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The "Other" Dark Matter SUCKS

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Anyway I need your opinion: based on my scottish heritage I've been toying with the idea of creating a fast food restaurant called "macdonald" . Whaddayathink?!
Actually, I believe that there is ( or at least was ) a law that allows anyone to use their own legal given name as a business name for anything they like whether or not another business by the same name exists already or not. So if your name is MacDonald, you could probably do just as you suggest ( just don't use the golden arches as your logo ).
 
art bell vs john houge:
Art Bell
October 13 near Pahrump, NV
John Hogue has decided to blast me on his Facebook page AFTER the show was over, saying among other things that I was unprofessional and did not let him respond to profound questions with profound and never ending answers. You also kept saying “read my book” again and again. Yes, I did try to move you along for the sake of our listener’s. If you felt slighted you could have sent me a private messa...ge or even called, perhaps a message here on Facebook because you are in my friends list, or responded on the spot since you were there on air, but no, none of that. Not my idea of professional but alright, since you went public I guess this is the correct
forum to respond in.

I am sorry you felt hurried John but my view is that if you want a Host who will introduce you and then take a nap I know you know where to find him, not my idea of professional, or perhaps your own show where you can profoundly drone on till the cows come home. I know when a Guest is so interesting that I should just keep my mouth shut and do many times. That was not one of those nights.

DM is real Radio and I have no intention of allowing it to be hijacked by Guest’s who are unwilling to have a dialog. If you want to make a speech please run for office.

I try very hard to be polite to my Guest’s but I also have a responsibility to my listener’s if required, and it was. Sorry your feelings were hurt.
John houge:

Friends,
I wrote and posted a review of my appearance on Art Bell's new show Dark Matter (8 October 2013). I did it to clear the air and hopefully initiate a public debate between us. I am h...appy to announce that Art has sent his answer.

For the sake of clarity and continuity, I have inserted my point for point inserts into his letter (below).

I am hoping that Art will take my answers as both direct clarification and constructive criticism from someone who has been an equal collaborator as his guest for 19 years of radio shows on Coast to Coast AM.

Let me make something clear at the onset. My words in the following, though they may be intense and hard hitting, were not written in anger or in reaction. I love Art. Whatever happens to our professional relationship that Love will remain for me. Be warned, especially you astrologers reading this, that my words are written in a cool and centered space of someone who is a 12th House Double Scorpio so they are naturally intense.

I you find anything else flaring up out of them, I would cordially ask you to look at whether it is coming from me, or rather, it is coming from your reaction reflecting back from "my" mirror of words

Now to the letter:

******************************************************************
ART BELL
John Hogue has decided to blast me on his Facebook page AFTER the show was over, saying among other things that I was unprofessional and did not let him respond to profound questions with profound and never ending answers.

JOHN HOGUE
Art Bell is being inaccurate and the smarminess in this opening sentence resembles the unprofessional tone he sometimes used during our show on Tuesday night (8 October 2013).

ART BELL
You also kept saying “read my book” again and again.

HOGUE
For nearly 20 years I have provided Art Bell anywhere from 20 to 30 written questions per show. Although I have no issue with that, it has become ever more clear that Art Bell’s investigation into my work strays no deeper than those questions. That makes our discussions less prepared and effective when he goes on the attack. Further, his statement is inaccurate. I recall only asking him to “read my books” no more than three times in three hours on air, and I indicated why he needed to, which he does not address here.

ART BELL
Yes, I did try to move you along for the sake of our listener’s. If you felt slighted you could have sent me a private message or even called, perhaps a message here on Facebook because you are in my friends list, or responded on the spot since you were there on air, but no, none of that.

HOGUE
First off, I “did” respond on air in a number of “now Art…” moments. Moreover, I spelled it out loud and clear to you and to the angry listeners Art tried to work up to call in (unsuccessfully). I told both the callers and Art: be prepared, or I’ll go after you. Hard. “With my double-Scorpio stingers.”

Art Bell’s premise about Facebook is a little behind the times.

