Spooky Ghost Pic

Sorry for not posting for the last few days. I've been too tired to do it after work, and later in the day I just had no ambition. So to make up for it I have this pic. It's a fake, in fact I have a couple pics with the same "ghost" in differnt locations on my Tower, but since I can't get to them. I will use this copy. It is a fake, but it is still kind of spooky. The rest of site I got this from wasn't too impresive, but this pic was good.

Funny Stuff

Saw this on The Anarchangel I thought it was funny and thought I would share with my readers.

" Talking to prisoners about guns emphasizes a few key lessons. First, criminals don't obey the law. (That's why we call them "criminals.")

Curse of the Mummy - The Sinking of the Titanic

From Castle Of Spirits



Of all tales of the supernatural, this one is perhaps the best documented, the most disturbing and the most difficult to explain.

The Princess of Amen-Ra lived some 1,500 years before Christ. When she died, she was laid in an ornate wooden coffin and buried deep in a vault at Luxor, on the banks of the Nile. In the late 1890s, four rich, young, Englishmen visiting the excavations at Luxor were invited to buy an exquisitely fashioned mummy case containing the remains of Princess of Amen-Ra.

They drew lots. The man who won paid several thousand pounds and had the coffin taken to his hotel. A few hours later, he was seen walking out towards the desert. He never returned. The next day, one of the remaining three men was shot by an Egyptian servant accidentally. His arm was so severely wounded it had to be amputated. The third man in the foursome found on his return home that the bank holding his entire savings had failed. The fourth man suffered a severe illness, lost his job and was reduced to selling matches in the street.

Nevertheless, the coffin reached England (causing other misfortunes along the way), where it was bought by a London businessman . After three of his family members had been injured in a road accident and his house damaged by fire, the businessman donated it to the British Museum . As the coffin was being unloaded from a truck in the museum courtyard, the truck suddenly went into reverse and trapped a passer-by . Then as the casket was being lifted up the stairs by two workmen, one fell and broke his leg . The other, apparently in perfect health, died unaccountably two days later . Once the Princess was installed in the Egyptian Room, trouble really started . Museum's night watchmen frequently heard frantic hammering and sobbing from the coffin . Other exhibits in the room were also often hurled about at night . One watchman died on duty; causing the other watchmen wanting to quit. Cleaners refused to go near the Princess too . When a visitor derisively flicked a dust cloth at the face painted on the coffin, his child died of measles soon afterwards. Finally, the authorities had the mummy carried down to the basement . Figuring it could not do any harm down there. Within a week, one of the helpers was seriously ill, and the supervisor of the move was found dead on his desk.

By now, the papers had heard of it. A journalist photographer took a picture of the mummy case and when he developed it, the painting on the coffin was of a horrifying, human face. The photographer went home then, locked his bedroom door and shot himself.

Soon afterwards, the museum sold the mummy to a private collector. After continual misfortune (and deaths), the owner banished it to the attic. A well known authority on the occult, Madame Helena Blavatsky, visited the premises. Upon entry, she was seized with a shivering fit and searched the house for the source of "an evil influence of incredible intensity". She finally came to the attic and found the mummy case. "Can you exorcise this evil spirit ?" asked the owner . "There is no such thing as exorcism. Evil remains evil forever . Nothing can be done about it. I implore you to get rid of this evil as soon as possible". But no British museum would take the mummy; the fact that almost 20 people had met with misfortune, disaster or death from handling the casket, in barely 10 yrs, was now well known.

Eventually, a hard-headed American archaeologist (who dismissed the happenings as quirks of circumstance), paid a handsome price for the mummy and arranged for its removal to New York . In April of 1912, the new owner escorted its treasure aboard a sparkling, new White Star liner about to make its maiden voyage to New York.

On the night of April 14, amid scenes of unprecedented horror, the Princess of Amen-Ra accompanied 1,500 passengers to their deaths at the bottom of the Atlantic. The name of the ship was Titanic.

OTHER STRANGE STORIES ABOUT THE TITANIC

Newspaper Article
Would you believe this appeared in a 1993 newspaper??

* There was a story going round that the number on the hull of the Titanic was 390904 which, if you turned round (and maybe stood on your head?), spelled out the message "NO POPE". This of course is untrue - The real hull no. of the Titanic was 131,428.

* Two seamen said that they'd seen six men shot down like dogs.

* A second-class survivor "Emilio Portualuppi" told a story upon his return to New York of spending hours riding a large block of ice.

* A seaman on the Carpathia told of how a Newfoundland dog called "Rigel" had jumped from the sinking ship and somehow miraculously escorted a lifeboat to the Carpathia. The dog barked as it approached the Carpathia letting everyone know it was coming.

* Another weird story that appeared in the newspapers was about six Chinese survivors who had apparently hidden beneath the seats of one of the Titanic's lifeboats. No one knew they were there until the lifeboats had been take on board the Carpathia. It was also reported that two others who were hidden got crushed by some fat ladies who were sitting above them. The other 6 Chinese survived due to the fact that lighter ladies were sitting on top of them.

* Marie Young told of how she'd seen the iceberg and hour before the collision.

* A banker from Philadelphia was under the impression that he'd managed to take over the Carpathia's wireless during the trip back.

* One first class passenger "George Brayton" told a newspaper of his impression:

"The moon was shining and a number of us who were enjoying the crisp air were promenading about the deck. Captain Smith was on the bridge when the first cry from the lookout came that there was an iceberg ahead. It may have been 300 feet high when I saw it. The accident happened at about 10:30 p.m. About midnight I think came the first boiler explosion. Then for the first time, I think, Captain Smith began to get worried..."

