lurkers-guide/ftp/Usenet/jms95-05-usenet

Subject: ATTN JMS: Permission to Use B5
Date: 9 May 1995 01:20:23 -0400

     Alas, for contractual reasons, all that stuff has to go through
Warner Bros.,and I suspect they'd turn it down.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: ANFaW "Cold Equation
Date: 9 May 1995 01:28:54 -0400

     I don't see *any* similarity whatsoever.  "Cold Equations" was most
definitely NOT about a "teenager who accidentally 'spaces' himself."  For
starters it was a girl, but MOST important, in "Cold Equations," it was a
deliberate *choice* to walk out the airlock.  The whole premise of the
story is that the young girl stows away on a ship bringing vaccine to a
colony world.  Only other person on the ship is the pilot.  The ship is
stripped down for speed; there's only enough fuel for the pilot, the ship,
and the landing.  If she stays, the ship will run out of fuel on or just
before re-entry, they'll die and the colonists will die.  If the pilot
sacrifices himself, she can't land the ship on her own, same result.  So
she must make the conscious decision to sacrifice herself to save the
others, because you can't argue with math.
 
     That is absolutely different from somebody screwing around and
accidentally getting blown out an airlock.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: ATTN: JMS: Has the Arc Changed
Date: 10 May 1995 00:37:04 -0400

     Actually, no, believe or not the arc really hasn't changed much; it's
gotten filled out a bit in places, but the direction hasn't altered.  I
had always had kind of a (?) in the thing as to how to transition clearly
from Sinclair to the Shadows, because I needed some way to connect the
stories, but having Sinclair have a hook to the shadows just strained
credulity past the breaking point.  Gradually I figured out a way to do
that, and that (?) was filled.  Other than that, no; it's going where it
was always going.
 
                                                                       jms

Subject: SPACE BATTLES (some spoilers)(
Date: 10 May 1995 00:37:23 -0400

     Actually, all sides in battle use ECM (Electronic Counter Measures)
to throw off the targeting systems on the "enemy" vessels.  But usually
it only takes a couple of quick firings to compensate (which is what we've
done).
 
	                                                                  jms

Subject: Harlan Ellison on TV Tonight
Date: 10 May 1995 00:47:18 -0400

     B5 conceptual consultant Harlan Ellison will be on Politically
Incorrect tonight at 11 pst, check your local listings for local times.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: Why Is Babylon 5 So Bad?
Date: 10 May 1995 04:19:15 -0400

     Dear S.S. (an appropriate acronym, assuming this is indeed your real
name) ...there is a quote about books which applies just about as well to
televsion.  I pass it on to you as the sole reasonable reply to your
missive.
 
     "A book is like a mirror.  If an ass peers in, you can't exactly
expect an apostle to peer out."
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: To JMS: Stop the Conspiracy St
Date: 10 May 1995 05:04:16 -0400

     Short answer: No.
 
     Medium answer, from Rod Serling, when a device he created for a
fictional story (a bomb wired to a plane set to detonate when the plane
dropped below a given altitude) ended up being used in real life: "A
writer cannot be held accountable for the pathology of fools."
 
     Long answer....
 
     Fiction ain't the problem.  To say that it is "immoral" for SF
writers to tell stories about government conspiracies is not only contrary
to the very nature of fiction and SF in particular, it also misses the
point by a thousand miles.
 
     It isn't that folks in the backwoods have been watching TV shows or
reading novels about fictional government conspiracies...it's that some
folks have been making "documentaries" and writing tracts that are
supposed to be THE TRUTH about what's going on.
 
     It isn't fiction that's the problem...it's G. Gordon Liddy telling
people that if they're going to shoot at ATF officers they ought to aim
at the head because they wear flak jackets...it's Jesse Helms who told
the press that if Clinton ever came to his state the Pres better bring a
bodyguard with him...it's Rush Limbaugh and his other ilk who for years
have been making the distinction between Liberals and Americans...it's
fanatical elements within the Religious Right who feel the need to create
vast government conspiracies that say the government is going to come and
stamp the Number of the Beast on their forehead any moment now....
 
     A climate of fear and paranoia and disloyalty for the crime of
disagreement has been created and fostered by those who have most to
gain from it.  And now they are trying to run from what they have done.
It ain't TV shows about stuff happening in the far future.  I don't think
anyone out there watching B5 has any belief whatsoever that this stuff is
real, and present, and can be responded to.  If there are one or two
lunatics who might possibly read something into it, they could do so to
ANY program, regardless of content.  People have committed crimes and
murder and gone insane because of things in the Bible...should we therefore
ban the Bible?  One recent movie-goer was killed because he got the last
bag of popcorn at a movie theater, and another patron was pissed off
about it.  Should we ban popcorn?  There's nothing you can do that someone
won't read something into.  Should we destroy all storytelling out of the
fear that somewhere, someone MIGHT be provoked by it?  You can't live in
fear.
 
     Your concern obviously grows out of the Oklahoma situation, but this
has no bearing upon that whatsoever.  The problem is poverty, and
ignorance, and political rhetoric, and manipulation in the real world,
not the fictional one.
 
