=========================================================================== | This text is compiled from posts by J. Michael Straczynski on the Usenet | group rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5. This document contains material Copyright | 1994 J. Michael Straczynski. He has given permission for his words to be | redistributed online, as long as they are marked as being copyright JMS. | This document, as well as other Babylon-5 related material, is available | by anonymous FTP at ftp.hyperion.com. =========================================================================== From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 1 Jun 1994 00:58:18 -0400 Subject: Re: TKO - Poor Episode (Spoile I can't believe the degree to which this argument has gotten out of all proportion. First, though, an aside...it has been the tradition of B5 areas on various systems to be a little more polite than other areas. Granted, we all sometimes lose our temper and slip into name-calling. I've done it myself. But lately I've been seeing one after another, using every name in the book. Points can be communicated without resorting to this sort of thing, and frankly, after a while, it simply loses its impact. Just a thought. Now, on the samovar issue...whatever your background, if your family grew up in Russia and has been there for several hundred years or more -- and the Ivanov family has been there since at LEAST the 1800s -- you do become part of the culture. That, as I always understood it, was part of the reason for making sure children learned hebrew, yiddish *and* the dominant language of the culture, to give their kids a fighting chance in a difficult world. It's not so much a case of the culture assimiliating the individual (though certainly that happens as well), but the individual INCORPORATING the culture. Ivanova is jewish. Ivanova is russian. Of the two, she tends to see herself as a russian first. There's no value statement there, that's just the way she is. Her parents were both russian, going back many generations on both sides. Some in her family tree were jewish, and some were not; there was some intermarrying. That may be part of why she sees herself as more russian than jewish, but it may be just a quirk. (And to the protest of, "Well, you created her," yes, I did. But there comes a time, if you've done your job right as a writer, when the character more or less takes over, and starts telling YOU who and what he or she is. There are times I mentally turn to Ivanova and say, "Okay, what do *you* think?" And she talks to me in my head, as do all of my characters. It's part of making your characters real.) When she went off to boarding school overseas -- part of an ongoing international system put into place by EarthGov to help its various member nations get along with one another -- she identified most strongly with that russian aspect in relation to those around her. She learned to speak English without a perceptible accent. The samovar is a valued and valuable part of russian life. It is the family hearth, on one level, a possession passed on from generation to generation. Knowing that Ivanova was not terribly religious herself, he would generally not leave her any of his personal religious artifacts, but would donate them to the local synagogue, while some, like a menorah, might go to other relatives. People who could appreciate them and use them. The samovar is a very personal object; to the correspondent with a fiance who is russian...*I* am byeloruss, white-russian, one-and-a-half generation American born. And I can tell you that the biggest fights I've ever seen over bequeaths were over a) money, and b) the samovar. The problem with this discussion is that it has very little to do with who Susan Ivanova *is*, and more to do with the politics of what a russian or a jew or a russian jew *should be*. She is what she is, like it or not. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 1 Jun 1994 02:05:43 -0400 Subject: Re: UK reviews: Born To the Pu Actually, the intent was never to hit people over the head with whtat (what) a nice person Ivanova is...or to shove her character down anyone's throat. She has an arc of her own this season, which involves reconciling some things with her family. And we need to set *up* some things in her family in order to pay them off later in the season. You have to start a bit early in order to get it all in without rushing it. All of our characters have their own arcs, and their own stories, and their own forthcoming transitions. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 1 Jun 1994 04:29:15 -0400 Subject: JUMPGATE QUESTION I think the bg of the shadowman shot may have been a solar system forming, or a nebula; I was told, we discussed it, and I've promptly forgotten. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 2 Jun 1994 04:19:17 -0400 Subject: Is it or isn't it? I'm going to try and address your flame-bait with considerably less in the way of insulting content than you did. 1) The Zima thing was neither illegal nor against NAB or FCC regs, it was perfectly legit. Before you start making accusations about illegality that are *completely* specious and ill-informed, you should investigate first. Otherwise you speak from ignorance. 2) The argument of what is and isn't SF is one of the most bone-headed arguments one can conceivably get into, and to which there is no better solution than Damon Knight's comment, "SF is anything I point to and say, that's SF." For me, SF means speculative fiction, which totally regardless of any opinion of yours, is a completely valid and acceptable definition. Speculative SF includes not just the hard sciences, but sociology, psychology, anthropology and other soft sciences. To apply the standards usually listed by people such as yourself would totally disqualify some of the finest pieces of SF literature in the genre's history, from Stranger in a Strange Land to A Canticle for Liebowitz and most of Ray Bradbury's stuff. Hence, I simply ignore what narrow-minded people try to impose on my show. Babylon 5 is SF, as I and a whole lot more people than you define it. It may or may not be a brand of SF that you like. But whether or not you like it is totally irrelevant to whether or not it's SF. The "critical look at the definition of science fiction" that you cite does not exist anywhere but in your own head...there IS no one such definition, and if there ever *were* any one such definition, then we could effectively declare the genre dead and in need of burial. And you'll note that I did all of this without appending to the reply the use of such terms as "lame" or "mediocre." Now, if you're willing to act grownup, we can continue this conversation. If not, not. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 2 Jun 1994 08:52:54 -0400 Subject: JMS: another quick question ab The idea first started as a question: how do you design an SF show for television that won't kill itself financially...then how can you design a show in such a way that it tells a story over X-number of years, like some of the multi-novel cycles that are the hallmark of SF literature? The obvious framework seemed to be a crossroads or meeting place of some kind, a place of commerce and trading. It's much more difficult and energy-consuming to go down into a gravity well every time you want to drop something off, so this led to a space station/community. I kind of knew pretty much where I wanted to go right off the bat, but it took me another six months to a year to *really* decide on what the arc of the story was to be. In the years since, I've added a bit around the edges, fleshed out some of the characters and their own personal arcs, but it's still essentially the same story. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 2 Jun 1994 22:59:14 -0400 Subject: JMS: How much did B5 cost and. Doing a conversion of EA dollars in 2258 to US dollars 1994 is a bit much for me to handle. The EA was able to afford the first few on their own, since they were attempts that didn't get very far, but later had to accept Minbari and, later still, Centauri co-financing to make it viable. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 2 Jun 1994 23:27:31 -0400 Subject: Re: Starfury design (was Re: A Correct, there are several different kinds of starfuries and models of fighters; the standard lightweight version used at B5; the more stealth oriented Black Omega fighters; and in the two-parter, you'll see the heavy military class, with turrets fore and aft, and pilots fore and aft. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 2 Jun 1994 23:46:28 -0400 Subject: JMS: You Produced ST:TMP???!!! "...from the producers of ST:TMP...B5...." Matthew...all I can figure out is that I'm paying off karma at a VASTLY accellerated rate. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 2 Jun 1994 23:50:18 -0400 Subject: > > Attn: JMS -- Warner, B5, a 1) It was felt that further emphasizing the personal stories would help with that demographic. This is not a problem for us, since having established the universe of B5 in the first season, we were moving ni (in) that direction anyway for year two (and, in fact, did go that way already in the latter half of year one). 2) No, no real changes planned in the arc. 3) The O'Hare situation is an entirely different issue. 4) Warner hasn't said a peep about the alternate lifestyles character, despite many opporunities to do so. You'll start to get a sense of this character more in season two. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 2 Jun 1994 23:50:20 -0400 Subject: Re: Babylon 5 (B5) "bad acting The whole "bad acting/wooden acting" thing is, for the most part, something that came out of a lot of unfair (in my view) criticisms of the show, because we're not doing hysterics, not doing "here's all of our character's history in five seconds," and not playing archetypes; they are people who you have to get to know. And in some cases, it was just to find something to slam. Same thing happened to many of the early reviews of TNG, and many of the net discussions of TNG. It just becomes something everybody repeats, a shibboleth, something they can throw into the pot without fully understanding what they're saying. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 2 Jun 1994 23:57:57 -0400 Subject: B5 comic book schedual??? It's my understanding that the comic will debut close to the end of November. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 2 Jun 1994 23:57:59 -0400 Subject: ATTN JMS: Some Questions Jonathan.... Are you *sure* you don't work for Warner Bros.? jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 3 Jun 1994 02:30:27 -0400 Subject: JMS: A most annoying televisio Alas, there is nothing we can do about your station's activities, as described. Only local letters can make a difference. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 3 Jun 1994 20:08:40 -0400 Subject: How Long Until The Next New Ep The next new episode for this season will air starting the first week in July. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 3 Jun 1994 22:55:51 -0400 Subject: JMS: 4 more for season 1? Absolutely false. We've finished our episodes for season one, and will not be shooting additional episodes. We now begin shooting for season two. The four more episodes rumor is untrue. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 3 Jun 1994 23:56:21 -0400 Subject: Re: TKO - SF & Religion The atheist was not only first in line, he was the best dressed and smartest looking and nattiest one in the line. jm(what a coincidence)s From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 4 Jun 1994 04:56:13 -0400 Subject: JMS: Re: TOYS! TOYS! TOYS! I believe that's correct; the PPG consists of more than 20 pieces of machined aluminum, which has two lighting systems, one when the trigger is depressed (the barrel lights up, and a side light turns on), and another when you slap in an energy charge pod at the back. I imagine that'll come out sooner or later (the plans). jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 4 Jun 1994 04:56:15 -0400 Subject: Re: ST:TNG episode "Believers" "who sincerely hopes that JMS posts a clarification/retraction of his slams of the opposition...." Please reprint for me the "slams" that you say I have posted, and then show me where they are in error. If a misstatement of facts was ever made, I will retract it. If not, not. I will not take back any criticism just because you don't like it, and further, in my postings I generally make it a point *not* to slam. So, again, please repost those messages for me. Otherwise, as far as I'm concerned, I have nothing to retract. Second, to the point of your message...we *showed* what happened: the raiders came out of nowhere. She turned around. Hit her engines, and ran. We SEE her turn and run. What in this is so incomprehensible to you that you felt you needed it *explained*? And in the midst of the main story in "Believers" cranking rapidly toward its end, what would have been served by cutting away one more time just to show her running and firing backward as she ran? We show nearly everything on this show; almost *nothing* happens off camera...as opposed (okay, you want a slam, here's one) to one episode of TNG that I recall where there was some kind of disturbance they were investigating, they were hit by the vortex (never saw it), the other ship (which we never saw) was hit by it, the ship was destroyed (we never saw it)...the whole THING was one big radio drama, with the crew narrating what happened rather than showing it to us. In 14 episodes, we chose to let *one* incident happen off-camera, and it was a dramatic choice, leaving something to the imagination of the viewers, and to avoid interfering with a very dramatic moment in the main story. Deal with it. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 4 Jun 1994 22:13:05 -0400 Subject: Books? Novels? etc. Dell will be coming out with the first batch of B5 original novels later this year. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 5 Jun 1994 03:38:11 -0400 Subject: Re: lack-luster characterizati The *reason* we had Garibaldi go through all the hoops he went through before finally falling into the bottle is because simply having Liana show up and depress Garibaldi isn't, frankly, sufficient motivation. I don't buy it. We wanted to strip away everything he had, and leave him with only *himself*. So we took away his job, his reputation, his money, his home, neutralized his friends wherever possible...it was deliberate and systematic to peel him down to the bare essentials, to just Garibaldi. Take him all the way down before taking him back up again. Because it's more dramatically interesting. It's more logical that it would take something this major to drive him back into the bottle after staying sober all this time. I'm sorry, I don't accept your suggestion that Liana's "anger and accusations" would "drive him over the edge as he deals with his guilt." He's BEEN dealing with his guilt, and her showing up wouldn't be enough to drive him back into the bottle again. I'm sorry, but as a producer or a story editor, I wouldn't buy that from a writer as being sufficient motivation. Particularly not a character who's as strong and as bull-headed as Garibaldi. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 5 Jun 1994 19:01:31 -0400 Subject: Re: WHAM! next season? Since the personal stories will be mainly b-stories, no, I don't anticipate any problem with the wham episodes. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 5 Jun 1994 19:01:34 -0400 Subject: JMS: Mind War repeat In the pursuit in the teaser, you could see one of the binary stars THROUGH Ironheart's ship; we deleted that shot and replaced it. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 6 Jun 1994 03:56:14 -0400 Subject: ATTN:JMS:More wishes (was How I believe the rerun schedule for TKO is correct; and we'll be showing second season new episodes in November for sweeps, not starting December. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 6 Jun 1994 20:35:14 -0400 Subject: JMS Correct, I'll be at San Diego Comic Con on August 4-7, and will be showing some new stuff. And will probably have some things to say about season two, but will obviously be holding back some stuff. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 6 Jun 1994 20:35:17 -0400 Subject: Editorial: Michael O'Hare's De As it turns out, Michael O'Hare came by the office today, and we spoke at some length about this issue. Michael has offered to compose a note confirming all that we've spoken about here, though I still don't think it's necessary. There is no contradiction at work here. Michael very much believes in the show, and wants it to continue. So do we. As far as writing campaigns are concerned, it's one thing to support a show, and another thing to attack. Cynthia Lieberman, for instance, has nothing -- let me repeat, NOTHING -- to do with the running of Babylon 5, casting, or any other aspect. She is in Warners public relations. If you've got a problem, then your problem is with me. In addition, people keep seeing this as a cut-and-dried situation. It isn't. The reason Michael was here today was so we could film a piece that will appear later in season two, and will set up the framework for further appearances by Sinclair down the road. If you send a lot of letters to Warner Bros., to the *wrong person* no less, all you will end up doing is pissing off Warner Bros., and with good cause. And the rebound effect would be to hurt Michael, and hurt the show. Now, if fans want to write in noting how much they enjoyed Michael as Sinclair, and that they would enjoy seeing him again down the road, that I have no problem with. It's only the "WHY DID YOU DO THIS I HATE YOU YOU EVIL BASTARDS" kind of letter that can come out in this kind of situation that I've discouraged. If people want to say they'd like to see Sinclair again on the show...that they enjoyed his performance...fine, because that's certainly what we figure on doing at various points. Meanwhile, there's no one at Warner Bros. to complain *to*. The ultimate action came from this office, and you should address any problems to me directly. Or to Michael, who will be hitting the conventions over the next several months, and can certainly speak for himself. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 6 Jun 1994 20:42:57 -0400 Subject: UK Reviews: Infection I didn't like it either. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 6 Jun 1994 20:46:48 -0400 Subject: Jump Time Once you're in a gate, the objective (our POV) time involved is usually several days. From a subjective (inside the ship) POV, the time elapsed is somewhat shorter. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 6 Jun 1994 20:58:14 -0400 Subject: JMS: letterbox Given that most household TV sets are fairly small, no, it wouldn't be fair or prudent to begin broadcasting the episodes in letterbox at this time. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 7 Jun 1994 18:00:02 -0400 Subject: Parliament (mild spoilers) Yeah, it's a favorite of mine, too. And the race was called the Xon. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 7 Jun 1994 18:00:05 -0400 Subject: Re: JMS: Mind War repeat I'm reasonably sure that the UK and all later countries will get the corrected versions only. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 7 Jun 1994 18:00:09 -0400 Subject: Re: Third Age of Mankind (spec While I can answer the question about the third age, I really can't at the moment, and to tell the first two would reveal the third. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 8 Jun 1994 01:21:19 -0400 Subject: Re: lack-luster characterizati What do I know about alcoholics, to portray them? Well, aside from a degree in clinical psychology, and some internship work in the area, I come from a family with alcoholism going back at least four generations, and I'm talking *heavy duty*. I am, in fact, the first male Straczynski in my branch of this particular stunted tree NOT to have this problem. I have had far, far, far more experience with this area than I care to recite...and from that perspective, I have no problem with Garibaldi's portrayal. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 8 Jun 1994 01:21:22 -0400 Subject: Re: Jump Time There's long been speculation that one or more of the major races keeps a heavy cruiser standing by in hyperspace (as was mentioned in the pilot movie) in case B5 ever needs to get muscled.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 8 Jun 1994 01:36:25 -0400 Subject: Re: Jumpgate physics In order to prevent a jumpgate from being used by a particular ship, you have to know its access code, which you can then block. This is easy once the ship is in B5, because that code is logged automatically. But unless you know *in advance* which ship, with what code, is going to be coming through from the other side, you can't block access. Now, during the Earth/Minbari war, EA jump gates were programmed to block access to ALL ships *except* EA ships with codes that changed on a daily basis. Implementing that on B5 takes permission from the Joint Chiefs, since it is a de facto act of aggression, and takes a lot of time in ANY event...just as shutting down the gate takes hours and hours, if not longer. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 8 Jun 1994 01:37:08 -0400 Subject: YOOHOO!!! JMS!!!! If you were to look at B5 realistically (which is kind of our goal), the realities are that a Lieutenant-Commander would not be promoted into that kind of position. She's not *nearly* seasoned enough to be entrusted with a diplomatic posting (and can you *imagine* her trying to be diplomatic on a regular basis?). So it'd have to be someone else. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 8 Jun 1994 01:48:32 -0400 Subject: Sinclair's middle name Jeffrey Sinclair's middle name is David, same as his father's first name. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 8 Jun 1994 21:33:12 -0400 Subject: JMS: V - The Rebirth Thanks; at this juncture, no more will be released from the script, in order to keep alive the possibility of a novel at some point in the future. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 8 Jun 1994 22:04:42 -0400 Subject: Re: Editorial: Michael O'Hare' "...the *possibility* that O'Hare could return at some time in the future. No obligations, no plan for it." We've already filmed one sequence with a return for season two, to start that ball rolling. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 8 Jun 1994 22:04:45 -0400 Subject: JMS: O'Hare insanity Thanks; I do try to play it as straight as I can. If there's a problem, or a show that's not up to our standards, I'll say so. I think that otherwise, the whole point of the exercise is lost. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 8 Jun 1994 22:04:48 -0400 Subject: Re: Commander Tomolok (sp?) "B5 should be better than Trek's first season, jms has been able to watch Trek for years before he made his show, and should have learned from them." There are two things about this statement that make me absolutely fucking nuts. 1) There's this attitude that I see again and again that's somewhat confrontational, often from ST fans, that we have to do *better* than ST (and usually in ways that they feel can be measured against ST, even though it's a different series). Some people say, "Well the characters aren't as gritty as in NYPD Blue or Homicide," or "I'm tired of people saying there's humor on the series, it doesn't compare with COACH." It seems like it's not enough that we be simply a *good* show, we have to be THE BEST TEEVEE SERIES ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH IN ALL TEEVEE HISTORY or we're crap. Talk about moving the borders around.... 2) Re: watching and learning from ST...that's useful ONLY IF YOU'RE DOING MORE ST. It's a whole different universe, different characters, different technologies, different rules. It's like saying you should watch LASSIE to learn how to do DRAGNET. Or, to stay within genres, watch DRAGNET to learn how to do NYPD Blue. B5 was conceived before TNG went on the air, btw. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 8 Jun 1994 22:04:51 -0400 Subject: Re: JMS: does this group affec I have thus far changed about 3 or 4 minor elements because someone posted what could constitute a story idea that came uncomfortably close to what we were doing this season. Fortunately, they were small things, and didn't affect anything substantial, but it is kind of a pain in the ass. On the *other* hand...very often there are zillions of questions here about the characters, the universe, history, all that. A writer's job in creating a universe is to try and think of every question, and answer it. But far more questions get asked here than I could ever think of. So, sometimes a question I'd never considered gets asked, I come up with an answer, and now it's part of the show. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 8 Jun 1994 22:04:54 -0400 Subject: Parallel evolution; explanatio From an evolutionary standpoint, you want your sensors at the highest part of your body, to look for prey or predator; you want your mouth that high as well, to eat leaves if need be. To run from predators or after prey you need good legs, at least two; four can be hard to get through narrow areas, and tends to deprive one of two limbs that could otherwise be used for tools and the evolution of the opposable thumb required for technology. It seems a very sensible arrangement across the board for an advanced species. (And note that of all the UFO reports we hear about, they're always humanoid, not BEMs.) jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 8 Jun 1994 22:32:26 -0400 Subject: New commander (was Re: YOOHOO! Well, I could answer your questions, but that would kinda kill the first episode of year two.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 8 Jun 1994 22:32:28 -0400 Subject: [JMS READ!] Airschedule (say i As it was explained to me by Warners, the HUT (Households Using Televisions) figures for August are notoriously low. Also, they said that they thought that showing it once, then again in reruns that week, and then again before the start of season two would "diminish" the impact of what is, frankly, our best episode of the whole first season. So they want to play it just the week before year two starts. This ain't my decision, and I've debated it with WB until I've turned blue in the face. They still think it's a wonderful idea. Their motivation is only good. I just don't agree that this is the best way to do it; a cliffhanger is supposed to...well...leave you hanging. I mean, that's kind of in the description, innit? Sometimes studios, like god, transcend all understanding. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 8 Jun 1994 22:32:31 -0400 Subject: Re: Babylon-5 (B5) "bad acting Re: the criticisms rendered...well done. This is the kind of thing that many have been talking about; not "It sucks!" but what, specifically, do you feel works or doesn't work. Although I don't agree with all the points raised, you did raise some good ones, worth considering. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 8 Jun 1994 22:33:50 -0400 Subject: JMS: V Script Nothing more is planned for the script at this time, and the rest probably won't be uploaded. Maybe someday a novelization; we'll see. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 8 Jun 1994 22:51:32 -0400 Subject: JMS - DSM III R (re:lack-lust Then again, while alcoholism rages in torture survivors, Sinclair didn't know he'd *been* tortured until just recently.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 8 Jun 1994 22:51:34 -0400 Subject: B5 Novels Dell Books is doing the B5 series of novels. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 8 Jun 1994 22:51:36 -0400 Subject: B5 Newsletter - What Happened OKAY! OKAY! I'LL WRITE THE GODDAMNED ESSAY THAT CHRISTY MARX HAS BEEN NAGGING ME TO WRITE FOR THE LAST MONTH OR TWO OR THREE OR WHO EVEN REMEMBERS WITH HER AFTER A WHILE, JUST THIS CONSTANT DRONING, ON AND ON AND ON, "WRITE THE ESSAY, WRITE THE ESSAY, WRITE THE ESSAY," AND I TELL HER I'VE BEEN BUSY, I'VE BEEN NUTS, GO AWAY, I'M TRYING TO MAKE A SERIES HERE GODDAMNIT, BUT NOOOOOO, SHE JUST KEEPS ON COMING, WON'T STOP, AND NOW SHE'S SENDING HER AGENTS OF DARKNESS AFTER ME, THAT'S IT, YOU'RE WORKING FOR HER, AREN'T YOU, TELL THE TRUTH, I'VE SEEN HER OUTSIDE MY WINDOW AT NIGHT, WATCHING, WATCHING.... I am in *desperate* need of a vacation.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 9 Jun 1994 03:57:59 -0400 Subject: "Mind War" -second thoughts There's an awful lot there and most of it involves math, so I'm going to have to puzzle this out. But for the other stuff...no, there's no in-joke in Sigma 957, but ***CONGRATULATIONS!*** You are the FIRST person to pick up on the Native American line that Ironheart quotes when he goes up against Kelsey. (And yes, I believe it is ojibwe in origin.) I've always considered it a very powerful line (a prayer of protection against one's enemies), and wanted to use it. That seemed the perfect opportunity to do so. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 9 Jun 1994 03:58:01 -0400 Subject: Re: Alleged JMS slam of TNG (R Oh, please, if that's the best you can do. You were asked to provide a quote in which I slammed Trek fans. That message you quoted doesn't slam Trek fans. It doesn't even MENTION Trek fans. It refers to a couple of people -- and there messages WERE geeky -- who got very snotty and said that they had NEVER EVER used CGI on TNG, and that they could tell (even though I know from inside that in at least one prior episode, where Picard "joins" a band of crooks, they DID use a CGI ship in a couple of shots). And you even admit that you aren't sure that it was directed at Trek fans. Which, again, it wasn't; only at a couple of specific people. Further, the "All Things...STUPID" header wasn't created by me, but was on a thread created by somebody else. I have NEVER, in any post, slammed Trek fans as a group, and I don't think I've ever just roundly dismissed/slammed ST as useless or sucky or anything on that order. If there was something specific to mention or to critique, maybe, but frankly I don't recall doing much or any of THAT, either. You made an allegation. And now you can't back up that allegation with anything. Perhaps an apology might be in order...? jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 9 Jun 1994 03:58:03 -0400 Subject: Re: [JMS READ!] Airschedule (s They're still planning to show "Chrysalis" in October; I'm still arguing. We'll see who lasts longer. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 9 Jun 1994 04:09:26 -0400 Subject: Mind War suggestion (** SPOILE The idea of a nosebleed caused by telepathic use is a little too Stephen King for me (Firestarter and the Dead Zone), and too Scanners. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 9 Jun 1994 19:00:51 -0400 Subject: UK RATINGS FOR "SOUL HUNTER" Great, thanks for the information. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 9 Jun 1994 20:31:09 -0400 Subject: Re: [JMS READ!] Airschedule (s Actually, you're quite correct; if the US doesn't show Chrysalis until October, the UK which is blowing right through them will have shown it in August. Still hammering.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 9 Jun 1994 20:31:12 -0400 Subject: Re: JMS: does this group affec The CGI exhaustive rendering sequences were for "Grail." jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 9 Jun 1994 21:38:19 -0400 Subject: JMS: Kemmer and Le Guin? I think Kemmer's name was inspired by the actor's name from the Space Patrol series.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 10 Jun 1994 03:45:49 -0400 Subject: Re: JMS: request for interview Yeah, 5:30 a week from Monday would sound good. At least as of this moment; things sometimes get nuts. Best to drop me a note (in email) a few days before, so a) you can remind me, and b) we can set up a phone number to call. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 10 Jun 1994 18:23:07 -0400 Subject: Re: JMS: does this group affec Yeah, when all is said and done, I might see if somebody would be interested in publishing all the background material, but that's a LONG way off. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 10 Jun 1994 18:30:48 -0400 Subject: When do we find out what Ironh We found out what gift Ironheart gave Talia *in* the episode itself; she can now move a penny with her thoughts. She's slowly developing some limited TK ability of her own. (This was in the tag.) jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 10 Jun 1994 23:30:32 -0400 Subject: Re: B5 Newsletter - What Happe BTW...and I attach this here only because I'm still fuzzy on sending new notes to the Internet...this Saturday, June 11, B5's own conceptual consultant Harlan Ellison will be signing books in the San Diego area, at Mysterious Galaxy Books, in the Claremont Shopping Center, from 2-5 p.m. In addition, for those who buy a copy of Mephisto in Onyx or Mindfields, and $25 in other books, there will be a reading by Harlan of a new short story at 6 p.m. I'll also be there, on and off, hangin' around. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 12 Jun 1994 22:27:10 -0400 Subject: B5 mentioned in Merky news How could any one newspaper get so many mistakes into such a small amount of space? Amazing.