Tall Tales & Shaggy Dogs: Stories and short humor by Abner Serd
246 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 7 years ago - ★★★★ - 6 ratingsStoryteller Abner Serd specializes in short humor with a twist. His stories often pull the listener out of the normal sphere of reality and into a surrealistic landscape populated with eccentric characters who nonchalantly redefine common sense. Think of these stories as comic strips for the ears: short, weekly doses of whimsy. What yarns will Abner spin today? As Jimmy Fingerbutton the inventor once put it, "the world is full of things nobody ever thought of before."
This is an all-ages podcast - there's a little something for everybody. In 2016, the podcast switched from a daily to a weekly release schedule, with a new story appearing each Wednesday.
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Episodes
Episode 245: Picking daisies on the moon
December 06, 2016 17:05 - 1 minute - 1 ByteHi folks! This is our final episode before taking an extended leave of absence. Thank you for listening! We will be back with more poems, songs, and short humor at a later date. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this bit of nonsense verse set to music: "Well, it was nine o'clock at midnight in the early afternoon / And I was picking all the daisies in the meadow on the moon ..."
Episode 244: The scenic route across the ocean
November 30, 2016 22:22 - 6 minutes - 1 ByteI was hanging around down by the waterfront the other day ... keeping an eye on the harbor seals. Sometimes they leak, you know ...
Episode 243: Scenes from under the dome
November 23, 2016 12:08 - 39 seconds - 1 ByteHere is another short poem for the kids: It's summer inside of my snow globe ...
Episode 242: Biscuits and gravy and the end of the world
November 16, 2016 12:00 - 6 minutes - 1 ByteIt started out as a biscuits and gravy kind of a morning down at Elmer's Cafe ...
Episode 241: Eyes in the forest
November 09, 2016 04:24 - 1 minute - 1 ByteThis week's episode is an ever so slightly spooky song about an old growth forest, a crooked beak, and a pair of yellow eyes ...
Episode 240: An autumn trip to the old oak grove
November 02, 2016 04:01 - 3 minutes - 1 ByteHere is a poem for the younger folks: Have you ever been to the old oak grove, When the autumn leaves are turning red? ...
Episode 239: Jimmy Fingerbutton and the Wishy-Warsher(™)
October 26, 2016 04:53 - 5 minutes - 1 ByteMy friend Jimy Fingerbutton once invented a new kind of dishwarsher. At least, I thought it was a dishwarsher. It looked just like an old-fashoned dishwarsher ...
Episode 238: Summer, winter, spring, and fall
October 19, 2016 11:53 - 1 minute - 1 ByteHere's a little ditty about how we make the seasons, and why sometimes they get just a tiny bit mixed up ...
Episode 237: The birch bark canoe
October 12, 2016 11:38 - 3 minutes - 1 ByteYou know the seasons are turning when you wake up with frost in your beard ...
Episode 236: Barnabas Tunukai Pepper McBluvin
October 05, 2016 11:04 - 46 seconds - 1 ByteThis bit of nonsense verse is inspired by the Maori hangi - a traditional method of cooking which is still very popular in New Zealand and elsewhere ...
Episode 235: Why you never see xyloferns anymore
September 28, 2016 04:02 - 4 minutes - 1 ByteEvery day I find something new out here on Wild Side. Something I've never seen before. Something that makes me say to myself, “slow down! Stop being so observant! You don't want to be one of those folks that goes around saying 'now I've seen everything,' do you?” ...
Episode 234: The apple song
September 21, 2016 05:14 - 1 minute - 1 ByteHere's a little song about apple season: I planted an apple in the springtime / I wanted an apple tree to grow ...
Episode 233: The tale of Abner and the bathtub
September 14, 2016 13:27 - 6 minutes - 1 ByteI was poking around out on Wild Side the other day, keeping an eye out for blue shade trees ...
Episode 232: The tale of Leewana and the magic kite
September 08, 2016 00:38 - 5 minutes - 1 ByteThis may be my best poem yet: "Far away, out beyond the Great Desert of Proom, Where the wind sweeps across the sharp sand like a broom ..."
Episode 231: The quiet bunny people folk
August 31, 2016 10:25 - 4 minutes - 1 ByteI once met an old-timer who lives out beyond the Wandering Hills, out there in the shadow of Gusty Ridge. The old-timer's name is Dale Hill. Dale broke his jaw 30 years ago and it never did set right, so now he talks with a limp ...
