Author Topic: What's behind your Avatar? (Read 11179 times)

Silas (son of Silas) · « **on:** November 12, 2009, 04:51:41 pm »

I've been a member of various forums for years, but the very first one I joined was a forum for fans of British horror films that I stumbled upon whilst stuck in bed with a bad back watching And now the Screaming Starts. One of the characters was called Silas the wood cutter and he says the line "My name is Silas, son of Silas" So that's the name I chose and it stuck.

The photo in the avatar really is me. I took it with my camera phone then tweaked it on the PC to be a little more suitable for a horror forum.

The name and the photo have stuck, so now I'm Silas on boating forums, a Whisky (no 'e' despite what the blasted spell check thinks, I'm British) forum, an MG owners forum, a pre-war car owners forum, a welding forum the list goes on...

So... the point of this thread is for you to maybe tell the story (if there is one) behind your online name and avatar, or maybe how/why you chose it. For those more daring maybe reveal who the 'real person' is behind the identity? Anyone willing to 'step up?'

Behind the creepy green photo and the odd name, my real name is Iain and I really look like this:

Malenko · « **Reply #1 on:** November 12, 2009, 05:02:36 pm »

name comes from Dean Malenko the wrassler' not Milenko the homoclown rapper from ICP. My avatar picture changes on the regular, right now its Jago from KI2 because Im working on my KI2MAME, it used to be the red ring'ed xbox360 elite and before that I think it was my nephews playing my UMK3 machine

Mauzy · « **Reply #2 on:** November 12, 2009, 05:46:39 pm »

"Mauzy" is my last name (actually pronounced Mo-Zay). As for my avatar, it changes every few months. At one point I had a screen grab of my name and online status (only one person noticed something was weird), but that wouldn't match the new theme. My current is a character in the style of the Fallout 3 art. The pic is from the FalloutWiki.

drventure · « **Reply #3 on:** November 12, 2009, 06:31:02 pm »

I just settled on Dr Venture because

1) the show is cool (though it's gotten particularly odd this season)
2) The music is done by JG Thirlwell, otherwise know as Clint Ruin, etc etc and the man behind "Scraping Foetus Off the Wheel"....
....Halo Flaming Lead.... Great song!
3) that montage skull rocks
4) he can get away with wearing a full on 70's jumpsuit

I'd considered a variety of steampunk-esque nom de plumes, and almost went with "Dr Thadeus Pennywhistle and his "The Electro-Transformative Perceptuo-Emulatron", but decided the better of it and chose "The No18 Arqadium" instead.

Ond · « **Reply #4 on:** November 12, 2009, 06:46:55 pm »

My original avatar was taken from a scene in A Scanner Darkly, it's actually Robert Downey Jr in the image playing a real oddball in that film. I'm big fan of the author of the book the film is based on (Philip K Dick) and of hacked and modded gizmos, PCs, electronics and retro stuff (see Brazil, Blade Runner other similar Sci-Fi films featuring resurrected or retro hardware for examples of that).

no longer used:

I'm messing with some new renderings based on my face which will form my new avatar (WIP). Ond is simply a phonetic abbreviation nickname of my real name (Andre).

I'm a keen movie buff and have a moderate collection including Brit horror - mainly Hammer stuff. Fav female vampires - Ingrid Pitt and Yutte Stensgaard (who else could compete with those two???

)

Ed_McCarron · « **Reply #5 on:** November 12, 2009, 06:54:14 pm »

A gray background.

protokatie · « **Reply #6 on:** November 12, 2009, 09:47:11 pm »

As far as where I got my avatar:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/37-Mailbag-Showdown
As far as the person who is behind it? You don't want to know, the less you know the better!!

drventure · « **Reply #7 on:** November 12, 2009, 09:55:09 pm »

@protokatie

You could tell us, but you'd have to kill us?

