AMAZING NEWS: 8/30/15

SPECIAL NOTE:

Here and on various social network platforms I have been suggesting that potential Hugo Award nominees make a statement that they do not wish to be included on slates and will ask to be removed if they find themselves so included.

This is designed to be a shield against unintended participation in bloc voting AND, most importantly, to allow voters to vote for these individuals’ works (if they are nominated) with a clear conscience.

Numerous authors have already made this statement on Facebook and on various blogs, Adam-Troy Castro, Elizabeth Bear, Ann Leckie and Charlie Stross among them.  If you might be nominated next year and wish to make a similar statement, all you need to do is visit this page and put your name in the comments section (or a link to your statement elsewhere).  NO SLATES, NO CAMPAIGNS

OTHER SPECIAL NOTE:

Most of the links today are devoted to Puppy Poop(TM), both pro-puppy poop and anti-puppy poop.  (In this case “pro” refers to being “in favor” and does not indicate that the writer is a professional pooper, although there may be some overlap).  Please note that this is a SMALL sampling of weekly puppy pooping and is included here today to provide the reader with a small indication of just how much puppy poop must be accumulating on the web.

Special Puppy Poop Section

Final Results & Voting Stats Note that all puppy nominees – with the exception of Guardians of the Galaxy – appear below No Award

Chaos Horizon’s Stat Analysis – How many puppies are there, and what breeds are they?

More Analysis

Echo Base on Puppy Day at the Hugos

The Lou Antonelli Side Show

An Alternate Hugo Ballot and another Alternate Timeline

Who Won?

Philip Sandifer Commentary

The Mary Sue

Related but not Poop:  Picacio on Convention Art Shows

Rothman’s Sons Were Upset by Hugo Results:  1. Just because you vote doesn’t mean your picks will win, a lesson that parents ought to pass on to their kids. 2. You bought at least three memberships….

Barb Caffrey – apparently doesn’t understand how No Award works

L. Jagi Lamplighter (JWC’s wife) states the puppy party line Best Sad Puppy Pic of the week btw

Tom Knighton Excoriates Patrick Nielsen Hayden (Well, ‘excoriate’ might not be the exact right word)

Michigan Standard Quotes Asimov: “Science Fiction is Above politics” “The historical success of the genre is due in part to its ability to incorporate all sorts of ideas and approaches, drawing from what has worked in the past, while also looking constantly to the future.”

Loren Rhoads Goes to Her First Worldcon: Awards went pretty much as expected based on literary quality

Robert Kroese Rewrites History

Marion takes a pretty even-handed approach

Europa SF Celebrates the Winners

The Federalist Steps Off Into Cloud Cuckoo Nuttery:  SJW’s are “…the most pathetic, disaffected, pathological members of society, claims to stand against shadowy conspiracies and bullying by the West, and destroys revered cultural institutions in fits of fanaticism”

Sarah Hoyt – Mainstream Media Marched In Lockstep with SJWs

Fantasy Faction Walsk Down the Middle of the Road

Theo Pratt Alexandra Erin’s Thoughts

Black Trident Media:  We don’t like Scalzi, therefore Puppies Won

Slate Links Hugo Awards to Mundane Culture War and Trump: (Hint:  David Gerrold wants his Tribble back)

EveryJoe:  Non-Breitbart Breitbart

How To Fix the Hugos from a Gaming Perspective

Eric Flint:  Brilliant as Always

Mediate the Mess (except Puppies have already said:  No Surrender, no apologies)

I’m Afraid of Punctuation (The Asterisks weren’t really asterisks)

Special:  Several Puppies are trying to make a case that WSFS violated its own rules, invalidating the awards and/or disenfranchised voters and/or gave out ‘secret’ Hugo awards (GRRM’s Alfies) and/or meant to insult everyone with Asterisks and therefore this is grounds for a class action suit against WSFS and/or Sasquan and/or….See a small part of it here.  (I want a class action suit against puppies, but that might upset the ASPCA)

And:  The Worldcon (and perhaps other related) hashtags have been flooded with Gamergate & Puppy fluff

Non Poopy News

Star Trek Renegades Has Arrived

Fury (Paintball) Road

The Shower new feminist SF film

Meta Meta:  Galaxy Quest comes to TV

Neil Speaks to Politicos:  You Can’t Cherrypick Science

Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb beran (Beach Boys):  All the Nukes That Were Ever Exploded

The World with No People (see above link first)

StarShipSofa

John Gilbey – Launch Pad Alum, Writes about the program in Nature

RPGNet Newsletter:

New Columns

The biggest new addition of the week is the first entry of a new column from Robin D. Laws (yes, that Robin D. Laws): The Keep Near the Gaming Hut. In the “Introduction”, Robin describes how this column came to be published at RPGnet, its focus, and what readers can expect in the future.

