Herbo Gooli of the Barsoomian Blade covers the jeddak debate in Thark
In 2006, Joan Bledig and I traveled from Chicago to Minneapolis to see “A Princess of Mars” performed on stage by Hardcover Theater. This is our discussion of the play on the drive home. My friend of more than 25 years died Jan. 18, 2024. RIP, Joan – J the V.
Bit: The ever-widening scope of the Red Mafia would become even more apparent over the next few years as federal agents began tracking the activities of a flamboyant Florida Red Fella known as “Tarzan.” Antiques Road Show features a piece of art by Frank Schoonover. Cartoon network, “My gym partner is a monkey.” Peter Cook and Dudley Moore routine: Actor has one leg too few for the role of Tarzan.
Opening clip: Your Flight Patrol membership card will get you a free bag of jumping beans. The Chicago Blackhawks are “Muckers and grinders,” according to a Chicago sports radio show. The Chicago Muckers chapter of the Burroughs Bibliophiles discusses favorite “minor” ERB characters. Jim Hadac likes the dogs that appear in the tales. Greg Phillips mentions Phaidor, the “La” of Barsoom. He also likes Kar Komak, the phantom bowman. Joan Bledig likes Ben, King of Beasts. Elmo likes Sven from “Beasts of Tarzan.” Ken Manson likes Paul d'Arnot. 2020 Elmo announces plans for a reboot of Dateline Jasoom.
Opening clip: From the Tarzan radio show, “Congo Christmas.” This is Dateline Jasoom's 2007 interview with Alex Simmons, who wrote the Sunday Tarzan comic strip in the early 2000s. Alex also talks about his original creation, Black Jack. The discussion includes Alex's perspective as an African American on Tarzan – or “White Skin” of the Apes. One storyline for the Tarzan strip was to have Tarzan meet Black Jack, a 1930s era soldier of fortune. “I really enjoyed working on the story,” Alex says.
Opening bit: An expedition into the Carrion Caves at the frozen North Pole of Barsoom is foiled by Rudolph's nose. Francisco M. Camas of the Spanish National Biotechnology Centre in Madrid creates Tarzan yells via pan flute, clarinet and oboe. Dateline Jasoom talks to Steve “Korak” Allsup, who audited Paul Yoder's class at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, which explored literary icons: Frankenstein, Dracula, Sherlock Holmes – and Tarzan of the Apes.
Elmo mixed Dr. Awkward from the old Podsafe Music Network with various Tarzan yodels.
Opening clip from the Tarzan radio program. Dateline Jasoom interviews Paul Yoder, an associate professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock about his graduate seminar exploring the literary icons Frankenstein, Dracula, Sherlock Holmes – and Tarzan of the Apes. This wide-ranging discussion includes an examination of the apeman's inner conflict between heredity versus environment. “He does have that moment where he asks himself, 'Are you a man or an ape?'” Yoder says. Is Tarzan a literary icon? “He's obviously a cultural icon,” Yoder says. “There's something about that story that appeals to us.” He compares the end of “Tarzan of the Apes” to “A Tale of Two Cities” and “Gulliver's Travels.”
Opening clip: “Super Argo and the Faceless Giants.” 2007 Louisville Dum-Dum discussion of local chapters of the Burroughs Bibliophiles. James G Huckenpöhler talks about the National Capital Panthans. Bill Ross also talks about the benefits of forming a local Burroughs group.
Brazilian TV commercial clip: “The chimp who drank Coke became a very close friend of Tarzan. The chimp who drank Pepsi became a very close friend of ...” Dateline Jasoom researches the archives of the Chicago Daily Tribune and finds references that almost certainly helped inspire “The Mucker.” A soundbite from “His Girl Friday.” Comedian Sean Cullen sings, “The chimp and the woman.”
Opening clip: “Tarzan, Silver Screen King of the Jungle,” featuring ERB fan and scholar Tracy Griffin. Tracy joins Chicago Muckers Jim Hadac, Joan Bledig and Elmo for a tour of Oak Park and Chicago sites related to Edgar Rice Burroughs. Elmo interviews Frank Lipo, who heads the Oak Park historical society. Burroughs lived in four homes in Oak Park and rented an office there during his early prolific period. Tracy and some of the Muckers use the same bathroom ERB would have used in that office building. They also visit 414 Augusta Avenue in Oak Park, where Burroughs wrote Thuvia, Cave Girl, Mad King, Pellucidar, The Mucker and others; and 700 Linden, where he wrote The Oakdale Affair and The Land That Time Forgot. In Chicago, they visit Billy Byrne's neighborhood and 3 Tree Studios, a former artists colony where J. Allen St. John worked.
