[syntacticAtrocity]

have fun with this one =)

Quote:

From: maury.kelvinSPLATgmail.com Subject: A Parable... Date: April 30, 2009 12:31:01 PM MDT (CA) To: Syn Let's say there is an old, rusty RV rumbling down the highway in the middle of nowhere (perhaps...Arizona or New Mexico), leaving a cloudy trail of loose papers and black exhaust. A hand-painted sign dangling from the back spells out FIND ME in uneven red letters. Now, let's also say that there is a motorcycle gang sitting at their favorite bar, doing nothing worth writing about here. And one of the bikers happens to notice this RV go rumbling past, spewing smoke and documents, the sound of Metallica and pots and pans clanging together trailing behind it. "Hey!" This biker shouts. "This old piece of shit RV just drove past with a big sign hanging on the back that says FIND ME!" In a moment not unlike those in many of the beach movies of the 60s, the bikers all look at each other, eyes wide and the camera googles in and out quickly as the leader stands and says, "Hey! Let's go FIND 'EM!" Cut to all of these bikers running out to their choppers as the RV grows smaller in the distance. A few get caught up reading the papers scattered around, wondering if the disconnected documents somehow illuminate the meaning of the universe. A few more get on their motorcycles but either never start them, or roar off in the direction that the RV came FROM. One biker (the obligatory guy with the german military helmet) starts up his motorcycle, flies across the road and crashes right into a ditch. So a smaller group is able to get on the road and chase down the RV, all the while getting peppered with crumpled up paper, Mountain Dew cans and empty Froot Loops boxes that are clattering from the smoking RV. Suddenly an Edsel flies up into the group of motorcycles and a middle-aged Noah Bennett look-alike starts waving the arms of his tweed jacket saying, "Look at me! I'm the one you're looking for! Find ME!!!" He then whips off of the highway, cutting through the barren desert and leaving a rooster tail of dust as he fades into the distance. Several of the bikers look at each other, shrug, and follow the bouncing Edsel. Now the group of bikers, much smaller than before, catches up to the RV...and hastily rumble past it, noticing that the RV is full of girls dancing and guys hastily typing at old manual typewriters while letting what they've written blow out the open windows. The crazily grinning driver looks suspiciously like Dennis Hopper. As they get a mile or so ahead of the RV, one biker shouts to the others, "Man, this is some really trippy shit! Where do you think that RV is going, man? Let's try to get there before them!" Meanwhile, back in the RV, the driver says, "Where the hell are they going?" One guy looks over the top of his yellow-tinted sunglasses and scratches his scruffy beard. "I don't know...I thought the sign on the back was pretty clear. Try to catch up to them so we can get their attention again." So in a belch of black smoke and the squeal of girls falling all over themselves, the RV races up ahead. Once they get within shouting distance of the gang, the people in the RV start yelling and shouting and throwing things at the bikers. "Hey!" The driver shouts at the nearest biker. "You're going the wrong way!" "How do you know where we're going?" The biker shouts back and waves his middle finger. The man with the yellow sunglasses looks around the RV's passenger seat, finds a copy of a Pat Buchanan book and throws it at the leader of the gang. It glances off of his shoulder and lands on his gas tank. "What an odd thing to come out of an RV filled with hippy-lookin' dudes! A book by Pat Buchanan!" "That's bullshit, man!" A guy on a nearby hog shouts over the din of the engines. "That doesn't make sense. Why would a super-conservative non-fiction book that is obviously philosophically opposed to the perception created by the appearance and occupants of that there recreational vehicle...come from that there recreational vehicle?" "Maybe it's a clue! You know, to where they're goin'!" Another biker with ape-hangers yells. "Or what this is all about!" "Or maybe we're just trying like crazy to get your fucking attention so you can look at the sign on the back of our goddamn RV!" Yellow sunglasses screams from the side window, hands cupped around his mouth. The bikers all look at each other thoughtfully for a minute, and then in unison they start laughing. "You almost had us there for a minute! Good try, though! What does it really mean?" The party in the RV becomes a little less jubilant, the girls are looking a bit confused as they move jerkily to the music, not sure why the guys sitting at the typewriters are shaking their heads and pinching the bridges of their noses. I certainly hope you are pickin' up what we are layin' down. Dig?

[windup angel]

[oog]Your Head A Splode now[/oog]

[Wulf74]

classical wrote:

Okay, weird.... ... I'm not certain that I feel any more reassured by this. BUT, I have a mailing address, which I am going to be sneaky with.

Umm yes - it's gotten beyond weird at this point.

