on the cheap and sleazy side (www.cheapandsleazy.net)
Dictation From a Step Further Out
Use Your VCR and a Cheap Cable to Record Dictation From Your Radio
'Tis the Season
No, not that season ...! I'm talking about Hallowe'en.
"Honey, I think this guy wants to talk to you!"
If you watch TV at this time of year, you see episodes of your favorite sitcoms (and the occasional drama) with a Hallowe'en theme.
If you're a court reporting student, your dictation ... well, your dictation will be the same as it was the week, the month, the semester before.
Q&A; Lit; Jury Charge ... come on now, say it with me: BORING!!!
How would you like to do something ... different?
Well, if you're fortunate enough to be reading this before October 30th or 31st of 2006, then ... howzabout 4 hours of ghost stories?
Update (1NOV06)
Did you miss it? Not to worry ... all of these shows are on all the time. While the subject matter isn't always as chilling as these last two nights were, it is always interesting ... even if it is ... different!
"What?! Four Hours of Ghost Stories?! Where?"
Why, on Coast to Coast AM, of course ...! Or perhaps I should say, "Ghost to Ghost AM" instead.
Every year on Hallowe'en, Art Bell, the creator of Coast to Coast AM, takes the scariest ghost stories he can ... um ... scare up from his e-mail In box. He then calls the person that e-mailed the story, and the person tells the story over the air (did I mention the stories are supposed to be true?).
I've been listening to this show since 1995 or so, back when it used to be just Art Bell, doing five hours of live talk radio every night of the week, plus an additional four hours on Sundays on a show called Dreamland (which is now in the very capable hands of Whitley Streiber ... and about which, more later).
These days, Art Bell does Saturdays and Sundays (and Hallowe'en), while George Noory does five nights a week (Monday through Friday), and Ian Punnett covers an early pre-feed show on Saturdays.
Still, I make it a point not to miss Ghost to Ghost AM. If you liked "The X-Files," you'll love Ghost to Ghost. Heck, you might even like the regular subjects this show covers -- about which, more later.
If you're intrigued by the possibility of four hours worth of ghost stories, but you've never heard of this radio show, you can see where it's playing by checking the map.
"I can't Listen to the Radio for Four Hours; I've got a Party to go to ... not to mention a life!"
What, no practicing?! Shame on you! (Just kidding ...!) Fortunately, I have a solution for those of you who will spend Hallowe'en away from your radio: Why not just record the entire show?
"Dude -- Four Hours ... One Audio Tape ... Do the Math --!"
Ah, a major detail ... but what if I were to tell you that you can use a radio, a simple cable, and a VCR to record at least 8 or 9 hours of audio?
"Well --"
Not to worry; I'll explain the appeal of all this later. But for now, you'll need three things:
An audio cable
The Audio Cable: Headphone and RCA Plugs
An AM-FM radio with a headphone jack
That's a CC Radio, by the way ...
A VCR with Audio In jacks
VCR Numba One
The audio cable you can get at RadioShack. Alas, I can't remember what the cable is called exactly, but it's got two RCA plugs on one end, and a standard (or the smaller one) headphone plug at the other. It should cost somewhere between $10 and $20.00. If you've purchased a VCR recently, you might even have one already ...!
The radio pictured is a CC Radio, from the C Crane Company (they advertise on Coast to Coast all the time). I have purchased a number of items from this company, and I highly recommend them ... and for those of you living in an area all too familiar with hurricanes, you have got to have one of these ...!
Did I mention 250 hours on four D sized batteries?
The Nitty Gritty
First, if you haven't already done so, check the map to see which station carries the show in your area.
Tune the station in and make sure you have good reception (can you imagine listening to a story and getting to the Big Finish, and then have the signal fade on you? Don't let that happen!).
Once you've verified you have a good signal, turn the radio off for now and set it aside.
Next, turn on your TV, and put it on whichever channel it needs to be on for your VCR to be useable, and then turn on your VCR.
