Sunday, June 15, 2025

The randomness is working well today

It's been a while since I clicked for a randomly selected /x/ thread. I tried it today just in the spirit of "Is this thing on?" and got this:


Yeah, it's on.

It doesn't get much more random than a March 19 post wishing a happy birthday to anyone whose birthday is March 15. (For those who came in late, that's my own birthday.)

The penultimate line is an acrostic for HELLO and must have been designed as such, but Orange-tip is a pretty unusual choice of words if all you want is something that begins with O. It's a kind of butterfly, naturally -- one with gray-and-amber coloration:


I'm not sure what the significance of ARIA might be.

Abyssal refers to the deepest parts of the ocean.


Note added (June 16): This morning, one of my employees found a box of A4 printer paper behind some other things in a storage room (not the one where we normally store paper) and asked me what to do with it. It must have been in there for years, as it was a brand we haven't used in a long time:


Still not sure what ARIA means, synchronistically, but it sure seems like it means something.

40 comments:

Wm Jas Tychonievich said...

By analogy with Moria ("black pit/chasm"), Aria might mean "noble pit/chasm" or "beside the pit/chasm."

William Wright (WW) said...

An Aria is defined as a "melody for a single voice". From the Italian word for Air.

In my story and guesses, what will be communicated in and from these Stones has been compared to a melody or tune (e.g., the "resonant" sound). Examples in the symbols we've explored in the past include Alvin (from the Chipmunks) and his Golden Harmonica, which is what comes most readily to my mind right now. Additional symbols have included the "Play for Patrick" references, as in something that is played like music.

Specifically, though, it seems that Eowyn, who is currently in possession of the Ithil Stone, will communicate or "sing" a story consisting of the account of the 12 Apostles, which will be received by the one who will be in possession of the Rose Stone.

This may be the Aria in question, the song that is spoken or sung by that individual - out of "the mouth of the Jew".

Further, that song/ story will be written down into a book, which I think gets to your follow-up sync of the printer paper. The blank pages perhaps representing the story of that book that has yet to be written.

In some of my story exploration last year in conjunction with your William Alizio story and other symbols, I envisioned the 5 boxes of Cereal that Patrick needed to eat as representing hearing or having that story played for him. The 5 boxes perhaps represented the 5 Ages of our world to date, with our current age being the 5th.

This is a true history, in other words, which surprisingly enough may incorporate the specific paper size of you Aria box of paper. It is "A4" paper, which caught my eye and made me look at it a different way, of course. A4 is phonetically said "Afore".

Afore means "in the past, before in time", etc., getting at this book-as-history theme.

Could be something else or other variations, but this seemed to come together decently as I thought about it. At least as a starter or basic framework.

Wm Jas Tychonievich said...

Since the /x/ post is hoping people with my birthday had a lovely day on March 19, I googled significant events on that date. One of the first results was "Nevada makes gambling legal" -- tying in with the Tim Powers novel I am currently reading about gamblers in Vegas.

William Wright (WW) said...

Las Vegas was my home for a few years between undergrad and grad school. I actually worked as financial analyst focusing exclusively on casino companies and the gaming industry. We covered casinos and properties not only in Las Vegas, but all over the world... including places more out your way in Macau. It was pretty interesting learning all about how the industry works.

Back then (2004 - 2006), books like "Bringing Down the House" were really popular. When I would fly back into Vegas returning from trips, I would sometimes sit next to people reading those kinds of books and others that gave tips on how they were going to win big over the weekend. I would tell them that I look at casino financial statements every day, and trust me, the House is doing just fine. They will take your money just like everybody else's.

Though, by that time, the majority of casino revenue in Vegas was not from gambling, but through entertainment, shopping, food, etc (that is different than in other places, where gambling still rules). I don't know if it is still true, but when I was there Caesar's Palace commanded the highest rent for retail store square footage in the world.

Anyway, fun little tie. My favorite local place was Red Rock Canyon. I would ride my bike or go hiking out there most weekends, which is kind of funny now given all of this stuff about a Red Stone.

More on topic, though, Las Vegas means "The Meadows".

In Words of the Faithful, the places where the light of the lilies was consumed was referred to as a Meadow, and of course it was during that whole affair that the Numenoreans gambled or wagered their kingdom and lost.

Here is that passage again, mentioning both the wager and the meadow:

"... sent also en-pollened, to the sleepy on ships wagering the soul of their realm, arising in fulness of might and rash folly, unwisdom raised, to cap their rites and sacrifices, offerings and oblations before Dark Evil; and scenting upon the breeze the meadow of their blowing forth, and swaying white-golden as a song of peace everlasting, these beasts ran straightaway, and in the night without a day, nor sun's setting, consumed there all the fruits and bulbs gathered, and drank up the pooled light of ancient vintage".

