Colonel Thomas Andrew “Tom” Parker (born Andreas Cornelis van Kuyk) was an enigma from the day he arrived on a freighter in Tampa Bay, Florida, as an illegal immigrant at about the age of 20 until his death at the advanced age of 87 in 1997.  Colonel Parker is best known as the manager of Elvis Presley, who was probably instrumental in making Elvis the superstar he became.  But in doing so Colonel Parker also benefitted enormously from Presley’s success through his 25 to 50 percent management fee he charged Presley during his career as a singer and performer.  The going fee for managing a performer at that time was apparently about 10 percent.  Later, Parker apparently even increased the fee up to 50 percent.  Before managing Presley’s career, in the 1940’s, Parker had managed the professional careers of such well known stars as Minnie Pearl, Eddie Arnold and Hank Snow.  Also during that time period he performed promotional services to Jimmie Davis, the gubernatorial candidate in the state of Louisiana.  Davis won the election in the late 1940’s, and he felt that Parker had been instrumental in the governor’s success.  In turn, in 1948, Governor Jimmie Davis officially bestowed the honorary title of Colonel in the Louisiana State Militia on Parker.  And from that day on Parker would be known as Colonel Parker.  https://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/history-and-heritage/dutch_americans/colonel-tom-parker/   

January 27, 2023 by MIKE HOUSEHOLDER  A University of Michigan student is one of the world’s foremost “speedcubers,” a person capable of quickly solving a Rubik’s Cube.  He also is an accomplished violinist.  Stanley Chapel says the two fields go hand in hand.  Not only does Chapel say he has equal interest in both, but the 21-year-old says the violin has aided in his speedcubing success.  “Repetition, breaking things down into their smallest fundamental elements, all of these different things that we use to improve at an instrument, and being able to take these into the world of cubing has certainly been a huge help to my progression,” said Chapel, a junior majoring in violin performance at the university's school of music, theater and dance.  Factoring in the time it takes for him to review the cube before placing the blindfold over his eyes, Chapel can solve one in around 17 seconds.  https://cdapress.com/news/2023/jan/27/world-champion-says-rubiks-cube-and-violin-go-hand/ 

 

In August 1814, during the war of 1812, British soldiers set fire to the Capitol building—destroying (or at least probably destroying) the first Library of Congress, which consisted of some 3,000 volumes.  A few weeks later, Thomas Jefferson donated the largest personal collection of books in the United States—between 9,000 and 10,000 volumes.  On January 30th, 1815, President James Madison signed a bill appropriating $23,950 to buy Thomas Jefferson’s library.  According to records from the time, Jefferson sent a total of 6,487 books to kickstart the new Library of Congress, more than doubling its original size. Literary Hub January 29, 2023   

Near the climax of Fritz Lang’s 1927 sci-fi epic Metropolis, an android in disguise delivers an incendiary speech to a crowd of exploited workers.  “You have waited long enough!” she (it?) tells them.  “Your time has come—!”   The robot appears unhinged, her arms flailing wildly and her eyes opened unsettlingly wide.  The mob, however, is emboldened by their leader’s fervor.  They spill into the streets, plow through barricades, climb walls, and push their way up a great staircase to the city’s power center, the Heart Machine.  Literary Hub  January 29, 2023   

Travis and Jason Kelce set to make history meeting in Super Bowl LVII  The Chiefs’ Travis Kelce and Eagles’ Jason Kelce will become the first sibling players to face each other in a Super Bowl.  Feb. 12, 2023 will see Super Bowl LVII played in Glendale, Arizona, and when the proverbial toe meets the ball we’ll be treated to two brothers facing off against one another in the biggest of big games the professional football has to offer.  RJ Ochoa@rjochoa  https://www.sbnation.com/2023/1/29/23577255/travis-jason-kelce-brothers-history-super-bowl-chiefs-eagles   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2625  January 30, 2023