Change the VCR's tuner all the way down to channel 2 ... and use the channel down button (or whatever it's called) until your TV shows some indication that you're on an Audio In or Line In channel.
Once you get there, plug the appropriate end of the Audio In cable into your VCR (on mine, that's the end with the two heads), and the other end into the radio, and then turn the radio on. You should hear the radio playing through your TV!
Now, for a quick test: Push the Instant Record (or whatever your VCR calls it) button on your VCR or the appropriate remote control. You want to record for about a minute, just to make sure your setup works.
After a moment or so, stop the tape, rewind it, and (of course) turn off your radio. Press Play on your VCR or remote. If all went correctly, you should hear the audio your radio was playing a few seconds ago! As Martha Stewart has been known to say, "This is a Good Thing."
Next, program your VCR to start recording at whatever time Coast to Coast AM starts in your area on the 31st of October, leave your radio on, turn off the VCR (or whatever you have to do to get the thing to record on the timer) and you're done!
"Great --! Now What?"
Well, now you connect your computer to the VCR, fire up Audacity, import the audio, and get rid of the commercials.
Yes, I know ... it's a bit of a daunting task ... but not to worry; editing sound is just like editing text in a word processor: Cut (Control-X, remember?), Copy (Control-C, remember?) and Paste (Control-V, remember?) all work the same way.
For those of you that don't "remember," take a look at my Got Fear? piece; all these (and more!) keyboard shortcuts are discussed therein.
The hard part is selecting just the commercials.
"Personally, I would think the hardest part would be importing the audio from a VCR into my computer."
Well, I suppose you're right; there are a few pitfalls you'll need to watch for ... overdriving your input into Audacity being just one of those.
So, let's go through the importing process.
Importing Audio From the VCR
Attach the headphone plug end of the cable you used to get the audio from your radio into your VCR to the Line In jack on your laptop.
If your laptop doesn't have a Line In (microphone) jack, you'll need a Griffin iMic. This is a gadget about the size (and shape) of a hockey puck, with a short USB cable on one end, and on the puck, there's a switch, a speaker jack, and a microphone jack ... so even if your laptop doesn't do audio, this will allow it to do so. You can find one at your friendly neighborhood Apple Store.
Now, where was I ... ah, yes: Attaching the headphone plug to the Line In jack on your laptop.
Next, attach the RCA plugs to your television's RCA jacks, and turn on your TV set and VCR (um ... you *did* rewind the tape, right?).
Once you're all connected (and the tape is rewound and ready to go), start Audacity.
When it's running, hit the Record button on Audacity, and click the Play button on your VCR. You might see something like this:
Loud and Distorted Input
The good news is you're getting something into Audacity ... the bad news is if you were to stop the tape and play the file you've recorded, it will be distorted. You can tell because the red indicator in the top right corner is pegged, and the audio waveform is completely filling the screen.
That's not good.
Fortunately, all you have to do is turn your TV set down ... so click the X to the left of the waveform to make it go away, and rewind the tape. Once that's done, again, click Record in Audacity, and click Play on your VCR.
Once you see that waveform filling Audacity's screen, turn your TV set down, and watch the red meter. Ideally, you want to get it between 50 and 75 percent of the length of the meter.
Once it's there, your waveform should clean up considerably ... like so:
"Just Right" Input
Naturally, you'll want to select everything immediately to the left of your perfect waveform and delete that silence and pulse you see in the above picture ... but you can do that during the editing process.
If you don't have four hours to sit and babysit Audacity while it records, feel free to run an errand or two -- if your hard drive's capacity is large enough to accept the input. You can check the remaining time on the screen, like so:
Recording time (based on hard drive space) in Audacity
Now then ... the commercials.
In Audacity, there is a minute timer, so you can guesstimate when the commercials are (every 30 minutes or thereabouts) ... so click the magnifying glass on the left-hand side of Audacity's screen, and find the 30 minute mark, and click there a couple times. You should get something like this:
Found a commercial!
