Babysitting Tale: Thump Thump Drag

A friend of a friend told me about this babysitter tale that happened somewhere in Florida a few years back.

Apparently, this 16 year old girl, Lucy (my friend couldn't remember her last name), went babysitting on a Friday night and something weird happened.

So Lucy was babysitting these two little boys while their parents were out, and the parents were expected to be out 'til quite late. This gave Lucy a number of hours of babysitting, from supper time 'til around midnight.

Lucy fed the boys supper and let them play after eating while she cleaned up the dishes. Lucy put the boys to bed upstairs, each in their own separate bedrooms. She went into one boy's room, read a story and tucked him in, and then to the other boy's room to do the same.

Then, once the boys were nicely tucked in and almost asleep, Lucy went back downstairs to watch TV and wait out the time 'til the boys' parents would arrive home.

While Lucy was watching television, a news report came on and a news lady gave a warning that a mental patient had just escaped from a facility and that local authorities were busy trying to find and apprehend the individual. Knowing the house was in a decent area of town, Lucy didn't feel too worried but did get up to double check the lock on the front door. It was all locked up but she was glad she double-checked, anyway. She flipped the channel on the tv to get rid of the news report and found a movie to watch 'til the parents could return home.

Upstairs, the younger brother woke up. He was sure he heard a noise...

Thump Thump Drag...

He waited a little while, still shrouded in sleepiness and did hear the odd noise again--

Thump
Thump
Drag...

He became afraid, so he quickly padded across the hallway into his older brother's room. When the older brother awakened he told the younger one the noise was probably coming from Lucy watching a movie. He said his younger brother could sleep with him if he was scared, so together their heads hit the pillow and they started to fall asleep.

Soon, the boys heard a noise - Thump, Thump, Drag...

So they quietly got up and crossed the room to listen near the doorway. They heard the noise once more--

Thump - Thump - Drag

But then the noise stopped.

The boys hopped back into bed and lay quietly, just listening, and were unable to fall back asleep. They waited that way together until their parents got home.

When the parents returned, they were taken aback by an entirely macabre and gruesome sight!

In the living room, near the couch, blood was splattered everywhere, and a trail of blood led over to the stairway. The parents immediately called the police...

Lucy was found at the end of the trail of blood and almost to the top of the stairs. Her arms had been cut to stumps just above the elbows and it appeared she had been using these stumps to try and navigate the stairs. Multiple stab wounds marred her young body all over and the babysitter bled out, on the stairs, while trying to get upstairs to protect the boys in her care.

Nobody was ever able to figure out who did this to Lucy.

Nobody ever found the escaped mental patient, either.

Zombie Prank on Angry Grandpa

I don't know if you watch the you tube channels "Angry Grandpa" and "Kid With a Camera," and I just found them yesterday.

The individuals who manage those channels/IDs make videos all the time, as I found out through browsing their channels... This zombie prank is one of the best I've seen.

I found this young guy who pranked a family member into thinking a zombie apocalypse was suddenly happening.

Grandpa has just been learning about the deadliness of the Ebola virus, so this is used against him by the prankster... but I'm not going to tell you much more - just watch and enjoy...

Man, the older guy (Angry Grandpa) gets really scared!

Then, after he's told of the prank, he gets really ANGRY!

Watch:

Are you prepared for emergencies?

Are you prepared to be pranked?

It's not Sunday anymore

Hey happy TWD day! It's not Sunday anymore - it's The Walking Dead day!

I'm working on returning to blogging more and Sundays are a great day for me to post as I'm usually at home and don't plan much extracurricular activity on Sundays beyond chores.

As an added bonus, Sundays are also when The Walking Dead puts out a new show in the evening. Yay! As a true fan of all things TWD, I also spend time checking out some social media before the show, video clips - heck, sometimes even the last week's full episode just prior to watching the newest instalment.

For me, it's not Sunday, anymore - it's TWD day - and I think that, for you, as well, there should be NO MORE SUNDAYS (well not past mid-afternoon 'cos a lot of people go to church and THAT is still important)!

I hereby declare that the day of the week before Monday is now to be known as TWD DAY!

*raising a crossbow in the air*

There, now that THAT is settled, I'm happy and can continue...

K, so when I typed in a google search, "how many people watch the walking dead on sunday" the search completed in 0.39 seconds with "about 116, 000 results."

The top 5 sites returned were deadline dot com x 2, wetpaint dot com, screenrant (oh I am definitely going there!), and tvguide (might go there, too - but later).

I went to the first search result - HUGELY DISAPPOINTED because it's an OLD article from October 14, 2013, saying that the Season 4 debut show had a record-busting sixteen point one MILLION viewers.

NOW THIS CONCERNS ME! And here's why:

It means that 7, 284, 000, 000 people did NOT see The Walking Dead season 4 debut show... and there might be roughly around that number NOT WATCHING the show with me tonight! *gasp*

Okay what I did was a search on "how many people are there in the world" on big G search engine, then I went to a search result:

http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/

Then I rounded out numbers ('cos that world population clock keeps changing all the time), subtracted TWD viewer numbers from the world population...

Now I want to know - how many people might not have TVs? Poverty is a calamity in our world with people not able to watch TWD... everyone with a TV should invite everyone without such technology - over for Sunday late supper and TWD viewing!

Break bread together, learn how to survive the zombie apocalypse!

This post has been fun. It's time for me to go check TWD Twitter, FB and other social media to check out what's being said, posted, etc.

Watch TWD - Tonight!

--myth~~

P.S. Here's a TWD Fan vid of scenes taken out of context in order to be funny (some stuff is funny - some just strange, depends on your sense of humour):

 

Enjoy! :)

m~~

Carl, Stay Back

As an avid viewer and fan of The Walking Dead, I was bound to get onto the topic of Carl Grimes, and the fact that so many people just want Carl to stay in the house, stay back, get back, keep the door locked, etc.

There is plenty of criticism online from bloggers, article writers, people interviewed for news and entertainment bytes - all about The Walking Dead character, Carl Grimes and his penchant for getting into sticky, dangerous situations because he wanders off or won't stay in the house.

I've read blog posts where the writers call even the writers/creative team, producers and directors of TWD show awful names because the latter should never have written/presented Carl's character that way.

Reasoning:

• Carl's antics and wanderings caused another (crowd/viewer favourite) character's death
• Carl running off/disappearing is always causing stress in other characters
• Carl disappearing has caused other people to abandon current important projects/work in order to go look for Carl
• Worrying about Carl, not trusting him to stay put and follow directions, constantly grates at other characters' attention spans when they need to focus on safety and more important matters

By contrast, I have loved what writers/creators of the show have done with the Carl Grimes character. As I watched and proceeded through all of the episodes, from season one to the last season, I kept thinking, "Yeah, a kid would do that - wander off, explore."  (Let us not forget that Carl showed up a time or two when and where he wasn't supposed to be and saved other characters).


