JOE SOUCHERAY: Clues confound medallion hound JOE SOUCHERAY Pioneer Press Columnist
Believe me, if I knew who was responsible for this year's treasure hunt clues I would turn the pretentious fop over to the public, maybe for a hanging or stoning. OK, I admit that's a bit strong, but I'd still like to see a representative of the Pioneer Press placed in the stocks at, say, Grand Old Day.
They don't tell us who writes the clues and they don't tell us where the treasure is hidden and we are forbidden to look for it. You know all that.
But just because I can't look for it doesn't mean I don't follow the action. Why, years ago, before I was an employee, I considered myself a veteran and spent many a treasure-hunt week looking under mailboxes and kicking at snow chunks and setting up my transit in Mounds Park. Once, when I was but a wee curmudgeon, I lost my glasses in Como Park. My mother found them and triumphantly exclaimed, "I've got them!'' which was misinterpreted by the treasure hunters who turned and started marching on her like villagers from a Frankenstein movie.
"No,'' she cried, holding up the spectacles, "I've got his glasses.''
No sir, there aren't many cities in the world where in the middle of winter thousands of otherwise reserved people take to the parks with leaf blowers and metal detectors to find a medallion that used to be hidden in a quaint little treasure chest but can now turn up attached to anything.
In fact, a guy called me the other day and told me that a few years ago, when the medallion was in a diaper, his wife had the exact diaper in her hand and said to him, "for Pete's sake, you'd think that somebody would have at least thrown this diaper in a trash can.'' She dropped it in the snow where she found it, not only blowing the treasure, but her own counsel.
I'll give you the first three clues this year and their explanations. In the early going the clues are vague and I suppose the author can get away with anything. But in Clue No. 4 you get something about "the coldest star will guide you far,'' only to discover in Friday's explanation that the coldest star referred to the Star of the North, or L'Etoile du Nord, the name of a French immersion school a couple of blocks from Como Park.
Give me a break.
OK, OK, maybe the veteran treasure hunters thought that was fair game. And I realize that with metal detectors, leaf blowers, cell phones and hand-held Global Positioning devices now used in the hunt there is some responsibility to ratchet up the difficulty. But for God's sake, in the old days at clue No. 4 you were at least in the ballpark, getting something about the charcoal pit next to the picnic table.
I had myself convinced that the hunt was going to turn on Clue No. 5:
Treasure hunt lifer, prepare to cipher.
This one's yours to keep.
Did you read the explanation for that one? It turns out that "two or three" referred to 1872 or 1873, meaning the year that Como became a park. And that leap referred to Feb. 29, 1872, leap day, when the Legislature authorized the purchase of the land that became Como.
I hope we have one those employee assistance programs where the author of that clue can be checked for hallucinogenic drug use.
The other middle clues got worse, gibberish about someone named Ann Bilansky convicted of killing her husband, Stanislaus. She hid out near the area in 1859 and was helped by some carpenter named John Walker. Oh, forget it, it was too preposterous to continue.
I take it that the treasure hunters now realize that the gauntlet has been thrown and that next year your crew better have on board back at headquarters a Web-savvy history nut ready to fire up the search engines on everything from murder and mayhem to pioneer legislatures. This ain't your father's treasure hunt.
actually, I wonder if he didn't write that article to throw us off his trail. I never thought someone would actually write clues that would have some history in them- thats what I would do but not THAT LAME!!! those were so lame-
THE OTHER THEORY--a woman in California really wrote them- ?? and that wouldn't surprise me cause that would make sense that she got her 'St Paul' history information straight from the net -puting the hunt together from another state not even knowing how the clues relate to the area.
It was hidden at Harriet until the last two clues. The parks complained about digging up Harriet..(It is rumored that they were told never to have it at Harriet ever again..but no one listened)..thus they moved it and they had to scramble to come up with explanations for the previous clues. .......A Theory????
