Escape Artists
Escape Pod => Episode Comments => Topic started by: Russell Nash on November 09, 2008, 09:14:00 PM
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EP183: Beans and Marbles (http://escapepod.org/2008/11/09/ep183-beans-and-marbles/)
By Floris M. Kleijne (http://www.floriskleijne.nl/).
Read by Stephen Eley
First appeared in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine (http://www.andromedaspaceways.com/), August 2005.
When Flight Control assigned us utility privileges, I don’t think they expected me to brew espresso in the centrifugal head. But the weight of the espresso machine was well within the parameters they’d set, as was my use of a couple of ounces of fresh water and a fraction of the ship’s power supply each day, so there was nothing, really, they could say or do about it. Privileges are privileges, and if the purpose was to give both of us something to keep us happy, it worked for me. My morning espresso ritual kept me sane. I looked forward to it every day.
Richard, however, wasn’t quite as tolerant as Flight Control.
Rated R. Contains violence, strong language, and disturbed individuals. Who use strong language and violence.
(http://escapepod.org/wp-images/podcast-mini4.gif)
Listen to this week’s Escape Pod! (http://media.rawvoice.com/escapepod/media.libsyn.com/media/escapepod/EP183_BeansAndMarbles.mp3)
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A terrific and chilling story. Wonderful use of the unreliable narrator. I'd like to hear more from Mr. Kleijne.
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I haven't listened to the story yet, but as usual I skipped ahead to the feedback first, and I want to point out that the quote of the week (from the feedback to "How the World Became Quiet"), which Steve attributed to me, is actually by Windup.
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I haven't listened to the story yet, but as usual I skipped ahead to the feedback first, and I want to point out that the quote of the week (from the feedback to "How the World Became Quiet"), which Steve attributed to me, is actually by Windup.
D'oh! Sorry, Windup. I'll put a correction in next week's episode. Thanks for letting me know, Eytanz.
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"Open the pod bay doors, Hal."
"I can't do that, Dave."
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As i said in the bloggy-wog, it's been done before, but still works well. It may not add anything to the genre, but I liked it.
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I liked the story, but ...
GOD DAMN IT is it too much to ask that the errors be edited out? It seems like only a couple of weeks ago that I was bitching about this same problem with a Podcastle story. I thought the "clicker" was supposed to mark the retakes.
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Meh. So much about coffee to start for so little pay off.
Ditto on the editing.
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I'm sorry about the editing mistakes. I've posted a corrected version.
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Great. I've already got the flawed version through iTunes; is there any way to re-access the feed?
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I kind of liked the edit snafu's. My mind was racing ahead trying to figure out what sort of time loop effect was going on. Maybe this was a sign I needed more from a story but I enjoyed it anyway.
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i was disappointed in Richard.
he was the sane guy, relatively, and had hundreds of lives and the fate of a planet depending on him. what does he do? get worked up into a shouting anger and launch himself midair with a hypodermic needle.
dude, too much was riding on you to make rookie mistakes at zero g combat.
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I really enjoyed this one. But I think I have a soft spot in my heart for stories with delusional unreliable narrators.
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I really liked the science, and how the author tried to keep things realistic inasmuch as we know about it. The concept of "space sickness" as being depression. I mean, after all, you ARE in the middle of nowhere for a LONG time.
John's concept of being a coffee plantation owner was cool, and the love with which he treats his coffee and also the gradual increase of gravity is well-done.
I kept thinking that Richard was either already dead or an imaginary friend. Apparently that was not the case.
As for the reading, I liked that the voices were not appreciably different but we still knew who everyone was (all two of them).
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Nice narrator. First he suckers me in with espresso & space colonization and then he goes all unreliable on me. I did keep half-expecting him to turn out to be "unreliably unreliable" and for Richard to really be the crazy one.
BTW - people who write better in their second language than I do in my first make me feel inadequate :)
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Caffeine really does mess you up, it seems.
Funnily enough, I actually thought the clicking and repeating wasn't an editing mistake at all but actually in the story. I had already discerned that the narrator was not in possession of all of his marbles and thought his insanity was causing him to repeat moments in his own head.
Perhaps we should just pretend that's what it was the whole time... yes...
And I have to agree, the narration for this was fantastic, which kind of surprised me.
Before tomatoes, throwing stars and large works of iron statuary are thrown, I don't have any problem with Steve's narrations most of the time. In fact, his work as the Dog in "My Partner Lorie" was the best narration I've ever heard on any Pod episode yet.
It's just that... well, Steve has the most friendly and cheerful regular speaking voice of pretty much any human being I've ever heard. And him narrating a scary story just didn't seem to work in my mind.