2 - I couldn't resist..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lYBVi3ALWA

=edit=
I thought I'd try to feel out Rage a bit, so I fired off a tweet, kind of in response to his. To be honest, I'm a bit nervous about the response. Why would I be nervous?

Quote:

JJDeMolay: Alas! If God is truly in the details, then it seems that all answers could be found in the patterns. On the move again. wulf74: I always thought the Devil was in the details? So many references use the Devil - don't they? Like heroin, poor Ari. I'm sad for you Arlen

[Kyra's Vengeance]

Given the high strangeness of all this, kinda wish you had phrased your last sentence a little differently....

[classical]

Okay, weird. After exchanging some pleasantries with Mr. Bricker (not Eric) over email, I sent him an image of the ticket I received and got this:

Quote:

How did you get that? That can't be real! That ticket was cremated with my mother and has absolutely nothing to do with my book. Who are you people?

(emphasis is his)

So Diana was his mother, and he was very aware of who she was, unlike my previous suspicions.
Thing is, why would you want to cremate a ticket along with someone unless it had special value to them? (Or something you needed to hide?)

I emailed back about who exactly had sent it to me... and then I get a message:

Quote:

bdbricker: Rage is all I can think of too. But why he would have that ticket? I don't see a connection. clas1ca: I'm not sure... earlier, though, we encountered such a ticket, though the name was blotted out and we'd mostly forgotten about it until I got this in the mail two days ago bdbricker: I am at a total loss as to what my mother has to do with any of this. I started writing my book long after she had died. And that ticket has sentimental value, but that's it. clas1ca: did she go to the Curran theatre often? bdbricker: No. That was to be her first time there. She was very sick and couldn't go. She was supposed to go with my grandmother and I. For my birthday. clas1ca: oh, that's terrible to hear... bdbricker: I didn't even know until after my grandmother and I went to the play that my mom was planning on going. She just didn't tell me. After she died I found that ticket in her jewelry box. And asked my grandmother about it. My mom grew up in San Francisco and always wanted to go to a play but never got the chance. But you having that ticket isn't right. It's not part of a game or a mystery...or my book. clas1ca: very bittersweet... I'm very sorry. I still have no idea why I have it, or why Rage wanted to send it to me, OR how he got in the first place. lots of questions, so few answers bdbricker: If Arlen sent it, I honsetly have no clue why. But one thing about Rage -- everything he does has a reason. Who had the ticket before? clas1ca: I'm...not certain but the day we first learned of the ticket correlate to the day we first met TT, and the day after Kelvin was killed. Kelvin, as I think you may already know, had been to the Curran Theatre himself, and witnessed 'something'. I keep wanting to think that Kelvin had the ticket and then Rage found it on his person... but I have no proof of that bdbricker: Just when I get my equilibrium, you make this weirder for me. clas1ca: hah, sorry. if it makes you feel any better, I'm just as weirded out. in any case, the 'something' that Kelvin witnessed at the Curran was a much more recent thing... I think about two months ago? so it may have nothing to do at all, but it doesn't explain how Rage got the darn thing bdbricker: I haven't been to the Curran in ten years or more. We're not much help to each other, it seems. Be happy about one thing... That Rage has an old address. clas1ca: er, for me, perhaps. my family still lives at that location... bdbricker: I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. Rage is methodical. Not a madman. And if my book is any indication, he's going after the Watchers. Not you, right? You're not a Watcher? I guess I should have clarified that first. clas1ca: I'm not, I don't think. he seems to enjoy playing games with our treasure hunting group more than hunting us down. bdbricker: That means that he finds you useful for some purpose. clas1ca: huh. I await to figure out what exactly that purpose is. if I may--could I ask you something about your mother? bdbricker: Okay. I think. clas1ca: what did she do for a living? bdbricker: She worked for the phone company. When I was a kid she would commute from our house in Rohnert Park to San Francisco. But she went out on disability in about '75. You want to know the nice thing about the phone company? She went out on disability in '75 and died in '97 -- that's 22 years -- and the phone company paid ALL of her medical bills. Even though her illness was congenital. Not work related. clas1ca: wow. don't get that kind of kindness much these days! bdbricker: No. Sorry if I bothered you, I was going to answer your e-mail and saw you online so I figured I'd just say it here. I'll let you go now. clas1ca: no, it's quite all right. I will continue to ponder on this ticket... though uh, since it appears that I am now in possession of stolen property, would you like the ticket back? bdbricker: I would really like to get it back. Can I pay you or something? clas1ca: oh, no, not necessary. just drop me a way to mail this back to you, and I'll see to it. bdbricker: Can I trust you? My address is kind of private. A lot of EMS textbook groupies out there! clas1ca: haha! well, it would sound funny if I just said, 'oh, yes, trust me.' bdbricker: So true. clas1ca: so though I can say I would only use your address for one purpose and one purpose only, I will let you decide. bdbricker: And that purpose would be to send that ticket to me? clas1ca: of course. bdbricker: -- Just to my attention. clas1ca: all righty, will do! have a good day, Mr Bricker. bdbricker: You too. Thanks so much. I appreciate you being so helpful and I'm honestly sorry that you're tangled up in all of this. clas1ca: heh, as odd as it may sound, the weirdest this get, the more I want to climb down the rabbit hole. bdbricker: You're braver than I. clas1ca: oh, no, only stupidly curious at times. like a cat. it'll be the death of me, I swear. see you around, my friend!

