The Elvis Collection: 70's Scrapbook 4

Elvis' funeral arrangements.  Just a private affair. 

Interview with Ann-Margret.  She doesn't dish any dirt about her time with Elvis.

Elvis' funeral procession.  Obviously a well-attended "private" funeral.  Really though, that's amazing.

Here's some dirt.  Elvis' sex life with Priscilla. 

El Paso stores were being cleaned out of Elvis LP's.

The Elvis Collection: 70's Scrapbook 3

The headline says it all . . . incorrectly.  There were a whole lot of drugs in Elvis' system when he died.

Heartrending account of Elvis' daughter finding out her dad was dead.  Also, fans cleaning out record stores of Elvis LP's.  More recently, whenever a famous pop singer dies, there's a run on downloading their songs.

Review by a disgruntled Elvis fan obviously.

Article about the first Elvis fan club founder.

Interesting article about Rick Nelson.  Elvis is mentioned tangentially.  

NM State Aggies vs GCU Lopes Softball 4-3-21

This recap is going to be a little melancholy even given that I’m recapping watching a win.  (Spoilers.)  The Friday MLB news was discouraging to say the least.  There was bad news for NMSU sports after the softball game.  And, I need to start with a sad digression about Aggie Soccer.  The softball game feels almost irrelevant.

 

I meant to go to Aggie Soccer last weekend for their last Saturday home game.  I was all ready to go when a black cloud came over.  It came with a cold wind and sprinkles.  I decided not to go at that point.  A half hour later, it cleared off.  It was still cold and breezy, but I still could have gotten to the game on time.  Since Ron already wasn’t going, I just gave up.  The Aggies won.  Dmitri Fong played in goal and was then honored for Senior Day.  I felt really bad I’d missed seeing her, even if I wouldn’t have been able to talk to her afterward.     

 

I found myself hedging about going out the softball game, but Saturday was so beautiful-looking, I couldn’t resist going even though Ron wasn’t going to be able to make it.  Even then, he talked me into going early again.  He’s convinced they’re going to sellout if you’re not there when the ticket window opens.  There was no issue even with reduced capacity.     

 

I haven’t really been following the Softball team.  They spent most of February and March playing tournaments in Florida.  By and large, they’ve been a .500 team in and out of conference.  I’ve been ambivalent about the roster.  There isn’t much glamour in the lineup like Kelsey Horton, Caity Szczesny, or Jeanelle Medina.  Diminutive Brandy Hernandez isn’t there to root for.  The team lost two great players as transfers and I’m not sure they’ve recovered.  More recently, they split a double-header with GCU on Friday night.  The Aggies lost a late lead in the first game and came back late in the second game.

At the park, I figured out it was warmer than I thought it was.  I’d put on sunscreen, but not a lot.  Ron thought GCU had some pretty players.  I’d remembered their cute curly redheaded freckled pitcher, Lexy Coons.  I saw her behind the dugout as I walked in through the gates.  There was also a GCU fan lady there with the same hair.  I wondered if she was her mother.  Being over a half hour early, I found a shady spot behind the stands and watched the pretty ticket girls rather than the teams taking warm-ups.  I had my iPad with me to test the open WiFi I’d discovered at baseball, but that didn’t work.  So much for live scoring. 

 

I finally reluctantly went in to find a seat after Mike, one of the regulars, waved hello to me.  We just about didn’t recognize each other with masks on.  (That mask was real unpleasant and sweaty in the heat.)  The crowd was a bit sparse and about half were there for GCU.  That said, the entire crowd was largely unmotivated by events on the field.  I don’t know if it was the crowd size, the heat, or the masks.  Maybe all three. 

 

Where I usually sit with Ron was filled with GCU fans, so I sat up high in the center grandstand.  Usually those seats are filled.  It was a pretty good view of the field.  There was one major obstruction, or should I say distraction, to watching.  A very attractive GCU girl was sitting at the scorer’s table.  Her blonde hair was in ornate braids.  She wore a pair of short shorts that showed off her long legs.  On field, the Aggies were doing a weird dance, but having fun with it.

