Changing Your Mindmonkeon writes, "People tend to seek things that back up already held beliefs, but what books, films, or real-life events have actually changed the way you think about a subject?"
(, Thu 2 Apr 2015, 15:27)
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OuijaIn spite of experiencing several events pointing towards the seemingly otherworldly Ive always been very sceptical, ghosts UFO's etc.
A couple of months back some friends decided to have an ouija night, now they have been doing this for years but it was the first time I was invited along, I'd heard their tales of previous nights and quite frankly I was intrigued.
The first thing that surprised me was how the planchette felt as it was moving across the board, you couldn't say it was being deliberately moved by anyone, it just moved so quickly and smoothly without the hesitation of being spelt out.
Sometimes it just span round and round the board enough to make you dizzy.
There were names and messages for two people there who got quite emotional, I'm still in the 'Yeah whatever' camp.
Then it came up with something directly aimed at me, and a name from my past, who wasn't known to anyone there.
I really didn't like that and wanted it to end.
Shortly after, the planchette went dead and we were told the session was over.
I left feeling really uncomfortable and with my mind changed about how rubbish it actually was.
That lasted a week or so until my logical mind kicked back in again and I thought there must be a simple rational explanation.
Im a bit more open minded now though and will probably have another go given the chance
(, Wed 8 Apr 2015, 1:05, 5 replies)
Believing clichés.This happened a few years ago on a family holiday in Victoria. At a place called Maru Animal Park. Being from "Maaaahlburn" we did a few of the more off the beaten track touristy things and visiting here was one of them.
Apparently there is a salt water pool full of tears somewhere nearby that was worth a look but buggered if I could find it!
The place we stayed at had a wildlife park nearby. After a day of the trouble and strife flatly refusing to climb out of the car due to being cooped up with the family on the road for too long and myself and the kids generally making a nuisance of ourselves we decided to avail ourselves of the access to the wildlife park we were entitled to after forking out 80 odd bucks.
There were lots of kangaroos and rather depressed looking birds in lots of aviaries. Then there was Alby, the koala bear. Alby's enclosure was a boardwalk and hut built around a few trees in the atrium where Alby and a couple of his mates (not sure if literal) lived. There was a large sign on the door of the enclosure saying - "DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TOUCH THE KOALA".
Weeeeellll, me being me; once we were inside I decided a bit of channeling Steve Irwin was needed. "Crikey!" I exclaimed, "Here's a dinky-di Koala bear. The Koala bear ladies and gentlemen leads a fairly sedentary life - choosing mainly to eat, sleep and shit." "Let's see if I can stir the old boy into a bit of life" I joked as I gently reached out to give Alby a nudge awake. What happened next was swift and taught me a few things.
1) Despite sitting in trees all day and eating gum leaves slowly, koala's can move VERY, VERY quickly.
2) Despite being herbivorous, koala's have BIG teeth and claws.
3) Koala's it seems have a much better ability to aim their urine stream than the average human male...
With a fresh bite and scratch from Alby and now soaked in his hot, foul smelling piss I had cause to reflect - if the sign says - "Don't poke the bear." then it's probably a good idea to follow instructions.
TL;DR: Old adages are old and adages for a good reason. Fail to heed them at your peril.
(, Tue 7 Apr 2015, 23:25, 19 replies)
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