September 15, 2005:

Some unbelievable news from Winchester:

Yesterday, the Board of the Department of Historic Resources voted to place 608 South Kent Street on the Virginia Landmarks Register. In addition, they recommended the house be placed on the National Register of Historic Places. This, on top of the recent Historical Marker unveiling over Labor Day weekend, is exciting news to share.

We can thank Philip Martin for lighting that fire!

Also, this nice reminder:

Today, September 15, in 1957 -- Patsy Cline and her second husband were married in Winchester, Virginia. Reverend S.J. Goode performed the ceremony. He is the maternal grandfather of Rhoda Whitacre Kriz, who many of you know and who lives in Frederick County. Rhoda has the small pocket appointment book that her grandfather carried inside his suit coat daily. In it on this day in 1957 is a handwritten notation of Patsy's wedding.

I wanted to take a moment and commend Laurence Dunn at Second Vision in Australia for producing a stunning version of "Sweet Dreams Still" for the crowd down under. The material on the DVD is the same scrumptious Patsy, but the disc/package design is extra special due to the tasteful use of the Patsy Cline rose... well done, mate!! This is a beautiful presentation of Our Patsy, and we thank you. (Available at HMV Australia.)

Here's some fun. There's a website called Sloganizer that will take any word or two and create a slogan for you. I entered "Patsy Cline" and it bounced back with some excellent ones:

PATSY CLINE -- A SAFE PLACE IN AN UNSAFE WORLD
I WOULDN'T LEAVE THE HOUSE WITHOUT PATSY CLINE
KICK ASS WITH PATSY CLINE
THE PATSY CLINE EFFECT
3...2...1... PATSY CLINE
ONCE PATSY CLINE, ALWAYS PATSY CLINE
PATSY CLINETASTIC!
EVERYONE SHOULD BELIEVE IN PATSY CLINE

I know that I believe... do you??

September 14, 2005:

If you've been having trouble locating some of Patsy's hard-to-find-CDs, I've done some research and have some updated help for you at the newly-designed CDs page. Better act now, because these sell out quickly!

Did you know that Patsy has her very own computer virus? Now I've seen everything. Of course, the worst part of this virus is that the dates are wrong, which is as offensive to us Patsifans as getting a computer virus in the first place!

The RIP-699, RIP, or Patsy, virus was discovered in Australia in January, 1993. It is a memory resident infector of .COM programs, including COMMAND.COM. It activates on March 6th and September 8th, when it may display a message.... The following text string is encrypted within the RIP-699 viral code: "RIP Patsy Cline 8th September 1932 - 6th March 1963" RIP-699 activates on March 6th and September 8th of any year. On those dates, if the user executes a program to set the system video mode to text mode 80 by 25 with the virus memory resident, the above message will be displayed. more

September 13, 2005:

Haven't opened my mouth on this page in almost two years... impossible to believe! But here's something worth yapping about:

This will be available on September 27th. I had the opportunity to see it today, and let me tell you, it is a balm to a Patsifan's heart, eyes and ears. I felt stunned and I felt joy to my marrow... mesmerized would be a good word here. Disbelief. A feeling of "am I dreaming this, because I've dreamed it for so many years." A half day later, I'm still wondering if I really saw this DVD.

The thing y'all have to understand is that I've been away from Patsy for literally months. My focus has been on Sidekick and the other parts of my life. So for me to get this DVD at this time, it's like a huge diamond has fallen out of the sky and clocked me on the head and said, REMEMBER ME?? I am chastened. Oh, yes, I remember. I remember why I spent every hour of every day for several years immersed in this woman. It's a heady feeling, like drinking a strong wine that fills every one of your senses.

First of all, I was so glad that they picked Robert Oermann to do the commentary in this. He clearly adores Patsy, and he GETS IT. It makes all the difference. I have always enjoyed listening to him talk about country music subjects.

Just a few random thoughts here. I think I've found that I like the fabric store WAM better than any of them. PC looks good and sounds perfect and she tidies up the rick-rack and the fabric bolts so neatly (well, she is a Virgo), and I cannot take my eyes off of her. If I had been able to function like that two weeks after giving birth.........!

