Attack of the Pod Person

It began innocently enough on a December afternoon as I sat perusing a reward point website which was in conjunction with the diet my sister in law coached me for and which I had used in my ongoing weigh loss battle. I had accumulated many points. I was very excited to use some of them to claim a bracelet from Eclipse. It was a replica of the one given to Bella in the movie with a brown wolf dangling from one end and a “diamond” heart pendant from the other. I really wanted to use up all my points because I wasn't sure how much longer I'd be able to get the products from across the border. I happened to click onto the electronics tab next. Appearing before me was a selection of iPod Shuffle's in various colours of the rainbow. I chose green. When faced with a decision of colour, green was always the answer. 

 

♫ Green is the colour.....Football is the game.... ♪

When it arrived I was forced into installing all the necessary Apple programing. All I intended was to use it for music and maybe hook it up in the car for long trips. But on further investigations into iTunes.....I found out I could also use it for Podcasts and Audio Books. With all this investigating I became fluent in the “i” language. iRock.

I recalled as a kid listening to old style mystery radio shows late at night and often they'd put me to sleep. So I did a search in iTunes for these types of radio programs and to my delight I found out many of them were free to subscribe. Since it was just before Christmas I looked for Christmas programming and happened upon a selection of Abbot & Costello doing some Christmas shopping as well as Red Skeleton and the Martin & Lewis Show. It was only 3 shows but I downloaded them to my green pod and whisked them off with me to my parents for the Christmas holidays where on the Eve of the Chubby Dude arriving we hooked up the Pod to a “ghetto blaster” and listened and laughed to these relic radio shows. It was memorable.

Once Christmas was over I still wanted to enjoy these programs and decided I really enjoyed the Martin & Lewis programs the best. I found someone on iTunes who had made podcasts on a regular basis and quickly subscribed. I went back to the very beginning.....waaaay back to 1949.....a time warp. The comedy was clean and truly funny and I found myself often chuckling in the darkness waiting to fall asleep. Often Dean Martin's voice would swoon me to sleep.

♫ I'm at heaven's door.....Innamorata ♪

Honestly the only memories I had were of Dean Martin. I really knew nothing of his partnership with Jerry Lewis. I remember seeing some of the Dean Martin roasts on TV and had vague memories of The Dean Martin Show from my childhood and always thought he was a boozer. I am not one to leave a stone unturned and after Googling found out a great deal about them. I began watching clips on Youtube from the Colgate Comedy Hour and even ordered some episodes from Amazon. One DVD included a movie At War with the Army. This movie opened up a whole new era to appreciate and enjoy.

I've really found that I was craving this type of entertainment in my life. I find there is very little on TV to watch and music these days are somewhat of a disappointment to me. Plus, I am always looking for a new way to express music in my teaching. I may not teach this specific style of music but it really does impact us today. That's what I love most.....is finding something from another time and space and applying the concept to what we do today. Did you know that Elvis heard a Dean Martin song and wanted to record it? Then that song became his 2^nd big hit? It's true. Here's another thing I discovered. I am not the only person yearning for this type of programing.

Why have I told you this big long story?  I watched all of the movies featuring the duo of Dean and Jerry . I also wanted to tell everyone how one little decision changed my life over the last three months. Had I never clicked on that link on the reward page and ordered that little green Pod you would have never had to endure all my crazy ramblings over these weeks and months. At the same time, my eyes have been opened along with my heart to a time and place that only half exists on audio and film even though the impact is woven intricately into the tapestry of Hollywood and television. It leaves me wondering if what we see and hear today could also stand the test of the passing of 60 years.