But early exposure is not so uncommon. Who’s to blame? Well, there’s a pretty apt quote from a 1970 Pogo cartoon: “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

The “us” are parents. A few weeks ago, I put a question out to hundreds of mothers on a local list-serv asking for anecdotes about the first time they heard their children use inappropriate words.

Many responses were similar to mom Julia Gordon of Silver Spring, Md. She was in her car, in a hurry and trying to park.

“The parking lot was crazy,” says Gordon, a lawyer and mother of a four-year-old daughter. When someone sped into a parking space she had been waiting for, Gordon said under her breath, “He totally screwed me.”

And a few minutes later, she heard her daughter parrot back the same phrase.

“I have to admit I did laugh at first,” says Gordon. “Then I immediately stopped and told her, ‘We don’t say that word!’”

The Worst Swear Word of All

Psychologists say it’s no surprise that children mimic words and phrases.

“That’s just language learning. These words have no special status as taboo words,” says Paul Bloom, Ph.D., of Yale University. “Learning they’re taboo words is a later step.”

Bloom explains that children are using words to communicate instinctively. They don’t yet have the judgment to take a step back and think about whether a word is appropriate for a given situation.

Bloom remembers one day when his son Max, then 6, came home from school.

Max asked in a hushed voice: “Dad, do you know what the worst swear word of all is?”

His son then went on to explain that “damn” must be the worst. When Bloom asked why, his son said, “I listen to my babysitter talk on the phone, and she uses the ‘f’ word, and the ’s’ word, but she never says ‘damn!’”

A study by the Parents Television Council found that about once an hour children watching popular children’s networks will hear mild curse words such as “stupid,” “loser” and “butt.” The scope and frequency can rise immeasurably with exposure to adult programs and popular music.

Lessons from the Playground

As an experiment with his children, Bloom and his wife tried their hand at creating their own family curse words.

“So one of them was ‘flep,’” says Bloom. Whenever someone would bang their foot or hurt their toe, they’d scream “flep” as if it were an obscenity.

The experiment was very short-lived.

“It was a total failure,” says Bloom. “The children looked at us as if we were crazy.”

The story gives one of Bloom’s mentors, Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, a chuckle.

“Children are far more influenced by peers,” says Pinker. “That’s why kids of immigrants end up with the accent of their peer group rather than their parents.”

Particularly once they’ve entered elementary school.

When it comes to choosing words, our society has a bent toward novelty. Pinker explains we’re forever coming up with new ways to express that things are “good” or “bad.” He says there’s always a little “semantic inflation” going on.

For instance, if members of Generation X hear a song they like, they may say, “It’s awesome.” A teen of today may say, “It’s bitchin’.” If the song is lousy, they may say, “It sucks.”

“When I was a kid and you said something sucks,” says Pinker, “it was pretty clear what sexual act they were referring back to.” But today kids have no idea. The term is just part of their common language.

Perception Is Everything

Frequent use, over time, has stripped away the original connotation. Pinker says the evolution of “sucks” is similar to that of “jerk” or “sucker.”

“There is an assumption that ’sucks’ was a reference to oral sex,” explains Jesse Sheidlower, editor-at-large of the Oxford English Dictionary. Some scholars debate this, but Sheidlower says perception is what matters.

“Suck” may sound edgy or obnoxious to middle-aged ears, but parents may be at a loss to explain why it’s a bad word, especially to an 8- or 9-year-old. “It brings up a conversation you might not want to have right now,” says Sheidlower.

Not everyone’s on the same page about what constitutes offensive language. The boundaries of what’s acceptable vary from community to community and family to family.

Setting Boundaries

Some moms listen for attitude and intention in their children’s words. Chevy Chase, Md., resident Sarah Pekkanen is the mother of two boys, ages 6 and 8, and she has found her dividing line.

“I would be much quicker to jump on my kid for saying an unkind thing,” says Pekkanen, “even if he used perfect language to do so.”

Pekkanen says a borderline phrase like, “it sucks,” isn’t as offensive if it’s not intended to insult anyone.

A clear message about respect may be more fruitful than trying to police every word. By the time kids enter the teen world, swearing is almost a rite-of-passage.

“It’s hard sometimes,” says pediatrician Monika Walters. “As parents, you worry that they’re going to grow up and be vagrants or a menace to society.”

When parents like this come to see her or pull her aside after an office appointment, worried about vulgar words they spotted in their teens’ text messages, she asks them to remember how they talked when they were 15.

Walters says if offensive language is part of a pattern of aggressive behavior, there’s a problem. But in most cases, it’s just the way teens salt their language.

“Obscenity is a sure ticket to adulthood,” says Paul Bloom.

Or at least a way for teenagers to perceive that they sound older.

Bloom says he doesn’t want to control the words his children choose to use with their friends. “That’s part of growing up,” he says.

Another part of growing up is knowing how to speak with adults and in formal situations. “So we’d like our children to grow up knowing when it’s appropriate to use these words,” Bloom says.

As most parents come to recognize, teaching good judgment is not a one-time event; it’s a process.

I know that all that chopping and cooking feels like a drag, but it’s easier than you think to work in five cups of the fresh stuff a day.

At breakfast, have a fruit “smush” made with a medley of fresh berries and yogurt (the lean protein fills me up). Then, at lunch, have a great big salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, peas or whatever your favorite veggies are. Add grilled chicken or another lean protein to hold off afternoon hunger.

