lurkers-guide/ftp/GEnie/jms94-06-01

Babylon 5 posts by JMS for June 1-15, 1994

This file includes a compilation of posts on GEnie by J. Michael
Straczynski in the Babylon 5 category.  The posts are copyright by JMS
(and compilation copyright is by GEnie). 


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Topic 1         Mon Oct 26, 1992
SF-MARSHALL [Dave ]          at 18:50 EST
Sub: Babylon 5 - The Series  (Non-Spoiler)

Welcome to the Babylon 5 category and main topic for the new series. Here is
the place for all general information on the series. Topic 2 is the location
for SPOILERS. And please, NO STORY IDEAS are to be posted either.
692 message(s) total.
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 537       Wed Jun 01, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:24 EDT

     Gary: I just don't think that's workable, and in any event, we were
planning to rotate the voice-over between cast members.

     Brett: the one I wrote while utterly sick with the flu was, as I dimly
recall, "The Quality of Mercy."

                                                                jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 550       Thu Jun 02, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 19:02 EDT

     Note to the above: I most emphatically didn't work on the V series; I
thought it was awful for the most part, except for the mini-series that
launched it.  (We didn't call it V2 for nothing, he said.)  I wrote a new 4-
hour miniseries that was to have launched a revived syndicated series closer
in intent and theme to the original minseries.  It proved too expensive for
the syndication market, however, and was never produced (though the first 3
acts are in one of the libraries hereabout).

     Only marginally appropos to the preceding...I lurk on a lot of BBS
systems, regional and national, 'cause I find that my presence being known can
affect the discussion, and it's nice to have a "control group," or two, for
lack of a better term.  And I'm amazed at the amount of misinformation out
there, preceded by "JMS said...."

     There's "Joe said a homeworld would be destroyed in the cliffhanger,"
which I didn't say; "Joe said that the Minbari change sex," which I never
said, and was only implied by our casting initially a female to play a male
character.  It was sorta assumed, and became accepted, but it was never said.
(Going with this is, "Joe never referred to Delennin the pilot as "she."
Which isn't correct; a tech calls to Sinclair and tells him Delenn wants to
see him.  "She's in the garden," the tech says.)

     There's the rumor that Sinclair left the show, and I'm trying to cover my
ass (we have options on all our cast, sorry)...the rumor that Michael was
fired for bad acting (which is easily enough resolved: we will be shooting a
scene in the next few weeks with Sinclair, which will show up *midway* through
the first season, and will lay down the foundation for more in the future,
something you don't do if it's "bad acting").

     I'm not dismayed, just astonished; it's like the ultimate game of
telephone, with lots of people wanting to be the *first* to give some kind of
information, backing it up with vague sources, or attributing them to JMS
comments that were never made.

     I would love, someday, to diagram all this stuff out and just watch the
progression of it all....

     Anyway, just woolgathering in-between the religious discussions....

                                                                 jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 567       Fri Jun 03, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:09 EDT

     I spoke incorrectly; the scene will be used in year two, not year one.

     We're trying to get them to move the showing of Chrysalis back into
August, with the rest of the year 1 episodes, rather than just before the
start of year two.  Warners logic behind that is their belief that a) they can
generate more publicity for the new season, which will spill into Chrysalis
and thus get more people to see it, making kind of an event out of it, and b)
the HUT (households using televisions) for August are notoriously low, so they
feel it would be wasting what's probably our strongest episodes.

     But I'd still prefer to see it in August, and we're still trying to nudge
Warners in that direction.

                                                                jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 590       Sun Jun 05, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:56 EDT

     Cindy...yes, it's the characters that keep us coming back.   I created
Sinclair.  I made him interesting to the audience.  (I'm not trying to take
away from the performance of the actor, I'm talking about the *character* per
se, his dialogue, his past, his phraseology, his interests, everything that
makes him what he is.)  You found him to be of interest.  That's good, because
he didn't just land here on the back of an asteroid, Sinclair was
*created*...the same way I created Kosh, and Garibaldi, and Delenn, and Londo,
and G'Kar, and Ivanova....

     Those, judging from reactions, are interesting characters.  What makes
you think that this new character to enter the mix is going to be a shlub?
They all come from the same pen.  Or keyboard, in this case.  YOU, as I
recall, kept pushing to shove Takashima out an airlock and bring in someone
else...even though there were lots of people who *liked* Tamlyn in that role.
They're all replaceable, you said.

