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								Babylon 5 posts by JMS for December, 1993


								This file includes a compilation of posts on GEnie by J. Michael

								Straczynski in the Babylon 5 category.  The posts are copyright by

								JMS

								(and compilation copyright is by GEnie).


								 ************

								Topic 1         Mon Oct 26, 1992

								SF-MARSHALL [Dave ]          at 18:50 EST

								Sub: Babylon 5 - The Series  (Non-Spoiler)


								Welcome to the Babylon 5 category and main topic for the new

								series. Here is

								the place for all general information on the series. Topic 2 is the

								location

								for SPOILERS. And please, NO STORY IDEAS are to be posted either.

								739 message(s) total.

								 ************

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 318       Tue Nov 30, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:19 EST


								     A few folks have noted in email that I've been kinda quiet

								here of late,

								and I just wanted to note that there are two reasons for this:


								     1) Whenever something of mine is aired, or shown, as with

								"Midnight," I

								tend to adopt a low profile in order to avoid influencing or

								directing the

								conversation.


								     As for 2)...a word in the ear of every person reading this who

								uses the

								keyboard incessantly: *BUY WRIST GUARDS*.  For the last year or so,

								I've been

								fighting carpal tunnel syndrome.  The problem is that I write 10-12

								hours a

								day, and when I'm going at white-heat, I've been clocked at nearly

								120 words

								per minute...one person who listened noted that during one

								particular session

								the click-click-click didn't pause, didn't slow for nearly twenty

								minutes

								straight.  I fall through the screen and come out somewhere else,

								hours later.


								     The downside of which being...I'm having *real* problems with

								CTS right

								now.  As we gear up for the last part of the season, I'm behind the

								keyboard

								constantly, when I'm not in editing.  During the Thanksgiving

								break, I was

								averaging 20 pages a day.  Early in that process, the CTS settled

								in bigtime.

								The pain is nearly constant, all day, all night.  To pick up a can

								of soda is

								an exercise in profound discomfort.  To *type* is beyond

								description.  I'm

								doing everything I can to minimize it, including sending for some

								new wrist

								supports and wrist braces, but apparently this stuff is cumulative.


								     It's not stopping the writing, not by so much as a comma, but

								it makes me

								more inclined to quick, short messages than my usual mini-novels.

								 I learned a long time ago how to burn through pain, so it's not a

								problem on

								that level.  Once the season's over, we'll evaluate where things

								stand, and

								whether this can be ameliorated by exercises or surgery or

								whatever.   But I'm

								a *writer*, and that means I'll write if they cut off my arms and

								legs and I

								have to type with my nose.  Nor is this message intended for

								sympathy.  No

								sympathies are expected or requested.  This is just one more

								challenge to B5.


								     My only thought at this moment is with those reading this: if

								you do lots

								of work behind the computer, take breaks, wear wrist braces, get a

								support for

								your keyboard, do wrist-hand exercises.  You wouldn't like this.

								Trust me.


								     This show has been an act of sheer will now for nearly seven

								years.   So

								what else is new?


								     By Friday we finish shooting "Chrysalis," which looks

								*gorgeous*.   Then

								comes "Deathwalker," with Sarah Douglas and Robin Curtis.  It's

								another of our

								very tough episodes, written by Larry the D.  With "Chrysalis" it's

								12 down

								and 10 to go.  We're on the downward slide, and it's coming up

								fast.


								     Later.


								                                                             jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 322       Tue Nov 30, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 15:03 EST


								     Happily, the energy level here isn't flagging at all; if

								anything,

								there's been an infusion of energy, partially through being able to

								show some

								of our crew finishd episodes, so they can see the whole elephant

								rather than

								only isolated parts (to great reaction), and partly through the

								reactions at

								the con.  We're all feeling very renewed and rededicated toward the

								show.


								                                                               jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 330       Wed Dec 01, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:13 EST


								     I can't dictate as fast as I can type; and I don't think in

								verbal terms,

								I have to see it on the scren.  I tried it once, but found I'm just

								not a very

								good dictator (crew comments notwithstanding).


								     A guest actor really can't add much beyond the episode in

								which he or she

								appears.  But behind the scenes...some of our cast learned a lot

								while working

								with Revell, and McCallum, and some of our other classically

								trained guest

								actors.  They were enjoyable experiences.  As far as the experience

								they

								had...all of our guests have to date expressed a hope to return in

								other roles

								at some point.  They've uniformly been treated well, and with

								respect,

								particularly those who've made their careers in SF, and are viewed

								as "senior

								officers" in a sense.  Some have described it as the best working

								experience

								they've had.


								                                                           jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 331       Wed Dec 01, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:17 EST


								     Have just uploaded starfury.gif to the Babylon 5 library here

								in the

								SFRT, file #730.  Just FYI.


								                                                               jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 341       Thu Dec 02, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:39 EST


								     If the file takes 6 minutes to download at 2400, why did it

								take me 18

								minutes to upload at 2400?


								 jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 343       Thu Dec 02, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:54 EST


								     Just uploaded two more; 749 and 750...rescue.gif and

								starlit.gif.   The

								former is a shot of a Starfury alongside the starliner Asimov; the

								latter is

								an unusual angle on B5 angled with the star behind it.


								                                                                jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 352       Thu Dec 02, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:21 EST


								     Part of the problem is that I was using compression/error-free

								protocol.

								I turned that off, and the others went up faster.


								                                                              jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 354       Thu Dec 02, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 22:03 EST


								     Darn, I hadn't noticed that.  See, starfury.gif is one of the

								very

								earliest graphic renderings we had of the fighter, mainly for

								in-house.   The

								logos had been put on mainly for place orientation.  It's not like

								that

								elsewhere...I'll upload a more current version.  I simply didn't

								notice that.


								                                                           jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 362       Fri Dec 03, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:47 EST


								     If Job could take it, I can take it.


								     And yes, that's the bottom of the starfury.


								     The GIF of the Starfury is letterboxed/wide.  Most of the

								others that'll

								be uploaded are conventional aspect ratio.


								                                                               jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 371       Fri Dec 03, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 14:28 EST


								     Here's a thought to conjure with.  It takes about an hour to

								render a CGI

								frame that's very complex; 45 minutes if it's not terribly complex.

								 With the new Screamer, we can cut down that time by about half, so

								that a

								highly complex scene can be rendered in 15-30 minutes.  Average

								length for a

								CGI scene is about 60 frames, so figure 30 hours.  You can do a

								full show's

								worth of CGI in about a week, give or take.


								     Today we turn over the raw footage for a special scene that'll

								be in one

								of our episodes.  (Several scenes, actually, in the same episode.)

								 Ron's

								elves will be rendering 24 hours a day (on automatic at night) for

								the next

								THREE WEEKS to do something very special with this episode.  If

								it's done

								right, it won't really draw attention to itself, it'll just be

								very, very

								cool.


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 377       Sat Dec 04, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:44 EST


								     Today was "Men In Skirts Day" for many in the Babylon 5 crew.


								     There are some things man was not meant to know....


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 397       Sun Dec 05, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:10 EST


								     Have just uploaded 2 more gif files...772 and 773...swarm.gif

								and

								skydance.gif.  The former is a shot of a group of Starfuries

								leaving B5 with

								the planet in BG, the latter is a shot of Catherine Sakai's survey

								ship, the

								Skydancer, exiting a jump gate (NOT the one near B5, but another).


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 408       Mon Dec 06, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:50 EST


								     Don't show 'em the pilot first.  Let 'em dive right in.


								     Yeah, we do a LOT of ships this season.  I have gifs of them

								all, and

								some of them are mind-bogglingly nifty.  What I like about Ron's

								work is that

								many of the space shots are works of art you could practically

								frame.  And

								he's done one very important thing: he's brought COLOR into space,

								in a big

								way.  Ships are personalized, painted, textured and made into

								things you enjoy

								looking at.  The Starfury nicknamed the Sea Witch is a great

								example of

								this...as well as a bunch of others.


								     Not all Starfuries are the same, btw...you'll be seeing a

								different

								category of them in "Mind War," and they're gorgeous.  Also very

								scary.   Not

								as scary, but more nifty, are the ones in "Survivors" and

								"Chrysalis."


								     Ah LOVES spaceships....


