Drabblecast 298 – Flying On My Hatred of My Neighbor’s Dog

[Algernon Sydney is Dead]

Feature: Flying On Hatred of My Neighbor's Dog by Shaenon Garrity
Drabble: Crisis of Competence by Travelin' Corpse Feet
Genres: Comedy Sci-Fi



Thursday, October 3rd, 2013
I know my neighbor’s dog as a bark: a deep, dark, venomous yawp that begins and ends on a snarl. It’s loud, louder than it should be. Earplugs do nothing. It penetrates. Once it starts, it continues, relentlessly, for a period ranging from one to four hours. It can start at any time, day or night, dropping from the veils of morning to where the cricket sings.

Episode Art: Richard K. Green
Read by: Nathan Lee

Twabble: “ The demon was fed up with an eternity of unpaid torturing. Calling a strike, he shambled off to see if he could raise hell. ” by Cymraeg

[kentblue82]

I really liked this story. Not more than a few minutes in, I was wishing I had thought of the concept of fueling the world on the power of hate. I really loved the ending and was glad the narrator was still able to go on the journey. The reading was spot on, as well. Great episode.

[Varda]

Sheesh. This was so damn funny. This was the funniest podcast I've heard since "Punk Voyager" on Escape Pod (which was also narrated by Nathan Lee if my brain serves me right...) and had me making weird laughter-suppressing faces on public transit. I listened to it 3 (!!!) times today.

For some reason, it just kept making me think of internet trolls, how in many ways hate drives the 'net. Who doesn't secretly love coming together for a good communal hate-on for whatever things we deem insufferable? And who isn't fascinated by those people who go very far out of their way to make sure everyone knows they hate something? I kept imagining the protagonist of this story as something like that Reddit guy that Gawker unmasked a while back.

Anyway, I'm with Kentblue. I wish I'd written this story, and that's the highest compliment I can offer. Awesome through and through, narration and all. And Norm, I'm dying to know: are your new Obamacare robot arms going to replace your old arms, or are you just gonna install them under your organic set and be all Octo-Norm now?

[Flintknapper]

I agree with Varda. I was actually laughing all the way to work listening to this. The concept is just so screwed up I am surprised I had not heard a story like this before. Moral is great too. Hate breeds hate.

Great story. It does conjure up Punk Rock Voyage. Nathan's narration was a good fit for this one. However, I have always maintained that Nathan and Norm have the best voices for the delivery of humor.

[chemistryguy]

Loved it. Filled with moments that made me laugh, but also with moments that gave me pause.


"They thought I'd be more angry. Some people don't understand hating at all"...or something like that.


I don't think too many people do understand hate. I believe it to be immensely powerful, but only because love has to figure into it. I don't think it's possible to truly hate unless you have loved first.

[Algernon Sydney is Dead]

Great episode and interesting story -- kind of harkens back to some of Mark Twain's darker work.
And yes,"Cats are bastards".

Nathan was perfect for this story too; I can totally believe he was an epic hater, his voice and tone match, perfectly, to some folks (coincidentally enough, around UC Davis (and most UC campuses)) with endless supplies of rage and zero tolerance for the majority outside their dogma.

One part that rang false was the nature/identity of the dog owner. In this part of the country (which is also where the story was set), there are a lot of problem animals (owners). Here, they all fall into one of two groups -- neither one of them white or redneck. But, hey, it's safe to make a hateful character white, so I can understand the author's choice.

Anyway, great story and great story type. I love fiction that takes an idea (even a variation of magical thinking) and runs with it in a playful way. The turnabout at the end transcended "cliché" into "classic".

[tbaker2500]

Wheee! What a great episode! I had forgotten about that dribblecast, so it was a new listen to me. The main story was masterful. And Nathan did a bang-on job narrating. This is a great one to share around.

[Beth Peters]

So yah, this was one of the best episodes of the year. This is the kind of thing I point people to when I say "Drabblecast".

[Praxis]

I loved this one. Such a simple 'what if' idea, and it completely wrong-foots the reader/listener as we go further in to the world of 'hate is good' 'really expert haters are people to be respected/envious of'
And all down to a barking dog.

If James Thurber wrote for the Drabblecast, he'd write a story like this.

[Zerth]

I very rarely post on the Forum (but appreciate all you heavy posters), but I simply had to share my love for this story. I was amused. The carefree, happy-go-lucky reading was also spot on. Joy upon joy.

Zerth
aka
Beardmites

(why do I use two psudonames?)

[Spindaddy]

Great story! I really enjoyed this one, especially the twist at the end.

I think what really got me was 3 years ago I had a neighbor that had two pitbulls and every weekend he'd disappear and show up late sunday night. The dogs would bark at every car door that slammed and there were quite a few times where I had wanted to wait for the guy and introduce him to a friend of mine named Billy Clubb. Thankfully he left just as I had reached the breaking point.