Another full-cast Mythoscope production has arrived. This is… what can I say, near perfect. Stiff competition is to be found in the Atlanta Radio Theatre company version of this same story- mind you. Also, the wild Paul Gordon movie “Dagon” is called on for comparison, but this just might be a definitive audioplay version of Lovecraft’s masterwork.
http://www.cthulhulives.org/toc.html
http://www.cthulhulives.org/store/store.lasso?1=product&2=33174
Well, let me start with a bit of a confession- the side of me that collects comics has been obsessively focused on H.P. Lovecraft audiobooks and dramas for a while now. I’ve built a nearly 4 day long playlist, with only the Roddy Macdowell LP readings eluding me. I’m happy to say that the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society is counted in.
I thoroughly enjoyed “shadow out of time“, which crystallized an evolving sound design and style the HPLHS has been developing in “mountains” and “dunwich“. Their Dunwich was very good, but the definitive version for me is the Ronald Coleman episode of “suspense”, followed by the Atlanta Radio Theatre version(s). HPLHS bats cleanup, which was Reggie Jackson’s job- so take that however you want. Conversely, I think their version of “Mountains” is the absolute standard against which other attempts at this story are to be judged. Primarily because of the great score and brilliant voice talent, they beat out the excellent ARTC version.
Which brings me to “Shadow”, where the acting, FX, score, and sound design all combine beautifully. The writing is amazing, turning a twisted ganglion of ideas into a smoothly unfolding dramatic story. The actor playing Peasley was spot on, and I chuckled out loud when Dyer from “Mountains” joined the Miskatonic expedition to Austrailia. The sound design was superb- the flying polyps were actually scary as they travelled around the narrator. Overall- brilliant effort and keep em coming. A great stepping stone for the longtime fan to introduce new people to the world of H.P. Lovecraft. Buy this.
This week, iTunes made available two new audiobooks of H.P. Lovecraft stories. These are narrated by Gareth David Lloyd (of Torchwood fame- he plays Ianto). Its odd hearing the archetypical New England Yankee writer being voiced in a Welsh accent, and I think Lloyd’s reading is a bit flat. Saying that, the audio quality is superb and production values are top-notch. It gets a recommend for completists, but the Wayne June Audio Realms readings really are the definitive unabridged readings- and there is much to be said for the stage version performed by the old radio company “Suspense”.
There’s 2 available- “the call of cthulhu and other stories“
and “imprisoned by the pharoahs and other stories“.
Today is the 14,976th day I’ve been on this mortal coil, walking amongst you. The revelations of eldritch horror are about to resume at Weirdass Comics, I have been painfully busy at the advertising retouching job, and have been doing crazy amounts of photography and retouching for a freelance client this week- hence no blog posts. Appy-polly-loggies.
Interesting thing about August 23, is that this is the day that the dead rise. According to the Romero Mythos, tonight is the NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Just in case, I’m boarding up my windows and avoiding cemeteries. I have the wife sharpening the knives and polishing the hammers right now.
This week’s audiobook was “Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs by Buddy Levy, narrated by Patrick Lawlor for Tantor media” available from iTunes. This was a pretty grand telling of the start of modern history, clicking in at a whopping 12 hours long. I did a comic about Cortez a few years back, and I’m sort of an armchair expert on the subject. Trust Mitch, this is worth a listen. Ever wonder how 400 guys with 16 horses and 30 cannons could take on an empire with a million man standing army that could have cleaned Rome’s clock? Makes you wonder how America would fare if someone who appeared to satisfy all requirements for being the returned Christ suddenly stepped off a flying saucer at the head of an army armed with light sabers? Good stuff, makes the 16 letter names of the Aztec players comprehensible, and portrays Cortez as what he was. Recommended.
Mitch Waxman
Maria Lectrix has updated with three new installments. This is pretty good Lovecraft audio kids!!! Check out Maria’s other stuff as well.
Antiquarian pursuits have entertained me utterly for the last couple of years.
I grew up in a Brooklyn neighborhood whose history, pre-1950, could best be defined as sandbar and then landfill. The housing there is typified by the real estate developers own name for the area- Futurama. Yes, I grew up in Futurama- but not the fun Matt Groening one. Mine was more of an expanse of souless 2 story buildings that stretched for miles in any direction. The mafiosos lived in Mill Basin to the south, with the gang bangers in Flatbush and Bushwick to the north. Andrew Dice Clay lived on my block, and I remember one day when someone threw a pipebomb through his window. Strange place, but boring and with no pre-20th century history to speak of apart from lost Indians and unsuccessful farmers. Like many Brooklyn kids, I left for Manhattan, where I stayed until 2003 when I moved to Queens.
Astoria and Long Island City were settled in Dutch times and are lousy with history. I’ll be detailing some of that in posts to come- but the foetid star of my new hood is Newtown Creek. Arguably the most polluted body of water on earth, this is the birthplace of the modern american Oil industry. A citizen’s group- the Newtown Creek Alliance, is sponsoring a boat tour up the creek (its a rarity that anyone without official business is allowed on the water) to drive awareness of their quest to force the Federal EPA to clean up the world’s largest oil spill- gurgling back and forth through certain subterranean channels which underlie Brooklyn and Queens.
Me and my trusty Canon G9 are going, and I’ll also be bringing my Pickman Camera set to its aetherial picture mode as well. Want to go?. The Creek is kind of a distopian wonderland. A monument valley of abandoned industry and rusted civilization. Warning- the air smells yellow-green with hints of cyan, and bring gum or your mouth will taste like you’ve been licking a battery.
Mitch Waxman- Day# 14,596
I’ve been taking a LOT of photos for the last few years. After trying to integrate them somehow over at Weirdass, I decided to take the plunge and buy a “Flickr Pro account”. I’ve got all sorts of stuff there, a lot of it shot in the “Newtown Pentacle”.
The Newtown Pentacle in Google maps
The post below is an HDR taste from a recent expedition to Crete. Click on over to my Flickr page for more.
HDR image from Tsiverus, Crete. A somewhat medieval but lovely collection of homes amongst the peaks and valleys of Crete.
3 exposures, Canon G9, may of 2008
I’ve been working on a major piece of work centering in western Queens, NYC- called Pickman’s Camera. The revelations about certain occult abnormalities I will be unveiling will certainly shock some of the more conservative residents of the area, but many cultivated minds will find a confirmation of their worst suspicions. A photographic essay, Pickman has required me to travel the “Newtown Pentacle” on foot. As I’ve crawled through rusting fences and over shattered walls, my only traveling companion has been my trusty iPhone and its long playlists of H.P. Lovecraft audio books.
The quality of these recordings vary wildly. Some of the commercial versions are tedious and badly pronounced, which is what you’d expect of the free varieties available from Librivox and others. Here are a few links (which neither I nor Ancram Hudson have any artistic or financial connection to) which will take you to some of the fun stuff I’ve found over the last year or two.
That’s all for now. Weirdass Comics will be resuming regular updates in a very big way in the coming weeks. Much to do, enjoy the literally days worth of audio found in the links above.
Check out pickmans camera
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