Talk about Tall tales - this one is a BEAUTY! I keep getting this story submitted to me as a true ghost story. It's pretty obvious that it's a tall tale of the Titanic and never really happened - a dead giveaway is the fact that the Titanic hit a bloody big Iceberg which sank it, which had nothing to do with a Mummy in the cargo. There was no Princess of Amen-ra - and she definitely wasn't buried at Luxor. I have seen this story on the net everywhere - you can't really miss it.

From what I can tell this story was started by some newspaper in New York - they ran a story about the Titanic being sunk by the curse of a mummy (an Egyptian King) in the cargo hold. They stated that the mummy was being smuggled to America by an unscrupulous art dealer who wanted to sell the mummy to a museum in New York for $500,000.00. The money was to be split amongst himself and the thieves who ransacked the tomb of this Egyptian King.

Now it seems that Anubis (the Egyptian God of the dead) was apparently totally unhappy about having one of his Egyptian Kings sold off and smuggled to New York so he took it upon himself to sink the Titanic and see that the mummy went to the bottom of the sea along with the ship and most of it's passengers. Hence the Curse of the Mummy was born.

Other versions of this story tell of the mummy being placed in a lifeboat as the Titanic was sinking. It eventually reaches New York and causes all the usual havoc so it is sent back to Egypt on the "Empress of Ireland" which also sank with a great loss of life. The mummy also managed to survive this sinking by once again being placed in a life boat. It was then attempted to resend the mummy back to Egypt on the "Lusitania", but this time the ship sank and took the mummy along with it. The mummy supposedly now resides at the bottom of the ocean in the "Lusitania's" cargo hold.

Happy Birthday Windows!

While I was reading Slashdot I came across this.

"When Windows first shipped, 20 years ago this month, it was considered nothing more than a slow operating environment that had arrived late to the party, well behind the industry leaders, Apple and Xerox PARC. Now, it's the operating system used on nearly 95 percent of all the desktops and notebooks sold worldwide. Take a look at Window's past and present, and what lies ahead in the future, including an interview with Mr. Bill Gates himself."

It doesn't seem like 20 years. Of course the fact that most people's first encounter with Windows was Windows 3.1 and that came out alot more recently, only about 15 years ago (I think. I wasn't too into computers when it came out and it doesn't have a handy number like Windows 95, 98, or ME do.)

The Ouija Board

Here is today's spooky post. Like before the text comes from Castle Of Spirits. Please note that I don't realy agree with some of the author's opinions, but they are still in here since they are part of the article. Like yesterday, if you have any stories to tell, post them in the comments.

Tomarrow's post will be about a mummy's curse.



Ouija Boards

what you've always wanted to know

Being the receiver of many many ghostly and paranormal stories the most common stories I receive are of peoples experiences with Ouija boards. I find it silly that people always say "I had to burn the Ouija board because it was evil".

It's merely a game - a toy ...................well that's what it's marketed as!!

What is an Ouija Board Anyhow?

An Ouija board is used to have what is commonly known as a seance. It is used as a means to contact the spirits of the dead.

The name Ouija is pronounced as WEE-JA and commonly mispronounced as "OUIJI", there is in fact no such thing as a Ouiji Board (maybe we should market one?). The name Ouija is currently owned and Trademarked by Parker Brothers in the USE.

The meaning of OUIJA is a combination of the French and German words for "yes". Funnily enough the boards now sold by Parker Bros. are produced in Salem, USA.

Ouija boards usually consist of the full alphabet and the words YES, NO and GOODBYE. Other boards contain more detail, I find these boards particularly useless as the spirits seem to get confused easily and unable to communicate through the boards covered in letters and colours.

As mentioned before the name Ouija and Ouija Board is owned by Parker Brothers, hence the appearance of many other boards such as "The Psychic Circle" and others.

The idea of the Ouija board first came about in 1848 when two sisters in the USA believed they could talk to a spirit and started up a simple form of communicating with it by tapping on a table or the wall, each tap or knock represented a letter of the alphabet.

The world soon became aware of the spirit world and everyone wanted a go at contacting a spirit it seems.

Various odd ways of speaking with spirits soon developed until finally a useful and different board design was thought up by 3 Americans, this soon became the Ouija Board. It's was originally thought that one of those 3 men, Charles Kennard, thought up the name Ouija, supposedly after the Egyptian word for Good Luck. The word Ouija is not Egyptian for good luck. A Company who produced the board commercially was founded and the first boards rolled off the production line.

A new owner soon took over - he was the famous William Fuld, pretty soon he was producing Ouija Boards in record numbers. The Fuld family owned the business until 1966 when Parker Brothers took over.

In 1973 a horror movie was released which was to have a profound impact on the Ouija board

The films name name was "The Exorcist"

The Ouija board then suffered a great decline - people believed the Exorcist, they thought that if they played with a board or went near it they would suffer the same fate as Reagan and be possessed by the evil Pazuzu or some other rogue demon.

Matters weren't helped when it went round that the Exorcist was supposedly based on a true story.

Since then it has suffered much bad publicity and all sorts of religious damings. People are scared of the board and quite often feel compelled to go and burn it in the backyard. There should be no need to do this as it's only a cheap piece of wood with some writing on it - there is nothing evil about an Ouija board.

