JMS on CompuServe (Jul 26, 1996) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS*
Brent Barrett
bbarrett at speedlink.com
Fri Jul 26 18:09:12 EDT 1996
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WARNING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The following posts may contain SPOILERS for
upcoming Babylon 5 episodes.
Continue at your own risk.
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THE FOLLOWING MATERIAL IS THE COPYRIGHT OF THE
RESPECTIVE MESSAGE AUTHORS AND CANNOT BE
REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM WITHOUT THE EXPRESSED
PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR.
Note that JMS has expressed his public permission
that all of his messages may be reproduced freely.
I give permission for my summaries to be reposted in
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the right to revoke this permission at any time.
[ Summary of subjects in this section: ]
Sb: #546293-<WWE-Homage?>
Sb: #546295-TV GUIDE article
Sb: #546523-Ship of Tears
Sb: #546567-jms Songwriter ?
Sb: #546644-Delenn question (spoiler
#: 546293 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
25-Jul-96 02:03:02
Sb: #<WWE-Homage?>
Fm: CHERNS MAJOR
> I've never seen the Dr. Who ep you mention, and I'm at an utter loss to
> call any of Feydeau's work to mind, so that may answer the question.
Joe, your reply dignifies my comment with a seriousness it does not deserve.
Feydeau is generally considered the inventor of The French Farce. According to
my Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia, "His intricate, well-constructed plots are
filled with complex deceptions, farfetched schemes, misunderstandings, and
cases of mistaken identity that he always resolved ingeniously." I've never
seen any of his plays (_A Flea in her Ear_ is his best known), but I gather
that, in addition to the mistaken identities, there are also usually disguises
and multiple comings and goings through a large number of doors. (Of course,
some of these elements date back at least as far as _She Stoops to Conquer_,
and remain popular to this day, as in _Lend Me A Tenor_.)
The Doctor Who episode "The Horns of Nimon" was broadcast around Christmas, and
was a tribute to the English "panto" show--there was a lot of "hiding in plain
sight," with characters ducking into corners or behind boxes as others run by
obliviously.
(So, I thought that certain minor elements of WWE2, including some people's
sneaking around a place that they weren't supposed to be in, and the surprise
[to me, at least] identity of the wearer of a pair of boots seen much much
earlier [I'm trying to be general enough not to require spoiler warnings],
struck some chords. My message was supposed to sound tongue-in-cheek, but
perhaps came out a bit too deadpan [for instance, I don't presume that Feydeau
is often described as a "dramatist"]. It also didn't occur to me at that time
to mention Billy Pilgrim, so I won't now.)
While I'm messaging, let me just say that I think that your promise of "each
season better than the one before" is certainly working for me--I've loved the
show from the beginning, found the last few episodes among the very best, and
am having trouble waiting for the Final Five, not to mention what will be
coming next season.
I will be particularly interested in how you will keep us interested in the
progress of the lives of five characters whose futures we now "know." (I say
"know" advisedly, since we have "known" about two of them for a long time, and
now know how deceptive that previous "knowledge" was.) Unlike some who were
earlier expressing concern about the possibility of "loose ends" (and to whom
you were finally goaded into replying testily), though, I'm not worried--you
haven't let us down yet and I don't expect that you're about to start. Best,
--Howard
#: 546509 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
25-Jul-96 11:30:25
Sb: #546293-<WWE-Homage?>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks....
jms
#: 546295 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Jul-96 02:03:35
Sb: #TV GUIDE article
Fm: WILLIAM H. DIPAOLA
Joe,
Congratulations on the positive TV GUIDE article that you and your team so
richly deserved! However, I didn't like the reference to B5 being a "slightly
more rickety sci-fi vehicle" in comparison to "Lost In Space" though --not by a
long shot! That remark kinda ticked me off in fact because there's simply no
comparison between your fine show and that campy piece of crap from back in the
60's. Nevertheless, overall I think they were quite positive, and it's about
friggin' time! Your show in an issue where Trek was also focused on??!! To me
this is almost a shock. <g> :\
It was good to hear Harlan finally speak up for a change as well.
And you simply must get yourself a driver's license!
<bg> How can you navigate spaceships through the galaxy and not know how to
drive an automobile?! :) You should at least have some basic hands on
experience with respect to both the laws and headaches surrounding 'traffic'.
You might know how to pilot the Whitestar out of Jupiter's gravity well, but
have someone put you behind the wheel in the back of a Sears parking lot
already will ya! Life's too short!
Just think of all the traffic 'jams' that
you're missing out of!! ;-)
#: 546510 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Jul-96 11:30:26
Sb: #546295-TV GUIDE article
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
I stay off the road for the good of the commonweal; it's not something I
feel is negotiable, just personally. It's unquestionably a pain in the butt.
jms
[ Summary: Asks from where Bester's quotes in "Ship of Tears" come. ]
#: 547194 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Jul-96 12:35:45
Sb: #546523-Ship of Tears
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
The story is "The Cask of Amontillado," by Edgar Allen Poe.
jms
#: 546567 S5/Babylon 5: General
25-Jul-96 13:03:05
Sb: #jms Songwriter ?
Fm: DARRAN WILLIAMS
Joe,
I saw in an article today that you've written two songs which appear in the
episode 'Walkabout'. Can I ask you:-
1) Is this a new career move for you in case B5 didn't make it to a fifth
series
and
2) Who sings the songs?
Regards
Darran...
#: 547195 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Jul-96 12:35:47
Sb: #546567-jms Songwriter ?
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
No, not a career move; it's not widely known -- I guess mainly because I
haven't ever mentioned it much -- but from time to time I've written songs.
Mainly the lyrics; I know how the music should sound, but I'm incapable of
reading music...I think it's the same mental glitch that hits me when I try to
do certain kinds of math. "X is a numerical value." "No, X is a letter, 7 is a
numerical value." I can't ever seem to make the one equal the other in my
head. Similarly, a black note on a piece of paper isn't the music...anyway,
it's a glitch.)
So when I write songs, and I have a specific melody I'm hearing in my
head, I'm invariably placed in the humiliating position (since I can't play a
musical instrument) of humming it, or somehow trying to suggest it to the
music-person. Suffice to say it looks really goofy and stupid.
Anyway...despite this, I do sometimes write songs, and like to keep my
hand in, as they say. I did two songs for an ABC-TV prime-time Real
Ghostbusters special, did a few songs that have been recorded by small groups
(you've never heard of any of them, trust me), another song that, much to my
chagrin, is apparently still being used in church songbooks (and that's all I
will ever say about that)...and when I decided to do a show with a singer for
B5, I wrote a couple of songs for that one, with Chris Franke providing the
music.
They're bluesy, Billie Holliday kinds of songs, updated slightly. I'm
actually very pleased with how they came out (Erica Gimpel, one of the cast
members from Fame, plays the part and sings the songs). Several folks around
here want either or both songs to come out on the next B5 album, but I"m loathe
to do so, on the theory that the soundtracks work better in the style we've
already used, all instrumental. (There've even been some inquiries from music
people who've heard the songs about releasing them commercially, but that would
mean adding about 30 seconds to each song to make them airplay compatible, and
I'm not sure I want to take on the extra hassle just now.)
jms
[ Summary: Asks why Delenn went to Kosh in "Chrysalis" and asked to see
him for herself before she entered the chrysalis. ]
#: 547196 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Jul-96 12:35:50
Sb: #546644-Delenn question (spoiler
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
She wanted to see Kosh to assure herself that the Vorlons, who she'd
never met before, were who she believed them to be, and that this was a true
Vorlon and not a pretender. He had to be in place as part of Valen's prophecy.
jms
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