(Bloopers) Production Notes

Ugh, hear that echo in the first part? That’s what happens when you record in an empty, bare-walled room you just moved into, rather than in a closet. Ah well, it wasn’t a fiction episode so I’m not really concerned about the quality, as long as it’s listenable.

Anyway, during my recent move I discovered a number of old cassette tapes my parents bought me as a child. These are children’s stories in audio format, so sorta like the seeds of the HPMoR Podcast. :) I went and got a crappy old cassette player and ripped them to .mp3, and now I’ve put ‘em up on YouTube if y’all are interested. However I spent the first four years of my life in Germany, so they’re all in German. I tried listening to them again, and I realized just how little German has stayed with me over the past 30 years, I couldn’t understand a lot of it. They probably aren’t that interesting even if you do know German, but here’s a few things that jumped out at me when I listened to them:

Bibi Heals The Mayor – An entirely enjoyable story about secret witches hiding their powers from the muggles, that comes with the reassurance that if everything goes to shit, you can count on your mother to save you. Good children’s fare!

The Sheepish Lion – This was trying to be a good children’s story, and I remember loving it as a kid. But now that I look back on it, I think the main message it conveys is that if everyone torments and picks on you, what you really need to do is publicly murder one of your peers. Then you’ll finally get the respect you deserve. Not sure they thought this one through…

Lost in the Infinte – I… I don’t think this was intended for children. Maybe my parents should have screened my listening material? I’m glad they didn’t, because this was easily my favorite story, and I would listen to it over and over. But at 29:11 you can hear the mad scientist throw himself into the thresher maw of an alien war machine and scream as he’s torn apart. Fuckin’ awesome!! Yet I doubt my parents would have approved if they’d known. I actually didn’t remember this, or perhaps I didn’t quite understand what was happening, because it took me by surprise when I heard it last month. This was in my formative fiction? Damn!

(Essays 2) Production Notes

Every day I will repeat to myself: Any time you see a “ch” in a word you haven’t heard someone pronounce IRL, it is ALWAYS pronounced like a hard ‘k’. Grrrrr.

I wasn’t sure about doing Religion’s Claim To Be Non-Disprovable. Religion isn’t really a big deal in Rationalist circles, it’s basically a solved problem and no one much bothers with it anymore. Why resurrect it now? Well, I still love the Story Of The First Experiment In History. Massive fun! :) But more to the point, as Scott Alexander wrote, “I re-read the Sequences”, they tell me, “and everything in them seems so obvious. But I have this intense memory of considering them revelatory at the time.”  I also find this to be the case. And I have a memory of this post being awesome when I read it, so I will trust that this continues to be the case for first-time readers/listeners.

An Alien God is, of course, a foundational classic. Azathoth has become standard terminology, it’s been expanded on over the years, and the original post still sends shivers down my spine. I hope I did it justice.

A Brief Squee

10519668_10204212196615432_1080401869_nI just wanted to say that the Welcome to Night Vale live show was fantastic! It’s too late for those of us in the US, but the lucky listeners in Europe still have a chance to see it.

Great story, funny as hell, and touching on the nature of what it is to be a sapient being destined to die. So basically all the best things WTNV delivers so well. Getting to see the actors actually acting out their lines was great, and added quite a bit to it. There was good audience participation, as well a going meta, although I won’t give away any spoilers here. Seriously, one of the best things I’ve done all year.

Also, I went with the voices of Voldemort and Lily. Neither tried to kill each other, and they had a good time! If Welcome To Night Vale can bring those two together in a spirit of friendship, obviously there is nothing it can’t do.

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