JMS on CompuServe (Mar 02, 1997) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS*
bbarrett at speedlink.com
bbarrett at speedlink.com
Sun Mar 2 12:56:07 EST 1997
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The following posts may contain SPOILERS for
upcoming Babylon 5 episodes.
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[ Summary of subjects in this section: ]
Sb: #652574-#To Sysops from jms
Sb: #652610-Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Sb: #652685-NEW To Sysops From jms
Sb: #652944-B5 Soundtrack Vol 2
Sb: #652632->>Atonement<<
Sb: #652817-<<The One and the Nine>>
Sb: #652933-#To Sysops from jms
Sb: #652860-#To Sysops from jms
Sb: #653041-B5 Soundtrack Vol 2
Sb: #653059-Captain Power <uh oh>
#: 652574 S5/Babylon 5: General
01-Mar-97 06:10:51
Sb: #652398-#To Sysops from jms
Fm: ANNE L. WARNER
Joe,
>> Here's the ultimate irony...this began in part because a word was used just
once... <<
I have to protest! That's only the penultimate irony. The ultimate irony is
that *you,* our resident atheist, promised to regale us with a plethora of
censorable biblical quotations! That's had me gurgling with delight since I
read it.
Anne
#: 653080 S5/Babylon 5: General
02-Mar-97 02:44:05
Sb: #652574-#To Sysops from jms
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
"The ultimate irony is that *you,* our resident atheist, promised to regale us
with a plethora of censorable biblical quotations!"
Who better?
Y'gotta understand, I've read the thing *twice*, cover to cover. (And
ANYone with the patience to get through Deuteronomy, Numbers and Leviticus has
my enduring respect.) It's actually a pretty good book, all things considered,
and despite some misuse by some of its readers. There's good drama, lots of
melodrama, an overall arc (and an ark), some good writing and some utterly
*awful* writing, blood and thunder and some racy material, the perfect
ingredients for a potboiler...except that it's often redeemed by such terrific
parts as Psalms, and parts of the Song of Solomon, and Proverbs, and the story
of Job, which is probably one of the best stories ever written.
A good editor would've helped *enormously*, but one can't expect god to
be all things at once....
jms
#: 652610 S5/Babylon 5: General
01-Mar-97 08:12:11
Sb: #652525-#Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Fm: JEAN S MCKNIGHT
> It's only when I go to bed, and I'm still for more than 5 minutes at a time,
that it really starts to demand my attention. <
And I'm guessing that you AREN'T still for more than 5 minutes at a time very
often. That line about Sheridan's head imploding was more than a little
autobiographical, no?
I'm glad it's somewhat better this year, anyway. I've learned to mouse with my
feet, which helps. No kidding. And again, major style points. Annette Funicello
meets "My Left Foot".
Jean McKnight
#: 653081 S5/Babylon 5: General
02-Mar-97 02:44:07
Sb: #652610-Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
"That line about Sheridan's head imploding was more than a little
autobiographical, no?"
Just a tad....
jms
[ Summary: One of the CIS WizOps asks Joe how much of one of his scripts
he thinks is "fair usage." ]
#: 653082 S5/Babylon 5: General
02-Mar-97 02:44:10
Sb: #652685-NEW To Sysops From jms
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
As it happens, I have an answer to this. First, it's Warner Bros. that
would be at issue here, since they own the copyright to B5. That issue aside
for the moment...
This actually came up not long ago, when a person doing synopses of the
episodes didn't just synopsize it...it included every line of dialogue in the
episode, and extensive narrative descriptions. WB saw that and said, "Tell 'em
to stop it." Which they did.
On several occasions, whole pages at a time have been excerpted for
articles, or reprinted...a heck of a lot more than what was posted here...and
neither WB nor I have a problem with that. As it is, many of the current
synopses contain *massive* verbatim quotes of dialogue, just not as much as the
one main offender. Nobody blinks an eye.
I'm not saying this across the board, but you asked what would apply in
my situation, and that's it. (Which, btw, is a kind of evasion...rather than
dealing with the problem That Is, people create what they hope are similar
situations and say, "Well, what would you do if THIS happened?" Well, this
HASN'T happened, and it isn't a direct corrolary to this current situation in
ANY event. Its' just a way of skidding the discussion off in another direction
and muddying the waters.)
jms
#: 652944 S5/Babylon 5: General
01-Mar-97 19:14:18
Sb: #B5 Soundtrack Vol 2
Fm: MERYL YOURISH
Joe,
Please pass this along to Chris Franke.
I received "Messages From Earth" a couple of days ago. It's beautiful. It's
wonderful. It's superb. It is moving. It already belongs with the select few
CDs on my list that I play when I need to lift my spirits.
I've always liked Chris' work, going back to Tangerine Dream. It's gotten even
better, just as the show has gotten better as time passes.
I hardly know what to say. Words fail me. All I can say is: I'm going to be
listening to this CD over and over for quite a long time.
Meryl
#: 653083 S5/Babylon 5: General
02-Mar-97 02:44:13
Sb: #652944-B5 Soundtrack Vol 2
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks...yeah, it's a great CD.
jms
[ Summary: Asks if Delenn was better suited to become half-human because
of her DNA. Also, wonders if these revelations about Delenn's past will
play a part in the future plot. ]
#: 653085 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
02-Mar-97 02:44:17
Sb: #652632->>Atonement<<
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Yeah, the human DNA definitely helped...and overall, this isn't so much
the arc as the overall story and history. It's filling out the world.
jms
#: 652817 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
01-Mar-97 14:13:13
Sb: #<<The One and the Nine>>
Fm: BRENT BARRETT
Joe,
I'm really curious about the way the Minbari government is organized now,
after watching "Atonement."
