Episode 33: Mission Accomplished

Episode 33 brings One Among the Sleepless to a close. It took ages to record, my sound files were so big they kept crashing during the recording and editing process as they ate up more and more drive space. The finished thing, though only about 45 minutes in length, took absolutely forever to record. And of course, it isn't perfect, but then could it ever be? Some little bit would always be not-quite-right, and if I went on tweaking it over and over again, I'd never get it up (pun unintentional but nevertheless making me smile).

I hope you enjoy it and that you'll keep in touch with my ongoing output. As I say on #33, that future output - for the time being at least, will be via The Bonus Track. I have many plans for this show, including - most importantly - my short story collection. So if you aren't subscribed to The Bonus Track yet, you can do so right here, right now, just click the iTunes icon if you have iTunes, if not copy the RSS feed into your podcatcher gizmo:



Of course there's always Podshow's own device 'get it', but I've had some emails from people who've been finding that a tad confusing. Basically, you need to start a Podshow profile for yourself and then click 'get it'.

If you go to my own Bonus Track page there's also a Podcast Alley option you might want to try.

I have no plans to do a 'Q and A' episode as some podcasters do. I prefer to live things as they are and not interfere with the reader / listener's perception of things. But if you have a non plot-related question about OAtS you'd like to ask me, please send it in to me via my homepage and I'll try and answer it on The Bonus Track.

For now though, I have to go. A man is coming to repair the toilet in our new flat (and not because of anything we put down it).

Cheers
Mike

P.S. Don't stop checking in on this blog, I will write more about OAtS #33 soon (post-plumbing problem) and of course, I'll be writing about what I'm doing with The Bonus Track.

Oh Joy! I've Got A Hernia!

Hey, you remember the Friends episode where Joey gets a hernia lifting weights? Funny wasn't it. Well, I just recorded episode 33 - and I wasn't laughing anymore. Can you remember recently - I moved flat? You remember I mentioned that the lift broke down? I didn't go into details, but I had to lug heavy boxes and a TV set down 8 flights of stairs. At the time I just thought: 'Fucking elevator! Fucking building management! Fucking hot day! Fuck!' Little did I know that all the time I was giving myself a hernia!!

First sign was the other weekend as we were walking around town: Ooooouch! My guts hurt like hell. I thought: 'Fucking wine last night! Fucking fried breakfast!' etc. and just got on with the day. Then it happened again. 'Fucking ???' I was stumped. Then again. I thought, 'Oh fuck! This isn't a fried breakfast gurgling unpleasantly; it isn't a hangover, and isn't too much black coffee! - oh bollocks! I'm ill!'

I went to the doctor. It cost me €50 to see her (ker-ching). She checked me out and said it was most likely a hernia. I was relieved that it wasn't cancer or Chron's disease or something and figured if I just take it easy I'll be fine.

Anyway, all that flap out of the way, today I got on with recording episode 33 - my last installment of One Among the Sleepless. I set up the microphone in the front room (less boxy than the spare room; I wasn't mad about the sound on last week's episode). And so there I am, giving it 100% when I feel this pain in my guts. I check it out - and it's just like the doctor said it would be: a little lump poking out of my guts. She told me to push it back in again and come back and see her for another appointment so she can set me up to see the surgeon. Then it'll be off to the hospital to have an operation. Oh joy.

Needless to say, push the offending protrusion back in I did. Then for the remainder of the episode, every time I had to shout or make wild gestures, I did so with my hand pressed onto my guts to stop my hernia popping out again.

Now you may say that I should've gone and had a lie down and left recording until some time after I've had my operation and I'm completely recovered... but of course, that could be weeks, or even months. So I carried on regardless and got it done (don't worry, it wasn't that painful - I held it in just fine). Tomorrow I start editing the episode down to a sensible length. Right now it's absolutely gigantic at 2.5 hours long. I'll hopefully cut that down to an hour, but I can't see it being much less than that.

So forgive me ladies and gentlemen, but it may take a while. I'm not going back to the doctors until #33 is finished and One Among the Sleepless is complete. So don't panic: it may not be until the weekend, but it's coming... just so long as my hernia doesn't come too, eh? ;-) Oooooooh

Episode 32 - Completed and Uploading Tomorrow afternoon (UK / Ireland Time)

Yes, 32 is done and dusted, unfortunately I can't upload from home because my connection is prone to cutting out. Therefore I'll have to take the laptop into work and upload from there tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully there'll be no problems with their connection (like there were today)(Gulp!)

Episode 32 - Update

When I started this project, Tuesday night was Upload Night. Then, as time and deadlines moved on, Tuesdays increasingly became Excuses on the Blog Night and Wednesday became Upload Night. Sometimes Thursday had the honour of being Upload Morning.
So, tonight must be Excuses on the Blog Night, right? Right.

