TMTYR Episode #30: Weir Science (The Martian, feat. Matt Anderson)
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For Episode #30, the Pavement Pounders are joined by Matt Anderson of The Sci-Fi Christian to discuss the new film The Martian, adapted from Andy Weir’s best-selling book.
Seth totally forgets about the Earth’s magnetic field when discussing the radiation problem. Also, his Windows laptop totally freezes up halfway through. See if you can spot where it happens. Editing FTW!
Huge thanks to Matt for joining us and keeping the ball rolling while Seth’s computer crapped out.
TMTYR Episode #29: We Mean No Harm to Your Planet (Jumper)
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For Episode 29, the Pavement Pounders discuss Steven Gould’s excellent novel Jumper and its lackluster 2008 film adaptation. Just read the book series!
Huge thanks to Steven Gould for replying to our tweet, and also to Edward, Matthew, Nick, and John for responding on Facebook. You, too, can find us on social media (our website has all the deets).
In Episode #26, the Pavement Pounders were delighted to be joined by Nicholas Jensen to talk about Starship Troopers, the Robert Heinlein novel and the Paul Verhoeven film of the same name (if not the same content).
This podcast also features a brief segment from a longer discussion with Keith Kato of The Heinlein Society. The full interview, minus the Starship Troopers part, will be released as Episode #27 in the coming weeks.
In Episode #25, the Pavement Pounders discuss the much-maligned 2004 film I, Robot, based (or is it?) on Isaac Asimov’s classic novel/anthology of the same name. This completes our Robot obligations after previously covering Eando Binder’s short story “I, Robot.”
Also under consideration is the alternate universe version of the movie that we unfortunately never got. Lousy Many Worlds Hypothesis, keeping us from having nice things!
Also, we’ve hit the quarter mark! Woo! Stick with us for another eight years or so and we’ll make 100 episodes! Also to be celebrated is that James has taken one more step toward geekdom since he hadn’t previously read I, Robot. Cash, checks, and baked goods are acceptable gifts for this kind of occasion.
TMTYR Episode #23: Dawn of the Apron (The Stepford Wives)
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In Episode #23, the Pavement Pounders are joined by Emily (James’s better half) to discuss Ira Levin’s 1972 novel The Stepford Wives and its two film adaptations, from 1975 and 2004.
Big thanks to Emily for suggesting the topic, and to Roger at TheGeekLikes.com for seconding it.
Content warning: This podcast contains some frank discussions on sexuality. Nothing wildly inappropriate, explicit or off-color, but just accurate terms being used. Probably not for young audiences.
TMTYR Episode #17: An Awful Waste of Space (Contact)
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For Episode #17, fittingly a prime number, the Pavement Pounders discuss Contact, by Carl Sagan, and the 1997 film adapted from it. Big thanks to Rem from The Sci-Fi Movie Podcast for recommending it!
Full Spoiler alert! Asterisms discussed! Swedish Radio Astronomy considered! The Drake Equation pondered! And also the crucial question of why, for the love of God and the sanity of Seth, don’t movie people run like real people run?
Alternate titles:
What happens on Vega stays on Vega
Vega Vacation!
I’m Getting Only Vega Messages
Pounder Rankings!:
Colin/James/Seth:
movie
book
(Unanimity is rare, but it has to happen sometimes. It’s probably in the Drake Equation.)
TMTYR Episode #14: Double the Marley, Double the Fun! (A Christmas Carol)
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Merry Christmas to all!
In honor of the holiday, the Pavement Pounders read Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella A Christmas Carol and watched four adaptations: Scrooge (1951, starring Alastair Sim), The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992, starring Michael Caine), A Christmas Carol (1999, starring Patrick Stewart), and Scrooged! (1988, starring Bill Murray).
We also discussed other versions we’d seen and gave some general Christmas-movie-viewing recommendations.
Thanks to everyone who listened this year. Our first episode was recorded in December 2013, so we’re officially a year old now!
