Entry, entry, poll.

[active_apathy]

So, today. Today was a fun excursion back into the world of exchanging money-thingies for goods and services. This focused on my adventures at the supermarket, and then a long exchange with bookshop employees.

More on that later.

As you've all no doubt heard, the American Film Institute has compiled its list of their top 100 movie lines. As you'd expect, this is a very US-centric list, and puts lines from Titanic up there with one of the few lines to be in all six Star Wars films.

To counter this oversight, we have a special survey to see how it should've been. Well... according to my readership, that is. Take no notice of the questions; they're all worth one point each. The worst line will be specially pointed out, and open to mocking. Please, tell me who said it and in what, because that'll make things much easier later on.

And now, the
[Poll #546977]

Moving on, we have grocery shopping. Saturday morning grocery shopping is something of a contact sport, and creates all kinds of personal hazards. This was made up for by a rather nice peppermint and chocolate topping, which appealed to my love of peppermint and chocolate. This is also the first time in quite some time that I've had to put things onto, rather than into, the trolley. My cupboards managed to get that empty.

Particularly notable events included:

• Getting through the Old-Folk Shopping Trolley Blockade in the aisle with tea and biscuits, of which I wanted both.
• The Perilous Stench of the Man Who Washes Infrequently
• The Animated Bulk of the Large, Footballer-esque Man Who Spies Food Samples
• The Unsupervised Small Child who is a Trainee Sprinter with a Talent for Running Into People. Literally.
• The Trolley of Uncertain Direction

In short, it was completely normal.

And, next, my bookshop experience. I went to buy more books, obviously, and ended up with Pyramids by you-know-who (No, Potterfans. I mean Mr Pratchett) and Fool Moon, the second Dresden Files book from jimbutcher. And then, it was time to do some ordering to catch up a little with book recommendations.

Wicked was easy enough to order - there's a copy on this side of all relevant oceans, and it should be on its merry way. No price as yet, but that doesn't seem to worry them at all. The hardest part was convincing a cricket-obsessed shop assistant's ears to work properly.

And then Arrows of the Queen posed less of a challenge, though it has to come from the US. Now, this is where things get odd. The other two in its trilogy will cost about $AU20 each to buy. This one, coming halfway around the world, will cost me $AU12. Does that seem right to you?

And, lastly, Goldman's abridgement of Morgenstern took a whole 3 hours out of my day in actual reading. The abridgement notes amused me, and almost make me want to buy a copy of the full Morgenstern version with 70 pages of training and 14 pages of hats and the lineage of the king of Florin and a million other details, principally because it's immensely detailed and obsessively accurate about its historical details.

And that's it for the moment.

Comments

[leila82.livejournal.com]

I'm off to do my own Saturday morning grocery shopping. Hopefully, I'll survive, along with the credit card.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

Good luck. You'll need it.

[leila82.livejournal.com]

It's actually not that bad - more depressing than anything else. The store is located in the gay community, which means there are lots of happy male couples. Since I'm single, straight, and female, this makes for a sad trip. Although the couples are very cute together. Thankfully, no screaming children.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

Oh. So, your supermarket terrors aren't the same as mine, where I am single, not-straight and female and shove a trolley through the spaces between not-so-happy mixed couples with their obnoxious childentities.

[leila82.livejournal.com]

Yes, you seem to have a whole different level of terrors. The children seem to be the worst part of the whole thing. It's hard enough dealing with my own inner child screaming for cake and cookies. I don't want to hear other children screaming also.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

Oooh... cake. What kind? I mean... um... yes. Children are annoying. Does Anakin do supermarkets?

[leila82.livejournal.com]

The inner child loves all cake, really, but has a marked preference for chocolate.

Would answer about Anakin, but I have never seen Star Wars - that is where he's from, isn't it? - and so don't know if he likes supermarkets.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

I side with your inner child there. The invention of chocolate cake was when civilisation truly began.

