Comments for The Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas

Comment on KAMN Show #47: Blade Runner by Frank

Frank — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:12:25 +0000

The explanation I’d heard for the Unicorn was the legend that the unicorn would lay it’s head in the lap of the maiden, so the hunter could kill it. The end of the movie becomes that he’s taking Rachel out to the woods to dispatch her. You spend the movie watching the replicants become human, and the Bladerunner become less human as the hunt goes on.

Y’all make me want to read that book on the making of the movie now.

Thanks for a great show!

frank

Comment on KAMN Show #47: Blade Runner by tvindy

tvindy — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:52:00 +0000

Thank God you’re back!

Comment on KAMN Show #47: Blade Runner by Vanamonde

Vanamonde — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:35:58 +0000

Well no mention of the book the film is oh so loosely based on…aaarrrggghhh.

Comment on KAMN Show #47: Blade Runner by Rhettro

Rhettro — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:29:39 +0000

I see KAMN is taking on one of my favorite movies of all time. I guess I should give a listen.

Comment on KAMN Show #47: Blade Runner by Arkle

Arkle — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:39:48 +0000

I believe Jen was thinking of Velvet Underground when she said Velvet Goldmine. I’m guessing from the context of what she was saying. I know that because A) I love Velvet Underground (especially Nico), and 2) I’ve more than once jokingly referred to my Geek of all Trades show as the Velvet Underground of Podcasts.

Comment on KAMN Show #46: Fahrenheit 451 by Jack

Jack — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:39:07 +0000

Hey folks.. interesting discussion. Lots of stuff I agreed. Lots I disagreed. And lots I shook my head at.
Next time you should invite a teacher like me, who actually teaches F 451 in my English class as to why we teach it

What I find most instructive is how New Media folks are critical of his new media stance but pro to his anti-government stance.
J

Comment on KAMN Show #46: Fahrenheit 451 by Book review CLASSIC: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury « The Riber Report

Book review CLASSIC: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury « The Riber Report — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:28:39 +0000

[...] read this book years ago as a kid but recently re-read it because one of my favourite podcasts, The Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas, were doing an episode on it. I didn’t really think much of it back in the day, but I have to [...]

Comment on KAMN Show #46: Fahrenheit 451 by Frank

Frank — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:51:42 +0000

Great show, gang! I haven’t read it for years and after Jen’s comments of it being a much different read as an adult than it was in high school, I’ve dug it out and placed it back in my “to read” pile. Hope to hear from y’all again soon!

Comment on KAMN Show #46: Fahrenheit 451 by Doodle-y Do | BrainWyrms

Doodle-y Do | BrainWyrms — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 02:32:39 +0000

[...] KAMN Show #46: Fahrenheit 451 [...]

Comment on KAMN Show #46: Fahrenheit 451 by Granger

Granger — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:44:18 +0000

Great show! i loved the varying analyses and criticisms of this popular work from the group. I always enjoy these KAMN shows, both for works I have read and those I have not. Keep ‘em coming!

Comment on KAMN Show #46: Fahrenheit 451 by Martin R

Martin R — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 10:20:49 +0000

My main problem with F451 is that the whole premise of the book is so unrealistic that I can’t take the story seriously. I mean, come on — fire fighters driving around and burning people’s books? That just ridiculous. Bradbury clearly didn’t intend for us to believe in his world. I had the same feeling of let-down when I tried to read the Martian Chronicles. There I was disgusted to find undisguised American 50s housewives waving to their hubbies when they left for work. F451 is a parable, a simile, not world-building. Ans that in my opinion disqualifies it as sf.

Comment on KAMN Show #46: Fahrenheit 451 by Matthew Sanborn Smith

Matthew Sanborn Smith — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 06:38:59 +0000

That was a really quick turn around for you guys. Thanks!

Comment on KAMN Show #46: Fahrenheit 451 by Arkle

Arkle — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 06:07:49 +0000

Oh wow, cool. I didn’t even know this was coming. It’s like a late Solstice present for my iPod.

