JMS Speaks (again)

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">A few years ago a story went round that the credits on the Crusade episodes were incorrect. For instance Jeffery Willerth had been left off.
Has the conversion to DVD been used to correct the credits?</font>

Insofar as I can recall, he was no longer a part of the production team at that point, so the credit situation was not an error.

jms
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<font color="red">Thanks to Wendy of PA, I have two more short video clips of JMS at the Hawthorne con. One is the footage from the photo shoot that we did by my car; and the other is from the classroom Q&A (where I tell JMS about how Enterprise did a little creative 'borrowing' in their episode "E Squared" - and he threatens me with a rubberband <g>).

The videos can be found at the bottom of: http://www.fjordstone.com/jmscon/</font>

Good god, but I'm an annoying fellow....

<font color="red">By the way, did Buddy like his present?</font>

Yes, he plays shark with it on a regular basis. (Translation: there's a clear plastic sheet -- harmless -- on one of the floors for some work being done, and he gets under it and circles the toy atop the plastic like a shark underwater. He's deeply disturbed.)

jms
<hr width="75%">

<font color="blue"> Over on one of the British B5 groups, they've been speculating that you're about to take over "Enterprise", but unless you've suddenly started using the word "series" in the British TV sense (i.e., what US TV calls a "season [of a series]"), that's out.

</font><font color="green">Enterprise has already been taken over by Manny Cotto. And why would jms go and work for Star Trek??

</font><font color="red">Manny Coto is, I believe, show runner; not EP.</font>

No, just to clarify, though I got a call last year about coming onto Enterprise, offering an EP position, and declined; the series I mentioned has nothing to do with any current series, it's a new show. As for Manny, he's a good writer, and left to his own devices, I think he could be a big help over there without the other powers that be impeding the process.

Amusingly enough, on the Trek front, Bryce Zabel (the creator of Dark Skies) and I got together and wrote a treatment earlier this year that specified how to save ST and develop a series that would restore the series in a big way. I actually think it could be a hell of a show. Whether that ever goes anywhere with Paramount, who knows?

jms

JMS's book Othersyde is being solicted for retailer orders. I'm going to order a few, let me know if you want one. It retails at 12 bucks, but we'll discount it.

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">But if you're going to argue for the value of dissent, then tolerance has to be equilateral. The alternative is the hypocrisy of "tolerating" those whose dissent you already agree with and rejecting dissent from those that you don't.</font>

There's a misperception about how such arguments should be phrased in the popular media, however. The problem is the attempt to create tolerance through supposed balance...and they're not the same thing.

One person gave a great example...if Bush said the world was flat, the papers would rush out and get other opinions, then run articles entitled "Bush, Democrats Differ On Shape of World."

It's balance of a point of view, but it's not an accurate portrayal of the facts.

I've seen Moore's film, and my sense of it is this: about 70% of the film consist of very solid and well-researched facts that have been reported and confirmed by a variety of respected sources, then further vetted by a battery of attorneys.

The remaining 30% is the analysis of those facts. You may or may not agree with some of those analyses.

But the facts themselves are damning enough. That 70% is one hell of a 70%.

And I'm sorry, but to argue about the merits about Moore's film without bothering to see it is about as asinine and ignorant as anything I've ever seen. You can't just cite his "prose" in an ambiguous way and come to conclusions about something you haven't deigned to see.

As Harlan says, you're not entitled to your opinion...you're entitled to your INFORMED opinion. If you haven't bothered to be informed about something, to be properly educated -- in this case by seeing the thing you're discussing -- then sorry, but your opinion is less than worthless. It may serve for your amusement, but that's all.

There's the story of a group of philosophers who were sitting around debating how many teeth were in the mouth of a donkey. A kid sitting nearby suggested they simply go out and count the teeth. They booted him out and went back to speculating in a vacuum because somehow that was purer.

But history has shown who was truly the ass in that discussion.

jms</font>

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permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

<font face="georgia"><font color="red">You say that the movies "facts" have been "confirmed by a variety of respected sources." Can you name even one of those respected sources?</font>

Well, let's see...there are the documents provided by the Pentagon concerning Bush's military service (since you identify yourself as a member of the USAF you must put some credibility in the Pentagon), the Washington Post which stated that Bush spent about 42% of the time prior to 9/11 on vacation, a statistic that has not been challenged by anyone, and there's film -- unedited -- of Bush that speaks volumes, and nobody's said it's CGI.

You say that --

<font color="red">5% is out right lies, 35% are distortions of the facts, and 30% is analysis of of those lies and distortions.</font>

-- but you don't say what those lies are. You cite very specific breakdowns, so you could perhaps delineat those figures for us a bit more. Becaue if you're going to be mathematical in your allegation, I'm going to ask you to be equally mathematical in showing your homework. Specifiy what those are, please.

Because for all the complaints from some quarters about the film, and the general, vague statements of "it's filled with lies," nobody has yet come forth to specify what those falsehoods *are*. I woud love to hear your specificities here.

Or are you just repeating what others have said to you?

jms

<hr>
<font color="red">Happy Birthday, Joe!
</font>

........feh.

I mean, yeah, it beats the alternatives, but NOT AS FUCKING MUCH AS IT USED TO.


feh


jms

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permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

From: "Blurrt" <[email protected]>
Date: Sat, 7 Aug 2004 19:41:05 +0000 (UTC)
Lines: 21

Hi All,
I know it may still be a difficult subject for some - but I would like to
raise the question of who would be the perfect actor to take on the role of
Dr Franklin - and do it in a manner that could preserve the character.

