Jan wrote: > And did you take Thanksgiving off or did you just run off to a country where > they don't even have it the same time/way the US does to avoid it? ;-)
Ever listen to Bob Newhart's old "phone call" monologues?
One of the best, he's imagining being in England on the receiving end of a call from Sir Walter Raleigh...
"The turkeys? Yeah, Walt, we got the turkeys. They're wandering all over London, in fact. <pause> See, that's an American holiday, Walt..."
"Hello! You have reached the home of Joseph Michael Straczynski. If you'd like to leave a message press one. If you'd like to recieve an automatic response to common questions press two."
Dial tone of digit two is sent across the line.
"You may now recieve epiphany on the following subjects. To select a subject just press the correct digit, which belongs to it- no need to wait for the end of the message. Where do I live? - Select one. What is my cat's name? - Select two. What is the meaning of life? - Select three. How come I am so handsom? - Select four. What is the formula of the Unification theory? - Select five. How much is two multiplied by three? - Select six. How much I love you? - Select seven. What do you see in a mirror? - Select eight. Who I voted for? - Select nine. When will my next project, The Memory of Shadows, begin and what is it about? - Select one half.
Someone pondering: "What? One half? What is that?!"
Dial tone of multiple random digits is sent across the line.
"You wish to know 'How much I love you?'. Well, I don't- so stop bothering me!!! The phone from which you called is now banned. Have a good day."
An agonized tormented soul shouting: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
Jan wrote: > (ouch, you're right. A person can hurt themselves doing that)
> It's been simply *ages* since we've gotten an update on the state of the > Straczynski-verses. So what's happening with (deep breath):
> Comics (ALL of 'em)?
> "But in Purple..."?
> TMoS?
> TV (if any)?
> Animation (just covering all bases)?
> Shared Universe?
> and....whatever it is that you're not able to tell us about this week?
> And did you take Thanksgiving off or did you just run off to a country where > they don't even have it the same time/way the US does to avoid it? ;-)
>"Hello! You have reached the home of Joseph Michael Straczynski. >If you'd like to leave a message press one. >If you'd like to recieve an automatic response to common questions press >two."
Jan presses the "1" button:
"Hello, this is the StellarCom for J. Michael Straczynski. I'm in another universe right now so please leave a message after the tone." Beeeeeeep
Hi, JMS? It's Jan from the newsgroup.You know that list of things I asked for an update on? I forgot to include your play. So whenever you get back, just add that to the list of questions, okay? Bye, now."
> (ouch, you're right. A person can hurt themselves doing that)
> It's been simply *ages* since we've gotten an update on the state of the > Straczynski-verses. So what's happening with (deep breath):
> Comics (ALL of 'em)?
> "But in Purple..."?
> TMoS?
> TV (if any)?
> Animation (just covering all bases)?
> Shared Universe?
> and....whatever it is that you're not able to tell us about this week?
> And did you take Thanksgiving off or did you just run off to a country where > they don't even have it the same time/way the US does to avoid it? ;-)<<
Actually, they don't have it at _all_ in the UK. Remember, we're celebrating running away from _them_ on Thanksgiving. :-)
(Before any of you British citizens correct me, I know that Plymouth, England, does have an annual festival - but it's not properly a UK holiday.)
Amy
-- http://www.zongoftheweek.com Free and legal downloads of fun, original songs This week's zong: "What I Ate on my Christmas Vacation" This week's on Kids' Zong: A Big Sack of Christmas Zongs
>It's been simply *ages* since we've gotten an update on the state of the >Straczynski-verses. So what's happening with (deep breath):
>Comics (ALL of 'em)?
The latest issues of Supreme Power and Amazing Spider-Man came out this past week, and I'm very happy with them, especially Supreme Power. The next issue coming out has probably the most brutal and realistic fight I've ever done in this area, it really shows what would happen in this kind of situation, with these sorts of individuals. The first two trade paperback collections of Supreme Power have also come out, availble at amazon.com for those who'd like to catch up on the story.
I've turned in the first issues of two books that Marvel has asked me to write, which I'll have to wait for them to announce publicly -- one's a regular ongoing title and the other is a six issue mini -- and we're about halfway through the art on Dream Police, which Mike Deodato is drawing. (It looks gorgeous, by the way.) And I'm three issues in on The Book of Lost Souls, also for Marvel.
>"But in Purple..."?
Slight delay due to a shift in publishers, but I should have some info soon about when that will be coming out.
>TV (if any)?
