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Much like the sun sets later in the day this time of year, so does your weekly dose of C2C critique, known as the binnall report. I'd actually intended to get this out earlier in the night, but a truly fugly Red Sox game broke out and I've been enthralled ever since. Nonetheless, we're rolling it out now for ya, sorry for the delay.
As usual, we've got the Week That Was and the Week That Is, so you know what went down and what is to come on Coast to Coast. We've also got This Week in C2C History and the binnall report mailbag, each brimming with esoteric goodness. We've also got a preview of this week's BoA : Audio featuring the electric Andre Eggelletion. And, an all new Hot Newz that can only be called C2C 4:20 that I'm sure you'll enjoy.
I've got lots to say about the esoteric happenings of the week, so let's do this.
The Week That Was
When I last left you, we were awaiting the word on who the pop in would be for the first hour of Friday into Saturday Open Lines. And we kept on waiting, as for the first time that I can recall off hand, there was no pop-in and the show merely consisted of 4 hours of Open Lines. I'm scared. Noory's Open Line addiction is getting worse. I suggest we stage an intervention.
Saturday on Ian, our loveable pal IP featured "Numbers Lady" Glynis McCants. Ugh. After featuring Sean David Morton last week, I'm beginning to worry that Ian is becoming the dumping grounds of the truly awful C2C guests. What happened to the obscure, enlightening, off-kilter guests Ian usually has ? Folks like McCants and the repugnant SDM further erode the unique feeling of Ian's show and make it more like just another extra edition of C2C. Hopefully IP can get the ship back on track soon.
For what it is worth, I skipped this episode of Ian, but I hear he did a decent job with Glynis. He apparently tricked her into thinking he had some other name and let her run with it and then laughed. I appreciate that, even though I didn't hear it.
Then came the return of Saturday Night Bell. Unless you are living under a rock somewhere, you heard that Art Bell ran off and got married over the last few weeks and is now moving to the Philippines. I poop you not.
I've already mulled this story to death over at theusofe.com, but suffice it to say, my point of view on it is, "Congrats Art" but that's about it. I've seen all sorts of either righteous indignation or slavish devotion to Art after his announcement that it was all rather fugly. For some reason, folks are ranting and raving like back when Art called 911 Truth Movement folks "wingnuts". I, for one, will not engage in the infotainment aspects of this story, as that whole mindset is a symptom of everything that is wrong with America. As I said, "Congrats, Art", now let us get back to chasing the answers to the mysteries of life.
The full show guests were Brendan Cook and Barbara McBeath with EVPs. Classic Bell guests, if you like them you probably liked this episode, if you don't then you probably didn't listen. I did listen to about half of the episode and enjoyed it, for the most part. That said, EVPs are like UFO sightings reports, once you've heard a few you become numb to the wonder of them and they become pretty blase.
Sunday Night Bell featured another classic Art Bell guest in Ed Dames. Dames was all a tither about finally being able to locate things with GPS precision via his remote viewing. I recall him going on the show a few years ago and saying almost the same thing, expect he had figured out to narrow down time. Based on these two developments, I'd expect him to have figured out most of the world's mysteries by now. And yet he hasn't.
He made a few detailed predictions that will either make or break him, if they are ever proven, including a bold one on Natalie Halloway that I presume will be proven to be a "miss" in due time. I seriously think that Dames realizes that no one believes his bunk anymore, so he has to turn up the bull plop another degree every few years.
Monday, The Noor returned to the roost, with Emmy award winning Peter Lance. Peter lived up to my ribbing when he told the story of how he won one of his Emmys ... within 6 minutes of the beginning of the interview. This episode was typical Lance stuff, where he breathlessly tells a story that weaves and weaves and weaves and has more characters than The Simpsons. He really needs to slow down, take his time, and get his stuff across in a more coherent manner if he wants to be taken seriously, by me at least. It doesn't help that he repeats stuff that he breathlessly said on his last few appearances as well.
