Leonora Piper, a.k.a., Nash
preternaturalist,
tarotist,
subliminalist,
animal rights extremist
co-founder of
The Ed Glosser
Paranormal Society
"To upset the conclusion that
all crows are black,
there is no need to seek
demonstration that
no crows are black;
it is sufficient to produce
one white crow;
a single one is sufficient."
__William James
This site is just a little mess
of my klediments. ♥
"I am perfectly convinced that I have both seen, and heard in a manner which should make unbelief impossible, things called spiritual which cannot be taken by a rational being to be capable of explanation by imposture, coincidence, or mistake."
__Augustus De Morgan
" A website asking for info about a mysterious man that thousands of people around the world claim to have seen in their dreams has become an internet sensation. The site claims that a woman drew the face of the man, who she repeatedly saw as she slept, for her psychiatrist in 2006. She said she had never met him before in real life, but was able to picture him vividly.
Her psychiatrist kept the pencilled picture on his desk and when another patient saw it, he too claimed the man had often appeared in his dreams. The baffled doctor, it says, then sent off the picture to some colleagues who showed it to their patients — many of whom also recognised the strange face. The picture was posted on the web — and within just two weeks has become one of the most visited sites online. Thousands have now claimed to have seen the stranger in the night. Critics claim it is all an elaborate hoax. Visit the site here thisman.org."
via thesun.co.uk
Not a 'mystery' anymore, but still lulzy, IMO.
"... This website is actually the creation of a sociologist and marketer named Andrea Natella. He runs a company called Guerriglia Marketing which stages "subversive hoaxes" and creates weird art projects that are mostly about pornography, politics, and advertising ..."
via io9.com
"Attention, companion animal caretakers! The ASPCA would like to point out these common-sense cautions that’ll help keep your pets safe and stress-free this time of year. If you do suspect your pet has ingested a potentially dangerous substance, please call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435.
1. No tricks, no treats: That bowlful of candy is for trick-or-treaters,
not for Scruffy and Fluffy.
~~ Chocolate in all forms—especially dark or baking chocolate—can be very dangerous for dogs and cats. Symptoms of significant chocolate ingestion may include vomiting, diarrhea, hyperactivity, increased thirst, urination and heart rate—and even seizures.
~~ Candies containing the artificial sweetener xylitol can be poisonous to dogs. Even small amounts of xylitol sweetener can cause a sudden drop in blood sugar, which leads to depression, lack of coordination and seizures. In cases of significantly low blood sugar, liver failure has been known to occur.
~~ Ingesting tin foil and cellophane candy wrappers can pose a choking hazard or cause intestinal blockage.
2. Popular Halloween plants such as pumpkins and decorative corn are considered to be relatively nontoxic, yet they can produce gastrointestinal upset should pets ingest them. Intestinal blockage could even occur if large pieces are swallowed.
3. Keep wires and cords from electric lights and other decorations out of reach of your pets. If chewed, your pet could experience damage to his mouth from shards of glass or plastic, or receive a possibly life-threatening electrical shock.
4. A carved pumpkin certainly is festive, but do exercise extreme caution if you choose to add a candle. Pets can easily knock a lit pumpkin over and cause a fire. Curious kittens especially run the risk of getting burned or singed by candle flames.
5. Dress-up can be a big mess-up for some pets. Please don't put your dog or cat in a costume UNLESS you know he or she loves it (yup, a few pets are real hams!). For pets who prefer their “birthday suits,” however, wearing a costume can cause undue stress.
6. If you do dress up your pet, make sure the costume isn't annoying or unsafe. It should not constrict the animal's movement or hearing, or impede his ability to breathe, bark or meow. Also try on costumes before the big night. If your pet seems distressed, allergic or shows abnormal behavior, consider letting him go au naturale or donning a festive bandana.
7. Take a closer look at your pet’s costume and make sure it does not have small, dangling or easily chewed-off pieces that he could choke on. Also, ill-fitting outfits can get twisted on external objects or your pet, leading to injury.
8. All but the most social dogs and cats should be kept in a separate room away from the front door during peak trick-or-treat visiting hours. Too many strangers can be scary and stressful for pets.
9. When opening the door for trick-or-treaters, take care that your cat or dog doesn't dart outside.
10. IDs, please! Always make sure your dog or cat has proper identification. If for any reason your pet escapes and becomes lost, a collar and tags and/or a microchip can increase the chances that he or she will be returned to you."
via aspca.org
"The years teach much which the days never know."
__Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The federal Pet Safety and Protection Act would prohibit Class B Dealers and unlicensed individuals from selling dogs and cats to research laboratories.
Class B Dealers are people who collect dogs and cats to sell to the research industry. They sometimes obtain their animals through illegal or unethical means, such as by responding to “free to good home” ads in newspapers, falsifying records to keep the true origins of the animals unknown and stealing pets kept outside in yards. They also buy animals in bulk from “bunchers,” whose methods are even more questionable.
