Friday, November 28, 2025

When the Revolution Scrums - Episode 142

Painting of a battle between men in beige uniforms and workers in newsboy caps and blue overalls waving red flags or banners. In the foreground, an angry woman in an orange dress carrying a baby pushes away a sabre thrust by one of the soldiers. A man next to her pulls away to avoid the thrust. There’s a man on the ground behind them clutching his stomach or chest.

The Revolution has come and it’s interrupting a team meeting. Who are these brave men and women fighting for freedom, wherever there’s trouble? Will Falk stand with them or against them? Would you believe I’m a cyborg? Listen to find out!

When the Revolution Scrums, episode 142 of This Gun in My Hand, was produced by the means of Rob Northrup. This episode and all others are available on Youtube with automatically-generated closed captions of dialog. Visit http://ThisGuninMyHand.blogspot.com for credits, show notes, archives, and to buy my books, such as Sisyphus, Eat Your Heart Out, available in paperback and ebook from Amazon. How do I signal the beginning or end of the two week intervals by which we measure progress in the revolution? With This Gun in My Hand!

Show Notes:
1. Thanks to W. Town Andrews for pointing out the mispronunciation of “Tagalog” in episode 140.
2. The Witchy Lion Closet was published in 1950, so Billy must have heard the story from Catch-2022.

Credits:
The opening music clip was from The Sun Sets at Dawn (1950), and the closing music was from Killer Bait (1949), both films in the public domain. Most of the music and sound effects used in the episode are modified or incomplete versions of the originals.

Sound Effect Title: gavel-double.flac
By zerolagtime (Sen. John Kerry recorded from C-Span)
License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
https://freesound.org/people/zerolagtime/sounds/70069/

Sound Effect Title: 38 Caliber Gun Shot 5x
Recorded by Mike Koenig
License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
http://soundbible.com/375-38-Caliber-Gun-Shot-5x.html

Sound Effect Title: Kicking/Forcing/Breaking Wooden Door
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/qubodup/sounds/160213/

Sound Effect Title: Running in boots on wood floors by ayse.j.e
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
https://freesound.org/s/785429/ 

Commercial Song Title: The Fairy Queen, Z. 629
Composed by Henry Purcell, 1692.
Performed by Carl Pini, John Tunnell, Anthony Pini and Harold Lester.
License: Public Domain
https://musopen.org/music/11140-the-fairy-queen-z629/

Sound Effect Title: Wind-up Crank by RICHERlandTV
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/265614/ -- License: Creative Commons 0

Sound Effect Title: R02-06-Medium Crowd Applause.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/craigsmith/sounds/480682/ 

Sound Effect Title: Gun Fire by GoodSoundForYou
License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
http://soundbible.com/1998-Gun-Fire.html

Sound Effect Title: G32-08-Buzzing Sparks.wav by craigsmith
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/438492/ 

The image accompanying this episode is a modified detail from The Uprising by Diego Rivera, 1931.

Image Alt text: Painting of a battle between men in beige uniforms and workers in newsboy caps and blue overalls waving red flags or banners. In the foreground, an angry woman in an orange dress carrying a baby pushes away a sabre thrust by one of the soldiers. A man next to her pulls away to avoid the thrust. There’s a man on the ground behind them clutching his stomach or chest.

Friday, November 14, 2025

Bringing a Gun to a Fistfight - Episode 141

Line art from a comic book. One silhouetted figure slugs another in the stomach. The background is all yellow, a row of spectators gathered around the fighters. The caption across the top reads “BRINGING A GUN TO A FISTFIGHT!” One of the spectators says, “Don’t listen to that dame, Joe. I been wit ya from the starta your career. Don’t I make sure they take all the butterscotch disks outta the candy dish in ya dressing room?”
Why is a bank robber giving up so easily in the middle of a gunfight? Why did he bring a crowd of people to cheer him on? Who chose the snacks to sell at this spectacle? Listen to find out!

Bringing a Gun to a Fistfight, episode 141 of This Gun in My Hand, was set-up and knocked down by Rob Northrup. This episode and all others are available on Youtube with automatically-generated closed captions of dialog. Visit http://ThisGuninMyHand.blogspot.com for credits, show notes, archives, and to buy my books, such as Sisyphus, Eat Your Heart Out, available in paperback and ebook from Amazon. How do I keep lawns tidy? This Gun in My Hand!