Episode 230: The county fair song
August 24, 2016 11:30 - 1 minute - 1 ByteHere's a little ditty in honor of county fair season ...
Episode 229: The tale of Abner and the slow-moving summer day
August 17, 2016 04:21 - 5 minutes - 1 ByteThis morning I was in the second-hand store, looking at all the second hands ... when a lady said to me, she said “beautiful day, isn't it?” I said “yes ma'am. What we have here is a genuine, slow-moving summer day!” ...
Episode 228: The World Championships of Everything!
August 10, 2016 04:09 - 3 minutes - 1 ByteGood morning everybody, this is Bill Melater, coming to you live from the beautiful city of Upper Case – Capitol of the Kingdom of Wonderstan and this year's home of the World Championships of Everything! ...
Episode 227: Bill O'Sale and the rise of climatic realism
August 03, 2016 12:01 - 5 minutes - 1 ByteMy friend Bill O'Sale just opened a new retail store down at the corner of High Street and Low Road. I asked him what he's selling this time. He said “raincoats ...”
Episode 226: The May bee song
July 27, 2016 05:20 - 1 minute - 1 ByteThe May bees were buzzing in April / The May bees are heard in July / The May bees will buzz in December / Imagine the things we could try! ...
Episode 225: Adventures in berry-picking
July 20, 2016 11:30 - 6 minutes - 1 ByteThe other day down at Elmer's Cafe, a bunch of us regulars were bragging about our most dangerous escapades and feats of derring-do ...
Episode 224: Jessica learns how to be in two places at once
July 13, 2016 04:01 - 6 minutes - 1 ByteIt was summer vacation, and Jessica wanted to be in two places at once ...
Episode 223: Jimmy Fingerbutton and the Perpetual Motion Machine
July 06, 2016 10:34 - 11 minutes - 1 ByteMy friend Jimmy Fingerbutton invented a perpetual motion machine. I was the first person he showed it to. I guess he figured I had the right qualifications, on account of I passed high school physics on the first try and I'm pretty good at keeping a straight face ...
Episode 222: The ballad of Jeremiah Crumping
June 29, 2016 11:07 - 3 minutes - 1 ByteIn Upper Tidwell lived a boy Named Jeremiah Crumping / Who couldn't stand for very long without commencing jumping ...
Episode 221: The aboutness of nothing
June 22, 2016 16:19 - 5 minutes - 1 ByteMy friend Stretch claims to know more about nothing than anybody else on the planet. He said “believe me, there's a lot more to it than most people realize ...”
Episode 220: Faraway places (or, What's it like in Lower Shmorgestan?)
June 15, 2016 11:11 - 4 minutes - 1 ByteMarco always dreamed about traveling to faraway places. All his life, he had never been anywhere – unless you counted his grandmother's house, which was so far away you had to pack a lunch for the journey ...
Episode 219: Something about a misty morning ...
June 08, 2016 12:52 - 4 minutes - 1 ByteBy the way, Vern swears there are no dragons in this story ...
Episode 218: What's your garden guarding?
June 01, 2016 11:59 - 1 minute - 1 ByteHere's a little song in honor of the Springtime planting season ...
Episode 217: Gee Cliff (or, The road to Gumption, concluded)
April 27, 2016 17:38 - 10 minutes - 1 ByteWell, I'll say one thing about the Gumption Track: it's well-marked. The roadies did not skimp on signage, even though it seems like they never actually got around to building the road itself ...
Episode 216: Send in the bees
April 20, 2016 11:16 - 1 minute - 1 ByteHere's another little song for the kids: when you think about it, bees are just Nature's miniature flying alarum clocks ...
Episode 215: The blue moon special
April 13, 2016 15:27 - 8 minutes - 1 ByteThere were two new faces down at Elmer's Cafe the other day. I walked in the door, saw this young couple sitting on the six and seven stools, talking to each other while Elmer stood around looking exasperated. I said “hot dang! I'll have the Blue Moon Special” ...
Episode 214: The greatest philosophers of all time
April 06, 2016 11:02 - 5 minutes - 1 ByteTheophilus Papadopoulos had to write an essay for school. It was supposed to be about a famous philosopher, and it couldn't be about anybody he knew ...
