Uncanny Update

Clearly there haven't been any new shows lately -- but the good news is that Uncanny Radio is not gone.

Linda & I are talking about re-posting the old shows (some may still be up; check the links at left), though we agree that we need some kind of historical note at the beginning of each.  (Believe it or not, some guests may not have been telling the truth about their uncanny encounters.  And though we knew that all along, we feel it important to stress that info in historical rebroadcasts.)

In any case, watch this space for upcoming announcements -- like me on Facebook & follow me on Twitter, if you want -- and thank you for being a fan of Uncanny Radio!

FREE STORY FOR HAITI

FREE STORY FOR HAITI

The world has come together to help Haiti back to its feet after the devastating earthquake.  I thought it would be a good idea to give everyone a "thank you" gift for everything they've done so far — and to encourage those who have not donated to do their part.

Everybody who has donated to Haitian relief is eligible to download my Blue Kingdoms story "The Gift of the Dragons" for free.  There are three steps to claiming your free story.

1) Make a donation to Haiti. If you haven't made a donation already, click here to go to the Red Cross site and donate.  As I write this, the radio button for Haiti is the last one on the page (scroll down).

2) Publicize your donation. Make a post on Twitter, Facebook, your blog, or some other social networking site telling what Haitian relief  charity you've donated to.  Your post should also include the message:

Free story for Haiti @ stephendsullivan.com.

Which leaves you 95 or so characters on Twitter (more on other sites) to tell people where you donated and encourage them to do the same.  If you want, you can even reference this contest page directly: http://stephendsullivan.com/wordpress/?page_id=570.

3) Sign up for my newsletter. The story link will be going out to my mailing list, either in the March Newsletter or a special edition shortly thereafter.  (I promise not to sell your address/info or send things other than the newsletter & related announcements.)  You can use the form elsewhere on the site, or the one right below.

Name Email

The deadline for getting signed up for your free story is March 17, 2010.  (Shouldn't St. Patricks Day be your lucky day?)  The story will be in the form of a downloadable file suitable for use with a Kindle, computer, or other electronic reading device.  The last day for downloading the story for free will be March 31, 2010.

So, what are you waiting for?  Send in a donation and get signed up to get your free story today!

The Uncanny Continues

Just a reminder that even though there are no new shows, Linda & Steve (Manwolf) keep posting about uncanny subjects.  Steve on Howls & Growls and Linda on various sites including the Beast of Bray Road home.

Change in Posting Ability

Because of recent spam, we have had to change this account to disallow anonymous comments.  If I understand right, most users should still be able to comment -- especially if they have a form of internet ID (like Open ID or Google account).  If this does not work, email me through the contact setting.  -- Manwolf

Chupacabra Trophy

Likely just a mangy coyote -- but at least this time we will all have something to look at:

 

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/09/03/animal.mystery.chupacabra/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn

 

MonsterQuest, eat your heart out!  (Or watch for it next season.)

Muck Monster Footage

An interesting news report about something that may -- or may not -- be some kind of strange crypto creature. It even has a poll and some raw footage. What is the Muck Monster?

http://tinyurl.com/lahha8

It even has a poll and some raw footage. What is the Muck Monster?

(I vote "none of the above.")

Not Dead, Merely Sleeping

Someone recently asked if this site was dead. Certainly it's not, however -- since our radio show has ceased regular production -- the site is in deep slumber.

Some of our later shows remain up at Blog Talk Radio (please support them!) -- but many went down with the crash of ZShare. Those shows cannot be put on BTR until they are edited to remove music we no longer have license to use. (Music not by our friends the Creeping Dead.) The editing is a time-consuming process, and both Steve and Linda are very busy. We hope some day to have the time to rework those recordings.

Until then, we continue to monitor this site and reply to comments. Also, Steve continues to post new reviews of uncanny-related shows on Howls & Growls.com, and Linda posts new things on her site, BeastofBrayRoad.com.

Thanks for all your support and your continued comments. We hope to see you soon!

Dave Arneson, RIP

Dave Arneson passed away today after a long illness.  He was the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, the game that changed my life and resulted in marriage (my wife plays, too), kids, many friends, and a pretty cool career (ongoing) in the creative arts for me.  Unlike Gary Gygax, with whom I had a long friendship, I'd only met Dave a few times.  But though I didn't really know Dave, I honestly wouldn't be here writing this without him.  So, thanks, Dave.  May you have a clear star to steer by and warm winds to speed you on this new journey.  And may the destination be even sweeter than you imagined.  Godspeed.

Call trouble?

So, Linda and I were recording Uncanny Radio 42 the other night, and she accidentally got dropped from the BlogTalkRadio call-in line. Thought she'd just be able to dial back in and rejoin the conversation, but she never came up on the board. I found out later that she'd been trying like mad to call, but the system refused to let her back in -- told her something like "that line is not available."

