Episode 462 - The Invisible Man - Part 1

Yeah, watering down the beer is the first thing my mind jumped to as well. In my mind, the Halls are the true villains of the story.

Fearenside may have been showing his ignorance regarding human genetics and the variable expression of melanin pigment in skin cells when he stated, “He's a kind of half-breed, and the colour's come off patchy instead of mixing.” However, he would have been spot-on if he was talking about...you guessed it...calico cats. All calico cats are female, and like human females, have two X-chromosomes, one inherited from Momma Kitty and one from Papa Kitty. And just like humans, one of the X-chromosomes is inactivated during embryonic development (in a process called Lyonization) This is thought to be done to prevent over-expression of genes coded by the X chromosome: the superfluous X chromosome provides genetic variability, and insures that the cat will have a full complement of DNA to pass to her progeny, but other than that, it is just “along for the ride.” Now, here’s where it gets interesting: the color of fur that is expressed in the calico cat depends on which X-chromosome is active, and since, during embryonic development, the SAME X-chromosome (maternal or paternal) will become inactivated in large clusters of adjacent cells, this results in our calico kitty having one color fur (from Parent A) interwoven with variably sized patches of a different color fur (from Parent B). So if you ever want to impress a cat-lover, on seeing a calico cat, say, “Oh, what’s her name?” when you are still 20 feet away.

Shall I be a vile pedant on the subject of beer? Apparently I can't restrain myself. The shameful private thing the Halls are up to is watering the on-tap kegs; Chad was on the right track with his microbrewing quip. At least, I HOPE that's what they're up to, because if they're raising the SG rather than lowering it... who knows what they're putting into the vats?

Dirck de Lint

It’s called Monster Man by lifelong gamer and archaeologist James Holloway. You can also hear him guesting on episode 63 of HPPodcraft.

I haven’t read the Invisible Man since I wrote an essay comparing the contrast in characters between The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Film, comics, and the source material. I remember it being the most accessible and fun of the books and I’m pleased to say that it does not disappoint. I’m struck by just how much the residents of Iping are guilty of the very thing that most of us think of when faced with the idea of an invisibility - snooping into someone else’s private life.

I’ve been so excited for covering this one, it’s a long time favorite, and to hear that the Claude Rains film is one of Chad’s favorites was doubly a treat - I’ve loved that film for years and even did a variety / burlesque performance based on it! There’s even video of the performance, if that sort of thing is allowed here... (totally safe for work / kids...) https://youtu.be/YdzJMEcsoUo

Chad Anctil

Anyone knows what is the D&D monsters manual podcast they mentionned when thanking patrons?

Frederic

Having finally had time to listen I'm glad that you did address the non-mystery, but I was relieved when this part of the novel was finally over because I couldn't get on-side with either the bumpkin comedy or the exploits of an invisible dickhead.

Pearce Duncan

I had a similar thing happen to one of my bags in Salt Lake City during a connecting flight. Luckily I was able to have an attendant open the bag left behind, find his phone number, and get him called and back at the airport to exchange bags before my flight left. Chad you’ve got my dearest sympathies, checked bags walking off is one of my worst nightmares and I’m sorry you’re dealing with it.

Kit Ainslie

My heart leapt for joy when I heard the return of lying Vincent price, even though it was in spirit only.

Sebastian Tonewo

So great to hear my name in the thank you section! This year will be my first trip to NecronomiCon, and I'm looking forward to the chance to meet Chris, Chad, and some other patrons. For anyone else attending the convention, I'll mention that I'm giving a talk in the Armitage Symposium on Friday (10:30-12) on the topic of "Abnormal Perception and Mental Illness in Weird Fiction." If you're able to attend, please try to find me and introduce yourself! I'd love to meet other listeners of the show.

I have missed classic, retro Chad, takes me back to the good old days of Dagon and Polaris. Us HPLLP hipsters prefer the “warmer” sound. Good luck with getting suitcase back and keep us posted!

I've missed our Mr. Johnson. Good to hear his voice again!

It would also be really cool at parties to just make your skin and muscles invisible, but leave your bones visible.

By the way, at Chad's suggestion I watched the film. Aside from it being quite entertaining--Claude Reins' performance in particular--there is one thing I couldn't stop thinking about. There's *totally* altruistic uses for an invisibility serum. If it's possible to turn a whole body invisible, imagine what you could do if you kept refining the serum: not just dropping the madness side effect, but figuring out how to only turn *certain* tissues invisible. In days before x-rays and MRIs it'd be immensely helpful in diagnosing ailments and coming up with treatments, but even nowadays it'd be immensely more useful to be able to get a full color look at someone's insides without having to cut them open.

Mandy Reznor (She_It)

You joke but I knew a guy in high school who did just that.

Bret Kramer

Wait, H G Wells? Oh man, I read the one by Ralph Ellison ...

Saint Fu

The Invisible Man/Griffin was always my favorite Universal monster. Solid mad science, terrific attitude, weapons-grade trash talk.

Derek Benson

The Time Capsule stars Chad Fifer as "The Clerk" a star vehicle if there every was one ,also written by Chad Fifer and Erwann Marshall

“Air conditioning!,” I shall cry at the Providence Omni hotel on Wednesday. “For the love of God, a room and air conditioning!”

