With buzzing insect crescendos and a splash of Korziov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee,” eager fans across country were treated to weekly (sometimes biweekly) installments of one of Radio’s best known and distinctive juvenile adventure programs.

“The Green Hornet” was the brainchild of George Trendle and the talented writing and acting crew over at WXYZ radio in Detroit -the same producers of hit programs, “The Lone Ranger” and “Challenge of the Yukon.” “The Green Hornet” is a spin-off of sorts, from the “Lone Ranger” program. The Green Hornet character Britt Reid, is the grand-nephew of erstwhile Texas Ranger John Reid (aka the Lone Ranger himself). Set in the “modern-day” era that it was broadcast, Reid is the publisher and chief of the family business, a newspaper called The Daily Sentinal. Instead of a horse, this masked crime-stopper travels via “Black Beauty” his sleek ultra-modern automobile, equipped with an array of the latest gadgets for capturing criminals and quick getaways. In his battles the Green Hornet never uses guns (bullets at least), instead relying on his brawn and high-tech weapons that fire “knock-out gas” and smokescreens. “Chauffeuring” Reid is his faithful companion Kato, who alone knows Reid’s true identity as the Green Hornet. A renaissance man of sorts, Kato is the keen-minded master of martial arts, chemistry, cookery, race-car driving, house-keeping and weapons development. Some sources say that the Kato character was portrayed as Japanese until the outbreak of WWII and Pearl Harbor, while others claim he was described as a Filipino (of Japanese descent) at least two years previous.

As an added irony, in the public eye the Green Hornet poses as a gangster, in order to better infiltrate and destroy various crime syndicates “from within.” Therefore in addition to battling crooks, the Hornet must keep one step ahead of the police. Often times after he has apprehended his villains, an “anonymous tip” leads law officers to the sight of yet another nefarious Green Hornet crime scene where “his accomplices” lie waiting for capture with the Hornet himself only just escaped.

Other minor characters in the program include: Ace reporter Ed Lowry, Reid's secretary and remote love-interest Miss Lenore Case, and lastly Mike Axford, yet another of old time radio’s stereotyped Irish dunces, in this incarnation, a body guard which Britt Reid’s father has appointed to keep an eye on his “wayward son.” Later in the series run Axford becomes a bungling reporter bent on capturing that top criminal “the Green Haaaarnet!”

The role of Britt Reid/Green Hornet was initially played by Al Hodge until he enlisted in the army in 1943. Later Hodge became well known as the “sci-fi adventure” character, “Captain Video” from the early days of television. Other actors to play the Green Hornet were Donovan Faust, Jack McCarthy, and Bob Hall. Tokutaro Hayashi, “Raymond Toyo,” played the role of Kato, with Leonore Allman and Jim Irwin reading the roles of secretary Lenore Casey and bungling Mike Axford. Until 1944 all the program scripts were written by Fran Striker. Amazingly striker was such a prolific writer he was capable of simultaneously furnishing both “the Green Hornet” and “the Lone Ranger” programs with all their scripts!

The Green Hornet radio program lasted in various forms until December 1952 and also inspired a couple “Green Hornet” short film serials in the 1940s. In 1966 the creators of the Batman TV-series, decided to produce a Green Hornet program as well. They cast Van Williams to play the masked Hornet and an unknown Bruce Lee as Kato. The program aired on ABC, but didn't fare well in its day and was cancelled after just one season. However, with Bruce Lee’s meteoric rise as the icon of martial arts, the program has since enjoyed a strong cult following. Other vestiges of the original Green Hornet’s legacy include skits on the “Fat Albert” cartoons of the seventies, and the spoofed butler character “Kato” in Peter Sellars’ “Pink Panther” movies. There's also a “Green Hornet” comic book series, published since 1989, which carries on the storyline’s tradition to this day.

For today's Sound From the Past we bring you a riveting episode of Radio's Green Hornet entitled "Murder and the Dope Racket" which first aired on February 21st 1942.