Once you've found a commercial, click the I beam icon (above the magnifying glass) and click where you believe it starts, and drag towards the right.
This selects a portion of the waveform. Hit your spacebar, and you should hear it play.
If your selection doesn't quite reach the end of the commercial, place your cursor over the end of the waveform. It should turn into a pointing hand. Click the end of your waveform and drag more to the right, until you are satisfied you have it all ... then hit the space bar again.
If you are satisfied, either do a cut (Control-X, remember?) or hit the Delete key, and it's gone!
Told you this was easy.
If you wish, continue until you have gotten all the commercials; once they're all gone, we get to export the file as an .mp3.
Creating the .mp3
This part is embarrassingly easy ... simply go up to File, and select "Export as MP3..."
Note:
If, when you select the option "Export as MP3..." you get an alert, asking for the LAME MP3 Encoder, you'll need to go to Audacity's home page and search for the encoder. Once you find it, simply download it, and put it in the Audacity folder ... and point Audacity to the file when it asks. Easy-peasy!
Saving as MP3
"Great --! Now what do I do?"
Well, howzabout put it on your iPod?
"Well, I don't know anything about iPods."
Well, the most important thing to know is the iPod works with iTunes ... so you first load your songs into iTunes, create a playlist, connect your iPod, and drag that playlist to the iPod icon in iTunes, like so:
iPod Playlist in iTunes
As you can see, iTunes helpfully tells me how much space I have on my iPod:
How much stuff is in my iPod, anyway?
As you can see, I don't have a lot of stuff on my iPod just a couple playlists containing The Police, Sting, some jazz (I named that one "Police and Jazz," as you can see), some reggae, and more jazz ("Sugar Mix; a gift for a woman hooked on the Cheap and Sleazy Mocha), and, of course, some "Different Dictation."
Lots of "Different Dictation."
A (slightly modified) screenshot of an iPod playlist in iTunes
There's more about the iPod and iTunes that can be said, but you have the basics ... but if you want more, get a copy of Scott Kelby's excellent book, "The iPod Book: Doing Cool Stuff With the iPod and the iTunes Music Store."
Heck, in looking through this book, I discovered (after having my iPod since June of this year (it's now October)) that my iPod has video games on it ...! Pretty cool ... though I probably won't play them too often.
Not that I have anything against video games; God knows I spent more than enough time and money playing Defender, Joust, Robotron: 2084, Berserk, and Frenzy when I was younger ... but Solitaire is boring to me.
One more thing ... when you wish to disconnect your iPod from your computer, don't just unplug the cable; you may screw something up that way.
Instead, eject the iPod by either clicking the "Eject iPod" in the lower right-hand corner of iTunes, or the circled triangle to the right of the iPod in the iTunes playlist. Once it disappears from iTunes, THEN you can disconnect your iPod.
These things aren't cheap ... so why risk screwing it up by not disconnecting the cable properly?
... and, speaking of Different Dictation ....
But Wait -- There's More!
Coast to Coast AM isn't all ghost stories normally. Some of the subjects covered recently included abiotic oil, nanotechnology, and the occult history of the United States, just to cite a few.
Earlier I mentioned Art Bell's insane schedule: 7 days a week, 5 hours a day, and 9 hours on Sundays, when he did a different show. That "different" show on Sundays was called Dreamland. Since Art hurt his back and retired a few years ago, he handed the reins of that show over to his close friend Whitley Strieber, who does an admirable job. Alas, this show is not on the radio, but you can hear it over the internet ... and if you wish to record it like those 10 hours of ghost stories, simply connect the cable to your computer instead of the radio, and you're in for some interesting radio.
One of the more interesting stories covered by Dreamland last year includes the story of UFO investigator Grant Cameron and his getting stopped at the US-Canadian border by Homeland Security-types while on the way to speak at a UFO conference in California. Interestingly, his cell phone "stopped working" during this, so he could not get in touch with the people that were paying for his speech. Hmmm ...