Start dinner with a veggie-packed soup, like minestrone, and make a side dish that you love (I’m a big fan of steamed spinach with a little salt). I also love ratatouille (especially in summer), but if you don’t have time for that, heat up some frozen veggies and sprinkle them with Parmesan or lemon juice for an easy, delicious, healthy side. My favorite brand of frozen veggies is from Cascadian Farm.

Or consider making a whole meal out of veggies! Check out these great vegetarian dishes from a recent issue of SELF. I guarantee that the eggplant cannelloni will be a hit at the dinner table tonight.

What comes out of a car’s tailpipe is just as important as what goes into the fuel tank.

Fuel economy gets lots of play because of rising fuel costs, but exhaust emissions from motor vehicles have a huge impact on the planet and people’s health.

Internal combustion engines emit a host of harmful gases as a result of burning fossil fuels like gasoline, diesel, and ethanol. These highly toxic smog-forming emissions include carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, and other particulate matter that create the dark smoke seen billowing from diesel trucks and the gray haze hanging over large cities.

In addition to those pollutants, which are harmful to human health, vehicles also emit what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calls “greenhouse gases,” with carbon dioxide (CO2) being the main offender. Motor vehicles are the largest source of CO2 emissions, accounting for 51 percent of total emissions, according to the EPA.

Burning one gallon of gasoline emits 20 pounds of CO2.

CO2 and other greenhouse gases aren’t as immediately harmful to plants and animals, but scientists believe that they are causing global climate change as they collect in the earth’s atmosphere.

We have assembled a list of luxury and non-luxury vehicles that emit the fewest pollutants according to the EPA.

Hybrids fare well in both rankings. Three Lexus hybrids top our list of luxury vehicles that pollute the least.

But with hybrids often costing more than their conventional counterparts, is it worth it to shell out extra green to get a greener car?

At least 1,049 people think so.

That’s how many affluent motorists took delivery of the $104,000 Lexus LS 600h L sedan in 2007. This model is the most expensive hybrid available and ranks third on our list of the 10 least-polluting luxury vehicles, behind two other hybrid Lexus models, the GS 450h sedan and RX 400h SUV, which grab second and first place, respectively.

The large and ostentatious Lexus LS 600h L, with its potent V8 engine and electric-motor powertrain, certainly isn’t a poster child for eco-friendliness. Especially considering that it averages only 2 miles per gallon better than the conventionally powered LS 460, which gets an estimated 19 mpg overall.

“Lexus hybrid buyers are very interested in comparative fuel economy and emissions, but they are not willing to sacrifice performance or luxury,” says Greg Thome, Lexus’ communications administrator. “We’re appealing to a buyer that, in many cases, might not have seriously considered a hybrid in the past — we’re finding that LS 600h L buyers are cross shopping $100,000 models from Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi.”

None of the competing sedans from other luxury automakers are currently offered as hybrids, but that’s about to change. Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche have all announced plans to unveil hybrids, some as soon as 2009.

For now, though, Lexus is the only one offering luxury hybrids, and that’s why it took the top three spots in our list of luxury vehicles that pollute the least.

Looking at tailpipe emissions alone, hybrids have a clear and immediate advantage. The hybrid LS 600h L emits 70 percent fewer pollutants than the gasoline-only LS 460, and 90 percent fewer pollutants than similarly powered sedans from BMW and Mercedes-Benz, according to Lexus.

The main reason hybrids are so superior to conventional combustion engines when it comes to polluting is that a hybrid can automatically shut down their combustion engines in stop-and-go traffic when they’re at their least efficient and polluting the most. Some can even drive at low speeds using only battery power.

For those who shun hybrids, there are certain things to look for in conventionally powered vehicles that can dramatically reduce emissions — smaller, more efficient combustion engines, for one.

After the hybrids, cars with four- and five-cylinder engines come next on the list of luxury vehicles that pollute the least — cars like the Audi TT (fourth place), Volvo S40 (tied for seventh), and BMW 128i (tied for eighth) also made the cut.

Surprisingly, several sports cars — which tend to favor performance over efficiency — made the luxury-vehicle list, including the Porsche Boxster and Cayman in seventh place, the BMW Z4 3.0si, which tied for eighth place, and the Infiniti G37 Coupe, in tenth.

According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Avoider Study, which surveyed why consumers favored certain vehicles, while gas mileage played a prominent role in vehicle purchasing decisions, wanting an environmentally friendly vehicle was one of the least-cited reasons for choosing a particular model.

But if the industry’s interest in eco-friendliness continues to grow, more and more models will likely be available as hybrids, and more consumers will be buying them. J.D. Power expects over 1 million hybrid vehicles to be sold in the U.S. by 2012. By then, there will be more than 80 hybrid models to choose from, according to Omotoso, from small cars to SUVs to pickup trucks, and everything in between.

“Environmental consciousness tends to come from wealthier, college educated people,” Omotoso says. “But as terms like ‘global warming,’ ‘dependence on foreign oil,’ and ‘carbon footprint’ become more common, more and more consumers at all income levels will factor in the environment in their vehicle purchase decision.”

You don’t have to pick the most-expensive hybrid or the smallest car on the lot to do your part. “Even marginal improvements in fuel economy can go a long way,” says Catherine Milbourn, press officer for the Environmental Protection Agency.

