Parapsychology

A few years ago, Prince Charles seemed preoccupied with far-out ideas and wary of anything new. Talking to plants, fearing that the world would be overrun by self-replicating nano-robots, suggesting to a university vice-chancellor that parapsychology would be an interesting subject to study. The heir to the throne kept the media buzzing with his off-the-wall ideas.

He still has his critics, but the laughter is much more muted now. The Prince of Wales picked his messages — the search for spiritual meaning, organic farming, holistic medicine, concerns about environmental degradation, sustainable development — and has stuck with them. And now some are heralding Charles as a man ahead of his time.

Earlier this month, for instance, it was announced that 1,200 homes in Poundbury, the Prince’s model green village, will be powered using methane gas produced by decomposing crop matter. In March, an arts and crafts-style model home produced by the Prince’s Foundation for Building Community attracted positive reviews at a home show in London.

Not that long ago, Charles was considered an old-fashioned twaddle. Remember the firestorm he created in 1984, when he described a proposed addition to the National Gallery as a “monstrous carbuncle?�

Well, last year, The Observer noted that Charles, that one-time “scourge of modernists,� is enjoying his greatest influence in decades. The architectural elite might not like the ersatz Georgian and cottage-style homes Charles favours, but people want to live in them.

Duchy Originals, Charles’ 22-year-old business venture that produces such items as free-range bacon and organic ale, circulates money back into the Prince’s 16 charities. In March, the company announced a $3.6-million profit for the previous eight months.

He is even getting good press in the republican U.S. Last May, when Charles went to Washington to give the keynote address at “The Future of Food� conference, he toured an urban farm that grows herbs, fruit and vegetables for low-income families.

And right before he meets privately with Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Wednesday — Charles and Camilla are in Canada for a three-day visit — the Prince will tour Regina’s Ground Effects Environmental Services, a company that deals with contaminated soil and groundwater.

“A lot of what the Prince has been advocating for the past 20 or 30 years is coming into the mainstream,� says David Lorimer, author of Radical Prince: The Practical Vision of the Prince of Wales. A good example is the “bottle bank� — a glass bottle recycling program — that was widely derided when Charles introduced it at Buckingham Palace in 1980.

“Everyone laughed,� says Lorimer. “He was talking about sustainable development 25 years ago. I think he’s a prophet before his time.�

The gardens at Highgrove, which are stocked with endangered plants and trees, are open to the public. The proceeds from tickets are also funnelled into the Prince’s charities, which range from environmental causes to business mentorship programs for inner-city youth. In all, the charities distribute $200 million annually.

“The Prince is one of the world’s most active social entrepreneurs,� says Matthew Rowe, a spokesman for the two-year-old Prince’s Charities Canada, a collection of nine Canadian non-profit groups with loose back-and-forth ties to Charles’ British charities. The Royal Conservatory of Canada’s Learning Through the Arts program, for example, will be transplanted to Britain, where it will be administered by the Prince’s Foundation for Children and the Arts.

Charles has spoken against genetically modified foods, tropical deforestation and the swaths of land in Africa purchased by foreign investors for export crops. The 53,000-plus hectares of the Duchy of Cornwall, which have been overseen by the Prince of Wales since 1337, are run according to organic principles.

“He has taken more of a hands-on approach than anyone since Prince Albert,� says Lorimer, referring to Queen Victoria’s 19th century consort. “A lot of people who run estates are espousing similar ideas. Soil is capital. You can’t afford to deplete your capital.�

Charles advocates “holistic� science. He also takes a deep interest in “perennial philosophy� — that there are eternal truths that recur throughout history, without respect to time or culture, says Lorimer. Charles stirred up controversy in 2008 when he said when he becomes king, he wants to become “Defender of Faith� and embrace religions beyond the Church of England.

“There’s a paradigm war going on. Science and medicine is underpinned by the materialistic philosophy,� says Lorimer. “The Prince represents a spiritual world view. He really measures up to the idea of a philosopher prince.�

In a 2009 lecture, Charles reflected that over the past 30 years it might have appeared that his ideas were flitting from agriculture to architecture, from health care to education. In reality, he explained, he has been trying to make sense of related problems.

“The question that should surely keep us all awake at nights, as it still does me, is what happens if you go on deconstructing? And I fear the answer is all too plain. We summon up more and more chaos.�

Never mind parapsychology and talking to plants. It’s these kinds of statements that continue to rile Charles’ critics.

In 2010, journalist Christopher Hitchens, who died last year, dubbed Charles the “prince of piffle� after he made a speech on the “sacred traditions� of science at the Centre of Islamic Studies at Oxford University, where he is the patron.

Hitchens scoffed at Charles’ desire to be a defender of faith and warned: “An awful embarrassment awaits the British if they do not declare for a republic based on verifiable laws and principles, both political and scientific.�

Charles is set to become head of state, head of the armed forces and head of the Church of England. In constitutional terms, this shouldn’t matter, said Hitchens. What does matter is that the king can shape the way matters are discussed.

And this is exactly what Charles is doing well, argue supporters.

The Queen has conferred the Order of Merit on her son, which is in her power to do. On Charles’ 60th birthday in 2008, she made a moving speech about his achievements, says Lorimer, who takes this to be her stamp of approval on the direction in which Charles is moving.

Others point out that given the history of longevity in his family, he knows he could be Prince of Wales for many years to come, and is determined to make that time count.

Rowe says the Prince has always understood that the bulk of his career would be spent as Prince of Wales.

“It is a job that is what you make of it,� he says. “He knows that his mark will be primarily as Prince of Wales, not as king. This is his contribution.�

Ottawa Citizen

jlaucius(at)ottawacitizen.com

Article source: http://www.canada.com/news/Prince+piffle+philosopher+prince+Once+ridiculed+some+hail+Charles+visionary/6652317/story.html

A few years ago, Prince Charles seemed preoccupied with far-out ideas and wary of anything new. Talking to plants, airing fears the world would be overrun by self-replicating nano-robots, suggesting to a university vice-chancellor that parapsychology would be an interesting subject to study. The heir to the throne kept the media buzzing with his off-the-wall ideas.

He still has his critics, but the laughter is much more muted now. The Prince of Wales picked his messages — the search for spiritual meaning, organic farming, holistic medicine, concerns about environmental degradation, sustainable development — and has stuck with them. And now some are heralding Charles as a man ahead of his time.

Earlier this month, for instance, it was announced that 1,200 homes in Poundbury, the prince’s model green village, will be powered using methane gas produced by decomposing crop matter. In March, an arts and crafts-style model home produced by the Prince’s Foundation for Building Community attracted positive reviews at a home show in London.

Not that long ago, Charles was considered an old-fashioned twaddle. Remember the firestorm he created in 1984 when he described a proposed addition to the National Gallery as a “monstrous carbuncle?� Well, last year, The Observer noted that Charles, that one-time “scourge of modernists,� is enjoying his greatest influence in decades. The architectural elite might not like the ersatz Georgian and cottage-style homes Charles favours, but people want to live in them.

Duchy Originals, Charles’ 22-year-old business venture that produces such items as free-range bacon and organic ale, circulates money back into the prince’s 16 charities. In March, the company announced a $3.6-million profit for the previous eight months.

He is even getting good press in the republican U.S. Last May, when Charles went to Washington to give the keynote address at “The Future of Food� conference, he toured an urban farm that grows herbs, fruit and vegetables for low-income families.

And right before he meets privately with Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Wednesday — Charles and Camilla arrive in Canada tomorrow for a three-day visit — the prince will tour Regina’s Ground Effects Environmental Services, a company that deals with contaminated soil and groundwater.

“A lot of what the prince has been advocating for the past 20 or 30 years is coming into the mainstream,� says David Lorimer, author of Radical Prince: The Practical Vision of the Prince of Wales. A good example is the “bottle bank� — a glass bottle recycling program — that was widely derided when Charles introduced it at Buckingham Palace in 1980.

“Everyone laughed,� says Lorimer. “He was talking about sustainable development 25 years ago. I think he’s a prophet before his time.�

The gardens at Highgrove, which are stocked with endangered plants and trees, are open to the public. The proceeds from tickets are also funnelled into the prince’s charities, which range from environmental causes to business mentorship programs for inner-city youth. In all, the charities distribute $200 million annually.

“The prince is one of the world’s most active social entrepreneurs,� says Matthew Rowe, a spokesman for the two-year-old Prince’s Charities Canada, a collection of nine Canadian non-profit groups with loose back-and-forth ties to Charles’ British charities. The Royal Conservatory of Canada’s Learning Through the Arts program, for example, will be transplanted to Britain, where it will be administered by the Prince’s Foundation for Children and the Arts.

Charles has spoken against genetically modified foods, tropical deforestation and the swaths of land in Africa purchased by foreign investors for export crops. The 53,000-plus hectares of the Duchy of Cornwall, which have been overseen by the Prince of Wales since 1337, are run according to organic principles.

“He has taken more of a hands-on approach than anyone since Prince Albert,� says Lorimer, referring to Queen Victoria’s 19th-century consort. “A lot of people who run estates are espousing similar ideas. Soil is capital. You can’t afford to deplete your capital.�

Charles advocates “holistic� science. He also takes a deep interest in “perennial philosophy� — that there are eternal truths that recur throughout history, without respect to time or culture, says Lorimer. Charles stirred up controversy in 2008 when he said when he becomes king, he wants to become “Defender of Faith� and embrace religions beyond the Church of England.

“There’s a paradigm war going on. Science and medicine is underpinned by the materialistic philosophy,� says Lorimer. “The prince represents a spiritual world view. He really measures up to the idea of a philosopher prince.�

In a 2009 lecture, Charles reflected that over the past 30 years it might have appeared that his ideas were flitting from agriculture to architecture, from health care to education. In reality, he explained, he has been trying to make sense of related problems.

“The question that should surely keep us all awake at nights, as it still does me, is what happens if you go on deconstructing? And I fear the answer is all too plain. We summon up more and more chaos.�

Never mind parapsychology and talking to plants. It’s these kinds of statements that continue to rile Charles’ critics.

In 2010, journalist Christopher Hitchens, who died last year, dubbed Charles the “prince of piffle� after he made a speech on the “sacred traditions� of science at the Centre of Islamic Studies at Oxford University, where he is the patron.

Hitchens scoffed at Charles’ desire to be a defender of faith and warned: “An awful embarrassment awaits the British if they do not declare for a republic based on verifiable laws and principles, both political and scientific.�

Charles is set to become head of state, head of the armed forces and head of the Church of England. In constitutional terms, this shouldn’t matter, said Hitchens. What does matter is that the king can shape the way matters are discussed.

And this is exactly what Charles is doing well, argue supporters.

The Queen has conferred the Order of Merit on her son, which is in her power to do. On Charles’ 60th birthday in 2008, she made a moving speech about his achievements, says Lorimer, who takes this to be her stamp of approval on the direction in which Charles is moving.

Others point out that given the history of longevity in his family, he knows he could be Prince of Wales for many years to come, and is determined to make that time count.

Rowe says the prince has always understood that the bulk of his career would be spent as Prince of Wales.

“It is a job that is what you make of it,� he says. “He knows that his mark will be primarily as Prince of Wales, not as king. This is his contribution.�

jlaucius@ottawacitizen.com

Article source: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Prince+Charles+Crackpot+visionary/6645884/story.html

With all the words in the English language to choose from, making fun of the New York Board of Education’s list of “banned” words might be making a mountain out of a molehill. But it’s tempting.

Recently the board sent a missive telling those who make up their system’s standardized testing to avoid certain words as being politically incorrect and culturally insensitive.

David Pescovitz, a regular contributor for the online magazine Boing Boing (which I just discovered and will make regular visits to) suggests reading the list out loud because it sounds like Beat poetry:

“Abuse (physical, sexual, emotional, or psychological), Alcohol (beer and liquor), tobacco, or drugs, Birthday celebrations (and birthdays), Bodily functions, Cancer (and other diseases), Catastrophes/disasters (tsunamis and hurricanes), Celebrities, Children dealing with serious issues, Cigarettes (and other smoking paraphernalia), Computers in the home (acceptable in a school or library setting), Crime, Death and disease, Divorce, Evolution, Expensive gifts, vacations, and prizes, Gambling involving money, Halloween, Homelessness, Homes with swimming pools, Hunting, Junk food, In-depth discussions of sports that require prior knowledge, Loss of employment, Nuclear weapons, Occult topics (i.e. fortune-telling), Parapsychology, Politics, Pornography, Poverty, Rap Music, Religion, Religious holidays and festivals (including but not limited to Christmas, Yom Kippur, and Ramadan), Rock-and-Roll music, Running away, Sex, Slavery, Terrorism, Television and video games (excessive use), Traumatic material (including material that may be particularly upsetting such as animal shelters), Vermin (rats and roaches), Violence, War and bloodshed, Weapons (guns, knives, etc.), Witchcraft, sorcery, etc.”

They sure have their work cut out for them, these New York test-makers. Just about every word I can think of has some connection with one of the banned topics.

I thought it seriously silly when Tennessee came up with the idea of not being allowed to say the word “gay” in school, but this beats all.

“Pepperoni” is junk food. “Halloween” is too pagan, “divorce” upsetting. “Terrorism” is scary, and not everybody has a “home computer.”

“Birthday?” Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t celebrate them.

I’m all for being inclusive and avoiding hurting people’s feelings, but this kind of thing gives sensitivity and well-intended political correctness a bad name.

I’m no fortune teller (oops), but shielding children from all that is controversial, unpleasant, or unfamiliar will result in intellectual stagnation. Besides, it’s dang near impossible.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but none at all is the real killer.

