Texas Spirits Ghost Hunter Get-Away

HOLY SCHNIKIES!!!

WHAT a WEEKEND!!!

:D



Okay, first off, apologies if I ramble and stuff. I'm suffering from,,, um... some form of "lag". It's not "jet lag" because I haven't flown anywhere, and I wouldn't call it "travel lag" because this variety of "lag" comes from a combination of activities, the least of which is travel.

But the "lag" is not important, anyway. (It's just my excuse for not being overly-concerned about how well this is written, lol.)

DUDE!!! I GOT TO INVESTIGATE YORKTOWN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL & ASYLUM WITH BRIAN HARNOIS!!!

This weekend, Texas Spirits presented a Ghost Hunter Get-Away weekend featuring Brian Harnois, famous for his long membership with TAPS, and for being one of the original ("cast") members of the shows Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International.

(I'm not fond of calling the investigators featured in those shows "cast members" because that implies they're actors. And if you know the shows, you know that they're not actors; they're paranormal investigators, personally invested in the further of the study science that "mainstream science" isn't willing to bother with for the time being. If I weren't convinced before -- though I already was convinced -- I am thoroughly convinced now, after listening to and working with Brian, that these folks are simply not making this stuff up.)

Brian was kind enough to lend himself to our event, and dude... this cat is GOOD PEOPLE! :)

Looking back at my blog, I see that I haven't posted since the 7th, and if anyone reads this (besides my nearest and dearest, that is, lol), I apologize for the delay.

A large part of the reason for this is because TSPI has been gearing up for this event. (Don't let me fool you, I haven't been all that much help, lol. I do what I can, but mostly I'm listening and watching and learning how I can be useful to these amazing people in this amazing team!)

The first night, Friday, was a Meet & Greet with the Man, Brian Harnois.

Usually on Fridays I wake up around 6:00pm so I can be at work at 8:00pm, but I woke up early to be at Austin's A.G.E. Building to set up for Brian Harnois' appearance.

(Side note, since my li'l bro/roommate is Brian, I'll call Mr. Hanrois by his full name to prevent confusion, since Brian -- my brother -- was part of the Get-Away, too. Which is super-cool for me because I got to sort of experience the event from behind the scenes and -- through Brian -- as a participant!!!)

Set-up was smooth. The babes running the show know how to hold things together, and every time I'm with these folks it's like being with the most fun members of your family! But what was weird for me was the fact that Mr. Harnois was there from the start, constantly offering to help in any way he can! :) I mean, from our perspective, he's the celebrity, lol! But, of course, he's not, really. I mean, yeah, he's famous, but he's an investigator. He's worked with many, many groups on hundreds of investigations, so in his heart of hearts, he's a guy who does things, not someone who is catered too, lol.

But the moment of truth came when the doors were opened to the public...

See, Texas Spirits has some logistical wizards capable of planning out a war, if it were needed, lol. (In fact, when Z-Day comes and armies of the walking dead take over the planet, I'll be very, very thankful that I'm a member of TSPI!!!) But when you're presenting an event... well... things don't always go off as planned.

Nothing major this weekend, thankfully. :) We were all on our game and the planning itself was meticulous. But sometimes you find yourself in need of a roll of tape or a paperclip or something. (Or a "Restrooms This Way" sign, for instance, lol.) But the nature of investigating the paranormal is that -- being paranormal -- you prepare for the unexpected. So we were able to make do nicely.

It really reminded me a lot of my teen years in community theatre. You rehearse for a month or more, build set, make costumes, figure out your makeup (I was mostly in Children's Theatre, so the makeup was usually broader and more complex that, say, a David Mamet play, lol) and you spend a lot of time and energy trying to make sure you can put on the best performance the audience can experience. Then, on Opening Day, you open the doors and see how it goes.

So we opened the doors, people met Brian Harnois, and we found ourselves listening to his hours of stories and experiences, absolutely as rapt as any paying guest! The dude is funny and fun, and if you get a chance to hear him talk, you will be glad you went to see him! :) (In fact, he's writing a book at the moment, which I can't wait to be published! If his talk Friday was any indication, it should be a lot of fun!)

In fact, the only thing I could complain about, if I wanted to complain, would be the friggin' heat, lol. Our uniform shirt are Dickies. They're really sturdy and look really nice, but their durability doesn't breath a great deal, lol. ;P And this looks like it's going to be a typical Austin summer (if you've only experienced Austin in the summer in the past 3 years, you do not know what an "Austin summer" feels like, lol; it's hot) so even walking around inside and outside a building can be stifling.

But, dude... it was so worth it!!!

Brian got there a little later, so he ended up standing to listen to Brian Harnois, but he stood there the entire 3 hours, riveted. And when I checked in with him from time to time, he seemed just as pleased as he could be! (Have I mentioned that he and I are avid fans, and that the only paranormal shows we watch are Ghost Hunters and GHI? One of our dreams when we began investigating the paranormal for real was one day investigating with members of TAPS, because those cats do it right, in our opinions.)

So, judging from Brian's feedback, I feel confident saying that Friday night was a success! :D

As Mr. Harnois went off to investigate the A.G.E. Building with an intimate group of raffle winners, the rest of us set to tearing down the signs and equipment. We got home late, but not as late as Brian Harnois and the director of North Texas Spirits, who has all the coolest toys -- most of which he designed and built himself!!! -- and who provided the sound/video equipment that allowed us present Mr. Harnois to Austin.

I woke up, for me, super-early Saturday. I actually woke up at 7:00am! At this time, on a Saturday, I've usually been home from work for almost half an hour and am winding down before bed, lol. But the previous day's work let me go right to bed after the first part of the Get-Away event.

Brian had to work, so I had to bum a ride down to Yorktown.

We met up at the IHOP at Slaughter Lane and IH-35 for an astounding breakfast!!! (I like me some breakfast-y foods, so when I get to eat at IHOP I'm a pretty happy guy, lol.)

Thankfully -- for me anyway, lol -- we didn't all arrive at once. I'm grateful for this for 2 reasons: I got to geek-out about comic book movies with Brian Harnois, and I got to watch him save the IHOP!!! :D

First, let me say that I never imagined the day when being a comic book geek/comic book movie geek would actually be a personal asset!!! But Brian Harnois will tell you himself that he's a fan-boy, and I really enjoyed listening to his take on the recent batch of comic book movies!!! (He's convinced me to go see X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which I was ready to take a pass on, and told me some exciting stuff about many of the up-coming comic book movies that are gearing up for release!) It was a really cool conversation, and kind of surreal, as I'm chatting with someone whom I perceive to be... how do I say it?... cooler than me, lol. :D This cat has seen the world, had experiences with the paranormal that I still aspire to, is a peer to some of the smartest folks in this field, and is an international star, for goodness sake!!! lol :) AND I'M CHATTING WITH HIM ABOUT MOVIES!!! :D

I don't know if he even realizes how he made a fan-boy's year, lol!

I mean, in my world, it's almost like chatting with Hans Holzer about the new Transformer sequel, lol!

So anyway, we're waiting outside (because IHOP doesn't seat partial parties) and someone comments that they smell burning paper. I sniff, and I think I smell cooking barbecue. (It's too early in the morning for any barbecue places to be open, but that's what it smells like to me.) Then another couple of people comment on it, and it's starting to smell exactly like burning paper to me, now, too.

I walk around part of the building, trying to find where the smell might be coming from... and one of us spots the trashcan. (I want to say it was Jeromy, the director of North Texas Spirits, who creates all the cool equipment that puts some of the stuff you see on Ghost Hunters to shame, but my memory really isn't that reliable.)

We take a look, and inside the can are a few wads of paper.

One of the wads of paper is on fire.

Jeromy dashes inside to retrieve some water, to douse the small flame.

Since that was the only thing I could come up with (like, a second or two behind him coming up with the idea, lol), I can't do anything but watch the paper burn inside the trashcan to make sure it doesn't get out of hand before he gets back. (Useful? No. But it's the only thing I can think of, so I do it, lol.)

Brian Harnois, however, gets another idea...

He reaches into the can, grabs the burning receipt (or whatever it was), drops it on the concrete and stamps it out.

What you may not know about Brian Harnois is that he's also a certified fireman (paranormal investigators have to have day jobs, since investigating doesn't pay anything), so he's well familiar with fire and what it can do and can bypass any sort of primal fear about the fact that it's fire.

So Mr. Harnois saved the IHOP at Slaughter Lane and 183! :D

And the funny thing about the whole episode is that if anyone besides us knew about it, it would probably have been in the news! (He probably needs better PR folks, lol.) ;P

So after, as I said, a really great meal -- and some more fascinating stories of Brian Harnois' adventures -- we set off to Yorktown. (The cat's really generous with his time and his experiences!)





Just being at the Yorktown Memorial Hospital & Asylum again is exciting for me!!! :D It is the site of Brian's and my first investigation, and it's a really cool location!

It was really fun to arrive and see out battered flyer for the event up on the front door! :) (I like to imagine it was some dark entity that tried to claw the flyer off, and that's why it looked like that, lol.)

Setup for the investigation was hours and hours long, but it was really cool to have Brian Harnois right there with us, helping us set up. I don't know why it makes a difference to have someone you've watched on TV for years helping you do the heavy lifting, but it does, lol.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy doing just about anything with any member of TSPI! Every single one of them is wicked-cool and way fun to hang with in just about any circumstance I can imagine!!! I don't care if your running around the Drag passing out flyers, any time with these folks is a great time! :D

Even in the heat, lol.

I can't desribe how much fun and how gratifying this weekend was!

The hot labor eventually gave way to arriving guest investigators, and that brought its own energy!

My li'l bro arrived, and I was set for an amazing night! :)

And to be truthful, the investigation started off with promise...

First off, since we had been there in March, the personal experiences being gathered we becoming even more interesting. We were told that we were the first paranormal investigative team to explore the Yorktown Hospital, and the reports were fairly standard back then: Shadow figures seen out of the corner of one's eye, odd sounds and spoken words, really creepy feelings in certain parts of the building, etc. The more recent reports have gotten more personal, more aggressive, if you will. There's one room on the second floor wherein people report a nasty-ass smell and even the sensation of someone/something trying to choke them!

Right off the bat, while we were setting up IR cameras, Brian Harnois suggested we should put a camera in the kitchen area. (This interested me greatly, since Brian & I had had some experiences in the kitchen last time, and Brian had had a really interesting personal experience there!) It turned out that something attacked Mr. Harnois's leg in there! he reported a bite (or something) that felt like a bee-sting, but with a lingering tingling sensation that persisted all night long. There are no bees in there, and whatever attacked his leg wasn't visible to the naked eye.

That was while we were setting up!

Throughout the night I had some fascinating experiences: The first was with the first group. The guest investigators were divided up into 3 groups (there were a lot of us there that night) who each took a floor, with a couple of TSPI members sort of leading the investigation on that floor, and Brian Harnois floating around between teams, offering tips and experience to all of us -- TSPI members and guest investigators alike -- throughout the whole evening.

On the first pass, I was helping out on the first floor (it goes basement, First Floor and Second Floor) and Brian Harnois came into the kitchen to confront whatever went after him before the evening began.

This is called "provoking" in paranormal circles, and you sort of get to see it on some episodes of Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International. The idea is to address the entity (or whatever it is; any decent paranormal investigator will admit that we really don't know exactly what we're dealing with, we're simply poking around in the dark an developing theories based on the data we amass) directly and see if we can provoke a response -- preferably some activity that can be recorded and analyzed.

