Radio Program: The Shadow

When I was a very young child I remember the radio as a source of entertainment. Radio progams including comedies, dramas, soap operas, variety music shows were having their last gasp in the early 1950s. One of the programs I will always remember is The Shadow. The show would open with a deep, male voice asking "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows...."

 The Shadow - (56 Mp3 downloads available)

"The Shadow" - Was one of the most popular radio shows in history. The show went on the air in August of 1930.

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!" The opening lines of the "Detective Story" program captivated listeners and are instantly recognizable even today. Originally the narrator of the series of macabre tales, the eerie voice known as The Shadow became so popular to listeners that "Detective Story" was soon renamed "The Shadow," and the narrator became the star of the old-time mystery radio series, which ran until 1954.

A figure never seen, only heard, the Shadow was an invincible crime fighter. He possessed many gifts which enabled him to overcome any enemy. Besides his tremendous strength, he could defy gravity, speak any language, unravel any code, and become invisible with his famous ability to "cloud men's minds."

Along with his team of operatives, the Shadow battled adversaries with chilling names like The Black Master, Kings of Crime, The Five Chameleons, and, of course, The Red Menace.

The Shadow's exploits were also avidly followed by readers in The Shadow magazine, which began in 1931 following the huge success of the old-time mystery radio program.

The magazine was published by Street & Smith, who had also sponsored the old-time mystery radio program. Over the course of 18 years, Street & Smith published 325 issues of The Shadow, each one containing a novel about the sinister crime fighter. These stories were written by Maxwell Grant, a fictional name created by the publishing company. Although several different people wrote under the pseudonym, Walter B. Gibson wrote most of the stories, 282 in all.

Most of the novels published have been reprinted in paperback and The Shadow adventures remain popular today, with Shadow comic books, magazines, toys, games, cds and cassettes of old-time radio shows, and books bringing top dollar among collectors the world over.http://www.oldradioworld.com/shows/The_Shadow.php

Alternate Reality

This shadow image was one which appeared on my dining room wall one grey, cold winter afternoon. There are animal like figures I see here. When I took the picture, the shadow looked nothing like this...maybe it was an Alternate Reality. There appear to be creatures whose eyes are looking out at me.

Japanese Garden Lantern and its Shadow

I spent many years traveling to Japan. I visited several gardens maintained by monks while I was there. This lantern and its shadow hanging from a twisted vine  reminds me of the serenity of those gardens. I was always intrigued by the Japanese juxtaposition of perfection and imperfection often evident in Japanese conceptions of beauty and art.

SHADOWS OVER THE LAND

There are shadows over the land. They come out of the ground, from the dust and tumbled bones of the earth. Tree shadows that haunt the woodlands of childhood, holding fear in their branches. Stone shadows on the desert, cloud shadows on the sea and over the summer hills, bringing water. Shapes of shadow in pools and wells, vague forms in the sand-light. Poet, John Haines from The Stars, the Snow, the Fire. St. Paul, Greywood Press

CLOTHESLINES NO LONGER IN THE SHADOWS

 Image: http://www.wikihow.com/Dry-Clothes-Outside

I've been surprised to learn clotheslines have been in the shadows, actually outlawed in this country for some time by  organizations called HOAs (Homeowners Associations). HOAs monitor what changes homeowners can make to their property in some communities and what rules they must obey regarding home renovation, appearance and upkeep. Such organizations, for example often have veto powers regarding homeowner's choice of exterior house paint colors.

Well, the modest but nostalgic everyday backyard fixture of homekeepers throughout this country for generations, that is, the humble clothesline, has not only been under attack by HOAs. They have  made it an object of homeowner shame. Shame that our laundry drying on a line in the backyard is unsightly and lowers property values.

Recently more liberal HOAs have deigned to allow a clothesline, but only if it is completely out of sight of any of one's neighbors or passersby. It is only recently that clotheslines have achieved somewhat of a comeback, and a respectful one at that, thanks to solar energy lawmakers. You can read all about it here:

http://daily.sightline.org/2012/02/21/clothesline-bans-void-in-19-states/

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/2011/07/new-laundry-line.html

http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/dynoGall2.asp?catID=269

All this clothesline information pried loose a childhood memory of mine:

There were six kids in my family and I was the oldest. I dutifully learned a lot about how to do laundry. I remember hanging laundry on the clothesline when I was 7 years old. I was fairly tall for my age, but sometimes I would have to jump and grab the clothes line and bend it down toward me so that I could hang larger items like sheets. I used to manage to fold the sheets in half and hang them, corners met and clipped with four clothespins per sheet onto the line. That was in California.