On the WAM version where Owen is playing the piano, look at him! He is so damned proud of Patsy, he wants everyone to look at her and listen to her and love her as much as he does! Thank you, Owen, for GETTING IT. It's cool to think of people who were Patsified by Patsy in person, isn't it? Hellfire, he probably GETS IT even more than the rest of us do.

Note: why do we not have Patsy's Arthur Godfrey show performance??? I know they didn't tape much of anything back in those days, but if there was ever, ever a performance that we should have somehow, it should have been that one! Ack. Same league as her American Bandstand appearance, sadly.

On the live performance of Crazy, I would love to show budding singers this piece to show them how Patsy uses her diaphragm, and she does it EFFORTLESSLY. Look at her tummy when she first sings the word "lonely" to get the high note. THAT is where the action is, for a belter. She knew it instinctively.

I loved it when Oermann said that when you listen to a Patsy song, you are listening to a live performance, because she and the orchestra and musicians were all in the same room, performing at the same time. "Singers today don't do it because they can't do it." THANK YOU, ROBERT!!!!! The real hoot is that even after all of the plastic that is layered onto today's singers' voices, all of the machinery, all of the computer wizardry: they still can't touch Virginia Hensley, baby.

As they showed Patsy in slow motion with Sweet Dreams playing and Oermann speaking, yeah, I was feeling very moved. Hell, I am moved anytime I hear SD as it is. But you're thinking I'm feeling pretty stud because I didn't cry, right? Wow, what a tough dame.

Well, it was time to watch Patsy sing "Let It Snow."

The title should be changed to "Let Her Bawl, Let Her Bawl, Let Her Bawl." I cried uncontrollably, wailed like a banshee. Finally! A Christmas song from Patsy Cline! It felt like she did it expressly for me and for no one else, it felt that intimate and that personal. Out of control and in danger of calling 911, I called a dear Patsifan friend instead. Thank God he was available... I was such a basket case, pulling out my hair, tearing at my shirt, setting off neighborhood dogs a-howling, etc.

It is my hope that my input here will spur you on to purchase a very important addition to your DVD collection. I haven't been this excited since Cimarron.

I was so excited that day, I went out and bought me a new pair of boots. I may have to buy a fox fur coat for the new DVD. (I'd better go watch it again, because I still can't believe it exists.)

October 16, 2003:

When the site host switched Patsified! to a new server last night, things got terribly jumbled up. We've spent the entire day putting the ship back together. Thanks for your patience!

September 22, 2003:

Peeking out from my underground bunker to launch my 2-cents about this new remastered "Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits" CD which finally arrived at my house today.

Not really 2-cents, more like two words: GET IT.

Folks, I'm hearing instruments in these tracks which I've never heard before. I'm hearing little breaths and nuances of hers that I've never heard before. She has outPatsified herself, do you understand that? Yes, we finally have a singer who sings better than Patsy Cline, and her name is, funnily enough, Patsy Cline! I found myself dripping tears after hearing the new "Sweet Dreams," the gal just doesn't stop. Whatever they did, they did it right. It's like listening to new Patsy songs, that's how much clearer these tunes are!

In "Crazy," I heard her sing "I knew you'd love me as long as you wanted" for the first time. We have never heard Patsy sing this lyric before, we only thought we had. The way she ends "wanted" made me literally shout out loud.

I'm actually sitting here feeling robbed for all the years we've never heard Patsy!!

If you want to get the CD right this minute, click here! Do not delay. Remember: you've never heard Patsy Cline sing before, you've been misled all these years!

May 21, 2003:

In case you haven't noticed, things have been at a standstill here at this website.

At many times in our lives, we have to evaluate how our time is spent. Everyone has his vice, and mine has been spending too much time in cyberspace. Since March 5, 1998, this site has been like a child to me. Then in 1999, I had my own flesh 'n blood child, and I've attempted to continue with this site at the same ferocious rate, but it has become next to impossible. I haven't led a life approaching normal since then, and I realize now that I really do have to choose. The email box is jammed so tightly that I can't even reach in and grab a mail to answer it, even if I had the time. For those of you who have never received replies, I hope you will forgive me and try to understand that I am ONE person whose site receives 1000-2000 visitors a day, many of whom have sent email... EVERY DAY.

