attn: JMS - deep and searching questions
Clark N. Hobbie
* What does Kosh mean by the phrase "I have always been here?"
* 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?
* How did you (JMS) keep going in the face of all the doubt and uncertainty that
was B5?
To say the least, B5 was a fairly "wild ride" in the sense that during the whole
time you had the show on the brink of being canceled, etc. How did you maintain
a positive outlook (assuming you had one) during the whole thing? How did you
get yourself to keep going in the face of these obstacles?
* A while back, someone asked you "What do you want?" One of your less humorous
replies was "To tell the story" where I am assuming "the story" was B5. Now
that you have completed this, do you have another goal? What do you want at
this point in your life?
Clark
Jms at B5
>that
>was B5?
Pure, naked, unbridled, ornery, stubbornness.
>How did you maintain
>a positive outlook (assuming you had one) during the whole thing? How did
>you
>get yourself to keep going in the face of these obstacles?
I'm of Eastern European extraction. The term "positive outlook" is foreign to
that mentality. We know only tenacity.
"So, Herr Hitler, you want to invade Stalingrad in winter, yes? By all means,
make yourself comfortable...."
>* A while back, someone asked you "What do you want?" One of your less
>humorous
>replies was "To tell the story" where I am assuming "the story" was B5. Now
>that you have completed this, do you have another goal? What do you want at
>this point in your life?
To tell the next story. And the one after that. Whether that's a TV show, or
a book, or a comic, or a play...it's all the same to me, as long as I get to
tell my stories the way I see them in my head.
In TV, I figure I've got another few years left in me before I just can't
handle it anymore, so I'd kinda like to do one more show, maybe two depending
on what does or doesn't last...and then get out. I'm 45 now, so that would put
me at about 50, a good age to go for a quieter lifestyle.
jms
(jms...@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
(all message content (c) 2000 by
synthetic worlds, ltd., permission
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SFX Magazine)
Christian McNeill
news:20000614004212...@ng-fg1.aol.com...
> In TV, I figure I've got another few years left in me before I just can't
> handle it anymore, so I'd kinda like to do one more show, maybe two
depending
> on what does or doesn't last...and then get out. I'm 45 now, so that
would put
> me at about 50, a good age to go for a quieter lifestyle.
You'd think that wouldn't you. But sometimes it doesn't quite work out the
way we had planned it. I hope it works out for you in the end. :)
--
==========================================
Christian McNeill
One of the Medwar First Ones
Keeper of the "Grrr Arrgh"
Guardian of Mutant Enemy
E-mail: chri...@quicknet.com.au
Web: red.underground.com.au
ICQ: 818458
or 48580607
Scott Rae
Jms at B5 wrote:>*
> >What do you want at this point in your life?
>
>
> In TV, I figure I've got another few years left in me before I just can't
> handle it anymore, so I'd kinda like to do one more show, maybe two depending
> on what does or doesn't last...and then get out. I'm 45 now, so that would put
> me at about 50, a good age to go for a quieter lifestyle.
>
> jms
>
BS....Joe, you've got the stubbornness of a pit bull and you'll be making TV shows
as long as those squirrels in your brain keep running (or until Harlan and Kathryn
sign the commitment papers.)
I'll bet you a steak dinner that you'll still be writing/producing when you're 60.
50.... my arse.
Scott
Wesley Struebing
>>* How did you (JMS) keep going in the face of all the doubt and uncertainty
>>that
>>was B5?
>
>Pure, naked, unbridled, ornery, stubbornness.
Some would call it pigheaded. *I* wouldn't, but some would...<G>
>
>>How did you maintain
>>a positive outlook (assuming you had one) during the whole thing? How did
>>you
>>get yourself to keep going in the face of these obstacles?
>
>I'm of Eastern European extraction. The term "positive outlook" is foreign to
>that mentality. We know only tenacity.
Ahh, you and Sheridan, hey?
>
>
>To tell the next story. And the one after that. Whether that's a TV show, or
>a book, or a comic, or a play...it's all the same to me, as long as I get to
>tell my stories the way I see them in my head.
Seems that such is all that one can ask. I hope you get your wish,
sir. I'll keep the light on.
