Hello Listeners

It's that time of the month again - the time when something drops into your inbox from me. And this time it's me reading Mark Twain's story, 'The Cannibalism in The Cars'. It was, I don't mind telling you, a b****** of a task. It took innumerable takes and left about a million cuttings on the cutting room floor, but finally, it's done. I don't even know if it's any good or not at this stage - I listened through it this morning and I was almost speaking along with it - I know the words so well. Anyway, for better or worse, here it is. Bon apetit ...

Click the pic to connect to the MP3

Also I play 'Ain't No Fool' from 'The Revellions', who play London later this month:

Other Links:

The Dreamers' Thread by Starla Huchton

http://www.thedreamersthreadnovel.com/

Night's Knight's Vampire Podnovel

http://www.emzbox.com/newebox.html

The Vertigo Media Network

http://www.vertigomedianetwork.com/

Music:

'Ain't No Fool' by The Revellions.

http://www.myspace.com/therevellions

My thanks to the listeners / viewers in the UK for whacking U&F to the top of the iTunes Video Podcast charts. Nice One!

Safe Danger: Low-Risk, Non-Extreme, Peril-Less Adventures in Suburbia. "Ice". Ultra-low-risk thrill seeker, Mike Bennett investigates whether or not wearing socks over your street shoes helps foot traction on snowy, icy roads.

A special festive edition of Sometimes featuring the Q&A that didn't make it onto the end of U&F 21. In this searching interview, Mike answers listeners' questions on Underwood and Flinch, while dodging the deeper issues like politics, God and 'dryness'.

Guest starring Mike's wife and an old friend from an earlier 'Sometimes'.

click to connect to the MP3

I shall be away from my 'desk' for the next week as I'm off to England for Christmas. So before I go, I'd like to wish all you lovely listeners a very peaceful and happy festive season and all the very best for a great 2010. As always, thanks for listening and being the best audience in the world.

Cheers for now

Mike

Safe Danger: Low-Risk, Non-Extreme, Peril-Less Adventures in Suburbia. "Wall". Ultra-low-risk thrill seeker, Mike Bennett faces a ditch, a bog ... and another big puddle. There are two ways to deal with this nightmare: the easy way or the Safe Danger way - and Mike Bennett never takes the easy way!

Safe Danger: Low-Risk, Non-Extreme, Peril-Less Adventures in Suburbia. Number One: Puddle. On a rainy day, a random encounter with a big puddle led ultra-low-risk thrill-seeker, Mike Bennett to see what the chances were of getting splashed by a car, a group of cars - or even a bus! What happens here is real: real road, real cars, real puddle - real safe danger!

Episode 21: Assassination.

Tap the mallet to hit the MP3.

OK, so by now the episode is due and a few of you are probably checking in here to see if there's any sign of it. I've been working on the text for ages and now the first draft is finally done. It's taken a long time to write because it's very difficult material and there's a lot of it. I don't think it's going to need a great deal of work because I edited as I went (sometimes I just hammer out pages in a stream-of-consciousness, other times I go slowly - this time I went slowly). The text is twice the page-count of a usual episode, so Episode 21 should be more-or-less about an hour in length. I'm going to do the final editing tomorrow and then begin recording.

If I'm lucky I'll get a first audio draft of the whole thing done. Then it's editing and re-takes for a couple of days, then I'll post. So it's looking like a weekend delivery. I can't say when for sure, it depends on the day job and all the other variables that strew our paths with obstructions and place spanners in our works.

I apologise for the delay. But like the song says, you can't hurry love. On the up side, I think the wait will be worth it: it's a killer episode. I thank you for your patience :-)

Episode 20: While burying the dead, David and Lydia reach an agreement about how to proceed. But how long will that last?

Click on the bloodstain to hit the MP3