JMS on CompuServe (Oct 27, 1996) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS*
Brent Barrett
bbarrett at speedlink.com
Mon Oct 28 00:58:13 EST 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
any form, however I reserve all rights to them and
the right to revoke this permission at any time.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Archives of this material may be found at:
ftp://ftp.speedlink.com/pub/bbarrett/cis/
- or -
http://www.speedlink.com/bbarrett/b5/
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[ Summary of subjects in this section: ]
Sb: #598893-!!B5 SIM GROUP MEETING!!
Sb: #599566-Encouraging Attitude
Sb: #599164-<Shadow Dance - Nits>
Sb: #599204-The CARDS are Here!
Sb: #599372-The CARDS are Here!
Sb: #599659-Trailer Congrats
Sb: #599705-VP is a fan
Sb: #599628->>Shadow Dancing<<
Sb: #599818-#The CARDS are Here!
Sb: #599869-Deeper meanings in work?
Sb: #599990-#<Shadow Dancing Battle>
Sb: #600055-First Ones
Sb: #599775-<Shadow Dance - Nits>
Sb: #599628->>Shadow Dancing<<
Sb: #599821-Did you always know?
[ Summary: The SIM organizer says he didn't know it was a violation of
copyright to run a SIM. Asks if JMS can give him permission to do it. ]
#: 599638 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Oct-96 20:10:23
Sb: #598893-!!B5 SIM GROUP MEETING!!
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
I cannot give authorization, it's not mine to give, it has to come from
Warner Bros., as part of a license. And while you are not getting paid for it,
the users *are* paying for access to CIS for the game, and that is a large part
of where you're getting into trouble.
I understand that your error is one of enthusiasm, nothing else, and I
appreciate the enthusiasm...but understand that when I say WB will get upset
about this, they *will*. They've done it before, and shut down at least one
other sim group, maybe more. I'm basically trying to steer you clear of
trouble, and there's no way to do this without a license.
jms
#: 599566 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Oct-96 18:07:09
Sb: #Encouraging Attitude
Fm: REBECCA ESCHLIMAN
jms -
Just thought you might appreciate knowing that support for the full run of B5
is coming not just from its legion of fans.
I was in Bookery Fantasy today for the Grand Opening of their new, expanded
quarters (Klingons hanging around the entrance, yet). I made it a point to
commend their local TV ad sponsorship of B5. The salesperson to whom I was
speaking replied that they were trying to advance guarantee the full year's
sponsorship for the 5th year, as an inducement to both the local station and
WB. If there is more of this kind of support arising across the land, the right
kind of avalanche may have started from the force of the pebbles voting.
-rje-
I can almost feel the rustling-in of some kind of enchantment already.
#: 599639 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Oct-96 20:10:25
Sb: #599566-Encouraging Attitude
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
That's great, thanks for passing that along.
jms
[ Summary: Asks if there were any Lumati ships in the battle in "Shadow
Dancing." ]
#: 599640 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
26-Oct-96 20:10:27
Sb: #599164-<Shadow Dance - Nits>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
No, no Lumati.
jms
[ Summary: Comments on some GEnie users joking about doing an interview with
Zathras. ]
#: 599730 S5/Babylon 5: General
27-Oct-96 00:25:10
Sb: #599204-The CARDS are Here!
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
"Zathras won't talk to press. Tabloids always misquote Zathras."
Hmmm...I didn't know Zathras worked for the Dole campaign...but it does
explain a lot....
jms
[ Summary: The poster says that a few of his coworkers are fans and have
various Babylon 5 items in their cubicles, but they are working on the
rest of the employees. ]
#: 599731 S5/Babylon 5: General
27-Oct-96 00:25:11
Sb: #599372-The CARDS are Here!
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Maybe, for those you don't like, you can stick up the Nightwatch posters
over their cubicles....
jms
[ Summary: Loved "Shadow Dancing." ]
#: 600059 S5/Babylon 5: General
27-Oct-96 15:17:36
Sb: #599659-Trailer Congrats
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks....
jms
[ Summary: Comments that the VP of his company (a $300 million a year
Silicon Valley firm) is a fan, as his is wife and kid. The VP doesn't
typically have the chance to talk with the poster, but he did swing by
after "And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place" to say how much he
enjoyed it, especially the ending. ]
#: 600060 S5/Babylon 5: General
27-Oct-96 15:17:44
Sb: #599705-VP is a fan
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Well, if he ever wants to invest some of that $600 million in a TV
series, he knows where to find me....
jms
#: 599628 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
26-Oct-96 19:54:59
Sb: #>>Shadow Dancing<<
Fm: JOHN L. FJELLSTAD
There is something I'm not sure I understand about this otherwise great
episode.
Why did the Shadows jump (phase?) in so far from the first refuge settlement
(according to Ivanova about 3 hours away). Why didn't they just jump in right
on top of their targets and started blasting away?
John
WARPing around CI$
#: 600061 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
27-Oct-96 15:17:45
Sb: #599628->>Shadow Dancing<<
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
So they could drive any other ships toward the center, into the killing
zone. If they come in into the center, everybody splits in every possible
direction, and that makes running 'em all down harder.
jms
[ Summary: "Zathras try marijuana once, but Zathras not inhale." ]
#: 600079 S5/Babylon 5: General
27-Oct-96 15:51:26
Sb: #599818-#The CARDS are Here!