Important Things about Ouija Boards:

YOU GET WHAT YOU ASK FOR

1. It is not evil - it's merely a board with some black letters and a planchette
2. If you go looking for evil or demons you might possibly get something unwanted such as that - I've heard of stories of people trying to invoke demons and the like - they suddenly find members of their family having tragic accidents and suddenly developing terminal diseases with no ill effect to themselves - don't do it - it's not worth trying - otherwise be prepared to deal with what you bring on!
3. Spirits that talk through the board are just like you and me - they deserve respect and should be treated well
4. Nothing will come from a board if you leave it lying around - you do not need to burn it or throw it away if you have a bad experience - it cannot work without people making it work
5. ALWAYS include prayers amongst the circle of people involved in the seance to both OPEN and close the circle. It is a good idea to make sure you protect yourself before the seance is begun with a few prayers..
6. Never let anyone be involved in a seance who is under the influence of drugs or alcohol
7. Tiredness will stop the board from working properly - make sure all members of the seance are fully awake and not overly tired.
8. Non believers and overly skeptical people will also ruin a seance, it's a good idea to approach a board with an open mind and a willingness to accept whatever comes forth.
9. Don't all start arguing about who's moving the planchette - this is a common thing - it upsets the mood and some people get very angry and ruin the entire thing. If you feel that someone is pushing the planchette ask them to remove their hands for a short time.
10. DON'T ASK THE SPIRITS TO PROVE THEY ARE THERE - Just think about it for a while - if you ask them to prove that they are there OF COURSE something is going to happen - whether it be rattling cupboards or windows - temperature dropping - things being thrown across the room - movement of other objects - you asked them to prove they are there and they are just showing you that they are.....they can't simply send you a letter in the mail saying "hey - by the way - I was there the other night and this is just to prove it".
ALSO it is strongly believed that if you do ask a spirit to prove that it is there that you are opening up a doorway to the other side, one that is very hard to close, you are inviting unwanted guests into this world that you may not be able to send home. Once they are here they are almost impossible to get rid of and you might find you have something attched to you and following you around causing trouble for life.

11. YOU ARE NOT BRINING SPIRITS INTO THIS WORLD BY MERELY TALKING TO THEM THROUGH A BOARD - As stated above, you may bring them back into this world by inviting them in (this is not my personal belief) so be careful - don't invite anything in. But just by using a board and talking to spirits you aren't going to pull them into this world and trap them here or anything. The Ouija board is merely a tool to talk to spirits who are all ready here and this does not create some kind of votex to trap and pull spirits back into our own world.

How Does it Work?

There are many many theories as to why and how a board works. Psychologists explain it as a simple muscle reflex that makes your hand automatically move and your subconscious mind control the words that are spelled out. Who knows maybe this is so. I know that I've seen unexplainable things which cannot simply be muscles and subconscious minds controlling the planchette. On many occasions I have seen a planchette move around the board on it's own, with no fingers touching it. I have seen dead relatives that people didn't even know they had step forward time and time again, the relative operating the board would look into their family history to find that this person really did exist. So what is it that makes it go, the truth is nobody really knows the answer - there's plenty of theories around but no one can prove them!


Getting Started - How Do I Work A Ouija Board?

* 2 or more people are recommended for using the Ouija board - more than three can be a bit two crowded - the general feeling is that three is just about the right amount for a seance.
* Form a circle around the board with all participating members
* Link hands left on top of right
* Say any prayers that you wish - we recommend the "Point of Light" and Psalm 23
* Place 2 fingers of each person upon the planchette
* Have someone standing by with a pen and paper to write everything down
* Ask questions such as "Would anyone like to come forth and talk"?
* Make sure only one person asks questions at a time which avoids confusion
* Never EVER ask for anything you do not wish to deal with - do not do the typical stupid teenage thing of asking for a "sign" that the spirit is really there
* If the board does not work try swapping participants around and taking some participants hands off the planchette
* The planchette should start off by spinning circles - some say that this is the spirit trying to gain energy to communicate - some say it is the spirit finding it's way around the board.
* If you do not understand what the spirit is trying to communicate to you ask it to either repeat it or ask questions that will clearly define what you would like to know.
* If a spirit appears to be having trouble communicating ask what you can do to improve the communication
* If a spirit points to "good bye" let it go
* If you want to finish the seance place the planchette on "Good Bye" and say that you are now leaving. Everyone should then remove their hands from the board and the table. The board will be closed.

Spirits are just like you and me - a lot of the time they get impatient and cannot spell - they sometimes use letters like U for You and R for are, 2 for to and so on. Quite often they simply use the initial of the person they are talking about (or to) instead of spelling out their name. Be aware that it requires a lot of energy on both sides to have a seance going. If the spirit gets tired they find it difficult to communicate with us and things will not run as well or as smoothly as you would wish. Since so much energy is used a possession or something similar would almost be unthinkable and unrealistic (and impossible) - it just doesn't happen!

Should a spirit show up that is overly rude, annoying or appears to have a violent personality communication should be broken immediately - do not attempt to talk to this spirit in any way shape or form - if you keep the board open it will only return and annoy you - it's best that you stop the seance, put the board away, and give it a rest for a while, hopefully the next seance will not bring back this pesky spirit.

Sometimes spirits will show up as liars and deceivers - just like they were in human form - there aren't so many out there like this - but they are out there - don't believe everything you are told - or if you are told something, try to prove it to yourself by trying to find evidence to prove it.


Make Your Own Ouija Board

The home made board is an easy one and usually done at parties. I've seen this done many many times and I've done it myself and it works. Simple and easy to do it's a great way to get your own board happening.

You need 1 large table (a dining table is a good idea) with a polished surface. You need some paper and a glass. Simply draw out the alphabet along with the words "yes" "no" and "goodbye" on the paper and either cut or rip into squares around each letter and the words. Place letters around in a large circle with the words in the middle (this is why you need a large table). Use the glass as the planchette and go for it.

I guess the overall message is to be aware of what is going on, be cautious, be open minded and most of all don't be frightened of the mystical Ouija board.

