Post by CougarBob on Nov 24, 2008 5:57:22 GMT -11
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Drumroll please........Frequently asked Questions!
Current mood: adventurous
Hey everyone!
Since I magically appeared on Ghost Hunters a few episodes ago, I've been receiving a lot of questions from people wondering who the heck I am and where I came from. Unfortunately, it's not often that I'm near a real computer, so it's hard for me to answer my myspace messages with any sort of regularity...but I do read them all, promise.
I've decided to answer a few of the most frequent questions I receive, right here in this fancy lil' blog.
And away we go....
*How did you get involved with TAPS?
I am from Northern California and was an investigator with a TAPS Family group in that area for awhile. Through my involvement with them, I met Grant. Shortly thereafter, I was brought on as Program Director for TAPS Family Radio, a podcast the TAPS Family puts on weekly. After just a couple months of that, Jason and Grant asked me to become involved in their radio show, Beyond Reality Radio. BRR took a lot of work, so we were constantly in contact with each other and we all became close friends, (that's how I met Kris Williams and Grant's wife, Reanna - two of my best girlfriends in the whole wide world!) Considering the Beyond Reality Radio show centered a lot on paranormal topics, it didn't take long for Jason and Grant to realize I had a lot of the same views on the paranormal as they do and that it is something I'm very passionate about. When they started kicking around the idea of having a 6th core member, it was important to them that it be someone they knew they would all mesh with and who had the ability to be on the road for long periods of time. I guess I fit that bill and they asked me.
*Are you Kris's replacement?
Unless you live under a rock, you know by now that Kris never left the show. She and I are a team, you silly gooses! (I know, I know...but silly geese didn't sound right.)
*Did you relocate to the East Coast? The episodes say you're a member of TAPS West.
A few months ago, I left the TAPS Family group I was with and helped Jason and Grant start a TAPS West division. But yes, I have relocated to the East Coast now. It's a good time in my life for a change of scenery and I'm pretty lucky because I already have a ton of friends out here. The episodes you're seeing now are the first few I did when I was still TAPS West, prior to me joining the East Coast team.
*How can someone get started in the paranormal?
Read, read, read! Start with building some base knowledge on the subject. There is a lot to learn in this field, including the history of where it all began. I suggest these books to start with:
Ghost Hunting: How to Investigate the Paranormal by Loyd Auerbach
Ghost Hunter's Guidebook: The Essential Guide to Investigating Ghosts and Hauntings by Troy Taylor
Communicating with the Dead by Jeff Belanger
And here is a new one that is pretty awesome too:
Picture Yourself Ghost Hunting by Chris Balzano
Beyond those, read some books on Psychology and *gasp* even some books by skeptics. Use the internet and join some forums to talk to other people about theories and ideas - TAPS has a great forum, Ghostvillage.com is another - even the folks over at randi.org love to debate in a mature manner and it's good for you to see both sides, (in my opinion anyway.)
Once you've got some base knowledge, seek out local teams or others who have the same interests as you. If you can't join up with a team, get a group of friends together and start small. Investigate your own homes, friends homes...then go from there. If you're having trouble finding a local group, start with TAPS Family Groups in your area, you can find a listing at www.the-atlantic-paranormal-society.com. Even if they aren't bringing on new investigators, most of them know local groups in their area who are.
*Can you please review this picture, video, audio recording, etc and let me know what you think?
Unfortunately, I can't comfortably comment on evidence if I wasn't there when it was collected. Not to mention, I get so many pictures and what not sent to me, it's tough to look at them all with the attention they deserve. Luckily, there are SO many great TAPS Family groups out there, you have many resources available to you other than lil' ol' me. Not to mention, I really haven't been investigating the paranormal for that long - just a couple of years in any sort of professional capacity. I've read just about every book out there, and I'm continually learning from the best in the field, but there are many others who are quite accessible who have a lot more experience than me.
*How could you say, "Were just here to have fun", when you were investigating a sanitarium? You horrible person, you!
Ok, when Kris and I are investigating, we really do try to approach what ever might be there a few different ways in order to get a response. Sometimes we're very straight forward, sometimes we act angry, sometimes we're very sympathetic, and sometimes - we try to stress how we're just two very non threatening girls, there to explore and get to know who ever might be there. That's what we were doing at that point in time in the sanitarium...we weren't sure what sort of "entity" we might be dealing with, but since we thought they could potentially be scared patients, we wanted them to hear laughter, to see we were comfortable so they could come out and visit. Of course, that's when a large piece of concrete was thrown at the basement door, so who knows how well they liked our methods just then. But no, I wasn't being mean...as a matter of fact, it was just the opposite.
That's all I can think of just now. If I remember anymore commonly asked questions, I will add them to the blog and renew it so it moves to the top of the page.
Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!
xoxo,
~a
Drumroll please........Frequently asked Questions!
Current mood: adventurous
Hey everyone!
Since I magically appeared on Ghost Hunters a few episodes ago, I've been receiving a lot of questions from people wondering who the heck I am and where I came from. Unfortunately, it's not often that I'm near a real computer, so it's hard for me to answer my myspace messages with any sort of regularity...but I do read them all, promise.
I've decided to answer a few of the most frequent questions I receive, right here in this fancy lil' blog.
And away we go....
*How did you get involved with TAPS?
I am from Northern California and was an investigator with a TAPS Family group in that area for awhile. Through my involvement with them, I met Grant. Shortly thereafter, I was brought on as Program Director for TAPS Family Radio, a podcast the TAPS Family puts on weekly. After just a couple months of that, Jason and Grant asked me to become involved in their radio show, Beyond Reality Radio. BRR took a lot of work, so we were constantly in contact with each other and we all became close friends, (that's how I met Kris Williams and Grant's wife, Reanna - two of my best girlfriends in the whole wide world!) Considering the Beyond Reality Radio show centered a lot on paranormal topics, it didn't take long for Jason and Grant to realize I had a lot of the same views on the paranormal as they do and that it is something I'm very passionate about. When they started kicking around the idea of having a 6th core member, it was important to them that it be someone they knew they would all mesh with and who had the ability to be on the road for long periods of time. I guess I fit that bill and they asked me.
*Are you Kris's replacement?
Unless you live under a rock, you know by now that Kris never left the show. She and I are a team, you silly gooses! (I know, I know...but silly geese didn't sound right.)
*Did you relocate to the East Coast? The episodes say you're a member of TAPS West.
A few months ago, I left the TAPS Family group I was with and helped Jason and Grant start a TAPS West division. But yes, I have relocated to the East Coast now. It's a good time in my life for a change of scenery and I'm pretty lucky because I already have a ton of friends out here. The episodes you're seeing now are the first few I did when I was still TAPS West, prior to me joining the East Coast team.
*How can someone get started in the paranormal?
Read, read, read! Start with building some base knowledge on the subject. There is a lot to learn in this field, including the history of where it all began. I suggest these books to start with:
Ghost Hunting: How to Investigate the Paranormal by Loyd Auerbach
Ghost Hunter's Guidebook: The Essential Guide to Investigating Ghosts and Hauntings by Troy Taylor
Communicating with the Dead by Jeff Belanger
And here is a new one that is pretty awesome too:
Picture Yourself Ghost Hunting by Chris Balzano
Beyond those, read some books on Psychology and *gasp* even some books by skeptics. Use the internet and join some forums to talk to other people about theories and ideas - TAPS has a great forum, Ghostvillage.com is another - even the folks over at randi.org love to debate in a mature manner and it's good for you to see both sides, (in my opinion anyway.)
Once you've got some base knowledge, seek out local teams or others who have the same interests as you. If you can't join up with a team, get a group of friends together and start small. Investigate your own homes, friends homes...then go from there. If you're having trouble finding a local group, start with TAPS Family Groups in your area, you can find a listing at www.the-atlantic-paranormal-society.com. Even if they aren't bringing on new investigators, most of them know local groups in their area who are.
*Can you please review this picture, video, audio recording, etc and let me know what you think?
Unfortunately, I can't comfortably comment on evidence if I wasn't there when it was collected. Not to mention, I get so many pictures and what not sent to me, it's tough to look at them all with the attention they deserve. Luckily, there are SO many great TAPS Family groups out there, you have many resources available to you other than lil' ol' me. Not to mention, I really haven't been investigating the paranormal for that long - just a couple of years in any sort of professional capacity. I've read just about every book out there, and I'm continually learning from the best in the field, but there are many others who are quite accessible who have a lot more experience than me.
*How could you say, "Were just here to have fun", when you were investigating a sanitarium? You horrible person, you!
Ok, when Kris and I are investigating, we really do try to approach what ever might be there a few different ways in order to get a response. Sometimes we're very straight forward, sometimes we act angry, sometimes we're very sympathetic, and sometimes - we try to stress how we're just two very non threatening girls, there to explore and get to know who ever might be there. That's what we were doing at that point in time in the sanitarium...we weren't sure what sort of "entity" we might be dealing with, but since we thought they could potentially be scared patients, we wanted them to hear laughter, to see we were comfortable so they could come out and visit. Of course, that's when a large piece of concrete was thrown at the basement door, so who knows how well they liked our methods just then. But no, I wasn't being mean...as a matter of fact, it was just the opposite.
That's all I can think of just now. If I remember anymore commonly asked questions, I will add them to the blog and renew it so it moves to the top of the page.
Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!
xoxo,
~a