Yondercast

from the yonderphone ;)

2008-08-18T14:00:00.001-04:00

Mobile post sent by ShanShen using Utterz. Replies. mp3

Testing, Testing!

2008-08-17T11:20:00.001-04:00

Mobile post sent by ShanShen using Utterz. Replies.

2008-08-13T00:02:00.000-04:00

What's Your Problem?

Creative people sometimes have difficulty finding a target for their creativity. They know they can create really cool stuff that can possibly change the world, but they don't know where to start. They have no direction. The goal of this post is to help you find a direction for your creativity.

Let us imagine that there lives a creative person named Jedidiah. Not only can Jedidiah create nifty websites, but he can also knit toques and play the kazoo. Yet, Jed feels unfulfilled. He spends his waking hours wondering how he can best use his skills.

He builds a website for the kazoo club, and he is happy to do it, but he feels that there is some bigger project out there just waiting for him. He makes dozens of toques emblazoned with the names of his own websites and gives them away to friends and strangers. He gets more traffic on his sites from all that free advertisement, but Jeb still feels that he was put on this planet for a greater purpose. He knows his skills are meant to be used to change the world, at least a little.

Then one day, Jeb comes home from kazoo practice to discover that his house has been robbed! His beautiful 60-inch computer monitor is gone! His collection of vividly-coloured toque yard is no more! And most devastatingly of all, his most treasured kazoo is missing from its display case! That was the kazoo played by Moe "Hummer" Johnston on the award-winning kazoo album, "Live at the Heebie-Jeebie." Jeb had spent years tracking down that famous kazoo, and now it was gone!

As you can well imagine, dear reader, Jeb is devastated. Jeb now has a big problem. Not only is his stuff gone, but he is traumatized. Someone broke into his Fortress of Solitude! Someone violated his personal space! Someone made Jeb feel like a scared little kid.

Yes, Jeb has a big problem. Strangely enough , this big problem is going to help Jeb find creative direction. Because now Jeb really, really cares about something. He knows the pain and trauma of being robbed, and he does not want the same thing to happen to his family, friends and neighbours. Jeb becomes passionate about preventing crime in his neighbourhood.

Jeb remembers some advice his Uncle Zeke once gave him: "Don't get mad, get nerdy!" So, Jeb spends forty days and forty nights building a website for his community's crime-prevention group. (To do this, Jeb has to use his old, outdated 45-inch computer monitor; sometimes life is rough like that).

The site is the best work that Jeb has ever done. The graphics are nifty, the wiki works well, and the site is user-friendly. Why is the site so good? Because Jeb is passionate about cracking down on local crime, and all his web skills finally have a noble focus. His other talents also find their way into Jeb's new passion. Jeb organizes a kazoo concert to raise money for his community's crime-prevention group. Jeb teaches teenage ruffians how to knit toques, diverting dozens of teenagers from lives of crime.

Jeb's problem led him to discover his passion, which allowed him to fully exercise his creativity. I have a friend named Daniele Rossi (http://danielerossi.ca) who is passionate about a lingering problem. He lets his passion guide his creativity, and today he is helping people around the world deal with self-esteem issues related to stuttering. Which is really cool. Check out Dani's site at www.stutteringiscool.com.

2008-08-10T14:37:00.000-04:00

Wandercast 010 - Hiking and Swimming in the Rain

Overview

Traveller, where were you on the evening of Saturday, August 9, 2008? My friends and I were hiking to a out-of-the-way swimming hole . . . in the rain. This episode is 55 minutes long.

Listen

http://feeds.feedburner.com/yondercast

Contact

Email: shane@yonderman.com

Website: www.yonderman.com

Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=20896166312

2008-07-27T21:59:00.000-04:00

Yondercast 021 - Confusion! Dragons! Circus!

Wanna listen to this episode? Check out http://feeds.feedburner.com/yondercast.

Fresh lyrics from Rob the Honourable Box Cutter! Unfortunate Confusion
A poem I wrote for my friends' wedding! This Love
A poem about an impromptu circus! The Yonderman's Response to the Middle of Nowhere
A song about hope from the group Fishing for Comets! Hope is Calling
Photo of the top of a circus tent! Photo taken by orngejuglr, found on Flickr, used under a Creativ Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License.
The creative writers' forum I mentioned! http://writerswhirled.freeforums.org

2008-07-07T22:03:00.000-04:00

Yondercast 020 - Duct Tape Friendships

The topics of this episode are Yonderman's Tower, the value of friendship and the everyday miracle that we call duct tape.

"The Little Bitty Teeny Tiny Two Inch Strip - The Duct Tape Song" is by Sean McGaughey, musician and podcaster. You can find his podcast, For the Sake of the Song, at www.ductapeguy.net.

Thanks to the organizers, speakers and fellow podcasters I met this year at Podcasters Across Borders. Attending PAB2008 was an inspiring and thought-provoking blast!

The picture of the duct-taped lamppost is by ron.richardson, and was found on Flickr. The picture is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License.

