Earstory is enjoying the 20 part adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel Our Mutual Friend currently playing on BBC Radio 4. It is three quarters of the way through with five fifteen-minute episodes left to play this week.
There are a lot characters and it is not always easy to follow the action and determine who is who. Plus the thing is a mystery of sorts so it is sometimes hard to determine what is supposed to be known, what has been missed and what has been confused. In spite of all that, or because of, it is a fascinating listen, well performed, with wonderful scenes and exotic somewhat deprived, and sad characters. Well, you know, Dickens.
The fortune build on a stinking garbage heap it just a brillient jumping off point for this wonderful, crazy story of a miserable city and sad people just trying to somehow get by.
Roger Goula adds to the atmosphere, his beautiful sad woodwinds, and piano.
The adaptation is by BBC Radio drama regular Mike Walker
BBC is doing something new with this series and others. Before it would only keep the streams up for a week, But now it is possible to catch-up with the whole series while it still runs. Earstory thinks this is a great move and really supports it.
There is a survey on the bottom of this page about this change. take a minute to answer the questions, it might help to encourage the BBC the continue this sort of thing.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
The Loop
This is a very fine entertainment.
The Loop by Nick Perry is a conceptually clever, brilliantly executed, and ultimately very satisfying science fiction drama.
The story has to do with a frustrated single parent writer, a character who shares the playwright's name, who has himself a poorly paying assignment to write an installment of the Afternoon Play. He is also a recent widower and has a four-year-old son.
His son likes to play with the mobile phone and somehow hits a loop into the future. I know it sounds ridiculous, but believe me the writing, characters, and performances are so strong that it is easy to suspend disbelief and go along for a very enjoyable ride.
A must for Twilight Zone fans and anyway else who loves a good play.
Not to be missed.
It is only available through Tuesday Nov, 24th 2009.
It would be lovely if the BBC would extend this streaming window. With The Woman's Hour Drama Our Mutual Friend current playing out in 20 episodes, the BBC has decided to leave the whole thing available until the end. This is a great move. Here's hoping that they do it for other plays.
The Loop by Nick Perry is a conceptually clever, brilliantly executed, and ultimately very satisfying science fiction drama.
The story has to do with a frustrated single parent writer, a character who shares the playwright's name, who has himself a poorly paying assignment to write an installment of the Afternoon Play. He is also a recent widower and has a four-year-old son.
His son likes to play with the mobile phone and somehow hits a loop into the future. I know it sounds ridiculous, but believe me the writing, characters, and performances are so strong that it is easy to suspend disbelief and go along for a very enjoyable ride.
A must for Twilight Zone fans and anyway else who loves a good play.
Not to be missed.
It is only available through Tuesday Nov, 24th 2009.
It would be lovely if the BBC would extend this streaming window. With The Woman's Hour Drama Our Mutual Friend current playing out in 20 episodes, the BBC has decided to leave the whole thing available until the end. This is a great move. Here's hoping that they do it for other plays.
Forty-Three Fifty-Nine - Wake
The "Occasional Series" Forty-Three Fifty-Nine is usually concerned with suspense drama. The idea it to have a play that fits, real-time, into the Forty-Three Fifty-Nine minute time slot of The Afternoon Play. The first one was literally a ticking time bomb, the second as I recall had something to do with a poisoning or some such, both were quite dark and good.
With this one, Wake by Katie Hims, it's as if the producers suddenly discovered that they could just as well have a real-time comedy. All of them have been on the go, not locked into one location. In Wake we begin with a mother and daughter in transit. they are an odd pair, the mother thinks she looks like Marilyn Monroe with her wig and dark glasses. The daughter puts up with her apparent madness and deception.
They eventually arrive at their destination, a home with a wake, a dead body on display in one of the rooms. But the people in the house don't seem to know them. They claim to be long lost cousins or some such. From this point on things get interesting, there is some indiscrete fast and sleazy romance and some interesting revelations.
The other two Forty-Three Fifty-Nine plays were hits and this one is too. Let's hope there are more soon. It's an interesting format for drama AND comedy.
Only available tonight Nov. 22, 2009, online.
With this one, Wake by Katie Hims, it's as if the producers suddenly discovered that they could just as well have a real-time comedy. All of them have been on the go, not locked into one location. In Wake we begin with a mother and daughter in transit. they are an odd pair, the mother thinks she looks like Marilyn Monroe with her wig and dark glasses. The daughter puts up with her apparent madness and deception.
They eventually arrive at their destination, a home with a wake, a dead body on display in one of the rooms. But the people in the house don't seem to know them. They claim to be long lost cousins or some such. From this point on things get interesting, there is some indiscrete fast and sleazy romance and some interesting revelations.
The other two Forty-Three Fifty-Nine plays were hits and this one is too. Let's hope there are more soon. It's an interesting format for drama AND comedy.
Only available tonight Nov. 22, 2009, online.
The Secret Place
I know that Earstory often seems like The Afternoon Play review, or even promotional blog. But the thing is I like the 44 minute length of the plays and this week they are of unusually high quality.
Clare Bayley's The Secret Place is the story of a woman who in the course of helping a lifer in prison for murder falls in love and marries him behind bars. But this is not at all the heart-warming do-gooder social action type drama that it appears to be and starts out as. It is a romance-suspense drama.
The play brings to mind why some people want to have the control of a relationship at a distance, be it someone who is a far off Facebook "Friend", or in this case one who is safely incarcerated. What happens when that Facebook romance suddenly shows up at the door and is not exactly what they gave the impression that they were?
Well, this is a fine romance! And a frightening one.
The Secret Place is available until through Monday Nov. 23, 2009.
Clare Bayley's The Secret Place is the story of a woman who in the course of helping a lifer in prison for murder falls in love and marries him behind bars. But this is not at all the heart-warming do-gooder social action type drama that it appears to be and starts out as. It is a romance-suspense drama.
The play brings to mind why some people want to have the control of a relationship at a distance, be it someone who is a far off Facebook "Friend", or in this case one who is safely incarcerated. What happens when that Facebook romance suddenly shows up at the door and is not exactly what they gave the impression that they were?
Well, this is a fine romance! And a frightening one.
The Secret Place is available until through Monday Nov. 23, 2009.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Radio Hollywood
The BBC Radio 4 Archive Hour has a special treat this week for fans of classic USA radio drama. It takes a look at The Lux Radio Theater. The hour long live radio drama show ran from 1935 to 1954 each week presenting radio play versions of popular movies of the day, performed by major Hollywood stars, but often not the same ones who appeared in the original movies. Like the Alan Ladd version of Casablanca, replacing Bogart.
The Archive Hour presenter, Jeffrey Richards tells us how and why the program was created. The program was the invention of the J Walter Thompson Advertising agency in service of their client Lux Soap. Richards also informs us that the program, through it's long history, had a way of also selling certain values such as "The Family". Listening to some of the programs today, one can feel a certain wholesomeness that is not so apparent in some other commercial shows of the era such as Suspense, The Whistler, Inner Sanctum, or Quiet Please.
It really shows how the mass entertainment mediums, radio first, and then television helped form American's view of itself in the advertiser's image. Richards only suggests this. He doesn't explore it deeply. That is not the purpose of Radio Hollywood.
