Piper In The Woods by Philip K. Dick

SFFaudio Online Audio

Piper In The Woods by Philip K. Dick (from Imagination, February 1953)

This is a Philip K. Dick story that I’m totally baffled by. I don’t get it.

Can someone please explain to me what I’m missing?

Why don’t I understand what Philip K. Dick was getting at?

There has to be a key, somewhere, that fits the lock that will decode the meaning that Piper In The Woods hides within itself. Right?

Right?

Help!

LIBRIVOX - Piper In The Woods by Philip K. DickPiper In The Woods
By Philip K. Dick; Read by Gregg Margarite
1 |MP3| – Approx. 49 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: June 27, 2010
Earth maintained an important garrison on Asteroid Y-3. Now suddenly it was imperiled with a biological impossibility—men becoming plants! First published in Imagination, February 1953.

Here is a |PDF| made from its publication in Imagination.

Posted by Jesse Willis

CBC: Spark: Interview with David Fewer about Bill C-11 (Canada’s awful new copyright legistlation)

SFFaudio Online Audio

CBC Radio - SparkHere’s Nora Young’s full interview with David Fewer (of the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic) on Bill C-11: |MP3|

A shorter version appeared as a part of Spark #183

From the interview it seems clear that Bill C-11 (like Bills C-32 and C-61 previously) includes a fatal flaw that makes the ordinary activities of Canadians illegal whenever a digital lock is put upon a work. The mere presence of a digital lock will, in actual fact, trump any and all rights that the C-11 looks like it will otherwise provide.

C-11 forbids fair dealing. It forbids satire and parody. It forbids format shifting. Even after a work enters the public domain, if it has DRM on it, it will be illegal to circumvent DRM to get at it.

Bill C-11 is some really fucked up shit.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Seeing Ear Theatre: The Moon Moth adapted from the novella by Jack Vance

SFFaudio Online Audio

Yesterday, a friend of mine was woefully mistaken. He said there was only one good audio drama and that it was The Hobbit (referring to the BBC radio dramatization). Well that is a pretty awesome audio drama but he is still totally and completely WRONG.

There are probably hundreds and hundreds of excellent audio dramas, but I was totally caught off guard – what’s that old french saying… ah yes…

“l’homme sensible, comme moi, tout entier à ce qu’on lui objecte, perd la tête et ne se retrouve qu’au bas de l’escalier”

Indeed, I only managed to throw out a couple of quick examples before my friend had retired for the evening.

I pointed out the BBC’s dramatization of The Lord Of The Rings and I a then suggested the CBS Radio Mystery Theater and it’s wonderful Alfred Bester story The Walking Dead).

My friend left unconvinced. And it is only now, today, that others spring readily to mind.

In l’esprit de l’escalier I will throw out one more – to him and to the world – and that will be George Zarr’s masterful adaptation of Jack Vance’s The Moon Moth.

It was one of the first audio dramas I reviewed for SFFaudio, back in 2003, and it is still one of the very finest audio dramas I’ve ever heard.

You could |READ OUR REVIEW|, but I think just hearing a few minutes of it will provide enough motivation to propel both you, and my friend, to both the end and a change of opinion.

SEEING EAR THEATRE - The Moon MothSFFaudio EssentialSeeing Ear Theatre – The Moon Moth
Based on the novella by Jack Vance; adapted by George Zarr; Performed by a Full Cast
2 MP3 Files – Approx. 73 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Seeing Ear Theater
Published: 2000?
On the planet Sirene everyone wears a mask according to his status — or strahk — in society. Communication is accomplished through singing accompanied by a plethora of instruments, each of which signifies a different emotional mood or is used to talk to a different social caste. The problem is, the assassin Angmark is a master of Sirenese customs and — like everyone else on Sirene — his face is hidden behind a mask. Our doddering ambassador-detective’s only hope: to learn to use his own mask — the lowly Moon Moth — before Angmark relieves him of a head to put it on. First published in Galaxy Science Fiction, August 1961.

Part 1 |MP3| Part 2 |MP3|

Produced and directed by George Zarr
Sound Design by John Colucci and David Shinn
Music Direction and Sirenese Musical Performance by Douglas Anderson

Cast:
David Garrison as Edwer Thissell and Provisionist Greenward
Tuck Milligan as Haxo Angmark and Messenger Slave
Ian Reed as Esteban Rolver and Bright Sky Bird
Mort Banks as Cornelly Welibus and Maskmaker
Mark Victor Smith as Mathew Kershaul
Leah Applebaum as Computoid, Maiden, Female Slave, and Rex
George Zarr as Steward and Paul
Andrew Joffe as Forest Goblin, Benko, and Sand Tiger
Paul Amodeo as Hostler and Toby

Here are the illustrations, by Dick Francis, from the original publication in Galaxy SF:

The Moon Moth by Jack Vance - illustration by Dick Francis

The Moon Moth by Jack Vance - illustration by Dick Francis

The Moon Moth by Jack Vance - illustration by Dick Francis

And finally, we talked to George Zarr about The Moon Moth, and many other plays, back in SFFaudio Podcast #071. Check it out if you’d like to hear more about how awesome audio drama is.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Five Free Favourites #15: The 5 first appearances of SFFaudio Podcast semi-regulars

SFFaudio Online Audio

Five of my favourite podcasts, of our first 100 shows, include the first appearances of SFFaudio Podcast semi-regulars. This list is actually in order of how frequently they were on the podcast in those first hundred episodes.

