83 It's the Jet Car from The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension. Exactly how it came into Corwin's possession is a story for another day.

112 Corwin has left the HB-88 mostly unchanged out of respect for its famous creator, who disappeared in 2288, but he has made a couple of improvements to the navigation system and the onboard computer's operating software (hence the "-3"). The Banzai Institute had already upgraded it several times by the time Dr. Banzai disappeared (hence the "C").

187 Something once said to a group of gweeps by Joe Provo, in the second-person form ("You guys are... ").

204 The "pursuit" and "s(uper)-pursuit" nomenclature comes from Knight Rider.

227 As does this: the infamous, invisible "Passive Laser Restraint System", which on Knight Rider was their excuse for not making Michael Knight put on his seat belt like some kind of dorky normal guy whenever he got into KITT.

242 Corwin is not the best driver of his peer group, but at this point he's certainly the best one Anne's ever had a chance to observe at close range.

265 Inspired by the design of an altimeter (which in turn takes its cue from analog clocks).

327 I don't know why it's spelled this way, particularly, but that's what the display in the Jet Car says when it jumps to the Eighth Dimension.

345 Well, it was originally a one-ton Ford pickup, as Corwin surely knows.

357 And in the novel, too.

381 They wouldn't have been trapped in the Eighth Dimension forever if they'd missed their exit, they'd just have had to turn around and go back. Not that that's quite so simple a procedure in the Eighth Dimension, but.

406 A classic "zigged when I should've zagged" incident.

465 Unlike in fantasy RP settings, gods in UF don't need worshippers to survive.

500 Gallery Island is named for Admiral Vincent Gallery, one of the naval bigwigs in Tom Clancy's The Hunt for Red October. About 100 miles off New Avalon in Lake Daniels, it's the Wedge Defense Force's ground gunnery range, also used by the IPO.

502 When I wrote this scene, I assumed the "Old Exterminator" mentioned was an aircraft, possibly even a P-40 like its historical namesake. Now, of course, we know it's Corwin's old Zaku; presumably blowing up stuff on Gallery Island is part of Kozue's prep for the Getter Robo testing she'll be doing shortly.

525 Not only does Elvis Haley share a name with the King, his other name is that of one of the great saints of Presleyterianism, Bill Haley (of Bill Haley & His Comets fame).

542 "Haley, you useless sack of shit! My grandma wouldn't have fallen for a play like that! They ought to trade your worthless ass back to Nar Shaddaa! The King shot his TV." ("The King shot his TV" is the Presleyterian equivalent of "Jesus wept.")

566 Corwin's the only one who calls Fuu that; it's a private joke between them, referring to the time Corwin said (while recovering from a blow to the head), "I didn't know angels wore glasses."

593 The tank is an old Israeli-built Merkava MBT Corwin found at a military hardware flea market on the Rim; the Veritech fighter is an early-model VF-1 he picked up at a WDF surplus auction.

596 A tanker truck full of rum, no less. It was a gift. From a... friend.

612 Dai-Guard: The best giant robot show not many people saw.

641 Though the prize money for the Valiant's pirate-hunting sideline is pretty good, most of Corwin's wealth actually comes from Asgard.

695 If it wasn't obvious from context, Doq oQt'beH' is Klingon for "Red October".

748 A tip of the hat to Jon Ellison, of Neon Exodus Evangelion fame? PJM

Indeed. The Corley brand (originally from the LucasArts game Full Throttle) first appeared under the EPU banner in NXE, so when I was working on this bit and wanted a second name to make it scan a little more like "Harley-Davidson", well... --G.

828 Based on a T-shirt Rob Shannon had made with the help of a Science Ninja Team Gatchaman animation cel he bought at a con.

884 Stolen from the title of a Star Wars comic book that didn't deserve a title anywhere near that cool.

948 There are several "that's for when you're older" sliders on the Virtual Companion Construction Set config screen. This particular one sets the avatar's spathicity.

1048 A Caterham Super 7 Superlight R500, which is a 21st-century replica of the original Lotus Seven (ca. 1957). In the real world, the R500 holds the record for the shortest time a street-legal production car can go from zero to 100 mph and back to zero again (11.44 seconds). (The code number refers to the power-to-weight ratio, 500 horsepower per ton.)

Well vocabulated, sir! That's a word I haven't seen used correctly since 1962. (Most observed uses since are by excessively "periodic" renfair goers.) So, to what degree did Corwin set Excel to resemble a spoon?

She's certainly spoony enough in the source material.

Mike Thedford
College Town
Shopkeep at Large
Clarification: I am less than 44 years old. The date refers to the most recent publication I've read which contained the word.

As far as I can tell, it was just an excuse to throw in a bad pun.

Peter Eng
--
I'm only a Charter Member because of the DCForum upgrade, and because there's no rank below "Clueless F!wit."