Burned out on your game or your group? Check out Jonathan Hicks’s newest Observations From A Gamer’s Chair: “Well, We’ve All Got Our Problems.”

Last, but certainly not least, we also received a new Fuzzy Thinking from Christopher Cecil: “Never Send a Mathematician to Do a Quartermaster’s Job ….”

New Reviews

In addition to those columns, RPGnet added eight new reviews last week. Other new reviews:

• Bryce Lynch’s review of “DC1: Tales from the Laughing Dragon” (Basic Fantasy adventure)
• Antonios S’s review of “Canis Mysterium” (Call of Cthulhu adventure)
• Bryce Lynch’s review of “RC1 SlaughterGrid” (OSRIC adventure)
• Cedric Chin’s review of “Lankhmar: Savage Tales of the Thieves Guild” (Savage Worlds adventure)
• Cedric Chin’s review of “Lankhmar: City of Thieves” (Savage Worlds supplement)
• Jonathan Hicks’s review of “Star Wars: Age of Rebellion Game Master’s Kit” (Star Wars supplement)
• Edward Kabara’s review of “Game of Crowns” (Board/Tactical game)
• Jonathan Hicks’s review of “Dice Masters Dungeons & Dragons Battle for Faerun” (Dice game)

Threads You Might Have Missed

First off, yr. humble editor is recommending this thread from Other Media for your reading enjoyment, but by no means endorsing the sentiment behind it: “[Shamful Geek confesions] I do not dislike Scrappy Doo.”

If you need another good laugh, stick around Other Media and check out “What movie, TV, or book moment will always make you laugh?”. Warning: be prepared to lose a couple of hours following Youtube links in this one.

Finally, if you’re interested in a discussion of video game economics, head over to Video Games Open for “Peter Moore on ‘on-disc DLC'”. In this thread, analysis of the opening article quickly moves to a more general conversation regarding video game creation, pricing, and consumer issues. It gets a little contentious in spots, but it’s definitely a thread worth reading if you have any interest in the topic.

Sign Off

Have a good week, everyone.

RPGnet Newsletter Staff:

• Tectrix
  Actual Play Spotlight Columnist
• Iustum
  Newsletter Editor

Radio Archive Newsletter

August 28, 2015

99 Cent Chandu the Magician, Volume 3 Bonus!

The brand new Chandu the Magician, Volume 3 radio set is only 99 cents through September 10th, when you place any order for $25 or more.

To take advantage of this special deal:
* Select $25.00 or more worth of merchandise and add it to your shopping cart
* Now add Chandu the Magician, Volume 3 to your shopping cart as well.

* When you are ready to check-out, type the code 99CentCD into the Coupon Code box to get your special pricing on the Audio CD set or type 99CentDownload into the Coupon Code box for the download version.

(Limit one 99 Cent bonus per customer.)

Chandu the Magician

Volume 3 Mission to Montabania

Tom Collins played the lead role of American-born Frank Chandler, who had learned occult secrets from a yogi in India. Known as Chandu, he possessed several supernatural skills, including astral projection, teleportation and the ability to create illusions. Chandu’s goal was to “go forth with his youth and strength to conquer the evil that threatens mankind”. “Time and space are only an illusion” to the American called Chandler. Endowed with strange gifts, in the first episode he teleported himself to his sister’s Beverly Hills home.

Launched in 1931 on KHJ in Los Angeles, the series was soon heard throughout the West Coast. It was then heard, starting in February 1932, over WOR in the East. Nationally, it aired over Mutual starting October 8, 1932.

Chandu the Magician was revived on the Mutual-Don Lee Network on June 28, 1948 as a 15-minute weekday program. Radio Archives has restored all 154 fifteen minute episodes of this exciting radio serial.

Starring Tom Collins as Chandu and Luis van Rooten as the villainous Roxor, plotting world domination. Chandu’s sister, Dorothy Regent, was portrayed by Irene Tedrow. Cyril Armbrister directed the scripts by Vera Oldham which took Chandu to far-flung locales, both real and mythical. Romantic interludes for Chandu were introduced with Egyptian Princess Nadji played by Veola Vonn. Also appearing in the cast were Norman Field, Lee Millar, and Joy Terry. Created by Harry A. Earnshaw and Raymond R. Morgan with Howard Culver as the announcer and music by organist Juan Rolando (Korla Pandit), the series continued until January 28, 1949 when it changed to a 30-minute format, each with a self-contained storyline. The oriental-styled musical score via an eerie organ and crashing symbols created a highly effective out-of-the world atmosphere.

