Storytelling. This one is about Lake Monsters

You will hear some people say that storytelling is a lost art. I don’t believe that at all. If anything, it’s more prominent now than ever. It has just evolved along with the new world of technology we find ourselves.

In the past, people would gather around the fire to learn and be entertained by their family, tribe, or village since that was who was there. Now storytellers travel the globe sharing stories with many people. While at the same time there are even more storytellers that remain in one spot and broadcast to millions over the internet. To me, the computer is the modern campfire.

Even the advertising and marketing world is catching on with storytelling being the big buzzword right now in corporate campaigns. Over the years we’ve wandered away from storytelling only to find our way back to the personal warmth of sharing a good story.

The theme this year for World Storytelling Day is “Fortune and Fate.” Going along with this, it’s only appropriate that the team here at Believe It Tour take fate into our own hands and make today a special day from now on. World Storytelling Day will mark the beginning of a new branch of our company, with the goal of it being fully functional by next year. At that point we will have a storytelling event wrapped around the 2014 theme for World Storytelling Day, which is also most appropriate as the theme is “Monsters.”

Please stay tuned as we will be filling in the blanks in the months to come.

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Mike Esordi, Peter Byrne, Don Keating, Dr. Bindernagel, Bill Dranginis

Always willing to apply my design abilities to art and t-shirt designs over the years, the highlight was at the last conference. In recognition of my years dedicated to Bigfoot research and cryptozoology adventures, I was asked to speak at the conference. Top it off with the fact Peter Byrne was also speaking — priceless.

For 2013 there will be another exciting lineup of speakers including Loren Coleman. I am excited to be back and looking forward to seeing old friends and making new. So stop by the Believe It Tour table and say hi to Diana and catch me over the weekend, I’d love to say hello.

Here is the official art for the 2013 Ohio Bigfoot Conference.

Click to Preorder Your Ohio Bigfoot Conference T-Shirts
Taking orders until March 26 3pm

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Bigfoot Harlem Shake

Over the last few weeks I’ve been watching the YouTube craze of Harlem Shake videos explode. For some reason this viral phenomena has me intrigued. Perhaps it appeals to my love of what we at Believe It Tour call “speed-edits” or quickly done video clips that are creatively captivating. As I watch so many clever versions of this video meme I can just feel the excitement and creative energy of the people from when they got together and planned their Harlem Shake.

In an effort to understand the how and why of this fad, I did a little digging for some facts. According to wikipedia, the original started with five guys in Australia as a spoof to a popular video vlogger’s version of costumed people dancing to the song, Harlem Shake by Baauer. This took place in early February and by February 15 about 40,000 Harlem Shake videos had been uploaded with a total of over 175 million collective views. I can’t even imagine what the stats are today as it’s been growing like wildfire ever since.

Here is what wikipedia describes as the concept, with the focus of simplicity being the reason for it’s success:

The videos last between 30 and 32 seconds and feature part of the song “Harlem Shake” by electronic musician Baauer. Usually, a video begins with one person (often helmeted or masked) dancing to the song alone for 15 seconds, surrounded by other people not paying attention or unaware of the dancing individual. When the bass drops, the video cuts to the entire crowd doing a crazy convulsive dance for the next 15 seconds. Additionally, in the second half of the video, people often wear a minimum of clothes or crazy outfits or costumes while wielding strange props.

At any rate I knew I had to participate and when I participate you know it will include something with bigfoot, ghosts, zombies, allies, or some other creature of interest. Immediately, my mind went to how funny it would be for someone to retrieve their game camera that had been out in the woods hoping to catch something interesting. This time it captured Bigfoot gettin’ down to Baauer!

Enjoy the Believe It Tour version: Finding Bigfoot doing the Harlem Shake

Please Comment, Like, Tweet, Share, and watch Finding Bigfoot doing the Harlem Shake often!