Episode 213: Whutta Butte (or, The road to Gumption, part three)
March 30, 2016 09:46 - 5 minutes - 1 ByteWell, the rain never let up, from dawn till dusk ... although, in all fairness, I don't know if you could even call it a dawn, seeing as how nobody remembered to light the sky ...
Episode 212: Joe Mann, the self-rolling snowman
March 23, 2016 14:51 - 1 minute - 1 ByteHere's a little song about a snowman who rolled into town at the tail end of Winter ...
Episode 211: No shortcut to Glory
March 16, 2016 13:10 - 5 minutes - 1 ByteMy friend Miles Walker and I were hiking down the Yonder Track on our way to Glory not too long ago. You know Glory – the legendary city where all your dreams come true, and where even ordinary pronouns are elevated to the exalted level of proper noun ... *** NOTE: this is a revised, enhanced, and improved version of Episode 164 ***
Episode 210: The penny on the sidewalk
March 09, 2016 12:28 - 6 minutes - 1 ByteSue Spender was on her way to school one morning when she found a penny lying heads-down on the sidewalk. She wondered how it got there. Could it have fallen out of someone's pocket? Would they miss it? ...
Episode 209: Gumption, part two
March 02, 2016 04:22 - 6 minutes - 1 ByteAs far as I'm concerned, Gumption is the kind of place where the only reason to go there is to say you've been there ...
Episode 208: How the world works
February 24, 2016 08:55 - 6 minutes - 1 ByteYoung Brian was always asking questions. He wanted to know how the world worked. He wanted to know why it worked. He wanted to know when it worked, and when it played. Because, you know, NOBODY works ALL the time ...
Episode 207: Gumption
February 17, 2016 12:35 - 8 minutes - 1 ByteI caught up with my friend Stretch the other day. He was headed north out of town, along the Coastal Road. I said "hey, Stretch. Where are you going?" He said "Gumption ..."
Episode 206: Reflections on a snowflake
February 10, 2016 11:30 - 1 minute - 1 ByteAnother song for the kids: Imagine if you could see yourself in a snowflake! ...
Episode 205: The education of Vern Acular
February 03, 2016 11:34 - 5 minutes - 1 ByteMy friend Vern Acular is a self-taught illuminato of the natural world. He rarely comes into town anymore. Instead, he's always out roaming the Wild Side, poking his curiosity into every copse and coulee from here to Fargone ...
Episode 204: Jessica brings back the summer
January 27, 2016 13:25 - 4 minutes - 1 ByteJessica worried that someday, somebody might catch her using magic. That would be disastrous! They wouldn't understand that she only used her powers to do good things. They probably wouldn't believe her when she told them Winter wasn't her fault ...
Episode 203: Playing piñata with the clouds
January 20, 2016 12:40 - 4 minutes - 1 ByteI found my friend Vern Acular standing at the top of Down Hill with a very long stick in his hands. He looked like he was about to play piñata with the clouds ...
Episode 202a: The refrigerator song (duet)
January 13, 2016 16:23 - 1 minute - 1 ByteBonus track! Come on, everybody, sing along! ...
Episode 202: The refrigerator song
January 13, 2016 11:55 - 1 minute - 1 ByteSomething's in the 'fridgerator, rotten eggs! ...
Episode 201: This winter, beware of icequitoes
January 06, 2016 11:32 - 5 minutes - 1 ByteMy friend Bugsy Diptera and I were tramping around out near Wunsa Pond the other day ...
Episode 200: Where the sidewalk is
December 12, 2015 01:16 - 5 minutes - 1 ByteMy friend Miles Walker and I were hiking through the Great Empty Desert when we stomped unexpectedly on a sidewalk ...
Episode 199: Abner's farewell party
December 10, 2015 21:56 - 4 minutes - 1 ByteI didn't really expect a farewell party when I walked into Elmer's Cafe ...
Episode 198: Odds & ends redux
December 09, 2015 15:25 - 1 minute - 1 ByteSeveral short, unrelated poems are (loosely) tied together by a short song ...
Episode 197: Retractable statements
December 08, 2015 12:53 - 3 minutes - 1 ByteMy friend Rita Book recently started working on a new lexical engineering project. Most of her projects are designed for print media, but I heard this one had something to do with things you say out loud ...