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The UFC and Spike TV are calling all Light Heavyweights, and Heavyweights to tryout for the 12th season of The Ultimate Fighter.  There will be an open casting call in Charlotte, North Caroline on April 1st at the Omni Charlotte Hotel.

Dane White will be present, and overseeing the tryout process along with Executive Producer Craig Piligian, Producer Jamie Campione, and Spike TV’s Senior Vice President of Sports and Specials, Brian Diamond.  You must meet the following criteria in order to apply:

• Must be at least 21 years of age to participate
• You will be grappling and hitting pads so dress appropriately, and bring the proper gear
• You MUST HAVE a professional fighting record consisting of at least three (3) fights

Click here to apply.

The TAPS team is back with their second investigation of the season.  Fort Ticonderoga is located in upstate New York and was home to several different military forces.  Many battles were won and lost, and thousands of lives were left for dead on the battlefield.  TAPS arrives at the location without Jason for this episode; he is away due to family matters.  The team is greeted by Christopher Fox, Curator of Collections, who then takes TAPS around to all the hotspots.  There have been several accounts of apparitions in the museum attic window, balls of light traveling through hallways, noises of footsteps, and several other accounts.  It’s going to be a very large investigation for the team so Chris let’s them go, and they are off to setting up their gear, and going lights out.

Christopher Fox briefs the TAPS crew.

Jason and Steve kick off the investigation in the Officers’ Quarters.  The place is full of old war weapons behind glass cases.  Steve tries his hand at speaking french.  It isn’t but a minute later that they begin to hear footsteps happening right above them.  Jason calls into the rest of the team to make sure no one is up above them – no one is.  Jason and Steve quickly hustle to the top floor to investigate the noise.  The upstairs portion of the Officers’ Quarters is completely empty.

Brit and Amy are deep in the Garrison Cemetery.  The cemetery is close to the outer perimeter of the fort.  All the graves are unmarked, and the number of bodies underneath remains a complete mystery.  There have been claims of full body apparitions walking around in the cemetery.  Amy and Brit are armed with an infrared camera and a couple audio devices to see if they can capture any sounds or movement just outside the tree line.  They are able to hear footsteps, and vocal sounds.  Amy points the infrared camera toward the tree line in hopes of capturing a visual image.  She has no luck at capturing anything on the infrared, but the sounds are inevitable.  The two note it as paranormal, and can only hope their audio devices picked up the same noises they heard out in the cemetery.

Jason & Steve witness a bright flash of light.

Jason and Steve are still in the Officers’ Quarters, but now they have moved into the attic area.  There have been claims of apparitions being seen in the windows from the outer courtyard.  While in the attic, Jason tries to pry any sound, movement, or sign of paranormal existence.  He physically asks for a sign, and moments later they get an answer.  Steve and Jason look to their right simultaneously when they see an entire room light up for just one second.  Tango calls in on walkie, and notes the light flash as well.  This is something completely out of the ordinary, especially with 2 separate teams accounting for the flash from different points of view.  Jason and Steve step into the room where the flash was seen, and they can’t seem to find a source.  With no explanation, and two teams witnessing the event, they mark it as paranormal activity.

Kris has Tango walk on the floors in effort to recreate the claimed sounds.

Kris and Tango are investigating the Soldiers’ Barracks where there are claims from Christopher Fox himself who once heard footsteps above him.  They decide to walk around a little bit and see if they can recreate the sounds coming from upstairs without actually being upstairs.  Tango finds a ramp just outside the barracks and makes his way down it.  Kris is spooked out by the sound – it sounds as though someone is walking around on the floor above her.  The discovery gives explanation to Chris Fox’s claim.

Jason and Steve are down in the Officers’ Quarters Casemate.  The area is a very long and echo-filled concrete chamber.  Steve analyzes the EMF reader and finds that numbers are jumping around just a little bit.  They hear a moan-like sound followed by an exhale, but they are unable to get another peep from the paranormal.  They can only hope that the evidence was captured on their digital recorders.

The teams switch themselves around a bit, and this time Steve and Tango are investigating the Soldiers’ Barracks together.  Steve begins to talk about his experience with a phantom smell just before the two of them hear of knocking or moaning type of sound.  They replay the audio right their in the room in hopes of discovering whether the sound was mechanical, or more human in quality.  They decide that the evidence sounds more like that of a person, and plan on further review during analysis.

Jason and Brit are on the 1st floor of the Officers’ Quarters with their new piece of equipment, a full spectrum camera, which captures in ultraviolet light.  The camera captures different patterns in a room that wouldn’t otherwise be captured.  Jason and Brit don’t capture anything of substance on the new camera, but they do hear some abnormal sounds.  It almost sounds as if someone is playing with the handle of the door in front of them, but no one is near the door.  The phenomenon is left unexplained.

