Waldina

Today is the 203rd birthday of the poet Walt Whitman. He is quoted as once saying “I am as bad as the worst, but, thank God, I am as good as the best.” I think of that quote often, we have good days and bad days. Social media highlights everyone’s best days, best everything, it is natural to judge our whole selves against these ‘highlights’ we see. The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left.

Today is the 113th birthday of the musician and band leader Benny Goodman. Whenever I hear his music, I think of my grandparents. The hight of his popularity coincided with them being the age of dating and just married, going to dances that played popular music. He represents the time between the two wars that was full of hope, prosperity, youth, vibrancy, jazz and optimism. The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left.

00:00:00 Sing, Sing, Sing 

00:08:42 Why Don't You Do It Right? 

00:11:55 Tea for Two (feat.Lionel Hampton, Teddy Wilson, Gene Krupa) 

00:15:01 All the Cats Join in (feat.Liza Morrow) 

00:18:12 Let's Dance 

00:20:28 Ain't Misbehavin' 

00:23:55 Chicago 

00:26:56 Don't Be That Way 

00:30:16 Get Happy 

00:33:22 Flying Home 

00:36:36 King Porter Stomp 

00:39:55 Winter Weather 

00:42:57 Big John's Special 

00:46:06 Whispering 

00:48:46 Santa Claus Came in the Spring

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://waldina.com/2022/05/30/happy-113th-birthday-benny-goodman/

"Dressed to Kill" - CBS Radio Mystery Theater - May 30, 1974

An unemployed actor plans a bizarre drama of enacting his own death and consequently impersonating his wife to claim the insurance money.

Jazz, Big Band, and Swing Sunday - Benny Goodman

00:00:00 Sing, Sing, Sing

00:08:42 Why Don't You Do It Right?

00:11:55 Tea for Two (feat.Lionel Hampton, Teddy Wilson, Gene Krupa)

00:15:01 All the Cats Join in (feat.Liza Morrow)

00:18:12 Let's Dance

00:20:28 Ain't Misbehavin'

00:23:55 Chicago

00:26:56 Don't Be That Way

00:30:16 Get Happy

00:33:22 Flying Home

00:36:36 King Porter Stomp

00:39:55 Winter Weather

00:42:57 Big John's Special

00:46:06 Whispering

00:48:46 Santa Claus Came in the Spring

"The Phantom Lullaby" - CBS Radio Mystery Theater - May 29, 1974

The caring parents of a young woman rent her a luxurious house to recuperate from a bitter affair and an abortion. But trouble seems to shadow her footsteps as a resident spirit in the apartment haunts her.

"Mirror for Murder" - CBS Radio Mystery Theater - May 27, 1974

A bored wife is tired of her menagerie chores and her husband's job priorities. She starts to believe her mirror reflection and plans to reclaim her self.

"The Bleeding Statue" - CBS Radio Mystery Theater - May 23, 1974

A magician disappoints his heirs by leaving his properties with his daughter and also promises to safeguard her against all harm through a statue in his estate courtyard. On her arrival in the estate, she finds his promise true to his word.

Jazz, Big Band, and Swing Sunday - 1945

00:00:00 Rum And Coca Cola - The Andrews Sisters

00:03:07 There Goes That Song Again - Kay Kyser & His Orchestra with Georgia Carroll

00:05:30 Cocktails For Two - Spike Jones & His City Slickers with Carl Grayson

00:08:17 I Dream Of You - Perry Como

00:11:46 Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive - Bing Crosby & Andrews Sisters

00:14:26 I'm Beginning To See The Light - Harry James & His Orchestra With Kitty Kallen

00:17:36 A Little On The Lonely Side - Frankie Carle & His Orchestra with Paul Allen

00:20:38 There! I've Said It Again - Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra

00:23:47 My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time - Johnny Long & His Orchestra & Dick Robertson 

