102 - The Competitor, part 1

This month we bring you part one of The Competitor by Brad Linaweaver, adapted for audio by William Alan Ritch.  Performed live at LibertyCon 2010, this marked the very first live performance of this script.  We hope you enjoy it.

Also included in this podcast, a special selection by our musical guest for our October show, The Old Way by Julie Gribble.

• Size: 13M, Duration: 27:50
• Link to ARTC Podcast archive
• Direct MP3 Download

Beam Piper ahead of his time again

A key scene in Ron Butler's adaptation of Piper's "Time and Time Again" features the line: "I do not believe there is anything in the Pennsylvania Code defining an offense along the lines of 'lending an object that looks like a pistol.'"

Perhaps it's a good thing Mr Hartley does not live in Australia...

Toy guns will have to be licensed in Queensland under new firearms laws | News.com.au

ANY ITEM that looks like a gun will have to be licensed under several changes to the Weapons Act being considered by the Queensland State Government.

..."If it looks like a gun and feels like a gun, it will have to be licensed," said a government source.

The British Empire, it will be noted, does not have an equivalent to the United States' Second Constitutional Amendment.

101 - A Tribute to Brad Weage

In this episode of the podcast, we pay tribute to the memory of Brad Weage, longtime composer and friend to ARTC and its members, who passed away on August 22, 2010 from complications of double pneumonia.

Brad composed many of the themes for our serials including Rory Rammer, Space Marshal, The Brotherhood of Damn Sassy Mutants, Mildly Exciting Tales of Astonishment, and The Jane Handley-Page Show. He also lent his talents to our feature-length studio works including The Passion of Frankenstein, The Menace From Earth, The Doom of the Mummy, and Solution Unsatisfactory to name but a few.

He performed live with us often. If you ever heard ARTC live, there's an excellent chance you heard Brad. If you heard us live more than once, it's a virtual certainty.

100th Podcast Episode!

We made it! 100 episodes of ARTC's Podcast. Y'know, we really need a catchier name for this thing. If you have an idea for a great new name, send it on to podcast@artc.org.

But we digress.

For the 100th episode, we knew we had to bring out all the stops, come up with something so spectacular that it would blow everyone away and leave everyone talking about how we could possibly top it. Unfortunately, we didn't get permission to use it, so we went for the next best thing (and set ourselves up for an awesome episode 200) and went with our Dragon*Con 2000 performance of Rory Rammer, Space Marshal: Queen of the Spaceways.

Not only is Rory Rammer one of our most popular and requested series, but in this episode the role of Rory Rammer is played by none other than Ted Raimi! Joining him in this star-studded cast are Alexandra Tydings and Claire Stansfield!

If you're enjoying the podcast, be sure to tell your friends. And tell us, too. We're your friends, right? So tell us you like it so we'll want to keep doing it!

"Could this be the beginning of the end for radio drama?"

Don't touch that dial: the threat to radio drama | Television & radio | The Guardian

The reason, of course, is cost. At £23,000 per hour, the BBC spends on radio drama about one 40th of what it might pay for an hour of television. Hampton's White Chameleon is a marquee production for Radio 4, and yet there are no White Chameleon baseball caps, no Dionysian trailers, no egos being massaged (no time). Gather its entire cast and crew together, and you would not have enough people for a football match. This, BBC bosses argue, is why Radio 4's main evening slot, the Friday Play, will cease to exist from next year; it was either save there, where the audience is smallest, or cut everything else beyond the bone.

Welcome to the media ghetto, British Audio Drama. You'll find it well populated.

Jeez. £23,000 per hour. (That's a touch over $35,000 in "real" money. *ahem*) The Atlanta Radio Theatre Company, in over 25 years of producing award-winning radio drama, hasn't spent that much money altogether. We'd shoot a puppy -- well, maybe in the leg, only to wound -- for $35,000.

99 - Horror at Camp Healthy Springs

This month we bring you Horror at Camp Healthy Springs by Thomas Berry, performed live at the Academy Theatre for Halloween 2008.

98 - Rory Rammer: Set Loose the Dogs of Time!

