Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Comic-Con Roundup 38

Picture provided by Maven
After all the excitement generated during Comic Con it's worth rounding up the news around the Lost University.

Unfortunately there isn't any news !

No new announcements or videos relating to the University were given at the Lost panel, however the video that is on the LU home page was shown. As many people have said in comments and on other sites this is more than likey just a marketing site. There has also been speculation that because there are two semesters that the first one will relate to the release of Lost series 5 and the second will relate to the start of series 6.

However to confuse things slightly Maven did manage to speak to someone about things and from the comments in the previous post :

"I did talk to the guy who is running the LOST auction in May. That's where they were handing out the LU flyers. He did say that he knew it will be a "real" on-line university talking about subjects relating to LOST, but it is not a game!"

Many thanks to Maven and Scoutpost for their posts on the Comic Con 2009 Blog and for the pencil image above.

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Seemingly unrelated to the Lost University, there was another video shown called 'Mysteries of the Universe', this video is also posted at http://www.abc.com/lostmysteries

There seem to be many clues or hints about Lost in it. This video is also referenced by an advert (left) shown in Entertainment Weekly. It has some other dates noted on it, which relate to the numbers and has the release dates of other videos in the series.

Could this series of videos be the real ARG or just more promotion for series 6 ?

One last thing an anonymous comment in the last post says :-

"There are hieroglyphs on the print LOST/Kia ad that ran in Entertainment Weekly (they are on the film canister)-- could this have something to do with Prof. Nussdorf?

Also, when you dial the # on the card and press the star key, you are asked for a password. (this is why there's a STAR next to the phone number) Has anyone cracked it? Could the ad contain the password? (maybe the glyphs?)"


Is the * anything more than just the voice mail admin prompt ?

There are two sets of potential markings the first are some Lost style heiroglyphs which is the more likely clue and the second is something that could look like morse code.



Click here to see a rough translation from Lostpedia.
Lostpedia has a rough translation of these heiroglyphics as :

"Who is the Leader ?"

Update - See below for the WAKY information, but as part of that on page 4 of the WAKY site there is this image :







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Update



Der Merzmensch on his blog (which is mainly in the German language) has pointed us at some screen shots from the Mysteries video. In the screenshots some clearer pictures of the old newspaper clippings can be seen and one of these is for an old Radio station WAKY in Louisville, Kentucky. On one of the photos pages on the WAKY site there is a photo of a DJ called John Locke. There is also on another page an odd item that may relate to the potential heiroglyphics answer above.

38 comments:

Zort70 said...

A bit of a marathon post, but I think it has all the relevant points.

I'm thinking that all these elements we are seeing add up to a bigger picture, probably all related to the final series, and not specifically an ARG.

However the glyphs on the film in the Kia advert and the possible password on the voicemail seem to be very ARG like.

inatrancer said...
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Zort70 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Zort70 said...

Intrancer - beaten by a few seconds !

inatrancer said...

i know had to remove it couldnt deal with the shame.......

Zort70 said...

In the Lost Mysteries video there is so much stuff that could be clues.

It would take ages to go through it all.

Zort70 said...

As far as I can tell the copyright date at the end of the video is the numbers using roman numerals :

IV VIII XV XVI XXIII XLII

Der Merzmensch said...

About Lost University: indeed, it seems to be not an ARG, but something like edutainment, and I'll apreciate it if some real scientists will explain thing. Perhaps elsewise we cannot understand Season 6?

Abiut Mystery footage:
I've tried to analyze some documents from the mystery footage. I found e.g. an existing institution, Malinov&Silvermann:
Jewish Funeral Directors
http://www.malinowsilverman.com/

I'd be glad if you help with decoding all the information:

http://merzmensch.blogspot.com/2009/07/mysteries-of-universe-episode-1.html

Zort70 said...

Der Merzmensch - Thanks for posting the links, your blog post has a lot of useful screenshots.

