| Author | Message | ||
     Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Still waiting for one to happen... | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
What a coincidence...so am I. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
That's one! Now let's see if Jung and these Buddhists were onto something...  | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.228.92 |
My money's on Stephen Hawking. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.56 |
I was just about to say that...! | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
And I was just about to hawk some old Richard Corben comics on eBay!! We're up and running folks...  | ||
| Alexicon (Alexicon) Username: Alexicon Registered: 10-2009 Posted From: 88.106.70.151 |
Wow,weird...I had a post from Stephen Walsh today | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Hey, that's me... I'm getting a bit spooked out here fellas! | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.56 |
I was just thinking how much fun breathing was when suddenly I realised there was 21% oxygen in the air around me! What are the chances of that? | ||
| Alexicon (Alexicon) Username: Alexicon Registered: 10-2009 Posted From: 88.106.70.151 |
Nah,can't be the same guy,surely? The one that sent the post to Hubert? Well,stap me! | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.228.92 |
Funny you should mention Corben . . . I've been feeling quite a bit like Den of late. Especially in front of ladies who look like Muuta. | ||
| Alexicon (Alexicon) Username: Alexicon Registered: 10-2009 Posted From: 88.106.70.151 |
Can't stay; the cat's just brought in my supper. That's a coincidence in itself,cos I was looking out of the window earlier,saw this juicy rodent,thought,'If only...'. What happens? The cat brings the little chubber in for me. Coming up then: heaven on a plate. Meanwhile,chaps - fly with Hubert. } | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.16.77.60 |
What if you have to toss a pebble in the pond first, so to speak? You know, to cause ripples? Perhaps something should be suggested, that ignites coincidences? Just an idea to help. Since we don't know anyway what "causes" coincidences.... | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Well it actually is the Fantagor 'Den' series from the 80s I'm selling - as well as 'Children Of Fire' and 'Rip In Time'. In fact I just sold four of the Dens already to a bloke lives in Gillingham. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.23.233.247 |
Once, on my way to this counselling thing I used to go to, I looked out of a bus window and thought quite deeply 'wouldn't it be strange to see my own dead body lying in the road.' I thought it would make a great story, a strange idea. When I got to the counselling the woman counselling me told me this story about a man who had become depressed on seeing an accident in the road, seeing his own dead body in the wreckage (or 'thinking he had', she said) This was a biggie, and there was no reason for it to arise. I never prompted the story either. I was utterly shocked and never mentioned it to the woman because it would have undermined what we were talking about, looked like I was taking the piss. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
You experienced one of the everyday flashes of precognition I was talking about on the ouija thread. That wasn't a coincidence in my book but a very real psychic experience which points to time being non-linear and our brains under unknown circumstances being able to see what is perceived as "forwards" by us. I have similar experiences all the time Tony and I'm convinced everyone does but the vast majority dismiss them as irrelevant (possibly out of fear). | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.150.116 |
I think coincidence is there to remind us we aren't alone; like those angels putting their hands on people's shoulders in Wings of Desire. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.0.63 |
Okay, Devil's Advocate again.... I buy a lottery ticket. I win. Why is THAT not a coincidence?... "Gosh! I done picked out these 6 numbers - and they came up on that there TV screen over there!" The odds of it happening are right there on the back of the ticket after all - 1:1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 and so on. If anything qualified as "weird," or as "What are the chances of that?!" - it's winning the lottery. So aren't all lottery winners the experiencers of the Universe's Greatest Coincidences?... | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.150.116 |
Because somebody has to win it? | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.0.63 |
No, Tony, they don't - often, weeks go by here in the U.S., where in larger lotteries (with greater odds against winning), no one's won at all. But your statement points to the "odds" phenomena - given enough number-purchasing, eventually it will become a case of where someone HAS to win. Given enough number combinations, too, odds go up. Given enough situations in life - coincidences are simply GOING to happen?... and even seemingly amazing and deeply mystical and spiritually meaningful and harrowing ones at that?... ... the Devil queries. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.150.116 |
In theory they do, I suppose... You know what would be odd, and make for a great story? A man surrounded by people continually having coincidences while he does not. And then -dot, dot, dot... | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Gambling of any sort is an active (if unconscious) attempt to create coincidences. Explains why all gamblers are so superstitious, all bookies are so rich and why the vast majority of bets lose. Now if all of you would kindly back Ireland to beat France on Sat night I'd most appreciate it! | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.163.2.144 |
How's this for a coincidence. I don't really recall running into celebrities, but for some reason I have run into George Michael three times, in three different cities, approximatly seven years apart. Now that's a weird coincicence. I don't hope it means anythig...If it happens one more time, in three years time, I'm going to start thinking it means something, and then I'll be really worried. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.228.92 |
Maybe he's after you. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Any of you read Dostoevsky's novella 'The Gambler'? The best book ever written on the subject and one of the most mystical. The film version 'The Great Sinner' (1949) with Gregory Peck is brilliant too - one of his finest performances. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Karim, just as long as it wasn't in the Gents toilets! | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Let's see... what have we got: C.G. Jung, Buddhism, Stephen Hawking, Richard Corben, Den & Muuta, Gillingham, dead bodies in the road, 'Wings Of Desire', the lottery, George Michael, Dostoevsky, 'The Gambler', 'The Great Sinner', Gregory Peck. Anyone make anything of that? Or have we created a coincidence vacuum?!  | ||
| Alexicon (Alexicon) Username: Alexicon Registered: 10-2009 Posted From: 88.106.106.80 |
 | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I'm gonna roll with the idea of a coincidence vacuum. If we actively concentrate on trying to create coincidences then they appear to shy away from us which could, in itself, be seen as a coincidence. It's like the gambler's losing streak. But then if one genuine (i.e. non-manufactured) coincidence manages to sneak through then we're on a roll (for a while) which could be seen as a purple patch. Or am I just talking balls?!?! | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.56 |
I was just about to say that! | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
So are there no such things as coincidences and if so what does that imply? I predict Ireland will draw 0-0 with France tomorrow in Dublin. | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
>>I predict Ireland will draw 0-0 with France tomorrow in Dublin.<< I wish that could be true - but I'm afraid I reckon France will win 2-0. Mind you, France aren't the force they used to be, and Ireland can still be plucky little fighters when they want to.  | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.47.117.174 |
Ah - you have just reminded me. I have to buy Wings of Desire on DVD. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.16.84.152 |
The first coincidence!!!! I mentioned on another thread I was watching last night the 1984 (filmed in 1982 and shelved for two years) film SLAPSTICK (OF ANOTHER KIND), based on the Kurt Vonnegut novel - a truly monumentally bizarre and entertainingly-terrible film. Anyway, one of the supporting stars is Samuel Fuller, the director - and I was fascinated, and kept thinking about him in this (he has a funny role, actually), and looked up his films.... So, this morning, listening to the local NPR-affiliated film review program, they had a whole segment devoted to - wait for it - Samuel Fuller! I guess he has a boxed set of DVDs that have just come out, and they were waxing on about them.... Now, what does it all mean? Nada, far as I can tell. Okay, that's 1 so far. Anyone else? | ||
| Seanmcd (Seanmcd) Username: Seanmcd Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 86.155.111.216 |
Here I am on the Ramsey Campbell forum and I've just remembered my Granny came from Liverpool! I stayed at my aunt's there many times during the seventies as a kid. Maybe, maybe..nah! lol. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.132.174.117 |
The night before last I either lay awaking thinking there was a ghost in the house or dreamt it. I was so frightened, then remembered I'd ordered that ouija board. I deigned never to use it. Next morning it arrived. Later I go to see 2012 (fantastic, warm and amazing fun) and John Cusack has a little talk about coincidences and sort of looks to camera. Later I buy a book on NDEs and open it at random; the very first line I read is 'Was it a coincidence?' BTW last night I had another nightmare (if I indeed have one the night before); it was about a cloth doll that came to life, kept changing position whenever I looked at it - either no one else saw this or they put it down to my having imagined it. Also, one night last week I had another terrible feeling there was someone walking round the house - big heavy footsteps echoing on concrete. It was awful. I was convinced someone was there. Thought I heard voices last night, too, surrounding that bad dream; again, awful. These moments sound stupid to me, too, so don't be afraid to knock them. I had a moment of wonder yesterday though. What if we were living in one moment, and coincidence were unavoidable? (I can't stress how great 2012 was btw; I've not enjoyed a film so much as this all this year. Emmerich's best film by far (and I know that might be faint praise), and frig the critics.) | ||
| Alexicon (Alexicon) Username: Alexicon Registered: 10-2009 Posted From: 88.106.79.116 |
Tony,without in any way wishing to be unkind or facetious,is it some kind of medication causing these nightmares? If not,what's going on? Did you just 'feel' someone was in the house,or did you actually hear the footsteps? If the latter,why did you not investigate the noise and confront the thing? Surely,hand-to-hand with an axe-wielding intruder is preferable to lying there waiting to be attacked... On a lighter note: the other day I heard that Santa's helpers are actually subordinate clauses. | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 212.121.214.11 |
Sean- my maternal Gran's also from Liverpool! Born in the army barracks on Tramway Road, I believe, back in 1910... | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
>>Tony,without in any way wishing to be unkind or facetious,is it some kind of medication causing these nightmares?<< I wondered that too, Tony - same as Alex said. I'm on meds at the moment which cause me all kinds of horrible nightmares. But I'm expecting them because of the meds so I can deal with them (mostly). Actually, wouldn't it be a coincidence if we were both on meds which cause nightmares? | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.228.92 |
Actually, wouldn't it be a coincidence if we were both on meds which cause nightmares? Which cause the same nightmares. | ||
| Seanmcd (Seanmcd) Username: Seanmcd Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 86.155.111.216 |
Simon, just out of pure interest, i must find out where in Liverpool my Granny was born and when. Also,on the subject of bad dreams, anyone ever have an episode of 'sleep paralysis'? I've had 2 that i can recall and they were the most terrifying experiences. In the first (aged 18) I awoke suddenly in the middle of the night and was 100% sure that the ghost of my granny was by the bed. Only I couldn't turn my head to look. I couldn't move at all! Even though I was completely lucid. There was an overpowering sense of presence in the room. The only part of my body I seemed to have any control over were my eyes. I could look anywhere in the room but over my shoulder or behind me as I appeared to be completely paralysed! I was so convinced of someone else in the room and that they were doing this that I began thinking over and over like a mantra 'please granny, I'm too frightened, just leave.' This experience terrified me. This happened again a few years ago aged 41. The paralysis was back and so was the sense of presence. However, in the years between I had read all about the phenomenon of Sleep Paralysis and how sufferers have all experienced this undeniable sense of someone else in the room.I was able to tell this to my paralysed ass second time around to ward off the panic. Scary stuff. | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
>>Actually, wouldn't it be a coincidence if we were both on meds which cause nightmares? Which cause the SAME nightmares.<< It certainly would! Actually, there must be a story there ... Sean - that sleep paralysis sounds terrifying. I've never had that - thank goodness! But I think you're right that if you've read about it and understand these things (like me expecting my nightmares and weird hallucinations as I drop off to sleep because I know what the meds do to my brain), then it's much less scary. You can explain to yourself that it's only random brain patterns and your mind's attempts to make sense of those patterns. And now I've just realised - there IS a story about meds causing people to have the same nightmares (or similar to that anyway). It's Stephen Gallagher's "Oktober". | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.162.43.93 |
