No one knows what that phrase means, but repeating it to the giant robot Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still made Patricia Neal immortal in the memory of not only science fiction fans, but that of movie fans everywhere. While she still lives there, Neal died Sunday at her home on Martha's Vineyard. She was 84. It's remarkable she had such a long and successful career and one wonders how much more she might have done had she not suffered a series of strokes beginning shortly after her Oscar-winning performance opposite Paul Newman in 1963's Hud.

On the fast-moving e-book front, Dorchester Publishing announced over the weekend a shift to e-books away from mass market paperbacks entirely. They'll continue to offer titles requested through print-on-demand as orders warrant. The move was prompted by a sharp drop last year of 25% in sales and a decline in orders from retail outlets. I won't be surprised to see other small publishers follow suit. The economics of the move make it inevitable. However, I wonder if some authors with these houses, such as Christine Feehan, might not want to shift to another to keep their titles physically represented in the larger chain book retailers (B&N, B, and BAM). E-books are the future, but if it were me, I think I'd still want my works on a shelf for as long as that's an option. Over at Crunchgear's a post discussing the future of physical books. Are they dead books walking? What about the publishing houses themselves? With e-books and PayPal, might authors be able to cut them out entirely? Some of that already exists on the internet though how successful such efforts are, I have no idea. There may be no good way to gauge it. At the moment, there's no been a huge move to such a direct distribution model.

Lastly, a happier note for you poozers to check out. ComicBookMovie.com has a look at Kilowog, Green Lantern of Space Sector 674 and primary trainer of newly recruited members of the Corps. He's a sort of fighting geneticist from Bolovax Vik. Oddly, while this image is supposed to emphasize his non-humanoid appearance, Kilowog here looks more human and sympathetic than he does in most comics . And they've made him orange rather than pink, which is far more apropos since the inhabitants of Bolovax Vik were communists. Still, this pic is more fuel for the fire. Seeing Kilowog, Tomar Re , Abin Sur , indeed all 3600 GL's is one of the things I'm most looking forward to next year.