For instance, two visually identical cars that use the same engines can have different emissions outputs simply based on one model being all-wheel drive, and the other being rear-wheel drive. The rear-drive BMW 328i ties for eighth place on our list, with a Carbon Footprint of 8.3 annual tons of greenhouse gas emissions. The all-wheel-drive 328xi did not make out list because it gets worse fuel economy and emits 9.2 tons of greenhouse gases annually.

Milbourn suggests environmentally conscious consumers check the fuel economy and emissions ratings for all vehicles under consideration, as posted on the vehicle-related websites the agency maintains in conjunction with the Department of Energy: www.fueleconomy.gov, and www.epa.gov/greenvehicles.

Non-Luxury Vehicles

With luxury status out of the equation, hybrids still figure prominently when it comes to tailpipe emissions.

Small hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid rated the highest on the non-luxury list, but a few hybrid SUVs, like the Ford Escape Hybrid, which tied for fourth place, and Toyota Highlander Hybrid, in fifth, also placed well.

Volvo C30 T5
Hybrids are the top choice for low emissions today, but a few years from now, a similar ranking based on tailpipe emissions might turn up a list of all-electric vehicles.

That hypothetical list might contain the $98,000 Tesla Roadster, an all-electric sports car slated to go on sale this spring. Another potential contender is the Fisker Karma, an $80,000 four-door hybrid luxury sedan that can be plugged in and recharged, traveling up to 50 miles on emissions-free electric power.

But until those vehicles and others like them come out, choosing a hybrid is the easiest way to pollute the least.

About Our Rankings

Our two least-polluting lists, one for luxury vehicles and one for non-luxury vehicles, are based on examining each model’s Air Pollution Score and Carbon Footprint ratings as determined by the EPA.

The Air Pollution Score represents the amount of health-damaging and smog-forming airborne pollutants a vehicle emits. Among these are hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxide, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and formaldehyde. Scoring is based on a 10-point scale, with 10 representing a zero-emissions vehicle, meaning higher numbers are better.

Carbon Footprint ratings estimate the tons of greenhouse gases each vehicle generates per year based on 15,000 miles of driving. These emissions include carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and other compounds believed to be major contributors to global warming. One gallon of gasoline converts to 20 pounds of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere.

The EPA’s ratings cited in our lists assume emissions generated not just by burning fuel while driving, but from fuel production and refining as well. Scoring is expressed in the number of tons of greenhouse gases produced each year, meaning lower scores are better.

The EPA considers a vehicle’s Air Pollution Score to be more important because it is directly related to air quality, and thus has an immediate impact on human health. Therefore, we use it as the basis for our ranking. Carbon Footprint rating is included for every vehicle but was primarily used to break ties in our rankings.

It Gets Complicated

Many of the lowest-emission versions of some models aren’t available in all 50 states. Some specially certified “super low-emissions” (SULEV) or “partial-zero emissions” (PZEV) vehicles — which are rated at 9 and 9.5 on the Air Pollution scale, respectively — are offered only in California and the handful of other states that adhere to California’s stricter air-pollution standards. They include Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

However, there are instances when a manufacturer sells the same version of the car that qualifies as SULEV or ULEV in other states and doesn’t bother going through the bureaucracy of certifying it as such in the states that don’t require it. In those instances, we use the highest EPA emissions ratings, being that, more than likely, consumers can purchase the SULEV- or ULEV-equivalent version of the vehicle in the states that don’t require this rating.

But in instances where a SULEV or ULEV vehicle is only sold in California and the other states mentioned above that have adopted its emissions regulations, we use the lower emissions score.

The best way to tell if a vehicle is SULEV or ULEV compliant even though it isn’t rated as such in the state where you live is to check what the EPA calls the “Underhood ID” to see if it matches that of the variant that officially qualifies as SULEV or ULEV.

Go to the EPA’s site to read more about this topic.

Finally, to qualify for luxury status, a vehicle must be made by a company commonly regarded as a luxury or premium automotive manufacturer.

It’s not just about your weight. While previous research has found evidence that obesity in middle age raises the chances of developing dementia later, the new work found a separate risk from storing a lot of fat in the abdomen. Even people who weren’t overweight were susceptible.

That abdominal fat, sometimes described as making people apple-shaped rather than pear-shaped, has already been linked to higher risk of developing diabetes, stroke and heart disease.

“Now we can add dementia to that,” said study author Rachel Whitmer of the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif.

She and others report the findings in Wednesday’s online issue of the journal Neurology.

The study involved 6,583 men and women who were ages 40 to 45 when they had checkups between 1964 and 1973. As part of the exam, their belly size was measured by using a caliper to find the distance between their backs and the surface of their upper abdomens. For the study, a distance of about 10 inches or more was considered high.

The researchers checked medical records to see who had developed Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia by an average of 36 years later. At that point the participants were ages 73 to 87. There were 1,049 cases.

Analysis found that compared to people in the study with normal body weight and a low belly measurement:

• Participants with normal body weight and high belly measurements were 89 percent more likely to have dementia.

• Overweight people were 82 percent more likely if they had a low belly measurement, but more than twice as likely if they had a high belly measurement.

• Obese people were 81 percent more likely if they had a low belly measurement, but more than three times as likely if they had a high measurement.

Whitmer said there’s no precise way to translate belly measurements into waist circumference. But most people have a sense of whether they have a big belly, she said. And if they do, the new study suggests they should get rid of it, she said.

It’s not clear why abdominal fat would promote dementia, but it may pump out substances that harm the brain, she said.