     A TV writer can turn an audience against a killer, a stalker, a
criminal.
 
     It takes a politician to turn us against ourselves.
 
                                                                    jms

Subject: Garabaldi's Eyes??!
Date: 11 May 1995 01:09:21 -0400

     (sigh)  Our rotoscope EFX guy was waiting for a bunch of PPG EFX to
finish rendering in that battle scene, and was bored, and like many such
EFX types, filled in the eyes of Garibaldi with weird stuff while waiting
around.  When the other scene finished rendering, he got out, believing
that he had not saved that one frame.  Unknowingly, he had.
 
     Nobody caught it until after broadcast.
 
     We talked.
 
                                                                jms

Subject: Re: In the Shadows of Z'Ha'Dum
Date: 11 May 1995 16:23:01 -0400

     When Delenn underwent the chrysalis, it modified the epidermal layer
at the back of the head, making it somewhat smaller, more human; this left
a gap between the bone (which grows out from the temples and joins at the
back, like antlers in reverse), and the hair comes through this gap.
 
	                                                                 jms

Subject: New Vegas
Date: 11 May 1995 16:24:48 -0400

     New Vegas is on Mars.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: JMS!  WWII/Za'ha'Dum Question
Date: 11 May 1995 16:25:57 -0400

     Correct; Delenn and Kosh have said nothing about G'Kar's claims
because they're trying to keep a low profile.
 
	                                                                jms

Subject: JMS: Delenn's Hair???
Date: 12 May 1995 01:38:34 -0400

     I had her hair changed.  I felt it was starting to make her look VERY
severe, and arch.  I much prefer the new version.
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Taking No Prisoners,
Date: 12 May 1995 01:38:44 -0400

     Thanks.  Certainly the last 4-5 episodes of the season are totally
uncompromising and unflinching.  Very tough stuff in places.  But that's
kinda the fun.
 
                                                                    jms

Subject: From jms re: Internet Gateway
Date: 17 May 1995 22:22:21 -0400

     To those who've inquired: my regular GEnie internet gateway is down
and has been for the last several days.  This happens periodically, for
whatever bizarre reason.  I can still get private email, but not the
usenet.  It generally comes back up again in a bit.
 
	                                                              jms

Subject: Good writing Bad writing in Za
Date: 17 May 1995 18:24:31 -0400

     Except, of course, that Earth identicards use genetic fingerprints,
which they have access to, and the idea that the ID is forged or a fraud
could be dispensed with in, oh, about ten seconds by just checking his
DNA against the file.
 
                                                                jms

Subject: Enough of this "B5 is this and
Date: 18 May 1995 01:09:56 -0400

     What I find fascinating in this whole discussion is that, whenever a
novel comes out, people don't generally go through page by page and say,
 s"Oh, I think Niven was ripping off/drawing from "Lensman" when he did this
part."  They generally only do this to TV people...because it's assumed
that TV people don't have an original idea in their head, and can ony
(only) borrow from other people.
 
     Though I may sometimes nod to one or another landmark of SF, I'm not
doing the Prisoner, Lord of the Rings, Childhood's End, MacBeth, the
Illiad, The Mountains of Madness, or any of the thirty other works that
I'm supposed to be doing, all mutually contradictory.  I'm telling this
story, my story, and though it's nice to be compared to such other works,
it does become bothersome after a while when everybody tries to pin down
which work I'm supposed to be "doing" when they NEVER do this to novelists,
because this is TV.  C'mon, people, I've written published novels, and
short stories, and plays, and radio dramas, and I *do* have a brain in my
head to maybe make up something on my own, y'know.
 
     (And yes, my server is back up again, though I think it doesn't have
anything from the days in which I wasn't online, and just picked up from
today.)
 
                                                          jms

Subject: Attn JMS: a few background que
Date: 18 May 1995 02:42:29 -0400

     Security personnel are part or EA, but primarily hired by and work
for B5.  Garibaldi is part of Earthforce proper, and is ranked a Chief
Warrant Officer, correct.  And the Narns did help us during our last war.
 
                                                                    jms

Subject: Vir's Comments: ItSoZ Spoilers
Date: 18 May 1995 02:42:59 -0400

     Then again, there's always the character of God's Fool, who wanders
in and out of the most dangerous situations, is reckless with his life,
yet in the end is the only one to survive.  Just a thought....
 
                                                             jms

Subject: JMS: You kids are warped, you
Date: 18 May 1995 02:43:17 -0400

     Yeah, the air freshener was a cool touch....
 
	                                                            jms

Subject: Shadows must be incompetent! (
Date: 18 May 1995 02:43:34 -0400

     The shadows are only incompetent if there is not a reason why they
have not chosen to pass beyond the rim.  There is.  And they *are*
currently playing it slow and patient; they *have* learned.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Worldcon in August
Date: 18 May 1995 02:42:44 -0400

     At this point, no, no one from B5 is slated for Worldcon or Nasfic.
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: ATTN: JMS  - Anna *Sheridan*?
Date: 18 May 1995 02:44:04 -0400

     Anna chose to take Sheridan's last name.  Her decision.  You have the
option.  Some do, some don't.  If you start to pass rules that no woman
CAN take her husband's name or she's betraying something, then you're being
just as restrictive as those who insist a woman MUST take her husband's
name.  Me, I'm pro-choice on every level.  She felt like it.
 