Interestingly, I just notices that those beasts - Sauron's Wolves - were described as "skeletally streaking" across the bay when they landed on Eressea a few paragraphs before this passage. Another potential nod to my dream of the Skeleton Crew on the pirate ship.

William Wright (WW) said...

Also, I will leave this dream from this morning here since I think it ties into my narrative above regarding the Aria and the Beings involved in that melody.

Early this morning, I had a dream which first featured an extremely muscular blonde woman. Her name was Elena/ Alayna (I don't know exact spelling - I didn't see the name).

It became apparent that she was a "bodybuilder" and was connected to one of our favorite symbols, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Basically, she was his female counterpart. In realizing this, my vision then shifted to Arnold himself, who was shown in a variety of strange/ funny sequences. For example, in one he was weeping uncontrollably. In another, he was wearing or trying on various hair styles, wigs, outfits, etc. Things like that. In most of these, he looked ridiculous.

In the dream, it was emphasized that Arnold was an "Egger", as in someone having to do with Eggs in some way. This obviously seemed like a play on his last name.

Following this, the word "Morningstar" was held up for me to see. Just that one word shown, and then I woke up.

Just a couple thoughts/ highlights:

Alayna/ Elena is a form of Helen, which has come up before in relation to Eowyn, and which means in that sense "Light, Bright, Shining Torch", etc. Alayna, the alternative spelling, can also mean "Rising, Awakening", which is also relevant, I think, for obvious reasons.

Anyway, in my own view, the Arnold symbol/ character is Eowyn's other half, so the dream images made sense in that light, including mention of being an "Egger", given earlier symbols of Eggs as Stones.

In waking up, I had the very clear thought of an alternative meaning to "Bodybuilder", and thus Arnold's symbolism in that sense. Taken literally, a bodybuilder is one who builds bodies. This gets to the name of my earlier blog, which was Coat of Skins. I used that title because I took the phrase as a reference to bodies that were made or built for Men after they lost their first set of skins in their Fall (via death).

Morningstar, the name that was shown at the end, can be a reference to Venus, the brightest "star" in our sky. That symbol has come up plenty of times before, in relation this Eowyn.

It is also a name or title for Jesus, from Revelation 22. This is probably pretty relevant, given also the specific mention of another title in that chapter, Alpha and Omega, which I brought up in comments on your earlier post, as well as other themes found in that chapter.

Also, Elena is one of those words that mean a similar thing in Elvish and our languages. In Elvish, it means "Star".

Wm Jas Tychonievich said...

Las Vegas means "the meadows," and Nevada means "snowy" -- so together, a white field. This imagery is associated with a "last call" by Joseph Smith:

"For behold, the field is white already to harvest; and it is the eleventh hour, and the last time that I shall call laborers into my vineyard" (D&C 33:3).

Vega is also a star, from the Arabic for "falling eagle." In Chinese, Vega is known as the Weaver Girl Star.

Wm Jas Tychonievich said...

Interesting to know your Las Vegas background, Bill. Strangely, despite my interest in cards and chance and so on, and my use of the motto "The highway is for gamblers," actual gambling has never had the slightest appeal for me, and I've never gambled in my life. Never bought a lottery ticket, never entered a raffle, nothing.

William Wright (WW) said...

Well, probably for the best. The odds are never in your favor, to paraphrase The Hunger Games.

Aria is the name of a Las Vegas casino hotel, you know, just carrying on the Las Vegas theme. It is part of MGM's City Center complex which opened in 2009. I had left Vegas in 2006 to go to Boston, which is why I didn't think of this immediately - it wasn't around when I was there. We had just called it "The City Center Project".

The fact that MGM owns it is a pretty interesting link. First, there have been a massive amount of links, story elements, and symbols that have been pulled from movies and television, at least from my end. The flow has been relatively non-stop over the last couple years. MGM is a well-known movie production company, and some of their movies have factored heavily as sources for my symbols. Wizard of Oz as one (Dorothy and her ruby slippers/ red sox).

But the logo is what really catches my attention. It features the roaring Lion (named Leo), above the name "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer".

Metro has a few really good relevant meanings, but here I will just focus on its reference to a rapid transit system in any city, or a railway. A railroad, in other words, going back to the Rail Road which I have linked to the path to the White Tree from Lehi's vision, as well as to your concern that one morning where you felt I was "Railroading" you.

Goldwyn means "Golden Friend". Friend can also be swapped for "holy, fair, white, pure", wince "wyn" also means this.

Mayer is a reference to a Steward. This one also should be recognizable by now, also.

Anyway, putting that together, MGM stands for "Railroad Golden Holy Steward". Which I think is meaningful, particularly in this specific instance with MGM's association with Aria.

And going back on my initial statement to just focus one meaning of metro, I should also note give your harvest symbolism of Las Vegas, Nevada as a White Field, that Metro also derives from the name Demeter, who is the goddess of the harvest.

