Paranormal

Weekly Question : Which of these wouldn't you Dabble in?




Ok folks as it is Halloween today, I thought I would make this weeks question a topical one. It all revolves around the witching hour, and the supposed most haunted day of the year. This is the night before All Saints day, that's right All Hallows Eve, to give Halloween it's correct name.

All around the world people of certain religions are going to be out knocking on doors "Trick or Treating", thousands of kids dressed up as vampires, ghosts, whitches, werewolves, and other such creatures of myth and legend.

Also there will be people practising certain Pagan rituals, to cleanse their souls, but just which of these things would you leave well alone, which would you never dabble in, which do you believe in?
Read on and see just what you would do!

First up on the list is;

The Ouija Board

To me this is one thing that I would never dabble in - ever! There are so many stories surrounding the Ouija board, that you have to give some of them some credance. But is it a truly evil object? What are it's origins? How did it first surface as an instrument to communicate with the dead?
Well this is part of a transcript taken from Museum of talking boards which is a facinating read.

"OUIJA
A WONDERFUL TALKING BOARD
Interesting and mysterious; surpasses in its results second sight, mind reading, clairvoyance; will give intelligent answer to any question. Proven at patent office before patent was allowed. Price $1.50. All first-class toy, dry goods, and stationary stores. W. S. Carr & Co., 83 Pearl street; New England News Co., 14 Franklin street; H. Partridge & Co., Hanover and Washington streets; R. Schwarz, 458 Washington street: R.H. White & Co.; Houghton & Dutton.
?Hollis St. Theatre program, November 7, 1891, Boston, Massachusetts "

So there you have it, originally the Ouija board was marketed as a toy! But it now has much more sinister and darker overtones.
Let me tell you of a tale I heard whilst in the RAF.

A group of trainee's thought they would have a bit of fun, with the Ouija board, all of them bar one thought it to be a load of old rubbish, and nothing would happen. They conducted this 'experiment' in the baggage room, surrounded by shelves of empty suitcases. Nobody knew for sure what happened, but whilst in the room the luggage flew off the shelves, injuring two of the participants, and the windows blew open. The believer had to be sedated.

The message I gained from it was don't mess with things you don't know about.

Next up, and closely related

Seances

These so called contact with the dead meetings have been going on for years, the difference is that seances are supposed to be conducted to help relatives come to terms with the deaths of loved ones. The thing is these people no longer have any influence on the lifes of people so why on earth would you want to try and contact them?

These too can have nasty consequences, the TV program "Most Haunted" can proabably best testify to that, although this show has gone a long way to make the seance look like a parlour trick, and a con. But would you dabble???

Third up, and something that a lot would probably deal with,

Reiki

Now I don't know much about this Reiki, all I do know is that there are not that many people who can do it. It involves channeling the energy around us, into something to heal someone, it can also be used for other purposes.

Now a lady that I work with is apparently a healer, I thought at first it was bunkem, but was open minded enough as I have read accounts of people with supposedly incurable diseases been cured by healers. But she showed me the wierdest photo I have seen. It basically showed her Aura, it was taken by a special camera, and there were things that she had to do to obtain the aura. But this aura was pure white, and there was a VERY definite image of two people looking over her. Very spooky, but at the same time very eye opening.

I have been the correspondent in this treatment so I in fact do believe in it, the bunkem bit was because I thought she may have been making it up. A while ago I suffered a bit from an aching leg, a friend of mine just said "Come here and trust me", he then laid his hands on my leg, and I could feel intense heat, not a burning heat but, a heat similar to the deep heat creams you get for stiff joints. The pain dispersed, and I felt no more for weeks. So it is something that I would willingly dabble in.

Finally, I come to the last item on the list;

Voodo

Voodoo isn't just about sticking pins in dolls that have something personal of the victim woven into it. It is far more than that. In some places it is more of a religion than of a thing to avoid. The stories of voodoo zombies, and witch doctors are mostly exagerrated, I say mostly, as there is the story of a woman on Haiti that died, and was buried, yet a week later she was seen walking about in the woods.

There are other tales as well involving voodoo, and the voodoo curse laid on people. The thing is though yopu really have to believe in it for the 'magic' to work. I say really believe, but even just doubting slightly the religion can invoke strange things to happen. This is one of those things that I would gladly steer clear of.

A Word on Urban Legends and Myths

So there you have it, 4 things to consider on Halloween, it is not long from midnight here, and I will refrain from saying, Bloody Mary ten times in front of a mirror, I will not be walking anti-clockwise around a graveyard whilst reciting the lords prayer backwards. I wont even be saying Candyman 10 times in front of the mirror.