Not at the moment. There are two times a year when show-runner types get hired: in March and April to produce pilots when the scripts have come in, and in July/August to pitch new series. So that window will open next in the spring.
Since it's no longer an issue, because the show was not picked up, the series I'd mentioned that had come to me to talk about coming aboard as an EP was Warren Ellis' Global Frequency. I'd met with the people involved, been approved by the network, went by to meet Warren during filming in Vancouver, who seemed like a very nice sort, and was waiting for the next round of serious conversations...but the show has not been picked up by WB. I know they're shopping it elsewhere, so we'll see, but for now, at least, that's that. (I have to say, by the way, that the pilot script is probably the smartest script I've ever read. It could really be one hell of a series.)
One last aside, on a long term project...a certain known film writer/director was recently asked by a particular studio to do a series using an established character. This person is a big fan of B5 as well as a friend, so a call came to me to ask if I wanted in on this. I said hell yes. I can't say much else about it, because a) it wouldn't be appropriate and b) things can still fall out, though that's doubtful at this stage (negotiations have formally begun with the studio), but if it does go ahead, the plan is to write the whole first season over the course of 2005, shoot in the spring of 2006 for a fall 2006 debut. There are reasons why we'd have to write the whole thing first that will become clear once I can explain what the character is. Again, I dont want folks to get too excited about this, because this is a weird business and this is the one town where hope can kill you, but if it goes ahead as discussed, it could be massively cool.
>Animation (just covering all bases)?
Warners came to me last year about a possible B5 animated series, but I don't think it's going to go anywhere. This happens every couple of years.
>Shared Universe?
They've picked the first writer for the Distant Stars series of books, but I don't know where things stand yet on the first novel. That reminds me, I have to check in and see how that's going.
The preliminary copies of Tribulation (the last of my original novels bring reprinted by iBooks/Simon and Schuster) came in last week, so it should be coming out soon. That puts all of my novels now back in print: Demon Night, OtherSyde, and Tribulations, with Straczynski Unplugged also available, all on amazon.com.
>and....whatever it is that you're not able to tell us about this week?
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (the Canadian equivalent of the BBC) will be producing my radio drama series The Adventures of Apocalypse Al. I'll be co-directing with their people up in Toronto. It's a series of 5 five-minute dramas per day, for four weeks, recapped in half-hour installments on the weekends, for a total of two hours. It's comedy/action, very noir, with a supernatural bent. The script is all done, so now we just get to have fun. (Like all CBC productions, it'll be syndicated worldwide, to the BBC and elsewhere, as well as released on CD down the road, for those not living in Canada.) I'm *really* looking forward to this because I love the radio drama form, and this could be a lot of fun.
Finally, because there is a lot of stuff that's going to be popping this coming year, I've decided to end my hermit period and barnstorm a number of conventions in 2005. I didn't do any this year, not counting the NJ fund-raiser, and only one or two the last few years before. I opted out because I'm much more comfortable talking about the work and what's going on than just appearing as myself, and because I view the cult of personality thing pretty much the way G'Kar did, with a jaundiced eye at best. Because of B5 and everything else, it all just kind of got too big, and I had to withdraw for a while or risk losing perspective.
So there will be FedCon in Bonn, Germany, the Comics Expo in Bristol England, and a bucket of comics conventions here in the US. I may also do a few non-comics cons, depending on what comes along, before ducking back into my shell for another couple of years.
And that's that for now.
jms
(jmsa...@aol.com) (all message content (c) 2004 by synthetic worlds, ltd., permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine and don't send me story ideas)
JMS wrote: >I've turned in the first issues of two books that Marvel has asked me to >write, >which I'll have to wait for them to announce publicly -- one's a regular >ongoing title and the other is a six issue mini --
Thankfully my subscription at the comic shop just says 'any and everything by Straczynski'. ;-)
>and we're about halfway >through the art on Dream Police, which Mike Deodato is drawing. (It looks >gorgeous, by the way.)
After what you said about it at Hawthorne, I'm quite looking forward to this.
> And I'm three issues in on The Book of Lost Souls, also >for Marvel.
Haven't heard much about this one. Care to elaborate any?
>>"But in Purple..."?
>Slight delay due to a shift in publishers, but I should have some info soon >about when that will be coming out.
Sigh...waiting is.... I just want all three of my favorite authors to have quote books on my shelf. Heinlein, Robinson and Straczynski (in alphabetical order).
