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What a crazy, hectic week. From problems with BoA's server, to somewhat serious family issues, to overall holiday jitters, this week seemed to be rather ulcer inducing. Thankfully, we're at the end of another one and we can kick back, relax, and pontificate on esoterica for a bit.
I should note that there may be no "binnall report" next week or, at the very least, a slightly shorter edition, as the family and I are taking a trip out to San Diego from the 14th to the 28th. As such, my schedule for those two weeks will be fluid at best and wild at worst, but we've been planning for it @ BoA the last few weeks so we don't expect BoA : Audio or any of the usual stuff at the site to be too affected, aside from my C2C listening habits which may be curtailed due to the big vacation. That said, if I do make it out to San Diego next week, we may be in for a fun little adventure I'll be telling you about a week from today.
Be that as it may, this week here in the binnall report, we look back on an interesting week of Coast to Coast, which included George Noory as a guest, energy weapons out of control, and UFOs over Washington. We look ahead to a star packed week of Coast which includes Alex Jones, Linda Moulton Howe, Nick Begich and Mike Heiser. Coastie voting season continues, we dip into the mailbag for esoteric xmas gift suggestions, and we look back at some Hoagland antics from nine years ago. We also preview tomorrow's BoA : Audio featuring Bill Ryan talking about SERPO and, of course, Coastie Commemorative Poster # 2 in Hot Newz.
Like that paper mache ornament you made in 3rd grade, this is the binnall report, fresh from the crawlspace.
The Week That Was
At the conclusion of last week's report, George Noory was about to take to the helm, once again, for Friday into Saturday Open Lines. The pop-in was John Conner, talking about the Georgia Guidestones. I missed this, but I'm sure it was killer, since there's barely any discussion on this mysterious modern anomaly. Standard Open Lines followed, with the special topic line being the "Lost It Line" for people who once flipped out. Sigh.
Saturday on "Ian", IP smashed the fourth wall in the 1st hour, as his guest was George Noory, discussing C2C and "Worker in the Light". I missed this, sadly, but downloaded the MP3, as many people were raving about this one, including BoA's senior writer Khyron, who covered it as part of The K-Files this week, "Most of the interview didn't even focus on the book. For the most part, it played out as an interesting lesson in Coast to Coast history. Both Ian and The Noor took it in turn to detail the various circumstances that led them to hosting the show. It was your standard self back-patting routine, but Ian's witty comments (as usual) kept things flowing. The 2 proceeded to talk about everything from their similar encounters with out of body experiences to the latest movies they want to see. The natural rapport the 2 hosts shared was fun to listen to--they sounded like a couple of good buddies shooting the breeze."
The full show interview was erstwhile reporter Peter Lance, who returned to the show to breathlessly share the news about his new book. Ian's been to this rodeo with Lance before and it appears he tried to change the tune, as, according to Khyron, he apparently called "a mid-interview audible". Lesley fleshes out the audible in all it's hilarity with this quote from C2C Rewind, "He pretty much told Lance to not try to give every detail of his 600 page book in a 3 hour interview." Damn. I'm going to have to download this whole episode as that sounds hilarious.
Saturday night on Coast, Art Bell had Peter von Puttkamer on the show to talk about the "lost world". As is often the case, I ended up missing this episode, but Lesley caught it and it sounded stellar. Here's her take from C2C Rewind, "He talked about the lost world, lots of different crypto creatures and even alien like lifeforms in the form of silica eating microbes. The story about the huge centipedes that would eat mice and birds totally creeped me out. Noory would have loved Puttkamer because he seemed to think dinosaurs may still roam the earth."
As a result of a chaotic weekend, I ended up missing the bulk of Sean Carroll on Sunday's show. His topic was cosmology and all the various things that come with it. No buzz on this one and what I heard was fairly unremarkable.
Monday night on C2C, The Noor had Matthew Alper on the show to talk about his theories regarding the brain being hard-wired for religion. Pretty interesting interview here, as Noory was dumbfounded by Alper's atheism and seemed to go back to that one quite a few occasions. He also brought some interesting new information to the table that attempted to debunk Joan of Arc and other people who experienced religious miracles. Pretty good episode.
Tuesday's guest Robert Duncan covered "non lethal weapons" and gave us the truth behind these devious devices. Surprisingly good episode, featuring a lot of information on these various weapons, uncovered documents suggesting these have been in play for quite a while, and lots of interesting discussion on the implications of it all.
Duncan pressed that these weapons are the "next big thing" post-nuclear bomb, which is a scary thought. He also alleged that those crazy people who say they are being attacked by the government's "evil rays", may, in fact, be telling the truth. Notable was one caller, who hilariously lambasted Duncan and was irate because he thought he was encouraging "tin foil hats". Strong episode.
