Author Topic: EP228: Everything That Matters (Read 23168 times)

Swamp · **on:** December 10, 2009, 09:52:20 PM

EP228: Everything That Matters

by Jeff Spock.
Read by Geoff Michelli.
Hosted by Norm Sherman (of The Drabblecast)

“I have done over fifteen hundred dives,” I said, and let that sink in. The number was astronomical for a guy my age, even for a professional. “I have done free diving down to eighty meters. I have worked as a commercial diver and in commercial salvage.”

They were listening and nodding, concentrating on me while recording the conversation. “Then you, of all people, should have known better,” said the little guy.

“I did know better!” They were acting like the shark was the victim, not me. “How many people in the whole fucking galaxy could have come up alive, huh? How many would have had the technology and experience and conditioning?”

“If you want our congratulations, you got ‘em,” said Odenny. “But we’re more interested in what you were doing.”

Rated PG.

Closing music: “Heartache Over Innsmouth” by Norm Sherman.

This episode is sponsored by SleepPhones - Pajamas For Your Ears

Listen to this week’s Escape Pod!

KenK · **Reply #1 on:** December 11, 2009, 02:12:00 AM

The feed shut off about half way through. It would be nice to hear how it ends.

Yargling · **Reply #2 on:** December 11, 2009, 09:33:35 AM

Excellent story, listened to it through iTunes, so that one's working.

I enjoyed the mix of scifi setting and aquatic adventure. Recommended as a good story.

Talia · **Reply #3 on:** December 11, 2009, 07:46:58 PM

Quote from: KenK on December 11, 2009, 02:12:00 AM

The feed shut off about half way through. It would be nice to hear how it ends.

Huh. There was a problem with this week's drabblecast too. No mere coincydink methinks.

cdugger · **Reply #4 on:** December 11, 2009, 08:10:27 PM

I downloaded it fine, but I don't use the feed.

I thought this was a great episode for EP. It's not really my kind of story, but that's just a personal preference.

The science sounded believable. I'm not a diver, but it didn't sound made up.

Like the ribbon shark. Cool concept.

Good reading, too.

lieffeil · **Reply #5 on:** December 11, 2009, 11:24:34 PM

Pretty enjoyable on the whole, and, though not the most original concept, it definitely brought a fresh take on deep sea exploration with the added "should I become a fish person" dilemma. Reminded me of Jeff Carlson's story "Pressure", from a while back.
And I adore the idea of a person being reconstructed from nothing more than a hunk of brain tissue. Just awesome.

Talia · **Reply #6 on:** December 12, 2009, 05:16:47 PM

Remind me never go swimming in the ocean ever again.

I liked it as a whole, but the part that made the biggest impression on me was the first 2-3 minutes, when the narrator was being eaten alive and seemed to take it all in stride. His attitude made it much creepier.

MacArthurBug · **Reply #7 on:** December 13, 2009, 12:34:03 AM

I'll second Talia. On ocean swimming AND a passive being eaten.
I got sort of an "eh?" out of this too. I'm not criticising, it was a fiarly solid sotyr- it just felt horrish. Perhaps that was just the descriptions of being eathing- then transforming into a "monster" the persepctive was interesting though.

KenK · **Reply #8 on:** December 13, 2009, 02:22:52 AM

I am perplexed about how the author could make the MC so stoic about being eaten by a shark. That just doesn't ring true to me especially coming so quickly in the storyline and auto-drug injections and etcetera notwithstanding. If the character was more established first and the author was skillful, then perhaps I would have taken to it better.

EMT was first and foremost (IMHO) a revenge story where the MC gets damaged and ripped off and who then figures out who screwed him and gets his reward as well as his revenge. He makes the most of his losses and seems to come out of it all in the best possible position given his wounds. Over all it was a good story and more in line with the sci-fi theme of EP although I agree with the previous posters that it could have just as well have been chosen for a horror themed podcast.

Boggled Coriander · **Reply #9 on:** December 13, 2009, 04:53:45 AM

Ooh, I liked this one. Cool technology, although I wasn't clear on why they had the recovering protag up and walking around before they gave him new genitals. Is a new penis really all that much more time-consuming to grow than new legs?

There's some talk about accents in recent Podcastle and Pseudopod comment threads, so I wonder: how did the Aussie accent in this one sound to Aussie listeners? I liked it and it didn't grate on my ears, but then I'm from north of the equator so what do I know?

Monsata · **Reply #10 on:** December 13, 2009, 11:29:20 AM

Have to say, I really liked the story, and I loved the "very calm while being devoured" aspect. There was a sort of eeriness to it that jarred me. In fact, that was probably why I'd initially gotten this week's Pseudopod and Escape Pod confused.

All that being said, I LOVED the closing song. Amazing.

stePH · **Reply #11 on:** December 13, 2009, 04:30:51 PM

I liked this one a lot better than "Finding Emo"... I mean, "Pressure".

cdugger · **Reply #12 on:** December 13, 2009, 10:34:56 PM

Quote from: Boggled Coriander on December 13, 2009, 04:53:45 AM

...how did the Aussie accent in this one sound to Aussie listeners? I liked it and it didn't grate on my ears, but then I'm from north of the equator so what do I know?

Being a down home Central Texas boy, I probably don't know Australian from Austrian, but it rather sounded more New Zealand to me.

Of course, all I have is "Beyond Tomorrow" on The Science Channel to go by...

Boggled Coriander · **Reply #13 on:** December 14, 2009, 12:12:59 AM

If that character was meant to be of New Zealand extraction, I shall officially feel stupid and will start asking Kiwi acquaintances if they get many kangaroos and koalas poking around their backyards back home, and also whether they live close to the Australian border.

stePH · **Reply #14 on:** December 14, 2009, 04:54:15 AM

Quote from: Boggled Coriander on December 14, 2009, 12:12:59 AM

...I shall... start asking Kiwi acquaintances... whether they live close to the Australian border.

