Ghost Lab S02E03 Lizzie Borden reviewed

Again with the pre-credits spoilers? Did we already not decide those were a bad idea? Brad & Barry are spending the night in the Lizzie Borden House, the Lab will arrive tomorrow. One of the brothers claims he heard something shutting. During the info on the house we discover the Liz Borden rhyme is actually complete garbage and that she only hit her mother (actually her step-mother so even that part is untrue) 19 times. Not 40 as claimed in the poem. She only hit her father 11 times, nowhere near the 41 the rhyme claims. It also appears she was never proven to actually be the killer. What ever happened to "Innocent until proven guilty"?

It appears they are still being stupid about the whole point of the RT EVP Recorder, if its not being monitored in real time as well what is the point of even using it?

The Lizzie Borden House - Fall River, Massachusetts.
With absolutely no thanks to the Discovery Channel for failing to even inform us where the location was, I had to Google. Unless its not Brad & Barry investigating the location just take it as read.

Guest Bedroom - They start off with pretty intense provoking both verbally & with rather graphic projections of the murder scenes, whatever it was they reacted to I never heard over the incidental soundtrack, Brad also claims to have been kicked (he's holding his ribs so that would have been one pretty high kick). To non-Americans a Charley Horse is just your basic involuntary muscle spasm, back in the Lab they play back an EVP recorded at 20 Hertz (so right on the limit of human hearing) they claim is saying "I am not through with you". Some sounds that may be words can be made out but its just too quiet to say what they are.

There are 2 EMF spikes that coincide with the 2 pieces of activity in the room.

Back in the Guest Bedroom - Barry goes in first on his own, their intention is to do "Good Cop, Bad Cop" to provoke Andrew Borden, Lizzies father. Barry goes up back into aggressive provocation mode when Barry feels like he wasnt getting anywhere.

Night 2 with Jeff the trial lawyer brought in as a kind of Era Cues style experiment in the stepmothers room, Brad does hard provoking as usual then they move to the sitting room where Andrew was murdered. Brad provokes hard again & they think they can hear someone walking up the stairs. Back in the Lab Steve Hock presents an EVP recorded at 170 Hertz saying "You got that right" in answer to the question "Did she kill you for the money?".

Stone's Public House - Ashland, Massachusetts.
An actually graphic denoting the location would be handy Discovery Channel, again I had to use Google.

Bar - Nothing happens.

Room 22 - They are investigating as a train comes past, like thats not going to ruin any kind of audio recorded then. Once the train passes they are asking if the girls spirit plays in the halls outside the rooms then Brad freaks out & takes off after what turns out to be absolutely nothing. The difference between him doing it & Britt Griffiths doing it is Barry is actually wearing a headcam which captures everything in his eyeline which is sadly nothing. Brad thinks he saw a shadow walk into the wall. Playback in the Lab has Brad creaming himself as Barry says "I didnt see BLEEP!". Steve Harris confirms he sees the figure which I think is nothing more than a case of matrixing to be honest, the eye seeing what it wants to see.

Matrixing or not?
All I have done here is trace around what appears to be the outlines of the figure, this was a screengrab of the closeup before they added on the enhancement

Night 2, Katy on the 3rd Floor in Room 22 - Alone, again? At least this time they've only left her in a room where a child died, not where an aggressive male spirit was known to be. Unlike Hill View Manor. Katy is sharing the room with the bloodstained dress of Mary, the child spirit killed on the train tracks. Nothing happens so Katy is replaced.

Room 22 - By the Hair Bear Bunch! They take the dress outside & hang it on the porch as a train passes. Barry then thinks he sees movement at a 2nd floor window but the house is confirmed as empty, re-entering the house they find nothing in that room & there are no cameras covering the window in question. The Kings Of Impatience bail to check evidence back at the Lab where Brad finds an EVP recorded at 140 Hertz they claim is saying "Where are you?" but I think its a young female voice calling for her Mommy but its an excellent piece of evidence.

For what its worth this will also be my final Ghost Lab review, admittedly they didnt try to fake on this show but theres just not much worth saying about this show.

Ghost Hunters S06E20 The Oldest House In Georgia

Old Ulster County Jail - Kingston, New York

Jason & Grant in the 1st Floor Cells, Female Section - Right away they're hearing all kinds of stuff including "footsteps on sand" according to Grant, Jason enters a cell & says he thinks the sound is coming from an airvent high in the cell wall. The metal door they hear inside the cell must be discounted with the Pilgrim crew filming from outside the cell into it allowing them to be doing literally ANYTHING behind the camera. They split up & find nothing, Grant makes an unintentional funny when he says "theres no-one else in here, right?", no Grant. Just you. And Jason. And the camera guy. And the sound guy. And god alone knows who else.

Amy & Kris in the 2nd Floor Utility Corridor - Kris freaks out about something brushing against her arm, it cant be verified as she'd already started going crazy before the camera panned up off the floor. Score another point for helmetcams. Kris also freaks out again claiming the strap of her top was tugged. I can flatly state nothing moved as the camera was on her the whole time, just a case of an overactive imagination. Back on the cell block Kris freaks out a 3rd time after claiming something touched her arm. Girly, if you are going to offer your arm and ask to be grabbed then dont be shocked when it happens.

Steve & Tango in the 1st Floor Cells, Female Section - Steve sat in a cell while Tango sat on a bench directly outside it. Tango reveals his inner narcisist. Tango asks for a bang saying they'll leave if it happens then he claims to hear "a popping sound" which I never heard. He even indicates a 2nd sound claiming it was "a little louder" when there was nothing at all happening, when they ask for a 3rd noise you do hear something metal hitting metal off camera. Thats the ONLY sound you hear of the 3 Tango claimed. Because Bert & Ernie are too stupid they have to stick to their word & leave the area just as activity is happening. Talk about asking the wrong questions.