Wednesday night saw what Noory called a "double punch" with Jason Martell and Erik Poltorak on the show to discuss "ancient astronauts". In a lot of ways, this episode epitomized exactly what I hate about ancient astronaut episodes. Case in point, if you took a drink every time Sitchen was mentioned during the interview, you'd have passed out before the first commercial break. Considering, also, that I've heard some dubious things about Martell in the last few weeks, I wasn't too impressed with this one. I couldn't help but chuckle when Poltorak said that the Bible plagiarized from ancient texts. The irony of it all wasn't lost on me, at least. In the immortal words of Dr. Evil, this episode was "pretty standard".
Thursday was perhaps the best of the week, with Robert Stanley guesting, talking about UFO flaps over Washington D.C. Outstanding historical Ufology material here and some great "big picture" discussion as well. I found Stanley's theory that, unbeknownst to us, Earth is a part of some evil empire and that the "good guys" are trying to free us. Strong on information, both recent and on a niche topic, and good analysis as well. Very good episode.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the week-long Hoagland fest that went on the past few days. Sir Hoags showed up at the beginning of the week to talk about the impending water on Mars announcement, and it shockingly actually happened the next day, which allowed him to keep coming back to both discuss the news and pat himself on the back. Hoagaphiles and Nooryites will surely use this news to justify RCH's place as C2C's science advisor and overall "great thinker", but I wasn't too impressed. It just goes to show you that if you rant and rave about something long enough, you will get something right. Plus, water on Mars isn't exactly some groundbreaking prediction, I always thought it was just assumed, for the most part. Prove the "Robot Panda Head" theory and then I'll get started on the Nobel paperwork, Hoagie.
Anyway, decent week, with some bright spots over the weekend, notably both episodes on Saturday and a strong Thursday episode as well. Otherwise, kind of bland for the most part.
The Week That Is
The Noor is off tonight, skipping out on our special Friday nights together. And to think I was going to make lemon squares. In his stead, Art Bell is the guest host and we've got the usual Friday into Saturday Open Lines. No word on the pop-in yet, but here's hoping we get another Art v. JC showdown.
Saturday on "Ian", IP welcomes fellow Bible lover Mike Heiser to the program. Heiser will be talking about some new software that lets you read ancient texts. Sounds like an infomercial, but if Heiser manages to take a few shots at Sitchen, it will all be worth it. In all seriousness, Heiser is one of the few C2C guests who delights in letting the air out of the "ancient astronaut" balloon and I'm sure the usually skeptical Ian will be all about it. Nice counter balace to the endless Sitchen devotees C2C manages to find and showcase.
Saturday night on C2C proper, Jim Sparks is the guest and the topic is alien abduction. Apparently, Sparks has been undergoing abductions for twenty years and he's written a book about it. I expect it will come down to the usual argument of good aliens v. bad aliens. Could be interesting, especially if Sparks is either really normal or really crazy.
The weekend ends on Sunday with Nick Begich on the program to discuss a variety of electronic esoteric topics, like "electro smog" and cell phones. Batten down the hatches, as Begich will also apparently be talking about "privacy related technologies". I can only hope that we get a flashback to that infamous Roger Tolces episode and Art again tries to justify endless government spying, thus peeving off the vast majority of the esoteric crowd. Could be a good one.
The Noor returns from his three day weekend on Monday with Dr. Allan Botkin, who will be on to delve into contact with departed loved ones. Sounds spooky. What's the over / under on when we start hearing about phone calls from dead people ? I'd say at some point in the 3rd hour.
Tuesday, after endless pop-ins and theme show appearances, Alex Jones finally gets a full show gig, his first since, shockingly, 1.18.2006. Anyway, AJ will be on to discuss the Pan American Union, the New World Order, the economy and the overall sad state of affairs this nation finds itself in today. Usually, the Bulldog puts in a strong showing on a full episode appearance and I'll expect nothing less this time around. Should be best of the week.
Ken Klein joins the show on Wednesday to tell us about his research into supernatural origins behind the pyramids, UFOs, and other esoteric staples. Could be good, could be awful, depending on how much of the material is new and how much is already worn out. Klein was on back in April, waxing poetic about the pyramids, sounding like someone who'd just heard of all this stuff the other day, so I'm not getting my hopes up, though it will be interesting to see how far his stuff has progressed since then.
Thursday wraps up the formal week with Linda Moulton Howe. It may be a rare full show Howe appearance, but it also could be another Noory three day weekend and this will be a quasi-Friday episode. Irregardless, LMH will be on to talk about news about a planned moon base and also, and this sounds killer, to give a recap and reflection on the various stories she's presented throughout the year. That sounds awesome. Depending on how much Howe we get, it could be quite good.
Overall, a pretty good week for C2C. Loaded with star power and a nice mix of topics.
The 2006 Coasties
Three weeks to go in voting season and the votes are pouring in as I type this. I have, however, gotten a few e-mails from folks who feel overwhelmed by the whole process and can't keep track of a whole year of C2C. I feel your pain.
That's why BoA put together the Coastie Contenders List to narrow down the massive field into a handful of contenders in each field (from 5 up to 10 or so contenders for some categories). For those who feel it's impossible to distill 2006 into a Coastie Vote, I suggest consulting the list. Hardcore fans seem to already have their favorites picked out.