Another big part of this decision is my growing frustration with trying to get anything done for Patsy when there are so many folks in charge actively working against her interests and actively working only for their own. Frankly, for lack of a more eloquent phrase, it sucks. I hope the greedy people who are only using Patsy to line their pockets or to further their careers rot in hell.

I've considered shutting down the site entirely, but have decided to try simply ARCHIVING it for awhile. There will be no updates until further notice. This way, at least folks can still come by and pull information or lyrics, or just gaze at Patsy's gorgeous face. My hope is that I will someday have a place for a time-consuming hobby like this in my life, and when that day comes, Patsified! will still be here waiting for me. I'll consider the money spent to keep the domain name and the web space as money well spent on the best damnedest singer who ever walked on the face of the earth!

The message board has been closed.

Right now, every moment spent in cyberspace is a moment not spent with Sidekick. And if Patsy were standing in front of me this very instant, she'd insist that I spend every minute I can with my son, because life is short.

So I'll see y'all again someday, OK?

Thanks for the support all of these years... and remember, stay Patsified!

~ Lisa, The Homesick Texan

March 8, 2003:

So yes, I made it back from Texas, and am now plunging through the vast sea of emails and trying to catch up. There was an ice storm while I was in Texas on the day I had planned to go visit some of Patsy's clothes which are currently touring through Austin. My cousin is going to try to get down there and get some pics for me, but it'll never be as good as seeing these things for myself. Darn. If any of you can make it to the show, don't hesitate to share the experience with us. When the show leaves Texas, it'll go sit a spell in Oklahoma City. Here's the show info, by the way:

The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin, Texas announces a new exhibit titled, "How the West Was Worn" from Saturday February 22, 2003 until Sunday May 4, 2003.

There will be two Patsy Cline clothing items in this exhibit.

First is a sky-blue cowgirl vest with matching gauchos, both trimmed in white leather fringe. The vest label is "Ranch-Maid Western Wear -- Denver". The matching pieces have white felt cowboy boot motifs outlined with rhinestones. Patsy Cline wore this ensemble at the Poplar Tavern dance hall in Spotsylvania County, Virginia and other venues early in her career.

Second is a pair of white leather Western boots with a golden wing design on each cuff, with leather soles and rubber heels. Patsy Cline wore these boots extensively both on and off-stage. These boots have been on exhibit at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. The remainder of her outfit is recreated but authentic in look and style.

This exhibit is on loan from the Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Los Angeles, California. The Autry Museum purchased both Patsy Cline items during a December 2002 auction at Profiles in History of Beverly Hills, California.

Admission is $5.00 for adults (ages 19-64), $4.25 for seniors (65 and over) and free for those 18 and under. The location is the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and N. Congress Ave., Austin, Texas 78711. Telephone is (512) 936-8746.

It is expected that the "How the West Was Worn" exhibit will relocate to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma from Saturday October 18, 2003 until Sunday January 4, 2004.

Admission for the Oklahoma City museum is $8.50 for adults, $7.00 for seniors (62+), $4.00 for children (6-12) and free for children under 6. Parking is free. The location is 1700 N.E. 63rd Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73111. Telephone is (405) 478-2250.

On the web:

Austin exhibit

Oklahoma exhibit

Autry Museum of Western Heritage

Kudos to PatsyLand's news editor, Bill Cox, who did a stunning job collecting info on all of the memorial shows (TV, radio, web) and numerous news articles at the Chronicle. Check it out here, if you haven't already. My personal favorite happens to be the essay that appeared in my hometown newspaper, the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. If you only read one article, make sure you follow that link from Bill's page (the forever version is here). The classical music writer deftly explores Patsy as an opera singer in a wonderful way. I mean, don't you love this:

Her premature death -- as tragically untimely as Schubert's at 31 and Mozart's at 35 -- deprived the world of musical intelligence, spiritual instinct and ravishing native vocal quality of a sort heard -- at best -- in only a half-dozen or so members of any human generation.

