You can not select more than 25 topics
Topics must start with a letter or number, can include dashes ('-') and can be up to 35 characters long.
3430 lines
120 KiB
3430 lines
120 KiB
#: 408463 S5/Babylon 5: General
|
|
01-Dec-95 13:01:12
|
|
Sb: #408316-<Gethsemene>
|
|
Fm: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644
|
|
To: Joe Salemi [ZD Net] 72631,23 (X)
|
|
|
|
Thanks; eventually I'll get this writing thing figured out....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
#: 408464 S5/Babylon 5: General
|
|
01-Dec-95 13:01:13
|
|
Sb: #408345-B5 in Hong Kong!!
|
|
Fm: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644
|
|
To: John Yuen 72466,1621
|
|
|
|
<B5 is on in Hong Kong>
|
|
|
|
That's great. My best wishes to all the new viewers down there.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
#: 408465 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
01-Dec-95 13:01:15
|
|
Sb: #408420-#<PTG: Mind Wipe>
|
|
Fm: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644
|
|
To: Colin Glassey 72370,743
|
|
|
|
<Mind wipes were presented too positively.>
|
|
|
|
I'm not sure I presented it positively; I just presented it, didn't make
|
|
a moral judgement about it. Some of those in the show did, but then we had
|
|
Edward saying it *isn't* moral, that it's a monstrous thing to do. Like any
|
|
form of punishment it can seem fair to those not facing it.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
#: 408466 S5/Babylon 5: General
|
|
01-Dec-95 13:01:18
|
|
Sb: #408428-#Rod Serling Story III
|
|
Fm: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644
|
|
To: Shelley Marshall 70751,2114 (X)
|
|
|
|
<What's the third Serling story?>
|
|
|
|
Actually, I just posted it the other day...rather than posting it again,
|
|
if someone here could point out the message ID number, that would be better.
|
|
Nothing's more essentially boring than telling the same story twice at a
|
|
party....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
#: 408653 S5/Babylon 5: General
|
|
01-Dec-95 18:31:45
|
|
Sb: #From jms: info
|
|
Fm: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644
|
|
To: All
|
|
|
|
I need a little help here from US netters, 'cause something strikes me as
|
|
a bit wonky. I've been getting the market-by-market ratings reports, and just
|
|
today I sat down to really study them, and something doesn't track. The market
|
|
report doesn't seem to reflect where I *think* the shows are currently being
|
|
aired. So to the favor...if you're in one of these areas, let me know if the
|
|
time given here is DIFFERENT FROM the time it actually plays in your area.
|
|
(This seems especially curious to me since the report shows WTTY Indianapolis
|
|
up through the past week, and it was my understanding that they had temporarily
|
|
dropped the show until WNDY picked it up.)
|
|
|
|
New York Fri 8P; Chicago TH 7P; Philadelphia Sat 8P; San Francisco Wed 8P;
|
|
Boston Sat 8P; Wash DC Thr 8P; Dallas Wed 8P; Detroit Tue 8P; Atlanta Sun 8P;
|
|
Houston Wed 7P; Cleveland Sat 8P; Seattle Wed 8P; Tampa Wed 8P; Minneapolis Wed
|
|
7P; Miami Fri 8P; St Louis Wed 12M; Sacramento Sun 8P; Phoenix Wed 7P; Denver
|
|
Sat 5P; Pittsburgh Sat 8P; Baltimore Wed 9P; Hartford Sat 5P; Orlando Tue 10P;
|
|
San Diego Sat 4P; Indianapolis Sun 9P; Portland Wed 8P; Milwaukee Sun 11P;
|
|
Kansas City Wed 8P; Charlotte Sun 11P; Cincinnati Sat 2P; San Antonio Wed 7P;
|
|
W. Palm Beach Thr 8P.
|
|
|
|
Thanks for any help on this.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
[NOTE: There have been dozens of replies for just about every area JMS
|
|
listed -- BKB]
|
|
|
|
#: 408658 S5/Babylon 5: General
|
|
01-Dec-95 18:38:12
|
|
Sb: #408561-Kosh-ersize
|
|
Fm: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644
|
|
To: Bob Alberti 70764,410
|
|
|
|
<What does Kosh look like when he's not exerting himself?>
|
|
|
|
He probably looks a lot like me....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
#: 408659 S5/Babylon 5: General
|
|
01-Dec-95 18:38:13
|
|
Sb: #408564-#Video Toaster
|
|
Fm: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644
|
|
To: Roger St. Cyr 73774,3303
|
|
|
|
Hey, I barely understand this stuff myself....
|
|
|
|
Besides, I hear they've exported all the software over to DOS platforms
|
|
anyway, which don't use toasters.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
#: 408661 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
01-Dec-95 18:38:15
|
|
Sb: #408588-Were are the Shadows
|
|
Fm: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644
|
|
To: WADE R. AIKEN 102012,1764
|
|
|
|
<How does Bester fit into the whole Shadows-Psi Corps deal?>
|
|
|
|
This question will be dealt with in "Ship of Tears," around mid-season.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
#: 408723 S5/Babylon 5: General
|
|
01-Dec-95 20:38:27
|
|
Sb: #408680-B-5 Action Figures
|
|
Fm: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644
|
|
To: Les P. George 76162,1250
|
|
|
|
No, there are currently no plans for B5 action figures.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
#: 408724 S5/Babylon 5: General
|
|
01-Dec-95 20:38:27
|
|
Sb: #408672-From jms: info
|
|
Fm: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644
|
|
To: Tim Sullivan 76210,1066
|
|
|
|
Les said in another message it plays in Atlanta on Saturday at 11, not 8.
|
|
Which is correct?
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#: 408725 S5/Babylon 5: General
|
|
01-Dec-95 20:38:28
|
|
Sb: #408685-From jms: info
|
|
Fm: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644
|
|
To: Les P. George 76162,1250
|
|
|
|
Tim in another message said Saturday at 8 for Atlanta; which is the
|
|
current time?
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#: 408726 S5/Babylon 5: General
|
|
01-Dec-95 20:38:30
|
|
Sb: #408719-#From jms: info
|
|
Fm: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644
|
|
To: paul wood 102710,3071
|
|
|
|
Okay, follow-up...was there a period in the new episodes period (October
|
|
9 - Present) when WTTY *wasn't* showing the episodes, and it wasn't being shown
|
|
at all in Indianapolis? I'd thought there was a gap there.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
#: 408756 S5/Babylon 5: General
|
|
01-Dec-95 21:14:24
|
|
Sb: #408653-#New Twilight Zone
|
|
Fm: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644 (X)
|
|
|
|
Yes, I was involved with Twilight Zone v2.5, the 30 additional episodes
|
|
produced for syndication, as story editor and primary writer, doing 11 of the
|
|
total 30 episodes, plus 1 for the prior network run on CBS. It was, all things
|
|
considered, a great experience.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
#: 408833 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
02-Dec-95 01:00:07
|
|
Sb: #408776-<<Gethsemane>>
|
|
Fm: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644
|
|
To: Toni Muller 75223,1575
|
|
|
|
Thanks. It's definitely the strongest of the first four, I think. And
|
|
Pat is nothing less than terrific. If there was any sense of hesitation in her
|
|
appearance in "Divided Loyalties," it can be attributed to the fact that she
|
|
had just given birth to her son something like 4-6 weeks prior, if that much,
|
|
and this was pretty much her first day back in the saddle.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
#: 408834 S5/Babylon 5: General
|
|
02-Dec-95 01:00:10
|
|
Sb: #408778-the year of the war
|
|
Fm: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644
|
|
To: Bob Danielson 72614,737 (X)
|
|
|
|
<Shadow war is all done by the end of the year?>
|
|
|
|
I think it's a bit broader than that.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#: 408835 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
02-Dec-95 01:00:11
|
|
Sb: #408828-#<PTG: Mind Wipe>
|
|
Fm: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644
|
|
To: Jon Wolf 76103,2541 (X)
|
|
|
|
<Where was the mindwipe performed?>
|
|
|
|
We established in "The Quality of Mercy" that the equipment to handle
|
|
mindwipes is there on-station, locked away until mandated by a court. A court
|
|
assigned telepath is usually brought in to do a preliminary scan before it
|
|
happens and to verify the wipe immediately afterward. In that same episode,
|
|
Talia was used only because a court teep wasn't available.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
#: 408839 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
02-Dec-95 01:07:36
|
|
Sb: #408812-#<Rage's Thots: PtG>
|
|
Fm: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644
|
|
To: Burhaan Ahmad 75754,3065 (X)
|
|
|
|
"It's pretty obvious, really."
|
|
|
|
Heh, heh....
|
|
|
|
"Look, over there, an elephant...."
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
#: 408857 S5/Babylon 5: General
|
|
02-Dec-95 02:15:14
|
|
Sb: #408848-#B5 Screen Saver Arrived!
|
|
Fm: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644
|
|
To: Burhaan Ahmad 75754,3065
|
|
|
|
They're BAF files to include the wav files that accompany each and every
|
|
image. There's also a large number of bmp files for wallpaper, though.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: B5 Screen Saver Arrived! Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: John McAuley Sunday, December 03, 1995 12:52:07 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #409386
|
|
|
|
Dunno about the UK availability; someone here has the 800 phone
|
|
number, which can be used for ordering, though.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <Ptg:Prison Station> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: JOHN GRAVES Sunday, December 03, 1995 12:52:08 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #409387
|
|
|
|
No, the other brothers aren't mind-wiped.
|
|
|
|
You're mis-remembering "The Quality of Mercy." Telepaths do NOT
|
|
perform mindwipes. A court appointed teep makes a scan before and after
|
|
for purposes of comparison, but the wipe is done by a device held under
|
|
lock and key until ordered out by a court. The only reason Talia did it
|
|
in QoM was because they couldn't get a court teep there in the required
|
|
time (which was also stated in the episode). So here the court appointed
|
|
telepath would have come and gone by now.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Garibaldi's arm Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Chas T Freund, Sunday, December 03, 1995 12:52:13 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #409389
|
|
|
|
Weird thing is that Claudia broke her foot in an episode where I
|
|
mentioned her foot (the same one, btw), and Jerry broke his arm in the
|
|
same episode where I have someone say to him, "What, you've got a broken
|
|
arm or something?" Very, very weird...I've been asked *not* to make any
|
|
further reference to body parts of our various cast members, and I'm
|
|
*definitely* not having anything bad happen to any guest cast named
|
|
Dick....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: <Gethsemane questions> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Larry Rosenblum Sunday, December 03, 1995 1:13:03 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #409395
|
|
|
|
<Why did it take so long for a med team to get to Edward?>
|
|
|
|
They were in a pretty distant part of DownBelow, and in B5 you don't
|
|
have trains or cars; there's just the transport tubes, and the central
|
|
core shuttle. Even if they gave a damn about what happens to lurkers in
|
|
DownBelow (and they generally don't), it would still take at least 5-10
|
|
minutes to get a trauma team down there, and he was dead within about 3.
|
|
(I was once mugged half a mile from a police station and a mile from a
|
|
hospital; took 'em 30 minutes to get there.)
|
|
|
|
Sheridan and Theo didn't *discover* that Edward was using the
|
|
computer; Theo was concerned that he was looking into it in general. And
|
|
if they had blocked the computer in his quarters, he would have been able
|
|
to access one somewhere else. They didn't know he'd actually done it
|
|
until after the fact.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: B5 Screen Saver Arrived! Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Burhaan Ahmad Tuesday, December 05, 1995 12:48:10 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #410841
|
|
|
|
{regarding B5 screen saver compatibility with win95}
|
|
|
|
Apparently the program *is* win95 compatible, at least that's what
|
|
it says, I haven't yet upgraded, waiting a) for the bugs to get worked
|
|
out, and b) until I have the time required for the learning curve of
|
|
installation.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: B5 Screen Saver Arrived! Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: John Sheridan Tuesday, December 05, 1995 7:48:09 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #411367
|
|
|
|
<quoting John Sheridan to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>>The learning curve for installing WIN95 is pretty short Joe.
|
|
>>It's getting all of your software to run *after* you install WIN95
|
|
>>is where the learning curve can become quite long......<g>.
|
|
|
|
Yeah, that's the part that worries me.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: B5 Screen Saver Arrived! Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: John McAuley Wednesday, December 06, 1995 2:12:12 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #411911
|
|
|
|
{regarding the losing of JMS's hair, due to pulling it out
|
|
over win95}
|
|
|
|
Funny. Very funny. Amerikanski humor.
|
|
|
|
We bomb now.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: B5 Screen Saver Arrived! Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Scott Withrow Wednesday, December 06, 1995 2:00:23 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #411663
|
|
|
|
{regarding a Mac version of the B5 screen saver}
|
|
|
|
As I understand it, the company wants to come out with a Mac version
|
|
in a re-release of the program sometime in the spring. It's just hitting
|
|
the market and already it's doing quite well.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Submitted for.... Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Rae Augenstein Sunday, December 03, 1995 12:52:10 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #409388
|
|
|
|
Don't know if the new TZs are playing anywhere, actually....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Garibaldi's arm Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Elyse M. Grasso Tuesday, December 05, 1995 1:11:19 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #410873
|
|
|
|
{regarding rewriting due to broken arm}
|
|
|
|
Actually just took a line or two to cover it, given what happened in
|
|
the previous episode.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: From jms: info Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Steve Ruud Monday, December 04, 1995 1:54:03 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #410254
|
|
|
|
{regarding Tuesday 10pm time slot}
|
|
|
|
This doesn't help me unless I know where it's airing; can you tell
|
|
me *where* it's airing in this time slot? Thanks.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Vorlons and Shadows Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Gerald Himmelein, 100417,3703 Sunday, December 03, 1995 8:43:27 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski, 71016,1644#409877
|
|
|
|
{regarding Vorlons and Shadows being genetically related}
|
|
|
|
Nope.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: B5 Questions Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: T.N.Tumbusch Monday, December 04, 1995 1:54:04 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #410255
|
|
|
|
No, no limit on jumps, but you tend to ride the beacon from one jump
|
|
gate to the next to avoid getting lost.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <PTG-Bravo!> Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: David Belt Tuesday, December 05, 1995 1:11:05 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #410866
|
|
|
|
No, showing a tape to other folks is perfectly legal as long as no
|
|
admission is charged.
