The Thirteenth Hour Podcast

This week, I'm reading the sixteenth chapter of the Peter David penned movie novelization of the 1991 Rocketeer film.  This chapter takes place in The South Seas Club, like last chapter, and is great fun.  Cliff wreaks absolute chaos on mob boss Eddie Valentine's club (crime doesn't pay, kids!).  The full clip is here. The novelization adds a few interesting tidbits that I suspect were artistic license, like the first person that Cliff runs into when he is on the waiter's cart being Margaret Dumont (who was in many Marx Brothers films as the straight woman to their gags).  Here she is with Groucho in a clip from A Night at the Opera in a somewhat similar location, this also being a fancy restaurant.

Thanks for listening!

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•  Signup for the mailing list for a free special edition podcast, a demo copy of The Thirteenth Hour, and access to retro 80s soundtrack!
• Like what you see or hear? Consider supporting the show over at Thirteenth Hour Arts on Patreon or adding to my virtual tip jar over at Ko-fi.
• Join the Thirteenth Hour Arts Group over on Facebook, a growing community of creative people.
• Have this podcast conveniently delivered to you each week on Spotify,  iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, Tunein, and Googleplay Music.
• Follow The Thirteenth Hour’s Instagram pages: @the13thhr for your random postings on ninjas, martial arts, archery, flips, breakdancing, fantasy art and and @the13thhr.ost for more 80s music, movies, and songs from The Thirteenth Hour books and soundtrack.
• Listen to Long Ago Not So Far Away, the Thirteenth Hour soundtrack online at: https://joshuablum.bandcamp.com/ or Spotify.  Join the mailing list for a digital free copy.  You can also get it on CD or tape.
• Website: https://13thhr.wordpress.com
• Book trailer: http://bit.ly/1VhJhXY
• Interested in reading and reviewing The Thirteenth Hour for a free book?  Just email me at [email protected] for more details!

https://13thhr.wordpress.com/2025/03/31/the-thirteenth-hour-podcast-503-and-like-a-hood-ornament-73-reading-the-rocketeer-movie-novelization-chapter-16/

This week, I'm reading the fifteenth chapter of the Peter David penned movie novelization of the 1991 Rocketeer film.  This chapter takes place in The South Seas Club, and has one of my favorite parts of the movie this part where Cliff stands by the table with Neville and Jenny awkwardly and tries to poof up these flowers - which go right back to the way they were before.  I don't know why that part always used to crack me up, but it still does :)  The full clip is here.  

Thanks for listening!

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•  Signup for the mailing list for a free special edition podcast, a demo copy of The Thirteenth Hour, and access to retro 80s soundtrack!
• Like what you see or hear? Consider supporting the show over at Thirteenth Hour Arts on Patreon or adding to my virtual tip jar over at Ko-fi.
• Join the Thirteenth Hour Arts Group over on Facebook, a growing community of creative people.
• Have this podcast conveniently delivered to you each week on Spotify,  iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, Tunein, and Googleplay Music.
• Follow The Thirteenth Hour’s Instagram pages: @the13thhr for your random postings on ninjas, martial arts, archery, flips, breakdancing, fantasy art and and @the13thhr.ost for more 80s music, movies, and songs from The Thirteenth Hour books and soundtrack.
• Listen to Long Ago Not So Far Away, the Thirteenth Hour soundtrack online at: https://joshuablum.bandcamp.com/ or Spotify.  Join the mailing list for a digital free copy.  You can also get it on CD or tape.
• Website: https://13thhr.wordpress.com
• Book trailer: http://bit.ly/1VhJhXY
• Interested in reading and reviewing The Thirteenth Hour for a free book?  Just email me at [email protected] for more details!

https://13thhr.wordpress.com/2025/03/24/the-thirteenth-hour-podcast-502-and-like-a-hood-ornament-72-reading-the-rocketeer-movie-novelization-chapter-15/

This week, my brother and I are watching the 1992 movie, Army of Darkness.  Both of us remember the movie poster from comic book ads from the time.  (It's still not clear to me what the X shaped belt Ash is wearing if for ... I don't think he wears something like that in the actual film).

