20 Comments
User's avatar
Patris's avatar

Outstanding - wait - not enough - Great sci-fi piece. You’re twilight zoning with this J. Serious Rod Serling level.

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Jimmy Doom's avatar

Thanks. It was fun to change it up.

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Patris's avatar

Was just listening to Graceland and Boy in the Bubble played - thought of the story and snapped my fingers- that!

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Jimmy Doom's avatar

Paul Simon conjured me or I conjured Paul Simon? 😎

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Patris's avatar

It struck me - and this is true, I was thinking about the story when I heard the song. Both philosophically accepting what is.

(Am a fatalist at heart.)

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Clark E's avatar

hell yeah

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Jimmy Doom's avatar

I'm thrilled you like it.

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Patrick K.'s avatar

"It's the little things that matter..."

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Jimmy Doom's avatar

I have a joke... 🤡

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Karlyn's avatar

I always read in color-the scenes, the characters’ details, the thematic landscapes. Your short stories too. Always. So I’m reading “the Finest” (love the origin of the title) and it’s all color until I get to the sentence with the gerbil cage. All of a sudden, all black, white and grey. Like I just turned an episode of the Twilight Zone. So cool! The history story could really be turned into a short film/tv piece. And I got some really cool Vonugut vibes coursing thru me too. And Bradbury, of course. I could go on and on but instead I’m gonna go read The Finest one more time.

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Jimmy Doom's avatar

I'd love to option some of these for film

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Joe's avatar

This one was so unique in its story-line, I could envision a mini-series all the way to the agonizing discovery.

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Joe's avatar

What a great story!

Totally out of the realm of anything I've ever read.

The exploration of how people react in the face of overwhelming failure is a question which will always be explored by meatheads and movie directors.

This was quite a complicated story, but it was well worth the effort to discover the ending - which could be also a beginning.

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Jimmy Doom's avatar

It really could be a beginning. So much that I could do if my finances would buy me some time

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bd miller's avatar

Very Vonnegutty. Love it.

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Jimmy Doom's avatar

Thanks. Felt more Bradbury to me, but I'll take Kurt any day

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bd miller's avatar

I've read a lot of Vonnegut and not much Bradbury so I'm much more familiar with Kurt. I did get to talk to Bradbury on the phone. The Chicago Reader wanted me to photograph him. He said "Nobody wants to see a picture of this old man". He was wrong of course. I wish I could have convinced him.

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Jimmy Doom's avatar

Damn, that would have been really kick ass

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Luc's avatar

Great story, not every endeavor is going to succeed and usually we only hear of the great successes, except when a grand inquiry comes along to explain a dramatic failure. Short and to the point. Thank you.

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Jimmy Doom's avatar

Thanks. I try to keep 'em moving. I like fast paced stuff so I generally write fast paced stuff.

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