Amy & Kris in the 3rd Floor Housing Unit - Amy claims she sees movement which Kris starts to walk towards (with nothing in her hands, no flashlight, no camera, no dvr, NOTHING), we do hear a muffled thud that Kris says "sounded like chains". So chains sound like a sack hitting concrete? They claimed to hear other sounds which left them wandering around by the cells & Amy suggests they split up. Kris sees something in Tier E, shes unable to locate or debunk it. She hears movement and J&G claim to hear the same thing 1 floor directly below them. I'm unsure as to exactly why Grant says not to chase it, isnt that the entire reason they are there?

Jason & Grant in the 2nd Floor Cells Tiers A & B - Grant claims he hears a very Scooby Doo type moan, I could only hear them walking. I didnt hear his reported footsteps either. Nor did I hear the door Jason claimed had opened.

Analysis - Tango plays what he claims is a male voice Kris & Amy caught on video, all I hear is someone very heavy sitting down or shifting their weight on a chair. I couldnt hear ANYTHING when he played the "unpleasant" sound.

The Reveal - Really this should be Jason & Grant saying "Nothing happened" but lets see how much they make up & how far they reach to pass off evidence. Jason presents the clips of Kris freaking out after her "being touched" incidents, she just looks stupid reacting to nothing at all. Audio of Kris & Amy , you cant hear anything at all in the background like they claim. The playback waveform is totally flat so its impossible but the sheriff plays along like he's heard something. Audio playback of J&G on E & F Tier, you hear 2 thuds but its useless as evidence as you have no context for it. Audio of Kris & Amy on the 3rd Floor, you can hear something - possibly an exhale. Its utterly useless as evidence. J&G play audio caught on the 1st Floor, if anyone alive can hear 2 males engaged in conversation then you have better hearing than me. I can't hear anything at all. "We caught some great evidence", a whole lot of nothing is great evidence? No wonder this show is so bad if one of the producers thinks this.

Antebellum Plantation - Stone Mountain, Georgia.
After no handshake at the prison Steve isnt a pariah here at least.

Jason & Grant in the Thornton House - They react to whats obviously the floor, they even query if it is. There are plenty more thuds which do sound a decent distance away, once Grant goes to the top of the stairs Jason has a bad case of overactive imagination hearing "a slight wind with a voice in it" and no it didnt sound like out of a horror film, it sounded dumb & hokey. Just like you in fact. Grant claims he hears speech which Jason confirms as "two syllables", they must both have super hearing as there was nothing at all. Grant asks if its Margaret and theres a knock, as the camera is on him it would have been easy for Jason or any of his crew guys to fake that.

Despite claiming "that came from the room right behind me" Jason then walks into a completely different room. Would that be to allow the Pilgrim Crew member time to vacate that room then? When he eventually does enter the room he mentioned through a side door its obviously empty. Noisy Pilgrim guy had been given plenty of time to bail. Jason hears noises above him which the cameras try to debunk by showing Grant still sitting at the top of the stairs (do Pilgrim not know we've heard of the term Pickup Shot?), when Grant eventually enters the room theres nothing there.

Steve & Tango in Slave Cabin #1 - Steve reacts to something (off camera) then Tango asks "did that chair move?" (also off camera but it wasnt moving at all when they changed shots), Steve overly freaking out at just about everything freaked out Tango who suggested they bail (Isn't this the kind of behaviour Brian Harnois got sacked for?), they were claiming they could hear hissing but neither guy left. Epic fail on Professionalism from the tutors of GHA.

Jason & Grant in the Barn - which lasts for all of about 3 seconds once Jason thinks he sees a light elsewhere so they go check it out. Look Ma, I got me that ADHD as bad as those Klinge Brothers!

Jason & Grant in the Carriage House - They are unable to replicate or debunk the cause of the light Jason saw.

Analysis - Video of a voice Steve & Tango caught in the Slave Cabin.

The Reveal - Jason mentions the mystery light from the Carriage House, video of 1 light tap they claim is 3 bangs in the Thornton House, Grant mentions hearing the name Margaret but theres nothing presented on tape. Guys you know the rules as well as we do, if its not on tape you can NOT present it to the client. Video of the noise made behind Jason that I believe was a crew member, the fact he didnt walk right into the room to check renders it useless and open to being faked.

The audio of Steve & Tango in the Slave Cabin is nothing more than someone inhaling before beginning a sentance, totally debunked and very poor if they are presenting that as actual paranormal evidence - It certainly doesnt sound like "Hey you" and you wont hear that until its suggested to you. Jason manages to totally queer the presentation of the next bit of audio by motioning to the client exactly when she's supposed to hear the sound, you can hear something but Jason just ruined its chance of being evidence by signalling it like that.

As far as my Ghost Hunters reviews go I think this is going to be the last one, you can only rag on stupid people so many times before it becomes meaningless which it has done. I may possibly review the Halloween show, we'll cross that bridge when we reach it. Its been fun doing these and I hope you've enjoyed reading them.

Right now in terms of Paranormal shows there is plenty to watch, Ghost Hunters (currently awful), Ghost Adventures (mildly bad), Ghost Lab (dire now they've decided they need to fake in every show), Paranormal State (still sticking with their overly religious approach), Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files and the return of My Ghost Story. If you can't find something you like watching amongst that lot then you must be Yvette Fielding.

Be well and have a happy Halloween.

RAF dates

Attested 17th April 1990
Started Swinderby 18th April 1990
Left Swinderby June 13th 1990
Posted RAF Hereford June 17th 1990
1 week on Poole Flight,
Started P&A Course 25th June 1990.
Completed 20 week course 9th November 1990
1 week guard duty,
Posted RAF High Wycombe 19th November 1990

Ghost Lab S02E02 The Betrayal reviewed

Again with the weird preview of the show then the credits run, I must say I am not a fan of this new format idea. I really dont need you spoilering the entire show before I even get to see it, whats the point? It ruins any kind of suspense level you might aim for especially with the stupid overly used incidental music.

