The Custom IIG Awards

On August 21st, CFI hosted the ten year anniversary of the IIG (Independent Investigation Group) with a huge bash. It was wonderful. Dedicated to the memory of Martin Gardner and with over 100 people there to celebrate, it was a non-stop brainstorming session jam packed with fun, thrills and excitement. Special guests who presented and recieved awards included our own Michael Shermer and Brian Dunning, as well as Brian Dalton (Mr. Deity), and esteemed experts such as Carol Tavris, Harriet Hall and Eugenie Scott. Good friends and fellow IIG members Wendy Hughes, Dave Richards, and Ross Blocher were honored with special awards for their hard work which has helped put the IIG at the top of its game and at a position in paranormal investigation that few groups can top. Thanks to them and many other IIGers, we are moving into an era when affiliate IIG cells are multiplying all over the country. The grassroots skeptical movement is growing steadily and these new investigative groups are spreading the word that they want to get involved like never before.

The Three Brians: Hart, Dalton & Dunning

Never without theirsharp sense of humor intact, leaders like Jim Underdown and Brian Hart are moving us all into the spotlight. We are leaping forward with growing list of projects that will unfold in the next few months including: Power Balance videos, The Odds Must Be Crazy web site, (an on-line compendium of coincidence stories with an eye to drawing in new skeptics) further efforts into the California Board of Registered Nurses reform and several new challengers for the $50K. There’s way too much to put in print here. Let’s just say we have our work cut out for us and there’s no rest for the weary. What the IIG is actively doing is what the Skeptologists should be presenting and I’m proud to a part of the group. Until something big happens, we can only step back to thank those few and far between television series that have been successful in managing to sneak the critical thinking message into the mass media.

Television shows “The Mentalist “and “Eureka” received big time awards for their indiviual efforts on behalf of science and thinking rationally about paranormal issues. Both were given an outstanding IIG SurlyRamics trophy designed by Amy Roth of Skepchick. These are really beautiful pieces of one-of- a-kind art!  As Bob Cassidy, world famous master mentalist told his audiences last week when I saw him at The Magic Castle; up until last year nobody knew what a mentalist was. The confusion that has often been a contentious issue between what is a psychic entertainer or a mentalist and what masquerades as the “real thing” in the guise of a “psychic medium” has been clarified for millions of television watchers and that’s a major boost for all of us. Now, thanks to the producers of that show, we have a little less explaining to do when we get onstage.

Pitching the Woo

To remind everyone just how powerful a “psychic” reading can be and where it can go, I did tarot readings for those who dared. What fun! Now that was an unexpected pleasure.  I don’t think many of the folks had any idea how “accurate” a reading could be. Not that I was trying to convince anybody or anything. There were some amazed faces. It just goes to show that anyone can be taken in by the methods and seductions of woo. The picture below of the wide-eyed sitter was snapped when I just happened to “hit” on one of those coincidental moments that make these mini-psycho-dramas seem all seem so real. Fortunately, those present all knew better than to believe in such rubbish…

The Skeptic Gets a Reading

Close-up magic was skillfully supplied by IIG member Dan Bowen, who held court for several hours of prestidigitation. Between the two of us, we seriously confounded a lot of people. Later on we sat around and shared tricks with those who were still sober enough to pay attention. It was great to see a fellow magician using his powers for good. I’m hoping that in the future, Dan and other people with a knowledge of deception and what it can do will choose to join up with the CFI/IIG affiliates and strive to brighten the image of magic and magicians by using truth to show illusion and illusion to show truth.

Dan Bowen Amazing the Crowd

Sharing a Few Miracles

Ray Bradbury 3 Days before 90

The man who helped put the fiction into science fiction and (among other things) envisioned flat-screen wall-to-wall television way back in 1951 turned 90 this week. Obsessed from an early age with death, old age and a longing to retain the eternal child in all of us, his works manage to encapsulate themes of the unknown that playfully bounce back and forth between fantasy and science with the greatest of ease. Ray has been a friend and mentor to me for many years and I can say with that in mind that there are few writers who have humanized the world of science more than him. He’s a national treasure and in this blog I will share a few of the magical moments and thoughts he has shared with me.

The Book That Got Me To Read

Ray has the rare distinction of being the first author I ever read in high school whose works I read because I wanted to read it rather than having to read it for a grade point. Back then when I was forced to read “Catcher in the Rye” by other teachers, through a creative writing teacher I will forever be thankful for, I discovered Ray’s “Dandelion Wine” and the rest is history. Once to be titled “The Child’s Garden of Terrors,” I not only became a fan of his visual style of writing, but his sentiments ran in the same current as mine when it came to magic and the paranormal. He was just right for that time in my life.

As I found out later after meeting him through my dear friend the late great Curtis Harrington; as a child Ray helped Harry Blackstone Sr. vanish a horse on stage and after that became a lifelong fan of magic in all its forms. I have had the privilege to hear in person how both magic and science converged in Ray’s prolific mind to give us hundreds of short stories and such wonderful novels as “The Illustrated Man,” “Fahrenheit 451,” and “The Martian Chronicles.”There are few of us that haven’t read or are not familiar with his works. I could go on for pages and pages of relating personal anecdotes, but I will try to confine myself to the moments in Ray’s presence that really knocked me out. He has been a most gracious person: always there if I needed to talk to him and never one to show any irritating ego affectations so common here in Hollywood that can lead to cold shoulders and arrogance. Not Ray. He still answers his own phone! He’s a genuine caring human being – so rare in any circumstance, it’s hard to imagine such an icon of Americana can exist. If you want to get a good picture of this man’s honor and dedication, please spend a few minutes watching “The Big Read – A Conversation with Ray Bradbury by Lawrence Bridges ” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF3uZf4G3Lo&feature=youtube_gdata_player There you can watch him speak from the same room and chair I have listened to him speak from in the past. It’s also the same point of view that Susan Gerbic and I sat in last Saturday when we visited Ray to show him a video that was created by Rachel Bloom, “Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury.” More on that later.

