President Bush and Prime Minister Koizumi: Graceland or Bust!

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and President and Mrs. Bush take a stroll in front of Graceland.

President Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi took a trip to Elvis Presley's, world famous, home, Graceland, today. When I first heard this, I thought that it was a joke - no such luck. I can't wait to see what Jon Stewart will have to say about this tonight.


The Prime Minister modeling some Elvis (the later years) style shades.

It turns out that Prime Minister Koizumi is a HUGE Elvis fan. He even had a statue erected in Japan to pay homage to "the King."


From the ridiculous to the sublime: The Lorraine Motel, Memphis, TN.

On a much more serious note, the party of world leaders made an unscheduled stop to view the assassination site of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the Lorraine Motel.


The rock 'n roll royal family join the visiting dignitaries. The Japanese Prime Minister is still lovin' those shades!

To read more about the field trip click here.


Only in America: the infamous "jungle room."

While I find all of this very amusing, I am not sure if our Commander in Chief should be participating in such a trivial venture when Americans are currently being injured and killed in a war zone. Don't mention diplomacy... it just doesn't feel quite right to me.

Just my opinion...

Gloria: I Heart U2

The Arctic Monkeys only wished they were this cool! Presenting U2's awesomely cheesy 1981 music video for their song Gloria. I adore this song! Make sure that you check-out Bono's mullet--breathtaking!

It's TuesTAY!!!

Taylor Hicks' single drops today!!! WOO!!!

The first time that I heard the song Do I Make You Proud I wasn't too crazy about it, but it has grown on me. This really happened when I heard the full studio version of the song. I have always loved the lyrics, but the added lyrics are simply beautiful. I have posted them below--check out the new lyrics, they are in blue.



Do I Make You Proud

I’ve never been the one to raise my hand
That was not me and now that’s who I am
Because of you I am standing tall

My heart is full of endless gratitude
You were the one the one to guide me through
Now I can see and I believe it’s only just beginning

This is what we dream about
But the only question with me now
Is do I make you proud
Stronger than I ever been now
Never been afraid of standing out
But do I make you proud

I guess I've learned
To question is to grow
That you still have faith
Is all I need to know
I've learned to love myself in spite of me
And I've learned to walk the road that I believe

(Chorus)
This is what we dream about
But the only question with me now
Is do I make you proud
Stronger than I ever been now
Never been afraid of standing out
But do I make you proud

(Bridge)
Everybody need to rise up
Everybody need to be loved
To be loved

This is what we dream about
But the only question with me now
Is do I make you do i make you proud

(Chorus)
This is what we dream about
But the only question with me now
Is do I make you proud
Stronger that I’ve ever been now
Never been afraid of standing out
Is do I make you proud
Do I make you proud

Father Crunk: It's Hard out here for a Priest

This is a great story! This past weekend one of my very best friends gave me a copy of this article from the Atlanta Journal Constitution about Father Crunk. (Thank you Margarita!) Father Crunk (aka- Father Ricardo Bailey) is a priest from Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Atlanta. Father Bailey has a unique brand of preaching, and has been a regular on Atlanta's Q100 radio station. He brings slang and pop culture into his teachings- with a powerful, and very often hilarious, result. I hope to make it out to one of his masses very soon.


Father Crunk

The gospel according to Father Crunk
How a priest is sharing the Word on pop radio
By Kevin S. Austin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 05/05/06

The church sex scandal, the secular society and now the "DaVinci Code" all make it hard out here for a priest.

Not for the Rev. Ricardo Bailey, though — aka the Dude, aka Father Crunk.

Bailey weaves Hollywood headlines and the holy word into inspirational messages. He delivers the hip-hop homilies every Monday morning at 7:30 on Atlanta's pop FM station, Q100.

Of Lindsay Lohan and Jessica Simpson rising above a reported shouting match, he said, "Jesus did it, so can you." Of snide comments about Jennifer Garner's post-baby figure, he warns, "Don't hate me cause you ain't me."

He's fast-talking and funny, with a steady patter about "haters," "brothers" and his boss, "the Lord Jesus Christ." Short and stout, he wears a pencil-thin beard on his round face.

"It's all about putting that spiritual bait out there for people," says Bailey.

Father Crunk's day job is parish vicar at Holy Spirit Catholic Church on Mount Paran Road, where he celebrates Mass at least 10 times a week, counsels the faithful and hears confession.

It's a long way from the million-dollar mansions that surround Holy Spirit to the streets of Sweet Auburn, where Bailey, 32, grew up. Raised on his mother's tough love and the crew hanging at the Butler Street YMCA, Bailey studied at Xavier University in New Orleans and St. Mary Seminary and University in Baltimore and was the country's only diocesan priest ordained in 2003. Last year, Archbishop Wilton Gregory assigned him to Holy Spirit.

His sense of humor and love of Jesus bridge the gap between his childhood neighborhood and his new neighborhood.

Music helps, too.

Sunday he broke into "I Am on the Battlefield for My Lord" during Mass. Thirteen hours later he broke into "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt on Q100. Unaccompanied, of course.

Please click here to read more.

I also urge you to go to Q 100's web site and listen to Father Bailey. He is awesome- and as Father Crunk says, "don't hate me cause you ain't me!"

Taylor Hicks Sacrificed on the Altar of Wal-Mart

Taylor and I had something in common yesterday. I bought cat food and conditioner at Wal-Mart, and he went to their corporate shareholders meeting--as the entertainment. (Well, that was kind of a stretch.) As I have said many times before, I am not too big a fan of Wally World, but I can't be a hypocrite--I am a FREQUENT patron. So, I will let this one slide for Mr. Hicks--anyway, I know these "gigs" are lined up for him by the Idol puppet masters. I have heard that these corporate events pay BIG. The video of Taylor's performance at the event is worth a look-see (although, I am convinced that Wal-Mart has encrypted it with subliminal messages, buy lots of our crap… ignore the fact that we don't provide health insurance for all of our employees-- even though we are worth billions… forget that we can bring you these "falling prices" only because most of our products are produced by six-year-old underpaid sweatshop workers in third-world countries… ignore the fact that we are destroying small town America one Supercenter at a time). Maybe, that was a bit harsh… maybe. There is a REALLY funny part in the middle of the video where Taylor starts shouting the names of different countries. I am sure he was given the list to acknowledge all of the corners of the world that the shareholders are from. It reminded me of that Howard Dean moment where he started screaming the names of cities he was coming to during his presidential campaign--and we all know how things went for Mr. Dean after that fiasco-- I am sure the same fate will not fall on the Idol winner. Not only can Taylor rattle-off geographical locations, but he also shows-off his sweet dance moves and harmonica playing skills in the video.

Not to worry… I still LOVE Taylor! :> I just hope he doesn’t get "pimped out" by Idol again in the future… one can dream. Click on the image below to view said video.