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Theodore Roosevelt

Over this Presidents Day weekend I happened to be in New York and visited the Museum of Natural History to do some research for our 2013 Believe It Tour adventure. For those of you who have been there or at least seen the movie, Night at the Museum, know that Theodore Roosevelt is all over the place. His love of natural history grew from his childhood when he stayed home most of the time because he suffered from asthma. Shortly after his time as president, Roosevelt went on safari to hunt for specimens for the both the Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Institution.

One could go on and on about the great things Roosevelt did for our country. However, the one thing all of us cryptozoologist remember about this President is the connection with Bigfoot! In 1893, Theodore Roosevelt wrote the book, The Wilderness Hunter, and in it tells of a possible Bigfoot encounter.

Roosevelt tells of a story he heard from a fur trapper that hunted with a friend in the wilds of Idaho. It was there that these two men came in contact with a creature that fits the description of Bigfoot. Tracks of a wild beast that walked upright, on two feet. A strong odor and deep moans as it approached their camp. Finally the unfortunate ending to one of the men when the other found him dead, neck broken, and large bite marks on his throat. The same giant tracks of an upright walking creature surrounded the body.

This is just one example of how Theodore Roosevelt was really a crypto-adventurer as he explored all the forests and jungles of the world searching for creatures of every kind.

When it comes to other mysterious beings the Presidents don’t disappoint.

In 1973 while governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter filed a report of a UFO sighting, but notes that he did not believe it was an alien space craft. Carter said,

“There were about twenty of us standing outside of a little restaurant, I believe, a high school lunch room, and a kind of green light appeared in the western sky. This was right after sundown. It got brighter and brighter. And then it eventually disappeared. It didn’t have any solid substance to it, it was just a very peculiar-looking light. None of us could understand what it was.”

Don’t forget ghosts… Just to start the White House is considered to be one of the most haunted places in the United States. In fact, George W. Bush even claimed to have seen a ghost coming out of the wall near the Lincoln bedroom.

So this Presidents Day spend a little time searching the internet and you will find there are no shortages to strange and mysterious experiences by our very own leaders, the Presidents of the United States.

Here are some tips for additional stories to search for:

• Andrew Jackson and the Bell Witch
• Thomas Jefferson’s UFO report
• Ghost of Abraham Lincoln

If you find any good ones please share them here!

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Warm Bodies

Just how many Zombie movies have been made? True classics with many variations of these leg dragging, skin rotting, moaning monsters. Yet, this time the fear of getting your brains munched on is swapped out with feeling sorry for the zombies. I even found myself cheering for them towards the end.

Here is how the official website for Warm Bodies describes it:

After a zombie epidemic, R (a highly unusual zombie) encounters Julie (a human survivor), and rescues her from a zombie attack. Julie see that R is different from the other zombies, and as the two form a special relationship in their struggle for survival, R becomes increasingly more human – setting off an exciting, romantic, and often comical chain of events that begins to transform the other zombies and maybe even the lifeless world.

The combination of creativity and zombies doesn’t happen that often, so take advantage of this opportunity and have some fun at the movies. I really enjoyed Warm Bodies and am curious to hear what your take on this unique Zombie movie is.

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The setting was incredible. It was outside under the stars and at the new restaurant, Sweet Mama’s, which serves traditional Belizean cuisine. With posters all over the resort promoting the talk many guests went early, had dinner, and then listened to the presentation. When doing these talks it’s so nice to look out into the crowd and see so many interested faces.

We would also be leading a group trip to the Mayan Ruins of Lubaantun the next day for the guests, so we decided to focus the lecture on the Mitchell Hedges Crystal Skull that was said to be found at the site. Our lecture must have been informative and sparked some interest as we saw many of the same faces the next day during the trip to Lubaantun. It was exciting on so many levels.

Lecture Announcement
If you happen to be in Connecticut tonight, we will be doing a similar lecture in Franklin at 6:30. With it being December 20, 2012, the talk will cover what we found in Belize and our discussions with those of Mayan decent. We look forward to sharing stories.

