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Conference hydra::dejavu

Title:Psychic Phenomena
Notice:Please read note 1.0-1.* before writing
Moderator:JARETH::PAINTER
Created:Wed Jan 22 1986
Last Modified:Tue May 27 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:2143
Total number of notes:41773

748.0. "Elvis Alive?" by LABC::FRIEDMAN () Mon May 23 1988 17:35

    There have been reports of Elvis being seen alive in Michigan. 
    How can this be?  I and everyone I know thought he was dead.
    I am so confused.
    
    
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
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748.1Probabilities are vanishingly smallERASER::KALLISDon't confuse `want' and `need.'Mon May 23 1988 17:4513
    After World War II, there were many articles, some in the _Police
    Gazette_, to the effect that Adolph Hitler was alive (the usual
    supposed hangout was Argentina).  This went on and on into the 1950s.
    Hitler, of course, was dead and remained so. [:-)]
    
    I saw an "Elvis is alive" headline on a supermarket tabloid (one
    of the _National Inquirer_ or _Star_ types).  It had what looked
    like a photograph, but was actually an "artist's conception" of
    what Elvis [would have] looked like [had he lived].
    
    Don't put too much stock in tabloid stories.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.
748.2And they had his babies, too!MTWAIN::KLAESKnow FutureMon May 23 1988 18:025
    	Steve, you know full well that aliens are holding Elvis' brain
    hostage on planet Zort.
    
    	:^)
    
748.3DECWET::MITCHELLThe Cosmic AnchovyMon May 23 1988 18:099
    RE: .1
    
    Wasn't one of the headlines of that issue "Man's 120 MPH sneeze blows
    all the hair off wife's head"?
                                              
    Really!
    
    
    John M.
748.4FSLENG::JOLLIMOREFor the greatest good... Tue May 24 1988 08:425
The King is dead...
   long live the King.

                  "Elvis Was Really Hitler In Disguise"
         "Plastic Surgery in Argentina Brings Back Nazi as Singer"
748.5FSLENG::JOLLIMOREFor the greatest good... Tue May 24 1988 08:442
                   "Hitler  Alive and Well in Michigan"
                "Nazi Leader Posing as Elvis Impersonator"
748.6Mysterious DisappeareesLILAC::CONNELLTue May 24 1988 13:2918
                Doesn't everyone know that Hitler lived until 1957 in
    Italy at the monestery of The Elect Brothers of St. Peter He brought
    the "lost Nazi gold" with him.
                
                Also there are Amelia Earhardt, Ambrose Bierce, Glen
    Miller, Judge Crater, and anyone else who has disappeared throughout
    history, including Elvis. ;-)
    
    
    
    
    
    
                                Goddess bless
    
    
    
                                   Phil
748.7bla bla, woof woofGENRAL::DANIELWe are the otters of the UniverseTue May 24 1988 13:369
I know the tabeloid you're talking about, with the picture of Elvis in an 
artist's depiction (they call that Art???) of what he would look like now.

I saw a similar tabloid about a month or two ago, with a picture of Elvis and 
Marilyn Monroe on it, that said "Elvis and Marilyn - Alive and Happy in 
Hawaii!!"  Sure, old pictures taken of them in Hawaii.  I wonder if that's 
where Tabloid #2 got it's story.

The National Enquirer - For People You Wouldn't Want as Nosey Neighbors.
748.8Elvis Dead/Marilyn MurderedSOFBAS::RHODESWed May 25 1988 14:3614
    I was home sick from work one day last week and just happened to
    catch the Oprah Winfrey show.  The topics of the day were Is Elvis
    Alive?  and What Happened to Marilyn Monroe?  
    
    She had several guests on the show who testified that they had,
    indeed, seen Elvis alive in Kalamazoo.  They also had a well-known
    and respected psychic (I forget her name) on the show who testified
    having vibrations that Elvis was really dead.  She was also convinced
    that Marilyn Monroe was murdered and said that Marilyn had appeared
    to her and shown her several "signs".  It was pretty creepy because
    it seemed like she was "kosher".  This psychic woman routinely helps
    police solve difficult crimes and she is regarded highly by the
    upper echelon of the crime-solving community.
748.9RIP should be respected as suchMTWAIN::KLAESKnow FutureWed May 25 1988 14:426
    	Why doesn't the public and the trash press just leave those
    two people's memories alone in peace.  It disgusts me how the media
    can hound them even when they're gone.
    
    	>:^(
    
748.10One reasonCLUE::PAINTERHeaven is a place on EarthWed May 25 1988 15:418
    
    Because there is a search for the real truth going on.
    
