Podcasts

When I was a kid, we had something called radio. I would lay awake at night under the covers and listen to CBS Radio Mystery Theatre. There would be stories of ghosts and detectives, gun molls and mad scientists. That is probably the root of my chronic insomnia today.

Radio drama died away on commercial radio. Then the local public radio station played the British Broadcasting Corporation's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, plus Jeeves and Wooster, followed by ZBS's Fourth Tower of Inverness. 

That was some twenty-five years ago. The station decided audio drama was too expensive and audience attention span too short. I don't know how they came to that conclusion. No one asked my opinion.

Thank goodness for podcasts: Bells in the Batfry, Decoder Ring Theatre, Drabblecast, Dunesteef, Podcastle, Escape Pod, Podiobooks, Sonic Society, Thomas Jefferson Hour. As television and radio slide deeper into mediocrity and homogeneity, creative producers are taking to the internet to deliver vibrant audio and video product that commercial and non-profit outlets no longer carry.

Amazingly, that vast majority of it is free. They ask for donations to pay fees and maybe get a reward for their efforts. I kick in a few dollars now and then. If everybody who listened did that, the amount of fascinating, enlightening, wondrous entertainment available would be awesome indeed.

Why I Read Fantasy

            The archetypal fantasy story of western civilization, I would argue, is La Morte d’Arthur; the sixteenth century story of a local warlord who brings order to a savage land and in so doing, enobles the character of those around him.

            Arthur began life as a nobody, a shlub.   When greatness was thrust upon him he had some help, but when it came to crucial decisions, he was on his own.

            Like Arthur, Bilbo Baggins, and Luke Skywalker, the final moments of a fantasy story don’t hinge on mastery of the sword, magic, or the force.  It’s the main character’s own courage and sense of justice that decide the outcome.

            Fantasy stories appeal to both my inner child and my outer man.  What teenage boy doesn’t want to chop off bullies’ heads or shoot lightning bolts from his fingertips? 

            As an adult, I appreciate a story where honor and compassion overcome greed and cruelty.

            So give me a tale that takes me out of the humdrum daily world.  Throw in something exotic and new, add a dash of swashbuckle, and you’ve got my interest.

What Happened to June?

            I’m embarrassed I didn’t update this blog at all last month.  When I started this thing, I had intended to write something original each month.

            I didn’t want to expound on religion, politics, or economics because I generally don’t care to read other people’s opinions on such matters.  Editorials are, by and large, self serving and poorly informed.  I also don’t care for the angry response I get when I point out obvious shortcomings in others’ writings.

            My opinions would probably be more interesting to the reader because I do research before I state something as fact.

            Unfortunately, the material I can post is restricted because I don’t want to blather on about the Federal Reserve, or Ten Secrets to Writing Riveting Dialogue.

            This blog was intended as a way to showcase my writing, however, now that I am submitting my work for publication, I have to be carefule what I post here.  Publishers may frown if what they are paying for shows up elsewhere for free.

             *********************************************************

             I joined the Association for New Media Artists and Producers.  ANMAP is the brainchild of J. Daniel Sawyer, podcaster, author, and musician. 

            The reason I joined was to take part in the Literary Ass-Moving event.  Contestants gain points for each piece submitted to a paying market and more points for being accepted for publication.  In May 2011, the winner gets a fabulous prize.  Well, actually, everybody chips in $10 each and the winner collects the pot.  Hey, at least it's beer money.

            The other important event was adopting a new dog, Bobo.  Here’s a picture, awwwwww.

            

From the Thursday writing group

The scent and colour

of the wisteria

seem far from the moon.

                ---Yosa Buson

Here on the moon, craters and shattered rock testify to the violence and chaos the universe can unleash at any moment.

No discernable life has taken hold in the sharp crags or piles of gray dust.

The sterile atmosphere has no oxygen or nitrogen to soften the absolute blackness and fathomless depth of space between the stars by turning it a pale, friendly blue. 

Unfiltered starlight blazes like a million nuclear furnaces, unblinking, impassionate.  Soft, life-giving clouds never block their piercing needles of light.

It is best to enjoy the scent and colour of the wisteria in the safe cocoon of Earth.