Kris & Amy take a seat in the French Ovens.

Kris and Amy go under the barracks into what is known as the French Ovens.  The area isn’t like you would imagine, but simply a cave crisscrossed with support beams for the Barracks above.  The area is dark and damp, crawling with spiders and mosquitoes; not a very happy place for the two of them.  They take a seat on the ground and begin an EVP session.  Kris and Amy both try to poke a little at the hopeful paranormal by asking questions like why is the bread always burned.  They don’t manage to pick up any sounds while they are down there.

Brit and Amy finish off the night’s investigation in the Soldiers’ Barracks.  They begin an EVP session and suddenly Amy sees a dark shadow pass in her peripheral vision.  Suddenly they hear some sort of rhythmic tapping from right above them.  The sound was loud enough that it had to be captured on the audio devices.  Jason calls over on the walkie and calls it a night.  The team turns on the lights, and wrap up the equipment.

Steve & Tango finish the analysis on their own.

Steve and Tango manage to perform the analysis all on their own, and without Grant’s presence, Steve joins Jason for the reveal.  They sit down with Christopher, and share many of their personal experiences with Chris.  Steve and Jason bring up the bright light in the room that was also witnessed by Tango from a different perspective.  They get into the physical evidence, and show the many sounds that could not be explained through any forms of real world physics.  The tapping on the floor above is something that Christopher is really surprised by.  Jason ends by telling Christopher that many more investigations would have to take place to really capture the essence of the activity happening within the walls of Fort Ticonderoga, but that the place is indeed active with paranormal activity.

The episode ends with Jason and Steve driving away from the location and discussing the ghost hunt.  The team leaves another client happy with the final results and findings.  Christopher ends with welcoming the TAPS team back at any time.

You can also follow Pilgrim Films through Twitter and Facebook.

The Dirty Jobs Crew

You are not the only one suffering from unemployment.  The Dirty Jobs crew is too.  Mike takes us back with this episode into the past 5 years with Dirty Jobs and his crew, and also gets his crew work due to their 3 month hiatus.  Doug, lead camera gets a lighting job, Ryan moves from washing lenses to dishes, Dan, behind the scenes, packs food in a freezer, Chris Jones puts on a maid’s outfit, Troy becomes a bartender, Dave Barsky tries to conquer his fear of heights, and Greg the coordinator gets a foot rub from Mike Rowe himself.  Here are some photos from the show:

Mike gets Doug a job as a local lighting technician.

Dan once fell into the freezing Atlantic Ocean, Mike thought work in a freezer would suit him well.

Chris Jones once wore a diaper on TV. Why not a housekeeping uniform?

He can spit shine a lens so Mike gets Ryan Walsh a job as a dishwasher.

Troy always has an answer. Mike got him a job as a bartender.

Barsky is terrified of heights. Mike thought he could help him get over it. It didn't work out so well.

Greg the coordinator gets a foot rub from Mike Rowe himself. Mike escapes the awkwardness by having Greg wear a mask of Mike.

You can also follow Pilgrim Films through Twitter and Facebook.

The GHI Team

The Duran Sanitorium

The GHI team travels to Cartago, Costa Rica to investigate Duran Sanatorium.  The facility is managed by Mardy Ocamp Villalobos.  Although the facility still has electricity, it is out of use.  The walls are covered with graffiti and unusual paintings.  Duran Sanatorium has a dark history.  It was once a hospital for people with tuberculosis, a prison, and a women & children’s hospital.  It is also a paranormal hotspot among the locals in Cartago.  There have been many claims of full body apparitions, and the team is going to focus on really trying to capture visual evidence.

Ashley notes strange activity on the EMF Reader.

Ashley Godwin and Robb Demarest open the night’s investigation by conducting an EVP session in the Women & Children’s Hospital.  There have been several reports of shadows jumping from room to room.  Robb opens up his questions with a little spanish.  He sets an EMF reader on the floor which indicates the magnetic fields in the room.  While Ashley and Robb are asking questions the EMF reader reacts almost as if some force walked right by it.  Robb began to hear the sounds of someone or something rocking back and forth on the floor.  Although the evidence wasn’t jumping out as being paranormal it was definitely an interesting way to open up the evening’s investigation.

The abandoned home of Carlos Duran is also on the estate.  On the rooftop there has been claimed sightings of an apparition on the rooftop.  Brandy Green and Joe Chin are there to investigate.  The two conduct an EVP session and try to get evidence of the paranormal activity.  Brandy hears a pop sound near the audio recorder.  Almost as if someone tapped or flicked the recorder.  Brandy and Joe wrap up the EVP session and hope that some type of evidence was captured on tape.

Robb notes the clothing hanging on the interior of the church.

