humor – Page 18

ClonePod offers Jim C. Hines and Brian Stableford

Tuesday, March 4, 2008Wednesday, December 15, 2010 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

ClonePod, as we mentioned recently, is a new short fiction podcast that has modeled itself on the successful Escape Pod model. Hosted by middle schoolers the stories are geared towards that audience, filling a niche that has been only rarely serviced. Evidence for their commitment to entertainment comes from their latest two shows which take two tales from two pro-writers with established audiences….

First up is Brian Stableford’s The Poisoned Chalice, which originally appeared in the 2006 anthology Fantasy Gone Wrong. The idea behind which was to take “traditional fantasy premises and color them ironic.”

The Poisoned Chalice
By Brian Stableford; Read by Bruce McDonald
1 |MP3| – Approx. 42 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: ClonePod
Podcast: February 10th 2008
“WORLD’S EDGE 4 MILES” said the relevant arm of the signpost. At least, that’s what it said now. The 4 replaced a scratched-out 5, which had replaced a scratched-out six, and so on to 10. There had been other numbers before that, but someone had repainted the sign some years ago to make way for a new set….

Sez Jim C. Hines on his blog:

“If you’re looking for something to put you in a goblin mood, head on over to the new Podcasting site ClonePod. My story “Goblin Hunter” is the latest release, showing how Jig met his faithful fire-spider Smudge. “Goblin Hunter” was originally published as “Goblin Hero” in Bash Down the Door And Slice Open the Badguy [an anthology of humorous sword and sorcery). (I named the story and sold it before settling on the title for the second goblin book. So the story has now been renamed.) They’ve got a fun illustration of Ropak the goblin, too.”

Goblin Hunter
By Jim C. Hines; Read by Bruce McDonald
1 |MP3| – Approx. 29 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: ClonePod
Podcast: February 28th 2008
Jig had muck duty again. His shoulder ached from hauling the muck pot around as he scooped gobs of green sludge into shallow indentations in the stone floor. So far, he had made it through his duties without splashing himself. Even the unlit muck blistered skin in a matter of seconds. When burning, the yellow and green flames were almost impossible to extinguish, which was why the goblins used the stuff in the first place. Unlike most muck-workers, Jig had survived several years with his skin and lungs intact.

Check it out via their podcast feed:

http://www.clonepod.org/feed/

Posted by Jesse Willis

Dick Dynamo Episode 4 (Part 1) rolls out

Thursday, February 14, 2008Thursday, February 14, 2008 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

That dynamic darer of daring-do from the 5th dimension is back! Yes Dick Dynamo – The 5th Dimensional Man Episode 4 (part 1) rolled out yesterday, just in time for some hot Valentine’s Day audio action. What lies in store for Dick and his tricked-out briefcase this episode? Muwhahaha! Nobody knows …. at least until they start listening. No direct link to the MP3 is available yet, you fools, but a clever minion may at least subscribe to get all the Dick they can:

http://dickdynamo.libsyn.com/rss

Posted by Jesse Willis

Canadia: 2056 now has an official website

Monday, January 7, 2008Monday, March 17, 2008 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio News

CBC Radio engineer, producer and director (The Adventures Of Apocalypse Al, Afghanada) Greg DeClute tells me that Canadia: 2056 now has a full fledged website!

Amongst the info already found there are an Episode Guide, a Cast List, and a Photo Gallery. DeClute says that later in January we can expect to see a “Canadia: 2056 contest” and a “behind the scenes video of the making of the show”!

And here’s a link back to our listening guide for U.S. listeners.

Posted by Jesse Willis

P.S. Free The Adventures Of Apocalypse Al!

CBC Radio One has Canadia: 2056 Season 1, Episode 1 Today!

Wednesday, January 2, 2008Sunday, January 6, 2008 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

CBC Radio One is re-broadcasting the first episode of the first season of its Science Fiction / Comedy radio drama series Canadia: 2056 today! Tune in Wednesday, January 2nd 2008 at 11:05PM (this episode will repeat on Friday January 4th at 11:30AM). Don’t know how to hear the show? If you’re in Canada, tune your radio to the appointed station at the appointed time. If you’re outside of Canada or just want to time shift a bit, click on over to the Streaming Radio Map for CBC Radio One.

If you didn’t hear Canadia: 2056‘s first season the first time around do please tune in, you’ll be glad you did. Still a bit skeptical? Check out the Wikipedia entry for the show. Or have a listen to the three promos HERE.