Dr. Jose Luchsinger of the Columbia University Medical Center in New York, who studies the connection between obesity and Alzheimer’s disease but didn’t participate in the new work, cautioned that such a study cannot prove abdominal fat promotes dementia.

But the study results are “highly plausible” and “I’m not surprised at all,” he said. High insulin levels might help explain them, he said.

Dr. Samuel Gandy, who chairs the medical and scientific advisory council of the Alzheimer’s Association, said the results fit in with previous work that indicates a person’s characteristics in middle age can affect the risk of dementia in later life.

And it’s another example of how traits associated with the risk of developing heart disease are also linked to later dementia, he said.

Dallas-Fort Worth added more than 162,000 residents between July 2006 and July 2007, more than any other metro area. Three other Texas areas — Houston, Austin and San Antonio — also cracked the top 10.

Atlanta saw the second-largest population jump with just over 151,000 new residents. Phoenix was third with more than 132,000, and was followed by Houston, Riverside, Calif., Charlotte, N.C., Chicago, Austin, Las Vegas and San Antonio.

Of the 50 fastest-growing metro areas, 27 were in the South and 20 were in the West. Two were in the Midwest, one — Fayetteville, Ark. — straddles the South and Midwest and none was in the Northeast.

Detroit lost more than three times as many people as any other metro area — its population declined more than 27,300. Other areas losing more than 5,000 people were Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Columbus, Ga., Youngstown, Ohio, and Buffalo, N.Y.

Experts credit much of the growth in the South to relatively strong local economies and housing prices that are among the most affordable in the U.S.

“People are running away from unaffordable housing, from the economic slowdown,” said Karl Eschbach, a state demographer in Texas. “I would expect Texas to stay at the top of a slowing game.”

According to figures compiled by Eschbach, 16 percent of Americans who moved to other states between July 2006 and July 2007 came to Texas, which led the nation for the second straight year in that category.

Home prices continue to be a big factor. A report earlier this month by Global Insight found that housing prices in the Dallas area were undervalued by as much as 30 percent.

Ann Sekesan, a pharmacy technician, moved her family from Pennsylvania to suburban Fort Worth last June after seeing spacious homes in Texas for under $200,000 on a television show.

“After we saw that on TV, my husband and I looked at each other and said, ‘Have you ever been to Texas?” Sekesan said. “It’s amazing the size of a home you can get down here. It’s just incredible.”

Among other Census Bureau findings:

• On a percentage basis, the Palm Coast, Fla., area was the fastest-growing in the nation. Population there jumped by 7.2 percent to more than 536,000. The next areas experiencing the biggest surge in growth were St. George, Utah; Raleigh, N.C; Gainesville, Ga.; and Austin.

The New Orleans area, recovering from Hurricane Katrina, grew by 4 percent or nearly 40,000 people, putting it 16th in terms of raw numbers but eighth for percentage growth. During the same survey last year, the population of New Orleans dropped by nearly 290,000 people.

We start to see some odd things happening almost immediately. While TAPS is setting up their equipment Grant is talking to Steve over the walkie-talkie to get one of the IR cameras set up correctly and just as Steve is saying something to him the television in the room turns on, despite no one having touched the power button and the remote control being in plain sight. When Grant doesn’t see Steve moving the camera he radioes to find out what’s going on and just as Steve is telling him the television turned on by itself, it turns off. Very odd.

We see that they are still using the Faraday cage, presumably with the wireless microphone (as discussed in Podcast episode 2) but yet again it doesn’t really come into play at all when all is said and done and they’re reviewing the evidence. If that’s been the case in every investigation since St. Augustine II then perhaps that’s a result in itself: No EVP’s in a Faraday cage ever might, in some minds, disqualify the EVPs they have been getting on the other recorders as noise.

Jay & Grant go up the third (and uppermost) floor suite to do some EVP work but before long they (and we) can plainly hear what seem to be footsteps. According to the guys, they seem to come out of the bedroom behind them and into the living room where they’re sitting. We’re not told outright but it’s assumed no one from the team is over there, and we can actually see into the bedroom from one of the cameras as this is going on, so if the sound is coming from there and into the living room we would be able to see any actual person in that area.

They captured the sound on one of their recorders and while they point to some specific sounds they believe suggests a solid (Civil War army) boot I like to keep it simple and noticed that there does seem to be some heavy wood creaking sounds that would seem to suggest heavily (no pun intended) that these are indeed footsteps. Since they are on the top floor and there is no one in the area the footsteps are coming from they think this must be paranormal. This is where I’m going to disagree.

Now, I’m not saying this is what actually happened but since this is an Inn and not a private residence it is possible that the owners might want to drum up some extra tourism by having a “haunted hotel” so I just wanted to explore the possibility of how someone might hoax this, should someone want to. From the look of the room I’d guess there is a crawlspace attic overhead with a ceiling probably 5 feet or so in the center. I don’t think it’s impossible that maybe one of the owners, one of their staff, or a rogue Pilgrim crew member snuck up into the attic and took a short walk (hunched over, of course) at an opportune time.  I’m not saying that’s what happened, but that it could have happened so I’m not entirely comfortable labeling it definitively paranormal.

Shortly after these footsteps though, Jay said he felt someone sit down on the couch next to him. He and Grant felt their air on that side of the couch and said it was very cold, but no one seemed to have a thermometer handy. As Jay is rubbing his hand across the cushion (presumably to feel for the depression he said he felt) we can see clearly from the camera that the only depression on the cushion is the small one his hand is making.

