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Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
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9:37 am - Hello, Goodbye... Hello, Hello
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ah_creator
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I'll keep this short and simple.
Months ago, a message board was set up for our friends at the Sonic Society. But don't look for us there. Ollin Productions no longer maintains a presence there.
Jack Ward and Shannon Hilche, the co-chairs and delightful lead voices of "The Sonic Society," were offered the use of a message board space. It's called Audio Drama Talk. They wanted it to be the watering hole for audiodramatists, where people could share their knowledge and experience.
However, you can't share much in the way of knowledge unless there's a mutual sense of professionalism. You can be as friendly, complimentary, and informal as you like. But you need an effective work environment -- a mature atmosphere -- where ability and merit are welcome, not simply a token word of approval. There must be room for disagreement and reasonable discussion, not conformity. And you can tell that's not happening when you get certain signs. A grown woman (Jamie) is addressed like an irrational child. Points raised are sidestepped, so people can discuss more popular views. Someone appeals to community instead of merit, basically truth by majority.
Or when somebody says to you, "Did a director pee in your coffee this week or something?"
At that point, Jamie had had enough. We asked Jack to delete our accounts. So before anyone starts a rumor or smiles to themselves, Jack and Shannon can tell you: We weren't thrown out. We walked. Better things to do. Death in the family, it turned out. But that's another story.
Also for the record: We at Ollin Productions are proud members of "The Sonic Society." Jack and Shannon are good people, and we'll stand by them any day of the week, even if it is a long walk from here to Nova Scotia.
Because it is. A long walk, I mean.
How does affect "Afterhell," you might ask? If you want our take on something, go to the source. Always the best place.
current mood:  tired
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(comment on this)
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| Tuesday, March 25th, 2008
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2:20 pm - Excerpt from: "Updates, quandries, and other noises"
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ah_creator
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Taken from one of our personal blog entries:
LJ Uber-drama
I'm sure everyone else has heard about this by now. Certainly lots of blog postings out there. Some of them are even useful.
I'm not going to get into all the back-and-forth, the horribly translated Russian interviews with the Powers That Be, the yay's or nays (deliberate word choice) regarding the big boycott on Good Friday, or any of that. My understanding of the whole thing boils down to a few simple things:
- LJ intends to close up the no-cost, ad-free Basic Account level.
- They didn't intend to let anyone know about it.
- They were also caught censoring user interests, rendering them invisible on key listings.
- They have now fostered a hostile relationship with their customers -- and their content -- for several months.
- There's no sign that it's going to stop.
On the first point... sad, I guess. But it happens. It's a business. They have to make money, yadda yadda. That's a fair complaint. If they had just said so, and not resorted to item number two, people would grump, but eventually deal. Look at DeadJournal. I bitched, but I moved on. And they're still around.
But it's the last three items that give me and Jamie pause. And how many times has LJ gone to war with its customers over content -- two times? three? -- in the current management's first 100 days at the helm?
Content issues are a big deal for us. It's not just a hobby for us. This is our business. We have to make money too. We do an audiodrama show that's clearly, loudly, proudly not for everybody. How long will it be before LJ has a problem with us?
We're really busy now. We don't need this kind of grief now. I'm working on several scripts, some of the Willamette Radio Workshop, some for Afterhell. I'm mixing a new episode fast as I can, when I'm not writing, collapsing from fatigue, fielding family emergencies, or trying to medicate cats. Deadlines are looming close behind.
So we're left with two choices. Pray that LiveJournal never comes after us. Or take Afterhell off of LiveJournal ourselves.
We're preparing to move the Afterhell blog.
I'll be cross-posting this elsewhere.
current mood: exhausted
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(comment on this)
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| Friday, February 29th, 2008
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10:34 am - Giallo Hotel - NO VACANCY
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ah_creator
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Noble, loyal listeners! You tolerated the long delays and the lame puns. Now the final episode of the "Giallo Hotel" storyline has been podcast.
