The Thirteenth Hour Podcast

This week, I'm reading the twelfth chapter of the Peter David penned movie novelization of the 1991 Rocketeer film.  This chapter has a scene that for some reason always cracked my brother and I up as kids - the big bad guy, Lothar, picks up Cliff and shaves him through the ceiling headfirst a few times.  It's so cartoonish - like something out of a Looney Tunes cartoon - that I still can't help i...

This week, Paul Korman, who was last on the show in 2021 ( episode 298 ), rejoins the show to discuss The Phantom Fellows , the pixelart adventure game he recently completed.  This was a really fun episode to record (even though we needed to do it twice - more on that in the intro), and it was a fun one to prepare for, since it involved playing the game Paul had discussed back in episode 298.  It...

This week, my brother and I chatting in a rare, in-person meeting and, using my homebrew Rocketeer game demo as an example, talk about what makes video games enjoyable.  When I started making this game a few years ago, my initial goal was not actually to make much of a game.  It was it learn how to use the game making software I am using ( GDevelop5 ).  But once I got past the animations, story, a...

Happy 2025! This week, my brother and I are watching the 1990 movie, Darkman . This is our first time watching it, though we'd both heard of it, having grown up seeing ads in Nintendo Power for the video game.  Just like Dick Tracy , which we did a number of episodes back and also had not seen, it has a certain pulpy, tongue in cheek vibe.  In fact, it reminds me a little of the first Robocop . Ch...

This week, I’m reading the eleventh chapter of the  Peter David penned movie novelization  of the 1991  Rocketeer  film.  This chapter is when the Rocketeer flies off after his debut flight and tries to get the hang of the Cirrus X-3 without killing himself.   We also get a sense of all the different players that want it.   Thanks for listening! As always, thanks for listening! ∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞  Signup fo...

This week, I'm reading the tenth chapter of the Peter David penned movie novelization of the 1991 Rocketeer film.  This chapter is when the Rocketeer makes his debut!  This is one of the few part of the comic the plays out on the big screen, as Cliff in the comic also goes airborne for the first time to save Malcolm, a former WW1 flier who hangs out at the airfield.  Click on the picture of Cliff...

This week, I'm reading the ninth chapter of the Peter David penned movie novelization of the 1991 Rocketeer film.  This chapter introduces us to the Laughing Bandit , the role the villain Neville Sinclair is playing probably inspired by Errol Flynn swashbucklers from the era. There were also some cameos in the novelization (not in the film) with famous actors and films being made at the time Clark...

This week, I'm reading the eighth chapter of the Peter David penned movie novelization of the 1991 Rocketeer film.  This chapter introduces us to the Bulldog Cafe and tells us why Jenny's phone number is written on the wall next to the pay phone.  I always wondered about that and figured it was either a reference to the Tommy Tutone single from the 80s ( "867-5309 / Jenny" ) or maybe the guys at t...

This week, I'm reading the seventh chapter of the Peter David penned movie novelization of the 1991 Rocketeer film.  This chapter introduces Jenny Blake , Cliff's girlfriend (called Betty in Dave Stevens' original comic as an ode to pin up icon Bettie Paige).  That part, in the film, went to Jennifer Connelly, who you may also remember from 1986's Labyrinth .   When I was a teen, I had VHS copies...

This week, I'm reading the sixth chapter of the Peter David penned movie novelization of the 1991 Rocketeer film.  This chapter introduces Eddie Valentine, the gangster doing the heavy lifting for Hollywood spy Neville Sinclair.  We get some backstory about Eddie that was not in the film as well as an early preview of Neville secret room where he sends encoded messages to his Nazi colleagues who w...

This week, my brother and I are watching the 1990 movie, Dick Tracy. This is our first time watching it, though we'd both heard of it, having grown up watching the cartoon and remembering the spring/summer of 1990, when there's was lots of Dick Tracy stuff about. Check out Jeremy 's work over at Pixel Grotto , CBR.com , and Classic Batman Panels on IG . If you are of the DnD persuasion, his articl...

This week, I'm reading the fifth chapter of the Peter David penned movie novelization of the 1991 Rocketeer film.  This chapter introduces Otis Bigelow, the owner of the Bigelow Air Circus, the statue of Charles Lindburgh outside the airfield, the Curtiss Standard biplane christened Miss Mabel (named after the real life barnstormer Mabel Cody ), and, of course, the Cirrus X-3 rocketpack.    Thanks...