White King Soap was the sponsor for all the episodes in this serial.

In 1932 Chandu the Magician was produced as a film, with Edmund Lowe as Chandu and Bela Lugosi as Roxor. In The Return of Chandu (1934) Lugosi portrayed Chandu, and in Chandu on the Magic Island (1935) Bela Lugosi once again played Chandu.

Chandu the Magician, Volume 3 Mission to Montabania has been expertly restored for Sparkling Audio Quality by Radio Archives and features a beautiful cover by the great artist Virgil Finlay.

6 hours – $8.99 Download / $17.98 Audio CDs

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16″ Transcription Discs

Radio Archives has a large selection of transcription discs for sale. Browse through hundreds of unique and interesting 16″ transcription discs that are not part of the auctions. Add them to the shopping cart and they will be mailed today. Sold by Radio Archives.

The unsold discs from the May 2nd Broadway Records Auction have been added. These discs will be sold on a first come basis for the minimum bid. Browse through hundreds of UNSOLD transcription discs from recent Broadway Records disc auctions. Sold by Broadway Records.

Click here Service@RadioArchives.com to receive the August 15th auction list from Broadway Records.

The Green Lama #6 Audiobook

The Fugitive Fingerprints & The Crooked Cane

by Kendell Foster Crossen writing as Richard Foster

Read by James C. Lewis

The Green Lama returns in two thrilling exploits torn from the pages of Double Detective magazine.

 

With this audiobook release, we move into a new phase of Jethro Dumont’s bizarre career as the world’s first ordained Buddhist priest turned crime buster. Gary Brown and Evangl Stewart, two of his original aides, have married and moved on, to be replaced by actor Ken Clayton and Jean Farrell, who are right at home in The Case of the Fugitive Fingerprints, which is set in the world of Broadway theatre––a world known for killer reviews. But here a real killer is on the prowl….one who leaves no trace of his phantom existence except for his blood-soaked fingerprints….

 

The Case of the Crooked Cane brings The Lama back to the vicinity The Clown Who Laughed, but this time the focus is not crime at a Cleveland circus, but skullduggery in and around stormy Lake Eerie, through which illicit narcotics are flooding and a sinister mastermind seems to anticipate The Lama’s every move.

 

Previously, Dumont encountered a professional magician named Theodor Harrin during The Case of the Mad Magi. With The Case of the Crooked Cane and continuing beyond it, this clever conjuror works with The Green Lama as one of his continually-changing inner circle of crime-hunting assistants. Jean Farrell and the mysterious Magga continue in supporting roles, while actor Ken Clayton departs the series for a greater mission.

 

This is a continuation of the introduction of magical themes kicked off in The Case of the Mad Magi. Previously, author Kendell Foster Crossen had name-dropped fellow magic enthusiasts like The Shadow’s Walter B. Gibson. Here, passing mention is of made of another pulp writer with a background in magic––Bruce Elliott, later to take over the Shadow series. It was a tight little world of pulp writers who also practiced magic.

 

James C. Lewis once again steps into the triple role of Jethro Dumont and his emerald-clad aliases, Reverend Dr. Pali and The Green Lama….Om Mani Padme Hum! The Green Lama Knows!

 

6 hours – $11.99 Download / $23.98 Audio CDs

Last 4 days for the Download version

The 5 year license is expiring on Monday, August 31st and the download version of The Adventures of Doc Savage will no longer be available after that day. The audio CDs will continue to be available until our inventory is sold out. No more will be manufactured.

The Adventures of Doc Savage

Doc Savage On the Air

Producer-director Roger Rittner of the LA-based Variety Arts Radio Theatre took a shot at bringing Doc Savage back to the airwaves. The Bantam Books paperback reprints had been going strong for two decades. He convinced National Public Radio to let him serialize two vintage Doc novels. No campy changes, no updating, just pure unadulterated Doc Savage-style high adventure.

The Adventures of Doc Savage as the title Roger gave to the most true, most faithful, and most perfect media incarnation of the Man of Bronze ever broadcast. Roger combed the Doc Savage canon for suitable stories to serialize.