								                                                              jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 410       Mon Dec 06, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:37 EST


								     And the program should be pretty nifty, from what I'm

								heaing....


								     Just uploaded another gif, the last for a little bit; 774,

								named

								cockpit.gif.  It's a composite shot of the interior of a Starfury

								that's being

								fired upon, the incoming blast whiting (or in this case greening)

								out the

								cockpit.  Is this shot from "Sky?"  Could be.


								     It's a bit hard to look at because of the lighting, but it'll

								give you

								some idea of the interior of these things.


								     BTW, tomorrow we do the final mix on "Sky."  And for that

								episode,

								Christopher Franke has composed a piece entitled "Requiem For the

								Line," which

								is very moving...at the same time brave and sad, hopeful and

								ominous, martial

								and doomed...one of the best things I've heard for TV.


								     The other day, a reporter asked me what I wanted to accomplish

								with

								B5...and I remembered this commercial showing a viewer plastered

								against the

								wall opposite the TV...and that seemed about right.  I don't want

								viewers to

								see a show and say, afterward, "Well, that was a nice story."

								There has to

								be more than that.


								     And while we certainly have our episodes that are paced just

								a little

								more slowly, less intensely, because you have to have variation,

								have to allow

								time for character stories...there are some episodes, like "Sky,"

								that just

								hit the viewer right between the eyes with a 2 by 4 *real* hard and

								say "HEY!

								PAY ATTENTION!  WE'RE NOT KIDDING HERE!"


								     Take no prisoners....


								                                                              jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 425       Tue Dec 07, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:47 EST


								     Re: time per scene rendering...you have to understand that the

								Toasters

								render 24 hours a day.  Ron et al set 'em going before they leave

								for the

								night, and the next morning come in to pick up the finished scene.

								So you can

								do a LOT of CGI in the course of a week.  Generally several minutes

								of new

								stuff per week...and yes, that includes long, panning shots.  Trust

								me,

								there's a LOT of CGI in just about every  episode of the series.

								A couple of

								character-based stories are light, but they're more than

								compensated for in

								heavy-CGI stories like "Midnight," "Sky," and "Raiding Party," to

								name a few.


								                                                                jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 429       Tue Dec 07, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 04:58 EST


								     That's the logo for Starfury squadrons in general.  On the

								opposite arm

								goes the individual squadron name, such as Death's Hands

								(Sinclair's squadron

								on the Line), Ghost Riders (Ivanova's wing), and so on.


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 430       Tue Dec 07, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 18:59 EST


								     Flash!  Babylon 5 short promos will be downlinked on satellite

								on the

								following dates: Thursday December 9th, 9:45-10 p.m.; Friday

								December 10th,

								12:30-12:45 p.m.; and Monday December 13th, 3:30-3:45 p.m.  (All

								times given

								are Eastern times.)


								     Feeds are on Galaxy 4, Channel 21, audio: 5.8 stereo left, 6.2

								stereo

								right, 6.8 mono mix.


								                                                               jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 431       Tue Dec 07, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 19:02 EST


								     BTW, there's an error in the "Infection" listing; Patricia

								Healy is the

								name of the actress, Mary Ann Cramer is the name of the character;

								Kiron is in

								"War Prayer," as is Chan.   Is this how they came to you, Arne?

								Because if

								so, they're going out riddled with errors.


								                                                           jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 444       Wed Dec 08, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 04:32 EST


								     It's briefly green when the incoming blast shoots past, and

								sort of

								"whites" out (or in this case greens out) the cockpit for just a

								second.


								                                                               jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 448       Wed Dec 08, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 13:50 EST


								     Er, Arne, just checked the revised "Infection" description in

								19...

								neither Kiron nor Roberts appear in that episode.  They're in "The

								War

								Prayer."


								     I got the erroneous file listings today, and have advised PTEN

								of the

								mistakes, and they're being corrected.


								                                                              jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 452       Wed Dec 08, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:46 EST


								     Here's the interesting thing...ever since July, when we began

								shooting,

								we've been sitting here, doing our show quietly...and now, as

								January nears,

								slowly we've been growing aware of a sound...the PTEN and Warners

								]MACHINE[

								gearing up.  Press, promotion, photographers on the set, calls with

								International and books divisions, and now the sound is quite

								pervasive, like

								a jet engine gearing up for flight.  Suddenly it comes clear, "Oh,

								yeah, we're

								not just making our little show here for ourselves, this is bigger

								than just

								us."  The energy level is definitely powering up around here.


								     Had a reporter in here the other day, and he asked if it

								bothered me that

								other shows were getting all the ink...meaning, I suppose, TNG and

								DS9 and

								SQ:DSV...and my response really said it all, I think.  It's like

								the Rocky

								movie.  Let the other guys get all the press, do the big flashy

								stuff, wave

								around big budgets...we'll just stand here in a meat locker,

								pounding slabs of

								meat with our bare hands....


								                                                              jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 463       Thu Dec 09, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:15 EST


								     The one thing that I'd like to point out is that Warner/PTEN

								isn't in the

								programming business.  This isn't a normal part of their PR

								strategy.  The

								only reason they have done this at all -- the B5 computer promo --

								is in

								recognition of the online support here and elsewhere.  They have

								had to

								contract out for this, and because this isn't a proven (yet)

								strategy, could

								only carve out so much for it.  No, not every platform is covered;

								doubtless

								that will change with time.  But it's generally never done at ALL.

								So I would

								just temper the discussion with that reality.


								                                                               jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 468       Thu Dec 09, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:20 EST


								     I have just seen the director's cut of "Chrysalis," which will

								be the

								last episode of this season...and I think it has just displaced

								"Sky" as the

								most heavy-weight episode of the season.  Even knowing what was

								coming, I just

								sat here, stunned, at the end of it.  Seeing dailies, bits and

								pieces, doesn't

								really prepare you for the whole thing.


								     What I like most about it are two things: one, by about

								halfway in, you

								really begin to understand that anything can happen, to anyone, and

								the rules

								that normally carry you through a television episode no longer

								apply.  It's a

								very dangerous, dislocating feeling.  Two: you get the very real

								feeling that,

								after this episode, nothing is the same anymore.  The show has

								taken a very

								profound and *irrevocable* turn that will have lasting effects on

								all of our

								characters.  Of all the episodes so far, this one has the most

								feeling of

								being the chapter end in a novel.


								     The really hard part will not avoiding the temptation to show

								this to

								people...because it really can't be allowed to get out prior to

								airing.  There

								are too many twists and turns and revelations that spin one off

								into another.


								     One other thing's certain: after you've seen "Chrysalis,"

								you're going to

								want to go back and check out three prior episodes...because

								something that

								you will have read/interpreted one way, without question or

								hesitation

								accepting it as what it obviously appears to be, will suddenly be

								turned on

								its head, and a brand new interpretation will emerge.  And it's

								*real*

								creepy....


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 474       Fri Dec 10, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:56 EST


								     I doubt there would be much problem at all in translating it

								to the other

								platform.


								     Arne: slight correction to your correction.  No scene with

								Chan or

								Eastman was "removed," it's simply an incorrect listing.  Chan and

								Eastman are

								both in "The War Prayer," they were never in "Infection" in any

								way, manner,

								shape or form.  It was simply a typo on the part of the person who

								wrote up

								the lists, putting names from one show into the wrong sheet.


								                                                             jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 483       Fri Dec 10, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:41 EST


								     When we did the research on how a fighter could best operate

								in zero

								gravity, it seemed to require a four-wing axis with thrusters on

								every side.

								We've thus taken every possible step to make them NOT look like

								x-wings,

								particularly since there's no long, sleek forward section at *all*,

								it's a

								snub-nose, and the wings don't move, plus they have the unusual

								thruster

								combination.


								     "Trax" is/or was still running new eps as of a few weeks ago.

								The

								schedule was deliberate, to make what they had stretch.  That may

								change this

								season; we'll have to see.  Haven't heard yet re: the final

								schedule.  For our

								part, we have 6 finished (completely done, music, sound, all that)

								episodes in

								hand now, and will have one more by the christmas break.  By the

								time we go on

								the air, we'll have a total of 12-14 in hand, so we're in great

								shape in terms

								of scheduling stuff.


								                                                          jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 489       Sat Dec 11, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:46 EST


								     Although in the new laserdisk set of SW movies, the matting is

								FAR less

								noticeable.