    Not in all cases, of course, however if it is true that Marilyn
    Monroe was murdered then I would be interested in justice being
    done...even after all these years.
    
    Cindy
748.11RE 748.10MTWAIN::KLAESKnow FutureWed May 25 1988 15:588
    	Cindy, tabloids like the National Enquirer are *not* looking
    for the truth, they just went to sell their rag at the expense of
    others' reputations and privacy.  Elvis and Marilyn are unfortunately
    dead and buried, and I do not like how some organizations continue
    to sponge off their names like parasites.
    
    	Larry
    
748.12lighten up! :-)))ULTRA::LARUtransitive nightfall of diamondsWed May 25 1988 16:0810
    re .11
    
    Oh, come off it!   The tabloids provide entertainment. People
    like to be entertained, otherwise the tabloids would go broke.
    People like Elvis and Marilyn made their livings from publicity;
    now that they are dead, should we elevate them to the pantheon and
    let nobody blaspheme their names?  I'm sure Elvis and Marilyn
    couldn't care less about their reputations now;  why do you?
    
    	bruce
748.13SuggestionCLUE::PAINTERHeaven is a place on EarthWed May 25 1988 16:116
    
    Larry,
    
    Then boycott the tabloids.  It's that simple.
    
    Cindy
748.14lest we get totally serious ...MARKER::KALLISDon't confuse `want' and `need.'Wed May 25 1988 16:3146
    re .last_few:
    
    What ever happened to senses of humor?  I remember the tabloid
    headline, cited elsewhere in this Conference:
              
          NEW JERSEY HOUSEWIFE CAN MOVE CREAM CHEESE WITH HER MIND
    
    I am certain that a small percentage of people think it's gospel.
    I'm equally certain that the story about the two-headed woman who
    gave birth, and one of the heads wanted to keep the baby while the
    other wanted to put it up for adoption (this was a recent one I
    heard cited on the radio -- the people reading it could hardly get
    through it: they were laughing so hard) might have a _few_ believers.
    Most would discount it.
    
    I've established another note for outrageous Tasbloid stories.
    
    Let me put on a journalist's hat for a moment:
    
    In conventional newspapers and telecasts, bad news outsells good.  The
    actual explosion of the _Challenger_ was repeated so many times
    on the telecasts, both in normal speed and slow motion, that by
    the end of the day, the average viewer was numb.  Disasters get
    the biggest play: when the _Andria Doria_ sank, the photographer
    who shot it going under got the Pulitzer for photography for that
    year.  And so forth.
    
    Tabloids have taken that to an extreme.  They seek the bizzarre.
    My feeling is that when they can't find any news, they create some
    out of whole cloth (e.g., the "Elvis is Alive" stories probably
    fit in that category).  When there's an actual story, they may
    exaggerate the peculiar aspects of it. 
    
    One of the greatest services done for supermarket tabloid news has
    been the television show, _The Incredible Hulk_, which  just surfaced
    with a special "movie of the week" a few days ago.  In the series
    (and film), one of the characters plays a relentless reporter out
    to Get The Story on The Hulk.  He works for a _National Inquirer_
    -type publication; the film portrays him as a true seeker after
    truth (in this case, that The Hulk exists).  It's elevated the credi-
    bility of the tabloid writer far above that of used-car salesman.
    
    Take all sensationalistic writing wioth at least several grains
    of salt.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.
748.15FSLENG::JOLLIMOREFor the greatest good... Wed May 25 1988 17:0218
Yeah, whatever happened to senses of humor?

The tabloid headlines (and stories) provide entertainment even beyond
those who read them. Several radio stations in the Boston area (and I
suspect throughout the country) have a morning spot about tabloid
headlines. One has a contest for contestants to pick the 'false' headline
among three or four. It's hard to tell the 'real' ones from the ones made
up by the dj's.

Also, some tabloids run sensational headlines with true (but bizarre)
stories. One I heard of recently was something like:
                "122 lb Tumor Removed From 125 lb Woman"
which sounded like the woman weighed 3 lbs when it was over. I'm not sure
if the story was true, but reading the article you found that the woman
actually weighed 247 lbs, and there was a large tumor removed.