Sean, I've also experienced something similar, ie seemingly being awake but not being able to move, eyes open, though not with the sense of someone else being there in the room. I've experienced this maybe a dozen times, stretched over a period of twenty years. It is certainly very strange. In the later episodes, maybe the last five, I will usually be able to shake the paralysis, and shudder fully awake... Actually coming to think of it, I may have experienced the feeling of there being some presence in the room during an episode- but only one time, and in a particular location out in the Danish countryside- and it is a very disconcerting feeling indeed. | ||
| Seanmcd (Seanmcd) Username: Seanmcd Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 86.155.111.216 |
There's coincidence in here somewhere. I found the below text on a website regarding Sleep Paralysis. It would seem this natural phenomena could be responsible for all our tales of ghosts and vampires,etc. Sleep paralysis occurs in 30% of the general population. In it you wake up in bed, feel paralyzed, and tend to sense a terrifying presence in your room. Sometimes you see something; sometimes you hear noises or even feel electrical shocks throughout your body. I have personally seen a small humanoid during one occasion of sleep paralysis; during another, more recent one, I saw what looked like a dog in my room. Others see ghosts, vampires—whatever they have in their minds or are particularly afraid of. Deceased relatives and loved ones are particularly good candidates for showing up during bouts of sleep paralysis. But what’s really happening here, according to Harvard psychologists Richard McNally and Susan Clancy, is nothing out of the ordinary. Rather, REM sleep—the phase of sleep in which most dreaming occurs—is simply malfunctioning. In a phone conversation McNally even likened the situation to getting a case of the hiccups. Our bodies are paralyzed while we undergo REM sleep, and for good reason (lest we act out our dreams and injure ourselves). But in some small number of cases we can actually start to wake up before paralysis wears off, and yet still remain in a dreaming state. What results is hallucination, often of some extremely scary stuff. It appears that humans have always experienced sleep paralysis and sought to explain it, resulting in well known stories of incubi and succubi—demons thought to sexually attack people in their sleep—as well as related tales from other eras and cultures. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.230.168 |
Is this a coincidence?... I just got the brand new New Yorker (11.16.09) in the mail today - they have a long (10 page) spread: NIGHTMARE SCENARIO: Can we learn to rewrite our bad dreams? sub-caption: One researcher thinks that, for some sufferers, nightmares are a "learned behavior." He says, "Dreams naturally want to change. People who have nightmares often don't recognize that." Talk here about dreams... and all of a sudden this prestigious magazine's article about nightmares?... creepy....  | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.152.219.122 |
Tony, I saw 2012 today too and thought it was a perfect version of what it wanted to be. A complete success in its own terms. Unlike Michael Bay, Emmerich knows how to compose a frame and only cut or move the camera when necessary. It's the first time in a decade or two that I've been wowed by special effects. | ||
| Alexicon (Alexicon) Username: Alexicon Registered: 10-2009 Posted From: 88.106.78.9 |
The 'presence in the room' is usually associated with a grief condition. Many people see or feel a recently-deceased loved one's (it could be a pet} presence, and, from the way they report it,the paralysis is self imposed - in the sense that they dare not move for fear of losing the precious presence. Apparently,it's a phenomenon that fades quite quickly. I don't know Sean's circumstances;it may well be that he lost his granny around the time of his first 'paralysis'. But the terror aspect is puzzling: if he thought the world of her when she was alive,why would he be frightened by her presence afterwards? Isn't it possible to just roll with it - make the most of the experience until if dissolves naturally? Likewise,Karim - although in your case it seems as if you didn't actually feel terror,and it's not associated with loss of someone close. You've experienced this many times,which nominates you as an old hand at it,so to speak. The next time it happens,instead of trying to struggle out of it,why not attempt to go deeper - dredge up something good from your subconscious and see where it takes you? This kind of thing is compelling, and could really do with a thread of its own. I have a fascinating stroke story to tell concerning afriend of mine and how he was convinced that I was the only person who could understand what he was saying because I was talking back to him in his own 'language'. Apart from slight walking impairment,he's now fully recovered,but he still remembers the strange thing that was going on with the mangled language we were using. We think of the premise behind 'Flatliners' - the young medics deliberately dying for a few minutes to see what was beyond.IMO the film failed because the post-death sequences were too mundane.But the concept? Great. Cast your minds back to the Swiss chemist (Hoffmann,I believe) who developed lysergic acid diethylamide in the early fifties. Psychiatrists hailed it as a wonder drug; soon they were taking LSD themselves,endeavouring to communicate with,and perhaps understand,their seriously disturbed patients. Ultimately,the experiments failed,but all power to them for trying to break through the cognition barriers. To me,such things are important. So,new thread,folks? Or should we simply leave it alone? | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.149.75 |
Proto - that's brilliant! I hoped you'd get it. I wasn't sure about the humour at first but then the situation was so damned nightmarish it needed it. It was almost hallucinogenic. And I don't know about you but I cared for those characters...it was telling when we felt sad for that pilot; he was so lightly sketched, but there was our dismay for him. My blockbuster of the decade, possibly. I thought it was deceptively deep. And I LOVED those boats. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.149.75 |
I had another nightmare last night - even two. I'm not on meds, though. The first one was my being an extra in a low budget film about vampires taking over the world. The only thing was there were only a few of them. Gradually the film became real, things went wrong with the filming. My being alone in an entirely deserted, very real street was terrifying. One of my son's friends has told me he's seen a ghost at his allotment. His uncle and lots of other people have seen it, too, all the time. The creepiest thing about it is it's only the centre of a head, just a circular face, and a torso with no limbs hanging in the air, like the image of it has been washed out round the edges. It apprently just looks at you and doesn't move. I don't mind if this thread hops. | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
