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Michael_Blumlein

As per usual, I get my episode numbers mangled again. I keep calling this show 355 but it IS in fact 356. Sorry about that!

In show 356 of BMU I open with a song that describes what a “real” spiderman might be like…and yeah it is that funny.

Next I play episode 18 of the Dark Inspectre series by Jason Kahn.

Phil joins me for a discussion of one man’s effort to get a radio controlled flier to the edge of space. I have heard of many different kinds of items being flown, but I have to say this radio glider is a first I think. More can be found on YouTube on David Windestal at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jKcGoayMlI.

I read Kallamus’ weekly rundown of events from Martian rover temporary shutdown to first ever evidence of an extra solar planet in the early stages of formation.

I next play several articles from Earth Sky.

Star Trek Trivia is next with questions like, do you know how many screens there are on the bridge of the Enterprise? or how many years can the Enterprise go without being restocked?

I then review “Writers on the Wrong Side of the Track” a very
“Dangerous Visions” type of stories.

How about two rat brains linked electronically?! It’s happened.

Finally part 2 of Michael Blumlein’s “Know How Can Do”

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Edward McKeown

Episode 334 of Beam Me Up is at hand! This week, I tie up one story arc, start another small one and an anime fan joins me to talk about a movie we just watched.
First I open with the Bare-naked Ladies doing their theme song for the television show Big Bang Theory.
The first story of the afternoon is Mark Webb’s In the Service of the Public.  This story an Earth diplomat in service to an inter-galactic government. Webb has managed to make the subject entertaining and even develop a small story arc.  As odd a subject this would seem, from what I have read so far that no matter how things change and evolve there is always a functionary some where keeping the  “machinery” rolling.  Webb seems to have captured the essence of the true architects of empire.  We will see as the Interstellar Coalition Public Service and the Aazork public service evolves. My reading is a little rough however.  It was a last minute addition to this week’s line up.
Next is a couple of really excellent science article from Earth Sky dealing with the Van Allen radiation belts and the Tunguska event.
Then it is time once again for Star Trek Trivia.  Two new questions this week.
If you are an anime fan and have seen the Tri Gun series or even if you haven’t, you are going to want to take a listen to our review of the Tri gun movie Badlands Rumble which is an excellent to the TriGun universe or an excellent return to the Vash the Stampede universe.  Anime fan and listener to the program Jeremey joins me to talk about the movie and the TriGun series in general.  I know I had a great time,  and I hope you have just as much entertainment!
David Sholes has a new collection of short stories called Speculative Fiction: The Ultimate Collection.  Dave sent over a copy of the collection for me to take a look at.  Since it was a nice mix of stories we have seen on BMU and new I thought a review was in order.
Ron posts an article about the Curiosity rover and many other of our equipment still out there doing science.  As new and as cutting edge they are, the probes and rovers are held together by tech, thousands of years old!
Finally I play the conclusion of Edward McKeown’s excellent story “The Dive”.  Everything moves ultra fast in this week’s final.  I think you will agree that this has been one of the better written and narrated series the show is running.
That and some other foolishness this week on episode 334 of Beam Me Up!

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apollo 11 Boot print

Beam Me Up episode 323 for July 21 2012 is up and running!

My rant this week was, I went around and asked some people so what do you know about July 20th? Can you think of anything exciting? I want to thank Xnewsman for breaking the ice on this one because I had ranted before and nada. If you remember great, if not listen to the podcast….nuff said.

Let’s talk about audio fiction.

This week we have a couple of short works that I am sure will keep you interested. The first is “What if /2” by Christine Gladstone, which tell the story of a classic science thought experiment from a VERY unique perspective. The closing story this week is “Shipwrecked” by Mark Webb. Again a very classic tale with a unique perspective. Here is an advanced race of interstellar explorers who are judging Humanity’s fitness to join the galactic federation, by devising a conclusive test that no one can fail to understand. But what happens if there be dragons?

From Christine’s story I proceed straight to Star Trek Trivia, where each week I ask a couple of new trivia questions from the iconic original Star Trek. The Earth Sky website had three great questions in this week’s download file (not to say that the rest were not interesting, however did not really pertain to this week’s material) and I am sure you will want to go to Earth_Sky for more!

This week for review: I managed to get a copy of the newest “hero” dvd. By that I mean, the Black Panther is a relatively new player in the overall DC Comic lineup and recently I have seen this character showing up more and more short / and featurettes. Eventually I discovered that Black Panther was a BET original with Stan Lee, so you will find more details and a information about the episodes and the dvd.

From the Beam Me Up blog I found a youTube video of the Batman tv show window gags. Dave Sholes’ book Alien Hunter / Star Trooper is also reviewed. I should have done it when I played his story Intervention which is in part a telling of the aftermath of a great war (check out episode 320 for the short story) Where Alien Hunter tell the tale of the war itself! The blog (wrfrbeameup.blogspot.com) will really be a great resource as is this podcast in finding out more of where to get it and what it reads like! Before I play the last story this week, I close with my feelings on the loss of Eureka. If you have read the blog you know that I am not a happy camper….well….that’s only the start.