     (And I note that my own spousal overunit kept her own name.  But then,
who in her right mind WOULD take Straczynski...?)
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Official... or not!
Date: 18 May 1995 19:33:21 -0400

     Unless they're dealing with the Dell books, no, this Starbooks thing
definitely ain't legit.
 
                                                                      jms

Subject: ATTN: JMS, The Word ZaHaDum. S
Date: 18 May 1995 19:31:26 -0400

     A very good analysis of the name.  And no rest, as we're still in
post production, and hopefully gearing up soon.  (Well, a little rest.)
 
                                                              jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Foul Balls in "KNIVE
Date: 18 May 1995 20:53:11 -0400

     Actually, Sheridan WAS hitting fair and home run balls in the front
of the show; later, though, when he was more rattled, they were all foul.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: ATTN:JMS--Thanks for Vir
Date: 18 May 1995 20:52:51 -0400

     Thanks.  I like Vir a lot.  Many folks were willing to write him off
in the beginning, not understanding that there was more beneath the
surface (a problem Vir has also had in his "life").  But you gotta be
careful; characters have a way of surprising you.  And I like that, and
intended that, Vir be the first one to stand up to Morden.
 
                                                                    jms

Subject: JMS:  Icarus Problems
Date: 18 May 1995 20:57:43 -0400

     The Icarus is a zero-g interior vessel while in spaceflight; the crew
just has to deal with it.  It piggy-backs on larger, jump capable ships,
making arrangements for pickup after X-days or weeks with the same or
another ship.
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: JMS: Icarus name connection in
Date: 18 May 1995 20:58:02 -0400

     No, I picked Icarus because I was up to I in the Name Dictionary.
 
     Yes, unless I've been unknowingly receiving spirit messages, table
tappings or divine revelation, it was an intentional connection.
 
                                                           jms

Subject: I hate this damn Greek dichoto
Date: 18 May 1995 20:54:27 -0400

     Of course, you're assuming the shadows are evil sui generis.  May not
be that simple.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: Congratulations to JMS! (Was R
Date: 18 May 1995 21:13:07 -0400

     Let me clarify this.  We have not -- NOT -- been officially renewed,
nor is PTEN looking for money.  Every year, the two parts of PTEN (the
stations, and Warner Bros.) engage in negotiations over that year, in
terms of deal points, commercial times available to sell, number of runs
per week and other areas.  They have indicated to us that they would like
the PTEN shows to continue, but that is all contingent upon both sides
working out their differences on deal stuff.  That is where we stand at
this moment.  It's taking a while for them to nail all this stuff down.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: JMS : CGi in "And Now For a Wo
Date: 18 May 1995 21:13:33 -0400

     "Whoever thought up the idea of *security cams* for FX shots...."
 
     That's how it was scripted.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: Left hand?
Date: 18 May 1995 21:13:50 -0400

     I'm right-handed.  Most of our cast are lefties.  Who knows why...?
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: JMS: What rastB5 means to me..
Date: 18 May 1995 21:14:04 -0400

     That's wonderful, and I appreciate seeing it.  It's been fun here,
too, all things considered.
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: JMS: Now you did it!!!
Date: 18 May 1995 21:14:21 -0400

     The balance of season two eps will show up in reruns between the end
of May and the next batch/last batch of year two eps...which I've learned
will be held until *OCTOBER* to (in theory) help folks get a running start
on year three (still awaiting final word).  Also, WB is concerned about
running year one reruns because it might confuse people to see a different
CO running the place.
 
     (I just report the news, I don't make it.)
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: One question answered, anyway
Date: 18 May 1995 21:28:24 -0400

     Again, look at the Kosh/Morden scene in "Signs."  A light is
suddenly blown out off to one side.  Morden didn't move.  So who did
it...but his constant companions?
 
                                                             jms

Subject: What happened to Harlan's voic
Date: 18 May 1995 21:28:40 -0400

     All the voiceovers on PTEN shows were dropped this season, us, Kung
Fu, and Pointman.  Corporate decision.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: why ask the question at all?
Date: 18 May 1995 21:29:15 -0400

     Because the story's not just about causing conflict.
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: The one problem my gf has with
Date: 19 May 1995 01:58:46 -0400

      Your girlfriend is a yak?  This seems very strange to me.  But if it
makes you happy....
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: References
Date: 19 May 1995 02:05:43 -0400

     Securecam is NOT a reference to Max Headroom.  It is a work formed
out of Security and Camera, which is the function of the ones mounted on
the station, as Maintcam goes on the maintainance bots.  The Psi Corps
line in the commercial is not a reference to Paranoia.
 
     Not everything in this show is a reference to some other show.  We
do have some interest in doing our *own* story, rather than nodding to
every series on the face of the planet, and not all concepts started in
the other shows that used them.
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: Attn JMS Who do we write about
Date: 19 May 1995 02:06:01 -0400

     Airing schedule decisions are made by Warner Bros.
 