When Art last retired, Facebook was in its infancy. Since he’s been away, the media revolution has undergone “The Quickening” he wrote about.

Now Facebook is an Internet hegemon, a global public forum with an ever-changing understanding of what is private and public.
Networks of friends share with other friends who then share with their networks and so on…

It’s not that private anymore.

Yes, I am one of Art Bell’s Facebook friends.

I’m also a frequent guest appearing on Coast to Coast AM.

Art’s acidic barbs thrown at George Noory and Coast are also an indirect attack on anyone who regularly appears on Coast.

Long before I appeared on Dark Matter last Tuesday, what Art Bell has been writing against Coast had long gone viral all over the world and by his own promotion reached well beyond Facebook.

Art Bell went after Coast even in TIME Magazine last month!

Check out David Dickey’s article for The Culture section ("Take Back the Night: the king of insomniac radio is ready to reclaim his crown"):

“Bell says the decision to come out of retirement was entirely his,” reports Dickey, “a response to the direction that Noory has taken the show—closer to talk radio’s over-caffeinated political chat…than the open-minded exploration of the supernatural that defined Bell’s tenure. Noory, he says, has 'ruined' the franchise.” (TIME, September 23, 2013)

And he’s upset in the next passage because “I went public”???

Compared to the prodigious global spread of Bell's anti-Coast media spin listed above, I find the following protest about my lack of professionalism humorous to say the least.

ART BELL
Not my idea of professional but alright, since you went public I guess this is the correct forum to respond in.

HOGUE
Then comes a gooey putdown spiced with faux-apologies and bovine clichés…

ART BELL
I am sorry you felt hurried John but my view is that if you want a Host who will introduce you and then take a nap I know you know where to find him, not my idea of professional, or perhaps your own show where you can profoundly drone on till the cows come home.

HOGUE
Be honest, you are not sorry. You want more concise examples of unprofessional moments? For starters, the snide, pontificating tone you take in the above passage was often used on air last Tuesday.

Here’s another example. It happened around the end of the second hour. You said, if I recall, something to the affect of: “John Hogue will actually make a prediction…”

I had “actually” delivered many predictions by then, which I made you acknowledged on the air after that cheap shot.

Here’s another example. A caller asked me to make distant future predictions. Trying to help you get me concise, I said I could quickly take everyone forward, down 1,000 years of future human political evolution. Then you jumped on my lines. I was ordered to keep it real short. I can’t recall if this was when you hurled one of your “three words only” bombs. There was even a shout for a one-word answer too, which I gave you.

Then there’s the best example: the shouting meltdown. That’s something you never did on the air with me in 19 years! I like to call it “Art Bell’s Thousand-Year Prophecy Meltdown”.

You went into an apoplectic fit—mixed-up memory and all.

The tape will show that I had to blow it back, then calm you down and help get your questioners issue straight.

Then, once chastened, sullenly mumbling I was right, I heard no apology.

ART BELL
I know when a Guest is so interesting that I should just keep my mouth shut and do many times. That was not one of those nights.

HOGUE
You’re right. It wasn’t one of those nights. Nights I cherished being your guest. You were off your rhythm. Now the good news. It’s the only crappy show we did, so take heart, Art.

You know, I have a unique and ongoing experience since 1987. I keep taking the measure of many hundreds of talk show hosts and counting on five continents. I’ve also taken the measure of interviewers in over 100 television spots and documentaries: Discovery, History Channel, NBC, FOX, BigSky TV (London), RAI TV (Italy)...

Do the math. I must be an interesting guest.

Otherwise, why was I on ABC’s the View, CNN International, BBC International Radio, just recently on Russia Channel One, and last but certainly not least, a string of popularly rated interviews with George Noory on Coast to Coast AM?

I’ve taken my measure of a lot of hosts in 26 years.

Maybe, just "maybe", if I say Art Bell was off his game last Tuesday, it might have some merit?

Let go of your Noory-Coast grudge, Art. Coast and you are history.

Move on.

Let’s talk about the future and your new show Dark Matter.

