New and Events at Claranormal.com
7-22-2010
I'm a bit slow posting this, but
better late...
In addition to our regular stuff, living, working, doing investigations, parsing evidence and creating videos, we've also created a radio show! We've been hosting Claranormal Talk Radio since July 2nd, and though there's a learning curve, and it's not as easy to babble for an hour straight as one might think, at least for us, we're going to keep doing it for the time being. In fact we've expanded the show to two night a week, both at 9:00 PM pacific time on Tuesday and Fridays. You can find our show at http://blogtalkradio.com/claranormal.
6-11-2010
Ok, I've been keeping quiet on this for a long while, but I think
the time has come to do some "debunking." We don't like to trash
talk people or groups, and we don't like to bring negative discourse
into play, but sometimes one must stand up and bring attention to
that which is not right. Debunking is a term that we seldom use,
because of the negative connotations that accompany that word.
Reference.com's definition of "debunk" is: "to expose or excoriate
(a claim, assertion, sentiment, etc.) as being pretentious, false,
or exaggerated: to debunk advertising slogans." Synonyms include:
"disparage, ridicule, lampoon."
Well, I'm not going to disparage anyone, nor lampoon anyone, but
some ridicule is definitely called for and appropriate.
Straight to the heart of the matter: There is no such thing as
actual, real paranormal certification, nor are there any degrees or
certifications at
accredited colleges or universities in this field. They simply don't
exist, except as attachments to other courses, such as psychology
degrees.
I cite this article from
Yahoo answers,
and this from the
same source,
and lastly, and I think the most important one from
oddempire.org.
I'm not saying in any way that instruction, or learning from
established people in the paranormal field is wrong, bad,
or fraudulent, but if somebody asks you for money for a
"certification," run. Run fast, run far. Don't look back. The same
applies to "investigators" and ghost hunters who want payment for
their investigative and ghost hunting services. In fact, many are
likely the same exact people!
On that note, if a group, say, the hypothetical "Paranormal
Reasearch and Investgations of Central Kentucky," or P.R.I.C.K.
(what's with all the acronyms in this field anyway? Just because
T.A.P.S. is an acronym doesn't mean you have to be too! Think for
yourselves!!!) wants to offer a course which would then lead to a
certification marking you as a holder and follower in their beliefs,
in THEIR practices, (wouldn't that make you a P.R.I.C.K.
Holder?) fine. Let it be marked as such. But realistically, you would
then have to identify yourself as such, a P.R.I.C.K. certified group
or investigator, or a P.R.I.C.K. Ghost Hunter, not simply a CERTIFIED investigator, lest you
mislead the general public into believing you are something you're
not.
Now for those of you who insist on being certified, we have just the
ticket for you! For the low, low price of just $10, we'll be happy
to send you this!
Click to enlarge

6-07-2010
Well, we got a little more time at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, found
Valentino's crypt, said hi, and walked the mausoleum he's interred
in. We also found Peter Finch, which was a surprise. Still, we had
just under an hour there, really not even close to enough time to do
even the most basic set up, but one does what one can.
We also spent some time in the "gone too soon" section, the children's
section, which just makes me sad. At least it's a little lifting to
see the care people put into these plots, but not lifting enough to
get over the sadness.
After HFC, we ambled over for a day trip to Suicide Bridge in Pasadena,
and by the time we got done we discovered a few things. One is that
there are homeless people living in the bushes there, though they
don't seem to bother the park users. Another is that the area under
the 110 freeway bridge is awesome, like a huge, gray, concrete
cathedral. I don't mean it's ornate, but just awe inspiring. There's
about 3 acres of dirt beneath this overpass, which is a good 150
feet above your head, and that which is above you is graceful
curving concrete arches. It was worth the trip just to experience
that. The last thing learned was a lesson I have already learned,
but didn't follow, and that is to dress appropriately. By the time
we got done climbing around the underside of the bridge, we were
soaked through with sweat, and I, the idiot I am, am in semi-dress
clothes, and didn't bring a change.
Suicide Bridge is the only place where we've ever been blanked. Ok,
not entirely blanked, in that we did get the picture of the thing we
call "Satchel" last time, but that picture is so open to
interpretation. So going there was part investigation, part mission.
I dislike it when we spend time and get nothing, so hopefully we
caught something this time. We won't review the evidence from this
day trip for a couple of days, but when we do we will be thorough.
After that we cruised up to Lucky Baldwin's Pub
in old town Pasadena to
meet up with the Yussi Paranormal group. Justin and Steve got there
early and had a bite to eat (and coffee), and by the time they were
done Yussi had shown up, and his group began to arrive. If you're in
the SoCal area and want to go on a ghost hunt, or are just curious,
we're always open to visitors, and I also recommend you check out
Yussi's group. We enjoyed meeting everybody in Yussi's group, each
being really great people, and are thankful for the opportunity to
hang with them.
