where are all the women at?

The Fellowship of the Ring

Posted on January 16, 2013

Welcome to Middle Earth (or possibly New Zealand), as we discuss The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien this week on Novel Ideas. This is an obscure fantasy tale with an even more obscure feature length movie that no one has seen. Also, the Peter Jackson movie that everyone in the world has seen. In this episode, we cover the big issues, such as: world building, the logical way to divide an epic story in three parts, and the lack of female characters. We also cover more philosophical questions, like whether elves bang, if Gandalf is shy, and Tom Bombadil’s ADHD. I also attempted a tweak with my audio processing, so if it sounds weird on your listening device of preference, please leave a comment.

The music bumps are from Howard Shore’s excellent score to the movie version of Fellowship, specifically the theme that probably comes to mind when you think of that soundtrack.

35 – The Fellowship of the Ring – Hobbits Are The Best

This entry was posted in Admin, Episodes, Movies of books and tagged ADHD, alternate endings, audio experiments, coy wizards, do elves bang?, elven incest, Galadriel like a boss, hobbits are like altoids, imaginary racism, J.R.R. Tolkien, Legsly and Gim Gams, logical sequencing, LOTR fanfic pitches, movies of books, needs editing, obscure references, smoking is awesome, spoiler alert, The Fellowship of the Ring, Tom Bomadil-hole, unnecessary characters, where are all the women at?, world building.

The Chocolate War

Posted on October 16, 2012

Banned book month (Novel Ideas edition) continues with The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier, a YA classic that is one of the perennially most challenged books. This is a tale of corruption, disillusionment, and challenging authority, so you know that it must be a light, happy read. In this episode we talk about all of those things and the inevitable crushing beneath the bootheel of authority, as well as French names, gayness, whether there is too much jacking off in this book, and the disturbing lack of women. If all of this sounds depressing, don’t worry, our wrap up is far less disturbing than the end of the book.

The music bump is “The Creator Has a Mastertape” by Porcupine Tree, not for any specific connection, but rather a general sense of darkness. And the fact that Ben thinks it’s cool.

27 – The Chocolate War – SUBMIT

This entry was posted in Episodes and tagged After the First Death, Archie is a total douche nozzle, boy's book, censorship is stupid, conformity, corruption, dark YA, disillusionment, everyone is greedy and violent, feminism, French names?, Gabs memory, Gabs rage, gay is not an insult, improbable sequel, jacking off, literally digesting a book, mixed metaphors, podcast popularity, Robert Cormier, The Chocolate War, where are all the women at?.

Foundation

Posted on July 5, 2012 Updated on July 5, 2012

Welcome back to Novel Ideas! This week’s episode features Foundation by Isaac Asimov. This is one of the gigglier episodes we’ve recorded thus far and we hope that you’ll enjoy it as much as we do. Have your research materials, by which I mean Wikipedia, handy because this one is reference heavy. In fact, we almost have enough references to start our own encyclopedia. We cover science, religion, science as religion, the nature of fandom, the lack of women in classic science fiction, and every historical reference we know. Prepare to enter our sphere of influence as we nonviolently project our power across the internet.

The music bump is “Space Fanfare” by Joe Spaniola, performed by the Air Force Band of the Rockies. Because this story is in space and stuff. Also, this piece features one or two recognizable themes because we needed more references.

16 – Foundation – Decline and Fall of the Female Character

This entry was posted in Episodes and tagged bawbawism, broadcast professionalism, classical references, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, fandom, feminism, Foundation, history references, Isaac Asimov, Isthur Clasimov, movie references, religion, science, shiny things, the gigs, where are all the women at?, Wienis.