Trailer for “Tarzan and the Great River.” Will Pepe make friends with old Baron? Can Tarzan escape the crocodiles? Can the lady doctor save the village with her medicine? Clip from the Tarzan Filmation cartoon series from the 1970s. The 2007 Burroughs Bibiophiles Achievement Award was introduced by Laurence Dunn at the Dum-Dum in Louisville: John Tyner. “This is totally unexpected,” John says. Elmo chats with ERB fan Don Gray. A soundbite from Bobby Williams' “They call me Tarzan.”
Opening Bit: Carson Napier calls OnStar for directions to Mars. Elmo interviews ERB artist Richard Hescox, who says his favorite Carson cover that he illustrated was Escape on Venus. Later, Hescox is presented with a Golden Lion award and speaks during the 2007 Dum -Dum banquet in Louisville, Kentucky. “I probably would not have been an illustrator were it not for my love of Edgar Rice Burroughs,” he says. Hescox describes his lifelong love of Burroughs and how he came to do the Venus covers.
Opening Bit: Jane Goodall observes the 2007 Dum-Dum proceedings in Louisville, Kentucky. A talk by Sky “Apeman” Brower during that Dum-Dum. He discusses how fans rallied around Gordon Scott during the final months of his life. Sky reads a letter from Eve “Jane 1958” Brent addressed to fans at the convention. He also conveys comments about Gordon from Elaine Hollingsworth, who played Angie in “Tarzan's Greatest Adventure.”
Opening clip from the 2007 Flash Gordon TV series, which Elmo hated. Then a clip from the 1930s radio serial, which Elmo loved. From the 2007 Dum-Dum, a talk by Mike Chapman about the Herman Brix/Bruce Bennett Tarzan movie/serial, “Tarzan and the Green Goddess.” Mike wrote the Bennett biography, “Please don't call me Tarzan.” Lots of details about his conversations with Bennett. “Going down to Guatemala was a life changing experience,” Bruce told Mike, referring to his Tarzan movie.
George McWhorter and Mike Conran give Tarzan yells. Dedication of the Bob Hyde ERB collection at the University of Louisville during the 2007 Dum-Dum by Bob's son, John Clayton Hyde. “My father's life passion has made for some interesting times.”
Opening Bit: “Harvey Paul” tells the rest of the story about Billy Byrne, the mucker. (My impression of Paul Harvey is embarrassingly bad.) Celebrity Jeopardy with Sean Connery, star of “Tarzan's Greatest Adventure.” Futurama clip: Bender does a Tarzan yell. A breaking story from the Barsoomian Blade: Another naked Jasoomian wins the hand of a Martian princess and becomes royal. Canadian television program clip: Cheta wins lifetime achievement award. Information about 2007 Dum-Dum in Louisville, Kentucky. A reading from “The God of Tarzan,” courtesy of the Pometheus Podcast. Elmo gets sentimental about ERB.
Opening bit: “Take a cruise on the Lural Az.” (Ray Le Beau) A 2007 interview with Brooks Agnew, leader of the proposed “North Pole Inner Earth Expedition,” then scheduled to take place in 2008. “This is a very ancient idea,” he says. “It's kind of looked at as science fiction today.”
An “almost live report” from the 2007 ECOF convention in Binghamton, NY. Roving reporter Jim Thompson speaks to Elmo from the huckster room. Elmo also talks to fans D.J. Howell, James G Huckenpöhler, Dick Spargur, Doug Denby, Bill Morse, John Tyner, Elaine Casella (organizer of the convention), Mike Conran, Jonathan Hart, Laurence Dunn, and Fred Lucas. Discussions include the friendships of fans, organized fandom, collecting Burroughs, the best Burroughs artists, favorite ERB worlds, meeting Johnny Weissmuller, misunderstandings about the literary Tarzan – and much more. Fans at the convention do a collective shout-out to Henry Franke, who was stationed in Afghanistan at the time.
Opening song clip: “Tarzan, my Tarzan” from a Bollywood movie. Longtime ERB fan Jim Thompson is a guest on Dateline Jasoom. He talks about his father's love of Burroughs and how that was passed down to him. We talk about Gordon Scott, who had just died at the time of this 2007 interview. “Gordon Scott has always been my favorite movie Tarzan,” Jim says. And this: “Burroughs was not just a diversion, Burroughs was a moral compass.”
