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Thursday, August 19, 2010

Kindle or Nook, Ipad or pulpy print: What's your reader?

I finally got the nerve to go digital.  I'm talking e-book reader.  Yes, I know.

I went to my book wall, gathered all my beauties and told them what I was about to do.  Most of them took the news pretty well, except for hardcover Hunger Games--she pulled out her quiver and bow, aimed, but I was able to talk her out of the shot.

Hardcover Shiver looked at me with his soulful wolf eyes, but I'm a cradle Catholic.  I know how to handle guilt.

Fountainhead smirked; Howard Roark went back to standing naked on the cliff.

"We'll see you again," they all said.

Amex in hand, I clicked to Amazon.  And guess what the heck ever? Temporarily Sold Out. The Kindle, all the jaunty little screens in cool graphite gray sold out until mid September.

Amazon nicely advised me to order now to reserve my place in line.

Pre-order?  Look, Amazon, it's like this: I pre-order books.  I've pre-ordered Mockingjay, anticipating rich pages set in not-too-flouncy Adobe Caslon, though I'd settle for Garamond. 

Place In line?  Maybe for Modest Mouse or Muse tickets, definitely for Radiohead (as if they'd ever) but for a Kindle?  Hmm.  Maybe karma is wagging its craggy Graveyard Book hardcover finger to reconsider.

I'm second guessing my Kindle choice--maybe the Nook or the Ipad is the reader for me. So now I wonder if you can help me.  Which e-reader do you love?

Thursday, August 12, 2010

"Do you feel lucky, punk?” and other awesome misquotes.

If you're like me you love movies!  And, whilst writing a scene that was perfect only for the big Darth, I had to look up a quote from the big man in black.  This is how I remembered it:  Darth Vader telling Luke Skywalker "Luke, I am your father" is a line most movie fans will never forget ... or it would be, if it had ever been said.
The line, from The Empire Strikes Back, was never actually said and is the most misquoted line in movie history.
A poll asked over 1,500 movie fans to name their top movie misquotes with 17 percent voting for the Star Wars blunder.

Real fans will of course know that it was "No, I am your father" delivered by David Prowse in the jaw-drop moment that has been eternally misquoted since its release in 1980.

Number two comes from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs where “Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?” has been turned into the “Mirror, mirror on the wall…” (15 per cent).

Clint Eastwood’s most quoted one-liner "Do you feel lucky, punk?" got third place with real fans knowing it was "Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk?"

Casablanca’s "Play it again, Sam" came in fourth place as the line was actually never spoken in the movie where "You played it for her, you can play it for me ... if she can stand it, I can. Play it!" was said.

Not that we’re one to argue with Hannibal Lector, but the chilling Silence of the Lambs quote in fifth position is also a lie. "Hello Clarice" was in fact more a "Good evening, Clarice"

The Top Ten Movie Misquotes were as follows:
  1. “Luke, I am your father” – Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (17%)
  2. “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) (15%)
  3. “Do you feel lucky, punk?” - Dirty Harry (1971) (13%)
  4. “Play it again, Sam” – Casablanca (1942) (12%)
  5. “Hello, Clarice” – Silence of the Lambs (1991) (10%)
  6. “Beam me up, Scotty!” – Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) (9%)
  7. “Frankly, Scarlett, I don't give a damn” – Gone with the Wind (1939) (7%)
  8. “If you build it, they will come” – Field of Dreams (1989) (6%)
  9. “I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto” – The Wizard of Oz (1939) (5%)
  10. “Mrs. Robinson, are you trying to seduce me?” – The Graduate (1967) (4%)
Thus and muchly, Darth is now quoted correctly in my chapter. 
Tell me, how about you?  What's your favorite movie quote of all time?