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319 lines
9.8 KiB
319 lines
9.8 KiB
JMS Usenet messages for June 1996.
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Date: 1 Jun 1996 13:35:50 -0400
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Subject: Re: score one for you, JMS
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Well, if he's your friend, then his good taste had to struggle out from
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under the shadow of alternate programming sooner or later....
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jms
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Date: 1 Jun 1996 21:50:09 -0400
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Subject: Re: Attn JMS: B5 Demos Was: JMS on CompuServe...
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I've checked into this (the 1057 figure), and they sent out a new report
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and it's still the same figure. If you add the two figures together,
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they're 926, which is *still* the highest figure around, so the facts
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still stand.
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We had broken 1000 several other times in the "both" category, the week of
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4/1 at 1057 and 4/29 at 1022; don't have the other weeks at hand.
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I talked at length to one of the researchers about this, and he said he
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was going to backtrack with the Neilsen company and see what they had to
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say. (They're the company that actually does the computations and pulls
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in the figures, WB has nothing to do with it, all syndicated shows get the
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same reports.)
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He did indiate that there are a certain percentage of forms that come in
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where the person with the ratings book for one reason or another chooses
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not to put down either his/her sex or the sex of the person watching with
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them. (Some consider it a privacy issue, some don't want to indicate that
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they're alone at home at night watching with a person of the same sex, so
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they "forget" to put it down, or just withhold the information.) So
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there's always some variance; they can't just ignore the data of the
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number of persons watching, but they can't plug in what they don't have.
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For instance, in Hercules for that quarter, you've got a figure of 369 for
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women, 360 for men, and a total of 730, which is 1 more than the two
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figures combined.
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So the researcher is going to backtrack some more, but indicated that it
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may be that we have an unusually high number of same-sex couples who watch
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the show, but may be somewhat closeted about it. Which would be
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consistent with the fact that we get a lot of mail from gays and lesbians
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who watch the show.
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I'll be out of town for a couple weeks, but will eventually get back to
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this.
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jms
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Date: 2 Jun 1996 07:54:57 -0400
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Subject: Re: JMS - Family Addicted to Babylon 5
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Thanks, and I'm glad the show is something an entire family can watch
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together.
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Re: Battlefield Earth...the only problem (well, one of many) is of course
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that a great deal of that series of books was written long after Hubbard's
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death.
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No plans to be up in SF for a bit.\
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jms
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Date: 2 Jun 1996 07:57:13 -0400
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: SD Comic Con
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I do plan to be at San Diego Comic Con; haven't firmed up any specifics
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yet.
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jms
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Date: 3 Jun 1996 02:54:48 -0400
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: CGI records
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I actually don't know/haven't considered who's closest on EFX these days,
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but I'd be willing to bet that the revised Star Wars EFX beat us and
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everything else....
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jms
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Date: 3 Jun 1996 17:28:22 -0400
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Subject: Re: JMS - Intro for next season
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I've pretty much decided on the narrative style for next season, and who's
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involved, but would rather hold off on that for a bit. Suffice to say
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it'll be done in a style and in a way we haven't used before.
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jms
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Date: 3 Jun 1996 17:28:06 -0400
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Subject: Re: ATT JMS: Demographics numbers
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I posted a long reply on this in the original demos thread; rather than
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repeat, you may want to check there.
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jms
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Date: 3 Jun 1996 17:28:20 -0400
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Subject: Re: SPOILERS Season 4 First Episode
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"In retrospect we now know that the Lurker's Guide announcement that B5
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has
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been renewed for season 4 was not premature at all."
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Incorrect. The Lurker's Guide said that the show had been renewed. It
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had not yet been renewed, and has not *formally* been renewed yet. You
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don't say the baby has been born if it's still hanging around in it's
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mother.
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jms
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Date: 17 Jun 1996 14:52:01 -0400
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Did You Really Say This?
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I don't believe I ever stated it quite that way, mainly I have emphasized
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that there may be justifications for actions on both sides.
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jms
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Date: 17 Jun 1996 14:53:52 -0400
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Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS--Production Process, Music
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In reverse order...
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1) Changes between 1st and final drafts are almost always production
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changes ("can we put this scene in the Zocalo instead of the sanctuary, so
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it'll save us a lighting change and camera move?") and some dialogue
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tweaks. Occasionally a scene will get trimmed a bit if it looks like the
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show's coming up long.
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2) Music...after John and I have done our cut, we sit down with the sound
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effects people and Chris Franke for the spotting session. Here, we watch
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the episode all the way through. I indicate where I want the music to
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start, and where I want it to stop, and what kind of music I have in mind,
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if it's that clear to me.
