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Podcast and my hometown

I'm on a roll.  The latest Escape Pod story centers on my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio.  I havn't lived in Cleveland for almost 30 years, but its still home.  I suffer gladly the losing ways of all my hometown sports teams and glory in their ineptitude.  Even that guy who left just proved how wonderfully mediocre our teams really are.

The latest story is called On a clear day you can see all the way to conspiracy by Desmond Warzel.  Frankly, I didn't enjoy the story line.  Its cute, but I've seen better.  On the other hand, Terry Pratchet said that people read newspapers because they hope to see their own name, their friends names or their own neighborhoods inscribed on paper for all to see.   That's why I liked this story.

Its all about Cleveland landmarks, driving to work and seeing the lake.  The local radio announcer is perfect, just like I remembered.   Nasty, funny and smooth.  Its a taste that I savor, even if the plot line is (as I said), not that great.

Enjoy
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Unknown said…
I understand the appreciation for the sights and sounds of familiar places. I don't care for this author because it is practically a transcription of an actual radio show that I listened to (in part). It was the the afternoon (3-7pm) radio show on WTAM 1100 with Mike Trivisono as the host from a few years back. Calls were coming in about numerous contrails in the sky and they got around to discussing the conspiracy theories about their origins. The author so clearly channeled that show into his writing. Maybe because it is unoriginal, it does not have the same polished plot line that you expect.
March 23, 2011 at 10:47 AM
Desmond Warzel said…
Author here. Thanks very much for listening. May I weigh in?

I was hoping somebody would eventually get the Trivisonno reference; I'm glad the original poster at least enjoyed the familiarity. I would call the story an homage rather than, say, a ripping-off, of the true event. There's nothing wrong with being inspired by something; you wouldn't suggest that nobody should write, or read, a novel taking place during World War II, just because we already know how World War II turned out. (Would you?) In the story's original publication [http://www.sfreader.com/contest-2008-1.asp], I made this clear in the commentary following the piece. Rest assured, I wasn't trying to get away with anything.

Thanks again for listening to the piece. Hope you give me another chance sometime...

Cheers,
Desmond

PS: "I don't care for this author" Really? What'd I do to you?
August 23, 2011 at 3:56 PM
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