SFFaudio has had some downtime. Sorry about that. We had some “server issues” (and that’s probably not a euphemism). Perhaps it was something to do with Project Flashlight in New Zealand? If so that would explain why it left us talking to a cardboard cut-out of Adolf Hitler. Shameful really.
Luckily a couple of other blogs have picked up on a story we missed while the sky was exploding with a thousand mushroom clouds.
[via Mary Burkey’s Audiobooker blog and Audiobook DJ]
Posted by Jesse Willis
Pictured above are Canada’s Minister Of Industry, Tony Clement, and Minister Of Heritage, James Moore. They’re at the podium to announce a copyright consultation website.
http://www.copyrightconsultation.ca/
Despite having written to Moore about my concerns with Bill-C61 I did not get invited to the invitation only consultation in B.C.. Had I been invited I would have made three points.
Any new copyright legislation should exclude the following:
1. A “three strikes” style law. – Accusations of web copyright claims should be a judicial process and not be dictated by a media company’s complaint to an ISP. The CONAN ATTACKS FANS case shows that false claims in nations with such laws (New Zealand) are very effective at stifling the legitimate use of the PUBLIC DOMAIN by artists.
2. The enshrinement of DRM. – DRM should not be protected by law. Neither the jailbreaking of a device nor the platform shifting of a file should not be criminalized with a statutory fine. A legally acquired disc, file or device stripped of its disabling crippleware or buggy region coding, when necessary, helps me and does not harm society. Any digital file or item that I legally own, as acquired from a personal purchase, as a gift, through an inheritance, etc., is and should forever be, acknowledged as mine to dispose of as I please. I wrote to Moore personally about this very issue as a problem in Bill C-61. It is important to me that I not be branded a criminal for making my store purchased DVD discs usable.
3. The criminalization of P2P. – There should be no section in the copyright legislation equating the non-commercial sharing or copying of digital files or information with stealing. Stealing deprives an owner of his property. Non-commercial copying and sharing does not equal stealing. Neither WALL-E, nor I should be made a copyright criminal for doing what makes culture.
If you’re a Canadian affected by a change in Canada’s copyright laws you can email your own thoughts to:
And CCing to your MP would be a good idea too.
Here’s the press conference:
Here’s an anonymous skeptic’s response to the “invitation only” consultations:
And here’s a partisan response from LiberalMinute.ca…
[via the Digital Copyright Canada blog]
Posted by Jesse Willis
Neil Gaiman, who reads most of the audio versions of his books himself, (and I can testify for his amazing skills as a performer from having seen him live in London last November) shares some thoughts and advice on how to best books aloud. Interesting post and potentially useful for all the aspiring audio book narrators out there.
Check it out on Neil Gaiman’s blog
Posted by Carsten Schmitt
Rich of Radio Tales of the Strange & Fantastic reports…
A new The Scarifyers adventure is coming on September 1st 2009. Nicholas Courtney, Terry Molloy and Brian Blessed star in the fourth Scarifyers audio adventure.
The Scarifyers: The Curse Of The Black Comet
Sir Basil Champion (Brian Blessed) is the world’s worst explorer. In a career that has seen him lost in the Kalahari, captured by pygmies, and held captive for two-and-a-half years in a pit of rabid guinea fowl, it seems his luck can get no worse – until he is eaten by a rhinoceros. Some weeks after his unlikely demise, MI-13 is called upon to investigate a mysterious outbreak of the Black Death – at a Chelsea solicitor’s during the reading of Sir Basil’s will…
Has Sir Basil’s legendary bad luck reached out from beyond the grave, or is there a more sinister explanation? And what is the connection with his ill-fated Egyptian expedition fourteen years earlier? Lionheart (Nicholas Courtney) and Dunning (Terry Molloy) must journey from London to the highlands of Scotland and the lost tombs of Egypt, to uncover the truth behind Champion’s death… and The Curse of the Black Comet.
Here is Brian Blessed (Doctor Who, Blackadder, and Cats) in an out-take from The Curse of the Black Comet.
|MP3|
Posted by Jesse Willis
The Once Upon A Geek Blog is reporting:
“Tom Baker is returning to Doctor Who! Baker has recorded five audio dramas that will be released by the BBC starting in September at a rate of one a month.”
Baker’s Doctor will be joined by former DW cast member Richard Franklin (reprising his role as Mike Yates) in a series of five linked adventures.
Here are the descriptions of each CD:
Doctor Who: Hornets’ Nest – The Stuff of Nightmares 1 of 5
By Paul Magrs; Performed by a full cast
1 CD – [AUDIO DRAMA]
Release Date: September 3, 2009
‘Wanted: retired army Captain for light household duties and fireside companionship. Must tolerate mild eccentricity and strong scientific advice. Knowledge of Giant Maggots, Super Intelligent Spiders and Prehistoric Monsters a positive boon.’ Responding to an advert apparently worded for him alone, Captain Mike Yates (retired) is reunited with a ghost from the past. But why has the Doctor, that mysterious traveller in Time and Space, sent for his former UNIT acquaintance? Trapped by a horde of vicious creatures in an apparently innocuous English country cottage, the two old friends are on the brink of an enormous adventure. As the Doctor relates his recent escapades, it becomes clear to Mike that they – and the Earth at large – are facing an enemy of unimaginable power and horrific intent. The nightmare is only just beginning…
Doctor Who: Hornets’ Nest – The Dead Shoes 2 of 5
By Paul Magrs; Performed by a full cast
1 CD – [AUDIO DRAMA]
Release Date: October 8, 2009
What is so special about a pair of ballet shoes on display in Cromer’s Palace of Curios? When the Doctor meets Ernestina Scott there in 1932, they discover the horrific truth together.
Doctor Who: Hornets’ Nest – The Circus of Doom 3 of 5
By Paul Magrs; Performed by a full cast
1 CD – [AUDIO DRAMA]
Release Date: November 5, 2009
In Blandford, 1832, ringmaster Antonio exerts a strange influence on the townsfolk. When the Doctor steps into the ring, he discovers that Antonio has some familiar demons of his own…
Doctor Who: Hornets’ Nest – A Sting in the Tale 4 of 5
By Paul Magrs; Performed by a full cast
1 CD – [AUDIO DRAMA]
Release Date: December 3, 2009
In a bleak midwinter, an order of nuns protect their Mother Superior from ravaging dogs. But something is very wrong here indeed – and the Doctor is about to get badly stung.
Doctor Who: Hornets’ Nest – Hive of Horror 5 of 5
By Paul Magrs; Performed by a full cast
1 CD – [AUDIO DRAMA]
Release Date: December 3, 2009
The Doctor and Mike must face their enemy in a final battle. They have an unwilling accomplice – and loyalties are about to be tested to the limit.
[Thanks Rich!]
Posted by Jesse Willis
Claudia Christian is on the latest episode of Destinies – The Voice of Science Fiction from WUSB 90.1 in Stony Brook, NY.
Part 1 of a 2-part telephone interview with actress, writer, and musician Claudia Christian, who makes her third Destinies appearance to discuss and introduce excerpts from her latest audio adventure, “Anne Manx and the Empress Blair Project,” and talk about her recently-released memoir, “My Life With Geeks and Freaks.”
Here’s the link to the show’s page:
http://www.captphilonline.com/Destinies.html
Here’s the direct link:
http://www.captphilonline.com/Destinies/Destinies_07_10_09.mp3
Posted by Scott D. Danielson