This week, as some of you may be aware, has been my week of moving house and all associated hassles. It’s also been my week of learning that I now have limited Internet access as our new flat is partially at basement level and, therefore, out of wireless broadband range. Consequently, all bets are off as to when Episode 32 is going to find its upload slot.

So, what’s been happening in my world since #31? Well, Thursday was moving day and a right nightmare it was too. We managed to get a van to take our stuff from one place to the other, but the lift (elevator)in our old building – the bastard - decided to break down on us, and so I had to lug our boxes, TV etc. down the stairwell. Oh, the muscle building that I endured. We went to bed early on Thursday, knackered, but thrilled by the fact that for the first time in 14 months, we were sleeping without the aid of ear plugs. Temple Bar (where we were) was convenient for our jobs, the city and all that it holds... but it’s a seriously noisy neighbourhood.

Saturday and Sunday were spent organising our stuff (still not finished doing that). Sunday afternoon was spent editing and re-writing the text of Episode 32. I could have just read what I wrote back in 2002 – the original text – but there were things I wanted to change, and so change them I did.

Then on Monday I recorded half of the episode only to realise that I didn’t like my changes and I needed to re-re-write them. This process has continued into today, and now, I’ve finally finished my first version of Episode 32.

So is it finished? Oh no: now I have to edit it for fluffs and gaffes and listen back to it and realise, yet again, that something doesn’t quite sit right with me and so I’ll do it again, and again and again until I like it.

Then I’ll record the intro / outro (and re-record it a few times too, no doubt), and then, finally, I’ll try to upload it – only to learn that my limited broadband access is making the upload impossible, and so I’ll need to bring the laptop into work and use their wi-fi connection.

By this reckoning, it’ll probably be Friday by the time I get the episode posted.

This is – I hasten to add – a worst case scenario. I want to post it ASAP, so keep an eye on your podcatchers, or whatever, for the buzzing download progress meter that brings my little bundle of goodness into your life.

Alternatively, you could just send a blank email (or even better, write something in it) to my mailing list. That way I’ll send you an email as soon as #32 goes live. Here’s the link, click it: Add Me to The Mike Bennett Mailing List

That way, even after One Among the Sleepless ends, you’ll still get updates from me about The Bonus Track which, post OAtS, will feature my short story collection, and also updates on my second podcast novel – which I just know you’re gonna love.

Episode 31: Uploaded

OK, Episode 31 is uploaded, click here for a direct hit. Now I really have to start packing boxes - the removal van gets here at 6pm and it's now 11.30 am. Good job we don't have much stuff.

Links from #31
I run a promo for the podcast novel Resurrecting Randi by David Shepherd
and talk about the Big O's Techno Fodder podcast

Episode 31: Done, Upload Tomorrow Morning.

How good am I? Honest to goodness, it's a good job I have a rich vein of stupidity running through me or I'd be busy packing boxes and getting ready for the move tomorrow. Instead I've spent some twenty-odd hours (8 today alone) putting together Episode 31. It would be uploaded too, but something mysterious went wrong with the process and it's now 12.23am and I'm shagged. I'm going to bed, but first thing in the morning I'll upload... And then I'll get on with moving apartment.

Episode 31: Delay Expected Due to Apartment Move

First of all, I'm going to try not to be late. But at the same time, I see a delay as unavoidable due to the fact that we're moving out of our apartment this week. Yes, we leave the city centre to move out to a quieter neighbourhood. I hadn't forgotten about this when I recorded Episode 30; the reason I didn't mention it was because I didn't think that moving house was going to be a problem. Of course, what I had forgotten is that moving house is nothing but problems. It's hard to record when you're packing up boxes and what have you.

As I say, I'll do my best to get episode 31 recorded and posted this week, but don't hold your breath: I don't even know if our new flat has wireless broadband reception yet. Gulp!

Still, let me leave you with a look at the lighter side of moving house with a PG Tips tea ad from 1971. Go, Mr Shifter!

Dr Who
I just watched the second part of the Doctor Who 2-parter, and as a life-long addict (excepting the 80's - that wasn't Dr Who, that was shite in a TARDIS), I can honestly say that I think it was the best story they've ever made. Congratulations to writer, Phil Cornell. I wanted to run behind the sofa for the first time since I was a kid for the most part, and blubbed like a sap for the rest. Admit it tough guy - you did too. If you missed it it's repeated on BBC3 tomorrow (I think).

Episode 30 and Detox(ish)

First of all, no, it's not over. Some listeners expressed shock and concern that Episode 29 was the end of the novel. Not so; Episode 30 begins the final part of the book and, as happened with previous parts of the book, we begin quietly following the climax of the previous part. Next week (31) things rack-up a notch. Episode 32 tightens the nuts a little more. Then Episode 33 is... ahhh, now that would be telling.