>
>In TV, I figure I've got another few years left in me before I just can't
>handle it anymore, so I'd kinda like to do one more show, maybe two depending
>on what does or doesn't last...and then get out. I'm 45 now, so that would put
>me at about 50, a good age to go for a quieter lifestyle.
"Say it ain't so, Joe!" <snicker> Do you know the meaning of the words
*fat chance*? Your muse won't let you, and you know it. 'Sides, if
you (and maybe Harlan) weren't out there, tilting at windmills, one of
us would have to try, and I don't think we'd be able to do the same
job. Some of us enjoy watching the torch - others have to carry it,
and I'd wager you're one of the latter type.
Jms at B5
>shows
>as long as those squirrels in your brain keep running (or until Harlan and
>Kathryn
>sign the commitment papers.)
>I'll bet you a steak dinner that you'll still be writing/producing when
>you're 60.
>
>50.... my arse.
I'll take that bet.
See, my mind -- that same, pigheaded mind -- made itself up pretty firmly on
this one.
Reason is basically this: I started working in TV round about 1984/85. That's
15 years already in this particular vineyard. And it's soul-killing work.
Always has been. Charles Beaumont said it's like climbing a mountain of ka-ka
to pluck one perfect rose...only to find by the time you've gotten to the top
that you've lost your sense of smell.
It's hard, tedious, soul-breaking work, mainly for the kind of people you have
to deal with, and I have only so much visceral material. I've worked hard all
my life (as have most people), working round the clock for *years*, rarely ever
taking a vacation, writing nonstop...I *need* to find that time when I can
relax a bit, and that ain't never gonna happen as long as I'm working in
TeeVee.
Give up writing? That, no, I'll be writing until I fall down dead. But TV?
Yeah, I could give that up pretty easily when the time comes.
jms
Mac Breck
> >BS....Joe, you've got the stubbornness of a pit bull and you'll be making
TV
> >shows
> >as long as those squirrels in your brain keep running (or until Harlan
and
> >Kathryn
> >sign the commitment papers.)
> >I'll bet you a steak dinner that you'll still be writing/producing when
> >you're 60.
> >
> >50.... my arse.
>
> I'll take that bet.
>
> See, my mind -- that same, pigheaded mind -- made itself up pretty firmly
on
> this one.
>
> Reason is basically this: I started working in TV round about 1984/85.
That's
> 15 years already in this particular vineyard. And it's soul-killing work.
> Always has been. Charles Beaumont said it's like climbing a mountain of
ka-ka
> to pluck one perfect rose...only to find by the time you've gotten to the
top
> that you've lost your sense of smell.
I suspect TNT was a particularly repugnant section of the climb.
Mac
ps. Working in the electric utility industry is also "soul-killing" work.
Tammy Smith
that it seems to turn away the very people who could "save" it (and boy,
does it need saving).
Tammy
Gharlane of Eddore
Someone asked:
>
> How did you (JMS) keep going in the face of all the doubt and uncertainty
> that was B5?
>
In <20000614004212...@ng-fg1.aol.com>
jms...@aol.com (Jms at B5) writes:
>
> Pure, naked, unbridled, ornery, stubbornness.
>
That, and unbridled lust for catered on-set barbecued ribs every
Friday, right?
Someone asked:
>
> How did you maintain a positive outlook (assuming you had one) during
> the whole thing? How did you get yourself to keep going in the face
> of these obstacles?
>
In <20000614004212...@ng-fg1.aol.com>
jms...@aol.com (Jms at B5) writes:
>
> I'm of Eastern European extraction. The term "positive outlook" is
> foreign to that mentality. We know only tenacity.
> "So, Herr Hitler, you want to invade Stalingrad in winter, yes?
> By all means, make yourself comfortable...."
>
Oh. You're asserting stubbornness and fatalism?
That *would* make more sense than the most common presumption,
obsessive-compulsive behavior patterns... *grin*
Someone asked:
>
> A while back, someone asked you "What do you want?"
> One of your less humorous replies was "To tell the story"
> where I am assuming "the story" was B5.
> Now that you have completed this, do you have another goal?
> What do you want at this point in your life?
In <20000614004212...@ng-fg1.aol.com>
jms...@aol.com (Jms at B5) writes:
>
> To tell the next story. And the one after that.