The first time I was at the Yorktown I got the impression that whatever might be there is sort of shy and passive. We haven't yet anlayzed the audio or pics taken during that session, so I can't yet tell you if we got anything. But the Mother Lode -- a shodow figure walking across the kitchen or levitating pots and pans and stuff -- didn't present itself. (I'm hoping for a clear EVP, so, fingers crossed!)

But it was really cool and informative to see someone with as much actual experience with the paranormal as Brian Harnois doing his thing! :D

The second was one of the guest investigators. In the surgical wing of the hospital/asylum, one of the guests sensed the "spirit" -- or possibly the "emotional energy" -- of someone who may have been killed by an accidental overdose of anesthesia. The TSPI lead investigator and I did some EVP work, hoping to get some evidence that might inform us as to what she was feeling -- evidence still under review, sorry -- but I was struck by how deeply this person was moved by what she "sensed". I haven't experienced that before! The first time I was there, it was all people who were dedicated to the field, ready for whatever might happen. This was, presumably, someone who didn't spend all their free time studying the paranormal and putting themselves in situations where they might experience the unexplained.

It seemed to be a little traumatic for them, and it was a little disturbing for me.

Not to sound cold or detatched about someone feeling deep, unpleasant emotions (for any reason), but it was an extremely informative experience.

The third biggy for me of the night was MY FIRST PERSONAL EXPERIENCE! :D

I should probably explain, first, that the paranormal -- in my mind -- divides into experiences, personal experiences, and data. Experiences are something that happens, and may or may not be paranormal, depending upon the eperience-er. Parsonal experiences are something that happens that is definitely paranormal to the experience-er, but that skeptics may argue about. Then data is anything recorder that a skeptic can watch, look at or listen to that makes him/her go "Damn... that's wierd."

Since one of the ultimate goals of the paranormal investigator is to present evidence that proves to skeptics that there is something worth studying in what we call "the paranormal" data is what we all strive for.

But as individual investigators, personal experiences are excellent, because they sort of assure us that we're on the right track. :)

My first time at the Yorktown, I guess I had one personal experience. And there were witnesses to corroberate it, too, come to think of it!!! I was standing on the first floor, at the interection of the main hall and the two wings, and my flashlight dimmed, went out, then came back on! No probalem with the batteries -- I continued to use the flashlight with those same bateries for months afterward -- but the flashlight dimmed and went out anyway.

I had forgotten about that before now, so I guess this would be my second personal experience...

So this time, I'm in the basement. It's almost pitch black. I walk into a room with just my red-tinted flashlight, and I see a small, dark shadow-something scurry across the floor. My first impression -- which we train ourselves to trust because of the mind's amazing ability to rationalize events after the fact -- was that I just saw something "not natural" escaping observation as humans -- unfamiliar to this room because of its state of decay -- entered it.

More compelling: I had a witness. One of the guests entered the room right after me, and she saw it, too! I asked her what she saw, and she described the same thing I did! Before I told her what I saw! :D

This thing looked like a shadow, but it was long, like a snake, but it seemed to "scurry" like a critter with legs. And it was fast. Faster than any natural creature moves.

Oh, and I was witness to another phenomenon: In that same hallway juncture where my flashlight dimmed and went out last time, the K-2 meter started behaving unnaturally. The guests were taking a break, so it was only a bunch of investigators that witnessed this. We explored every elctronomagnetic possibility we could think of, and we couldn't come up with a reason for this to occur!

I don't include this as a "personal experience" because it wasn't me it happebed to, and I have yet to review my audio recording, so I don't know if I got any data as a result of this experience.

But it was cool! :D

At the moment, without having reviewed yet the pics and audio I captured for last night, that's what stands out in my memory.

It was hot, it was an extremely long day for me, and it was amazing!!! :D

This is a pic of my around 2:30am or 3:00am. I'm pretty thrashed at this point, but a happy, contented sort of thrashed! :)



If the data turns up anything interesting, I'm sure I'll let you know.

PEACE!!!

:D