Article source: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/may/12/ina-hughs-pcing-ourselves-into-silence/

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Article source: http://www.prunderground.com/dr-daryl-bem-responds-to-parapsychology-debunkers/0012433/

The spring and summer movie season got a blockbuster start last weekend when superhero spectacular The Avengers smashed box office records. Featuring Marvel comic characters Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow, The Avengers earned an unprecedented $207.4 million, topping previous record holder Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2, which opened last year at $169.2 million.

While it’s unlikely that The Avengers’ new record will be felled by subsequent films this season or even this year, several more movies made with blockbuster ambition are swiftly following Iron Man and his team into theaters.

Johnny Depp arrives this weekend as vampire Barnabas Collins in director Tim Burton’s comic take on television’s Dark Shadows. Next weekend Earth once again goes to war against alien invaders in Battleship, part of which was filmed in Baton Rouge. And Will Smith returns later this month as the alien-smacking man in black in Men In Black 3.

June unleashes another explosive action picture, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, as well as the new sci-fi thriller from Alien-director Ridley Scott, Prometheus. July brings The Amazing Spider-Man and the conclusion of writer-director Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises.

Beyond action-adventure, the outrageous Sacha Baron Cohen returns this weekend in the satirical The Dictator; two family-oriented computer-animated films open in June, Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted and Pixar’s Brave, followed by another Ice Age sequel, Ice Age: Continental Drift.

Comedies, dramas, horror movies as well as a few less obvious projects, including the Louisiana-shot Beasts of the Southern Wild, winner of the Sundance Film Festival’s grand jury prize for drama, are set to squeeze themselves onto screens despite the large slate of intended blockbusters.

Many of the films opening Friday through August are listed below. Opening dates are subject to change and may vary from city to city.

May 11

DARK SHADOWS — Johnny Depp and his director pal, Tim Burton, conspire again for a big-screen remake of the campy ’60s TV horror-soap opera Dark Shadows. Looking quite pale for his role as Barnabas Collins, resident vampire of Collinsport, Depp plays his character for laughs alongside a cast including Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter and Eva Green.

MAY 16

THE DICTATOR — Sacha Baron Cohen, aka Borat and Bruno, stars as his excellency, General Colonel Doctor Aladeen, Democratic president-for-life, invincible and all-triumphant commander, brilliant genius of humanity, excellent swimmer, including butterfly, and beloved oppressor and ruthless protector of the precious and expendable people of Wadiya. Jason Mantzoukas, Ben Kingsley and Anna Faris co-star.

MAY 18

BATTLESHIP — Inspired by Hasbro’s naval-combat game, Battleship, this locally filmed action-adventure depicts humanity’s epic war by land, sea and air against a superior extraterrestrial force. The cast includes Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgård, Rihanna, Brooklyn Decker, Tadanobu Asano and Liam Neeson.

WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING — Featuring an ensemble cast including Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Chace Crawford, Brooklyn Decker, Anna Kendrick, Matthew Morrison, Dennis Quaid and Chris Rock, What To Expect When You’re Expecting looks at the comic consequences pregnancy has upon five intertwined couples.

MAY 25

THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL — British thespians Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy and Tom Wilkinson star as Brits who choose India’s Best Exotic Marigold Hotel as the place to spend their retirement years. They find the resort in a state of incompletion. Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire) co-stars.

CHERNOBYL DIARIES — Written by Paranormal Activity author Oren Peli, this horror-thriller follows six young people who take an “extreme” tour of the abandoned city of Pripyat, former home of workers at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor.

DARLING COMPANION — Diane Keaton plays a woman who rescues a lost dog from the side of a highway and then bonds with it. After her self-centered husband, played by Kevin Kline, loses his wife’s dear pet in the Rocky Mountains, Keaton and a small band of sympathetic helpers begin an adventurous search for the animal. (Opens May 25 in New Orleans.)

MEN IN BLACK 3 — Will Smith’s Agent J travels back in time to save his partner, K, and Earth, too. J learns there are certain secrets that K, played in the past by the perfectly cast Josh Brolin, in the present by Tommy Lee Jones, never revealed to him.

JUNE 1

SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN — Kristen Stewart moonlights from the Twilight series as a revisionist Snow White who takes warrior princess training from a huntsman played by Chris Hemsworth, star of Thor and the current blockbuster, The Avengers. Charlize Theron co-stars as Queen Ravenna.

JUNE 8

MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE’s MOST WANTED — Animal pals Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo and Melman the Giraffe are still trying to get home to New York City. In this third Madagascar movie they masquerade as European circus animals. Voice talent includes Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric The Entertainer, Andy Richter and Frances McDormand.

PROMETHEUS — An exciting discovery turns out to be humanity’s worst nightmare in this sci-fi thriller directed by that master of sci-fi suspense, Ridley Scott. Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron and Idris Elba star.

JUNE 15

ROCK OF AGES — Just a small town girl, Sherrie meets city boy Drew on the Sunset Strip. A classic-rock soundtrack accompanies their romance in this rock-musical featuring Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Russell Brand, Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Malin Akerman, Mary J. Blige, Alec Baldwin and Tom Cruise.

THAT’S MY BOY — Adam Sandler portrays Donny, a man who fathered a son while still in his teens and then raised the child as a single dad. Donny and son Todd parted company when the boy reached 18 but now, just as Todd is about to get married, the uninvited Donny shows up.

JUNE 22

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER — Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States, has a secret sideline: he’s history’s greatest vampire slayer. Benjamin Walker, Anthony Mackie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Rufus Sewell lead the cast of this New Orleans-filmed production.

BRAVE — The latest computer-animated adventure from Pixar is set in ancient Scotland. After Merida (Kelly Macdonald), brave and rebellious daughter of King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson), defies tradition, she must use all of her wits and archery skills to undo an awful curse.

G.I. JOE: RETALIATION — In this sequel to 2009’s G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra, the G.I. Joes must battle their usual enemy, Cobra, as well as forces within their own government. The cast includes D.J. Cotrona, Byung-hun Lee, Adrianne Palicki, Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce, Ray Stevenson, Channing Tatum plus Bruce Willis and Dwayne Johnson.

SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD — Even though humanity is about to go extinct, Dodge and Penny find something to be happy about. Steve Carell and Keira Knightley star.

JUNE 29

MAGIC MIKE — Director Steven Soderbergh invades the realm of male strippers. Channing Tatum stars as the film’s title character and Alex Pettyfer co-stars as The Kid, a young dancer Magic Mike schools in the ways of seduction and easy money.

MOONRISE KINGDOM — Set in the summer of 1965 on an island off the coast of New England, the new film from writer-director Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Rushmore) revolves around a pair of love-struck 12-year-olds who disappear in the wilderness. With a storm on the way, local officials scramble to find them. The cast includes Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Jason Schwartzman.