In other news, I've been detoxing this week. No, nothing like what you read about in those mad books that tell you eat millet for a month. Mine's a simple affair: no alcohol, lots of water, cold showers, early nights, plenty of fruit and veg, no crap food like chocolate, frozen pizzas etc. I'm now on day five of this not-too-stressful regime and I feel... fine: nothing to wig-out over, just fine, thanks. I do notice my memory is quicker to respond though. So if you sometimes feel like you're starting to go prematurely senile. Try a light detox, it may help. It...

Er...

What was I saying?

Promo on the episode is for The Big O's Technofodder Podcast.

Episode 29: The Hardest So Far.

For many reasons, this has been the hardest episode to produce so far. In terms of writing, the original text had to be revised quite a lot; not only was I not happy with some of the original writing, but now that I have 'become' these people in a very real sense, I feel a much stronger connection with how they do and don't behave. The end result, I think, is stronger than the original. The original text is now looking more and more like a kind of prototype One Among the Sleepless, a kind of, white label version or an unedited proof.

On top of the re-edits, it's taken a long time to produce in terms of mic-hours. I don't want to bore you with the details, but if a blog is about the day to day stuff that makes up one's life, then outside of work - this is my life. Sad, isn't it? Oh well, not for much longer, eh? This probably took about 20 hours all told. Maybe you think I exaggerate? Ask my wife, she has to put up with it. She'd probably tell you it feels like longer.

When this is over, I'm sooooo going on holiday.

Oh, by the way, the picture that accompanies this posting is another from the original 'sunglasses' book cover shoot that Peter Pavement and I did in Brighton back in 2002. I might put a few more of these up online for you to have a look it. Maybe Flckr or something?

Episode 29: Recorded First Take

Phew! That's the first take done. It's going to sound quite strange as my voice gets worse as I go through the text. At the end I definitely sound different to how I sound at the start. Strangely, my singing voice has improved, so I'm going to spend the next ten minutes or so tormenting the neighbours with my version of Elvis's 'You Were Always on My Mind'. (And no, there's no connection between the song and the episode.)

It's my Birthday on Friday
Oh, and another thing. It's my birthday on Friday. I'll probably go to an 'old man's pub', get served quickly, sit down somewhere comfy and have a nice chat without the aid of an ear trumpet. Very nice.

Episode 28.2: Autumn Leaves
In a perfect world, Bert Kaempfert would be listening to One Among the Sleepless and he'd email me telling me how thrilled he was to know that I wanted to use his version of Autumn Leaves on Episode 28.2. He'd not only give me his full permission to use it, but he'd tell all his friends about the podcast as well and get them on board. Sadly, Bert is no longer with us, and even if he were, he probably wouldn't have heard of One Among the Sleepless, let alone be up to date with it.
Fortunately though, I have heard of him, and Bert's version of Autumn Leaves (Les Feuilles Mort) has found its way - albeit silently - onto Episode 28.2. Copyright law prevents me from using even a snatch of the track, which is a great shame because it is - to me at least - an integral part of the episode. Still, if they ever make a movie out of this book, hopefully the film company will have no problem wrangling the rights to the song.

Episode 28.2 has taken by far the longest amount of time to put together of any episode so far. The voices - the accents and vocal mannerisms etc have taken me ages to get right. It turns out I was right to post Episode 28.1 last week, as not only would the episode have been gigantic, but it would've been very late also.

The Black Pig, like Shenanigans and The Coach and Horses doesn't exist in Brighton or anywhere else. All these places are like Frankenpubs - the stitched together bits and pieces of both reality and imagination. I mean, if there were a real Shenanigans for example, I'd be in court right now trying to plead ignorance, stupidity or mental illness.

As for my own taste in pubs, I'm a trad-pub man. I think I've always preferred places where people go to drink beer, get themselves a nice comfortable seat and have a good conversation with friends.

My friends have always told me - all my pub going life - that I have the pub tastes of a little old man. I don't think I'm like an old man, I just like to be able to get served quickly, pay a reasonable price for a nice pint, sit down in a comfy seat and be able to hear the person I'm talking to without the aid of an ear trumpet. Does that make me old?

It does?

Oh.

(sighs)

Oh, well.

Speaking of movie versions of One Among the Sleepless, if you have any thoughts on who should play whom, I'd be very interested in hearing your ideas. Mine shall, of course, remain a secret - I don't want to spoil your own mental images of the characters.

So, where is it?
If you've come here looking for info on 28.2, it's looking increasingly like it's going to be next week's episode. I know, I know, I said I'd try to get it online by today, but my life keeps intervening (I do have a life you know). Yesterday I went out for a drink with some chums and today I have a hangover. I've put together a promo for the Bonus Track which I've just sent out to Seth Harwood and Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff, so hopefully you'll be able to hear that somewhere soon. In fact, if you're a podcaster and you'd be interested in doing a promo swap with me, either for One Among the Sleepless or The Bonus track, let me know and we can make devious plans together.
OK, now I'm going to have some a strong coffee and put in a couple of hours on the 28.2 edit.