Think we can get someone to channel Elvis or Marilyn to see if the
headlines really bother them??
748.16To be one, or be separate...GENRAL::DANIELWe are the otters of the UniverseWed May 25 1988 17:1310
I saw one tabloid with a picture of Sylvester Stallone and Vanna White on the 
cover; it looked like Vanna was pointing at Sylvester!!  A closer look; they 
were two separate pictures, "spliced" together.  I've noticed this to happen on 
more than just the tabloids, like Barbra Streisand and Don Johnson in a photo 
where it looked like they were together, when, in fact, her photo was kind of 
"inserted" over his.  Check the lighting on these subjects - sheesh! - 
sometimes, you can really tell that the photographs are separate, but made to 
look like they are one...

What would you do if it happened to you!?!?!!
748.17Whew - sorry for the negativism - won't happen again.CLUE::PAINTERHeaven is a place on EarthWed May 25 1988 17:157
    
    Well, if I shared the picture with Don Johnson, I wouldn't mind
    too much....(;^)
    
    Back on track again.
    
    Cindy
748.18As SK once said, "Why is everyone so uptight?"BSS::BLAZEKDancing with My SelfWed May 25 1988 21:5219
    re: .16 (Meredith)
    
    >>	What would you do if it happened to you?!
    
    	Depends on who I was having an imaginary (or not) affair with.
    	Like Cindy, me doth not protest too much at a liason (however
    	fantasial) with Don Johnson.  However, Sylvester Stallone would 
    	be lawsuit material.  =8*)
    
    	As far as perpetrating stories of Elvis and Marilyn, who cares?
    	If someone believes it, their mental state is a sad one and any
    	happiness they derive is probably desperately attained.  As Jay?
    	Bruce? suggested, Marilyn and Elvis thrived on publicity and the
    	images they projected.  Maybe they've reincarnated by now, are
    	purchasing these trashy tabloids, and having the last laugh on 
    	all of us.
    
    							Carla
    
748.19Dull, mindless & lots of fun: And so is Society?HPSCAD::DDOUCETTEArmed with only a keyboard. . .Thu May 26 1988 09:4917
    Tabloids do for newspapers what Wrestling does for sports.
    
    Actually, I attempted to write a short story about a Enquirer-type
    reporter who stumbles on some real magic and doesn't know what to
    do with it.  It now sits on my pile of S.T.W. (Stories To Write)
    
    And, a techie-fact for those interested in picture splicing, it's
    now computerized and *VERY* realistic (also *VERY* expensive). 
    In two cases that I know of, the first was a picture of the pyramids
    on the cover of National Geographic(!).  They didn't like the pyramids
    being so far apart, so they "moved" them closer.  The second was
    in Rolling Stone, they had a picture of Don Johnson walking on the
    beach (without Barbara or Cindy ;-) ) wearing a gun.  The editor
    of R.S. is an avid gun control advocate so HE PAINTED OUT THE GUN.
    Nobody could tell a gun was there.  Ain't computers wunnerful?

    Dave
748.20Journalism???USAT05::KASPERLife is like a beanstalk, isn't it...Thu May 26 1988 12:1833
    re .14 (Steve)
    
    > Let me put on a journalist's hat for a moment:
    
    Sometimes I can't get a bit too cynical, but journalism as it once
    was defined no longer exists.  The tabloids create stories to make
    $$$$$, 'respectable' journalist's seem to be looking for the big
    story, not keep us informed.  The thing that bothers me is at whose
    expense it is being done.  The tabloids, for the readers, are pretty
    harmless.  The only possible harm is to the pubilc figures whose
    names/images get slandered, but as we've seen, they've been fighting
    back.  The real harm is with the traditional media and what it has
    become.  Events that shake the world are, at times, done simply for
    the media coverage.  Take Kadafi and the attack on Libya a while
    back.  He was making a lot of noise and a lot of threats.  He was
    getting the media attention he wanted, then came Chernobyl.  Media
    attention shifted and he got quiet.  If the attention shifts back
    he could become potentially dangerous again.  That's scarey.

    And what about ethics???  Remember the photo journalist that set up
    an appointment with a man that was to commit suicide by setting 
    himself on fire.  He went and filmed the entire event!  Great story,
    huh.  A guy wants to kill himself and a 'journalist' wants a story.
    I really don't think that he had my interests and desire to be an
    informed individual in mind.

    In the scope of creating our own realities, journalism is the force
    behind many global events - creating negative realities!

    So there...

    Terry
    *<:^)
748.21Back to "I WAS BIGFOOT'S LOVE SLAVE" ...MARKER::KALLISDon&#039;t confuse `want&#039; and `need.&#039;Thu May 26 1988 15:5845
    Re .20 (Terry):
    
    >Sometimes I can't get a bit too cynical, but journalism as it once
    >was defined no longer exists.  ... The real harm is with the
    >traditional media and what it has become.  Events that shake the world 
    >are, at times, done simply for the media coverage.
    
