The turnout at the Elvis vigil was pretty abysmal this year. There was a decent number of people walking the tribute line, but when we got there after midnight, there were just three or four shrines left, and that was it. The rain surely knocked a lot of people out of coming or, if they did come, sticking around very long. But that shower sure did clear the way for some nice outdoor boozin’ weather later.

We more or less got kicked out at 2ish, which blows my mind, considering that they were still going strong when we left at 3ish last year. Of course, last year was the 30th anniversary, and rounded numbers draw bigger crowds for some reason.

I didn’t see Tiny Elvis OR Elvis Priestly. What a rip!

Eh, well. I shan’t complain. Any time I have an excuse to sit outside with friends in the middle of the street and imbibe while surveying the crop of sideburns surrounding us, well, I’ll take it.

More pictures here.

And if you’re in need of some Saturday-afternoon laffs, head to Dave’s and click all the links.

Somehow I managed to sucker Courtney, Rebecca, Shane, and Phil into piling into my crapmobile and accompanying me to Dead Elvis Night at Graceland. Today marks 30 years that the King has been gone, and the fans and mourners were out in droves to mark the occasion. The place was packed. I had kind of half-planned to get a candle and walk up the driveway to the grave to pay my respects (which took an hour last year, and the line then was maybe a third the size it was this time), but the line was absolutely out of hand, even as we were leaving at 4 this morning. It was spilling out of the winding driveway, heading south to the end of the block, and then doubling up and back at least once more. I’m guessing the wait had to be at least three hours. And considering Phil had to be at work at 7, we weren’t about to hang around for that.

So, we set up camp with our lawn chairs and our liquor and just watched.

It is truly amazing to me that Elvis’ following just seems to grow with each passing year. A co-worker and I talked about the possibility of this year being the peak in terms of attendance, since Elvis’ core fans are getting older and less likely to make the journey to Graceland in such awful heat. But you just never know. He brings folks out of the woodwork. And they just seem to get younger.

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