The Drabblecast

Amongst the glass forest of Hong Kong's towers they pass, a brown bolt and a red blaze reflected on all sides. Then Dasher banks hard and down, throwing a microburst an Jin-Yo, who drafts him downwards, over a stadium, over a roar and a thousand cameras flashing. Dasher grins, "There's a good shot for their media. Let them stick that in their skepticism and take a big drag."

Jonathan C. Gillespie

Wow!

If this episode were a rock concert, I would be jumping up and down screaming hysterically while Mrs. Tweedy pulled on my arm, hissing "Stop! People are staring at us!" I would be pumping my fist in the air, and there would be fat drops of sweat flying off of me with every pump. I'd be so psyched that I wouldn't even care that sweat from all of the other center-goers is flying onto my face when they pump their fists.

In other words, it was so good it made me smell bad. Many Drabblecast episodes involved smells, but this may be the first one that actually changes the smell of the room it is played in.

Seriously, though, that was just brilliant. The story by Gillespie was brilliant, the production of said story was brilliant, and the intro song was so brilliant that my mind's eye had to wear shades until it was done. Hard core!

Amen to the nth power.

The story was about as strange as a Christmas story can get, almost Dickensian. It should be animated and become part of the annual American tv ritual along with Charlie Brown Christmas and Wonderful Life.

The song should be brought up before a senate subcomittee. 40,000 elves laid off last year because they refused to accept wage and benefit packages competitive with pixies.

I hate to say it, but Norm's production of that great story actually brought a tear to my eyes.

1) "The Government Saves Christmas" is possibly the best Christmas song I've heard this year (if not ever), beating out "What do you get a Wookie for Christmas (if he already owns a comb?)".

2) The story was absolutely fantastic, and I'm pretty sure that I can't accurately describe how I feel about it right now.

I have to say, I had trouble getting into the main story (though the opening skit was brilliant beyond words), and felt like the story tried to arouse too much pity in the listener - it'd still be a lovely story about the meaning of Christmas without utilizing the Littlest Cancer Patient. Maybe I'm just feeling this way because it's December 29, and the Christmas glow has kind of worn off.

(Really though, I was kind of waiting for something to explode.)

This is a little lame, but I wanted to share the song, and the file's too big to attach and send, so I made it into a video and posted it on YouTube.
Now I (and you?) can send it to friends and entice them to subscribe to The Drabblecast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TYcqqSUTtE

I emailed Rush Limbaugh and told him about your song. I'm 99% sure nothing will come of that, but I had to give it a shot. It was every bit as good as one of his parodies. (Better, really, because it was original and not a remake of something that was already famous.)

elliequantifier wrote:I have to say, I had trouble getting into the main story (though the opening skit was brilliant beyond words), and felt like the story tried to arouse too much pity in the listener - it'd still be a lovely story about the meaning of Christmas without utilizing the Littlest Cancer Patient. Maybe I'm just feeling this way because it's December 29, and the Christmas glow has kind of worn off.

(Really though, I was kind of waiting for something to explode.)

Emotionally yanking stories like this are either hot or cold- They catch you in the right mood or they don't. At another time I could have been pissed at the story for trying to manipulate my emotions. But it worked this time for me.

That was amazing! The song at the beginning was hilarious and completely true. The actual story was good but almost brought a tear to my eye. "The government bought out santa clause." Pretty awesome.

Really? Why all the love? The song was repetitive, generic and try-hard, whilst the story was a clichéd piece of fluff that would be at home in the honey-coating room at the sugar factory.

Nah, I'm just yankin' the collective chain. Everybody's already said how awesome this episode was and left me with nothing. And as my mother always told me, if you can't say anything nice, just say something nasty.

cammoblammo wrote:Nah, I'm just yankin' the collective chain. Everybody's already said how awesome this episode was and left me with nothing. And as my mother always told me, if you can't say anything nice, just say something nasty.

I'm guessing she is a typical Australian woman?

Thanks for the compliments- (and for actually shooting the song over to Rush L. Tweedy!). The fact that I really liked this story helped get me through a series of technical issues which led to the delay of the episode. It was like a carrot on a stick. Glad it was well recieved.

best podcast of the season before the story even started, a story which probably would have done it alone.

OK, not one of my faves. I guess I was in the post-Christmas burnout mode when I started it up. Loved the song, though. It won't be long before Christmas will be sponsored by Sony or Toyota.

Really enjoyed the opening song. Sure would make interesting C-SPAN watching Santa lay out his business plan to congress. Then I'm sure the Easter Bunny would hop on up the hill looking for his bailout.

YoHo! Wonderful X-mas episode! It brought me straight back to memories of X-mas last year. Boy, it seems like that was only days ago...

Norm, you keep rockin', year after year. Keep 'em coming!

What a great post-Christmas treat! That song, Norm. It had me grinning on my way back to work. And the story really surprised me.

Well done, Mssrs. Sherman and Gillespie. Very well done.

This has been the only short story I have ever listened to that has actually made me cry. Actually, it was one of the only stories ever to make me cry. Thank you, it was beautiful, even in November.