Hello beasties!
This week I'm heading back to Salisbury again, where I grew up... Yes! I know - I was only there a week or so ago, just after Christmas - but I have been back there to launch one of our recent podcast episodes; much of which was recorded there...
Okay... That's not, strictly speaking, true - it's actually my mum and dad's birthdays and I have a dentist appointment - but that first statement sounds better, right!?
Anyway - I will, hopefully have a new prose piece for you at the end of this post...
Let me share with you our two most recent podcast episodes!!
Here we are for episode FORTY SIX sees THE SHY LIFE PODCAST pause the drama to do a quick recap of the week between Christmas and New Year! The result is an episode full of poetry, seasonal cheer, travel and special guests! Those guests include Paul H and all 4 members of my family, we will also be hearing from many of our regulars - with even brief cameos by Toby, Deeley, Nick G and Harry F! ...AND GUESS WHAT!?! IT'S OUR LONGEST EPISODE YET!!! Don't worry - it's very varied; we think you'll love it! Please email me at shyyeti@yahoo.co.uk if you have any comments - you can even send me a sound-file and I'll include it on the show. The music is by Shy Yeti and Luca. This episode and all contents are Copyright Paul Chandler, 2017. Episode 46 was recorded between 24th December and 1st January 2017.
THE SHY LIFE PODCAST - 47: OUT WITH THE OLD...
Here we are for episode FORTY SEVEN - where we present the resolution of our New Year's Eve show (episode 45). Who will survive Cromitty's evil plan and what can the Paul's do to help! Once this is resolved we join Paul and John as they file through some "lost" material from the podcast - a mixture of memories, poems and chats, including one with Mr Nick Goodman. There is also a slightly sinister piece that was originally sent for inclusion on a another show. Our next episode, number 48 - will be a recording of our next live show - released soon! Please email me at shyyeti@yahoo.co.uk if you have any comments - you can even send me a sound-file and I'll include it on the show. The music is by Shy Yeti and Luca. This episode and all contents are Copyright Paul Chandler, 2017. Episode 47 was recorded between 5th and the 10th January 2017, with "lost clips" dating back to August 2016 and the autumn.
This weekend just gone was my 4th LIVE Pride48 broadcast and this time I was broadcasting from my parent's house in Yeti Manors. I also recorded a number of different interviews and chats with Nick Goodman during my stay - and one of these talks appears as an extra bonus on my recording of that live show; due out any day now... More about that next post!
Here below are some photos from my trip to Salisbury just after Christmas - where I was reunited with my favourite niece, Alena. She and I can be heard nattering away on episode 46 of THE SHY LIFE PODCAST - although there is more madness to come in a future show - as I recorded a complete episode with her and also with my dad, brother and mum during the same trip. You'll probably have to wait until February or March to hear that one though.
Oh - and I've also begun to randomly load episodes of the old SUTTON PARK series onto my MRSHYYETI Youtube account... Nick has been busy converting them to digital - but rather than release them in any specific order I am currently just picking pairs of episodes to showcase different eras of the show, which originally ran between 1992 and 2000,
The first two episodes released are from August 1995 and star myself, my brother and include cameos from my Great Aunt Jessie Chandler, not to mention the odd appearance from my mum and dad. The episodes are taken off the master-tapes so do not have any title sequences, sound effects or music. I may get around to doing more with them once I get around to spending more time on the project - but it really depends on how much interest there is in me doing so, as to edit and add material is time consuming and I don't want it to eat into my podcasting or writing time, which is already limited. The unedited episodes are between 7 and 11 minutes on this occasion - so not very long - with some nice location work in Yorkshire.
This is a bit of an experiment - the unedited footage from episode 988 of the original Sutton Park series, from August 1995. There is no music or special effects on this version of the episode - as they were never completed; this copy comes from the original tapes.
Here are the details:
SUTTON PARK - PART 988
Link: https://youtu.be/-TfpsTQHZ7A
Brief synopsis: Paul is on holiday up North with his family - but there are evil things going on - namely the return of one of the wickest of the Sutton Park enemies!!
SUTTON PARK - PART 989
Link: https://youtu.be/za3V8jHZ88Y
Brief synopsis: Auntie Jessie has gone missing! With Katrina Hortensia on the loose - can Paul and Graham save Auntie before her old nemesis, Katrina, does something wicked and evil to her!?!
I hope to load further episodes and to include audio clips in SHY LIFE PODCAST episodes in the near future. There are also many of my SHY YETI ON LOCATION episodes recorded between about 2010 and 2012 on this account, not to mention the SUTTON PARK SW1 reboot episodes from the same time. It's nice to see that they're still being watched, with some of them having had 1000s of hits since they were first loaded.
Next time I really do hope to begin telling you about my long awaited BEAST OF FRIENDS - MOVIE SCRIPT, otherwise known as YETI DON'T FALL BACKWARDS - which has been a long two and half years in the making! Yes, indeed...
