Tag Archives: Elvis Presley

Substack: Writing roundup

A freebie for all subscribers: Roundup of my writing over the last couple of months, plus some thoughts on Viva Las Vegas, After Hours, Ebertfest, my time in Chicago … everything I’ve been doing. Thanks for reading!

Posted in Movies, Personal, Television | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

“I don’t adhere to rabbis, preachers, evangelists, all of that. I’ve learned more from the songs than I’ve learned from any of this kind of entity. The songs are my lexicon. I believe the songs.” – Bob Dylan

For Bob Dylan’s birthday “When I first heard Elvis Presley’s voice I just knew that I wasn’t going to work for anybody and nobody was going to be my boss. Hearing him for the first time was like busting out … Continue reading

Posted in Music, On This Day | Tagged , | 25 Comments

Snapshots

It’s been a while. March and April were a whirlwind. February too. — I worked on this. It was a challenging one, and a little different for me. I loved the challenge. — Michael messaged me (you know. Michael. This … Continue reading

Posted in James Joyce, Movies, Personal | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments

May 7: Viva Las Vegas at the Paris Theater!

^^ This promo, gigantic on the Paris Theatre website, is now my favorite thing on the planet. My name up there, my outlet, and the MASSIVE faces of Elvis and Ann-Margret. Life is a curious thing. You never know where … Continue reading

Posted in Movies, Personal | Tagged , | 6 Comments

“I don’t cook and I don’t care.” — Ann-Margret

Ann-Margret entertaining US troops in Vietnam, 1966 Today is Ann-Margret’s birthday. Her autobiography, Ann-Margret: My Story is wonderful. What a career. And it’s still unfolding. There are so many classic scenes. Tommy. Carnal Knowledge. Of course, too, there is the … Continue reading

Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

I agree with you, kid. I say yes to those movies too.

The Queen’s Gambit

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“I heard Ruth Brown, and I just found my kind of music,” — Janis Martin

Cultural history is peppered with What Ifs. What if someone like Janis Martin had gone the distance? What if she hadn’t lapsed into obscurity? Would she have carved out a small space for women in rock ‘n roll (alongside the … Continue reading

Posted in Music, On This Day | Tagged | 10 Comments

“If it hadn’t been for the videocassette, I may not have had a career at all.” — Kurt Russell

It’s his birthday today. How I love him. I grew up with him. The Computer Who Wore Tennis Shoes. I remember that being screened for us in grade school in what they called “the multi-purpose room” (lol: gym, cafeteria, theatre). … Continue reading

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Happy Birthday to the Man in Black, Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash, singing “Man in Black” in Denmark: Here he is on Tex Ritter’s Ranch Party, 1956 or so. Great guitar solo, too. He’s not just strumming that guitar. The guitar CHUGS along, with an irresistible beat. It’s almost percussion. … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , | 29 Comments

Happy Birthday, Norman Taurog

American director Norman Taurog was born in 1899. Literally during the first gasps of cinema. What an improbable journey. He’s born into a world before cinema has even cohered into an artform … and he ends his career at the … Continue reading

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