# Wait, that's real? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2012, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-real/608103 "2012-01-02T01:59:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-real/608103/141 "2012-01-04T21:35:43Z")
:smack: I actually put all this in the wrong thread…was supposed to go in the Wait, that’s NOT real thread. Ah well… -XT ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-real/608103/142 "2012-01-04T21:49:30Z")
Oh, “Mystery Date” sure did have the names of the guys! As far as Erich VonDaniken, I think we all have gone through our periods of ancient astronaut fascination. I think it’s part of our personal discovery of spirituality. Ouija boards and seances fall into the same sort of category, IMHO. In our house, though, I went through my ancient astronauts and communicating with ghosts during high school and college–late Sixties, early Seventies. Unfortunately, my husband is going through HIS supernatural phase NOW. The History channel and its “woo-woo” offerings just exacerbate it. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-real/608103/143 "2012-01-04T22:02:56Z")
This afternoon my 11yo daughter was reading a book of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages. She brought the book to me and said “This can’t possibly be real! They made that up, right?” A character was claiming to be proficient in all sorts of magical arts, such as aeromancy and _spatulamancy_. We looked it up, and sure enough, spatulamancy is totally real; it’s the art of divining with a scorched shoulderblade bone. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-real/608103/144 "2012-01-04T22:03:28Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Ireland hasn’t been a part of the Commonwealth since 1949 and we’re (mostly) native English-speaking. [troll]Yes, good example, not all of Britain is part of the Commonwealth[/troll] ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-real/608103/145 "2012-01-04T22:28:41Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > Was anyone else taken in by Von Daniken when they were a kid? I really thought all of that stuff had some basis in science growing up. I realize it doesn’t count towards the OP, since there are still folks who take it seriously, but finding out that and all the Devil’s Triangle stuff was bunk was a watershed moment in my own life. > > -XT > [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Crushing disappointment wasn’t it? ☹ For me too, but just like \*\*xtisme \*\*I found then science. As for the subject at hand, I should link to an early thread I made on the subject as it is full with examples the OP is looking for: > **[“Fictional” places, people, and things that surprisingly are real.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=231553)** > > Quentin Tarantino’s movies sometimes make references to a Roscoe’s Chicken and waffles restaurant; there is a real Roscoe’s Chicken and waffles restaurant in L.A.! http://users.aol.com/stranahan/roscoes.htm From the Adventures of TinTin I was... Had to quote and modify a little of my OP from then as it is relevant now because of the new Tintin movie: "Quentin Tarantino’s movies sometimes make references to a Roscoe’s Chicken and waffles restaurant; there is a real Roscoe’s Chicken and waffles restaurant in L.A.! From the Adventures of _Tintin_ I was surprised to find that Tchang was a real person! He was a dear friend of Herge! > **[Tintin.com - Official website](https://www.tintin.com/en)** > > Official website: Discover the whole universe of the Adventures of Tintin, the world-famous comic book series created by Hergé. And in that old cartoon series _Roger Ramjet_, the hometown of the hero was Lompoc. Driving trough California, I did a double take when I found it was a real place. [http://www.ci.lompoc.ca.us/](http://www.ci.lompoc.ca.us/)" ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-real/608103/146 "2012-01-05T01:12:11Z")
A former coworker sat through \*Schindler’s List, \*assuming it was entirely fictitious. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-real/608103/147 "2012-01-05T01:13:17Z")