Episode 28 - Parts One and Two

Yes, episode 28 was just taking too long, so I split it to keep the angry mob (Mr P. Chittings from Dudley and his cat, Tinkle) from breaking down my e-door and lynching me to cries of 'Grrrrr! Where's our episode?'

Part One, as you probably know by now, is a meeting between Mick and Sally and a prelude to things to come in Part Two. Part Two is the bit that's taking the time. I have many voices to do and all kinds of subtleties in those voices to boot. This being in a 'discreetly' gay pub, I have to create voices for gay men, but I want to avoid cliche or stereotype 'gay man' voices. I've also got a 'mature' woman, a wit and various sensitive human emotions in the mix too. So don't expect it tomorrow, listeners. However, my fingers are crossed for Saturday. Cross yours too and we may get lucky.

Episode 28: Last Orders at The Black Pig
If you've come here wondering where episode 28 is, I can tell you that I've nearly finished recording it. It's a big chapter, but it can't be split into two, so the whole thing is going into one big lump of an episode. The download will be like a snake swallowing a football (and I dread to imagine what the upload'll be like). It features new characters - and so new voices and is going to take me an age to edit together. So take a chill pill (as the youngsters say) and wait a few days. And when your iTunes starts looking like a snake swallowing a football, you know it's coming.

As Featured on Bonus Track #1

Download "This Night" (mp3)
from "Passion Leaves a Trace"
by Black Lab
Blacklabworld.com

• Buy at iTunes Music Store
• Buy at eMusic
• Stream from RealNetworks / Rhapsody
• Buy at RealNetworks / Rhapsody
• Buy at Napster
• Buy at Navio Download

More On This Album

The Bonus Track
So, complete with unremarkable but functionally tidy name, my new podcast 'The Bonus Track' is now live both in the Libsyn feed and at Podshow. The show will have its own dedicated site at Podshow for those who aren't listening to One Among the Sleepless; those good people who are, will get it automatically.

It features some insight into what motivated me to start writing One Among the Sleepless, plus the first part of a phone chat with Seth Harwood on the subject of Jack Wakes Up. It also features music from Fruitcake Superbeing, Black Lab and Lost Dog, plus my poem, Monster.

I hope you like it. To get it right now, click this link.

As a result of the labour that's gone into the new show, plus the fact that I spent the holiday weekend down in Wexford visiting friends, this week's episode of One Among the Sleepless will be late. It's a bigger-than-usual chapter too, so when it does arrive, it'll be a big one.

Episode 27. Recorded and Ready for Posting

I would've posted tonight, but on listening through once I'd finished it, I discovered 2 little mistakes. I'll fix them tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon and hopefully it'll be live by 6 p.m. (G.M.T.). Oh, and it's a good-un.
M

Indigestion - In More Ways Than One

So we went to the pub and had a good old chat about all sorts of stuff. Inevitably the subject of the new show came up and I aired some doubts about the new title. My wife agreed, and so now Clockwork Toy Box is also in the bin. After the pub we called in at Zaytoon, a Persian kebab house in Temple Bar. They do very nice kebabs and, like a fool, I bought one. If there's one lesson life has continually tried to teach me, it's 'don't eat kebabs before you go to bed'. When you're a young man, you can eat just about anything at any time of the day; but the more mature stomach is more discerning in what it's prepared to digest. I've spent most of the night tossing and turning and gulping down Milk of Magnesia.

And it's not just my stomach that's been working overtime; my brain keeps throwing words together and coming up with myriad name possibilities for the new show. It's a nightmare; it reminds me of when I was in bands in my youth and we'd spend hours trying to come up with a name for whatever new band we were forming; no sooner would one person suggest a name than another band member would shoot it down. This time however, I'm both the suggester and the shooter. Now, at five a.m., after three hours of raging insomnia, my brain is littered with the blasted debris of about two thousand possible show names. It's word carnage; all smouldering adjectives and buckshot blasted nouns. What I should really do is call it something simple, something light and unfettered, something with only one possible meaning. Something like, 'Mike Bennett's Other Podcast'. Hmmm, I'll think about it... probably for the remainder of the night and most of the day.

#27: First Draught Recording Down

Episode 27: First recording draught finally completed after the Quasimodo Chorus packed it in and shuffled off. The episode at the moment weighs-in at about an hour and twenty minutes, though of this about 55 minutes will be deleted as I spend a further ten hours or so listening and deciding which, if any of the lines I've read are suitable or will have to re-recorded (as so often happens). As I said earlier, it may be a Wednesday posting this week, this is going to be a tricky one. Though to be honest, they're all tricky blighters for one reason or another. Episode 28 is probably going be to the toughest one EVER; a serious range of voices, new characters and a new setting.
Hey, but that's a week away, let's stay focused on #27. It's a great episode; the conclusion of Chapter 24, in which Gaz's plans to, basically, f*** Sally are revealed. What's going to happen? (Evil laughter that gradually rises to a hysterical pitch which is followed by an explosion and a bunch of dogs barking. Why dogs barking? I don't know, maybe there's a dog pound nearby). Anyway, I'm going over to the pub for a pint with the Mrs. It's Sunday after all.

Clockwork Toy Box

OK, finally, I've settled on this, I still like the bike image, but I prefer this name. It's more representative of what the show will be about - eclectic, different, odd.
I'm writing this now as I wait for the bells of Christchurch Cathedral to shut up. I was recording episode 27 and they kicked off like a gaggle of manic Quasimodos were hanging on to them. Sunday is a dreadful day to record, but I was busy with the new show art yesterday and Monday and Tuesday are the editing days. Right now it sounds like the Quasimodo Chorus is going to go on forever. It could be another Wednesday upload this week. But hey, console yourself with the knowledge that you can soon also be enjoying The Clockwork Toy Box - hopefully by Friday.

Yeah, but saying that...

I've spent most of the afternoon doing that image and I do rather like it. I'll see how I feel in the morning.

New Show
Yes, I'm still fussing over that new show. I've spent most of Saturday kicking ideas around and writing bits and pieces. At one stage I felt sure I had it: I even made a show logo - see picture. But now, a little the worse for wine at 3.00 a.m. (and listening to my big new music splash-out; The Sisters of Mercy 'Merciful Release' package - O.K. out of some 40 or so tracks I really only like about five, but I get these nostalgia urges and I must obey them. I remember going to the Black October tour at the Lyceum in London in 1984... but hush, now I'm showing my age.

Er, what was I saying? Oh yes, the new show. I've done this artwork for the show, but still haven't settled on a title, 'Podcast Sidecar' is one option, but I'm still not decided.

Winter of Different Directions on Amazon.co.uk

Calling U.K. and Ireland book lovers: Steve McDermott's Winter of Different Directions is now available of amazon.co.uk. If you're up-to-date on the podcast, you may recall the promo for Steve's great podcast of the collection back on OAtS #25. Well, now you can have the actual book in your home collection. Follow this link and order it today!

Finally... Episode 26

So I got home, all gritted teeth and smoke coming out of my ears. I turned on the computer and began the upload and all was going well... until the signal flatlined for no apparent reason after 15 minutes and the upload was cancelled.
After I'd removed from the head from the wall, I began again. After an hour or so it looked like it actually uploaded - the green progress bar went all the way to the end and then went white again. Oh joy! But hang on, the files at Libsyn weren't showing it as present, if it was there, it was invisible. I was just getting ready to run my head into the wall again when a thought occurred to me: why not turn stuff off and then turn it on again? I did so - and good job too: Episode 26 was there. Oh genuine joy!

So, what's the story? Gaz, Jimmy, Glenn, Ted, Kay, Sally and Adam all sitting around the beer garden of Shenanigans. Suspicions, jealousies, doubts, desires and weirdness; and that's all in the first 15 minutes.

Promos: Jack Palms 2: This is Life / The Homegrown Podcast

Tried Again, Crashed. Try Again Later

I tried again, it crashed again. I'll try again later.

Episode 26 - It's Ready, But...

I can't upload it. Pathetic isn't it? Irish Broadband are notoriously slow; it's like trying to suck wet cement through a straw. At ten p.m. our time, Europe is checking its mail, the U.S. is in the middle of it's day and Asia / Australasia is getting up and checking its mail too. Everyone is watching all kinds of on-line video and stuff and the Internet is slow, which is why my FTPs keep cutting out before upload is complete and Libsyn times out through sheer boredom. What this means is: no show tonight. I'll get it up first thing tomorrow while The U.S. is asleep and Europe is trying to ignore its collective alarm clock.
Goodnight.

Episode 25: In the Can: Uploading Tomorrow Night
Episode 25 is finished, I just finished sticking the various bits together and getting volume levels right. I'll upload tomorrow evening: UK time 6 p.m. A day earlier than usual, but then after a two week break, I think that's acceptable.
As for the content; if you think things have been a little tame lately and are wondering when things are going to start heating up again, this one comes with one of those coffee cup warnings on it: Caution - Contents Could be Sick and Wrong. Not that you see that on too many coffee cups, but you get my drift.

Noisy Neighbours, Hangover and Re-write

Almost as if on cue, the warm weather brought a night of riotous noise throughout the apartment building last night. Very loud music and people screaming and 'woo'ing almost relentlessly into the courtyard (why do people do that?) I stayed up with a bottle of wine, resigned to the impossibility of sleep without alcohol.
This morning I had to do some re-writing on episode 25. I managed to do it, despite a dull hangover. I just recorded it. Now I'm taking a break with the remains of my Easter egg and a cup of tea. It's another beautiful day outside. I'm expecting another night of screaming. I'm also looking on the Internet for another flat.

Last Trip to Meredith House
I just finished recording the last trip up the Mississippi to Meredith House. Things between Rick and Leanne have moved on. I don't want to spoil it, but the action takes place in a bedroom and 'Ohhhh!' gets moaned quite a lot over a tray of 'sumptuous breakfast pleasures'.
'Oh! It's hot darling.' I should co-co; now I have to go and take a cold shower to cooool down.

Oh Bollocks!
Well the first five minutes were great, but the next ten or so threw up flaws in the make-up of the new show that means that it's going back into the development box for a while. Sorry to whet your appetite and then not come up with the goods - I will do the new show, just not yet. It's obviously very important that it's good. A show that isn't good is, well... crap; and none of us want to hear a crap show. Am I right? I think so. OK, so all my energies can now go into OAtS #25. I start work tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully the good weather won't mean the neighbours all decide to party hard everywhere and make a damn racket while I'm trying to record.

OK, No Episode This Week, But...
I began recording my new show (still under wraps)today, and so far I really quite like it. I've done 4 minutes so far and I hope to do a double whammy next week with Episode 25 of OAtS and the first programme of the new podcast coming out back to back. I'm being typically secretive about the content, but what I can say is that Seth Harwood will be my first guest. Seth will be talking about Jack Wakes Up, A Long Way from Disney and his forthcoming podcast sequel to JWU: Jack Palms Two: This is Life.
So it should be pretty good if I can master all the new technology I'll be using to make it happen. Keep an eye on the blog for updates.

'Episode 24' and 'Second'

I've just recorded Episode 24. At the moment it's over an hour long, but that includes all the fluffed lines and pauses for sirens, planes and the Monday evening big-wheelie -bin-rubbish-takeout in the building courtyard. Once I edit it, it should whittle down to about the usual 30 minutes. This week we're going to the beach, so bring your bucket and spade.

Promo: Dwight Dunlop's 'Much To Do About Nothing'

In other news, are you familiar with 'Second' from Murcia, Spain? I came across Second while I was living in Spain last year. They're a great band and you can check them out on MySpace or at their homepage. And if you want to stay here and investigate before you go clicking off elsewhere, here are the videos for their classic tracks, 'Behind the Pose' and 'Segunda Vez':

Holliers Done (for now)
Hello mates, I've been off on my holidays to Spain. I just got back an hour or so ago. I went to Seville and Cadiz and all that. Very nice, I got a slight tan too, which isn't to be scoffed at after an anaemic Dublin winter. Will write more soon and get down to the hard work of episode 24 tomorrow.
Cheers. M

Episode 22: Girls' Talk
Episode 22, late but weighing in at a very healthy 35 minutes, delivered this evening (following two early frustrated upload attempts) after two hours crawling up the slimy pipe that is Irish Broadband. Three conversations in three places that reveal character and back story but more importantly - peel further layers off the onion that is 'One Among the Sleepless'.
I just realised as I was mentally back in the pubs that the episode draws upon as inspiration that the Two Brewers doesn't have the garish walls and jazz musos - that was a pub around the corner from where I used to live in Brighton. It had been a typical old-geezer pub (and fair enough, wasn't doing too well financially) but it became a red-walled, jazz musician gallery about seven years ago. I can't remember the name of it, but the description fits so many places in England now that it could be any one of a million pubs. I mention this only in case you're a Two Brewers regular and find yourself wondering why the walls aren't red.

Promo: How to Disappear Completely by Myke Bartlett

The plink, plink fizz of Alka Seltzer.
This morning I have a hangover and I'm deaf. Last night I went out with some friends and then went on to the Howling Bells gig on my lonesome. I had a good time, they're a great band so how could I not?

Yesterday on this blog - before and after the event - I was like a teenager, which was nice, but this morning I feel like a bag of spanners, I've got an episode to get out and the only bells howling are those of my hangover. Needless to say my enthusiastic blog postings of the last 24 hours have been deleted (as I predicted) and we're all very BBC again.
Here's a link to Howling Bells MySpace page. Have a listen. Below is the video for the new single. I have to go now and get on with my episode (I'm not at work this week - I took the week off)(Thank God).
Fade out to sound of low moan and the plink, plink fizz of Alka Seltzer.

Episode 22: Aaaargh! Two women of the same age from the same part of the same country and of the same class hell!
It happens all the time, every day, people of the same gender, age and class meet in pubs and have conversations. On the printed page it's all so obvious, but on a podcast, one man trying to be one woman is tough, but trying to get two women to talk together is hell. I considered giving one of them a headcold to make a difference, but that's just opening up a fresh can of editorial worms. Arse! Oh, it'll just have to do, I'm halfway through the edit and I want to rewrite things so a bomb goes off in the pub and kills the pair of them. The end.