Rowena Gilbert
Castle of Spirits

Forgot Something

I should have mentioned this yesterday when I was talking about Yahoo and MSN joining forces to take on AOL. Apparently Google is going to enter the IM battle. I might have to check it out when they release it.

The ACLU's Courtroom Winnings

Found this on Stop The ACLU. It is part of a list of money that the ACLU won after court cases. Here are the ones that made me mad.

$790,000 = San Diego

The ACLU was given $790,000 after suing to nullify a lease between the city of San Diego and the Boy Scouts of America. A federal judge sided with the ACLU, ruling that the Boy Scouts are a religious organization because they require kids to pledge an oath to God and promise to live a “morally straight”

$110,000 = Multnomah County (Oregon)

Incredibly, Multnomah County taxpayers were asked to pay a whopping $110,000 after the ACLU sued them for allowing the Boy Scouts of America to recruit on public school campuses.

$111,000 = Operation Rescue

Operation Rescue was ordered to pay the ACLU $111,000 after losing a lawsuit in which the ACLU sought to prevent the organization from picketing near abortion clinics.

$37,037 = Loudoun County (Va.)

The ACLU was awarded $37,037 after winning a lawsuit to prevent a Loudoun County (Va.) from installing pornography filters on public library computers.



Then there are a few that I have to comment on.

$6,000,000 = American taxpayers

The ACLU, along with other pro-abortion organizations, have shared in court awards estimated to be worth roughly six million dollars following the Supreme Court’s decision in which they declared the Nebraska partial birth abortion ban unconstitutional. Reportedly, these lawsuits affected thirty states.

Could someone show me where the Constitution talks about Abortion

$135,000 = Cobb County (Ga.)

The ACLU is scheduled to receive $135,000 from Cobb County taxpayers, after suing the county to remove warning stickers from the district biology books. The stickers simply read, “Evolution is a theory, not a fact.”

But it is a theory, not a fact!

$156,960 = Nebraska

The ACLU was awarded $156,960 after a judge overturned an amendment to the Nebraska Constitution defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The amendment was approved by 70 percent of Nebraska voters.

Yes ladies and gentlemen, the ACLU sued and won a lawsuit that the people wanted. If you didn't think all the complaint's of judicial tyrant (hope I spelt that right) are valid and think the ACLU is helping people, this is all the proof you should need.

The End Of The World Coming Soon?

I was just waching CNN Headling News and they had a story about the fact that some people believe that the recent natural disasters, as well as recent wars, are all signs leading up to the end of the world. They use passages from the book of Revalation as proof that the end is near.

First, I would like to thank CNN and every one they talked to for saying Revalation, not Revalations.

Second, one of the people they talked to was Pat Robertson (big shock there.) Why is it that every major news network has to talk to Robertson any time they do a story about anything related to the Bible and Christianity? Is he our official spokesperson?

Anyways, some people are saying that the end is near. What do I say? I say lets wait and see. I believe in the Bible, cover to cover. But at the same time I have heard too many stories of people through out the centuries that have believed in the Bible and thought the end was near. There have been predictions since the middle ages, maybe before that, but we are still here. Like I said, we will have to wait and see. Only God knows when he will end it all.

The Princess Bride: The Musical

Saw this on Slashdot

from the singing-rodents-of-unusual-size dept.
adamy writes "Maybe a good thing, maybe a bad thing. William Goldman has started collaborating on a Musical version of the Time honored classic. Guess the only thing left to do now is go through the pockets and look for loose change."

I wonder who will play Fezik. Anyone could play the other parts, but who could replace Andre The Giant? Maybe they will ask The Big Show. After all, when he first showed up in WCW, he was called The Giant and was suppose to be Andre's son. And we know he can sing from a segment on Saterday Night Live several years ago, when The Rock was hosting. Show, Mic Foley, and several others joined The Rock to sing a song. It was funny.

Bloody Mary

After watching Supernatural last night, I decided to make today's spooky post about Bloody Mary. I have never tried this, so if you have, let me know what happened. Like yesterday the info comes from Castle Of Spirits



The supernatural game Bloody Mary has gained immense popularity over the past couple of years. It seems that every group of teenage girls that get together all delight in trying to invoke the evil spirit of Bloody Mary by daring each other to go into the bathroom, face the mirror and chant Bloody Mary three times - there is story after story of girls running out hysterical and never speaking of what happened alone in the bathroom after chanting.

But the questions most asked remain to be answered - Where did this game come from? What actually happens when you chant Bloody Mary?, I have endeavored to do a bit of research and find out some more information for those who dare to enter the bathroom and play this supernatural game.

The game has been featured in the media quite a bit - You can see a similar version in an episode of X-files, "The Forbidden" (Books of Blood, Vol.5) by Clive Barker has the game in it, the film was later used as a basis for the motion picture "Candyman". Other movies such as The Craft feature the girls having a go at it and also the characters in the film Urban Legend.

SO YOU'D LIKE TO HAVE A GO AT IT YOURSELF?

WHAT DO I DO TO PLAY BLOODY MARY?


The most common version is to enter the bathroom BY YOURSELF (don't you dare take your giggling girlfriends along!). Either lock yourself in there or shut the door, turn out the lights and then light a candle either in front of the mirror directly in front of you or light 2 candles either side of the mirror. Close your eyes and concentrate, slowly chant "Bloody Mary" three times and see what happens. I can't guarantee that you will ever return from the bathroom.

OTHER VERSIONS

The amount of Chants always changes - it can be repeated anywhere from one time to 100 times (I think if you had to chant anything more than 5 times you'd start seeing stuff - especially if you spin round at the same time).

Do the bathroom/candle thing - Chant "Bloody Mary" thirteen times in front of the mirror.