I was on my PC while the TV was playing in the other room and I overheard a commercial for a show called Extreme Couponing. I assumed it was a fake commercial for something ridiculous and then it would turn into a real ad for something (like those parody Energizer ads from years back). I literally yelled, “What?!” when I learned it was a real show. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-real/608103/148 "2012-01-05T01:16:51Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > A former coworker sat through \*Schindler’s List, \*assuming it was entirely fictitious. The particular story of Oskar Schindler, or the entire Holocaust? ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-real/608103/149 "2012-01-05T01:17:12Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > No, Barbie, Queen of the Prom came out in 1960, Mystery Date in 1965. The original Mystery Date did not include names for the dates, IIRC. [Here](http://www.google.com/imgres?q=barbie+queen+of+the+prom+poindexter&hl=en&rlz=1C1CHKZ_enUS433US434&biw=994&bih=638&tbm=isch&tbnid=hsE0c1qyPU3UTM:&imgrefurl=http://iconicmuse.blogspot.com/2011/09/prom-queens.html&docid=XWHdr-avG5d89M&imgurl=http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JfYd8wVLduo/TneijnAQq_I/AAAAAAAADOs/DnnieNfJLFM/s1600/100_4221.JPG&w=1600&h=1200&ei=jfcET6mnC6iOigLwmeXzAw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=568&vpy=333&dur=1838&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=153&ty=128&sig=105582737801536874183&page=1&tbnh=110&tbnw=147&start=0&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:13,s:0) are the cards from the Barbie game. I never played Mystery Date so I don’t know if the dates had cards or not but I couldn’t find any pictures of them. I did find some discussion of it [here](http://www.feelingretro.com/toys/Games/mystery-date.php) and they seem to refer to the guys as “the dream,”“the dud,” and “the bum.” There IS a lot of confusion about which game had Poindexter. Not sure why you had trouble finding the [Red Ryder BB gun](http://www.amazon.com/Daisy-Outdoor-Products-Ryder-Brown/dp/B0018LD6Q0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325726132&sr=8-1). ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-real/608103/150 "2012-01-05T01:26:42Z")
I’ve never heard of the Barbie game, but I did play a lot of Mystery Date (that’s the one with the door in the middle of the board that opened up to reveal your date, depending on which way you turned the knob, right?) when I was a kid. I would swear there were no names on the dates. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-real/608103/151 "2012-01-05T03:44:54Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > [Here](http://www.google.com/imgres?q=barbie+queen+of+the+prom+poindexter&hl=en&rlz=1C1CHKZ_enUS433US434&biw=994&bih=638&tbm=isch&tbnid=hsE0c1qyPU3UTM:&imgrefurl=http://iconicmuse.blogspot.com/2011/09/prom-queens.html&docid=XWHdr-avG5d89M&imgurl=http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JfYd8wVLduo/TneijnAQq_I/AAAAAAAADOs/DnnieNfJLFM/s1600/100_4221.JPG&w=1600&h=1200&ei=jfcET6mnC6iOigLwmeXzAw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=568&vpy=333&dur=1838&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=153&ty=128&sig=105582737801536874183&page=1&tbnh=110&tbnw=147&start=0&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:13,s:0) are the cards from the Barbie game. > > I never played Mystery Date so I don’t know if the dates had cards or not but I couldn’t find any pictures of them. I did find some discussion of it [here](http://www.feelingretro.com/toys/Games/mystery-date.php) and they seem to refer to the guys as “the dream,”“the dud,” and “the bum.” There IS a lot of confusion about which game had Poindexter. > > Not sure why you had trouble finding the [Red Ryder BB gun](http://www.amazon.com/Daisy-Outdoor-Products-Ryder-Brown/dp/B0018LD6Q0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325726132&sr=8-1). [this page](http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x5804348#5805030) has an image of the available dates from at least one edition of Mystery Date. (you’ll have to scroll down a bit) Until today I would have sworn I played Mystery Date, but when I look at the cards it was definitely the Barbie Queen of the Prom Game because those are the cards I recognize. I secretly wanted Poindexter! ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-real/608103/152 "2012-01-05T03:56:43Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Well the actual gun as described in the film didn’t exist as I found out recently when I tried to buy one. Good thing, too. Did you want to shoot your eye out? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-real/608103/153 "2012-01-05T03:59:53Z")
As a kid I always thought Cardinal Richelieu was a fictional character in the cartoon series Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds. Was only in my late teens I noticed a history book in the house with an account of Richelieu’s time. Sheboygan was said a lot in some cartoon series, Animaniacs? Anyway I only found out about a month or two ago it was a real town. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-real/608103/154 "2012-01-05T04:18:07Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > I secretly wanted Poindexter! (straightening my tie and posture) You did? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-real/608103/155 "2012-01-05T04:43:17Z")
