Andrew - 2/97 - In Pure Spirit

Subway bans Ouija boards

June 11, 2017 by Andrew Leave a Comment

The management of this Subway found reason to put up a rather strange sign. It makes you wonder what might have happened here that made printing such a sign necessary in the first place.

Do you agree with the owners? Are they entitled to ban paying customers from using Ouija boards in the building? Or do you think the sign will backfire and if anyone wanted to stir up trouble for them that they will anyway?

In Pure Spirit

What’s the strangest sign you’ve ever seen posted in public?

Via Reddit uploads.

Spooky doll laughs without batteries

January 1, 2017 by Andrew Leave a Comment

We’ll put this down to someone playing a good prank on Craigslist.

I’ve done a quick check. There’s no shortage of spooky dolls you can pick up on ebay. Got a friend who needs a scare?

The text reads;

Our daughter doesn’t want it anymore. Our dog won’t stop barking at it and we never find it where we left it. Doll has really cute laugh. No batteries.

In Pure Spirit

What’s the most spooky doll or toy that you’ve ever owned?

Did this Snapchat faceswap capture a spirit?

December 31, 2016 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Snapchat is more than just an app that allows you to send messages that self-destruct after they’ve been read. Today’s version of the app is focused around video messaging and pioneered clever visual filters to spice up those messages.

Want to see what you look like with puppy ears, or as a pirate or with glamour make-up on? Snapchat has a filter for that. One of Snapchat’s most popular filters is the faceswap. Look into the camera with a friend and Snapchat will swap your faces around and you’ll get to send a hilariously weird message to friends.

It’s become common to hold up items with faces for Snapchat’s faceswap filter to use. The effect is funny and allows you to faceswap by yourself.

But what if Snapchat finds a face in the picture that you weren’t expecting? That’s what has appeared here! This picture, uploaded to Reddit shows a young woman trying to faceswap with a Care Bear… except, the computer’s algorithm has seen another face. Snapchat’s camera has looked into the darkness behind the woman and seen the contours of a face!

The result? Both weird and spooky at the same time!

In Pure Spirit
What do you think might have caused this? A patch of shadow that just happened to look like a face?

Ghost Train ad banned for being too scary

December 22, 2016 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Thorpe Park have a new attraction arriving next year. It’s Derren Brown’s Ghost Train.

An advert for the new ride was due to be aired on TV on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, before the watershed, but regulators Clearcast have now said it is too scary.

A spokesperson for Thorpe Park told press;

Plans to air our new promo for Derren Brown’s Ghost Train on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day have been changed due to advice that it may not be appropriate for audiences during this period.

The catch? The video is (currently) live on Facebook.

In Pure Spirit

Did it get you?

Too scary for TV or is this whole thing a wonderful piece of marketing for Thorpe Park and their new attraction?

Source: The Drum.

10 amazing facts about our moon

December 18, 2016 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Isn’t it amazing that we still don’t know how the moon came to be? I’d always been told that the moon was blasted out of the Earth after the planet impacted with a large asteroid. It’s a relief to know that that’s not the only possible explanation.

In Pure Spirit

What’s your favourite story about the moon?

Masters of Dance: TV inspired office party moves

December 15, 2016 by Andrew Leave a Comment

What do The Office, The Inbetweeners, Friends, Love Actually, Bridget Jones’s Diary and Napoleon Dynamite all have in common? They’ve all inspired Shoe Zone with office party worthy dance moves.

You can checkout the infographic summary cards below or even research even more and find out how to recreate these moves over at Shoe Zone.

In Pure Spirit knows about Shoe Zone through the charity the Show Zone Trust. They’ve raised more than £210,000 for the trust and other charities in the last 15 years.

In Pure Spirit

Are you familiar with any of these dances?

If you want to keep an eye on the special offers and discounts shoezone is able to share with its customers then this is the page to watch.

Where you might actually find Fantastic Beasts

December 8, 2016 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Fan of Harry Potter and the spin-off Fantastic Beasts? Many of the monsters from the Potterverse are drawn from mythology, inspired by old folktales and stories.

Sykes Cottages have put together a collection of monster posters to follow on from the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Is the idea you’re supposed to go rent a holiday cottage near a monster area? Their blog has more details and we’ve the pictures below.

Nifflers

Bowtruckles

Demiguise

Common Welsh Green Dragon

Thunderbird

Giants

Merpeople

In Pure Spirit

Which is your favourite fantastic beast?

Steve Alten interview: Where is Megalodon hiding?

July 8, 2016 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Steve Alten is the author of the hugely popular Meg series. The fictional series starts when Navy deep-sea submersible pilot Jonas Taylor encounters a Carcharodon megalodon while exploring the infamous Mariana trench. He barely survives the encounter but then has to warn a sceptical world that the 70-foot shark is real.

The latest book in the series, Meg: Nightstalkers, deals with the nightmare scenario of escaped megalodons and other ancient monsters making their way free.

In Pure Spirit is really lucky. Steve’s made time to answer some of our Carcharodon megalodon questions. Buckle up and read on!

Q. Some folk like to hope that Carcharodon megalodon survives as a species. Why do you think that is? Isn’t a strange thing to hope for?

Not at all. Just as visitors would come to a Jurassic World, they’d love to witness the most vicious predator ever to have lived … albeit from a safe distance.

Q. Do you think the Mariana trench has any real surprises left for us?

It’s all new. This is a 40 mile wide, 1550 mile long unexplored realm. The latest exploration found hydrothermal vents (as I predicted 20 years ago) and an albino “ghost shark!”

Q. You must have been subjected to dozens of survival theories from fans since you started writing Meg. Which have been the most memorable ones?

I favor the rise of Orca as the most likely theory which resulted in the Megs disappearance. An orca is no match for a Meg, but killer whales hunt in pods, and a pack could easily kill a lone Meg. Orca hunt along shorelines and would have decimated Megalodon nurseries. The only escape for adults would have been to inhabit deeper waters where the whales could not access. Could Megalodon still be alive without us knowing it? Absolutely. We’ve only explored 5% of the oceans and less than 1% of the deep…

Q. How do you keep up with science and the real world mysteries of the deep oceans?

I research every novel thoroughly to flesh out the story. Plus I answer every email personally, which introduces me to experts far smarter than myself.

Q. Which other deep water stories are you tempted to explore?

The LOCH takes on Loch Ness, VOSTOK explores the subglacial lakes in Antarctica, and The OMEGA PROJECT takes us to our planet 12 million years in the future…so I’ve been tempted and went there! Check it out at www.SteveAlten.com.

The surprising history of bikes

July 7, 2016 by Andrew Leave a Comment

We’re a fan of the humble push bike here at In Pure Spirit. Why? They’re green and good for you. Not only do pedal cycles not eat up fossil fuels but they don’t take up much space on the road.

Did you know the bicycle will be 200 next year? Baron von Drais’ “Draisine” was invented in 1817 and is considered the first bike.

In Pure Spirit

Do you cycle? What tips would you give someone who is thinking of beginning to cycle into work in the morning?

Your very own otherworldy bottles

June 12, 2016 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Orion Oddities is a boutique store on the handcraft site Etsy. They specialise in some pretty original art. Inspired by HP Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos they make some spooky and yet strangely compelling art.

How about this set of personalised Lovecraftian bottle? They’re made to order out of glass, resin, wood and clay. Tempted? Check them out over at Etsy.