But what we have is a fine hour about the program with many interesting and amusing stories and excerpts. My favorite was how longtime host Cecil B. DeMille was booted off the show after a dispute with the American Federation of Radio Artists (AFRA).
Many of the original recordings of the Lux Radio Theater are available on the Internet Archive. Give them and the fine BBC Radio 4 Archive Hour a listen. The Archive Hour is available until Sunday Nov. 22, 2009.
The Archive Hour presenter, Jeffrey Richards tells us how and why the program was created. The program was the invention of the J Walter Thompson Advertising agency in service of their client Lux Soap. Richards also informs us that the program, through it's long history, had a way of also selling certain values such as "The Family". Listening to some of the programs today, one can feel a certain wholesomeness that is not so apparent in some other commercial shows of the era such as Suspense, The Whistler, Inner Sanctum, or Quiet Please.
It really shows how the mass entertainment mediums, radio first, and then television helped form American's view of itself in the advertiser's image. Richards only suggests this. He doesn't explore it deeply. That is not the purpose of Radio Hollywood.
But what we have is a fine hour about the program with many interesting and amusing stories and excerpts. My favorite was how longtime host Cecil B. DeMille was booted off the show after a dispute with the American Federation of Radio Artists (AFRA).
Many of the original recordings of the Lux Radio Theater are available on the Internet Archive. Give them and the fine BBC Radio 4 Archive Hour a listen. The Archive Hour is available until Sunday Nov. 22, 2009.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Granny Green's Green Machine
In a slight departure Earstory is today listening to a new album of music for children available on Amazon and other places:
Granny Green's Green Machine combines entertainment with a positive message.
If you have children I think they will giggle every time they hear The Wiggle Worm Wiggle with its silly worm backing vocal choirs. I bet you didn't know worms had voices did you? Well they do, and can carry a tune!
The positive message is that we are all in this together, even the bugs, plants, trees, & animals.
Granny Green shows us that what we do, how we live, in the simplest easiest & fun ways, can make a fundamental difference. This is a song collection filled with awe of the natural and youthful hope for the future. The message is within the entertainment, in the artistry of the songs.
Armed with her ukulele and clear and direct voice Granny introduces a cast of creatures; polar bear, butterfly, wiggle worm, bumblebee, and mama manatee.
There are also elements, such as in Rain is Falling, the very beautiful final song of the set.
The craft of the songs will also subliminally instruct children and adults how a fine song is created. Granny Green does not talk down to her audience, she speaks to them.
I think mothers, and fathers, will be particularly moved by The Butterfly Lullaby with its subtext about letting go, an excellent song and performance.
I hope to see the live version of the Granny Green show, with it's puppets and audience participation.
Here is Granny Green's Myspace.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Broad Channel & the Audio Option
Here are some thoughts on attending a new play reading last night. The play was called Broad Channel by James Bosley. It is not really fair to review a play reading, but I will say that it was quite good. It is a story about international, cross-generational, art theft. A working class American family has the art and has had it for a two generations. An upper-class European woman wants it back.
Since this was a reading, and not a staged one, with actors standing in place. I decided to experience most of it with my eyes closed, as if it were a radio play. That worked out quite well. The play would make an effective radio production. But the thing is, it probably never will be produced for audio. It is doubtful that the audio option is even considered by most USA playwrights. A play in the USA, if it is lucky, has a life of being produced in the theater, or adapted to film. If neither of these work out the play is a dead paper entirety. Professional audio theater has been more or less dead in the USA for about 50 years so it is understandable that it is not considered. This is a shame. This play, when heard with eyes closed, came alive and would afford itself quite nicely to audio production. It was not necessary to see the painting in question, the house of the working class family, the cut of the art investigator's suit. All these things can be easily seen in the mind of the imaginative listener.
But that will never happen. Here it is all or nothing. A play is produced in a theater, or made into a film (very unlikely in this case). Those are the options and that's it. If the play can't get a production in theater or film/TV it is dead, type on paper or a text file in memory. Theater, film/video productions are costly enterprises and most plays sit in a drawer somewhere like a unemployed actor, waiting for the phone to ring. Audio production is very inexpensive in comparison and should be considered in many cases. We have LA Theater Works, but they can only get to a few plays and they must have an expensive overhead too with the insistence on recording with a live audience.
It is time for an explosion of professionally audio drama in the USA. With the advent of the iPod and such devices, why can't commuters be listening to a good play rather than music. Of course there are rights, union, and ownership issues. But these can be resolved somehow to the satisfaction of all, somehow, after no doubt a good deal of haggling. We can't let art suffer behind the need to make a buck, can we? (Well, or course we can and do, but let's hope for better.)
Since this was a reading, and not a staged one, with actors standing in place. I decided to experience most of it with my eyes closed, as if it were a radio play. That worked out quite well. The play would make an effective radio production. But the thing is, it probably never will be produced for audio. It is doubtful that the audio option is even considered by most USA playwrights. A play in the USA, if it is lucky, has a life of being produced in the theater, or adapted to film. If neither of these work out the play is a dead paper entirety. Professional audio theater has been more or less dead in the USA for about 50 years so it is understandable that it is not considered. This is a shame. This play, when heard with eyes closed, came alive and would afford itself quite nicely to audio production. It was not necessary to see the painting in question, the house of the working class family, the cut of the art investigator's suit. All these things can be easily seen in the mind of the imaginative listener.
But that will never happen. Here it is all or nothing. A play is produced in a theater, or made into a film (very unlikely in this case). Those are the options and that's it. If the play can't get a production in theater or film/TV it is dead, type on paper or a text file in memory. Theater, film/video productions are costly enterprises and most plays sit in a drawer somewhere like a unemployed actor, waiting for the phone to ring. Audio production is very inexpensive in comparison and should be considered in many cases. We have LA Theater Works, but they can only get to a few plays and they must have an expensive overhead too with the insistence on recording with a live audience.
It is time for an explosion of professionally audio drama in the USA. With the advent of the iPod and such devices, why can't commuters be listening to a good play rather than music. Of course there are rights, union, and ownership issues. But these can be resolved somehow to the satisfaction of all, somehow, after no doubt a good deal of haggling. We can't let art suffer behind the need to make a buck, can we? (Well, or course we can and do, but let's hope for better.)
Friday, November 6, 2009
Ivan and the Dogs
Here is a very good Afternoon Play.
Ivan and the Dogs by Hattie Naylor tells the story of a young boy living on the street in Moscow. The story is narrated by Ivan and perfectly played by Tom Glenister.
Ivan is a sort of Russian version of Oliver Twist, and just as endearing . Ivan is smart, careful, and observant. He can read the eyes of those who wish to exploit him and avoids them. He doesn't fall in with the gang of other street boys with their glue. He passes up being befriended by a man offering our very hungry boy ice cream.
But he picks the best friends a street boy could have, a pack of stray dogs.
Forget Lassie with the clean rural comfort. These dogs are surely thin, mangy, mean and flee-bitten. But they are Ivan's friends. He talks to the animals and is one of the pack, finally accepted. There are a couple exciting satisfying scenes were the pack comes to the rescue.
