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The Drunken Odyssey

~ A Podcast About the Writing Life

The Drunken Odyssey

Category Archives: History

Comics Are Trying to Break Your Heart #44: Slipping Through the Cracks

13 Wednesday Nov 2019

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Comics Are Trying to Break Your Heart, History, Science Fiction

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Comics Are Trying to Break Your Heart #44 by Drew Barth

Slipping Through the Cracks

Throughout the year, hundreds of comics are released. Dozens of new series begin. Sometimes those new series escape the eye of even eager readers. This happens to me every few months—a series just doesn’t appear on the new release calendar or I simply don’t hear any talk of it from the comic crowd I follow. And that almost happened this last month with the release of issue two of Strange Skies Over East Berlin by Jeff Loveness, Lisandro Estherren, and Patricio Delpeche.

ber1

But the strange irony of Strange Skies Over Berlin almost slipping through the cracks is how its story deals with the lies and spies that slipped in and out of East and West Germany in the early 70s. As a story, it is diving deep into the idea of things that are unseen even in a meticulously watched area. When we meet our main character, Herring, we see him trying to slip people through the Berlin Wall as he masquerades as a Stasi operative. The story is so ingrained in the tensions of the era that it’s no wonder the story would shift from the streets of East Berlin to an underground bunker by the end of the first issue.

And then the twist.

ber2

During that escape attempt, a massive stream of light flashes above Berlin, landing somewhere on the eastern side. All anyone knows of the strange light is that no one knows what it could be or how it came to fly over Berlin. And of course, with the extreme secrecy of the time, anyone who would know anything about the strange light is maintaining silence.

Until the mystery of the strange light begins to reveal itself to Herring as he is sealed into that underground bunker. The light itself infects people—takes over their minds and bodies until they split open in a blaze of electric light. And for now, that’s all we as the audience know.

ber3.jpg

Strange Skies Over East Berlin is one of the only series I can think of that sits in the space of sci-fi/historical fiction/political thriller/noir, and I’m still amazed that I only happened upon it on the rack of my local comic shop. Strange Skies fills that hyper-particular niche that isn’t seen all that often but feels necessary when many other series stick to only one or two genres. To experiment with genre is always what comics need to do as a medium. A series like Strange Skies lives and dies on the word-of-mouth around it—even if it comes from a larger publisher like Boom!—and I don’t want to see something so fantastically crafted by Loveness and Estherren to disappear before anyone gets the chance to read it.

Get excited. Try something new.


drew barth

Drew Barth (Episode 331) is a writer residing in Winter Park, FL. He received his MFA from the University of Central Florida. Right now, he’s worrying about his cat.

Episode 385: Gilbert King!

21 Saturday Sep 2019

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Creative Nonfiction, Episode, History

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Tags

Beneath a Ruthless Sun, Devil in the Grove, Gilbert King

Episode 385 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on Apple podcasts, stitcher, spotify, or click here to stream (right click to download, if that’s your thing).

GKHiRes

In this week’s episode, I talk with historian and crime writer Gilbert King about the history of justice and journalism, the role of luck in research, experimenting with presentation until a passage feels right, and how to manage one’s doubts when pursuing a writing project.

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Beneath a Ruthless Sun.jpg

Devil in the Grove

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

Scribophile

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go here while still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

Check out my first interview with Gilbert back on episode 60!

Check out my literary adventure novel, Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame.

Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame Cover


Episode 385 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on Apple podcasts, stitcher, spotify, or click here to stream (right click to download, if that’s your thing).

Buzzed Books #65: 1776

17 Tuesday Jul 2018

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Buzzed Books, History

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Buzzed Books #65 by Chuck Cannini

1776

For Serialbox.com, the Associated Press collaborated to write an episodic series about the lives of farmers, accountants, teachers, and high school dropouts from a certain thirteen colonies in the fateful year of 1776. This is one for history buffs, but the readership should not stop there.

1776

The chapters are published episodically, a monthly dose of history until, finally, you turn the last digital page twelve months later. It’s a great idea to encourage reluctant readers who shy away from large reads. Book groups could also share fun, in-depth discussions about that week’s chapter instead of hoping everyone read the whole book. A friend of mine likened it to a comic book series: one issue a month, except you preorder all the upcoming installments.

It’s also like reading a proper newspaper: packed with the Five Ws of hard, fact-based journalism, some sections with a little more flair than others.

