Thinking outside the Box

[diceycat]

Now there are a lot of good sounding theories out there so why not one more.
This theory relates to JFK ( JFK drive) in Golden Gate Park. When I was on the Q4T forum ( many moons ago), I posted that the casque could be in the small island of land by Spreckels lake boardered by JFK Drive on each side. Someone said that the park was heavily damaged by a storm in the past and that area was relandscaped . Regardless there are 3 tall trees on this section of land ( tall posts are 3), and they look old, ( one being a Giant Sequoia ?). Giant Sequoia was the “object of Twain’s attention” In 1891 he had one of the largest Giant Sequoias cut down in what’s now Kings Canyon National park so he could send off some slabs of wood to NewYork and London museums, the rest of the wood was cut up for grape stakes and fence posts (tall posts are 3).  When someone says ATTENTION , you stand up straight and tall ( like a Giant Sequoia straight and tall). The girls hair looks like the bushy branch ends of the Giant Sequoia. Now if the painting shows hair then there is an additional clue for the location, ( Milwaukee has the lions face in the hair , Boston was the baseball diamond, NewYork is the Eagle monument at Battery park, Quebec City has the horses tail and more..... The “ hills in the background of the SF painting could also be the representation of the Sequoia tree bark.
The reasoning I used at the time was that the dark space ( negative space), where the arms cross over matches this section of land as well if you use the bisecting theory ( lines drawn from corner to corner will bisect the object close to the casque, this works for the first 3 casques found). This piece of land gets bisected as well as the cap at the end of the dragons nose. 
I think Sutro tower is “ Sounds from the sky”. The cap on the dragons nose could be because it smells or someone getting capped in the head. As far as smells go if a bathroom has an objectionable smell we say it smells like roses.

Now I may have mentioned somewhere in these posts that JFK had a Law degree but apparently I was wrong but he did graduate from Harvard and was all for social Justice. So I would still link JFK to the line “ Education and Justice for all to see”.

Let’s go further into the JFK theory. First some history ( numbers)
JFK was 43 years old when he became president  ( one of the youngest presidents ever) 
JFK was the 35th president of the United States
JFK was assassinated age 46 (  “capped” like the cap on the dragons nose is slang for killed... see attached photos)
JFK was assassinated on Friday November 22 1963 at 12:30 pm
Jackie Kennedy ( Jackie O) was clutching Red roses at the time of his assassination 

Lets look at the flower the clock the stand and the “ stone”face on the left side of the painting 
The face is that of JFK in a repose position, back of the head is missing ( that’s where he got shot),colour red is there for the blood and the red roses that Jackie O was holding at the time of the assasination .
The stem of the rose is in the shape of a fancy “J” for stylish Jackie and the clock shape represents the “O” for Onassis . Now it’s an alarm clock cause all the alarms were ringing on that fateful day. Jackie O started the rose garden at the Whitehouse.
The time of JFKs death was 12:30 . So the question here is  are you 100% sure that the clock on the table reads 6:00 or could it actually be 12:30. If it’s a 6 would you say looking at the numbers counter clockwise for 1963 the year JFK died?
So why the table ? It’s not a table it’s a pedestal . That is where you put people that you idolize, up on a pedestal.
Now the arms are crossed over the same way that you would cross over someone’s arms in a casket . The arms themselves represent JFK Drive. 
You could possibly say that the Roman numerals above the arms indicate month and day of death 11 22 . Would Friday be a 5?
There are 4 leaves on the rose 3 are green and one is black( death). So the 3 green are for Jackie O’s three children and the black one is for the still born child she had.


This next part is thinking way out side the box.
Could it be possible that the entire 12 puzzles tie into JFK somehow.
Grant Park..... Ulysses Grant was a president , JFK assassination attempt in Chicago 
Boston..... JFK went to Harvard( Hardword)in Boston also born here
NewYork... JFK dedicated the Veterans Memorial at Battery park
St. Augustine,Fountain of youth.... one of the youngest presidents ever, First assassination attempt in Florida, almost died on August 1st( for Augustine) 1942 when his boat PT 109 was cut in half by a Japanese Destroyer 
Charleston..... military by the water( Navy)
Quebec City ( not Montreal) Joan of Arc... young war hero, JFK young war hero
San Francisco.... Road named after him, JFK Drive
Houston Texas.... assassinated in Texas,(Dallas)
NewOrleans .... Lee Harvey Oswald born in New Orleans ( Conspiracy theories)
Milwaukee...... liked to golf ( that’s probably a putter and not a walking stick, could be both), JFK gave a speech here
Roanoke.... early ancestry 
Cleveland.... also a president( multicultural melting pot of America ), Jackie O married a Greek ( Onassis), ( Greek gardens)

Well something to think about!










