Well, my vaunted Summer Hours have finally ended and I am soon to return to the Noory Hours that I've grown to love. Yes, full time listening to C2C live and as it happens. I am a happy camper once again.

Tis a beautiful day out. Summer is practically dead and buried. My Friday evening chores are finished and we commence with your weekly missive devoted to all things Coast. And it was a week filled with episodes that I fully enjoyed, so you can expect a more delighted review of the madness that went down.

The Week That Was

When we left off last week, we were expecting a Tom Biscardi Friday Night Pop In and boy did we get it. We never expected the beginnings of one of the biggest C2C stories of the year. For those of you living under a rock, Biscardi showed up last Friday and claimed to have captured the infamous Bigfoot. All hell subsequently broke loose.

Nearly forgotten by everyone including myself was that Thomas Greanias was the First Hour Friday pop-in. He was on to talk about Atlantis, but I missed it in anticipation of Biscardi's big appearance later on in the show.

Saturday Night Punnett was a festivus of giant proportions, first with Dr. John Abramson to talk about the medical industry, mainly what's wrong with it. You can read my painful play-by-play @ BoA under last week's "Saturday Night Punnett".

The full guest was a fired up Steve Quayle. SQ was all about the giants. He didn't really get into UFOs as much as I'd like, but his giants stuff is top notch. If you can't appreciate the passion that Quayle has for giants, you have no soul. Twas great to see what made Quayle so awesome in the first place, his insane love of giants instead of his endless paranoia over terrorism. I also appreciated Quayle's delving into more lurid details of giants, a side of SQ we rarely see. Great episode.

Following that was Art Bell's bi-monthly Sunday Night episode. Say what you want about missing Bell, but I think this new schedule makes him seem fresher than back when he was steady weekend host. This was an episode for the books, as Bell welcomed the infamous JC for the full first hour, much to the delight of C2C hardcores world wide. Since JC was a little before my time, I was delighted to finally have the chance to hear what all the fuss was about. All I can say is that JC more than lived up to the hype. Simply the funniest hour of C2C I've heard all year, hands down.

The interplay between he and Bell had me cracking up and rewinding several times, starting with Bell's reading of the awful letters he got from JC. There were so many hilarious moments in this hour, I can't list them all. Firstly, was JC's stunned "how dare you ?" everytime Bell insulted him. Also, JC's dramatic response to Bell, "You are simply the most dangerous man in America" had me on the floor laughing. His fighting with the callers, including calling one "hussy", followed by "I calls em like I sees em" was awesome. His rants on Noory, cats, and football were all fantastic. This was an hour I will listen to "over abd over".

I missed most of Charles Shults, but I will try to catch him some time later on down the line. For what it's worth, Shults was talking about Mars and Space News. He's usually top notch, so I'm sorry to have missed it.

Monday arrived and The Noor was left holding the Bigfoot bag. What followed was possibly one of the more memorable hours in C2C all year. The Biscardi v. Coleman mini-feud, that was obvious from the Bigfoot Roundtable, turned into a full blown brawl. Loren Coleman guested first and ran down Biscardi big time. Noory sorta egged him on, as he was still smarting at being bamboozled by the Bigfoot hunter Biscardi. Speak of the devil, he called in mid-Coleman interview to attempt to explain what happened. Er, rather he attempted to secure a guest spot on the following night, claiming he would "tell the whole story" or some other such nonsense. It was obvious at this point that Noory was ready to tear into Biscardi, but he agreed to let him come on the show Tuesday to explain the situation.

After that spirited first hour, the subdued duo of William R. Saunders and George J. Haas, who were on to talk about Cydonia, just could not keep it going. It was informative, albeit a tad bland. Thankfully, Richard C. Hoagland popped in to spice things up and take over the interviewing duties from Noory for an hour. This unique twist on an otherwise yawn-inducing show saved it from a critical panning. RCH did well as "guest host".

Tuesday ... after a no doubt sleepless night in Happy Trail, Tom Biscardi finally arrived on C2C to tell his story of the Bigfoot debacle. What followed was a convoluted and outright bad story of how he was conned into thinking he'd gotten a Bigfoot. Thankfully, The Noor tired of this story and hilariously subjected Biscardi to the public humiliation of being ridiculed by Coast callers. It was as if Biscardi were in the stocks and the C2C audience, armed with rotten vegetables, each tossed one at his unprotected face. Noory truly got medieval on Biscardi's posterior. It got so brutal that Biscardi was left speechless a few times.

