What's the meaning of your screen name?

Rev. Powell · October 25, 2008, 03:33:06 PM

I've been wondering what some of your screen names mean. Some of them are obvious to me, and some of them mystify me.

Mine is a reference to the guy in my avatar--Rev. Harry Powell, the serial-killing preacher from NIGHT OF THE HUNTER. I had the picture as my desktop wallpaper when I signed up, and I thought it would be cool to use it as my avatar. So I chose my name to go with the picture.

However, I have had to explain to some who thought I was a man of the cloth that my "Rev." is short for "Revenant", not "Reverend".

So what's the story behind your screen name?

schmendrik · October 25, 2008, 03:42:33 PM

I hate thinking up either screen names or avatars. Most forums I participate in (technical and political) I use my initials or my actual name. I'm just not clever at this.

However, I felt I ought to make a stab at having something interesting when I joined this site, so I came up with one of my favorite fictional characters: Schmendrake the mediocre wizard from Peter Beagle's "The Last Unicorn". Among other things, this character appeals to me because I'm a criminally incompetent amateur magician. Alas, I misremembered the spelling.

When I decided I ought to take a stab at coming up with an avatar, I used another of my favorite fictional wizards, Tim the Enchanter from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail".

Zapranoth · October 25, 2008, 03:46:31 PM

Mine's the name of a big demon lord from _Empire of the East_ by Fred Saberhagen.

Psycho Circus · October 25, 2008, 03:49:05 PM

Quote from: Rev. Powell on October 25, 2008, 03:33:06 PM
I've been wondering what some of your screen names mean. Some of them are obvious to me, and some of them mystify me.

So what's the story behind your screen name?

Bet mine was one that mystified you?

I decided on Circus Circus because it was the name W.A.S.P. (my favourite band period!) used six months prior to adopting their famous moniker. I happened to be looking at pictures of Las Vegas for a desktop and there was the "Circus Circus", which clicked with me. As many people have probably already guessed, I have a disturbing obsession with evil clowns that brutally murder children - thus fitting in also with a Badmovie/B-Movie forum e.g. "Killer Klowns" , "Clownhouse", "The Funhouse", "Killjoy".

Here's W.A.S.P. performing as Circus Circus circa 1981

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GoQo5lxcmPY

They had to give up the name due to the real "Circus Circus" in Vegas threatening to sue - the rest is history...

LilCerberus · October 25, 2008, 04:32:51 PM

Pathetically obvious as it may seem, I'm a Gemini born on the Chinese year of the dog

Jack · October 25, 2008, 04:49:17 PM

As mysterious as mine may seem, it's actually just my first name. I'm very creative that way.

Rev. Powell · October 25, 2008, 06:04:20 PM

Quote from: Circus_Circus on October 25, 2008, 03:49:05 PM
Quote from: Rev. Powell on October 25, 2008, 03:33:06 PM
I've been wondering what some of your screen names mean. Some of them are obvious to me, and some of them mystify me.

So what's the story behind your screen name?

Bet mine was one that mystified you?

I decided on Circus Circus because it was the name W.A.S.P. (my favourite band period!) used six months prior to adopting their famous moniker. I happened to be looking at pictures of Las Vegas for a desktop and there was the "Circus Circus", which clicked with me. As many people have probably already guessed, I have a disturbing obsession with evil clowns that brutally murder children - thus fitting in also with a Badmovie/B-Movie forum e.g. "Killer Klowns" , "Clownhouse", "The Funhouse", "Killjoy".

Here's W.A.S.P. performing as Circus Circus circa 1981

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GoQo5lxcmPY

They had to give up the name due to the real "Circus Circus" in Vegas threatening to sue - the rest is history...

Actually yes, a bit. I lived in Las Vegas for 9 years so I can't help thinking of the casino everytime I see your name. I thought maybe you were a FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS fan, since a key scene takes place in Circus Circus.

schmendrik · October 25, 2008, 06:12:17 PM

Quote from: Jack on October 25, 2008, 04:49:17 PM
As mysterious as mine may seem, it's actually just my first name. I'm very creative that way.

How about the avatar? I'm guessing that's not your high-school yearbook photo.

Kester Pelagius · October 25, 2008, 06:20:48 PM

Boring story.

I needed a login ID when I first set up my internet account. Alas, as my first name is pretty common, all I was given as choices were weird contractions of my name with randomly assigned numbers. Didn't care for any of those choices so. . .

As Kester is the Celtic version of my first name and Pelagius is the Greek version of my last name. . .

It made sense at the time.

Mr. DS · October 25, 2008, 06:28:29 PM

Before I opened my website I was using the name DarkSider in my email. I've always liked dark and evil characters in movies so I guess thats why I picked it. Then I started DarkSider's Realm on a whim one day after watching Street Trash. My website was already open when I joined the board, hence my current name. Nothing original or overally scary, just boring old me.

Rev. Powell · October 25, 2008, 06:30:12 PM

Quote from: Kester Pelagius on October 25, 2008, 06:20:48 PM

As Kester is the Celtic version of my first name and Pelagius is the Greek version of my last name. . .

Thanks, your handle is one that puzzled me. It sounds really cool and mysterious, though. It really rolls off the tongue.

Ash · October 25, 2008, 07:45:37 PM

Since around the year 2000 I went by Ashthecat here on this board.
One day a couple years ago I got tired of it and shortened it to Ash.

A lot of people think it's an homage to Ash from the Evil Dead films but that's not correct. I used to have an ashy grey colored cat. His name was Ash. One evening sometime in late 2000, I was sitting at my desk trying to come up with a screen name. As I was doing that, I was staring at my cat and it just popped into my head. Been using it ever since.

Menard · October 25, 2008, 07:54:04 PM

Quote from: Zapranoth on October 25, 2008, 03:46:31 PM
Mine's the name of a big demon lord from _Empire of the East_ by Fred Saberhagen.

...and how 'bout that avatar of your's?

In case anybody is counting, this is the third such thread, of my memory, about user names. If someone wanted to search out one of those older threads, it may prove interesting to find out about some older members who don't come around very often.

It's always interesting to have such a thread as some user names always make you wonder; and some of you need therapy.

Just in case anybody has been asleep since they have been here (judging by some of the writing on this forum...that is entirely possible*

), my user name is from Doctor David Menard from Lucio Fulci's Zombie (1979).

Trevor seems to be the only other person who knew that Doctor Menard's first name is David. Of course, it is only mentioned once in the movie, by his wife, so it is easy to miss.

*That's called a joke; so I don't want to hear any little girls whining about it.

Wortcov · October 25, 2008, 07:59:28 PM

my username did I made up myself about 5-6 years ago for my character in Diablo II

the guy on my avatar is poltaap, a character also created by me, and I got it made by Chris hallbeck, the creator of this webcomic http://www.thebookofbiff.com/

indianasmith · October 25, 2008, 09:01:56 PM

I've collected Indian artifacts since I was 13. When I was in high school, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK came out. Not long after, I was out artifact collecting with a friend of mine. I was walking across a creek on a footlog when the log snapped in half. I threw myself forward, caught a root on the far bank, and scrambled up. My buddy laughed and said, "Dude!! You're just like that Indiana Jones!"
I said; "It's Indiana SMITH, thank you very much, and unlike that wimp Harrison Ford, I'm NOT afraid of snakes!"

So the legend was born.