    Responsible journalism exists, but often it's rare enough to be
    classified among aspects of the paranormal. :-)
    
    Papers of some responsibility, and in that I include _The New York
    Times- and _the Christian Science Monitor_ in the United States,
    do adhere to the tenets of traditional journalism.  Papers where
    editorial bias becomes more obvious (such as _The Boston Globe_
    and _The Manchester Union-Leader_) are sufficiently near the ideal
    to prevent severe disorientation.  However, it is true that lately
    the "professional" journalist is a _rara avis_; this is doubly so
    in the electronic media, especially television.
    
    >And what about ethics??? ...
    
    Ethics and journalism are not incompatible, but are not identical.
    Some years ago, A.B.C. television apparently got "scoops" on
    forthcoming Supreme Court decisions by obtaining information from
    carbons used in preparing the decisions.  According to reports of
    the time, an A.B.C. reporter made a deal with a janitor who retrieved
    the carbon-papers and passed them on.  Assuming the story true,
    is such action ethical?  A freelancer who works with N.B.C. television
    once accompanied a petty thief as he stole things to be hocked:
    he even filmed the actual robberies.  Legally, that makes him an
    accessory [unless the thefts were faked with material that was
    previously bought]; but nobody on the _Today_ show, where the film
    was aired, commented nmegatively about the reporter's activities,
    as I recall.
    
    Just as "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel," [meaning
    that a scoundrel will use patriotism as a defense for an action,
    not that there's anything wrong with patriotism] so for a sleazy
    journalist, the last refuge is "The public's right to know."
    
    There's nothing wrong with the Public knowing things, but when that's
    given as an _excuse_ by a journalist who's been caught off base,
    watch out.
    
    Steve Kalklis, Jr.  
748.22just ignore it and it'll go away!!!!!!!!MSDOA2::MCMULLINFri May 27 1988 15:3415
   re. .0 - If it eases your mind any, I live in Memphis, TN, where
    Elvis' home, Graceland, is.  Since the 1st day that he died, we
    (the people of Memphis) have heard various stories of Elvis being
    alive and living in the upstairs of his house (the upstairs is off
    limits to the tourists).  My theory on that one is they left the
    upstairs off limits until the tourism dies down, then they'll open
    the upstairs so everybody will come back to see the upstairs.  There
    have been other stories of "Elvis has bleached his hair blonde and
    is still living in Memphis"; "Elvis and Priscilla are secretly back
    together"; on and on and on!!  So, it doesn't surprise me that "Elvis
    is living in Michigan"!!  I have learned to ignore it, because stories
    like this have been going on for years and will continue for years
    to come.  I've heard that Kennedy wasn't really dead!!  So, who
    cares????? 
    
748.23MovieUSAT05::KASPERLife is like a beanstalk, isn&#039;t it...Fri May 27 1988 15:556
	re: (all related to Elvis)

	Has anyone seen the movie 'Eddie and the Crusiers'?  I think
	they've exploited these rumors and made movie, an Ok movie.

	Terry
748.24round and round we go, down and down we go ...ERASER::KALLISDon&#039;t confuse `want&#039; and `need.&#039;Fri May 27 1988 15:5911
    Re .23 (Terry):
    
    And there was a television show about an Elvis impersonator who
    somehow got zapped back in time.  He became responsible for the
    death of the _real_ Elvis and took over the job.
    
    Not _Twilight Zone_, but one of its imitators.
    
    So trhe circle is complete.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.
748.25DECWET::MITCHELLThe Cosmic AnchovyFri May 27 1988 18:4013
    RE: .22
    
    > I've heard that Kennedy wasn't really dead!!  So, who
    cares??  <
    
    Inquiring minds want to know.
    
    
    I don't know about Elvis, but there is reason to suspect that Andy
    Kaufman and Dan White (killer of George Mosconi (sp?) and Harvey
    Milk) might still be alive.
    
    John M.
748.27DECWET::MITCHELLThe Cosmic AnchovyFri May 27 1988 20:199
    RE: .26 (Paul)
    
    > gee, i hadn't even heard that Dan White was supposed to have died
    <
    
    Supposedly a suicide by the car-in-the-garage routine.
    
    
    John M.
748.28GOD AND COUNTRY!!!USACSB::OPERATOR_CBMon May 30 1988 08:099
    
    
    Re: .21 "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel"
    
    	Who said that?
    	