It was my first time seeing in a few decades and Jeremy's first ever.  We watched the director's cut (which you can view online), but after a few minutes, I realized that this version was somewhat different from the theatrical release I'd initially seen.  The latter has a campier ending that is quite different (though I actually like it better).  There are a number of different versions of this film, as discussed here.

In the episode, we touch upon the 1970s Conan in NYC comics (see one of the covers here).

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 articles on DnD Beyond may be right up your alley, and you can view his entire portfolio here.  You can also check out his latest book, where he is a co-author: Pathfinder Adventure Path: No Breath to Cry as well as an upcoming exploration TTRPG with Three Sail Studios, Mappa Mundi.  Thanks, Jeremy, for coming on the show!  

As always, thanks for listening!

https://13thhr.wordpress.com/2025/03/17/the-thirteenth-hour-podcast-501-welcome-my-brother-jeremy-as-we-talk-about-army-of-darkness-1992/

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•  Signup for the mailing list for a free special edition podcast, a demo copy of The Thirteenth Hour, and access to retro 80s soundtrack!
• Like what you see or hear? Consider supporting the show over at Thirteenth Hour Arts on Patreon or adding to my virtual tip jar over at Ko-fi.
• Join the Thirteenth Hour Arts Group over on Facebook, a growing community of creative people.
• Have this podcast conveniently delivered to you each week on Spotify,  iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, Tunein, and Googleplay Music.
• Follow The Thirteenth Hour’s Instagram pages: @the13thhr for your random postings on ninjas, martial arts, archery, flips, breakdancing, fantasy art and and @the13thhr.ost for more 80s music, movies, and songs from The Thirteenth Hour books and soundtrack.
• Listen to Long Ago Not So Far Away, the Thirteenth Hour soundtrack online at: https://joshuablum.bandcamp.com/ or Spotify.  Join the mailing list for a digital free copy.  You can also get it on CD or tape.
• Website: https://13thhr.wordpress.com
• Book trailer: http://bit.ly/1VhJhXY
• Interested in reading and reviewing The Thirteenth Hour for a free book?  Just email me at [email protected] for more details!

This week on the show, we are celebrating the 500 episode mark with a story!  I alluded to some of this in the past few weeks and was inspired by the scene in the 1988 film, Big, where both the young and adult Josh play a CGA text parser style game with a wizard and a cavern. 

You will be hearing from the following guests in this episode that I am happy to call friends:

• ​Shawn Wells and Colin Stewart, hosts of the podcast, I Used to Like This One, who recently hit a milestone of themselves, discussing rewatching Back to the Future, a few months ago on their episode 200.
• ​Paul Korman - one of the hosts of the Classic Gamers Guild podcast as well as the game designer of the adventure game, The Phantom Fellows. 
• ​Andrew Adams - drummer, martial artist, and podcaster of the martial arts lifestyle company, Whistlekick (they recently hit a major milestone of their own, episode 1000).
• ​Gad Krooder - a fellow martial artist I also know from Whistlekick who has his own Chinese Youtube channel - go and learn some Chinese!
• ​Ryan Armstrong - BIblical scholar, professor, and bboy (Dynamic Rockers) - check out his Youtube channel for a combination of the 80s, the Old Testament, and Hebrew. Check out his book, The Book of Job in Wonderland if you are wondering how Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland relate to the book of Job in the Bible.
• ​Doug Bernon - one of my long standing trusted mentors who is also an adventurer and bread maker. 
• ​Jeremy Blum - writer, TTRPG DM and developer, and most importantly, my brother, who is in the process of launching an ecology and exploration rpg, Mappa Mundi.
• ​EzDean Fassassi - bboy and Tibetan medicine practitioner and author
• ​Raphael Xavier - bboy and Princeton University dance professor  who recently released an indie film, Swerve, based on his experiences with Philly BMX culture.
• ​Adam Crohn - podcaster, 80s enthusiast, custom action figure and toy designer
• ​

Thanks for listening!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

 Signup for the mailing list for a free special edition podcast, a demo copy of The Thirteenth Hour, and access to retro 80s soundtrack!

