Time once again to begin a new JMS Speaks topic.....
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Time once again to begin a new JMS Speaks topic.....
<font face="Verdana"><font color="red">With the Rangers filming set to begin in only a few more days, what does your schedule look like? What's done, scheduled soon, driving you nuts etc?
And is it fun? <g></font>
It's a little bit nuts, but we have things well in hand for the start of filming.
The best part? Walking through the production office on any of my visits and hearing the staff answer the phone, "Babylon 5."
Back with a vengeance.
jms
<hr>
<font color="red">Amazing Spider-Man #31 has me leaping off my seat in anticipation for the next issue! There is a lot to love, but for me it comes down to one particular fact: AUNT MAY leaps off the page as a vibrant, wonderful, fully defined character. She's wise, funny, and even sneaky. She immediately became one of my favorite characters and that is something that has not been accomplished since... I haven't a clue.</font>
Thanks. She's become a fun character to write. The character has largely been abandoned, just treated as a doddering old woman, but this is someone who's carried great burdens in her life, and kept her strength through it all...she needs to be given better treatment than she's gotten of late.
jms
<font face="Verdana"><font color="red">In February you mentioned three potential television projects. Two turned out to be The Legend of the Rangers and the unnamed project that should start filming in September. You also mentioned a "surprise third project" that you described as "coming up fast and furious".
Can you let us know what the status of the third project is? Is it still in negotiation, signed, or did it pass quietly?
</font>
Neither. I looked at my workload, and said, "Not now, let's pursue this down the road where I have room to do it right." I don't want to over-extend.
jms
<hr>
<font color="red">Found this posted on the Space website (Canada's version of the Sci-Fi
Channel):
Board: Space General Discussion
Title: For West Coast Babylon 5 fans
Author: Mark Askwith
Date: 05/09/01
"Stephen Christian e-mailed me with an early heads up on a JMS presentation in Vancouver...
note: I have NO further info...
m.
"On Sunday, May 27th, there will be a Gathering, the first since February 1999. Most likely it will be held at the
Pacific Space Center (read the Planetarium). Plans are to show a couple of episodes and have JMS do a presentation. JMS has agreed to this date and we are trying to organize
this now. Attendance procedures will follow but will probably be limited to 215 seats."
JMS, any comment? Any possibility of getting on your personal guest list? http://www.hostboard.com/ubb/wink.gif
</font>
They're working on a presentation venue, but I haven't heard anything final or definitive yet.
jms
Actually, just heard that the event is set for May 27th at 6:30 p.m. at Simon
Fraser University. Don't know much beyond that.
I'll be there, and I may bring surprises.
jms
Holy cow.
On my list, Vir was #1, then David Corwin, Delenn, Warren Keffer, then Sinclair.
Hmmmm. I don't mind Vir, as he was in the series. But as for what he became later.... argh.
Well, Here I am in the olistings: LOL
# 1 Alfred Bester
# 2 Vir Cotto
# 3 Delenn
# 4 Marcus Cole
# 5 David Corwin
# 6 Londo Mollari
# 7 John Sheridan
# 8 Warren Keffer
# 9 Jeffrey David Sinclair
# 10 Kosh Naranek
http://www.hostboard.com/ubb/eek.gif
Well, not too bad actually...
# 1 John Sheridan
# 2 Michael Alfredo Garibaldi
# 3 Warren Keffer
# 4 Elizabeth Lochley
# 5 David Corwin
# 6 G'Kar
# 7 Londo Mollari
# 8 Vir Cotto
# 9 Zack Allan
# 10 Delenn
# 11 Jeffrey David Sinclair
# 12 Dr. Stephen Franklin
# 13 Kosh Naranek
# 14 Susan Ivanova
# 15 Zathras
# 16 Alfred Bester
# 17 Marcus Cole
# 18 Morden
# 19 Byron
# 20 Emperor Cartagia
# 21 Na'Toth
# 22 Lennier
# 23 Lyta Alexander
# 24 Talia Winters
# 25 Lord Refa
What you wanna bet that ProfCrash keeps at it until Sheridan is at the bottom of <u>her</u> list?
<font face="Verdana"><font color="green">OK, I was reading this thread on Deja, (well, Google) and tried to come here to respond to it. I couldn't find it, and realized that the thread I was reading was from 1996!
