TAPS PARANORMAL BOOT CAMP

Yesterday, my sister, Maureen, and I went to Ontario CA. We had heard that TAPS was having a class on Paranormal Investigations and afterwards there would be an actual investigation held at the Granada Theater. Which is said to be very haunted.

Thought you may find it interesting so come along and I'll take you through the night.

TAPS is a well known paranormal investigation group. They have a show on TV called Ghost Hunters. Some of you may have watched it before.

They started out in Atlantic GA but grew and expanded to other areas. There is one team now located in CA.

TAPS decided to hold a class or a "Paranormal Boot Camp", as they called it.

As we walked into the theater, the first thing you noticed was how old it was.

Clearly it was a beautiful theater in it's hay day.



Down in front of the stage, was a table and on it was a lot of the tools used to investigate paranormal activity.

They have cameras, video cameras, audio recorders, heat sensors, flash lights, infrared items and lots of other "tools".

I was a bit surprised by how costly some of these items can be. Some cost hundreds of dollars for one item. A few even run in the thousands.

Since any "legit" paranormal investigating team never charges a fee all the expenses for investigation must comes out of the investigators own pocket. It can be a very costly hobby.

These were the two investigators teaching the class. Brett Griffith on the left and Syd Schultz on the right. If you watch the show, they may look familiar to you.

They look like normal guys, don't you think? Not some crazy psychos. They also were both very friendly and nice.

They were more then happy to take pictures with you. I think many people came to this class because they watch the show and these guys are "stars" to them.

Most really respect these guys. They both are known investigators and on the up and up. They do not try to scary people or make you think something was there when it wasn't. They don't have gimmicks or special effects.

They are quick to debunk anything they feel is not real. They claim the reason they do Paranormal Investigations is to try and explain why things happen. They search for reasons such as weather, damaged pipes that make sounds in the wall, the building was built over power lines and that causes lights to turn on and off, animals living in the attic or basement causes things to be knocked over or dust causing orbs in photos.

It's the things they can't explain away that they call true evidence.

This is the main theater part. Many people have claimed to hear talking over near the walls. While we were there we didn't hear or see anything in this room. Other then the lights kept going on and off and the sound got crazy a few times. But it is an old theater and these things can happen.

However, Syd claimed that the week prior he was there with some of his team members and they all heard lots of talking and noises coming from this area.

I did notice there are a few orbs in my photo. Now it could be dust, after all this theater is old and I'm sure very dusty. Or it could be what Syd heard while he was there last week. Who knows.

This is another shot of the main room. The original seats have been removed in this are.

The theater was built back in 1925 and was known for Vaudeville shows and showing the latest movies.

It is now used as a church on Sundays and often rented for classes and conferences durning the week.

Upstairs there are office rooms and the projector room.

This is just another shot with more orbs. This was taken before most people got there.

Again, could be dust or could be spirits. I'll let you decide.

I have to admit I didn't feel one thing in this room. No temperature changes, that feeling of someone in back of you or like you are being watched. Nothing!

My belief are these are not orbs but either dust or moisture showing up. However, I can say it was a nice evening, not raining or over cast. Plus this theater did not seem to be very dusty at all. There are no carpets, drapes or cloth on the chairs.

I'm telling you this so you can decide for yourself what you think is in the photos.

The class was for 5 hours. We learned everything we could. We learned about what equipment can be used, how to use it and when to use it.

We learned how to start up your own ghost hunting group. The dos and don'ts of investigating. How to keep records, how to investigate the buildings past history, writting up reports and what to look for when dealing with the owners or occupants who claim to have witness activity in the building.

As well as many different reasons of what could be the cause of things heard, seen and felt. As I said, the reason for Paranormal Investigations is to try to find reasons for why things are happening. Then to weed those reasons out and find unexplainable things that go on.

We went up to the 2ND floor where back in the 20's it housed an illegal abortion clinic.

In the halls people have claimed to have heard women crying, children running up and down the halls, voices asking for help, hand prints on the windows showing up and babies crying.

So we all sat down, got quiet, put up the equipment that would pick up on temperature changes, any vibrations from someone walking, changes in the electro magnetic fields, video cameras and audio recorders were also used.

Slowly questions would be asked out loud. Things like "Is anyone here with us?" or "What is your name?". As well as "What year is it?" and "Why are you here?".

We heard nothing. We saw nothing. Then one girl noticed the temperature reading was dropping. It was getting colder and colder in there.