"God will make you fit for what he's called you to be... he'll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy! This way it all amounts to something of worth.

If your life honors the name of Jesus, he will honor you. Grace is behind and through all of this; our God is giving himself freely. The Master, Jesus Christ, is giving himself freely.

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 The Message Bible ~ Nav Press, Glen Eyrie Castle, Colorado Springs, CO

And do you know what? We don't have to be stressed when we know God has an assignment for us. If you are allowing yourself to be stressed you can make a simple move that will remove all that tension.

He will take what we are able to offer him and do -- then fill our life -- and energize it -- with the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.

How I remember listening to Heine and His Grenadiers on WTMJ at noon. My old buddy, Harvey Nowland, who had been in Ramblins many time, reminded me of Heine this last winter and I've been intending to put it in Ramblins since then -- which is what is printed below.

This afternoon I spend some time in his Stone-Trace Website and was totally blown away by some stories and poems I had missed. Take a trip, when you want some easy, interesting, and entertaining reading. I have the Link below. Check out his "This and That" page. I especially enjoyed his article on Retirement and the story of the play he lost. Here's how Harvey introduced his short article. Remember this guy has been writing me for over 50 years and has yet to sign his correct name. Before Garrison Keillor ever dreamed of Lake Woebegonne, Harvey was using proper names from word combinations like Manual Transmission. Enjoy!

So Norm, how's by you? By us it's good and boy is it ever cold 'cause we ain't used to none of dis so cold here in Georgia, ain'so?

  Anyways, I'm thinkin' the other day about da East Side of Mawaukee. Ya know, over by Holton Street, Fratney Street School, and Victor L. Berger School. I sez to the missus, "Ya know," I sez, "Dem were good days, doncha tink?" And the missus sez ta me, "Didja take out the garbage?"

  So I sez, "Hey, don't worry, ennah? I was gonna take out the garbage anyways." And she ain't all that good about rememberin' no more so I figure, what the hey, I'll just go ahead and write to norman@normsradio.com, cause he's always livin' in the past.

  So, anyways, I'd write more, but I'll just send you a little bit a stuff about WTMJ and Heine and his Grenadiers. Anyways, the missus just told me to throw her down the steps a broom, so we'll see yas.

  Arne Bertholde

HEINIE UND HIS GRENADIERS

Do you remember the band of “Heinie and his Grenadiers” that played German folk music on its regular WTMJ radio broadcasts in the late 1930s and early forties? I do.

We lived about a mile or so from the WTMJ broadcasting facilities on Capitol Drive, next to the Milwaukee River. As a kid, neighborhood friends and I would walk to the WTMJ station for the Saturday morning live broadcasts—I think they were at least an hour long. I know that I enjoyed going then—what a treat. It was a big deal for me as a kid, but I wish now that I could remember more of the details. I know this— Heinie always put on a great show! Bring on the oompah music.

I liked the following snippet from a music article I found on the University of Wisconsin site:

“This blending of German and English is no more evident than in the activities of Jack Bundy, a Milwaukee radio announcer in the 1930s and ‘40s. For comedic effect, Bundy adopted a German persona as leader of “Heinie und his Grenadiers,” a band which featured performances of German folk music on its regular radio broadcasts.

“The band was immensely popular and made recordings for Decca and Coral Records. Heinie responded to listener mail with post cards which included his photograph and a brief message employing his characteristic parody of the German-American accent and phrase structure: ‘Ve hopes you keep listenin’ in, unt dot you writes again, so often vot you like.’”

Michael Booth, a staff writer for the Denver Post, had an excellent article in the Screen section of the Post this week.

“As a home-school parent of three children, Judy Widmark can do the math: The three ratings of G, PG, and Pg-13 simply don’t add up to enough detail to help American families choose from thousands of potential movies for 73 million children under the age of 18.

“PG-13, for example, the base of many movie choosers’ existence, describes everything from the mass murders of “Hotel Rwanda” to the adult abortion drama “The Cider House Rules” to the raunch of “Beauty Shop” to the sepia tone nostalgia of “Seabiscuit.”

