All posts by Mike Huberty

Co-Host of See You On The Other Side podcast Lead Vocalist & Bassist for Sunspot

33 – The Truth Is Back: The Real X-Files Behind Four Classic Episodes

The X-Files was the breakout science fiction phenomenon of the 1990s. No other program captured the zeitgest of conspiracy theories, big government paranoia, alien abduction mythology, Gen X individualism, and post-80s seriousness as well as creator Chris Carter’s show, that on paper, probably looked like a ridiculous blend of The Silence of the Lambs and Kolchak: The Night Stalker.

So when FOX announced at the end of March that The X-Files was returning to television 22 years after it debuted, it was big news.

As two people who experienced The X-Files the first time around, Mike and Wendy talk about their experiences with the show (Mike was a true believer, hosted X-Files parties, and even read the comics.) We go into detail about Mike’s love of the show. Here’s a picture of Mike and his wife at a costume wedding in 2013 – note, Mike’s X-Files Division badge is something that he bought at Gen Con in 1996 (when he played The X-Files Collectible Card Game with Langly and Frohike of The Lone Gunmen!)

World’s worst Mulder and Scully? #halloween #wedding #x-files

A photo posted by sunspotmike (@sunspotmike) on


And to celebrate the return of the show, Mike and Wendy picked 4 real X-Files that inspired the paranormal stories.

They first talk about the episode, “Field Trip”, which is based on the idea of hallucinogenic fungus and shared hallucinations and Mulder and Scully get trapped in a giant cave with a fungus that’s slowly killing them while indulging them in fantasy . Mike and Wendy discuss the episode and a little bit about how madness can be passed from one person to the next.

Next up is stigmata, which is where someone exhibits the wounds of Jesus (perfect for an episode on Easter Weekend!), the real X-File behind the episode “Revelations” is based on reports from all the way back to the 13th Century with the famous St. Francis of Assisi being the first recorded stigmatic.

The alien/human hybrid is a theme that runs through the real X-File of the alien abduction narrative. Female abductees have claimed that they’ve been impregnated by aliens, run through an accelerated gestation process, and then the baby is taken from them. They remember this trauma through hypnosis and The X-Files used the idea of an alien/human hybrid in the form of a child chess prodigy, Gibson Praise, who was wanted by the US Government as well as the alien invasion force.

Finally, Mike and Wendy talk about the strange history of sin eaters, a tradition from the end of the Enlightenment, where families would pay someone to “eat the sins” of a loved one who had passed, so that the sins would transfer to the eater and the loved one would be free of sin to enter Heaven. The X-Files episode, “The Gift”, deals with a sin eater who can eat the diseases from sick people and take them unto himself.

Then they finish up with a song inspired by the news of the return of The X-Files, a comical warning to Chris Carter and FOX – “Don’t Mess This Up”.

Real X-Files Links

Official FOX announcement about the return  of The X-Files

“Reopening The X-Files:  ‘Field Trip””, Tor.com
“Shared Hallucination?”, shroomery.org Forum Discussion
Wikipedia entry on Folie deux (shared dementia)
“11 Odd Facts about Magic Mushrooms”, Livescience

The X-Files, “Revelations” (Watch on Daily Motion)
Stigmata, Catholic Encyclopedia 

The X-Files wiki, Gibson Praise (alien/human hybrid)
Alien/Human Hybrid, Arturi Extraterrestrial Community

The X-Files, “The Gift” (Watch on Daily Motion)
“The Weird But True History of Sin-Eaters”, io9

 

Song: Don’t Mess This Up by Sunspot

They’re using my nostalgia and they’re trying to make money on my youth,
They’re bringing back The X-Files and they think that I still care about the truth.
They’re making me feel old when they dig up all the actors,
at least I’m in a demographic that still matters,
I still curse the Lone Gunmen and their luck,
and I think I can speak for all of us,
Don’t mess this up, yeah.
Don’t mess this up.
I’m looking at you, Chris Carter.
We’ve been burned before from Jar Jar Binks to Indy 4, don’t you see,
It’s been reboots up the tail and they all just add up to fail, you just want more money.
So let’s put on some Spice Girls like it’s 1997
Pop open a Surge and watch a little Seventh Heaven,
But don’t you dare talk about conspiracies after 9/11,
But I think that I can speak for all of us when I say,
Don’t mess this up, yeah.
Don’t mess this up, here we go.
They’ll never bring back Firefly,
No matter how you scream and cry.
They’ll never bring back Firefly,
No matter how you scream and cry.
They’ll never bring back Firefly,

No matter how you scream and cry.

They’ll never bring back Firefly,
No matter how you scream and cry.
They’re using my nostalgia and they’re trying to make money on my youth,
They’re bringing back the X-Files and they think that I still care about the truth.
I Want To Believe was definitely not it.
It was cool you made a second one    but next time get a script,
Can you even show the Smoking Man with a cigarette that’s lit?
I speak for every thirtysomething when I say
Don’t mess this up, yeah.
Don’t mess this up, yeah.
Don’t mess this up.

32 – Adventures with Albert: Channeling Garnet Schulhauser

Channeling a spirit to write is an idea that’s probably as old as writing itself. Revealed text (revelations) have been part of our religious life for millenia, whether it’s Moses and the Burning Bush or Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon.

Mike and Wendy open the episode by talking about famous channeling in history from Aleister Crowley’s Aiwass in the Book of the Law (where the inspiration for this week’s song comes from) to A Course in Miracles and the famous Oprah-endorsed movie, The Secret. They talk about how channeling was big business in the 80s and Mike fondly remembers a Mr. Belvedere episode that featured a channeler.

Mike then interviews Garnet Schulhauser, who claims to have been contacted by a spirit, Albert, posing as a homeless man in downtown Calgary. Albert then showed him the mysteries of the universe from the astral plane to the Akashic Records to the enigmatic Council of Wise Ones. Garnet discusses how we all are eternal spirits who have lived many lives and  have chosen to come to Earth to learn something. He gives us details on what it’s like to travel outside the body and also the lessons that the spirit world would like to teach us still on Earth.

Garnet Schulhauser and Channeling Links

Garnet Schulhauser’s website

Dancing on a Stamp: Startling Revelations from the Other Side

Dancing Forever with Spirit: Astonishing Insights from Heaven

Mr. Belvedere episode, “Spot”

South Park Mormon Episode

Tuning In, Movie about modern channeling

Song: Stardust by Sunspot

We awoke at the end of an era,
We came to life in the footnotes of time,
We are stardust made conscious and breathing,
orphans of the suns that have died.

We are created but we are the makers,
we are lucid inside the Dreamtime.
We are the Alphas and the Omegas,
we are what we choose to define.

Love is the only law,
and it cannot be killed.
We are the stars,
we are of stars,
so love what you will.
Love is the only law,
and it cannot be killed.
We are the stars,
we are of stars,
so love what you will.

And the Seraphim will sanctify,
the particles that illuminate the sky.
And the Seraphim will sanctify,
the particles that illuminate the sky.
What was once will always be,
the universe is inside me,
the magician that wants to be free.
To be free.

We awoke at the end of an era,
We came to life in the footnotes of time,
We are stardust made conscious and breathing,
orphans of the suns that have died.

Love is the only law,
and it cannot be killed.
We are the stars,
we are of stars,
so love what you will.
Love is the only law,
and it cannot be killed.
We are the stars,
we are of stars,
so love what you will.
We are stardust made conscious and dreaming,
we are what we choose to define.
We are stardust made conscious and dreaming,
we are what we choose to define.
Love under will.

29 – The Illuminati: An Introduction to The New World Order

For a secret organization hellbent on guiding the future of the human race, The Illuminati doesn’t really do a great job with the whole secret part. Everybody knows about it, but a lot of people don’t realize that it started with an actual secret society in the 18th Century. Mike and Wendy Lynn are here to give you the skinny on the most famous of conspiracy theories.

The conversation starts with the origin of the organization in 18th century Bavaria as a way to lessen the influence of the Catholic Church on German government “Illuminati” was an organization of The Enlightenment, meant to banish fear and superstition (or so they would have us believe!) Either way, the organization was supposedly disbanded only a few years later, but that’s what they want us to think.

The modern conspiracy theory really begins with the most famous of the anti-Communist organizations and the Granddaddy of a good deal of today’s conspiracy lore, the John Birch Society. During the Red Scare of the 1950s who first used the term New World Order (NWO) to talk about an atheistic one-world government that those damn commies dreamed about. Ronald Reagan then gave an unusual speech before the United Nations that basically spoils the ending of Watchmen and George H.W. Bush actually used the term, “New World Order” in a speech in 1990. That settled it, the Illuminati was real. And they’re using our Pop stars to control our minds.

