related_results_labels({"version":"1.0","encoding":"UTF-8","feed":{"xmlns":"http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom","xmlns$openSearch":"http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/","xmlns$georss":"http://www.georss.org/georss","id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2168219303449559049"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-12-08T16:45:17.487-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Buck's Ghosts and Hauntings"},"subtitle":{"type":"html","$t":""},"link":[{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://bucksghosts.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2168219303449559049/posts/default/-/people?alt\u003djson-in-script\u0026max-results\u003d5"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://bucksghosts.blogspot.com/search/label/people"},{"rel":"hub","href":"http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Buck"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/03195661861205323477"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}],"generator":{"version":"7.00","uri":"http://www.blogger.com","$t":"Blogger"},"openSearch$totalResults":{"$t":"2"},"openSearch$startIndex":{"$t":"1"},"openSearch$itemsPerPage":{"$t":"5"},"entry":[{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2168219303449559049.post-1621188627635395231"},"published":{"$t":"2009-10-27T00:21:00.001-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-10-27T00:21:42.582-07:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"paranormal beliefs"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"personal"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"people"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Research"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"ghost hunting"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"A Personal Update…"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003cp\u003e As I was glancing through previous posts here on the blog I realized I’d had a grand total of about 17 posts for 2009! You might be wondering why that is considering the frequency of my posting in the previous year.\u003c/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eIn early 2009 I officially left \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.sonoranparanormalinvestigations.org\" target\u003d\"_blank\"\u003e\u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.sonoranparanormalinvestigations.org/\" target\u003d\"_blank\"\u003eSonoran Paranormal Investigations\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/a\u003e There were a number of reasons for that decision ranging from the usual drama that surrounds paranormal groups and my position as a team manager to a shift in my own beliefs and interests that were not entirely welcomed by some members of the group. \u003ca href\u003d\"http://lh6.ggpht.com/_u48bOmgAyeY/Suafg-DwfuI/AAAAAAAAV1E/_Ubkt5lokXs/s1600-h/IMG_3674%5B21%5D.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg style\u003d\"border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 10px auto 5px; display: block; float: none; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px\" title\u003d\"IMG_3674\" border\u003d\"0\" alt\u003d\"IMG_3674\" src\u003d\"http://lh6.ggpht.com/_u48bOmgAyeY/SuafhYYySfI/AAAAAAAAV1I/ybhnrThNo94/IMG_3674_thumb%5B19%5D.jpg?imgmax\u003d800\" width\u003d\"476\" height\u003d\"189\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eAs my personal interest in psychology and perception increased I found that exploration of those topics caused some in the group to feel very uncomfortable. There are those who are true believers in all things paranormal and who find the questioning of the veracity of those beliefs to be threatening. In short, they do not want any avenue of inquiry that might lead down the road toward disproving paranormal phenomenon as an objective experience. It’s fine to find the occasional squeaky door or loud water heater, but not to posit experiments that might show “ghosts” as a class to be illegitimate or outside the neo-Victorian folklore model or New Age paradigm. \u003c/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eAfter Paul Bradford was tapped as a cast member of \u003cem\u003eGhost Hunters International\u003c/em\u003e, we spoke briefly about my returning to the group since it seemed to be experiencing some stasis. When I laid out my desire to continue to pursue my psychological work as well as looking at subjective causes or even PSI causes for phenomena, the offer to return was withdrawn quietly. \u003c/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eUnfortunately, much of this conflict originated with a self-proclaimed psychic who did not care for me personally (considering my well known skepticism of psychics. Certainly, my suggestion that if we were to “study” psychic impressions the “psychic” would need to be tested independently via standard PSI methodology for accuracy was viewed negatively by this person who took it as a personal attack on her “gifts.” \u003c/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eThus, as so often happens when research runs headlong into hobby and ego… I found myself outside the fold. \u003c/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eI have resisted any criticism of SPI for nearly a year and still feel they are a superb group 0f amateur ghost hunters. However, like so many, serious research is not something that seems to be on the agenda at the moment. In the aftermath of that and without any means to continue research alone, I lost interest in the turmoil of the paranormal pop culture world for much of the year. \u003c/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eI am beginning to regain some steam now, though, and am thinking of putting together a group of 2 or 3 others who are interested in conducting serious research into the psychological, sociological and folklore aspects of hauntings as well as field research looking at paranormal investigators themselves and their reactions to environment and belief systems. I would also like to conduct some PSI statistical studies to attempt to determine if haunting phenomena is objective or subjective. \u003c/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eInterested and live in Southern Arizona? Leave a comment or \u003ca href\u003d\"mailto:buckbannister@gmail.com\"\u003edrop me a note\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/p\u003e  \u003cdiv class\u003d\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003e\u003cimg width\u003d'1' height\u003d'1' src\u003d'https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2168219303449559049-1621188627635395231?l\u003dbucksghosts.blogspot.com' alt\u003d'' /\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://bucksghosts.blogspot.com/feeds/1621188627635395231/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID\u003d2168219303449559049\u0026postID\u003d1621188627635395231\u0026isPopup\u003dtrue","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2168219303449559049/posts/default/1621188627635395231"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2168219303449559049/posts/default/1621188627635395231"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://bucksghosts.blogspot.com/2009/10/personal-update.html","title":"A Personal Update…"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Buck"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/03195661861205323477"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$extendedProperty":{"xmlns$gd":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005","name":"OpenSocialUserId","value":"02653328012866227494"}}],"thr$total":{"xmlns$thr":"http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0","$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2168219303449559049.post-1843647724665945947"},"published":{"$t":"2008-11-18T13:57:00.004-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-11-18T14:13:21.821-07:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"United States"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Newberry"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"psychology"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"people"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"29108"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Hallucination"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"So Long Zip..."},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003cspan class\u003d\"zemanta-img\" style\u003d\"margin: 1em; float: left; display: block;\"\u003e\u003ca href\u003d\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:SchizophreniaBrain.jpg\"\u003e\u003cimg src\u003d\"http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/14/SchizophreniaBrain.jpg/202px-SchizophreniaBrain.jpg\" alt\u003d\"SchizophreniaBrain\" style\u003d\"border: medium none ; display: block;\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class\u003d\"zemanta-img-attribution\"\u003eImage via \u003ca href\u003d\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:SchizophreniaBrain.jpg\"\u003eWikipedia\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003eIt's almost a stereotype, the eccentric loner in a small Southern town. \u003ca href\u003d\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harper_Lee\" title\u003d\"Harper Lee\" rel\u003d\"wikipedia\" class\u003d\"zem_slink\"\u003eHarper Lee\u003c/a\u003e used it in her masterpiece work, \"\u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.amazon.com/Kill-Mockingbird-Harper-Lee/dp/0446310786%3FSubscriptionId%3D0G81C5DAZ03ZR9WH9X82%26tag%3Dsesw-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0446310786\" title\u003d\"To Kill a Mockingbird\" rel\u003d\"amazon\" class\u003d\"zem_slink\"\u003eTo Kill a Mockingbird\u003c/a\u003e\" and it's been rehashed over time in various other literary and Hollywood works.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eYet, at least in my hometown the stereotype lived. His name was Andrew N. Counts but most people called him \"Zip\".  \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.newberryobserver.com/articles/2008/11/07/obituaries/obitcounts.txt\"\u003e\"Zip\" passed away\u003c/a\u003e recently although I only found out about his passing by browsing my hometown newspaper's website.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eHe was a classmate of my sister and 62 when he passed away.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eZip Counts, appeared to suffer from \u003ca href\u003d\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia\" title\u003d\"Schizophrenia\" rel\u003d\"wikipedia\" class\u003d\"zem_slink\"\u003eschizophrenia\u003c/a\u003e for most if not all of his life. I can recall seeing him walking down the street holding heated discussion with people no one else could see. Sometimes he would stop dead still and simply gaze into space.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eMy grandmother, the embodiment of almost every prejudice known to mankind was terribly afraid of Zip. I can recall on Saturday shopping trips she would warn me to cross the street if he was walking down Main Street. Yet, for some reason, Zip never frightened me.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThere was something in his connection to things I could not see that intrigued me. I always wondered whose reality was \"real\" - his or mine? Later, I began to wonder whether the people he found so real actually were real on some level. After all, reality is subjective. We all experience it differently and who's to say which perception is correct? Could Zip have been tapped into some alternate \"reality\" that was simply kept from the rest of us? Were the invisible (to us) people with whom he held lengthy conversations simply people who were around each of us but whom we choose to ignore or simply cannot see?\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eOne thing I noticed with Zip was that he tended to watch the people with whom he conversed. Many schizophrenics have \u003ca href\u003d\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucination\" title\u003d\"Hallucination\" rel\u003d\"wikipedia\" class\u003d\"zem_slink\"\u003eauditory hallucinations\u003c/a\u003e, yet Zip would often turn and address someone as though they were standing near him. He would gaze at someone and his eyes seemed to track movement with his conversational partner.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eOver time, I began to wonder if this might be what happens to someone who is truly a medium but who has allowed society to convince they are crazy. Perhaps, it was some combination of schizophrenia or other disorder that opened up a door for Zip that other kept firmly closed. Perhaps, he was just suffering from a tragic disorder.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eI did not know him well enough to answer any of those questions, but Zip did start me wondering and that wonder has led, in part, to what I do now and my fascination with perception in paranormal and PSI phenomena.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eWhen I worked in the Public Library I had more opportunity than in the past to interact with Zip. He would come in and pick up a magazine or book to read. He was always extremely polite and seemed to delight in watching the antics of children killing time waiting for story hour.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eI found out from the article that Zip was also an animal lover and supported and helped with shelter activities. I had no idea of that side of him.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eWhat most people saw when they looked at Zip was a rather strange man who talked to himself and could wear outlandish costumes. My personal favorite was a hot pink turban of the type you might see a 1940's starlet wear. It was especially fetching when he combined it with mustard yellow pants, orange socks, and multi-colored shirt.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eYet, Zip was much more than that. He was a fixture in town and I can't imagine returning to Newberry and not running into him somewhere, either a restaurant or shop or just walking down the street.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eSo, goodbye Zip. You'll be missed by many for many reasons. As for me, I thank you for making me wonder about the nature of reality for the first time and opening up a lifelong interest in spirituality and perception although you never knew you did that.    \u003cdiv style\u003d\"margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;\" class\u003d\"zemanta-pixie\"\u003e\u003ca class\u003d\"zemanta-pixie-a\" href\u003d\"http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/880ca3f4-09fc-474b-8f2b-4d2a0a9e2b57/\" title\u003d\"Zemified by Zemanta\"\u003e\u003cimg style\u003d\"border: medium none ; float: right;\" class\u003d\"zemanta-pixie-img\" src\u003d\"http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id\u003d880ca3f4-09fc-474b-8f2b-4d2a0a9e2b57\" alt\u003d\"Reblog this post [with Zemanta]\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class\u003d\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003e\u003cimg width\u003d'1' height\u003d'1' src\u003d'https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2168219303449559049-1843647724665945947?l\u003dbucksghosts.blogspot.com' alt\u003d'' /\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://bucksghosts.blogspot.com/feeds/1843647724665945947/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID\u003d2168219303449559049\u0026postID\u003d1843647724665945947\u0026isPopup\u003dtrue","title":"2 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2168219303449559049/posts/default/1843647724665945947"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2168219303449559049/posts/default/1843647724665945947"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://bucksghosts.blogspot.com/2008/11/so-long-zip.html","title":"So Long Zip..."}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Buck"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/03195661861205323477"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$extendedProperty":{"xmlns$gd":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005","name":"OpenSocialUserId","value":"02653328012866227494"}}],"thr$total":{"xmlns$thr":"http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0","$t":"2"}}]}});