Eliminating Class B Dealers will also take away the profit motive of bunchers, providing a much-needed safety net to ensure beloved pets are not stolen or acquired under false pretenses and sold to facilities that test on animals.
via aspca.org
The Naming Of Cats
by T.S. Eliot
The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, or George or Bill Bailey -
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter -
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum -
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover -
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.
"With audio recorders and digital cameras in tow, Tina Kowalski and Annie Kinvel roamed the premises of the Historic Holly Hotel Friday night, hoping to document evidence of the paranormal. They ain't afraid of no ghosts.
Kowalski, of Clinton Township, and Kinvel, of Frasier, joined about 70 other people in a special ghost-hunting event at the 118-year-old Victorian style building, which is recognized as one of the area's most active haunts. The event was presented by the Highland Ghost Hunters and Haunted Travels of Michigan. It began at 6:30 p.m. with a three-course dinner and presentation before concluding with the late-night ghost hunt.
Kowalski and Kinvel, who are amateur ghost-hunters looking into starting their own organization, said they received many "good vibes" while investigating and received responses on some of their equipment. If evidence does turn up from the search, it certainly wouldn't be the first time at the Holly Hotel ..."
| Holly Hotel Ghost Hunt |
Full story via mlive.com
The haunted hotel I'm most interested in at the moment is The Crescent, in Eureka Springs. My butter and egg man (who describes himself as 'less psychic than a bowl of grits') stayed there once and saw not just one, but two full bodied apparitions.
"The late Michael Jackson's sister La Toya has said that the King of Pop’s ghost has been visiting the family dressed in the white pearl beads he wore in the coffin.
In an interview with Woman's Day, the 53-year-old onetime Playboy cover girl said that the ‘Thriller’ star has appeared "in the curtains" while the lights were out. "His eyes were open and he appeared peaceful. I turned the lights on and asked, ''Michael, do you wish to go to the other side?''" The Courier Mail quoted her as saying.
La Toya has also claimed that her famous brother's ghost has flicked the lights on in his house to let her know he's there. She said that her manager Jeffre Phillips and sister Janet have also seen the star's spirit but mother Katherine, a strict Jehovah's Witness, has refused to accept that her son's ghost walks the earth."
via oneindia.in
He probably 'wishes' she'd shut the hell up.
"Monsters are on the rise. People can't seem to get enough of vampires lately, and zombies have a new lease on life. This year and next we have the release of the usual horror films like Saw VI and Halloween II; the campy mayhem of Zombieland; more-pensive forays like 9 (produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov), The Wolfman, and The Twilight Saga: New Moon; and, more playfully, Where the Wild Things Are (a Dave Eggers rewrite of the Maurice Sendak classic).
The reasons for this increased monster culture are hard to pin down. Maybe it's social anxiety in the post-9/11 decade, or the conflict in Iraq—some think there's an uptick in such fare during wartime. Perhaps it's the economic downturn. The monster proliferation can be explained, in part, by exploring the meaning of monsters. Popular culture is re-enchanted with meaningful monsters, and even the eggheads are stroking their chins—last month saw the seventh global conference on Monsters and the Monstrous at the University of Oxford.
The uses of monsters vary widely. In our liberal culture, we dramatize the rage of the monstrous creature—and Frankenstein's is a good example—then scold ourselves and our "intolerant society" for alienating the outcast in the first place. The liberal lesson of monsters is one of tolerance: We must overcome our innate scapegoating, our xenophobic tendencies. Of course, this is by no means the only interpretation of monster stories. The medieval mind saw giants and mythical creatures as God's punishments for the sin of pride. For the Greeks and Romans, monsters were prodigies—warnings of impending calamity.
After Freud, monster stories were considered cathartic journeys into our unconscious—everybody contains a Mr. Hyde, and these stories give us a chance to "walk on the wild side." But in the denouement of most stories, the monster is killed and the psyche restored to civilized order. We can have our fun with the "torture porn" of Leatherface and Freddy Krueger or the erotic vampires, but this "vacation" to where the wild things are ultimately helps us return to our lives of quiet repression.
Any careful reading of Bram Stoker's Dracula, for example, will reveal not only a highly sexualized description of blood drinking, but an erotic characterization of the count himself. Even John Polidori's original 1819 vampire tale The Vampyre describes the monster as a sexually attractive force. According to the critic Christopher Craft, Gothic monster tales—Frankenstein, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dracula, Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles—rehearse a similar story structure. "Each of these texts first invites or admits a monster, then entertains and is entertained by monstrosity for some extended duration, until in its closing pages it expels or repudiates the monster and all the disruption that he/she/it brings," he writes.
A crucial but often-ignored aspect of monsterology is the role those beasties play in our moral imaginations. Recent experimental moral psychology has given us useful tools for looking at the way people actually do their moral thinking ..."
Full story via chronicle.com
Speaking of fictional monsters, Lon Chaney Jr. as Lawrence Talbot will always have a special place in my heart,
but I have high hopes for the brand new version of 'Wolfman' starring
Benecio Del Toro ...