I wont do it, not because I believe in the urban legends, but rather I don't believe I want to see what they say you see if you do carry them out.

Sleep tight folks

Movie Review

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang








In keeping with the quiz this week (BIG clues there!), I thought I would revisit a timeless classic. A film that was made in 1968, that's right folks, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is almost 40 years old! But it appeals to kids of today, just as much as it appealed to me when I was a kid. Even the Child catcher still scares kids today!
But the most amazing thing of all is that it was written by the author who wrote the James Bond novels. You have so many similarities between Professor Caracticus Potts and James Bond, that it had me thinking, "was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang the very first Bond movie, rather than Dr. No or Casino Royal??"

Well lets look at the film...

Professor Caracticus Potts (Brilliantly played by Dick Van Dyke) is a man struggling to bring up his kids (Jeremy and Jamimah) on his own, with a little help from his father (Lionel Jeffries). To make ends meet he tries to sell his wacky inventions, but everything goes out the window, when the children fall in love with a dilapidated race car.

After narrowly escaping a severe beating, after a hair cutting machine goes wrong at the local fair, Potts raises the money needed to buy the race car from the scarp merchant thus saving it from being crushed. After doing up the car, to it's former glory, Potts takes the kids for a drive, he then bumps into (quite literally!) Truly Scrumptious (Note the Bond influence on the name here!, Truly Scrumptious indeed!), the daughter of the local sweet manufacturer, Scrumptious and sweets (ouch!), the kids love her, and soon a picnic is arranged. During said picnic, a story is told, and events happen that show Chitty Chitty for the fantastic car it is.

The story continues with kidnap, child cruelty, fun, and hilarity and above all memorable songs! Indeed the very success of the film has produced a musical, that is wowing them in Theatres.

What then is the appeal of the film?

Well for me it's just the very feel of the film, it feels as good today as when I first saw it all those years ago, it is still hauled out in the UK every Christmas,as it is that type of complete family film. You never really tire of Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang. Who has never joined in with the songs either? And who has slipped up when singing "Oh pretty Chitty, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang we love you, and our Chitty Chitty Bang Bang loves us to?"

They also have lovely songs like "Hush-a-bye Mountain", and "truly Scrumptious". There are a wealth of British stars in the film too, and the child actors are excellent! The guy that plays the child catcher - Robert Helpmann, was in reality one of the best loved on the set by the kids.

So lets have a look at the similarities between CCBB and Bond:

1) Hero seems to be able to get out of any situation, using charm, humour and intellect

2) Heroine has ridiculous made up name, that is both suggestive and tongue in cheek

3) villain has a silly name too, Baron Bomburst????

4) Gadgets -lots of little inventions to help the main character

5) A fantastic Car

6) An evil henchman - Child Catcher

7) The world - or town in this case - in peril

8) Hero saves the day, and gets girl

Now in my opinion that is way too many co-incidences.

Keep watching Chitty, Chitty Bang Bang, as they will never make a film like it again!

Starring: Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Benny Hill and many others

Rating:
*****

Further info: Chitty Chitty

Fun and Games

Weekly Quiz

OK folks here we go for this weeks quiz, sorry it is a bit later in the day than normal, but there were a few issues at work with the internet connection. Now last weeks quiz turned into a battle royal between to siblings, each competing for the bragging rights against each other. But in the end by a single point the winner was... Well let me just tell you the points scoring, it's 1 point each for the 2 - part Movie link, and a bonus of 5 for getting the link, so last week round 1 was worth 15, Round 2 was a straight 1 point for each celebrity, making 10, and round 3 was a point for each correct answer, so 5 points there available. So out of a possible 30, the winner was...


WILL with 23, Kim got 22, and Mum 13!

On with this weeks quiz,

Round 1 : Movie Links

OK it is a little bit different this week with the movie links. I want you to give me the actor/actresses name, and the film they were in from the image. Then give me what links them, it may not necessarily relate to the film that is shown.

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Round 1 has 15 points on offer!

Round 2: Who's in the House?

Nice easy one now (well you know me!) All you have to do is identify the residence and let me know the film/TV program it was best known for, I will give you the first one as an example of what I am after, which means you are all going to get 2 points at least for this round!

1) Amityville House - The Amityville Horror



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A Massive 20 points available in this round!

Round 3: Quizzicles

The final round is the questions challenge, this week they have a colourful theme to them, in that the questions have colours in them.