Show Notes:
1. The expression “win one for the Gipper” came from the film Knute Rockne, All-American, released in October 1940.
2. This episode was inspired by the 1949 film The Set-Up. Doses of wicked humor between scenes of drama and tension and cynicism.

Credits:
The opening music clip was from The Sun Sets at Dawn (1950). Music throughout the first commercial came from The Scar (aka Hollow Triumph, 1948), and the closing music was from Killer Bait (1949), all three films in the public domain. Music from the second commercial came from the radio show Hour of Mystery, first broadcast June 9th, 1946. Most of the music and sound effects used in the episode are modified or incomplete versions of the originals.

Sound Effect Title: Real Colt 45 M1911 (shot) by Carmelomike
License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
https://freesound.org/people/Carmelomike/sounds/255216/

Sound Effect Title: Gun Fire by GoodSoundForYou
License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
http://soundbible.com/1998-Gun-Fire.html

Sound Effect Title: Manwe-metal_tools_on_concrete.wav by Manwe
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/238650/

Sound Effect Title: single classic blink.wav by ShangASDFGuy123 
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/795943/ 

Sound Effect Title: G30-69-Outdoor Crowd Walla.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/craigsmith/sounds/438429/

Sound Effect Title: Machine gun.wav by CGEffex 
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
https://freesound.org/s/101962/

Sound Effect Title: S29-08 Navy ship classic danger whistle siren.wav by craigsmith
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/675782/ 

Sound Effect Title: Bare feet on wood floor.wav by treblemaker69 
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/565609/

The image accompanying this episode is a modified panel from the public domain comic book Web of Mystery, July 1954, issue 25. Artist unknown.

Image Alt text: Line art from a comic book. One silhouetted figure slugs another in the stomach. The background is all yellow, a row of spectators gathered around the fighters. The caption across the top reads “BRINGING A GUN TO A FISTFIGHT!” One of the spectators says, “Don’t listen to that dame, Joe. I been wit ya from the starta your career. Don’t I make sure they take all the butterscotch disks outta the candy dish in ya dressing room?”

Friday, October 31, 2025

Passage to the Orient - Episode 140

Colorful line art drawing from the perspective of a pier. In the foreground is a white boat with red cabin. The sail on a single mast is lowered and furled. A man lounges in a wooden chair, tipped back behind the ship’s wheel, his feet propped on the rail of the boat with a fan in his hand. Judging by the small smokestack over the cabin, it has an engine, or maybe it’s a vent for a stove. Close to the front of the boat, we can see the aft and steering oar of a Chinese junk. Both vessels appear to be moored to the pier. A bay with distant strips of land stretches toward the horizon with two junks a short distance away, their sails yellow and green and red. Massive white clouds take up almost half of the view.
Imagine a mild-mannered white guy who takes on a non-white identity to fight crime. Wouldn’t 1939 radio producers do an amazing job with that? Listen to find out!

Passage to the Orient, episode 140 of This Gun in My Hand, was smuggled into your ears by Rob Northrup. This episode and all others are available on Youtube with automatically-generated closed captions of dialog. Visit http://ThisGuninMyHand.blogspot.com for credits, show notes, archives, and to buy my books, such as Sisyphus, Eat Your Heart Out, available in paperback and ebook from Amazon. What martial art is even more deadly than ninyutsu? This Gun in My Hand!