PEOPLE LIKE US — In this drama-comedy, Chris Pine plays Sam, a young salesman who reluctantly goes home to handle his estranged father’s estate. While he’s there, he learns he has a sister. Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde and Michael Hall co-star.

TYLER PERRY’S MADEA’S WITNESS PROTECTION — Eugene Levy, playing the innocent CEO of a Wall Street investment bank, discovers he’s been marked as the fall guy in a Ponzi scheme. Following death threats, Levy and his dysfunctional family enter the federal witness protection program. They’re placed in the Atlanta home of Madea and her brother, Joe. Culture clash ensues.

JULY 3

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN — Andrew Garfield takes over for Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man and a new director, Marc Webb, replaces Sam Raimi, director of three previous Spider-Man films. The plot returns Peter Parker to high school, when he’s dealing with his first crush and investigating his biological parents’ disappearance. Peter’s search leads to Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), aka The Lizard. Emma Stone, Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, Irrfan Khan, Martin Sheen and Sally Field co-star.

JULY 4

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD — A grand jury prize winner for drama at the Sundance Film Festival helmed by New Orleans-based director Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild tells a mythological story about a 6-year-old girl struggling to survive in a Louisiana bayou community beset by rising water triggered by climate change.

JULY 6

SAVAGES — Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone directs a thriller about two friends who run a profitable marijuana-growing operation in Laguna Beach, Calif. The pair’s lives and livelihood are threatened when a Mexican drug cartel demands a cut. The all-star cast features Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Aaron Johnson, John Travolta, Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, Emile Hirsch and Demian Bichir.

JULY 13

ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT — Manny the mastodon, Sid the sloth and Diego the saber-toothed tiger are back for more computer-animated adventure. The voice cast features the returning Ray Romano, John Leguizamo and Denis Leary plus Alan Tudyk, Wanda Sykes and Jeremy Renner.

TED — Mixing live action and computer-animation, this comedy features Mark Wahlberg as an adult who’s childhood teddy bear comes to life and refuses to ever leave his owner’s side again.

JULY 20

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES — Writer-director Christopher Nolan’s concluding film in his thus far hugely successful Batman trilogy rises to likely dominate the late summer box office. Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Morgan Freeman star.

JULY 27

STEP UP REVOLUTION — Kathryn McCormick’s aspiring professional dancer moves to Miami and meets Ryan Guzman’s leader of a group of flash-mob dancers called The Mob. While McCormick and Guzman are falling in love, ruthless real estate developers plot to demolish The Mob’s historic neighborhood.

AUG. 3

THE BOURNE LEGACY — Hoping to became a government operative, Jeremy Renner joins the same agency responsible for Jason Bourne. Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Joan Allen and Albert Finney co-stars.

TOTAL RECALL — Colin Farrell stars as a factory worker who, through the mind-altering services of a company called Rekall, gets his superspy dreams turned into realistic memories. But the procedure goes awry and Farrell goes on the run. Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel and Bill Nighy complete the principal cast.

AUG. 10

THE CAMPAIGN — Funny men Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis co-star as rival candidates in a North Carolina congressional district. With a pair of super-rich CEOs backing Galifianakis, campaign ethics go out the window in a storm of mudslinging. The supporting cast includes Jason Sudeikis, Baton Rouge native Katherine LaNasa, Dylan McDermott, John Lithgow and Dan Aykroyd.

HOPE SPRINGS — Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones lead the cast as a loving but no longer passionate couple. Streep persuades Jones to go to a retreat run by a famous couple’s therapist played by Steve Carell.

AUG. 15

THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN — Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton play a happy small-town couple that can’t wait to start a family. Timothy (C.J. Adams ) shows up on their doorstep on a stormy night. The supporting cast includes Dianne Wiest, Rosemarie DeWitt, Ron Livingston and M. Emmet Walsh.

AUG. 17

THE EXPENDABLES 2 — Returning as a band of old-school mercenaries, Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture and Terry Crews are joined by new cast members Liam Hemsworth, Scott Adkins, Chuck Norris, Jean Claude Van Dame and Chinese actress Yu Nan in this sequel. Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger co-star.

SPARKLE — Musical prodigy Sparkle and her sisters aspire to be singing stars during the Motown era. Jordin Sparks plays Sparkle and Whitney Houston, in her final film role, co-stars as her struggling single mother.

AUG. 24

THE APPARITION — Ashley Greene and Sebastian Stan portray a young couple haunted by a malicious spirit accidentally summoned during a parapsychology experiment. Relentlessly pursued, they turn to an expert played by Tom Felton, but it may be too late.

PREMIUM RUSH — Joseph Gordon-Levitt portrays the best bicycle messenger in New York City. But even he is challenged by a routine rush job that becomes a life or death chase through the streets of Manhattan.

AUG. 31

THE POSSESSION — A couple worries about Em, their youngest child, after she becomes obsessed with an antique wooden box. Em’s parents learn that the box may hold a dibbuk, a spirit that inhabits and ultimately consumes its human host. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick, Natasha Calis, Madison Davenport and rapper-singer Matisyahu star in a film written by LSU creative writing program grad graduate Juliet Snowden and her husband, Stiles White.

Article source: http://theadvocate.com/utility/homepagestories/2771040-129/super-summer

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With “Marvel’s The Avengers” having turned into an incredible box office hulk over the weekend, the summer cinema season is off and running.

The fast-and-furious trajectory gets another jolt via this weekend’s lone offering, Tim Burton’s goof on “Dark Shadows,” with Johnny Depp gone all pasty-faced again.

Thereafter: Brace yourself for more of the same: sequels, makeovers, rethinks and toys-into-films.

Almost all in 3-D.

“Men in Black 3.” “Piranha 3DD.” More “Sno- White”-ness. “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted.” “G.I. Joe: Retaliation.” “Prometheus” (that is, “Alien VII”).

“The Amazing Spiderman.” “Ice Age: Continental Drift.” “The Dark Knight Rises.” “The Bourne Legacy.” “Battleship.”

And, fancy this, there’s even an original or two — including possible franchise-starters like “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” and “Brave.”

Following are thumbnail previews of the titles most likely to see marquee space hereabouts between next weekend and Labor Day.

May

- The Dictator (Wed.): Borat and Bruno step aside — here comes Sacha Baron Cohen as Gen. Aladeen, risking life and other people’s limbs to ensure that “democracy never comes to the country he so lovingly oppressed.” Anna Faris, Ben Kingsley, Megan Fox and John C. Reilly co-star.

- Battleship (5/18): Shades of “Transformers” and “G.I. Joe” — yet another Hasbro toy product goes big-screen, this time courtesy the naval combat game. See an international naval war games fleet butt heads/artillery with an alien armada! Behold Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgard and Liam Neeson giving/taking the orders! Marvel that it’s NOT in 3-D!