                                                               jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Neurotic Question
Date: 19 May 1995 02:06:15 -0400

     He said stop because Zack had found the right wavelength (at least
briefly) and didn't want him to go further and lose it again.
 
                                                              jms

Subject: This is going too far
Date: 19 May 1995 02:05:27 -0400

     Then again, you are assuming that you are being told the truth about
the bothersome phone call.  I'm not saying it *ain't* true, or that it is,
only that I've seen this gag pulled before, where somebody comes in, posts
a message that gets an argument going, gets ganged up on, and then says
he or she is being "threatened" or intimidated in some way, in order to
play the victim (and also win an unwinnable argument) and get people on
his/her side.
 
     In all the years I've been on the nets, I haven't encountered one real
case of this, and given the nature of discussion on this forum, there have
been *real major* flamewars which cause this one to pale into
insignificance, and if THOSE didn't provoke such calls, I don't see why
this one would, all of a sudden.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: Re: JMS says PTEN wants to del
Date: 19 May 1995 02:19:07 -0400

     There are NO "production time restraints" involved in delaying the
last 4 episodes until October, which can be easily verified by the fact
that we'll be delivering all the finished episodes in time for the UK to
air these same last 4 episodes in June/July.  They'll just sit on a shelf
here in the US until October.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Season 2 Delay/18 we
Date: 19 May 1995 02:19:20 -0400

     Warners is reluctant to rerun season one episodes because they're
afraid of confusing the audience with a different CO on B5.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: When Will He Put It
Date: 19 May 1995 02:25:59 -0400

     Remember, we the audience have information withheld from Sheridan.
But he'll have it all pretty much together by season's end.
 
                                                                    jms

Subject: Notes from jms
Date: 19 May 1995 04:04:44 -0400

     Some quickies....
 
     1) Claudia Christian, Bill Mumy and I will be appearing (on various
days/times) at the Creation MegaShow to be held at the Anaheim Convention
Center, in California, May 27-28.  I don't know when they'll be up, but
I'm slated for Sunday.  (Plus Mark Hammil, Stan Lee and some Voyager
folks.)
 
     2) Parents with small kids who watch B5 may want to consider
screening the next episode, "Confessions and Lamentations," first, in
order to determine how to talk to your kids about it.  It's a *very*
intense episode and uncompromising.
 
     3) Yes, as discussed elsewhere here, Warners has scheduled the last
four episodes of this season to run in October, to build momentum toward
what (we hope) will be the season three debut, though no official word
has yet been given on year three.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: More "Old Friends?"
Date: 20 May 1995 04:57:57 -0400

     No plans for Ironheart just now.  We will be seeing Draal again this
season.
 
                                                                jms

Subject: Re: Attn JMS Who do we write a
Date: 20 May 1995 04:46:27 -0400

      I cannot make a formal statement on this in either direction.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Z'Ha'Dum pronumciati
Date: 20 May 1995 19:17:08 -0400

     The difference is just in accent.  ZA HA DOOM is the way I pronounce
it, but ZA cHA DOOM is also acceptable (from someone who's learned to
more or less accept the 47 different ways in which one may pronounce
straczynski).
 
                                                                     jms

Subject: B5 Book 3: Blood Oath
Date: 21 May 1995 03:59:12 -0400

     As stated, all of the B5-related items -- books, comics, merchandise,
you name it -- go through my hands.  Usually I have only minor notes; in
some cases, I have more substantive notes.  Nobody's fault, it just
happens.  When you've got diverse hands tugging the B5 universe in various
directions, sooner or later someone's going to go down the wrong road.  It
is my job, and responsibility, to pull it back when that happens.  That's
the whole point.
 
     Book #3 had, as stated, gone down some wrong roads, and needed to be
brought back into alignment with the series.  I had a substantial number
of notes.  Not John's fault, it just Is.  Or Was.  The revisions required
to bring the book back into line were going to be enough to push back the
publication date by a month or two.  Dell wasn't exactly thrilled with
the idea.  I insisted.  We went back and forth.  Finally, the revisions
were implemented.  Hence the slight delay.  (The revised manuscript has
already come and gone through my office, and been approved, thanks to
John's careful revisions.)
 
     No relation to the other PTEN stuff; this is just jms being a pain in
the ass.  But that's part of the process, so that when you see something
with the B5 name on it, you know it's been done reasonably right.
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: Re: C&L reaction: spoilers
Date: 23 May 1995 01:26:06 -0400

     Re: Lyta and G'Kar...G'Kar *specifically* stated in that scene that
there would have to be substantial genetic manipulation to make the
mating work.
 
                                                                    jms

Subject: ATTN JMS - Alternate Distribut
Date: 23 May 1995 22:49:33 -0400

     Due to the nature of our contract with PTEN, which in essence owns
the copyright to B5, I don't think there *are* any alternatives.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: Screw the plague! (possible sp
Date: 24 May 1995 00:51:14 -0400

     Next time I will try and locate every other producer in town and
see what they plan to produce, so I can plan accordingly.  When I wrote
the episode, Outbreak hadn't been promoted yet or known about, Voyager
hadn't aired, ER hadn't told me what they were going to do...if I'd
known there would be such a glut...well, I probably would've done so
anyway, because this isn't so much about the plague and saying its'
dangerous, but about our attitudes when we are confronted by this, which
really hasn't been dealt with that much in SF.  (And I'm sorry, but
don't even *try* to bring the Voyager story into this; the ship is
threatened by a cheese contamination?  I almost fell off my chair.)
 