We go over the symbolism in Lady Gaga’s videos and Madonna even titled a song on her latest album, “The IlluminatI” and she mentions how she is “proud to be one of them” (but she might be a little off on her definition of who actually was in the original Illuminati group.)

As all conversations between Mike and Wendy go, the discussion eventually wraps up with Katy Perry, who is bought and sold by the global elite. Don’t believe us? Just check out her video for “Dark Horse”. Her Super Bowl performance was the Illuminati’s biggest coup because it was seen by over a billion people around the world and there are those on the Internet who are happy to analyze it for every little bit of occult imagery. (To be honest, The All-Seeing Eye is a pretty weird thing to have on our money!)

Illuminati Links

Is Lady Gaga a Satanist Illuminati Slave?: Pop-music’s strangest conspiracy theories, Slate Magazine

33 Signs That The Illuminati Is Real, Buzzfeed

‘Rebel Heart’: Madonna Reveals the Story Behind Six Surprise Songs

Decoding Illuminati Symbolism: The All Seeing Eye and 666 Hand Gesture

Song: Byzantium by Sunspot

We’ll never know
just what they know
We’ll never find,
just what they’ve done,
looks like you can do whatever you want,
as long as you’ve got the gun.

In Byzantium.
In Byzantium.

Some are happy
just to follow,
some just want to
pull our strings.
Some are sheep,
some are shepherds,
some people think
they know everything.

In Byzantium,
In Byzantium.

Would it be so bad
worse than what we have
Would it be so bad
worse than what we have

27 – Parapsychology Fact Vs. Fiction: An Interview with Loyd Auerbach

Looks like Mike survived his half-marathon that we were talking about last week in the below-zero temperatures on Sunday, but just barely!

https://instagram.com/p/zal_Q9oCaU/?modal=true

and here’s Mike and Wendy recording the intro to the interview in the Sunspot rehearsal space.

https://instagram.com/p/zgaUAbk8hu/?modal=true

Today’s interview is with parapsychology mainstay, Loyd Auerbach. He really has been keeping the fires burning for the scientific study of the unexplained for four decades and his book ESP, Hauntings, and Poltergeists: A Parapsychologist’s Handbook was extremely influential on a young Mike (which is one of the reasons that he’s so excited about the interview.) Not only has Loyd been highly involved in keeping parapsychology in academia, he has been on thousands of paranormal investigations, and consulted for television (especially on a forgotten classic from the 80s, Shadow Chasers.)

The conversation begins with how Loyd got into the paranormal, his study at Northwestern University under the great UFO researcher, J. Allen Hynek, and then his job at the American Society for Psychical Research. It’s basically a lesson in how to get your dream job so that’s worth listening to the podcast for that information alone.

Loyd moves out to the West Coast to continue his studies at JFK University who was the only place in the United States a post-graduate degree in parapsychology at the time. It was a different time, and he discusses the difference between scientific attitudes towards the unexplained was more welcoming in the days before today’s science vs. faith culture wars.

Loyd talks about some of his Hollywood script consultation and also how he’s not that interested in appearing on paranormal television shows anymore because they don’t portray parapsychology and paranormal investigations in a realistic light. He goes into the difference between reality and what they show you on TV and the movies.

Mike and Loyd then delve into not only tips for novices interested in going on paranormal investigations, but also tips for people who are interested in letting a paranormal group investigate their house. It’s a must-listen for anyone who’s interested in finding a paranormal group to investigate their home because it’ll help you weed out the inexperienced groups from parapsychologists who might actually be able to help.

The conversation also goes into Loyd’s latest endeavors to help educate newbies to parapsychology and his latest online courses, which are all about learning to investigate paranormal phenomena like hauntings or ESP in a scientific way so that your investigations can help further the field of parapsychological research.

Loyd Auerbach Parapsychology Links:

Loyd Auerbach’s website

ESP, Hauntings, and Poltergeists: A Parapsychologist’s Handbook

Follow Loyd Auerbach on Twitter

Take one of Loyd’s paranormal classes online at the Rhine Education Center

Featured Song: Pascal’s Wager

We are but tiny,
inside a world of infinity,
all we have is our reason,
to make us better than the beast.

