Escape Artists
PseudoPod => Episode Comments => Topic started by: Bdoomed on May 15, 2009, 08:42:35 PM
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Pseudopod 142: Camp (http://pseudopod.org/2009/05/15/pseudopod-142-camp/)
By Jeremy C. Shipp (http://www.jeremycshipp.com/)
Read by George Hrab (http://geologicpodcast.net/)
My muscles tighten. My teeth clench. My irritable bowel is seriously pissed off.
I’m no good at sitting.
“Hold it together,” my dad tells me. Not physically here, of course, but why would that stop him? Hold it together—that’s easy for him to say. He’s made of steel bars and rivets and bolts. Me, I’m held together with Elmer’s glue and pushpins and chewing gum.
Memories vibrate. They fall and crack open.
(http://pseudopod.org/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/audio_mp3_button.png)
Listen to this week's Pseudopod. (http://media.rawvoice.com/pseudopod/media.libsyn.com/media/pseudopod/Pseudo142_Camp.mp3)
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First of all, the writing in this piece was top shelf. The flow and feel of the narrative, and especially the dialogue, were great. I also loved the idea of summer camp for psycho-killer-cannibal kids.
On the other hand, character reactions just didn't seem to click. I really couldn't swallow that the protag would face his own torture and execution so calmly, even if he does, at some level, accept it as the norm for his particular slice of society. I can see people conditioned to accept murder and torture as normal, but can people, especially kids, be trained to accept their own torture and murder so dispassionately? I don't know. Maybe I'm just naive.
Still, I'd have to call that a minor quibble. Great story. This would make a really great screen play.
Great reading by George Hrab, but...Nigel was not your best voice. I kept seeing Bevis in my head every time he spoke. Other than that, a great delivery.
[corrected attribution error]
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a note on al's outtro
i went to the diehard scout groop in Clayton in my younger days and learnt many things :-
how to play a particularly brutal variant of the game "bulldogs charge",
the pros and cons of using a reservoir over-flow channel as a water slide
and never EVER fall asleep in the back of the van
thare are many others and in time i shall pass then all on to my childeran
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Um. Did you eat people? Just wondering. I always wanted to be in Scouts, but my Dad wouldn't go for it.
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i culd tell you but that wuld put you on the menue :-)
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Wow, that was twisted and really fucked up. Well done! Hats off to everyone involved in this production.
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I was creeped out by the bus ride in. Everything else seemed more like action to me. I still liked this one a lot.
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a note on al's outtro
i went to the diehard scout groop in Clayton in my younger days and learnt many things :-
how to play a particularly brutal variant of the game "bulldogs charge",
the pros and cons of using a reservoir over-flow channel as a water slide
and never EVER fall asleep in the back of the van
thare are many others and in time i shall pass then all on to my childeran
Did oddpod really write this post? I have a doubt. :P
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I miss Oddpod's avatar. :'(
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if someone's going to put on airs by pretending to have a british accent why would they go with liverpool? maybe a beatles fan, i guess.
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a note on al's outtro
i went to the diehard scout groop in Clayton in my younger days and learnt many things :-
how to play a particularly brutal variant of the game "bulldogs charge",
the pros and cons of using a reservoir over-flow channel as a water slide
and never EVER fall asleep in the back of the van
thare are many others and in time i shall pass then all on to my childeran
Did oddpod really write this post? I have a doubt. :P
i did !
some times, when the stars are alined i feal that somthing i say is worth saying well and spell check it :-)
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Deliciously twisted story. Perhaps the first one I've listened to twice. The first time through I thought the "sheep" on the fire was the kind that grows wool, I loved the moment of realization that came later.
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a note on al's outtro
i went to the diehard scout groop in Clayton in my younger days and learnt many things :-
how to play a particularly brutal variant of the game "bulldogs charge",
the pros and cons of using a reservoir over-flow channel as a water slide
and never EVER fall asleep in the back of the van
thare are many others and in time i shall pass then all on to my childeran
Did oddpod really write this post? I have a doubt. :P
i did !
some times, when the stars are alined i feal that somthing i say is worth saying well and spell check it :-)
still missed childeran, but i gotta say im impressed :P
i also miss your avatar!
