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 ...

  The Montauk Monster that supposedly washed up in the Hamptons might be only one in what could be a longer line of bizarre unidentified creatures washing up on shores all over the world. And more recently, in New London a so called "Clapsadle Carcass" had been discovered. "Had" because the carcass is supposdly no where to be found. ______________________________________________________________ A seven year old boy in Australia went on a reptile killing spree at a zoo this past Wednesday, slaughtering 13 animals in total. He was caught on cameras throwing rare reptiles into the crocodile enclosure over a security fence. Zoo officials are currently looking into suing the boys parents since he is too young to be charged. ______________________________________________________________ The oldest known footprint may have been found. The tracks, if legitimate, belong to an animal that lived 570 million years ago. The discoverer says that he expects and welcomes skepticism, but if the find is real, then it would apparently push the advent of walking back 30 million years earlier than any previous solid finding. ______________________________________________________________ According to a new report by the National Cancer Research Institute, patients who are suffering from quote “unfashionable” cancers are being neglected by scientists ...

Best known for his editing role on Monty Python's 'The Life of Brian' and special effects man on Terry Gilliam's 'Brazil', Julian Doyle returns with his B-Movie take on Aleister Crowley in this years 'Chemical Wedding'. Deciding not to take the biographical role, and instead envisioning Crowley in a modern setting, the film took a panning by critics, and Crowley fans alike. We sent in our man, Adrian Dobbie, to find out what Doyles motives and reactions were behind the film... Resurrecting the Beast I've only been in the company of ex-Monty Python collaborator Julian Doyle for half an hour or so but already the conversation has been surprisingly brisk. So far we've discussed the Osirian symbolism behind the story of Abelard and Eloise, the influence of early Christian Britain on the Roman Empire before Constantine and the idea that giants built many of the Neolithic stone circles in the British Isles.  Oh and we've touched on quantum theory too. Just a little.   I'm at Doyle's North London home to interview him about the movie Chemical Wedding, which alongside Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson, Doyle co-wrote, directed, edited and produced. To date, Chemical Wedding is by far the most ambitious and commercially successful ...

Taking the Path of Least Resistance in Magic If there is one challenge that magicians face when it comes to determining the effectiveness of magic, it is figuring out if the magic you performed aligned with your internal values. Sometimes, even if we think we want a particular result, we actually don’t want that result. Speaking from personal experience, I always found it odd when I would do a successful act of magic and get the result I desired, but then have the impact of that result not really count for handling my situation. It was only much later that I would recognize that the magic I did at that time was going counter to my internal values. I’ve also noted this type of occurrence with other magicians: they would get results, but when those results were not in alignment with their internal values an essential part of them rejected the results.   Recently I read a passage that I would like to share, which speaks to this issue, “Magick defines suffering as the result of straying from one’s natural path of ‘least resistance’” (Schueler 1988, p. 222). Suffering arises from straying from one’s natural path of least resistance. This is an interesting ...

One of the greatly ignored mediums of our little corner of the web so far has been comics which, in my opinion, produce some of the most compelling, original and revolutionary concepts of our time. When I first thought of who to 'pen' a regular feature, it was imediatly obvious; Scott Carelli, one of the first guests on our podcast, has a passion for comics and all things 'geek' unlike anyone else I can think of, he's also really good at expressing that passion in the written word...   When I was asked to begin writing reviews for comics with a counter-culture spin for Sitting Now, only one comic immediately came to mind: Preacher. Part Western, part Horror story, part Religious Epic, and a lot of weird, Preacher is as counter-culture as it gets. Created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, Preacher is the story of a small town Texas minister, named Jesse Custer, slowly losing his faith in the god he’s devoted his life to. In one bizarre instant, his life is changed forever, and with his gun-toting ex Tulip and a hard-drink Irish vampire named Cassidy, he aims to find out why and who’s to blame. The story that ...