The Astral Attic

Starting this Sunday, we are taking to the airwaves at 7:00 pm. This is early enough to quiet the clamor of many friends and would-be listeners over our formerly late hours on KKNW. In fact, it is unanimous among those surveyed that starting the show three hours earlier is necessary to growing our listenership and attracting high-profile guests. OK then, have it your way. Station manager Erik Krema at Alternative Talk 1150 AM granted me the time slot after I spelled out my predicament and so there you are: no more staying up past your bedtime to accomodate my night-owlishness. And I can be honest in admitting that for some of my associates, this is their first chance to catch the show live.

Many thanks to Eileen Grimes for covering my action while Suzanne and I were traveling around Florida. The reviews have been glowing and the buzz is growing in the way of encouraging Eileen to get a show of her own. She is a natural and I would be proud to have her in the KKNW lineup.

During our last late-night show, Dr. Deidre Combs graced us with her diplomatic savvy on the topic of conflict resolution. I wanted to know if the current economic crisis is a monolithic enemy to be vanquished or possibly a teacher unlike any we as a society have seen in generations. There is nothing like an economic meltdown to spawn a multitude of conflicts on all levels. Deidre, always the spiritual adept, explained how an open mind and an observant eye transform even dire circumstances into an opportunity for personal mastery. Her book, Worst Enemy, Best Teacher is a sourcebook for anyone wishing to move forward in life by emulating the “heroic tradition.” It is a gem of clarity and useful teaching, in my opinion. Deidre Combs writes an excellent blog for anyone interested in resolving conflicts and building teams. See for yourself at www.playingwell.org

I also loved talking about UFOs with noted local researcher William Puckett in the second hour. Bill is a fine man whose passion for the truth about the mysteries in our skies is both well-informed and apparently unquenchable. He astounded me with his revelation of a story concerning an alleged meeting between JFK and an ET representative in Sept. of 1963! Read that last line two or three times  just to take in the possibilities… Bill’s investigation of that surreal incident and his other ongoing research are accessibly documented on his website www.ufosnw.com

This Sunday, remember to listen for us at 7 pm: a new Bat-time on the same Bat-channel!

We had a pre-Valentine’s show last Sunday and it was a good excuse to visit once more with my friend and favorite relationship guru, Alisa Goodwin Snell. We talked about how to make Valentine’s Day more than a mechanical exercise or for the unattached, a day of loneliness and regret. A lot of Alisa’s wisdom and practical advice (and we LOVE practical advice that proves its mettle in your life) can be found in her book, Dating Game Secrets for Marrying A Good Man. Much of what makes Alisa’s therapeutic approach so successful is her realization that men and women are essentially different beings who nevertheless are after much the same things: Love, intimacy, trust, confidence, integrity, abundance and a sense of belonging together in a Reality greater than themselves. It’s hard sometimes to think of all this as a game but Alisa excels in coaching would-be players in the finer points of winning at love and ultimately at life. See her website at www.utahsdatingcoach.com

I was happy too for the chance to meet and chat with Colleen Foye Bollen about the implications of her monthly column in the New Spirit Journal, Everyday Spirituality. I was not sure what we would discuss because she was a late booking; we ambled along a nice chunk of the metaphysical map, it turns out. Colleen believes that there is the capacity for extraordinary living in even the most ordinary experiences. Not many of us will climb to the summit where a Holy Man with all the answers awaits our eager inquiry, “What is the meaning of Life?” But that is the beauty of Colleen’s angle on spirituality: God is always and everywhere available. He/She is not invisible. The Divine does not sit atop a mountain nor hide in plain sight. We need only to look at ourselves and our circumstances with a bracing honesty in order for the gift of insight to reveal, gradually or suddenly, more of Who We Really Are. For tools you can put to good use in this realization, try reading Colleen’s column each month. Her writing is well-suited to your “quiet time.” Colleen’s website is www.flowingstillness.com

Sunday night’s show was extremely enjoyable. I felt as though I was playing with friends, and even the mistakes we made, a stumble here and there, only served to remind me what a great time I was having.

Thanks to Jean Haner and John Stanley, that is. Plus I can’t forget Suzanne, whose contribution to the interview with Jean was quite valuable.

Jean is the author of The Wisdom of Your Face. She is, in one hyphenated phrase, a face-reader. And she has been doing this work for 25 years. Think you can hide who you really are from Jean? Just try! The Chinese began studying the human face for its revelations of original nature and ultimate purpose over three thousand years ago. As far as I can tell (being less than a novice), the millions of observations over the millenia serve as a vast body of correlations upon which the art relies for its validity. Face-reading is perhaps the ultimate observational inquiry into human nature and destiny. Jean will be in Seattle this spring to do a weekend workshop. It will sell out, that’s a promise! And the book is unlike any you are likely to have in your library. Well worth owning. For more info about Jean Haner and her comprehensive work, visit www.wisdomofyourface.com

In the 11 pm hour, I got reaquainted with my new radio friend, John Stanley. A genteel and scholarly man, at first glance (unless he has his props with him) you would not guess that he is perhaps the foremost scholar and reviewer of horror and sci-fi movies and books in the world. Foremost among the undead, that is. I had another chance to tap into John’s passion for the eerie and the scary in pop culture. You should know, however, that the aficionado in John makes a crucial distinction between what scares us and what merely shocks with an excess of gore. For John, gore and artful fright work in inverse proportion. His Creature Feature Guides, compendia of about every horror/sci-fi flick ever, well, flicked should make that clear enough. My favorite book of his (Stanley has written 15 at last Count) is I Was A TV Horror Host, as indeed he was for several years in the Bay Area. Before that, he  ”dug” the genres he loves best for the SF Chronicle. Horror-ible as it screams, you can Count on John oozing his way back onto my show before another crypt creaks open in a graveyard near you! If you get to know John Stanley, you begin communicating like that, so be-vare!! If you dare, see www.stanleybooks.net