A VERY YETI CHRISTMAS 2012...

Hello beasties!

Listen, as much as I'm not the biggest fan of Christmas ever I did think that I'd do a proper Shy Yeti Christmas video for you this year. Last year I read seasonal poems on the radio - but this time I wanted to record a proper episode... On Location, no less!! Well, it's finally done and here's a bit more about it...

A VERY YETI CHRISTMAS is Mr Yeti's extra-special Christmas film for 2012; a gift to you, if you will! It was filmed all over the place, mostly between late October and early December 2012 in such weird and wonderful places as Salisbury, Belper, all manner of locations around London - oh, and on the island of Murano near Venice! Mr Yeti isn't the biggest fan of Christmas, but you will be pleased to see that he does do his best to get into the spirit of things. There is much silliness on offer, a yeti dance (of course!) and three poems, ALTERNATIVE SEASONS GREETINGS, WICKED SANTA and LOOK! I'M NO SCROOGE. All of which can be found in his mini-collection TOO SLUSHY FOR SNOWMEN which can be purchased at: http://www.lulu.com/gb/en/shop/paul-chandler/too-slushy-for-snowmen/paperback/product-18724965.html This episode also guest-stars Mr Dominic McCauley. Music by: Luca, Spooky Yeti and The Choir Of St M... Camera: Paul C, Dominic M, Paul H and Toby W. Edited by: Paul C. This video and all contents are Copyright Paul Chandler 2012. There will be plenty more films coming in 2013! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Youtube: http://youtu.be/vPsvG2l2bWc

Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/56079313

So that's the first of your two Christmas presents! (What do you mean you didn't like the first one!?! Don't be so ungrateful!) Anyway... Where was I? Oh yes, Christmas present part 2 - this year's Christmas story... It's called HIS CHRISTMAS CARDS and it won't be out in a book of mine for quite some time as we've currently got a two book backlog!

Unless I have a sudden urge to post something on Christmas Day or Boxing Day my next post is going to be about my little jaunt down to Swanage for a week from the 28th December... It's not the first new year that I've spent down their either as you may recall; in fact it's where I filmed the very first SHY YETI ON LOCATION episode almost three years ago now. Depending on the weather I hope to be filming another episode (or two) during this trip, but will be reporting back whilst I'm away as to how I'm going, as well as wishing you all a happy new year...

That's all for now - enjoy the story and have a yetifabulous Christmas!!

Massive Seasonal Yeti hugs,

Paul xx

HIS CHRISTMAS CARDS

  

He has done very well for himself this year;
Has received a bumper crop of Christmas cards.
He's really been very popular indeed around the town.
The butcher, the baker, the candle-stick maker;
Even the head master – even the mayor wrote him a card.
The mayor should have known better and gone recycled, mind...
And not bought his cards on the cheap, off the market.
Supporting local businesses though, he'd probably claim.
Still, it's the thought that counts; that's what one has to remember.
He lines up his Christmas cards along the mantelpiece –
And then slowly he counts them back.
All sorts of colourful pictures and seasonal displays present themselves;
Some are religious, some show snow and holly, some are funny or even slightly rude.
One has a cute cartoon reindeer writing a Christmas wish list to Santa;
It's probably his favourite.
There are thirty seven cards.
It's a fine amount for a man of his age.
Shame it's not an even number though and taking in the way that he arranged them there's no doubt that there's still room for a few more.
Returning to his seat he takes out another pack of cards from the desk drawer and uncaps his pen.
There must be somebody else – other names that he knows.
The butcher, the baker, the candle-stick maker; he recalled all those and more.
But why not spread the net a little wider, aim higher…
The arch bishop, the actress, the celebrity hairdresser...
The footballer, the super model, even a notorious serial killer long-since deceased...
Her Royal Highness, Hitler, Joan of Arc, Mickey Mouse;
Once the names begin to come to him they arrive thick and fast.
He begins to scribble them down – he may need another box at this rate!
The whole house will be full of Christmas cheer.
No time to waste though, as he writes himself new greetings to join that growing collection of cards.
Once done – exhausted – he puts them all in envelopes, seals them and pauses.
No sense in wasting stamps on all these;
He'll merely post them through his own door when he's half asleep before bed.
He might be a tad eccentric, but nobody can say that he's stupid!

HIS CHRISTMAS CARDS is Copyright Paul Chandler 2012 and will be published in one of his books in the near future. All other content of this post is Copyright Paul Chandler, 2012.

A VERY YETI CHRISTMAS...

PHOTO GALLERY!

Hello beasties!

This week, with only a few days to go until the Shy Yeti Christmas Special is posted, I thought I would share with you some photos from behind the scenes on the episodes and also post an old Christmas poem which just happens to come from my book GO 4TH AND DIVIDE, which will be celebrating its 10th anniversary next year.

Next up, last week I promised you some photos from the behind the scenes on the Shy Yeti Christmas Special, which is to be entitled A VERY YETI CHRISTMAS... So here they are!!