In the red rose you can see the image of a person falling backwards










So playing with some of the numbers may help solidify this theory more but I think it’s a location worth checking out regardless GLTA.

[diceycat]

I’m just going to add a bit more. Now don’t get me wrong I do like Maritime park and the Sequoia tree there but I have a hard time matching the painting to this spot, the verse makes sense but to me  GGP seems more probable.

Anyways as far as the air smells sweet you could say that this is in reference to Mr. Spreckels ( Spreckels Lake),who was a sugar baron ( can’t get much sweeter than that), or  the fact that the ducks use the Spreckels lake as there toilet or the actual bathroom facilities there, (when a bathroom stinks some say it smells like roses... jokingly). Could also be why that cap is covering the dragons nose... it stinks. Ah yes the duck, the one that is north / above the JFK face in the painting just like the Spreckels lake,( ducks), above / north of that land island surrounded by JFK Dr.

Could the ducks quacking be sounds from the sky?

The clock ( now that I have seen a clearer picture) ... well  the 6 or 6:00 may be for the time of a shadow cast ( theory),by the tree ( pole), or a directional finder( due South). It’s an  important number requiring more research  but if you read the numbers counter clockwise you can get 1963 ( the year JFK died). Also take a look at Spreckels Mansion, interesting architecture . Strawberry shaped vase above the columns?

Oh ... and the pearl in the painting, Jackie O loved wearing pearls.

[divalicious]

I think the tree Preiss references in relationship to San Francisco is El Palo Alto, the famous tree that Palo Alto is named for directly under San Francisco (to the south). Preiss attended college in Palo Alto at Stanford University, so he was probably super familiar with the area. Palo Alto is in Santa Clara County, which has the largest Chinese-American immigrant community outside of NYC I believe. There are a number of Chinese heritage parks around there too, as well as a famous Rose garden. I'm pretty far from a solution, but I can't help but think Preiss relied on the nostalgia of his college years and his familiarity with the area when he created the puzzle.

[diceycat]

Feb 25, 2021 10:32:46 GMT -5 divalicious said:

I think the tree Preiss references in relationship to San Francisco is El Palo Alto, the famous tree that Palo Alto is named for directly under San Francisco (to the south). Preiss attended college in Palo Alto at Stanford University, so he was probably super familiar with the area. Palo Alto is in Santa Clara County, which has the largest Chinese-American immigrant community outside of NYC I believe. There are a number of Chinese heritage parks around there too, as well as a famous Rose garden. I'm pretty far from a solution, but I can't help but think Preiss relied on the nostalgia of his college years and his familiarity with the area when he created the puzzle.

I do like that idea as well, El Palo Alto. Palo meaning pole ( tree), and Alto ( musical), can tie into sounds from the sky.The only thing is that you would not want to poke around that particular tree, but Definitely a place / theory to explore somemore. It’s only going to make sense once the casque is found, so all theories are valid for now.
I think one needs look into how the writers from the 60s and 70s thought , the slang they used back then would have a totally different meaning today or not even in use. The humour( National Lampoon magazine), and what was popular back then may play a part in the solution.
Another thing I find interesting is why only two paintings ( SF and NYC), are arched on the top , kind of reminds me of a tombstone. As well most of the other paintings have an arch of some sort painted hmmmm?

