Split

Movie Review by Wes Forsythe

Since the movie Glass has hit theaters, I decided it was high time to watch 2016’s Split.Just in case you are totally out of the loop, those movies are part of a trilogy that started with Unbreakable 19 years ago: yes, 19 years ago. Apparently M. Night Shyamalan doesn’t get in a hurry. Ironically, neither do I apparently as I am just now getting around to watching it.

The neatest thing about Split was that, assuming no one told you, you didn’t realize that it was a sequel to Unbreakable until Bruce Willis appears at the end of the movie wearing his poncho. I just realized that if you haven’t seen Unbreakable then this all has no meaning to you whatsoever.

In other words you wouldn’t know this psychological horror thriller is also a superhero movie unless you saw Unbreakable (or at least read the Wikipedia page).

Regardless…good film…stands alone well.

The movie follows the exploits of one crazy bastard with a couple of dozen personalities. Through his interactions with his doctor, we even get glimpses of how the personalities are so independent of each other that they barely even speak to each other which is how I would probably want it if I had a few extra personalities…or just had to be around people more often.

James McAvoy plays Kevin. Kevin is our crazy bastard antagonist. Playing a crazy bastard with the mother of multiple personalty disorders has to be an actor’s dream! At least one of the personalities is even a woman and James absolutely rocks it.

I was struck by James sporting the same bald head as he did in the X-men movies. It’s like the poor guy can’t get a break. Totally not relevant to this discussion.

Anyhow, one of Kevin’s personalities kidnaps three girls because of of his other personalities said to, and it’s off to the races.

What I liked most about the movie was that because it relies on the thriller aspect and devices so heavily, that my wife didn’t have to spend much time covering her eyes. She doesn’t like a lot of gore.

And I will confess that as we learn the backstory of our protagonist, Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey, a teenage girl with a traumatic past and a history of disciplinary problems, I squirmed a time or two. Her back story is arguably as traumatic as the events unfolding with our crazy bastard.

All of the ancillary characters performances made sense both to the plot and to how real people would act in a similar situation. So often horror movies let characters go off the rails to advance the story. Not here: everything and everything is “tight”.

So if you’re looking for a good download or DVD to watch, and you don’t require wall to wall blood splatter, definitely give Split a look…especially before you see Glass…in theaters now.

Look Deeper: Really Bad Tarot January 20 2019

Last week I attended Lexington’s monthly Mystical Fair for the first time in what seemed like ages. While I was there I booked two upcoming episodes of my new web series Body & Spirit and purchased yet another deck of Tarot cards…because that’s what I do.My new deck is the LeGrande Circus & Sideshow Tarot. I like that it is not your typical deck and relies very little on the standard imagery associated with the tarot. The artwork is simple and whimsical, and since my life is a bit of a circus anyhow it seemed like a great fit.

I opened the box, shuffled the deck, and drew a card because that is how we professional tarot card readers do it. Screw all that superstition about touching all of the cards and embedding them with the reader’s energy. Who has time for all that ceremony?

Today’s card is The Knight of Swords.

My reading took me away from the foreground imagery of the guy getting ready to lob a knife at something stage left. Instead my attention was immediately drawn to the shadow. As a side note I certainly hope that all of the cards do not feature spotlights and shadows or my reading are going to become quite homogeneous quite fast.

To me the shadow refers to what is going on behind the scenes in our lives.

We spend most of our time concentrating on what is right before us: the task at hand, the headline of the article, or what seems obvious at first glance.

We need to spend a little time looking a little deeper. There is always more to the story and there are always things going on below the surface that we either ignore or take for granted. It is easy to make mistakes when we don’t have the entire story.

So this week I am telling everyone to put their “gut reaction” to what they see and hear on hold. Let’s all take a moment to look behind what seems obvious.

Michelle Wagner SF12 E17B

The second hour of tonight’s two part episode we welcomed Michelle Duell Wagner.

Michelle is an empath and psychic medium that goes by the title “The Saratoga Spiritualist.”

Her gift allows her to read auras and chakras , clairvoyance in more than one form, psychic which includes intuition of the past, present, and future, and mediumship that allows her to connect to your passed loved ones, friends and also even pets.