Maybe we should wait and see if Stephen - who started the thread - wants to extract the dream/nightmare bits and start a new thread with that? It may be that the dreaming/nighmares/strange things drugs do to the brain is relevant to this coincidence diary? Just to add a bit of explanation about the drugs (prescribed!) I'm on and how they affect the brain so that folks can see how this relates (changes in brain patterns, etc) .. The drug is pregabalin, which is a more refined form of gabapentin. Gabapentin is actually for epilipsy - to attempt to decrease the incidence of fits (BTW I'm not a medic, so I'm only relating this as I understand it as a patient). But they found out that a side effect of gabys was to reduce pain signals from the brain - hence it's use in fibromyalgia patients like me. I tried gabys first (I guess it's cheaper, so if it works they like to keep you on that!), but the nightmares and hallucinations were so bad I couldn't continue with it. The drug's function is to affect the brain, so I guess this effect results in strange signals in the brain which give the nightmares and hallucinations. So, they put me on pregabalin - which does the trick re blocking pain signals, and brings much more bearable nightmares and hallucinations. Because I'm expecting them, and I know they're only due to these strange signals the drug is producing in my brain, I can cope with it. And before anyone asks, yes, I do worry about the long-term effect on my brain. Other side effects can include garbled speech, memory/concentration problems, and so on. I'm always wary of drugs. I'm on a very low dose (deliberately - I refuse to go higher even though the pain clinic doc wants me to) and I'm keeping a very close eye on it myself. BTW I think I upset former RCMBer Albie on another board when I mentioned dreams/nightmares as being simply our interpretation of the random patterns which occur in our brain during REM sleep. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.228.92 |
At least two people who are on Cipramil, an antidepressant, have told me side effects include claustrophobia, anxiety attacks and profuse sweating. Shopping in huge enclosed spaces like malls can lead to a sense of being lost in a labyrinth - and an extreme difficulty to find one's way out of the premises in question. A less negative (well, I suppose it depends!) effect is a propensity to delve into one's past, to confront whatever it is that has not effectively been dealt with. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.132.95.123 |
I'm on no drugs and these are my feelings all the time! Shit... | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.193.155 |
Caroline, I was on Neurontin (gabapentin) for neuropathic pain, but stopped taking it due to side effects. It made me feel like a zombie on speed, and I had what the list of 'adverse events' on the medication's info sheet refered to as "abnormal thinking". It made me feel tired but as soon as I put my head down and shut my eyes I would have the weirdest visions or dreams, like having a Dario Argento film playing on fast-forward. They also affected my vision. I haven't tried Lyrica, but I'm glad it works for you. Give me good old-fashioned opioids any day... Hubert, I was prescribed Cipralex (escitalopram) for depression several years ago and stopped taken it because it made me feel ill and, ironically, more depressed. I was on fluoxetine for years for both pain and depression and when I stopped taking it (cold turkey) I had awful 'brain zaps' - felt like my brain was fizzling or short-circuiting every few minutes. I try to stay away from antidepressants and anticonvulsants these days, except diazepam and clonazepam, which are far smoother and more effective (for me). | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.228.92 |
For reasons unknown a given antidepressant will work miracles for patient A, while patient B literally sees knives and teeth everywhere, ready to shred him to pieces. Go figure. It certainly sets one thinking about the long term effects of medication in general. | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.171.167.11 |
When I was in the Sixth Form in 1965/6, there was a chap in the same class who read horror magazines under his desk during English - & in these magazines was J. Ramsey Campbell stuff. I think he wrote him letters as well. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.0.106.15 |
Saw a great Gregory Peck movie from 1947 yesterday called 'Gentleman's Agreement' about an investigative reporter in America doing an exposé of institutionalised anti-semitism by taking on a new job and pretending he is Jewish to see how people react to him. Dated in some aspects but fearlessly done and still quite shocking at times - a fascinating time capsule of the bigotry its era (reminded me of 'Victim' in that respect). Peck has never been more decent and likeable (one of my favourite actors). It won the best picture Oscar and was directed by the great Elia Kazan (how ironic is that when one considers his own shameful actions in the 50s). Not claiming this as anything other than a very minor semi-coincidence but enjoyed the movie very much. Shame about Ireland... but for one jammy French deflection (sigh). Need at least a 2-1 win now on Wed... | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
Huw - that must be a coincidence, we've been tried on the same meds! If you ever get recommended to try Lyrica, it might be worth giving it a go (at low doses) as the bad effects have been kind of "ironed out". But, like Hubert says, different things work/don't work for different folk. >>Shopping in huge enclosed spaces like malls can lead to a sense of being lost in a labyrinth - and an extreme difficulty to find one's way out of the premises in question.<< Now, that sounds like me when I go on a shopping spree!  | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.228.92 |
Apparently antidepressants share certain chemical components with LSD, which could explain the visual hallucinations. I had no idea they were that powerful. | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.167.117.66 |
Earlier this year when I was suffering from a trapped nerve in my neck, I was in such pain, I would take anything I could to get through the days. I ended up bumming my dad's painkillers (he is on strong opiate based ones which ironically i have been trying to get him off for years..) They worked,. Well, kinda, I was so stoned my vision would turn upside down when I was reading a book, I couldn't wake up, i talked gibberish and got tearful all the time. I hate prescription drugs, though I appreciate the need for them. How my Dad copes taking this muck is beyond me, mind you, he is probably totally immune to them now, and simply takes them to feel 'normal'. gcw | ||
| Seanmcd (Seanmcd) Username: Seanmcd Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 86.151.243.114 |
Alex, when i had the first episode of sleep paralysis at 18 I was totally freaked out by the fact i was completely conscious but couldn't move at all. Not knowing what was happening I began to panic (in my head). What made it worse was the fact it was in the middle of the night. The sense of presence was also undeniable and my fan boy mind instantly attributed this feeling to a ghost. My Granny had already been gone for maybe a decade but at that time she was the closest relative I had lost. So my mind made her the 'presence'. It also didn't help matters having just finished 'Pet Sematary', lol. I had also recently moved home with my parents and was living in my other grandmother's home for a few months until our new house was finished. All this in the months before taking my 'A' Levels. I can see now I must've been stressed out. So I put the episode down to stress. I can also claim stress as the instigator of my subsequent couple of episodes. However, I would dearly love to know what actually causes that fantastic sense of presence. There was a feeling of being 'aware' of my own still sleeping physical body, a sort of semi OOBE. Maybe my own snoring ass was the 'other' I was conscious of? Lol,or something else... | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.131.109.157 |