Show Notes:
1. “Castello” means castle in Italian, “Lupo” means wolf, and “roccia” means “rock.” In German it would be something like “Wolfenstein.”
2. Raymond Tokutaro Muramoto, the voice actor who originated Kato on the Green Hornet radio show, was a Japanese immigrant. In real life, he was sent to an internment camp during World War II. Here’s a short bio I wrote about him:
https://archive.org/details/the-first-kato
http://dayjobspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-first-kato.html 
3. Read more about the young political firebrand Nguyễn Ái Quốc after whom Harlan plans to name his radio hero:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh
4. As always, listeners should be skeptical of any claims made by characters in the show, especially if they’re trying to define a term like “code-switching” that hadn’t been coined and wasn’t in use in 1939. The opinions of these clowns do not necessarily reflect my own so I’m off the hook for any lies or mistakes they make.
5. This episode was inspired by Straight Arrow, a radio show broadcast from 1948-1951. An Apache orphan raised by a white couple maintains the identity of “Steve Adams” until it’s time to fight crime as Apache warrior “Straight Arrow.” Elements were ripped off from The Lone Ranger, like the cavern full of gold that funds his crime-fighting. Only his trusted friend “Packy” the crusty miner who sounds like Gabby Hayes knows the truth. Lots of talk about his innate Apache abilities, his keen Indian eyesight, and Straight Arrow drops his voice and speaks haltingly, although not quite in broken English like Tonto. 
https://www.radioechoes.com/?page=series&genre=OTR-Western&series=Straight%20Arrow

Credits:
The opening music clip was from The Sun Sets at Dawn (1950), and the closing music was from Killer Bait (1949), both films in the public domain. Most of the music and sound effects used in the episode are modified or incomplete versions of the originals.

Sound Effect Title: Matkustajakone / Passenger plane DC-3 (Dakota) - Sisällä / Inside by YleArkisto
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
https://freesound.org/s/406952/ 

Sound Effect Title: FOLEY_Footsteps_Metal_002.wav by conleec 
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/149454/ 

Sound Effect Title: Wind shaking a tree, loud and muffled gust of wind recorded in Nebraska by felix.blume
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/657003/ 

Sound Effect Title: Cracking wood by JappeHallunken 
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/501302/ 

Sound Effect Title: dry branches cracking.aiff by SoundCollectah 
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/109357/ 

Sound Effect Title: Foley_Natural_Wood_Barks_Crush_Mono.wav by Nox_Sound 
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/558380/ 

Sound Effect Title: Rustling leaves by giddster 
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/437356/ 

Sound Effect Title: Walking Through Tall Grass by naturenotesuk 
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
https://freesound.org/s/698895/ 

Sound Effect Title: dawn_birds.wav by paul.h
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/557332/ 

Sound Effect Title: Usignolo - Nightingale by danygdanyg
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/234169/ 

Sound Effect Title: Tuscan Birdsong.wav by gazsound 
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/156002/ 

Sound Effect Title: G57-05-Creature Getting Stabbed.wav by craigsmith 
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/438891/ 

Sound Effect Title: G24-01-Warner Brothers Body Fall.wav by craigsmith 
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/438300/ 

Sound Effect Title: School door with metal latch inside.aif by timonunderwater 
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/532788/

Sound Effect Title: Footsteps Dress Shoes Wood Floor.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/allrealsound/sounds/161756/

Sound Effect Title: Dropping Body on Hard Ground.wav by jjhouse4
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
https://freesound.org/s/203039/ 

Sound Effect Title: footsteps cellar.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/gecop/sounds/545030/

Sound Effect Title: S16-06 Light wooden door open & close.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/craigsmith/sounds/675878/

Sound Effect Title: Kicking rock wall and almost falling. by Edelhanie 
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
https://freesound.org/s/594623/ 

Sound Effect Title: Air raid siren in Kyiv by Romaner66 
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
https://freesound.org/s/676589/ 

Sound Effect Title: 22lr Caliber Rifle Shots and Reloading 
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/717133/ 

The image accompanying this episode is a modified detail of the back cover of Terry and the Pirates (Big Little Book #1156) released in 1935, art and text attributed to Milton Caniff, public domain.

Image Alt text: Colorful line art drawing from the perspective of a pier. In the foreground is a white boat with red cabin. The sail on a single mast is lowered and furled. A man lounges in a wooden chair, tipped back behind the ship’s wheel, his feet propped on the rail of the boat with a fan in his hand. Judging by the small smokestack over the cabin, it has an engine, or maybe it’s a vent for a stove. Close to the front of the boat, we can see the aft and steering oar of a Chinese junk. Both vessels appear to be moored to the pier. A bay with distant strips of land stretches toward the horizon with two junks a short distance away, their sails yellow and green and red. Massive white clouds take up almost half of the view.    

