Elvis Presley

Elvis Sighting?Elvis himself may be seen in Fells Point on Aug. 16 for the "Salute to Elvis Presley Day," which honors the king of rock and roll on the 17th anniversary of his death. So, get out those blue-suede shoes, put on a rhinestone-studded cape, and grow a really cool set of mutton-chop sideburns. Along with Elvis memorabilia displays and live music, there will be an Elvis look-alike contest. Notice we did not say Elvis impersonator contest. No cheesy croonings of "Love Me Tender" will be allowed.

Elvis Presley was alive, well and everywhere at the "Eighth Night of 100 Elvises." In one corner, a young Elvis in a peg-legged dark suit. In another, an older Elvis Presley in a dazzling red and white embroidered and rhinestoned jumpsuit. Or how about those five female line-dancing Elvis Presleys in matching high-collared black jumpsuits and pompadour wigs? Those were just some of the almost 50 individual artists and bands who performed Elvis songs on two stages at Baltimore's Lithuanian Hall.

It was "for the kids," Patsy Anderson pleaded. And sure enough, one woman paid $80 for a bottle of spring water that had been loaded onto Elvis Presley's tour plane the day he died, to benefit the Children's Cancer Fund.The bottle was "an Elvis Presley artifact," insisted Ms. Anderson, who coordinates Elvis Presley fan clubs. "It's the first time the Elvis Presley estate has let anything out."The auction was the centerpiece of a "Tribute to Elvis Weekend" that included a dinner and dance Friday night, an appearance by the Jordanaires, Elvis' back-up singers, and performances by impersonators.

Into a league grown stale with fierce cats, mean birds and other funless fauna could enter the hippest critter yet: the Memphis Hound Dogs.After months of debate, and no small amount of foot dragging on the part of the NFL, investors in a prospective expansion franchise for Memphis, Tenn., have adopted the Elvis Presley song title as the name of their team."I think it's a fun name," said William B. "Billy" Dunavant Jr., the chief investor in the city's NFL effort.The local connections are obvious.

As party drugs go, codeine is not exactly a festive buzz. It hits like a sledgehammer, plunging the user into a dizzy state of numb exhaustion. And it has the unfriendly tendency to induce nausea and constipation.Elvis Presley loved the stuff.When he keeled over on the toilet 21 years ago, he had enough codeine in his system to knock 10 men unconscious -- along with potentially lethal doses of four heavy-duty sedatives and traces of nine other drugs. Among these was Dilaudid, a painkiller normally prescribed to chemotherapy patients.

Elvis Presley was just 42 when he died on this date in 1977. As a result, he can be spotted in several places tonight.* "Elvis on Tour" (8 p.m.-10 p.m., MPT, Channels 22, 67) -- Hoping the anniversary of Elvis Presley's death will draw some pledges, the public TV service is screening a 1972 documentary film that includes concert footage, interviews and an appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show."* "Breakthroughs: Amazing Things To Come" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., WBAL, Channel 11) -- James Todd Smith, better known as LL Cool J of the series "In the House," is the host of a special examining how technology is changing our lives.

ALL THE HOOPLA about Elvis Presley last week seems to me to have been largely wrongheaded because too many things were mixed up. Mr. Presley was an important cultural figure, but he was not an artist; he was an entertainer. His "revolution" was not at all musical because he was not capable of making a musical revolution. His abilities were too small for anything of that sort. He was no Louis Armstrong or any derivation of that level of talent, the sort of genius who provides truly new ways of expressing the human condition.

Gillian Welch moved to Nashville looking for a city that most people have forgotten or relegated to museums. She went to Music Row because, decades ago, her heroes - including Bill Monroe, the Louvin Brothers and the Carter Family - had gone there to make records that became the bedrock of American roots music. She wanted to do the same. Nine years later, Welch feels as though she's finally living in the home she was searching for. She has found the places and people who built Nashville's foundation and has managed to avoid those who are selling the cookie-cutter, cleaned-up version of country music that dominates today.

BEL AIR -- What discounts can't do to boost sales in this recessionary economy, perhaps Elvis can.James Newsome Sr., a 25-year-old tree trimmer from Aberdeen, took a day off from work yesterday to catch the opening day of the Elvis Presley Museum on Tour, which is on display through Saturday at Harford Mall.After he finished examining a sampling of authentic Elvis belts, sunglasses and photos, he went into K&K and bought his son James Jr. a toy. Last year, at the first annual Elvis museum display at Harford Mall, Mr. Newsome decided to buy a $35 pair of Reeboks from the Foot Locker there.

"E" Is for Elvis: an A-to-Z Guide to the King of Rock and Roll.Caroline Latham and Jeannie Sakol.North American Library.301 pages. $19.95.This ridiculous book is a tub of fun.An alphabetical series of inane footnotes to the biggest chapter in the history of rock 'n' roll, "'E' Is for Elvis" is quick, easy reading, the kind of entertainment that might prompt you to call up your Aunt Hilda and say: "Did you know that Caroline Kennedy covered Elvis' funeral for Rolling Stone?"The book, hard-bound in pink cloth with a black spine, gives no acknowledgement for its information, which is defined without shame in a publisher's press release as "facts, minutiae, and gossip."