In this case, though, that particular quality of his voice was what made the story so spine chilling, and the madness of the narrator so utterly convincing. Good work, Mr. Eley.
The descriptive language in this piece also sold me. Something about zero gee really brings out the poet in SF writers.
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Total horror material! HE lost his coffee! That's freaking terrifying!
Okay that aside, I liked this. The editing mistakes were a mite bit annoying- but I got over it. Good story, I love tales of insanity anyway, so..
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I loved the fact there was only one standard outlet on the ship, and it was in the head module away from all the living quarters. That little detail of the story has "government contractor" written all over it.
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I loved the fact there was only one standard outlet on the ship, and it was in the head module away from all the living quarters. That little detail of the story has "government contractor" written all over it.
There were standard outlets in the control module, but no gravity.
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I liked it. Quite a bit, actually. Not really bothered by the editing errors. It kind of gave me time to pause and think about where it's going.
Steve, for what it's worth, I love your readings, this one included.
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I'd just like to second the general smiles on steve's readings. Get In! ;)
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Yes, I like Steve's readings very much.
But editing errors nearly destroy the whole experience for me. Nothing pulls me out of the story faster than a halt-and-repeat.
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The editing bits were actually kinda cool for me. At first I thought it was an edit error, then I wasn't sure, then I was, but they didn't hurt the story. I get interrupted often enough at work that I rewind now and then, so it was the same.
The part that DID bug me was the line to the effect of "There is no system for changing the ships time." That line almost killed the story for me. If you deleted that line, the story would have worked a lot better. If he KNEW that, then he'd have to wonder how the time did change. Obviously, he was crazy, but still, he'd ignore that fact, not tell it in the story. He also could have said 'I can't believe he found a way to edit the time, there isn't a built-in way, or something like that. Perhaps he could have realized after he vaped Richard that, wait a minute, there isn't a way to change the time, what have I done!
All that aside, if I imagine how the story would have been without that line, I did enjoy it. I wasn't surprised by anything, but a story doesn't need a surprise to be good.
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I have jumped back on the Escape Pod wagon after a hiatus and this was one of several I listened to last night.
I liked the story and I REALLY liked the end of it. The image of him sitting there, insane and probably twitching...
I'm not sure the unreliable narrator worked for me and I wonder if that's because I'm too used to reliable ones. I found myself at various points thinking "Ok, we know this guy's nuts so what's the kicker going to be? His insanity has already been established". I would've liked more "Ooohh, is it richard? is it him? What's REALLY going on?"
I found Steve's reading great, but slightly disturbing that he pulled off a complete and utter nutjob so well ;)
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The story was okay. I was disappointed with the way it progressed. The coffee was interesting colour, but I felt that the other guy was woefully unprepared for what we are told was an anticipated danger.
You'd think that 2001 ect, would be required reading by all space ship designers.
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Just goes to show:
Don't get between a man and his coffee.
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hmm, pretty much every thought I had about this story has been said here already. yep, I thought the editing errors were part of it too (at least the first time) and yep, when he announced that it's not possible to change the system clock at the end it bothered me too. yep, Steve's voice is a little too friendly for horror... though that can be used to effect.
other than that it was pretty straightforward, even a little predictable. I felt it needed an extra layer somewhere... a little more background on the John character; what might have made him want to leave Earth in the first place, some reasons for his madness. I think there was a brief moment at the end where he brought his father into it, but it sounded tacked on.
all in all, a good listen though not one of the classic Escape Pods.
oh and Steve, I still think you're doing a great job of this despite whatever else is going on. Hang in there.
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The editing bits were actually kinda cool for me. At first I thought it was an edit error, then I wasn't sure, then I was, but they didn't hurt the story. I get interrupted often enough at work that I rewind now and then, so it was the same.
The part that DID bug me was the line to the effect of "There is no system for changing the ships time." That line almost killed the story for me. If you deleted that line, the story would have worked a lot better. If he KNEW that, then he'd have to wonder how the time did change. Obviously, he was crazy, but still, he'd ignore that fact, not tell it in the story. He also could have said 'I can't believe he found a way to edit the time, there isn't a built-in way, or something like that. Perhaps he could have realized after he vaped Richard that, wait a minute, there isn't a way to change the time, what have I done!
All that aside, if I imagine how the story would have been without that line, I did enjoy it. I wasn't surprised by anything, but a story doesn't need a surprise to be good.
I think there was a bit of a suggestion of multiple personalities. one part of him knew there was no way to change it. This is the same part of him that also hid the coffee. It was manipulating the "sane" part of him in an effort to wrest control, which it finally did. At least that's how I read it.