Wm Jas Tychonievich said...

There are lots of Wizard of Oz references in Last Call. Ozzie Smith tells everyone he is from Oz, and his foster son Scott is known as Scarecrow Smith. One of the other characters personifies randomness as the "Wizard of Odds."

Tess/Tessa is another harvest-related name.

William Wright (WW) said...

MGM produced those two movies your apparent doppelganger Jason Statham appeared in: A Working Man and The Beekeeper.

Wm Jas Tychonievich said...

I had always assumed Goldwyn was the name of one of the founders of MGM, but it turns out that Goldwyn pictures was founded by Samuel Goldfish and the Selwyn brothers. Originally, the brothers wanted to get top billing in the combined name, but Samuel protested that that would be Selfish.

William Wright (WW) said...

That would be Shellfish...

Speaking of Shellfish, specifically our Public Enemy #1 Spider-Lobster of the Sea Ungoliant, MGM slogan was "More stars than there are in heaven". This sounded very Ungoliant-ish. Varda, of course, is the Queen of Heaven, and it was said she painted or placed all of the stars there. I already wrote about Ungoliant's wish to usurp that title. Saying you have more stars than heaven would certainly be one step in doing that.

I had that thought this morning, and of course a synchronistic event seemed to support this. My daughter and I walked into Jimmy John's to get some sandwiches. Standing in front of us in line, was a woman who was covered in spider tattoos, involving both spiders and webs all over her body (along with a giant fly on her neck). On her right shoulder, was an image of a web, and in the web were a collection of stars - as if the spider had caught the stars in her web. Dangling from the web was the spider, who held another star in her grip (perhaps pulling it back up to her web?). It seemed pretty spot on.

To top it off, we pulled out of Jimmy John's and headed down the road. On the right hand side, was a large sign for Red Lobster.

Too good.

On MGM's actual Lion logo is the Latin "Ars Gratia Artis", which means "Art for the sake of art". This reminded my of the dream image of that skeleton crew, above which was the caption "The Art of an Island Fire". Sauron of course had Pharazon launch the ships, but the sickness that afflicted the Numenoreans for longer than he was in the picture was directly attributed to a dark, primordial spirit./ Being. Ungoliant, in my view.

William Wright (WW) said...

Also, I saw you looked up March 19, and came up with a day in which gambling was legalized in Nevada, which is interesting.

You probably skipped over a more important event or association with March 19, however.

March 19 is Saint Joseph's Day, or the Feast of Saint Joseph. While this day in Catholicism celebrates the garbled biblical tale and character of Joseph in the Nativity, I think we can pencil this in as a reference or link another Joseph - the one I've been dropping in your comments fairly regularly lately.

If the guess is right that you were Pharazon, that Joseph would have been the one you dressed up as and pretended you were in your gold suit on Numenor. Seems like a pretty good fit - your birthday, the Ides of March, for some odd reason mentioned on a day celebrating a Saint (meaning, Holy... like the Golden Steward I mention above in my comments) by the name of Joseph.

William Wright (WW) said...

A specific song is associated with Joseph in Words of the Faithful, as well, which might also be another layer or meaning (or even alternative, given the 3/19 association with Joseph we've uncovered) regarding the Aria: Joseph's own song that is contained on the Rose Stone.

Here is that mention. Interestingly, the quote suggests the performance of the song may need to wait until the world and its inhabitants are healed, which points back to that phrase I highlighted from Johnny Cash's "Man in Black" song where the singer concludes by saying they will not put on their Coat of Many Colors/ Rainbow until others are also better:

"In the Song of Joseph much was told that has been said here, and many more praises and good pictures, too are found; perhaps someday the song will be sung aright, by voices amid a light befitting his sorrow, and resonant joy; the gladness of his life, and its pain without redress upon Arda Marred. Maybe its full performance must wait until the day the marring is amended, and healing without forgetting has spread out upon the lands."

Wm Jas Tychonievich said...

Good find. I just searched for historical events and thus didn’t get feast days and such in my search results.

“Aria” is a word one associates with opera, and opera’s poor relation is the Broadway musical. In my teens, I co-wrote and starred in an absurdist musical in which I sang a song adapted from “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” with the lyrics changed to be about, of all things, my ill-fated attempt to steal a pumpkin pie intended for Elvis Presley.

William Wright (WW) said...

The plot thickens, and this connects to a comment you left on your other post "Carry that Weight". It is also going to, really strangely but very clearly, tie to a post you wrote awhile ago about the actor Jesse Eisenberg, go figure.

My youngest son wanted to watch a short show before going to bed tonight. He ended up watching an episode of The Flash, which was titled "The Apocalypse".

