Elvis Presley, who never reached age 90

[bryan_styble]

He was born in a shotgun shack in Tupalo, Mississippi--along with his
stillborn identical twin Jesse--on Tuesday, January 8, 1935*, and
expired either sometime late Monday night or (more likely) early Tuesday
morning, August 16, 1977, though the seismic news didn't hit the
networks until mid-afternoon Tuesday...so Elvis never made it to 90,
which he would have turned TODAY.

And as I've annoyingly (but also PROUDLY) reminded y'all more than once
previously in these e-parts, I made the five-hour drive down from St.
Louis to Memphis and was there for his funeral on Thursday, August
18th...while YOU (most probably) WEREN'T there.**

But Presley sure shook things up musically, culturally and historically
during his brief 42 years, didn't he?

BRYAN STYBLE/Florida
-----------------------
* Precisely 120 years to the day of Sunday, January 8, 1815, when Andrew
Jackson--in the space of less than three hours that afternoon--leapt
from obscurity into enduring national fame, captivating the American
public by routing the British in the Battle of New
Orleans***...eventually culminating not merely in his transformational
two-term presidency, but even ultimately landing him on our $20 bills.
** Groucho Marx ALSO didn't show up in Memphis for all that funeral
hullabaloo--because he was in a Southern California hospital one day
away from death himself on Friday, August 19th.
*** You can refresh your memory about some of the details of that
post-Treaty of Ghent battle in melodic rhyme, courtesy of Johnny Horton
in a remarkably elaborate production number on The Ed Sullivan Show,
linked below.
====================

[Louis Epstein]

Post by bryan_styble
BRYAN STYBLE/Florida
-----------------------
* Precisely 120 years to the day of Sunday, January 8, 1815, when Andrew
Jackson--in the space of less than three hours that afternoon--leapt
from obscurity into enduring national fame, captivating the American
public by routing the British in the Battle of New
Orleans***...eventually culminating not merely in his transformational
two-term presidency, but even ultimately landing him on our $20 bills.

For me the significance of January 8th will always be that it was the
date of parties in 1966 (in my early childhood home) and 1967 (a
housewarming for the house across the lake in which I have lived since
July 4th 1966).

I hope the return to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue of a megalomaniac
narcissist incompetent twelve days hence will not interfere with
Jackson's scheduled displacement from the $20 Federal Reserve Note
by Harriet Tubman in the 2030s.

-=-=-
The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.

[Jason]

Jan 8 is also the birthday of the late David Bowie.

[bryan_styble]

Celebrating Presley's would-be 90th is TCM, which in a few minutes is
airing for the umpteenth time "It Happened at the World's Fair".

Don't scoff if you've never screened it. While it IS hokey and even
silly in too many scenes, it ALSO is one of the better Elvis films.
(And yeah, I AM biased toward all things Seattle in general and The
Century 21 Exposition in particular...even though my folks in St. Louis
never bowed to my nagging that our 1962 summer road-trip family vacation
head up to Washington State to see in person the still-glorious-in-2025
Space Needle.)

But who can hate a film in which a young Kurt Russell--whom I happened
to run into and chatted up for ten minutes in the blue jeans department
of the Santa Monica Mall Gap store circa 1984--kicks Elvis in the shin
twice?

Oh, and inasmuch as Johnny Horton's name came up above, I should also
mention the late Horton was a third of a rare alt-obits triple play--for
the day he died (Saturday, November 5, 1960) was ALSO the date that both
Keystone Kops director Mack Sennott and veteran westerns (AND "Gone With
the Wind"!) actor Ward Bond died.

BRYAN STYBLE/Florida

[bryan_styble]

Louis Epstein wrote:

"I hope the return...twelve days hence will not interfere with Jackson's
scheduled displacement from the $20 Federal Reserve Note by Harriet
Tubman in the 2030s.
---------------------

Did I read that correctly, Louis--that you actually WANT the Tubman mug
on the $20 instead of two-term President Jackson (even though the
current design, introduced shortly after the turn of the 21st Century,
portrays a younger-looking Old Hickory portrait than the one it
replaced) ?

Surely you've seen the photo of Harriet Tubman which they say they're
going to use, if it ever comes to pass. You'd rather be looking at her
than ANY portrayal of the quite handsome Jackson? (Heck, Jackson even
looked stately in that single photograph of him taken shortly before his
death, when he made history by being the first ex-President to be
photographed!)

And surely you've read of the many historians, have you not, Louis, who
doubt the authenticity of Tubman's almost-entirely unsubstantiated
recollections in old age of her career? Indeed, some writers who have
scrutinized what is known of her life doubt a lot of it happened in the
first place.

And NO one can doubt the impact the Jackson Administration made on
American history--even the many Jackson haters out there would grant
THAT, doncha agree?

BRYAN STYBLE/Florida

[Louis Epstein]

Post by bryan_styble
"I hope the return...twelve days hence will not interfere with Jackson's
scheduled displacement from the $20 Federal Reserve Note by Harriet
Tubman in the 2030s.
---------------------
Did I read that correctly, Louis--that you actually WANT the Tubman mug
on the $20 instead of two-term President Jackson (even though the
current design, introduced shortly after the turn of the 21st Century,
portrays a younger-looking Old Hickory portrait than the one it
replaced) ?
Surely you've seen the photo of Harriet Tubman which they say they're
going to use, if it ever comes to pass. You'd rather be looking at her
than ANY portrayal of the quite handsome Jackson? (Heck, Jackson even
looked stately in that single photograph of him taken shortly before his
death, when he made history by being the first ex-President to be
photographed!)
And surely you've read of the many historians, have you not, Louis, who
doubt the authenticity of Tubman's almost-entirely unsubstantiated
recollections in old age of her career? Indeed, some writers who have
scrutinized what is known of her life doubt a lot of it happened in the
first place.

Whatever the scale of Tubman's contribution to the Underground
Railroad,it is more commendable than Jackson's perpetration of
the Trail of Tears.

His toxic populism was nothing the country should be proud of.

Post by bryan_styble
And NO one can doubt the impact the Jackson Administration made on
American history--even the many Jackson haters out there would grant
THAT, doncha agree?
BRYAN STYBLE/Florida

-=-=-
The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.