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2001 but without HAL, so Dave Bowman is the one to go crazy. Best unreliable narrator I've read/heard in a while. And while we do find him unreliable very early on, I think it adds -- not hampers -- the story. What is he not telling us, and how much of what he does say are lies?
And I like we don't know what happened to the coffee beans. Told 1st person (past tense), if John had found them, it would colour how he told the story: Either "I misplaced them and killed Richard for nothing" or "He did take them and deserved it." This third, unknown option is more satisfying.
Personally, I think he was snacking on them the whole time -- which is why he couldn't sleep at the end -- but was so bat-s**t crazy he wasn't even aware of it. We know from his 3 hours in the head that time slips by for him without realizing it.
Last point: Kudos for character development of Richard. He is the antagonist of the story, told from a bias perspective, but still as well rounded as he could be in a short work: committed to the mission, stressed, trying to be reasonable, scared. He could easily have been a hardboard cut out but I did feel sympathy for him.
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Three hours in the bog. What was he doing, catatonic perhaps?
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What a great story. The voice fit Steve so well (or Steve did the voice so well) that I am now convinced he is an espresso sipping psychopath. The language, tone, and plot all conveyed a wonderfully believable character, the piece was tightly written and devilishly entertaining. Good work.
I would like to see more like this...space stories. I love these and find far too few of them, especially ones like this where the environment is well done. The depictions of the free-fall environment and the ship-board procedures worked well for me. The author got more right than wrong (trust me, this is a compliment), and these details added quite a bit to the story.
The only nits I had were the centrifugal toilet -- sorry, a moving mass like this is impractical on any spacecraft because it is too difficult to dampen the vibrations. Such a thing is possible, but the cost and complexity of it mean it would never be done for a toilet. And for this story, it didn’t really matter that it was moving or not, only that it had a door that locked and a PA that could be turned off. The other nit--the title. Just “Beans” would have worked better.
-McToad
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The only nits I had were the centrifugal toilet -- sorry, a moving mass like this is impractical on any spacecraft because it is too difficult to dampen the vibrations. Such a thing is possible, but the cost and complexity of it mean it would never be done for a toilet. And for this story, it didn’t really matter that it was moving or not, only that it had a door that locked and a PA that could be turned off.
the espresso machine needed gravity.
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When I haven't had my caffeine I'm just not myself
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A coffee shop in Rio Rancho offers Evil, 8 shots of espresso topped off with coffee. At $4.50, I have a new way to spoil myself when I drop the boy off for gaming. My wife is not amused. I think she wants me to be on a ship after I have one... or two.
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When I haven't had my caffeine I'm just not myself
Who are you then, when you haven't had your caffeine?
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Me.
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When I haven't had my caffeine I'm just not myself
Who are you then, when you haven't had your caffeine?
it was a poor attempt at humor I apologize
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Don't apologise.
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When I haven't had my caffeine I'm just not myself
Who are you then, when you haven't had your caffeine?
it was a poor attempt at humor I apologize
Oh, I get it, it's clever. How's that working out for you?
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The only nits I had were the centrifugal toilet -- sorry, a moving mass like this is impractical on any spacecraft because it is too difficult to dampen the vibrations. Such a thing is possible, but the cost and complexity of it mean it would never be done for a toilet.
that, along with recent International Space Station news made me think: how exactly DOES a space toilet work?
I imagine some kind of vacuum cleaner hose attached to your bottom... which does/doesn't sound like fun.
I remember when Alan Shepard needed to go, they said "just do it in the suit".
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I remember when Alan Shepard needed to go, they said "just do it in the suit".
Or, to quote Donovan's "The Intergalactic Laxative" (http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/The-Intergalactic-Laxative-lyrics-Donovan-Leitch/9E7A0435E70D0E0448256D97000DAF06 (http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/The-Intergalactic-Laxative-lyrics-Donovan-Leitch/9E7A0435E70D0E0448256D97000DAF06)):
"I was impressed like everyone
When man began to fly,
Out of earthly regions,
To planets in the sky.
With total media coverage,
We watched the heroes land,
As ceremoniously
They disturbed the cosmic sand.
In awe, with admiration,
We listened to their talk.
Such pride felt they,
Such joy to be
Upon the moon to walk.
My romantic vision shattered,
When it was explained to me:
Spacemen wear old diapers
In which they shit and pee."
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Hi, Steve and Floris!
Few-months listener, first-time writer.