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 12 Jun 1994 22:27:14 -0400 Subject: Re: BABYLON 5-THE SCORES "I will stand by my statement that I still don't hear a real orchestra." You can stand by it all you want, and certainly what you hear is subjective, and varies. But you're still wrong. The music varies, depending on what is needed for the scene. Some of it is synth'd, but a LOT of it is indeed performed by the Berlin Symphonic Film Orchestra, Franke's creation. We don't give credit on-screen to entities we don't use, sorry. I've seen this in action. So you can argue and disagree until your face turns blue...you're simply, flatly wrong. And personally, I love the music, as do the majority of the people I talk to. What you may be reacting to is that we add sounds that you don't generally see used in SF series, where it's just one more over-wrought, over-blown, bloated, self-indulgent John Williams ripoff. We *do* use electronics from time to time and some sampling, for effect. Maybe you don't like it, that's your choice. But it is not "cheap," and not in lieu of using real instruments for other elements. I've heard before from some ST "purists" who think there shouldn't be any electronic instruments in SF-television scores...just one more attempt to make every SF series look and sound just like Star Trek. Sorry, not interested. As to your allegation that Franke "sampled" (another term for stole) a piece off the Aliens soundtrack...1) I own that soundtrack, and have Franke's piece, and they're *not* comparable, 2) this allegation is so far beneath contempt that it doesn't merit response. Chris is the most original, hard-working and dedicated composer and musician I've ever worked with. And as far as the music goes...I was surprised the other day to get a gift from Chris...a CD with 50 continuous minutes of music from our first season, orchestrated into a one long and very beautiful piece. (This isn't a commercial thing; he did it on his own, making custom covers with my name on my copy.) I've played it to the point where I'd be worried about wearing it out if it were a standard record. It's gorgeous, rich and full. Your subjective tastes have nothing to do with objective reality. You were simply 100% wrong on one issue, and insulting in the other. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 13 Jun 1994 21:01:25 -0400 Subject: ... no subject ... Well, I'm very impressed and pleased. Thank you, and my best to the entire clan.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 15 Jun 1994 19:48:55 -0400 Subject: JMS!! What are the rules? Of the options you listed, only D poses a real problem; A-C are more or less okay. The problem comes not so much from speculating on elements already introduced, as introducing *new* plot elements that have not been seen in the show to back up speculation or conjecture, which may or may not approximate what we're doing. "The Minbari surrendered because in some episode we'll see someday the Earth had developed a giant killer space duck hidden on the dark side of the moon that would nibble the Minbari homeworld to destruction." That is kind of the dividing line between what's safe and not-safe. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 00:42:42 -0400 Subject: BABYLON-5 (B5) "BAD A Chris: I'd say your analysis of the B5 approach to performance is pretty much dead on. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 00:44:04 -0400 Subject: TO JMS: INTERVIEW? To answer your question I'll need more info on the publication. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 00:50:28 -0400 Subject: TV Guide & Fall Preview (was A There are a number of people at TV Guide, including Jeff Jarvis, who want *zero* references to B5 at worst, to slam it at best. If we went on the air in the spring again, they'd simply not mention us at all. Does anyone actually think they cover things based on *quality*? They don't. It's whoever buys the cover that week. By going in the fall, they pretty much *have* to at least mention us, so that's a start. But that's not the full reason; it has much also to do with rerun schedules and how you make episodes stretch between sweeps periods. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 00:58:15 -0400 Subject: Mind War: Monorail ride There is definitely minimal gravity in the core shuttle; what you can't see in MW, but can in Survivors, are the handholds recessed into the seats, walls and ceiling to help keep people in place. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 00:58:19 -0400 Subject: Attn JMS: Maybe this will work Your jumpgate system sounds perfectly consistent with our thinking on the subject. (This to the original poster.) jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 00:59:40 -0400 Subject: ATTN: JMS SD Comic Con I *imagine* my presentation will be on that Saturday, but I have no actual proof upon which to base that belief. It is simply an act of faith at this point. Re: bringing down cast members...we'll be in the thick of shooting, so I don't know who if anyone can make it (though Bill Mumy will be there for his concert). jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 00:59:44 -0400 Subject: Question for JMS Yes, our plans are to show some of the other homeworlds next season. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 01:26:32 -0400 Subject: JMS: Canada reference? So it's okay by you to mention that Canada was wiped out by the great genetics plague of 2134, and has been cut off from the rest of the world, the few remaining mutants kept out behind barbed wire and gun turrets, you really *want* I should mention that...? jm(who may, or may not, be kidding)s From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 01:34:14 -0400 Subject: Re: BABYLON 5-THE SCORES Re: your continued allegations that B5's composer Chris Franke "uses synthesizers in place of live players"...I am going to say this just one more time: I don't care *what* your ears tell you; your ears are hearing what you want to hear. Chris uses both synth AND a live orchestra. He combines them. What does it take to convince you? I've BEEN there. I've SEEN the process. It's ONGOING. What you say is being done is NOT what's being done. Period. You're pointing at a black wall and saying it's white. I'm not to blame for your problem with colors. You have two choices, one of which involves calling me a liar. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 03:49:58 -0400 Subject: Re: Franke truth WAS: Re: BAB "The CD gift was nice I'm sure, but let's be honest it also sounds like he's sucking up a lot too. Just remember who signs his paychecks." Could you *possibly* be more smarmy about this? FYI, a *number* of people got these gift CDs, a very small group that -- however this may surprise you -- includes people who do not pay him. Chris has no reason to "suck up" to anyone. He's already on for year two, his negotiations for the soundtrack with Warners have no impact on us and we have no say in it...it was simply something done out of the goodness of his heart, and his enthusiasm for the show. For someone who sets himself up as in a position to go after other people, you sure engage in some dubious observations. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 03:50:01 -0400 Subject: Att jms To answer your questions in order...I use small initials jms because it looks cool, and keeps me modest. (Someone pointed out that it looks like a derringer pointing right, but what do I know.) Yes, we'll find out about the Minbari situation re: Sinclair in the first episode of year two. And it will have future ramifications. As for knowing what was going on in "Sky"...bear in mind that you (and other net-surfers) have an advantage 99.9% of the rest of the country does not: this conversation. That 99.9% didn't even *know* about the hole in Sinclair's mind when "Sky" began because it hadn't ever been mentioned *in the series* up to that point. Only in the pilot, which the majority of B5's current viewers never saw. All of the discussions here lead netters to expect stuff that the rest of the nation has never seen, and thus can't expect. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 03:57:38 -0400 Subject: JMS There will be a new intro to year 2. I would hope that the opening narrative would be shorter. Not ready yet to announce who's going to be doing it. It will probably include shots from years one and two. Getting Patrick will depend on getting a script he likes. It's certainly one of my goals. And yes, there will be some new writers freelancing for us this season; I'm talking to writers like Peter David, and Scott Frost (from Twin Peaks and X-Files), a few others...and I'm going to keep hammering at Neil Gaiman to do us a script until he finally does one just to make me go away. No immediate committments to the prior three, but we're seeing what we can do. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 03:57:40 -0400 Subject: Mind war meditations... "Is Kosh what he/she/it appears to be?" Kosh is always and forever *exactly* what he appears to be, no less and no more. At the same time, Kosh is absolutely *nothing* like what he appears to be. These are not contradictory statements. And this is about the straightest answer I've given yet on the subject, believe it or not. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 03:57:43 -0400 Subject: Koenig was doing Shatner! It's a funny thought, but knowing Walter as I do, I can say without fear of contradiction that he was *not* doing Shatner. Given the chance here to do something *utterly* outside ST, which was his hope, and our pleasure to provide, he wouldn't do this, and having spoken with him at some length about his character and his performance, know that he *didn't* do this. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 19:42:04 -0400 Subject: Re: BABYLON 5-THE SCORES "Franke...is not cutting it..he's just not the right person for the program." 1) That's your opinion. 2) Your opinion is irrelevant. The job of a composer is to work with the material as written and directed, to fit the vision of the person who's putting it together. Christopher's music is *exactly* what I envisioned wanting for the show. So he *is* exactly the right person for the show. You don't get a vote on that. And it's pretty cowardly for anyone to step up to the plate and criticize others behind a pseudonym. My real name's up here, why isn't yours? From your comments, your sense that you are obligated to "take on" me and other show runners, your grandiose sense of importance, your insistence that the world is the way you say -- no live players even though there are -- despite being repeatedly told otherwise, I would almost be tempted to conclude that you are suffering from delusions of grandeur...but I suspect that closer to the truth is that you are suffering from delusions of adequacy. You are being an ass. Go away. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 19:48:27 -0400 Subject: Re: Elanic $0.02 Re: BABYLON Once agan, Franke's approach to the show is not "wrong." What you are doing is like walking into someone's home, which is decorated to their tastes, and saying it's "wrong" because it's not how you would decorate your house. You don't get a vote. It is right for what I want to do for my show, and so it is right. Only one person gets a vote on what does and doesn't "fit" with this show. And it ain't you. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 19:59:03 -0400 Subject: The other Minbari Castes??! You will see some of the warrior caste in "Legacies," coming up in July. You don't see them much because they only go where they're needed. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 19:59:07 -0400 Subject: Is any one else leaving ? We certainly have no plans to replace any other cast members at this time. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 19:59:10 -0400 Subject: Re: B5 Newsletter - What Happe Thanks. Alas, the jackets are not currently for sale. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 19:59:14 -0400 Subject: Re: BABYLON 5-THE SCORES "I've stated that what I put forth was an opinion based on my years of working in the business of music for films and TV programs." How can you say that when you operate under a pseudonym? How do WE know you have "years" working in the music business? We have no proof of this. "I've answered your questions with facts." No you haven't. Not one. Just more opinions. "I DON'T HEAR AN ORCHESTRA AT ALL IN THE SHOW!" So what? That's your problem. This is like two guys standing in a zoo, looking at an elephant. "That's a duck," one says. "No it's not, it's an elephant." "I don't see an elephant. I have experience. It's a duck." "I don't *care* what YOU see, it's an elephant. Look, see that thing in front?" "What? Its bill?" "That's not a bill, it's a trunk! See how it waves back and forth?" "Oh, well, then it's a broken bill...pity, you think they could afford to fix it." "Look, tell you what, how about I put your head under the 'duck's' foot and see what happens...?" We're not responsible for your problems with perception and tone deafness. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 20:00:36 -0400 Subject: Re: Sinclair leaving !!! Need You will find out the full story of why the Minbari surrendered in the first episode of year two, plus a little extra. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 23:45:23 -0400 Subject: JMS, a "joke" ??? was: R The Zima thing really is only visible in maybe two episodes; by that point the humor had run its course and we dropped it. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 23:48:04 -0400 Subject: JMS: Chicago Comicon schedule? No idea yet on the schedule, though my guess is that the B5 panel will be some time Saturday afternoon. Will try to post more when I know it. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 23:50:43 -0400 Subject: What are the Mutari? The Mutari are those who fight in the Mutai; and you *did* see Narns and Centauri and others hanging around the ring. The only ones you won't see there are Minbari. It ain't their thing. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 16 Jun 1994 23:53:17 -0400 Subject: No change in new Mind War ** ATTENTION JMS ** re Tolkei I think there are parallels you can draw between any two works; you can create parallels between B5 and Dune, Foundation, LoTR...any work in which there is an "epic" structure. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Jun 1994 02:00:01 -0400 Subject: Is Babylon 5 close-captioned? Babylon 5 episodes are *definitely* close-captioned, so the station wasn't being quite forthright. (Only once did one version of "Mind War" slip through uncaptioned, due to a glitch, later corrected.) jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Jun 1994 02:00:04 -0400 Subject: JMS: Dust? No dust in year one. Perhaps dust in year two. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Jun 1994 02:10:16 -0400 Subject: JMS: aspiring actor wants to k We cast our extras through the Screen Extras Guild, using their member roster. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Jun 1994 02:10:19 -0400 Subject: JMS: Main title for Season 2 o Since the show will have to be promoted for year two, and there will be articles all over the place, it's impossible for general viewers not to know, so there's no sense having to make two different openings to accomodate the first episode. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Jun 1994 02:19:13 -0400 Subject: B5 and LOSH (or: Now I know wh Yeah, but y'know, I just *hated* what they did to the Legion; it got SO big and out of control that while I still buy the book (not really knowing why), I can barely follow the thing. I dunno, it just lost something to me. (Plus the artwork during the revamp was SO awful, and you could never tell who you were looking at.) jm(who actually thought Bouncing Boy was okay)s From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Jun 1994 02:19:15 -0400 Subject: Re: BABYLON 5-THE SCORES "I don't care if he's using...ten pipe-smoking nuns playing kazoos." Damn, we've been found out. Okay, Sister Margaret Mary, who's been running her mouth downtown?! jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Jun 1994 03:26:25 -0400 Subject: Re: Message from JMS Getting in someone else to play Sinclair would be the solution if the actor were the problem. He's not. It's a question of looking at the character (at least from my side of this) and saying, "Is there something different we can do here that's more interesting?" This isn't a question of salvaging stuff. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Jun 1994 03:39:03 -0400 Subject: Re: Message from JMS This to Patrick Rannou...I'm going to try this again, and see if it sticks. We DO have options on our actors. We DO and DID have options on O'Hare. It was WE who first approached HIM, not the other way around. Your characterization of his actions here is not only inappropriate, but absolutely and catagorically untrue. If you've got a problem, you've got a problem with me, not Michael. Once again: this was MUTUAL, and it was AMICABLE. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Jun 1994 05:41:05 -0400 Subject: JMS: About writing for B5? The problem becomes that, the deeper we get into the series, the more continuity there is between episodes, and the more you pretty much have to know what's coming the rest of the season to write episodes for the show. Right now, all the scripts currently in the works have been assigned out on the basis of premises developed by me, because I'm the only one who knows where the hell the ship is going, particularly in light of the new character(s) coming in. What I'm doing is looking at some spec scripts, determining if they've got what it takes, and assigning out stuff; we're *not* looking for outside stories. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Jun 1994 05:41:07 -0400 Subject: Re: Message from JMS No, Sinclair will no longer command B5, that task will go to another, while he undertakes another task. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Jun 1994 20:09:40 -0400 Subject: JMS: How About Alan Moore? Actually, when I was story editing the new Twilight Zone, I called Alan in England and tried to get him do do one for us. He said he really has *no* interest whatsoever in doing TV. Unfortunate, really (for TV). jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Jun 1994 20:26:39 -0400 Subject: JMS: Do a UK convention? I'd actually planned on visiting England in May/June for two weeks, partly for vacation, partly for any PR work I could do for B5, but the workload kinda precluded that. I certainly have no objections, should the opportunity arise, to do a UK con; I've visited England before, and enjoy it quite a bit. Will take any excuse to go there. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 18 Jun 1994 23:40:16 -0400 Subject: Re: JMS: About writing for B5? Interfacing with the overall arc is one problem, to be sure; but even the independent episodes (and we'll have a number of them) will have new characters and situations to deal with. Who is the new commanding officer? Who's this new character introduced over here? The status of this other character has changed, how does that manifest itself? It becomes very dicey. If the show and the characters didn't change, remained static, it'd be easy. But they don't, not here. (Also, it's worth noting that ST has kind of given people a false image of how TV works. Ninety-nine percent of TV shows do not take ANY spec submissions. ST did because -- and this isn't a slam, this is by their own admission -- they ran out of ideas. We don't have this problem, and we tend to operate more like a regular TV series.) jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 19 Jun 1994 05:30:40 -0400 Subject: ATT: JMS - The Pit Crew In a way, I kinda thought it was more interesting to play the C&C techs as just that: they are their jobs as far as we can see. To give them a sense of being part of the machine. They are occasionally referred to in dialogue, but only by job: "Station one, transfer data to main console." I think we broke it down to one station each for environment, jumpgate/navigational assistance, security and a couple of other areas. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 19 Jun 1994 05:30:43 -0400 Subject: EA Military Forces, What DO we Your analysis of the military aspects is about right. We haven't shown that much of the "marine/army" aspect, though we'll be seeing ground-pounders and the like next season. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 19 Jun 1994 05:32:23 -0400 Subject: Re: Franke truth WAS: Re: BAB That's great; enjoy the CD. And the rest...will attend to itself, I suspect. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 19 Jun 1994 05:32:25 -0400 Subject: JMS---travel time from Earth t The travel time from Earth to B5 is measured in days, though the amount of time seems shorter while in hyperspace. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 19 Jun 1994 05:32:27 -0400 Subject: Re: JMS: Co-stars? I'm reasonably sure that the nose art on the 'fury that got splashed at the top of "Signs" was that of a dragon, not a chesspiece. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 19 Jun 1994 18:43:31 -0400 Subject: Re: Elanic $0.02 Re: BABYLON 5 Part of the music question has to be traced down to my own personal tastes. The way music works in an episodic program is like this: Once the show is edited, we sit down to "spot" the episode. This puts me, the sound effects people, dialogue editors, post-production supervisor, line producer, Chris Franke, and me into a room where we watch the episode through. We note where dialogue may have to be dubbed or enhanced; what kinds of sounds we want with, for instance, various kinds of interiors or visual EFX...and where the mucis comes in, and where it goes out, and what *kind* of music it should be. Generally, I pick the in- and out-cues for the music, though often John Copeland or Christ will jump in if they think I've missed something, or argue if they think it shouldn't start or stop at a given point. Often, once the cue for a given section is picked, I'll leave Chris to come up with whatever style music he thinks is appropriate. This is about 90% of the time. About 10% of the time, I'll have a very specific idea about the music, and will convey this to him as best I can. Overall, though, I've always told Chris to push it...to go absolutely as far with the music as he wants. If it goes too far, we can always pull it back or duck it down a little. Basically, I'm a rock-and-roll kind of guy...I like my music loud, and I like a LOT of it. This show is often wall-to-wall music. Chris often composes as much as 20-25 minutes of new music per episode; most hour shows have maybe 13-16 minutes of music per hour episode. And he is often called upon by us to do some VERY long cues. Often, TV music is just there to cover a transition (10-20 seconds), or establish a mood at the top or bottom of a scene, and get out (1 minute to 1 minute-30 seconds average). We have many, MANY cues on this show that go 2, 3, even 4 minutes. I think we actually had a 6 minute cue at one point in one episode. Check act 3 of "Signs and Portents" and see how much music we crammed into that act; it's almost non-stop. I like percussion, strings, woodwinds and horns, and I'm not as big on keyboard (synth or otherwise), and generally our music tends to reflect this. I like music that is exciting and dynamic. Sometimes perhaps we do a smidge too much of this, but I think it's better to err on the dynamic side than on the snooze side. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 19 Jun 1994 18:47:37 -0400 Subject: ATTN JMS: 2nd season episode n Let's see...just offhand, titles include "A Trick of the Mind," "A Distant Star," "Revelations," "The Long Dark," "Pestilence, Famine and Death," "Chrysalis, Part Two," and "The Geometries of Shadow." jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 19 Jun 1994 18:57:10 -0400 Subject: Re: JMS: Do a UK convention? Actually, no, the May/June reference was to 1994, not 1995; I'd hoped to get away before we began really cranking on this season. I do hope to get away next year, 1995, around April/May to the UK. Later than that is not workable due to production (assuming we get year 3). jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 19 Jun 1994 19:09:33 -0400 Subject: jms: I'd like to spec a script This is something I'm really trying not to encourage, for all the reasons cited previously, plus the fact that we're trying to go with well known SF pros and established writers. But if you're going to do it, the only way *to* do it is to have it submitted by an agent, through our story editor Larry DiTillio. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 19 Jun 1994 19:10:59 -0400 Subject: Re: Who would win: Sinclairs D I think the term this discussion is searching for is, "Quacknobabble." jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 19 Jun 1994 19:11:02 -0400 Subject: Re: JMS: About writing for B5? "IF one stuck to the general guidelines of the B5 universe...." My point is, until we've established for you what those guidelines ARE, particularly in terms of the new characters we'll be bringing in, that's problematic at best. "...do we attribute that to better writing (on TNG) after the first season?" Yes. Nobody knew what the hell they were doing there the first and second seasons. Things improved quite dramatically when later they brought in Jeri Taylor, who was instrumental in stopping the revolving door of writers there (something just under 30 writer/producers have left or been fired off TNG since it started, which is *unheard* of in TV, the bulk of it those first two years, maybe 23 or so). "Ya mean people didn't send in their teleplays for "Murder, She Wrote?"" Yes, they did...and as soon as it was determined (by partly peeling back the flap) that it WAS a spec script, it was sent *immediately* to Legal Affairs, which sent it back to the writer in question, with a note telling them that it had not been read, and not to do it again. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 20 Jun 1994 01:11:02 -0400 Subject: ATTN JMS: Cloaking tech. Who says you haven't already *seen* cloaking tech? jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 20 Jun 1994 01:27:42 -0400 Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: 2nd season episo Nobody asked me for descriptions, only titles. And at this stage, it's WAY too early to give out even one-liners on the year two stories, since in many cases that would reveal events yet to come in year one. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 20 Jun 1994 15:46:03 -0400 Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Cloaking tech. There are no invisible ships in the B5 docking bay. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 20 Jun 1994 15:46:08 -0400 Subject: jms: I'd like to spec a script I understand your dilemma; understand, though, that under Writers Guild rules, I cannot encourage anyone or ask anyone or even participate in the process of speccing a script. Your question underlines the problem I raised in my original message back. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 20 Jun 1994 15:47:35 -0400 Subject: ATT: JMS - The Pit Crew The techs are trained to be redundent, in that one can man another's station if need be, though that person might not be as quick in some areas as the original tech. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 20 Jun 1994 18:57:22 -0400 Subject: Re: Elanic $0.02 Re: BABYLON 5 OKAY, OKAY, SO CHRIST AND THE TWO ME'S WERE IN ON THE MUSIC SPOTTING SECTION! I ADMIT IT! ANYBODY ELSE GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT? ...sigh...I can't win. Typos have always been the bane of my existence. I once did a humor column for the university newspaper. Did an Easter column. Wrote, "Celebrated Easter by running down a rabbit." Okay, not great humor, but what do you expect in college? One problem: due to a typesetting typo, the column comes out reading, "Celebrated Easter by running down a rabbi." The Jewish Student Union -- in the person of five very large men waiting for me when I arrived, all unknowing, on campus the next morning -- was *not* amused. sjm From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 22 Jun 1994 21:50:26 -0400 Subject: JMS: Why B5 isn't SF Pt 1 Dear Matthew: So I log onto GEnie and see in my gateway 300+ messages, many of them titled "B5 Isn't SF", starting with a three-part meganote. "Oh, no, not another pointy-head starting an argument," I decide. So I wait, and wait, until I've cleared my desk, and I can sit down and decide whether or not to do battle, or simply reply with, "So what's your point?" Then I read what's actually contained in your messages. I can't decide whether to laugh or drive a semi-truck over your house. So I've decided to do both. See you in...oh...about an hour.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 22 Jun 1994 21:53:11 -0400 Subject: Actor I'd like to see: Robert I agree, and wouldn't mind using Vaughn sometime. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 22 Jun 1994 21:53:14 -0400 Subject: Re: B5 and LOSH I just wish they'd leave the damned DC universe *alone* and get on with life. I can't keep track of all the changes anymore. Remember: if you pick at it, it won't heal. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 22 Jun 1994 22:18:51 -0400 Subject: Pronunciation? Help! The *correct* pronunciation, the Old World version, would indeed be "stra-chin-ski," though I don't worry about that since nobody should ever have to worry about looking at a CZ and pronouncing it CH. The Americanized version is "stra-zin-ski." Which is more than fine, and is in fact what I use. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 22 Jun 1994 22:20:16 -0400 Subject: ATT: JMS - Tech Names Redux I think that if you were to write and request a photo via Warner Bros. (directly to Marianne Robertson), you might get it. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 22 Jun 1994 22:20:18 -0400 Subject: Re: JMS???? I'm putting this here because, by virtue of my initials being here, this should be a trivial enough thread for a trivial question. On the theory that we are all generally 8 people removed from anyone else on the planet...an idle request. When I was living in San Diego from 1974-81, I knew a young woman there named Liz Ochoa. She's part Basque, red hair, a rose tattoo on her left wrist, and in 1978 or so had a 3 year old son named (I believe) Justin. She lived in the northern part of San Diego around El Cajon. I lost track of her a number of years ago, and if anyone out there happens to know her, just as an experiment, drop me a private note. Let's see if this really works. (And nothing weird here; she was a dear and good friend.) jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 23 Jun 1994 04:11:37 -0400 Subject: AtSFoS -- whose mind is being David...re the quoted lines...I like to have a bit of fun...and for those paying attention, a little...well...fore*shadow*ing. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 23 Jun 1994 04:13:01 -0400 Subject: AtSFoS: ***Differences?*** (JM No, there were no changes in the Sinclair ship-yank scene; what you may be remembering is a shot some magazine ran a while back which used a shot we discarded, which was a lot like what you describe. The guys at Foundation called it the "snot shot," because that's kinda what it looked like (hence why we didn't use it). jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 23 Jun 1994 04:13:04 -0400 Subject: ATTN JMS: Rules for submitting We cannot take any outside ship designs for legal reasons. We hae (have) contracted with Foundation to provide designs on a work for hire basis, meaning we go in owning it, rather than buying designs after the fact, which gets into rights and ownership questions, buyouts and the like. Even offered freely, we really can't do that (and even so, I have this problem with people working for free). jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 23 Jun 1994 04:24:17 -0400 Subject: Re: Pronunciation? Help! You can't fool me. I knew Kosh. I worked with Kosh. Kosh was my friend. You are no Kosh. Besides...Kosh doesn't type that well. So NYAH! jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 23 Jun 1994 04:24:19 -0400 Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: 2nd season episo "Shame, the one you're missing was the most exciting performer." You're *definitely* not looking closely enough. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 23 Jun 1994 04:39:07 -0400 Subject: Re: JMS: Why B5 isn't SF - Pt That's funny, I just got a letter myself today. It's still in the original Centauri, though...haven't been able to make much sense of it yet. Ni tobo dula JMS: Utsak vetsabi Dave Hill, rakasa-de "wham!wham!wham!" nee chu dokk anvil, dokk hammer, vobatsu ka "Pointy-Head." From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 23 Jun 1994 04:58:01 -0400 Subject: UK: PoD; See you next Wednesda The line, "See you next wednesday," was basically an offhand line, slightly but not significantly based in the idea that in most markets, B5 airs on Wednesdays. It was never meant to be a John Landis reference, and if I'd known it was (I'd never heard it before), would've changed it. Not all of us in Hollywood have forgotten Vic Morrow. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 24 Jun 1994 00:38:36 -0400 Subject: UK: People missing the point. You don't have to read another book to "get it" re: psi's making love. Perhaps her problem was more with the making love part than the psi part. Haven't read Julian May's book. It's just the obvious answer to what happens if and when telepaths make love: if they truly open up, then you're going to get a mirror effect. Have your lady friend stand between two mirrors and look at the effect. This ain't rocket science. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 24 Jun 1994 04:08:38 -0400 Subject: Re: Rich & Famous Re: "The Real Ghostbusters"...that show was a great deal of fun to work on. I'm pleased that it continues to get mentioned and noticed by people. (And the number of SF people who worked on it is actually quite interesting...Richard Mueller, Michael Reaves, JM DeMatteis, John Shirley, Arthur Byron Cover and others, in addition to the aforementioned David Gerrold.) It was a show we were all free to go totally gonzo with, and it was a ball, occasional fights with suits notwithstanding. We got away with some amazing stuff. The bunch of episodes I wrote for TRGBs was pretty much the end of my involvement in animation, and I kinda wanted to go out with a bang. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 24 Jun 1994 05:57:43 -0400 Subject: Re: B5 fans and ST fans. This is to Ted McCoy...I have to take *factual* issue with your post, primarily on the grounds that you are comparing 7 years of TNG character development to 14 episodes of B5 character development. I'd ask you to put yourself back in episode 14 season 1 of TNG and ask yourself how much you really knew about the characters. Not much, I'd venture. To the factual side...you say that the Ivanova scene about her mother was tossed in once, and then forgotten. Incorrect. It comes up again and again and again; it's *crucial* to her character. It pops up slightly in Mind War, bigtime in TKO, even more important in Legacies and a couple of other episodes this season. (It particularly receives major play in Legacies.) I think you should see at least one season before deciding that something is mentioned once and never again. You say some of the ambassadors are villainous one moment, less so in another episode. Quite correct. That's varying their characters so they're not one-dimensional. We all have good days, and bad days. So do our characters. If things are going well for him, Londo is a happy kind of fellow, out for a good time. If things aren't...he can be a very dangerous person. I don't see that as an inconsistency, nor is his character somehow being "violated" by those different elements being shown. They are *all* who he is. As far as the pre-planned story arc, you say the "characters are set," and thus unlikely to grow. Given that you describe this as a negative, then you must not like novels, since their arc is preplanned from page one. The characters in B5 aren't *set* in the sense that this is it. Each one has his or her personal journey, and story arc, that they must make, and each one will end up *substantially* different at the end because of that journey. The Londo you see at the end of five years is a very, *very* different Londo than the one you see now. In any event, again, it's more than a little unfair to say, "Well, we've had more character development in series X, which has been on the air for seven years, than we've had in 14 episodes of series Y." I would recommend at least giving it until the end of the first season. You don't and can't dump characterization out all at once; you have to layer it out slowly, gradually. That process consumes time. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 24 Jun 1994 16:14:59 -0400 Subject: Re: JMS : B5 CD? Lemme get this straight...you come on here, insult and slam Chris Franke's music, accuse him of minor theft, fraud (by way of saying that he is NOT using the orchestra that we're paying him to use), and being talentless...and *then* you can actually come in here and demand to know what label his CD is coming out on? Screw you...wait in line like everybody else. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 24 Jun 1994 17:45:20 -0400 Subject: jms: Can a ship get caught bet Yes, it could get caught, and I'd prefer not to go any further with this discussion, as it walks over an episode for season two, and I don't want to endanger it. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 24 Jun 1994 17:45:22 -0400 Subject: Unofficial Babylon 5 Dictionar I don't have a WWW viewer (I don't even have a VVV viewer), so it may be best to send me the thing in a text file. jjjmmmsss From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 25 Jun 1994 01:46:37 -0400 Subject: Re: B5 fans and ST fans. The influence of actors on their characters is *vastly* over-rated and exaggerated by the media, and by viewers. One of the real problems of television the last 20 years or so is that actors are sometimes weilding too much clout, and playing it safe with their characters. Which is why so much TV is pablum that doesn't push the envelope. Sometimes our characters *fail* at what they do. In 90% of all TV series, it would be unheard of for an actor to allow his or her character to fail at something major, particularly if it's the lead. This isn't good for TV, or for the viewers. It reduces storytelling to the same-old same-old. Nor, I believe, is the job of making a show to create characters that the actors are "comfortable with." The idea should be to push and challenge your actors to go beyond where they've gone before. This is why so many good actors who do TV take breaks to do stage plays, where they have the opportunity to push their skills to the limit...an opportunity all too often denied in TeeVee. Very often, the actor moves into a vacuum where nothing has really been set up for the character. That applies to the case you cite. The character hadn't really been fleshed out, so the actor began adding to the role to make up the difference. The difficulty I have is when the story-arc is described as a problem because it isn't haphazard or totally episodic as is every other TV series. This isn't saying, "This is better." What this is, is an experiment. No one has ever really tried something on this scale for american TV before. I wouldn't do every series like this. This is a *separate creature* from standard TV, as will continue to become more apparent the deeper you get into the show. It is, for lack of a better term, a loosely connected 5 year miniseries. Point being, no one has ever done something like this before for american TV. And maybe no one ever will again, depending on how all this works out. I think that it's worth the trip. Finally, re: characters not mentioning the "inner turmoil" they had in episode 3 again in episode 4...for one thing, you can't string it all too tightly, because in syndication, broadcast order gets shunted around. The episodes are designed to be viewed all, or in part, in order or out of order, and still work. Additionally, in TV you only have X-number of minutes to tell your story; unless element X has some *direct bearing* on what's happening this episode, you can't just sandwich it in. This applies to EVERY TV series, not just B5. There has to be a current reason for it, you can't just drop it in for the hell of it. You're asking for something that doesn't work dramatically. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 26 Jun 1994 20:17:14 -0400 Subject: Re: UK: PoD; See you next Wedn Re: the article...email apart, best to send a copy to me at: 14431 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 260, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423. Any further comments re: Landis would probably be unprintable. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 27 Jun 1994 17:47:19 -0400 Subject: Key questions to be answered Without commenting one way or another on various speculations, let me dive in for a second on the general issue of "what means what." One of the things I learned doing other shows, like being on "Murder, She Wrote" for two years, was that you *must* play fair with the audience. The clues cannot be so small, or so diminished, that they will zip by too easily. There has to be at least a reasonable chance that people will glom onto things. So the odds are that a single word, or a look, or something going on in deep background is probably *not* significant. Anything in foreground, which is given some weight, *may* be significant. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 27 Jun 1994 18:15:40 -0400 Subject: Second Vorlon Kosh doesn't need an assistant. In fact, no one's *really* quite sure what it is Kosh *does* most of the day. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 27 Jun 1994 18:15:43 -0400 Subject: Re: JMS : B5 CD? I didn't answer your first demand for information because I didn't feel like it, and I don't have to. You repeated the demand, and I told you to piss off. Lots of people here asked what *your* "credentials" are in music...I don't see you responding to *their* requests, why the hell should anyone honor yours? There will be a mountain of publicity on all the B5 licensing that will be coming out later this fall. The CD (as opposed to the CD Rom) will be out in November, which is plenty of time yet for those who like the music to find out. So it's a question of waiting two weeks to inform the fans of the show...or annoying you now in the present. I opt for the latter. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 27 Jun 1994 18:15:45 -0400 Subject: JMS: Question regarding Bill M Yeah, it was an off-the-cuff reference to Billy Mitchell. You and your wife are correct. jms (Didn't really mean that much; just thought it wuz cool.) From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 28 Jun 1994 01:37:01 -0400 Subject: Re: Rich & Famous Yeah, "Chicken, He Clucked" was one of the most twisted episodes I wrote for The Real Ghostbussters. Our offices were located near this place that made broasted chicken, which was itself directly behind, and just upwind, of an apartment building. I used to pass by this place every day, thinking about the poor people on the chicken side of the apartment building, where the smell from chickens broasting wafted in every day, day after day, seven days a week...and it was *strong* stuff, let me tell you...which led me to the notion of a guy who lived in just such an apartment, who is gradually driven stark, staring mad by it, and makes a deal with the Devil to sell his soul in exchange for getting rid of all the chickens in the world. When I turned in the script, one of the two executive producers called me, said, "You are a sick, sick, sick, sick, sick, sick man," and hung up. But we made the episode. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 28 Jun 1994 04:40:24 -0400 Subject: jms: Civil liberties Yes, there are definitely civil liberties. In the specific instance you cite, you're looking at a camera feed from a B5 facility, which is as admissible as a videotape inside a supermarket; it's not a question of putting it in an unauthorized area. B5 is owned by EA. The whole question of how telepaths can be used gets very much into issues of civil liberties and privacy; that's why they're prohibited from unauthorized scans, and are not allowed to determine anyone's guilt or innocence by a scan of the accused, since it violates the right to due process. We've thought it out a lot, but it would fill up a lot of room here to go over it in detail; perhaps best for now to let the show speak for itself. (You'll see some discussion of this upcoming in "The Quality of Mercy," for starters.) jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 28 Jun 1994 04:56:34 -0400 Subject: Re: ? for JMS As someone who participated in the design work on the Starfuries, you're incorrect; the engines are constructed in such a way, on all four wings, that they can fire with equal strength in any direction: forward, backward, top and bottom. They demonstrate this capacity repeatedly in the show. (In particular I suggest you check out "Signs and Portents," when Ivanova's squad is recalled; you can get a good close look then.) The design had nothing to do with X-Wings, which are standard type wings or airfoils, and one central engine. Steve Burg, our designer, sat down and with some input from us, said, "What's the most practical and realistic design for fighters in a zero-g, non-atmospheric environment?" A four-arm system, with multiple engines on all four arms, lets you move in any direction, flip, spin and so on, which comes in handy in a fight. It does things you couldn't do in an atmosphere. Also, we *have* shown ships decelerating, engines-forward. In the pilot in particular, the Vorlon ship comes out of the jump gate backwards, engine leading; it decelerates, then turns around and goes in the front way. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 28 Jun 1994 05:08:44 -0400 Subject: Re: The One-Armed Man Okay, Robert Chelovich, I'm getting pretty damned tired of your popping in here with your accusations against Katsulas. So you and your girlfriend cooked up a complaint...that doesn't mean squat and you know it. If you had a case, you'd make it; there are extradition law between states. You are engaging in the character assassination, in an obsessed fashion, with a celebrity. You are using this forum to destroy his career with false and misleading accusations. You were not being spoken to in the thread, you simply jumped in. You are, quite simply, full of shit. And you are engaging in typical stalking behavior, which is visible to anyone seeing this. Obviously you have no case, or it'd be made and there would be a trial. But you don't have a case, so all you can do in your pitiable way is to come on here and try to smear his reputation. You are a sad and pathetic creature who is venally bent on destruction for whatever excuse your fevered brain has cooked up. The problems between you and your girlfriend are your own. A courtroom is where these discussions are held. That's where one makes a case, if one has one. Do so, or shut up. Because right now, all I see is an obsessed creature who springs onto any discussion, leaves his little assassinations, and then blips off into the shadows again, proclaiming "I will post no further on this thread," AFTER you have done your damage. Like all snipers, and cowards, you strike from the shadows. People comment that they find Katsulas appealing...and you jump in and try to suppress them or frighten them away...you're right, there is a problem, and it is yours. You've got three choices: 1) Make a sufficiently convincing case and go to trial (the fact that you haven't shows that there is nothing to your case whatsoever), 2) Deal with whatever the hell it is that's turning you into a net-stalker, maybe seek some therapy, or 3) simply shut up. Otherwise how long do you intend to engage in this campaign of harrassment, defamation and slander? Obviously you haven't got anything, but you continue...what? One year? Two? Ten? Twenty? You have been asked, repeatedly, to stop in these baseless accusations. You have already come perilously close to crossing into the area of stalking, malicious mischief, libel and several other areas by your continued assaults. All such posts will continue to be not only forwarded to Katsulas' legal counsel for retention pending legal action, but to the LAPD's division that handles celebrity stalkers such as yourself. The more you engage in this behavior, the more you build a case against yourself. Your postings are obsessive, verging on the irrational. Stop it. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 28 Jun 1994 05:18:13 -0400 Subject: Top Ten Things You Will Never I have just read your list of Top 10 Things You'll Never See On Babylon 5. We've already done one of them...this season. "Eyes." 'Nuff said. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 28 Jun 1994 18:13:16 -0400 Subject: B5 FANS AND ST FANS. Who said Londo was, of necessity, dead at the end of 5 years? Not I. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 28 Jun 1994 21:47:07 -0400 Subject: Just a regular person who love Your good wishes are noted and appreciated. Many thanks. I'd rate "Mind War" as one of my favorites from this season as well. In any event, thanks again for the kind words. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 28 Jun 1994 21:47:09 -0400 Subject: Re: JMS : B5 CD? Once the CD is out, I'm sure it'll be able to be played anywhere, including DJ'd stuff at cons. Go for it. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 28 Jun 1994 21:47:11 -0400 Subject: Cut in UK Babylon 5 Well, *that's* interesting...guess we'll just have to put in more violence in future to make up the difference.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 28 Jun 1994 21:47:13 -0400 Subject: Re: JMS : B5 CD? I understand your concern; my sense is that, as a writer, my job is to find the right word for the right job. I could describe a character as "dumb," but somehow "breathtakingly stupid" just sounds better. I could describe a car in a story as simply a car, or say that it's a Mercedes 300E with silver finish and deep, plush seat linings. I could tell someone to simply go away...or "piss off." And the latter just tickles me a bit more. The right word for the right job. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 29 Jun 1994 02:17:37 -0400 Subject: ATTN: JMS Let's say that I for one would love to see some models made, and am certainly pushing for it. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 29 Jun 1994 04:13:32 -0400 Subject: A question to any one or JMS.. There is a law called Commonlaw Copyright, which means that something is copyrighted in whatever form you print it -- electronically, in a booklet, even if it's performed verbally in public -- the moment you produce it. You don't have to put a (c) notice on it, it's there automatically. Anyone wanting to sign over rights to something must do so specifically, one item or message at a time, in writing, signed. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 29 Jun 1994 04:15:14 -0400 Subject: Babylon 5 is scary. Then it's having its intended effect. To me, the best SF has always left me with an uncertain feeling, as of having touched something quite extraordinary. (Being young and discovering H.P. Lovecraft for the first time can REALLY do that to you, yikes!) I try to build in a little of that same sense...the flip-side of the sense of wonder. Humans have definitely had a rough time of it lately, in the B5 storyline. But we're going somewhere now, as our arc begins to shift. We have always struggled upward. And there are some very interesting things in store for humans in the B5 universe.... jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 29 Jun 1994 04:15:16 -0400 Subject: Babylon 5 in OZ??? Yes, B5 will make it to Australia later this fall. I can't recall now which channel, but the number 7 keeps coming to mind. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 30 Jun 1994 00:35:45 -0400 Subject: Prepared for early cancellatio The only way I've been able to get B5 to the TV screen at *all* ahs (has) been to totally deny any other possibilities; I can't even consider or discuss them. The story will all eventually be told, that much I'm determined about. I feel the same way you do; it's always the shows I like that get canceled...but so far we're doing okay, and we can only hope for the best. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 30 Jun 1994 00:36:04 -0400 Subject: Re: The One-Armed Man So let me get this straight...Diane speaks well of Andreas, and you harrass her...you threaten to sue Andreas...you threaten to sue me for defending Andreas and describing your abusive letters in terms that are acceptable under the First Amendment. Boy, you sure are busy. And woefully uninformed. Nothing -- *nothing* -- that I have said in any of my postings are litigious. I've been riding the nets for a long, long, very long time, and I've studied communications law, and you got nothing. It's simply more baseless threats, which again proves my point, that you're full of it. Second, any case you might have cooked up in your head is now a dead issue because of *your* actions. A complaint must be untainted by any apparent motivation on the part of the plaintiff to "get" someone. But your repeated actions here have shown that this is part of a vendetta on your part against Andreas. Anybody can file a complaint against anybody. It proves *nothing*. Roseanne Barr filed one against her husband, then retracted it later admitting that it was false. Happens all the time. A complaint is simply that, unsupported by evidence. No charges have ever been filed against Andreas. As for your comment about the irrationality of discussing alien planets and worlds...1) B5 is a *real* TV series, though perhaps in your current agitated state of mind, you hadn't noticed that, 2) nothing in discussing a fictional universe will hurt someone's career, as you are trying to do with Andreas. You have called Andreas' home. You have left repeated messages here. You have taken other actions, all to one singular goal: to try and destroy Andreas Katsulas' career. And you put my messages discussing your slanders on the same scale, and say you'll sue? Up yours. You try to intimidate people here from talking about Andreas, you try to intimidate Andreas, and you try to intimidate me...your obsession is so profound that you're all over the map, in front of every person here reading your screeds. You have some real problems here. Deal with them. But leave the rest of humanity out of it. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 30 Jun 1994 00:37:52 -0400 Subject: Re: ? for JMS Why rocketry rather than gravity controls? First, when you're in space, not near a gravitational source, you need *some* kind of system to create propulsion. Again, remember, this is really only 250 years in the future. You need to *push* against something to move through space, and this is about as far as our tech has gotten us. We do not HAVE gravity control; if we did, B5 wouldn't have to rotate to create it. Some of the more advanced civilizations -- like the Minbari cruisers in "Sky" and other episodes -- use a different system; there's no visible or (to us now) recognizeable propulsion system. Ditto for the Vorlon ships. You're making a generalization that doesn't really apply. (I'd also point you to the Vree saucers and the Ipsha battle ships in "Deathwalker," and the Drazi sunhawk in the same episode, which seem to use alternate systems.) We're trying to set up varying levels of technology, with Earth near the bottom. We've got jumpgates, which the Centauri introduced into our culture, but to some extent it's like giving an F16 to a bunch of aborigines; they may learn to fly it, but they may not be able to come up immediately with all the tech between their current level of society and that which could produce an F16. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 30 Jun 1994 03:53:17 -0400 Subject: Re: The One-Armed Man Here's yet another example (one of many) in which you show you don't have a clue, and are twisting facts. You write, "...everything that Bob said was substantiated." Incorrect. The only thing that Bob stated here was that a complaint had been filed, by you. The complaint has not been substantiated. The incident has not been substantiated. This is how the Judicial system works, since you claim to be about to launch into it. NOTHING -- I repeat, NOTHING -- that you have said has been legally substantiated. And if it could be, would've been by now. BTW, I spoke to Andreas today, who continues to be very upset by this whole thing, and he indicated that he wishes you would stop calling there to further harrass him. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 30 Jun 1994 03:58:42 -0400 Subject: Re: The One-Armed Man RE: mental powers...there's still investigation into this area going on, and I don't think we've yet heard the final judgment...jump gates are a fairly reasonable extrapolation on folded space, wormholes and the like...and as for FTL travel, there isn't any, none of our ships travel faster than light per se; hyperspace is one way of avoiding the whole issue. In normal space, none of the ships in the B5 universe travel faster than light. jms From: straczynski@genie.geis.com Date: 30 Jun 1994 04:20:30 -0400 Subject: Re: The One-Armed Man PS #1: as Brian O'Neill said, any lawyer in his right *mind* would tell you that after filing a complaint, the #1 rule is, "SHUT UP!" Do not go around making public statements about it. Doofus-activity #1 from you. PS #2: I have not said anything to you that anyone else here has not said, in some cases in far harsher terms that I have said it. Since you said that you now intend to sue *me*, you must now also sue *them* as well. Otherwise your suit becomes selective, and thus provably a vendetta. So now how many *more* are you going to sue? Or threaten? Or harrass? (I notice you accused the Doge of forging your mail, so I suppose we're now broadening our scope to include charges of forgery.) You use threat of lawsuit to intimidate people, with *no* conception of the law. Doofus-activity #2. Would you now like to try for Doofus-activity #3, or go home now? jms