In this weeks show we chat to everyones favourite magician and seeker of paranormal-proof, 'The Amazing' James Randi. James is well known throughout the United States for shedding light on con-men and women that claim to posses paranormal gifts. One of his most famous cases, of which he has  written a book, is Uri Geller who, as you'll hear in the show, still manages to maintain a successful career even after numerous 'outings' by the likes of James.  In this interview we discuss James's million-dollar reward for proof of the paranormal, Oprah Winfrey's belief in 'The Secret' (or Magick for housewives, as it should be titled), rouge faith-healers, Johny Carson, the Large Hadron Collider and why people need to believe in quackery! Also in this episode, Out There Radio and DisInfoCast host Raymond Wiley stops by to make an announcement, including some exciting news for some of the Sitting Now crew.  We finally get Claire on the show with her 'Weird Weekly News', and we discuss all the latest features and articles on the site.  Music this week comes courtesy of Kylesa and their amazing tune Hallow Severer from the album Time Will Fuse Its Worth, thanks to those guys for giving us permission to ...

Charles Fort, the Grandfather of anomalous-research, really does have to be respected, if for nothing more his influence on alternative thinkers, and Paranormal researchers bearing even the minutest quantity of wit. Fort gave an antiquarian middle-finger-salute to the almost cult-like scientific community of the time, by daring to docment that which was virtually ignored by the mainstream. You may recognise his name, well, at least part of it from such great longstanding publications as The Fortean Times, which still exists today as a testament to the mans influence. Fort, basically, took it upon himself to catalouge the weird happenings of his time, and publish them in a almanac-style . He occasionally injected his own opinions, though often preferred to remain impartial (much like the magazine of his namesake). This book, a complete collection of Fort's writings, makes it clear very early-on why Fort's work has remained the staple of so many bookshelves. The man's wit must be commended; whilst dedicating his life to such a bizarre topic must demand a degree of seriousness, Fort doesn't forget to laugh at it from time to time. Considering the vast compendium of strangeness on offer in the book, one of the oddest things on offer is the ...

Just when you thought it was safe to crack out your copies of Dianetics and Top-Gun, whore yourself on YouTube and generally be dramatic online; Anonymous returns with an EPIC triple-whammy!... Well, just as Operation Chanology seems to be gasping its last breath, a symptom of internal civil war (old vs. new, vs. moral), Anonymous have risen once again to show us all that the Internet Hate Machine is still active and processing 'lulz' for us all to laugh at! A week or so ago, Anonymous managed to use the 'forgot password' option on Yahoo! Mail to gain access to hockey-mum-republican Sarah Palin's email account. The ensuing reposting of private information (Dox), caused an unusually high level of coverage from the likes of Fox News buffoon Bill O'Reilly and his minions.   Watching Bill attempt to justify his obvious rage-management issues is always a source of great amusement: Challenging the Internets? BAD IDEA!   Sure enough, a few days later O'Reillys website was hacked and it's 'premium' members personal details were smeared all over the internets like a peadophile 'named and shamed' campaign! It was later revealed that O'Reillys web people contacted the afflicted few, informing them of the breach.   That's all? ... nope!   Oprah Winfrey, lover of ...

Bob's back! One of our favourite guests, and knowledgable chap when it comes to global folklore! In this episode, we build on our discussion in last interview by analysing ZOMBIES! Bob has a new book coming out soon entitled Zombies: A Field guide to the Walking Dead, so make sure you get your hands on that! Bob has some great tales that he picked up on his travels to research this latest book, so join us as we take a journey into the world of Zozobra's, undead-monks and more! This weeks featured music comes in the shape of The Melvins, with the track The Kicking Machine from the album 'Nude with Boots'. You can download the track in MP3 form from the Southern Records site here. Background music comes in the form of Nintendo's Super Smash Bros (no really!) played in Orchestra form! We have some great guests coming up in the coming weeks so stay tuned for more Sitting Now oddness!

In this age of online-piracy, where big US companies like ComCast are strangling consumers bandwidth privileges, who can the big software houses and Internet providers call on to reach the kids of tomorrow? Well, back in the early 90's, it wasn't Superman or Batman that protected classics like Monkey Island and Wing Commander 2. No, it was a bad-ass rapper, come super-hero that the really reached out to the kids.  In this 'caught on camera' expose, witness the mighty 'Double Def' preventing two innocent kids from taking their first steps into a life of crime: If the Internet-Police had such speedy countermeasures today, we could all rest easy! Little is known of what happened to the MC, however it is rumoured that he was accidentally deleted in the late 90's, whilst trying to stop a kid from copying Quake...for shame...he wasn't just def...he was DOUBLE def! Ken Eakins

