Tom

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• Commented on Deploying the monomyth in Space Opera
  When telling a Hero's Journey story I think it is necessary to have an actual hero....
• Commented on Deploying the monomyth in Space Opera
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvRzo_K6A-8...
• Commented on Deploying the monomyth in Space Opera
  IMO, the most explicit recent depiction of The Hero's Journey from Hollywood is the movie Wreck It Ralph. SPOILERS He starts out wanting a medal that declares that he is a Hero. He travels to a strange land and encounters...
• Commented on Deploying the monomyth in Space Opera
  Eddie Izzard on the difference between British and American films: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjC3R6jOtUo It's space monkeys in The Room With a View of Hell...
• Commented on Defining space opera
  The other evidence, that I pointed at, was optimistic SF tends not to do well at the box office. Now JA had a ropey script, fine, but Tomorrowland also bombed. And John Carter, etc. I'm thinking the evidence is the...
• Commented on Defining space opera
  George Miller on 'the look' of Mad Max Fury Road: But by the time we got to do Fury Road, I just wanted to make sure that we avoided what had become cliché. (Interviewer) For example? The most obvious one...
• Commented on Defining space opera
  Flash Gordon the movie has to count. It's got Queen! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNIVpMXHqlk...
• Commented on Defining space opera
  Most of the time it ends up being 'be happy where you are' (a failing that JA suffers from in spades - sure a bog cleaner is going to go back to work after inheriting the world, literally). Movies tend...
• Commented on Defining space opera
  Thanks for that link to the comparison of The Matrix and Jupiter Ascending. I'll give JA another try. Since you opened the door to movies... Do Galaxy Quest, Guardians of the Galaxy, Spaceballs and Hitchhikers Guide count? If so, add...
• Commented on Science-fictional shibboleths
  Okay, thought I'd dip a toe in the pool of boiling acid, just to see if it's hot. Never mind....
• Commented on Science-fictional shibboleths
  My bad, the LSAT 'Games' section allows about 1 minute and 25 seconds (I guessed at 60 seconds earlier) for each question: https://lawschooli.com/how-much-time-do-you-spend-on-each-lsat-logical-reasoning-question/ Other sites come up with slightly different times, but they are all in the same ballpark. The...
• Commented on Science-fictional shibboleths
  Pattern recognition... Anyone ever taken the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT)? There is a dreaded section called 'Logic Games': A situation involving several players in space/time/both/other relationships, with constraints, is introduced. Then you have about 60 seconds each to answer...
• Commented on Fantasy shibboleths
  While we are talking about science fiction and fantasy, I have a request for reading material regarding story worlds. I like the Hero's Journey framework which usually ends up with the hero and villain facing off at a specific location...
• Commented on Fantasy shibboleths
  A woman from Georgia the country recently joined our skating group, so out of interest I went to Google Earth and Wikipedia to read up on it. Wow, read the history of Tbilisi - the place has been sacked about...
• Commented on Fantasy shibboleths
  Characters with made-up titles using objects with made-up names without any explanation as to why the title is important or what the objects look like. "Greegblok the Thurin of Moat took out his chaccarine and admired it, again." Page after...
• Commented on Science-fictional shibboleths
  RE: Education Obligatory link to the David Foster Wallace "This is Water" commencement speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI...
• Commented on Science-fictional shibboleths
  Many (most?) municipal sewer systems started out with a combined sanitary (toilets etc.) and storm (rainfall) pipe system. A big storm would cause overflows. In the US, it's been mandated for some time that the two systems must be separated...
• Commented on Science-fictional shibboleths
  I promise you that I'm not regularly a Grammar Nazi, but I've seen this one several times in several places in just one week, so it itched: "the main tenant of Buddhism is not every man for himself." tenet...
• Commented on Science-fictional shibboleths
  @Thomas - Your future city is pretty close to what I imagine as well, except 'the wild' is more dangerous because of the genetically engineered mistakes that got out of control. I also kinda like the idea of the earth...
• Commented on Science-fictional shibboleths
  (This is an open question. To paraphrase: "in the agro-robotic future how will grain be most efficiently reaped?" -- emphasis on compatibility with existing maintenance supply chains, energy efficiency, and process efficiency.") A lot of farms are planted in large...
• Commented on Science-fictional shibboleths
  A company called Village Farms operates 260 acres of hydroponic greenhouses near Marfa and Monahans Texas. Here's a quote regarding price of operation: "Aquino estimated that one 30-acre system (the “minimum viable footprint”) runs about $1 million per acre." http://seedstock.com/2013/01/24/indoor-grower/...
• Commented on Science-fictional shibboleths
  Heh, growing plants underwater is an artform all by itself! Google images for "Dutch Aquarium" and "Amano Aquarium" for the two prevalent schools of thought. http://aquascapinglove.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/dutch.jpg http://36.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m800s9GgIP1rra1j7o3_r3_1280.jpg I kept a high-tech freshwater planted aquarium for a while and it's a...
• Commented on Science-fictional shibboleths
  I was explaining some of my story points to a friend that included threats and constraints, and he said, "If they have nanotechnology, why do they have any limits on what they can do?" Just pulling your leg here -...
• Commented on Science-fictional shibboleths
  @Jay and @Jeep_Eep: Like I said earlier in the thread, I'm a fan of the Hitchhikers Guide and Galaxy Quest type of science fiction, so absurdity is part of the fun. I'd add to that the Men in Black movies....
• Commented on Science-fictional shibboleths
  @Jeep-Eep - What do you mean by "crazy nano"? I'm working on a story that involves nano, wouldn't want it to be the crazy kind!...
• Commented on Science-fictional shibboleths
  The Gene Editing Summit here in DC wrapped up early last week. They seemed very confident that the technology (CRISPR-CAS9) is here to stay and that it works so well that it's time for some controls to be implemented. The...
• Commented on Science-fictional shibboleths
  I'll admit up front to being a fan of the Galaxy Quest and Hitchhiker's Guide variety of science fiction. Absurdity is part of the fun, so I just don't care how things work to very much detail. Need a beryllium...