Paul Bradford and Barry Fitzgerald are inside investigating the church.  They began to take photos of the church in hopes of capturing some visual phenomenon.  Paul suddenly has an idea of what people might be seeing.  The claim is that people have witnessed shadows moving in the windows of the church.  The church is now abandoned, but it is being used as a laundry facility.  Inside there are lines of clothes hanging from wall to wall.  Paul suspects that if a window was left open the clothes would then blow a bit in the wind thus causing some shadow play in the front windows of the church.  They test Paul’s theory, and come to the conclusion that this is probably what is going.

Joe investigates a room with strange paintings on the walls.

Joe and Brandy have moved on to investigate the administration building.  There have been claims of a woman in blue walking around, and then suddenly vanishing.  The two start an EVP session and it isn’t long before Brandy begins to hear a woman’s voice.  The two begin to walk around and investigate and suddenly they hear a footstep.  They step into a room where they heard the footstep.  The walls are covered in odd paintings.  The paintings begin to give Joe the chills, and Brandy wraps up the investigation in the building.

Just before the investigation wraps up Barry and Paul travel throughout the facility taking pictures of the outside.  They take a ton of photographs and hope that even the slightest imperfections will begin to show up.  Robb chimes in over the walkie and calls it a wrap.  The team will have to conduct a thorough analysis of all the evidence to see if they captured anything.

GHI sits down with Mardy to discuss the evidence.

The team finds some very compelling evidence during analysis.  Robb and Barry arrive to reveal their findings to Mardy.  They open up with the audible evidence.  While Brandy was asking a question she managed to capture the sound of a ghost saying “help” in a very low whisper.  This is compelling, but the team really went out in hopes of capturing some visual phenomenon.  Barry pulls out several photos to show Mardy.  The photos are the strongest piece of evidence that the team has received so far.  The first set of photos peak into the second floor windows of the Women & Children’s Hospital.  There is a set of photos that were taken a couple moments apart from one another.  In one photo there is a white piece of light that is present.  Just moments later the next photo shows nothing at all.  This begins to give Mardy the chills.  Team GHI has more evidence though.  There is claims of spirits walking on the grounds of the sanitorium.  Barry pulls out another photo of an unknown entity walking through the photo.  One final photo even shows a little girl sitting on the steps of a building.  The photos are some that partially frighten Mardy.  Robb tells her that the entities don’t seem to be troubled, and there isn’t anything that she should be afraid of.  Mardy smiles in complete shock of what she has just seen.  The investigation proves to be one of GHI’s best.  It’s definitely for the record books.

GHI arrives at Rose Hall Great House in Jamaica.

This week’s episode doesn’t stop there though.  The team moves onward to beautiful Montego Bay, Jamaica where there is a world famous haunted location known as Rose Hall Great House.  The location is one that is believed to be haunted by a woman by the name of Annie Palmer.  Annie was the widow of the man who built Rose Hall.  She was a practioner of voodoo and other dark sorcery.  She was known as the white witch among all her slaves on the plantation.  She was known for casting spells on her slaves, and she even had a dungeon under the house where she placed slaves that she could not control.

Joe investigates the bar in the dungeon.

Joe and Brandy conduct the nights investigation in the dungeon where there is now a full bar for tourists.  It is said that the bottle moves on their own and hit one another.  The two conduct an EVP to see if they can get the bottles to react while they are in the room.  Brandy hears the sound of fabric rubbing up against something.  Joe asks, “could an animal have been in here and rubbed the fabric?”  It’s one of those things that they will have to further investigate in analysis.

Barry conducts an EVP alone in the library.

Rose Hall is commonly known for haunting pictures that have been taken by tourists themselves.  Because of this Barry and Paul decide to take photos of the entire area in hopes of capturing something paranormal.  While Barry is taking photos in the library he begins to smell the scent of tobacco.  The scent is so strong that he decides to conduct an EVP.  He begins to ask questions about Annie Palmer and suddenly the scent goes away.  He asks the entity if it is upset by the mention of Annie Palmer.  A sound occurs in response.  Almost as if someone dropped a tennis ball on the floor of the library.  The happenings were unusual, but he hopes that some piece of evidence is captured on his audio recorder.

Ashley sits in Annie Palmer sewing room.

The last segment of the investigation is with Robb and Ashley conducting an EVP session in Annie Hall’s bedroom and sewing room.  Ashley suddenly smells a hint of floral perfume in the room, and Robb hears a woman’s voice.  The EMF reader suddenly jumps up as if some activity is in the room.  All these occurrences are noted and will have to be further reviewed during analysis.  Robb calls it a night and the team returns to the hotel to review the evidence.