A VERY YETI CHRISTMAS

PHOTO GALLERY

These photos were taken during filming of this episode - although one or two were saved over from Christmas 2011! Yes, that's why I look so much more beautiful in some of the shots. *cough* The photos appearing in this episode were taken in Venice, Richmond, Salisbury, Oxford, Charlton All Saints, Belper, Weybridge and various sites in London. Photos were taken by myself, Dominic McCauley, Paul Hillier, Toby Warburton and Beverley the Receptionist from Work!!!

It's all very well showing us photos of the episode, but how's the actual Christmas film going?

Pretty well, although I have had quite a busy week or two which has meant that I haven't really had many evenings to work on the video. This week I've been getting up extra early before work (at around 5.30 a.m.!!) and working on it for an hour or three before heading into London. I think it's making a difference! I've pretty much got a rough edit done now and should get it to the right length by tomorrow morning and maybe even get the titles on. Wednesday night I intend to work on Christmassy music for the episode, but I'll also be using some of the spookycreepy music that I put together for the Halloween episodes. With a bit of luck it'll all be done so that I can load it up on Friday and then post it during the weekend!

Shy Yeti you shall go to the ball! Or something...

The photo above was taken about an hour ago whilst I was re-recording some sound for the poem ALTERNATIVE SEASONS GREETINGS which appears in the Christmas episode. I recorded the poem in Hyde Park near the Winter Wonderland in November, however one of the verses had some problem with the sound. I had intended to go over to Green Park in my lunch break and just record that one verse - however I forgot to bring the right hat - it's also too cold. In the end I recorded the problematic verse in the warmth of our library and will dub it over some of the footage that I have from the Winter Wonderland.

That's almost it now, but before I go here is that older piece that I mentioned, from GO 4TH AND DIVIDE. I've slightly revised it whilst working on the 10th anniversary edition of the book - but it's mostly the same as the original version which I wrote back in 2002.

DECORATING MORRISSEY…

He looks down at me…

He looks down…

I want to try and cheer him up!

He was always my favourite icon.

I don’t like to see people who I care for suffering, I want to make it right.

I want to dazzle him with the bright lights of Christmas…

Cover him with multi-coloured party streamers…

I’m not sure he would approve, but everything else is decorated!

Everything else has tinsel that covers it from top to toe!

Everything else is embracing The Festive Spirit ™

But not him.

There he is up on my wall; a poster – almost life-like, life-size!

But solo. These days he’s a loner.

No more is he hanging out with the other Smiths.

They’ve fallen out.

Don’t even think about it – I’ve tried to mediate and it did no good!

Maybe the other guys in the band would have put up with a bauble or two;

Even on a bad day!

But not Morrissey – too much of a free sprit!

His expression makes that perfectly plain.

I can almost imagine his reaction to being decorated.

Can almost hear all the cutting yet witty remarks that he’d make!

Everything else in the room spruced up for Christmas.

Everything else decked out with Holly.

Even Robert Smith of The Cure!

Even Siouxsie Sioux – all The Goths – all the Punks…

But no – his is the only poster that remains bare; unseasonal.

Just standing there looking moodier than a wet weekend in Margate!

Eyes averted to the clouds on some unremarkable Autumn afternoon!

The moment has been captured for posterity, but he seems not to care…

Oh well then, let him stay like it if he’s not going to join in!

I’m not going to let him spoil things for us…

He’ll just have to stay there and sit it out until New Year…

That night though – lost in the very heart of the darkness…

There in the silent hours when he’s not looking;

I decorate Morrissey!

I pin a sprig of Mistletoe above him –

And I give him a quick XXX Xmas kiss…

Heaven Knows He’s Miserable Now!

But to hell with it…

It’s Christmas.

Next week I'll be posting the links to the Christmas episode and I have a Christmas story for 2012, although these two might end up as two posts! We'll see! Don't forget to keep watch all the yeti videos on http://www.youtube.com/user/MRSHYYETI, especially all the ones that I've posted during 2012 as you could still influence which video of this year wins the award for most views this year. *there is no ACTUAL award, but just pretend there is, okay... Perhaps I'll buy myself a new pair of Converse or something!*

That's it for now, more soon!

Yeti hugs,

Paul xxx

This post and all contents are Copyright Paul Chandler 2012

MORE LIVE YETI AND A RATINGS UPDATE!

Hello beasties...

I'm going to talk about quite a number of subjects this week. First of all there is a new video!! It's a live one from the last Poetry Cafe Show and here's a little more about it...

SHY YETI'S "THIRD TIME LUCKY" SHOW...

This is a live video from Shy Yeti (a.k.a. Paul Chandler)'s show at The Poetry Cafe on Friday 16th November 2012. He reads a number of pieces, an extract of a new poem called ANOTHER YETI POEM and some older pieces from his THIRD TIME LUCKY collection which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2012. The poems from this collection include: ANOTHER PATHETIC ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, BALLAD OF A CHILD ACTOR, BETTER BY FAR and DOWNSTAIRS FROM UPSTAIRS. But Mr Yeti was not the only poet on hand during this show, there is also poetry from Mr John Smallshaw and Sally J Blackmore, reading from from her collection DEPLOYED. This video was filmed by Dominic McCauley and edited by Paul Chandler, music is by Luca. The copyright of this film remains with the performers, Paul Chandler, John Smallshaw and Sally J Blackmore, 2012. There will be more from this show during Spring 2013.