You want to make our DM shows more adversarial and gritty dialogues?

Great! I’m in.

I have no problem doing “fight radio” with Art Bell, but after the last show, there’s going to be, as Bill Maher would say, New Rules.

1.) Art Bell prepares his own shows. The days of propping him up with my 20 to 30 questions per show since 1994 is over.

2.) Let’s switch the game. Art Bell will send me 20 to 30 hard-hitting questions that “I” must concisely answer—feet to fire, with no BS.

3.) As a flustered Dolores Cannon and Shaun Hannity found out the hard way, ignoring this caveat: back up your barbs. Know what you’re talking about or my counter punches will be swift and devastating.

No more sucker punching the guest like last Tuesday.

ART BELL
DM is real Radio and I have no intention of allowing it to be hijacked by Guest’s who are unwilling to have a dialog. If you want to make a speech please run for office.

HOGUE
The one who is being political is Art Bell and I would add, he’s a little confused. One day I read him in cyberspace publicly say he doesn’t want politics on his show. Yet on my appearance we did some political predictions.

He’s on XM Radio but he doesn’t want any cussing.

OK, no problem. Then I hear from his and my connected Facebook friends that he recently cussed on the air about the government shutdown. (Understandable, but again, at cross purposes with forcefully declaring rules on the air not to cuss.)

In my experience, Art Bell last Tuesday doesn’t sound like he knows yet what he wants DM to be and he carried me along on his confusing ride. I hope he'll soon find his voice and his rhythm, but I think this lingering "grump" about Coast to Coast these days pulls him back into grudges from the past, and keeps his creative energies muddy, mean and muddled about Dark Matter's future. I predict Dark Matter will not be a success until he can let Coast go and move forward into a new future clean.

(Now there's a concise prophecy. See, Art, I'm getting better)

ART BELL
I try very hard to be polite to my Guest’s but I also have a responsibility to my listener’s if required, and it was. Sorry your feelings were hurt.

HOGUE
That again smacks as insincere apology, masking a lot of passive-aggressive anger.

Art Bell’s response to my review ends as it began, with a tone of oily distain, under which sleeping barbs lie, wearing expressions of apologetic masks.

This is not our first dance together on the airwaves, Art.

We did this dance of ideas two to three times a year starting in November 1994 up to at least 2006 or through 2007.

I know well your responsibilities as host for 19 years and counting.

I number you among the most gifted hosts when it comes to moving a show and changing the tempo. Over the years, you skillfully conducted my equally important contribution to those shows, many of which are classics.

I am fifty percent of this classic radio ensemble. My input and review of the last show has some depth of experience behind it:

Tuesday was not among your best performances as a host.

Want to try it again?

I suggest we return to this point in six months. Let’s let time lower the temperature level between you and me and also let time cool the savage missives of your more abusive and threatening fans.

You now know my new rules for the boxing match.

Want to take a ride?

It’s your show.

It’s your call.

Whatever your decision, thank you Art Bell for the great times past and potential times, future.

John Hogue
(Hogueprophecy.com)
14 October 2013
 
because you and chris and Gene run an INFANATLY better show than Bell will EVER HOPE to have and you won't ever have a guest do this to you because unlike Bell you know how to interview ppl :)AND I don't think I would EVER see any one dis any of you guys like he did..
 
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more drama! Art is now outright accuseing ctc of canceling guest that come on his show..the level of unprofesional behavior by bell is astonding...
 
more drama! Art is now outright accuseing ctc of canceling guest that come on his show..the level of unprofesional behavior by bell is astonding...

If I had to speculate, it would be this ... "drama" sells... Well, at least it did back in the 90's when Art was on top. Remember things like "Mel's hole, Hale-Bopp, Yellow Fruit or whatever in hell it was?" Create a bit of drama and word of mouth does the rest. Like I said, my speculation. Guess we will see if it still works.

Decker
 
I don't listen to the sucky Dark Matters (yet) but I don't subscribe to xm/sirius but I have half a mind (really, I do) to call in claiming to be bigfoot...or has that already been done?