2008-06-29T23:31:00.000-04:00

Wandercast 009 - PAB2008

Overview

This episode contains audio I recorded during and after Podcasters Across Borders 2008!

Four Segments

Talking with Daniele Rossi on Friday night
Breakfast with Daniele Rossi on Saturday morning
Talking to myself on Saturday evening
Walking to work a week later

Where Credit Is Due

Thanks to Daniele Rossi for being my roommate and for letting me record our conversations.
Thanks to Chris Brogan for taking the picture of me and for posting it on his Flickr photostream. Picture used under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License.

2008-06-04T23:14:00.000-04:00

Wandercast 007 - OQCGP BBQ

Sunday, June 1st, 2008, I had the honour of going to a barbeque hosted by the Ontario Quebec Club Grand Prix. I took my voice recorder along and interviewed several proud car owners. Thanks a lot to my good friend Jamie for introducing me to intriguing world of car clubs and owner meetups! Thanks a lot to the car owners who let me interview them!

Listen here: Wandercast 007 - OQCGP BBQ
Ontario Quebec Club Grand Prix

Richard's Memorial Park, Mississauga
The music for this episode was 68 Black Pontiac Le Mans by 4-Track Gio, provided by the Podsafe Music Network.
Thanks to cyborg622 for taking pictures.

2008-04-30T22:30:00.000-04:00

Yondercast 018 - Milk and Cookies and Robots, Oh My!

The theme music is Lost Mind by ParaVerse.
The writing website I mentioned is 100words.com.

The milk-and-cookies picture is by Anxious223, was found on Flickr, and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License.
The robots picture is by Liquid Paper, was found on Flickr and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License.

The background music was the Andante from Bach's BWV 1041, performed by Lara St. John and generously provided by Magnatune!

2008-04-15T23:48:00.000-04:00

Wandercast 006 - Robin's Trip to Indonesia

My good friend Robin went to Indonesia this February, and I interviewed her about her trip. I wanted to talk about waterfalls; Robin wanted to talk about toilets. :)

Here is the interview: http://www.yonderman.com/wandercast006.mp3

(Thanks to Robin for the spectacular picture of Tongging Waterfall at Lake Toba, Berastagi!)

2008-04-08T23:14:00.000-04:00

Yondercast Mix Tape 003 - Acoustic Guitars

Go Get The Guitars, Buddy!

I couldn't sleep, so I got up and started making a playlist for a future episode of my podcast. For a while I've wanted to do an episode of all acoustic guitar songs. The acoustic guitar speaks to me in a way that the electric doesn't. Electric guitars pump me up, while acoustic guitars give me permission to be vulnerable. For the last few hours, I've been listening to tracks and choosing the ones that touch me most deeply. It's not just about the guitar; it's certainly about the singer as well. Good singers teach me to swim deep rivers.

Track List

Dusty Porch by John Williams, found on Magnatune.
Coming Home by Freight, found on the Podsafe Music Network.
Brooke's Waltz by Don Ross, found on IODA Promonet.
The Day That I Die by Katy Wehr, found on the Podsafe Music Network.
Shine by Justin Roth, found on the Podsafe Music Network.
Waiting For Someday by Lee Alexander, found on the Podsafe Music Network.
Something Beautiful by Leah Martensen, found on the Podsafe Music Network.
Ordinary Days by Lisa Cerbone, found on the Podsafe Music Network.

The Troubadour's Quarry Speaks

Shane Shennan
www.yonderman.com

I expected loud music from you,
a rock concert I could disappear into.
Instead, this sweetly aching melody,
breaking me open
as softly as an archaeologist chipping at stone
to find something petrified inside.
What a dirty trick,
singing to me
while I’m at my strongest!
If weak, crumbling from some previous pressure,
I could have at least shattered to
d u s t
at your slightest touch.
But no, you,
with your resonating steel strings,
your gently magnetic voice,
you slowly and so easily
expose
me.
I am your quarry tonight,
nothing but a gaping hole in the ground,
the absence of any solid thing.
Only you thought to dig any deeper.
Only you thought to
excavate my edges.

Ceilidh

Shane Shennan
www.yonderman.com

So you think that
filling this kitchen
with singers,
guitar players,
a fiddler or two,
a mandolin player,
a bodhrán player,
an accordion player,
a harmonica player,
a harpist,
a snoring dog
and a purring cat
will keep out the dark?
Play on, all! Seems to be working so far!

Listen, Subscribe and Find Previous Episodes at:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/yondercast

2008-04-01T16:15:00.000-04:00

Yondercast 017 - Hair

Intro

The first thing played on this episode is a random piece I created with Sonic Foundry's Acid Style 2.0. I thought, why not have a whole episode about hair?

Not Me!

