*Justin* - 12/23/00 01:46:41
My URL:eulogycontact@hotmail.com

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Check out some VERY revealing information about a play by David Mammet, plus more clues in this international mystery..... http://www.tiagoteixeira.com.br/toynbee/

Camille Murphy - 10/30/00 19:14:43
My URL:murphycamille@hotmail.com

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I was psyched to find a site about toynbee. i've always seen the tiles and never knew anything about them. If anyone knows of other street campaigns, send me e-mail about them. I've already heard about sheperd ferry/ Andre the Giant and Barbara Kruger, al eady been written about projects. I'm really interested in projects i might not see here in nyc. Does anyone know who's doing the green media related stencils in nyc right now? or who the dutchman is? what's revs-cost? and who is grand fury? if you've got any info, i'd appreciate it. thanx

Mikeo - 09/27/00 05:52:50

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There's one in Toledo, Ohio. Well actually two, but one is pretty much obliterated. However, the good one is very readable and you can read the bottom portion, which at first glance seems to be instructions to whomever on how best to affix it to the pavem nt - I'll see if I can get a photo of it posted soon.

Justin K. - 08/11/00 15:33:30
My URL:http://eulogycontact@hotmail.com

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So glad to see this site! I have been obsessed with this phenomenon for years, and as such, have done a little of my own research. The highlight of my search for answers to this mystery occured one Sunday night of this previous winter. I had gone to my lo al convenience store for a snack around 4:00 A.M., noticing nothing unusual. On my way home I noticed something unusual in the street. Upon closer inspection, I discovered it to be a "Toynbee Idea" tile - freshly placed and only minutes old. Of course I w s beside myself with exitement and I could now see exactly how, and of what materials these tiles are made. (This tile, by the way, is located on 13th. & Arch St. in Philadelphia.) The tiles are just that - tiles....although not the standard vinyl floor t le, as I had suspected. The letters are cut out of a material with, I assume, a higher rubber content than a standard floor tile. The inlay letters seemed to made from a less maleable substance, and in this case were red and yellow. The tile is secured to the street by intricately folded and layered tar paper, glued together. A layer of raw tar seemed to lie beneath the whole tile, anchoring it. The weight of cars, as they run over the tile, forces the layers of tar paper to impregnate the spaces in the cr cks of the letters. As time passes, and cars as well as the elements do their job, the tile becomes imbedded into the street - totally unmovable since the rubber forms a tight bond with the asphalt. O f course the tar paper dissapears in a few days but th tar itself remains, working to secure the message into the street. Also.......I heard mention once on a web site that there was a tile which contained an adress.....in south philly, I can't recall it exactly. Well, I went to that adress and knocked on th door, but no luck. The current occupants bought the house about a year and a half ago and had no idea who may have lived there previously. However - in this same south philly neighborhood I saw and photographed many "experimental" tiles. These looked to e to be "tests" conducted by the tile maker in an attempt to perfect a method. Some even had inlays of metal or glass! The messages mostly consisted of random letters - XOC>>,etc. These are around the area of 8th. & Shunk St. In Philly. In closing, I woul like to say that I would love to trade photographs of tiles! I would LOVE to see some photos of tiles outside of the U.S. I have photos of tiles in Philly, New York and Baltimore. Many of the Philly tiles I photographed have since been tarred over or des royed - of particular interest is a panel of four tiles formerly on 16th. & Chestnut in Philly. They contain PARAGRAPHS of paranoid rant centering around the Philadelphia Inquirerer and John Knight. My photos are all color close-ups so that every detail a d nuance is visible. I photographed the tile on Arch street as i peeled it halfway up, to give a visual record of how it is placed. At any rate, I have gone on long enough, and if you have had the attention span to read this, God bless you. I will not tak up more of your time with my own theories on what the message may mean. Contact me with questions or answers! LOVE TO ALL, *JUSTIN*

Roland - 04/21/00 13:22:50

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... but "sul" sure is not supposed to mean "south" but "on". Doen't "sul" mean "on" in Italian?

pedro - 11/15/99 02:50:11
My URL:pparga@domain.com.br

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Hi, I've recently encountered one of these signs here in Rio de Janeiro, on the intersection of Av.Pres. Vargas and Uruguaiana (right in front of the McDonald's). It says "Toynbee ideas in cine 2001 resucitar mortos sul planeta jupiter". It is mispelled thoug (ressurect in portuguese is actually "ressucitar") and it adds "sul" which means "shout" to the original writing, tranlating into sth like "south of planet jupiter".

Adrian Rohner - 11/08/99 19:38:21
My URL:elmismisimosatan@hotmail.com

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I live in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where we have some of these sings on the street too. Last July, I went to NY and I saw them again. The ones that we have in our streets are made of the same material (marble?) and are in english too (just like Manhattan´s), strange because we speak spanish here. Who made them?

nachlin - 07/25/99 05:34:20
My URL:the_nach@hotmail.com

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It's probably supposed to be, "You must make and GLUE tile."

nachlin - 07/25/99 05:32:21
My URL:the_nach@hotmail.com

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These signs are all over Midtown Manhattan and have been here for years. Some of them word the message slightly differently, for instance, they say, "Kubrick's 2001" instead of "movie 2001." If the meaning were related to the story, "The Toynbee Convect r," this would suggest that the person behind these signs feels that "2001" is an optimistic version of the future. Therefore, it seems more likely that this person refers to the historian. Why not stencil a question for this person, such as "which Toynbee?" or "we need more information."

