Your Obt. Svt.

Most of us are aware of the rapid growth of Facebook. I knew there were some privacy issues, and wasn’t sure how to utilize the site. Within a week I reassessed my perception and can now say that Facebook is more than you’d ever think it would be. It’s a great networking tool, and I’ve found many new Firesign Theatre “Dear Friends” to add to my growing list. There are several Firesign groups at Facebook you can check out: Lovers of Firesign Theater, Don’t crush that dwarf, hand me the pliers! and one just for Chromium Switch. Please have a look when you can and re-energize your Firesign Theatre soul!

Here’s Phil Fountain’s newest Firesign cartoon, exclusively for Chromium Switch. This time it’s a ride on the “Bozo Bus” with a touch of some current TFT events.

Dear Friends, may I suggest the creation of a WikiFirepedia, which would assemble a general concordance of definitions, cross references, influences and the like, along the lines of “The Simple English Schoolboy’s Decoding Manual” of Mark Aicklin (tho, for heaven’s sake, in a more legible format). this could begin with a simple dictionary of proper nouns - I think I have a ready list of all character, place and commercial names we’ve used. I would love to have ideas come in from all over, adding to the definitions. (Does any/everyone know, for example, that the line “Loostner’s for the Smile of Beauty and Fantastics for the Smile of Success” from the close of Danger is a direct parody of the Ipana/Sal Hepatica ad in Mr. District Attorney or that “Half-Cast Woman” is a Noel Coward Favorite?) Well, I’m posting this, so what’s next? Ossman

Starting with his recollection of L.A. radio in the 60’s, and continuing through the genesis of Radio Free Oz, Firesign cartoonist Phil Fountain writes about the Box of Danger collection.

Firesign’s continuing insinuation into American culture continues with the title of the new work of literary fiction, “Beat The Reaper,” reviewed in the San Francisco Chronicle this morning. (Forwarded from Mr. P)

…on April 24, 2009 at the Golden State Theatre in Monterey, California, celebrating Nick Danger’s 40th birthday!

Tickets can be purchased on-line here, or by phone:
http://goldenstatetheatre.com/shows/042408_firesign/042408_firesign.html

Show dates: Friday, April 24, 2009
Show times: 8pm
Tickets: $35, $55, $75
Phone Orders (831) 372-3800, Wed-Sat, 2pm-6pm;
Live Box Office: Wed-Sat, 2pm-6pm;

ORCHESTRA LEVEL:
$75 - Front Orchestra (Rows A-L)
$55 - Mid/Rear Orchestra (Rows M-W)
BALCONY LEVEL:
$55 - Front Balcony (Rows BB-FF)
$35 - Upper Balcony (Rows GG-RR)
Reserved seating. All ticket sales are final.

A new CD release is now available containing the assiduous, mysterious, and often miraculous collab work of David Ossman and Firesignbro Philip Proctor for the International Mystery Writer’s Festival – Discovering New Mysteries. The first release in a possible series, A Murder Mystery Double Bill features two short stories adapted and directed by Ossman, “It Burns Me Up” by Ray Bradbury and “My Gal Sunday” by Mary Higgins Clark. Proctor plays the host and sets the tone with his direction of the walla chorus. Other cast members include Gary Sandy, Melinda Peterson, Richard Fish, Amy Walker, and, in fact, a full 25-person repertory cast, who performed in ten different scripts, four shows in rotation per day, for ten days straight, last June. Talk about your marathon run!

The final phase of the Firesign Theatre archival repository is completed.  You can now view full-color PDFs of Firezine, issues 1 through 7.  Thanks again to Fred for his assistance.

You can now view scans in PDF of my original Firemail and Chromium Switch print editions.

After months of planning and design, Chromium Switch is pleased to announce the launch of The Firezine Archives, a comprehensive collection of graphics from Fred Wiebel’s library. These are sorted into folders, such as “Recordings” and “Books.” When you register you’ll be able to access unique features, including “Lightbox,” where you collect your favorites and download them later, in a single compressed file. Many thanks to Fred for his collaboration with Switch on this project.