Author Topic: EP022: Don Ysidro  (Read 9303 times)

Russell Nash

  • Guest
on: February 07, 2008, 04:34:26 PM
EP022: Don Ysidro

By Bruce Holland Rogers.
Read by Evo Terra (of The Dragon Page).

On that last morning, anyone who came to visit me could see that I was dying. I knew it myself. As if I had cotton in my ears, I heard the voice of don Leandro saying to my wife, “Dona Susana, I think it is time to fetch the priest,” and I thought, yes, it’s time.

We don’t have our own priest, or even our own church, so someone has to drive in a pickup truck to get the priest from El Puentecito. But don’t be fooled by what you may hear in Malpasa or in Palpan de Baranda. Here we remain Catholic. Yes, we make pots in the old way. That’s why tourists come here. And it’s true, as is sometimes whispered, that we have restored certain other practices from the past. But not as they were done back then. Those were bloody and terrible times, the times of the Mejica. They say that the sacrificial blood covered the sun pyramids from top to bottom. Thank the Virgin, we don’t do anything like that.


Rated PG. Contains death rituals with possible disturbing imagery, and numerous pot references. (No, not that kind.)


Referenced Sites:
Short-Short Stories
Podiobooks



Listen to this week’s Escape Pod!



eytanz

  • Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 6109
Reply #1 on: February 07, 2008, 04:46:44 PM
Ok, I requested this thread simply because I wanted to draw attention to this story - it was an absolute delight to listen to. It doesn't have much of a plot - or, more accurately, it has a plot that doesn't feature any sort of conflict - but it just pulled me in.

I'm not a big fan of afterlifes (afterlives?) but the one depicted in this story is one I would be very happy with.



Darwinist

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 701
Reply #2 on: February 08, 2008, 05:04:25 AM
I remember listening to this on Escape Pod Classic a while back.  It didn't interest me at first and I had no idea where it was going but by the end I was really drawn in to the story.  Haven't seen anything new show up on EP Classic lately.   

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.    -  Carl Sagan


Bdoomed

  • Pseudopod Tiger
  • Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 5891
  • Mmm. Tiger.
Reply #3 on: February 08, 2008, 06:14:40 AM
This was the very first EP i ever listened to.
one of my favorites!  The reading is great, and i love the idea of living on in your style of artwork.

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


rubso

  • Extern
  • *
  • Posts: 1
Reply #4 on: February 16, 2008, 10:22:33 PM
I liked this story when it forst came out.. I listened to it several times later..

So many of my friends were introduced to ipods and podcasting using this story... I believe it contributed to atleast 10 more subscribers when they listened to it...



Russell Nash

  • Guest
Reply #5 on: February 17, 2008, 09:50:51 AM
I relistened to this one just so I could comment in this thread. 

I found it amusing, especially when he told the guy he couldn't have the boots.  The idea of being part of different creations and through them seeing the whole world is really cool, but how many storqage boxes did he end up seeing the inside of?  What if you ended up being in something some really disgustingly ugly couple had next to their bed, and you had to see them have kinky sex all the time?  I think I'd throw myself off the shelf and try to break my container.



Thaurismunths

  • High Priest of TCoRN
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 1421
  • Praise N-sh, for it is right and good!
Reply #6 on: February 27, 2008, 12:48:45 AM
I relistened to this one just so I could comment in this thread. 

I found it amusing, especially when he told the guy he couldn't have the boots.  The idea of being part of different creations and through them seeing the whole world is really cool, but how many storqage boxes did he end up seeing the inside of?  What if you ended up being in something some really disgustingly ugly couple had next to their bed, and you had to see them have kinky sex all the time?  I think I'd throw myself off the shelf and try to break my container.
What? You think cats knock things off of shelves because they're bored?

I loved this story, but I have a weak-spot for folk tales (and swiss rolls).
I'm sure the listenership would riot if it were played today, especially as there's going to be PodCastle in a few months, but stories like this one were why I fell in love with EP.

How do you fight a bully that can un-make history?


Planish

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 772
  • Fun will now commence.
    • northernelectric.ca
Reply #7 on: March 06, 2008, 06:06:16 AM
I just listened to this one last night. If I had read a detailed synopsis of it, I probably would have given it a pass.
But it was great. It was a fairly serious subject (uh ... DEATH!) related in a warm and light-hearted manner.
I liked the delivery.

Yeah, the boots thing was funny.

I feed The Pod.
("planish" rhymes with "vanish")


Unblinking

  • Sir Postsalot
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 8729
    • Diabolical Plots
Reply #8 on: September 14, 2010, 01:43:54 PM
Well, I'll be the voice of dissent on this one.  I like some folk tales, but I like ones with a little more conflict.  Interesting, but in the end, not particularly memorable.