Hattie cleverly constructs her play script so that our dear Ivan speaks English with a British accent. This helps to bring us closer to him as opposed to having him speak English with a Russian accent. The authentic feel is provided by the rest of the cast speaking Russian with Ivan translating for us in his narration.
Sarah Moody's cello adds to the mood and augments the story without at all calling attention to itself.
The production is directed by Paul Dodgson.
Ivan and the Dogs BBC Radio 4 is The Afternoon Play at its very best.
Available on the BBC iPlayer through Wed Nov. 11, 2009.
Ivan and the Dogs by Hattie Naylor tells the story of a young boy living on the street in Moscow. The story is narrated by Ivan and perfectly played by Tom Glenister.
Ivan is a sort of Russian version of Oliver Twist, and just as endearing . Ivan is smart, careful, and observant. He can read the eyes of those who wish to exploit him and avoids them. He doesn't fall in with the gang of other street boys with their glue. He passes up being befriended by a man offering our very hungry boy ice cream.
But he picks the best friends a street boy could have, a pack of stray dogs.
Forget Lassie with the clean rural comfort. These dogs are surely thin, mangy, mean and flee-bitten. But they are Ivan's friends. He talks to the animals and is one of the pack, finally accepted. There are a couple exciting satisfying scenes were the pack comes to the rescue.
Hattie cleverly constructs her play script so that our dear Ivan speaks English with a British accent. This helps to bring us closer to him as opposed to having him speak English with a Russian accent. The authentic feel is provided by the rest of the cast speaking Russian with Ivan translating for us in his narration.
Sarah Moody's cello adds to the mood and augments the story without at all calling attention to itself.
The production is directed by Paul Dodgson.
Ivan and the Dogs BBC Radio 4 is The Afternoon Play at its very best.
Available on the BBC iPlayer through Wed Nov. 11, 2009.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Brian May's 3-D Village
BBC Radio 4 has an interesting offering, especially for those of us interested in 3D photography. I have been a 35 mm 1950's "Realist" format stereo photographer for some years (a bit inactive in that area of late), so I found this edition of the Open Country program, Brian May's 3-D Village, of particular interest.
This program primarily discusses the work of one T. R. Williams and his work photographing the everyday life in the village of Hinton Waldrist in the 1850s.
There is, along the way, a chat with noted modern 3D photographer David Burder who discusses the history of the craft and shifting tides of it's popularity. Some people and not really aware that 3D photography goes back to the very beginning of photography, over 150 years.
It all serves as fine intro to 3D photography which is now enjoying new popularity with the resent fashion for digital 3D presentations of popular movies in the cinema.
Catch the program this week on Open Country.
This program primarily discusses the work of one T. R. Williams and his work photographing the everyday life in the village of Hinton Waldrist in the 1850s.
There is, along the way, a chat with noted modern 3D photographer David Burder who discusses the history of the craft and shifting tides of it's popularity. Some people and not really aware that 3D photography goes back to the very beginning of photography, over 150 years.
It all serves as fine intro to 3D photography which is now enjoying new popularity with the resent fashion for digital 3D presentations of popular movies in the cinema.
Catch the program this week on Open Country.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Film Courage With Ted Hope
New York based independent film producer Ted Hope has an impressive list of credits in the twenty years of his career.
This installment of Film Courage hosted by Karen Worden & David Branin features an interview with Mr. Hope. He tells the story of how he get interested in film, found his way into the New York independent business, worked hard (and I know he worked hard), learned how films are really made, and embarked on his career as a movie producer.
His passion for film continues and it comes through the internet and the phone lines in this program. He also addresses the use of social media as an essential tool for the 21 Century filmmaker and his blog Truly Free Film.
To succeed at anything, any creative work, that work needs to become play.
This installment of Film Courage is an inspirational hour. Give it a listen.
This installment of Film Courage hosted by Karen Worden & David Branin features an interview with Mr. Hope. He tells the story of how he get interested in film, found his way into the New York independent business, worked hard (and I know he worked hard), learned how films are really made, and embarked on his career as a movie producer.
His passion for film continues and it comes through the internet and the phone lines in this program. He also addresses the use of social media as an essential tool for the 21 Century filmmaker and his blog Truly Free Film.
To succeed at anything, any creative work, that work needs to become play.
This installment of Film Courage is an inspirational hour. Give it a listen.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Cormorant
The title of this play refers to a type of sea bird. Cormorant is about a couple of men shipwrecked on a deserted island. They are without food and must try to kill the birds to survive. John, is the one who attempts the hunting while salty and demanding McKinney gets the bulk of the meat.
The play starts on the island but quickly moves on to life after the ordeal. John is suffering from a strange sort of post traumatic disorder. He is having dreams, nightmares that take him back to the island. He sets himself apart, he chooses to live in a rooming house owned by a suspicious unpleasant woman. Next door is a very odd fellow, a musician and conspiracy theorist named Crow who becomes interested in his new neighbor, John, who only wants to be left alone.
This play is an hour long, but it moves along so briskly that it feels much shorter.
It is simple in that it is not overloaded with characters and voices that one has to struggle to keep straight. It also has some good music and songs that are supposed to be those of Crow.
Cormorant is by Sarah Hutchings and Hil Cooke and directed by Catriona Ryan.
The Wireless Theatre Company offers it as a free download. This is a grown up entertainment which is to say it is not for very small children. some of the content is a bit unpleasant. It's well written produced and acted, even with the very odd voicing of the Crow character.
The Wireless Theatre Company is the best internet audio drama production companies. Their product is professional, and original. One can't go wrong with The Wireless Theatre Company.
The play starts on the island but quickly moves on to life after the ordeal. John is suffering from a strange sort of post traumatic disorder. He is having dreams, nightmares that take him back to the island. He sets himself apart, he chooses to live in a rooming house owned by a suspicious unpleasant woman. Next door is a very odd fellow, a musician and conspiracy theorist named Crow who becomes interested in his new neighbor, John, who only wants to be left alone.
This play is an hour long, but it moves along so briskly that it feels much shorter.
It is simple in that it is not overloaded with characters and voices that one has to struggle to keep straight. It also has some good music and songs that are supposed to be those of Crow.
Cormorant is by Sarah Hutchings and Hil Cooke and directed by Catriona Ryan.
The Wireless Theatre Company offers it as a free download. This is a grown up entertainment which is to say it is not for very small children. some of the content is a bit unpleasant. It's well written produced and acted, even with the very odd voicing of the Crow character.
The Wireless Theatre Company is the best internet audio drama production companies. Their product is professional, and original. One can't go wrong with The Wireless Theatre Company.
Filthy Rich
Filthy Rich by Michael Butt, directed by Sasha Yevtushenko is a very enjoyable mystery. We have a pair of young adult brother and sister twins who have always had a, not so out of the ordinary, complicated relationship. But after momma and pappa die in an automobile accident leaving a substantial fortune, things get very complicated indeed.
Grandmamma is named executor of the will, and it also states that the twins must not fight, must get along for a five year period, and only then will they receive their inheritance.
The story is told from the point of view of Max, delightfully well played by William Beck. Max is a good guy and one wants things to work out nicely for him. Various seductive and potentially dangerous characters are introduced.
Max, and the audience must figure out who is a friendly, and who is in the game for only the benefit of themselves or a ruthless agent of another.
