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[fizzcharlson]

I've been doing some digging around and without having any skills in ornithology I am guessing the birds are Mynah Birds, they fit most closely the description Schrijvertje gave us which I guess raises fantastic possibilities as they are able to mimic human speech so theoretically could be used to 'reveal' something accidentally in the future. I have checked the audio of the particular video in question but can't find anything of interest.

I've tried to contact Lachlan (now 'M') and DJ numerous times Mcgritts without success - I'm guessing they were simply there to facilitate our trail to Hope Hendler. Time may change that.

[agentgr33n]

frown face

[fizzcharlson]

You're absolutely right Mcgritts, the change in smileys happened when the flares were removed from the site and everything went blank.

[marnut]

filter

[agentgr33n]

blue planets

[Schrijvertje]

Don't think they're Mynah Birds, Fizz. I thought of them before, but found their beaks are too pointy. Hope's birds have more rounded beaks.

That smiley has bothered me too. Going from sad face to happy face would suggest some kind of resolve involving the problems mentioned in the hidden messages. Yet we haven't seen anything that relates to them since. Even "Victor" hasn't shown up again.

You're right, Mokey. The carrot is out, it's their move again. We could try looking for more clues and secret connections, but that will most probably lead us way off chart. Of course doing such research is part of the fun, and you never know where you might end up, so feel free to do so! Just don't expect to find anything really valuable.

Don't know about the camera being used by her dad first. Actually you can see a camera lying on the ground in the photo of her dog on MySpace. This means she has a second camera, non-video probably, with which she actually took the photo.

First a dog. Then birds. She definitely likes animals. Something to use?

[fizzcharlson]

Interesting stuff Marnut and it seems you are right. I have found two red filters commonly used in Astronomy #23A Light Red (25% transmission) and #25A Red (14% transmission) - it would seem they are commonly used in viewing Mars, Saturn and Neptune though interesting things happen (so they say) when viewing venus through them.
Like so many things, as Schrijvertje commented, our indepth musings may be leading us further from the track all the time and I too have wondered who Victor was, the first name we were given who waited patiently for the police whilst some astronomical apocalypse took place around them.
It's so complex at the moment: the ball is most certainly in their court.

[Schrijvertje]

Hey guys, I found an e-mail address at www.ornithology.com of one Dr. Roger Lederer, emeritus Professor of Biological Sciences at California State University. I sent him the link to Hope's YouTube vid and asked him if he could help us out. Here's his reply:

[fizzcharlson]

Excellent stuff Schrijvertje!
http://www.finchinfo.com/birds/finches/species/zebra_finch.php Here is link to a profile for the species on finchinfo including images and sound clips.

The Australia link has to be discounted unfortunately, Lachlan resides in Australia but Lachlan isn't Lachlan sadly so we have to ignore whatever conclusions we reached as to how and why he was involved.

[Mokey Fraggle]

Goodness, I didn't mean to suggest that we should stop over-analyzing everything! What's the point of an ARG, anyway, but to explore every vowel in every word and believe it's a clue?

I just don't know whether there's a need at this moment to keep waving the We-Know-Where-Your-Daughter-Is flag, unless they give us another nudge in that direction. We've already mentioned that we have discovered her, so I'd say the ball's in Hendler's court for that one. But there are still many things that don't make sense to me:

-- The strange nudges we've already received from "Lachlan/M," "DJ," and the trailhead itself,
-- The bird video (and all of Hope's videos),
-- Hope's reluctance to talk to her father, and the fact that she seems to even be hiding out somewhere (motel?),
-- Hendler's apparent unpopularity among people like "Lachlan/M" and others,
-- And especially the fact that we don't really have an actual mission yet. We don't know what purpose we have in this story at the moment, or why we may be needed. At the present point, we're essentially just eavesdropping. Until someone asks for our help, we don't really have anything to do.

So that's why I keep thinking we're missing something. I'm waiting for a hidden image or something to pop out to us, saying, "HELP ME!"

[agentgr33n]

e mail?

[fizzcharlson]

All interesting stuff Mcgritts, stay around and lend your obvious talent to the mystery!

Mokey, I don't think Schrijvertje is suggesting that we become less analytical but simply that we are selective and rational about what we analyse. Much of our musings, ponderings and deep involvement has fallen by the wayside: much was written about the thematic links between Lachlan Murdoch and the nomoreparents website only to find that Lachlan isn't Lachlan and every written word and investigation regarding him means nada, zilch and zero.
Sadly the redbrids video is a badly filmed video and little else and sensible and articulate ponderings about the Countdown series, Greek Dieties, Game Franchises, Death Rock Bands and so on and so forth have lead us wild off the mark and provided little in recompense.
View this ARG in relation to others and it does not follow the rule of clue leading to clue leading to cryptograph leading to stenograph, it is almost 24, almost a real world a series of conversations between characters and little else.
Overall there are a myriad of mysteries and little by way of answers, the mystery as yet is not even clear. Whilst it is important not to push too firmly it is important to push a little, polite enquiry and speculation has led us to this point: namely the point where nothing seems to fit anymore.
I for one am willing to keep an open mind and let the PM do the work for now, 15 pages in and we have so little to show for it.
That said, how exciting is this

PS Gotta change the avatar, bloody Lachlan isn't Lachlan
By the way:
* Who is Victor?
* Who is M?
* Who is DJ?
* Why do three people encode their messages with anagrams of ORBITAS? Yet despise each other?
* Why did nomoreparents state that this could be the last website you ever saw?
* Why involve the whole Lachlan Murdoch thing if you are not him?
* Why link to a website for the posting of pet images and yet not post one.

Gonna stop now, this list could go on forever.

UPDATE: Hendler has updated his blog and guess what, he ain't going for the dangled carrot. Damn, Now what?

[agentgr33n]

check this out

[marnut]

new hope video

[Mokey Fraggle]

Yay! Nice to have an update.

And I think the suggestion from both Hendler and Hope is that our purpose at the moment is not to give away her location. Let's wait to see whether there's an emergency or something that would require us to tattle.

For now... is there any other clue in the video besides pointing to her location?

*falls asleep staring at the screen far too late at night*