tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67984045359081416852024-03-18T09:18:48.927-05:00The Audiophile The Official Blog of Sam McDonaldSam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.comBlogger291125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-87225140233552678992024-02-26T10:54:00.001-06:002024-02-27T18:24:30.730-06:00The Audio File: Blum<span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Audio dramas can be found all over the world. I’ve always been particularly interested in what the audio drama community outside the Anglosphere is like. Unfortunately, the only language I speak is English, and this can be a major stumbling block. However, sometimes I get lucky, and the stars align just right. And by that, I mean a non-English audio drama gets re-released in English. Such was the case with the audio drama we’ll be reviewing today. We’re taking a look at <i><a href="https://elextraordinario.com/series/blum-in-english/">Blum</a></i>. </span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUJ6PWWsZ-2P7omYDDtPc60aBpzQ8pe57NB1sOa_0v1SbSPAX32l8dkLCsPfDP7MsGaDcM1kKX9gvazC7HFXxwcSPgmeGAvirbtDB2OpQ-x8GVVzMeeOwcZmJnb-E58xb9xFtX3igH2w7H621GY1kzGUhho3xFcIds2hZcWnAbWO9j8cpoYGFXuupWw24/s1000/7D599F95-31B4-4BCD-BDAA-E4A220BC254A.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUJ6PWWsZ-2P7omYDDtPc60aBpzQ8pe57NB1sOa_0v1SbSPAX32l8dkLCsPfDP7MsGaDcM1kKX9gvazC7HFXxwcSPgmeGAvirbtDB2OpQ-x8GVVzMeeOwcZmJnb-E58xb9xFtX3igH2w7H621GY1kzGUhho3xFcIds2hZcWnAbWO9j8cpoYGFXuupWw24/s320/7D599F95-31B4-4BCD-BDAA-E4A220BC254A.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /><i>Blum</i> follows a university student named Emma Clark. She has traveled to Switzerland to research an artist named Ursula Blum. Ursula Blum was a painter who lived during the early 20th Century. However, she was also a composer, and dedicated her life to researching the possibility of using music for healing. She was involved in a lot of esoteric groups and secret societies. In particular, Blum was intrigued by the concept of the Music of the Spheres. Emma isn’t the first person to research Ursula Blum. Five years ago, another student named Clara Torres disappeared while researching Blum. Emma is determined to find out what happened to Clara. She’ll also do whatever it takes to discover Ursula Blum’s secrets. <br /><br />I had known about <i>Blum</i> for quite some time. As is often the case, it first got on my radar when I was pursuing the r/audiodrama subreddit. I was intrigued, but then I saw that it was only available in Spanish. <i>Blum</i> is produced by the Spanish audio drama production company El Extraordinario. However, there was a potential silver lining. If it made the weekly roundup list, then maybe, just maybe, an English version might arrive someday. Time passed, but eventually my faith was rewarded. However, I got tied up with requested reviews, so I couldn’t listen right away. But then I finally got a gap in my schedule. <br /><br />I share what I’ve been listening to every other Sunday on the <a href="https://twitter.com/BooksofThoth">Twitter feed</a> for my own audio drama, <i><a href="https://booksofthoth.carrd.co/">The Books of Thoth</a></i>. Naturally, one Sunday I mentioned I had listened to <i>Blum</i>. El Extraordinario was happy to hear this, and I promised them I would give a full-length proper review of Blum when I have a chance. And so, here we are now. <br /><br />I have a degree in history. I spent my freshman year at a liberal arts college. It didn’t work out, but eventually I found myself at LSUS, where things turned out better. I bring this up, because Blum really tapped into that feeling of being a liberal arts major. The liberal arts are fairly interdisciplinary. History, music, art, literature, philosophy; no matter your major, you’ll get a bit of everything eventually. So, like the protagonist of a Marcel Proust novel, I felt enveloped by a strong sense of remembrance for my own days in university. <br /><br />The scenes at St. Gallen’s Monastery were particularly fun. Learning about the musical notions that medieval monks used took me back to my days in Music Appreciation and Music Theory. Though, I also admit I got excited because one of the segments in <i><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2019/04/book-review-agent-of-byzantium-by-harry.html">Agent of Byzantium</a></i> took place at St. Gallen. <br /><br /><i>Blum</i> is quite possibly one of the best tourist ads for Switzerland I have ever encountered. I really wanted to go visit Switzerland after I listened to <i>Blum</i>. This, of course, is very much by design. <i>Blum</i> was commissioned by Switzerland Tourism in hopes of attracting more visitors for Switzerland. However, it never felt like I was listening to an ad, or any sort of product placement. It is very clear to me that series creators Manuel Bartual and Carmen Pacheco have a deep, and genuine, love for Switzerland and Swiss culture. That love is stitched into every aspect of Blum, and the audio drama is all the better for it. <br /><br />But that’s not the only area where love shines through. This is, ironically, felt the most in scenes where sounds are absent. There was clearly a great amount of care put into the sound design of <i>Blum</i>. Emma often finds herself in various museum galleries. There is a certain ambiance to these scenes in how they are quiet in a specific way. I have spent much of my life exploring museums and art galleries. As such, I’m well acquainted with the sounds of such buildings. These scenes were recorded in actual galleries to properly capture this ambiance. <br /><br />But, of course, <i>Blum</i> is certainly no slouch on the other end of the spectrum. One of my favorite scenes is in the first episode. Emma talks about how music and religion have been intertwined for centuries. We get a montage of music being using in religious ceremonies from around the world. It was a very well crafted sequence; felt like something out of a non-fiction podcast. On that note, <i>Blum</i> really nailed the true crime investigation vibe. Each episode opens and closes with a bit of classical piano music. There’s also a few more bit of classical music liberally sprinkled through the audio drama. <br /><br />I must also take a moment to praise the voice acting. Emma’s voice actress did an especially good job. There were a couple time she pounced certain words more along the lines of British English, even though Emma is supposed to be American. Make me wonder if the voice actress might not be American. But if that is the case, she did an absolutely amazing job of maintaining the accent. Come to think of it, Clara was pretty much the only Spanish character in the entire podcast. I wonder if, perhaps, Emma was from Spain in the original Spanish version of <i>Blum</i>. Whatever the case, it never felt like anything had be lost in translation. There was clearly effort put in to ensure the English version of <i>Blum</i> would live up to its Spanish predecessor. <br /><br />Okay, I want to choose my words carefully for this next part. I want to make sure nobody misconstrues what I’m saying here. <i>Blum</i> reminds me very much of a Dan Brown novel, and I absolutely mean that as a compliment. Look, I’m aware that Dan Brown has a bit of a bad reputation. Yes, he often gets pretty significant facts wrong in his novels, and maybe his novel aren’t exactly high literature. But that man knows how to write a page-turner. If nothing else, he got me interested in the various artists he mentions in his books. Another big appeal of his books is that, for lack of a better way of putting it, they are travel porn. They are often filled with loving descriptions of various European cities. I always wanted to travel and see the world, and Dan Brown’s novel let me indulge those fantasies. Thankfully, I did eventually get to visit Italy, and I even got to see all the places mentioned in <i>Angels & Demons</i> when I was in Rome. <br /><br /><i>Blum</i> evokes that same sense of wanderlust with its lovingly detailed descriptions of Swiss cities. It also incorporates art and classical music into a plot about solving a mystery. However, unlike Mr. Brown, the writers stayed true to actual facts and history. So, you get all the good parts of a Dan Brown novel, in audio format, but none of the downsides. For example, Ursula <i>Blum</i> is an entirely fictional character. However, she was inspired by several real life artists and musicians. <br /><br />Speaking of the mystery, just what is the Music of the Spheres? We have known since Ancient Greece that all music can be converted into mathematics. But what about the reverse? Can math be turned into music? There have been attempts to translate the orbits of the planets into music. Under the Ptolemaic Model, the planets were believed to occupy different celestial spheres, hence the name Music of the Spheres. But what if it goes deeper than that. What if there is a music written into reality itself? This appears to have been the opinion of Ursula Blum and the various esoteric groups she belonged to. <br /><br />Okay, now comes the part where we have to get into spoilers. So, turn back now if you don’t want any of that. <br /><br />Last chance, you sure you want to continue?<br /><br />If everyone who wants out is gone, let’s get into it. <br /><br />So, as <i>Blum</i> progressed there were hints dropped that Emma was poking into things better left alone. I got some cosmic horror vibes. Perhaps there was something Lovecraftian afoot? Would it turn out to be something that mortal minds weren’t meant to comprehend? Something that would drive Emma into madness?<br /><br />Well, I suppose that it is a matter of perspective. <br /><br />You see, Emma does uncover the music Ursula Blum had been researching. It turns out to be incredibly beautiful. So beautiful that it makes Emma feel as though she is flying. So beautiful she can see the connection that binds everything together. So beautiful that she completely fails to notice that she jumped out a window. <br /><br />I was reminded of my own short story “<a href="http://journeyintopodcast.blogspot.com/2021/02/journey-162-chain-reaction-by-sam.html">Chain Reaction</a>.” It is about a man who goes crazy and starts a religion based around rollercoasters. He has a very similar experience where the rollercoaster god shows him the connections that bind all things together. The rollercoaster explains that it can’t show him this too long, or he might forget to eat and drink. <br /><br />Well, as they say, great minds think alike. I thought the big reveal was very well executed. I liked the way it explored that concept of pantheism. It is the idea that everything within the universe contains a spark of divinity. Or, to put it another way, that the universe itself is God. <br /><br /><i>Blum</i> was an absolute joy to listen to from start to finish. It appealed to my inner liberal arts major. It was like taking an auditory vacation to Switzerland. It was a great introduction to the world of Spanish audio drama. I cannot recommend it enough. You should listen to it as soon as possible. <br /><br />I certainly hope this means we might see more El Extraordinario audio dramas getting translated into English. I also hope we might see audio dramas from other parts of the world getting translated. Perhaps, even some English audio dramas getting translated into foreign languages. But whatever the future holds, I’m glad that the world of audio drama is ever expanding. It is great to see more countries joining the party. <br /><br />Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.</span></div>Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-76752708001430319582024-02-14T09:51:00.001-06:002024-02-14T09:51:55.804-06:00The Books of Thoth: Starshot<span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The second episode of my audio drama anthology <i><a href="https://booksofthoth.carrd.co/">The Books of Thoth</a></i> is here. It is titled “<a href="https://redcircle.com/shows/6701d0b5-6b14-4b76-992d-02f391b5cf42/ep/bd054801-90ab-48f1-9752-c69732894cd5">Starshot</a>.” </span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">A fleet of alien space probes enter the night sky. But this is not our sky, and the probes are from Earth. A scientist from Alpha Centauri studies the probes aboard a space station. What will the scientist discover about their place in the universe?</span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwag-fQamD04XJcH8FOyZ3Ist0M3SGjWhrSR8AToS3nDigRBJUx4KXeR98A4rwLvOkSpgmlfNsoa7R-_TKeau16svSC6NyFUeFBV-YxWzPFhDOGgAbEiHHwESMHPlKhmd_0EU8T_w2ukYOTbk-69wEol0xB4N-X-_KgTdcQuykE8YZG6LTnD8R7QQ7V6g/s1400/49F59F1A-8CED-4695-AA53-9581EF85E73D.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwag-fQamD04XJcH8FOyZ3Ist0M3SGjWhrSR8AToS3nDigRBJUx4KXeR98A4rwLvOkSpgmlfNsoa7R-_TKeau16svSC6NyFUeFBV-YxWzPFhDOGgAbEiHHwESMHPlKhmd_0EU8T_w2ukYOTbk-69wEol0xB4N-X-_KgTdcQuykE8YZG6LTnD8R7QQ7V6g/s320/49F59F1A-8CED-4695-AA53-9581EF85E73D.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br />A big thank you to Angela Yih for performing this episode. Be sure to listen to her audio drama Residents of Proserpina Park, if you haven’t done so already. You guys should know by now how much I love <i><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2021/08/the-audio-file-residents-of-proserpina.html">Residents</a> <a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-audio-file-residents-of-proserpina.html">of Proserpina</a> <a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-audio-file-residents-of-proserpina.html">Park</a></i>. So, I was awesome to have Angel as part of <i>The Books of Thoth</i>.<br /><br />What I wanted to do with “Starshot” is tell a story of First Contact between humanity and extraterrestrials, but from the perspective of the aliens. I wanted it to be hopeful and optimistic. Where the aliens are looking for a friend amidst the darkness, just like humanity is. <br /><br />The title is a reference to Breakthrough Starshot. It is an proposed space mission to send a series of probes, via solar sail, to Alpha Centauri. It would take between 20-30 year, plus an additional four years for any messages from the probes to reach Earth. Hundreds of probes would initially be launched, with most being lost along the way due to collisions with interstellar dust and other debris. But, hopefully, a lucky few would survive the journey across the ebon sea. Pictures and/or video from another star? Now there’s a thought.<br /><br />I also attempted to answer the question of the Fermi Paradox. That is, if the universe is so big, where’s all the alien. Perhaps they are in the same boat as us. Advanced enough to wonder who’s out there, but not advanced enough to initiate significant contact. Perhaps it is only just now that intelligent life has finally evolved in the universe. I suppose they would make a kind of sense. Look how long it took for intelligent life to evolve on Earth. Well, intelligent as we define it, anyway. <br /><br />I wanted to evoke the feelings of wonder and frustration from archeology. Especially with regards to civilizations where we have yet to translate their languages such as the Minoans or the Indus Valley Civilization. I suppose that makes the protagonist a xenoarcheologist.<br /><br />Still, that isn’t to say you can’t find at least some meaning. Even if it wasn’t the kind you were initially looking for. So, I wanted the story to end with a sense of awe and wonder. With the feeling the the universe is so much bigger, and isn’t that great?<br /><br />But most of all, I hope that all of you enjoy “Starshot.” I kind of rushed this one so I could get it out before Christmas and New Year’s. It is a bit more low-key than my previous episode, “Paleontology Conference” was. But I felt Starshot was a very personal, intimate sort of story, and it didn’t need as many bells and whistles. And hey, we got some nice music to listen to along the way. <br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">You can listen to <i>The Books of Thoth</i> on your podcast platform of choice. </span></div><div><br /></div></div></div>Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-72879108412428144222024-01-18T10:13:00.001-06:002024-01-18T10:29:37.498-06:00The Audio File: Campfire Radio Theatre <span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Hmm, how do I begin this one? This has been a long time coming. I definitely should have gotten to this one a lot sooner than I did. That’s certainly a recurring theme on this blog. This one was a major part of my journey into the world of audio drama. So, without further ado, here it is at long last. We’re taking a look at <i><a href="https://campfireradiotheater.podbean.com/">Campfire Radio Theatre</a></i>.</span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcO7QXaTFJgULRs08A9lSh20WUx3bBpwNrupPv837S6wOU7qJgfx3V1XKK0LDeObtuQrvrCoKAVO1cDevPg2nXhMTBkoqF61xutgph6eVKBgNlbiYa5WeQXzOWkNwSJr_fqlxkDOe4QpyJZWcRZH3eWdAWm5bNoCrbXsvSXl_LbmJ9UJjLmoi3TuPHLAM/s1024/0AE986F2-ECD9-4651-9B5D-C1115CC8D908.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1018" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcO7QXaTFJgULRs08A9lSh20WUx3bBpwNrupPv837S6wOU7qJgfx3V1XKK0LDeObtuQrvrCoKAVO1cDevPg2nXhMTBkoqF61xutgph6eVKBgNlbiYa5WeQXzOWkNwSJr_fqlxkDOe4QpyJZWcRZH3eWdAWm5bNoCrbXsvSXl_LbmJ9UJjLmoi3TuPHLAM/s320/0AE986F2-ECD9-4651-9B5D-C1115CC8D908.jpeg" width="318" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br />Welcome, friend. Have a seat by the fire. Make yourself comfortable. <i>Campfire Radio Theatre</i> is a horror anthology audio drama created by John Ballentine. I first became aware of it when Jordan Harbour mentioned <i>Campfire Radio Theatre</i> on an episode of his podcast <i><a href="https://www.twilighthistories.com/">Twilight Histories</a></i>. I figured that <i>Campfire Radio Theatre</i> must be good if Jordan was recommending it. Sure enough, I discovered a wonderful horror anthology. <i>Campfire Radio Theatre</i> is proof that good things come to those who wait. What it lacks in frequency of uploads it more than make up for in quality. John Ballentine has assembled a very talented team of voice actors. Keven Hartnell, the series composer, always produces some excellent spooky music. And, of course, the writing is almost always fantastic. <br /><br />So, a bit about how I’m going to approach this review. I’m not actually going to review all of the episodes in one go. I’m going to treat this as though I were reviewing an audio drama such as <i><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-audio-file-program.html">The Program</a> <a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-audio-file-program-part-2.html">Audio</a> <a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-audio-file-program-part-3.html">Series</a></i> or <i><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-audio-file-temp.html">The</a> <a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2023/02/the-audio-file-temp-season-2.html">TEMP</a></i>. I will give it a good start, and then periodically update it with more reviews. Anthologies always take more out of me than serialized shows do. I have to analyze and weigh the merits of each individual episode. This can take a fair bit of time, and you might imagine. I will also not be reviewing the episodes in chronological order. One of the beauties of anthologies is that you can listen to the episodes in any order that you please. As such, I apply the same principle to this review. <br /><br />Now that we've got all of the housekeeping out of the way, let’s start the review in earnest. <br /><br />The first episode that we’ll be looking at is “<a href="https://campfireradiotheater.podbean.com/e/death-and-alchemy/">Death and Alchemy</a>.” This episode takes place in London during the Victorian Era. We follow a scientist who has developed a serum that he claims can restore the dead to life. He wishes to test the serum on the corpse of a recently deceased girl. He is sure that this experiment will put him in the history books. Little does he know how terribly correct he is, but not for the reasons he thinks. <br /><br />This was the very first episode of <i>Campfire Radio Theatre</i> I ever listened to. Jordan Harbour recommended this episode in particular. John Ballentine returned the favor and ran a promo for <i>Twilight Histories</i> at the end of the episode. “Death and Alchemy” is based on the short story “The Doctor in the Dungeon” by Patrick Moody. I quite enjoyed this episode, so I’ll have to track down the original short story. “Death and Alchemy” really captures that feeling of a gothic horror story from the Victorian Era. The horror coming from a scientist probing into things man was not meant to know. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Getting to see a zombie apocalypse unleashed upon Victorian Britain was certainly fun. I’m an alternate history enthusiast, and this episode certainly appealed to that side of me. I also liked how it drew a bit upon real history as well. Real medical schools in the Victorian Era often acquired corpses, via illicit means, for their dissection classes. There was quite a lucrative trade in grave robbing. <br /><br />All in all, and excellent introduction to <i>Campfire Radio Theatre</i>. <br /><br />Next up, we’re taking a look at “<a href="https://campfireradiotheater.podbean.com/e/the-dentist/">The Dentist</a>.” This episode follows a woman named Sandra who has become a dental assistant for a dentist named Dr. Stewart. He offers his services at a very reasonable rate. In fact, he’s still the most popular dentist in town. But there’s something a bit odd about him. Dr. Stewart always insists on using gas to relax his patients for their procedures. All of his patients seem a bit off after they’ve received their procedures. The secretary is also very secretive about patient files. Dr. Stewart is hiding something, but what could it be?<br /><br />This episode is another adaptation. Specifically, it was adapted from the episode of the same name from the Canadian radio series <i>Nightfall</i>. It was a horror anthology from the CBC that ran during the 1980s. You can find all the episodes on YouTube, and I certainly recommend that you do. <i>Nightfall</i> is an excellent series, and I’m glad that <i>Campfire Radio Theatre</i> introduced it to me. This episode was an extremely faithful adaption. I listened to the <i>Nightfall</i> version, but I think I prefer the <i>Campfire Radio Theatre</i> version. Not that the <i>Nightfall</i> version was bad, but I found myself comparing the performances to the <i>Campfire Radio Theatre</i> version. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Again, they weren’t bad, I was just used to the <i>Campfire Radio Theatre</i> version. John Ballentine actually got permission from Bill Gray, the writer of the <i>Nightfall</i> episode, to adapt “The Dentist.” I personally don’t consider dentists to be scary, but I know that many people do. Still, the big revelation of the episode certainly managed to send a chill down my spine. It was also lovely to hear Julie Hoverson from <i><a href="http://www.19nocturneboulevard.net/">19 Nocturne Boulevard</a></i> as Eveline the receptionist. <br /><br />Another excellent adaptation, and another excellent episode. <br /><br />For our third offering we’re examining “<a href="https://campfireradiotheater.podbean.com/e/demon-eyes/">Demon Eyes</a>.” We follow an FBI special agent named Sara Gowan. She must locate the victims of a serial killer named Wesley Morrow. Morrow is slated to be executed soon, and Sara is racing against the clock. However, Morrow has given Sara a pair of glasses, but not just any glasses. These glasses allow those who wear them to see the demons that walk among us disguised as humans. <br /><br />This was the first episode of <i>Campfire Radio Theatre</i> ever produced. It was certainly a strong start to the audio drama. John Ballentine has admitted to being a big fan of John Carpenter. I bring this up because I can definitely see some influences from the movie <i>They Live</i> in this episode. Still, John Ballentine manages to put his own spin on things. For example, there isn’t really any commentary on social issues like consumerism. And the antagonists are demons, not aliens. Then there was the big reveal at the end of the episode…which would be major spoilers if I were to talk about that. I will say that I did not see it coming, but I absolutely loved it. <br /><br />We have bowled a turkey as far as great episodes of <i>Campfire Radio Theatre</i>. <br /><br />Our fourth fearsome offering is “<a href="https://campfireradiotheater.podbean.com/e/rites-of-autumn/">The Rites of Autumn</a>.” We follow a grandfather teaching his grandson all about various Halloween festivities and traditions. It starts off innocently enough, but there’s clearly something sinister lurking just beneath the surface. <br /><br />This one is kind of hard to talk about without spoiling the ending. True to the title, this one does have a very autumnal feel to it. Makes for good listening during the Halloween season. Then again, so does the rest of <i>Campfire Radio Theatre</i>. The actor who played the grandpa did a fantastic job. You could tell there was something sinister about him, but he never tips his hand until the big reveal. Although, during the pumpkin carving scene, I certainly had a feeling that knife was going to be carving more than just pumpkins. Oh, and be sure to stick around after the credits. There’s a fun little gag segment at the very end, along with a very catchy song. Not much more spoiler-free stuff to add here. Well, beyond to say give this one a listen. <br /><br />Our fifth freighting episode is “<a href="https://campfireradiotheater.podbean.com/e/the-war-of-the-worlds/">The War of the Worlds</a>.” This one adapts H.G. Wells’ classic novel, but with <i>Campfire Radio Theatre</i>’s own unique twist. It takes the form of a series of cellphone recordings. We follow a young lady as she tries to survive the Martian invasion of Earth, and avoid their dreadful war machines. She thinks that she has found temporary refuge from the invaders. Little does she know that aliens aren’t the terrors she should be looking out for.<br /><br />This episode really surprised me. I was not sure how John Ballentine was going to pull-off “The War of the Worlds” in only thirty-seven minutes. John took the right approach here. This isn’t a straight adaptation of <i>The War of the Worlds</i>. Rather, it is a story that happens to be set in that particular world, for lack of a better way of putting it. I also really loved the angle this episode went with. Sure, the Martians are a threat, but it is your fellow humans that you really have to watch out for. <i>The War of the Worlds</i> has been a big part of the audio drama world ever since Orson Wells’ famous broadcast back in 1938. That is why October 30th is World Audio Drama Day. I’m glad to see <i>Campfire Radio Theatre</i> paying its own homage to that famous broadcast. <br /><br />This episode was certainly a pleasant surprise. It is also certainly one you should listen to. <br /><br />The sixth episode that we’ll be examining is “<a href="https://campfireradiotheater.podbean.com/e/monsters-game-1509422686/">Monster’s Game</a>.” It follows a young man named Rob who has been struggling with schizophrenia. He has been listening to true crime podcasts, with Monster’s Game being his favorite. However, he’s been hearing something strange lately. There’s a voice in his headphones calling itself Mathias, and it claims it can save Rob’s sanity. There’s just one small catch: Rob has to commit murders, particularly strangulations, under the guidance of Mathias. Is Rob just hallucinating, or might Mathias be more than just a voice in Rob’s head?<br /><br />Ah, so we’re getting metafictional with this one. Sometimes it can be hard to remember that the voices in my head from podcasts have faces that go with them. In a way, this episode almost seemed to be about what happens when those parasocial relationships go a bit too far. Well, there is also the wrinkle of the main character’s mental illness. It was kind of funny, I kept thinking about how everything reminded me of Son of Sam. Then, the characters all started talking about Son of Sam. I also sense themes about true crime podcasts. Specifically, the ethics of them, and the questions how far some podcasters are willing to go for a good story. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Of course, I’m hardly a true crime aficionado. So, I can’t comment on this particular aspect too much. Also, this episode was kind of retroactively amusing. Rob is voiced by Bobby Gaglini, who is now far more famous as Will and Otto from <i><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-audio-file-spaceships.html">Spaceships</a></i>. Don’t worry, this does not undercut his performance in the slightest. “Monster’s Game” is another winner. <br /><br />Our seventh dervish delight is “<a href="https://campfireradiotheater.podbean.com/e/desecrate/">Desecrate</a>.” It follows Jen, Brent, and Holly. Jen and Holly have been best friends since childhood, and Brent is Holly’s boyfriend. Holly is into all things occult, and wants to contact the spirit of Philomena Tillman; a woman accused of witchcraft. Holly plans on doing this using an ouija board in the graveyard Philomena is buried in. She hopes to uncover the truth behind Philomena’s story. However, Jen and Brent have a few secrets of their own. They’ve been having an affair, and they fear that Holly will find out. Specifically, how she will react. <br /><br />This one is a little hard to review. Oh, it is an excellent episode, make no mistake of that. However, this is really one of those episodes it is best to go into knowing as little as possible. There are a lot of twists, turns, and revelations in this one. I will say that all of the actors did a fantastic job. The actress who played Holly did a particularly good job. Holly is described as being Goth Barbie, and certainly sounds the part. There’s some other bits of acting I could mention, but that’s getting into spoilers. The point is, “Desecrate” is another excellent episode. You should listen to it as soon as possible. <br /><br />Our eighth aural offering is “<a href="https://campfireradiotheater.podbean.com/e/the-masters-hungry-children/">The Master’s Hungry Children</a>.” This one is set in Romania during World War II. We follow a group of Nazi soldiers who have arrived in a rural Romanian village. The villagers are wary, but not because of the Nazis. They speak of movement in the shadows, and creatures that stalk in the night. In particular, the villagers warn of one known as The Master, and his vicious children. The Nazis scoff it of as merely the ramblings of ignorant peasants. However, it soon becomes clear that these are no mere superstitions. The Nazis will soon come face to face with vampires. <br /><br />I get the feeling that some people might not like this episode. It does have a certain campy quality to it. The set-up of Vampires vs. Nazis sounds like something out of a B-Movie. But you know what? I like B-Movies, I like vampires, and I enjoy camp. It was fun to have an episode set during World War II. Also, the actors make the smart choice to play the premise completely straight. This episode, despite its B-Movie feel, certainly had way better writing than a typical B-Movie. “The Master’s Hungry Children” won’t be to every listener’s liking. However, I enjoyed it quite a bit, and I encourage you to give it a try as well. <br /><br />And so that is every episode of <i>Campfire Radio Theatre</i> that I have reviewed thus far. Like I said, this isn’t meant to be a comprehensive list. I wanted to start us off with a good foundation, and I will periodically review more episodes as the mood strikes me. I hope that it is clear by now that <i>Campfire Radio Theatre</i> is a frighteningly fantastic horror anthology audio drama. John Ballentine and his team have created something special. Proof that good things truly do come to those who wait. I certainly hope that you will give <i>Campfire Radio Theatre</i> a listen as soon as possible. <br /><br />Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.</span></div>Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-91299063077692918302023-12-08T10:21:00.001-06:002023-12-08T10:22:25.793-06:00Flag of the Union of Sovereign Republics <span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">This is the flag of the Union of Sovereign Republics. It comes from a world where the government of the Soviet Union discovered the plot by hardline Communist Party members to stage a coup. The leaders of the planned coup were arrested, and this meant that the New Union Treaty was signed into law. The Soviet Union reorganized itself into the Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics. The first wave of reforms were somewhat modest, but they allowed for capitalism, and investments from foreign businesses, to make inroads to the USSR. This provided a much needed shot in the arm to the Soviet economy. This led to a weakening of the independence movements among the constituent republics of the USSR.</span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br />Economic reforms soon lead to political reforms. Genuine opposition parties were allowed to run starting in the late 1990s. This led to a weakening of the Supreme Soviet, and by the mid 2000s, the USSR had transitioned into a full democracy. Its name officially changed to the Union of Sovereign Republic to better reflect this new nature. Thus, the Cold War came to a somewhat anticlimactic end. <br /><br />The Union of Sovereign Republics emphasizes devolution of powers. The national government handles matters of international diplomacy and national defense. Meanwhile, the constituent republics are given considerable leeway. They can declare their own official languages, establish their own educational systems, establish their own legislative assemblies, and pass their own internal laws. The national constitution also holds all constituent republics to be equal, and protects the rights of minority groups. The USR is working towards redressing the grievances the Soviet Union committed against non-Russian ethnic groups. <br /><br />Relations between the USR and the USA are fairly friendly and cordial. The two nations have increasingly collaborated over the years. For example, they collaborated on a joint manned mission to the Moon in 2015. Surprisingly, there’s even talk have having the USR join NATO. However, that’s on hold at the moment. <br /><br />China has not fared well in the 21st Century. The Chinese economy is in shambles. Western businesses never really invested in China. Most international production facilities are instead located in the USR and India. China is plagued by political unrest, and government crackdowns are increasingly common. China relied on Russia to keep America in check. However, the increasing closeness of the USR to America has sent Chinese leaders into a panic. The USR and USA are watching China with increased wariness, particularly after China’s invasion of Vietnam in 2019. <br /><br />Time will tell what becomes of this. For now, however, the Union of Sovereign Republic enjoys economic prosperity and a high standard of living. For the first time in a long while, things are looking up for the peoples of Russia and Central Asia. <br /><br />The blue doesn’t have any official meaning. Though, some take it to mean that the same blue sky is shared by all members of the Union of Sovereign Republics. It also contrasts with the red of the old Soviet flag. The eight bent poles represent the equality of all the constituent republics of the USR. The white is to offset the blue, and make the flag look a bit less like the old Soviet flag.</span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV21lzIIdWemAHEFh_h9-jffBl_9JY88WErjHRre7Ns2tczVajFAYWfgxIHDt8WmXzgTKtoXAKf3DypEx9OZwKt75XZANa1wFcHjnW89hrEf0ez5Jv93PghEmxALRsH5omzU8OfcVm3SS9N1qQbTrUtF_yIvX8L4l5grY_1RuwDLWI1AeO0SDyqK-bWPs/s2560/A6FEA985-FCBF-4563-B0A7-225DE3B3F370.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="2560" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV21lzIIdWemAHEFh_h9-jffBl_9JY88WErjHRre7Ns2tczVajFAYWfgxIHDt8WmXzgTKtoXAKf3DypEx9OZwKt75XZANa1wFcHjnW89hrEf0ez5Jv93PghEmxALRsH5omzU8OfcVm3SS9N1qQbTrUtF_yIvX8L4l5grY_1RuwDLWI1AeO0SDyqK-bWPs/w400-h200/A6FEA985-FCBF-4563-B0A7-225DE3B3F370.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div>Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-34306450674897105612023-11-21T08:02:00.000-06:002023-11-21T08:02:39.554-06:00The Books of Thoth: My First Foray into Audio Drama Production<span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">I’m back with another update post, and this one is an especially big update. You see, I’ve finally done it. I have officially launched my audio drama anthology podcast <i><a href="https://booksofthoth.carrd.co/">The Books of Thoth</a></i>.</span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim3iwltlB8J4swuLQHqWc1cmcHumen_YhWOGCQR1prIBAVaTuKb70L9ZmxlSevhtnBlkys7sdPzdv3BK7QfmliwjNpDp9tYFzkHbcUznZGSxVjBSdt9q0CUVaEM74gDfJmGT0N7TLaWTpJraxfvKOB0sLADFMy59Xpz4vKorYiHK9Wd1gQt937Sf5JcWg/s1400/F21DC7F4-8E11-424F-A0D6-0D6D7A1C99DD.