I've lots more to say about Biscardigate, but I am going to save them for a full length column coming to BoA this weekend. I really want to go in-depth on this story as it deserves my full attention. As I'd said throughout the week, what Biscardi says (and doesn't say) and what Noory says (and doesn't say) will speak volumes. I will translate those volumes in the binnallofamerica.com feature length article titled simply : "Biscardigate".

I was expected a scattershot and bland affair when Charles Pellegrino was the full guest later that night (Tuesday). I was pleasantly surprised when Pellegrino told some great stories and kept a coherent flow to the show. While I disagree with his general skepticism, I found him to be enjoyable and not abrasive. Very Howard Blum-esque.

Sadly, the bland episode came on Wednesday, when Mark Lerner guested to talk about astrology. I just couldn't get into this episode at all. Too much ephemeral stuff, but I slogged through most of it. I can't really say I picked up too much, though.

Thursday was another excellent episode. I'm sure many C2C hardcores will decry that sentiment, but I can honestly say I found Eric Hufschmid to be one of the most entertaining guests on C2C all year. That said, how this man became the "golden boy" of the 911 Truth Movement is beyond me. His endless, breathless babbling was so over-the-top, it's a wonder anyone even listened to him in the first place.

The interview featured one of the funnier impromptu moments on C2C I've ever heard, as Hufschmid was ranting about the Moon Landing and how it was a hoax and threw out a blanket challenge for any scientist to debate him about it. Noory, in a true genius moment, had Hoagland on the line within minutes. What followed was so funny, my sides are still aching.

Hufschmid was so wound up, Hoagland had to "talk him down". Think about that for a minute. When Richard C. Hoagland is trying to get you to calm down, it's time to switch to decaf. Then Hoagland pointed out exactly what I'd been thinking (that Hufschidt ruins all his credibility with his awful presentation).

Meanwhile, Hoagland demolished Hufschmid in their mini-debate over the Moon Hoax. That was really wicked, as Hoagland would debunk one point then Hufschmid would move on to another and Hoagland would debunk that. It eventually got to the point where Hufschmid said they'd have to agree to disagree. He also hilariously scoffed at Hoagland's theories.

Time constraints kept me from listening to the final hour, but it seems like Hoagland was still on for that last hour, probably acting as Hufschmid's minder and making sure he didn't eat any paste. If you are a fan of awkward moments and guests who are so bad they become good, then this was the episode for you, particularly the middle hour w. Hoagland and Hufschmid "debating" the moon landing. Top notch episode and highly entertaining.

The Week That Is

Tonight, I see no Friday 1st Hour Pop-In yet, so tis a mystery unless they unveil it before I publish. No clue who it would may be, but I'm already missing Biscardi's weekly false promises.

For the last 3 weeks, I've been saddened to not hear Ian Punnett mention his beloved pipe in the first hour of the show, when I give him my full attention. Thankfully, I think that will all change this Saturday when IP has Dr. William Cambell Douglass on to talk about, get this, the health benefits of tobacco. Yikes. Talk about talking an unpopular argument and running with it. I'll be interesting to hear where Douglass goes with this.

The 2nd of the August Art Bell episodes featured classic Art Bell guests Brendan Cook and Barbra McBeath with, what else, EVPs. You either love these episodes or you hate them. I think they're usually pretty good, so I'll be listening.

Monday night, The Noor finally, finally, finally answers my long wailed request as he'll have Terry Hansen on to talk about his book "Missing Times", an excellent and comprehensive look at UFOs and how they are covered by the media.

You see, I saw Hansen @ X-Conference 2004 and was amazed. I requested Hansen in a "Chat with George" at the C2C website in June 2004. Hansen was ranked a stunning #1 on binnall's infamous "20 Guests C2C Needs", published last October. Finally, Hansen has arrived on Coast to Coast ! Kudos to Noory for finally getting around to appeasing binnall. Obviously, I recommend this episode highly.

As if to smother my joy over Monday's episode, C2C brings in Gabriel Cousens M.D. on Tuesday to talk about alternative health. Ugh.

Wednesday is a potentially creepy episode as Dr. Jim Tucker shows up to talk about children who talk about their past lives. Yikes. Could be a chilling night.

And, Thursday, Stephen LaBerge will be the guest to talk about lucid dreaming. Another niche topic that relies heavily on the expertise and charisma of the speaker. It sounds like LaBerge has a dash of both, as he's one of the big names in the Lucid Dreaming field.

Friday, Open Lines, 1st Hour Pop In.

binnall of america : audio, Season One

The big news this week is that we are extremely close to finalizing the set up for "streaming audio" for binnall of america : audio. Expect an announcement about this by the end of the weekend @ BoA. We expect to have "streaming audio" available by the early next week for all of the X-Conference Sessions, so those of you who have missed them so far, haven't had the time or patience to download them, or just want to listen to them in an easier fashion, your chance to hear the much discussed prequel that is binnall of america : Audio, The X-Conference Sessions.