After the show ended, a preview came up for what appeared to be a magic show. It actually looked pretty interesting, and since he didn't have to get up early, I said he could watch just a few minutes of the beginning (it's summer break...), but then he needed to go to bed.

It actually turned out that it's a movie about magicians, not an actual real magic show, which we both thought was kind of a bummer. I was interested in the premise though, so after putting him to bed, I continued watching it. It's called "Now you see me". I've only seen the first 30 minutes or so before turning it off.

It features four magicians who are known as the "Four Horsemen". That stuck out due to the Apocalypse overtones and the fact that my son had just watched a show titled "The Apocalypse" (maybe why Netflix served this up? I don't know how their engine works).

Anyway, you had left your comment earlier today referencing an older post on The Magician, so the fact that I was now watching a movie about magicians was suddenly something that caught my attention.

These magicians team up and start a group act in, where else, Las Vegas. They hold their show at the MGM Grand. And wouldn't you know it, they stay at the Aria hotel. I was just laughing.

But it got better. Jesse Eisenberg stars in the film. He plays one of the magicians named J. Daniel Atlas. Atlas is already a name/ title/ symbol I strongly associate with Atlas for several reasons, one of which was the book Atlas Shrugged (which, of course, involves a Railroad as its main plot device...). I used an older version of that book on my Moonshot blog showing the Red Circle (which I imagined as Joseph's Rose Stone) positioned over a railroad leading into a tunnel. However, in the version I actually own, it depicts a Golden Man as Atlas. Here is that other cover:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/662.Atlas_Shrugged

And the first edition cover with the Red Stone and Railroad as a reminder:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_Shrugged


Daniel, the name the magician goes by, would be reference to Joseph's Rose Stone as well in the form of Daniel's prophecy of the stone cut from the mountain. And given that, although the movie or cast sheet doesn't specify what the "J." stands for, I think we can guess it is Joseph.

So, we have this magician whose names were already Joseph symbols in my mind from long before, played by Jesse Eisenberg. This seemed important. I went back to text copies of my old blog, and couldn't find any mention, which surprised me, because I thought for sure he had come up. I then searched on your blog, and bingo...

You wrote a post titled "Jesse Eisenberg: the connecting link between Chipmunks and Bigfoot ", where you reference a post I had just written specifically about Joseph. I then went further in the comments, linking Eisenberg to Joseph via a few different ways. You can read the first couple comments there to get those takes, which I think are still decent.

Anyway, so one thought is perhaps your Tarot Magician you referenced earlier has something to do with Joseph. And again the Weight in my story - the one I associate with a Stone, and everything that entails - belongs to Joseph, and it in that "Carry that weight" post where you bring up the Magician.

And thinking of it now, this symbolically ties directly to Atlas as well, who was known in mythology as having to carry a pretty heavy weight: all of heaven or the sky on his shoulders.

William Wright (WW) said...

I'm laughing at the Joseph and Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat musical adaptation. Did you share that ever? Attempting to steal Elvis' pumpkin pie is pretty on point.

William Wright (WW) said...

Sorry, read my comment above this one and noticed that I accidentally wrote:

"Atlas is already a name/ title/ symbol I strongly associate with Atlas for several reasons"

I meant to write:

"Atlas is already a name/ title/ symbol I strongly associate with Joseph for several reasons"

William Wright (WW) said...

I also note with a laugh that in my first comment here on the Aria, I mention Alvin and the Chipmunks as my specific example, for whatever reason.

In your Jesse Eisenberg post, the Chipmunks are also front and center.

Wm Jas Tychonievich said...

Atlas is of course where the name Atlantis comes from. I believe you subscribe to the theory that Joseph of Egypt was actually Joseph of Atlantis.

When you mentioned the Aria hotel, I looked it up on Wikipedia and saw that it had appeared in Now You See Me. I saw that movie, or part of it, some years ago but had forgotten that Jesse Eisenberg is in it. It has Woody Harrelson, too.

I don't think I've ever posted about my brief but distinguished stage career before. I was just a 30-minute "roadshow" production (Mormons of a certain generation will know what that is), but we went all out. My best friend and I were at first given carte blanche to write the script (I can't imagine who thought that was a good idea!), and the basic plot was this: Two brothers who are radio repairmen, named Pete (me) and Dennis (my friend) , hear that their Aunt Matilda has baked one of her famous pumpkin pies and put it in the mailbox to cool. They decide to steal and eat the pie, and they concoct a hare-brained scheme to that end that involves dressing up as mailmen. After encountering and overcoming a variety of unforeseen snags, they succeed in getting their hands on the pie -- only to find out that their information was inaccurate. It turns out to be not a pumpkin pie but a wristwatch pie, which they don't want, and all their work was for nothing. There's a musical number about how crime does not pay, at least when it involves pies baked by eccentric aunts, and the curtain falls.