From the pub we went, of all places, back to Suicide Bridge with Yussi
Paranormal, this time focusing on the upper deck, something we've
never done. There are a couple of particular places on this bridge
where I was literally overcome with emotion, from desperation to
extreme sadness. This should come as no surprise, as there have to
be scores of imprinted emotions on this aptly named bridge, there
having been well over a hundred people ending their lives there.
We'll review our evidence over the next couple of days and see if we
caught anything, and if so, it'll be posted on the appropriate
pages. Hopefully the ladies and gents with Yussi's group caught
stuff as well, especially this being their gig.
5-29-2010
Did a quick (10 minute) run through of Hollywood Forever Cemetery,
stopped by Linda Vista Hospital, and did a quick revisit of
Oak Park Cemetery today. I'm tired!
5-24-10
Yes folks, two of our members, Scott and
Steve, were on Tori and
Dean May 24th, so you can stop asking! A great place, Linda Vista
Hospital, and it was a lot of fun. We would do it again in a
minute.
5-15-2010
Some huge news coming, most of which we're not permitted to talk
about yet, and some of which we can never talk about, but we'll
give that which we can, but only if it does not violate contract
terms as well as our own code of ethics.
I'll start with the most benign stuff first.
We have submitted the
story treatment and partial script I mentioned in an earlier
post to a production company, but since they haven't
gotten back in touch or sent a release to be signed, I'm
assuming that either they didn't get it (unlikely), didn't like
it (likely), or deleted it after having been driven stark raving
mad by the story (yeah, that's the ticket).
To be fair, we didn't send it in the exact format they called
for, so they likely just deleted it, which is fine. I'll
continue working on it in my spare time. So look for it in about
120 years.
Justin recently did an investigation with his girlfriend Sam at his girlfriends house, which apparently has a ton of activity. Toilets flushing on their own, strange noises, doors slamming and ice cold rooms. The data hasn't made it in yet, but I'm told there's at least one great EVP, and a really creepy picture. Can't wait to see / post these!
We just received a brand
new K2 meter, as well as a new "Ghost Meter" EMF detector this
week, and in initial testing we have found that on some objects
and areas each mirrors the other's resulting readings, but at
times either is more sensitive and responsive to Electo-Magnetic
energy than the other. We're still working on a reason for
this. We're also looking for a new Tri-Field meter at a good
price, so if know of one, please drop us a line!
Those of you who have been constantly watching us, you'll note
that you rarely see us using EMF meters, because basically, we
really don't need to depend on them. Most if not all of our
members are weirdly gifted to sensing the paranormal, so these
meters are redundant, but you will see us filming our use of
them more and more. As a documenting tool they are unparalleled,
leaving that which we find a little less subjective.
Speaking of subjective, we also have a brand new Paranormal PX
coming (it was shipped today, as a matter of fact) which will
probably arrive Wednesday. The PPX (Paranormal PX) is built by
the same people who built the discontinued (and highly prized)
Ovilus and the Paranormal Puck, and coincidently is like a
melding of the two. Unlike the original Ovilus, it has a built
in speaker, and like the puck it can be hooked up to a computer.
It also doubles the original Ovilus's 1024 word vocabulary to
2048 words. This being a feature rich item, we can hardly wait
to put it to good use.
Ok, on the thing I can't
talk about, just be sure to check in here often so we can give
you more information on the mysterious thing of which I write.
That is once we're given the green light to do so. On this
mystery item, we were told we could bring a couple people at
most, which is ok because we only had a couple people available.
I was one of them, and despite my discomfort when on the wrong
end of cameras (that being the lens side...I've been working on
overcoming this) there was no way I was going to miss this. I
would have rather had Justin and / or Amber do this, either
together or with Scott (who was spectacular, by the way), but
that isn't the way the universe wanted it.
That's all for now.
Steve
4-18-10
I heard a rumor today that Robb Demerest of GHI was living out his car, a broken man.
Rumor: Debunked
Now, on the GHI cast members who are no longer on the show, Donna, Brian and Andy, I have to say that of the three, I will miss Donna, I'll sort of miss Brian, and I won't miss Andy.
Donna was the case manager for the original TAPS, and as such, you know she has good organizational skills, and is good with people. Those two things are a prerequisite. And she's been there since early on.
Steve
3-13-2010
Since the below entry, we've been getting ready for some hunts,
and have completed the first phase of one. See
SJV
Cemetery
Another thing we have in the works is
our own film, which is currently in the story treatment /
scripting stage. Now don't misunderstand: all of our videos are
unscripted, all of our hunts / investigations are unscripted, nothing is pre planned, and it's all real. The
project I'm referencing will be a fictional account based on
real footage from our real investigations. As Gump would say,
that's all I have to say about that...