The good: Hey Bonnie, I went to the Whaley House last night and saw the new dining room wallpaper. It looks so beautiful! I didn't realize how boring the white walls were until they got the wallpaper. Have you seen it yet?
The bad: Unfortunaely there were some jerks there to ruin everyone's time at the Whaley House. I guess these guys were trying to film something inside and started getting in the face of one of the docents there. He was really mean and was pushy like he was a big star. I guess he wasn't supposed to being filming inside the house. How do big networks like the Travel channel and others film in there? Can't they just pay a fee and film afterhours? I think that would have been better instead of them ruining everyone else's time there just so they can hog some rooms. Did you ever film something in there and get something on tape? That would be so cool.
The better: Even though those guys were real jerky, lots of people were getting LOTS of orbs especially in the dining room. I think Mrs. Whaley really likes it. Or at least she must be checking it out.
Wow, I babbled a long time. Oh well, that was just an update. Talk to you soon. Later, Cat
Last Edited by SuperCat on Jul 11, 2005 11:03 PM
I have not seen the new wallpaper yet. I am not surprised that there would be more activity. For the most part the Whaley's are not happy with the changes, they have not mentioned this one specifically.
Perhaps you could tell from the other message board that there are some politics going on. The management of the Whaley House has a "control the message" policy. They do not seem to like any information out there that they did not present. You are correct that film crews should work after hours. The problem is with the house open all day and until 11:00pm at night there really is no after hours time provided for this. They also charge $1000. I got into a situation where Fox 6 News wanted to do a story with me at the house. News crews cannot pay for news and SOHO would only allow them free access if they DID NOT use me in their story. The shoot was cancelled. With this policy in place you will only see news stories with their people, no paranormal experts since you cannot pay for news and they will not allow access unless you pay for it. It is an intentional catch 22. When working on my DVD I followed along with Ghosts and Gravestones. Even though a guest of Ghosts and Gravestones, SOHO would not allow my camera person in the house so you will not see inside footage. I cannot afford $1000 to film at one location when I have 3 to film. The frustration can be overwhelming which might explain the behavior of the crew you saw last night.
SOHO has had a policy for quite some time that employees are not allowed to post on Whaley House Boards. As you know an employee was posting on the other board at least until she mentioned that SOHO management was monitoring the board. A few hours later she said she will no longer be posting information due to life changing circumstances. They even got on the other board and called me a liar about a story that is documented in the Haunted Whaley House II book that they provided the history for and is for sale in their gift shop. This event occurred in 1993 and they took over in 2000 so they have no personal knowledge of the event but still tried to ruin my credibility. It has gotten ugly and I have no idea why.
We also have missing historical documents. The Whaley's journals seem to be unaccounted for. I have researched this through the county who owns the house.
There also seems to be some disagreement on the historical accuracy of what is being presented at the house. My focus is the Whaley's themselves. They seem to be having a tough time with the changes and people thinking that it is the way it looked back then. According to the Whaley's and an historian who worked with the original group that saved the house it is not. So even the actual history is up to debate. This could be solved with the Whaley's Journals as they do spell out the way the house looked. Other than that it is a time comsuming process to go through the newspapers of the day to piece things together.
Thanks for the update and please keep me posted. Bonnie Vent San Diego Paranormal Research Project www.sdparanormal.com
Last Edited by sdparanormal on Jul 12, 2005 7:49 AM
Hi Bonnie, wow I didn't know all that was going on at the Whaley House. But I guess that's how they have to make their money with filming. $5 for an entrance fee always seemed so cheap to me to get to go inside. I guess that how they make up for the rest. About those jerky guys, it was because one of the guys was a total diva. He would hog up like the courtroom with a camera and bright light so people couldn't go in. It wasn't even professional film equipment. He was just acting like he was a big shot. I was going into the theater and he was in the face of one of the docent. I feel real bad if Whaleys get people like that every night.
I've only been on the geocities Whaley message board a few times. There was only one person there that really knew what they were talking about. The rest of the people had their own conversations. I like this one though :)
So the Whaleys don't like the new dining room? Maybe I felt it wrong. When I was there it seems very happy in the air and people were getting lots of orbs in their pictures. I thought it might have been the Whaleys enjoying the new room. How do you know when they're upset or not? Do they get mad at a specific person or just in general? Oh well, at least it looks better than the white walls in my opinion. Did the Whaleys ever say how their house was? That would be creepy...but cool.