The Electric Lady (Collen Gray) from Nightmare Alley (1947)

Ray shared with me his first magic trick: The Ball and Vase. When he was eight years old, he went to the circus and saw his first side-show. During that pivotal moment, he watched a performer called “Mr. Electrico.” This was the old “Electric Chair” illusion where a pretty girl sits in a chair and has electricity passed through her (she is grounded so she doesn’t get zapped; see photo) and she is able to hold different kinds of light bulbs which light up in her hands without harm. At one point Mr. Electrico took his own “light sword” and tapped Ray on the nose, telling him he would live forever.  Ray was transfixed. He wasn’t afraid since he now thought he would live forever and with this notion in mind he waited until the show was over to ask Mr. Electrico how he did his magic. Mr. Electrico gave him a red wooden Ball and Vase, which Ray still has today. He ran home and tried to figure out how to do the trick and went back the next day to get a private session with Mr. Electrico, where he learned the real secrets behind this minor miracle. This adventure started out as  a short story he wrote in “Dark Carnival” which later became the title of Ray’s first published book and on to “Something Wicked This Way Comes.” Such are the many real life experiences that were magically transformed in Ray’s mind that have become classics of fantasy and science fiction. He’s done everything imaginable including lampooning himself in a futuristic commercial for pitted prunes: “Brave New Prune.” Stan Freberg anyone? http://laughingsquid.com/ray-bradbury-sunsweet-prunes-commercial/ Ray has a devilish sense of humor and he has never been afraid to speak his mind.

Susan in Ray's Sitting Room

Ray’s house is a museum. It is cluttered from floor to ceiling with history. One can only hope that when the time comes, it will be put together in a safe place just as it is: with every shelf and corner just the way he has it now; like some wandering wizard’s toyshop of fantastic curios. You could spend hours walking through hallways and hidden nooks housing collections of bizarre paintings and ephemera that include everything from models of the Nautilus submarine from “20000 Leagues Under the Sea” to a saved brick from Poe’s original birth place. Years and years of magical thinking surround every wall. This is not woo, this is the modern outcome of investigating centuries of mind, myth and magic.

A Corner of Ray's Dining Room Circa 2010

We spoke with Ray for a few choice minutes. He’s incredibly fragile and not in good health, with both vision and hearing problems that make conversing with him a challenge. But he’s still as sharp as a tack. When he speaks, it is always something profound. He doesn’t mince words and when you are in his presence, you better pay attention. We ran the video that we had downloaded on a laptop. Considering the title and content of this video, it was a tense few minutes. Still, we both soon saw that wise old knowing gleam in his eyes and heard a few soft chuckles. This is a man who has been around the block a few times and we could see that he was charmed by the whole thing. And who wouldn’t be? How many authors of his stature get to see young women frolicking in a girl’s school singing that tune? Not appropriate for the workplace, you can watch what we watched at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1IxOS4VzKM

Ray Watching YouTube Video Tribute

Susan Gerbic, Ray Bradbury and The Ball and Vase

As a finale for Ray’s afternoon, as if anything could possibly top the Youtube video performance, I managed to coerce Susan to treat Ray to one of her own inimitable performances of The Ball and Vase. I gave her one as a holiday gift and she has been keeping people in stitches ever since. If you haven’t watched Susan doing her version of this classic of magic and want to have a few laughs (and watch Randi double up in laughter too) you can find that gem at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or90XDpmztM

All in all it was a short but memorable visit. Like Ray’s own dandelion wine, it’s best to drink in such  heady experiences in small sips. When we got up to leave I asked Ray if there was anything we could do for him, he replied, “… Just keep visiting me.” What a sweetheart. Ray is at this moment getting set to observe an entire week devoted to his birthday here in Los Angeles. Tagged as the “Live Forever” week, although I remain skeptical, I have no doubt he will live forever, one way or another. Thanks Ray for teaching me how to read – for real. FYI:Ray Bradbury is about to publish a new book of 22 new short stories!

AND THIS JUST IN: Lots of reaction to this video (and Susan’s picture!) at P.Z. Meyer’s blog:

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/08/how_to_make_a_famous_sffantasy.php

Knebworth House: My Kind of Joint

It had to happen and I’m surprised it took this long. The UK has finally given up the ghost and supplied us with a haunted home that really deserves it’s share of attention – and tourists. The ancestral home since 1490 of politician, poet, playwright and prolific writer of early occult and science fiction themes, Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803- 1873) is now officially haunted! At least that’s what his great great grandson 73 year old Lord David Cobbold is telling the press.

Knebworth Hall was home to a writer of rare genius. His best known novel was “Last Days of Pompeii” (1839) and memories of one of the first truly frightening ghost stories I read when first introduced to supernatural fiction, “The Haunted and the Haunters or The House and The Brain (1859),” riveted me to his spectral way of thinking and remains a classic I return to over and over again. It is included in Isaac Asimov’s recommended anthology, “Tales of the Occult” (1989) It also appears in The Wordsworth Book of Horror Stories.