I'm thinking Don Franklin (the last name seems almost prophetic!) - he
appeared as the first officer in the old series Seaquest DSV. He's the the
only actor that I can imagine delivering the lines the way Richard Biggs did
("I'm going to ask that little lady for a dance", "Now, wait a minute",
etc).

The fandom would also be more likely to accept someone they may have some
familiarity with and who has a science fiction background.

Just a thought.

Nathan.

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From: [email protected] (Jms at B5)
Date: Sun, 8 Aug 2004 04:59:27 +0000 (UTC)
Lines: 17

>I would like to
>raise the question of who would be the perfect actor to take on the role of
>Dr Franklin - and do it in a manner that could preserve the character.

That character will not be recast.

jms

([email protected])
(all message content (c) 2004 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)

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So, no Dr Franklin in tMoS then [img]frown.gif[/img]

I personally prefer No Dr. Franklin, to a recast Dr. Franklin.

From: [email protected] (jms at b5)
Subject: from jms 8/23/04
To: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Date: 8/23/2004 7:06:26 PM

Just some quick, minor updates....

In the comics world...Supreme Power 12 came out last week, and the next Amazing Spider-Man comes out this week, and I'm very happy with how both of them came out. It's a good time to jump on board.

I was recently in NYC for a big retreat/conference with Marvel about upcoming projects, and while there are several I can't talk about yet, one thing I can mention is that I'll be doing a Silver Surfer miniseries that should shake people up a bit.

There's also going to be something very weird and funny coming from Marvel soon, which will give them cause to never, ever invite me to one of these things ever again.

Also, the first of the last three Rising Stars issues comes out next month as well as the co-written first issue of the Doctor Strange miniseries.

On the TV front, I have final confirmation that the last batch of Jeremiah episodes will be airing on the regular Showtime channels starting September 3rd. The episodes are:

Sept 3: Crossing Jordan and Running On Empty
Sept 10:: The Question and The Past Is Prologue
Sept 17: The Face In The Mirror and State Of The Union
Sept 24: Interregnum (Parts 1 and 2)

All of them are really strong episodes, and I'm glad to see them finally being aired.

Pending contractual negotiations and formal pickup by the networks involved, I've been offered two different series, so we'll see which goes first. They could both be very cool to work on, but one of them could be insanely successful. I should know more about this situation in late October. (Neither is Trek-related, just to nip any potential rumors in the bud.)

Starting sometime in October, in an unrelated project, our friends in Britain can expect to see me hanging about on-and-off in the general vicinity of London. Just, y'know, workin', doin' stuff.

I've also tentatively agreed (pending working out some details) to appear at FedCon in Bonn, Germany in May of next year. In an unrelated story, my radio series, The City of Dreams, will also apparently be airing soon on German radio. For those of you who can speak the langauge, you can get more information at http://www.sf-radio.net/radio/spezial/

The next of my novels to be reprinted from ibooks/Simon and Schuster is Tribulations, due out in December, which can be pre-ordered at Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...d=1093312226/s
r=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-9872970-8247801?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Volume 2 of the Supreme Power collection, also due out in December, can be pre-ordered at

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...-9872970-82478 01?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Buddy the Miracle Cat (or Buddy TMC as he is known to his hip-hop friends) celebrated his first re-birthday last month, and has decided that he wants to be a shark instead of a cat. There's clear plastic covering one of the floors while work is being done, and he loves nothing more than to get under the plastic (lots of holes for air, don't worry) and circle around me like a shark, over and over. It's all he wants to do anymore.

Oh, and in the next week or so I should be turning in the next-to-final draft of the TMoS screenplay.

I got this from a Claudia Christian Newsletter:

Quote:

---

Hello everyone,

It is with great sadness that I pass this along to all of you. I just found out
this morning that Tim Choate aka Zathras from B5 has died in a tragic motorcycle
accident. There will be a trust fund set up for his young son. As soon as I find
out that info, I will put it up on the links site so you can make donations if you
like.

He was a personal friend of mine and was always nice to all the fans.

holly

---

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Zathras was one of my favorite characters. Zathras not the one, but Tim will be missed. [img]frown.gif[/img]

Public service info - from jms

On the theory that patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels...a bit of news for folks who might have missed this little wonderfulness in the latest mailings from their bank.

Using the rationale that this is a good way to prevent paperwork from getting into the hands of terrorists to use in filtering money (among other similar justifications) starting October 28th banks and other financial institutions are no longer under any requirement to send back your canceled checks. ('Cause they could get intercepted in the mail and used for devious purposes.)

Under the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act, instead of getting your check back, you will get either a line on your statement about it, or if you request it, a slip of paper that has the basic information (but not anything you wrote on the memo line, and no copies of your signature front or back to determine if it's legit).

The way it works normally is that you write a check, it goes to a bank, they send it on to a central check processing center, and from the center it goes back to your bank, which sends it on to you. Now the cycle stops at the check processing center. They do point out that they hold the checks for a year...but if you should, say, be audited, the IRS can request checks going back much further than that. And you won't be able to get them. (I haven't checked on this, but I believe that the only way you can now get your checks from the processing center is...wait for it...to pay a fee.)

This has been very little publicized, so I thought it would be a good idea to let people know that this was going on. I didn't know about it myself until my accountant mentioned it, and I was able to confirm it with my bank.

This modern age...gotta love it.

Oh, and for the first time in five years, there is an office somewhere in England with the words Babylon 5 on the door....

jms