     This isn't a case of someone else taking over Person A's show and
changing everything around.  These are my characters.  My universe.  And you
can be sure that the new character will be every bit as interesting all all
the OTHER characters.

     I just kinda wish people would allow the time and space to actually SEE
what we have in mind before judging if it's going to work or not.  A lot of
people pronounced us dead after the pilot.  We made some changes, came back,
and the series was *considerably* better than the pilot (which you yourself
said, Cindy, in part because of some character replacements that *you* thought
would help the show [though that wasn't why they were made]).  Even those who
*liked* Takashima, and Dr. Kyle, and who said that as far as they were
concerned if those characters were gone the show was gonna be crap, even THEY
have come around.

     Our first year of the series was a jump in quality over the pilot.   And
our second year will be a jump in quality over the first year.  We took a
blood oath to make this show consistently better.  All I can say, again, is
what was said when we made changes from the pilot: wait and see what it is
we're doing before you judge.

     I haven't suddenly developed Alzheimer's or gotten stupid or been
possessed by a moron.  The characters that appear in this show will continue
to be as interesting as the first batch.  I don't tend to pull rank very
often, because it's a stupid and petty and arrogant thing to do...but if you
like Kosh's enigmatic attitude, it's because I wrote it that way (or my
writers) and created him to be enigmatic; if you like that Sinclair has a
missing 24 hours, it's because I decided he did...on and on.  Sometimes I get
a little tired of this sense I get that people see these characters as having
sprung fully-developed from the brow of Zeus, and that I'm yanking one out to
put in some dumb character *I* came up with.

     I'm not asking anyone to take my word for anything, only to maybe cut a
guy a little slack until you actually *see* what's going to be done, and to
kinda remember that I came up with these guys to *start* with, and that
nothing new in the show will be any less interesting than that which precedes
it.

                                                                 jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 595       Sun Jun 05, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:48 EDT

     Thanks, Tom, and really, c'mon, Pee Wee Herman'll make a GREAT
commander....

                                                    jm(trust me)s
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 616       Mon Jun 06, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 19:31 EDT

     It's my understanding that some or all of the Lightwave software is being
adjusted for a Dos platform, and that Foundation will be more or less
unaffected by the problem in the long run, though I imagine there will have to
be some short-run transitional hassles.

                                                              jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 628       Wed Jun 08, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:55 EDT

     I've always thought that the kind of people who read the last page of a
book should have their thumbs pinned into one of those chinese thumb-traps,
then sent into the Nairobi desert to fend for themselves.

     At least that way, we'll *both* know how it ends....

                                                                 jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 632       Thu Jun 09, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:10 EDT

     I'm still reasonably sure that's what I was told about LW...but then
again, at many of these discussions, I fall asleep and pitch forward onto the
desk, so there you are.

                                                                  jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 633       Thu Jun 09, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 04:03 EDT

     Bits and pieces...heard today from Jim Norton, who plays our Ombuds on
the show, and is currently in England doing a documentary about Gen.
Montgomery (playing the lead), who was wearing his B5 jacket on Kings Road,
and just about got mobbed by people.  Apparently the show is going over well.

     Assignments are being made, scripts are in the works.  First draft on
"Chrysalis, Part Two" is in (JMS), and Larry's working on "A Trick of the
Mind" and DC's working on "A Distant Star."

     We're doing a pretty fair amount of rethinking on some of our sets and
costumes, again looking to improve them as much as we can from season to
season without making major changes.  We'll be doing more with set dressing,
making it more layered and personal; building some new sets to let us explore
other sides of our characters' lives; coming up with new costume designs for
some of the new characters coming in this season, that sort of thing.

     New production schedule came out, and it looks like if we begin shooting
on July 18 we'll be delivering episodes several months before they're due to
air.  So we're giving some thought to starting filming a couple weeks later,
just to give us more time to tinker with the sets and costumes without having
to rush.  There's a couple of sets in particular that we'll be creating for
the first couple of episodes we shoot, and the extra time could be useful in
getting them just right, since they're fairly elaborate.  (And Londo gets a
new coat this season!)
 I'll probably have a bit more to say about the new additions to the cast
later on.  Not regulars, but recurring (6 episodes or so) characters.

     Today went down to Sotheby's in Beverly Hills to look at their stuff for
their newest auction, mainly comics stuff.  Got the auction catalog, brought
it home, started marking pages...wish lists...walked out to where Kathryn was
watching the NBA game..."So, like, exactly how do you feel about a second
mortgage?"

