[ASTRO] Re: astro-survey results!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Michael Kepler <kepler@metro1.com>]

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Wow!  Thanks Jen and Kirk!  What a super-spiffy bunch of people we are.
So much in common and so much diversity at the same time.

A few questions/thoughts on specific questions/answers:
(all in fun, please take no serious offense at my lame opinions)

> 3.  Where do you live?  
> 1=Oregan

Small quibble, it's "Oregon". No biggie.

> 4. Occupation/Major/Future Job:
> 4=librarian 

That's all?  I thought there were more (I'm not one, though).

> 1=filmmaking

Really?  Cool!  Whoever you are; please tell us more.

> 1=astronaut

Is _this_ one for real?  That would be _sooo_ cool!
If you are for real, please give us some facts about where
you are in the program, if you've been up in orbit yet, etc...
(I know it was probably a joke, but I'm gullible and totally
impressed by real astronauts and space program people in general.)

> 1=shelves books

Aha!  Here's another of those library people, maybe.

> 1=film director

Again, if you're for real on this, all of us filmmaker wannabees
want to know more.

> 1=ironhanded dictator	

Geez.  I didn't know my boss was a fan, too.

> 1=doula

Sorry.  I don't know what this is.  Anybody?  Beuhler?

> 1=library receptionist

Ok, another bookworm out of the closet.

> 1=library technical assistant

And another.

> 1=consultant

Insert obligatory Dilbert joke here.

> 1=cobol programmer

Please tell me this one is a joke.  I wouldn't wish this on anyone.
Must be our eldest listee.

> 1=page in library

And the library body count is rising.

NOTE: apologies to everyone's career I failed to admire or mock.
I had plenty more comments, but I'm trying to keep this down
to a megabyte or so.

> 
> 5. favorite MoAM album:
> 20=Experiment Zero, 12=Project Infinity, 9=Destroy all Astromen, 
> 5=Live Transmissions from Uranus, 4=1000x, 4=Is It Man or Astroman, 
> 3=IV TV, 3=Made from Technetium, 2="all", 1=Born of Woman, 
> Sounds of Tomorrow, Weight on the Moon

I hope this doesn't make the ASTRO-boys feel disheartened about
their most recent efforts.  "EZ" is a relatively recent effort, and
it overwhelmingly made the top of the list.  I'm guessing this album
was where most listees discovered MOA?.  My first was "Destroy",
but "EZ" was the most recent release at that time and it was the
next one I bought.

> 
> 6. favorite MoAM song:

Responses to this prove one or both of two things:

	1. MOA? does a good job of picking fan-pleaser setlists
	2. Fans tend to like songs more after they hear them live

Although I didn't list either as my fave, I feel compelled to give
honorable mention to "400K Miles" and "Wayward Meteor", since they
didn't make the list even though they are extra great tracks.

> 8. Favorite non-astro band:
> 6=They Might Be Giants, 

This would have been my answer _before_ I saw both bands live (at different
times, they've never shared a bill as far as I know).

> 2=King Crimson

I'm guessing these are Grant and me.  My very close second runner-up
was Servotron, which I consider to be part of the MOA? "family" anyway.

> 9. Favorite Movie:
> 4=2001: A Space Odyssey, 4=Dr. Strangelove, 3=Monty Python: Holy Grail, 
> 2=UHF, 

Oh my God, what impeccable taste!

> 2=Back to the Future, 

LOVE this one.  Seen it more times than any of you, I bet (there's a
story behind that if anyone wants to hear it).

> Army of Darkness, 

Yeah!  Play the AOD Doom Total Conversion.  It rocks!
Reminds me of my favorite interpretation of the AOL
acronym: Army Of Losers (joking, joking! Don't hit! ouch!)

> Mitchell

But only on MST3K, although the original has a really unbearable 
half-hour-long super lame chase sequence that BBI cut.

> Akira

Yeah!  And don't forget "The Ghost in the Shell".

Now I wish I had put "Hudsucker Proxy" just so it would make the list.
Did _any_ Cohn brothers films make the list?

> 
> 10. Favorite Book:
> 5=Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 

Of course! (even though it isn't what I listed)
 
> Sphere

Chriton's best.  I hope the movie doesn't suck. If you thought his dinosaur 
books were crap, forget them and grab "Sphere" and "Andromeda Strain". 

> Encounter with Tiber

Co-written by a real astronaut (Buzz Aldrin) and a real Sci-fi writer
(John Barnes).  I highly reccommend this book.  It is up to the standards
of the best of Clarke, no lie.

> Microserfs

When I read the excerpt in Wired, I honestly thought it was a _real_
softie's diary.  The book is pretty good.  He did a little lecture tour
with a concept film based on his work, it was cool.

> Cat in the Hat

No way dude, "Green Eggs and Ham" rules!  My total fave children's
books also include "The Pokey Little Puppy" and "Are You My Mother?".

> Fast Times at Ridgemont High

This was a book?!

> Mindhunter: Inside the mind of a serial 
> killer

No offense, but I don't want to meet this listee in an unsupervised setting.

> 1=anything by:Dahl, Vonnegut, Assimov, Clarke, Anthony, Adams, Dave Barry, 
> Stephen Hawking and Wilfrid and Bronson

Hey I'm with y'all on the Vonnegut and the Adams, big time.  For me,
Asimov and Clarke are mixed, but with some of the best ever in their
better efforts.  Kevin J Anderson isn't bad for a marketing tie-in
hack, either.

Regarding this Dave Barry character, however.  One thing that really
bugged me about the Slackware distribution of Linux was that it came
with a fortune file chock-full-o-Dave.  I kept getting these screenfulls
of Dave Barry every time I logged-in.  My peace of mind has been greatly
improved since I cut my fortune file down to just Zippy and Startrek
quotes.

Somebody please educate me a little about Wilfrid and Bronson.  I'm not
sure who they are, and I don't want to miss anything really great.

> 
> 11. Favorite Superhero/Cartoon:
> 10=Simpsons, 7=Space Ghost, 6=Southpark, 4=Tick, 4=Ren & Stimpy, 
etc....

We've got some serious toon-heads on this list, me included!
Many of the favorite toons also showed up prominently on the fave TV
show ranking.

> 12. Favorite TV Show:
> 6=Simpsons, 

Wow.  There is a very strong Simpsons contingent on this list.

> 3=MST3K

Only 3?!  Yikes!  I'm a minority.  Maybe I can get some kind of
grant or something to promote MST3K appreciation.

> 1=NOVA

The most educational show on "educational TV".  Awesome!

> Prisoner

Oh, such a very close second to MST3K.  It gets cheezier with age,
but it is still the coolest.

> Real World

A joke, I trust.  I hope.

> 13. Favorite Cereal:
> 4=Corn Flakes

This was a BIG surprize.  I'd have figured that all of us immature
types would put something sugar-coated and artificially colored/flavored
at the top of our list.  Well, Lucky Charms  and Capn Crunch _did_ tie.

Sorry to everyone about the length of my reply to the survey.
Please don't take serious offense at any of my commentary,
it is all meant in good-natured-brawling fun.

Thanks again Jen and Kirk!

Mookie

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.. end astro-transmission [XQA00309.3]