Good story. A little predictable in its unreliable-narrator twist, but a good listen. I found myself more enamored of the narrator's obsession with coffee as a civilian colonist than the tragedy unfolding at the end.
God bless you, Steve, on THE best science-fiction short-story podcast out there.
Wattsian
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The only nits I had were the centrifugal toilet -- sorry, a moving mass like this is impractical on any spacecraft because it is too difficult to dampen the vibrations. Such a thing is possible, but the cost and complexity of it mean it would never be done for a toilet.
At first I didn't catch on to the crazy. I thought some kind of time dilation was occurring in the toilet when it was spinning while the ship traveled at 32X light speed, like maybe the toilet developed its own timeline.
Richard seemed a little crazy too.
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the espresso machine needed gravity.
Nice try ;) Thing is espresso machines use pressurized steam, not a gravity feed. That's one of the primary things that distinguish espresso from coffee. Besides, I doubt they designed a generation ship around one crew-member's addiction (though authors have slightly different motivations than aerospace engineers, so in terms of the story you are, I suspect, dead on).
-McToad
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the espresso machine needed gravity.
Nice try ;) Thing is espresso machines use pressurized steam, not a gravity feed. That's one of the primary things that distinguish espresso from coffee. Besides, I doubt they designed a generation ship around one crew-member's addiction (though authors have slightly different motivations than aerospace engineers, so in terms of the story you are, I suspect, dead on).
What you need gravity for, is to keep espresso in the type of cup that it's normally served in.
Richard seemed a little crazy too.
Considering that he was seen from the perspective of the crazy narrator, not a big surpise there.
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What you need gravity for, is to keep espresso in the type of cup that it's normally served in.
Not only to keep it there, but also to encourage it to seep down from the machine into the cup... ;D
And to address another point someone made: of course the engineers did not design the ship around one astronaut's addiction. I prefer someone else's reading: it's exactly the kind of weird engineering snafu that happens on government contract jobs.
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Really enjoyed this one. Long, slow burn toward insanity fueled by espresso mixed with a great unreliable narrator. This is certainly my cup of Joe.
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This is certainly my cup of Joe.
Ugg. Thought we were gonna avoid that one. ::)
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This is certainly my cup of Joe.
Ugg. Thought we were gonna avoid that one. ::)
Not a chance.
Hey. Wait. My coffee's all gone.
Zathras...WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY COFFEE?
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Hey. Wait. My coffee's all gone.
Zathras...WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY COFFEE?
::cough cough::
Huh?
::wipes off face::
What are you all steamed about?
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And for this story, it didn’t really matter that it was moving or not, only that it had a door that locked and a PA that could be turned off.
the espresso machine needed gravity.
Nice try ;) Thing is espresso machines use pressurized steam, not a gravity feed. That's one of the primary things that distinguish espresso from coffee. Besides, I doubt they designed a generation ship around one crew-member's addiction (though authors have slightly different motivations than aerospace engineers, so in terms of the story you are, I suspect, dead on).
you said there was no need but there was a narrative need (which is what you seemed to be talking about). it wasn't a particularly rational from an engineering viewpoint, i noticed it myself =), but it was a vehicle to create conflict between the characters.
and, as already pointed out, do you want to be in zero g when an espresso machine starts jetting superheated fluid?
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It was the outro which blew me away. Candid and courageous.
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Getting to this late; as the last before hiatus, I was saving it.
Since most of it's been covered, I'll pick up on a point from both the story and the outro. In my experience, mental illness does seem to have a life of its own. Including, in many cases, a powerful sense of self-preservation. For that reason, I've often thought that the ancient belief in mental illness as demonic possession might be a better metaphor for the condition than we usually give it credit for. Not that it helps you develop new drug therapies or anything, but in the day-to-day coping, you could do worse than approaching it as you would a struggle for control of your life with a self-willed entity whose goals are not necessarily your own.
As for the story itself, I found it a suitably creepy Halloween treat; I thought it might go for a "double reverse" on the unreliable narrator for quite a while; and I thought the editing errors really were the narrator cracking up. And as a caffine addict in good standing, I strongly agree with the moral of the story: Mess with a man's coffee and there will be consequences. :o
I haven't listened to the story yet, but as usual I skipped ahead to the feedback first, and I want to point out that the quote of the week (from the feedback to "How the World Became Quiet"), which Steve attributed to me, is actually by Windup.
D'oh! Sorry, Windup. I'll put a correction in next week's episode. Thanks for letting me know, Eytanz.
S'alright. It's a complete mystery to me how you compile the feedback and keep it straight. It seems like one of those processes where the surprising part isn't the occasional mistake, but the fact it works at all.