                                                                jms

Subject: So-- how much does it cost to
Date: 24 May 1995 03:22:53 -0400

     The budget for B5 is classified, but I can say it's under one
million per episode.  (ST is generally $1.4 to $1.6 million.)
 
                                                                jms

Subject: which comes first...
Date: 24 May 1995 04:47:55 -0400

     Actually, the chronological order was *supposed* to be "Knives," THEN
"Z'ha'dum."  In "Knives" you get the reminder about Anna, then in
"Z'ha'dum" you get the payoff.  That was originally how they were intended
to be aired, but there was *so much* CGI work and rotoscope work and
creature animation involved in "Knives" that it got flopped to second in
that order.  So while it works *best* the way it was intended, it still
works okay in this order.
 
                                                                    jms

Subject: Some technical questions
Date: 24 May 1995 04:54:42 -0400

     The majority of those questions are best left to Ron to one day
explain in a tech manual, as he has more of the hard-science info at his
fingertips than I do.  Certainly, both tachyon and ansibles are part of
an instantaneous communications system.  And yes, there was some amount
of conscription during the wars.
 
                                                            jms

Subject: "Rip-Offs" and Con Organizing;
Date: 24 May 1995 20:51:23 -0400

     I would venture that there has been some change in the tone and
attitude of some conventions over the years, not always favorable.  Now,
bear in mind, I've been a fan of SF for all my life, I've gone to cons
for well over 15 years as Just Another Guy, so in some of this I have my
Fanboy hat on, though from time to time my Producerboy hat may slip on
as well.
 
     There are some conventions I never miss; LosCon here in LA, and San
Diego Comic Con, because both have a sense of real fun about them, and
the people running them are generally swell (absent one or two years of
LosCon when, I dunno, something went weird at the ConCom level).  As a
rule, Westercon is great, Icon is great, and though I haven't had that
much exposure to Chicago ComicCon, that seems pretty nifty as well.
 
     But over the years, at some other conventions (not all of them, but
a growing number), you start to run into a problem in fan/pro
relationships.  One convention I know of (no names) didn't bother to send
out invitations to the pros or offer guest passes because "Well, they
always come every year ANYway, so why spend the money on stamps?  BECAUSE
IT'S POLITE TO BE ASKED, YOU NUMBSKULL.  Consequently, a number of pros
passed and didn't come.
 
     I've had a real problem with a couple of recent WorldCons, where I
shelled out my own money as a pro with a whole lotta TV SF credits to
fly up, paid for my own room, transportation, everything...and was told
upon arrival that even having done all this, and after they'd used my
name to bring in more people, they WOULDN'T EVEN GIVE ME A GUEST PASS to
the convention.  I had to pay to get in.  When they pulled this one on me
in San Francisco, I chewed those involved several new orifices, and only
went to the one panel I really wanted to do, and otherwise said "screw
it."
 
     More and more, it seems, conventions which rely on pros to draw
attendees adopt a give-a-shit attitude toward those pros, as though tyey
(they) are *expected* to perform, and should be happy for the chance to
appear anywhere.  I cannot tell you the number of calls I get from people
putting cons together *right now* that explain, "Yes, we want you as our
GoH, but you'll have to pay your own way at every step," often including
buying admission.  When you protest, they get snippy and say, "Well, you
know, we're doing this for YOUR benefit, to give you exposure to your
show to the fans, we're doing you a favor."
 
     At which point I usually hang up the phone hard enough to shatter
phone lines from here to New Orleans.
 
     Now let me repeat...this is not the standard, but it has been
happening enough, and growing, that a lot of pros are having second
thoughts about the whole convention idea.  A number of 'em just won't go
anymore...and where that's unfortunate is that it hurts the goodly number
of great conventions put on by terrific people, and there are many.
 
     It's caused me to be very selective in the conventions I attend, and
I work hard with my cast, who are new to all this, to try and help them
avoid any that I know are going to be trouble.
 
     I'm not sure what the root of the problem is, whether it's some fans
taking pros for granted, or the growth of cons as Big Business rather than
just a chance to have fun and hang out, or what.  So I can't even begin to
describe what needs to be done, only to agree with Paul that there is a
problem, but to disagree with him on the notion that there aren't good ones
out there.  Yes, you can be taken advantage of, and that happens more than
it should in every area, and SF cons are no exception.  But I don't think
it's time yet to throw the proverbial baby out with the proverbial
bathwater.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: Scientific Progress goes BOINK
Date: 24 May 1995 21:42:07 -0400

     Tom, we *do* have a medical/biological advisor, whose primary
comment on the notion that a virus couldn't pass between one species
and another..."We have yet to contact one other alien life form to make
an analysis.  We do not know for a fact that their biology will be
radically different than our own.  Until we actually make contact, it's
as likely as not."  A biologist works from what's known; unless you've got
a specimen of alien life somewhere and aren't showing it to anyone, or
you're simply making a guess, which is neither more nor less correct until
we have something testable in our hands.
 