  

I thought these scorecards added up in spite of all of the weirdness with softball rules.  However, they do disagree with the official scoring.  They gave GCU four errors in the game and other stuff.  I was going with what I saw and what the PA announced at the end of the innings.  When the lineups were announced, the Aggies’ starting pitcher, Matalasi Faapito, was the leadoff hitter.  There was also a Designated Player batting.  That left the “Flex Player,” Jayleen Burton at shortstop, without a spot.  I’m glad I caught all that, otherwise I would have been lost.  I still put Jayleen on the scorecard. 

 

Mata labored in the top of the first, along with the crowd.  I was already sweating.  There wasn’t any scoring, but every GCU batter was making her work.  The Aggies started their half the inning singing as usual.  They sounded rougher than I’d remembered, but were loud and vigorous.  Mata began with a double.  Catcher Nikki Butler drove her in with a nice easy slap to the opposite field. 

 

Two hits later and the bases were loaded and GCU brought out a new pitcher.  I questioned why a pinch runner wasn’t put in for Nikki, but I’m not sure anyone would have scored on the second hit.  The DP, Briana Gallegos, came up with great walkup music.  I think it was a Herb Alpert sample.  (No, I don’t have Shazam.)  She hit a high bouncer to short.  Anjolee Aguilar-Beaucage seemed to be screened by Gabby Aragon running passed her and never corralled the ball.  Two runs scored on the error.  The bases were reloaded after a walk.  Kendra Levesque came in as a pinch hitter.  She took some big swings, but struck out to end the inning.  3-0 Aggies. 

 

It was a long first inning.  There were also numerous stoppages for meetings and umpire meetings.  I think whatever life there was in the crowd kind of got drained out right there.  The second inning started with the first of six hit batters in the game.  There was a great diving catch on a ball in center by Gabby.  Then it was wiped off by an illegal pitch call.  Good thing I was doing the scorecard in pencil. 

 

After a walk, a muffed infield grounder loaded the bases for the Lopes.  The fans wanted obstruction called on the runner on the play.  I’m getting out my baseball rulebook so you know this is going to take a minute.  Obstruction is on the fielder interfering with the runner.  Interference is the runner/batter interfering with the fielder. 

 

For this particular play, it’s up to the umpire’s judgment if a runner “willfully and deliberately” interfered with the fielding of a batted ball.  There’s no other guidance on that rule.  That said, there appeared to be some incidental contact, so it could have been called.  Then again, there had already been a couple of disputed plays to this point, so everything was going to be questioned.  While there was no alcohol being sold, it was hot and everyone seemed irritable.   

 

Back to the game, Mata hit another batter, which forced in a run.  3-1 Aggies.  Mata got on to start the bottom of the second on another error by the GCU shortstop.  In fairness, while it was an infield popup, it was high enough to almost hit a passing airliner.  The wind blowing in was causing fielding problems.  (I’m trying to be nice.)  Mata was left stranded. 

 

There was a t-shirt toss into the crowd earlier.  Before the third, there were souvenir balls tossed.  The crowd still didn’t seem to be into it.  Athletic Director Mario Moccia came in with his two girls.  I almost didn’t recognize him with the mask.  Why wasn’t he with the Volleyball team, since they were playing for a championship today?  They left after a half inning.  That girl in the boot riding a medical scooter was in the crowd, but the narrow aisle didn’t allow for her to race with it like she was at the baseball stadium a couple of weeks ago.  My mask is smelling.  It’s a bit gross.

 

Mata had a 1-2-3 third.  The PA mentioned the Volleyball team was playing now and promised updates from the game.  Maybe Mario left to watch the game.  Gabby slapped a gapper in the bottom that went to the wall.  The fielders immediately threw up their hands.  The ball got lodged in the fence for a ground rule double.  Briana singled.  She took second later.  I don’t know how.  I think I’m watching the game, but apparently I’m not.  I looked up at some point and she was at second. 

