#china

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #263: Making Thirteenth Hour Magnet Dolls 1

Episode #263: Making Thirteenth Hour Magnet Dolls 1

https://archive.org/download/podcast-263/Podcast%20263.mp3

This week, I’m talking about a side project – making little magnet dress-up dolls of Logan and Aurora from The Thirteenth Hourfor my kids.  The idea is that you start with a 2D character (that is magnetic or metal) in their underwear and then add clothes (which are thin, flat magnets) on top.  Basically, it’s a dress-up toy.

I actually did a little research into what people from ancient cultures wore for underwear, and the results were quite fascinating in a way, since they tended to mirror social attitudes of the day, especially for women.   (If you’re curious, here are some of the sources I looked at.  Given that not many of these undergarments have survived, it’s mostly historical speculation, but learning about what might have been worn in ancient Greece and Rome, ancient China, and the European middle ages was still quite interesting).

In any event, since the world of The Thirteenth Hour is fantasy (with a few intentional anachronisms like matches, flush toilets, and flying hoverboards thrown in for convenience or self referential humor) and not really based on anything historical, I figured I could take whatever artistic licenses I wanted.  Still, when I was originally designing the costumes, I did give some thought to working around things we sometimes take for granted in our world (like elastic, which requires rubber – not always so easy to come by, and zippers, which requires a mechanized world or at least factories capable of mass producing intricate parts to the point that they can be found on clothes for everyday people).

So – that’s a long way of saying that I gave Logan and Aurora rather generic skivvies that might have been found in the ancient past but could still have been something that would have offered equal measures of comfort and support.  If nothing else, I wanted my characters to be comfortable!

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I’ll post more as I make progress in production.  Eventually, I’ll scan in all the pictures to edit them digitally and figure out a way to print them out on magnetic sheets.

One of Aurora’s costumes is this one from a picture in the book:

I’ve been working on a custom miniature of Aurora in this outfit made from a few different Wonder Woman mini figures.

More in the coming weeks!

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There are now Thirteenth Hour toys!  If you’d like to pick up one of these glow in the dark figures for yourself, feel free to email me or go to the Etsy store I set up (https://www.etsy.com/shop/ThirteenthHourStudio) and get them there.

If the past few months have got you needing a break, you may want to chill out to this 80s synth throwback track for a upcoming LP with the accompanying music video:

Empty Hands, the synth EP soundtrack to the novella, Empty Hands, is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

empty hands ep cover_edited-2.jpg

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.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #222: Reading Choose Your Own Adventure 88 – Master of Kung Fu

Episode #222: Reading Choose Your Own Adventure 88 – Master of Kung Fu

https://archive.org/download/podcast222_201911/Podcast%20222.mp3

This week, I take a trip back to 1989 in reading a Choose Your Own Adventure book – Master of Kung Fu by Richard Brightfield and illustrated by Frank Bolle.  It’s a real blast from the blast – a true mish-mash of 80s Asian tropes, including most of the stuff that permeated martial arts films at the time.  Some of it is truly, well, cringeworthy, like some of the 80s kung fu and ninja flicks back then … but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.  I thought these books were the bee’s knees in 1989 so I’m going to try to suspend, you know, reality (at least in an adult sense), and appreciate this with the mind of an elementary school age child (which makes it awesome again).

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By the way, speaking of kung fu and ninjas, yes, they’re both in this book.  Yes, I know it’s talking about China and kung fu and white lotus societies.  There are still ninjas (suspend judgement, suspend judgement, suspend judgement, ok?  Ninjutsu has some roots in Chinese martial arts, and it all goes back to India and Tibet, anyway, so … you know, just go with it).

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Yup, straight out of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – totally not joking … one of the more cringeworthy parts … product of the times.

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Basically sums up the 80s ninja craze – stick ’em everything! Especially wearing the black PJs in broad daylight, since you know, that blends in so well. It all made more sense in 1989.

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There are now Thirteenth Hour toys!  If you’d like to pick up one of these glow in the dark figures for yourself, feel free to email me or go to the Etsy store I set up (https://www.etsy.com/shop/ThirteenthHourStudio) and get them there.

