U&F 26 goes live in a mad blur of hurry. I have to go to Spain tomorrow to sell my house in Almacena. Yes, the house in Andalucia where I had the idea for U&F has found a buyer and tomorrow morning at 4am we fly out to clear our stuff out and sign the papers. This means that the episode hasn't gone through the usual level of endless fuss and nit-picking. I spent 12 hours making it, but none checking it for gaffes because I ran out of time; there may be repeat lines in it, there may be burps, coughs, even tea slurpings - I don't know. For the first time ever, I haven't had time to check my final edit. I had to get it online before I go away, and that means getting it live tonight.
And so, with or without burps, Episode 26: It's Eighties Night at La Reina de Corazones. Underwood is keen to try contemporary dancing, but Keith isn't happy to see him trying it with Michelle.
Click the pic to hit the MP3
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- Mike's blog
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Im sure the episode will be
Im sure the episode will be great Burps and all, Great to hear you've sold your house. See you when you get back
(ok the episodes downloaded and want to listen)
YEH yeh yeh!
Good stuff as always Mike! As far as I'm concerned, you can do no wrong. Every episode has just been....wonderful. So much enjoyment. Thanks for the great stories, Underwood and Flinch is such a unique creation...I can't get enough!
By the way, if you were worrying that the quality wasn't up to standards, don't worry. It was just fine and I was as hooked in as always. Such good choices....Im gonna go re-listen.
P.S. Has anybody heard the uncut episode? Is it worth listening to? let me know...I may listen anyway as I need my U&F fix. SO GOOD.
Excellent!
Good stuff as always Mike! As far as I'm concerned, you can do no wrong. Every episode has just been just....wonderful. So much enjoyment. You really nail the dialog and character work. Thanks for the great stories, Underwood and Flinch is such a unique creation...I can't get enough!
By the way, if you were worrying that the quality wasn't up to standards, don't worry. It was just fine and I was as hooked in as always.
Lord Underwood is by far my favorite vampire right now and I love the dynamic between him and Flinch. It was fun to see them as enemies but now they are sort of reforming their relationship and that is excellent as well. A static relationship is nowhere near as fun as an evolving one, so kudos.
My thoughts: whenever there is a story about an overly competent and cool vamp, I always want to see how the character reacts when SHIT HITS THE FAN and everything goes against them. I like seeing powerful characters in dangerous, unknown territory and part of me wanted Underwood to kill Keith and then go on the run. Think about it, vampires are always masters of their territory, lords of their domain and the people within. So what would happen if all that comfort and control were to suddenly disappear and Underwood was super vulnerable? might be fun.... just a thought.
Great ep as always Mike....love the podcast.
Logan in Montana
The S*** hits the Fan
Hi Logan
I know what you mean about competent and powerful heroes needing situations which stretch them somewhat. I obviously can't say anything about future developments in the story, but I can promise not to disappoint you :-)
Great Episodes
Hey Mike
Just wanted to tell you I thought the last few episodes have been awesome! Keep up the Great work! I really like getting to know Underwood, especially in the last two episodes. It is very neat to see how he interacts with other people. The dance scene was great, Underwood digging Motor Head was nice. Underwood is definately one cool cat (bat?)! I liked in this last episode how we were able to be in Underwoods head and hear his thoughts on things.
The fight was awesome! I could see Underwoods attitude as being a good fight made for a good night out. Made me wonder how many times Underwood and the previous Flinches had bed been in a barroom brawl. Underwood seemed to be really enjoying it. Plus he gave David a little test to see if he could hang, and if he is up to par with his ancestors.
As far as Keith goes, I had one theory about what may happen with him and the Russians and how Underwood would play a role in that. But after he has made enemies with Underwood, I have no idea how that will all tie together. Can't wait to see how you weave it Mike.
Keep up the Great Work!!
Samual A. Carver
A Good Night Out
Hi Sam. Yes, Underwood does enjoy a good night out, and I assure you that he and previous Flinches have indeed been in some great dust-ups. I can't give you a window to all of them, but I can tell you that his "origin story" lies ahead in the coming months, and in that we find a couple of fine examples of U&F (the original F, Matthias) fighting against all manner of unpleasantness.
YES!
AWESOME. Back to business as usual eh Mike? You can do no wrong...
No glitches or other shit that I noticed, everything sounded smooth and great, as always. Mike's voice is a fine, silken gift.
My thoughts on vampire novels: whenever there is a hyper-confident and competent vamp, I always want to see him or her on the run and in a panic. To me, watching a powerful figure loose that power and how the dynamics shift is incredibly interesting. I hope Underwood encounters some problems along the way that shake him up a bit, but if not thats fine too. As I mentioned already, Mike can do no wrong. I'm hooked till the end.
Shaken ...
... and stirred. As I say above, Logan, U&F will not disappoint.
Fight Club
Mike Bennett, you sure know how to write a bloody fight! For anyone listening to me listen to this episode, perhaps walking past my front door, they'd have been sure I was watching UFC! I love it. Perhaps, you'll consider letting us dedicated listeners have at some of the footage off the cutting room floor. After all, don't you love to watch the deleted scenes from your favorite films?