["The Wig-Maker's Riot" is an excerpt from At the Sign of the Barber's Pole by William Andrews, found at Project Gutenberg.]
On February 11th, 1765, a curious spectacle was witnessed in the streets of London, and one which caused some amusement. Fashion had changed; the peruke was no longer in favour, and only worn to a limited extent. A large number of peruke-makers had been thrown out of employment, and distress prevailed amongst them. The sufferers thought that help might be obtained from George III., and a petition was accordingly drawn up for the enforcement of gentlefolk to wear wigs for the benefit of the wig-makers. A procession was formed, and waited upon the king at St James's Palace. His Majesty, it is said, returned a gracious answer, but it must have cost him considerable effort to maintain his gravity.
Besides the monarch, the unemployed had to encounter the men of the metropolis, and we learn from a report of the period they did not fare so well. "As the distressed men went processionally through the town," says the account, "it was observed that most of the wig-makers, who wanted other people to wear them, wore no wigs themselves; and this striking the London mob as something monstrously unfair and inconsistent, they seized the petitioners, and cut off all their hair per force."

[Excerpt from Chapter Fifteen of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, found at Project Gutenberg.]
The short afternoon wore away. All other errands were done,
and Meg and her mother busy at some necessary needlework, while
Beth and Amy got tea, and Hannah finished her ironing with what
she called a 'slap and a bang', but still Jo did not come. They
began to get anxious, and Laurie went off to find her, for no one
knew what freak Jo might take into her head. He missed her,
however, and she came walking in with a very queer expression of
countenance, for there was a mixture of fun and fear, satisfaction
and regret in it, which puzzled the family as much as did the roll
of bills she laid before her mother, saying with a little choke in
her voice, "That's my contribution toward making Father comfortable
and bringing him home!"

"My dear, where did you get it? Twenty-five dollars! Jo, I
hope you haven't done anything rash?"

"No, it's mine honestly. I didn't beg, borrow, or steal it. I
earned it, and I don't think you'll blame me, for I only sold what
was my own."

As she spoke, Jo took off her bonnet, and a general outcry arose,
for all her abundant hair was cut short.

"Your hair! Your beautiful hair!" "Oh, Jo, how could you? Your
one beauty." "My dear girl, there was no need of this." "She doesn't
look like my Jo any more, but I love her dearly for it!"

As everyone exclaimed, and Beth hugged the cropped head tenderly,
Jo assumed an indifferent air, which did not deceive anyone a particle,
and said, rumpling up the brown bush and trying to look as if she liked
it, "It doesn't affect the fate of the nation, so don't wail, Beth. It
will be good for my vanity, I was getting too proud of my wig. It will do
my brains good to have that mop taken off. My head feels deliciously
light and cool, and the barber said I could soon have a curly crop,
which will be boyish, becoming, and easy to keep in order. I'm
satisfied, so please take the money and let's have supper."

Mine, All Mine!

If I must navigate this Ocean of Sorrow,
if I must sail this Sea of Grief,
then I will choose my means;
I will choose my vessel.

I choose an open boat on the open ocean.
Grief will not close me.

Goings On In The Yonderverse

Dave:
"Well, hair.
I just got a haircut, cause I think hair is more practical than fashionable, basically I grow it until it's too hot and get it all cut off.
I also think that people think about their hair too much, I never have a bad hair day, you want to know the secret? Wear a hat!
At the same time I think we judge people by their hair, blonde equals a little ditzy, red streaks equals angry, when really we give people way too much credit, I don't think people try to send a message with their hair!"

Robin:
"When I was in Capernwray there was a girl from California. Now orginally she was from South America and she was adopte by a family. So she had some crazy hair. there are two REALLY funny things she used to say about her hair.
"My hair's not wash and wear, it's wash and scare!"
She also used to call her hair Haruna, or the beast lol!"

Song

Everybody Loves My Hair by Captain WAM, found on the Podafe Music Network.

2008-03-25T23:55:00.000-04:00

Yondercast Mix Tape 002 - Inner Views

Back With More Music!

Hey, Traveller! Welcome to the second Yondercast Mix Tape! The music is interspersed with snippets from Wandercast interviews done in 2007. The voices you will hear belong to myself, Steve, Robin, Jordan and Andrew.

Track List

Smog 'n' Stars (Formerly Experiment 23) by ShanShen, created on Sonic Foundry's Acid Style 2.0.
Fountain of Life by Artemis, found on Magnatune.
Blue Line by AntiGuru, found on Magnatune.
Wind's Eye by Thursday Group, found on Magnatune.
Fountain of Life (Lean On It Mix) by DJ Anser and Artemis, found on Magnatune.

Special thanks to Magnatune for making music available to non-commercial podcasters!

Listen, Subscribe and Find Previous Episodes at:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/yondercast

2008-03-18T16:33:00.000-04:00

Yondercast 016 - Starbucks, Snowflakes and Sense of Place

The Goings On

Kory requested two songs for me on The Mad Music Archive. Check out http://www.themadmusicarchive.com/pod128k-6.xml part 1. Thanks, Kory!
Met Jonathan Cayen at Starbucks! Nice guy, very knowledgeable about movies and comic books.
Rob the Honourable Box-Cutter wants suggestions for topics to write about. Check out his discussion post at the Yondercast Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=4050&post=15397&uid=20896166312#post15397
Thanks to Mark for recording a sound bite for me!

