Drabblecast 182 - Trifecta XIV

YouTube · Post by **Kevin Anderson** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 9:51 pm

Evil Robot Monkey
by Mary Robinette Kowal

Character Flu
by Robert Reed

Toaster of the Gods
by Randall Coots

Art by Jan Dennison
Music by Norm Sherman, Bernard Pagnotti, Sara Ayers, Gringo Motel, Brian Taylor

jannypie · Post by **jannypie** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 2:12 am

There was a cover for each of the stories, only two showed up in my browser when I listened to this episode (the toaster didn't show, flaky toaster). Might just be me though, I bumble through life. But all three authors had one for their story, I promises.

The intro this time was a thought provoking change of pace - it reminded me of old style Steve Eley intros on Escape Pod. It's something that I love most about these 'zines, in that it isn't just stories, but includes editorial bits that tie into what follows in the episode, and makes ya think. This week's was very intelligent and insightful.

Cmar's reading of Character Flu was my favorite part I think, I love the way he brought it to life.

themorg · Post by **themorg** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 7:38 am

great stories really liked them a lot.

Did anyone else have a little to loud of background music or was it just my headphones?

PS i love that everyone has nipples.

munsi · Post by **munsi** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 3:19 pm

one of my favorite episodes. Character Flu was especially chilling, and i always love monkeys. always. no exceptions...

Muse of Chaos · Post by **Muse of Chaos** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 3:31 pm

Fantastic reading as always by John "Smidgen the Snack Cake" Cmar on Character Flu, but my favorite story of the three was Toaster of the Gods. Mostly because, in his shoes, I would have done the same thing. It's a small price to pay for perfect toast indeed.

And Norm, I'm right there with you. They're adult triceratops, dangit.

Lucid · Post by **Lucid** » Fri Oct 01, 2010 7:03 pm

Muse of Chaos wrote: It's a small price to pay for perfect toast indeed.

I do this already and without even the added incentive of perfect toast.

Goldenrat · Post by **Goldenrat** » Sun Oct 03, 2010 3:30 pm

A solid outing this week. I probably liked Charachter Flu the best. Toaster of the Gods got me hungry for toast but now I see that I have no bread. Argh! I had heard Evil Robot Monkey somehwere before. How cool was it to switch over to Escape Pod after Drabblecast to hear more wacky Norm?! Awesome!

Mikes · Post by **Mikes** » Sun Oct 03, 2010 11:50 pm

Nice, solid episode.

The stories were diverse enough and I liked each one, but the stand out to me was Toaster of the Gods by a country mile. Possibly because all I could think of throughout was Talky Toaster from Red Dwarf:

Toaster: Howdy doodly do. How's it going? I'm Talkie, Talkie Toaster, your chirpy breakfast companion. Talkie's the name, toasting's the game. Anyone like any toast?

Lister: Look, I don't want any toast, and he doesn't want any toast. In fact, no one around here wants any toast. Not now, not ever. No toast.

Toaster: How 'bout a muffin?

Lister: Or muffins. Or muffins. We don't like muffins around here. We want no muffins, no toast, no teacakes, no buns, baps, baguettes or bagels, no croissants, no crumpets, no pancakes, no potato cakes and no hot-cross buns and definitely no smegging flapjacks.

Toaster: Aah, so you're a waffle man.

Talia · Post by **Talia** » Mon Oct 04, 2010 12:19 am

I enjoyed all three stories. As for a favorite, its a close call between Toaster and Character Flu. They are both wonderful for radically different reasons. I dig the whimsical sillyness of the Toaster story (and great reading by Big & Rish), but I liked the rather sinister note to 'Flu.' Plus the "oh ..crap" kinda ending. Mind bendy.

(made me think of the recent Tim Pratt EP story 'Unexpected Outcomes.') And as always a great reading by Mr. "Smidgen" Cmar.

Goldenrat wrote:A solid outing this week. I probably liked Charachter Flu the best. Toaster of the Gods got me hungry for toast but now I see that I have no bread. Argh! I had heard Evil Robot Monkey somehwere before. How cool was it to switch over to Escape Pod after Drabblecast to hear more wacky Norm?! Awesome!

You have probably heard Evil Robot Monkey on Escape Pod - it was among the Hugo nominees last year and EP runs the hugo nominees every year.

tbaker2500 · Post by **tbaker2500** » Tue Oct 05, 2010 5:00 pm

FANTASTIC EPISODE.

stGurgel · Post by **stGurgel** » Wed Oct 06, 2010 3:07 pm

Best trifecta yet, and that's really saying something. Kickass show!