Hill View Manor - New Castle, Pennsylvania.

Only days after Ghost Adventures did it for the second time on the Travel Channel? I think this is a really bad case of not checking what the competition are doing, if I'd been doing the show schedule I would have at least checked where Ghost Adventures & Ghost Hunters had been in the last 3 weeks and not aired anywhere if it was the same place. Airing this so close to the Ghost Adventures show just makes Discovery look like a complete bunch of amateurs who couldn't schedule the sun to come up if it were morning.

Katy in the Basement - Where according to this weeks Ghost Adventures the worst & most active spirit is. And the 2 fat Texans are leaving a slim petite woman on her own. Real Gentlemen, aint they?

Barry & Brad in Room 105 - Where nothing more active than a mentally handicapped paraplegic woman is said to be, Barry thinks he's getting touched on his arms. After another insanely short EVP session they move elsewhere. No patience at all what so ever. Katy reports (by radio) she heard what sounded like fingernails scratching the wall by her head. A door closes right in front of her, we dont get a whole shot of the door so it has to be discounted as she has a camera crew with her and they already made a point of no longer using the "nothing is faked" disclaimer message any more.

Katy says "no-one was around it" but when you see how much of the door wasn't in the shot as it shut you can see how easily it could have been faked, both the brothers try to debunk it then they go back to the Lab. Brad & Barry cream themselves over the footage & Katy points out she didnt shoot the whole door so its too easy to fake.

Night 2, Brad on the 3rd Floor Nurses Station - With Molly, a former nurses assistant who had worked at Hillview for over 20 years, she was brought in as an Era Cues experiment. At time index 16:09 to 16:12 watch something small & low to the ground move from out of the corridor behind Brad going in a straight line until it passes the camera. It happens JUST before Molly asks if Mary Virginia remembers her.

After the EVP Molly leaves & Brad comes in to join him and immediately goes off in pursuit of a shadow man, unlike Britt Griffiths on Ghost Hunters Barry is at least wearing a headcam which will have captured whatever he was looking at. See Britt, when you see something and chase it make sure you carry recording equipment so you dont look like the complete chump you always do. When Brad checks Barrys camera is turns out there was a loose wire so he caught nothing. Chump alert!

Back in the Lab they review the EVP tape & find something recorded at 10 Hertz which you can make out as "Hello" & it sounds female for sure. The following day its played back to Molly who cant confirm it as Mary Virginia. The door closing footage is played back for Candy (the caretaker), but I am stunned that no-one picked up on the moving object during the EVP with Molly.

Fort Niagra - Youngstown, New York.

The Klinge brothers are jumping at shadows during the hotspot walkthrough in broad daylight so heaven knows how jumpy they will be when it gets dark.

Brad & Barry in the Basement, Cory & Katy in the Officers Dining Hall - Both teams do EVPs and it makes a change that Katy isnt alone for the first time in her Ghost Lab tv career.

Brad & Barry in the Chapel - I told you these 2 have ADHD, they cant stay in a location for longer than a few minutes. I reckon its the same reason why Barry Klinge has so many repressed anger issues too. They had started off in the Basement at 12:25am and are here now at 1:22am so they didnt even spend an hour in the Basement. As they try provoking Cory & Katy think its gotten colder where they are.

Brad & Barry in the 2nd Floor Corridor - Seriously? Do they have ants in their pants? Are they just THAT incapable of staying in 1 location for any real period of time? Brad is provoking again and thinks he hears something (impossible to confirm due to incidental music). Back in the Lab they review the EVP where they claim the recording made at 15 Hertz says "We did not do this" but you cant hear any kind of words at all, its just noise. So they are sticking with awful quality EVP audio then. Brad uses the words "weak" and "whisper" to describe this EVP. So even he thinks its rubbish quality then.

Brad & Barry with Matt Anderson in the Vestibule - Matt was recruited for his ability to translate into French to encourage Non-English speaking spirits to communicate. Barry tries to perpetrate the worst fake ever by throwing his light over the room and claimed it had been knocked out of his hand, the director had made sure they were shooting from his headcam at the time to ensure both his hands were not visible in the shot. Back in the Lab they do playback of what I will now be calling Light Gate then they play audio caught recorded at 18 Hertz which they claim is saying "a betrayal of France" in French.

Ghost Lab S02E01 Dead Will Rise Again

I must admit I honestly did not expect this show to get picked up for a second season after the harsh savaging I gave it reviewing when the first 13 shows. The last review for this show was written on Wed 13th Dec 2009 and today is Wed 27th Oct 2010 so the show has been off the air over 10 months now. Well now its back, sadly not from outer space where it would have been much better off so we will see if the format has improved and if any of the complaints I made about season 1 have been addressed in any shape or form.

My concerns were as follows:-
Tombstone Shadow man, any admission of error or apology?
Constantly jumping to conclusions.
Thinking everything is paranormal.
Awful quality EVP's.

This review will be posted on the Syfy forum for Ghost Hunters, the Ghost Lab forum & on my blog.

Gettysburg.

Barry & Brad on the battle field - They're hearing stuff pretty much right away, theres no way to confirm their "cannon shot" but it seems Discovery ARE going to persist with the stupid incindental music that drowned out any chance of hearing it. And then the credits run? WEIRD way of starting of an episode and a new season.

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

I have to report that the disclaimer stating nothing is altered or faked is no longer being used at the start of episodes. In other words its open season for faking. We actually get a very rapid introduction to some of the Every Day Paranormal members (which is a darn sight more than they got in season 1, I had to Google each team members identity back then).

The Fairfield Inn - Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

The Klinge Brothers do their initial walkthrough in a very different way from Ghost Hunters or Ghost Adventures. They are both normally toured through the location hotspots with the client telling them the claims. Here the Klinge brothers are going through alone with Steve Hock relaying the claims via radio from the Ghost Lab parked outside. Brad does a further briefing with the clients during the daytime checking more claims. Another difference is the Klinge Brothers dont do their investigations in complete darkness, there are always small light sources either set up or being carried.

