Escape Artists

Escape Pod => Episode Comments => Topic started by: Russell Nash on May 14, 2009, 12:44:33 PM

Title: EP199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: Russell Nash on May 14, 2009, 12:44:33 PM
EP199: Elvis in the Attic (http://escapepod.org/2009/05/14/episode-199-elvis-in-the-attic/)

By Catherine M. Morrison (http://www.cmorrison.com/).
Read by Ben Phillips (of Pseudopod (http://Pseudopod.org)).
First appeared in SCIFICTION.

We had an Elvis in the attic.  Again.

Echoing in the ducts, his voice woke me around 2 A.M.  I hopped from bed and headed for the attic–they always it up there.  A Vegas Elvis stood by a rack of old clothes singing “Blue Christmas” to them.

As I edged in the door, he segued to “Jingle Bell Rock.”  He waved me down to the front of his meager audience, conferring a special favor.  I settled cross-legged on the floor and enjoyed his tunes.

For months there has been an Elvis infestation all over town, but this was the first Vegas Elvis we’d got.  He worked the room hard, sweat dripping down the side of his forehead.  He was dressed in his trademark white jumpsuit with the spangles and beads and the big white cape he flourished dramatically.  The acoustics up here sucked, but even a big fat Elvis could rock the house.


Rated PG. Contains Elvii.


(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/EP_199_Elvis.mp3)
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: Listener on May 15, 2009, 12:23:16 PM
A cute story, pretty well-told. The narration seemed a little quick at times.

I get the feeling the author wanted to go in the direction where the mother was somehow involved with the whole Elvis thing, but she didn't, and left those threads somewhat unravelled. Yeah, maybe she was just a work-two-jobs-perpetually-put-upon mom character, but I felt there was something more to be had there.
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: deflective on May 15, 2009, 09:47:25 PM
"They like to perform—it makes them happy. I only did what was best for him."
"They're people. PEOPLE... maybe not people, but they are just like people."

sounds like a pretty solid analogy for podcasters.


http://www.youtube.com/v/e_hkIN38qnY
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: Darwinist on May 17, 2009, 02:08:20 AM
Hmmm......I just never got in to this one.  Probably my least favorite of 2009 so far.
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: RKG on May 17, 2009, 04:03:34 AM
"Not no fool Billy Idol lip either..."
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: MacArthurBug on May 17, 2009, 01:24:40 PM
Fantastic- well told, a lot of fun! I liked the sweetness of this story. I Also felt like the mom in here should have had a bigger part- or that the writer wanted to do something more with her, but didn't.
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: CGFxColONeill on May 17, 2009, 10:03:51 PM
did not like this one very well... just could not quite bring myself to care about the story
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: Yargling on May 17, 2009, 11:01:31 PM
I found it a fun if simple little story and enjoyed it quite abit. Not an epic great, but not poo-poo either :)
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: Windup on May 18, 2009, 04:14:11 AM
Hey, that was fun!!  Not epic-great fiction, just fun.
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: Talia on May 19, 2009, 01:01:56 PM
Lots of fun. I can just imagine a swarm of Elvii taking over Memphis. Hehehehe.
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: thomasowenm on May 19, 2009, 01:44:56 PM
I did enjoy the story, but I would have liked a little more info about the spores.

What was the connection with them, that made the Elvii turn to dust? 
Even with that little detail missing I was still able to lay aside rational thought and enjoy a fun story.

With a major plague of Elvises shouldn't this story have been PP though. ;D
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: Rain on May 19, 2009, 04:09:47 PM
Not really a fan of Elvis but i thought it was a cute story anyway. I was a little confused about the whole Memphis/Vegas Elvis thing...

It was really nice having Steve back on the podcast, it's not the same without him :)
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: stePH on May 19, 2009, 05:40:13 PM
Meh.
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: Russell Nash on May 21, 2009, 07:08:09 PM
I didn't like Vegas Elvis either.
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: stePH on May 22, 2009, 03:07:42 PM
I didn't like Vegas Elvis either.

I always thought David Lee Roth would be the next "Vegas Elvis".  Minus any actual singing ability, of course.  I pictured "Diamond Dave's" off the strip on Flamingo or whatever, maybe next to Debbie Reynolds' place.
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: eytanz on May 22, 2009, 03:14:59 PM
So, this was the second story in two weeks about clones who face hatred, scorn and discrimination from a population that denies their basic humanity. Except that this story, while certainly not as well-crafted from a technical point of view (it seemed to end very suddenly, as if the author or narrator got tired of wrapping up the final thought), didn't pander, and placed storytelling above moral self-rightousness. And it had a pretty clever idea at its base. And, as Steve said, it allowed us the use of the word "Elvii". So, I much prefer this one.
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: Cerebrilith on May 24, 2009, 04:41:03 AM
This seemed like a fun play on the "boy and his dog" theme.  I enjoyed it.
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: Zathras on May 27, 2009, 06:01:45 PM
I normally love Ben's reading, but he seemed to be the wrong choice here.  Fun, but forgettable.
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: Loz on May 28, 2009, 07:29:53 PM
I just hope this doesn't mean that Steve's about to inflict an Elvis Month on us.

