Discussion: Monolith in Southern Utah

I bet AP'ers can figure out where it is on the map, given what's been shared in the article and video:

Monolith in Southern Utah

I bet AP mappers will have a field day arguing over how to represent it.

Thank heavens they’ve finally found it. I thought my joke had gone to waste.

Counting sheep while flying a helicopter sounds a bit hazardous to me

They originally contracted to plant a trilith. Where the hell are the other two liths?

Another clue, this article identifies the local (nearest) TV station.

This article indicates it's on BLM land.

Per Nixon's meme - does that mean this thing is a nonolith?

it's on BLM land

Thank God not on ANTIFA land

"Mono" meaning one and "lith" meaning photographic film with a very thin coat of emulsion, producing images of high contrast and density.

Lithium Thorium alloy perhaps?

A redditor found it. Just search "silver obelisk" on Google Maps now and it'll show you.

Who made you arbiter of the definitions of all words in the English language?

Your pedantry is literally mind blowing.

And what does a photo of a guy with long hair and a mo have to do with it?

Is it possible that Rob hasn't seen the movie? Inconceivable!

Prepare to die.

And not just the movie. Apparently he hasn't seen the memes, either.

What movie? What's a meme?

@Rob: I do not think you meme what they think you meme :)

I knew you would take the bait.

I know very well what it means, in all its usages- better than you it seems:
the relevant entry from the Oxford Learners Dictionary*:

used to emphasize a word or phrase, even if it is not actually true in a literal sense. eg I literally jumped out of my skin.


*being a pedantic Englishman I would assume you consider the OED definitive. I don't have a subscription so have to settle for the Learners version online. I am sure the full version has a similar definition.

Hmm, not having seen a certain American children's movie is cause for wonderment and death threats. Classic (North) American cultural intolerance.

I mean you guys are generally considered world champions of not knowing s*** about anybody else's culture.

Have fun storming the castle!

Is that a reference to the movie that I haven't seen?

Are you all dead or just mostly dead?

I'd be interested to know if the second meaning of the word literally only entered the dictionary after it was misused to such an extent that the original meaning was lost and the dictionary makers just gave up and assigned it a new definition.

You've missed so many references....

. . . to a Hollywood kids movie - how can I continue to live in such wilful ignorance.

Tricky - that's basically how language works.

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/61876/11-words...

The original meaning (that Nixon would approve of) is not lost - it is still there in the dictionary.

I don't accept change.

Of course, an Aussie's favourite line is: "Iocane comes from Australia, as everyone knows. And Australia is entirely peopled with criminals. And criminals are used to having people not trust them, as you are not trusted by me."

I think of that line every time I drive past this business: https://iocane.com.au/ and I wonder if they've seen the movie...

Hey man, you're the one who got angry when it was all fun, games, memes, and a monolithic obelisk (or whatever) in southern Utah.

This is what the monolith did in 2001. It made all the apes go nuts.

Those damn dirty apes!

Hey man - I'm not angry - but it seems you might be.

_best_ AP thread in a long time!

Now the monolith has made the news in Oz: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-25/mysterious-...

My memory of the film is getting a bit hazy (mental note: rewatch ASAP) but wasn't that Andre the Giant's character's line rather than Inigo's?

And yes, I know that at least 3 different films have been referenced in this thread to date, but I'm not going to clarify which one I mean by 'the film'

Nope.

The quote “You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means” was said by American actor Mandy Patinkin who portrayed the swordsman Inigo Montoya in the 1987 romantic comedy The Princess Bride.

"film" - funny - quite literally (in the traditional sense, not the modern sense) 30min ago my son was asking me if we say "movie" in Australian English and I explained that while many years ago we used to say "film" everyone says "movie" these days. Perhaps NZ is a bit slower to Americanise.

No way - is mustache guy Mandy Patinkin? He looks nothing like whatshisname in Homeland. (see, I do know some American pop culture)

'fillum' is the correct word in OZ/NZ.