Size: 4.7M, Duration: 10:03
This month we bring you another episode from our longest-running most requested serial, Rory Rammer, Space Marshal: Set Loose the Dogs of Time! by Ron N. Butler, recorded live at TimeGate 2008.
If you enjoy the adventures of the intrepid Marshal and Cadet Skip Sagan, be sure to check out the imaginatively-named Rory Rammer, Space Marshal: Volume 1 available by mail order at artc.org or by download at Audible.com, iTunes, and Amazon.
Next live performance:
LibertyCon July 10, 2010, 9pm Featuring: The Competitor by Brad Linaweaver, adapted for audio by William Alan Ritch and Time and Time Again by H. Beam Piper, adapted for audio by Ron N. Butler, along with some nifty other surprises!


This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

97 - The Gargoyle's Shadow

Coming to you from deep inside studio territory, it's the ARTC podcast!  The next live shows will be in July, September, and October, but for now we're laying down tracks for the next round of CDs and Audible.com downloads!
This month we bring you The Gargoyle's Shadow by Katherine Kurtz, adapted for audio by Daniel Taylor.
Remember, the most powerful help you can give us is to tell your friends and family about the richness and power of the imagination.  Use the Share This button at the top of this post to plaster us all over the Internet! 
You can also give us encouragement by commenting on this podcast.  Give us something besides spam to read.  ;)
Special thanks to violinist Paul Mercer and pianist Brad Weage for providing music for this podcast.
Size: 9.7M Duration: 20:43
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

96 - The Last Dragon to Avondale

Size: 38.7M, Duration: 26:51
Fresh off our performance at the Academy Theatre comes the 2010 update of The Last Dragon to Avondale by Thomas E. Fuller.  We'd like to take just a moment to thank Bob Zimmerman for turning around the post-production of this piece so quickly for the podcast.
We're entering into the offseason for ARTC now, taking a break from the stage to get back into the studio.  Full details about what we're recording and how we're progressing will be available via our newsletter, Breaking Radio Silence.  Sign up here!
You can also follow us on Twitter for faster action!
The Last Dragon to Avondale was performed as a benefit for the Georgia Aquarium.  Thanks to everybody who came out to support audio drama and the study of endangered species.  And what's more endangered than the last fire-breathing dragon in the world?

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

95 - The Worst Good Woman in the World

Size: 16.5M, Duration: 35:03
The Worst Good Woman in the World by Kelley S. Ceccato.  Also, Caught by our special musical guest for March, Rooke!  Rooke can be found on MySpace and Facebook.
Come be a part of our podcast!  We draw all of our material from our live performances, and we have another show coming up at the end of March.  Witness one of the few audio drama ensembles in the country that performs live!
The Last Dragon to Avondale by Thomas E. Fuller (Also on Audible.com) March 27, 8:00pm March 28, 2:30pm Academy Theatre 119 Center Street Avondale Estates, GA 30001 Tickets: $10
Also featured: The House Across the Way by Kelley S. Ceccato, with guest violinist Paul Mercer.  All this with Rory Rammer, Space Marshal: The Colour of the Shadow of the Outsider over the Mountains of Madness out of Space.
ARTC is pleased to benefit the Georgia Aquarium with this performance.  25% of ticket sales will go towards their efforts to study and protect endangered species.
ARTC is also proud to offer free admission for the visually impaired and half-price admission for their sighted friends and family through a partnership with the Center for the Visually Impaired here in Atlanta.
Performance calendar.
There is Adventure in Sound!
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

In 'Mind Movies,' the Word Picture Continues to Appeal to Eager Ears

via online.wsj.com

It's no surprise to me that the Theater of the Mind still has the power to enthrall listeners. I suspect you're aware of it as well.
I did find it a bit startling to learn that Susan Loewenberg, the head of L.A. Theatre Works, isn't a big fan of the genre.
"Mind movies"? That's the label the Wall Street Journal likes for what we do?

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

94 - Omnilingual by H. Beam Piper

[Time: 32.23] [Size: 31.1MB] [Classic Science Fiction] from Dragon*Con 2009: "Omnilingual" written by H. Beam Piper & adapted for audio by Daniel Taylor.
Speculative science fiction: Follow the first archaeologists to land on Mars. How do they decode what they find there, with no similar cultures to compare it to?
Direct download: Omnilingual.mp3

93 - Rory Rammer Space Marshal: Enemies Within!

[Time: 22:23] [Size: 26.9 MB] [Genre: Sci Fi/Comedy] Another part of our 2 performances at DragonCon 2009, we present Rory Rammer, Space Marshal: Enemies Within! Written by Ron. N Butler, directed by Neil Butler.