Briefly disappointed, I decided what the heck - it's been five years, time for a rerun!
So the question is, of all the characters in Babylon 5 (and we got more now), which one is most like you? Is there one? In short,
Who Are You?</font>
<font color="blue">The web site SelectSmart.com has a variety of fun tests one may take in a lot of different areas. One of these tests will tell you what Babylon 5 character you most resemble(rating on a sliding scale).
To take the test, go to the web site at url http://www.selectsmart.com and at the left of the web page, under Selector Center, choose "Movie & TV Selectors" then "Babylon Character Selector" (which is about 2/3 the way down the list, as the list isn't in alphabetical order). (BTW, my number one character match was Vir as well, which I don't mind one bit ;-)</font>
<font color="yellow"> Mine was Corwin, which surprisingly, is probably the most accurate. My #2 was Refa. What do Refa and Corwin have in common? I have no idea.</font>
<font color="red">Mine was:
Refa
Lennier
Corwin
Londo
Marcus
Further down it lists Vir next to Cartagia, which *was* surprising. I'm least like Byron, and then Franklin.
</font>
I gave it a shot...and I came up first with Londo, then Marcus, Bester,
Sheridan, G'Kar, Garibaldi, Ivanova and all the other main characters pretty
much in order.
jms
</font>
...bye the way...
...did I mention that Chris Franke is doing the music for the new B5 project?
jms
this kinda suprised me!!!!
# 1 David Corwin
# 2 Delenn
# 3 Vir Cotto
# 4 Jeffrey David Sinclair
# 5 John Sheridan
# 6 Lennier
# 7 Susan Ivanova
# 8 Warren Keffer
# 9 Zack Allan
# 10 Elizabeth Lochley
# 11 Alfred Bester
# 12 Londo Mollari
# 13 Lyta Alexander
# 14 Marcus Cole
# 15 Michael Alfredo Garibaldi
# 16 Talia Winters
# 17 Kosh Naranek
# 18 Dr. Stephen Franklin
# 19 Morden
# 20 Na'Toth
# 21 Zathras
# 22 Byron
# 23 G'Kar
# 24 Emperor Cartagia
# 25 Lord Refa
What on earth was the algorithm that this guy used?
# 1 David Corwin
# 2 Vir Cotto
# 3 Delenn
# 4 Jeffrey David Sinclair
# 5 Zack Allan
# 6 Londo Mollari
# 7 Marcus Cole
# 8 Kosh Naranek
# 9 Warren Keffer
# 10 John Sheridan
# 11 Talia Winters
# 12 Susan Ivanova
# 13 Alfred Bester
# 14 Lennier
# 15 Morden
# 16 Michael Alfredo Garibaldi
# 17 Elizabeth Lochley
# 18 Zathras
# 19 Dr. Stephen Franklin
# 20 Byron
# 21 Emperor Cartagia
# 22 Lyta Alexander
# 23 Na'Toth
# 24 G'Kar
# 25 Lord Refa
I was glad to see Cartagia far down on the list, but what is it that puts Corwin so high up on so many lists?
OK, this is too funny.
# 1 John Sheridan
# 2 Marcus Cole
# 3 Vir Cotto
# 4 Warren Keffer
# 5 Delenn
# 6 Na'Toth
# 7 G'Kar
# 8 Michael Alfredo Garibaldi
# 9 Jeffrey David Sinclair
# 10 Londo Mollari
# 11 Zack Allan
# 12 David Corwin
# 13 Lennier
# 14 Susan Ivanova
# 15 Kosh Naranek
# 16 Emperor Cartagia
# 17 Talia Winters
# 18 Morden
# 19 Alfred Bester
# 20 Dr. Stephen Franklin
# 21 Zathras
# 22 Elizabeth Lochley
# 23 Byron
# 24 Lyta Alexander
# 25 Lord Refa
I stand corrected, Prof...
Prof: ROFL!
Mine...drumroll please...
