Month: September 2014

“I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.”

From: Aliens

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Ellen Ripley

The story behind the quote: This is the first quote that was submitted by an outside source! And it comes from Andy Drop. Please check out his site (remline.de)!

The quote comes from Aliens, the second film from the Aliens film franchise. Ellen Ripley, the only survivor of the Nostromo, leads a crew of soldiers to the colony on planet LV-426 to investigate what happened there. After their initial devastating encounters with the Xenomorphs species, the survivors discuss tactics on how to handle the situation.

One of them wants to use gas on the creatures while another says they should just leave. Ripley, knowing what the creatures can do delivers the quote… as it seems to be the safe thing to do to make sure the aliens are taken out and to make sure they don’t harm anyone else.

Geek wisdom: If you can’t live on an planet full of aliens, live without it! Sometimes, if you want something unpleasant to end, you may want to skip negotiations or elaborate tactics and just employ a tactical warhead.

If someone ignores your attempts of telling him/her not to hurt you over and over again, it’s often better to leave that person with a bang instead of trying to reason with someone who will not listen to reason.

Once again, thanks to Andy Drop for this quote! 

“Where’s the beef?”

From: 80’s Wendy’s commercial

Genre: Television

Who said it?: Old Lady/Clara Peller

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from a successful series of commercials made by Wendy’s. The reason why these ads were so successful was because people still remember its slogan.

The first ad shows three elderly ladies marveling at the size of the “fluffy” bun offered by Wendy’s competitors. However, after taking the top bun off, we actually see that the size of the hamburger patty is very small. While two of the ladies keep their mouth shut, the third old lady (Clara Peller) disgruntledly delivers the quote, which has become some sort of a catchphrase for her.

Geek wisdom: Like in the commercial, the bun may make the burger look big. But in reality, since the meat patty isn’t that big, you’re actually being shortchanged. Unfortunately, it’s easy to be fooled by appearances. In fact, sometimes, we only concern ourselves with appearances.

People these days are more concerned style over substance. We tend to forget that substance is definitely more important than superficial features.

“This one’s for you, Morph!”

From: X-Men (cartoon)

Genre: Cartoons, Television

Who said it?: Wolverine

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from the excellent animated X-Men animated series which ran from 1992 to 1997. The show is based on Marvel comics popular team of mutants. The show did a great job of translating some of the story lines from the comics it was based on, even if it did introduce some new elements…

One such element was the introduction of a character named Morph, who has the mutant ability to shapeshift. It was implied that he was a close friend of Wolverine. Unfortunately, Morph is killed in Episode 2. Wolverine does manage to get some manner of revenge by wrecking a couple of Sentinels. In fact, the quote comes from Wolverine while destroying one of the mutant hunting machines.

Geek wisdom: Just because someone dies, it doesn’t mean that they are gone from our lives. We still have the memories of our times with them. In fact, we can actually gain strength by the severe loss of a loved one. We can honor their memory by going through life and recalling happy memories with our dear departed ones once in a while.

“Let the wookie win.”

From: Star Wars

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: C3-P0

The story behind the quote: As much as I love the Star Wars films, it’s difficult to find clips on YouTube where the characters actually say the quotes since they’re usually taken down immediately. This was one of those quotes I wanted to write about when I started this site but I was never able to find a clip of the said quote… until now.

The quote comes from the first Star Wars film. R2-D2 and Chewbacca are playing a form of chess and Artoo is beating the wookie. Chewie starts “complaining” about losing and C3-P0 states that he has no right to complain. Han Solo then chimes in and says that there are certain “bad” things that can happen if you emerge victorious over Chewbacca’s species. It’s then Threepio delivers the quote to Artoo.

Geek wisdom: Winning isn’t everything. While it does feel good to actually display your dominance over someone during a game of chess or any other form of competition, it’s not the most important thing in the world. In the grand scheme of things, it’s still a game.