This week, we’re discussing “Empty Hands” behind the scenes, specifically the 80s references, like films and cartoon shows (see some photos below) that influenced the writing of the novella. There definitely was a fair amount of emphasis on working together as a team that featured in a lot of 80s children’s programing, (which I wanted to give a nod to).
Though I didn’t specifically focus on it, I also thought it be important to feature a variety of ethnic backgrounds for the characters in the story. All you see is a variety of skin tones in the pictures as well as hints that the main characters are from various parts of the world, but although there was the start of getting more diverse faces out there in those 80s shows and movies, fantasy in general tends to have a more European look and feel – but why does it have to be that way?
Shows like GI Joe, Captain Planet, Voltron, and WMAC Masters all tended to not only work the teamwork idea (sometimes into the ground) but featured characters with unique looks, backgrounds, and talents that were important for the whole:
Some influential films:
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In the meantime, this page formerly had what I affectionately dubbed a “starving artist” section on little side hustles you could do (mostly on the internet, often with a phone) to make a few bucks here and there, often in gift cards. Well, now you can listen to this show (as well as other podcasts) and get paid to do so! Check out https://www.podcoin.com/ to listen to the show and start earning points that you can redeem for gift cards (Amazon, Target, Starbucks, etc) or donations to a number of charities. Use the code “Thirteen” when you sign up to get 300 extra points. The Thirteen Hour Podcast is now on BONUS this week, so you can earn more than normal (1.5x).
Empty Hands, the synth EP soundtrack to the novella, Empty Hands, is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.
Follow along on Spotify! There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.
Follow The Thirteenth Hour’s Instagram pages: @the13thhr for your random postings on ninjas, martial arts, archery, flips, breakdancing, fantasy art and and @the13thhr.ost for more 80s music, movies, and songs from The Thirteenth Hour books and soundtrack.
Today, we’re talking about the 1986 film, Big Trouble in Little China. It’s really fun film that has a little bit of everything – martial arts, action, fantasy, comedy, satire, even a bit of horror and romance – with a great cast. I’m not sure what I would think of the film had I not seen it years ago or been interested in martial arts, since it’s absolutely a product of its time and its lineage (paying homage to movie serials from the first part of the 20th century and 70s and early 80s kung fu films), but if you like any of those things, you’ll probably find something to like in the film. I’m not sure a film like it would be made today, but for the time, it not only introduced the feel of those old Hong Kong produced kung fu films to a mainstream Western audience but gave work to a lot of Asian American actors – they outnumber the Caucasian actors in this film (unusual for Hollywood at the time).
If you were interested in martial arts during the 80s or 90s, you’ll recognize a bunch of familiar faces and names. A lot of these guys showed up in martial arts magazines at the time and worked in stunts for martial arts and action movies. For example …
Jeff Imada, Kevin Endoso, Kurt Russell, and Al Leong:
The man holding up his fingers is Victor Wong, the grandfather in 3 Ninjas.
Jeff Imada in action (above) and Gerald Okamura (below; interview with movie trivia in the link)
James Lew often did fight choreography for films (like this one) and often had larger speaking roles in various action films as well.
Click on the poster below to find a copy of the film:
Enjoy a little collection of animated gifs from the film:
Below is a clip of Carter Wong in another film – he’s the one I keep calling “the Chinese Arnold” in the podcast:
One of my favorite lines from the movie:
And if you want your own Tec 9 like Jack Burton but don’t want to deal with the black market or figure out what’s legal in your area, you might try finding an airsoft version. This Japanese gas powered version is actually now really rare and hard to find. It’s probably about the same vintage as the film. But there are some electric versions that are much easier and cheaper to find these days.
There is also a comic book that continues the adventures stated in the film. Here’s a frame that makes good use of Wang’s name …
The podcast now has a page on Facebook, so head over there and to Instagram to check out some scenes from the film.
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Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Awayis now out for streaming on Bandcamp.
The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube. This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.
Stay tuned. Follow along on Spotify! There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hourplaylist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.
Follow The Thirteenth Hour’s Instagram pages: @the13thhr for your random postings on ninjas, martial arts, archery, flips, breakdancing, fantasy art and and @the13thhr.ost for more 80s music, movies, and songs from The Thirteenth Hour books and soundtrack.
Today, we conclude our 2 part conversation with author and illustrator Chad Derdowski, who came on the show last week to talk about his book, Fortune Favors the Bold: The Saga of the Scissorwulf. This episode picks up right after Chad did a short reading from one of the story lines from the book, which if you missed last week’s show, is essentially a tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek R rated Choose Your Own Adventure style with a Conan style hero:
And if you’d like Chad to do a personal reading for you, perhaps in the same faux-English accent, follow the links below to get a copy of the book for yourself, write a review on Amazon, and send proof to Chad on Instagram. Just for podcast listeners and until the end of September 2017!
Much of today’s episode touches on Chad’s creative process. If you’ve ever wanted to create a book (or something similarly creative), but have gotten forestalled along the way, you may find quite a bit of motivation in this week’s show. Speaking of which, here’s a link to the book, Write or Wrong: A Writer’s Guide to Creating Comics, Chad was referring to by Dirk Manning.
Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Awayis now out for streaming on Bandcamp.
The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube. This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.
Stay tuned. Follow along on Spotify! There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.
As always, thanks for listening! Next week, Brent Simon!
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Signup for the mailing list for a free special edition podcast, a demo copy of The Thirteenth Hour, and access to retro 80s soundtrack!
Follow The Thirteenth Hour’s Instagram pages: @the13thhr for your random postings on ninjas, martial arts, archery, flips, breakdancing, fantasy art and and @the13thhr.ost for more 80s music, movies, and songs from The Thirteenth Hour books and soundtrack.
In this week’s episode, author and illustrator Chad Derdowski comes on the show for a two part episode to talk about his book, Fortune Favors the Bold: The Saga of the Scissorwulf, a blast to read and even more entertaining to learn about. It’s basically an R rated Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-style book with lots of references that former children of the 80s will well appreciate. If you want a Cliff’s Notes version of the podcast, the main hero, the Scissorwulf is basically as follows:
And Fortune Favors the Bold is basically a mix of HP Lovecraft, comedic parody, pulp men’s fiction, comic book, and Choose Your Own Adventure all mixed in one (plus probably a few other references I’m missing):
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Chad also does a reading of one of the storylines in the book, so you get a preview of the writing and the beginnings of one of the adventures.
Dark wolf says: stay tuned for more 80s references next week in Part 2!
Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Awayis now out for streaming on Bandcamp.
The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube. This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.
Stay tuned. Follow along on Spotify! There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.
As always, thanks for listening! To be continued …
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Signup for the mailing list for a free special edition podcast, a demo copy of The Thirteenth Hour, and access to retro 80s soundtrack!
Follow The Thirteenth Hour’s Instagram pages: @the13thhr for your random postings on ninjas, martial arts, archery, flips, breakdancing, fantasy art and and @the13thhr.ost for more 80s music, movies, and songs from The Thirteenth Hour books and soundtrack.
Signup for the mailing list for a free special edition podcast, a demo copy of The Thirteenth Hour, and access to retro 80s soundtrack!
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The Thirteenth Hour 