Brad & Barry in the General J.E.B. Stuart Room - They start out doing an EVP then ask for activity on demand stating "theres a lot of noise, we have to know thats you" but that cant be confirmed due to Discovery & their incidental soundtrack. Showing they still suffer from ADHD they spend less than a minute in this location before deciding to move. Barry manages to sit still for the grand total of 37 seconds (trust me, I counted!) which must be an all time record for shortest time spent investigating a single location. FWIW Barry, if you went on GHA you'd be sent home having failed on the aspect of PATIENCE!

Barry in the Patrick Henry Room - Barry does an EVP in here on his own. Brad hears movement outside his room, with 2 heavy Texans plus camera crews for each of them it has to be discounted. Barry goes out to the landing have a look, theres no-one there. No shock at all. Steve reports nothing caught on camera so they go back to the Lab.

A shadow figure is found on a photograph in the 1757 Suite (probably taken during the baseline checks), it could not be conclusively recreated or debunked. They return to try out a new piece of equipment, the RTEVP Recorder or Real Time EVP recorder which relays data directly to the Lab to allow EVP's to be monitored in real time as they are recorded.

Barry & Brad in the 1757 Suite - They separate again to do an EVP, Barry claims he gets a response which when played back in the Lab (pretty much defeating the point of real time monitoring) says "Private John Riley" but its at 15 Hertz so 5 Hertz under the limit of human hearing, the playback is clearly heavily electronically processed to make it audible though. A historian does find record of an SJ Riley but his body was never found. This audio is played for the clients but they can only understand the whole thing after being told what it said.

Jennie Wade House - Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Brad & Barry in the Basement, Katy in the Attic Bedroom (2nd Floor) - Katy gets spooked by "footsteps" that turns out to be nothing but you can hear how much the floors of the attic react when people move across them. Barry & Brad give up on their EVP (after all of about a minute if that) to go check her (have you boys not taken your Ritalin today?). Back in the Lab she plays back movement but with a camera crew with her it has to be discounted.

Farnsworth House - Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Brad & Barry have hired 2 Civil War recreators to pretend to be snipers for an Era Cues experiment, Steve Harris is with them playing sounds of gunfire while they run through the actions without actually firing.

Jennie Wade House - Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Katy on the ground floor, Brad & Barry in the Attic - Brad & Barry hear what sounds like a female moaning in pain, with Katy in the house it cant be used sorry. If thaey had chosen ANY other member of the team they might have been able to use that sound. One of the brothers feels movement then Katy asks the exact same thing, they think its footsteps. Back in the Lab they replay audio of movement on the wooden floors, with 3 different camera crews in the house sadly its useless as evidence. Playback of the whimper from Barrys camera audio & an EVP recorded at 18 Hertz which sounds female, like talking & crying.

Ghost Hunters S06E19 The Chopping Block reviewed

Bissman Building - Mansfield, Ohio

I guess 3 vans is now going to be the Ghost Hunters standard convey, Van 1 is Jason & Grant, Van 2 is Kris & Amy, Van 3 AKA the tech truck is Steve & Tango. The standard travel pattern seems to be that Jason, Amy & Steve always drive without fail, I dont think I have EVER seen Grant, Tango or Kris driving to the best of my memory. The team are met by Britt & KJ at the location and yet again for the 3rd investigation in a row Steve wasn't introduced to the client nor was he allowed to shake hands.

Is there something medically wrong with Steve or has he fallen so incredibly badly out of favour that he's getting this kind of treatment in front of clients? Although I note Steve did get to shake hands at the end of the hotspot walkthrough. Very odd. And again I can confirm Jason has stopped making his "get digital recorders to cameras" statement so it seems my reviews HAVE made a difference thank you very much Brandy Green!

Britt & KJ in the Basement - The moon must be blue (again), J&G aren't first into the location so it seems another of my constant moans is being addressed again. Dont get used to seeing Britt on tv, he made a rather foolish & bigotted sounding statement on a radio show which got him fired from TAPS so he won't be doing GHI although it sounds like he was already filming. Distinct lack of stuff happening but KJ thought someone tugged his shirt, it didnt really help that the Pilgrim camera guy was panning around AND defocussed his lens at that exact moment.

Jason & Grant on the 3rd Floor - I did hear the distant sound that made Grant ask "What was that?" (but the stupid incidental music ALMOST drowned it out so its well past time to quit with that annoying stuff. It doesnt heighten or build suspense, it merely annoys & drowns out possible evidence. It also makes claims of faking easier to perpetrate) but I certainly didnt hear any "male voice" it just sounded like someone or something moving WAY off in the distance. Almost like it was outside in fact. I certainly didnt hear the "male voice" Jason reacted to (again, due to the incidental soundtrack being too loud). I have to discount the next sound they reacted to as it started exactly as Jason started walking & stopped when he stopped. Again these 2 split up (are they not getting on with each other any more as this is happening more often now?) so anything captured alone has to be discounted to due cross contamination.

So Grants footsteps are thrown out (as Jason was moving at the same time), Britt & KJ claim they can also hear footsteps one floor down.

Steve & Tango in the Basement - Shadows by the window are debunked as KJ causing cross contamination from outside the building so the claims of shadows in that area can be dismissed as there is a sidewalk right outside the windows.

Amy & Kris in the 1st Floor Offices - Amy thinks she heard a door move which cant be confirmed due to her being off camera at the time & the incidental music would have drowned out any such quiet sound (so score yet another point for helmetcams & another point for the removal of incidental music).