 

Left fielder Antuanett Dean took her first at bat after being pinch hit for in the first.  If there’d been a radio call for the game, I suspect their scouting report would have said she was “speedy.”  Dean easily beat out an infield single to score Gabby from third.  There was another tough play by Anjolee at short as she hesitated on a grounder by Mata, which allowed in another run.  (This play was later ruled an error.)  A walk to Ramsay Lopez, called “Rambo” by the dugout and fans in the stands, loaded the bases, but the inning ended on a popup.  5-1 Aggies.

 

I’m fascinated by the GCU girl at the scorer’s table.  She’s texting and her thumbs are moving faster than the eye can follow.  Mata worked another quick inning in the fourth.  Kayla “K-Bo” Bowen leadoff and appeared to be hit on the helmet, but was called back to the plate.  This touched off an immediate argument with the coaches.  The fans got vocally involved in the dispute too.  Kayla singled anyway.  Briana and right fielder Jillian Taylor both walked to load the bases.  The inning ended with Dean immediately called out on colliding with her batted ball. 

 

The girl on the scooter went over to talk to the GCU girl.  She seemed to be asking about a ruling on the field.  The GCU girl was very nice to her.  (Ah, she’s good with kids.  Wife material.)  She also chatted with an Aggie guy that worked on the other side of the scorer’s table off and on.  They didn’t appear to be flirting, but she seemed really friendly, not that I was going to meet her anyway.  Behind me, two young guys calling each other “Bro,” kept going on about how good they were during their playing days in high school.  They should have been telling the GCU girl instead the regulars in the stands.  That might have been more worthwhile.

 

Mata came out after walking the second batter of the fifth.  Chloe Rivas came in and took her spot in the batting order.  She gave up a single, but got the next two outs.  The PA mentioned the current weather here and in Phoenix, where GCU is.  It was 90-something there.  No update on the volleyball game.

 

Chloe was hit to start the bottom of the fifth and Rambo as well.  Lexy came on in relief.  Ooh, events on the field were now distracting me from watching the scorer’s table.  Sorry.  Cute redhead.  Freckles.  Lexy proceeded to hit Nikki to load the bases.  The woman I thought was her mom left the stands.  I don’t know if that’s a confirmation or not.  Maybe she couldn’t bear to watch.

 

Audrey Shebloski came in to pinch run for Nikki.  Kayla came up and singled to drive in two runs.  Gabby was hit to load the bases.  Audrey was thrown out at the plate on a fielder’s choice by Briana.  Audrey got her money’s worth with a hard slide into the catcher.  Jillian worked another walk to force in a run. 

At this point, the run rule was looming.  Part of me wanted the Aggies to win and for me to get out of the heat.  A small part of me didn’t want Lexy to lose the game and I wanted to see more of her.  Dean was pulled from her at bat after one pitch.  Hope Banales, who is one of the cuter ones on the team, took over, but struck out.  I didn’t understand the strategy there at all.  8-1 Aggies.

 

Chloe gave up a single to start the sixth.  She got two flyouts and a ground out to end the inning.  Lexy gave up a couple of singles in the bottom and got into trouble.  Anjolee at short made a nice play to get the lead runner on the next grounder.  Nikki ran into her on the next grounder and was out for interference to end the inning.  Yes, there was plenty of grumbling in the crowd after that.  Given how small a softball infield is collisions are often hard to avoid. 

 

For the first play of the top of the seventh, Rambo threw to Maya Martinez covering first.  Maya did a little tap dance to nip the runner.  There was no further drama as the Aggies closed it out and won 8-1.  The team went out to the circle afterward and clapped along with the fight song and yelled out a “thank you” to the crowd.

 

Gameballs.  Matalasi Faapito gave up 1 run over 4+ innings and went 2 for 3 with an RBI.  Kayla Bowen went 2 for 5 with 2 RBI’s.  Chloe Rivas pitched 3 scoreless innings.  It was a dominating performance by the Aggies even without any home runs. 