Five Free Favourites

1. Luke Burrage first came to my attention through his Science Fiction Book Review Podcast. I had listened to his review of Robert J. Sawyer’s Hominids, and we talked about it on SFFaudio Podcast #022. Since then Luke’s been one of our most frequent guests.

The SFFaudio Podcast#028 – |MP3|-|POST| – Scott and Jesse talk to Luke Burrage of the Science Fiction Book Review Podcast

Other Luke Burrage podcasts in the first 100 episodes:
#034, #035, #051, #064, #065, #073, #076, #084, #097, #098

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2. Gregg Margarite was the first friend I actively solicited over the internet. I just found that every LibriVox audiobook he was narrating was exactly to my tastes.

The SFFaudio Podcast#034 – |MP3|-|POST| – The SFFaudio Podcast #034 – READALONG: The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan

Other Gregg Margarite podcasts in the first 100 episodes:
#035, #042, #056, #073, #076, #082, #084, #087, #094, #098

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3. The prolific Julie Davis runs several blogs and podcasts – most of which I follow avidly. I think I first heard her as a narrator on StarShipSofa in 2008, she then began narrating audiobooks for SFFaudio Challenges.

The SFFaudio Podcast #019 – |MP3|-|POST| – Scott and Jesse talk to Julie Davis of the Forgotten Classics podcast

Other Julie Davis podcasts in the first 100 episodes:
#029, #036, #056, #061, #072, #076, #077

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4. Brian Murphy is one of my all time favourite bloggers. The great writing on his The Silver Key blog, which I extolled in this post back in 2008, drew us to him as a reviewer and in our 17th episode we convinced him spend an hour with us.

The SFFaudio Podcast#017 – |MP3|-|POST| – Scott and Jesse talk to Brian Murphy of The Silver Key blog

Other Brian Murphy podcasts in the first 100 episodes:
#025, #034, #042,

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5. I first heard of Professor Eric S. Rabkin, a professor of English Language and Literature University of Michigan, back in 2003 when Scott sent me his first lecture series, Science Fiction: The Literature of the Technological Imagination |READ OUR REVIEW| from The Teaching Company. I was blown away. Then, after hearing the second second lecture series, Masterpieces of the Imaginative Mind: Literature’s Most Fantastic Works, in 2009, we invited him on to the podcast. Since then Rabkin has metaphorically delivered a series of intellectually concussive blows to our collective consciousnesses. We love to get Eric, as we now call him, on the show.

The SFFaudio Podcast#044 – |MP3|-|POST| – Scott and Jesse talk to Professor Eric S. Rabkin of the University Of Michigan

Other Eric S. Rabkin podcasts in the first 100 episodes:
#051, #095
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Posted by Jesse Willis

Hosiprog: The Mazarin Stone [AUDIO DRAMA] adapted from the story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

SFFaudio Online Audio

Robert Brown writes in to point us towards Times Past, and their “Hosiprog” program:

“[Hosiprog] was founded by the late Dennis Rookard to create and provide drama and features for hospital radio, audio magazines for the blind and community radio stations. Essex Audio Theatre and the Old Court Radio Theatre Company continue to produce and record original material for Hosiprog, with John Rhodes as recording engineer. Anyone is welcome to listen to the recordings, or to download them, and they may be broadcast freely by voluntary and community-run radio stations. The archive for the recordings are linked and provided in the Group at Times Past.”

HosiprogThe Mazarin Stone
By M.J. Elliott; Adapted from the story The Adventure Of The Mazarin Stone by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 28 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Producer: Old Court Radio Theatre Company
Produced: 2007
|ETEXT|
Based on a stage play (The Crown Diamond: An Evening With Mr Sherlock Holmes) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. First published as a short story in the Strand Magazine, October 1921.

[Thanks Robert!]

Posted by Jesse Willis

CBC: Nightfall: Assassin Game by John G. Fisher

SFFaudio Online Audio

One of the very few legitimately Science Fiction stories in the CBC Nightfall series was this one, Assassin Game by John G. Fisher. It’s set in a then future in which all university students, in the top fifth percentile, are required to play an assassination game. Exceptional players are recruited by all the best transnational mega-corporations which offer free, but illegal, training in the summers. Chris Wiggins, a great voice actor best known perhaps for his role on Friday The 13th: The Series, plays the school’s president. And a very young sounding Saul Rubinek plays the protagonist, a student, and star player, who is unwilling to pick a sponsor. There’s a whole lot going on in this half hour show – with a big back-story, a vintage future sound design (Star Trek and Pac-Man), and a noirish plot.

Devoted readers may note some strong similarities to Robert Sheckley’s Seventh Victim and derivative tales.

CBC - NightfallNightfall #74 – Assassin Game
By John G. Fisher; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 28 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: CBC
Broadcast: November 5, 1982
Source: Archive.org
In the future, your career will be determined by now many students you eliminate at university. Assassin was just a game at first, then it got real.

Cast:
Saul Rubinek … Joel Unson (a computer science student)
Nicky Guadagni … Wendy Hirsch?
David Ferry … Martin (a political science student)
Ralph McPherson … Alex (Joel’s AI)
Peter Jobin … the computer and the man
Chris Wiggins … university president
Barbara Kyle … Miss and the PA announcer

Posted by Jesse Willis