Not Me!

When it Snows
©2008, Basil Sands
Used With Permission

Basil Sands' website is at http://basilsands.com. Check our his MP3 audio books: Karl's Last Flight, 1917 and 65 Below. Thanks to Kory for letting me know about Basil Sands!

Mine, All Mine

tHBM

"I'll give you some sting to cry about!" yells the Hurly Burly Man as he hurls burs at a teething baby.
It's a mean thing to do, but that's just what the Hurly Burly Man does, he's been doing it for years.
The baby can't do much except grow teeth.
Unluckily, the baby can't grow teeth fast enough to defend itself from the Hurly Burly Man.
Luckily, the baby is bundled up pretty well, no exposed skin.
The burs stick harmlessly to the baby's toque and snowsuit and mittens.

"I hear you're a pote!" yells the Hurly Burly Man as he hurls burs at me. "I'll give you some sting to pome about!"
It's a mean thing to do, but that's just what the Hurly Burly Man does, he's been doing it for years.
I can't do much except write pomes.
Unluckily, I can't write pomes fast enough to defend myself from the Hurly Burly Man.
Luckily, I'm bundled up pretty well, no exposed skin.
The burs stick harmlessly to the my motifs and metaphors and allusions.

Podcast Recomendation

The Pinkwater Podcast at http://pinkwater.com/podcast is weird, amazing and a lot of fun!

Song of the Show

Threads
by This Will Destroy You, found at IODA PROMONET.

Heart on my Sleeve

I discuss the pleasure of familiar places.

2008-03-06T20:13:00.000-05:00

Wandercast 005 - Matty and the Dig Site

Matty and I went on a man-type adventure in the Summer of 2007. Here is the audio . . .
http://www.yonderman.com/wandercast005.mp3

2008-02-25T16:43:00.000-05:00

Motivation

Much of my motivation in life has been to get positive attention. Whether telling a joke as a kid or podcasting as an adult, much of my motivation has been to hear people say, "Look what Shane's doing. What a great guy!"

I don't like this about myself. I should look to God for validation. John 7:38 talks about rivers of living water flowing out of one's heart. My motivation and power should come from the inside, via the Holy Spirit, instead of from th outside. When I look to other people for praise, it is never enough.

My primary reason for starting my podcast was to promote myself and my creative writing. Nothing wrong with that, but now I want Yondercast to be about more than myself. Instead of using the podcast to pull attention toward myself, I want the podcast to have internal power. I want those rivers of living water to flow out of the podcast.

2008-02-20T20:26:00.000-05:00

Yondercast 015 - Redeeming the Time

thisis

thisis no time for punctuation
thisis no time to read slowly
thisis desperation of no retreat possible
thisis gasping looking around reaching
thisis understanding just standing there
dangerous undercurrents boil over
cold snowdrift feet
thisis like loneliness but its not
thisis end of brain jumble
thisis start of jungle
thisis toughbootssharpmachete time

Tear It Down

by the Unnormals, found on the Podsafe Music Network.

Mail

Hey Bud! Just wanted to thank you for using my song on your podshow. Glad you enjoyed it enough to wanna use it! Rock on- ~Angel V

Hey Shane I loved the last cast, especially the bit about being someones hero. I couldnt help but thinking that maybe celebrities like Britney Spears snap from trying to be the perfect role model, and lets face it, they're only human. Once again, loved the show. Dave
I have listen to your show for a while and figured it was a good time to just drop you a supportive comment. I really enjoy your podcast wheather your reading a poem, talking about life, or wondering.
I have to admit I was drawn to you podcast when I heard it ad and the city of St. Catharines was dropped. Guess what..You got a fan in your city. I will admit I have looked twice around the Fairview Mall and That's Entertainment. Looking for a guy on what seems to be a cell.
Keep up the good work and give my best to your dad whom I also enjoy listening too.
And yes my best to sifi too. Jon

Announcements

Can't make Podcamp Toronto. I was looking forward to it, especially meeting Sean McGaughey, but my church's winter youth retreat moved to the same weekend.

Support Group

C.S. Lewis of his age.The Prime Example of right and wrong. The nicest, funniest, wisest, smartest guy you know and a legend among men...Brian Steinhoff

The man with several aliases J.C., Big Jon, Jonney, Mortie Alalawisis Bloomberg...Here's Jonathan Cayen

The Divine Miss I, the one and only Lady Knight of Chasity... Robin Isaac

Not Me!

There are three types of material I can legally read on the show:

Material I receive permission to read, like the poems of Rob the Honourable Box-Cutter.
Material in the public domain, like the works posted at gutenberg.org.
Material under a Creative Commons license, found at creativecommons.org.

Today's reading is "Exactly What I Wanted" from Wil Wheaton's latest book, The Happiest Days of Our Lives, which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License!

2008-02-04T20:50:00.000-05:00

Intro

I am Shane Shennan, you are a Traveller, and this is Yondercast 014, the "I've Got Mail!" Edition!

