Author Topic: EP164: The Right Kind of Town  (Read 37915 times)

stePH

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Reply #75 on: July 10, 2008, 04:47:38 AM
Comparing all sci-fi westerns to Firefly is particularly unfair since the aforementioned Oblivion movies, as well as the anime Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, and Outlaw Star, all predate Firefly by some years.
I can't speak for Outlaw Star (that's a new one to me), but Trigun and Bebop were certainly great sci-fi westerns. I may even like those better than Firefly, though i can't say i've seen enough episodes to make a fair judgment.

I think the most "western" thing about Cowboy Bebop is simply the title, and that the main characters are bounty hunters.  And there's that one episode (out of twentysix) called "Cowboy Funk" with the rival bounty hunter who dresses like a cowboy.

I haven't seen Outlaw Star either.

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birdless

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Reply #76 on: July 10, 2008, 06:05:19 PM
I think the most "western" thing about Cowboy Bebop is simply the title, and that the main characters are bounty hunters.  And there's that one episode (out of twentysix) called "Cowboy Funk" with the rival bounty hunter who dresses like a cowboy.

I haven't seen Outlaw Star either.
True, about Cowboy Bebop.



Roney

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Reply #77 on: July 10, 2008, 08:17:12 PM
Legacy of Heorot by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle is fantastic.  Likewise the relentlessly nasty Coyote by Allen Steele.

Loved Legacy of Heorot.  Hadn't heard of Coyote but it sounds fascinating -- I've added it to my ever-expanding to-read list...
« Last Edit: July 10, 2008, 08:45:06 PM by Russell Nash »



stePH

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Reply #78 on: July 10, 2008, 08:36:58 PM
mmmmmmm ... grilled samlon  :P

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Planish

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Reply #79 on: July 11, 2008, 07:14:50 AM
My biggest problem was not knowing who/what Nightwalkers were. A company? A species? A profession? A travelling culture, like [the Hollywood notion of] Gypsies? Are they only up in orbit on a ship? Half the time I thought it was "nightworkers". Cate mentions being "half Nightwalker" - which of her characteristics were Nightwalker - the plant parts, or what?
Did Freeman know Cate was part Nightwalker? Evidently not, since she says he didn't notice a lot of things.

I got real confused right after she asked Freeman if it was a business arrangement or what. Her reaction to his answer really muddied some things up, like what her motivation was in doing him in.

There was some potential with exploring the Nightwalker's code.  What would have happened if the code demanded that someone be protected who did not deserve it?  What happens when it conflicts with human law?  The western and science fiction genres have the ideal tools for exploring issues like this.  
The Code... If she cared about the Code, why should it matter whether or not Freeman was aware of it?
Or is the Code more like guidelines?

Claim of ignorance: I missed how Cate realized that Mr. Big Shot killed her friend.
I had to replay it to figure that one out.
@14:23 - "The Nightwalkers didn't normally share information with outsiders. What happened in Nightwalker territory stayed in Nightwalker territory. Freeman should have been able to avail himself of any of the indentured pleasure slave there to any degree, without it getting back to any other Human ears. Still, Family's good for something."

Next she goes on about "We're not even people to someone like that." Did she mean "we prostitutes", or "we hybrids"? (Ooh - shades of Bladerunner.) Maybe the author intended it to have a double meaning.

At any rate, it confused me as to what Cate was, and how she's connected to Nightwalkers. Was she the "other human ears" (meaning she was Human) or did it mean she was treated as a Nightwalker, and hence privy to Nightwalker info.

So, I thought the beginning was okay, and the ending was pretty good, but I had the feeling I was reading a hard-copy book and accidently skipped 10 pages.

Loved Minx's reading though, as ever.

I believe the odd "overprocessed" sound quality is an artifact of overly-aggressive noise removal. If it's "spectral noise gating" such as used by Audacity 1.3.3 or later, the more obvious artifacts can be quite loud and sound like a dozen tinkly glass wind chimes passed through a phlanger.
I find it less obtrusive simply to allow more of the original background noise to remain, since the natural analog noise is less alien to my ears than the artifacts, so I tend to adapt to it and forget about it sooner.

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Ersatz Coffee

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Reply #80 on: July 15, 2008, 11:00:27 PM
This was a so-so story for me. Kicked along nicely, but didn't really engage the intellect much. Not the sort of story I'll be thinking about weeks later.

I don't buy the theory that any SF story can be turned into a non-SF story (not without losing its essence, anyway). I think restricting the challenge to film is a bit dubious though - so much film 'SF' is actually fantasy anyway (Star Wars being a case in point - how many SF stories start 'Long ago...'?).

I guess this all turns on how we define story. If you just make it the human, interpersonal and emotional aspects of the thing, well they're pretty much bound by the parameters of human nature; but many a decent SF story is engaging on a level beyond that. Consider, for example, the 'what ifs?' that explore potential future technologies and examine their potential implications. When Ray Bradbury wrote a story back in the 1950s ("The Murderer") suggesting that cell phones (well OK, wrist radios) might be an intrusive pain in the butt, he was framing a distinctly SFnal argument. You could maybe forcibly transplant the story kicking and screaming into the fantasy genre, or even a historical setting (with messengers bursting in uninvited every 2 seconds) - but that would be entirely losing the point. The point was about the future of communications technology and how it might be more of a mixed blessing than anyone anticipated. That kind of story has its natural home in the SF genre, because the technology is an integral part of the thematic argument, not just window dressing.



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Reply #81 on: July 20, 2008, 06:20:52 PM
I liked it, but it has the same problem i find in most short stories, it was a nice first chapter but now where is the rest of it?



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Reply #82 on: August 18, 2010, 04:51:25 PM
Regarding the question of SF movies that could have SF removed from them and still be the same movie, there are lots.  The most clearcut cases for me are those where the future technology is essential to the purpose.  For instance:
The Matrix
Inception
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Anyway, this story didn't do much for me.  Despite the space western setting, it was nothing like Firefly which managed to maintain a balance of action, humor, and emotion all within one setting.  My biggest problem with this one was the deus ex machina "Oh, by the way, I'm not human, I'm a plant-woman with super-human strength".  That especially bugs me when it's a major trait of the POV character.  I ought to know about her superhuman-ness looooong before it becomes vital to the plot.  Introducing it at the resolution JUST as it becomes important doesn't work so well.