BellGab.com Archive

I visit the Anomalist web site each day in order read the latest news about bizarre and/or paranormal events and people. The writers, who seem to assume that we share their views, sometime inject cheap political shots into their stories. They're snarky asides that are akin to "the ETs won't ask to be taken to our incompetent leader, sadly" (I made that up). Is this interjection, of writers' political beliefs, into stories an acceptable practice for a web site that caters to readers with varied political beliefs?

Your shows have rejuvenated my interest in the strange side of life. They're like blood transfusions for an anemic individual or hemophiliac, whose energy was drained by a vampire of mediocrity. I was becoming a borderline debunker. My past sense of wonder was always waning, never waxing. Thanks to Dark Matter, my fascination with alternative and paranormal subjects is revived. I thought that part of my life was eternally dormant, never to return to how vibrant it was in the past. I may not be a "true believer", but I recaptured a part of my self that seemingly was forever lost. That is no exaggeration, so thanks for the start of a personal renaissance. 

Post memorable, good or bad, calls here. One of the craziest came from a guy who claims to secretly tape a neighborhood man who's addicted to drugs. He said that he hid cameras in the guy's home and that he put the clips on a pay-per-view site. Most of the neighbors were in on it, just like a real-life version of "The Truman Show". It's likely nonsense, but it's memorable in that the story is original. It could be the 2013 version of "Ba Ba Booey pranks", as the guy calls other programs, with the same story. It could be that it's a sadistic joke to freak out mentally ill listeners who think that they're targeted individuals (TIs) of gang-stalkers. On the very off chance that it's real, the caller and his accomplices sound like a bunch of cruel vigilantes, with the caller taking delight in making the addict homeless and jobless due to their alleged shenanigans.   

So Noory sent an IM to Bateman, apparently guessing his real-life identity. That reminds me of a crazy dream of mine. In the dream, Noory tries to locate the "haters" and the "low-lifes". He finds a detective agency to help him. Some of his guests also help him. They hack and stalk his critics. He asks his son, who is a LEO in real life, to use his resources. The hired hands even break into homes. They put GPS devices in cars. They monitor the boards and sites relating to Coast. "We know who you are" (as Lone Voice puts it). That's as far as the dream goes. It sounds like a new kind of suspense movie in which a *celebrity* stalks his "fans". That might be a new one for celluloid history. It would be wild if my dream is prescient. After, the weird IM to Bateman, you wonder.

Will Syria be the next stop on the USA's eternal war world tour? We're gearing up for military action based on the premise that "Assad is gassing his own people". That phrase brings back memories to those of us who don't have amnesia. Assad is brutal and ruthless, but he isn't suicidal. Some of his fanatical Muslim foes, on the other hand.... How do we know that Al Qaeda or some other terroristic group didn't commit mass murder with the knowledge that Assad would take the fall for it? Assad knew full well what the world's reaction would be if he used chemical weapons on innocent civilians, so it seemed unlikely that he unleashed WMD, *especially* since he fully grasped the assured dire consequences that would follow such a heinous war crime. What's your take on the situation?

You likely saw the clip in which three Black boys attacked a White boy on a school bus. The old bus driver eventually called the police after he yelled at the kids, but he said that he couldn't enter the fray due to district rules that prohibited him from such intervention. There were over forty other students aboard the bus, and none of them helped (some kids taped the brutal beating). What would you have done if you would have been a student there?

Michael, I hope this okay. The GNS thread is boisterous and unwieldy. This thread could be a *civilized* back-and-forth discussion with George. It's here if you want it.

Last night, George was delighted to discover that newspapers actually existed "back then" in 1888. That brought to mind a past Noory-hosted Coast on which he asked his guest if the Knights Templar were Arabs or Muslims. He also thought that "Charlie Main" was alive during the Crusades. Please share your recollections of Dave, the "histnoorian's", revisionist comments.

