Elvis Has Been Gone For 29 Years…Or Has He?

Today, August 16 marks the anniversaries of the passing of two American legends. The term legend tends to be over used a lot these days. However, legend is really appropriate to describe the passing on August 16th of Elvis Presley and Babe Ruth.

Elvis passed away in his bathroom on this day in 1977 (out of my respect for the King, I’ll save any obvious jokes). He was found by his live in girlfriend and his color was presumably flush. Ok, couldn’t resist just one bathroom joke. His death was said to have been due to complications from all of the prescription drugs he was taking. Although he continued to tour in the last few years of his life, his health went down the toilet (sorry) and his weight fluctuated more than William Shatner’s.

Babe Ruth passed away on this day in 1948. He had suffered for a few years with throat cancer before finally succumbing to it. Babe was not only the icon of American baseball, but an icon of America. The records he set have been reached or broken by a select few and some of those select few did so amid accusations that they were juiced more than Otis, Mayberry’s town drunk on The Andy Griffith Show. His passing was such a significant event that his body lay in state at Yankee Stadium before his funeral.

It’s fitting that both men died on the same date. They were both symbols of America and helped redefine their respective fields. Both men had a huge capacity for life and exemplified good living for their generations. Babe Ruth ate hot dogs at a rate that would make this year’s hot dog eating champ green with envy (not green with sickness) and Elvis downed fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches (I found the recipe and they are actually pretty good). Babe Ruth would hit called home run shots for sick children and Elvis gave Cadillacs as gifts. Not bad ways to make friends if you ask me.

Of course, there are still those blue wigged folks that think Elvis never really passed away. One thing is for sure though, whether he is on an Island with Marilyn Monroe, Jimmy Hoffa and John Kennedy or buried on (or under) the grounds of Graceland, Elvis is approaching the age where one day we will be able to say that without a doubt Elvis has left the building for the last time.


**In happier news, my idea to abandon Monday and replace it with Funday continues to generate support. Odat1283 at Odat's Mumblings wrote this story in support of the new Calendarian Party’s idea to put Funday on the map.

Now how many signatures do we need to have our political party represented on the ballot? 5, I hope…