Michal Wojcik's Blog, page 16
October 11, 2015
From the Palaces of St. Petersburg to Savage Mars
My steampunk parody novella series Zeppelins are what Dreams are Made ofwrapped up on Saturday. It’s time for Jennifer Asten to take a well-deserved rest.
You can read from the beginning here if you’re so inclined.
October 10, 2015
Episode 25 – Historical-Feminist-Klezmer-Shtetl-Magic Realist-Musical Radio Drama
A short, impromptu review ofThe Witches of Lublin, the holidayradio play “by Ellen Kushner and a bunch of other people in the cast.”
https://ia601502.us.archive.org/0/items/OLSP25Lublin/OLSP25_Lublin.mp3Download the Podcast(archive.org page)
September 18, 2015
Maps before Print
Ptolemy’s map of the world. Sort of.
I used to wonder why books lightly touching on the history of cartography often resort to using the above image as “Ptolemy’s map of the world.” Claudius Ptolemy lived during the second century AD; the map that demonstrates his work obviously comes from the Renaissance (1482, to be exact). Surely reproductions existed from manuscripts closer to Ptolemy’s time? Most reference works I came across, like encyclopaedias and high school textbooks, don’t explain...
September 7, 2015
Resurrecting the Bestiary
In the 1967 introduction to The Book of Imaginary Beings, Jorge Louis Borges and Margarita Guerrero make a suggestion on how to approach the text:
Like all miscellanies…The Book of Imaginary Beings has not been written for consecutive reading. Our wish would be that the curious dip into it from time to time in much the way one visits the changing forms revealed by a kaleidoscope. (xv)
I didn’t follow this ideal reading pattern, instead diving in from cover to cover through 116 different beas...
August 25, 2015
Episode 24B – Xim’s Big Day Out
After suffering through TSR’s gamebooks, we decide to try one that’s actually good:Ring of Thieves by S. John Ross.
Dice will be rolled! Blood will spilled! Genies will be petulant!
https://ia601508.us.archive.org/7/items/OLSP24BXimsBigDayOut/OLSP24B_XimsBigDayOut.mp3Download the Podcast(archive.org page)
Incidental Music:Danse Macabre – Big Hit 1Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Episode 24A – Send in the Griffons
Squawk!
The Dungeoneering Edition reaches its conclusion (Thank God) with Circus of Fear, and there is much rejoicing.
https://ia601509.us.archive.org/8/items/OLSP24ASendintheGriffons/OLSP24A_SendintheGriffons.mp3Download the Podcast(archive.org page)
Theme song:
Five Armies byKevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0.
August 23, 2015
Hugo Post-mortem: 2015 Edition
Last night was the first time I stayed up late to watch the Hugo Awards Ceremony livestream, something I didn’t plan to do but ended up doing anyway. Strangely, Worldcon fell on the same weekend as Yukomicon, leading to a confluence of interests on local radio and the stuff I read on the internet.
I have been lukewarm about the Hugos in the past. This is mostly just a matter of taste–since I started following the Hugos in real-time (i.e. the past decade), the type of fantasy and science fict...
August 21, 2015
Now on Twitter
A while back on the podcast, I said you can’t find me on Twitter and that you never would.
Oh, how quickly situations can change!
I had to finally admit that I lost a (not insignificant) chunk of readers when Google Reader shut down in 2013, and that a lot of people didn’t migrate to alternative RSS readers like Bloglovin’. Instead, links from Twitter were filling in the void.
So, now you can follow the blog and podcast @onelastsketch. I’ve included a link on the sidebar as well. This will mo...
August 17, 2015
Episode 23 – Two for One
Our ill-advised experiment drags onas we play our way throughRevolt of the DwarvesandThe Dragon’s Ransom. Despite covering two books, this might well be our shortest episode yet.
Only one more book remains before this series draws to a definite and unavoidable close.
Apologies for the intermittent background noise!
https://ia601507.us.archive.org/10/items/OLSP23TwoforOne/OLSP23_TwoforOne.mp3Download the Podcast(archive.org page)
Theme song:
Five Armies byKevin MacLeod (incompe...
August 12, 2015
Episode 22 – It’s a Gamma World (After All)
Don’t get too excited: We don’t see meet either of these creatures.
The Dungeoneering Edition of the podcast continues withLight on Quests Mountain.
(We’re sorry. We’re so, so sorry.)
https://ia601500.us.archive.org/20/items/OLSP22GammaWorld/OLSP22_GammaWorld.mp3Download the Podcast(archive.org page)
Theme song:
Five Armies byKevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0.