Then at the last minute, we were told we had to rewrite the script so that (1) it had something to do with the just-announced theme for this year's roadshows, which was "What would we do without Mom?" and (2) it included Elvis Presley singing a song, since apparently there was a talented Elvis impersonator in the ward and it would be a shame not to make use of him. The Elvis impersonator turned out to be a big fan of Broadway show tunes and urged us to include some of those, too.

So, in the final version of the script, Aunt Matilda became Mom, and the original wristwatch pie ending was nixed. Instead, Pete and Dennis get the pumpkin pie and start eating it, only to be caught by two of their female cousins, who inform them that their Aunt Matilda (Pete and Dennis's mom) baked that specially for her sister's son's wife's uncle's cousin (or something like that) and will be furious when she finds out what Pete and Dennis have done. Then this distant relation of their mom's shows up in person and turns out to be none other than Elvis Presley, who, to express his fondness for pie and his great disappointment in having one stolen from him, sings "I Ain't Nothin' But a Pie Hog." Pete, Dennis, and the cousins then sing a song based on "Any Dream Will Do," which begins like this:

Pete and Dennis:
We stole the pie
Meant for our relation
Too much temptation
Now we're feeling blue

Cousins:
Pretended that
They were the mailmen
You should be in jail, men
That pie's not for you

Then Mom herself shows up and sings a modified version of the crime-does-not-pay song. Pete and Dennis, properly chastened and thankful to their dear old mother for teaching them an important moral lesson and setting them on the right path, say "What would we do without Mom?"

Mom, to reward the boys for their contrition, says that she has baked another pie specially for them, but they magnanimously offer it to Elvis instead. Elvis sings another verse of "Pie Hog" and then digs in -- only to find that it's, you guessed it, a wristwatch pie! Curtain.

Wm Jas Tychonievich said...

While we're on the pumpkin pie theme, here's a poem composed by one of my siblings at an extremely young age:

Jack and Jumph went up the glumph
To fetch a pumpkin pie.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And he began to cry.

I mention this because of the verse of "With?" that alludes to the original Jack and Jill rhyme:

Pinbad the Pailer was the bloke
Who had a crown, but then it broke.

Thus suggesting a link (which I know you may no longer accept) between Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater and Thomas B. Bucket.

Exactly one year ago today, as it happens, I published this post connecting Pinbad the Pailer with Captain Ahab and his biblical namesake:

https://narrowdesert.blogspot.com/2024/06/whinbad-and-pinbad.html

William Wright (WW) said...

Wait - so let me get this straight: you were a character named Pete who dressed up as somebody else in order to steal a pumpkin pie? My goodness. And here I wrote about you last year as a character named Peter (via Pharazon) who dressed up like someone else to go steal some "pumpkin pies" (linked to the lilies/ Eressea).

Roadshows were the best. I also participated in only one, but did not have any hand in its creation, like you did with yours. Ours was about the 70's (if I remember right, each ward had a different decade they had to base their skit on - it was a big stake production). It involved some kids travelling back in time to the 70's see how life was back then, meet some characters, etc.

As the syncs would have it, I played the part of John Travolta from Saturday Night Fever and even had my own solo disco dance. We ended with a big group song and dance to KISS's "Rock and Roll All Nite".

Continued in another comment....

William Wright (WW) said...

We could probably pull a Cidada on your roadshow script, you know.

Pete and Dennis saying they were 'feeling blue' gave off some serious Blue Wizard vibes. But I was most interested in the switch of the Pumpkin Pie with the Wristwatch Pie, since a wristwatch pie seems so nonsensical.

I don't know if you remember, but Pi (the Greek letter) came up big back around the Kirtland, Ohio total solar eclipse. The eclipse passed over the Kirtland Temple right at 3:14pm, which got me down this thinking on the symbol of Pi.

I had concluded that, similar to the Solar Eclipse symbol itself, that Pi was symbolic of some kind of door or passageway, given the letter/ character itself.

A wristwatch would be symbolic of Time, obviously. You had that recent dream of the clock, for example, which I think might tie in and we explored a little bit. But the addition of the "wrist" is interesting with the watch. While referencing the part of the body connecting the hand to the forearm, the word wrist comes from the root "wer" which means "to bend, turn". A wrist watch, in that meaning, would refer to Bent or even Inverted Time.

The manipulation and bending of Time (spacetime) is a big part of this story, so that was interesting to see.

Putting those definitions of Pi and Wristwatch together, you have a reference to some kind of door involving the bending of time. This gets very directly to my guesses involving the nature of how the Stones (like the Anor-Liahona, Rose, Ithil, etc.) work in enabling travel of very far distances. The Warp and Woof symbolism was all based on this.

