#retro

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #288: Fight Scene Analysis with Jeremy from Whistlekick – Brandon Lee vs. Dolph Lundgren in Showdown in Little Tokyo

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #288: Fight Scene Analysis with Jeremy from Whistlekick – Brandon Lee vs. Dolph Lundgren in Showdown in Little Tokyo

This week’s episode is the third in a series about Brandon Lee (episode 286 on Laser Mission for Brandon Lee’s birthday and episode 287 on Legacy of Rage).  Today, I am working with frequent collaborator Jeremy Lesniak from Whistlekick to discuss another fight scene, this time from one of my favorite films (and a guilty pleasure), Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991), just in time to ring in the year of the ox. The scene we’re watching is where Brandon Lee and Dolph Lundgren officially meet on screen, and naturally it ends up as a fight, though not without justification.  This is one of those scenes that is so wildly implausible, you can’t help but smile (totaly fits with the tenor of the film, though), and today, you can watch it with is in 1/4 time.  As before, please check out Jeremy’s version of the show as well on Whistlekick Martial Arts Radio (episode 587, coming in a few weeks), since it has a video portion as well, so instead of just listening to the clip, you can actually watch it with us commenting on it.  But, for now, if you want to follow along, choose the playback speed in the lower right corner (the gear) to 0.25, and you can follow along with the comments.  We start the clip below at 0:46.

 

If you haven’t seen this film, there are a ton of familiar faces if you were ever into action movies of this time and a great Hollywood screen debut for Brandon Lee, who provides a great counterpoint to Dolph Lungren’s stolid modern samurai personality. 

And, as mentioned last episode, the patches I mentioned a few weeks ago are now ready and available for purchase here!  They come with a high quality mp3 download from Once Upon a Dream, the next Thirteenth Hour soundtrack LP.

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If you still have a cassette player, take advantage of the following deal and be transported to another world!  SALE!  While supplies last, grab Long Ago Not So Far Away on cassette!  Just $1/tape!
https://ko-fi.com/s/5579db9b27

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

 

9c855cfe-2bcf-4f9b-9681-898d80b49e9a

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!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #287: Watching Legacy of Rage from 1986 – Brandon Lee’s First Lead Role

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #287: Watching Legacy of Rage from 1986 – Brandon Lee’s First Lead Role

This week’s episode is kind of a continuation of last week’s episode for Brandon Lee’s 56th birthday.   I am watching the first film Brandon Lee starred in, the 1986 Hong Kong production, Legacy of Rage, one of the early heroic bloodshed films (John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow is better known but came out the same year and is usually the one typically credited with being one of the influential films that sparked that genre; however, Legacy of Rage has a lot of the same elements).   I never saw this film before but am glad I finally found it.  Although there is not a ton of pure martial arts action in it (see below for a little cameo with Bolo Yeung), what scenes there are give Brandon Lee a chance to shine not only through showing his martial prowess but also in terms of creating his character, an earnest, somewhat naive everyman who is wrongly accused of murder by a double crossing friend and loses not only eight years of his life in prison but also his livelihood and fiancee.  If it sounds like The Count of Monte Cristo, it kind of is, if, of course, the Count had access to an arsenal befitting a small army, courtesy of his prison buddy, a gun runner played by Mang Hoi, who is frequently found in Hong Kong action and kung fu films.

In the clip above, Brandon Lee and costar Mang Hoi arm up and deliver some large caliber justice, sometimes while driving, sometimes while diving over tables, one gun in each hand. Although that style would later become associated with this genre of Hong Kong films, this is a solid early example of why. 

You can listen to Brandon’s thoughts on this style of Hong Kong action film here (about 9:20 into the interview):

You can also watch the full film free on Daily Motion.

Stay tuned for more Brandon Lee in time for lunar new year!

And, as mentioned last episode, the patches I mentioned a few weeks ago are now ready and available for purchase here!  They come with a high quality mp3 download from Once Upon a Dream, the next Thirteenth Hour soundtrack LP.

img_2898

If you still have a cassette player, take advantage of the following deal and be transported to another world!  SALE!  While supplies last, grab Long Ago Not So Far Away on cassette!  Just $1/tape!
https://ko-fi.com/s/5579db9b27

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

 

9c855cfe-2bcf-4f9b-9681-898d80b49e9a

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!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #286: Rewatching Laser Mission (1989, a.k.a. Soldier of Fortune) + Remembering Brandon Lee

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #286: Rewatching Laser Mission (1989, a.k.a. Soldier of Fortune) + Remembering Brandon Lee

This week’s episode will be released on 2/1/21, an interesting number pattern date by itself, but it also would have been Brandon Lee’s 56th birthday.  As I discuss in the episode, my first exposure to Brandon Lee had nothing to do with movies.  It didn’t even really have anything to do with martial arts.

No, my first exposure to Brandon Lee was occasional childhood details I remember my mother telling me – of Bruce Lee and that he’d had a son who was also of mixed Caucasian – Asian ancestry.  That may not seem like a big deal now (and to be honest, it really shouldn’t have been then, either), but until my brother was born when I was eight, I don’t recall meeting anyone else with a similar racial mix.  I might have, of course.  Memory is faulty that way, but I can’t remember anyone else in my grade school classes, in Little League, or any of the other things I did as a kid.  And aside from my brother, it probably wasn’t until maybe high school that I met one or two folks with similar backgrounds. 

Although we still have our fair share of racial issues today in the US, I get the sense that things were more rigid in the 80s, and as an adult, it’s not hard to spot the entrenched racial stereotypes and issues in a lot of the films of the time, even in some of my favorites.   That doesn’t make me like them any less for what they meant to me as a child, but they are what they are.   That said, we still live in a fairly unilateral world when it comes to racial identity, and sometimes I think it makes people a bit unsettled when you don’t pick a side. 

Sometimes my mother would tell me that Brandon Lee also struggled to reconcile both Eastern and Western parts of his identity, but looking back, I was never sure how she knew that (Chinese newspapers, I think) or if that was even accurate.  Regardless, that’s how I was introduced to Brandon as a kid – not though movies, not through kung fu, not even so much as the son of Bruce Lee, but as an older sort of kinship soul. 

I was straddling the fence between East and West in my own little way as a grade school kid growing up in a largely working-class New Jersey suburb made up of families of Irish and Italian descent that did strange things like go to Sunday school and visit Ocean City in the summer.  The teasing, the comments about hot Chinese food lunches my mother sometimes packed that were labeled “weird” since they weren’t sandwiches in those little brown (supposedly disposable) paper bags, the wide eyes and frowns of disbelief if I mentioned I went to a school on Sunday (for a time, my father took me to a Chinese language school about a half an hour away in hopes I would learn something), the internal debate about which racial demographic should I check on standardized tests … all these things registered, but I was too young to really make much of them.  In a way, that’s the great thing about being a kid.  Things happen to you, sometimes good things, sometimes bad things, but you don’t really understand them as fully as you will later, so you just move on.  However, even if the adolescent and adult questions of identity were still years away for me, I think in her own way, telling me about Brandon was my mother’s way of preparing me for them.  “See, there’s someone else out there that’s like you” was what I think what she was trying to say, and I’m glad she thought to do it. 

Oddly enough, even when I started practicing martial arts at age 13, it was through the occasional newspaper article or martial arts magazine that I read about Brandon, not through movies or video clips (there was no internet, we didn’t have any of his movies; everything is harder to find as a kid without a bank account, driver’s license, or credit card).  I’ve attached scans two articles from the 9/1994 issue of Black Belt magazine here – one is a reprint of an interview of his from 1986, and the other is about his films.  There was awhile when this issue was the only martial arts magazine I had, so I used the read the same articles over and over again.   Aside from eBay, finding these old magazine articles is not especially easy.  They deserve to be out there.  You can download the articles here or clicking the cover below.

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I don’t know he’d have been especially proud of today’s choice of movie or not, but Laser Mission from 1989 (sometimes titled Soldier of Fortune) is pure gold in so many respects.  Critics probably panned it, and it gets like a 3 point something on IMBD, but what do any of those people know?