Michael Butt's lucid, entertaining play takes us through the twists and turns in playfully sinister style.
This BBC Radio 4 The Afternoon Play offering is very will produced and a delight to listen to.
Only available online until Monday Oct. 26. 2009. It would be nice if the BBC would stream their programs a little bit longer. A month? Would they settle for at least two weeks?
Grandmamma is named executor of the will, and it also states that the twins must not fight, must get along for a five year period, and only then will they receive their inheritance.
The story is told from the point of view of Max, delightfully well played by William Beck. Max is a good guy and one wants things to work out nicely for him. Various seductive and potentially dangerous characters are introduced.
Max, and the audience must figure out who is a friendly, and who is in the game for only the benefit of themselves or a ruthless agent of another.
Michael Butt's lucid, entertaining play takes us through the twists and turns in playfully sinister style.
This BBC Radio 4 The Afternoon Play offering is very will produced and a delight to listen to.
Only available online until Monday Oct. 26. 2009. It would be nice if the BBC would stream their programs a little bit longer. A month? Would they settle for at least two weeks?
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
TURNING THE TIDE
Here is a satisfying play about bullying presented by the always solid and professional The Wireless Theatre Company.
Tuning the Tide in a multigenerational story told through the voice of the father of a teen boy. The father never learn to stand up for himself and still doesn't on the job.
The father teaches and learns from the son in Gareth Brownbill's entertaining and well performed life lesson.
This is a free download from The Wireless Theatre Company and well worth you time.
Tuning the Tide in a multigenerational story told through the voice of the father of a teen boy. The father never learn to stand up for himself and still doesn't on the job.
The father teaches and learns from the son in Gareth Brownbill's entertaining and well performed life lesson.
This is a free download from The Wireless Theatre Company and well worth you time.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Tech Notes
First of all I want to state that after complaining about the BBC iPlayer, I am now pleased to report that it is working fine for me.
I've been using it via Firefox on my Mac. It plays just fine now, without a stutter or pause even if I do a lot of browsing with Safari which I open at the same. I also use Audio Hijack to open Firefox. This affords me the opportunity to record the content which so I can listen to plays on a portable digital audio player while working out or whatever.
So that is the happy ending to the iPlayer story.
Meanwhile I now have a new iPod Nano.
This is my very first iPod. I skipped buying one years ago when I was in the market for my first digital audio player because the iPods never had a radio. The iRiver did, so I got one of those and have been using it ever since. But finally this summer the iRiver was beginning to show it's age. The radio tuner would not work or only intermittently. Just as I was getting ready to look for something new, Apple released the new iPod Nano (5G) which had a radio, video recording. This was perfect for me since I also like to shoot some video.
So I got one and I love it. The radio is the best I've had in a portable devise. It is better than the tuner in the iRiver. The tuner in the iPod Nano holds the signal very well as I walk around the canyons of Manhattan. The video is really fun too. I love my new toy and am happy that it came just in time.
So now there should be more posts here. I no longer can rely on technical excuses.
I've been using it via Firefox on my Mac. It plays just fine now, without a stutter or pause even if I do a lot of browsing with Safari which I open at the same. I also use Audio Hijack to open Firefox. This affords me the opportunity to record the content which so I can listen to plays on a portable digital audio player while working out or whatever.
So that is the happy ending to the iPlayer story.
Meanwhile I now have a new iPod Nano.
This is my very first iPod. I skipped buying one years ago when I was in the market for my first digital audio player because the iPods never had a radio. The iRiver did, so I got one of those and have been using it ever since. But finally this summer the iRiver was beginning to show it's age. The radio tuner would not work or only intermittently. Just as I was getting ready to look for something new, Apple released the new iPod Nano (5G) which had a radio, video recording. This was perfect for me since I also like to shoot some video.
So I got one and I love it. The radio is the best I've had in a portable devise. It is better than the tuner in the iRiver. The tuner in the iPod Nano holds the signal very well as I walk around the canyons of Manhattan. The video is really fun too. I love my new toy and am happy that it came just in time.
So now there should be more posts here. I no longer can rely on technical excuses.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Forty-Three Fifty-Nine- Assassins
Forty-Three Fifty-Nine- Assassins is the third Forty-Three Fifty-Nine play I've heard . Forty-Three Fifty-Nine is the time length of BBC Radio 4, The Afternoon Play time slot in which the programs have been presented. In this, like the other two plays, the drama plays out in real time.
Assassins by John Dryden and Mike Walker is about a father who is a hit man and his daughter to whom he is passing down the family business. We enter on a conversation between these two as they head for a job. They seem, normal, pleasant enough, and as these two are all we know here at the outset, the play works to direct our sympathy toward them. The subdued direct performances of Henry, Rob Jarvis and Cathy, Meghan Haggerty, in a particularly deadpan turn, drawn us into their ultimately despicable world.
They arrive at the location of the day's job. It is a lavish estate with a high hedge and a private beach. It is the home of a hedge fund manager. Henry social engineers his way into the house and but ultimately raises the suspicion of Bryant, his soon to be victim.
Everything goes horrible wrong after that. This is where the moral ambiguity of the play serves the production. We like the hit man and his daughter and want things to work out for them in spite of their unsupportable criminal behavior. The conversation between Henry and Cathy is particularly sinister. Deadpan Cathy asks her dad, what are you going to do now? When he says sometime one has to improvise when things don't go as planned, as things get even worse, Cathy quietly throws it back at him, well I guess you'll have to improvise dad.
This is a fine production. Performances, script, sound design, all top grade.
The tone of the play, as we are riding with the killers, brings to mind the delight of the long running classic radio drama anthology series The Whistler. This show plays like a very good episode of The Whistler. I quite like The Whistler. Great lowlife noir fun.
BTW: The notorious BBC iPlayer functioned perfectly on this one. I used Foxfire. It played without pause. I guess it is safe for me to jump back into the BBC Radio 4 waters now. This is a good thing.
Assassins by John Dryden and Mike Walker is about a father who is a hit man and his daughter to whom he is passing down the family business. We enter on a conversation between these two as they head for a job. They seem, normal, pleasant enough, and as these two are all we know here at the outset, the play works to direct our sympathy toward them. The subdued direct performances of Henry, Rob Jarvis and Cathy, Meghan Haggerty, in a particularly deadpan turn, drawn us into their ultimately despicable world.
They arrive at the location of the day's job. It is a lavish estate with a high hedge and a private beach. It is the home of a hedge fund manager. Henry social engineers his way into the house and but ultimately raises the suspicion of Bryant, his soon to be victim.
Everything goes horrible wrong after that. This is where the moral ambiguity of the play serves the production. We like the hit man and his daughter and want things to work out for them in spite of their unsupportable criminal behavior. The conversation between Henry and Cathy is particularly sinister. Deadpan Cathy asks her dad, what are you going to do now? When he says sometime one has to improvise when things don't go as planned, as things get even worse, Cathy quietly throws it back at him, well I guess you'll have to improvise dad.
This is a fine production. Performances, script, sound design, all top grade.
The tone of the play, as we are riding with the killers, brings to mind the delight of the long running classic radio drama anthology series The Whistler. This show plays like a very good episode of The Whistler. I quite like The Whistler. Great lowlife noir fun.