You could also use a mirror in a darkened room with candles but the bathroom always works best - Chant "Bloody Mary" whilst spinning around - your voice should start off quietly and gain voice as you spin round, catch a glimpse of the mirror each time you pass it - on the thirteenth chant the spirit will (supposedly) be summoned.

There is also the term "Hell Mary" instead of "Bloody Mary". Hell Mary is more associated with invoking Satan or a Demon. Three "Hell Marys" and the mirror will turn red, Five "Hell Marys" and the Demon or Satans image will appear in the mirror or the walls or even the floor.

In the bathroom (again) chant "I don't believe in Mary Worth" 35 times, then say "I do believe in Mary Worth" - Mary Worth might come out and scratch your eyes out if your lucky.

Bloody Mary doesn't always have the same name - it seems that earlier on she had the more common name of Mary Worth and Mary Willard, other names include Bloody Ted (who will hand out candy - go figure?), Mary Margaruite.

There's a veronica who used the Ouija Board she used a pair of scissors as the planchette and got driven mad by the spirits and ended up killing herself by stabbing herself in the throat with her scissors. If you say her name three times in front of a mirror at midnight you will see her image in the mirror with the scissors still in her neck. If you play the Ouija and invoke her without taking the necessary precautions, she will come for you and kill you with her scissors.

WHAT IS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN?

Well the end result could be anything really - I have warned many people over and over about invoking something that you are not able to deal with so BE WARNED - anything could happen - for some nothing will happen but depending on your psychic and clairvoyant abilities (which you may not know you have) you could have a range of weird and whacky things happen.

So far I've been told of these things happening:


The most common result- Bloody Mary (who is NOT a nice spirit) appears drenched in blood, reaches her arms out of the mirror towards you and scratches your eyes out or your face or your body.

The spirit appears in the mirror with a mauled decomposing face.

The spirit may strike you dead.

You may go insane.

Evil red eyes are seen in the mirror and sometimes the mirror and walls could bleed.

The spirit is said to be able to pull you through the mirror (I don't think anyone would enjoy this).

Some have said to run out of the bathroom with bleeding hands and scratches on them.

Many have run out terrified and will not speak of what happened.

There are plenty of stories of schoolgirls being found dead at school or dead in the restrooms with their eyes gouged out.

The spirit may slash all your friends throats then come after you.

You could be compelled to slash your own throat or your friends.

It seems there's a never ending list of gruesome things that can happen if you dare to invoke this spirit. Just imagine something nasty and know that if you do go ahead with this game you might encounter that nasty thought for real!

WHO IS BLOODY MARY?


For some strange reason nobody can seem to find anything on this spirit before 1970. It seems Mary gained popularity in the 1970's as a mirror witch. She was a witch that was executed (burnt at the stake) over 100 years ago (of course nobody knows the date - it's always 100 years) for plying the black arts. She readily makes her spirit available to be summoned by any amount of giggling teenage girls (and sometimes boys - although I doubt they giggle about it) whenever they get together for a sleep over. Another story is that she was a women who dealt heavily with black magic who died in a local car accident with her face hideously mutated.

She is always evil looking and either drenched in blood or has long sharp nails. Her appearance (hair colour/eye colour) is never described - I'd imagine it would all be covered in blood anyway.

IF SHE'S SO EVIL WHY WOULD YOUNG KIDS AND TEENAGERS WANT TO PLAY THIS GAME?

Well I guess kids will be kids - Why do children run around in the dark playing other supernatural games? - I guess deep down inside everyone knows it probably isn't real - they know they are most probably not going to see anything or really get their throats cut - how many articles to do you see on the news or in the paper of people playing "Bloody Mary" and dying? Children and teenagers realize this, hearing of such a wicked and frightening game I guess they all delight in picking one friend, shoving them in the bathroom and making them do this - I know that when I was a teenager I would of done it. The reward is for their friend to accidently see their own reflection (or in rare occurrences something supernatural) and totally freak out and make a run for it - what better story can you have than that to impress all your friends with? It can also be a test of courage and anyone brave enough who would go in alone to invoke a devil or evil spirit could use this as a sure fire way to simply impress the rest of their friends.

It's said that these "mirror witch" games could have their roots in divining rituals from 100's of years ago, unmarried girls would chant in a darkened room on a certain night and quickly look in the mirror for their future husband - The Ouija Board also has a history of girls using it to find out who they will marry, this is a common game still to this day - nearly every girl asks that question of the Ouija Board even though it is considered a dangerous and supernatural tool, no girls curiosity can be held off with tales of terror and evil ghosts and spirits.

I think what I'm really trying to say is that I have no idea - kids just do this kind of stuff.

WARNING: One of the most common results of this game is a deep psychological fear of mirrors that can start at an early age if a young person gets dragged into the game when they are not ready to deal with these sorts of things - I have received quite a few emails from adults who still to this day have an intense fear of mirrors and suffered severe anxiety when having to use the bathroom as a young child or teenager. I caution anyone not to simply pick on a friend and shove them in the bathroom, refusing to let them out until they have done the chant - you may be causing harm to this person that is extremely difficult to undo and it may plague that person for the rest of their life. I do not in any way condone or encourage anyone to participate in this game - the information is merely put up here for those who wish to know - if they don't find this information on my page there are plenty of other sites on the Internet where you can find out about the game of BLOODY MARY.

And there is also the fact, of course, that if you are silly enough to believe any of the evil spirits will get you from doing this rather silly game then you deserve what you imagine you might get. :0)

Cool Tech News

Saw on Slashdot

"Betanews has word that Microsoft and Yahoo plan to link their respective IM clients again so that users of both can communicate with each other on one, shared network. Facing threats from third-party applications, like Trillian and Skype, the two tech giants will claim 44% of the instant messaging market, analysts predict. They will also go head to head together with the biggest competitor, AOL."