I used to care for this old guy whose sister told me a tale. It was when her father died, a few weeks later; one night she awoke to find him sat on the edge of her bed telling her it was the last time she would see him for a while, that he had to go away to this 'school' to learn some new things. She wasn't scared, at least not much. She said it was as real as you and I. That 'school' idea really stuck in her mind, she said - like it has mine. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.190.92 |
Unfortunately people with chronic pain have little choice other than to settle for whatever treatments are available to them so they can get their pain under control (meaning more bearable, rather than pain-free) so they can continue to have some sort of life. If there was a cure for what I have I would love to throw all my medicine away today, but unfortunately I need them in the same way I need my hypertension, gout and acid reflux medicine. People who take strong pain killers like opioids or anti-epileptic drugs aren't stoned all the time - it just takes a little while to adapt to them. There can be some transient nausea or loopiness to begin with, but after a few weeks or so the side effects usual fade away, and all you notice is a reduction in pain (if you're lucky!). Most opioids are remarkably safe in long-term use, miles safer than paracetamol or aspirin. You just have to know what to watch out for and make sure that you come off them slowly if you've been taking them for a while. Gcw - out of interest, what kind of medicine was it you took for your trapped nerve (I understand if you'd rather not say)? I hope it's better now. I know how painful it can be, having permanent nerve damage myself. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Lovely story Tony, and one I personally believe in implicitly. Rationalists will try and explain it all away as a hypnopompic hallucination without telling you that no one knows how this supposedly "natural" phenomenon can at all be quantified. I've experienced at least one similar experience and feel sure that whatever I "saw" was directly responsible for making me awaken at just that moment. My own theory is AT LEAST AS VALID as the pseudo-scietific catch-all term "hypnopompic hallucination". | ||
| Alexicon (Alexicon) Username: Alexicon Registered: 10-2009 Posted From: 88.106.10.159 |
Interesting stuff,Sean. Thanks for that. Basically just a minor and temporary malfunction of brain activity then. The mechanics of it are still not completely understood,but you seem to have sussed out the triggers (stress,etc.). Thus you're not scared by it any more. Presumably. I was trying to make a point about grabbing control of it: you know, once it occurs, get proactive - make things happen. Alas,I've never experienced it,so I can't try that out for myself. And yes,Tony,your anecdote re the old guy's sister's father is the common grief phenomenon I was referring to. The 'school' idea is intriguing. Had I had a similar visitation,my first question to the 'presence' would've been,"Is there a way I can get into that school without actually dying?" A small aside: anyone get peripheral vision 'presences'? I sometimes catch fleeting figures on the edges of the visual field. Maybe chemical flashbacks - 'zoomers' - from a more radical era. An easy explanation,that - until I talk to people with more conventional upbringings. They experience it too. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.190.92 |
Alex, I had a mild version of that peripheral vision thing when I was taking gabapentin recently. It reminded me a little of the constant flickering on the edge of vision that happens with acid sometimes. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.190.92 |
I sometimes get auditory hallucinations (people saying my name when I'm alone) too. I think it might sometimes (if not always) be due to taking new prescription medicine that affects the nervous system. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.1.196 |
It reminded me a little of the constant flickering on the edge of vision that happens with acid sometimes. Here's a free drug-free acid-trip:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CxM7a6CbyI It only lasts a few seconds, but... trippy! I can't imagine this going on for hours.... (never dropped acid myself) | ||
| Alexicon (Alexicon) Username: Alexicon Registered: 10-2009 Posted From: 88.106.10.159 |
Huw,it's odd. Not frightening - just odd. The figures are 'definitely' there but try as hard as you like, they vanish as soon as you turn to confront them. Not frequent,these episodes,but bloody frustrating not being able to nail the figures down. | ||
| Alexicon (Alexicon) Username: Alexicon Registered: 10-2009 Posted From: 88.106.10.159 |
The calling of the name. Yes,Huw - that's another one! | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I saw a mate on acid once and it frightened the life out of me - he turned from quite a quiet good-natured chap into an aggressively paranoid nutjob. To this day I've only tried alcohol and a bit of blow with the odd cigar when I'm exceptionally drunk and celebrating (never been able to master inhaling though). | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
Huw - you've hit the nail on the head with this explanation: "Unfortunately people with chronic pain have little choice other than to settle for whatever treatments are available to them so they can get their pain under control (meaning more bearable, rather than pain-free) so they can continue to have some sort of life. If there was a cure for what I have I would love to throw all my medicine away today, but unfortunately I need them in the same way I need my hypertension, gout and acid reflux medicine. People who take strong pain killers like opioids or anti-epileptic drugs aren't stoned all the time - it just takes a little while to adapt to them. There can be some transient nausea or loopiness to begin with, but after a few weeks or so the side effects usual fade away, and all you notice is a reduction in pain (if you're lucky!). Most opioids are remarkably safe in long-term use, miles safer than paracetamol or aspirin. You just have to know what to watch out for and make sure that you come off them slowly if you've been taking them for a while." Though I must admit I found I quite enjoyed some of the strange, spaced out sensations I got when I first started on Lyrica (not gabapentin though, those side effects were just too terrifying). For example, I'd lie in bed at night wating for the odd visions to appear, savouring them in a strange kind of way - I guess like reading a horror novel! I realise this must make me sound most peculiar! | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.190.92 |
