JOURNAL ARCHIVE: Re: Star Trek: TNG: Time's Arrow, June 15, 1992
Fri, 5/19/06 10:02 AM
[And what is it about this episode? What is it about "arrow"? This episode's Stardate ends with '001.' The original airdate for part 1 was June 15, which I believe is the date we left the PG in '88. My memory tells me I lived in a place called Arrowood on a corner with another street named Royal Pointe. Today I've been thinking about those song lyrics: Birds going flying at the speed of sound, to show you how it all began.
There was also that recent BSG episode where Starbuck went back to get an arrow. In that movie The Weatherman, he takes archery lessons and also mentions something about Fletchers. That movie Troy a few years ago featured Achilles getting shot with an arrow.]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time%27s_Arrow_%28TNG_episode%29
Data's head is found in a cavern in San Francisco and determined to have been there since the 19th century. While the crew of the USS Enterprise investigates time-traveling aliens, Data is inadvertently transported back in time to the year 1893. There he meets Guinan, who is indigenous to that time period and has not yet met Data (Guinan is a member of the extremely long-lived El-Aurian species). Unfortunately, Mark Twain is also there, overhears Data tell Guinan that he is from the future, and suspects Data of trying to tamper with the past. Meanwhile, two of the time-traveling aliens are there too and feeding on the "energy" of humans, killing them in the process.
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/coldplay/speedofsound.html
Release date: 23 May 2005
All those signs, I knew what they meant.
Some things you can invent.
Some get made, and some get sent,
Ooh?
Birds go flying at the speed of sound,
to show you how it all began.
Birds came flying from the underground,
if you could see it then you'd understand,
ah, when you see it then you'll understand?
http://www.navyleague.org/sea_power/sep_03_45.php
[...]
The Wainwright's surface warriors had no time to celebrate. With an Iranian F-4 fighter quickly closing, the Wainwright's skipper ordered Standard missiles to the rail and away. Two birds streaked towards the jet, apparently causing damage as the plane rapidly fell before returning to Bandar Abbas.
http://www.usswainwright.org/decklog/decklogindx.htm
December 19, 2001
I CAN STILL HEAR THE HARPOON ROARING DOWN THE SIDE OF THE SHIP,AND THE CAPT SAYING DO WE HAVE A FIRE CONTROL SOLUTION ON JOSHAN,FCO AND USS SIMPSON,RESPONDED AFFIRMATIVE.THEN HE SAID"W"THIS IS "AW"RED AND FREE!FIRE SWC!!!BIRDS AFFIRM,BIRDS AWAYON HOSTILE TRACK#???? AS OUR MISILES ROARED OFF OUR LAUNCHERS,1 AFTER ANOTHER FROM OUR BATTLE GROUP,
Time's Arrow.
These are dates that point to something in time.
I think it is this episode where they implant a program in Data's "subconscious" to give them clues at another time.
I am growing increasingly convinced that my memories of the past are false. Some things are just too coincidental. There is something about this "April 16" theory that I cannot explain.
Consider the following about 3 notable events in my past:
My father died in August 1985, my step-brother died on Nov. 25, 1986, and there was my brush with death in that April 1988 battle. Consider the following coincidence about those dates:
The following is a list of the month numbers leading from when my father died to when my step-brother died: 9, 10, 11, 12, 1(1986), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. That period covers 15 months.
The following is a list of hte month numbers leading from when my step-brother died to my battle in April '88: 12, 1(1987), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 1(1988), 2, 3, 4. That period covers 17 months.
Those two periods cover 15 and 17 months. That is consistent with the "April 16" theory, in that 15 and 17 are to each side of 16. There is a symmetry here that is just too coincidental to be a coincidence. The Borg would probably make this kind of mistake. Or maybe I am in some kind of coma and all this is from people talking around me. Or maybe long ago, back in 1988, consistent with that recurring dream, I am still in the Persian Gulf. In the real world of 1988, we were hit with a missile about 3 minutes ago. About 1 minute ago, my compartment flooded and I drowned. All this is the creation of my dying, oxygen-starved brain trying to live the life I never got to live past the age of 22.