#1: Delenn
#2: Jeffrey David Sinclair
#3: Susan Ivanova
#4: Marcus Cole
#5: Morden
#6: Kosh Naranek
#7: Londo Mollari
#8: Vir Cotto
#9: Alfred Bester
#10: Byron
#11: David Corwin
#12: G'Kar
#13: John Sheridan
#14: Zathras
#15: Lennier
#16: Elizabeth Lochley
#17: Na'Toth
#18: Warren Keffer
#19: Michael Alfredo Garibaldi
#20: Talia Winters
#21: Zack Allan
#22: Dr. Stephen Franklin
#23: Lyta Alexander
#24: Emperor Cartagia
#25: Lord Refa
I only did it once (grins) and I posted it before reading everyone elses (bigger grin)
Subject: Re: JMS: What'cha up to?
From: [email protected] (Jms at B5)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
<font color=red>With the Rangers filming set to begin in only a few more days, what does your schedule look like? What's done, scheduled soon, driving you nuts etc?
And is it fun? <g> </font>
It's a little bit nuts, but we have things well in hand for the start of filming.
The best part? Walking through the production office on any of my visits and
hearing the staff answer the phone, "Babylon 5."
Back with a vengeance.
jms
<hr>
Subject: Very sad news indeed
From: [email protected] (Zosolias)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
<font color=red>On Friday, the legendary Douglas Adams passed away from a heart attack. The world will be a bit less weird, and a bit sadder. </font>
It's a terrible loss to all of science fiction fandom and, frankly, to the world at large. There is far too little joy in the world, and some of the best of it came from Douglas Adams.
jms
<hr>
<font color=blue>I loved seeing the results of the character selection survey. Thanks Wizz for posting the link.</font>?
by the time i finished the survey and got my results. i couldn't see it because all the ad windows that popped up. MOST ANNOYING!!!
No problem, Lyta...btw, where are <u>your</u> results? Eh???
Joh69...Yeah, it's a pain. I got to be pretty fast nailing the "X" in the upper right corner. They came in batches, so when the smoke cleared, it was a quick highlight, copy, close all of 'em, and post. Thank the gods for copy and paste. http://www.hostboard.com/ubb/biggrin.gif
[Re: Death of Douglas Adams]
I forgot to add that part of the quality of the work is visible in the sheer number of catchphrases that have entered SF vernacular thanks to Douglas Adams...so long and thanks for all the fish...I have this terrible pain all up and down the left side of my diodes...the whole whale-ground encounter...classic moments that are known to nearly everybody in the genre.
His work will be missed profoundly.
jms
<font face="arial" size="-4">
[This message has been edited by Wizz (edited May 14, 2001).]
<font face="verdana">Re: Who are you?
<font color="red">Sure, all the fluffy, obscure as hell, light stuff is shown by JMS most of the time, but for all we know he's a Uni bomber waiting to happen!</font></p>
What was your address again...?
jms</p></font>
<Font face="Verdana"><font color="red">Hi All, maybe I'm wrong, but it seems there are no androids in the B5 universe(?).
As an erstwhile passionate fan of Isaac Asimov's books (including "I, Robot"), I am disappointed. OK, so it's been done to death by ST:TNG with Data etc, but surely there are always new twists that can be tried?
OTOH, every time I think of things like this, I am reminded of "Red Dwarf" and Kryton; and of course, of "Hitchhiker's Guide" Marvin the Paranoid Android: "Brain the size of a planet and they ask me to park
spaceships..."</font>
On strike.
jms
</font>
Actually, didn't I read somewhere that Androids were banned (atleast by earthers) in the B5 universe?
Ok, Here's mine
# 1 Delenn
# 2 John Sheridan
# 3 Vir Cotto
# 4 Londo Mollari
# 5 Marcus Cole
# 6 David Corwin
# 7 G'Kar
# 8 Warren Keffer
# 9 Byron
# 10 Jeffrey David Sinclair
# 11 Michael Alfredo Garibaldi
# 12 Emperor Cartagia
# 13 Alfred Bester
# 14 Dr. Stephen Franklin
# 15 Elizabeth Lochley
# 16 Na'Toth
# 17 Kosh Naranek
# 18 Lennier
# 19 Zack Allan
# 20 Susan Ivanova
# 21 Talia Winters
# 22 Lyta Alexander
# 23 Morden
# 24 Zathras
# 25 Lord Refa
Hey, I figured I am far enough along to try this....
