Easter Eggs (Book 2)
*** Spoiler Alert! ***
Hi,
Now that summer has given up its Mediterranean pretensions and finally revealed its true British identity (it's raining, so I've had to pause painting the fence), I can finally move on to the 'Easter eggs' in book 2, Can’t Keep a Dead Man Down.
Song Titles
As with Status Quo in book 1, This Is My Dad. He's Dead., there's a hint to the existence of the first batch of hidden song titles with the following interaction, when Roxy secures her first ride:
"I like your style," she said. "Roxanne. You can call me Roxy."
"Music?" asked the driver as the car pulled away.
Admittedly, 'Roxy Music' is split across two paragraphs, but it's a hint nonetheless to the three songs that follow in close proximity: Oh Yeah (On The Radio), More Than This, and Jealous Guy.
The next batch have an even less obvious hint, when Marv is talking to Maurice, the double-dipper:
"Would have been my birthday tomorrow, would you believe?" said Maurice.
"How old would you be?"
"Forty."
And so we find four UB40 songs hidden within the next few paragraphs: Breakfast In Bed, Kingston Town, Higher Ground, and Red Red Wine.
Roxy's own name, Roxanne, is of course a song by The Police, so we have two further songs of theirs where Roxy attends the AA meeting: So Lonely, and Spirit[s] In The Material World. In addition, given 'Sue Lawley' is a well-known mondegreen (misheard lyric) for 'So Lonely', there was really no option but to use that for Roxy's AA pseudonym. And then there's Roxy's brother, who shares his name with Sting, the lead singer of The Police: Gordon Sumner.
Finally, we have a smattering of other single-name song-titles when Roxy secures a lift that results in a near-miss with a lorry: Daniel (the driver), Kayleigh (Daniel's daughter), and Rosanna (his wife).
Character Names
As I mentioned in my previous post, although I like to find names that sound right for the character in question, I also aim for some kind of meaning behind them, if only for my own amusement.
When Marv's working the check-in desk in Paradise, he meets a number of characters:
Winnie and Chris Ferkel are named for Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin, with Ferkel happening to be German for 'piglet'. There's a slight hint to this when I note that Marv is unable to resist 'poking the bear' (i.e. Winnie) by mischievously directing his introduction solely to Chris.
Herb Spinello is Marv's next 'customer'. This one is a play on words, with 'herbe' being French slang for marijuana, and 'spinello' being Italian slang for a joint.
Then we have Warren and his disciples, with 'Andrew' and 'Peter' being the names given by Marv to the two disciples who interact directly with him. 'Disciples' should presumably be enough of a hint for the inspiration behind their imagined names, and it's supported by Marv finding the pair 'a bit fishy' (Andrew and Peter are described as fishermen in the Bible). (I have no recollection as to whether there was any particular meaning behind Warren's name, Warren Temple. If anyone thinks of one...)
When Warren is dragged off to Hell, one of the angels from Hell is called Otto, named for Otto Friedli, one of the founding members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. Along related lines, a biker, Mr Roth, appears in the portal when Marv is trying to get back down to Earth – this character was named for Ed Roth, a famous builder of custom motorbikes.
Marv is accompanied down to Earth by the rookie angel, Clarence Oddbod, who was named for Clarence Odbody, the guardian angel to James Stewart's character, George Bailey, in the film It's a Wonderful Life.
When Clarence later asks Marv about a gentleman he has seen Marv with (i.e. Marlborough), Marv makes up the name 'Mr Bovine', seemingly inspired by the sight of some ceramic farm animals; however, it's also a call back to the numerous hidden Monopoly references in book 1, with Bovine sounding like 'bow-vine', and Bow Street and Vine Street completing the orange property set with Marlborough Street.
Clarence's first customer on arriving in Egypt (Bucks) was supposed to be a Mr Khufu. This character was named after the Egyptian pharaoh responsible for the building of the Great Pyramid at Giza, hence also why Marv later refers to him as "this Khufu geezer". Slightly less subtle was the revelation that Mr Khufu's downfall had been pyramid schemes, and Marv's reaction to this news: "Well, he dug his own grave there."
