Review of On Venus, Have We Got A Rabbi! by William Tenn

On Venus, Have We Got A Rabbi!
By William Tenn; read by William Tenn
56 minutes – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: WNYC Radio [“Spinning On Air” with host David Garland].
Published: Nov. 22nd 2002 [LISTEN TO THE ARCHIVED SHOW IN REALAUDIO at WNYC]
Themes: / Science Fiction / Satire / Humor / Jews / Religion / Venus /

“Milchik, the TV repairman, speaks for all Jews on Venus and in the Universe.”

William Tenn (aka Philip Klass), gets the royal treatment he so well deserves on David Garland’s WNYC radio show. Remarkably well prepared, Garland teases out some delightful and informative anecdotes and stories from Tenn, it makes for a riveting interview. Garland has also seen fit to gift us with a delectable reading of one of Tenn’s stories read by the author himself!

William Tenn’s stories always have the same effect on me, as the story progresses a smile grows wider and wider across my face. On Venus, We Have A Rabbi! is laugh out loud funny. Perhaps knowledge of Jewish history would be helpful, I don’t know, but I enjoyed the heck out of it. And thankfully unlike another WNYC reading, this novelette is free of music, Tenn’s hilarious reading of his own story is almost perfect. He stumbles only once over one word, but otherwise he reads his tale like a professional narrator.

I sure hope Garland keeps up the great programming. Radio like this makes me wish I lived in New York.

Posted by Jesse Willis

The Crazy Dog Audio Theatre has started a new seri…

SFFaudio Online Audio

The Crazy Dog Audio Theatre has started a new series on Ireland’s RTE Radio 1 called Diabolic Playhouse. The first episode aired on Saturday, September 4th, and can be heard now on the Diabolic Playhouse page on RTE Radio 1’s website. The next show will be broadcast this Saturday at 8:02pm Irish time, or 3 in the afternoon on the U.S. East Coast, 12 noon on the U.S. West Coast, and can be heard live by clicking the “Listen Live” link on RTE Radio 1’s main page.

Posted by Jesse Willis

The Hugo Awards were given yesterday (September 4,…

SFFaudio News

The Hugo Awards were given yesterday (September 4, 2004) and here are the results:

Best Novel: Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold

Best Novella: “The Cookie Monster” by Vernor Vinge

Best Novelette: “Legions in Time” by Michael Swanwick

Best Short Story: “A Study in Emerald” by Neil Gaiman

Best Related Book: The Chesley Awards for Science Fiction and Fantasy Art: A Retrospective by John Grant, Elizabeth L. Humphrey, and Pamela D. Scoville

Best Dramatic Presentation, short form: Gollum’s Acceptance Speech at the 2003 MTV Movie Awards

Best Dramatic Presentation, long form: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Best Professional Editor: Gardner Dozois

Best Professional Artist: Bob Eggleton

Best Semiprozine: Locus, Charles N. Brown, Jennifer A. Hall, and Kirsten Gong-Wong, eds.

Best Fanzine: Emerald City, Cheryl Morgan, ed.

Best Fan Writer: Dave Langford

Best Fan Artist: Frank Wu

A big surprise to me was that Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form award. Gollum’s Acceptance Speech? Come on, people. The Firefly episode entitled “The Message” was deserving of the award. If you get a chance to see that series, do! You won’t be disappointed – it’s excellent, and available on DVD. A feature film is in the works.

The only item here represented on audio (or about to be represented on audio) is Lois McMaster Bujold’s Paladin of Souls. Blackstone Audio has published the first volume in that series, entitled The Curse of Chalion, and will publish Paladin of Souls soon.

Congratulations to all the nominees and award winners!

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Books on Tape was purchased a couple of years ago …

SFFaudio News

Books on Tape was purchased a couple of years ago by Random House. Last week, they decided to close the rental division of the company. Most of the unabridged titles that have been produced during that time were available in retail editions on the Random House Audio imprint – I expect that will continue to be the case. Questions abound regarding their backlist, which includes books by Isaac Asimov, Robert Jordan, Frank Herbert, and Terry Brooks.

Right now, the company is selling their used rental copies at rental prices – that is, whatever they charged to rent a title is now the purchase price. While supplies last, as they say.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Back on July 2nd, the Mark Time Science Fiction Au…

SFFaudio News

Back on July 2nd, the Mark Time Science Fiction Audio Awards and the Ogle Fantasy Audio Awards for the production year 2003 were given. The awards, for excellence in audio theater, were given at the Convergence science fiction convention in Bloomington, MN.

GOLD MARK TIME AWARD

The Convergence

Jeffrey Adams, writer/producer, International Falls, MN.

www.storiesonmp3.com

Interdimensional invaders decide to make their move through a local science fiction convention.

SILVER MARK TIME AWARD

“A Man Walks Into A Bar”: The Arbiter Chronicles, Episode 2

Steven H. Wilson, writer/producer.

Prometheus Radio Theatre, Elkridge, Maryland.

www.prometheusradiotheatre.com

The ship’s telepath kills an alien to protect another crewmember, but absorbs his personality in the process, becoming a danger to everyone on board.

HONORABLE MENTION

“The ShadowMan”

Marc Rose and Jerel McQuen

Dry Smoke and Whispers Holodio Theater, Beaverton, OR.

Transdimensional Media LLC.

www.drysmoke.com

Telepathic detective, Emille Song, is dragged around through interdimensional trapdoors by The ShadowMan. But whose side is this mysterious ShadowMan on?

GOLD OGLE AWARD

“The Field”

Lance Roger Axt, producer. Pacific Grove, CA. Written by Elizabeth Benjamin.

Play It By Ear

A couple argue about the Indians digging up ancestors in their yard, eventually telling one of the diggers about the strange things that have been happening since they began.

SILVER OGLE AWARD

“Howl of the Mac Tire”

Roger Gregg, writer/producer, Dublin, Ireland.

Crazy Dog Audio Theatre.

www.crazydogaudiotheater.com

On a lonely mountain above the sheep fields of Dun Mac Cu Tiré, something fiendish is on the prowl. Detective Maeve O’Casey and her partner Matt Griffin set a trap, but for what?

HONORABLE MENTION

“A Murder of Crows” – Three short works for Halloween.

Sam Mowry and Martin Gallagher, producers.

Willamette Radio Workskhop, Portland, OR.

www.radiowork.com

An original compendium of horror, suspense and the supernatural, performed live.

A Special Lifetime Achievement Award was also given to Dirk Maggs, who is currently involved with the latest Hitchhiker’s Guide shows.

Find further details on these awards here!

Posted by Scott D. Danielson