- What to Expect When You’re Expecting (5/18): The bestseller is delivered unto the big screen, intertwining the fates of five expectant couples played/surrounded by an all-starry-cast that includes Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Anna Kendrick, Dennis Quaid and Chris Rock.

- Chernobyl Diaries (5/25): The “Paranormal Activity” gang moves to radioactivity via this tale about some tourists whose quest for “extreme travel” lands them in Pripyat, former home to Chernobyl nuclear reactor workers and no- supposedly deserted … but not quite, as it turns out.

- Men in Black 3 (5/25): Ten long years after the frankly disappointing No. 2, here comes what the “MIB” makers doubtless hope will be a third-time charmer as Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) return to save the world again from alien infestation. With K not a kid n’more, J is forced to travel back in time to meet a younger version, played by Josh Brolin. 3-D.

June

- Piranha 3DD (6/1): In which more exposed teen flesh is shredded in 3-D, courtesy another killer pack of piranha, this time invading The Big Wet Water Park. Skip the young stars and dig down deep in the cast for the interesting fish-fodder: Christopher Lloyd, Ving Rhames, Gary Busey, David Hasselhoff and Clu Gulager (whose son, John, is the director).

- Snow White and the Huntsman (6/1): “Mirror, Mirror,” look who’s nearer — another “SW” retelling, but free of “MM’s” snark and played PG-13 straight (“intense violence/action and some sensuality”). “Twilight’s Kristen Stewart plays a buff Sno- trained by Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth. Charlize Theron pulls evil-queen duty; Sam Claflin handles the princely stuff.

- Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (6/8): This time the path takes the motley menagerie through Europe via a traveling circus. 3-D.

- Prometheus (6/8): Ridley Scott’s “Alien” prequel fearlessly forgoes the “Alien” brand name in apparent hopes of making a played-out franchise look fresh and ne- again. Anyway, it’s only Scott’s second time around with the 33-year-old series, which had lately devolved into those “Alien vs. Predator” smack-downs. Michael Fassbender, Noomie Rapace, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba and and Charlize Theron star. 3-D.

- Safety Not Guaranteed (6/8): Comedy from the producers of “Little Miss Sunshine” about a paranoid Seattle grocery store clerk who claims to have solved the riddle of time travel.

- Rock of Ages (6/15): Broadway’s classic-rock shindig comes to the big screen with an all-non-rock-star cast that includes Tom Cruise, Julianna Hough, Russell Brand, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Mary J. Blige, Diego Boneta, Paul Giamatti and Alec Baldwin. 3-D.

- That’s My Boy (6/15): The summer’s requisite Adam Sandler entry, this time with the aging star reunited with the 18-year-old son he fathered when he was the same age. At least Sandler lets someone else play that part — fellow “SNL” spawn Andy Samberg. James Caan, Susan Sarandon, Will Forte and Vanilla Ice co-star.

- The Tortured (6/15): Jesse Metcalfe and Erika Christensen as a “perfect couple” whose young son is abducted/murdered. The killer (Bill Moseley) gets off light. No- the real sentencing, at the hands of the vengeful perfect couple, begins.

- Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (6/22): In between delivering speeches in downtown Bloomington and hanging out with Judge Dave Davis, Honest Abe (Benjamin Walker) was also avenging the death of his mother by a frontier bloodsucker. Who knew? Dominic Cooper and Anthony Mackie co-star.

- Brave (6/22): In what may be the most offbeat Pixar offering to date, a king’s daughter, also a skilled archer, defies some age-old customs and “inadvertently unleashes chaos fury,” not necessarily in that order. Despite the heavy premise, it’s still a Pixar comedy, we’re assured. Vocals by Kelly Macdonald, Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly, Julie Walters, Craig Ferguson and Robbie Coltrane. 3-D.

- Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (6/22): On the eve of the world’s end (an asteroid is headed our way), a soft-spoken insurance salesman (Steve Carell) is abandoned by his wife and taken in by his next-door neighbor, with end-of-days issues of her own. It helps that she’s played by Keira Knightley.

- G.I. Joe: Retaliation (6/29): Channing Tatum and others are back in uniform as more Hasbro toys come to life. They’re up against their enemies at Cobra again. Ray Park, Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis co-star.

- Magic Mike (6/29): If Channing Tatum in uniform in “G.I. Joe” is one for the guys, then Channing Tatum out of uniform (and more) in “Magic Mike” is one for the ladies. Steven (“Ocean’s 11”) Soderbergh directs the tale, based on Tatum’s own real past as a male stripper. Alex Pettyfer and Matthe- McConaughey co-star (and co-shed).

- People Like Us (6/29): “Star Trek’s” Chris Pine plays a fast-talking salesman whose latest deal falls through on the day his father dies. When he’s called home to help put things in order, he uncovers a surprise: a 30-year-old sister (Elizabeth Banks) he never kne- about. Michelle Pfeiffer, Olivia Wilde and Philip Baker Hall co-star.

- Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection (6/29): She’s baaack — this time housing a high-level NYC CEO (Eugene Levy) enrolled in the Witness Protection Program after he blows the whistle on a Ponzi scheme.

July

- The Amazing Spiderman (7/3): Toby Maguire’s out and Andre- Garfield’s in, as yet another superhero franchise is given the re-boot. This is the “untold story,” we’re told, focusing on a “different side” of the P. Parker saga. In other words: we get to sit through another franchise start-up story. This time, Emma Stone is high school crush Gwen, and Sally Field and Martin Sheen are Aunt May/Uncle Ben. Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary and Campbell Scott co-star. 3-D.

- Savages (7/6): We don’t usually associate vet director Oliver Stone with big summer flicks. But here he comes, with an adaptation of Don Winslow’s best-seller about a Mexican drug cartel moving in on a So-Cal marijuana farm, with really nasty results. Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, John Travolta, Benicio Del Toro, Uma Thurman, Salma Hayek, Aaron Johnson and Emile Hirsch star.

- Ice Age: Continental Drift (7/13): Scrat’s still chasing that nutty acorn after all these epochs — but this time it triggers world-changing consequences. 3-D.

- Ted (7/13): The first R-rated computer-animated comedy, from “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane (natch), casts Mark Wahlberg as an adult still contending with the consequences of the randy teddy bear he wished to life as a kid. Mila Kunis, Giovanni Ribisi, MacFarlane, Joel McHale and Patrick Warburton co-star.

- The Dark Knight Rises (7/20): Director Christopher Nolan’s third time plunging the “Batman” franchise further into darkness, with most of the regulars back: Christian Bale (DK), Michael Caine (Alfred), Gary Oldman (Commissioner Gordon) and Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox). Newcomers: Anne Hathaway (Selina Kyle/Catwoman), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (John Blake), Tom Hardy (Bane) and Marion Cotillard (Miranda Tate). 3-D.

- Neighborhood Watch (7/27): Some sci-fi comedy company for “Men in Black 3,” with Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Jonah Hill as a suburban neighborhood-watch klatch for dads only, who uncover a plot to invade/destroy the world. Will Forte and Billy Crudup co-star.