One look at this photo of Brandon Lee kicking this chap with two feet …

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… or the introductory theme song, done by David Knopfler of the Dire Straits, entitled “Mercenary Man” (which basically plays every time an amped up cue is required) is all I needed to know this film was destined for 80s movie greatness.  So, as a bona fide 80s US action film, you have to remember a few things – it will be loud, there will be explosions, plot holes large enough to throw a donkey through, unlimited ammunition, unlimited lives, gratuitous T ‘n A, overall misogynistic attitudes towards women, lasers involved, communists on every corner, and yes, an overall feeling at the end that the world was made safe for truth, justice, and Capitalism through guns, guts, and some good ‘ol asskicking, not bumbling bureaucrats shuffling papers and rubbing stamping documents that no one knows how to fill out correctly.  However, there are enough subtle jabs at these stereotypes inserted into the film (either consciously or not) that suggests it was done in a self referential, humorous way that pokes fun more than perpetuates old tropes.  You can watch the full film free on Youtube (thanks, kind souls) or Tubi (more legit but ad supported).

Shannon Lee maintains the social media platforms for the family, including an Instagram profile for Brandon.  She also does a regular podcast (highly recommended) about her father’s teachings and how his philosophy applies to aspects of day to day life.  Check out this past episode about Brandon.

Stay tuned for more Brandon Lee in time for lunar new year in a few weeks!

And, as mentioned last episode, the patches I mentioned a few weeks ago are now ready and available for purchase here!  They come with a high quality mp3 download from Once Upon a Dream, the next Thirteenth Hour soundtrack LP.

img_2898

If you still have a cassette player, take advantage of the following deal and be transported to another world!  SALE!  While supplies last, grab Long Ago Not So Far Away on cassette!  Just $1/tape!
https://ko-fi.com/s/5579db9b27

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

 

9c855cfe-2bcf-4f9b-9681-898d80b49e9a

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!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #285: Recycling LDPE and PP Plastic into Plastic Synths!

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #285: Recycling LDPE and PP Plastic into Plastic Synths!

This week’s episode continues from the last three week’s crafting episodes … but instead of HDPE (high density polyethylene, a.k.a. #2) plastic (which worked pretty well, as described in last episode), this time, I’m experimenting with LDPE (low density polyethylene, a.k.a. #4) cut from a lid top (instead of Perler beads which I used last time) as well as PP (polypropylene, a.k.a. #5) plastic to do essentially the same thing as last week.  Again, I was not sure this would work. 

Just like the last few weeks, I’m using the silicone molds I used to make Logan’s synthesizer (watch for more stop motion animation music videos with him soon!):

For this project, I’m again using cut up strips of #4 and #5 plastic.  Here are the cut up bits of #4 plastic in the synth mold getting heated up with a heat gun.   As mentioned last week, heating plastic leads to fumes, so it would be a good idea to do this with some eye and mouth protection (safety goggles, a mask) in a well ventilated area, like a garage or outdoors.  I wouldn’t do this in your kitchen oven!  A pair of winter gloves are great for protecting your hands.

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Like HDPE, both LDPE and PP gets viscous and gooey when heated.  PP took longer and did not take to the mold as well.  With both of these, if you touch it or try to tamp it down too soon, it gets everywhere, just like hot tar.  It’s pretty easy to scrape off a smooth surface later, but I found I needed to wait longer than HDPE for it to become workable (PP – the longest).  As before, you will probably need to add additional plastic, heat that, and repeat the process until you fill the mold, like below.  I think I had to add 4-5 layers of plastic strips until I filled the mold.

 

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Here are the LDPE synth (red) and the PP synth (white) when they were just taken out of the mold the first time.  If you look closely at the details, you can see some of the strands did not liquefy.  So I heated the synth sides, flipped them back into the molds, pressed down, and … you can see the results below.

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The PP synth worked okay – kind of rough, but it did work.  Here it is next to the the lid it once was.  It took a whole lid to make the synth.

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Here are the different synths according to plastic type, in order of ease of use, from bottom to top.   There you have it, recycled plastic toys!

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And, as mentioned in the episode, the patches I mentioned a few weeks ago are now ready and available for purchase here!  They come with a high quality mp3 download from Once Upon a Dream, the next Thirteenth Hour soundtrack LP.

img_2898

If you still have a cassette player, take advantage of the following deal and be transported to another world!  SALE!  While supplies last, grab Long Ago Not So Far Away on cassette!  Just $1/tape!
https://ko-fi.com/s/5579db9b27

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

 

9c855cfe-2bcf-4f9b-9681-898d80b49e9a

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!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #284: Recycling HDPE Plastic into Plastic Synths!

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #284: Recycling HDPE Plastic into Plastic Synths!

This week’s episode continues from the last two week’s crafting episodes … but instead of wax, I’m using plastic.  Not the two part pourable resins I’ve used so far but cut up pieces of HDPE (#2) plastic from milk jugs, bottle tops, or some other containers.  Or, this episode also contains a segment of using Perler beads, which is actually a different kind of plastic, LDPE (#4) but can also be used, with somewhat different results, I’ve found, though I can by no means say I’m an expert in any of this.  I just thought it’d be fun to try as an experiment.  I had no idea any of this would work, and frankly, it almost didn’t!

Just like the last few weeks, I’m using the silicone molds I used to make Logan’s synthesizer (watch for some stop motion animation music videos with him soon!):

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For this project, I’m using cut up strips of #2 plastic.  I’m using a pair of kitchen shears for cutting up greenery into little bits, but I’m guessing you could also use a paper shredder for a similar effect.

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Here are the cut up bits in the synth mold:

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Applying heat … there was a funky plastic, so it would be a good idea to do this with some eye and mouth protection (safety goggles, a mask) in a well ventilated area, like a garage or outdoors.  I wouldn’t do this in your kitchen oven!  A pair of winter gloves are great for protecting your hands.

img_2904

HDPE gets viscous and gooey when heated.  If you touch it or try to tamp it down too soon, it gets everywhere, just like hot tar.  It’s pretty easy to scrape off a smooth surface later, but If you wait 10-20 sec or so, the plastic will be more amenable to tamping down into the mold.  You will, however, probably need to add additional plastic, heat that, and repeat the process until you fill the mold.

img_2903

The HDPE synth is the black and purple one in the pic below.  It turned out better than I expected, not quite as sharp as resin but with a similar level of detail to when I made crayons or wax candles in a similar way.  The bottom two were done using Perler beads.  I couldn’t get them to liquefy quite as much, so the details they picked up from the mold were less well formed.

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Those of y’all who are Patreon members should be getting yours in the mail, but the patches I mentioned a few weeks ago are now ready and available for purchase here!  They come with a high quality mp3 download from Once Upon a Dream, the next Thirteenth Hour soundtrack LP.

img_2898

If you still have a cassette player, take advantage of the following deal and be transported to another world!  SALE!  While supplies last, grab Long Ago Not So Far Away on cassette!  Just $1/tape!
https://ko-fi.com/s/5579db9b27

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

 

9c855cfe-2bcf-4f9b-9681-898d80b49e9a

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!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #283: Upcycling Broken Crayons Part 2 – Making Candles!

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #283: Upcycling Broken Crayons Part 2 – Making Candles!

This week’s episode continues from last week’s crafting episode.  We made multicolor synthesizer crayons last week, so this week, we’re using some of the wax from the crayons and combining it with wax from broken candles to make … synthesizer candles!

Here are some old, broken birthday candles …

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… I tested this with just candle wax in the same molds we used last week, which actually worked really well …

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… and became liquid wax after being put in the oven …

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… of course, wax candles without a wick are just wax.  So here are a few wicks from the broken candles. 

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So, candle wax + crayon wax mixed together and heated until liquid …

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… and here with the wicks dropped in the liquid hot wax.

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The final result … the crayon wax sank to the bottom of the mold, and the candle wax rose to the top, creating a blended pink – blue pattern for the face of the synths and Logan’s hoverboard … one of a kind upcycled candles!

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If you still have a cassette player, take advantage of the following deal and be transported to another world!  SALE!  While supplies last, grab Long Ago Not So Far Away on cassette!  Just $1/tape!
https://ko-fi.com/s/5579db9b27

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

 

9c855cfe-2bcf-4f9b-9681-898d80b49e9a

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!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #282: 2021 Crafting – Upcycling Broken Crayons!

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #282021 Crafting – Upcycling Broken Crayons!

Happy new year!  To start us off, I thought we’d combine resin casting, recycling, and creativity in one project – making crayons!  Whaaa, you say?  What’s that have to do anything?

Well, let’s find out!