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim3iwltlB8J4swuLQHqWc1cmcHumen_YhWOGCQR1prIBAVaTuKb70L9ZmxlSevhtnBlkys7sdPzdv3BK7QfmliwjNpDp9tYFzkHbcUznZGSxVjBSdt9q0CUVaEM74gDfJmGT0N7TLaWTpJraxfvKOB0sLADFMy59Xpz4vKorYiHK9Wd1gQt937Sf5JcWg/s320/F21DC7F4-8E11-424F-A0D6-0D6D7A1C99DD.png" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br />We’re kicking things off with “Paleontology Conference.” million years in the future. Humans are extinct and squids rule the Earth. They only know us from the fossils we leave behind. What will the squids make of us? <br /><br />As you might guess, <i>The Future is Wild</i> was a big inspiration for this episode. I blame that show for igniting my love of terrestrial cephalopods. The part where the narrator speculates about the Squibbons developing their own civilization always sparked my imagination. The <i>All Todays</i> segment of the book <i>All Yesterdays</i> was another big inspiration. I love the way it pokes fun at how our notions of prehistoric animals sometimes turn out to be very wrong. You do get some references to how our views on prehistoric animals have changed. The part where the professor mentions chordates used to be viewed as slow and lumbering, but then were viewed as active and dynamic? That was almost word-for-word how our views of dinosaurs changed over the years. And there’s a few more in-jokes if you’re paying attention for them. <br /><br />A bit about where the title for the podcast came from. Thoth is the god of wisdom, writing, and magic in Egyptian Mythology. He possessed an ultimate book of spells known as the Book of Thoth. Among other things, it had spells that could enable you to speak the language of animals, restore the dead to life, and peer through the layers of reality and gaze upon the gods themselves. Thoth acted as scribe of the gods, and he’s probably written quite a few scrolls in his time. And those scrolls are bound to have some pretty good stories within them. <br /><br /><i>The Books of Thoth</i> has been a long time coming. I’m both nervous and excited. I admit that maybe there were a few things I could have tweaked. But after a certain point, perfect becomes the enemy of good. And so, I decided to release my audio drama into the wild for all to enjoy. <br /><br />A big thank you to everyone who made this episode possible. Thank you to Marnie Warner, Amy Young, Faye Holliday, Juan Cruz III, Tiffany Perdue, and Melissa Bowens for providing the voices. As well as my thanks to Geno Samuel for providing the opening narration. And to Nadine Trollip, aka Stardust-Phantom, for providing the <a href="https://www.deviantart.com/stardust-phantom/art/The-Books-of-Thoth-923117328">series cover art</a>. <br /><br /><i>The Books of Thoth</i> is hosted on <a href="https://redcircle.com/shows/6701d0b5-6b14-4b76-992d-02f391b5cf42">RedCricle</a>, and you can find it on all major podcast platforms. Including, but not limited to, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/3hQ94fOX5V03CXg8ZLgMZ9">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-books-of-thoth/id1716132833">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-books-of-thoth-127954491/">iHeart</a>, <a href="https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/the-books-of-thoth/4730175">Podcast Addict</a>, <a href="https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/79a3cad8-de67-4e6e-bb57-0567e0460c4d/the-books-of-thoth">Amazon Music</a>, <a href="https://player.fm/series/the-books-of-thoth">Player.FM</a>, <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Books-of-Thoth-Podcast/B0CN3CLRMY?eac_link=AWIxYYQXmwxE&ref=web_search_eac_asin_1&eac_selected_type=asin&eac_selected=B0CN3CLRMY&qid=PBrUeJ8R00&eac_id=145-3938934-0597924_PBrUeJ8R00&sr=1-1">Audible</a>, <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/Storytelling/The-Books-of-Thoth-p3911191/">TuneIn</a>, <a href="https://radiopublic.com/the-books-of-thoth-6pQno2">RadioPublic</a>, <a href="https://www.apollopods.com/">Apollo Podcasts</a>, and <a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/the-books-of-thoth-287501">Goodpods</a>. And yes, I do have transcripts available. <br /><br />It hopefully won’t be too long before I have more episodes for your listening pleasure. But in the meantime, I do hope that you enjoy the inaugural episode of <i>The Books of Thoth</i>.</span></div>Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-89745335614764926702023-11-16T10:45:00.001-06:002024-01-22T19:19:09.522-06:00The Audio File: Long Night in Egypt<span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">I’ve finished most of my outstanding obligations for reviews, at least for the moment. Well, that’s going to not be the case for too long, but I do have a brief respite. As such, I am able to talk about one particular audio drama. Now, I admit I was prepared to be disappointed, but this one surprised me in the best way possible. It utilized Egyptian Mythology while remaining incredibly faithful to the original myths. So, what is this audio drama? Why, we’re taking a look at <i><a href="https://www.violethourmedia.com/egypt">Long Night in Egypt</a></i>. </span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV4isGmcFYrULm57wJNqOefdTesCs3RGrtYO4lqZJSCmUJ7eeB5FzfGrLVR_0tjspCg2CClPIhRlknuWX96n5J8N_f-MAvHi_n0RxEo3styZs6NgiWUpZFmKK0PKYkeARY3sUH_0ypD4ILyk-cXgZ7STEKaVvspVvVeks6do2fbz5goJMo2-v3ZtfcFhc/s2500/0BF53439-F9D9-49C2-8E40-A14730E09A6E.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2500" data-original-width="2500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV4isGmcFYrULm57wJNqOefdTesCs3RGrtYO4lqZJSCmUJ7eeB5FzfGrLVR_0tjspCg2CClPIhRlknuWX96n5J8N_f-MAvHi_n0RxEo3styZs6NgiWUpZFmKK0PKYkeARY3sUH_0ypD4ILyk-cXgZ7STEKaVvspVvVeks6do2fbz5goJMo2-v3ZtfcFhc/s320/0BF53439-F9D9-49C2-8E40-A14730E09A6E.png" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /><i>Long Night in Egypt</i> follows four college students named Mo, Kayla, Jorden, and Pia. They are on vacation in Egypt to visit Mo’s aunt and uncle; a pair of renowned Egyptologists. It’s sure to be a trip filled with relaxation, visits to archeological sites, and maybe even a bit of partying. Then, Mo’s cousin Samira comes up with the idea to visit the Pyramid of Unas at night. Mo’s aunt and uncle are very firm that the Pyramid of Unas must never be entered at night. However, the students sneak into the pyramid anyway. They will soon discover that the myths and legends of Ancient Egypt might just be true after all. They will have to navigate their way thought the Egyptian underworld, and face numerous challenges, if they wish to survive their long in Egypt. <br /><br />I had known about <i>Long Night in Egypt</i> for a while. It had the word Egypt in the title, and a pyramid on the title card. What can I say? I was sold. However, other obligations kept me from listening. Then, I got a chance to listen, and I was blown away by what I heard. <br /><br />I’m a lover of mythology, but I have trouble deciding which particular mythology is my favorite. I’m reminded of what Neil Gaiman wrote in the introduction to his novel <i>Norse Mythology</i>. He said that picking a favorite mythology is a bit like picking a favorite cuisine. Variety is the spice of life, and your favorite often depends on what mood you’re in at the moment. However, there’s always those dishes and stories that you always come back to. Given the title of the book, it should come as no surprise that Norse Mythology is that for Neil Gaiman. But what about me? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">I always find myself returning to the gods and stories of Egyptian Mythology. I love the weird and wonderful animal-headed gods. I love reading about all of the spells and incantations Egyptian magicians created. I love the way that real Ancient Egyptian historical figures sometimes factor into the stories. I love Egyptian Mythology. The stories of Egyptian Mythology took me on magical adventures away from my mundane world. <br /><br />We have had several audio dramas adapt or reinterpret Greek Mythology, but not really any takes on Egyptian Mythology. In fact, <i>Long Night in Egypt</i> is, thus far, the only audio drama I’ve encountered that utilizes Egyptian Mythology in a major way. Now, this was certainly an exciting discovery, but I had my apprehensions. I’ve had to endure far too many movies and television shows that played way too fast and loose with real mythology. Hey, I’m just saying. If the source material you’re incorporating is a hindrance to the story you want to tell, then perhaps you should write a different story. That, or find a mythology more agreeable to the story you want to make. <br /><br />Sorry, I got a little distracted there. Getting back on track, I was cautiously optimistic, but I was fully prepared to be disappointed. I was combing through every episode with a fine-toothed comb. I was prepared to pounce at the slightest slip-up. I was particularly worried that Anubis and/or Set would be portrayed as Ancient Egyptian Satan. However, much to my pleasant surprise, I couldn’t find a single mythological misappropriation. In fact, I even learned a few things as a result of listening to <i>Long Night in Egypt</i>. <br /><br />So, let’s talk about all the great mythological stuff in this podcast. The main inspirations for this audio drama are The Pyramid Texts and <i>The Egyptian Book of the Dead</i>. The Pyramid Texts is one of the oldest surviving religious texts in the world. It is inscribed into the walls of the pyramids and burial chambers of Saqqara. And yes, that includes the Pyramid of Unas. The texts are a series of spells, incantations, hymns, and utterances that help the pharaoh to navigate the afterlife and ascend to godhood. <i>The Egyptian Book of the Dead</i> is much the same, but with different spells and writings. Also, the <i>Book of the Dead</i> was written on papyrus, not carved into stone. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The Pyramid Texts were completed in the Old Kingdom era, while <i>The Book of the Dead</i> wasn’t completed until the New Kingdom era. The characters do discover inscriptions from <i>The</i> <i>Book on the Dead</i> on the walls of the Pyramid of Unas. However, they do acknowledge this discrepancy, and wave it off as <i>The Book of the Dead</i> being older than previously believed. <i>The Book of the Dead</i> does drawn heavily upon The Pyramid Texts, so, this isn’t all that implausible. <br /><br />We frequently hear characters, both mortal and divine, quoting passages from both The Pyramid Texts and <i>The Book of the Dead</i>. Oh, and that part where Unas consumes some of the gods to increase his power? Believe it or not, that is directly from The Pyramid Texts. That particular section is even called The Cannibal Hymn. See, this is why I’m such a big advocate for being accurate to the mythological sources. Oftentimes, the actual sources are way wilder than anything a modern writer might come up with. <br /><br />We also get a few fun facts about modern Egypt sprinkled in. For example, Mo has a book that was written by Ahmed Kamal. He was the first Egyptologist to actually be from Egypt. There’s also a scene where the characters are at a club, and it is offhandedly mentioned that the drinking age in Egypt is twenty-one. I looked it up, and it is indeed twenty-one, just like in America. Also, you can apparently buy alcohol in Egypt. <br /><br /><i>Long Night in Egypt</i> is a horror audio drama, and I like the approach it took to that. Unas isn’t portrayed as some monster who is bent on world domination. The main characters were warned not to go into the Pyramid of Unas at night, and they paid the price. Granted, they probably wouldn’t have believed the real reason they were to stay away. Still, their troubles are self-inflicted because they ran foul of ancient traditions, and disrespected the pyramid. Even without the undead pharaoh and the magic, it probably wasn’t the smartest idea to go into a pyramid at night. It is bound to be dark, and you can get easily hurt if you don’t know what you’re doing. <br /><br />The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there. I was particularly thinking about that during the scene in the Halls of Judgement. Ancient Egypt was a foreign culture with a foreign value system. You might consider yourself a good person by modern standards, but how well would you stack up to Ancient Egyptian standards? Though, thankfully, an important part of the Weighing of the Heart is remembering the correct incantations from <i>The Book of the Dead</i>. Of course, even the things the Ancient Egyptians viewed as a great reward/honor for the afterlife could be potentially unpleasant by modern standards. What do I mean by that? Oh, that would be spoilers, but let’s just say you’ll see. <br /><br />On a related note, I loved how the horror comes from the characters finding themself in a story straight out of mythology. I’m a big fan of <i>Percy Jackson and the Olympians</i>, as well the wider Riordanverse. Yes, that includes <i>The Kane Chronicles</i>. Naturally, I love mythology, and I do tend to fantasize about going on urban fantasy mythology adventures. On the other hand, perhaps I should be careful about what I wish for. Such things might be fun to read about, but it might not be so fun to actually live though. Especially if you don’t have magical powers. <br /><br />But hey, maybe I’d get some moments of awe between my terror. Terrifying or not, it would be kind of cool to discover that Egyptian Mythology is real. That’s why Kayla was my favorite character. She constantly geeks out over archeology and mythology. This does cause some friction with Mo during the journey through the underworld. However, all the other characters would have been seriously screwed without Kayla’s encyclopedic knowledge of <i>The Book of the Dead</i>. Granted, Mo is certainly no slouch either, but he does need occasional prompting and reminders. I really loved the part where Kayla geeks out over all the obscure gods in the Hall of Judgement. <br /><br />And speaking of the characters, we need to talk about the voice acting. I find it endlessly amusing that Mo is voiced by Amr Kotb, but Mo’s cousin Amr is voiced by Amro Mahmoud. I was excited when I heard that Roshan Singh would be voicing Jordan. He is the creator of the audio drama <i><a href="https://andasproductions.com/temujin/">Temujin</a></i>, and we’ve interacted a bit on Twitter. He didn’t really have a lot to do. Jordan is kind of…I believe himbo is the term the kids say these days. Still, he did the most with what he had to work with. Alice Pollack does an amazing job capturing Kayla’s endearingly nerdy personality. Asil Moussa is clearly having a lot of fun playing Samira. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Karim Kronfli has a brief cameo as a BBC newscaster. Always great hearing him, and amusingly, this isn’t the only Ancient Egyptian themed project he’s part of. He was also part of the voice cast for the video game <i>Total War: Pharaoh</i>. The music and sound effects are also really great. This is a show that’s being distributed by <a href="https://www.realm.fm/shows/long-night-in-egypt">Realm Media</a>. So, of course it’s going to be a cinematic audio drama. And I wouldn’t have <i>Long Night in Egypt</i> any other way. <br /><br />Hmm, do I have critiques? Well, the image on the title card is not the Pyramid of Unas. It is the Great Pyramid of Giza, but I get why the production team did that. The Pyramid of Unas isn’t very photogenic. In fact, it kind of looks like a giant dirt mound. The Pyramids of Giza scream Ancient Egypt a lot better, and get the point across. And hey, it is a very nice looking title card regardless. <br /><br />Switching gears, I’m not sure how I feel about the way Anubis was voiced. I know the voice actress. She’s the announcer from <i><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-audio-file-we-fix-space-junk.html">We Fix Space Junk</a></i>. It would have been nice if there was an easily accessible cast list for <i>Long Night in Egypt</i>. Anyway, I know she tried to give Anubis an otherworldly voice, but it came across as a bit too feminine. Not what I would have gone for if I’d been casting. I got used to it, but it was a bit of a sour note in an otherwise great voice cast. The other gods had excellent voice casting<br /><br />Those are really the only critiques I can think of. <i>Long Night in Egypt</i> was an absolutely fantastic podcast. I won’t give away the ending, but suffice it to say, there’s no way we’re getting a season two out of this. I’d be genuinely surprised if we do. On the other hand, there are a lot of other mythologies out there. There’s plenty of other myths that could be given the <i>Long Night in Egypt</i> treatment. Hint, hint, Violet Hour and Realm. <br /><br /><i>Long Night in Egypt</i> was an amazing audio drama from start to finish. It really shows the great things that can be accomplished when you make the effort to be accurate to mythology. This is the Egyptian Mythology audio drama I was hoping we might have someday, and it did not disappoint in the slightest. Do yourself a favor and listen to it today. Especially if you love Egyptian Mythology or all things Ancient Egypt. <br /><br />Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.</span></div>Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-813889421252040542023-10-28T18:10:00.001-05:002023-11-04T10:52:30.292-05:00The Audio File: Regina Prime <span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">I have said, on many occasions, that sometimes it takes me a bit before I get to certain audio dramas. Other times, I make a point of listening and reviewing as quickly as possible. Today, we are taking a look at an example of the second scenario. Without further preamble, here is my review of <i><a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jessica-berson0">Regina Prime</a></i>. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgApkKB_UPJCNIj52_A78WdkMSF53WQhUB5IX9CGUHHuGG_D0xiSOCJ2L0pK5j7wtGgj4CX_FWDKwmxmz7dbzWotwdFfhFpZfme8j4wLhNuricu_2xdcvPxZFB5NitfBocFd6CzotYl_DaIfbZTbj-UCtoEgO8t-9pj5XA_jJyo2VAL3YQqK7PYYDgqV8E/s1200/49432D33-785F-464B-9C16-10A3B816657A.jpeg" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgApkKB_UPJCNIj52_A78WdkMSF53WQhUB5IX9CGUHHuGG_D0xiSOCJ2L0pK5j7wtGgj4CX_FWDKwmxmz7dbzWotwdFfhFpZfme8j4wLhNuricu_2xdcvPxZFB5NitfBocFd6CzotYl_DaIfbZTbj-UCtoEgO8t-9pj5XA_jJyo2VAL3YQqK7PYYDgqV8E/s320/49432D33-785F-464B-9C16-10A3B816657A.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><i>Regina Prime</i> begins in the form of an urban exploration vlog. We follow a woman named Regina who is exploring an abandoned research laboratory. Everyone starts of pretty normal, but then strange things begin to happen. It also becomes clear that Regina is hiding something. Or perhaps she’s being forced to hide something. Oh, but we aren’t done yet. Each episode is split between Regina’s adventures, and the happenings of another woman. Well, multiple women, and they all have very similar voices to Regina. These women have been kidnapped by a shadow organization that is seeking Regina Prime. Just what is going on here? <br /><br /><i>Regina Prime</i> is created by Jessica Berson, who also created the audio drama <i><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-audio-file-echoes-in-between.html">Echoes (in) Between</a></i>. It was an audio drama that was very much about slowly peeling back the layers of the central mystery like an onion. <i>Regina Prime</i> is very much cut from the same cloth. In fact, I’d argue that it is even more so. Most episodes of <i>Regina Prime</i> are only about half the length of a typical <i>Echoes (in) Between</i> episode. So, I had to be a bit coy with the summary. I will do my best to keep things spoiler-free for as long as I can. <br /><br />Now, back to the subject of <i>Echoes (in) Between</i>. Those of you who read my review will know that I felt immense guilt for putting off reviewing <i>Echoes (in) Between</i>. This is due to the tragic way in which the show came to an end. To make a long story short, Jessica Berson had a pretty nasty falling-out with her production partner. It is highly doubtful a review from me could have prevented this. All the same, I felt bad after I learned about what happened. However, towards the end of my review, I also expressed confidence that Jessica would one day rise from the ashes like a phoenix. <br /><br />My confidence was certainly not misplaced. Jessica has, in addition to <i>Regina Prime</i>, also started an anthology audio drama called <i><a href="https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/blue-rose-stories-5054824">Blue Rose Stories</a></i>. I’m waiting til it has a few more episodes before I review that one. I will say that the episodes that <i>Blue Rose Stories</i> has out so far are really great. <br /><br />I first became aware of <i>Regina Prime</i> when I got followed by the show’s Twitter account. I was very pleased to see that Jessica was making another serialized audio drama. I made a note that I was going to be proactive and not drag my feet this time round. I had to take care of a few personal matters first, but here we are now. It seems that Jessica is taking a back to basics approach with <i>Regina Prime</i>. As I have previously noted, the episodes are about half the length of a typical <i>Echoes (in) Between</i> episode. Jessica also provides the voices for all of the characters. She manages to give them all distinct personalities, and that’s no small task, given how similar most of the characters sound. As for why that is, well, that’s something for the spoilers section. One of the characters is a computer AI. Jessica considered using an AI voice for the role, but ultimately decided against it. She felt it wouldn’t be the right thing to do. And speaking of AI…but that’s another thing for the spoilers section. <br /><br />I hadn’t really given urban exploration much thought before listening to Regina Prime. I’ve seen a couple YouTube videos, and of course I remember when the Tomb of the Burger King was discovered. Easily the greatest archeological discoveries of our times. That was a joke about some urban explorers who discovered an almost perfectly preserved Burger King from the 1980s. I know urban exploration isn’t the main point of <i>Regina Prime</i>, but it still made me want to learn more about it. <br /><br />Okay, I’ve put it off for as long as possible. It is time to get into the spoilers section. So, if you don’t want any of that, turn back now.<br /><br />Last chance, you sure you want to continue?<br /><br />If everyone who wants out is gone, let’s get into it.<br /><br />I’m going to go on a slight tangent for a moment, but just bare with me here. There was this show I remember briefly watching once called <i>New Amsterdam</i>. It was about this guy, named John Amsterdam, who was an immortal living in New York City. Oh, and it was also a detective show. As the title suggests, John’s been around since when the Dutch owned Manhattan. They had another show called <i>Forever</i>, which had basically the same premise, but I personally liked <i>Forever</i> better of the two. Ironically, both shows got canceled after only one season. Quite a shame really. <br /><br />I bring this up because of something I found interesting about <i>New Amsterdam</i>. John has to keep a detailed list of all his descendants so that he doesn’t accidentally wind-up committing incest. I should probably mention that he’s looking for his true love, who will be the one to cure his immortality. <br /><br />I’d never really considered it, but that would be a concern for someone who is immortal. But what happens when you have multiple immortals running around? And let’s assume these immortals can reproduce. Oh, nothing too bad would happen at first. Slowly but surly, however, the gene pool would start to get shallower and shallower. Iceland has had to deal with a variation of this problem. They’ve had little to no immigration over the years. Most Icelanders are descended from the original handful of Viking settlers. So, accidentally hooking up with a distant cousin is a reasonably legitimate concern. In fact, there’s an app that cross references two people’s family trees using government records. The app works when two people bump their phones together, and its slogan is “bump this app before you bump in bed.” <br /><br />Okay, where am I going with all of this? Well, <i>Regina Prime</i> takes into consideration the ramifications of having a bunch of immortals running around and having kids. Well, that, and the effects of widespread cloning. Remember that part about the people being held captive? I initially believed it to be concurrent with Regina’s own adventures. As it turns out, I was wrong. The second segment actually takes place hundreds of years after Regina’s adventures. In that time, cloning has become very wide spread. Many people choose to have their kids cloned from donated tissue cultures. Regina’s sample proved very popular, but she had a genetic mutation that made her biologically immortal. All of her clones share this mutation, but they can still be murdered. <br /><br />Hmm, a sample of immortal cellular tissue? Could that be a reference to the HeLa cells? They are a sample of cancer cells that have continued to divide long after the point they should have died. They were controversially harvested from Henrietta Lacks, who died of cervical cancer. The HeLa cells proved invaluable in numerous cancer treatment studies. However, the Lacks family didn’t learn about this until many years later. <br /><br />People turning to cloning to ensure their kids are smarter, faster, stronger, and better might seem far fetched to some. However, I’d argue it isn’t too different to what is going on in the here and now. Think about all those people who pursue artificial insemination. Oh, they might claim to be opposed to things like eugenics. But when you get down to it, they’d probably prefer a tall, blonde hair, blue-eye, athletic college professor as their donor. They probably aren’t going to go for a short, flat-footed, perpetually anxious, autistic guy who writes audio drama reviews. <br /><br />Obviously, all of the prisoners are clones of Regina. But why have they been captured? More importantly, who has captured them? I’ll leave all of that for you to discover. I will, however, reiterate that Jessica does a great job of giving the clones all distinct personalities. I helped that Epsilon, the clones are all referred to by Greek letters, has a British accent. Jessica does refer to herself as a committed Anglophile on her Twitter account. Hmm, going by that, I wonder if we’ll eventually see a clones who is obsessed with baseball? <br /><br />I think we’ll wrap it up here. Season one of <i>Regina Prime</i> was really great. It is excellent to see Jessica Berson making audio dramas again. I can’t wait for season two to come out. And I have full confidence that there will indeed be a season two. If you enjoyed <i>Echoes (in) Between</i>, you won’t want to miss out on <i>Regina Prime</i>.<br /><br />Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.<br /></span><br />Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-34250048472082000652023-10-25T11:53:00.000-05:002023-10-25T11:53:39.489-05:00Comic Review: Siege Town <span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">I have been ask to review audio dramas many times. I’ve also been asked to review audiobooks on a few occasions. Today, however, we are breaking new ground. This is the first time someone has asked me to review their comic book. So, without further ado, let’s get into it. We’re taking a look at <i><a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/witchinghourcomics/siege-town">Siege Town</a></i>. </span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg21ZFswzyiVLzMcR58I1OmE7s88WNAadTWWelSgZT7ztoV9Vqn2Yer0ZvA6ix8vzDlVZwvUVOiEQZtSxaomse50fSTquQgVBc1O0pOIS3SZDErMskb2dPKFYzDZYCBvZ0X18BYQFpqO45mxISu9i3293OlnyfhxbAInVcToH-nGhQa091pFRK_siqhTSk/s1041/A0D0944C-2311-49E7-A543-9554B4A18727.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1041" data-original-width="672" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg21ZFswzyiVLzMcR58I1OmE7s88WNAadTWWelSgZT7ztoV9Vqn2Yer0ZvA6ix8vzDlVZwvUVOiEQZtSxaomse50fSTquQgVBc1O0pOIS3SZDErMskb2dPKFYzDZYCBvZ0X18BYQFpqO45mxISu9i3293OlnyfhxbAInVcToH-nGhQa091pFRK_siqhTSk/s320/A0D0944C-2311-49E7-A543-9554B4A18727.jpeg" width="207" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /><i>Siege Town</i> take place in the Soviet Union in the 1950s. We follow two brothers named Robert and Charles. They are from America and…well, actually, we never find out why exactly they’re in the Soviet Union. Anyway, they’re traveling across Russia on their motorcycles, and they’ve recently stopped in a rural town. They’ve decided to stay at an inn run by an incredibly creepy man named Igor. He isn’t exactly popular with the townsfolk. In fact, the townsfolk have decided they’ve had enough of Igor, and they’re out for blood. Charles and Robert are about to find themselves in the middle of a major siege. <br /><br />I was approached to review <i>Siege Town</i> by Ben Ruffett. He is attempting to found his own comics publishing house called Witching Hour Comics. He raised the funds for <i>Siege Town</i> over on Kickstarter. Currently, you can only receive a copy of <i>Siege Town</i> by being a backer to the Kickstarter, but Ben hopes to change that soon. Ben has seen me share my comic book reviews over on Reddit, and asked if I’d be willing to review <i>Siege Town</i>. I said yes, and he shipped me a copy. It was the first time I’d receive a package from a foreign country, in this case Canada. So, that was kind of exciting. He did address it to Arthur Drakoni, which is my Reddit username. Caused some minor confusion when my parents found the package while I was at work. That was my fault. I should have clarified who it should be addressed to. <br /><br />So, the first thing that strikes me about <i>Siege Town</i> is that, physically speaking, it is a very constructed. Holding it in my hands, it felt like I was flipping through something produced by a professional comic book company. The pages are glossy and strong, the cover is slick and shiny, the binding holds well. It even has the smell that you get from a professional comic book. Ben and his team clearly put a lot of effort into making sure their comic met the physical standards of a professional publisher. <br /><br />The same goes for the artwork. It is all drawn and colored very well. Andrey Portilla did the drawing, and Cristian Ramirez handled the coloring. The artwork is very evocative of Vertigo during the heyday of series like <i>Neil Gaiman’s Sandman</i>, or the various horror titles Vertigo published. Wasn’t really into the horror side of Vertigo myself, but I know enough to recognize the influence. <br /><br />So, there’s a lot of care put into the artwork and physical presentation of <i>Siege Town</i>. I just wish the writing and plot had received the same level of attention. The plot, when you get down to it, is really just there to set-up the fight scenes. Don’t get me wrong, they’re very well drawn fight scenes, but I would have preferred if the plot had a bit more meat to it. The other issue I had is that the plot introduces a lot of potentially interesting elements, and promptly does nothing with them. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">For example, Robert and Charles are traveling through the Soviet Union during the 1950s. That was the height of the Cold War, and most Americans couldn’t just waltz into Russia to have a look around. So, what brings Robert and Charles to Russia? What are they looking to accomplish? Beats me, as the comic never provides any answers. In fact, the unusual setting never really factors into the plot. You could set the story in rural America during the same time period, and nothing would change. <br /><br />On an unrelated note, the beginning of the comic makes a list of all the various peoples who have invaded Russia over the years. You get the usual suspects; Napoleon, Hitler, the Mongols…and the Russian Empire. Yeah, apparently, the Russian Empire invaded Russia. It would seem that the script could have used a tad more proofreading. <br /><br />It is also established early on that Igor has a collection of killer ants. This is set up as thought it is going to playing a major role in a big climatic scene. However, the most that happens is that it breaks open, the ants bite one of the villagers, whop quickly brushes them off, and that’s it. On that note, I feel that Igor’s characterization was a bit rushed. Everything about him practically screams serial killer at the top of its lungs. Frankly, what were Robert and Charles expecting when they decided to spend the night? It might have worked better if he started off more innocuous, but then gradually revealed his true colors. This would also add to the sense of rising tension as the villagers close in, and make their motives a bit more mysterious. <br /><br />Now, I didn’t hate <i>Siege Town</i>. I’d been going through a stretch where I hadn’t read a comic book for a bit, and it was nice to be back in the saddle. I was reminded of all the reasons I love comic books as a medium. There’s certainly an audience for comics that put heavy emphasis on action scenes. There’s certainly a lot of people who enjoy the <i>Hellsing</i> manga. That having been said, I am not part of that audience. If you are, however, then perhaps you might want to look into Siege Town.<br /><br />The last few pages of the comic make mention of some upcoming comics from Witching Hour Comics. They both kind of sound like the same plot as <i>Siege Town</i>, but in different settings. The one that is set on a Moonbase sounds promising, but I’m concerned about the execution. Especially since the other one is about a bunch of Vietnam veterans in a small town in America. I certainly hope my critique about Siege Town’s setting doesn’t turn out to be prophetic. <br /><br />So, that was <i>Siege Town</i> from Witching Hour Comics. It looks like a professional comic, down to the smell. It has artwork evocative of Vertigo. The story, however, leaves something to be desired. <br /><br />Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time. </span><br /></div>Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-10015805975091405762023-10-07T10:12:00.000-05:002023-10-07T10:12:01.942-05:00The Audio File: The Dial-Up: Season 2<span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">There are a lot of audio drama that I really hope get more seasons. Sometimes, it takes a bit, but the new seasons materialize. And then there are the shows where, at least from my perspective, the new seasons appear almost instantly. We’ll be reviewing one of the latter examples today. Without further ado, here is my review of <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-dial-up">season two of <i>The Dial-Up</i></a>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTRYtVapgK8_n-IPGQPV1tYrxdWruP0_iUo060bcy9DwDeAo3Z3VVQhynPdCsI9ipZdHKcxjenFUXoqxxDiwgdo5mRdzQpn6bKRG2v-DvtXpvY6A6T3fOw222VgzyrLVya8VQZkD2zmMrlU0aKmhGpY_MEMh7tsQ8f9isHsio2rA3CR4OF4kJbFVXvoCE/s3000/A1310E29-171D-47D9-962E-CF4870231109.jpeg" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTRYtVapgK8_n-IPGQPV1tYrxdWruP0_iUo060bcy9DwDeAo3Z3VVQhynPdCsI9ipZdHKcxjenFUXoqxxDiwgdo5mRdzQpn6bKRG2v-DvtXpvY6A6T3fOw222VgzyrLVya8VQZkD2zmMrlU0aKmhGpY_MEMh7tsQ8f9isHsio2rA3CR4OF4kJbFVXvoCE/s320/A1310E29-171D-47D9-962E-CF4870231109.