Still, this is a bit interesting not only because it does seem to tie in with the footsteps but also because when they tell Jack about it during the reveal, he tells them that the couch Jay was sitting on is a pull-out bed and people sleeping on the right-side of that bed have reported having their head touched — and their heads would have been right where Jay said he felt someone sit down.

Meanwhile, Tango and Kris decide to investigate Steve’s mysterious television set. They’re not in the room ten minutes when, just as Tango is on the radio letting the guys know what he’s up to the television turns on by itself. Dave thinks it’s got to be the IR from the cameras reflecting off of one of the many mirrors or glass surfaces in the room but nothing seems to work. He even tries the IR thermometer, bouncing it off of different surfaces across the room. Steve apparently sees this on the camera and radios to ask what Tango is doing with the thermometer. As Dave is answering him the television turns off and Dave Tango puts another notch in his debunkers belt: Somehow the talk key on the walkie is what’s causing the TV to go on and off. I don’t know exactly how that is possible but the causality seems clear, so kudos to Tango for another debunking job well done.

After the TV was sorted out Dave and Kris went down into the basement, which had been used in the Civil War as a hospital and several people had reported seeing an apparent surgical scene play out in the boiler room. The only thing that happens during this investigation though is that Kris gets nauseous and has to run upstairs and be sick.

Jay & Grant dutifully come down with their EMF detector and note that the multitude of unshielded electrical cabling running through the ceiling in the basement is causing massive EM readings. Grant suggests it could be a “Fear Cage”, inducing effects ranging from paranoia to physical discomfort. Jay points out that some people theorize spirits actually use the abundant EM radiation to manifest more easily, once again making it clear to anyone paying close attention that this arm of science is filled with best-guesses and none of it can really be relied upon as an accurate explanation/conclusion to what’s going on.

Kris recovers after a while and wants to go down there again but before long she’s got the nausea once more. This time Tango has the EM meter but he doesn’t detect any strong electromagnetic fields around where they are. Jay says it could be that Kris is hypersensitive to the gas fumes, which apparently you can smell throughout the basement (that doesn’t sound safe…)

During the evidence review Tango finds one EVP, and I wish he didn’t because it takes away from his stellar debunking earlier. On the recording you can hear Dave asking, “Do you miss your family?” followed by what the Ghost Hunters will tell you is a voice saying, “Yeah”. To me (and apparently Jack, the owner) it sounded more like someone just inhaling. And not even sharply, just like normal a normal breath. Whatever.

The real star of the show is of course the moving picture frame that TAPS so uncharacteristically gave away during the preview last week. There is absolutely nothing about this video that I can point to as “clearly suspicious” and it does appear very impressive but there are just a bunch of minor things about it that really nag at me.

First off, the camera was set up in this room because there were reports that the chair in the corner moved regularly. No one reported anything else moving. Now, the frame doesn’t move so much as it rotates — and it seems to be rotating away from the front of the table (facing the bed) and towards the side of the table (facing the chair). That might be relevant, but I just got a little itch of doubt when it was the picture frame moving instead of the chair itself.

The way it moves also bothered me. It moved in a jerky motion, similar to the chair in the attic of Race Rock Light House. It spun the same way, too. Both things are suggestive to me of someone tugging on a little string or fishing line tied to the left side of the object and tugged on by someone standing off-camera to the right.

Now of course I’m not going to cry foul unless I’ve got good reason, so I looked to the right side of the frame to see if I could make out a string or wire but I couldn’t confirm or deny anything since the right-side of the frame is flush up against another object on the table. In fact, the table was full of objects right next to each other packed so closely that someone could have run a piece of thick rope behind them all and we wouldn’t have been able to see it.

Then Grant comes into frame while this is going on (after the first time it moves, but before the final time). That would normally work towards exonerating him of potential suspicions of mischief except that from the way he stands he’s flush to the right of the camera frame so we can’t see anything to his right. He could be tugging on a piece of string with his right hand while we see the left side of his body on camera and we’d never be able to tell.

Another point that bothered me was that although Grant said he thought it was the candle by the window that was moving, as we see him on the camera he walks in front of the picture frame for a brief moment and then suddenly steps back as though he realized he was blocking the cameras view of the frame (which he claims he didn’t know was moving). Add to all of that the fact that this was captured two minutes into a new tape. They had left a tape running while they investigated and apparently there was nothing on that tape, and apparently nothing else on this tape either. It just seems rather odd that the event would happen right after Grant came into the room but before he went to sleep, is basically what I’m saying here.

Now, I want to emphasize that this is complete speculation and there’s really no evidence to prove this was hoaxed, but with the pattern of suspicious events that seem to only occur around Grant I’ve just grown a bit wary. For me to even come close to believing in a piece of evidence that was collected by Grant while he was alone in a room it would have to be pretty rock solid. I just see too many little possibilities in this video for me to let my guard down and be impressed.

So, this may have been their best investigation yet this season, but because of the circumstances of the two most compelling pieces of evidence (the footsteps and the moving picture frame), while I’ll agree they certainly don’t seem to have any natural explanations in my opinion either one wouldn’t have taken much effort or imagination to hoax.  All the footsteps would take is someone in the attic, which TAPS may not have even realized existed but I am nearly certain it must from what we see of the room and building. And there seems to have been a rash of tourist destinations having declared paranormal activity lately.