His ghost stories are some of the earliest and finest ever written. John Sutherland, Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature, University College had this to say:

‘Think of a great moment in the evolution of Victorian fiction and Lytton was there. He can plausibly claim to be the father of the English detective novel, science fiction, the fantasy novel, the thriller and the domestic realistic novel.”

Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Bulwer-Lyton penned many other works, including “The Coming Race or Vril: The Power of the Coming Race” (1871), which drew heavily on his interest in the occult and contributed to the birth of the science fiction genre. Its story of a subterranean race waiting to reclaim the surface of the Earth is an early science fiction theme. The book may have popularised the Hollow Earth theory and may have inspired Nazi mysticism. There’s no doubt this man had an effect on Victorian thinking and was certainly ahead of his time. Jules Verne (1878-1905) and H.G. Welles (1866-1946) both came after him and probably read Lytton’s work.  

In case you are not familiar with Bulwer’s works, most of us have likely used phrases of his without even knowing it. One might even say history is haunted by his words. Bulwer-Lytton’s most famous quotation, “the pen is mightier than the sword”, is from his play Richelieu where it appears in the line. “beneath the rule of men entirely great, the pen is mightier than the sword.” In addition, he gave the world the memorable phrase “pursuit of the almighty dollar” from his novel The Coming Race. He is also credited with “the great unwashed”. He used this rather disparaging term in his 1830 novel “Paul Clifford.

Lord Cobbold at The Gates of Knebworth Hall

“I hear them and feel their presence but my wife sees them,” Lord Cobbold  says. He told UK’s Welwyn Hatfield Times reporter Chris Richards how he hears the whispers of his ancestor and others on the estate. “I have the feeling that Bulwer-Lytton is still there.” Lord Cobbold, who established Knebworth’s tradition of hosting rock concerts back in the 1970s, added: “It’s the spirit of the house. “You just feel that this is a rather special place to be.”

Knebworth Hall in Far Background

I’ll predict someone is planning a big budget re-make of Bulwer’s spook story chock full of CGI and the ghosts of, …well, I’m guessing this time around –  dead rock stars.Watch for it. Maybe Cobbold would like to book my Keith Moon Seance?

...And Now Ghosties Too!

In The Meantime:  If you love a good ghost story like I do, get ahold of “The Haunted and the Haunters or The Huanted Brain” on line and read it. If you can read it with the lights off, even better. Or search for a low-budget British quickie originally titled “The Ghost of Rashmon Hall” (1947) now making the rounds as “The Night Comes Too Soon.” In this obscure less-than-an-hour film, the Bulwer tale is told in bizarre B&W documentary style.  This is a film that has been completely overlooked by most critics and few people have ever seen this rare gem of supernatural cinema. It ranks as one of my all-time favorites containing genuinely creepy moments, startling and unexpected visuals and an overwhelming air of menace, all achieved by simple lighting and low budget in-camera effects. Without glaring gore or distracting special effects, “Rashmon Hall” manages to achieve a truly supernatural ambiance. Much of this film was made inside a genuine semi-derelict mansion, and that touch gives it a much more authentic atmosphere. It is a remarkable period piece full of voices, mannerisms, and behavioural patterns from a lost era and is another one of those amazing social documents for which old movies can be so useful. It suggests horror and unease instead of hitting you in the face with it. Not exactly “razor-edge” as the poster says, but an unnerving unsettling 55 minutes just the same. Back when I was training myself as a Magic Castle Medium, I watched it many times to capture the timing and mood it evokes. The lead character is played by the extraordinary actor Valentine Dyall. He’s a very tall, droll, mysterious fellow and just the type of characterization that ”suggests” a classic medium.

Val Dyall from "Rashomn Hall"

Now that we got that warning/disclaimer out of the way, we can proceed with this week’s side-show extravaganza:

How would you feel about your boss telling you that you are fired after claiming that your unborn fetus had a “negative agenda” and was “‘hostile’ towards him?”  Well, it has allegedly happened thanks to another enthusiastic psychic working hard to make their woo woo living in a world gone mad:

Jammie Harms says that throughout her employment, managers pushed a spiritual and religious atmosphere in the workplace “based on concepts incorporating universal energy, concepts of reincarnation, and intuitive spiritualism.”

Gee, doesn’t every job do that? Another past employee, Mike Boyd told www.action3.com “If you worked there you were required to attend Mind, Body, and Energy sessions or MBE, a practice the company describes as holistic and good for their business. ”

Harms has stated that her boss, CEO John Smith (ahem…this is my first red flag that this might be a hoax) openly bestowed his belief that past lives determine current behaviors. It’s not for me to say, but do you think perhaps Ms. Harms might have grounds for a discrimination lawsuit based on any one of the following three catagories: religious, pregnancy or gender discrimination?  I smell book deals, Larry King and a reality show.

“The former executive assistant claims in Omaha Federal Court that Hearthstone CEO John Smith consulted with psychics about the “negative energy” he felt from her fetus, which reminded him of his own unpleasant experience in the womb, and then gave her the ax.”

Hearthstone creates custom log homes, timber frame homes, and heavy timber barns, including the Bob Timberlake log home collection, and special designs for Southern Living. What fun!

