Megaman's Jockstrap posted:

Permanently.

Megaman's Jockstrap posted:

No, that's fine, that's what this thread for. It's the super-secret cloak and dagger bullshit that everybody hates.

homullus posted:

I wonder whether AAA (or similar) city guides from 1980 are around? He might have used them to decide what things would be "prominent enough" in cities he wasn't intimately familiar with.

Homestar Runner posted:

dig count

Urban Smurf - 47
xie - 0

Urban Smurf posted:

Urban Smurf posted:

I think I've figured out a way to use every painting as a map. This method isn't easy to explain and it provides only a general direction or area. The main uncertainties are scale and orientation of each anchor point. The decision on what represents an anchor point involves some educated guesswork or insight.

In Chicago it was the Historic Water Tower identifying with the Windmill (utility for pumping water) and links to the Buckingham Fountain, another large iconic structure that pumps or controls water. I've outlined a couple areas that looked interesting. You can see where the area where the casque was found is generally south of the Water Tower and west of the Buckingham Fountain,



In Cleveland the Terminal Tower is southwest of the Greek Gardens. The word "terminus" in Greek architecture is the base point of a statue bust or object springs from the top of a column or plateform. Terminus also means the end of something. Inverting the image so that the Terminal Tower is right side up, the line connecting it's base (terminus) to the end of the Centaur's tail (terminus) looks like a strong connection to the map which connects the two large iconic landmark to the treasure ground,



Now for some speculation for the unsolved SF puzzle for which the Litany of the Jewels poem describes the pearl as follows:

From far Cathay, the dragon's Pearl:
Chaste, perfect as the silver moon.

Chastity is one of the challenges of Moral Conduct. The wikipedia article has a photo (likely a lucky coincidence) that looks similar enough to suggest the painting might support a thematic approach,



The letters G and h are a hint to reverse the image. G = Gates, H = Heaven/Hell

Failed moral conduct = Hell/Alcatraz
Successful or good conduct = Heaven/Golden Gate

I think these two points are linked to the map and result in fixing the orientation of the table top/watch/rose as a corresponding location on the map for Lands End and the Palace of the Legion of Honor.





An important and literal reference to the SF puzzle is this art sculpture, the Gates of Hell, by August Rodin which exists in sections on the grounds of the Palace of the Legion of Honor as the Thinker and the Three Shades,



This doesn't begin to address any specifics of the verses, but perhaps it helps point us in the right general direction.