I just wish I could answer the one question everyone has been asking me…Will tomorrow be the end?

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2012 Time Capsule Skull

In homage to the Mitchell Hedges Skull and the theory that crystal skulls can retain knowledge, I designed a couple of skulls to use as time capsules. First sculpting the skulls in clay, I then made molds to cast clear resin skulls that would resemble crystal. This resin was intended to be what protected the information in the time capsule for the ages.

Prior to the trip we put the word out as to what we were planning and asked for people to participate in the Mayan 2012 Time Capsule Project. We received lots of photos and letters that told of who we are in 2012. There were even a couple of video clips in the mix. With all that digital information my next step was to encapsulate the drive, containing the files, within the skull to preserve it in time.

I ended up creating two different time capsule skulls that contain the same information. Both of the skulls then got packed and taken to Belize where they still remain. If you participated in the Mayan 2012 Time Capsule Project, your photos and stories now are deep in the jungle of Central America.

I don’t want to give up the locations, but I can tell you there is one near Lubaantun. This is the Mayan site that the Mitchell Hedges skull was discovered. Maybe many, many years from now our skull will be found. The other time capsule is up near the Caves Branch area near the sacred caves.

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Footprint in the clay from around 600 AD

To reach Actun Chek, which is deep in the jungle, you have to hike to a river and use a float tube to enter the cave. Just before we entered the cave our guide kindly directed us to stay to the left of the river as he had spotted a large, poisonous snake in the water with us – nothing like a little excitement to start off the adventure. Once we paddled through the entrance the eerie world of darkness and muffled noise descended around us.

The cave has four main areas, but the deepest one is off limits to tourists. However, we were extraordinarily fortunate to be allowed to visit the area, usually reserved for archaeologists, and is what the cave is named for. Actun Chek is unique as archaeologists uncovered evidence showing it was the only cave in Belize that was used for mining clay and other minerals. Near one of the areas of mining activity resides an amazing and enormous clay monkey pot. While we saw one of these pots in the ATM Cave this pot was even more impressive because of its pristine condition and size.

Another interesting aspect to the cave was that it had a fairly intact ceremonial chamber that had been used for fertility rituals. It was complete with an altar and some carvings of a fertility god and a couple. When you were in this area you were able to see evidence of the presence of people and could almost feel the desperation that drove people to hike deep into the cave in the hopes it would bring them a baby. However, as a grim reminder of the darker aspect to the Mayan culture, a cave was located on the surface that held the remains of many babies archaeologists theorize were the result of couples visiting the fertility area. It was common once a couple finally had a baby that they would love it for a year, sacrifice it to the gods for the blessing of that baby, and then dismember the baby in the hopes they would have that many more children.

On a more positive note, my favorite part of the cave was the one that was the hardest to get to. Deep within the cave was a fragile area with unique cave formations and some preserved footprints. At the base of one of the cave formations lie some amazing, but small, Mayan footprints archaeologists estimate to be from about 600 AD. However, due to the delicate nature of the area tourists are not typically allowed back that far. Again, it was huge privilege to see something of such historical significance.

This was a challenging cave to maneuver around in as we had to hike over areas where the cave had some structural collapse and some of the areas had extremely slick rock formations. The last areas were also a little hair-raising since one wrong move and you’d fall into a dark and decidedly deep abyss that always seemed to be present in the slipperiest areas. However, it was an amazing experience to see actual Mayan footprints knowing that thousands of years ago another human was standing almost in the same spot as I was.

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Plaza or the Stelae

Having explored some Mayan ruins in north western Belize Believe It Tour decided it was time to investigate some sites in the southern region. In the heart of the Toledo District lies Nim Li Punit, which sits in the foothills of the Maya Mountains. This unassuming site has an amazing view of the Caribbean Sea off in the distance. When our guide pointed this out he said most of the people who lived in Nim Li Punit would have only ever seen the ocean from a distance and very few would have ever seen it up close.

