The SFFaudio Podcast #840 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: The Tower Treasure by Franklin W. Dixon

The SFFaudio Podcast #840 – The Tower Treasure by Franklin W. Dixon (3 hour 59 minutes) read by James R. Hedrick for LibriVox, followed by a discussion of it. Participants in the discussion include Jesse, Maissa Bessada, and Cora Buhlert

Talked about on today’s show:
1927, the narrator was very enthusiastic, an exciting story, an interesting accent, of the time, movies from 1927, distinct and of a certain place, old fashioned, a little bit of comparsion, Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys kick, the first Hardy Boys book, the first one first, before it was rewritten, they have the same title, a lot of differences, still told third person, no two words are the same, the chapter names, fake bomb threat, racial slurs, this Italian never quite lost their accent, melting pot, Jewish friend, Italian kid, upstate New York, Long Island, rich people, they’re there, obviously an older text, books from about the same era, set in Silesia or eastern Prussia, no longer German, Hanover instead of Leipzig, whitewash all these books, 1959-1973, remove ethnic stereotypes, shortened and modernized, they’re not shorter, modernize yes, a current controversy with Dungeons & Dragons, they rewrite them, new content, buy the new books, a generation, same title, the same reason we have movies coming out from generations passed, The Day Of The Jackal, a Frederick Forsyth novel, The Jackal, 2024 television show, put it out there, Heinlein juveniles, one is a syndicate, the other is a dude, Heinlein estate, many would love to, Philip K. Dick’s estate, tinker, change the dates in Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, Franklin W. Dixon is not a real person, Edward Stratemeyer, are you a good writer, can you fill pages?, an assignment, the boys go looking for a treasure that went missing, we still have Ford Mustangs today, it’s a 4 door SUV, or a roadster, we’re done with fins now, artifacts that make it old fashioned, there are no slurs to remove, lengthy series, obviously dead, that’s Poland now, that’s where Uncle Horst was from, copyright date, born in 1928, in the middle of WWII, age in realtime, 100 adventures in high school, the first three pages of chapter 1, The Speed Demon, clutched the grips, careening from side to side, climb this hillside and fast, motorcycles, on the double, the steep embankment, on two wheels, the dusty ground, wow, said Joe, let’s get away from here, a dead you know, the sedan sped past, a glimpse, hatless, a shock of red hair, too excited to finish the threat, practicing for some kind of race, Willowville in the valley, the rash motorist, over a cliff, the legal papers, how about taking the other road back to Bayport, every word is rewritten, wanting to be detectives, the motorbikes, not 15 year olds, driving something, car license at 18, an establishing book, in the rewrite everybody knew, starting from a whole different mindset, you would have known what the Hardy Boys was, strangely written, stop and talk to the farmhands, a boy honking a carhorn, vignettes, so old fashioned in the 1950s, impossible to accept that, sort of funny, charming, kids a re very sensitive to fashion and peer pressure, anachronistic old fashion, uncool, motorbikes: still cool, Jesse was not a big Barbie guy, Barbie’s corvette, a modern corvette, old toys vs. new toys, always pink, change shape, dreamhouse keeps updating, interior furnishings, reading experience, books from the turn of the century, books from the fifties, translated books, another layer, kind of weird, different place or different time, Karl May, brave Saxonian adventurers making friends, weird old fashioned, we’re all adults, not subject to that peer pressure, 1960, why this pressure was brought to bear, the parents, share an experience, a continuity there, still selling the books, make sure