phil ringnalda

One of the fi’ in Footfall, I beleive.

Got it in one (though you won’t collect your bonus points that way).

For a book I claim not to have liked very well, I sure use it a lot: between ”That is not in my thuktun” and ”Lead me”, it covers quite a bit of my thoughts at work.

Ok, sorry, I guess I don’t know the rules.

I don’t have a copy handy, but as I recall, one of the fi’ was translating something Congressman Dawson said during the human counter-attack.

I never did figure out what phrase it was he was translating *from*.

Do I get my bonus points now?

Absolutely: I was only refusing to award them since you posted anonymously.

I’m too lazy to search for it, but as I remember it was a translation from some classic movie that you were expected to know (and I didn’t).

Oops. I didn’t even notice I had posted anonymously until just now.

Hmm. The only movie I recall being referenced was ’Deep Throat’, but that was a different scene.

Why doesn’t your site remember my form values, btw?

Now it’s going to drive me crazy until I can get my hands on a copy (I don’t seem to have one, and neither does my library).

If you’ve got javascript off, then I’ll cruelly refuse to remember you. Other than that, I thought I had it fixed to work with about anything (after several rounds of fixes).

I can’t recall a movie for this line either. Was searching for it on the web, and found your posting. Always imagined it was from some Arthurian legend. I could also see it as from the 3 Musketeers, or most any setting with a highly prized weapon.

This mystery was driving me crazy too… The break came near the end of FootFall when Dawson uses the word ’arm’ instead of ’digits’…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweeney_Todd_(musical)

Todd clutches the instruments and sings softly to his ”friends” of the ruby-red that will soon adorn their silver sheen, while Mrs. Lovett quietly reminds him that she is his friend as well. (My Friends) Todd stands up, a mad gleam in his eye, and holds his razor aloft. ”At last,” he cries, ”my arm is complete again!” (The Ballad of Sweeney Todd, Reprise: ”Swing Your Razor Wide, Sweeney)

Hoorah!

DN

Bless you, Dead Nancy! Just used it in conversation, couldn’t remember where it (the digits version) came from, Googled it, and got a lovely reminder of how great a thing blog comments used to be.

wow, this is a long running thread. if anyone is interested, it isn’t congressman dawson who says this, it’s arvid rogachev who says this towards the end when they come across the weapons that were taken when kosmograd was first taken. this is my all time favorite book and i’ve read it about six or seven times lol. glad to see there’s others out there

It was in Footfall, a story by Larry Niven. In it, the elephant like aliens were watching movies stolen from a library to try to understand these human beings and they were quite puzzled by the reference.

Later, the Soviet cosmonauts were able to steal into an armory and steal a couple of pistols…and one of them said the same line but in better vernacular.

I thought it also came from the Ring Series of Opera. Sigried pulling the sword out of the tree?

Sweeney Todd may have also used it, but the quote is from Shakespeare– one of the Richard plays, I think Richard III, and is referring to the King clasping a sword again.