This is a convention that was originally suppose to be held in October, but was moved to December. I had commented on it back in October, after Loyd Auerbach had blogged about it.

While I had been following it, and as of December 6th, it was still scheduled to take place on the weekend of the 11th – 13th, even though they had no specifics on guests or vendors who would be there. Well, I finally had a chance to get around to checking in again and found that their website (http://www.extremeparacon.com/) has indeed said it was canceled and is offering refunds. I just hope that everyone out there who put money into this convention does indeed receive a full refund.

Well, I thought most of this would have gone away as the people who were to bring TAPSCon2 had faded away.  But I guess I was wrong.  For those who are unaware, Brent Fair, the person responsible for the TAPSCon 2 fiasco had changed the name of his organization to Odyssey Star Productions, or at least has started up Odyssey Star Productions, after his TAPSCon 2 event fell apart, leaving many without a refund.  Paranormal Underground has an excellent page detailing much of what has transpired.

Well it seems as though Odyssey Star Productions is having some troubles already.  They seem to have stated that Cris Fleming was to be at this event, but according to his blog, he never agreed to it and does not plan to attend.  Looking into it a bit more, they seem to have Tiffany Johnson who will not be appearing at their Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum Event the night before, but as with Cris their name showed on the list of celebrities.

I have to wonder what is up with Brent Fair and his events.  Personally, I would avoid any event that had Odyssey Star Productions or Brent Fair’s name associated with it considering how I’ve seen how he conducts his business.  He promised a reschedule of TAPSCon 2, which never seems to have materialized, and has lead to people having to file lawsuits to get their $500 to $775 dollars back.  Then with celebs being listed as guests when Odyssey was told them they were not attending seems fraudulent.  Considering how he’s handled the refunds for TAPSCon 2, one has to wonder if he’ll refund any portion of the event fee when guests cancel or never agreed to the convention.

So, anyone out there who is thinking of attending an Odyssey Star Productions event, I’d recommend not even getting involved.  If you really want to attend an event, find one being held by a an organizer that has a much better established track record.  There are plenty out there that can deliver what they say they will.

If you have not, please visit Paranormal Underground for more details.

TAPSCon 2 Information

I’m somewhat floored at how many people thing the video that was shown on Larry King, think that the shadow down the hall is the ghost of Michael Jackson.  What’s even more surprising is the reasons people give for justifying it as such:
There’s a reflection on the floor.
Shadows don’t move like that.
It has to be a ghost because you can’t see anyone down there.

I find it truly amazing at what reasons people will use to justify their beliefs and not look at things with an open mind.  What some of those people seem to not be taking into consideration is that a shadow will cause a reflection on a floor, just like what is seen in the video, and they will move like that, not to mention so little of the room can be seen that it’s really hard to say how many people were down in that room.

I’ve also seen a clip with one of Michael’s brothers where someone has picked out a pattern in the background that sort of looks like Michael.  Obviously they’re not taking into consideration that what they are looking at is simply the brain’s pattern recognition at work, and that the pattern is nothing more than the shadow from a plant that is cast on the wall behind.

The lengths that people will go to hang on to someone are quite astonishing, as well as the lengths that people will go to make a situation fit their beliefs.  And what’s really got me shaking my head is that people are already suggesting that the Para-Celebs investigate the Neverland Ranch.  Fortunately, even they aren’t so low as to try and make a quick buck out of his demise… at least not yet, and according to PopWrap who briefly interviewed Jason and Grant of the show “Ghost Hunters” about the clip, our two investigators have said that it was nothing more than a shadow.  Hopefully that will stem some of the sentiment to do a cheezy investigation to make some money off of the attention that Michael Jackson’s death is gaining (too bad his own father can’t figure that one out).

Hopefully all of this will come to an end soon, but I doubt it.  There are too many fans who cannot or will not face the facts about this clip and other far fetched evidence blips that are making the rounds.  Next we’ll be hearing about how Michael isn’t dead and there’s been a sighting of him at some mall or other place, just like we endured with Elvis Presley’s death decades ago.

For those who haven’t seen the footage, here’s a clip from YouTube.

For those of you who have purchased tickets to TAPSCon II and haven’t received a refund, Paranormal Underground has just posted this information supplied by Haunted South Paranormal Research:

Paranormal Underground Blog

For those who are unfamiliar with the TAPSCon II fiasco you should check out Paranormal Underground’s excellent write up on what has transpired: TAPS Con 2- All in One Place.

Another update on the fiasco known as TAPSCon, which has been relabeled and moved.

Part 1

Part 2

And here’s some information about the new event:

It’s really hard to say whether or not Brent Fair is trying to pull a scam, or is incompetent.  If it’s a scam, then many of the questionable practices of Mr. Fair can easily be understood.  If it’s not a scam then Mr. Fair really needs to learn how to run such an operation

To our understanding, TAPSCon could not be held at the same location because that hotel claims that Mr. Fair still has an outstanding balance from last year. Mr. Fair claims that charges were made to his account that he did not approve, and it happened while he was sick, upstairs in his room.  That statement tells me his organization of people and delegation of authority was miserably executed.  If that’s truly what happened and Mr. Fair were any sort of competent event holder, he would easily see that the idea of resting all the power on his shoulders without any sort of contingency planning is irresponsible, unprofessional, and flat out stupid.  Then to try and pass off his incompetence on to the hotel staff is moronic and reminds me of how Jason handles things with TAPS.  That whole sentiment is just like Krusty the Klown, from the Simpsons, where Krusty will license his name and likeness to dangerous products and then wash his hands of the whole thing by claiming he’s not in charge of that company.