[divalicious]

Feb 25, 2021 11:26:44 GMT -5 diceycat said:

Feb 25, 2021 10:32:46 GMT -5 divalicious said:

I think the tree Preiss references in relationship to San Francisco is El Palo Alto, the famous tree that Palo Alto is named for directly under San Francisco (to the south). Preiss attended college in Palo Alto at Stanford University, so he was probably super familiar with the area. Palo Alto is in Santa Clara County, which has the largest Chinese-American immigrant community outside of NYC I believe. There are a number of Chinese heritage parks around there too, as well as a famous Rose garden. I'm pretty far from a solution, but I can't help but think Preiss relied on the nostalgia of his college years and his familiarity with the area when he created the puzzle.

I do like that idea as well, El Palo Alto. Palo meaning pole ( tree), and Alto ( musical), can tie into sounds from the sky.The only thing is that you would not want to poke around that particular tree, but Definitely a place / theory to explore somemore. It’s only going to make sense once the casque is found, so all theories are valid for now.
I think one needs look into how the writers from the 60s and 70s thought , the slang they used back then would have a totally different meaning today or not even in use. The humour( National Lampoon magazine), and what was popular back then may play a part in the solution.
Another thing I find interesting is why only two paintings ( SF and NYC), are arched on the top , kind of reminds me of a tombstone. As well most of the other paintings have an arch of some sort painted hmmmm?

I agree with you - all theories are valid and worth exploring. It is great to find a forum with other open-minded people. I've also been wondering about the matching arches and would love to hear any theories people have come up with. I have never thought of them like tombstones, but they absolutely resemble that shape.

[diceycat]

I’m going to add more to the possible JFK tie in. 
Look at the moons in the painting. There are 11 moons painted for Apollo 11 which landed on the moon July 20/ 1969. That famous speech given by JFK at Rice Stadium in HOUSTON ( location of one of the casques?). “ We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do other things not because they are easy but because they are hard”. Hardword?

”The Eagle has landed” as Neil Armstrong spoke to Houston control.. The Eagle monument ( possible clue to the NewYork casque)at the NYC Veterans Memorial that JFK dedicated shortly before his death.

The moons might also represent  the Jackie O pearls.

They even made a set of  JFK baseball cards in 1964 ( tie in to the Boston casque at the baseball diamond?).

More tie in? Poupolo park in Boston( 3rd casque found),named after Andrew Poupolo ( murdered while trying to be a hero), who was a Harvard student that played Football
JFK was a Harvard grad that also played football
Harvard Football History according to Wiki. Harvard University football played against McGill University ( Montreal casque location?) in 1874.

So far all these parks where casques have been found have boarder a large body of water, so that may be a common theme.

[diceycat]

Still staying with the JFK theme. I still think the so called pearl and shadow forms a bullet , JFK had a wound in the same area of the neck as on the painting. If that blue is hex shaped around the bullet then one could apply that to the misfortune or bad luck or maybe there is a hex on the family also the blue halo could be a representation of breaking the sound barrier ( Bang). Anyways , all theory until you have the casque.

[diceycat]

More thoughts on the location . In the Japanese clues it’s mentioned not to think of sweet as taste but as atmosphere or mood. So would that not rule out the Ghirardelli Chocolates?
Another odd thing. This involves the Milwaukee painting .Why is the stone in the painting blue and not Amethyst purple if we are to assume the German immigration theory applies to this site . So could there be other hints that lead everyone down the wrong path? Somehow the Dutch immigration theory led from Kaaterskill NY to Montreal . So why could it not continue further north to Quebec City ? You have all the right clues for Quebec City, Blanches Dames ( White lady) and Vertes dames ( young immature lady... Joan of Arc) mentioned in the book.

Anyways still rambling on with some possibilities for SF.
“At stonewall’s door the air smells sweet”.....I’m going to say the south end door of the washroom .
Not far away high posts are three..... Could be the three tall trees in the land island surrounded by JFK Dr.
Education and Justice for all to see...... JFK dr. road sign ( JFK Harvard, education, lawyer, justice)
Sounds from the sky Near ace is high.... This one has many possibilities, sounds from the sky could be the radio controlled boats on Spreckels lake or sounds from the stadium or some other sound. The near ace is high could be the golf course to the west or if you really want a long shot then it could be the horse stables . Why the horse stables, well the horse that was at JFK’s funeral was called “BlackJack”. Also Jackie O’s dad’s nickname was blackjack.
The remainder of the verse is self explanatory. The only debate would be what is the object of “Twain’s attention “ . I still think it’s the Giant Sequoia.

