Pratchett and MST3K references are my personal favorites.
All somebody has to say to make me smile is “Manos.”
And 1000 points if to anybody who knows who Mr. Ixolite is. (Apart from you Susan. Why don’t you take Binky for a spin?)
No, I’m also a Free Lover (although I’ve only read the Dune books actually written by Frank Herbert). We’re cool, unless you fail to pass yet another of my coolness tests which I won’t even tell you about until you’ve already failed. 
Hat. Hat. Hat.
“Yeah, I admit it. I am a Frank Herbert fan… I celebrate his ENTIRE catalog. But YOU must REALLY like him!” Ghanima Slydell
I actually found out that one of my bosses was a simpsons fan by muttering the phrase " Just because I don’t care doesn’t mean I don’t understand" while in the office.
She laughed (I didn’t realize she could hear me) and said “Get back to work Homer”, which immediately made her super cool in my book, and made me work a little slower for the rest of the day, in honor of my favorite TV dad…
But isn’t that part of the beauty? If someone hears me say “Yes… it is horrible… this idea” (Office Space) and rolls his eyes in an “Oh, Lord, not another one of those dweebs” kind of way, then we’ve both learned something worth knowing.
I’ve always said, “just because I don’t care doesn’t mean I’m not listening,” but I don’t know which one is right.
TheOtherOne is right. I live by those words. My entire family is tired of hearing it, but I still get the feeling that not only do they not care, but they also don’t understand that I’m completely serious.
A friend of mine has that as his voice-mail message. What’s it from?
I think the problem is the term “coolness” as in, those who don’t meet with someone else’s standards suddenly isn’t “cool” (which really is a darn subjective word isn’t it?).
Soooo…these aren’t really so much coolness tests as “connectedness” or compatibility tests, so to speak. IMHO of course 
I mean, people of all types can be cool to a variety of others without knowing a single pop culture reference.
My “tests” involve a wider variety of connectedness than just vague movie/TV quotes. It’s more of an attitude thing, like if someone is quick with a snappy comeback, or is just bright and interested, and interesting. Even a pathetic, dorky OLD joke can be clever if done in the right tone of voice, time and place.
Really, it’s a matter of how well you and the friend or intended “mesh” more than that the meshing is illustrated in tv or movie quotes in common.
But, when it comes right down to it, a well-timed Piers Anthony reference will usually get a giggle out of me at the very least.
Better Off Dead, and the actual line is “Now that’s a real shame when folks be throwin’ away a perfectly good white boy like that.”
The last time I realized I was hopelessly smitten with someone was when we had this conversation:
Him: Hey, how you doing?
Me: I’ve got the world on a string. How’re you?
Him: I’m sitting on a rainbow.
Okay, so maybe that wasn’t that hard, but I was.
Another time was when a friend was showing me some jewelry she made.
Me: That’s cool! Where’d you learn how to do that?
Her: From you, all right? I learned it by watching you!
Wow, BFTP! Gonna have to remember that one.
I don’t know.
Unlike having a vast repository of Monty Python or Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy minutia in your head, social skills are actual real world skills that are always useful everywhere with everyone.
…rectangular…
Am I losing my mind?
No other possibility…
I know. But not everyone has the temperament, or is up to it. Take Michael Stipe, for instance, or Steve Winwood – uber-cool, shy as mice.
If social grace, gregariousness, and connectedness are your thing, great. That’s your judgment of what makes someone attractive to know (or part of it, anyway). But it ain’t mine, necessarily. Sometimes that woman over in the corner looking like she’d rather be anywhere else turns out to be brilliant and funny when you share a smoke on the fire escape.
I do think there is value in finding ways to signal one’s (admittedly shallow, perhaps geeky) likes and indulgences. Those who share them are apt to share traits that result in longer bonds with some actual depth.
In fact, for folks who are shy, who have a hard time with small talk, whose tastes are out of the norm – the uncool, in your book – little flares of quirkiness can light the way to lasting friendships they (we) might otherwise have missed out on.
And if you’re not into it, chances are, they don’t want to hang around you, either.
I think I remember that line from Men at Work when they find the body in the trash can. I haven’t seen Better Off Dead so I don’t know the one TeaElle mentioned, but that’s where the line rings a bell for me.
I just went to IMDB and compared the “memorable quotes”, and I do believe it’s the Men At Work version.
No that’s not what I’m talking about. I have plenty of friends who are quiet or shy but who are still pretty cool to hang out with. I guess what I consider “cool” is too complex to describe in terms of some kind of personality profile or subject matter knowledge.
For example.
Cool:
While on vacation in Brazil, I come back to the appartment to find my friend has picked up two local girls who are now freaking out and acting nuts. I take advantage of a lull in the mayhem to ask “problem with your droids?”
Not Cool:
Wearing a Luke Skywalker jacket to work
Constantly regurgitating pop-culture phrases like “I’m Rick James bitch” or Monty Python quotes is pretty dorky. But the ocassional well-timed quote can be really funny.
Agreed.