• ​Like what you see or hear? Consider supporting the show over at Thirteenth Hour Arts on Patreon or adding to my virtual tip jar over at Ko-fi.
• ​Join the Thirteenth Hour Arts Group over on Facebook, a growing community of creative people.
• ​Have this podcast conveniently delivered to you each week on Spotify,  iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, Tunein, and Googleplay Music.
• ​Follow The Thirteenth Hour’s Instagram pages: @the13thhr for your random postings on ninjas, martial arts, archery, flips, breakdancing, fantasy art and and @the13thhr.ost for more 80s music, movies, and songs from The Thirteenth Hour books and soundtrack.
• ​Listen to Long Ago Not So Far Away, the Thirteenth Hour soundtrack online at: https://joshuablum.bandcamp.com/ or Spotify.  Join the mailing list for a digital free copy.  You can also get it on CD or tape.
• ​Website: https://13thhr.wordpress.com
• ​Book trailer: http://bit.ly/1VhJhXY
• ​Interested in reading and reviewing The Thirteenth Hour for a free book?  Just email me at [email protected] for more details!

https://13thhr.wordpress.com/2025/03/10/the-thirteenth-hour-podcast-500-celebration-in-the-cavern-of-the-ice-wizard/

This week on the show, I wanted to talk through the creation of a character who will not only show up in episode 500 next week but also some subsequent Thirteenth Hour stories.  I wanted to explore some of the references, motivations, and conflicts behind the character, who I am calling Faltron, the cloud dragon, kind of a mix between Falkor from the film, The Neverending Story and Voltron from the cartoon, Voltron: Defender of the Universe (you will hear some music from the theme in the show).  I came up with the idea years ago and toyed around with the idea of an amorphous being that could transfer in to a more solid shape if cold but have a more gaseous, cloud-like structure in warmer temperatures.  While I'm still toying with how he will fit in to future stories, fleshing him out for the DnD session in episode 500 helped quite a bit.

As a little preview, here is a little sketch that will show up next week (see it at https://13thhr.wordpress.com/2025/03/03/the-thirteenth-hour-podcast-499-creating-a-new-thirteenth-hour-creature-who-is-the-cloud-dragon/)

Thanks for listening!

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•  Signup for the mailing list for a free special edition podcast, a demo copy of The Thirteenth Hour, and access to retro 80s soundtrack!
• Like what you see or hear? Consider supporting the show over at Thirteenth Hour Arts on Patreon or adding to my virtual tip jar over at Ko-fi.
• Join the Thirteenth Hour Arts Group over on Facebook, a growing community of creative people.
• Have this podcast conveniently delivered to you each week on Spotify,  iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, Tunein, and Googleplay Music.
• Follow The Thirteenth Hour’s Instagram pages: @the13thhr for your random postings on ninjas, martial arts, archery, flips, breakdancing, fantasy art and and @the13thhr.ost for more 80s music, movies, and songs from The Thirteenth Hour books and soundtrack.
• Listen to Long Ago Not So Far Away, the Thirteenth Hour soundtrack online at: https://joshuablum.bandcamp.com/ or Spotify.  Join the mailing list for a digital free copy.  You can also get it on CD or tape.
• Website: https://13thhr.wordpress.com
• Book trailer: http://bit.ly/1VhJhXY
• Interested in reading and reviewing The Thirteenth Hour for a free book?  Just email me at [email protected] for mo

This week, my brother, Jeremy Lesniak from Whistlekick, and I are brainstroming how to turn The Thirteenth Hour workout cards I've discussed here before into an actual analog martial arts game that could also be a training tool for practicing martial artists.