 

At the end of the game, there still wasn’t an update about volleyball.  I considered going up to the pressbox, but decided against it.  Outside the stadium, the GCU parents brought out some little Easter baskets while waiting for their players.  I called dad and offered to bring him Chick-fil-a for dinner.  I watched the second half of the first of the Final Four games with him. 

 

I called Ron to ask about the volleyball when I got there.  He gave me the bad news that the Aggies had lost in straight sets.  They were all close.  As good as the Aggies have been, I wasn’t surprised since Utah Valley has a good team, but I was still crushed.  (It’s okay girls.  We know you played hard from looking at the stats.  We still love you.  Go get ‘em next year.  Big hug.)  My only momentary solace was watching the other Final Four game at home later.  I had no rooting interest in the game, but Gonzaga’s last second near halfcourt winner in overtime over UCLA was thrilling.

 

So, that’s probably it for Aggie Softball for me this season.  Their next two homestands conflict with Aggie Baseball.  Even in pleasant conditions, that softball grandstand was not fun to sit in.  I’m not even really enthusiastic about going to baseball.  I may be finding excuses not to go.  I did get everything I wanted to see in today’s game: an Aggie win and Lexy. 

 

Baseball 2021 Season in Review

That didn’t take long.

 

The baseball season has already ended.  I hope you enjoyed the new “One Day” season format of Major League Baseball.  The league decided to end their season on Day 2 rather than continue on with their boring sport that no one cares about.  Let me give a recap of my fondest memories of this 2021 baseball season.  (Cue Elvis singing Memories.)

 

Opening Day was a bit of bust for me.  The ESPN Radio game that was supposed to come on during the day never did.  It may have been the Mets/Nationals game that was canceled.  My Rangers’ affiliate didn’t carry their opening game.  I hope this doesn’t mean they’ve canceled their coverage altogether.  At work, I’d missed the MLB.TV free game.  Later in the evening, I did get to watch a replay of the Diamondbacks and the Padres.  I was glad for that good matchup, but I missed the middle of the game while working, which was when the DBacks hit four home runs in a row.  I did see the Padres win it.  I caught the end of the two late games live.  Finally, I watched Quick Pitch on the MLB Network to get a recap of all the day’s games. 

 

Friday, I mostly watched WWE Smackdown, even though I was really busy.  The MLB had announced the end of their season earlier, but the games continued.  I couldn’t get the free game on MLB.TV to work for me and had to change my password.  By the time I’d done that, the free game was over.  Saturday, I missed the Rangers, who may or may not have been on locally on the radio to watch Aggie Softball.  After the sun went down, I was able to pick up the Rockies and the Dodgers on KOA.  I heard the Rox make a nice comeback, but they fell short. 

 

Sunday, I was with my dad for Easter.  We had a pizza and watched a documentary movie.  The guy that took my order at Pizza Hut actually volunteered to apply a coupon to the purchase.  That was nice.  The documentary was BAM: Builders of Ancient Mysteries.  It was basically Ancient Aliens without the aliens.  It was really good, if not somewhat overwhelming. 

 

When I got back home in the afternoon, I still couldn’t find the Rangers game.  The ESPN Radio game coverage was delayed for the Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament, which didn’t involve Paige Bueckers, so who cares?  The baseball game featured the Angels playing the White Sox.  Shohei Ohtani was pitching and hit a home run.  I got hear about an inning when the sun went down and I lost reception.  So much for baseball this year.

 

The end.

 

Oh, very well.  Let’s discuss what happened on Friday.  At 4:00pm MST, the Baseball Season Preview I’d written on Thursday automatically posted to my blog, wherein I postulated that the Atlanta All-Star Game would be canceled over social justice concerns in the near future.  At about 4:40pm MST, I arrived at work and my co-worker, Mike, asked if I was still a baseball fan.  He informed me that the MLB had announced they were moving the ASG away from Atlanta because of Georgia’s new voting law bill.  I was close, but even I was shocked by the speed of this decision. 