One of Clarence's later customers, the 'double-dipper', is called Maurice Matlow. Double Dip (the sweet) is made by Swizzels, which traces its origin back to Matlow Bros. Ltd, founded by Maurice Matlow and his brother.
Down in Hell, we have a number of other characters:
In room 418, 'The Roots of All Evil', we find Deepil and Reuben Wachs, with Deepil calling Reuben 'Ruby'. Ruby Wachs is the real name of Ruby Wax, and, of course, Deepil happens to be waxing the hair off Reuben. Deepil's own name is a play on 'depilation', i.e. hair removal.
In room 323, 'Board to Death', we find Tom. When Otto is trying to recall Tom's name, his first thought is 'Jerry'. And so we have Tom and Jerry. We also find that Tom spiked Roxy's drink before he died, and 'Spike' happens to be the name of the bulldog in the Tom and Jerry cartoons.
And there's Garcia, who works for ICU, Hell's 'Infernal Corruption Unit'. Garcia was named for the actor Andy Garcia, who played an IA cop in the film Internal Affairs.
Back up on Earth, we have Roxy's targets:
Wilhelm Zweite (Willie), aka The Kaiser, is named for Kaiser Wilhelm II. ('Zweite' is German for 'second'.)
Gregor MacGregor (Mac) was named for a Scottish conman of the same name from the 1700-1800s.
Mac's pretend customer, Mrs Trellis, is a nod to "Mrs Trellis of North Wales" as made famous by the brilliant Radio 4 comedy show, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.
After Mac's death, when he meets Marv and Marlborough, he mentions the Yabby Twins – their name is a play on the Kray Twins, as I understand crayfish are known as 'yabbies' in Australia.
Mac's probation officer, Nomski, was named for the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), the old name for the HM Prison and Probation Service. The pseudonym Nomski uses when he attends the AA sessions, Norman Anderson, is the real name of Normski, the DJ.
Father Fergus McGrath, who runs the AA sessions, was simply named after two characters in the film Pixie: Fergus and Father McGrath.
Finally, when Ben finds Kate standing in for Marv on the check-in desk in Paradise, Kate's current customer, Mrs Waddams, tries to recapture Kate's attention with a timid 'excuse me', at which Kate moves a stapler aside and pushes Paradise Lost, by Milton, across the desk towards her. This is all a nod to the character Milton Waddams in the film Office Space, and his timid line, "Excuse me, I believe you have my stapler."
Place Names
I only have one place name to mention here: Styxford, which was where Daniel was heading when he picked up Roxy. This was named for the River Styx, one of the rivers that are supposed to separate the realm of the living from the realm of the dead, with 'ford' typically appearing in UK place names to indicate a river crossing.
Hell's Room Numbers
Yes, even the room numbers in Hell have an underlying meaning.
Room 108 ('The Nutcracker Suite', where the inmates practice Vinyasa Flow yoga a bit too fast): 108 was picked after reading that the number holds a special significance in yoga.
Room 185 ('Bored to Tears'): the activities in this room were left to the reader's imagination, but the room number builds on the room's nickname to hint at a possibility. T18.5 is apparently the ICD (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems) code for a foreign body in the anus.
Room 323 ('Board to Death'): 323 was picked as the molar mass (rounded) of LSD, as this is the room where Marv finds Tom, the drink spiker.
Room 3802 ('Jacob's Conkers'): another room where the reader's imagination is left to wander, nudged along by the room's nickname and number. 'Jacobs' is rhyming slang for 'testicles' (Jacobs Crackers = Knackers), and S38.02 is apparently the ICD code for a crushing injury of the scrotum. You just had to ask, didn't you?
Miscellaneous
As a teaser, book 3 contains a number of Star Wars quotes, but only one makes it into this book, where Avery passes through Marv and announces, "I sense something. A presence I've not felt since…"
Saving the worst for last, we have Marlborough's tease towards the end of the book: "It's not good news … it's great news!" I seem to recall this being a common refrain from Simon Cowell on either The X Factor or Britain's Got Talent, or perhaps both, and I hint at that with Ben's reaction to Marlborough's comment: a 'scowl'.
If you can face it, a third post will delve into the Easter eggs in book 3, The Dead Do Lie.
