Tuesday, October 28, 2008

New Day #306

More fun with the continually fascinating Storm Large, who took me ghostbusting.

Storm recently recorded a haunting single for (D)early Departed: True Lies in Song Unearthed from Lone Fir Cemetery in a haunted Masonic temple, an experience so creepy it sent her screaming from the room when she felt a presence brush up against her.

Of course, being Storm Large, that didn't stop her from coming back for more. So she organized a field trip led by psychic clairvoyant medium Christy Noelle.

Almost immediately, Christy got in touch with someone introducing himself as the record keeper, who told her he didn't mind that we were there, but that we should stay out of the dark corners because they weren't safe. Naturally, the first thing my friend Scott and I wanted to do was explore the dark corners, so we wandered off, discovering a room with a hidden door in the floor. We opened it to find another door, which opened onto a pit below with no stairs or ladder. At that moment, Christy urged us back from the other room. In the few minutes we were gone, the temperature had dropped significantly and the record keeper went from benign to super pissed.

"This is one fucked up place," Christy said. She couldn't get out fast enough. Afterwards, she told us she felt as if the ghost had placed a hood on her head to keep her from seeing clearly, adding "I'll never go in that building again."

This revelation led to a spirited debate as to whether the temple was a healthy atmosphere to record rock 'n roll. After all, the (D)early Departed CD is first-rate. And great art requires looking at the dark side.

Speaking of looking, here's the photo Christy took. That round spot in the upper right hand corner? That wasn't there.


I came home and took a long shower, trying to wash off the creepy feeling. But I wouldn't have missed this

That's the thing about this project. I'd written all day--pushing, pushing my brain to be funnier, wittier and more original--then spent the evening at rehearsal for HOLIDAZED. It was cold, I was tired. My instinct was to pack it in. But I knew I couldn't pass up this opportunity, which turned out to be an experience unlike any other I've had this year.

Once again, the lesson learned: if you want your life to be interesting, you must go looking for it.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've been there! That would be interesting to go with a psychic clairvoyant medium. Yay for your continual success at seeking out new and interesting experiences, I like the idea of doing one a week, most weeks next year =D

Anonymous said...

I am so jealous I can't even form words! Although that really isn't too unusual for me. But STILL. How cool!

Anonymous said...

I was alone at home when I read this, and the water that I forgot that I had put on the stove started boiling, so I thought someone was screaming and I got really freaked out. . .No more scary posts, pleasee

dpaste said...

"Let's get out of here, Scoob! Zoinks!"

Debbi said...

Very cool.

Anonymous said...

The object in the upper right hand corner is an orb. In "new age" circles this is a desirable thing to catch on film. It is your ghost or some other being floating around the room. Great post.

Anonymous said...

Aw, Marc.... You are so smart, and you know I regard you as a dear friend and brilliant writer (I am a pedestrian boob in almost every way by comparison).

But (and this is going to be provocative and contentious): Why do you let a fake shyster scare you about orbs and voices when there are so many REAL things to be scared of in the world? It's a little fun, I guess, pretending to run from evil entities that don't actually exist.

But from my perspective as the actual "record-keeper" (or record-maker) and keyholder to the Mysonic Temple, it's a bit offensive for this woman (who was she and how much does she normally get paid for this horseshit?) to come in and scare people out of my creative space?

Ok... I have vented. Sorry to all the believers out there who I may have offended. I am a hardcore skeptic.

Here's the rub: My main beef stems from the fact that there is an actual movement going on to do something with that space; Sam Adams and his staff were willing to sit down with Mike McMenamin and I to discuss a public/private partnership that would repurpose the building into a community music center, the MYSONIC TEMPLE.

Storm assures me (she is not a skeptic) that we can BEAT THE EVIL OUT OF THE PLACE, by bringing our voices together.

So let one cowardly psychic run screaming (I really hope to meet her and reconcile this; it's been reported that she advocated razing the building - this would be an environmental, historic, and community travesty!). But I KNOW that when I'm in there making music every day, there are no "evil spirits" or uneasy ghostly entities to contend with.

If you're reading this, keep in mind that we can overcome this evil (if you believe it exists) with good. Don't be scared, use your powers (your brains) to beat it back.

Jim Brunberg
jim@mississippistudios.com

therese patrick, author said...

Cool - creepy - post.
But I would like to add that both Storm and Jim are correct regarding music being good for this place. Music has an energetic resonance that has been known to - soothe the savage beast - whatever that may be. In this case, an old building with maybe some stuck energy that keeps it "creepy". Tearing it down would be a travesty but reconstructing it may not be easy.

Yes, that is an orb in the photo and is an energetic form. Orbs are called many things, depending on who tries to define them. For some reason they show up better in older camera technologies and not as much with the digital ones.

Christy's reaction may simply be that the psychic energy was too different for her, like she's usually worked with bananas and this time bit into a stalk of horseradish.

Now I do love a good skeptic rant about how silly it is to consider intangible energy. Skeptics are missing a whole lot of fun!

Anonymous said...

i have the pleasure of working in the temple from time to time. tonight while the band i was recording was on break, the drummer snapped a few pictures and got some orbs of his own. maybe the building is haunted, and i admit i get a little creeped out there from time to time, but i'll fully support the view that whatever good energy you can bring to the place definitely washes out the spookiness.
and jim, you're right that there are much more prudent worries that one can carry around in one's head. my father always told me that i shouldn't be afraid of the dead people, that the living ones were the ones with the ability to really hurt me.
marc, if you'd like i'll send you the pictures of the orbs.
jonathan

Anonymous said...

If anyone here wants to ask me directly any questions about this night at the Masonic Temple, you can contact me via email here christynoellepsychic@gmail.com

As far as some of the opinions expressed here about me and and my integrity, this is what I have to say:

I'm not a fake, nor am I cowardly, unused to haunted places, or a fraud, or money hungry or an advocate for tearing down historical buildings.
I AM obviously an easy target, too trusting of people that I don't know, and a friend of Storm's. I went to investigate this building at her request.
I hope that this historical building can be refurbished into something beautiful and safe.
Peace.
Christy Noelle

Anonymous said...

Jim Brunberg here (the skeptical jerk from above): I just wanted to thank the extremely classy Christy Noelle, who reached out to me (in a corrective sense) and with whom I now want to have tea (if she's willing). And I truly apologize if my post seemed mean or personal - it was intended to be a skeptical rant. Well, it WAS mean, I guess...I was trying to combine entertainment and skeptical philosophy. Oops....

Anonymous said...

That's okay! Let's have tea.
: )