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The Pokemon Directive
Back in Ballyhaunis – and broadband (hurrah!) – for the weekend. Finally, catching up on last week’s De Niro-starring episode of SNL. It was patchy as these things are, but I did really enjoy the host’s turn as Robert Ludlum-esque thriller writer Harlan Kane. The full, ever-more-ridiculously titled bibilography in full after the jump: The Medici Codex
The Perseus Enigma
The Genghis Rubicon
The Abacus Conundrum
The Harlequin Protocol
The Ichabod Formula
The Pinochet Sudoku
The Nostradamus Mechanism
The Godiva Gyroscope
The Pokemon Directive
The Vespucci Containment
The Marmaduke Betrayal
The Picasso Imbroglio
The Brenda Effect
I was reminded of Christopher Hitchens’ old anecdote about Salman Rushdie:
At a dinner party that will forever be green in the memory of those who attended it, somebody was complaining not just about the epic badness of the novels of Robert Ludlum but also about the badness of their titles. (You know the sort of pretentiousness: The Bourne Supremacy, The Aquitaine Progression, The Ludlum Impersonation, and so forth.) Then it happily occurred to another guest to wonder aloud what a Shakespeare play might be called if named in the Ludlum manner. At which point Salman Rushdie perked up and started to sniff the air like a retriever. “O.K. then, Salman, what would Hamlet’s title be if submitted to the Ludlum treatment?” “The Elsinore Vacillation,” he replied—and I find I must stress this—in no more time than I have given you. Think it was a fluke? Macbeth? “The Dunsinane Reforestation.” To persist and to come up with The Rialto Sanction and The Kerchief Implication was the work of not too many more moments.
December 13th, 2010 at 10:39 pm
The rialto sanction…sounds like the time it was decided to break out the winter stash..
December 14th, 2010 at 5:48 pm
Yes, and the next day was called The Rialto Sectioning.
December 14th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
That anecdote is pure class. I wish Rushdie’s novels had the same humorous economy.
December 14th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
The Rialto Sanction is The Merchant of Venice but any idea what The Kerchief Implication is Eoin or Darragh?
December 14th, 2010 at 10:39 pm
Othello!
December 15th, 2010 at 11:46 am
Doh! Never studied that one.
December 28th, 2010 at 2:24 pm
You missed one.. ‘Harlan Kane’ also wrote “The Fuddruckers Ultimatum”
December 2nd, 2013 at 6:23 am
The Vespucci Containment
He’s cartographin everything !
December 2nd, 2013 at 6:25 am
The Genghis Rubicon
Rock Crawling the trails of Attila .
December 2nd, 2013 at 6:25 am
The Pinochet Sudoku
1973
December 2nd, 2013 at 6:27 am
The Nostradamus Mechanism
Typists .
December 2nd, 2013 at 6:28 am
The Brenda Effect
It’s got extra Iron.
December 2nd, 2013 at 6:29 am
The Picasso Imbroglio
Not always pretty
December 2nd, 2013 at 6:30 am
The Mamaduke Betrayal
The carpet again .
December 2nd, 2013 at 6:31 am
The Harlequin Protocol
Cheerful disposition at all times .
December 2nd, 2013 at 6:33 am
The Godiva Gyroscope
Eyes up.
December 2nd, 2013 at 6:34 am
The Abacus Conundrum
How do the Koreans do it on their fingers ?
December 2nd, 2013 at 6:35 am
The Medici Codex
Chilled food burns more calories .
December 2nd, 2013 at 6:38 am
The Ichabod Formula
Black always blends .
December 2nd, 2013 at 6:41 am
The Perseus Enigma
Get some pants you loser . Oooh I got boner from walking around naked . I gotta chop off some gals head . Douchebag .
December 2nd, 2013 at 6:45 am
The Pokemon Conundrum
OMG ! LOL ! SNL Rules !