the product is something people want to buy, collective experience, thrift shop, listening to this one, the major mystery was solved offscreen by the father, the kids picked up the threads and finished it, the revised version, so much filler in this book, played for comedy, round and round, full of filler, they’re still boys, a Disney television serial, Applegate House, the boys’ ages are reduced, 10 or 11 years old, not independent boys, also pirate treasure, 500 hours long, the characters and the premise are more important than the mystery, why does that scene exist?, a Scooby Doo novelized, Little Rascals, how juvenile delinquenty these boys are, The Black Hand, anarchists, those are lawbreakers, charged with mischief, the least charge for the fake bomb, the non-bumbling detective in town, Smof, almost unrealistic, revised Nancy Drews, no sense of sarcasm, the revised ones in the 70s, she’s very well mannered, drives her 1950s blue convertible, as loosey goosey as these boys, she’s a girl, dangers of pranks and dare, steal a vehicle to play a prank, that was real, the life that’s described in this book, a real phenomena, the early life of H.P. Lovecraft, carried a gun around with him, followed people around, children become the focus of society, child labour is a bad thing, the highlight of your heavenly life, the J.M. Barrie books, Victorian childrens’ literature, kids were free range, charged with child endangerment, hanging out all day, doing petty crime, you’re a girl tho, just by smoking you could be bad, sneaking out of the house, a whole phenomena, the revision, one of the things that happens with comics, wild horror comics, The Comic Code Authority, read through it, no disrespecting authority, no death, rules against skeletons, no blood, the rules are different, each generation has a different set of background assumptions, that’s a crime and this is a crime, offroad, the rules were different then, strange strange things, Jesse’s most wild theory, what we don’t know where the treasure is, the mystery shifts, who stole the treasure, the last two thirds of the book, where did the $900 come from?, solved but not solved well, the sister with the flashlight, she’s on the cover, she’s an old lady, like 55, colourful clothes 20 years out of date, wearing a turn of the century dress, wore the same dress her entire life, clothes were more expensive, this great grandmother was really really poor, flapper dresses, she was wearing everything, colourful character, expected to wear dark subdued clothes, wild theory, you will not expect this, Nancy Drews, what the mystery is, funnier, swimming in a canal, they get their jeans on, wearing her friend’s jeans, how close the friendship is, always gonna go get married, hasn’t married him for almost 100 years, characters who are very stiff, clearly a robot, where the money came from, I came by it honestly, an abortionist, it is dark, what are the things today?, what he did in the old tower, underemployed, he didn’t steal the money, who’s using his services?, somebody in Baytown, it should be the answer, great Nancy Drew area maps, lakes and rivers, super common, Half Moon Lake, lakes are female, towers are male, all subconcious, write me a mystery, something they have to do, a fairyland, read it subversively, smugglers was a big thing, pirates still exist, a buncha bonds and stocks, masters thesis, Enid Blyton, Famous Five, there’s always smugglers, 1940s and 50s, kinda weird, what’s a smuggler actually do?, Nazi spies, it has to be something covert otherwise there’s no mystery to be solved, she’s a really nice girl, all the old ladies, all the men, kinda nosy, polite about it, make her lunch, have tea, semi-girlfriend, not as annoying as all the other girls, list you some of the book series, still being produced, 1899, The Rover Boys, on ocean and land, 30 volumes, Soldiers Of Fortune, Colonial, Pan-American, Outdoor, The Bobsey Twins, 1904-1979, Dave