Drabblecast 046 - The She-Wolf
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Drabblecast 046 - The She-Wolf
"The She-Wolf" by Saki
usually i quite enjoy the extra production that drabblecast gives its stories but this is one time that the extra effort detracted from the story.
i wanted to hear it played with an understated British humour in the style of Oscar Wilde. the over-the-top voices are fun but they're exactly wrong for a story where people straightfacedly outdo someone that's taking himself too seriously.
thanks for the introduction to Saki, he does good stuff.
usually i quite enjoy the extra production that drabblecast gives its stories but this is one time that the extra effort detracted from the story.
i wanted to hear it played with an understated British humour in the style of Oscar Wilde. the over-the-top voices are fun but they're exactly wrong for a story where people straightfacedly outdo someone that's taking himself too seriously.
thanks for the introduction to Saki, he does good stuff.
- Mr. Tweedy
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What a fun story! I like this sort pseudo-speculative story where there isn't actually any magic/aliens/ghosts/mutants/weirdness, but the characters think there is. A clever idea and very entertaining. I also thought the voices were a bit overdone, but not enough to detract from it.
How much did you pay Saki for this story, Norm? Did he submit it himself or did you solicit it?
How much did you pay Saki for this story, Norm? Did he submit it himself or did you solicit it?
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- normsherman
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Hehe, that's actually why we did the story- we're cheap bastards.Mr. Tweedy wrote:
How much did you pay Saki for this story, Norm? Did he submit it himself or did you solicit it?

And yah, I figured the voice work was too much but once I got started I just coudln't stop. Bwaa, I steel cahnt stop- it's dreadfoool Hyah!
"Give us all some Jelly"
Once again Norm, your incredible voice acting has taken a story way beyond its level. The story was interesting and well done but didn't appear as random or speculative as I would have expected from the Drabblecast. But the voice acting was incredible, and turned the story from a acceptable but well written story into a very solid episode.
On another note, this story does bring up the issue of magic. What counts as "magic?" Is magic just anything that you can't explain?
I would probably say that the term "magic" depends on the observer and point of view, and is pretty much anything that can't be explained or isn't understood. i.e. Norm's incredible voice talent is, to me, an amazing magical ability that can turn anything into a cool audio episode.
On another note, this story does bring up the issue of magic. What counts as "magic?" Is magic just anything that you can't explain?
I would probably say that the term "magic" depends on the observer and point of view, and is pretty much anything that can't be explained or isn't understood. i.e. Norm's incredible voice talent is, to me, an amazing magical ability that can turn anything into a cool audio episode.
- normsherman
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I thought the voice work was the best thing about it - It started out amazingly consistent posh southern english and stayed that way for a long time and then it took a train ride north via peterborough to Yorkshire, Cheshire and Lancashire. This last is no bad thing, by the way. The story was okay, but I felt he held back a bit to much. Kafka or Chechov would have really picked up the ball and ran with it.
- normsherman
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I'd agree with that to some extent, although it seems to differ depending on the context. In terms of the unexplainable in science or religion- you'd get some weird looks bantering that term around there. "Magic" seems to apply completely in the realm of fantasy now, but even there some authors put some science behind it in an attempt to understand it and work in the story.RNDG33K wrote:
On another note, this story does bring up the issue of magic. What counts as "magic?" Is magic just anything that you can't explain?
I would probably say that the term "magic" depends on the observer and point of view, and is pretty much anything that can't be explained or isn't understood. i.e. Norm's incredible voice talent is, to me, an amazing magical ability that can turn anything into a cool audio episode.
I'm watching the second season of the HBO show "Carnivale" and there's alot of that type of thing. I'm digging it, although I think they should have hired Kevin Anderson as a writer for it.

"Give us all some Jelly"
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I somehow missed this one when it played. I think I probably started it, then had to pause to answer the phone or something a few seconds in, then forgot about it, and it was marked as played on my podcatcher.
Always lots of love for a Saki piece, and the opening lines exactly sum up my general nonplussedness (is that a word anymore?) with most practitioners and devotees of the supernatural (that including the ones who dribbled magic water on me as a baby and made me practice ritualized cannibalism-in-effigy when I was si)...
Always lots of love for a Saki piece, and the opening lines exactly sum up my general nonplussedness (is that a word anymore?) with most practitioners and devotees of the supernatural (that including the ones who dribbled magic water on me as a baby and made me practice ritualized cannibalism-in-effigy when I was si)...
- Mr. Tweedy
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What is magic? What is supernatural?
It seems to me that those terms are almost completely arbitrary and dependent on context. I do things every waking hour that someone 1000 years ago would have viewed as magic. I touch this here keyboard and stuff appears on your screen a thousand miles away. What a mighty wizard I am! We can fly! There are several countries that can cause fire to rain from the heavens to smite the cities of enemies anytime they want to.
Fast forward to Star Trek. They can be just about anywhere in the universe just by speaking a command. Hot Earl Gray tea? Say it. Inconvenient stars? Blow them up.
And then the Star Trek people run into Q....
"Magic" and "supernatural" are terms that can be convenient at times, but I don't think they really have any objective meaning. Magic explained is science and science practiced produces magic. The supernatural turns out to have a natural explanation and the natural explanations turn out to have supernatural implications. It's all a matter of perspective and how one chooses to label things.
For my own stories (which as of now exist almost entirely in my head), there is lots of "magic," but the people using it understand how and why it works, so to them it's all quite natural and scientific.
It seems to me that those terms are almost completely arbitrary and dependent on context. I do things every waking hour that someone 1000 years ago would have viewed as magic. I touch this here keyboard and stuff appears on your screen a thousand miles away. What a mighty wizard I am! We can fly! There are several countries that can cause fire to rain from the heavens to smite the cities of enemies anytime they want to.
Fast forward to Star Trek. They can be just about anywhere in the universe just by speaking a command. Hot Earl Gray tea? Say it. Inconvenient stars? Blow them up.
And then the Star Trek people run into Q....
"Magic" and "supernatural" are terms that can be convenient at times, but I don't think they really have any objective meaning. Magic explained is science and science practiced produces magic. The supernatural turns out to have a natural explanation and the natural explanations turn out to have supernatural implications. It's all a matter of perspective and how one chooses to label things.
For my own stories (which as of now exist almost entirely in my head), there is lots of "magic," but the people using it understand how and why it works, so to them it's all quite natural and scientific.
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- Chivalrybean
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Re: Drabblecast 046 - The She-Wolf
Cute story. Kinda prefer to see people being rewarded for believing in the absurd, though. The voice acting was great, ya'll are crazy who disagree.