Hello beasties!
This week I am reprinting an interview which THE BEARGRRRIAN GAZETTE did with me recently - but first up there are details about the latest podcast episodes... Oh... And that's me - aged about 12 in 1986, just in case you were wondering!
THE SHY LIFE PODCAST - 159: WHEN HARRY MET YETI... (AGAIN!)
Here we are for episode 159 and Paul catches up with old friend Harry to reflect on filming together back in the 90s and also to try out some new cologne! It's podcasting gold. Paul and Harry also discuss trends in music and TV/film which annoy them or which they wish could somehow evolve! This episode Martin and Cromitty also share some clips of Paul and Harry from May 2000 in Brighton behind-the-scenes on the filming of a monologue called HACK that Paul wrote. All that and Yeti Uncle John receives a confusing yeti which may prevent him from leaving for his new job. Our next episode, number 160 and features Paul and Nick discussing the big music hits of the years that they were both born. Do join us, won't you?! 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. All content of this episode is Copyright Paul Chandler, 2018. Episode 159 was recorded between the 8th February and 2nd April 2018. All material with Harry recorded 8/2/2018.
This episode can be downloaded on iTunes, Acast, Podbean and also from Soundcloud at the following link:
159: https://soundcloud.com/shyyeti/the-shy-life-podcast-159-when-harry-met-yeti-again
Next up we have a music-related episode with Nick and Paul where they discuss music that was big during the years that they were born - all that and more from the regulars...
This episode can be downloaded on iTunes, Acast, Podbean and also from Soundcloud at the following link:
159: https://soundcloud.com/shyyeti/the-shy-life-podcast-159-when-harry-met-yeti-again
Next up we have a music-related episode with Nick and Paul where they discuss music that was big during the years that they were born - all that and more from the regulars...
Here we are for episode 160 and Paul catches up with his old friend Nick to discuss the big musical hits of the years that they were born; uncovering a number of favorites and hearing some of the regulars opinions along the way. Our next episode, number 161 sees Mr Yeti chilling out on his holiday, answering questions from listeners - but also asking some random questions of returning special guest, Nick. Do join us, won't you?! 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. All content of this episode is Copyright Paul Chandler, 2018. Episode 160 was recorded between the 10th - 12th March 2018. Nick G conversation recorded on Saturday 10th March 2018.
This episode can be downloaded on iTunes, Acast, Podbean and also from Soundcloud at the following link:
160: https://soundcloud.com/shyyeti/the-shy-life-podcast-160-music-on-your-birthday
This episode can be downloaded on iTunes, Acast, Podbean and also from Soundcloud at the following link:
160: https://soundcloud.com/shyyeti/the-shy-life-podcast-160-music-on-your-birthday
Here we are for episode 161 and Paul is on vacation - but his idea of fun is recording more episodes of the podcast! So whilst the regulars get an episode off Paul talks about his weeks off so far... This episode is also full of questions... Nick gets to answer some random questions whilst old friends Andrew and Lisa from the Round The Archives podcast have 10 questions for Paul himself. As if that isn't enough a number of the Smellcast team have recorded messages in hope of learning a little more about what makes a yeti tick. Thank you to Nick Goodman, Auntie Tappie, Sassy McSasssass, Alfred P W and Delores, also to Toppie, Andrew T and Lisa P - not to forget Mum and Dad for their brief cameos. Our next episode, number 162 finds us face to face with Friday The 13th! Will it be kind to Mr Yeti or will there be trouble!?! Do join us, won't you?! 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. All content of this episode is Copyright Paul Chandler, 2018 and was recorded between the 10th March - 11th April 2018.
This episode can be downloaded on iTunes, Acast, Podbean and also from Soundcloud at the following link:
161: https://soundcloud.com/shyyeti/the-shy-life-podcast-161-whats-with-all-the-questions-vacation-edition
Before we move on to our interview - here is an update on THE SHY LIFE PODCAST episodes that are due out over the next month or so...
This episode can be downloaded on iTunes, Acast, Podbean and also from Soundcloud at the following link:
161: https://soundcloud.com/shyyeti/the-shy-life-podcast-161-whats-with-all-the-questions-vacation-edition
Before we move on to our interview - here is an update on THE SHY LIFE PODCAST episodes that are due out over the next month or so...
Welcome to April and here we are with all manner of exciting episodes of the show...
162. What I Did On Friday The Thirteenth...
Paul tries to find something creepy for Friday The 13th - but at the same time we get to catch up with Toppie Smellie of The Smellcast.
163. Live Pride48 Show - April 2018
Paul interacts with the chat-room whilst reflecting over his week away - meanwhile he also shares his thoughts about a weird network that he has recently been introduced to.
164. Super Mystery Guest Episode
Paul talks with an extra-special guest - but we can't reveal whom quite yet!
165. Ikk Goes For A Check-up
In which Ikk goes for checkup after his recent troubles... Will he get a clean bill of health?
166. Return Of The Brompton Time Machine
This one has also brewing for quite some time - in fact I started work on it when we lasted visited Brompton Cemetery in early January 2017 and then recorded scenes with a number of guests throughout 2017; finally I'm ready to release it!
167. Call Me By Pie Name
Paul recalls when Charlie Grrr almost married a pie that he had become besotted with - but sometimes love does not win out...
168. A Poetry Anniversary
Last week I also recorded most of an episode that mentions the 2nd anniversary - but also celebrates 10 years of SHY YETI'S INCREDIBLE PIE-CRUST COLLECTION (2008).
169. A Call-Back From A Far-Off Place
Flashback Episode. Paul falls for a trick which leads him to a far off place and meets an old nemesis... or two!
170. Digging Into Unheard Of Places
Paul digs through the archives to find a few interesting conversations that never made it onto shows.
Additionally:
### Radios and Reminiscences
Whilst Paul heads back onto local radio - Cromitty has picked out some more SUTTON PARK clips.
### Re-connecting With The Past
Paul catches up with Cromitty and Martin and is excited to learn that Cuthbert has a few added advances that makes it possible to re-connect with the past via old episodes of SUTTON PARK... Ikk is slightly doubtful about it all - but he and Paul soon get to experience the process first-hand.
### Bettina and the robot butler
This episode sees Paul visiting Bettina only to find out that the house has recently become robotically automated; also Wifey Jo play a card game with Cuthbert.
### The Great Bingo Scam
Someone is rigging the bingo so that they win - is it one of the regulars or someone more sinister?
### Gordon The Crypt-keeper Returns
Mr Yeti feels bad about not involving Gordon The Cryptkeeper in the 2017 Christmas Special like he promised - but Gordon seems to be unaware of what month it is, so they begin work on a Christmas Show; it's all a bit awkward really!
### Yeti Uncle John's Leaving Party
Yeti Uncle John prepares for his new job in outer space - but some of the regulars are concerned by what lies in store for their old friend...
### The Halloween Episode 2018
Paul and the gang find that celebrating Halloween is harder than usual in 2018.
That's all for now... Take care - more soon,
Yeti hugs,
Paul (aka Shy Yeti) xx
Time to move on now to our interview - conducted by THE BEARGRRRIAN GAZETTE recently.
A FOURTEENTH SLIGHTLY-OVER 60 SECOND CHAT WITH SHY YETI
Here is a recent interview from Beargrrria’s top magazine for chat; THE BEARGRRRIAN GAZETTE. They know me there partly due to my dubious connection with Beargrrrian superstar, Charlie Grrr. This is the 14th time that they have interviewed me in recent years – they like to check up on me every six months or so. As usual I mainly discuss what I’m up to creatively – so here’s what they asked and what I said in reply; straight from the yeti’s mouth, as it were!!!
Q. Welcome Mr Yeti!
Hello… It’s awfully nice to be back with you!
Q. What are your first releases lined up for early 2018? Have you released anything since we last spoke?
A. Other than the multiple episodes of the podcast? I presume you mean releasing things in a printed format – if so then no, but I am about to… A number of the projects that I’ve been working on for the last 2-3 years are now almost ready to be released.
Q. What projects are you currently working on?
A. Well, I’m doing final rewrites and proofing on the third seasons of KENSINGTON GORE and HOT STUFF!! – the first drafts have been written for some time, so it’s nice to finally be working towards getting them released. I’m also putting the finishing touches to the SHY YETI SKETCH BOOK based on scripts that I published on my blog between 2016 and 2017. In addition to that I have a new book of prose and poetry provisionally entitled GETTING BLOGGY WITH SHY YETI, which contains all the poems and short prose that I released on my blog between 2015 and 2017. I’m also putting together a belated 25th anniversary “best of” of my poetry which combines my first two main compilations and then updates it from 2012 when SHY YETI STILL RULES OKAY was published. The new collection is going to be called THE GRRREATEST HITS OF SHY YETI. On top of all that I’m writing the 5th season of HOT STUFF and the 4th season of KENSINGTON GORE – but more on that in a moment! To finish with I have the blog which I write most weeks – a few scripts to go with the podcast – my shared story with Nick Goodman and any time that is left when I’m not recording I hope to put towards working on one of the two Mouse Of Commons books that are still in the pipeline.
