three

The World Is Too Much with Us; Late and Soon

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not. --Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.

--William Wordsworth (published 1807)

two

drama

I've started listening to another radio program called Tales of The Texas Rangers.  I don't like it as much as The Six-Shooter but, then again, who can hold a candle to Britt Ponset?



Anyway, listening to it, I can't help but think about the history of detective/police/crime drama*.  The show is pretty much CSI: Texas, 1950 or Law and Order: Horse Unit.  Sometimes, it's amazing how little has changed in modern story-telling.

Now that I've listened to several of the shows, it's kind of fun to wait for the moment when Jayce Pearson, Texas Ranger, says something like: "Well, it'll be faster if we take horses," and then unloads his horse, Charcoal, from the horse trailer that is always in tow.  Then, there is usually a moment when Jayce decides something like: "We'll have to go the rest of the way on foot.  I'll tie Charcoal to this mesquite here."  I think there has been one episode in which Jayce didn't need to ride Charcoal, and in that episode he paddled a canoe, instead!

*I guess there is a name for this genre: Police Procedural Drama

the restless gun

"The man in the saddle is angular and long-legged: his skin is sun dyed brown. The gun in his holster is gray steel and rainbow mother-of-pearl. People call them both The Six Shooter."

I’ve grown fond of an old radio show called The Six-Shooter.  It aired back in 1953-1954 and starred James Stewart, and it is a lot of fun.

I have been pretty laid up for a while, trying to recover from a medical problem.  I was reading a lot, but that has become difficult to do lying down without causing muscle spasms.  So, I’ve been haphazardly exploring the realm of audio entertainment and education.  The Six-Shooter brings me some smiles!  I just finished listening to the 14^th episode, and it was a humorous one.  Including the audition show, there are forty episodes in all.

It only ran one season…apparently radio dramas fell by the wayside as movies and television became increasingly standard entertainment fare.

I’m looking forward to closing my eyes and listening to the next tale of the restless wanderer known as the Six-Shooter.

There are several places to find The Six-Shooter online; here is one of them.

Do you have suggestions for radio shows, podcasts, or other things you enjoy listening to?

one

yes

In a perfect world we'd all sing in tune but this is reality, so give me some room!

Billy Bragg, Waiting for the Great Leap Forward