Plastique Valentine (#81 in a series)- Elvis Presley

I got Cohen last post, and I've hit Dylan and Tom Waits. The Doors, the Velvets and Zappa.

I need to hit the big ones, though- Plastique Valentine hits a lot of obscure gems, but it needs to make room for the legends, too- Hank Sr for sure. the Beatles (Sexy Sadie is incredibly bitter- and to be fair, I have included the Rutles) and the King.

Going to keep it simple here with this early Elvis (the flip side of "Mystery Train") single

"I forgot to remember to forget"

It'a not about The clothes you wear

I was busy this fall writing posts about the election and didn't get to everything I wanted to cover.

Specifically, I get a lot of 'spam' e-mails that deal with business and related topics like training, Human Resource issues, government regulation and diversity, among other topics.

Nothing I would typically share.

But the case of Mike Jefferies (CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch) is a little bit out of the ordinary.

I get rules for employees, whether it's that Coke employees can't be caught drinking Pepsi, or even stricter freedom-limiting guidelines like disney not allowing facial hair.

So, when Jeffries's employee rulebook for his private plane came out, it starts off normal enough.

Spritzing of A&F cologne at regular intervals isn't that weird right?

Requiring crew members to wear A&F clothing seems okay too (and that whole thing about you have to wear a coat if it under 50 degrees, well that is just being cautious).

The part about playing a theme song "Take Me Home" every time guests enter the cabin.  Well, we'd probably all mandate theme songs if we had the power.  It works for wrestlers and even for the president ("Hail to the Chief")

Then it goes into the world of Howard Hughes (towards the end of his life) or the concert riders of some of the most demanding divas.

Check it:

Cabin attendants must remove all loose advertising and inserts from the 13 specific magazines that are stocked in the aircraft's credenza, as well as the newspapers which are bought on board.

In bathrooms, eight washcloths (exactly eight) must be "tri-folded" and placed behind the vanity. Toilet paper must be left as a square and not folded.

he manual outlines a five-point instruction set for seating the pets. "When Ruby and Trouble travel, Ruby will sit opposite Michael in the cabin, in Sammy's seat," it says. "When Sammy travels, Ruby will sit in Trouble's seat."

The four models or actors who work as cabin attendants must never respond to Matthew or Michael, as the manual refers to Jeffries and Smith, (the CEO and his partner) by saying anything but a friendly "no problem." Phrases like "sure" or "just a minute" are not permitted


Good stuff, and it all came out from a lawsuit which came from Jeffries's ex-pilot (in a case in which he claims he was fired because he was too old).