Porter, Boy Hunter, Boys of Pluck, The Motor Boys, boys in a motorboat, directed at girls, Ralph Of The Railroad, Dorothy Dale, 1908-1924, good little girl, Webster series, The Motor Girls series, Tom Swift, Victor Appleton, Outdoor Chums, Pioneer Boys, Dave Dashaway, Air Champion, Motion Picture Chums, Outdoor Girls, Ruth Fielding, an orphan, boaring school and college, Anne Of Green Gables series, juvenile mystery, complete with stupid bumbling cop, Sandra Detective In Jeans, liberation pants, a tape recorder, a radio with a tape deck, the forms are completely recognizable, Encylopedia Brown, a whole parallel british system, annuals, a Rupert Annual, under the christmas tree, this American system, largely forgotten, way deep under the popularity, scholastic, five books, all over North America, fit really nicely into those, the cover of the first one, Margot Kreuter, Sandra And The House In The Hills, Victoria Holt, Mistress Of Mellyn, Castle Fearstone, extremely regional, Scandanavian authors, Germanized, 1990s, Harry Potter, Twilight, more international, similar types of books, Edward Statermeyer, awake and alive, 1908, 1916, connective tissue, Old Indiana Jones, he’s got the hat, descendants, that narrative went away, The Spring Break Adventure, Nancy Stratemery, Thomas Edison, dangerous German spies, hostile enemy agents, exactly like the plot of any of these spy based kids in high school, borrows an electric roadster, a Tom Swiftism, electric runabout, new radio, his matter transmitter, WWI, is this cop corrupt, on the level, super appealing, kid empowerment, making a difference, having adventures, $500 rewards, Scooby Doo isn’t that different, with wills and estates, last woman to be guillotined, beheaded in the 1940s, old mansion, two towers, the old tower is abandoned, nobody goes into except guests, no children, what it that boys fdo?, help the old rich family recover, the family jewels, the lichy action happening, as much chicken as they can ever eat, the final reveal, I was being paid a debt, parents would complain, read these subversively, the double, The Cold Female and the other one with it, almost exactly the same story, weird menace, shudder pulp, always caused by some human doing something strange, a perverted human, women are abducted or in danger, men have to come to their rescue, gruesome images, sexually grateful, worse people, eat them too, that’s horrible, the man looks good while he save the girl, women will be greatful, female fantasy, investigate the character of a potentional husband, what the goss is, skeletons in the closet, this bluebeard chracter, need to read Nancy Drew subversively, a will that went missing, going down those steps in the hidden basement, cultists with branding irons, the best part of the book, where that money came from, the addition of the Black Hand, a cartoon and not a good cartoon, quaint, kind of charming, read six more of them, 8 year old Cora, 10 year old Cora, fun, Adelia used to be blonde, but then she died, Adelia is a ghost, redwigged racer, Red, serving the existing adminsitration, killing the kings, the castle that looms over Bayport is not being wisely managed, we should have sympathy for the robber, he’s dead, he gives up the information, a real Robin Hood type, not subversive, reinforcing, what super-hero comics are, always backing the institutions, no anti-Vietnam war comics untils the 1980s, every pop culture character, too young to rememeber, every hero you ever saw was there, ask questions about it, what happened there?, in the rewrite, the Robin Hood ending, locked away by a man called Hobo Johnny, anything in the tower belongs to him, claiming for himself, the simplicity of these kinds of stories, the forthrightness of the boys or Nancy Drew, just being super-subversive, if Nancy Drew’s first book was public domain, rewriting it an making it good, making it much more clear that the world she lives in is full of abortionists