In Which Elvis is Sighted

I went to the National Portrait Gallery this weekend. I needed to get some culture into me, after being snowed in for days on end. It is kind of fun to walk around and see portraits and busts of famous people, like Louisa May Alcott, Edgar Allen Poe, President Lincoln, John Brown, Enrico Caruso, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Queen Elizabeth. There was a portrait of Yo-Yo Ma, too, who my mother once saw in the basement diner at Eastman School of Music, eating an ice-cream. He laughed when he saw her burdened down with children, music, a violin, a cello, and a small "cello chair" so my little brother's feet could touch the floor when he played.

To return to topic, the highlight of the museum, for me, was the exhibit of Elvises (say that five times fast in a whispery voice, and it's like being transformed into Gollum from The Lord of the Rings : "Elvises, my precioussss, there is nasty Elvises.") There were portraits of Elvis painted after he died. There was a Where's Elvis book, along the lines of Where's Waldo. The most memorable item was beyond doubt the 3-foot bust of Elvis as Julius Caesar. Painted gold. Wearing a laurel crown. With guitars on his faux-Roman armor. Can you picture Elvis standing on the steps of the Forum, orating, "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears"? It's a farce waiting to happen. Now that I think of it, I'm pretty sure I've seen that on The Muppet Show.