go see Elvis. now.

https://ew.com/movies/elvis-austin-butler-cover-story/

I was surprised when James said he wanted to see this because judging from the trailer, it looked bombastic and embarrassing, at least to me. The young actor didn't look enough like Elvis, Tom Hanks's prosthetics looked clownish, and the use of anachronistic music and vulgar style just seemed so gross. So we went and saw it and all I can say is, go see it. It is an American tragedy and the sensory overload-style well-reflects the story of a beautiful god-touched-down-to-Earth who lost his life, swallowed by fame and the greed of his handler. Austin Butler was uncanny as Elvis in voice and physicality, excepting those moments in closeup early on, creating disconnect because he did not resemble Elvis (but who ever has?). In retrospect, I think it was important to give the audience those moments of disconnect because otherwise the movie was submergingly overwhelming. Tom Hanks's clownish makeup really was appropriate because the colonel was a clown, a snowman, a con man of the circus. All the anachronistic stuff, well it was secondary because the movie was about emotion, not verisimilitude. So what I realized was that everything makes sense once you see the movie. My only remaining complaint is that the casting director could have done a better job of finding actors who resembled the real people such a Sam Phillips and Vernon Presley. Overall, Elvis 2022 was a devastating shock and a total movie-going experience. I was blubbering at the very end with the final reveal of the real Elvis, bloated but still beautiful and ruined by the world. James walked out to go to the bathroom at that moment so I couldn't see if he took it that hard, but he too thought it was quite a film.

one more sober trip around the sun + fun in the casa

a nice man i knew used to say something similar to the former (above) about his birthday, but i use it to explain that on july 4, i celebrated 27 yrs without illegal drugs or alcohol. in somewhat celebration, we made these home videos. the 1st one is insane & brilliant. https://www.facebook.com/jamesandjenny.page/videos/1006756236698680/... we have been playing blasters songs together, so the next video is that. we both have the blasters´ catalogue in our dna alongside chuck berryś, so it is just a matter of getting the fingers to cooperate. (so glad i have completed all of my home projects so that my fingers can heal.) (they were not healed in this video & in fact got stuck a few times. ow!!!) https://www.facebook.com/100004546745776/videos/1056121651946644/... james does hank wms extraordinarily well since he so deeply feels the lyrics. here is an example: https://www.facebook.com/100004546745776/videos/528440612397367/... lastly is a frank stokes song which i was told we do in the piedmont style, tho that is accidental (but cool to learn). https://www.facebook.com/100004546745776/videos/1165649637550138/... the videos merited an enormous number of positive social media comments as did the real-world gig the other eve, which we did with lee campbell on the drums. it was an outside party but went extremely well. the band was happy & played so solidly, it was not at all like lee had been off as jamesś drummer for over 20 yrs. adding to the good was that the hosts provided a stage AND shade, unheard of in my experience when playing in someone´s yard. i could not have been happier unless we somehow had a teleporter to get us quickly back to our mountain home afterward bc we were so exhausted after playing a full night after so much time off.... that was a very long & cumbersome sentence, but oh well. ok, time for beddy-bye. this has been my low-key entry. may all be good in your world.