Tuesday, October 14, 2025

Bottle Episode - Episode 139

Line art panel from a comic book. A man with red hair wearing green scrubs and holding a scalpel leans over a man on a gurney or table, covered by a white sheet. Angled skylight windows are behind the surgeon. A light hangs low over the table. Dark glass jars like you might see in a laboratory are in the foreground, connected to each other by tubes. Caption across the top reads “HOW WILL FALK AND PETRA ESCAPE – THE BOTTLE EPISODE!” A word balloon  pointing to the surgeon reads, “OH MY GOD, YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT TECHNO! THE TEREMIN INFLUENCE COMES FROM PETROGRAD, BUT ANY IDIOT KNOW THAT DUBSTEP EMERGED AS A UK GARAGE OFFSHOT BLENDING 2-STEP RHYTHMS WITH SPARSE…” The font in the word balloon gets smaller and smaller toward the end.
Why did Falk follow Petra into this stupid walk-in refrigerator? Why are the shelves filled with human heads in bottles? Are you some kind of non-partisan, crime-adjacent figure? Listen to find out!

Bottle Episode, This Gun in My Hand’s 139th, was kept alive and shoved in a jar by Rob Northrup. This episode and all others are available on Youtube with automatically-generated closed captions of dialog. Visit http://ThisGuninMyHand.blogspot.com for credits, show notes, archives, and to buy my books, such as Sisyphus, Eat Your Heart Out, available in paperback and ebook from Amazon. Which is the real monster, the creator? His creation? This Gun in My Hand!

Show Notes:
1. Falk’s claim about what temperature constitutes “t-shirt weather” in Michigan is debatable. You’ll see some people not of sound minds wearing short sleeves and shorts at 30 F or less.
2. The Technocrat quotes from the Wikipedia entry on Dubstep without giving attribution. He might be a plagiarist but I’m not. This is me, Rob Northrup, giving attribution that I quoted most of a line from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubstep which “emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended two-step rhythms and sparse dub production, incorporating elements of broken beat, grime, and drum and bass.” 
3. Musical subgenres are way too arcane for me to understand so my characters don’t understand it either. I’m not vouching for any of the claims they make.

Credits:
The opening and later music clips were from The Sun Sets at Dawn (1950), and the closing music was from Killer Bait (1949), both films in the public domain. Most of the music and sound effects used in the episode are modified or incomplete versions of the originals.

Sound Effect Title: Large Refrigerator compressor hum 1 by FOSSarts 
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/740110/  

Sound Effect Title: Hissing.m4a by TheScarlettWitch89 
License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
https://freesound.org/s/415287/ 

Sound Effect Title: School door with metal latch inside.aif by timonunderwater 
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/532788/ 

Sound Effect Title: School door with metal latch inside.aif by timonunderwater 
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/532788/ 

Sound Effect Title: Heavy_door_lock.wav by beerbelly38 
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
https://freesound.org/s/197305/ 

Music Title: You’re Driving Me Crazy
Composed by Walter Donaldson, 1930
Performed by Lennington H. Shewell and Allan McIver.
License: Public Domain
https://archive.org/details/VictorThereminRecordingsCollection1925-1935/You're+Driving+Me+Crazy+1930+VIctor+Theremin+-+Victor+216559.mp3

Sound Effect Title: techloop7.wav by fons 
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/62441/ 

Sound Effect Title: TECHNO LOOP 1.wav by adamskitek 
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
https://freesound.org/s/33585/ 

Sound Effect Title: TECHNO LOOP SPEEDY J STYLEE.wav by adamskitek
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
https://freesound.org/s/33614/ 

Sound Effect Title: Kick Bass Bassline OffBeat Loop F#1 142bpm PsyTrance Vol3 SYNDRM.wav by SYNDRM 
License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
https://freesound.org/s/612061/ 

Sound Effect Title: Drum & Bass Drum Loop 02 by TheEndOfACycle 
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/660537/ 

Sound Effect Title: Edm Strontium Sweep with reverb.wav by LeeNath 
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/277409/ 

Sound Effect Title: bass_line_drums_jz22.mp3 by JoaoSantaCruz 
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/649209/ 

Sound Effect Title: footsteps cellar.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/gecop/sounds/545030/

The image accompanying this episode is a modified detail of a panel from the public domain comic book Forbidden Worlds, Number 33, September 1954. Pencils and inks by Lloyd Cynwald.

Image Alt text: Line art panel from a comic book. A man with red hair wearing green scrubs and holding a scalpel leans over a man on a gurney or table, covered by a white sheet. Angled skylight windows are behind the surgeon. A light hangs low over the table. Dark glass jars like you might see in a laboratory are in the foreground, connected to each other by tubes. Caption across the top reads “HOW WILL FALK AND PETRA ESCAPE – THE BOTTLE EPISODE!” A word balloon  pointing to the surgeon reads, “OH MY GOD, YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT TECHNO! THE TEREMIN INFLUENCE COMES FROM PETROGRAD, BUT ANY IDIOT KNOW THAT DUBSTEP EMERGED AS A UK GARAGE OFFSHOT BLENDING 2-STEP RHYTHMS WITH SPARSE…” The font in the word balloon gets smaller and smaller toward the end.

Sunday, September 28, 2025

Black Cats and Bad Habits - Episode 138

Painting from an old greeting card by Frances Brundage shows a rosy-cheeked little blond girl in a black hat with a red ribbon and bow around it, somewhere between a witch’s hat and a Puritan’s hat. She holds up a distressed black kitten with a huge red bow and ribbon around its neck. The girl wears a white shirt with sleeves to her elbows and a red shawl.

Another day, another public brawl on the streets of Parabellum City. Will Falk quell the unrest and clean up the streets? Are there laws requiring reporters to have alliterative names and film critics to use French terms? Listen to find out!

Black Cats and Bad Habits, episode 138 of This Gun in My Hand, was Rob Northrup crossing your path. This episode and all others are available on Youtube with automatically-generated closed captions of dialog. Visit http://ThisGuninMyHand.blogspot.com for credits, show notes, archives, and to buy my books, such as Sisyphus, Eat Your Heart Out, available in paperback and ebook from Amazon. What contains several bits which can form a fragmentary story when used together? This Gun in My Hand!

Show Notes:
1. The Black Cat in this episode is NOT a rip-off of the Marvel comics character with the same name. It’s a rip-off of the public domain superhero Black Cat who first appeared in Pocket Comics #1, August 1941, and had her own title from Harvey Comics with various name changes (Black Cat Western Comics, Black Cat Mystery Comics, Black Cat Mystic) until 1963.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Cat_(Harvey_Comics)

2. When Wordplay took his second play “Shoot” on tour, he found it was not as popular outside of Parabellum City.

3. Lana Krang presumably uses a paper or cardstock folder for her Bits file. Mine is digital but the filename is “Bits.”

4. If I was trying to cheer up Miss Krang, I’d remind her of some artistically and monetarily successful novelists who were late bloomers: Umberto Eco wrote a lot of non-fiction before his first novel, The Name of the Rose, was published when he was 50. Alan Bradley was 71 when his excellent first novel, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, was published. Many such cases.

Credits:
The opening music clip was from The Sun Sets at Dawn (1950), and the transitional and closing music were from The Big Combo (1955), both films in the public domain. Most of the music and sound effects used in the episode are modified or incomplete versions of the originals.

Sound Effect Title: The cat begs for food. Meowing.wav by tosha73
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
https://freesound.org/s/548352/  

Sound Effect Title: HARP GLISSANDO DOWN.WAV
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/olver/sounds/505064/

Sound Effect Title: Cat Eating Dry Food by qubodup
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
https://freesound.org/s/218181/ 

Sound Effect Title: footsteps cellar.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/gecop/sounds/545030/

Sound Effect Title: Kicking/Forcing/Breaking Wooden Door
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/qubodup/sounds/160213/

Sound Effect Title: Gun Fire by GoodSoundForYou
License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
http://soundbible.com/1998-Gun-Fire.html

Sound Effect Title: Foley_Phone_Old_PickUp_HangUp_Mono.wav by Nox_Sound
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/559475/ 

Sound Effect Title: Clean phone tones.wav by FreqMan
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
https://freesound.org/s/24371/ 

Sound Effect Title (coin drop): Pay Phone.wav by everythingsounds
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
https://freesound.org/s/197141/ 

Sound Effect Title: phone rotary dial number.flac by kyles
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/637751/ 

The image accompanying this episode is a modified version of a public domain postcard painting by Frances Brundage, via Wikimedia Commons.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frances_Brundage_schwarze_Katze.jpg

Image Alt text: Painting from an old greeting card by Frances Brundage shows a rosy-cheeked little blond girl in a black hat with a red ribbon and bow around it, somewhere between a witch’s hat and a Puritan’s hat. She holds up a distressed black kitten with a huge red bow and ribbon around its neck. The girl wears a white shirt with sleeves to her elbows and a red shawl.

Saturday, September 6, 2025

Gold Dentures - Episode 137

A colorful postcard labeled “Souvenir of Havana, Cuba” with a rectangle in upper right that says “PLACE STAMP HERE” and a few lines to write an address. A photo of the National Capitol Building in Havana colorized to highlight flowers, palm trees and a cloudy blue sky in the background.

How much is a set of gold dentures worth? How many people have to die before this lovable American scoundrel in Havana and his lovely, smokey-voiced ward decide “will they or won’t they?” Listen to find out!

Gold Dentures, episode 137 of This Gun in My Hand, was crafted and gilded by Rob Northrup. This episode and all others are available on Youtube with automatically-generated closed captions of dialog. Visit http://ThisGuninMyHand.blogspot.com for credits, show notes, archives, and to buy my books, such as Sisyphus, Eat Your Heart Out, available in paperback and ebook from Amazon. 

How do I sound like someone from a foreign land? This Gun in My Hand! (Wait, I don’t mean they fire guns more often. How could anyone have more guns than Americans? Never mind. This Gun in My Hand.)

Show Notes:
1. If you haven’t heard the old time radio drama Bold Venture, you should give it a try. It ran from 1951-1952, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, set in pre-Castro Cuba.
https://archive.org/details/OTRR_Bold_Venture_Singles

2. The part of King Moses in Bold Venture was performed by Jester Hairston. One of the first black students to attend Tufts University, Hairston studied music at Julliard, collaborated with Russian composer Dmitri Tiomkin for 30 years, wrote the song “Amen” that became a hit for The Impressions in 1964, and acted in tv and films like The Alamo, To Kill a Mockingbird, In the Heat of the Night, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka and Being John Malkovich.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jester_Hairston

3. Music for the Bold Venture radio show was composed by David Rose, who later wrote music for films and tv shows like Leave it to Beaver, Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven. If you think of the jazzy trombone song that has become a cliche of burlesque, you’re probably thinking of Rose’s composition “The Stripper,” which hit #1 in 1962.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Rose_(songwriter)

Credits:
The opening and transitional music clips were from episodes of the public domain radio show Bold Venture. Closing music was from the public domain film Killer Bait (1949). Most of the music and sound effects used in the episode are modified or incomplete versions of the originals.

Sound Effect Title: Ocean waves white noisy BAHAMAS 180520.wav by TRP
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/573179/ 

Sound Effect Title: R28-47-Man and Woman Screaming.wav by craigsmith
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/482833/ 

Sound Effect Title: 38 Caliber Gun Shot 5x
Recorded by Mike Koenig
License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
http://soundbible.com/375-38-Caliber-Gun-Shot-5x.html

Sound Effect Title: Footsteps in Sand by kessir
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/264124/ 

Sound Effect Title: 22lr Caliber Rifle Shots and Reloading
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/717133/ 

Music Title: rmr morphagene reels - latin_guitar by jjbbllkk
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/530725/ 

Sound Effect Title: 05 - Swing doors by 14GSionJ
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/419387/ 

Sound Effect Title: Footsteps Dress Shoes Wood Floor.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/allrealsound/sounds/161756/

Sound Effect Title: custom_TMNT_punch_sounds_part_2_12242024 by Artninja
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
https://freesound.org/s/779939/ 

Sound Effect Title: Coconuts hit together then fall onto a wood floor by JHo3000
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/693517/ 

The image accompanying this episode is a modified version of a 1940s postcard, artist unknown, presumed to be public domain.

