Our fearless leader remembers Commander Keen *and* he's memorized the inside info from the RtCW manual too? I'm impressed!

I don't understand either of the references in that post.

When comic book fans ignore you, that's a clear sign that you're pretty damned uncool.

That your fiancee? Nice frame.

Yet another reference I don't get.

I don't think it's me. I think you guys are just being very obscure.

At least Kid Rock knows what the hell is going on and isn't afraid to say so. What's his best disc?

Sorry. I thought I detected a sly but mildly confused reference to Billy Blaze, the hero of the famous Commander Keen video game series of the early 90s. God, how many hours of my youth were wasted playing this game?

Anyway, iD software also created Wolf3D, whose hero was B.J. Blazkowicz (I thought Blazjowski was an accidental misspelling of Blazkowicz in your post). The RtCW manual (Return to Castle Wolfenstein, a 2001 revisiting of the story) included tidbits of inside info on the original game. In the manual, the fine fellows at iD reveal that they came up with an after-the-fact theory that Blazkowicz came home after WWII and had a son who went on to become a famous newscaster and changed his last name to Blaze, who then fathered our famous hero from Commander Keen.

So there you go. Now we have undeniable proof that I *am* the biggest dork hanging out around here. Do I get some sort of prize for that? I certainly hope so.

Thanks for explaining. I hate not getting references.

In fact, my own Billy "Blaze" Blaszjowski reference is from the film Night Shift. Billy Blaze is the Michael Keaton character, who informs "Chuck" (The Fonz) that he invented wash-and-dry shirts, except they already had them.

Since Night Shift predates Castle Wolfenstein by a large number of years, I'm guessing CW got the name from NS, whether a deliberate swipe or an unconscious recollection.

In Night Shift, Billy Blaze looks at a picture on Chuck's desk and asks, "Thank your fiancee? Nice frame."

Meaning, I suppose, that the frame is more attractive than the Chuck fiancee.

Jeff,

My apologies for calling you "obscure." I totally should have gotten that reference, since I know the movie well and just brought it up.

But I missed it. I was looking on my site for some picture of a woman. I thought you were asking me if some woman I had mentioned was my fiancee.

I just totally missed it.

Call Starkist.

It didn't help that I read "frame" as some new slang for "body" or "rack," of course, thus putting my mind on the wrong track to understand the reference.

Great flick. A friend and I used to quote it all the time -- but never in context of course.

Get your hair cut. Get all your hairs cut. See?

"Call StarKist."

My friends never got it either.

Since Night Shift predates Castle Wolfenstein by a large number of years, I'm guessing CW got the name from NS, whether a deliberate swipe or an unconscious recollection.

It very well could be. Though the iD crew got the Wolfenstein idea from an earlier game by the same title for the Apple II. I'm not sure if the hero was similarly named in the earlier release, however.