[Abyss]

Gust Hubb, on 22 March 2014 - 02:38 AM, said:

They always talk about the two towns competing in sport events and even a sub-story line about a mutant player who gets surgeries to downplay his advantage.

The second head was totally cheating.

[Morgoth]

Welcome to Night Vale is fantastic. I listened to the episode introducing the faceless old woman living in your home as I was walking home from the pub during the wee hours of the morning. Freaked me right out.

[Gust Hubb]

Abyss, on 22 March 2014 - 05:05 AM, said:

Gust Hubb, on 22 March 2014 - 02:38 AM, said:

They always talk about the two towns competing in sport events and even a sub-story line about a mutant player who gets surgeries to downplay his advantage.

The second head was totally cheating.

so you and the bluffs say.....

[Abyss]

Morgoth, on 22 March 2014 - 09:28 AM, said:

Welcome to Night Vale is fantastic. I listened to the episode introducing the faceless old woman living in your home as I was walking home from the pub during the wee hours of the morning. Freaked me right out.

Loved that one.

[Abyss]

Neat. I didn't realize Asteroid from FRINGE is the voice of Intern Dana.

[Aptorian]

Her name is Asterisk, Abyss. God, how hard is it to remember a name.

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 27 March 2014 - 03:45 AM, said:

Neat. I didn't realize Asteroid from FRINGE is the voice of Intern Dana.

Apt Hoc, on 27 March 2014 - 03:51 AM, said:

Her name is Asterisk, Abyss. God, how hard is it to remember a name.

from http://fringe.wikia....trid_Farnsworth ...

Quote

Walter Bishop finds it impossible to remember Astrid's name. Some of his failures are:

"Astral"-Astrid gives look-"Projection"
Asgard (Liberty, in conversation)
Asterisk (The Cure, in conversation)
Astro (In Which We Meet Mr. Jones, in conversation)
Asteroid (In Which We Meet Mr. Jones, in conversation)
Astringent (The Dreamscape, in his Lab Notes)
Asprin (Midnight, in conversation)
Astricks (Dream Logic, in conversation)
Ashram (The Firefly , in conversation)
Ostrich (The Last Sam Weiss, in conversation)
Claire (Subject 9, in conversation)
Athos (Brave New World: Part 1, in conversation)
Alex (Brave New World: Part 1, in conversation)
Afro (Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11, in conversation)
Agnes (Five-Twenty-Ten , in conversation)
Aphid (Nothing_As_It_Seems , in conversation)
Abna (An Origin Story, in conversation)
Acid (one of the last shows of season 5)

...because Night Vale, that's why it's relevant.

[Aptorian]

Okay... alright... I just had the best idea.

What if somebody made a radio play like Night Vale but starring Walter Bishop! Imagine Walter Bishop narrating a story and making comments about people, science and food? Like some kind of science show with Astrid as his assistant.

It would be the most glorious thing.

It really bummed me out that Season 3 and 4 of Fringe where sort of awful but I never stopped loving Walter and Astrids friendship.

[Gust Hubb]

I hate to say it, but RL medical peeps use food references all the time (eg, "beefy red," caseous, grape-like clusters, etc)

[Aptorian]

In Walters case it really isn't about science, he just gets a craving for strawberry porridge when ever he is rummaging around inside of a guy who got turned inside out by a secret government microwave vampire.

[Abyss]

It's astounding to me how Gene survived that series.

Cows in Night Vale have about a 20min lifespan. Altho there are no cows in Night Vale. None. None at all. But if there were they would have a 20min life span. Except the green ones, because they blend in. In the desert.

[Aptorian]

I ran out of episodes and now I am sad.

Why is this only a bi-monthly show?! Why isn't this show being bankrolled by some rich podcast addict?!

This is a travesty!

