I do not listen to commercial radio stations in the morning any more. I haven’t for over a decade.

Perhaps I’m too old, too unhip … perhaps I just don’t get it. But there’s something about the systematic degredation of our fellow human beings, which has been a staple of such shows for many years, which I find profoundly disturbing, not entertaining. And it is the systematic denigration, degredation, and humiliation of human beings for sport which many — if not most — drive time radio shows these days are all about.

The most stomach twisting example of this happened last week, at a station ironically called “The End,” in Sacramento, California. The station put on a contest called “Hold Your Wee for a Wii,” offering the Nintendo game console to the person who could drink the most water without going to the bathroom. Perfectly typical stuff — loaded with juvenile “potty humor” — for these sorts of shows.

During the contest, the on-air personalities mentioned — and dismissed — any possible danger in the stunt they were hosting. Someone mentioned the case of a Chico State University pledge who died of water intoxication during a hazing ritual — and dismissed it. A nurse practitioner called into the station and spoke about the fact that drinking too much water too quickly can kill you. She was dismissed.

When some of the contestants started getting sick, they were mocked. When several started throwing up, one of the personalities made retching noises as further encouragement. When one contestant lay on the floor of the studio, shivering uncontrollably, she was mocked. And so it went.

The contestant who came in second was 28-year-old mother of three Jennifer Lea Strange, who drank nearly two gallons of water over three hours. When she left the station, she was nauseous and in great pain. Less than four hours later, she was dead. The preliminary conclusion is that she died of water intoxication. The tremendous excess of water had disrupted the chemical balance of the cells in her brain and rendered it incapable of functioning properly.

Many people have spoken dismissively of Ms. Strange’s death, saying that she chose to take part in the contest. Yet, she was not reasonably warned of the risk she was taking. The releases the contestants signed were all about publicity — not health or safety. In a separate studio from the one the on-air personalities used, she could not hear the discussion or the warning phone calls. And Ms. Strange took part in the contest in hopes of winning the Wii for her children. How different is that from those who nearly — or maybe literally — danced themselves to death in hopes of winning a small cash prize in the early 1930s?

How is it, I wonder, that “Afterhell” is often considered too offensive for the airwaves, and yet making fun of people who are poisoning themselves for a prize is considered hip and clever and funny?

Maybe Hell is a lot closer to Earth than we think. Already.

I’m not feeling 100 percent at the moment, so I’ll make this quick.  For fans of the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game, Yog Radio is the podcast.  And this month’s installment gives you a double whammy of yours truly.  They commemorate the 25th anniversary of the game with comments and memories from players.  Not only do they have my psychotic ramblings for your listening pleasure, but they also include WRW’s recent adaptation of “The Outsider.”

And for the record — because I keep hearing about it — I’m not thrilled about it being abridged either.  At least now I know that, in the event of a dire emergency, I’m capable of cutting off one of my limbs.)  If you’d rather hear a full adaptation, gently tell the folks at KBOO-FM.

Now if you’ll excuse me….

It’s been several weeks since we posted here, so I thought I’d pop my head up through the hole.

The whack-a-mole imagery seems like a good place to start.  When offered good news or bad news first, I usually start with the bad. 

A few months ago, we told you about our nomination in the Just Plain Folks Award.  We didn’t win there either.  It was announced a month ago, to be honest.  Between work, the coming holiday season, and our disappointment, we just couldn’t get a posting out. 

I try to look at it realistically, then philsophically.  The usual excuses explanations came to mind.  And it really was a real jolt that, out of the thousands of other albums and artists, we were actually noticed.  Being noticed is nice.  The truth is…being nominated isn’t enough for me.

Okay, the good news…at least for anyone who liked Volumes 1 or 2.  We’re going into pre-production for Volume 3.

And Volume 4.

No, I’m not kidding.  Yes, I am insane.

Two more bright lights have sailed out of sight.

Film composer Basil Poledouris died last Wednesday, November 8.  And Jack Williamson — writer and teacher, known as the Dean of Science Fiction — died on Friday, November 10.

You might not recognize Poledouris’ name, but you’ll probably recognize his music for John Milius’ two Conan flicks, The Hunt for Red October, the original Lonesome Dove mini-series, or the 1998 film version of Les Miserables.  His trademark sound embodied raw emotional power, loud or soft, in-yer-face or gentle moments of personal drama. 

Jack Williamson had a greater impact on society than we give him credit.  Back in his day, the words “genetic engineering” and “terraforming” only appeared in pulp fiction magazines.  Yesterday’s nonsense words.  Today’s headlines.  Stem cell research.  Talk of colonizing Mars.  He invented the words and made those concepts tangible.