    	(Wonder if Mr. North has heard that one?) :-) 
    
    craig
748.29A SPECIAL GUEST WE HAD SAT.NIGHTWILVAX::BOURQUEMon May 30 1988 14:388
    ELVIS....HELL OF COURCE HE'S STILL ALIVE,EITHER THAT OR WE HAD
             HIS GHOST OVER FOR POTLUCK DINNER SAT. NIGHT.
             YOU KNOW HE COMPLIMENTED PAULA ON HER HOMEMADE
             FRIED CHICKEN AND GRITS.
    
    
    
                          JIM/PAULA
748.30Details, pleaseMSDOA1::MCMULLINTue May 31 1988 15:493
    RE .29
    
    How about some details on this one, or are you just b.s. ing??
748.31SCOMAN::RUDMANTomb,n. The House of Indifference.Wed Jun 01 1988 12:5711
    So the D.A., if he feels there's a reasonable doubt (and he wants
    to mess with the Free Enterprise system), should have the body 
    exhumed.  
    
    Isn't falsifying a state document (Death Cert.) illegal?
    
    In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for a blonde, bearded, blue-eyed
    hip-swinger of medium build.  If he curls up the side of his mouth,
    invite him for dinner....   :-)
                                          
    							Don
748.32seeds of truth in the rotting pulp of fictionCNTROL::GEORGEWed Jun 01 1988 19:1934
There's a real person in charge of spreading these rumors. :-)

Last night, WOR TV (New York?) had a segment on it's magazine show
about the Elvis_is_still_dead_and_living_in_Michigan_story.  They
interviewed an author from Missouri(?).

In 1979(?), she wrote a book about a fat pop-star in white Nudie jump
suits who, tired of fame and pressure, faked his death and went into
hiding.  The book was called "Orion".  Sun records also released an
"Orion" single.  For a week or two, both were *huge bestsellers*
(her words).

Suddenly, the publisher pulled the book from the market, and Sun did the
same with the single.  No one would tell her why, but she was led to assume
legal problems with the estate.  Over the years, she kept hearing the
Elvis_is_alive_in_Michigan rumours and started last year to investigate.
After all, *they* had killed her book!

She repeated the known stuff about no autopsy, missing medical records,
no witnesses, and the misspelled gravestone (AARON instead of ARON).
Recently, she found a Michigan woman who had taped a phone conversation
(supposedly in 1981) with Elvis.

They played part of the tape.  It certainly *sounds* like Elvis (FWIW,
it sounds like there've been a couple sloppy edits between words, too :-)).
'Experts' using voice print analysis have confirmed it's the King, and
several snippets of the conversation seem to refer to stuff that happened
after 1977.

Elvis, Jim Morrison, Marilyn Monroe, and John Kennedy could be having
a wonderful laugh over their bridge game *right now*.

Enjoy,
Dave
748.33I'm gonna leave them alone...USAT05::KASPERLife is like a beanstalk, isn&#039;t it...Thu Jun 02 1988 10:3617
   Hey, sounds like a new rock group...

      Elvis on guitar,
      Janis Joplin on the bottle,
      Jimmy Hendrix on drugs, and
      Jim Morrison on himself...

   What a great stage act that would make...

   Is all this worth it, and who will it benefit (in a non-material way)
   anyhow?  I prefer to leave them  all alone, alive or dead.  If dead,
   I choose to respect their memory (rathar than words like those above).
   If alive, I respect their wish to 'retreat' from the artificial 
   existance created by the record companies.  

   Terry

748.34WILVAX::BOURQUEHave you hugged your Drums today?Wed Jun 08 1988 08:269
    
    
    RE:748.33^ -  hear,hear!
    
                                jim
    z
    
      ^<>       
748.35doubtfulVIDEO::MORRISSEYI had the time of my lifeWed Jun 08 1988 17:0413
    
    
    	My SO heard about this too...although I tend to doubt
    	that Elvis is still alive...
    	Supposedly some woman has pictures of someone at Elvis'
    	funeral who looks identical to the King himself....and
    	supposedly there are records of someone's recording that
    	when compared to Elvis tunes; they are identical...
    	Now if all this IS true (but like I said, I doubt it) I
    	have an aunt who will be very happy!!  :)
    
    	Judy
    
748.36check your attic, quick...ULTRA::LARUtransitive nightfall of diamondsMon Jun 13 1988 12:072
    A radio station in Westport CT (WEBE??) is offering $1,000,000
    to anybody who brings in Elvis for an exclusive interview...
748.37He might not say much but....KYOA::CMCTue Jun 14 1988 02:503
    
    
    For a million bucks I'm thinking of getting my shovel out.