Sea Monsters of the Lake… Not Just for Oceans Anymore.

There are many stories of monsters that roam the seven seas as told by the sailors who venture out in those waters. The tales of mega sharks, giant squid, mermaids and even temptress sirens of the sea that date all the way back to Homer’s Iliad and the Odyssey. The sea is a vast amount of water and is not easily explored both on the surface and most especially below. Most of the world’s oceans have yet to be explored and identified and that’s just the surface if we go below then there might just in fact be those sea monsters of legend and lore. Now that makes total and complete sense for the oceans of the world, but what about lakes?

It seas that lakes go through the same amount of legend and lore in relation to sea monsters as the oceans do. Through out the world there are reports of many lake monsters. Some of these lake monsters are more famous than others, but they still all come down to the same thing, monsters in a lake.

Some of the most commonly known lake monsters are tow in particular one being the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland and then Champ located in Lake Champlain near New York. Loch Ness is truly the granddaddy of all lake monsters and thrives in tourism just from its legendary status. Now there have been expeditions of the lake to try and hunt down the elusive creature. If you look at all the experiments that have taken place to find the Loch Ness Monsters I think you would have to agree that the chances of us finding something in there is slim to none. Well through all the experiments they have found nothing, and people to this day are still spotting the great lake monster. Could all these people be lying or could their eyes be playing tricks on them? In a world where everyone wants that 15 minutes of fame I would venture to guess that a fair bit of them are lying and the rest have seen something that looked odd, but can easily be explained.

A lesser known lake monster is that located in Pennsylvania and is billed as PAs own loch ness monster. The lake is located in Raystown Pennsylvania and in the Raystown lake is said to exist a lake monster. Now being from PA I am particularly drawn to this because there haven’t been all that many sightings and they are all fairly recent. Now being the scuba diver that I am would love to venture into the lake and take a look for myself, but I highly doubt I would find anything.

The exploration of lake and the eco system that live within them should be a fairly easy task to accomplish. So long as there are no rivers or underwater lines to other bodies of water there should be no reason why we couldn’t drop a side-scan sonar, comb the lake and find these supposed monsters? One reason is because nobody wants to waste the time, effort and money on such an expedition because it is chasing a legend that doesn’t exist. Are there things living in lakes that people don’t know about? Sure there are and we find things everyday but if we can find the smallest of items in a lake then why wouldn’t we be able to find a giant lake monster? Do you think the lake monster is smarter than us and messing with us? If you do then I feel bad for you, there are no such things as lake monsters as for sea monsters I would be willing to believe that much more easily.

Be safe and don’t feed the lake monsters,

Jon Bolton @JohnCannonTBS

The Labyrinth…was it bull(aka Minotaur)???

When you were a young child did you ever take graph paper and create your own maze on it??? Did you enjoy doing the mazes found in random children’s magazines??? Have you ever spent a good amount of time getting lost in a corn maze around the fall season of Halloween??? I know I am guilty of all three of these things. I remember doing the mazes and having to erase the pencil lines I drew because I ran into a wall and then had to retrace my path till I found the correct route through…because somehow it mattered if I erased the incorrect lines, but I know I wasn’t the only one guilty of this. So we are all aware of mazes and in fact most video games are just a giant maze in which you have to make it through without getting killed by whatever evil presence there is. Again, we are very familiar with what a maze is and we have all had some sort of a run in with them. Oh and apparently there is a dispute as to what the difference between a maze and a labyrinth, but we will call it a maze because my spell check hates when I try and spell labyrinth.

Now picture being in a maze, a real life maze, made of stone that stretched for as far as the eye could see, in fact you were put in this maze to prove your innocence or courage. Ok no big deal, I mean what could be so bad about it. Other than the maze being made of concrete and not corn and being very long so you could possibly get hungry or thirsty during the event what else and how bad could it be. Well how about if there was a monster in the maze that was half man and have bull called a Minotaur and its only goal was to kill you and eat you…yeah now sort of sounds something like its out of the Running Man.