If you like structure in your horror stories, belly up to the bar. The hotel's structure is the only thing left standing! Part Nine brings the Giallo Hotel arc to a bizarre, bloodletting close. Boss Giallo and his undead rival Pensari wage one last battle for all the marbles. And victory isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Yes, the "Giallo Hotel" podcast is complete. The final CD release is on the horizon, set for May 2008. We burned the entire story for the perusal of this year's Mark Time Awards panel, but our official CD will have some creepy new artwork from Alida Saxon...and a few surprises.
Speaking of surprises, keep your radio tuned and watch the skies. The best of the worst is yet to come.
current mood: exhausted
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(comment on this)
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| Wednesday, February 20th, 2008
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11:44 am - Black Is (More) Black
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| Saturday, February 16th, 2008
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12:09 pm - Giallo Hotel Part 8 online
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ah_creator
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Brace yourself, 'cause it ain't no hoax! The Giallo Hotel podcast is back, fresh from our extended holiday season tour of purgatory and limbo.
Part Eight is the penultimate episode. Thus, the end is Nine. Be patient for a little bit longer. We'll send Part Nine out as soon as it's ready.
current mood:  sad
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(comment on this)
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| Tuesday, January 15th, 2008
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11:28 am - Vampira, Where Are You Tonight...?
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ah_creator
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Yeah, yeah. I know. The "Giallo Hotel" podcast is really, really late. Really, I know. I'd give you a list of people to blame, but I'd hate to see all those people turning up dead. Bear with me. I'm working on it.
In the meantime, here is some sad news to wake up to. I should know. I did this morning. Actress and model Maila Nurmi died in her sleep about five days ago. We all know her as... Vampira!
Oh, c'mon. Play this up, fer pete's sake.
Admit it. She made this world a fraction more cool than it was without her, don't you think? She looked creepy and snarked about so-so monster movies long before it was fashionable.
And Halloween would've been a little less sexy. I'm sure lots of people thought to dress up like Morticia Addams before she did. But Vampira made it the in-thing to do.
Well, that and she was one of the few highlights in Plan 9 From Outer Space. She actually made that weird finger-wiggling bit pay off. I mean, it's not a selling point or anything, but....
I'll close with a correction. You won't see this in the Wikipedia entry, but there is another musical tribute to Vampira worth noting, from singer-songwriter-and-really-cool-DJ Greg Kihn. Go to his website and buy his "Horror Show" album. Maybe I'm sentimental, tone-deaf, and in league with Jerry Falwell, but I swear the last track on "Horror Show" deserves to be a Halloween anthem.
current mood:  busy
current music: Greg Kihn: "Wherever There's Smoke"
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, November 21st, 2007
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7:37 pm - Giallo Podcast Continues
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ah_creator
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Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! But if you ever visit the Giallo Hotel, don't try the lasagna.
That's right. After a long frustrating delay, Ollin Productions is resuming the Afterhell podcast preview of Volume 3: "Bloodbath at the Giallo Hotel." A modern-day gangland war has become a zombie uprising, turning a mobster-run luxury resort into a slaughterhouse. Previous episodes have opened the door first to bloodshed, then tragedy. Now the stakes are higher than the body count. In Part 7, Boss Giallo and his men learn that surviving hurts even more than dying.
We beg our listeners for their patience. And we politely request the naysayers keep the groans down to a civil level. There are only two episodes left. We're doing our best to deliver a high-quality, lower-class bloodletting finale for "Giallo Hotel." And when the podcast is done, the entire story will be released as Afterhell Volume 3.
Beyond that, we have plans for a new storyline made especially for our podcast. And Afterhell Volume 4 is already in production.
"Afterhell" is just getting started. It's not for everyone. It's not polite. And it's not going away.
Tuck in while it's still hot, kiddies. Best wishes to everyone for the holiday season.
current mood: tired
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(comment on this)
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| Saturday, November 10th, 2007
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7:20 pm - Verbiage
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ah_creator
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Here's a fun way to make the world a better place. And all you donate is mouse clicks.
It's a word quiz called "Free Rice." You test your vocabulary, and for every right answer, the United Nations World Food Program gets another 10 grains of rice.
