You Want to Talk Grasping at Straws?

[gillianren]

I've mentioned my friend Chris and his son who had measles.  Chris's friends delight in delving the depths of the internet on his behalf, which is kind of how the family ended up on ABC, CBS, and CNN, talking about their experiences.  Things have gotten interesting since the CNN appearance; there's now a YouTube video claiming that they don't exist.  Because they are the Loop family, and their son's name is Mobius, and that's obviously a fake name.

I will concede one point.  Yes, Chris is an actor.  Has been as long as I've known him; we first met the night he played Rooster in his junior high production of Annie.  But Ariel is a nurse, which they also fail to believe, and just because Chris is an actor, it doesn't mean "concerned parent Christopher Loop" is a character he's playing.  He isn't playing Typical Parent enough to wear pants.  (He's in a kilt in all three appearances; none of the reporters commented on this.)  He really is concerned about his four-month-old son, who really did get measles.

But you see, Chris and Ariel and especially Mobius have to be fake for a certain worldview, because if they're real, it means there's something wrong with the worldview.  And does anyone know why the guys in the video kept referring to "Ebola green"?  Is that a thing?

[JayUtah]

I assume they nickname him Moby.  My friend's last name is deHaan, and when he asked me for ideas on what to name his firstborn son, I suggested Attila.

[Sus_pilot]

I assume they nickname him Moby.  My friend's last name is deHaan, and when he asked me for ideas on what to name his firstborn son, I suggested Attila.

<groooooaaaaannnnn>

[gwiz]

And does anyone know why the guys in the video kept referring to "Ebola green"?  Is that a thing?

I was bored enough to Google this, it's a conspiracy theory that Ebola is a fake because some victims have been pictured in green shirts.  The logic escapes me, but that isn't unusual for a conspiracy theory.

[gillianren]

I assume they nickname him Moby.  My friend's last name is deHaan, and when he asked me for ideas on what to name his firstborn son, I suggested Attila.

Yeah, and every time the name thing comes up, Chris points out that the kid's middle name is Benjamin, so it's not like he's a complete monster.  The funny thing is that almost none of us had noticed that Ariel's name is a pun until another blog pointed it out in trying to shame them for having named Mobius that.  That blog asked what the kid's great-grandmother would think of that name (one of Chris's grandmothers is one of his Facebook friends; said grandmother's official reaction is "meh") and grumbled about the lack of naming tradition these days.  Including that none of them are saints' names, because it was a Catholic blog.  Weirdly, one of the examples given of "not a saint's name" is Aidan; Saint Aidan was at Lindisfarne.

[JayUtah]

Yeah, and every time the name thing comes up, Chris points out that the kid's middle name is Benjamin, so it's not like he's a complete monster.

At least none of the kids is named Infinite.  Honestly, when your name is a common word there are just too few names that won't escape some sort of mockery.  Because we live in a puerile world, sometimes.

The funny thing is that almost none of us had noticed that Ariel's name is a pun...

She married into that one, though.  I would have.  That's a subtle one, and therefore a good one.

Including that none of them are saints' names, because it was a Catholic blog.  Weirdly, one of the examples given of "not a saint's name" is Aidan; Saint Aidan was at Lindisfarne.

Utah has its own odd name space.  Some names borrow from the majority religion, but most are simply ill-conceived collisions among nonsense syllables.  The formula something-en is the most common.  The rest are contrived respellings of reasonably acceptable names, requiring even common-sounding names to be spelled explicitly whenever invoked.  I know a half-dozen or so Bradens, each with a different spelling.

Outside of Utah I think the most amusing example was a recruiter I used to work with named Cortney Marshall, who insisted on going by Cort.

I leave my documentary appearances off my theater resume to avoid confusion.  I put them on my professional resume.  Before that, casting directors had trouble comprehending my on-screen appearances.

Good catch on the saint name.  I believe a kid needs at least one name to go by that isn't going to get him teased at a tender age.  Oddly enough, my neighbor kids growing up all had interesting nicknames:  Tad, Izz-Bizz, Bomb, Boo, and Geedo.  They were used so frequently that we lost sight of how ridiculous some of them sounded, and even occasionally forgot their real names.  I'm hoping the Church Invisible continues to provide names that are still viable centuries hence.