Meanwhile, I am in the midst of negotiations with a major A-list name who will probably end up as the Season Finale of BoA. Also, I just finished taping a mammoth interview this past week and am actually taping another moments after this week's "tbr" is posted @ BoA. So, suffice it to say, we are hard at work producing the future episodes of BoA : Audio, Season One

Despite what I said last week, I shant be announcing any more names this week. I will say that the Jim Marrs season premiere will be a two week affair (Sep. 10th and 17th) consisting of approx. one hour each week. The first week, we discuss the JFK assassination, the UFO phenomenon, and secret societies. The second week, we discuss remote viewing, 911 and the greater War on Terror, plus general stuff that is of high interest to esoteric radio fans. A detailed preview will be published either in next week's "tbr" or the edition the night before the Season Premiere.

Additional BoA : Audio, Season One guests will be announced next week, I promise.

binnall report mailbag

Letter # 1 :

Any advice for someone just getting into esoterica ?

Chris in Bangor, Maine

Of course. Read. I highly recommend Rule By Secrecy. Not just because I interviewed Jim Marrs, but because it was what started me on my journey. From there, follow the leads in that book, it is a proverbial "road map" to esoterica. Find a niche you like and stick with it. You may dig ghosts, Bigfoot, secret societies, UFOs, conspiracy theory, etc. Have a specialization, but know a lot about everything else as well. Being a good esoteric researcher is not for the lazy. Read all you can and trust no one's sole opinion. Do your own research.

Letter # 2 :

Do you listen to any other shows besides Coast to Coast ?

Brian in Battle Creek, Michigan

Yes, Brian, I do. I enjoy Rense immensely as well as an occasional Alex Jones show. I try to catch Whitley Strieber's Dreamland when I can. I've been known to enjoy an episode or two of Alex Merklinger as well. There are a few other shows I've sampled, but nothing that I can think of off the top of my head.

Questions ? Comments ? Send them here : tbinnall@hotmail.com

This Week in C2C History

8.28.2004 : Fantastic episode as Art Bell welcome Eric Brende to the show. Brende was crazy enough to give up modern life to live with one of those extreme communities that shuns technology. Here's a sampling, "This group does not allow the use of any motorized or automated equipment and, according to Brende, even the Amish think this sect is primitive. Brende dwelled among the "Minimites" for 18 months to gather research for his book." Wow. When the Amish think you're primitive, you know you are extreme. One of my personal favorite episodes of 2004.

8.27.2003 : One my all time favorite C2C episodes, as Coast stalwart Richard C. Hoagland was marking the historic close passing of Mars by appearing for the full show on location from "The Star Hill Inn". Mars had been all over the news that week and this was Hoagland's big day after hyping it for weeks and months. Finally, when the moment arrived that Mars was at it's closest, Hoagland stepped up to the telescope and gave play-by-play, describing the moment in near orgasmic hilarity : "Mars is now almost blinding, it's absolutely breathtaking." (c2c Main site)

8.26.1998 : Shades of Biscardi as Art Bell had Ed Yourdon on the show "to discuss the Y2K problem from the computer programmers' angle and how it could affect us individually in our lives. He explains the origin of the problem in layman's terms. Ed admits he knew there was going to be a problem way back in 1972." (art bell cd rom) So he was wrong for 28 years.

End Notes

Ahhh. Finished earlier than usual this week, as I prepare the BoA : Audio studios for my interview later today. We are getting closer and closer to the paradigm shifting debut of binnall of america : Audio, Season One. Be sure to have some clean underwear nearby.

Plugs : Tomorrow, Biscardigate discussed in-depth @ BoA. Saturday night, late night, it's Saturday Night Punnett. Sunday, smoker dave. Monday, News Watch. Tuesday, Lesley's Grey Matters. Wednesday, we catch up on the Coastie Contenders. Thursday, Hot Newz. Friday, we're back with more binnall report. binnallofamerica.com, you can set your watch by it.

Help Wanted : We are looking for 1 or 2 new columnists for BoA to expand our horizons, voices, and coverage. Contact yours truly for details if interested. Also, we are looking for someone to transcribe our BoA : Audio MP3s, starting with the X-Conference Sessions. This will require a fair amount of work and therefore will be a "pay by barter" gig. Contact yours truly for details on that as well.

With that, we wrap it all up. Thanks for spending some time with us.