Jason & Grant in the Garage - Pilgrim were doing a bad job cutting film by making it look like J&G are either right next to Kriss & Amy as their investigating or so close as to be hot on their heels & looking like they need to be close by as backup. Jason makes an extremely vague report "something just banged into something", at least TRY to sound like you care any more. Grant thinks someone is on the balcony (note at that point he never says if he hears or sees anything, he's just extremely vague as well) & Jason hears something "scurry" but I heard nothing. Grant does later state he's hearing sounds from the balcony (were you too lazy to say that right off or hadn't you decided what claims you were going to invent at that point?). Jason thinks he sees something standing off camera (no shock there) which is then gone.

Its amazing how in less than 3 minutes these 2 have had more experiences than the entire team up to this point in the investigation. We get you are the guys who founded TAPS but trust me you've seen & heard NOTHING, dont feel you have to be inventing stuff every 30 seconds to make the show look interesting. Google "The Boy Who Cried Wolf", you might understand why you are getting such bad ratings this season.

Coming back from the break Grant thinks he sees something peeking out of a doorway directly in front of him, please note it happens as he is sitting down so he is almost certainly seeing his own reflection. Very annoying when Grant states "both of us saw figure standing there", Jason said no such thing (or least not on camera anyway) so dont be speaking for him or putting words into his own mouth. Its flippant statements like that that make us mistrust you all the more Grant Wilson. If Jason saw something I want to hear HIM say it.

Steve & Tango on the 4th Floor - I'm not exactly sure why Steve is taking an EMF base reading so late into the investigation, isnt that a very basic thing he should be doing during the hotspot walkthru? Have I just caught TAPS out in yet another basic rookie procedure? It seems the EMF spike is around the area of the elevator. You have to wonder how many of the other teams EVP's these 2 were contaminating with their stupid loud tapping. I assume the noise Tango reacted was the loud exhale (I'm guessing one of the Pilgrim guys got too near the condenser mic).

Britt & KJ on the 3rd Floor - I'm not sure what they reacted to, I could hear what sounded like dragging several times but Britt says "water dripping", I have noted Britt yet again doesnt seem to like carrying a camera as this week all he appears to have are a flashlight, the walkie talkie and an EMF meter. Was he that self assured in his getting the GHI lead job he no longer felt he needed to carry any kind of useful recording equipment? KJ reports movement (moments after he himself had just stopped walking so it was probably the floor settling), nothing is caught on the thermal (if Britt had been carrying a night vision camera as corroboration it might have helped their cause greatly as KJ was getting ZILCH on the thermal). KJ states they were seeing movement but nothing was showing on the night vision cameras so a case of matrixing or wishful thinking more likely.

Yet again Britt became the Brian Harnois Experience, chasing after something (or nothing) with nothing more than a walkie talkie, exactly what did he think he was going to record with that? Its not like this is an isolated incident either so I think I count myself lucky he has been fired, his ineptitude is beyond epic status now. Britt makes various statements which can all be discounted & ignored as personal experiences due to having nothing on tape of film. Rule #1, if its not on tape or film it DID NOT HAPPEN! He then compounds his massive howler by then stating "I wanna get something documented on tape", how do you intend to do that if you never carry a camera or recorder Britt? Does he know how much of an idiot & rank amateur he sounds like at that point? GHA cadets were sent home for MUCH less than this and yet here is a guy who was picked to be leader of GHI making GIGANTIC rookie howlers.

Personally I think Britt was WAY overdue his firing and it should have been from a cannon into the sun.

Amy & Kris in the Basement - They both report whispering which cant be confirm because (shock of shocks) the stupid incidental sound effects. AGAIN. How many more times are we going to have to tell Pilgrim about this before they pay 1 iota of attention? Same thing reported again cant be confirmed for the same reason. This is just getting dull now. Note:- The "whispering" was said to be coming from the windows near the street level. Outside contamination no doubt, throw it out. In fact when they are asking to "knock real loud for us" you even seeing people walking past another window on the street so anything they are hearing is almost certainly from outside. A sump pump frightens them, much hilarity ensues - NOT.

The Analysis - Steve plays footage of footsteps - my main issue he doesnt state which floor it is or who else is in the building at that point so its got to be thrown out, footage of an orb - again we're not told where it is other than "Camera 2" (please note that during the camera review Steve doesnt refer to ANY of the cameras by their numbers) but its thrown out as dust, audio of a noise below Kris & Amy (again we're left to guess their location when it was recorded).

The Reveal - Frankly as far as I am concerned theres nothing to reveal, lets see what the "experts" think shall we? A brief discussion about shadows, Grant cites his personal experience in the Garage (where he mistakes his own reflection for something paranormal), shadows from the Basement are debunked, audio caught by Kris & Amy from the 2nd Floor (which wasnt shown on camera) which sounds like a heavy door slamming in my opinion, extremely rubbish audio of Grants footsteps that I still say were Jason or his camera crew in the other room, audio of a voice caught by J&G in the garage - its great that the waveform where they claim the audio happens is a complete flatline so its seems like yet again the client was prebriefed as to what he was supposed to be hearing. Audio of footsteps near a static camera on the 1st Floor, with people in both the Basement AND 2nd Floor its something you have to throw out as possible cross contamination.

Not a great show this week, but its been worse than this which means (you hope) it can only improve.

On a side note it appears we now have to sign into Blogger separately so if you want to use it you have to sign into Google then Blogger and it appears you have to sign into Blogger EVERY time which is as annoying as hell. I wonder when they changed this as you used to be able to log into Google which allowed Blogger access as well.

Whats with the double logins required?

Ghost Hunters S06E18 Time To Get Touched reviewed

Thurber House - Columbus, Ohio

Oh no, Shaggy & Scooby are BACK! I guess GHA is all done shooting as the TAPS resident idiots have returned to the fold, Steve & Tango are back on the team. Sadly. And guess what, my complaints paid off! Jason has stopped saying his pointless & stupid statement about getting digital recorders to cameras. It seems that insulting someones intelligence does work then.