I'm not sure the funeral directors and WAKY radio is significant as these appear to be a real business and radio station, personally I think these are just materials used in the production of the video.

I do feel that there is something fairly significant in there so keep up the good work.

Zort70 said...

Now I'm sure I've been looking at this way too long and have much sleep to catch up on, however :-

On the WAKY radio page found by Der Merzmensch - there is a photo on page 3 of the photo's section with a name of a DJ called 'John Locke'.

Also on page 4 there is something that ties in with the Lospedia translation of the heiroglyphs on the Kia Mysteries of the Universe advert. Please have a look and make your own minds up !

Der Merzmensch said...

Thanks again.
I'm reading your blog with rss-reader, so let's stay in touch :-)

I think you're right with the real companies - they are perhaps red herrings, or perhaps there's something in the story about it.

I was free to imagine the possibilities like: the funeral society might mean a dead person, who has something to do with Dharma. And radio station perhaps stays for an interview about Dharma or phenomenons or something like this. Again, these are just wildest speculations :-) I wonder, if we could find another clues there.

memphish said...

Just posting for email.

maven said...

Zort: Thanks for using my pencil pic!

You and Der Merzmensch are doing a fantastic job trying to figure out what's going on with the Mysteries stuff. Keep up the fascinating work!

Der Merzmensch said...

Thank you, Maven.
I'm at the moment a little bit irritated after so many hints. I also found a pic of WAKY staff near Stonehenge :-)

I said to myself: if I'll find some mentions of Geronimo Jackson, it will creep me out :-)

Let's continue our researches, and 4th April is soon (the 2nd episode of Mysteries)

Tess315 said...

WAKY appears to have been a top 40's radio station of the 60's and 70's.
That would tie in with Dharma.

Zort70 said...

I tried a few number combinations on the Lost University phone line after pressing the * button, but none have worked so far.

Capcom said...

Nice work Zortster, Merzmensch, and contributors! :-D

LOL Mensch about finding Geronimo Jackson. X-D

Tess315 said...

Also I can't believe that I live in southern Ohio and don't remember this station.

We listened to WLW and WKRC in Cincinnati. (No not WKRP lol).
Then in the evening and late at night we could get WLS in Chicago now that was a cool station.
That's where I discovered Dr. Demento songs. Ah memories. :)

Der Merzmensch said...

OK, people, my patience is very weak.
I'll email the WAKY radio station now and will ask them, whether they do know this band Geronimo Jackson.

Perhaps their answer could show us, whether we are on the right path or not :-)

Zort70 said...

This all may be a complete and utter coincidence as the WAKY site looks genuine, it just happens to have the name of one of the characters from Lost and a more tenuous link to the, possible, answer to a set of heiroglyphs !

Der Merzmensch said...

OK, so I wrote a letter to John from WAKY:

Dear WAKY radio team,

I'm very appreciated to visit your homepage - the story of WAKY radio station is really great. I am almost sorry not to live in these times and not to listen to your channel (alas, the most radio channels nowadays are streaming just mainstream popmusic). I'm actually looking for a pretty unknown music band named "Geronimo Jackson". They were founded in 70ties and as far as I know the band grounder was Keith Strutter from Kentucky. Their only album, Magna Carta was pretty successful, as far as I know.

So perhaps you have heard about this group? Since your radio is from Kentucky too and you have broadcasted many great interpreters, I just hope, you have once broadcasted also Geronimo Jackson. I would be glad to find some information, since all the data I found online is not really useful.

Thank you in advance,
And sorry for bothering you.
best regards,
Vlad Alex

---------------
Now perhaps, perhaps must surely the radio is OOG. But perhaps they had just a contract with JJ Abrams [sounds like contract with Mephistopheles, hehe]: they will build some fictional tie-ins in their history, and as reward they will get attention from huge audience worldwide.