[diceycat]

Now I’m going to digress away from Golden Gate Park and look at Lafayette Park. Now I’m basing this on today’s images and 40 years ago things may have been completely different, so further investigation is required.
The first thing I like is how the name ties into the other potential location ,Lafayette square in “ New Orleans “
The only problem is that Lafayette park doesn’t border any water unless you can say Laguna St. by definition is a lagoon or pond therefore water? I could be wrong on the bordering water part for all the parks.
At stonewalls door the air smells sweet. Again we have 3 choices. First , Spreckels mansion surrounded by a stone wall and he was a sugar baron. Second ,you have the door at the rest room area. Third , you have Arthur Conan Doyle monument ( see quote below). You could even say sweet smell of success or just being at the top of the hill, fresh air, the wealthiest people usually lived at the top of the hill.
The high posts are Three , might have been three tall wooden posts in the area 40 years ago ? ,but then again can you see the ship masts , Alcatraz and education from this location ? or is that too far away?
Education and justice for all to see could apply to Arthur Conan Doyle, (a writer and a physician for education) and ( Sherlock Holmes for justice ). Could the cap on the dragons nose represent the cap that Sherlock Holmes would wear? Take a bite out of crime?
Sounds from the sky. At present there is a tall pole in the park with speakers on top.( for music or an early warning system ?). You also have the playground at the top of the hill for sounds. Octavia street could also represent the sounds.
Ace is high. For this one you have the tennis courts high on top of the hill ( Ace your shots), or Washington St. ( #1 president), again high on top of the hill.
Let’s look at the “G h” in the painting. Certainly it could apply to Ghirardelli but what if it is the first and last letter for “Gough “Street ( East side of Lafayette Park), since the letters are spaced apart in the painting....maybe?
Then there is the location of the pearl( the prize) just above the arc ( see park pathways arc) in the dress.
Just some thoughts on San Francisco. Have to remember that not all items/clues in the painting relate to the dig site and most of those probably just the city itself together with a few objects tossed in to throw you off course. GLTA

[choice]

We think that fence from page 2 of the book has clues to dig sites of all 12 images in order from right to left.
For example image 1 location, closest to the column you may see large FS (SF)that is in shape of a swan. Like a swan boat in Stow Lake.
There are 14 posts so one or two take more than 1 space.
Take one of the solved puzzles, Boston for example. Third post from the left side you see 2 round circles for two baseball fields in shape of "A" and "P" for Andrew Puopolo.

[diceycat]

Apr 13, 2021 12:30:24 GMT -5 choice said:

We think that fence from page 2 of the book has clues to dig sites of all 12 images in order from right to left.
For example image 1 location, closest to the column you may see large FS (SF)that is in shape of a swan. Like a swan boat in Stow Lake.
There are 14 posts so one or two take more than 1 space.
Take one of the solved puzzles, Boston for example. Third post from the left side you see 2 round circles for two baseball fields in shape of "A" and "P" for Andrew Puopolo.

Sounds reasonable, will take a closer look at that,thanks.

[choice]

There's a gap in the image between two red lines where the crease is. How would you complete the image? I filled in a couple of curves that may not be correct.

[diceycat]

It would be nice to be able to see the original art work to assess that gap

[diceycat]

Back to the JFK theory and the hands. Certainly you can find plenty of dates / numbers to match the hands  pointing fingers, like the age JFK was when he became president ( 43), etc.


Notice that the pearl in the painting is directly North of the negative space made by the hands crossing over just like you see with the stone island in Spreckels lake is directly North of the land island bounded by JFK Drive.

Lets look at the Japanese hint translation
“ it’s very difficult to understand what education and justice is referring to however after education and justice can be seen not far , the editor said if you think of the can be seen not far and you add something on to it and think hard about it then it becomes easier to understand “
Now  when he says you add something on to “ can be seen not far” there is only one thing that you are going to add onto that and that is a WORD , then he says to think HARD about it. My conclusion is HARDWORD is what Byron was getting at. Where we see Hardword is in the NewYork puzzle verse. Even JJP said in a roundabout way that NewYork ties in with San Francisco.