     Such a look.....

     Sigh...I've long described myself as a collector of Superman stuff.
HAH!  Trinkets.  There's some SERIOUS stuff out there, boys and girls.

     Bottom line...I'm doomed as doomed can be....

                                                               jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 638       Thu Jun 09, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 19:50 EDT

     BTW, for those in the San Diego area, Harlan Ellison will be signing
books this coming Saturday from 2-5 p.m. at Mysterious Galaxy Books, in the
Claremont Square Shopping Center, 4679 Claremont Square.  And at 6 p.m., he
will read a new short story to an audience of those who've bought Mephisto in
Onyx or Mind Fields *and* purchased $25 in books from the store.

     I'll be there as well, on and off starting about 2, though Harlan is the
main show.  Any GEIs who want to buy some stuff and come by are of course
welcome.

                                                               jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 642       Fri Jun 10, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:55 EDT

     Alas, corridor walls that curve in make lighting and setting up camera
angles VERY difficult.

     At this point, not much in the way of new aliens planned; we'd like to
get away from the alien-of-the-week story (which though we didn't do it a
*lot*, we did it enough that I want to edge away from it a bit), and
concentrate on the aliens we already have.  If you just keep on throwing new
aliens into the mix, soon it loses all impact.  We decided to try a whole
bunch of aliens over season one, and pick the ones that worked, which we would
then work to refine and integrate more fully into the storyline.   Right now,
I think we've got about 15 races in addition to our primary groups (Narn,
Minbari, Centauri).  Concomitant with this, we'll be working to make the
prosthetics far more detailed and better able to be used in a dramatic
context.

     We scattergunned a lot in season one; now is the time to adjust, refine,
focus and improve.  We'll still do the occasional new group, I  just don't
want that to begin driving the show.

                                                                  jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 645       Fri Jun 10, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 17:59 EDT

     The vaguely cthulhoid creature to which you refer is a pak'ma'ra.

                                                              jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 657       Sat Jun 11, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:39 EDT

     The only things we're doing to the uniforms is adjusting the dress
uniforms a bit, and adding a bit of seam to the back of the class-A day
jackets to help them fit a little better, and a bit of slightly different
piping along the leather collars so they'll read better on camera.  Also we'll
be making a new set out of a slightly more durable and comfortable gabardine
than last season.

     Re: production...each episode shoots in 7 days, and yes, when one show
comes in under the pattern budget (which often happens), we then  apply that
to other shows.  We came in a bit under budget for the full season, and have
applied that bit to next season's budget to give us a bit more room to play.

     I write 10-20 pages a day, usually on more than one script or project at
the same time.  Net messages in total add proably another 5-7 pages a day to
the list.  (Currently doing 2 B5 scripts, revising a 2-hour pilot for another
series, editing others, awaiting word on an outline for a third pilot, and
some other stuff.)

                                                                jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 674       Sun Jun 12, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 21:26 EDT

     Argus: of course there are capital ships.  We never said otherwise.
There's one later this season, for instance, the EAS Hyperion, a heavy Earth
cruiser.  There aren't as many as they'd like -- the majority having been
wiped out in the war -- but they're building 'em as fast as possible.  (The
Hyperion, though it's never mentioned, is one of the leftover capital ships,
not one of the newer ones.)

     The uniforms are *not* being changed dramatically, only nipped and tucked
and tweaked slightly to make them fit better and come across slightly better
on-camera, so some details that're being lost now pop better.

     Re: starfury pilots...some of it is actors in cockpit against a blue
screen, some of it CGI pilots with faces mapped onto them.

                                                                 jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 679       Mon Jun 13, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 04:34 EDT

     We do see some EA military types from time to time (it was an EA marine
who kept trying to pick up on ko'dath in "Purple").  And next season there'll
be a bit more of that, with more supplies and people being moved out to the
Rim, and stopping off at B5 en route.

     Re: Babylon...while it didn't end up well, for a long time Babylon was a
center of commerce and industry, an important crossroads.  The name translated
means "the Gate of God," which has double meaning when attached to the
jumpgate outside.

                                                           jms
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Category 18,  Topic 1
Message 686       Wed Jun 15, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:54 EDT

     BTW...appropos of nothing...I would urge all and sundry to check out the
CBS special, "Murrow Vs. McCarthy," Wednesday night at 10/9 central.   If you
don't know who those two people are/were, all the more reason to watch.  Some
lessons must never be forgotten.

