One of my favorite books/movies of all time is Moby Dick. The first line in each is "Call me Ishmael." Ishmael in the Bible was the rejected son by Abraham's first wife. That is partly my story. Contrary to what some might think, I am not middle eastern.
Ishmael was the son of Abraham by his wife's slave girl Hagar. Sarai believed herself to be barren, so she told her husband to impregnate Hagar so he would have an heir. Then when Sarai's son Isaac was born, Hagar and Ishmael were banished. (Sarai, later renamed Sarah, was actually a complete bitch, frankly). The Arabs, descended from Ishmael, believe themselves to be disposessed by the Hebrews, descended from Isaac. That's a 5000 year old blood feud that shows no signs of abating, and nobody seems to have a solution. It has little if anything to do with "Jews vs Muslims", it's older than that.
It's the wise old man who played an integral role in designing the Earth in The Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy (the real one, not the abortion they put on the big screen). According to author Douglas Adams, when he was writing the script for the original radio series he was trying to come up with a name that sounded vaguely obscene, but would still be broadcastable. So he started with "PHARTIPHUKBORLZ" and played with it until he got Slartibartfast. The name and back story tickled by offbeat sense of humour, so I adopted it as my 'net handle.
This post was edited by Slartibartfast at January 17, 2017 7:20 AM MST
Well, i used yahoo answers since 2007 but i hadn't came up with Skunky until 2012 when i spent the day searching for a cartoon pic to have as my display pic for yahoo answers.. found the skunk on google search and i liked it!! but it wasn't until mid 2015 that i came up with a last name for him.. Once sodahead gave everyone the boot a couple of years ago- i joined a site called Blurtit which required a last name so i had to think of one- For the first few months of Bluritit it was actually Skunky Goodboy but than Stinkerson somehow popped into my head and that i decided was going to be my character's name. I love my character and his name.
This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at January 17, 2017 7:20 AM MST
Thank you Alf. I don't know the game but Durdle Door is known to so many if not by personal visits then by photographs in so many books, and so many paintings, that perhaps it inspired the writers.
I believe you're right. I just Googled the Durdle Rock and found Lulworth Cove, Weymouth and Weston. In the game, there is a castle on the peninsula where Weston is shown. So you must live in the castle! Cool. :)
No I don't live on Portland, the peninsula on which Weston is one of its villages, and certainly not in a castle!
There are two "castles" at Weston; one genuine, Norman and ruined; the other near it, called Pennsylvania Castle but was built as a house (18C I think), was a hotel for time and is a house again now but has facilities for hire for private functions.
Portland also has "Portland Castle", a shore-defence battery built in Henry VIII's time, still intact, now preserved.
Pennsylvania? As in...? Yes: the original owners were the Penn family, whose own William Penn was the American state's first Governor. Perhaps that influenced America (was she by then fully "USA"?) to import Portland Stone for the Mason-Dixon Line markers.
The whole area has been popular with film-makers for decades, but I didn't know games-writers use it too!
Interesting and thanks for your time and patience. My ancestry comes from Durham County and one day, I would like to go there. West of Durham, near Carlisle, is a small town (?) that carries my family name and I would like to see it. In regards to William Penn, he died in July 1718 and America became USA on July 4, 1776 (Independence Day).
"Borrowed it from an old TV series." I figured most people would be able to relate to it, but the longer I keep using it, the older you have to be to understand what it's all about. I'll keep using it though ... we were very alike, he and I. :)
Peapod originated from saying, "we are just like two peas in a pod" with friends along the way. It sort of stuck in my head and I have had the name for at least 10 years being on the Internet.