You must have been using the Bill Clinton technique, Stephen! The 'calling of the name' phenomenon is something I've been reminded of recently by reading the excellent Thieving Fear. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.190.92 |
Caroline, I hope some day I can try Lyrica (we don't have it over here yet), as quite a few people have told me it works really well for neuropathic pain. I really wanted to stick with the Neurontin, but the side effects were interfering with my sleep and making me feel a bit crazy. I tried it several times, but always stopped after a few days. I was on tricyclics before, but their side effects aren't much fun either (although they are quite effective for nerve pain), and they aren't good to take with tramadol, which is one of the ones I'm taking now. I'm glad you're having success with the pregabalin! | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.56 |
"sometimes get auditory hallucinations (people saying my name when I'm alone) too" That's not a hallucination. It's your sins catching up with you, whispering your name in the creak of a door or the rustle of a curtain. The louder they get the closer they are, the car passing by becomes a shout of your name, the bark of a dog becomes your sins yelling in pain, until they become a scream in the sound of your blood pumping through your veins and you'll never get rid of them. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
You working on a new story Weber? | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.56 |
I wasn't, but I might be now | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.180.76 |
"That's not a hallucination. It's your sins catching up with you, whispering your name in the creak of a door or the rustle of a curtain. The louder they get the closer they are, the car passing by becomes a shout of your name, the bark of a dog becomes your sins yelling in pain, until they become a scream in the sound of your blood pumping through your veins and you'll never get rid of them." Bloody hell Weber, that's unnerving! | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.167.117.66 |
"Gcw - out of interest, what kind of medicine was it you took for your trapped nerve (I understand if you'd rather not say)? I hope it's better now. I know how painful it can be, having permanent nerve damage myself." Well Huw, the doctor told me to take Ibruprofen which was laughable really, perhaps like me you have a 'medical box' with a few things in it, which I gobbled up but to little effect. Dad's painkillers were the only ones that would touch it, they were called Tramadol. It took about 5 months and lots of intense Chiro & Physio but it sorted itself in the end thank god. gcw | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.180.76 |
I'm glad to hear that your neck problem got sorted out in the end, Gcw. Ibuprofen would be next to useless for something like a trapped nerve. Tramadol is one of the ones that I'm prescribed by my pain management doctor. Reactions to it vary a lot - some people find it does next to nothing, while others find it helps a lot. It's a complex drug in that it has a dual structure: part of it works on the opioid receptors in the brain and spine, and part of it affects serotonin and noradrenaline re-uptake (much like Prozac and other antidepressants). It has a ton of potential side effects, many of them psychological in nature, so it's not surprising it had some weird effects on you! Did it make you feel wired at all, like you were taking a stimulant? I used to feel like that, almost like I was on an amphetamine or something. It wears off after a while, but it's a weird drug when you start taking it, for sure. It lowers the seizure threshold so that you have to be really careful mixing it with certain other medicines or if you have epilepsy. It's about a fifth the strength of morphine, so it's usually classed as a medium-strength analgesic. I find it helps a bit with my nerve pain but only if I take it along with my other pure opioid which is much stronger and faster-acting. If your dad needs to stop taking it, make sure he does so gradually - it can cause some nasty withdrawal symptoms if stopped too abruptly! | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.131.109.157 |
Never mind the drugs - if I have a daughter ever I'm gonna call her Lyrica! I think it's logical that the dead would reach us on the borders of our dreams, where the delicacy of our consciousness can accept them more readily. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.180.76 |
"Never mind the drugs - if I have a daughter ever I'm gonna call her Lyrica!" It does have quite a nice ring to it. Lyrica Lovell! Or if it was me, Lyrica Lines. Hey, that's not bad - kind of like Lydia Lunch! | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.228.92 |
"Lyrical Lines" sounds fab to me! | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
>>Never mind the drugs - if I have a daughter ever I'm gonna call her Lyrica!<< Loved that. I've never tried Tramadol. The pain clinic doc put it on the list as the next thing he might try me on if Lyrica didn't work. So far, Lyrica is doing her stuff well! That's awful that you can't get Lyrica where you are, Huw. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.228.92 |
I'm quite willing to share some of the Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds experiences I had in my younger days with you all, but this doesn't seem the right place - everybody has access to it and some people visit the RCMB with the wrong kind of intentions. | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
Hubert, I hear what you're saying but we're talking about prescribed drugs for medical purposes here. I don't feel we've overstepped the mark - but if we have, sorry. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.228.92 |
That's not what I meant, Carolinec. I'm confident that the regulars here are all trustworthy, it's the outsiders I'm not sure of (e.g. - well, you know whom I'm speaking of) | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
Ah, right, I see what you mean, Hubert. But still, we definitely ARE talking about prescribed medications, even if the side effects can be a little .. er .. freaky. So no-one's said anything incriminating. But, yes, you're right, it's best to be on our guard - in case anyone did forget and say something incriminating!  | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.188.106 |
To be fair to Hubert, I did mention acid further up in the thread, partly in response to Alex's fascinating remarks about phenomena of the peripheral vision, and partly because these effects reminded me of those I had while taking Neurontin. It's interesting (to me, at least) that medicine not generally thought of as hallucinogenic in nature can give rise to visual/aural effects similar to those caused by substances like LSD and DMT, or chemicals found in plants and fungi, such as ayahuasca and psilocybin. Baclofen, an antispasmodic and muscle relaxant that I've often been prescribed, can cause vivid hallucinations if someone stops taking it abruptly (this happened to a doctor friend of mine who also happens to be a chronic pain patient). | ||
| Alexicon (Alexicon) Username: Alexicon Registered: 10-2009 Posted From: 88.106.87.50 |