There is a Facebook group. There is a Vox group. Emails have been flying back and forth like crazy since Yondercast 013. You may remember that I threatened to change your name from Traveller to Blank Face if I didn't hear from you. Well, I have certainly heard from you! Some of the people I have heard from are Adam, Dave, Kory, Sean, Brian, Robin, Jordan, Andrew, and last but not least, Rob!

Yes, Rob the Honourable Box-Cutter is a real person. He is a high school student I have the honour of working with each and every Saturday. Writing and music are Rob's favourite ways to pass time. He writes when there's a lot of stuff on his mind or he can't find a way to say something. Rob, thank you so much for letting me use your poem "Time Will End" on the show.

Audio Comment!

Sean McGaughey, Singer Songwriter, Podcast-- For the Sake of the Song- Conversations with Song

Check out http://ductapeguy.net http://seanmcgaughey.net http://cc.ductapeguy.net
Sean is going to Podcamp Toronto, a free 2 day conference February 23 and 24, 2008. Check it out at http://podcamptoronto.wordpress.com.

Adam's TF2 Includes Narnia

For the last few weeks, Adam has been working on a special map for the game Team Fortress 2. The lamppost and various lighting effects have taken about 3 hours. His ingame nickname is Mr. Eagle [CP], and he is a moderator for the Control Point community (The Control Point servers are really the only places he plays). People can contact him through Steam, using my ingame name or my real name, Adam Muir.

Find the Control Point Podcast at http://www.deadworkers.com/tf2/

Support Group

On this segment of the show, I'm going to share what listeners have posted in the Facebook group and the Vox group.

Where Credit Is Due

The theme music is Lost Mind by ParaVerse.

The rocking background music is As the Sky Lay Burning by Angel Vivaldi, found on the Podsafe Music Network.

The acoustic instrumental song is Sleepy Song by MDL, found on the Podsafe Music Network.

The complete, non-background song The World Is You by Jealousy Curve, found on the Podsafe Music Network.

2008-02-03T08:27:00.000-05:00

Wandercast 004 - Robin and Andrew's Trip to Kenya

Listen to the interview at http://feeds.feedburner.com/yondercast.

I interview my friends Robin and Andrew about their recent mission trip to Kenya!

Find out more about Harbour Global Missions.

The theme music is Lost Mind by ParaVerse.
The outro music is Light of the Heart by Suzanne Teng, provided by Magnatune.

2008-01-24T20:35:00.000-05:00

Get Your Name on the Podcast!

What is the sweetest word in the English language? Your name! And your name sounds only sweeter when there is a preamble, a nifty title in front of it.

For instance, the proper way to say my name is "That podcasting genius, that poet of the people, that most handsome dude . . . Shane Shennan!"

Post your cool title/preamble here, and I'll mention it on a future episode of Yondercast.

2008-01-17T07:30:00.000-05:00

Yondercast 013 - Cat-Eared Machine Gun Girls

Look at Your Feet! Look at Your Feet!

There we were, sitting on the cemetery wall, kicking the heels of our church shoes against the rough stonework as if we were little kids. Jen's grandma's coffin was somewhere behind us, waiting for the people who would lower it into the earth and cover it with dirt. We had told our parents that we wanted to hang out for the rest of the afternoon, so they left us behind after the graveyard service. They were used to the four of us hanging out.

It was early May. It had been a difficult winter for all of us. School had been bad for me. I had trouble getting used to Grade Nine and I hated everything about the new school. Everything except attending there with Jen and Nelson and Laura. Nelson hadn't been the same since Sarah Gleem had broken up with him the day before Christmas vacation. All winter he hadn't said much, but for some strange reason he had started whittling. He was getting pretty good at wittling, and Jen and her grandma and Laura and I would beg for the wooden beavers and dwarves and eagles before he could throw then into his folk's fireplace. Laura had been acting strange as well, as if she wanted to jump out of her skin. She would all of a sudden start yelling about something, and then do something unusual. Jen and I kept track of her outbursts, and we bet each other loonies on when she would next freak out.

And now Jen's grandma had died, and that hit all of us hard, because we had hung out at her place all the time. She used to tell us about the old days and let us bake with her in her small kitchen, and she was like the fifth member of our group. So there we were, sitting on the cemetery wall, boy, girl, boy, girl. Next to me was Jen, red-eyed, and I was making comforting noises. I was pretty good at that, but I wished I could do something that would actually make a difference. All I could see in my head was that picture of Jesus raising Lazarus, except Jen's grandma was there instead of Lazarus. Nelson was next to Jen, whittling something. Laura was at the end, hitting her heels against the wall harder than any of us. We had a rhythm going, the way we were all kicking the wall together, but Laura was almost throwing the rhythm off.