Robb and Barry sit down to discuss the evidence with Kathy Marley.  Kathy is the property manager for the estate, and a firm believer that it is in fact haunted.  Barry talks about the smells that both Ashley and he smelled during the nights investigation.  Although there is no instrument to record the moments, Barry did note it as being something that was abnormal.  Robb discusses some of the photographic claims that Kathy presented to the team.  Kathy was kind enough to provide some photos with the team so that they could try and recreate those angles.  One photo is debunked as the flash reflecting off the headboard of the bed.  The other is of Annie’s mirror where it is said that a face has appeared in the mirror itself.  Robb debunks this photo as a reflection of a flower vase reflecting in the mirror.  When Kathy disbelieves Robb’s claims, he kindly walks her upstairs and shows her exactly what angle creates the reflection of the vase that closely resembles a face.  The final piece of evidence the team shows is of a rat walking in between the bottles on the bar in the dungeon.  Robb concludes that the clinking sounds were probably caused by the rodent infestation.  At the end of this investigation the team was unable to deem Rose Hall as haunted, but Kathy manages to hang onto her beliefs with or without the expert opinion of Ghost Hunters International.

GHI sits down with Kathy to reveal the evidence.

You can also follow Pilgrim Films through Twitter and Facebook.

You can also follow Pilgrim Films through Twitter and Facebook.

Swamp Loggers

It’s a perfect day for logging in North Carolina.  The sun is shining, the swamp’s water level is under control, everybody is working, and loads are being moved to the mill.  The loggers are still on quota with the mill, but work seems to be steady.  It’s a good day for Bobby Goodson and his team of loggers, but good times don’t last forever.

Simitrio talks with Justin about leaving for a week.

Simitrio, Bobby’s only cutter and one of the best in the business, reports to Justin Goodson that he has to take off for a week.  His parents are in Mexico, and he has to handle some family matters down there that cannot be rescheduled.  Simitrio’s absence comes at a bad time.  Being that he is the team’s only cutter, he has to work ahead of the team to prepare work for them while he is gone.  Simitrio has worked for Bobby for 22 years, and has never taken a day off.  Bobby quickly becomes aware of Simitrio’s value to his company.

Bobby receives the bad news that he's being moved to Tract 421.

The Corbett team is out at Bobby’s tract to check in and see how things are going.  Corbett is the company the company that hires Goodson’s All Terrain Logging.  Besides Simitrio’s plans to leave, Bobby and the team seem to be pushing on well.  John Deans, Corbett’s Land Manager, is chatting with Bobby before his phone rings; it’s Mr. Corbett himself.  John receives word that he is going to have to move Bobby’s outfit to one of the worst tracts in the area, tract 421.

Simitrio cuts on Tract 421 alone.

Tract 421 is notorious for being the worst swampland in the area.  The land is soft, and the tractors are at high risk of getting stuck in the swamp.   With no time to waste Simitrio’s cutter is loaded up on a semi-truck and moved over to the tract.  Bobby Goodson’s team is the only team in the area that will even dare to take this tract on.  The terrain itself usually cuts their production from a usual 20 loads a day, and down to 12.  Simitrio will work the swamp alone for the entire week while he tries to work ahead and leave the rest of the team with work to do.  Bobby can’t replace Simitrio in terrain like this; it takes a cutter of high caliber to work this tract, and Simitrio is probably the only one in the business who can do it.

Bobby takes advantage of his time off, and goes bowling.

Bad luck continues to claw at the loggers.  Back at the Beaver Tract the rain begins to flood the swamp.  The trucks continue to get stuck, and the weather has brought the tractors to a halt.  With the bad weather comes days off.  In Lori Goodson’s mind that’s not a bad thing; she gets to spend time with her loving husband.  Bobby even calls it one of the perks of the bad weather; he is all suited up for work anyway.  Lori questions why, and Bobby tells her that Simitrio is out cutting on tract 421 all alone.  He has to go out and check on him to make sure he’s doing good.  It’s this effort that makes him such a great boss to work for.  Lori was hoping the family could take advantage of the day off, and go bowling.  After Bobby gets back he puts on his good shirt, and the two go bowling with Bobby’s brother and wife.  His profits might be washing away with the rain, but he manages to finish the bowling game with a win.

The rain keeps the swamps flooded, and Bobby's equipment in danger.

It’s Monday morning, and the team of loggers are anxious to get back to work.  The time off has hurt them all, and with the rain gone it’s time to clear out the Beaver tract before Corbett sends them to tract 421.  With the spirits up high, the Beaver tract gets cleaned up quickly.  The swamp slowly begins to flood, and Bobby watches his machinery roll through water that continues to get deeper throughout the day.  The whole land is so flooded that Bobby’s team is really the only loggers that are working at the time.  The company proudly holds it’s name as Goodson’s All Terrain Logging.  They can log on any terrain imaginable.