All I can say is cool. Hopefully someone will finaly be able to dethrone AOL.

Some Interesting Stuff

I followed a link on Habb's site to here. Some stuff I noticed:

The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence's website displays this oft-quoted "fact": "The risk of homicide in the home is three times greater in households with guns." Their web site fails to mention that Dr. Arthur Kellermann, the "expert" who came up with that figure, later backpedaled after others discredited his studies for failing to follow standard scientific procedures.

Note, I am not bashing the Brady Center here. I am just using them as an example. Isn't it interesting how groups will ignore information that disproves or discredits their position on an issue?

"More Guns, Less Crime" author John Lott points out that, in general, our mainstream media fails to inform the public about defensive uses of guns. "Hardly a day seems to go by," writes Lott, "without national news coverage of yet another shooting. Yet when was the last time you heard a story on the national evening news about a citizen saving a life with a gun? . . . An innocent person's murder is more newsworthy than when a victim brandishes a gun and an attacker runs away with no crime committed. . . . [B]ad events provide emotionally gripping pictures. Yet covering only the bad events creates the impression that guns only cost lives."

Americans, in part due to mainstream media's anti-gun bias, dramatically underestimate the defensive uses of guns.

This is very true, and not just about guns. I have heard several stories from soldiers returning from Iraq during the early days of the war. They would see news reports about Iraqi citizens angry that the US is there. All of the soldiers responded that there were some who were angry, but most were glad. This happens during anti-war protests and pro-abortion protests as well. The media ignores the 100 pro-life activists to do a story about the 10 pro-choice activists on the other side of the street. Why can't the news be fair and cover both sides of stories, not just the one they support.

I was just checking the stats on the counter and I noticed that last Thursday, a day that I didn't post anything, had the most hits since I added the counter. Figure that one out

The Brown Lady Of Raynham Hall

Photo and Text from Castle OF Spirits



The image reportedly shows a ghost descending a staircase at Raynham Hall. It was captured by photographers Captain Provand and his assistant Indre Shira while photographing the historic Raynham Hall for Country Life Magazine in the late afternoon of 19th September, 1936.

This extremely famous ghost photo has been well covered over the years in magazines and more recently done to death on the Internet :0). In fact it is often classified as the "worlds most famous ghost photo", which may be true!.

To this day there has been no reliable evidence to show whether it was a hoax or it was a true ghost picture. Although it is claimed that various "experts" have looked at the negative and declared that it's genuine and untampered with, I can find no evidence of who these experts where (apparently from Country Life Magazine). It is up to you to decide if it you believe it's real or a very long running hoax.

The two photographers mentioned above reported seeing the ghost as a "misty form" descending the staircase. Having already completed one exposure and fully prepared for another they managed to capture this amazing photograph as they watched the ghost themselves. The full report of the ghostly encounter was reported in Country Life Magazine.

Although the photo appears to be a relatively easy double exposure trick, the question is still asked today. Why would two well known photographers, with an extremely good reputation want to fake a ghost photo? Their reputation alone make it highly improbable that they would do such a thing. But maybe they did, only they know the truth on this matter.
The other unusual thing is that the ghost was seen before the photo was taken, most paranormal photos aren't discovered till after the film has been developed, photographers do not usually get the opportunity to see a ghost, photograph it and have such a perfect image of it appear on film.

THE GHOST OF DOROTHY WALPOLE?

Dorothy WalpoleThe ghost seen in the photo is reportedly that of Lady Dorothy Walpole (Left) who once lived at Raynham Hall.

Born in 1686 she "officially" died of smallpox in 1726.

She was the sister of Sir Robert Walpole who was considered to be Englands first Prime-minister.

Her father refused consent for her to marry her first love, Second Viscount Townshend, however they were married much later on after the death of Townshend's first wife, but by this stage Dorothy had been deeply embroiled in an affair with a very much in debt Lord Wharton. Quite scandalous in those days!

Upon learning of his new wife's previous misconduct he ordered that she be kept locked in her apartments at Raynham Hall. She died at the age of 40, on 29th March, 1726. Her death was officially reported being of smallpox but many believe she died of either a broken heart or a broken neck after being pushed down the grand staircase.

It is thought that her ghost still walks the staircase looking for her 5 children which she was also parted from by her husband after he learned of her affair.

THE BROWN LADY

The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall has been seen quite a few times over the years. She is called the "Brown Lady" due to the brown brocade dress that the ghost has often been seen wearing while wandering the halls and staircase of Raynham Hall.

1849 - Major Loftus and a friend named Hawkins saw the ghost one night after retiring to bed. They both saw the woman and were amazed by the old fashioned clothing that she wore. The following night the Major was lucky enough to see the figure once again, this time he took note of her empty eye-sockets. The incident resulted in several members of staff resigning and a full investigation being done of Raynham Hall involving local detectives.

1926 - Lady Townshend encountered the Brown Lady on the staircase. She had never heard the tales of the resident ghost and swore that it resembled the portrait of Dorothy Walpole.

Cptn. MarryatAuthor Captain Marryat had a close encounter with the Brown Lady in 1936. He asked to stay in the room in which the Brown Lady was said to appear. After talking to two young guests that night and joking about a gun they were carrying protecting them from the Brown Lady, while walking back to their rooms along a corridor. They suddenly came face to face with a ghostly female figure advancing towards them, carrying a lamp. Captain Marryat recognised the woman as the woman in the portrait hung in his room. The three men noted that the woman was wearing a brown brocade dress. She passed by the three men and looks straight at them "in such a diabolical manner" that they became extremely frightened. Captain Marryat then pulled the trigger of the gun firing at the brown lady. The Bullet went straight through the ghostly figure and was later found in a door behind where she had been seen.