|
|
|
|
So you're welcome to do so, and welcome in general.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: AETR: B5 Promos Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Trent K. Johnson Tuesday, December 05, 1995 1:11:07 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #410868
|
|
|
|
I don't know, but I would imagine WB has something....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Hubble Photos Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Rick Shelton [FL] Tuesday, December 05, 1995 1:11:13 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #410870
|
|
|
|
Actually I already downloaded the M16 shots from the Hubble web page,
|
|
glorious stuff.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Hubble Photos Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Walter F. Hern Tuesday, December 05, 1995 7:48:14 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #411369
|
|
|
|
{regarding crescent shaped ships flying near B5}
|
|
|
|
I think those are the ones attacking a Narn cruiser, so they're
|
|
Centauri mid-size attack craft.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Hubble Photos Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Philip Hornsey Wednesday, December 06, 1995 2:00:25 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #411664
|
|
|
|
{regarding number of Narn casualties}
|
|
|
|
Actually, yes, there are millions of dead; I think that either Vir
|
|
or Na'Far gets it right in "Strife," and the other misstates the figure in
|
|
the same episode.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Hubble Photos Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Philip Hornsey, 74053,2101 Wednesday, December 06, 1995 2:12:07
|
|
PM From: J. Michael Straczynski, 71016,1644#411909
|
|
|
|
{regarding the question of anyone saying "millions dead"}
|
|
|
|
Just went back and checked the script; Ta'Lon refers to millions in
|
|
his meeting with Sheridan. (Knew I wasn't nuts....)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: B5 Screensaver Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Jason Wong Tuesday, December 05, 1995 1:11:14 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #410871
|
|
|
|
Actually it's hitting stores now. (And there may be a Mac version
|
|
after the first of the year.)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Bill Mumy's show on Nick Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Shelley Marshall Tuesday, December 05, 1995 1:11:17 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #410872
|
|
|
|
No, there's no conflict at all between our schedule and theirs; he's
|
|
producing it from here, not acting in it.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Minbari Souls Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Sharon Foster Tuesday, December 05, 1995 1:52:00 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #410906
|
|
|
|
See my other note here about souls, this may clarify a bit.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: B5 interruptions Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Raymond Chuang Tuesday, December 05, 1995 7:48:06 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #411365
|
|
|
|
That stuff is entirely in the hands of the local stations.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: B5 Con#1 & Latvia Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Mark Koro Tuesday, December 05, 1995 7:48:11 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #411368
|
|
|
|
With Doug...always worry.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <Ptg:Prison Station> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Philip Hornsey Monday, December 04, 1995 2:10:22 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #410059
|
|
|
|
There are templates used, with some variations. In a government
|
|
monitored situation (which this wasn't, they thought he was dead),
|
|
mindwipes are kept in servile positions, not allowed to achieve, as that
|
|
would be a kind of reward. Those guys you see along the roadsides
|
|
picking up trash and putting them in bright orange bags? Mindwipes.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <Ptg:Prison Station> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Paul Maskens (OMRI UK) Tuesday, December 05, 1995 1:11:05 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #410867
|
|
|
|
Man has been on Mars for just under 100 years.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <Gethsemane questions> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Robert Miller Tuesday, December 05, 1995 1:11:11 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #410869
|
|
|
|
One caveat here overall...it's been complimented and commented upon
|
|
that I would expose a belief system in my show which I do not personally
|
|
agree with (presenting the face of religion even though I'm an atheist).
|
|
That I could be this tolerant is apparently praiseworthy.
|
|
|
|
I would just suggest that at some point, when and if I should offer
|
|
a point of view from another perspective, which one watching might not
|
|
personally agree with, the same tolerance is given, since the virtue of
|
|
tolerating divergent attitudes has been deemed praiseworthy...and is
|
|
something ever to strive for....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <Gethsemane questions> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Daena Hinkelman, 73554,1731 Tuesday, December 05, 1995 1:52:02 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski, 71016,1644#410907
|
|
|
|
"The themes of faith and forgiveness were worthy of a theologian. Are you
|
|
sure there isn't something you'd like to tell us?"
|
|
|
|
Never shoot pool at a place called Pop's. Never eat food at a place
|
|
called Mom's. The difference between horses and humans is that they're
|
|
too smart to be on what *we'll* do.
|
|
|
|
And I have lost people. Too many people. Lost them to chance,
|
|
violence, brutality beyond belief; I've seen all the senseless, ignoble
|
|
acts of "god's noblest creature." And I am incapable of forgiving. My
|
|
feelings are with G'Kar, hand sliced open, saying of the drops of blood
|
|
flowing from that open wound, "How do you apologize to them?" "I can't."
|
|
"Then I cannot forgive."
|
|
|
|
As an atheist, I believe that all life is unspeakably precious,
|
|
because it's only here for a brief moment, a flare against the dark, and
|
|
then it's gone forever. No afterlives, no second chances, no backsies.
|
|
So there can be nothing crueler than the abuse, destruction or wanton
|
|
taking of a life. It is a crime no less than burning the Mona Lisa, for
|
|
there is always just one of each.
|
|
|
|
So I cannot forgive. Which makes the notion of writing a character
|
|
who CAN forgive momentarily attractive...because it allows me to explore
|
|
in great detail something of which I am utterly incapable. I cannot fly,
|
|
so I would write of birds and starships and kites; I cannot play an
|
|
instrument, so I would write of composers and dancers; and I cannot
|
|
forgive, so I would write of priests and monks and minbari....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <Gethsemane questions> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: John C. Brobston/PRCT Wednesday, December 06, 1995 2:12:04 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #411907
|
|
|
|
{regarding when JMS might publish a book on poetry}
|
|
|
|
Never; my poetry really sucks....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <Gethsemane> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Mara K. Malovany Sunday, December 03, 1995 4:40:01 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #409727
|
|
|
|
And, as I noted in a message just now, maybe he thinks that they
|
|
might be telling the truth, that maybe something *is* going on.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <Gethsemane> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Mark D. Smith Sunday, December 03, 1995 5:48:19 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #409750
|
|
|
|
{regarding a connection between the Vorlons and our religions}
|
|
|
|
What, you really expect an answer....?
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <Gethsemane> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Joe Salemi [ZD Net], 72631,23 Sunday, December 03, 1995
|
|
4:39:27 PM From: J. Michael Straczynski, 71016,1644#409726
|
|
|
|
And bear in mind that it's never just a common sense "oh, these guys
|
|
are lying to me from Nightwatch, they're the bad guys." It's always
|
|
couched in such a way that it sounds like it *might* be a real concern.
|
|
That was how McCarthy and others terrorized this country during the
|
|
1950s. There were plenty of people who really *believed* that the Reds
|
|
had infiltrated every aspect of society, as well as those who might've
|
|
had doubts, but figured that maybe where there's smoke there IS fire.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <PTG: Mind Wipe> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Jon Wolf, 76103,2541 Wednesday, December 06, 1995 2:11:12
|
|
AM From: J. Michael Straczynski, 71016,1644#411666
|
|
|
|
Re: mindwipes no longer considered people...this really is not that
|
|
much different from prison inmates, who are given numbers, have no real
|
|
civil rights, and are treated like cattle. (And many of them deserve it;
|
|
a few deserve worse; a few deserve better.)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <PTG: Mind Wipe> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Philip Hornsey, 74053,2101 Wednesday, December 06, 1995 2:12:06
|
|
PM From: J. Michael Straczynski, 71016,1644#411908
|
|
|
|
On one level, I'm in favor of the death penalty. I think that if
|
|
someone takes your life deliberately, they sacrifice their own in return.
|
|
Some might say it's not a deterrent in general...but it sure as heck
|
|
deters that specific person.
|
|
|
|
*On the other hand*...I take that position mainly because nowadays,
|
|
when someone is sentenced to life, "life" means about 15 years at best.
|
|
If life imprisonment MEANT life inprisonment, then I'd happily go for
|
|
that option above the death penalty (and that certainly does leave room
|
|
for verdict corrections).
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <PTG: Mind Wipe> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Greg Munsill Wednesday, December 06, 1995 2:12:09 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #411910
|
|
|
|
I just put the mindwipe issue out there, I didn't make a moral
|
|
judgment about it...in 2260, that's what's done. I just report the
|
|
news....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <PTG: Mind Wipe> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Carol Williams Sunday, December 03, 1995 8:51:09 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #409882
|
|
|
|
{regarding Christ's repenting for the sins of others}
|
|
|
|
Carol: *exactly* the right point. In his earlier talk about
|
|
Gethsemane, Edward mentioned that old JC had to go through all that to
|
|
atone for the sins of others; when he sees Theo later, through the grate,
|
|
he uses the same notion of atonement for the acts of another, in this
|
|
case, *his* other. The logical parallel parses pretty closely.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <PTG: Mind Wipe> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Carol Williams Sunday, December 03, 1995 8:51:08 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #409881
|
|
|
|
Yes, B5 has a court system, authorized by the Earth Alliance
|
|
Judicial System, to conduct trials of this sort (which we've seen
|
|
before). And in this case, again, there wasn't a trial per se as Ivanova
|
|
noted; he pleaded guilty from the start, quite proud of what he'd done.
|
|
So all that remained was the sentencing.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Minbari Religion Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Scott Miller Tuesday, December 05, 1995 1:11:21 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #410874
|
|
|
|
If there were just one pure and unchanged unvirsal soul running
|
|
through everything, there wouldn't be any point in breaking itself into
|
|
pieces and investing itself in different species/people...it would just
|
|
keep running into identical versions of itself.
|
|
|
|
So the soul form in Minbari is different from the soul form in
|
|
humans; also, in their view, having been civilized longer than us, their
|
|
soul form is more elevated, more evolved...and thus the pices are more
|
|
precious, to them, and to the Soul Hunters.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Admiral's Promise Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Charles Agius Wednesday, December 06, 1995 2:00:18 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #411661
|
|
|
|
Apology accepted. We move on.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: B5 Screen Saver Arrived! Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: SysOp Dupa T. Parrot Thursday, December 07, 1995 2:35:16 AM
|
|
From: J.Michael Straczynski #412456
|
|
|
|
Yes, the .avi files play full-motion video and music/sound effects.
|
|
Check your setup menu to make sure you've selected those files, and that
|
|
they're in the directory, and that they've been marked to play.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <Gethsemane questions> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: John C. Brobston/PRCT Thursday, December 07, 1995 2:35:27 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #412460
|
|
|
|
{regarding athiest vs. agnostic}
|
|
|
|
If all the things you describe were suddenly to happen, sure, I'd
|
|
have to give my position serious thought, while turning down Stephen
|
|
Hawking's invitations to dance and dodging the newly revived dead. Now,
|
|
when is this supposed to happen? 'Cause it hasn't happened yet, and
|
|
gives no indication of happening anytime soon. Which is, really, the
|
|
point.
|
|
|
|
Let me try a different take on this whole agnostic/atheist thing, to
|
|
see if I can better communicate my position. My agent calls and says,
|
|
"Listen, the BBC called, and they're interested in signing you up for a
|
|
two year documentary on the mating habits of clams." To which I respond,
|
|
"Great, but I'll believe it when it happens."
|
|
|
|
I do not say that the contract may, or may not exist; it either is,
|
|
or it isn't, and my actions proceed from those two options. Until I get
|
|
the contract actually in my hand, it doesn't exist. Until someone puts
|
|
the absolute proof out in front of me of a deity, it doesn't exist.
|
|
That's the difference; the agnostic says, well, maybe there is, maybe
|
|
there isn't, who knows? The atheist says, There is currently no proof
|
|
whatsoever of this assertion, thus I choose not to believe it.
|
|
|
|
There are, really, any number of schools on what atheism is or
|
|
isn't. Some have taken this to be the notion of anti-religion, which I
|
|
think is unconstructive. I used to write a humor column for Madeline
|
|
Murry O'Hare's publication American Atheist back in the 1970s (betcha
|
|
didn't know that one, did you?). Even did some other writing, articles
|
|
and the like...until one day I realized that this (American Atheist
|
|
Organization) wasn't about just providing equal respect and treatment for
|
|
atheists, it was about knocking down religion and attacking others' belief
|
|
systems...at which time I resigned the magazine.
|
|
|
|
To get back on track...mine is the kind of atheism you saw most
|
|
often around the turn of the century, basically accommodational of
|
|
others, positive in outlook, stressing the basic worth of the individual,
|
|
and the importance of the individual in building a better society.
|
|
|
|
Because of the more...rigorous atheists out there, atheism has, I
|
|
think, gotten kind of a bad rap in some circles. And a lot of it is
|
|
unfair, though I'd be foolish to say that the criticisms were entirely
|
|
without merit. But when then-President Bush said, as he did in an
|
|
interview in Chicago during the last election, that he "doesn't really
|
|
consider atheists patriots, since after all the idea is one nation under
|
|
god," it brings you up a little short. The founders of this country
|
|
weren't just believers, they were deists and freethinkers and even the
|
|
occasional atheist.
|
|
|
|
In any event...I hadn't meant to belabor the point. This is simply
|
|
what I think. I don't usually get into it, but the question was raised,
|
|
so I answered it. I don't expect much of anyone else to agree, or to
|
|
convince anyone to think as I do. And that's fine, and as it should be.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <Gethsemane questions> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Tom Knudsen Thursday, December 07, 1995 2:35:17 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #412457
|
|
|
|
{regarding athiest vs. agnostic}
|
|
|
|
Yeah, well, I've kinda given it a *lot* of thought over a *very*
|
|
long period....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: From jms: info Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: George F. Kraus Wednesday, December 06, 1995 8:13:12 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #412188
|
|
|
|
Alas, no tapes are currently available.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: ATTN:JMS <? About B4> Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Stephen C. Smith Thursday, December 07, 1995 2:35:14 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #412455
|
|
|
|
{regarding Boxleitner taping "B5 Classic" intro}
|
|
|
|
To which they would reply, "Terrific, great idea, but we're not going
|
|
to sacrifice 15-30 seconds of commercials so you can do this, so you're
|
|
going to have to go in and cut 15-30 seconds out of the show."