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br />To recap, <a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-audio-file-dial-up.html">season one of <i>The Dial-Up</i></a> followed a tech support worker named Lewis. He wound up having an Internet phone call with a dude named Callum. Not too unusual, except that Lewis was in 2022, and Callum was in 1999. They chatted it up, compared their lives, and prevented a minor catastrophe from happening. Lewis decided, on Callum’s advice, to quit his dead-end job and go see the world. Unfortunately, money doesn’t last forever, and Lewis had to go crawling back to his old job. It sucks, but it pays the bills. Well, Lewis is having another cross-temporal conversation. Only this time he is chatting with a woman named Dana from 2052. Dana needs Lewis’ help to prevent a massive earthquake from striking Glasgow. <br /><br />Philip Catherwood promised us a fantastic second season of <i>The Dial-Up</i>, and he certainly did not disappoint. I had wondered if something like this might happen. We already got a caller from the past. So, it would certainly make sense for the future to come calling. Philip said he approached this season by taking various predictions about the future, and selecting the ones he felt were most likely to happen. I myself also got to play the game of speculation with this season. </span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">No, I’m not referring to having to wait a week for new episodes this time round. Philip Catherwood allowed me to listen to the first two episodes of season two before anyone else. He only requested that I tweet out a spoiler-free Twitter thread about my thoughts. Philip did this because of my role helping promote <i>The Dial-Up</i>, and being a key listener. Thank you for that, Philip. Also, sorry that it took me so long to get this review out. I was working on some personal projects. Hopefully, said project will be out soon. <br /><br />Anyway, back on topic, Craig McDonald Kelly returns for another fantastic performance as Lewis. I loved how Craig portrayed Lewis’ dorkier side now that he is in Callum’s shoes. Perhaps, Callum managed to rub off on Lewis. I must also give praise to Amy Alexander’s performance as Dana. You can see shades and echoes of how Lewis was in season one, but Dana has enough differences to make her interesting. The part about Dana being a history major who had to sort out her personal issues was…kind of relatable. We’re still a bit light on sound effects, but we got a bit more this time round. And hey, nothing wrong with going lighter on the sound effects. The performances of the actors is more than enough to compensate for that. Just like last time, it never felt like anything was lacking sound-wise. <br /><br />Lewis seemed a bit less intelligent this time around. Of course, Dana works in theoretical physics, while Lewis is just a guy at a tech center. So, maybe he came across as smarter than Callum only by comparison. Callum was just an average guy, but a good guy all the same. Of course, this time round, Lewis is the one geeking out over what wonders are awaiting in the future. So, there’s that too. <br /><br />Okay, so as previously stated, this season makes a lot of predictions about the future. And what are my thoughts on the matter? Let’s go through a few of the predictions. Okay, so apparently Britain is going to be getting a space program in the future. Hey, wait a minute, Britain already has a space agency. The United Kingdom Space Agency was founded in 2010. Now, granted, they currently don’t have any manned space missions. So, perhaps that’s what Dana meant. I don’t know how likely this is, but I like the idea of there being more nations sending humans into space. Well, more than just America, Russia, and China. Though, the bit about Britain becoming a leader in spaceflight was, perhaps, a bit of wish fulfillment on Philip’s part. As for the bit about Elon Musk going bankrupt, eh, it could go either way. Musk is enough of a wild card that anything really is possible. So, I’ll let that bit slide. <br /><br />In other predictions, climate change has gotten worse by 2052. I’d like to think that won’t happen, but the cynical part of me thinks it probably will. Look at how many people tried to ignore/deny Covid even when it was staring them in the face. I can certainly see Scotland getting hit by a hurricane under such circumstances. Though, I do disagree with Lewis and Dana about it being cool. I’m from Louisiana, where hurricanes are a major concern every year. It has been nearly twenty years since Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, but that’s still fresh in the minds of many Louisianans. Even a relatively weak hurricane is no laughing matter. <br /><br />Dana mentions that it was fifty-five Celsius when she visited Vietnam. Hmm, let’s do some conversions. Thirty degrees Celsius is roughly equivalent to ninety degrees Fahrenheit. So, that would mean that fifty-five degrees Celsius is…yikes! That’s about 131 Fahrenheit, and that’s past the point the human body can comfortably survive! I sure hope that people of Vietnam have invested in industrial air conditioners by 2052. I also shudder to imagine the consequences of them experiencing a blackout. Having lived through the Great American Heat Dome of 2023, I certainly hope that this prediction does not come to pass. Because if Vietnam is that hot, Louisiana is sure to be an oven as well. <br /><br />Speaking of things going hot, apparently China invaded India at some point. Uh, how exactly did that happen. They’re both nuclear armed nations, and that’s a pretty big deterrence against invasion. Were they fighting over the Kashmir? If so, shouldn’t Pakistan have been involved? Of course, they are also nuclear armed, which brings us right back to the first problem. Yeah, I don’t see this one as likely, especially since it didn’t lead to World War III breaking out. <br /><br />Well, enough international events, let’s get back to the homefront. Movie theaters haven’t totally died out by 2052, but there is only one movie theater left in all of Glasgow. Dana isn’t too thrilled about this, as she actually enjoys going out into the world, rather than doing everything digitally. Naturally, she finds a kindred spirit in Lewis. People have been predicting the demise of movie theaters since…well, basically ever. I remember watching this old film from way back in the 1950s bemoaning about how soon television would drive theaters out of business. Ironically, I watched that film on a television. Was I watching it on Turner Classic Movies? Hmm, I can’t remember. Well, anyway, it is certainly true that many theaters are struggling to stay afloat. Many of them are trying to offer a more deluxe and upscale experience in hopes of attracting customers. I actually did wonder if Covid would be the deathblow to theaters, but they’ve weathered the storm. Look how many people went out for Barbenheimer. <br /><br />So, I don’t think movie theaters will ever truly go away. There’s always going to be some people who will prefer that to streaming or on-demand. That said, I do think that the number of movie theaters is probably going to decrease in the future. So, that’s certainly another of the stronger predictions from this season. <br /><br />We also learn that eating bugs has become fairly common by 2052. Red meat and white meat aren’t illegal, but they are prohibitively expensive for most people. So, insects are used as a cheap source of protein. This is presented as something unpleasant, but I’m hoping that eating insects becomes more common. Bugs are very tasty, and they are an excellent source of protein. I’m always excited when I hear about chefs experimenting with recipes utilizing insects. Now, granted, I don’t want insects to replace other forms of meat. I do love my burgers, fried chicken, and baked salmon. Rather, I want them to be welcomed into the western diet. Also, mealworms are not gross. Most of the ones currently on the market are a bit too dried out for my taste. However, that’s easily fixable with better packaging to seal in freshness. <br /><br />As for the bit about augmented reality glasses becoming more common…beats me. I kind of feel that would have already happened by now. However, I also thought the iPhone was stupid back when it first came out. Now, I can’t survive without my iPhone, and I typed this review on my iPad Pro. Shows what I know. However, Metaverse is not going to take off. I don’t care how much money Mark Zuckerberg tried to pump into it. Metaverse is like the word fetch; it is, like, so not going to happen. <br /><br />Now, there is a huge spoiler that happens at the end of episode two. Oh, how I want to discuss it, but I really shouldn’t. I’ll leave it for you to discover. All I will say is, woah, did not see that coming. Didn’t see it coming, but it got me very excited for the rest of the episodes. And those episodes certainly did not disappoint. <br /><br />I wondered what season three will bring. And yes, there will be a season three. We’ve gone backwards in time, forwards in time, but what about sideways in time? That is, staying at now, but connecting with a different version of now. One where history went differently. Certainly a lot of possibilities to be had. But no, that’s not going to be the case. I won’t spoil what the case will be, but I was certainly pleasantly surprised. It looks like season three is going to hold great things indeed. <br /><br />So, that was season two of <i>The Dial-Up</i>. We follow the continuing adventures of Lewis as he gets an unexpected call from the future. It has great character interactions, great voice acting, and interesting predictions about the future. You won’t want to miss this if you enjoyed season one of <i>The Dial-Up</i>.<br /><br />Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time. </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div>Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-16267968178028021892023-08-27T10:14:00.006-05:002023-09-06T18:53:00.337-05:00The Audio File: Residents of Proserpina Park: Season 3 <span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">By now it should be clear how much I utterly adore Residents of Proserpina Park. An urban fantasy audio drama where you get to learn about mythical creatures from around the world? Hey, this is my happy place. We’ve already had two amazing seasons, and now it is onto the third. Oh, but three really is the magic number. This is a very special season indeed. Without further ado, let’s get into it. We’re taking a look at season three of <i><a href="https://residentsofproserpinapark.com/">Residents of Proserpina Park</a></i>. <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv1EsZtAczu4_Ca9TGdrENp6sGJxNK0snkmaCS1PGN1i4njPWOXAm_W1y2yGN_NDXP65yRBqWDgMXxPIwBT9pDTqvLkvJR0FuJc01cuUIGIt2eeYtrWKhD9Qjm5RmQrzUQooftN4QYESw6x4jO24UxdWhM4WC23yjRyrfufoylrxJ_wdmLulINFXeN8Pc/s1400/A8375DFD-EA82-4471-8B0E-479E02658594.jpeg" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv1EsZtAczu4_Ca9TGdrENp6sGJxNK0snkmaCS1PGN1i4njPWOXAm_W1y2yGN_NDXP65yRBqWDgMXxPIwBT9pDTqvLkvJR0FuJc01cuUIGIt2eeYtrWKhD9Qjm5RmQrzUQooftN4QYESw6x4jO24UxdWhM4WC23yjRyrfufoylrxJ_wdmLulINFXeN8Pc/s320/A8375DFD-EA82-4471-8B0E-479E02658594.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>When we last left our heroes, they had just come to a shocking revelation: the park is named Proserpina Park! Oh, and Sam is back. That’s also pretty important. Ah, but Sam isn’t alone. He’s joined by an old friend named Jessica. She has a freewheeling devil-may-care personality, and a very cavalier when it comes to the creatures of the park. Jessica is back to settle some old business. Business that Dog, the gang’s loyal alien in canine disguise, has some connection to. It has something to do with a particularly mysterious creature. </span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Alina and her friends are going to have to venture into the depths of the park to find answers. They must be sure to keep their wits sharp. For, in this season, we shall meet the tricksters who call the park home. Meanwhile, Mirai is having her own adventures in Japan. She has found her way to a village populated by yoaki. She’s certainly out of place as a mere human, but she’ll make some unlikely allies during her time in the village. Everyone buckle up, because this season of <i>Residents of Proserpina Park</i> is sure to be a wild ride. <br /><br />This season of <i>Residents of Proserpina Park</i> was a bit of a new experience for me. I was one of the backers for the season three Indiegogo campaign. So, I got to listen to all the episodes before they were released to the general public. It was an interesting experience to binge the episodes, but still very much enjoyable. Though, I did kind of miss getting to hear the theme music at the beginning and end of each episode. Not that this was a dealbreaker or anything like that, mind you. There was one other way that this season was different for me personally, but we’ll get to that in a bit. <br /><br /><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2021/08/the-audio-file-residents-of-proserpina.html">Season one</a> was intro to World Mythology and Folklore. <a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-audio-file-residents-of-proserpina.html">Season two</a> was all about creatures of the night and other monsters. Season three is all about the tricksters, but it also stands out from its predecessors in another way. Most of the creatures featured in season three tend to be of the chattier variety. This is very much by design. Angela Yih has said that there’s only so many times you can recycle the roar and snarl sound-effects before they get old. I certainly agree with that, and it isn’t like chatty creatures are unprecedented. The first two seasons gave us the kappa, the aswang, and of course JD, among others. Personally, I think it is great that <i>Residents of Proserpina Park</i> is keeping things fresh. Each episode of season three also includes an after credits bonus scene. So, you want to make sure to stick around until the very end of each episode. This season is also slightly longer. We got twelve episodes this season, rather than the usual ten. <br /><br />Okay, so, who is this Jessica person? I speculated, in my review of season two, that Jessica might be something not quite human. But no, it would seem that I was wrong. Jessica is merely a garden variety human. She did manage to capture a genie, and I don’t mean the kind that are blue and sound like Robin Williams. The original jinn from Arabian Folklore were really more like gods in terms of power. There is one minor discrepancy, however. Dog mentions that some people blame mental health problems on jinn. Except, jinn verifiably exist in the <i>Residents of Proserpina Park</i> universe. So, how does that work out? I suppose you could justify it by saying that they can cause mental health issues, but natural causes are far more likely to be the case. This was kind of on my mind, as it does tie-in with something we’ll discuss in the spoilers section. Oh, and you know how Sam can see the creatures, but can’t hear them? Jessica is the exact opposite. She can hear the creatures, but can’t see them. We’ll get more into that later. <br /><br />Anyway, getting back on track, Jessica provides a foil to Alina. In doing so, Jessica highlights a major theme of this season. In the immortal words of John Lennon, you get by with a little help from your friends. That is very much true with Alina. Drew and Jun frequently act as the voices of reason, and help reign Alina in, and dial back her impulses. I would imagine that it isn't a coincidence that we learn more about Drew and Jun’s backstories this season. Jessica is, essentially, how Alina would have turned out if she didn’t have her friends, or if she had alienated them. Jessica tends to rush in first, and ask questions later, if at all. She tends to focus on whether she can do something, rather than if she should do it. Jessica is determined to become the most powerful being in the park. It doesn’t matter how many creatures she has to hurt to achieve this. <br /><br />Alina and Jessica also contrast with how they treat Sam. They both wronged Sam and abused his trust. Alina brought her friends to the park, when Sam explicitly told her not to, and Jessica…well get into that in the spoilers section. However, they tried to make amends in very different ways. Alina does her best to sincerely apologize and make amends. It definitely helps that Drew and Jun are there to keep her calm and focused. Jessica, by contrast, has a single-minded focus on correcting her mistake. She’s been avoiding Sam and Dog, and in the process, further alienated them. I suppose another theme of this season is about the importance of communicating, and talking things out when you have a problem. One gets the impression that Jessica, Dog, and Sam could have saved themselves a lot of grief if they had just been more open about their problems, instead of avoiding each other. <br /><br />As previously noted, we get to learn a bit more about Drew and Jun’s backstories. We learn that Drew tried college, decided it wasn’t for them, dropped out, and doesn’t have any concrete plans in life. They’re just going wherever the winds of fate take them. They’re content to take things one day at a time. They’re aware this puts them in contrast to Alina and Jun, who are both very ambitious. Drew is well aware that they will probably part ways with Alina and Jun one day. However, they don’t despair. It isn’t how much time they have with Alina and Jun, but how they spend it that matters. Even if they must part ways eventually, Drew will always have Alina and Jun’s backs.<br /><br />This is quite a thoughtful and introspective moment from what tends to be a fairly lighthearted audio drama. It rings very true to my own experiences. I’ve had many friends come and go over the years. It is always sad when that happens, but each person we meet changes us, and leaves a bit of themselves with you. So, it’s like they’re still with you even when they’re gone. For however long it lasted, they were your friend, and nothing will change that. <br /><br />On a lighter note, we learn more about Jun’s interest in space. He wants to be an astronaut, but he also likes to theorize about alien lifeforms. He likes to theorize about how the aliens might evolve and adapt to different environments. Well, that was certainly unexpected. It appears that Jun is a speculative evolution enthusiast. I’m also involved in that community. We theorize about all that paths evolution might take. We imagine worlds where evolution went different in the past, we imagine how it might go in the future, and we do indeed imagine how it might play out on alien worlds. If you’d like an introduction to speculative evolution, may I recommend the <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/SpeculativeEvolution/">r/SpeculativeEvolution subreddit</a> and the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@CuriousArchive">Curious Archive</a> channel on YouTube? <br /><br />I was pleasantly surprised that we got an entire episode devoted to Mirai’s adventures in Japan. I had been hoping we might get something like this at some point. She has found herself in a village inhabited entirely by yokai. She has Fox Ears the kitsune to help her out, but she also gains another ally named Daichi. He is a character that Angela Yih designed a while ago, but only implemented into the story this season. I knew, from the audition forms, Daichi felt ashamed of his body. That could only mean one thing: a tanuki. I did wonder if perhaps he’d be one of the more obscure yoaki, but he was represented by the raccoon emoji. The auditions didn’t outright say what creature the role were. Angela wanted it to be a surprise for the listeners. So, a raccoon emoji clearly mean tanuki, which are also known as raccoon dogs. <br /><br />Tanuki are usually depicted as jolly mischievous tricksters in Japanese Folklore. They’re shapeshifters, much like kitsune, and the two are often depicted as rivals. I should also note that tanuki are a real animal. They’re also called raccoon dogs; though, they are neither a raccoon or a dog. Also, as far as we know, they do not shapeshift or talk. Now, why would Daichi be ashamed of his appearance? Hmm, how do I put this delicately? Guess I better just say it. Tanuki are famous for having massive testicles, and being able to make them bigger. There’s even a popular children’s song in Japan all about tanuki testicles. There’s a scene where Daichi uses his ball sack to form a massive wall to temporarily hide Mirai from the other yokai. I guess you could say that scene got real balls-to-walls insane. Hey, don’t give me that look, the joke practically writes itself. <br /><br />In all seriousness, I did enjoy Daichi as a character. I liked the way he contrasted with Fox Ears. Daichi tends to be friendlier and speaks to Mirai as an equal, whereas Fox Ears tends to be more aloof, haughty, and cryptic. That isn’t to say Fox Ears doesn’t throw Mirai a rope now and again, but she certainly likes to toy with Mirai. <br /><br />Naturally, we get to meet all sorts of amazing new creatures from across World Mythology and Folklore. I had been hoping we might meet Anansi, the trickster spider god of the Akan people, at some point. Lo and behold, this season more than delivered on that. Vincent C. Davis gave such an absolutely wonderful performance. He sounded almost exactly how I always envisioned Anansi sounding. It was pitch-perfect casting. And let’s not forget the writing in that episode. It carried as great sense of suspense and mystery. <br /><br />In other creatures, I loved getting to meet the wemategunis. It is a creature from the folklore of the Lenape people. I always appreciate getting to learn more about Native American cultures. One of the most famous stories about the wemategunis is how it helped a young gambler. The gambler had lost his eyes to the Chief of Gambling, who is a spirit that lives on the Moon. The wemategunis agreed to help after the young gambler promised to give up gambling for good. Given some things we’ll touch on in the spoilers section, I get the feeling that including the wemategunis in this season wasn’t coincidence. I also liked that part of that episode where Alina had to stay behind, and gave her recorder to Sam and Terry. So, we get to experience that part of the episode from Alina’s perspective, or lack thereof. <br /><br />Okay, let’s see, what am I forgetting? Oh, right, I’m in this season too! I got to voice Slenderman. Yes, the monster from all of those creepypastas. He was included as an example of modern-day folklore. This was the first major voice acting role that wasn’t a bit part. I’m very excited that I actually got to be part of <i>Residents of Proserpina Park</i>. I had a lot of fun voicing Slenderman. Angela said she envisioned Slenderman sounding like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZHyhx2AWLU">God from <i>Puppet History of the Universe</i></a>. So, I tried to mimic that style. By all accounts, I did pretty well. I love the distorted sound-effects that Angela included for the parts where Slenderman really shows his true colors. And hey, who knows, maybe you’ll get to hear me again when season four rolls around. <br /><br />Thankfully, we didn’t have any “who’s on first” issues because of my name. I briefly got confused when the recording schedule said Sam, but then I remembered we were doing it by character name, not real name. Though, amusingly, my day job is working as an edutainer at the Shreveport Aquarium. I educate the public about all sorts of marine creatures, but I also make sure the guests behave, and the touch tank animals stay safe. Even more funnily, one of my managers is named Jessica. Don’t worry, she and I are on good terms with each other. Most of my co-workers have listened to the episode I was in, and all give it high marks. Now I just need to get them to listen to all the other episodes of the show. <br /><br />A big thank you to Angela Yih for giving me this opportunity. Also, thank you to Ben Pollizi and Ashley Dawson. You were both really nice during recording. Sorry I sounded like I was five seconds away from having a panic attack. I was worried I’d screw up, and my baseline tends to be anxious. But I did have a lot of fun, and I’d happily do it again. <br /><br />Okay, now for the part where we get into the spoilers. Get off the ride now if you don’t want any of that. <br /><br />Last chance, you sure you want to keep going?<br /><br />Well, if everyone who wants out is gone, let’s get into it. <br /><br />In my previous reviews, I came up with several theories about why Sam can’t hear the creatures of the park. Many of my ideas were very exotic and imaginative. However, the actual answer turned out to be a tad simpler. In fact, it was practically staring me in the face. Turns out, Sam and Jessica were cursed after the ran afoul of the Aos Si, also known as the fae, or the Fair Folk. I guess I let my imagination get carried away, and imagined things that were fun to think about, rather than what was likely. I can be a bit slow on the uptake at times. For example, I knew that Angela Yih cited <i>Scooby-Doo</i> as one of the inspirations for <i>Residents of Proserpina Park</i>. It took til now for me to connect the dots that the podcast follows a group of meddling young adults, and a talking dog, solving mysteries. Also, the lion dogs are named Dio and Gi. I though maybe it was a <i>JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure</i> reference, but upon further inspection, it was a pun on D-O-G. <br /><br />Anyway, the Aos Si aren’t the kind of fairies who have tea parties in the garden. These are the original, darker and wilder, fairies from Celtic Mythology. In Ireland, the Tuatha Dé Danann were the pre-Christian gods, but got reimagined as mere spirits following Christianization. Albeit, very powerful ones. Think, the forces of nature given physical form. It isn’t that Aos Si don’t have any morality, but their morality is utterly incomprehensible to humans. So, they’re kind of like creatures H.P. Lovecraft might have dreamed up. <br /><br />So, Sam was cursed to not hear the creatures, and Jessica can’t see them. See no evil, hear no evil, where’s speak no evil? To explain that, we have to delve into another revelation: Sam is gay. He was worried that Alina had a crush on him, but turns out she’s asexual and/or aromatic. Well, Drew says that Alina is the type to look, but not touch. We also have to assume that Alina probably has ADHD, given how impulsive and easily distracted she tends to be. Ah, but there was a special someone in Sam’s life. Jun’s name is short for Junpei. I bring this up because he has a twin brother named Junichi, who used to be Sam’s boyfriend. Unfortunately, Junichi was cursed to not speak of the creatures. This manifested as him losing his memories, and turning sickly. This is why Sam has such a strong air of melancholy about him. <br /><br />But what did Jessica, Sam, and Junichi do that brought this curse upon them? It involved a new creature. A creature even newer than Slenderman, but who could it be? I was spinning my wheels trying to figure it out, but it was a fool’s errand. I would have never guessed the answer, because the creature is one that Jessica, Sam, and Junichi created themselves. From what little we see, it appears to be some sort of shapeshifter, and very powerful. This seems to confirm the theory I had that the creatures pop into existence ex-nihilo because people believe in them hard enough. It reminds me a bit of the concept of the tulpa from Tibetan Buddhism. <br /><br />I really liked the scene where Alina pleads with Sam that he doesn’t have to go it alone anymore. It tied in nicely with this season’s theme about the importance of friendship. It also demonstrated their development as characters. Alina doesn’t just view Sam as another mystery to solve, or a ticket to an adventure. She now genuinely values him as a friend. Similarly, Sam takes steps towards moving beyond his past. He isn’t completely healed, and there’s still trials ahead, but being about to trust Alina and her friends is a major step forward for him. <br /><br />Yeah, the whole power of friendship trope might be a bit cliché, and some would say overdone. But you know what? This season of <i>Residents of Proserpina Park</i> pulled it off really well. Ultimately, tropes are tools, and can be done well if handled by a skilled writer. Fortunately, Angela Yih was more than up to the task. <br /><br />No theorizing from me this time around. I have absolutely no clue where plot is heading, but I can’t wait to find out. This season of <i>Residents of Proserpina Park</i> was something really special. And, you know, not just because I was in it. Several members of the cast received character development, we got to meet the tricksters of the park, we got some serious revelations. We also learned about the importance of friendship, but in a way that felt organic, and was never heavy-handed. There are bright days ahead for <i>Residents of Proserpina Park</i>, and I can’t wait to visit again. <br /><br />Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time. </span></div>Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-56314119785171230242023-08-14T11:35:00.000-05:002023-08-14T11:35:08.203-05:00AlloAmericana, Sea Lion Press Interview, and Kill FM 2<span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">It has been a while since I’ve done one of these life update posts. However, I’ve had many major developments happen. Several of these are well overdue. So, let’s get straight into it. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJEsp0ijMh3k_ELtdyLJv4U9vxrRURIc39iJ7oJaNUpMOXCyrNI9gSqB9jNrtnF2UpE9QfDCFYJbwXE18elG6s0mjQxSgS4GvECk7ELuQSapSE837Rs9Nxxc0CVkXANka69XyOUSk-6FUuQZfQKoORt6x30I2Xq1ScH0x-l5vObKM-iqmsFMksqdWmKcs/s1492/E2BB05DC-F403-4C68-9701-AB39EDB1D0E8.jpeg" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1492" data-original-width="935" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJEsp0ijMh3k_ELtdyLJv4U9vxrRURIc39iJ7oJaNUpMOXCyrNI9gSqB9jNrtnF2UpE9QfDCFYJbwXE18elG6s0mjQxSgS4GvECk7ELuQSapSE837Rs9Nxxc0CVkXANka69XyOUSk-6FUuQZfQKoORt6x30I2Xq1ScH0x-l5vObKM-iqmsFMksqdWmKcs/s320/E2BB05DC-F403-4C68-9701-AB39EDB1D0E8.jpeg" width="201" /></a></div></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br />The first item on the agenda. I have had a short story published in an alternate history anthology. So, I’m in the Alternate History Online group on Facebook. I saw a post by my pal Alexander Wallace. He was calling for submission for an anthology he was putting together for <a href="https://www.sealionpress.co.uk/">Sea Lion Press</a>. They are an independent publishing house specializing in alternate history. The collection is called <i><a href="https://www.sealionpress.co.uk/product-page/alloamericana-myths-and-legends-from-other-americas">AlloAmericana</a></i>, and it focuses on folklore and legends from alternate versions of America. You better believe I jumped at the opportunity to be part of something like that. <br /><br />My story is called “Coyote and the Great Sturgeon.” It takes place in a world where Japan colonized California in the 17th Century. My inspiration was a Japanese folktale about why Japan has earthquakes. According to legend, there is a giant catfish that lives beneath Japan. It is being held in place by a water god. However, occasionally the god will lose his grip, and that catfish is able to wiggle. And that is why earthquakes happen in Japan, so the legend goes. California is also prone to earthquakes. So, I thought about the myths and legends the Japanese settlers would bring with them. Specifically, how they would change and evolve to fit their new homeland. Shinto and Buddhism are highly syncretic religions that happily adopt deities from across cultures. So, I figured it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume they might appropriate figures from Native American spirituality; such as the trickster Coyote. <br /><br />Coyote is an interesting figure. He is a trickers, but he often winds up being the one who gets outwitted in his stories. The way I approach the story was to think of what I did with the stories I wrote for <a href="https://www.themoonlitroad.com/"><i>The Moonlit Road</i></a>. “<a href="https://www.themoonlitroad.com/irwin-tarheel-fair-folk-louisiana-folktale/">Irwin Tarheel and the Fair Folk</a>” was an adaption of the Japanese folktale of Urashima Taro, and “<a href="https://www.themoonlitroad.com/golem-of-the-gullah-jewish-folktale/">Golem of the Gullah</a>” was an adaption the Jewish folktale The Golem of Prague. So, I basically tried to imagine the story of stories I’d be retelling in this alternate world. <br /><br />By all accounts, “Coyote and the Great Sturgeon” has been a great success. Reviews of <i>AlloAmericana</i> frequently signal it out as one of the best stories in the anthology. You can buy <a href="https://www.amazon.com/AlloAmericana-Myths-legends-other-Americas-ebook/dp/B09NWGRTH2"><i>AlloAmericana</i> for $7.81 on Amazon</a>. If it is any consolation, I didn’t get a complimentary copy. I had to pay for my own copy just like the rest of you. I must also shout-out a few of the other stories in the collection. “Hear That Cold Steel Cling” by Josiah Depaoli is a really great take on the story of John Henry, but set in a world where the South won the American Civil War. Josiah had some very nice things to say about my story. “Bunyan’s Progress” by Jared Kavanagh is a fun take on Paul Bunyan. “Honest and Loyal” by Alexander Wallace retells the story of George Washington and the cherry tree, but in a world where Washington fought for the British during the Revolutionary War. Really, I could keep going, but suffice it to say, the who collection is absolutely fantastic. <br /><br />Alex also booked us all some interviews on a couple of podcasts he’s been on in the past. This was to help promote the collection, and let us all explain our process for crafting the stories. We were on <a href="https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-alternate/episode9-raging-militant-3tuexBoqH19/">episode 9 of The Alternate History Show with Ben Kearns</a>. Our segment begins at 1:09:44. We were also on <a href="https://radiopublic.com/living-a-life-through-books-GZzeLL/s1!e53cf">Living a Life Through Books with Dr. Shaznaz Ahmed</a>. The episode was devoted entirely to all of us talking about our stories, and alternate history in general. Dr. Ahmed was really nice. I had a lot of fun. My only regret is that I couldn’t find the mute button when my dog Wolfie decided to sound the alarm because the scary UPS man rang the doorbell. Thankfully, nobody seemed to mind. <br /><br />Speaking of interviews, <a href="https://www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/interview-sam-mcdonald">I got interviewed by Sea Lion Press</a>. Alex Wallace put in a good word for me. Sea Lion Press loved interviewing prominent figures within the online alternate history community. This blog of mine is moving on up in the world. Gary Oswald and I chatted about my experience as an audio drama critic, some of my favorite alternate history audio dramas, what I’ve got going on in the future, and, of course, <i>AlloAmerica</i>. It was a really great interview. I’m very proud of it. <br /><br />I’ve also starting expanding into the world of voice acting. I got to play a small role in <i><a href="http://www.19nocturneboulevard.net/">19 Nocturne Boulevard</a></i>’s segment on <i>Kill FM 2: Fortune’s Favors [Side A]</i>. For those who don’t know, <i><a href="https://www.kill-fm.com/">Kill FM</a></i> is an annual event where several audio drama creators unite to make a weird fiction variety show. The <i>19 Nocturne Boulevard</i> segment begins at 38:25 and I’m the announcer guy who says “The North Star!” I also provided some crowd chants. A big thank you to Julie Hoverson for letting me be part of the <i>19 Nocturne Boulevard</i> segment. I loved the concept of a dystopian future with genetically engineered mutant gladiators duking it out. And also, shout-out to <i>Project Gnosis</i> for their awesome segment at 27:45. <br /><br /><i>19 Nocturne Boulevard</i> is an anthology show created by Julie Hoverson. She also hosts a voice acting cold reads group. The cold read group is very laid-back and non-serious. It’s a great way to practice your voice acting skills in a fun and relaxing environment. Usually, we read scripts from <i>19 Nocturne Boulevard</i>, but sometimes we read scripts from other audio dramas. For example, we read from <i><a href="https://www.geminicollisionworks.com/life-with-althaar">Life With Althaar</a></i>. I’ve had the pleasure of playing the title character, and Althaar has been my absolute favorite role in the group. Not to brag, but everyone always seems to find my take on Althaar to be pretty hilarious. </span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The group meets on Wednesday at 6 PM Pacific time, and Sunday at 1 PM Pacific time. I’m usually too busy to join the Wednesday meeting, and my day job at the Shreveport Aquarium often means I can’t make Sundays lately. Still, I try to come whenever I can manage. There’s no commitments, so feel free to join us for whenever, and for however long, you want. You can join the group with <a href="https://t.co/moYtCgYa6Z">this link</a>.<br /><br />There is one other major voice acting role I’ve had. I’m particularly proud of this one. However, I’m not going to tell you what it is just yet. If you want to find out, you’ll have to wait for my next blog post. My next post is going to be an audio drama review. That’s the only clue you get. <br /><br />And with that, I’ll see you all next time.</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div>Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-68454803591741412622023-08-10T12:30:00.001-05:002023-08-17T18:55:44.316-05:00The Audio File: Live From Mount Olympus: Season 3<span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Well, I can’t really think of a clever introduction for this one. We’re talking about another fantastic adaptation of Greek Mythology, in audio drama form, today. And one I’ve been eagerly anticipating. We’re taking a look at <a href="https://www.onassis.org/initiatives/onassis-podcasts/live-from-mount-olympus-season-3">season three of <i>Live From Mount Olympus</i></a>. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBN8qZd0zEB9LG4djih2ktwnL-3BozvauPdMG8JTMBroQa8kgYp9O2PsuYov3icYlu4ePoGhjOKeSGOy3rnRr1NzQps4hiL7AUym0dmO7X4xmWTGnyQU6_OUjH9zwY1qI-1VoLlAV1niL7QW-nYHtPxBayahtWPnlQPJ1j8z7wKJA1yPvDtzS6jnm_b7s/s2986/DD0B0AB3-32EB-4C93-8805-834BADF9410B.png" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2986" data-original-width="2986" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBN8qZd0zEB9LG4djih2ktwnL-3BozvauPdMG8JTMBroQa8kgYp9O2PsuYov3icYlu4ePoGhjOKeSGOy3rnRr1NzQps4hiL7AUym0dmO7X4xmWTGnyQU6_OUjH9zwY1qI-1VoLlAV1niL7QW-nYHtPxBayahtWPnlQPJ1j8z7wKJA1yPvDtzS6jnm_b7s/s320/DD0B0AB3-32EB-4C93-8805-834BADF9410B.png" width="320" /></a></div></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br />Atalanta is a conflicted young woman. She was abandoned in the forest as a baby and raised by a family of bears. She loves her home in the forest, but she finds herself increasingly drawn towards human civilization. She is determined to learn about her origins and find her birth parents. She soon becomes renowned for both her fierce prowess in battle, and her incredible beauty. Atalanta must learn to balance her wild nature with the ways of civilization if she is ever going to find her place in the world. <br /><br />I had previously speculated that we might see the story Atalanta get adapted as a season of <i>Live From Mount Olympus</i>. Atalanta is one of the few Greek heroes who, it could be argued, got a happy ending. Put a pin in that bit for now. However, as we can see, my prediction turned out to be fairly on the money. <br /><br />The most famous aspect of Atalanta’s story, of course, is how she challenged her suitors to defeat her in the foot race. This happens, of course, but not until the end of the season. To be fair, the race does occur later into the story of Atalanta. Still, I’m remind of how, back in season one, Perseus slaying Medusa took less time than you might expect. However, in another parallel to season one, this just serves to emphasize the aspects that many people tend to forget in retelling of Atalanta’s story. One such aspects is the role that Meleager plays in Atalanta’s story. <br /><br />Who is this Meleager person? He was the prince of Calydon, and a member of the Argonauts. The Fates connected his life with a piece of firewood. It was prophesied that Meleager would die if the firewood ever burned. Meleager’s mother kept the firewood locked in a special box. The truly cultured among you will notice this is an early example of Chekhov‘s Gun. It is a literary device name for the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It comes from advice he gave to aspiring playwrights. He said, paraphrased, don’t introduce a gun in the first act of a play unless you intend for it to be fired in the last act of a play. <br /><br />Each season of <i>Live From Mount Olympus</i> has always been a two-person story. <a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-audio-file-live-from-mount-olympus.html">Season one</a> was Perseus and Andromeda, <a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-audio-file-live-from-mount-olympus.html">season two</a> was Persephone and Demeter, and now we have Atalanta and Meleager. It is Atalanta’s slaying of the Calydonian Boar, and her relationship with Meleager, that gets the lion’s share of the attention in season three. Of course, season three does break the pattern slightly. Meleager dies slightly over halfway through the season. Even then, a big driver for Atalanta’s growth as a character is learning to come to terms with Meleager’s death. <br /><br /><i>Live From Mount Olympus</i> thrives by filling in the gaps and spaces of the original myths. That remains very true in season three. We spend a lot of time getting to know Atalanta’s adoptive family of bears. In fact, we spend more time with the bears than we do with her human family. At times, I was a bit reminded of Tarzan. Then again…well, actually, I guess Enkidu from <i>The Epic of Gilgamesh</i> would be the original Tarzan. Atalanta is a respectable second, however. We also see that Atalanta feels remorse over all the suitors who are killed as a result of losing the foot race to her. In the original myth, this is kind of glossed over. Here, however, she reflects on how they all have family and friends who will mourn their deaths. <br /><br />We also get a closer look at Hermes’ godscast. It was just a framing device in pervious seasons. Season three, by contrast, makes it feel more like Hermes is actually producing a podcast. There’s a few scenes where he interviews Artemis and Athena about their role in Atalanta’s story. They both banter a bit with Hermes, and those scenes are written quite well. It never comes across as forced or annoying, unlike certain other podcasts. That means you, Parcast. Getting back on track, I thought this was a nice addition to season three of <i>Live From Mount Olympus</i>. <br /><br />The voice acting is as fantastic as ever. We see several of our leading voices returning to the spotlight. Joanne Hernandez, who played Persephone in season two, takes center stage as Atalanta. It was fun getting to hear her play a character who headstrong, aggressive, and just a tad cocky. However, she also wonderfully captures Atalanta’s more vulnerable side as well. Divine Garland, who played Perseus in season one, also makes a triumphant return as Meleager. He is tasked with going in the opposite direction of Joanne’s performance. But it should come has no surprise that he captures Meleager’s thoughtful and sensitive nature. He managed to capture that side of Perseus fairly well. I must also give praise to Libby King’s performance as Athena, and Christina Liberus’ performance as Artemis. And, of course, Andre De Shields was just as wonderful as ever as Hermes. <br /><br />There’s a running theme throughout this season about nature vs. civilization, or put another way, chaos vs. order. Artemis is the representative for team nature, while Athena represents team civilization. I like that neither is portrayed as being better than the other. Artemis and Athena do have friendly competition over who will influence Atalanta more, but it never turns malicious. Artemis and Athena both gives valuable gifts and advice to Atalanta. So, I guess the message is that we’ve all got a little wild and a little civilized inside of us. The trick is to find a way to balance them. <br /><br />Okay, now I know you’re all wondering this for a while. Just how does <i>Live From Mount Olympus</i> handle the ending of Atalanta’s myth? Well, first we should talk about how the foot race goes. True to the myth, Hippomenes wins the race using golden apples given to him by the goddess Aphrodite. He dedicates each apple to an aspect of Atalanta that he loves. So, she isn’t just intrigued by the apples being shiny. We also get to know Hippomenes before the race, and learn why he loves Atalanta so much. This was, I suspect, done to makes the whole marriage race thing more palatable to modern listeners. I also loved how the announcer guy made the race sound like a modern-day sporting event. It was a fun little touch. <br /><br />The original myth ends with Atalanta and Hippomenes getting turned into lions after having sex in a temple dedicated to Rhea. This might not seem bad, given how much Atalanta loves the wilderness. However, the Ancient Greeks certainly wouldn’t have viewed it in a positive light. The Ancient Greeks had many strange ideas about sex. One of these was that lions could only have sex with leopards. Therefore, Atalanta and Hippomenes had been cursed to never be able to have sex again. <br /><br />Obviously, you can’t do any of that in an audio drama aimed at kids. Still, there could be some potential workarounds. Perhaps have them simply kissing and laughing, though that could still come across as unintentionally suggestive, given the audio only medium. Perhaps, <i>Live From Mount Olympus</i> could put a positive spin on the curse. That is, Atalanta could finally be free of civilization, and can return to the wilderness she loves for good. That would, of course, go against the theme of balancing nature and civilization. <br /><br />However, <i>Live From Mount Olympus</i> took another approach. Season three ends right after the foot race. They do pay some lip service to the original myth. Hippomenes remarks that Atalanta is fierce like a lioness. Also, this is all presented in present tense. So, from the perspective of the gods, Atalanta’s story has come to an end yet. This is certainly a shake-up compared to previous seasons.<br /><br />I also wonder how this will impact future seasons going forwards. Jason and the Argonauts were all depicted as jerks to Atalanta. So, that rules them out. Theseus was also a jerk to Atalanta, so that rules him out. Atalanta is sometimes a member of the Argonauts, but Greek Mythology is often contradictory. That, and that bit about dumping Ariadne on an island. Hmm, maybe they could tell the story of Theseus, but from the perspective of Ariadne. She married Dionysus after Theseus dumped her, so, she got a happy ending. Maybe they could combine several of the myths about Athena to make a season about her. Dionysus has too much alcohol and sex in most of his myths to get his own season. <br /><br />I want to make it clear, I’m not faulting <i>Live From Mount Olympus</i> for ending season three the way it did. Greek Mythology has all sorts of things in it that aren’t exactly kid-friendly. Inevitably, this was going to happen at some point. As with many things, it is the journey, not the destination, that truly matters. Season three of <i>Live From Mount Olympus</i> certainly gave me a wonderful journey. <br /><br />It is with season three that <i>Live From Mount Olympus</i> has officially bowled a turkey. This season retold the story of Atalanta, and highlighted the bits that tend to get downplayed in most adaptations. I certainly hope that there is a fourth season on the way. I certainly can’t wait to see which Ancient Greek myth gets adapted next. <br /><br />Well, that should do it from me for now. I will see your guys next time. </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-46921831984434143292023-07-24T18:28:00.006-05:002023-10-07T10:23:04.557-05:00The Audio File: The Dial-Up: Season 1<span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The world of audio drama is filled with shows that come in all shapes and sizes. I got my start listening to anthologies. I’ve listened to plenty of serialized shows, as is evidenced by my reviews. Still, I do have a tendency to gravitate towards shorter shows. It gives me lots of fun in a small package, and then I cast off for my next port of call. The audio drama we’re looking at today is definitely on the shorter side. In fact, it is less than an hour long. However, it still manages to tell a great story in that time. Without further ado, we’re taking a look at <i><a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-dial-up">The Dial-Up</a></i>. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjluUBglUjnNCqEwrBt2cRNA_smjSfeaniJncll2hiQ5zWnHuvcUHCwGIUWvPkFHW7yjdnK7FyZv2enI67jZDnu3rxqGZ9omeiWeLxvI2xFWuy8eleRY_lVN8SgggAZ8CTbC-51MUl5bOwYZJGuPIbwwEi3K30eTz90ub20G-j1tnRwQcj3l23IllT6dog/s1200/7B2AB6A7-E9C6-44BA-BD49-C927E1F4B73D.jpeg" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjluUBglUjnNCqEwrBt2cRNA_smjSfeaniJncll2hiQ5zWnHuvcUHCwGIUWvPkFHW7yjdnK7FyZv2enI67jZDnu3rxqGZ9omeiWeLxvI2xFWuy8eleRY_lVN8SgggAZ8CTbC-51MUl5bOwYZJGuPIbwwEi3K30eTz90ub20G-j1tnRwQcj3l23IllT6dog/s320/7B2AB6A7-E9C6-44BA-BD49-C927E1F4B73D.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /><i>The Dial-Up</i> begins with a Scottish tech support worker named Lewis. It isn’t the most glamorous job, and the customers can be rather annoying, but it pays the bills. Recently, however, he’s gotten a call that has seriously spiced things up. He’s been contacted by another Scottish dude named Callum. It seems that Callum has never used the Internet before. In fact, he seems to big ignorant about quite a few things. It soon becomes clear that Callum is in the year 1999, while Lewis is in 2022. Lewis and Callum compare and contrast their respective lives. However, they also feel that fate has brought them together for a reason. But what could that reason be? <br /><br />Like I said, <i>The Dial-Up</i> is very short. It is only four episodes long, and they clock in at a grand total of thirty-seven minutes long. That’s like time, plus change, for an episode of a typical anthology show. As such, this review is probably going to be a bit shorter than my typical output. Be that as it may, I shall try my best to do justice to The Dial-Up.<br /><br /><i>The Dial-Up</i> is very much a two-man show. Well, technically a three man show. Let’s not forget series creator Philip Catherwood. In terms of voice acting, however, The Dial-Up is carried entirely by David Hepburn and Craig McDonald Kelly. I just loved how David performed Callum as a laidback devil-pay-care kind of guy. Craig did a fantastic job performing Lewis as a sensible straight man to all of Callum’s wisecracks. <br /><br />This audio drama is a bit light on the sound-effects. We, of course, get to hear the iconic sound of a dial-up modem connecting to the Internet. We do get some cool sci-fi sound effects later on. Though, getting more specific would be spoilers. So, overall, a bit light on sound effects, but no shame in that. I’m working on the first episode of my own audio drama anthology, and it is also a bit light on the sound effects. I just felt that’s what would work best for that episode, and I’m sure Philip felt the same about the Dial-Up. Honestly, David and Craig gave such wonderful and lively performances, I didn’t even notice the lack of sound effects most of the time. <br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The major theme of <i>The Dial-Up</i> is about the power of the Internet to bring people together. I’m reminded of something Roger Ebert wrote in his review of the movie <i>Pleasantville</i>. He said, paraphrased, that perhaps it is true that we have more problems than people did in the past, but we also have more solutions and opportunities. Lewis bemoans 2022, and longs for the supposed simplicity of life in the 1990s. Callum is quick to point out that the 1990s had its share of problems as well. For example, yes, people did go out more to places like pubs and restaurants. However, that was because they did have any choice but to do so. Callum also points out that many people from the 1990s would kill to have access to all of the apps and Internet stuff that Lewis has at his fingertips. </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br />People having been complaining about how society is going to the dogs, and things were better back in the day, pretty much since human history began. To give on example, I’m reminded of a letter where a Roman rants about how the kids don’t want to wear togas, like good Romans, they want to wear pants like the barbarians. Aristotle was also fond of complaining about how the youths didn’t know what real hardship was. <br /><br />You would not be reading this review if it weren’t for the Internet. In fact, <i>The Dial-Up</i>, and pretty much every other audio drama I’ve reviewed, would not exist without the Internet. I’ve meet so many amazing people, and kindled so many friendships, thanks to the Internet. As an autistic person, who struggles with social anxiety, I’m forever grateful for all the ways that the Internet has helped make my life easier. The Internet helped me find seamless socks, and for that I am eternally grateful. I’ve also started branching out into voice acting. Yeah, I technically could do that without the Internet, but it would be a lot harder. <br /><br />Why don’t you take a minute to think about all the ways the Internet has made your life better? I’ll be here when you get back.<br /><br />Okay, you back now? Good, let’s continue. <br /><br />Now, all of this isn’t to say we should all cloister ourselves away. On the contrary, sometimes it is nice to get out and about in the real world. It can be quite good to do so every now and again. Indeed, Lewis does encourage Callum to try some of the fun classes and activities that his community center offers. Any virtue taken to excess becomes a vice, as Aristotle famously noted. Hey, he might have been wrong about the youths, but he was right about that. You don’t want to spend all your time in the digital world, but that doesn’t make the Internet a bad thing. On the whole, <i>The Dial-Up</i> takes an optimistic view about our ability to balance cyberspace and fleshspace. <br /><br />This next bit is just a random observation I made. The plot of <i>The Dial-Up</i> kind of reminded me of the movie <i>Frequency</i>. It also features two dudes commutations across time. Albeit, using ham radio, rather than the Internet. I’ve never actually watched frequency, but I know the basic plot, and that it was later adapted into a television series on The CW. Now, to be clear, I’m not saying <i>The Dial-Up</i> ripped-off <i>Frequency</i>. From what I’ve seen of <i>Frequency</i>, <i>The Dial-Up</i> has enough difference to stand on its own merits. As I often say, it isn’t the plot you have, but how you use it, that truly matters. Still, it was an interesting parallel, and I do wonder if Frequency was a source of inspiration for <i>The Dial-Up</i>. <br /><br /><i>The Dial-Up</i> tells a complete story, but I do wish it had been just a tad longer. I would have liked to have spent just a bit more time getting to know Lewis and Callum. But it seems this is all we will be seeing of <i>The Dial-Up</i>…or is it? Philip Catherwood has confirmed that we are getting a season two of <i>The Dial-Up</i>. I know that I can’t wait to listen to it. <br /><br />But whatever the future holds, I do know that <i>The Dial-Up</i> is a fantastic audio drama. It is about two guys communicating across time, and the power of the Internet to being people closer together for the better. It is short, but sweet. Here’s hoping we see more from Philip Catherwood in the future. <br /><br />Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time. </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div>Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-25287461618340175542023-07-08T10:21:00.006-05:002023-07-09T18:44:13.363-05:00The Audio File: Hannahpocalypse<span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">As many of you know, I try to work on my own projects when time allows for it. I find myself with a bit less time for that now that I’m gainfully employed at the Shreveport Aquarium. However, I always make time for those who ask me to review their audio dramas. Frankly, I feel a bit guilty when I’m not writing new reviews. I’m aware it isn’t my job to keep the reviews coming, but still. So, without further ado, let’s get right into it. We’re taking a look at <i><a href="https://redfathom.com/hannahpocalypse">Hannahpocalypse</a></i>. </span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigf8jb1zBj4ls05-W697OIHE-ajhavU-cIe9lr3yJS6zuRAMuPjpllMdm5VKIId9k-rdvdjIKTotKN4ijpGjoz7K6llNumy-aDdSZsfZFFfaPx9i87-EXgVu2JWuMm7sUFUwfaMfa_Pw3C7htq7dURlToWcLvXyjIHADTKKfE1WcOPJklJoI4tzCj7Nh4/s3000/1AFB7508-0C6B-46E3-BE63-011F68D5AB84.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigf8jb1zBj4ls05-W697OIHE-ajhavU-cIe9lr3yJS6zuRAMuPjpllMdm5VKIId9k-rdvdjIKTotKN4ijpGjoz7K6llNumy-aDdSZsfZFFfaPx9i87-EXgVu2JWuMm7sUFUwfaMfa_Pw3C7htq7dURlToWcLvXyjIHADTKKfE1WcOPJklJoI4tzCj7Nh4/s320/1AFB7508-0C6B-46E3-BE63-011F68D5AB84.webp" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /><i>Hannahpocalypse</i> is set in the year 2182. It has been 150 years since the zombie apocalypse destroyed civilization as we knew it. Humanity tried to counter the zombies by building an army of robots. Unfortunately, the robots went rogue, caused a robot apocalypse, and just made things worse. But hey, at least they killed all the zombies. Well, most of them anyway. A few zombies have managed to survive. Hannah is one of these zombies. She basically has dissociative identity disorder. Her human personality is basically a prisoner in her own body. Her animalistic zombie personality is the one in the driver’s seat. Hannah has led a dull and lonely existence. The highlights of her day include chasing red balloons and eating live crows. However, Hannah’s finally found some new companions: us, the listeners! Somehow, Hannah is hosting a podcast about her unlife, and we’re along for the ride. <br /><br />Hannah’s world is turned upside down when she meets Cali. Cali is a scout from Golden Gate, a city-state in what was once San Francisco. Cali recognizes the spark of sentience buried deep within Hannah. Could this be the key to better relations between zombies and humans? This unlikely duo is about to make their way across the wastelands of what was once the United States. It is a story of love, death, and robots. But, you know, not the Netflix kind.<br /><br />I was approached to review <i>Hannahpocalypse</i> by series creator Damian Szydlo. He is also the creator of the audio drama <i><a href="https://redfathom.com/cybernautica">Cybernautica</a></i>. Damian had some very nice things to say about my audio drama reviews. He felt very tacky about asking me to review Hannahpocalypse, but I see no issue. People have all sorts of ways of asking me to review their audio dramas. It is also always great to hear that people enjoy the work that I do with these reviews. <br /><br /><i>Hannahpocalypse</i> is a member of the <a href="https://fableandfolly.com/">Fable & Folly</a> network. If you’ve been following my reviews, then you know what that means. Audio drama roll call! The other fine members of the Fable & Folly family include, but are not limited to, <i><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2023/05/the-audio-file-human-b-gon.html">Human B-Gon</a></i>, <i><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-audio-file-alba-salix-royal.html">Alba Salix</a></i>, <i><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-audio-file-we-fix-space-junk.html">We Fix Space Junk</a></i>, <i><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-audio-file-harlem-queen.html">Harlem Queen</a></i>, <i><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-audio-file-carlotta-beautox.html">The Carlötta Beautox Chronicles</a></i>, <i><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-audio-file-spaceships.html">Spaceships</a></i>, and <i><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2022/06/the-audio-file-who-is-cam-candor.html">Who is Cam Candor?</a></i> <br /><br />Hmm, wait a minute. So, the backstory of <i>Hannahpocalypse</i> involves a robot apocalypse. It is mostly set in the United States, but we do see that Canada, along with the rest of the world, was impacted as well. We also have a supposedly non-sentient that turns out to be smarter than she appears to outsiders. Does this mean that <i>Hannahpocalypse</i> is secretly a prequel to <i>Human B-Gon</i>? Well, actually, no. The answer is no. However, Damian Szydlo and Drew Frohmann are both friends, and have respect for each other's work. Both of them are also Canadian. This was all just some random observations I made that weren’t meant to be taken seriously. <br /><br />Anyway, let’s get into my actual for real observations and thoughts on <i>Hannahpocalypse</i>. The series is billed as being hopepunk. Hopepunk, from what I understand, is fiction that strives to depict a better tomorrow, and a more hopeful future. It isn’t averse to conflict, or even bad things like climate change. However, rather than a future ravaged by climate change, hopepunk chooses to show humans works together to fight against things like climate change. The general philosophy of hopepunk is that sometimes things go bad, but we can work together to fix them. <br /><br />Now, all of that being said, terms like zombie apocalypse and robot apocalypse are not typically included in the same sentence as the word hopepunk. And yet, despite these seemingly disparate elements, <i>Hannahpocalypse</i> does indeed live up to its descriptor of hopepunk. To explain why, let’s first meet our leading ladies. <br /><br />Hannah has been a prisoner in her own zombified body for the last 150 years. Despite this, she’s in surprisingly good spirits. Well, at first glance anyway. As the series goes on it becomes increasingly clear that Hannah has gone a tad nutty over the years. To be fair, it would be weird if she wasn’t at least a little insane after all she’s gone through. Though, this does raise an obvious question, how exactly is it that Hannah is hosting a podcast if she can’t control her own body. For that matter, what’s she broadcasting on? The audio drama itself tells us not to think too hard about it. We have several characters, besides Hannah and Cali, who break the fourth wall. This includes those who logically shouldn’t know about Hannah’s podcast or Cali’s status reports. Of course, if we go back to Hannah being slightly crazy, then maybe all those instances are figments of Hannah’s imagination. Of course, in the immortal words of Albus Dumbledore, maybe it is all in her head, but why should that make it any less real? <br /><br />Hannah is also a lesbian. She had bad luck finding a stable relationship, and turning into a flesh-eating zombie certainly didn’t help. Plus she did eat that pride parade when she first turned. But hey, she’s LGBTQ, and wasn’t in control of her body. So, uh, pretty sure it technically wasn’t homophobic to eat all those people. Anyway, it may have taken 150 years, during which time she kind of went bonkers, but at least Hannah found Cali eventually. And perhaps she’ll even find one of her old friends. Hannah’s friend Mel also got bit, but she turned into a mutant. That means she partially zombified, but retained her human mind. Unlike Hannah, mutants like Mel retain control of their bodies. <br /><br />One of the things that makes Hannah such an endearing character is the phenomenal performance by her voice…actor? Amanda Hufford uses they/them pronouns, so I’m not sure if voice actor is the correct term. Whatever the case might be, Amanda just did such an amazing job making Hannah sound like a total sweetheart. Their performance reminds me of Amy Adams during the early days of her career in movies such as <i>Catch Me If You Can</i>, <i>Enchanted</i>, and <i>Junebug</i>. Amanda also adds several other layers to Hannah. We get to see Hannah’s endearingly dorky side, such as when Hannah worries about swearing in the podcast, even though nobody can hear her. However, we also get those hints of desperation within Hannah’s voice. You can hear this even when Hannah is clearly trying to put a metaphorical smile on. She’s obviously been screaming her head off mentally for quite some time. She still has a mouth, yet she cannot scream, no matter how hard she tries. <br /><br />We, of course, have to talk about the other half of our two leading ladies. Cali has grown up in Golden Gate. The city-state prides itself on restoring the best of Old America. In reality, however, Golden Gate has a very warped view of what pre-apocalypse America was like. It is clearly based around rose-tinted nostalgia for a past that never truly existed in the first place. Golden Gate is clearly the right-wing view of America. Hmm, so we’ve got a post-apocalyptic setting, killer robots, mutants, and a moral about the dangers of being blinded by nostalgia. I’m definitely getting some <i>Fallout</i> vibes from <i>Hannahpocalypse</i>. <br /><br />I bring all of this up because Cali does not fit the mold of Golden Gate. Cali is a lesbian, and Golden Gate is not a particularly LGBTQ friendly place, to put it lightly. So, being a scout was one of the few times she got to truly get herself. Cali is jaded, cynical, and rough around the edges. Despite this, she can be just as much of a dork as Hannah is. Cali gets very excited when she finds a stash of <i>Tank Girl</i> comics from the 1980s. It is a little odd that Cali would be a fan of pop culture from nearly 200 years in the past. On the other hand, it has been firmly established that Cali is definitely a nonconformist. <br /><br />Abigail Turner gives a multifaceted performance for Cali. It perfectly compliments Amanda Hufford’s performance as Hannah. Cali starts off gruff, tough-as-nails, and gives the impression that she’ll do anything to survive. Then the cracks begin to form, and we start to see a softer side to Cali. The first, besides the comics, is when she sees the faint glimmer of humanity still within Hannah. Cali was taught to fear and hate zombies, and it would have been easy to snuff Hannah out. However, Cali chose to take a gamble on Hannah, and choose kindness over cruelty. Yet this wasn’t a choice born purely out of altruism. Further cracks form, and we get to see just how lonely Cali has become over the years. A good chunk of that bravado and prickliness is just a mask she wears to hide the sadness she carries. Perhaps on some level, Cali chose to spare Hannah because she wanted to believe she’d found someone she could truly be herself with. Granted, her faith was certainly not misplaced. The scene where Cali finally breaks down and admits how lonely she feels is particularly well performed. <br /><br />One of the main themes of <i>Hannahpocalypse</i> is about how we deal with trauma. Hannah experienced one of the worst things that can happen to someone. However, she only regains control of her life when she stops try to fight against the zombie half of herself. One way of dealing with trauma is to accept what has happened to you and learn to live with it. Like it or not, what happened has happened, and will always be part of you to some degree. However, that acceptance doesn’t mean you have to be a victim for the rest of your life. Hannah is able to regain her agency, both physically and metaphorically, once she truly accepts that she is a zombie. She isn’t just a victim, she’s a survivor, and there is power in being a survivor. <br /><br />The other major theme, as we’ve already touched upon, is the importance of choosing compassion over cruelty. There’s also a message about the dangers of confusing pessimism with realism or pragmatism. It is never outright stated, but it is implied that Golden Gate suppresses homosexuals in the name of repopulating humanity. There’s a kind of logic to this, but it also requires sacrificing individual liberties and happiness in the name of the “Greater Good.” But that begs an obvious question: who gets to define what the Greater Good is? The leaders of Golden Gate talk big game about the lofty ideals of Old America. However, it is pretty clear that their true vested interest is keeping themselves in positions of power. <br /><br />To build a world on compassion requires taking risk and gambles. Cali gambled on Hannah still having humanity within her. She also gambled that this might lead to better relations between humans and zombies. I won’t give away the ending. However, I will say that sometimes risks are worth it. There can still be hope for a better tomorrow even when you live in a post-apocalypse world full of zombies and robots. <i>Hannahpocalypse</i>, despite its oddball premise, managed to live up to its hopepunk descriptor. <br /><br />Now, that being said, I do have a few minor points of critique. As we have noted, <i>Hannahpocalypse</i> deals with several philosophical themes. For most of the series, these are woven into the story organically, and it never feels like I’m being beaten over the head. Episode fifteen, however, was an unfortunate exception to this. It had the characters spend several minutes lecturing the listener about what a terrible place Old America was. They go on and on about the rampant inequality and prejudice that filled America in those days. However, we already cover all of those point, so it came across as incredibly redundant. It also came across as heavy-handed and needlessly preachy. I felt like I was listening to a sermon rather than an audio drama. Thankfully, episode sixteen was a welcome return to form. It was also an incredible finale overall, but getting more specific would be spoilers. <br /><br />This next one isn’t a complaint, but more an observation. <i>Hannahpocalypse</i> is set in the United States, and deals with American culture, but series creator Damian Szydlo is Canadian. Now, that isn’t to say that Canadians aren’t allowed to comment on America. However, I found it a little odd that Damian decided not to set the story in his home country. Maybe the theme he wanted to deal with worked better in an American context. I admit I’m not too familiar with Canadian post-apocalypse fiction. Here in the United States, we tend to assume that Canada gets eaten whenever the apocalypse happens. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Damian had said that, in his view, America won the Culture War a long time ago. To give on example, in many countries, people will watch both local television shows and movies, but also American movies and television series. Canada, for instance, requires its television stations to air a certain amount of Canadian content in an effort to combat the torrential flood of American media. As such, if America falls, the rest of the world falls with it. So, he had the zombie outbreak begin in America. He also claims he didn’t think of Golden Gate as being particularly right-wing. I guess that’s where our cultural differences come into play. In America, it tends to be the political right that invokes nostalgia for the past, and the need to return to this so-called golden age. The political left, by contrast, tends to emphasize the negative qualities of the past, such as the rampant inequality and bigotry, and how we need to let go of the past. <br /><br />Hmm, here’s another random thought I had. <i>Hannahpocalypse</i> sounds like the phrase “an apocalypse.” And the word apocalypse contains the suffix -caly, which is like the name Cali. Could it be that Hannah and Cali’s names were puns all along? Accord to Damian, this was just coincidence. However, he did find my observation amusing. <br /><br />Season one has wrapped up most of the loose-ends fairly neatly. However, Hannah and Cali’s story isn’t over yet. Season two is already being planned. There are certainly several directions for the story to go. For example, we discovered that not all zombies are mindless killing machines. Does the same hold true for robots? It does appear we will get answers to that particular question in season two. I know that I can’t wait to find out which path the story takes.<br /><br />Well, there you have it. <i>Hannahpocalypse</i> managed to genuinely surprise me. It billed itself as a post-apocalypse zombie hopepunk audio drama. Despite these seemingly disparate elements, it managed to find hope for a better tomorrow within the wastelands of what was once North America. And it did so quite well at that. Give it a listen, and perhaps it will surprise you as well.<br /><br />Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time. </span></div>Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-33454360833938115052023-06-27T18:30:00.013-05:002023-12-08T00:42:31.711-06:00Riordan Retrospective: The Sun and The Star<span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Welcome once again to my Riordan Retrospective. For those of you just joining the fun, this is my look back at the works of Rick Riordan. That means Percy Jackson, its sequels, and spin-offs. This is less of a formal review and more of a relaxed look back. <br /><br />Last time, we took a look back at <i><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2023/06/riordan-retrospective-daughter-of-deep.html">Daughter of the Deep</a></i>. Rick Riordan’s first science fiction novel, and one based on <i>20,000 Leagues Under the Sea</i>. This time, we’re returning to the Riordanverse for a standalone adventure with Nico and Will. We’re taking a look at <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/World-Percy-Jackson-Sun-Star/dp/1368081150">The Sun and The Star</a></i>. </span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdTscjyjDLB2kwj9y8Vp0Pjm1E58i6imOcsiEjhpixGMU7PXFezCLB3OxU0Qz5rM2zWdFg6ecQJsCjpBCrDZHApxOOneKerAZpRT6QdEUsJmJW97W5oCfyhjCYsiiMyldIgCO42ZjFq0msEo0dRqS4TmjwtMFZDruEmKwp5oMWHZchAIWv4YZVEgcviw/s2550/73599725-6565-4025-AE58-BA3E62A92529.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2550" data-original-width="1688" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdTscjyjDLB2kwj9y8Vp0Pjm1E58i6imOcsiEjhpixGMU7PXFezCLB3OxU0Qz5rM2zWdFg6ecQJsCjpBCrDZHApxOOneKerAZpRT6QdEUsJmJW97W5oCfyhjCYsiiMyldIgCO42ZjFq0msEo0dRqS4TmjwtMFZDruEmKwp5oMWHZchAIWv4YZVEgcviw/s320/73599725-6565-4025-AE58-BA3E62A92529.jpeg" width="212" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br />Nico di Angelo is the brooding son of Hades. Will Solace is a son of Apollo with a generally sunny disposition. Together, they are a gay couple at Camp Half-Blood. Through the power of plot convenience, literally every other camper has left camp at the end of summer. What about all those campers who don’t have families to go home to? There must be quite a few of them, right? Uh…hey, now Nico and Will don’t have to worry about people walking in on their cuddle time! Well, except for Chiron and Dionysus, because plot convenience can’t fix everything. And you know what else plot convenience can’t fix? The fact that Bob the Titan, aka Iapetus, is stuck in Tartarus. Quest time! Percy and Annabeth really should be involved, or at least Hazel and Reyna. But hey, can’t be having any icky straight people raining on our yaoi parade, am I right? Nico and Will are going to talk about their feels, retread old ground, lose their previous character development, and, uh…oh, right, they need to get Bob out of Tartarus. Well, anyway, prepare for the beloved world of Rick Riordan to almost literally go to hell in a handbasket. Mark Oshiro’s narcissism and ego are about to take us for a wild ride with two boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend, and furthermore, boyfriend. <br /><br />Usually, I try to objectively summarize the novels we’re looking back at. Unless, of course, Rick Riordan really shit the bed. Though, even then, the only time I felt the need to do so was with <i>The Hammer of Thor</i>. That was a unique blend of bad. Not that <i>The Ship of the Dead</i> was much better. But I guess we’ll have to reset the clock. <i>The Sun and The Star</i> is the worst Riordanverse book since <i>Magnus Chase</i>, and that’s really saying something!