Unbelievable? It sounds absurd to me, but I’m only quoting from this Courthouse News Service article:

http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/06/17/28155.htm

Wikipedia says that Courthouse News Service is a news wire that law firms subscribe to which has reporters in almost every major market in the country. If this story is true, it certainly raises the bar to new heights when it comes to woo in the workplace, doesn’t it? And there’s more. Former Hearthstone sales manager John Risley told Action 3′s Molli Graham:

“When we base buying land by the amount of land fairies that are on the land, nothing surprises me.” If you didn’t catch that, he said land fairies. Risleyclaims that’s one way Smith decided to buy land for a future subdivision. Other decisions were based on muscle testing. Former employees show me what muscle testing is. They say Smith would ask a question and if your fingers could be pulled apart, the muscle was weak and the answer no. If your fingers stayed together, it was strong or yes. “We would base hiring and firing people on muscle testing,” says Risley.

I know about muscle testing or “applied kinesiology.” It’s pure woo. But land fairies? Are we living in Conan Doyle cloud coo coo land?

One lousy dollar. That is all that was awarded along with a lot of grief and attorneys’ fees back in 2007. One dollar is apparently all it’s worth to discourage top CEO’s and corporate America from cramming more unsubstantiated magical hogwash down our throats. It’s no wonder companies like Heathstone can get away with this form of heavy-handed workplace intimidation. If we don’t fight for freedom from these and other rigid doctrines of forced acceptance, we might one day lose our jobs because we didn’t leave a cookie on the mantle for Santa Claus on Chritmas Eve or forgot to pay off our kid for the Tooth Fairy. What’s next, Scientology at the 7-Eleven?

Still,  there’s hope. Harms is requesting a jury trial and seeking unspecified monetary compensation for lost wages and pain and suffering. She was given the go-ahead to file a discrimination lawsuit against Hearthstone this month. You Go Girl!

The Face of Greed

Yours for $22,000 (call Cathy)

To be fair and avoid upsetting anyone with the drama a few of my past posts on such matters have incurred when I blew the whistle on “alleged” fraudulent activities like this one; “Cathy Stevens of Hawthorne Psychic Shop in southeast Portland, Oregon is being investigated on possible theft charges pending further investigation.” She’s not been arrested yet. I tried to call the telephone number that is shown in the news video of her shop, but not surprisingly “this number has been disconnected and there is no new number.” I guess I’ll have to put off that down payment on my tabernacle.

In an interesting side note: If you have seen the film, “Nightmare Alley” (1947), this is exactly what phony medium Stanton Carlyle (Tyrone Power) attempts to  accomplish with his chosen mark, business tycoon Ezra Grindle (Taylor Holmes.) They even call their swindle a “tabernacle.” Perhaps Drakar would have benfitted from watching this film. Cathy Stevens sure did.

And From the Add Insult to Injury Dept:

www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/05/portland_man_accuses_hawthorne.html: reports that soon after Druella’s case opened, Portland police  raided both the psychic shop and Stevens’ residence on Northeast Weidler Street, rented from former Police Chief Ron Still to investigators’ surprise. Ha! Is this not the best situation comedy premise yet? You just can’t write better satire than this. What was Druella thinking? What was Ron Still thinking? Were they thinking at all?

 “I’ve never seen anybody as convincing as her. She could cry on will. Her display of emotion and authenticity. She becomes what you want and need her to be,” Druella said.”

I think he meant to say “at will.” But if he has a will, she probably cried on that too. Hasn’t anybody heard the story of the Spider and the Fly? Is there one particle of a critical thinking process that goes on when people like this cross the threshold into the parlours of “spiritual consultants?” A fool and his money are indeed quickly parted, …but four Rolexes?

Here’s some background on Druella courtesy of: http://j-walkblog.com/index.php?/weblog/C7/

 

“Druella, who was struggling with his gender identity after undergoing a sex change, said Stevens told him she sensed his “twin-flame energy,” and used Catholic symbolism that resonated with Druella, who was raised Catholic. She connected with him in a way that other spiritual teachers had not.”

 

Once again, religious malfeasance rears its ugly face. Fake spiritual manipulations are becoming far too common in our mixed up society.  If it isn’t Catholic priests boffing defenseless children, it’s store front gypsies dealing out the guilt card by selling exorcisms to rid harebrained customers of their own self- condemnation. It’s no wonder more and more people are turning to Atheism.  And wouldn’t you know it; the Stevens attorney John W. Neidig of course stated publicly that his client is the victim of religious persecution:

“It’s certainly evident from the search warrant affidavit that police hold religious animus against my client and her heritage,” said Neidig, pointing out that a heading in the police affidavit reads: Gypsies and Fortune Telling Fraud.

The Much Cheaper Plastic Tabernacle Kit (around $19.95)

Heritage? We all know there’s a rich heritage of fine upstanding citizens up in Portland who do exorcisms, dispose of negative energy in Hummers and chase out demons for cash, don’t we? Neidig called the affidavit shocking, for “characterizing a certain group of people as being swindlers and fraudulent.” You got that right Mr. Neidig. Stevens is just a misunderstood saint right? We must all be blind to look at her photo and not see her halo. Again, the religious freedom angle is being invoked to sanction the lowest of the low in our society. Will we ever figure out a way to prosecute these criminals? Don’t some of the Religious Right see this kind of blatant con as “taking the Lord’s name in vain” or something equally disrespectful to their cause? Because if they don’t and they continue to ignore abominations like Stevens and her ilk, to do so makes them look just as bad as the worst of the frauds they pretend to be so far above. Common sense should suggest legal action. I loathe hypocrisy and know I’m preaching to the choir here, but I’m just reminding everyone where I think skepticism should be aiming its arrows. J-walk.com adds humorously: “I don’t understand what the problem is. Surely Cathy Stevens has the right to practice her religion.”