Experiment: a test, trial, or tentative procedure; an act or operation for the purpose of discovering something unknown or of testing a principle, supposition, etc.: a chemical experiment; a teaching experiment; an experiment in living. A Sontaran: An ugly potato-headed alien from Doctor Who; heavy-set, thugish and with an obsession for conflict and total domination of the universe. After just one listen of this brutal outpouring, it's not hard to see why these guys chose their name! This, their debut album, is an epic and adventurous work of three 'acts' each lasting anywhere from 15 - 25 minutes. Yes! I know what you're thinking: "Urgh! I hate it when bands do this", but stick with me here.  The album opens with layers of strange electronic ambiance, which are brutally interrupted by an explosion of bowel-emptying doom. The tone and tempo of the record shift around like a disturbed and violent rockweiler, one minute you are nodding along (wishing you had a big doom-fan beard) and the next you are thrown into an almost Napalm Death blast-beat-ridden hellfest. The album takes some seriously cool little sidesteps when you least expect it;  Act II, for example, goes down a, dare I say, almost jazzy avenue at one point! So, I told ...

Here at Sitting Now, we don't claim to be Conspiracy theorists, Mystics or Counter Cultural experts (though, I am working on the latter), we just find it all really interesting and enjoy discussing, and exploring it. Now, i've gone on the record in one of our shows saying that, personally, I find the world of Magic/Magick (call it what you will) fascinating...but a bit too snobby. There are a few exceptions to this rule, and one of those is the author and magician Lon Milo Duquette. In Enochian Vision Magic, Duquette attempts to not only document the fascinating story of Dr John Dee and Edward Kelly's quest to make contact with spiritual entities, but also to instruct the reader in the practical application of their findings in the modern environment. Readers not already familiar with Duquette's writings will feel instantly at ease with this book, while regulars will appreciate his attention to detail/yet solid conveyance of the topic at hand. What I feel separates this work from others on the subject, is the intensive research and notation of the original Dee texts. Duquette doesn't just present the reader with a 'how-to' textbook, he painstakingly explains all the symbology and application of each element. ...

ASVA are probably my favourite of the 'Drone/Doom' (whatever) bands out there, SUNN O)) coming a very close second, so I was pretty excited to get my hands on this release. Formed a few years ago by Stuart Dahlquist (Burning Witch, Goatsnake...and I think he was a part of SUNN O)) at one point as well?), and featuring such names as Trey Spruance (Secret Chiefs 3, Mr Bungle) and the oddly named B.R.A.D. (Burning Witch), this is quite the 'super-group'. In their debut album, Futurists Against the Ocean, ASVA took the slow cue from bands like Earth and then added their own, very unique flavour.  In this record that blueprint was dusted off and added to, giving a much more individual feel to each track. At points far more sinister and claustrophobic than it's predecessor, at others faster and more urgent. Spruance's influence on this record feels a lot greater as well, the varied instrumentation, and what sounds like alternate tunings at some points.  The standout track on this record is the incredible 'A Trap for Judges', which lurches slowly like a grim leviathan nearing some awful, unearthly climax (and can be downloaded from the Southern site here). If you're interested in ...

I can't believe i've not encountered this band until now, I love them!  Kylesa play a mixture of Doom-metal and hyper acid-rock that literally grabs your attention the way all good bands should! Some parts of this record remind me of Black Cobra and elements of early Mastodon, to give you a hint of what to expect. The pace of this record is really clever, slow broody noise tracks ala Old Man Gloom set the scene for huge riff-ridden chunks of fast noise. The only real complaint I have about this record is the production, it's begging for 'fatness', and less tinnyness, but it's not bad enough to impare your enjoyment of this great record. The standout track for me is 'Hallow Severer', which lurches into a sonic explosion laced with epic, almost Minor Threat-esque intensity.  I cannot recomend this record enough. It fills the void between the doomy elements of 'Red Sea' era ISIS and 'Houdi' era Melvins perfectly. 4.5/5 Ken Eakins www.kylesa.com www.myspace.com/kylesa

I think this DVD was released on a 'need-to-know' basis; I for one, had totally forgotten it was available! So, imagine my surprise when this arrived in the Sitting Now mailbag!  This was well timed by Ipecac, it's been a while since the last Fantomas record, Suspended Animation  and I think fans of Mike Patton's crazy cut-up metal supremos, used to a pretty much annual release, are starting to get a bit itchy for new material. Ipecac released a CD of a similar show a few years back and for some reason, I think shoddy sound levels, I couldn't get into it. That mistake has been rectified in this release, however, and what you see is pretty much what happened on the day both audibly, and visually (I was at the show).  I wasn't too sure about the animations added into the mix at first, but you soon realise that they compliment, rather than hinder your enjoyment of the show. One of the truly weird elements of this release has to be in the DVD commentary. Buzz and Dale of the Melvins, the promoter of the show, the (I think) filmmaker and Danny Devito (what the hell?) deliever a rather random conversation that includes a quite ...