JMS Usenet Posts - 07/09/2002
Dirk A. Loedding
>JMS quotes and answers:
:Are other companies (such as Fox) paying people to do DVD
:commentaries? If so, it seems stupid that Warners doesn't do this,
:since they are part of that big AOL Time-Warner mega-corporation &
:should have the money.
Many do, some don't, there's no industry standard on this. It's just
one of those things, I'm not (too) bugged about it.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:I wonder: is there money for writers in DVD releases like this, some
:kind of residual? Is there a residual for any of the original
:production people, the actors, directors, producers?
Writers, actors and directors get residuals on DVDs based on the VHS
residuals formula which was put into place a number of years ago
before the videotape boom and the Writers Guild didn't think there was
any money in it. Consequently, the studios got a deal wherein
basically the writers get something on the order of a penny a copy (or
nothing, since it's based on net profits).
The guild, gotta love 'em....
jms
>JMS quotes and answers (this is a bit old)
:The "previews of coming attractions" showed that next week is a
:repeat. Already?
It's a repeat of "Tripwire," one of our better episodes, mainly
because Odyssey 5 debuts that week and it's a two-hour slot. So they
could either air a new episode at 11:30 or 12, or a repeat in that
timeslot. I figured a repeat was preferable, particularly since that
one sets up a lot of what's in the two-parter.
What's left at this point is "Out of the Ashes," "A Means to an End,"
and the two-part season finale, "Things Left Unsaid," the last of
which airs July 19th (the website info on dates is not correct).
jms
>Loved Midnight Nation. Any chance of a TV show or movie?
Thanks. Midnight Nation is probably my favorite comics work to date
because there's a lot in it that I consider personal, it's a personal
kind of story in many ways. Even I can't read the last few pages,
knowing what went before, without losing it.
There have been some inquiries about optioning MN, but I've
deliberately held off listening to anything until the story was
complete. I wanted nothing to get in the way of just telling this
story. Now that it's done, I'll be happy to listen. It was a long
journey and a hard write, but I think it was, and is, one of the more
worthwhile things I'e done lately.
jms
>A request from JMS:
Feel free to ignore this....
Okay, so I've had the same basic look in eyeglasses for...let's say a
long time now, and there are any number of people around me just
tactless enough to suggest that *maybe* aviators of this style went
out in the 70s and maybe I ought to consider, oh, theydunno, joining
the 21st century someday....
Anyway, I've been looking around and the only style of glasses that
I've come across that looks like something I'd like is the style worn
by Redford in "Spy Game." I've shown some fuzzy jpgs to my
optometrist who says it's a modified horn-rimmed style but he couldn't
nail down the exact style or modification.
So if anybody out there happens to know the exact style of glasses
used, lemme know. Just in case I really do get tired of being told
"that's SO last century...."
jms
[Note: JMS got several answers to thsi inquiry already]
>JMS quotes and answers:
:Midnight Nation soars above just about everything that I have ever
:read or seen... B5 included. It is a triumph of words and art; an
:utterly flawless story.
Thank you. It's a story that I'm inestimably proud of; I still can't
get through the last issue without falling apart, for some reason it
just hits me hard. It's a very personal story for me, and there's a
lot of me in the characters and what they're working through.
:You wrote (or said) a couple of years ago that you will not reach your
:prime for at least "10 years." Reading that, then, it was hard to
:imagine that you could ever top B5. I was thinking in terms of the
:majesty of the B5 story... Even with all it's flaws what could top it?
:And in short order you gave us Midnight Nation.
It came out far better than I could've hoped, and it's definitely my
favorite prose work to date. To compare it with B5, I dunno, that's
kind of in a separate category from everything else. It's the old
comparins apples and woodchucks thing.
BTW, two asides (and I'm putting this here because I generally am not
posting as much while my hand goes through therapy, I'm trying to do
only the typing I absolutely *have* to do)....
On the DVDs, last I heard they'll be out around mid-November, with the
whole first season at about a hundred bucks. I did the commentaries
on Signs and Portents and Chrysalis, and an on-camera intro and
interview. They've also done new interviews with Rick Biggs, Claudia,
John Iacovelli, John Copeland, Stephen Furst, Jerry Doyle and others.
So it should be a pretty big deal overall, much better than the movie
dvd.
