Emperor Paleolo – Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos and Meow Mix brand cat food
https://wiki.wizard101central.com/wiki/Creature:Emperor_Paleolo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_XI_Palaiologos
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meow_Mix
https://youtu.be/1Q0x6T7YLr8
https://youtu.be/9AWCk7HlG4o
Thank you to Ashley D. for this one
Trying to get into Tetrus Prison to rescue Teddy Hairkonnen, your wizard and Snake Plizkin must navigate the Snakish Passage in the ruins of Catstantinople. The passage is haunted by the silent ghosts of ancient Qhat warriors as well as the ghost of Emperor Paleolo.
The silence is unnerving to Snake. He wants the Emperor to say something, anything, even some vague empty threat.
“Meoww… meoww…,” haunting in nature is all the Emperor can say.
MONSTROLOGY TOME DESCRIPTION
While not an actual Emperor, he considers himself ruler of selling low-carb Qhat food at high-class prices.
Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos or Dragaš Palaeologus (February 8, 1404 – May 29, 1453) was the last Roman (Byzantine) emperor, reigning from 1449 until his death in battle at the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. Constantine’s death marked the definitive end of the Eastern Roman Empire, which traced its origin to Constantine the Great’s foundation of Constantinople as the Roman Empire’s new capital in 330.
Constantine was the fourth son of Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos and Helena Dragaš, the daughter of Serbian ruler Konstantin Dejanović. Little is known of his early life, but from the 1420s onward, he is repeatedly demonstrated to have been a skilled general. Based on his career and surviving contemporary sources, Constantine appears to have been primarily a soldier. This does not mean that Constantine was not also a skilled administrator: he was trusted and favored to such an extent by his older brother, Emperor John VIII Palaiologos, that he was designated as regent twice during John VIII’s journeys away from Constantinople in 1423–1424 and 1437–1440. In 1427–1428, Constantine and John fended off an attack on the Morea (the Peloponnese) by Carlo I Tocco, ruler of Epirus, and in 1428 Constantine was proclaimed Despot of the Morea and ruled the province together with his older brother Theodore and his younger brother Thomas. Together, they extended Roman rule to cover almost the entire Peloponnese for the first time since the Fourth Crusade more than two hundred years before and rebuilt the ancient Hexamilion wall, which defended the peninsula from outside attacks. Although ultimately unsuccessful, Constantine personally led a campaign into Central Greece and Thessaly in 1444–1446, attempting to extend Byzantine rule into Greece once more.
Constantine was the last Christian ruler of Constantinople, which alongside his bravery at the city’s fall cemented him as a near-legendary figure in later histories and Greek folklore. Some saw the foundation of Constantinople (the New Rome) under Constantine the Great and its loss under another Constantine as fulfillment of the city’s destiny, just as Old Rome had been founded by a Romulus and lost under another, Romulus Augustulus. He became known in later Greek folklore as the Marble Emperor (Greek: Μαρμαρωμένος Βασιλεύς, romanized: Marmaromenos Vasilias, lit. ’Emperor/King turned into Marble’), reflecting a popular legend that Constantine had not actually died, but had been rescued by an angel and turned into marble, hidden beneath the Golden Gate of Constantinople awaiting a call from God to be restored to life and reconquer both the city and the old empire.
Meow Mix is a variety of dry and wet cat food known for its advertising jingle. It is a product of The J.M. Smucker Company as of March 23, 2015. Meow Mix was introduced in 1974 and sells many flavors, including Original Choice and Seafood Medley. It also is known for selling Alley Cat dry cat food. Their current slogan is “it’s the only brand cats ask for by name.”
“The Meow Mix Theme” was written by Shelly Palmer in 1970. The idea came from Ron Travisano, at the advertising agency of Della Femina Travisano and Partners, who had the account with Ralston Purina in 1974. The first TV spot aired in 1974, and consisted of animals walking across the screen. Travisano put together film footage with editor Jay Gold, looping images of a cat to make it look like it was singing. The music was then composed by Tom McFaul of the jingle house Lucas/McFaul, one of the major jingle-composing houses at the time. Working from Travisano’s film, McFaul wrote and produced music to fit, with the actual meowing performed by professional singer Linda November. Travisano then came up with the idea of adding English “translation” subtitles, along with a bouncing ball pointing out the words, which often reflected the specific flavor(s) of Meow Mix product being advertised and changed from commercial to commercial.
The current list of all the (known) Mirage references can be found here.
Although I am well versed in Pop Culture references but I do not claim to have caught them all. Let me know your favorites in the comments and if I’ve missed one you caught, let me know so I can add it to the list.
Text for this article is excerpted from the linked wiki pages
Emperor Paleolo image is from Wizard101, and is copyright of KingsIsle Entertainment
Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos image is borrowed from Wikipedia. It is in the public domain.
Meow Mix image is borrowed from Amazon.com It is copyright J.M. Smucker
Image usage qualifies as fair use under US copyright law.
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