Pascal was a gambler,
who wanted to believe.
Pascal made a wager,
for the souls of you and me.

And if you win, you win, you win it all.
And If you lose, you lose,
and it don’t matter anyway,
And there’s so many things I’ll never know,
But even the brightest stars,
must lay down their cards,
when the ferryman calls.

I was born a cynic,
but I’m willing to take my chance,
that the universe is big enough,
to be more than coincidence.

We’re playing a game,
that we don’t want to admit,
All the things we feel,
that you just can’t dismiss.

So if you win, you win, you win it all.
And If you lose, you lose,
and it don’t matter anyway,
And there’s so many things I’ll never know,
But even the brightest stars,
must lay down their cards,
and figure out just who they are,
when the ferryman calls.

You’re not a fool to believe.
You’re not a fool to believe.

25 – Real Life Superheroes: An Interview with Author Tea Krulos

From Bruce Willis in Unbreakable to John Ritter in Hero at Large to everyone’s favorite madman Nicolas Cage in Kick-Ass, we’ve been watching regular everyday human beings assuming the mantle of comic book superhero personas for a long time. But for some people, even those fictions aren’t enough. There’s a group of people who are living the dream of real life superheroes in our world and they’re part of what has been dubbed the Real Life Superhero Movement. Milwaukee author, Tea Krulos, spent years with these heroes and wrote a book called Heroes In The Night: Inside The Real Life Superhero Movement. 

Tea was in Madison, Wisconsin over the weekend at the Wizard World Wisconsin Comic Con to lead a panel discussion on the Real Life Superhero Movement and we caught up with the author right before he went to the big convention.

real life superheroes
The Watchman – Milwaukee’s Real Life Superhero

 

Tea’s first meeting with a real life superhero was with the defender of Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s Riverwest neighborhood, The Watchman.  From there, a Milwaukee team started to develop called The Challengers, which would serve as a neighborhood watch, help with the homeless, and go to charity events.

He describes how most of the  real life superheroes are content to let the police know when they see crime going on, but some like Seattle’s Phoenix Jones, like to mix it up.  Tea also accompanied Minneapolis superhero Razorhawk who organized a group into a Twin Cities search for a missing college kid who might have been a victim of the Smiley Face Murder Club.

Krulos got to travel all over the country meeting up with superheroes and one of his favorites is Vancouver street legend Thanatos, who pounds the pavement helping out the city’s homeless population, using his own money to get them tarps, blankets, and water. Krulos describes him as a “friendly, yet spooky-looking figure.”

All in all, Tea believes that these real life superheroes want to make the world a better place and want to make themselves better people, “they’re tired of being apathetic and they want to have a hobby that helps people out.”

After discussing his fantasy celebrity casting of a real life superhero movie, Krulos gives a quick summary of his monster hunters book, as well as giving a preview of the Milwaukee Paranormal Conference taking place this June.

Real Life Superheroes Links

Featured Song: Real Life Superheroes

 

Why does it take a tragedy
to summon the valiant?

Untold are tales of bravery
among the common man

The world doesn’t have to end.

We have the heroes
(local vigilante)
Real life superheroes
(just might save the day)

We have the heroes
(doing what is right)
Real life superheroes
(heroes of the night)

We have the heroes
(local vigilante)
Real life superheroes
(just might save the day)

We have the heroes
(doing what is right)
Real life superheroes
(heroes of the night)

Could it be a force at hand
secret from society?

Good intentions, valor grand
watching for the the libertine

A victor living right next door

We have the heroes
(local vigilante)
Real life superheroes
(just might save the day)

We have the heroes
(doing what is right)
Real life superheroes
(heroes of the night)

23 – Life of a UFO Investigator: Interview with Mark O’Connell – Part 2

Here’s the second part of our interview with screenwriter and UFO investigator, Mark O’Connell. He and Mike talk about how Mark got into checking out reports of UFOs as an official MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) Field Investigator. He talks about the process of becoming a UFO Investigator as well as the cases that he’s investigated that struck him personally as the most unexplainable.