And just so people wonder what any of this has to do with dark fantasy or horror, let’s play Six Degrees of Afterhell.  Basil Poledouris scored Conan The Barbarian, based on the works of creator Robert E. Howard and, later, illustrator Frank Frazetta.  They helped form the foundation for dark fantasy, a genre that brings horror out of the classic Gothic trappings.

Jack Williamson was about innovation, extrapolation, following an idea to the next logical step.  That’s well exemplified in his dark fantasy classic, Darker Than You Think.  He brought werewolves into a modern world of scientists, genetics, and fearful implications as we learned more about our past as a species.  And there, he played his ideas out to their most logical and disconcerting conclusion.

We take a lot of inspirations.  Those guys offered us plenty.  And in their spirits, we’re willing to jump back and forth between dark fantasy and horror.  We’re not about to limit ourselves.  And we intend to provide a moving, intense experience that leaves you a little more thoughtful, a little more aware that you’re alive — a little more curious about the next logical step.

Maybe it’s self-serving or self-indulgent to tie our fate to their legacies.  Or we’re just paying our respects, stopping at their shrines, before resuming our work on the next Wheel of Pain.

For those of you (probably everybody) who couldn’t tune in to KBOO on Halloween morn, the Willamette Radio Workshop has posted HP Lovecraft’s “The Outsider” as an MP3 on their website.

I hope the purists will tolerate it, that everyone loves it…and that the stars are right.

It seems I’ve been spreading this all over the net like a virus today, but….

The Willamette Radio Workshop will be doing triple-duty for Halloween — and we’ll be there!

This Tuesday, Oct 31 at 10:30am PST, KBOO-FM 90.7 in Portland, OR will start the festivities on “Stage & Studio” with Dmae Roberts, featuring
two short offerings from WRW:

THROUGH THE TURNSTILE, a post-apocalyptic tale of dark irony and reluctant human contact
by Carole Dane

H.P. Lovecraft’s THE OUTSIDER, adapted by yours truly for the Willamette Radio Workshop,
produced and performed by its director Sam A.Mowry.

Go to http://www.kboo.fm/listen to stream the broadcast live.

And if you happen to be in town that night, come join us at the McMenamins Kennedy School at 5:30pm and 7pm.

Come see the Mercury Theater’s rendition of DRACULA performed live!  Watch the show and bring the kids to trick or treat indoors, all for free.  Ollin Productions will be there with audiodrama CD’s for sale.

Sorry for the last minute alert!  (I swear, nobody tells us anything anymore….)

Two stories from Volume 2, “Dying on Stage” and “Dead Peasants,” will be making their radio debut on tonight’s meeting of The Sonic Society.  You can stream it live at 5pm PST/8pm EST, or you can wait a while to download the podcast.

We’ll blog about our experience at this year’s Paranormal Conference a little later.  Right now some family emergencies have lightly crashed on our doorstep, hence the emoticon at the bottom. 

For those of you in the Pacific Northwest, Joe and Jamie will be at the Rose City Paranormal Conference this weekend! The conference is being held this year at the Scream at the Beach Haunted House in Jantzen Beach. As it was last year, admission to the conference is absolutely free.

We will have Afterhell discs and some swag (T-shirts and stickers) for sale, as well as discs from our fine associates Transdimensional Media and the Willamette Radio Workshop. There will also be jewelry from House of Sailbourne.

Click on the banner below for more information about the conference from the official website.

Remember five months ago, when Jamie and I went to San Francisco and ran a panel at the 2006 World Horror Convention?

If you ever wondered how it all sounded, here’s your chance:  We uploaded a big honkin’ MP3 of the event, ready for podcasting if you have the RSS feed.  Maybe it’ll get you in the mood for Halloween. Maybe it’ll get you in the mood to kick your iPod into a platter of coldcuts.  Who’s to say?

Oh, and before I forget:  I don’t think this came out clearly in the final mix, but composer Curt Siffert’s website is at Museworld.com.  Apparently, no matter how many times I try, I am genetically incapable of articulating the letter “m” in front of a _ike.

I wanted to raise a flag for all and sundry, in case someone didn’t get the news. Y’know, some interested party.  An intrigued soiree.  A bemused coffee klatch, even!

We here at Ollin Productions (all two of us) are proud to support “It Was 20 Years Ago Today,” a new podcast from our own Jamie Lawson.  Each installment is a thoughtful and personal look at recent history from Jamie’s point of view.  (And if you don’t get the reference, shame on you.)

Think of it as a snapshot of the world captured, framed, and mounted in the hallways of one person’s memory.  While we’re at it, consider just how recently these recorded moments really were…how quickly they passed…and how much we really noticed when it was happening. 

History isn’t a boring collection of dates, names, and details.  Sure, it’s often packaged that way.  Now try it with a bright new (w)rapper.