My god... it's full of stars... --David Bowman, 2001

Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite
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  The "Ingredients"  The Video and Audio "Ingredients" that make up the Feast of the Senses that is the Synch.
  The Setup  How to Run the Synch.
Source  Where On Earth did You Ever Hear About THIS?!?
  The Evidence  Is it all just Coincidence... Or something MORE?!?
  Other Related Resources  I want to know more about the different elements... Other resources to check out if you're curious!!

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The "Ingredients"

Audio:  Track Six - "Echoes"                 Meddle by Pink Floyd

Video: "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite"               Stanley Kubrick's 2001               1969, MGM

The Setup

The video clip for this synchronicity is the end segment of 2001, subtitled "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite." This segment is the last approx. 23 minutes of the film. The audio for this synchronicity is provided by Pink Floyd's Meddle album, the last track titled "Echoes." "Echoes" is also approx. 23 minutes long.



The "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite" title screen


To start the synchronicity, first pause 2001 at the beginning of "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite"; the screen should be black just before the title "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite" phases in. Pause "Echoes" (this is easiest with a cd but if you are using a tape player just get it as close as you can). Unpause both at the same time and enjoy. It's simple, easy, and it's a definite match!!

According to some experimenters out on the net, who used the laser disc of 2001, the very best match up is achieved if the scene (ie. right after the title screen, "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite"), comes up just as the third ping (three, it's the magic number!!) in "Echoes", is heard (SOURCE: Noel Berube, CORRECTED 6/24/97, Thanks Noel!!). See what YOU think...

Alternate Variation:

Audio:  Track One - "Atom Heart Mother Suite"                 Atom Heart Mother by Pink Floyd

You can also do this same synchronicity to the first track of the Pink Floyd album, Atom Heart Mother, the Atom Heart Mother suite. This too is approx. 23 minutes in length. However, the match is not as precise as "Echoes."   The setup is exactly the same as "Echoes," just pause 2001 right before the title "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite" comes up, pause the "Atom Heart Mother Suite," then unpause both them, sit back, and ENJOY THE RIDE!!

The Source

Now you're probably asking, "Where on EARTH did you ever hear about something like this?"  Luke DeWitt, one of my fraternity brothers, showed me this synchronicity in college; he found out about it through another brother of ours, Steve Bai. This synch got me hooked on both 2001 and Pink Floyd.  I wrote a paper on the symbolism in the segment, which is available on this site.  It's been the driving force for me to put up this site, as well as my interest in a lot of other bizarreness and weirdness.

The Evidence

Having since read some biographies on Pink Floyd, I think there is STRONG evidence that this synchronicity is intentional. According to Saucerful of Secrets:  The Pink Floyd Odyssey (arguably the best biography of the Pink Floyd story, and certainly my favorite):

"Roger Waters, yet to balk at the sci-fi association, went so far as to say his 'greatest regret' was that they didn't do the score for 2001: A Space Odyssey -- parts of which, particularly in the long, mind-blowing hallucinatory sequence near the end, nonetheless sound remarkably Floydian..." 
-- (Saucerful of Secrets, by Nicholas Schaffner, pg. 142)



The original lyrics to Floyd's "Echoes" had an outer space theme to them, as opposed to the more well-known nautical imagery in the album version.  The original opening line was "Planets meeting face to face" which seems more than coincidental in view of the imagery in the opening of "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite."


But probably the biggest evidence in favor of this synch, is its sheer simplicity.  Twenty-three minutes of audio, twenty-three minutes of video.  The changes are in the right places, and thematically the music fits the visuals quite well.  I don't know of any other synch that really comes close.

Other Resources

Here are some other resources available on the Net that might be of interest to you, if you like this synch.

For more on "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite"

• "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite:  A Symbolic Look At the End of 2001."  HMTL version of an essay I wrote in college on the symbolism and meaning of the trippy end segment of 2001. 
• Another essay on Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite, by Modemac.

For more on Pink Floyd's Echoes

• The lyrics to Pink Floyd's masterful tune
• The Pink Floyd Timeline's "About Echoes", includes the original lyrics and some sound samples of the original and final versions.

For more on Stanley Kubrick, the director of 2001 and other fine films

• The Stanley Kubrick page
• Voyager's Stanley Kubrick Home Page

For more on Arthur C. Clarke, the author of 2001 and other science fiction masterpieces

• Visit the Unauthorized Arthur C. Clarke Home Page.