Driven by his strong desire to include the adventurous Patricia Savage in the production, Roger decided to adapt Dent’s 1934 adventure “Fear Cay” in seven parts. Set in New York, Florida, and the mysterious Caribbean isle of Fear Cay, it pits Doc Savage and his two-fisted crew of experts against the bizarre seaman, Dan Thunden, who claims to be 130 years old and the discoverer of the Fountain of Youth. But is this bearded hellraiser all that he claims to be?

When directing the action extravaganza “Fear Cay”, Roger was inspired by Republic Pictures’ “Adventures of Captain Marvel” serial, with added touches from the popular “Terry and the Pirates” radio show.

“I tried to make this series sound the way 1940s movie serials looked,” Roger explains. “I don’t want to say there’s no depth to them, because I think there’s a great deal of depth to them, but our emphasis was always on action. Not letting too long a period go by when something doesn’t happen. Oddly enough, Dent’s writing style fell just perfectly into a half-hour format. Each half hour as it went through the books, seemed to build nicely. There was a little bit of exposition at points that built up to a nice climax at the end of each chapter. Without too much messing around, I think we adapted “Fear Cay” fairly religiously in terms of the plot and the characters.”

Taking a different approach, Will Murray chose to adapt “The Thousand-Headed Man” in six chapters. Inspired by the abortive Chuck Connors film-that-never-was and my interest in evoking Carleton E. Morse’s classic “I Love a Mystery” radio serials, I focused on the mood, mystery and atmospheric horror of Doc Savage’s quest for a lost expedition in 1934 Indo-China which brings the Man of Bronze in direct combat with the half-mythical menace known only as the Thousand-Headed Man. From foggy London to the ruined and serpent-haunted City of the Thousand-Headed Man, Doc and his team confront escalating jungle horrors culminating in a blood-freezing climax.

After the scripts were completed, the project ground to a halt for practical reasons: money. National Public Radio was going through a budgetary crunch. The search for funding took three long years. It seemed as if “The Adventures of Doc Savage” was destined to remain but a shining bronze-and-gold dream. Finally, a few small grants came through to underwrite the production. The two serials were then recorded over the summer of 1985 in the EFX Systems studios in Burbank, California.

Gathering together an ensemble cast of multi-media performers who had worked him with on previous modern-day radio dramas like “Darkness” and “Midnight”, Roger cast Daniel Chodos as Doc Savage and Robin Riker in the role of Pat Savage. Other performers included Robert Towers as Monk Mayfair, Art Dutch was Ham Brooks, Bill Ratner played Renny Renwick, with Scott McKenna and Kimit Muston standing in for Long Tom Roberts and Johnny Littlejohn respectively.

“The Adventures of Doc Savage” premiered at 7:30 PM on Monday, September 30, 1985 as part of the “NPR Playhouse” umbrella series. It ran for thirteen exciting episodes with “Kidnapped”, Chapter 1 of “Fear Cay”, kicking off the show.

Now timed for the 25th anniversary of this acclaimed series, Radio Archives is proud to present the complete original series, remastered and digitally augmented, along with a new audio documentary, “The Sound of Bronze: Making The Adventures of Doc Savage,” featuring the cast and crew commenting on the production, and a stunning collectable cover depicting Doc and Pat Savage by Bantam Books Doc Savage artist Bob Larkin.

8 hours – $15.99 Download / $31.98 Audio CDs

The Shadow, Volume 98

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows! The Knight of Darkness investigates daring jewel robberies in two pulp thrillers by Walter B. Gibson writing as “Maxwell Grant.” First, an attempted diamond theft by a Shadowy impersonator leads the Dark Avenger through a winding trail of murder to uncover stolen “Gems of Doom.” Then, reflections of evil guide The Shadow through a web of international intrigue to retrieve a rajah’s fabulous jewels, the priceless “Tear-drops of Buddha.” BONUS: a rare Golden Age adventure of Iron Munro by science fiction great Theodore Sturgeon from SHADOW COMICS #5! This instant collector’s item showcases the classic color pulp covers by Graves Gladney and Modest Stein and the original interior illustrations by Paul Orban, with original commentary by popular culture historians Anthony Tollin and Will Murray.. Double Novel Reprint $14.95

The Spider, Volume 7
Published by Sanctum Books

The pulp’s most murderous crimebuster wages his deadly war on crime in two violent 1935 thrillers by Norvell Page. Recovering from life-threatening injuries, Richard Wentworth confronts the lightning-wielding Lion Man from Mars to end mass slaughter and save his beloved city from “The Flame Master.” Then, with Nita held hostage and Commissioner Kirkpatrick enslaved by a criminal mastermind, The Spider wages his lone war against the acid-spraying “Overlord of the Damned.” This double novel pulp reprint showcases the original color covers by John Newton Howitt, John Fleming Gould’s classic interior illustrations and historical commentary by Will Murray. Double Novel Reprint $14.95

