OK now that the news is over we can get into the review. Earlier today my girlfriend and I went to go, as I call it, lolly gagging all over town. (Check my earlier tweets for photos) But basically we went to the mall and just generally wasted gas that we didn't really have. Towards the middle of the afternoon we decided to go see what movies were playing. When we arrived we were a little surprised to see that the movie "Insidious "was still being shown. We had wanted to see that movie so we picked it, and at matinee prices we only had to slightly go into debt to do so. (Warning the below may contain spoilers)
"Insidious" is a horror/thriller movie by the guys who made "Saw/Paranormal Activity". It is genuinely good movie that has some decent bits of 'jumpyness' which is definitely something that I look for in a scary movie. The movie tells the story of a boy who has slipped into a coma and of the paranormal happenings that are going on around him at the same time. Through the course of the movie it is revealed that the child isn't actually in a coma but has used astral projection and simply lost his way back. Because of this the family experiences ghosts/entities that are attempting to cross over to our realm by possessing the child's body. I won't ruin the ending but suffice it to say the movie is really decent. If you can I suggest going to see it in the theaters, but if not getting in on DVD (or using Netflix because this is 2011 after all) simply turn off the lights and prepared to be scared.
Seeing this movie today reminded me of my childhood fascination with astral projection. Astral projection is the theory that practitioners are able to through some means leave their bodies in spiritual form. Through this they are able to travel to different dimensions and other realms. Ostensibly of course I suppose they could go forward or backwards into time. As a child I had read about this ability and longed to be able to do it. Unfortunately if the ability is real I apparently don't have it, because no matter how long I tried some of the exercises I was never able to leave my body. A closely related phenomenon is known as OBE or out of body experience, however most 'psychics' seem to believe that OBE's tend to be involuntary whereas Astral Projection is taken to be a voluntary action. As with most of the Fortean topics that I have discussed and will discuss in the future, this seems to be one that I won't be able to experience firsthand. Well that's all for now (possibly a post may come a little later) so until next time this is Tony, your friendly Fortean Philosopher, saying have a good one.
PS If anyone reading this has had any experience with astral projection or with OBE's please email me and let me know. I would love to hear your stories.