Of note on this episode was Noory's playfully poking fun at Lance's "feud" with Alex Jones. Lance was respectful of the Bulldog, but still managed to slip a pot shot in at AJ when he thought no one was noticing. Having listened to Lance's interview, it sounded like he was one good shove away from actually seeing what everyone else sees with regards to a 911 conspiracy. Unfortunately, he chalks it up to government incompetence and negligence and not a sinister plot by a cabal of power mongers. So he's not all the way there yet.
Dr.Ronald Klatz joined the show on Tuesday to talk with Noory about anti-aging research. I skipped this episode, since it sounded like a bummer.
Wednesday featured Ken Klein talking about the Pyramids and Supernatural Messengers. Despite my hope, Klein never really narrowed down just what the Supernatural Messengers were and, even though I listened to the first half of the interview, I couldn't quite figure out if he meant angels or aliens or both or neither. So that was a wash.
The folks at theusofe.com seemed to this that Klein was bat crap insane, but he didn't strike me as any more insane than the usual C2C guests. He sounded like someone who had just discovered esoterica and wanted to run around in the streets saying, "Hey, check this out ! " Dude, the pyramids are so Esoterica 101. Get with it.
The only flicker of outright insanity I caught was when Noory asked him some vague question like "why did the supernatural messengers choose to interact with humans" and Klein got all weird, like he was afraid of answering that question. This was during the 1st hour of the interview. It was very strange. I did enjoy his stuff about sneaking into Egypt to make his movie and the general politics of making a movie in Egypt and dealing with the government there.
Thursday was a grab bag of Ufology, Exopolitics, and good old fashioned Rock and Roll. Since I was up against the clock on this episode, I really only had to sample some of the highlights. Sadly, that meant skipping out on ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, who is making a run at C2C obscure celebrity appearance of '06. Sounds like Gibbons was pretty good and I'll have to check it out later on this weekend, though I'm not a huge ZZ Top fan, myself.
Paola Harris went from being the full episode guest to being a mere one hour guests for the second hour of the show. I listened to most of Paola's appearance and I enjoyed her stuff. She has got to be one of the hardest working Ufologists out there, especially with regards to geoufology. I dare say she deserves a monthly slot on Coast to give international Ufology updates.
Finally there was the final two hours with Dr. Michael Salla, talking about some insane story of some dude who is channeling info from aliens regarding them hitting Earth with a comet (or something along those lines). This oddity was highlighted by a pop-in by Richard C. Hoagland to, shockingly, act as the "voice of reason" and explained why this story is supposedly bogus.
I really have two things to say. First of all, it was entertaining as hell, hearing Hoagland as debunker and he is probably right about this story. However and secondly, it sets a dangerous precedent and pretty much opens up a huge can of worms if we are looking at it from an even keel.
I'm sure you're intrigued by that second point, so I will elaborate. Where the hell is Hoagland when C2C trots out one of these infamous prognosticators, whose predictions, based on the data of good folks like Simon Aspinnal, are complete bunkery ? He is the science advisor, after all. Shouldn't he be on to say, "Um, you're 'hit rate' is awful" or something along those lines.
Secondly, and again I am torn on this one as well, I don't think it is altogether fair to just spring a ranting Hoagland on any C2C guest. It smacks of Jenny Jones or some other daytime talk show ilk. I'm sure if Salla knew Hoagland would call in and pretty much crap all over his story, he wouldn't have shown up. I haven't had to chance to hear the rest of Salla's appearance, but I presume he had the wind taken out of his sails after his tete-a-tete with Hoagland. As I said, I'm torn because it was awkward as all get out and oddly suspicious but I loved every minute of it.
All in all, a good to great week, featuring more intriguing moments (Bell gets married, Hoagland debunks Salla) than pure solid guests.
The Week That Is
I won't lie to you, folks, I'm looking over the guests for next week on C2C and it looks fugly. I'm talking bowling shoe fugly, if you catch my drift. But I will try and shine a turd and hopefully some of the episodes will turn out to be decent.
Tonight, Friday into Saturday Open Lines. Will Noory have a 1st hour pop-in or is he a full blown Open Lines addict ? Pray to hear from anyone, even Phil Plait or Seth Shostak, just to know that our little Noory has not fallen totally under the spell of pure Open Lines. I'll buy "Worker in the Light", I promise, just don't do four hours of Open Lines.