BTW: The notorious BBC iPlayer functioned perfectly on this one. I used Foxfire. It played without pause. I guess it is safe for me to jump back into the BBC Radio 4 waters now. This is a good thing.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
BBC iPlayer Again
Well, I guess I'm just old fashioned, can't deal with change, but I really did enjoy BBC Radio streaming far more before they launched the iPlayer Console. The Realplayer streams worked great. The iPlayer, linked as it is to a browser, has never really worked out well for me.
I mean, I might like to browse other sites while listening to the BBC content instead of having to open an dedicated browser for listening and even then sometime having it stop, pause, while I'm doing things on another browser.
So my ultimate opinion is BBC iPlayer= Double + Ungood.
On the other hand it is not a big tragedy to miss a week of the X Files-sih Torchwood on the Afternoon Play slot. I heard one and was rather underwhelmed.
Alright I'll give Chameleon a go, why not?
I mean, I might like to browse other sites while listening to the BBC content instead of having to open an dedicated browser for listening and even then sometime having it stop, pause, while I'm doing things on another browser.
So my ultimate opinion is BBC iPlayer= Double + Ungood.
On the other hand it is not a big tragedy to miss a week of the X Files-sih Torchwood on the Afternoon Play slot. I heard one and was rather underwhelmed.
Alright I'll give Chameleon a go, why not?
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Amusing Grace
Misfits Audio presents Amusing Grace. This is a full length play presented in five parts, five separate downloads. It was recorded at University of Toronto with a live audience in 2000, so we have something here that is almost 9 years old.
It's a play about two lonely old people who live in the same building and meet on the roof where they play Trivial Pursuit. This set up immediately brings to mind a very famous and successful play D. L Coburn's The Gin Game. It is unfortunate that Amusing Grace shares this immediate opening similarity, especially when it invites comparison with The Gin Game a very good and well known play.
Is it possible that Amusing Grace's Neville J. Bryant was unaware of The Gin Game? Or did he just see it as a situation he wished to explore in spite of the obvious similarity?
At any rate Amusing Grace is an entertaining, gentle listen. It features a very good and convincing leading performance by Hasel Dalgleish as Grace. Too bad she did not have a performer of equal ability in Jim Hooper as Danny. Hooper simply never comes off as a 78 year old man. His voice has too much of the tenor, not quite grow up, sort of Ira Glass sound. All in the head, nothing resonating in the old body which would have been nice to hear in this particular role. He is just too adolescent sounding. Not only that his readings too often sound like reading, are not felt. It is a shame because Hasel Dalgleish is so fine and deserved a much better sparring partner.
That said it is really a rather amusing listen. It is pleasant to spend some time with these folks on their rooftop. The scenes are framed by some very nice music by the play's author Mr. Bryant. It might have been good if he went ahead and made it a nice little musical play.
Anyway, it is all worth a listen and good to hear an amateur audio drama involved with issues, themes, more homebound rather than all the fantasy, and TV space opera stuff.
It's a play about two lonely old people who live in the same building and meet on the roof where they play Trivial Pursuit. This set up immediately brings to mind a very famous and successful play D. L Coburn's The Gin Game. It is unfortunate that Amusing Grace shares this immediate opening similarity, especially when it invites comparison with The Gin Game a very good and well known play.
Is it possible that Amusing Grace's Neville J. Bryant was unaware of The Gin Game? Or did he just see it as a situation he wished to explore in spite of the obvious similarity?
At any rate Amusing Grace is an entertaining, gentle listen. It features a very good and convincing leading performance by Hasel Dalgleish as Grace. Too bad she did not have a performer of equal ability in Jim Hooper as Danny. Hooper simply never comes off as a 78 year old man. His voice has too much of the tenor, not quite grow up, sort of Ira Glass sound. All in the head, nothing resonating in the old body which would have been nice to hear in this particular role. He is just too adolescent sounding. Not only that his readings too often sound like reading, are not felt. It is a shame because Hasel Dalgleish is so fine and deserved a much better sparring partner.
That said it is really a rather amusing listen. It is pleasant to spend some time with these folks on their rooftop. The scenes are framed by some very nice music by the play's author Mr. Bryant. It might have been good if he went ahead and made it a nice little musical play.
Anyway, it is all worth a listen and good to hear an amateur audio drama involved with issues, themes, more homebound rather than all the fantasy, and TV space opera stuff.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
WBAI
Something is happening at WBAI.
It's a little hard to find out what.
Maybe some reader here will tell me where to go for info.
The station has been ailing for a very long time and is having a lot of trouble making money.
There is continuous factional infighting there that further poisons the atmosphere.
It is really too bad it has to be this way. Perhaps with the new shake-up a new day will dawn.
I like to listen to some of their stuff:
The Golden Age of Radio
Talk Back (occasionally)
Off the Hook
Doug Henwood
David Rothenberg
Moorish Orthodox Radio Crusade
The Positive Mind
Taking Aim
It's a little hard to find out what.
Maybe some reader here will tell me where to go for info.
The station has been ailing for a very long time and is having a lot of trouble making money.
There is continuous factional infighting there that further poisons the atmosphere.
It is really too bad it has to be this way. Perhaps with the new shake-up a new day will dawn.
I like to listen to some of their stuff:
The Golden Age of Radio
Talk Back (occasionally)
Off the Hook
Doug Henwood
David Rothenberg
Moorish Orthodox Radio Crusade
The Positive Mind
Taking Aim
Stiles on your dials
The great New York East Village neighborhood blog E V Grieve has a nice piece today about long time NYC DJ radio personality Danny Stiles.
Check it out.
Check it out.
Monday, April 27, 2009
The Iceman Goeth
The Iceman Goeth recounts how Ian Holm has actually experienced the actor's worst nightmare more than once in real life in front of a full house.
This play by Steve Jacobi tells the tale through interviews with Holm and flashback dramatizations. This reviewer loves particularly loves The Iceman Cometh (obviously) which adds to the appeal since several lines from the great O'Neill play are included.
The play documentary is also little inconclusive feeling. Did Holm actually never appear on stage again, only on film, after the events of 1976? That is the implication.
The backstage gossip and banter is fun to listen to. It's is a fast paced interesting entertainment.
The Iceman Goeth: The Afternoon Play BBC Radio 4
This play by Steve Jacobi tells the tale through interviews with Holm and flashback dramatizations. This reviewer loves particularly loves The Iceman Cometh (obviously) which adds to the appeal since several lines from the great O'Neill play are included.
The play documentary is also little inconclusive feeling. Did Holm actually never appear on stage again, only on film, after the events of 1976? That is the implication.
The backstage gossip and banter is fun to listen to. It's is a fast paced interesting entertainment.
The Iceman Goeth: The Afternoon Play BBC Radio 4
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
A City Killing
With this BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play writer Mike Walker explores the hedge fund world. This is right up to the minute sort of topical theater. We have been getting few of these in the last few months. The best of the lot has been Development by Doug Lucie, which told a more personal family story set in tough economic times. This one has elements of the Madoff case. In a way it might fulfill the fantasy of some looking for a comeuppance for Mr. Madoff and his type.