It’s a dreadful day for Bobby Goodson.  It’s time to move the team to Tract 421.  The move itself costs around $6,000.00, and causes log production to completely stop.  It’s a day that Bobby never enjoys, but they get to work.  The loggers begin to load their tractors onto the low-boy and off they go.  Bobby asks where Dave is.  Dave Mueller hates to load his loader(tractor) onto the low-boy.  A few weeks ago his tractor was teetering on the low-boy and since then it has instilled fear in him.  Dave is back in the swamp stalling in hopes that someone else will load up his loader.

With Bobby's help, Dave conquers his fear of loading his loader.

Dave slowly comes down the road in the loader, and Bobby is going to instruct him through the process.  On Bobby’s suggestions, Dave puts the loader into low gear, and slowly climbs up onto the low-boy.  When the loader climbs half way up the low-boy, Dave begins to extend his boom out, and suddenly the heavy machine slowly teeters onto the back of the low-boy.  With Bobby’s suggestions, this time Dave manages to overcome his fear of loading his loader, and off the team goes to tract 421.

Goodson's All Terrain logging takes on Tract 421.

The episode ends in montage as they arrive at the tract.  Bobby has the faith that his team can get the job done.  The terrain will be wet, and the conditions are never perfect, but Goodson’s All Terrain Logging always finds a way to get the job done.

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American Chopper

OCC meets with Kobalt Tools.

Kobalt, the tool brand, has approached Paul Sr.’s Orange County Choppers to design a bike around their brand.  It’s like kids in a candy store for the entire team, and Paul Sr. even jokes by saying, “We don’t even get this excited when their is a pretty woman in the shop.”  Kobalt came well prepared in comparison to the brands that OCC is used to dealing with.  They came with designs.  It looks like the teams lead designer, Jason, will be standing on the sidelines for this one.  With the design finished, the process has now been streamlined to to fabrication.

The team rolls in a brand new Kobalt toolbox to get started on the build.  The toolbox itself has a radio inside, and even a mini-fridge to keep your beers cold.

Rick checks out the Kobalt Toolbox Mini-Fridge

Paul Sr. heads out to Kansas City, KS to check out the first ever Orange County Chopper themed restaurant, Backfire BBQ.  The slogan is “Bikes, Burgers, & BBQ.”  Some time ago Orange County Chopper partnered with Steve Schussler of Schussler Creative to design, and implement a restaurant surrounding their brand.  The partnership started when Paul Jr. and Mikey were in the shop.  It is now time for the grand opening.  Paul Jr. and Mikey don’t show up to the premiere of the new restaurant, but Paul Sr. is there, just as excited as Steve Schussler; well maybe.  Steve is a very eccentric type, and the amount of energy he has for the restaurant industry is something that parallels Paul Sr.’s enthusiasm for custom Choppers.  Paul Sr. expresses how unfortunate he feels for Mikey and Paul Jr. not being around for the grand opening.

Paul Sr. arrives in Kasas City, KS for the opening of his restaurant.

Back at the shop fabrication continues.  Rick and Mike are tag teaming the bike.  Mike is working on the rear end while Rick works on the tank and the exhaust.  Mike is having a bit of trouble imagining how it’s going to work, but once he starts cutting it all becomes very clear to him.  Rick works heavily on the tank, and focuses most of his day on shaping the metal for the bike.  The day is close to wrapping up, and the two go over to the mini-fridge in the toolbox to see if the beers got cold.  Mike refers to Kobalt’s success as he pulls a beer out, “It looks like they got it right.”  The two sip a cold beer before exiting for the evening.

Paul Jr. and Rachael make their big announcement.

Paul Jr. and Rachael are at Il Cenacolo in Newburgh, NY to make a big announcement to both of their families.  Mikey wasn’t able to make it because he went on vacation, but most of Paul Jr.’s family is present.  His father, Paul Sr., is not there, but his grandparents are.  Rachael, and her family are all present.  Paul Jr. stands up with Rachael and makes the announcement that the two are engaged to be married.  Paul Jr. mentions the unfortunate situation that he and his Father are in, but is excited about moving forward, and starting a new life with Rachael.

Paul Sr. discusses the times before he was sober with his employees.

In the shop, Paul Sr. is celebrating his 25th year of being sober.  He isn’t necessarily doing anything big for the day, but he did stop to tell his employees about the struggle to soberness.  Everyone he once partied with back in the day are now dead because of alcohol, and he feels lucky to still be around.  He feels that being sober for 25 years has been the most important life accomplishment yet.  Even over being a top tier Chopper manufacturer.

Mikey practices his boxing on a bag of frozen chicken.