The cards were are talking about prior to cutting them out:

Some pictures of the "Easy Exercise Plan" I made for my parents as a teenager that my brother refers to in the episode that was a kind of spiritual precursor to the deck above.

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 articles on DnD Beyond may be right up your alley, and you can view his entire portfolio here.  You can also check out his latest book, where he is a co-author: Pathfinder Adventure Path: No Breath to Cry as well as an upcoming exploration TTRPG with Three Sail Studios, Mappa Mundi.  Thanks, Jeremy, for coming on the show!  

Check out Jeremy Lesniak from Whistlekick, who was last on the show on episode 376 to discuss his martial arts-themed novel, Faith.  You can find our previous joint episodes where we were discussing some classic martial arts movies here: The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Ong Bak, First Strike, Wheels on Meals, Dragons Forever, and Showdown in Little Tokyo.  Thanks, Jeremy for coming on the show!

By the way, if you haven't checked out last week's guest appearance with Billy Campbell reading the next chapter of the Peter David 1991 Rocketeer movie novelization, he did an awesome job!  Check it out:

As always, thanks for listening!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

•  Signup for the mailing list for a free special edition podcast, a demo copy of The Thirteenth Hour, and access to retro 80s soundtrack!
• Like what you see or hear? Consider supporting the show over at Thirteenth Hour Arts on Patreon or adding to my virtual tip jar over at Ko-fi.
• Join the Thirteenth Hour Arts Group over on Facebook, a growing community of creative people.
• Have this podcast conveniently delivered to you each week on Spotify,  iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, Tunein, and Googleplay Music.
• Follow The Thirteenth Hour’s Instagram pages: @the13thhr for your random postings on ninjas, martial arts, archery, flips, breakdancing, fantasy art and and @the13thhr.ost for more 80s music, movies, and songs from The Thirteenth Hour books and soundtrack.
• Listen to Long Ago Not So Far Away, the Thirteenth Hour soundtrack online at: https://joshuablum.bandcamp.com/ or Spotify.  Join the mailing list for a digital free copy.  You can also get it on CD or tape.
• Website: https://13thhr.wordpress.com
• Book trailer: http://bit.ly/1VhJhXY
• Interested in reading and reviewing The Thirteenth Hour for a free book?  Just email me at [email protected] for more details

This week, it's not me reading the next chapter of the Peter David penned movie novelization of the 1991 Rocketeer film.  That's because we have a special guest - Billy Campbell, who played the Cliff Secord / the Rocketeer in the 1991 film - is taking point to read Chapter 14!   Billy was last on the show in 2022 (follow this link for a preview of an exclusive podcast recorded for people who had supported fundraising efforts for the Hairy Cell Leukemia Foundation in memory of Rocketeer creator, Dave Stevens). 

This chapter takes place in one my favorite parts of the original comic and the film, the Bulldog Cafe.  If you like ambient, mood-setting background noise / "study music," you will love this this Bulldog Cafe-inspired video as if you were sitting in a booth of the Cafe.  

Episode 500 is coming in a few weeks!  If you were a past guest on the show, check your messages this week for more details on the recording session on 3/2/25.

Thanks, Billy, for your excellent reading, and thank you for listening!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

•  Signup for the mailing list for a free special edition podcast, a demo copy of The Thirteenth Hour, and access to retro 80s soundtrack!
• Like what you see or hear? Consider supporting the show over at Thirteenth Hour Arts on Patreon or adding to my virtual tip jar over at Ko-fi.
• Join the Thirteenth Hour Arts Group over on Facebook, a growing community of creative people.
• Have this podcast conveniently delivered to you each week on Spotify,  iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, Tunein, and Googleplay Music.
• Follow The Thirteenth Hour’s Instagram pages: @the13thhr for your random postings on ninjas, martial arts, archery, flips, breakdancing, fantasy art and and @the13thhr.ost for more 80s music, movies, and songs from The Thirteenth Hour books and soundtrack.
• Listen to Long Ago Not So Far Away, the Thirteenth Hour soundtrack online at: https://joshuablum.bandcamp.com/ or Spotify.  Join the mailing list for a digital free copy.  You can also get it on CD or tape.
• Website: https://13thhr.wordpress.com
• Book trailer: http://bit.ly/1VhJhXY
• Interested in reading and reviewing The Thirteenth Hour for a free book?  Just email me at [email protected] for more details!