                                                                    jms

Subject: Re: Take my Biologist, please!
Date: 24 May 1995 23:30:48 -0400

     "...they are very similar in their cellular/biochemical makeup."
EXACTLY.  That's why it was stated in those specific terms in the course
of the episode.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: B5 Video and Time Ou
Date: 25 May 1995 01:50:42 -0400

    Yes, please, by all means, send a copy of both, actually, to me at
14431 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 260, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423.  Thanks!
 
                                                               jms

Subject: Was that all? (spoilers for "C
Date: 25 May 1995 20:40:50 -0400

     Suffice to say there's one more major hit yet to come, and I do mean
major.
 
                                                             jms

Subject: ATT JMS: other episodes out of
Date: 25 May 1995 20:46:49 -0400

     I think there are one or two out of order, but at this point I'll be
damned if I can remember anymore....
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: Re: "Rip-Offs" and Con Organiz
Date: 25 May 1995 20:57:55 -0400

     Re: Tom C.'s statement that he "had to call in a lot of favors" to get
us into CapriCon is one of the -- no, make that THE -- most ludicrous
thing I have ever heard.  More of his trying to inflate his position.  I
suspect that if Michael O'Hare or I or anyone else showed up at a con, we
probably wouldn't have a hard time getting in, given the number of requests
that come in for their presence.
 
     More CMC bullshit.  Pure and simple, and as with all the CMC bullshit,
painfully obvious for what it is.  Which is one of many reasons I withdrew
any endorsement from B5 for their "event."  I wouldn't work with these
people if I were dying of cancer and they were paying in chemotherapy.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: For JMS:  Cons and Con Jobs
Date: 25 May 1995 21:20:59 -0400

     Dan'l...you make a lot of good points. The only one I'd argue with
is the "Worldcon is an exhibition, and all attendees at businsss
exhibitions pay to get in."  (Paraphrase)  Not true.  Invariably, any
good exhibition of business convention allows for industry passes; I was
at E3, the big multimedia exhibition/convention in LA a week or so ago,
with 30-40,000 attendees, and media pros/industry types were comp'd,
because it's the presence of these individuals that brings in others.  If
Worldcon is, as you say, more a business than a convention (which is
on one level kinda less than it was intended, he said wistfully), then
it should begin acting like one.
 
                                                               jms

Subject: New B5 CGI AVIs on AOL
Date: 25 May 1995 21:23:35 -0400

     IF the clips are directly provided by Warner Bros., as is the case
with the avi's uploaded to AOL, then they may be re-uploaded anywhere.
 
                                                             jms

Subject: ATTN JMS Series 2, Channel 4 a
Date: 25 May 1995 21:28:01 -0400

      The shows will continue to air weekly.
 
                                                        jms

Subject: C&L Analysis *SPOILERS*
Date: 25 May 1995 22:52:27 -0400

     What you also have to do is step back for a moment and remember that
the dinner began prior to Keffer and the rest leaving B5; and was ending
about the time they got back.  Add up the time indicated, and you've got
a ritual that has gone on for at LEAST 3-4 hours now, probably closer to
5-6; seated in a small room, legs crossed, after what was almost certainly
a busy day.  Show me somebody who WOULDN'T doze off after a while.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: C&L (spoilers)
Date: 25 May 1995 23:10:04 -0400

     John: you have made a very perceptive observation.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: Re: "Rip-Offs" and Con Organiz
Date: 25 May 1995 21:27:40 -0400

     1) Tom C. informed me that arrangements had been made with Capricon
for the bunch of us to appear there on Saturday, though explaining that it
"couldn't be put into the program because we didn't have an exact time."
Which seemed kinda funny to me at the time.
 
     2) Upon arriving, at Tom's insistence (I at no time even knew about
the convention until Tom told us we were booked to stop by as a "goodwill
investment"), it did seem that *nobody* knew we were coming, which upset
me more than a little.
 
     3) I did insist on a room rather than being stuck in the dealer's
room, at a table selling unauthorized merchandise.
 
     4) As we left the convention, I had a very angry conversation with
Tom, in that insufficient groundwork had been done, no preparations or
arrangements had been made, and the entire thing was sloppily done, and
that it couldn't be allowed to be done this way again.
 
     So Bruce, if you're going to start talking about "the net of a
thousand lies," I strongly suggest you get your OWN facts straight first,
because all of points 1-4 preceding can be verified by all the cast
members who were in that car.  You, I note, were not present.
 
                                                                jms

Subject: JMS: and anyone else who knows
Date: 26 May 1995 02:20:03 -0400

     To answer your questin: I will be at the Anaheim Convention Center on
Sunday at the Creation MegaShow.  Claudia and Bill Mumy will also be there
thoughI think Bill is Saturday only.
 