and immigrant smugglers, her name would have to be Nancy Drew, The Girl Detective by Kelly Link, whay the story was the way it was, 2006, the underworld at the back of your closet, the underworld is full of things you’ve forgotten about, get a flashlight and go underground, the same instinct, the peephole, can’t admit to herself, going to murder her, why is that an instinct, you get to see her showcasing her nautrturing nature, the poor little dumb girl, her dad doesn’t love her, meant to be flashlighted, it would be human smugglers, arms to Ukraine, some sort of political topic, Indian reservations, cigarettes across the border, before Poland and the Czech Republic, consumable disposable, something to this format, the wholesome nature of the characters, very lawbreaking, they cause a bomb threat, to be fair, they were deserving of that, the keystone cops, too cartoonish, we’re supposed to respect our authorities, H.P. Lovecraft with a pistol in his pocket, bizzare, practicing detective, series things, Randolph Carter, no strong evidence other than coincidence, Nick Carter, pulp detective, foiling tongs, it fits, his joke is right, Abdul Al Hazred, the mad Arab, associated with the necronomicon, put a towel on his head and pretend to be Arab, bragging about his breadth of reading, the name is not real, I read the whole Arabian Nights, an imaginative young person before videogames, go to the arcade, lose too many coins in the machines, home computers, play games for free at home, just copy the discs, make these suimulated worlds, Dungeons and Dragons without a Dungeon Master, everybody else clues into this, games on their phones, youtube now has games, this takeover of different media changing from 1980 to 2020, Hardy Boys hardly rate, hardback book series, students don’t read at all, girls still read, at a certain age, true in this case, better books for boys, am I the werewolf or vampire love interest?, romantasy, the YA is for women 20s 30s or above, problem books, adult books, science fiction and fantasy, sexier versions of YA supernatural romances, varied, that section doesn’t have any kids, Alex P. (Cirsova), they read Dogman, if you’re a boy of 10 years old, Captain Underpants, the younger kids don’t read, teens pretty much stop, they don’t read for fun, read comics on their phone, only punishment at school, English language novels, reading at school, Suburban Crocodiles, in a wheelchair, people in wheelchairs are also human, quite popular, a grocery store, yelled at for not knowing, everybody knows this, a remoderized one, Tom Swift, that whole Heinlein juvenile series, moon nazis, similar to this, a mystery going on, Nazi spies, Frank Reade, The Steam Man Of The Praries, wild west inspired comics, an engine that looks like a man, powered by steam, coal in his belly, legs and arms, pulls your wagon, who stole the Indian blankets?, crunchy hard to read serials, the media landscape doesn’t start and end with 20th century fiction, the 19th century was huge for kids reading, Little Women, way too good, very nice girls, Little Lord Fauntlelroy, 1980 film adaptation, on TV around Christmas, really good, steampunk but real, like a robot but not robotic, robot shaped, golems, before the word robot, Return To Oz (1985), a clockwork man, Frank Reade And His Steam Horse, NoName is the house name, the steam man is racing the steam horse, away they flew like rockets, giant strides, what is the interest here?, vehicles like this, represents power and freedom, even a bicycle, you walk everywhere?, how can you live?, a minor physiological thing, required to learn how to ride a bicycle, he is very slow, skateboards, scooters, the freedom of that motorcycle, doing something important, a little blue convertible always breaking down, drives around and solves mysteries, so many horses and buggies, roadsters and touring cars, super-high tech, if you were to write one today, with Elon Musk flying rockets, some