Another interesting story covered by Dreamland was an abduction case which sounded just like the typical reports from the middle ages of people being taken by fairies -- except this time, one of the "fairies" left a couple strands of hair behind -- and thanks to shows like CSI, we all know what to do with unknown hairs. That's right: DNA analysis. There's a book that tells the tale if you're curious ... and it also includes the results of the DNA analysis for those of you who like medical-type dictation.
Dan Augustine's "Hair of the Alien" illustration
Lately, Whitley has been pushing his new book, "The Grays", a fictional account of his experiences with various folks of the non-human persuasion. Like "Majestik," his book about the crash at Roswell, this one contains more truth than fiction, he says.
Subscribers ($4.00 a month --!) can listen to Whitley read the first three chapters by going to the Unknown Country.com website, logging in, and either downloading (use a variation of the ol' "Right-Click 'n' Drag" trick I showed you in Got Fear?), or simply click the file, and listen to it right then.
Another show I like to listen to every so often is the Jeff Rense Show. While these shows all cover the same types of topics, that means that Jeff Rense has to try harder to find interesting guests. One of the more interesting ones I've heard was a fellow by the name of Jon De'Pew, who has apparently managed to figure out how a man named Ed Leedskalnin, who weighed all of 100 pounds soaking wet, was able to put together the Coral Castle, located in Homestead, Florida (not too far away from where I used to live, by the way) all by himself.
Did I mention that the total weight of this castle is roughly 1100 tons?
Did I mention that Ed built this thing by himself -- including digging, carving out of the ground, and sculpting the coral -- all with hand tools?
Mr. De'Pew seems to have discovered a new principal of electricity, based on the writings of Ed Leedskalnin, and is testing it now.
Another interesting guest was John Bedini, who has been experimenting with an early version of the telephone -- which was wireless, and conducted through both air and water.
Did I mention this was invented in 1902?
This year, Mr. Bedini has been working on resurrecting the work of Dr. Royal Raymond Rife, a multi-skilled man who invented a telescope which allowed one to see viruses live (can't do that on anything available now).
He also figured out how to kill all sorts of viruses -- and cure all sorts of diseases -- by introducing a radio frequency into the body of a sick person. Mr. Bedini was not able to replicate the telescope, but he was able to duplicate the killing -- no, check that; the disintegration -- of microscopic creatures ... and the website has movies of this.
A most promising technology.
Then there was the story of a ranch in Utah where a team of scientists spent a year trying to get physical evidence of the strange things that occured there.
One thing I recall from my listening to this ranch being discussed was how the Gorman family, the new owners, were getting their cattle situated in the early afternoon hours, when off in the distance, they saw something large and gray running towards them.
Eventually, the "something" revealed itself to be a dog.
No, a wolf.
No, a really big wolf ...! This wolf was nearly three times the size of any wolf Tom Gorman had ever seen (the species was later identifed as a "Dire Wolf," which went extinct some six million years ago, by the way).
Fortunately for the Gormans, the wolf, whose head came up to the chest of the 6-foot-plus Tom Gorman, wagged its tail as it approached the family, sniffed everybody, then it apparently saw a calf that looked tasty, and, quick as lightning, it ran over to the fence, and grabbed the calf by the snout.
I'll spare you the, uh, gory details, but the Gormans, after firing multiple shots into this wolf and not getting much of a reaction -- and not to mention seeing no blood at all -- finally decided there was something very unusual about this wolf -- and not just it's size.
A transcript of these shows (covered on Coast to Coast, Dreamland (multiple times), and Jeff Rense) would have you stroke out words like "wormhole," "paraphysical," and "dimensional."
Look for the book, "Hunt for the Skinwalker," by George Knapp and Colm Kelleher if you want the rest of the story.
Other Voices
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and Coast to Coast AM has many imitators ... and you can find most of them listed (and linked) here.
One of those that hasn't made it to that list yet is the Darkness at the Edge of Town show.