 

There’s no reason to discuss the underlying political issue.  If you’re of one persuasion, you believe one thing.  If you’re of the other, you believe something else.  Debate is pointless.  The MLB pretty proved that.  There was no threat to move the ASG if the law passed.  There was no negotiation.  No pathway to reconciliation.  Given that the Atlanta Braves actually issued an unprecedented statement that expressed disappointment, rather than support of the Commissioner’s decision, I’m surprised they still have a franchise.  Perhaps teams will boycott playing in Atlanta altogether.  (I’m sorry I wrote that.  Now I know it’s going to happen.) 

 

I don’t know if this individual decision will really hurt baseball.  It feels like there’s already barely a national fanbase for the game.  There are hardcores for individual teams, who may not even be aware of this development.  Everyone else is just casual or ignores baseball altogether.  The national sports media, which only calls baseball boring, surprisingly gave MLB credit for taking immediate action and putting the pressure on other leagues.  Now I guess NASCAR will have to retroactively cancel last month’s Atlanta race to keep up.  MLB probably felt they had to do it right now to give another city time to get ready for the game, so it was a foregone conclusion.  The upcoming riots will ensure more social justice actions by the league.  That will chase fans away, especially if it’s on an NBA-level scale.

 

Reaction on the Internet was swift.  I saw five different Youtube sports commentary videos lambasting this decision that evening.  The comments on those videos were fairly unanimous in being done with baseball over this.  Given that this happened on the second day of the season, I feel bad for any now angry fans who bought the MLB.TV season pass or got season tickets (if they’re selling those).

 

Personally, all I can think about is how I’ve made four different trips to find a baseball season preview magazine and how dumb I would have felt if I’d just bought one.  I’m not boycotting baseball at the moment obviously, since I’m still trying to watch and listen to games (and mostly failing as usual).  I was already unmotivated going into this season.  It’s not going to take much more to get me to quit, but I suspect the MLB will actively run me off before I totally desert them.

 

This is how all sports are now.  They are simply a vehicle to deliver political opinions. Clearly BLM and cold propaganda (which is political) were all over the place last season.  There’s not going to be any watching sports unless you agree with their opinions.  It’ll be too grating otherwise.  The leagues don’t care about entertaining all sorts of fans.  They only care about delivering the message.  MLB lost money last year because of the lockdown; they don’t care. 

 

So, I’m still watching and listening for now.  It’s unlikely I’ll bother recapping anything.  I’ve been backing away from talking about individual baseball games for some time now, even before last year.  The El Paso Chihuahuas are scheduled to come back in May.  I can almost see wanting to write about them, but all of minor league is now run by the MLB.  (That was a curious end to MiLB and MLB’s dispute over minor league contraction.  Minor league baseball was probably basically bankrupt after losing all of 2020.)  We can assume whatever happens in the big leagues will be echoed in the minors.  I can just about sense that the end is in sight for all sports.  I’ll document it when it comes, but I won’t be happy about it.     

The Elvis Collection: 70's Scrapbook 2

This stuff should have gone on the first page, but I discovered I was missing a couple of images while I was posting it.  That was partly my fault for skipping a couple of pages when I was photographing them.  It didn't help that one of these articles was a foldout that I didn't notice.  Mom got real creative in pasting down these articles to the pages.  

Anyway, here are the headlines from a couple of local papers when Elvis died.

Article about Elvis' funeral arrangements and autopsy.  President Carter issued a message.

One of the more "creative" usages of space in this scrapbook is that after mom had filled all the pages.  She added more articles to the opposite side of the pages upside down.  So there's going to be some newer articles mixed in with the oldest ones, because I had to do this whole project quicker than I would have liked.

Bloom County creator Berkeley Breathed was apparently a big Elvis fan.  There's more strips to come.  And there's the creative sideways placement.

Baseball Preview 2021 and Happy Easter

 

Since this is being posted before Easter, I thought I’d put in a couple of seasonal cards I received.  One’s from a nice co-worker.  She left me a pink sack with a Cherry Coke and some candy.  The other is a charity solicitation, but looks good.