This week on the show, I'm brainstorming ideas for episode 500, coming in a few weeks.  I was thinking about doing a group DnD-lite style adventure so anyone who joins can essentially join in on a role playing journey (virtual/theater of the mind style) with the goal of emphasizing cooperative gameplay with a minimum of time spent attending to inventory (maybe you'd have one item), character class, combat, and stats (none).  I'd have to design the game in such a way to make it very stripped down, but I think the goals of moving through a labyrinth, traversing caverns, avoiding hidden dangers, and getting to the end point all together (I figured you might play as Imperial Rangers in the world ofThe Thirteenth Hour, who are not in the habit of leaving brothers in arms behind) would be enough to keep folks engaged. 

I was actually inspired by the scene in the 1988 film,Big, where both the young and adult Josh play a CGA text parser style game with a wizard and a cavern. 

"You are standing in the cavern of the evil wizard.  All around you are the carcasses of slain ice dwarfs," says the dialogue of the game.  We never really get to see more, but I think as a homage to the film, it actually would be a great setting for an adventure!  Why not make the game a dungeon crawl, essentially, through the icy cavern of the evil wizard?  We shall see!

Thanks for listening!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

 Signup for themailing list for a free special edition podcast, a demo copy of The Thirteenth Hour,and access to retro 80s soundtrack!

• Like what you see or hear? Consider supporting the show over atThirteenth Hour Arts on Patreon or adding to my virtual tip jar over atKo-fi.
• Join theThirteenth Hour Arts Group over on Facebook, a growing community of creative people.
• Have this podcast conveniently delivered to you each week onSpotify, iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM,Tunein, andGoogleplay Music.
• FollowThe Thirteenth Hour’s Instagram pages: @the13thhr for your random postings on ninjas, martial arts, archery, flips, breakdancing, fantasy art and and @the13thhr.ost for more 80s music, movies, and songs fromThe Thirteenth Hour books and soundtrack.
• Listen toLong Ago Not So Far Away, the Thirteenth Hour soundtrack online at: https://joshuablum.bandcamp.com/ orSpotify.  Join themailing list for a digital free copy.  You can also get it onCD ortape.
• Website: https://13thhr.wordpress.com
• Book trailer:http://bit.ly/1VhJhXY
• Interested in reading and reviewingThe Thirteenth Hourfor a free book?  Just email me at [email protected] for more details!

https://13thhr.wordpress.com/2025/02/10/the-thirteenth-hour-podcast-496-episode-500-preparations/

In preparation for episode 500, coming in a few weeks, I've been toying with some ideas.  Let me know if you have thoughts!  

Ideas for Episode 500:

-group draw in (everyone draws or paints something) - could be talking at the same time

-DnD one shot set in the Thirteenth Hour - would need a setting where people come and go, like a tavern or a river barge where people get on and then exit at their stop, or a gym, where people can do some pushups (see last one) then leave if they wish

-Group hangout, akin to ep 400 (no particular topic)

-Livestreaming playing the Rocketeer NES game (probably pretty short, as I'm terrible at this game)

-Mini concert of the upcoming Once Upon a Dream album (this might be better as a future episode)

-500 pushups, one for each episode, donated for a cause, like the Hairy Cell Leukemia Foundation or St Jude or Hero Initiative.

-A combination might work - like group draw-in with occasional breaks a people do some pushups in between draws until we get to 500.  We might have to do this live so people can pledge donations at the same time.

-? Open to ideas!

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Thanks for listening!

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