Wilhelm, the Immortal

If a coward dies a thousand times, it must be this guy.

In explanation: "the Wilhelm Scream" is a sound effects clip of a man shrieking.  It was first used in western movies in the early 1950's.  At some point, foley artists-- who put together film sound effects-- made it a running gag and started using it all the time, in dozens, maybe hundreds of films.  This piece was created from one of many compilations available on YouTube.

About the bit: it sounds like the scream is on a loop and all the other sounds are tossed over it.  Not quite.  It's actually a bunch of clips played in sequence, and the screams are all synced to a click track-- which I left in for the rhythm.

Wilhelm, the Immortal

We Scold These Truths

Created from We Hold These Truths, a radio play by Norman Corwin.

New audio.

News Channel Ate Amanda Knox

From 5 years ago.  I think it was up here for a while. 

News Channel Ate Amanda Knox

Love Field, Nov 22, 1963

The man shrugging in perplexed confusion is a Secret Service agent at Dallas' Love Field on this day in 1963.  He's just been ordered off the President's car as it drives into downtown Dallas, leaving no protection.  "Hey!  Can someone give me a lift?"

Talk about hiding things in plain sight.  All those photos, we never noticed there wasn't an agent within 20 feet of the President when he was shot.  Not a one.

I wonder how Oswald worked that out.

Mel Blanc, hiccuping floorwalker

The talented Mr Blanc, relentlessly hiccuping his way through an amazing routine on Fibber McGee & Molly.  This is an exponential level of difficulty up from "rubber baby buggy bumpers." 

Hiccuping floorwalker

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr T: Musical Dungeon

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr T was a 1953 musical written by Dr Seuss.  The production does a great job realizing his cockeyed vision; I grew up on Cat in the Hat and all those books, and it pretty well captures that world, from the malleable poetry describing "Doh-Me-Doh duds" to the smug self-assurance of T's henchmen.

There's a trio of composers credited for the film, so I'm not sure who's responsible for this little pastiche.   It's a set piece for a dungeon full of non-piano-playing musicians, and sounds several familiar styles of mid-20th century showbiz composers, from the Bernsteins (Lennie & Elmer) to Spike Jones.  The strings at the end do a nice job conjuring up George Gershwin.

Musician Dungeon

Radio: The Last Word, for now

On the air, 24/7,
now and the foreseeable future, thanks to AutoDJ!  (beep, beepity boop)

Ok.  Probably going to keep it like this for a while.  I figure that a 15 hour playlist, changed every 5 days, will let you listen at the same time for 3 hours, and hear something different every day.  If the model's correct.  So I'll try to upload 15 fresh hours every 5 days and we'll see if this thing can work.  Keeping it fed should be interesting.

Next step-- the "Now Playing" widget!