I found the premise a little awkward, most people see the Elvis's as pests to be exterminated like insects, some don't, they seem mostly sentient, wackiness fails to fully ensue. It was too serious for comedy, too silly to be straight. Maybe it would have worked as a flash piece.
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: LadyIndigo on June 10, 2009, 12:00:07 AM
This idea was a lot of fun, and I liked the story start to finish - the image of Graceland was like a tripped out Disney World.  But I agree there was a lot more you could do with it - the mom kept blushing even as she was throwing the Vegas Elvis out, and I stopped and had a wonder about whether she saw him as human or not, especially since he's cloned from a former sex symbol.  You don't get embarrassed if a dog or even a rodent is in the bathroom with you, much less sees you naked.  Elvii are more like the mentally ill or disabled than pets, as Steve pointed out, so how do we move on to so many people saying they're rats?  Especially when all of them are wearing a famous face.  The metaphor needed tweaking, but then, I wouldn't have wanted a second "N-words."
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: birdless on June 10, 2009, 04:39:37 PM
My only comment... or question, i suppose, is regarding the diner. I'm assuming it was spelled T-U-P-E-L-O? If so, the pronunciation was way off, but it made me chuckle. Elvis was born in Tupelo, my hometown and where i've recently moved back to (sigh). It's pronounced TUE-pell-oh (or TOO-pell-oh, depending on if you grew up there or moved there :) ), and not too-PEE-lo... that is, if anyone, in fact, actually cares, which is probably doubtful... i did like the word Elvii...
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: DKT on June 10, 2009, 05:32:04 PM
This seemed like a fun play on the "boy and his dog" theme.  I enjoyed it.

After hearing this story, I kind of wish it had been called "A Boy and His Elvis." Ah, well. Fun little story, anyway.
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: JoeFitz on June 22, 2009, 03:37:29 AM
Elvii. Egads. A fun little story, if only for its oddity. The whole "spore" thing did not seem to go anywhere and that was confusing.
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: Wilson Fowlie on June 23, 2009, 08:57:05 PM
It's pronounced TUE-pell-oh (or TOO-pell-oh, depending on if you grew up there or moved there :) )

Which is which?

... that is, if anyone, in fact, actually cares, which is probably doubtful...

I had the same reaction at the time.  However, by the end of the story, I'd forgotten about it.
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: Ben Phillips on June 26, 2009, 09:38:39 AM
My only comment... or question, i suppose, is regarding the diner. I'm assuming it was spelled T-U-P-E-L-O? If so, the pronunciation was way off, but it made me chuckle.

Whups.  Mea culpa.
Title: Re: Episode 199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: Pinwheel on November 05, 2009, 03:06:18 PM
My only comment... or question, i suppose, is regarding the diner. I'm assuming it was spelled T-U-P-E-L-O? If so, the pronunciation was way off, but it made me chuckle. Elvis was born in Tupelo, my hometown and where i've recently moved back to (sigh). It's pronounced TUE-pell-oh (or TOO-pell-oh, depending on if you grew up there or moved there :) ), and not too-PEE-lo... that is, if anyone, in fact, actually cares, which is probably doubtful... i did like the word Elvii...

Wow, I didn't even recognize the word as Tupelo.  Heh.  Anyway, I thought this story was funny and sweet. 

I lived in Memphis for a few years and worked at the backpackers' hostel, and we used the word Elvii all the time.  (you had to.)  "Elvis is everywhere" is a local axiom, and my friends and I were always playing spot-the-Elvis-reference in movies and TV shows. 

So I loved this story because it really captures that city's relationship with its mascot.  Elvis can be a pest there unless you learn to love him. 

Title: Re: EP199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: Scattercat on November 05, 2009, 07:03:56 PM
"I am the city's foremost collector of velvet Elvii."

"Elvii?"

"I could call them Elvises, but if I say that word too often I start muttering about hobbits and calling things 'my Precious.'"
Title: Re: EP199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: Sgarre1 on November 05, 2009, 08:19:24 PM
I haven't read this story, but I first heard "Elvii" as a term for multiple Elvises back in 1985 in Scott Saavedra's comic IT'S SCIENCE!: WITH DR. RADIUM.
Title: Re: EP199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: stePH on November 06, 2009, 04:07:17 AM
I've been fond of creating weird plurals like that ever since Eric and Lyle Menendez murdered their parents and some talk radio people were calling them "The Menendae/Menendii" (they pronounced it "Menen-die".)

Most notable: the wife and I refer to our favorite vegetable as "asparagae" (pron. "aspara-guy").
Title: Re: EP199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: Unblinking on April 29, 2010, 01:40:29 PM
This one was cute.  Not substantial but a fun bit of story.

I hadn't realized that there was a whole subgenre for mysteriously mass-cloned celebrity lookalikes until I came to Escape Artists, between Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, and Albert Einstein.

I had heard the word Elvi before.  I think it was a movie where two of the main characters, to escape some other fate, dress up and join a jump with The Flying Elvi, a group of skydiving Elvis impersonators.  3000 Miles to Graceland, maybe?

And apparently the Flying Elvi are an actual group:
http://www.flyingelvi.com/home.html
Title: Re: EP199: Elvis in the Attic
Post by: Fenrix on February 22, 2013, 12:35:48 AM
I went on a road trip to Graceland with the narrator, so the reading seemed perfectly suited to me. I probably have photos around somewhere. Anyone know if the diner's an actual place? The internet seems to imply that it doesn't. I would totally go there on my next road trip, as Memphis is on the short list since they wife hasn't been before.