Wes and co-host Chad Harlan try to cover as much of her experiences and abilities as possible during this episode including her childhood as a gifted individual and her more recent experiences in the field.

Welcome to Michelle Wagner Psychic Medium The Saratoga Spiritualist

I offer a variety of Psychic Readings including Mediumship, Couples Readings, Family or friends , Group readings up to 4 people , Reiki Master Services including Chakra/Aura Cleanings & Balancing as well as the traditional Reiki Sessions. My Reiki Sessions are very Unique as i use Quartz Sings Bowls…

Michelle Duell Wagner

Michelle Duell Wagner is on Facebook. Join Facebook to connect with Michelle Duell Wagner and others you may know. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected.

Kyl Cobb SF 12 E17A

Our first hour of this week’s two part episode features Kyl Cobb with our new co-host Chad Harlan.

Kyl is a historian, demonologist, ghosthunter and regular presenter at The Scarefest with upwards of 30 plus seminars in his portfolio.

The discussion moved between use of the ghost box, demon possession or at least our obsession with it, Kyl’s recent paranormal experiences, The Bell Witch, Ouija boards (a.k.a. The Parlor Game from Hell), and of course paranormal theory (which Wes set Kyl straight on).

The Adventures of Sir KyL

Knight, Adventurer, Historian, Ghost Hunter

Kyl Cobb

Kyl Cobb is on Facebook. Join Facebook to connect with Kyl Cobb and others you may know. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected.

Wight Space

Series Review by Wes Forsythe

I came across Wight Space while surfing Amazon Prime videos.The premise of the series caught my eye. “The near future. Science has proven ghosts exist. We are aware of them more than ever. Now they are more aware of us, and they are everywhere. With society virtually on collapse due to the living having to endure the plight of the dead, the world searches for more effective ways to deal with the ghosts, unaware a far more dangerous threat looms.” Continue reading “Wight Space”

Opportunity: Really Bad Tarot January 12 2019

For this week’s Really Bad Tarot guidance I chose my second favorite deck, The Tarot Illuminati (which should totally only be said with an echo). I’m fairly new to using the deck, but the imagery is beautifully detailed which makes it easier for me to make up stuff.

I feel we are still on a New Year theme. I see a lot of posts on Facebook from people that seem to be struggling with life. It’s a though the annual “reset button” did not work this time around. Normally it takes us weeks or even months to realize that our year is going to suck yet again.

I drew the 4 of Cups.

Now before anybody Googles what the card is supposed to mean, or any of you know-it-all, actual, real, read-the-instructions and took classes tarot readers start sending me messages about the “true” meaning of the card, let me emphatically state the following: I DON’T GIVE A RAT’S FUZZY ASS WHAT YOU THINK THE CARD MEANS.

Seriously.

In the picture we see a young man whose mother cuts his hair looking down as if depressed. He is surrounded by cups (signifying stuff), yet those cups are not making him happy.

But what he is missing is that God (or the deity of your choosing, or life, or whatever) is trying to hand him what he is looking for. It’s right there. He doesn’t have to search. If he would just get off his ass and embrace it I am sure he would find happiness.

Sometimes we all need to stop worrying about what we don’t have and open our eyes to the opportunity that is readily available to us.

Deborah Voorhees SF12 E16

On this episode Wes and co-host Jason Boyd talk to Deborah Voorhees. Of course horror fans remember her as Tina in the 1985 movie Friday the 13th: A New Beginning. But in this episode we learn that she has has lived a colorful life as a journalist, filmmaker, writer, editor, teacher, and even a Playboy Bunny. Continue reading “Deborah Voorhees SF12 E16”

The Telemarketer

So about once a month for the past year, I get a call from some telemarketing firm to my personal cell phone. They use a different “Kentucky” number every time so I can’t just block them.

I don’t really like telemarketers, but if they have an honest pitch and will take “no” for an answer I am usually civil.