Incorrect, in NZ it's 'fulm'.

You obviously watched too much Norman Gunston Simmo. That's an Australian pop culture reference you north Americans wont get.

If you're going to lay bait, you should at least be equipped with a suitable meme for it

I repeat - what's a meme?

As you wish




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_meme

According to the dictionary on my shelf a meme is: an idea or element of social behaviour passed on through generations in a culture, esp by imitation

The way you young people change the meanings of words is so confusing. It makes me feel like my brain is literally about to explode.

Thanks Mike, I do actually know what a meme is (in both the modern and traditional meanings) - though I have never made one.

I was not being serious - just as I figured you were not being serious when you said prepare to die. And yes I do realise that is also a quote from that movie that I haven't seen. Though it did take me a while to figure out (after all I haven't seen the movie) that it was not in fact a humorous death threat for failing to be up to speed on American pop culture. At least I hope so.

Aw, now there’s wuv, twue wuv in this thread.

Fun fact: my mother was born the same day as Peter Falk.

More hoopla in video format

Given that the alien sign post was found when searching for sheep, I think it perfectly appropriate that I enjoy this thread with an MLT.

Not far from Moab, less than 30 km. Is there lidar, can somebody whip up a basemap of that place? Looks pretty interesting.

Surely J-J, if anyone, could whip some lidar into shape (but probably not sheep or MLT). He is, after all, a classic whipper-snapper.

(in both the modern and traditional meanings)
"meme" coined in the 70s FFS. Tradition ain't what it used to be.

I couldn't find LIDAR on NOAA or Open Topo but haven't tried USGS yet.

Its excellent that the US is in our news feeds over a very small monolith. Its a change from the usual political stories. Sadder though that Australia hit the US news feeds this week for all the wrong reasons.

Were there any right reasons?

The Dread Pirate Roberts is the identity assumed by several fictional characters in the novel The Princess Bride (1973) and its 1987 film adaptation.[1] Various pirates (including Westley, the main protagonist) take on the role of Roberts and use his reputation to intimidate their opponents, before retiring and secretly passing on the name to someone else.

Latest updates from CNET: It's likely from Westworld??

the terrain looks great, but mapping the vegetation consistently could be a challenge

we got one too in southwestern Pennsylvania ...

Now I am EVEN MORE confused - what's an MLT?

"meme" coined in the 70s FFS. Tradition ain't what it used to be.

That's still 30 years before the modern meaning.

They call TV shows set in the 70's "period dramas" nowadays. So calling stuff from the 70's 'traditional' seems reasonable.

It's a bit of a worry when you can clearly remember the 'period' in a period drama. It's like when your kids ask what the olden days were like.

Another reason to not have kids.

OK I definitely need to stop reading this thread.

To be fair I didn't get the reference either (though I somehow assumed it was a something, lettuce and tomato sandwich) and I have seen the movie although not for some time.

I've never in my life heard of Letterkenny.

Excuse me, pump the brakes!

I would give my life for a moment more to live!

robplow, if you're still reading, you may need to explain Norman Gunston to some of the audience - use a meme perhaps?

(North) Americans don't care about Australian culture

Sure we do... tie me kangaroo down, sport... that's not a knife...shrimp on the barbie...

(And I understand the etymology of the the term "seppo".)

Rolf Harris is definitely British. He was never an Australian nor has he ever been here or painted any pictures of our beloved Queen, promoted any paint products or wobbled any boards.

At least in Australia, if you hear the words "disgraced entertainer", the probability that the next two words will be "Rolf Harris" are somewhere upwards of 99%.

It has been visited (I've seen multiple stories now about it being found).

@robplow - watch the movie (The Princess Bride) with the kids, I got fed up with the cultural references and watched it only to (a) really enjoy it (your kilometreage may vary, you know my shallow sense of humour) and (b) discover that a heap of it was filmed around Sheffield and the Peaks while I lived there.

