Botticelli, February 2014

Well, you still have a DQ of the “Firstname Lastname” variety.

Let’s give it until tomorrow. If there’s nothing by tomorrow afternoon, we’ll call it, and move on with another letter.

Well, shall we call it?

Might as well…

Okay. I am Ray Garraty. Ray is the main character of The Long Walk, by Stephen King, writing under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. King wrote the novel in the 1960s, but it wasn’t published until 1979. Very briefly, the book concerns a long-distance walking race.

As far as the DQs go, Ray is an American (from Maine, actually), and the novel takes place in the United States. Ray has a girlfriend, but he is not married. Guns do play a large part in the plot, and while a few of Ray’s fellow competitors do use guns in the book, he doesn’t.

There is often discussion about whether Ray dies at the end of the book–King is ambiguous on this point. Given what King describes in the last page, I’m one of those who believe that Ray does die; if not at that point, then shortly after.

The novel belongs to the genre known as “dystopian fiction,” where things take place in a future that has gone wrong somehow–examples would include Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Huxley’s Brave New World, and Moore’s V for Vendetta. The Long Walk fits this genre, as the US has somehow become a military dictatorship, complete with the disappearances of dissidents (“getting squaded” as it is called in the book).

I’ll come up with another letter in a bit.

OK, I don’t like Stephen King’s books and don’t read him, but that doesn’t mean much as I don’t read much horror.

Haven’t read one of King’s books in ages - I prefer Koontz (and I don’t read much of him, either).

I remember the story but not the character. Good one!

Thanks, EH!

Thought it might be better-known–it has certainly been discussed in a number of threads in Cafe Society here.

Oh well. This time around, your letter is … G.

IQ1: Were you a British general with an oriental nickname?
IQ2: Did you recite poetry whilst holding a large fake flower?
IQ3: Are you Leonard Slye?

I’m neither Charles “Chinese” Gordon, nor am I Henry Gibson. Take a DQ for 3.

IQs:

  1. Did you host You Bet Your Life?
  2. Did you publish EC Comics and Mad magazine?
  3. Did you create Dick Tracy?

I am neither Groucho Marx, nor William Gaines, nor Chester Gould.

IQs:

  1. Are you the patron saint of Paris?
  2. Did you discover over 300 uses for peanuts?
  3. Were you the Sheriff of Nottingham?

For 1, I’m not St. Genevieve. Take a DQ for 2. For 3, the only name that comes to mind is Sir Guy of Gisborne, but I’m unsure.

At least one DQ; two if Sir Guy is incorrect.

Right on St. Genevieve and Sir Guy of Gisborne. #2 was George Washington Carver.

DQ: Real?

IQs:

Did Grandpa Simpson say you’d spanked him twice in a special way?
Was your favorite horse named Nelson?
Was your statue near the White House made of melted-down enemy cannon?

Not real.

Summary for G:

  1. Not real.

For 2, I’m not George Washington. For 3, I’m tempted to say Ulysses S. Grant (I know there is a statue of him in Washington DC)–take a DQ if I’m wrong.

For 1, I have no idea–all I can think of is Ned Flanders and the “Minnesota Spanking Protocol.” Take a DQ.

Correct on Gordon and Gibson.
Never mind - brain fart…
IQ1: Did the mayor of Chicago threaten to punch you in the snoot if you ever visited his city?
IQ2: Are you buried at your home on the island of Caprera?
IQ3: Were you a brevet major general whose brother was awarded the Medal of Honor twice?

Previous IQs:

Did Grandpa Simpson say you’d spanked him twice in a special way? - He was spanked twice by Grover Cleveland - non-consecutively, of course.
Was your favorite horse named Nelson? - Yes, George Washington.
Was your statue near the White House made of melted-down enemy cannon? - Maj. Gen. George Henry Thomas, a Virginian who remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War.

DQs:

Male?
Last name start with G?

IQs:

Does a statue of you stand in Times Square?
Were you beloved by a young female secret agent?
Did JFK particularly appreciate your memos?

IQs:

  1. Did you, for all practical purposes, invent moveable type printing?
  2. Were you Goldie Hawn’s character in Foul Play?
  3. Was the song So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright actually about you?