This myth of a labyrinth and Minotaur is from Greek and Roman mythology. Mythology is full of fanciful tales to help explain the unexplainable and to show the trials and tribulations of common man in regards to the Gods above. This maze of death was commissioned by the King of Minos and it held his Minotaur which ultimately within mythology was killed by a man named Theseus.

So there is your quick cliff note version of the labyrinth, now what if I were to tell you that this may not be a myth after all??? What if I were to tell you that this great large labyrinth was in fact a real and genuine place??? There have been four ancient labyrinths discovered located in Cretan, Egypt, Lemnian and Italy. The labyrinth in question that was said to hold the minotaur was the Cretan labyrinth. Now we know for a fact that this labyrinth existed, we know for a fact that King Minos had it constructed..so now what about the Minotaur???

Well the story is that King Minos pissed off the God of the Sea Neptune, yeah never do that, so Neptune then had the king’s wife sleep with a savage bull which in turn she then bore the Miotaur…way to go beastiality. So the labyrinth was created to house the half man half bull and thus is the story. So is there any truth to a half man half bull creature running around a psychotic concrete maze eating people and was the result of a pissed off God??? If you seriously asked yourself that question then slam your head into the wall. Of course there is no such thing to have ever existed. Hell you might as well say that there was a Bigfoot running around the maze…damn now cryptozoologists are going to be claiming that now, Im sure I’ll be seeing that on Searching for Bigfoot soon. You see the reason for the bull theory was that there were a number of artifacts found with bulls paint on them and one of the famous ones of a man jumping over a bull…try and pull that one off you rodeo clowns. Now I enjoy watching pro bull riding and I couldn’t imagine a thinking pissed of savage bull coming at me, try and ride that one for 8 seconds you cowboys.

This story as fanciful as it is, is just that…it is a story. Would I love to see evidence of a half man half bull that ran around killing people n some giant labyrinth…you’re damn right I would, but unfortunately it never existed. It all stems to people creating stories t scare one another and I would definitely consider this to be one of the original “campfire horror stories” that people would tell.

 

Be safe and if you mess with the bull you’ll get the horns,

John Cannon

Follow me @JohnCannonTBS for up to date writings and ramblings

Psychic Surgery…as quack as quack can be

Medical doctors go through years of training, years of studying, years of tests and trials in order to be called a doctor…they also have giant bills from their schooling to pay back. Now this is just to be considered a medical doctor and this doesn’t count the extended number of years in which these men and women study to be experts in their profession of expertise as well. These people train very hard and very diligently, especially those who ultimately become a type of surgeon within their field. They must practice on cadavers and mannequins, they must know the proper technique in which to surgically and precisely cut into a patient while holding the scalpel carefully and accurately so in order not to do more damage then they intended to do while making the incision.

Once these trained people have made the incision they begin to precisely and accurately explore through the human body looking for the item they are looking for. They could be looking for a tumor, a ruptured appendix, a hernia…any part of the internal human body that is not working as the way it should and that only surgery and the removal or fixing could help the patient survive and live another day. Surgery should only be performed by those people who are trained…those people who know the human body…those people who know what they are looking for…those people who know how to fix and cure what they are looking for within the human body.

With having said all that and talking the importance of surgery and the skill and craft and training in which doctors, both men and women, must go through I now want you to look at psychic surgery.

Psychic surgery has been around for many years and its first documented occurrence being that of the mid 1900’s. It was said to have become evident of the spiritual community within the Philippines and Brazil and then it began to creep across the world.

The basis of psychic surgery is for the person or “patient” to have a strong spiritual faith in what the so  called doctor was doing and to have faith and believe the “doctors” hands were being led by God to search out and remove or fix the afflicted area within the human body. The basic principal is that the patient lays on a table in the room and the “doctor” preps by washing the area with iodine and washing his hands like that of a normal surgery prep…now this is where it stops being anything legitimate, well that and the fact that the room in which they are conducting this quack science is not sterile in any capacity. Now the “doctor” places his hands on the patient and presses down only to have blood and the disappearance of the doctors hands supposedly into their body. The hands then reemerge with bits of tissue or organ covered in blood. The “doctor” then rubs the area with water and the area is clean and clear of any incision or damage from the “doctors” hands. See to good to be true that the “doctor” simply puts his hands into the body of a person and pulls the bad parts out…well then you would be correct because this is total and complete 100% bullshit.

