The Silver State Chronicles

Here’s to the Marines!

The United States Marine Corps traces its institutional roots to the Continental Marines of the American Revolutionary War, formed at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, by a resolution of the Continental Congress on November 10, 1775, a date regarded and celebrated as the birthday of the Marine Corps.

Since then they have served the US with courage and distinction! Happy Birthday to the US Marines and thank you all for your service to our nation!

The US Marines’ Hymn

From the halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli,
We fight our country’s battles
In the air, on land, and sea.
First to fight for right and freedom,
And to keep our honor clean,
We are proud to claim the title
Of United States Marines.

Our flag’s unfurl’d to every breeze
From the dawn to setting sun;
We have fought in every clime and place
Where we could take a gun.
In the snow of far-off northern lands
And in sunny tropic scenes,
You will find us always on the job
The United States Marines.

Here’s health to you and to our Corps
Which we are proud to serve;
In many a strife we’ve fought for life
And have never lost our nerve.
If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on Heaven’s scenes,
They will find the streets are guarded
By United States Marines.

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To Cloud Men’s Minds

Two of my great passions are old pulp thrillers like Doc Savage, and old time radio like The Lone Ranger and Dragnet. Well, these two passions intersect with one of my favorite fictional characters of all time, The Shadow.

In 1930, magazine publisher Street and Smith sponsored a radio show promoting stories from their Detective Story Magazine. The radio program featured a fictional narrator known as The Shadow, and he became very popular with the listeners. Numerous requests from people for “that Shadow Detective Magazine” compelled Street and Smith to bring the character to the magazine world in his own adventures.

The first novel, The Living Shadow, hit newsstands in April of 1931. Its success meant that more stories were needed, and now The Shadow would be featured in his own monthly magazine, which was so popular that it became biweekly starting in 1932.

The Shadow continued hosting Detective Story Hour, but he became more prominent in the 1937 season of what had become The Shadow radio show, which featured a 22-year-old actor named Orson Welles.

The Shadow radio program and pulp magazines were very successful and soon the character would make it to the big screen: 1937′s The Shadow Strikes, and 1938′s International Crime, though The Shadow would find greater success in the 1940 movie serial simply titled The Shadow.

At around this time, The Shadow returned for a sixth season of his popular radio show, starring Bill Johnstone as The Shadow and his alter ego, Lamont Cranston, and Agnes Moorehead as his confidant, Margo Lane. The sixth season premiere was broadcast on Sunday, September 24, 1939 at 5:30pm, with the classic adventure “Dead Men Talk.”

So sit back this Sunday in 2007 and enjoy the classic radio drama, “The Shadow: Dead Men Talk.”

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So Long, Mr. Goulet

Just got word on the passing of the talented and gracious Robert Goulet.

Robert Goulet was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts as the only son of French Canadian parents, Joseph Georges Andre Goulet and Jeanette Gauthier. In Edmonton, he attended the famous voice schools founded by Herbert G. Turner and Jean Letourneau, and later became a radio announcer for radio station CKUA. Upon graduating from high school, Goulet received a scholarship to Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music.

In 1959, Goulet was introduced to librettist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe, who were having difficulty casting the role of Lancelot in their stage production Camelot. Lerner and Loewe, impressed by Goulet’s talent, signed the virtual newcomer to play the part, opposite Richard Burton’s King Arthur and Julie Andrews’ Queen Guenevere.

Camelot, of course, was a huge hit, and Mr. Goulet would remain in the public eye with many wonderful stage and screen performances, as well as many successful record albums.

So long, Mr. Goulet. Thank you for all you gave, and you shall be missed.

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Jumpstarting ‘Fridays For Friday’

Here at the world headquarters for The Silver State Chronicles, things are always happening! I decided to dedicate the remaining Fridays of 2007 to one of my great heroes, Joe Friday and the series Dragnet!

We’ll start this week off with a Dragnet Doubleheader! While Jack Webb and Dragnet are often identified with great television, a lot of folks don’t know that Dragnet originated as a very successful, long running radio drama.

So how about a little dose of old time radio? Sit back and enjoy the August 14, 1952 episode of radio’s Dragnet, “The Big Drive.”

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In Webb We Trust

It’s no secret that I am a big fan of Jack Webb, having mentioned his classic album ‘You’re My Girl: Romantic Reflections by Jack Webb’ in an earlier post. Well, lots of folks just loved the Nichelle Nichols song a couple of days ago, so I decided to follow up with a memorable tune by Jack Webb.

One of the most memorable tracks on this classic album is Mr. Webb’s rendition of ‘Try A Little Tenderness.’ Well, I’ve surrendered to popular demand and am sharing this wonderful track with you all! Enjoy!

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I Guess You Had To Have Been There

Since we’ve been on a Star Trek kick lately, I thought I’d share one of the true jewels of my collection, the lovely Nichelle Nichols and her stirring rendition of the theme to Star Trek, with the seldom-heard vocals.

Actually I think there are several different sets of vocals, and this is just the one Nichelle recorded. In any event, sit back and enjoy, and hang on for dear life for the final note!

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But still no James T. Kirk

Yahoo reports that the cast for the movie re-launch of Star Trek is shaping up.

Rumors abound as to what the story is about. It does appear that Nero is the bad guy, and will be a Romulan. This is an early adventure of the Enterprise crew, but the presence of Captain Pike complicates things for oldschool fans like me.

Seems the whole project is to make Trek ‘cool’ for a new generation of young, disrespectful, & unemployed slackers. Seems as good a financial bet as any, at this point, though.

I don’t have a good feeling about this, but I’ll give it a shot when it comes out on Christmas Day, 2008.

Here’s what we have so far.

Green is confirmed. Red is rumored.

James Kirk	Chris Pine
Spock	Zachary Quinto
Leonard McCoy	?	?
Scotty	Simon Pegg
Uhura	Zoe Saldana
Sulu	John Cho
Chekov	Anton Yelchin
Nero	Eric Bana
Mr. Spock	Leonard Nimoy
Captain Christopher Pike	?	?

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Always nice to hear what Stan has to say!

On October 8tn, 2007, Dennis Miller did a quick interview with Stan Lee on his relatively new radio show. Dennis has a great sense of humor and his radio show is really taking off. Last week, a caller just casually suggested that he invite Stan on the show, and Dennis’s people got on it quickly and made it happen just a few days later!

Stan discusses some memories of Nick Fury, flatters Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, covers the 1960s Marvel Comics creative process, and manages to mention the new Iron Man and Hulk films.

Dennis is a genuine fan of Stan and Silver Age Marvel Comics, so it’s clear that this interview is a genuine treat for him. Enjoy!

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Wisdom From The Bench
Newstalk radio host Laura Ingraham interviewed her former boss at the US Supreme Court, Justice Clarence Thomasm on October 4th, 2007. Sit back and enjoy!

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The Savage Nation
Rap Music

Though it’s not well known, Newstalk radio personality Dr. Michael Savage is an accomplished rapper! Just take a peek below and enjoy five of his performances!

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