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ivanbo2003
Joined: 04 Nov 2005
Posts: 188
Location: Belgrade,Serbia
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 Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 10:26 am Post subject: Conspiracy theorists ‘Zero’ in on Nine Inch Nails’ numbers g |
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| Quote: | By Christopher John Treacy/ Music
Thursday, March 1, 2007 - Updated: 02:59 AM EST
Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor may be watching too many "X-Files" reruns.
Or perhaps he’s embarked on an elaborate viral marketing strategy in the form of an alternative reality game to stir NIN fans into a frenzy of anticipation for the April 17 release of the band’s Orwellian concept album, "The Year Zero."
Either way, a conspiracy theory has erupted that’s juicy enough to keep agents Mulder and Scully busy for a whole new season. The plot combines a network of disturbing Web sites that purport to reveal frightening government cover-ups, some mysteriously leaked new songs and a series of strange, wire-tapped phone conversations. More is discovered each day.
Is it all a game? A fancy hoax? Has Reznor gone off the deep end?
You decide.
It started with the appearance of NIN European tour shirts. Seemingly randomly highlighted letters on the shirts spell out, "I Am Trying to Believe."
It wasn’t long before a NIN fan looked up the phrase on Google and discovered www.iamtryingtobelieve.com, a Web site containing information about Parepin, a drug the U.S. government supposedly is pumping into the water supply to build immunity to bioterrorist warfare. The site maintains that the drug isn’t safe, and goes on to describe a Parepin-induced hallucination of The Presence, a giant, Big Brother-like hand descending from the heavens.
An e-mail to the site results in a chilling automated response that reads as if its creator has been silenced by "X-Files" villain the Cancer Man. "It’s now clear to me that Parepin is a completely safe and effective agent developed to protect us," was the reply, noting it was irresponsible to suggest otherwise, before suggesting we all start drinking the treated water.
Meanwhile, three leaked tracks from "The Year Zero" have surfaced, supposedly recovered from Flash drives found on bathroom floors at two recent NIN shows in Portugal and Spain. The songs are available at http://symphonyofnoise.com/nails/yearzero.
Posts on the NIN message board, www.echoingthesound.org, claim to have pieced together additional information from the drives, which lead to more Web sites. Several phone numbers also were found on the mystery drives: callers hear what are allegedly wiretapped recordings of two people discussing The Presence.
From there it only gets weirder -- and more complicated.
In a nutshell, www.anotherversionofthetruth.com, www.bethehammer.org, www.105thairbornecrusaders.com and www.churchofplano.com purport to reveal a web of government deceit involving another drug called Opal, ethnic cleansing, racial profiling, an unsettling reunion of church and state, mind control and more.
The UK digital media magazine Digit claims the sites are all part of an alternative reality game (ARG) created by 42 Entertainment, which would explain the elaborate networking.
Both 42 Entertainment and Reznor’s label, Interscope, remain tight-lipped. The label did release a statement from Reznor in which he revealed that "The Year Zero" began as a daydream about the end of the world and takes place in 2022. But his statement does not link the Web conspiracy drama with his new CD.
Draw your own conclusions. This X-file remains open and unsolved.
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http://theedge.bostonherald.com/musicNews/view.bg?articleid=185595&srvc=edge |
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sunny
Joined: 16 May 2005
Posts: 4289
Location: Alabama
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| Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 11:04 am Post subject: |
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Shades of Paul Is Dead.
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QUESTION EVERYTHING, for fucks sake |
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Joe Hillshoist
Joined: 12 Jun 2006
Posts: 5308
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| Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 5:47 pm Post subject: |
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Thats a great marketing program.
Especially the I am trying to believe site.
Used to really like NIN, still do i spose.
And ministry and Big Black.
I think reznor is just taking the Zeitgeist and doing what western culture does best. Using it to sell somethiing. |
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Wombaticus Rex
Joined: 08 Nov 2006
Posts: 1933
Location: post-reality
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| Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 5:54 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, since stuff like Ong's Hat, "conspiracy" cycles of teasing out revelations from following threads on internet sites is just another cliche on it's way to archetype status. All the viral marketing stuff is built like that. Reminds me of the Leonard Cohen song "Everbody Knows" -- but then again, pretty much anything that's gone down since 2001 reminds me of that song.
The Presence is a beautifully creepy image, though, I thought that was a good touch.
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| Jeff wrote: | | As I understand the current system, resources are allocated according to wealth. |
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philipacentaur
Joined: 10 Jan 2007
Posts: 1234
Location: Gone to Maser
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| Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 6:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Wombaticus Rex wrote: | Yeah, since stuff like Ong's Hat, "conspiracy" cycles of teasing out revelations from following threads on internet sites is just another cliche on it's way to archetype status. All the viral marketing stuff is built like that. Reminds me of the Leonard Cohen song "Everbody Knows" -- but then again, pretty much anything that's gone down since 2001 reminds me of that song.
The Presence is a beautifully creepy image, though, I thought that was a good touch. |
Good points. I tend to think there's potential for a degree of psychological harm in things like "Ong's Hat" and marketing schemes like this, but I suppose that's "Ontological Anarchy" for you. |
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Joe Hillshoist
Joined: 12 Jun 2006
Posts: 5308
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| Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 6:15 pm Post subject: |
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The psychological harm these programs may cause is nothing compared to the harm done by the culture they stem from.
Harm done to all its members and the rest of the world. |
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philipacentaur
Joined: 10 Jan 2007
Posts: 1234
Location: Gone to Maser
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| Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 6:36 pm Post subject: |
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I know that, Joe, which is why I said "potential for" and "degree of" there. I don't view individuals or organizations utilizing propagandistic methodologies as being separable from the culture at large.
You can't exist outside of the culture simply by declaration -- especially not when your goal is to spread something to the larger populace. Just because something does less harm than something else doesn't make it right. Yes, things like this can be entertaining to the discerning individual, but fiction encroaching on reality is the very definition of psychosis. As much as I might personally enjoy things like this, the fact that a potential exists for it to harm some people by exacerbating a preexisting condition (or causing a new one) is virtually indisputable.
Remember Paul Bennewitz? Remember Paul Bennewitz.
P.S. - I also love Big Black. |
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Joe Hillshoist
Joined: 12 Jun 2006
Posts: 5308
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| Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 7:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Fair point Pac. |
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robert d reed
Joined: 08 Nov 2006
Posts: 661
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| Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 1:30 am Post subject: |
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Paul is dead.
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formerly robertdreed... |
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