They say that a spirit will use a lot of energy when they are trying to contact us. That when the energy is taken by the spirit they leave a cold spot where it was taken from. This will cause areas of cold spots or make the room feel colder.

After about 15 minutes, way off down the hall, we heard a woman's voice crying. We heard this three times. One time was like she was screaming in pain or in great anguish.

Someone even went to check around in other rooms and outside to see if anyone could have been making that sound. They didn't find anyone.

After 1/2 hour we had to move on.

I have to admit it gave me a very uneasy feeling just being in that area. A sort of sadness took over me. I think just knowing of all that went on there bothered me.

I wanted to get out of there and was happy when our time was up and we had to move on.

This was one piece of the equipment we used. I forget what it was called but it's super sensitive to anything that crosses it's path. If there is any type of movement near it a loud sound goes off. The closer you get the louder it goes.

When we first went up to the hall, no one was anywhere near it and it was going off. We were all to far away for it to pick up on our movement and set it off.

But, once we started our investigation it never did go off again.

This is a photo showing the other end of the long hallway where we heard the cries coming from. You can see the guy walking down there to check the area out.

Can you see the large orb in the photo? Could just be a coincident or it could be the spirit of the women we heard.

After hearing those cries and that scream, I have to tell you I was a bit creeped out by this large orb.

This is a small room we walked through to get to the projection room. It's said that a man and a woman have been heard up in the projection room.

The woman was killed by the man and she would hide up here from him and he would go up to find her.

They claim voices have been heard, the projection will go on by itself, knocking can be heard, cold spots felt and even the toilet that is up there flushes on it's on.

Only the toilet has not worked for years and is now drained.

The room is pretty small up there and the reels are very big. We were told the last movie that was shown in this theater was Friday the 13Th and to this day the film is still on the projector.

As we went in we were told the group just before us had a lot of activity going on.

So we wondered if we would have anything happen while we were there.

This is the old panel that was used durning the 20s to turn lights on and off and open the curtains.

While we were in there the investigating equipment was once again turned on. For awhile nothing happened. Then we heard a loud noise. Like someone had dropped a pipe or maybe a large flash light. Everyone confirmed it was not them.

The room started to get cold spots. We asked for some kind of a sign if someone was in there with us. Then not once but, twice the toilet flushed. There was no water, just the sounds of the toilet flushing. It was very strange.

No voices were heard, no taps felt and no other proof there was anyone there with us.

It was odd though the toilet flushed and then that loud sound happened right after we asked for a sign though.

Oh and in case you were wondering, someone brought up the fact they thought the flushing sound could be from the bathroom two floors down being used. So we had someone go check, no one was in the bathrooms and everyone in the whole place was accounted for as being in their areas of the building doing an investigation.

This is the large reel with the movie Friday the 13Th on there. We asked why it was still there. The guy who worked at the theater said he didn't know but the story he heard was the guy running the projector saw a man in the room with him. He claims the man walked through the door that was locked. He seemed to be looking around. Then he went away.

The guy was so scared he ran out of the room, told the manager what happened and then left. He never returned to his job. Since other employees have heard and seen unexplained things they were to scared to go up and remove the movie. So it is still on it all these years later.

Is the story true? I don't know. I have no real reason to doubt it. But then again, I can't prove it either.

This door leads to an office where it is said that back in the 50's a man who worked there died. He would always bring his dog to work with him and when he died his family took the dog to the pound and put it to sleep.

Many many people claim to see the man and his dog walking through out the building. Others claim to not see anything but they hear a dog growling or barking.

We didn't see or hear either of them. Though I do wish I would have seen or heard a ghost dog. After all, I am a big animal lover.

This was taken on the 3rd floor where in the 1970 a legal abortion clinic was operating.

Like the 2ND floor it is said that voices, crying, screaming and even laughing can be heard.

We didn't have anything happen here. Not one peep.

There were a few other places we went to but didn't have any type of activity happen so I won't bother to write about them.

Both Maureen and I felt we had a great time. We enjoyed the class and while we were not 100% sure what to think of the investigation it was still very interesting.

The bad part about it was we won't ever know what people caught on their video cameras or voice recorders. I wish they had a follow up meeting so everyone could share what they found or didn't find.

Now I know a lot of you don't believe in spirits or ghosts and you may think I'm nuts for even liking this kind of stuff. Some may even wonder how I, as a Christian, could believe in such a thing.