There are the expected cameos from the Revolution’s major players: Washington, Adams, Arnold, Revere, Franklin, and Jefferson. Most received individual attention, some with less familiar details:

Jefferson actually took the knife to the New Testament, ridding it of passages that described ‘unscientific’ miracles. He believed that by this editing, the Bible became a kind of code of conduct to encourage Christian ideal behavior instead of inexplicable divine visions.

It’s no surprise that the Founding Fathers hog the spotlight, integral as they were. While I appreciated those little tidbits like Jefferson going full on editor on the Bible, what pulled me in were the everyday citizens – these farmers and teachers and high school dropouts. By Episode Six, it became apparent that these dropouts and farmers were just the Founding Fathers before they were Founding Fathers. It’s a little misleading. That isn’t to say there is no mention of ordinary colonists. Some of that information was delivered in broad strokes:

Toothless grins were common across the colonial landscape. Colonists did brush their teeth with frayed dogwood twigs using salt and water. Native Americans had splendid teeth, most likely because they were not eating vast quantities of sugar from the West Indies … Bathing was still thought risky, which was fine with the lice.

And

Knowledge of fundamental science was scarce, but there were glimmerings.

And

The poor drowned themselves in rivers of gin.

This is the real juicy meat of history. 1776 offers context. It answers how we as people developed psychologically and therefore sociologically over time. Whether the genre is history or fantasy, I want to understand a person, and in doing so a society, deeply.

Differing colonial customs made each colony fearful of entangling alliances with the others. They were suspicious of each other. A New Englander found Virginia an odd place and its “hospitality and politeness” exaggerated. Virginians found Pennsylvanians “remarkably grave and reserved, and the women remarkably homely, hard-favoured and sour.” A Connecticut man complained of “frauds and unfair practices” by New York merchants, while a New Yorker said he would not send his son to school in Connecticut lest he pick up the “low craft and cunning so incident to the people of that country.

Note the word “country.”

In Pennsylvania, the Quakers were vehemently opposed to slavery on moral grounds—as were the Germans, for economic reasons—steadfast against the competition of cheaper labor. John Woolman, a minister from Mount Holly, New Jersey, would not eat sugar because it was a product of West Indian slave labor. Anthony Benezet of Philadelphia, another Quaker, proposed in 1762 that slaves be freed by law and given homesteads. “Ye men of SENSE and VIRTUE —YE ADVOCATES of American liberty, rouse up and espouse the cause of Humanity and general Liberty,” cried Benjamin Rush. “The plant of liberty is too tender a Nature that it cannot thrive long in the neighborhood of slavery.”

There are also broader topics, such as territorial disputes, the strain between cultural heritage and assimilation, and the back-and-forth over states’ rights and the federal government.

It’s hard not to juxtapose some of today’s Americans into a world that perhaps led to these very Americans. I just wish there had been a greater focus on Joe or Jane Schmoe and what he or she felt and thought, what drove them to their way of thinking and their allegiances – perhaps the beginnings of long-reaching ideologies in our society today.

The series is not yet finished. Unlike most of Serial Box’s weekly series, 1776 drops new installments once per month. Episode Seven just debuted in July, with five additional episodes after that. Since 1776 is historical and the episodes are self-contained, I don’t think it will be difficult to pick up where they left off a month prior. So there is promise for more insight to a time that I think is important to reflect on and be provided some context, especially given the current climate in America. Until then, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how this revolution ends.


Chuck Cannini

Chuck Canninigraduated with a B.F.A. in Creative Writing for Entertainment. History and social studies classes were his favorite courses when in school, especially American history, except when he learned about the Industrial Revolution. Explaining how the spinning jenny was built is exactly how you put him to sleep.

Episode 319: Julian Chambliss!

16 Saturday Jun 2018

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Comic Books, Episode, History

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Tags

Black Lightning, Cress Williams, DC Comics, Julian Chambliss, Krondon, Metropolis, Suicide Slum, Superman, Tobias Whale, Tony Isabella

Episode 319 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

On this week’s program, Julian Chambliss returns to the secret headquarters of TDO so we could share notes about the first season of the new television show of Black Lightning, and consider the context of the classic comic book from the 1970s.

Science Night Live, photo by Roberto Gonzalez

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Black Lightning

Black Lightning Cover.png

NOTES

Check out this hysterical assist from Superman!

Black Lightning & Superman

Compare Tobias Whale on the CW show (Marvin ‘Krondon’ Jones III) and his considerably different look in the original comics.

Black-Lightning-Tobias-Whale-feature-2Black Lightning Tobias Whale comics


Episode 319 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

Episode 311: M. Evelina Galang!

