EP169: How I Mounted Goldie, Saved My Partner Lori, and Sniffed Out The People’s

[Grayven]

This is my favorite episode to date. I feel compelled to burn CDs and give them to my friends.

[stePH]

This is my favorite episode to date. I feel compelled to burn CDs and give them to my friends.

Too bad the CC license won't allow correcting the glitch near the end. 

[AarrowOM]

Too bad the CC license won't allow correcting the glitch near the end. 

Not that it matters, but in that glitch did anyone else hear someone speaking a language other than English?

[stePH]

Too bad the CC license won't allow correcting the glitch near the end. 

Not that it matters,...

Hey, that's my line!   

[Void Munashii]

Not that it matters, but in that glitch did anyone else hear someone speaking a language other than English?

  I thought I heard an English-type accent..

[D3veate]

Great fun. A very accurate representation of what I think a canine mind would be like. Admittedly I got a bit irked after the 12,000th repetition of "I liked that!".. but that definitely strikes me as a doglike trait, so rather than being a bad thing, I think its just "realistic" as it were. And I must say, in regards to the reading, the mid-story petulant "No.." with the unspoken "well," before it was awesome. Kudos.

When I heard Stephen Ely saying, "I like that," I had a flash of deja vu. It took me a while to place what memory was being stired... but then I realized that one of the first Escape Pod stories had used the phrase, "We like that," with excess. It turns out that Escape Pod episode one, "Imperial", is also by Jonathon Sullivan. I agree that the phrase, "I like that," is a natural phrase in this story. However, I also think that there is also a display of some author tendency here.

On a slightly different note: I was delighted with this story, and thought that the reading was superb. Stephen Ely reads with a clarity and defined enunciation that I usually feel soothed... and in some cases relieved... when he is the reader.

[Rain]

Good story, Great reading

[DDog]

Had to comment out of order to say that this episode was amazing. Great job to all involved. I laughed often and loudly, despite being on an "absolute quiet" floor of the library, attempting to shelve books.

I now have to start a "Top EP Eps" list just to put this story on it. But I don't know whether the story would have been as interesting or fun if it hadn't been presented in such stunning audio format. I think I would have gotten sick of it very quickly if I were reading it in print instead of listening to it. But for Escape Pod, it was absolutely brilliant. Thank you to Sullydog for writing it and submitting it and Steve for sharing it with us.

[WillMoo]

While I did enjoy the story I thought the reading made the Police Dog sound like Paris Hilton's Chihuahua. I thought the title was far too long and was more of a preface than a title.

[Roney]

I thought the exuberant dog voice was going to get quite wearing as the story went on but it worked the other way: after a couple of minutes I found Bull quite easy to listen to.  This is definitely my favourite Steve Eley reading so far.  I do like stories that are performed as much as read.

Oh yeah, and the story was really good fun, and surprisingly serious.

[wakela]

Wow, I can't believe you guys liked this one.  I hate to be That Guy, but I really thought this was...

OK, I can't do it.  I thought that if I were the one person who didn't like it then Steve would have to mention me in the episode feedback.  But I actually thought this was one of the top ten EP episodes and probably Steve's best reading ever. 

The story was fun and funny and disturbing all at the same time.  The character of Bull was fascinating.  He wasn't just a dog or even just an uplifted dog, he was an uplifted police dog.  He was overly loyal and subservient, but did not hesitate to threaten to arrest his human partner.  Whenever he described someone he would go from "he smelled nice.  I like that" to "he was a male Caucasian, 6'1'', about 210 pounds with a green shirt, leather jacket, and blue jeans"  without missing a beat.  He had an innocent exuberance, but at the same time lived in a violent world and couldn't stop thinking about boning Goldie.

If I must have a complaint it would be that I thought the name Terry Stringer was a little over the top.  I knew where the author was going and didn't need to be hit on the head like this.  But there were enough layers to the story that this was a very minor distraction.

Since I am one of the first guys to complain when a story has an insufficient level of SF-ness for my tastes, I want to also state that this is the kind of SF story that I enjoy.  It had several cool SFy ideas, it was pretty realistic, and it featured social commentary without being preachy.  You could probably shoe horn it into a non-SF setting, but it would lose so much as to be a different story.

I got to thinking about how plausible believable the People's Justice idea was.  I thought it was interesting and chilling that, sense it was popular and the police secretly liked it, no one was stopping it.  Also they were good at concealing where they were shooting, and could broadcast it on the internet from anywhere.  I wonder though if the police would be so complacent about The People's Justice encroaching into their power.  Also I think at some point the Feds would get involved, and even if you couldn't find where they were shooting, their sponsors would probably be easy to track down.  This isn't a complaint about the story.  I completely accepted The People's Justice in the story, and Sully could probably explain all this if he had wanted to, but that would have bogged down the action.  I just think it's an interesting thought experiment. 

[SFEley]

Steve, I have to wonder if you modeled your reading style off the dog from Dexter's Lab: A Story?

http://www.tv.com/dexters-laboratory/dexters-lab-a-story/episode/24605/summary.html
http://www.imeem.com/people/qgwZzl/video/BmFSyb5a/dexters_lab_a_dog_story_tv_video/

You nailed it.  That was exactly my inspiration for this character voice.