00:26:41 Laura - Woody Herman & His Orchestra

00:29:43 Just A Prayer Away - Sammy Kaye & His Orch with Billy Williams

00:33:05 I'm Beginning To See The Light - Ella Fitzgerald and Ink Spots

00:35:47 Caldonia - Louis Jordan & His Tympani Five

00:38:27 You Belong To My Heart - Bing Crosby & Xavier Cugat & His Orchestra

00:40:51 Sentimental Journey - Hal McIntyre And His Orchestra

00:43:39 Bell Bottom Trousers - Louis Prima & His Orchestra

00:46:21 Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive - Johnny Mercer & The Pied Pipers

00:49:06 Don't Fence Me In - Sammy Kaye & His Orch with Billy Williams

00:51:46 I Dream Of You (More Than You Dream I Do) - Frank Sinatra

00:54:49 Candy - Jo Stafford, Johnny Mercer & The Pied Pipers

00:57:58 Saturday Night (Is The Loneliest Night In The Week) - Frank Sinatra

01:00:40 My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time - Les Brown Orchestra With Doris Day

01:03:56 Just A Prayer Away - Bing Crosby

01:06:57 Stuff Like That There - Betty Hutton

01:09:53 Chloe - Spike Jones & His City Slickers with Red Ingle

01:13:40 Laura - Freddy Martin And His Orchestra

01:16:40 Bell Bottom Trousers - Tony Pastor & His Orchestra with Ruth McCullough

01:19:41 You Belong To My Heart - Charlie Spivak & His Orchestra with Jimmy Saunders

01:23:01 Dream - Frank Sinatra

01:26:01 Laura - Johnnie Johnston

01:28:57 Bell Bottom Trousers - Kay Kyser & His Orchestra

01:32:01 Gotta Be This Or That (Pt. 1) - Benny Goodman & His Orchestra

01:35:23 Don't Fence Me In - Kate Smith

01:38:42 Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive - Artie Shaw and His Orchestra

01:41:48 Rum And Coca-Cola - Abe Lyman & His Orchestra with Rose Blane

01:44:52 I Wanna Get Married - Gertrude Niesen

01:48:05 I'm Beginning To See The Light - Duke Ellington With His Famous Orchestra with Joya Sherrill

01:51:16 Dream - Pied Pipers With Paul Weston & His Orchestra

01:54:02 My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time - The Phil Moore Four

01:56:30 A Little On The Lonely Side - Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians with Jimmy Brown

01:58:53 Sentimental Journey - Les Brown Orchestra With Doris Day

02:02:01 Don't Fence Me In - Horace Heidt And His Musical Knights

02:04:46 Candy - Dinah Shore

02:07:54 Caldonia - Woody Herman & His Orchestra

02:10:54 Laura - Dick Haymes

02:13:58 Bell Bottom Trousers - Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians with Jimmy Brown

02:16:28 Rum And Coca-Cola - Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra

02:19:37 Sentimental Journey - The Merry Macs

Dante. The Divine Comedy. Inferno Canto 1, 2, & 3

Dante's Divine Comedy has exercised the imagination of poets, artists, historians, theologians, and lovers of literature and poetry for the past seven centuries. Numerous English translations have appeared since Henry Carey published the first widely circulated English translation in the early 1800s. William Blake was so moved by Carey's translation that he spent the last years of his life teaching himself Italian so as to work directly with Dante's text. During the final year of his life, Blake worked relentlessly on a series of illustrations depicting scenes from "The Divine Comedy". This post offers the first of what will become a series of Dante's Ghost productions of the cantos of Dante's Inferno. It offers a new rhythmic translation of this classic philosophical poem.

It has been long recogniszd by poets that the greater power within poetry manifests more strongly when it is heard rather than read. This has ever been the way since the Greek rhapsodei sang the memory of their Homeric epics through many centuries.

Production Notes

Music:

Doc & Lena Selyanina, Neptune (Internet Archive)

Doc and Lena Selyanina, Wanderer (Internet Archive)

(remix: vincentd)

Effects:

Crickets, Rhapsodize (Freesound)

Owl, Manda_g (Freesound)

African Lion, Soundbytez (Freesound)

Wolf Howl, Viorelvio (Freesound)

Voice:

Vincent Di Stefano

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://waldina.com/2022/05/21/happy-757th-birthday-dante/

"The Longest Knife" - CBS Radio Mystery Theater - May 21, 1974

A mother makes a promise to avenge her son who has been murdered by a third world dictator.