Item two, just for the humor of it...when we finished B5, all the sets
were demolished, no bits and pieces of it remain...with one exception,
and it's a doozy. The last remaining set piece from not only the B5
series, but from the set of Babylon 4. An absolute rarity. I mention
this because I just saw it come up on ebay (I'd handed it off as a
souvenir some time ago). I especially liked the final line, where it
said that the seller could not be held responsible for temporal
abnormalities that make the buyer's house disapper mysteriously....
Funny stuff.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:I missed out on Midnight Nation (haven't read comics in a long time
:now), and I noticed that there doesn't seem to be a trade paperback of
:it. Is tracking down the comics one by one the only way to read it?
:Are there plans for a book at some point, now that the series is done?
Yup. The whole thing will be out in one volume in September. Which
is probably the best way to read the thing.
And Spidey 42 comes out today, about 3 weeks after the last one as we
continue to catch up.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:Will there be trade paperbacks made out of your Spideys, or have some
:already been made?
Yeah, one's already out, and I think another one's coming up fast.
There's also a hardcover collection putting my stuff in with others as
a kind of best-of thing.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:Fantastic! I will be buying that B5 boxed-set once it comes out.
:Nice to know that there will be commentaries from the cast, too.
One error. Apparently Claudia had agreed to do the interview, then
canceled at the last minute.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers someone who thought the comment about Claudia,
>above, was a joke:
:This just *has* to be a gag.
I don't make jokes about things like this.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:She cancelled at the last minute for her appearance at the final
:AgamemCon, too. I hope this isn't becoming a pattern for Claudia.
Agamemcon, I believe, was June 8th. The cancellation was yesterday,
Wednesday, June 26th. Just in the interests of accuracy.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:Now *wait* a minute. That means that we're getting the episodes, *and*
:extras, for about the same per-time price as the movie disc. Anyone
:else here feeling gypped?
The movies were limited in number, these are going to be printed in much
larger amounts, the more you do, the more you can bring down the price.
:Wait a second. Parts of B5 showed up on Crusade, though--and all of
:*those* sets were put into storage. So did they have to rebuild the
:sets for Crusade? (Especially since the "Value Judgements" script had
:a set that was supposed to be a redress of one of the B5 corridors...)
:And are those still around?
No. Most of the B5 sets were scrapped after we finished production,
in large measure because they'd just gotten trashed over 5 years of
shooting, and because WB didn't want to pay to store tens of thousands
of cubic feet of sets for a show that was done. (This is par for the
course on all series, btw.)
We saved a small number of the B5 sets for Crusade (part of the
zocalo, some conference rooms, a couple of quarters and a hallway,
that's about it) since we were going to be going back and forth to B5.
But when Crusade went down, those sets were also elimated, as were the
sets for Rangers.
This may seem like a bigger deal than it is; TV sets are not like
feature film sets, they are made from lesser grade lumber, and they're
not finished to the same degree because TV is more forgiving visually.
You can get away with things that will appear on a small set that you
could never get away with on a big screen.
If someone said "Okay, do a new season of (fill in the name of the
show)," the costs of building new sets would be probably about the
same as if we'd stored all those tens of thousands of feet of old set
for X number of years, and which would also have endured more wear and
tear through the fold-and-hold process. Why pay all that money to get
old sets when you can pay the same amount and get new ones?
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
>12 issues later What a story, absolutely amazing, thought provoking,
>moving....
Thanks muchly.
:Is your work at marvel going to be solely within their universe and
:exisiting characters (Spidey is great too) or will you have the chance
:to craft some more stand alone work like Midnight Nation again ?
I have a three-pronged deal: stories with established characters in
the Marven Universe, reviving dormant characters in the MU as well as
creating new characters there, and creating wholly new characters in a
non-MU situation allowing me to do pretty much anything I want.
Well, that's not absolutely accurate...when Kevin Smith came on board,
he asked to be given dibs on bringing MJ and Peter together again, if
and when that decision should be made. So in terms of that aspect,
all I can do is kind of play around the edges a bit, the ball is well
and truly in Kevin's court, he's the only one who can resolve and
bring them together if that is the way Marvel wants to go.
I was gonna bring 'em together again shortly, because it was my intent
to get them apart only for a while, but at this point it'll be an
if/when situation between Marvel and Kevin.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:from the Forbidden Planet web site concerning a signing they had a few
:days back:
:"Forbidden Planet International and James Marsters would like to thank
:the legions of fans who turned up to see him at the Leeds and
:Manchester stores."