Doc Savage, Volume 82

The pulps’ greatest superman returns in action-packed thrillers by Lester Dent and William G. Bogart writing as “Kenneth Robeson.” First, eerie bolts of blue lightning electrocute a series of wealthy men, whose only connection is their last name, Smith! What is the strange secret of “The Boss of Terror”? Then, the Man of Bronze and his Iron Men journey to “The Magic Forest” after Renny’s plane disappears in the Alaskan wilderness. This deluxe pulp reprint showcases the classic color pulp covers by Emery Clarke, and also features the original interior illustrations by Paul Orban and historical commentary by Will Murray, author of fifteen Doc Savage novels. Double Novel Reprint $14.95

Doc Savage, Volume 82 James Bama cover

The pulps’ greatest superman returns in action-packed thrillers by Lester Dent and William G. Bogart writing as “Kenneth Robeson.” First, eerie bolts of blue lightning electrocute a series of wealthy men, whose only connection is their last name, Smith! What is the strange secret of “The Boss of Terror”? Then, the Man of Bronze and his Iron Men journey to “The Magic Forest” after Renny’s plane disappears in the Alaskan wilderness. This deluxe pulp reprint showcases the classic color pulp covers by James Bama, and also features the original interior illustrations by Paul Orban and historical commentary by Will Murray, author of fifteen Doc Savage novels. Double Novel Reprint $14.95

Doc Savage: The Sinister Shadow

by Will Murray and Lester Dent, writing as Kenneth Robeson, cover illustration by Joe DeVito

When millionaire Lamont Cranston and attorney Ham Brooks are kidnapped by gunmen driving a black hearse, it spells trouble for Doc Savage. Trouble with compound interest when Cranston’s personal lawyer is mysteriously murdered before he can consult with celebrated criminologist George Clarendon—who is secretly The Shadow!

These strange events put the Man of Bronze and the Dark Avenger on a collision course that threatens to expose the deepest secrets of both supermen. The conflict intensifies when underworld figure Cliff Marsland is captured and shipped off to Doc’s secret Crime College!

Will these legendary crimefighters join forces—or will the diabolical Funeral Director have the last laugh on Doc Savage and The Shadow? Softcover $24.95

Tarzan: Return to Pal-ul-don

by Will Murray, cover illustration by Joe DeVito

With the African continent engulfed by World War II, John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, abandons his role as Lord of the Jungle in order to combat the spreading Nazi menace.

Flying a P40 Tomahawk warplane, Clayton is sent on his first mission: to rescue the missing British Military Intelligence officer code-named Ilex. But the daring task plunges him into his savage past after he’s forced down in a lost land that seems hauntingly familiar.

When Tarzan of the Apes returns to the prehistoric realm called Pal-ul-don, he must revert to his most savage persona, that of Tarzan-jad-guru—Tarzan the Terrible! Softcover $24.95

Check out all the items in the Bargain Basement.

12″ LP Vinyl Records

The last 255 OTR LPs have been cut in price another $5 today. Prices as low as $10 for a group of 5 LPs this week.

Radio Archives is selling off a collection of 689 OTR 12″ LP Vinyl Records. These are being sold in groups of 5 records per group. The main exception is Group #80 which has the 17 LP boxed set of Shadow radio shows. Plays on any standard record player.

We started the pricing at $50 per group, which is $10 per record. Every two weeks the price of all unsold groups has been lowered by $5 or $1 per record. There are now groups selling for $30, $25, $20, $15 and $10. Wait for the price to drop but don’t wait too long and let someone else buy your favorite Old Time Radio LPs.

Inkitt Newsletter

Winners of the End Game Contest

• 
  

  1st prize

  Her Harlequin Baby

  by AMeadon
  A fabulously balanced story, Her Harlequin Baby delivers a memorable tale of suspense. Thrill and horror are delivered.

  Read Now for Free

• 2nd prize

  The Sea Witchby Olivia Guilfoyle
  An eerie, enthralling piece that combines the best of folklore and modern fiction. Gulifoyle is a siren of storytelling, luring readers in and holding them captive till the very end.

  Read Now for Free

• 3rd prize

  Nevilby Daylon Deon
  Unpredictable, nail biting, edge of seat horror. A story that makes it hard to sleep and leaves you wanting more.

  Read Now for Free