Feed your ears!

Painting hundreds of 6mm figures can often get a bit monotonous and keeping up the motivation to complete a unit that will give you that kick to start another one from the beginning is a key factor in getting stuff painted and on the table as quick as possible. Some people listen to music or watch a DVD but I find listening to music doesn't occupy my brain enough to prevent me getting bored and a film is a bit too distracting for my eyes when I'm trying to concentrate. BBC Radio 4 is a big favourite for a bit of background noise whatever I'm doing and generally has lots of varied and interesting content but for a while now I have been hungrily searching and consuming various pod casts. There is a lot of chaff out there but also a lot of gems, a few of which I would like to present to you.

Historical:

http://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/

This is an excellent podcast by Mike Duncan that details in easy to consume chunks the journey the city and entity that was Rome took through history with all the colourful characters, political and military shenanigans described along the way. Currently up to the Second Triumvirate.

http://historyzine.com/

Jim Mowatt produces a magazine style podcast with its main focus on the War of the Spanish Succession a period of interest for me and he delves into it very well. His 'Exploring the Phrase' sections and reviews also make for a very interesting listen.

Science Fiction:

http://escapepod.org/

This is a very professional podcast that presents varied and high quality science fiction stories occasionally from well known authors and always read in a convincing way. Not all of the stories may be to your taste but with the large archive I'm sure there will be one or two in there that will get your imagination going.

Horror:

http://pseudopod.org/

The little brother of escape pod and just as well produced. Lots of scary stories and a few quite sickening ones too (not one for the children), I still shiver when I think of the Bottle Babies and The Ashen Thing stories.

http://cthulhupodcast.blogspot.com/

Lots of stories, some by Lovecraft himself, others by authors with Lovecraftian themes, styles or 1920s settings. The pod caster 'FNH' also likes to set the scene with tit bits of history and music from the 1920s era that are often quite interesting and help you to picture the era many of the stories are set in. I especially like the theme music he has picked.

Pulp:

http://www.escape-suspense.com/AboutEscapeandSuspense.html

I've put this under pulp but these radio plays are quite varied, all with that vintage radio feel, most coming from broadcasts by the Columbia Broadcasting System with old fashioned adverts included (Roma Wine, that's Roma Wine, R...O...M...A). Great nostalgia inducing stuff occasionally with quite well known names such James Stewart and Vincent Price.
'Fed up with the every day grind? Tired out with the dull routine? Wanna get away from it all? We offer you....................ESCAPE!'


These are my favourites but there are lots of other great pod casts out there that will feed your ears while your hands are hard at work. If you find any particularly good ones please let me know as I am always looking for more stuff to listen to while I work my way through that endless lead mountain.


T.