> (I >have to say, by the way, that the pilot script is probably the smartest >script >I've ever read. It could really be one hell of a series.)
What's it like for you to read somebody else's script? Can you visualize it?
>but if it does go ahead, the plan is to write the whole first >season over the course of 2005, shoot in the spring of 2006 for a fall 2006 >debut. There are reasons why we'd have to write the whole thing first that >will become clear once I can explain what the character is.
Sounds like fun!
>They've picked the first writer for the Distant Stars series of books, but I >don't know where things stand yet on the first novel. That reminds me, I >have >to check in and see how that's going.
Keep us posted please?
> I've decided to end my hermit period and barnstorm a number of >conventions in 2005.
<wave> Yoo-hoo! Orlando here! You used to come to MegaCon every couple of years....
>And that's that for now.
The play. What about the play? I forgot about that one....
On Tue, 7 Dec 2004 12:45:22 +0000 (UTC), jmsa...@aol.com (Jms at B5) wrote:
<neat - and semi-neat - stuff snipped>
>One last aside, on a long term project...a certain known film writer/director >was recently asked by a particular studio to do a series using an established >character. This person is a big fan of B5 as well as a friend, so a call came >to me to ask if I wanted in on this. I said hell yes. I can't say much else >about it, because a) it wouldn't be appropriate and b) things can still fall >out, though that's doubtful at this stage (negotiations have formally begun >with the studio), but if it does go ahead, the plan is to write the whole first >season over the course of 2005, shoot in the spring of 2006 for a fall 2006 >debut. There are reasons why we'd have to write the whole thing first that >will become clear once I can explain what the character is. Again, I dont want >folks to get too excited about this, because this is a weird business and this >is the one town where hope can kill you, but if it goes ahead as discussed, it >could be massively cool.
Montressori, for the love of God!...(err, that should be Straczynski...) Have you NO shame! <grinning maniacally>
Jan, to the Eep! Quickly now!
<lots of busy-ness snipped...>
>Finally, because there is a lot of stuff that's going to be popping this coming >year, I've decided to end my hermit period and barnstorm a number of >conventions in 2005. I didn't do any this year, not counting the NJ >fund-raiser, and only one or two the last few years before. I opted out >because I'm much more comfortable talking about the work and what's going on >than just appearing as myself, and because I view the cult of personality thing >pretty much the way G'Kar did, with a jaundiced eye at best. Because of B5 and >everything else, it all just kind of got too big, and I had to withdraw for a >while or risk losing perspective.
I'd love to see you come to Starfest/StarCon (whichever it is that Denver has merged into each other...)
>So there will be FedCon in Bonn, Germany, the Comics Expo in Bristol England, >and a bucket of comics conventions here in the US. I may also do a few >non-comics cons, depending on what comes along, before ducking back into my >shell for another couple of years.
>And that's that for now.
....and in your vast amounts of spare time, do you say hello to your wife in passing?
8-)
(just kidding, sir. It is good to hear from you and also good to hear that you're busy *doing things*. Take care...)
--
Wes Struebing
I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples, promising liberty and justice for all.
Jms at B5 wrote: > I've turned in the first issues of two books that Marvel has asked me to write, > which I'll have to wait for them to announce publicly -- one's a regular > ongoing title and the other is a six issue mini -- and we're about halfway > through the art on Dream Police, which Mike Deodato is drawing. (It looks > gorgeous, by the way.) And I'm three issues in on The Book of Lost Souls, also > for Marvel.
>The latest issues of Supreme Power and Amazing Spider-Man came out this >past >week, and I'm very happy with them, especially Supreme Power.
Number thirteen was certainly good, but I must say that issue twelve was by far the single best issue of any mainstream comic I have read this year - remarkable work, indeed.
>The first two trade paperback collections of >Supreme Power have also come out, availble at amazon.com for those who'd >like >to catch up on the story.
God, this sounds hideously nozzy, but how does pay work in comics? Do you get paid a certain amount per issue and that's it? Do you get residuals from reprints like reruns on TV? Or does it vary from writer to writer, (the bigger names / talents getting more options than those just starting out), company to company, situation to situation (i.e. is there a standard)? Pardon my morbid curiosity.
>I've turned in the first issues of two books that Marvel has asked me to >write, >which I'll have to wait for them to announce publicly -- one's a regular >ongoing title and the other is a six issue mini -- and we're about halfway >through the art on Dream Police, which Mike Deodato is drawing. (It looks >gorgeous, by the way.) And I'm three issues in on The Book of Lost Souls, >also >for Marvel.