FOR THE LOVE OF UNDERWOOD, PLEASE SAY YOU'LL CONSIDER IT!
Just a suggestion.
The Cutting Room Floor
Hi Max. The cutting room floor isn't so much littered with deleted scenes as it is with deleted takes. I record an amazing amount of stuff over and over again in my first take, and then, when I go back to edit, I choose the best ones and delete the rest. Sometimes I don't like any of them and I re-record new ones. You're an actress, you know how it is ;-)
Me Too
I agree with Maxximillian! I also enjoyed the fight scenes immensely. I imagine that it must be a hard thing to do, both in the writing and in the performing. And yes it would be a treat to hear some of the out takes which must be hilarious. But what really impressed me the most was how you solved the confrontation in the bathroom (won't say much more so that I don't spoil it for others). The Lord certainly has class!
Fights and Dances
Hi Paco
You're right, fights - and dances (I recently discovered) - are very hard things to write. The funny thing is, just as in a real fight, chaos ensues. Episode 26 went through about 3 draft versions of the fight before I finally settled on the finished one, and in each case, different things happened: different fists hit different faces, different things broke, different things were said, people even walked away with different injuries. All I knew for sure was how it would start and how it would - or at least should - end. Like you, I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but let's just say the final result (at least in this particular punch-up) had to work the way it did. However, fate doesn't always favour the same players ... *fades to mysterious music*
Yet Another Episode Full of Awesome
Mike,
Wow, you continue to crank out truly awesome episodes. I love this story and really, really love hearing you podcast the episodes. The production is outstanding as always. Keith and Billy Boy crack me up and the fight sequence was amazing.
By the way, CONGRATS on the 2010 Parsec nomination for U&F! That rocks! You totally deserve it.
Been Away
Many thanks CG. Sorry it's taken me so long to reply, but I went to Spain immediately after Episode 26 was posted and only got back yesterday evening. I'm really happy to hear that the episodes are going down well with you and the other listeners.
We're still a long way from the end of this novel, so expect lots more fun to come :-)
Episode 26: The most frightening ever!
Episode 26 of Underwood & Flinch sent chills up and down my spine! The pure horror I experienced when Michelle holds the lighter to the David Sylvian autographed Japan single "Quiet Life" made me howl in fear and I almost swerved off the road while listening on my commute home from work. Thank God nothing happened to the record. The only thing that would have been worse is if it had been an autographed copy of Japan's "Visions of China."
Thank you Mike! BTW, Mike, I guess, Japan's Mick Karn is not doing well in his battle with cancer. Send him your well wishes.
http://www.mickkarn.net/index.htm
Lovely characters - amazing voices
During this break between episodes ( no pressure here - but I think I'm getting the D.T.'s... ),
I've enjoyed listening to the podcast for the second time, and in doing so - I became so much more appreciative of the wonderful range of voices you've given your characters ( actually in ALL of your podcasts. Sadly, it's a second go-around for most of Hall of Mirrors as well.... Loving every minute...). Is there a voice/dialect that more difficult than another in U &F ? Transitioning dialogue between some of these characters ( like Keith and Cynthia...) MUST be a challenge, and they are all so unique and beautifully executed.
I guess a congrats is in order for the sale of your house in Spain, although I'm sure it tears at you a bit - such a lovely area...
All my best,
Lesa
Accents
Hi Lesa Many thanks. Yes, doing the different voices is a bit of a challenge. Switching between one person and another, accessing not only their voices but their mental and emotional state, is difficult. Sometimes I have to stop reading and highlight all of one person's dialogue on the page, get into their character, then record everything they say as one separate track, which I then have to cut and paste into the master recording amidst the other characters.
For me, Damo is the trickiest character to do, which some might think odd since I actually live in Dublin. But the working-class Dub accent is notoriously difficult to imitate. I have an actor friend from a more middle-class part of Dublin, and even he can't do it. Usually if I can't do an accent very well, I just drop it and go with something I can do, but Damo was integral to the story from the start, a key player in Keith's little gang, and I couldn't change him any more than I could change Underwood; he's part of the landscape of the thing, if you see what I mean.
I also find Scots, German, Russian and French accents tricky, but English people come easy to me, especially posh people and cockney geezers - I tend to switch between these two accents most of the time in real life: one minute I'm Keith, next minute I'm Gerald - but other people pop up a lot too. Over the years, my wife has learned to ignore us ;-)
Accents
You forgot American accents, you do have trouble with the american accent. Thank goodness Underwood and Flinch haven't ran into any americans!
Accents
Everyone with an accent from every place every one of my characters comes from will (and does) say exactly the same thing; fortunately I ignore criticism and just get on with it, otherwise every character would be male and from South East England :-)
Whoops
Whoops . I meant to write "...Keith/Michelle ". Weird morning...
U&F rocks my mobile
Looking forward to #27...
http://tinyurl.com/2clcfau