Closed Until Futher Notice

Right.

It took a huge red flag to finally get Druella to wake up, but by then it was too late:

“Druella says the 39-year-old woman was so convincing, he didn’t realize he was being scammed until he heard Stevens launch into the same story with another client.

 Duh.

‘That’s when it all went ‘click, click, click,’ said Druella, 42, who called police in November and is now filing for personal bankruptcy.”

Click, click click.

Drakar Drusella: Wishes He Could Warn People: I Think He Just Did

No doubt Ms. Stevens will be driving home from the courthouse in her new Hummer.

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 “People are suing Ms. Cleo for fraud! I’m thinking ‘Fucking DUH!’. What, did you need a blind tarot reading before you realised? It’s like buying Hair-Care products from Cher: She’s wearing a wig, you idiot!”

- Robin Williams

AND THIS JUST IN: For your FREE TAROT READING in the tradition of Appolonius of tyana: Go to YouTube: sgerbic themarkedward : YOUR FREE TAROT READING WITH MARK EDWARD

The Fact or Faked Team

The Syfy Channel now has their own paranormal fighters; “Fact or Faked” who look amazingly like a younger, hipper version of the Skeptoplogists - and this show has TWO women! Now that’s progress.

“Fact or Faked” looks to be a nice segue from fiction to fact, which is what has been needed in the midst of the paranormal glut we have all been suffering through. Such a breakthrough in critical programming is long overdue. The blurb I read says:

“So give Syfy credit for showing “Fact or Faked,” which takes a mildly skeptical approach to certain paranormal claims. The show even has a methodical and academic tone, in contrast to the exotic sexiness of the claims themselves.”

Investigating (Mildly)

Mildly skeptical? Well, that’s a start. And exotic sexiness of the claims? I won’t hazard a guess as to who or what sexiness they might be alluding to lest I be further tagged a sexist myself, but this hype sounds, eh, …mildly arousing. Intellectually of course.

“What they have in common is an openness to the idea that the paranormal could exist, coupled with the acknowledgment that many if not most apparent cases have real-world explanations.”

Hmmmm. Now that’s a refreshing approach isn’t it? This startling new “openness “angle tells me someone has been watching the skeptical world with a keen eye to Big Picture ratings. The producers have cottoned on to the fact that showing too much skepticism, coming down too hard on the little guy or too much hard science (read as: asking the audience to think too much) might not skew well with the Goth crowd who just tuned in after watching another episode of Gene Simmons Family Jewels.

We have all talked about this “milder” concept over the last year. Nothing has come of it for the Skeptologists despite many people’s best efforts.  TAM8 featured a Phil Plait speech on “not being a dick.” He argued that skeptics will be most effective when they aren’t dicks. My efforts with Guerrilla Skepticism and a more in-your-face ambush style of proactive engagement has made some major dents in the woo. It’s all here in print for anyone to read in past blog posts. Apologies to anyone who has taken offense, but I must be one of those dick types. I’m sure there are many out there who would agree. But what can I do?

I still don’t understand how the “being nice” or the “more with honey than vinegar” approach applies to dealing a death blow to the actions of people like Sylvia Browne, John Edward, Lisa Williams, Chip Coffey, Robbie Thomas – and on and on and on down the line. These people and many other outright frauds that continue to operate unchallenged on a daily basis couldn’t care a fig about skeptical people being nice to them. Turning the other cheek to someone like Robbie Thomas is misguided woo of its own and to do so will only embolden him and his ilk even further. Medium Lisa Williams is busy mounting a new season of her talking to the dead series as I write this post. She’s very sweet and nice too.

Opening eyes with critical thinking may sting or soothe. We must agree that there’s room for all kinds of approaches as long as it ultimately gets the skeptical job done. Now it looks like the Skeptologists have been trumped by a “soft skeptic team” with a newer face of youthful doubt. This trending in rational thinking was bound to happen.

Well okay. If such things as wishing and luck can be momentarily tolerated, I for one wish them the best of it. One can’t argue with success. They are up and running. I’m here writing this blog.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

A former FBI special investigator named Bill Hansen leads the five person “Fact or Faked” team. I wonder how he got hired on to this project? Maybe he was doing paranormal investigations in his spare time? Everyone seems to have a flashlight in their hand these days.

“Hansen’s team includes Bill Murphy, a scientist; Larry Caughlan Jr., a special effects expert; Jael De Pardo, a journalist; Chi-Lan Lieu, a photography analyst, and Austin Porter, a stunt man whose skill proves valuable in a case the team does decide to examine.”

BTW: Here’s three more “skeptical” shows to look out for:

The Center of Attention

No, I’m not mentioning any names.  No way I’m stepping into that mess again. I want to be absolutely clear that this blog is not about any individual person, rather it is about a set of circumstances that have led to a controversy that is whirling around like an endlessly running toilet on the Internet and for which many skeptics are in such a tizzy. Lots of people are curious to know what happened and why at TAM8′s Sunday night “demonstration.”  There are many questions and few answers. That’s fine for the most part and please believe me when I state that I personally understand why “radio silence” has been invoked by so many. It’s a sticky issue that defies any easy explanation. Unfortunately the Big Picture can’t be swept under the carpet forever. Now that I’ve got your complete attention, here’s the main question that has remained cloudy and unanswered by JREF, CFI and the greater skeptical community: If you are going to present a session on how a professional challenge is handled and the protocol and procedures that go into it, why choose as the subject a medical medium who has been previously falsified by a reputable investigation group to use as the center of attention?