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

For me, at least, the main weakness of that list was how many of the really high entries were meaningless outside the immediate context of the scene in which they were spoken. The Godfather and Citizen Kane ones, maybe, because they've taken on secondary meaning on account of their films' popularity. The ones I picked (some of which made it, none of them very high) have become catchphrases, but they're substantial enough to qualify as well-written in their own rights (writes?).

/babble

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

Right.

And, yes. A need for context isn't a good sign for a supposedly classic line.

Also, you may wish to amend your answers slightly. A little extra movie-fu can save many minutes of google-fu.

More of the Boondock Saints, cuz it wouldn't fit:

[eighthcloud.livejournal.com]

Connor: Now you will receive us.
Murphy: We do not ask for your poor, or your hungry.
Connor: We do not want your tired and sick.
Murphy: It is your corrupt we claim.
Connor: It is your evil that will be sought by us.
Murphy: With every breath, we shall hunt them down.
Connor: Each day we will spill their blood, 'til it rains down from the skies.
Murphy: Do not kill. Do not rape. Do not steal. These are principles which every man of every faith can embrace.
Connor: These are not polite suggestions, these are codes of behavior, and those of you that ignore them will pay the dearest cost.
Murphy: There are varying degrees of evil. We urge you lesser forms of filth, not to push the bounds and cross over, in to true corruption, into our domain.
Connor: For if you do, one day you will look behind you and you will see we three, and on that day you will reap it.
Murphy: And we will send you to whatever god you wish.

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

Point the First: The AFI is a government institute dedicated to preserving films that are more than 20 years old and are deemed "culturally significant". That's why there's an American bias - the films have to relate to American culture in some way to be included.

Point the Second: S. Morgenstern never existed. The whole "this is an abridgement" business is a dramatic device. Nothing more.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Princess_Bride#Note_on_the_text

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

Response the First: Titanic, Jerry Maguire and The Sixth Sense - to name but a few - somewhat sink the age and significance requirements as far as that list is concerned.

Response the Second: And now I've made myself look like an idiot. *headdesk*

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

Followup Primus: My bad. I was thinking of the National Film Registry (and it's older than 10 years for that, double bad on my end).

Followup Secundus: It's an easy mistake to make. You have not made yourself look like an idiot, merely like a geek.

Fact: Geeks are sexy. So I fail to see a problem here.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

Followup Primus Response: The AFI poll did, however, only list US films. Furthermore, the results can be reasonably determined to have been influenced by the way the AFI set the ballot; there were five write-in spaces, and the most represented film in the list - Casablanca - happened to have the greatest number of quotes in the final list. They determine US film by US investment, so money is more important than culture; this explains why, for example, LotR:TtT is in there.

Followup Secundus Response: Quite possibly. It makes for fiction that's doubly inventive, and the sheer absurdity can make it more believable. Still, it doesn't really help just yet. Give it a little while.

Reply to Factual Statement: Oh? And what's your source?

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

Continuation Uno: Perhaps this is true. Unfortunately, I cannot be bothered to truly care that much. I've never been much of a movie person to begin with. Besides, I'd assume anything billing itself as the American Film Institute would be biased.

Continuation Dos: It's The Princess Bride. It is so many different flavours of awesome that the details are irrelevant.

Confirmation of Fact: I am poor, physically unattractive, have a child, have spent most of my adult life unemployed, tend to annoy people, have highly unusual practices and beliefs and am a total geek.

Despite having pretty well every aspect of my character working against me... I somehow have not one, but three significant others at the same time. They've even told me they love my geekiness. There is no other possible explanation.

Confirmation 2: http://www.livejournal.com/community/welovegeeks/576349.html
This speaks for itself.

[nyctanessa.livejournal.com]

http://www.livejournal.com/users/teh_indy/96015.html

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link! The wallpapers themselves aren't my thing, but you get a *hug* for the attempt. :)

[nyctanessa.livejournal.com]

:D!

[eighthcloud.livejournal.com]

::loves [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] for having a quote from The Land Before Time::

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

OK... how about the BRITISH Film Institute Top Ten list?

http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

It's good to see a film institute that's not scared of the rest of the world. :)