>Well, I have had many unexplained things happen in my life. Things that not only I have experienced but others who were with me did too.

I can't say I'm 100% sure that paranormal activity is from the after life. But, I do like investigating and trying to prove or disprove things. It's not scary to me. It's fun, a hobby so to speak.

I also talked to my Pastor about it. He told me he saw no harm in it as long as I was doing it from an entertainment aspect. He also said the Bible does speak of spirits among us.

When I asked him if he felt by doing these investigations I could be exposing myself to evil or Satan. He said he didn't think so. He felt, as I do, that as long as I have Jesus in my heart and God is on my side then Satan can not have power over me, unless I let him. Which of course I wouldn't.

So I feel safe. I think it's very interesting and I'm open minded enough to believe that there can be things that we as humans don't understand. So it could be true. Then again, it could all be a bunch of bunk. Who knows. Can anyone really say for sure?

Unless you yourself have an experience then you can always claim there is no proof. But once you do have something happen, well it's pretty hard to say it's not real.

So do you believe? I would love for you to share your experiences with me. I know a lot of you don't like to talk about this kind of subject in an open forum so please feel free to email your stories to me.

Also, can you please leave me a comment to let me know if you like these kind of posts or if you would prefer I didn't share them with you. If you do like them, I have lots more I can share. If most of you don't like them then I won't bother to post about them.

I ADMIT IT ~ I LOVE TONY BENNETT

I have been a Tony Bennett fan for as long as I can remember. There is just something about him that I love.

I have lots of his CD's and I even stood in line once for hours just to get a photo with him and his autograph.

I even have his song "I left my heart in San Francisco" as my ring tone on my cell phone.

Many people have laughed at me when they find out about my little crush on Tony. I don't care! There isn't anything anyone can say that would make me change the way I feel.

So why am I telling you this? Well, yesterday was my birthday. I had a great day and got lots of super nice gifts. I admit it, I was spoiled.

One of my favorite gifts has to be the one my sister, Patty, gave me. She got me tickets to see Tony Bennett in concert!! I almost fainted! This has been a dream of mine.

As much as I love him, I've never had a chance to go see him sing in person.

To think I'm going to get to is so exciting for me. I can hardly wait! Even though I have to wait until Sept....oh dear, that seems so far away.

I know the time will be here before I know it and it will be over way to soon. So I will cherish the excitement and spend the next several months knowing, soon one of my dreams will be coming true.

Thank you Patty! Thank you so much! Of course you know you are the one I'm going to be taking with that extra ticket you got me.

I also want to thank everyone else for the great gifts, wonderful cards, lots of phone calls, emails and well wishes and mostly for the time and love you have given to me.

I had a fantastic birthday!!!

Now, I'm off to Ontario to attend my Paranormal Boot Camp classes and then to a ghost hunting investigation.

ARE THERE GHOSTS IN THE FLAVEL HOUSE?

One of the places we stopped on my cruise was Astoria Oregon. I went on a shore excursion to the Flavel House for tea and then a tour of the house.
The Flavel House was the home of Captain George Flavel, one of Astoria's most influential citizens in the late 1800's.

The house is approximately 11,600 sq. feet. It has six original fireplaces. The first floor has 14 foot high ceilings and the 2nd floor has 12 foot high ceilings.

The house was very modern for it's day. It was fitted with indoor plumbing and gaslights.

The outside of the house is done in the Queen Anne architectural style.

There is a beautiful octagonal shaped tower and a wrap around porch. Lots of moldings and patterned shingles were used.

They are in the process of upgrading the house so we couldn't go in through the front door. But, even the side and rear entrance are amazing!

The Flavel's were one of the richest families around. Captain Flavel was a noted river bar pilot on the Columbia River and a prominent business man.

He married his wife Mary Boelling when she was only 14 and he was 30. They had two daughters, Nellie and Katie and one son, George Conrad.

The two daughters never married, but, the son did and he never lived in this house.

As we entered the beautiful house you couldn't help but feel the history of the place.

The family owned and lived in the house until 1934 when Captain and Mrs. Flavel's great granddaughter, Patricia Flavel, gave the property to the city.

From 1937 through the World War II the Red Cross, Public Health Department and the local Welfare Commission all had offices in the house.

In 1951 the city wanted to tear the house down and turn it into a parking lot. However the locals organized to save the home and the Flavel House was made into a museum.

In 1995, the Clatsop County Historical Society, was given the title and returned the home to its original state.

So let's go take a look around.