That crew does seem over the top. I agree with you. It just makes it harder for the rest of us. I have no idea how he would have gotten past the front door unless he has paid to film there. My camera guy had one camera on a tripod and he was told to stay outside. He just followed me around on the entire Ghosts and Gravestones Tour. The Whaley House was just one stop. We did have authorization from Ghosts and Gravestones to film.
The Whaley's are not angry with one specific person. It is more of a frustration that they are being misrepresented. You know how you or I would feel when someone is talking about you all the time and they have not got their story straight. Thomas did not describe the house but he did tell me to get his journals. There do not seem to be any pictures of the inside of the house during the times that they lived there, but the journals are much like a diary. He journaled everyday. June Reading who help to save the house originally used these journals to decorate the house back in the 1960's. I have not seen them personally but I am in contact with someone who used to work with June Reading. He confirmed for me that he had seen and read these journals years ago and that they do describe the interior of the house. Anna had journals as well that would be invaluable to making the house as historically accurate as possible. These documents known as the "Whaley Papers" were donated to the County of San Diego in the 1960's when the house was turned into a museum. With the change of management in 2000/1 these documents are now unaccounted for. This is a huge loss. I also contacted a descendant of Anna Whaley to see what he might know about these papers. Not only did he not know anything about their loss he was asking about the Whaley Family Bible. He is researching his family tree and the family bible has all the births and deaths of his family members. He has received no response to his inquiries the last time I spoke with him. This bible did exist at one time I remember hearing about it. I am waiting for further information.
The increase in orbs could be due to dust particles in the air since the house is under renovation. Spirits in general tend to not like renovation. It is a bit of a trueism that renovations will cause an increase in paranormal activity. This is just an observation not hard fact.
Thanks for the questions! Bonnie Vent San Diego Paranormal Research Project www.sdparanormal.com
Hi all, just want to say that its all right to bring in video cameras at the Whaley house, you just cant bring in the big ones with tripod settings and stuff. If those guys had an unprofessional camera like SuperCat said, then they used false tactics to get in probably. Lots of people are real sneaky in this world, and they all want to get around rules and get everything for free. Those guys probably called and got told about a fee and just sniggled around to not have to pay it. Anyone who does that is low. And it messes up all the others enjoyment. I'm glad I wasnt there, I would have complained.
Anybody who does filming for something for tv or profit in certain kinds of locales knows that they have to set it all up ahead of time and then theres fees to pay and release forms for everybody who's in it, actors, extras whatever. Those guys if they sell what they shot and it goes publicly shown on tv or anything, better hope they didn't get anybody else in their shots who didn't give their consent to be on that show. I don't know all the laws but it seems to me those guys could get in a lot of trouble with the Whaley house. It always pays to be up front and honest about things like that, then everybodys happy! It's sad theres so many people who look for angles to get around doing whats right. It just messes it up for everybody.
The management of the house is very strict about this. It cost $1000 to film there and you have some paperwork to do as well.
I have no idea what happened in this case but I do know that you need the house as quiet as possible to pick up anything of importance. Trying to film when the house is crowded with people would not be the best use of one's time from a paranormal filming perspective.
Thanks, Bonnie Vent San Diego Paranormal Research Project www.sdparanormal.com
Hi Bonnie, thanks for the info again. That's real sad about the diaries and records. You had mentioned about orbs and dust particles. Could it be actually dust that people are getting in there pictures at not really ghosts? Sorry, I got confused.
It sure could. A lot of very natural things will cause orbs in photographs: Dust in the air or on the camera lense, moisture such as dew or rain on pictures taken outside and also light refraction. With all the glass and shiny surfaces you could be seeing camera flare from the flash of the camera reflecting off of a shiny surface. All of these things would have to be eliminated as the cause before you could even start to look for a paranormal reason.
Thanks, Bonnie Vent San Diego Paranormal Research Project www.sdparanormal.com
Last Edited by sdparanormal on Jul 14, 2005 4:39 PM
Hi there, that dining room wallpaper looks pretty flat green, but it does have gold metallic little crosses it looks like. They aren't super shiny but could they cause those spots, orbs? Theres nothing else shiny in the dining room except I think theres a mirror in there on the big cabinet.
The metallic would be shiny enough to reflect back when using the flash on your camera. This is the room that had an image appearing on the wall on a regular basis when the wall was white. It will be hard to tell which is which.
Thanks, Bonnie Vent San Diego Paranormal Research Project www.sdparanormal.com
Last Edited by sdparanormal on Jul 17, 2005 11:25 AM
