An Earth Day Bit of Fun

I wanted to do a different post today, but instead I'm rerunning the one from Mike & Roxie's Vegetable Paradise. Why? Because it's raining and I'm tired and the piano tuner is here plinking the same keys obsessively as raindrops (hey, it's his job and I'd never complain about a much-needed piano tune. But it's hard to think.) And also, because this Eco Elvis guy is a hoot. So, sorry if you saw the other post. I'll try not to do this in the future.


Here's a little something fanciful for Earth Day. Mike and I were invited out to the JC Penney Logistics Center with our garden book as part of an early Earth Day promotion for its employees. Toward the end of the session, as things began to wind down, we went downstairs in the cavernous warehouse to check out someone called "Eco Elvis."

At stage center, amid energy-efficient cars and a bicycle display, was a guy in a green spangly Elvis suit and completely over-the-top wig. He played his own guitar (hey, and he was pretty good, too) and sang Elvis tunes that had been "repurposed" with environmental lyrics. It was all the usual environmental urgings (recycle, install fluorescent bulbs, save water) but in a lighthearted, un-preachy totally hilarious way.

Other web sites have identified Eco Elvis as Matt Riggs from Bridging the Gap, a group promoting sustainability in Kansas City. (And Matt, if that was your real hair--sorry dude. Apologies.)

He did "Burnin' Love" retitled as "Burnin' Globe" and laced it with global climate change lyrics. I couldn't find a video of this particular song, but here's one called "Let's Go Organic" from a performance in Parkville. Enjoy. And Happy Earth Day.