This was the bedroom of the daughter, Katie. She spent many years sleeping in this room.

However, once her father died, she moved into his room and passed away in that room.

Volunteers have told stories of strange things happening in this room.

The curtains have been closed by the volunteers and when they leave the room and returned after a few minutes the curtains are opened again. Yet, no one else is around.

They believe that it's the ghost of Katie, who always wanted her curtains opened durning the day, that is opening them up.

This is the library. It is where Captain Flavel spent many hours doing research on the tides and reading.

This was the room they called the heart of the house.

This room is the formal parlor. It was used by the family on special occasions and where the daughters entertained their male visitors.

It is also the room where the Captain's body was viewed after he passed away in 1893.

This is the music room. Both daughters loved music and could play several instruments.

They would spend most of their time in this room while they waited to receive visitors and practicing their music.

In the evenings the often entertained visitors with a song or two.

One of the volunteers, who now work at the house, said she would often hear music coming from a music box that used to be in this room. It had a large, heavy lid, which had to be lifted to start the mechanism.

The volunteer would sit in the hall near the front door and could see everyone who came in and out. Yet, no one would even be in the house when she heard the music box playing.

Once she told other volunteer workers about hearing this they also said they had heard it several times too.

In 2006 a writer asked about the music box. He was told that the music box used to be in the music room but, one day when the volunteers came in, it was gone.

To this day, no one knows what happened to it. There was not a break in.

I didn't notice it at the time but when I uploaded my photos I noticed an orb was in this room. I put a circle around it as it's a bit hard to notice.

You can click on the photo and it will enlarge making the orb easier to see.

Could this be one of the sisters watching us tour the room they so loved when alive? I don't know.

The main bathroom was something else for that time period. It was super modern with a built in tub, running water and even a flush toilet.

I took a few photos and then felt a tap on my shoulder and heard "Look again". I turned around fully expecting to see one of the other people on the tour with me. Yet, no one was there.

I was last to leave this room. So I clicked another photo and saw an orb was now over the tub area.

I wasn't sure if my mind was playing tricks on me or what was going on. But, out loud I said "If someone is in here with me can you show up more so I can see you better." Then I clicked this photo.

As you can see an orb that is much larger in size showed up.

Could this just be a coincident or was it a ghost who tapped my shoulder and said to look again? Again, I can't say for sure. But, I can tell you it was an eerie feeling.

I loved the sink faucets.

The box looking item is the indoor flush toilet. You would lift up the lid and the seat would then be exposed.

This is Nellie's room. She did not die here but had been very sick.

You can see another orb on her headboard.

The Historical Society keeps the curtains closed and shutters closed to keep the sun off the furniture and while they allow you take photos you are not allowed to use your flash.

Therefore, none of the orbs seen, could possibly been due to the flash on my camera as I had it turned off.

This is one of the beautiful fireplaces. The tile and wood work are all original. They were all lovely.

The Historical Society volunteers provided us with a wonderful tea. I loved my tea cup. I also found out that I enjoyed the tea and had two cups. I don't normally like tea but whatever this was very enjoyable.

The Tea was held in the dinning room. It was a lovely room with high ceilings and beautiful woodwork.

They served the standard Tea items. Finger sandwiches, scones and little cookies as well as lemon bars.

We were served tea out of the Flavel Family's actual silver tea sets.

The kitchen was pretty small compared to the rest of the house. But it had all the modern appliances of the day.

Even a large refrigerator/freezer.

This is the what the back side of the house looks like. It's still lovely, isn't it?

Another volunteer told of a story about her son and daughter in law and grand children who came to visit her. She took them through the Flavel house and they took lots of photos.

When they got home they noticed that one shot was taken with two different cameras and both showed shadow figures of three women dressed in "old fashion clothes" up in one of the windows.

Another volunteer said she was going to go up in the tower and was 1/2 up the stairs when she got a strong feeling to not go up there. Several others had that same feeling in the past and one claims to even have heard someone tell her to "Not go any further".

Since so many workers have had things happen on those stairs the tower has been closed off to the public.

Another volunteer told a story of a man who paid for the tour that came running down the stairs and ran outside. He refused to go back in the house.

When asked why, he told them he saw Captain Flavel in his bedroom and when he called for his wife, who was in the other room, he noticed the Captain disappear as if sinking into the floor.

So is the Flavel house haunted? Well, many people besides me would say "Yes, it is".