<br /><br />Now, I tried to keep an open-mind going into this book. I was hoping that it would subvert my expectations. And indeed it did…by being infinitely worse than I could possibly imagine. I mean, when the opening scene has the characters playing a G-Rated version of Fuck, Marry, Kill: <i>Star Wars</i> Edition, well, it’s only going to go downhill from there. Everything about that opening scene, from the dialogue, the characterization, and the general set-up, feel like something you’d find in a poorly written fanfiction. Then again, that’s basically what this book is. <br /><br />So, just who is the co-author of this book? Mark Oshiro is a gay, non-binary, Hispanic who uses they/them pronouns. They used to run a blog where they would review various works of media, usually of the nerd/geek persuasion. Almost invariably, Mark would find some way to talk about either being gay, having had a traumatic childhood, or being a gay person with trauma. If your sexuality is the most interesting thing about you, then you need to seriously broaden your horizons.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Anyway, Mark got popular with a certain clique of speculative fiction writers. The type whose idea of political activism is going on angry Twitter rants, and then blocking anyone who disagrees with them. Very few of said writers actually have the talent to back-up their delusions of eloquence. They loved how Mark parroted their views back at them, and stroked their egos. So, through the power of nepotism, Mark became the It Boy. This was back when Mark still identified as male. Naturally, Rick Riordan was among this throng of clapping seals. We must assume that Rick looked at Mark and said, “My darling! Where have you been all my life?” </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br />It is painfully obvious that Rick let Mark have almost complete free-reign of <i>The Sun and The Star</i>, and only did the bare minimum of editing. This probably explains the scene where Nico claims that Bianca is his mother, when she’s actually his sister. Really confirms my suspicion that Rick has gotten so big that he’s basically immune to editors at this point. I wonder if that’s part of why <i>Percy Jackson and the Olympians</i> turned out as well as it did. Maybe the editors reigned-in Rick’s excess. Well, that and he had his sons to call him out, and was actually taking his time with crafting the books. Honestly, it was probably a lot of things. <br /><br />Even at his worst, Rick Riordan books have a certain feel to them. You can always tell that you’re reading a Rick Riordan novel. I don’t get that feeling with <i>The Sun and The Star</i>. I’ve never read any of Mark Oshiro’s other novels, nor do I have any plans to. However, I get the impression that the general feeling and tone would be akin to <i>The Sun and The Star</i>. At times, I had to remind myself I was reading an actual, officially published novel, and not just a poorly written fanfiction. <br /><br />Now, I want to take a moment and address something. People often use the term fanfiction as shorthand for poor writing. And to be fair, about ninety percent of fanfiction isn’t all that good. I’ve certainly written my fair share of less than stellar fanfics. However, the other ten percent is genuinely quite good. That’s why I’m trying to specify bad fanfiction in this review. Being fanfiction doesn’t make something automatically bad in and of itself. A lot of fanfiction writers just don’t have the same intimate knowledge of the characters that the author does. And you have to factor in all the fanfic writers who are just kids trying to seriously write for the first time. And, of course, there are the zealous shippers, the High School AU writers, the fetish writers, and all the other seedier groups who give fanfiction a bad reputation. But even with all of that, there’s still that ten percent, and it is so worth it to find the diamonds in the rough of the fanfiction world. <br /><br />Mark Oshiro, however, is most decidedly not part of that glorious ten percent. Many people have noted that Nico felt incredibly off in <i>The Sun and The Star</i>, and I think I know why. Put simply, Nico isn’t being written as Nico di Angelo. He’s being written as Mark Oshiro’s self-insert. Think about it. Mark has pretty much no personality beyond being gay and having experienced trauma. Nico is gay, and he has experienced quite a bit of trauma. So, it isn’t unreasonable to assume Mark felt a kindred spirit in Nico. Unfortunately, Mark grafted their experience onto Nico, and basically turned him into a self-insert of Mark. I’d argue that the same thing happened to Will as well, just in a slightly different way. Will got the chipper manchild side of Mark’s personality, whereas Nico got all the depressed parts. Mark’s depiction of Will can also potentially be read as Mark’s idea of an idealized boyfriend. <br /><br />Oh yeah, did I mention that Mark just loves the word boyfriend? It appears, at absolute minimum, at least 120 times through <i>The Sun and The Star</i>, according to my rough guesstimation. It gets very grating very quickly. We get it Mark, they’re gay, and they’re in love! You don’t have to remind us every gods damn paragraph! If I was a teacher, I would have docked Mark several points for repetition, and told them to use a damn thesaurus already. I’d also dock Rick several points for buming all the work off to Mark, and for not pulling his own weight in this group project. <br /><br />I stand by the fact that, prior to <i>The Sun and The Star</i>, Nico was one of the best LGBTQ characters in the Riordanverse. He’s gay, but that isn’t the be all and end all of him. There is way more to his personality than just his sexuality. Unfortunately, Mark Oshiro and Rick Riordan don’t seem to care for silly things like nuance and character development. If anything, Nico has seriously regressed in this book. Back in <i>The Trials of Apollo</i>, Nico was finally taking steps to leave his past behind him, and he was actually starting to become happy. Apparently, Mark and Rick subscribe to the Joss Whedon School of Character Writing. Basically, when in doubt, just make your characters as miserable as possible, and claim it makes them more interesting that way. Needless to say, this thinking is a load of Minotaur dung. Conflict is the driver of stories, yes. However, conflict is not the same as misery. There are ways to create conflict without putting your characters through the wringer. It is the mark of a poor writer who confuses misery with conflict. <br /><br />I know a lot of people felt Will Solace wasn’t the best choice to be Nico’s love interest. I concede it was a bit random, but I was willing to overlook that for several reasons. First, it was nice to see Nico actually catch a break for once. I also adored how Will called Nico out on his bullshit. The part in <i>The Blood of Olympus</i> where Will tells Nico to stop wallowing in self-pity was the stuff of legends. Oh, but don’t expect to see any of that here. In fact, a big part of Will’s character arc, and I use the term loosely, is learning that it is okay for Nico to be dark. What does that mean? The heck if I know! Mark Oshiro is big on using flowery words and sentences that don’t actually mean anything if you stop to think about them. Best I can figure is that Nico should be allowed to be a perpetually mopey Gloomy Gus because he’s been twisted into Mark Oshiro’s self-insert. Actual self-improvement is like kryptonite to people like Mark. <br /><br />Speaking of Nico being Mark’s self-insert, let’s talk about Nico’s coming out party. Oh yes, Nico tried to go on a picnic with Will, but the satyrs and dryads misunderstood, and threw a picnic themed coming out party. He even got to wear a flower crown, just like Mark Orshio loves to wear. And then Nico decided to come out to the whole camp in a truly Stunning and Brave way. But wait, there’s more! Nico became a true gay icon. Nay, he became the Homosexual Jesus of Camp Half-Blood. He was so Stunning and Brave that it inspired Jake Mason, Malcom Pace, and Paolo Montes to come out of the closet. That seems like a pretty important detail about all of them to neglect until just now. But hey, did I mention just how Stunning and Brave that Nico was? <br /><br />Ugh, why? Just why did it have to have such a stupid and cliche scene as that? Oh, wait, I know why. Many people complained that Cupid forcing Nico to admit he was gay was a violation of consent. So, Rick needed to cover his ass, and Mark wanted to feel Stunning and Brave. It was a match made in Tartarus. Also, Cupid violated Nico’s consent, but the satyrs and dryads somehow didn’t, and they all got off scot-free? Uh, do what now? Like I said, Nico is a great character because he’s more than just a gay kid. Apparently, Mark Oshiro and Rick Riordan no longer agree. That, or Rick can’t write minorities unless they’re at least somewhat stereotypical.<br /><br />We also get flashbacks to how Nico and Will’s relationship developed. This is theoretically good, but given how poorly written these scenes are, they only serve to make the relationship look even more flimsy and contrived. Sometimes less really is more. On the subject of flashbacks, the flashback dreams Nico had were stupid. The first one was convoluted, and was basically Mark Oshiro going “look at all these cool writing tricks I can do!” The second flashback saw Nico get even more out of character than usual for this trainwreck of a book. It goes back to his first time in Tartarus, and how he first met Nyx, the goddess of night. Nico’s dialogue would have made sense…if it had been written for Percy! It reminds me of how people complained that everyone in <i>Captain America: Civil War</i> sounded like they were trying to imitate Ironman. There was one flashback I enjoyed. I actually liked the bits where Will talks about his adventures with his mom in New York City. Those were some best written parts of the book. Though, I wonder if those were the bits Rick Riordan actually wrote. <br /><br />Now we need to talk about how Percy and Annabeth got absolutely butchered. Nico and Will decide to visit Mrs. Jackson so they can send an Iris Message to Percy and Annabeth. Why didn’t they just do that at camp before they left? At this point, half this book’s issues can be chalked up to “Mark and Rick didn’t give a damn.” Annabeth especially acts completely out of character. She and Percy make a joke by referring to Tartarus as tartar sauce, and pretend they didn’t hear what Nico and Will said. Annabeth certainly wouldn’t do that, and neither would Percy! He knows when it is time to get serious. I’ve said it before, and I will say it again, Percy might not be book smart, but he’s smart in other way. And I refuse to believe Percy and Annabeth wouldn’t demand to go with Nico and Will. You seriously expect me to believe that the guy, whose fatal flaw is loyalty to friends, would just sit this one out?!<br /><br />Oh, and apparently, Percy and Annabeth totally forgot about Bob. Even though they were quite guilty about that in previous books. But wait, turns out they’ve been thinking about Bob nonstop. Pick one, preferably the latter! Their advice is decidedly of the no duh variety. Guess we can’t be having the heterosexuals do anything useful. That wouldn’t be very Stunning or Brave. And why didn’t Nico go to Hazel, possibly recruiting her? Seems like she’d be pretty useful on an underworld quest. Oh, right, same reason with Percy and Annabeth. I’d also ask why Nico didn’t ask Reyna, but Rick neglected their brother-sister relationship long ago. More on that in a bit. <br /><br />It is also incredibly bizarre to actually hear the word Percabeth in a Rick Riordan novel. It is a popular portmanteau of Percy and Annabeth used by shippers. Just like Solangelo is used for Nico and Will. However, it has never, until now, appeared in an actual Rick Riordan novel. It is just plain bizarre to see such a term used in an actual Riordanverse book. I don’t know if it was Rick or Mark who decided to throw that red meat to the shippers. </span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">However, I do feel it was a bad idea. You have to be careful about feeding the shippers, or else you’ll empower the rabid ones. Trust me, you don’t want the rabid shippers to feel like they have power over you. It never ends well. Huh, you know, a lot of this book’s problems can be explained if we assume it was meant to pander to the shippers. I will say that shipping isn’t bad in and of itself. It becomes bad when you let it get out of hand, or develop unreasonable exceptions. As Aristotle noted, any virtue taken to an extreme becomes a vice. <br /><br />And the pop culture references. I mean, yikes, this book can give <i>Magnus Chase</i> a run for its money in bad pop culture references. My biggest problem is that Nico has way more pop culture knowledge than he realistically ought to. The biggest offender was the scene where Nico references Lil Nas X, but Will has no idea who that is. Uh, do what now? Nico is from the 1940s, whereas Will is from the present day. He should not know who Lil Nas X is. For those who don’t know, Lil Nas X is an openly gay rapper who raps about being gay. Presumably, he is Mark Oshiro’s favorite rapper. Then there’s all the times Nico refers to Will as a Care Bear. Once again, how does Nico know what those are? The apathy is strong with this one. At least they had him know about <i>Star Wars</i> due to Will being a huge <i>Star Wars</i> fan. On the other hand, we did get the Fuck, Marry, Kill scene as a result of that. <br /><br />On the subject of other demigods, we learn at the start of the book that literally every other demigod, other than Nico and Will, has left camp. No, no, gods no! Nooooooo! What about all of the campers who don’t have families to go back home to?! Yeah, I know the book tries to explain this by saying they all went to see the world. However, I’m of the opinion that this is a stupid-ass explanation. I refuse to believe that Chiron would allow a bunch of kids, several of whom are pre-teens, to just galavant around the country. Yes, he often sends campers on quests, but that’s a necessary evil. Of course, he’d also refuse to let Nico and Will go to Tartarus unless they had a third person to go with them. So, really, Mark and Rick just magiced everyone away so they wouldn’t have to deal with that. Well, that, and so nobody could cockblock Nico and Will during cuddle time. Chiron still managed to do an admirable job of that, despite everything else. <br /><br />Chiron’s characterization wasn’t as off as everyone else. However, he should have provided more pushback to Nico’s plan. There were also times, especially towards the end, where he came across as a bit too much like a bumbling sitcom dad. Chiron is supposed to be the wise, grounded fatherly figure of Camp Half-Blood. <br /><br />Mr. D is once again back at camp. Yay! But his characterization is kind of off. Boo! He never once screws-up Nico’s name. That’s, like, Mr. D’s main schtick. He provides therapy sessions for Nico, except he already did that in <i>The Tower of Nero</i>, but this is treated like he’s doing it for the first time. Mr. D will come across as weirdly nice one minute, and then cartoonishly sadistic the next. The way Mr. D is written comes across like a fanfiction author’s caricature of him. Then again, I guess that’s what it actually was. <br /><br />I felt that Nyx was not a very good villain. Kronos, Gaea, and Nero all had very clear motivation for their villainy. Nyx, by contrast, just came across as a bland, generic, and overall uninteresting antagonist. It felt like Rick and Mark were really scraping the bottom of the barrel to come up with villains for this book. Also, based on actual mythology, I just can’t buy Nyx as a villain. There really isn’t anything to suggest that she’d be villainous. Tartarus should also not have been the main destination for the quest. As a general rule of thumb, you never revisit major villains after you’ve already defeated them. Case in point, Emperor Palpetine just happening to come back in <i>The Rise of Skywalker</i>. Though, in fairness, <i>Rise of Skywalker</i> was certainly flawed, but J.J. Abrams was trying to course correct after Rian Johnson shit the bed in <i>The Last Jedi</i>. <br /><br />Getting back on track, Tartarus felt completely underwhelming this time around. We already experienced its horrors, far more effectively, with Percy and Annabeth. So, everything had a “been there, done that” feeling to it. The parts where Iapetus regains his memories were a noticeable step-up in terms of writing. Clearly, this was the part where Rick Riordan actually got off his ass. But once again, it would make way more sense of Percy and Annabeth to be the ones to rescue Iapetus. Also, I just gotta ask, how were Will and Nico planning on escaping Tartarus? They just jumped right in with no escape plan. At least Percy and Annabeth knew they needed to get to the doors of death. <br /><br />I’ll admit the part where Nico gets a family reunion was kind of sweet. Well, if you ignore the fact that Bianca should not be there, since she already reincarnated. I also liked the scene where Nico talks about how he got made fun of for saying the Ares card in Myth-O-Magic looked pretty. I actually related to that. Once, in high school, a classmate asked what music I liked. I mentioned Elton John, because I like his music, and I still do. I got funny looks, and was made fun of, for liking an openly gay musician. I didn’t really see why that was an issue, but this was the same era when “That’s so gay!” was the insult of choice among teenagers. Well, personally, it always struck me as dumb, and needlessly mean, but I’ve always been a nonconformist. <br /><br />But then we get the scene where Nico calls Piper on Iris Message. Uh, when have they ever interacted, because I sure can’t think of any times. And yet, they act like they’re old friends, and even joke around. Ugh, Mark Oshiro was clearly in the drivers seat once again. Oh, wait, I know why, and so do you. All together now: it’s because they’re both gay. Well, Piper kissed a girl, and she liked it, but she doesn’t know if she’s gay or bisexual, or maybe pansexual. There’s a message her about not getting hung-up on labels. Except we already did that with Reyna! Oh, and Reyna and Nico have brother-sister relationship going on, so why didn’t Nico called Reyna?! <br /><br />Mark, if I haven’t made it painfully clear by now, being gay is not the same as having a personality. Making a character LGBTQ does not make them well-rounded. There has to be more to them than just “I’m gay!” Having trauma also doesn’t automatically make a character interesting and well-rounded. You intended this book to be for LGBTQ kids, but those kids deserve way better than this tripe! They are not stupid, they deserve good writing, and actually well-developed characters. Empty representation alone does not a plot make. <br /><br />There is, of course, and <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/From-the-World-of-Percy-Jackson-Sun-and-the-Star-Audiobook/B0C1T9RF78?eac_link=HZTNOtHfZAn7&ref=web_search_eac_asin_1&eac_selected_type=asin&eac_selected=B0C1T9RF78&qid=sdXFJ31s3R&eac_id=144-0690597-4752814_sdXFJ31s3R&sr=1-1">audiobook version</a>. I often debate who the best of the Riordanverse narrators is. I’m still not sure how I’d make that tier list. However, I do know that A.J. Beckles is one of the worst, if not the worst, I’ve encountered. He did a horrible job differentiating the characters, and frequently sounded like he was phoning it in. <br /><br />Well, I guess we should analyze the cover. Yikes, Nico and Will look hideous! Nico looks like a girl, and it looks like he’s wearing lipstick. It almost looks more like Thalia cosplaying as Nico. Not that Will is much better. This has got to be one of the worst Riordanverse book covers. It doesn’t even look like a Riordanverse cover. It looks more like the cover of one of those cheap fantasy paperbacks from the early 2000s. Save my sanity, Viria! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdguFTvxFtzERoaJsmsfPVn1ODE5aTUS8I5vKx31HJl4Eo0R6YwtHPJK9mjbNfKc1iCx0VAEMt2PzNDuxeaoZiUNIug1vmNwKizdeeqP4iKU0PJJWz0w04CbGnFezRCRBf-APZOtum6qIimQji7iQxKlK8O4MFASPjwa97zZz2oOE8lmfELK7aMN7u1OU/s1675/1F927D8D-59C1-48E8-B96C-3BFFE42FE3FF.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1675" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdguFTvxFtzERoaJsmsfPVn1ODE5aTUS8I5vKx31HJl4Eo0R6YwtHPJK9mjbNfKc1iCx0VAEMt2PzNDuxeaoZiUNIug1vmNwKizdeeqP4iKU0PJJWz0w04CbGnFezRCRBf-APZOtum6qIimQji7iQxKlK8O4MFASPjwa97zZz2oOE8lmfELK7aMN7u1OU/s320/1F927D8D-59C1-48E8-B96C-3BFFE42FE3FF.webp" width="191" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS7FDh2KZJidPNCgcMQUn33g2_aLdGIROe1UDd-_kvD823ZZi3fF-S2-vJIUsdOTp1Md0N9ZXe-5aO-iLDa0bSwTLI5-Gs9uYarmDXG0aUZIzJEeM8k9Q7_ows1AlxjQ55wHVSoQ3JCpaI5NrNyV12rmkX_wJi6gYwHnRcCknGYhOnHQeCai1FSeXrEVY/s1676/01110D43-6295-4124-AA2C-47B0D30C4CB6.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1676" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS7FDh2KZJidPNCgcMQUn33g2_aLdGIROe1UDd-_kvD823ZZi3fF-S2-vJIUsdOTp1Md0N9ZXe-5aO-iLDa0bSwTLI5-Gs9uYarmDXG0aUZIzJEeM8k9Q7_ows1AlxjQ55wHVSoQ3JCpaI5NrNyV12rmkX_wJi6gYwHnRcCknGYhOnHQeCai1FSeXrEVY/s320/01110D43-6295-4124-AA2C-47B0D30C4CB6.webp" width="191" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br />Ah, now that’s much better. Excellent work as always, Viria. You know what? Let’s also have <a href="https://www.readriordan.com/character/nico-di-angelo/">Nico’s character art from Read Riordan</a>. The Read Riordan character art doesn’t get enough love. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjv_B7DOpKAsApoERGnYi5irB4sG3_Ubq9WM3plJSkDlvbpwJ567NAUrgEPWUlmAuhH6RpW6L8_XW9fvU14QIooR79vzUFOZ5JjpCmlabc_8SHoSxPyqXZ-dGwjovoC4nZREGoWL80DPTM-JtUS6DDILlDTWB6lgUi9pqn31WYuwsue160Lsh2R6UblkQ/s1348/CD47BBFE-8128-400D-B561-14440B54F5A5.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1348" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjv_B7DOpKAsApoERGnYi5irB4sG3_Ubq9WM3plJSkDlvbpwJ567NAUrgEPWUlmAuhH6RpW6L8_XW9fvU14QIooR79vzUFOZ5JjpCmlabc_8SHoSxPyqXZ-dGwjovoC4nZREGoWL80DPTM-JtUS6DDILlDTWB6lgUi9pqn31WYuwsue160Lsh2R6UblkQ/s320/CD47BBFE-8128-400D-B561-14440B54F5A5.webp" width="237" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Now that is one fine looking son of Hades.<br /><br />Well, we have at long last reached the end of the dissertation on why Mark Oshiro should be put on trial at The Hague for crimes against the Riordanverse. There is nothing of value in this abomination that is laughably referred to as a book. Referring to <i>The Sun and The Star</i> as glorified fanfiction is being incredibly generous. I urge you to skip this one for your own sanity. Don’t make the same mistake I did. Trust me, you aren’t missing much. Regrettably, Nico has pet demons literally made out of his trauma. They’re named Coco-Puffs, because of course they are. So, this book will still impact the wider Riordanverse. I’m not holding my breath in hopes of a retcon. <br /><br />If this is what the future holds for the Riordanverse, we should all be very afraid. Boy, I sure can’t wait to see which hack author Rick Riordan prostitutes his characters out to next. Not! A thousand times not! Well, later this year we’ve got <i>Chalice of the Gods</i>, a new novel starring Percy, Grover, and Annaberth coming out. Premise could be good, and Mark Oshiro’s slimy tentacles won’t be anywhere near it, so that’s a plus. We’ve also got the live-action Disney+ series coming out. To be honest, I’m kind of worried about how it will turn out, but I’ll reserve judgement til it officially premieres. <br /><br />Anyway, that’s all I’ve got to say. Join me next time when we take a look back at <i>Chalice of the Gods</i>. </span></div></div>Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-3943017821987926532023-06-06T09:52:00.003-05:002023-06-27T19:56:06.324-05:00Riordan Retrospective: Daughter of the Deep <span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Welcome once again to my Riordan Retrospective. For those of you just joining the fun, this is my look back at the works of Rick Riordan. That means Percy Jackson, its sequels, and spin-offs. This is less of a formal review and more of a relaxed look back. <br /><br />Last time, we finished our look back at <i>The Trials of Apollo</i> with a look back at <i><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2021/01/riordan-retrospective-tower-of-nero.html">The Tower of Nero</a></i>. We thought that we’d said goodbye to the worlds of Rick Riordan. Little did we know that a new book was about to surface. As such, we’re taking a look back at <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Daughter-Deep-Rick-Riordan/dp/1368077927">Daughter of the Deep</a></i>.</span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh34SVoxauIUAGUW4Tbf_EipDWY_sLvVdGAI7pfaX6_zSBxg6QcycPQsDZTrUY4OioBf1IGEi7vDyct2ICu5FTkTwRk4_AHbvac7Hn_lGC6zmOFMeWQBo6GlkDmvx9JPW3mdrlouiuclpWj5cnc6esK_A9j8gVBw3V23AitNwYsc7GDFH6VUWJ_8IHL/s1918/B390E1B4-A318-4F09-A783-BB597618557E.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1918" data-original-width="1291" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh34SVoxauIUAGUW4Tbf_EipDWY_sLvVdGAI7pfaX6_zSBxg6QcycPQsDZTrUY4OioBf1IGEi7vDyct2ICu5FTkTwRk4_AHbvac7Hn_lGC6zmOFMeWQBo6GlkDmvx9JPW3mdrlouiuclpWj5cnc6esK_A9j8gVBw3V23AitNwYsc7GDFH6VUWJ_8IHL/s320/B390E1B4-A318-4F09-A783-BB597618557E.jpeg" width="215" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br />Ana Dakkar is about to finish her freshman year at Harding-Pencroft Academy. It is a five-year academy specializing in marine science. She, and her nineteen classmates, are about to begin their freshmen trials. Harding-Pencroft holds its students very high standards. However, before they can take off, the school is destroyed by a series of sonic torpedoes. The remaining students and professors of Harding-Pencroft regroup aboard their yacht the Varuna. Ana discovers several major revelations. Jules Verne’s novels <i>20,000 Leagues Under the Sea</i> and <i>The Mysterious Island</i> were based on actual events. Captain Nemo was indeed a real person, and Ana is his direct descendant. In fact, the whole point of Harding-Pencroft Academy is to safeguard Nemo’s legacy and technology. Their next stop is Lincoln Island, the final resting place of Nemo and the <i>Nautilus</i>. But danger lurks around every corner as the survivors of Harding-Pencroft are hunted by their old rivals: Land Academy. <br /><br />Well, it looks like we’re back sooner than I expected. I thought we’d be back for that Irish Mythology book Rick said he was planning. However, that seems to have been put on the back-burner. <i>Daughter of the Deep</i> apparently has been a long time coming. Way back in 2009, Disney executives asked Rick what Disney property he would want to write a book based on. It could be anything he wanted. He chose <i>20,000 Leagues Under the Sea</i>, as the 1954 film adaptation is one of his favorite movies. Technically, Disney only owns the rights to the movie, not the original book. The original Verne novel has long since slipped into the public domain. I’m tempted to think that Rick was, at least somewhat, trolling the executives. <br /><br />I actually went back and watched the 1954 movie adaptation of <i>20,000 Leagues Under the Sea</i>. I agree with Rick here. The movie is, I must say, a truly underrated gem among live-action Disney films. In fact, I might even give it its own review at some point. Now, the movie does take some liberties with the source material. Though, personally, I’d say that was to its benefit, as it made for a more engaging story that worked better in film. Verne was known for doing a lot of research with his novels, and often devoted entire paragraphs to explaining the science in detail. Unfortunately, this does make for a rather dry reading experience. I’ve heard Verne works better in the original French, but that is a language I do not speak. Amusingly, students at Harding-Pencroft are required to read <i>20,000 Leagues Under the Sea</i> and <i>The Mysterious Island</i>. Ana found them both to be a bit dry for her taste. I myself enjoyed <i>The Mysterious Island</i> slightly more than <i>20,000 Leagues</i>, but it still suffered from many of the same issues. <br /><br />I’ve heard a few people wonder what it might be like if Rick Riordan were to write a science fiction novel. Well, we now have our answer. We know more about the surface of the Moon than we do our own deep oceans. Twelve people have walked on the surface of the Moon, but only two have ever been to the bottom of the Marianas Trench. Ocean-based science fiction is still comparatively rare compared to space-based or terrestrial-based science fiction. So, I’m glad to see that <i>Daughter of the Deep</i> tapped into some of the vast potential of ocean-based science fiction. <br /><br />Now, I should probably clarify that <i>Daughter of the Deep</i> is set outside of the Riordanverse. Rick has confirmed that it takes place in its own self-contained world. So, don’t expect to see any cameos from Percy, Annabeth, or any other Riordanverse characters. Still, it is similar enough in terms of style to a typical Riordanverse novel, and thus, I’ve chosen to include it as part of the retrospective. <br /><br />Speaking of style, let’s begin there. Rick has said he took a film writing course before he wrote <i>Daughter of the Deep</i>. That is very apparent in how the prose itself is written. It reads very much like a movie script. The narration is presented in first-person present tense. This helps add to the sense of action and urgency as the plot movies along. The pacing also feels very much like what you might find in a movie. We got a lot of action scenes in quick succession. We get the usual info dumps, but we don’t really take as much time for introspection. As we’ll discuss a bit later, this lack of introspection was very much to the book’s detriment. I’m willing to bet that all this is very much by design. Daughter of the Deep is being adapted into a movie on Disney+. In fact, the movie was announced even before the book came out. So, it certainly feels like Rick wrote <i>Daughter of the Deep</i> with an eye towards the movie adaption. <br /><br />I would have liked if we had gotten to explore Harding-Pencroft Academy a bit more before it got destroyed. What brief glimpses we do see are utterly fascinating. The students are all decided into four different houses based on their area of study. Yeah, they’ve heard all the <i>Harry Potter</i> jokes plenty of times. Though, personally, when I saw the initials HP in an ocean-themed book, I briefly wondered if Rick Riordan was going to tackle the Lovecraft Mythos. Back on topic, the houses are Dolphin, Shark, Cephalopod, and Orca. Dolphin focuses on communications, exploration, cryptography, and counterintelligence. Shark handles command, combat, weapons systems, logistics. Cephalopod deals with engineering, applied mechanics, innovation, and defensive systems. Orca is all about medicine, psychology, education, marine biology, and communal memory. If you’re wondering about that last one, it basically means the history of Harding-Pencroft and Captain Nemo. <br /><br />One of the things I appreciated was that each of the four main characters is from a different house. One of my gripes about <i>Harry Potter</i> is that pretty much all the important characters come from Gryffindor. Well, unless they’re a villain, and come from Slytherin. Ravenclaw had Luna and Cho, I guess, but Hufflepuff got the short end of the stick for sure. Getting back on track, having the four main protagonists of <i>Daughter of the Deep</i> be from different houses provided a theme that everyone has something unique to bring to the table. You can also see it as advocating for multiculturalism, but without being preachy about it. </span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> However, I do have on criticism. House Orca needed a better name. Orcas are a type of dolphin, the largest, in fact. We’ve got representatives for mammals, fish, and mollusks. How’s about giving some love to the reptiles? Personally, I would have named them House Sea Turtle instead. Or failing that, show some love to the echinoderms, and name them House Seastar. House Sea Cucumber would also work. Don’t give me that look! Sea cucumbers are noble animals and wonders of nature. <br /><br />I do wish that we’d gotten to see more of Harding-Pencroft before it was destroyed. What brief glimpses we do get are utterly fascinating. As you might expect, they have quite an expansive aquarium full marine creatures. Upperclassmen train in submarine simulations using full-size mock-up submarines submerged in deep pools. However, the most fascinating class is one where students get to consider, and theorize, about the ways technology and science might have developed had history gone differently. As a major fan of alternate history I have but one thing to say: sign me up now! Well, its actually there as a way to slowly ease the students into learning the truth about Captain Nemo and his inventions. Still, sounds like a very fun class to take. I also liked how the various sections of the school are named after famous ocean explorers. There’s one part named after the Chinese navigator Zheng He, and one named after the polar explorer Ernest Shackleton.<br /><br /> I thought all of the diving scenes were particularly well-written. Rick Riordan has a true passion for scuba diving. This really shines through during the diving scenes. I also really like how the diving suits all use jet-propulsion that mimics the siphons of cephalopods. That was a really creative touch. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Also, for those wondering, Land Academy was named after Ned Land. He founded it, along with Professor Aronnax, in hopes to keeping the world safe from Nemo. Aronnax and Land viewed Nemo as a madman. I assume Aronnax was the brains behind that one. Ned Land was good natured, but not terribly bright. <br /><br />Okay, let’s talk about the characters. Ana is the protagonist, but I want to save her for last. We’ll start with her roommates, and best friends, Nelinha and Ester. Nelinha da Silva grew up in an orphanage in Rio de Janeiro, but got to attend Harding-Pencroft on a scholarship. She’s also the closest the series gets to referencing <i>Percy Jackson and the Olympians</i>. I can best describe Nelinha as what would happen if Charles Beckendorf and Silena Beauregard were to have a kid. And, you know, if they were still alive. She’s a complete mechanical genius, and geeks out over machines and engine parts. She’s a member of House Cephalopod, naturally. However, she is also obsessed with fashion, and always makes sure to look her best at all times. Nelinha doesn’t just pack outfits, she packs entire wardrobes. <br /><br />One of my prior complaints about Rick Riordan is that he only seems to know how to write one type of female character. Namely, he seems to believe that being a strong female character means being a tomboy who hates all things girly. So, it was nice to see Nelinha as a course correction on that front. Nelinha being from Brazil is likely a nod to how popular Rick Riordan’s books are in Brazil. So, I’m sure Brazilian fans were excited to finally get a Brazilian main character. <br /><br />On the flipside, we also get Ester Harding. She’s a member of House Orca. She is a blood relative of one of the founders of Harding-Pencroft. She is also the first autistic character in a Rick Riordan book. I’m still bitter about how he wrote a Muslims character before he wrote an autistic character. In the Riordanverse, anyone can be a demigod, unless you’re autistic, it would seem. I had high hopes for Ester. You don’t see autistic girls too often in the media. Riordan has said that he got sensitivity readers to help him with writing characters from different cultural backgrounds. However, it would seem none of them offered insight into autistic people. It almost feels like Riordan watched a couple episodes of <i>The Good Doctor</i> and was like “I got this!” You know those TikTok clips of that guy having a temper tantrum while shouting “I am a surgeon!” Yeah, that’s <i>The Good Doctor</i>. It was another show I had high hopes for, but fell back on stereotyping autistic people. Don’t get me started on my problems with <i>The Good Doctor</i>, we’ll be here all day. <br /><br />Anyway, Ester displays a number of stereotypical traits. She yo-yos between being basically non-verbal, and shouting at the top of her lungs. She does this all in a robotic monotone voice. In contrast to Nelinha, Ester has basically no fashion sense, and seems to be going for the long-lost daughter of Albert Einstein look. Ester also doesn’t have much in the way of common sense, and though it never comes up, she’s probably Jewish. Not too many gentiles name Ester. She’s got an excellent memory, to the point of being almost eidetic, but that’s somewhat accurate. Well, maybe not eidetic, but most autistic people do often have amazing memories. How do you think I’m about to write these retrospectives? <br /><br />Ana briefly remarks about how some people claim that autistic people can’t feel love or other emotions, and that Ester proves this isn’t true, due to how empathetic she is. Again, this is true, as autistic people can be quite empathetic. Though, I can’t help but wonder if Disney specially made Rick insert that line to cover their asses. See, this isn’t the first time Disney has tackled autism. There was an episode of <i>Girl Meets World</i> about how we should all be nice to autistic people. All well and good, but they also claim that autistic people are incapable of experiencing emotions, including love. <br /><br />Gemini Twain has been assigned as Ana’s bodyguard. He’s a no-nonsense member of House Shark. He’s also a member of the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints. This is certainly an interesting choice, as Gemini is also Black. Historically, Mormons haven’t exactly gotten along well with Black people. Or Native Americans, or Polynesians, or…well, pretty much anybody who isn’t White. The most infamous instance was when Mormon schools refused to desegregate. The American government threatened to revoke their tax exemption status, but wouldn’t you know it, Mormon God rather conveniently changed his mind about Black people. Though, Gemini’s faith doesn’t really come up that much. He doesn’t like swearing or taking the lord’s name in vein, and he mentions his grandma raised him and his brother in the LDS church, but that’s about it. Well, he did get into a minor scuffle with Nelinha. Gemini’s brother went on his mission trip to Brazil, and Gemini assumed Nelinha would know his brother, because she’s from Brazil. <br /><br />Well, nice touch having one of the non-White characters be flawed enough to be accidentally racist. I remember back in <i>The Hammer of Thor</i> retrospective when I said, paraphrased, “A Muslim demigod? What’s next, a Mormon demigod?” I have on occasion wondered if Rick Riordan reads these retrospectives. Probably a long shot, but you never know. <br /><br />Technically, there is a fifth main character: the <i>Nautilus</i> itself. It took until about halfway through the book before the <i>Nautilus</i> showed up. Yeah, this book has some pacing issues. The Nautilus has what can best be described as an artificial intelligence system. Also, apparently it also includes some organic components. As you might imagine, it is extremely untrustworthy of anyone who isn’t a blood relative of Prince Dakkar, aka Captain Nemo. So, Ana’s biometrics are key to unlocking the Nautilus. <br /><br />Unfortunately, the <i>Nautilus</i> also highlights one of the issues I had with the book. Apparently, every major invention of the 20th Century was a result of Harding-Pencroft discreetly releasing them to the public. That, or Land Institute stealing them. This caused <i>Daughter of the Deep</i> to evoke the Great Man Theory of History. The theory goes that society gets stuck in ruts until a great man, and it’s always a man, shakes up the status quo and moves the world forward. This view has largely fallen out of favor with mainstream historians. Most historians emphasis how the changes were put into motion, often by complex chains of influences, long before the supposedly great men came about. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">You do kind of get this with the main Riordanverse, where pretty much anyone who did anything was either a demigod or a magician. However, that was softened by just how many demigods and magicians there were throughout history. So, it felt more like a team-effort. By contrast, Daughter of the Deep gave us a single scientific übermensch who, apparently, leapfrogged from steam-power to cold fusion reactors. Now, granted, this is also true of Nemo in <i>20,000 Leagues Under the Sea</i>. Still, maybe Rick shouldn’t have depicted Nemo in such a lock, stock, and barrel sort of way.<br /><br />And that segues into my next point. Harding-Pencroft is deathly afraid of letting the general public get access to Nemo’s technology. They only release technology sparingly, and only when they feel humanity has earned it. Uh, and what metric do they use to determine how worthy humanity is? Beats me, the book offers no details. The adults all make a big deal about how corporations would try to monopolize Nemo’s technology, but nobody ever suggests releasing it as open-source tech. Well, I know the real reason for that. There’s no way that Disney, the poster boy for copyright abuse, is going to be advocating for open-source. A particularly facepalm worthy moment is that fact that Harding-Pencroft refuses to release cold fusion technology…despite climate change being a serious issue! The book would have you believe Harding-Pencroft are the good guys. However, I’m tempted to think Land Institute had a point about Harding-Pencroft being corrupt and selfish. <br /><br />Hey, wait a minute. Harding-Pencroft is a secretive organization that is very selective of its membership. It trains its students so that, effectively, they’re cut-off from the outside world. They indoctrinate their students from a young age into their views. They have charismatic leaders and founders. Yikes, I hope the cafeteria never served Kool-Aid! Harding-Pencroft is a cult! <br /><br />It would seem that Harding-Pencroft has something akin to the Prime Detective from <i>Star Trek</i>. There has been a lot of debate about the morality of the Prime Detective. The main thinking seems to be don’t give advanced weaponry to civilizations that aren’t morally mature. <i>The Original Series</i> also says that it is okay to break the Prime Directive if a planet is in imminent danger. Contrast this with <i>Next Generation</i>, where one episode has Captain Picard dithering about if he should save a planet, even if it break the Prime Directive. Of course, the worst offender was <i>Voyager</i>. It had an episode where the moral was, basically, don’t save a baby trapped in a burning car, or else the baby will grow-up to be Hitler. Yeah, the Prime Directive kind of devolved into an immoral religious dogma as <i>Star Trek</i> went on. <br /><br />Point is, Harding-Pencroft’s Prime Directive seems to lean towards that of the later Star Trek entries. Apparently, screw the planet, we need to keep the tech away from corporations! The irony of Disney railing against corporations is so thick you can practically cut it with a machete. Also, if the concern is that the corporations would hoard stuff like the cure for cancer, well, how’s that any different than what Harding-Pencroft is doing? <br /><br />Much is made about how Ana must choose to reconcile both the good and the bad of Nemo’s legacy. However, nothing really comes of this. We don’t see her seriously debate or challenge Harding-Pencroft and Land Institute’s views of Nemo. In fact, she gets indoctrinated into Harding-Pencroft’s views pretty quickly. It would have been a great opportunity to show Nemo’s complexity, not just tell us about it. How many innocent lives did he take in his quest for vengeance? Should he have shared his technology with the oppressed peoples chafing under the yoke of colonialism? Is it possible that Land Institute has some valid points, and that Harding-Pencroft has lost its way? All excellent questions that sadly go unanswered. <br /><br />As for why that is, it ties into the biggest problem I have with <i>Daughter of the Deep</i>. Overall, it feels like merely the novelization of the yet to be produced movie. I was hoping that the novel would be able to stand on its own merits. However, Riordan clearly wrote it so that the adoption process would be streamlined. Debating ethics might not translate to film. Though, it could work in the hands of a competent scriptwriter. <br /><br />I feel this streamlining was ultimately to the novel’s determent. I certainly didn’t hate <i>Daughter of the Deep</i>. It had plenty of the action and adventure you’d expect from a Rick Riordan novel. However, for every thing I liked, there was almost always something else I didn’t like. It is ironic that Rick claims he spent years working on <i>Daughter of the Deep</i>. It overall feels like it was yanked out of the oven before it had a chance to bake properly. Then again, he also claims to have gotten the idea for <i>Magnus Chase</i> before he wrote <i>Percy Jackson</i>, and look how that turned out. <br /><br /><a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Daughter-of-the-Deep-Audiobook/B09HJ9B8PQ?eac_link=xpKKElbu2ILP&ref=web_search_eac_asin_2&eac_selected_type=asin&eac_selected=B09HJ9B8PQ&qid=UApLGFjh5Z&eac_id=144-0690597-4752814_UApLGFjh5Z&sr=1-2">The audiobook</a> is narrated by Soneela Nankani. She’s the narrator for the <i>Aru Shah</i> audiobooks. Personally, I wasn’t too thrilled when I saw that Soneela would be narrating. However, she gave a fairly decent performance. She voiced Ester in a rather stereotypical way, like she was imitating Sean from <i>The Good Doctor</i>, but that was the only true sour note. Speaking of music, the audiobook is filled with music. There’s lots of musical cues throughout the audiobook. Scenes of wonder and whimsy have inspirational music, action scenes have exciting music. There’s a scene where Ana plays a pipe organ aboard the <i>Nautilus</i>, and we actually get to hear it. I thought that was a really nice touch. <br /><br />Now, let’s analyze the cover. This is a nice looking cover. The undersea landscape is bright and vibrant. We see Ana and Gemini in their divining suits. Their faces are clear and unobscured. The Rick Riordan Presents books goes with this approach as well. Something about it being important for minority kids to see themselves clearly represented on book covers. We also see the Nautilus in the background, along with a giant octopus. <br /><br />So, <i>Daughter of the Deep</i> has a lot of potential, and I certainly wouldn’t mind a sequel. However, there’s a lot of room for improvement. It needed to stand on its own merits, not just be the dry run for the movie script. Still, it's lightyears better than our next port of call. Next time, we’re tackling <i>The Sun and The Star</i>. The claws are coming out, and I’m prepared to fully eviscerate Mark Oshiro’s glorified self-insert fanfic. <br /><br />Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time. </span></div></div>Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-16793114296544126152023-05-12T18:10:00.000-05:002023-05-12T18:10:10.920-05:00The Audio File: Human B-Gon<span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">My policy for reviewing serialized audio dramas is that I require at least one complete season before I commit to a review. Well, today we’re taking a look at a show that asked me to review them a while back. They have now finally met that requirement. I won't waste any more time, let’s get into it. We’re taking a look at <i><a href="https://www.human-b-gon.com/">Human B-Gon</a></i>.</span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBn2SR_wkTLNc-b8CwvSM7FcsHIhFvXEOqISUA8Z6jWI5ekLszPm_xVG5m6lGOUDrfBHzlANI1Nhnodp8sQLy__K705vF0UyLRF3QI_8qym92wo8M1rWwt8PUIx9UKN580KTQbdpHmpfjAef5Az2zxRicVQG8I3CzM8fucLVVeS5l5GXD1mt7sUCuv/s1128/DAAEB5A3-736C-4C9C-949A-2A03F108C71E.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="732" data-original-width="1128" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBn2SR_wkTLNc-b8CwvSM7FcsHIhFvXEOqISUA8Z6jWI5ekLszPm_xVG5m6lGOUDrfBHzlANI1Nhnodp8sQLy__K705vF0UyLRF3QI_8qym92wo8M1rWwt8PUIx9UKN580KTQbdpHmpfjAef5Az2zxRicVQG8I3CzM8fucLVVeS5l5GXD1mt7sUCuv/s320/DAAEB5A3-736C-4C9C-949A-2A03F108C71E.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /><i>Human B-Gon</i> is a science fiction comedy set in a post-apocalyptic future. Well, post-apocalyptic future if you’re a human. Robots declared war on humanity, and the robots won. The robots have reshaped the world in their image. Though, that image really isn’t all that different from when humans were running the show. Humans lurk in the shadows and crevices of this brave new mechanical world. Naturally, the robots consider them quite the nuisance. Fortunately, for the more Hominid Rights minded robots, there’s one team who are always on-call: Human B-Gon! They are a trio of robots who specialize in the ethical relocation of humans. Well, on paper anyway. In reality, our trio of heroes are complete morons who barely know what they’re doing. Still, they’re going to try their level best. After all, they’re the finest ethical human relocation service in the greater Droidston, Nanotoba area. Then again, they’re also the only one. But hey, that’s something, right? <br /><br />I’d interacted with <i>Human B-Gon</i> on various social media platforms; Reddit, Facebook, Twitter. They’ve been supportive of my work with these reviews, and with my own endeavors to create audio drama. Naturally, they ask if I’d review the show. They now fit my minimum requirements, so here we are now. <i>Human B-Gon </i>is created by Drew Frohmann. <br /><br /><i>Human B-Gon</i> is a member of the <a href="https://fableandfolly.com/">Fable & Folly</a> network. Time for an audio drama roll call! The other members of Fable & Folly include, but aren’t limited to, <i><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-audio-file-spaceships.html">Spaceships</a></i>, <i><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-audio-file-alba-salix-royal.html">Alba Salix</a></i>, <i><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-audio-file-we-fix-space-junk.html">We Fix Space Junk</a></i>, <i><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-audio-file-harlem-queen.html">Harlem Queen</a></i>, <i><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-audio-file-carlotta-beautox.html">The Carlötta Beautox Chronicles</a></i>, and <i><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2022/06/the-audio-file-who-is-cam-candor.html">Who is Cam Candor</a></i>. <br /><br /><i>Human B-Gon</i> is presented in the form of a fictional television series. It reminds me a bit of the sort of shows you tend to see these days on Discovery Channel and History Channel. The sort of shows they air now that they’ve both, mostly, given up on educational documentaries. In fairness, much as I rag on Discovery and History of that, there have been a few diamonds in the rough. <i>Pawn Stars</i> actually does a pretty good job teaching people about history, and I do love those crazy dudes. And I also admit that I used to watch <i>Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe</i> fairly frequently. <br /><br />I was particularly reminded of <i>Billy the Exterminator</i>. It was a show on Discovery Channel about, well, an exterminator named Billy. Fun fact, Billy is from Bossier. It is the city directly across the Red River from Shreveport, where I live. Shreveport and Bossier are collectively counted as a single metro area, but Shreveport is the bigger of the two. I’m not sure if <i>Billy the Exterminator</i> was a direct influence on <i>Human B-Gon</i>, or if it was just coincidence. <br /><br />Anyway, getting back on topic, <i>Human B-Gon</i> really captures the feeling of those sort of shows. Albeit, with a fair bit of farcical exaggeration. We’ve got a cast of three wacky characters taking us on a tour of their day-to-day lives in a somewhat unusual, by robot standards, line of work. It is mentioned that the robots speak their own language, which is rendered as English for our convenience. Human languages, by contrast, are depicted as a series of high-pitched hooting and chittering. <br /><br />There are also several ads for various in-universe services and products. They’re included alongside out-of-universe ads, and at times, I can’t tell which is which. That’s some very good ad integration. The in-universe ads offer things such as a service that will remove your personality circuits. That way, you don’t have to feel any of those negative and dissatisfied feelings, and can get back to work as a newly mindless drone. Your productivity is sure to skyrocket! Or how about a tasty burger made from radioactive materials? Robots can’t get enough of those radiative burgers, and there’s so many options to choose from. <br /><br />The world of <i>Human B-Gon</i> really isn’t too different from our own, just with robots running the show. There’s plenty of robot puns to be found. For example, our heroes live in Scanada. Specifically in the province of Nanotoba. Okay, Scanada is Canada, and Nanotoba is Manitoba. What would Droidston be? Canadians, help me out with this one. Well, anyway, we also meet famous robot celebrities, such as 8-Blanchett, 3-Anu Reeves, and 9-an Reynolds. We also meet a robot named Buggy Eddie, who is probably a nod to Crazy Eddie, which is apparently an electronics chain. I assumed it was a reference to Honest Ed’s, a famous discount store from Toronto. I freely admit that I only know about that one because of <i>Scott Pilgrim</i>. In contrast to all of this, based on the brief descriptions we get, the robots aren’t even remotely anthropomorphic. I suppose this makes sense, given that most robots view humans as little more than vermin. <br /><br />So, let’s talk about the main characters. Kit is the owner of Human B-Gon. He inherited the company from his father, and his greatest desire is to make his father proud. Kit has a generally sunny and chipper disposition, though he can be easily flustered. He’s also very enthusiastic about helping peacefully relocate humans. He’s enthusiastic, but he’s an idiot who doesn’t know what he’s talking about. In fairness, his partners aren’t much better. There’s plenty of information available about human behavior, dietary habits, and other important human things. However, Kit can’t be bothered to look any of that up. After all, who should we trust more? Well qualified and certified experts, or a schlub like Kit? Kit is played by Paul JP.<br /><br />Hundo is Kit’s second-in-command, and primary love interest. In contrast to Kit, she’s very brash, bold, and assertive. Though, this is partially a conscious act on Hundo’s part. She’s trying to present herself as a serious rapper. However, rapping isn’t the first time Hundo was involved in music. When she was younger, she used to be known as Robecca Black, and recorded a song called “Pi Day.” This made her an overnight laughing stock on the Robot Internet. “Pi Day” is treated as so bad that it is painful for humans to listen to, but I thought it was kind of catchy. Of course, I don’t know what it sounds like in the original robot language. Hundo likes to think of herself as more on the ball than Kit, but she’s often just as scatterbrained as he is. Hundo is played by Kat Letwin <br /><br />Rounding out the main trio is Influx. He’s a level twelve intelligence, and thinks of himself as far smarter than Kit, Hundo, and basically all other robots. Influx is incredibly arrogant and condescending. He’s also a paranoid conspiracy theorist who believes that the world is ruled by a secret cabal known as the Algorithminati. In fact, for all of his delusions of genius, Influx isn’t much better than Kit and Hundo. It probably doesn’t help that he likes to indulge in magnets, which are basically the robot equivalent of marijuana and LSD. The effect seems to depend on how strong the magnets are. Influx also serves as the primary transport for Human B-Gon. As in, he’s like a Transformer, and can turn himself into pretty much any vehicle. Influx is played by Ian Slessor. He’s familiar, but I can’t think where I’ve heard him before. <br /><br />Then there’s Poo-Poo. He is Kit’s long suffering pet human. Hardly an episode goes by without Poo-Poo getting set on fire, slammed against a wall, stabbed like a pincushion, or otherwise brutalized. It also doesn’t help that Kit insists on feeding Poo-Poo “foods” such as wire insulation, silicone gel, and metal ball bearings. Like all humans, Poo-Poo’s speech is rendered as monkey-like hooting and chittering. Though, we can still tell that he very clearly isn’t happy with the way that Kit tries to take care of him. Influx likes to troll Kit by threatening to drop Poo-Poo off on Garbage Island, where all of the other humans are dropped-off. <br /><br />Garbage Island is located in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It is indeed a real collection of plastic located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is twice the size of Texas, or three times the size of France. Though, there is a bit of artistic license here. In reality, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is primarily made of microplastics. True, some patches are more visible to the naked eye, but certainly not stable enough to build settlements on. Though, since Human B-Gon clearly isn’t going for realism, I’ll let that one slide. <br /><br />The way Poo-Poo is treat is clearly played for laughs. That being said, at times it felt a tad uncomfortable. I was reminded a bit too much of the short story “The People of Sand and Slag” by Paolo Bacigalupi. It is set on a far future Earth that is completely polluted and environmentally damaged beyond repair. Humans genetically modified themselves into cyborgs that are barely organic anymore. In doing so, removing themselves from the web of life. So, it follows three of these cyborgs who work as guards for a mining company. They find a dog that has survived against all odds, and decide to take care of it. A big theme is about how the cyborgs just can’t comprehend how delicate, fragile, and ill-suited for the polluted world that the dog is. And the cyborgs are two guys and a girl, and the guy and girl are in a relationship…hmm, I wonder if “The People of Sand and Slag” was an influence on <i>Human B-Gon</i>? <br /><br />Well, anyway, it is an excellent short story, but very brutal at times. Doubly so if you have a beloved pet dog, like I do. So, when I listen to all the shit Poo-Poo gets put through, I think of the poor dog from “The People of Sand and Slag.” But I concede this is really more of a me thing. <br /><br /><i>Human B-Gon</i> is fairly episodic, but there are plot threads that run throughout the episode. For example, Kit’s continuing struggles to keep the business floating. I’ll briefly mention some of my favorite episodes. I liked the episode where Human B-Gon has to unexpectedly clear out a former human mall on Sunday. Influx uses Sundays as his fun day, and by fun day, I mean he gets high on magnets. So, he shows up to work high as a kite. At one point, he hallucinates that he can hear humans talking. And they tell him…that he is the smartest robot in the world, and they will be his loyal servant to help him take over the world. <br /><br />Another fun episode was where the Human B-Gon crew have to clear out humans from a quantum reactor facility. This leads to some fun quantum shenanigans. We hear two versions of the characters talking. At first, they say totally opposite things, then they say the same thing, but phrased differently. The number of humans also fluctuates, due to quantum uncertainty. The episode where Influx builds an assistant robot named ADM, and he proves to be way better at everything than the rest of Human B-Gon, was pretty fun too. <br /><br />I won’t give away the season finale. However, I will say that it sets up some very exciting possibilities for season two. And I certainly can’t wait to see what comes next for <i>Human B-Gon</i>. <br /><br />So, there you have it. <i>Human B-Gon</i> is a science fiction comedy about three idiot robots trying, and often failing, to peacefully relocate verminous humans. It takes the form of a fictional television series, and has a lot of fun with the format. Season one is a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to see what season two brings to us.<br /><br />Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time. </span></div>Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-67379577152002117522023-05-11T09:41:00.000-05:002023-05-11T09:41:57.274-05:00Flag of Buddhist India<span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">This is the flag of Buddhist India. It comes from a world where Buddhism remained the dominate religion of India. It began during the reign of Ashoka the Great. As in our world, Ashoka converted to Buddhism after spending much of his life as a warlord who united much of India. Unlike our world, however, Ashoka formalized the relationship between the Sangha and the secular government. Ashoka’s system can be thought of as similar to the role the Catholic Church played in Medieval Europe in our world. Buddhist monasteries received funding via taxes, and the monks often involved themselves in the affairs of the state. <br /><br />Another result of Ashoka’s reforms was that the Maurya Empire lasted several centuries longer than it did in our world. The empire covered almost all of the Indian Subcontinent, and its continued existence lead to a sense of Pan-Indian identity. In fact, the Maurya Empire would come to hold the same cultural significance in India as the Roman Empire does in the West, and the Han Dynasty does in China. All future Indian empires would, to varying degrees, attempt to emulate the glories of the Maurya Empire. <br /><br />The changes resulting from Ashoka’s reforms ultimately meant that Vedantic Hinduism never came to be. However, life for the average Indian didn’t really change all that much under Buddhism. Most people continued to worship the same local gods they always had. The old traditions mixed freely with the new. For example, you might go to the Buddhist temple to pray for enlightenment and contemplate philosophy. However, if your child got sick, you would pray to whoever the local healer deity happened to be. The caste system never came to be, but there was a still a strict social hierarchy within Indian society. <br /><br />In time, several Buddhist monks began to study the natural world, and developed natural philosophy of a sort. This led to several discoveries and innovation, the most significant of which was the discovery of gunpowder. India went on several campaigns of expansion. Several of these were nominally to spread Buddhism, but in practice, were really about expanding India’s political and cultural power. India conquered Persia, and even managed to push as far west as Egypt and the Levant. However, holding these lands proved harder. The empire shrank to only the Indian Subcontinent in a little over 100 years. However, this brief period of expansion did lead to Buddhism spreading further. Iran follows a combination of Zoroastrianism and Buddhism, and Central Asia is majority Buddhist. Southeast Asia is also majority Buddhist. It also helps that Islam was never found in this world. <br /><br />Buddhist remain a significant minority in the Near East. Unfortunately, there have also been numerous conflicts between Buddhists and Christians in these lands. Buddhism never made major in-roads in Europe, barring a few minor communities in the Balkans. There were some Buddhist communities in Spain and Southern France, but they were whipped-out by Christian forces. Unlike our world, most Westerners do not stereotype Buddhists as being pacifists. In fact, due to a misunderstanding about Buddhist belief in reincarnation, many Christians stereotyped Buddhists as being violent, and having an incredibly cavalier attitude towards human life. However, during this world’s equivalent of the Enlightenment, several European scholars began to re-examine and reevaluate Buddhism. Though, they also often viewed it through a heavily Orientalist lens.<br /><br />The flag is orange and maroon in reference to the colors of Buddhist monk robes. The white is to offset the orange and maroon. The Wheel of Samsara, also known as the Wheel of Rebirth, is displayed prominently in the center of the flag.</span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJAtIoCLr-bZwTUvJ831Y1ya3GfdboPUoapq7h_YaN0S0Yql94xs_ta38gYWLLQz7v_U4U81GzPTHulBYziZDnrWN3DqjwXSH5UAGA80HtLA5ghvjMOH8XAKbYbNwVn-NlXFCqjR0XdNWVj27DfRbw2OkZ4T7dBXKj4VFbBflRrGyQmr0SlTC-cT2L/s2560/97FACA08-63A6-4100-AE15-EB192BA4D1D1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="2560" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJAtIoCLr-bZwTUvJ831Y1ya3GfdboPUoapq7h_YaN0S0Yql94xs_ta38gYWLLQz7v_U4U81GzPTHulBYziZDnrWN3DqjwXSH5UAGA80HtLA5ghvjMOH8XAKbYbNwVn-NlXFCqjR0XdNWVj27DfRbw2OkZ4T7dBXKj4VFbBflRrGyQmr0SlTC-cT2L/w400-h200/97FACA08-63A6-4100-AE15-EB192BA4D1D1.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-44981490496677959732023-04-29T10:03:00.000-05:002023-04-29T10:03:52.058-05:00Flag of the Commonwealth of New England <span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">This is the flag of the Commonwealth of New England. It comes from a world where the Huron won the Huron-Iroquois War of 1648-1650. This resulted in the complete destruction of the Iroquois Confederacy. Some Iroquois were absorbed into other tribes, including the Huron themselves. The Huron’s victory meant that their vast trading network was never disrupted. This meant that Europeans weapons were able to make their way towards the interior tribes of North America. This made Native American tribes better able to resist European colonialism. New England remained involved in the fur trade longer than it did in our world. Meanwhile, the Huron largely cut France out of the fur trade. </span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br />Another result of all this was that King Philip's War never happened. There were still armed conflicts between the English colonists and Native Americans, but they were part of the larger English-French rivalry. New England never got drained economically by King Philip's War and remained financially self-sufficient. Before long, many in New England began to question if they needed to remain part of England. The Commonwealth of New England formally declared its independence in the early 1700s. It initially included the New England Colonies plus New York and New Jersey, but later expanded to include Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. The Middle Colonies faced competition and raids from tribes allied with the Hurons. <br /><br />By the present day, North America is a patchwork of nations. There are several Native American tribes who were able to maintain their independence and carve out nationstates. Canada has remained largely French, while to the south, the Republic of Grand Florida also includes what would have been the Carolinas. Towards the west lies the nation of Caddo, a result of English and French settlement in Texas. <br /><br />The New England government takes inspiration from the Roman Republic. It is a bicameral legislature composed of a People’s Council and a Senate. The Council is directly voted on by citizens of New England, and serves as the lower house. The citizens also elect the two praetors, who serve as the co-heads of the executive branch. The Senate is the upper house, and is composed of experts in various fields, as well as former governors and praetors. Praetors serve a single term of six years, while members of the Senate serve for life. Elections for the Council happen every four years. All political parties receive proportional representation within the Council. Praetors are not required to share the same political party. In fact, many people feel it is better when they don’t, as they will keep each other in check. <br /><br />New England isn’t a major world power like the United States in our world. It is more comparable to Japan or the United Kingdom of our world in terms of international influence. However, New England is quite wealthy, and quite involved in international trade and commerce.<br /><br />This is reflected in the design of the flag. A golden New England clipper ship is proudly emblazoned in the center of the flag. The green references the forests of New England, and the white recalls snowy New England winters.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiodp4vzkJDvI7cLmVYQirBWJ1BPv7acV47hj6jQA2NPfAat2Trd-6keWMN0wJoJM0pRabUndAtChe75b7mYb13yhxFmzK3FNWB12C96Yw616SzN9UjjIPLy6IQs4wj1-9tqwBOoNEI70ul93lfi1nSBhPtFBtZ-OG_eKFQkmwSa1fs9SRB12wQUxep/s2560/1E8F7042-5E16-41A8-BBDD-64E2AFD3962A.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2560" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiodp4vzkJDvI7cLmVYQirBWJ1BPv7acV47hj6jQA2NPfAat2Trd-6keWMN0wJoJM0pRabUndAtChe75b7mYb13yhxFmzK3FNWB12C96Yw616SzN9UjjIPLy6IQs4wj1-9tqwBOoNEI70ul93lfi1nSBhPtFBtZ-OG_eKFQkmwSa1fs9SRB12wQUxep/w400-h240/1E8F7042-5E16-41A8-BBDD-64E2AFD3962A.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-37133424852841732592023-04-21T18:35:00.000-05:002023-04-21T18:35:54.110-05:00Flag of the Neo-Hanseatic Republic of Welserland <span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">This is the flag of the Neo-Hanseatic Republic of Welserland. It comes from a world where German settlers established a colony on the northern coast of Venezuela. The initial agreement was that the German settlers would help settle the interior of Venezuela, and produce goods and resources. Settlement would, in theory, be administered by all the kingdoms of Germany. It was hoped that the colony would help give rise to a new Hanseatic League. Unfortunately, this did not come to pass. However, people from all different parts of Germany began to flood into the colony. This gave the colony a very eclectic flavor. It was named Welserland as a reference to Klein-Venedig, the previous attempt by Germany to colonize Venezuela. <br /><br />The interior mountains have a temperate climate, and allow for the production of crops such as crops such as peaches, strawberries, cabbage, carrots, beets, cauliflower, and lettuce. In fact, the interior mountains wouldn’t be out of place in Bavaria. The coastal regions have a more tropical climate, and allow for the production of crops such as bananas, mangos, oranges, and coffee. Coffee production formed the backbone of Welserland’s economy during its early days. On paper, Welserland was considered part of Venezuela, and merely leased to the kingdoms of Germany. As time went on, however, the Germans exerted greater control over Welserland. Venezuela made various attempts to get Germany to back down, but these never amounted to much. This came to a head following the unification of Germany in 1871. Germany formally purchased Welserland from Venezuela to establish a foothold in the Caribbean and South America. <br /><br />Welserland enjoyed several decades as a province of the German Empire. Then the First World War broke out. Welserland found itself in the crosshairs of Britain and France’s Caribbean colonies. As the war dragged on, and the odds of a German victory diminished, many in Welserland began to worry about their future. It was decided that independence would be the best course of action. Welserland officially declare independence from Germany in 1917. Welserland added the titled Neo-Hanseatic to its name in reference to its roots as an attempt to revive the Hanseatic League. Welserland survived by playing Britain and France off of each other. It also courted a powerful new ally in the form of the United States. The United States helped ensure that Venezuela didn’t attempt to re-annex Welserland. <br /><br />Against all odds, Welserland has managed to survive to the present day. It has become a popular destination for German tourists, but they are far from the microstate’s only visitors. Tourists from around the world come to visit the little slice of Germany on the coast of South America. Tourism makes up a big part of Welserland’s economy, and it is also home to many casinos and resorts. It is generally agreed that, of all the nations in the Western Hemisphere, Welserland makes the best beer. In fact, several Welserland breweries have won major awards for their beers. In the past, money laundering, offshore banking, and the illegal drugs trade also formed major contributions to Welserland’s economy. However, they have put all of that behind them…for the most part. <br /><br />The flag includes the traditional German colors of black, red, and gold. A Lutheran Rose Seal sits in the middle of a St. Andrew’s Cross. Lutherans are the largest religious group in Welserland, but Catholics form a sizable minority. Welserland also has decent-sized communities of Orthodox Christians and Jews. <br /><br />The flag has caused some controversy with American tourists, due to its superficial similarity to the Confederate Battle Flag. Welserlanders find this rather annoying. They are frequently quick to remind Americans that Welserland sent non-combative volunteer regiments to help fight against Nazi Germany during World War II. Welserland also welcomed Jewish refugees with open-arms during World War II. In fact, most of Welserland’s Jewish community is descended from these refugees. <br /><br />Some Catholic and secular-minded Welserlanders dislike the inclusion of the Lutheran seal on the flag, and have been known to cut it out. Of course, this also leads to the flag looking even more like the Confederate Battle Flag, so many support keeping it, if only so the American tourists will shut up. </span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj_jCqtvtl_AoD-C_VIYmmx-ae6Zel26N1wlsBKea9ukXyEQwzPafnh5aodkBys40t0jJEdckJ5_0Ikyvy91g9k2lRTTWWP2gJaA94YWgKERzouVOBE4TAT2g7vFo2rlLjB-QO1SvECisDPvRCUTaG9VYB1jxiYytpdPqAU1V03uFe87HsAum8z8xD/s2560/80ACBFB4-5AA7-4B91-B1B8-6A4077BF39B7.