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E.g., "Music in at 12:23:15 (twelve minutes, 23 seconds and 15 frames),
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out at 14:10:20. We've got some heavy sound effects going on here, battle
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stuff, which will take up a lot of the bottom and midrange, so you may
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want to go for a bit higher frequency stuff. Strings would be good
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through this, counterpointing the battle. I wouldn't mind if you could
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somehow interpolate the Requiem theme through this part." Chris then goes
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off and makes magic.
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jms
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From
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Date: 17 Jun 1996 13:07:23 -0400
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Subject: Re: JMS: re. Double-Runs in LA!
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Thanks; yes, LA will be getting the double runs, as will Chicago, I
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believe, and a number of other stations, based on the continuing
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improvements in ratings.
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BTW, to anyone looking on...sorry I've been silent of late. I was in the
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UK for over a week, and I'm still on the jetlagged side, trying to catch
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up. Have been quiet all around lately, just trying to get my head back
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into whatever time zone I'm in, and gearing up for year 4.
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jms
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Date: 19 Jun 1996 01:36:28 -0400
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Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Is B5 dead?
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It's amazing...we just get renewed for year 4 and 8 days into that renewal
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people are asking us if we're dead...we've been declared dead more often
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than Lazarus.
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No, it's not a particular problem. The situation is that PTEN is no
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longer a real entity anymore; we're now a syndicated series now that the
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network has gone south. Many groups were nominally held together by that
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thread; once the contractual thread was removed, there's going to be some
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reshuffling of stations. It's an everyday part of the business. In some
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other cases, because WB held off as long as it did on a decision, due to
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the PTEN situation, a few places have filled their slots.
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The problem with the nets is that if you see 6 messages about how a
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station is opting out of the show, the perception is of 6 places where it
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happened, when it's just the one. This exact same thing happened this
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time last season. There's always a case of musical chairs around this
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time of the year.
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WB is lining up stations to replace those which have opted out. Bear in
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mind that UPN stations and FOX stations have obligations to those networks
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which preclude their responsibility to this one show; if UPN wants another
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night on their schedule, it has to come from somewhere. It happens all
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the time.
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Once the dust settles, I'd say all or nearly all of the areas in question
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will have alternate stations available for the show.
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jms
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Date: 18 Jun 1996 09:02:18 -0400
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Subject: Re: Attn JMS: Chicago ComiCon?
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Yes, I'll be at the Chicago ComicCon in Rosemont this coming weekend, with
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a 2-hour B5 presentation slated for Saturday from 4-6 p.m., and apparently
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there's some sort of off-convention B5 reception at 7:30 or thereabouts.
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(Not everyone who enjoys the show wants to pay the bucks for the whole
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convention, so this was thunk up last time as a freebie for general fans
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in the area at a local hotel.)
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A caveat...the B5 presentation has generally been the biggest thing at the
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con the last few years, so if you're going to be there, be early,
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otherwise the seats get filled and folks get stuck in the doorway and the
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hall. Last time the main room held about 2,000 and still got jammed.
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I won't be bringing an episode -- WB isn't allowing this anymore for its
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shows -- but can bring clips and other fun stuph.
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jms
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Date: 28 Jun 1996 04:12:02 -0400
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Subject: Re: Memories from Chicago Comicon (includes question for JMS)
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"Having read JMS's posts on the net for years and now having seen him talk
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in person, I have heard probably hundreds of anecdotes from him about his
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life, his career, growing up, getting the show on the air, and managing
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the cast/crew to keep it going. It dawned on me last weekend that many of
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these stories are quite similar to the example stories that one finds in a
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book on self-esteem, self-motivation, and management books (the ones about
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how to get the most out of your employees by making sure they enjoy
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working for you). JMS: Have you ever considered writing these down into
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a book about your philosophy/ motivation/etc? I think it would be great
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reading!"
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I think it would be an absolutely hideous waste of several dozen
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old-growth trees.
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It would be the height of stupidity and arrogance on my part (your
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suggestion was well-intentioned and sincere, don't confuse the two) to
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even consider the notion. I have nothing to teach *anybody* in these
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areas. I don't have any answers, only questions. And my experiences are
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generally so idiosyncratic, so much the product of just falling on my face
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a thousand times until one day I figured out a way so that I didn't *have*
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to fall on my face anymore, that I can't imagine they'd be of much use to
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anyone, and their entertainment value is mainly either anecdotal or for
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humorous effect.
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A book about the trials and tribulations in making the show...sure, maybe.
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A book of my philosophy about this sort of thing, with anecdotes? I
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can't imagine anything that could be more boring and self-serving.\
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jms
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Date: 29 Jun 1996 20:04:40 -0400
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Subject: Re: att JMS
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There are no plans currently for the return of Talia.
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jms
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