                                                                    jms

Subject: Big Bang Warning from jms
Date: 26 May 1995 02:35:47 -0400

     I just received a message from someone I know that there is an ad for
the Big Bang Convention in the current issue of STAR WARS INSIDER that
just came out listing me as attending.  I am in the process of getting my
hands on the actual ad to verify this, but since the source is a reliable
one, I wanted to alert anyone who might see this that I am most definitely
NOT attending, CMC/Tom Christofferson has known this for months now, and
the advertisement is absolutely false in that regard.  He has been
forbidden to use any references or representations regarding me or Warner
Bros., and if this information turns out correct, and I have no reason to
doubt that at the moment, this will be turned over to lawyers.
 
     Meanwhile, to repeat: I will NOT be attending this convention, nor
is this convention in any way endorsed by Babylonian Productions or PTEN
or Warner Bros.
 
                                                                    jms

Subject: Re: "Rip-Offs" and Con Organiz
Date: 26 May 1995 21:20:32 -0400

     It's very sad, Bruce, that you think the only way to get a response
is to insult people and use emotionally-laden "hot-buttons" to try and
inflame them.
 
     I've generally found that a reasoned, simple, polite question gets
answered far more often.  Perhaps next time you should try it.
 
     Jerk.*
 
                                                              jms
 
        (*emotional hot-button #47, I knew you wouldn't mind)

Subject: Shadows and the facts of life
Date: 26 May 1995 21:20:59 -0400

     Morden never said "wait" in the hall with Talia.
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: Re: JMS detractors take note
Date: 26 May 1995 21:22:14 -0400

     Exactly.  You will note that Macabee says, of the Ministry, "...or
Minipax, as we like to call it around the office."  It's an in-house
joke, not the real name of the thing.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: ATTN JMS:  Re: "Rip-Offs" and
Date: 26 May 1995 21:22:43 -0400

     I've only heard back second- and third-hand, but from what I haer,
(hear), "da guys" had a great time at Marcon.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: ATTN JMS:  More thumbs up
Date: 26 May 1995 21:21:47 -0400

     Thanks; all support gratefully accepted.  Welcome to the fold....
 
                                                             jms

Subject: Re: C&L Analysis *SPOILERS*
Date: 26 May 1995 21:51:04 -0400

     Londo has not yet finished doing exactly what the shadows wish, though
he has made a good start of it; and no, there were very few others involved
in the Narn/Centauri war.
 
                                                                      jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: C&L: NO Spoilers!
Date: 26 May 1995 21:53:46 -0400

     Frederick: thanks....
 
                                                             jms

Subject: Re: "Rip-Offs" and Con Organiz
Date: 26 May 1995 21:50:13 -0400

     Here's a dilemma I'd like to throw out to those who've run conventions
before, because I don't have a good answer for it, and maybe it'd help to
illuminate the discussion a bit.
 
     I was talking to X, who is a prime mover behind one of the for-profit
convention companies.  I noted, in the course of the conversation, my
surprise that Actor Y had not been invited to many conventions by that
company.  X's response: "Well, that's because Actor Y keeps showing up at
fan conventions for free.  How can we justify paying someone who's lowered
his/her market value like that?"
 
     Initial reaction: that's rather odious thinking.
 
     Secondary and tertiary reactions: you're an actor.  You don't really
come out of the SF field, you don't know the ins and outs, or what the
diff is between a fan con and a profit con.  Convention A asks you to do
their convention, and will pay $4,000 plus transportation and airfare.
Convention B asks you to their convention, but can't pay anything but the
hotel and a guest pass.  Actors are not limitless pools of money; they
have the same fiscal nuts to crack as everyone else...mortgage, car,
alimony, kids, doctors, name it.
 
     It does put things very much in the favor of the paying cons when it
comes to actors and the like.  How does one tell an actor not to do it?
(Not that it is my job or anyone else's to do so, and I'm not entirely
sure it would be *right* to do so...any opportunity an actor has to
perform for an audience, and be properly compensated for that performance,
should be seized.)  So maybe it isn't so much "don't do this one," as "be
OPEN to the other type as well."  But then how do you counter the X/Y
conversation above?
 
     It is, frankly, a real mess....
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: "Chrysalis" question
Date: 26 May 1995 22:25:27 -0400

     As I recall, she intended primarily to tell him of the souls business.
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: JMS: Home world destroyed?  <S
Date: 26 May 1995 22:25:05 -0400

     I didn't say destroyed, I said decimated; and no, this wasn't it.
 
                                                          jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: diversification of s
Date: 27 May 1995 01:38:04 -0400

     I think it's more a case of those species who might find B5 a
habitable place, tend to go there.  I think we'll continue to see more
diversification as the techniques to realize that dramatically continue
to increase.
 
                                                              jms

Subject: PC Babylon
Date: 27 May 1995 05:48:26 -0400

     PC's got nothing to do with it.  But 1) the syph epidemic didn't
occur to me, and 2) this was nowhere NEAR the level of plague that we were
addressing.  It didn't occur to me while writing it, and if it had, I
probably would've excluded it because it wasn't relevant.  I would also
add that *all* sides in this particular storyline acted with varying
degrees of irrationality, so if there was one side or the other held up
as wiser or better, I sure didn't see it.  Or write it.
 