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1629" data-original-width="2560" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj_jCqtvtl_AoD-C_VIYmmx-ae6Zel26N1wlsBKea9ukXyEQwzPafnh5aodkBys40t0jJEdckJ5_0Ikyvy91g9k2lRTTWWP2gJaA94YWgKERzouVOBE4TAT2g7vFo2rlLjB-QO1SvECisDPvRCUTaG9VYB1jxiYytpdPqAU1V03uFe87HsAum8z8xD/w400-h255/80ACBFB4-5AA7-4B91-B1B8-6A4077BF39B7.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-53238033547320735822023-04-11T11:45:00.003-05:002023-04-11T14:02:13.690-05:00The Alt-Hist File: Cthulhu in the Deep South by Kirk Battle <span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The world of audio fiction podcasts has gone through many changes over the years. The mid-2000s brought us short story podcasts such as <i>Escape Pod</i>, <i>The Drabblecast</i>, and <i>Lightspeed Magazine</i>. By the 2010s, the audio drama boom was in full swing, and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. Earlier than either, however, were podiobooks. Podiobooks, as their name suggests, were serialized audiobooks made available as podcasts. Podiobooks aren’t as common these days, but you do see some new ones pop up from time to time. Such is the case with the podiobooks we’ll be reviewing today. We’re taking a look at <i><a href="https://www.cthulhudeepsouth.com/">Cthulhu in the Deep South</a></i> by Kirk Battle.</span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1jcvIjL8NJMJVsCgAH1sitBxuJQ75kAl-eUku0oYhHDUYmCbFw6Ss0f6OKUmQOTGQ5XFuH7XoQU6j5H_tyZeD5qnVFGVARDPb9B94nuwZq5XIZc5xJ7EoahpIr674PB51dFyGu0RotVtKsv16TEg3gLBOXN72UvQyXlI-IqQltOAW1udVOwCU8pr6/s1500/56546450-CD25-4865-B0A3-E3999DB6F15E.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1jcvIjL8NJMJVsCgAH1sitBxuJQ75kAl-eUku0oYhHDUYmCbFw6Ss0f6OKUmQOTGQ5XFuH7XoQU6j5H_tyZeD5qnVFGVARDPb9B94nuwZq5XIZc5xJ7EoahpIr674PB51dFyGu0RotVtKsv16TEg3gLBOXN72UvQyXlI-IqQltOAW1udVOwCU8pr6/s320/56546450-CD25-4865-B0A3-E3999DB6F15E.png" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /><i>Cthulhu in the Deep South</i> is a series of books set in South Carolina between the 1830s and 1860s. Usually, the action is set in or around Charleston, but two mysterious islands, named Ryland and Carcosa, also play a major role in the plot. Another common thread is people from New England, more specifically Arkham, finding themselves in South Carolina. But above all, the core of the series is the way that the creatures of H.P. Lovecraft combine with real world historical events to produce some fine historical horror. <br /><br />Okay, so I think I ought to be upfront about a few things before we move forward. Many of you come here for my audio drama reviews. However, <i>Cthulhu in the Deep South</i> is a podiobook. It is like a standard audiobook; no bells and whistles beyond that. I listen to a lot of audiobooks, so I’m good with that. But I know some people feel differently, some I’m giving you all the info upfront. If that sounds good to you, let’s press on. I should also note that all six books of <i>Cthulhu in the Deep South</i> are also <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0753CQRGD?binding=kindle_edition&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tukn">available as eBooks</a>. <br /><br />I was approached by Kirk Battle to review <i>Cthulhu in the Deep South</i> after he saw my review of <i><a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-audio-file-modes-of-thought-in.html">Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature</a></i>. Each season of <i>Cthulhu in the Deep South</i> is a book in the series. I’ll give general thoughts and remarks before we get into each individual book. I liked the way that Kirk Battle incorporates actual history into the story. Kirk includes a bonus episode at the end of each season. In the bonus episodes, he explains his thought process when crafting each book. Naturally, he talks about which works of H.P. Lovecraft he draws upon. However, he also talks about which primary historical sources he uses. He will also spends quite a bit of time discussing what those primary sources are, and what they’re about. As someone with a history degree, I very much appreciate all of this. <br /><br />Okay, so let’s get into the individual stories. <a href="https://www.cthulhudeepsouth.com/cthulhu-in-the-deep-south-book-i/">Book one</a> begins in the 1830s. It follows a man from Arkham, Massachusetts. He was part of an ice harvesting crew. The crew have collected their ice from the Arctic, and now they’re bound for balmy South Carolina to sell the ice. However, strange things begin to happen. Our protagonist begins to wonder if, perhaps, the crew has brought more than just ice with them. Things get even stranger when our protagonist finds himself on a pair of twin islands, located just off the South Carolina coast, called Ryland and Carcosa. They are a strange otherworldly place where White planters seem to take orders from their own slaves. There is something strange about the people of Ryland and Carcosa. Almost as if they aren’t exactly human. <br /><br />Okay, so <i>Cthulhu in the Deep South</i> starts out strong. Out of all the books in the series, this is the one that comes closest to mimicking Lovecraft’s writing style, and the general feel of a Lovecraft story. I don’t mean that as a slight against the other books in the series. Kirk Battle has stated that he wanted each of the books to have their own style, and to play into other genres. Overall, I would say he succeeded in that goal. But all of that is to say that the genre for the first book is straight Lovecraft. <br /><br />That being said, and as previously noted, Kirk Battle also included quite a bit of historical research into this one. One detail is that a lot of the crew of the ice harvester are Black. A lot of free Blacks did indeed find work on sailing ships. Quite a few whaling ships had predominantly Black crews. I also liked the details the bonus episode gave about the history of ice selling. I’m alway fascinated how people were able to preserve ice in the days before refrigeration. Apparently, ice water wasn’t then instant hit you might think it would be. A lot of people didn’t like that it made their teeth hurt, and others were worried that ice water would be dirty. To be fair, that latter concern probably wasn’t totally unfounded. Not that room temperature water was much better, mind you. Still, ice salesmen often had to pay people to give ice water a try, and to sing its praises. A little underhanded, perhaps, be it certainly bore fruit in the long run. <br /><br />Book one poses a question that crops up a lot throughout <i>Cthulhu in the Deep South</i>. That question is this: at what point is turning a blind eye towards something horrible the same as being complacent in it? Our protagonist comes from an abolitionist family, and considers himself on as well. However, he clearly holds deeply racist views of Blacks. True, he doesn’t own any slaves himself. However, he doesn’t really do much to oppose slavery, beyond some hollow words. This is, sadly, not to far removed from actual history. Many abolitionists were opposed to slavery on philosophical grounds. However, this didn’t mean they believed Blacks should be equal to Whites. The number of people who did was comparatively small. Many abolitionists proposed sending Blacks back to Africa. The nation of Liberia was the results of such attempts. <br /><br />Okay, history is all well and good, but what about the Lovecraft? Book one takes inspiration from “The Shadow Out of Time.” So, unsurprisingly, the inhabitants of Ryland are members of the Great Race of Yith. I always thought that “The Shadow Out of Time” was one of the more underrated stories from the Lovecraft Mythos. I loved the way all of the different authors put their own signature styles into the story. I have also found the Great Race of Yith to be underrated, as far as Lovecraft creatures. It is mentioned briefly, but our protagonist attended Miskatonic University, which frequently pops-up in the works of Lovecraft. <br /><br />There were a few minor anachronisms. For example, at one point, one of the Yith makes reference to dinosaurs and genetics. The term dinosaur didn’t come into common use until 1842, and Gregor Mendel was still a kid in the 1830s. Granted, the Yith are time travelers, but the protagonist should have been tripped up by such terms. Still, just a minor instance that I noticed. Overall, the historical research was extremely well-done. <br /><br /><i>Cthulhu in the Deep South</i> comes out of the gate with a strong first book. Let’s see if it can mainline that momentum. <br /><br /><a href="https://www.cthulhudeepsouth.com/cthulhu-in-the-deep-south-book-ii/">Book two</a> takes place in Charleston, South Carolina only a few years before the outbreak of the American Civil War. The protagonist of book two is a woman from New England who married the son of a wealthy plantation owner. Her family has pretty much disowned her, as they are all abolitionists. Still, she was convinced that she can build a happy new life in the Deep South. She assumed that she could reform her husband’s plantation into a kinder gentler place. Oh how very wrong she was. Our heroine finds herself drawn into the casually, and not so casual, cruelty of plantation life. This tears her apart mentally, and it only gets worse when her young son Daniel dies. The protagonist begins to hear voices that sound an awful lot like Daniel. Has he returned from the dead? Our heroine teeters on the edge insanity and mental breakdown as South Caroline, and the South as a who, draws ever closer to secession. <br /><br />Well, well, it would seem that <i>Cthulhu in the Deep South</i> was able to maintain that momentum quite well indeed. The main Lovecraft influence for this one is the Dreamlands Cycle. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman was also a major influence on book two. However, the real horror from this one comes not from eldritch horrors, but from the all too real horrors of history. It is tempting to laugh at the protagonist’s naïvety. When you get down to it, there is no such thing as a truly benevolent slave owner. Slavery wasn’t horrible just because of the physical violence, but also the psychological violence that slaves endured. At any moment, you or your loved ones could be sold completely on a whim, and you’d never see them again. In fact, slave marriages often included the phrase “til death or distance do you part.” Slaves were property, not people, so slave marriages were not legally binding. <br /><br />I’m reminded of something that Augustine of Hippo once wrote. He wrote about a friend of his who decided to go to a gladiator game. The friend assumed that, as a good Christian man, there was no way he’d get drawn into the violence and bloodshed of the arena. Well, suffice it to say, it didn’t take long for the friend to be jeering loudly for the gladiators to kill each other. The supposedly good Christian man had found himself drawn in by the arena. <br /><br />It is in book two that we meet the most vile and despicable creature in all of <i>Cthulhu in the Deep South</i>: the heroine’s mother-in-law. Now, you might think I’m joking, but let me assure you that I’m not. On most plantations, it wasn’t the actual owner you had to watch out for. He’d usually be off playing sports, or hunting, or doing other rich people things. Oh, the overseers were certainly nasty, particularly to field slaves. However, it was the lady of the house you really had to watch out for. The wives and mothers of plantation owners were expected to run a tight ship. Many of them often took sadistic glee in the power they lorded over their slaves. They’d often do things like forcing slaves to whistle while they cooked, to ensure they slaves didn’t eat anything. Any slaves who failed to whistle would be hit with a wooden spoon. Kirk Battle drew upon the personal diaries of plantation owner’s wives for his historical research. <br /><br />Our heroine is frequently tormented by her mother-in-law, who resents her for being a Yankee. Things only get worse when the protagonist’s husband becomes involved with the newly formed government of the Palmetto Republic. That was what South Carolina was called before the other Southern states formed the Confederate States of America. Kirk Battle mentioned that he wanted to tell a story where the protagonist is driven to insanity, per Lovecraft tradition. However, he wanted to depict that insanity as a means of escape and liberation, rather than a terrible fate. I won’t give away the ending, but Kirk certainly achieved that goal. Then again, given how horrible the main heroine’s life is, pretty much anything would be an improvement for her. <br /><br />Book two of <i>Cthulhu in the Deep South</i> is a worthy follow-up to book one.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.cthulhudeepsouth.com/cthulhu-in-the-deep-south-book-iii/">Book three</a> takes place during the American Civil War. We follow a young Free Black man from Arkham. He felt the swell of patriotism and decided to enlist in the Union army. However, he soon finds himself facing discrimination from all sides. Many of his commanding officers assume that he’s trying to swindle money out of them. Most of his fellow Black soldiers are former slaves, and he has quite a bit of cultural difference with them. As for the Confederate soldiers he fights against, well, that goes without saying. Our protagonist is assigned to a dangerous mission to the islands of Ryland and Carcosa. It is a mission that will lead him straight into the heart of darkness. <br /><br />I just didn’t enjoy this one as much as I thought that I would. Don’t get me wrong, book three had its moments, and it did have some interesting historical and literary influences. Still, I just feel like it never quite came together for me.<br /><br />Let’s take a moment to talk about those influences. The main Lovecraft influence on book three is “The Shadow Over Innsmouth.” The big non-Lovecraft influence is <i>Heart of Darkness</i> by Joseph Conrad. Kirk Battle admits that he’s always had a certain fondness for that novel. Yeah, I guess I can see the influence. Our protagonist goes on a riverboat trip with a man who slowly looses his mind. Some people say that <i>Heart of Darkness</i> is racist. I wouldn’t say that, but I do feel it could have been a bit harsher towards the horrors of the Belgian Congo. On the other hand, it was one of the first novels to speak-out against the horrors of European colonialism in Africa. Ultimately, <i>Heart of Darkness</i> is a product of its time; take a bad with the good. <br /><br />I did like the historical details. Many freed slaves did indeed join the Union army. Many slaves ran towards the Union army whenever they were nearby. However, many of these former slaves needed to be taught how things were going to work now. Many slaves developed several forms of passive resistance against overseers. They might pretend that they didn’t hear the instructions, or they might do their work as slowly as possible. However, once the slaves joined the Union army, they had to be taught that doing such things was now treason. The Harriet Tubman cameo was also fun. Still it just wasn’t enough to salvage book three for me.<br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">So, unfortunately, book three was a bit of a misfire. Let’s see if <i>Cthulhu in the Deep South</i> can shake it off and recover. <br /><br /><a href="https://www.cthulhudeepsouth.com/cthulhu-in-the-deep-south-book-iv/">Book four</a> begins in the middle of the American Civil War, and ends not too long after Reconstruction begins. We follow a Christian missionary abolitionist from Arkham. She is heading to South Carolina as part of an effort to help newly freed slaves make better lives for themselves. She finds herself on Ryland and Carcosa, naturally. She becomes acquainted with a conjuring woman named Mam Ruth. Mam Ruth is the leader of the Black community on the isles. Mam Ruth is also privy to the many supernatural happenings on the isles. <br /><br />Ah, it would seem that <i>Cthulhu in the Deep South</i> recovered quite well. Book four is our first introduction to Mam Ruth. She becomes a very important supporting character from this point forward. Mam Ruth is a root doctor, which were practitioners of folk magic common in Gullah communities. Kirk Battle said he wanted to take a root doctor character, and make her into a wise sorcerer type character, like Gandalf from <i>Lord of the Rings</i>. I liked that he drew from Gullah culture for inspiration. The Gullah are a very fascinating people group. They live in the Sea Isles, off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. Unlike most other enslaved peoples, the Gullah managed to retain a fair bit of the ancestral African culture. They also have a very distinctive dialect. <br /><br />Another fun bit of real history is one of the characters who is part of the main character’s group. He’s an anthropologist who is interviewing the newly freed slave about if their traditions have roots in African culture. He is heavily inspired by an actual anthropologist who did pretty much the same thing. This wasn’t necessarily bad in and of itself, but the Black people he interviewed wished that he would talk more about the racism and discrimination they were facing. The main character disparages him, but she’s not as different as she’d like to think. Sure, she is trying to give the former slaves an education, but she goes about it in a very White Man’s Burden kind of way. She tends to put most emphasis on teaching them the Bible, and her primary motivation for teaching them to read is so they can read the Bible. <br /><br />Of course, later in the book, the protagonist runs into trouble trying to get charities in New England to help the former slaves. Most charities focus on helping Union soldiers and their families. Certainly an admirable cause, but it also highlights a major part of the North’s reaction to the Civil War. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">There are many reasons why Reconstruction failed. I would say the biggest was that the South was granted amnesty way sooner than it should have been. Thanks at lot, Andrew Johnson. Southerners, including several former Confederate generals, were able to fight Reconstruction from within Congress. That Confederate leaders never got hanged for treasons is, in my humble opinion, one of the biggest mistakes in American History. <br /><br />All of that having been said, the second biggest reason Reconstruction failed was the apathy of Northerners. I would compare Reconstruction to the War in Afghanistan. It was a very controversial military operation, there were numerous calls to pull out, and everything went to hell when the troops actually did pull out. Northerners might have been willing to fight to end slavery, but weren’t necessarily going to invest in the Black community afterwards. <br /><br /><i>Cthulhu in the Deep South</i> manages to dust itself off and stand proud once again with book four.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.cthulhudeepsouth.com/cthulhu-in-the-deep-south-book-v/">Book five</a> is set in 1866. It follows a man from New England who has recently moved to Charleston. He’s a bit of a hustler and a conman, and is always looking for a get-rich-quick scheme. He has recently become part of a group of similar-minded men of fortune who are looking to strike it big by finding buried treasure. <br /><br />I’m just going to be honest, this was probably the weakest book in the whole series. In fairness, Kirk Battle said that book five was where he struggled the most as a writer. He wanted to tell a story from the perspective of a Carpetbagger. Problem is, there aren’t really any primary sources to use. Carpetbagger was a pejorative used by Southerners against Northerners who moved to the South following Reconstruction. The Lost Cause Narrative painted Carpetbaggers as evil swindlers who swindled innocent Southerners. In reality, however, most “Carpetbaggers” were, basically, White Northerners who didn’t totally hate Black people. Same goes for Scalawags, who were viewed as basically like Carpetbaggers, but Southern rather than Northern in origin. Again, most “Scalawags” were simply White Southerners who didn’t totally hate Black people. <br /><br />There were some fun ideas. I liked how book five drew parallels between the Plat-Eye of Gullah Folklore and the Shoggoth from the Lovecraft Mythos. And there’s a bit towards the end that draws upon “The Thing on the Doorstep” for inspiration. Unfortunately, on the whole, I just couldn’t get into book five. Oh well, maybe book six will improve things. <br /><br /><a href="https://www.cthulhudeepsouth.com/cthulhu-in-the-deep-south-book-vi/">Book six</a> takes place during the 1870s. We follow a young Black woman who managed to get sent up North to get an education. Unfortunately, the North didn’t prove to be the land of opportunity she was hoping for. So, she moved back to South Carolina to be with her sister. It is a very turbulent time for Charleston. There’s a lot of unrest and race riots. Still, our heroine has managed to land a job as a maid for a wealthy family. They’re very peculiar folks. In fact, at times they almost seem not quite human. Things only get strange when she discovers a mysterious metal box in the attic. The box introduces itself as Mam Ruth. <br /><br />It has often been joked that the even number Star Trek movies tend to be better than the odd numbered ones. I’m not sure I’d agree with that; the only truly bad Star Trek movie was Final Frontier, though that was the fifth movie. I’m tempted to say that the same pattern holds true with Cthulhu in the Deep South. Book six was a significant improvement over book five.<br /><br />Kirk Battle said that he wanted to write book six as maid fiction. Think like the parts of <i>Downton Abby</i> that focus on the servants. It is a genre that hasn’t been popular in decades, but I feel that Kirk Battle pulled it off pretty well. He also drew upon the novel <i>Kindred</i> by Octavia Butler. Well, not just in book six. <i>Kindred</i> informed <i>Cthulhu in the Deep South</i> in general. Kindred is a great book, so I’m glad to hear it was an inspiration. In terms of Lovecraftian influences, we’ve got “The Whisperer in Darkness.” The mi-go do appear, and their habit of putting brains into canisters plays a big role in the plot. We also get “The Thing on the Doorstep” once again. <br /><br />We also get some insight into social dynamics. Our protagonist finds herself competing against another housekeeper named Maeve. Maeve is a recent immigrant from Ireland, and constantly tries to sabotage the protagonist. Maeve particularly resents that the protagonist got the coveted job of house cook, which pays better than being just a maid. Maeve can’t cook to save her life, but still resents loosing the position. Of course, our protagonist can give just as good as she gets. I’m reminded of something Chris Rock once said about how there’s nothing a White man who only has a penny hates more than a Black man who only has a nickel. <br /><br />Our protagonist is presented with a tantalizing proposition. She could switch bodies with someone from 1968, and escape the horrors of her own time. Of course, to do that, she’d be condemning someone from 1968 to a life in the 1870s. And, as far as she knows, there’s no guarantee that 1968 will necessarily be much better. In fairness, while 1968 was better than Reconstruction, there was still plenty of racism and discrimination. Still, interesting plot to have someone from the past contemplate potentially escaping to a better future. <br /><br />And with that, we’ve covered all six books that are part of <i>Cthulhu in the Deep South</i>. It is a series that combines Lovecraftian horrors with the real life historical horrors of the 19th Century South. There were a couple misfires along the way, but on the whole, it is an excellent series of novels. Kirk Battle is planning more entries in the series, however, he’s taking a break from <i>Cthulhu in the Deep South</i>. He’s currently working on a purely historical fiction novel set in the Reconstruction era South titled <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/These-Hallowed-Halls-Kirk-Battle-ebook/dp/B07C98Z1JK">These Hallowed Halls</a></i>. And yes, it is available both as an eBook and a podiobook. I wish Kirk Battle the best of luck with all his future endeavors. I’m sure they will be excellent. <br /><br />Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.</span></div></div>Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-64754874079872948672023-02-11T10:11:00.011-06:002024-01-23T17:04:55.565-06:00The Alt-Hist File: Brave New Frontiersman <span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">I’ve encountered a lot of very friendly and helpful people within the audio drama community. This has only increased since I have begun work on my own audio drama. So, with that in mind, I thought I’d give back to an audio drama that offered its help to me. And by give back, I mean write a review. We’re taking a look at <i><a href="https://m.soundcloud.com/user-822617015-104506097">Brave New Frontiersman</a></i>. </span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg66KRd62tXIrV50JqYL46SU447X7TJx_jlPwiibrC_XyvDzOqxJ0heeDxKfOv0T67QFZbEHG81cJm_BAx7WSbOauWtYtQrKJlpuKEnqFUpqyEOFM-1oDimLroq1IlOxURC6CWajmB5gqfkQfEuhVG_-vZZCHahpvMiAy_DK626akFsY0X8CvMxZEvB/s845/8ECE0D64-E56A-439C-81C5-D18EF3098230.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="845" data-original-width="837" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg66KRd62tXIrV50JqYL46SU447X7TJx_jlPwiibrC_XyvDzOqxJ0heeDxKfOv0T67QFZbEHG81cJm_BAx7WSbOauWtYtQrKJlpuKEnqFUpqyEOFM-1oDimLroq1IlOxURC6CWajmB5gqfkQfEuhVG_-vZZCHahpvMiAy_DK626akFsY0X8CvMxZEvB/s320/8ECE0D64-E56A-439C-81C5-D18EF3098230.jpeg" width="317" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /><i>Brave New Frontiersman</i> is set in an alternate version of 18th Century Colonial America. This version of North America is a land filled with magic and mythical creatures. You have creatures from the Old World, such as banshees and trolls, but also creatures from the New World, such as Sasquatch and Raven Mockers. Our hero is simply known as The Frontiersman. He travels across the frontier to aid those in need of help. He is joined by his old fur trapping companion Coyote. Along the way, they pick up a noble named Jame Byron, who has an aptitude for magic. Our three heroes will travel the frontier and encounter many strange creatures and strange magics. <br /><br />I had known about <i>Brave New Frontiersman</i> for a while. Recently, however, I was contacted by the <i>Brave New Frontiersman</i> Twitter account. They had seen my casting call for my upcoming audio dram <i>The Books of Thoth</i>, and wanted to know if I needed people sent my way. I already cast the roles for the first three episodes, but I’ll certainly keep them in mind for future episodes. I also figured it would be nice if I gave them a review. <br /><br />Now, normally I prefer an audio drama to have at least one complete season before I write a review. However, given that there tends to be a bit of a gap between episodes of <i>Brave New Frontiersman</i>, I am waving my usual requirement. <br /><br />I’ve always found America to be a place with a look of potential to be a fantasy setting. I like to think that American folklore and history are just as rich and varied as the lore of any fantasy world. That our landscapes could rival any fantasy geography. I’m always happy to find more American-inspired fantasy. So, big point in <i>Brave New Frontiersmen</i>’s favor. Being set in the 18th Century, and dealing with the frontier, I was immediately reminded of the <i>Leatherstocking Tales</i> by James Fenimore Cooper. The most famous book in the series being <i>The Last of the Mohicans</i>. <br /><br />The frontier has always had a special place in the mythology of America. I’m reminded of when Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark on their famous expedition. He asked them to bring back a wooly mammoth, as many people believed that mammoths still roamed the lands of the Louisiana Purchase. Well, obviously, they didn’t have much luck finding a live mammoth. However, they did find a fossilized mammoth tusk. Hmm, I wonder if there are mammoths in <i>Brave New Frontiersman</i>. None have appeared so far, but they could always pop-up later. <br /><br />Point being, frontier has often been mythologized as a land of adventure and discovery. A land completely unknown, well, except for the numerous Indigenous tribes that were already living there. The point I’m trying to make is that <i>Brave New Frontiersman</i> taps into that mythologized notion of the frontier as “here be dragons” territory. <br /><br />As previously mentioned, <i>Brave New Frontiersman</i> is alternate history. Obviously, there’s the magic and mythical creatures bit, but there’s other aspects as well. One episode begins with the characters reading a newspaper. From this, we learn that the Aztec Empire still fell to Spanish Conquest. However, it did so in the 18th Century, rather than the 16th Century, and rather recently in terms of when the story takes place. The Inca Empire remains independent, at least for the moment. Also, the mythical king Prester John is apparently real, and his kingdom has recently been discovered. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">We also learn that the Seven Years War, known to Americans as the French and Indian War, lasted twenty years in the world of <i>Brave New Frontiersman</i>. I guess it will be called the Twenty Years War instead. I do wonder what effect that will have on the American Revolution. We’re already getting hints of friction between the colonists and the British. It is mentioned that nobles have an affinity for magic, but what does that mean? Do nobles have a greater aptitude for magic? Or can anyone learn magic with enough time and practice, and nobles are just more likely to have better training? It is repeatedly mentioned that lead cancels out the effects of magic, so an anti-monarchist rebellion could still work. <br /><br />Another interesting point is the depiction of religion. So far, we’ve only seen Catholic priests. Now, the first time was in a town populated by Irish settlers, so that was understandable. As for the second time, it made me wonder whether the Protestant Reformation still happened in the world of <i>Brave New Frontiersman</i>. Granted, settlements of English Catholics weren’t unheard of. Maryland was founded so that English Catholics would have somewhere to freely practice their religion. There is, eventually, mention of Martin Luther being viewed as a heretic by the Catholic Church. So, clearly there was a Reformation in this world. What the exact details were, however, remain to be seen. <br /><br />Now, let’s talk a bit about the voice acting. The first couple episodes were a bit rough at times. It was clear that the <i>Brave New Frontiersman</i> team hadn’t quite found their footing yet, and were still trying to figure out how the characters should sound. However, as the series progresses, the casts gets more of a handle on their characters, and the performances get stronger. I see more improvement with each new episode. I’ve also noticed that sometimes the sound levels will be a tad uneven. Again, this is improving, but it is important to make sure all the dialogue is equalized. That way, it helps create the illusion that everyone is together in the same place. Also, this is a minor point, the characters pronounce New Orleans as New Or-Leans. I’m from Louisiana, as many of you know, and we pronounce it as New Or-Lens. I realize this doesn’t make a lot of sense to people who aren’t from Louisiana. However, pronouncing it as Or-Leans is a goo way to mark yourself as someone who isn’t from Louisiana. <br /><br />Let’s shift gears and talk about the bestiary. One episode had our heroes facing off against a dullahan, a type of headless horseman from Irish Folklore. It makes for a clever reference to “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving. In fact, one of the twists in the episodes has its roots in the twist of “Sleepy Hollow.” Very nice use of literary allusions. Another episode see the heroes deal with a Raven Mocker. It is a creature from Cherokee Mythology. They’re shapeshifting spirits who target the dead and dying, and eat their victims’ hearts to extend their own lives. They can only be seen by an experienced medicine man, and usually his presence will be enough to keep them at bay. I always enjoy when I get to learn about a new mythical creature. <br /><br />There are only seven episodes of <i>Brave New Frontiersman</i> out so far. That means there’s still a lot of places for the story to go. Obviously, I’m very interested in the alternate history aspects of the setting. I’m also hoping that we’ll get to meet some Native Americans at some point. Native Americans aren’t very common in pop culture, which is a real shame. I did raise my eyebrow a bit when it was mentioned that all Indigenous spirits are vulnerable to tobacco. That felt like it was playing into the unfortunate trope where all Native American cultures are lumped together into a single category. Though, thankfully, the Raven Mocker was specifically identified as a creature from Cherokee Mythology. So, I have hope that <i>Brave New Frontiersman</i> will be able to handle Native Americans with tact. <br /><br />I’m also hoping we learn a bit more about the backstories of the Frontiersman and Coyote. At the moment, we don’t know too much. Going by the cover art, the Frontiersman does look vaguely similar to Natty Bumppo, the protagonist of the <i>Leatherstocking Tales</i>. So, I wonder if he might have a similar backstory. The way Coyote talks kind of reminds me of Tonto from <i>The Lone Ranger</i>. Though, I don’t think Coyote is suppose to be Native American. On the other hand, the Coyote is a trickster spirit common to many Native American tribes. So, I guess we’ll have to wait and see. <br /><br />The keyword with <i>Brave New Frontiersman</i> is potential. There is a lot of potential in the characters and the setting. We’ve got seven episodes so far, and I feel a clear sense of improvement and progress as the episodes go on. I feel confident that <i>Brave New Frontiersman</i> will be able to keep up the momentum, and spread its wings even further in the future. And I certainly can’t wait to see where the adventure takes us next.<br /><br />So, there you have it. <i>Brave New Frontiersman</i> is an audio drama set upon the frontier of an 18th Century America filled with magic and mythical creatures. Only seven episodes out so far, but it improves with every episode, and has a lot of potential. <br /><br />Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.</span></div>Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-55414372358350760412023-02-04T18:24:00.003-06:002023-02-07T11:55:24.122-06:00Flag of the Federation of Patagonia <span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">This is the flag of the Federation of Patagonia. It comes from a world where Britain conquered Argentina and Uruguay in the early 19th Century. Patagonia is a highly developed nation, and is often referred to as the Canada of the Southern Hemisphere. Patagonia also includes part of southern Chile. Chile has never forgiven Patagonia for annexing this land. Though, this occurred during the days of direct British rule. The Falkland Islands are considered indisputably Patagonian territory. </span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br />Like Canada, Patagonia is the result of the bending of two European peoples. In this case, British and Spanish. However, also like Canada, said people have historically had their tensions. <br /><br />Northern Patagonia has historically been the heart of Hispanic culture. Meanwhile, Southern Patagonia has historically been majority Anglo. The name Patagonia used to refer to the region that became the southern provinces, but grew to refer to the nation as a whole. The ruling Anglos felt that Argentina and Plata were too Spanish for their taste. Hispanic Patagonians were pushed further and further north for much of the 19th Century. In fact, Buenos Aires and Montevideo used to be majority English-speaking cities. Though, Spanish speakers still accounted for a healthy forty percent of Buenos Aires and Montevideo’s population. Patagonia also experienced far less Italian immigration than Argentina did in our world. Catholic Italians weren’t eager to move to a colony of Protestant Britain. Subsequently, Patagonian Spanish has much less Italian influence than Argentina Spanish of our world. The northern provinces, initially, tended to be poorer than their southern counterparts.