The name of this Mayan site, Nim Li Punit, means Big Hat, which refers to a carving on one of the stelae of a man wearing a very large headdress. The site was active for a relatively short period of time from 721 to 790 AD. While it’s thought that one of the functions of the city was as a trade hub, its main role was one of preserving religious or political partnerships based on its location between the mountains and sea. Nim Li Punit may be one of the smaller Mayan sites, but it’s known for its vast collection of 26 fairly well preserved stelae. The visitors’ center holds a few wonderful examples of the best preserved carvings, which you are able to examine up close.

This ancient Mayan site has three main areas, but of the three we thought the southern one was the most fascinating of all. One area, Plaza of the Royal Tombs, had three tombs that had been fully excavated. There may be more, but archaeologists have yet to uncover them. The other area we liked was known as the Plaza of the Stelae, which was an area where 26 stone stelae were found. These monuments detailed daily life of the ancient Maya, important historical events, and ceremonies central to their culture.  Archaeologists felt that the arrangement of the stelae indicated they would have been used for astronomical observation, which could be further supported as the researchers also felt there were some buildings that functioned as an observatory.

The site also has a well preserved ball court with, what I found to be, an interesting feature. Of all the sites we visited this was the only site with a ball court marker. However, when I saw it I did find it bore a striking resemblance to the ceremonial stones the Mays used for beheadings.

While Nim Li Punit was a small site it was filled with beautiful carvings and gave us a real glimpse into ancient Mayan life in Belize.

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Aztec and Mayan Calendars

The differences between the two calendars were something that I learned early on in the research phase of the Tour of the Crystal Skull. One of the first things I do when I get involved with a new project or topic is that I draw. For some reason, drawing or creating art around a topic  makes me feel closer to it. Even my fun, googly-eye drawings helps me pick out details about creatures and objects. Once we selected our theme for 2012, I started creating art along with the other steps I normally take. This is where I nearly became part of the perpetual problem of internet misinformation.

After reading this post, take a look around and you will notice how many times the Aztec Calendar is titled as the Mayan Calendar. Just search “Mayan Calendar” in google images and you will see very quickly what I’m describing.

With the topic being for the most part new to me, I googled “Mayan Calendar” to get a look at what to start sketching. Shortly after that I posted a graphic that had a drawing of the Aztec Calendar in the background, thinking all along it was the Mayan Calendar. Lucky for me a facebook friend called me out on it as he knew what was what.

At first I felt incredibly foolish for doing such a thing. Then the more we started diving into the history of the Maya, information on Belize, and other related areas for the trip, I realized just how many others had done the same exact thing. Only they didn’t have a chance to correct it, leaving the Aztec version right there under big bold type reading “Mayan Calendar.”

Now as a designer this presented yet another problem. When designing a series of buttons that Busy Beaver Button Co. donated for promoting the Tour of the Crystal Skull I was torn with using the correct image, one that most people don’t know as the Mayan Calendar, or using the one that has immediate notoriety as the Mayan one, even though it’s actually Aztec. My decision was to compromise a bit. I used the Aztec as a backdrop to get the instant read. I just didn’t call it the Mayan Calendar, but rather described it as “Mesoamerican inspired art.”

In fact, it really is difficult to put a single image down to represent the Mayan Calendar as they used a system of calendars. Of the primary calendars is the Tzolkin, a sacred year calendar of 260 days, and the Haab, a civil year calendar of 365 days. Running simultaneously they would create a 52 year cycle referred to as the Calendar Round. You then have the Long Count Calendar, which was used to identify the number of days that have passed since their believed creation date and this is the calendar behind the 2012 end of the world hysteria. (I’ll go into more detail of the calendar structures in a future post).

The Mayan Calendar is a series of interlocking cogs or stacked glyphs with a numbering system of lines and dots and is actually the one that should be used, but for some reason we have been trained to see the wonderful artistry of the Aztec Sun Stone as the Mayan Calendar.

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