At times, particularly early on in the series, Carl hasn't quite understood his strengths and weaknesses, primarily assuming that he can handle much more than he actually can. How natural is this in a kid? I think all kids go through stages of overestimating their skills, underestimating risk and danger.

I'm glad the people who create and produce TWD have allowed Carl to have so many flaws, make so many mistakes, tick off so many adults and even viewers. This has all made his character changes really stand out. Carl could have been pushed to the sidelines much more in this show, one of the most violent shows on television. Carl could have been another cardboard kid character, just present as a character accessory to Rick Grimes, to prove that Rick was once a family man before the Zombie Apocalypse hit. Instead, Carl has become an integral and really important member of the survivor group he's in, including resorting to violence when that is needed - even from someone who is still technically a KID.

Okay, so Carl isn't a GREAT KID, not a perfect kid - he wasn't in the beginning of the series, either. Not being perfect made him seem so real, quite normal, as far as children go. (Children make MISTAKES all the time in real life). As the series has progressed, Carl has re-formed with a few holes, gaps and breaks in his general make-up, but then, this has happened with everyone/character in the show.

My biggest question (to those upset with TWD for Carl's actions and character) is this:

Did you think this show was going to be Little House on the Walking Dead Prarie?

To sum up, I think we're seeing, in Season 4 and 5, a Carl who has learned some hard lessons, partly from previous mistakes of his own, and he's grown into a kickarse character that more viewers respect. By Seasons 4 and 5, Carl can take care of himself in about as many situations as the adults can.

It's New Years Eve day 2014 and the new TWD shows won't start up again for several weeks, so I'll be off now to watch TWD past episodes and take another look at Carl, who won't stay back, won't stay in the house, keep the door locked, and who now kicks zombie arse!

Leaving you with a vid I found, a parody... there are a few bad words, but I'm sure you can handle 'em:




Enjoy the show once it is back on in a few weeks...

Review of The Grimm Brothers' Home Page

Earlier today I uploaded my own work on the Scribd site - an article on research tools for The Brothers Grimm tales at the University of Pittsburgh's "Grimm Brothers' Home Page."

In reviewing this page, I'd like to say that you shouldn't be turned off the site by its appearance:

It's not a pretty portion of the University of Pittsburgh website, but I think if you're interested in good content and scholarly work, you'll get a lot out of the Grimm Brothers' Home Page.

While there are some dead links among the many awesome resource links found on this page, the articles connected with these dead links might simply be in the process of being updated. I've known of and used this section of the U of Pitt's website for quite a long time (a few years) and in the past, I know I've accessed and read articles from pages/links that didn't work when I visited just today to compose searches and write a review article on this content.

I've decided to post this information to my blog because, although folklore, fairy tale and fable hunters and readers might already have heard that Grimm's material is on the U of Pittsburgh's website, the information isn't that easy to find when you just hit the main University site page! In fact, I was going to include a link navigation pathway tutorial in my article but I clicked around with ZERO success for several minutes, so I thought the tutorial might take longer to write than a review article! (haha).

I'll try to keep this post short. You can read the article via embedded Scribd (the article I just uploaded to the Scribd site):

Researching Folk Tales, Fairy Tales, and Fables Presented by The Brothers Grimm by Mythbuster

And I'll try to just add a few more details NOT COVERED in the Scribd document...

Since this is basically a review of the Grimm Brothers' Home Page - not the "info-article" on resources for researching Grimm tales (which is more what the Scribd article is about), I'll say again in a slightly different way, don't be turned off or turn away from the looks of the Grimm Brothers' Home Page. It's a little index of gold on Grimm topics and information. It just happens to look, well... really junky, sorry to say. In fact, I really hate the appearance of the page, myself, but I return to that section of the U of Pittsburgh's site ALL THE TIME, approximately 10 times per month for the last few years!

A great many Google searches on "Grimm" scholarly topics will lead you to the same section I'm reviewing, which is how I have managed to navigate to find the gems of Grimm info, myself. I bookmarked the page long ago and suggest that you do the same. I'm sure this section of the U of Pitt's site looks this way because not much time has been put into making a flashy page - while most of the time has been dedicated to providing sound information, links, and content on this page. That's the main thing, in my opinion, as when I want to find out what tale type a certain Grimm tale is, I want to be able to find, in rather plain language, the information I'm looking for on the U of Pitt pages.

Use link below - check out Grimm tales and information on folklore, fairy tales, fables, tale types, etc:
 Grimm Brothers' Home Page (U of Pittsburgh)

If you want to make your visit more interesting, I don't know if you can in a visual sense, but you can try whistling the Close Encounters of the Third Kind theme while you browse if that helps.  That's what I do !

:)

As far as attractiveness goes, the page is a low 3 or 4 out of 10, in my opinion, but for content, I'll rate this section of the university website a solid 9 out of 10 (some links don't work).

Full Movie, The Last Man On Earth (1964)

In 1954, a little sci-fi novel was published, written by Richard Matheson. The novel was called, "I am Legend," for which a modern movie has also been made, starring Will Smith in the primary character/survivor role.

Well before the movie with Will Smith in it, "The Omega Man" was made (starring Charlton Heston, in 1971), based on the same written piece, but even before THAT movie, the novel was adapted for film as "The Last Man On Earth," about a decade after the book appeared in print.

The movie, The Last Man On Earth (1964): Enjoy!

Matheson helped write some of the screenplay for the movie but apparently was not truly pleased with how the piece was working out, so he requested to be listed under a pseudonym when the film was finished and released. Mind you, this tidbit comes to be from reading up on this film on Wikipedia and this "fact" isn't supported by any citation, so I'm putting it forward just as something to consider. (*Note: if anyone can find an interview where the write has actually stated that he didn't like the screenplay writings, please let me know and I'll post an update). Look for Matheson credited as "Logan Swanson" in the credits.

The Last Man On Earth (1964) Trailer

I know nowadays, we've got Rage Virus, T-Virus and World War Z Swarming Zombies to worry about. These are scary beyond belief and almost beyond our human and tech abilities to fight off, at least in our nightmares if not in real life - however...

I want to slow down the pace, focus on atmosphere and an old movie called, The Last Man On Earth from 1964, featuring Vincent Price as the last survivor left on Earth.