Don’t forget to go check out our friends at The Sci-Fi Movie Podcast, as they’ve got a special Christmas episode up today.
Pounder Rankings!
Colin:
A Christmas Carol (1999)
Scrooge (1951)
The Muppet Christmas Carol
Scrooged!
James:
The Muppet Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol (1999)
Scrooged!
Scrooge (1951)
Seth:
Scrooge (1951)
The Muppet Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol (1999)
Scrooged!
Favorite adaptations (Top Three):
Seth:
A Christmas Carol (1984, George C. Scott)
The Muppet Christmas Carol
Scrooge (1951)
James:
A Christmas Carol (1984, George C. Scott)
The Muppet Christmas Carol
Scrooged!
Colin:
A Christmas Carol (1999)
A Christmas Carol (1984, George C. Scott)
The Muppet Christmas Carol
Other versions watched by any or all Pounders:
1901 silent film
1935 Seymour Hicks film
1949 TV Adaptation (narr. by Vincent Price)
1970 Albert Finney musical Scrooge!
1971 animated short (Scrooge voiced by Alastair Sim)
TMTYR Episode #10: Day of the Torrence (Day of the Triffids)
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“Dayofthetriffids” by Reynold Brown. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
In Episode #10, the Pavement Pounders discuss the influential and criminally under-read (at least in the U.S.) The Day of the Triffids, by John Wyndham. The 1962 British film adaptation as well as the 1981 and 2009 BBC mini-series adaptations are also discussed. We’re considering this the end of Season One of Take Me To Your Reader, so we went out with a bang here, discussing the book and three adaptations, as well as having a rather extended discussion of just what makes a good adaptation. Sparks fly, and there may be a bit of hair-pulling and an insult here or there. Honestly, though, we actually like each other. (We’ll be back in September, probably, with new episodes.)
Pounder Rankings!:
Colin:
book
1981 miniseries
2009 miniseries
1962 film
James:
book
1981 miniseries
2009 miniseries
1962 film
Seth:
book
2009 miniseries
1981 miniseries
1962 film
Notes:
Colin’s reference to Matthew Inman as the author of XKCD was in error (and Seth and James totally didn’t catch it). That’s Randall Munroe (https://what-if.xkcd.com/). Matthew Inman is The Oatmeal. We at the Pavement Pounders Podcast admire them both.
TMTYR Episode #9: Groundhog D-Day (Edge of Tomorrow)
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In Episode #9, the Pounders discuss Edge of Tomorrow, adapted from Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s much more interestingly-titled light novel All You Need is Kill.
In a twist that’s perhaps ironic and perhaps moronic, Seth didn’t notice his mic was unplugged until the discussion was well underway. Fortunately, he’d been splattered with Alpha blood and was able to time loop back and replace the missing content. And Alpha blood is really good for the skin, as we understand.
It makes a good redemption story, and Colin Loves a Good Redemption Story (TM).
BTW, I’m not sure we gave full spoiler warnings. So here it is: Spoilers!! Big Time!
TMTYR Episode #8: The Tranny-saurus and the Philosoraptor (Jurassic Park)
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In Episode #8, the Pavement Pounders discuss Jurassic Park, both the 1993 film and 1990 book, and as might be expected, The Malcolm Effect rears its ugly head. We’re blaming Dennis Nedry for our recording setup failing us. So, we ended up with a great discussion being captured by the built-in laptop microphone. We’ll understand if you want to give it a miss, but if you can look past it, give it a listen.
Pounder Rankings!:
Colin:
book
film
James:
film
book
Seth:
film
book
I think we can all agree Colin is just dead wrong as usual. Though Colin might disagree. And be wrong again.
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In Episode #23, the Pavement Pounders are joined by Emily (James’s better half) to discuss Ira Levin’s 1972 novel The Stepford Wives and its two film adaptations, from 1975 and 2004.
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