So really wrack yer brain!
current mood:  nerdy
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(comment on this)
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| Monday, October 22nd, 2007
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5:34 pm - Sonic Society alert
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ah_creator
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Newsflash! Afterhell is making another appearance on "The Sonic Society" with Jack Ward and Shannon Hilchie tomorrow night (4pm PST, 7pm EST, 9pm AST).
Tonight is the world radio premiere of "Sleepless Days." But tomorrow night, "The Sonic Society" on CKDU 88.1 FM in Halifax will broadcast a slightly more worksafe version. We had direct input in the edits, bleeps, and bloops, so we're cool with it. Dial it on your radio or stream it for some tongue-in-cheek dark humor.
current mood: caffeinated
current music: MSNBC Countdown
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(comment on this)
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| Friday, October 19th, 2007
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3:26 pm - 2007 Trick-or-Treats
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ah_creator
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Announcements! Hurry up and gather around before I collapse.
First, we're going to be on the airwaves again... we think. You see, we would've mentioned this sooner, but we couldn't get an official word from anybody. We got a semi-official word, though! And it goes like this:
KBOO 90.7 FM in Portland, Oregon is apparently scheduled to run an Afterhell episode. On Monday October 22nd, at 11pm Pacific Time, KBOO will run a late-night radiodrama double feature: Heather Breeden's award-winning Gothic thriller Next Year's Girl, courtesy of the Willamette Radio Workshop ... and a radio (but still rude) edit of the Afterhell episode "Sleepless Days" by Jamie Lawson & Joe Medina. Dial it in or stream it online!
And if you're in Portland, Oregon this Halloween, come see WRW's annual live show at the McMenamin's Kennedy School brewery. WRW is going to rock Halloween 2007 with "The Monkey's Paw" and "The Pit & the Pendulum" -- straight from classic radio, performed before your very eyes, with sound effects and a full cast.
A double whammy of classic chills 'n' thrills, people! The Afterhell crew will be minding the swag table and watching the show along with you. Admission is free. Bring the kids and go trick-or-treating inside the Kennedy School where it'll be dry and warm. Then join us for some family-friendly terror.
We hope you'll share Halloween with us, folks! The company is great and the treats are better!
current mood: exhausted
current music: Mozart: Piano Concerto In E Flat, K 482
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(comment on this)
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| Tuesday, September 25th, 2007
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8:13 pm - Podcast & production status
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ah_creator
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Hey, folks, gather 'round! Updates for everyone.
The podcast, featuring "Bloodbath at the Giallo Hotel," has been delayed again. Yeah, sorry. Lots going on, it turns out. We'll announce more of them as the details firm up.
That's the thing about pushing the holiday season out earlier and earlier every year. Have you noticed that? Not just with Christmas, but everything. I don't know about you, but all the Halloween stuff hit the store shelves around here the first week of September. And since that's our busy season (three guesses why -- and Hispanic Heritage Month doesn't count), that means more work for us.
Also, tomorrow we'll be recording a new Afterhell episode. And it's a controversial one. No, really. The first draft of this episode alone set off a heated debate before we started work on Volume 1. Watch, no one'll so much as blink for this one.
Oh, one last thing. Back to "Giallo Hotel." (Hm, nice name for a sequel. I don't think anyone survives it, though. Wait, I'd better check. Never mind.) Anyway... when we first announced the Giallo podcast, we said it was going to be a ten-part serial.
Not anymore. Now it's nine parts.
That's another reason for delays. We've been retooling plot structure and dialogue, tightening things up as we go. And when I say "we," I mean me. And that's another reason for the delays....
Sorry to make everyone wait. Hold on a bit longer.
The end is nine nigh.
current mood:  determined
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(comment on this)
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| Sunday, September 2nd, 2007
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6:58 pm - Oily Quechup
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ah_creator
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Enough of the ketchup puns. We're going to war.
It turns out that what happened to me earlier wasn't a fluke. We're seeing alerts from the folks at Horror World and the esteemed Shocklines. A certain social networking website is mailbombing a significant chunk of the online horror community.
Ticking off horror fans with net access. Does that sound like a smart move to you?
