The show was a hell of a roller coaster tonight.   About an hour before show time, I got a text from Lara Shaffer who wanted to sit off to the side and quietly observe how the show runs behind the scenes.   She is someone I pitched to Dobie Maxwell as our female co-host.   When I first started working on the show, Dobie stated how he wanted a third, but I didn't see the need.   Now that we're handling the board as well, there's no question in my mind that one more person would make a huge difference.   I was just thankful that I've been on the board as opposed to having to 'vamp' or kill time without having someone to talk to.   My respect for all radio show hosts have gained my respect.   Well, maybe not Rush Limbaugh... or Howard Stern.   Seriously, Stern has about a dozen co-hosts and he doesn't have to worry about making sure the delay is on incase someone swears.

            Back from the tangent now: Dobie called to say that he'd be cutting it close.   That didn't concern me too terribly bad because our friends with the "Doo-Wop Diner" (the show prior to ours) usually pulls our sound files up, making starting up the show pretty easy now.   Despite her not wanting to be on the air yet, I'd put Lara on the air with me for a couple of minutes of small talk just in case Dobie was a few minutes late.   However, it was now a minute from showtime, the farewell song was playing for the Doo-Wop Diner and Lara was M.I.A.

            Fortunately, Dobie was accurate.   He cut it close, but he was not late.   We got the show started on time, and, amazingly, we had no trouble getting our first guest on the phone and on the air.

            It's not easy to be a good guest.   I should know:   I've been a bad guest.   Just look up my appearance on the "Jenny Jones Show."   Don't speculate.   I wasn't on due to some bizarre sex act or some sordid love triangle.   She show was on surviving near-death experiences.   That's a tale for another time, but if you're really curious, I'm sure you can still find out by Googling my name.

            Our first guest, remaining nameless, was just like me on the daytime talk show, too laid-back, too relaxed.   Sometimes nervousness is a good thing, you get that nervous energy.   Ask anyone who was a Johnny Carson fan.   It's fun to watch him do well, it was even more fun to watch him bomb.   I hope it was entertaining for the listening public as well, but I know I was having a great time.

            The mood in the studio was very loose and fun.   I think that was partly because Dobie and I were in good and energetic moods, but I also have to give a tip of the hat to Lara, who joined us halfway through the interview.   She did great and, ya gotta imagine having a pretty girl in studio with us put Dobie and I in an even better mood.

            After the show Lara and I went for coffee.   She and I have known each other, mostly in passing, for a couple of years.   I only started getting to know who she was (and vice versa) over the last month or two.   I pitched her to Dobie as a great conversationalist who could help us out.   She's quick and she's sharp, but she wouldn't have bring a specific area of expertise to the show the way Dobie (with UFOs) and I (with ghosts) do.   It wouldn't be required, but I just wanted him to know.

            Turns out I couldn't possibly be more wrong.   She may be more qualified to talk about the pseudo-sciences than either Dobie or I.   She talked my ear off (I say that in a nice way) about horoscopes, numerology, astrology... I can't even remember what else at the moment.   I ended up getting home at about 4:30 am.   I briefly made a comment about something, referencing government conspiracies.   She brings out a laptop and shows me the following video:

            Yes, that is fascinating, but that's not the point.   How does she have the time to learn everything?   The woman knows eight languages for cryin' out loud!   That's actually not an exaggeration either. That, and she also tipped us off about the possible Chupacabra caught on camera via police dashboard camera in Texas. That video can now by found on our videos page, again, thanks to Lara.

            This is a blog, not a Lara love fest, so I'll get back to the show.

            Our second guest was a good one and I thank the Field Museum for helping pull it all together at the last minute.   I did have another guest booked, but since the Mythic Creatures exhibit was in its final week, timeliness prevailed.

            It took around 40 or 45 minutes to convey all of the information that was needed for the Mythic Creatures interview with Tom Skewerski.   That left us with a little time to fill.   My concern is that that show is a little too guest-centric.   Dobie and I both want to have more regular segments like Gary Panche's "Mothership Hall of Fame," and I am currently working on two segments, which I hope to roll out soon, but I do think more casual chatter between hosts (especially when there's three of us) is more entertaining than a forced interview.   The phrase "blood from a stone" comes to mind.

            Anyway, there's still (hopefully) one more week of our temporary phone system.   It's tech stuff that the audience probably couldn't care less about, but it is an issue and an annoyance for us.   Just when we started getting through shows with ease, something just had to change and make it seem like we've taken a step backwards.   At least our first guests, the Wisconsin Paranormal Investigators, are in-studio, so we'll have a full hour before we have to encounter the phones.   Our second guest is Ursula Bielski, one of my favorite authors of any kind, a great person too.   I'll leave the rest of the introduction to the show on Sunday, but this is an interview I've been looking forward to since I started hosting the show.

            On a final note, a few books were referenced during the show today.   For more info on them, the links are below: