images courtesy The Balvenie

To coincide with the U.S. release of its Madeira Cask 17 Year Old, Scotland’s renowned Speyside distillery The Balvenie held a series of launch events in key cities across the country. The Madeira Cask is the latest release in the Balvenie 17 Year Old Limited Edition Range. Each year, Malt Master David Stewart crafts unique 17 year old limited releases by finishing mature Balvenie spirit in various oak casks. Previous releases include: IslayCask (2001), New Oak (2006), NewWood (2006), SherryOak (2007), and RumCask (2008).

Regarding the Madeira Cask, Stewart notes: “Each bottling is its own alchemy of spirit, wood and time, but knowing how well port and Oloroso sherry cask maturation complements The Balvenie’s honeyed sweetness we were sure that a Madeira cask would produce interesting results.” Stewart continues, “The 17 year old whisky extracted some wonderful rich spice and distinct raisin flavors from the Madeira cask, which we hope malt enthusiasts will enjoy discovering in the glass.”

Brand Ambassador Andrew Weir (L) spreads the Balvenie gospel.

In L.A., a launch party was recently held at Philippe by Philippe Chow. The informal event was hosted by Balvenie Brand Ambassador Andrew Weir, who mingled with guests and answered questions throughout the evening. The full Balvenie range was available for tasting, with stations arranged so that attendees could begin with the 12-year, move on to the 15- and 21-year, and finish with the star of the show, the Madeira Cask. Passed hors d’oeuvres were provided by Philippe and eagerly snapped up almost as soon as the servers left the kitchen.

All in all, the evening was very enjoyable and educational. Guests ranged from whisky newbies to serious single malt enthusiasts, but everyone felt comfortable and conversation flowed as easily as the Balvenie. My knowledge and appreciation of the Balvenie’s limited releases was greatly expanded, and I’ll freely admit that I’ve been shamelessly dropping big Christmas gift hints ever since. Whether you’re gifting or receiving, the Balvenie is sure to please even the most discriminating of palates.

Following are tasting notes and descriptions of the Balvenie range. Because of my eagerness to try the other releases, I skipped the 12 year old. However, it’s certainly well worth a try if you haven’t had it previously.

Slainte Mhath!

No waiting for the 15 year old.

Single Barrel, Aged 15 Years
The Balvenie Single Barrel is a 15 year old single malt which is drawn from a single traditional oak cask of a single distillation. Though each cask is subtly different, Stewart selects only those casks which the Balvenie Single Barrel essence, particularly honey, vanilla and oak notes.

TASTING NOTES

• Nose – Fragrant aroma of vanilla, honey, and oak.
• Taste – Rich and complex, a sweet maltiness with vanilla, oak, and spice.
• Finish – Long and complex with a bit of licorice.

The PortWood 21-year: a favorite stop for many guests.

PortWood, Aged 21 Years
To create the PortWood 21 Year Old, the Balvenie is transferred to casks that previously held port wines. For me this was the highlight of the evening. Amazingly smooth and creamy, with a long finish. The PortWood was awarded a Gold Medal in the 2009 International Spirits Challenge and named Best in Class in the 2009 International Wine & Spirits Competition.

TASTING NOTES

• Nose- Fruit and raisin notes, backed by a nutty dryness.
• Taste – Refined, creamy and silky with fruit, honey and spice notes.
• Finish – Long, gentle, nutty.

Guests listen and learn about the Madeira Cask.

Madeira Cask, Aged 17 Years
The Balvenie Madeira Cask was aged in traditional American oak casks before being transferred to barrels previously used in the production of fortified Madeira wine. Very spicy up front, with a long, dry finish.

TASTING NOTES

• Nose – Spicy, earthy oak notes with subtle hints of vanilla and honey. Soft fruit aromas, with apple infused with cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.
• Taste – Initial sweet vanilla oak notes, followed by spices and dried fruits (apricots, figs, dates).
• Finish – Long and balanced between sweetness and dry oak.

For more information, please visit www.thebalvenie.com.

I wouldn’t consider Paranormal Activity a movie. I’d consider it more of a cheap haunted house attraction. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy Paranormal Activity and its agenda, that being to scare the living crap out of every audience member. I’m saying that you really can’t review this movie from the normal stand point of a critic. I can’t analyze a plot, a theme, acting and directing very much because thats not what this film was going for. The film was going for a realistic ghost story. The kind you tell around a campfire and it succeeds when looked at from that aspect.

There’s not much to work with, as I stated before, when it comes to character and story. There’s a couple and their being haunted. The guy gets a camera to catch whatever it is in the act and that’s the footage we’re watching. The movie did its job. It was trying to be an entertaining movie with compelling characters, it was trying to scare you. There have been movies that can do both, such as The Shining, but that wasn’t what Paranormal Activity had in mind. Maybe they could’ve went with story and character development, but instead they went with realism and in this rare case. It really works.

I’d like to state that I’d never watch this movie again unless it was with completely different people in order to get their reactions, that’s really the only entertainment I could possibly get out of this film after the first viewing. Other than that, I would never sit down intending to have a nice relaxing evening by watching a movie and pick Paranormal Activity, not because I would be so terrified, but more so because there’s no effect or entertainment value after your first viewing for obvious reasons.

Grade: B

Jane Morion always considered herself to be an ordinary girl. Then a letter from England arrived describing the inheritance of a family castle. Solve a looming mystery where dreams and magic intertwine. Explore rooms inside the castle while detecting hidden objects. Can you reveal the secrets of the manor’s inhabitants and discover the Morion legacy? The Mystery of Unicorn Castle contains a dark spell thats haunted the family for centuries.

Surreal Hidden Object game

5 distinct search methods

Solve the inheritance scandal

System Requirements:

OS: Windows 2000/XP/Vista

CPU: 600 Mhz

RAM: 256 MB

DirectX: 7.0

Hard Drive: 47 MB

It Takes Just A second To Say Thanks,

It Takes Longer To The Work On This.

Mystery Of  Unicorn Castle

Newly revised and updated:

SIGHTINGS: “the little girl” Appartition

by Rocky Karlage

SHE IS THE REASON AND BEING FOR GHOST WALK.

YOU DECIDE IF SHE IS REAL!

AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN BOOK FORMAT.

FIND OUT ABOUT THE REAL LITTLE GIRL GHOST AS SHE APPEARED TO GHOST WALK’S CREATOR.

 

YES, IT IS AN INCREDIBLY EXPENSIVE $1! (cheaper than a cup of coffee!)

PLEASE HELP US OUT HERE FRIENDS.
All profits from this sale are going to help Ghost Walk Productions attend the ConNooga Convention and further any projects we have planned.  Without your support we can’t keep going forward.  We need you!

GET YOUR COPY TODAY

I don’t know about you but I firmly believe that there is life after death. I believe that most of us have been here before and that we can be sent signs from the other side.

On the night Dad died – he died in the early hours of the morning – my siblings and I were sitting out in the patio after dinner having a few drinks. I looked through the trees and noticed a light accompanied by red and blue blinking lights – I asked my sister if it was a plane. She said it probably was and we went back to talking.

About 10mins later I looked again and the lights were in the same place. We asked the others and realised that it was in fact Jupiter.  We were looking at the planet and it was showing us its lovely colours at just that time and that place.

About 5mins later, I said “hey look at that!” and we all looked to see a firefly hover around the front then fly off down the side only to come back for another little dance around the front before leaving.

I have never seen Jupiter in my life.  I have never seen a firefly but have spoken to Dad about them.

I like to think that Dad was sending us all a comforting message from the other side. I know it made my siblings and I smile.

I just wanted to share in this quick post with everyone a video I saw this last summer at The Amazing Meeting 7 in Las Vegas.  During the convention, our pals at the Skeptics Guide to the Universe shared their first effort at skeptical movie-making, a spoof of “ghost-hunting” shows which have become so popular these days.  For a more detailed analysis of why ghost-hunting is a load of woo-woo, click here. I hope you enjoy the show!

The G Hunters: Episode 1, Part 1

The G Hunters: Episode 1, Part 2

www.maurizio-anzeri.co.uk

This is the hardest post ever.  It’s over. Dad passed away on the 15th November and I feel numb. Numb, can’t focus, teary, vague… I don’t know, everything is too hard at the moment.  This is how it went:

In my last post I went home because my sister had to leave for a while.  I stayed until she came back and Dad was pretty much the same so I came home again. I found it stressful trying to juggle home and wanting to be with Dad and supporting Mum. But really, I wasn’t doing anything but waiting around for him to die and I had a family who needed me here too so I came home.

That was on a Saturday I think. Then on Tuesday Mum said everyone needed to come home because Dad was worse. So we all make our travel arrangements and begin to make our way home. I had (stupidly) taken on a huge job that I thought I could knock over in 24hrs but it took much longer and I ended up burning the candle at both ends and didn’t make it up to see Dad until Thursday. There were all kinds of problems with me getting there, my brother wanted me to go with him but I didn’t want him to wait for me so told him to go, I couldn’t get a train because it was full, nearly missed my bus because of incompetent taxi driver… ug, stress city I’m telling you!  I was so scared that I wouldn’t make it but my sisters told me they were telling him to hang on because I was coming soon.

I’d like to just take a moment here and say how absolutely fabulous T was during this time. He never blinked an eye when I was going to and fro between here and my parents, he just accepted whatever I wanted to do and got on with things without a murmur of complaint or questioning my sometimes unreasonable thinking (really, I couldn’t think properly at all so I consider the man a saint for putting up with me). It wasn’t until everything was over that he said it was hard having me away  – complete with cuddles and kisses. He is the most fabulous husband EVER!

Anyway I made it and was thankful to find Dad still lucid and knew I was there with him. I was shocked to see how much he had deteriorated in just those few days and I don’t think I’ll ever erase the visions of him being skeletal thin, wearing incontinence pants, sucking on wet sponges because he couldn’t swallow and just being so awfully, awfully sick. I really had to look into his eyes to see the Dad that I loved looking back at me.

You know what the most horrible thing was? It was that Dad knew he was dying and just wanted to go. He would go to sleep and wake in frustration that he was still here. At various times he was begging us to take him home or was begging us to talk to the doctor about giving him more morphine so he would just go to sleep and die. I will never ever forget that. I can’t believe that anyone who has ever watched a loved one die of cancer would not be an advocate for euthanasia. Seriously, if there was a switch to turn off, I would have done it. The suffering he was enduring was unbearable and no human being should have to go through that hell.

Finally he seemed to reach a plateau of peace and the frustration disappeared. All the family had gathered,  his siblings had visited, his beloved children were with him, his treasured wife never too far away.  We let him know that we loved him, he could leave us if he wanted to, we would see him in the afterlife. We (my siblings and I) were taking shifts from dawn til dusk, to sit by his bedside then Mum would come in and stay the night with him. We were trying to let her get some rest during the day and be with him during the quiet of the night. I don’t know why but we all thought he would pass during the night and that Mum should be the one to be with him.

Mum woke me at 1.05am on Sunday 15th November to tell me Dad had gone. She was going around waking us all up one by one with a shaky voice and tears in her eyes. We all arose, hugged, cried and sat staring into space wondering what to do next. Mum sent us back to bed and we got a little more sleep… kind of.

So that was it. We passed the following days in a whirl of making funeral arrangements, talking with the celebrant, and then the actual funeral. That was a very difficult day. This has already been a long post and I don’t think I have the strength to go into it right now but it was a nice service and one I think Dad would have liked.

I’m trying to get back to ‘normal’ life. It’s so hard. I feel like I’m wading through mud, I’m exhausted all the time, I can’t focus well on anything (so I’m not working), I struggle to do day to day things, I cry a lot… I suppose this is all a part of the grieving process. I don’t like it. I hate feeling out of control.

The horrendous thing is that if it’s this bad for me then it must be 100 times worse for Mum. Did I mention that Dad died 1 day away from his 77th birthday and just 5 days away from their 55th wedding anniversary? FIFTY-FIVE YEARS together! That is such a long long time to be with someone. It breaks my heart to think how difficult it will be for Mum to adjust to life without her life partner, her best friend, her soul mate. They really were an amazing couple, awesome role models and a couple that was truly meant to be together forever.

Rest in peace my Daddy, I love you so much and I miss you every second of every day.

Channeling is forbidden by the Bible, it is the same as trying to speak with the dead, whether the person channeling knows it or not. They are opening themselves up for communication from a demon, and demons are all liars, everyone except Satanists and those as deluded as them know that demons, are, by definition, evil beings.

There is no evidence that any channeler has ever channeled an alien, all the evidence suggests that they are either lying or a demon is speaking through them, as the things that come out of their mouth is always wrong in some way, and always fits a certain type of communication style, that is the person supposedly being channeled always claims (and they are always things that anyone could make up, like about Atlantis) that what it is saying is fact, never opinion. For example, something lie this, “The Atlanteans lived 10,000 years ago but destroyed themselves in their carelessness), and that is the sign of a prideful liar. I’m not saying that people must arbitrarily saying, “This is my opinion” but I’ve heard and read supposedly channeled aliens and dead humans, and there is always something that goes against the Bible. Why isn’t there one single spirit that agrees with the Bible? If you claim it’s because they find out it’s wrong, well then why don’t any say, “I was a former Christian and learned this part of the Bible was wrong.” No, it’s always, “Go for the kill” so to speak, in other words, get the lie out as fast as you can. And the lack of sophistication also shows that the beings speaking are careless about the truth (not bothering to be clever about it like saying that they were a former Christian or that they also had a Bible on their planet that turned out to be false and that they learned their lesson). This is evidence of low intelligence or a lack of concern for the truth, of a personality that just goes about sloppily bashing the truth as if it were a joke. On the other hand it could be that the reason we only hear stupid spirits that lack sophistication is because God only allows the stupid ones to possess a person or speak through them. The reason for that may be that if more clever spirits were allowed to use a person to speak, that the deception would make it more difficult for people in general to tell the truth from a lie, a level of difficulty that God doesn’t want the world in general to have to deal with for whatever reason.

Evidence of God or at least some superior being imposing a limit on what these spirits can do is that it’s known they can sometimes possess people and do things that humans are not able to do naturally: manipulating objects without touching them, speak in languages not known to the person being possessed, do things that are so painful that it’s unlikely that even an insane person would do them (like repeatedly biting on things that cause teeth to immediately break off or scratching things with your fingers so that your nails ripped off), floating, saying things that couldn’t be known without having been spied on or seeing and hearing a person’s memories, making smells seemingly out of no where (probably by transmuting the particulates in the air into some other form that smells),  changing the temperature of the air or an object, making or projecting images like of an object or possibly of some creature (which may be a demon or part of a demon itself rather than a projection or temporary manipulation of matter), making vocalizations or music on audio recordings that were apparently directly imprinted onto the recording, making images directly onto video recordings so that the images couldn’t have been seen by anyone, causing wounds that don’t get infected, and that can remain opened for long periods of times and bleed greatly without the person they’ve wounded, dying (stigmata), HOWEVER, that these powerful spirits aren’t doing this whenever they want, and let us know now and then that they don’t like to hear or see anything that is strongly related to God (for example a certain famous prophet who commanded that his followers randomly terrorize non-believers, and that command is recorded in their holy book) was said to go beserk when he saw crosses, suggests that it’s God who is limiting them. And note that no one has ever heard of a spirit being saying, “Stop talking about Shiva! I don’t want to hear about Zeus!” to someone trying to cast them out using their names, but only throwing fits when hearing something like, “In the name of Jesus,” or verses from the Bible, and so on. Though God seems to have limited the kinds of spirits that can possess people, he has allowed much great deception in the form of misleading people as to what the true religion is (as opposed to allowing any supposed alien or dead human to teach that there is no God). For example implying that no one goes to heaven but just reincarnates or reincarnates a certain amount of times then goes to Heaven, or that Catholicism is the true religion (a few times Catholics or people that could be persuaded to become Catholics have seen or at least claimed to have seen visions of angels fighting or while possessed, supposedly hate to be touched with holy water, and the holy water concept is strongly associated with the Catholic religion). You never, not even in movies, see a possessed person being exorcised by an Episcopalian priest, a Mormon, or Baptist, it’s always, suspiciously, a Catholic, and since the New Age, by sorcerers/witches and or mediums. The malicious intent of the demons is also evident by their choice of what they throw fits over with regards to who and how they are repelled: Catholic priests, mediums, and witches. Why these three? Here is a psychological analysis again:

1) Catholic doctrine and the Bible forbid channeling or consulting demons, casting spells, and even fortune-telling. And demons give us the impression that Catholics can repel them, but not other types of groups that many consider Christians, whether considering them to be hypocritical Christians or not. And a careful study of a certain chapter in Revelation indicates that God considers the Catholics church to be the “whore that rides the beast” who is “drunk with the blood of the saints”. In other words God considers them to be unfaithful, both physically and spiritually adulterous (including not being faithful to God) and to be responsible for the deaths of a great many true Christians. The clue is the reference to the city on “seven hills” in this chapter (Rome is the only known city on seven hills with great influence of the world). Now if you suppose that Satan is a very malicious liar, and a clever one as the Bible teaches he is, then it’s makes sense as to why he would want to give the appearance that one “Christian” group (that God took the time to write about as being the worst on Earth), as being the only Christians powerful enough to stop him, or that even have a chance (Catholic priests have a high failure rate of getting rid of demons, and as far as the evidences shows, they don’t actually get rid of any demons, but rather the demons leave on their own, and according to the Bible, possess the same person again, and probably sometimes when their are no priests around or anyone to notice the possession, (like hidden abuse)).

2) Demons give the impression that mediums and witches can make them leave, at least in the mass media (for example no medium has ever been shown being attacked by a demon, a ghost investigator was recently attacked/possessed, supposedly, and it can be seen on youtube, but there was no indication that he was a medium or a witch that I knew of). Now what makes no sense about that, is that, again, traditional and official Catholic doctrine teaches that mediums and witches are evil and are under the persuasion of Satan, and if Satan, then the rest of the disobedient angels/demons, as Satan is their leader. The Bible also implies this.

Notice the polar opposites: Catholics, supposedly the only true Christians or rather only ones who will make it to Heaven and live forever in peace, and the mediums and witches, mediums who are said to channel demons, and it’s implied that witches, even if they don’t know it, rely on Satan/demons to accomplish their magic. Do you notice the irony, or the joke of this “Trickster”, this comedian, this mocker, called Satan?:

He’s simultaneously promoting the Catholic denomination, which at least in the opinion of 50+ million Christians is the most hated by God of of all Christian cults and the mediums and witches, whom Satan works and speaks through, and more ironic, is that Satan often uses mediums to console those who are tormented over the loss off someone they loved. In other words Satan is making it look like the worst cult on Earth is the true religion while causing great confusion also by making it look like Catholicism is completely wrong, by putting mediums and witches in a good light. And this makes the Bible look wrong to those WHO KNOW that the Bible forbids speaking to the dead and witchcraft, and which implies that the Catholic denomination prevents lasting peace.

Is what I’ve said just ranting? If so, then show the flaw or flaws in my logic. Note: simply telling me that the Bible is false is not evidence of anything, let alone scientific evidence, also showing any supposed evidence that it is won’t be accepted by me, since I’ve already examined it all, and though I’m not a professional biologist or physicist or archeologist, I don’t need to be anymore than any who disbelieves the Bible needs to be in order to “know” it’s not true, rather we can read the research of those who are and examine their trustworthiness in various ways to know if they are telling the truth, or if their research makes sense. And for those of you who think, “Well if you won’t except the only evidence that the Bible is false then you’re preventing anyone from showing your reasoning is false”, that’s wrong, because you can view my belief in the Bible as true as a hypothesis that it is true, and then look for any flaw or flaws in my exposition based on that hypothesis.

For example, if someone wouldn’t accept that the basic evidence for macro-evolution were true, and wrote a exposition based on it, that wouldn’t prevent me from showing that their exposition was wrong (if it were long enough) being that flaws are inevitable in any teaching based on a lie, especially a great amount of lies as many think the Bible is.

Now, I’ve seen some pretty big bands play in some pretty intimate settings. I’ve seen Iron Maiden play a nowhere near sold out concert at at parking lot in Horsens, Denmark, I’ve seen Volbeat play for 700 people a few times, and I’ve seen some pretty large scale Danish bands play in front of 40 odd people back in the Student House days. I also knew that the night’s concert with Five Finger Death Punch (5FDP) would be a bit of an intimate ordeal..

Yet, I somehow wasn’t really prepared for the sight that met us when we eventually found our way to the venue of the night’s show. The venue was a small, intimate place called Voxhall which fits about 500 people on a good day. Ridiculously small considering that 5FDP had just recently toured summer festival circuit in Europe, playing the main stages in front of crowds of upwards of 50,000 people. Well, at least I thought it would be ridiculously small coz when Tina and I arrived about fifteen minutes before doors would open and expected to find a huge line, we found a huge line of.. Well, a total of three teenagers.. Plus a group of three people around our age who arrived at exactly the same time than we did.

The sight was both a little comic and a little tragic and disheartening at the same time. Especially if you consider the fact that the first person in line had been there since 9 AM. What a great time he must’ve had. But hey, the weather was bad, so we figured people just didn’t want to stand in line and would eventually show up later. And at least we now had something to joke about while whiling away time waiting in line. Doors eventually opened at 8 PM and the massive line, now counting some 25 people or so poured in, nearly knocking over the security personnel which were completely unprepared for the situation.. Well, no, we just sorta trotted in slowly in a single file, showed our tickets, got our hand stamps, checked our coats, and (in the case of Tina and I) naturally headed straight for the bar where I ordered us a pint of beer each. You grow thirsty and weary from waiting after all.

Though small, the venue was actually really cool, consisting of a main bar, a large open room with a stage on one end, a small cafe like area where fans, warmup band members, roadies, groupies and what have you buzzed around, talked and drank beer, and an upstairs balcony kinda thing with another smaller bar and a great areal view of the main room and stage. A view that Tina and I would soon come to enjoy, along with a few chilled jäger shots.

See, the thing about the warmup bands booked for the evening is that they were both death metal acts and the thing about death metal is.. That.. Well, to most people it’s just not a very interesting genre.. Which is to say that death metal, like most metal, has pretty groovy rhythm and interesting details, in the case of death metal, it’s just a matter of spotting it amidst all the noise, murkiness and growling.. So rather than pushing up front and banging our heads with the rest of the crowd, Tina and I sorta just hung back near the bar where we felt we belonged. As one warmup band gave way to another, and the genre changed from melodic death metal to death/groove metal (in this case mainly noticeable by the lack of keyboards and clean vocals in the second act), Tina and I decided to check out the upstairs balcony area which turned out to be a pretty swell idea because apparently the prices in the bar upstairs were far better than the ones in the bar downstairs.. And they chilled their spirits upstairs, so we could get jäger shots cheaper AND colder than on the floor, simply by traversing a few stairs.. An offer we abused to the fullest.. After all, nothing goes better together than metal and hard liquor, right?

After struggling through two warm up bands and a shot of jäger or three.. or four.. It was time for the main event of the evening, a double feature of two new school American metal bands, Shadows Fall and Five FInger Death Punch. Shadows Fall were up first, and granted, we were mostly there for 5FDP, but people were starting to move towards the stage now and who were we to miss being in front row for a performance for a Grammy Award nominated metal band? Or the subsequent performance by 5FDP for that matter.. So as the stage crew scrambled to set up for Shadows Fall, we scrambled downstairs and pushed our way into the front row.

We ended up finding a spot in the front row at stage left, right in front of the lead guitarist’s spot which seemed as good a spot as any – at least in theory, and so we settled in and chatted for a while, waiting for the show to start – which it did pretty quickly with Steel Panther’s beautiful “(Fuck All Night And) Party All Day” blaring over the PA (much to my amusement), followed by Shadow Fall’s own instrumental “The Path To Imminent Ruin” as the band hit stage to a surprisingly loud reaction from the crowd of 50 or so people.. And then things got a little crazy and confusing.. Shadows Fall tore into their set with great enthusiasm, spirit and energy, the crowd went crazy and started jumping and moshing.. And Tina and I found ourselves in the middle not really understanding half of what was going on because the lead guitarist had his monitors (the speakers that reflect his own sound towards him) turned up so loud that pretty much all we were able to pick up was the guitar and drums which kinda drowned out the vocals.. Which was a fucking shame coz I’m pretty damn certain that the boys delivered one hell of a show.

At any rate, they gave it their all and rocked their hearts out in front of a ridiculously small crowd for a band of their stature, which I found both pleasing and impressive. I just wish I could’ve heard more of it. The only songs that I did manage to recognize were “Still I rise” and “A Public Execution” both of which included a fair bit of crowd participation, the former in the shape of Brian Fair, the lead singer, letting the crowd sing parts of the chorus and the latter with the entire house, all 50-100 people strong, screaming along on the “FUCK IT ALL” parts.. Good times, hot times.. Had the vocals gotten an extra boost and the guitars been lower, it would’ve probably been a fucking awesome show!

After about a 45 minute show which included a surprising amount of songs, a fair bit of crowd interaction and even some eye candy for Tina as Brian apparently got so hot that he decided to throw off his t-shirt, wring the sweat out of it and dispose of it, the boys said thank you to the crowd, throw a few goodies, including a guitar pick to yours truly, and left the stage. Leaving us behind quite hot, dehydrated and shaken up.. Which, I suppose, is why we felt like we needed more jäger shots to cool us down. After much debating, arguing and eventually a round of rock, paper and scissors, it was decided that I’d keep our spot in the front row while Tina pranced upstairs and got us a few shots.. Ah sweet victory!

So while more roadies scrambled around more on stage, Tina took off upstairs and I grabbed a chance as the crowd thinned out a little and moved a few meters to the left in front of the stage to center stage where i had a reasonable idea that Ivan Moody, front man of 5FDP, would be during the show. In this new spot I ended up standing next to a couple of really intoxicated young men who kept trying to strike up random conversation. I talked with them a little until I saw Tina on her way back and turned around to greet her. Needless to say, my very beautiful and quite out of place companion did not go unnoticed by new new front row “friends”, neither did the fact that she smilingly and dutifully walked up to me, handed me a shot, toasted with me and waited for me to finish mine, then grabbed both empty glasses and headed back to the bar, leaving the male portion of the front row staring at me in a combination of shock, awe and jealousy. I of course merely smiled, shrugged and made some clever comment along the lines of “I’m bringing her to every show I go to from now on.”

Having played her role of drink getter, Tina soon returned and found her spot in front of me in the front row.. See, the good thing about having a tiny best friend is that you can both fit into the front row at a show on account of me being able to look well over her head while at the same time being able to keep most of the moshers at bay.. Now, all we had to do was wait which we did, along with a couple of our newfound drunk friends who were pretty good at sharing anecdotes and beer, so the wait actually went pretty smoothly even of anticipation was starting to grow.. A lot!

Eventually the lights dimmed, the crowd buzzed and the guests of honor of the evening took the stage.. To the sound of a roar so loud I had trouble understanding that it was coming from such a small crowd.. Evidently what the crowed lacked in size, it made up for in dedication. 5FDP opened with a super heavy version of “Burn It Down” which had the crowd screaming, singing, moshing and jumping along.. And once again had me questioning the size of the crowd, because, honestly, I’ve felt less pressure in the back at major stages on the European festival circuit.

Up next was “Salvation”, a song with a chorus which goes something along the lines of “Monkey see, monkey do, you’re always doing what they tell you to”. Ivan illustrated this beautifully by jumping around and acting like a monkey on stage which was not only hilarious to look at, but went to show that he was thoroughly enjoying himself. As was the rest of the band. And I dare say it was a pleasure to watch because quite honestly you’d expect them to be a little bummed out with the turnout. But rather than being pissed, they were visually pleased that such a small crowd could created such an intense feeling, show such dedication and be such a “fucking loud bunch” as Ivan put it after having hushed down one of several “FIVE FINGER – DEATH PUNCH!!” chants I started that evening.

The rest of the show was a tour de force of the two albums worth of material that the band has. “The Way Of The Fist”, “Bulletproof”, the new single “Hard To See” and of course “White Knuckles” which ended in a shout-off with Ivan hollering “I’m taking back control..” and the crowd dutifully replying “WITH MY KNUCKLES!” – through it all the band got more and more energetic, the crowd got more and more crazy and we went from a situation where I could pretty easily throw both hands in the air and spend my time taking pictures and rocking out to one where I actually had to get a pretty firm grip on the rail around Tina to not only protect her a bit better but also keep my own footing as various elbows, arms, heads and people started crashing in to me.. This tactic worked pretty well until the very end of the concert where people had gotten so worked up that I pretty much had to just place both arms on either side of her little head to at least ward off the stray arms and elbows from hitting her all while wondering what the hell had gotten into this crowd.. Good show, though!

The show ended in a bit of a shouting contest at Ivan asked the crowd whether they wanted to hear an old song or a new song, after a lot of senseless screaming and debating back and forth, they eventually “decided” to do both and kicked into “Dying Breed”, probably their most brutal song to date, which in an anticipated, but welcome move was followed by “The Bleeding” – Their largest single hit and a kick-ass hardcore ballad to boot.. Which, I’m reasonably sure, is the moment that most of us had been waiting for.. So at that very moment I did something very uncommon for me and let Tina fend for herself (’twas but a slow song after all) while I grabbed my camera and shot this video to capture the mood and setting.. I’m reasonably sure she forgives me for getting bumped a little:

.. And with that it was pretty much over. After 45 intense minutes, the band said thanks, took a bow, threw a few collectibles (including a pick that Tina caught) and left the stage.. And so there we stood, banged up, slightly bruised and sweaty, weary from the experience.. And, once again, very thirsty.. Which is why our first move after the show had ended was to rush off to the upstairs bar and have me buy us a round if jäger shots.. Only then could we even start worrying about how the hell to get home..

“What happens when you believe something with all your heart? Belief fuels enthusiasm, and determined enthusiasm explodes into passion. It fires our souls and lifts our spirits. “

As I’m sure some people have noticed, I’ve been using the terms ‘ghost’ and ’spirit’ pretty much interchangeably when they’re not. While ghost applies pretty much only to dead imprints, spirits can be things that were never ‘alive’ at all. Consider nature spirits, spirit guides, spirit beings such as negs, etc. I’ll try to be more clear in the future, but my old stuff will still be categorized and tagged inappropriately.

today we are preparing some visionary test-concepts & boards for an upcoming new project from MOET HENNESSY… delicious and very different, i can say!

another very interesting topic today is the preparation of a creative workshop with a leading SLEEPING LAB company… finally i’m earning money with sleep

Wow. Great movie, just for the simple fact that someone was capable of making a film without stupid things jumping out at you like those youtube shockers and things of that nature (we’ve all encountered the maze or color test I’m sure)

This has by far been one of the best paranormal movies I think I have ever seen. It’s no wonder this $25,000.00 budget movie made uber millions! This movie takes you through a view of the other side, which if you’ve never experienced a paranormal event, it gives you a pretty good idea of what types of things you could expect. Footsteps, scratching, knocking,  inhuman breathing through EVP (electronic voice phenomenon). I have heard of people being disappointed in this movie and that is probably due to the fact that they’re so used to having something leap out at you with some wacky film effects and lots of LFE going on.

Paranormal Activity gets a 5/5 in my movie rating book for thrills and suspense. This movie exemplifies how a paranormal thriller should be! Honestly, I did not even want to look at my monitor in full screen because I was completely suspecting some wild looking demonic figure to just pop out in front of the camera to make me have to put on my Depends =P.

The boyfriend however was a serious douche who just made everything worse, to all you kids out there interested in playing with a Ouija board or spirit board, DON’T DO IT! Take it from someone who has had numerous paranormal events in his life and has certain abilities. Pissing off an inhuman is definitely something you do not want to do….The ending was a disappointment to a point, I wish they wouldn’t have shot Katie at the end, I know that’s kinda the point, but still, could have made it longer and shown the after effects and stuff, ah well, I just know what I would’ve liked to have seen ending-wise.

Feel free to leave your comments!

Josh

It doesn’t matter that you may have had past li(v)es, or many past lives. It does not matter that your aura shows that you are open to the Divine, that angels guide your way, or that you are wise and knowledgeable. It does not matter that you can heal the sick, or speak to the dead. It does not matter that you can see the thread that ties us all together. God talks to everyone. Some of us may see and experience all of these things and more, and others may see and experience none of it. Does that mean that a person or being is held with higher esteem with respect to God? Does it mean they are more special, or that they have been given a gift greater than any other has been given? Some say it does, but does it matter if all we do is try to show others how much better we are? Does it matter if all we do is talk about the glory of all that is good, without caring to share the love that has been bestowed upon us? What purpose is there in knowing if we cannot learn to live the life we speak about? We talk about being One and yet we live our lives as though we are afraid someone will outshine us. We talk about living as One and yet we trust no one. God talks to everyone and yet we are afraid to listen to anyone.

The Topic of this discussion is:  Supernatural. 

Question:    Yo, the name is Maria. I just wanna know more about the scary stuff! I love yo blogs ’bout ghosts and evil spirits. I always found the supernatural and paranormal topics interesting. Y’all seem to know a lot ’bout these subjects. Can you tell me more? I appreciate it. Thank you.

Maria

Answer:   Sure, Maria why not! Well, the unexplained  have always been a taboo subject to discuss. Certain popular tv shows like A Haunting, Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction, Unsolved Mysteries, have always dabbled into these fields. Actually, it’s  very exciting to know about! Many people repeatedly mentioned that they would like to see a ghost. They don’t. Nobody should want to see that. Because there is no such thing as ghosts. Instead, evil spirits or specifically-demonic presences pretend to be ghosts. They do this in order to fool and haunt humans.

Animals always sense the presence of an unnatural occurrence before humans can. Whether it’s an upcoming natural disaster or a change in the temperature. So if your dog usually behaves but starts barking all of a sudden, when nothing seems wrong, then that might be a clue to an unseen presence.

Here’s a few hints if you want to know if you experience a haunting.

• If you feel a sudden drop in the temperature, such as a cold blast of air
• If certain areas of your house feel different. Like a cool spot, where it would naturally be warm.
• Unexplained voices, footsteps, sounds, movements
• If you start feeling sick or stressed.
• If you feel possessed by something.
• Then the most significant of all, if you actually see a presence or spirit.

If you would like to know what you should do during this desperate time, then you can read one of our previous posts about evil presences. You can read it here.

Christian Whitewater

If you would like to provide comments or advice to this reader, then you can post them above.

Also if you would like to ask us a question or give a comment, then you can submit it here at Denise’s advice gossip column or email them at RedHotJuicySizzlingGossip@gmail.com.

The world of fine spirits is littered w/ gimmicks attempting to sway the consumer towards purchasing the latest and greatest distilled “XYZ” spirit. Finn keeps a keen watch for them, usually to prevent them from setting foot in Barriques because they are often of dubious value. Recently however, we got our hands on a couple samples of a new promotional package from the makers of 1800 Tequila, a brand we have traditionally carried. From 15,000 user generated submissions, they selected a handful to grace a line called the 1800 Essentials. It is ‘essentially’ the 1800 Silver tequila w/ some great artwork screened on the back of the bottles. We ordered them in to both Monroe St, and Middleton as they are terrifically cool and at $28.99/bottle, a great gift to boot. Stop by and check them out.

Redemption – Obedience – Grace

The Master of Self

Grace

Answer the questions, which follow the Scripture Verses below.

John 1:14-17 John expresses the grace of the Father, both in Jesus and us.

¹⁴And  ²⁵³² the Word  ³⁰⁵⁶ was made  ¹⁰⁹⁶  ₅₆₃₃ flesh,  ⁴⁵⁶¹ and  ²⁵³² dwelt  ⁴⁶³⁷  ₅₆₅₆ among  ¹⁷²² us,  ²²⁵⁴ (and  ²⁵³² we beheld  ²³⁰⁰  ₅₆₆₂ his  ⁸⁴⁶ glory,  ¹³⁹¹ the glory  ¹³⁹¹ as  ⁵⁶¹³ of the only begotten  ³⁴³⁹ of  ³⁸⁴⁴ the Father,)  ³⁹⁶² full  ⁴¹³⁴ of grace  ⁵⁴⁸⁵ and  ²⁵³² truth. ²²⁵  

¹⁵John  ²⁴⁹¹ bare witness  ³¹⁴⁰  ₅₇₁₉ of  ⁴⁰¹² him,  ⁸⁴⁶ and  ²⁵³² cried,  ²⁸⁹⁶  ₅₇₅₄ saying,  ³⁰⁰⁴  ₅₇₂₃ This  ³⁷⁷⁸ was he  ²²⁵⁸  ₅₇₁₃ of whom  ³⁷³⁹ I spake,  ²⁰³⁶  ₅₆₂₇ He that cometh  ²⁰⁶⁴  ₅₇₄₀ after  ³⁶⁹⁴ me  ³⁴⁵⁰ is preferred  ¹⁰⁹⁶  ₅₇₅₄ before  ¹⁷¹⁵ me:  ³⁴⁵⁰ for  ³⁷⁵⁴ he was  ²²⁵⁸  ₅₇₁₃ before  ⁴⁴¹³ me. ^{3450  16}And  ²⁵³² of  ¹⁵³⁷ his  ⁸⁴⁶ fulness  ⁴¹³⁸ have  ²⁹⁸³   all  ³⁹⁵⁶ we  ²²⁴⁹ received,  ²⁹⁸³  ₅₆₂₇ and  ²⁵³² grace  ⁵⁴⁸⁵ for  ⁴⁷³ grace. ^{5485  17}For  ³⁷⁵⁴ the law  ³⁵⁵¹ was given  ¹³²⁵  ₅₆₈₁ by  ¹²²³ Moses,  ³⁴⁷⁵ but grace  ⁵⁴⁸⁵ and  ²⁵³² truth  ²²⁵ came  ¹⁰⁹⁶  ₅₆₃₃ by  ¹²²³ Jesus  ²⁴²⁴ Christ.

Scripture Text – [KJV – with Greek Reference Numbers]

Q-7 from John 1:16

What is it we have all received from Christ’s fullness?

Q-8 from John 1:16

Why do you suppose we have received this gift from Christ?

Q-9 from John 1:17

What was given by Moses and why?

Q-10 from John 1:17

What was given by Jesus Christ and why?

Q-11 from John 1:17

What was the purpose of one and then the other?

Philemon 25 Paul’s beautiful salutation to Philemon should be ours to each other.  

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Q-12 from Philemon 25

Can you appreciate what Paul was saying in this verse when he said “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.” If so, describe what that might have meant for the recipient.

The Winchester Mystery House was bought by Sarah Winchester, as a normal house, around 1884. She was the widow of William Wirt Winchester, who had been the second president of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company and only son of the company’s owner. When he died, at the age of 44 in 1881, she was grief stricken. Having already lost her only child to marasmus in the 1860s. Believing her family to be cursed she consulted a medium who, it is said, told her that the spirits of the people who had been killed by the winchester rifle were many and they wanted vengeance. The medium told her she had to move west, she originally lived in Connecticutt, buy a house and begin continuous construction on it so that she and the spirits could live in it. She was never to stop building on the house and if she did, she would die. She followed what she had been told, buying the house and beginning work on it immediately. She had an income, from her husband’s death and owning half of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, that gave her the rough equivalent of $22,000 (£13,262) a day. The house was originally an 8 room farmhouse that stood on 162 acres in what is now San Jose, California. Construction work began on the house and continued for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the next 38 years. When Sarah Winchester died in 1922 at the age of 83 work on the house immediately ceased. The house itself is set out in such an odd way that certain doors open onto walls and has staircases that lead nowhere. It is claimed this was ordered by Mrs Winchester so that the spirits would get lost in the house. Staff also needed maps to find their way around. There are around 160 rooms including 40 bedrooms, 10,000 window panes, 7 chimneys, 2 basements, 3 elevators and 2 ballrooms. The number 13 also features heavily in the house. It once reached 7 storeys high but following damage in the 1906 earthquake it is now 4 storeys. The total cost of the building work has been estimated at around $5.5 million ($70 million;  £42,079,285 in 2008) After her death she left the contents of the house to her niece. It reportedly took the removers eight trucks a day for six and a half weeks to empty it. Today it is a tourist attraction, it is said to be haunted, and is open every day except for Christmas. Special tours are held every Friday 13th and Halloween. Thanks for reading.

letting go…

slumber party…