Q. How do you see the future of both KENSINGTON GORE and HOT STUFF?
A. Well, I am just wrapping up the 4th season of KENSINGTON GORE and the 5th season of HOT STUFF!! and my plans for both series are slightly different. Somewhere along the way HS got a season ahead of KG and surprisingly – considering it’s a more limited setting HS is the show that has been providing me with new ideas. Basically my plan is to work on a 6th season of HS and to rest KG for now – but to have most, if not all, of the main characters (Warren, Katrina, PJ and Ashley) come across to be involved in the 6th HS season. It kind of works well as during that season a good deal of the HS team are going to be residing in a mirror-dimension and so having these visitors show up helps to repopulate the library and there is also possibly some unresolved issues between Horner and Ashley which Warren and Tula may also have issues with!
Q. Will you also be writing more BEAST OF FRIENDS episodes?
A. Yes! I’m currently working on another “lost” set of episodes – last year I published YETI DON’T FALL BACKWARD a BEAST OF FRIENDS “missing episode” in the form of a movie length script. This time it’s a whole season worth that fits in somewhere towards the end of season 1; there is even a slightly different cast – but you’ll have to wait and see how that all works out! It’s a stand-alone season with an arc that completes itself over the eight scripts and so can be read whether you know the series or not; if you don’t already know the main characters then you can meet them without needing to have read any of the other episodes.
Q. Are you working on another collection of poetry?
A. Well, other than the one I’ll be releasing this year – I expect my next collection to come together in a similar way where it is made up of things that I write for the blog over the next 2-3 years. This may, of course, change if I start to write more shorter pieces – but I already have one poem raring to go that I finished just before Christmas and intend to set that aside as the first piece for my next collection. At the moment I’m also working on combining and updating my two “best of collections” into one volume. Of course, every episode of the podcast also includes one of my poems or short stories – so it very much feels as if I’m still actively curating my poetry oeuvre even if I’m not adding to it at any great speed at the moment. Having written poetry pretty solidly between 2001 and 2014 it feels like a good time to be focusing on other projects.
Q. Did you do any live poetry shows in 2017?
A. No live shows as such last year – although I did read live on the radio a number of times – which is quite live enough for me and a lot more cosy! No heckling – not that I’ve ever experienced any real heckling because my audience has always been there because they want to be rather than being random strangers! I did have it very easy! I'm not saying that I won't do more live shows in the future - but I'm more studio-based at the moment! I never was a terribly sociable yeti...
Q. How are things going with the Shy Yeti scripts?
A. I’ve not written any new ones for a while – but only because I am currently working on a book of the first batch – which I am currently editing and formatting. However once the first script book is out I will continue to write a second series of scripts which will initially debut on my blog. I’ve also been writing scripts for guest artistes to perform on the podcast – so that is fitting into my script-writing space. That said some of these scripts might become future Shy Yeti scripts in themselves with only a little rewritingt. At any rate – I think it’s best to get the ones I’ve already completed out there before I think up some more; but never fear I do have plenty of ideas for the future!
Q. You have recently passed your 150th episode of the podcast… Is there anything that you can tell us about forthcoming shows going into summer 2018?
A. We didn’t really celebrate that land-mark – episode 150 came and went before I’d even had a chance to think about it. We will be referring to the 2nd anniversary of the show next month - most probably during our May live show. To be honest I’m not really thinking that we should celebrate an anniversary again until we reach episode 250 – although I’m sure we’ll do something when we hit 200 later this year. It’s unlikely that we’ll reach episode 250 until 2019. As for forthcoming shows for the summer we definitely have ideas – I imagine there will be a number of episodes inspired by my various holidays during the year…
Q. Which episodes that you’ve released recently were you most pleased with?
A. The ones that I did over Christmas were great fun and I was in two minds about doing three live shows that month but in the end I set myself some fun challenges and had a few people in the chat-room even on Christmas Day; the Christmas episode had Albert The Dragon showing up and at new year we were nearly squashed by a space grenade. I was also really happy with my official Christmas episode which came together nicely with a ghostly angle and an update on the Dameus Twinklehorn story! The Valentine’s episode came together well – but I was rushing to get that finished whilst it was still the 14th – for a short episode it took a lot of editing work, even though I had a good five days to get it done! Most recently I enjoyed being able to put out an April Fools' episode - it was one that I'd been working on for a while and had written a script for - it also saw the return of Antique Dealer, Brocante - and I'd like to thank ThatPeterG of LOTSL for enabling that to happen.