In the case of the frame, well if someone were to hoax that it would certainly be more difficult than if they were to try to hoax the moving lamp at Myrtle’s Plantation but in that case there was a room full of people, in this case it’s Grant in a room by himself. More than ever that seems to narrow the options for me. Either we just witnessed something truly paranormal or we have a hoax and only one potential suspect.

If i fall
Fall

When i get home i swear i’m gonna
Change my ways
And i’ll start dancing
Live a little
Live it up these days
I say all the words
But lack a real solution
I tell all my friends
Stick around to see who’s right

And if i fall
Fall
Help me if i fall

Help me if i fall
Don’t let me go
You just give me the strength
To guide me
Get me my
Get me high
Help me take over this city
Let it go
Don’t let it go

Help me if i fall.

She gained fame with her participation in the 2003 American Idol television series, and in 2007 garnered media attention for her participation in Celebrity Fit Club.

Biography

Early life

Locke was born to Donald and Christine Locke, respectively a truck driver and a clothing warehouse worker for the Gap/Old Navy distribution center in Gallatin, Tennessee. She is the second of two children, with an older brother named Ashley (both of whom are biracial; their father is African-American and their mother is white). She and her brother spent most of their life in Gallatin. At age five, Locke began singing in church. Her parents divorced when she was eight years old.

Locke grew up admiring such singers as Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Patti LaBelle and Diana Ross. In 1987, she and childhood friends Chandra Boone, Selina Robb, and NaCole Rice formed a quartet named Shadz of U, which performed at many local churches. The group later appeared on Locke’s 2007 ‘Based On A True Story’ album, singing backup on ‘Everyday Angels’.

Locke went to Gallatin High School, where she was one of sixteen members to participate in its performing group. She remained in the group throughout her high-school years. She was also selected twice as a member of the All-Middle State Chorus. After graduating, she began to work for a company in Nashville as an administrative assistant.

Like 2007 American Idol finalist Melinda Doolittle, Locke is an alumna of Belmont University in Nashville.

American Idol and Singing career

On October 30, 2002, the reality-TV singing competition American Idol held auditions in Nashville, Tennessee for the show’s second season. Locke successfully passed through to the next round, and in December was chosen to perform on the show. She finished third, behind runner up Clay Aiken and eventual champion Ruben Studdard. Simon Cowell at first criticized Locke as lacking in personality; by the final three however, he declared her, Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard to be as worthy winners as any.

Locke went on to sign a record deal with Curb Records on September 6, 2003. Her debut album, One Love, was released May 4, 2004. Debut single “8th World Wonder” reached the top half of the Billboard Hot 100 and was successful on other charts, and even entered the UK chart with little promotion. “Wrong” and “I Could” followed as singles and were hits on the Pop and Adult Contemporary charts respectively. “Coulda Been” was the album’s only single not to chart.

Locke released her version of “Up On The Housetop” in Fall 2005 and by the end of year it had reached the top spot of the AC charts and broke many records, due to its quick rise to the top. The following year, Kimberley’s version of “Jingle Bells” was released and topped the same charts. A full Christmas album entitled Christmas was released on November 6, 2007.

Locke’s second album, Based On A True Story, was released on May 1, 2007. The album’s original lead single, “Supawoman”, co-written with her producers Damon Sharpe and Mark J. Feist, was released to radio August 7, 2006, however after underwhelming radio support, Curb Records decided to refocus. “Change”, was released to radio on January 15, 2007 to positive support and climbed the charts well into the summer of 2007. The album’s next single is a cover of Freda Payne’s “Band Of Gold”, which was released to radio on August 13, 2007 and became Locke’s 6th solo Adult Contemporary Top 10 hit. The album’s third single has been announced to be “Fall”, a song also recorded by country music artist Clay Walker, which is being released to radio in February 2008.

Songs performed on American Idol

Original Audition: “Over the Rainbow” by Judy Garland.
Round     Song Choice     Original Artist     Theme (if any)     Result
Hollywood     “Band of Gold” (with Frenchie Davis)     Freda Payne     Group Performances     Safe
Top 32     “Over the Rainbow”     Judy Garland     Semifinal Group 2     Top 2
Top 12     “Heat Wave”     Martha and the Vandellas     Motown     Bottom 3
Top 11     “Home”     Diana Ross     Movie Hits     Safe
Top 10     “I Can’t Make You Love Me”     Bonnie Raitt     Country-Rock     Safe
Top 9     “It’s Raining Men”     Weather Girls     Disco     Bottom 3
Top 8     “My Heart Will Go On”     Celine Dion     Billboard #1     Bottom 3
Top 7     “New York State of Mind”     Billy Joel     Billy Joel     Safe
Top 6     “If You Asked Me To”     Patti LaBelle     Diane Warren     Safe
Top 5     “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”
“Where the Boys Are”     Gladys Knight & The Pips
Connie Francis     60s
Neil Sedaka     Safe
Top 4     “I Just Want to Be Your Everything”
“Emotion”     Andy Gibb
Samantha Sang     Bee Gees     Bottom 2
Top 3     “Band of Gold”
“Anyone Who Had a Heart”
“Inseparable”     Freda Payne
Dionne Warwick
Natalie Cole     Random
Judge’s Choice
Idol’s Choice     Eliminated

Discography

Albums
Album information
One Love

* Released: May 4, 2004
* Peak Chart positions:
#4 U.S. Top Internet Albums
#16 U.S. Billboard 200
#21 United World Chart
* U.S. Sales: 212,000 copies
* RIAA certification: N.A.