So, that got me wondering, during our brief time on BTR, we haven't fielded a lot of calls. During the shows, I've assumed it was because we didn't repeat our number often enough -- and sometimes folks hung up before I could ring them in (since I had to wait for a pause in the conversation to do so). But now I'm thinking that maybe the system just wasn't letting people into the Uncanny Radio switchboard. Or maybe it's a combination of both.

Anyway, if you called and couldn't get through, our apologies. And, if you had some experience like that, please feel free to add a comment to this post and let us know about it. It's obviously too late for now, but maybe later we can do something about it.

NICK REDFERN - January 28 Guest

Friend of the Show Nick Redfern returns as our guest this week to discuss Mysterious Places -- including Loch Ness -- the strange phenomena that occur in such places, and what may make such locations so weird. It's High Strangeness on Uncanny Radio! (Of course!)

You can listen to the show live, streaming online, or get your podcast here.

So, what's going on with the air dates?

Sorry about the confusion. The trouble with the radio air dates started during the holiday season. Linda and I (Manwolf) thought we were doing a show for New Year's Eve, but not for Christmas Eve. It turns out, WBSD had special plans for the NYE show, too. So, that threw us off a week, and then -- somehow there was a mis-broadcast and we ended up losing another week, too. Since it doesn't make sense for Linda and I to work too far ahead (only one show can be loaded to the station at a time), we decided to rearrange the schedule until WBSD caught up.

So, on January 21 you should have heard the Travis/Jersey Devil show over the air and streaming. Tonight, January 28 you should be hearing show 040 - Nick Redfern.

On February 4 you should hear 041 - Jerry E. Smith about contrails and chemtrails. Then, finally, on our anniversary show, February 11, you should hear 042 - Jerry E. Smith part 2 (probably Holy Lance.) Make sense?

Stay tuned and find out for sure.

TRAVIS - Jersey Devil - January 7, 2008 Guest

Travis is a Jersey Devil expert, author, and owner of the comprehensive site on New Jersey's strangest cryptid -- LandoftheDevil.com. Because he has a NYC day job that he prefers to keep separate from his pursuit of unknown creatures, we have agreed to only use only Travis' first name. But rest assured that he is a long-time friend of Linda's, and the real deal when it comes to investigation and documentation of the "Devil." He and Linda also conducted a ghost hunt in a Michigan cemetery for the famed "nun" who appears at midnight on the full moon. Beastwatch features a 1987 sighting of a mini-creature, and Howls & Growls features a discussion of the best scripted (as opposed to "reality") uncanny TV shows of 2008.

After the show airs on WBSD, you can listen to the show by following this link.

Uncanny Merchandise

You, our listeners, requested it, so Linda (Godfrey) and I (Steve/Manwolf) decided to make some Uncanny Radio merchandise available using CafePress.  You'll find T-shirts, jackets, mugs, bags, clocks and all sorts of other things to order. Here's the URL:

http://www.cafepress.com/UncannyRadio

Merchandising the show is still experimental at this stage, so when you buy stuff, make sure you drop us a line and let us know how you like the products.  We're always looking for ways to make your Uncanny Radio experience better!

Enjoy, and don't forget to check our page at BlogTalkRadio for upcoming live call-in shows!

Uncanny Radio Featured - New BTR URL

Happy news for the start of 2009!  Uncanny Radio has been selected as a featured show on Blog Talk Radio.

Unrelated to this, we've also changed the show's URL (now that we known it's going to work) from including my name to including the actual show name.  Adjust your links accordingly:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/uncannyradio

We've got an exciting live call-in show tonight (1/2/2009), at 8pm Central, featuring conversation about the Jersey Devil.  Be ready to call in and ask your questions during the second half of the show (after 8:30 Central).  The show will repeat on WBSD next week (1/7/09)

Thanks for all your support.  Help us keep UR a featured show on BTR!

-- Manwolf (Steve) & Linda

Happy Holidays

Wishing everyone a very happy holiday season.

May the blessings of the New Year (and The Force) be with you.

-- Steve

Why is Manwolf so LOUD?

Lately Linda and I have been getting a number of inquiries as to why either, 1) I'm so loud on the BlogTalkRadio broadcasts, or 2) she's so soft. No, for you conspiracy theorists, I'm not trying to overshadow her in the show.

Most of you know that until very recently, Uncanny Radio was recorded from the studios of WBSD in Burlington, Wisconsin. In the past month , though, the weather had been getting bad out here, and Linda had been reluctant to make the long trek to the studio. Well, we solved that intially by making her a guest, but that left us with a new problem: the radio station can only call one person at a time, so if I have to call Linda, I can't call anyone else. (We're working on that, but...)

Coincidentally, at the same time, a new problem cropped up when our former archive host crashed, taking our entire library of shows down with them. (Most of those shows are still unavailable.) We did, however, find a new venue to host the archives -- Blog Talk Radio. And that solution presented us with several new opportunities as well: 1) we could use their system to return to our usual 2 hosts + a guest format, 2) we could also use the system to have listeners call in as well as the guest. Seemed like a great opportunity.

