tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6535536076846636075.post161801301610132225..comments2023-11-05T00:30:13.083-07:00Comments on Dark Underbelly: Chapter eighteen: or whether they were feeding on the blood that leaked throughJames Killushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08265296146264452333noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6535536076846636075.post-55314597020249165092008-06-13T17:59:00.000-07:002008-06-13T17:59:00.000-07:00Actually, I believe that you have indeed caught an...Actually, I believe that you have indeed caught an oversight. In revision I'll probably eliminate the possibility of an end grip, but I may change grabbing an opponent's weapon from and impossiblity to "difficult and unwise."<BR/><BR/>I'm guessing that you yourself have no weapons training. I'm basing these scenes on my own knowledge of the jo and bokken from Aikido (have you ever tried to grab a very specific portion of such a weapon? To call it difficult is a substantial understatement). I also wonder if anyone caught the fact that the first fight was taken from the Tyson-Spinks title fight of 20 years ago.<BR/><BR/>Oh, and to anyone who is mystified by Mr. rnbram's posting here, he is attacking me because he feels I did Ayn Rand a disservice in a <A HREF="http://unintentional-irony.blogspot.com/2007/08/what-is-john-galt.html" REL="nofollow">literary critique over on my other blog, Unintentional Irony.</A><BR/><BR/>I wish that I could say that I'm surprised at self-identified Randites being offended by an essay that begins with what is basically praise for Rand as a novelist. But it ends with an observation of the degree to which Rand had to rupture several important narrative strands in order to advance her philosophical agenda, just as self-identified Randites usually engage in self-cancelling arguments.<BR/><BR/>Case in point, the one above, where Mr. rnbram purports to criticize me:<BR/><BR/>"Never mind that he could never build such a car [a Lamborghini], his best hope for satisfaction is to trash one. And as he does, his resentment expressed as scorn, he ignores a faint awareness that he is attacking something more than just the metal and glass of a car."<BR/><BR/>Leaving aside for the moment that no one person ever builds a Lamborghini (so the metaphor fails at the outset), I have written science fiction and fantasy novels, and I was criticising <I>Atlas Shrugged</I> on the basis of its main romantic narrative. Of all the randians who came out of the woodwork on the comments to the essay, not a single one of them even seemed to notice what the essay actually said. <BR/><BR/>In any case, if there is anyone here who is simply attacking someone with the barest of nods to their actual work, it isn't me. And there are only two people in this comment thread.James Killushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08265296146264452333noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6535536076846636075.post-38416628387137207262008-06-06T21:18:00.000-07:002008-06-06T21:18:00.000-07:00The blades ended far enough from each tip to make ...<I>The blades ended far enough from each tip to make each end a handle ... and grabbing your opponent's weapon was out of the question</I>.<BR/><BR/>See any contradiction Killus? Meh.<BR/><BR/>The rest of that 'fight' scene exemplifies the low status of Hollywood screen writing. It does not matter how fine the diction, or how groovy the scene, if it ultimately says <I>nothing</I> it just another empty shell. <BR/><BR/>What is rather remarkable is the extent to which a less successful author would rather evade (blank-out) the values offered by a better author. So much easier to denigrate that author, rather than actually do the thinking required to understand what they actually offer than makes them superior. Such denigration quite matches the vandal's 'kill-the-rich' sense of superiority as he batters a <A HREF="http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u158/90yroldmanwthdiabetes/Lamborghini-1.jpg" REL="nofollow">Lamborghini</A> with a baseball bat. After all, its a lousy color and hard edges are no longer cool! Never mind that he could never build such a car, his best hope for satisfaction is to trash one. And as he does, his resentment expressed as scorn, he ignores a faint awareness that he is attacking something more than just the metal and glass of a car. <BR/><BR/>Nah, can't be.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com