If Mr. Fair were any type of reputable business man, he’d IMMEDIATELY refund ALL tickets for FULL PRICE! If he doesn’t, then he’ll definitely show signs of fraud and should face charges.  Hopefully, those who have not received refunds will band together and file a class action lawsuit seeking restitution for the money they are out plus $100 dollars to each for time wasted on this scam, and attorney fees.

In this case, I’d have to say, “NO!”

It appears that some people in the TAPS camp are not happy about one of the skeptical moderators of the SciFi, Ghost Hunters forums, attended one of their conventions and asked a simple question. The result was that they were removed as moderator for nothing more than a simple question that should have been dealt with in a much better way. For those of you who are wondering what I speak of, here is a link to the thread on the SciFi message board, as well as the moderators post:

SciFi Thread (This thread has been sanitized/removed)

Let me preface this post by saying I appreciate all the supportive messages I have received from forum members. This group really is a community, and even though we may not agree on everything, for the most part we really do respect each other. I also want to sat that even though the news came from her, I do not blame ScifiAdmin1 for this action, she has been very supportive over the last 8 months or so that I have been a moderator on here.

So, last Thursday I received a PM from SciFiAdmin1 that stated

I’ve received instructions, Aug 7 2008, 02:14 AM
and I’m really sorry about this, Beez, because you’ve put so much wonderful energy into the forum as a moderator.

My boss has passed along to me not very much information, only that chop1′s appearance at a live event was not well taken by the cast members, and I have to be the one to break the news, which is that you can no longer be a moderator, but you can remain as a forum member if you wish to and with the understanding that your participation will not cause any concern to the cast members.

That’s all I know, and it’s very little, but I have to follow my instructions. I think you’ve been a great moderator here for the GH forums, and have many times brought peace and handled many situtations. I’ll really miss your contributions, and I’m sorry this happened.

Sincerely,
SciFiAdmin1

I, of course, have a serious problem with this action. I posted that I was attending this even several times before the event. I have also been very clear that I am skeptical of Jason and Grant since before I became a moderator. I posted back in February, when I bought the tickets, that I was going to attend and invited some other skeptics to come along (JBowl and Dreamsinger were two I invited). I can’t seem to find that particular thread in the search I did, but I am sure many of you can verify that it existed and the content of it. I also posted about a week and a half before the event, http://forums.scifi.com/index.php?showtopi…mp;hl=Lily+Dale, as well as the day of the event, http://forums.scifi.com/index.php?showtopi…mp;hl=Lily+Dale . (These threads have been sanitized/removed)

In the last post, I also outlined exactly what my exchange with Jason and Grant entailed.

I am back, actually I wore my Bruins T shirt like I said I would. I even got to aske a question when they wandered throught the audience doing the Q&A session. Grant handed me the mike, and I asked them why if their stated purpose is to help people, it seems that the amount of shows dealing with homes has dropped off dramatically since the first season and been replaced with commercial ventures. They assured me that there are still home sessions being done, just not on camera. Jason chimed in that it is tougher to find people that will sign the release to be on TV. I then followed up with Grant, privately, asking him, who is it that TAPS helps investigating a commercial venture. He kinda evaded the question by saying it helps if staff or customers are scared, or that they are responding to alot of request to investigate these places that come from their fans.

I did get to do the meet and greet, my brother has the pics on his camera, so as soon as he sends them to me, I will post. They did know who I was, though Grant says he rarely checks the sci-fi site, LOL

All in all, it was an entertaining seminar, nothing overly earth shattering tho

To make it clear, I did identify myself as Chop1 only after the program in the face-to-face meet and greet. It was not done publically during the event when I asked the question, nor did I use my position in any way to get to have my question answered or to get in line early for the meet and greet. I waited just like everyone else.

I do not think my question to them was an especially difficult question or controversial. I did nothing to disrupt the program. I was there with my brother who is much less skeptical of them than I am, and my nephew who is a big fan, he even got a T-shirt and had Jay and Grant sign it.

There is no posted rule or TOS on this website that states members can not attend live events. There are no rules that apply only to Moderators that they cannot attend live events. I gave almost 6 months of notice that I was going to attend this event, then subsequent notice as the event approached. If my appearance was not going to be taken well by cast members, they had ample opportunity to contact me BEFORE the event. It is not like my viewpoint on them was a big secret. Basically I see this action as a couple of prima donnas who do not like to be questioned, only fawned upon. I also see it as a couple of bullies who use their clout to attack someone, then hide behind their momma’s skirts, rather than face up to the person they blindside.

So, I know that either Jason and Grant peruse these boards, or at least those that report to them do. I challenge one or both of those “cast members”, to come tell me what about my appearance at the event was not taken well? I was man enough to come up and identify myself to you, face-to-face, are you man enough to defend your actions? Please don’t send any of your TAPS lap dogs to attack me, they will be ignored. I await your response.