There is a good scene where our protagonist goes to visit a very dreamy Bob Glass, the Madoffish character. Glass talks about wanting to be close to nature, and other very rudimentary sort of philosophical things. It is the simple minded babble of one who lived completely outside of the real world, someone who only cared about making money. The scene reminds of a convict coming to Christ while in the can. But Glass is too much a sophisticated NY'er to go for Jesus. so it is nature and the ocean instead.
In this play "the little guy" makes no appearance. This is all about the powerful people who apparently with the winning combination of ignorance and greed have put many of us in a very bad position.
I really do like these new depression dramas and hope the BBC keeps them coming. I have a feeling that they are going to have a long shelf life, a lot longer that a lot of us are going to be comfortable with.
There is a good scene where our protagonist goes to visit a very dreamy Bob Glass, the Madoffish character. Glass talks about wanting to be close to nature, and other very rudimentary sort of philosophical things. It is the simple minded babble of one who lived completely outside of the real world, someone who only cared about making money. The scene reminds of a convict coming to Christ while in the can. But Glass is too much a sophisticated NY'er to go for Jesus. so it is nature and the ocean instead.
In this play "the little guy" makes no appearance. This is all about the powerful people who apparently with the winning combination of ignorance and greed have put many of us in a very bad position.
I really do like these new depression dramas and hope the BBC keeps them coming. I have a feeling that they are going to have a long shelf life, a lot longer that a lot of us are going to be comfortable with.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The Positive Mind
Host Armand DiMele presents a program of psychological discussion Tuesday through Thursday at 1pm on WBAI 99.5 fm in New York.
Today's show featured Dr. Michael Bader talking about his book "Male Sexuality: Why Women Don't Understand It--And Men Don't Either ".
This is all about what goes on in the mind, with the emotions, and how these things effect relationship and sexuality.
They talk about such issues as why some men are attracted to large breasts and what is the meaning of certain fantasies. Also the use and possible abuse of pornography and its meaning.
It is stated that men simply can not feel emotionally certain things that women do. Boys and girls are different.
It gets more interesting late in the program when they discuss what happens and the pitfalls that are involved with trying to please the other person, the partner. Is it better to not try to please at all. Why do some men use prostitutes? How is attraction negatively effected by familiarity? By responsibility and duty?
The Positive Mind is a good show. This is an outstanding episode 01-27-2009.
Today's show featured Dr. Michael Bader talking about his book "Male Sexuality: Why Women Don't Understand It--And Men Don't Either ".
This is all about what goes on in the mind, with the emotions, and how these things effect relationship and sexuality.
They talk about such issues as why some men are attracted to large breasts and what is the meaning of certain fantasies. Also the use and possible abuse of pornography and its meaning.
It is stated that men simply can not feel emotionally certain things that women do. Boys and girls are different.
It gets more interesting late in the program when they discuss what happens and the pitfalls that are involved with trying to please the other person, the partner. Is it better to not try to please at all. Why do some men use prostitutes? How is attraction negatively effected by familiarity? By responsibility and duty?
The Positive Mind is a good show. This is an outstanding episode 01-27-2009.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
A Prayer for Owen Meany
I try to be positive, really, I do. I don't like to complain about things I don't find interesting, that don't move me. I usually just ignore them and hope for something more interesting coming next. But this one is such a big long production that I thought I would say something about it.
I listened to the first two parts of the BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play "A Prayer for Owen Meany" and I think I'm just going to have to bail out here after an hour and a half, not take in the other 2hrs. 15mins.
The thing is, if the production can't grab or at least somewhat engage my interest in the first hour and a half I figure all is pretty much lost and the show is not for me. Maybe it is for someone else, it's a nice production and all aside from the voice of the title character, but after all that time I don't care about any of the people in the play and anything they are doing. And that voice! It is a little like the kid named Froggy in the really bad Our Gang Comedies, the ones in the 40s after Hal Roach sold the series to MGM and Spanky was too old. Owen sounds just like that kid, well almost, or at least it is an annoying and poorly imagined voice which could have somehow been much better not that this alone makes or brakes the show. And Toby Jones is a good actor.
So it anyone thinks it gets really great later on and I should listen to it, well, I probably still won't but I would love to hear your opinion anyway
I listened to the first two parts of the BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play "A Prayer for Owen Meany" and I think I'm just going to have to bail out here after an hour and a half, not take in the other 2hrs. 15mins.
The thing is, if the production can't grab or at least somewhat engage my interest in the first hour and a half I figure all is pretty much lost and the show is not for me. Maybe it is for someone else, it's a nice production and all aside from the voice of the title character, but after all that time I don't care about any of the people in the play and anything they are doing. And that voice! It is a little like the kid named Froggy in the really bad Our Gang Comedies, the ones in the 40s after Hal Roach sold the series to MGM and Spanky was too old. Owen sounds just like that kid, well almost, or at least it is an annoying and poorly imagined voice which could have somehow been much better not that this alone makes or brakes the show. And Toby Jones is a good actor.
So it anyone thinks it gets really great later on and I should listen to it, well, I probably still won't but I would love to hear your opinion anyway
Friday, January 23, 2009
Hella Fabulous
And now for something completely different.
There is an internet radio station located in a glass booth in a street level storefront on 1st Ave in Manhattan's East Village. The space is part of a restaurant called Lil' Frankie's.
As a pubic service the restaurant supports the internet radio called East Village Radio.
East Village Radio is a freewheeling affair. The day is broken up into two hour slots that are programmed by the DJ hosts. Of course this means that the programming is delightfully various. It's properly listed under "Eclectic" in the "Radio" section of iTunes.
On Wednesday morning from 8 to 10 New York time East Village Radio features
Hella Fabulous. This show involves mostly conversation between two young women, Hella & Ruth.
It's a little hard to discern the appeal of these two. A lot of time involves talking dirty as one can only do on internet radio. But the thing is it is all mostly about trying to figure out how the language works in these usually forbidden zones. It is often a lexical comedy show. On the most recent show they try to figure out what is a good term to use for female masturbation. There are more male euphuisms or slang terms, but not that many for female. Why is that?
This is the sort of burning issue Hella & Ruth tackle at 8 in the morning. They are also very cheerful, intelligent, and charming. And it is not a dirty show.
It has an entirely different feel from the typical shock jock commercial Howard Sternish type of product. Where that type of show often feels dirty-little-boy repressed, misogynistic and leering, Hella & Ruth are fun, interesting, and free.
It's not all talking dirty. Sometimes there are phone calls, discussion of issues of the day, sometimes a guest will drop by.
So all this is kind of indiscribable, unique. Give Hella Fabulous a listen. They are quite entertaining.
Oh yeah, I looked at the Youtube video of Steve Around-the-Corner. They were talking about it on the show, he's a caller or something. It's pretty good. Here it is:
There is an internet radio station located in a glass booth in a street level storefront on 1st Ave in Manhattan's East Village. The space is part of a restaurant called Lil' Frankie's.
As a pubic service the restaurant supports the internet radio called East Village Radio.
East Village Radio is a freewheeling affair. The day is broken up into two hour slots that are programmed by the DJ hosts. Of course this means that the programming is delightfully various. It's properly listed under "Eclectic" in the "Radio" section of iTunes.
On Wednesday morning from 8 to 10 New York time East Village Radio features
Hella Fabulous. This show involves mostly conversation between two young women, Hella & Ruth.