- Step Up Revolution (7/27): The feet keep moving for the “Step Up” franchise, this time in the direction of a wealthy businessman’s daughter (Kathryn McCormick), who turns up in Miami to find love with a fello- dancer (Ryan Guzman).

August

- The Bourne Legacy (8/3): Still another franchise makeover, this time with Matt Damon out as series namesake Jason Bourne, and Jeremy Renner in as someone else. This fourth visit to the Robert Ludlum universe where nothing is ever what it seems does feature some familiar series faces: Albert Finney, Joan Allen, David Strathairn and Scott Glenn.

- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (8/3): The second “Wimpy Kid” movie is derived from creator Jeff Kinney’s fourth book, charting hero Greg Heffley’s “worst summer ever.”

- Total Recall (8/3): Arnold Schwarzenegger’s mind-games hit of ’90s yore is no- grist for the remake mill, this time with the considerably less-hulky Colin Farrell as the factory worker whose memory is tampered with, turning him into a hunted man with a ne- reality. Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Bryan Cranston, John Cho and Bill Nighy co-star.

- The Campaign (8/10): Will Ferrell as a long-term congressman who commits a major pre-election public gaffe and Zach Galifianakis as the naïve tourism director turned into his rival by a pair of wealthy CEOs. John Lithgow, Dan Aykroyd, Brian Cox and Jason Sudeikis co-star.

- Hope Springs (8/10): Tommy Lee Jones and Steve Carell come back for summer-movie seconds, this time allied with Meryl Streep. She plays a wife who, in a bid to rene- the spark with her husband (TLJ), drags her mate to a marriage therapy retreat headed by a renowned specialist (Carell).

- The Odd Life of Timothy Green (8/15): Disney fantasy-comedy, with Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgarton as a happily married, but childless, couple who find a bundle of joy on their doorstep one stormy night. It’s actually a 10-year-old bundle (CJ Adams), whose origins prove to be … unusual.

- The Expendables 2 (8/15): The inevitable sequel to the 2010 hit — sort of the “Grumpy Old Men” for ’80s action icons, like Sly Stallone, ex-Gov. Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Dolph Lundgren, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris. They’re again joined by fresher blood, like Jason Statham and Jet Li.

- ParaNorman (8/15): From the makers of “Coraline,” another comedy using old-school stop-motion animation — this time, on behalf of a tale about a small town under siege by zombies. Only a resident misfit kid, Norman, has the power to communicate with them and find out whassup. Vocals by Casey Affleck, Tempestt Bledsoe and John Goodman. 3-D.

- Sparkle (8/15): Remake of the ’70s cult hit about the musical prodigy (Jordin Sparks) becoming an RB diva in between extreme family strife. Chief point of interest: Whitney Houston’s planned comeback vehicle — playing the mother role — is no- her epitaph.

- The Apparition (8/24): Boo. Again. A young couple (Ashley Greene, Sebastian Stan) is tormented by an apparition conjured during a too-successful university parapsychology experiment. They can run, but they can’t hide.

- Hit and Run (8/24): A former getaway driver (Dax Shephard) busts out of the Witness Protection Program to drive his girlfriend (Kristen Bell) to L.A. so she can land her dream job. Complications: pursuing feds, led by Tom Arnold; pursuing former gang members, led by Bradley Cooper.

- Premium Rush (8/24): Not since “Quicksilver” … anyway, for those who’ve been waiting ever since, here comes the world’s second bicycle messenger movie, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt dodging vehicles and pedestrians.

- Lawless (8/31): A little end-of-summer-movie-season moonshine — the true story of the infamous Bondurant Bros. (Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy), the bootlegging siblings who made a run for the American Dream in Prohibition-era Virginia. Guy Pearce, Gary Oldman and Jessica Chastain co-star.

Article source: http://www.pantagraph.com/entertainment/go/summer-returns-sequels-reboots-new-characters-invading-theaters/article_b4544e5a-9a2b-11e1-a43b-0019bb2963f4.html

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The Edinburgh Science Festival 2012

Fire Walking

First up for me was something Ihave actually done before and reported on previously in Fortean Times.  FireWalking.

There are plenty of selfempowerment courses that use fire walking as a way of conquering your fears andthere are many new age groups which offer it as proof of guardian angels /protective force / whatever.  Butbasically it’s all down to science.  When you do the fire walk you’re walking on ash, your skin is poorlyconductive and you aren’t actually in contact with the heat for a great lengthof time.  Some lesser fire walksspend a couple of hours getting you in touch with your personal guardianangels, not so this one.  Organisedby Simon Gage, Science Festival director and compered by Richard Wiseman thebulk of the time was actually just getting people across.  There were a couple of demonstrationsto show how hot everything was – burning paper and frying eggs (one of whichwas described as the best fried egg sandwich ever and the other of which wasthrown away after one bite) and then an explanation of how to do the walk.  Basically that last one is at a briskpace without lingering.  Simondemonstrated and then we were in to it.  A succession of people crossing a twelve-foot pit of burningembers.  Each one getting a welldeserved round of applause from the audience.  No one withdrew at the last minute although some wereclearly nervous.

Sometimes one ortwo participants were a little cocky and tried to do the walk as slowly aspossible.  If they did injurethemselves they didn’t show it.  Once you had finished the walk there was a bath of water at the end – asmuch to get the ash off your feet as anything.  All told there were about 80 people taking part – some ofwhom signed up during the show – no doubt inspired by the example’s alreadyshown.

As I’ve said I’ve already carriedout a fire walk but I was still up for it again – and this time I photographedmyself carrying out the walk.  Thereare many photographs of people doing fire walks but how many are there from theparticipant’s viewpoint?

All told a successful afternoonwith no injuries.

Sweet Dreams

Sweet Dreams was a two hander fromCaroline Watt (http://www.koestler-parapsychology.psy.ed.ac.uk/cwatt/) of theKoestler Parapsychology Unit, Edinburgh University (http://www.koestler-parapsychology.psy.ed.ac.uk/)and Richard Wiseman (http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/) of the University ofHertfordshire.  A look atprecognitive dreams and the science of dreaming and as part of this latter wewere shown a demonstration of someone’s brain waves live.  On a laptop with a few extracables.  I think I now want an EEGattachment for my PC!  But the bigannouncement of the evening was an iPhone app that Richard had been developingwith a team of computer bods.  Ithelps you take control of your dreams no less!  One aspect of the iPhone is that it can detect movement atquite a low level because when you are sleeping but not dreaming you tend tomove. When you are dreaming your body is normally paralysed to stop you actingout your dreams.  So the iPhone islaid on your pillow and it detects when you are no longer moving.  Subliminal messages are then fed to you,which you can hear and incorporate into your dreams.  And then when you start moving again – i.e. when your REMsleep has finished and your dreaming has finished, you are woken up – that wayyou stand the greatest chance of remembering your dreams.  There’s an opportunity to send feedbackof your success and new dreamscapes (dream formats) are being developed.  A possible pathway to lucid dreaming perhaps?  The worried audience member whoenquired if subliminal messages attempting to control people could be inserted receivedreassurance from Richard. But then he would say that, wouldn’t he?