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a note on al's outtro
i went to the diehard scout groop in Clayton in my younger days and learnt many things :-
how to play a particularly brutal variant of the game "bulldogs charge",
the pros and cons of using a reservoir over-flow channel as a water slide
and never EVER fall asleep in the back of the van
thare are many others and in time i shall pass then all on to my childeran
Did oddpod really write this post? I have a doubt. :P
i did !
some times, when the stars are alined i feal that somthing i say is worth saying well and spell check it :-)
still missed childeran, but i gotta say im impressed :P
i also miss your avatar!
When I said oddpod's avatar bugged me, it was a back handed compliment! Bring it back!!!
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sadly i am an idiot and that avatar is now lost for all time in the murky depths of the internet , let us morn its passing :-(
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I agree that this was a very well-written story. Very vivid writing. The writer really got into the mind of a brainwashed kid being fostered by a serial killer as part of a serial killer collective. The kid's unassailable "rightness" of what he was doing was great.
Geo's reading was good except that the voices of the two adults tended to blend, and at the end Kent's voice sounded like the narrator's.
Second week in a row there's been poop references. Hmm...
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sadly i am an idiot and that avatar is now lost for all time in the murky depths of the internet , let us morn its passing :-(
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
:(
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So, let me see, Hamilton was Yogi Bear right? I didn't recognise Kent. And was Englund Spinal Tap, or the Ruttles perhaps? Otherwise, I liked this story, especially how it's not obvious what the camp is for until halfway through, and even then it's matter of fact. I suppose that, in a society of killers, the rebel would free the captives. However, I do have some problems with the last scene, the narrator seemed to be fluctuating between stoicism and fear but I think this needed to be clearer. And seriously, a society of serial killers and they're going to look for reasons for someone getting killed and not considering that there's a sociopath amongst them?
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Definitely one of the most totally fucked-up pseudopodcasts ever. Way to go!
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I went to this camp when I was a kid. That was the last time I let my mother choose the camp.
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interesting story... didnt really like it tho... seemed... pointless.
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Super creepy. A tale of a sheep in wolf's clothing. I've got to second the sentiment that the friend sounded like Beavis, and other than that it was a good reading as well. It did get to a pretty slow start, because the nature of the camp hadn't been explained yet, but the buildup was worth it.
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I'm not sure if this is the best place to mention this--if not, let me know. This might be better suited for "About Pseudopod" or possibly the Writing Forum.
Jeremy C. Shipp has agreed to an interview for my site, Diabolical Plots: http://www.diabolicalplots.com
Among other things, I'll ask him a question or two about "Camp" (and, of course, include a link to his story on Pseudopod).
If anyone has any questions they'd like to ask him about that story or about anything else, drop me a line and I'll try to work them in.
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I'm not sure if this is the best place to mention this--if not, let me know. This might be better suited for "About Pseudopod" or possibly the Writing Forum.
Jeremy C. Shipp has agreed to an interview for my site, Diabolical Plots: http://www.diabolicalplots.com
Among other things, I'll ask him a question or two about "Camp" (and, of course, include a link to his story on Pseudopod).
If anyone has any questions they'd like to ask him about that story or about anything else, drop me a line and I'll try to work them in.
eh, I'll allow it, seems like a good enough place :)
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And the Jeremy C. Shipp interview, as promised. :)
http://www.diabolicalplots.com/?p=717
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And the Jeremy C. Shipp interview, as promised. :)
http://www.diabolicalplots.com/?p=717
Awesome interview!
”Why don’t you write Christian romance novels instead?” <- awesome
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And the Jeremy C. Shipp interview, as promised. :)
http://www.diabolicalplots.com/?p=717
Awesome interview!
”Why don’t you write Christian romance novels instead?” <- awesome
I'm glad you enjoyed it. :) My favorite line was within that same response: “Why do you write stories like that? You seem like such a nice guy….”
I've gotten this reaction before too, which makes me reluctant to show certain people my stories. Some people actually think Stephen King must literally be a psychopath to write the stuff he does. If it's possible to judge one's sanity by what you write, then I am so destined for Arkham. :P
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I think I get it... this story is about furries.
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Eh, this one gets a lukewarm reaction from me. It wasn't terribly engaging in the beginning and I began to drift away. When the whole schtick of the place (ie. "Summer Camp - except everyone's Jason!) became clear, I didn't find it very interesting. Likewise, the whole setup felt pretty unbelievable and not explained sufficiently, nor sufficeintly allegorical for me to just go ahead and "buy it."