								     Re: the crew...today was Pajama Day.  Don't ask.


								     Some thoughts on the crew, btw...which besides being

								sensational on its

								own terms, is a very caring bunch of guys.  Some of them have been

								making

								expeditions to the post office lately, gathering Santa letters and

								circulating

								them to grant wishes for toys.  There's a wall of letters that have

								been

								answered so far with presents.  Just one example; there are more.

								They're

								good people.


								                                                           jms


								     (Cindy: I'm writing more individual messages, just shorter.)

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 501       Sun Dec 12, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:02 EST


								     Oh, I know...I saw the (g) the first time...I just kneejerk

								respond

								sometimes, take things seriously just in case the g didn't mean

								what it seemed

								to mean (and nothing is what it appears yes?).


								     Re: the Oliver Stone thing...that's a comment made during the

								edit on

								"Chrysalis" as well.  I'm dying to see how people will react to

								what's done

								and revealed and advanced in that episode, but we have to sit on

								it; though

								we'll be mixing and finishing it in the next few weeks, we won't be

								turning it

								over to PTEN until shortly before airdate, because we don't want

								this getting

								all over town.  There's not a single major character who's not

								profoundly

								affected...or strongly set up for profound changes in the very near

								future.


								     I love it...it's my favorite of the season, without question.


								  jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 516       Mon Dec 13, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 04:37 EST


								     PTEN licensing is handled by the Licensing Corporation of

								America, which

								can be reached via Warner Bros.


								                                                            jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 528       Wed Dec 15, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:17 EST


								     For those who might be interested, I thought I'd pass along a

								quick view

								of the process of producing a show like B5, step by step (though

								briefly).


								     Day Minus 21: The script is finalized and distributed to all

								cast and

								crew.


								     Day Minus 14: The episode goes into serious pre-production,

								with meetings

								on visual effects, wardrobe, CGI and so on.  Props are designed and

								construction begun on both props and wardrobe and any sets that are

								specific

								to that episode.


								     Day Minus 10: Tone meeting with director and producers to make

								sure all

								parties see the story the same way.  Casting, begun on day 14, is

								finalized

								about this time.


								     Day Minus 6: Major production meeting with all departments, at

								which each

								scene is gone through in detail, examining and reinforcing what

								props,

								costumes, extras and lighting requirements are needed per scene.


								     Day One: Filming Starts.


								     Day Seven: Filming finishes.  Editing has been going on since

								day 2, as

								dailies arrive at the studio, with editors making rough assemblies

								of the

								scenes as they come in.


								     Day Eight/Nine: the director works with the editor to make the

								first,

								Director's Cut of the episode, relying to some degree on the

								preliminary

								Editor's Cut.


								     Day 10/11: Producers begin making their cut.  (Mainly me and

								John

								Copeland.)  Sit with editor and view each scene, picking out

								various takes and

								angles, integrating CGI.  Sometimes the cut varies a lot from the

								Director's

								Cut and is a whole new version...or it is very close to the

								Director's Cut.

								Producer's Cut finished around day 12/13.


								     Day 15: Producer's Cut is sent to primary editing bay for

								on-line

								editing, at which the frames of actual film are slugged and readied

								for the

								real thing (as opposed to editing computer images on the Avid).


								     Day 20: Episode is color-timed to make sure color values are

								correct.


								     Day 25: Spotting session...producers, sound designer,

								composer, dialogue

								editors meet and review the on-line edit or CTM (color timed

								master) to

								determine where sound and music should be placed, the kind of sound

								or music

								required, and number of frames/seconds duration.  Second spotting

								session with

								visual EFX supervisor to determine rotoscoping or other non-CGI EFX

								placement.


								     Day 39: Final mix-down of all elements: music, sound, looping,

								visual

								effects and other elements.  For this we sit in the mixing bay from

								9 a.m. to

								7 p.m. nonstop, bringing in lunch, to determine balance of sound to

								music,

								music to dialogue, which elements to use or lose, and so on.


								     Day 46: Finished episode delivered to PTEN and in-house.


								     Total time required: 57 days.  And during this period, we are

								simultaneously editing at least 4-5 other shows, and have shot

								roughly

								another 6 episodes, which are also in various stages of editing.


								     I've glossed over a few things, but that should give you some

								idea of the

								process and the highlights thereof.


								                                                               jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 530       Wed Dec 15, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:49 EST


								     Not a lot, but sometimes...you can easily lose track of where

								the hell

								you are at any given moment.


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 537       Thu Dec 16, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:26 EST


								     We're still working out book details.  One possibility is also

								to take

								the most heavily arc-related episodes, stitch them together into a

								novelized

								form, and publish them so that there in one book is the major part

								of that

								year's arc.  Other approaches are still being investigated.


								     And yes, in TV, it's the exec producer who generally gets the

								final cut,

								whereas in film it's often the director (or, in some cases, the

								studio).


								                                                               jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 554       Fri Dec 17, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:51 EST


								     We took care of 'em.


								     Quick updates: expect some coverage of B5 in Entertainment

								Weekly, TV

								Guide and CNN.  There will be full-page color ads for B5 in People,

								Sports

								Illustrated, TV Guide, and other major magazines.  The Clippers

								game on

								Channel 13 L.A. the night before our debut will be "Brought to you

								by Babylon

								5," and after the game, around 9:30, there will be the half-hour

								"Making Of

								Babylon 5" documentary.  Also expect to start seeing ads on the

								back covers of

								DC comics books in the next week or so.  There will be a slow but

								steady

								increase in print, TV and radio ads over the next few weeks.  It's

								estimated,

								with the huge PR campaign that's been developed, that 90% of the

								country will

								have seen at least one B5 ad, and 50% of the country will have seen

								roughly 10

								ads.  Those of you who have been eagerly looking for this

								stuff...will

								probably, like me, be so sick of seeing them after a while...but

								it's part of

								the process of bringing the show to the non-modemed.


								     After the Christmas break, we'll be two-thirds finished with

								our

								production on the first season.  It's just *zipped*

								past...amazing....


								                                                             jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 560       Sat Dec 18, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:43 EST


								     "Backlash" has been retitled "By Any Means Necessary."


								     Re: Kinko's...I wouldn't give them permission in any event.

								I've had

								nothing but trouble with them.


								                                                                jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 562       Sat Dec 18, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:02 EST


								     For starters, the Orion constellation would not look like the

								Orion

								constellation from another POV, say, 30 light years from here.

								Another

								cluster of stars might *look* the same, or similar, but anyone

								expecting to

								see the constellations as we recognize them from here is going to

								be

								disappointed.


								     As far as I know, from what Ron's said re: constellations,

								while it may

								look like Orion, it isn't.  It's perception, the mind looking for

								patterns it

								recognizes.


								                                                             jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 572       Sun Dec 19, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:13 EST


								     Mike: you needn't worry.  I find all-powerful beings of any

								stripe

								incredibly boring.  I find it more interesting when ordinary people

								are

								summoned to do extraordinary things, and must rise above their

								limitations

								without losing their limitations; succeeding in spite of them.

								Sinclair is a

								man, period.  He may have a great calling ahead of him, as did

								Churchill or

								Lincoln or Alexander or (for all we know) Rondo Hatton, but they're

								all just

								men in the final analysis.


								                                                           jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 579       Sun Dec 19, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 19:09 EST


								     "World" was retitled "Sunken."  Yes on laserdisks, one hopes.

								No relief.

								And so it goes.


								                                                              jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 583       Mon Dec 20, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:24 EST


								     Catherine Sakai is all business.  Not much for display.


								     It's "J. Michael Straczynski" on title credits mainly because

								that's the

								way it looks best, frankly.  Lets you sneak up on the whole name in

								progressively larger bites.  Joe Michael Straczynski looks kinda

								dumb to me,

								also too long; Joe Straczynski is too short, and unbalanced in

								terms of layout

								(he said quickly).  My friends call me Joe.  My crew calls me Joe.

								One person

								on the crew kept calling me Mr. Straczynski, which you should try

								saying out

								loud sometime.  Even *I* can't do it.  It was so painful to listen

								to that

								after a while I kept calling back "Joe" at him until he got the

								message.