Youtube: http://youtu.be/7Y5jFo4xU2g

Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/55341699

Please note that some of the footage is a little dark, but quite watchable.

Moving on now - as I've not posted about them in a while, here's an update of the ratings for all the SHY YETI ON LOCATION videos up until Monday 10th December 2012.

RATINGS FROM YETI VIDEOS

AS OF 10/12/2012

 

(THOSE IN RED ARE NEW VIDEOS POSTED DURING 2012)

 
1^st SHY YETI ON LOCATION IN DORSET = 381 views
2^nd A YETI BACK IN HOLLYWOOD – PART 1 = 366 views
3^rd SHY YETI GOES TO HOLLYWOOD = 348 views
4^th TOO LATE – A SHORT STORY= 342 views
5^th SHY YETI'S VALENTINE'S DAY SPECIAL = 338 views
6^th A YETI IN WINTER = 326 views
7^th SHY YETI TALKS = 303 views
8^th SHY YETI LIVE - 06/03/2010 = 298 views
=9^th BEWARE OF THE VAMPIRE COWS!!! = 297 views
=9^th A YETI BACK IN HOLLYWOOD – PART 4 = 297 views
11^th OUT AND ABOUT WITH SHY YETI = 295 views
12^th YETI DANCE A-GO-GO… = 291 views
13^th YETI HUNT U.S.A – PART 1 = 287 views
14^th SHY YETI OUT IN THE COUNTRY = 276 views
15^th YETI HUNT U.S.A – PART 3 = 260 views
16^th A YETI BACK IN HOLLYWOOD – PART 3 = 259 views
17^th SHY YETI LIVE – 02/04/2011 = 253 views
=18^th SOMETHING TO CHEW ON – A SHORT STORY= 252 views
=18^th SHY YETI IN A SECRET LOCATION = 252 views
20^th YETI HUNT U.S.A. – PART 5 = 251 views
21^st AN EVENING WITH SHY YETI + OTHER ANIMALS = 247 views
22^nd A YETI ON RADIO WEY = 246 views
=23^rd SHY YETI OUT IN THE NEW FOREST = 245 views
=23^rd A DEVIL WITHOUT HORNS – A POEM = 245 views
25^th A YETI IN PARIS – PART 1= 243 views
26^th SHY YETI RETURNS TO THE COBALT CAFE = 241 views
27^th SHY YETI’S MINI EUROPEAN TOUR 2011 – PT 2 = 239 views
28^th SHY YETI WELCOMES SPRING = 236 views
29^th A PERFECT MATCH = 235 views
30^th SHY YETI VERSUS AUTUMN – PART 1 = 234 views
31^st A TALE OF 2 CITIES, 1 YETI - 1 = 233 views
32^nd JUNK/FOOD GIG 1 = 231 views
=33^rd SHY YETI GOES BUSHY = 230 views
=33^rd ROCK ‘N’ ROLLERCOASTER SHOW - 1 = 230 views
=35^th A YETI IN PARIS – PART 2 = 228 views
=35^th YETI HUNT U.S.A. – PART 4 = 228 views
37^th SHY YETI BACK ON RADIO WEY – PART 2 = 226 views
38^th SHY YETI TAKES (A TRIP) TO BATH = 225 views
39^th ROCK ‘N’ ROLLERCOASTER SHOW - 2 = 224 views
=40^th SHY YETI GOES WILD = 220 views
=40^th ANOTHER EVENING WITH SHY YETI… = 220 views
=42^nd A TALE OF 2 CITIES, 1 YETI - 2 = 218 views
=42^nd BALLAD OF A GO-GO BEAR = 218 views
44^th SHY YETI LIVE – 22/11/2010 – LIVE REVIVED = 215 views
45^th SHY YETI’S INTER-WEB/BLOG BONANZA - 1 = 214 views
46^th SHY YETI GOES WILD ON THE RADIO - 1 = 211 views
47^th SHY YETI AT THE COBALT CAFÉ = 164 views
48^th UNGRATEFUL VALENTINE = 159 views
49^th I AM NEVER INVITED TO ORGIES = 153 views
50^th A YETI BACK IN HOLLYWOOD – PART 2 = 152 views
51^st SHY'S SNOW SPECTACULAR = 150 views
=52^nd YETI HUNT U.S.A – PART 2 = 127 views
=52^nd SHY YETI BACK ON RADIO WEY – PART 1 = 127 views
54^th YETI SPAGHETTI = 124 views
55^th SHY YETI IN A SECRET LOCATION (Out-takes) = 123 views
56^th SHY YETI LIVE - 06/03/2010 (2) = 121 views
=57^th YETI HUNT U.S.A – PART 8 = 117 views
=57^th SHY YETI ON LOCATION IN DORSET (O/takes) = 117 views
=59^th YETI HUNT U.S.A – PART 7 = 116 views
=59^th SHY YETI LIVE – 22/11/2010 – PART 1 = 116 views
=59^th SHY YETI VERSUS AUTUMN – PART 2 = 116 views
62^nd SHY YETI’S MINI EUROPEAN TOUR 2011 – PT 1 = 115 views
63^rd JUNK/FOOD GIG 2 = 111 views
64^th YETI HUNT U.S.A. – PART 6 = 110 views
65^th SHY YETI ON RADIO FOR VALENTINE’S = 108 views
=66^th SHY YETI LIVE – 22/11/2010 – PART 3 = 106 views
=66^th SHY YETI LIVE – 22/11/2010 – PART 2 = 106 views
=68^th SHY YETI’S HAUNTED KITCHEN = 95 views
=68^th YOU CRAMP MY STYLE = 95 views
70^th LITTLE PIG = 87 views
71^st SHY YETI GOES WILD - 2 = 85 views
72^nd MY MOMENT IS NOW = 78 views
73^rd SHY YETI LIVE FROM BROADSTAIRS = 77 views
74^th SHY YETI’S BEST OF BRITISH - 1 = 76 views
75^th SHY YETI’S BEST OF BRITISH - 2 = 72 views
76^th SHY YETI’S SEA-SIDE SHUFFLE – PART 1 = 69 views
77^th YETI SPAGHETTI (OUT-TAKES) = 65 views
78^th PICCADILLY CIRCUS = 60 views
79^th SHY YETI GOES WILD ON THE RADIO - 2 = 58 views
80^th THINGS AIN'T... = 55 views
81^st SHY YETI’S “LOST” HOLLYWOOD VIDEO = 53 views
82^nd SHY YETI’S SEA-SIDE PREVIEW = 52 views
83^rd DAREDEVIL = 50 views
84^th GOOD HUG = 49 views
85^th THEY WARNED ME... = 48 views
86^th CRASHTESTBOYFRIEND = 47 views
87^th SHY YETI LIVE - 18/11/2008 = 45 views
=88^th SHY YETI BOTTLES SUMMER = 44 views
=88^th SHY YETI’S SPOOKYCREEPY SHOW = 44 views
=88^th SHY YETI’S SEA-SIDE SHUFFLE – PART 2 = 44 views
91^st SHY YETI GOES WILD – LIVE 1 = 40 views
92^nd MY DOG IN A DRESS = 37 views
93^rd THE TRUE LIGHT = 35 views
94^th SHY YETI’S BLOG BONANZA – 2 = 33 views
95^th THE SORRY TALE... = 26 views
96^th RECKLESSLY = 24 views
97^th A VOICE IN HIS HEAD = 21 views