Q. Do you still find the live podcasts enjoyable?
A. I definitely find that I enjoy them more the harder I make them for myself – ie: trying to balance a basic episode with responding to the chatroom whilst trying to weave in some kind of fiction. I clearly like a challenge! At Christmas we had a mysterious Santa Claus character in the chat-room – at New Year we nearly got exploded by space aliens - during January’s live episode Ikk got ill and almost died! It’s all go and if I’ve planned some kind of story element then if the chat-room isn’t very full then it gives me other things to focus on; I learnt that one when nobody was available during my November live episode! I love it when people are in the chat-room, don’t get me wrong – but it actually helped, in the long run, to be able to further the story that month.
Q. Do you have any special guests lined up for future episodes?
A. I have a bit of a wish-list and a few guests who I’ve discussed talking to – but it can be quite difficult to pin people down. It is always lovely to record with my regulars like Yeti Uncle John, Cromitty, Ikk, Bettina, Dameus etc and then also my recurring guests like Nick, Wifey Jo, Toppie, Paul H, Trowby and Lisa etc – allowing me to have a visiting guest from time to time whenever an opportunity occurs. We worked in a very similar way on SUTTON PARK - we could work on new episodes with whoever was around. I’m getting to the stage where I want to do a second or third interview with a number of my guests and I also have a list of guests who are doing acting rather than chatting as they are able to record in their own time rather than needing to schedule to record live. I am recently back from a week away on my own which gave me time to record with some of my favourite podcasters (and podcasts!) Always fun!
Q. What do you have in store for the next few months of 2018?
A. Well, we’re heading towards that time of the year when I start going on holiday – which is always a busy and exciting time… I’ve worked out most of my trips for this year – I have Copenhagen and Marseilles in May - Scotland in July - Vienna in August and then... well, I think it will be somewhere different in Italy for my birthday in November.
Q. Are you still making new music for the show?
A. Yes, using Garageband. I don’t get to use it as often as I’d like to – although as I usually put together my tunes on my phone I can do it on the move; it’s just not always possible to fit it in during a crowded commute! I need a seat to concentrate – and maybe a little arm room too so I can play the instruments well. Ahem. Hopefully I’ll be getting a bit more time during time off - in fact I did manage to work on one new piece whilst I was in Kent! Watch this space! I really want some new musical tracks for the show as we head into summer.
Q. Are you still making cameos on other podcasts?
A. Yes, when I’m asked. Whilst in Kent I recorded with the LOTSL team for a new episode - which I hope to be out soon-ish… I’m still sending messages into BIG FATTY ONLINE and occasionally to VERA SPEAKS… FOR REAL, but those are pre-recordings rather than actual live appearances; still – they are fun to do and are often re-broadcast on my show.
Q. Have you been back on hospital radio since we last chatted?
A. Yes, indeed – we recorded a Radio Wey show just before Christmas which was broadcast on Christmas Day and I’ve been back twice since then - once in early February for a loosely-themed Valentine’s Day episode and then once again just before Easter. I recorded much of what we got up to but haven't released it yet - my aim being to combine the material from both and to include some of the regulars too. We haven't got ourselves a date for our next appearance - but have been talking about doing so some time in late May.
Well, Gladstone and Ollie made their annual appearance on my blog for my Christmas story – the way we’re going there will end up being a book of these scripts before long. The regulars and I also managed to recreate the 2016 Christmas script on the Christmas Day episode of the podcast – which turned out to be kind of chaotic, but fun. I still have a number of Mouse short stories to type and another novel – but those are still a long way off being completed. I really should focus on typing those short stories first. I'd hoped to do so when I was away in Kent - but the week just flew by!
Q. Would we be right in saying that your blog is still going strong?
A. Oh yes – at very least I use it as a place to discuss the podcast and share photos – but it’s also a space for my holiday diaries or any short piece of prose or new poem that I might complete. It won't be going away any time soon!
Q. Do you still intend to take the podcast out on location during 2018 and if so have you been anywhere interesting of late?
A. Absolutely, yes. So far we’ve not been anywhere terribly glamorous – Belgrave Square Gardens, St George’s Hospital – Tooting, Hampton Court – all interesting but mostly they’ve just been a sound backdrop for episodes and not necessarily identified as such. However as the year goes on and I start taking holidays then it should get a little more exciting. I was recording in Canterbury just the other day - and as mentioned, I'm off to Copenhagen in May for a start…
Q. Exciting news! Thank you for talking to us, Mr Yeti. See you again later in 2018!
A. I’m looking forward to it! Goodbye for now!
