Discuss episodes and stories from the Drabblecast Main Feed and from Drabbleclassics
-
StalinSays
- Beast-Master
- Posts: 1709
- Joined: Sat Oct 13, 2007 4:58 am
- Location: West Los Angeles, CA
-
Contact:
Post
by StalinSays » Sat Apr 13, 2013 1:48 am
Feature: The Country Doctor by Steve Utley
Thursday, April 11th, 2013
Gardner was drowning, and strangers were laying hands on the bones of my forebears. I felt obligated to see that liberties weren't taken with my grandmother, my great-grandmother, and other good, God-fearing ladies, so I put the business on auto pilot and made the drive as if on auto pilot myself.
Ghost Seas by Steven Utley
Art by
Roo Vandegrift
Poem: Taunting the Sea by Steven Utley
Twabble: “ We stood outside the news station in protest against miscommunication. I still don't think our message got through.. ” by
Scarecrow
-
Goldenrat
- Member
- Posts: 265
- Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2008 2:07 am
- Location: Minnesota
Post
by Goldenrat » Sun Apr 14, 2013 4:00 pm
Great show, Norm. I definitely have to check out some more Utley stuff. The main fiction was great but what killed me was the last poem. Wow. And the Sigur Ros background music was the perfect choice for it. You knocked it out of the park with that show, man!
Raise your fists and scream "black smut"!
-
strawman
- Member
- Posts: 5966
- Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2007 2:20 pm
- Location: South Georgia
Post
by strawman » Sun Apr 14, 2013 7:48 pm
Steven Utley would have been delighted, just as he predicted.
Which is a great backstory for the worthy episode that followed.
You might devote a month featuring authors who have end-stage terminal diseases, sending them a copy of Episode 279 and asking if they wouldn't like to be remembered this way. Norm, I give you permission in advance to do this when my time arrives. Only since I haven't written anything noteworty, I'm hoping you can find some good out-of-copyright stuff you can attribute to me. Hint: I always thought Ovid was pretty good.
Never judge anyone until you have biopsied their brain.
"Be kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle."
Known Some Call Is Air Am
-
scarcrow
- Member
- Posts: 37
- Joined: Sun Mar 31, 2013 1:30 pm
Post
by scarcrow » Sun Apr 14, 2013 9:25 pm
Steven Utley sounds like an intriguing man. May he rest. I say "sounds" rather than "sounded" because I am a firm believer in a person's memory being preserved through their work, as is the case with
The Country Doctor. I really liked this piece, it was bland at first but took an unexpected twist at just the right moment. By the end I still didn't know what to think, but still walked away from the story with a feeling of enjoyment.

It is out of my character to make requests, but if at all possible I'd love to hear some more of his work in future episodes...
For Steven.
"Overwhelmed as one would be placed in my position,
Such a heavy burden now to be the one,
Born to bear and read to all the details of our ending,
To write it down for all the world to see.
But I forgot my pen..."
-Rosetta Stoned, by Tool
-
tbaker2500
- Site Admin
- Posts: 3612
- Joined: Wed Nov 21, 2007 7:03 pm
- Location: West Lafayette, IN
-
Contact:
Post
by tbaker2500 » Sun Apr 28, 2013 5:14 am
This was an excellent episode. It was an excellent tribute to Steve Utely. I didn't know his works, but I will look into him now.
I liked the story. Very atmospheric, and great concept.
So what do people think- Was the good doctor fathering children, or just experimenting on them?
You're my quasi-ichthian angel, you're my half-amphibian queen...
The Dribblecast, we don't care if you sound like an idiot.
-
sandrilde
- Member
- Posts: 153
- Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2013 8:45 pm
Post
by sandrilde » Mon Apr 29, 2013 5:47 pm
A little slow at the beginning but a nicely different alien story.
-
scarcrow
- Member
- Posts: 37
- Joined: Sun Mar 31, 2013 1:30 pm
Post
by scarcrow » Mon Apr 29, 2013 9:13 pm
tbaker2500 wrote:Was the good doctor fathering children, or just experimenting on them?
I'd like to think the good doctor was just on retirement and needed a hobby to kill some time.
"Overwhelmed as one would be placed in my position,
Such a heavy burden now to be the one,
Born to bear and read to all the details of our ending,
To write it down for all the world to see.
But I forgot my pen..."
