Thank you!
Author and podcaster of the Underwood and Flinch vampire saga. Wexford, Ireland.
378 followers 66 following 159 posts
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Thank you!
He's not redecorating (for lack of a better word) the White House for anyone else, I think that's apparent.
The eye-watering price of hotel accommodation isn't a factor, of course.
A big storm, named Floris by the UK Met Office, is heading our way over the coming days and is likely to bring unseasonably strong winds, writes Environment Correspondent George Lee.
For the benefit of those who don't want to click the link: "A world without Caesars".
He has no intention of leaving. As far as he's concerned the WH is his property now.
Should have asked him if children are still coming home from school following unwanted gender-affirming operations.
Sounds like he's still thinking about Jeffrey Epstein taking "staff" from the Mar a Lago spa. It's all getting confused in his head: football, girls, Epstein, sports, spa, windmills, sharks, girls, staff, so unfair, witch hunt, etc
Add this to the pile: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016...
I never thought I'd see the day I'd be rooting for Rupert Murdoch.
Not quite... www.nbcnews.com/business/bus...
And there's this, which no one seems to remember: Woman who accused Donald Trump of raping her at 13 drops lawsuit | Donald Trump | The Guardian share.google/tCQMbvBozQO6...
Thank you! 🙏
Nicky Rackard statue, Wexford Town, Ireland. #photography #bnwphotography #ireland #wexford #bnwmood #blancoynegro #nikon #monochrome
T.A.C.O. He'll reverse this decision like he reverses all the other tariff decisions. He has dementia. Ask him why he did this tomorrow and he'll say he didn't do it.
Since they've stated the president can do pretty much anything provided it's an "official act", the first thing a Dem president (assuming that ever happens) does should be to fire all Trump appointments to the SC - as an "official act" - then have their replacements repeal that stupid ruling.
The circus is in town. Not my thing, but it looks nice. #bnwphotography #photographyireland #photography
Three BnW triptychs. Wide-Medium-Tight around Wexford Town, Ireland 📷 #bnwphotography #photographyireland #photography
📣 New Podcast! "Underwood and Flinch 6: Episode 12" on @Spreaker
Wow! A real blast from the past. And I see they're still going strong.
Here's a playlist I finished recently, Ken. Maybe there's a few in there you'll enjoy open.spotify.com/playlist/0L3...
And it's only Tuesday
TACO. He'll reverse the decision soon.
But who do his fans believe? Him. Every time.
"everyone else" being him.
If troops are "devastated" about anything it's likely being sent into harm's way by the guy who basically tipped off the enemy they'd be coming, causing them to move the targets to a safe location and rendering the whole operation pointless. Unless the point was to waste $347.2m.
Echoes of: “The largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period!"
Nothing to worry about there 🙃
3/ Last thing. At Patreon, Season 7 consists of two U&F books: Legion, and Still of the Night. Both stories continue as one in Season 8 (when I abandoned book titles in favour of season numbers).
2/ You can find links at my website under the "podcast" menu option. Or just locate it in your app of choice: "Underwood and Flinch and Other Audiobooks by Mike Bennett" Patreon: www.patreon.com/c/mikebennett
1/ Hi Neil. Sure. If you subscribe to my podcast feed, you'll get Seasons 1-6 (almost concluded). They are often spaced out, with other shows in-between seasons, but they're all there if you scroll through. Then for Seasons 7-8, you need to sign up to Patreon at the $3 level or above.
Bannon et al know that when Rupert dies, control of the network goes to his kids, majority of whom will likely steer Fox to a saner, possibly even fact-based position. Rupert's not long for this world, so the MAGA goal is to wean the Fox audience off and onto more radical sources in advance. Maybe.
What is the UN doing these days if not preventing wars and protecting civilians? Do they do anything at all? Maybe they're listening to podcasts and music on those translation headsets they wear and playing word games on their phones to look busy.
📣 New Podcast! "Underwood and Flinch 6: Episode 11" on @Spreaker
As always with these "Trump booed" links, it turns out the boos are drowned out by the cheers. But people chanting "USA" at a performance of Les Mis suggests they're not the usual crowd. Probably only there because he is.
Holidaying in Wales #streetphotography #photography #visitwales
"We don't want a DOJ based on pure politics": True. But the J6 insurrection was a massive crime perpetrated by a great many people, many of whom were prosecuted, one of whom was not. The failure to prosecute that 'one' was Garland's fault. Also true.