Beware the Moving Target

I have only heard a partial answer. To some, JREF’s ultimate point in inviting this particular psychic claimant was to showcase the difficulties of clarifying any claim, getting complete open and shut issues out in the open and providing the biggest skeptical event of the year with the kind of real world drama that can occur when dealing with psychics, healers or medical mediums in a challenge situation. From the get go that goal was known by many (including JREF) to be well-nigh impossible to accomplish. Moving targets often make for bad press and endless excuses. Either someone didn’t do their homework or for whatever reason some serious slack was given. This claimant’s well-known confused and contradictory nature was already noted, tested and falsified on more than one occasion by several qualified skeptics who have worked hard to keep just such a repeat event like Sunday night from happening. So why was this particular person chosen as a last minute ”secret” addition to the schedule? Who made that call?

We can only guess.

I certainly understand showmanship and the concept of using suspense, a “celebrity” draw and indefinite information to generate buzz and excitement, but this was a little too much hype and too little respect  for those of us who saw this coming months ago. If you don’t think at least one skeptic put this prediction in writing, (without any psychic ability being used at all) please read about the promised “big reveal” in the comment section#13, paragraph two from “Sex in the Seance Room” post here back on 3 April 2010.

Other more trusted and balanced sample subjects could have easily stood in as a cardboard claimant and by using the released IIG documents detailing the previously falsified claim as a template and recounting the various problems experienced in that example, a lot of hurt feelings could have been avoided. It’s interesting to note that the paper on this previously falsified claimant offered to TAM8 by the IIG’s Steven Muscarella was not chosen by JREF to be read. Why not?

If that painstaking treatise had been given a proper airing and cooler heads had prevailed, the inevitable subterfuge, manipulations, twists and whack-brained excuses we are now hearing and will likely continue to see sprout up as they have a pattern of doing wouldn’t be surfacing all over the Internet. As it is, this so-called non-tested individual is now taking full advantage of every opportunity to sow the seeds of discontent, all the while skirting for their own notoriety the line between “test” and “demonstration.” In addition, as if to suggest some successful advocacy or partnership, this person’s woo website now sports both the IIG logo and the TAM8 logo as part of the total picture page they are pitching to the world. This makes all of us look shabby. Yes, we may have open minds and be willing to entertain our doubts to a certain extent, but I for one will not court disaster by second-guessing cold hard facts.

Don't Say I Didn't Warn You: Quoted as "Hogwarts for Executives"

Even though it was made clear  by JREF that this “demonstration” was most emphatically tagged as “not a test,” that’s easy to say if they had invited a sane and rational person on stage. But now the IIG and those of us who put tons of extra time and energy into exposing this fraud, falsify their ridiculous and totally unsupported woo and attempt to put the lid on their nonsense once and for all are now looking at being needlessly drawn back into the fray. Read my follow up to the first April blog, “Enough is Enough… Again,” 24 April 2010 where my own impromptu tests are thoroughly explained, debated and accompanied by video links to document the whole adventure.

Does the right hand know what the left hand is doing in the skeptical community? Or is there some form of competition arising between one coast’s organization and the other? Does anybody listen to me or am I shouting in a bucket? Just wondering.

Other inexplicable events transpired over that weekend that are far beyond my present at-a-distance level of comprehension to even comment upon. I dare not scratch the surface for fear of being censored or summarily dismissed from this blog for even going near them.

I chose not to attend TAM8 for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was a gut feeling, (call it a premonition) that things were just too dicey in these and other areas for me to be standing on the side lines like Nero fiddling around while Rome burned. I might not have been able to control my natural proclivity to be a loose cannon. There was just too much at stake. I’m trying really hard to stay focused on keeping active by doing things and getting things done that can really make a difference for our movement. Aside from these issues, (that are largely of my own making) I’m sure that anybody attending TAM8 who was there for the first time and not aware of what was going on underneath had a most empowering time. It’s one of the world’s greatest events.

Maybe next year?

Paul Makes His Choice

Now we can add a mollusk to the list of aspiring psychic-super stars! And if the fantasy hungry media is to be believed, Paul the Octopus has put in a most impresseive career. He’s now eight for eight and finished The World Cup with a perfect record! He can now join a long line of esteemed animal oracles that have pre-dated him  such as Clever Hans, Munito the celebrated dog, Toby “The Sapient Pig” (who could “Discover a Person’s Thoughts”) and a rich history of curious animals who made themselves and their owners rich and famous. Witness a timid sea creature predict Germany’s World Cup fortunes! Looking over Paul’s stats, he’s done a whole lot better than Sylvia Browne and not nearly as slimy.

As a performimg mentalist – something’s fishy here. I’m skeptical.

There’s an old tradition among pro mentalists (and pro psychics) called the “Too Perfect” theory. It goes something like this: some “effects” by being too perfect become imperfect, while other effects become perfect by being imperfect. That’s why a good mentalist is not always dead-on correct every time with every name, number or picture he “sees,” even though he could be because what he is usually doing is an illusion with an often carefully planned outcome.