In other news, Howling Bells are playing in Dublin tonight and I really want to go, but at the same time it's a cold day and it's a long walk and I've seen ten thousand gigs so why do I want to see another one? It's just interminable waits at the bar, a bad view of the stage and tinnitus for the next 24 hours. Yeah, but I still want to go. Ohhhhhhh, Arse!

The Big Podiobooks.com Digg
Boy! Today is turning out to be quite a busy day at the blogface. Following a very interesting article at Mac User by Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen, the following digg frenzy has sprung up and it's the perfect opportunity for you to show your appreciation for the One Among the Sleepless podcast. Follow this link to The Big Podiobooks Digg at digg.com and sign up. Then say just how much you love One Among the Sleepless, me, Adam, Dusty, Gaz, Sally, Mick, Jimmy, Glen, everybody and everything. Go, man go!
Thanks in advance, and thanks too to Thomas for including One Among the Sleepless in his list of faves.

Scott Sigler's 'Ancestor'... Free!
And talking of Scott Sigler, as a prelude to the paperback release of his second novel, 'Ancestor' in paperback on April 1st, Scott is giving, yes giving, the text of the novel away for free as a PDF. You think I jest? Click here: ANCESTOR PDF and see for yourself. Why is he doing this? To whet your appetite of course, to give you a taste in PDF of what you'd much rather have in your hands. So come on people, click and download 'Ancestor' now, then if you like it, grab a copy of the novel in paperback from Amazon.com on April 1st.

Wired Pig Notices a Similarity

Blimey! My MySpace friend, Wired Pig, has noticed an uncomfortable similarity between me and Scott Sigler. W.P. has shared his observations with his blog audience, and you can read them here: Musings of a Wired Pig.
Now as far as I'm aware, I have no brothers, but then when you consider the whole scenario in J.C. Hutchins 7th Son Trilogy...?

Episode 22: Ladies' Night

Hello. It’s a public holiday here in Dublin for St Patrick’s weekend and I’m sitting here, surrounded by shop alarms that nobody’s going to be turning off for 24 hours, police sirens, and the sound of pouring rain: so if any of that should filter into the background on the final recording, file under ‘Act of God’: I have to do the recording today or I’ll be late – and we don’t want that do we?
So, Episode 22: another one that I’ve been dreading - this time because I’m faced with the terrible dilemma of having to do two women talking to each other. Why a terrible dilemma? Because I can only do one female voice – and that doesn’t sound particularly feminine at the best of times. Damn, if only I could take my nuts off and leave them in a jar of warm water for an hour or so - I’d be laughing. Hmmm, actually, I probably wouldn’t now that I come to imagine it.
There are two pubs mentioned in Episode 22, both of which are based not on real pubs in Brighton, but in Slough (The Moon and Stars – based on The Moon and Spoon) and Windsor (The Coach and Horses – based on The Two Brewers) respectively. So if you’re in Brighton, don’t go looking for them, because they aren’t there.
The Two Brewers is a pub which I used to frequent at the age that Lucy and Sally are talking about. I went back there about five years ago and it was as described in the episode – changed; all different. And that, as they say, is life.

Episode 21: Delays Expected

Due to heavy character dialogue and associated editing labours, delays on Episode 21 can be expected for approximately 24 hours. Which, in non-shipping forecast lingo means #21's been hard work and, though delayed, should go up on Wednesday by about 21.00 hours G.M.T.

La Cabina (1972) Dir: Antonio Mercero

I saw this when I was a kid and it freaked me out so much I've never forgotten it. It was called 'The telephone Box' in the U.K. and 'The Phone Box' in the U.S.A. I was thinking about it today and it occoured to me that maybe, just maybe, it was on YouTube. And what do you know...

MySpace Poetry Site

I forgot to announce the arrival of my new MySpace site, imaginitively titled 'Mike Bennett Poetry Space'. Here you can listen to four of my poems - read by me - or download them and listen to them whenever. Here's a link: Mike's Poetry Space

Episode 20: Return to The Pavilion Gardens

Episode 20 sees Mick and Sally once again in the Pavilion Gardens. The image here shows the Pavilion from the front, if I still lived in Brighton I'd pop down and take a few photos from the rear - which is where the gardens are located. If you have some pics of the gardens you'd like to submit, please do and I'll slap them up - and give you a credit naturally.

Featured Links
Mike Bennett Poetry Space
Banjo Strings by Larry Winfield
Ancestor by Scott Sigler

Episode 19: The Fox That Likes Jamiroquai.