Psychic surgery is nothing more than a cheap magic trick of sleight-of-hand conjured up to prey on those people of weak mind to believe such crap. Now I don’t really blame the people who goes to these quacks, they are looking for cures, they have a disease and their back is against the wall…they are scared and don’t know where else to turn except to faith…and there is nothing wrong with that. What I do have a problem with is the people spewing such false prophesies of healing and surgery. In fact Andy Kauffman fell victim to this and ultimately died because of his belief in a quack psychic surgeon who claimed to have removed the cancer from his body. The Amazing Randi has discredited these people time and time again along with other magicians and those people who wish to protect the innocent. These psychic surgery quacks need to be shut down and put out of business as well as face some sort of criminal mischief charge while being fined so bad they can barely rub two nickels together.

Am I to harsh in my opinion and statement??? I doubt it… if you saw innocent people being taken of their money and ultimately dying because of these quacks I think you would feel the same.

So don’t believe these people, seek true medical help for your illnesses. Now I am a huge fan of holistic medicine and natural healing, but when it comes to something serious please consult a doctor.

Be safe and don’t give into quacks,

John Cannon

Follow me @JohnCannonTBS for more randomness

Beneath Loch Ness…a story of a loch and a monster

The story of the Loch Ness Monster is one I am sure we have all heard about at some point in our lives unless you were just born or have lived under a rock for your life which then I will write a blog about you because to live under a rock your entire life is pretty damn interesting. So there have been numerous stories in print and a number of documentaries produced about the lake and the monster that supposedly dwells in its dark murky waters. The legend has been around for many many years and even the infamous photo taken that really sparked the interest was proven to be a forgery as admitted to on a death bed admission.

In all of this there really hasn’t been a movie let alone a horror movie made about the infamous monster of the loch…surprising the Syfy hasn’t done one considering they have done movies about stuff that have no basis of reality aka octo-shark. Seriously Im surprised they haven’t done one and put a bunch of former 80’s stars in it like the entire cats of Saved By The Bell…now that would be funny to see Screech eaten by the loch ness monster. Considering they made one where Alice Cooper gets smashed by Bigfoot its not a farfetched idea.

So I stumbled upon the movie called Beneath Loch Ness about a research team and they happen to discuss the existence of the monster Nessie. And this may be off topic but since the Loch is located in Scotland why is it every single accent sounds like its Irish and not Scottish…oh well. Now a series of events have been occurring in the town that surrounds the Loch and a TV channel is coming to do a documentary about the lake as well….oh and the towns people hate the research scientists who are seeking out the legendary creature and want them to leave.

So as the movie continues on its merry way we discover that the Loch Ness Monster is in fact spawning and the loch is a pre-historic spawning ground. And of course they try to alert the authorities to close the loch however its tourist season and wont close the loch…hmmmm Jaws plot line anyone??? So its not a matter of time for the researchers to find Nessie and do whatever it is to prove to the people the legend is real. So eventually a scientist gets stuck in the breading cave of Nessie and well Ill let you watch the rest to finish the end of this story.

The movie wasn’t all that bad and the special effects were pretty good as well. If I had to give this a rating I would give it a 3 out of 5 star rating just because it was a good watch and didn’t have to think too much about it. So check it out on Netflix and relax and enjoy the legend hunting movie watching experience.

Be safe and some legends are real,

John Cannon

Follow me on twitter @JohnCannonTBS

Edgar Cayce…not quite a quack, but looks and sounds like a duck.