								                                                                jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 584       Mon Dec 20, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:01 EST


								     Starting Thursday, we're on Christmas break (well, for

								everybody else

								maybe; I've got to finish "The Ressurectionist" and then start on

								my next

								script, taking advantage of the quiet time to plow through some

								work).  We're

								roughly two-thirds finished with production on the first season.


								     One thing I can mention now, since it's nearly finished: see,

								I have this

								real problem with nepotism.  Specifically...I hate it.  As a

								result, I make

								people I know work twice as hard.  The closer the tie, the more the

								person has

								to work to prove him or herself.


								     Kathryn Drennan, my Spousal Overunit, is also a writer, and

								has written

								for many other shows, primarily in animation, but with some forays

								into other

								areas.  (She was co-author on the Night  Gallery series of articles

								I wrote

								for Twilight Zone Magazine, as one fr'instance, and was a producer

								with public

								televison for some time.)


								     Anyway, she desperately wanted to write a B5 script.  But

								because of my

								feelings about nepotism, I refused to give her an assignment.  (I

								can be a

								REAL pain in the ass.)  Something similar happened when I was

								working on The

								Real Ghostbusters; she loved the show, and wanted to write for it.

								I put her

								through the wringer: she had to submit written premises, just like

								any other

								freelance writer, which were then sent on to the producers for

								final approval.

								They did not know of any relation between her and me; they based

								their

								approval only on the merits of the story.  Period.  And she ended

								up writing

								two episodes: "Egon's Dragon" and "The Man Who Never Reached Home."

								(The

								former is considered a favorite by many viewers of the show.)  Only

								long after

								we finished production did the exec producers on TRGBs learn that

								there was a

								relationship there; it was all based on the quality of the work.


								     But in the case of B5, I *am* the exec producer, so it became

								more

								difficult.  At first I said simply no.  Finally, I set into place

								a number of

								conditions/provisions.  NOT because she wouldn't do a great script,

								but only

								because I don't like the look of nepotism; I hate it, and I hate

								the way this

								town operates on the principles of nepotism.  The conditions were

								that she had

								to write the script completely on spec, no assignment; not a spec

								outline,

								which is shorter, but a spec *script*.   It would then have to pass

								muster in-

								house; if even one person thought it wasn't up to snuff, it got

								deep sixed.

								And revisions would not be handled by me, for the most part; she

								would have to

								work with Larry, who has a reputation (as Katherine Lawrence can

								attest) to

								not pulling his punches.   No favoritism.  Then the script would

								have to pass

								muster with Warners.   IF, after all that, the script was approved,

								then it

								would be bought, and not a moment before.  If anywhere along the

								line it

								didn't meet one of those criteria...then it would be a 50 page

								learning

								experience and nothing more.


								     Well, I'm pleased to say that it *did* pass muster with

								everyone, and "By

								Any Means Necessary" is now over halfway through production, with

								a number of

								people -- including Michael O'Hare -- saying it's their favorite so

								far,

								mainly for very odd reasons.  The premise is one that ST would

								never, EVER do,

								which is one thing I like about it; it also shows us more on the

								inner

								workings of B5, the blue-collar types who keep the whole place

								operational...and what happens when that falls apart.  The B story

								gets into a

								confrontation between G'Kar and Londo when Londo interferes in an

								important

								Narn religious observation.


								     We brought back John Snyder (Soul Hunter #2) minus prosthetics

								for one

								guest role, and Katy Boyer as our other guest star.  They're both

								doing

								terrific jobs, and it's a very intense script in which we basically

								put

								Sinclair through the wringer for 48 hours and try and make him

								absolutely

								nuts.  And succeed, for the most part.


								     Anyway...there you have it.


								     (Incidentally..."Mind War" has come out so well that it looks

								like we're

								going to move it up in the schedule a bit.  It was orignally slated

								to run

								about episode 10 or so, but the studio is so hot on it that it'll

								probably run

								#6, right after "Parliament."  And Walter has agreed to be the

								voice-over and

								on-camera narrator for the Behind the Scenes/Making of Babylon 5

								documentary.)


								                                                             jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 605       Tue Dec 21, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 19:35 EST


								     Will try the black magnetite tapes.  (Is that like red

								kryptonite?)   I

								almost exclusively use TDK hi-fi or SVHS otherwise.


								     Work on the documentary should be finished sometime early next

								week, and

								transmitted to the stations sometime thereafter, by about a week or

								so.

								Walter seems fine.


								     Me...I'm glad it's the production break.  I need to sleep in

								a bit, and

								catch up with some work, and find the floor of my home office

								again, which is

								currently covered by scripts, comics, and reams of paper.  I've

								worked on

								shows before, but never in this major a capacity, running the

								damned thing,

								especially the way this has to be run...meaning you can't let any

								details slip

								past, no matter how small...and frankly, as Arnold said in T2, "I

								need a

								vacation."  When we hit the Thanksgiving break, I crashed one night

								and didn't

								even see the next day, slept right through until that night.

								There's nothing

								that can really prepare you for a job like this.


								     Re: moving "Mind War" up...no, doesn't affect continuity at

								all.  If it

								did, it wouldn't have gotten moved.  It's what's called in the biz

								a "moveable

								piece," able to go *almost* anywhere in the schedule, as long as

								it's after

								episode 3 and before episode 15, since stuff in the first few set

								it up, and

								15 pays off part of it.


								                                                               jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 613       Wed Dec 22, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:20 EST


								     Apparently the Paramount shows now being made are at an equal

								running

								time with B5, I'm told.


								                                                            jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 653       Fri Dec 24, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:08 EST


								     (I have no idea what anyone is talking about anymore....)


								                                                               jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 658       Fri Dec 24, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:45 EST


								     "Babylon Squared" hasn't been filmed yet; it'll probably be in

								the last

								batch of five episodes filmed, and will likely air around #19 or so

								in the

								lineup.  The script is in my head, but hasn't been written down

								yet.  It'll

								probably be turned in in the next couple/three weeks.


								                                                             jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 668       Sun Dec 26, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:18 EST


								     No other episodes of B5 have been aired other than the pilot

								movie.   No

								episodes were *finished* until roughly two months ago, or less.


								                                                            jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 669       Sun Dec 26, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:18 EST


								     For no discernible reason, except perhaps that I am a glutton

								for

								punishment, I have uploaded a file I don't think was previously in

								the B5

								library: jms.gif.  I stumbled across this on another system.

								Insofar as I can

								tell, it's a scan of the B&W photo that appears on the back cover

								of my second

								novel, "Othersyde."


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 672       Sun Dec 26, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:43 EST


								     As I write this, we are now exactly one month, 30 days, from

								the launch

								of the series.  In one month, you will know if I've been blowing

								smoke up your

								CRTs, or if we've been telling the truth.  Starting in one month,

								as the

								ratings come in, we'll know if our experiment is a success, or if

								we've missed

								the target.


								     There are moments when I'm utterly convinced that we've got a

								hit on our

								hands...and moments when I'm just as convinced that nobody is going

								to hear

								about us, or notice...and that the future of B5 will be consumed by

								a vast,

								cosmic yawn.  Alternating moments of exhiliration and terror,

								confidence and

								doubt.


								     I know that the series contains some of the best writing I've

								ever done;

								if in my entire life, I never do anything other than "Chrysalis,"

								I will still

								be content, because that's the single best thing I've ever done,

								and it came

								out even better than I'd hoped, on every level.  Maybe my best is

								good enough.

								Maybe it ain't.  Fundamentally, despite all the planning, and

								production, and

								advertising, and good will...it's still a crap shoot.  You never

								know what'll

								click.  "Picket Fences" is arguably the best-written show on TV,

								but it's in a

								constant battle to survive.


								     It's been a very, very long haul...from the 1986/87 writing of

								the script

								and bible, to the time of TWCBN, and from the pilot to the series.

								 To some extent, it's become the focus for a lot of people's hopes

								and

								expectations of what *they* think the perfect SF series would be.

								And some of

								those people are bound to be disappointed, simply because no show

								can equal

								every single person's expectations and personal preferences.   All

								we can do

								is tell a story, as best we can, and hope that others like that

								story as much

								as we do.  It won't be the Babylon 5 that's in your head; it'll be

								the Babylon

								5 that's in my head...and we'll have to see if that is sufficient

								to hold the

								interest of viewers.  Sometimes I think it's too eccentric.