This week, I'm reading the fourth chapter of the Peter David penned movie novelization of the 1991 Rocketeer film.  This chapter basically picks up in the spot in the film where Cliff has had to crash land the Gee-Bee and is dealing with the Feds.  We also meet a version of Howard Hughes, who in the film, is the man behind the Cirrus X-3 rocketpack.  It's never stated in the Dave Stevens comic (si...

In honor of Cliff Secord's birthday, 10/26, I'm reading the third chapter of the Peter David penned movie novelization of the 1991 Rocketeer film.  (What I really love about the bio Dave Stevens penned for Cliff is that it gives both backstory and motivation for his character as well as why, in 1938, he is flying the Gee-Bee Z, a plane from the early 30s, for the first time in 1938.  You can tell...

In honor of Rocketeer Day (unofficially a thing ... in the 1991 film, the date October 15th, 1938 is shown), I'm reading the second chapter of the Peter David penned movie novelization of the 1991 Rocketeer film.  This chapter basically picks up in the spot where the film begins, where on a fall morning at Chaplin Airfield, Cliff, Peevy, and the other fliers and mechanics who work there gather to...

I've been meaning to read the Peter David penned movie novelization of the 1991 Rocketeer film for some time, so I figured I'd start doing that this week.  It will take about a half a year if we read one chapter a week, but since they are not very long, some weeks, we might do two.  It's interesting reading just this first chapter so far, as there are a number of other details or plot changes that...

The past few months, I've been happy to host an adult open gym at a local gymnastics school.  Adult bodies are different from those of kids, and kids programming is mostly what gymnastics facilities tend to cater to.  Gymnastics for adults often ends up looking and being different than it does for kids.  We are older, our bodies don’t move in the same ways as they used to, and we may feel rusty or...

I'm doing this episode as a future note to myself about some projects that I've been toying around for awhile that I'd like to delve into in the next few months: -An illustrated children's book that I'm temporarily calling "The Imperial Ranger's son" - a story written from the perspective of a child in the Capital City of Tartec (the kingdom where a lot of The Thirteenth Hour takes place), who is...

As mentioned last week, I attended a great event this past week put on by Whistlekick, Free Training Day Mid-Atlantic - took some great classes, taught a class , met some great people, caught up with ones I met last year - all great stuff.  If you are open minded and want to learn, head over to Whistlekick's free training day event page to learn about upcoming trainings (two in the next few months...

The Thirteenth Hour workout deck that I discussed last week consists of 52 exercise cards + 4 wild cards; it's designed to be a pocket-sized deck of cards that can randomize and kickstart your exercise routine with the premise that if you want to work out, it's doesn't necessarily take long, it doesn't necessarily take any equipment, nor does it require money.  The beta tester digital pre-release...

The Thirteenth Hour workout deck that I have mentioned a few times on the show over the summer is done: 56 cards = 52 exercise cards + 4 wild cards + instructions have been completed; I've made a public Patreon post where you can download them.  I'd like to make a few sample sets or have a few professionally printed so people can test them out, but for right now, the beta tester digital pre-releas...

Originally aired on June 24, 2024. This week's podcast episode follows up on what I started last week - I did end up playing " There's a Wild Heart Beating " at a local restaurant that holds a monthly open mike for singer-songwriters to practice and work on new and old material.  Really nice that that exists.  It was nice to play live again as well as listen to what other people...

Originally aired on April 8, 2024. This week, I'm experimenting with artificial intelligence for music.  There's this one track that's been holding up the final stages of the latest Thirteenth Hour soundtrack LP - it's written, the backing track was made ages ago ... but it's meant to be sung by a woman (Aurora, the female protagonist in The Thirteenth Hour ).  Of course, the o...

Originally aired on June 5, 2023. This week, I'm working on the coverart for the upcoming next Thirteenth Hour soundtrack LP, Once Upon a Dream .  The AI art images I used as inspiration back in episode 406 were helpful in confirming the kind of look I was going for as well as the color scheme - mostly an 80s palate of hot pink, blues, purples, and the obligatory rainbow trail. At the time, I&...

Originally aired on May 22,2023. This week, I'm working on the coverart for the upcoming next Thirteenth Hour soundtrack LP, Once Upon a Dream .  I've had ideas percolating for a number of years about what I wanted it to look like but as an experiment, I decided to see if one of the many AI art generators (in this case, a very cool, free app called Diffusitron ) could provide additional in...