... And their voters never seem to mind, so they vote for more of the same, time and again.
It's done at last. 55 pages of U&F TV pilot, finished. I've sent it to my producer pal and now await his ruthless assessment. But till then, I'm shagged sideways by the process. I could quite happily never set eyes on the thing again 😅
Converting the Word doc of the pilot into industry-standard script format & watching in horror as my page count rises way beyond the allotted 50 pages. When I'm done, I reckon it'll be closer to 100. I guess that's when the serious editing starts. To cut to the marrow what's already cut to the bone.
Just completed the second edit of the third version of the U&F pilot script. It's good. I'm happy with it. Next stage is formatting it into script format, when I'll learn how over the page count I am 😄 Doh! in advance.
The guitars kick in when the door closes. BANG! We're off to the races.
Just finished first full draft of the the U&F pilot. It needs revisions, but I think it's a winner. It closes with resurrection over, Lydia leads David through cellar door, looks back at death of Ana, smiles, closes door to black. Then, if I get my way, this song: open.spotify.com/track/3FjGKU...
What about finishing the M11 first? Intended to go to Rosslare Harbour, it stopped at Oylegate in 2019 and hasn't moved an inch since. Current plans say it's set to begin around 2030 and finish by 2035 at the earliest. WTF?
Thanks, Elie!
The key part of that speech, the tell, is: "or they don't have to go shopping." Translation: no one is shopping.
I'm now working on version 3 of the pilot. I've completed the cold open/teaser and it's the best - and shortest (so important) - so far. I also bought the Final Draft app so I can format my "final draft" to a professional standard. It's all going well.
The difference being that everyone already assumes Trump is insane.
Video update on the pilot ... youtube.com/shorts/b62gl...
2/ ... Squeeze in a subplot scene. The challenge is time. A page of script = a minute of screen time, and I'm gobbling down those minutes like Pac-Man, trying to compress HOURS of audio chapters into just one hour of pilot. So much cutting. It's brutal.
1/ Pilot V.02. I went through the whole thing so far and finished the scene I've been working on. I now want a "subplot" scene, but I don't think I'm gonna have room. Plan is to get down all I need to get to where I can close with the resurrection itself. If there's room left ...
Pilot, version 2. Yesterday I did a lot of thinking; dreaming up new ways of telling the story and compressing nearly 24 chapters into one pilot episode. As a result, today I got 85% of another scene down. It's good 👍
Maybe start by making the world a nicer place to live in - reverse global heating, end oligarchy, stop fascism? Basically end their own existence.
Yesterday I got the next scene down. A flashback to the beginning of David's bad day, keeping it as tight, Edgar Wright-type cuts. It's good.
Just finished dramatising the resurrection scene. It's very faithful to the book, though that'll probably change. IMHO, as opening scenes go, it's a BLAST!
Well, I finished my revised pilot, and though I like it, I have to admit, it's not gonna work. I need to grab the viewer by the throat and shake them like a terrier with a rat in its mouth from the opening scene to the end credits. I know how to do it, and I'm going to. Stay tuned.
7/ ... Because he has to be. That's how TV pilots work. There is no "later in the series he ..." because there is no "later in the series". Not yet, anyway 📺🤞
6/ David needed to have "main character energy" from the moment he appears on screen. He didn't have that in the book, he was (by his choice) anonymous, invisible. Now he has screen presence, and is, dare I say, attractive. He's the guy we get to know later in the book, but it's right up front ...
5/ Steve and David's relationship is improved, less snarky, kinder, with Steve (David's sponsor) having more of an older brother role (who still gets the best lines - and with all new jokes) ...
5/ Lisa is now American. Why? She needs a visa to expire. Germans didn't require one for the UK in 2008 because the UK was in the EU. And also because Rose is German, and I don't want an excess of German ladies. Rose has to be German. Lisa doesn't. And Rose didn't exist in 2008 ...
4/ His relationship with Lisa now goes some way to her living in his flat at the start of U&F Underground (something I didn't know was going to happen when I wrote the first book) ...
3/ He's got a regimental tattoo for his unit in Bosnia (Royal Army Medical Corps) ...
2/ Instead, David's got his old job back. He's a paramedic! And he's in partial uniform having come to the AA meeting straight from a night shift ...