Anyway, if this is completely coincidence and the picture from Mystery of the Universe Footage is not about "WAKY invoice", but somethink like "...W/VAKY invoice", don't kill me please, people. I'll appreciate it :-)

Tess315 said...

Oh don't worry this group won't kill you.
We follow any kind of clue anywhere, we don't care. That's all part of the fun.

Capcom said...

Hey, you're doing great Merzmensch! I'm looking forward to seeing if you get a reply.

If the radio station is authentic in the real world, I wonder if they pronounce their call name as "wacky".

Zort70 said...

Capcom, when you go to the main page a sound is played that is "wacky", apparently know nas the WAKY Shout.

However at the moment we may have crashed their servers as the site is currently unavailable.

Zort70 said...

Ah ha it's back now, WAKY Shout and all.

Capcom said...

Heheh, I didn't even go there yet! Wow, if it's not in-game, I feel really sorry for them. Attack of the rabid Losties! Ahhhggg! :-O

Tess315 said...

lol Capcom
It happens all the time doesn't it.
Remember the paper that had Jeremy Bentham's obit in it?

Zort70 said...

I seem to remember phoning a takeaway food place that Jorge Garcia had posted as part of a clue.

They had no idea what I was on about !

Zort70 said...

No it wasn't a takeaway it was a Dry Cleaners and it wasn't a clue, just a post on the blog about a Dharma symbol - This is the post

Apart from that everything else in my previous post was accurate :-)

Thrasher76 said...

Why would they, TPTB, go through al this trouble to hide clues and glyphs if there was no ARG?

Capcom said...

Is there no ARG? Didn't they only say that LU wasn't a game?

Even if there's no full blown ARG, I don't mind if they play with our heads a little -- and make some money off of KIA. :-)

Nickb123 said...

Hi guys. Was tipped off about the Waky thing and popped on over. I ran a WhoIs check on the site, and it's fully legit and all.. I don't think it's ARG-related as evidence currently suggests that they're running the filler content to S6 fully in-house on ABC sites.

The Lost University thing is apparently going to just be videos from the S5 DVDs, mixed online as an interactive experience with a few tests. The actual mythology advancement will be seen in the Mysteries Of The Universe, which Lindelof has said will advance our knowledge of the DHARMA Initiative.

Best wishes to you all! I do love you guys from our DIY clue days :D

Zort70 said...

Hi Nick, yes the WAKY site is definitely a legit site.

It may just be that some researcher found John Locke as a DJ and included the WAKY invoice to get the conspiracy theory juices flowing.

I've got difficulty in accepting that this a clue to a larger picture as WAKY seems too real and out of the loop to be true.

However I'm keeping an open mind and following the trail, even if it is going nowhere.

Der Merzmensch said...

Hi Nick123 and best greeting to Lostpedia blog! :-)

I am unsteady about the WAKY radio right now.

On the one hand, sure, abc run all their contents at the own websites (to prevent gamejacks etc.).

On the other hand, Paramount Pictures, as they promoted JJ Abrams' Cloverfield, dropped some hints at the completely unrelated pages, like menuism (where they created a fictional restaurant, among the hundreds of real existed) or scientific forums etc.

But - who knows, - perhaps all the hints we've found is nothing else than selective perception, which can be pretty dangerous and addictive for us, ARGers. I'm waiting for response by the WAKY radio right now - I hope it will help us with orientation :-)

And you're right: it's so much fun! :D
I feel myself kinda reincarnated after all the collapsed ARGs, hehe before

Zort70 said...

One mystery that seems to be real is the password for the Lost University Phone Number, when the * key is used.

ARG or not it's a tempting puzzle to solve.

Nickb123 said...

I'm assuming said password is numerical. In which case, the numbers?

Der Merzmensch said...

Perhaps 2004? ;-)

In the viral phone numbers fot JC Hutchins' "Personal Effects: Dark Art" all the phone passwords were four-digit.

Zort70 said...

NEW POST !