The trick, though, has been working the bugs out. The simple fact is that the BTR switchboard doesn't have nearly the same number or quality of controls I have in the WBSD studio. There is a similar ability to play clips -- like our intro/exit music -- but no ability to fade them in our out; they're either on, or off at whatever level they start at. Likewise, there is no ability to control the audio level of the callers to the service -- whether they're the hosts, the guests, or the fans. People who call in end up at whatever level they call in at. Worse, the earpiece quality -- that is, what the hosts/callers hear on their earpieces -- may or may not represent what's actually being heard "on air." Often, the are drop-outs that exist only on the phone lines. (You can hear me ask Linda to repeat things numerous times in our first BTR show, in the mistaken belief that if I couldn't hear her, the audience couldn't, either.)

Further, there's not even any indication of what the audio levels actually are, so the people calling in can, perhaps, adjust the volume on their end with any accuracy. So, every week the audio level of the show is a guessing game on my part. Linda recently upgraded her phone capability (so it now pretty much matches mine), -- yet, my audio is still louder and/or "brighter." Why? We haven't figured it out yet. Maybe it's my church-bred speaking voice.

People have suggested moving my mic further from my mouth. But it's on a fixed, inflexible pivoting arm (not bendable), and I've raised it up to the level of my eyes; apparently didn't help. Next: change the mic-in level on my computer (I'm using MagicJack to call in) -- I've pushed the level down almost to nothing; apparently didn't help.

So, what to do? Well, it'd be easiest if BTR would upgrade their switchboard to include some basic mixing levels -- but who knows if they'll do that. I could try putting a small windscreen over my mic, if I can find/buy/improvise one. (That's probably worth a try.) Or I can go back into the studio at WBSD and use the tried & true methods. But that still leaves us with the problem of 2 hosts + 1 guest can only use one call-in line. And the weather precludes Linda coming in.

I'll take suggestions, but you should realize that I'm pretty good at this stuff (not perfect), and I've already tried every solution that quickly sprang to mind -- and a few that required some pretty deep thinking. I could go in and manually fix all the audio levels for the show in post-production -- but that would take literally hours, and nobody is paying me to do it. Frankly, I can't afford to put in a lot more free time on this show.

So, until we can solve this problem -- and we'll continue to work on it -- you have to ask yourself: Is Uncanny Radio worth having even with curent audio flaws, or would you rather not have the show in its current format at all?

Yours -- Steve "Manwolf" Sullivan

ROBERT DAMON SCHNECK - December 17 Guest

Friend of the show Robert Damon Schneck returns for our second-to-last show of 2008. This time around, he's chatting with Manwolf and Linda about Ouija Boards. Are they merely a harmless "fortune telling game," or are they something more sinister? Do people influence the boards, or do the boards influence people? Tune in and hear soem remarkable Ouija board stories collected by Robert for an upcoming book.

This is another "internet show" recorded using the software of BlogTalkRadio. Check our page there for upcoming "live" broadcasts dates and times.

Or listen to Uncanny Radio 037 here.

Linda Godfrey - November 26, December 10 Guest

As you all probably know by now, our own Linda Godfrey is the guest on back-to-back Uncanny Radio shows -- shows 035 and 036. In the first show, Linda Talks about her work on Strange Wisconsin and Weird Wisconsin. In the second show, Manwolf and Linda talk about ghost towns, plus manbat and other things with wings.

You can hear show 035 here.

And show 036 -- which was recorded live on BTR 12/5/08 -- here.

Share the excitement as Steve & Linda try to solve the tricks of working in this new format. Listen in awe as Steve talks about audio drop-outs that were apparently only in his headset! Hear Linda forget that the intro to her segment is (now) recorded, and think that Steve is deliberately hogging the airwaves! And are those EVPs, ghost voices, or just some murmuring quirk of the new system? Stay tuned to find out!

Seriously, there are a few more gaffes in episode 36 than usual, but look on the bright side -- in the future, you may be able to call in and talk to Steve & Linda and their guests live!

Let us know how you like the experiment.

Uncanny Radio 036 - with Callers!

In their first-ever call-in show, Steve and Linda continue their conversation from the previous show, touching on Linda's books, manwolves, and other uncanny subjects. Tune in early and get ready to call!

The show will be recorded live on Blog Talk Radio and then rebroadcast over WBSD the following week.

The recording starts on Friday, December 5th, at 1pm, Central Time.

Tune in early and bring your best telephone manners. Talk to you soon!

Rerun Tonight - Listen to Linda

To let both our listeners and ourselves catch up after Thanksgiving, we'll be replaying last week's interview with my co-host, Linda Godfrey, tonight over the air (and streaming). You can catch that show right now on Blog Talk Radio -- and stay tuned for a special, live call in show on BTR later this week. (Probably on Friday around the middle of the day.) Talk to you soon!