Speaking of haunted places, this Saturday I'm going to take a class from TAPS. They are a well known Paranormal group and have been seen on several TV shows.

After the class, which is 5 hours long, we are going to do an investigation of the Granada Theatre in Ontario CA, which is said to also be haunted.

I'll try to get photos up and a post on Sunday about that.

WHAT A NIGHT!

Well by now we all know Kris Allen is the big winner of American Idol. Congratulations to Kris!

The night was so fun! I can't even put into words the excitement that took place. It was like the worlds best party! The crowds were so round up and excited.


We had all heard rumors of who was going to be there to perform but there were still some outstanding surprises!

I was thrilled to have Rod Stewart, Fergie and The Black Eyed Peas, Lionel Richie and Cindy Lauper as well as Queen LaTifah there to sing for us.


Had someone told me Queen and KISS was going to be there I wouldn't have been to excited about that as they are not my favorite groups. However, I have to admit that when Adam sang with them, the crowd went wild!

It was by far the best performance I've seen at a concert ever!



It was so clear the room was full of Adam fans. While I went there not knowing who I even really want to win, I left knowing, there was really no contest as to who was the better singer and performer. By far it was Adam!

When Kris would come out and sing, the crowd would clap and sing along and you could tell he was well liked. Yet, when Adam came out, the crowd grew so much louder with everyone getting up on their feet, dancing and screaming and so much energy was in the room. It was wild!

Even durning the breaks they told us it was like New Years Eve at a concert of your favorite entertainers concert.

They had never seen anything like it.

So when it came time to announce the winner and they called out the name Chris, a slight delay of clapping took place. Just a split second it was like everyone was in shock.

Of course, quickly the applause came and the confetti fell and everyone got up on their feet to welcome the newest American Idol.

Then it was odd, lots of people started to walk out even before Kris started to sing his final song.

I don't know if it was people who were unhappy with the results or just those wanting to get out and get to their cars before the crowds. Either way it was odd.

When we got home we watched the night on TV. It was so different! The sounds, smells, sights and energy of the crowds did not come through at all. It was not the same as being there. Not even a little bit.

Yes, last night was a night I will remember for ever. I'm very happy and honored I got to be there.

I want to take a minute to thank my sister, Patty, for letting me go with her. After all, they were her tickets and she could have taken anyone she wanted. So thank you Patty! I had a blast!

I will either post another post later today or tomorrow and it will be about the haunted places I went to on my cruise. So stay tuned.

THIS IS AMERICAN IDOL!

Are you a fan of American Idol? I am. I have been for years. Every year I put my name down for tickets and I've been lucky enough to be able to go see at least one taping a year.

This year I figured my luck had run out because, even though I checked my emails every day, I did not see the one saying I was picked for tickets.

One should never give up hope! While I was away on my cruise, I did get that email. But, by the time I saw it, I was to late. The tickets were all gone.

However, my sister also got that same email and she was able to get the tickets! We are going to the FINAL show!

I'm so excited!!!! It will be my two sisters, Patty and Maureen, one of Patty's friends, Beverly and me.

So who do you think will win? Will it be Chris?

I like his voice but I can't stand the way he twists his mouth all around when he sings. I also don't think he is much of a showman when it comes to watching him sing.

Yet, he does have a nice voice and has proved he is able to sing any type of a song. Plus the girls seem to love his looks.


Or, do you think it will be Adam?

Clearly everyone thinks he is a wonderful performer. He has shown time and time again how he can pull off the unbelievable task of blowing the crowd away with his use of lights, fire, costumes, fog and yes, even the stairs.

He has never let us down. Week after week, just when we thought we knew what type of a show to expect from Adam, he comes out with something you never dreamed of.

Does he have a good voice? In my opinion he does. Though I'm not sure if it would sound as great when you listen to him on a CD and not watching him performing the song.

His classic high pitched scream he does as he hits those high notes often make me feel a bit uncomfortable. It's almost on the screeching side at times.

I'm not sure who is going to win. I'm not even sure who I really want to win. If I had to pick, I would say Adam. If for nothing else then for his creative mind and interpretations of the songs he sings.

I am looking forward to not only hearing these two great guys sing in person but also to hear/see all the other people who are set to perform Wednesday night.

Will you be watching? I hope so. I'll be sure to wave to everyone, even though I'm almost positive I'll be in the nose bleed section and you won't be able to see me. At least you will know I'm there and thinking of you guys.

So turn on your tv sets, watch and listen because "This is AMERICAN IDOL"