If you have or had kids, chances are you have some old / broken crayons around.  I gathered up a broken bits, took off the paper wrappings, and …

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… tried to enlist the help of one of my children to help with the latter part.  It occupied said child nicely …

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… for about 10 minutes.  Then I was left to complete the boring part …

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I used the same silicone molds I used for casting resin.  The silicone performed wonderfully under heat (350 degree F x 10 min +/- 3-5 min until the crayons are all melted).  Basically, you cram a bunch of crayon bits inside (more is better, the wax will melt down; you want the wax to be thick enough to hold.  A silicone cookie tray would be better, actually, since they tend to be deeper, meaning you can cram in more crayons bits).  As you can see below, just like with resin casting, bubbles rise to the surface.

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Once they start to solidify, we do need to wait a bit for everything to cool, though you can stick the mold in the refrigerator to speed up the cooling process.

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The synth on the top, as you can see, is an example of what happens when the wax doesn’t melt fully and air bubbles get in the way.  So this one, despite loving the colors, I broke back up and redid (really easy to do).

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Some of the final products – the ones to the left were done with cookie cutters.  You can totally use metal cookie cutters but be aware they they may leak wax out the bottom.  You can get around this by putting clay around the edges and using a heat gun to apply focused heat to the crayons in side the cookie cutter.  That is how the orange leaf on the left was made.

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Overall, a fun project to do with kids, especially if you’re stuck inside on a cold or rainy day, folks are sick, or you’re just waiting out the pandemic like so many of us are.  And if you don’t have kids but are feeling a bit strapped for cash after the holidays or the havoc the past year has done to the economy (at least in the US), just head over to Etsy and see how much people charge for handmade crayons.  Holy upcycle, Batman.

What can I say … don’t hate!  Create!  🙂

If you still have a cassette player, take advantage of the following deal and be transported to another world!  SALE!  While supplies last, grab Long Ago Not So Far Away on cassette!  Just $1/tape!
https://ko-fi.com/s/5579db9b27

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

 

9c855cfe-2bcf-4f9b-9681-898d80b49e9a

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!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #281: 2020 Reflections / Future Goals + “Many Miles” Vocals

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #281: 2020 Reflections / Future Goals + “Many Miles” Vocals

This week, I reflect on the year and look back on the goals I had for 2020 back in episodes 230 and 231. 

Despite all the zaniness of the past year, it’s been a good year creatively.  Besides the things discussed on the show, I also started a Thirteenth Hour Arts Facebook group as well as a Patreon, so many thanks for all your support!

Lastly, I’ve decided to wrap up by trying to finally finish a song that I’ve tried to work and rework many, many times, the aptly named “Many Miles,” a song I wrote for the next Thirteenth Hour book and last worked on in episodes 190-199).  I’m working on the vocals today. 

If you still have a cassette player, take advantage of the following deal and be transported to another world!  SALE!  While supplies last, grab Long Ago Not So Far Away on cassette!  Just $1/tape!
https://ko-fi.com/s/5579db9b27

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

 

9c855cfe-2bcf-4f9b-9681-898d80b49e9a

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!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #280: 80s Christmas Songs and Reworking “Many Miles” for the Zillionth Time

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #280: 80s Christmas Songs and Reworking “Many Miles” for the Zillionth Time

https://archive.org/download/podcast-280/Podcast%20280.mp3

This week, just before Christmas drops, I thought it’d be fun to talk a bit about 3 songs from the 80s that aren’t traditional Christmas songs but are, in many ways, still holiday songs. 
 
The holidays often serve as a time to reflect on the year and think about what you’d like to see happen in the future – a time of hope, good cheer, and family.  Of course, it’s not that way for a lot of people.  And that contrast is why I picked these three songs:
 
1.) The Waitress  (1981) – “Christmas Wrapping”
 
I didn’t know who did this song about a woman who’s a bit over the hype of holidays season until recently but always thought it had a great hook. There is also an almost 30 second funky instrumental break in the middle that I think would actually be a good breakbeat.
 
 
2.) The Pogues (1988) – “Fairy Tale of New York”
 
I love the piano intro, the penny whistle, and bantering / squabbling couple duet-ting in this song of hopes, dreams, and disappointment.
 
3.) Band Aid (1984) – “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”
 
There are things to like about this song – e.g. the melody, the chord progressions, the collaboration, the underlying good intentions (raising awareness of famine in Ethiopia and raising funds for assistance) – but … the lyrics are horrendous!  They reinforce the stereotype that Africa is a place of “dread and fear / Where the only water flowing / Is the bitter sting of tears” and “nothing ever grows / No rain nor rivers flow.”  Ok, folks,  I get you were writing about famine, but the entire continent?  The best gift “they’ll get this year is life”?  Holy self righteous Jesus, Batman.  But, if you put images of colonialism and missionaries doing God’s work aside and ignore 95% of the lyrics, you get a song that essentially about remembering to be grateful for what you have and that there is a “world outside your window.”  
 
 
I’ll do a deeper dive on Instagram this week!
 
These songs were something I was mentally thinking of for a Christmas song episode with show guests Joe Esch and Adam Crohn (last on the shows when we discussed 80s foods and The Lost Boys – 272 and 273).  We had tossed around a bunch of ideas for nontraditional Xmas movie ideas (like Gremlins and Die Hard) and then the song one, but never quite got around to recording.  As you may know, Adam has been tied up with more urgent things than recording podcasts these past few weeks as his dog, Mooge, just had surgery for lung cancer and will need extended treatment in the near future.  Of course, nothing in life is ever simple.  You can read more about their challenging journey on the GoFundMe by clicking on Mooge’s picture below.  But the upshot of all this and the connection to the above is that I’ll be looking at some ways to continue to raise funds into 2021 to help Adam and Mooge and will post more over the coming weeks.

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So in lieu of retro Xmas movie podcasts this year, please go check out Shawn and Colin over at I Used to Like This One for several weeks of Christmas movies.  They’ve put together a much better lineup than I ever could.  So far, they have episodes on Home Alone, Lethal Weapon, and A Christmas Story! 

Lastly, I’ve decided to wrap up by trying to finally finish a song that I’ve tried to work and rework many, many times, the aptly named “Many Miles,” a song I wrote for the next Thirteenth Hour book and last worked on in episodes 190-199).  I reworked the intro, created a new opening riff, added a short chorus section, and cut out a few redundant verses.  So – essentially starting almost from scratch and reworking it from the ground up.  I have a backing track done so far and will be figuring the vocals next.  So far, I think it will work!  I was practicing while holding my son earlier today, and we were singing along with the new repeating riff (and it sounded okay!). 

If you still have a cassette player, take advantage of the following deal and be transported to another world!  SALE!  While supplies last, grab Long Ago Not So Far Away on cassette!  Just $1/tape!
https://ko-fi.com/s/5579db9b27

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

 

9c855cfe-2bcf-4f9b-9681-898d80b49e9a

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!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #279: Working on a Thirteenth Hour Custom Action Figure Part 4: Making a Silicone Mold and Shrinking with Mineral Spirits

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #279: Working on a Thirteenth Hour Custom Action Figure Part 4: Making a Silicone Mold and Shrinking with Mineral Spirits

https://archive.org/download/podcast-279/Podcast%20279.mp3

This week, I’m making a silicone mold for the guitar I finished last week.  While the mold for the synthesizer is quite easy, this one is a bit more complex since I’m going to be trying a trick I learned on youtube with a video (below) made by Crafsman, who I support on Patreon.  (He has a lot of great resin casting and toy making videos; check him out!).  The trick here involves the use of mineral spirits mixed into the silicone with the idea that over time, the mold will shrink as the mineral spirits dissolves out, leaving you a smaller mold.  This effectively gives you the ability to shrink objects (in theory – I’ve never tried this before).

img_2577

Since the guitar I made was a bit too big for Logan’s hands, hopefully, the technique will allow me to shrink it down by about 25%.   Here’s the video in more detail described by the Crafsman:

By the way, the one piece mold for the synth I finished recently.  Now it’s time to pour in the resin!

img_2574

And the setup for the guitar mold seen from the top down. I ended up using a thin plastic box as an exoskeleton for the mold.  It was what I had lying around, though it didn’t have a flat bottom and the flexible sides meant it had to be supported from both sides, as shown below, where the body and most of the neck of the guitar are already submerged in silicone.  The toothpicks are meant as air vents.

img_2573img_2575img_2576

The bottles on the sides are supporting the mold as it dries, so it cures straight (a consequence of me suing a somewhat flexible container).  Now, it’s a matter of waiting a few days for the mineral spirits to diffuse out of the mold to see if this actually worked.

