WE'RE GOING BACK IN TIME FOR THE SHY LIFE PODCAST...

IT'S TIME TO UNVEIL ANOTHER EPISODE...

Hello beasties!!

This time I've got some photos to share with you which compliment my latest podcast episode. The episode was recorded and all the photos taken on Monday 2nd January 2017 - as follows...

THE SHY LIFE PODCAST - 57: BIG BLUE PLAQUES AND TIME MACHINES...

Here we are for episode FIFTY SEVEN - as Paul Toby and Yeti Uncle John head off on a little adventure en route to meeting Dameus Twinklehorn who is unveiling a commemorative plaque near Earl's Court, London. But there is also a time machine involved - or is there - might it just be a rumour? Listen and maybe you'll learn the answer - or not!! Our next episode, number 58 - sees Mr Yeti and his friend Nick G heading out for a game of bingo! It'll be out 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 57 was recorded on the 2nd January 2017.

This episode can be downloaded on iTunes, Acast, Podbean and also from Soundcloud at the following link:

57: https://soundcloud.com/shyyeti/the-shy-life-podcast-57-big-blue-plaques-and-time-machines

There are a number of poems in this episode - YETI SPAGHETTI, A BEAR NEEDS TO ITCH, BROMPTON CEMETERY and HANGING OUT IN GRAVEYARDS WITH MY SWEETHEART were especially recorded during January 2017, whilst GRANNY ETHEL KEEPS THEM DECENT comes from 2007's SHY YETI FINEST HOME-BREWED VERSE album, also available on BANDCAMP at https://shyyeti.bandcamp.com/album/shy-yetis-finest-home-brewed-verse

Here are some photos from behind the scenes...

The photos appear here in the opposite order that they were taken - with photos from Brompton Cemetery, The Brompton Time Machine etc appearing first. All other photos were taken in locations that are discussed during episode 57 - for instance, looking out across the Thames etc.

Before we go I also have a short story - it's an idea that Toby and I discussed during one of graveyard trips - an idea that I'd kind of forgotten to do anything with until Toby reminded me about it during the recording of episode 57; in fact you'll hear him bring up the topic during that particular show. So, anyway, I decided to do something about it - as it is very "me"; although in the end I wrote a slightly different version of the idea. Rather than making it about somebody being surprised by the exact nature of the person who they meet in the cemetery it would appear that this was what they had been planning all along.

Had I wrote this years ago I might have gone along more straight spooky lines, but I fear that today people would guess the twist too easily. I mean, they may still do! This is one of the reasons ideas like this best work out as really short prose pieces. I remember reading an old short story from the 50s or 60s that went on for pages and pages and thought it was going to surprise you at the end by revealing that one of the main characters was a werewolf. Sadly it was so obviously sign-posted that you knew exactly what the twist was going to be almost from the start. I suppose when the story was written the reader might not have been so quick to second-guess a twist like this. How times change... Anyway!

Next time I'll either be sharing with you another of my Yeti scripts or I'll be choosing a further scene from my recent script-book, YETI DON'T FALL BACKWARDS to share with you...

Yeti hugs,

More soon!

Paul xx

DEAD LEAVES AND DATING APPS...

He wasn't asking for much...
People laughed when he said he was looking for love; at his age...
"The older you get the more you'll find romantic love to be over-rated..."
He didn't agree and kept searching; 
All he really craved for was companionship - affection...

There was time - he was prepared to wait for the right person...

That winter day in the cemetery... 
The trees rained down their dead leaves in sympathy - 
It was cold and he was already beginning to wonder why he had gone there...
Sometimes his search took him to the strangest of places...
He convinced himself that he was there to take photos -
To research the gravestones of famous dead celebrities...
To investigate further that story he'd read off the internet -
The one about a time machine hidden inside one of the mausoleums...
But that wasn't the only thing that he'd read about...
He'd read on forums that this place was popular with all kinds of people;
For so many different reasons,,,
He was definitely curious about a number of those reasons;
Although even admitting that to himself made him nervous...
Sitting there on a bench in a quiet area of the cemetery he fired up his phone...
Clicking onto the app he was surprised by just how many people with profiles were in the area...
Surprised by the messages that he quickly began to receive...
"Want to meet up?", "How are you doing, handsome?" Want to hook up?"
They were close - growing closer - insistent - encouraging...
And from the looks of their photos, also slightly passed their best-by-dates.
Smiling faces greeted him as he flicked through the profiles -
But every picture gave itself away - the fashions - the hair-styles...
These were not current photographs - these were not even living personages...
No, skeletons, spectres, poltergeists, zombies and the twitching undead...
All of them keen to meet - and yet...
Proper warmth - proper cuddles don't come easily...
None of those potential loves held any interest to him...
There was no connection... No reason to rush into anything...

He still had time - was prepared to wait for the right person...

Dead or alive...

Thank you to Toby for brainstorming the original idea with me and for reminding me to write it during the recording of Episode 57 of The Shy Life Podcast: Big Blue Plaques And Time Machines. It was written between 28th February and 3rd March 2017, with some tweaking just before it was posted. Originally I had intended to write it as a short story, but I think it works better as flash prose - and as I mentioned above - the story changed as I began writing it.

This post and all contents are Copyright Paul Chandler, 2017.