								Sometimes I think

								we haven't dared enough.  Sometimes I think there's too much humor.

								Sometimes

								I think there isn't enough humor.  And on and on and on....


								     In one month, the reality of what Babylon 5 is will begin to

								be seen

								across the country.  And then we shall see what we shall see.  I

								showed Harlan

								two episodes recently, "Sky" and "Parliament."  He has always been

								our hardest

								critic to please.  And he said that there wasn't a single false

								note in it

								anywhere.  I've gotten similar reactions to episodes from D.C.

								Fontana and

								David Gerrold and Terry Dowling and others known in the SF

								community.  Which

								gives me some measure of hope.


								     Every once in a while, I allow myself the luxury of thinking

								we've really

								*got* something here.  But in one month, I won't need to wonder,

								and *you*

								won't need to wonder anymore.  It'll be right out there for all to

								see.


								     Yikes....


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 675       Sun Dec 26, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 17:58 EST


								     Generally speaking, in television, you're lucky to get on

								screen about

								half of what you had in mind when you saw it in your head.  So far,

								the

								average here is about 80%.  In a very few cases, I don't think the

								finished

								episode delivers as well as it might on the script, but for the

								clear majority

								of them, the episodes come through.  And in some cases, like "Sky"

								and

								"Parliament" and especially "Chrysalis," I got *over* 100% of what

								I had in

								mind...it came out even better than what I'd had in my head when I

								wrote it.

								It's a confluence of many factors...the guest star and how much

								he/she *gets*

								it, the EFX, the direction, and other things.   But across the

								board, I'd have

								to say that I'm very satisfied.


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 682       Mon Dec 27, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:20 EST


								     I'm not sure, from my perspective, that there's any one

								definition of

								success that I'd use.  There are several: 1) How much is the

								project in its

								final form what I conceived it to be?  This is something that

								Harlan keeps

								hammering home at me, pointing to what happened to him on  the

								Starlost by way

								of comparison...it was dreadful, and he had to take his name off

								it.  It's the

								show I wanted to make, made the way I wanted to make it, so on that

								level, I'm

								content.


								     2) The ratings.  Is what we conceived of interest to other

								people, or

								have we missed the mark?  Television, like any other medium, is

								aimed at an

								audience.  If the audience isn't there, then it comes down to "does

								the tree

								make a noise when it falls in an empty forest?"  Whether it's good

								or bad

								becomes nominally irrlevant.  And 3) Whether or not anyone talks

								about the

								show, or remembers the show, years down the road.  Something can

								get a lot of

								attention, critical acclaim, ratings, be what the creators

								envisoned...and be

								gone in a year, the flavor of the month.


								     If I had to pick one, it'd be #3.  As an atheist, my sense is

								that one

								achieves immortality by the effect one has on others.  If the show

								lives on

								beyond me, then I am satisfied.  Twain observed: "If you want your

								work to

								live forever...and by forever I mean fifty years...it must neither

								overtly

								preach nor overtly teach...but it must *covertly* preach and

								*covertly*

								teach."


								                                                             jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 694       Wed Dec 29, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:06 EST


								     Lemme finish the first season, then I'll know better where I

								stand on

								some of this stuff....


								                                                               jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 708       Fri Dec 31, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 18:42 EST


								     Which episode it would be depends on when it's done.  Ah,

								me....


								                                                                jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 1

								Message 729       Sun Jan 02, 1994

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:40 EST


								     I am an atheist, a total atheist, and am more than happy.

								What I write

								is what I write, what I am is what I is.


								     Yes, much of my own background goes into what I write.  In the

								case of

								religion, and spirituality...a writer's job is to be as honest as

								he can in

								telling a story.  My canvas (for lack of a less grandiose term) is

								the human

								condition.  And since the dawn of sentience, humanity has been

								trying to

								figure out its place in the universe.  The religious impulse is as

								much a part

								of that process as anything else, and it must be treated with

								integrity and

								respect, as I would have my own views respected.  I try not to

								exclude

								something just because I don't agree with it, because that corrupts

								the whole

								purpose of writing, which requires an honest look at the subject.


								     And as a writer, there are parts of the religious impulse that

								I want to

								examine, and explore, and raise questions about, just as much as

								I'd like to

								explore the scientific aspects of living in space, and the more

								personal,

								emotional repercussions of this.  It's all a part of trying to

								figure out who,

								and what, and *why* we are.


								                                                              jms

								 ------------

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								 ************

								Topic 2         Wed Nov 20, 1991

								STARR [Arne]                 at 19:41 EST

								Sub: Babylon 5 -- The Series!! >>SPOILERS<<


								May 28th, '93, Babylon 5 officially became a series. There will be

								22 hours,

								plus the 2 hours of the pilot, for season one. Airs Wednesday's at

								8PM in most

								places starting Jan. '94. This is the Spoiler topic where anything

								goes.


								532 message(s) total.

								 ************

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 2

								Message 428       Fri Dec 10, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:58 EST


								     It's a planetary security base.  And your correspondent

								assumes no

								responsibility for ad copy....


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 2

								Message 444       Sun Dec 19, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:14 EST


								     I actually don't think much has changed; we've moved some of

								the chairs

								around, but the general thrust hasn't much changed, as I recall.

								But in any

								event, posts are always free to be reposted.


								 jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 2

								Message 447       Sun Dec 19, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 04:50 EST


								     Yup.  As I thought.  It all still applies.  Nothing in that

								has changed.


								                                                           jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 2

								Message 451       Sun Dec 19, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 19:10 EST


								     Much of the Lyta arc will now go to Talia, but there's now a

								different

								way of getting her into that arc.


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 2

								Message 456       Tue Dec 21, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:51 EST


								     Since Mike mentioned it...yes.  "Babylon Squared" answers the

								B4

								question...though posing new questions about *why*.  Basically,

								every question

								we ask going into the first season we will answer, because I don't

								think it's

								right or fair or smart to keep people hanging around 3 years to get

								a simple

								answer to a simple question.  Season 1 of B5 is what I generally

								call the

								"what" season...you find out WHAT the Psi Corps is, WHAT happened

								at the

								Battle of the Line, WHAT happened to Babylon 4, and so on...whereas

								Season 2

								is the "why" season...WHY did that happen to Sinclair?  And so on.

								New

								questions arise, and we proide new answers, generally within the

								course of the

								following season, but while at all times making sure that each

								episode stands

								alone, regardless of where and which season you enter the series as

								a viewer.


								     (It's kinda like being one of those guys on the old Ed

								Sullivan show,

								spinning plates on top of long, thin rods...there's a LOT to keep

								in motion at

								all times.)


								     I'd classify the pilot movie as "who."


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 2

								Message 466       Thu Dec 23, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:35 EST


								     Season one will generally answer 90% of the questions raised

								in season

								one; season two will answer the remaining 10%, and answer 90% of

								the questions

								raised in season two...and so on.  There will not be a sense of

								unfulfilled

								waiting.  Also, by January I will personally fly under my own power

								from New

								York to Paris.


								     I reallly, *really* need a vacation....


								                                                              jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 2

								Message 471       Fri Dec 24, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:05 EST


								     Well, this sucks...I finally get my break in schedule...and

								here I am

								with the flu or at least a whopper of a cold.  Started in literally

								within

								hours of leaving the studio.  I get a respite and I can't even

								enjoy it.


								     Why does the universe hate me?


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 2

								Message 482       Fri Dec 24, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:40 EST


								     "Chrysalis" is a JMS script, yes.


								                                                             jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 2

								Message 487       Sat Dec 25, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:15 EST


								                        ....courtesy of NyQuil.


								     The colors, man, check out the

								*colllllllllllllooooorrrrrsssss*****...


								     ("May induce drowsiness" my ass...you're lucky if you make it

								across the

								room with this stuff....)


								                                                             jm

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 2

								Message 497       Sun Dec 26, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 22:49 EST


								     And makes one wonder if her house would be considered an

								auditorium.


								  jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 2

								Message 502       Mon Dec 27, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:08 EST


								     I hate to burst any bubbles, but I can go just about anywhere

								in the U.S.

								and find that nobody knows the name Straczynski, and the only time

								I've caused

								a mob scene at a K-mart was in a tussle over the last Captain Power

								figures...or was that when I wandered into the lingerie section

								and...well,

								never mind.