Some of the films posted earlier in the year achieved very good ratings over the summer, in fact one of them is currently in the top 10 list of all time. We're still getting over 1500 hits a month, which is about three times as many as the profile was receiving this time last year! Needless to say I am very pleased! So thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you who watch the films and have also tweeted about them or shared the links. There are many more videos still in the can ready for next year.

So, this is the point where I ask which of the videos posted in 2012 was your favourite? If you're not sure which videos came out this year they are the ones marked in red above and here follows a bit more of a reminder...

The year began with me posting the finished videos of episodes that I'd filmed late in 2011 in Brugge and Lille and back in the States; not to mention films from the last live show of the year and a return to Radio Wey. By March we were getting onto those that I'd worked on in January and February which were among some of my favourite of the year; especially SHY YETI GOES BUSHY which was one of my most enjoyable filming experiences so far in the series and one of the first which Dominic and I filmed together after he moved over from L.A. By May I was beginning to put out videos from the first live shows of 2012, as well as my first overseas trips of the year and by the summer got a chance to edit BEWARE THE VAMPIRE COWS, one of two films left over from 2011. Around this time I also made a return to Radio Wey and also filmed my own Jubilee Two-part special! My only regret about 2012 is that I filmed a number of series from August onwards, that I did not have time to edit, including episodes from The Lakes District, Brussels and Venice - not to mention a number of other sequels to earlier episodes. However these are all safely archived and I'll get around to editing them in the Spring. Of the episodes filmed in the last third or so of the year, which I did edit, my episodes from Broadstairs and my two Halloween episodes came out in the autumn and allowed me to test a few different skills, song-writing in the case of the Folk Week episodes and cookery in the case of the first of the two spooky-themed installments.

Early in the New Year I'll reveal which of the following videos got the highest ratings, so if you have any particular favourites then you can influence the final result by watching it as much as possible over the next few weeks. Don't forget, we're less than 3500 hits away from 20,000 on the MRSHYYETI Youtube page - not that I'm expecting us to reach that anniversary before January 1st... Unless people are really keen! ;)

Here is the definitive list of episodes loaded onto Youtube and Vimeo during 2012, although please note: this does not include those migrated from VIMEO which were originally released in 2008, nor any new SUTTON PARK episodes; although all those SP episodes are still doing very well in the ratings, which is very pleasing... Anyway!