I had two grandmothers still alive then. I loved one but didn’t like the other as much. Both grandmothers lived within blocks of us. I saw them both frequently. The one I didn’t like told me not to hang undies on the clothesline because the neighbors would see them. She must have considered herself some kind of moral compass.

I remember the wonderful smell of sunshine that the clothes had when I took them off the line and brought them into the house to fold and put away. The wooden clothespins and the clothespin bag with two pockets on a wooden clothes hanger are a part of yesteryear.

Later when we left California and moved north there were more babies. I recall hanging clothes in the winter in the back porch of the old rental house we lived in where the clothesline was strung for winter laundry. This was before my parents had a dryer. They still had an old electric wringer washer tub.

In the icy winters my baby sister's cloth diapers would freeze on the line in that old back porch. I’d take the frozen stiff diapers off the line, stack them and bring them into the kitchen and dry them on the gas heater which provided the main heat in the kitchen. I was about ten years old by then. I first heard Elvis Presley on the radio one of those late laundry afternoons after school. Never liked Presley’s singing much, but I do remember having a pile of frozen diapers in my arms and dropping them on top of the enameled gas heater. They sizzled steam while I listened, a bit stunned at hearing “Heartbreak Hotel” for the first time.

Do you have a clothesline story?  

 

MENTAL ILLNESS: OUT OF THE SHADOWS

I saw this book advertised on amazon. I've never read it, but it reflects the happenings of the past few days here in America. The shooting down of innocent people, and particularly innocent elementary school children in Newtown, Connecticut by a deranged young man is a reminder of how families dealing with the mental illness of one of their family members get no help in this society. No help. And it is a reminder of the gun violence that exists in this country. In fact 47% of all people in this country own a gun. The mother of the shooter owned the guns the shooter used in Newtown. The shooter seemed to me to come from "out of the shadows" of his mind to kill, including his mother and 20 innocent little children and 6 of their teachers. Everyday in this country children are lost to accidental as well as malicious death by guns. Do you care? What are you doing about it?

And I do remember the slaughter of innocent people and children by a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan through all of this. And I do remember the killings of children on the streets of Los Angeles and Chicago and Seattle...the list unfortunately, is fodder for America's endless nightmare.
 http://www.people.com/people/static/h/package/tragedyconnecticutschoolshooting/index.html?ncid=webmail1#s1

"The second amendment wasn't meant to kill children." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jack-schimmelman/help_2_b_2315948.html

ART AND SHADOW

Image:

http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/media-lucion-shadow-balls

Since I became interested in blogging about shadows I've noticed that many artists use shadow as part of the totality of some of their pieces. 

I ran across this at mymodernmet.com. It is the work of a  Canadian collective of artists called Lucion Media. The shadow balls which were part of the Festival of Lights in Lyons, France this month, December 2012, comprised a light installation. These huge bubbles contained birds in aviaries which produced the shadows. These large colorful balls were placed in a garden for people to enjoy. What a wonderful sight that must have been.  
 

 Well, I know where I want to go next December. Check out some images from the Festival of Lights here: https://www.google.com/search?q=Festival+of+Lights+Lyons&hl=en&tbo=u&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=YXXNUN_eJcriigL5qIGoBQ&ved=0CEUQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=622

The Festival of Lights in Lyon - France derives from a Catholic religious festival idea and expresses gratitude toward Mary, mother of Jesus on December 8 of each year. This uniquely Lyonnaise tradition dictates that every house place candles along the outsides of all the windows to produce a spectacular effect throughout the streets. With over 4 million tourists comming to Lyon for this event, the festival includes other activities based on light and usually lasts 4 days, with the peak of activity occurring on the 8th. The two main focal points of activity are typically the Basilica of Fourvière which is lit up in different colours, and the Place des Terreaux, which hosts a different light show each year.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/myplanetexperience/6520852643/https://www.google.com/search?q=Festival+of+Lights+Lyons&hl=en&tbo=u&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=YXXNUN_eJcriigL5qIGoBQ&ved=0CEUQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=622