Well, yeah, they kind of do. There's some water in between, though.

yaksox · **Reply #15 on:** December 14, 2009, 12:20:48 PM

Quote from: Boggled Coriander on December 13, 2009, 04:53:45 AM

There's some talk about accents in recent Podcastle and Pseudopod comment threads, so I wonder: how did the Aussie accent in this one sound to Aussie listeners? I liked it and it didn't grate on my ears, but then I'm from north of the equator so what do I know?

As an Australian, I thought the reader did pretty good. Seemed to be more attention paid to it in the first part, and slipped more into 'rrr's than 'ah's toward the end, but on the whole a good effort.

On the story as a whole, it was definitely one that fit the audio format well. It was easy to follow (kind of reminded me the stock D&D format: get the treasure, avoid the monster, save the girl -- although the plot didn't quite go like that) and when there was chronological jumps, there was a lead-in line of narration explaining it. Good work.

Listener · **Reply #16 on:** December 14, 2009, 02:03:32 PM

Reading: good overall, though I didn't realize when Pete was still semiconscious that the Australian doctor was a woman. Some readers, you have to be told they're reading a woman's part to realize it.

Story: I enjoyed it a lot. There was a lot of technical attention to detail, and it's good that the author was able to tell the whole story without sacrificing that -- I've had that problem with "113 Feet" and had to lose some of the dive details, unfortunately. The shark was kind of cool... reminded me of an iPhone game I have. Pete's horror and preoccupation with his wang was totally believable. Him shooting out of the water in the beginning, a bloody chunk of human, was both funny and disgusting/horrifying.

However, I didn't really like the very end. Everything after Pete gets his revenge on Abonae -- there really isn't enough about what he's going to do next. Wouldn't a guy like Abonae have a criminal hierarchy? Wouldn't someone else want to make a statement to the guy who killed the boss? I liked that Pete was going to swim his way back to the city, but... then what?

Also, the whole thing with him and the doctor attempting to get it on, while believable in this story's universe, strained my credulity from a doctor/patient standpoint.

Overall a good episode.

Boggled Coriander · **Reply #17 on:** December 14, 2009, 02:39:29 PM

Quote from: Monsata on December 13, 2009, 11:29:20 AM

All that being said, I LOVED the closing song. Amazing.

Yes, very much yes. It was the only Norm Sherman song I've heard that I would call "Jonathan Coulton-esque", but it still had a Normy goodness all its own.

kibitzer · **Reply #18 on:** December 14, 2009, 09:11:27 PM

Quote from: Boggled Coriander on December 13, 2009, 04:53:45 AM

There's some talk about accents in recent Podcastle and Pseudopod comment threads, so I wonder: how did the Aussie accent in this one sound to Aussie listeners? I liked it and it didn't grate on my ears, but then I'm from north of the equator so what do I know?

Umm... it was kinda mixed. It sounded to me like what Americans think Aussies sound like. I'm not saying it was bad, just... interesting.

BTW, welcome back Norm! Glad to hear you on EP again.

Darwinist · **Reply #19 on:** December 15, 2009, 02:12:51 AM

I really liked this one. Cool story, cool biology, cool human modification. The shark freaked me out. I have had no interest in getting in the sea after seeing in the Pacific off Mexico the amount of pain even a little jellyfish can inflict on us mammals. Norm's song was great, too.

bumdhar · **Reply #20 on:** December 15, 2009, 09:16:18 PM

very good story. great song at the end. (laughed coffee out through my nose at workwhile listening!) (hot coffee burning)

KenK · **Reply #21 on:** December 16, 2009, 02:48:38 PM

"[M]odification"? More like a really good restoration procedure following a really bad animal attack. Which brings up my only real beef with this story but such that it is its fatal flaw. This diver is way too glib about experiencing a horrible, scary and life shattering event. I guess I'm in the minority here about this but the manner in which the diver's massive injuries and disfigurement are just shrugged off like it was a inconvenient waste of his time waiting to heal just didn't feel right. He wasn't waiting for a body shop to fix his car it's his body. This didn't seem like a human reaction to me. I know a life-long motorcycle rider that quit riding cold turkey after a much less horrific incident just because of the psychological trauma involved. Isn't that reaction built inside sentient organisms? The diver didn't even blink. Go figure?

EarleyDaysYet · **Reply #22 on:** December 16, 2009, 05:39:35 PM

I have registered for the first time to post this. Oh dear god the Aussie accent. I agree with an earlier commented that it was semi-OK at the beginning (in that I registered that it was trying to be Australian, albeit apparently modelled on Crocodile Dundee or Steve Irwin - the US equivalent would be if I assumed that all Americans sounded like the Clampetts), but slipped sideways into Kiwi briefly & then wandered over to the Deep South & South Africa a bit as well. It almost made the podcast unbearable to listen to.

spork · **Reply #23 on:** December 16, 2009, 06:58:03 PM

"the part that made the biggest impression on me was the first 2-3 minutes, when the narrator was being eaten alive and seemed to take it all in stride. His attitude made it much creepier. " well put

also the "a penis is hard to grow than legs?" comment summed up a problem in the story that didnt make sense.

A good story, but the closing song was GREAT!

Where can we get just the song?
Thank you.
spork

Boggled Coriander · **Reply #24 on:** December 16, 2009, 10:23:45 PM

Quote from: spork on December 16, 2009, 06:58:03 PM

A good story, but the closing song was GREAT!

Where can we get just the song?

Music of the Drabblecast in mp3 format.