Pseudopod 202: Eye Spy

[Bdoomed]

Pseudopod 202: Eye Spy


By K. A. Dean
Read by Alasdair Stuart

Sit down with the usual gut warp strength black coffee - only thing that’s going to keep my eyes open all night really- and settle down to watch. I can’t help smiling at it all, all those individual juddering images spread out in front of me, like an artificial compact eye watching the city. A hundred small screens surrounding the single, higher resolution monitor, all for me. So much information fed right back to me in my warm, dark skull of a control room.

I can’t help but enjoy it. Too much to pour over. So many minute human dramas played out over the night shift as though just for me, all of them oblivious. All so used now to the all seeing eye, that ever present observer above that hums and tracks them, benevolent and protective. Never look up, never acknowledge, but I don’t mind. It’s more interesting when they forget they’re being watched.




Listen to this week's Pseudopod.

[Millenium_King]

This one gets a mixed reaction from me.  I thought the concept was strong, but the execution felt somewhat lacking.  The story just seemed to plod along and the scenes which were supposed to be tense - well, they just weren't.  I don't think it was Al's reading, which I thought was good (as usual), I think the material didn't have enough awareness of language to build sufficient tension.  Contrast a poem like "The Raven:" read aloud, one cannot help but read it faster, and faster with a quickening of the pulse that reaches a crescendo.  I realize not everyone is a Poe, but a little of him might have helped here.

Far from what Ben's outro asked us to consider, I did not consider this one heavy handed in the least.  In fact, its theme (as opposed to plot - it's so nice when they are distinct) created quite a bit of unease due to its realism.  I cannot help but think the choice of British-voiced Al as a reader was a concious one: the sort of omniscient electronic surveillance depicted in this story is already a reality in London.

And anyone who knows the kind of person who would sign up for a state job consisting entirely of snooping on strangers know full well that such a person is certainly not above more than a few voyeuristic thrills.

All in all, an okay piece.  Decent concept, good theme, but clumsy use of language.  Normally I talk about the "rocket-fuel" needed to propel a piece from good to great, but a lot of times I cannot put my finger on it: in this instance I think I can: this one needed some high-octane diction.

[wintermute]

NASA Didn't spend a million dollars developing a space pen. They started off using pencils, but the shavings and broken bits of graphite got lodged in electrical contacts, or in astronauts eyes, and the wood would burn rapidly in the all-oxygen atmosphere so the Fisher Pen Company thought that maybe there was a better solution. They spent a million dollars of their corporate funds developing a pen that would work in space, and offered the results to NASA.

Total cost to the taxpayer was 400 pens x $2.95 each = $1,180.

http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp

[DKT]

WINTERMUTE!!!!!

Nice to see you around again, sir!

[dust of the stars]

I'm a longtime listener who just registered. I love the podcast, I love Alisdair's work, I appreciate the work that Escape Artists does and I have made donations.

I hate to make my first comment a complaint, but I found this story all but unlistenable  due to the sound quality. I don't know if it's your microphone, your software, excessive compression, or what...but dude, it sounds like you're at the bottom of a large metal barrel, and there's a giant snake in there that hisses loudly whenever you speak. Although that might have the makings of a good Pseudopod story, it's not so great for listening, especially in a less than perfect listening environment like a moving car. I was able to finish the story on headphones later, but even so, the hissing is incredibly distracting. Again, I hope this doesn't come across as anything but constructive. Love your work, keep it up!

[wintermute]

DKT: Hehe, thanks.

I'm surprised you still remember me, and I doubt I'm going to start actively contributing here again, but some myths just bug me enough that I need to comment on them

[Ben Phillips]

NASA Didn't spend a million dollars developing a space pen. They started off using pencils, but the shavings and broken bits of graphite got lodged in electrical contacts, or in astronauts eyes, and the wood would burn rapidly in the all-oxygen atmosphere so the Fisher Pen Company thought that maybe there was a better solution. They spent a million dollars of their corporate funds developing a pen that would work in space, and offered the results to NASA.

Total cost to the taxpayer was 400 pens x $2.95 each = $1,180.

http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp

I stand corrected!  Thanks.

[ElectricPaladin]

This story didn't really do it for me. It was very well written and paced, but the mix of elements wasn't quite right. How can I explain this...

It's like this: I would have found a story about the horror of a world of surveillance very striking, but that's not what Eye Spy really was. To me, Eye Spy seemed more like a classic monster story set against a backdrop of omnipresent surveillance, and no matter the trappings, a straight-up monster story has got to be extremely striking to really get me. Eye Spy was quite good, but it wasn't extremely striking. The monster was neat, the POV characters' obsessive voyeurism was satisfyingly creepy, and the concept was unique, but it didn't quite thrill me the way some Pseudopod stories have.

Alas.

[yaksox]

Just wanted to echo what dust of the stars was saying a little.  This is my favourite of the three EA pods at the moment. I really appreciate the work of Al, Ben and the other folks. I was thinking maybe if two of the upcoming author who've had work accepted could donate their story rather than be paid ffor it, the bucks could be spent on getting Al a better mic.
Was funny that the odd audio-garbled word almost seemed to fit in with this story.

[stePH]

I'm a longtime listener who just registered. I love the podcast, I love Alisdair's work, I appreciate the work that Escape Artists does and I have made donations.

I hate to make my first comment a complaint, but I found this story all but unlistenable  due to the sound quality. I don't know if it's your microphone, your software, excessive compression, or what...but dude, it sounds like you're at the bottom of a large metal barrel, and there's a giant snake in there that hisses loudly whenever you speak. Although that might have the makings of a good Pseudopod story, it's not so great for listening, especially in a less than perfect listening environment like a moving car. I was able to finish the story on headphones later, but even so, the hissing is incredibly distracting. Again, I hope this doesn't come across as anything but constructive. Love your work, keep it up!

