attn: JMS - More deep and searching questions

[B5JMS Poster]

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: "Clark N. Hobbie" <cnh at rmii.com>
Date: 19 Jun 2000 08:19:15 -0600
Lines: 75

First off, thanks for answering that first batch o' questions!

>>* How did you (JMS) keep going in the face of all the doubt and uncertainty
>>that was B5?  
>
>Pure, naked, unbridled, ornery,  stubbornness.

I guess I asked the wrong question.  When I am in situations where there is a
lot of doubt, etc. I will sometimes go into what I call "Fuckup Theater" mode. 
Basically, it seems like every mistake, screw-up, lapse of judgment, etc. that I
have ever made will come back to haunt me.  Just to give me that extra boost of
confidence when I need it most :-)  What I was getting at was: did you ever feel
that way on B5?  Did it happen often?  When it did, were you able to just kick
it out of your mind, or was it still sitting there, sneering at everything you
did?

[ replies to other questions snipped, thanks for answering them ]

> jms
>
>(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
>B5 Official Fan Club at:
>http://www.thestation.com
>(all message content (c) 2000 by
>synthetic worlds, ltd., permission
>to reprint specifically denied to
>SFX Magazine)

>>* What does Kosh mean by the phrase "I have always been here?"

Hmmm...ignoring the question, eh?  OK, lemme see if I can rephrase it to make it
interesting:

Take a piece of paper.  Draw a triangle on the paper.  Now destroy the paper. 
Does the triangle still exist --- yes.  You can draw another one.  It's
existence is independent of any physical representation.  Now imagine the first
human being drawing a triangle in the dirt or some such.  Now rewind to just
BEFORE the first time a human being drew a triangle.  It still existed.  It
always will exist, always has existed, always will exist.  

Now imagine the human brain.  In a manner analogous to a triangle drawn on a
piece of paper, the states of all the neurons and connections can be recorded
and reproduced.  WE may not be able to do this now, but, someday, it may be
possible.  Thus in the same way that the notion of a triangle has "always been
here," the notion of each human being that has ever lived has also "always been
here."

Is this what you meant by that phrase?  If not was it just a bit of babble that
sounded cool?  If you have already answered this question a billion times, then
I apologize for asking it again, it's just that I have not seen the answer
anywhere.

>>* Are the Shadows & Vorlons obsessed like Larry Niven's Protectors?
>>
>>In the book "Protector" by Larry Niven, the Protectors are an example of a
>>highly intelligent race that is driven to perform acts of outrageous stupidity
>>--- the race has never known peace and ultimately destroys their own homeworld
>>because of their uncompromising goals.  Are the Shadows & Vorlons similar to the
>>Protectors in that both races are extremely advanced and intelligent, but driven
>>to do stupid things (the whole shadow war) because they are unable to let go?

Fooie!  And I thought this was an interesting question!  

My underlying question here was: "have these guys learned any wisdom?"  I mean,
the first ones are supposed to have been around for at least a million years. 
They are the ultimate "been there, done that" kind of characters.  Yet there
they are, getting blown away over a bunch of twits who were still swinging in
trees and messing with stick and stones (we're not even talking digital
watches!) when the Vorlons and the Shadows were off conquering galaxies --- why
do the first ones give a hoot?

Thanks again,

Clark


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 19 Jun 2000 20:21:26 -0600
Lines: 37

>I guess I asked the wrong question.  When I am in situations where there is a
>lot of doubt, etc. I will sometimes go into what I call "Fuckup Theater"
>mode. 
>Basically, it seems like every mistake, screw-up, lapse of judgment, etc.
>that I
>have ever made will come back to haunt me.  Just to give me that extra boost
>of
>confidence when I need it most :-)  What I was getting at was: did you ever
>feel
>that way on B5?  Did it happen often?  When it did, were you able to just
>kick
>it out of your mind, or was it still sitting there, sneering at everything
>you
>did?

I can't think of a moment in the entire 5 year history of the show when it
*wasn't* there, in the back of my head.  You *always* doubt yourself, you
*always* want to go over it one more time.  When I look at ANY episode, all I
see are the flaws, the things that could have been done better.  It'll be years
before I can look at it without that overlay.

And the only thing you can do is burn through it and hope for the best at the
end.

 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
(all message content (c) 2000 by
synthetic worlds, ltd., permission
to reprint specifically denied to
SFX Magazine)




-***
-*** B5JMS SUBSCRIBERS: Replies to messages go to the list maintainer,
-*** <b5jms-owner at cs.columbia.edu>.  If you want to reply elsewhere, adjust
-*** the "To" field.  See http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~ezk/b5jms/ for all
-*** other information about this list.