It's a little hard to discern the appeal of these two. A lot of time involves talking dirty as one can only do on internet radio. But the thing is it is all mostly about trying to figure out how the language works in these usually forbidden zones. It is often a lexical comedy show. On the most recent show they try to figure out what is a good term to use for female masturbation. There are more male euphuisms or slang terms, but not that many for female. Why is that?
This is the sort of burning issue Hella & Ruth tackle at 8 in the morning. They are also very cheerful, intelligent, and charming. And it is not a dirty show.
It has an entirely different feel from the typical shock jock commercial Howard Sternish type of product. Where that type of show often feels dirty-little-boy repressed, misogynistic and leering, Hella & Ruth are fun, interesting, and free.
It's not all talking dirty. Sometimes there are phone calls, discussion of issues of the day, sometimes a guest will drop by.
So all this is kind of indiscribable, unique. Give Hella Fabulous a listen. They are quite entertaining.
Oh yeah, I looked at the Youtube video of Steve Around-the-Corner. They were talking about it on the show, he's a caller or something. It's pretty good. Here it is:
Friday, January 16, 2009
Excerpt from a Dog's Ear
This is an entertaining and emotionally fulfilling story of a man who finds himself in the past where he encounters himself at age nine.
It's not an altogether original concept. It brings to mind the old Twilight Zone, episode "Walking Distance" which also had it's origins in a Gore Vidal short story "A Moment of Green Laurel".
But none of that matters because the playwright here, Kavyasiddhi takes the whole thing a couple steps further which makes it a very satisfying piece.
This is a fairly stripped down production with it's beach setting and two principle actors. Both Michael Begley as Dan and Aidan Parsons as the boy Danny are effective in their roles.
Some of the scenes are particularly nice. There is a scene where Dan is remembering losing his ball into the waves while it is in fact happening. That scene is most excellent. Then there is Dan describing to Danny an issue with his girlfriend and the window they broke together which cleverly describes the thorny issue the adult is facing while avoiding sullying the child.
The time travel issues are nicely handled too. Danny asks Dan if he is a Time Lord. and is in awe of the mobile phone.
It's a beautiful heartfelt poetic little play that delivers beyond expectation.
It is available on BBC Radio 4 The Afternoon Play page through next Monday January 19, 2009. Click on the Tuesday button.
It's not an altogether original concept. It brings to mind the old Twilight Zone, episode "Walking Distance" which also had it's origins in a Gore Vidal short story "A Moment of Green Laurel".
But none of that matters because the playwright here, Kavyasiddhi takes the whole thing a couple steps further which makes it a very satisfying piece.
This is a fairly stripped down production with it's beach setting and two principle actors. Both Michael Begley as Dan and Aidan Parsons as the boy Danny are effective in their roles.
Some of the scenes are particularly nice. There is a scene where Dan is remembering losing his ball into the waves while it is in fact happening. That scene is most excellent. Then there is Dan describing to Danny an issue with his girlfriend and the window they broke together which cleverly describes the thorny issue the adult is facing while avoiding sullying the child.
The time travel issues are nicely handled too. Danny asks Dan if he is a Time Lord. and is in awe of the mobile phone.
It's a beautiful heartfelt poetic little play that delivers beyond expectation.
It is available on BBC Radio 4 The Afternoon Play page through next Monday January 19, 2009. Click on the Tuesday button.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Development
Here is one that I've been wanting to comment on.
It played on BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play some time ago, last year, it might have even been in November. It made quite an impression. I've listened to it about four times.
Development by Doug Lucie offers a scary comedy drama that accurately reflects our lugubrious times. This show is up to the minute. As Lucie says in this interesting interview at Theatre Voice, we have here a play about a "reckoning" that appears to be due, one that Lucie and some of the rest of us have been expecting.
We start out meeting a family in their large McMansion in a development "built" by the company of the man of the house Mike. This could have been recorded on location in such a house. The actors voices sound like they are resonating, reverberating in the large drywall board constructed hollow rooms where the story is set. The hollow sound reflects the empty spirits of the inhabitants. These people are vacuous, vampires, they suck up what is living to sustain themselves in a walking death, in their greedy march to nowhere. But are these cartoon monsters, exaggerated, too broadly drawn to be at all real? No. They are all too familiar figures that can be found in any Development, or any new suburb with it's too large "homes", anywhere in the "West" and in other parts of the world following this model for all I know. They are the inhabitants of the marketplace, they are consumers. They identify themselves through what they consume. They fill their emptiness through consumption. They and disconnected to one another.
Zoe, the mother, has been consuming fad spirituality but has finally returned to the faith of her fathers
There is a gap between the parents and the two children. The boy, Joe, is a slacker, a lay-about consuming marijuana and pornography. His father Mike apparently hasn't even been to his son's room. He has to be told about the hardcore pinups on the walls. They live in the same house and he hasn't been to his son's room. Mike tries to communicate with Joe, but is ridiculed because he doesn't know the latest slang for "cool". Mike is somewhat ashamed at not being with it. Joe doesn't want to use the same words of his father. He wants to be current and youthful, using the secret language of his consumer sub-group to express his individuality. He doesn't want to be associated with his parents generation, with the things they consume. He wants his own. The mass media culture encourages this divide and sell. If all members of a family go for the same products, there is less to be sold, They can share what they have. More products can be sold if they all are in their our niche markets. His father expresses some exasperation at Joe's laziness, and acknowledges that he is partly responsible for making him as he is. Why would Joe be motivated to make something of himself if he has had everything handed to him? How could he find the motivation to strive for the things that are already there? And his purchasing choices are anti-motivational. The marijuana encourages dreaming, the pornography, and eye-balling the help provides sexual fulfillment and release. What else is there to a young dude to strive for?
Mike is the classic self-made man. He is the one who schemed, worked hard, put the deals together, hired the workers, and fought the Green types in his way to build the developments that have made him rich. He has made it up from less into more. He believes in business, privatization, less government regulation and influence. He is the one of these rebels, the rugged individualists, who made hay riding on the dominate economic notions of the last part of the 20 Century. The man of our time.
In the opening moments of the play we hear Zoe berating Tatyana, the help, the housekeeper. Tatyana can't seen to get it through her thick foreign scull that she needs to make the coffee before she does the hoovering. And yes Zoe, we understand your pain. It is so difficult to find competent help these days. We soon find that Tatyana is more than the family saw her to be as her wealthy brother shows up.
We hear the family's attitude shift instantly as the brother Leo shows up in a flashy, expensive automobile. They smell money and the seduction begins. Mike needs it since his once thriving business in now bankrupt, he desperately needs an injection of cash to keep it all afloat. But the credit has all dried up. He befriends his maid's brother after he sees the flashy car and soon looks to him as the only savior of his lifestyle.
It's all too real and right out of the headlines. In the end there is an abrupt shift of the social order for the characters in this show. The first one now will later be last, in a global machine whose wheels and cogs keep turning. And we can see the winners at the end falling prey to the very same forces of decay that destroyed the original family. We are given a clue of that early on when the brother with the flashy car explains why his sister was working as a maid. Leo says that she is a lazy girl who needs to learn about work. Well, she does learn about work and learns that she doesn't care for it and will go the same way into pleasure, dominance, and consumption, the rewards of an empty marketplace culture.