I love writers who "get" Patsy Cline as completely as we crazyheads do.

With the special graveside memorial service tomorrow (Sunday), you can expect more articles within the next few days, as there are several journalists expected to be in attendance at the service.

March 5, 2003:

Patsy knew if she had her chance, that she could make those people dance, and maybe they'd be happy for awhile....

Forty years gone. From the eyes, perhaps; but never from our ears, never from our souls.

Folks ask me why I launched this site on March 5, 1998, the 35th anniversary of the day Patsy left this earth. Why launch a happy, peppy site on such a terribly sad day? I did it to show that we refuse to wallow in the darkness of that day, and refuse to let that event put a stop to Patsy Cline. I did it to demonstrate that Patsy's life continues and is still celebrated; to prove that we fans can pick up her fallen cowgirl hat and carry on with her memory, as we are and as we will.

It may be hyperbole, but it really does feel at times as if we fans are rescuing Patsy from oblivion, because without our love and our support and our efforts and our money, her legacy could be eventually swallowed up and obliterated by the Shanias and the Faiths and simply by TIME. Yes, Patsy's voice is solid gold, but without support and without that voice being heard, she will be forgotten... just a footnote in music history. Patsy didn't leave us a huge body of work a la Frank Sinatra or Elvis; her career was short. Her legacy cannot survive on a few strong songs that will be heard less and less frequently as time marches on. We are Ginny's hands now. As I've said before, and will continue to emphasize, a legacy does not magically happen all by itself. It takes work. It takes creativity. And the reality is that it also takes money. These are the challenges we face, but it is not impossible: two blouses in Virginia prove it!!

Cato the Elder, on observing statues being set up in honor of others, remarked, "I would rather have people ask 'Why isn't there a statue to Cato?' than 'Why is there one?'" So forty years gone and we are still asking, "Why isn't there a museum for Patsy?"

As for this day... my recommendation to those of you who are able to be at Patsy's graveside tonight, or perhaps in the woods of Camden: silence, please, and let the lady sing. Wherever you are, simply hold a silent vigil with a candle while Patsy sings. No commentary is needed or desired. No talking. Just smiling through the tears. Patsy will sing everything that needs to be spoken tonight. Close your eyes and welcome Patsy safely to Cornelia Fort Air Field in spirit.

The thousands of folks around the world who stand together spiritually today and tonight... this is the most remarkable tribute to Patsy that we could ever give her, because it says far more about her than it says about us. "And remember, my sentimental friend, that a heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others." Let us join our candles together and light up this terrible dark night. May we keep the light burning for her legacy, forever. Always.

February 5, 2003:

12:25pm EST... Congratulations to Vanessa for winning the Patsy book contest! She had some competition, let me tell ya. It was just by luck that she submitted "Let the Teardrops Fall" just a few minutes before someone else did! That was fun, I'll definitely have to do another contest like that again sometime. Thanks to everyone who clicked like mad!

Wow, it's hard to type when your eyes are filled with tears of joy. And we Patsifans keep getting good news these days, don't we? It's a juggernaut! I just this minute got word from Tracey Jewell, the producer of the PBS documentary "Patsy Cline: The Lady Behind the Legend" that the documentary was approved for nationwide distribution in a landslide! Most stations voted in favor of it. Here's Tracey:

We needed at least 25 stations to give a "yes" vote that they wanted to air the program. We were pleased to get a whopping 95 votes for "yes" and another 13... for "maybe".... We'll be forwarding the program to the distributor, and they have planned to release the program in early May. For your information, the distributor is American Public Television, or APT. This is all the info I have to date. Will keep you informed if I hear anything more.

As soon as I get permission to post the list of stations that will be airing this fabulous show, I will post it. I'm so happy for Patsifans everywhere! Except for those of you living in the purview of the 18 PBS stations that voted "no"... all I can say to them is BAH! I bet they think that there are lots of gal singers who sound just like Patsy, right?

Lots of guesses in the book contest, but still no winner. Folks are guessing in little batches, it's really rather sweet.

February 2, 2003:

Extremely important info and request from our pal down in Camden Tennessee, here!

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