2012: A YEAR IN SHY YETI VIDEOS

JANUARY

SHY YETI'S MINI-EUROPEAN TOUR - PART 2
JUNK/FOOD 10TH ANNIVERSARY GIG 2
YETI HUNT USA - PART 6

FEBRUARY

YETI HUNT USA - PART 7
SHY YETI ON RADIO WEY FOR VALENTINE'S DAY
YETI HUNT USA - PART 8

MARCH

SHY YETI OUT IN THE NEW FOREST
SHY YETI GOES BUSHY
SHY YETI TAKES A (TRIP TO) BATH

APRIL

SHY YETI WELCOMES SPRING

MAY

SHY YETI GOES WILD
ROCK AND ROLLERCOASTER SHOW - 1
A TALE OF 2 CITIES, 1 YETI - PART 1
ROCK AND ROLLERCOASTER SHOW - 2

JUNE

A TALE OF 2 CITIES, 1 YETI - PART 2
SHY YETI'S BLOG BONANZA - 1
BEWARE OF THE VAMPIRE COWS
SHY YETI GOES WILD ON THE RADIO - 2

JULY

SHY YETI GOES WILD - TWO!!
SHY YETI GOES WILD ON THE RADIO - 2
SHY YETI'S BEST OF BRITISH - PART 1
SHY YETI'S BEST OF BRITISH - PART 2
SHY YETI'S BLOG BONANZA - 2
SHY YETI'S LOST HOLLYWOOD SPECIAL

AUGUST

SHY YETI'S SEASIDE PREVIEW
SHY YETI BOTTLES SUMMER

SEPTEMBER

SHY YETI LIVE FROM BROADSTAIRS
SHY YETI'S SEA-SIDE SHUFFLE - PT 2
SHY YETI GOES WILD - LIVE

OCTOBER

SHY YETI'S SEA-SIDE SHUFFLE - PT 2
SHY YETI'S HAUNTED KITCHEN

NOVEMBER

NONE

DECEMBER

SHY YETI SPOOKYCREEPY SHOW

In Other News...

Last weekend I was putting the finishing touches to the Christmas episode and having edited the live video I'm going to move straight on to editing the Christmas show whilst I still have ten days or so to post it. This last piece of location filming took place around the Christmas trees at my work on Friday 7th December in London and then also up in Derbyshire in the town of Belper over the weekend. I had also expected to record footage in Lincoln at the Christmas Market; despite the market there wasn't a lot of visible Christmassyness that really fitted into the episode. No matter! I have plenty of footage to sift through and only until a week on Friday to edit and post it before I finish work!

Now, there is also news about ARE WE THERE, YETI!?

After much thought on the subject, I'm afraid you're going to have to wait until January now for this book to be released! WAIT! WAIT! Please... Stop your sobbing! There are good reasons for this! As much as I would have loved to be able to have published it in 2012, there is very little sense in releasing a new book the week before Christmas. I've released plenty of other books during 2012, so it really doesn't matter if this one is held back until the start of 2013, better to wait until the Christmas horrors have passed! I'll be focussing on this book during my first show of the new year, in April - so there really is no real rush.

I want to end this post on a fun note... B Flat, isn't exactly a ball but it'll have to do! Talking of which, I have to rush as I need to get busy creating some music for the Christmas video. The Halloween videos had music composed by SPOOKY YETI, so the Christmas band should be christened... BAUBLES YETI? TINSEL YETI? I'm not sure... Any suggestions, please DO let me know!

That's it for now... Next week I'll be sharing with you some photos from the forthcoming Christmas episode and maybe posting a Christmas themed piece; although not the one that I've written specifically for this Christmas. THAT will be up on Christmas Eve, most probably!

Anyway, more soon!

Yeti hugs,

Paul xx

This Post and all contents are Copyright Paul Chandler 2012.

NEW VIDEO RELEASED: SHY YETI'S SPOOKYCREEPY SHOW!!!

Hello beasties!

Well, I'm glad to be able to announce this week that there is a new SHY YETI ON LOCATION episode up on both Youtube and Vimeo. It's our first in over a month, so I hope it's worth the wait! It was originally filmed as our Halloween episode, but SHY YETI'S HAUNTED KITCHEN got there first. Here's a bit more about the video which was filmed around the South of England during August 2012... The first poem is about three years old and the other two are ones that I've worked on in recent months for next year's NOT AS SHY AS I WAS collection.

SHY YETI'S SPOOKYCREEPY SHOW was originally going called SHY YETI'S HALLOWEEN HOO-HAA and was going to be this year's Halloween episode, but then SHY YETI'S HAUNTED KITCHEN jumped in first. Anyway, the finished episode is another horror-themed show and included three poems, three (count 'em!) yeti dances and a lot of silliness. The poems are THAT OLD BLOOD MOON, SHAVING WEREWOLVES and HELLO! HELLO! I'M HALLOWEEN! Special guests in this episode include Dominic McCauley, Andrew Trowbridge and Lisa Parker. Camerawork by: myself, Dominic and Harry Fulton. Music is by Spooky Yeti and Luca. All content in this episode is Copyright Paul Chandler 2012. Coming soon: More live episodes, more Sutton Park (hopefully) and our Christmas episode!!

Youtube: http://youtu.be/WLnifWZGqb8

Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/54754942

So, what else do I have to tell you?

I'm hoping to be able to release ARE WE THERE, YETI!? next week... I'm just putting the finishing touches to it now and hoping to send it off to Lulu.com by this Friday. If it's ready then that's one of the things that I'll be posting about next week.

I'm also progressing nicely with the sequel...