If you haven’t checked out “Arcade Days,” the song and video Jeff Finley, Brent Simon, and I finished last winter, click on the link below to do so!

You can find more pictures and preview clips of “Arcade Days” on IG as well as this podcast’s FB page.

Empty Hands, the synth EP soundtrack to the novella, Empty Hands, is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

empty hands ep cover_edited-2.jpg

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.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #214: A Conversation with Author and Tibetan Medical Practitioner, EzDean Fassassi

Episode #214: A Conversation with Author and Tibetan Medical Practitioner, EzDean Fassassi

https://archive.org/download/podcast214_201909/Podcast%20214.mp3

This week, I have the pleasure of speaking with a friend and classmate, EzDean Fassassi, who has a great story about how he came to be where he is now, an author and an owner of a Tibetan medical practice.  We had a great conversation about fad diets, parenting, how he got interested in and studied the esoteric art he now practices for a living (taking him halfway around the world and consuming multiple years of his life) as well as how he wrote the book below.  And if you ever thought about making your own audiobook, like he did, keep listening for his thoughts in the latter part of the episode.

Check out a few clips below of EzDean discussing some things he discusses in his practice:

 

Click on the cover of the book below to check out the book on Amazon (now available as a hardcover and as an audiobook):

The Eight Principles of Good Health: Modern Health Advice from an Ancient Healing System by [Fassassi, EzDean]

By the way, if you were curious about the Tibetan language book EzDean wrote, you can find it here.

If you’d like to get a Cliffs’ Notes version of some Tibetan health tips, check out a few high yield tips on his website as well as his Instagram profile for a range of examples of how to pair Western foods together in a healthy way for color, nutrition, and taste.  If you have a question sparked by this podcast, you can get in touch with him here: (https://holistichealth.consulting/#section-contact).

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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).

Speaking of music, if you haven’t checked out “Arcade Days,” the song and video Jeff Finley, Brent Simon, and I have been working on the past year, click on the link below to do so!

 

You can find more pictures and preview clips of “Arcade Days” on IG as well as this podcast’s FB page.

Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Away is 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.

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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.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #85: The Serpent Slayer

Episode #85: Storytime Reading of the Serpent Slayer

https://archive.org/download/Podcast85_201703/Podcast%2085.mp3

In honor of International Women’s Day (3/8/17), this is our second fairy tale reading from the book, The Serpent Slayer And Other Stories of Strong Women by Katrin Tchana and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman.  This week, we’re reading an Chinese tale about a teenage girl named Li Chi who slays a serpent that has been terrorizing a small community for years.  It’s a very traditional story in structure, getting at themes of greed, ignorance, blind obedience in the face of power and corruption, and the boldness (sometimes foolhardiness) of adolescence that has driven the beating heart of many a rebel, despite being outweighed and under-armed.  The main difference, however, is the protagonist is female – although the story is a human one, not just applicable to one gender.

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As patriarchal a society as China was, ancient Chinese mythology does have its share of heroines, and this is a representative tale.  You can find it told and depicted elsewhere on the web, even on youtube in this video game (just the first few minutes of the video is the story).

In other news, next week, we’re going to have an audio transcript of a talk a number of other authors and I did on:

“World Building in Science Fiction and Fantasy: The Essentials

With the Association of Rhode Island Authors

The Science Fiction/Fantasy genre transports readers to new worlds, from the wondrous to the weird. Fans of the genre know that solid world building is essential to the story. When it’s done well, we become immersed in the tale.  When it’s done poorly, we notice. Join us for a discussion with local speculative fiction writer’s to learn their secrets. How do they construct believable worlds in unbelievable settings? What are some of the problems and pitfalls they’ve encountered? Where do they find inspiration? When imagination and writing craft successfully intersect, the results can be out of this world! If you are an aspiring speculative fiction writer or fan, this presentation is for you.” (from the Big Apple Con website)

As always, thanks for listening!

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