I've started thinking about the similarities between my father and step-brother and Picards brother and nephew. And there's the image of movie poster from Generations that I just saw: two captains, one destiny. There's the "major" that shows up, I hear people stressing something about "marine air." What does it mean? I'm getting this weird sense that I have a wife and maybe even kid(s) somewhere, which troubles me somewhat. If that is true I hope my memory clicks into place somewhere along the line and I don't have to see them as strangers. It feels weird.
Oh, shit......Great Lakes and then Dam Neck......they must symbolize my past and whatever process is keeping me from remembering it.
Before GL was Orlando. Not sure what that means. I took a road trip from Orlando on my way to GL. Stopped at some caves and went on a tour.
A Great Lake of memories and the neck of the dam that holds them back. Sort of like a ship in a bottle.......
What was the name of that Navy air base near where I was going to school at Dam Neck? I believe it was Oceania, which is similar to the name of the airline in Lost.
I've got this memory in my head, and I'm not sure anymore if any of this is true, any event and persons, of something a classmate wrote in my 1984 senior class book. She wrote something about me being the "top guy" in the Navy. That's one letter off from "Top Gun." I've got this crazy idea that I wasn't in the Navy, rather I was a pilot, perhaps in the Marines, which is a sub-organization of the Navy. I still don't believe that is true, but those are the ideas that are building in my head. It is consistent with that TNG episode where Picard goes from a glamorous life as the captain of a starship to being a junior-level crewmember. A similar experience in modern terms would be going from being a fighter pilot, a Marine captain perhaps, to being a low-level computer guy. It fits. I still don't believe it, and I'm kinda hoping now that it is true, but I don't know. Just seems too far-fetched. Too good to be true.
JOURNAL ARCHIVE: Re: Journal May 19, 2006
Supporting the "April 16" theme, I dropped out of the Ironman CDA 2003 race halfway through the course. There are three events and I dropped out after completing half of the second event. I had reasons at the time, primarily because it was so hot, but I think this was somehow part of this secret-to-me plan.
My memory, which I am growing increasingly certain is false beyond a certain date, reminds me of something my step-brother said to me back in 1985. I had bought a used pickup while home on leave and was driving it back to Charleston to return to my ship. He told me that while I was driving for so long, I would be making anagrams from the word on the hood ornament. The Ford pickup was, I believe, a 1978 model and the hood ornament had the word Explorer on it. I have a photo somewhere of him driving in front of me as I was leaving Ashdown for South Carolina. He had a blue Chevrolet pickup similar to my second pickup.
I was reminded today of PEGASUS. That is present in Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica. It is also the model of Nike shoe I wore in training and in completion of Ironman CDA 2004. I ran for too long with a little rock in my shoe that day and ended up with a severe blister on my foot.
I am wondering today if I was either genetically engineered prior to birth or genetically modified after birth to allow for greater tolerance of long term travel in space.
In Star Trek: The Next Generation, and possibly others, I have been noticing familar clues. Today I suspect that those clues represent my false history. They serve as indicators to the people monitoring me that I still believe in my false history. If I start pointing out clues to my real history, they will know what I know.
I was thinking today about something I read recently in the novel 2001: Space Odyssey. Clarke wrote something about the progress of man from femur-wielding ape-man to man's use of guided missiles.
There is a good reason to spark this kind of interest with the population. If this turn out to be a space mission, we need all the minds we can get into turning this into a safe trip.
If Jean-Luc Picard represents me in all this, that means Sisko and Janeway represent my counterparts, probably that there are three of us making the journey to I can only guess Mars.