The same holds more or less true for psychics. If you saw a psychic that told you everything about your life without error or fishing, your first repsonse would likely be amazement. But after that momentary glow faded away you might indeed suspect that what you had experienced was a some kind of trick. How else could he or she do that? Some experiences are just too unreal to be real. The average person seeks a pattern or an answer within their realm to grasp. That’s human nature. Without a clue there’s either the outside possiblity, depending on education and social bearings, that the psychic is real or the obvious rational answer that it was a trick or a complicated prank. Now, if the psychic gets close or is off by a number or a letter – well then, that only adds to the mystery. Not only do people tend to make obsure connections for a variety of psychological reasons, but they also tend to believe a psychic who makes a mistake once in awhile. Such blunders are often mistaken for a more human compassionate characteristic that can even further endear the symapthetic emotions of the truth seeker.Watch the incredibly funny video you will find if you go to Youtube and enter “John Edward Parody. It happens all the time. If everything was perfect, logic says to most logical people: it would have to be a trick.  That’s my first thought on Paul the Octopus. But remember, I’m a skeptic. In our dumbed down society, logical thinking has been for the most part thrown out the window. This is especially true for sports fans, gamblers and other people who carry on crazy superstitions such as lucky socks or wearing lucky underwear to insure a winning game. Whoever thought out this con (if it is one) was tracking a trend in sports and society that is pure gold. And let’s not forget: All this extrapolation doesn’t necessarily mean what they are saying about Paul couldn’t be true.

Jim and Me Rehearsing: 1986

Believe me when I say I truly love the tradition of animal psychics and “educated animals” far more than any other so-called paranormal phenomena. In fact, it’s one of the reasons I originally hooked up with skeptic groups back in the arly 70′s. Back then when I was working as an animal “actor” trainer, I spent several months training my own “Sheena the Psychic Rat” who learned to stand up on her hind legs and identify a spectator’s playing card after sniffing through a long line of shuffled and ribbon spread cards. And she never missed. Not even once. Sheena did 21 shows a week too. I really do love all that stuff! I mean, if you can work out a routine or an act that makes the animal look like tha star, the warm fuzziness of it all is practically irresistable to an audience. When I later got my act together with “Jim Emperor of All Dogs,”  and did a dog levitation,I had audiences eating out of my hand.

TAM9?

Whether the explanation has to do with the colors of the individual flags, Pauls’ sense of smell or whatever the gaff, the important thing is that Paul is now an established psychic phenomena in the minds of millions of people. This is the world we live in. We are surrounded by seemingly in-explicable phantasms – and we love it. So far no one has been killed or injured because of Paul’s predictions if under closer examination they really were predictions. We may never know. I don’t think most of us really care to know. Or do we?

Clever Hans and His Mentor

Do we really want to know how an octopus managed to hold the world at bay in one of his tentacles for weeks of wild speculation and tabloid sensationalism? Do we want to know how Paul did it or what clever method a knowledgeable trainer might have used? Are we ready to hang up all our childish dreams of magical creatures and sell one more Barnum down the river?

Until someone steps up and spoils the marvelous illusion that has governments fighting over Paul’s true lineage, (Mollusk Birthers no less) PETA all pissed off and the Oberhausen Aquarium (where Paul is now officially retired) providing 24 hour security for him, I for one will just sit back and enjoy the circus.

One Day's Psychic is Tomorrow's Calamari

 See my other blogs on “Psychic Animals” and “Psychic Pets” archived here.

A $14,850.000 Vampire Killing Kit Complete with Vintage Garlic Cloves

With the release of the latest (and hopefully final) installment of the “Twilight” trilogy, I felt it fitting to appraise the current fascination with all things vampire; with particular empahsis on a con/fad that seems to have peaked in the last few years: the selling and marketing of so-called “Vampire Killing Kits.”  Clever hoaxers and just plain hobbyists are building and selling these portable kits for upwards of $14, 850.00. No kidding. Ebay has several of them right now if you hurry.

If you have that kind of money to burn, I say go for it. I love this stuff! It’s an undeniably awesome conversation piece. Unfortunately, that’s about as far as it goes. Correct me if I’m wrong, but there’s no precedent for anything even remotely resembling a “Vampire Killing Kit” in any reputable museum I know of.

The Cheaper $7,500.00 Model

Roman Polanski as "Alfred" About to Drive Home His Point in "Fearless Vampire Killers"

Yes, we have Hollywood’s penchant for the absurd to thank for the concept of a portable kit that stands ready to stake the nearest vampire. In Roman Polanski’s delightful horror/comedy send-up of vampire hunting: “The Fearless Vampire Killers or Pardon Me But My Teeth are in Your Neck” (1967) one can see one of the first cinematic appearances of such a silly kit handled admirably by the Van Helsing character: Professor Ambrosius (played to perfection by Jack MacGowran). In this instance, the Professor’s kit is a doctor bag filled with garlic, a rosary or two and a crude stake. As if vampire hunters might be as common as a plumber or electrician, Polanski and MacGowran traipse across snowy castle rooftops and foil the best efforts of several vampires, all the while mixing a tongue-in-cheek black humor into the whole affair. Unfortunately, the people selling these modern day fairground Fiji mermaids aren’t showing their tongues or their cheeks.  