> Whether that's a TV show, or a book, or a comic, or a play...
> it's all the same to me, as long as I get to tell my stories
> the way I see them in my head.
>
> In TV, I figure I've got another few years left in me before
> I just can't handle it anymore, so I'd kinda like to do one
> more show, maybe two depending on what does or doesn't last...
> and then get out. I'm 45 now, so that would put me at about 50,
> a good age to go for a quieter lifestyle.
>
That's rich; many of us have good memories, and clearly recall
all your assertions concerning how, if/when you got five years
of B-5 in the can, you were *history*, and moving to the U.K.
to get a small cottage somewhere and write BOOKS. And there
were also a lot of comments about how there was a sort of
potential spin-off sequel to B-5 built into the format, but
that if it got made, YOU weren't going to be producing it,
because you'd want a rest.....
Be real, guy; even with all the stress and hassle, you *LOVE*
what you do, and you've been doing it so long you're HABITUATED.
( This not a problem for your fans, because we LIKE your stuff! )
But the only thing that's going to change your lifestyle is
something ( Ghu forbid! ) catastrophic, like your plane crashing
on a desert island where you can't get electricity to juice your
laptop, forcing you to cut back to vignettes and minimalist
poetry, due to being constrained to the use of charcoal and
tree bark as your primary storage medium....
I firmly believe that if you drank or smoked, you'd have been a
dead man years ago; these were *good* decisions on your part,
particularly in light of the stress, tension, and demands of your
chosen life style. But consider at least a partial switch to a
vegetarian diet, and regular exercise, so we get to see your
work for a few more decades, hokay?
We do *not* want to see you leaving early, a la Serling or Fosse.
End of sermon, I'll shut up now.
Scott Rae
You may leave the TV arena for a while but I suspect that after a few years away
from it you'll start to realize that most of the hard battles have already been
fought and your sense of smell (regarding Charles Beaumonts mountain) will return.
You've already earned a reputation that is conducive to making the work easier. Am
I wrong in drawing the conclusion that after all your hard work on "Murder She
Wrote" years ago that this latest episode of yours was much easier to do. Or that
the offer to "write anything you like and we'll publish it" regarding "Joe's
Comics" is an acknowledgment of you abilities.
TV will always be a cut-throat, soul-killing industry but I suspect that another
light bulb will turn on in the shower or an offer will be made with assurances and
proper due-respect that will at least keep your toes dangling in the TV industry.
There may be other venue's for you to ply your trade but you're not about to
forsake this one for a more leisurely one. You'd go nuts.
Who knows, someone just might want to make Rising Stars in to a series or Chris
Carter will tell FOX where to go.
I may have 15 years to wait for my steak dinner, but I'll have 15 more years of
quality stories from you that will make the wait worth it.
Thanks for expanding my mind.
Scott
Jms at B5 wrote:
> >>I'll bet you a steak dinner that you'll still be writing/producing when
> >you're 60.
> I'll take that bet.
>
Pål Are Nordal
>
>
<massive snippage>
>
> But consider at least a partial switch to a
> vegetarian diet, and regular exercise, so we get to see your
> work for a few more decades, hokay?
Actually, one theory that's popping up more and more places is that your
diet should be adjusted to your blood type. It actually reccomends "all
meat, all the time" to bloodtype B, while A should stick to rabit food.
> We do *not* want to see you leaving early, a la Serling or Fosse.
As a back up plan, we can preserve some of his DNA and clone him. We can
then reconstruct his personality by running all his posts though a
neural network. Or something.
Then we can do it again... and again... and again... a million times...
zen we whil havh an ahrmy üff jmsez zu take üver ze world!!!! BAWAHAHAAHHAHA!!!!
--
Donate free food with a simple click: http://www.thehungersite.com/
Pål Are Nordal
a_b...@bigfoot.com
Mark Maher
<394BB11C...@bigfoot.com>...
Gharlane of Eddore wrote:
>
>
<SNIP>
>Then we can do it again... and again... and again... a million
>times...
>zen we whil havh an ahrmy üff jmsez zu take üver ze world!!!!
>BAWAHAHAAHHAHA!!!!
AAAAARGH!!!
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