								                                                               jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 2

								Message 510       Tue Dec 28, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 18:47 EST


								     Fenn....send me the name of the contact person re: the

								t-shirt.  I gonna

								have to make me a little phone call....


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 2

								Message 514       Wed Dec 29, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:17 EST


								     The creation shirts have a black 5, not a silver 5.


								                                                                jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 2

								Message 517       Thu Dec 30, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:27 EST


								     Don't know really how much more there is to say; it's getting

								to that

								time when all the worthwhile talking will be done by the series

								itself.


								     There will definitely be a two-parter this season; PTEN is so

								much in

								love with what they're seeing that they've allocated a bit more on

								budget to

								let us really go to town on a 2-part episode.  I'll be either

								writing both

								parts, or sharing the task with Larry DiTillio, depending on when

								he gets free

								with his next script.


								     There are now about five scripts remaining to be written,

								including

								"Babylon Squared," which will probably be finished sometime next

								week.  We

								begin shooting D.C. Fontana's second script for us, "Legacies,"

								starting next

								Monday, then two JMS scripts, the first of which is "Raiding

								Party," which

								will probably tie up Ron's computers for *ages*.  I finished

								another script

								the other day, which I think came out fairly well.


								     So far, this season you'll learn a lot about all the cultures

								of our

								ambassadors, especially the Big Four; you'll see the League of

								Non-Aligned

								Worlds in action; you'll learn a LOT about the Psi  Corps, Earth

								government

								and economics, the inner workings of Babylon 5, the history of the

								Babylon

								project, Sinclair's background (also a lot about Ivanova's and

								Garibaldi's

								past)...you'll see a darker side of Londo, a lighter side of G'Kar,

								a more

								ambiguous side of Delenn, some very weird sides of Kosh...and

								you'll come away

								with a real sense of B5 as a *place*, a habitat, where things are,

								what they

								do, how it works.  There will be an awful lot of action, and an

								even greater

								amount of humor...there are parts of the show that, even having

								seen them 16

								times, are still fall-down funny.


								     Other than that...not much to say.


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 2

								Message 519       Thu Dec 30, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:23 EST


								     English transplanted to America.


								                                                              jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 2

								Message 527       Sat Jan 01, 1994

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:44 EST


								     Kathryn's last name is Drennan.  Her full credit is Kathryn M.

								Drennan.

								Not Straczynski.  Probably displaying considerable wisdom on her

								part.  Ten

								thousand letters, no vowels.


								     Absent a collaboration on a series of articles for TZ Magazine

								a few

								years ago (a guide to the Night Gallery series), we don't

								collaborate.   Ever.

								I also don't collaborate with Larry D., or any other of my writer

								friends.  As

								I learned before, particularly on the one occasion when Larry and

								I tried it --

								we co-wrote a pilot and bible for CBS based on the "Elfquest" books

								-- all

								parties concerned will live a LOT longer by keeping a respectable

								distance.


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 2

								Message 531       Sun Jan 02, 1994

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:41 EST


								     No.


								     Had a couple days clear of the bug, and today hit a relapse.

								Sigh.


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 2

								Message 532       Sun Jan 02, 1994

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:14 EST


								     By the way, if anyone's curious, here's how I'd rank the first

								six

								episodes in terms of my own personal preference, from 1-6: "The

								Parliament of

								Dreams," "Mind War," "Soul Hunter," "Born to the Purple," "Midnight

								on the

								Firing Line," and "Infection."  We'll see how close this coincides

								with your

								own reactions.


								                                                            jms

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								 ************

								Topic 3         Tue Nov 03, 1992

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:09 EST

								Sub: Babylon 5 - Computer SFX Tech-Talk


								Some of the new computer EFX used in BABYLON 5 will be

								revolutionary, a new

								approach never seen before on this scale.  It's all new tech, and

								this topic

								will try and address the new technologies involved.

								236 message(s) total.

								 ************

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 3

								Message 206       Wed Dec 01, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:14 EST


								     And airplanes will never be commercially successful.


								     BTW, I've gotten permission to upload a few images after all,

								and may do

								so in the next week or so....


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 3

								Message 234       Sun Jan 02, 1994

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:41 EST


								     We did it already.  Plus using composites for other shots.


								jms

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								Topic 4         Tue Nov 03, 1992

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:12 EST

								Sub: Babylon 5 - Cast & Characters


								For discussion of the actors who will be bringing BABYLON 5 to life

								with their

								performances...for information before, and discussion after the

								airing of "The

								Gathering" pilot.

								484 message(s) total.

								 ************

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 4

								Message 408       Tue Nov 30, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:21 EST


								     If it's the pilot review, which I've seen...yeah, the only

								thing the guy

								likes is ST, it seems.  We had a long go-round.  Old news.


								                                                                jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 4

								Message 410       Tue Nov 30, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 15:01 EST


								     We've just delivered tapes to PTEN publicity, so critics

								should be

								getting it soon enough.  My *hunch* is that they'll probably get

								copies of

								"Midnight" and "Soul Hunter."


								                                                               jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 4

								Message 413       Wed Dec 01, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 14:02 EST


								     If the CGI were cheesy, please explain to me the Emmy

								currently sitting

								on Ron Thornton's desk....


								                                                               jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 4

								Message 420       Thu Dec 02, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:44 EST


								     Fast question: I saw a flier at LosCon for some room party,

								over a couple

								of days, that had @! inside an Earth Alliance badge silhouette, and

								talked

								about docking bays, open for business, that sort of thing.  Do any

								of you who

								attended know *anything* about what this was?


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 4

								Message 429       Tue Dec 21, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:52 EST


								     I had to sit and think about this for a while...oddly enough,

								I think we

								haven't had to do either yet.  I think we've generally used the

								person's title

								("Yes, Commander") consistently throughout.  Now I'll have to think

								about this

								some more and decide....


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 4

								Message 434       Wed Dec 22, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:01 EST


								     Not only do I envision it, but we've already shot it....


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 4

								Message 445       Fri Dec 24, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:06 EST


								     She's a medical doctor, running one of the many medlabs on B5.

								(Dr.

								Franklin, as chief of staff, runs the primary medlab, supervising

								other

								doctors on-station.)


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 4

								Message 451       Fri Dec 24, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:41 EST


								     As Walter says in "Mind War," about rogue telepaths, "Only Psi

								Cops are

								qualified to bring them down, so we're afforded

								greater...latitude."

								 (That's a paraphrase from memory.)


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 4

								Message 466       Mon Dec 27, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:07 EST


								     A "coyboy?"


								     Methinks you've confused this with "Midnight Cowboy."


								                                                      jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 4

								Message 470       Mon Dec 27, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:12 EST


								     Mike: we're not going to see a lot of Sinclair in the past,

								only what is

								necessary to understand the present...and there are going to be

								transformations, but I prefer to see my transformations take place

								in the

								present, pointing toward the future, than in flashback.


								     The difference, I suppose, is that in many shows, characters

								arrive at

								Point X in a series at the very beginning, and stay there for the

								duration,

								and we are sometimes shown what made them that way.  In B5, what

								I'm trying

								for is to take a certain set of characters, and move them all

								toward

								substantive changes in their lives, their characters, their beliefs

								and their

								allegiances.  Just about everyone on B5 is running to, or away from

								something.

								I don't want that simply as backdrop, I want that something to

								*catch up with

								them*.  That, to me, is where the fun starts.


								jms

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								 ************

								Topic 6         Tue Nov 03, 1992

								T.ORTH [Mr. Rico]            at 06:43 EST

								Sub: Where is Babylon 5? TV stations...


								Babylon 5 is a cornerstone of Warner's new Prime Time Entertainment

								Network.

								Here is where one can find and post station information.


								406 message(s) total.

								 ************

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 6

								Message 359       Wed Dec 08, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:16 EST


								     We're the lead-in for TNG?


								     So, like, if we do well, we end up helping TNG...and if we

								don't, we drag

								TNG down with us....


								     It's a funny old world.


								                                                               jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 6

								Message 402       Thu Dec 30, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:42 EST


								     The current "Making Of" won't be finished for about a week

								yet, so maybe

								they saw some quick snippets uplinked to the stations; the

								half-hour version

								is now being finished.  (Walter did the on-camera and VO stuff

								today, in

								fact.)


								jms

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								 ************

								Topic 8         Mon Jun 14, 1993

								C.STOBBE [Colin]             at 19:16 EDT

								Sub: First Amalgamated Church of Joe


								A place where we can gather to worship Joe, the creator, praise his

								creations,

								and buy t-shirts from me! :)

								69 message(s) total.