Here’s my intro to show #1:

Episode 1: Getting the replacement parts to leave Earth orbit is harder than getting episodes of the hot TV series Foxy Chalet (”the best Canadian show the Americans ever made”).

UPDATE: Someone asked how to “time-shift listen”, if we ignore Newfoundland (sorry Newfoundland) time zones are pretty easy to figure out across Canada. Just subtract 1 hour as you head West across Canada from the East coast. If you are in New York, NY you’re in the same Time Zone as Toronto, ONT (EST). If you’re in Los Angeles, CA, you’re in the same time zone as Vancouver, BC (PTZ). And of course you need to pick the city appropriate to your time-shifted choice on the Streaming Radio Map to hear it…

Listening Times And Places For The Eastern Time Zone (Ex. NEW YORK, NY):
12:05PM on the HALIFAX CBC RADIO ONE station (ATLANTIC TIME ZONE)
11:05PM on the Toronto CBC RADIO ONE station (EASTERN TIME ZONE)
10:05PM on the Winnipeg CBC Radio ONE station (CENTRAL TIME ZONE)
9:05PM on the Calgary CBC RADIO ONE station (MOUNTAIN TIME ZONE)
8:05PM on the Vancouver CBC RADIO ONE station (PACIFIC TIME ZONE)

Listening Times And Places For The Central Time Zone (Ex. MINNEAPOLIS, MN):
9:05PM on the HALIFAX CBC RADIO ONE station (ATLANTIC TIME ZONE)
10:05PM on the Toronto CBC RADIO ONE station (EASTERN TIME ZONE)
11:05PM on the Winnipeg CBC Radio ONE station (CENTRAL TIME ZONE)
12:05PM on the Calgary CBC RADIO ONE station (MOUNTAIN TIME ZONE)
1:05PM on the Vancouver CBC RADIO ONE station (PACIFIC TIME ZONE)

Listening Times And Places For The Mountain Time Zone (Ex. SALT LAKE CITY, UT):
8:05PM on the HALIFAX CBC RADIO ONE station (ATLANTIC TIME ZONE)
9:05PM on the Toronto CBC RADIO ONE station (EASTERN TIME ZONE)
10:05PM on the Winnipeg CBC Radio ONE station (CENTRAL TIME ZONE)
11:05PM on the Calgary CBC RADIO ONE station (MOUNTAIN TIME ZONE)
12:05PM on the Vancouver CBC RADIO ONE station (PACIFIC TIME ZONE)

Listening Times And Places For The Pacific Time Zone (Ex. LOS ANGELES, CA):
7:05PM on the HALIFAX CBC RADIO ONE station (ATLANTIC TIME ZONE)
8:05PM on the Toronto CBC RADIO ONE station (EASTERN TIME ZONE)
9:05PM on the Winnipeg CBC Radio ONE station (CENTRAL TIME ZONE)
10:05PM on the Calgary CBC RADIO ONE station (MOUNTAIN TIME ZONE)
11:05PM on the Vancouver CBC RADIO ONE station (PACIFIC TIME ZONE)

North American Time Zones

Posted by Jesse Willis

P.S. Free The Adventures Of Apocalypse Al!

Review of Master Of Space And Time by Rudy Rucker

Wednesday, January 2, 2008Sunday, February 3, 2008 Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Review

Master of Space and Time
By Rudy V. B. Rucker; Read by Scott Grunden
5 CDs – Approx. 6 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781433207709
Themes: / Science Fiction / Humor / Physics / Quantum Mechanics / Alternate Universe / Time Travel / Robots /

“Madcap inventor Harry Gerber is hopeless when it comes to surviving in the real world. So he uses his genius to twist the laws of science and create his own tailor-made universe.”

