birthday

Happy Elvis Day 2012

/ TY / 16 Comments

Elvis rehearsing in 1970

Today is the 77th anniversary of the birth of Elvis Presley. Celebrate it well!

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Time sure does fly. It was back to work last week, and now it will be back to school this week. If all goes well, this should be my last semester. Though I have enjoyed the experience, it will be nice to have the time back to do other things – such as write.

I did manage to find some time to read during my winter break, including one book about Elvis that I hope to review soon.

I have also started the process of cleaning out a spare bedroom, and I found something fun in there yesterday – an archive of newsletters that I created for an official Elvis fan club that I ran from 1992-1997. I was 16-years-old when I started that fan club on January 8, 1992.

As I’ve said before, the “club” was really just an excuse to create a newsletter about Elvis. That means I’ve now been writing about him for twenty years, unbelievable.

I released the first issue of that newsletter in March 1992, so I’m planning to share some of that content with you beginning in March of this year. It is funny to see how my writing and opinions have changed (or not) since that time.

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Have a fantastic Elvis Day, everyone!

Elvis – thanks for the music.

Happy Elvis Day 2011

/ TY / 8 Comments

As you probably know, today would have been Elvis Presley’s 76th birthday. Do you do anything special to celebrate Elvis Day? When I was in high school, I made it a point to watch That’s The Way It Is and the ’68 Comeback Special on VHS. Sometimes, I threw in One Night With You and Aloha From Hawaii if I had enough time.

Though I will sometimes pull out a DVD or two, these days I usually just try to fit in as much Elvis listening as possible. For instance, I’ve had my iPod set to play all Elvis all the time since Thursday. [Now playing is “Love Me” from the August 12, 1970, Midnight Show, on That’s The Way It Is (2000 Special Edition).]

Twenty-four years from now, it will be the 100th anniversary of Elvis’ birth. If I am fortunate enough to still be on this Earth and relatively healthy by then, I plan to spend January 8, 2035, in Tupelo, Mississippi. I can’t think of a better place to be on that day. By then, I will be approaching 60 years old, while The Mystery Train Elvis Blog will be approaching post #3,000. I’m not sure which of those numbers scares me more.

Wherever you happen to be this year, and however you choose to celebrate, I hope you enjoy Elvis Day 2011.