Classics 10 (EP 68) - The Wiggly People

strawman · Post by **strawman** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 12:51 am

Update (Monday, October 13th, 2014): Drabbleclassics 10 - The Wiggly People
Feature: The Wiggly People by Eugie Foster
Drabble: Time Flies by Ian Mackereth
Genres: Drabbleclassics Drama Horror
Original Episode: 68
Warning: Violence

Wednesday, June 11th, 2008
Uncle Karl shouts when he’s mad, and sometimes he smacks Mama. That always makes the sharp things hurt me and the wiggly people come out...

Music by: Seraphic Panoply
Episode Art: Bo Kaier
Originally published in Thou Shalt Not, 2006.

No twabble for this episode.

Mr. Tweedy · Post by **Mr. Tweedy** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 2:19 am

Eh? I haven't gotten this story yet, on iTunes or via drabblecast.org.

strawman · Post by **strawman** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 3:39 am

This story strongly reminded me of Drabblecast 26, Patricia Russo's CRAZY. Eugie has some beautiful word pictures (disappearing like smoke from the candles on a birthday cake; the pills wrapping the sharp things in cushions). That poetic contrast with the horrible reality gives the story a kind of shared subjective schizoid experience that makes me wonder about Eugie's own mental health, on the basis that it takes one to know one that well. Her other persona would be the beautiful Tiger Fortune Princess. Or maybe these just represent the good and evil angels sitting on her shoulders.

The drabble left me wondering if a 100 word joke qualifies. If so, I'll write one that ends: People who live in grass houses shouldn't stow thrones.

Norm, I can't wait to hear your Aussie accent. Will you sound like Crocadile Dundee, or Angelo Dundee?

bolddeceiver · Post by **bolddeceiver** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 5:13 am

OK, I've expressed my feelings about Foster both here and on the EP forums, but I have to say: When she's not writing in that folktaley style that has always felt so false to me, she's really good. Creepy good, but good.

Drabble was AWESOME, too, at least to a sick, sick pun fetishist like me (btw, why did the astronomer fill his shampoo bottle with gravy? If you think you know, or want to, send me a PM).

tastycakes · Post by **tastycakes** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 7:45 am

This story was deliciously disturbing. Too bad every street whore doesn't have a mentally handicapped son/daughter to rough up, or eat, their pimps.

The one thing that would have made this story better, in my opinion, is a little more description about how the kid saw the Wiggly People. We got a little bit right before the attack, but they are such a good concept, I guess it left me wanting to know a little bit more about them. Though, perhaps that's just in case I ever encounter one.

Post by **normsherman** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 3:11 pm

Mr. Tweedy wrote:Eh? I haven't gotten this story yet, on iTunes or via drabblecast.org.

Got it now?
I was wondering if there were any kinks upgrading to new iWeb, everything seemed to be fine.

Mr. Tweedy · Post by **Mr. Tweedy** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 3:14 pm

It's on the site now, but I'm still not getting it on iTunes. Guess I'll download it manually from the site.

Post by **normsherman** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 3:23 pm

Strange. It turned up on my itunes on the home comp but not on the laptop. When I re-subscribed it worked though. UGH.

YouTube · Post by **Kevin Anderson** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 3:33 pm

Mr. Tweedy wrote:Eh? I haven't gotten this story yet, on iTunes or via drabblecast.org.

I don't know if you got your problem solved but I still can't download this MP3, either from the warehouse or the homepage.

But I read this story a year or so ago and it still stands out in my mind as one of Mrs Foster's best. Can't wait to hear Norm's interpretation.

Mr. Tweedy · Post by **Mr. Tweedy** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 3:44 pm

I couldn't download it off the site either, but I listened to it there.

I've got to say I love the choice of "album art" for this week. Raw eggs. Yum.

I liked that story a lot. Vivid emotions, great masking of the violence by describing it from a childish perspective, making it seem eerie rather than just gross. I do wish I knew more about the wiggly people, though. Do they posses the narrator or are the separate beings? Are they real or is he just nuts? That information would have the story better, I think.

