FACT OR FAKED: PARANORMAL FILES

Syfy channels investigative series is in its third season now and continues to find interesting anomalies to look in to. There are six “experts” with unique skills who meet to discuss paranormal events, usually found on the internet, and they choose two cases to examine more closely. They then split in to two groups of three and off they go.

The personnel currently on the show are Ben Hansen, the team leader who is ex FBI, Bill Murphy is the lead Scientist, Jael de Pardo is a journalist, she previously worked on Destination Truth, Austin Porter is a stunt expert. Two newer participants are Lanisha Cole, photographer, who worked as a demonstration model on the Price is Right and replaced Chi Lan Lieu on FOF and finally Devin Marble, the tech specialist who joined in season two in place of Larry Caughlan Jr.

This is a great program if you are open minded and not too stuck in any belief system. I don’t believe in the paranormal myself but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying the show. The team come across as warm, friendly and together, and kind of remind me of a grown up version of Enid Blytons famous five (yes, I know there are six of them) but maths aside they get together to go on adventures and try to uncover a mystery. Over the course of three seasons they have looked in to such things as a “ghost car” caught on video and chased by police, a lake monster in Pennysylvania, Cattle mutilations, UFOs, reproduced the “battle of LA” from 1942 when the army had a craft of some kind in spotlights and shelled it (personally I think that this was one of the Nazi UFOs, not a theory they examine in the program), and cryptozoological creatures such as big cat sightings, Sasquatch, etc. 

The team don’t seem to have an agenda other than trying to recreate what they are investigating. For example, with the ghost car which allegedly vanished while being pursued by police they showed that the car probably drove through a loose panel in a fence, which by the time the police got there had settled back in to place. When they investigated a civil war ghost haunting a cemetery they could not adequately reproduce the evidence they were studying so concluded that it may indeed have been a genuine paranormal anomaly. They did not say it was proof of the paranormal, just that they couldn’t explain it. The team go through trial and error experiments with each case using photos/videos, stunts and scientific methods before reaching their conclusion. It is interesting watching and I always find it entertaining.

My own conclusion on the paranormal is that given enough time and resources everything can be explained; although I would qualify that statement by saying that it’s a big universe that we live in so there may be many things that are not readily explained. The program is entertaining and also informative as it takes you through how to spot computer generated images and hoaxes and as I have already said does not set out to prove or disprove the existence of the paranormal. I find it laughable that people like James Randi  criticize the program (a nasty and negative person if ever there was one, I could go through how he has manipulated evidence in order to prove his position but people like that are not worth the effort). If you don’t believe then switch over and watch something else! This is meant to be entertainment, nothing more. I think it is sad that such people feel they have to ridicule others in order to make themselves look superior.

I will continue to suspend my belief and continue watching.

JESSE VENTURA: THE POLICE STATE

 

I am a big fan of disclosure TV. There is not enough truthful reporting on TV these days.The mass media doesn’t allow it. It is all part of the growing campaign by Big Brother to remove our freedoms and control every aspect of our lives: when I say “our” I mean the average population in EVERY country in the world. There can be no doubt that there is a powerful elite that want to impose their version of living upon us, and it won’t be much of a life.

The more I look into politics in the United States the more it looks to me like a social experiment: perhaps it will be the blueprint for a worldwide plan. The problem for the elite, who are using the CIA, Dept. of Homeland Security, the FBI, State Police, the Media, Industrial management and advertising to put across their message is that the American public are not as gullible as they thought. There are people like ALEX JONES and JESSE VENTURA that have seen the writing on the wall and have been working hard to expose the hidden agenda to the public.

Jesse Ventura was a navy seal and a state Governor. This has given him access to areas and information that other people do not have, and he has used the information to create a TV show called Conspiracy Theory. Each show is about a particular area of government or corporate activity and looks to expose the people that are gaining power and wealth by any means and in the process are exploiting the people. Programs have included investigations into FEMA (The Federal Emergency Management Agency), Secret societies, Illegal appropriation of water supplies, Mind control, HAARP, Global Warming, area 51, and Wall Street. The episode that has caused the most controversy, however is the one on The Police State (Link at the bottom of the page).