Maybe Don could call in claiming he captured BF and then jump Art's ass for stealing the name of his radio show.
 
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I don't listen to the sucky Dark Matters (yet) but I don't subscribe to xm/sirius but I have half a mind (really, I do) to call in claiming to be bigfoot...or has that already been done?

Maybe Don could call in claiming he captured BF and then jump Art's ass for stealing the name of his radio show.

Actually Wade, Bell calls his thing "Dark Matter", not Dark Matters. And I call mine Dark Matters Radio or jus' DMR. Let's not confuse them! LOL!

Decker
 
No one wins in this but Hogue comes off as rather smug and precious while Bell was perhaps a bit overaggressive in trying to micromanage Hogue's answers.

Hogue, imho, was totally boring, jumping all over the place and unable to give straight answers. At one point Bell asked for some of Nostradamus's noteworthy correct predictions and Hogue started rambling on about Nostradamus's misses. Bell then jumped in and noted these were misses and then said that was fine and Hogue could list Nostradamus's noteworthy misses. Even then, Hogue just kept going on random digressions and trying to twist everything into some kind of political message.

BTW, I don't get all the hatred for Bell on these boards. He does a damn entertaining radio show. It's not scholarly and rigorous like the paracast, but it's quite interesting and fun without being moronically sensationalistic like coast to coast.
 
To clarify my post. This is not meant as an anti Bell rant. Art Bell goes on a long tear on how CtC is canceling guest he has on his show. Art has the ghostbuster girls say they were booted.then lo! They are on CtC. The thing is since he returned it is clear Art holds a grudge agenst CtC he will do anything to make them look bad.art is unprofesional.he manufactured a false incident to drum up ratings..Don woyltod never do that. .an thatis the point I want
 
sorry.. WHO had shows night after night telling ppl that there was a SPACESHIP with hale bopp?

Two questions on that:

1. Are you contending that Bell knew airing the spaceship story would be reasonably likely to induce a cult suicide? I find it hard to believe he had any inkling of that, or that, if he did, he would've given the story air time.

2. Do you really believe that Bell's story was a necessary condition of the Heaven's Gate suicide? Don't you think they would have seized upon some other whacked out thing sooner or later and done something crazy (maybe something worse than suicide, like murder or terrorism), eventually? Note that their diatribes stated that the suicide was necessary 'regardless of whether or not Hale-Bopp has a companion' or something like that.

On the coast-to-coast stuff, I'm not really interested in the melodrama, but I can understand both perspectives. From Art's POV, they are taking an audience and format he built up and turning it into dreck, and now they are competitors. From Clear Channel's / Noory's POV, they bought the show from Art fair and square and it's theirs to do with as they please, and now they have to compete with the very person they bought it from and paid a lot of (I imagine) $ to in the process.
 
You know, I thought about staying out of this discussion ... but hell's bell's ... I was "THERE" when all this happy horse-shit went down so I am going to jump in here and give you my perspective.

First, I will certainly acknowledge that Art Bell is a master showman. A master. But Art applies the "art" of broadcasting unevenly ... depending upon who he likes, who he KNOWS will garner him ratings be it good or bad.

First Up .. Back in the 1990's here in southern California there was a guy by the name of "Dr." Harley Byrd who claimed he was either the grandson or the nephew of Admiral Richard Byrd. Harley's claim to fame was the "hollow Earth" theory and that the Admiral had discovered a secret civilization of people living in the Earth. At this point let me tell you that Harley was as insane as insanity comes. And, I really mean he bounced off the walls. I managed to enrage him by (going from memory) something I either said in UFO Magazine or maybe something I said on my radio show. Also, at that time Harley had a "hard on" for almost everyone else in the UFO arena. People like Walt Andrus, Jim Deletossa, and Erik Beckjord who sued Harley by the way. (He won to.) So, Harley started stalking me. He would call UFO Magazine offices and leave death threats under a phony voice. (Hell, it was easy to know who it was.) He sent us death threats and all kinds of crap thru the mail. This shit went on for almost 3 years. TV producer Russ Estes had done an expose on Harley with my help and he ended up on the receiving end of Harley's rage. So, now I come to my point.

