ATTN JMS: sinclair's knowledge of the 3rd age of mankind?

Sat Mar 15 10:02:31 EST 1997

Subject: ATTN JMS: sinclair's knowledge of the 3rd age of mankind?
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 No. | DATE        |  FROM
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s  1: Mar  1, 1997: Richard Bergstresser <richberg at erols.com>
-  4: Mar  2, 1997: magick at li.net (Magick Man)
-  5: Mar  2, 1997: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
- 41: Mar  3, 1997: "Prof. Maitu Sense" <mitusnse at lava.net>
- 42: Mar  3, 1997: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
- 43: Mar  3, 1997: denebeim at deepthot.cary.nc.us (Jay Denebeim)
- 44: Mar  3, 1997: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
- 88: Mar  4, 1997: campbejr at phu989.mms.sbphrd.com (John R. Campbell)
- 89: Mar  4, 1997: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
-108: Mar  5, 1997: csc at access.digex.net
-109: Mar  5, 1997: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
-142: Mar  6, 1997: bayko at borealis.cs.uregina.ca (John  Bayko)
-143: Mar  6, 1997: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
-194: Mar  7, 1997: rick at alh.com (Rick Castello)
-195: Mar  7, 1997: George Johnsen <ndeiprod at earthlink.net>
-266: Mar  9, 1997: beth at cais2.cais.com (TheWitch at Endor.com)
-267: Mar  9, 1997: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
-268: Mar  9, 1997: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
-269: Mar  9, 1997: denebeim at deepthot.cary.nc.us (Jay Denebeim)
-270: Mar  9, 1997: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
-271: Mar  9, 1997: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
-303: Mar 10, 1997: ryoung at interlog.com (Richard Young)
-304: Mar 10, 1997: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
-384: Mar 12, 1997: atropos at ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Neely Stewart)
-385: Mar 12, 1997: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
-386: Mar 12, 1997: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
+390: Mar 12, 1997: JJZM42C at prodigy.com (Penny Rothkopf)
*391: Mar 12, 1997: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
+445: Mar 14, 1997: dzhines at midway.uchicago.edu (David Hines)
*446: Mar 14, 1997: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
+463: Mar 15, 1997: jpfrain at hopper.unh.edu (Jonathan P Frain)
*464: Mar 15, 1997: George Johnsen <ndeiprod at earthlink.net>

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From: Richard Bergstresser <richberg at erols.com>
Lines: 17

Doug Quinn CSP wrote:
> 
> In article <19970225114400.GAA24627 at ladder02.news.aol.com>,
> woogazoid at aol.com (Woogazoid) wrote:
> 
> > I've got the feeling that the whole B4 story was supposed to take place
> > *after* the 3rd Age began, but got changed somewhere along the way. That
> > would probably make the one thing that JMS has had to change that doesn't
> > fit in.
> 
> Another possibility might be that we haven't seen the last of Jeffery
> David Sinclair...
> 

Where have we been given his middle name?  Its a dead giveaway.

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From: JJZM42C at prodigy.com (Penny Rothkopf)
Lines: 31

Dan.McDonald at Eng.Sun.COM (Dan McDonald) wrote:
>
>
>Thank you for unwittingly confirming a theory of mine.
>
>Yes, I too mailed to TNT, and I got back...
>
>	THE IDENTICAL RESPONSE
>
>Pretty cool, huh?  Oh well, it's not like these people have time for 
real
>honest-to-God feedback.  (Especially given the tenacity of the average 
crowd
>of B5 fans.)
>
>-- 

Me three!!! Here I was, all excited that I got an answer and ready to 
post it here, but .... y'all beat me to it!! Anyway, it still is a nice 
response, even if it is a form letter!!! And I was worried about posting 
it here without asking the guy from TNT if it was okay first - silly me!

-
  Penny Rothkopf  Momx5 at prodigy.com

"Talk about delusions of adequacy!" Zack, Epiphanies

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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Lines: 10

As this has the potential to be a very cool and somewhat experimental
episode, I'd rather say nothing until later.

 jms

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From: dzhines at midway.uchicago.edu (David Hines)
Lines: 94

In article <19970313155201.KAA06345 at ladder01.news.aol.com>,
SSmith1701 <ssmith1701 at aol.com> wrote:
>     I'm going to toss in my own two cents' worth here, having had some
>contact with SFWA years ago (but not membership) ...
>     Some folks here are ranting and raving that Hollywood screenwriters
>have no knowledge nor interest in SFWA.  

"Some folks" being me, I think.  (There have only been a couple of
posts on the thread, and the only reason I started ranting is 
that JMS's rather cavalier attempt to blame SFWA for the paucity
of quality spec-eff in Hollywood ticked me off.  On the Dramatic
Nebula, as I've said, I'm undecided, because it's a *really* 
sticky issue.)

>Well, my question is, why should they?
>     Let's say for the sake of argument that I'm Brannon Braga.  

Ouch!  Do we have to? *grin*  That's one fate I wouldn't wish on
anyone -- well, except Braga; he deserves it.

>Some SFWA
>member who's published two or three novels, maybe a half-dozen short
>stories, screams and yells that I'm not a true SF writer and therefore
>don't deserve recognition from SFWA.  

Actually, this isn't quite the case; the "SF" in SFWA now effectively
stands for "Speculative Fiction," so it doesn't matter that Brannon
Braga's not an SF writer.  Scripts do count for membership in SFWA.
You just can't win Nebulas for them -- which isn't entirely right,
but let's not get into that sticky situation.

[snip]
>How many people know about the Nebulas?  In all the years I've
>gone to media-oriented SF conventions, I've never once heard someone ask a
>TV writer, "Are you a SFWA member?"

Which was precisely my point, BTW; JMS's claim that SFWA's attitude
is responsible for Hollywoods treatment of SF and SF writers is
fairly ludicrous.  I can understand the underlying frustration that
motivated him to make it, yeah, but that doesn't make it any more
right.

[snip]
>     Methinks that this latest letter to JMS from SFWA was simply an
>attempt to latch onto Joe's rising star to give itself some prominence. 
>Their reaction to Joe's letter indicates that nothing has changed.  Joe is
>right to have nothing to do with them.

Er... insofar as I'm aware, they haven't responded to Joe's letter,
unless they did so in one of the digests that I've skipped.  I ain't
a SFWA member; I'm just one more voice on my own out here, presenting
my perfectly correct and beautifully shaped opinions as if they were
the word of Ghod.

And *whatever* the opinion of SFWA, you've got to admit that most of
the good spec-eff writers in the country are members.  There are
*loads* more folks who Get It in prose than there are in TeeVee,
and I think it's silly to blame the folks in prose for the flaws
of another medium if you're not even trying to hire them.  Waste
of a great resource, if you ask me.

If, as I gather, JMS wouldn't go to SFFWA under any circumstances, 
I stand by my suggestion that he go to the writers themselves, 
bypassing the organization.  In case he hasn't noticed, his show
has a following among the pros, too; he could ask some of them 
if they're interested, or if they can recommend writers he should
look up.

I'd *love* to see Daniel Keys Moran write a _Crusade_ script, or
see what would happen if former and current _Analog_ editors
Stanley Schmidt and Ben Bova worked together on one.  While we're
on the subject of teaming writers up, since _Crusade_ will have
a technomage character, why not commission Vernor Vinge and
Charles de Lint to write a technomage-centered story?  (I'd *love*
to see the result of a collaboration like that!)  

There are people doing *delicious* work out there, and ignoring
them just because their primary medium is prose strikes me as silly.
After all, as JMS has said, a story is a story.  Only the margins
change.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------
| David Hines                                   d-hines at uchicago.edu |
|            http://student-www.uchicago.edu/users/dzhines           |
 ====================================================================
|  Science fiction is not a western with ray guns and space ships.   |
|  It is a genre so demanding that few of its practitioners are      |
|  more than moderately competent at it.  The responsibility to be   |
|  logical and scientifically accurate, while at the same time       |
|  telling a good dramatic story, will continually defeat any        |
|  writer who approaches the field with less than total respect for  |
|  its requirements.                         --    David Gerrold.    |
 ====================================================================

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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Lines: 8

I think if I nudge George, I can get him to come to SDCC this summer....

 jms

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From: jpfrain at hopper.unh.edu (Jonathan P Frain)
Lines: 17

Hello Joe,

	I realize that this is probably a little early, but what the 
heck.  I personally would like to see more of the following people if a 
spinoff materializes.

		Neroon
		Bester
		Valen
		As many of the current cast as possible

	I have others, but those are the biggies.

						Thanks,
							Jon Frain

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From: George Johnsen <ndeiprod at earthlink.net>
Lines: 23

Brad-

The first model out will be the Starfury.  The model business is still a
very tedious process, as any manufacturer will tell you.  We sent out
blueprints and three views of the Starfury months ago, and they have
just asked for more this week.  They have a sculptor building a master,
and then they will cut steel tooling, whick will be test shot, test
built, and refined before we see it on the shelf.  All in all a tediuos
and frustrating process.  

Fortunately, the process on different models can work simultaneously, if
they are not using the same sculptor.  The release schedule will be
adjusted as the project proceeds.

It is interesting that the merchandising for B5 is starting to get
REALLY hot.  Warners Special Products is really B5 happy right now. 
Hope this bodes well for future products!

George Johnsen
CoProducer, Babylon 5

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