                                                               jms
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Topic 2         Wed Nov 20, 1991
STARR [Arne]                 at 19:41 EST
Sub: Babylon 5 -- The Series!! >>SPOILERS<<

Babylon 5 offically became a series on May 28 '93. There will be 22 hour eps
for season one (in addition to the pilot). Airs Wednesdays at 8PM in most
places starting Jan. 26 '94.  This is the SPOILER topic where anything goes.

810 message(s) total.
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Category 18,  Topic 2
Message 701       Wed Jun 01, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:27 EDT

     Err...insofar as I know, "I'm Thinking of Thinking" was not an old music
hall song.  It was composed by Christopher Franke for us.

                                                                jms
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Category 18,  Topic 2
Message 704       Wed Jun 01, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:47 EDT

     I'll probably be able to say more about the new actor in a couple of
weeks.

     And yes, Ivanova was born on Earth, in the Russian Consortium, though she
was educated in large measure overseas.

                                                                jms
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Category 18,  Topic 2
Message 724       Fri Jun 03, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:13 EDT

     A *lot* of background on the characters appears in the faq file, which I
believe is available here.

     Wouldn't be surprised to see a B5 tech manual sometime next year os (or)
so.

     Workers employed on B5 earn a weekly salary, paid in earth standard
credits.  Anyone coming from another culture/system with a different financial
structure is handled as you would handle going from the US to Germany.  You
turn over your Drazi currency, and are given a credit chit which is charged
with X-amount of EA credits, based on the current rate of exchange.  If your
system is not recognized by EA, things get a little dicier, and you may be
forced to resort to barter.

                                                                jms
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Category 18,  Topic 2
Message 735       Sat Jun 04, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 18:21 EDT

     dj...you can tell your spouse that one of my pet bugaboos is loose
threads left dangling.  I tend to write pretty tightly, and don't like to
leave things unresolved too long.

                                                              jms
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Category 18,  Topic 2
Message 769       Thu Jun 09, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:54 EDT

     I read Bugs' note, and to his considerable credit, he had pieced together
a *lot* of stuff.  Moreso than has just about anyone else to date.  It
ultimately led him to make one final leap that took him onto the wrong track,
so the destination was in error, but he had done his homework, thought things
through, and was very much on the right track.   There's just some stuff that
can't be predicted because the necessary pieces aren't all on the table yet.

     So good thinking, excellent deductions, careful consideration, just off
by a few decimals.  It is, I suppose, the difference between E=MC2 and E=MC3;
you kinda had to know where you were going and what you were doing to get that
far, but the bomb still ain't gonna work.

                                                                 jms
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Category 18,  Topic 2
Message 796       Sun Jun 12, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 21:36 EDT

     I don't think I've really said that much about "Grail."  The trick,
though, is that I don't approach the episodes in quite the same way that a
viewer does.  I have somewhat different agendas and goals, and there are times
when hassles in *doing* the episode -- which in no way affect the show itself -
- affects my *perception* of the episode.

     I did a small screening of "Grail" here about a week ago, to get some
other reactions, and they were all very positive; they enjoyed the episode
quite a bit.  (Similarly, there were people who thought that "Infection" was
one of the best of the season.)  There is *no one* who is harsher in
critiquing the episodes than I am.  I want each one to be absolutely perfect.
And sometimes that means that I see flaws that no one else ever will.

     In any event, I definitely want people to come at this from an open
minded point of view.  For reasons that have nothing to do with Christy's
script, it still isn't one of my all-time favorite episodes; if I said
otherwise, I'd be lying through my teeth.  But different opinions are what
makes horse races, and as stated, most of those who've seen it so far *do*
like it, so at the moment I'm considerably outnumbered....

                                                                   jms
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Topic 3         Tue Nov 03, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:09 EST
Sub: Babylon 5 - Computer SFX Tech-Talk   

Some of the new computer EFX used in BABYLON 5 will be revolutionary, a new
approach never seen before on this scale.  It's all new tech, and this topic
will try and address the new technologies involved.
600 message(s) total.
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Category 18,  Topic 3
Message 594       Sun Jun 12, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 21:43 EDT

     Arne, let me respectfully disagree with you.  An occasional typo is one
thing; sometimes there can be SO many typos in someone's message that it
becomes twice as hard to read, it can get annoying, and if the author's intent
was to say X, a lot of typos can result in communicating Y, or people simply
not bothering to read it at all.