... I'm not certain that I feel any more reassured by this. BUT, I have a mailing address, which I am going to be sneaky with.

However, I would like to point out that I am suspicious of this 'phone company' Diana worked for. NO company is that kind. Part of me wonders if she ever really worked for a phone company in the first place or if that was just coverup for something else. Damnit, I should've asked which one it was specifically.

[classical]

Re: majestic meta

[elfis]

majestic meta

[xomunkixo]

Burrito! Come back! I miss you already!

And yes. It is a cluster fuck of epic proportions. But some how, that's what keeps me wanting to play. I feel like, if JJ continues to put the game on, it's still going. Since, he's the One who started it.

There's a lot of speculation that we've been having about recent events surrounding the story, but I'm sure you've been in on this anyway wulf, since it basically boils down to what you said in your post. So this is more for people who don't frequent the chat. None of us are really sure what's OOG or IG anymore. There are times when it looks like someone's trying to gamejack. And then it doesn't. Although it could just be the PMs incorporating that into the story line. Other times there's characters that are seemingly OOG but then they make a comment or series of comments that makes them seem IG. It's like a curtain between the actual curtain. There's the IG the OOG and the REAL OOG. And I don't think any of us are quite sure what is what anymore.

I've decided I'm going to go back through and catalog the entire thread. Hopefully I'll find a place to use the net and I might upload everything I have into the wiki. Honestly though, it looks like quite a project. So many lines are crossed. Characters with multiple names and versions of themselves. I feel like there's like multiple dimensions and each character takes on a slightly different personas in each one.

Frick.

[Wulf74]

Ok - I'll try and keep this short and sweet compared to my normal speculations..

WTF!?!

Too much conflicting information here. When I initially saw the post about the comments from Eric - I thought "ok - there's some problems going on behind the curtain now.." - as evidenced by my quick tweet the other night.

I find myself, now reading through all 38(!) pages of this, and catching all sorts of things that I haven't seen before. Bricker made some comment about being heavily medicated, and alcohol helping. I think I'm one more conflict away from joining him, and adding in laying in fetal position in the corner, sucking my thumb, muttering "can't sleep clowns JDM will eat me"..

Couple of things. 1 that stands out the most, is the first "OOG" apology email that was received by someone (sorry can't remember who), stating that this was a cross-functional/cross-country group of students trying a new form of ARG'ing. Now "Eric" states he's gonna lose his job? Thankfully someone (sorry again!) was paying attention and caught the fact that Eric used the name Lenny, rather than Rage.
2) I also received an email from Brickers address, from this Eric chap.

Spoiler (Rollover to View):

I really, really apologize. I really screwed up today. I let my ego get the best of me and thought that I could tell a better story than what they gave me to tell. That chat with you this afternoon is an embarrassment and I've let a lot of people (and a lot of work) down by deviating from the card. It just sort of spiraled out of control. If they see it I'm totally going to get fired. Please don't post it anywhere and try to forget that it happened. If you help me, I'll help you. --Eric

I haven't had a chance to see which version of the chat that Schwinn was able to post - in retro-spect the only part that seems like that it might have been ad-libbed was the bit about the "characters appearing in his front room - and then leaving". Ironically the strangest part of that to me, was that his wife didn't have more of a conniption about it - she however seems to fully support/believe what's going on with Bricker.