drones, a small drone company, Jetson One, a drone airplane, a flying car, hover over things, electric scooters, signs outside grocery stores, very very dangerous, mostly teenagers, kids from immigrant backgrounds, 25 km per hour, Toronto, Coquitlam, rentals, abandoned everywhere, has to be much more exciting than that, cars and then flying cars, not very long, what a car is, by 1927, the guy honking behind the hay wagon, codevelop, which came first, the motorcycle or the electric car, Benz motor wagon number 1, steam powered and electric cars, in the UK they’re motorcars, in North America they’re automobiles, a car is a carriage, self-mobile, motorwagen, a carriage without a horse, self-powered vehicles, tractors, the platonic ideal of a car, the Ford Model T, instead of a tiller you have a wheel, a cover over the top of your vehicle, coachbuilt, handmade car, what horses pull, a Guy de Maupassant story, Maupassant’s take on a Nancy Drew, an omnibus, a great story, payoff his debt, buying a lawfirm, she rides and rides and rides, the final stop for the omnibus, where?, what?, my husband?, he took her dowry and fucked off with it, he married her took her money and dumped her on an omnibus, streetcars pulled by horses, he had to pay off Mr. Robinson, had to take the money to pay for an abortion, motorcycles in the 1890s, how techs effect, recognizable as a motorcycle, a lot like an electric bicycle today, motorbike shows, from the 1920s and 1910s, the light, fuel to the lamp, on the bicyle platform, the 1880s, a bike mad H.G. Wells novel [The Wheels Of Chance], the Green Party utopia, almost a religion, training bike, freedom, a horse but you don’t have to feed it, the bus came five times a day, dependent on yourself, The Adventure Of The Solitary Cyclist by Arthur Conan Doyle, essential to understanding, its the tech and the associated behaviors around the tech, 1400 vs. 1450 tech, a lot of manufacturing going, consumer goods vs. custom made at home, kids are interested in that power that comes from that tech, everybody wanted the new iphone, for fashion, a personal property item you take with you all the time, aren’t changing in size, all the cameras are good, phone from 2017, 1985 Toyota, 1995 Toyota, no ashtray, Vancouver Island, a 40 year old car, cars are robots now, technology that’s built-in, front and back cameras is standard now, are you living in your car, they do the same thing, they’re brainier, bad wifi, one of them was a printer, another was a stove, one was a refrigerator, Hitachi, LG, your stove probbably doesn’t need wifi, the dishwasher doesn’t need wifi, an 1895 Toyota is a horse, a fundamental difference, has a heater, a screen instead of dials, an ashtray, and a cassette player, an 1895 aprtment and a 2025 apartment, the tech that’s in it, not enough power outlets, the phone line ending in the basement, 1971, retrofitted, forward thinking, the phone connection is in the basement, next week, 2 horror stories, The Noseless Horror by Robert E. Howard and the Haunted Corridors by William Osborne, let’s go wassailing, the last Olaf Stapledon, an actual novel, George MacDonald’s Lilith, real science fiction writer, the smart dog book, Last And First Men, Starmaker, outside the US magazine ecosystem, retro Hugos, we no longer have retro Hugos, we have John Scalzi, he’s on the approved list, bitter about the retro Hugos thing, here’s a Heinlein let’s vote for that, make them better, you’re not a nazi but…, weird book, stock characters and sterotypes, a ginger, no real gingers, early diversity, the Brooklyn guy, not an important part of New York, the Irish guy always, totally sterotyped Irish guy in space, their idea of diversity was different, steam men riding steam horses, on their way to a steam abortion, Laura Ingalls Bewilder, Little House On The Prairie, steamy romantasys, participation in this Hardy Boy fest, read all the Nancy Drews, British and German counterparts.