Suddenly Laura stopped kicking the wall and started untying her shoelaces. Jen and I looked at each other. We know Laura was freaking out again. Laura threw her shoes to the ground and yanked off her socks. Then she started yelling,"Look at your feet! Look at your feet!" She held her left foot in her hand and stared at it, poking at it. Nelson looked startled, but he put down his jackknife and took his shoes off. He examined his feet, looking interested in something for the first time since Sarah Gleem had given him the break-up note. I took off my shoes and socks as well, curious, and not wanting to be left out. My feet were pale and slightly puffy from being in socks and shoes and boots all winter. All that time in shoes can't be good for a person.

Next to me, Jen had unbuckled her delicate high heels and was looking at her nylon-covered feet. Her nylons were dark and you couldn't see her bare feet through them. A weird sound came out of her throat. She was growling. Serene Jen was growling! She carefully ripped her nylons so that both feet were exposed. We all looked at her, amazed. Laura was supposed to be the wild one, and even Laura was gaping at Jen. Jen ignored our reactions and stared at her feet. "They look like dough!" she said. Something about that stuck us as funny. I know it doesn't sound that funny, but back then it broke us up. For five minutes, we could not stop looking at our feet and saying, "They look like dough!" Finally Laura looked at us with a serious expression on her face. "They might look like dough now, but we'll bake them in the sun all summer until they're crusty and warm." That set us off on another round of laughter.

It sounds like a silly thing to make a difference, the four of us looking at our bare feet, but things started getting better for us from that day on. After the summer, school got better for me. Nelson started talking more and was less depressed. Laura didn't act strange as much and seemed a lot calmer. And when we thought of Jen's grandma dying, we couldn't help thinking about good things as well.

It's been a while since I've seen Jen and Nelson and Laura, but we still keep in touch. On my key chain, I have one of the four wooden feet that Nelson whittled for us. It reminds me that bad times don't last forever.

How to Recharge Your Soul

Soothing euphoria,
maybe because of the ocean's rumbling surf,
or the sinking of my tennis shoes into damp sand.
Maybe it's the smell of eroded rock,
or the taste of sea salt,
or the touch of the undecided breeze.

My heart sings,
maybe because of the tranquil azure sky,
or the retreating cloud that invites, "Stay all day!"
Maybe it's the sight of the imposing Atlantic butte,
or of its pines clinging to the precious soil.

My mind soars:
this oft-remembered beach is tangible again!
"Build a sand castle, fly a kite, climb this dwarfish Everest!
Invest your dream currency, that pent-up energy
carefully hoarded
while slumbering at winter bus stops."

The castle has one tower, then ten, flying seaweed flags.
The kite reel whirls in my hands,
yanked by a captured rainbow.
Every movement I make
banishes the lethargy of hibernation.

All the while I hear an echo from childhood,
"Save the best for last!"
Walk toward it, a mountain of future sand,
an imagined siren singing, "Climb, hero!"
Ocean, sand, sky, time fade.
This otherworldly boulder fills my vision and my mind.

Feet and hands welcome the quest.
Eyes, fingers, and shoes search for crevices in rock.
Muscles ache, and sing, as they labour.
I fly. Halfway up. Almost there.

My hand grabs the final rugged ledge.
A few more footholds, then over I clamber.
Victory, exhaustion, an effervescent soul.
I rest, leaning against an impossible evergreen.

Exhilaration,
Maybe because the deep sky is so much closer,
or because the ocean has grown wider.
Maybe because I have chiseled
a memory with my bare hands,
and have surmounted an almost-fear.

Where Credit Is Due

The school bell sound effect is bell.wav, recorded by mysticiscool and found at the Freesound Project.
The Cat-Eared Machine Gun Girl graphic was created using HeroMachine software.
Thanks to Rob Suarez for allowing me to play his reading of my story.
"Recuerdo" by Edna St. Vincent Millay, from the book A Few Figs from Thistles, available at Project Gutenberg.
Here is ducttapeguy's complimentary post in the Podcamp Toronto blog.
Thanks to Steve for allowing me to use the "Go pet a duck!" outro from Black Shadow #04.

2008-01-03T06:28:00.000-05:00

Yondercast 012 - Trainwreck

Song: Love Is Gravity

by Lew Jones, found on IODA Promonet.

Podcasters Who Played the Yondercast Promo:

Larry Winfield of the Sundown Lounge poetry podcast
Steve Saylor of the Black Shadow podcast novel

Story: Drin and the Unsettling Experience

My friend Drin, you know, the one who works at the chair leg factory? I see him today, and he's got this look on his face, like the universe is a strange place or something. I ask him what's going on, and he says, "Dude! Unsettling experience!" So, I get him to tell me what happened.

So, last night, after a full day at the chair leg factory, he doesn't feel like making macaroni and cheese or putting on some soup or microwaving a TV dinner, you know how it is. So, he goes to Nifty Burger. What? Yeah, the one on Spelunker, near the coffee place. He orders a Triple Nifty Combo, except that he substitutes milk for the pop. He gets a strange look from the person behind the counter, because how many people you know order milk in a fast food place? But he gets his food and sits down and looks at the food on his tray. And he gets this weird feeling.

