Want Elvis on an iPhone? There's an 'app' for that

Memphis Commercial Appeal
May 13 2009
By Michael Lollar

In the 1950s, Elvis Presley had one of the first electronic watches. He would have one of the first mobile phones and a media room that let him watch or shoot three TV monitors at the same time.

Beginning today, Elvis will have his own iPhone "app" to keep Elvis fans up to date on the popular "Elvis sightings" feature on the Elvis.com Web site, along with Elvis videos, podcasts and live images from a camera trained on the grounds of Graceland.

"Elvis always had the latest and greatest, and his Web site was one of the first entertainment Web sites on the Internet," said Scott Williams, vice president of marketing for Elvis Presley Enterprises.

During Elvis tribute week last August, about 2,000 Elvis fans competed in an Elvis MySpace karaoke contest for a trip to Graceland to sing an Elvis standard to fans on the lawn of Graceland.

In December, Elvis joined the virtual world as an avatar with Justin Timberlake on Gaia Online, one of the biggest virtual world gaming sites in the country.

"Elvis would have been the first person to buy an iPhone and an iPod. He would have loved the portability and would have been one of the biggest iPhone users ever," said Chris Przybyszewski (pronounced shoo-ber-CHEF-ski), CEO of Resolute Games & Apps, the Memphis company that created the Elvis iPhone application.

The Elvis "app" was activated Tuesday night and goes public today as one of about 40,000 "apps" available to iPhone users. It is free, allowing users to tap into selected features of the Elvis Web site, including podcasts excerpted from Sirius XM Radio and social networks such as Facebook and MySpace pages.

Przybyszewski said his company created the software for the Elvis "app" by writing computer code to draw selected content from the Elvis Web site.

"Graceland controls the content. We give them a window and a controlling device," he said. Each feature from the site is visible within the Elvis "app" as part of the iPhone touch pad.

Resolute also created "apps" for the popular games Thumstruck and Segment.

Like the Elvis "app," they are available by going to the iTunes Web site and selecting "App Store."

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/may/13/want-elvis-on-an-iphone-theres-an-app-for-that/

Elvis’ Circle G tractor set to go on display

Memphis Commercial Appeal
May 8 2009

Beneath the glitz and glamor of rock and roll there were often rural roots, and beneath the King of Rock and Roll there was sometimes a tractor.

Graceland will remind Elvis Presley fans of Elvis’ roots today when it unveils the newly restored John Deere 4010 tractor Elvis purchased in 1966 when he bought the Circle G Ranch as a weekend getaway in DeSoto County.

After Elvis sold the ranch, he moved the tractor to Graceland to help maintain the grounds. It had fallen into disrepair until Graceland contacted John Deere about restoring it.

The restoration was done at Northwest Mississippi Community College with guidance from John Deere and will be on view beginning at 10 a.m. today in the Elvis Presley Automobile Museum at Graceland. The project eventually will include sales of die-cast metal replicas of the green tractor.

Stand-alone admission to the museum is $10.

— Michael Lollar



Source: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/may/08/brief-elvis-circle-g-tractor-set-go-display/

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EIN E-Alert #253 ... May 2009

All the recent Elvis News and more..

http://www.elvisinfonet.com/ealert253.html

The Gates of Graceland

Article Source: http://www.tylerpaper.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090504/FEATURES01/905030336



Monday May 4 2009
By PHIL HICKS

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- My parents were huge Elvis Presley fans and it was only natural I would become a fan as well.

In fact, my parents thought so much of "The King" they took my brothers and myself to an Elvis concert when I was 10 years old at the Astrodome. They told me someday I would treasure the memory, and they were right.

Thus, visits to Graceland have become part of my routine every few years.

Graceland is a national treasure that fans flock to each year. Some 600,000 fans visit each year.

Graceland

The home of Elvis, who is often referred to as "The King of Rock 'N' Roll," is a 13.8-acre estate with a southern colonial white-columned mansion at 3734 Elvis Presley Boulevard.

It is about 12 miles south of downtown Memphis and some six miles north of the Mississippi border.

It is listed as a National Historic Landmark.