Anyway, thinking back over the course of all forty something episodes, I think Welcome to Nightvale is probably the best written... anything I have ever listened to, read or seen. It is not about the shows few flaws but more about the strengths. How it mixed lighthearted morbid satire with themes and issues that are terrifyingly, heartbreakingly deep and profound. How mesmerizing and welcoming Cecils deep voice is and how comforting his narration is in the face of what ever insanity is terrorizing the town that week. How funny and fascinating the citixens of the city are and how weird their history and traditions is.

Spoilers for all episodes.

Spoiler

I listened to the episode where Dana was wondering around in the desert and climbed the mountain. Some of the stuff she was talking about was the most emotional stuff I can remember reading or hearing. The story and narrative itself was deep but unlike, say Eriksons observations, the strength of Nightvales stories is that the words are given life and feeling by the characters. I felt legitimately worried for Dana and wished with all my heart that she would find her way back.

[Abyss]

Apt Hoc, on 29 March 2014 - 06:46 PM, said:

I ran out of episodes and now I am sad.

Why is this only a bi-monthly show?! Why isn't this show being bankrolled by some rich podcast addict?!

This is a travesty!

Anyway, thinking back over the course of all forty something episodes, I think Welcome to Nightvale is probably the best written... anything I have ever listened to, read or seen. It is not about the shows few flaws but more about the strengths. How it mixed lighthearted morbid satire with themes and issues that are terrifyingly, heartbreakingly deep and profound. How mesmerizing and welcoming Cecils deep voice is and how comforting his narration is in the face of what ever insanity is terrorizing the town that week. How funny and fascinating the citixens of the city are and how weird their history and traditions is.

Spoilers for all episodes.

Spoiler

I listened to the episode where Dana was wondering around in the desert and climbed the mountain. Some of the stuff she was talking about was the most emotional stuff I can remember reading or hearing. The story and narrative itself was deep but unlike, say Eriksons observations, the strength of Nightvales stories is that the words are given life and feeling by the characters. I felt legitimately worried for Dana and wished with all my heart that she would find her way back.

I also max'd out this past week. I think i may wait a couple of months so i can listen to a few in a row, rather than one every 2 weeks.

Really enjoyed it. So much silly good fun and subtext and madness.

I have to say what really worked for me

Spoiler

were the ongoing plotlines, both subtle and slowly growing (Carlos, Strexcorp, Meredith) and overt (Dana, the Dog Park, the Glow-Cloud).
Some of the running jokes like the fate of various interns was hysterical.
A lot of the rambling stuff grated sometimes, like amatuer philosophy written by goth-kids - it's funny to me that you enjoyed Dana in the desert so much Apt because i got bored quickly and really preferred her other 'adventures'.

@APT - Suggestion: go back and listen to the first few eps again. It's kind of awesome to realize how much groundwork they lay in those first few and how those plots played out over the next forty or so.

I need to find some more audio dramas to dl. WE'RE ALIVE was good, but now i want more than zombies.

[Aptorian]

Abyss, on 31 March 2014 - 05:10 PM, said:

I have to say what really worked for me

Spoiler

were the ongoing plotlines, both subtle and slowly growing (Carlos, Strexcorp, Meredith) and overt (Dana, the Dog Park, the Glow-Cloud).
Some of the running jokes like the fate of various interns was hysterical.

A lot of the rambling stuff grated sometimes, like amatuer philosophy written by goth-kids - it's funny to me that you enjoyed Dana in the desert so much Apt because i got bored quickly and really preferred her other 'adventures'.

I think it mainly has to do with the voice actors.

Weak writing, which I don't necessarily feel this was, can be saved by the performance. There is something about listening to a voice, not seeing just hearing, that creates a very intimate relationship. There were several times over the course of the series where the I was really griped by the emotions of the character.

I liked the philosophical ramblings.

Abyss, on 31 March 2014 - 05:10 PM, said:

@APT - Suggestion: go back and listen to the first few eps again. It's kind of awesome to realize how much groundwork they lay in those first few and how those plots played out over the next forty or so.