The hosts, and Dave Schrader and Tim Dennis, take things a little light, but, as I mentioned, they cover the same things Coast to Coast AM, Dreamland, and Jeff Rense cover ... but this was the first place I ran into researchers Pamela Rae Heath and John Klimo, the authors of a book on what happens after death to people who commit suicide, based on interviews conducted with them through mediums ... and yes, about a third of the book deals with suicide bombers.
The pair report that the suicide bombers said things weren't quite as they expected them to be. Yes, that's right: They didn't get their allotment of virgins ... and in general, reportedly feel really ripped off.
Not Entirely Free
Coast to Coast, Dreamland, and the Jeff Rense Show all offer monthly memberships, which gives you access to previous shows in both streaming audio format and downloadable (say mp3) formats.
I subscribe to all three of these shows for about $20 a month, plus Linda Howe's Earthfiles.com ($36/year), with free access to two other paranormal-type radio shows.
Sometimes, while I was in school, I would find myself behind in my transcripts ... so I'd fire up one of these shows I have on my hard drive and transcribe a few minutes of an interesting portion and turn it in for transcript credits. The last one I was working on was one where the guest was talking about a surgeon who received a heart transplant. This poor surgeon kept having the same dream, night after night: He wakes up in strange surroundings, tries to find his way out, trips, falls down two flights of stairs, and breaks his neck.
You'll never guess how the donor became a donor ...!
Interestingly, the surgeon reported to his doctor (and the guest) that his neck started bothering him after surgery ....
The guest, Dr. Paul Pearsall, wrote a paper about it (though this particular case came up after the paper was written).
One of my (now former) fellow students was lucky enough to have Dr. Pearsal stop by her job as a guest speaker ...! Sure wish she had told me he was coming .... :o( That's a guy I'd love to talk to ...!
The one I did before that concerned a self-trained scientist named John Hutchison who lives in Vancouver, BC. He apparently built a replica of the Ark of the Covenant ... and he reported that there was about an hour's worth of film of the ark, showing a weird fog, weird glowing blobs of light ... and entities in the fog.
Remember that scene in Star Wars, where Princess Leia's holographic image was being projected by R2-D2? That's what the entities looked like.
This was supposed to air on The Learning Channel by now, but they've been dragging their feet ... and, in fact, the replica of the ark was destroyed, and the footage of the entities was totally cut out, leaving only the weird fog -- all shown in about a minute of screen time.
Needless to say, John was less than pleased ... so he is building another replica of the ark, and planning on making his own documentary.
If you're really brave, and pretty handy with tools, his website has the instructions anyone can follow to build their own ark.
You might want to read up on the ark's history before you try this ... and it can't hurt to take another look at the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, too.
... or you can wait until the documentary is finished, and buy the ark from him (he's planning on putting it on eBay(!!)).
Then there was the one hour interview with billionaire Bob Bigelow ... who recently launched his own research satellite.
What, you didn't hear about that?
That's probably because he had to go over to Russia to do the launch. Also, he has a bunch of insects (with food) onboard ... and cameras, inside and out. Did you know that those hissing cockroaches can survive a two hour exposure to vacuum? Me neither ... but that old "Cher and cockroaches" thing comes to mind.
If you liked the X Files, all these radio shows will most likely give you ample audio to transcribe. Best of all, you're not likely to get bored with the subject matter! They're like Lits on steroids, in the form of Q&A; one day the subject is politics, the next day it's weird weather, and the next, it might be a really technical subject, like hyperdimensional physics -- so you're guaranteed to give your steno chops a good workout.
Not too bad for a $20 investment, huh?
Best of all (well, for me, anyway) that $20 a month is tax deductible. Why? Because Coast to Coast AM has a newsletter called After Dark ... and on occassion, I write articles for it. The last one appeared in the September 2005 issue, and was about the effects of mass consciousness (say "prayer") on hurricanes Lilli and Charley.
So, I get to deduct my membership costs for these sites (research).
Ah, the writing life ....
-o0o-