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Last week, a friend of the show and frequent guest / collaborator, AC of ACToyDesign needed some help for funding a surgery for his dog, Mooge.  In the span of the past week, Adam and Mooge actually exceeded their finding goal (click above for more info from Adam), so thank you to all that helped!

If you still have a cassette player, take advantage of the following deal and be transported to another world!  SALE!  While supplies last, grab Long Ago Not So Far Away on cassette!  Just $1/tape!
https://ko-fi.com/s/5579db9b27

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

 

9c855cfe-2bcf-4f9b-9681-898d80b49e9a

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!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #278: Working on a Thirteenth Hour Custom Action Figure Part 3: Making a Clay Acoustic Guitar

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #278: Working on a Thirteenth Hour Custom Action Figure Part 3: Making a Clay Acoustic Guitar

https://archive.org/download/podcast-278/Podcast%20278.mp3

This week, I’m working on another accessory for the custom figure of Logan from The Thirteenth Hour that I started two weeks ago.  Last week, I made a synthesizer, which is basically done, and today, I’m working on an acoustic guitar for Logan to sing with.

Here’s how the synth came out (from last week):

img_2528

And here’s what the guitar looks like so far:

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I also randomly made a little rectangle that will be one of the playing cards that Logan throws in the book.  The #2 plastics in the background above, by the way, may be in a future project.  I’ve always thought it would be fun to essentially recycle used plastics into useful things, like little toys.  I just need to figure out how to do it safely.

img_2527

These musical instruments will be for some upcoming (perhaps in 2021?) videos with Logan singing some songs, either accompanied by the synth or the guitar.  Some will be his own songs, and a number will be essentially cover songs.  I imagined that Logan would sound a bit like the singing rooster minstrel (voiced by folk singer Roger Miller) in the animated version of Robin Hood:

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Lastly, a friend of the show and frequent guest / collaborator, AC of ACToyDesign needs some help this holiday season.  Adam recently found out that his dog, Mooge, has lung cancer.  (If you need further convincing that she is adorable, click on her pic above to go to her Instagram account).  Her vets feel confident they caught the cancer early, and that she has a good prognosis. But … as anyone with a pet knows, surgery is expensive. That and follow up visits are estimated at around $7500 (!). This holiday season, please consider supporting or sharing Mooge’s gofundme to help raise funds for her treatment.  Thank you!

img_2509

If you still have a cassette player, take advantage of the following deal and be transported to another world!  SALE!  While supplies last, grab Long Ago Not So Far Away on cassette!  Just $1/tape!
https://ko-fi.com/s/5579db9b27

Look for the episode Shawn, Colin, and I did on Willow on I Used to Like This One or wherever you listen to your podcasts.  Check them out on Patreon to help support their work!

From my first rewatching a few years ago:

A reposting of a previous post of a Madmartigan figurine I had as a kid:

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9c855cfe-2bcf-4f9b-9681-898d80b49e9a

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!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #277: Working on a Thirteenth Hour Custom Action Figure Part 2: Making a Clay Synth

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #277: Working on a Thirteenth Hour Custom Action Figure Part 2: Making a Clay Synth

https://archive.org/download/podcast-277/Podcast%20277.mp3

This week, I’m working on an accessory for the custom figure of Logan from The Thirteenth Hour that I started last week (that I am just about finished now).  I’m making Logan his own synthesizer to play!  He’ll use them for some upcoming videos.  But today – we’re starting the sculpting process for the keyboard from Aves Apoxiesculpt, the hard drying clay I used to make the initial sculpts for all the minifigures I’ve done as well as the custom sculpt parts of the Logan figure that I wrapped up this past week.

Here is how Logan looks so far:

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And here’s how the sculpt started:

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The keys will all be from toothpicks.  I’ve slid 21 keys (which will be the white ones) into the clay before it hardened.  Here, I’ve added speakers and a central console.  Once the clay hardens, I will further sand it and add a few more details that I want to show up on the final cast version.  As you can see, I have yet to add the black keys.  They’ll be smaller toothpicks glued on in between the keys.  There will be 15 of those (3 total octaves).

img_2487img_2488

“So I’m going to be playing this thing …?”  Yup!  And next week, a guitar!

If you still have a cassette player, take advantage of the following deal and be transported to another world!  SALE!  While supplies last, grab Long Ago Not So Far Away on cassette!  Just $1/tape!
https://ko-fi.com/s/5579db9b27

Look for the episode Shawn, Colin, and I did on Willow on I Used to Like This One or wherever you listen to your podcasts.  Check them out on Patreon to help support their work!

From my first rewatching a few years ago:

A reposting of a previous post of a Madmartigan figurine I had as a kid:

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9c855cfe-2bcf-4f9b-9681-898d80b49e9a

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!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #276: Working on a Thirteenth Hour Custom Action Figure

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #276: Working on a Thirteenth Hour Custom Action Figure

https://archive.org/download/podcast-276/Podcast%20276.mp3

This week, I’m working on a custom figure of Logan from The Thirteenth Hour.  In some ways, I’ve been planning this for years.  It was the original reason why I got into clay sculpting, though I ended up going the direction of making minifigures entirely from scratch first.  But I’ve been meaning to go back to try making customs.  This isn’t the first custom I tried my hand at (the first custom figure was a mini of Aurora), but it is the first one I’m making where I’m actually using all these spare action figure parts I’ve been slowly collecting over the years from yard sales, flea markets, and the loose bins at comic con conventions where I attended as a vendor.

This first custom, detailed in episode 264, was only about 2″ tall and was part kit bash, and the rest was sculpted.

Here’s a bit on the plan for the figure:

And the progress so far …

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More to come in the next few weeks!

If you still have a cassette player, take advantage of the following deal and be transported to another world!  SALE!  While supplies last, grab Long Ago Not So Far Away on cassette!  Just $1/tape!
https://ko-fi.com/s/5579db9b27

Look for the episode Shawn, Colin, and I did on Willow on I Used to Like This One or wherever you listen to your podcasts.  Check them out on Patreon to help support their work!

From my first rewatching a few years ago:

A reposting of a previous post of a Madmartigan figurine I had as a kid:

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9c855cfe-2bcf-4f9b-9681-898d80b49e9a

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!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #275: Welcome Shawn and Colin from I Used to Like This One Discussing Short Circuit 2 (1988)

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #275: Welcome Shawn and Colin from I Used to Like This One Discussing Short Circuit 2 (1988)

https://archive.org/download/podcast-275/Podcast%20275.mp3

This week, I’m joined by Shawn and Colin from the podcast I Used to Like This One. I’ve mentioned their show a few times here before – around Halloween for an episode they had me on for (The Monster Squad）and their own rewatch of The Lost Boys.  Later this week, there’s a show I did with them for Willow. But first, Short Circuit. Well, to be precise, Short Circuit 2. (Shawn and Colin did their own episode on the first installment, so if you don’t recall the story, check that episode out).

Yes, Johnny 5 and Ben are back, this time in NYC.

Johnny 5 is enjoying life, liberty, and a whole city full of input.

Ben (Fisher Stevens), on the other hand, didn’t do so great after the last adventure.  He’s peddling miniature Johhny 5s on the street for $20 each.  Even in 1988, that seems like way to little!  If the neighbor hustling watches to his left looks familiar, he’s Michael McKean from This is Spinal Tap.

And, yes, like in the first movie, Fisher Stevens (below) is in brown face playing an Indian guy.  We get into it a whole lot on the episode, so I won’t go into all the issues here.  It’s made somewhat better by the fact he’s such a good actor, clearly put a lot of time into researching the role, and the writers actually made him a real character this time, with a story arc, a love interest, and underlying motivations (as opposed to simply comedy relief).

Short Circuit 2 (1988)

The cast.

Thanks to Shawn and Colin for coming on the show!  Look for the episode we did on Willow later this week on I Used to Like This One or wherever yu listen to your podcasts.  Check them out on Patreon to help support their work!

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9c855cfe-2bcf-4f9b-9681-898d80b49e9a

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!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #274: Welcome Synthwave Musician – It’s the Dream Chaser

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #274: Welcome Synthwave – Musician It’s the Dream Chaser

https://archive.org/download/podcast-274/Podcast%20274.mp3

This week, I’m joined by musician It’s the Dream Chaser, a classically trained pianist turned retro 80s melodic synthwave artist.  We discuss his background, influences, his process of creating his sound, and advice for other musicians.  He has an upcoming album called The Great Void Above, which releases on 11/11.  We’ll be listening a few tracks from the album today, but before we do, let’s check out his first LP, Infinite Space since there is a narrative that ties the albums together.  Here’s the story behind that album:

Inspired by the sound of 80’s synths, the “Dream Chaser” gave birth to “Infinite Space”.  A melodic synthwave album that will take you to a journey to places you’ve never been.