(Caution - seems that Alexa didn't enjoy it, but that could be down to technical aspects of the sword fighting)

'That's not a knife' - finally a movie reference I actually get. But Crocodile Dundee is not an Australian movie - it is a Hollywood movie about Australia.

Apart from Paul Hogan no Australian has ever said 'chuck another shrimp on the barbie' - they are prawns.

I have never heard anyone say seppo - had to google it. Must be a post 2002 development. It was always 'septic', which is a particularly good example of rhyming slang. My friend from Mississippi says than whenever he is outside the US and hears someone say 'Yankee go home' his immediate reaction is 'Yes!', before he realises they are talking about him.

What century are you living in Blair? Surely these days you would be more likely to get Craig McLaughlin (allegedly) and last year it would have been Geoffrey Rush (allegedly).

@JJ - the other week my husband referenced a country called "Seppotonia" and it took me a very long time to elicit/comprehend the fact that he was talking about the USA!

Hi Andy, I only have one kid now - the older one just turned 18!

I have never thought of you (or your sense of humor) as shallow. I do recall Paul Darvo (RIP) telling me about being dumped by a young Swedish lady who claimed all his friends were shallow. Presumably that would have included you. And of course all Melburnians consider all Sydneysiders to be shallow.

The mere mention of swordfights means I am even less likely to watch it. I am liking Alexa even more now.

JanetT, I think you need to start a new thread if you want to discuss monoliths in the Arizona desert. :)

The use of the d-word in the Australian media normally requires a conviction, thanks partly to the severity of our libel laws (indeed saying things they couldn’t substantiate about Mr. Rush’s exploits cost the Daily Telegraph a great deal of money).

So long as you add 'allegedly' you can write anything.There is a big difference between a legal opinion and public opinion.

This is what monoliths do. As in, 2001.

The sword fight directors for The Princess Bride were the best in the business. Peter Diamond trained Errol Flynn and Burt Lancaster. Bob Anderson, an Olympic fencer, was David Prowse's stunt double in Darth Vader's fight scenes.
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/10/princ...

'That's not a knife' - finally a movie reference .... Crocodile Dundee is not an Australian movie - it is a Hollywood movie about Australia.

That scene could not be filmed in Hollywood these days, with the woke mob around

Rob, how about

“ I'm scared Fifi. You know why? It’s that rat circus out there”

or/ (and from one my all time favourite films)

“springs, steel springs ... as fast as a leopard”

Sorry Mike no idea - kill me now!

There's a thing about the word "Yankee"...
Outside the US, it means an American.
In the southern part of the US, it means a Northerner.
In the north, ir means a New Englander.
In New England, it means someone from Vermont.
To a Vermonter, it means someone who eats apple pie for breakfast.

Also, strangely, you'd think people from Boston would be Yankees. And they are, but it's also the name of the baseball team they hate the most.

Ok, if we are doing guess the movie quotes now - anyone know this one:

Als das Kind Kind war, hatte es von nichts eine Meinung

Hint: Peter Falk was in this movie as well.

Hint 2:Not Colombo.

Ah Ok, with a bit of help from Google I now see what you did Mike - quotes from Gallipoli and Mad Max (the original - not the Hollywood-ised Mad Max 2 etc.

I did see both of those, but so long ago there was no way I would ever remember those quotes. About the only thing I remember from
Mad Max was Max's lair- which was the architectural prize winning underground car park at Melbourne Uni, where I was a student at the time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Melbourne_Uni_u...

Has it been used for a sprint event?

There is map of the campus but I domt think the carpark is shown - not really cartographically feasible

Back to the monolith. Apparently, Everyone and their momma has been going to find it and documenting it, so how long before the BLM removes it? Or, does this become the next Burning Man? ... is there an orienteering version of Burning Man?

@robplow: you say 'not Colombo', but if that quote is from the film I think it was, wasn't he effectively playing himself, playing Colombo? I'm pretty sure this would be the only film ever made with Falk, Bruno Ganz AND Nick Cave.