1) Where is the ORANGE River?
2) BRONZE is an alloy of which two metals?
3) What tree produces YELLOW flowers in the Spring, is poisonous and belongs to the Leguminosae?
4) In which film were the "BLUE Meanies" featured?
5) Who would wear the GREEN jersey in the Tour de France?

Answers to last week:

Round 1: Movie Link - 1) John F Kennedy/JFK, 2) Baseball Field/Field of Dreams, 3) Robin Hood statue/Robin Hood:Prince of Theives, 4) Postman Pat/The Postman, Message in a Bottle/Message in a Bottle. The link was Kevin Costner

Round 2: Celebrity Waves - 1) Reese Witherspoon (Will I am shocked!), 2) Jeff Goldblum, 3) Laura Dern, 4) Billy Joel, 5) Dolly Parton, 6) Morgan Freeman, 7) Shirley McClain, 8) Michael J. Fox (good spot Will), 9) Bette Midler (Even better spot Mum), 10) James Earl Jones

Round 3: Quizzicles - 1) Switzeland, 2) A Lizard, 3) True, 4) An Empty Tomb, 5) A Snow Leopard

GOOD LUCK FOR THIS WEEK!!

Paranormal

Weekly Question - Are We Alone in the Universe

I was yet again listening to my favourite radio station Radio 5Live, when they came up with a number of issues of the day, Iraq and the forces pulling out, the fact that black youths were far more likely to be picked up by the police than white youths, and then they mentioned something that really caught my attention - life on Mars. No not the hit UK TV show, but the fact that the lander that was sent to Mars had on it technology that may not have been capable of discovering life.
So the question STILL is a mystery, they may not have found anything, but is there life out there?

Most of us have seen the film independence Day, and remember the scene on the Whitehouse balcony, where Bill Pullman says "I think the answer to whether we are alone in the Universe has been answered", well in reality has it? And, if it has would anyone actually tell us the truth or not?

They had a guest on Radio 5Live that suggested that the craft they sent up, was incapable of finding life with the equipment that it had. He based this upon research done in an area of the world that contained a surface and landscape similar to that of Mars, the equipment was unable to detect anything, and that is on this planet! So he suggested that they need to use more sophisticated equipment and send that up. But may be the answers don't lie in space, may be they are already here on Earth. Area 51 anyone?

There have been huge issues surrounding Area 51 and speculation from UFOlogists that there is Alien technology there. The fact that you can't get within 100 yards of the fence without a squad of soldiers coming to get you adds to this. Is alien technology hidden there? Is it been covered up by successive presidents? Difficult to tell, as there are so many conflicting reports coming from ex-workers, some say there is some say there isn't. But one thing is for sure they are authorised to keep you out at all costs, have a look at this;

It certainly leaves you in no doubt that you are likely to be shot, should you try to get in and photograph a few things.

But I have to confess, there is one thing that I cannot believe, and that is that we are the only life in the entire Universe.

The universe itself is infinite, well I thought it was but scientists are now saying it's like one huge bubble. That said, it is churlish to think that we are they only things that can have developed into life, there has to be life out there in what ever form, intelligent or otherwise. We do not have a divine right to think that we are alone, why did the Incas and Aztecs build things for their gods? Could their gods have simply been visitors from other solar systems, and planets looking for intelligent life themselves? Same with chalk drawings, and other such things that can only be viewed from the sky, these were done long before the age of flight, they must have had something happen to show that the things had to be big enough to be viewed from above only, but what was it?

White Horse at Uffington, only viewable from above

The fact remains that we still do not have the means to try and discover life, but then again have we discovered life already. There are so, so many conspiracy theories that suggest we have indeed already made contact, and we now have some form of alien technology already in our homes. It is surprising how quickly the digital and computer age has developed. It is a lot faster than the mechanical part of our life's, indeed it has been said that if the technology in computing and electronics over the last 10 years was applied to the car industry, we would all require a pilots license as well as a driving license!

So are we alone in the Universe. My answer is no, we can't be, but may be we are the very visitors that we are seeking to find...

Last weeks poll: Should Muslim women be banned from wearing the veil in Non-Muslim countries?

YES - 50% , NO - 28.6% , Up to Individual woman - 21.4%

Current Affairs

UK Top the Leagues again!

This last week in the world has been a 'good' one for the UK, for yet again we have topped a league in Europe. Now usually this is something to be proud of but, yet again it is one of those leagues that would have been better if we had been near the bottom.
Yes ladies and gentlemen it is official the UK are now the tops at...