This episode draws heavily from a previous episode of Rory Rammer, Space Marshal: Luna Shall Be Dry!

Comments? Questions? Requests? By all means, email us: podcast [at] artc [dot] org There is Adventure in Sound!
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Mars Hugg-A-Planet - The Space Store

via thespacestore.com

How much do you lo-o-ove Mars?

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

It's not what you think

via flickr.com

You're thinking, yeah, yeah, seen it before. It isn't that hard to do. You select an area and desaturate the color in that area. It seems to be a lot of folks' favorite image editing trick. But that's not what's going on here.
If you follow the link back to her Flickr photostream, you'll see several other angles on the same people, including one taken for the San Francisco Chronicle. It's a gray Santa suit, a gray wig, gray body paint, and gray contact lenses. you have to get really close in to see the only color she couldn't cover, the pink corners of her eyes.
Awesome.

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

"But the producer told me I sound better this way"

via failblog.org

He might be lipsyncing. Just a thought.

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master

92 - TV Christmas

Length: 10:26, Size: 7M
Hey, everybody, thanks for another year of podcasting.  A real low-key entry for this month, but we'll be back in full force in January.

In the meantime, don't forget to give the gift of imagination this year with ARTC and audio drama.  Mail order here and downloads here and our newsletter here.

Also, we're on the radio!  If you're in Atlanta, try us on 1010AM WGUN or stream the shows at www.wgunradio.com.  We'll be on Saturdays and Sundays at 7pm, so tune in for more of your favorite audio drama.

Merry Christmas and There is Adventure in Sound!
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Abandoned NASA projects

Gallery - Failure to launch: abandoned NASA projects - Image 1 - New Scientist

Man, 96, holds pre-emptive wake

BEAVERTON, Ore., Nov. 16 (UPI) -- A 96-year-old photographer in Oregon said he decided to plan and hold his own wake prior to his death so he could attend the event.
Hugh Ackroyd, 96, said he held the wake for family and friends Sunday at the Beaverton home of friend Edda Sigurdar, The Oregonian reported Monday.
"Well, why not?" Ackroyd said of leading his own wake. "Why bother when (I'm) dead?"
Ackroyd, a father of two whose wife died about 12 years ago, sat in his padded wheelchair and greeted his friends as they arrived for the event. He said one of his favorite items at the wake was a wreath bearing a ribbon reading: "Eventually, Hugh, rest in peace."
"It's quite magnificent," Ackroyd said of his wake.

via upi.com

Now we can advertise the Bumpers Crossroads episode "Bradbury's Funeral Home" as being "ripped from tomorrow's headlines". Although, Ron, I have to say I'm sorry you didn't think of that wreath.

Posted via web from Dreaded Purple Master
Here's a photo from the Portland Oregonian.

91 - The Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft (part 2 of 2)

[Time: 19:11] [Size: 23 MB] [Genre: Horror] Recorded Live at a performance at DragonCon 2009, The Atlanta Radio Theatre Company presents "The Call of C'thulhu" written by H.P. Lovecraft, adapted for audio by Ron N. Butler. This is Part 2 of 2.

Folks, by now you all know about all the stuff I usually post here and the links go on for several posts, so I'm not going to repeat them again this month.  I just want to thank everybody for another (almost) year of great podcasting and appreciation of audio drama.  The fact that you're still listening makes it all worth it.

We've got one more podcast left for this year, in December, and then it's off to 2010.  One goal I'd like to try to achieve for the coming year is more interaction with our audience.  What do you want to hear from us?  How can we improve?  There's lots of changes coming and we've got some interesting ideas, but we want to make sure we're doing the right ideas and changing in the right ways.

So how are we doing?  Everything ok?  We'd like to hear from you, so go ahead and send us that email or comment on this post.

Just two links this month.  First, in the spirit of that increased interaction I just talked about, we've done a survey to find out what you want to hear from us out of the studio next. 

And second, a reminder to join our mailing list, "Breaking Radio Silence"!  Sign up at artc.org/ and stay current on all the latest audio drama and ARTC news!

Next live show: An Atlanta Christmas at the Academy Theatre in Avondale Estates, GA.  December 5 and 6.

Check our performance calendar at artc.org and comment on this podcast
at podcast@artc.org.

Thanks again!

--
David Benedict and Bob Zimmerman, your podcasting team.

There is Adventure in Sound!
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now