In this episode the argument is put forward that the USA will be put under Marshal Law. The program claims that FEMA are building internment camps to house the population. In addition they are running local “fusion centers” which collect information on people and then profile them and label them. The suggestion is that the federal powers are working out who they have to lock up in order to bring about their plans.  As the US economy worsens more people are demonstrating. There has been an upsurge of activity from ordinary people since the last economic slump that was caused by greedy banks. This is a cause for concern for the powers that be.  

I found the program to be interesting and thought provoking, but what convinced me that there may be some truth in it was the backlash it received: there was an outbreak of blogging that was no doubt organized, as they all say the same thing. Data collection by the feds in their many guises is most certainly on the increase, as I have shown in other blogs, and the concept of locking up groups of people is not without precedent. During world war two US citizens of Japanese origin were interned for the duration of the war.

The amount of reaction this program generated means that Mr. Ventura has got very close to the truth. It has resulted in threats to axe his show.  

Sensationalist or informative? Judge for yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dys3xE2Bnk

Of monsters and men

Monsters and Bogeymen have been in the collective unconscious since civilisation began. Trolls, Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, Witches, and so on have been the anti-heroes in myths and stories for generations. At the moment there is a plethora of TV shows based on monsters showing in prime time viewing slots. Only nowadays the monsters are sometimes the heroes.

Among the current shows of this genre are Grimm, Supernatural, Fringe, V, The Walking Dead and Lost Girl. The monster shows seem to be of two types: the monsters  among us that the people around them don’t know about and represent danger, and the monsters who are “misunderstood” and shown to have the same desires, hopes and dreams as people; sometimes they are hidden, sometimes in the open. 

Supernatural and the Walking Dead revolve around a plot based on humans hunting/being hunted by monsters. The plight of the human population lies in the hands of our hunters. In some shows they have specialized techniques, equipment and ancient knowledge. The monsters are normally in the guise of people and only the hunters can usually see/identify them. Other shows, such as Lost Girl and Heroes make the monster the lead character. In this scenario the audience are invited to share the problems of being different: the angst and pain as the characters try to fit in to a world in which they don’t belong. In both types of show the viewer is introduced to the idea that beneath the everyday world there is a supernatural world full of beings different from us. These beings live amongst people and mostly go unrecognized. The general impression given is that it is not just a few isolated monsters in the human population, their number is legion.

I mentioned Heroes in the previous paragraph. It comprises a storyline about “superhumans” who develop abilities beyond the norm. The 4400 and No Ordinary Family fall in to this category also. The main characters suddenly, through a freak accident or some such thing, find themselves with amazing abilities: abilities that they conclude they need to use for the good of everyone. They usually have to keep their identity hidden from the authorities for their own safety. They are always portrayed by law enforcement as a danger to society. They are imposters, people who are not what they seem; people we should be afraid of.

There is a monsters hierarchy. Some make it to the top of the ladder owning corporate businesses  and they have at their disposal lower monsters to be their goons. Just like organised crime and the illuminati in real life these monsters infiltrate everything: church, politics, business, media and either run everything already or are in the process of gaining control over everything. In most episodes of any of these shows a monster will inadvertently give themselves away and will therefore have to deal with the people who could expose them. Then the paranormal experts turn up to do some sleuthing and slaying before travelling on, continuing their quest to save humanity from horrors unknown. 

Is the idea behind these type of shows to keep the population scared? To make them worry about their neighbours? Their work colleagues? Does Big Brother hope that it makes people stay at home and trust no one? Perhaps it is just harmless entertainment, then again it could be that mind control methods are behind it. That would suggest collusion between studio owners, producers, directors and writers. 

I think I’ll look into that. Blog you later!

Sausage roll or Pasty, What’s your sexist preference?

BAD-VERTS

Snack Wars

For a while now there has been an advertisment running for Walls sausages featuring a dog rapping to the accompaniment of some garage music. It starts with a young chav going to the garage kiosk (hence the garage music, clever, eh?) and buying a sausage roll. He turns to go but then turns back, placing a little case on the counter. The case looks like a ring case and we are supposed to get the idea that he is proposing to the middle aged lady, but he’s not: inside the box is a mini boxer dog (a dog in a box, another great visual pun), the assistant asks the customer if he is alright then opens the box and the dog starts to do his little rap, something like:

“thank you, thank you for selling walls

thank you, thank you for the sausage roll

you’re the loveliest garage lady in the land

but, obviously he can’t express himself, ‘cos he’s only a bloke, really”

Yeah! On behalf of the nation: thanks for the ground up pig testicles and gristle.