The link becomes even stronger looking at a sync staple: The Last Unicorn. In thinking of the above, I remembered that Schmendrick was told by the skeleton that he needed to "Walk through Time". The Clock was a door or portal, and in order to reach the "Red Bull" he needed to walk through it. The scene became even more fascinating to think through given recent commentary here.

I dreamed of a "skeleton crew" that assaulted Eressea, drank the "Dandelion Wine", and burned the island. In the Last Unicorn scene, we have a skeleton that is obsessed with wine, or the memory of it.

Further, Schmendrick is a Blue Wizard (he dresses all in Blue, and wore his customary Dunce Cap), and a character I had linked specifically to Peter/ Patrick/ Blue Wizard. He originally was employed by Mommy Fortuna (Ungoliant symbol), but is able to escape from her when he sets the Unicorn free. And as a reminder, the Unicorn is a symbol of Joseph, Asenath and their House.

Also of note, in the Last Unicorn scene, Schmendrick turns water into wine (or pretends to, I guess, officially). He is mocked for attempting to do it by the skeleton, but the miracle itself is a very Jesus-centric reference. It is his miracles, though, that Jesus told his apostles that they and other who believed would also do and even greater things. So this seemed like another Peter nod, honestly. At least it did last year when I was working through that story.

Anyway, here is the clip. Again, I think potentially relevant to your Wristwatch Pi roadshow. 3 minute mark is where the skeleton talks about walking through clocks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV--HzX9__I

William Wright (WW) said...

And you are connected pretty directly to Kirtland, and thus that Pi symbol, since you lived there.

Wm Jas Tychonievich said...

An incongruous wristwatch also appears, and chimes like a clock, in The Slough.

William Wright (WW) said...

After leaving the comment above, I hopped in the car to go pick up my oldest son. The song by Post Malone and Luke Combs came on a few minutes later on the radio, "Guy For That". You mentioned this song in a comment on the "Finding Boster the Nose" post, where you said your wife was playing the song:

'My wife was playing Post Malone, and at the exact moment I was reading your comment about MIT and Time, I heard the lines “Know a VIP up at MIT / And he still won’t let me fly the Time Machine.”'

So that part came up, and then I listened to the lyrics right after, which mention a wristwatch and links it to the bending or inversing of time. So the full line is:

Know a VIP up at MIT
And he still won't let mе fly the time machine
Somеone to turn back the hands on my new AP

An "AP" is short for the watch brand "Audemars-Piguet". Super expensive watch - hundreds of thousands of dollars for a new one.

So, I had to look at the meaning of those names, of course, since someone mentioning a wristwatch connected to time being turned back or manipulated is a pretty direct hit to my comments above.

Audemars means "Rich/ Famous". Piguet means possibly a stake or something like that, though I think that is for Piquet, with a Q. Maybe Piguet is a form of that? But I do notice the conspicuous Pig reference in that name - Pig-uet. A small rich pig? Who knows, but given the reference in your story to a watch associated with a pig, it seemed interesting.

However, what most caught my eye is the abbreviation used in the song - AP.

AP is the acronym for Pharazon (Ar-Pharazon... AP). That character could commiserate with the perspective of the singer and their desire to turn back the hands of time.

Wm Jas Tychonievich said...

You propose that Piguet is “pig” plus a diminutive suffix, with a “u” interposed between the two elements. An old sync post of mine from 2020 includes an image of a Beatles record released in Mexico and draws attention to the Spanish-influenced misspelling “Pigguies” on the cover. That post also randomly begins with me briefly taking on the persona of Odysseus.

https://narrowdesert.blogspot.com/2020/12/crazy-like-fox.html

A compass, especially a two-spindle one like the Liahona, bears a certain resemblance to a watch. In the original Boster story, Boster is trying to catch the bandit Boster the Pig, and his wizard friend Biller creates a magical “Boster the Pig Compass” which always points in the bandit’s direction. When Boster follows it, though, it just takes him to a pigsty. Biller speculates that one of the pigs there must be named Boster, and that the malfunctioning compass led them to “a pig named Boster, not a Boster named Pig.”

Wm Jas Tychonievich said...

Just read this in Last Call:

“Watch the road!” said Ozzie sharply. “You’ve got a beer between your knees, as usual, and frankly I think you drink way too much.”

“No,” said Mavranos, “I mean pi, you know pi?”

Ozzie was staring at him. “You want a pie? Instead of a drink? What the hell kind of pie? Can’t you—”

The context is that Mavranos is on the lookout for unusual coincidences as signs that, as in this post title, the randomness is working well.

Wm Jas Tychonievich said...

What caught my eye was the pi/pie confusion, but “Watch the road” is also significant given the wristwatch stuff posted here.

Wm Jas Tychonievich said...

Bill just mentioned the wristwatch in a Post Malone country song I’d heard my wife playing. I’m reading Last Call because a sync involving a different Post Malone country song my wife was playing.

