Sunday morning at 2 a.m. - Elvis In Memphis on QVC

1993 Elvis Presley Stamp -Watercolor of Elvis by Mark Stutzmamn

As those of you who come to this spot regularly may
recall, I'm not just a big Elvis fan, but actually lived in
Memphis for three years growing-up, before my family
moved to South Florida in July of 1968.

It was in Memphis specifically, and the Mid-South
in general, on our weekend family drives around
Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi, where I first
developed my deep and enduring love and preference
for many things: the Mississippi River; rhythm 'n' blues;
Al Green; The Andy Griffith Show; Dusty Springfield;
Petula Clark; St. Louis Cardinals baseball on the
radio in the summertime during one of their glory eras;
smoky sweet Memphis-style barbecue ribs; cornbread,
and, of course, The King - Elvis.

To a devout Elvis fan like me, who knows just about
everything there is to know about him, the good and
the bad, the best books ever written on Elvis -by far-
are Peter Guralnick's masterful "Last Train to
Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley" and the great
follow-up, "Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis
Presley."

Each is written with honesty and empathy, free of
the judgmental cant and analysis that doomed other
books that purport to tell the tale. It was also while
living in The Mid-South, that I first became greatly
interested in the American Civil War, following a
summer day-trip to Shiloh, the site of the bloody
April 1862 battle.

It was on that summer day-trip that I had a chance
meeting with a VERY old man on the battlefield itself.
A man whose own father had actually fought in the
battle -and lived to tell the tale! For more info on
Shiloh, see http://www.nps.gov/shil/

Spending a day there is an awesome eye-opening
experience and really puts things into their proper
perspective, just as my later trips to Gettysburg,
Harper's Ferry, Winchester, Fredericksburg
and Spotsylvania did as well.

Growing-up in South Florida in the late '60's and
the '70's, I was always aware of the fact that
South Florida lacked many if not most of the sorts
of elements that bind a community, or historical
sites that can give both kids and adults a very
much-needed perspective and reality check on
their own life when they are carried away with
the weight of their own day-to-day problems,
which, frankly, seems much more of a problem
here than most places I've lived.

That's why the social significance and centrality
of the Miami Dolphins on this community's
consciousness can never be properly understood
by anyone who didn't actually live here then.

The impromptu community support that caused
so many thousands of us to swarm the Eastern
Airlines tarmac at MIA to welcome the team back
after their amazing 1971 Christmas Day
double-overtime playoff victory in Kansas City,
remains one the signature moments of the history
of South Florida, even if you didn't already know
that.

Similarly, the Miami Space Transit Planetarium,
under Director Jack Horkeimer, was both so popular
and so great not simply because of what it was,
per se, but what it represented:
one of the very few things that we had down here
that was actually top-notch that people could take
some pride in.

http://www.miamisci.org/

TCB, baby.
----------------

ELVIS TRIBUTE ON QVC QVC will be airing a Live Elvis Presley Tribute show to commemorate the 32nd Anniversary of his passing. Among the various items being featured is an exclusive box set that can only be purchased on QVC. Don’t miss this opportunity to pick up your copy and celebrate The King Of Rock n Roll. Watch the show live, set your TiVo's, or log onto QVC on August 16th! Eastern - August 16th, 2:00 AM Central - August 16th, 1:00 AM Mountain - August 16th, 12:00 AM Pacific - August 15th, 11:00 PM FROM ELVIS IN MEMPHIS: LEGACY EDITION CELEBRATES 40th ANNIVERSARY OF AMERICAN STUDIOS SESSIONS, 36 TRACKS ACROSS 2 CDs, INCLUDING 10 ORIGINAL MONO SINGLE MASTERS Elvis Presley's Memphis sessions proved that sometimes you can go home again. It was January 1969, and Elvis had not recorded in his hometown since leaving Sun Records for RCA in 1955. But the renewed focus and ambition sparked by his wildly successful TV comeback special the previous month propelled him back into a Memphis studio, where in just two weeks of sessions he made some of the most memorable and artistically satisfying music of his career. This burst of inspired creativity resulted in the critically acclaimed album From Elvis In Memphis and its companion Back In Memphis. "Suspicious Minds," "In The Ghetto," "Don't Cry Daddy" and "Kentucky Rain" were among the unforgettable hits that resulted. This 40th anniversary Legacy Edition contains every track from the sessions recorded at American Studios in Memphis in January and February of 1969.

-----------------