Jason & Grant in the Dining Room - Some actual debunking was done, I was surprised they didnt try to run up the stairs to compare & contrast the 2 different sounds. As far the clock popping open I'm not going to read anything into it, they were fiddling with it earler and it JUST happened to pop open as the Pilgrim camera guy had just gone past it? Fake? You decide. Please note the clock pops open off camera so any of the rest of the crew could have easily interfered with it & the camera mans "Oh my god" reaction sounds really underwhelmed & totally contrived. Whilst debunking Grant pretty much confirms the fakery when he said "It takes a good amount of force" so it was done by a human then.

Kris & Amy in The Parlor - I heard something that caused them to go upstairs.

Steve & Tango in the Dining Room - No clue what "movement" Steve reacted to, all I could was the clock ticking & the stupid incidental music & effect track. I certainly didnt hear the "shuffling" Tango reacted to either. I did note Tango fiddling with the "static" dvr camera they had placed on the table to monitor the clock, I wonder what he was doing to it?

Amy & Kris in the Gift Shop - I didn't hear the "popping sound", kinda hard to heard ANYTHING over the stupid incidental music it was THAT loud.

Analysis - Steve plays Tangos "Shuffling" which just sounds like one of the camera crew shifting his bodyweight on the wooden floor. Short playback of the clock footage.

The Reveal - They explain the debunk of the footsteps on the stairs, playback of Tangos "shuffling" which sounds even more like one of the crew moving, footage of the clock - amazingly the camera guy isnt actually very close to it. No-one is touching it but it looks VERY staged especially combined with the camera guys awful "reaction" acting. Its hard to explain but I'm sure given enough time it can be proved to be the fake it appears to come off as.

Canfield Casino - Saratoga Springs, New York

I did note on both investigations when meeting the client neither time was Steve allowed to introduce himself or shake the clients hand. Is he in the doghouse?

Jason & Grant on the 3rd Floor, Walworth Mansion - Grant finds a weird EMF reading by a wall then we hear a thud off camera (very convenient), which when they enter the room they suspect it came from sounds exactly like J&G walking on the wooden floor. Grant claims he heard a male voice then we got another thud. Grant shows he does know how to tag "that creak was me" but that "creak" sounded exactly like the previous 2 thuds so the sound is pretty much busted as human. I am still trying to decide if Jason stamped his foot seconds before he claimed to hear that final loud thud he described as feeling the floor move.

Steve & Tango on the 3rd Floor, Red Bedroom - After moving out of the room Tango thinks he hears chimes (I heard a couple of thuds which was probably just them or the crew but no attempts were made to tag any of them). As Steve plays around with the DVR he asks Tango if he tapped him, its great that Steve has so little trust in Tango.

Kris & Amy on the 3rd Floor, Walworth Exhibit - Kris cant make any claims about her hair as it happened off camera so has to be discounted, if its not on tape so it didnt happen. You know the golden rule girls.

Analysis - Steve getting tapped footage, playback of the voices J&G claimed to hear.

The Reveal - Grant explains the weird EMF reading, audio of the voices J&G claimed to hear (frankly the sounds are so quiet they could be anything), audio of the lamp chimes which you can bearly hear caught by Steve & Tango, video of Steves bad acting pretending he is being tapped. This is stupid, its just footage of one guy reacting to nothing. They also played the footage of Kris adjusting her hair, another stupid bit of tape of someone reacting to nothing at all.

These 2 investigations have got to have been 2 of the worst shows ever to have been aired by the Ghost Hunters franchise. I am starting to think they just want to make themselves look purposely bad or stupid. Surely no-one who has been in the paranormal field this long is this inept? With this kind of thing happening pretty much every week now you have to wonder how much longer Pilgrim will continue to fund the show or how much longer Syfy will continue to air it.

Even when shows are truly awful there will still be die hard fans sticking by them but when the show only has 8 people a week left watching it what will be the point of it any more?

Ghost Hunters S06E17 Grammer School Ghosts reviewed

Milton School - Alton, Illinois.

This week KJ is home doing personal stuff so Joe Chinn is filling in for him. As per usual Jason started with his customary completely useless "lets get digital recorders to all cameras" statement which by now even he must realise makes him sound like a complete tosser. What you're asking to be done would be done during camera setup so stop saying it. You're an IDIOT.

Jason & Grant in the Girls Shower Room - Everythings back to normal then, J&G back as 1st team into the site. The "voices" they were hearing sounded mostly like water dripping to be honest.

Jason & Grant in the Boys Shower Room - The bang you heard after Jason turned the light off sounded like a bulb popping or a breaker switch flipping if I am honest, nothing paranormal. The fact it came so closely after he turned those lights off is too coincidental, their attempt to replicate & debunk it was laughable. Those lights had clearly been on for a while (why weren't they killed during the lights out sequence, more proof if you need it that TAPS is getting lax & sloppy) so were probably hot which contributed to the noise they made when turned off. I have no clue what sound they were hearing which made them radio the other 2 teams even though Britt said he heard it (It also proved all 3 teams were in the location giving MAJOR possible causes of cross contamination to each others investigations).

Joe & Britt in the Boiler Room Hall - After Joe says "Just listen" (@ 13:49) can anyone else hear childrens voices singing WAY off in the distance, it happens & neither guy reacts to it or appears to hear it. It happens JUST before they hear the clumpy footsteps above them. I didnt see any of the light movement they were reporting, it didnt help that the Pilgrim camera guy shooting it had the world shakiest hands so was shifting around a lot. Britt reported that it had been "leaning up against" then took off down the corridor, was it a coincidence he lost it JUST as he walked past a wooden ladder leaning up against the same wall where he'd seen it. Well done Britt, you just mistook a fricking LADDER for a ghost you bone head! And you are supposed to be the top guy in line to head Ghost Hunters International?

Jason & Grant in the Boys Shower Room - Again. I didn't hear either of the sounds when they were doing the EVP, I did hear the bang (more exploding bulbs?). Please note when they went to check there was an old electric lamp (#1 suspect right there) and their IR illuminator (#2 possible suspect imho) as well as a light fixture above the doorway (another possible culprit).