O and PC, take note http://www.hostboard.com/ubb/tongue.gif
# 1 John Sheridan
# 2 Vir Cotto
# 3 Delenn
# 4 Jeffrey David Sinclair
# 5 Warren Keffer
# 6 David Corwin
# 7 Marcus Cole
# 8 Michael Alfredo Garibaldi
# 9 Zack Allan
# 10 Byron
# 11 Emperor Cartagia
# 12 Dr. Stephen Franklin
# 13 Londo Mollari
# 14 Talia Winters
# 15 G'Kar
# 16 Susan Ivanova
# 17 Elizabeth Lochley
# 18 Lyta Alexander
# 19 Alfred Bester
# 20 Lennier
# 21 Na'Toth
# 22 Kosh Naranek
# 23 Zathras
# 24 Morden
# 25 Lord Refa
------------------
The Red Witch
True Names by Vernor Vinge
[email protected]
Subject: Re: JMS: Jerry Doyle and crew wanted to revive Babylon5?!
From: [email protected] (Jms at B5)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
To answer the question...yes, Jerry had some ideas, and tried to put something together, but the resources just weren't there.
jms
Here's my results....
#1: Vir Cotto
#2: Warren Keffer
#3: John Sheridan
#4: Jeffrey David Sinclair
#5: David Corwin
#6: Zack Allan
#7: Delenn
#8: Marcus Cole
#9: Talia Winters
#10: Alfred Bester
#11: Elizabeth Lochley
#12: Lennier
#13: Susan Ivanova
#14: Emperor Cartagia
#15: Kosh Naranek
#16: Michael Alfredo Garibaldi
#17: Dr. Stephen Franklin
#18: G'Kar
#19: Morden
#20: Na'Toth
#21: Zathras
#22: Byron
#23: Londo Mollari
#24: Lyta Alexander
#25: Lord Refa
Polly, I don't know what it is about Corwin, but I'm fairly happy to see that Lord Refa ends up at the bottom of everyone that's posted so far...
Subject: Re: JMS: Jerry Doyle and crew wanted to revive Babylon5?!
From: [email protected] (Jms at B5)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
<font color=red>you are a one-trick-pony. I think it's time you faced that, stopped trying to delude yourself that you have any real talent. You got one lucky break. Please don't throw it away. </font>
I just love psychopaths that write this kind of thing. It's so easy to deflate.
So, Murder She Wrote, and Twilight Zone, and Nightmare Classics (which got me a Writers Guild nomination)...those don't exist, because a one-trick pony either HAS only one thing, or DOES only one thing, and just that alone discredits the thing.
And there's the comics, that range from top ten to top twenty sellers, the Rising Stars book that is en route to becoming a feature film, the other project that is a go order for a new series....
People like to think that simply saying something like the above will make it true.
And by harping on this endlessly, they become the one-trick, or the one-note, pony...a pony that will fade into obscurity and be utterly forgotten...where those shows will go on forever.
jms
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS - Wildstorm Graphic Novel?
From: [email protected] (Jms at B5)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
<font color=red>You recently metioned doing a 100 page B5 graphic novel for Wildstorm.
I was just wondering how that was coming and what you can tell us about it. </font>
I'm in the process of nailing down the story, which may work out to be a pre-WWE Sinclair/Sheridan crossover, involving Mars, Minbar, B5 and a conspiracy.
jms
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: A Matter of Timing.
From: [email protected] (Jms at B5)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
<font color=red>There's been something I've been wondering for a while, and I was hoping you could shed some light on. What with TWCNBN, and the Rangers movie (which will almost certainly lead to a series); if Sci-Fi came to you tomorrow and said "We were really impressed by Crusade's ratings, we want to renew it." Considering what you said about The Third Project, would you have any time or stamina LEFT for Crusade? You said before that you would take a diminished role, but wouldn't all those other people who would be pinch-hitting for you be working on the other B5 series?
Thanks. </font>
It would be possible, but we'd have to lay things out and schedule them in such a way as to allow me to do the work properly.
jms
<font face="verdana">
Just an FYI...my latest Amazing Spider-Man came out last week (issue 31), and the newest Midnight Nation (issue 7) came out today.
jms
<font face="Verdana"><font color="red">I was wondering, how closely did you and Chris Franke work together? I remember hearing that George Lucas originally intended to use only existing classical music for Star Wars, and had planned out the soundtrack, but then John Williams came in, listened to what Lucas had in mind, and composed his own score.