And I mean - THE OLD MOVIE, The Last Man On Earth because this story is so great, (originally an adaptation of Richard Matheson's Science Fiction book, "I am Legend") that many movies and other works have been spawned from this general unnerving apocalyptic tale.

The great things about this old tale on film are: Vincent Price (as Dr. Robert Morgan, scientist), camera panning, eerie old music, and the film makers managing to show a starkness of life and an atmosphere of emptiness for Price to wander around in.

Sorry special effects lovers and people who like to watch stuff BLOW UP and go "POW" and "Ga-BOOM," but this isn't going to happen when you're watching THIS old movie.

What should happen, if you're paying attention, however, is that you'll "get" the creepiness of solitude and start to worry about scientist, Robert Morgan's state of mind (Vincent Price). Maybe you'll start to imagine what YOU would do if you were in Dr. Morgan's situation - and in doing so - maybe you'll start to learn the limits of human existence and really understand how we are really fragile of mind, as humans, and absolutely require relationships and other human beings in order to exist with meaning and purpose in our lives.

Check out the trailer - it's a good, ten minute preview of what you'll get to see once I get the next post finished and am able to upload the whole movie (it's in the public domain).

The Chinese Whispers Game

You may not immediately recognize this game by it's title, The Chinese Whisper Game, however, most people have played a version of this game.

It starts with having several people in a circle or line and a sentence or idea composed of a few words is whispered (just once!) by the first person in the circle or line. Each person after repeats, in a whisper, the content heard by the person who whispered to them. The last person, having no-one to whisper the message to, announces, for all what he/she heard, what the statement is at the end of the circle/line. The last person's statement is compared to the first person's whisper and almost always, the sentence/idea is different between the first and last person. Often, when comparing the sentences/ideas, the difference is so great that the result is very funny and players of the game get a big chuckle out of participating in the game.

The video below shows an example of how The Chinese Whisper Game works:


I've mentioned this game on the Urban Legends, Folklore, Myths and Fairy Tales blog because the process and results of this game are very similar to how urban legends work, get passed around, get altered in the telling of tales. As well, Folklore, Myths and Fairy Tales can be changed in a sort of Chinese Whispers Game process.

For those who hear urban legends, particularly macabre and weird tales, and who wonder, "how can this story survive when it seems so unbelievable and ridiculous, so macabre and weird?": well the tales survive because people will pass on details, anyway, if they fit a sort of format. Tales are longer than phrases usually used in any Chinese Whisper Game, but people will pass tales, anyway in the urban legends, folklore, myths, and fairy tales formats because they heard the tale from someone else... weirdness, inconsistencies, obvious blunders can be re-told with the common story-telling statement "this is how I heard the tale."

Sometimes by leaving something spectacular, unbelievable, etc., in a tale, those passing the tale along do so with the intention of leaving a tale intact as it was heard by the tale-teller before... Humans have a need to try and preserve "what came before," and are interested in historical details, nostalgia, remembering, ancestors, etc. We like to be linked to the past as it makes us feel like we belong in the present - but "links to the past" is a whole study and article in itself, so I won't go into this concept further here... It's just helpful to know that stories change with the story tellers and cultures where the tales are being told.

Try this game with some friends and see what happens, how an original statement or phrase changes by being shared with 5-10 people!

Ivan Sanderson's Research - Undervalued, Often Omitted

Something I've learned in a decade or so of delving into Fortean matters is that many Forteans are shunned by mainstream science. In fact, their theories are often pushed right under the rug.

Mainstream science has pretty much validated, in the past few decades, that strange things happen in the Bermuda Triangle - missing aircraft, boats and submarines or the pilots and steersmen of these vessels returning with time lag discrepancies and extraordinary tales of strange experiences. While yet unexplained (sort of - there are "theories" around...), most people - many scientists included - cannot fail to account for the fact that there are so many unexplained events in the Bermuda Triangle region of our globe.

Enter - the theories of Ivan T. Sanderson - which have been floating around but batted away by popular and mainstream science. Sanderson's theories have been around for decades and decades. Sanderson died in 1973, so we can safely assume we're almost FORTY YEARS BEHIND in following up on things he said, studied, wrote, etc.

Now, Sanderson wasn't just some guy who got into unexplained topics and learned "in the field" about things (some Forteans and paranormal researchers ARE filled with knowledge based on just self-study and experience in the field). He held a BA and two MA's from Cambridge University - in the fields of Zoology (BA), Geology and Botany (MA's). This was a guy with feet planted firmly into Science - yet his name isn't very well known unless a person happens to be delving into less popular topics and things the institution of Science calls "pseudo-science."

Very late in his work and life, not long before he passed away, Sanderson put out some of what many Forteans consider absolutely important and pivotal articles (in 1972) based on his research of "vortices" (plural of vortex-es). Sanderson had spent a great deal of time and effort to go into Naval records and Aircraft accident/disappearance records and plotted the events on a map. Almost everything he could get his hands on regarding ship, submarine and plane disasters, disappearances, strange sightings in the air or over water occurred in twelve regions across the globe.

Image SOURCE 

If the map with Sanderson's plotted points is stretched out end to end, the regions (vortices) are in perfect geographical alignment. TWO of the vortices are smack dab at what is called the Devil's Triangle and an even better known area, The Bermuda Triangle. Also, without manipulating any maps of the globe, spreading them out or anything, the vortex points plotted around the globe make a perfect geometrical shape called a icosehedron. This is a 20 sided polyhedron. Gamers would know this as a 20-sided dice shape and may have used such a piece for Dungeons and Dragons and similar games.

Image SOURCE 

The point here is... there isn't altogether as much "mystery" to the Bermuda Triangle as we might think - or at least we no longer have to question steps or stage 1 of "I wonder if something weird is going on in this whole area." (YES already!). Sanderson has mapped out some very important information so these regions of the globe can be studied in greater detail.

There are strange properties in all these vortices (I wonder if they're all, in part, gigantic "fear cage" regions where the magnetic and topographic effects of the region cause the human brain to work differently - as well as magnetic and electronic based equipment on ships and aircraft - just my thoughts). Sanderson's starting point for plotting events on the map was "strange events, accidents, crashes." Basically he started with mapping "weird shyt." However, many scientists are STILL RUNNING AROUND, asking, "is something weird going on?" and still trying to count events and find the same areas geographically that Sanderson plotted almost a full forty years ago!