And of course the close is Shipwrecked.

Enjoy!

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Ken Scholes

This week’s program goes by FAST!  I start a new series, an Urban Fantasy piece called Clock Work penned and voiced in part by Erin Bassett.    At the bottom of the hour is a strange tale of ultimate escapism called The Boy Who Could Bend and Fall from the very talented hand of Ken Scholes.

In between the two pieces I visit the Beam Me Up blog at wrfrbeameup.blogspot.com.

I review Thor on Blu-ray / DVD.  Directed by Kenneth Branagh  and starring Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Tom Hiddleston as Loki and Anthony Hopkins as Odin.  A bit of a mixed bag of a movie. Lots of the same ingredients that drives any movie, but in the end for all the flash, not much substance.

On the flip side is  The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the year vol 5 edited by  Jonathan Strahan.  Published by Night Shade Books.  A great collection of stories that some with recognize from the podcast and a ton of really good stories.

Back when the solar system was only 600 million years old the system looked and acted much much stranger than it does today. For instance it now appears that at this early stage in the formation of the solar system there may have been more than four giant planets initially, and some were ejected into inter-stellar space.

NASA was able to talk to the 35 year old Voyager 2 and give it commands that it carried out without pause.  The new configuration will all Voyager to conserve power and continue to do science well into the next decade!

Overall a great show.  Enjoy!

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Jason Kahn

This episode for the first week in October 2011, as usual I go in for stories that are seasonal I think you would say.

With that in mind the first story of the evening is the conclusion to The Dark InSpectre written and read by Jason Kahn.  This is episode 17 of Unfinished Business in which our intrepid psychic detective Jack Garrett puts the finishing touches to one of the most horrific murders he has ever seen.

The second story this week is a classic piece from the pages of Analog Magazine call “Am I still Here?” by James R. Hall.  Here, in a tale set into the near future where any and everything can be repaired or replaced in a human body, the question is asked…when do you stop being you and become something or someone else that just thinks it is you?

In news…Earth Sky speaks about water flows on Mars and the makeup of mysterious  rogue waves.  I read the impressions of some NASA astronauts that have taken the ride home in a Soyuz capsule.

From the Blog

Doug Hilton sends us a note on his news short story collection:  How We Play Football in Alabama And Other Short Stories.  Mark Wilson over at About SF writes that The movie Source Code is coming to the small screen as a series.  The giant particle accelerator The Tevatron is shutting down 9/30/11 and a great project becomes victim like SETI, to budget cuts and apathy.

Thats episode 281 of Beam Me Up

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This Beam Me Up episode is the first in year six – and we start off year six with episode 261, solidly in the weird column!  My pet peeve this week is a theme I have gone to before, and once again I am at that well.  Space Trash.  Would you believe that by 2030 the amount of trash being tracked will triple?!  That by the was is the least of the problems.  Is there a possibility of a new animated Star Trek?  Wonder woman tv series is a no go it seems.  Ron Howard’s Dark Tower project  is crumbling as we speak.   Superman / Batman public enemies was up for reviews this week.   And does anyone remember William  Campbell?  He played the q like creature on the original Star Trek.  Well mr Campbell has beamed out for the last time.

This week’s stories and music?  Well, my opening song is She Dont like Firefly.  Lol she is perfect in every other way, but doesnt like Firefly, so she is gone!   This week is episode 12 for the Dark InSpectre.  I want to thank Cyberwizard productions for their continued excellence in production values.   Our strangest story to date is Health Tip for Traveler.  A does and don’ts  travel brochure of the most unusual type!

Photo is David Goldman

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Episode 254 of Beam Me Up is really all over the place this week.  First I play the newest selection from Symphony of Science called “Ode to the Brain”.  See if you can pick out all of the scientists that are used in this selection.

Stories this week are a piece of the new and a piece of the old.  First I play the conclusion to David  Steffen’s “The Utility of Love” and narrated by Wilson Fowlie.  The story comes to an end, but I am willing to bet that the twists and turns that author Steffen works in will having you spinning.  This week I close with a classic called Time Enough At Last by author Lynn Venable which should be familiar to science fiction fans.  This story was adapted by Rod Serling for his television series The Twilight Zone.  The show had Burgess Merideth playing a rather meek gent interested only in having enough time to read, only to break his glasses at the very last moment.  Truly classic sci-fi.

From the Beam Me Up blog at wrfrbeameup.blogspot.com I review Soft Apocalypse by Will McIntosh from Night Shade Books, a video of the NASA SRB recovery ships in action, a short animated selection  ”The Incident at Tower 37″ written by Chris Perry, From the Science Digest blog  a report  of the details concerning NASA’s DAWN space craft, from Lockheed Martin a rather optimistic look at the future of it Orion flight system in a short film “A New Era of Space Exploration”

There is still just “time enough” to settle in and listen to a great episode of Beam Me Up.