RayB · « **Reply #8 on:** November 13, 2009, 01:25:17 am »

My nick is my nick.
My pic is "Albert" a Garfield rip-off I created in my teens.

thatitalian · « **Reply #9 on:** November 13, 2009, 06:16:46 am »

The revolution is coming...

more to come on that one...

DaOld Man · « **Reply #10 on:** November 13, 2009, 06:59:54 am »

My Avatar is Benny B. Benny B was a cartoon maintenance man that I created when I got my first job as an industrial electrician. I modeled him after a mechanic I worked with who had a pointy nose and wore a little beeny type cap with a bib. (This was late 70's)
Benny B later became a sprite that I made for my commodore 64. I had a menu of games for the 64. Benny B' s sprite would move across the menu screen. The menu was aptly named "Benny B's Arcade".
I also based my first mame cabinet build on Benny B. It also was named "Benny B's Arcade."
About DaOld Man behind Benny B? Just another soul trying to make it through this maze called life.

EightBySix · « **Reply #11 on:** November 13, 2009, 08:15:10 am »

Quote from: DaOld Man on November 13, 2009, 06:59:54 am

Benny B later became a sprite that I made for my commodore 64.

Hands up who used to colour in graph paper to calculate the DATA statements for c64 sprites?

My avatar relates to the size of my ~~shed~~ workshop, that I work in. As for the hat, well who wouldn't want a pacman hat?

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #12 on:** November 13, 2009, 08:49:06 am »

Quote from: EightBySix on November 13, 2009, 08:15:10 am

My avatar relates to the size of my ~~shed~~ workshop, that I work in.

8x6... You just have to be based in the UK with those dimensions. I have to build in the house, and my house is only 21 bricks wide. Our American cousins don't know how good they've got it when it comes to space!

Ginsu Victim · « **Reply #13 on:** November 13, 2009, 09:23:07 am »

My avatar is Roland Deschain, Stephen King's "Gunslinger" from the Dark Tower series (also featured in Marvel's Dark Tower series). The image is taken from the short story "Little Sisters of Eluria".

As for my name, it comes from a game of Quake I was playing with a friend modem-to-modem. I had a rocket launcher, he had an axe. He also had a faster computer than me, so that when he comes into the room, I start firing rockets which slows my system down enough for him to simply walk up and hack me to death with his axe.

I changed my name in-game to Ginsu Victim as a symbol of my shame, and it has stuck ever since. Ginsu Victim has the supposed "real name" of Jim Vincent, but my real name depends on who you ask.

Hoopz · « **Reply #14 on:** November 13, 2009, 09:30:10 am »

Quote from: Ginsu Victim on November 13, 2009, 09:23:07 am

As for my name, it comes from a game of Quake I was playing with a friend modem-to-modem. I had a rocket launcher, he had an axe. He also had a faster computer than me, so that when he comes into the room, I start firing rockets which slows my system down enough for him to simply walk up and hack me to death with his axe.

Dial up or null modem? I remember lugging my pc, monitor, etc around so we could use a null modem to play. Good times.

Ginsu Victim · « **Reply #15 on:** November 13, 2009, 09:46:14 am »

Dial-up

ChadTower · « **Reply #16 on:** November 13, 2009, 10:22:38 am »

I scraped out my initials with a mouse in MS Paint. No more to it than that.

drventure · « **Reply #17 on:** November 13, 2009, 10:24:13 am »

Yeah, but you got that scratchy "seven" vibe going....

Ginsu Victim · « **Reply #18 on:** November 13, 2009, 10:32:29 am »

Quote from: drventure on November 13, 2009, 10:24:13 am

Yeah, but you got that scratchy "seven" vibe going....

And you've got a head in a box, so you too.

Ginsu Victim · « **Reply #19 on:** November 13, 2009, 10:38:45 am »

You've actually kept the current one for quite a while, compared to how much you used to change them.

LLUncoolJ · « **Reply #20 on:** November 13, 2009, 10:52:16 am »

I'm a Star Wars dork and I think the pic is hilarious. The name, if your can't figure it out, is a mash of the rapper LL Cool J, me being a dork (uncool) and the initial of first name (J). Although between you and me, I am actually super cool.

RayB · « **Reply #21 on:** November 13, 2009, 01:01:41 pm »

Quote from: EightBySix on November 13, 2009, 08:15:10 am

Hands up who used to colour in graph paper to calculate the DATA statements for c64 sprites?

*hand raised*

Malenko · « **Reply #22 on:** November 13, 2009, 01:06:22 pm »

Quote from: pinballjim on November 13, 2009, 10:35:21 am

I lifted mine from some dude here that went out in a blaze of dada glory.

If you'd like a history of my avatars on this forum, they may be found here:

http://www.subdural.com/~pbjim/avatar/

which one? I dont remember

Level42 · « **Reply #23 on:** November 13, 2009, 01:34:18 pm »

Mine is a nixie tube. These tubes were used to display numbers (mostly) before LED's had arrived. They have been in production in the USSR very long because....well we all know why. I've got a box of them and am planning to build a clock out of them....once I get all my cabs restored....

Originally this GIF showed all numbers but Patrick was kind enough to mod it to only show the 4 and the 2.

Which of course refers to my nick Level 42, which is the name of my favorite band, not a certain level in a certain game as some may think.

The name of the band was first 88 (after a certain bus-line in London) , but there already was a band with that name. So they wanted 42, which is of course from the book The Hitchhiker's Guid To The Galaxy. In this book (which makes fun of the whole SF genre) there is a big computer that has only one purpose and that is to find out the meaning of life. In the end, the answer turns out to be 42.

They thought just 42 was too short as a band name, so they added "Level" to it.

Fordman · « **Reply #24 on:** November 13, 2009, 02:34:20 pm »

I work at Ford Motor Company and I believe in what we make and do every day!

Occasionally I take a ripping here on BYOAC, but its all good natured and I consider the sources from whom I'm getting ripped from!!

Fordman

Level42 · « **Reply #25 on:** November 13, 2009, 03:50:39 pm »

Hey I think it's cool when someone is proud of his product and the company he works with. It's getting rare.

I've got a Ford.

A Fiesta (for the wife

). Like this, same color but then with 4 doors:

Bought it new about 8 years ago. Will drive it until it falls apart !

wp34 · « **Reply #26 on:** November 13, 2009, 07:17:09 pm »

Quote from: Level42 on November 13, 2009, 03:50:39 pm

Hey I think it's cool when someone is proud of his product and the company he works with. It's getting rare.

I agree. People are so cynical these days. Particularly in corporate America. Very refreshing.

Oh and ah... some of my best friends drive Fords.

Ummon · « **Reply #27 on:** November 13, 2009, 07:41:40 pm »

Quote from: protokatie on November 12, 2009, 09:47:11 pm

As far as the person who is behind it? You don't want to know, the less you know the better!!

Katie's just being a girl.....

Ginsu, why did you post the vid? I've never seen that movie, but I would've figured some similar relation....

Quote from: EightBySix on November 13, 2009, 08:15:10 am

As for the hat, well who wouldn't want a pacman hat?

Dude, that's not a hat. That's freakin helmet. Not that there's anything wrong with that....

Quote from: Level42 on November 13, 2009, 01:34:18 pm

...The Hitchhiker's Guid To The Galaxy. In this book (which makes fun of the whole Sci-Fi genre)

Fixed.

My username is google-worthy. I've rarely had an avatar, but the current one is described at the end of this post.

hypernova · « **Reply #28 on:** November 13, 2009, 08:08:25 pm »

Had a bunch of South Park guinea creatures, and a Chrono Trigger one before that. Now it's my favorite scene from Dragonball Z, where the young Gohan single-handedly (literally) eliminates Cell.