Based on a True Story

* Released: May 1, 2007
* Peak Chart positions:
#160 U.S. Billboard 200
#181 U.S. Billboard Comprehensive Albums
* U.S. Sales: 18,000 copies
* RIAA certification: N.A.

Christmas

* Released: November 6, 2007
* U.S. Sales: 2,200 copies

Singles
Year     Title     Billboard Chart Positions (North America)     Album
U.S. Hot 100     U.S. Top 40     U.S. AC     U.S. Hot AC     U.S Dance     CAN AC
2003     “Silver Bells” (with Clay Aiken)     —     —     16     —     —     —     American Idol: Great Holiday Classics
2004     “8th World Wonder”     49     19     6     36     —     16     One Love
“Wrong”     —     39     —     —     —     —
2005     “Coulda Been”     —     —     —     —     —     —
“I Could”     —     —     8     —     —     18
“Up on the House Top”     —     —     1     —     —     —     Christmas
2006     “Jingle Bells”     —     —     1     —     —     —
2007     “Change”     —     —     6     —     1     —     Based on a True Story
“Band of Gold”     —     —     9     —     1     21
“Frosty the Snowman”     —     —     1     —     —     40     Christmas
2008     “Fall” 1     —     —     21     —     —     —     Based on a True Story

1 Current single

Other recordings

* 2003: “Ammon” - New Blues Sessions (backing vocals)
* 2003: “Over the Rainbow” (American Idol Season 2: All Time Classic American Love Songs)
* 2003: “God Bless the USA” (along with the other Idols of AI2) (American Idol Season 2: All Time Classic American Love Songs)
* 2003: “What the World Needs Now” (along with the other Idols of AI2) (American Idol Season 2: All Time Classic American Love Songs)
* 2003: “The Christmas Song” (American Idol: The Great Holiday Classics)
* 2003: “O Come, All Ye Faithful” (Group performance) (American Idol: The Great Holiday Classics)
* 2003: “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” (Group performance) (American Idol: The Great Holiday Classics)
* 2005: “A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes” (DisneyMania 3)
* 2005: “Wishes” (duet with Peabo Bryson) (Wishes)
* 2005: “Better Than This” (The Perfect Man)
* 2005: “Come Together Now” (Multi-artist charity single) (Come Together Now Collaborative)
* 2007: “Please Come Home for Christmas” (with Dave Koz on his album Memories of a Winter’s Night)

Musical achievements

* Locke was the first Idol finalist to debut at #1 on the singles sales charts with a non-Idol single (”8th World Wonder”).
* Locke was the second Idol finalist (with Kelly Clarkson) to have two consecutive top-40 hits (”8th World Wonder” & “Wrong”)
* “Up On The Housetop” made the largest leap into the top 5 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart in the chart’s history, jumping from #32 to #5 in just one week.
* “Up On The Housetop” became the fifth song in the history of Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart to reach the top spot in only three weeks. It was the second-longest running holiday-themed chart-topper in the history of the chart [4 weeks], behind Josh Groban’s “Believe” [5 weeks].[1]
* Locke’s version of “Jingle Bells” had the highest charting debut week on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart in 2006,[2] debuting at #17. Even though hundreds of artists have recorded the song, Locke’s recording was the first to ever top the Billboard AC chart.[3]
* In an Entertainment Weekly magazine, “8th World Wonder” was listed as one of the top 5 songs to come out of American Idol.
* Locke’s first seven solo single releases in the Adult Contemporary genre reached Billboard’s top 10 chart.[4]
* To date, Locke is the only American Idol finalist to both top Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play chart with an original song (”Change”) and to top the chart on two separate occasions (”Band of Gold”). The only other alumni from the show to top this chart was Jennifer Hudson with her cover of And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going from the Dreamgirls musical.

Television career

Whilst pursuing her music career, Locke was also interested in becoming a television star. Since 2005, Locke has featured on many television shows.

In August 2004, Locke was invited to be a guest host on Good Day Live, and was invited back to co-host twice more. In 2005, she was a contestant on the game show, Family Feud, and she hosted Word Slam!, a GSN live game show; an accompanying documentary with Locke aired on that cable channel that September. Throughout the summer of 2005, a proposed reality TV series, Aren’t You That Girl?, taped Locke’s progress on her second album and preparations for her upcoming wedding. The engagement was later called off and the project was cancelled.[5] During MTV’s early fall 2006 lineup, Locke was a judge and co-host on the short lived reality-show competition “The Little Talent Show”.

Locke sat in as a guest co-host of The View in March 2007.

Celebrity Fit Club: Men vs. Women

In November 2006, VH1 issued a press release confirming that Locke would be a participant on the fifth season of Celebrity Fit Club, which had just begun filming and would continue through March 2007. The show began airing on April 22, 2007.[6] She has been the focused target of derision from fellow cast member Dustin Diamond, who has repeatedly called her “a loser on another show [American Idol].” Later, he says, “She is a nobody…If there were eight of her here, nobody would watch the show.” She responded on-camera at a weigh-in ceremony, “Two-faced, backstabbing people who will smile in your face one day and eat you up the next. That’s why I don’t have anything to do with you…If you even fucking look at me, Dustin. [Because] you talk about losers? Let’s talk about ‘I’m a fucking child star. Now I’ve got a porn tape on TV and selling T-shirts to pay for my house note.’” He later walked off the stage. He later offered her a sex toy in the shape of his penis, saying that she “needed one.” The ensuing argument caused all other contestants to leave the stage. [7] On June 17, 2007, the season finale of Celebrity Fit Club aired, drawing in 2.7 million viewers, the show’s highest yet.