<br /><br />Things would begin to shift starting in the 20th Century. Industry began to invest in the northern provinces of Patagonia. The influx of industry lead to an increase in wealth among Hispanic Patagonians. Several baby booms occurred during this time, ensuring that Hispanic culture would survive in Patagonia. Hispanic Patagonians made major political gains in the Patagonian parliament. Bilingualism became official government policy starting in the 1950s. Packaging is required to be printed in both English and Spanish, signs are printed in both languages, and all government documents are printed in both of the official languages. There are also numerous Spanish-language schools and universities, though most are located in the Hispanic-majority northern provinces. <br /><br />Patagonia remains culturally divided among geographic lines. However, tensions have relaxed between Anglo Patagonians and Hispanic Patagonians. Patagonia is also home to immigrants from throughout the world, and prides itself on being a refuge for those seeking better lives. Patagonia has a friendly rivalry with Canada. Canada is referred to by Patagonians, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, as the Patagonia of the Northern Hemisphere. <br /><br />The flag was officially adopted in the 1970s. Prior to that, Patagonia used a British Red Ensign. Care had to be taken, when designing the new flag, not to favor Anglos or Hispanics. The colors evoke the landscape of Patagonia. The white represents the snow-capped mountains, while the ice blue represents the glaciers. The shape is meant to evoke the textile work of Indigenous Patagonians. The three guanacos were chosen as a symbol beloved by Patagonians of all cultures. In fact, the guanaco is the official mammal of Patagonia.</span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGkHG4-2qvRmQNlkVSMKeqjZjQ1eTyO1keB5uA8dTWa1rrHqwJ5x6PBF16JIiifOJw142vQ_omRiBdw7Fnuq0i5EedwmdK74xkLHUnp4Yzzyz_fIVRqxIaODOZ0r6XqPN4JC9n8wAHTSj49uOPw16b6-A46-6bP4rZN-7WjWrdmNNrO9-9-Adc3XAy/s2560/54EA60C2-B47C-415A-BB4F-131C3ED3CB0F.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1537" data-original-width="2560" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGkHG4-2qvRmQNlkVSMKeqjZjQ1eTyO1keB5uA8dTWa1rrHqwJ5x6PBF16JIiifOJw142vQ_omRiBdw7Fnuq0i5EedwmdK74xkLHUnp4Yzzyz_fIVRqxIaODOZ0r6XqPN4JC9n8wAHTSj49uOPw16b6-A46-6bP4rZN-7WjWrdmNNrO9-9-Adc3XAy/w400-h240/54EA60C2-B47C-415A-BB4F-131C3ED3CB0F.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div>Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-13132920912754193852023-02-02T18:25:00.003-06:002023-07-12T00:17:27.861-05:00The Audio File: The TEMP: Season 2<span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Welcome back to my review of <i><a href="https://soundcloud.com/user-655226860-418187210">The TEMP</a></i>. We’re taking a look a season two this time. If you haven’t already checked out my review of season one, you can <a href="https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-audio-file-temp.html">find it over here</a>. With that out of the way, let’s get into season two.</span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiQF0_yj2z35Ty-NxCDYwUIbFSZM1mu5eDdKNeYGSkNFFT8dObj3_NCGHEl6q8WwCbRdyvCm_Eu0MM16O7Rj_K2JRgqL0gygnQ4s7_8a8h2jSbPlDsulyiKDS269ZcanNWRuNTgLL5G58s0q3oXbGWjjcJInev-PaejIu1brb-HEBxtza8j55_hdDK/s1401/DE2AB8D8-A180-4289-B0A8-EF1F076491B0.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1401" data-original-width="1401" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiQF0_yj2z35Ty-NxCDYwUIbFSZM1mu5eDdKNeYGSkNFFT8dObj3_NCGHEl6q8WwCbRdyvCm_Eu0MM16O7Rj_K2JRgqL0gygnQ4s7_8a8h2jSbPlDsulyiKDS269ZcanNWRuNTgLL5G58s0q3oXbGWjjcJInev-PaejIu1brb-HEBxtza8j55_hdDK/s320/DE2AB8D8-A180-4289-B0A8-EF1F076491B0.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br />Just a quick recap, <i>The TEMP</i> follows a man named Bernie Pfelger. He's a temporary worker, a temp if you will. He has worked many strange jobs, with many strange employers. We are joining him on all the wacky misadventures in his quest to find permanent employment. I realize that isn't much of a summary, but I promise that this is a good show. I was approached by series creator Michael Wilhelm to review this audio drama. He noticed my frequent posting of reviews in the Audio Drama Lovers Facebook group. I said yes, after I took care of a couple other reviews, and now here we are. <br /><br />Episode Nine is titled "<a href="https://soundcloud.com/user-655226860-418187210/the-temp-episode-9">Mother's Nature</a>." Bernie is having deal with a real mean girl at his latest office job. Her name is Maxine and she's got it out for temps, and Bernie is her latest target. Will Bernie innocence and charm win her over, or are more drastic measure required?<br /><br />We have some new things this season. For example, the formerly instrumental theme song now has lyrics. It's a fun little ditty, as you might expect. Also, Bernie and Penny's daughter Menorah finally makes an on-screen appearance, for lack of a better way of putting it. She's dropped out of college...because she's making a six-figure salary reviewing stuff on YouTube. Bernie was worried that it involved nudity, but his fears are misplaced. Now, if it had been Twitch or OnlyFans, well, then he might have had a more legitimate concern. <br /><br />Clearly, Menorah isn't reviewing audio fiction. You don't make...well, actually, I don't make any money doing this. It is a labor of love. Of course, that's partially on me. I don't run ads on this blog, because you guys have enough ads in your life, and I probably wouldn’t make much anyway. I don't have a Patreon, because I don't know what to give as rewards, and there are tons of audio dramas that deserve your money more than I do. I also take my reviews pro bono. I will never charge to review someone's show. Audio drama is expense enough as it is, and charging for reviews would be exploitative. Like I said, labor of love. But enough about me, back to the show. <br /><br />So, Menorah is doing pretty well for herself. Though, I do understand Bernie's concern about her dropping out of college. I mean, imagine if her YouTube career fizzles out. She'd be wandering around aimlessly from temporary job to temporary job. Oh, everything would be fine for a bit, but then she'd inevitably get fired and have to find a new job. But what would Bernie possibly know about that? <br /><br />Good thing <i>The TEMP</i> is a comedy. Bernie is a middle-aged white man being tormented by a young white woman. That sort of set-up, especially in the post-MeToo world, would not have ended well in a more serious show. Bernie would be at a serious disadvantage. Well, that and Bernie would have gotten into trouble for the scene where he wears a baseball cap backwards and goes "yo, yo, yo." In real life, somebody probably would have complained that he was being racist. <br /><br />Still, I guess one of the upsides of Bernie constantly getting fired is that, no matter how terrible his job, it's only temporary. It's like <i>Avenue Q</i> says, everything in Bernie's life is only for now. Well, except for death and paying taxes, but hopefully he won't die anytime soon.<br /><br />Episode Ten is called “<a href="https://soundcloud.com/user-655226860-418187210/the-temp-episode-10">Gumshoe</a>.” Bernie gets a job working at the Marge in Charge Detective Agency. Despite the name, it’s actually Marge’s husband who is the head detective. Well, he’s kind of an idiot, and she does most of the work. But still, he’s still head detective on paper. Bernie mostly just holds down the fort while the detectives are away, but hey, he’s living his detective dream. What could possibly go wrong? <br /><br />Well, there was a bit of unintentional bit of synergy in my life with this episode. I listened to it not long after beating all of the detective endings on <i>Kyle is Famous</i>. It is a <i>Choose Your Own Adventure</i> type game where you are a talk show host preparing for his latest episode. Well, that’s the basic plot. There are over 117 possible endings, and things can quickly go off the rails, and into complete insanity. You can become a ghost, time travel, or even show up to the interview totally naked. You can also have Kyle change jobs, one of which is being a detective. You’ll probably need a guide sooner or later, but it is worth it to experience Kyle is Famous in all its insane glory. <br /><br />Anyway, back to <i>The TEMP</i>. Bernie mentions that it has been his lifelong dream to drive around in a van and solve mysteries. Does he also plan on adopting a Great Dane as part of this plan? Bernie, I really can’t sugarcoat this, so I’m going to give it to your straight: you’re simply too old to be a meddling kid. Also, I’m pretty sure meddling kids don’t get paid, and you can’t afford to be working pro bono. But hey, even if Bernie is too old to live out his <i>Scooby-Doo</i> fantasies, he’s still the right age to give us plenty of laughs and entertainment. I also realize that I’ve heard the theme music on certain commercials before, but nothing wrong with that. Audio drama is expensive, and royalty-free stock music is a good way to save on cost, while also utilizing a quality product. <br /><br />This was, all things considered, another reasonably good episode.<br /><br />Episode Eleven is “<a href="https://soundcloud.com/user-655226860-418187210/meme-myself-i">Meme, Myself, and I</a>.” Bernie becomes a meme after accidentally eating some insanely spicy potato chips, and washing them down with copious amounts of milk. Bernie is suddenly inundated with job offers and opportunities. It’s almost too good to be true, but how long will it last? <br /><br />This is another episode that shakes things up. Bernie gets fired halfway through the episode, but that’s when the real fun starts. We also see a different side of Menorah. When she first appeared, she seemed fairly sweet and kindhearted. Come this episode, I’m tempted to believe that Menorah is slightly evil. She’s the one who tricked Bernie into eating the spicy chips, and knew he’d make a fool of himself with the milk. I also appreciated the brief nod to Penny getting stuck in the mascot costume in episode two. Also, milk is indeed useful in combating spicy food. Water spreads the oils within chilis around your mouth, but milk bonds with the oils, and draws them away. <br /><br />So, about the meme itself. <i>The TEMP</i> prides itself on being a family-friendly comedy audio drama. A bring this up because, in real life, I can see the memes getting very perverted very quickly. Given what milk looks like, it wouldn’t take long for places like 4chan, and the seedier parts of Reddit and Twitter, to take the meme in some very family-unfriendly directions. <br /><br />I figured that Bernie’s meme would die fairly quickly. That’s just how it tends to go with the lifecycle of memes. Still, didn’t see him becoming a creepypasta. Well, it’s called Spooky Noodles, but it’s pretty clearly meant to be a parody of creepypastas. For those who don’t know, creepypastas are horror stories that are posted on the Internet. Bernie is reimagined as the Milky Man, which sounds vaguely similar to Slender Man. Maybe the company didn’t want to risk a repeat of the Slender Man Stabbings. Back in 2014, two girls attempted to murder their friend because they believed Slender Man want them to become his avatars. Before anyone clutches their pearls, I would point out the girls were determined to be suffering from mental illness, and were later committed to a psychiatric institute. Also, the creepypasta community held a fundraiser to raise money for the victim of the stabbings. <br /><br />So, we’ve got another episode that decides to mix thing up, and I’m definitely here for it.<br /><br />Episode Twelve is “<a href="https://soundcloud.com/user-655226860-418187210/royal-flush">Royal Flush</a>.” Bernie decides that he’s stuck in a rut, and decides to shake things up. By that, I mean he tries out a different temp agency. He lands a pretty sweet position as a bathroom attendant at a very prestigious country club. The tips alone bring in quite a bit of money. It’s like a dream come true. But things rarely stay stable for long with Bernie. <br /><br />There are indeed fancy places that have bathroom attendants. Said attendants offer visitors a variety of soaps, towels, cologne, and amenities. I suppose it seems kind of nice, but public restrooms always make me feel rather nervous, especially when there’s a lot of people in them. <br /><br />Bernie is told that he cannot use the restroom himself. Employees have their own bathroom in the basement. It seemed like that was setting things up. I assumed Bernie would eat something that would disagree with him, and he would have no choice but to use the fancy toilets. That, or he’d try to hold it, but would wind up soiling himself. However, it seems that this was a red herring. <br /><br />He does, however, find himself in the middle of a class war. Several of the other employees decide to revolt against the country club, and barricade the fancy bathroom. I guess you could say they were planning a shit-in. The leader speaks with a noticeable lisp, and he reminded me of Barry Kripke from <i>The Big Bang Theory</i>. He’s the one who says stuff like “Hewwo, Swelldon Cwoopa. It is me, Barwwie Kwipke.” <br /><br />Well, Bernie learned a valuable lesson from all of this. If an offer seems too good to be true, chances are, it’s probably a load of shit.<br /><br />Episode Thirteen is “<a href="https://soundcloud.com/user-655226860-418187210/chemical-reaction">Chemical Reaction</a>.” He has been assigned to work at a toy factory. Bernie feels like he’s just gotten hired by Willy Wonka, and in a way he’s correct. That is, he’s not working in an office, but on the ground floor of the factory. So, he’s basically an Oompa Loompa. The toys are made using several highly toxic chemicals, and the factory is a very unsafe place in general. But hey, what’s the worst that could happen? <br /><br />The episode description described the toy factory as progressive. I assumed this might mean that the episode would be poking fun at political correctness. This would be odd, as <i>The TEMP</i> is usually fairly apolitical. But this was not the case. The factory is a decidedly unsafe place to work, with numerous OSHA violations. I’d probably be just as nervous as Bernie was, if not more so. But hey, Bernie’s probably already been exposed to all sorts of horrible chemicals. Depending on how old Bernie is, his body is probably full of lead. It was used all the time in gasoline and paint back in the day. It’s just like how everyone in my generation are probably full of microplastics. <br /><br />Usually, <i>The TEMP</i> is pretty episodic. However, this episode adds a bit of continuity. Bernie and his temp agent are still dealing with the consequences of the previous episode. In fact, Bernie thinks his agent set him up as revenge for going to a different temp agency. Oh, and in other Wonka references, Bernie calls his agent a Vermicious Knid. I guess we’ll have to see if this plot thread continues in future episodes. <br /><br />So, Bernie has saved the day and stop a toxic factory. Well, there’s a decent chance the factory owners will regroup and move production somewhere else. Presumably, somewhere with fewer safety regulations, such as China or India. But hey, Bernie should count his wins no matter their size<br /><br />Episode Fourteen is “<a href="https://soundcloud.com/user-655226860-418187210/class-trip">Class Trip</a>.” Bernie enrolls in a class that promises to help land him a permanent job. Bernie feels like he’s a kid in school again. The class covers things like rhymes, hopscotch, proper siting, and being efficient. Is this really going to help him be better? Does Bernie even need to be fixed?<br /><br />This episode was deceptive. Well, to me it felt like it was. I have had many nightmares about having to repeat college and/or high school. I mean, overall I did enjoy my time in college, but I am glad to have finally put my formal education behind me. I’m still not entirely convinced that the teacher of the class wasn’t a cult leader. She takes away everyone’s cellphones, thereby limiting their contact with the outside world, constantly tries to shame and gaslight everyone, tries to get everyone to tie their self-worth to her approval, and she claims her method is the path to salvation. Sounds like a cult leader to me. When the teacher offers everyone juice boxes my first thought was “No, Bernie! Don’t drink the Kool-Aid!” <br /><br />Speaking of our main man, we learn that he likes to watch the movie <i>The Towering Inferno </i>whenever he’s feeling down. Apparently, the sight of a skyscraper full of people burning to death calms him down. Well, now we know why Bernie has never been able to hold down a job. His agent did give him bad jobs, but with good reason. If Bernie stay in one place for too long, he might get bored, and give into his pyromaniac tendencies. Wait, a minute, Bernie is pretty heavily based upon Michael Wilhelm. Uh, will you please excuse me, I need to call the Fort Wayne, Indiana Police Department. That was a joke, just in case it wasn’t obvious. <br /><br />This episode is probably the closest that <i>The TEMP</i> will come to a horror episode. I like the part where Bernie lists all of his accomplishments over the course of the series. It will be interesting to see where he goes from here.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Episode Fifteen and Episode Sixteen are a two-part episode. The first half is “<a href="https://soundcloud.com/user-655226860-418187210/lost-alone">Lost & Alone</a>” and the second half is “<a href="https://soundcloud.com/user-655226860-418187210/lost-in-space">Lost In Space</a>.” Bernie Pfelger is missing! Well, not really. He’s actually been brought in for questioning by some government agents. But hey, Penny and Menorah don’t know that. They’re determined to find Bernie no matter what it takes. Meanwhile, Bernie recounts his latest misadventure. He got hired as the personal assistant to a very eccentric genius at a rocket company. Bernie’s new boss had some truly out of this world ideas. Like wanting to launch himself into orbit to defend the Earth from aliens. <br /><br />This was a lot of firsts for <i>The TEMP</i>. We had our first two-part episode. We also got to see Penny and Menorah take the lead for a good chunk of the first half. That was a fun change of pace. It was interesting to witness Bernie’s escapades from the perspective of someone other than Bernie himself. I initially wondered if Bernie’s new boss was going to be a parody of Elon Musk. However, this was not the case. He was more of a generic mad scientist type. <br /><br />I also liked how there were some real space facts slipped in with the comedy. For example, seven miles-per-second is indeed the escape velocity for launching into Earth orbit. Also, Earth orbit is indeed filled with all sorts of junk and debris. This is a major problem, and is known as Kessler Syndrome. Basically, the more debris in orbit, the more likely collisions are; and the more likely those collisions set off the chain reaction of collisions. I also liked the bit with the radio transmissions coming from all around the world. <br /><br />This two-part episode certainly didn’t crash on the launch pad. It was truly out of this world, and a fitting note to end season two on. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br />We had a great first season of <i>The Temp</i>. Our second season not only continues this quality, but manages to shake things up and try new things. I’m very much looking forward to season three. Especially because I acted as a consultant for one of the episodes. But, uh, more on that when season three gets here. <br /><br />Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time. </span><br /></div>Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6798404535908141685.post-26979136396250836572023-01-31T12:43:00.001-06:002023-02-11T02:05:25.519-06:00The Audio File: Mija<span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">I always found tales of immigrants to be fascinating. They offer a window into a world that I can only imagine. I often find myself pondering several questions. What would it be like to leave behind the land of my birth? What would it be like to try to assimilate into a totally different culture? What, if any, aspects of my own culture would I preserve and pass on. The audio drama we’re reviewing today deals with these questions, and a lot more. It is the tale of immigrants; their trials and tribulations, their triumphs and tragedies. We’re taking a look at <a href="https://www.ochentastudio.com/mija-podcast"><i>Mija</i> from Studio Ochenta</a>. </span><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOeCLKQJNpNWzP9C4mSNRygsag1xFqRgDPsgw72vraFpqojG0NKfrXIjXEALRxe8i4QCc5n9sIk_mV5FmWE7-SRGGdVRjT-HYc7zVNpumCY9xo0aoM-RAthQ_HMIkisC7Q7TDFNAYOtVNNO_zsE036zWd4qs0yq7Aflhqpwf9-SpVHbWTVMZgKQzx6/s1000/2C50BB43-B5B7-425A-A1AA-70DEF33AF034.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOeCLKQJNpNWzP9C4mSNRygsag1xFqRgDPsgw72vraFpqojG0NKfrXIjXEALRxe8i4QCc5n9sIk_mV5FmWE7-SRGGdVRjT-HYc7zVNpumCY9xo0aoM-RAthQ_HMIkisC7Q7TDFNAYOtVNNO_zsE036zWd4qs0yq7Aflhqpwf9-SpVHbWTVMZgKQzx6/s320/2C50BB43-B5B7-425A-A1AA-70DEF33AF034.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /><i>Mija</i> is a story about families of immigrants. Those alive, those long gone, and those still dreaming. Each season is a self-contained story that follows a different family of immigrants. Season one follows a Colombian family in New York, season two follows a Chinese-Vietnamese family in Paris, and season three follows an Egyptian family in London. The story of each family is told by its own Mija, which means “my daughter” in Spanish. <br /><br />As I said in the intro, stories of immigration have always fascinated me. The Italian part of my dad’s half of the family came to America via Ellis Island, and eventually found their way to New Orleans. We don’t know too much about the German and Irish parts. Meanwhile, my mom’s side of the family has been here since before the American Revolution. In fact, I had a few ancestors who were part of Jamestown. As is often repeated, all Americans, except for Indigenous people, have ancestors who came here from other lands. It was an interesting experience listening to <i>Mija</i> when I did. Immigration has become a hot-button issue as of late. <br /><br />So, a bit of terminology before we got forwards. The narrators of season one and two are both called Mija. For the sake of convenience, we shall differentiate them as New York Mija and Paris Mija. Technically, the narrator of season three is also a Mija, but she’s more often referred to as Binty, which means roughly the same thing in Arabic. So, we shall call her Binty. <br /><br />Season one is, in my opinion, the best of the three main <i>Mija</i> seasons. Season one is a very personal story for Studio Ochenta founder Lory Martinez. She drew upon her own experiences and the stories of her family, with some embellishments, to craft season one of <i>Mija</i>. Unsurprisingly, Lory also provides the voice of New York Mija. It was also from season one that I learned where Studio Ochenta got its name from. New York Mija grew up on Ochenta Street in Queens. I wasn’t familiar with that street. So, I looked it up, and realized that I actually did know it, because Ochenta means Eighty in Spanish. It was in that moment that I knew I had brought shame upon all of my Spanish teachers. And to my mom, who lived in the Panama Canal Zone for a few years during her childhood. <br /><br />Getting back on topic, I could tell from the first episode that this was a very personal story for Lory Martinez. There was love and affection in every aspect of season one. The way she describes New York and Bogota paints such a vivid picture. I felt like I was there along with the characters. The story of season one is not only a tale about immigration, but also a tale about heritage and culture. We get the story of New York Mija’s parents, and how they made a new life in a new land. But we also get the story of her family members back in Colombia. In fact, even that ties into the theme of immigration. Several of Mija’s family members had to move from the Colombian countryside to Bogota as a result of violence from insurgency groups. It was scary, and hard at times, and certainly wasn’t what they planned for. And yet, they built new lives in a new home. <br /><br />I often saw shades of my own family in New York Mija’s story. The scene where she reveals that she is part of a group text with several members of her extended family was super relatable. My aunt, uncle, and cousins all live in Temecula, which is a suburb of San Diego. So, naturally, we don’t get to see each other often. But we stay connected with the group text and phone calls. My parents are both from South Louisiana, but had to move to North Louisiana to find work as lawyers. For reference, North Louisiana and South Louisiana are basically two different states. My mom has talk about how hard it was for her to be away from her support network when I was first born. And yet, thirty years later, here we all still are. I also learned what a pollo chico is. It’s a chick that sticks very close to its mother hen. So, a mama’s boy, basically. Mija mentions that her dad and brother are both major pollo chicos. I guess I’m also a pollo chico. <br /><br />Season one of <i>Mija</i> is a story of surviving and thriving, but there is also a strong undercurrent of melancholy throughout it all. For example, Mija’s maternal grandparents weren’t able to attend her parents’ wedding because the U.S. embassy rejected their visa applications. Then there’s also the reasons why the episodes tend to be ten minutes long. Mija’s father worked as a taxi driver, and often long hours at that. Oftentimes, Mija only had ten minutes each morning to really spend time with him. In the final episode, Mija talks about how her extended family doesn’t often get to be together because of how spread out everyone is, and how difficult travel can be. She also reiterates that many immigrant families face this problem as well. <br /><br />But there is also hope. Throughout season one we are introduced to the concept of el cacumen. It’s kind of like good luck, but there’s more to it than just that. It's kind of like saying that things might be bad, but we’ll make it through somehow. Clearly, everyone who was part of season one of Mija had el cacumen on their side. The central question throughout <i>Mija</i> is, well, what is home? And where is home, for that matter? The answer that <i>Mija</i> goes with is that, where you have family and friends who love you, then that is your home. <br /><br />I’m not the only person who thinks that season one of <i>Mija</i> is absolutely fantastic. Lory Martinez was interviewed on <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/11/16/780160325/in-conversation-with-the-host-of-mija-podcast">NPR’s <i>All Things Considered</i></a>. She discussed the origins of Mija, and various behind the scenes details. There is a slight irony that Lory Martinez has become an immigrant herself. She moved to Paris in 2015, and it is where Studio Ochenta is based. Apparently, her family didn’t take it well at first, but they came to terms with it once they got to listen to season one of <i>Mija</i>. <br /><br /><i>Mija</i> is not just devoted to its global scope purely in terms of story. <i>Mija</i> is available in multiple languages. Currently, English and Spanish are the only languages that all four seasons are available in. Seasons one and two are available in French, season two is also available in Mandarin, and season three is available in Arabic. However, Studio Ochenta is working to translate all four seasons of <i>Mija</i>. <br /><br />With the success of season one, there was the obvious question of what to do as a follow up. There could still be more stories from New York Mija, but that didn’t seem right. Though, Studio Ochenta did eventually release a series of short vignettes set in the life of New York Mija and her family. But no, everyone decided that the story of <i>Mija</i> wasn’t just limited to a Colombian family in New York. There are plenty of Mijas all over the world. The question, then, was where to go next? <br /><br />Studio Ochenta teamed up with Melanie Hong to tell the story of a Chinese-Vietnamese family living in Paris. Season two had some good ideas, and it certainly meant well. However, it was also plagued by some serious growing pains. It was pretty clear that the <i>Mija</i> team were still trying to figure out exactly what the podcast would be going forward. One theme they wanted to emphasize was the common connections between the stories of immigrants. This is all well and good, but the execution left something to be desired. Several bits of Paris Mija’s dialog are copied almost word-for-word from New York Mjia. This is most apparent in the episode that focuses on Paris Mija herself, and in the final episode, especially the twist at the end. We also get an episode where Paris Mija takes us on a tour of Paris; much as New York Mija showed us around Queens. Good idea, but again, undercut by the self-plagiarized dialogue. <br /><br />I also feel that season two bit off more than it could chew. In season one, there is certainly a feeling that there’s more to the story of New York Mija’s family than we see. However, with season two, it feels like the <i>Mija</i> team tried to squeeze too many ideas into only eight episodes. Paris Mija is unique in that she has a multiethnic background. However, given the limited scope of the season, I felt we didn’t get to explore the two sides of her heritage as much as we could have. Also, her parents are divorced and she has a stepfather, but this doesn’t factor into the plot as much as you might think. Now, as far as narration, Melanie Hong tried, she really did. Unfortunately, she just couldn’t compete with Lory Martinez’s performance in season one. Part of that was down to the lackluster script, but part of it was due to English not being Melanie‘s first language. There were a few times it was kind of hard to understand her, and I had to rewind the podcast a few times. <br /><br />Now, I want to be clear here. I did not hate season two. It had it’s flaws, to be sure, but it also had plenty of moments where it shined, especially in the later episodes. That all being said, there was still a lot of room for improvement, and I consider it to be the weakest season of <i>Mija</i>. <br /><br />It would seem that the <i>Mija</i> team were well aware of the need to iron our the kinks. I’m happy to report that season three saw a notable improvement in quality, and a welcome return to form. I’d also like to take a moment to say how grateful I am that the protagonist of season three had a name other than Mija. It makes writing this review that much easier. Season three is structurally inverted compared to its predecessors. The previous seasons start with Mija, then her brother, her parents, a cousin, her grandparents, and then a family reunion. In season three, we go in reverse order. Occasionally, I had trouble keeping track of who was who, but it didn’t take me long to get the hang of things. In other inversions, instead of a force of good fortune, like el cacumen in season one, we get the evil eye, the bringer of woe and misfortune. Binty’s family always tries to remain humble, and avoid boasting, for fear that they may attract the gaze of the evil eye. <br /><br />The narration also saw a notable step-up compared to last season. Rana Abdelhamid overall does an excellent job with the narration. My only issues is that Binty has lived most of her life in London, but doesn’t have even the slightest trace of a British accent. It just seems a bit odd. Binty also differs in how her story came to be. Unlike the previous season, there’s not a single writer. Rana Abdelhamid and Mona Elboghdadi are the head writers, while Sadia Azmats and Alya Mooro acted as cultural consultants about the Arab/Egyptian-Londoner experience. So, I would assume that Binty contains elements of all four women, making her something of a Franken-Mija. <br /><br />Binty and her brother move to New York towards the end of the season. I was wondering if New York Mija was going to make an appearance, but no, this never happens. I suppose that was for the best. Season three is supposed to be Binty’s story; there’s no reason to tie it into the stories of the other Mijas. On that topic, season three did a much better job of showing the common connection among the experiences of Mijas and their families. I felt that it did so in a far more organic way than season two did. There’s no repeated dialog to be found. The episodes are also slightly longer than in the first two seasons. This gives season three a bit more breathing room to tell its story. <br /><br />Another difference I noticed is that we don’t get an episode where Binty takes us around London. In fact, Binty, and to a lesser extent her family, seems to have something of a disdain for London. We get plenty of loving descriptions of life in Alexandria, but not really any of London. In previous seasons, the Mijas and their families took great pride in their new homelands. The previous Mijas also embraced themselves as the blending of multiple cultures. Binty, by contrast, considers herself to be Egyptian first, and everything else second. Binty mentions that, when she was younger, she tried really hard to assimilate. Then, later in life, she really threw herself into her Egyptian heritage. Though, the impression I got was that she simply swung from one extreme to the other. Compared to the other Mijas, Binty seems to still be struggling to come to terms with her identity, and isn’t totally comfortable in her own skin. <br /><br />Season three puts more of an emphasis on the bigotry and prejudice that Binty and her family had to overcome. We do get hints of this with the other Mijas, but its more of a background detail. This does add to season three having a more distinct tone compared to its predecessors. That said, I felt that it got laid on a bit thick at times, and occasionally things got a tad preachy. I would argue that season one worked in part because it took a somewhat understated approach when it tackled serious issues. I also have to ding one scene in the episode about Binty’s mom. She grew up in Alexandria, but moved to London to work in the egyptology department at the British Museum. One of the things that strikes her when she moves to London is that she see Muslim women wearing hijab outside of mosque and prayers. Uh, do what now? I find it hard to believe that she wouldn’t have seen that plenty of times in Egypt. <br /><br />Honestly, though, those two points are really my only critiques of season three. It was a noticeable step up from season two. Season three didn’t quite reach the same heights as season one, but it got very close, and proved to be a worthy successor. <br /><br />There’s also a spin-off miniseries called <i>Mija Música</i>. It is something of an unofficial fourth season of <i>Mija</i>. It is a notable departure from the main series in terms of style. It follows a young man named Gavilán. He lives in New York, but he is originally from Monterey, Mexico. He has found himself back in Monterey due to his grandfather’s Lolo’s funeral. Lolo was a musician who had a passion for Colombian vallenato music. Gavilán is determined to investigate his grandfather’s music career. Along the way, he’ll explore the history of vallenato, and discover some secrets about his grandfather. <br /><br />Like I said, it's different, but that’s not a bad thing. I wasn’t familiar with vallenato music, but I had fun learning about it. The episodes are a bit shorter than in the main <i>Mija</i> seasons. Speaking of music, I also wanted to take a moment to discuss the use of music in the main <i>Mija</i> seasons. Each season uses music from its respective immigrant culture to help set the mood. It was one of those little touches I appreciated, and it helped give each season its own feeling. And that is most certainly true of <i>Mija Música</i> as well. You’ll be well acquainted with the many styles of vallenato by the time the miniseries is over. <br /><br />We’ve had three seasons, and one miniseries, of <i>Mija</i> so far. I certainly hope that this is not the last we’ve heard from Mija. It tells the stories of families of immigrants. Those who leave the land of the birth to seek a better life, those who stay behind, and those with feet in both worlds. It is a celebration of community, culture, and the places we call home. It is absolutely fantastic, and I can’t recommend it enough. Give it a listen today. <br /><br />Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time. </span><br /></div>Sam McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718188944564756045noreply@blogger.com0