Aunt Jemima's maple syrup envy. Vol #4 - "Gimme that old time radio show!"

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men. The Shadow knows....muahaaaaaaaaa."

Remember when there were no TV's, iPods, computers or Internet and video games? Probably not - which is one reason I think kids today are screwy (but that's another post). As I mentioned in an earlier "Aunt Jemima's maple syrup envy" post, the only entertainment available in the cabin my brother and I stayed in was satellite radio and whatever CD's were around. Typically, dial is set to the XM old time radio station and it stays there - on all day.















Radio - that's all there was. On any given day you could hear The Shadow, Suspense, The Green Hornet, Gunsmoke, The Whistler, Your's Truly Johnny Dollar, The Black Angel, Hopalong Cassidy - hundreds of classic shows. Orson Welles, Vincent Price, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Lucille Ball and hundreds of other stars could be heard performing. You know, when celebrities were multi-talented. I worked in radio sales for about six years so perhaps I'm somewhat partial to radio's "theater of the mind" quality you don't get from other media.

This is what my brother and I listened to all weekend. Here's a sample of The Shadow. These productions were top-notch - from the acting down to the production value. If you've never heard one, you should really try and listen once. I find it easier to write and "listen" then try and watch TV (which I rarely do anyway).

Above: Peter Lorre (far left), Hans Conried (3rd from left) and Harry Morgan (2nd from right) performing in Peter Lorre's radio show in 1947.

Here are a few old time radio websites to check out: Radio Classics, Radio Spirits, Greg Bell Media and XM Satellite Radio/Radio Classics.

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"One of Hollywood's most respected actors"?

Will Smith. That's what MSN.com said about Smith in their tribute to dad's on this morning's front page. "One of Hollywood's most respected actors" doesn't come to mind when I think of Will Smith. Not that he doesn't get respect or deserve that respect. But - as a writer I take issue with blanket statements made about people that dilute the adjectives used in describing them and are disguised to seemingly come from a place of knowledge and finite-ess (is that a word?). The media does this all the time.

Follow? Like if someone said, "David Spade, one of the funniest men of our times". See? I think David's funny, but "of our times"? Abe Lincoln goes with "our times". Paul Newman goes with "our times". Bob Hope goes with "our times". When you take a phrase or adjective and connect it with someone, you have to figure that the greater majority of people will agree with you.

"Actor" Will Smith or "funnyman Will Smith", or maybe even "respected actor" Will Smith (though that even sounds odd).

My dear friend Leslie Chariper wrote this about me for a recommendation letter: "I believe that Jeffrey James Ircink is one of our most gifted playwrights working today." "Most"? I believe I'm a talented writer, but "one of the most..."? Debatable. But I didn't write it - and she could have been puffing me up for the play festival - as I said, it was a recommendation letter. Brett Favre. I say he's the greatest QB ever. But I'm allowed to say that in the privacy of my home or around family 'cause I'm a Packer fan and I'm from Wisconsin and I'm right. Ha. But in public, I say "arguably the best QB ever" because I may be biased and I don't wanna come off as a psycho.

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