This research (Sanderson's) has been largely ignored and certainly hasn't been given out to the general public in a "matter of fact" way. THIS SHOULD BE COMMON KNOWLEDGE (and OH, How this, as common knowledge would cut down the crap in beginner's threads of paranormal, science, paranormal and unexplained forums - Hallee-loo-yah!). A lot of mystery and unknowns still surround the Bermuda Triangle but I am weary of hearing - on mainstream science shows on television and what-not, "I wonder if something in the Bermuda Triangle is like a portal or something."

A-hem... Hello!   :)

YES... at the Bermuda Triangle and 11 other known locations of the globe, there are vortices and STRANGE THINGS HAPPEN in those locations that we need to focus on and study. We no longer have to wonder if something strange is a-foot and need to stop trying to take a tally of things in the Bermuda Triangle, move to the next stage of discovery, research, observation and, unfortunately, spending some money to send willing researchers and scientists there.

Just my li'l Fortean rant for today.

:)

Where Did The Visitor From Lanulos Go?

Back in the mid to late 60's a widespread UFO flap happened in the U.S.A. (well, waves of them happened, actually). During the midst of a flap in late 1966, near a town called Parkersburg in West Virginia, a strange being came down out of the sky and out of a weirdly shaped craft - to speak at the side of a roadway (I-77) to one, Mr. Woodrow Derenberger.

The entity gave his name as Indrid Cold. He told Derenberger he was from Lanulos, a planet in the Ganymede galaxy. He told Derenberger that Lanulos was similar to Earth - in that they both have flora, fauna, and different seasons. He also conveyed that there is no poverty, misery, or hunger on Lanulos and that life expectancy is 125-175 years on his planet, as measured in Earth years.

More strangely, when Derenberger came forth with his story, he said the information and conversation didn't happen by way of regular speech. It was a telepathic communication between himself and Mr. Cold!

Source: The Mothman Prophecies (Chapter 5) by John A. Keel

This story didn't end here, however, it became largely unpopular and went out of the attention of mainstream sources. Derenberger was heavily ridiculed after he disclosed details of his experiences. He moved his family a few times to try and get away from nosy and opinionated people, experienced a series of harsh phone calls and other discomforting things that only a non-empathetic public and insensitive groups of people can do to fellow humans. Ultimately the negative attention caused a split in the family and Derenberger lost his wife and kids - only one of whom (his daughter but not his two sons) has come forward in recent years to update or make any statements on this story.

An article with more details on Derenberger and his claims: Indrid Cold

Derenberger died in 1990 and his daugher, Taunia Bowman , has since revised his book, Visitors From Lanulos (originally published, and publishing paid for by Derenberger, in 1971), added some statements and changed some names at the request of other family members.

source

About Derenberger's claims, Taunia has said (in News and Sentinel article June 11, 2011), that she accepted her father's story and had an open mind. She felt that he talked to her about the Indrid Cold/Lanulos topics because he felt he COULD talk to her about it (while he couldn't speak to very many other people, especially the rest of his family about these things).

My final thoughts are that it's a shame that Derenberger was ostracized, ridiculed, to the point of a family split. I am glad that Taunia Bowman, at least, reconciled and spent time with her father so that he didn't miss out on all his family relationships.

Mr Derenberger seems to be the only one who had experiences with Indrid Cold, so now that Derenberger is gone, it looks like there is little hope of understanding the whole Indrid Cold phenomenon better (unless Taunia Bowman still has points to disclose).

It seems the visitor from Lanulos simply is no more.

A True Legend: I Don't Like Mondays

Before the Columbine School Massacre (1999, Littleton, Colorado, U.S.A.), The Ecole Polytechnique Massacre (1989, Montreal, Quebec, Canada), and Virginia Tech Massacre (2007, Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A.), there was Brenda Ann Spencer. It was Miss Spencer who said, "I don't like Mondays" as part of her response when asked by authorities why she opened fire with a .22 calibre rifle upon a school yard populated with Elementary level children. The horrific event happened long before the Columbine, Canadian Polytechnics school and Virginia Tech shootings, on January 29th, 1979. Miss Spencer was 16 years old. The San Diego, California, school-yard that Spencer riddled with bullets was the Grover Cleveland Elementary School.

As the news was breaking on this incident many decades ago, songwriter Bob Geldof of The Boomtown Rats read about it from a telex report via WRAS, the Georgia State University campus radio station. He was doing an interview at WRAS and was sitting beside a telex machine, so he couldn't help but see the news as it came through. This event so moved Geldof - with its senselessness and the "I don't like Mondays" explanation that he wrote a song related to the shooting. He has explained that he tried to write an equally senseless song for a senseless event, rather than try to exploit the event. In fact, the song wasn't intended to be hyped or promoted heavily and was meant to be a B-side cut, however, The Boomtown Rats began playing it and crowds liked it, and after its release, became a top ten hit. The song was on the Billboard Charts for four weeks, summer 1979.

The Boomtown Rats, "I Don't Like Mondays" - a Live performance, Dominion Theatre in London UK, 1985:



Some lyrics from the 3rd verse:

"And all the playing's stopped in the playground now
She wants to play with the toys awhile
And school's out early and soon we'll be learning
And the lesson today is how to die [...]"

The chorus has background singers asking repeatedly, "Tell me why?"
and Geldof anwering, "I don't like Mondays."

Here's one of the breaking news articles from 1979:
The Milwaukee Journal - Jan 29, 1979 - Page 4 "Sniping Suspect Had a Grim Goal."

Miss Spencer caused the death of two people and injured 9 more, of whom 8 were children. Custodian Michael Suchar and the school's Principal, Burton Wragg died from Spencer's armed assault. Suchar died while trying to pull the school Principle away to safety.

Spencer was tried in the court of law as an adult because her crimes were so awful and severe. She pleaded guilty for murder on two counts and of assault with a deadly weapon. She received the penalty of 25 years to life in prison, and became eligible for parole in 1993.

Don't worry - Spencer is still locked up. At parole hearings, since 1993, she has been denied four times. She's not eligible to sit in front of officials to ask for her freedom again now until 2019. Her last parole hearing was in August 2009.

I found some decent documentary vids on youtube about the Cleveland Elementary School shooting and Brenda Ann Spencer.

Part one shows some clips from TV that were aired on the day of the shootings and shows interviews of some people in the San Diego community who remember the shooting, the victims - including Pricipal Wragg's family. These interviews are a contrast to Brenda Ann Spencer's mother in the filmwork. Part 1 of 5 below:



More details of the school shooting. Eye-witnesses and survivors recall what happened on January 29, 1979 at the schoolyard of Cleveland Elementary School. Part 2 of 5 Below:



Part 3 of 5 Below:



Part 4 of 5 Below:



Part 5 of 5 Below:



This was obviously filmed prior to Spencer's August 2009 parole board hearing because in the film, someone says her case will be heard in 2009, four years or within four years of the time in the documentary. Spencer did NOT get released in August of 2009. She still resides in Chino, California at the California Institution For Women.