Wasting Energy! That's right we are the most energy inefficient country in Europe, for a government who has set itself such high energy targets, it's a slap in the face. But for us Brits it's just the way we have been brought up, we have never really educated our kids on energy efficiency. Things like not leaving appliances on stand-by, turning the water off in between brushing of your teeth, are all things we can do but don't bother doing so, or we just don't think about doing so.

Some research has been done lately, and it suggests that if we turn off the appliances that are left in standby in our homes, such as TV's, DVD's, Microwaves, Cookers etc. We could all save an average of £40 ($75) a year on our electricity bills. Doesn't sound a lot does it? But think what £40 could have paid for, a few days shopping, a meal out, treats for the kids, and it proves that a simple thing such as switching off can help.

The government doesn't really help though, they have no incentives to people saving energy this way, in the UK energy efficient lightbulbs are probably in the region of 4 times the purchase price of normal lightbulbs. I would love to use them, but begrudge paying out the price of them. Make them a lot cheaper and the amount of people buying them would increase. Companies have seen the benefit of them and are already starting to use them as standard, as in the long run they work out cheaper.

So what do we do to improve the situation? Well better educating our kids is a start. Getting into new habits is another, I mean if you are only having one cup of tea/coffee why fill the kettle right up? It takes longer to boil, and it uses more energy. Why have the TV on standby, when you aren't even in the house to watch it? Same goes with the DVD and the PC? Monitors on a PC always revert to standby, we now turn ours off, can't wait to see our next bill!

So there you have it the UK is the tops when it comes to energy wastage, but strangely we are the best at not turning the heating up, we would rather pull on a sweater!

So what are the other things we in the UK are top of the league for?

Childhood Obesity, Teenage Pregnancy are two, and I will research some more for the others.

Teaching Assistant Loses Her Case

If you recall the weekly question, I asked about the wearing of the veil, and spoke of a Muslim Teaching assistant who was taking her employer to court on a number of issues. Well I am pleased to say that common sense has won through. Her case has been dismissed in the most part by the court.

She lost her discrimination case on two counts, heharassmentnt case on one count, buunfortunatelyey won her victimisation case, on one count, and was awarded £1100 ($1850) based on having her feelings hurt. That is what got to me, so here is my plan, I am going to come into work and declare that I have started a new religion, the "Church of the Holy Bandanna", which means I can only wear a bandanna to cover my privates. When I am either sacked or told to put on clothes I will go to the courts claiming vicitmisation against my religion, and hurt feelings. Should be worth it for a few grand!

The worst thing is she is appealing and trying to take her case to the European courts of Justice as a Human Rights case, which potentially is going to cost the UK £1m in costs. My view is if she wants to wear a veil that badly, go to a country that has women wearing them all the time!

Football Again

Got to do it again, another mention in the Current Affairs section on my team Lincoln City. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, after the fantastic 5-0 away win at the home of Barnet FC. Lincoln City played a home game against Rochdale, now in the past Rochdale had been our bogey team, which means we never really did any good against them, until Saturday 21st October 2006 that is!

Rochdale came to Sincil Bank, six games unbeaten, they wouldn't make it seven. But Lincoln would! That's right folks the score was;

Lincoln City 7 Rochdale 1

Twelve goals in two games, and Jamie Forrester bagging two hat-tricks (3 goals) in successive games. Lovely Jubbly, I will write a report when I get the chance to do so.

Entertainment

The Biggest Loser UK









Watched this for the second time last night, and once again (me being Pisces prone to emotional outbursts) it had the tears welling up in my eyes at the end.
For those that don't know, the program is the UK version of the American show, and takes a group of athletically Challenged people (or Fatso's if you want to be rude), and puts them into two teams, then over the course of 8 or so weeks, they have to do gruelling exercise regimes, diet, and carry out challenges against each other. At the end of the week comes the weigh in, at first it is the teams weight that determines which team has to vote to get rid of one of their own members, later it is the two that have lost the least weight that then go in a vote off.
So is it any good? Well...

Last week's show saw one guy lose just over a stone in weight, and the team lose 3.8% of their combined body weight. It also saw one of them almost have a coronary, which wasn't very pleasant.
But the most interesting thing is the fact that the show was recorded 3 months ago, so it shows at the end the person voted off, and what they look like now. Some of them are unrecognisable, their will and determination, has carried on from the Fat Camp, and into reality.
I was convinced that they had some stand in for one of the guys in the states he looked that different, but he had lost 12 stone! Which goes to show people can lose the weight if they really have the right mind set.