|
|
|
|
That time has to come from somewhere.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: To JMS Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Michael Milutinovic Wednesday, December 06, 1995 8:13:26 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #412191
|
|
|
|
No, there's really just the one Minbari religion, and the warrior
|
|
caste tends to follow it, but not lead it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: $0.04: <A Day in Strife> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Ruth Ballam Wednesday, December 06, 1995 8:28:00 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #412207
|
|
|
|
You're saying Sinclair was the chosen one...first, you don't know
|
|
what he was chosen FOR. Second, if this is entirely true, why would
|
|
Zathras look Sinclair dead in the face and say "NOT the one"?
|
|
|
|
As for "why would he change his story"...nothing is set in stone; if
|
|
you were a writer, you'd know that an outline only gets you into the
|
|
story and the main points. I've had whole novels that I've written
|
|
abruptly change direction halfway through because of something I
|
|
discovered midway that was better than what I'd planned initially. You
|
|
adjust. No outline ever survives contact with the enemy.
|
|
|
|
If, tomorrow, I decided that the rest of this story would be better
|
|
if Sheridan were transformed into a giant blue space moose, that's
|
|
exactly what I'd do.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Max (Richard Moll) Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Melanie Moser Thursday, December 07, 1995 2:35:24 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #412459
|
|
|
|
Thanks. At this point, Richard's part was a one-shot, but if we
|
|
come up with the right role, I'd love to see him again.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: B5 Screen Saver Arrived! Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Tom Knudsen Thursday, December 07, 1995 1:58:06 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #412731
|
|
|
|
{regarding the .avi files having video}
|
|
|
|
No, the personnel files don't have them, only the
|
|
battle, ship and geo files.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <Gethsemane questions> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: David Cerreta Thursday, December 07, 1995 8:37:04 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #412951
|
|
|
|
{regarding quoting JMS's post about atheism}
|
|
|
|
By all means, quote away....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <Gethsemane questions> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Rick Corey /NY Thursday, December 07, 1995 8:37:06 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #412953
|
|
|
|
{regarding religion}
|
|
|
|
I guess I'm partly leery of going into my personal views
|
|
on this stuff too much because I'm very conscious of the
|
|
position of "celebrity" in our society, even as minor a
|
|
celebrity as that of producer, of which there cannot possibly
|
|
be a smaller version of celebrity. It's possible to use
|
|
one's position as a platform for advancing one's own personal
|
|
views, or propagating them, and I don't want to do that, or
|
|
to be perceived as doing that.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: JMS resigns rastb5 Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Robt Martin, Thursday, December 07, 1995 1:58:07 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #412732
|
|
|
|
You used to edit Fangoria?
|
|
|
|
So are you currently appealing the conviction...?
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: JMS resigns rastb5 Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Robt Martin Friday, December 08, 1995 2:44:26 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #413113
|
|
|
|
{regarding Mr. Martin's editing of Fangoria}
|
|
|
|
Actually, the best thing about Fangoria are the
|
|
conventions....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: $0.04: <A Day in Strife> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Nigel Nixon Thursday, December 07, 1995 2:10:07 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #412743
|
|
|
|
And this is quite correct; WB had always wanted a well
|
|
known actor in that rols, so when we decided to make the
|
|
change, WB repeated this, and urged us strongly in this
|
|
direction. Happily, Bruce was known to us through Doug and
|
|
John who'd worked with him on other projects, and said he was
|
|
a swell guy in addition to a terrific actor; we met, talked,
|
|
and that was that.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <PTG: Mindwipe> Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Michael Guenther Thursday, December 07, 1995 8:37:03 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #412950
|
|
|
|
I'd say there's some similarity in the process, yes.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Jump Points Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: John Cissna Thursday, December 07, 1995 8:37:08 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #412954
|
|
|
|
No, I'm reasonably sure that the Centauri vessels that
|
|
came through were considerably larger than the White Star;
|
|
the problem, of course, is determining size visually in
|
|
space, where there isn't a reference point.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Another B5 Pun Section: Promenade Alpha
|
|
To: Andrew Diseker Thursday, December 07, 1995 8:37:10 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #412955
|
|
|
|
The Nuremberg War Crimes Committee would like a word
|
|
with you, Mr. Diseker....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <Gethsemane questions> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Tom Knudsen Friday, December 08, 1995 8:28:14 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #413425
|
|
|
|
{regarding JMS's celebrity status}
|
|
|
|
Yeah, I don't really buy into the celebrity notion; what
|
|
I do is what I do, no different than a teacher or an archi-
|
|
tect; both require varying levels of creativity. Main thing
|
|
wrong with celebrity is that people start viewing you differ-
|
|
ently...and Kosh help you if your own view of yourself starts
|
|
to reconcile too much with that new perception.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Rerun Schedule Worry Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Kevin Kenney Friday, December 08, 1995 8:35:19 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #413430
|
|
|
|
I don't think I'll be able to change the schedule; my
|
|
guess is that they'll do a full run of episodes in July,
|
|
which they did in our first year, but didn't do in our
|
|
second.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: JMS resigns rastb5 Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: The Jawa/Jawa #2, Saturday, December 09, 1995 11:14:08
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #414000
|
|
|
|
We're making 22 episodes this year; interestingly enough,
|
|
because the ratings have been doing quite well, there have
|
|
been some informal talks initiated by some folks at PTEN
|
|
about us doing an additional 2 hours in the form of a direct-
|
|
to-video movie, something to hold folks over between seasons.
|
|
So in that sense we'd be doing 24 this season. It's not
|
|
finalized, but we're very encouraged that they're considering
|
|
trying this with us. We won't have any final disposition on
|
|
this until well after Christmas, however. The problem will be
|
|
in getting all the pertinent WB divisions to work together on
|
|
this with us, and working with PTEN in the sense that it
|
|
won't be aired initially until much later, which may be a
|
|
stumbling block...but we'll see. Still, it's a great vote of
|
|
confidence.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: JMS resigns rastb5 Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: SysOp Lee Whiteside Sunday, December 10, 1995 5:02:23
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #414104
|
|
|
|
{regarding direct-to-video B5 movie}
|
|
|
|
Yeah, it'd have to be kind of like the comics...it would
|
|
add something to the arc, be complementary to it (like the
|
|
"shadows past" miniseries was complementary to "Divided
|
|
Loyalties" and stuff yet to come), but more or less able to
|
|
stand on its own.
|
|
|
|
Like I said, though, it ain't final yet, still in the
|
|
talking stages....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: JMS resigns rastb5 Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Philip Hornsey Sunday, December 10, 1995 7:38:07 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #414396
|
|
|
|
{regarding story ideas for direct-to-video movie}
|
|
|
|
I'd advise against suggesting story areas for this,
|
|
Philip.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: JMS resigns rastb5 Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Neil Blevins Sunday, December 10, 1995 7:38:02 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #414394
|
|
|
|
{regarding making videos of B5 episodes}
|
|
|
|
Won't work. Their logic (such as it is) is that if
|
|
people have already seen the episode on TV, they won't want
|
|
to buy it...but a direct-to-video supplemental episode, by
|
|
virtue of *not* having been aired, IS commercially viable.
|
|
|
|
What can I say...?
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <PTG-Bravo!> Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Felix Ling Saturday, December 09, 1995 11:14:11 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #414001
|
|
|
|
Thanks. It's a hard thing to walk the line between not
|
|
being effective and being heavy-handed...I think it worked
|
|
quite well in that respect.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <PTG--more questions> Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Mara K. Malovany Saturday, December 09, 1995 11:14:12
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #414002
|
|
|
|
The sculpture...wasn't exactly what I had in mind, no....
|
|
|
|
Re: the Centauri...note that Edward wasn't killed where
|
|
they found him. He was taken and killed elsewhere, in a area
|
|
they'd more or less secured for that purpose. That was the
|
|
area he knew about.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: A couple of Questions Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Tim and Laurie Sunday, December 10, 1995 7:38:08 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #414397
|
|
|
|
Yes, he had the momentum from his jump, plus that of the
|
|
core shuttle itself (which is considerable), plus the wind
|
|
currents toward the center of the station area/garden, which
|
|
area also considerable. Together that would be enough to
|
|
keep him moving toward the outer edge of the garden area.
|
|
|
|
No, the Narns do not have artificial gravity, which is
|
|
why we've always shown them belted into their seats in five-
|
|
point harnesses.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: B5: Winter duldrums Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: The Jawa/Jawa #2 Sunday, December 10, 1995 7:47:18
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #414407
|
|
|
|
{regarding direct-to-video B5 movie}
|
|
|
|
Whoa, whoa, whoa...Jawa, don't mis-state the situation.
|
|
The deal still hasn't been set, and even if it were, it
|
|
couldn't possibly be out "sometime after christmas," during
|
|
the rerun cycle.
|
|
|
|
It might be able to come out *between seasons three and
|
|
four* is, I believe, what I said. Bear in mind that I'd have
|
|
to write it, it takes 4-6 weeks to prep such a thing, 15-16
|
|
days to shoot it, then another 52 days to finish post.
|
|
|
|
Just to clarify...I don't want this getting picked up
|
|
and announced as fact yet when it ain't. Still may not even
|
|
happen.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Hague back Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Barbara Pfieffer Saturday, December 09, 1995 11:14:05
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #413999
|
|
|
|
You'll be hearing more about General Hague in the next
|
|
batch of episodes; as for the two-parter, I'm about 13 pages
|
|
from the end of part one, which I hope to turn in on Monday,
|
|
and the second part will probably be in after the Christmas
|
|
break.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: A couple of Questions Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Melanie Moser Sunday, December 10, 1995 11:24:04 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #414498
|
|
|
|
{regarding artificial gravity on Narn ship in the
|
|
novel _Blood_Oath_}
|
|
|
|
Urk...that must've slipped past me (which reminds me,
|
|
I'd better get back to finishing proofing the next novel).
|
|
And yes, we'll see more of the Narn homeworld as we go along.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Not B5 Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Sharon Foster Sunday, December 10, 1995 11:24:03 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #414497
|
|
|
|
{regarding a show called "Vanishing Son"}
|
|
|
|
Nope, don't know a thing about it, only heard the name
|
|
here and there.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Harlan Signs in LA/SF Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: All Monday, December 11, 1995 2:09:10 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #414554
|
|
|
|
Harlan Ellison will be signing copies of his new CD-rom
|
|
game, "I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream," based on his
|
|
award-winning short story of the same name, at Tower Video in
|
|
two locations in the coming week:
|
|
|
|
In Los Angeles on Wednesday, December 13th, at 8801
|
|
Sunset Boulevard from 6-7:30 p.m. and in San Francisco from
|
|
6-8 p.m. at 3205 20th Avenue, 2nd floor on Thursday, December
|
|
14th.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Episodes on Tape Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: William H. DiPaola Monday, December 11, 1995 2:11:10
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #414555
|
|
|
|
We're still trying to work this out.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: G'Kar Trading Card Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Jason Wong Tuesday, December 12, 1995 3:14:17 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #415066
|
|
|
|
{regarding G'Kar not being on the card}
|
|
|
|
Is this the one on the actual card, or the promo four-
|
|
card? I knew it was wrong there, and I'd thought we'd caught
|
|
it before the finished versions were out.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Rage's Thots: Comm ? Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Chad Underkoffler Tuesday, December 12, 1995 3:14:18
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #415067
|
|
|
|
Yes, long-distance com systems like StellarCom are
|
|
tachyon based; communication inside hyperspace to and from
|
|
normal space is very difficult and problematic due to the
|
|
differing physics involved; the beacons ships ride in between
|
|
jumpgates are more or less anchored to the gates at the
|
|
hyperspace side.
|
|
|
|
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Rage's Thots: Comm ? Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Philip Hornsey Wednesday, December 13, 1995 7:36:14
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #415819
|
|
|
|
{regarding there being physical protrusions into
|
|
hyperspace}
|
|
|
|
Not that anyone's discovered yet. (Don't read into that
|
|
more than there is.)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: ATTN:JMS <? About B4> Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Mitchell Schneider Tuesday, December 12, 1995 7:51:15
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #415353
|
|
|
|
"...yeah, I was shooting the breeze with Jon just a few
|
|
days ago. Jon's going to try and get B2 re-run on my sugges-
|
|
tion."
|
|
|
|
Er...it's Joe, actually.
|
|
|
|
That aside, thanks for the kind words, and we'll try to
|
|
get it rerun.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Compuserve Name for JMS Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Dan T. Davis Wednesday, December 13, 1995 7:41:02
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #415822
|
|
|
|
{regarding picking your own CompuServe name}
|
|
|
|
Actually, I haven't picked any such name...what's the
|
|
procedure for doing this?
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: ATTN:JMS <? About B4> Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Chris C. Franks Thursday, December 14, 1995 2:16:10 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #415971
|
|
|
|
{regarding one of the Turner stations running
|
|
the first season of B5}
|
|
|
|
They'll be playing the entire series, but not until the
|
|
show has run its full course, so around 1998.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: I Have No Mouth game Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Brian A. Thomas Thursday, December 14, 1995 2:16:11 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #415972
|
|
|
|
{regarding "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream"}
|
|
|
|
Wouldn't hurt to read the story first. It's a great
|
|
story.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Babylon 4 Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Michael "GANDALF" Kalus Thursday, December 14, 1995
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #416204
|
|
|
|
Babylons 1-3 were destroyed during the very early stages
|
|
of construction, so not that much was done. They poured a
|
|
LOT of money into B4, which was very big...when that one went
|
|
south, they decided to try one last time, with a stripped-
|
|
down version, B5. B4 vanished 4 years prior to the first
|
|
season of B5.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: JMS: Best party ep? Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Robert Pierce, Thursday, December 14, 1995 2:16:09 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #415970
|
|
|
|
{regarding which upcoming episode would be best
|
|
to have a B5 party for}
|
|
|
|
If you want some fun with your wham, and there's a lot of
|
|
fun to be had in this one, go for the first one up, "Voices
|
|
of Authority." If you want serious, serious wham, go for
|
|
"Messages From Earth."