Nine months after filming wrapped up on the show, TMZ.com showed a video of Kimberley attending a New Year’s Eve party with her former trainer from the show, Sgt. Harvey Walden IV.[8] In an issue of People Magazine, Kimberley confirmed that they were dating, however their relationship was not yet going any further. Harvey had been separated from his wife, Sherry, for quite some time and were in the process of finalizing their divorce. Not until the divorce is final will Kimberley be prepared to take their relationship to the next level.[9] Kimberley stated that sparks did not fly until after the show had already finished filming. “We worked out on the show together for four months and never even said anything to each other. I thought he was mean. I didn’t want him to be mean to me, but then after the show was over and I saw him outside of work, he was really nice.”[9]

Modeling career & weight loss

From 2005 through September 2006, Locke was signed with Ford Models’ 14+ Division. She has appeared on the covers of the July 2005 issue of Figure magazine and the summer 2007 issue of UneQ magazine. She has also been a former spokesperson for Lane Bryant and Seven7 Jeans.

While filming for Celebrity Fit Club, Kimberley chose to follow the Jenny Craig diet plan and had great success. In December 2006, Locke was offered a deal as spokeswoman with Jenny Craig.[10] At the completion of filming for the show, Kimberley weighed in at a final weight of 149lbs; down a total of 27lbs. from her original start weight of 176lbs. A feature in the September 10th issue of People Magazine shows Kimberley at 141lbs., only 3 pounds away from her goal. Locke announced through her official MySpace blog on October 8, 2007 that she had finally achieved her 40 pound weight loss goal.

In January 2008, Kimberley was featured as the centerfold of Us Weekly’s “Diets That Work” issue. The feature counted down the top five celebrity diets of 2007, with Kimberley being named the winner.[11] Ellen DeGeneres was so personally blown away by the feature that she asked Kimberley to be a special guest on an upcoming episode of her popular daytime talk show. The episode taped on January 10, 2008 and aired the following day.

Business career

In 1999, Locke enrolled at Belmont University and graduated in August 2001 with a Bachelor’s degree of Business Administration in Marketing. In December 2006, Locke, with partners Eric Kupferberg, Liam Harvey and Jim Stake, opened the Croton Creek Steakhouse & Wine Bar. It is located in Croton Falls, New York.

Charitable Work

Locke has been active in many charities, particularly in raising awareness of HIV/AIDS and Breast cancer. Locke’s first exposure to working with children living with HIV/AIDS was through her work with the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, which sent her on an 11 day trip through Africa. She then went on to work with other organizations such as YouthAIDS, the Davy Foundation and Camp Heartland In recognition of her extensive charitable efforts as an HIV/AIDS activist, Locke was presented with the Red Ribbon award on November 9, 2007. “The Red Ribbon Award is done for someone in the community that advocates AIDS awareness, and especially HIV awareness,” said press liaison Chris Prouty. “They want to pinpoint one specific person and get the community involved in the accolades and a congratulatory celebration.” At a news conference prior to her performance that night, Locke gave an acceptance speech. “All the kids [at Camp Heartland] have a great story, and that’s what I’ve chosen to be a part of. It’s the old cliché: kids are our future.”[12]

In October 2007, Locke teamed up with General Mills to introduce the ‘Pink For A Cure’ campaign to promote awareness of breast cancer in the African American community. “My aunt is a breast cancer survivor. So, as someone whose family has been directly touched by this disease, I’m very passionate about getting people talking more about their health,” said Locke.[13]

Videography

* “8th World Wonder” (2004) directed by Sam Erickson.
* “Wrong” (2004) directed by Urban Strom.
* “Coulda Been” (2004) directed by Urban Strom.
* “Change” (2007) directed by Roman White.

Awards and nominations

New Music Awards

* 2005: Nominated - Female Adult Contemporary Artist Of The Year

Teen Choice Awards

* 2003: Nominated - Choice TV Reality/Variety Star - Female
* 2004: Nominated - Favorite Love Song - “8th World Wonder”

References in pop culture

* An essay written by Kimberley about her experiences with American Idol was included in the book Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul.
* American Idol judge Simon Cowell, in his book, I Don’t Mean to be Rude, but…, referred to Locke as looking like “an overweight librarian”.
* A reference to Kimberley straightening her naturally curly hair on an episode of American Idol, and as a result getting a comment from Simon Cowell that he was glad she got rid of her “weird hair”, is included in the book Wanting To Be Her: Body Image Secrets Victoria Won’t Tell You by Michelle Graham.
* In her televised special, Kathy Griffin is… NOT Nicole Kidman, comedienne Kathy Griffin tells the story of being snubbed by Kimberley and other finalists from American Idol shortly after having included gay jokes in reference to Clay Aiken in her comedy act. The special was included in the bonus material on the DVD release of the first season of her reality show, Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List.
* Kimberley’s version of Band of Gold is heard in the official movie trailers for the Tyler Perry film, “Why Did I Get Married?”

This is the short and updated version of one of my old videos, “The Cheese Incident”, which has appeared on the Maury Povich Show and Country Fried Home Videos on CMT.