Euripides: A bad beginning makes a bad ending.

www.Litopia.com

Wo ist die Danube?

Me and the Missus travelled to Vienna, Austria at the end of March to attend my sainted niece's wedding.  The wedding itself was magical and lovely.  My new Austrian in-laws are gracious and charming.

Traveling outside the USA is a once-in-a-decade adventure for us.  We flew into Frankfurt from Chicago, so I will comment first on American and German airport security.

You sure the Danube is that way?

Americans are fascinated by feet.  Germans, on the other hand, like pants.  In American airports, you have to remove your shoes and submit them for inspection when going to your gate, going through customs, going to the coffee shop, or going to the toilet.

In Germany, you can leave your shoes on when going through security check points.  If you're a man, be prepared however, for the security official to stick his fingers into your waistband and run them around your waist to check for weapons, drugs, or an erection.  The strict German accent made me compliant.

A pink fiat.  Nothing to do with the Danube, you just don't see those every day.

The wife had her bra inspected by a female security guard.  She confided to me afterwards that no one had ever touched her like that without asking for her phone number afterwards.

Is the German language in trouble?  English is everywhere.  Every radio station plays American pop music.  Don't the Austrians have their own musicians?  One out of three billboard advertisements either is in English or contains English.

I spoke to a Viennese woman who lived for a time in the U.S. and posed the above question to her.  She told me the Europeans have been polyglots since the Roman Empire and I shouldn't worry.

Not the Danube, but a fine example of European water.

The ride from Vienna airport to our hotel across town was a bit of a disappointment and not just because the bus driver was listening to the "Hot Hits of the 70's and 80's" station.  It was a disappointment because we drove through the industrial sector.  The landscape was covered in sky cranes, railroad yards, refineries, and factories.  We could have been in Toronto, Beijing, Los Angeles, or Vienna.  I wondered if this was the "real" Vienna, and the section where we stayed with the pretty, historic buildings was artificial: an amusement park for tourists to spend money.

When I'm traveling and have unsure feelings like that, I drink alcohol.  Vienna has excellent beer.  I know that because a Viennese told me so.  I thought I would impress a server with my German.  "Eine bier, bitte" I said.  The server didn't blink and replied, "Oh yes, we have excellent beer."  So much for impress.

You say my search for the Danube is an unconscious manifestation of my unresolved feelings for my mother?

My wife and I were so impressed with the city, we made a list of pros and cons for moving there.  It has an extensive and efficient public transportation system.  The food is great.  The people seem orderly and law-abiding, and they all seem to know English.

A conscious manifestation of my feelings.

We realized, however, that would change as we learn German and actually know what people around us are saying.  That gaggle of teenagers on the bus undoubtedly have their German version of "Omigod, Hildegard, did you, like, see what Brunhilde was, y'know, wearing today?"

                                                

At last, the Danube!  And it's not even blue!

The lesson, I guess, is when you don't understand the language, traveling is an adventure.  When you do understand the language, it can be a real pain in the ass.

The Brain is a Funny Thing

I'm taking an historical fencing class, using the translation of a text first printed in 1630.  It is grandiloquently titled Academy of the Sword: The Mystery of the Spanish Circle in Swordsmanship and Esoteric Arts.

We use the English translation, of course, but it is almost as impenetrable as the original Middle French.

Here is a sample:

"Alexander, having previously advanced two or three steps toward Circle No. 1, and planted his left foot on the ground, has put his sword at an acute angle at his right side.  This being done, he advances his right foot, and also moves his arm and sword out, making an obtuse angle with these latter."

When I first started, I nearly wept with frustration, even after I looked up acute and obtuse angles.  I put it on the shelf and forgot about it for a few months.

The other day, after six months of training, I pulled it down and dusted it off.  Curiously, I could understand it somewhat.  I could actually follow along with the text and picture the complex movements in my mind.

It made me wonder about the learning process.  My normal course of learning has been to read a manual and then go do something, like change the oil in my car or partition my computer's hard drive.  This was the first time I did the activity first, made my muscles move, then the text became clear.

It made me wonder about people I knew who could just pick up a wrench and fix a car, or a soldering iron and repair a computer, people I envied for their mechanical ability.

Perhaps when people learn from different angles, we can learn more deeply if we learn together.