In a Galaxy where planets are forced to fight for their freedom, a young time-traveler from the planet Earth will try to overcome and survive the overwhelming force of the “Galactic Federation of the United Systems” alongside a group of rebellious space riders. Where the mysterious presence of an A.I. called “The Unity” could change the way carbon based life beings live.

Here’s a preview of the upcoming album.  Like its predecessor, there are a selection of some great melodic tracks here that, at least to me, set it apart from a lot of synthwave, which tends to be atmospheric and ambient in nature.  I love the concept album feels of these albums given that there is an actual story behind the music, kind of like the soundtracks to movies or books.

Here’s a bit about the album:

With an 80’s heart, The Dream Chaser delivers a new album filled with melodic, chill and dark sinthwave that pushes the genre to new planets and systems.

Continuing the story of The Dream Chaser, Elara, the space riders and the mysterious “S”, “The Great Void Above” explores the consequences of fighting agains the system of the G.F.U.S. and The Unity.

“The Great Void Above” is the second album of the “4 Nights Saga”.

You can pre-order the album here: https://itsthedreamchaser.bandcamp.com/album/the-great-void-above  

You can learn more here:

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Bandcamp

Many thanks to It’s the Dream Chaser for coming on the show!  For Patreon members, look for another preview track with more behind the scenes analysis of the making of the song coming later this week!

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9c855cfe-2bcf-4f9b-9681-898d80b49e9a

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!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #273: Halloween Episode Part 2: 80s Food and The Lost Boys 2

Episode #273: Halloween Episode Part 2: 80s Food and The Lost Boys 2

https://archive.org/download/podcast-273/Podcast%20273.mp3

This week, I’m joined by fellow 80s enthusiasts Joe Fangsrud von Esch and Adam Crohn to discuss 80s food and the 1987 film, The Lost Boys.

To start, I invite you to take a culinary journey and experience Steakumms.  I’d actually never heard of Steakumms prior to seeing the following video (featuring both guests today, I should add):

Check out last week’s episode for more details on the 80s foods we brought for show and, if you’re a Patreon member, the second exclusive podcast episode, which has a guest appearance by Tibetan medical practitioner Ezdean Fassassi (a guest on episode 214) doing a meal critique of a Steakumms meal (listen to a preview below).

View this post on Instagram

[👾🎤]📖[🎸]🏹🤸🏼‍♂️🌈This week, I’m joined by fellow 80s enthusiasts Joe Fangsrud von Esch (@jfvesch ) and Adam Crohn (@mom_gave_them_away) to discuss 80s food, like Steakumms, as a precursor to a much longer discussion on the 1987 film, The Lost Boys, just in time for Halloween! So for patrons, this week’s special episode is all about steak, including my first experience making a Steakumms meal, which I recorded and photographed for here. I asked my friend EzDean, a Tibetan medicine practitioner, to weigh in on the health of this Streakumms meal, so here’s a little of what he said. Thanks, EzDean, for coming on the show! If you’re a Patreon member, check out the rest on episode number 2! You can learn more his work on his page, @holistichealthconsult, on TikTok if you search by his name (EzDean Fassassi), or on The Thirteenth Hour podcast episode 214, about a year ago. Check out @steak_umm for some hilarious posts! Check out more details on episode 272 of The Thirteenth Hour podcast; listen by clicking on the link in the bio and choosing “The Thirteenth Hour Podcast” to listen on your favorite podcasting platform.

A post shared by 🌄 Joshua Blum 🌌 (@the13thhr.ost) on

Alright!  More on The Lost Boys …

They're only noodles Michael | Lost boys movie, Jason edmiston, Lost boys

Some great art here.  There’s a whole Chinese food segment we do based on the scene below …

The Lost Boys Santa Carla Only Noodles - Red T-Shirt

The whole noodle / worm idea has its issues (as I discuss in the intro), but it’s clearly made its impact.  You can find all kinds of imagery around (again, for those of Asian descent who grew up in the US having people say their lunch smelled or looked like worms, it takes on different significance), but I think it was meant as an innocent enough scene.

The deleted scenes get referenced a few times in the podcast.  Here are some I found on youtube:

If you look around youtube, you can find elements of the soundtrack and score of the film.  Here’s a great example:

Check out the podcast I Used to Like This One for more Halloween episodes, including The Monster Squad, and their own on the rewatching of The Lost Boys.  Check them out on Patreon to help support their work!

And thanks to Adam and Joe this two part episode!  Look for an extended feature with both gentlemen in the third Patreon exclusive podcast coming this week.

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9c855cfe-2bcf-4f9b-9681-898d80b49e9a

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!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #272: Halloween Episode Part 1: 80s Food and The Lost Boys 1

Episode #272: Halloween Episode Part 1: 80s Food and The Lost Boys 1

https://archive.org/download/podcast-272/Podcast%20272.mp3

This week, I’m joined by fellow 80s enthusiasts Joe Fangsrud von Esch and Adam Crohn to discuss 80s food as a precursor to a much longer discussion on the 1987 film, The Lost Boys.

To start, I invite you to take a culinary journey and experience Steakumms.  I’d actually never heard of Steakumms prior to seeing the following video (featuring both guests today, I should add):

So, we decided to bring a few 80s food staples (as well as candy, of course, this being a Halloween special) to do a little show and tell with y’all prior to discussing the film.  There are more details in the show itself, though if you want to see some of what we were eating and learn more about my own inaugural Steakumms experience, you can see more on Patreon.  Later this week, there will be a Patreon exclusive podcast episode that goes into the creation of a Steakuums meal, a critique of the meal by Tibetan medical practitioner Ezdean Fassassi (a guest on episode 214), and more.

Alright!  Now that we’re fed, let’s get on with the show!

The Lost Boys (1987) - IMDbThe film … cue the most excellent soundtrack …

Michael, Sam & the Lost Boys come to TV! – Moviehole

These guys are brothers in the film (Corey Haim and Jason Patric)

https://imageproxy.themaven.net//https%3A%2F%2Fwww.biography.com%2F.image%2FMTc1NDk1MDQ5OTQ4MTc3NjQz%2Fthe-lost-boys-where-are-they-now_alamy-pnd07j.jpg

The vampires – seems like they could be in a glam band … (Fun fact – Laddie, the little guy here (actor Chance Michael Corbitt), was credited as “Newspaper Kid” in The Rocketeer – I guess he must have been the kid that shouts, “Extra, extra, read all about it!  Man flies without plane!”)

Here's What The Cast Of "The Lost Boys" Looks Like Exactly 30 Years Later

I mean, check out their costumes – like this coat Star (Jami Gertz) is sporting …

Check out the podcast I Used to Like This One for more Halloween episodes, including one upcoming one on The Monster Squad, which I guested on, and their own on the rewatching of The Lost Boys.

Part 2 coming next week!

Speaking of Halloween, later this week, join me and others at a virtual event that Corazon de Vida is throwing on 10/29/20 at 7 PM PST (see episode 268).  If you are also interested in helping to support their mission, learn more at https://www.corazondevida.org/get-involved or by clicking on the picture below.

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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 #271 and Like a Hood Ornament 19: Welcome Nicole Dubuc, Executive Producer of the Rocketeer Animated Series

Episode #271 and Like a Hood Ornament 19: Welcome Nicole Dubuc, Executive Producer of the Rocketeer Animated Series

https://archive.org/download/podcast-271/Podcast%20271.mp3

This week, I’d like to welcome screenwriter, actress, and producer Nicole Dubuc to the show.  She is the executive producer of the Rocketeer cartoon that came out about a year ago (which, as of 10/16/20, is now also available on Disney+.)  She joins the show under another installment of the Like a Hood Ornament Rocketeer segment to discuss the creation of the series, the music, and some of the ideals she and her team brought to the cartoon.  It was especially great to see how they were able to take Dave Stevens’ and the 1991 film’s visions of the Rocketeer universe and turn it into something that young children could easily digest and fall in love with (as my kids did).