Here's a chance to tell these crypto-spammers what you think of them. Be polite but direct. Let's give 'em Afterhell.
mark@idatecorp.com
glen@idatecorp.com
audreyr@idatecorp.com
paul@idatecorp.com
justin@idatecorp.com
current mood:  irritated
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(comment on this)
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6:22 pm - Giallo Part 5 delayed
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ah_creator
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Normally we upload new podcast episodes in time for the start of every week, usually uploading over the weekend. Circumstances have forced us to break from that pattern -- more on that in a later posting.
With luck, Giallo Part 5 will be out by Friday, September 7th. Please be patient whilst we mete out unholy retribution.
current mood: irritated
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(comment on this)
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| Saturday, September 1st, 2007
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6:27 pm - Quechup is Optional
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ah_creator
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A quick message to all and sundry. It’s an apology...with a little grumbling thrown in.
Everyone I know -- and several people I don’t -- just got an automated invite to Quechup, a social networking website. This happened without my knowledge or consent. I’m very sorry.
Long story short: I found a Quechup invite this morning in my e-mail. It was marked as coming from an acquaintance I rather liked, so I figured I’d join. When I registered on the website (wonky as it was), it offered to scan my address book and find this person for me. Like a doofus, I thought, “Gosh, how convenient,” and clicked ok.
The fineprint didn’t load onto the page until much later. Nice trick.
I can grumble till the sun explodes, but I’m still the one who clicked on it.
Feel free to disregard the Quechup invite. No hard feelings from me... unless your name is Quechup.
Don’t get me wrong. For all I know, it could be a great website. It doesn’t load completely 90 percent of the time, its privacy policy and its webcode are two completely different things, and it acts like a damn computer virus. But hey, it could be a great website.
And yet I'm not linking to it. Maybe when I calm down....
current mood:  with a headache
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(comment on this)
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| Sunday, August 26th, 2007
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7:14 pm - Back to the Giallo Hotel
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ayeshalan
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After a summer break, new episodes of "Afterhell: Bloodbath at the Giallo Hotel" are now being posted to the Afterhell podcast feed. If you haven't subscribed yet, this is a great time to get in on a story of mobsters and zombies in a casino that's going straight to the Afterhell.
You can go to our iTunes page or grab the RSS feed from the Afterhell audio page.
If you are already subscribed to the podcast, well, you already know we're posting new episodes -- and we want to thank you so much for your support.
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(comment on this)
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| Tuesday, June 19th, 2007
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11:25 am - Afterhell Comes to Sims2
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| Thursday, June 7th, 2007
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1:07 am - On the Origin of Zombies
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| Tuesday, May 15th, 2007
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2:06 pm - Not speaking ill of the dead... just a short song
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ah_creator
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Born defeated, died in vain
Super-destructive, you were hooked on pain
And though your music lingers on
All of us are glad you're gone
If I could live my life half as worthlessly as you
I'm convinced that I'd wind up burning too
Paul Williams
"The Hell of It"
The Phantom of the Paradise
current mood: working
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(comment on this)
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| Friday, May 4th, 2007
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11:06 am - Mucha Sea Turtle Lucha
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| Friday, April 27th, 2007
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10:45 am - Updates happy & sad
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ah_creator
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Another good news/bad news posting. Our podcast feed is back online.
But while we were fixing that, there is one less person working in the lab. Bobby "Boris" Pickett died yesterday. Long live Boris and "The Monster Mash."
My first memory of "The Monster Mash" might make you laugh. And maybe it should. I was about five or six years old. One Saturday morning, the day's joyful shockwave of cartoons had played out. I was basically flipping channels and landed on KNTV-11, one of the local stations in San Jose. The screen was dark. A single beige rectangle framed an antique gramaphone. Then a guy in a gorilla suit stepped into view. A sensitive and sheltered child, I feared for that gramaphone's safety. But the gorilla put the needle down on the record. And to my innocent horror, the gorilla started dancing to "The Monster Mash."
It was the opening for a monster movie show. I don't remember what it was called. It scared the bejeezus outta five-year-old me. And it just seems funny now.
When Halloween comes around, raise a glass to Boris and tell 'em Gorey sent you.
current mood: sore
current music: MSNBC
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(comment on this)
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anxious
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