Elvis Need Not Apply
Saturday, casting directors for the independent film The Road to Graceland, starring Harvey Keitel, will come to the fine arts building at the U of M for an open call for extras. But don't dust your jumpsuit off yet. According to the press release, "They are in need of a Sammy Davis Jr. impersonator as well as other famous celebs, yet no Elvis impersonators are needed for the film." In other words, "Go with the tux, babe."

Man Of Letters
Arthur Prince is a name that should be familiar to anyone who regularly reads the letters to the editor in this paper, or in The Commercial Appeal, or just about anywhere, as we found out when we discovered one of his letters in the syndicated "Dear Abby" advice column. That's nothing new for Prince, who has to go to the library just to read the column since it no longer runs locally (it was a staple of the defunct Press-Scimitar). He estimates that he has been published in the column "about 30 times" over the years. His most recent missive corrected an earlier letter about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s education in nonviolence. "Dear Dr. Prince: I am (as always) profoundly grateful for your consistently accurate corrections and additions to my column since its inception," Abby responded with a tone of familiarity. Abby often writes him back, says Prince, even when his letters go unpublished.

Sportsdine
Among the meals auctioned off at last week's Dish It Out silent auction benefiting Memphis Planned Parenthood was one titled "On The Air" with George. "This is your big break," begins the description of the meal. "The entire city tunes in to hear your voice reporting live on the airwaves. It's 7 a.m. and you are co-hosting Sportstime with George Lapides on WHBQ radio. Fielding all those phone calls, you and George work up an appetite. You're in luck because Barbara Lapides sent along a big breakfast basket full of morning pleasure like fresh bagels with cream cheese, pipin' hot muffins and lots of other goodies."
And as a last-minute addition to the package, the high bidder just may get a crack at the U of M coaching job.

Loopholes
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Regulations for the use of Academy Award Symbols and references to Academy Awards, a slim pamphlet much shorter than its title suggests, clearly states that, "No Academy Award symbol or Academy mark nor any photograph or drawing which includes a reproduction of an Academy Award symbol or Academy mark may be be used on, as part, or affixed to any item that is sold to the public, including video discs, cassettes, audio records, or any commercial good." Fortunately for the CA, there appears to be no similar prohibition on affixing such marks and symbols to your movie critic's head, as evidenced by a recent spate of ads leading up to the Oscars. Our bet is that no one is rooting for the Academy to sew up that loophole more than John Beifuss himself. Gosh, he looked uncomfortable.