To briefly return to the auditory 'hallucinations'. Not uncommon,Huw - even to people like myself who are fortunate enough not require medication. Although it doesn't happen too often,the aural effect is startling in its realism - compounded by living in an old and sometimes 'atmospheric'(i.e. spooky) house. Generally,the 'voice' is heard from a distance and in daylight,maybe on the stairs,or in another room. Naturally,I call back,thinking someone's just come in and is calling a greeting. No response... One instance,quite recently,took the shine off my sunny disposition. I was in the upstairs office with the door ajar and I knew I'd be alone for most of the day. What happens? Someone calls my name from directly behind the door. Nobody there of course. Unnerving,that. The worst event happened at 3.a.m in the morning in true Hammer Horror fashion. A massive,slow-moving thunderstorm,lightning strikes all over the valley. I'm in bed and the doorbell begins repeatedly ringing - as does the phone. I creep down the stairs,noting that the house lights are dipping madly too when I switch them on. The hall downstairs is strobed by lightning. I peer through the door panels to see who's ringing the bell: nobody. I attempt to unbolt and immediately my hair stands up,literally vertical. The whole place was full of residual electricity - some of it discharging through me. Uncanny. Any metal object I touched produced the same effect. The storm's intensity diminished after a few minutes; all returned to relative normality. Then I heard the bloody voice coming from the sitting-room. Frankly,I just ran up the stairs and leapt into bed,seeking the company of the still-slumbering wolverine. So that's my take on auditory hallucination. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.228.92 |
Is it always the same voice? Male or female? Perhaps most importantly: what does it say? Some experience! I quite envy you. | ||
| Darren O. Godfrey (Darren_o_godfrey) Username: Darren_o_godfrey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 207.200.116.133 |
Coincidence. A couple of months or so ago, working for the city (tiny town, actually) in which I live, I was mowing the baseball park. Riding mower, three blades wide, no suspension so my kidneys were getting a good workout. It's dull going -- my mind wandered. It wandered right into a short story I'd nearly competed that moring. The piece needed just a little bit more. A paragraph, maybe. Something of a coda. What could it be? What puissant punch might that parapraph consist of? What's the answer? What. Is. The. Answer? FORTY-TWO popped into my head (it being the answer to life, the universe, and everything). I finished the pass I was on, made another, and another, then some apples (whole, mostly) hove into view. There were no trees of that type in the area, but I knew some of the local brats, moppets, and imps liked to eat their lunches on the ball field. Set to slaughter some fruit, I leaned forward. Saw something shiny in the grass amidst the apples. Several somethings shiny. I stopped, dismounted, got a closer look. They were coins. Forty-two (American) cents. Four dimes and two pennies. The following morning I finished the story. Curious, I counted the number of words in the new paragraph. Forty-two? Nope. It came to forty-one. So I added another. (I think it was "very.") :-) | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.16.79.161 |
Weird.... Here's another weird one that happened today. I was trying to remember the name of a movie today, from 1939 - fantasy, about Death sitting in a tree, etc. That's all I know about it, but I couldn't remember the title. I go to my local dvd rental place - i.e., my local library, which has a selection that beats the rental places - did I see the movie there? No - see, that would have been impossible, because I happen to know that this movie has never yet been released on DVD, and the VHS copies are rare and expensive (I remembered this because I was looking for it about a year back). So, I go to the little used bookstore section... was it there? No. But going up the bookshelves, I see a hardcover book in the fiction section, that has the exact title of this movie - ON BORROWED TIME. The book was in the fiction section - guess what? It had been shelved improperly - this was some old non-fiction book about the year 1939 and events that led up to the outbreak of World War II. 1939! The very year of the film whose title I was trying to remember! Plastered on a book that was mis-shelved! (and I was not planning on visiting the non-fiction section) It's a coincidence alright... but dammit dammit dammit what does it all MEAN?!?!? (it's possible the book took its title from the film released that year, perhaps it proved thematically apt - I wouldn't know this unless I were to read it - but if so, then this part of the coincidence, isn't) | ||
| Alexicon (Alexicon) Username: Alexicon Registered: 10-2009 Posted From: 88.106.87.50 |
Hubert asks: 'Is it always the same voice...etc.' Yes,always.And the pitch is indeterminate: could be male of female. I've reflected on that sound and concluded that to someone with more delicate sensibilities,the pitch in itself might be disturbing. The voice calls nothing other than my forename. As mentioned above,it doesn't occur very often and always when the house is quiet. The exception was that 3.a.m horror turnout when the ground floor was quite turbulent. That one did seriously lend wings to my feet upon the stairs. Something of passing interest that I forgot to mention re that night: when I picked up the raggedly ringing phone,I heard just a weird mishmash of electronic sounds. Again,to someone more imaginative,it might have sounded like wailing souls being tortured.Sadly,Alex dismissed it for what it was: lightning playing havoc with electrical systems. That 'voice' incident apart,the only theory I have for the others,is that somehow one part of the brain,ticking over in a quiet state,suddenly synchs with another part to produce the effect. Bit vague,that,but it's all I can think of. Frightening,no;frustrating,yes - because I'd really like to meet the 'entity' behind the voice. A lost cause really, cos there ain't one. Hey,nice post above from Darren O. | ||
| Alexicon (Alexicon) Username: Alexicon Registered: 10-2009 Posted From: 88.106.87.50 |
And another nice post above from Craig. Just seen it. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Coincidence. Whenever I really, really get the urge to see an old film, it's on TV withing a week. It's happened all my life: a completely usueless super power. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
within | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Since starting this thread I've been patiently waiting for a mind-blowing coincidence to occur and... nothing, zilch, nadda, zip. Usually I have one of those weird correlations of events about once a week. Kinda disproves the theory that by looking for them they will occur - I'm finding the exact opposite. Perhaps the cosmic prankster is enjoying keeping me hanging in limbo? Great stories above from Darren & Craig. More please... | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.228.92 |
Kinda disproves the theory that by looking for them they will occur Most of the time this 'looking for' takes place on a subconscious level, hence the effect of weirdness when a correlation occurs. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.0.106.15 |
