Just found a great web-siteAround the World...

[Tony]

Just listened to "Around the World in 80 Days" from the Mercury Theatre radio show. A lot of fun, and Welles is really good. Actually, I usually find his accents unconvincing, and as I settled into the show, some Mercury actors were talking with British accents, and I thought "They're really good; is it Collins? Barrier? Colouris?". Then I realized that one of them was the Phileas Fogg character, and that this was Welles!!! And instantly, I thought: "His accents are so bad!". And then I realized, of course, that my perceiving him to be unconvincing when doing accents was a product of my knowing his usual voice, and my knowing it's him doing the accent.

If you follow! So, an interesting experience, and a terrific show; how I wish he had made the movie. His voice is... curiously affecting in this role.

I also wish more Wellsians would write about radio; there's such a wealth of material! I have just found a new web-site:

http://www.fairpickings.com/

It's called "Fair Pickings", and they do a nice job. They will put the radio shows on a cassette or a cd, and you can customize your purchase; for example, I've just ordered 3 of the "Hello Americans" shows on one 90 minute tape, at a cost of $7.25 for the cassette and $2.50 for the shipping (the cds cost $12.00). Radio fans should definitely check it out, if they haven't already discovered it. I've gotten tapes before, and they're top-notch!

[mteal]

Thanks for the site, it's always nice to have another vendor to choose from. Yes, it's too bad there's in general only a passing interest in Welles' radio work. On the fine Senses of Cinema site that Jaime Christley wrote the Welles piece for, there's another very good article on Welles radio career. I love the title, which sums it up well: "An Abandoned Mine".

http://sensesofcinema.com/contents/01/18/welles_radio.html

[Tony]

A Serious Warning:

I posted in the above post about "Fair Pickings". It turns out that their on-line ordering-form page is NOT encrypted for safety; I ordered from them, and a few days ago somebody, using my Visa number, ordered $300.00 worth of internet products. Luckily Visa noticed an "unusual" buying pattern on my account (i.e. 6 orders in one day) and phoned me. So if you want to order from "Fair Pickings", or anybody else for that matter, make sure the page is encrypted for safety, with that little picture of the yellow padlock appearing in the bottom right of your page. I've learned my lesson.

By the way, "Fair Pickings" has been in business for years; they are fair priced and have a large catalogue and an excellent reputation; I believe this situation has nothing to do with them, other than the fact that I've advised them that their order page should be encrypted.

Tony