The Whooda What Now? Is this a Marvel Universe thing or something independent of it? Are Dream Police and anything else you mentioned being released by Marvel proper, or would it be under the Icon imprint (additionally, now that you've gotten back the rights to Joe's Comics, is that an option)?
>Since it's no longer an issue, because the show was not picked up, the >series >I'd mentioned that had come to me to talk about coming aboard as an EP was >Warren Ellis' Global Frequency.
Heh. That would have been a show by a comic book writer who is now in the television business, run by a guy who was in the television business and is now a comic book writer.
>They've picked the first writer for the Distant Stars series of books, but >I >don't know where things stand yet on the first novel. That reminds me, I >have >to check in and see how that's going.
"The Distant Stars series of books?" Um. What?
>The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (the Canadian equivalent of the BBC) >will >be producing my radio drama series The Adventures of Apocalypse Al. I'll >be >co-directing with their people up in Toronto. It's a series of 5 >five-minute >dramas per day, for four weeks, recapped in half-hour installments on the >weekends, for a total of two hours. It's comedy/action, very noir, with a >supernatural bent. The script is all done, so now we just get to have fun. >(Like all CBC productions, it'll be syndicated worldwide, to the BBC and >elsewhere, as well as released on CD down the road, for those not living in >Canada.) I'm *really* looking forward to this because I love the radio >drama >form, and this could be a lot of fun.
Hmmm, what about online availabilty? Does the CBC do that, or would we (for once) unlucky yanks have to wait?
>Finally, because there is a lot of stuff that's going to be popping this >coming >year, I've decided to end my hermit period and barnstorm a number of >conventions in 2005. I didn't do any this year, not counting the NJ >fund-raiser, and only one or two the last few years before. I opted out >because I'm much more comfortable talking about the work and what's going >on >than just appearing as myself, and because I view the cult of personality >thing >pretty much the way G'Kar did, with a jaundiced eye at best.
Or at least a mechanical one...
>And that's that for now.
<holding out the bowl> "Please, sir, can we have some more?"
-The Jeff
Sheridan:"So how did you find out all of this?" Bester:"I'm a telepath. Work it out." <*>
>>On Tue, 7 Dec 2004 23:21:32 -0500, Bigbluejerk wrote
(in article <2004120715515016807%rodents25churchmouse@spamgourmetcom>):
> [ The following text is in the "UTF-8" character set. ]
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> What about TMOS that is supposed to be filmed in the UK? Or has that > been cancelled as well?<<
Shush! Don't even suggest such a thing!
<thinking positive thoughts, only positive thoughts, manifesting the reality that _I_ want...positive thoughts...ommmmmmmm>
-- http://www.zongoftheweek.com Free and legal downloads of fun, original songs This week's zong: "What I Ate on my Christmas Vacation" This week's on Kids' Zong: A Big Sack of Christmas Zongs
> One last aside, on a long term project...a certain known film writer/director > was recently asked by a particular studio to do a series using an established > character. This person is a big fan of B5 as well as a friend, so a call came > to me to ask if I wanted in on this. I said hell yes. I can't say much else > about it, because a) it wouldn't be appropriate and b) things can still fall > out, though that's doubtful at this stage (negotiations have formally begun > with the studio), but if it does go ahead, the plan is to write the whole first > season over the course of 2005, shoot in the spring of 2006 for a fall 2006 > debut. There are reasons why we'd have to write the whole thing first that > will become clear once I can explain what the character is. Again, I dont want > folks to get too excited about this, because this is a weird business and this > is the one town where hope can kill you, but if it goes ahead as discussed, it > could be massively cool.
Leaving it open like this makes a nice game for the fans.
Guess the name of the character
We do not know the genre - detective, romance, spy, action or fantasy. Nor the studio - Warner Brothers, Universal or Sony etc.
So beyond that it is not Dr Who - he is already in production - we know nothing.
My guess - Spiderman Successful films and JMS is writing the comics.
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Jms at B5 wrote: > I've turned in the first issues of two books that Marvel has asked me to write, > which I'll have to wait for them to announce publicly -- one's a regular > ongoing title and the other is a six issue mini --
-- http://www.zongoftheweek.com Free and legal downloads of fun, original songs This week's zong: "What I Ate on my Christmas Vacation" This week on Kids' Zong: "Big Sack Full of Christmas Zongs"
I will have to mention this to my comics store. Thanks.