He's had that weird feeling before, like the day all the machines in the chair leg factory just stopped working for no reason. So, he just sits there for a minute, afraid if he moves the world will stop working normally or something, but a guy's got to eat eventually, eh? He empties the fries onto his tray and they look fine, so he eats one. Everything's okay. He carefully, carefully unwraps his Triple Nifty Burger, like it's a bomb or something. But it's okay, he takes a bite and the world keeps on spinning. He's still not convinced, though. So, he picks up his milk and slowly opens the carton. And . . . chaos! The milk carton starts singing!

Yeah, singing! That jingle from the milk commercial, um, goes, "Everyone's a winner with fresh milk!" Yeah, he had just opened a winning carton! So the Nifty Burger manager comes running out with a special form he has to sign, and another Nifty Burger person has to take a picture of him holding up the carton. And everybody in the place is looking at him and they start clapping. So, the manager asks him a million questions to put on the special form, like why he decided to drink milk tonight, and was milk a part of his healthy lifestyle and what was twenty-seven minus fourteen? And they tell him he won five-hundred bucks and a tour of a dairy farm and a plush cow and I don't even know what else. All this time, the milk carton is still making a racket.

Finally, after a long time, everything dies down and he can finally sit down with his food. He's a laid-back kinda guy, you know, doesn't like a lot of attention. He starts eating his fries and burger, they're cold, but he doesn't care, he's hungry. He looks around for his milk carton so he can take a drink, but of course the manager took it away with the prize paperwork, to process his win or whatever. Anyway, you know, when you get a winning carton, there's only a bag of water in it and the thing that plays the milk jingle. He's got nothing to drink.

So, he goes up to the counter, takes out his wallet and buys a milk. He said it was pretty good milk, even though he had to wait for it.

Story: The Barns at Bismark

You, the twenty-something with the spiked hair and the Harry Potter glasses! Grab your lunch and several cannisters of ice-cold water, for we are going to the Barns at Bismark!

Query: why are we going there?

We are going to the Barns at Bismark so that we can prepare a truckload of party supplies for their journey to this selfsame warehouse.

How will we prepare these party supplies for their journey?

We will search for boxes of party supplies that have not been marred by the raccoons who enter the Barns at Bismark through the holes in the walls.
We will pack those boxes of party supplies onto skids.
Furthermore, we will wrap the skids of stacked boxes with industrial-strength plastic wrap so that the stacks will stay steady and upright during their journey.

Did the barns at Bismark always contain party supplies?
No! In the past, the Barns at Bismark have also housed cows and emus.

Surely you jest!

Nay! I speak to you most seriously. Breeding pairs of emus were housed in some of the Barns at Bismark. Others of the Barns at Bismark served as feeding sheds for a herd of cows.

Is it permitted that I bring along a small machine that plays MP3 files? I wish to listen to audio programs such as Firefly Talk, NPR Books and Escape Pod while I work.
Why is it that you wish to listen to audio programs while you work?

I wish to numb my senses against the ghostly presence of whatever cows and emus still haunt the Barns at Bismark.
Yes, it is certainly permitted that you listen to your small MP3-playing machine.

2007-12-03T14:55:00.000-05:00

Yondercast 011 - Furious Ninjas and Devastating Sunsets

Listen to the Podcast:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/yondercast

Intro:

My friend Robin recorded an intro for the show! My dad has a show called The Life Works Podcast.

Flash Fiction: Never Leave Home Without It

(One of the Questions of the Day posted at the blogging community vox.com was "What do you always forget to pack?")

I am halfway to Barstuck's to meet my friends for coffee. I am on foot. I am surrounded by furious ninjas. I just realized that I left my weapon in the umbrella stand next to my apartment door.

Bartholomew's Extreme Survival Manual recommends that whenever you are in an emergency situation, you should figure out exactly what resources you have at your disposal. Here is the list of what I have on me right now:

One box of Miss Turndial's Quality-Ridden Jelly Beans.

A Barstuck's Frequent Spender card. I think I have enough points to get a small hot chocolate and a Danish pastry. That's assuming I survive the walk to Barstuck's.

A box containing thirty-one sharpened pencils. It would contain thirty-two, but I gave one to Young Blinken, who lives across the hall from me. Blinken was bemoaning his sad lack of writing implements just as I was leaving for Barstuck's. Apparently, he was supposed to be writing a book report on Rudan Bellinsky's The Mortimers. I gave him a sharpened pencil from my box. Never let it be said that I am not neighbourly.

The pencils do seem to be my best bet, but what good are thirty-one sharpened pencils against thirty-two furious ninjas?

I dearly wish that I had not left my Gouldian broadsword at my apartment. Gouldian broadswords are the sharpest blades in the world, good against Vikings, pirates and, most importantly for me, furious ninjas.

It seems that my landlady wasn't joking when she threatened me with ninjas. I guess it really was the last time I forgot to pay my rent.