Agreed; this was Alasdair's worst recording since the first take of "Solitary as an Oyster".  In addition to the flaws cited above, the level kept falling to a whisper and coming back up, like the amplitude was on a slow sine-wave modulation.

Please, let's take up a collection and get the man some decent gear!

[Ben Phillips]

Please see my most recent sound quality post over on the existing thread.

[EarleyDaysYet]

I don't know if it's your microphone, your software, excessive compression, or what...but dude, it sounds like you're at the bottom of a large metal barrel, and there's a giant snake in there that hisses loudly whenever you speak. Although that might have the makings of a good Pseudopod story, it's not so great for listening, especially in a less than perfect listening environment like a moving car. I was able to finish the story on headphones later, but even so, the hissing is incredibly distracting. Again, I hope this doesn't come across as anything but constructive.

I love Al's voice & readings generally, but when he's in a hurry it sounds as if he's he's gabbling through a story without making an effort to put the pauses in the right places, while also wrapping his hand around the mic at random intervals. VERY frustrating to struggle through when some of it sounds as if he's talking into his hand, while going for a podcasting speed record. SLOW DOOOWN!! Or stop recording at 2am at your kitchen table with a hand-held mic.

[Unblinking]

I'm a longtime listener who just registered. I love the podcast, I love Alisdair's work, I appreciate the work that Escape Artists does and I have made donations.

I hate to make my first comment a complaint, but I found this story all but unlistenable  due to the sound quality. I don't know if it's your microphone, your software, excessive compression, or what...but dude, it sounds like you're at the bottom of a large metal barrel, and there's a giant snake in there that hisses loudly whenever you speak. Although that might have the makings of a good Pseudopod story, it's not so great for listening, especially in a less than perfect listening environment like a moving car. I was able to finish the story on headphones later, but even so, the hissing is incredibly distracting. Again, I hope this doesn't come across as anything but constructive. Love your work, keep it up!

Agreed; this was Alasdair's worst recording since the first take of "Solitary as an Oyster".  In addition to the flaws cited above, the level kept falling to a whisper and coming back up, like the amplitude was on a slow sine-wave modulation.

Please, let's take up a collection and get the man some decent gear!

I don't know what story you guys were listening to, I had no problems with it and comparing it to the original recording of Solitary as an Oyster is way overblown--that one I couldn't understand at all, this one I could understand every single word without issue.

Anyway, I thought this one started out strong but the monster angle didn't really do it for me.  I didn't find it at all far-fetched or heavy handed about the surveillance.  I doubt that every surveillance employee is like this but I also doubt it's uncommon, and it was a cool story to be able to get in his head.  I liked the way that he considered the whole city his domain and seemed to consider the surveillance system as nothing more than an extension of his own body.

When the monster showed up, I was rather disappointed.  I like a good monster as well as the next guy, but the addition of a generic monster to a really superb surveillance scenario just didn't mesh well.  I'd still recommend it for the first part of the story.

[Scattercat]

People who complain about this audio quality are being prima donnas.  Seriously, ya'll.  "Unlistenable" should mean "I couldn't hear or understand" not "It was a little mushy around the edges."  I could hear this just fine from five feet away out of a laptop's built-in speakers in a big living room.

RE the story: I really liked the image of the critter licking the camera to catch his scent, and I enjoyed him trying to chase it down through his cameras.  More of that would have made for a pretty fun little monster story.  As it was, it tried to go for the ominous ending without quite enough background.  Since I don't know what the monster is or what it wants, it's hard for me to fill in the blanks left invitingly open at the trailing end.  I think we needed a little bit more of a sense of the monster's purpose and a little bit less of the chit-chat about surveillance. 

[dmanuel]

No. It was more than "mushy around the edges." For much of the episode, I could not understand what Al was saying at all. I felt like I was talking to him on a cell phone in the middle of a forest. Maybe my problem was that I was listening to it in my vehicle and not on laptop speakers from 5 feet away. I don't know. What I do know is that I like Al's voice, his narration, and his commentary, liked this story (the parts of it I could make out), and did not like this recording at all.

[Bdoomed]

I've found that I have to drastically alter my car's audio settings in order to understand anyone.  The bass is generally too strong
It definitely helps trying different methods of listening, be it laptop speakers, headphones, or car sound system, etc.

[dmanuel]

The bass is generally too strong

You kids and your music.

The thing is, I could understand Ben just fine. Al's narration, though, was completely mutilated. I'm a fan of the 'pod, and I don't mean any disrespect... only wanted to weigh in, especially since someone has called it a nonissue.

[eytanz]

This story had one thread too many.

I really liked the voyeur suveilance guy, and how his power-trip turns into fear. The beginning, and ending, of this story were great.

But the middle, with the small man who first seems to cause the teen to back off (for no reason I could determine), then act progressively more suspicious, until suddenly he vanished just when the creature appears - what was his deal? Innocent bystander who got eaten by the monster? Minion of the monster? The monster itself, shapeshifted? None of the above? Why was he acting suspiciously? How did he vanish (assuming not eaten or shapeshifted?) I don't need to have everything made explicit, but this story seemed to set up a mystery for most of its length only for it to be dropped abruptly when the monster came in. This was very unsatisfying.

[dmanuel]

I got the feeling that he was the monster... but then again, I couldn't understand a lot of the story.

Also... horror sometimes is unsatisfying. Sometimes leaving questions unanswered is a good thing. If knowledge is power, then not knowing is powerlessness, and powerlessness breeds fear. I'll agree if you say that wasn't successfully accomplished in this story... but ambition is sometimes laudable in itself, regardless of how successful it is.