In the world of psychics and mediums there are those who have the gift to see and communicate with the unseen, they have the ability to truly help those in need of advise, reasoning And understanding fo what is going on in their life and to communicate with those who have passed on. These people seek nothing, but the ability and chance to help those people without any monetary gain or fame. Now of course there are those who turn out to be charlatans, those are people who care about themselves and want to be something bigger than they are whether or not they have a true gift or not. Now these types of fake people have been around since biblical times and in fact the great Harry Houdini spent the end of his career debunking such people and the amazing Randi and Penn & Teller have spent countless hours going after these people as well. In fact the amazing Randi has offered one million dollars to that person who can prove without the shadow of a doubt in a controlled environment their ability to communicate or produce great miracles…to date nobody has collected this reward and you would think people like Sylvia Brown and others would be willing to get this money to help the less fortunate or heck even prove their true fame they so think they deserve.

Now I would like to talk about one person in the past that may or not be a quack, this man believed he was a true psychic and could heal those with incurable illnesses and speak to past on loved ones. This man was named Edgar Cayce and he was definitely one of those people who were and are considered to be one of the king of the quacks or one of the originators…the true king of quacks would be John Edward, come on Edwards please read this and say something. Anyways, Mr. Edgar Cayce has some connection to my family which is how I found about him originally and researched him. Apparently my great grandmother was very heavily into the odd, strange, paranormal and mysteries of the world, yeah I never had a chance to avoid this one, and believe this man to be able to help one of my family members. Now I learned of this story at a family dinner and I had then learned that both sets of grandparents at different times had gone down to see him years ago. Now I really had to find out about this guy and thus why I am here today discussing him.

Mr. Cayce founded  a cult, I mean “association”, called the Association for Research and the Enlightenment located in a number of states, but finally settling in Virginia, which is where my family members had met with him. It was also said he gave some sort of a reading about the lost continent Atlantis and its people and where we were able to locate this forgotten world of wonder from so many years ago…yeah and nobody went to look for it, wonder why they didn’t believe him…I have my ideas, maybe because he was a quack??? Oh wait, he also said the United States would discover the Death Ray that had been used to destroy Atlantis in 1958…maybe they have it stored with the Ark of the Covenant in the Indiana Jones films, wow talk about a discovery.

He was said to be able o help cure those with diseases that were deemed incurable. It was said with his concoctions and remedies that he could make diseases that baffled doctors become a disease of the past…sounds a bit like psychic surgery to me, which we will cover later in another writing of quackery medicine. Yet there was no documented evidence that he really did any of these feats of great miracles and wonderment. There was no evidence that his premonitions ever came true, There was no evidence that he had great powers to heal, talk to the dead, predict the future or hell even tie his shoes. You would think a man with such great supposed abilities would have been able to produce such evidence in order to appeal to the masses that doubted his abilities. I would have loved for Houdini to take him on I would have loved for Randi, or Penn & Teller to take him on and shut him down. He had numerous people convinced of his abilities and to give him money because of their belief in him, just like Benny Hinn.

He swindled these people and had them believe in his false preaching’s and teaching’s and preyed on the weak minded and innocent. These people are the type that need to be shut down and put out of business and exposed as the fakes they are. Now some people may think I am being a bit harsh, but let me explain this to you, I have a family tie to his quackery and his false hope and preachings and teachings. The family member my great grandmother brought to meet with him and heal, was in fact never healed, they never got any better and unfortunately my great grandmother got disheartened and lost some faith. So yeah, am I a bit one sided in this…sure, but prove that this guy wasn’t a quack, if you do I will retract everything I have written with a full apology.

So please be aware of those people who claim to be psychics and have paranormal abilities. Learn and research and go with your gut.

Be safe and don’t buy the bridge they have for sale,

John Cannon

Follow me on twitter: @JohnCannonTBS

Jolly Green Giant…Neither Green Nor Jolly, Discuss.

Height is an aspect of genetics and the way some people are identified in this world. Height is such a determining factor when it comes to aspects of life such as tall people play basketball and in a police line up your asked how tall they were. We see so many people who are tall in our daily lives that it doesn’t affect us all that much. Yet when we see someone who we would consider to be a giant, usually they are people who are almost eight feet or taller, we tend to stand and look in awe.