So to stop coincidences occuring one has to start consciously looking for them?!?! But surely that would prove that something weird is going on. That some intelligence is willing these things to happen when we least expect them... and that can equally shut them off when we begin to suspect the truth. It's a theory if nothing else. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.131.108.186 |
'Whenever I really, really get the urge to see an old film, it's on TV withing a week. It's happened all my life: a completely usueless super power.' Me too! And I'm sure I'm psychically linked with my ipod; when I have shuffle on I just need to think about a particular song and it comes on. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.179.197.176 |
when I have shuffle on I just need to think about a particular song and it comes on. Can you do that every time, Tony? If so, you could make a fortune! | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
I love the cencept of these usueless super powers. :-) Like a man who can make a kettle bol by the power of his mind alone, or a woman who can hear what ants think. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.56 |
boil? | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
i | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.56 |
But Tony only has 2 songs on his ipod and they're both "Do they know it's Christmas" and Zed just has these urges to watch a film after he's read the latest TV mag. Talking to ants could be a useful ability. One of my uncles hasn't managed to talk to his wife in weeks and the atmosphere in that house is soooo bad. | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
Hey, I had a coincidence today! I wasn't looking for it, but it just happened. Just to go back a bit, in doing my little bits of work for the ezine Pantechnicon I worked on the editorial team with several people. A few of them I met in person at least once, whereas others I didn't meet in the flesh at all. One guy called Adam I worked with for some time, and met once when we both interviewed Dick Mills, ex-BBC Radiophonic workshop sound engineer, about his Doctor Who work. Now, I have a terrible memory for faces and I have to see someone about 10 times before I actually recognise them again. Anyway, today I was in Leeds at a comics festival, primarily to see Bryan Talbot give his talk on "The making of Grandville and the anthropomorphic tradition" (great talk it was, BTW). So, I enter the room where it's taking place and start to wonder where to sit. I know I need to sit near the front otherwise I can't hear/see anything, so I look to my right - a large hairy guy taking up two seats - and to my left - a slimmer guy with more room next to him, so that looks like my best option. The conversation goes: Me: Excuse me, do you mind if I sit here? Him: Caroline? Me: Adam? It IS you! It was my ex-Pantechnicon colleague and co-interviewer. Just how much of a coincidence is that? I must point out that he doesn't live anywhere near Leeds - it was quite a trek up the M1 for him to get there. Spooky, eh? | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.141.211.200 |
On Saturday I took my kids to watch 2012 (it is great). In it a step parent flies his partner and kid and partner's ex beneath the arch of two crumbling towers. Later in the day I put on a film, Superman Returns (not great). In it a step parent flies his partner and kids and partner's ex beneath the arch of two crumbling towers. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I witnessed a bit of Catholic weather magic on Saturday. My cousin was getting married at 2.30 and the rain had been teeming down incessantly for the previous 48 hours. All my relatives and family friends were ringing round everyone telling them to put their "Child of Prague" outside. This is a small religious statue that somehow has acquired the reputation for stopping the rain when needed and the more of them put out the better. Anyway come 2.00 there was no sign of the rain diminishing and it looked like everyone's prayers had been wasted when suddenly 10 mins before the bride arrived - like switching off a tap - the rain stopped and the sun came out and stayed out until the service and all the photos were over. Coincidence surely but what amazed me was how everyone took it in their stride that the Child of Prague had worked its magic and no one found this at all strange but somehow part of the natural order of things. Weird but true... and only in Ireland I suspect. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.228.92 |
Yesterday after a drive with a friend through a practically inundated Brughes we return to Ostend. He has Fleetwood Mac on his car mp3 (or whatever these contraptions are called nowadays) - "Sarah". The moment Nicks sings Sa-a-rah for the first time I glance sideways and an electric sign attached to the first of a row of houses, mostly shops, springs to life, spelling out . . . you've guessed it. Needless to say I never knew that shop was there. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.152.62.175 |
On Saturday I bought that old seventies book that was so popular at the time, 'Life After Life' by Dr Raymond Moody. I've been after it for a while. Later in the day I see a post on here by Gary Fry about seeing a Tom Stoppard play that sounds intriguing. Then, later again I go to the website for Raymond Moody and at the head of the page is a quote by Stoppard, 'Every Exit is and entry to somewhere new'. It doesn't stop there. Later yet I visit Facebook. I wonder if Stoppard has a page. I search for him and the very first post by 'him' (if it is him) is... 'There is no death.' I have coincidences all the time but keep forgetting to post them. This one was quite epic, though. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.152.62.175 |
So. No coincidences for three years. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.66.23.11 |
That's strange, because I experienced my first coincidence for 3 years last week as well. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.152.62.175 |
I've had loads, but forgot this thread was here... But that one, above what I said before - I've had loads like that. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 147.252.230.148 |
At the same time as I bought a newspaper a meteor didn't hit me. (This is fiction of course. Imagine buying a newspaper!) | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.147.55.79 |
This is like playing with action men, isn't it? No wonder it got put away. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.79.14.5 |
Everything is like playing with action men. It never was put away. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.158.156.168 |
This is when writing gets bad. When we stop playing with Action Men and start talking about writing. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.79.27.43 |
Yeah! Stop worrying about it. It's all in the doing. I saw a video of David Lynch making and painting a strange lamp made of twisted wood for his house. He was loving every minute of it and it wasn't for anyone else, or even primarily to have a nice lamp, he just enjoyed doing it. | ||
| Jamie Rosen (Jamie) Username: Jamie Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 173.32.63.252 |
In the span of two days this month, in two completely unconnected university classes (one on Women & Horror, one on Abnormal Psychology), the subject of trepanation/trephanation was brought up by the professor. As far I can tell, I'm the only person involved in both classes. |