Mash-ups

One of the communications staff at work sits across from our IT point person, and periodically the two of them converse.  Since they're just a few desks away, I can't help but hear what they say, and yesterday I overheard a rather funny mash-up.

They were discussing a disused mental hospital that the communications guy had toured with a mutual acquaintance, and he (communications) related that the mutual acquaintance, upon seeing one of the dark, abandoned basements, remarked that he would like to bring his wife there - and leave her.  "Just like," the communications guy chortled, "a cask of Monte Cristo!"

Give it a minute.

It didn't take me too long to figure out that he was shooting for "Just like a cask of Amontillado," from the Edgar Allan Poe story.  How "Monte Cristo", as in the count of (Dumas) got into the matter, I don't know.

I chuckled to myself over this amusing slip of the tongue and concluded that the communications guy had simply mixed his stories.  Isolated incident, surely.

But this afternoon the two of them were talking again, this time on the topic of religion.  I missed the beginning of the discussion because I was at lunch, but when I came back Communications was expounding on saints.  I actually had work to do but overheard a mention of St. Ignatius of Padua, patron saint of lost causes.  Ai!

I suppose for one who isn't Catholic (and I suspect Communications Dude isn't), the saints are a bit mystifying, in which case I would recommend that you refrain from pronouncing authoritatively about their various characteristics.  But to clarify for the record, there are three different saints in this mash-up:

1. St. Ignatius of Loyola, a Spanish (Basque) knight and founder of the Jesuits, patron saint of soldiers

2. St. Anthony of Padua, a Portuguese Franciscan who spent most of his life in Padua, Italy, and is patron saint of lost things (not causes)

3.  St. Jude the Apostle, one of the original Twelve, who is the patron saint of lost and desperate causes

Now, I suppose one could confuse Ignatius and Anthony, since they're both Iberian and monks, and Anthony with Jude, for being patrons of lost stuff, but mixing all three together is bewildering to me.  I can't help but wonder if CD has a proclivity for these sorts of mash-ups, and I'm a wee bit ashamed to admit that I may start listening for them in the future...