Happy reading,
D.C. Barclay
Hi,
Now that summer has given up its Mediterranean pretensions and finally revealed its true British identity (it's raining, so I've had to pause painting the fence), I can finally move on to the 'Easter eggs' in book 2, Can’t Keep a Dead Man Down.
Song Titles
As with Status Quo in book 1, This Is My Dad. He's Dead., there's a hint to the existence of the first batch of hidden song titles with the following interaction, when Roxy secures her first ride:
"I like your style," she said. "Roxanne. You can call me Roxy."
"Music?" asked the driver as the car pulled away.
Admittedly, 'Roxy Music' is split across two paragraphs, but it's a hint nonetheless to the three songs that follow in close proximity: Oh Yeah (On The Radio), More Than This, and Jealous Guy.
The next batch have an even less obvious hint, when Marv is talking to Maurice, the double-dipper:
"Would have been my birthday tomorrow, would you believe?" said Maurice.
"How old would you be?"
"Forty."
And so we find four UB40 songs hidden within the next few paragraphs: Breakfast In Bed, Kingston Town, Higher Ground, and Red Red Wine.
Roxy's own name, Roxanne, is of course a song by The Police, so we have two further songs of theirs where Roxy attends the AA meeting: So Lonely, and Spirit[s] In The Material World. In addition, given 'Sue Lawley' is a well-known mondegreen (misheard lyric) for 'So Lonely', there was really no option but to use that for Roxy's AA pseudonym. And then there's Roxy's brother, who shares his name with Sting, the lead singer of The Police: Gordon Sumner.
Finally, we have a smattering of other single-name song-titles when Roxy secures a lift that results in a near-miss with a lorry: Daniel (the driver), Kayleigh (Daniel's daughter), and Rosanna (his wife).
Character Names
As I mentioned in my previous post, although I like to find names that sound right for the character in question, I also aim for some kind of meaning behind them, if only for my own amusement.
When Marv's working the check-in desk in Paradise, he meets a number of characters:
Winnie and Chris Ferkel are named for Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin, with Ferkel happening to be German for 'piglet'. There's a slight hint to this when I note that Marv is unable to resist 'poking the bear' (i.e. Winnie) by mischievously directing his introduction solely to Chris.
Herb Spinello is Marv's next 'customer'. This one is a play on words, with 'herbe' being French slang for marijuana, and 'spinello' being Italian slang for a joint.
Then we have Warren and his disciples, with 'Andrew' and 'Peter' being the names given by Marv to the two disciples who interact directly with him. 'Disciples' should presumably be enough of a hint for the inspiration behind their imagined names, and it's supported by Marv finding the pair 'a bit fishy' (Andrew and Peter are described as fishermen in the Bible). (I have no recollection as to whether there was any particular meaning behind Warren's name, Warren Temple. If anyone thinks of one...)
When Warren is dragged off to Hell, one of the angels from Hell is called Otto, named for Otto Friedli, one of the founding members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. Along related lines, a biker, Mr Roth, appears in the portal when Marv is trying to get back down to Earth – this character was named for Ed Roth, a famous builder of custom motorbikes.
Marv is accompanied down to Earth by the rookie angel, Clarence Oddbod, who was named for Clarence Odbody, the guardian angel to James Stewart's character, George Bailey, in the film It's a Wonderful Life.
When Clarence later asks Marv about a gentleman he has seen Marv with (i.e. Marlborough), Marv makes up the name 'Mr Bovine', seemingly inspired by the sight of some ceramic farm animals; however, it's also a call back to the numerous hidden Monopoly references in book 1, with Bovine sounding like 'bow-vine', and Bow Street and Vine Street completing the orange property set with Marlborough Street.
Clarence's first customer on arriving in Egypt (Bucks) was supposed to be a Mr Khufu. This character was named after the Egyptian pharaoh responsible for the building of the Great Pyramid at Giza, hence also why Marv later refers to him as "this Khufu geezer". Slightly less subtle was the revelation that Mr Khufu's downfall had been pyramid schemes, and Marv's reaction to this news: "Well, he dug his own grave there."