As some of you may recall, the follow-up to ARE WE THERE, YETI!? is called NOT AS SHY AS I WAS and I've been performing a lot from this collection during 2012. I've not yet begun proofing this collection at all yet, but I will be doing a post or two about this book in the next few weeks - including releasing the contents list so you can see a little more about what that collection contains.

Next week we'll be doing an update on the ratings for the videos that I've posted on Youtube and Vimeo as a run up to announcing as the first post of 2013, which of the 2012 videos received the highest ratings... It's always a little unfair as, obviously, some videos are newer than others - although this has been quite a weird year in as much as I've had far more views for the films in 2012 than in previous years. Many of the films from the first half of this year have more hits than many of those films that have been up since 2010! I may also be doing a mini review of the year, as well as posting up a number a video from last month's THIRD TIME LUCKY show, at The Poetry Cafe.

That's it for now,

More soon!

Yeti hugs,

Paul xxx

PS Here's a drawing that will appear with the poem SHAVING WEREWOLVES when it is eventually published in my NOT AS SHY AS I WAS collection. It was drawn by Adam M Botsford and you can see more of his work at: http://adammbotsford.blogspot.co.uk/

The specific post about this drawing is at: http://adambotsford.com/post/37163113895/here-is-an-commission-for-paul-chandler-check-out

This post and all contents are Copyright Paul Chandler 2012.

OUR FINAL FURRY FLOURISH FOR 2012

Hello beasties,

This week's post is basically me setting out  what I have in store for you between now and the end of the year... *looks through goody bag and hope that some or all of it appeals!*

With only just over a month to go until 2013 there is a lot that I'd like to get done, but I know that - realistically - I won't get it all done! Not unless somebody would like to pay me to edit my backlog of yeti videos!?! Nope, thought not...

Before I go on, what's with the photo above? It's pretty much all that's left of a bit of grafitti that I first spotted in Venice back in late 2006. It was a bird with very long legs and I have a photo of it somewhere when it was fully intact. So, I was a bit sad to see what was left of it - which isn't much! The same had happened to the cat that was on the cover of RHYMES BEARS STEAL PIES FOR, which is now long lost beneath posters; it could be seen back in 2010 when I was last in Venice - but was totally obscured two years later.

Here's how it used to look: http://www.lulu.com/shop/paul-chandler/rhymes-bears-steal-pies-for/paperback/product-6410295.html

Anyway... Where was I?

What happened to the Halloween episode? Is it still going to be posted?

Indeed it is... It's pretty much done, although it probably won't be loaded up until the end of this week or early next, so the links will be in next week's post. There was a lot of footage that was potentially filmed for this episode that I decided had to go by the wayside because it was just going to make the episode far too long... There's about 4 poems in this episode as there is and quite a lot of yeti dancing and silliness - so some of it just had to go. Who knows I may be able to use it in the 2013 Halloween special, if there is one. Actually some of the footage in this new episode was actually filmed in a foggy wood in Camberley back in November 2011 long before I knew when I was going to use it. It was just one of those opportunities when you have the spooky setting and think "I've got to get some footage of this, even if I don't know when exactly I'm going to be able to use it!" The only other change about the new episode is that despite the references to Halloween (which it was originally filmed for) I am have retitled it from SHY YETI'S HALLOWEEN HOO-HAA to SHY YETI'S SPOOKYCREEPY SHOW. I just didn't have the time, what with going to Venice, to get it done closer to Halloween itself; but I didn't want to leave it on the shelf until Halloween 2013. At least I was able to post our Halloween cookery episode up exactly on the day as that was quicker to get completed; SPOOKYCREEPY SHOW had a lot of footage for me to choose from as I've already been going on about. Okay now... I'll stop... Let's move on.

What will you be editing after next week's new episode?

Time is running out for editing more films in 2012, so I'm going to have to focus on possibly just 3 more episodes before the end of the year; another Sutton Park instalment, a live video from the THIRD TIME LUCKY show and obviously the SHY YETI ON LOCATION Christmas episode - with the emphasis on that last film over the other two. It's bad enough that I'm so late with the second Halloween episode, but I'm not going to allow myself to dish up the Christmas episode in April! Talking of which...

How are we doing with the Christmas episode? What comes after that?

Very well, thank you - I was just filming footage for it on Sunday at the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, in fact I, as good as finished it today. I filmed a few comments, lots of Christmas images and also recorded the poem ALTERNATIVE SEASONS GREETINGS. I recorded a few more scenes on Monday 26th November - a silly piece about why I have problems with the festive season and that episode's yeti dance (decked in tinsel!) This makes that episode now pretty much complete; except for perhaps a bit more footage that I hope to film at a Christmas market in Lincoln in a week or two. Once this episode is filmed and edited I'm going to aim on focusing on another cooking episode that I filmed with Dan back in October. After that I have a whole heap of other episodes to edit - those filmed in the Lake District during the Summer, those filmed in Brussels in October, those we made in Venice earlier this month and one or two others that I filmed locally! Even if I don't film very much during the spring there are still loads more films that I have to edit and post!

What new poems /stories have I been working on?