Mark also bursts the bubble on the recent hype surrounding the “declassification” of 100,000 Project: Blue Book (the Air Force’s investigation into UFOs through the 1950s to the 1970s) documents that were published on the Internet in the past two weeks as part of a massive amateur journalism project by John Greenewald and heralded all over mainstream news sources like the BBC and CNN. He says that while it’s great that it’s being covered in the news, there’s nothing new in the files that hasn’t already been analyzed and seen already.

Mike and Mark then talk more about Project: Blue Book and its director, J. Allen Hynek. Mark is currently working on a biography of the astronomer who was the face of official UFO investigation the Twentieth Century. Hyena developed the Encounters scale used by Steven Spielberg in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and served as a consultant on the film. They talk about the famous Michigan “swamp gas” case that helped discredit Hynek in the eyes of UFO enthusiasts as well as getting the attention of Michigan congressman and future President of the United States, Gerald Ford. Mark goes into why Hynek’s critics are wrong and clears up some myths surrounding the event.

Overall, this episode is for anyone who’s interested in how serious investigation into unexplained events is done and for people who are fascinated with how UFO phenomena became an American pastime. Mark is a wonderful storyteller and a fount of knowledge, and we can’t wait to have him back on the show!

UFO Investigation Links:

Become a MUFON UFO Field Investigator

The Black Vault Project: Blue Book Collection

High Strangeness UFO – Mark’s blog

Wikipedia article on Dr. J. Allen Hynek

Huffington Post, UFOs Over Michigan Baffle Multiple Eyewitnesses: Could It Be Swamp Gas?

Song: Reverse Engineering by Sunspot

For every little sorrow,
and every little sigh,
every time I scream,
every time you cry.
For all the moments wasted,
on some tiny crime.

We’ll never be new again,
we’ll never be new again.

When you crashed into my desert,
I was wasted and afraid,
and everything you did was my favorite,
every moment a holiday,
When my jokes were still hilarious,
Your mood was still gregarious,

We’ll never be new again,
we’ll never be new again.

It’s  not rocket science reverse engineering love,
It’s  not rocket science reverse engineering love.

Take the moments you remember,
and the places that you treasure,
and cross the rivers under all the bridges that we burned.
There’s no drug to recreate,
things past their expiration date.
And I hope there’s more to live than just waiting for our turn.

It’s not rocket science reverse engineering love,
It’s not rocket science reverse engineering love.

Just like the German scientists after the war,
rebuilt all the spaceships that came crashing through our door,
These chemical machines and their adolescent dreams,
are much more than slaves to their biologic needs.

It’s not rocket science reverse engineering love,
It’s not rocket science reverse engineering love.

And all the singers that will say,
that love just fades away,
They don’t have to live inside,
our lives every day.

We’ll never be new again,
we’ll never be new again.
But that’s no way to quit,
and no reason it should end.

We’ll never be new again,
we’ll never be new again.
But that’s no way to quit,
and no reason it should end.

It’s not rocket science reverse engineering love,
It’s not rocket science reverse engineering love.

20 – Haunted Rock & Roll: An Interview With Author Matthew Swayne

In Episode 10, when we discussed the ghosts of Rock stars, one of the biggest sources of our stories was Matthew Swayne’s book, Haunted Rock n’ Roll: Ghostly Tales of Musical Legends. There were plenty of stories that we left untold that day, so we thought a great way to kick off 2015 would be to have the author himself, Matthew Swayne, for an interview so we could go further in depth on a topic that we truly love, musicians that could never bring themselves to get off the stage… even in death.

Destined for an interest in the weird with a birthday on Halloween, his love of horror movies and interest in journalism and writing led him to write his first book on hauntings at college campuses (and interestingly enough, as well as unbeknownst to them when it was written, you can also find an article that quotes both the interviewer and interviewee of this podcast discussing Madison’s haunted campus right here.)

We start with the discussion on the ways he originally researched his book, how he found out some of the real obscure tales, and the difference between “ghost lore” and “ghost stories”. He connects the lore of the “phantom hitchhiker” story that a lot of towns in America have (the most famous being Chicago’s Resurrection Mary) and how people have made that into an Elvis ghost story as well, something that he thinks fans have created to fantasize about how they could meet their untouchable idols (that was back in the day before celebrities started responding to people’s tweets!) One of the things that makes Elvis different than other rock ghosts is that all across the country, it will be haunted by the Elvis of that age. Memphis gets the young southern gentleman Elvis, while Las Vegas gets the fat Elvis of the 70s.

