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The King, The Lizard King and Four Young Men From Liverpool

Have You Seen The White Rabbit? is my artistic tribute to the Rock and Roll icons of the Haight in San Francisco of the sixties. This image is not for sale, but there is some great trivia on the famous bands of the Haight on my page.
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This Day in History

Birthdays - 1958 Andy Gibb (singer), 1939 Samantha Eggar (actress), 1938 James Wainwright (actor), 1936 Dean Stockwell (actor), 1927 Jack Cassidy (actor, father of David Cassidy and Shawn Cassidy), 1908 Rex (Reginald) Harrison (actor)

1960 - Elvis discharged from army

1962 - George C. Scott refuses Oscar nomination

1963 - The Hula Hoop is patented

1969 - Jim Morrison is charged with lewd behavior at a Miami concert

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Today is the 45th anniversary of the Hula Hoop patent. Just recently the inventor of the hula hoop passed away and you can read more about that on my January 28th post, The Hula Hoop is Dead.

In 1960 Elvis was discharged from the Army, coming home to a changing music scene that was about to be bombarded by the British and a whole new sound. The King was about to be dethroned by four young men from Liverpool who would turn the world on it's ear.

Also on this date in 1969, Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors was arrested for lewd conduct at a Miami concert. It was a big brouhaha where he tore off his clothes on stage and "exposed" himself, according to witnesses. Morrison was eventually convicted of two misdemeanors; open profanity and indecent exposure. Some say this was the beginning of the end for the the rocker/poet, also known as Mr. Mojo Risin' and The Lizard King, as he moved to Paris shortly after and died before his appeal for this charge would come to trial.

I remember the incident as being one in many during those years - don't forget 1969 was also the year of Woodstock and Altamont. I graduated from high school in 1969 and it seemed the entire world was going to hell in a hand basket around me, or at least part of it was. Peace and love was beginning to unravel into sex, drugs and rock and roll and our rock idols were falling down drunk off their pedestals all around us.

Here's Elvis in his first movie made after the Army and a YouTube clip about Morrison's Miami incident: