Wednesday, May 25, 2022

This Frog in My Hand - Episode 55

Cover of Modern Mechanix & Inventions Magazine, July 1935, depicting a black, white and yellow "giro-car," which looks like a helicopter attached to a bulbous VW beetle. The cover also says "Now 15 cents" and "NRA code" and "GIRO-CAR, SEE PAGE 87."

Can Falk Zildjian end the stand-off on Verf Street, or will someone else have to clean up the situation? Can Falk create life with his words? What is an auto-gyro? Listen to find out!

This Frog in My Hand, episode 55 of This Gun in My Hand, was riveted 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, information on how to subscribe, and to buy my books, such as Little Heist in the Big Woods and Other Revisionist Atrocities. Where am I gonna get money for new shoes for Frank Junior? This Gun in My Hand!

Show Notes:
1. Hey, man, I noticed cop shows in the 1970s and 1980s have people saying “hey” way more often than you’d expect, almost a throw-away word, the way we use “like” when we’re not setting up a simile. Neal and JD on Hill Street Blues are the most prolific “hey-men,” sometimes having whole conversations where every sentence begins with “Hey.” Also heard it overused on Miami Vice and by Det. Harris on Barney Miller.

2. A batrachian is an amphibian of the order Anura.

3. Modern Mechanix changed its title to Mechanix Illustrated after the May 1938 issue and lowered their price. That’s why the July 1935 cover image accompanying this episode has a fifteen cent cover price, but it actually dropped to a dime an issue by 1939. Of course I looked it up. Do you think I’m playing here? 

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: Breaking glass.mp3
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/the_epic1357/sounds/591069/ 

Sound Effect Title: Gun for Lui.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/martian/sounds/182271/

Sound effect title: bustle in the pub
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/organicmanpl/sounds/403285/

Sound effect title: Guests-at-party.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/Mickael_Leroi/sounds/402131/

Sound Effect Title: Old Garage Door
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/deleted_user_7146007/sounds/383818/

Verf Street Blues theme music: Requiem in D minor, K. 626 - III. Sequence - Lacrymosa (For Piano - Liszt)
Performed by Markus Staab
Composed by Mozart, arranged by Liszt?
License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
https://musopen.org/music/43683-requiem-in-d-minor-k-626/

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

Sound Effect Title: House Front Door Inside 3.wav
License: Public domain
https://freesound.org/people/saturdaysoundguy/sounds/388027/#

Sound effect title: Gun Fire
By GoodSoundForYou
License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
http://soundbible.com/1998-Gun-Fire.html

Sound Effect Title: frog Croaks.wav
License: Public Domain
https://freesound.org/people/D.jones/sounds/527846/

The image accompanying this episode is a modified detail of the cover of Modern Mechanix, July 1935, Vol. XIV, No. 3, public domain, artist unknown.