And I forgot. Great shout out to Amazon Women On The Moon! Sometimes I think I am the only person in the world who ever saw that. Every time I think of the Invisible Man, I go to that. "I've injected myself with every chemical known to man, and I"m still perfectly sane!"

I always default to powerful telepathy. Reading minds, sensing emotions, implanting suggestions, working people like marionettes. Hell, if it's powerful enough you could mindswap yourself and others--BOOM! You and your loved ones have immortality. (Though there would be more conventionally altruistic uses for that last one. Have friends who are trans men and women, and exorbitant medical fees or social factors impede their desired transition? You could use body hopping to let them trade their old meatsacks like baseball cards until everyone's comfortable!) Basically, I just wanna be Bester, but without the psychic nazism. Or Lyta Alexander, but still WITH the violent antifascist revolutionaryism.

Mandy Reznor (She_It)

Anyone interested in Bus or Walking Tours at the NecronomiCon should get their tickets before hand.The convention hasn’t been putting out much information this year for some reason.I guess they are counting on other people who have been.The bus tour is great ,you get to go to the gravesite.The walking tour is excellent but you have to be ready to climb and descend some hills. Donovan Loucks has one spot left ,he is the best walking guide imo.Here is a link to the tour page http://necronomicon-providence.com/tours/

Gaming is a big part of the convention but they have stopped running that part themselves.There is a formal gaming area 18th floor of The Graduate and table top events is were you sign up for a particular game.I am sure informal gaming happens as well.Here is the link to the site https://tabletop.events/conventions/necronomicon-providence-gaming-2019

I remember doing the "What Super Power Would You Pick?" game a few years back. The very first thing that popped into my head was invisibility. It was not for all the dastardly reasons that you guys pointed out (and which everyone else automatically does as well). It is because if no one sees me, then I am safe from them. When people notice me, that is when my life tends to get worse, not better. As I mentioned before, I am trans. I have to put a lot of effort into blending into the crowd and not being noticed, so I always try to be as ordinary and boring, and uninteresting as possible. Lest someone pay attention to me and read me. Of course when I give it further thought, I always go with telekinesis. It is not only useful for moving furniture, bringing in the groceries, and fetching the remote from across the room; it can also be used to create force fields to protect myself, force choke people like Darth Vader does, and throw asteroids at countries I don't like. I am so glad to hear Lying Vincent Price back again! I laughed out loud walking to the car the first time I heard 'him' chime in. I am guessing that movie Chad was working on in Georgia is his entry into pR0n that I speculated on a few days ago: Chad's Bag? ;) Anyway, it really is great to hear you guys' voices again. You always bring a smile to my face, no matter what you are talking about.

I'm looking forward to my first NecronomiCon. I was thinking of bringing a copy of Monte Cook's Invisible Sun game. My kickstart'd copy recently arrived. Are table top gaming something people do at Necronomicon?

Robert Daniel Pickard

In order to make it up to us for the delay, you should offer us all a free month membership in the Dollar Whisper Club.

A quick follow up comment after listening to the episode: my travel issues were also with American Airlines. I was seriously unimpressed with the customer service.

The way I see it you have two options. Be invisible and creep on chicks OR Fly and get all the chicks anyway. Also no more dealing with airlines so your luggage doesn't get lost.

Cthulhu 2 Electric Boogaloo

Glad you guys are back. In a moment of commiseration, I also recently had a terrible travel experience (it took me over 26 hours to get from Maine to San Francisco). What did I listen to as I languished in O'Hare? Why, vintage episodes of HP Podcraft, of course! Can't wait until Necronomicon next week!

Haven’t listened to the episode yet but I read the book in preparation and for a book called The Invisible Man, it sure spent a lot of time teasing out “what could be the mystery of the man?”

Pearce Duncan

But naked. Love love this story, but believe the inevitablility of having this power is like Translucent on The Boys, i.e. being a perv.

So good to have you back, gents! Let us be clear: If the choice is flight or invisibility, you must choose invisibility. If you choose flight, you will be targeted. You will be killed. If you choose invisibility, you have the potential to do great harm or great good, but - most importantly - you can do what you do unobserved. Largely unhunted.

The Old nab the wrong bag ,well it’s storytime.Coming home to the airport a few years ago while riding in the shuttle park to my car,a hurried man got on the bus.He had a brief conversation with the driver and looked around at the bags.He found the bag he was looking for,it wasn’t his but it belonged to the person who took his by mistake.This being a shuttle both arriving and departing people were on the bus at anytime ,he was departing while the other arriving (about 16 stops in the parking lot) .He called the number on the tag,and it was the home number of the bag taker,the person on the other end tried calling the person but no luck.So the person told him that he must be driving with his phone off and would be home in about an hour.The guy on the bus had done one very unfortunate thing ,he had placed his car keys,wallet and plane ticket in the snatched bag.So not only was his bag taken,he obviously couldn’t fly or even drive to the person’s home to retrieve his bag.Have no idea what happened to him but I never take my eyes off my bags in those shuttles now.