First, I should give the disclaimer that I have an asbestos mouth, so don't try this at home. Noory's story sounded beyond belief to me. Many of us ate hot pizza rolls when we were kids and teens. We somehow survived with no hospitalization. With that in mind, I bought a box of pizza rolls at a local store. I zapped them in my microwave. The timer buzzed, and I put all fifteen threats to mankind in a bowl. They were hot and soft to the touch. I plopped one in my mouth. I bit it, and it indeed was very hot, so I moved it back and forth in my mouth to cool it down like I did in the past. I then did this with the rest of the pizza rolls. I somehow survived, relatively unscathed. My throat and tongue felt a bit "burned". There was mild discomfort that registered a 2 on a pain scale that ranged from 1 to 10, with 1 classified as "no sensation". Either I'm a superhero, or Noory (if his story's true) buys Tender Vittles at his convenience store. My money's on the latter.

It's obvious that Coast won't get a new main host. Let's pretend that we can remove and replace it. List some of your substitutions. Imagine that you can choose a replacement for Coast.

Richard Syrett, called the Canadian Art Bell, came to mind. He filled in for Noory once or twice. He definitely hosted the 4/24/09 Coast show. He did a great job. He hosted a Canadian program about conspiracy theories and paranormal events for a while. When it went against Coast in its market, it consistently beat it. It sometimes beat it by two share points. It was extremely popular in Canada.

Ground Zero came to mind too. I heard bits and pieces of it now and then. Clyde Lewis, the host, was very engaged in the conversations. They *were* conversations, not scripted replies. It sounded fresh and new, like Coast likely sounded in the past. I missed Bell's glory days. Although the program received mixed reviews on Coast Gab, what I heard was very good. It was nice to hear an awake, aware host who knew his material quite well.

Of course, an alternative show hosted by Knapp or Simone would be embraced by many people here. Both hosts could do well as captains of new ships on the airwaves. There likely is a faceless, nameless person who would do a fine job as the host of a new show too. Some of them might even post here.

A young man, whose doctors told him that he has months to live, posted his catchy and poignant song on You Tube. It's "Clouds" by Zach Sobiech. Feel free to post the clip in this thread. Please listen to his tune, and let's send our best to Zach.

Share your recollections of Noory's strangest comments/questions and stories. The following is a verbatim quote of the most disturbing kind. He once asked, "is there a chance that the devil will win, and all the children will be horribly butchered and burned alive?" The creepiest anecdote dealt with his date, who ran out of his house after she saw a dissection kit on his bed.

Would Knapp or any other host (on any other show) ask a question like that? Why in the world would *any* person ask a question like that? If the anecdote is true, why would anyone keep a dissection kit on their bed? If the anecdote is false, why would anyone fabricate such a tale?

The other thread brought this show to mind. Do any of you folks watch this series? I'm hooked on it because of the crazy stories and plot twists. It's out of character for me, though. I seldom watch horror movies and horror TV that have too much blood and guts in them. The characters grab my attention, and they feed my addiction to AMH to see how their personalities develop. It's my token grotesque program. It's the gross exception to my celluloid rule.

How and why did you choose it? I'm into gangster stuff so I combined Nucky (Thompson) with (Legs Diamond) Nolan. It had a nice ring to it. Of course, my avatar was inspired by "The Godfather", which is my favorite film.

There are many cool posts about entertainment from the '70s. Unfortunately, a lot of them are in the GNS thread (sinister hijackers!). Maybe we could avoid future drifting by relegating posts about '70s/early '80s movies and TV to this thread. I chose to join the fun here largely because of your recollections.

The memories and nostalgia got to me. The stories about late-night movies, made-for-TV movies, movies of the week, etc. were especially fascinating. Did anybody else watch "The Dark Secret of Harvest Home" with Bette Davis? I couldn't sleep for a week after seeing (no pun) it. The feel and the mood of this film make it scarier than most contemporary suspense-less blood/gore/ooze feasts. I also found Bette Davis to be terrifying in most roles when I was a kid. This movie also had all of the right ingredients (clueless newbies, isolated village, mysterious cult, nighttime ceremonies) for the dated genre. Granted, the pagan cultists didn't worship the devil, but they gave the black-robed chanters a run for their money in sheer strangeness.