								 ************

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 8

								Message 60        Thu Dec 30, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:39 EST


								     No, no, dignity and restraint, please...I think simple

								levitation on the

								part of the acolytes should be more than sufficient....


								 jms

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								Topic 9         Wed Nov 11, 1992

								T.RESTIVO [Little Guy]       at 18:27 EST

								Sub: Babylon 5 Humor


								From *Beep Beep*, to Top Ten Lists, to full-blown parodies, this is

								where to

								put your funny bone in writing!

								510 message(s) total.

								 ************

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 9

								Message 454       Sun Dec 12, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:23 EST


								     You misspelled "pre-requisite."


								                                                               mjs

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								 ************

								Topic 10        Thu Nov 12, 1992

								SANDMAN [Henry]              at 19:25 EST

								Sub: Sex in Babylon 5


								Can't do without this one!!


								238 message(s) total.

								 ************

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 10

								Message 210       Sat Dec 25, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:41 EST


								     I can imagine it because we did it....that was one of the

								sections filmed

								for the pilot that ended up on the cutting room floor....


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 10

								Message 214       Sun Dec 26, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:26 EST


								     Nope.  Not a hallucination.  We filmed it.  (In the montage in

								the pilot,

								there's a shot of a woman in the casino who sort of shimmies in a

								very sexual

								fashion...that's the one.)


								                                                                jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 10

								Message 217       Sun Dec 26, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 18:01 EST


								     It was...and it is.


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 10

								Message 227       Wed Dec 29, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:19 EST


								     He's not paying her to eat him...when he finds out what she

								is, he

								backpedals fast..and that's when she tries to induce *him*.  Or

								that was the

								theory, anyway.


								                                                               jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 10

								Message 231       Wed Dec 29, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:54 EST


								                             Yup.


								     More on this in "Mind War."


								 jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 10

								Message 234       Thu Dec 30, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:35 EST


								     She was operating off the assumption that people did NOT know

								what she

								was...Sinclair tells her to 'stick to the list,' meaning only her

								own species.


								                                                            jms

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								 ************

								Topic 11        Sat Nov 14, 1992

								J.SHEEN1 [Leviathan]         at 18:09 EST

								Sub: B5 Adrift!


								 BABYLON 5 Topic Drift

								 If you feel like talking about it, but it doesn't fit anywhere

								else... If its

								only connection to B-5 is that you thought of it in this CAT...

								 This is where to come and get it out.

								526 message(s) total.

								 ************

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 11

								Message 456       Sun Dec 12, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:22 EST


								     It's possible that I may also be at Icon.  Not confirmed yet,

								but looks

								good at this time.


								                                                               jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 11

								Message 500       Sun Dec 26, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 22:50 EST


								     Cool....


								                                                             jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 11

								Message 512       Fri Dec 31, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:49 EST


								     No, the closest parallel to the Centauri would, I suppose, be

								ancient

								Rome.  I tend not to go that much to contemporary sources for

								metaphor, since

								it's too obvious and over-done.  Much of what's in B5 is drawn from

								much older

								sources.  The only exception, the only means of creating a metaphor

								for the

								present, is one that will take some time before it's even

								perceptible, though

								by the end of the season, you'll see what it is pretty clearly.


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 11

								Message 519       Fri Dec 31, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 18:49 EST


								     Consumer Reports looks at the baseline requirements for most

								people, and

								the majority of videotape users aren't videophiles, they're folks

								who maybe

								reecord a show off the air for later viewing, record somebody's

								wedding, that

								sort of thing.  Things like signal to noise ratio and video

								dropouts really

								don't mean much.


								     The degree of difference increases the higher you go into

								video

								equipment.  A small 21" old color TV won't show much difference

								between tapes.

								A 32" fairly new Sony Trinitron will.  Similarly, if you're piping

								your audio

								through the TV speaker, you won't notice much difference.  If

								you're sending

								it through a surround system, you will.  For the majority of the

								population,

								and the majority of available equipment, yes, there's not much

								point in

								distinguishing between them.


								     If you want the real skinny on videotapes, go to such consumer

								oriented

								publications as Video Review or Video Magazine, which do very

								comprehensive

								tests on videotapes.  You'll find out more than you could possibly

								want to

								know.  Generally, TDK comes out at or near the top every year.

								Same for

								Maxell in general.  Which is why I use TDK almost exclusively, and

								have never

								had a problem.


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 11

								Message 523       Sat Jan 01, 1994

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:45 EST


								     Hey, you brought it up.


								     We just took a picture of it.


								jms

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								 ************

								Topic 12        Wed Nov 18, 1992

								B.WIST [Brad]                at 18:12 EST

								Sub: Babylon 5 Sightings


								Post here when you've spotted Babylon 5, whether it be on

								Television,

								Magazine, or somewhere else.  Let us know where we can find it/see

								it, too.

								577 message(s) total.

								 ************

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 12

								Message 450       Fri Dec 03, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 19:00 EST


								     It's worth pointing out that in the 20+ years that CFQ has

								been around,

								they've never done a cover story about any TV series other than

								Trek...and B5.


								                                                                jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 12

								Message 469       Tue Dec 07, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:50 EST


								     I can't imagine there'd be any problems with scanning the

								poster.


								     And a certain executive producer wouldn't mind getting hold of

								one of

								those posters his own self....


								                                                               jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 12

								Message 475       Wed Dec 08, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:18 EST


								     Look for a long piece about SF oriented shows in the current

								November

								issue of Film and Video, out now, and another piece in

								Connotations, put out

								by the Arizona SF folks, also out now.


								                                                                jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 12

								Message 478       Wed Dec 08, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 21:58 EST


								     I think the material will be repeated, but I'm not 100% sure.

								I know

								there will be two 30 second spots, two 15 second spots, and three

								10 second

								spots, so I doubt they'd need 45 minutes total to do all of that.

								 But don't take my word for it.


								     BTW, the interactive B5 computer program should be available

								online by

								around January 10th.


								                                                               jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 12

								Message 481       Thu Dec 09, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:22 EST


								     The uplinked promos today (and yes, they are the same on all

								three days,

								I've learned) are fairly generic in nature, about the series

								overall.  There

								are bits and pieces from "Purple," "Infection," "Soul" and

								"Midnight."


								                                                               jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 12

								Message 485       Sat Dec 11, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 19:26 EST


								     JPEG and GIF for most flexibility, I suppose; and if you put

								the (c) PTEN

								info in the description when you upload, that should be fine.


								                                                            jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 12

								Message 508       Tue Dec 14, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:38 EST


								     The February Cinefantastique has a two-page story on B5, just

								sort of a

								quickie intro to the series.  Has an interesting photo of n'grath,

								and a

								blurry photo of me (mainly because I'm generally blurry).


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 12

								Message 518       Fri Dec 17, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:53 EST


								     Films are difficult because the level of resolution required

								to make an

								image that'll stand up to scrutiny on the big screen is still a

								major pain in

								the butt.  But that'll change in time.


								     Here's a Joe Predicts for you: by this time next year, ST will

								have gone

								either completely to CGI, or 95% to CGI.


								                                                          jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 12

								Message 523       Sat Dec 18, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:45 EST


								     The ship *might* be the Asimov; I've never seen the tape, do

								can't (er,

								so can't) be certain.  The tumbling ship is probably the Soul

								Hunter craft.


								                                                              jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 12

								Message 554       Sat Dec 25, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:18 EST


								     It speaks in cicada-like chirps and whistles, which are

								translated by the

								translation device on its chest (the lighted thingie).


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 12

								Message 565       Fri Dec 31, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:51 EST


								     And our information is that they *have* avoided it....


								     (imagine a smile as big as all outdoors....)


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 12

								Message 571       Sat Jan 01, 1994

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:48 EST


								     BTW, in Larry DiTillio's latest edition of the "Scripts"

								column, in

								Writer's Digest Magazine, there's a fairly lengthy section on B5.

								For those

								interested in hearing some stuff from another viewpoint than mine.