/Peter

tamarbucks · Post by **tamarbucks** » Thu Oct 07, 2010 7:45 pm

I thought Evil Robot Monkeys was the weaker of the 3 choices for this most excellent Trifecta. Who needs the Hugo committee anyway, when you have the Drabblecast picks.

I really tried to feel sympathy for the monkey; a little tear jerking backstory on how it got the bad attitude might have helped me out of my personal anti-monkey bias. I'm still angry, years later, at the monkeys from our Mexico vacation who stole my cell phone and threw fruit at us all through lunch. I guess that's how Evil Robot Monkeys get to be so misunderstood.

Must dash off now to praise the teapot.

Phenopath · Post by **Phenopath** » Thu Oct 07, 2010 10:29 pm

Ugh, the only reason that I post to the dribblecast is because I am confident that nobody is listening

I liked the Evil Robot Monkey story best of all. Would you rather be a smart monkey in a cage, or a stupid monkey in a cage?

tbaker2500 · Post by **tbaker2500** » Thu Oct 07, 2010 10:33 pm

Phenopath wrote:Ugh, the only reason that I post to the dribblecast is because I am confident that nobody is listening

Hey. you'll be having all the girls swooning over your British accent.

tamarbucks · Post by **tamarbucks** » Fri Oct 08, 2010 12:44 am

Phenopath wrote:I liked the Evil Robot Monkey story best of all. Would you rather be a smart monkey in a cage, or a stupid monkey in a cage?

Thanks for the reply. I get it now. That does help me get the point.

Smart monkey. Thinking it may increase my odds of survival. Either way, its a crappy choice.

Oh dear, must dash off again. Its time to prostrate before the stove.

Mikes · Post by **Mikes** » Fri Oct 08, 2010 12:46 am

tamarbucks wrote:Its time to prostate before the stove.

Now there's a mental image.

alhilton · Post by **alhilton** » Fri Oct 08, 2010 2:12 am

Favorite was "Toaster of the Gods" - full of LOL.

Great job, Dunesteef!

Unblinking · Post by **Unblinking** » Fri Oct 22, 2010 5:42 pm

Character Flu was my favorite of the bunch, a very interesting take on odd mind virus, and though I suspected the the character might be one of the artificial, I still enjoyed the journey. Makes me wonder if I'm just a mote of simulated consciousness in Norm's brain.

Toaster of the Gods was great fun. I love some fun philosophy in my stories, especially when it has to do with deities. No complaints.

Evil Robot Monkey... well, it was an all right story, but its title wrote a check that the story couldn't cash. Call me old fashioned, but when I hear the title "Evil Robot Monkey" I want to see an evil robot monkey. I was extremely disappointed when there was no evil, no robot, and no monkey. Do you happen to have any stories with actual evil robot monkeys in your slushpile? Cuz now I want to hear one of those!

Travelin Corpse Feet · Post by **Travelin Corpse Feet** » Mon Nov 08, 2010 9:45 pm

The first two were kind of "eh," but "Toaster of The Gods" made my day even though I'm not sure if the Ren-and-Stimpy-esque background music was too much of a good thing, or just enough. "Toaster" is the kind of story I begin to write and then end up stopping for fear that an angry fiction editor will flip out and run my knuckles over a cheese grater.

Unblinking · Post by **Unblinking** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:05 pm

Travelin Corpse Feet wrote:The first two were kind of "eh," but "Toaster of The Gods" made my day even though I'm not sure if the Ren-and-Stimpy-esque background music was too much of a good thing, or just enough. "Toaster" is the kind of story I begin to write and then end up stopping for fear that an angry fiction editor will flip out and run my knuckles over a cheese grater.

Well, at least a cheese-grater is a very personal and strong reaction. If you got under the editor's skin that much, it's a good sign. Way better than a badly written form letter like "We regret to have to inform you that we will be declining acceptance of your story at this time." Ones like this tend to bug me (and I have gotten ones like this)--if you're going to send the same sentence to hundreds of people a month, why not take 2 minutes and make it a meaningful sentence:
--Note that they do NOT regret rejecting me, they regret the necessity of informing me of the rejection.
--Why "declining acceptance" when you could just say "rejecting"
--Why "at this time"? I'd be happy to re-submit the story at the correct time

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