”of him of Hardword in 3 Vols.” The Japanese clue said to play with words ( not word), and to start with Chicken. The most popular Chicken franchise around is Kentucky Fried Chicken or better known as KFC. So if you play around with that you get pretty close to JFK who went to Harvard, ( Hardword ) studied Law there and wrote 3 books ( 3 Vols.)
This is why I think that the “education( Harvard),and justice (Law),for all to see “ is referring to the JFK Drive road sign outside the washroom by Spreckels Lake.




Now I did an image superimposition onto Google earth . You can see that the arms crossing fits the land island well with the pearl ( stone island ) and the capped nose in the correct position. The Yellow “X” on the pics are the lines drawn from corner to corner in the painting and again superimposed onto the Google image.

[diceycat]

OK now I think I have it figured out. Now when Byron buried these casques I feel the clues ( objects),he describes in the paintings and verses ,would have to pertain to something that was going to be there for a long time and be just about as permanent as you could get.
When you lookup the definition of pearl in the Webster’s Dictionary you will see several meanings. One is “something resembling” a pearl intrinsically or physically, while another says a nearly neutral slightly bluish medium grey. Sounds a lot like this could apply to that round grey dome of concrete island in Spreckels lake.
In the SF verse it mentions “ in jewels direction” . Most assume that the jewel is the pearl. So has anyone located the pearl in a park? Anywhere? Anyone? If you think it’s the pearl in the painting then what’s the direction that your looking at it in? The jewel (pearl) ,has to be something in the park. It’s the casque that is buried not the pearl/ jewel that you get from Byron. So the pearl has to be something concrete ( no pun intended), and has to last a long time.
“Running north but first across”….. Now he doesn’t say how far across but in my theory if you are a pedestrian then you stay on the pedestrian pathway. If your leaving the Spreckels lake restroom facility you go across till you reach the pathway that boarders Spreckels Lake.When you turn north on that pathway and look towards the stone island( the pearl, the jewel) you can see the Giant pole ( Giant Sequoia directly in your line of view just past the island. The fact that it says “running north “rather than going north is probably that people jog along this pathway.
So again I assume that the object of Twain’s attention is the Giant Sequoia and the giant step would have to be in the direction towards the stone island ( the pearl), since it says “giant step to the place the casque is kept “. This would make the most sense. I feel like all those other clues in the painting like Alcatraz, Gh, Strawberry hill etc. are just confirmations for the city and the park location.GLTA
 Now I would not rule out the stump that is there in the same general location as the giant Sequoia, ( assuming that the stump was there 40 years ago) This stump and Twain’s giant stump in Kings canyon might be the tie in for “ Twain’s attention “. You could also look at it that the stump is the giant step maybe.

Look at the picture above and the yellow lines . Probably just a coincidence but if you flip the
image of the painting you will see that the outline of the  fingers of the one hand fits this shape


Im going to post a couple more pics here just to try to clarify things




Further more, the George Washington( the Ace/ #1), high school mascot is the Eagle. A tie in to the NewYork casque location/ clue maybe and a tie in to Apollo 11 ( eleven moons), “ The Eagle has landed”.



Another strong possibility for those Roman numerals in the painting . You have a total of 6 on the one side and 5 on the other. Those
are the last digits for the streets 36 th Ave.  and 35th Ave. again which confirms the location. Those streets if extended boarder the dig site.
GLTA



One crazy thought I was thinking of was, when the Verse say “ giant pole giant step to the place the casque is kept”
Is it possible for the casque to be in the stump itself ? I can’t see the tops of the stumps that well ,are they hollowed out?
More likely in the ground would be my guess.

Just adding more possibilities 


For those that think that jewel and casque are one and the same ,ie. interchangeable, I respectfully disagree. I doubt that anyone would agree that the line in the  New Orleans verse  , “ where Jewels abound” can be read as “Casques abound” or for the Chicago verse “  jewel casque” as “casque casque” or “jewel jewel”. Jewel by definition as an adjective can mean ,precious, also as a slang term from the 70’s it can imply the opposite, “ something useless”. For Chicago it’s  “jewel casque” not jewelled casque.  One should use a large dictionary from the 70’s to find all the definition possibilities to all the words in all the verses. GLTA