Author Topic: An Escape Pod Fan... In Theory  (Read 6296 times)

davedoty

  • Peltast
  • ***
  • Posts: 106
on: June 20, 2008, 11:24:55 PM
It makes me sad, but I find that my self-identification as an Escape Pod fan is becoming increasingly hypothetical.  The podcasts just keep piling up, and periodically I decide to start listening again from the current podcast rather than slog through the backlog.  Nonetheless, it's usually only a couple of weeks before I drift off and they start piling up again.

It has nothing to do with quality, as I think the show is still just as good as when I devoured the first 50+ episodes in a rush... gosh, that long ago?  I think it's mostly just that I have a limited amount of time and energy to devote to podcasts, and the serial fiction and nonfiction podcasts just somehow keep me more hooked.  It's odd, because it's the opposite of what I would expect.  I would have thought the variety of the short fiction podcasts would have kept me more interested, but that's not proved to be the practical experience.

I still really enjoy the podcasts when I do listen, and have made many attempts to start listening regularly again, but those resolutions never seem to last.

I'm not really certain what the point of this post is, except to find out if other people have similar experiences, and what if anything they've decided to do about it.



Talia

  • Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 2682
  • Muahahahaha
Reply #1 on: June 21, 2008, 07:20:35 AM
Well,  what would you define as "fan"? I mean, you obviously still like the show, you just, like everyone does, get caught up in real life and other things and it takes a back burner. To me, as long as the show is something you enjoy, you're a fan through and through. You don't have to be current. :)

The only thing not being current does is make it a little harder to participate in the forum discussions on a given episode (i'm way behind in that regard myself) Not a big deal.

I know what you mean about serial fiction. I am totally addicted to podiobooks.com. The advantage of it over  an eclectic format like this, at least for me, is that I can find a storyline that I like, and characters I like, and stick with it, whereas here how much I enjoy a particular episode varies week to week. Nature of the beast and all that.

If you want to catch up, next time you go on a trip somewhere, download a bunch of episodes to your mp3 player of choice (if you have such) and listen as you travel. To heck with the radio. That's what I do. :)



errant371

  • Palmer
  • **
  • Posts: 76
  • I for one welcome our new isopod overlords.
Reply #2 on: June 21, 2008, 02:58:28 PM
I have found myself listening to less music on my iPod now that I have found Escape Pod and Pseudopod (and now Podcastle).  I time my evening bike rides and workouts by the stories now, and find that these pod casts are superb for bicycle riding; not too deep that it ruins my concentration (like news casts) but more 'in my head' than music.

What part of 'Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn' didn't you understand?


stePH

  • Actually has enough cowbell.
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 3906
  • Cool story, bro!
    • Thetatr0n on SoundCloud
Reply #3 on: June 21, 2008, 03:32:36 PM
I have found myself listening to less music on my iPod now that I have found Escape Pod and Pseudopod (and now Podcastle). 

Music?  You can put music on an iPod?  :o

As a reader I've always preferred long-form fiction over shorts, and in audio I started with novels (and dramas such as the original Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the Big Finsh Doctor Who releases.)

Getting into Escape Pod was a big step for me.  Now I listen to Escape Pod, Podcastle, Variant Frequencies, and clonepod; and the backlog of novels and plays is growing.
« Last Edit: June 21, 2008, 05:20:54 PM by stePH »

"Nerdcore is like playing Halo while getting a blow-job from Hello Kitty."
-- some guy interviewed in Nerdcore Rising


Listener

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 3187
  • I place things in locations which later elude me.
    • Various and Sundry Items of Interest
Reply #4 on: June 23, 2008, 12:43:36 AM
Getting into Escape Pod was a big step for me.  Now I listen to Escape Pod, Podcastle, Variant Frequencies, and clonepod; and the backlog of novels and plays is growing.

I consider myself EXTREMELY lucky that I can read as fast as I do.  I read HP5, 6, and 7 in less than five hours each, and I read Laurell Hamilton's "The Killing Dance" in about four (400 pages, small print).  I wish I could savor books like a good meal, but I can't really savor food either, no matter how hard I try.

So I don't really have a book backlog.  I have a stack, but nothing I'm dying to read.  When the new McMullen book comes out (July, I think), that'll go to the top of the stack, but, I mean, "Bonfire of the Vanities" has been on the bottom since March, when I bought it at a library sale for $1.