My own children started watching the show when it came out.  We don’t have cable, so I had no idea how to watch the episodes initially but eventually figured out that you could buy the episodes individually on iTunes (and then, ultimately, as a whole season on Amazon).  It’s been great to share my favorite movie with the kids in a form they can digest, and as I mentioned here before and on social media, we’ve done a bunch of things from that love of the show, like reading books about airplanes together, making a Halloween costume for my daughter (almost done, more on the first Patreon exclusive episode coming soon), and making little resin figurines.   I also have the Rocketeer comics to thank for helping to keep my three-year-old son on the potty long enough to, you know, take care of business.

If you haven’t seen the show, here is a clip of our favorite song, which has all the 80s pop glory of flying to the sound of synths and guitars.

Can you spot the original Rocketeer film/comic Easter Eggs?  Here are a few to get you started …

-recreation of the scene in the original comic and film of the Rocketeer saving a pilot in trouble at an airshow

-Butch the bulldog

–Billy Campbell, the original Rocketeer in the 1991 film, who voices the pilot in trouble (the father of Kit, the new Rocketeer).

-gum in a white wrapper (a la Beeman’s) that saves the day

If you don’t have Disney+ or another streaming service with the show, you can, of course, buy episodes or the season individually like I did.

daa0d598-dc1b-4f92-bc6b-2d9d62d4b363

However, you can also watch an episode for free (which has a nice cameo by the original Rocketeer) on Youtube:

Although I wasn’t able to get it to work since I think my phone is too old, there was a Rocketeer game with the same bright color palate the series has that used to be part of the Disney Now app.  I’m not sure it’s still available since I wasn’t able to find it this time around, but you can check out the gameplay below.   Looks like fun!  I hope it gets released to be more widely available!

If you want to listen to more of the music, you can find a playlist of the songs on Youtube Music.  Here a great one that has a great retro 80s feel with some iconic cloud chasing:

Thanks, Nicole, for coming on the show!  You can find out more about her on Twitter and Instagram.

Look for more Rocketeer cartoon content in future episodes, and if you’re a member of the Thirteenth Hour Arts Patreon group, look for more updates on the costume we’re currently making.  Here’s a preview:

img_2062

As I mentioned last week, I wanted to finish the short story, “The Last Rocketeer” (which tells the story of what might happen if a 71-year-old Cliff from The Rocketeer met up with Centauri from The Last Starfighter) by Halloween since the story ends on Halloween, but also because, when writing it, I wanted to pay homage to the timeline the Rocketeer cartoon established for Cliff and Jenny later in life.  Although the IDW comics had stories that went up through World War 2 (and that was with Betty and the Dave Stevens version of the rocketpack), I don’t think there is anything that discussed what life was life for these characters after that.  That is, until the cartoon!  So, there are some cameos and mentions of Ambrose, Cliff’s son, and Dave, his grandson in “The Last Rocketeer.”  Here are a few of the illustrations, mostly done with the kids in daddy day care art time:

last rocketeer cover actualtired rocketeerimg_1490zandozaninside the minerocketeer kodan dogfightimg_2144

By the way, proceeds from the next Thirteenth Hour LP, Once Upon a Dream, will also be donated to the organization Corazon de Vida (see episode 268).  If you are also interested in helping to support their mission, learn more at https://www.corazondevida.org/get-involved.  Join me and others at the virtual event that Corazon de Vida is throwing on 10/29/20 at 7 PM PST by clicking on the picture below or here.

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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 #261: Musical Interlude – The Making of “Once Upon a Dream” and Like a Hood Ornament 16: The Last Rocketeer and Kit Secord Rocketpack Updates

Episode #261: Musical Interlude – The Making of “Once Upon a Dream” and Like a Hood Ornament 16: The Last Rocketeer and Kit Secord Rocketpack Updates

https://archive.org/download/podcast-261/Podcast%20261.mp3

This week, I’m working on the title track from the next Thirteenth Hour soundtrack LP, Once Upon a Dream.  I have the keyboard riffs and the lyrics mostly done and am now trying to figure out how they go together.  I’ve recorded a bare bones version here with just the vocals and the piano chords, which is how many of these songs start.  In the coming week’s, I’ll be refining the skeleton of the song as I figure out how the different riffs work into the song, where the backing beat will come in, how the solo will sound, etc.

In the Like a Hood Ornament segment, I’m talking a bit about how my kids and I have been working on a costume paper mache rocketpack for my daughter for Halloween (she’d like to be Kit Secord from the cartoon, who you can see at the bottom of these images below).

We still have to figure out how to attach straps, and I’m wondering if it might be fun to figure out how to light up the engines and/or attach the little banks of purple LEDs on the bottom that this version of the pack has.  Maybe we’ll make an electrical switch wired to the gloves, like in the movie.

Also, the next segment of the fanfic short story, “The Last Rocketeer,” describing a team-up between Centauri from The Last Starfighter and a 71 year-old Cliff Secord who has long since given up being the Rocketeer (but secretly wants one last flight) is up.

You can read the first chapter on Wattpad here: https://www.wattpad.com/919346978-the-last-rocketeer-1-in-which-cliff-finds-a

Here’s part 2: https://www.wattpad.com/926948946-the-last-rocketeer-2-nighttime-visitors

And here’s the section I was reading from in episode 260: https://www.wattpad.com/930869004-the-last-rocketeer-3-into-the-depths-of-hell

The first part of Chapter 4 is here: https://www.wattpad.com/934519790-the-last-rocketeer-4-in-which-the-proverbial

More coming next week!

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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 #260 and Like a Hood Ornament 15: Reading from Chapter 3 of the Last Rocketeer

Episode #260 and Like a Hood Ornament 15: Reading from Chapter 3 of the Last Rocketeer

https://archive.org/download/podcast-260/Podcast%20260.mp3

This week, I’m reading from the next installment of the fanfic short story, “The Last Rocketeer,” describing a team-up between Centauri from The Last Starfighter and a 71 year-old Cliff Secord who has long since given up being the Rocketeer (but secretly wants one last flight).  He gets his chance in this tale!  But as usual with Cliff, it all goes south!  Find out what happens this week as the defecation starts to hit the proverbial ventilation!

You can read the first chapter on Wattpad here: https://www.wattpad.com/919346978-the-last-rocketeer-1-in-which-cliff-finds-a

Here’s part 2: https://www.wattpad.com/926948946-the-last-rocketeer-2-nighttime-visitors

And here’s the section I was reading from today: https://www.wattpad.com/930869004-the-last-rocketeer-3-into-the-depths-of-hell

Stay tuned for Chapter 4!

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9c855cfe-2bcf-4f9b-9681-898d80b49e9a

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 #259: Isolation, Multiculturalism, and Finding Your Place in the World and Like a Hood Ornament 14: Writing the Last Rocketeer Part 2

Episode #259: Isolation, Multiculturalism, and Finding Your Place in the World and Like a Hood Ornament 14: Writing the Last Rocketeer Part 2

https://archive.org/download/podcast-259/Podcast%20259.mp3

This week, I’m talking about some ideas why the main characters in The Thirteenth Hour decide to leave the society they have grown up in and try to make their own place in the world.  I couldn’t have articulated the various reasons why that idea was compelling at the time, but over the last few years, it’s made more sense in terms of my family background, the way people in our society typically respond to racial ambiguity, idealistic (often unrealistic) American ideals, and a certain teenage optimism of my own.

In the Like a Hood Ornament section, I’m tying these ideas to the loneliness and isolation the elderly Cliff Secord experiences in the story.

You can read the first chapter on Wattpad here: https://www.wattpad.com/919346978-the-last-rocketeer-1-in-which-cliff-finds-a

Here’s part 2: https://www.wattpad.com/926948946-the-last-rocketeer-2-nighttime-visitors

Some pictures from this chapter.  These, by the way, all started life as quick sketches and watercolors done with my kids during our quarantine home schooling sessions. So, I don’t spend a ton of time on them but (maybe because of that) they’ve been fun to do!

game cabinetzandozan

Stay tuned for Chapter 3!

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9c855cfe-2bcf-4f9b-9681-898d80b49e9a

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 #258 and Like a Hood Ornament 13: What if Cliff Secord from The Rocketeer Were Alive in 1983 and Ends Up in The Last Starfighter?

Episode #258 and Like a Hood Ornament 13: What if Cliff Secord from The Rocketeer Were Alive in 1983 and Ends Up in The Last Starfighter?

https://archive.org/download/podcast-258/Podcast%20258.mp3

This week, I’m talking about a short story I’m writing for fun called “The Last Rocketeer.”