The larger issue of asserting that someone is fake because they have an unusual or clever name is, I agree, consummately grasping at straws.

[Echnaton]

I assume they nickname him Moby.  My friend's last name is deHaan, and when he asked me for ideas on what to name his firstborn son, I suggested Attila.

With friends like that......

[Echnaton]

none of us had noticed that Ariel's name is a pun

Some friends named there daughter Ariel.  Her dad an I would discusses how little Antenna was doing.  The mom was not accommodating to this particular nick name, so it didn't stick.

[ka9q]

Some friends named there daughter Ariel.  Her dad an I would discusses how little Antenna was doing. 

The word aerial is arguably quite antiquated in my industry these days, but I would have said the same thing about wireless (meaning radio) until the late 1980s or so. Funny how old words have a way of becoming new again after all the old people who used them have died off.

[Sus_pilot]

Of course, William Lear (of LearJet fame) named his daughter Chanda.  Really.

[gillianren]

At least none of the kids is named Infinite.  Honestly, when your name is a common word there are just too few names that won't escape some sort of mockery.  Because we live in a puerile world, sometimes.

They only have one kid; the next one could well be named Infinite.  Another suggestion (there were a lot of them after that particular blog was found) was Loopdi.

She married into that one, though.  I would have.  That's a subtle one, and therefore a good one.

Chris admits that he spotted it before she did, but it was also part of his proposal, which also tells you a good deal about them.

Utah has its own odd name space.  Some names borrow from the majority religion, but most are simply ill-conceived collisions among nonsense syllables.  The formula something-en is the most common.  The rest are contrived respellings of reasonably acceptable names, requiring even common-sounding names to be spelled explicitly whenever invoked.  I know a half-dozen or so Bradens, each with a different spelling.

I read recently that the most common name trend right now is "ends in 'n,'" but if you limit names to one spelling per, the trend pretty much vanishes.  So if you go with "Braden," "Brayden," "Braiden" and "Bradyn" as all being one name, for example.

Outside of Utah I think the most amusing example was a recruiter I used to work with named Cortney Marshall, who insisted on going by Cort.

Yeah, I can get that.

Good catch on the saint name.  I believe a kid needs at least one name to go by that isn't going to get him teased at a tender age.  Oddly enough, my neighbor kids growing up all had interesting nicknames:  Tad, Izz-Bizz, Bomb, Boo, and Geedo.  They were used so frequently that we lost sight of how ridiculous some of them sounded, and even occasionally forgot their real names.  I'm hoping the Church Invisible continues to provide names that are still viable centuries hence.

I confess that I looked it up, but my initial reaction was, "Wait a minute.  That's not a new name; it's an Irish name.  And a pretty old one.  There has to be a Saint Aidan somewhere."  Because honestly, if it's a traditional Irish or Italian name, I assume there's probably a Saint Whatever-It-Is.  Or Spanish.  And I'll agree--Simon's middle name is actually Alexander simply so he is more likely to be able to find something to go by somewhere in his name that he relates to.

The larger issue of asserting that someone is fake because they have an unusual or clever name is, I agree, consummately grasping at straws.

One of the games at my baby shower was "match the celebrity to their kid's name."  If Apple Paltrow exists in this world, and I think we have proof that she does, what's so unbelievable about Mobius Loop?

[BazBear]

I think the oddest first name I've run into in meat space is Entropy. His father was a hippyish physics student back in the early 70s when Entropy was born (actually, he is still pretty hippyish). He has a totally mundane English last name though.

[Sus_pilot]

So, when Entropy was an infant and kept him up all night, his dad would get tired? 

Sorry.

[BazBear]

So, when Entropy was an infant and kept him up all night, his dad would get tired? 

Sorry.

<straight man> I'm not sure, I didn't meet them until he was about 10 and dad was 30 something. </straight man>

[Luke Pemberton]

I think the oddest first name I've run into in meat space is Entropy.

I bet Entropy's life started very ordered but it's chaos now.