The name Post Malone (Post as in post office, Malone as in Karl “the Mailman” Malone) ties in with the mailman disguises in the roadshow.

Wm Jas Tychonievich said...

AP could also stand for Austin Post (Post Malone's real name) or Apostle Peter.

William Wright (WW) said...

That Boster the Pig mixup was funny. Good call on the Liahona, with two spindles, having a connection to a watch with two hands. In the Post Malone song, turning back the hands can be understood as turning back time, but in the context of the Liahona or a compass, you could understand it as those hands or spindles pointing back home. The Stone Couriers mentioned in those 2020 words that the Liahona was a compass, but that wasn't its complete role - something else about it was able to bring people over the sea to the Promised Land, and my opinion is this has to do with its ability to bend spacetime. So, both of those meanings are present in the phrase "turn back the hands on my new AP".

The name Malone means "Servant of John", and it has come up before in a big way in Xanadu. The main protagonist is named Sonny Malone. And of course Xanadu, the name/ place, was to me very symbolic of Tirion/ Aman and people being gathered back there.

Your Crazy Like a Fox post strongly linked to something when I looked at it, which I will cover in a follow up comment.

William Wright (WW) said...

In your Fox post, you share the Dr. Seuss story and its reference to Beetles, and thereby the star Betelgeuse. I read that, and I thought that Beetle Juice had come up just recently, and in the form of a magician, and then it all came together.

Two weekends ago, I watched the movie "The Kid Who Would Be King". It is modern spoof on the King Arthur tale/ The Once and Future King, in which modern kids adopt the identities and roles of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

Merlin, of course, is present. And he had a strange requirement that he needed to drink Beetle Blood, Beaver Urine, and Ground Bone in order to recover. I thought he had said Beetle Juice, but it was blood - close enough, though, given some other things, as you'll see.

OK, so I had just mentioned Schmendrick, the Blue Magician whose name literally means "Fool", and connected that with Patrick, your Blue Wizard. Further, Jack Black - a Blue Wizard of sorts in Minecraft - has also been connected to that character. In the clip I shared, he brought the group to his chicken place and sang a jingle about Steve's Lava Chicken, which was Fried Chicken, Minecraft style.

This in turn was a strong link to Colonel Sanders and his Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Well, any guess as to what food source Merlin found his necessary ingredients in a modern world? Fried Chicken. Seriously. Here is a clip where two of the kids go to meet Merlin (going by the alias of Mertin) at none other than the Fried Chicken fast food place, Lip Smackin' Chicken:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPfaQsIpqhk

To further solidify the link, while Merlin is usually played by the child actor in the clip above, in his true form he is played by Patrick Stewart. Patrick Stewart (besides literally having the name Patrick) came up before through some symbolism in his role as Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek.

In fact, Picard is a form of the name Piguet (the Piquet version).

Merlin also wears a Led Zeppelin shirt throughout the film. Zeppelin came up on your blog a few times.

A few other things in a follow up comment....

William Wright (WW) said...

First, specific to Merlin and his connection to Pharazon and potentially Patrick, and then some things from the movie overall, including a direct reference to the symbol Pi as a gate or door.

In the movie, Merlin exhibits Obi-Wan style mind-control capabilities. One of his core pieces of magic. Last night, I finished that magician movie, "Now you see me" (which I didn't really care for, honestly). As you mentioned, Woody Harrelson, the Colonel from Planet of the Apes, is in that movie as one of the Four Horseman. He is a Mentalist, and can hypnotize anyone to do what he wants them to do, Merlin-style. A direct character crossover, it seemed.

The name Merlin itself means "Sea Fortress", and this is going to take us directly to Pharazon. Pharazon's ship in which he assaulted Eressea was named Alcarondas, which means "Castle of the Sea". Castle, per Etymonline, means Fortress, as one definition, and thus Merlin literally means the same thing as Alcarondas.

The child actor (non-Patrick Stewart guy) who plays Merlin is named Angus Imrie. I had at one point linked Claire's True Song of the Wandering Aengus to Pharazon, and here we have that name. Imrie in Hebrew means "my speakings". In my story last year, I had also envisioned the Pharazon character as the Spokesman mentioned in 2 Nephi 3.

Zooming back out, we've explored Pi as a symbol that points to a doorway or gate, specifically something that allows Beings to travel great distances to other locations. That symbol also came up on your blog in the form of Stonehenge with "This is Spinal Tap".

Well, in the movie, the Pi symbol and Stonehenge come together, as the kids walk right through these Pi shaped doors throughout the story. They first do it at Stonehenge, but then in other locations. Here is a scene where they as Four Horsemen ride through one of these Pi shaped portals (good clips for this movie are hard to find...):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byoKyVPcFKk

Anyway, I thought timing of this was relevant given the Wristwatch Pi reference.