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: Screen Saver Audio Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Shirley DeCarufelFriday, December 15, 1995 12:26:05 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #416434
|
|
|
|
Actually, the "cricket" sounds are the identicard
|
|
scanning sounds used in the pilot movie.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Hague back Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: John M. Kahane Friday, December 15, 1995 5:05:20 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #416505
|
|
|
|
At the office, I use the Kinesis keyboard, with two key-
|
|
wells, not broken lines. Works well.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <Gethsemane Thought> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: John M. Kahane Friday, December 15, 1995 5:05:24 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #416506
|
|
|
|
{regarding "Passing Through Gethsemane" ep}
|
|
|
|
Thanks. Adam did a great job interpreting the script on
|
|
that one, and it's definitely one of our most successful
|
|
episodes...though today I took a look at another, more
|
|
completed version of episode 8, "Messages," and *man* is this
|
|
amazing...just a knockout...trouble is we keep raising our own
|
|
bar and won't accept anything less...so the pressure becomes
|
|
quite astonishing after a while.
|
|
|
|
Fun, though....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Babylon 4 Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Michael "GANDALF" Kalus December 15, 1995 5:12:27 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #416508
|
|
|
|
"wasn't nearly enough time"
|
|
|
|
If you apply 20th century construction models, sure...but
|
|
we've advanced quite a bit in 250 years.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Babylon 4 Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Michael "GANDALF" Kalus December 15, 1995 5:38:03 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #416676
|
|
|
|
{regarding not enough time...}
|
|
|
|
Except, of course, there's no need to transport steel
|
|
and other materials from Earth...if that's your premise then
|
|
it's seriously flawed. You mine ore from the surrounding
|
|
asteroids, as NASA has described for some time could be done.
|
|
You could assemble the shell off Earth in pieces fairly
|
|
quickly, use the jump gate to get it to Epsilon Eridani, and
|
|
mine whatever else you need there in the area fairly effi-
|
|
ciently.
|
|
|
|
Bear in mind that building a station like this in 2260
|
|
uses many of the same techniques already being used else
|
|
where...so in many cases it's a matter of slightly converting
|
|
what's already being mass produced for other reasons.
|
|
Explorer vessels like the Cortez, for instance, are nearly as
|
|
long as Babylon 5 (as seen in "A Distant Star"), and its
|
|
rotating section is nearly as wide. And you've got other big
|
|
ships, many with rotational areas for gravity-positive
|
|
sections. This isn't like NASA gearing up to make a one-off
|
|
of something; this is a matter of adjusting technology
|
|
already in use.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Babylon 4 Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: John McAuley Saturday, December 16, 1995 1:54:17 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #416849
|
|
|
|
{regarding acquiring raw materials to build B5}
|
|
|
|
Aside from the hull stuff which would've been constructed
|
|
elsewhere and shipped in and assembled, they would've mined
|
|
the asteroids for most of the raw materials needed.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Babylon 4 Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: John McAuley Saturday, December 16, 1995 9:38:13 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #417210
|
|
|
|
{regarding B5 winning a Cult TV award}
|
|
|
|
I know we won one, and I believe it was this past year,
|
|
yes; a very nice engraved glass award.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Kosh and the Shadows Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Birgit Kohls Friday, December 15, 1995 5:13:00 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #416509
|
|
|
|
{regarding why they didn't kill Kosh}
|
|
|
|
Course, a dead Vorlon would be a major giveaway for
|
|
them...best to keep a low profile, at least for the time
|
|
being.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <TFON - Religion> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Colin Glassey Friday, December 15, 1995 5:38:06 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #416678
|
|
|
|
Yes, those are pretty much the two interpretations...
|
|
that the Vorlons *created* the myth of angels, or that they
|
|
came in and *exploited* it for their own purposes. In my
|
|
view, the latter seems more logical in some ways.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <TFON - Religion> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Philip Hornsey Saturday, December 16, 1995 9:38:15 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #417212
|
|
|
|
|
|
{regarding assumption that Vorlon standardized beliefs}
|
|
|
|
On the other hand, I didn't say that was the case in all
|
|
places and in all cases.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: What's In A Name (Kosh) Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Gerald Himmelein Friday, December 15, 1995 5:38:11 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #416680
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Gerald Himmelein to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>two days ago, I finally got around to purchase the
|
|
>Compact Disc release of The Who's classic WHO'S NEXT
|
|
>album [remastered, with bonus tracks and new liner
|
|
>notes... really nice...] from 1971.
|
|
|
|
>When I read through the fine print, I found myself
|
|
>gasping in surprise.
|
|
|
|
>"Original vinyl sleeve design by Kosh."
|
|
|
|
<snip>
|
|
|
|
>This Kosh appears to be a photigrapher and designer,
|
|
>and he apparently went with just that name, just Kosh.
|
|
|
|
<snip>
|
|
|
|
>my question would be whether you were aware of this
|
|
>designer / photographer talent of the 70's and if his
|
|
>name became the inspiration for the Vorlon Ambassador.
|
|
|
|
|
|
No, I'd absolutely never heard this story before...I'm
|
|
astounded....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: What's In A Name (Kosh) Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Gerald Himmelein December 16, 1995 1:54:16 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #416848
|
|
|
|
{regarding JMS's taste in music}
|
|
|
|
Basically, I'm a fan of *all* music, except hard-stuff
|
|
country and opera.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: B5 Videos Yet Again Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Trent K. Johnson Saturday, December 16, 1995 9:38:19 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #417213
|
|
|
|
We'd almost certainly go for tapes initially...videodisks
|
|
would mean remastering all the film stock back to its
|
|
original aspect ratio, and we're talking major bucks here.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Screen saver frustration Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Bob Danielson Saturday, December 16, 1995 9:46:03 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #417222
|
|
|
|
To get at the files, you have to follow these steps: use
|
|
the Install part of the setup menu, which takes you to the
|
|
CDrom. Highlight the files in the Images directory. Then
|
|
copy them into the correct directory on your hard drive. Once
|
|
that's done, you then select the images you want. Also be
|
|
sure that the image categories are toggled on your setup menu
|
|
(personal info, battle info, images (all vs. selected) and so
|
|
on.
|
|
|
|
I've found that every once in a while, a video piece will
|
|
bump into my system. What's weird is that I have two
|
|
identical systems, one at the work office, one at home...on
|
|
the work office system, every single image works without
|
|
problem. At home, one of the images bumps into windows and
|
|
shuts me down.
|
|
|
|
The best way to find out which is doing this is to
|
|
individuall select the areas (i.e., first select just Battle
|
|
Info, or Geological Info, and de-select all the others in the
|
|
setup menu). Let those run through, and if there's not a
|
|
problem, try the next one. Since they go in order, you can
|
|
figure out pretty fast which one is causing you a problem.
|
|
I did this, and now my system at home works fine, after
|
|
omitting one of the ship info files that, again, runs just
|
|
fine on the work system.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: JMS resigns rastb5 Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Richard M. Perry Sunday, December 17, 1995 1:54:19 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #417309
|
|
|
|
{regarding using SW and ST doing well as an argument
|
|
for getting B5 eps for sale on tape}
|
|
|
|
Nope. Doesn't work. They see Star Wars and ST as
|
|
valuable commodities; they don't see us that way because they
|
|
*know* us, and we're just a show of theirs, one of many.
|
|
This is the way it *always* goes, though. On Star Wars, they
|
|
gave away most of the merchandising rights because they didn't
|
|
think anybody would want the stuff; on ST they canceled it
|
|
after 3 seasons and didn't bother to protect the copyright on
|
|
the stuff for almost ten years (which is why they often don't
|
|
prosecute stuff based on the first series that gets pirated)
|
|
because they figured it was worthless.
|
|
|
|
It's only LONG after the horse has left the barn that the
|
|
suits ever really understand what they've got...or had.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: From jms: info Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Anne L. Warner Sunday, December 17, 1995 10:27:07 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #417659
|
|
|
|
Yes, the ratings on WSBK have been up between a half a
|
|
point and a full ratings point over where it was, now that
|
|
they've stabalized it. Which is what we've been saying would
|
|
happen for some time.
|
|
|
|
This is probably the overwhelming problem we've had with
|
|
the few stations that've been shuffling the show around...
|
|
they don't give it a stable time slot, constantly pre-empt
|
|
it, put it on at 3 a.m., and say it doesn't do good numbers.
|
|
Well, duh. But as soon as they GIVE it a solid spot, even
|
|
if it's only for a little while, the difference is noticeable
|
|
almost instantly. And then it *does* do well for them.
|
|
|
|
What're you gonna do....it's Chinatown, Jake....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Chrysalis Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Gerald Himmelein Sunday, December 17, 1995 10:27:14 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #417662
|
|
|
|
{regarding if Garibaldi's shooting was pre-planned}
|
|
|
|
No, the shooting of Garibaldi was always a very strong
|
|
part of the story for the end of first season; that line goes
|
|
all the way back to the pilot, and Laurel Takashima.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Ds9 Cancellation Rumor Section: Star Trek: DS9
|
|
To: Ted Wilcox Sunday, December 17, 1995 10:47:23 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #417671
|
|
|
|
"I agree it is rediculous but JMS reported it at a Comic
|
|
conference somewhere and I was giving what I consider good
|
|
advice to all who wish to do something positive in lieu of
|
|
his negative comment. Read previous messages about the
|
|
cancellation rumor so you can direct your anger to the proper
|
|
sources. I did not start this and I will not speak further on
|
|
this rumor because it is exactly what JMS wants. He loves for
|
|
us to argue among ourselves. Be careful, he may be reading
|
|
and enjoying this right now!"
|
|
|
|
Excuse me just one damned minute here. I just found
|
|
out about this thread, and once again this is being totally
|
|
and 100% distorted by you.
|
|
|
|
I have never, ever, at any time posted a rumor saying
|
|
"Hey, DS9 is going to be canceled." If you can find it, and
|
|
post it, I will resign from Compuserve *instantly* and
|
|
*permanently*. But you won't, because it doesn't exist. What
|
|
you, and a few others, do is take what *was* said, throw it
|
|
out there to cause a firestorm, which gets me in trouble.
|
|
|
|
What I said was this: that at the time all this took
|
|
place, several months ago, there were several articles
|
|
published -- in TV Guide, in the Los Angeles Times, elsewhere
|
|
quoting people like Kerry McCluggage, the head of Paramount,
|
|
who was concerned that having two ST shows around was cutting
|
|
into the potential viewers for Voyager. Even one of the exec
|
|
producers over at ST commented, in the LA Times article, that
|
|
they may have gone to the well once too often.
|
|
|
|
At the same time as this, there was a rumor floating
|
|
around town, which is *still* floating around, that Paramount
|
|
was concerned about the notion of two shows splitting the
|
|
potential ST audience...an audience that is necessary to
|
|
Voyager as the cornerstone for the Paramount Network, UPN.
|
|
There's much to be said for canceling one show, DS9, so that
|
|
there's only one place to go if you want to see Star
|
|
Trek...Voyager. Because Paramount has *millions* of dollars
|
|
more invested in their network than in the standard syndica
|
|
tion deal for DS9.
|
|
|
|
The *possibility* was being discussed, came the word on
|
|
the street. And several other people in the industry, who
|
|
work in post production and sound editing at the other
|
|
studios around town, came forth and supported this by saying
|
|
they'd heard much the same. But it's only woolgathering,
|
|
nothing more, and I never said it WAS anything more than
|
|
that. But a few people like you and a couple of others have
|
|
taken that one message, which I posted only once, here, not
|
|
some "comics conference," and crossposted it to other forums,
|
|
paraphrased it, distorted it, and changed it around in order
|
|
to make it look like I posted a rumor that I *never* in fact
|
|
posted, for the simple purpose of causing me grief.
|
|
|
|
While there's much to commend this electronic forum,
|
|
what's *wrong* with it at root is that people can come in
|
|
here, post something like this as if it's true, and then you
|
|
have to respond to it and chase it down.
|
|
|
|
Knowing folks here, I'm sure *somebody* has my original
|
|
post filed away somewhere. I'm happy to see that reposted,
|
|
because it is exactly as I have characterized it.
|
|
|
|
Look, I get in enough trouble for the things I *really*
|
|
say without other people putting words in my mouth and
|
|
deliberately distorting it.
|
|
|
|
I have never, ever, at any time, said that DS9 was
|
|
going to be canceled, or that there was a rumor on the
|
|
streets that DS9 was going to be canceled. Never happened.
|
|
Are we clear on this now?