And, I was pleased to see the thought get out there under anybody's name. (I hope Eytanz doesn't mind...) Too often, critics paint environmentalists as "species traitors" who love nature more than they love humanity. In my own case, the opposite is true. I believe it's a given that nature will continue in some form -- the open question is whether it's a form we can live in or not.
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Getting to this late; as the last before hiatus, I was saving it.
Me too, same reason.
I liked this one less than most people here - no concrete reason, just didn't speak to me that much.
And, I was pleased to see the thought get out there under anybody's name. (I hope Eytanz doesn't mind...)
Oh, I don't mind, I thought it was a nice thought and that you deserved credit for it. Though it was a bit optimistic for me...
I believe it's a given that nature will continue in some form -- the open question is whether it's a form we can live in or not.
Or, indeed, whether a lot of what lives now can.
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I enjoyed this story. I was a barista for 3 years and I go into the local TV station where my bf works and make coffee for them on Thanksgiving. No rest for the media! This story reminded me that I needed to solicit donations for supplies!
& yes, good coffee is THAT important. =)
Steve is usually a little too sappy for my taste, though that doesn’t take away from the immense respect I have for all the work he does. I can’t even get one podcast “going” – you rock it, man. (Pun intended)
The outro meant the world to me though. I am very open about my depression or mood swings, or whatever the hell they are. Like everyone else, I can’t be put into a neat little box and prescribed a neat little pill. It has been worse trying to find the right treatment then if I had just dealt with my illness alone.
entire response link here on my blog (http://manicminute.com/?=280)
Sorry for the essay here, I think I will just link to my blog if anyone is interested in my part in this..
Thank you for your honesty, man, and believe me when I say, “I totally feel you!”
OMG! I forgot the most important part!
When I first went to the doctor for help at 19 I was told, “If you think you might be crazy, you’re not.”
And I have never heard more true words.
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When I first went to the doctor for help at 19 I was told, “If you think you might be crazy, you’re not.”
There was a scene in LOST, where Jack thinks he's going crazy, and Locke tells him that people who are actually going crazy think they're going sane. I have no idea how well that can be generalised to real life, but it certainly sounds good.
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The story made me giggle.. it was a bit predictable and reminded me of "2001 A Space Odyssey" but all in all, it was a good tale and well told.
7/10
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The most insane thing you can ever do is think that you understand everything- therefore have finally become sane.
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When I first went to the doctor for help at 19 I was told, “If you think you might be crazy, you’re not.”
There was a scene in LOST, where Jack thinks he's going crazy, and Locke tells him that people who are actually going crazy think they're going sane. I have no idea how well that can be generalised to real life, but it certainly sounds good.
I think Joseph Heller might have a thing to say about that.
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Fun story, no real substance and with a twist I saw easily but it kept me very entertained.
The outro knocked me off my feet, though; thank you, Steve, for your candid honesty. I intern in a mental health center, and also have friends of my own suffering with depression on the level requiring psychiatric care. I see the denial and struggle to ask for help every day, and the more voices that speak about this and destigmatize it, the more mental health services can give people real relief (and subsequently improve themselves). Thank you, and good luck. You've already taken the biggest step there is towards being well again.
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reminded me of that Ren and Stimpy episode with space MADNESS!
good times.
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My husband and I actually had to drive through Starbucks while listening to this. The urge for coffee was too great.
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I probably am a working caffiene addict, so this one did hit home to me. I probably wouldn't murder people--but I would probably wallow with a massive headache for a while.
All and all, this was a pretty good story. It was somewhat predictable, but written well enough to still be entertaining.
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i was disappointed in Richard.
he was the sane guy, relatively, and had hundreds of lives and the fate of a planet depending on him. what does he do? get worked up into a shouting anger and launch himself midair with a hypodermic needle.
dude, too much was riding on you to make rookie mistakes at zero g combat.
right on! i actually passed a comment while listening in traffic - people thought i was mad...
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This should have been on Pseudopod.
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Not a bad story, I like an unreliable narrator, though it didn't go anywhere I wasn't expecting. I don't really relate to the coffee thing, I think I'm the only one at my office who doesn't drink coffee. I just hate the flavor, for it to become palatable to me requires about 2 parts sugar for every part coffee.
I've somehow managed to not see 2001 yet in my life, though I know I need to, so that didn't come to mind. What did come to mind though, was The Telltale Heart.
But Mr. Kleijne set the bar so high for himself with Deep Red over on Pseudopod(#1 on my Best Of list) that this one doesn't really compare. I know every story can't be out of the park but I was hoping for something more unique.