The first two episodes released are from August 1995 and star myself, my brother and include cameos from my Great Aunt Jessie Chandler, not to mention the odd appearance from my mum and dad. The episodes are taken off the master-tapes so do not have any title sequences, sound effects or music. I may get around to doing more with them once I get around to spending more time on the project - but it really depends on how much interest there is in me doing so, as to edit and add material is time consuming and I don't want it to eat into my podcasting or writing time, which is already limited. The unedited episodes are between 7 and 11 minutes on this occasion - so not very long - with some nice location work in Yorkshire.
This is a bit of an experiment - the unedited footage from episode 988 of the original Sutton Park series, from August 1995. There is no music or special effects on this version of the episode - as they were never completed; this copy comes from the original tapes.
Here are the details:
SUTTON PARK - PART 988
Link: https://youtu.be/-TfpsTQHZ7A
Brief synopsis: Paul is on holiday up North with his family - but there are evil things going on - namely the return of one of the wickest of the Sutton Park enemies!!
SUTTON PARK - PART 989
Link: https://youtu.be/za3V8jHZ88Y
Brief synopsis: Auntie Jessie has gone missing! With Katrina Hortensia on the loose - can Paul and Graham save Auntie before her old nemesis, Katrina, does something wicked and evil to her!?!
I hope to load further episodes and to include audio clips in SHY LIFE PODCAST episodes in the near future. There are also many of my SHY YETI ON LOCATION episodes recorded between about 2010 and 2012 on this account, not to mention the SUTTON PARK SW1 reboot episodes from the same time. It's nice to see that they're still being watched, with some of them having had 1000s of hits since they were first loaded.
Next time I really do hope to begin telling you about my long awaited BEAST OF FRIENDS - MOVIE SCRIPT, otherwise known as YETI DON'T FALL BACKWARDS - which has been a long two and half years in the making! Yes, indeed...
More soon!
Yeti hugs,
Paul xx
P.S. I came up with the idea for this short prose piece on Tuesday 10th January 2017 having found some old letters whilst clearing out boxes back at my parent's house. What occurs in the piece has not directly happened to me - but it is easy to imagine it doing so and some of the details (such as me being a prolific letter writer) are true to life. Often when going through letters you find things that almost seem to have re-sealed themselves - having only been read once twenty years ago... One could almost believe that they had never been opened... What if they hadn't been opened somehow? This could be the last communication you ever experience from this much loved person - even though they are long since gone and chronologically it might not be the last thing they ever said to you; but it's still a poignant moment. In the end, having made notes on the 10th, I wrote the piece between Wednesday 11th and 17th January 2017 for publishing in this particular blog-post.
GREAT AUNTIE JESSIE'S LAST LETTER...
Filing through boxes of old memories brought down from the loft -
I find an envelope of letters dating back to the 1980s...
I'd been a prolific collector of pen-pals as a teenager...
When most kids are out there in search of romance -
All I wanted was people to write to from all over the world...
I had them too - about fifty of them...
Many were connected with a television show that I was passionate about; still am really.
I wrote to many of them for years - but as time went on - those numbers dwindled...
Some, of course, had become friends in real life...
As I grew older I also grew more mobile -
And the friends that I'd made and gotten on with most successfully -
Became easy to meet up with...
By the time I was at University in the 1990s,
I was back to just writing to one of two people...
I still sent a lot of postcards when I was away; again still do...
But as far as letters were concerned it was mainly just a couple of old school friends -
And my beloved Great Auntie Jessie....
There were many letters written between us and I have kept a number of them -
As mementos of our time together...
She is gone now - but it is always good to be reminded of my trips to see her...
To read back over plans either about to happen -
Or reviewing ones that, at the time, had just occurred...
Holidays shared - usually as a family, even in my late teens...
We often shared a villa when we went away to Spain...
I was never the sort of child who particularly cared whether I spent time -
With people much older than me - in fact I preferred them to people of my own age...
Reading through those letters I am reminded of the many weekends -
Spent with her and the cats, drinking gin and tonic and playing cards...
Nice lunches had out at local hotels or even nice dinners cooked by her....
At the time I really thought those days would never end...
I see it now - lying amongst the opened letters...
There is one there from Auntie that doesn't appear to ever have been touched...
It has my name on it - but it seems to be sealed...
How could it be that I never read it?
Could it be a trick of the light? Might it have resealed itself?
The loft gets damp in the winter... Could that be it?
I hold the letter in my hand...
It's 30 years old - the postmark confirms that...
But it doesn't look damp and mostly certainly it doesn't look like it's ever been opened...
Maybe this one slipped through; I did used to receive so many...
Could it have been sent just before one of our meetups?
Maybe it was written just to confirm arrangements; without need for reply?
Perhaps... Perhaps.... Perhaps, it just got lost - now fortunately found...
I'm not imagining things...
This letter - this new letter - is really there...
Gently I tear it open...
As I begin to read, my vision begins to blur; misting over...
This is Auntie's last letter to me...
How glad I am to finally receive it now...
So unexpected...
This post and all contents are Copyright Paul Chandler, 2017.