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Ds9 Cancellation Rumor Section: Star Trek: DS9
|
|
To: J. Michael Straczynski December 18, 1995 1:54:05 AM
|
|
From: Georg Buthe #417721
|
|
|
|
> Knowing folks here, I'm sure *somebody* has my original post filed
|
|
> away somewhere. I'm happy to see that reposted, because it is exactly as I
|
|
> have characterized it.
|
|
|
|
Sure, no problem.
|
|
|
|
People read into messages what they want to read. Human
|
|
nature.
|
|
|
|
Georg Buthe
|
|
|
|
------------------------quote---------------------------------
|
|
>%: 358451 S2/Star Trek [SFMEDIA]
|
|
> 06-Oct-95 06:25:18
|
|
>Sb: #357994-VOYAGER'S BAD TREK
|
|
>Fm: J. Michael Straczynski 71016,1644
|
|
>To: Mary Taylor 75530,2650
|
|
|
|
Speaking of TPTB, here's an interesting angle on the
|
|
whole Voyager/DS9 dynamic.
|
|
|
|
Recently, more and more, the ST execs (people like Berman
|
|
and Pillar) have been commenting publicly about the factional
|
|
ization of the SF TV marketplace, and how this has diminished
|
|
the numbers for the ST shows overall. Most interestingly, one
|
|
of them commented in an LA Times article this past week that
|
|
a big problem for them is the factionalization *within*
|
|
ST...that people may only have time to watch one version of ST
|
|
that week, and they're being forced to choose. And, of
|
|
course, there are the debates between the two sides on
|
|
quality.
|
|
|
|
Which dovetails precisely into the rumor running around
|
|
town that Paramount is considering giving the axe to DS9 after
|
|
this season, in order to force folks who want their ST to
|
|
watch Voyager...because they have more money invested right
|
|
now in Voyager, particularly in start-up, and they have their
|
|
hopes for the Paramount network pinned to Voyager as their
|
|
center. They don't like the idea of a syndicated show out
|
|
there causing problems for the network on which they've spent
|
|
millions and millions of dollars. And DS9's ratings have been
|
|
steadily on the decrease since the debut. So the logic goes:
|
|
take away DS9, and make those who want Trek go to Voyager as
|
|
the sole provider of that.
|
|
|
|
Given the sources from whom this has come, I give very
|
|
high credibility to the notion that this *is* being discussed;
|
|
whether or not it will be implemented, that only time will
|
|
tell. If Voyager continues to decrease, threatening the
|
|
foundations of Paramount's bid for a network, I'd think the
|
|
chances of this happening will continue to rise.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
>Subj: Ds9 Cancellation Rumor Section: Star Trek: DS9
|
|
> To: Georg Buthe Monday, December 18, 1995 3:11:01 AM
|
|
>From: J. Michael Straczynski #417729
|
|
|
|
THANK you. As the message said, the topic *was* being
|
|
discussed, but that there was no indication as to whether or
|
|
not that step would eventually be implemented. And others
|
|
confirmed this. Nowhere in that message was it stated by me
|
|
that the show *is* going to be canceled, or that I'd heard
|
|
anyone else say that it was going to be canceled.
|
|
|
|
With luck, this will finally put an end to the distor
|
|
tions that get around, thanks to some people who want to fuel
|
|
online wars.
|
|
|
|
Thanks again for digging this out.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Ds9 Cancellation Rumor Section: Star Trek: DS9
|
|
To: Stephen C. Smith Sunday, December 17, 1995 10:53:15 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #417674
|
|
|
|
Stephen: check my comment to Ted.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: JMS: Best party ep? Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Lynn Dimock Friday, December 15, 1995 5:05:19 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #416504
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Lynn Dimock to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>Why does your saying an episode is serious make me so
|
|
>nervous?
|
|
|
|
I don't know, but it should make you *really* nervous....
|
|
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: JMS resigns rastb5 Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Anne L. Warner Sunday, December 17, 1995 10:27:08 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #417660
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Anne Warner to JMS>
|
|
|
|
>Without suggesting anything that hasn't been clearly
|
|
>indicated on the air as interesting history, could we
|
|
>give you our opinions about what "history" we'd like
|
|
>to see???
|
|
|
|
>One of my votes would go to Valen and the origins of
|
|
>the Grey Council.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Then you will get your wish, and then some.
|
|
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <Gethsemane Thought> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Philip Hornsey Friday, December 15, 1995 5:38:08 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #416679
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Philip Hornsey to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>Did Adam Nimoy direct Messages?
|
|
|
|
No, Mike Vejar directed "Messages."
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <Gethsemane Thought> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Philip Hornsey Saturday, December 16, 1995 9:38:15 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #417211
|
|
|
|
{regarding Nimoy doing any others}
|
|
|
|
We're currently working that out.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Ds9 Cancellation Rumor Section: Star Trek: DS9
|
|
To: Colin Knowles Wednesday, December 20, 1995 6:28:29 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #419339
|
|
|
|
{regarding why Paramount doesn't move DS9 to UPN}
|
|
|
|
I don't know for certain, but I'd suspect that there are
|
|
contractual elements prohibiting this. UPN is an alliance
|
|
between Paramount and Chris Craft Television; at this point,
|
|
CCT is paying virtually all the money for developing and
|
|
airing the shows, with Paramount contractually able to buy 50%
|
|
of the network sometime in the next year or so. (This per
|
|
the trades and reports in industry business journals.)
|
|
|
|
DS9 is currently owned exclusively by Paramount. Many of
|
|
the stations that currently air DS9 are not necessarily part
|
|
of the UPN network; some are Tribune stations, or other
|
|
independents. If they made it part of UPN, they would then
|
|
have to shuffle around a lot of stations, and might end up
|
|
losing better time slots and it's a *lot* of hassle. And
|
|
Paramount would have to be willing to turn over partial
|
|
ownership of DS9 to Chris Craft (here I'm guessing), and they
|
|
may not want to do that, may possibly not be *able* to do so
|
|
by contract.
|
|
|
|
It's a very confusing corporate web, not that unlike the
|
|
situation which basically prevents B5 from going to the WB
|
|
network.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: Chrysalis Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Gerald Himmelein Monday, December 18, 1995 11:25:03
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #418138
|
|
|
|
<quoting Gerald Himmelein to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>Meaning that originally, Garibaldi was going to be shot
|
|
>at by Laurel and since she dropped out after The
|
|
>Gathering, you used Garibaldi's second in command as
|
|
>a trap door? Very nicely done.
|
|
|
|
Correct, had Laurel stayed with the station, it would've
|
|
been she who pulled the trigger on Garibaldi.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: Chrysalis Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: John McAuley Tuesday, December 19, 1995 11:05:04 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #418804
|
|
|
|
<quoting John McAuley to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>Would Laurel have been a PsiCorps-personality-implant-
|
|
>mole?
|
|
|
|
Yes, Laurel would've been Control.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: Chrysalis Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: The Jawa / Jawa #2 December 19, 1995 11:05:06 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #418805
|
|
|
|
<quoting The Jawa / Jawa #2 to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>Is it true that for awhile, the traitor was going to be
|
|
>Ivanova?
|
|
|
|
No, after the thread with Laurel was revealed, lots of
|
|
people *assumed* that that thread had been passed along to
|
|
Ivanova. It had never in fact been intended for her, but
|
|
when it was broached, I simply didn't reply, on the theory
|
|
that if I said it *wasn't* her, it'd narrow it down to who it
|
|
*was*.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: Chrysalis Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: The Jawa / Jawa #2 December 20, 1995 6:28:22 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #419337
|
|
|
|
<quoting The Jawa / Jawa #2 to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>So, like Sheridan, Ivanova wasn't a "replacement"
|
|
>character?
|
|
|
|
All the characters are unique; there seems to be this
|
|
bone-headed notion, that I frequently run into, of "Well,
|
|
Ivanova's just Takashima renamed," or "Sheridan's story is
|
|
just the same as Sinclair's, same guy just renamed." They're
|
|
*not* and never have been. The story of one does not devlove
|
|
automatically upon the other. If you make a change, it's
|
|
because you have something better in mind...otherwise why
|
|
make it?
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: Chrysalis Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Robert Miller Thursday, December 21, 1995 4:07:15 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #419589
|
|
|
|
<Quotong Robert Miller to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>If Laurel had stayed on the show, would she have
|
|
>received the password by this point in the story? Who
|
|
>would then have taken over as second in command?
|
|
|
|
If Laurel *had* stayed with the show, by the middle of
|
|
year two the fact that she was Control would've been revealed
|
|
via the password incident. At that point, one particular
|
|
possibility was that her second in command under her -- a
|
|
rather dour Russian lieutenant named Ivanova -- would've been
|
|
promoted to take her place, while Laurel was moved off the
|
|
chessboard. (This was planned because we knew going in that
|
|
Tamlyn Tomita had a growing film career, and we probably
|
|
could've only kept her for a couple of years in the best of
|
|
circumstances. So why not turn that to your advantage?)
|
|
|
|
The position now being occupied by Corwin, Ivanova's
|
|
second, is the position that Ivanova would've held (though
|
|
more prominently) if Laurel had stayed on. (And no, Corwin
|
|
doesn't now have that arc lurking in the background.)
|
|
|
|
See, it's easy to stick to an outline and never diverge
|
|
if you're writing characters in a novel; in a TV show, with
|
|
live actors, you have to be flexible, plan ahead, come up
|
|
with contingency plans, and have threads that weave and
|
|
interlock in ways to leave you maximum flexibility while still
|
|
proceeding toward your destination.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: Chrysalis Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: The Jawa / Jawa #2 December 19, 1995 11:14:06 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #418813
|
|
|
|
"I *liked* Laurel!"
|
|
|
|
Well, yes, that's rather the point; tragedy is only
|
|
tragedy if it happens to someone you care about and like.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: Chrysalis Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: The Jawa / Jawa #2 December 20, 1995 6:28:26 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #419338
|
|
|
|
<Quoting The Jawa / Jawa #2 to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>Laurel would not have shot Garibaldi, though, right?
|
|
|
|
Yes, Laurel would've shot Garibaldi.
|
|
|
|
The tragedy rule is the #1 rule if you're going to make
|
|
people care about your characters.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: From jms: info Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Anita Karve Monday, December 18, 1995 11:25:05 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #418139
|
|
|
|
{regarding Anita's move from Boston to San Francisco
|
|
and her adoration of the show}
|
|
|
|
Thanks. (And that's quite a long move, and a different
|
|
climate.)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: From jms: info Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Bill Sheldon Tuesday, December 19, 1995 4:46:16 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #418230
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Bill Sheldon to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>I was at SDCC for your showing of the TLTS, my
|
|
>favorite episode to date. <snip> I saw a really nice
|
|
>Duck Dodgers animation cell. Did you get an early
|
|
>X-mas present from yourself?
|
|
|
|
No, didn't pick up that one, though I thought about it.
|
|
Problem is there's too MUCH cool stuff at SDCC...which is why
|
|
I go every year.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: ATTN:JMS <? About B4> Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Jason Wong Monday, December 18, 1995 11:25:07 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #418140
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Jason Wong to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>Just curious: is the season 2 ender going to be re-run?
|
|
>I noticed that it was replaced with the season 3
|
|
>opener at the end of this batch of re-runs, and was
|
|
>curious as to why.
|
|
|
|
Actually, the season 2 opener was "Points of Departure,"
|
|
which wasn't rerun in this batch, but rather "Hunter/Prey,"
|
|
chosen because it sets up some stuff in the next batch of
|
|
episodes.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: Looking Back and Forward Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: John M. Kahane Monday, December 18, 1995 11:25:19 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #418142
|
|
|
|
Jeez...where do I even start with that one...?
|
|
|
|
Okay, "how would I evaluate the work that I've done on
|
|
the series to this point." (I assume this refers to the
|
|
scriptwriting part of my duties, rather than the producing
|
|
part.)
|
|
|
|
The first season, I think, was pretty fair. There were
|
|
some rough spots here and there. There's a thing known to
|
|
athletes called getting "in the zone," that's when you're
|
|
absolutely on target, in the groove, whatever jargon you wish
|
|
to throw in. In any first season of a show, no matter howmuch
|
|
advance planning has gone into the thing, there's a shakedown
|
|
period as you find out what really *does* and doesn't work.
|
|
There was a fair amount of that in year one.
|
|
|
|
I think I only really popped into the "zone" a few
|
|
times, with the first real such experience being "And the Sky
|
|
Full of Stars." Once I hit it, I was able to find the target
|
|
again a few more times that season, with "Mind War," "Babylon
|
|
Squared," "Chrysalis" and a couple of others. But that was
|
|
about it. I was trying to find a new way of telling a story
|
|
for TV, and while I'd been thinking about it for a long time,
|
|
there was never a chance to get in any *practice* because
|
|
except for Power, which had a few arc aspects to it, no other
|
|
show WORKS like B5 in this respect. So there was still a
|
|
learning curve.
|
|
|
|
Season two, I think, I started to Get It more often,
|
|
and more consistently. I'd learned a lot doing year one, and
|
|
was able to apply it. I don't think I could've written "The
|
|
Coming of Shadows" in year one, I just hadn't yet acquired the
|
|
skills that ONLY come through practice doing this very
|
|
unusual style of storytelling. I think I got into the zone
|
|
a little faster, with the last four in particular being right
|
|
on the mark, for what I wanted to achieve.
|
|
|
|
And as far as season three is concerned...though only
|
|
4 have aired, I'm finishing #17 right now. I usually gauge
|
|
where things are by the reaction the scripts get around the
|
|
set...and this season, more than any other, I've had the
|
|
actors and crew come by just shaking their heads in astonish-
|
|
ment at what's coming down in the pages. The folks at WB
|
|
have made it a point to call and say that they're loving what
|
|
they're seeing in the scripts, and that's unusual.
|
|
|
|
Subjectively -- and this opinion is the least valid,
|
|
since it's colored by my own perception -- I think that at
|
|
this moment, I'm doing the best work of my career to date.
|
|
There's something happening in the scripts that...I can't
|
|
really define. There's just something *there* that wasn't
|
|
there before, or was there only sporadically. The scripts
|
|
are completely taking on a life of their own. (I related
|
|
elsewhere that something very major happened in "Interludes
|
|
and Examinations," #15, that was never, ever in the arc, that
|
|
I hadn't planned on doing when I began the script...but the
|
|
damned thing just *happened*...and all I could do was watch
|
|
it unfold on the page.)
|
|
|
|
Out of 17 to date, the only one that's *slightly*
|
|
clunky is "Exogenesis," because it's just a little too
|
|
straightforward for my tastes. I'd thought it was going to be
|
|
something other than what it was; there's a writing phrase,
|
|
"it's too much what it is." But it has some great character
|
|
moments in it, and I think that redeems it to some extent.
|
|
|
|
But that's it, that's the only one. "Messages From
|
|
Earth" may be, in my view, the best thing we've ever done.
|
|
And the rest are just nifty. I'm pleased and proud and
|
|
utterly astonished at how well some of this stuff has come out
|
|
this season.