Although this story of the Grover Cleveland Elementary School Shooting is from the past and is legendary in proportion - containing mystery and with a history that is hard to believe and take in - this is no urban legend. This one really did happen...

What is a meme?

Perhaps you've been hearing the term, "meme" around and are wondering what it means. I just used a popular meme in the last post, so it's time to explain "meme," beyond casual mention and instead of simply spreading a meme (Chuck Norris Facts meme) further online.

First off, if you've been pronouncing this word as "maim" because of the way it looks, don't worry - I did for a while when I first started seeing the word, too. I had to correct myself to pronounce it properly as, "Meem."

Basically, a meme is an idea or symbol that circulates through culture(s) in a similar manner as a virus. Memes are viral. (I mentioned in a previous post that memes are often inside urban legends... some urban legends are viral, spreading like a virus). So if you imagine how a flu spreads, you'll understand how quickly concepts/ideas and symbols spread, only with a meme, an abstract thing spreads. With a flu virus, an actual living organism spreads - a physical entity. With memes, the symbols, ideas and concepts - the abstract details are infectious.
(source)

Where a physical (flu, for example) virus is limited to physical contact in order to spread, replicate, extend outward and infect multiple times, a meme can probably spread even faster than a flu virus because it can be spread faster than we can walk, touch each other, physically infect each other. Sure, memes contained inside urban legends and urban legends themselves will spread in a similar way as a flu virus if we gather people together for story-telling sessions; each group who hears the meme/legend can walk away from one session and begin another elsewhere with different people and thus spread the meme/legend. This, however, is a rather slow way to physically pass memes, urban legends, a flu virus.

Internet memes spread much more rapidly because they aren't confined to a fully physical environment. One meme can spread to thousands, even millions of internet users from a single source and be delivered electronically in a split second.

Powerful stuff, eh?

Richard Dawkins is credited with coining the word and definition of "meme," and has explained that we need to think of memes in the way we think about genes in order to properly talk about, understand and mentally process the "behaviours" of memes. Discussion about memes is relatively new in society and the study of this information is called memetics. Basically, in 1976, in the book, The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins, memes are introduced as units of cultural transmission analogous to the gene.

Features/possibilities of a meme:

• it can replicate
• it can spread quickly
• it is not limited to most physical barriers for transmission
• it is a pattern
• it has causal agency (produces an effect/responsible for events or results)
• it can propagate

Memes are pretty powerful units!


Pro/Con about meme units:

• pro - entertainment value can reach a large audience (ie: Chuck Norris Facts)
• pro - can be used to send positive concepts out into society on a mass scale
• con - can be used to send negative concepts out on a mass scale
• pro and con - media can spread negative or positive concepts on a mass scale
• pro and con - memes can 'cycle' ie: have a birth, active time and death
• con - these can be misused, misinterpreted, some memes can be invented, controlled to a large extent (in beginning stages)
• debatable tidbit: many researchers are still discussing the where and whyfor aspects of memes. It is possible that memes continue to circulate while they are "needed" in society and then "die off" when society doesn't need them anymore.

I personally agree with the last tidbit above because I am familiar with urban legends, how they spread, why some of them (not all but some) exist and often - why they exist in one place but not another.

With urban legends, they seem to "stay alive" and circulate in a society that needs the urban legend(s), needs to perpetuate a story, needs to vent out fears and anxieties, etc. Urban legends have a purpose in society - even if many people think most urban legends are just junk, made up stories, fiction, etc (I will always argue that urban legends are NEVER entirely fictitious - in the least, there is something symbolic about an important truth/fear inside each urban legend). In the same way, I do believe that every meme in circulation is active because it is needed and is serving some purpose (not always a good/positive purpose, but a purpose nonetheless).

Check out Dr. Ray Scott Percival's lecture on memes (according to Richard Dawkins' theories):
Part 1 of 3


Part 2 of 3


Part 3 of 3


Each vid is of reasonable length, just under ten minutes long per video.

Enjoy!

It's TRUE! Chuck Norris is a Bad-Ass

More of a meme than urban legend, the Chuck Norris is so tough/tougher than anything stories, video clips and such are perfect for copy pasta (copying and pasting all over the net - forums, blogs, facebook status spots, etc).

The Chuck Norris stuff is meme pasting that I really enjoy - probably because I like Chuck Norris a fair bit as a celebrity.

Meme bits are related to urban legends (memes are basically INSIDE OF urban legends) but are a whole separate type of message entity all on their own - however - they're closely enough related that they deserve a spot on this blog!

Since I haven't written much on memes but have definitely studied on them (even "truly studied them" as in - at University level courses) and know that they're EVERYWHERE, I figured the best meme topic to post about FIRST - is one of my favourites - Chuck Norris!

People already know Chuck is a bad-ass tough guy. In the movies, he always plays a bad butt character, a TOUGH GUY. In real life, Chuck actually IZZZZZZ A Tough Guy. He really DID serve in the American Air Force and he really IS a martial arts expert. Among his acting roles, he played a Texas Ranger, Sergeant Cordell Walker, who believes in an old code of conduct that is considered a really firm and dedicated TOUGH GUY code... the code of the Old West (cowboy/ranger and settler code - tough stuff for sure) and his character Sgt. Walker was a Marine before becoming a Texas Ranger.

Chuck Norris World of Warcraft Commercial:



Now, I think one of the reasons why Norris memes are so powerful, spread so fast, and are so wide-spread is because as a tough guy, capable of difficult stunts and physical acts and such, Norris IS THE REAL DEAL and not just some actor or total pretender. Most actors in tough guy roles are physically fit and taught how to act in the roles they play from working out at the gym and job-shadowing or reading about a character/job position or field of work. Chuck Norris, I'm sure, does some of the same but he's the real deal. He knows what military is like, what martial arts are (various types, too) - and has even founded his own school of martial arts (find it by going to ufaf .org), and is an active and very outspoken philanthropist (funds for marginalized and sick kids, veteran supports, United Way spokesperson, Make A Wish Foundation spokesperson, much more).

All of Mr. Norris' acting feats appear to have real-life counterparts:

Acting/Real Life

• Texas Ranger/military/Air Force experience
• Martial Arts movies/martial arts experience and founding of a MA School
• Often good guy badass/philanthropist in real life

Although his experience in military is Air Force experience, and his Texas Ranger character was a role on a television series, people have thought highly enough of Mr. Norris to have made him an honorary Marine (2007 - Source) and an honorary Texas Ranger (2010 - Source).