Saturday on Ian, Dr. Len Horowitz will be on to talk about "vibration and evolution". I tried to figure out exactly what Horowitz is going to be talking about and it sounded like some new theory of evolution involving vibration, of all things. Ian may be able to do something with this one.
Saturday night, the Bell Zone features Charles Seife, talking about advances in science. This should be solid. Seife is fairly mainstream and I expect Bell to really dig this topic. He should be able to pull it up to almost great standards, depending on how good Seife is.
Sunday night's Bell Zone is Jeff Long, talking about near death experiences. A classic C2C topic that could go either way. It's been done to death, no pun intended, on the show before, but Long could bring some good stuff. Attentive listeners will recall that Long had the NDE of a blind woman about two years ago on Coast and it was one of the most amazing episodes I've ever heard. So this may be a dark horse classic.
Who's next ? Why it's Goldberg, Bruce Goldberg on Monday to talk about out of body experiences, another classic C2C topic that gets its fifteen minutes every six months or so. Goldberg may be most famous for unleashing the character of Dexter Monterey, Noory's lounge lizard future alter ego onto the C2C universe. Expect at least a dozen or so Dexter Monterey references from The Noor, which may be good for a laugh or two.
Tuesday, Simeon Hein is the guest, talking about crop circles. BoA's Lesley was a big fan, if I recall correctly, of Simeon's appearance on C2C last Summer. I'll trust my memory and her judgment and say that this should be solid.
Wednesday is the episode I am most looking forward to, as it features Robert Kiviat, former producer of the FOX tv special on the Alien Autopsy. With the news that the AA is, indeed, fake, this should be a fascinating episode. What did Kiviat know and when did he know it. This episode should have some highly intriguing sociological looks at ufology that I hope to devour with glee.
Thursday, The Noor rounds out the week talking with Peter Novak about the afterlife. Sounds bland as all get out, so we can only hope that it is mildly entertaining. This episode suffers from one too many alternative science type episodes for the week.
Looking back over the week, I'd say it looks decent, with only one or two potential great episodes, but you can't win 'em all. Hopefully, I'll be ranting and raving next week about how wrong I was and how great all the episodes were, but I wouldn't hold your breath.
BoA : Audio, Season One
Big thanks to everyone who has checked out the show in the last two weeks. We've got a real barn burner this week and an amazing two week edition coming up after that and still more great guests in the pipeline. There's something for everyone with BoA : Audio. Experience the difference.
This Week : Andre Eggelletion, "Where the Right Went Wrong on National Security, (And the Left Too)" The amazing author of the Federal Reserve expose "Thieves in the Temple" turns his critical eye towards the National Security aparatus with his new book and he comes to BoA : Audio to discuss it with us. We touch on Operation Ajax in Iran and how it probably caused the Iranian angst with America, the NSC / NSA and how it is used to circumvent Congress and their War Powers, Iran / Contra, the War on Terror, Diplomatic Exceptionalism, the mark of the beast, and where things may be headed for the future. It's a must-hear edition of BoA : Audio with a true visionary of the "big picture", Andre Eggelletion.
His website is : www.talktoandre.com
Next Week : Richard Dolan (Part 1 of 2), "UFOs and the National Security State". The first half of a massive interview with Richard Dolan on his acclaimed book. We discuss the making of the book, along with the early days of Ufology and some of the key researchers like Keyhoe, Hillenkoeter, Rupelt, and Hynek. Lots of historical Ufological discussion about the evolution of the UFO cover-up.
His website is : www.keyholepublishing.com
binnall report mailbag
Letter #1 :
Tim,
Do you still listen to Rense ? You never seem to talk about it anymore.
Ben in Worcester, MA
As a matter of fact, Ben, I haven't caught much Rense so far in '06. I'll confess to having perused the archive over the last few weeks and months, but nothing, outside of the usual Jim Marrs and Alex Jones appearances, has caught my eye. Combined with my sheer lack of time, Rense has fallen by the wayside for the time being. I am sure I will be reunited with my TV hating friend soon enough and it will be like magic again.