More on Arthur in yet another follow up.

William Wright (WW) said...

In the movie, the Arthur character's name is Alex Elliot, which is pretty good also. Elliot is a form of the name "Elias", and I have argued that the character who Arthur represents in the legend is the Elias who will "restore all things". This is part of the Rose Stone, actually, in my imagination, and fits with the legend of a Sword being pulled from a Stone. The Word of God has been compared to a Sword, and I think the myth of Arthur pulling a physical sword from a sword stuck in it is symbolic of the Word of God being pulled from the Rose Stone.

The actor who plays Arthur is Louis Ashbourne Serkis. Serkis means "Protector", that same meaning as both your and my name. Ashbourne is also a spot on reference if looked at in the right way. Bourne technically refers to a Fountain, which in itself is relevant. You had a dream in which you were chainsmoking 4 long cigarettes and dumping the ash into a fountain. You turned that fountain into an "Ashbourne", quite literally. But Bourne can also refer, at least phonetically, to Born, as in emerging or being brought forth. Thus, Ashbourne can mean to be Born of Ash. This is a direct reference to the Phoenix symbol, and to one of his identities as Abinadi, who was burned up by Noah. This can potentially get to the symbolism of the Fried Chicken, which keeps popping up.

Marty McFly in Back to the Future hated being called "Chicken". That character was also used to symbolize the Phoenix (and the Fox/ Faux, since he was played by Michael J. Fox). One reason why he hated being called that was perhaps a memory or distant association of being fried up like one.

Anyway, the Arthur legend itself has been pretty strong symbolically in my story going all the way back to C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy, so it was interesting to see some of these ties in this movie. The inscription on the stone "Once and Future King" finally hit home as well, with this reference to Beings in the past returning, reincarnation, etc. The one who draws the Sword from the Stone was once a king, and will be again, basically.

Also, the Solar Eclipse symbol was quite strong in this movie. Here is a picture of the cover art, where you can see the Solar Eclipse immediately behind Excalibur:

https://family.20thcenturystudios.com/movies/the-kid-who-would-be-king

William Wright (WW) said...

New York Times Cooking for the win, again, by the way.

After publishing the comments above with quite a few references to Fried Chicken, I checked my email. The top email in my inbox was from NYT Cooking with the title "KBBQ Chicken FTW".

It links to a Korean BBQ chicken recipe called Dak Bolgagi.

William Wright (WW) said...

One other thing with the Arthur legend -

Numbers vary on the actual number of Knights associated with the Round Table. Traditionally, though, 12 is common number, with Arthur making the 13th. This is seen by many as symbolic of the Twelve Apostles, which maps well given my recent comments on those individuals.

The 13 in total also maps well to the stories I envision or association with the Ithil and Rose Stones. The Book of the Lamb, comprising the Twelve's stories, is with Eowyn and the Ithil Stone. The 13th story or account is on the Rose Stone.

William Wright (WW) said...

Sorry, I just keep going.

Morgana... the name means "Sea Circling". I have envisioned Ungoliant as the Being who sits on the Many Waters (the Great Lobster in the Sky), and basically has usurped our current Universe, more or less. In Tolkien's language, Ekkai is the Sea which surrounded our Earth... outer space, basically, or the Outer Sea. Thus, having Arthur and the Knights' main nemesis named after the "Circling Sea" makes complete sense.

Wm Jas Tychonievich said...

Speaking of Arthur and wristwatches:

https://narrowdesert.blogspot.com/2019/06/most-unfortunate-brand-name-ever.html

William Wright (WW) said...

Arseprince. That is funny. It took me awhile to get it, as I had to go down to the comments to get the translation of "Prince Arthur".

The link gets stronger. Arse is a word which Etymonline traces to Aers meaning "Tail". We've written quite a bit about Tails/ Tales - who has them, and who doesn't. Arthur will pull a Story, or a Tale, out of the Stone, and thus be the Arseprince. Prince with the Tail.

I also now just thought of the Star Anus (Star Anise) my wife mentioned awhile ago. This makes sense in this light as well ... a Star Tail/ Tale.

Arse also refers to an irritating or contemptible person, per Oxford dictionary. The characters I have associated Arthur with included Abinadi, Ether, and Enoch, as three examples. Abinadi was so irritating and hated that Noah wanted to get rid of him by slaying him. Ether told the people a bunch of things, and he was cast out. Enoch couldn't keep his mouth shut, and it was said that "all men were offended because of him". By his own admission everyone hated him.

But, as that picture with Johnny Cash in your Carry that Weight post said, "It is good to be hated by the right people."

Arthur is actually an arse, it seems.

Anyway, I wrote all of the above before reading your latest post with that message. I don't particularly view it as a positive thing, but let's see what we can do. It sounds like some people still aren't too convinced about you.

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