Joe Fletcher has a 9-to-precisely-5 job at Softtech, a crappy software company in New Jersey. He hates his job, so much so he’s programmed a piece of software to alert him to the precise nano-second of the completion of his requisite 40 hours a week. On one particular Friday in the futuristic 1990s Joe hoofs it out to the company parking lot for the commute home only to find his former partner, Harry Gerber, an “out-of-it” genius inventor waiting for him. Joe hadn’t seen Gerber, his former partner in their bankrupt engineering firm, in more than a year so he’s rather surprised to see a two-inch tall Harry sitting on the steering wheel of his 1956 Buick. In fact, after closer inspection there are a whole swarm of tiny Harrys in the Buick. Some are standing on the gearshift, others are running around on the dashboard, each is smaller than the next. The Harrys tell Joe about the machine that they will assemble on Saturday that will make them both masters of space and time by Sunday afternoon. Most important for Joe, Harry and his girlfriend, the improbably named Sondra Tupperware, they’ll need to get some red gluons – a kind of subatomic particle found only below the “Planck threshold.” The “blunzer” – the device in question, will grant them the ability to do absolutely anything by just mentally manipulating the very nature of reality – and they know it will work since it already has!

Rudy Rucker is playing with old Heinleinian tropes to good comic effect in Master Of Space And Time. On offer is an homage to The Puppet Masters and I Will Fear No Evil, the former being an alien invasion by brain slugs, the latter being about a man who gets the ultimate in transgendered wishes. There’s lots of original material here too, the writing is Hard SF-lite with lots of physics for undergraduates. It comes off as a comic version of the ultimate power fantasy, or as an SF take on the old “three wishes” tales. One other bit of fun, the chapter names are all either self-referential or jokey. On the net there seems to be quite a bit of controversy about the religious and sexual aspects of the book. I found it hard to understand why that would be – the accusations of ‘homophobia’ and a ‘high-handed, anti-christian’ attitude seem pretty insubstantial, at least based on the content of the novel I was listening to. The whole caper is fun, unpredictable and fast moving. It makes for a breezy listen – it won’t blow your mind, but it will entertain.

In Master Of Space And Time narrator Scott Grunden has some of the funniest lines ever read in an audiobook. At one point early in the novel he’s performing the sounds of a ginormous iguana-cum-Godzilla, (WHEEEENK-WHEEEENK- WHEEEENK! GUH-ROOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOO!) the scene goes on an on. Another treat, at the point at which Joe is switched bodily into his idea of the most sexy woman in the world Grunden changes his voice even when his cadence doesn’t. It pleases the heck out of me that Blackstone is venturing a little farther back in time for many of its new Science Fiction additions. Master Of Space And Time was first published in the 1984, I had no clue it even existed until this audiobook edition came out. Look for a film version of Master Of Space And Time sometime in 2009 with a screenplay by Daniel Clowes of Ghost World fame.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency RADIO DRAMA

Monday, December 17, 2007 Laura

SFFaudio Review

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency
By Douglas Adams; Performed by a full cast
3 CDs – 3 hours [RADIO DRAMA]
Publisher: BBC AUDIO
Published: 2007
ISBN: 1405677430
Themes: / Science Fiction / Fantasy / Comedy / Mystery / Physics / Music /

Most people think of the more famous The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy when they think of Douglas Adams, but in some ways I prefer his Dirk Gently series because of its more coherent plot and wide-ranging discussions. Of course it is still mainly a rather absurd (but still clever) comedy with a number of sci-fi/fantasy elements and still finds time to explore such diverse subjects as quantum physics, Coleridge’s poetry, computing and Bach. In fact it is described on the book cover as a “thumping good detective-ghost-horror-whodunnit-time-travel-romantic-musical-comedy-epic”.

The story revolves around Richard McDuff who finds himself accused of murdering his boss and seeks help from his old friend Dirk Gently who runs what he calls a “holistic detective” agency. As the investigation unravels events become increasingly strange with ghosts, time travel and an electric monk, but Dirk is convinced of the “fundamental interconnectedness of all things” and is therefore confident of finding the answer.

This drama is directed by the talented Dirk Maggs (who also directed many of the Hitch-Hiker’s radio dramas) and has many well-known British actors. I was a little unsure about the casting of Harry Enfield as Dirk, but he was very good in the part, as was the rest of the cast. For those who are familiar with the novel be warned, there have been a number of changes made, both structurally and in various details – I thought that it was all in keeping with the spirit of the book, but purists may be disappointed. The ending does feel rather rushed and not fully explained (maybe because of time restraints), which may be a bit may be a bit confusing for those who don’t know the story. On the whole though, this is an enjoyable adaptation of a great and much missed author.

Posted by Laura

[editor’s note – This is the first post by our new reviewer Laura, a British expat living in the USA. She comes to us from her Audio Drama Blog, a visit to which will find you returning to again and again, like a moth to a very yummy flame. Moths do like the taste of flames right?]