Fake Dagger

As in Asimov”s “Unicorn Wings” theory, (see my post from May 23, 2009 for definition ) one would think that the reality of vampires would need to be first firmly established before the selling of a vampire killing kit would seem plausible. Nonetheless, Sotheby’s and Ebay don’t seem to mind and as far as I can tell aren’t offering any verifiable certification of authenticity. This sort of supply and demand must be largely the private domain of  Goths, jaded rock stars with too much disposable income or extremely eccentric collectors who don’t care about science and just want to impress their friends with a box full of strangeness.

I can’t say I blame them. When you do seances or perform bizarre magick for a living, if constructed in historically correct ways with an eye for realism, such accouterments can be somewhat educational and make the difference between a believable discourse on supernaturalism and being laughed at as a trickster. Small details like screw-top caps on your garlic container or using a Ginsu-Knife from K-Mart won’t add to the antiquity required to suspend belief in today’s special effects wary culture. The props that I use in my seances have to look like the real thing and I spend considerable time searching out antique malls and aging everything to create the right antiquarian effect. My magician friends and fellow bizarre entertainers work very hard to present ”genuine artifacts” or whatever they can cobble together that has the look, feel and even smell of the real thing to help sell their show. My friend in bizarreness Christian Chelman is a master of such handiwork. Check out his site at www.surnatuem.org or his latest book “Hanutiques” and you will see how far a consumate performer will go to entice his audience into a world of magick and the occult.

 To the left is Christian Cheleman’s Vampire Killing Kit, described at his splendid site as:

“Vampire Killing Kit, second half of the 19th century
The pistol dates from the 18th century and was brought back from an expedition to Russia and Mongolia in September 2001.”

In Christian’s case, this exquisite collection of props is an important adjunct to his performance technique and as in a Hollywood production, absolutely essential to drawing in the attention of the crowd. No doubt if you saw him do whatever routine or storytelling magick he does using this set-up, you would probably totally fall into the spell of his spiel. You can’t buy stuff like this at the corner magic shop. It takes time and dedication to execute a convincing undertaking of this sort – and don’t excuse the puns.

In an effective demostration only a die-hard skeptic or historian could tell the difference between a real antique or a fake. Sorry, but no disclaimers are given by most of us who have spent so much time “dressing the set.”  To do any kind of disclaimer in this type of performance situation would be like going into a fancy French restaurant and after putting in your order, having the chef come out of the kitchen and tell you it came out of a can. No way. I’m there to sell you the real thing – or as close as I can for your time and money. Most lay people never give such an artifact a second thought. I know because I’ve used the same strategies in my seances for years. At one point after a suggestion from one of my bizarrist co-horts, I had an antique funeral home chest fitted out with an interior that included a special inside coating of Hollywood’s finest fake cobwebs, a scent of antiquity specially blended to create the perfect musty odor, and at one point even a small live spider that was dropped into the box before the show and which scuttled out of the box after I had opened it. Of course the lid of this box was chosen out of many others for the incredible squeak it made when it was slowly opened. These kinds of details are what showmanship is all about in my book (books plural actually:  ”Restless Plots”, “Sense and Seance” and “Loose Ends” in particular*) and in a close-up magic situation are strong sensory cues that are rarely if ever forgotten by my sitters. A tarantula jumping out would be a little too over the top. Taste must dictate where one must draw the line.

Does this make me a charlatan or a spook crook? No, I don’t think so. There’s a fine line between what is considered an entertainment and what is sold as real. Forgive me if I sound disrespectful, but I usually assume that when I’m in a theatrical environment or acting as a paid performer, my job is to entertain and not to educate. I also assume (possibly wrongly in some caese) that my audience is fairly well- educated and not likely to really believe I’m going to create a ghost in front of them. This may be a big mistake on my part in the minds of skeptics, but that’s show biz.

So like the schism that often exists between mentalists and so-called professional psychics and mediums, the intention is what is important. I fully intend to entertain you.

I’m sure that any intention to defraud isn’t even an issue at Ebay or Sotheby’s. For them selling Vampire Killing Kits is the same as selling any other curiosity like a stuffed albatross or a alligator wallet. You get what you pay for.

Chritian Chelman's Ghost Hunting kit

There’s an odd conundrum here. What really gets me is the fact that vampires like Edward Cullin from the “Twilight” series have nothing to fear from these kinds of Goth arts and crafts. Why? Because everyone is so madly in love with Edward and his ilk, who would dare want to kill him or put an end to their swoon?

Back in my day when I was a chalky faced loner teenager without a girlfriend, life would have been much easier if vampire chic was all the rage. Ahhh well.

Perhaps we may have to put our Vampire Killing Kits in storage (leaving the lid off to collect as much dust as possible of course) for a few years until somebody like Christopher Lee or Bela Lugosi pops up to inspire us to drive in another stake.

Until then, buyer BEWARE.

Chris Lee as Drac: Now That's More Like It!

 

Heart Throb Edward

* All available at www.themarkedward.com

 AND THIS JUST IN:

FVZA Investigation Kit Fetches $20,000 at Auction

An investigation kit from the earliest days of the Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency has fetched $20,000 at an auction, according to Sothebys. The name of the winning bidder was not given.The record sale comes just one week after Sothebys sold an 18th century vampire-hunting kit for $12,000.The FVZA kit, which dates from 1870, includes a pistol, bullets, a log book, pen and ink. The kit also contains a vial of powdered flowers of garlic, a reflection of superstitions of the time.The FVZA was formed by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1868 and operated until 1975.

FVZA Kit