Here’s the premise:

Cliff Secord was a pilot who stumbled upon an experimental rocketpack and became a high flying reluctant hero, The Rocketeer.

That was in 1938.  But now it’s 1983.

Retirement is no longer an option.  The fate of the universe hangs in the balance! 

I got the idea from my daughter, who asked if we could tweak some of the lyrics of the song, “Superman” by Five for Fighting to be from the perspective of the Rocketeer.

I initially wasn’t sure it would work but the more I thought of it, the more I liked the idea of an older, jaded, Cliff Secord worn out physically and mentally by years of tough landings, crashes, altercations, and other traumatic events.  So I tweaked the lyrics a bit to fit that idea, recorded here:

I also really liked the idea of the bitter older man still grappling with his past.  The film The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot is a great example of such a character – a man with a violent past trying to make sense of what he did decades later.  Mike from the book It by Stephen King had a similar feel, so much so that I used Mike as a model for another character, Alfred, in The Thirteenth Hour sequel.

lastrocketeer

Since I had to figure out a way to work the 80s in,  I figured what would happen if Cliff runs into Centauri from The Last Starfighter? What if Cliff were recruited to help Centauri and in the process, you know, save the world?  Ahem – the universe!

You can read the first chapter on Wattpad here: https://www.wattpad.com/919346978-the-last-rocketeer-1-in-which-cliff-finds-a

Stay tuned for Chapter 2!

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9c855cfe-2bcf-4f9b-9681-898d80b49e9a

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 #257: Musical Interlude – Recording Vocals and Layered Synths for “The Last Dance”

Episode #257: Musical Interlude – Recording Vocals and Layered Synths for “The Last Dance”

On this week’s show, I’m continuing the recording process to a song I started a number of months ago, “The Last Dance,” last discussed on episodes 223, 224, 225, and 256.
We’re discussing the recording of the vocals as well as additional synth tracks, like a simple instrumental solo.
Speaking of which, I added a voiceover to a track that I recently finished, “The Land of Dreams” (see below for the video or here for the audio track) to make the animations match up with the part of the The Thirteenth Hour the track accompanies.

 

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9c855cfe-2bcf-4f9b-9681-898d80b49e9a

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 #256: Musical Interlude – Laying the Backing Track for “The Last Dance”

Episode #256: Musical Interlude – Laying the Backing Track for “The Last Dance”

On this week’s show, I’m starting the formal recording process to a song I started a number of months ago, “The Last Dance,” last discussed on episodes 223, 224, and 225.
I got stuck for awhile since the original way I’d conceptualized the song was much slower.  It took awhile for it to evolve in my mind and to work out how to play certain parts and sing some sections within my vocal range more comfortably.
The song starts out without no accompanying beat, and although I knew I wanted to fold one in later in the song, the original tempo felt too slow, and I wasn’t sure how to make it work.  I eventually stumbled on the right speed (120 beats/min), which in may ways felt right, as it fit the 80s new wave songs that I’ve always liked.  (E.g. “If You Leave” by OMD from the Pretty in Pink soundtrack is also 120 bpm.)   The original, stripped down, slower version I had originally envisioned may still work but probably not with my vocals or this arrangement.  This speed probably also fits better with the other songs on the upcoming album this one will be on.
In the next few weeks, watch for the final iteration of this song once I record the vocals and a few other layers for the chorus and outro.  Once that’s done, I think it’d be fun to add a pixelart visual for it since there are no pictures of this part of The Thirteenth Hour, and it’d be a fun illustration, with lots of fantastical creatures (faeries, elves, griffins, unicorns, a backflipping chimp, and many other dancing animals) besides our protagonists, Logan and Aurora, awkwardly trying to navigate the beginnings of young love, with all its stops and starts, trials and tribulations, and bittersweet awkward moments familiar to anyone who’s been there and/or watched a teen movie.

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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 #255: Welcome Bboy / MC / Professor Raphael Xavier!

Episode #255: Welcome Bboy / MC / Professor Raphael Xavier!

https://archive.org/download/podcast-255/Podcast%20255.mp3

On this week’s show, I’m pleased to welcome Raphael Xavier, a breakdancer and emcee who got his start in 1983 and has been around to see these aspects of hip hop come, go, return, and evolve over the past 30+ years.

RaphaelXavier

He is also a professor at Princeton University, where he teaches a history of hip hop class as well as one that provides an introduction to breaking.  My co-host today is not only my friend but former roommate, training partner, and fellow breaker / Princeton alum, Justin Liang (last on the show on episodes 47 and 48).  We were both blown away that not only is hip hop being taught at our former alma mater, there are actual classes on how to break.  ABSOLUTELY MIND BLOWING.

XaviereBreakdancingClass_0031-people-page

We covered so many topics in this conversation, including a lot of things that, while not part of dance, are important life skills to keep in mind for creative people – transforming pain into insight and then power, not giving up, having a direction in life as well as daily practice, how the creative process changes over time and with age, the past and future of the dance, and – for all the high school and college graduates who didn’t get a keynote speaker at a formal ceremony speech this spring – there’s even one in this interview for you.

Check out the following links for info:

-Agency Website: https://www.pentacle.org/blog/artist/raphael-xavier/

-Benefit Performance (1/30/20, about 33 min into the clip): https://vimeo.com/388609182

-Ignite Philly talk on breaking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRbibaOxAW4

-A Conversation with Urban Artistry (5/30/20 – thanks to my friend, breaking professor, and bboy Taylor Lomba) for posting this clip): https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=541382093407459&id=493753445299&_rdr
-Find Raph on IG and Facebook
-By the way, the clip we were discussing at ~2:05:00 you can watch below on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/BN3GwSZgNg7/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Thanks, Raph, for joining Justin and me for this interview!

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9c855cfe-2bcf-4f9b-9681-898d80b49e9a

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 #254: Welcome Back AC to Discuss Weird Science! (John Hughes Part 2/2)

Episode #254: Welcome Back AC to Discuss Weird Science! (John Hughes Part 2/2)

https://archive.org/download/podcast-254/Podcast%20254.mp3

On this week’s show, Adam from AC Toy Design comes back on the show to talk about another John Hughes films – last week, we discussed Pretty in Pink (see episode 253) and, this week, we’re talking about Weird Science.

Weird Science” — Review – AHSneedle

This film is probably John Hughes’ only real fantasy (sexually frustrated teenage boys create a woman a la Frankenstein or Pygmalion).  So – basically, a pretty guy-centric film that has many things in it that would never get it made today.  Still – despite all that, it has some great scenes that still hold up today.  Check out these:

Look at how Lisa deals with Gary’s parents (who are your typical John Hughes parents, meaning that they are clueless).

A great scene with Vince Townsend Jr. (RIP)

“The Circle” by Max Carl is playing in the background with the boys wrap up the crazy party with their respective girls.  The Weird Science soundtrack is another great soundtrack.

The scene “The Circle” is playing in always stuck with me.  There was a little homage to it in this scene from The Thirteenth Hour.  The main character, Logan, is trying to express similar sentiments to his best friend, Aurora, during a difficult point in their lives (they are both basically imprisoned):

The next day, a clanging sound woke me from my dream. I looked around, not quite
aware what was real and what was still a dream.

“Chow time,” came the gruff voice of a guard, opening the door of my cell. Aurora stood
behind him, carrying a basket. I noticed she was wearing a new dress. The guard put a meaty hand on the basket and pulled, but Aurora quietly but firmly held onto it. Then the guard let go, peeked inside, and grunted something that sounded like, “Huh. Alright. You can go in. But no funny business.”

“Hear that, Aurora? No funny business,” I said, yawning, wiping the sleepiness out of
my eyes.

Aurora just shook her head and gave me one of her half smiles. “Always the joker.”

We sat against the wall, looking up at the sunlight coming through the small window by
the ceiling as we ate the meal in the basket. When we had finished, we continued sitting there, and I guess a little smile crept over my face because after awhile Aurora asked, “What are you thinking?”

“I feel lucky.”

[POV change to Aurora temporarily] I laughed a little. “Lucky?” I asked, smiling at Logan.

“Well, you remember that first day we met?” Logan asked.

I nodded.

“What would’ve happened if it hadn’t been you who’d found me that day and taken me
into the orphanage? What if it’d been someone else? We might not have gotten to know each other very well at all. Was it fate that we met? The Dreamweaver said he tries to just let things happen. So was it just chance?”