Ginsu Victim · « **Reply #29 on:** November 13, 2009, 11:57:28 pm »

Quote from: Ummon on November 13, 2009, 07:41:40 pm

Ginsu, why did you post the vid? I've never seen that movie, but I would've figured some similar relation....

It's fourteen years old. I'm not posting a spoiler warning for a movie you should've already seen. Plus, right below the video it says "Se7en End Scene," so there's your warning.

protokatie · « **Reply #30 on:** November 14, 2009, 02:44:21 am »

Quote from: RayB on November 13, 2009, 01:01:41 pm

Quote from: EightBySix on November 13, 2009, 08:15:10 am
Hands up who used to colour in graph paper to calculate the DATA statements for c64 sprites?
*hand raised*

Seconded! I also had a C128D which had a sprite editor built in that made it much easier than using Data/Read/Poke for sets of 3 bytes to set one single line for one single sprite...

AtomSmasher · « **Reply #31 on:** November 14, 2009, 03:32:43 am »

My real name is Adam and I used to have a few really geeky friends who liked to call each other by their online nick, so I came up with AtomSmasher in the hope that they would call me Atom.....they then started calling me Smasher. I decided to keep the name regardless.

As for my avatar, it's from one of the funniest tv shows that ever was.

hypernova · « **Reply #32 on:** November 14, 2009, 10:11:23 am »

Ummon · « **Reply #33 on:** November 15, 2009, 07:06:24 pm »

Quote from: Ginsu Victim on November 13, 2009, 11:57:28 pm

Quote from: Ummon on November 13, 2009, 07:41:40 pm
Ginsu, why did you post the vid? I've never seen that movie, but I would've figured some similar relation....

It's fourteen years old. I'm not posting a spoiler warning for a movie you should've already seen. Plus, right below the video it says "Se7en End Scene," so there's your warning.

No no, I've eschewed seeing it. I just thought it might be a little nsfw. Don't bother me none.

gavkiwi · « **Reply #34 on:** November 17, 2009, 10:45:09 am »

mine is simple, I am from New Zealand, and my first name is Gavin, Gav for short

ppl from New Zealand are commonly known as 'kiwis' in various parts of the world, but rarely known as that here (in the US), kiwi is commonly thought of as a fuzzy little brown fruit or something added to juices for extra flavor lol

ChadTower · « **Reply #35 on:** November 17, 2009, 11:06:10 am »

Quote from: Ummon on November 15, 2009, 07:06:24 pm

I just thought it might be a little nsfw. Don't bother me none.

Eschew with your mouth closed, please. You're grossing people out.

HaRuMaN · « **Reply #36 on:** November 17, 2009, 11:23:10 am »

CT's behind my current avatar...

Blanka · « **Reply #37 on:** November 17, 2009, 04:41:40 pm »

Some friend wanted to MSN with me, and I needed a HOTMAIL account for it. I did not want to enter all the crap needed, so he gave me his spare Hotmail account. It had the name Blanka in it. Never had a clue who Blanka was. Until I started maming and played SF. So in a gamers forum, I decided to use the name Blanka as the screen name, and have a Blanka image as avatar.

ChadTower · « **Reply #38 on:** November 17, 2009, 04:43:51 pm »

Quote from: HarumaN on November 17, 2009, 11:23:10 am

CT's behind my current avatar...

Hey!

I don't start that many threads.

Vamp RN · « **Reply #39 on:** November 17, 2009, 05:10:37 pm »

My name is derived from a "Nursing Satisfaction Survey" I had to take a few years back. The entire test was multiple choice. One of the questions was, "How often do you work night shift?" One of the answers (the one I choose) was, "I carpool with Dracula." Since then I have always gone by Vamp RN on for any online stuff I do. I worked very hard to get my RN license and I am very proud of it. As far as my avatar goes it's my avatar from X-Box live. I made it look as much like me as I could, only the fatness bar won't go over far enough.


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