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SteganosaurusRex · Veteran Joined: 15 Sep 2009 Posts: 117

One last bit. In the interview, Matheny describes the mechanism of the El Centro arg (anyone here participate in that?) as being like a Trithemius wheel, so perhaps the same mechanism is being used here. He says there were nine concentric circles of chapters, each layer needing to be "solved" in some way to get to the next layer. The only examples he gave were passwords to access sites and stegged photos (sounds like an arg to me...but he says no).

As seen above, the Last Statue seems to hint at a similar structure, what with 30 statues and, I assume, 30 seals. And it is set up like there should ultimately be 7 chapters, like the 7 pillars in the Camillo memory theatre, each perhaps with 7 levels?

You don't think the seemingly unrelated "Sad Iron Blues" could be the other two chapters do you? It does have a color and an element in the title, but the story seems unrelated.

**Posted:** Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:51 am

birdmadgirl123 · Boot Joined: 19 Sep 2009 Posts: 39

My belief, still, is that those who are behind The Last Statue are wearing white hats as opposed to black. Perhaps you should ponder why they are emphasizing the memory theatre of Guilio Camillo as opposed to that of, say, Giordano Bruno. Why they have said that Crowley and his crew--past and present-- "turned the tree of life into the tree of death."

Perhaps you should consider the importance of memory:

"I feel very strongly about not reawakening the memories of the past." Ronald Reagan,
The New York Times March 21, 1985.

"The struggle of men against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting."
Milan Kundera, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting

"History...is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake." �James Joyce, Ulysses

(edited by birdmadgirl)

SteganosaurusRex · Veteran Joined: 15 Sep 2009 Posts: 117

I have clearly stepped into something odd, here.

And once again I will have to look to the mods for guidance. I was excited because to me it seems the trithemius structure makes a lot of sense but I have not one clue how to get to the next layer.

But BMG is suggesting, still, that this is some operation to oppose evil in the world (I think. In my reading I have not interpreted Bruno as a bad buy, in fact he seems to me to be a good guy, burned at the stake, one of many persecuted for believing the earth goes round the sun, among other things).

So I don't really understand the white hat, black hat designations. Perhaps it is more good cop, bad cop? You realize both cops work for the same people, right?

On the Untermuyer blog we find "I am the egg man" and "Pleased to meet you, hope you guessed my name." I thought this was an acknowledgement that it was Matheny and his egg project at work here. Are you saying no to that still? Are the PM's just having a bit of fun with us?

My primary interest in the Matheny material is that it suggests there may, after all, be an argish component here and even a possible structure. Matheny says El Centro was not an arg yet it sounds as if it had many complex puzzles and layers. (Not much of El Centro was discussed on this forum, unfortunately, as a search reveals.) So, we could learn what they have to teach us but also do the sorts of things people do here on unforums.

I appreciate your willingness to provide your real name, but I don't think you have any rights to start asking others what their real world identity is. I think it is safe to say that I am not who you think I am.

Now, if you can deal with anonymity (and you don't seem to have a problem with it regarding your friends behind the curtain) then you are obviously a good point of contact with them.

I understand there is an overall philosophy or something behind this, but what I want to know is if we are on the right track of seeking a way "in" to deeper levels of the story. I think the story is entertaining and definitely leads to some interesting googling, but if that is the primary mechanism, it doesn't belong on this board. That is just a courtesy to the arg community so I am trying to sort this out. And any insight into the Sad Iron Blues part would be welcome as well.

And you say looking deeper is what they want. Yet I see nothing but attempts to sow confusion here. I appreciated the tips from "alphonse" as those were helpful but overall, I am not getting what, exactly, they are hoping will happen here. Mostly this has been a monologue, generated little interest, and led to nothing definitively argish. Again, nothing wrong with that, but some clarity would help me decide if this belongs here or no.

**Posted:** Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:09 am

SteganosaurusRex · Veteran Joined: 15 Sep 2009 Posts: 117

One last thing. You admit that you shared our pm's with these folks and then they turned around and basically published the gist of our conversations on their blogs. Tell me why you trust them, again?

**Posted:** Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:17 am

birdmadgirl123 · Boot Joined: 19 Sep 2009 Posts: 39

**Posted:** Mon Sep 21, 2009 12:21 pm

birdmadgirl123 · Boot Joined: 19 Sep 2009 Posts: 39

**Posted:** Mon Sep 21, 2009 12:30 pm

SteganosaurusRex · Veteran Joined: 15 Sep 2009 Posts: 117

Bleh...we need a "jury" over here. I should have submitted this properly to the correct forum but it is so complex, not sure anyone could make a quick decision on it.

