is: “Scrabble Tiles That Are Worth More Than 1 Point.”

To begin, one team bids on the number they can correctly guess.  Then, the other team’s booth is unlocked and they either bid higher or allow the other team to fill in the list.  The first team to win two rounds is the winner and goes on for a chance to win $50,000!!! by completing yet another list.

Other lists:  “Number One Beatles’ Singles,” “U.S. Presidents Prior to 1900 (first and last names had to be given),” “Elvis Presley Songs That Were  On Billboard’s Top 40 (unfortunately, the very first answer given (“That’s Alright, Mama”) was wrong because Billboard was not around when the song was recorded),” and “The 10o Most Populous Cities (a team actually go the bidding up to 30 but misspoke NEW Delhi, Delhi itself would have been correct).”

gsn.com has an online version of the game that I think I may peruse (perused and wish I had not).

Oh, boy, oh BOY, OH BOY… I’ve reached 500 !!!! YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I have officially decided which show I will be auditioning for this summer.  While I loved my experience in the melodrama a few summers ago, I have to go with the big musical extravaganza of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  Nothing beats a big, fun, and energetic musical.  Plays are fun to do but for the past well… forever, if a musical is being done, I am all for it.  Now… which role to try out for….

• the Elvis channeling Pharoah?  I am an Elvis fan, but not the best Elvis channeler.
• Potiphar… never cared for the role.  I can’t recall but I think that he was double cast in another role in productions I have been involved with.
• The baker or butler could be fun, but limited roles… possibility.
• There are a few of the 11 brothers (good men and true) I could see myself as and if anyone knows the show and myself well enough they should be able to take a stab at at least one of my choices.
• Jacob… well, I did just finish playing Grandpa Prophater.
• Joseph, himself?  I dunno… how old was Donnie Osmond when he stepped into the part in the 90s?

Well, I have a few weeks to narrow my choices unless I decide to say give my anything and sing everything from the show.

…but also not that motivated right now to post.  It’s probably my sleep cycle right now that wakes me in the middle of the night and keeps me up for the next hour before I can fall back asleep.  Hopefully tonight I will sleep longer.

Tonight a message on Worthy led me to a discovery of a few things.  First off, remember Weird Al?  Well, there is now a Christian band called Apologetix that parodys popular songs, replacing the lyrics with more Godly lyrics.  As I write this, I am listening to Enter Samson, a parody of Metallica’s Enter Sandman.  They have parodies of  songs from artists ranging from Elvis Presley to Eminem.  Apparently they have releases dating back to 1994.  I am of two minds about this.  One one side, I am happy to hear Biblical lyrics to popular songs instead of the sometimes not-so-family-friendly originals, but on the other hand it’s just not the same as true worship music.  When listening to these songs, who doesn’t think of the original if known?  So even while listening to the new lyrics for Enter Samson, I am still thinking “Exit light… Enter night…” which is diametrically opposed to Christianity which would turn those phrases around.  With Weird Al, there is no problem since his songs aren’t any more Christian than the originals- just a lot funnier (speaking of which, have you ever heard Bob?  The lyrics are all palindromes!).  😀

Going to the video in the message’s link led me to another discovery when I decided I wanted to post the video here for you.  After noting this was on tangle.com, I wanted to find it on Godtube.  So I typed “godtube” in the url bar and ctrl-clicked to add the www prefix and com suffix.  Tangle.com loads.  Wait- what?  Did I type that right?  I am tired after all.   Tried again, same thing.  Well, apparently Godtube rebranded itself as Tangle.  So I figured the embedded code might still work on this blog, which led me to discovery #3- the tags C added, Godtube and Teachertube are no longer there.  They must have been lost in the last upgrade.  Well C, when you notice this post, please add them again.  Except of course, change the Godtube tag to Tangle.  The current embed code looks like this (example video):

<embed src=”https://www.tangle.com/flash/swf/flvplayer.swf” FlashVars=”viewkey=981d5415aa832f57770a” wmode=”transparent” quality=”high” width=”330″ height=”270″ name=”tangle” align=”middle” allowScriptAccess=”always” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” pluginspage=”https://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer” /></embed>

Let me see if I can dig any of these up on Youtube since that is one of the default tags and hence is still there.  Ah, here we go:

Baa!  We’re Lambs

Devil Went Down to Jordan

Enter Samson

And for C, Found God! 😛

Of Rock and Roll?  Today would have been Elvis Presley’s 74th birthday (althogh some still claim he still is among us… whatever).  My sister was born on January 8, 1977 so the family is sure to make mention of both events.  To be quite honest, I’m not sure that it was really good to be in his Blue Suede Shoes, particularly after becoming involved with his scheming manager Col. Tom Parker.  from what I understand, Elvis was pretty much held back in his potential by playing it safe. Most of the thirty-three movies he made (sometimes as many as three a year) were lackluster at best and seemed to be the same film over and over.  Although audiences flocked to the cinemas to see them, Presley was reported as being unfulfilled and unhappy with them.  Many offers were given to branch out of the sappy, one-dimensional musical extravaganzas into more dramatic roles, but Parker was always there driving him away from them.  One has to wonder why Elvis kept with him through most of his career (giving his manager 50% of all his earnings).  It also seemed that following his stint in the Army, the king’s music was same old same old and safe.  But I guess if audiences still bought the records… why mess with a good thing?  However, Elvis’ impact is still felt today nearly 32 years after his death.  He has been named the highest grossing deceased celebrity at least 5 times by Forbes magazine.  His music has become the basis of the musical All Shook Up. Plus, millions worldwide still flock to his Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee year after year.  I guess it is true that one is not truly gone as long as he is remembered.  One bit of trivia I still find intriguing, Elvis had a twin brother named Jesse Garon who was stillborn. [poll id=”9″]

Tonight, a great friend and I went to see my niece and nephew in their elementary school’s production of Schoolhouse Rock, Live! Ok, so it was the juniorfied version of the show. phooey!  A year ago our community theatre did a production of the full 21 song-filled show in which I was the central character, Mr. Mizner, on his first day as a teacher.  The 80 kids on stage tonight delivered a very fun, energetic (but shortened) version.  The kids were broken down into four groups each of which were on stage in turn  during certain songs (you try putting 80 kids on stage at the same time).  I attempted to find my two stars and easily spotted Elizabeth when she was on stage.  However, my godson, Joshua, decided to hide himself whenever possible.  BUT, I did catch him getting into the dances a few times.

I was pretty impressed with the work put into the show.  Lots of high energy (as it should be) and choreography that even I could have done.  There were only eleven of the songs from the full version present.  I was surprised that “Lolly, Lolly, Lolly” was not included.  I thought that the kids could have done a good job with that and had fun.  Most disappointing, to me anyway, was the absence of “The Tale of Mr. Morton.”  But, as Megan pointed out repeatedly… “It’s the JUNIOR version… j-u-n-i-o-r!!!”  I thought… ok, but… I don’t see why I got to sing the song and the young man playing Tom did not.  THAT IS HIS BIG NUMBER.  I would have been disappointed if I were him and did not get to sing it.  The kid did a good job in the part, but he could have shown a little bit more apprehension at the beginning.

Tonight’s version of “Do the Circulation” featured a soloist resembling Elvis Presley singing the song and doing some moves.  This was a fun bit, but I liked our idea of turning the cast members into gym equipment (treadmills, weight benches, etc) and having the kids in the choir operate them.  Since our version had a female singing the song, it would not have worked.

I also missed the added dialog that our wonderfully gifted and talented director and awesome friend added to the show for a more cohesive and flowing plot.  Tonight, the constant raising and lowering of the lights between each song was at times tedious but I don’t suppose there was anyway around it with all the kids coming on and off stage.  I wonder how many parents had to be behind the scenes to corral all 80 of them.  Carol… could you have done THAT by yourself?  You only had 30 to work with.  Here is your chance to COMMENT on our blogs… hmmm.

A fun evening although our plan to eat at the Olive Garden before the show did not work out.  Promise Megan that we will go there reaaaaaaly soon… thanks for coming.  And you can comment, too.  I know you are both out there reading and lurking in the shadows 🙂 .

I have a few drafts of blog posts started, but I haven’t really felt like writing lately – too much effort when my mind is so preoccupied.  Then I got this fun forward in my email and thought it would make a good blog post.  Little effort on my part, which is great because I’m so tired from not being able to sleep.  And it is actually a pretty fun forward; I looked it up for each of my kids and put them at the bottom of the list – enjoy:

THIS IS REALLY FUN!