George IV also had a ghostly encounter with the Brown Lady, it is said that it frightened him out of his wits when he woke in the middle of the night to see the ghost standing at the foot of his bed. He immediately left with the comments "I will not spend another hour in this accursed house, for tonight I have seen that which I hope to God I never see again".

The Duke of Monmouth, two ghostly children and a ghost of a cocker spaniel are also reported to haunt Raynham Hall.

Site Redesign

If you've been here before, you might have noticed that the site has been redesigned. If this is your first time here (and based on the counter states that is everyone) then you won't notice anything. Oh and welcome to the site. In addition to the all black background, the counter has been changed from a gleaming sword to a row of orange, grinning skulls. Why? Because Halloween is near.

I might make some other changes to the code, such as adding more orange and maybe some yellow. Eventualy I will change upload my own code, but for now I am using templates provided by Blogger. The site will probobly change back to normal next month, but until then I will be posting some spooky pics and stories as well as normal stuff.

The Commie Lawyers Strike Again

Saw this on Stop The ACLU (Click link for the full article)

Now, on the heels of the stepped up police presence and re-institution of bag searches on New York’s mass transit system, the NYCLU is again filing lawsuits.

On August 3, 2005 the ACLU announced that they were suing the city of New York for violating the civil rights of subway riders by conducting random searches.

Ok, so the reason for the searchs, a tip about a possible terrorist attack in the subways, turned out to be a hoax. But up until the other day no one knew that, so it was a valid concern. If this is still going on today, then I agree with them. the cops are violating people's rights. But what if it had been real. What if they had found a bomb. Personaly, if it means saving hundreds of lives, I have no problem with violating the rights of some people by searching their bags. The ACLU apparently would rather let a bomb onto the subway then inconveniance a few citizens. And people wonder why I don't like them.

National Novel Writing Month

On The Simpsons, Marge is writing a novel. It got me to thinking about National Novel Writing Month. I'm thinking about participating this year, although I haven't decided yet. I'll let you know when I decide. Here is the guide (it's funny)



How NaNoWriMo Works (in Ten Easy Steps)

1) Sign up for the event starting October 1, 2005 by clicking the Sign up Now link at the top of the site. This will register you as a NaNoWriMo participant and create a basic author profile and account for you on our site.

2) After creating an account, log into it. Click “Edit Profile” in the top tab. Add a photo and exciting bits of biographical information about yourself and your book-to-be.

3) “Affiliate” with a region or regions. This tells our computer which NaNoWriMo Regional Lounge to offer you in the forums, which local events calendar and photo links to show you on the Local Events page, and gets you CC'd on emails pertaining to any wild novelist gatherings going on in your area.

To choose a region, go to "Edit Profile" again and look for the "Regional Affiliation” link there on the left. Use the “Join A Region" drop-down menu to find the region that best describes your area. Unless you live in a major city, you will likely be choosing an “Elsewhere” region, such as “Colorado :: Elsewhere” or “Ontario :: Elsewhere.”

4) Great. You’re all set. Now begin your novel-planning procrastination by reading through all the great advice and funny stories in the forums. Post some stories and questions of your own. Get excited. Get nervous. Eat lots of chocolate and pamper yourself in preparation for the fiction-fueled escapade to come.

5) At midnight, local time on November 1, begin writing your novel. Your goal is to write a 50,000-word novel by midnight, local time, on November 30th.

6) This is not as scary as it sounds.

7) Starting November 1 we’re going to swap out your current, dowdy author profile for a space-age author profile that will be so beautiful it will make you weep for days afterwards. It will also likely break immediately, as we're launching it for the first time this year, and it is more complicated than anything we've ever attempted before. This new author profile will have space for you to upload your work-to-date for word-count tracking purposes, it will also display a log of your progress and that of your Writing Buddies, and will generate many cool charts and graphs, very few of which are in any way essential to the event. You will also be able to post parts of your novel here for others to read starting November 1.

8) Write like crazy for thirty days. If you write 50,000 words of fiction by midnight, local time, November 30th, you will be added to our hallowed Winner’s Page, and receive a handsome winner’s certificate and web icon. The adding of your name to the Honor Roll of Winners requires that you send in a version of your novel in text format (scrambled for security) to our site to be counted.

9) This is not as scary as it sounds either, and we'll post step-by-step instructions on how to upload your novel to our team of superpowered computational robots (flown in from Germany every year) starting in mid-November.

10) Win or lose, you rock for even trying.

Wallace And Gromit: Curse Of The Were-Rabbit

Wallace and Gromit: Curse OF The Were-Rabbit opens tonight. I won't be going, not because I don't want to, but because I have about $20 to last till next Friday. I plan on going with some other friends who can't go till then.

Unfortunatly I don't think many people will go. Not many people know who Wallace and Gromit are. That plus the fact that it is all Claymation could hurt ticket sales.

I am also concerned about the critics. They complaned about the fact that Hitchhiker's Guide used puppets instead of CGI. I am concerned that they will say the same about this one.

Check back next week. I'll post a review then.

Observation on the Teen Titans

I just finished watching the new episode of Teen Titans. It originaly aired last saterday, but I was busy making supper and couldn't pay attention. Fortunatly they showed it again today. Here are a few things I noticeded.

In the episode the bad guys, the Brotherhood Of Evil had created a Quantum Generator, which could create localized black holes. At the end of the episode Beast Boy set the Generator to target the BOE base. Everyone escaped (even the BOE. They are the enamy this season after all and killing them off in the second episode of the season would be bad.) The only problem I had was this. With the Generator destroyed, would black hole? Think about it. If the Generator contrled the black hole and it was destroyed, then why did the hole close? I know, it's just a cartoon. I just thought I would mention that.

