Gobble, Gobble...

To sum up the last few days:

Wednesday was a visit to an allegedly haunted home in East Cleveland (which I shall refrain from commenting on at this time). Thanksgiving was spent with friends at a fiercely non-traditional gathering hosted by my friend Bill. Friday was spent in the kitchen making pumpkin cheesecake and my special stuffing/dressing for family. Saturday was another long trip to visit my sister for a post-Turkey Day celebration before returning home and collapsing from exhaustion (not literally, mind you).

Thanksgiving is one of the many holidays I can take or leave. Considering it's an American holiday dating to the one time when Puritans and Native Americans were on good terms with each other, there isn't much to celebrate in my opinion. Native peoples saved the invaders from starvation only to be persecuted and slaughtered for a few centuries... how utterly American to dress it up all pretty like some Rockwell painting of togetherness and joy. I would think a candlelight vigil would be a better homage...

After recovering from sleep deprivation, I pulled my three-foot Christmas tree out of the closet today, but I'm still trying to figure out where to set it up. It's too small for the floor, too big for my desk, and no other piece of furniture seems fitting for it. And then there's the issue of choosing an outlet that isn't in use. This could turn into an all-day project. And yes, I resurrected my Amazon.com Wishlist in time for the holidays. I need to get my hands on a few of the books to get back into the habit of regular reading again.

Tomorrow, I'll be writing about an author who combines his scientific background with parapsychology, so for those of you looking for hard science backing up paranormal research, you won't want to miss this one...

Not-So-Instant Replay...

Once more, I'm behind on posts! I'll have to catch up late tomorrow when I'm back home from the late Thanksgiving dinner with family. Meanwhile, thanks to Chuck over at Creepy Cleveland, the videos from my Halloween appearance on Cleveland's Channel 8 show That's Life are now on YouTube!

And here they are...

Hell Town


CryBaby Bridge

Odd News Briefs...

In the last few busy weeks, several news stories fell through the cracks. Here's a little glimpse at some of the obscure events happening around the globe.

Keep You on Your Toes...

Darlington, Victoria has a new claim to fame: it will soon be home to Australia's first "vertical cemetery". Bodies will be buried on biodegradable shrouds standing upright at a cost of $2000—that's a savings of $5000 on a traditional burial. After all the plots are filled, it will become grazing and for cattle (gives a while new meaning to being put out to pasture, doesn't it?). Critics in the mortuary business say it's "disrespectful to the dead" but in these tough economic times, people aren't too shook up over their rotting corpses.

Mobile Monolith...

After selling their historic manor in Abbotts Court, John and Suzy Burton planned to leave a stone circle constructed by fashion guru Thomas Burberry at the site. The developer made clear his plans to demolish the neo-pagan structure, so the couple decided to take it with them. Neighbors were caught off guard as trucks and cranes descended on the suburbs of Dorchester, setting up the the massive stones. Both practicing witches, the Burtons brought their coven to consecrate the grounds. The added positive energy to the neighborhood has been quite wel-received.

Sweet Astronomy...

Do extraterrestrials have a sweet tooth? It's possible, since scientists recently found traces of glycoaldehyde—an organic compound related to simple sugar—some 26,000 light years from earth. The discovery, in a remote section of the central Milky Way where life was thought to be impossible, has brought up questions about other life forms existing in space. But the real, burning question is: one lump or two?

Wolf Man No More...

People suffering from "Werewolf Syndrome" may soon be able to live normal lives. Scientists at New York's Colombia University have made advances in a possible treatment for hypertrichosis, involving testosterone injections. 50 people wordwide suffer from the disease, leading to excessive hair growth over the entire body. This is good news for patients, but bad news for razor manufacturers and circus sideshows.

A Half Century of Science Fiction...

Sunday marked a milestone which passed me by entirely. It was the 45th anniversary of the British scifi series Doctor Who.

On the day following John F. Kennedy's assassination, November 23, 1963, the first episode of Doctor Who hit the airwaves. Through its many seasons, spinoffs, and incarnations, it has remained a popular story. It follows the adventures of "the Doctor", a time-traveling alien "time lord" on his journeys throughout time and space, correcting injustices and exploring frontiers in a less-than-reliable archaic time machine known as the TARDIS.

On an interesting side note, the show is featured in one of my favorite movies. In several scenes of Get Real, the lead character's father is watching old episodes. A Doctor Who clock is proudly displayed on the wall and he is dressed as a Cyberman (one of the Doctor's adversaries) as he prepares to attend a convention. On another interesting note, the lead actor (Ben Silverstone) is older than me... by only six days.

The show has seen 751 aired episodes since the 1960s and is featured in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running scifi series in history. Ten separate actors have been cast in the main role over the decades, including Peter Davison ('Tristan' from All Creatures Great and Small) and the most current, David Tennant.

This show marked my first indoctrination into scifi only a few years ago and quickly became a favorite. Its mix of real history, bizarre creatures, philosophical undercurrents, and quirky humor add to its unique charm.

So, happy belated birthday, Doctor Who. Here's to hoping for many more years of fantastical oddities...

A Change Will Do You Good...

Since I've been completely neglecting my duties as webmaster/co-founder, I finally decided to get a little work done on P.R.O.U.D. (Paranormal Researchers Out and United in Diversity), the networking site Buck and I created. The main goal for today was a change in color. I'm not sure about the rest of you, but the orange text was boring me to no end!

So, to give it a little overhaul and a more "spiritual" scheme, I switched to shades of indigo and violet. Much easier on the eyes. And while I was there, I decided to help fill up some of the forum areas that were lacking. Six posts seem to be a good start. The banner is still slightly difficult to read, but I'll figure it out eventually.

Otherwise, I still have to get things finished and uploaded on my regular website, work on Christmas ideas, and send out a few more queries (probably next week, since Thursday is a holiday) along with the usual "yah, mule, yah" of subservitude in certain affairs. But I shall rank items in the coming months by a) importance; and b) purpose. After all, life is too short to be led from the barn only to get hitched to a plow for a few hours before being sent back into your stall in the barn. That means the new word for 2009 will be "diversify".

And so... once more unto the breach, dear friends! Time for me to slap that feed bag across my mouth and plow ahead!