Old Time Radio: Orson Welles

Orson Welles may well be the Grand Poobah of old time radio. His "War of the Worlds" is perhaps the most famous radio broadcast ever. It was part of his Mercury Theater show that dramatized classic literature.

Most Mercury Theater broadcasts can be downloaded for free at: http://www.mercurytheatre.info/

The sound quality of these old recordings is gonna be a mixed bag. For example, the "Heart of Darkness" recording is almost unlistenable, but "Les Miserables" sounds great.

Bufflehead

Saw a Bufflehead Duck in our backyard pond tonight. A first for me. Cross another one off the list.

The vibrations of a needle on plastic, revisited.

"North Korea's state-controlled news agency, however, said the rocket succeeded in placing in orbit a satellite that was broadcasting revolutionary songs."

This picture was taken of the satellite in orbit...

"Could we, uh... talk to Colonel Kurtz? "

I read a forum post recently about a fantasy rpg scenario that culminated in a village defense reminiscent of Seven Samurai. It got me thinking about other movies that could be adapted into a fantasy rpg scenario. Of course, the strength of these and any great movie is depth of its characters. Playing in one of these scenarios could give the players cues on how to play their PCs if they want to recreate aspects of the movie, or not, if not.

Stand By Me
The news reaches Castle Rock that a young man was killed by a dragon across the downs and through the glen. The PCs set out on a coming-of-age adventure to recover the body.

The Dirty Dozen
Enemy knights are gathered at a castle in occupied territory, celebrating their victories with a ball and planning their next mission. A squad of convicts are trained for a suicide mission: infiltrate the castle and eliminate the knights.


Apocalypse Now
An insane, renegade lord has established a kingdom deep within the sinister jungle. The PCs are sent to terminate the lord's command with extreme prejudice.


What other movies could be simply adapted like this?

The truth is...

...that I like Holmes Basic D&D because I want to be like this guy.

A low, humming mirth

I love politics quizzes. This one pegs me as a comedian. That's fitting, because long ago my brother once said I was funny and that I should be congressman when I grow up.

Link: The Politics Test

What's the difference between "disagree" and "strongly disagree"? I dunno, but I suspect that if I answered more of the questions "strongly" maybe I would have gotten up there in Ted Nugent territory.

Old Time Radio: Bold Venture!

About eight years ago I took interest in old time radio shows. My brother gave me a giant box set of twenty cassette tapes called The 60 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows of the 20th Century, selected by Walter Cronkite. This contained thirty hours of variety shows, comedy, suspense, mystery, wild west, science fiction, etc. I always meant to get my hands on more of my favorite shows, but never got around to it.

Now, I see that these shows are available for free and legal download from sites such as the Internet Archive, etc. One could spend a lifetime listening to it all. Of course, some shows are better than others. I plan on posting here about some of my favorites.

This time it is Bold Venture starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Episodes can be streamed or downloaded from http://www.bold-venture.co.uk/.

The episode that particularly amused me today is called "Death By A Fighting Bird". Great dialog between Bogey and Bacall. Near the beginning, Smooth B. casually unleashes this zinger:

Bacall: "How do you talk about me behind my back?"

Bogey: "Walk ahead of me and I'll think of something."

Ah...the master at work.