Image Alt text: A colorful postcard labeled “Souvenir of Havana, Cuba” with a rectangle in upper right that says “PLACE STAMP HERE” and a few lines to write an address. A photo of the National Capitol Building in Havana colorized to highlight flowers, palm trees and a cloudy blue sky in the background.

Friday, August 22, 2025

The Bitter Tears of Petra Wojciehowicz - Episode 136

Colorful art nouveau style illustration of a woman in a gauzy yellow dress leaning back against a stone bench. Her right hand holds a huge brown leaf which she’s fanning over her head. Her left arm is draped along the back of the bench. Sunflowers rise behind her. We can also see a large body of water with sailboats in the background, and a small sun-dial beside her. She has brown hair and a wistful expression, maybe pleasant, maybe bored. Letters in the upper right say The Bitter Tears of Petra Wojciehowicz.

Has Petra finally given up her pursuit of Falk and found a new love? Is he man enough for her? Is he a man? Is stress a killer? Listen to find out!

The Bitter Tears of Petra Wojciehowicz, episode 136 of This Gun in My Hand, were dispensed from the coin-operated intelligence Rob Northrup. This episode and all others are available on Youtube with automatically-generated closed captions of dialog. Visit http://ThisGuninMyHand.blogspot.com for credits, show notes, archives, and to buy my books, such as Sisyphus, Eat Your Heart Out, available in paperback and ebook from Amazon. Into what mesmerizing object do I gaze to view the future? This Gun in My Hand!

Show Notes:
1. Anyone who grew up within broadcast range of Detroit tv in the 1980s will remember Ben Franklin’s unlikely proverb from the ubiquitous Highland Appliance commercials on Presidents’ Day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6waErG4Qwc

2. The commercial for Ghost Detective was inspired by “The Thing in The Tunnel,” an episode of Weird Circle radio show originally broadcast March 4th, 1945.
https://archive.org/details/OTRR_Weird_Circle_Singles

3. In November-December 1997, Burger King kid’s meals contained toys promoting the animated feature film Anastasia, including the white bat Bartok who spoke three phrases. One of the phrases was “Stress, it’s a killer.” Due to the cheap mechanism that played recorded phrases, a parent claimed on tv news that this delinquent toy was telling her child, “Hey, have a tequila.”

4. I’m almost positive Falk has used the expression “love is love” in a past episode. But his memory is as bad as mine. 

Credits:
The opening music clip was from The Sun Sets at Dawn (1950), and the closing music was from Killer Bait (1949), both films in the public domain. Most of the music and sound effects used in the episode are modified or incomplete versions of the originals.

Sound Effect Title: old pinball.wav by mapleleaf
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
https://freesound.org/people/mapleleaf/sounds/34730/

Sound Effect Title: MM Project -10 Pinball by RTB45
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
https://freesound.org/s/368767/ 

Sound Effect Title: money_box.mp3 by Taira Komori
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
https://freesound.org/s/212398/ 

Sound Effect Title: Ticket machine printing a ticket by Licorne_En_Fer
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/772976/  

Sound Effect Title: Footsteps on gravel by Joozz
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
https://freesound.org/people/Joozz/sounds/531952/

Sound Effect Title: Footsteps Dress Shoes Wood Floor.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/allrealsound/sounds/161756/

Sound Effect Title: scifi_scare_b.aiff by realtheremin
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/119012/ 

Sound Effect Title: Squeaky Car Door
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/coltures/sounds/262325/#

Sound Effect Title: S37-24 Car starts; revs; skids; crashes; skids; footsteps; voices sirens.wav by craigsmith
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/s/675839/  

The image accompanying this episode is a modified detail of the public domain cover of The Century, Midsummer Holiday Number 1895, from a lithograph by artist Louis Rhead (1857-1926).

Image Alt text: Colorful art nouveau style illustration of a woman in a gauzy yellow dress leaning back against a stone bench. Her right hand holds a huge brown leaf which she’s fanning over her head. Her left arm is draped along the back of the bench. Sunflowers rise behind her. We can also see a large body of water with sailboats in the background, and a small sun-dial beside her. She has brown hair and a wistful expression, maybe pleasant, maybe bored. Letters in the upper right say The Bitter Tears of Petra Wojciehowicz.