How much direction did you give Mr. Franke? Was all along the lines of, "Break our hearts here, make us tense here, and write a decent love theme here, but do it however you see fit," or did you give him more specific instruction? Did you, like Lucas, have preexisting music in mind that you
wanted parts to resemble?</font>
Chris and I sit down to spot the movie (meaning I call out the spots, minutes/seconds/frames) where I want the music to come in and go out. I give general directions, more in terms of the emotion of the scene or my intent than in musical terms because I don't speak that particular language with any facility. On rare occasions I'll say I want a particular instrument, or a particular sound. Usually it's left to Chris, who knows what I want better than I do sometimes.
jms
<hr><font color="blue">
I posted your comments on a "B5" board, and they drew the following response: "I can't help but get the impression that JMS would rather see 'Crusade' die than live. I had hoped this 'third project' would BE Crusade, but after this post, it does not sound like it. If JMS is not interested in pursuing 'Crusade', should we the fans be? I find myself wondering."
This is an odd phenomenon, but not an uncommon one. It seems that every reply where you discuss the *possibility* of "Crusades" return at some point, but stop short of saying, "We start shooting tomorrow", is greeted as the final death-knell of the show. People seem so eager to "read between the lines" of your posts that they don't read the lines themselves. It seems to me that you have had any number of opportunities to declare "Crusade" dead once and for all, or to say that you have no further interest in pursuing that particular story and have moved onto other things. Instead you have *always* seemed to leave this particular door open, while in no way minimizing the challenges involved in bringing the show back in some form, someday.
</font><font color="red">
I mean, this last post began with the words, "It would be possible" and the guy from the other board immediately took this as a "sign" that you really want the show dead. Is he endowed with superior insight, or am I safe in assuming that when you say "it would be possible" you mean, "it would be possible"?
</font>
It is a sign that whoever posted that is a dork.
Things take the time they take. The show just barely finished ariing on SFC. Look at the time frame between when B5 started airing on SFC, and when we got the go-ahead to do Rangers. TV doesn't work in idealized terms..."Gee it did great so let's go out and make a deal RIGHTNOW!" It is a slow, wearing, grinding process. TV is a cautious business.
I have not been told, definitively, "no" by SFC, nor have I been told "yes;" I know what's in their budget to do at this moment, and I know they want to test the B5 waters in general with Rangers. I cannot imagine that, if the show does well, they wouldn't want to revisit Crusade.
But to say that I want the show to die is right up there in the top two percentile of the top ten percent of dumb things I've heard this year. I would love to be able to finish the story, and finish it properly. Until that happens, it will always be an unresolved issue with me.
jms
Subject: brief report from jms
From: [email protected] (Jms at B5)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Well, all of last week I was in Vancouver for the first week of shooting on the two-hour TV movie BABYLON 5: LEGEND OF THE RANGERS. (I'm back now for a while.) It's been a terrific experience to date. The dailies look great. Mike Vejar is on board to direct, and is keeping the look and feel consistent with what we've done before, but at the same time (in collaboration with our new Director of Photography Henry Chan) is taking the look even a step further. The sets (courtesy of production designer Steve Gaeghan and his band of artistic types) look more detailed, more textured, more realistic than much of what we've done before on B5. (This is in no way to diminish what we did in B5 on sets, it's just a different approach.)
Andreas Katsulas showed up mid-week as G'Kar, and despite having been away from that makeup for three years, was instantly back in character starting with the first shot and straight on through.
The cast have proven themselves excellent. It's natural to take some time to find your character, and find the lines...but from the moment they landed on set, they had their lines letter perfect, and the chemistry is there between them. SFC has seen the dailies and they're absolutely enchanted with what's on film.
I wish I had colorful stories to tell, but we're talking here about a bunch of dedicated professionals who appreciate the legacy of B5 and are doing everything they can to make this next installment the best possible. (About the only negative thing to happen all week was my losing my California state ID midweek, which I'll have to go in to replace this week at my local DMV.) It's a very elaborate production, with everything from pyros to wire works and other stuff, in addition to the usual glut of CGI we tend to do, but so far it's all going quite well.