|
|
|
|
(I *suspect* that part of the reason for the improve-
|
|
ment this season is that I'm not outlining each episode as
|
|
much as before. I used to sit down and break out each act in
|
|
detail, and then stick pretty strongly to that outline. Now
|
|
I just sit down, knowing where I have to go with the story,
|
|
and write it straight through, letting the characters take
|
|
control from time to time. It takes a long time to be able
|
|
to trust yourself, your ability, and your characters before
|
|
you can do that in a show; finally I'm there.)
|
|
|
|
"what directions do you see the series going in now,
|
|
that you might not have considered back when you first
|
|
started?"
|
|
|
|
Well, it's hard to say, in large measure because of
|
|
what I've reported in the paragraphs preceding. The series
|
|
has taken on a life of its own now, and while I know where
|
|
it's going, from time to time this great big unweildy beast
|
|
throws me off and goes where it wants. And I'd be a fool if
|
|
I refused to listen to that, and forced it to comply with
|
|
what I'd come up with in 1987. Because that's the key
|
|
thing that I've come to understand. The structure was written
|
|
in 1987/88...and I'm a much better writer now than I was
|
|
then. I still intend to reach the destination I'd imagined,
|
|
but I've found FAR more interesting ways to get there than I
|
|
could've imagined then. Remember, since 1987 I worked on the
|
|
Twilight Zone, Nightmare Classics, Murder She Wrote...I've
|
|
learned a lot of stuff and acquired some tools I didn't have
|
|
back then.
|
|
|
|
So long answer made short...I think that the main
|
|
difference is that the rest of the story is going to be more
|
|
ambitious, more dramatic, more fundamentally *interesting*
|
|
than I had ever hoped for. And given what was there before,
|
|
that's saying a lot.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: Looking Back and Forward Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Trent K. Johnson Tuesday, December 19, 1995 4:46:16 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #418231
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Trent K. Johnson to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>One of the many, many things I applaud about your
|
|
>writing is not only the avoidance of technobabble, but
|
|
>avoiding techno-traps so prevalent in "the other
|
|
>shows".
|
|
>
|
|
>A case in point from "ST: Voyager": A writer (or
|
|
>writers) comes up with the idea to land the ship on a
|
|
>planet. (Earhart episode) In a subsequent episode we
|
|
>then get, "Can't transport. Can't use a shuttle.
|
|
>Hey! Let's land. Uh, we can't because, uh, yeah, the
|
|
>ground's too soft. Yeah! That's it!"
|
|
>
|
|
><sigh>
|
|
|
|
"sigh" indeed....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: Looking Back and Forward Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Philip Hornsey Tuesday, December 19, 1995 11:05:01 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #418803
|
|
|
|
<quoting Philip Hornsey to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>we have come to the conclusion, recently, that by the
|
|
>time it is over, B5 *may* be the exception that proves
|
|
>that general rule.
|
|
|
|
Yes, it does feel more like a novel now than anything
|
|
else.
|
|
|
|
(BTW, "the exception proves the rule" is a bastardiza-
|
|
tion of the original Latin phrase, "exceptio probat regulum"
|
|
(from memory), which means "the exception puts the rule to
|
|
the test of proof.")
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: Looking Back and Forward Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Tom Knudsen Wednesday, December 20, 1995 6:28:00 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #419340
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Tom Knudsen to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
> < (BTW, "the exception proves the rule" is a
|
|
>bastardization of the original Latin phrase, "exceptio
|
|
>probat regulum" (from memory), which means "the
|
|
>exception puts the rule to the test of proof.")>
|
|
>
|
|
> You've been getting a lot of use out of that
|
|
>tidbit of knowledge lately, haven't you?<G>
|
|
|
|
I paid for this college education, and by god I'm going
|
|
to use it for SOMEthing.
|
|
|
|
Odd that this particular phrase has cropped up so much
|
|
in recent weeks. Another bugaboo of mine is the use of the
|
|
word "less" when what the person means to say is "fewer."
|
|
"There are less people here today." No, "There are *fewer*
|
|
people here today." There are very few things about which I
|
|
will actually correct someone in the course of speaking, not
|
|
wishing to be overly pedantic...but this is one of them. The
|
|
other is when I see a sign that says FOR "SALE"...well, is it
|
|
for sale or isn't it?
|
|
|
|
Anal retentive? Moi?
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: <Gethsemane Thought> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: John M. Kahane Monday, December 18, 1995 11:25:23 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #418143
|
|
|
|
Actually, Mike Vejar is directing the two-parter, and I'm
|
|
absolutely thrilled about it; Mike's been our mainstay for
|
|
some time, and he's just terrific. (He directed "Convic-
|
|
tions," and "Inquisitor.")
|
|
|
|
Adam was great in that he's a *very* serious director
|
|
who sits down and really thinks through the subtext of the
|
|
episode, the thematic aspects, the underlying symbology, and
|
|
then sits with the actor and *really* works with them so that
|
|
they fully understand the nuances of the scene. A lot of TV
|
|
direction can be rushed...you're always under the gun...so
|
|
it's rare to find someone who really takes his time and
|
|
prepares the cast.
|
|
|
|
"Does the pressure come from within, or does it come
|
|
from without and the reaction of the fans of the series?"
|
|
|
|
From within. There's nothing I've ever seen on any net
|
|
that's half as critical of this show as what's said by we who
|
|
make it. If you try to gauge a show, any show, and determine
|
|
its direction by viewer reactions, you're going to have
|
|
pudding, because there are too many divergent reactions. It
|
|
becomes one massive committee...and committees are the death
|
|
of any creative process.
|
|
|
|
I'm making this show, first and foremost, for myself,
|
|
on the theory that what I find interesting, others may also
|
|
find of interest. And I'm a perfectionist. Also a pain in
|
|
the ass. Also monomanaical. Just getting a show this big,
|
|
this involved, this visually complex *made* is a task of
|
|
Herculean proportions...let alone getting it made *well*.
|
|
|
|
I've always been a very driven personality; I try never
|
|
to settle for second best. If it can't be done just a little
|
|
better than what we did last week, why the hell are we doing
|
|
it? There *has* to be constant evolution, constant growth,
|
|
constant challenge, or you're dead creatively. You've got to
|
|
be absolutely willing to knock all your support pins out from
|
|
under you, in the belief that your skills will enable you to
|
|
land somewhere interesting on your feet. The moment you
|
|
*stop* taking that risk...you're finished. At least, that's
|
|
what I feel about it.
|
|
|
|
This show is probably my one real chance to leave a
|
|
mark that I passed this way, so it has to be as good as I can
|
|
humanly make it. And nothign will ever get in the way of
|
|
that.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: <Gethsemane Thought> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Philip Hornsey Tuesday, December 19, 1995 11:05:00 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #418802
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Philip Hornsey to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>>>> I'm making this show, first and foremost, for
|
|
>myself, on the theory that what I find interesting,
|
|
>others may also find of interest.
|
|
>
|
|
>ROFLMAO!
|
|
>
|
|
>Joe...
|
|
>
|
|
>I *hate* to tell you this...but worded *slightly
|
|
>differently...that's a Rush Limbaugh quote...
|
|
>
|
|
>I will now flee the country and leave no forwarding
|
|
>address.
|
|
|
|
Be advised that the only thing standing between you and
|
|
the abyss is my assumption that you're making this up....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: Franklin's Stims Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: John M. Kahane Monday, December 18, 1995 11:36:19 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #418145
|
|
|
|
Stims are a prescription drug, which makes it perfect
|
|
fodder for abuse by doctors (which includes Drs Rosen and
|
|
Franklin). And yes, Franklin has been getting increasingly
|
|
cranky of late for reasons related to stims.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: Mo Mosely Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: David Chandler-Gick December 19, 1995 4:46:15 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #418229
|
|
|
|
<Quoting David Chandler-Gick to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>What was your initial reaction to finding out about Mr.
|
|
>Doyle's "embellished" resume, and how did you "deal"
|
|
>with it?
|
|
|
|
Well, I just kinda figured it fit in perfectly with the
|
|
character; that's something Garibaldi would've done....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: Mo Mosely Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: John McAuley Tuesday, December 19, 1995 11:05:09 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #418806
|
|
|
|
<Quoting John McAuley to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>Did you find out before you hired him?
|
|
|
|
I found out the day he came in; I looked down and saw on
|
|
his resume "Dance Theater of Harlem," and said "What the heck
|
|
is this? Hey you, DANCE." Since then, he's forgotten this,
|
|
and continues to insist that nobody ever caught onto his
|
|
little ploy.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: Thank you, sir. Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: David Belt Tuesday, December 19, 1995 11:05:11 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #418807
|
|
|
|
<Quoting David Belt to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>I want to say thank you. I showed my 12-13 year old
|
|
>deacons "Passing Through Gethsemane" on Wednesday
|
|
>night. Other than my son (who is an avid fan), none
|
|
>of them watch the series. In fact, other than my son,
|
|
>all of them say that they don't like the series at all
|
|
>(in the less than imaginative and colorful ways that
|
|
>boys that age have of disparaging that which they have
|
|
>never tried.)
|
|
|
|
<snip>
|
|
|
|
>The other adult present (who had never seen the show)
|
|
>taught the lesson to the deacons quorum on Sunday and
|
|
>made several references to the show. It was a great
|
|
>experience.
|
|
|
|
Then perhaps the next sermon/lesson should be on the sin
|
|
of prejudging something before actually being exposed to
|
|
it....
|
|
|
|
Most interesting, and very encouraging to hear, thanks
|
|
for passing that along. As an atheist, I'm always caught
|
|
betwixt and between when I hear about this kind of reaction;
|
|
as a writer, I'm pleased. So the two of us are going to go
|
|
out behind the house and slug it out. Film at 11.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: Questions Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: The Jawa / Jawa December 19, 1995 11:05:19 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #418808
|
|
|
|
{regarding suggestions for Jawa's novel}
|
|
|
|
Technical: if someone who knows scientific stuff said
|
|
"this character can't do this because it's technically
|
|
impossible," I'd have to really consider it, if he could give
|
|
me a good enough argument. (And even there you have wiggle
|
|
room...what we *think* is impossible now may not be in 200
|
|
years. Serious scientists years ago said that if you went
|
|
more than 60 miles an hour in a train or a car you'd be
|
|
killed by the pressure. So as long as you can make a plaus-
|
|
ible argument that it's *possible,* even if it's highly
|
|
unlikely, you can sometimes get away with rubber science.)
|
|
If it's a big glaring issue, or in the present where you don't
|
|
have alternate options, you may be stuck hewing to it. If
|
|
the person suggested an alternative, and that alternative
|
|
worked, and kept the science valid, sure, I'd take it. That's
|
|
what a consultant is for. As long as it doesn't compromise
|
|
the integrity of the story.
|
|
|
|
Who reads: Yes, do be careful in your selection. Some
|
|
people will tell you how to write it "better," when they
|
|
really mean "write it more like *I* would've written it." A
|
|
really bad reaction to what you've written, from someone you
|
|
like or admire, can be an absolute soul-killer. And they may
|
|
not be right. May, in fact, be quite wrong. What you also
|
|
have to remember is what every writer learns: if you put your
|
|
work out there, and you ASK for an opinion, suddenly they feel
|
|
that they *must have* an opinion, and they *must find*
|
|
flaws...so instantly that tends to skew things toward more
|
|
negative comments than might be the case if they just picked
|
|
the book up off a store shelf and read it. If you can find an
|
|
adult *writer* to look at it, you may consider that...but to
|
|
go to non-writers for technical advice or reactions or
|
|
suggestions on writing is often non-constructive. Their
|
|
reaction to the material may be valid, but they may not have
|
|
the language or know the writing craft well enough to steer
|
|
you in the right direction, and may only succeed in muddying
|
|
up the waters. If I were working to be a draftsman, and
|
|
finished my first big design, I'd probably show it to another
|
|
draftsman before I showed it to my Aunt Morgana la Fey.
|
|
|
|
Whoever you turn to for advice, always remember that
|
|
that advice must always be secondary to what the small, still
|
|
voice of the writer inside you insists is correct. You have
|
|
to find your own voice, and if that means not taking the other
|
|
person's suggestions, then that's what you have to do. Either
|
|
you'll be right, or you'll be wrong, and you'll hear the same
|
|
comment from dozens of others, or those in the field, and
|
|
then you may have to reconsider your position. But initially,
|
|
follow your voice.
|
|
|
|
Magazine sales: no, your story can definitely be
|
|
published elsewhere UNLESS the magazine specifically indi-
|
|
cates that it buys "all rights." Otherwise, it will usually
|
|
buy other rights. First North American rights are the most
|
|
common, leaving you free to sell it to other magazines
|
|
overseas, and to other magazines in the US after a reasonable
|
|
period has passed, or if it's to a non-competing magazine.
|
|
It's pretty much unheard of these days for magazines to buy
|
|
all rights. (Suggestion: go to your local library and pick
|
|
up a copy of WRITER'S MARKET, published yearly by Writer's
|
|
Digest Books. They generally explain the various rights you
|
|
sell in such situations.)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: DS9 Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Elizabeth Tuesday, December 19, 1995 11:14:07 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #418814
|
|
|
|
Actually, the limited edition of Harlan's "City on the
|
|
Edge of Forever" script -- in its various versions, outlines,
|
|
with postscripts by Nimoy, Koenig, Kelley, Takai and others -
|
|
is already out, and has totally sold out. There will probably
|
|
be a trade paperback version sometime next year.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: Official Fanclub Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Matthias Neumann Tuesday, December 19, 1995 11:14:08 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #418815
|
|
|
|
We hope to annouce the B5 fan club within the next week.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: Official Fanclub Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Anne L. Warner December 20, 1995 6:28:21 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #419336
|
|
|
|
Yes, one thing we've been discussing with the friendly
|
|
folks at WB is licensing the videos via the fan club as
|
|
limited editions. I don't know how limited "limited" is yet,
|
|
it kinda depends on our resources. It may just be a few
|
|
thousand each as we gear up. (And while we've been told we
|
|
*can* make the deal, we haven't yet geared up the paperwork,
|
|
as we've been waiting for the fan club paperwork to come in
|
|
first.) I'll certainly recommend 2 eps per tape when we do
|
|
it; any more than that, and you go to 160 minute tape, which
|
|
is thinner, and breaks and stretches more easily than 120
|
|
tapes.