Episode 19 should be up on time tomorrow. I say should, but you can't be too sure with all the bumpers and whatnots that have to be stuck on to the main recording. Anyway, the main recording is done, I finished it tonight. It's 40-odd minutes long, which is long for O.A.t.S, and when you add the bumpers and stuff it'll be 45 minutes. I actually considered splitting the chapter into two episodes, but I felt it would lose something - namely pace - if I did. So, barring sickness, death or Irish broadband going all weird on me, Episode 19 should be up tomorrow evening (UK / Ireland time).

Episode 18: First Complete Version Done.

The first, but no doubt not the last. There's a lot of mood, tension, fear and desire to get into this little package. Getting this right is going to take innumerable re-takes and endless editing. It might be late, so if it's not there on Tuesday, be patient. It's coming (no pun intended).

Episode 18: it's only a podcast episode.
So I should be sitting down and getting on with Episode 18, but instead I'm sitting here and checking sites and getting up and walking around and doing chores and going out and coming back and looking at the mic and playing the same Raveonettes song (Black Wave)over and over again like a mental patient and doing anything and everything but starting Episode 18. Why? I don't know.

Episode 18: I should just start it right now. Just stop writing this and get on with it. I should, but hey, it's nearly time for my wife to get in. Maybe I'll surprise her with a nice hot meal. Yes, I'll cook something really nice, really different: something that takes a long time to cook and involves a lot of time-consuming fuss. And then tomorrow, yes, I'll start #18 tomorrow. And just keep repeating, Episode 18: it's only a podcast episode, it's only a podcast episode, it's only a podcast episode...

Episode 17
Episode 17 goes live tonight, chock-full of geezer mysticism and really great pro-hash arguments for the UK legalise cannabis movement.
Hash prices were realistic at the time of the novel’s publication, although they probably seem laughably cheap by today’s high street standards – well, perhaps not ‘high street’, but almost. Not that I’d know of course: I’ve never touched the stuff myself, just like David Cameron, Brian Harvey and oodles of other pillars of the establishment.

Promo News
Here's some news from the exciting world of promos. Last night, Scott Sigler ran my promo on Episode 18 of The Rookie. Then I got an email from Larry Winfield, who told me that he'd run my promo on The Sundown Lounge, his podcast show from L.A.
So many thanks to both Scott and Larry.
My new promo, which alludes to the coming fate of Wayne, is available now by clicking this One Among the Sleepless Promo 2

Episode 16: Mr Benn
In one of those British TV references that sometimes happen in One Among the Sleepless, Lucy mentions the possibility of a visit from Mr Benn were he a reality. Mr Benn was the eponymous character of a 1970s BBC childrens' TV show. He used to go to a costume shop where, every week, he'd try on a different outfit. Once in the outfit, he'd pass through a door that led, not back to the shop, but to an adventure in keeping with the outfit he was wearing on that particular week.
It's probably the best children's show ever made (in my humble opinion).
Episode 16 also sees Mick and Sally on a lunch date, and Wayne go to far when it comes to making neighbourly housecalls. Damn, but he's horrible.

The Old Trout on MySpace

I used to work in a music venue in the Nineties called The Old Trout. It was by the River Thames in Windsor and used to be a very popular stop on what was called (and doubtless still is called) the U.K. 'toilet circuit'. Meaning small venues with basic facilities that bands on the way up all play in as part of their rites of passage to megadom. Among the bands that played there were Oasis, Blur, Supergrass, Suede and hundreds more.

After a lot of bother with the brewery that owned it, the Trout shut in 1995. About six or seven years ago, I built a fairly basic website that chronicled the history of the Old Trout from 1988 to its closure in 1995. The site always lacked a key ingredient, and that was a place where visitors (especially bands and former punters) could sign in, leave messages, updates on their lives etc. I forgot all about the site until recently, when (while adding phoney friends to my MySpace site like 'cheddar cheese' and 'Marmite')it occoured to me that MySpace could provide just that facility for the Old Trout. So I added a new MySpace for The Old Trout. You can check it out here: http://www.myspace.com/old_trout_windsor
My original Trout site can be viewed here: The Old Trout, Windsor

Episode 15: Men Behaving Badly

This week's episode features a whole load of men behaving badly. Firstly, one of Adam's old friends, Gordon, is extremely rude. Then Gaz and Glen are quite odious in the way they speak about Sally. Finally Wayne, well, he's always unpleasant and this week is no exception. If you find all this a bit distasteful, forgive me, but that's the way these guys are. If they went around being something that they aren't, then they wouldn't be true to themselves and so the story would lose its essential truth: namely - the authenticity of its characters. Love 'em or hate 'em, these charmers are authentic.

The conversation between the tramps took hours to record and edit together. Of course, it only takes about three minutes to listen to. I got a touch of laryngitis after all the shouting and throaty huffing, which you can hear in the intro and outro (is that a word?)

Promo this week is Scott Sigler's The Rookie.