I've been working on quite a lot of new poems on my Blackberry - some are just titles, some just a verse or so. I've been pretty busy finishing off some of my other projects, so I'm just writing new stuff as it comes to me, but I'm hoping to have a few more of them completed before the end of the year for inclusion in my GRANNY ATE MY AFTERBIRTH collection, which probably won't be out until late 2013. Here are some of the titles that I've been working on, the ones in bold are those that I've finished and the ones in italic ones I have only just begun...

ARE THEY AWARE I'M A WEREWOLF?
GRANNY ATE MY AFTERBIRTH
ON FIRST NAME TERMS WITH LOVE
THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE
THE MORNING AFTER HALLOWEEN
THE ONE

A SPIDER IN MY BATH
AUGUSTUS THE TRUSTY GUIDANCE PIG
BAD CATTITUDE
CAT ISLAND
DEAR CARMEL
DRINKING YOUR TEARS
ENOUGH OF YOUR SAUCE
GIBLET THE GORILLA-LA-LA-LA
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAT-FACE
HIS CHRISTMAS CARDS
I WOULD MAKE YOU STAY
LAZY FIRE-EATER
MEERCATS
NO-ONE NEEDS YOU MORE THAN ME
NO-ONE TREATS NEW YORK LIKE THAT...
PICCADILLY IS A RUBBISH CIRCUS
SET IN STONE
SMITTEN FRIENDS
SO IN LOVE...
SPACIAL AWARENESS
STARS
THE DANCEFLOOR BEASTS
THE GIN GOBLINS
THE NAUGHTY 40S
THE SERENE REPUBLIC OF SLOTHDOM
THE SHARP END
THE SHRINKY IMPS
THROWING SALT
TWO VAMPIRE HUNTING YETI

Big thanks to Toby W for inspiring a number of the above titles, one of which he referred to directly in a text! That would be The Serene Republic Of Slothdom, as you asked so nicely...

What's happened to the ARE WE THERE, YETI!? collection? Will it be out soon?

I am pretty sure that I will be able to announce the publication of this collection during the first couple of weeks of December. I've just got the last couple of stories to finalise and a few changes to see to in the Making Of... section of the book.

How are the ratings for the Youtube videos doing?

Very well - in fact I'm about to do a post on this very blog in a week or so about that very subject as a lead up to the annual new year announcement of which video of 2012 was the most viewed... I'm also looking forward to hitting my 20,000 hit on the Youtube channel, although I doubt that I'll reach that milestone before the end of 2012; but not too much after, I reckon.


The photo above was taken by my friend Glyn Green during my THIRD TIME LUCKY show at The Poetry Cafe. Thank you, Glyn! The three photos that end this post are from my recent Venice trip. There will be a lot more photos from there once I get closer to editing those episodes.

That's about it for now - our next post should be all about ARE WE THERE, YETI!? and will also contain the links to the SPOOKYCREEPY Show Youtube film.

More soon,

Yeti hugs,

Paul xx

This post and all content is Copyright Paul Chandler 2012.

MR YETI AND FRIENDS...
BACK AT THE POETRY CAFE!!

Howdy beasties!

So, you may ask... How exactly did the gig last Friday go?

Well, it may have been chilly and damp outside, but down in the basement at The Poetry Cafe the atmosphere was warm and cordial and despite the smaller crowd than usual we had a great night. The event was partly to celebrate the 10th anniversary of my third collection, THIRD TIME LUCKY, which I released at the start of November on Lulu.com.

 

All the links to that collection can be found in the following blog post:

http://www.thedaffypoet.blogspot.co.uk/2012_11_04_archive.html

For the first time, in a while, we had two other poets at the show, the first of these being Mr John Smallshaw - of course, who has been involved in all my shows since Summer 2011. You can read about John at:  http://pantechniconpoet.wordpress.com/ or http://johnsmallshaw.com/ John read a number of pieces, among them Requiem, Dead Heat and several new poem that were untitled...

 

Our second poet was Sally J Blackmore who you can read more about at: http://sallyjblackmore.co.uk/ Sally read from her latest collection, "Deployed", amongst the pieces that she read were the poems Soldier, New Ways, Sense Of Home, Translators, Homecoming and a number of others. In the second half she read from her collection "Random" the poems, Enough Excitement For One Day, Of A Certain Age, Flake and Waiting Game.

 

Hopefully I'll be including some of these pieces in one of the films from the night, if I've time at some stage I'd love to do dedicated videos for both poets - but we'll see as I have quite a backlog at the moment; although the live videos are quicker to edit than most. I've checked pretty much all the footage from the night and it appears that most of our performances were successfully recorded. Big thanks to Dominic M for being the cameraman on the night and to all those that came along to support the three of us.

 

So, let's look a bit more at the specifics of the show from a yeti point of view...

 

THIRD TIME LUCKY - WITH SHY YETI AND FRIENDS

FRIDAY 16TH NOVEMBER 2012, POETRY CAFE, LONDON

 

The poems that I read were mainly from two collections, the 10th anniversary edition of 2002's THIRD TIME LUCKY and 2013's NOT AS SHY AS I WAS, which I've finished the writing work for, however there is still the proofing and formatting to be done. It was very much a case of then and now with my selection of readings, as follows:

Please note: All old poems with an asterisk (*) from THIRD TIME LUCKY

All other poems from NOT AS SHY AS I WAS, except for John... from ARE WE THERE, YETI!?