Bell announced that Harley Byrd would come on his C2C show and everyone knew this Byrd guy was out of his mind NUTS. So Russ Estes started to send Bell info that Russ had gathered in his video expose on what a fraud Byrd was. Bell stopped accepting the fax after only one page was sent and CALLED Estes up demanding to know what his agenda was. Russ tried to tell him that he had NO agenda and gave Bell a short run down on what Harley had done up to that point. (I did a DMR on this episode if you are interested.) Bell did not want to hear it. His come back was that anyone could have a detractor. So instead of Art doing any research or reading he wanted Russ to come on C2C and confront Harley. Russ refused and told Art he had no interest in coming on. So Art called me at the UFO Magazine offices to come on and confront Harley. I had my own show and let him know I had no interest in coming on his show and confronting Harley. Hell, Art is a big boy .. he can do his own heavy lifting. Art brought Harley on and true to form Harley was SO NUTS that Art "lost the phone connection" and claimed he could not get Harley back.

On Hale-Bopp, that whole thing happened because of a listener and frequent caller of mine on UFOs Tonite!, my radio show at the time. (And this incident brought Ed Dames, Courtney Brown, Lee Shargel, Whitley Strieber and a whole slew of other BS artists to the front.) Chuck Shramek was a radio guy in Houston and he was also an amateur astronomer. He was imaging the HP comet and took a photo that was very odd. It showed something that could not be identified with what looked like a ring around it. Chuck called it a "Saturn Like Object". He sent it to Bell and told under what circumstances he took it. If you know anything about this sad spectacle, you know what came next. Dames remotely viewed it and told everyone it was a spaceship. Not only a space ship but one that released a container with a planet killing pathogen that was going to hit the Earth and all vegetation on the planet would be dead in a year. (Art just sat there and said WOW! No questions, no nothing demanding any kind of proof.) Here was a guy on national radio, Ed Dames, brought on by a national and international radio host who just accepted this bull shit without a whimper. (And I might add millions bought into this.) Art brought on another charlatan, Dr. Lee Shargel, formerly of NASA. (Do you know how long it took me to SHRED this guys background? About 5 minutes, that's how long.) Did Art vet this asshole? No. Shargel claimed that the "spaceship" behind the comet was sending a KILLER pulse of some kind that was gonna hit the planet ... and then games over Kids. Did Art vet any of this horseshit? Nope.

Lets not forget Dr. Courtney Brown of the Far Sight Institute. He clamied a world famous astronomer was gonna come out in two weeks and announce the alien spaceship behind the comet ... he and the Far Sight Institute had "REMOTELY VIEWED" it! Jesus, my fingers are getting tired. Read my "20 Years in the UFO Fog" and see how all this comes out. Now, on to the mass suicide.

When that happened there was hell to pay in the UFO field. Bell ended up with his reputation shot for quite awhile. Bell had NOTHING to do with those morons pulling the plug on themselves ... BUT ... he had EVERYTHING to do with NOT calling into question all this bullshit at the get go! Words ... especially when beaming out to MILLIONS OF PEOPLE .. Do Have Power. Art Bell was culpable in not snapping this major frauds and charlatan's garter belt at the get-go. Bell, Dames, Shargel, Brown, Strieber have never answered for any of this.

And now Art is back on the "air" gang. Who did he bring on in his first week? Well, one guy was one of the biggest frauds in UFO-land that Art gave unlimited air time to ... "Dr. Johnathan Reid." So, you wanna tune in to Art? Go for it ... but don't come here and call it UFO research. We have enough bull shit as it is.

Decker
 
I remember when C2C was permanently changing over from Art Bell to George Noory. Art made the comment that Noory 'gets it.' I always took that to mean the C2C program wasn't trying to solve any ufo/paranormal puzzles. It was all about entertaining people on the radio late at night. Basically, anything goes to get people to listen.
 
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