The Michelangelo/Pope sketch Monty Python performed for some benefits actually happened! Okay, not quite, but the sketch was based on a historical incident. The painter Paolo Veronese really did paint a Last Supper with extraneous figures. The Inquisition investigated, Veronese basically claimed artistic license, and he was advised to paint those figures out. Instead, he really did just rename it. [Paolo Veronese - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paolo_Veronese#The_House_of_Levi) ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-real/608103/156 "2012-01-05T04:46:25Z")
When I first heard the song “Kilkelly, Ireland” (in the US as it happens) I thought the place name was either a vanishingly insignificant townland or made up to sound like an Irish place name. Years later I was on an intercity coach that went through the village of Kilkelly. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-real/608103/157 "2012-01-05T04:46:33Z")
I don’t watch **South Park** but I saw an ad one time where Cartman was saying “Hella” before everything. I thought it was just made up for the show and was surprised a few years later when I learned people actually talk like that. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-real/608103/158 "2012-01-05T04:53:04Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > The particular story of Oskar Schindler, or the entire Holocaust? Or WWII ? ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-real/608103/159 "2012-01-05T05:13:04Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > And the story is also semi-real. There have been non-handicapped people who cheated by competing in the Special Olympics. > [@Tess](#): > > 😕 For the bragging rights? > > (I’m not doubting you, just trying to figure out their motivation.) > [@amanset](#): > > [The 7 Ballsiest Sports Cheats Ever | Cracked.com](http://www.cracked.com/article_16073_the-7-ballsiest-sports-cheats-ever.html) The [Cracked.com](http://Cracked.com) article is about the Spanish basketball team cheating in the Paralympics, not the Special Olympics. I know a lot of people who don’t realize that they’re different things. The [Special Olympics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_olympics) is for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. There are over 50,000 local/regional/national “Special Olympics” competitions held every year, and a Special Olympics World Games every two years. The Special Olympics is mostly about encouraging participation, being your personal best, overcoming negative stereotypes about intellectual disabilities, building communities, etc… The [Paralympics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paralympic_Games) is an international event held in conjunction with the regular Olympics every four years. It’s for elite athletes mostly with physical disabilities, but there is a category for intellectual disabilities. There have been Paralympians who have also competed in the regular Olympics. There have been athletes caught doping at the Paralympics (mostly in powerlifting), and the Spanish Paralympic team from 2000 in the intellectually disabled basketball tournament was found to have 10 of 12 members who were not really disabled. > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Given the wide variety of disabilities that paralympic athletes have, there are several categories in which the athletes compete. The allowable disabilities are broken down into six broad categories. The categories are amputee, Cerebral Palsy, intellectual disability, wheelchair, visually impaired, and Les Autres (literally “The Others”, which are athletes with disabilities that don’t fall into the other five categories; these include dwarfism, multiple sclerosis, and congenital deformities). These categories are further broken down into classifications, which vary from sport to sport. The classification system has led to cheating controversies revolving around athletes who over-stated their disabilities in addition to the use of performance-enhancing drugs seen in other events. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-real/608103/160 "2012-01-05T13:58:33Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > And in that old cartoon series _Roger Ramjet_, the hometown of the hero was Lompoc. Driving trough California, I did a double take when I found it was a real place. This reminds me of my boss laughing when I told him I was hoping to go to Torquay one year for the Agatha Christie festival. He thought that Torquay was a fictional town where Basil Fawlty ran a hotel. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-real/608103.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-thats-real/608103.md?page=9)