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Actually, the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of Zathras
as a political speechwriter or candidate.
"Zathras look at budget deficit, says, not good. Stop spending. But no
one ever listen to Zathras. But one day, everybody listen. Then, Zathras
elected. Zathras will be great president. Someday even have face printed on
money. Then, everybody have Zathras face in pants. It is good to be
president."
jms
[ Summary: Asks Joe if he can explain where the deeper meaning in his work
come from and if he does it on purpose. Worries that the question might
be insulting to JMS. ]
#: 600081 S5/Babylon 5: General
27-Oct-96 15:51:31
Sb: #599869-Deeper meanings in work?
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Nothing at all insulting in the question. It's a hard one to address,
but I'll give it a shot.
Harlan says, when someone comes up to you and says, "Listen, when I read
your story, I saw you had structured the whole thing around the Jungian notion
of inner conflict vs. external conflict, and...." that the proper response is,
"Absolutely, and you're the first person to figure that out," whether it's true
or not. Let them think you're an utter genius. (This was, obviously, somewhat
tongue in cheek, but there's some truth there, I think.)
Generally, some of the "deeper meanings" attached to the work are less a
product of what's written, as what's perceived and how it's perceived; it's a
function of what you, the viewer, bring to the table. In that respect, a good
story is like a Rohrscarch test (and I think I just hideously misspelled that).
Some of the hidden meanings or subtext (the more proper term, I think)
are deliberately set in place during the writing process.
And there are some that slip past me, when I get ambushed by my own
subsconscious. Often I'm working something through myself at the time, or
going through something, and when I'm not looking, the writing part of my brain
shoots it out onto the page. Then, afterward, sometimes minutes later or
months later, I'll look at it and suddenly realize what was going through my
mind at the time, and realize I've given away more of myself than I had
intended. It's an awkward feeling...like coming home from a party and
discovering that your fly was undone the whole time. There are times I'd like
nothing more than to take my subsconscious out and give it a *really* good
thwacking when it does this to me.
Sometimes those meanings are very personal ones, sometimes more general
in nature, trying to figure out stuff. The only way to stop it is to ride herd
on the part of your brain that does the writing, making sure nothing slips past
you...but then it becomes a more mechanical process. As a writer, you learn to
listen to the small, tiny voice in the back of your head and trust it, that it
knows where it's going even if the logical part of your brain does not. You
have to get rid of the gatekeeping, get rid of what you were taught writing is
supposed to be, get rid of what you think others want to hear from you, get rid
of *everything* that gets in the way and overpowers that small voice.
If you do that correctly, then you are *always* surprised by what comes
out, which is necessary; if you cannot surprise yourself, you have no chance of
surprising an audience.
jms
[ Summary: Asks, ". . . where were the Vorlons during the first big
battle?" ]
#: 600082 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
27-Oct-96 15:51:35
Sb: #599990-#<Shadow Dancing Battle>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Good question.
jms
#: 600055 S5/Babylon 5: General
27-Oct-96 14:52:10
Sb: #First Ones
Fm: DANA WRIGHT
Why or when will B5 feel the need for the other First Ones?
One suggestion for the future card series...
add filler material that could not make it into the shows..
background and info about the races, whatever happened to B4 or Valen etc...
assuming we don't get some of the answers in the next 2 years...
Will there be a resolution among the Minibari casts?
Dana
#: 600083 S5/Babylon 5: General
27-Oct-96 15:51:37
Sb: #600055-First Ones
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Re: the First Ones...be patient. They'll show up soon.
jms
[ Summary: Offers that the Shadows might have been better served to jump
in as close to their destination as possible. Says that this tactic
has served them well in the past. ]
#: 600086 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
27-Oct-96 15:51:42
Sb: #599775-<Shadow Dance - Nits>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Yes, but that tactic works only if you know you're going to be under
attack. If the shadows were to materialize in the midst of the refugee ships,
they'd just scatter in every direction. The purpose is to wipe out all those
ships quickly and efficiently...so you start at the outer fringe, drive
everyone inward, and then wipe them all out. To jump into the middle of them
makes it very hard to do this...it's like herding kittens.
jms
#: 599628 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
26-Oct-96 19:54:59
Sb: #>>Shadow Dancing<<
Fm: JOHN L. FJELLSTAD
There is something I'm not sure I understand about this otherwise great
episode.
Why did the Shadows jump (phase?) in so far from the first refuge settlement
(according to Ivanova about 3 hours away). Why didn't they just jump in right
on top of their targets and started blasting away?
John
WARPing around CI$
#: 600087 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
27-Oct-96 15:51:44
Sb: #599628->>Shadow Dancing<<
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
See my other note on this. And, again, it isn't a settlement, it's a
gathering of ships. The other note explains in more detail.
jms
[ Summary: Asks if JMS knew from the time of the pilot about the Shadows
"and such." ]
#: 600214 S5/Babylon 5: General
27-Oct-96 20:24:37
Sb: #599821-Did you always know?
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
This was all planned out from the beginning.
jms
-----
Brent Barrett bbarrett at speedlink.com
Chief Bottle Washer Intellinet, Inc.
Watch Babylon 5! http://www.speedlink.com/bbarrett/b5
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