It is fun to listen in on all this and sometimes laugh at and look down on these silly and shallow people. Yet there is much of them in many of us other consumers, and if not that, there is the fact that the actions of this sort of person in this sort of culture effects us all unless we have found a way to live off the grid.
How does one get off the grid?
This is a really great production, writing, acting, all. One of the best of last year. It would be good if they run it again on BBC Radio 4 soon. People should hear this one.
More Doug Lucie please. He knows how to tell the truth in an entertaining way.
It played on BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play some time ago, last year, it might have even been in November. It made quite an impression. I've listened to it about four times.
Development by Doug Lucie offers a scary comedy drama that accurately reflects our lugubrious times. This show is up to the minute. As Lucie says in this interesting interview at Theatre Voice, we have here a play about a "reckoning" that appears to be due, one that Lucie and some of the rest of us have been expecting.
We start out meeting a family in their large McMansion in a development "built" by the company of the man of the house Mike. This could have been recorded on location in such a house. The actors voices sound like they are resonating, reverberating in the large drywall board constructed hollow rooms where the story is set. The hollow sound reflects the empty spirits of the inhabitants. These people are vacuous, vampires, they suck up what is living to sustain themselves in a walking death, in their greedy march to nowhere. But are these cartoon monsters, exaggerated, too broadly drawn to be at all real? No. They are all too familiar figures that can be found in any Development, or any new suburb with it's too large "homes", anywhere in the "West" and in other parts of the world following this model for all I know. They are the inhabitants of the marketplace, they are consumers. They identify themselves through what they consume. They fill their emptiness through consumption. They and disconnected to one another.
Zoe, the mother, has been consuming fad spirituality but has finally returned to the faith of her fathers
There is a gap between the parents and the two children. The boy, Joe, is a slacker, a lay-about consuming marijuana and pornography. His father Mike apparently hasn't even been to his son's room. He has to be told about the hardcore pinups on the walls. They live in the same house and he hasn't been to his son's room. Mike tries to communicate with Joe, but is ridiculed because he doesn't know the latest slang for "cool". Mike is somewhat ashamed at not being with it. Joe doesn't want to use the same words of his father. He wants to be current and youthful, using the secret language of his consumer sub-group to express his individuality. He doesn't want to be associated with his parents generation, with the things they consume. He wants his own. The mass media culture encourages this divide and sell. If all members of a family go for the same products, there is less to be sold, They can share what they have. More products can be sold if they all are in their our niche markets. His father expresses some exasperation at Joe's laziness, and acknowledges that he is partly responsible for making him as he is. Why would Joe be motivated to make something of himself if he has had everything handed to him? How could he find the motivation to strive for the things that are already there? And his purchasing choices are anti-motivational. The marijuana encourages dreaming, the pornography, and eye-balling the help provides sexual fulfillment and release. What else is there to a young dude to strive for?
Mike is the classic self-made man. He is the one who schemed, worked hard, put the deals together, hired the workers, and fought the Green types in his way to build the developments that have made him rich. He has made it up from less into more. He believes in business, privatization, less government regulation and influence. He is the one of these rebels, the rugged individualists, who made hay riding on the dominate economic notions of the last part of the 20 Century. The man of our time.
In the opening moments of the play we hear Zoe berating Tatyana, the help, the housekeeper. Tatyana can't seen to get it through her thick foreign scull that she needs to make the coffee before she does the hoovering. And yes Zoe, we understand your pain. It is so difficult to find competent help these days. We soon find that Tatyana is more than the family saw her to be as her wealthy brother shows up.
We hear the family's attitude shift instantly as the brother Leo shows up in a flashy, expensive automobile. They smell money and the seduction begins. Mike needs it since his once thriving business in now bankrupt, he desperately needs an injection of cash to keep it all afloat. But the credit has all dried up. He befriends his maid's brother after he sees the flashy car and soon looks to him as the only savior of his lifestyle.
It's all too real and right out of the headlines. In the end there is an abrupt shift of the social order for the characters in this show. The first one now will later be last, in a global machine whose wheels and cogs keep turning. And we can see the winners at the end falling prey to the very same forces of decay that destroyed the original family. We are given a clue of that early on when the brother with the flashy car explains why his sister was working as a maid. Leo says that she is a lazy girl who needs to learn about work. Well, she does learn about work and learns that she doesn't care for it and will go the same way into pleasure, dominance, and consumption, the rewards of an empty marketplace culture.
It is fun to listen in on all this and sometimes laugh at and look down on these silly and shallow people. Yet there is much of them in many of us other consumers, and if not that, there is the fact that the actions of this sort of person in this sort of culture effects us all unless we have found a way to live off the grid.
How does one get off the grid?
This is a really great production, writing, acting, all. One of the best of last year. It would be good if they run it again on BBC Radio 4 soon. People should hear this one.
More Doug Lucie please. He knows how to tell the truth in an entertaining way.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
WNYC is brought to you by. . .
There is a woman, well, I assume it is a woman, it also could be talking software, a machine that speaks what is typed into it. This female gender sounding voice can be heard repeated throughout the day on WNYC, the big public radio station here in NYC. If she is an actual person she must come in one day and spend the whole day reading endorsements announcements, public radio commercials that come before what appears to be each and every program. they even play them during the breaks at 20 and 40 each hour. If this is an actual woman, it's a good gig there are a lot of these, and it probably pays well, a nice union gig. If she is software, she is already paid for, is a slave and works for nothing. Maybe an intern has the job of typing in, entering, what she needs to say.
The thing is she sounds like she always has a cold, like she is suffering from nasal congestion, is all stuffed up. I want to give her a tissue, or a good shot of 12 Hour Nasal Spray so I can relax and stop worrying if this poor woman will continue to get enough air to sustain life. This leads me to believe that she must be software and maybe that the person who played the voice of the software and recorded the actual vowel sounds that make up the synthetic words, had an awful cold on the day she did the recordings. It is also possible that she is in fact a real woman and that she hates what she has to do so much, reading commercials on Public Radio, that she thinks it stinks and is commenting on that by always holding her nose while speaking the lines and therefore producing the stuffed up sound. Her voice also sounds kind of wet, moist. I guess it is the sound that WNYC and it's sponsors love for she is ubiquitous. If you listen to WNYC you know her well.
What do you think? Help me out here. I need to know. Person or machine?
The thing is she sounds like she always has a cold, like she is suffering from nasal congestion, is all stuffed up. I want to give her a tissue, or a good shot of 12 Hour Nasal Spray so I can relax and stop worrying if this poor woman will continue to get enough air to sustain life. This leads me to believe that she must be software and maybe that the person who played the voice of the software and recorded the actual vowel sounds that make up the synthetic words, had an awful cold on the day she did the recordings. It is also possible that she is in fact a real woman and that she hates what she has to do so much, reading commercials on Public Radio, that she thinks it stinks and is commenting on that by always holding her nose while speaking the lines and therefore producing the stuffed up sound. Her voice also sounds kind of wet, moist. I guess it is the sound that WNYC and it's sponsors love for she is ubiquitous. If you listen to WNYC you know her well.
What do you think? Help me out here. I need to know. Person or machine?
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