In honor of today's honor:
I traveled to the Elvis Fan Dome by an odd route.
In college, a friend went to a mega-flea market and bought an Elvis clock: a heavily-varnished piece of wood with a serious black-n-white Elvis picture on the front. We were dyin'; the whole tacky Elvis phenomenon cracked us up. I went to the show and bought one.
I hung it up in subsequent abodes as a joke.
A few years later, I visited my brother, who had just moved to Tupelo. I did the Elvis tour: birthplace in Tupelo, drove an hour to Memphis for the Graceland Tour and the Elvis statue on Beal Street, and checked out some Elvis stuff in Nashville. I bought souvenirs.
When people saw the Elvis clock and other Elvis paraphernalia, they just assumed I was a sincere (even fanatical) fan. When birthdays and Christmas came, I started getting Elvis stuff, including Elvis tapes and CDs. I started listening to them.
And became a fan.
Now, I still don't own a velvet Elvis. I'm not a big enough fan to break-up my marriage over him.
But I do dig his music.
Especially his live stuff where he re-made other artists' songs. Somewhat humorous, but very talented overall. He was a great show man.
Link.