They talk a little about hauntings of The Rave/Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee (the rock venue that Mike used to go to the most when he was younger) and how the ghost of Buddy Holly (who played one of his final shows at the club)  appears almost exclusively to musicians there.

The conversation turns to the hauntings at the Cincinnati Music Hall and how to him it seemed to be one of the most legitimately haunted  music venues that he studied, Then they discussed some classic Penn State ghostly folklore before starting to discuss Led Zeppelin.

Led Zeppelin is known for the occult symbolism they used in their songs and imagery and Jimmy Page famously purchased our good friend Uncle Aleister Crowley’s home on Loch Ness, the Boleskine House where there’s a remarkable number of hauntings, something that he admits to being creeped out by.

Mike and Matt reprise Dan Aykroyd’s great story of Mama Cass’ house and Matt adds some new details to the story that make it more interesting, because they add up with similar stories from Beverly D’Angelo (Chevy Chase’s wife from the National Lampoon’s Vacation series), who also spent time in the house.

They finish up the discussion with a little more thoughts on the “27 Club” and how the number 27 itself might have more than significance. They talk a little about numerology, what the numbers could mean, and how the journey of a rock art is deeply connected with the occult from its very beginnings.

Links:

Haunted Rock & Roll on Facebook

Connect with Matthew Swayne on Twitter

Purchase Haunted Rock & Roll: Ghostly Tales of Musical Legends on Amazon

Article that features both Mike and Matthew on a possible University of Wisconsin Campus Ghost Tour, Molly Hanson

Featured Song: Forever In The Snow

We only had a moment,
but we didn’t waste the time.
I never said goodbye,
to the child we’ll never know.
I never said goodbye,
I’ll be forever in the snow.
I am Forever in the snow.
That’ll be the day,
For love a not fade away,
That’ll be the day,
When you’ll surely come my way.
I never left you,
I’m on a midnight shift without end.
Words so soft and true.
Until you’re here, I’ll just pretend.
I never said goodbye,
to the child we’ll never know.
I never said goodbye,
I’ll be forever in the snow.
I am Forever in the snow.
That’ll be the day,
For love a not fade away,
That’ll be the day,
When you’ll surely come my way.

18 – Paranormal Headlines: A History of The Weird In Media

Mike interviews author and paranormal researcher, Chad Lewis. Chad has been featured on such shows as Coast to Coast AM and Discovery Channel’s Legend Trippers. Since they’re both from Wisconsin originally, Chad talks a little about how the state’s fascination with the paranormal and particularly it’s 3 UFO festivals (in Belleville, Elmwood, and Dundee!) is partly responsible for his interest in the world of the weird.

They start the conversation with his book, Hidden Headlines of Wisconsin, which is a compilation of strange and unusual news stories from all around the state in the 19th and early 20th centuries. With thousands of investigations behind the researcher, very quickly the discussion turns to the modern presentation of paranormal headlines and how the media and supernatural shows are often not like real ghost investigations at all. Amazing ghost and psychic experiences seem to happen all the time on cable when the reality of investigation and research is a very different thing. And how “reality” shows might not be so real after all.

The conversation veers into “legend tripping”, a fancy way of describing folklore investigations or going to the places that have inspired ghost stories and myths.

Chad also gives his advice on what kind of paranormal apps people should get for their smart phones, the most important items you should take with you when you go on a paranormal investigation or a legend trip, and they also delve into the mysterious “orbs” that show up in people’s “ghost photos” (spoiler alert: Mike doesn’t believe in them and Chad has an opinion too!)

It’s a fun and lively discussion that goes deep into how the media has changed in its treatment of supernatural and paranormal topics over the years and how the role of the newspaper in daily life in the 19th century has shifted into social media in the 21st.

Links:

Chad Lewis – The Unexplained

What is Legend Tripping?

Hidden Headlines of Wisconsin by Chad Lewis

Featured Song: Ephemeral by Sunspot

This is the drama that surrounds us,
This is the path we’ve chosen, for better or for worse,
This is the way of righteous anger,
This is the path of vengeance,
Blessed and coerced.

I don’t want some big production,
To accompany this self-destruction.
I refuse to be the boy who cried wolf.