 

I probably should have posted a baseball preview before the season started, but I kept waiting to find the Sports Illustrated preview issue.  I didn’t find one before I wrote this.  Looking back through my previous preview posts, I realize that this is an annual problem I keep having.  In any case, I turned down the other three baseball preview magazines because they weren’t up to date with the latest rosters, which is why I wait for the SI one.  Instead (after three trips to Barnes & Noble), I picked up a Manga art magazine.  I don’t do manga art, but there were a couple of articles in it by Ilya Kuvshinov, one of my favorite artists.  However, it was $20.  I also question this purchase, but hopefully it’ll be good when I read through it. 

 

I’m waiting to see if some Opening Day (OD) baseball comes on the radio while I write this.  I’ve checked out a few low-attendance Spring Training games on the MLB Network in March.  For whatever reason, they weren’t even playing complete games this March, but that didn’t prevent an injury to Eloy Jimenez, perhaps wrecking the White Sox’s chances this year.  The Stadium Network started a new show called Inside Baseball.  It’s just some talking heads and some random baseball topics, but I’ve enjoyed it.

 

Not to be outdone, ESPN Radio was talking OD baseball.  Of course, it was a sponsored segment.  The only way the network would talk baseball would be if somebody was paying them to.  The only reason I was listening was because I was trying to find a game.  (Local sportstalk had promised a game today, but declined to give the time.)  Unfortunately, the commentary was the usual “baseball is boring” and everything associated with their marketing is wrong.  The first thing MLB needs to do to market itself better is to rip all baseball coverage away from ESPN. 

 

Let’s get into the issues for this season.  How will rule and playoff changes effect the game?  I don’t know.  Specifically, I’m not sure what those changes are.  They left all that up in the air during Spring Training.  I don’t know what they decided on.  I kept waiting for a story on the MLB website to pop up detailing any changes, but it never happened.  The universal DH is apparently out.  This brings up a future issue.  The Player’s Union and MLB both want the DH and can’t agree to do it.  If they can’t agree to do something they both want, there’s little hope for a new CBA after this season without a strike/lockout.  This action will probably destroy baseball.  ESPN will be so pleased.  The union and the owners will concur as they finally finish off their suicide death pact.  Everybody’s happy.

 

Unfortunately, there’s only going to be two salient issues this season: social justice and the cold.  The reason sports was allowed to come back was to promote the cold.  Justin Turner’s dramatic and unnecessary expulsion from the last game of the World Series last season was proof enough of that.  This season starts with five players on the Nationals testing positive for OD after a month of no reported positives.  This isn’t suspicious at all.  The sport will also be used to promote the killshot extensively, which will solve all cold problems, but will still require everyone to wear masks forever.

 

Social justice promotion may be the true bane of the sport though.  There’s already demands that the All-Star Game be taken away from Atlanta, because Georgia wants to pass some election reforms.  This is racist of course.  Voters should never have to show an ID to vote, though the killshot passport will be required enter a Wal-Mart to buy food.  As we await the inevitable riots after the George Floyd trial, this will be the impetus for extensive virtue signaling by MLB.  The ASG will be cancelled rather than moved.  All the players will wear 42 for the rest of the season.  The Indians will immediately change their name to the Cleveland Baseball team.  (I have a multitude of unprintable suggestions.)  There will be a black anthem played before the knee-taking Anthem.  What few fans are allowed to attend must also bend the knee or be ejected. 

 

With all that happiness to look forward to, let’s get to my picks. 

 

In the AL, it will be the A’s winning the West with the Astros in as a Wild Card.  The A’s will somehow scrap together a better team.  The Astros will have enough talent to get into the playoffs, but will have too many holes in their roster.  The White Sox will win the Central even without Jimenez.  The Indians won’t have enough offense to compete and will be suffering under too much existential angst over the impending name change.  (“What if we’re renamed something ridiculous, like the Chihuahuas?”)  The Yankees will buy . . .  err . . . win the East, but will require a couple of high-priced trade deadline acquisitions to do it.  The Blue Jays get the other Wild Card.