     "core shuttkle...lety me anylyse...teh shodows...seeming huige...on te'he
ground...there was abotyher...teh distant...prettyh bnut...."

     Granted, it's a prejudice, but this sort of thing also makes the writer
look illiterate, though clearly he is not, but that nonetheless prejudices the
reader, and diminishes the impact of the message.  There is nothing wrong with
occasional correction; that's one of the problems with SF fandom in general, I
think...no one ever dares to correct anyone else.

     If I can come on here and take comments criticizing my show, then I think
that someone critiquing the effects in my show can take a little critiquing of
his message, done in a positive way.  If he can't take a note or two, then he
can tell us.

                                                                 jms
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Topic 4         Tue Nov 03, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:12 EST
Sub: Babylon 5 - Cast & Characters        

For discussion of the actors who will be bringing BABYLON 5 to life with their
performances...for information before, and discussion after the airing of "The
Gathering" pilot.
656 message(s) total.
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Category 18,  Topic 4
Message 591       Fri Jun 03, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:14 EDT

     Yes, insofar as can be determined (deals are finalizing tomorrow), all
other cast members are returning.

                                                                  jms
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Category 18,  Topic 4
Message 631       Thu Jun 09, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 18:34 EDT

     Desiree...you were in *second grade*?

     I suddenly feel very, very, very old....

                                                              jms
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Category 18,  Topic 4
Message 640       Fri Jun 10, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:27 EDT

     Ivanova is exactly who she is; she's not being feminine or tough because
somebody told her to be.  To call her a "women's liberation activist" in this
context, where it isn't an issue anymore, is like pointing to any african-
american without shackles and saying he's an "anti-slavery activist."  Any
chains she has, she forged herself; they are not the ones society on one side
or the other forced on her.

     Re: space exploration...I feel much the same way.  Thing is, of course,
the SF of the 50s and early 60s, really the golden age of SF, fed the popular
consciousness with the idea of space travel, which culminated  in a general
awareness, and an urge to try it.  It's the role of SF to nudge people in the
right direction.  If more and more TV and print points to the future, and to
the stars, it may help wake people up to that possibility.

     If you make them *want* it today, they will build it tomorrow.

                                                            jms
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Topic 5         Tue Nov 03, 1992
T.ORTH [Mr. Rico]            (Forwarded)
Sub: Grid Epsilon Irregulars - News & Info.

This topic is for information about Babylon 5 fan groups, newsletters,
fanzines, get-togethers, B-5 at conventions, and other general fun.
542 message(s) total.
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Category 18,  Topic 5
Message 497       Sun Jun 12, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 21:45 EDT

     If it were me, and I wanted to have a bit of fun with this, I'd use:

     "Sooner or later, everyone watches Babylon 5."

                                                                jms
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Category 18,  Topic 5
Message 525       Wed Jun 15, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:42 EDT

     They are...all around you.

     And if they ate more fiber, they wouldn't *have* this problem.

                                                                  jms
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Topic 9         Wed Nov 11, 1992
T.RESTIVO [Little Guy]       at 18:27 EST
Sub: Babylon 5 Humor                      

From *Beep Beep*, to Top Ten Lists, to full-blown parodies, this is where to
put your funny bone in writing!
565 message(s) total.
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Category 18,  Topic 9
Message 517       Sun Jun 05, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 18:25 EDT

     I keep constantly fighting the urge to have G'Kar return from a trip to
the Narn homeworld with a limp, a cane, and a (temporary) eyepatch, muttering,
"Boy, the Thenta Makur have *no* sense of humor."

     (Now we'll see how many get *that* one.)

                                                               jms
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Category 18,  Topic 9
Message 543       Fri Jun 10, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:58 EDT

     I dread the very idea of what will happen in this topic after folks
discover what the pak'ma'ra are....

                                                                  jms
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Category 18,  Topic 9
Message 563       Mon Jun 13, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 04:39 EDT

     In the two-parter, Delenn has quite a few moments when she's laughing,
and funny, but always in a dignified fashion; it's a strange but very
appealing combination.  (And there's one scene she's in that is played
*absolutely* straight, but is fall-down funny.)

                                                                jms
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Topic 11        Sat Nov 14, 1992
J.SHEEN1 [Leviathan]         at 18:09 EST
Sub: B5 Adrift!                           

