Chapter 32: Reflections on Biscayne Bay

Use this section for any discussion specifically related to the chapters posted online of the unfolding biography, "Defying Gravity: The Parallel Universe of T. Townsend Brown
Victoria Steele
Mysterious Redhead
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woman power

Post by Victoria Steele »

Andrew,

While I really appreciate your thought, I am pleased as punch to see that your lovely wife has joined us in this! Men are always trying to "protect us" when we are tougher than they would ever dream! and this "motley goup" is now eversomuch stronger with her participation.

Speaking of strong women. Anybody catch "Twigsnappers" last post about the woman called " the White Mouse". He speaks as if he might have known her himself. But there is a classic example of how history never gets around to mentioning a womans contribution.

Welcome Linda!

I am assuming of course that you and Andrew will be in Vegas in November. I am going to try my darndest. Victoria
Gabriel
Space Cadet
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Post by Gabriel »

Paul there is nothing wrong with TV. Rather the point I was trying to make is that TV can be used for good but It can also become a drug and an escape for people. I agree with Elizabeth that people need to be given the chance to examine what Brown was working on and what he is proposing to man. The question is will men be ready to recieve this info given the chance. I think anything is possible but sometimes that remote control is much easier for some people rather than having to think and possibly having to change their whole out look on reality and their very lives. I wonder if brown himself had a TV or rather did he ever needed one? Gabe
twigsnapper
Revered Elder
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classical music/usually

Post by twigsnapper »

Gabriel


I totally agree with you regarding the worst of TV .... but its not the culprit, as you said and I agree with you. Its the person who lets himself/herself get "dumbed down" by it.

It was my experience that Dr. Brown preferred classical music. Always had some music on while he worked. Of course I was the "working side" of his life, so I don't know what he actually did for relaxation. (I am not even sure that "relax" was in his vocabulary!)

But remember, you must ask must ask others about him. He was a complicated individual. I remember being particularly shocked that he mentioned a "folk song" that he admired ... and some Elvis song too ... I would never have thought that he kept up with that avenue. Twigsnapper
LongboardLOVELY
Junior Birdman
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Re: making connections

Post by LongboardLOVELY »

Madison wrote:Linda Bolland

Ah! Now I make the connection Linda ... You are Andy Bollands wife, right? I thought that name was familiar. How interesting its going to be to get your side of what its been like to be involved in a project like this!
uh oh. Naw just kidding. Yes, it has been interesting. That's a minimalist word at best, here.
Madison wrote: So, I was just wondering LindaB what you thought about the work that Andrew became so interested in
I have my research, he has his. I don't think I've really thought much about it. Great ride though, so far.
.... You have known him for 12 years and he has said that he has known Linda Brown for 20 some .... so he had 8 years to get really wound into the work.
Linda Brown is a great friend, and a great person. And that is all I am ever going to say here about her. Andy's research has been off and on and off and on for a number of years. It takes a lot of effort to not get discouraged on his part. My job? Encourage, and feed him healthy stuff when he's low on fuel :wink:
I mean, following the work of such an "obscure scientist" must have been hard for him to explain to you.
When we first met (that will be a story that you will have to wait to hear in NV in November) we had an instant rapport. I don't think I ever doubted anything he told me, and he didn't really tell me that much. It was interesting, mysterious, exciting. I like exciting - my first boyfriend, the only other person I dated for any length of time before Andy, was a motorcycle racer. Willow Springs, etc. I liked fast cars, fast bikes. My parents were happy when I picked Andy instead 8)
What did you first think when Andrew mentioned this "Townsend Brown?"
I don't think he mentioned TTB at all for a number of years, not until I first met Linda. By then, we had known each other for so long, it didn't even phase me. I didn't read TPX until after we were married. I don't think much of that book. NOT very well researched at all.
If he mentioned "flying saucers" right off ....
He didn't strike me as a lunatic fringe, but well, now, I don't know.. :wink:
We don't talk about flying saucers much. What is important to the both of us is the truth in the research that Doc Brown was into; the stuff left for fantasy/Sci Fi literature is not a ground we cover very often.

I think he married me because my name is 'Linda'. :lol:

LindaB
Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction. ~ Albert Einstein
Annemarie
Space Cadet
Posts: 21
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Location: Bay Area

high regard

Post by Annemarie »

Paul,

I don't know if this is the right place to jump into the conversation. But here goes.

I can see that everyone who knows Linda Brown treats her with the utmost respect and loyalty. I can sense that you all worry about not trespassing on her privacy.

So I am new and maybe I just don't know any beter , but can anyone tell me just why Linda Brown is so reclusive? I can see that she was totally involved in alot of strange stuff when she was a younger adult, but why is it important to her now? Or would it just be a force of habit?

Maybe I am breaking some sort of quiet rules by asking .... but what is the lady really like? Not much has been said. I know that she loved horses when she was a child. Does she still maintain that interest? And .... generally speaking .... I am not being out of line here, am I? I just wondered what Linda does now? In the most general of terms?

Annemarie
Chris Knight
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Contact:

Post by Chris Knight »

Hi Annemarie,

Glad you finally jumped in.

Linda spent most of her life supporting (as laboratory assistance, and physically and emotionally) her father. Remember that she went to some 40-odd schools before graduating from highschool, plus all of the smoke and mirrors going on around her.

It is only within the relatively past few years after the passing of her father in 1985, that she has been happily able to maintain a relatively normal life (with horses). The smoke and mirrors, intrigue, and so on does tend to wear a person down over time.

Her father's work was always a central part of her family, but all she really ever saw was the public view of her father and his work (which was not too kind), because as Paul quoted out in another thread, she really didn't need to know the other things.

It has been a personally revealing and intense journey for her to really find out what her father was involved in, but as far as her involvement in seeking recognition or whatnot outside of the book are concerned, she seems to much prefer her normal, everyday life - dog, cat, horse, yard, roses, laundry - the things we sometimes take for granted.

Andrew
Victoria Steele
Mysterious Redhead
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laundry?

Post by Victoria Steele »

Hi Andrew, and welcome Annemarie!!!

I loved everything you said Andrew about Linda Brown and I cn see that she would be the type of person who would appreciate animals and maybe roses .... but laundry? You jest, surely.

I understand what you mean. That she probably does value the quiet of a home that isn't constantly on the move. But the laundry is something I'll just bet she hates as much as I do!

Oh Paul ... we miss your posts. I want to know what is going to happen next with Dr. Brown .... and I want to know what Morgan and Linda will be up to .... its like a darned soap opera .... and thursday is my day! Hope you are having a real good time though.

I found it kind of strange. Ann was reading a book about a spymaster .... and you were reading "Alice in Wonderland?" Huh? Thats worth a paragragh when you get home. Victoria
Mark Culpepper
The Dean
Posts: 655
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Paul and Ann in Wonderland

Post by Mark Culpepper »

Yes, I wondered about that too. Ann is reading about Intrepid and Paul is reading about Alice and Wonderland. Ha.

Now I knew there must be a reason so I looked back and yes .... you had said that Eldridge Johnson was a great fan of that book. So there is something in all of that .... like one of those wierd threads that Elizabeth has mentioned.

And talk about wierd. I just came back from the pretty good Mission Impossible flic (popcorn, soda and Junior MINTS .... well, no ... no Junior MINTS and the Buffett song rang through my brain while I was standing in line.....Anyway back to the movie .... good team naturally and what are they chasing after? Something called the "Rabbits Foot". I looked around real fast wondering why the reference to a Rabbit .... Matrix ?.... white rabbit? ..... Alice in Wonderland? ..... the Rabbit hole?. I just feel a little bit like the whole world knows SOMETHING and I am still relatively clueless.

Well, No ...... I can't exactly say that. Thanks to that very kind gentleman, Mr. Twigsnapper, I know what my Dad actually was doing and I know the history now of that mystery knife. Forever grateful.

He went on to live in Switzerland and after I was about nine years old, we never saw him again. And I didn't realize that I had written the word "suffered" when describing that separation from him but that was actually very true.

I noted during the Mission movie that there is a little dialogue with the characters about not being married ..... that their life didn't suit being married ...... and I thought sadly of him and the fact that he must have believed that. Mark C.
Elizabeth Helen Drake
Sr. Research Asst.
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maybe

Post by Elizabeth Helen Drake »

Mark C.

Maybe your Dad just loved you so much he figured he was doing the best for his children and for your Mother.

In reading alot about Dr. Brown I have gotten the strong sense that he did in fact love his children. But make no mistake, he also seems to have loved his research. It must have been really difficult to be placed in that position. And I think that men must have faced that problem quite distinctly different ways of showing their love for their families.

When you said that your parents split up I got the impression that it was your Mother who finally drew the line in the sand. She must have felt that she needed a stable existance and that you kids needed it too, so it was right for her to draw that line.

My impression of men in that kind of work is that they just understood when that happened. Then it was up to them to decide to stay, or to go. Its sad that your Dad must have decided that he should go.

Perhaps Townsend Brown SHOULD have left his family behind. Was he being selfish trying to hang on to his family as well as the lifestyle he found himself in?

Apparently his work meant a great, great deal to him. Any doubt of that , those of you who are new to the forum, read Pauls Chapter entitled "Any cabbie in Catalina".

I sense that it must have been a horribly difficult moment, looking at it from Lindas viewpoint, to realize that after all those years and all those sacrifices she and her mother had suffered through (using your word here Mark) that Townsend Brown still had things to do that he would not tell them about and that their feelings came second. That had to have been difficult.

Elizabeth
Elizabeth Helen Drake
Sr. Research Asst.
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open invitation

Post by Elizabeth Helen Drake »

I picked this particular post because its had many viewers and I wanted to personally invite some of you to join us here on the forum.

I know that some of you have been following Pauls efforts carefully and I would bet that many of you actually have something to add in the way of comments or observations .... or questions.

I just wanted you all to know that we value and encourage your input. So if you see something you want to comment on, PLEASE DO! All you have to do is register at the top of this page ...... and then type away! And if there is no pool to fit your comment feel free to develop a new post!

I just have this feeling that there are many of you out there who have been thinking about joining the discussion but haven't maybe because we have been going along at such a clip ..... but we have slowed up just a tad ...... so ..... like the cable cars in San Francisco ..... grab that bar and swing on up. Its going to be an interesting ride! Elizabeth
Victoria Steele
Mysterious Redhead
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Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2006 7:06 am

slowed up?

Post by Victoria Steele »

Elizabeth,

I join with you in inviting others to join us in this discussion. Its AMAZING what happens when you get a combination of opinions going, especailly when you mix it all up with the conjecture about what a talented man like Dr. Brown might have been doing in his long career. Much of what all of us believed about him ...... well, if some of it was true, there were many other sides to the man. So each of us is capable of uncovering just one more side I think.

Anyway, Paul has been real quiet, huh?

I have a feeling hes mad at me for giving him such a hard time about talking (or even whispering) the thought that he might be slowing down on his production of "work" regarding this book. Maybe he's just adopting the attitude "Well, I'll just show that pushy little witch! (I meant witch ... but maybe thats not how he would have translated it! )Hey! Whatever.

No slow ups. Its too good a story! Silence on that end? Don't know what that means . I'll be pleased on Thursday, I hope, with a flurry of writerly activity from his end. Just show that pushy old Victoria! Thats right! Victoria
Mark Culpepper
The Dean
Posts: 655
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2006 6:02 am

funny

Post by Mark Culpepper »

Victoria,

You are a smart and funny lady.

Oh, I don't think he's mad at anybody. We have all given him a hard time in one way or another and he seems to take it well. I just think maybe today is just his standard Tuesday, like he said, the "I got nothing day".

Tomorrow gets here and it will all come together and his fingers will stop beating up the keys on the keyboard and he will join us again with his worried little jokes. Have no fear. Hes a pretty good student I think.

And as far as it being "quiet". I think everybody just left on vacation and we are the only ones left in town.

Mark C.
grinder
Senior Officer
Posts: 694
Joined: Wed Apr 05, 2006 6:20 am

blue chip stock

Post by grinder »

This is interesting, this chapter. Here you have this tall, goodlooking (I am assuming from the comments about all of his girlfriends in highschool.) He has met the daughter of a kind gentle scientist who seems to like him and its obvious that the daughter does. Now he is sleeping with her under her own parents roof. Thats interesting.

In my world, that would have meant a wedding in June, getting slapped on the back by the countryclub set, getting help in buying the first house and blue chip stocks as a wedding gift by Uncle Charlie and if I was real lucky, a corner office in her Dads big company. (name on the door, secretary too)

In some worlds thats the way it goes and that sort of looks like the way its going here too. Would that have been alright with Morgan? He and Townsend Brown are really hitting it off and though it is never really said I think that Morgan has gotten the impression that there are some important people interested in his future. Well, thats sort of like the above routine but then there is this wierd twist. SHE NEEDS NOT TO KNOW Townsend Brown said. Needs not to know exactly what? What they talked about on the sail boat. Well then, can I ask? What did they talk about, really. Its obvious to me that this Mr. X is working his trap line on this kid.

But after the sailing trip Morgan admits that things get more complicated.

Morgan then can't share his experiences in this new and exciting world with Linda because thats part of the deal? Its sort of like the mafia where the women are all protected from what is actually going on. (Now I am not suggesting that Dr. Brown was "connected" in that manner but in a way he is , but you have to admit the similarities and possibilities.)

So what is poor Morgan going to do about Linda? If she gets angry at him for distancing her .... will Charles be after him? How would he know which way the wind was going to blow? What if it turns out to be a scene from "The Wedding Crashers?" Getting the impression here from Paul that Linda was "indulged" by her father.

So, do you guys think that these two lovers are headed for, marriage? Or what? Victoria, you are the expert! grinder
Victoria Steele
Mysterious Redhead
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Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2006 7:06 am

up early

Post by Victoria Steele »

You know, I am up way too early. I am getting ready to go on vacation but just wanted you to know particularly Paul that I scheduled my ENTIRE vacation plan AROUND the fact that you would be posting your next chapter today (Kidding, sort of .... maybe not if you consider that we are all in charge of our own futures... it just sort of "worked out" this way. Not leaving until tonight. Have much to do. Up early. Going to be watching for that new chapter big time because ONLY AFTER I HAVE SEEN IT CAN I GO ON VACATION!)

And do you know what I just did? I just read all the messages on this post, from beginning to end. Shoot Paul. You should do that sometime, if you are not. Because there was something interesting happening in this post. Some sort of energy and "togetherness" that I just can't really explain. We are all so different but its like we are all instruments ... like chimes in the wind. We all sound different, but there is this melody.

I'm taking my hardcopy with me on the plane. Nothing to do for hours so I thought I would take a notebook and just jot down thoughts that come to me regarding what everybody is saying here. Then when I get home maybe I will have something special to share in that . I don't know why I just volunteered for that, but somehow I have gotten the impression tht I should do it..

So, here I am. Just waiting for the next chapter. What will it be about this time? Of course you guys know that I am partial to the Morgan/Linda side of this parallel universe, but its getting pretty darned romantic on the other side too .... (course, I was a little worried. Dr. Brown was off playing pirate with some gorgeous heiress on some island. But all turned out well.... Look at that chunky baby boy! The pride of his father you can tell!) (Though I still say that Doctor Brown is probably saying to himself. "He is going to pee on me!" I say that cause thats what I THINK when faced with holding a baby that age and I have been proven right most of the time!)

So Paul? What happens next? Victoria
Victoria Steele
Mysterious Redhead
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Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2006 7:06 am

Hey guys

Post by Victoria Steele »

Lets talk more about this chapter, can we? https://www.ttbrown.com/defying_gravity ... tions.html

Foe those of you who are new .... please read this chapter. Its fascinating.

I think there is much more to be discussed here. Even rereading this particular thread is interesting and probably would inspire some more observations.

You might note that I mentioned some sort of wierd energy and "togetherness" I was noticing. That was months and months ago and I still have that feeling! In fact, I think it has gotten stronger! Victoria
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