I've been taking digital pictures of the production which will soon be available on the SFC website...and there are some beauts there. I'll let you know when they're up.
In the interim...know that the show is going extremely well, and I think that people are going to like the cast a lot. They're good, well-trained, dedicated people.
I think it's going to go over very well indeed.
jms
OK, I'm a bit late catching up here, but here's my character profile (ugh!):
# 1 David Corwin
# 2 Vir Cotto
# 3 Warren Keffer
# 4 Alfred Bester
# 5 Lord Refa
# 6 Delenn
# 7 Londo Mollari
# 8 Talia Winters
# 9 Zack Allan
# 10 Jeffrey David Sinclair
# 11 Elizabeth Lochley
# 12 John Sheridan
# 13 Marcus Cole
# 14 Lennier
# 15 Emperor Cartagia
# 16 Lyta Alexander
# 17 Michael Alfredo Garibaldi
# 18 Byron
# 19 Susan Ivanova
# 20 Kosh Naranek
# 21 Dr. Stephen Franklin
# 22 Morden
# 23 G'Kar
# 24 Na'Toth
# 25 Zathras
I find having Lord Refa so high puzzling, as I answered the "end justifying the means" question emphatically no, but who knows how the thing was set up.....
<font face="verdana"><font color="red">The owners of CRUSADE pulled the plug on the production and will not allow broadcasters that have previously aired the series, the right to broadcast it a second time. However, the Sci-Fi Channel in the U.S. is able to air it because it is their first broadcast of the series.
Is this really true? Or is there some corporate bafflegab going on? Why would Crusade not be rerunnable, whereas Babylon 5 is? Isn't it Warner Brothers that owns the rights to both series?</font>
Yeah, so to be honest, that sounds a bit fishy to me.
jms</font>
<font face="Verdana"><font color="red">Mind telling us a little more about the cast? Who's playing who...</font>
Just off the top of my head and in no real order... Dylan Neal is playing David Martel, our lead character, a Ranger who's come through some especially rough times; Alex Zahara is Dulann, a Minbari, his second; Myriam Sirois is Sarah Cantrell of Mars Dome One, weapons specialist; Enid Raye Adams is Firell, Minbari, a healer; Warren Takeuchi as Kitaro Sasaki of Earth, communication and translations; Dean Marshall as Malcolm Bridges, covert intelligence and infiltration; David Storch as Tafeek, Minbari, a political and first contact guy; and a Narn, Na'Feel (played by Jennie Hogan) and a Drazi, Tirk (played by Gus Lynch), both recent recruits/ members of the Rangers.
jms
<hr>
"I've been taking digital pictures of the production."
<font color="red">
Just curious. Whatcha using?
</font>
Sony MVC 1000 recording directly onto a mini-CDrom.
jms
<hr>
<font color="red">Obviously there's been some improvement in the quality of graphics over the last few years, but how committed are you to seeing that the new Studio maintains a level of consistency with what's been seen in previous B5?</font>
The effects will be consistent, but overall will be an improvement on what's gone before.
jms</font>
Re: Attn JMS - B5 DVD dropped from schedules
I am totally sans clue on this, this is the first I've heard of it.
jms
<font face="verdana"><font color="red">Since there were some, ahem, challenges in the network direction with Crusade (and since I play with process challenges for a living I'm always intrigued by both the good and the bad processes), I was wondering what the process was this time with SCI-FI? How does it differ from previous network experiences?</font>
It isn't so much different as it is pretty much the same, in the sense that the whole TNT situation was an aberration; I had NEVER had that much interference, that level of interference, on ANY other show before. There have been headaches, sure, but that's part of the job and never to this extent.
So SFC's involvement has been pretty much on a par with what has gone before. They had a handful of notes on the outline, ditto on the script, and that was it. And in both cases they were primarily small notes, line notes or character bits.
You *expect* to get some notes along the way, because the network/studio is the buyer. I'm okay with that and always have been. The TNT situation was simply insane.