     There are legitimate complaints one can bring of political
correctness.  Unfortunately, it has gained such wide currency, and is
used so broadly in non-applicable areas, that the term has lost most of
its meaning and effectiveness.  Nowadays PC is meant to mean anything one
disagrees with, anything with a possible moral or idea, to denigrate
anything and everything but absolute rudeness.  It's a dismissive, nothing
more.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: Re: JMS: Home world destroyed?
Date: 28 May 1995 01:51:03 -0400

     Keith...re: decimated defined...that would be telling.
 
                                                             jms

Subject: Pros at Cons
Date: 28 May 1995 01:51:20 -0400

     Actually, I don't tend to use the hospitality suite much at cons;
I generally hang out in the halls or in the dealer's room or in going to
panels, rather than hiding out.  I also don't tend to eat much before a
presentation as it kafuffles my synapses and all I can do is stand there
and belch (which, granted, is some small improvement over my usual
performance).
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: Actor's addresses?
Date: 28 May 1995 02:19:37 -0400

     Anyone involved in making B5 (actors, crew, others) are reachable at
14431 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 260, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: JMS: San Diego Comic Con
Date: 28 May 1995 02:19:52 -0400

     I *believe* that I'm slated for both that Saturday and Sunday.
 
                                                               jms

Subject: Attn:JMS- Any "Con's" on this
Date: 28 May 1995 02:20:14 -0400

     Closest I'm coming is Chicago comic con in July; I think there may
be a Florida convention sometime next year.  I don't get around a lot...
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: Maybe have a B5 CGI competitio
Date: 28 May 1995 03:37:58 -0400

     Only problem: all CGI for this show must be *created under contract*,
not purchased after the fact, as a work for hire.  A competition is simply
not workable.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: Re: "Rip-Offs" and Con Organiz
Date: 28 May 1995 03:46:41 -0400

     It's probably a glitch in my brain, but I rarely evaluate conventions
in terms of how "useful" they are, but rather if I and folks seem to have
a good time.  So in that sense, I probably enjoy the fan-cons more, because
there's more room for interaction.
 
                                                             jms

Subject: Someone's Impersonating jms
Date: 28 May 1995 04:38:00 -0400

     I recently received information that someone is impersonating me in
Internet Relay Chat.  This person has been going under the handle of
straczynski@nwlink.com.  I have just sent this creep a message privately
outlining the whole *host* of civil, criminal and related laws under which
I will prosecute him if he continues in this action.  Be advised that this
person is out there, and if you see this address, or anything similar,
be advised this person is committing fraud.  Anyone who wants to further
assist with tracking down this person is welcome, though we already have
quite a bit.  Email replies only.
 
                                                                jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: C&S and Delenn (SPOI
Date: 29 May 1995 01:32:31 -0400

     Re: why Delenn would do such a thing...hold out for "Comes the
Inquisitor"...it gets into her rationals on such things.
 
                                                                jms

Subject: JMS: Sandman reference in C&L?
Date: 29 May 1995 01:34:13 -0400

      It's mainly an extrapolation on an alien breather based on WW II
style gas masks.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: Attn JMS:Sheridan's helmet.
Date: 29 May 1995 01:51:01 -0400

     We selected (with permission) the Flying Tigers logo for Sheridan out
of respect; not out of any sense of foreshadowing the nature of his
involvement.
 
                                                                     jms

Subject: C&L,ItSoZ, and Quality of Merc
Date: 29 May 1995 01:51:15 -0400

     Ah, about time; I was wondering when someone would get around to
remembering "Quality of Mercy" in this....
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: C&L Opinions
Date: 29 May 1995 19:57:24 -0400

     The only thing wrong with this whole argument is that it doesn't touch
reality at any two contiguous points.  I will not defend the notion that
the episode stated that all Americans felt that AIDS was a penalty from
god because it never said that.  Ever.  In any way, manner, shape or form.
The problem is that some people are so caught up in the current situation
that they lose all sense of perspective.  Fact is, most people DID think
that the Black Death was a punishment from God, or the work of the devil,
as Franklin says.  The Markabs had a similar belief.  Nowhere was that
applied in dialogue to humans or the AIDS situation.
 
     The whole point of the episode is NOT political; it says that if you
make a disease political on either side, you're gonna die.  You have to
set aside all that crap and just Deal With The Problem.  The only "side"
this episode took was in advocating compassion for those afflicted.
 
     I have enough just dealing with what's actually *in* my series; don't
compound the problem by adding things that you saw only in your own head,
and which exist nowhere in dialogue or in the story.  You are adding the
template of your own beliefs as an overlay, and seeing this story through
it.  That ain't my problem.  If you see this disease as political, that's
your lookout.  This show says that ANY attempt to politicize a disease is
species-dangerous thinking.  Period.
 
                                                                     jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: A wee note;)
Date: 29 May 1995 19:57:41 -0400

     Jackie: thanks....
 
                                                               jms

Subject: B5 and CLaudia Adoration
Date: 29 May 1995 19:57:55 -0400

     On behalf of meself and Claudia...thanks
 
                                                                 jms