These are the moments that flow through us,
separate but happening all at once.
This is the timeline that we’re bound to,
ephemeral, ephemeral, not plentiful enough.

I don’t want some downward spiral,
Or an echo chamber of denial.

This is the drama that surrounds us,
These are the moments that flow through us.
This is the drama that surrounds us,
These are the moments that flow through us.

This is the drama that surrounds us.
This is the drama that surrounds us.

I don’t want some big production,
To accompany this self-destruction.

This is the drama that surrounds us,
Ephemeral, ephemeral.
These are the moments that flow through us,
Ephemeral, ephemeral.
This is the drama that surrounds us,
Ephemeral, ephemeral.
These are the moments that flow through us,
Ephemeral, ephemeral.

13 – Krampus: The Christmas Demon

It’s the Holiday season and St. Nick’s Day was just this past weekend on Saturday, December 6th. Wendy Lynn is on vacation, so Mike brings his sister, Allison Jornlin, from Milwaukee Ghosts, again for a discussion on one of the less famous European Yuletide traditions, Krampus, the Christmas Demon. They begin with a discussion of Saint Nicholas traditions in their family and heavily German Milwaukee and discuss how they used to get coal in their stockings if they were bad.

Then they get into how really naughty kids used to get into trouble and that’s with Krampus. A Satan-like figure with cloven hooves who carries a bag of switched to whip bad children, in addition to an empty sack that is for kidnapping naughty kids and dragging them to Hell (and eating them alive), he is a traditional Christmas character in the Alpine countries. They talk about Krampusnacht, which is a traditional festival that will take place the night before St. Nick’s Day, where men dress up as the Christmas demon and drunkenly run through the streets. Parents not only encourage this behavior, but it’s also tradition to give the wild men alcohol as well. Chicago had their first adult-themed Krampusfest this year.

Next up, Allison and Mike go into the Pagan traditions of Europe and how they influence modern Christian holidays as well as linking him to the “European Wildman”, animism, and Voodoo. They also go into how the tradition of dressing up as a monster when the Summer ends and the nights come earlier comes all the way from Samhain (where our modern Halloween evolved from.) The ancients thought of the time between the Autumnal Equinox and the Winter Solstice as a time when the walls between this world and the netherworld were thinned and spirits could pass in and out, they could walk among us. That’s why they dressed up as monsters and evil spirits, so those monsters and evil spirits wouldn’t bother them. They compare this to Shaun of the Dead and The Walking Dead, which use those very same themes.

Also, they talk about Krampus’ appearances on American television over the past few years with spots on Grimm, American Dad!, Supernatural, as well as his own film, Krampus: The Christmas Devil. They finish up with discussing the weird Krampus Christmas cards that Europeans have sent over the past couple of centuries and some great Krampus gear that you can get!

Links:

Chicago Krampusfest

National Geographic, “Europe’s Wild Men”

Top 5 Krampus Appearances in Pop Culture

Some awesome classic  Krampus postcards

Cool Krampus Schwag!

 

Featured Song: Digitalistic Christmas by Sunspot

My sensors signal something this time of year,
That cannot be explained by computation,
Arrhythmia in my cogs and gears,
A seasonal magnetic excitation.

Can you feel the current racing through your PCBs?

It’s gonna be a hot robot-o digitalistic Christmas,
One for my read only memory,
I charged up my nickel-metal hydride,
Illuminate the tree with my LEDs.

The crystalline structure of the falling snow,
Triggers binary delight in my RAID array,
My cold cathodes emit a much brighter glow,
Protocol for Favorable Holiday!

Do you feel the galvanic surge of those megavolts?

It’s gonna be a hot robot-o digitalis tic Christmas,
One for my read only memory,
I charged up my nickel-metal hydride,
Illuminate the tree with my LEDs.

We read your mail,
we watch your posts,
process your tweets.
When Santa makes his list,
it’s our data that he needs.
And if you’re nice,
you just might get what you asked for.
And if you’re naughty,
you just might get a little more!

It’s gonna be a hot robot-o digitalistic Christmas,
Back it up to the cloud and USB,
I’m so excited, I can’t power down,
I want to process the gifts Santa brought me.

It’s gonna be a hot robot-o digitalistic Christmas,
One for my electrically erasable programmable read only memory,
I charged up my nickel-metal hydride,
Illuminate the tree with my LEDs.

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