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Episode 242 of Beam Me Up is pretty fast moving this week.  I open wih a new Bradley Brackett from author Tim Sayell this week.  Scheduling snafus last month and just being so busy, meant that our intrepid commnder got a bit behind but we make it up with out first story of the new year.  Commander Brackett leads us deaper into the derrilick star ship and into certain danger in this week’s episode.

This week we finish with episode 5 and the conclusion of Colin P. Davies fantastic Red Robot.  Things come quite litterally to a head this week.  Surely things can’t get any stranger!  Well they certainly can…..and don’t call me Shirley!

From the Beam Me Up blog at wrfrbeameup.blogspot.com, I review Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi, a healthy mix  of absolutely brilliant stories that are an excellent cross section of the calorie centric distopia.  You really have got to see the video that DreamWorks Animation have cut together for Jónsi’s award nominated track “Sticks and Stones.”  Its a great compilation of all the most memorible scenes from the movie and mixed them together for a great compilation video.  Hey, does anyone remember that at one point in the very early 60s, the US almost had a long range nuclear bomber?! Oh yeah we did! The XB-70 Valkyrie.  Not only was it to carry nuclear bombs, but it was to be powered by a nuclear reactor!  On story I really liked and didn’t get a chance to talk about was using caverns on Mars as possible living quaters. Yeah I’m talking about those mysterious dark spots that were photographed on the surface of Mars.  Well from a recent article in Dvice – Photographs taken by the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows that these dark areas really are the opening to large caverns who’s ceilings have collapsed.  The aticle talks about what it would take to make these livable.  This article in particular drew a lot of conversation.  Check it out!

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Beam Me Up 240 this week is loaded up!  I start with a song that may not strictly be science fiction but does have some clear science fiction ties.  I play Indestructible by  Robyn which could be thought of as a sci fi theme, but it was the suit the singer wore in the video that got me thinking.  Very futuristic with tubes of colored water being pumped around through clear tubes.  There is a making of video that shows the music video and suit being made.  Lots of fun for a diy type person.

Our first story is Doug Hilton reading his story Where Horses Run Free.  Doug’s story is in the alien invasion theme.  A disturbing mix of War of the Worlds with a feel of Animal Farm mixed in.   Doug of course is no stranger to Beam Me Up with stories like “War Story”,  “The Billboard” and the breath taking brilliant “Zeno’s Paradox”.  Where Horses….easily stands with these great selections.  The second story this week is episode three of Red Robot by Colin P. Davies (production by Cyber Studios).   Red Robot is set in the Pest World universe and follows the  exploits of a young pest meister Parvo.  The tension continues to build this week.  This week Parvo manages to get one up on his tormentors and finds that he enjoys it just a bit too much.

From the Blog at wrfrbeameup.blogspot.com  -  Residents of Santa Monica Bay were startled by two brightly lit UFOs.  Now if that is a bit difficult to swallow, then what really happened is going to  be difficult indeed, because its so damn funny.  David Steffen gets picked up by  Pseudopod.   Seventeen missing minutes to the classic science fiction film 2001 have been uncovered in the storage bin where the original print was being stored.  Director Kubricks cut these scenes from the film to shorten it and various other reasons.  But it comes down to the fact that the film has not been seen complete since Kubricks showed it at the first showing.   Orbital Sciences Corporation wants to get into resupply of the ISS but wants to do it completely different than Space X with its Dragon / falcon 9 stack.  OSC wants to use a reusable craft much like the shuttle only much much smaller.  I review Brave New Worlds edited by John J. Adams.  Thirty Three dystopic utopias fill the pages in a good mix of new and old science fiction.

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Beam Me Up episode 239 moves fast this week, so buckle in!  After a bit of foolishness, we bring in Oddcube for a serious….(oddcube?) review of Thongor Against the Gods by Lin Carter.  At the bottom of the hour, we revisit Colin P. Davis’ PestWorld universe for the second episode of Red Robot.  I hope you are enjoying this story arc as much as I am!

From the Beam Me Up blog at http://wrfrbeameup.blogspot.com/ I review the Blu-ray of Eureka 7 Good Night Sleep Tight Young Lovers.  This is a, for all intents and purposes, a reboot of the Eureka 7 Renton / Eureka story universe.  Even though many of the characters are recognizable, their back story is very different, including those of Renton and Eureka.

I also have enough time to mention the launch and re-entry of Dragon supply module launched aboard the Falcon 9 launch vehicle by Space X.  This puts Space X in very exclusive company indeed!  A company of one as Space X is the first commercial launch company that has sucessfully re-entered a spacecraft from orbit.

Stories that did not make this week’s program was a flyby of Saturn’s moon Hyperion by the Cassini explorer.  I have a short video, made from stills from the probe which shows the moon’s rotational characteristics, and they are some of the most chaotic I can remember ever seeing short of a special effects movie.  Something you just have to see to get the whole comedic impact is the short film that is a tongue in cheek post apocalyptic survival guide called “Ducked and Covered: A Survival Guide to the Post Apocalypse”

Short on description, long on entertainment…I crack myself up….