								     Also look for some syndicated articles to appear in newspapers

								over the

								next week, including the Tribune News Service, and the Teledata

								News service,

								which between them cover something like 2,500 newspapers and

								magazine.  Also

								the Boston Globe will have a piece on B5, as will Entertainment

								Weekly.


								                                                             jms

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								 ************

								Topic 13        Mon Nov 23, 1992

								T.ORTH [Mr. Rico]            at 21:00 EST

								Sub: Babylon 5 - Science & Technology


								Jump gates, nanotech, high-tech weapons, starship drives, sound in

								space, and

								other subjects of science and technology in Babylon 5.

								560 message(s) total.

								 ************

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 13

								Message 500       Wed Dec 01, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 19:41 EST


								     The explosion damaged the auto-configuration system which

								keeps the

								rotation/flywheel system working smoothly.  (This is also indicated

								in

								dialogue in the observation dome.)  That more than anything else

								would cause

								real problems.


								                                                            jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 13

								Message 526       Sun Dec 12, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 18:35 EST


								     Actually, it knocked the hamster out of its wheel, and then

								the  whole

								thing just went to hell....


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 13

								Message 536       Sun Dec 19, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:57 EST


								     I think you're seeing a glitch, actually....


								                                                              jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 13

								Message 540       Tue Dec 21, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:55 EST


								     What an astonishingly good question....oh, Ronnnnnnn.....


								                                                              jms

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								 ************

								Topic 15        Thu Dec 31, 1992

								J.ROY18 [Jonathan]           at 21:29 EST

								Sub: Babylon 5 - Alien Races


								Aliens races in Babylon 5... their politics, abilties, technology,

								history,

								and any other discussion specificly about non-humans.


								412 message(s) total.

								 ************

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 15

								Message 401       Sat Dec 25, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:19 EST


								     Centauri males wear their hair in this fashion, the length of

								which is

								determined by the person's status.  Centauri women scorn such

								symbols of

								status and go bald except for a knot of hair from the back.  (Sort

								of a

								peacock approach.)


								                                                                jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 15

								Message 403       Sat Dec 25, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:43 EST


								     Londo's people go for jewelry and ornamentation such as medals

								and

								sunbursts and the like; Minbari don't do a lot of ornamentation,

								going instead

								for fabrics, textures and colors.


								                                                               jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 15

								Message 405       Sun Dec 26, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:28 EST


								     Yeah, fairly much, as far as it goes.  There's some Jananese

								influence,

								as well as some early European influences, as well as middle

								Eastern

								influences.  (There are three Minbari castes: the worker, warrior

								and

								religious castes.)


								                                                               jms

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								 ************

								Topic 17        Tue Jan 19, 1993

								C.STOBBE [Colin]             at 21:02 EST

								Sub: Babylon 5 - Merchandising


								A place to discuss all the neat Babylon 5 merchandising coming out

								(hopefully)

								soon

								410 message(s) total.

								 ************

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 17

								Message 398       Fri Dec 10, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 22:05 EST


								     Is it the color logo on the shirt, or the black-and-white

								logo?


								                                                               jms

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								 ************

								Topic 22        Fri Feb 12, 1993

								R.FURR [Rob Furr]            at 00:19 EST

								Sub: Governments and Trade in B5


								Most SF shows simply posit a government of sorts, and blithely

								ignore it ever

								afterwards. You might see a freighter (with a big "shoot me!" sign

								on it) but

								no other mention of trade. How about B5?

								160 message(s) total.

								 ************

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 22

								Message 145       Thu Dec 09, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:19 EST


								     As soon as the ship comes through, its signature is registered

								and the

								fees debited against their account, if they have one at the

								station.   If not,

								the incoming person is asked for payment before being allowed onto

								the

								station.  In some cases, as with transports, corporations buy jump

								gate access

								in bulk, and then assign the routes to their various transports.

								(Believe it

								or not, this actually comes up in dialogue in "Midnight.")


								                                                                jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 22

								Message 147       Thu Dec 09, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 22:33 EST


								     Ah, but remember, the government is the one who put the jump

								gate in; no

								one individual or corp could afford to do that.  When your ship, if

								Earth

								registered, comes through, you're automatically billed, just like

								income

								tax...it goes against your credit.  If you're not Earth registered,

								you pay

								when you arrive at an Earth port or orbital transfer station.

								Either way, you

								pay.  If you try to land somewhere without proper authorization,

								you'll be

								arrested and your ship confiscated.


								     Now, you could probably come through the gate, hang in space

								for a while,

								and go back in again (IF you're a non-Earth registered ship) and

								not pay

								anything...but in that case, what's the point?  It'd be like taking

								a

								difficult trip in a small ship across the Atlantic, and not getting

								out or

								going ashore once you arrive.


								jms

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								 ************

								Topic 24        Fri Jun 04, 1993

								J.ROY18 [Jonathan]           at 21:11 EDT

								Sub: Babylon 5 - Weapons and Warfare!


								For discussion about the weapons, counter weapons, armor,

								shielding, tactics,

								logistics, and so forth, of small combat and large scale war in the

								Babylon 5

								universe.

								358 message(s) total.

								 ************

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 24

								Message 322       Fri Dec 03, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:04 EST


								     They are both guns.


								     The canopy closes and locks.  If hit, there's at least the

								opportunity

								for the canopy section to eject from the rest of the craft before

								it's

								destroyed.


								                                                              jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 24

								Message 338       Sat Dec 18, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 00:48 EST


								     For those who might be interested, we've come up with some

								name for the

								various clans of the Minbari warrior caste.  The primary five are

								the Star

								Riders (the oldest), the Moon Shields, the Wind Swords, the Night

								Walkers and

								the Fire Wings.  (The first three refer to the early Minbari

								version of a

								mounted force, for which you need riders with shields and swords,

								with #4

								referring to foot soldiers, and the last to those whose clan first

								used flying

								machines in battle.)


								     (Oh, and Star Riders refers to those mounted soldiers who were

								trained to

								use the stars for navigation.  Behind them came the foot soldiers,

								who were

								expert at traveling by night.)


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 24

								Message 347       Thu Dec 23, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 21:47 EST


								     In "Infection," Garibaldi tells one person, who's been looking

								for

								Sinclair (and whom Sinclair is ducking) that "the commander'll take

								any

								opportunity to take out a fighter; he's like that."  Sinclair is

								first and

								foremost a *pilot*, this is what he loves.  And thus he does it

								wherever he

								can (also to continue his flight pay, he like any other officer

								needs to log

								in X-hours of flight time per month).


								     In "Soul," there's only room for one ship to go out and link

								up with

								another ship that's out of control, it's not a combat situation, so

								it makes

								sense for Sinclair, since he has the most combat/flying time on the

								station,

								to go out after it.  It's also a potential first-contact situation,

								which

								doubles the importance of a command officer.  I "Midnight" he goes

								out because

								there's something that he knows that others wouldn't know to react

								to.


								     But at the same time, in "Midnight," when the first distress

								calls come

								in, it's Garibaldi who takes out a ship; in "Believers" it's

								Ivanova.  In the

								combat-heavy "Raiding Party," it's Garibaldi and Ivanova in ships,

								while

								Sinclair stays behind in C&C.  In "Believers," Ivanova states that

								regulations

								require the presence of a command officer in long-range flights

								that may

								involve combat.


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 24

								Message 349       Fri Dec 24, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:09 EST


								     Yes, there are instances where other EA officers come aboard

								with

								equivilent or close ranks to our characters.  In one particular

								episode it

								makes for some considerable conflict....


								                                                              jms

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								Topic 26        Sun Jun 06, 1993

								G.PLANA [Gary]               at 01:51 EDT

								Sub: Babylon 5 - Episode titles and info


								This topic is for information about individual episodes -- their

								titles,

								writers, and any other information JMS may leak!

								175 message(s) total.

								 ************

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 26

								Message 138       Wed Dec 01, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:17 EST


								     There's a mistake.  Which episode(s) have her listed?


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 26

								Message 140       Thu Dec 02, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 01:46 EST


								     The scene was cut for time; it may yet appear elsewhere.


								jms

								 ------------

								Category 18,  Topic 26

								Message 150       Sun Dec 05, 1993

								STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 18:36 EST


								     Yes, Clive was in "Purple," not "Prayer."


								jms

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