The picture above is of Andrew, who incidently has been put onto the girls team. He actually looks thinner than the soundman, may be they ought to change places. Andrews team have lost 2 of their members already, which means their overall chances have (excuse the pun) become a lot slimmer, as their combined body weight loss is now based on 4 peoples weights as opposed to 6, also women lose weight slower than men - another disadvantage.

The results so far after two weeks are:

RED TEAMS TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS - 107 lbs (48.53Kgs)

BLUE TEAMS TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS - 60lbs (27.21Kgs)

So the Women of the Blue team have a huge way to go to catch up.

I also saw a preview of next weeks show, where Alan, one of the bigger guys had an oxygen mask on, and an ambulance was taking someone away. I don't enjoy Ghoulish TV, but that should be quite interesting.

Now take a look at this before and after picture of the one of the contestants on America's Biggest Loser 2, Pete Thomas, he lost a whopping 180lbs (81.6Kg) and you will see what I mean by the fact they are totally different, and he wasn't the winner!

The winner of America's Biggest Loser 2 is shown below, alongside the young lady who finished in the top 3. Before she went on the biggest loser, she was single. I doubt she is anymore!

I think you will agree they look like completely different people.

That now leads me onto the next show I saw, before watching the Biggest Loser, and you will see how the two are linked.

You Are What You Eat

I don't think they have this particular program or anything similar in the States, but I am sure that my American friends will tell me.

The synopsis is that Dr Gillian McKeith surprises larger people, by going round to their houses and then gets them to heat more healthily and do exercise, sound familiar?? The difference with this show is that as a Doctor, Gillian gets the 'victim' to Pooh in a Tupperware container so that she can examine it, so determining their state of health. I kid you not, Gillian McKeith is a Pooh Inspector!

The show is fascinating as it lays out on a table or something the fat and food intake of these porky people in one week. Then it reels of a list, some of the people's diets featured could feed me for a month let alone a week.

Take a look at this, it is the amount of Burger Meat and fat one 16 Year old girl went through in a year.

As you can see it looks pretty gross, it was done in the shape of a human, as Gillian said to the youngster that she would collapse in the street from heart failure if she carried on eating the amount of burgers she was.

But, Gillian doesn't just put them on a diet and exercise regime for 8 weeks, she makes them cook their own food, and involves the whole family.

Both shows are very interesting to watch, although last week I thought that Gillian was a bit naughty, when she mixed up a 'juice' of blended broccoli, cabbage and parsley, sipped it, pulled a YUCK! face, and then proceeded to tell the young Burger girl she was to drink two of them per day!

I myself need to shed about 8 pounds, and have started by cutting out the chocolate, if Gillian ever visited me though, I would make sure I had a curry the night before my Pooh Check ;)

Fun & Games

Weekly Quiz

It's quiz time again folks, same as always 3 rounds of challenges to get the old grey cells thinking, so have a go and see how you can do. Last Weeks win has to go to Kim,even though she cheated slightly by agreeing with everything that Star Man Will had put, she disagreed on a certain celebrity, proving when it comes to eyes, she knows what she likes!

So on with the quiz


Round 1: Find the Movie and Link

Slightly different for you this week, in that the picture gives a clue to the film I am after. All you have to do is tell me what the picture is of, what film it relates to, and finally the link between all 5 films. What could be easier?

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Round 2: Celebrities Waving

No it's not that easy! None of the celebs are actually waving at anyone, they are just very 'wavey'. Simply identify the 10 celebrities.

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Round 3: Quizzicles

Finally we have the last round the famous quiz questions, just answer them as best as you can.

1) In what country do people speak Romansch?
2) The grass snake is not a snake, so what is it?
3) The carrot is a plant relative of the poisonus plant Hemlock, True or False?
4) In Whitehall, London they have the Cenotaph, what does 'cenotaph' mean?
5) What sort of animal is an ounce?


Answers to last weeks quiz:

Round 1: Movie Link - 1) A.I. /Gigalo Joe, 2) Sir Richard Martin/Bicentennial Man, 3) Will Hunting/Good Will Hunting, 4) Daniel Hilland/Mrs Doubtfire, 5) Abu/Aladdin, the link was Robin Williams who appeared in all 5 films.

Round 2: Celebrity Eyes - 1) Kirten Dunst, 2) Jennifer Connelly (knew you'd get that Will!), 3) Johnny Depp (Your Big Sis was right Will!), 4) Robin Williams, 5) Cher, 6) Liz Talor, 7) Michael Caine, 8) William Shatner, 9) Sean Connery, 10) Claudia Schiffer.

Round 3: Quiziccles - 1) A Scallion, 2) 1962, 3) 12ft, 4) Cinderella, 5) The Parrot