1.19.8: BoA on SSC and In-House Notes

I'm heading down to Southeastern MA tonight with my friend Christopher Balzano. He'll be the guest on the Spooky Southcoast radio show on WBSM AM in Fairhaven, MA. The show airs from 10 PM to Midnight (ET) and you can find listening information on their site.

I've recently become acquainted with the SSC crew, as I've spent the last couple of weeks giving their website a full re-design (to be unveiled on 1.26.8), and they've asked me to join in on the episode tonight, so I may pop-in at some point during their broadcast, though I'm not sure how extensive my involvement will be.

I'll have details post-show for folks who may want to check out my appearance or the Spooky Southcoast program, in general.

BoA In-House Notes

BoA:Audio returns on 2.2.8. Our guest will be ufomystic's own Greg Bishop for a lengthy discussion on the past year in Ufology. We'll talk about all the major UFO stories from 2007 and what they mean to the big picture of Ufology. More details next week, when we roll out a more formal preview.

We're right in the thick of production on new episodes of BoA:Audio. We've taped the Greg Bishop episode and another episode covering a new topic, for us, ghost hunting. I'm also taping an interview with a major name in the ghost genre next week as well, so we'll be delving into that realm for a bit during the 2nd half of Season III. Plus, I've been very busy tracking down new and exotic international guests for interview to air sometime in the not too distant future.

I'm also in the beginning stages of a new project that we are tenatively calling "BoA:D.C." I'll have more information on that very soon, but for now I can just say that it will be a different genre for BoA and will open up the franchise to a whole new audience to discover our off-kilter brand of esoteric entertainment.

7.20.7 : binnall report preview

This week's binnall report will be posted tomorrow. I'm about 75% done with it, but want to be sure to give a good once over in the afternoon on Saturday before we put it up.

Here's a little preview of what we'll be talking about tomorrow ...

C2C's Art Bell Tribute Review :: The strong parts and negative parts of the festivus celebrating the creator of C2C. Which two guests "got it", which guest provided the most cringe worthy moment, the episodes unequivocal lowlight, thoughts on the "special topic line", the pacing of the three hours, and overall thoughts on where the episode sits in the pantheon of this year's shows.

C2C's Atomic Ouija Episode Preview :: A preview of the upcoming Coast to Coast AM "Ouija Board Experiment". The guest lineup, my confusion over what will be happening during the episode, two potential ways the show could play out, the esoteric backlash against the Ouija experiment episode and why we shouldn't just laugh at it, and the potential problems as a result of the episode.

Other C2C Stuffs :: A look @ the past week's shows (that I missed), a preview of next week's shows, and a look at the new C2C nostalgia spin off "Art Bell : Somewhere in Time".

End Notes :: Plugs for upcoming BoA material, maybe a preview for next week, and other stuff.

7.6.7 : C2C to shut down Coastriders forum

I received this e-mail today ...

Dear Coast Riders Member,

We're happy to announce a new daily Coast to Coast email newsletter, which will provide handy recaps, show info, and special audio links, to keep you updated on the show while you're on the go. In order to redirect our resources for this soon-to-launch project, we're closing the Coast Riders Message Board effective Thursday July 12th, 2007. This advance notice is being provided in order for you to save posts and information, and if you like migrate them to another system. Thank you for your participation in the board, which over the years has produced much spirited conversation. We look forward to communicating with you via our exciting new e-newsletter.

Sincerely,
Lex Lonehood
on behalf of CoasttoCoastam.com & Premiere Interactive Services

I'm stunned and saddened. The animated picture above pretty much sums up my point of view, with me (and the rest of the Coastriders) being the midget.

I had plans for this week's binnall report, but they've gone flying out the window (also much like the midget above).

You see, back in October of 2004, I started writing "the binnall report" on the Streamlink message board (back before it became "The Coastriders". From there, BoA was developed and grew up out of my work covering C2C. Eventually, BoA became it's own entity, but I always thought of the Streamlink forum like the old coffee hangout I used to have in high school. And now it's closing down.

I've started writing my reaction to this sad news, but I want to sleep on it, for now, as I'm going throught the five stages of grief over this and it's best to stop and catch my breath a bit. Things are much too crazy as this story just broke hours ago and I've been following the fallout on about 4 different message boards. Plus I wanted to talk about Art Bell retiring and Ian Punnett's show being folded and there won't be time for that @ 2 AM.

So ... binnall report to be posted tomorrow with an in-depth reaction to the C2C Coastrider message board being terminated, plus other stuff, of course.

God speed, Coastrider board. You were the birthplace of BoA and you will be missed.

5.13.7 : a message from binnall

I've been very quiet the last few days and wanted to pass along some word on what is going on here @ BoA HQ.

I'll spare you the heartbreaking details, but the gist of it is that my father is very, very sick (which is an understatement). He has been in the ICU since last Friday (5.4). Longtime BoA readers will recall his health struggles from a couple of years ago. Someday, when this is all said and done, I will probably write more about my father's illness, but I'm just not in a place to do that right now. Suffice it to say, my attention is almost 100% focused on my dad at this time, as the situation is rather dire.

When things settle down a little bit, this evening, I'll finish getting the audio together and have it uploaded. After that ? Who knows. The BoA staff will still be contributing material, but it may be another week or two before the binnall report and BoA : Audio will be back. I'm sure you can all understand that those two "wings" of BoA require far too more work and attention than I can possibly put into them right now. Don't worry, though, we'll be back in time, this is just a temporary pause.

As is the case in struggles like this, I'll keep taking it day-by-day until this is resolved. I've been living in the moment since we brought my dad to the hospital last Friday. It's been emotionally, spiritually, and physically exhausting.

For now, I ask that you keep my father and my family in your thoughts and prayers.

3.27.7 : BoA's main computer crashes

It finally happened. My computer here @ BoA HQ, from which we ran the whole operation, finally shit the bed on me. It's no surprise and was a longtime coming.

Luckily, we got everything off of it long before it died on us, so the whole BoA site (all 1000 plus pages) and audio library (including the raw original files) are safely stored in multiple locations.

So ... in the meantime I am working off of a laptop that has been outfitted to serve as BoA's main computer until I get things settled w. the desktop. That should probably take another few days.

Also, I am working on a new project (TBA soon) that takes time away from dealing with the computer issue, so suffice it to say, it's a tad stressful here.

Apologies if I am not around much this week or if our usual updates are lacking their attention to detail.

The operation will come back stronger than ever, I assure you. This whole situation was something I had planned to deal with next week when I took some time off from BoA : Audio, so it all works out.

No Lost Thoughts this week, sorry.