It could be that Joe wrote the clues and then wrote this column to sort of publicly chastise himself and to acknowledge that he's "heard the people". He wrote a similar article after last year's hunt and I had the same thought back then.
I doubt someone from out of state is writing the clues. There are plenty of local people who could do it and I just can't imagine the benefit of having someone from out of state do it.
As for it not being at Harriet ever again, I heard that theory. It basically states that someone donated a lot of money to the rennovation project on the condition that the treasure never be put there. But then I've also heard that other events that are held there tend to cause much more damage to the park. Also, the Pioneer Press runs the hunt, not the city, so it would have been a complicated deal to make.
As for moving it, well I don't know. The clues were pretty weak for that location and it did take them a long time to come out with the explanations. Still, given the actual explanation of Clue 7, as obscure as it was, it seems hard to believe they could have just happened on something that fit it so well. (At least one person, Vulturis Rex, claims to have actually found that story now). So I don't think it was really moved so much as the clues were purposely written to be vague enough to fit almost any park you wanted to fit them to except for the actual one.
What has this world come to? That is exactly why I go to the library for lunch and post on this website (I'm at lunch right now). I could be saving my own life!
Exactly! Who are the parents that teach their kids that violence is the answer to disagreement, that teach their kids not to cooperate with police (either thru actions or words)? They need to be educated right along with the kids!
What? I love food fights! Teach em young I say! :) Hey Artemis.....I am holding some things for you and Marley from Terry. Let THX or myself know how to make the drop.
Hmmm... mystery objects from Agent Valentine or Agent Camo?... requires a top-secret drop site with many contingency plans...FF for the AWMHPDG? or is time of the essence? Thur13th will be going where the puck drops to see CS&N, could take an earlier train and meet at McG's? Plan C is classified on a need to know basis...
Art......that would be Agent Camo probably at McGov's or Ferns....date to be reminded to myself through the lipstick and yes it is of essence...The drop needs to be made...random thought...
First I've heard of the other theory. Can you explain further? Since I brought in a california girl to work with me I'm curious if it's now urban legend or something.
Funny CM, how you are standing at the frog pond!!!
you with your stick in hand and Ares down in the pond with the frog...did Ares ask to use your stick while he was down there? Maybe thats what happened to the poor frog next.
Maybe you two wrote that terrible clue - stick it where the sun ain't shining.
We flew this weekend. As long as you pay attention and do what the security guys say, you should be OK. We breezed through pretty quick. The security guy even pointed me out to the rest of the crowd, said I was a "model flier."
http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/local/5078952.htm
JOE SOUCHERAY: Clues confound medallion hound
JOE SOUCHERAY
Pioneer Press Columnist
Believe me, if I knew who was responsible for this year's treasure hunt clues I would turn the pretentious fop over to the public, maybe for a hanging or stoning. OK, I admit that's a bit strong, but I'd still like to see a representative of the Pioneer Press placed in the stocks at, say, Grand Old Day.
They don't tell us who writes the clues and they don't tell us where the treasure is hidden and we are forbidden to look for it. You know all that.
But just because I can't look for it doesn't mean I don't follow the action. Why, years ago, before I was an employee, I considered myself a veteran and spent many a treasure-hunt week looking under mailboxes and kicking at snow chunks and setting up my transit in Mounds Park. Once, when I was but a wee curmudgeon, I lost my glasses in Como Park. My mother found them and triumphantly exclaimed, "I've got them!'' which was misinterpreted by the treasure hunters who turned and started marching on her like villagers from a Frankenstein movie.
"No,'' she cried, holding up the spectacles, "I've got his glasses.''
No sir, there aren't many cities in the world where in the middle of winter thousands of otherwise reserved people take to the parks with leaf blowers and metal detectors to find a medallion that used to be hidden in a quaint little treasure chest but can now turn up attached to anything.
In fact, a guy called me the other day and told me that a few years ago, when the medallion was in a diaper, his wife had the exact diaper in her hand and said to him, "for Pete's sake, you'd think that somebody would have at least thrown this diaper in a trash can.'' She dropped it in the snow where she found it, not only blowing the treasure, but her own counsel.
I'll give you the first three clues this year and their explanations. In the early going the clues are vague and I suppose the author can get away with anything. But in Clue No. 4 you get something about "the coldest star will guide you far,'' only to discover in Friday's explanation that the coldest star referred to the Star of the North, or L'Etoile du Nord, the name of a French immersion school a couple of blocks from Como Park.
Give me a break.
OK, OK, maybe the veteran treasure hunters thought that was fair game. And I realize that with metal detectors, leaf blowers, cell phones and hand-held Global Positioning devices now used in the hunt there is some responsibility to ratchet up the difficulty. But for God's sake, in the old days at clue No. 4 you were at least in the ballpark, getting something about the charcoal pit next to the picnic table.
I had myself convinced that the hunt was going to turn on Clue No. 5:
Treasure hunt lifer, prepare to cipher.
This one's yours to keep.
Did you read the explanation for that one? It turns out that "two or three" referred to 1872 or 1873, meaning the year that Como became a park. And that leap referred to Feb. 29, 1872, leap day, when the Legislature authorized the purchase of the land that became Como.
I hope we have one those employee assistance programs where the author of that clue can be checked for hallucinogenic drug use.
The other middle clues got worse, gibberish about someone named Ann Bilansky convicted of killing her husband, Stanislaus. She hid out near the area in 1859 and was helped by some carpenter named John Walker. Oh, forget it, it was too preposterous to continue.
I take it that the treasure hunters now realize that the gauntlet has been thrown and that next year your crew better have on board back at headquarters a Web-savvy history nut ready to fire up the search engines on everything from murder and mayhem to pioneer legislatures. This ain't your father's treasure hunt.
Motion made to make Joe and Rookie honorary Cooler Crew members.....I will have it put on the agenda for our next board meeting.:)
Great article, got what we are all thinking into the homes of everyone, especially the clue writer(s)
I
<heart> Joe.
I thought I was lost.
Does this mean, that "Joes", are now considered "Joe Soucheray's"??
Attention everyone, I have a Soucheray!
:LMFAO
actually, I wonder if he didn't write that article to throw us off his trail. I never thought someone would actually write clues that would have some history in them- thats what I would do but not THAT LAME!!! those were so lame-
THE OTHER THEORY--a woman in California really wrote them- ??
and that wouldn't surprise me cause that would make sense that she got her 'St Paul' history information straight from the net -puting the hunt together from another state not even knowing how the clues relate to the area.
It was hidden at Harriet until the last two clues. The parks complained about digging up Harriet..(It is rumored that they were told never to have it at Harriet ever again..but no one listened)..thus they moved it and they had to scramble to come up with explanations for the previous clues.
.......A Theory????
It could be that Joe wrote the clues and then wrote this column to sort of publicly chastise himself and to acknowledge that he's "heard the people". He wrote a similar article after last year's hunt and I had the same thought back then.
I doubt someone from out of state is writing the clues. There are plenty of local people who could do it and I just can't imagine the benefit of having someone from out of state do it.
As for it not being at Harriet ever again, I heard that theory. It basically states that someone donated a lot of money to the rennovation project on the condition that the treasure never be put there. But then I've also heard that other events that are held there tend to cause much more damage to the park. Also, the Pioneer Press runs the hunt, not the city, so it would have been a complicated deal to make.
As for moving it, well I don't know. The clues were pretty weak for that location and it did take them a long time to come out with the explanations. Still, given the actual explanation of Clue 7, as obscure as it was, it seems hard to believe they could have just happened on something that fit it so well. (At least one person, Vulturis Rex, claims to have actually found that story now). So I don't think it was really moved so much as the clues were purposely written to be vague enough to fit almost any park you wanted to fit them to except for the actual one.
Does this mean, that "Joes", are now considered "Joe Soucheray's"??
I luv it! Good thinkin Klown!
I still think AW is writing the clues... Solve the Who done it? Murder Mystery Weekend? Coincidence? I think not! ;-)
No good explanation for lunchroom altercations
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/columnists/joe_soucheray/5104904.htm
What has this world come to? That is exactly why I go to the library for lunch and post on this website (I'm at lunch right now). I could be saving my own life!
not that this is the place to discuss it, but still, i gotta ask where the knife control lobby is on this one.
Might as well invite the parents, too.
Exactly! Who are the parents that teach their kids that violence is the answer to disagreement, that teach their kids not to cooperate with police (either thru actions or words)? They need to be educated right along with the kids!
What? I love food fights! Teach em young I say! :) Hey Artemis.....I am holding some things for you and Marley from Terry. Let THX or myself know how to make the drop.
Hmmm... mystery objects from Agent Valentine or Agent Camo?... requires a top-secret drop site with many contingency plans...FF for the AWMHPDG? or is time of the essence? Thur13th will be going where the puck drops to see CS&N, could take an earlier train and meet at McG's? Plan C is classified on a need to know basis...
Shit, I can't find my decoder ring!
LOL!
I actually figured out part of that :)
Art......that would be Agent Camo probably at McGov's or Ferns....date to be reminded to myself through the lipstick and yes it is of essence...The drop needs to be made...random thought...
Roger that...over
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&q=%22artemis+the+huntress%22&sa=N&tab=wi
Yikes!
Cooler!
Way cooler!!!!
Wow! That's great!
immortalized into the internet-FOREVER! Mhwaaaaahahahahahaha!
First I've heard of the other theory. Can you explain further? Since I brought in a california girl to work with me I'm curious if it's now urban legend or something.
redbear (where do I put up a sig. pic?)
the picture has to be a gif or jpeg, 17kb or less. you set it in the "your preferences" link.
I seem to have my own action figure as well. Maybe we can play together sometime ATH?
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&q=ClueMaster&btnG=Google+Search
And AW is a recording artist I see...
Wow! I wonder what liquor lady would look like? HEEHEEHEEE!
Love the purple pecks CM!
Maybe we can play together sometime ATH?
only if you bring the naked (headless?) Barbie!
I wonder what liquor lady would look like
I bet she'd have a rain/trench coat (drunkproof) to wear over her action figure tights!
LOL Artemis! she would have to have a bottle of bacardi limon too!
Maybe we can play together sometime ATH?
only if you bring the naked (headless?) Barbie
Ooooooh a threesome ;)
Funny CM, how you are standing at the frog pond!!!
you with your stick in hand and Ares down in the pond with the frog...did Ares ask to use your stick while he was down there? Maybe thats what happened to the poor frog next.
Maybe you two wrote that terrible clue - stick it where the sun ain't shining.
Where is Leelabell?
I'm here
I lurk most days - I don't want to get into that man/woman thing on the other thread. :)
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/columnists/joe_soucheray/5158742.htm
After my bags had been cleared, I went through the second screening, where you empty your pockets, remove your belt and place your shoes in a tray.
The only feeling I had was the feeling that I wasn't in America.
Since I fly almost every month, I have gotten really good at getting through security. I f'n hate security, but I have mastered it. Isn't that sad?
I haven't flown in years.
I would just expect the worst these days, if I was to have the displeasure of going through airport security.
We flew this weekend. As long as you pay attention and do what the security guys say, you should be OK. We breezed through pretty quick. The security guy even pointed me out to the rest of the crowd, said I was a "model flier."
IC
as in Intercontinental Champion?
From the Mayors office:
GREEN
- which means "We're good to GO!"
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PRESIDENTS DAY QUIZ
YOUR GRADE: D-
Your Score: 60%
9 correctout of 15 possible
Joe says, "Hit the books again. No, Rookie we won't make it a D+!"
I thought I did pretty well- :(