The Tower Treasure by Franklin W. Dixon

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #090 – TALK TO: Charles Ardai

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #090 – Jesse talks to Hard Case Crime author and editor Charles Ardai.

Talked about on today’s show:
Hard Case Crime, Gabriel Hunt (Hunt For Adventure), BBC Audiobooks America, iambik audio, Little Girl Lost by Richard Aleas (aka Charles Ardai), Audible.com, Songs Of Innocence by Richard Aleas (aka Charles Ardai), the best kept secret in the audiobook world, L.J. Ganser, The Confession by Dominic Stansberry, Money Shot by Christa Faust, Noircon, The Bobbsey Twins, Edward Stratermeyer, Titan Books, Choke Hold by Christa Faust, Porn + Mixed Martial Arts, “book reviews aren’t generally found in the adult film industry magazines”, the porn industry vs. newspaper publishing vs. podcasting, the Quarry series, Max Allan Collins, Road To Perdition, Dorchester Publishing, Random House, HCC is a NEW Lawrence Block novel, The Girl With A Long Green Heart, Killing Castro by Lawrence Block |READ OUR REVIEW|, Grifter’s Game |READ OUR REVIEW|, re-numbering the HCC series, “this is a book that demands a naked woman on the cover”, “this the nakedest cover we’ve ever done”, Getting Off by Lawrence Block (writing as Jill Emerson), paperback book, the Gold Medal books, Max Phillips, Dell Mapbacks, Ace Doubles, Robert Bloch, Nightstand Books, Robert McGinnis, Glenn Orbik, an upcoming HCC book (HCC-102) is a collaboration between two major writers one deceased one alive, Memory by Donald Westlake, SFFaudio Podcast #082, there is a ANOTHER NEW unpublished Westlake novel coming to HCC in 2012, The King Of Comedy, Honey In His Mouth by Lester Dent, hard core aficionados, The Dead Man’s Brother by Roger Zelazny, Will Murray, Ken Bruen, Jason Starr, Fake ID, Bust, Slide, Max, finding HCC in bookstores will be nearly impossible until January 25th 2011, The Valley Of Fear by A.C. Doyle is a well known public domain novel cleverly disguised (for fun), Gabriel Hunt: Through The Cradle Of Fear by Gabriel Hunt (aka Charles Ardai) |READ OUR REVIEW|, the tradition of dressing up old books with new art – conning the reader into reading classic literature, Edgar Allan Poe, Sherlock Holmes, the most hard-boiled of the Sherlock Holmes novels, the Lion Books edition of Frankenstein, the pulp tradition, being playful with the book-buyer, the first hardcover HCC, Fifty To One by Charles Ardai is a book for bookcovers, Subterranean Press, Otto Penzler, a hardcover edition of Memory by Donald E. Westlake, the new paperbacks (with Titan Books) will be trader-paperbacks, the mass market paperback business is difficult if you’re not named Dan Brown, paperback book collecting is crazy, who is modeling Naomi Novick, the Quentin Tarantino Roast, Michael Madsen, Steve Buscemi, Fade To Blonde, Witness To Myself, woman on the cover sells, The Great Gatsby, Cornell Woolrich, Quarry’s Ex, the new sexiness on the covers is because HCC won’t be sold in the mass market format, Jim Thompson, Fright by Cornell Woolrich, Stanley Kubrick commissioned Jim Thompson film script, Richard Stark, Somebody Owes Me Money by Donald E. Westlake |READ OUR REVIEW|, a sequel to Somebody Owes Me Money?, the nephew books, Max Allan Collins, the problem with James M. Cain, Jealous Woman, Sinful Woman, Black Lizard books, The Cocktail Waitress (an unpublished James M. Cain book), John D. MacDonald, knocking my socks half-way off, send Charles Ardai your suggestions and submissions, The Colorado Kid will soon be very hard to find (it is out of print), The Valley Of Fear (the HCC edition is out of print), where are the HCC posters?, HCC t-shirts, Hunt For Adventure will be coming in trade-paperback, Hunt Through Napoleon’s Web, Hunt Among The Killers Of Men, where is the adventure fiction section of bookstores?, “the coffin of Atilla the Hun”, Nor Idolatry Blind The Eye by Charles Ardai, Indiana Jones, Best American Noir of the Century, Otto Penzler’s upcoming adventure anthology, why are there no adventure magazines?, Five Graves To Cairo, The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre, Argosy, a Gabriel Hunt adventure magazine?, adventure comics?, Prince Of Persia, the Gabriel Hunt bible, Gabriel Hunt fan-fiction is a-ok with Charles Ardai.

The Great Gatsby and Grifter's Game

Frankenstein and The Valley Of Fear (a Sherlock Holmes novel)

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #089 – TALK TO: James Campanella

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #089 – Jesse talks to James Campanella, Ph.D. Jim is an associate professor in the department of Biology and Molecular Biology at Montclair State University in New Jersey. He’s also an audiobook narrator, and podcaster.