“’Just because it says “PG” doesn’t mean it’s appropriate,” says Widmark who is a part-time secretary for the Christian Home Educators of Colorado. While every parent can rip apart the official movie rating system, many agree it’s their job to look harder for essential screening details.”

And the problem is just not for parents with children. We seniors and younger adults need to be on guard, protecting their own mind and heart. The old saying for computer programmers remains true for our minds – Garbage In engenders Garbage Out but in the case of our minds and spirit the Garbage Out is a matter of the garbage swirling around in our mind and then bubbling up from the putrification (Spell-Check wanted me to change this to “purification.”) and surfacing at the most inopportune times. Kinda like Menninger’s “Beasts in the Basement” story.

So, what tools do we have to avoid our exposure to garbage and the agendas of the artists and writers who have a non-Theistic world view and are out to discredit anything of a Judeo/Christian ethic and absolute; intent on even secularizing our secular society even more and lying to our children that the “faith of our fathers” is Tooth Fairy and the occult and New Age beliefs are far more realistic.

Writer Booth gives us some excellent resources in his article. “The fact compiling power of the Internet makes possible a host of parent-review sites that comb every movie with startling precision, down to the number of times a “Beauty Shop” character utters “Oh, my God.” These sites range from neutral views like “ScreenIt.com to religious oriented perspectives like previewgospelcom.net will help you eliminate any unwelcomed moment of surprise during the birthday party or a quiet intergenerational movie night at home.

“It’s tough to find a measurement that everyone can trust but it’s imperative for parents to look past the rating and dig deeper.”

Here are the Web sites that might help you in your evaluation process. The Links below will immediately take you to a site but here is Booth’s summary of each movie review site:

Screenit – Nonjudgemental site offering two levels of service, free reviews with lots of ads to wade through and a subscription service without the little devils. It keeps count of profanity and category description counts of guns/weapons, imitative behavior, etc.

Plugged In On Line is a Focus on the Family site that is a media critic magazine with well written reviews of all movies followed by critiques of the movie’s handling of spiritual content, violence, etc.

Parent's Television and Movie Reviews has excellent parent reviews clearly written and graded, offering letter grades for the movies use of alcohol, drugs, language, violence, sexual content, and other warning signs and has internal links to longer parent reviews.

Preview Movie & TV Reviews brings a Christian fundamentalist perspective to its writings such as homosexual watch and anything sexual suggestive. Some of the users have complained that the reviewers are too explicit for their children to read.

Movie Mom is a popular site and part of Yahoo.

Common Sense Media

Kids-in-Mind

Michael Booth did a great service to families, parents and people like us. He is to be commended for researching and writing this excellent article. You can contact him at the Denver Post by email, mbooth@denverpost.com

WE GUARANTEE YOU CAN SET ALL YOUR CLOCKS BY IT'S ACCURACY -- EVEN YOUR ATOMIC CLOCKS AND CELL PHONES! It will give you information from the time zone your computer is set on.

"This was published in a monthly newsletter where a friend o mine lives. I had never heard this advice before and hadn't a clue as to how to help someone who is having a stroke -- a cerebral hemmorage. Perhaps you will see the value of this information and will file it away in your memory bank."

For further information about strokes and their treatment check out he web-site for the American Stroke Association.

Is It a Stroke?

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster for most victims. The stroke victim may suffer brain damage because people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

Now doctors say any bystander can recognize a stroke asking three simple questions:

1. Ask the individual to smile.

2. Ask him or her to raise both arms.

3. Ask the person to speak a simple sentence.

If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call 9-1-1 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

After discovering that a group of nonmedical volunteers could identify facial weakness, arm weakness and speech problems, researchers urged the general public to learn the three questions. They presented their conclusions at the American Stroke Association's annual meeting last year. Widespread use of this test could result in prompt diagnosis and treatment of the stroke victim and prevent brain damage.