POMO TRIBUTES TO OTHERS Manchester United A football team (real football) based in Manchester, England which had been winning forever, until recently. They were sort of like the Chicago White Sox: people love to hate them. Also known as ManU. Referred to in "Becoming Part 2" by Spike. Billy Idol Spike is the reincarnation of Billy Idol. Idol was an English rock (punk?) star from the early '80s. Idol's real name was William Broad -- no relation to William the Bloody who has recently been creating havoc under the name of Spike. Leicester Square The coolest place to hang out in London. Always filled with a lot of people. Near Soho and Chinatown. Near seedy and upperclass areas alike. Has tons of random street entertainment, at least 4 movie theatres (2 of which are called Odeon ... gets confusing), a fountain in the center and little plaques in the ground: 1 set is of movie star handprints the other is telling directions and distance to random points on the globe. It's a kicking place. Forever Knight Forever Knight was a vampire television show about a Toronto cop who was trying to become mortal again, his coroner girlfriend, his partner who knew nothing about him being a vampire and his sire, a scary guy who was obsessed with him. Alluded to in "Angel" with the 'fwooshing' noise that Angel makes when he moves real fast. Also, in "School Hard" and "Becoming Part 2", Spike seems to have an affinity for the kind of car that Nick Knight drove -- with fins. "Fins are more predatory, don't you think? I prefer it for the trunk space." Jack Palance Lie to Me Jack Palance, playing Sid and Nancy So Spike and Dru are supposed to be like Sid from the Sex Pistols and his gal Nancy. I shudder at the thought. On the other hand, Spike can sing rather well ... (i.e. Lover's Walk) Interview with the Vampire In the New York scene of Becoming, Angel basically acts like Louis (from Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire) does by living in the nasty section of town and feeding off rats. Ray-Ban The commercials (both print and television) for these sunglasses have created a resurgence in popularity for this brand. The commercials show a group of modish young things lounging about on the beach waiting for the sun to rise. They are all wearing sunglasses. One hurries up, obviously late, plops down and pats himself down for his sunglasses. He can't find them! Oh no! This is worse than you may think. The sun rises, the rays hit the sunglass-less one, and he poofs into dust. The rest of the gang laughs, showing their pointy teeth. Many Buffy fans, when seeing this commercial, thought the main dude looked a lot like Spike. In honor of that -- and the fact that I think the commercial is so funny -- the Ray-Ban vamp's image is pasted on Spike's Trunk banner -- truly everything is stuffed into Spike's Trunk.