The phrase "It's the stick!" does not appear in the story, but if it did, I'd have been so ready.

[SFEley]

Well, I know that the co-reader and Steve both live in the same general area (greater Atlanta), so maybe they recorded in Steve's studio. Plus, I think during the flub at the end I heard Steve giving her direction.

Correct.  Dr. Bowie's a friend of mine, and we read this one together. 

Given this level of positive feedback, I'm somewhat tempted to make available the raw, unedited file, just because the outtakes include a lot of laughing and conversation and are a bit less boring than typical "alone in a room, clicking my clicker" raw recordings.   It's an hour long, and most of it is...well, what you heard.  I can't guarantee it'll enrich anyone's experience, but I was amused.  And if you want to know how the sausage gets made, this is one example. 

Would anyone be interested?  I wouldn't put it on the podcast feed, just post a link here or something.

[stePH]

Given this level of positive feedback, I'm somewhat tempted to make available the raw, unedited file, just because the outtakes include a lot of laughing and conversation and are a bit less boring than typical "alone in a room, clicking my clicker" raw recordings.   It's an hour long, and most of it is...well, what you heard.  I can't guarantee it'll enrich anyone's experience, but I was amused.  And if you want to know how the sausage gets made, this is one example. 

Would anyone be interested?  I wouldn't put it on the podcast feed, just post a link here or something.

Maybe if it was just a "gag reel" sort of thing.

[MentatJack]

I've finally caught up with EscapePod, and it was a neat bit of symmetry to bracket that long binge of great science fiction with 2 Johnathon Sullivan stories.

[AarrowOM]

Given this level of positive feedback, I'm somewhat tempted to make available the raw, unedited file, just because the outtakes include a lot of laughing and conversation and are a bit less boring than typical "alone in a room, clicking my clicker" raw recordings.   It's an hour long, and most of it is...well, what you heard.  I can't guarantee it'll enrich anyone's experience, but I was amused.  And if you want to know how the sausage gets made, this is one example. 

Would anyone be interested?  I wouldn't put it on the podcast feed, just post a link here or something.

I'd be interested.  I quite enjoy the "Behind the Scenes"-type podcasts (e.g. BTS@DP, most feeds at BS) and will admit that I didn't realize that dialogue is stitched together since everyone [usually] records seperately.  Seriously, I had no idea.

[wintermute]

Would anyone be interested?  I wouldn't put it on the podcast feed, just post a link here or something.

I'd like to hear it.

[Listener]

Well, I know that the co-reader and Steve both live in the same general area (greater Atlanta), so maybe they recorded in Steve's studio. Plus, I think during the flub at the end I heard Steve giving her direction.

Correct.  Dr. Bowie's a friend of mine, and we read this one together. 

Given this level of positive feedback, I'm somewhat tempted to make available the raw, unedited file, just because the outtakes include a lot of laughing and conversation and are a bit less boring than typical "alone in a room, clicking my clicker" raw recordings.   It's an hour long, and most of it is...well, what you heard.  I can't guarantee it'll enrich anyone's experience, but I was amused.  And if you want to know how the sausage gets made, this is one example. 

Would anyone be interested?  I wouldn't put it on the podcast feed, just post a link here or something.

I gather you use the clicker so you can hear start and stop points?

[Bluecad]

I loved this story. As mentioned before, it was had the feeling of being light and amusing but disturbing at the same time. 

I had an overwhelming urge to scratch my iPod’s ears midway through and say “good Pod”.     

[stePH]

I loved this story. As mentioned before, it was had the feeling of being light and amusing but disturbing at the same time. 

I had an overwhelming urge to scratch my iPod’s ears midway through and say “good Pod”.     

I can actually do that if I run it through my iCat. 

[ryos]

I loved this story. As mentioned before, it was had the feeling of being light and amusing but disturbing at the same time. 

I had an overwhelming urge to scratch my iPod’s ears midway through and say “good Pod”.     

You must have one of these.

[stePH]

I loved this story. As mentioned before, it was had the feeling of being light and amusing but disturbing at the same time. 

I had an overwhelming urge to scratch my iPod’s ears midway through and say “good Pod”.     

You must have one of these.

I have one of these:

I call her Snow Pea ... get it? 

[shwankie]

I hate replying just to say "Me, too!!"

But, yeah, "Me, too!" I loved this story, for reasons that others have already stated much more succinctly than I ever could. 'Munths hadn't heard it as of the time he got on his plane this morning, and I'm hoping he had a chance to listen to it on the journey so we can commiserate on it's fantastic-ness when we talk later.

[koda]

I don't have time to read all the other comments like I usually do right now, but I just wanted to say - great story, great reading and OMFG STEVE!  I knew you were cool, but I didn't realize how cool!

This is our other child and his name is Studz McCorgi. =)

[Void Munashii]

This is our other child and his name is Studz McCorgi. =)

  Ein?