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#21

Book Shelf / Re: The Borley Rectory Compani...

Last post by RobertMo - May 07, 2018, 12:43:08 PM

Cheers, Brian. I'm going to check this book out. Borley Rectory is certainly a fascinating building.

#22

Myth, Legend, and Folklore / Neil deGrasse Tyson - Conspira...

Last post by PPI Brian - March 14, 2018, 09:27:26 PM

A great talk from Dr. Tyson regarding skeptical thinking.

#23

Show and Tell / Re: "Ghost" "caught" on school...

Last post by PPI Karl - March 05, 2018, 11:29:13 AM

Hi, Burton W. Welcome to the PPI forums. It's good to have you here.

I tend to agree with you. My assumption is that most (if not all) of these are staged, and that the limitations of manpower and ingenuity always determine how these are choreographed. For the record, I've never seen poltergeist activity with my own eyes, and until I do, I'm wary of videos like this where poltergeist activity appears staged for our entertainment right in front of the camera. In particular, the staggered timing of them is dubious. Most of these extremely low-tech and strictly mechanical effects can't be undertaken simultaneously because one person can't be in two places at once or they've got their two hands full pulling objects on fishing line off camera in singular trajectories . They never do anything remarkable, like levitating a fish bowl or scratching a message in the glass. As corny as it is, watching a penny slide up the face of a solid wood door would have a lot more impact on me. But, in some ways, our imagination and our technical abilities to stage these haunted attractions for YouTube hasn't changed much since the 19th c and its carnival of seances.

Anyway, it'd be a pleasure to hear your further thoughts about this.

#24

Show and Tell / Re: "Ghost" "caught" on school...

Last post by BurtonW - March 04, 2018, 10:10:58 AM

This looks staged to me. There could have easily been someone behind that third cabinet and the shelves.

#25

Speaking Theoretically / Re: James Randi Speaks

Last post by PPI Karl - February 24, 2018, 02:02:06 PM

Quote from: PPI Brian on February 22, 2018, 08:07:19 PM
Quote from: PPI Tracy on November 10, 2011, 02:17:44 PM
Karl, everyone grieves in their own way and in their own time. No two people grieve the same.

It has been 21 years since my father died and everytime I hear the song, "The Living Years" by Mike and the Mechanics, I crumple into a ball of tears. Can't get through it no matter what. I miss him dearly, but I know that he is in a better place. At least that is what I believe. I also believe he is with me and can see me, even if I cannot see him. I know that he probably hurts everytime I do. Sometimes, it is just cathartic to do so. Sometimes it just feels good, in an odd sort of way, to cry my heart out. It's healing...yes, in an odd sort of way.

If you need to grieve, let yourself do so. Let yourself feel what you feel....until you don't feel it any longer.

I don't know how I missed this thread, and for that I'm truly sorry.

I agree with Tracy and Debra. There should be no expected time limit on grief. It's up to us to determine when we have mourned sufficiently, and society has no right to tell us what constitutes an acceptable length of time. Grief and mourning are never discussed in polite society. They are subjects of conversation that most of us avoid, and learning to deal with grief is a dark and uncomfortable place that nobody wants to venture. Grief is a journey that none of us want to experience, but we are bound by our human experience to find a way to accept the loss of loved ones and find a way to get back to "normal". We heal, and we find a way to go on and the pain lessens over time. But then, out of nowhere, it's right there in your face again. At least that's been my experience.

Those James Randi vids were extremely enjoyable! Thanks for posting them, Brian. And thank you for your words about grief. We are, no surprise, completely sympatico on this issue. Every year we memorialize Glenn, I'm also gearing up to memorialize my friend, Mike, who died on March 9. This year makes 19 years since he died, and I've resolved that I'm probably not ever going to let myself get over it. Sometimes, you just learn to live the rest of your life disabled by a particular grief, and that's just how it goes. I think most of us are getting by, day by day, in a state of functional bereavement. It's just a matter of how and where we channel it. I might not have come to meet all of you, in fact, if I Mike's death weren't still so fresh for me in 2006, so that's one hugely positive, lucky consequence of it.

(As I write these very words, Billy Graham's funeral procession is heading to Charlotte, North Carolina. I mean no disrespect to his grieving family, but here's a case where the world as I experience it is greatly improved by not having one man in it to fan the flames of hatred in the name of love.

)

#26

Speaking Theoretically / Re: James Randi Speaks

Last post by PPI Brian - February 23, 2018, 01:51:54 AM

The Compass Trick:

How to Squash a Paranormal Claim:

#27

Speaking Theoretically / Re: James Randi Speaks

Last post by PPI Brian - February 22, 2018, 08:07:19 PM

Quote from: PPI Tracy on November 10, 2011, 02:17:44 PM
Karl, everyone grieves in their own way and in their own time. No two people grieve the same.

It has been 21 years since my father died and everytime I hear the song, "The Living Years" by Mike and the Mechanics, I crumple into a ball of tears. Can't get through it no matter what. I miss him dearly, but I know that he is in a better place. At least that is what I believe. I also believe he is with me and can see me, even if I cannot see him. I know that he probably hurts everytime I do. Sometimes, it is just cathartic to do so. Sometimes it just feels good, in an odd sort of way, to cry my heart out. It's healing...yes, in an odd sort of way.

If you need to grieve, let yourself do so. Let yourself feel what you feel....until you don't feel it any longer.

I don't know how I missed this thread, and for that I'm truly sorry.

I agree with Tracy and Debra. There should be no expected time limit on grief. It's up to us to determine when we have mourned sufficiently, and society has no right to tell us what constitutes an acceptable length of time. Grief and mourning are never discussed in polite society. They are subjects of conversation that most of us avoid, and learning to deal with grief is a dark and uncomfortable place that nobody wants to venture. Grief is a journey that none of us want to experience, but we are bound by our human experience to find a way to accept the loss of loved ones and find a way to get back to "normal". We heal, and we find a way to go on and the pain lessens over time. But then, out of nowhere, it's right there in your face again. At least that's been my experience.

#28