Comment on KAMN Show #46: Fahrenheit 451 by Summer

Summer — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 00:55:27 +0000

We’ve never truly gone anywhere… we just haven’t been able to get our acts collectively together to do this more frequently!

It dawned on me last night that we did more shows in 2007 than we did in 2008-2009 combined. We need to work on that

Comment on KAMN Show #46: Fahrenheit 451 by tvindy

tvindy — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:55:29 +0000

Thank God you’re back!

Comment on KAMN Show #45: Ghostbusters by Curnir

Curnir — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 10:59:12 +0000

my mistake, sorry bout that y’all.

Comment on Show #2: Stranger In A Strange Land by Fred Kiesche

Fred Kiesche — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:51:27 +0000

I’d recommend a look for a Spider Robinson essay on Heinlein (I think it is available online at The Heinlein Society). Apparently I liked the book more than you all in the show.

(And the book was written way before “free love” was widely around…I believe RAH started writing it in the later 1950’s possibly…maybe “free love” was inspired by the book and not the other way around? Alas, Charles Manson claimed to have been inspired by it.

Comment on KAMN Show #9: Sundiver by Fred Kiesche

Fred Kiesche — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:47:01 +0000

Sundiver: First novel, not really “the first in the first trilogy”. First in a series, yes. So the ideas were developed/fleshed out by the second, third, etc.

How much impact did the book have? Well, in the dark days when the internet was Arpanet and KAMN was a usenet group called “SF-Lovers”, we voted it one of our favorites. But there were a few less books back then! It did generate a lot of conversation, as I recall.

First novel: So how much did his editor have in problems in the book? For example, for his second in the series (Startide Rising) there are two editions of the book: one has a chunk restored.

I would recommend a look at his “Contacting Aliens: An Illustrated Guide to David Brin’s Uplift Universe”, sort of a “non-fiction” book on the series. You really can see all the relationships between the alien races and how, for example, some races were uplifted basically so they could be evolved in a certain way and be doomed to be servants for their whole racial lives.

I have a feeling that the McGuffin in “Startide Rising” (the progenitor fleet that the “Streaker” discovers) essentially gave Brin a headache–he set up a situation which is mentioned in “The Uplift War” (and leads to what drives some of that story), and brings us the trilogy, but taking the story further–he may have written himself into such a corner that he can’t go out, so we haven’t seen anything else in the series (other than some short stories).

Comment on KAMN Show #16: Space: Above and Beyond by Fred Kiesche

Fred Kiesche — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:39:14 +0000

One thing that always cracked me up about this show was the episode (or was there more than one) where you had the pilots doing the ground pounder thing. You spend millions (pilots cost a lot to train) to make them pilots and then you put them into an infantry role? Sorry, no…

Comment on KAMN Show #38: The Forever War by Fred Kiesche

Fred Kiesche — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:30:23 +0000

I’ll chime in on the realistic training (and casualties thereof). “Train as you’ll fight”. Now we can’t use real bullets and such (despite what a certain movie supposedly based on Gulf War I tried to show…), but we train with “MILES” gear (laser tag…but up to tanks and such), lots of PT, long marches, crawling in the mud, etc. If you don’t stress the people during training and teach them what they are capable of (as well as teaching you important skills like attention to detail–gee, you were not watching and did not latch your helmet all the way, oh well!), then you’ll have casualties during the real thing. Look at “The Children’s Crusade” or soldiers marching off from their homes to the first battle of Bull Run thinking it would be picnic.

Starship Troopers: Some of the comments during the show made me think that the speakers had only seen **the movie** and not read the book. The two are **very different**. For one thing, Heinlein talks about you getting the “franchise” (ability to vote) by doing civic service. A forest ranger would have gotten the vote, a firefighter, a teacher, possibly even non-governmental civic workers; volunteering to work in a third-world nation, perhaps. More than the “military” got the vote.

A MilSF classic that you should look up: “Armor” by John Steakley (DAW, 1984 edition is the most recent one I have). Makes a good counterpoint to both of these (Heinlein and Haldeman).