Tie Bowle - 05/28/99 20:41:42

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10/16/98 09:08:55

Name: Bad Bunny	My URL: Visit Me
My Email: Email Me

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Just surfing. Thanks.

- 07/19/98 07:10:07

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knightbg - 07/05/98 23:38:34
My URL:knightbg@mindless.com

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grey... well i was going to post up just about exactly what you had, so i'll just fill in that the author of the Toynbee Convector is Ray Bradbury. but, i looked this up because i saw the sign in a few places in manhattan, and figured there'd be a site a out it... well, i'm determined to find out what this REALLY is.

Kara Townsend - 06/28/98 20:12:05
My URL:http://www.dynamicSex.com
My Email:dwebmistress@yahoo.com

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Hi! I saw your site and thought it was great. I know how difficult it is to keep a quality site. Good Job! Let me know if you want to exchange links :)

- 05/23/98 03:25:57
My URL:http://agr9@webtv.net

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The sign alludes to Arnold Toynbee's book;"Some Problems of Greek History" (1969),and a fictional account of the life of Alexander the Great, had he not died. A facinating story.

No. 2 - 02/04/98 14:10:57
My URL:http://the village.com

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ES Grey writes... > Pasted from The Baltimore Sun's "Sunspot" website at > http://www.sunspot.net > Originally in printed newspaper on January 2 1998. > Officially falls into the WTF? File... > > The sign in question reads: > "Toynbee idea in movie 2001--Resurrect dead on planet Jupiter" My idea on what the sign means... [Somewhere, the "X-Files" theme begins to play...] I never heard of that Toynbee guy. The only Toynbee I know of was mentioned in [insert name of a famous SF author who I can't remember at the moment]'s short story, "The Toynbee Convector." An overview: a [mad] scientist builds a time machine (the Toynbee convector) and goes to a distant date in the future, coming back with fantastic footage of what awaits humanity. People go, "WTF?" and realize that there's hope for the human race after all. When humanity reaches the date which the scientist traveled to, an intrepid reporter finds out... That it was all a lie. The scientist had built a model in his basement and filmed it. The Toynbee convector wasn't even a real time machine. Why'd he do it? To ignite hope for the future. Hey, it worked... Thus, a prophecy fulfills itself. [cue "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (wonder if I spelled that right?)] "2001", like many favorite SF stories, is a prophecy about what could happen. One could consider it a Toynbee convector of sorts. But since it's just an idea, instead of an actual machine, it could be a "Toynbee idea." (Pity the U.S. space program had to go through the 1980's--it could have made so much more progress. But that's a different story.) As for "Resurrect dead on planet Jupiter"? Perhaps this refers to the life on Europa? (Seriously, folks. But the lion's share of the Europa stuff happens in "2010", the next story. Speaking of which, "2001" was originally set around Saturn, until Kubrick came along... But that's yet another story...) Oh, well. At the least, the sign's an interesting mystery... Any other ideas? .....

No. 6 - 02/04/98 14:09:37
My URL:http://the village.com

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Pasted from The Baltimore Sun's "Sunspot" website at http://www.sunspot.net Originally in printed newspaper on January 2 1998. Officially falls into the WTF? File... The sign in question reads: "Toynbee idea in movie 2001--Resurrect dead on planet Jupiter" An unsolved mystery reappears Sign: That cryptic message shows up again at Calvert and Redwood. What does it all mean? By By Rob Hiaasen SUN STAFF That does it. It's time to come out, whoever you are -- you who keeps leaving cryptic, taunting markers on our Baltimore intersections. A new Toynbee Idea in Movie 2001 Resurrect Dead on Planet Jupiter street marker has appeared. You've seen the old ones -- heck, you walk over them every day. The white stenciled messages, clandestinely applied by some guerrilla artist, no doubt, have baffled the locals for years. No one seems to know when they first appeared. And no one knows exactly what the message means. It seems obvious they have something to do with Stanley Kubrick's classic movie, "2001: A Space Odyssey," and the teachings of the late British historian, Arnold Toynbee. In some of his writings, Toynbee implied some sort of religious regeneration. The movie -- starring HAL the computer and that funky monolith -- implies something about regeneration on Jupiter. Over the past several years, the Toynbee markers have turned up on the streets of Washington, Chicago, Boston, Providence, even Times Square. Many have crumbled into white specks, others have been paved over during street resurfacings. Three years ago, The Sun's front page dedicated valuable space to the street marker story. The city's Public Works Department, the Maryland Institute, College of Art, and the Baltimore Film Forum were contacted and left stumped by the presence of these signs. We even called John Waters -- who was good for a quote, but not for information. More than 100 people called the paper with their ideas on the message and unknown artist. "Some things are just best left alone," one reader wrote. So we did. The mystery was left unsolved. Then, Calvert Street was re-surfaced and that seemed to be the end of Toynbee, Kubrick, et al. But just recently, a fresh Toynbee sign appeared at the intersection of Calvert and Redwood streets. Instead of the usual white lettering, this marker is cast boldly in blue and orange. And to further taunt us, there's additional scribbling: You Must Make + Clue Tile!! You!! As Media U.S.S.R. Anyone want to take another shot at this mystery? ......

normalfreak - 01/02/98 16:10:24

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the letters after the lowercase i's are E and T ET extra terrestrials (i know that's spelled wrong)