Paul Jr., Mikey, and Rachael have decided to do some good deeds for the holiday season.  They are at the Hudson Valley Food Bank where they are volunteering their help for a day.  The organization is led by Jan Whitman.  She keeps referring to the group as the Orange County Chopper guys.  Mikey keeps throwing little phrases in their to remind her of their disassociation.  They spend a great portion of their day in warm suits as they bounce in and out of the large freezer, and over to the loading dock.  Mikey feels like Rocky, and Paul Jr. is holding up the frozen food for Mikey to hit.  The two are able to bond and do good all in the same day.

Back at the shop Mike is bonding with a new coworker.  His name is Carl.  Carl the Dummy.  Carl is the non-talkative type, and he really doesn’t do too much either.  Mike decided to dress up a dummy in the shop to give him someone to talk to.  Mike is notorious to speaking to himself so Rick feels like it’s good for him.

Paul Sr. is home for Thanksgiving.  His wife, Beth, and her 2 boys are in the house to share the holiday.  Paul Sr. brings the boys out to help him in the garage, meanwhile his wife continues to cook turkey dinner in the kitchen.  Paul Sr. says that it isn’t often that he gets a helping hand on a project.  Even when Paul Jr. was younger it was difficult for him to get help on a home project.  Paul Jr. was off hunting, and doing other things.  Beth wishes the reconciliation would happen between Paul Sr. and his sons, and even more hopeful to share the holidays with them the following year.  Until then it will be Paul Sr., Beth, her two sons, and the barking dogs begging for food.

The installed airbag sends Carl the Dummy into the air.

Fabrication continues on in the shop, but the team has decided to play a prank on Paul Sr.  They installed an airbag beneath Carl while Paul Sr. was at lunch.  The installation should send Carl the Dummy flying out of his seat.  When Paul Sr. gets back from lunch they ask him for a helping hand.  He comes out, and Mike begins to bring Carl into the conversation.  Boom!  Suddenly Carl the Dummy goes flying out of his seat.  The team laughs, and Paul Sr. mentions that it was a good one.  The pranks don’t stop there though.  Carl Jr. is dressed up in a mechanic set of overalls and a helmet.  They strip the clothing off of him and dress up one of the employees, and have him sit where Carl was sitting.  A few hours; Mike and Rick ask for Paul Sr.’s help.  Mike asks Paul Sr. to go grab a tool out of Carl’s hand and he doesn’t even hesitate.  Suddenly Carl comes alive and Paul Sr. is a bit startled.  The team laughs again, and Paul Sr. leaves with saying the words, “I will get these guys back.  Maybe not today, but someday.”  The shop may have lost a bit of money with all the horseplay, but it was well worth lifting the morale up in the office.

Mikey and Pual Jr. reminisce on the kitchen floor of their old house.

Mikey is preparing to sell the house that he bought from his mother sometime ago.  The house holds a great sentimental value to him, and it is going to be difficult to leave behind.  Mikey invites Paul Jr. over to give him a helping hand. He arrives and Mikey is on the kitchen floor pretending to make snow angels.  He asks Paul Jr. to join him on the floor.  The two sit their and Mikey begins to meditate before Paul Jr. says lets get started.  Mikey brings him around the house and shares old memories with him.  The two reminisce and Mikey is now much more prepared to sell the house.

It’s time to assemble the Kobalt bike and all hands are on deck.  The bike features a square exhaust which is something new for the team.  They also have two different paints on the bike.  A really vibrant and saturated blue with black accents.  All of it is glossy.  The bike itself is intricate in design as usual.  It features many of the elements that are implemented in the Kobalt tools, and this attention to detail is where Orange County Choppers get their name.  Paul Sr. takes it out for a test ride before the reveal, and loves the way the square exhaust sounds.  The bike feels comfortable, and he gives it his final signature of approval before unveiling it at the Lowe’s store down the street.

Paul Sr. unveils the Kobalt bike.

It is very rare for the unveils to happen so close to home.  It’s one of the only times where the team is able to join Paul Sr. for the unveil.  Jim, OCC’s engineer introduces the bike, and gets Kobalt and the Lowe’s employees all pumped up before Paul Sr. cruises down the store aisle.  It’s another success for OCC as the team keeps pressing the envelope in custom Chopper design.

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GHI approaches San Lucas Prison by boat.

This week the GHI team travels to Costa Rica to investigate San Lucas Prison.  In what is said to be the equivalent of Alcatraz, San Lucas Prison sits atop the area’s largest island just outside of Costa Rica.  The prison is now abandoned and tours are managed by Craig Lapsley.  Craig has a boat that transports tourists an hour into the pacific before docking on the island.  The GHI team meets with Craig to discover the hotspots.

Craig Lapsley brings GHI on a tour of the prison.