Kris & Amy in the Girls Shower Room - Amy stayed in the Girls Showers while Kris went off to the Boys (I assume J&G had either left or were investigating elsewhere by this point, either way its a messy way to edit the show making it look like an Investigator is going off to join 2 more Investigators who are already in the location shes going to). Amy reckoned she heard 2 knocks, I didnt hear anything.

Joe & Britt in the Girls Bathroom Hallway - I didnt hear any of the noises these guys reported. Also Britt demonstrated his complete ignorance of tagging by slamming open a toilet door then not telling Joe it was him making a noise. I assume the "moan" they heard was what i thought sounded like someone inhaling heavily. I would like to point out that yet again Britt wasn't carrying a camera, just a digital voice recorder - not really a whole lot of good for any visual sightings. If TAPS can afford a new van then they can certainly afford cameras for all the investigators.

Jason & Grant in the Gymnasium - nothing really happened, they did a bit of debunking on the catwalk & by the window.

Kris & Amy in the Boiler Room - I heard a few noises but nothing that you wouldnt expect from an old building at night when its settling. I felt when Kris shut the Boiler Room door that there might be something about to happen as it felt like a rather contrived (and incredibly stupid) thing to be doing. Amys personal experience was exactly that but at least she proved even she thinks the Pilgrim camera crews are utterly ineffectual.

Analysis - Britt plays the footsteps he & Joe caught, Amy plays Britt & Joe getting "shush"'ed but its thrown out as a possible clothing noise.

The Reveal - Footage of the light bulb pop that spooked J&G, audio only of the other light bulb pop that spooked J&G - Grant tries to point out sparking which is masked by IR lens flare. Unsurprisingly the Pilgrim camera guy was filming J&G and NOT what they were looking at. Score another point for helmet cams. Footage of the heavy footsteps Britt & Joe caught in the Boiler Room Hall, they just sound like another investigator - they are WAY too heavy to be anything but human. Audio of the something loud J&G caught that Britt also heard, I assume this noise was masked by the Pilgrim sound effects as I never heard it when they were doing the actual investigation.

As far as missing stuff my "voice singing" after Joe says "Just listen" and before Britt asks "Did you hear that" is DEFINATELY there, i copied off the audio and hiked up the volume and discounting the incidental music you can hear a voice very definately singing just off into the middle distance, its obviously not THAT far away as the cameras picked it up yet no-one caught it at all?

Please note, after analysing the bang J&G heard in the Boys Shower Room it was clearly made by Jason who dropped something on the floor. If you watch his shadow you can clearly see an object (shape looks like a walkie talkie) leaving his hand & hitting the floor. It happens JUST after time index 17:53 moments after Britt radios them. Also please note how the camera crew cut Jason out of the shot allowing him to drop the object.

Really annoying that a possible great piece of evidence was overlooked and that they had to pull this stupd fake to make the episode seem better than it was. Attached is my recorded audio of the ghostly singing, see what you think?

Attached File(s)

ghost singing.mp3 (147.78K)

my thoughts on Celebrity Paranormal Project

I'm watching these at the moment and to be honest they look a little too good to be true.

Episode 1, several times we had "blurs" running past static cameras which just looked like they had been applied in post production. The jury is out on the shadow of the little boy.

Episode 2, we had a thermal hit that definately looked added on after the fact as well as the "motion blurs" the dude from Survivor caught in the Operating Room. I'm not sure if his camera light going out was a work or just a useful coincidence.

Episode 3, The 1st thermal hit from the 2 women looked WAY too defined. The fact it moved as well, its just felt way too much like a special effect. As far as the electric chair sequence they just went crazy on adding things to make it seem scarier than it was, the whole "cant raise main base on the radio" was so not believable. As far as the section in the wardens office they just went mad doing "motion blur" and "apparitions" when he was reading the list.

Episode 4, their 1st thermal hit was shot too closeup to make out. The other problem being a member of the camera crew was clearly standing where they were getting the thermal hit. You saw there were bats in the tunnels so a lot of movement & noise can be explained away there. The moving "shadow masses" around the girl by the chalk board (after she screamed) were definately added on after the fact. This & episode 2 were shot in the same location.

Episode 5, Nothing at all seemed to be happening in the Shredder Room. I think it was just the female boxer jumping at every shadow & noise, likewise in the Picker Room too. Heck she was just jumping at her own shadow, a real coward for a boxing champion.

Episode 6, As far as the bell "ringing" I'm not convinced it wasn't staged because there was never a long shot showing the bell just hanging and no-one near it. The only time it was shown ringing was a really tight close-up & Egert really didnt seem THAT scared. For the "Wooden Lucy" summoning the "mists" were clearly added on afterwards. I cant really comment on the mannequin that fell during Ernie Hudsons EVP session as the zoom-in masked any signs of possible tampering with the dummy. This & episode 5 were both shot in the same location.

Episode 7, I rather like the little message telling you this was the 1st episode filmed and it had taken them a year to decide it was ok to air it as it was so dramatic. From the pretty stupid stuff they were asking the guests to do (especially asking a woman to go somewhere alone) it shows this was the "Lessons Learned" pilot that all the rest of the shows wese based on as they make sure in every other show all the investigations are done in teams of 2. The whole "possession" sequence felt way to contrived, the reactions of the others wasn't intense enough so it just came off like it was rehearsed.

Episode 8, Another unique episode in that there were only 4 celebrities & they were 2 sets of couples. Locking the guy in the hotbox was just plain stupid & unsafe, then making him turn his radio off was complete insanity. Likewise locking the girl inside the Death Row cell was equally stupid. This is an abandoned prison thats been out of use for over 20 yrs, closing any metal doors is a really bad idea. As far as bad faking the "darkness" & motion blurs after the "Execution" were both clearly added on in post production, you cant really comment on the ghost bell ringing as there were no cameras setup near it so any of the crew could have been ringing it. This & episode 3 were filmed in the same location.