On that note, we are looking for a Rense recapper / columnist for binnallofamerica.com, so if you enjoy Rense and want to take a crack at covering it for BoA, drop me a line.
Letter #2 :
binnall,
What do you expect from Noory's book A Worker in the Light ?
Rebecca in Florida
I expect I'll laugh and cry and when I am done, I'll want to read it again. Not really, but I hope so. In all seriousness, I don't know much about Noory's book. I'll pick it up when it comes out, because c'mon, it was written by The Noor. Also, I'll want to see if he mentions me in the acknowledgements. A hundred bucks says I'm passed over ... again.
I have enjoyed Noory's folksy plugs for Worker, including how he wants to "make history" by getting the book to number one through just pre-orders. God damn you, Noory, you may be able to fool some of the people, but not me. I love it, you coy marketing genius. If Noory's endless plugs for After Dark CDs and Predictions Pay-Per-Views are any indication, we're in for a wild ride as the release date for Worker in the Light comes out. And I, for one, can't wait to see how it all goes down.
Questions ? Comments ? Send them to tbinnall@hotmail.com
This Week in C2C History
4.21.2005 : It was the end of the world and we knew it... rather we thought it was, as Douglas Hagmann joined The Noor, on the heels of yet another government terror alert, to promptly scare the pants of the C2C audience, "According to Hagmann, Zarqawi may have as many as 20 suitcase nukes (with a 1-to-10 kiloton yield), some of which may already be in America. State sponsorship could also be involved, Hagmann explained, with Iran, China, and Russia contributing in some way to al Qaeda's nuclear capabilities." (C2C.com)
4.21.2004 : 3 Hours of Hoagland ... how can you go wrong. Richard C. Hoagland was the full show guest, appearing a scant three days removed from the inaugeral X-Conference (which I went to) to talk about how he was meeting with Congressional representatives while in Washington and also to rally the C2C listeners to save the quickly failing initiative to go back to the Moon. No developments on either of those stories, from what I can gather. Hoagland failed to mention meeting binnall while in Washington, but it did, in fact, happen that weekend.
4.21.1998 : In the news, 8 years ago today, complete with Art's take on it, "University of Michigan Police are warning women to be aware of gropers and video cameras if they participate in the annual naked mile run through campus. An estimated 250 women were in the run last year and some where grabbed and assaulted by spectators. Art's attitude about this is, if you want to shed your clothes and run through public streets, you should be prepared to be video taped." (artbell.com cd rom)
4.21.1997 : In the news, 9 years ago today, "Art's reaction to Ellen coming out as a lesbian is, "Who cares". " (artbell.com cd rom).
End Notes
Wrapping it up for yet another week, thanks for hanging with us. I hope you enjoyed the ride.
Plugs : Tomorrow @ binnallofamerica.com, Andre Eggelletion comes to BoA : Audio for a very special episode of the vaunted series. Sunday, smoker dave and Lesley's C2C Rewind from the Debris Field. Monday, either a Trickster's Realm or the long awaited update for Hoags to Hoags AM, featuring a 5 shot of RCH goodness.
Tuesday, Lesley's Grey Matters is edging closer to the 1 year anniversary of the critically acclaimed column. Check out what Lesley has to say on Tuesday. Wednesday, BoA's Iron Man, Khyron returns with The K-Files. Khyron has had two monster editions of The K-Files dealing with the REAL ID Act and Myspace that are both awesome offerings. Also, if you missed the debut of BoA's new monthly (or so) feature Viral Esoterica, you can check it out right now @ binnallofamerica.com.
So, all in all, we've got a ton of stuff for ya from binnallofamerica.com and I hope y'all check it out. If you enjoy our stuff, I suggest stopping by theusofe.com to discuss BoA columns, audio, and features and all things dealing in esoterica and C2C.
And that does it for this week's binnall report. I'll be back next week, hopefully earlier, to dole out more esoteric tomfoolery. Until then, this is binnall ... signing off.