I can say, that I'm not sure whether I'm coming or going anymore. Whether I'm still participating in a functioning ARG, or what's rapidly turning into a rapidly developing cluster-fuck (pardon my language). The one other thing that occured to me (which is why I think we might still be dealing with an ARG - and not the end of the world as we know it - but I'm not positive of that either) is that there are a few things that have reminded me very poignantly of 1] [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_(film)]The Game[/url] - starring Michael Douglas & Sean Penn.
Or else, does anyone here remember the first ARG - put on by EA games?
With the name Majestic 12 - the line between reality, and everday life really started to blur. But the best part (and most relevant), was that when the game officially started - a day later you received an email stating the game had been cancelled, and in it, it included a link to a newstations webpage. And front page news that day, was that EA's new buildings, getting ready to launch that day - burned down. They even went so far as to really set a building on fire and send a fake news crew to record it. And then a day after that, you got an IM saying TINAG......

I'm not so certain anymore of this one..

[Burrito]

Think I'll be taking a semi-forced break from the game for the next few days.

I'll see you kids shortly. Unravel this sucker for me, will you?

Good luck.

[xomunkixo]

So here I am sitting in IRC on my blackberry, minding my own business when I get a tweet sent to my phone from JJ.

JJDeMolay: Ad libbed? Interesting concept, my friend. Wrong. But interesting.

Note: I have not contacted him since TT and have not said anything about ad libbing.

So I tell burrito, Lu, and classical, cuz apparently it was a direct message to me and I'm tweeted again.

JJDemolay: I'm watching you Munki.

To which I reply.

@JJDemolay: Kay. What am I wearing then?

No response.

Then burrito calls Becky out and she mysteriously leaves the chat. The End.

[dg]

not much of a spoiler if it doesn't work right...

[disgruntled]

Serious OOG/META below - I don't want anybody to think that I'm implying that anything below is in game.

Spoiler (Rollover to View):

Not sure what to make of any of this. Looked on Amazon at Bricker's books. Did an search at Amazon.com for the name "Brian Bricker". 3 hits, only one looks pertinent - Fundamentals of Basic Emergency Care. This should be a direct link to one of the pages (865) that contains the name Brian Bricker. The other page is xxiii of the contents (can't figure out how to get a direct link for it yet) - it credits "Section 10: Geriatric Emergencies" to Quote: Brian Bricker, NREMT EMS Instructor Bricker Professional Education, Inc. Norman Oklahoma If you look at that page linked above, you'll see that about half the text has been obliterated, looks like it has been "erased" in Photoshop. Very weird, I've never seen anything like that on Amazon before. You can flip through the pages (hit the "Surprise Me!" link repeatedly, and it will randomly select a page), you can see that the same thing occurs on many of the pages. Weird, but considering the following, I'm hoping there is a reasonable explanation. Bricker Professional Education, Inc. really exists. This is their website. The Our Team page doesn't list Brian, but does list a Michael and a Heather. Their blog is here but has only 2 entries, 9/3/08 and 10/23/08. Here's at least one listing for BPE I've found Quote: Bricker Professional Education 111 North Peters Avenue Suite 450 Norman, OK 73069-7200 Phone: (405) 701-5166 Same address, different phone, different name Quote: Bricker & Associates 111 North Peters Avenue Suite 450 Norman, OK 73069-7200 Phone: (405) 447-0400 NS whois Quote: Registrant: Bricker Professional Education, Inc. PO Box 873 Norman, OK 73070-0873 US Domain Name: BRICKER-EDUCATION.COM Administrative Contact : Bricker, Michael michael@bricker-education.com PO Box 873 Norman, OK 73070-0873 US Phone: 877-701-5166 Fax: 877-701-4880 Technical Contact : Network Solutions, LLC. customerservice@networksolutions.com 13861 Sunrise Valley Drive Herndon, VA 20171 US Phone: 1-888-642-9675 Fax: 571-434-4620 Record expires on 11-Nov-2009 Record created on 11-Nov-2003 Database last updated on 12-Sep-2008 Not really what I wanted to do, but at this point I thought I'd better check what background check might pull up. Quote: Brian Bricker Brian D Bricker Brian David Bricker Brain D Bricker Age: 38 City/State: Santa Rosa , CA Norman , OK Vancouver , WA Hayward , CA Relatives: Alicia Dawn Bricker Michael Sean Bricker Penai L Bricker um. Michael's 40, Alicia's 35, so probably siblings. Penai - unusual name. I did not do a background check on these people. This all looks valid and oog to me - for one, BPE's domain has been registered since 2003. Personally, not wanting to see this stuff spilling over into real lives, so just giving everybody a heads up on this.

[Lunsford]

Holy Shite!

I have now read the entire thread and dont remember half of it.

[syntacticAtrocity]

i have a feeling this game is being ad libbed with no set structure.. yet.