-- John Trauger, Vorlonagent
"Methane martini. Shaken, not stirred."
"The very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. Instead of altering their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views ....which can be very uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering." -The Doctor
> Jms at B5 wrote: > > I've turned in the first issues of two books that Marvel has asked me > to write, > > which I'll have to wait for them to announce publicly -- one's a > regular > > ongoing title and the other is a six issue mini -- and we're about > halfway > > through the art on Dream Police, which Mike Deodato is drawing. (It > looks > > gorgeous, by the way.) And I'm three issues in on The Book of Lost > Souls, also > > for Marvel.
This was posted at another thread by Dan Dassow, but since that thread (eep - Again) is probably mostly read by Jan and handful of others I thought of posting it also here, so more people have better chance of seeing it:
Dan Dassow wrote:
> http://comingsoon.net/news/topnews.php?id=7515 > Babylon 5 Movie Starts Filming in April > Source: Production Weekly - December 8, 2004 > > Steven Beck will direct a big screen adaptation of the popular sci-fi > TV series Babylon 5. The movie, titled The Memory of Shadows, is > intended for theatrical release and was written by series creator J. > Michael Straczynski. Production Weekly reports that the project starts > filming this April in the UK. > > In "Shadows," the technology of the ancient and extinct Shadow race is > being unleashed upon the galaxy by an unknown force, and Earthforce > intelligence officer Diane Baker, whose brother was recently killed in > a mysterious explosion, it out to find out who is behind the > intergalactic conspiracy. > > Joining her is Galen, a techno-mage who has been charged with keeping > the technology out of the hands of those who would abuse it.
Yup. It's even been mentioned here, I believe... (grin)
Still ain't official; Joe hasn't made his announcement, yet.
--
Wes Struebing
I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples, promising liberty and justice for all.
> Leaving it open like this makes a nice game for the fans.
> Guess the name of the character
> We do not know the genre - detective, romance, spy, action or fantasy. > Nor the studio - Warner Brothers, Universal or Sony etc.
> So beyond that it is not Dr Who - he is already in production - we > know nothing.
> My guess - Spiderman > Successful films and JMS is writing the comics.
I dunno, for some reason I didn't think Spider-Man. My first thought was a B5 character - thus the B5 reference. "[A] certain known film writer/director was recently asked by a particular studio to do a series using an established character. This person is a big fan of B5 as well as a friend." Mentioning that this person was a friend would be enough to explain why Joe would be involved in what is clearly not your average teevee project - but to mention Babylon 5 says that it may actually be a B5 character. I'm unsure if it is or isn't.
Judging by JMS's "hell yes," I'd wager Superman - there wouldn't be a conflict with Marvel because it wouldn't be a comic he'd be writing, and as far as studios, it would be Warners with whom he's had a decidely positive track record. But, of course, there is already a Superman show.
If he hadn't said character (singular) I'd even go as far as Watchmen, a project that by all means should be done as a limited series - but Paramount's got the ball rolling with Paul Greengrass on a straight-up motion picture, and the amount of special efects needed for such a project would be considerably less than six months ("shoot in the spring of 2006 for a fall 2006 debut"), also suggesting that it is nothing "big," like an epic or whatnot.
So my guess is the Cookie Monster. I don't know why, but I got nothing anyway.
-The Jeff
Sheridan:"So how did you find out all of this?" Bester:"The Cookie Monster. Work it out." <*>
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (the Canadian equivalent of the BBC) will be producing my radio drama series The Adventures of Apocalypse Al. I'll be co-directing with their people up in Toronto. It's a series of 5 five-minute dramas per day, for four weeks, recapped in half-hour installments on the weekends, for a total of two hours. It's comedy/action, very noir, with a supernatural bent. The script is all done, so now we just get to have fun. (Like all CBC productions, it'll be syndicated worldwide, to the BBC and elsewhere, as well as released on CD down the road, for those not living in Canada.) I'm *really* looking forward to this because I love the radio drama form, and this could be a lot of fun. --------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've been a CBC listener for years. For those who don't have access to the CBC over the airwaves, it can be easily accessed via their website at http://www.cbc.ca Keep your eyes peeled at the site! And I can't wait! :D
PsicopJe...@hotmail.com wrote in news:1102562715.879291.308500 @f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:
> So my guess is the Cookie Monster. I don't know why, but I got nothing > anyway.
Isn't this the part where jms replies with a "How did you know?" to which Jeff replies "I'm a Psicop, figure it out." I've been reading this newsgroup too long.