All that said, the memes that float around about Chuck Norris are cool because they often emphasize his positive traits. Not all memes (I will argue most memes do NOT) do this! Of course, the memes and statements are almost all hyperbole (exaggeration) of the most dramatic variety, but they're awesome, in my opinion. They command attention because, if they were toned down, they could be imagined to be true when related to Chuck Norris - or - if toned down, nobody's opinion of Norris as a Tough Guy would change in the least.

For example: Chuck Norris does not open doors. The doors have the common courtesy to open for him.

The above statements are found on the "Chuck Norris Facts" site (a site housing hundreds of memes and statements about Norris - mostly memes but also with some factual information on-site about Norris). While a number of memes are designed to cause reactions containing detrimental ridicule of the subject, many of the Chuck Norris memes do not cause this reaction.

Here are a few nice (and mostly postive) ones:

Need I say more?

myth~~

Update: Back After a Long Break

It is quite likely that some people thought the Goatman, The Bunnyman, a couple of Black Eyed Kids or even a Werewolf got me in 2011 because I didn't post to this blog all year. My last post was about Santa in 2010.

I know many are shaking their heads. I am, too!

I just didn't do much writing at all in 2011 past February or so. In part, this is because I was involved in a new research project from around March 2011 'til end-year. The project was with marginalized and homeless people, so I felt very committed to the project and let my writing, articles and blogs fall by the wayside.

Although that work has led me to another, separate research project (and some related opportunities), I'm only taking on what I can handle this year so that I can get back to online stuff. Yikes - my online income from content is almost NIL, however, my earnings from PTR/PTC programs are UP. As for the latter, it's just a matter of logging in, viewing ads, logging off, without having to interact much or create content, so I'm sure this is why I managed to continue to create an income through these sources.

The big Panda change was something I know little about as I was mostly out of commission for content creation all of last year. Many online buddies have let me know that the Panda stuff is also a reason why many online incomes from writing have lowered - and my online writing friends have seen a decrease in earnings during certain times in 2011, too, even though they were present and active, creating hoardes of content all year long.

Anyhow - excuses (good ones, if you ask me) aside... rather - explanations aside, I changed the looks of the blog and will be posting regularly from now on, even if just to do a quick review of a friend's article and even if my posts aren't about researching scary urban legends (my reviews will still be on similar content, so will fit with the theme). For some topics, it takes quite a lot of time to do research, so I will have to be careful about my schedule/time online in order to post regularly as well as keep with my off-line commitments.

I don't know how I managed to pick up a few more followers in 2011 when I wasn't even posting but I'm not going to complain about this!

I must say I'm very grateful to the folks over at the Best of all Topics site for keeping my link on their sidebar tho' I was very inactive on this blog. I will definitely pull my socks up and post regularly. Hopefully, I'll manage to project a topic/article that will be worthy of mention over at the site mentioned above but for now, I'll end this explanation post so that I can get on to the good stuff: tracking down urban legend info!

Thanks for your patience, all!

myth~~

Santa Is From Canada (Just So You Know)

I was in a store just a few days after Hallowe'en and saw and heard what most North Americans have also been seeing and hearing... CHRISTMAS displays and Christmas tunes!

Now, this isn't going to be a ranty post about blatant and detrimental materialism, consumerism and commerce in North America (don't get me started!!! get SCOTT started: somelikeitscott (likes to get started, trust me). Nor is it going to be a cranky ol' post about how, in all the Christmas Season panic that occurs each year, many people often forget about deeper origins of Christmas... Heck, this isn't even going to be about:

• How Christmans might just be rooted in Paganism
• How Christmas causes many individuals HUGE degrees of stress each year rather than being a "fun" event
• How stress affects recovering addicts and is a prime time for RELAPSE
• Or... any of the other things most people are writing about at this time of year if they are already feeling stressed out 

BY THE FACT THAT MICHAEL MYERS MASKS ARE BARELY OFF THE SHELVES SO THAT XMAS ORNAMENTS CAN BE TAKING UP SPACE...

(by the way, if you'd like to try something UNIQUE this Christmas - just decorate your house with all the Hallowe'en knick-knacks and ornaments this year... have a Spooky Christmas, serve your Turkey in a skull bowl, your ketchup from an IV bag so it looks like a ketchup/blood transfusion.... JUST SAYIN'........)

 What THIS POST IS ABOUT IS...

Setting the darn record straight!

SANTA IS CANADIAN!!!

Get it right, international people... that's right - Santa is Canadian...

His address uses the Canadian Postal code H0H 0H0, that's "HO HO HO."

It's a Canadian postal address...so bazillions of excited children each year have the opportunity to write to Santa - and DO each year (OFFICIALLY since around 1982, says Snopes .com: TRUTH, Santa's Addy H0H 0H0 - True urban legend tidbit at Snopes ). I just wanted to get that off my puffed up Canadian chest... EARLY...

 Because

Christmas truly IS NOT my favourite holiday and I just wanted to get this all out early...

When I get grouchy (but not Scrooge-like) as Christmas closes in on me (it feels like being trapped sometimes), and when people start accusing me of being a damn SCROOGE McCanuck, I will refer back to this post and tell people - I GAVE OUT SANTA'S ADDRESS EARLY THIS YEAR, so dummy up - I've done my part for 2010!

Additional to providing Santa's address while Vampire Fangs, Michael Myers Masks, Freddy Kruger Claws and all are still being stuffed back into storage for next year's spookiness, I WILL VOLUNTEER around my city when certain volunteerism is needed for low-income residents and homeless people - so that they can receive food, gifts and even a HUG...

YES - I HUG HOMELESS PEOPLE... so Scrooge or not, this is my Christmas contribution - EARLY...

Santa's Address in Canada:

Santa Claus
North Pole
Canada
H0H 0H0

Have a future MERRY CHRISTMAS...

And I really, REALLY DO MEAN IT! (Today, I mean it - really - by the week before Xmas, my smile will be all fake, strained - and I will look like a person caught in a Jigsaw trap *aiiieeee*).

:)

Stingy Jack

An old legend about Hallowe'en goes something like this...

A long, long time ago - a couple hundred years ago, there was a deceitful, bad-tempered drunk everyone called "Stingy Jack." Now, Stingy Jack didn't care what people thought of him and he constantly ticked people off by playing practical jokes on unsuspecting bystanders.

Nobody was suprised when, one late night, while Jack was in a public house (a pub) drinking as usual - he got in a tad bit of trouble...

