Mr. Hand (stepping on a newspaper clipping): "So it seems you discovered your unpleasant nature."
John Murdoch: "Who are you?"
Mr. Hand: "We might ask the same question, yes? Sleep... now."
Dark City
Mr. Hand (stepping on a newspaper clipping): "So it seems you discovered your unpleasant nature."
John Murdoch: "Who are you?"
Mr. Hand: "We might ask the same question, yes? Sleep... now."
Dark City
"Did you see that shot, Grady? That looked like a 3-year-old girl picking her nose. I can't believe it. This guy, you know, he couldn't get a h***-on if he had to."
— a commentary between Grady Matthews and Ken Taylor on a pool tournament.
Dr. Schreber: "When they first brought us here, they extracted what was in us and stored the information, remixed it like so much paint, and gave us back new memories of their choosing. But they still needed an artist to help them. I understood the human mind better than they ever could, so they allowed me to keep my skills as a scientist... because they needed them. They made me delete everything else. Can you imagine what it's like to erase your own past?"
Dark City
Luck is just a residue of skill.
— commentary on an Efren v Danny Smith one-pocket pool game....unknown name of commentator.
Dr. Schreber: "Remember John, never talk to Strangers!"
Dark City
“Honey, I never drive faster than I can see. Besides that, it’s all in the reflexes.”
— movie
Mr. Book (after Mr. Hand is imprinted with Murdoch's memories): "Is it done?"
Mr. Hand: "Oh yes, Mr. Book. I have John Murdoch in mind."
Dark City
“"You know what Andy Warhol’s sole contribution to this country has been?”" he asked. "“He made Campbell’s Soup a household word.”"
— John Waters, pretty sure
Mr. Book: "Shut it down! Shut it down forever!"
Dark City
"If I could tell you one thing, it’s this: A humble life is not a small one. Not everyone needs to dominate. Some of us are here to outlast. To endure. To watch. To teach. To take the shot when it feels right and walk away smiling, win or lose."
— Efren "The Magician" Reyes, arguably the greatest pocket billiards player, in interview.
Mr. Wall: "No more Mr. Quick. Mr. Quick, dead, yes."
Another Stranger: "Poor, poor Mr. Quick."
Dark City
"She's like a school in summer. No Class, and not a lot going on"
— anon.
Dr. Schreber: "There is no ocean, John. There is nothing beyond the city. The only place home exists... is in your head."
Dark City
"Tactile and kinesthetic images *— images of what you will feel, images of your body in motion — matter at least as much as visual images, perhaps more [sic]."
— Fancher [i]Pleasures of Small Motions. Mastering the Mental Game of Pocket Billiards[i].
John Murdoch: "I was just thinking, what you do seems kind of dangerous right now. I mean, how do you know I'm not the killer?"
May, a prostitute: "I don't. Why, you feeling any urges I should know about?"
Dark City
"It's a long time to stay on your feet, concentrating, walking around the table without taking a break. People often don't realize how great a part fatigue can play in a long game of pool. It's a physically, as well as mentally, stressful occupation."
— Willie Mosconi (arguably the GOAT 14.1 continuous specialist), with Stanley Cohen, Willie's Game
John Murdoch: "Hey, do you know the way to Shell Beach?"
Taxi Driver: "You're kidding! Me and the Mrs. spent our honeymoon there. All you gotta do is take Main Street West to... or is it the Cross... You know, that's funny, I can't remember if it's Main Street West or the Crosstown."
Dark City
"The strain of competing in a tournament or a challenge match could drain you dry, and it was the same no matter who my opponent was; my concentration was total. Someone could be doing a dance on another table, and if it was not in my line of sight I wouldn't notice."
— Mosconi, Willie's Game
Dr. Schreber: "You still don't understand, John. You were never a boy. Not in this place."
Dark City
"“How can you learn from watching bad players?” I asked him as I laughed.
“Because a lot of times,” he said, “the weak players make these impossible shots. They shoot even though they don’t have a chance to pocket the ball, but sometimes the ball goes in. I learned a lot of trick shots from watching bad players.”"
— Ted Lerner for The Atlantic, in an article about pool and billiards legend Efren Reyes.
Dr. Schreber: "Listen to me, John. You have their power. You can make things happen by will alone. They call it 'Tuning.' That is how they make the buildings change. Just now you acted out of self-defense, a reflex. But I can teach you to control your power consciously. Let me help you, John. Together, we can stop them. We can take the city back."
Dark City
“It ain’t no ballpark either. Look maybe your method of massage differs from mine, but touchin’ his lady’s feet, and stickin’ your tongue in her holyiest of holies, ain’t the same ballpark, ain’t the same league, ain’t even the same fuckin’ sport. Foot massages don’t mean shit.”
— Pulp Fiction
Mr. Wall: "Indulge us, Mr. Hand. If you were Murdoch... Yes?"
Mr. Hand: "If I were Murdoch... I would remember how my wife had hurt me by sleeping with another man. And then, I would look for a way to hurt her in return... Leave me alone with her. There is work to be done."
Dark City
"So Filipino Gene plays her some gin for fifty dollars a game. Now you can say what you want about Gene but he's a superior gin player, absolutely world-class. In pool he may be a shortstop these days, but in gin he's a champion."
— David McCumber, Playing off the rail : A pool hustler's journey.
Mr. Hand: "I have become the monster you were intended to be."
Dark City
The worldly hope men set their hearts upon
turns ashes - or it prospers; and anon,
Like snow upon the desert's dusty face,
Lighting a little hour or two - is gone.
- Omar Khayyam, excerpt from The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám.
"About 99% of the calcium within the body and 90% of the phosphorous are deposited in bones and teeth. These minerals give bone its rigidity, and they account for approximately two thirds of the weight of bone."
— Schaum's Outlines: Human Anatomy and Physiology, Fourth Edition
"For example, the word inspiration has an odd meaning for its evolution. It began its existence as the Latin verb spirare, which means “to breathe.” By adding in- to the front, a new verb was derived that meant “to breathe in/into.” This was turned into the noun inspirationem, which came to us by way of French. It should mean “breathing in,” a generic noun, but it instead makes reference to an unseen deity literally breathing into a human being in order to give them ideas about stuff. That’s inspiration".
David J. Peterson, The Art of Language Invention: From Horse-Lords to Dark Elves to Sand Worms, the Words Behind World-Building
"No concrete evidence for either of these theories exists. Yet even though he [Bon Scott] died before AC/DC truly exploded into the rock band many recognize today, Bon Scott's status as an Australian icon remains secure."
— https://www.grunge.com/223473/the-tr...dcs-bon-scott/
"One minute it was Ohio winter, with doors closed, windows locked, the panes blind with frost, icicles fringing every roof, children skiing on slopes, housewives lumbering like great black bears in their furs along the icy streets.
And then a long wave of warmth crossed the small town. A flooding sea of hot air; it seemed as if someone had left a bakery door open. The heat pulsed among the cottages and bushes and children. The icicles dropped, shattering, to melt. The doors flew open. The windows flew up. The children worked off their wool clothes. The housewives shed their bear disguises. The snow dissolved and showed last summer's ancient green lawns.
Rocket summer. The words passed among the people in the open, airing houses. Rocket summer. The warm desert air changing the frost patterns on the windows, erasing the art work. The skis and sleds suddenly useless. The snow, falling from the cold sky upon the town, turned to a hot rain before it touched the ground.
Rocket summer. People leaned from their dripping porches and watched the reddening sky.
The rocket lay on the launching field, blowing out pink clouds of fire and oven heat. The rocket stood in the cold winter morning, making summer with every breath of its mighty exhausts. The rocket made climates, and summer lay for a brief moment upon the land...."
Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles
Excellent. I read that not long ago, in the unfortunately not-very-good graphic novel of Bradbury's masterpiece.
Ptl. Husselbeck: "Everything Det. Walenski committed to paper should be here."
Insp. Bumstead: "The only thing that should be committed is Wolenski."
Dark City
"I'm like Nolan fucking Ryan with these pool balls. I can hit somebody in the melon with one at ten feet. And there's sixteen of them on the table."
— "Bucktooth," quoted in David McCumber, Playing Off the Rail : A Pool Hustler's Journey.
Dr. Schreber: "It appears that John has suffered a psychotic break. Complete memory loss. He may be delusional. Even violent. Emma, if he were to contact you, and I suspect he will, you must call me immediately. Do you understand? It is imperative that I be the first one to reach him. Wherever your husband is, he is searching... for himself."
Dark City
McCumber to Tony: "Listen, you fucking hairy Italian. I'd appreciate it, myself, if you didn't leave long black hairs all over the sink and the shower. You know, you're just like a poodle. I swear, you're all hair. If you shaved all the hair off your body, you'd weigh sixty-five pounds."
Tony to McCumber: "At least I have hair on my head, you frog-faced, bald-domed, four-eyed fuckin [sic] nit.
— David McCumber, Playing Off the Rail : A Pool Hustler's Journey
Mr. Book: "He's becoming like us."
Mr. Wall: "So we must become like him."
Dark City
"So now, when I get dressed every day, I pretend I'm a model. Even in Baltimore."
— John Waters, Role Models (2010)
Walenski: "Used to be a cop, at least in this life I was. They steal people's memories every night they change the city, back-and-forth, back-and-forth... 'till nobody knows who they are anymore."
Dark City
"We finally located [a mobile home] we could afford — a mere shell of a mobile home that had been burned to a crisp in a fire. Excitedly I imagined that people had died in this very trailer."
— John Waters, Shock Value, speaking of finding sets for his movie Pink Flamingos
Walenski: "Once in a while someone wakes up while they're changing things; it's not supposed to happen, but it does. They'll come looking for you, Murdock, just like they've come looking for me. But that's okay. I've figured a way out."
Dark City
"So Filipino Gene plays her some gin for fifty dollars a game. Now you can say what you want about Gene but he's a superior gin player, absolutely world-class. In pool he may be a shortstop these days, but in gin he's a champion."
— David McCumber, Playing Off the Rail : A Pool Hustler's Journey
Lucius: "Honey?"
Honey: "What?"
Lucius: "Where's my super suit?"
The Incredibles
"Certains lundis de la toute fin novembre, ou du début de décembre, surtout lorsqu'on est célibataire. on a la sensation d'etre dans le couloir de la mort. Les vacances d'été sont depuis longtemps oubliées, la nouvelle année est encore loin ; la prxomité du néant est inhuabituelle."
— Houllebecq, Anéantir
That is a hell of a ballsy way to open a novel, IMHO.
Here's MS Bing's translation, which seems good to me:
No, I just started the novel, and have read nothing else by Houellebecq....the prose is a kind of a popcorn style, I suppose, and I have a bunch of other books to read, but it's kind of fun to have acquired a "beach novel" for cheap from the Zon and I enjoy this guy's kind of clumsy purple prose. I think it's pretty recent, so that'll broaden my perspective a bit from the ancients and the near-ancients. /* edit....no, I don't like the Bing translation that much....but it's close enough....it conveys that the narrator is unhappy or even disturbed and has that kind Truffaut-movie feeling to it. So, good enough. *>Some Mondays in late November or early December, especially when you are single, feel like being on death row. Summer vacation has long been forgotten, the new year is still far away; the proximity of nothingness is unusual.
Last edited by Jizzelbin; 21 Dec 2025 at 03:01 AM.
Hope you love it! I just finished Ian McEwan's new sf/future history/academic satire/literary mystery novel What We Can Know, and it's quite good.
Honey: "Don't you think about running off doing no derring-do! We've been planning this dinner for two months!"
Lucius: "The public is in danger!"
Honey: "My evening's in danger!"
The Incredibles
Last edited by Elendil's Heir; 22 Dec 2025 at 10:46 PM.
"'Divine Discontent gets all the smiles all the time,' complained Fortitude to Prudence. 'Golly, but it's good to be on dry land.'"
— Evelyn Waugh, Vile Bodies
Lucius: "You tell me where my suit is, woman! We are talking about the greater good!"
Honey: "'Greater good?' I am your wife! I'm the greatest good you are ever gonna get!"
The Incredibles
Nice.
"About fifty meters further on, an Aston Martin DB11 came on in to the visitor's parking lot; so, Fred had arrived. It was kind of odd, to have this geek [in English in the text] like Fred who should by rights have been driving a Tesla, and yet we had this old school faithfulness to the internal combustion engine. He sat there for a few minutes, solid minutes went by when he was revving his engine up with that V12. He finally got out, shut the door behind him."
— Houellebecq, Anéantir. I think somebody has translated that into English....I don't exactly know why or what for. Spoiler alert: Houellebecq is kind of a dick IRL....that's his whole reason he's now this airport-novel type person....might be his last novel before he keels over in front of his bride. Who knows. A series of disjunct statements of fact...I don't know why I recalled this passage, which is pretty early on in the novel...just that's the amount of political engagement one can get from MichelH...just a set of facts about some stupid car and some "geek" revving the 12C engine for kicks. Not something that would be out of place in a David Lynch movie.
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