1/ Redrafting. The David AA scene. Completely different now - including David. Without the narrative text, you have to use visual signs to convey information. So, ditch a lot of non-plot-driving talk about being a teacher (what use is that in the later story? Does he give English lessons?) ...
When all else fails, blame Biden. At least that way the Fox audience will be happy to believe it.
47 pages of a 50-page pilot completed in first draft. Now to edit it and fill the remaining 3 pages 🦇
Another productive day yesterday. Two scenes done, including another new one with Lydia and Beltran. The first draft is now complete, but as Terry Pratchett said, "the first draft is just you telling the story to yourself." Now the hard bit begins: telling it to TV execs in a way that says "YES 😍!!"
Yesterday was spent doing the free podcast, but today I was back to the TV pilot. Another brand new scene. David doesn't get blotto drunk, instead, he managed to call Steve, his sponsor. The scene is David, Steve, and Lisa at David's flat. Written with the benefit of having 150 episodes behind me 🦇
Pilot: Scene 4. First draft done. Original NEW scene. Lydia brings Beltran to Casa Underwood for the first time, introduces Ana, Conchi and John Flinch. Lydia learns from John that their detective has found her long lost brother. It's pretty good 👍
But instead of thanks, all they received was blame, and in came Cameron.
Pilot. Scene 3. David at AA, first draft finished. Updated to include stuff I didn't know in 2008, like David's neighbour Beryl, who appeared at the start of Underground. Just a cameo, but we'll know who she is, while newbies won't 🦇
The younger generation doesn't know what's going on (generally speaking). They're lost in TikTok, which is all part of the plan. Gotta keep TikTok at all costs!
First scene after the cold open. First draft now complete. At Casa Underwood, Underwood begins the 50-year nap. Fade to black on Arthur's face as he blows out the last candle in the cellar. Fade up into Scene Two on David's face in 2008. Nice if the actors look similar, but not crucial.
Thanks, Mark. If the show happens, Night Crossing will have its day in time.
I've begun work on my pilot script for a potential U&F TV series. It skips Night Crossing (which was never part of the original story) and opens where the novel did, on a dusty road between Malaga and Casa Underwood in 1958, when a Rolls Royce hearse encounters the Guarda Civil 🦇
Very well said, James.
Like you trust his instincts on casinos, steaks, bottled water, universities, etc.
Kissinger (surely) had a better diet.
Update. It's back on Spotify. Yay 😊
The idea is that if someone thinks something incorrect or misguided, they’ll have to "think again" — which is why "think" is used as a noun in the second part.
"If you THINK ... Then you've got another THINK coming. "Thing" makes no sense.
The fact that there's a twist at all is a spoiler ... youtu.be/KTc4zI_7-Ms?...
Thanks for the massive spoiler. Couldn't this have waited a little longer?
Allies are going to have to stop sharing intelligence with the US. They may as well be mailing it straight to the Kremlin.
Underwood and Flinch S6 E8 is unavailable on Spotify due to a "copyright infringement" over the theme tune. I have permission to use it, but try telling that to the AI that runs the Internet these days. It may be a while. It's available everywhere else in the meantime.
"Probably my last" 😅
It's a tragedy, Dave. Wishing you all the best.
Wonderful choice of quotation ❤️
The Gestapo always managed to extract confessions. I think that may be the playbook she's thinking of.
Despite his grand declarations, Trump can't end the war and never intended to. Now he needs someone else to blame so he doesn't look like a liar/loser/fraud/ (to his followers). It was always going to be Zelensky.
The UK didn't send her. They kicked her out of Downing Street in record time then voted her out of her constituency seat. She's representing no one but herself. Just another grifter trying to mine the vein of stupid marks at CPAC.
And the government coffers are swimming in money. If only they could figure out what to spend it on 🤔
Literally awesome 🔥🔥🔥
If Ireland's coffers are bulging, as is widely reported, surely it's time the government spent some of it on weather-proofing the grid against the new climate reality we're living with.
Every accusation is a confession with Trump, and on election night he "truthed": "A lot of talk about massive CHEATING in Philadelphia. Law Enforcement coming!!!"
Storm Eowyn moving away from us now. We were spared the power outage.
Dublin 📷 #photography #streetphotography #bnw #bnwphotography #bnwstreetphotography
@rionysus.bsky.social Welcome, Ryan ☺️
Thanks so much 🙏😊
Thank you 🙏😊