...you see - Jack ran into The Devil, Himself on this fateful cold, autumn evening.

As I already mentioned, Jack was drinking at the public house when a stranger sat beside him. Stingy and cheap as he was, Jack hadn't brought enough money with him and looked upon the stranger as an easy target for manipulation to garner himself a little more to drink before the night wore on. Jack struck up some conversation and in a short while, he offered his soul to the Devil in exchange for one last drink.

With the deal spoken, the Devil changed himself into a sixpence as payment to the bartender for Stingy Jack's drink but Jack took action in the blink of an eye and scooped up the sixpence off the counter, dropping it quickly in his pocket - right beside a silver cross. The proximity to the silver cross kept the Devil from being able to shape shift back into human form, so with the Devil literally at his mercy, Stingy Jack offered new terms to the Devil. Jack made the Devil promise to leave him alone for 10 years and if this was agreed upon, only then would Jack release the Devil from his pocket. Once the Devil agreed to this, Jack downed his drink and got up to leave, flicking the coin/sixpence in the corner while he was on his way out the door. As promised, the Devil let Jack alone and didn't bother him again.

That is - the Devil didn't bother Stingy Jack for all of ten years...as per agreement.

One night, 10 years after the incident in the public house, Jack was walking alone on a cold, dark, autumn night - along a winding path, working his way home (probably from the public house...again!). The Devil was hiding behind an apple tree a little way down the road and once Jack came near, the Devil jumped out and blocked Stingy Jack's progress. The Devil told Jack he had come to claim his soul, as per agreement. Still quick-thinking, Jack didn't bother to argue at all but asked, instead, for the Devil to allow him the pleasure of one last, juicy apple before taking his soul forever. The Devil agreed to this and jumped up in the apple tree to fetch Jack an apple...

As soon as the Devil leaped upward into the tree, Stingy Jack threw down a number of crosses on the ground all around the trunk of the apple tree... this trapped the Devil where he perched above in the tree. This time, Jack made the Devil promise NOT TO take his soul once Jack died. The Devil ended up having to agree to Jack's demand or else remain stuck in the apple tree. The Devil wasn't happy about this at all but after only a few moments of deliberation, the Devil agreed.

A few years later, Stingy Jack passed away. The Devil kept to his agreement, however, and did NOT try to collect Jack's soul in any way.

When Jack's spirit arrived at the Gates of Heaven, Saint Peter refused to let Jack in. The bad-tempered, miserable person Jack was all his life was not ever going to be welcome in Heaven, and Saint Peter promptly turned Jack away. This meant Jack had to go the other way and go ask for admittance from the Devil - in Hell.

When Jack arrived at the brink of Hell, the Devil remembered him and reminded Jack of the agreements made years ago. The Devil was simply keeping to His word - which meant Jack's soul would have no entry anywhere and Jack was turned away - even from Hell...

When Jack asked, "But where will I go now?"
The Devil responded, "Back to where you came from."

Jack turned to go but it was dark, so Jack asked the Devil for at least a little light so he'd be able to find his way around.

To that, the Devil tossed some embers at Jack - burning coals from the depths of Hell, and yelled, "BEGONE!"

Jack found and hollowed out a turnip and put the embers from Hell inside so the burning matter could be carried. Since the time when Stingy Jack was refused entry to Heaven and also banned from Hell, he has been wandering the Earth without a place to righfully settle. He is forever doomed, his only light, the embers of Hell burning from within the turnip he found.

Blake4D Interviews Montague The Vampire

If you want to read something that'll knock your socks off, go read about my friend, Blake4d and his interview with Montague The Vampire...

Fictional account?

I don't know... you'll have to learn for yourself - what you think this interview is about. Certainly, Montague is an interesting fellow.

Dark Art - An Interview With A Modern American Vampire On Being Human, Immortal, And The Practice of The Dark Arts by Blake4D a,k,a. Blake Hall IV

What do I know about Blake4d?

He's INTENSE and PASSIONATE... and very clever. If this little piece of written work is via Blake's passion and creativity, so be it... in my experience, many of the things Blake says/writes are not to be taken in 2-dimensional literal sense but offer TRUTHS of an abstract kind that many of us should pay attention to for their multidimensional qualities and inferences.

In the interview, the subject - Montague - claims to be a vampire, and also - to be a practitioner in the dark arts, among other things...

Take note (for those who would foolishly trade THIS life for that of one in vampire flesh and being) that Montague states, in no uncertain terms, that our society and media influences upon society have turned the idea of "the Vampire" into beings of no more depth than of clowns or criminals.

What do I THINK of the interview/article?

I think that the article contains a number of important messages that people should hear - about the media, religions, society, about our inner selves and truths within us... however, I do not know where Blake found this Montague...

Let me know what you think of Montague...

New Blog - Introductory Post: Crossing and Stepping Over Lines

As explained in the first post of my new blog, I have been crossing and stepping over lines in the past 8-12 months. Necessarily, a new blog has been created - for discussion on topics which veer away from folklore, urban legends, mythology, fairy tales and appropriate topics for THIS blog.

In the last year, I've found myself in discussions online on a myriad of topics and have had to take a much closer look at topics that most people deem to be "weird tales" and "strange fodder," however - in my examinations of these weird tales (on topics such as black eyed kids, shadow people, harlequins, ghosts, etc) I'm finding information that is not so weird after all...which ends up also directing me straight into the study of CONSPIRACIES...

There ARE many explanations for things that a general public says are "too weird to be true," and - in the least - I have felt it important to treat "accounts" of events as being true for those who experienced the events. The latter statement is something that seems hard for people or any individual to do unless a measure of humane empathy is employed, along with a great deal of patience...but I've been working on maintaining empathy and patience so that I can LISTEN to 'witnesses' of various paranormal/unexplained events and situations. I've been reading a LOT in the past 6 months - and when people notice the titles of WHAT I am reading, I'm invariably discriminated against - as some mere idiot or flake...so I'm trying to have a great deal of patience with a number of real life acquaintances, too...who seem to not recall that people like Charles Fort and John Keel (recently passed on, R.I.P. Mr. Keel) were not mere laymen in their fields!!!

So I've been listening, reading, engaging in discussion about things like black eyed kids, ghosts, shadow people, conspiracies, propaganda, etc. and let me tell you... as strange as these topics are or as strange as they seem or sound... these ARE topics that a general public might do well to get involved in for discussion. The "incidents" of UFO, ghost, BEK, shadow people, demons, and more are NOT decreasing...eventually, in my opinion, nearly ALL OF US will end up seeing SOMETHING paranormal and unexplained - usually quite frightening and disconcerting...and I've found that many people who DO SAY SOMETHING - do so in a whisper, briefly and then clam up, fearing societal backlash or ridicule about their mention of an unexplained happening or experience...