|
|
|
|
(We won't be able to do widescreen until WB authorizes
|
|
the re-telecineing of the original negative film stock back
|
|
to its initial aspect ratio, and releases the funds to do
|
|
that, which are considerable.)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Looking Back and Forward Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: John M. Kahane Thursday, December 21, 1995 4:07:17 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #419590
|
|
|
|
Regarding "Legacies," there's one brief blip in there
|
|
that we're going to see again; I'm not sure I'd call it a
|
|
clue, but certainly a cue...a hint of something to come. You
|
|
won't have to wonder what it is; it'll be shown in a flashback
|
|
in that particular yet-to-air episode.
|
|
|
|
What does the learning curve tell me these days? That
|
|
I've got a LOT of learning ahead of me yet.
|
|
|
|
Re: season 3 scripts...I'm quite happy with them, and the
|
|
finished episodes. I'd put on the top of the list for this
|
|
season (not necessarily in order) Messsages From Earth, Point
|
|
Of No Return, Severed Dreams, Voices of Authority, Passing
|
|
Through Gethsemane, A Late Delivery From Avalon, Dust To Dust,
|
|
and Convictions; they're real favorites of mine. I suspect
|
|
that Ship of Tears and Interludes & Examinations will also
|
|
come out *very* well.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: JMS resigns rastb5 Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Anne L. Warner Monday, December 18, 1995 11:25:09 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #418141
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Anne L. Warner to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>Oh, dear! Coming from you, such reassurance (that I'll
|
|
>get my wish to learn about Valen and the Grey Council
|
|
>"and then some.") is very disturbing. I'll wait
|
|
>eagerly. Do I hold my breath? or is this months or
|
|
>seasons in the future?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Figure by the end of this season you'll know a lot more
|
|
about all this.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: <Notes for upcoming eps> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: John Yuen Thursday, December 21, 1995 3:32:30 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #419582
|
|
|
|
Actually, only 1 in the mini-arc of 3 will remain after
|
|
the next batch; the final two, as of now, in the January/Feb-
|
|
ruary period will be "Messages From Earth," the 1st of the
|
|
three, then "Point of No Return." Only "Severed Dreams" will
|
|
remain for the following cluster.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
Subj: Chrysalis Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Joe Smith, Thursday, December 21, 1995 11:23:08 PM
|
|
~From: J. Michael Straczynski #420100
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Joe Smith to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>Thanks for creating literate science fiction.
|
|
|
|
Thanks. The literary aspect is what appeals to me a lot,
|
|
and creating parallels to a lot of real-life stuff. Basical-
|
|
ly...it's fun.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Mo Mosely Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Trent K. Johnson, December 21, 1995 11:22:24 PM
|
|
~From: J. Michael Straczynski #420095
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Trent K. Johnson to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>I think I recall reading that Mr. Doyle worked at one
|
|
>of the brokerage houses that was involved in the junk
|
|
>bonds <snip> Was he around during this? If so, I'd
|
|
>wager he has a story or two...
|
|
|
|
Yes, Jerry was working there at the time, and I believe
|
|
ended up testifying about what happened.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: The Encounter (UK Con) Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Ruth Ballam Friday, December 22, 1995 2:57:10 AM
|
|
~From: J. Michael Straczynski #420149
|
|
|
|
Actually, looking at my waistline after 6 months of
|
|
nonstop writing, I think "spread" is *exactly* the right word.
|
|
|
|
jm(who was referred to as "a bit paunchy" by a guy in
|
|
the UK group and was depressed about it for *days* afterward)s
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <Gethsemane Thought> Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: John M. Kahane Friday, December 22, 1995 2:57:11 AM
|
|
~From: J. Michael Straczynski #420150
|
|
|
|
Yeah, perfectionism can sometimes get in the way of the
|
|
work...which is the point where you have to learn to finally
|
|
just back off, let it go, and stop tinkering with it. "Art
|
|
is never completed, only abandoned."
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Looking Back and Forward Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Tom Knudsen Thursday, December 21, 1995 11:23:04 PM
|
|
~From: J. Michael Straczynski #420098
|
|
|
|
{Regarding "For 'SALE'"}
|
|
|
|
Generally, one puts quote marks around something to imply
|
|
other than what the word means. "Yeah, an `accident,'
|
|
right." (Usually accompanied by raising both hands and
|
|
making quote marks with fingers.) Hence, to say FOR "SALE" is
|
|
incorrect useage.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: The Encounter (UK Con) Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: BRIAN COONEY Friday, December 22, 1995 9:10:19 PM
|
|
~From: J. Michael Straczynski #420522
|
|
|
|
{Regarding a request for a 7' bed for JMS}
|
|
|
|
A 7-foot bed, eh? Good, that's just long enough for me
|
|
and a cat foot-warmer. Does the bed come complete with cat,
|
|
or is cat considered extra in the UK? (Eight inches should
|
|
be enough room for a cat, provided it is a medium sized cat;
|
|
if it is a much larger cat than 8 inches across, we may have
|
|
to purchase a cat-mallet.)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: The Encounter (UK Con) Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Anne L. Warner Saturday, December 23, 1995 6:09:20 PM
|
|
~From: J. Michael Straczynski #420811
|
|
|
|
An 18 pound kitty is no longer a kitty; it is a geologi-
|
|
cal landmark.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: The Encounter (UK Con) Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Philip Hornsey Friday, December 22, 1995 9:10:21 PM
|
|
~From: J. Michael Straczynski #420524
|
|
|
|
{regarding final title for this season}
|
|
|
|
Point of No Return
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: The Encounter (UK Con) Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Ruth Ballam Friday, December 22, 1995 9:11:00 PM
|
|
~From: J. Michael Straczynski #420527
|
|
|
|
Actually, over long breaks like Christmas I generally
|
|
tend to *drop* a few pounds. At the stage I eat a big lunch
|
|
out back with everyone else, then make myself a decent dinner
|
|
when I get home, and there's always the odd doughnut lying
|
|
around at the stage catering table (Death With A Hole In The
|
|
Middle). Whereas at home, I don't generally eat a big
|
|
breakfast, or any kind of real lunch; just nibble a bit
|
|
throughout the day, and then make my dinner.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Helpful Hints Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Ruth Spradlin Friday, December 22, 1995 9:11:02 PM
|
|
~From: J. Michael Straczynski #420528
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Ruth Spradlin to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>Jean Paul Vaudreuil of Thomasville, GA wrote to
|
|
>Entertainment Weekly:
|
|
>
|
|
>"Bruce Boxleitner's worried about Babylon 5's low
|
|
>ratings? A few helpful hints: 1. Instead of modest
|
|
>uniforms, squeeze Commander Ivanova into a revealing
|
|
>bodysuit. 2. Replace decipherable dialogue with
|
|
>incomprehensible technobabble. 3. Rid characters of
|
|
>human flaws so they'll be perfect role models.
|
|
>4. Rather than fascinate us with character evolution,
|
|
>keep major players static. 5. Merchandise like
|
|
>crazy: Bab5 toothbrushes, boxer shorts, and an
|
|
>endless supply of toys. 6. Have the aliens look like
|
|
>humans with forehead problems. 7. A surefire way to
|
|
>increase ratings? Put Star Trek somewhere in the
|
|
>title."
|
|
|
|
>Maybe you should hire this guy as a consultant. ;-)
|
|
|
|
Boy, he really gets it, doesn't he? Exactly correct.
|
|
|
|
It amazes me sometimes to think that, if the words STAR
|
|
TREK were put in front of this show, and it was *exactly* the
|
|
same show it is now, we'd get double the ratings, added
|
|
national exposure, all the rest. Ah, the world of
|
|
showbidness....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: The Battle of the Line.. Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Alexander Shaw Thursday, December 21, 1995 11:23:04 PM
|
|
~From: J. Michael Straczynski #420099
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Alexander Shaw to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>A major part of series 1 was based around the battle of
|
|
>the line, and why the Minbari suddenly surrendered..
|
|
>Now that we are about to start season three there are
|
|
>still some things that have not been clarified regard-
|
|
>ing this.. We know (or at least think) the Religous
|
|
>Caste of the Minbari stopped the slaughter of Mankind
|
|
>due to some Prophecy.. It would appear that this
|
|
>prophecy indicated that mankind would have some major
|
|
>role in an upcoming struggle/war (The Shadows I
|
|
>presume).
|
|
>
|
|
>Are we ever going to have this confirmed ? Are we going
|
|
>to find out the exact details of this prophecy ?
|
|
>Basically is the exact story of the Battle of Line
|
|
>going to be revealed and cleared up as I still feel
|
|
>there are some qustions or nagging doubts regarding
|
|
>it.
|
|
|
|
Yep. I expect you'll have this all clarified for you by
|
|
end of this season.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Chrysalis Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Philip Hornsey Friday, December 22, 1995 9:10:23 PM
|
|
~From: J. Michael Straczynski #420525
|
|
|
|
{Regarding Corwin getting more lines and coming out of
|
|
the background}
|
|
|
|
Gradually, yeah; I like to take an actor who's shown a
|
|
potential for doing more, and gradually *give* that actor
|
|
more, testing the limits. So we do a bit more with him as we
|
|
go along.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: From jms: info Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Anita Karve Thursday, December 21, 1995 11:23:01 PM
|
|
~From: J. Michael Straczynski #420097
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Anita Karve to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>I'm glad Lyta made another appearance on the show. If
|
|
>you've seen some of the recent threads, you'll know
|
|
>we're *dying* to find out what's going on with her and
|
|
>the Vorlons.
|
|
|
|
As it happens, as soon as I finish the two-parter, this
|
|
week, the next script will get a lot more into Lyta and the
|
|
Vorlons and all that jazz.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: The Encounter (UK Con) Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Ruth Ballam Sunday, December 24, 1995 6:08:07 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #421134
|
|
|
|
Well, suffice to say I'd love to see "A Close Shave."
|
|
But at the same time, I have to be mindful of copyrights and
|
|
the like. So, basically, I suppose I'm screwed....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: G'kar/Cassandra Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Chris Gardiner Sunday, December 24, 1995 6:08:06 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #421133
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Chris Gardiner to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>You're twisted. <snip> And I love you forever.
|
|
|
|
Thank you. That's m'job.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: B5Convention Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: John Bonavita Sunday, December 24, 1995 6:14:15 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #421136
|
|
|
|
Now that the fan club has been officially announced,
|
|
though the organizational aspects are just now starting, we
|
|
may try and gear up to hold an official B5 convention in
|
|
about a year. What we've talked about is the idea of having
|
|
it here in LA, so we could have best chance of getting as
|
|
many cast members as possible. We'd also try and run it so
|
|
that it was as close as possible to a fan-run convention in
|
|
the feeling it created; and as well as cast members and the
|
|
like, there would be seminars and presentations by our people
|
|
in prosthetics, wardrobe, makeup, art direction, props and
|
|
other areas, so it'd be a real learning opportunity.
|
|
|
|
But, again, that's at least a year down the road.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: B5Convention Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: The Jawa / Jawa #2 Sunday, December 24, 1995 10:42:30
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #421206
|
|
|
|
<Quoting The Jawa / Jawa #2 to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>B5 is heading in Trek's direction: very low-key while
|
|
>it's on the air, and then comes it's fame.
|
|
|
|
That's the key, I think; I have a suspicion that, like
|
|
the original ST, our main attention will likely come after
|
|
we've finished our complete run. The show was designed to be
|
|
seen in a stripped (once daily) fashion, that's when you
|
|
really can see the arc moving quickly. And on TNT, once it
|
|
hits that distributer, it'll finally have what it has never
|
|
had before in this country: a national broadcaster and a
|
|
regular timeslot. Once that happens, I expect that what
|
|
happened in the UK will happen here finally...it'll be
|
|
Noticed.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: B5Convention Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Philip Hornsey Wednesday, December 27, 1995 8:31:31
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #422232
|
|
|
|
Starting 1998, the show will appear in daily form on TNT;
|
|
it's already been sold to there.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: B5Convention Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Philip Hornsey Friday, December 29, 1995 9:16:09 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #423101
|
|
|
|
"Nice to see you making money."
|
|
|
|
Well, WB, anyway. I get a net profit on the series,
|
|
which means after all the costs have been taken out...which
|
|
in turn means that the show will never show a profit (on
|
|
paper), so I ain't getting a dime of the TNT sale.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: B5Convention Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Chris Croughton Sunday, December 31, 1995 10:44:26 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #423906
|
|
|
|
Re: studios and their income tax situations...puh-LEASE,
|
|
show some decorum; I deal in science fiction, not fantasy....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: B5Convention Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Carl Bussjaeger Sunday, December 24, 1995 10:42:00 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #421207
|
|
|
|
{regarding how to join the fan club}
|
|
|
|
As soon as those details have been worked out, we'll post
|
|
them. As it is we just *barely* got the paperwork in hand
|
|
authorizing us to proceed; now comes doing it.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: B5Convention Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Burhaan Ahmad Monday, December 25, 1995 2:27:24 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #421255
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Burhaan Ahmad to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>You said you would like to make the tapes yourself,
|
|
>since WB obviously won't. Does Babylonian have the
|
|
>resources to pull it off to the quality you desire?
|
|
>I know little about the industry, but it seems to me
|
|
>that it would be an expensive operation. Or would you
|
|
>look to lisence the rights to someone other than WB
|
|
>(assuming they'd allow it)?