But I do have a podcast backlog.  EP and PC I listen to right away (except for flash), and the others I just get around to when I can.

"Farts are a hug you can smell." -Wil Wheaton

Blog || Quote Blog ||  Written and Audio Work || Twitter: @listener42


lieffeil

  • Palmer
  • **
  • Posts: 41
    • spring forward, fall back
Reply #5 on: June 23, 2008, 10:29:11 PM
I think you can qualify as a fan if you like the show, regardless of if you've heard every single episode. And the great thing about the episode archives, like a TV show that you own, is that you don't have to finish it all at once. It'll always be there. And in a way, you don't really want to be done it when you reach the end. So just chill! The show is great, and if you enjoy it then that's great as well.

...you've got three metric seconds.


Russell Nash

  • Guest
Reply #6 on: June 23, 2008, 10:36:18 PM
It's like any author.  If you read too much, you just can't take it anymore.  You need a break.  Then you'll come back and run through the backlog.  I have a ton of podcasts that I'll let sit for months at a time and then come back to.  iTunes is always asking me if I want to keep downloading one or another.



Tango Alpha Delta

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 1778
    • Tad's Happy Funtime
Reply #7 on: June 30, 2008, 01:15:19 AM
I had a similar arc to the one davedoty described.  It was neat at first, then life intruded; after a few months, I got a PM asking if I was coming back, so I bogarted my daughter's iPod (she wasn't using it anyway... she "lost it" in her underwear drawer for 3 months and didn't even notice it was gone), and started listening on the commute.

I can't get into the longer stuff for some reason; Sigler didn't do it for me, and if something WERE to hook me, I'd end up spending half my day sitting in the parking lot saying "just a few more pages..."  So for me, the ~40 minute stuff is just right.  Now I walk the dog, mow the lawn, etc. while listening to EP back stories, and rotate through EP, PP, PC, Drabblecast, etc. during the week.  (With a bit of GK thrown in once a week for good measure.)

This Wiki Won't Wrangle Itself!

I finally published my book - Tad's Happy Funtime is on Amazon!


Windup

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 1226
Reply #8 on: June 30, 2008, 04:26:31 AM

One of the things I like about podcasts is that I can listen to them while doing something else -- exercise, household cleaning jobs, yard work, etc.  I'd never get to listen if I waited to sit down and just listen.  This leads to some strange effects -- thanks to some scheduling quirks, my mind now firmly associates Escape Pod with cleaning the downstairs bathroom -- but it frees up time to listen to great stuff. 

"My whole job is in the space between 'should be' and 'is.' It's a big space."


stePH

  • Actually has enough cowbell.
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 3906
  • Cool story, bro!
    • Thetatr0n on SoundCloud
Reply #9 on: June 30, 2008, 05:07:36 AM

One of the things I like about podcasts is that I can listen to them while doing something else -- exercise, household cleaning jobs, yard work, etc.  I'd never get to listen if I waited to sit down and just listen.  This leads to some strange effects -- thanks to some scheduling quirks, my mind now firmly associates Escape Pod with cleaning the downstairs bathroom -- but it frees up time to listen to great stuff. 

I listen to podcasts or audiobooks while grilling dinner, among other activities.  I believe I've already mentioned listening at work when called on to make copies of site plans on the wide-format printer/copier.  Basically any activity that doesn't require higher-brain function can double as podcast-listening time.

"Nerdcore is like playing Halo while getting a blow-job from Hello Kitty."
-- some guy interviewed in Nerdcore Rising


Russell Nash

  • Guest
Reply #10 on: June 30, 2008, 10:38:39 AM

One of the things I like about podcasts is that I can listen to them while doing something else -- exercise, household cleaning jobs, yard work, etc.  I'd never get to listen if I waited to sit down and just listen.  This leads to some strange effects -- thanks to some scheduling quirks, my mind now firmly associates Escape Pod with cleaning the downstairs bathroom -- but it frees up time to listen to great stuff. 

I listen to podcasts or audiobooks while grilling dinner, among other activities.  I believe I've already mentioned listening at work when called on to make copies of site plans on the wide-format printer/copier.  Basically any activity that doesn't require higher-brain function can double as podcast-listening time.

If it wasn't for podcasts, I'd never do any cleaning.