<font color="red">I'm delighted that SCI-FI likes the dailies (and am looking forward to being equally as delighted with the finished product). Who sees them? Is that their Programming Department? Did script go through a similar process?</font>
I know it goes to the heads of programming in NY and LA, possibly to the PR department, beyond that I don't know.
jms
<hr>
<font color="red">JMS, is Jennie Hogan (Na'Feel) okay with the Narn makeup? I know you've had problems with actresses & the Narn makeup in the past.</font>
So far, so good.
jms
</font>
<font face="verdana"><font color="red">Did you happen to name the character Kitaro Sasaki after the Japanese musician?</font>
It was one of many influences; Kitaro as a name has a long legacy in many places, though the musician Kitaro (and yes I do have some of his albums) is currently the best known. Sasaki came from a Zen master of that name.
jms</font>
<font face="Verdana"><font color="red">What with Joss Whedon having (starting next fall) 3 connected shows on 3 networks (WB, UPN, BBC), and you having two on 2 different networks (with luck), do you see that sort of thing becoming more common?</font>
Actually, it's been common for decades; producers routinely make shows for different or competing networks.
jms
<hr>
<font color="red">Don't shoot me! A number of Babylon 5 and Crusade episodes take place on Mars! So....
Many of you may remember the "Face on Mars" revealed 25 years ago in NASA Viking 1 images. Many will remember all the hoo hah which followed and has continued into the now.
NASA has new imagery of the Cydonia region of Mars, and in particular, the mesa which has been referred to as "The Face on Mars".
Details at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2....htm?list82243
Of course, the "Real Story" will be revealed in the National Perspirer next week :-)</font>
See, here's my thought, which I voiced at a dinner a couple of years ago with a bunch of NASA/JPL types....
"You guys are always fighting to get money and budgets approved. But if you said, 'We don't know what it is...I mean, it's PROBABLY not a face, but maybe it IS a face, we should go and check it out just in case.' you'd get all the money you'd ever want."
jms</font><font face="arial" size="-4">
[This message has been edited by Wizz (edited June 16, 2001).]
<Font face="Verdana">Re: SFX
<font color="red">Can we all say "forged autographs"? Yup, the same old shenanigans as well.</font>
<font color="blue"><u>That</u>, I rather think, is a criminal offense.</font></p>
That was one of the major concerns that I had based on the last Wolf con I attended, there seemed to be a fair amount of this going on, and an attitude that seemed almost to encourage such things.
Case in point (one of a bunch)...there illegal, counterfeited items in the dealer's room when we had given specific instructions (and had received elaborate promises) that no such items would be present. I ended up personally going around and confronting many of the counterfeiters because the Wolf people would not do so.
The worst of this was the sheer amount of fake autographed material. At one point, Mira Furlan came to me, profoundly upset, because there were cards that were being sold supposedly with her autograph but which she never signed. So again I had to go down into the dealer's room myself. Stupidly, the guy doing the selling didn't know who I was when I asked about the cards (Mira was standing behind me, unseen by the guy, which is easy to do given our relatives heights).
I asked about the cards, as though I were interested in buying them, and he said that he had personally overseen the autographing, that the autographs were absolutely authentic...then I stepped out of the way, and let Mira come forward. "Are these your autographs?" I asked.
She looked them over and pronounced them total forgeries. Suddenly the guy was saying that he didn't acually oversee the signing, that it was "some fellow in the States" who sold them to him.
I complained vigorously to the con organizers, and initially was told "well, we'll ask him to take them off the table." Take them OFF THE TABLE? They didn't want to offend him. Finally I made it clear that if this wasn't handled right now in the proper way, the way ANY convention would handle it, I was gonna call the cops.
So they finally ejected the dealer from the con, which solved that one problem but left the others selling bogus merchandise unresolved.
Subsequent to this, presumably to make amends to the dealer, they put the word out to other dealers and people that "Joe just went nuts on a dealer for no real reason," that I was being a bully and unreasonable...never mentioning the counterfeiting part of it. In my view, the concern seemed to be far more with maintaining good relations with the dealers who were fleecing the fans, than in protecting the fans from the very real prospect of spending a great deal of their money to obtain something that was a complete fake.
I had to work hard to overcome a lot of the badmouthing that came out of this, but thankfully there were many, many witnesses.
jms
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[This message has been edited by Wizz (edited May 31, 2001).]