Craig brings the team to several points of interest along the tour.  With the lack of electricity, and a thunderstorm on it’s way the investigation proves to be quite the technical challenge.  The island is huge, and the equipment is sparse.  Craig completes the tour as a skeptic and leaves it up to GHI to bring back convincing evidence that San Lucas Prison is haunted.

Robb Demarest investigate with his thermal device in hand.

The night literally starts with a bang.  The sky lights up and roars above the team.  Robb and Barry start with a thermal sweep of the entire area.  While they are going around with the thermal camera, Barry sees something from the corner of his eye.  He is a bit startled and turns to see that nothing is there.  He describes it as a dark mass that traveled low to the ground toward the locked cell.  He looks toward the ground and nothing is there.  It would have been impossible for it to be a pig or a rodent because there is no way it could have passed through the jail bars.  They point the thermal camera into the cell and don’t see any heat signatures.  If it was a rodent or a pig this heat would be apparent in the thermal camera.

The Engine Room at San Lucas Prison in Costa Rica.

Brandy Green and Paul Bradford walk over to the engine room to record an EVP session.  There have been reports of full body apparitions, voices, footsteps, and even the broken engine turning on.  Brandy and Paul set up recorders and cameras and begin their investigation.  Brandy starts by asking if any of the inmates are still here.  Paul notes a definite heaviness in the area, and even says that he got the chills.  Brandy is on the other side of the room snapping photos when she hears what she believes to be footsteps.  She alerts Paul of the noise, and the two can only hope that it was recorded on their audio devices.

Ashley Godwin reports to hearing voices and footsteps.

Barry and Ashley are in the main courtyard of the prison.  In the center there is a raised circle that was once known as the torture circle.  It is said that prisoners were brought onto this circle and tortured in front of all the other prisoners.  Ashley walks to the center of the circle while Barry stays along the outer perimeter and asks the spirits to come forward.  The two both claim to hear footsteps and other sounds around the area during the EVP session.  They walk toward the torture cell where they believe to be hearing the majority of the sounds.  There is a story that a nurse was murdered and raped in this cell.  On the wall is a painting that is believed to be the nurse.  They walk into the cell and try to find the source of all the audio they were hearing.  They find nothing.

Robb hears a sound that peaks Joe's interest.

Joe and Robb move into the dispensary to investigate.  This is an area where many female voices have been heard.  The dispensary is where the prison nurse worked, and was allegedly murdered.  Robb begins asking questions in both spanish and english.  Joe thoroughly sweeps the area with a camera.  The two hear what sounds like a “Psst!”  They try to provoke the spirit into providing more signs of their presence.  Robb suddenly sees a white form go across the room and hide behind Joe.  They try to recreate the white form to see if it could have been a reflection, but they have no luck.  They note it as possibly paranormal.

After Joe and Robb leave, Paul and Brandy step in to continue the investigation in the dispensary.  Paul asks the spirits to give a sign.  Brandy hears something in one side of the room while Paul hears a footstep on the other end.  The two ask again if somebody is in the room.  Brandy believes that she has heard a woman.  The two continue to ask questions, and the sounds run dry.  While in the room they manage to hear footsteps and voices, and know that they are going to have to go through the evidence thoroughly during analysis.

Robb and Joe investigate the slaughterhouse.

Robb and Joe are now out at the slaughterhouse.  There are several stories of murders taking place in this area, and that is always a good place to start a paranormal investigation.  The slaughterhouse is locked so the two ask questions from the outside.  They ask the spirits inside to open up the door, and immediately the doors begin to shake.  They peep their cameras inside through the bars to see if the sound could have come from another place.  There seems to be nothing locked inside.  The incident is strong enough evidence to continue on the night’s investigation.  They ask a few more questions to see if they can get the same response, but they leave with no other sounds taking place.  They decide to move on toward the church.

Joe and Robb investigate the church at 3:21AM.

Joe and Robb head into the church where the priest is said to have been murdered.  They immediately hear a big bang outside the church, and Robb darts outside to check it out.  They don’t find a source of the large banging sound, but they do hear a female voice before they leave the location for the evening.

Ashley and Barry are on their way to investigate the holding cells of the prison.  They begin to step inside before Ashley becomes aware of the bat infestation.  Barry is trying to provoke Ashley to go inside the room, but then Robb calls it a night over the radio.  The team packs it up and prepares for analysis.

Joe and Robb reveal the evidence to Craig Lapsley.

The teams picks out many instances of voices and footsteps before presenting the evidence to Craig.  During the reveal Robb and Barry both speak of the things that they saw and present some really convincing audio bites to Craig; a couple of which match some of the stories that Craig has heard.  One of them was an audio bite of a man asking for water in spanish, “Agua.”  Craig then reveals the story of an occasion of a visitor who once heard a voice of a man asking for water.