 BABYLON 5 Topic Drift
 If you feel like talking about it, but it doesn't fit anywhere else... If its
only connection to B-5 is that you thought of it in this CAT...
 This is where to come and get it out.
496 message(s) total.
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Category 18,  Topic 11
Message 456       Tue Jun 07, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 04:03 EDT

     I think that the point he was going after in his original posting is that
some -- a very few -- take a *proprietary* stance, which I would differentiate
from criticism (pro or con) in terms of the sense of perceived ownership.
There are a few ST fans, for instance, who feel, and even state to the effect,
that as fans they *own* the show.  There was the person who said that he has
the *right* to *dictate changes* in the show (B5) because he watched it.  And
the answer to that in both cases is, No, you don't.

     There is a small section of the fan community that will applaud you for
standing up to and resisting input from the suits, the studios, and the
network, and then turn *very* cranky when you similarly resist THEIR input,
because THEY own the show.

     This line becomes somewhat easier to cross when someone from the show
makes himself available for such things.

     I think that this was the point at hand, rather than criticism vs.
praise.

                                                               jms
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Category 18,  Topic 11
Message 459       Tue Jun 07, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 17:38 EDT

     I agree, it isn't prevalent.  Sometimes though it can be noisy out of all
proportion to its size.

                                                                 jms
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Category 18,  Topic 11
Message 468       Wed Jun 08, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:11 EDT

     Re: authors here "inhibiting" criticism by virtue of their presence....
nope.  There's generally 50% more criticism of B5 on those systems where I'm
known to be present than on those systems where I just lurk.

                                                                 jms
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Category 18,  Topic 11
Message 473       Thu Jun 09, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 18:37 EDT

     Not true; I am as gentle as a kitten just as long as someone doesn't go
out of his way to fuq with me.

                                                             jms
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Category 18,  Topic 11
Message 489       Wed Jun 15, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 19:03 EDT

     The extra footage helps the Abyss a *lot*.

                                                         jms
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Topic 12        Wed Nov 18, 1992
B.WIST [Brad]                at 18:12 EST
Sub: Babylon 5 Sightings                  

Post here when you've spotted Babylon 5, whether it be on Television,
Magazine, or somewhere else.  Let us know where we can find it/see it, too.
591 message(s) total.
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Category 18,  Topic 12
Message 569       Wed Jun 01, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:24 EDT

     We're discussing it in-house.  Claudia's willing to do it.

                                                                jms
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Category 18,  Topic 12
Message 575       Wed Jun 08, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:58 EDT

     Yeah...well...we went a little nuts....

                                                                  jms
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Category 18,  Topic 12
Message 579       Thu Jun 09, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:17 EDT

     I don't think they have time for that kind of heavy-duty rendering; the
closest they ever got (at least that *I'm* aware of) is a composite shot
looking through the observation dome window from the outside, to where Ren
Hoek is strangling Stimpy inside.  (It's a gif.)  And no, you can't have it.

                                                               jms
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Category 18,  Topic 12
Message 588       Mon Jun 13, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 04:40 EDT

     "Terminal Velocity," a newspaper-stock magazine published out of San
Diego, and available free there, just did a cover story on B5's EFX.  For more
info, call 619-487-9589.

                                                          jms
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Topic 13        Mon Nov 23, 1992
T.ORTH [Mr. Rico]            at 21:00 EST
Sub: Babylon 5 - Science & Technology     

Jump gates, nanotech, high-tech weapons, starship drives, sound in space, and
other subjects of science and technology in Babylon 5.
428 message(s) total.
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Category 18,  Topic 13
Message 368       Fri Jun 03, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:14 EDT

     Yikes...and people say *I've* got an evil mind....

                                                               jms
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Category 18,  Topic 13
Message 378       Sun Jun 05, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:08 EDT

     Jump gates are formed in a particular location within a margin of error;
it's not like throwing a newspaper at a door.  The gate might form in front or
behind.

     How many ship-mounted generators (which are inside the hull) have you
seen to be able to say that they can be of any shape?  How do you know they're
different shapes?  To my knowledge, we've never shown a ship-mounted
generator.

     A ship-mounted generator can open a fairly small opening, and do it maybe
twice or three times within a 24 hour period or so, because of the massive
energy requirements involved.  The rails and chargers along the way are
designed to facilitate a *lot* of travel in and out during a day, and to make
the entry a little easier, not as abrupt as a ship-mounted jump.

