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| carrobin |
 Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 11:49 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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whiskeypriest wrote: You know what is interesting about ghosts? It's what I call the law of spectral verticality, now available in Ebert's Little Movie Glossary as the Law of Special [sic] Verticality: Movie ghosts pass through walls, whether they want to or not, regardless of what the walls are made of. They never, however, fall through floors.
Ghosts don't fall because they have no weight. They have no real substance, which is why they can pass through walls. I don't know why anyone has a problem with that. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 11:52 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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| Though they can pick up stuff and throw it if they're poltergeists, which is kinda contradictory. Also, why aren't they naked? It's the soul that survives. Why are those hundreds/centuries old garments surviving the grave with them? |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 12:11 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| From what I've read (I've done a bit of research since my experience with a ghost), ghosts tend to have the mental set of their life crisis, and what we see (when we see anything) is the image they have of themselves, either at death or during the crisis (e.g., a widow waiting for her husband to return to the old house). Poltergeists seem to have a violent energy that isn't well understood (how can it, when scientists won't believe in them). |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 12:48 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6965
Location: Black Hills
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There is nothing so fun as watching a Deborah Kerr chat wrestle for thread supremacy with a ghost-physics chat.
I believe Ebert's Law of Special Verticality has been violated on several occasions, as I recall seeing ghosts rise up through, or sink down through, flooring and ceilings. I think there's a Charlie Sheen joke there somewhere, but I'm starting to really feel sorry for the guy. Maybe he needs to follow Soderbergh's example (who has recently said he will retire at age 50 and take up painting). |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| grace |
| Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 12:50 pm |
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Joined: 11 Nov 2005
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carrobin, stuff has happened to me as well, so if nothing else you have my moral support on this topic. I have also read that -- according to those who have witnessed apparitions - ghosts sometimes seem to hover a foot or two higher than the floor (or sometimes appear to be standing a foot or two below the floor). I believe these are usually residual hauntings, ie someone repeating something in their life, not really paying attention to anyone corporeal in the vicinity. The theory on this is that they are on a different plane, hence in the same place as us, just a little off.
barton, there's a totally non-blind item out that basically says Charlie Sheen is bipolar and goes off the meds. Which could explain a lot. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 12:51 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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carrobin wrote: whiskeypriest wrote: You know what is interesting about ghosts? It's what I call the law of spectral verticality, now available in Ebert's Little Movie Glossary as the Law of Special [sic] Verticality: Movie ghosts pass through walls, whether they want to or not, regardless of what the walls are made of. They never, however, fall through floors.
Ghosts don't fall because they have no weight. They have no real substance, which is why they can pass through walls. I don't know why anyone has a problem with that. |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 12:54 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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| Or voices? I know someone who does paranormal investigations, and she says something recently has followed her home. Several people in the house, family living with her and visitors, have heard a strange voice (distinct enough to notice, too quiet to make out the words). |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 12:58 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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If you hear footsteps, it ain't no ghost. And if you hear voices, you have other problems, not spooks. Movies that feature such phenomena are not serious about ghosts.
P.S. If I run into my ghost again, I'll see if he can challenge those theories. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 1:03 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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Quote: What about ghosts with footsteps?
I think we need to recognize something called the Geena Davis/Alec Baldwin Principle, which states that ghosts, though not composed of atoms, have some kind of physical energy that can be applied to material objects.
Grace -- maybe painting would help, then. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 1:14 pm |
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Location: Houston
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carrobin wrote: If you hear footsteps, it ain't no ghost. And if you hear voices, you have other problems, not spooks. Movies that feature such phenomena are not serious about ghosts.
P.S. If I run into my ghost again, I'll see if he can challenge those theories.
I hope you're joking. Plenty of people associate ghosts with both, and are quite serious about it. |
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You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 1:18 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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carrobin wrote: If you hear footsteps, it ain't no ghost. And if you hear voices, you have other problems, not spooks. Movies that feature such phenomena are not serious about ghosts.
P.S. If I run into my ghost again, I'll see if he can challenge those theories. |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 1:27 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| Now that I think of it, I've seen some TV ghost-hunter shows that have featured pretty believable, if very subtle, spooky voices. But I still don't think there would be footsteps. Could be wrong of course. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 2:03 pm |
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| It's sort of fun travelling in the unreal. Why are women more susceptible to this nonsense than men? Men aren't any smarter apparently. Maybe it goes back to our culture when women were at home cooking and cleaning while men were at work somewhere with lots of other men. Being at home alone cleaning and cooking etc. would tend to give a pleasant opening to fantasies. I think England is the mecca of these kind of fantasies. Ghosts, psychics, fairies, gnomes, séances, you name it. I'm talking about the western hemisphere of course. Other parts of the world have their own goofy beliefs. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 2:05 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| I've had ghostly encounters myself. But as with all ambiguous phenomenon, you can just decide there's some sort of rational explanation if you want to. |
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You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 2:06 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| Well, most of the books about ghosts are written by men. And the TV ghost hunters are men who seem quite convinced that there's Something to be found. |
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