I shrugged, raising my eyebrows and smiling while cocking my head a little to the side to
avoid the sun’s glare.

“You know, even if I could get to know all the women in the world, one by one, like in a
giant, living catalog …” Logan started.

“Yeah,” I interrupted, “quote–unquote ‘get to know.’”

“Alright, whatever,” he continued, exasperated, “I suck at talking. But what I’m trying
to say is that … if … if I were given the opportunity to create an ideal woman, like take some of this, mix it with some of that …”

“Oh, like a recipe.”

“Yes. I mean, no! Dammit, I knew what I wanted to say in my head, and it’s coming out
all wrong.” He started again. “What I’m trying to say is … that if I could pick the perfect one … for me, she’d be … just like you. I think I always knew that. It’s just that … it took a long time for me to be able to tell you. So yes, in so many words, I feel lucky.”

I was actually a little stunned. Here’s a little something that took me a long time to figure
out. If you complement someone soon after you meet him, you sound like a kiss–ass. But if you wait, get to know the person, and then complement him, your words carry so much more weight because then the person knows you’re sincere. In all the time I’d known Logan, this awkward, limping, borderline aphasic complement was probably the first, totally serious, non–joking one he’d ever given me. And it meant more to me than any flowing, articulate, greeting–card style prose could or ever would. My face grew hot, and I felt all warm inside. And now it was my turn to be tongue–tied.

“I … I feel lucky, too,” I said, finally, resting my head on his arm.

[Logan from here on out] Then the guard walked by and signalled that it was time for Aurora to go.

I thought of something. “New dress?”

“Oh, I found some old clothes lying around in my room. This one fits a little better.”

“Do you still have your grey dress? The one you got from the elves?”

“Sure, why?”

“Can I borrow it?”

She laughed loudly and asked, “Whatever would you want it for?”

“To use as a pillow. I don’t have one.”

I wasn’t sure, but I thought I saw Aurora blushing. “Sure, I mean … I … could just bring
you a real pillow. I have an extra. But I’ll see,” Aurora started, looking down, “what I can put together, and I’ll get it to you next time I can slip away.” Then she looked back up at me and said, “To say that your cell needs furnishing is probably the understatement of the year. And we’ll have to see what we can do about your food service. Water with a side of algae just doesn’t cut it these days.”

The guard grunted something and led Aurora out. Through the bars, she looked back and
whispered softly into my ear, “I love you, Logan.”

“I love you, too,” I said, reminding myself again of a debt I owed, a debt I wouldn’t mind
paying for the rest of my life, to luck, to dreams and wishes, to Dragons’ Eyes and grey dresses, to love and other things.

I ended up writing a song to go with this particular scene for the soundtrack called “Love, Grey Dresses, and Other Things” that expresses similar sentiments:

Look for more John Hughes in the future!

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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 one year ago, 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 #253: Welcome Back AC to Discuss Pretty in Pink! (John Hughes Part 1/2)

Episode #253: Welcome Back AC to Discuss Pretty in Pink! (John Hughes Part 1/2)

https://archive.org/download/podcast-253/Podcast%20253.mp3

On this week’s show, Adam from AC Toy Design comes back on the show for a two-parter to discuss two films John Hughes wrote, Pretty in Pink and Weird Science.

James Spader is Hot and Other Observations From Revisiting Pretty ...

Weird Science” — Review – AHSneedle

We’ll be focused on Pretty in Pink today.  It’s the precursor to Some Kind of Wonderful (see episode 154; which reversed the roles), also directed by Howard Deutch.  These movies, as do all the John Hughes films, do such a great job at getting into the mind of the adolescent.  And while that world may not always make sense to the mind of adults, these films tap into the tumult of being caught between child and adult quite well.  The parents pictured in the film are rarely present and often clueless.  Even Andy’s father, in Pretty in Pink, in a warm-hearted role done so well by Harry Dean Stanton, is so caught up in the loss of his wife, who left the family, that he is living in a world all his own.  It’s good to remember at time when, like the characters of this film,  current, real-life high school seniors are preparing to enter the working world or go to whatever college will look like in the fall.  Some of those students may have had parents who saw these films and were just as internally conflicted about what they wanted and disgusted by what they saw in the complacency and/or cluelessness of older generations as their children, like the characters in these films, do today.

One aspect of these John Hughes films that also unites them is such great music.  It’s one of the main reasons why I knew that The Thirteenth Hour, which was influenced by the JOhn HUghes films, needed to have a soundtrack of its own that evoked similar new wave vibes of wistful longing.  Pretty in Pink does not disappoint in the music department.  In fact, OMD’s “If You Leave” plays in its entirely during the final scene!  Check out the clips below from the music video from the time as well as an updated performance 30 years later:

Look for more John Hughes next week!

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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 one year ago, 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 #252 and Like a Hood Ornament 12: Welcome back Jeremy, Max, and Antonio – Nirvana Pilot Yume Redux and Fragments of the Past (Part 2/2)

Episode #252 and Like a Hood Ornament 12: Welcome back Jeremy, Max, and Antonio – Nirvana Pilot Yume Redux and Fragments of the Past (Part 2/2)

https://archive.org/download/podcast-252/Podcast%20252.mp3

On this week’s show, my brother, Jeremy, and I continue the conversation with European game developer team Dev9k (Massimiliano ‘Haematinon’ Nigro and Antonio Scacchetti), who, aside from last week, were last on the show in episode 123.  At the time, they had recently released the 80s anime / Skyroads inspired video game, Nirvana Pilot Yume, for the PC.  Today, we’re mostly discussing Massimiliano’s recent fantasy art book, Fragments of the Past, including how his world came to be, how he did his illustrations, how myth holds up a mirror to reality, and the extensive role historical research had in the creation of the world in the story.

Below are some pictures from the book.  According to Max, aside from the research entailed, the paintings, on average, took about a week to do.

The beautiful poem that Max reads at the end of the show, “The Last Fragment” is here.  The imagery reminds be a lot of the poem “Kubla Khan” by Samuel Coleridge (about Xanadu).

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In the intro, I discuss a few segments from The Smithsonian Book of Flight by Walter Boyne, where Hermes, the Greek messenger of the Gods, was often featured in the golden age of aviation when it came to flight. Here’s an art deco painting from the book showing Hermes leading zeppelins and airplanes into the future:

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I’ve also been meaning to do this for weeks given the name of this segment of the podcast (“Like a Hood Ornament”) but never got around to having a segment on actual art deco hood ornaments from the era that tie Greek mythology (Icarus, perhaps?) to flight.  Here are some reputedly from a late 1920s Cadillac LaSalle.  You can find these on Etsy as well as auction sites.

hoodornamnet

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9c855cfe-2bcf-4f9b-9681-898d80b49e9a

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 one year ago, 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!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #251 and Like a Hood Ornament 11: Welcome back Jeremy, Max, and Antonio – Nirvana Pilot Yume Redux and Fragments of the Past (Part 1/2)

Episode #251 and Like a Hood Ornament 11: Welcome back Jeremy, Max, and Antonio – Nirvana Pilot Yume Redux and Fragments of the Past (Part 1/2)

https://archive.org/download/podcast-251/Podcast%20251.mp3

On this week’s show, my brother, Jeremy, and I had the opportunity to reconnect with European game developer team Dev9k (Massimiliano ‘Haematinon’ Nigro and Antonio Scacchetti), who were last on the show in episode 123.  At the time, they had recently released the 80s anime / Skyroads inspired video game, Nirvana Pilot Yume, for the PC.

Nirvana Pilot Yume for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Game Details

Today, we’re discussing the recent port of the game to the Nintendo Switch as well as the release of Massimiliano’s recent fantasy art book, Fragments of the Past.  Most of this session was spent discussing the creative process.  We’ll be discussing more about the book next week, so just a taste this episode.

frag

There are many, many beautifully rendered painting in the book which we’ll explore more next episode.

By the way, if you haven’t gotten the chance to check out the 80s retro soundtrack for Nirvana Pilot Yume done by Retroxx, check it below or here:

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Since we’re essentially talking about the nature of the creative process in this episode, I thought for this segment, I’d post a little on the circuitous path Dave Stevens’ creation, The Rocketeer, took flight, first on paper and, eventually, on screen.  From the April ’91 edition of Comics Scene:

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See you next week for Part 2!

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