Saturday February 18, 2012
Marla Brooks and Tim Shaw
Tonight's show was scheduled to have as its guest Barry Fitzgerald, but somehow that didn't quite happen. Henry introduced the show and Craig, and conveyed my absense (my attending the annual GallifreyOne convention), and my possibly coming by towards the end of the show. Henry figured the show could be a "gabbing type thing," so after a Skype-fail, Henry brought in to the show Marla Brooks of the Thursday night para-x show Stirring the Cauldron.
Not quite divulging her identity right away, Marla came in, somehow Craig couldn't guess her unique voice even from her "Umm" at the start, but the chat room instantly recognized her.
Marla announced she is working on a Witch Oracle Deck as her current project, explaining such being a slightly different type deck than tarot.
In the chat room, Tim Shaw started slightly razzing Marla, and it came out that Tim wasn't feeling at peak efficiency, so Marla spoke that one can do self-healing magick, what with Tim being something of a ceremonial magician himself. Comically enough, the three started discussing the winter weather before Henry asked Marla after up to what she's been in the paranormal investigation field. Marla confessed that after churning out her three "main" books Ghosts of Hollywood: The Show Still Goes on, Ghosts of Hollywood II: Talking to Spirits and Ghosts of Hollywood III almost all at once, she's not been That Busy, but she did speak of her current domicile's ghost Charlie. While taking out her dog Cali, she glanced back at the house to see a Shadow Person just standing there with his hands on his hips "judgementally" watching her. Ginny who owns the guest house in which Marla stays, asks about whether Marla hears the voices in there; and about the weird "tomb-like" foundation under her bedroom. She added both her dog and cat watching Something in sync that humans can't see, as well as animal ghosts.
She spoke of Echo Bonine, a previous guest on her show, discussing the idea of Shadow People and ghosts actually having auras. Henry reported Patsy having seen one of the Shadow People that dwell at their home, though Henry joked that had he seen it, the house would have been sold. Craig relayed how as he grew up, in his home there was a lot of Activity.
Marla posited that ghosts are attracted to us due to our having a different energy, and that all houses are haunted but we just can't perceive them. I was not in there yet to point out the UnHaunted places to which I've been: places one would expect to be haunted, et al.
Henry spoke of a place he knew with a child ghost, and when he learned it was to be demolished he offered it his place, but as a day care center had been built next to the building, the girl had a place to play. He spoke of Hillview Manor and its Third Floor at which Henry's son and a friend was in the bathroom there when Something right between them all but stomped his foot on the floor, so now Henry's son wants to come along on investigations, and how his grandson had as a playmate his late aunt who'd died before Henry's son was born; Henry's son wasn't even aware he'd had a sister who'd died young.
Back from the first break, Henry indicated being unable to get a connection with Barry Fitzgerald, as joining in the show was Marla's "big brother," the Reverend Tim Shaw of the para-x Thursday night show Black Cat Lounge.
Nyla in the chat room asked if Marla had seen any of the Hollywood ghosts about which her books chronicle. Marla stressed that most of the ghosts about which are written in the books mostly being Regular People rather than celebrity ghosts.
Tim spoke of the Knickerbocker Inn, at which during an investigation they'd spread baby powder around a chair where a little girl ghost was reported to be, and small footprints had turned up. Discussing old school techniques, Tim discussed Ghost Boxes and their somewhat unreliability as opposed to EVPs which are far superior. He went into the few (non-fraudulent) seances was what was done before there was high-tech stuff, but with his own, after months of practice, they'd have seance events that created various true physical activity taking place. Tim also works with dowsing rods, camera/aura meter, compasses, paper and ink, etc., and creating Target Objects with which ghosts could play. They discussed Tim's table tipping at the Sorg Opera House.
As Tim answered Kat's question from the chat room about the physics of Light As A Feather (and his own spoon-bending ability), I was brought in to the show, just in time for the second break. When we came back Tim expounded on his bending spoons at a restaurant.
Mentioning their Favourite Experience/s, Marla joked usually being on the air with Tim being itself a Paranormal Experience; that for her/them, paranormal stuff is just Normal for them. Tim reminded everyone that while he literally Talks To Dead People, he's creeped out by the dark and can't see scary movies. He's had his cell phone thrown from a table, and at Fort Niagra Tim got whacked in the hand, and a glass of cider knocked from his hand. Seeing an apparition at his mother's home, at night he would be freaked out. At Waverly he could see a fellow ghost investigator with him, when in fact she was way up ahead.
Marla was once smacked in the butt at one investigation; at the Hollywood Wax Museum with Scott Michaels of Dearly Departed Tours Something grabbed her hand, and footsteps came right by them.
Tim spoke of a place where a light upstairs turned on and off all night, to his terror, sleeping in a fetal position. The next day the owner pointed out the lamp upstairs wasn't even plugged in. I pointed out I'd have been upstairs to find out what the heck was going on up there. I related my friends' experience at Ringwood Manor. Tim indicated he has no issue with footsteps and such, but it's when the Feeling comes over one that creeps him out, such as at Fort Niagra.
Henry asked whether in her Animal Spells and Magick book was anything about animal ghosts, but Marla clarified it was spells for pets' health and such, and how Tim had contributed a chapter on Animal Reiki. With Tim's dog's name being Ebody, I asked to what chakra that would correspond. Tim pointed out as long as I don't wear my mailman uniform I'd be okay: Marla slyly hinted I should beware of ostriches.
Craig and I were asked about our experiences; Craig spoke of an investigation he did at Hillview Manor. Down in the cellar; he'd set up a game camera. On return, they found it down the hallway instead of where it'd been set up. The last photo time stamp was 06:00:00, the exact time the maintenance guy would arrive at work. Craig clarified that the maintenance guy had died years earlier.
I spoke of the woman's footsteps following me where I used to work, and we clarified that daytime can be as Active as nighttime.
Discussed was the sometimes negative aspect of Official Groups as opposed to two-person investigators covering one area at a time. Tim also said had he not been sick he'd have been at the investigation going on that night at the Union Hotel.
Tim gave out his website information and his Ghosts of Buffalo book and that his book Haunted Rochester had entered its fourth printing.
Henry felt Marla had written more books than he could count on one hand; when she went to downplay it, I quickly chimed in she'd written both metaphysical and "simply" non-fiction books, each set of which listed on my website, at my metaphysics page and her non-metaphysical non-fiction books being on my non-fiction page (and that they'd be listed on the report page here). Marla had just enough time to give out her website, giving me about forty seconds to convey my website, the Paranormal View page within my site, that The Paranormal View is findable on Facebook, et al, and we were wrapped for this edition.