Presley, at the age of 22, purchased the estate in 1957 for about $100,000.

Across the street from Graceland is Heartbreak Hotel and Grace Visitors Center. At the Center, you can purchase tickets. From there you are given headphones and use a shuttle to reach the mansion.

Mansion

The home is built of tan limestone and consists of 23 rooms, including eight bedrooms and bathrooms.

The tour begins with a view of a grand piano in the music room, which is just beyond the living room.

The music room has stained glass peacocks as an entrance. It then winds through the dining area, kitchen, TV room (where Elvis had three TVs -- he got the idea from President Lyndon Johnson), bar and billiards room, and the famous "jungle room," which has an indoor waterfall. He also recorded two albums in the jungle room.

The upstairs remains private.

Graceland was open to the public in 1982, some five years after Elvis' death.

Grounds

Behind the mansion is Elvis' father Vernon's office, daughter Lisa Marie's swing set, a shooting range, and The Trophy Room and racquetball courts, which contains many Elvis artifacts -- including gold records, awards and his famous concert jumpsuits.

You can also see the many automobiles Elvis collected as well as his airplanes.

Meditation Gardens

At the end of the tour, Presley, his parents, Gladys and Vernon Presley, and his grandmother are buried in what is called the Meditation Gardens.

The tour guide said flowers arrive each day from all over the world and some are displayed at the grave sites.

Tickets

There are three types of tours -- Graceland Elvis Entourage VIP ($69), Graceland Platinum ($15-33) and Graceland Mansion ($12-28).

The VIP tour includes: an audio-guided tour of Graceland Mansion; plus a self-guided tour of Elvis' two custom airplanes; Elvis' Automobile Museum; Elvis in Hollywood Exhibit; Elvis Lives: The King and Pop Culture Exhibit; Private Presley Exhibit; 1968 Special Exhibit and a special VIP Only exhibit at Graceland Mansion.

Also, there's front of the line Mansion Access, a special all-day ticket; and a "Keepsake Backstage Pass."

This tour takes about 2½ to 3 hours to complete.

The Graceland Platinum Tour includes: an audio-guided tour of Graceland Mansion; plus a self-guided tour of Elvis' two custom airplanes; Elvis' Automobile Museum; Elvis in Hollywood Exhibit; Elvis Lives: The King and Pop Culture Exhibit; Private Presley Exhibit; and 1968 Special Exhibit.

This tour takes about 2½ to 3 hours to complete.

The Graceland Mansion Tour includes: an audio presentation and tour of Graceland Mansion and grounds only. This tour takes about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Estate opens its doors for Desert Chapel

May 1 2009

Benefit was first ever permitted event-home function in the city

The Elvis Presley legend recently scored another first, as his “Graceland of the West” opened its doors for the city's first permitted event-home function.

“We're (permit) No. 001,” said Reno Fontana, president and CEO of the Elvis Presley Estate in Palm Springs.

The opening party, which was a dinner and live-auction benefit for Desert Chapel Christian School, was dubbed “Viva Palm Springs.”

The Rev. Fred Donaldson, a pastor with Desert Chapel Church, said Fontana offered the house to Desert Chapel for either a church or school function free of charge.

Desert Chapel students decorated the pool area outside, and greeted and served guests. One of them even posed as Presley.

“In this economy we really need events like this to keep our school running,” said Nathan Barker, director of Desert Chapel School's fundraising group Eagle's Nest.

Since the city's vacation and event home ordinances went into effect last October, there have been 919 vacation homes registered, said Cindy Cairns with the Palm Springs Finance Department.

The laws seek to limit occupancy, curb loud parties, traffic and overflowing trash bins left by renters.

The Elvis Presley Estate is the only event-home to be registered to date, Cairns said.

Fontana said he and his wife, Laura, have been trying to open the estate to events for five years.

“It's a tough process and rightfully so. We have a commercial license in a residential neighborhood,” Reno Fontana said.

He said neighbors of the estate have been very supportive of his endeavors.

Article Source: http://www.mydesert.com/article/20090501/NEWS01/904300398/1026/news12/Estate+opens+its+doors+for+Desert+Chapel