You just can't simulate certain conditions we may experience in a long-term space trip than I am now experiencing. One of those challenges would be from the frustration of the delayed communication with Earth, especially during an emergency or high-stress situation. This time is good for mental preparation. That time when I was starving was very good preparation. When you are in outer space, you can't just call out for a pizza. And as I have learned, the people on the monitors know that I need food but they can't do anything about it no matter how much they wish they could. You just can't create a simulation for that kind of situation and still expect someone to know what they are getting into.
I wonder where the divergence point is in history? When did I become Kerry Burgess and who am I really? There was probably a real Kerry Burgess, someone that looked like me. While I have memories of being on the Wainwright, I think they are false. KB was probably on the WWT, and maybe I was there too. But I wonder if I was one of the Marines I remember being onboard back in the Persian Gulf in 1988? I also remember my high school reunion of 1994. I don't know if I was really there or if it was a false memory. But they probably wouldn't have known the difference, I hadn't seen the vast majority of them since 1984.
The sci-fi series Timecop probably has some important clues.
What is it about April 16? That must be a key.
In the Frame of Mind episode, Riker comments about how one person is always there. For me, it is Mark Mogge. He is almost everywhere in my past.
There is that one episode of TNG where Picard orders Data to keep the secret that their memories were erased. They had their memories erased too in that episode where they destroyed the ship that was ten miles away.
In Tapestry, Picard found himself as a Lt.jg. In my memory and on this historical track, I was a Petty Officer 2nd Class. While Star Trek typically doesn't put much attention on the U.S. Navy enlisted ranks, there is a similarity here. Both are the second level of Officer and Non-commisioned officer, respectively.
After escaping the Borg, Picard considered leaving Starfleet for a civilian job.
My Social Security Number is very sequential. It has three groups of numbers that are each sequential. The middle group is 78. The Chief Master-at-arms on the Taylor once commented to me about the sequence. Could my SSN represent a GPS coordinate?
I wonder if the Tom Petty album Full Moon Fever means something important. I think it might.
Recently in Battlestar Galactica, Boomer put the attacking Cylon fleet to "sleep," not unlike Data did to the Borg when Picard had been assimilated.
This environment currently serves to give me a very good idea of what type of behaviors of people around me get me annoyed over extended periods. And I am very annoyed.
There was that Tom Cruise movie, I forget the name, something about him being in some kind of cryogenics.
In my memory, a long time ago, maybe 1990, or 1991, I commented to some people at work, while I was repairing a banks ATM, that Tom Cruise would someday make a movie where he is an ATM technician.
They also need to know that if I am isolated and become depressed, that I won't kill myself. That explains the bridge. They drove me to that point, but when I was there, what I did was my own choice.
Maybe all this dream manipulation means they are going to put me (us) into hibernation.
They also had me get into peak physical condition and then stop exercising to see what would happen, I guess to see how much muscle mass I would lose.
There is a probably a video of me somewhere in my real life where I discuss what I know about all this before they replace my identity.
Also, another aspect to this exercise is probably one of the most important lessons: we don't live in a Star Trek universe. There is a lot more risk to traveling in space than what we see on tv.
I actually remember telling someone a few years ago at Microsoft, while in this non-real identity, that I would make a journey into space if I could.
I also remember that my organization had some kind of marketing campaign about traveling to the moon.
I just looked up details about the original series of Star Trek. It first aired on 9/8/66. Just like 1966 was Year Zero for the main character in the movie Soldier, 1966 was year zero for me. I didn't turn 1 year old, at least according to the birthdate of my memory, until 11/2/65. I remember telling someone early on at Microsoft, as someone that looked a lot like Linda Park of Enterprise, that zero was a significant number, in response to discussion at the time about whether the millenium started in 2000 or 2001. And it is worth nothing that the Superbowl is the same age as allegedly I. And what kind of weird coincidence that last years Presidential election was not only on my birthday, but there was a Kerry and a W. in it. Too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence. Feeling very pissed off right now, they are interrupting my sleep by banging on the paper towel dispensers, which make a lot of noise, to wake me up for some reason.
When I hear my real name, that is probably the key to unlocking all those blocked memories.