Also, at the end the Brotherhood Of Evil have almost every bad guy since the start of the series (and some new ones) gathered together. There a few problems here.
1.) The Puppet King was defeated when his controller thing was destroyed.
2.) The Bobs were defeated for good when Cyborg ate the Supreme Creator (trust me. It makes sense if you've seen the episode. if you haven't, the Bobs and the Supreme Creator were made of Space Tofu (or Nufu.) Like I said, you would have to see the episode.

Anyways, the new episode is on tomarrow night on Cartoon Network at 7 central. I recomend it to anyone who likes a good cartoon.

Opps

Seems that the only way I can make the comic I posted the other day work is to make it so small you can't read it. If you screen res is high enough to read it, great. If not, here is link to it

Seems Fair To Me

I recently started rereading the archives of several web comics I read. I found this on User Friendly

Dre To Donate Coin

Dr. Dre has announcd that he will donate money to victoms of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The United Way gave him a list of families and he chose 50, who will recieve $20,000 each. All I can say is go Dre! I'n not a huge fan of rap, and when I listen to it, I usualy listen to guys like Toby Mac or T-Bone, but I think I will fire up my P2P software of choice (I ain't saying what I use. The RIAA might be reading) and dl some of his songs.

In a related note, I learned the other day that this has been the busiest hurricane season since they started naming them.

Two Of God's Greatest (cuisine) Creations

As I type this I am watching an episode of God Eats about rice. I love watching cooking shows about rice. I love watching cooking shows about Couscous as well, but they arn't very common because most people don't know what it is. If it wern't for Habbs I would just think of couscous as that stuff in aisle 2 next to the rice.

Why do I love rice and couscous so much? Simple. They are versital. There have to be hundreds, if not thousands of recipies for either of these culanary swiss army knives. Not only that but severl of those recpies are interchangable. You won't find a recipe for chicken fried couscous, but by subbing couscous for rice you can get a very good dish using a recipe for chicken fried rice.

Add in the fact that both are good for you and cheap and you can see why I think they are so great. I try to use at one or both at least once a week, even if it's something as simple as grabbing a box of Rice-A-Roni off the shelf.

So next time you're looking for a side dish or a main course grabs some couscous or rice. You'll be glad you did.

Rainy Day

What is it about a rainy day that I find so enjoyable. For as long as I remember I have never had a problem with rainy days. Whether camping or sitting at home, I have always loved the rain. Maybe it's the clean, refreshing smell and the cooler temps that accompany rain. Maybe it's the relaxing sound of rain on the ground and thunder in the air. Maybe it's the fact that all the diry and grime in the world seems to be washed away in the rain and the world is clean, at least for a moment. Maybe it's the fact that the flickering of lights and the resounding crash of thunder that follow a particularly close bolt of lightning that never fails to bring a smile to my face.

Perhaps it's the fact that, in a thunder storm, I find similarities with my own personality; at one moment a happy-go-luckly, friendly, out going man, the next a angry, some what bitter man consumed by rage. Maybe I find confort in the fact that such duality of personalitis exsists in nature as well.

What ever the reason, when I finish typing this I will return to my post, kneeling in an over-stuffed chair, staring out an open window. The view hasn't changed much since I last looked, perhaps a bit wetter since the rain picked up. Regardless of the reason or the view, I will stare out the window and watch the rain with happiness and peace in my heart.

Very True

Saw this on Chris Byrne's blog.

From Mark Steyn:

I found myself behind a car in Vermont, in the US, the other day; it had a one-word bumper sticker with the injunction "COEXIST". It's one of those sentiments beloved of Western progressives, one designed principally to flatter their sense of moral superiority. The C was the Islamic crescent, the O was the hippie peace sign, the X was the Star of David and the T was the Christian cross. Very nice, hard to argue with. But the reality is, it's the first of those symbols that has a problem with coexistence. Take the crescent out of the equation and you wouldn't need a bumper sticker at all. Indeed, coexistence is what the Islamists are at war with; or, if you prefer, pluralism, the idea that different groups can rub along together within the same general neighbourhood. There are many trouble spots across the world but, as a general rule, even if one gives no more than a cursory glance at the foreign pages, it's easy to guess at least one of the sides: Muslims v Jews in Palestine, Muslims v Hindus in Kashmir, Muslims v Christians in Nigeria, Muslims v Buddhists in southern Thailand, Muslims v (your team here). Whatever one's views of the merits on a case by case basis, the ubiquitousness of one team is a fact.

Like it or not, Islam teaches a very "with us or against us die infidals" doctrine. After 9/11 we heard everyone defending Islam as a religion of peace. I'm not saying that this isn't true. Most of them are. My bro in law is from Pakistan and was raised Muslam. Several of his family members have come to the states. They are all very good people. But there is a reason there are Islamic radicals. While the Quran does teach peace, it also teachs that if you arn't a Muslam, you have to either convert or die. It is because of this that events like 9/11 happen. Some have decided that the time for converting is over and the time for the killing is here. I would love to say that the killing will soon end, I don't think it will happen any time soon. In the mean time we must all remember that there are good people of all religions and lifestyles, and the sooner we realize that we will be one step closer to that elusive goal of peace on earth.

Till then

Fight the good fight.

Tough Question

I was just watching CNN and they did the weather. The first thing I saw was another Hurricane. And the first thing I thought was "Oh Good. It's hitting Mexico." Does the fact that I was glad it was hitting Mexico and not the US make me a bad person? If so, oh well.

These are cool

Check these out. If I had the coin (and someone to give the female bracelets to) I would bid on them.