Can you tell the authors that if they think this MIGHT be an appropriate forum to give us some kind of indication. I guess we can take a lack of such a response as a sign that this really does not have enough arg elements to be here. Which would suck because I had all kinds of ideas on puzzles that may ultimately not be there!

**Posted:** Mon Sep 21, 2009 2:10 pm

tobor radar robot · Guest

**Posted:** Mon Sep 21, 2009 2:38 pm

SteganosaurusRex · Veteran Joined: 15 Sep 2009 Posts: 117

Domo arigato, mr. roboto.

**Posted:** Mon Sep 21, 2009 3:07 pm

Decan Blue · Guest

ch 3

"just by chance you crossed the diamond with the pearl
then you turned it on the world
that's when you turned the world around"

Kid Charlemagne=Charles Kyd L'Magne

These songs would seem to be an intregal part of the memory-system implicit in thie "story".

"the water will change to cherry wine
the silver will turn to gold
time out of mind"

somebody is apparently using a symbol-imbedded memory theater
in an alchemistic procedure invoking, among other things, a retrocausal
reverse time-flow

"show-biz kids making movies of themselves
you know they don't give a fuck about anybody else"

the demons (Manson-Red Scharlach-Grand Chingon etc) are being linked to the stars (Bob Evans-Dennis Hopper-Roy Radin etc) and to intelligence agencies, secret societies, & certain nefarious corporate concerns

whether that meets anyone's criteria for a "game" or not, I will leave to
the esteemed overlords of the forum

fantasy's much safer

your choice

sweet dreams

**Posted:** Mon Sep 21, 2009 3:11 pm

SteganosaurusRex · Veteran Joined: 15 Sep 2009 Posts: 117

The "overlords" are being quite hospitable, I am the one trying not to be a pesky guest.

I guess I am having trouble asking the question in a way our authors could answer without doing our work for us. Generally speaking, do you imagine this work is self contained or that as we study the story and learn the "memory system" etc more material will open up? I.e, is there much of an interactive component.

I am thinking it might be like Ong's Hat (which I didn't play but knew about), not so much linearity and puzzles but definitely interaction and "progress" via group cooperation.

Thanks for stopping by.

**Posted:** Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:22 pm

SteganosaurusRex · Veteran Joined: 15 Sep 2009 Posts: 117

So we have this. From kidkenoma:

**Posted:** Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:30 pm

teri lee · Guest

re: BMG pm

The shocking indiscretion--me thinks you protest too much.

The pms in question were not some confidential personal
revelations about you or your family.

They concerned the fact that you seem convinced that The
Last Statue is yet another Matheny project, which is something
that would be of great value to know, a relevant and important
thing to know in the context of the ongoing discussion, that would
be a reasonable and entirely appropriate item of discussion between
two parties who have had a sustained information-sharing dialogue
for some time prior to this current thread, unless you pledged BMG
to some loyalty-oath/security clearence, which would beg the question
"why?"

BMG is an honorable & very perceptive person whose feedback I
greatly appreciate as well as a skeptical, independent thinker, who wishes to clarify these apparent misunderstandings & misimpressions. She takes no sides, merely wishing to reconcile these differences.

The authors wish me to convey as plainly as possible, that this is NOT
a Matheny project, and in some ways could be regarded as the antithesis of such.

**Posted:** Mon Sep 21, 2009 5:36 pm

Mark R · Account Disabled Joined: 18 Sep 2009 Posts: 8

This loyalty oath is a meme, yes?

...the "loyalty oath" Blake and Duncan had taken to asking of some friends....

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/01/suicides200801

....Throughout 2006, they began to accuse close friends of somehow being involved in the plot; some were asked to sign formal "loyalty oaths"....

http://nymag.com/news/features/36091/index3.html

"I am not Matheny" sounds almost as sincere as "This is not a game" and the new hit single "This is not an ARG."

**Posted:** Mon Sep 21, 2009 5:48 pm

teri lee · Guest

I am he as you are he
as you are me and we
are all together...

everything's a meme

everybody's Matheny

goo goo g'joob

cause of death?

got toxocolgy report?

still waiting for Godot?

y-you like read Vanity Fair?

...and believe it?

it's OK to question authority

(as long as the bumper-sticker
says it's allright)

**Posted:** Mon Sep 21, 2009 6:01 pm