Poem: When/Then

When this rainstorm is over,
When the grey sky clears,
When the sun returns,
When the birds resume their songs,
When the wind is gentle,
When the river keeps its banks
When squirrels play in the treetops,
When the shingles have been replaced,
When broken branches are cleared away,
Then . . .
Then I will be stronger,
Made wiser by the storm.

Although it'll still take a bit of time for my wet clothes to dry out.

Cold Wind

by Mossback, found on the Podsafe Music Network.

Flash Fiction: Devastating Sunsets

Mary Linseed talks to herself, and often. Her logic is that since she talks to her family, her friends, her dog and certain trees on a regular basis, she might as well talk to herself. But talking to oneself can be dangerous. Almost three years ago, she talked herself into giving up her comfortable apartment and buying a shiny, space-age tent, a solar-powered computer and a battered copy of Make Your Own Pemmican.

You know who Mary Linseed is; everyone in this city does. She's the weird, thirty-something woman who pitches her tent on the roof of a different apartment tower every week. She's the homeless computer programmer typing away in the public library. She's the woman who sometimes works at the Pioneer Village, showing tourists how First Nations peoples made pemmican. But do you know her story?

Three years ago, Mary Linseed routinely worked fifty hours a week in a cubicle in a tall office building. She was a code monkey. That means that she was a computer programmer, typing computer code hour after hour and day after day. She liked the work because she was really good at it. Her boss could ask her to write impossible-sounding programs, and after several hours of keyboard-tapping, she would find a way to do it. She liked the mental state of intense concentration, she liked the background sound of the her computer's hard drive spinning, she liked the postcard of the sunset tacked to her cubicle wall, and she especially liked walking into the post office knowing that the people behind the counter were using software she had helped write.

Then one day, her company fired her and every other programmer. Apparently a top-level executive has overheard the term "code monkey," and had found a way to teach actual monkeys to write computer code. Sadly, Mary looked around her cubicle. It had felt like a second home for so long, so she was surprised that there was nothing she wanted to take away with her. However, after a moment, Mary untacked the sunset postcard from the wall. It had been there forever, even before she had worked there. The postcard seriously felt like the only valuable object in the cubicle, other than the computer.

On the back of the postcard was a message written in a sprawling handwriting:

"Dear Carl. Wish you were here. You would enjoy these devastating sunsets! See you soon, Joyce."

Just as the phrase "code monkey" had burrowed into some executive's brain, the term "devastating sunsets" wormed into Mary's head. At that moment, amid the sounds of her former coworkers packing up their belongings in their own cubicles, Mary felt the idea of devastating sunsets strike her. She clutched the postcard. She knew, she felt with all her being what the phrase meant. And she wanted it, she wanted to possess that feeling more than she had ever wanted anything.

To this day, she cannot explain in words what the phrase "devastating sunsets" means. But she does invite good friends to sit with her on the top of some apartment tower at dusk. "Once you see, you'll know," she says. She pauses, staring out across the city landscape. "Want some more pemmican?" she asks.

Where Credit Is Due:

Thanks to Robin for the nifty new intro!
The sunset photo is by Nishark,found using Creative Commons and Flickr.

The theme music is Lost Mind by ParaVerse.

The background music for Never Leave Home Without It was Look Whats Coming! by ax, found on the Podsafe Music Network.

The background music for Devastating Sunsets was Impromptu for Six Pianos by Ash Verjee, found on the Podsafe Music Network.

2007-11-09T08:05:00.000-05:00

For the last month my dad and I have been getting ready for this day! I just uploaded the introductory episode of The Life Works Podcast! In the episode, my dad introduces himself and explains the meaning behind the term "life works."

You can get the episode by going to www.christophershennanbooks.com and clicking on the audio button. Or you can click here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/thelifeworkspodcast.

There is going to be an episode every week, hopefully on a Friday. Want to get the episodes automatically? If you have iTunes, click on Advanced at the top of the screen, click on Subscribe to Podcast and paste this in: http://feeds.feedburner.com/thelifeworkspodcast

2007-11-07T22:38:00.000-05:00

Yondercast 010.5 - Thanks for Holding On!

Listen/Subscribe to Yondercast:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/yondercast

Welcome:

This is Shane Shennan, updating you about Yondercast, a brand new podcast and my academic life.
Welcome to the new listeners!

Personal Update:

Last year of my English Lit degree, can't drop the ball now!
The Life Works Podcast is launching November 9, 2007 at www.christophershennanbooks.com. Christian author Christopher Shennan speaks passionately about life, writing and faith.
Steve "Snowball" Saylor, interviewed on Wandercast 002, is launching his audio novel Black Shadow on December 1, 2007 at www.stevesaylor.net.

Next on Yondercast:

Wandercast 004 - Robin's Trip to Kenya
Yondercast 010 - Furious Ninjas and Devastating Sunsets
More about Mary Linseed, a character from Yondercast 010. She was briefly mentioned in the reading Rolling the Dinner Die as the person I would sup with if I rolled a 9.

Song and Background Music:

Changes by Green Lizard, found on the Podsafe Music Network.