21 Saturday Apr 2018

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Creative Nonfiction, Episode, History

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Tags

Lola's House: Filipino Women Living with War, M. Evelina Galang

Episode 311 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

On this week’s show, I talk to M. Evelina Galang about writing about the insistence of history, collaborating with other voices, being inspired by our elders, and conveying the true flux of language.

M Eveilna Galang color.jpg

Books Discussed

Lola's House.jpg


Episode 311 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

Episode 236: Bill Savage (A Repeal Day Special Interview)!

05 Monday Dec 2016

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Drinking, Episode, History, Journalism

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Episode 236 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

On this week’s show, I talk to the literary historian Bill Savage about the re-release of George Ade’s 1931 classic, breezy history of drinking culture in America.

billl-savage-headshot

George Ade

TEXT DISCUSSED

the-old-time-saloon

NOTES

Watch and hear Bill’s rant against the term dive bar.

Should Prohibition be repealed? (illustration from The Old Time Saloon)

jetsetter-lounge

My beloved Jetsetter Lounge, in Lake Worth, Florida, circa 2007.

mike-jones

Mike Jones, Mixological Guru.

Teege Braune at work

Teege Braune, The Official Bartender of The Drunken Odyssey.


Episode 236 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

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Episode 225: Bob Kealing!

24 Saturday Sep 2016

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Episode, History

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Episode 225 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

In this week’s episode, I talk to the journalist and historian, Bob Kealing,

bob-kealing

plus Heather Whited reads her essay about eating and drinking in Japan, “Onigiri, Shirasagi, and Me.”

Heather Whited 2

TEXTS DISCUSSED

life-of-the-party-coverkerouac-in-floridacalling-me-home

NOTES

The Daytona News-JournalThe Daytona News-Journal documented Edward Albee’s involvement with the Atlantic Center for the Arts.

On September 30th, Richard Blanco is coming to Valencia College for the Winter Park Writers’ Festival. Richard Blanco’s reading is FREE, but you MUST reserve a seat via the Festival’s Eventbrite page.

EVENT DETAILS

  • Location: Winter Park Campus, Valencia College, 850 W Morse Blvd, Winter Park, FL 32789, Rooms 237/2424
  • 4 PM: Community Writing Class with Richard Blanco
  • 5:30 PM: Open Mic Reading (Emceed by John King)
  • 7:00 PM: Richard Blanco Reading

You can find my interview with Richard Blanco back on episode 76.

The deadline for submissions for Condoms and Hot Tubs Don’t Mix is fast approaching.


Episode 225 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

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Episode 218: Todd James Pierce!

06 Saturday Aug 2016

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Disney, Episode, History

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Episode 218 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

In this week’s episode, I talk to historian and creative writer Todd James Pierce,

Todd James Pierce

plus Heather Whited reads her essay, “The General.”

Heather Whited 2TEXT DISCUSSED

Three Years in WonderlandNOTES

Check out the Disney History Institute.

Check out our latest video, the performance of Lush Agave at the Gallery at Avalon Island’s In Between music series.


Episode 218 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.Save

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In Boozo Veritas #67: Lady of the Lakes Ren Faire with the Silvias

10 Monday Nov 2014

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in History, In Boozo Veritas

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In Boozo Veritas  #67 by Teege Braune

Lady of the Lakes Ren Faire with the Silvias

On Friday night as I was finishing my shift at Redlight Redlight I fortuitously ran into Jared and Lesley Silvia who had popped in for a drink. After a couple rounds the conversation took a lively turn.

“I can’t believe you guys have never been to the Lady of the Lakes Renaissance Faire?!” I nearly shouted.

“No,” the shook their heads. “Never.”

After a few more rounds we decided to cancel all of our Sunday appointments and go. I had planned on meeting them at their place after dropping Jenn off at work at Bookmark It, but Saturday morning my van broke down as it sometimes does. Jared and Lesley were not only kind enough to pick me up for the fair, they also gave Jenn and ride to the bookstore. The day was grey, overcast, and cool, a nice change from the muggy heat of early fall.

“It feels just like summer in England,” Lesley aptly commented.

The fair is in Tavares past some hills, deciduous trees, and terrain that bears very little resemblance to most of Florida. It had moved a few miles away from the clearing that had been its location the last several years and was now situated on a trail winding through a small pine forest that lay between a firing range and a landfill. Seeing cars parked in a grassy lot, we jumped the gun and turned, too soon, into the firing range. Jared drove us down a red clay rode, but we realized our error when we came to a sign that read: “Warning! Do not enter! Live ammunition being fired!”