I've consumed the episodes rather quickly so they're relatively fresh in my mind. From the start I actually noticed this trend. You sense, when they mention something in passing, that they are leaving bread crumbs for the listener. I love how they never go too much into details because it leaves them avenues that they can always chose to utilize further down the line.

Abyss, on 31 March 2014 - 05:10 PM, said:

I need to find some more audio dramas to dl. WE'RE ALIVE was good, but now i want more than zombies.

Is that a thing? Are there people out there who are still making radio plays? That's what one would describe this as, right? An old school radio play.

[Abyss]

Apt Hoc, on 01 April 2014 - 03:48 PM, said:

...

Abyss, on 31 March 2014 - 05:10 PM, said:

I need to find some more audio dramas to dl. WE'RE ALIVE was good, but now i want more than zombies.

Is that a thing? Are there people out there who are still making radio plays? That's what one would describe this as, right? An old school radio play.

It is, there are, and yes but podcasts have replaced radio. They seem to draw fairly loyal fanbases too given NIGHT VALE's strong of sold-out live shows.

NIGHT VALE is doing a live show crossover with THE THRILLING ADVENTURE HOUR so i may check that one out next.

WE'RE ALIVE is a zombie apocalypse audio drama. I've heard the first season and will def dl the second and third eventually. It has a full cast, decent effects and while not strikingly original as zompocalypses go, as you said, the voice actors elevate the script.

If you search 'audio drama' and/or podcast, you'll find a tonne more. Post if you find something good. As a general guideline, i find it's like webcomics - if you see long gaps between episodes, or the page hasn't been updated in a while (other than because they finished the story), it may not be worth your time.

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 01 April 2014 - 04:24 PM, said:

...r with THE THRILLING ADVENTURE HOUR so i may check that one out next....

Did. Listened to about 7 eps... each is about an hour. It's done as a series of running stories... some are ongoing (Sparks Nevada, Marshall of Mars) and some are standalones with the same characters (Beyond Belief, the adventures of two recreationally alcoholic mediums).

It's all very campy in the style of 1940s radio, and some of it is funny, even lol-worthy. Some of it borders on brilliant.

It's done before a studio audience and if i had one complaint, it's that some of the episodes sound like the live audience is cracking up over something they can see but the listener is left completely out of the loop as to why they're laughing.

It's definitely out and out comedy, not nearly as weird or funky as NIGHT VALE, but fun, and based on the steady improvement in the eps i've heard, i'll keep listening, tho i won't be marathoning it the way i did NIGHT VALE.

[Illuyankas]

Will nth the Night Vale and second the We're Alive recommendations, listened to all of NV and the first season of WA and they're both good, though We're Alive is about two months from the very last episode so you'll have a complete thing soon. Burt is cool.

[Abyss]

Illuyankas, on 30 April 2014 - 09:46 PM, said:

... We're Alive is about two months from the very last episode so you'll have a complete thing soon. Burt is cool.

Just dl'd S2 and 3 to marathon.
Burt rocks.

[Abyss]

Well fuck me like a drunk five headed dragon who mainlined too much glow cloud essence... they're doing WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE live shows in Montreal AND Toronto and i'm out of the country for both of them. Dammit.


In other news, THRILLING ADVENTURE HOUR is, for the most part, cracking me up on a regular basis. Some of the ongoing sketches (Moonlight Hollow, Colonel Tick Tock) are less clever, but some are just brilliant (Sparks Nevada, Jefferson Reed, and more often than not Beyond Belief,Captain Laserbeam) and one, Tales from the Black Lagoon, is outright subversively genius.

[Aptorian]

Just got through the two part live recording of the thrilling Night Vale season finale.

That was freaking amazing. Go listen to it right away! I can't believe how many throwbacks they managed to squeeze in.

During the sign out they announced a European tour and they're coming to Copenhagen! I don't know anybody that listens to this show but I am buying two tickets right now and will strong arm somebody to go watch/listen to this when they come by in October.