First half

Another Yeti Poem
National Treasure
The Wedding Breakfast
* Another Pathetic Assassination Attempt
* Ballad Of A Child Actor
* Better By Far
* The Butterfly Collectors
* Downstairs From Upstairs
* A Fortnight To Achieve

John read / Sally read

Last Friday Night (Katy Perry song in style of Noel Coward)
* Gad-a-bout / Stay-at-home
* Good Hug

Second half

I Am Sick (But Do I Wanna Be Cured)
Shaving Werewolves
Hello! Hello! I'm Halloween!
At The Strike Of Midnight

Sally read

* Party Girl
* On This Very Spot

John read

* Oh Florence
* Taken
*Third Time Lucky
John, I'm Only Rhyming

In More Detail

First half

Another Yeti Poem
National Treasure
The Wedding Breakfast

The first three poems were reasonably new ones from next year's NOT AS SHY AS I WAS collection. The first I'd never read before and was written for a live opportunity, the second I'd read at my last show in September, but it's one of my recent favourites so I thought I'd give it a second airing. The third of these pieces I'd originally read in late April at my friend Glyn and David's civil partnership. Glyn was there on Friday, which is why I chose to re-read it. All these poems were recorded in full by Dominic except for Another Yeti Poem of which only the first verse was captured.

Another Pathetic Assassination Attempt
Ballad Of A Child Actor
Better By Far
The Butterfly Collectors
Downstairs From Upstairs
A Fortnight To Achieve

The next six poems were from THIRD TIME LUCKY, the first (and, I think, the third) being ones that I've read on a number of occasions - whilst the other five are ones I think I've probably never read, although I've recently recorded versions of Butterfly and Fortnight during my recent Venice trip. This is one of the nice things about revisiting my early books - I keep finding pieces that I've not read before that are ripe for revival!

John read / Sally read

Last Friday Nite
(Katy Perry in style of Noel Coward)
Gad-a-bout / Stay-at-home
Good Hug

After John and Sally had read (as detailed at the top of the post) I moved on my usual slot of performing a song as a spoken word piece. This time I chose a recent song Last Friday Nite (TFI), as sung by American songstress Katy Perry - but this time I did it with a twist and performed it in teh style of Noel Coward! It seemed to go down well and now I need to consider another possibility to perform this way at next April's show. Plenty of time to consider what to select!

The final two pieces were from the THIRD TIME LUCKY, the first which I've never performed and the second which I've performed quite a bit on and off over the years. It is also included it in my 2009 SHY YETI RULES OK compilation.

Second half

I Am Sick (But Do I Wanna Be Cured)
Shaving Werewolves
Hello! Hello! I'm Halloween!
At The Strike Of Midnight

The first four poems of the second half were all quite recent ones from NOT AS SHY AS I WAS collection, due out next year. The first three have all been recorded for Shy Yeti On Location episodes, although only the first has seen the light of day on Youtube, so far. The 4th piece I've not made a video for yet, although I may record it down in Dorset for my new year film, as that would suit the theme of the piece.

Sally read

Party Girl
On This Very Spot

After Sally's second set, from her Random collection, I read a couple more THIRD TIME LUCKY pieces, the first an old favourite of mine and the second which I have never read live, but have recently considered recording a video for.

John read

Oh Florence
Taken
Third Time Lucky
John, I'm Only Rhyming

After John's second set I read three more pieces from THIRD TIME LUCKY, the first piece being one of my favourites, the second being a piece that I last read at The Cobalt Cafe in LA back in Summer 2011 and the third being the title track which I recently recorded a video for during a trip to Ghent in October 2012. The final piece of the evening was a poem that I've performed a number of times this year, most notably at the Broadstairs Folk Festival during the summer.

There were a number of poems from THIRD TIME LUCKY that I had intended to read, but which I missed out for timing reasons. They were, as follows:

Break My Heart, Computer Dating, Get Over Yourself, A Girl Like You, Herbal Teabags, Instructions To Life, Keyholes, The Park, Reincarnation, Soon On Your Way, They Found Him Wandering..., Things Ain't What They Used To Be..., Unfulfilled, Xmas Shop-lifter, I Love You Less

My first show of 2013 will probably focus on my ARE WE THERE, YETI!? collection, which has taken rather longer to be completed, but which hopefully should be out as the start of December.

Thank you to every one who came along, a total of £36 was raised on the night for the COMBAT STRESS charity.

 

Oh - and seeing as we've had the last Yeti live show of 2012 (there should be more videos still to come before the end of the year!), I thought that I'd reveal the dates for 2013, which are as follows...

 

Friday 19th April 2013

Friday 19th July 2013

Friday 13th September 2013

Friday 29th November 2013

 

I'm thinking that I'll have to make the Friday 13th September date a spooky night of some sort!

 

Next week, hopefully, we'll be looking at the next Shy Yeti On Location video and I am also hoping to be able to announce the release date of ARE WE THERE, YETI!? There may even be one or two more photos from the Venice trip!

 

More soon!

Yeti hugs,

Paul xx

This post and all content is Copyright Paul Chandler 2012