(And definitely a film rather than a movie. If there's a distinction in usage in NZ a movie is something you go to a big noisy multiplex to see, mainly for the popcorn, while a film is something that you see at a quirky independent cinema and discuss afterwards because you want to be seen to care about the art)

That's the one.

Now can you name a movie/film that had NIck Cave, Brad Pitt, and (speaking of disgraced entertainers) Johnny Depp.

Maybe now this thread will follow suit.

tRicky, not a chance, I predict. :)

How long did you think it was going to take for treasure hunters to locate an object made of pure silver in the Utah desert, worth, well, worth whatever it was worth, and make off with it?

But no worries. As if mysterious objects are going to stop falling from the sky. Like the mysterious object in Muscotah, KS. When it first appeared, looking vaguely like a giant baseball, everyone thought that's what it was, and just assumed *someone* (else) had put it there. But with all the hoopla about the mysterious object in the Utah Desert, investigators have taken a closer look and determined it's not a giant baseball at all, but some kind of mysterious monolithy, obelisky object made of 100% silver. Though there are still a few skeptics who are not sure about that assessment. Whatever, the one thing everyone had agreed on so far is that it's really, really large, as this picture shows, with a Human Bean for scale:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CG-AECOgyjB/?utm_sourc...

In fact, upon closer examination, it looks like that Human Bean isn't just any ordinary Human Bean, but maprunner!

Interestingly, a remnant was left behind. Why not leave no trace?

There’s no doubt the government removed it. It’s probably been carted off to Area 51. Maprunner might be next if precautions are not taken.

Maybe someone took the precaution of removing and hiding it so that the government couldn't remove it and transport to to Area 51?

BLM removed it, cause it was racist, I guess

Seems like it was made of aluminum and there was also a pick-up truck with something in the back leaving the area. It might have been going to Area 51 but probably they couldn't get it there because the aliens are guarding the area.

it was the source of the Silver Surfer's power. Without it Galactus won't be able to destroy Earth. The government was right to remove it.

Litter, they called it.

Litter can come from outer space - the Shire of Esperance famously fined NASA A$400 for littering after Skylab broke up over the district in 1979.

Testimonial from the monolith wrecking crew.

Aliens dropped this multi-lith on the Druids and it has been a litter magnet ever since.

I literally read that article.

When the media is diverting our attention with sensationalist news, you know to look to see what's happening with the other hand.

Now in CA! Atascadero...

This is really starting to remind me of the crop circles craze.

But these keep disappearing. Are there any crop circles romaning?

Step 1) Set up a pay & display car-park
Step 2) Erect a "metallic monolith" near by
Step 3) Profit

Now in the city of Pittsburgh ...

The culprits?

I hear a monster lives in Loch Ness in the highlands of Scotland

And another alien find in the Australian outback near Coober Pedy. Will Matty Mo and his henchpersons take credit for this too?

Was that the pair from Germany who broke quarantine?

Last I heard, there were a couple of WA orienteers who were part of the team chasing the Coober Pedy object - maybe one of them will give us an account?

Well, they'll be in quarantine for the next two weeks, so probably won't hear from them any time soon.

https://dfn.gfo.rocks/hayabusa.html

Blog from the team on the ground

If you ever hear music like that, GET OUT! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!

Blair witch yeti?

... until m-building gets into the olympics.

Just think how popular orienteering would become if we made some permanent courses with these monoliths... at least for a minute. Definitely would get orienteering into the olympics!

...and we could stash some treasure, and describe their locations on a map with weird symbols, kinda like what Forrest Fenn did. Mind you people got killed looking for his checkpoint.

One in Noarlunga SA. Just in some random field.

At this point, I feel moved to suggest an anthem for this movement...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpv5kFMcq8I

Yes an Anthem is a decent enough bike to assist with movement. I second your suggestion.

tRicky you say such rubbish I think you must be in a trance.

Monolithic multiplication, apparently 80 have appeared (and most taken down soon after) around the world