-Rosetta Stoned, by Tool
-
tbaker2500
- Site Admin
- Posts: 3612
- Joined: Wed Nov 21, 2007 7:03 pm
- Location: West Lafayette, IN
-
Contact:
Post
by tbaker2500 » Tue Apr 30, 2013 4:54 am
That could still be taken either way.
If the doctor was siring children, the deformities could be due to incompatible genes, etc. If he was just doing experiments, well the world is his oyster.
And of course it's possible that this is all just too much inbreeding, and the doctor was innocent?
You're my quasi-ichthian angel, you're my half-amphibian queen...
The Dribblecast, we don't care if you sound like an idiot.
-
scarcrow
- Member
- Posts: 37
- Joined: Sun Mar 31, 2013 1:30 pm
Post
by scarcrow » Tue Apr 30, 2013 10:25 am
truth be told, there's way too many possibilities to be able top make a sound call. In the end (no pun intended) I think that is what makes this story so unique. We, as the reader/listener, are left wondering just as the main protagonist was...
"Overwhelmed as one would be placed in my position,
Such a heavy burden now to be the one,
Born to bear and read to all the details of our ending,
To write it down for all the world to see.
But I forgot my pen..."
-Rosetta Stoned, by Tool
-
scarcrow
- Member
- Posts: 37
- Joined: Sun Mar 31, 2013 1:30 pm
Post
by scarcrow » Thu May 09, 2013 1:21 am
Something else I've been wondering for quite some time now, the piano score that plays at the beginning of the story... What is it called? I've heard it before and really like it but I can't seem to find the title to it anywhere.
"Overwhelmed as one would be placed in my position,
Such a heavy burden now to be the one,
Born to bear and read to all the details of our ending,
To write it down for all the world to see.
But I forgot my pen..."
-Rosetta Stoned, by Tool
-
Leslianne
- Member
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Tue Dec 28, 2010 9:49 am
Post
by Leslianne » Thu May 16, 2013 2:38 pm
This was a spectacular story and a very well done production.
-
Varda
- Connor Choadsworth Defender
- Posts: 1383
- Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2013 5:41 pm
- Location: Athens, Georgia
-
Contact:
Post
by Varda » Fri May 17, 2013 3:08 pm
Very, very sorry to hear about Steve Utley. This was a lovely tribute all around. Thanks, Norm.
Medical Microfiction: Stories about Science
Drabblescout Badges:
Merits: Twabble Author (5), Drabble Author (4), DRIP
Slave Volunteer (2), Whittling (1), Macaroni Crafts (2)
Demerits: Redd*t Rouser (2), Whittler's Mother (6)
-
ROU Killing Time
- Notorious Forum Hog
- Posts: 4251
- Joined: Sun Feb 01, 2009 10:07 pm
- Location: Portland, OR
Post
by ROU Killing Time » Thu May 23, 2013 10:18 pm
strawman wrote:Steven Utley would have been delighted, just as he predicted.
Which is a great backstory for the worthy episode that followed.
You might devote a month featuring authors who have end-stage terminal diseases, sending them a copy of Episode 279 and asking if they wouldn't like to be remembered this way. Norm, I give you permission in advance to do this when my time arrives. Only since I haven't written anything noteworty, I'm hoping you can find some good out-of-copyright stuff you can attribute to me. Hint: I always thought Ovid was pretty good.
Get in contact with Iain M. Banks. Don't dally.
"Never fuck with The Culture"
Sublime In Peace Iain M. Banks.
-
Richmazzer
- Member
- Posts: 181
- Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2008 7:26 pm
Post
by Richmazzer » Tue May 28, 2013 7:42 pm
Great episode, great tribute. The poem at the end really got to me. Based on his Moby Dick/Little Women mash-up alone I have a feeling Steve Utley would have been right at home on the Drabblecast.
-
Kibitzer
- Member
- Posts: 39
- Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2011 9:57 pm
- Location: Melbourne
Post
by Kibitzer » Thu May 30, 2013 10:35 am
Just WOW! I never heard of this guy before and I think I need to go hunt up his tales. Honestly, this one started out pretty average but when we got to the meat of it... WOW.
Kibitzer: A meddler who offers unwanted advice.
-
eric_marsh
- Member
- Posts: 1041
- Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2009 5:03 pm
- Location: La Drova, Valencia, Spain
-
Contact:
Post
by eric_marsh » Fri May 15, 2015 10:28 pm
I run podcasts while I'm out working in my shop. I'd been catching up on old Drabblecasts when I came across this one. A great story - it built slowly and then suddenly went in an entirely unexpected direction. Yeah, I'm going to have to read some more Utley.