In the scenes with Dukhat and the Grey Council (and Delenn), we see that
only eight spots are occupied. Does this mean that Dukhat (and any leader of
the Minbari people) is also on the Grey Council? I had always assumed that the
leader was above the Grey Council and that the one holding the staff in such
episodes as "Points of Departure" and "Severed Dreams" was only the leader of
the Council.
Perhaps I was misled by all the talk of "The One and the Nine" in previous
Minbari sayings and prayers and such. Was Valen the first leader of the
Minbari people in the history of the Grey Council?
Or is it possible that this vacancy in the Nine was the one that Delenn
later filled? As it was, we never saw Dukhat dressed as one of the Nine,
whereas we did see the Grey Council leader in "PoD" and "SD" dressed as one of
the Nine and standing in one of the lights. And back in "Babylon Squared,"
Delenn was greeted with "For too long The Nine have been eight." Since they
were still mourning the loss of Dukhat and didn't yet have a replacement
leader, it seems that the Council of Nine exists as nine separate from the
leader position. Or am I reading this in the wrong way?
Can you help me understand this a little better, please?
Thanks muchly,
-- Brent
#: 653086 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
02-Mar-97 02:44:20
Sb: #652817-<<The One and the Nine>>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
There's the One, and the Nine...when Dukhat was alive, there were 9 grey
council members and him as the head of it, making ten. (Look at the picture
and count the number of people.) 1 and 9.
Valen called together the Grey Council, formed the first one; until then
the castes had been in constant competition. He wanted to operate outside of
that a bit, so he made sure he was not one of the Nine. That tradition has
continued.
jms
[ Summary: Two posters comment on JMS' activities on CIS and this latest
censorship issue. ]
#: 653090 S5/Babylon 5: General
02-Mar-97 03:14:55
Sb: #652933-#To Sysops from jms
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
"But that doesn't mean I'll back every decision or idea or crusade or action he
takes - and nobody SHOULD (and I bet he'd be the first to agree with me)."
Yup. When I behave like a jerk here, I fully expect to be told so.
"The issue he's brought up here is a valid one - but the method he started with
was too confrontational by far. He should have started it friendly, specially
without the threats of splitting, and then, if rebuffed, gotten brittle."
That one, I dunno...it's easy to second-guess things after the fact. I
knew that a number of people had *already* either been (or felt) forced off, or
were resigning, and sometimes the only way to get a result is to first get the
horse's attention, as the saying goes. I've had a number of dealings with lots
of systems and worked things out quietly, behind the scenes; you don't know
about them *because* they've been worked out in a friendly way.
Then, there are days when only a howitzer will suffice.
It was my call. I made it. And it seems to have worked. Would it have
worked out with the other approach? Again, I dunno. I'm only a P3, after
all....
jms
#: 652860 S5/Babylon 5: General
01-Mar-97 16:04:58
Sb: #652618-#To Sysops from jms
Fm: WIZOP WES MEIER
>> Again, that's a matter for CIS and not this forum staff. CIS makes those
rules, not the WizOps here, and the current rule is apparently "If you're on
the PC list, we won't promote you." <<
It has recently become worse than that, Sue. Do you recall seeing recent CSi
news about them retargeting their market toward Business People, "... at work,
at home, and at play"?
They're now not promoting ANY activity unless it has some "business slant" to
it.
That sorta, kinda, leaves us out in the cold, eh?
- Wes
#: 653091 S5/Babylon 5: General
02-Mar-97 03:14:57
Sb: #652860-#To Sysops from jms
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Related question, Wes: When a conference is promoted at the opening
menu, does it bring in a substantial number of folks who are not *already*
members of the forum? I was just thinking that folks not into SF likely would
not show up for a conference with an SF type...and those into SF are likely
already aware of it from the on-site notice. Just curious.
jms
#: 653041 S5/Babylon 5: General
01-Mar-97 23:10:16
Sb: #B5 Soundtrack Vol 2
Fm: SHAWN TAYLER
HI JMS,
I would like to echo Meryl's comments about the new soundtrack CD. I've been
playing it over and over. It is absolutely wonderful!!!
I would also like to know where in the show did you use the music contained in
track 8-Voices of Authority. I really took to that piece (it keeps running
thru my head, is that crazy or what!!!).
Please pass my thanks along to Mr. Franke as well. His music really adds to
the B5 experience!!!
Shawn (from the dark side of Planet OS/2)
#: 653092 S5/Babylon 5: General
02-Mar-97 03:15:00
Sb: #653041-B5 Soundtrack Vol 2
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
I believe Chris Franke's website (www.sonicimages.com) has a full
breakdown on the tracks and their sources.
jms
[ Summary: Asks how JMS feels about his work on Captain Power. ]
#: 653093 S5/Babylon 5: General
02-Mar-97 03:15:02
Sb: #653059-Captain Power <uh oh>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
It was a mixed bag...some good stuff, some stuff I wouldn't mind seeing
dropped off a pier somewhere....
jms
[END]
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