On this page is a thumbnail of the Russian paper where Harpo’s name was the headline:
http://posting.triggerstreet.com/gyrobase/Submission?oid=oid%3A3565
[QUOTE=rowrrbazzle]
On this page is a thumbnail of the Russian paper where Harpo’s name was the headline:
http://posting.triggerstreet.com/gyrobase/Submission?oid=oid%3A3565
[/QUOTE]
Yay. What do I win?
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan]
That was a long time ago. I don’t do that stuff anymore.
Not often, anyway. And only when Cynthia (Mrs. Mercotan) is away visiting her mom.
[/QUOTE]
But do you still have a polydactyl tongue? :eek: 
[QUOTE=TroubleAgain]
But do you still have a polydactyl tongue? :eek:
[/QUOTE]
You bet!
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan]
Qadgop the Mercotan slithered flatly around the after-bulge of the tranship. One claw dug into the meters-thick armor of pure neutronium, then another. Its terrible xmex-like snout locked on. Its zymolosely polydactyl tongue crunched out, crashed down, rasped across. Slurp! Slurp! At each abrasive stroke the groove in the tranship’s plating deepened and Qadgop leered more fiercely. Fools! Did they think that the airlessness of absolute space, the heatlessness of absolute zero, the yieldlessness of absolute neutronium could stop QADGOP THE MERCOTAN? And the stowaway, that human wench Cynthia, cowering in helpless terror just beyond this thin and fragile wall…
[/QUOTE]
For those still wondering, this is a quote from one of the “Lensmen” series by E. E. “Doc” Smith. The story’s lead character, Kimball Kinnison, was traveling in the guise of a writer of “Space Opera” type stories. The quote comes from the story he was writing to keep up his cover.
Rather subtle, you see. A fictional character in a story, pretending to be someone else, writes a story about a fictional character: Qadgop the Mercotan. All clear?
I’m waiting for the “Fictional Characters created by Fictional Characters” thread.
Wow. I don’t often do vanity searches, because nothing ever comes up. But this time I hit the jackpot!
As everyone correctly says, I took the name from Harpo Marx. The poster is reproduced in his autobiography, Harpo Speaks. The name/phrase/whatever has always stuck in my head and I thought it would be unique and memorable as an online alias. Besides, it signals I’m a Marx Brothers fan and people always let me know if a thread breaks out.
And it’s kinda cool in a post-modern sort of way that just like the original Harpo, you can’t hear my voice but you know exactly what I’m thinking. 
I’m a big fan of the book. Dumb cover, though.
[QUOTE=TroubleAgain]
But do you still have a polydactyl tongue? :eek:
[/QUOTE]
Can’t resist referencing the xmex-like snout and a zymolosely polydactile tongue thread. Even tho’ I did start it myself.
Another vote for you to keep your current username, Defective Detective. But if you decide to change it, I think you’ll find the mods are very helpful. They were to me - I started here with another username, and changed it after about a year.
[QUOTE=dangermom]
Harpo Marx went to Russia for a comedy tour kind of thing, and Exapno Mapcase was the closest he could come to reading out the Cyrillic letters that say Harpo Marx. He started signing letters that way for fun, IIRC. I couldn’t find a sample Cyrillic version online; I’ll try to reproduce it in Word and post it.
[/QUOTE]
The Symbol font comes close.
Harpo Marx