Our dreamworld is still littleunderstood and any chance to explore it further and move towards a greaterunderstanding is to be welcomed. Now all I need is an iPhone…

The Strange Case of Deacon Brodie and Robert LouisStevenson

The Edinburgh Fortean Society(http://www.edinburghforteansociety.org.uk/) were not part of the ScienceFestival but one of their monthly meetings at The Bongo Club(http://www.thebongoclub.co.uk/) landed slap bang in the middle of it so itwould be rude not to go.  Well thatand the fact that I founded the group 13 years ago and still organise all ofthe meetings.  March’s meeting wasa talk by Ian Robertson (co author of The Deathand Life of The Great Lafayette, Rosslynand the Grail and The Quest for theCeltic Key) entitled ‘The Strange Case of Deacon Brodie and Robert LouisStevenson’.

Everyone knows the basic Jekylland Hyde story but where did RLS get the idea from – was it the true life caseof Deacon Brodie – by day a pillar of society by night a thief?  The lives of both men were examined andthe areas in which their lives crossed were examined in a tale of connectionsand diversions.  In researching thetalk Ian had been struck by the great number of synchronicities and connectionshe uncovered and knowing his Fortean audience he left them intact in anentertaining session.

Did you know for example that theStevenson family owned a cabinet made by Deacon Brodie himself?

A Statistical Look at Nessie

The Edinburgh branch of Skepticsin the Pub (http://www.edinburghskeptics.co.uk/) are an active bunch.  For the Science Festival they had aseries of five lectures, regrettably I was only able to attend one and that wasCharles Paxton talking on a statistical look at Nessie. Their other talks were ‘AuldReekie: Most Haunted City in Europe?’; ‘Fictional Science or Science Fiction?’;‘Fire and Ice: Icelandic Volcanoes and their Links to Scotland’ and ‘ThePsychology of Superstition.’ 

For Charles’ talk we were in whatI always think of as a great venue – The Banshee Labyrinth(http://www.thebansheelabyrinth.com/).   It’s a pub built into the vaults under the bridges ofEdinburgh and the room we were in has been converted into a cinema.  And it claims to be the most hauntedpub in Edinburgh, but then don’t they all?

Charles has spoken several timesto the Edinburgh Fortean Society as well as at the Fortean Times UnConvention and his day job is as a lecturer at StAndrews University with a sideline in cryptozoology. 

Charles’ talk looked at sightingsof Nessie and rather than analysing the monster, statistics were applied to thereports – a subtle distinction.  Charles has carried out investigations looking at witness reliabilityincluding getting people to describe a sighting of a monster in a lake – actuallya drainpipe sticking up.  Charlesknew the distance and size and he compared the results to the actualmeasurements and he managed to prove that in general people are useless atestimating these characteristics.

No conclusion was reached as towhether or not there is a monster there, but the lecture provided a user-friendlylook at how statistics can be applied to evidence.  There followed a fun chat in the pub afterwards as well.

Paradox

Paradox was a talk illustratingthe latest book from Jim Al-Khalili (http://www.jimal-khalili.com/).  The book looks at the nine greatestenigmas in physics – Schrodinger’s Cat and killing your own grandfather all geta look in of course.  Jimillustrated his talk with a number of counter-intuitive examples giving theaudience an opportunity to either show that they had come across the problem orthat they were useless at working out probabilities. The first example waslooking at three doors with a prize behind one and nothing behind theothers.  After you have chosen one,one of the empty doors is opened – are you better off sticking with youroriginal choice or changing?  Aninteresting talk, one that only touched the surface of the book and the subjectbut had us all scratching our heads and in my case at least, had me wanting tobuy the book.  I was alreadyfamiliar with speculations as to what came before the Big Bang and what is theuniverse expanding into, but I’d never come across the idea that with aninfinite universe the night sky should be light (the light from all the starsin every conceivable direction) and because the night sky is dark we must notlive in an infinite universe – simples!

Derren Brown

Normally mentalist Derren Brown (http://derrenbrown.co.uk/)doesn’t do interviews so this 90-minute session in conversation with RichardWiseman was a definite rarity and a coup for the Science Festival.  Nothing to do with the fact he was inthe middle of a run of shows in Glasgow.  The show nearly came a cropper before it started though as Derren wassuffering from a sore throat and ultimately he didn’t want to ruin his voicefor the day job as it were.  Hesurvived and the Glasgow shows did not suffer at all.

The Edinburgh event was a relaxedaffair with the pair moving over a wide range of topics from Derren’s earlycareer to his first venture into television – and how had he known what wasgoing to happen he would have changed the way that went – basically all thoughtit would be a one-off so the show went straight for the jugular and over eggedthings a bit. Had they known it would launch a successful TV career Derren wouldhave followed a different approach.  If only Derren’s powers included foreseeing the future, oh, wait!

Some interesting questions camefrom the audience including how does he decide which potential volunteers tokeep and which to discard (secret coming up – some are discarded purely fortheatrics) and we also had the tables turned on Derren – he has a sideline incaricatures and one lucky member of the audience was invited to draw Derren!

For those wanting to press theflesh afterwards and get an autograph they were out of luck – a rapid trip toGlasgow beckoned but there were some pre-signed books available.

And that was the end of theEdinburgh Science Festival, at least until next year.  All told a very successful year and the shows I went to wereall hits, with not a miss amongst them.

Article source: http://www.forteantimes.com/features/commentary/6499/the_edinburgh_science_festival_2012.html

Seek no more when looking for a Chicago Ghost Paranormal Tours as one stands alone: Chicago Hauntings Tours.
by Edward Shanahan.

Chicago Hauntings Tours stands alone for a few reasons, let me count the ways:

# 1 – The original paranormal ghost tour to have been run on a regular daily basis in the city of Chicago.

# 2 – Ms. Ursula Bielski is the founder of Chicago Hauntings and is one of a kind in the Chicago paranormal field as she is a recognized authority on the Chicago, Illinois region’s ghostlore, historian, author, and parapsychology enthusiast. Ursula has been writing and speaking about Chicago’s supernatural history and the paranormal for more than 18 years.

She has authored many paranormal books and is working on four more at the time of writing this article.

Ursula Bielski is one of the very rare paranormal authors in the Chicago land area if not the nation to have her books published by an actual publishing company, as almost all other authors are self published under their own self created publishing company or other self publishing sources.

On top of that she has also authored numerous scholarly articles exploring the links between history and the paranormal, including pieces for the International Journal of Parapsychology. Bielski is a past editor of PA News, the quarterly newsletter of the Parapsychological Association; a past president and board member of the Pi Gamma Chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honor society; and a member of the Society of Midland Authors.

