datajunkie

*posted by hyperdave at 6:30 PM* 2 comments

While I gear up for my next big thing, whatever the heck that's gonna be, here's another couple of nice radio adaptions and their illos from initial publication in Galaxy magazine....

Tales of Tomorrow - "Betelgeuse Bridge"

Tales of Tomorrow - "The Other Now"

*posted by hyperdave at 6:24 PM* 3 comments

Ah, good old Alfie Bester at his best. With this novel, and his previous ("The Demolished Man") he showed a lot of the old hands of the 1930's and 40's that science fiction writing could be more post-modern, more experimental and less... well - "uptight". Strangely enough, the novel was re-titled "Tiger, Tiger" for it's British publication... go figure!

These illustrations by Emsh are pretty amazing too!

*posted by hyperdave at 6:10 PM* 0 comments

Will we reach the stars or just retreat inward into our own minds?
Either way, technology will be the key that unlocks the doorway to these vistas of either inner or outer space.....
Trust these two British authors to have a better handle on the potentials (and their dangers) than their American counter-parts....
Vanishing Point - "A Question Of Re-Entry"
Vanishing Point - "The Cloud Sculptors Of Coral D"
Vanishing Point - "Escapement"
Vanishing Point - "Having A Wonderful Time"
Vanishing Point - "Low Flying Aircraft"
Vanishing Point - "News From The Sun"
Vanishing Point - "The 9 Billion Names Of God"
"Breaking Strain" by Arthur C. Clarke

*posted by hyperdave at 9:25 AM* 3 comments

*posted by hyperdave at 9:17 AM* 3 comments

This promo item (for a powdered chocolate milk additive called Inapak!?!) from the early 1950s features way cool atom age SF art by Bob Powell! I'm reposting this because hardly anyone downloaded it at all first time I put it up a while back!
C'mon... look at that page below....
Now, does that rock or what?

Major Inapak, The Space Ace by Bob Powell!

*posted by hyperdave at 10:17 AM* 2 comments

One of the most distinguishing facets of Galaxy Magazine, as opposed to John Campbell's Astounding, was the wit and humor that seemed to pervade many of the stories it published. "The Native Problem" by Robert Sheckley is a very good example of this. I really enjoyed both the story and the incredibly faithful adaption from X Minus 1...... and these illustrations by Virgil Finlay are pretty cool too!

X Minus 1 - "The Native Problem"

This story by L. Sprague de Camp is also full of dark humor and irony, and in a lot of ways I enjoyed this a lot more than Bradbury's "Sound of Thunder", which covers similar territory. Another faithful adaption, illustrated by Emsh in the magazine when first published....
X Minus 1 - "A Gun For Dinosaur"

"Tunnel Under The World" has very little humor to it, and is rather more of the Phil Dick "paranoia about the nature of reality" kind of thing. X Minus 1 delivers yet another faithful adaption of the short story.....
X Minus 1 - "Tunnel Under The World"

I must confess that I have yet to listen to this episode: "Soldier Boy" - there's only so many hours in my day you know!
X Minus 1 - "Soldier Boy"

There's also something that separates British SF authors from their American counterparts - Arthur C. Clarke, J. G. Ballard, Fred Hoyle, Brian Aldiss and Wyndham come to mind off the top of my head, but to be honest - i'd have a hard time putting it into words... a certain matter-of-factness about their approach to the fantastic if you will.
I enjoyed this (which is WAY better than the film adaption), and so should you!
Day of the Triffids Part 1
Day of the Triffids Part 2
Day of the Triffids Part 3
Day of the Triffids Part 4
Day of the Triffids Part 5
Day of the Triffids Part 6
I'll be back after the weekend with more something or other.

PS. I also added a few cool sites to the links to the right there... check 'em out!

*posted by hyperdave at 7:11 AM* 5 comments

To whom it may concern -
I'm so sorry for the odd mistake that happens here and there with my HTML now and again, but they've all been fixed and should work OK...... so some people will just have to find something else to whine, bitch, moan, complain and gripe about, preferably somewhere else....
This does beg the question... "Have we turned into a generation of whiners?"
More to follow......

*posted by hyperdave at 1:32 PM* 4 comments

*posted by hyperdave at 9:47 PM* 1 comments

One of the main thrusts of The Mercury Theater on the Air was to bring some of the great tales of classic literature to life on radio - for example:
Mercury Theater - "Dracula"
Mercury Theater - "Treasure Island"
Mercury Theater - "A Tale of Two Cities"
Mercury Theater - "Around The World In 80 Days"

*posted by hyperdave at 2:02 AM* 2 comments

To start off with, this adaption of "How-2" by Clifford D. Simak is totally faithful and darn funny to boot.... and the acting adds just the right touch of ubane absurdity - kind of like a robotic version of "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House". An excellent example of the series at its best! Love those illustrations by Emsh!

X Minus 1 - "How-2"

"The C-Chute" (and that's "C" as in "Casualty") by Isaac Asimov is also incredibly faithful to the original story, and a great little story it is too! To my mind, Ray Bradbury (and his myriad supporters) seem to have sold everyone on the concept that he and he alone typifies and exemplifies the "human/humane" side of SF. The ending of this seems to put Uncle Ike right up there, perhaps without the "Norman Rockwell"-isms that Bradbury seems to tend towards.

X Minus 1 - "The C-Chute"

I think Ted Sturgeon's writing style makes him a hard nut to crack for radio, but these guys do a pretty good job, mostly because they leave a lot of it intact. There are two versions of this one, and I only listened to the first, so please feel free to comment on how they compare.....
X Minus 1 - "Saucer Of Loneliness" (1st Version)
X Minus 1 - "Saucer Of Loneliness" (2nd Version)

While I wasn't overly impressed with this adaption of Robert Sheckley's classic tale of murder as entertainment, it's sure a better adaption that the film - .44 calibre bra or not!
X Minus 1 - "The Seventh Victim"

"Thw Seventh Order" by Jerry Sohl uses a pretty hackneyed gimmick as the pay-off, but the radio version is faithful and the acting is well done. Maybe in the early 50's the concept was a new idea... I dunno....

X Minus 1 - "The Seventh Order"

Must admit I haven't got around to listening (or reading) these ones below as yet, so feel free to comment with your opinions....

X Minus 1 - "Merchants of Venus"

X Minus 1 - "Protective Mimicry"