One of Clarence's later customers, the 'double-dipper', is called Maurice Matlow. Double Dip (the sweet) is made by Swizzels, which traces its origin back to Matlow Bros. Ltd, founded by Maurice Matlow and his brother.
Down in Hell, we have a number of other characters:
In room 418, 'The Roots of All Evil', we find Deepil and Reuben Wachs, with Deepil calling Reuben 'Ruby'. Ruby Wachs is the real name of Ruby Wax, and, of course, Deepil happens to be waxing the hair off Reuben. Deepil's own name is a play on 'depilation', i.e. hair removal.
In room 323, 'Board to Death', we find Tom. When Otto is trying to recall Tom's name, his first thought is 'Jerry'. And so we have Tom and Jerry. We also find that Tom spiked Roxy's drink before he died, and 'Spike' happens to be the name of the bulldog in the Tom and Jerry cartoons.
And there's Garcia, who works for ICU, Hell's 'Infernal Corruption Unit'. Garcia was named for the actor Andy Garcia, who played an IA cop in the film Internal Affairs.
Back up on Earth, we have Roxy's targets:
Wilhelm Zweite (Willie), aka The Kaiser, is named for Kaiser Wilhelm II. ('Zweite' is German for 'second'.)
Gregor MacGregor (Mac) was named for a Scottish conman of the same name from the 1700-1800s.
Mac's pretend customer, Mrs Trellis, is a nod to "Mrs Trellis of North Wales" as made famous by the brilliant Radio 4 comedy show, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.
After Mac's death, when he meets Marv and Marlborough, he mentions the Yabby Twins – their name is a play on the Kray Twins, as I understand crayfish are known as 'yabbies' in Australia.
Mac's probation officer, Nomski, was named for the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), the old name for the HM Prison and Probation Service. The pseudonym Nomski uses when he attends the AA sessions, Norman Anderson, is the real name of Normski, the DJ.
Father Fergus McGrath, who runs the AA sessions, was simply named after two characters in the film Pixie: Fergus and Father McGrath.
Finally, when Ben finds Kate standing in for Marv on the check-in desk in Paradise, Kate's current customer, Mrs Waddams, tries to recapture Kate's attention with a timid 'excuse me', at which Kate moves a stapler aside and pushes Paradise Lost, by Milton, across the desk towards her. This is all a nod to the character Milton Waddams in the film Office Space, and his timid line, "Excuse me, I believe you have my stapler."
Place Names
I only have one place name to mention here: Styxford, which was where Daniel was heading when he picked up Roxy. This was named for the River Styx, one of the rivers that are supposed to separate the realm of the living from the realm of the dead, with 'ford' typically appearing in UK place names to indicate a river crossing.
Hell's Room Numbers
Yes, even the room numbers in Hell have an underlying meaning.
Room 108 ('The Nutcracker Suite', where the inmates practice Vinyasa Flow yoga a bit too fast): 108 was picked after reading that the number holds a special significance in yoga.
Room 185 ('Bored to Tears'): the activities in this room were left to the reader's imagination, but the room number builds on the room's nickname to hint at a possibility. T18.5 is apparently the ICD (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems) code for a foreign body in the anus.
Room 323 ('Board to Death'): 323 was picked as the molar mass (rounded) of LSD, as this is the room where Marv finds Tom, the drink spiker.
Room 3802 ('Jacob's Conkers'): another room where the reader's imagination is left to wander, nudged along by the room's nickname and number. 'Jacobs' is rhyming slang for 'testicles' (Jacobs Crackers = Knackers), and S38.02 is apparently the ICD code for a crushing injury of the scrotum. You just had to ask, didn't you?
Miscellaneous
As a teaser, book 3 contains a number of Star Wars quotes, but only one makes it into this book, where Avery passes through Marv and announces, "I sense something. A presence I've not felt since…"
Saving the worst for last, we have Marlborough's tease towards the end of the book: "It's not good news … it's great news!" I seem to recall this being a common refrain from Simon Cowell on either The X Factor or Britain's Got Talent, or perhaps both, and I hint at that with Ben's reaction to Marlborough's comment: a 'scowl'.
If you can face it, a third post will delve into the Easter eggs in book 3, The Dead Do Lie.
Happy reading,
D.C. Barclay
No comments have been added yet.