Either way, be sure to vote for the Coasties and voice your opinion of the best of the best on C2C in '06.
Consult the Ballot for Award Categories, Rules, and additional Resources.
The Coastie schedule for '06 is as follows ...
12.1.6 :: Ballot released, voting begins. Coastie season is underway.
12.29.6 :: Voting closes.
12.31.6 :: Winners announced.
BoA : Audio
This Week : Bill Ryan (Part 1 of 2). Serpo ... it was one of the biggest esoteric stories of 2006. We look back on the last year of the Serpo story from its birth, to its explosion in esoterica, to its subsequent whimpering out. BoA : Audio doesn't waste your time with the purported EBE culture on SERPO, we go in-depth on the story behind the Serpo story and it discuss the life of the esoteric monster that is "the SERPO story".
This week's installment of our marathon conversation covers the tumultuous first six months of the SERPO story, starting with the initial postings nearly one year ago, we trace the story behind the SERPO story, from its birth to it's explosion onto the esoteric scene in late 2005 to it's strange evolution in early 2006.
Bill Ryan's websites are www.serpo.org & www.projectcamelot.org
You can hear an MP3 preview of Bill Ryan on BoA : Audio HERE * Just right click and then "save target as".
Next Week : Bill Ryan (Part 2 of 2) / Kerry Cassidy .
We finish up our discussion on SERPO, covering the second half of the first year of the SERPO story, including the change in distribution of the story, the slowing down of SERPO posts, and the possible end to the SERPO story. Plus, Bill gives us his final take on what may have been going on with the SERPO story.
Following that, Kerry Cassidy joins Bill to talk about their new venture, Project Camelot, featuring video interviews with esoteric whistle blowers. We talk about the goals of Project Camelot, dealing with potential hoaxers, why some whistle blowers prefer to remain anonymous, and much much more.
Their websites is www.projectcamelot.org
binnall report mailbag
Hi Binall,
I wanted to know if you had any Christmas present recommendations for fellow fans of the esoteric.
Wade in St. Paul, Minnesota Hmm, good question, Wade. There's always my standard xmas gift : Rule By Secrecy. I usually give at least 3 copies to different people for the holiday season. It's the book that got the ball rolling on BoA, so I find it helps people in my life understand what it is that I do and how I got into it. Meanwhile, there's tons of other great books out there for gifts as well as quality DVDs, like the Dan Aykroyd UFO disc that came out this past Summer.
And, of course, if your loved one enjoys C2C, Alex Jones, or Rense, you can always get them a gift subscription to one of their archive services so they can enjoy esoteric radio at their own pace.
Questions ? Comments ? Send them to tbinnall@hotmail.com
This Week in C2C History
12.7.1998 :: The beginning of a month-long story that we have retroactively dubbed "Hoagland / Dore '98" and that we'll recount over the next month here in "the binnall report". It all started with this episode ... "Richard Hoagland joins Art for an update on the anticipated December 7th event. According to Richard there was some sort of very strong ELF pulsed signal just after midnight GMT. Art reads a report from a listener in Phoenix who went to the proposed sight with his wife, and they saw nothing. The only unusual thing was the weather, snow on Turret Peak. Richard reminds us that Paul Dore said something about, "oh, maybe its the weather" which Richard interpreted as code. "
12.8.1998 :: "Art says he has always taken Richard Hoagland with a little grain of salt, but he now thinks Richard is onto something really big. In regard to the "Arizona" event and Turret Peak, Art says Richard was right on about something happening, which turned out to be this unusual storm and the ELF signal.. " (artbell.com cd rom)
Stay tuned till next week for our next installment of "Hoagland / Dore '98"
12.8.1997 :: Who knew that bird flu was around back then ? C2C, apparently. "A flu strain previously found only in birds has jumped species and has now killed 4 people in Hong Kong. The big question here is whether it can be spread from human to human, through the air. Preliminary indications, contrary to what Reuters has reported, show that the health care workers attending these people are themselves now coming down with symptoms." (artbell.com cd rom)
End Notes
That does it for yet another edition of the binnall report. Big thanks for those who keep on keepin' on with me. Hope you enjoyed the ride this week.
Plugs : Tomorrow @ binnallofamerica.com, Bill Ryan joins us for Part 1 of a marathon interview tracing the evolution of the SERPO story on BoA : Audio. Sunday, it's Lesley's C2C Rewind @ The Debris Field and smoker dave is updated. Monday, general updates and maybe a surprise or two. Tuesday, Lesley's Grey Matters. Wednesday, Khyron's The K-Files. Thursday, Hot Newz, Coastie Commemorative Poster # 3. And, Friday, the binnall report, possibly a mini-version, but, if so, there will be a fun surprise.
binnallofamerica.com ... won't you join in our reindeer games ?
Off to try and tie up some loose ends around here. Hope y'all have a great weekend and, remember, vote in the Coasties !! Until next week, this is binnall ... signing off.