Either way, it's hard to go wrong with a story where a pimp gets his face eaten. The story did a great job building up our sympathy for the boy and his mom so that we all wanted the evil "uncle" to suffer gruesome justice. Having that justice delivered by a supernatural agent made the justice angle even more satisfying. The kid's almost a superhero...

strawman · Post by **strawman** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 6:41 pm

My take is that Ms. Foster has eaten some schizophrenic brain products, and is describing the actual sensations Donny experiences, sort of like how Tim Leary did with LSD.

For some reason, leads me to wonder if zombies can get mad cow disease. And how could you tell? Maybe mad cow disease is simply a case of zombie cows.

Man, I gotta lay off that stuff.

Post by **normsherman** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:40 am

strawman wrote:This story strongly reminded me of Drabblecast 26, Patricia Russo's CRAZY.

Strange- I thought it had a very Marblesy vibe.

tastycakes · Post by **tastycakes** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 6:46 am

strawman wrote:My take is that Ms. Foster has eaten some schizophrenic brain products, and is describing the actual sensations Donny experiences, sort of like how Tim Leary did with LSD.

Or Hendrix, Miles with Smack, Kerouac with bourbon, etc...

Woah, if that is the case, Eugie has some serious dedication...or issues? I guess history always decides that.

cammoblammo · Post by **cammoblammo** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 8:15 am

Just for the record, the feed still hasn't shown up yet. I subscribed to the MP3 feed, though, and it seems to be fine.

I got the track from the main page, though, and it seems to cut off part way through the feedback. It's also about 2MB smaller than the track I've got coming down the tubes now. (Update: it's here now and it's about 1:52 shorter.)

Anyway, to the story. It was a bit surreal listening to this, because my wife was sitting in my car with me, suffering a rather large migraine. I've had a bad cold this week too, and it hit me with a headache today. Needless to say, I was sure wiggly people were going to come and do something nasty. I'm just glad my pimping days are over.

There's nothing not to like about this story. It wasn't the best we've had, but the imagery leaves plenty of room for forum memes to survive.

I liked the drabble (not great, but certainly good), although I did miss Norm's reading. I'd like to hear Norm do a good Australian accent too. On the other hand, I'd also like to hear him take off Steve Irwin.

Hmm. Maybe an Aussie drabble-fan could do an impression of Norm Sherman reading a drabble. Or maybe not.

strawman · Post by **strawman** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 9:22 am

normsherman wrote:
strawman wrote:This story strongly reminded me of Drabblecast 26, Patricia Russo's CRAZY.
Strange- I thought it had a very Marblesy vibe.

That was my first reaction too, but then I thought further back and remembered the internal dialogue similarities as opposed to Marbles' narrated POV, plus the strangeness and ethereality of the images. So I decided Marbles, no, Crazy, yes. Or Marbles, yes, Crazy, yesser.

Maybe we should ask some of our own crazy people, and start another poll?

ian_mackereth · Post by **ian_mackereth** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 1:08 pm

I cringe at the very thought of Norm's Aussie accent, since he even pronounces "Aussie" wrong!

(For the record, it's pronounced "Ozzie" with zeds (not zees!))

strawman · Post by **strawman** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 2:43 pm

ian_mackereth wrote:I cringe at the very thought of Norm's Aussie accent, since he even pronounces "Aussie" wrong!
(For the record, it's pronounced "Ozzie" with zeds (not zees!))

Ian, why not take me a step further and explain the difference between a zed and zee.

Are we talking Aussie and Harriet?

cammoblammo · Post by **cammoblammo** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 12:12 am

strawman wrote:
ian_mackereth wrote:I cringe at the very thought of Norm's Aussie accent, since he even pronounces "Aussie" wrong!
(For the record, it's pronounced "Ozzie" with zeds (not zees!))
Ian, why not take me a step further and explain the difference between a zed and zee.

Are we talking Aussie and Harriet?

No, we're talking the difference between a 'z' and a 'z'. The 'z' is pronounced with an American accent, whilst 'z' is pronounced with an Australian. If you want to mix the two, go to Canada. I hear they pronounce 'z' with an American accent whilst still saying it correctly.

strawman · Post by **strawman** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 2:50 am

Post by **normsherman** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 6:46 am

I know as much about Aussie accents as I do about rss feeds it seems. If your having problems getting this weeks episode on the feed it means you have to re-subscribe. Sorry!