We quickly turned around were soon able to locate our destination on the opposite side of the landfill. Lady of the Lakes is not the biggest or fanciest Renaissance Faire in Florida. It’s not quite Halloween, not quite MegaCon, but there are a lot of people in costumes, the food is fried to perfection, and they have alcohol, which imbues any occasion with that extra air of festivity. I don’t dress up for the fair, but neither do I judge those who do. It is in fact the vast array of knights, fairies, lords and ladies, a few dragons, and plenty of pirates that make the renaissance fair a worthwhile experience.

stocks

Too much beer. (Photo by Lesley Silvia.)

Ren fair novices will go straight to the jousting tournament. This is a rookie’s mistake. The splintering of lances is about the only excitement one can hope to expect from men who have never officially been knighted, the chances of someone falling off a horse or getting hurt slim in the era of insurance companies and workman’s comp, so we skipped that event and merely soaked up the delightful anachronisms and counted the number of Daenerys Targaryens we could spy as we made our way down the trail past booths of merchants and various drinking tents named things like The Drunk Monk, Pirate Cove Pub, and Lord Edward’s Tavern.

We got beers and Lesley went to the birds of prey exhibition while Jared and I enjoyed the final set of Celtic Mayhem whose upbeat renditions of Irish drinking songs are an annual tradition at Lady of the Lakes. A misprint in the fair schedule made us miss the bulk of the raunchy comic stylings of the Washing Well Wenches, another one of the fair’s highlights. I was happy that we caught the tail end of their raucous and over the top performance, but immediately afterward, we listened to a few minutes of Johnny Phoenix’s own hackneyed standup act, which promptly ruined any waves of residual humor that continued to delight us. We had to be extra funny to make up for the atrocious bit comedy that was only stupider than it was offensive.

sleeping

Way too much beer. (Photo by Lesley Silvia.)

After a few more beers, we discovered the archery and ax throwing tents where the most cantankerous old carney attempted to show us the proper way to shoot a bow and arrow.

“You’re still holding it wrong. I don’t have time for this!” she shouted throwing our arrows to the ground, yet nevertheless, refused to leave until we were able to fire the arrows within a few yards of the bulls eye.

jaredax

Photo by Lesley Silvia.

We were mostly unsuccessful at landing an onslaught of small throwing axes onto a fence that was painted to look either like a dragon or a large menacing cat, but after inadvertently nailing it a few times right where its balls would be, Lesley proved that if you had to take one of the three of us into battle with you, she’d be your greatest warrior.

We purchased a final round of beers and Jared and I went head to head in a duel of a more cerebral nature in a game of man-sized checkers, but soon learned that we were not much better at that than ax throwing and called it a draw once our few remaining kings began to wander aimlessly, chasing each other to no avail around the checkerboard.

checkers

Photo by Lesley Silvia.

The fair was more subdued than in past years, but we were well satisfied as we strolled through the parking lot, the sun setting majestically over the crest of the landfill’s largest mound.

We met up with Jenn and all went to dinner at Garibaldi where they serve the largest glasses of sangria and margaritas I have ever seen. What better way, I thought, to finish a day at a paint and cardboard version of the renaissance that with a steaming plate of enchiladas? With the help of some alcohol and a more than healthy dose of imagination, I was able to travel to historically and culturally inaccurate versions of both medieval Europe and Mexico in one day. We are blessed.

_______

Teege at Grand FloridianTeege Braune (episode 72, episode 75, episode 77, episode 90, episode 102, episode 122) is a writer of literary fiction, horror, essays, and poetry. Recently he has discovered the joys of drinking responsibly. He may or may not be a werewolf.

Episode 66: Kalliope Lee!

14 Saturday Sep 2013

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Episode, Erotic Literature, History

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Creative Writing, Erotic literature, Fiction, History, John Demos, Korea, Novels, Scott Hoffman, Sunday Girl

Episode 66 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

On this week’s show, I talk to the novelist Kalliope Lee,

Kalliope Lee

plus Scott Hoffman talks about John Demos’s The Unredeemed Captive: A Family Story from Early America.

Scott Hoffman

TEXTS DISCUSSED

Sunday Girl

The Unredeemed Captive

NOTES

Until Tuesday, September 17th, 8 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, you can get a free ebook of Sunday Girl by going to smashwords, searching for Sunday Girl, and entering the code  CV74V.

play-tops-taming

The Taming of the Shrew runs September 11th through October 6th at Orlando Shakespeare Theater. Get tickets here.

An author’s first duty is to let down his country.

–Brandon Behan.

See my Pinupalooza photos here.

Episode 66 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

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