This particular place (I don’t even remember what they are selling: It’s been so long since I let them get to the actual sales portion of their call.) opens the call with, “Hello, is Melissa there?”. When you tell them there is no Melissa at the number, they continue with, “Well, you can help me…”

They never vary from the script They don’t even change up the name from time to time to catch me off guard. It’s always Melissa. I have told them time after time that I do not appreciate their tactics, and to remove me from their list. And yet they call back, once a month, asking for Melissa.

Today I had some fun!

Me: “Hello.”

Telemarketer: “Is Melissa there?”

Me: (shouting) “YOU TELL THAT LYING BITCH THAT IF SHE EVER SHOWS HER FACE AROUND HERE AGAIN THAT I WILL SHOVE A FUCKING KNIFE UP HER ASS.” and hung up.

Yeah, I’ve been watching way too many violent movies lately. On the brighter side, my wife laughed so hard that I am pretty sure she peed herself just a little.

Next time, they will have reached an active crime scene and Detective Forsythe.

Balance: Really Bad Tarot January 4, 2019

Happy New Year everyone. For the second thing I’ve done to celebrate the New Year, I am finally doing a Really Bad Tarot Reading for everyone.For this week’s reading I chose the Baroque Bohemian Cats’ Tarot deck. I love this deck despite not knowing what baroque nor bohemian mean. I do however know they are real words because I have heard them before and my spell check didn’t underline them. Continue reading

Really Bad Tarot Reading

What is Bad Tarot Reading?

A quick history: My friend and co-host Ken Boggle used to do a weekly Tarot card reading for the masses via Facebook. One week he was out of town or something and I, for no particular reason other than wanting attention, said I would step into his shoes and do a Really Bad Tarot Reading and post it on Facebook.

Understand that while I collect Tarot decks, I’ve never done the homework to do a proper Tarot reading. On the rare occasions I actually took them out of their packages, I mostly used them for my own meditations or day to day mundane guidance.

I believe in the power that we give the cards. Once I asked one of my Oracle decks what I should concentrate on for the day and the Romance card came up. It was my wedding anniversary and I had forgotten! I might have remembered by my second or third cup of coffee…but who knows.

Anyhow…that first Bad Tarot Reading was very well received. What I loved most was that many of the messages I was getting were from actual, professional Tarot card readers and psychics telling me what a fantastic job I had done creating a humorous advice column just from the interpretation of the art work.

However…some people expressed concern that I was making fun of Tarot readers. One lady said essentially that although I may not mean any harm, Tarot reading is best left to professionals. For a long time I decided that maybe doing them was selfish and I should not take a chance on either hurting someone’s feelings or belittling something that I enjoy so much.

But the requests for more Bad Tarot Readings kept coming in.

Finally, one weekend I happened to be at a rather poorly attended paranormal convention. There was no way I was going to sell enough T-shirts to make my expenses. Having several of my Tarot decks in my briefcase for no other good reason than the house cats don’t bother them in there, I decided to make a small sign and offer Really Bad Tarot Readings in person for a very small price – basically less than I would tip my waitress for a couple of drinks.

I made my expenses! I gave several readings – basically just going back to my original idea of looking at the pictures and making up bullshit. Almost as gratifying for an attention whore like myself, nearly everyone in the building thought my very idea (and crappy hand written sign) was hilarious.

Something else happened though. Some of my “clients” asked actual questions THAT I ANSWERED. The cards actually led me through a series of thoughts that played right into specific situations that they were experiencing. While I had trouble wrapping my head around people coming to me for advice, their responses to the readings told me I was onto something: maybe I can help people get through their problems with humor. Maybe, just maybe, the universe was trying to tell me something.

So, please understand. I really am embracing the Tarot as guidance from above. I am just assuming that God’s plan for me takes into consideration my tendency towards being a raging smart-ass and not following the norm. And of course, as I say during my face-to-face readings “I could be wrong.”(and it’s funnier with the hand gesture)

I will periodically be posting Really Bad Tarot Readings on this website. If you would like your own personal reading just find me at one of my many personal appearances during the year. Additionally, when I do conventions I sometimes am asked to do The Really Bad Tarot Gallery. In this format I give a brief history of my Tarot, give audience members readings, and usually throw in a couple of Really Bad Card Tricks for good measure.