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Tomorrow in
Chicago a clump of
Elvis' hair will be
auctioned off. The hair was chopped off by an Army barber when
The King of Rock and Roll went into the service back in 1958. I found
out a few months ago that long time resident Harold Blackmon was in the
U.S. Army with Elvis.
He sent me pictures of them together in Germany. He told me that Elvis was
as nice a guy as you could ever meet. Elvis was a singing star, a movie
star, and a great humanitarian. With apologies to "Old Blue Eyes"
Frank Sinatra it could
be said that Elvis Presley
was the world's first musical entertainment superstar. I named my
oldest daughter Presley because Elvis showed the world that a poor kid born
in Mississippi and
raised in the Lauderdale Courts housing project in Memphis could reach the
very top of the entertainment world. Elvis left us back 32 years ago. He
was the center of all kinds of gossip during his career and after his life.
What is it about rumors and gossip that appeals to us? Why do shows like
TMZ and the other
drivel that television spews out after the evening news have an audience
that keeps it on the air. Why should any of us care what
Paris Hilton or
Lindsey Lohan are purchasing on
Rodeo Drive? That's
"Roe Day Oh" Drive in Beverly
Hills. Beverly Hills hasn't been the same since Jed, Granny, Ellie
Mae, and Jethro left the mansion and the cement pond behind for "home" back
in the mountains. What is Paris Hilton's talent? Has she been in any movies
that didn't require a night vision lens? Americans seem to have to know
every teeny tiny detail of the lives of celebrities. I don't understand how
we have nothing better to do than keep up with Brittney Spear's latest
shenanigans. Rumors and gossip are a huge business in our country.
The National Enquirer is one of the most widely read newspapers on
Earth. Rupert Murdock the media mogul that owns the Fox Network,
Fox News Network,
Fox Business Network,
and the New Yor k Post established himself with tabloid newspapers that
centered on rumor and innuendo. Don't deny it we all stand in line at the
check out counter at Wal Mart or Piggly Wiggly and thumb through the Globe,
Weekly World News,
Sun, and the National
Enquirer. The latest headlines out of the National Enquirer have
David Letterman having
to buy his wife the state of Wyoming to make her forget about his
indiscretions. Kirstie Alley
of "Cheers" fame recently ate the entire contents of a Nutri System
warehouse in West Hollywood
and now has to go to an interstate highway truck weigh station to keep tabs
on her weight. I got a call from our wonderful editor of the Tallapoosa
Journal Amy Lavender this week asking me about the rumor she had heard about
me being inducted into the
Georgia Music Hall of Fame. I would be honored to have that happen
one day. There is a Haralson County boy in the Georgia Music Hall of Fame,
Harold Shedd who owned WWCC in Bremen and left in the early 1970's to
produce acts like "Alabama"
Glen Campbell,
Mel Tillis and others. As a record executive with Mercury he signed
Toby Keith, Shania
Twain, and Billy Ray "my daughter is making me filthy rich" Cyrus. I
am honored to be in the Country
Music Disc Jockey Hall
of Fame in Nashville,
the Atlanta
Country Music Hall of Fame,
and the
Georgia Radio Hall of Fame that has their annual awards show tonight
in Cobb County. After the rather big surprise out of
Oslo, Norway several
days back, I understand from the rumors that I am now up for the
Nobel Prize in literature
for writing for the Tallapoosa Journal. I also want to stop the rumor that I
am a candidate for the
Heisman Trophy for watching a football game this afternoon. How is it
we tend to believe whatever gossip fed to us? How is it we tend to believe
the worst in people sometimes? Where is the exact passage in the Bible about
"bearing false witness?" Seems like Reverend S. T. Skaggs did a sermon about
that at the First Bapti st Church when I was a kid. I have to wrap up this
column and start getting ready for the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame awards
show tonight. I am taking
Cameron Diaz who is flying in on her private jet this afternoon at
Buncombe International
Airport. On a more serious note Bud Jones will be holding a concert on
American folk music at
7 p. m. Monday, November 2nd at the old Haralson County Courthouse. It
benefits the Buchannan-Haralson Library. Admission is free but donations to
the library fund will be appreciated. I had to call Bud last Monday after
finding some snake skin in the house and wanted to know if it could possibly
belong to the Loch Ness
Monster rumored to have been sighted at Sea Breeze Lake.
Rhubarb Jones is a Tallapoosa native and a
Distinguished Lecturer in the Department of Communication and Director of
Special Projects in the Office of Development at
Kennesaw State University. Comments are welcome at P. O. Box 1001,
Tallapoosa, GA 30176
or via email at
rhubarbjones@aol.com or
rhubarb.jones@yahoo.com
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