I'm not sure there are wholly scientific explanations for many things "out there," and I'm quite convinced that a number of things we believe are paranormal and unexplained have explanations in psychological terms but are going to continue to be ignored - when really - THERE ARE ANSWERS - even if many "sightings" originate within our own minds, in our neuroses (most of the civilized world isn't as "civilized" and well-mannered as we like to think...) and psyches. BOTTOM LINE: what is felt as a real experience BECOMES a real life experience for the person/people who live through an experience...whether that experience was influenced by glitches in the brain (pareidolia, for example), came from a true external source, or not.

Hence, the need to get THESE and related topics OFF the Urban Legends/Folklore/Fairy Tales blog and on to a space set aside for such discussions.

New blog: Mythbuster2009's Conspiracies and Weird Stuff
Drop by the new blog and add to any discussion you see over there, suggest a topic for research or discussion, let me/us know if you've had a paranormal/unexplained event experience or if you have a theory on conspiracies.

Sticks and Stones Myth

I recently wrote an article over at HP (Hub Pages) about the myth/saying "Sticks and Stones." This saying about sticks and stones is actually a very common IDIOM which is, in fact, largely untrue. Rather, it's sort of a 'safe face/comeback" link in this day and age. Sort of a last word resort - if you manage to be able to have the last word and walk away from any conversation in which you find the need to use this idiom.

The article: Sticks and Stones: The Myth That Words Will Never Hurt You

"Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones
But Words Will Never Hurt Me."

Yeah right-o, brave and unaffected, oh - unemotional warrior of the human species...

You're DARN RIGHT words hurt! Well, at least until you become unattached to what was said - which takes some personal self skill-building, to say the least.

The idiom is designed to convey: an opinion that people cannot hurt you with bad things they say or write about you - that you (or the receiver of the words) is not going to be affected by mere words.

Cases where this idiom falls distinctly flat are:

• * Damage of words in the press to celebrities/public personas, even if the words about the celebrity turn out to be outright lies.
• * Where anyone emotionally sensitive is concerned ie: children (who may not be at an advanced level of being able to think and respond critically with reasoned thinking and responses. Children may internalize what they hear in a self-damaging way).
• * Where anyone emotionally unstable is concerned ie: persons afflicted with mental illness or even anyone under mental duress whereby the stress is undermining reasoned thinking. Those experiencing mental illnes, mental instability, high levels of stress may also internalize and feel exceptionally vulnerable to derogatory words, remarks, articles, etc.
• * Where oppressed and minority individuals/groups are concerned ie: these individuals or groups have already been harmed or at least consider themselves (sometimes) under attack, and so might be internalizing derogatory remarks, words, media reports, etc.  ++There are more, but these are the most common.

The point is...the human species has a great capacity for using words and also the ability to use words in a well-reasoned, respectful way. In almost every case of bullying or verbal attack, there IS a better, more effective way to put words and concepts across than with harsh statements, bullyish means.

For almost every statement of, "He/She should have been able to tell I was joking" and "She/He just took what I said all wrong - I was just being a little sarcastic," that are used as a cover when trying to joke or explain a way out of being blamed for bullying, there are additional "blames" upon the receiver of the verbal abuse in question.

People who use words harshly and who bully with words are rarely able to come up with a very good reason for doing so and, therefore, continue to blame the already-abused person.

Lack of accountability - or "mock accountability" (jokingly saying "sorry" when it is apparent that "sorry" is not a heartfelt response) is so prevalent in many cultures of supposedly "advanced" nations that we are basically accustomed to sarcasm, "double-talk," "slights," and all manner of harmful use of words.

More true than "Sticks and stones may break our bones but words will never hurt us," is the idiom, "Words Can CUT LIKE A KNIFE," and, in a more positive way, "A Kind Word Never Goes Unrewarded."

Just blurbing here...and hope that sometime, somewhere, if someone remembers this post and they're about to let loose with a sarcasm or hurtful words in a state of emotional thinking, they'll simply go with, perhaps, the safest alternative: "If You Can't Say Something Nice, Don't Say Anything At All."

Alternatives To Science: Charles Fort

The late Charles Fort (August 6, 1874 – May 3, 1932) seemed to start out life enjoying science immensely - or at least his early interest as a naturalist probably brought him to examine many things within the viewpoint of science. At some point, however, Charles Fort became very critical of the hard sciences, saying that most science and scientists relegate those things that science has trouble classifying and explaining into a non-category of 'damned' things. In other words, science and scientists often choose to discount or 'damn' things that do not have a simple or scientifically-based explanation.

Deeming an object or phenomena as 'damned' or untrue, false or unimportant just because someone or an academic discipline choose(s) not to pursue classification or explanations of an object or phenomena was inherently wrong and irresponsible in the mind of Charles Fort. Consequently, Fort turned from naturalist-science to naturalist and researcher of all objects and phenomena routinely discounted and 'damned' by the hard sciences. Essentially, we can say that Fort studied in the field of 'science of the damned.' Perhaps better stated, Fort examined "damned by science" topics, phenomena and items, and dedicated his energies and lifetime to these studies.

Here's an interesting radio show broadcast where the topic of discussion is the late Charles Fort. This is just one part of the "Charles Fort" topic on the Coast To Coast AM Radio Show - but is enough to provide you with examples of Fortean ideas and to gain some tidbits on the late Mr. Fort:



I'm sure you've been able to take note of my excessive use of the word "damned" in this post. I've used the word a lot because it is in the title of, perhaps, one of the world's most eye opening books about strange creatures and phenomena that science tends to treat as ridiculous, unreal and forgettable. The book is Charles Fort's "Book Of The Damned." Even if Fort has not been able to explain the existence of certain phenomena and items, with his Book Of The Damned, he clearly makes it known that unexplained things and happenings ARE PART OF OUR WORLD, whether science appreciates these things and events or not.

To view an online version of Fort's Book of the Damned:
Hypertext Version of Charles Hoy Fort's Book Of The Damned
Please enjoy Mr. Fort's wit and more than a few tongue-in-cheek comments Mr. Fort makes in his text. His frustration with 'the authority of science' is clearly discernible in his book.

If you'd like a PDF version of "Book of the Damned" for absolutely free, please see the left-hand sidebar for a free download. Also in the left-hand sidebar, Charles Fort's "New Lands" in PDF format. Just right-click and download for free and you'll stay on this page while being able to download in a new window.