This ad has been followed by a new one set in a council house and featuring a married couple. Mrs Average serves Mr Average his dinner: sausages. Mr Average looks up lovingly and slides a ring case across the table towards the love of his life and then lights a candle. Some smoochy R’n’B music comes on and the little doggy does his thing:

“Thank you, thank you, for the meaty sausages

Thanks for all the walls

You’re so very wonderful

You’re the best wife in the whole world, mummy bear

But he can’t really tell you that cos he’s just a bloke, really”

So not to be outdone, the people over at Ginsters, the pasty makers must have become worried about these adverts and got in touch with their advertising people and said something like: “Walls are selling more sausage rolls by being sexist so we need our own sexist advert.” Lo, and behold the magic men did their thing and an ad was born.

Working on the theme of women’s chief role being to feed men, this ad has a man down on one knee, reciting what sounds like a proposal, but is actually a request to have his pasty heated up for him.  

What a load of twoddle! If I wrote my wife a song telling her I loved her because she cooks me sausages she would ask “Are you trying to be funny?” ... and would then proceed to teach me a new use for sausages!

I mean sexist or what? I presume the ad is aimed at the kind of Neanderthal male that sees a woman’s place as being in the kitchen, cooking for him. I thought we had progressed as a nation. In most households I know the cooking duties are dependent on shift patterns, who’s at home and when. Given that most people don’t actually cook meals from scratch these days, putting reconstituted crap in to a microwave is a job either sex can do.

So thank you, Walls and Ginsters for showing us males to be a bunch of club wielding cave men. 

I’m going now, to see what my wife can do with a vege-banger.

CONFUSED.COM : THE BETTY BOOP METHOD

BADVERTS: CONFUSED.COM

I saw a documentary a few years ago about Max Fleischer, the creator of Betty Boop who confirmed that he had used subliminal nudity in some Betty Boop cartoons. Having watched the Confused.com adverts it has made me wonder if the creators of this campaign took inspiration from him. The first thing I noticed is that as the singer bobs up and down so do her boobs. So I looked around the screen and, yep, the women in the background also have bouncing boobies! For goodness sake! This is an advert for an insurance comparison site featuring cartoon characters. Is it necessary to make it so graphic? In the most recent advert a rather large lady flashes her pink knickers several times just to relieve us of the boredom of boob overload. I dread to think of what they have planned for future adverts.

So what is the purpose behind this? What do they think that they will gain?  I can’t believe it is an accident. It also seems unlikely that it is done for “realism”, because it isn’t necessary to have that level of realism in a cartoon about a comparison site. Is it an in-joke by the “graphic” artists? Perhaps their brief was along the lines of: “We want to hold the attention of male viewers so put the women in hooped shirts and have them jump up and down a lot bouncing their bits and bobs”. On a more sinister note, perhaps it is a chauvinistic attempt to demean women through visual and unconscious means to lure potential male customers to their site.

Titillation aside, the aim of the ad seems to be to convince viewers that sitting at their PC searching through lists of providers of insurance is fun. I don’t know about anyone else but I have a lot better things to do with my time. I did a sum the other day. I was offered insurance for my washing machine after the one year free guarantee runs out. It would cost fifteen pounds a week, which is £180 a year. The machine cost £220. Thirty years of purchasing washing machines has taught me two things: if they go wrong it is often in the first year and is due to a faulty part. The second thing I have learned is that we get at least three years life out of a washing machine. That means that I would pay £360 for two years insurance: more than the price of a new machine. Wouldn’t I be better off by putting £15 a week in a savings account? Then if it is two years before I need another not only do I have the money for a new one I have also earned interest. Of course if it breaks down in thirteen months I lose out, but it’s a risk I am willing to take.

Maybe confused.com thinks that if a lot of other men think like I do they had better  appeal to us on a base, unconscious level and invite us into their fun filled boob watching world where we can spend hours trying to save ourselves money that we needn’t spend in the first place.