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Post by Jenny on Mar 28, 2021 8:57:48 GMT -5
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Jeff
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Post by Jeff on Mar 30, 2021 15:47:21 GMT -5
Thanks Jenny, this is helpful! I do wish there was a way to verify the authenticity of the private emails that are included.
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Post by Jenny on Mar 31, 2021 11:08:36 GMT -5
Not sure if this is in there: (I want to go through and separate topics ...later...  And yes it is difficult to know what is for definite FACT or not.... so we do need to tread carefully with them.... But this was mentioned: Jack was asked- directly whether the Blaze hint was in the poem or elsewhere in the book (TTOTC), and he replied "Elsewhere in the book." |
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Jeff
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Post by Jeff on Apr 1, 2021 11:32:32 GMT -5
Hi Jenny, I don't pretend to know the answer to the question of what the blaze is a blaze. However, Jack seems to stress Fenn's advice on straightforwardness and simplicity. K.I.S.S. if you will. I'm sure I'm not unique with these thoughts and they've probably even been discussed in this forum in the past, but here is a K.I.S.S. take on the blaze from TTOTC:
Looking for Lewis and Clark contains a potential reference to the "blaze" line in poem’s fourth stanza: "if you've been wise and found the blaze." When lost in the Gallatin National Forest, Fenn applies "mountain man wisdom" by determining direction using the sun—an obvious blaze. Ironically, eventually a different blaze—his horse named Lightning, whose name evokes the image of a blaze and who has a literal blaze on his head—is the one that directs them out of the wilderness. Additionally, this would not be the first time in history that lightning has been used to symbolize gaining knowledge and hence refer to wisdom. The irony of Fenn and Donnie "very wisely" wadding the Forest Service map to make a fire—another blaze—on the first night of their adventure is blatantly obvious. The next line of the poem could be connected to the "mountain man wisdom" (i.e. "look quickly down, your quest to cease"). By applying this "wisdom," Fenn was trying to find south, which he thought would lead them "out." As south is conventionally represented as down on a map, looking down would lead to the end of their Gallatin National Forest quest—the out that would end their misadventure in the Gallatin National Forest.
Recall that Douglas Preston's The Codex, published in 2003, is based on Forrest's idea to hide a treasure (Preston openly acknowledged it was inspired by Fenn). Beyond the overall idea of the book, there are a bunch of specific situational similarities between that book and TTOTC. One of those happens to be discussing the burning of their map. The situational similarities all could very well be coincidence but, assuming not, this informs me that Preston was at least familiar with many of Fenn's stories and at most that he actually read some drafts of TTOTC (from OUAW we know that Fenn read him a version of the poem in what sounds like "the early 1990's"). This map burning element could have been present in some form as early as 2003.
Recall that Fenn published some of the stories in TTOTC prior to when the book was released in 2010. Looking for Lewis and Clark was one of those: a version was published in 2008 in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. While there are many small changes between the 2008 newspaper version and the 2010 book version, one potentially noteworthy change, given the use of the word "wise" in the poem, is "mountain man logic" to "mountain man wisdom."
I'm unsure how to translate these thoughts into an actual physical world blaze. You? Anyone?
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Post by Jenny on Apr 2, 2021 10:03:43 GMT -5
The unedited NM interview....where Forrest is prompted to say he's said too much or he wished he hadn't answered a question... etc.... such a play....interesting to know...
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Post by davebakedpotato on Apr 3, 2021 6:14:40 GMT -5
 I remember tracking down this footage like Jack did because Forrest said something like "you've asked me a lot of questions and I've said some things I shouldn't have said" in the edited video and I figured the killer clue could still be on the cutting room floor. So imagine the gut punch at 43:36. I laughed for about five minutes.  |
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Post by Jenny on Apr 3, 2021 10:13:06 GMT -5
I remember tracking down this footage like Jack did because Forrest said something like "you've asked me a lot of questions and I've said some things I shouldn't have said" in the edited video and I figured the killer clue could still be on the cutting room floor. So imagine the gut punch at 43:36. I laughed for about five minutes. It did enlighten...... and I know from Forrest answering different Q/A's that he didn't mind a bit of 'teasing'...... he seemed to enjoy searchers going in circles....sometimes.... it did depend on his mood of the day...and time of answering.... |
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Jeff
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Post by Jeff on Apr 4, 2021 19:53:10 GMT -5
Comment on Dal's site by Fenn on 2/5/2015 . Bolded emphasis added by me.
Is the comment Fenn is coaxed into saying around 43:36 misleading? Perhaps you can say he was coached and it wasn't his idea. Perhaps you can say he was a bit confused about the interviewer's intent. Why even bother making this comment?
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Post by Jenny on Apr 5, 2021 6:50:44 GMT -5
I know Forrest loved to encourage and excite searchers -..........I feel he understood the interviewer's request......BUT Forrest always said ALL was in the poem, and I feel that may have been his back door/rationalization/final thought for anything else he may have said which could be 'considered' contradictory/misleading or leading to searchers......Plus, that comment in bold is 'WITH THE IDEA.....' ...... FennSpeak..... it's another back door..... personally, I feel Forrest liked his back doors for he never wanted to feel trapped...he liked his freedom to do,act,say, etc. what he wanted, and his back doors were a rationalization to do that. IMHO....
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Jeff
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Post by Jeff on Apr 5, 2021 10:26:50 GMT -5
I know Forrest loved to encourage and excite searchers -..........I feel he understood the interviewer's request......BUT Forrest always said ALL was in the poem, and I feel that may have been his back door/rationalization/final thought for anything else he may have said which could be 'considered' contradictory/misleading or leading to searchers......Plus, that comment in bold is 'WITH THE IDEA.....' ...... FennSpeak..... it's another back door..... personally, I feel Forrest liked his back doors for he never wanted to feel trapped...he liked his freedom to do,act,say, etc. what he wanted, and his back doors were a rationalization to do that. IMHO....
Agreed. On your site Questions 6/27/14 (emphasis added in bold by me):
Appears that a lot of below average people were playing his game!
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And yes it is difficult to know what is for definite FACT or not.... so we do need to tread carefully with them....
I remember tracking down this footage like Jack did because Forrest said something like "you've asked me a lot of questions and I've said some things I shouldn't have said" in the edited video and I figured the killer clue could still be on the cutting room floor. So imagine the gut punch at 43:36. I laughed for about five minutes. 