Wizard staff from vegetarianhostess.com

After denuding a brussels sprout stalk, I banged it on the counter and barked at Josh, “You shall not pass!” when he tried to enter the kitchen. I was inspired to make this post after I realized how often Josh and I quote from our favorite marathoned texts. Marathoned texts do show up in our everyday lives quite often–whether we’re quote nerds or not. I’ve assembled a small collection of examples of the real and fantasy worlds colliding.

Students have told me Nazareth College is sometimes compared to Hogwarts. This comparison seems more believable when observing the homage to the Potter family in nearby Fairport Village: Fairport, New York boasts Potter Park (named after the wizarding family, of course) and a James Potter cross street that can’t possibly be a coincidence. (The “J” and “M” in James are on the sign, but are not well-captured here.)

Photo by Josh

Elise, one of my media marathoning students, also sent me an image that made me feel less sheepish about wielding my brussels sprout staff.

Image retrieved from dorkly.com

In addition to the fantasy world of LOTR in my kitchen and Harry Potter references in Fairport, the fictitious mob world lives on in Austin, Texas (our home prior to Fairport). Don Corleone’s serves up some terrible pizza. Maybe it tastes better if you eat it with cotton balls stuffed in your cheeks?

Image from doncorleonesonline.com

Finally, my favorite reference is not visual, but auditory.  I was riding my bike (in Fairport again) when I felt like X-Wing fighters were coming after me! See if you can guess what is making the X-Wing fighter sound in the video. Josh assures me it’s very obvious, but I still think the sound is cool. I could find no evidence to confirm if this is the type of sound George Lucas sampled to provide the auditory assault in his intergalactic war; however, I’d place a bet on it. George, what say you?

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUZjuqgganw[/youtube]

Both fantasy and lived worlds borrow heavily from one another. These little references to some of my favorite marathoned texts are at once a happy reminder of these stories I love and an embarrassing reminder of how often I think about them.

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