|
|
|
|
That's something we're trying to decide now. If we did
|
|
them ourselves, it'd almost certainly be on a limited-edition
|
|
basis, to control quality.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: B5Convention Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Susan Law Sunday, December 24, 1995 10:42:02 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #421208
|
|
|
|
{regarding joining fan club, etc}
|
|
|
|
The details should be posted sometime after the first
|
|
part of the year. Re: Talia...it's okay to be pissed about
|
|
that; it was intended to have that reaction. Things *should*
|
|
get us annoyed when Psi Corps pulls a stunt like that. And we
|
|
haven't heard the last of what happened to Talia, btw. That's
|
|
the B5 universe for you....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: B5Convention Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Asha DeVelder Tuesday, December 26, 1995 5:54:05 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #421573
|
|
|
|
{still on fan club and convention}
|
|
|
|
We'll have more info on all this over the next few
|
|
weeks....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: New to B5 Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Theo Thourson Sunday, December 24, 1995 6:14:16 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #421137
|
|
|
|
Actually, what you'll generally find is that if you watch
|
|
a few more eps, the background is usually included. Besides,
|
|
in the next batch of new episodes, we kind of redefine the
|
|
very nature of the series, so in a way this is the best time
|
|
to come aboard.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: New to B5 Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: STEVIE ADAM Friday, December 29, 1995 9:16:11 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #423102
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Stevie Adam to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>Please, is there any way to threaten Channel 4 In the
|
|
>UK with a Centauri takeover to get them to show series
|
|
>3 here before mid 96?
|
|
|
|
I think it'll be spring, not mid-1996; also, remember
|
|
that they don't break up the show with reruns, they air
|
|
straight through, and the episodes have to be *finished* in
|
|
time for them to air them straight through (and I think WB is
|
|
trying to avoid the problem last time of stuff airing in the
|
|
UK first). But as yet I haven't heard a final date on this.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Publicity! Wow! Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Anne L. Warner Sunday, December 24, 1995 10:42:29 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #421205
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Anne L. Warner to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>Here in New England, both WSBK (Boston) and WNDS
|
|
>(Derry, NH) seem to have decided to try actually
|
|
>promoting Babylon 5.
|
|
|
|
Thanks; that's good to know, and definitely a welcome
|
|
change.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <Zack in CoS> Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Jon Wolf Tuesday, December 26, 1995 5:54:03 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #421572
|
|
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Jon Wolf to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>I just re-watched Coming of Shadows, and I think we got
|
|
>our introduction to Zack in this show.
|
|
|
|
I'm not sure though that that's the first time we saw
|
|
Zack; I keep thinking it was earlier...I seem to remember him
|
|
breaking up a fight as the first time we saw him.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: * *B5 in New Orleans* * Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Philip Hornsey December 27, 1995 8:31:30 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #422231
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Philip Hornsey to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>We just had a *huge* shake up in affiliation down here
|
|
>(three stations swapped Fox -- ABC -- WB) and I am
|
|
>afraid to guess at what it did to us. Have you any info
|
|
>on the state of B5 in the New Orleans market?
|
|
|
|
Dunno how this is gonna shake out yet....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: USS Runnymede -Newsflash Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Debbie Gardiner Thursday, December 28, 1995 2:55:18 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #422367
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Debbie Gardiner to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>The Uss Runnymede is pleased to announce that on 6th
|
|
>January 1996, Babylon 5's newest cast member Jason
|
|
>Carter (Ranger Marcus Cole), will be appearing at our
|
|
>monthly meeting.
|
|
|
|
Then perhaps for the one night Jason's there you could
|
|
rename the place the EAS Runnymede, which is the standard
|
|
useage on Earth Alliance Starships, as in the EAS Agamem-
|
|
non....?
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: <CTI - East End> Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: SysOp Dupa T. Parrot December 29, 1995 9:16:16 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #423104
|
|
|
|
<Quoting SysOp Dupa T. Parrot to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>On tonight's rerun of "Comes The Inquisitor", I see you
|
|
>took the hint from the Brits and fixed the "West End"
|
|
>dialog. The dubbing job was pretty well done.
|
|
|
|
Once the error was brought to my attention, I just
|
|
couldn't let it slide.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: OffLine Readers Section: Promenade Alpha
|
|
To: Carl Bussjaeger Friday, December 29, 1995 9:30:17 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #423108
|
|
|
|
What the heck is HMI anyway?
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Talia/Control Nitpick Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: John Van Aken Friday, December 29, 1995 9:30:18 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #423109
|
|
|
|
{If Talia was Control, why would she order herself eliminated?}
|
|
|
|
My sense was that the Control part, which sometimes moved
|
|
at night, reported that the mission could be jeapordized.
|
|
Then B13 gave the order to eliminate. Nowhere does it say
|
|
that Control said the second half of the sentence.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: JMS: Pls Clarify -- Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Robt Martin Friday, December 29, 1995 9:30:19 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #423110
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Robt Martin to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
|
|
>At the time you posted this, I took this as an expres-
|
|
>sion of your regard (or lack of same) for the material
|
|
>that Fangoria covers, not regarding my ability as an
|
|
>editor. Unfortunately, your semi-jocular observation
|
|
>is being parenthetically interpreted as a blast at my
|
|
>abilities, for global distribution.
|
|
>
|
|
>Regarding my work at Fangoria, despite the fact that
|
|
>the magazine specializes in covering some truly
|
|
>gawdfawful films, I remain proud of the work that I did
|
|
>there, which only that magazine's regular readers are
|
|
>in a position to judge. Given your apparent distaste
|
|
>for the magazine itself, I think I can safely assume
|
|
>that you only know of my work as editor with regard to
|
|
>Sci-Fi Entertainment, specifically my own interview
|
|
>with you, and possibly also my earlier piece on John
|
|
>Vulich's work.
|
|
>
|
|
>As I said, maybe I am being thin-skinned, but to have
|
|
>your words taken out of context and interpreted in
|
|
>this manner is, if not of any real harm to my career,
|
|
>really, really annoying. Can you please clarify the
|
|
>statement?
|
|
>
|
|
>If indeed you did mean to say that I am a lousy editor,
|
|
>so be it, but that is not what I thought you were
|
|
>saying. Yet that is what is being sent about.
|
|
|
|
No, the (regarding Mr. Martin's editing of Fangoria) was
|
|
mainly just intended as a segue into the note about the
|
|
conventions being fun, since I've attended several of them.
|
|
I am not sufficiently familiar with your editing to *have* any
|
|
opinion whatsoever. Since messages here are discreet, I
|
|
always try to keep some kind of referential within the
|
|
message.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: The Gathering Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Gerald Himmelein Saturday, December 30, 1995 9:23:24 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #423485
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Gerald Himmelein to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>The "pleasure treshold" line was completely destroyed
|
|
>in translation, btw. <sigh>
|
|
|
|
Alas, there's nothing I can do at this end about the
|
|
translations; it's out of my hands.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: JMS at Necrnomicon? Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Mary-Glynn Myers Sunday, December 31, 1995 10:16:30 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #423883
|
|
|
|
Yes, at this point, barring any work-related emergencies,
|
|
I've confirmed for Necronomicon. I'm looking forward to it;
|
|
it'll be the first time I've been in Floida.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Tonight's repeat episode Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Rob Carr Sunday, December 31, 1995 10:44:21 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #423904
|
|
|
|
Actually, from my perspective, it was never intended as
|
|
a shot at Christians at all; it was a warning shot to any
|
|
breed of fanaticism that does not question itself, that
|
|
assumes, for whatever reason, that it is right and must impose
|
|
that rightness on others, no matter the price (usually paid
|
|
by others). To quote a line from "Infection," "When you
|
|
become obsessed with the enemy, you *become* the enemy." So
|
|
I guess you could describe it as a shot at Christianity only
|
|
if you choose to define it in those terms; if not, then it's
|
|
not.
|
|
|
|
Certainly, though, it does point to being sure that one
|
|
is doing what one is doing for the right reasons, and the sin
|
|
of pride, which we all know has a tendency to goeth before a
|
|
fall.
|
|
|
|
For me, one of the important things about this show is to
|
|
make people *think* about what they believe. If they come
|
|
right back to what they originally believed, that's fine.
|
|
But they've *considered why* they believe it. In all too many
|
|
cases, our beliefs -- social, political, religious -- are
|
|
just sort of *there*, invisible, ineffable and unassailable,
|
|
as much a part of the universe as the air around us. We
|
|
don't necessarily think WHY we believe it...we do. Which is
|
|
why, all too often, when someone is challenged on what they
|
|
believe, they don't have the tools to defend it in any way
|
|
other than force or anger. But if you *have* considered your
|
|
beliefs, and you know why you feel a certain way, you can
|
|
articulate it, explain it, and be more self-confident in it.
|
|
It allows you to have discussions rathe than arguments,
|
|
schisms, or border wars.
|
|
|
|
Like I said, I don't have any answers...all I got are
|
|
some questions, but they're pretty good questions. Our
|
|
greatest peril is always the danger of the unexamined life.
|
|
|
|
Re: C.S. Lewis...yes, I've read his stuff, from the
|
|
Screwtape Letters (which are great fun) to Perelandra and
|
|
That Hideous Strength and others, including some of his
|
|
polemics and essays on christianity. He was a good thinker
|
|
and a facile writer...which was sometimes good, and sometimes
|
|
not so, because he had a tendency to set up straw-man
|
|
arguments, which made for more persuasive dogma but not
|
|
always reasonable discussion.
|
|
|
|
And yes, I've read the bible cover to cover, twice. Some
|
|
good moral tales, an awful lot of blood and violence, some
|
|
real slow parts (anyone who can make it all the way through
|
|
Numbers and Deuteronomy has my unbridled respect), some real
|
|
potboilers, a few plot holes and an inconsistent hero, but
|
|
overall, commendable reading. (Though one could argue that
|
|
any number of later writers did a better job of pure writing
|
|
than is present in the bible -- no self-respecting writer
|
|
would stop the narrative so often for a few thousand begats
|
|
and the discussion of cubits...well, except maybe for Herman
|
|
Mellville, who had far too many asides on whaling technology
|
|
as parentheticals in Moby Dick...and one should certainly
|
|
think that a deity would be at least a good a writer as
|
|
Pynchon or Salinger or Joyce...still, there are spurts of
|
|
greatness; the book of Job is possibly one of the best
|
|
stories ever written, and there's much in Psalms and Proverbs
|
|
to commend itself to anyone...though best to keep the Song of
|
|
Solomon out of the hands of kids...some racy stuff there....)
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Taking up your space Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Ray Pelzer Sunday, December 31, 1995 10:44:22 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #423905
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Ray Pelzer to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>Joe: Thanks for letting my take up so much space in
|
|
>your section with this whole USENET/CIS-censorship
|
|
>issue. I only considered that many people would read
|
|
>the nessage if it was in Section 5, but I didn't
|
|
>consider the impact it was having on B5-related
|
|
>messages. Now that the ball is rolling, I'm going to
|
|
>move the messages to Section 19, and thank you again
|
|
>for your patience with me.
|
|
|
|
No problem.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: $ to run B5 Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: mike lovitt Sunday, December 31, 1995 10:44:27 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #423907
|
|
|
|
Yes, it's been established that the Minbari and the
|
|
Centauri both funded B5 early on, and docking fees and other
|
|
charges help pay for day to day operations.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Official Fanclub Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Keith R. Nelms Sunday, December 31, 1995 10:45:01 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #423908
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Keith R. Helms to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>What can be done to convince WB there is a market for
|
|
>widescreen B5 on laserdisc?
|
|
|
|
It would likely take nothing less than an absolute
|
|
revelation from the heavens....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: East End, West End Section: Babylon 5: General
|
|
To: Daniel Barer Thursday, December 28, 1995 2:58:18 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #422370
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Daniel Barer to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>I was watching "Comes the Inquisitor" with closed-
|
|
>captioning on tonight (easier to ride the exercise
|
|
>bike while watching that way) and noticed that Sheridan
|
|
>now states (correctly) the murders occured in the East
|
|
>End, while the captions (and Boxleitner's lips, on re-
|
|
>viewing) still say West End. Glad you fixed the slip--
|
|
>are the captions etched in stone?
|
|
|
|
Y'know, I'd totally forgotten about the captions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nuts.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Shadow Training Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Michael Zitaglio Tuesday, December 26, 1995 10:35:12 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #421902
|
|
|
|
{regarding Rangers being trained to fight the Shadows}
|
|
|
|
This is one of those questions that can only best be
|
|
answered in the course of the series; you'll learn a lot more
|
|
about this subject this season.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Shadow Training Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Susan Law Wednesday, December 27, 1995 4:32:28 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #421938
|
|
|
|
Of course, judging from recent episodes, Sheridan seems
|
|
to have been a bit remiss in continuing his lessons from
|
|
Kosh...ah, well, there'll probably be a price to pay for that
|
|
somewhere down the road. Only question is who'll have to pay
|
|
it.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Will Zathras reappear? Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Gerald Himmelein December 27, 1995 8:31:26 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #422229
|
|
|
|
Yes, he'll appear; no, not before the two-parter; yes,
|
|
it'll be the same actor.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Will Zathras reappear? Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Lolita . Maddalena December 28, 1995 2:58:17 AM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #422369
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Lolita . Maddalena to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>Tell me if I'm wrong, but Zathras has been on the
|
|
>planet with the old mimbari, hasn't he?
|
|
|
|
Well, that's what Draal said earlier....
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subj: Will Zathras reappear? Section: Babylon 5: Upcoming
|
|
To: Gerald Himmelein Friday, December 29, 1995 9:16:15 PM
|
|
From: J. Michael Straczynski #423103
|
|
|
|
<Quoting Gerald Himmelein to JMS>:
|
|
|
|
>Comment: Zathras looked somewhat bird-like, much like
|
|
>an owl, a screech owl (Kauz, in German). Now, Zathras
|
|
>behaves like a "komischer Kauz" (oddball). So his
|
|
>behavior and appearance match, at least in German. <g>
|
|
>Coincidence or cleverness on the creator's part?
|
|
|
|
Coincidence; I ain't that smart.
|
|
|
|
jms
|
|
|