Hello beasties!
This week I'll be telling you about our latest podcast episodes - as well as sharing with you a short prose piece on the theme of inspiration... First up here is all you need to know about episode 51 and 52 of THE SHY LIFE PODCAST... The first concerns friend of the show, Brenda Boo from the LOTSL podcast and the second is our Valentine's episode for 2017. Here is a bit more about them both...
Here we are for episode FIFTY ONE - where we are pleased and privileged to welcome Brenda Boo back to the show for a proper chitter-chat. There are also some poems - some wintery walks and we also catchup with some of our regulars. Our next episode, number 52 - will be our special Valentine's Day show. Don't worry, we're taking the cynical approach - we won't be presenting anything too sickly! Anyway, it'll be out by the 14th, if not slightly before!! 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. Thank you to Brenda Boo for agreeing to be out guest this episode. *Additional thanks to Tim and James from Tastes Like Burning for allowing me to use clips from their show. This episode and all contents, except for *, are Copyright Paul Chandler, 2017. Episode 51 was recorded between 19th November 2016 and the 20th January 2017.
Here we are for episode FIFTY TWO and Shy Yeti is sharing some thoughts for Valentine's Day - but they're not necessarily warm and fuzzy thoughts! Oh no... You forget - this is THE SHY LIFE PODCAST and we're more about pulling fun at days like these... This episode Paul catches up with Wifey Jo to discuss some of their loves - there are lots of cheery poems for singletons and Nick G selects some of his favourite romantic records from The Vinyl Vault. All this and our regulars return to share some of their Valentine's musings! Our next episode, number 53, sees the return of a Young American - although she was born in Britain, so... anyway! 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 52 was recorded between 19th December 2016 and 14th January 2017. Additional thanks to Toppie Smellie for the show-art!!
Our prose piece this time was written
between the 7th and the 10th February 2017, although the idea first came to me
on 27th January 2017. It wasn't an easy piece to complete and originally I was going to have written about more professions - but in the end condensed it into two jobs that do have associations with reading a (sacred) text - be it an A to Z for a taxi driver or a classification guide for a librarian. It was me joking about having to "consult the holy book" to catalogue some new stock that partly triggered me to consider writing the piece.
Not only this, but further inspiration came to me after I heard people I know talking about their jobs - speaking like their work was up there in importance alongside hospital employees; when they are really no more than a middle manager with an inflated opinion of their own importance. This was also around the time that tube drivers and train companies seemed to be striking every other minute - causing most sane people to comment that in this day and age they were lucky to even have jobs and were well-paid by most people's standards; getting far more than nurses do, for instance.
I wasn't so worried about sparing the blushes of such people - but did want to be careful with the tone and choose the professions carefully for parodying... As mentioned, I had already had a silly conversation with colleagues about taking my own job seriously. On the other hand the amount of people who presume that pretty much anyone can run a library is more than a little ignorant in itself, considering that I had to study for three years at University to do the job I do today. In a way this illustrates that the whole subject of taking jobs seriously versus over-seriously can bring up a number of issues... Still, I always enjoy writing library-related pieces. Of course everyone is different - one person might struggle doing a job that another may sail through...
Anyway... Never mind that... It still works as a reality check to remind us not to take ourselves too seriously or to inflate our own importance when what we do might be valuable, but not up there as an emergency service. Our work may well be important - but is it THAT important? It's all relative.
Not only this, but further inspiration came to me after I heard people I know talking about their jobs - speaking like their work was up there in importance alongside hospital employees; when they are really no more than a middle manager with an inflated opinion of their own importance. This was also around the time that tube drivers and train companies seemed to be striking every other minute - causing most sane people to comment that in this day and age they were lucky to even have jobs and were well-paid by most people's standards; getting far more than nurses do, for instance.
I wasn't so worried about sparing the blushes of such people - but did want to be careful with the tone and choose the professions carefully for parodying... As mentioned, I had already had a silly conversation with colleagues about taking my own job seriously. On the other hand the amount of people who presume that pretty much anyone can run a library is more than a little ignorant in itself, considering that I had to study for three years at University to do the job I do today. In a way this illustrates that the whole subject of taking jobs seriously versus over-seriously can bring up a number of issues... Still, I always enjoy writing library-related pieces. Of course everyone is different - one person might struggle doing a job that another may sail through...
Anyway... Never mind that... It still works as a reality check to remind us not to take ourselves too seriously or to inflate our own importance when what we do might be valuable, but not up there as an emergency service. Our work may well be important - but is it THAT important? It's all relative.
Next time we'll either be sharing with you another Shy Yeti sketch or possibly we'll be discussing the new BEAST OF FRIENDS special script-book... There's lots going on!
Take care - more soon,
Yeti hugs,
Paul (aka Shy Yeti) xx
I'm sorry, I don't mean to be a bore -
But I simply must channel my muse...
Being a taxi-driver isn't as easy as you'd think...
Driving the taxi is only the start of it...
You need "The Knowledge" -
Allow me to study the sacred texts -
Ye Olde London A-Z...
Follow me... Follow me...
And I shall show you the way...
As long as their aren't road-works...
Give me some space now -
I need to be able to breathe...
One must concentrate...
The road ahead is a difficult one...
I am part of an elite band of brothers and sisters -
Who weave their magic and uphold the safety of the streets...
Things like this need preparation - one must get oneself into the zone...
Just avoid the double yellow lines...
Writers, musicians, actors, singers, space men...
They all get to pray to their gods...
They all get to channel their muse...
Well, they're not the only ones...
Baby-sitters of the world unite...
Park Keepers - rise up and be heard!
Stamp collectors - song-birds - social-workers...
Each deserve a chance to commune with a higher inspiration...
Post men - pole-dancers - pet shop owners....
Apologies for interrupting -But I really need to channel my muse...
You don't just become a librarian by accident...
Personally, I heard voices from a very early age...
Mother said that was because I used to fall asleep with my ear-phones on...
But I really don't think it was that simple; this was a calling...
The pursuit of knowledge - that endless search for information...
That dedication doesn't come to just anybody...
We are the chosen ones - the chosen few...
Quiet now, whilst I study the sacred text...
Universal Decimal Classification Scheme, Volume 1...
Volume 2 is less of a page turner - it's just the alphabetical index...
Cataloguing and classifying new books is not a simple task...
Let me cast the runes and seek the answer...
Should this book be filed under 355.01 or 355,48?
We do not always receive the answer that we might like to hear...
The right solution does not always come easily...
Silence please... There are great minds at work here -
From librarians to lollypop ladies...
Not to mention all the other everyday heroes out there...
No, don't you ever under-estimate them -
Or you do so at your peril!
(Which may even mean library fines... We're talking pounds here - not pennies!)
This post and all contents are Copyright Paul Chandler, 2017.
