Breakfast in the Ruins
Discussing the works of prolific British fantasist Michael Moorcock, as well as other bits of 60s and 70s genre fiction that came to me via my Grandad in the 80s and informed my world view!
Episodes
In the third and final part of our Moorcockian RPG triptych Rob (aka OldShabbyGamer), host of the Confessions of a Wee Tim'rous Bushi podcast, joins me at Derry & Toms to talk Moorcock, D&D, when a beer is not a beer, and Tolkien!
Graham, Neil and Norman also drop by to talk Stormbringer 3e, ploons, shit sailors & what would make our own ideal Moorcockian RPG. It's a really Deep Fix. No prizes for guessing ...
Tash is back in Derry & Toms as we embark upon an epic quest to the Jennithusian Continent to search for the perfect one-shit book!
Is it Mike Sirota's fourth Dannus opus, The Dark Straits of Reglathium?
TUNE IN AND FIND OUT.
We talk Sword & Planet fiction, how to ruin expensive spirits and reminisce about No Frills Value Cola Flavour Drink.
Rum features.
We're back in Derry and Toms and returning to Moorcock's influence and presence in RPGs in the company of Ralph Lovegrove, host of the Fictoplasm Podcast and designer of STORMHACK!
We talk Moorcock (obviously), gaming, podcasting and other bits n bobs, as well as Ralph's own take on the Moorcockian role-playing game... STORMHACK!
Find Ralph's gear at these links:
Old pal Robbo joins me in Derry & Toms to discuss the book from Pops that blew my mind into tiny pieces back in the early 80s, Sven Hassel's Wheels of Terror! We look at the man himself, including the shroud of mystery around his history, the first part of the novel and it's horrific, bleak yet darkly humorous depiction of the impact of war, and whether this was really suitable reading for an 11 or 12 year old to move ...
Loz is back as we conclude our look at the first volume in the psychedelic adventure of Corum, the Prince in the Scarlet Robe.
As usual our conversation veers around a bit, covering beers, rhubarb, hernias and just how much agency Corum has. We also have a good think about what to cover next, roll some dice to decide, and get bowled over by the sheer quality of @nand_soundtrax's journal soundscape!
We delve into the worlds of Moorcock influenced music with the other-worldly Dungeon Synth of The Artist Called Elric, and the powerful METAL!!! of Corum, two faces of the Eternal Champion.
Gerard Arthur Connelly returns and gets his poor boots wet, with all new atmos and score by @nand_soundtrax
Elric and Corum's Bandcamp pages are:
https://elricstormbringer.bandcamp.com/
and
https://metalcorum.bandcamp.com/
It's December 18th 2020, Michael Moorcock and Phil share a birthday AGAIN (weird right?) and, with the help of some friends, we celebrate a great day and take a look at Mike's Sherlock Holmes story, The Adventure of the Dorset Street Lodger.
In addition we consider the broad appeal of Moorcock and how it crosses some boundaries that in this strange day and age are often extraordinarily difficult to bridge, and we get to sh...
On our first purely music focused show we talk Hawkwind with biographer and writer Ian Abrahams. We also muse on how notice boards on launderette walls can produce great results.
Also, Loz calls in to Derry & Toms to drink some traditionally stupid beers and reminisce about the days of yore, sleeping dogs and the Giantkind track Breakfast in the Ruins.
Loz returns as we head up to the Roof Garden to ruminate over Corum's endless jawing with a slightly dubious sorceror in The Knight of the Swords Book Two.
Multiple varieties of pants are considered along with a couple of actually palatable beers. Progress I say!
It's Halloween, so Phil and I enjoy some spooky old fashioneds and engage with the horror of James Herbert's 1974 debut novel, The Rats!
It's got the lot. A creepy hero... out of order tramps... vicious critters... and an abundance of thigh references!
STAY SAFE!!!
We're back, and this time Phil joins me at Derry and Toms to conclude our coverage of The Eternal Champion.
Turns out Erekosë is just a horny jock. Who knew?
We also find that if you're being peer pressured into genocide you just need a bath, dinner and an intervention... it's just so relatable!
We're back at Derry and Tom's and unfortunately so are the challenging porters.
REJOICE as we finally get around to covering Corum...
SIGH as we continue to fail to avoid weird beer...
DESPAIR as our energy levels dip in the second half...
GASP at chapter two of The Journal of Gerard Arthur Connelly...
Phil, Loz and I celebrate an all too brief interlude in lockdown life to drink weird porters and muse upon Moorcock’s treatment at the hands of tabletop role-playing games.
Phil taunts us with her syrupy beer avoidance skills, two-man canoes get far too many mentions and Loz gatekeeps Moorcock RPG play (the rotter).
Also, The Journal of Gerard Arthur Connelly debuts with chapter one. There are 5 more to come (and if I don’t get ...
Tash returns from her exile in Sri Lanka and finally we get together after a four month Covid delay to finish The Jewel in the Skull. Stand by as we flatten the curve!
REEL at the variable sound quality as my Tascam once again has to do some heavy lifting.
MARVEL at the disagreements over the last few chapters.
HOWL at Tash's toilet allocation of an all new (to me) classification of a certain type of fantasy novel.
SHOEGAZ...
We're back.
The Eternal Champion continues on his crusade to defeat the enemies of humanity and further proves himself an absolute duffer with the ladies.
Phil reveals a penchant for watching extreme violence against Ewan McGregor and Channing Tatum.
I wring my hands at the horror of it all.
JOIN US!
We're back in Derry & Toms roof gardens to mull over 1970's The Eternal Champion, the novel debut of Erekosë/John Daker.
It's got everything. Bad pronunciation, silly names and nudity.
Phil returns to the co-host chair, we drink an old old-Fashioned or two and draw comparisons between Noonos and Grimsby, adding that ancient port-town to our list of mildly insulted settlements.
Loz is back as we conclude our coverage of the 1972 Moorcock novel Elric of Melniboné.
Join us as we are horrified by a challenging beer and Loz offends Scunthorpe (as well as narrowly avoiding a date with Dannus). As usual we struggle with pronunciation and saying The Ship That Sails Over Land and Water.
Chat About Breakfast in the Ruins
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