The Sealed Book (Old Time Radio)

Since I am getting all my old posts moved over to my new blog - I thought it would be useful to pickup some season-appropriate topics...hmm....old time radio....Halloween is around the corner....so maybe, THE SEALED BOOK!

I have enjoyed listening to Old Time Radio shows lately, either from the Internet Archive or via Sirius/XM Radio Channel 82.

The Sealed Book series is one of my absolute favorites - having been hooked by Greg Bell's XM channel 82. The Internet Archive sums up this radio mystery/thriller series with the lines that were read every week by host Philip Clarke to start the show (after the great gong): "keeper of the book has opened the ponderous door to the secret vault wherein is kept the great sealed book, in which is recorded all the secrets and mysteries of mankind through the ages, Here are tales of every kind, tales of murder, of madness, of dark deeds strange and terrible beyond all belief." What was very cool is how it changed in just the few episodes it ran in 1945. At first, the keeper of the sealed book spoke. But after a few episodes, the keeper of the sealed book became silent - making him far more eerie!

Here are two of my favorite episodes:

• Welcome Home (the story about the return of the Prodigal son and the deadly consequences for he and his girl).
• To Have and To Hold (the story about unrequited love and why that crazy aunt....well, you should never visit her).

This program was broadcast on Sunday evening from 10:30 to 11:00pm. It must have been quite spooky on an stormy night in 1945.  Sit back and enjoy these spooky tales...from THE SEALED BOOK!

Three Skeleton Key (A Great Lighthouse Tale for Halloween)

So what could be better this Halloween week than Vincent Price, Old Time Radio and the story of a Lighthouse! George Toudouze's brilliant story about a lighthouse off the coast of Afica was written in 1937. It first appeared in English in the January 1937 issue of Esquire. I would tall you more about the story - but spend a half and hour and enjoy the show. Three Skeleton Key was performed numerous times on Escape and Suspense - the great long-running shows on radio. But the most famous and memorable performance appeared on March 17, 1950 on Escape. The recording featured Vincent Price in the lead role of Jean, one of the three member of the crew on that cursed light. I have heard some of the other performers as Jean....no one can do it like Vincent Price! Here is the audio...enjoy: Here are some other links that you will want to see.

• Script (RTF format - opens in MS Word)
• Script (web page)
• Blog entry about Three Skeleton Key from the OTR blog Escape and Suspense
• Episodes of Escape from the Internet Archive
• Episodes of Escape from 1949-1950 from the Internet Archives

Corey's Project 365 - Year One

I wanted to start sharing more of my favorite photos and do some writing about photography. Not that I have all that much to say, but it has been a very fun part of my life over these past four years. Here are the ones from my first year of Project 365 - From June 12, 2008 to June 11, 2009. You can follow this link: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjteravu Or view them here: Here are all of my Project365 sets: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cseeman/collections/72157625580382719/

Corey's Project 365 - Year Two

Here are the flickr entries from my Project 365 during my second year participating - From June 12, 2009 to June 11, 2010. You can follow this link: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjtercdj Or view them here: Here are all of my Project365 sets: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cseeman/collections/72157625580382719/

Corey's Project 365 - Year Three

Here are the flickr entries from my Project 365 during my second year participating - From June 12, 2010 to June 11, 2011. The first photo is one of my favorites - little girls at a dance recital getting a peak at the audience. You can follow this link: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjt3mqYr Or view them here: Here are all of my Project365 sets: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cseeman/collections/72157625580382719/

Flapjack and Project 365

Out of curiosity - I wanted to see how many times Flapjack was the subject of Project365 (the flickr group where you take a photo every day). The answer: 158 (to date) (but I am sure it is more now)!
 Here are my Project365 Photos for the first three years!
  All Photos
  Year One (June 12, 2008-June 11, 2009)
  Year Two (June 12, 2009-June 11, 2010)
  Year Three (June 12, 2010-)

Flapjack - Man's Best Friend - and a Great flickr subject

I have been happily participating in flickr's Project365 since June 12, 2008. The premise is quite simple. Take at least one photo a day and post them to flickr. You do not have to do it every day - but get them online and posted before too long. I often batch load them for 5 days at a time. I was inspired to do this by a wonderful friend Elizabeth Thomsen(who is also a librarian). Not sure what got me to start on June 12, 2008, but it soon became part of my daily routine. What is interesting is how the family changed their opinion of this activity. At first, we could have powered a small town from the energy in rolling of the eyes. When I moved past one year into year two - there was some questioning, but they let it go. The beautiful element of digital photography is that besides the capital investment into a camera, the ongoing costs are so very cheap. As a kid, I would have taken millions of photographs, but the cost of developing the film kept me from fully expressing myself. That and my mom would kill me for spending all our money at the camera shop! Now, we (as a family) are somewhat enthusiastic about Project365. Maybe that is my Polyanna POV, but in recent weeks, we would see something and my wife or my son would say "Picture of the Day?" This is what happened when we saw them work on the new scoreboard at Michigan Stadium (Ann Arbor) or today when we saw Turkey Vultures collecting on the roof of a vacant house or eating at Blimpy Burger - an Ann Arbor Institution While you often have a good idea in your travels for a Picture of the Day, many, many days you do not. That is where it is helpful to have pets. Our wonderful Beagle Flapjack has been my Project365 subject 179 times in the 1000+ days since June 2008. So these are not brilliant, but they document my life. When I forget everything else, I will have these to look through. Here are all the Project365 photos of our wonderful dog! Slideshow of Flapjack's Project365 Photos: Here are links to the sets that comprise my participation in Project365.