Talked about on today’s show:
J.J. Campanella watches very little TV, Lost, The Big Bang Theory, Antarctica, MSU, molecular biology, genetics, plant genetics, philology vs. phylogeny, the Science News Update podcast, “a funny Geordie sounding dude” (Tony C. Smith), duck penises, cloaca, sexing birds, African Grey parrots, ants, What Technology Wants, technology as an extension of evolution, “microscopic brains”, plant intelligence, tropism, phototropism vs. gravitropism, auxins, The Secret Life Of Plants, dowsing, plant signaling (with jasmonic acid), StarShip Sofa, The Merchant And The Alchemist’s Gate by Ted Chiang, knitting and cross-stitching, narrating skills, Uvula Audio, I, Libertine, The Call Of The Wild by Jack London, L. Frank Baum is seriously weird, violence vs. bloodless violence, the Tin Woodsman and his enchanted axe, goiing from cyborg to robot (via a Ship of Theseus metaphor), Sky Island, genocide in kids books, Doc Savage, The Avenger, Lester Dent, Hamlet And Eggs by J.J. Campanella, a comedic detective story, Georgia, 9/11, how to be always wrong, private detectives, The Code Of The Poodles by James Powell, what accent would a talking dog have?, The Friends Of Hector Jouvet by James Powell, Monaco, A Dirge For Clowntown by James Powell, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Divers Down by Hal Gordon, were kids in the ’70s were more respectful?, the Rick Brant series, Tom Swift, The Rocket’s Shadow (Rick Brant #1) by John Blaine, Jonny Quest, adventure, The Venture Bros., The Flintstones, Harold L. Goodwin, serial books, house names, The Bobbsey Twins, Edward Stratemeyer, “electronic adventures”, who read and bought those serial books?, the end of the pulp era, The Mystery Of The Stratemeyer Legacy, Nancy Drew, has paranormal romance replaced kids books?, the Twilight series, the Harry Potter series, Rick Riordan, The Wizard Of Oz, H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, the rich and amazing language of Lovecraft, Miskatonic University, Craig Nickerson, At The Mountains Of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft, Professor William Dyer, The Shadow Out Of Time by H.P. Lovecraft, Brazil, proper Portuguese pronunciation, “lethp listhping”, Doctor Who, Silurians, yithians, Horror vs. Science Fiction, Astounding Stories, time travel, “shoggoths etc.”, The Statement Of Randolph Carter, a really serious (and difficult) question: Are zombies Science Fiction or Fantasy?, Romero-style zombies, 28 Days Later, real zombies in nature (mostly in the insect world), Herbert West, Re-Animator, the source matters, if the zombie was dead then it is Fantasy, why are zombies so popular?, people like the idea of being able to kill without remorse, mummies vs. werewolves vs. vampires vs. zombies, Zombieland, Bill Murray, contemporary Fantasy, Neil Gaiman, comics, sword and sorcery, Elric, the Thomas Covenant series, Stephen R. Donaldson, Douglas Adams, American Gods |READ OUR REVIEW| vs. The Long Dark Tea-Time Of The Soul, James Alan Gardner, Expendable is an “absolute masterpiece”, Star Trek, why are there no James Alan Gardner audiobooks?, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Man Of Bronze is terrible, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson |READ OUR REVIEW|, Jim Campanella describes it as “turgid”, Metropia, “photo-realistic Swedish anime”, baby eyes, Steamboat Willie, the evolution of Mickey Mouse’s appearance, infanticide, why do your big eyes prevent me from kill you?, saccharin, the sucralose story (is in the Dec. 2010 podcast of Science News Update).

Posted by Jesse Willis

CBC: Ideas: The Mystery Of The Stratemeyer Legacy

SFFaudio Online Audio

CBC Radio One - IdeasI read books for ideas and I’m not the only one. One of my favourite CBC radio shows (and podcasts) is called Ideas; it’s latest podcast is all about books full of them. It’s entitled The Mystery Of The Stratemeyer Legacy. Here’s the description:

A thrilling episode, in which the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Tom Swift, and IDEAS producer Dave Redel investigate the juvenile pulp fiction factory that accidentally created cultural icons.

Download it |MP3| and enjoy!

Podcast feed:

http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/includes/ideas.xml

Incidentally, perhaps my favorite American television show, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (aka The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones), features an excellent homage to both Tom Swift and Nancy Drew in an episode variously titled Spring Break Adventure and Princeton, February 1916 And since I’m on the subject, one of the DVD boxed sets (Volume One) features a solid documentary called The Mystery of Edward Stratemeyer. Young Indiana Jones and Ideas, highly, highly recommended.

Posted by Jesse Willis

P.S. FREE Apocalypse Al.