The Man In Black

Johnny Cash's final video, the Nine Inch Nails-Cover "Hurt"

This gives me the chills.

In Honor Of Elvis

Today is the 32nd anniversary of the day Elvis left the building. In honor of his memory, I present to you the following photographs from my trip to Memphis to visit the King in early August 1990. I road-tripped with my cousin (and best friend) – Kathleen.

Here we are in our motel room…right before we hit Beale Street for an evening of drinking, flirting, dancing and catting around. That’s me on the left and Kathleen on the right. Can our hair be any bigger?

The next day we went to Graceland with some slight hangovers. Here is the front of Graceland. I was amazed at how small and “normal” looking (on the outside anyway) it was. The inside was another story. No photos were allowed inside..I so wanted to take one of the Jungle Room! The tour guide said that Elvis choose all of the furniture from a local store in less than 15 minutes. I looked at my cousin and said “It shows.” Later, we viewed the racquetball court where the guide informed us that “On the day Elvis died, he played a game of racquetball on this very court before he retired to his room…” At that point Kathleen turned to me and added “…Permanently.” Lordy, we were witty!
Here is Elvis’ backyard…I called HandsomeHusband (whom I was dating) from a payphone that was located by the back door. “Guess where I’m calling from honey? ELVIS’! BACK! YARD!” This was well before cell phones, so it was a big deal ok?

The Meditation Garden. My cousin and I completely forgot that his grave was on the premises.

Elvis’ grave from three angles.

People lined to pay their respects.

Me and Elvis. Ahh, the early 90’s fashion.

The wall surrounding Graceland. Graffiti covered each stone.

I liked this one.

One of the gates.

The “Lisa Marie” plane. You could go on this tour for an additional fee. As we had spent all of our money on alcohol, we did not purchase tickets for this tour.

My cousin and I then headed down to Beale Street to take some more pictures before heading back on the highway.

Our feet on the “Walk of Fame”

My cousin’s thumb, me and Elvis.

The plaque on the statue.

A mural on a building.

Beale Street. Much quieter than the night before.


I thought this was the coolest movie theater.

Love the arch!

Be sure to raise a toast in honor of the King of Rock and Roll – Mr. Elvis Presley. Thank you, thank you very much!

August 16, 1977 – The Day Rock Stopped Rolling

Happy Birthday MonkeyBoy!

My boy was born 10 years ago today, June 11th.  I cannot believe that a decade has past me by.

I was determined to slow down and savour each moment of your baby days, but you were just as determined to speed everything up.  Here you are at 7 months old and standing already!

You were a happy baby and toddler.  A little drooly at times though.

You grew into such a cute little man.

Do you remember your pirate party we had for your 7th birthday?  I'm not sure that you were enjoying yourself. ;)

You liked the cake too.
 
You played football for the first time last fall and received the "Most Improved Player" Award for your team.  Dad and I are so proud of you. 

Now you are ten.  And you like wearing "old man" hats (your words, not mine!)  You've got style buddy...Love You!

A Day At The Races

  
What I did today.  HandsomeHusband did not join in the fun.  He had another ceremony to attend in the morning.  It was me, the kids and my dad.  Oh, and my dad's co-workers.


This is the front of our dragon boat.

 
They are almost to the finish line...the #2 boat won this heat.

 
A pile of life jackets, which started out dry and became wet as the day and races went on.


Did the kids watch me when I was racing?  No, they were too busy playing in the sand...

 
throwing rocks...


and trying to skip rocks in the lake.


StellaDella "tattooed" her belly...


and had her face painted with a "bat" mask.


Between races, Grandpa helped the kids fly a kite.  Here he is getting ready to launch.

There it goes!

"Am I doing it right Grandpa?"

Looks good!

  
Even DramaQueen tried her hand at flying the kite.

 
Monkeyboy got the the bright idea to bury the handle in the sand.  He soon learned that sand, even wet sand, does not hold a kite handle very well.  

  
Stupid kite eating tree!
In the end, the kite was retrieved without any damage.

Out of our three races, the last race was our best time and the only time we won our heat.  We came in 4th in the C Division Consolation group.

It was a beautiful day,  the sun was shining, low humidity and a nice breeze.  The kids had a great time and more importantly, they behaved! Woot! Woot! 

Total Eclipse of the Heart: Literal Video

Bonnie Tyler's 1983 song "Total Eclipse of the Heart" as a literal video, via Neatorama.

My favorite lines begin at 4:32
"What the effing crap?
That angel guy just felt me up!"

I have seen A-ha's "Take on Me" version, which I love, but hadn't seen this one yet.  It made me smile this morning, and for a Monday, that's pretty good!

Playing Ball and Other Photos

StellaDella had a T-ball game this afternoon.  It was raining.

 
HandsomeHusband took this photo...This is the girls all running toward the ball in the infield.  Notice the resemblance to a swarm of bees.


StellaDella running for home plate.  HH observed that she seems to run a lot faster in the house.  I concur. 


The view from under my umbrella.

DramaQueen sat next to me using a black umbrella. And she complained the entire time about having to sit in the rain and watch her sister play ball.


StellaDella spent a lot of time "falling" in the muddy infield.  I jokingly called out to her "Now I told you to stay clean!"  She yelled back, "My coach told me to play dirty!"

 
I'm sure that is not exactly what he said.  On the bright side, at least she's somewhat listening when the coach is talking.

  
And, just because I enjoy playing with the macro feature, a shot of HH's button on his shirtsleeve cuff. 

A good time was had by all, well maybe except DramaQueen, but that's to be expected. ;)

Birthday Flashback

This is the birthday that I turned 3...how do I know that?  Check out the wall calendar - 1970 baby! 

My mom is cutting the cake, then going clockwise are: cousin Brian, cousin Bobby (these first two are brothers), my brother John, me (notice the sexy shoulder!), cousin Kevin is standing behind my chair, then not facing the camera is Lisa with her pigtails, she is holding Kathleen, who is not only her sister and my cousin, but one of my best friends, cousin Kirk, and finally my brother Michael.

Good times, good times!