Director's Commentary:

• STOS Kirk would probably just seeth internally about this, but I'm pretty sure that the new Kirk would drag the cook over the counter by the lapels and get those waffles now.
• "Frakking?" "Gorram?" "Tanj?" I finally settled on "Frigging" as a way of keeping this relatively universe-neutral.
• In related news, if you haven't seen this classic by Eddie Izzard, please do so now.



Director's Commentary:

• Yes, zombies. It was only a matter of time before I got to them.
• It was hard coming up with a name for the antibiotic that hasn't been used yet. You would not believe all the whacky names there are out there for actual antibiotics.
• For a hard-boiled, no-nonsense approach to zombies--and an antidote to the whole "sparkly vampire" nonsense of late, I heartily recommend Already Dead by Charlie Huston.
• Only one more episode until the big season 1 finale!

Director's Commentary:

• Kind of serious this week, but there's a scene in Frankenstein that has always haunted me. It's at the beginning of Chapter 5, when Victor Frankenstein rejects his own creation: "He might have spoken, but I did not hear; one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped and rushed downstairs." And that's where the whole tragedy starts--rejected, the monster leaves and begins a path of revenge.
  But what if Frankenstein hadn't rejected his creation? What if he was able to see beyond the surface, to act with empathy instead of fear? This week's [1]nm is a little snapshot from that alternate version.
• Adam is evidently the name Mary Shelly called the creature in early tellings of the story.

For Hap and Chris.

Director's Commentary:

• And we're back after another missed week. Mea what you call your culpa.
• This was one of the first ideas I had when I started the podcast. I could tell right away that The Voice of the Machine was going to have its own opinions.
• Mari, as usual, knocked this out of the park. I think she'd make a great Bond villain. If you know me, you know that's a sincere compliment.
• Going to try something a little different next week, something a little serious. I am both exciting about the possibilities, and nervous about pulling it off. Stay tuned, and wish me luck.



Director's Commentary:

• Sorry I missed last week. Forgot how discombobulating it is getting back to reality after a long trip.
• This one is inspired by childhood memories of my Dad setting his watch and ship's clock to WWV on his shortwave.
• Recorded a different outro this week, asking you to please leave a comment on 1newmess.com or a review on iTunes. Let me know you're out there, and haven't been captured for aliens for their space zoo. You know how I worry.

Director's Commentary:

• True story: I saw The Core in the theater. At the end, our heroes are rescued from the ocean floor off Hawaii by attracting the attention of a pod of Orcas (I am not making this up). At this point I leaned over to my buddy and said "It wouldn't be Orcas--they're cold water." We both though about this for a second, then busted up laughing at the thought that, after all the pseudo-science and absurdist hand-waving of the previous ninety minutes, I was finally roused from my popcorn-infused stupor by a cetacean inconsistency.
• And for the record: The Core used the term "unobtanium" way before Avatar.

Director's Commentary:

• Mari came up with this character on the spot. Equal parts Ed from Cowboy Bebop, Lina Lamont from Singing in the Rain, and awesome from awesome.

Director's Commentary:

• Re-learned an important comedy rule while mixing this one: faster is better. Did a polish pass where I tightened up the pauses, shortening the whole thing by 3-5 seconds, and it improved everything.
• Yep, all the voices are me. I think Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers can rest easy--their uncanny abilities to play multiple characters remain unmatched.
• For probably the best time-travel paradoxes, may I direct you to the Robert Heinlein stories "-All You Zombies-" and "By His Bootstraps."

Director's Commentary:

• As a long-time Toho Studios and Ray Harryhausen fan, I have always loved Giant Monsters. As a kid, I had my hiding place all picked out should a giant tarantula or whatever come striding over the foothills near our house.
• Mari and Chris make cameo appearances. That's Chris doing his "Old Man Queeg" voice. It's a long story.

Director's Commentary:

• Thought of this after seeing Pandorum. That was a much better movie than I was expecting--it deserved a bigger audience.
• For the voice, I asked Mari to do a "full-on Barbara Feldon." I think she delivered.

Director's Commentary:

• The idea for this came to me in two words: "Vote Blofeld." I then had to make up my own absurd evil genius moniker. I enjoy how "Fistclaw" combines repitition with ambiguity. Does he have fists made out of claws? Is his fist just one claw? Is it left hand fist, right hand claw? One human hand, one clawed fist? Bionic? Spliced? I leave such questions to the imagination of you, the listener.
• For Fistclaw's voice, I'm doing a modified Emperor Palpatine, one of my few impressions. I always enjoy using that voice to refer to my son Chris as "my young Jedi friend." Especially since he finds it irritating.

Director's Commentary:

• Every generation of moviegoers has its Mob of Bad Guys, the crowd of stunt men and extras who swarm the good guy in the third act and are mowed down in a variety of ballastic and explosive ways. Nazis, Imperial Stormtroopers, whatever. Well, this is definitely the time of the Zombie.
• I'm thinking we may hear more from the law firm of Stoker, Melville, and Blackwood.

Director's Commentary:

• Chris's performance as the Thing In The Box was not altered or enhanced in any way. He did that live, folks.
• Same with the screaming. The dogs weren't happy.

Yep, that's definitely a Class 5 Reality Vortex (Stable) in your attic. Good thing you called Multiverse Pest Control.

Director's Commentary:

• If ghosts are just manifestations of energy, shouldn't they be really good at manipulating electronics? And if so, why haven't we heard of a haunted iPhone? Or are they all haunted? It would certainly explain a lot...
• And seriously, how did we live before Tivo?