Comments on Landless: #FridayFlash: All That Glistens Is Not Garbage

Thanks for all the comments, guys! I'm glad yo...

2012-01-17T11:24:07.519-05:00

Thanks for all the comments, guys! I'm glad you all liked it, and think it could be built into something more. Maybe someday....

The way you use descriptions is inspirational - I ...

2012-01-16T07:51:44.901-05:00

The way you use descriptions is inspirational - I particulalrly liked the paprargraph "The foamy surface undulated, refracting both the blue-white light and the reddish light into a lavender iridescence..."
Awesome!
I agree this could be expanded but keeping it compact like it is for a flash works just as well - nice work

I'm sure MacGuyver would be proud. Sounds like...

2012-01-15T15:27:58.826-05:00

I'm sure MacGuyver would be proud. Sounds like he needs the A-Team though.

Brilliant descriptions, as always.

It sounds like the makings of a mad genius to me--...

2012-01-15T14:06:06.306-05:00

It sounds like the makings of a mad genius to me--he escapes, returns under alias and proceeds to pick apart the terrorist regime.

Intriguing bit of flash. Science to the rescue!

2012-01-14T17:26:50.565-05:00

Intriguing bit of flash. Science to the rescue!

Very well written. Oddly enough, in reading it it ...

2012-01-14T10:25:29.758-05:00

Very well written. Oddly enough, in reading it it felt like I was about to begin an intriguing RPG. I agree with the others, this one needs more!

This one reads like the opening to something much ...

2012-01-13T17:08:49.687-05:00

This one reads like the opening to something much bigger; it made me curious about everything...where is the protagonist, how did he get there, what's gonna happen next? Definitely has a great hook to it.

Cathy: Did anyone else find this funny? I c...

2012-01-13T14:01:41.198-05:00

Cathy: Did anyone else find this funny? I certainly hope so!

Tom Gillespie: I agree with Larry, so many of your stories are full-blown novels in disguise.. always a joy to read your robust, muscular and highly articulate stories Tony! I blush, sir! I blush!

John Wiswell: If any other vehicles had been sucked into this alternate dimension along with him and the garbage truck, he'd be all over them. In fact, I originally had a limousine dropped onto this sand dune along with the truck, but it got too cumbersome to keep everything straight.

KjM: Thanks, Kevin! The skipping stones was something I liked, too. That, and the desire to see some kind of plant life to break up the monotony of the surroundings.

I love dogged determination and that's the def...

2012-01-13T13:38:23.045-05:00

I love dogged determination and that's the defining characteristic of your character - until he gets the opportunity to allow the revenge side loose, that is.

I must agree, "...a fully equipped hyperspace tool shed..." would have been so much more convenient. But wouldn't have allowed for this inventive tale.

There's poignancy in "He wished he could skip some stones." - a very nice touch, Tony.

Is he going to wander around the parking lot jacki...

2012-01-13T11:24:23.804-05:00

Is he going to wander around the parking lot jacking one gram of aluminum at a time? I guess it would be fair in the pursuit of monolithic vengeance.

I agree with Larry, so many of your stories are fu...

2012-01-13T10:32:27.502-05:00

I agree with Larry, so many of your stories are full-blown novels in disguise.. always a joy to read your robust, muscular and highly articulate stories Tony!

Did anyone else find this funny? Tony, your story ...

2012-01-13T08:48:51.879-05:00

Did anyone else find this funny? Tony, your story put a big smile on my face! I could just see your mind working through the ream of made-up science fiction gobbledy-gook ... I mean, it was like Star Wars met Star Trek met Planet of the Apes, only engrossing! Hugely entertaining and I'm not a sci-fi kind of gal.
Glow-pugs- what happens when the family pet gets into radioactive garbage.

Superb writing! You rendered all the little techni...

2012-01-13T08:45:48.584-05:00

Superb writing! You rendered all the little technical facts prosaically beautiful--that is a difficult thing to pull off.

Carrie: I'm glad you liked the descriptions. I...

2012-01-13T08:39:59.640-05:00

Carrie: I'm glad you liked the descriptions. I guess I wanted to make this about his plight and what he was doing to escape, deliberately glossing over the backstory of how he got there. Maybe I'll compromise and add in another 300 words. (Typo correct, btw - thanks!)

WA_side: Gasoline engines need a spark to ignite the gas/air mixture. Diesel engines ignite the diesel/air mixture solely by compression, so they don't need a spark. However, the ignition is facilitated by some heat, hence the glowplugs. These are basically just pieces of hot wire, like in a toaster.

Even in a world with dimension-fracturing technowizardry, garbage trucks still run on diesel.

Sonia: Yeah, the flies ended up being so disgusting that they were distracting from the main thrust of it. That's why I cut them. However, I was aware of the logistical difficulty of "what did he eat?"

Helen: Thanks, Helen! Don't worry... I didn't understand half this science gobbledygook either!

Jack Holt: I'm glad you liked it, Jack! I watched "Primer" and got confused about 2/3 of the way through it. The filmmaker said he wanted to parallel the confusion the characters must have felt while dealing with time travel. I would counter that you can show someone being confused without deliberately trying to lose the audience.

Brilliant. As much as I enjoyed it, that sound y...

2012-01-13T06:51:12.114-05:00

Brilliant.

As much as I enjoyed it, that sound you hear is much of the scientific description going over my head!

But then, I loved "Primer", despite not understanding much of what they were talking about!

Also, I hope he doesn't need a "number 2"...

One man's garbage is another man's treasur...

2012-01-12T21:08:29.430-05:00

One man's garbage is another man's treasure! A good story, I hope he get's it to work!

Nice descriptive writing, even if I didn't understand all the tech stuff - I still understood ^__^ Cool Sic Fi

What an ingenious of garbage! LOL And flies really...

2012-01-12T19:07:38.537-05:00

What an ingenious of garbage! LOL And flies really don't sound all that appetizing.

Love that determination in the face of near-imposs...

2012-01-12T19:07:23.752-05:00

Love that determination in the face of near-impossible odds.

Don't take away the glow pugs though! Where exactly do they fit on the engine? ;P

Love that determination in the face of near-imposs...

2012-01-12T19:07:01.855-05:00

Love that determination in the face of near-impossible odds.

Don't take away the glow pugs though! Where exactly do they fit on the engine? ;P

I'm going to agree with your anonymous tipper....

2012-01-12T18:38:46.495-05:00

I'm going to agree with your anonymous tipper. This intrigued me, but I understand the plight of flash, so much cramming. Check glow pugs in your manuscript there.

And I still love your powers of description.

FAR: I actually had a whole section where he used ...

2012-01-12T18:33:45.750-05:00

FAR: I actually had a whole section where he used glass bottles to trap the biting flies that swarm every night. They are his only source of food. Dried flies and water from a crude atmospheric condenser... yum, yum.

Interestingly, someone else just told me that this story would have benefited from another thousand words to flesh it out.

Beautiful. I wonder what he's been eating all ...

2012-01-12T17:32:47.002-05:00

Beautiful. I wonder what he's been eating all this time. Garbage? YUCK!!!!

This is one of those stories that could easily be expanded.