This evidence seems to be enough to convince GHI that the location is in fact haunted.  Craig, although once a skeptic, believes the same at the end of the day.  San Lucas still remains open for tourism, and is said to not be dangerous for tourists, but if you’re ever on the island overnight, don’t be surprised if you see, hear, or feel anything out of the ordinary.

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Dirty Jobs

Mike holds a handful of bone black substance.

Mike Rowe may have found his dirtiest job yet.  Today he will work at a bone black factory.  Bone black was traditionally used to make ink, water purifying filters, and many other applications.  Today it is used in some paint and lacquers, and was recently FDA approved to color womens eye make up.  Ebonex is a family-owned company that has been passed down through generations.  It is run by Jeff Booms, an heir of the factory, and one other employee they call Junior.  The episode opens up with Mike outside the factory in a pristine white shirt.  We’ll see how long it takes him to get dirty.

Mike discusses the day with the only two employees.

With only two guys running the entire factory there is a lot that needs to be done, and they definitely take advantage of the extra set of hands.  Mike gets to work almost immediately.  He is taken up a set of stairs to the top of an old piece of machinery.  At the top there is a stack of white bags.  Within each bag is a black sand-like substance.  That substance is burned-up cow bones.  The whole process involves sending this material through a mill that then crushes the substance into a finer quality substance.  It’s like taking sand, and turning it into baby powder.  After the sand-like bone takes a ride through the mill it is then dumped out into a box which is down a set of stairs.

Mike shovels raw black bone powder into the mill.

In a booming economy you could imagine another employee being at the bottom and then transporting the box to the next phase, but with only 2 employees, it will be up to Mike to go down the stairs and swap out the full box with an empty one – every 20 minutes.  Mike gets the hang of it. Up the stairs, and down the stairs.  It’s an hour later, he’s huffing and puffing, and his once pristine white shirt is now colored black.  To think that somebody does that for eight hours a day!

Mike removes all the socks from the dust collector.

Jeff hands Mike over to his employee Junior to discover the second dirtiest job at the plant.  It’s time for Mike to switch out the socks inside the dust collector.  The dust collector sucks up all the floating particles inside the factory, and sends them into a box for packaging.  Every now and then a tube, also know as a sock, rips or comes loose.  This area is checked every six months and today is Mike’s lucky day.  Junior opens up the dust collector to reveal the socks; a set of 120 tubes strapped to the roof of the machine.  Mike climbs in and begins to remove one sock at a time.  He finds a loose one and thinks that’s the end of the job.  Junior reminds him that all of them have to be checked.  To make matters worse, Mike drops his flashlight into the machine.

Mike smiles in his dirtiest moments.

Time passes and Mike has finally removed all the socks from the dust collector.  He asks Junior if he can come out of the machine.  The reply, “No, you have to get your flashlight first.”  Mike crawls deep into the dust collector and digs his hands around in the baby-powder black substance for his flashlight.  It’s nowhere to be found.  In fact, it’s not in there at all.  It fell down onto the factory floor.  Mike gets out completely covered in bone black.  He is so dirty that Junior even compliments Mike on his beautiful white smile.  Mike politely replies with a big white grin, and steps out of the dust collector safely.

Mikes hits the hopper until the black bone powder is all cleared out.

It’s time for the hoppers to be cleared out.  Junior straps up a hopper to the forklift and sends it to a platform up above.  Mike and Junior meet up top and they place the hopper above a small hole.  Junior demonstrates how to clean a hopper by hitting it with a soft palette hammer.  As he hits it, the powder slowly exits the hopper like sand through a funnel.  Once it is cleaned, Junior sends up another.  Mike seems to enjoy this particular job.  It’s not often that you’re handed a hammer and told to hit something as hard as you can.  I’m sure he’s going to be sore tomorrow.

Junior and Mike head to the bottom of the factory and turn the mixer on.  The substance that fell out of the hopper is mixed, and Junior takes a sample.  The sample is then tested behind closed doors.  Mike is the only one allowed back there.

Mike goes behind closed doors to see how the product is tested.

The tests continue until the consistency matches a sellable product.  When the product is perfect, it is bagged, and shipped out to it’s customers at $80.00 a bag.  Mike learns the bagging process, meets the owner, and tries his best to box one of the bags for shipment.  He fails at everything, but meeting the owner.  After a hard days work he’s paid in bone black.  He walks off dirty as ever with a bag of the premium bone black slung over his shoulder.

Mike sits down with the twins to go over the dirtiest jobs.

Mike sits down with two 67 year old twins to discuss his dirtiest jobs ever.  The episode finishes with their list of 5, and Mike signs off asking viewers to send in new ideas for Mike and Dirty Jobs.

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