Ghost Hunters S06E16 Lemp Mansion reviewed

St. Louis, Missouri - Lemp Mansion.

This week I'm going try not to be so "anti" towards the team members, they will only incur my wrath if they do something stupid. I'll put wrath on standby now then ;-P

Ok, a few points 1st. It looks like 3 vans is now going to be the standard transport format. Frankly I do think it's incredibly wasteful, theres clearly space for Kris & Amy in Jason & Grants van and there would still be space for equipment as well and if you look in the Tech Truck behind Britt & KJ its not as though what they are carrying is piled high behind them so theres clearly equipment space there too.

So on behalf of the planet in general & the enviroment specifically PLEASE sell the new truck, YOU DONT NEED IT!
I'd also request for Jason to stop saying "Lets get digital recorders to those cameras" after the camera set-up is explained. Its INCREDIBLY annoying that you have to say it every week without fail & its also incredibly pointless as all digital recorders should be positioned when camera setup is being done. I know its one of your beloved spiels but its a pointless and superfluous statement. Britt knows how to do setup, he doesnt need you telling him his job.

Jason & Grant in Frederick's Room - What a surprise, the founders of TAPS are the first team into the building! I guess there must have been a Blue Moon during the last show when Britt & KJ got in first then? Jasons "black space", its totally pointless you reporting something that only you can see. The camera guy was totally in the wrong position (no shock there) so yet another point in favour of the long overdue helmet cams. In fact from now on everytime a helmet cam would have caught something I'm going to say so.

As far as Grants K2 going crazy, its not really any use because they were constantly cutting between cameras. If you are going to shoot the K2 doing that then shoot it over either Jason or Grants shoulder in a continuous shot otherwise its just not anything that can be counted. Plus if you are going to do a K2 "conversation" then there needs a 2nd K2 to be scanned around the general area of the 1st to make sure there are no wild localised fluctuations causing it. Its been established that the K2 can be made to activate "on command" at the keying of a walkie talkie, this is another reason why you need to include J&G in the same shot as the meter. Its WAY too easy to fake.

Britt & KJ in the Office - I heard their "groan" I would have said more like a whisper & to be honest it sounded way to much like it was one of the film crew, you also have to be suspicious if neither Britt or KJ even considered asking ANY of the crew with them "Was that you?" so I am throwing that piece of evidence out right now.

Kris & Amy in the Basement - More claims of seeing stuff off camera so thats 2 more points in favour of helmet cam. I never heard the noises they reported either.

Jason & Grant in Frederick's Room - Again? Why? You've investigated this location once already & you clearly said to the client there were "so many places in here" you wanted to check out. As plumbers they should be used to bad smells, they should also be able to put up with bad smells & be able to find them as I am sure that unblocking drains & sinks must be part of their job. So I am also thinking this whole "they're plumbers" gimmick is precisely that. As far as analysing smells surely they must have equipment that tests gas particles as part of their plumbing job so you know your not entering a hazardous or potentially toxic enviroment?

Britt & KJ in the Atrium - I never heard the sound from the Hallway they reported (which they discovered was a piece of flooring at the room entrance), I'd be likely to say it was the floor settling as neither guy had been sitting down that long & I know from personal experience of a very creaky floor in my own room that wood can take a good long time to settle before it stops making noise. Whatever made them run into the next room (Its Britt & KJ - The Brian Harnois Experience!) I never heard any mumble, just what sounded like traffic noise outside.

Jason & Grant in the Lavender Suite - I've noted over the last few weeks Jason & Grant seem to be splitting up more & more often, then Grant just happens to have a voice whisper "Atlantis" in his ear. Which Jason then claims he asked an entity to communicate with Grant, when he tries it again with the word "comet" which Grant also heard. Wow, these bad faking claims are just getting into the realms of Most Haunted now.

Britt & KJ in the Basement - I never heard the "answer" when Britt was asking for a knock although I heard what sounded like feet shuffling just before KJ asked about Julia.

Kris & Amy in Lewis Lemps room - Which for some reason SyFy/Pilgrim decided not to put up an identifying graphic label for so it was left to the girls to tell us where they were. Lots of lightning & thunder outside so any EMF or K2 hits on tonights show have to be thrown out. We also had a case of one team contaminating another which debunked a creaking door (way to go Britt & KJ yet again!).

Analysis - Amy Bruni debunks Grant hearing Jasons "messages" as not being caught on tape or camera, KJ replays the weird audio from the office, Britt replays audio that Kris & Amy caught.

The Reveal - Whatever audio that Kris & Amy caught (you cant hear anything at all) which the client says sounds like a whoosh, she must have super hearing. The "groan" in the office Britt & KJ caught is clearly one of the metal chairs being pushed along the wooden floor, its such an obviously easy sound to debunk. Reviewing the footage with J&G made that a lot clearer to pick up what caused it.

Again Grant presented a personal experience they had no actual tape of (their seeing shadows) as well as the "K2 conversation" which I already threw out for being too easy to fake due to good editing & walkie talkies. You cant present Grant smelling something as evidence, the fact neither guy was able to track that down makes me very suspicious.

Frankly its gotten to the point where Amy & Kris are the 2 most scientific minded members of this particular show. Britt is just practically phoning it in every week now, it seems he has gotten a lot lazier, carries almost no recording equipment at all & is WAY too excitable. It appears to me that now he knows he is getting the lead job on GHI he has just stopped caring though it does appear he & KJ have replaced Steve & Tango as the TAPS comic relief.

Jason & Grant just do not seem to care if anyone respects them or believes them, what was the point in taking years to establish TAPS as a trustworthy source only to screw it all up by becoming Karl & Yvette Fielding, the people they hate the most. Its sad that they are now only in this for the money, if they can afford to buy a hotel then they really dont need to be appearing on a badly faked tv show any more.