Questions & answers about the "surreal continuing story" thread

There are references in the Surreal Continuing Story thread that I have seen in others’ postings but don’t understand. What, for example, is the “Portishead CD” that Alice plays when she and the Narrator are spending passion in the secret bedroom? :confused:

Portishead is a British trip-hop group that features Beth Gibbons on lead vocals. If you want to find out more about the group, go here.

Sorry, that last link may have been bad. :smack:
Try this one.

:mad: Okay, let’s try this one more time.

Ack, I’ve missed weeks of surrealness! Be right back in, y’all, just gotta get my peyote Snapple.

Thanks, NDP. :slight_smile: And which movie includes a decapitated head found in a box?

Barton Fink, for one.

And Se7en for another.

The movie Alice was referencing was Seven.

I omitted the narrator’s name for two reasons. For one thing, it would appear a conceit on my part if I added my name, especially; besides, I like to think I’ve been influenced somewhat by Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison–in which the narrator is not named either. :slight_smile:

Is Alice Terwilliger named after the title character from Lewis Carroll’s book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?

Not intentionally, NDP. I may have associated the character with Carroll’s book; and “Terwilliger” may come from the name of one of the ex-husbands of Bart Simpson’s Aunt Selma, although I don’t watch The Simpsons regularly. I also knew a girl in high school–looking nothing like Alice Terwilliger–whose middle name is Alice. :slight_smile:
“Eda” comes from the name of a British woman who was a yard customer of mine briefly. “Lorna” is from “Lorna Doone,” a female burglar in a Three Stooges short with Shemp (he says, “Hi Lorna, how you Doone?”) and McManus I just picked as a well-known Scottish surname. The other characters’ names also have associations with real people I’ve met over the years. :slight_smile:

I’ve never heard of “Mello Yello” except possibly from something in Mad, or a smiliar magazine. (I assume it’s a popular drink on the East Coast. I live in Southern California.)
Who is Christopher Walken?

Christopher Walken is a movie actor.

Mello Yello is a Coca-Cola Co. beverage.

Thanks, Rufus. :slight_smile:

What about Kirby Puckett? A recent posting to the surreal thread has the Narrator saying “Kirby Puckett fooled us all.” What’s the deal here? :confused: (I did try to search the Internet on this.)

Kirby Puckett was a superstar outfielder for the Minnesota Twins during the 80’s and 90’s until he was forced to retire due to glaucoma. He was also probably one of the most beloved and respected athletes in the sport until last year when he was arrested for sexual assault–an incident that brought Puckett’s unsavory personal history to light and, as related in this article, revealed him to be a real scumbag.

Hope that helps.

With regard to my posting of April 1, 2003:

  1. I included a link to Alta Vista’s Babelfish page for those who wanted the translate my entry from Italian into English (hope it helped);

  2. To summarize, after Daniel tells ____ that his endowment is just how God made him, ____ washes himself off and leaves his shower stall. As he’s dressing, he notices a box in Daniel’s gym bag with the partially blocked letters “PEN” and “ENLARGE” on it. Daniel then gets out of the shower and, after discussing dinner plans, they decide to try an Italian restaurant named De Caro’s. (Daniel also asks for ______ and Alice to give him a ride there because his vehicle–a hovercraft–is out of service.) After dressing, Daniel and _____ go back to the lounge to meet with everybody. There, Mr. Sharp falls victim to a prank phone call (i.e., “Who’s Dick Hertz?”) that causes the whole room to erupt into laughter. After a livid Mr. Sharp hangs up the phone and the room dies down a bit, a still laughing Alice walks up to ____ to say something to him.

What is bridal registry? I think there’s a magazine with that title, but I know nothing about this… :confused:

“Registry” in the context of Lorna and Jock’s wedding refers to the department store where the guests can buy their wedding gifts. The way it works is that a guest, upon finding out exactly what store the couple is registered at (e.g., Macy’s), will go to that store and, after notifying a clerk, be shown the couple’s list of wanted items (e.g., appliances, pots, silverware, candlesticks, etc.) that the guest can buy as a gift. The guest will then buy one of the items as a wedding gift.

In my last entry, Fred was wondering what store Lorna and Jack were registered at so he could go down there, view their list, and determine what gift to get them.