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It’s Been a Long Time

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I have been working hard trying to get my friends farm and my own into compliance for the lessor. I expect that by the end of September they both will be back in production.

I have a colonoscopy scheduled next month which involves a free round trip to Oahu. It should hopefully be a simple test.

I was flipping TV channels tonight and saw the beginning of Blue Hawaii with Elvis Presley. The movie brings back many memories. First, some was filmed on Oahu and I recognized the location of the travel agency I have photos of the statue outside the building.

Much of the filming is done on Kauai and many of the opening scenic shots (like Sleeping Giant) are obvious. That mountain is also seen drawn in the movie Lilo and Stitch by the way. Anyway, Elvis is seen later at the Coco Palms Hotel which was severely damaged during Hurricane Iniki and never reopened.

I have been on those beaches shown in the movie and it always is neat to see what they looked like many years before.

So here is my tie to the movie (in a way). The performer at the Coco Palms was Larry Rivera whose tie to the hotel is documented here (https://www.facebook.com/mybluehawaii/posts/wailua-at-83-years-young-larry-rivera-kauais-living-treasure-of-music-is-synonym/1426222630798419/). Larry said that Elvis specifically asked to meet him (and it is said that Larry was somewhat of a model for Elvis’s part). Elvis and Patty Page performed backup toLlarry once. My friends lived on Kauai and owned a bed and breakfast where I stayed often. Just before Halloween one year I was staying there and the hosts (Tom and Lampy) had a big party. Larry was there to play music. During the evening he also incorporated a story with the music for the holiday and I was asked to play a hunchback. I was dressed the part with added hunchback and did my 3 minute walk on.

So, if you read the above article you know that Elvis and Patti Page both played backup to Larry once. I guess I was in good company. Does that mean I was 2 degrees of separation to Elvis, Patti Page and Frank Sinatra?