Author Topic: EP357: Connoisseurs of the Eccentric  (Read 13441 times)

CryptoMe

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Reply #25 on: September 06, 2012, 04:59:12 AM
I think it was all a hoax to get society to bootstrap itself out of the mess that had been made of the world. All the new tech was developed by people thinking eccentrically.  No actual aliens were required. ;)

Actually, I don't know if that's what I really think happened in the story. But I like that scenario. It gives me hope for our world, so I'm sticking to that version.

And I personally didn't like the eccentricity vignettes. They pulled me out of the story and didn't work for me.



Special Ed

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Reply #26 on: September 06, 2012, 12:32:47 PM
Definitely enjoyed this one.
While it was a much different story, it reminded me of one of my all time favorites - EP208: An Almanac for the Alien Invaders.



CharlieWhiskey

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Reply #27 on: September 06, 2012, 04:12:37 PM
I presume that the dual-speared approach of asking for eccentricities while introducing standalone pieces of technology to disparate and far-flung societies was intended to catalyze outside-the-box thinking while fostering intercultural cooperation, therefore a global economic and environmental revolution.

I presume the tiny probe they propose shooting at the end is a plan for humans to find intelligent life in other Goldilocks zones and become the alien proselytizers of technology and cultural revolution themselves by asking the right questions and providing the right tools to intelligent upstarts, continuing a cycle started eons ago.



TheTrueBrian

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Reply #28 on: October 05, 2012, 10:37:03 PM
Yes! Please for the love of all that's holy...MORE NATHAN LOWELL NARRATIONS.

Oh, and the story was decent.

Brian, Narrator:
PC 81
PP 251
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Sgarre1

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Reply #29 on: October 05, 2012, 10:47:33 PM
Quote
Yes! Please for the love of all that's holy...MORE NATHAN LOWELL NARRATIONS.

Please see the current Pseudopod:

http://pseudopod.org/2012/10/05/pseudopod-302-singing-by-the-fire/



TheTrueBrian

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Reply #30 on: October 08, 2012, 07:10:44 PM
Quote
Yes! Please for the love of all that's holy...MORE NATHAN LOWELL NARRATIONS.

Please see the current Pseudopod:

http://pseudopod.org/2012/10/05/pseudopod-302-singing-by-the-fire/

Way behind on my PseudoPod...but that's something to look forward to.

Brian, Narrator:
PC 81
PP 251
PP 303


Fenrix

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Reply #31 on: October 08, 2012, 08:33:15 PM

Way behind on my PseudoPod...but that's something to look forward to.

No better time than the month of Halloween to catch up on PseudoPod.

All cat stories start with this statement: “My mother, who was the first cat, told me this...”


LaShawn

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Reply #32 on: October 19, 2012, 04:34:10 PM
Mmmm...lovely! I enjoyed listening to this story, mainly for the rich, lush, delectable descriptions. All the scientific talk went completely over my head. But of course I loooooooved the idea of a African woman paving her way to the stars with her zeppelin. And the narration! Ahhh...

Now I'll have to read the story to actually find out what was going on. ;-)

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hardware

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Reply #33 on: November 06, 2012, 09:54:58 AM
Like some here, I initially had some problems keeping focus on what happened here, But I loved the ending, and it was only then I realized that this was a story about the nature of creativity and where it can take us if we use our best sides, both the rational and the irrational ones. To help us find that balance, this was of course the aliens gift, and I think it was well conveyed. Of course it seemed a bit convenient how everything worked out for the best, but I can buy that - this was not realism, but a utopia.



Vidurr

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Reply #34 on: March 01, 2013, 02:57:35 AM
This is sadly the first story to compel me to such a degree that it caused me to come here and comment.

 I'm quite behind on my listening thanks to my poor old phone going out (server damage received from a car wreck) and that being my only source of Internet I had to wait to hear this one.
 Just let me say.  It was worth the wait. This is the first scifi that had ever caused me to wistfully exclaim, out loud, in the store, to my embarrassment.  I wish I lived there.
  My only comfort is that in one of the infinite number of realities surely this is happening and I am enjoying it.
 Having mental block with names I apologize to the author but whether you ever see this or not. Thank you. That story was a gift.



Jetse

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Reply #35 on: March 20, 2013, 04:27:19 PM
Hi Vidurr--

Many thanks for your comments: readers like you make things worthwile for a writer.

Personally, I like to think that to work towards a better world, it is also necessary to imagine one. I'm totally down with the ongoing stream of apocalyptic and dystopian gloom'n'doom that still forms the majority of SF: it's lazy. Instead of imagining how things go down the drain, try to imagine how to fix them. But only too few are willing to make that effort. For one, I'll keep trying.

Again thanks for the encouragement!

Sorry that I don't frequent this forum more often: busy with stuff (writing amongst it).