Time for your daily dose of conspiracy theory weirdness: on July 9, the innocuous Youtube channel “Pronunciation Book” (which features videos about how to pronounce English words like “jojoba” and “Herobrine”, presumably for the edification of people who [are learning to] speak English) began posting a series of daily videos that are counting down from 77. The audio of each video does not correspond with a pronunciation of the number it is featuring. Each video ends with the voice saying: “Something is going to happen in [number] days.” As of today, the countdown is at 63.
What the heck is going on here? Is this the craziest three-year-old guerilla marketing campaign ever? Why are rumors flying about Battlestar Galactica‘s possible involvement? Go under the cut for speculation, and beware the Battlestar Galactica spoilers!
The Daily Dot (where the first article found on the topic came from) has been following the original investigation underway by Reddiors and 4Chan users, who have compiled a public Google Doc called the “77 Days Research Document” to keep track of all data and speculation, and a blog has also been made that updates with new information and theories.
So what are the leading theories at the moment? Well, the Daily Dot has come to the conclusion that the “77 Days” videos are counting down to a reboot of Battlestar Galactica.
Wait, what the frak?
The audio messages thus far look like this:
77: “Something is going to happen in 77 days.”
76: “I’ve been trying to tell you something for 1,183 days.”
75: “I’m awake now. Things are clearing up. I’m not saying the words anymore.”
74: “I’ve got a minute, let me tell you what I think is going on.”
73: “Tension between the districts has spiked in the last few months.”
72: “You can see it in the markets. Everyone’s ready for a storm.”
69: “No one is ready. He watches the market.”
68: “I’m not talking about a disaster, I’m talking about a love triangle.”
67: “We fell into the jungle for a summer of dollar-crime.”
66: “We were young heroes, gorgeous liars.”
65: “Turn off the lights and drink a cold glass of water.”
64: “No one is singing, every day is the same.”
63: “We should have listened to Chief.”
Also under scrutiny are past example sentences from Pronunciation Book which were always a bit strange, but never connected to any larger narrative. Now, however, they are being taken into detailed consideration.
Videos like this one, titled “How To State An Unpleasant Fact In English” begin relatively uneventful with the first sentence, but quickly become suspicious when the second phrase presented as an “unpleasant fact” is “I have no choice but to complete the mission.” This pattern pops up through multiple sentence examples in PB’s videos.
So how does this relate to BSG?
The Daily Dot’s analysis ties these phrases to many of the events surrounding New Caprica, “All Along the Watchtower”, and the final five cylons. Some examples:
Countdown Day 69: No one is ready. He watches the market.
Is it Battlestar? Gaeta, who is the senior officer of the watch on the Galactica crew, watches the markets during his spy runs for the rebellion on New Caprica during the Battlestar Galactica summer miniseries, Razor.
Countdown Day 67: We fell into the jungle for a summer of dollar crime.
Is it Battlestar? This could be a reference to the activities of the black market of New Caprica (the “jungle”), which took place during Battlestar Galactica: Razor.
Countdown Day 64: No one is singing. Every day is the same.
Is it Battlestar? This could easily be a description of Cylon-occupied New Caprica.
The correlation is vague at best, but certainly worth considering. There are other reasons the Dot lists, but you can check them out on their article about the theory.
The reigning popular consensus is that these videos are a guerilla marketing campaign for some new media release, but theories ranging from spy communication channels to the ever-present half-joking spectre of speculation that it’s all part of the impending Half-Life 3 announcement.
Whatever it is, keep an eye on the countdown. We’ll see what is going to happen in 77 days.
(via The Daily Dot)
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Published: Jul 23, 2013 11:45 am