 

In the NL, it’s the F-ing Dodgers in the West, duh.  The Padres will get a Wild Card spot, but Fernando Tatis Jr. will have two stints on the IR and not be much of a factor.  The Cardinals take the Central with new third baseman Nolan Arenado leading the way.  Or more likely, he plays like the bag of chips the Rockies got in return for the trade, but the rest of the division is so bad that the Cardinals can win it playing .500 ball.  The Braves win the East, irritated about the whole ASG thing.  The Nationals rebound with great pitching and Juan Soto to get the other Wild Card.  (I feel like the Mets will be good too, but they don’t make it in unless the playoffs are expanded.)

 

So who wins?  Nobody.  A strike ends the season right before the playoffs.  Don’t worry.  Football will be on by that time.  Nobody will care.  I’m tempted to stick to this prediction, but I have a yearly obligation to pick a winner (and be wrong). 

 

If they’d played a full regular season last year, I’d say the Dodgers would have no chance of repeating, but since they didn’t they’ve got a shot.  However, their new ace, Trevor Bauer, reminds me too much of Zack Grienke.  He wins games for himself, but doesn’t win championships for his team.  For that matter, Mookie Betts only cares about posing over home plate when he scores.  Even if he’s given the MVP award this season to appease the social justice crowd, he only really values marketing himself.  If only Tatis could stay healthy, the Padres would make it to the World Series, but that isn’t happening.  It’ll be the Braves for the NL.

 

The Yankees will somehow fail to make to the World Series.  A plague of injuries will hobble them no matter how many star players they have (probably including Trevor Story traded from the Rockies, who needed a jar of salsa to go with their chips).  Their team is just too injury prone.  If the rest of the White Sox roster stays healthy, they’re in.  (If not, the Blue Jays surprise everyone.) 

 

So, it’s racist Atlanta versus Chicago, home of the human shooting gallery.  Thank goodness for strict Illinois gun laws, otherwise it might be really dangerous there.  Probably nobody’s going to watch this matchup, so it’s okay that the strike cancels it.  (Why am I bothering to make dumb predictions if they aren’t even sexy?)  The Braves win it on experience more than talent.  There you have it.  Who cares?   

The Elvis Collection: 70's Scrapbook 1

Over the 60's and most of the 70's, mom apparently stopped collecting Elvis articles.  She was busy getting married and raising a family.  Elvis was making a bunch of bad movies and then going out on tour.  The family story is that dad had promised mom to take her to an Elvis concert and Elvis did come to Albuquerque once.  The parents didn't want to make the trip and thought there'd be other opportunities to see him.  

That never happened.  I was 8 in 1977 when my afternoon cartoons were interrupted by a TV news report that Elvis had died.  I woke mom up from a nap to tell her.  I was inappropriately laughing at the time, because I knew she wouldn't believe me.  Actually, I don't think she was terribly shocked by the news.  Mom was aware of his unhealthy look and rumors of his drug abuse from his close associates.  

On Sundays, we usually had a big family breakfast.  Mom would play her LP's.  Usually, it was classic country, but songs from her Elvis albums were also common.  I liked Elvis' last album, Moody Blue.  It was made from a funky blue vinyl and I dug the song Way Down for the very low bass part with one of the backup singers.  These are my main personal Elvis memories.  

After Elvis' death, mom started collecting Elvis clippings again.  This last large oversized scrapbook is basically all articles from the year following his death.  Elvis leaving building one final time may have generated as much press as his initial bombshell national debut in 1956.  This event was a big deal in American culture at the time.

This article is on the inside cover and starts off the scrapbook.

The Dwight Yoakam article is from a later time.  Mom became a big fan of his later in life.  Yoakam was heavily inspired by Elvis.

There's going to be a lot of Elvis memorial merchandising coming up in future posts.

Coverage of Elvis' funeral.  

Here's the first of many newspaper columnists who'll be writing commentaries about Elvis' passing.