Ursula graduated from St. Benedict High School in Chicago; Benedictine University in Lisle, where she received a B.A. in history; and from Northeastern Illinois University, where she earned an M.A. in American cultural and intellectual history.

At Benedictine University her academic explorations include the spiritualist movement of the nineteenth century and its transformation into psychical research and parapsychology; and the relationship among belief, experience, science, and religion.

So when it comes to the knowledge, schooling and being labeled as an expert in the field, no one stands above her in the Chicago land area in the paranormal field or among the paranormal authors and she is the one who created and is behind the Chicago Hauntings Tours and the unique offerings it presents.

# 3 – When other paranormal ghost tours are today combining or coming together in a attempt (as one silly statement was recently made by two ghost tours that have combined their efforts) ‘To Conquer Chicago‘,  and others who seem to be fly by nights that are popping up every so often with everything from a puppet skull head on a stick that the host attempts to have it’s mouth move, to paranormal investigation teams attempting to cross over in to the ghost tour bus business with no experience in the business end of tours, nor experience in holding an extended stop by stop tour as it is paranormal investigators attempting to be tour guides.

Ursula Bielski’s Chicago Hauntings Tours stands alone in the Chicago land area and has a long history since 2004 of running Chicago ghost paranormal tours with her and her professional tour guides educated with both the historic and paranormal history of the locations.

The tours are based on Ursula Bielski’s nearly 20 years of Chicago ghost hunting and her ”Chicago Haunts” series of books, as well as the collective writings and ongoing research and investigations.

Chicago Haunting Tours follow a course of history that starts with the very beginnings of Chicago, traveling from its humble origins as a frontier outpost, through the 19th century – including the Great Chicago Fire and its aftermath–, into the 20th century and the gangster era of the 1920s and 1930s, and forward to today. The tours cover a lot of information and many, many stories about the locations.

# 4 – What is being said about Chicago Haunting Tours: “A Great Choice for Everyone!” - Better Homes and Gardens /  “This is not  some ridiculous spook show … Chicago Hauntings is the real deal.” - Rick Kogan, WGN Radio /  “The Best Ghost Tour in Chicago” – Time Out Chicago Magazine / “One of the Top Ten Ghost Tours in America” – Haunted America.

# 5 - Some of the many tours that Chicago Hauntings Tours run: The Chicago Hauntings Signature Ghost Tour held nightly year round (closed Mondays). Also very popular for Group and School tours with private charters available anytime! A special and unique creation of Chicago Hauntings Tours is the 7 hour Ghost Haunt. Also the provider of the Haunted Archer Avenue Tour, a Resurrection Mary and Beyond Tour. Also Chicago Hauntings Tours was the creator and still provider of the original: ‘Haunted by Holmes - ’Devil in The White City Ghost Tour’.

I have counted the ways and as I said: Chicago Hauntings Tours stands alone when you are looking for Chicago Ghost Paranormal Tours for your enjoyment.

Chicago Haunting Tours – web site.

Happy Hauntings,

Edward Shanahan
Web site for Edward Shanahan
Chicago Paranormal Nights – web site.
Facebook page for Edward Shanahan

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Article source: http://www.chicagonow.com/chicago-paranormal-and-spiritual/2012/05/seek-no-more-when-looking-for-a-chicago-ghost-paranormal-tours-as-one-stands-alone-chicago-hauntings-tours/

View full sizePsychic Sylvia Browne puts the focus on mothers May 13 at Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort.

MOUNT PLEASANT, MI — Who could have foreseen what life had in store for the good little girl encouraged by the sisters at her Catholic school to share her gift with the world?

“The nuns were so good to me,” remembered Sylvia Browne, the renowned psychic coming on Mother’s Day to Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mount Pleasant. “They protected me, and when I was 18, they encouraged me to help people full-time.

“I was only 5 years old when I sensed that both of my great-grandmothers were going to die, and within weeks, both did. Thank God I had a grandmother who was psychic, too. It scared me — this was in the 1940s in the Midwest — but she helped me see ways to put it to good use.”

Browne made it her lifetime pursuit, stepping forward at a time when such people were figuratively burned at the stake and lasting long enough to see her gift become a rather routine fixture in the United States.

Instead of fearing her ability to predict future events, detractors today say she isn’t psychic enough, pointing out missed and vague predictions about, say, Saddam Hussein’s whereabouts.

“I’ve told people, doctors aren’t always right. Lawyers aren’t always right, and it’s the same with psychics,” Browne said. And while some might dispute the numbers, “I get about 20 out of 26 correct,” she added.

Known for her frequent appearances on television with Larry King and Montel Williams, Browne has also written many books on the phenomenon. She addresses how to find spirit guides, heaven, angels and afterlives of the rich and famous in a series that will continue soon with a new book on past lives.

She’s traveled the world, raised money for hospices for seniors, the abused and people with AIDS, and established foundations such as the nonprofit Sylvia Brown Corp. to help people better understand parapsychology.

But as she’s grown older, Browne has turned to lectures, with random readings thrown in along the way. She’ll focus on Mother’s Day at Soaring Eagle — “I love Michigan; people there get it the best,” she said.

“On Mother’s Day, we only need to honor parents who are honorable. Too many people carry around guilt for their feelings about their mothers. You can forgive her and still love her instead of hanging onto what should have been but will never materialize.”

About those readings, “it used to be about finding Miss or Mr. Right, but virtually everyone now wants to know if they’re on the right track,” Browne said. “They talk about how they can advance themselves.”

Browne doesn’t tell them anything they couldn’t tell themselves — everyone has psychic abilities, she said — but not everyone knows how to bring it forward. She’s not always right, “but I have people who will call me about a reading I gave 20 years ago, and they tell me, ‘I wished I had listened to what you said.’

“It’s not about controlling what is going to happen –— that’s between you and God, and I can’t do that. Everything happens in God’s time.”

And for the record, if you haven’t sensed it yourself, the world is not going to end in 2012.

“America is not only going to survive, but things will get better, too,” Browne predicted. “We’ve made it through a Civil War and world wars and the Depression, and we’re going to get through this, too.”

After 55 years in the business, she said, it comes down to finding peace and harmony. Nobody calls a psychic if they’re happy, she pointed out, but if they’re in need, “I’m there, doing God’s work. It’s all in the motive.”

People are more spiritual now than ever before, “and they want to know about everything, angels, past lives, whether their new job is going to be a good one.

“Nothing is out of bounds for a loving God.”

Browne’s presentation begins at 6 p.m. May 13 at Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort, Mount Pleasant. Tickets, available at all StarTickets outlets, by calling 800-585-3737 or online at soaringeaglecasino.com, cost $56, $48, $28 and $22.

Article source: http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/saginaw/index.ssf/2012/05/sylvia_browne_sets_her_sights.html