     We simply haven't shown a jump gate from the side or back yet.  We have
talked about this at some length, and probably will do so at one point next
season.

     Why doesn't it manifest itself as a sphere, and why a vortex?  Because
the rails are at opposite sides one from the other.  They project out opposing
lines of force which in repelling one another create a tunnel into hyperspace.
The lines of force on a ship-mounted system are not visible to the human eye,
and are less stable, hence more uncomfortable when entering (see above).

     In-gates and out-gates *are* identical.  The only difference is in
coloration, based on red-shift.

     The vortex is *not* an energy booster, which answers that question.

     Seems to me that most of your questions come from incorrect assumptions
and insufficent consideration of the issues at hand, not really thinking
things through, rather than logical or scientific flaws on our part.

     Just one man's opinion.

     But it's canon.

                                                                jms
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Category 18,  Topic 13
Message 395       Mon Jun 06, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 19:32 EDT

     Absolutely.

                                                             jms
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Category 18,  Topic 13
Message 408       Sat Jun 11, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:43 EDT

     Explorer ships *are* jump-capable.  And they survey areas that look like
they have good resources to exploit.  The problems at Sigma 957 come and go at
irrgular intervals, and wasn't there when the explorer vessel came, saw a lot
of good worlds to exploit, and left a gate.

                                                              jms
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Topic 17        Tue Jan 19, 1993
C.STOBBE [Colin]             at 21:02 EST
Sub: Babylon 5 - Merchandising            

A place to discuss all the neat Babylon 5 merchandising coming out (hopefully)
soon
595 message(s) total.
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Category 18,  Topic 17
Message 589       Sun Jun 12, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 21:51 EDT

     Currently, to the best of my knowledge, no company has officially
licensed a B5 RPG, but I'd definitely be interested in seeing it happen.

                                                    jms
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Topic 24        Fri Jun 04, 1993
J.ROY18 [Jonathan]           at 21:11 EDT
Sub: Babylon 5 - Weapons and Warfare!     

For discussion about the weapons, counter weapons, armor, shielding, tactics,
logistics, and so forth, of small combat and large scale war in the Babylon 5
universe.
296 message(s) total.
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Category 18,  Topic 24
Message 280       Fri Jun 10, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:31 EDT

     Yeah, those senatorial funding committees are a real pain in the
ass...the station doesn't have *half* of what it should have.  Now, B4 had
EVERYthing...too bad it disappeared....

                                                       jms
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Category 18,  Topic 24
Message 283       Sat Jun 11, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:45 EDT

     Bear in mind, though, when suggesting all this heavy weaponry, that
Babylon 5 is not a warship.  It's not that major a target.  It generally has
enough to protect itself against small forces.  If full-scale war were to
break loose, *nothing* could protect it from a fleet of ships, since it can't
maneuver and is basically a sitting duck.

                                                                jms
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Category 18,  Topic 24
Message 291       Sun Jun 12, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 21:52 EDT

     This season you will see missiles, more Narn heavy cruisers, more Narn
capital ships, a Narn military outpost, and lots of closer shots of a Minbari
cruiser.

                                                                 jms
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Category 18,  Topic 24
Message 295       Mon Jun 13, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 04:41 EDT

     No, only some of it....

                                                              jms
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Topic 25        Fri Mar 12, 1993
S.SHELLENBAR [>> SHANE <<]   at 08:47 EST
Sub: J. Michael Straczynski Speaks in Public

This is the place to find out where and when JMS will be appearing next.  JMS
has honed his skills as a public speaker and is taking his act on the road.
513 message(s) total.
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Category 18,  Topic 25
Message 497       Mon Jun 06, 1994
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 19:36 EDT

     It's just that I *hate* losing in public.  I've now been nominated for
four awards: an Ace Award, a Bram Stoker award, a Gemini award, and a Writers
Guild award, each for writing.  And you just go nuts, you at first don't even
want to consider winning, then the closer you get to the event you think,
well, hell, I've got as good a chance of winning as  anybody else...then you
wait...and you're there, they're opening the envelope...and you're thinking
maybe, maybe it IS me...no it's not...but it might be...and it ain't...and I
just *hate* that.

     On the other hand, as I think about it, you go through the same thing
winning in public.

     That's it.  I'm doomed.  The universe hates me.

                                                                jms
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