One couldn't count on a repeat occurrence of the Great Blizzard of '06: Particularly since the Great Blizzard of '06 was personally caused by Odin to accommodate the timing of Corwin's Ascension Trial (as seen in S2E7 Overture in E. That's not likely to happen again anytime soon.

Food would be provided by Campus Dining: One of the WPI traditions that was jettisoned with extreme prejudice at DSM was DĀKA. Campus Dining's products are actually rather good.

Our neighbors, the Xavier Institute: As seen in Rediscovery.

Emporio Armani di Saenar: As we have seen, Corwin also likes an Armani.

I'll level with you: Cosmic Adventurer Rule 12: Just tell people the truth. Either they'll be cool with it or they'll think you're kidding. Either way you're saved the trouble of trying to come up with a decent lie.

The Battle of Debney Ridge: We know little about this military occasion, but it's been mentioned in UF before. Captain Arthur Hastings, Jedi Master Hercule Poirot's particular friend, met Gryphon there, according to the captain's own account in The Fulcrum of Fate.

baled hay in February: The Stig turned up driving a truck loaded with it. Professor May knows not to ask questions when things like that happen. The Stig wouldn't answer them anyway.

Winterfestführerin: Despite the sinister connotations it acquired in Nazi times, the German word Führer just means "leader", and Führerin is the feminine form of it. Admittedly, in this case Prof. Kesselring was poking gentle fun at Kaname's iron-fisted leadership style.

phased plasma rifle in the 40-kW range: The original line from The Terminator was "in the 40-watt range", but frankly that wouldn't be a very impressive weapon. My desk lamp is in the 40-watt range. Forty kW, on the other hand, is a pretty respectable amount of power. More than I'd care to get zapped with, anyway.

the antique Very pistol: Sometimes spelled "Verey", this is the classic British brass flare gun of WWII vintage, seen in such films as From Russia With Love.

Clan MacIntosh tartan: MacIntosh (or McIntosh, or Mackintosh - in Scots Gaelic, Mhic an Tòisich) was the most powerful Highland clan to be found in the vicinity of Inverness in Jacobite times. From this we may infer either that Amy has MacIntosh ancestors off the direct male line, or that the Pond family is itself a lesser branch of the Clan MacIntosh. The clan's tartan is red and green, not blue, but Amy was able to get by with her woad and a blue jumper for faction recognition. As an aside, MacIntosh has one of the great clan mottos: "Touch Not the Cat Bot {Without} a Glove".

Shark Week's snow bazooka: Based on the Rock-It Launcher from Fallout 3.

a little surreptitious making out: Rory. Amy. PDA? We've talked about this.

a tiger wearing sunglasses: There is a long tradition in bands associated with GweepCo of one member being the "shades player" - the guy who just stands around on stage wearing sunglasses and looking badass. This position originated when someone - possibly Derek Bacon - noticed that there was a guy in the Mighty Mighty BossTones who seemed to perform no other function in the band.

the theme from Professor Enigma: The timing of this performance, and Rose Tyler's guest appearance immediately after it, is interesting to note. Kate's new arrangement of the Professor Enigma theme was first broadcast on April 17, 2410, to start Episode 1 of Series 400, "Weltanschauung" - Rose's first appearance as the Professor. That's two months after this story, which means no one at the Winterfest Dance had heard that version before, nor had any way of knowing that Rose had any association with Professor Enigma. All the episodes of Series 400 were in post by then. Some BBC executives were concerned that her appearance at the Winterfest Dance would blow the carefully maintained secrecy of her casting, but she and Kate persuaded them - correctly - that no one would have any idea of the significance until after "Weltanschauung" aired, at which point it would retroactively become a Legendary Thing.

"I Think I Like It": At this point in her career, pre-New Albion, Rose didn't play a musical instrument. She and the Art may revisit this song during the 2410 summer tour.

"A Whiter Shade of Pale": You may recall from S2E7 Ceremony & Celebration that this is one of Kate's go-to makeout songs.

--G.
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Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.