 

There are those people out there who grow to such heights that even the tallest of basketball players seem to be short. The occurrence of such genetic anomalies is rare and because of that they are very well recorded. Yet there was a time in history when it was reported that there were a great tribe of giants nine foot plus that roamed the land. The land in particular was in the European area and not really North America.

There have been stories of these giants for years and in fact as far back as biblical times. Just look at the story of David and Goliath when David slayed the mighty giant Goliath with a simple slingshot and a well placed rock.

Giants have always had a place in history not only from the bible, but also in mythology such as with the Cyclops and even the Gods themselves were giants, and we cannot forget about atlas who carried the world on his shoulders. The fascination with them is a bit mysterious or it could be the sideshow aspect that we like to stare at something we do not understand.

In fact the fascination with giants is such a draw and profitable draw that PT Barnum had a giant skeleton fashioned in order to claim its authenticity. His giant, over ten foot tall, was fashioned after the Cardiff giant, which too was a great hoax in and of itself. People from all over the world would come to stare at the preserved bones of this giant man who once walked the earth.

Now scientists are still debating whether or not there was a tribe of giant people standing over ten feet tall yet every now and then giant human bones to make their way to the surface. Is there clear cut evidence that this tribe of giants existed or could it be they to only had a few anomalies like we do today and we just happen to get lucky when finding the bones?

In either case it is left up to you for debate as you can draw your own conclusion whether or not these giants were and are real. I would like to think that there was a tribe of giants many years ago because it just further makes the history of the world that much more unique. How and why were they that tall? Were they stronger and smarter? Who knows for sure, but it is something to ponder.

Be safe and remember not all giants are gentle,

Jon Bolton

Follow me on twitter @JohnCannonTBS

 

The Fountain of Youth… Botox is Not the Answer

The Fountain of Youth, the elixir of life and the bringer of immortality is the conquest and of so many people from the past to the present and I’m sure the future as well. Some many people have tried to stay or become youthful by means of botox, liposuction and diet to the point of starvation. They conduct botox parties that helps to remove wrinkles and there are some laser methods to help in the reduction of fat. Almost everyone seems to want to be eternally youthful, well ho doesn’t? You hurt less, move faster and in some cases look better. Yet there are those people who have trekked across the globe in search of the fabled Fountain of Youth.

The fountain of youth is said to be just as it states, a fountain with water pouring from the ground that grants eternal youth and immortality. Those two traits alone have caused many explorers to waste vast amounts of time, money and energy upon the conquest to find such a spring of life.

The fountain of youth is most notably connected with the great explorer Ponce de Leon, who happened to be the first governor of Puerto Rico. The story goes that Ponce de Leon was searching for the elusive fountain of youth in 1513 and believed its location to be in Florida. To this very day there are people who conduct exploration of Florida I hopes of finding such a spring emitting life water. The origin of the story itself is not exactly known, but it is closely associated with the tribes of people located within the Caribbean at the time, whish is where Pone de Leon is said to have heard the legend.

Why is Florida the location for the legend of the fountain of youth? Well this is where Ponce de Leon first landed when exploring the Americas. How the legend of the fountain of youth became associated with Ponce de Leon is a mystery though. There are no records of him actually taking an expedition to find the spring of life in any of his writings. The only thing that could be loosely tied to the story I that it was said Pone de Leon was looking for the healing waters of Bimini in order to cure his impotence, well if that’s not a good reason to find the fountain of life I don’t know what is. So when Ponce de Leon landed in Florida it must have been because he though the healing life water was in fact there and not in Bimini, it’s a stretch I know.

Bimini is said to b the real location of the healing waters of life yet there still is no exact location and no one to this day has found said waters. Of course if you found it would you want the world to know about it? The fountain of youth in my eyes is simply a story/legend because of people’s own fixation with wanting to be eternally youthful and never wanting to face ones own mortality. These are people who don’t want to experience life to its fullest, but rather hold on to the past and glory days of their youth. Just remember you can never go back so make the most of it now.

Be safe and explore life not legends,

Jon Bolton