:"While the vast majority of you seemed to have a great time (James
:Marsters thoroughly enjoyed it also), there have been a few complaints
:levelled [sic] at one of the officials present at both events. "
:"FPI would like to state that the gentleman in question is in no way
:affiliated with the company. Please accept apologies on behalf of FPI
:and James Marsters for any incident that may have marred either event.
:FPI would like to assure our customers that this kind of thing will
:not happen again."
:Care to guess which con-running studio break-in artist in question is
:being referred to as "The Gentleman"? <grin!>
You have GOT to be kidding me. Cooney again?
What the hell happened, anyway? Give.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:Showtime has previously stated that they are not as swayed by Nielsen
:ratings as non-pay networks. Should we start writing letters begging
:them to renew Jeremiah? What can we fans do to help?
Mainly put the word out to other fans to check the show out,
especially over the next 3 weeks, which includes the season finale.
I'll probably be doing a general note about this shortly, but
basically...it'd be great to get the word out to the whole B5 fan
community to check out these last three episodes, 'cause we end on a
hell of a note. It's all a matter of the numbers.
jms
>A request from JMS:
Okay, so here's the deal. There are now three episodes remaining of
Jeremiah's first season, "A Means to an End," by Sara Barnes, and the
two part "Things Left Unsaid" by yr obdnt srvnt.
The first is a quieter, more personal story but also sets up what's
going to happen in the two-parter, and the latter (directed by Mike
Vejar, our good luck charm on B5 who did our best episodes) is pretty
much nonstop intensity and action and character stuff end to end.
Though we're already doing well, it would be great to go out on a real
bang ratings wise, so I'm going to try an experiement. If every B5
viewer who sees this can get the word to every other viewer who gets
Showtime normally (I wouldn't sign up just for this, that's fiscally
imprudent) to watch the next three episodes, that would be terrific.
I think that would be sufficient to kick us over the edge into a sure
renewal for year two.
And they're fun episodes on their own rights, even if you haven't seen
the show before. Though "Means" is, again, a quieter episode, there's
one scene in it that will have just about any SF fan worth his/her
salt rolling on the floor. I can pretty much guarantee you it's
something you haven't seen before.
As for "Things Left Unsaid," of all the things I've written and
produced, this may be the best thing I've ever been involved with,
from a production standpoint and much of the writing. We kind of got
pulled back a bit after the events of 9/11 put a damper on the
television business in terms of the kinds of stories one can tell, but
we really got this puppy back up on the rails again with the two
parter, which is emblematic of what we'll do in a second year.
Anyway...just a call out from here to B5 fandom, to see if it's still
there, so we can get together one more time on a biggie.
Thanks.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:don't you think people could afford the ten bucks to get Showtime for July?
Yeah, but I don't like to presume on other people's wallets,
especially for just three eps. I've always valued the B5 viewer base
and try to avoid asking them to plonk down bucks unless necessary, on
the theory that SF fans are in general pretty exploited that way.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:I happened to watch an episode of "She-Ra" yesterday. they're doing
:re-runs here in Germany, on Tele 5, and I just happened to drop by.
:And then, watched it because in the titles, it said that the story of
:that episode was by "J. Michael Straczynski"???
It was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:1) How episodic or arc-ic is this show? If I've never seen Jeremiah
:before (Hold the flames, please, I didn't even know JMS was involved--
:Oops, that just set me up worse, neh?) how confused will I be?
It's very arc-ish (if that's a term), but it was written so that
someone unfamiliar with the show could catch up fairly quickly.
:2) When's it on? (See #1)
10:45 p.m. Friday nights.
jms
>More general comments:
Today we finished mixing the last of the Jeremiah two-parter. It's
killer. Year one is finished; now we await word on year two.
For those who might want to take a look...I did a small piece for the
San Diego Comic Convention website about, well, SDCC. It's a short
but fun piece that should be up in the next day or so at
www.comic-con.org
[Note: It's included later in this issue]
Also did an introduction to Fiona Avery's newest graphic novel,
WITCHBLADE: OBAKEMONO, which hits comics stores soon. The novel is
some of her best work to date, and the intro "Of Samurai, Bulldogs and
Applied Mathematics" is just for fun.
If you haven't gotten in your story/email/message/whatever on a
favorite B5 quote (what it is, why it resonated, what it or the show
in general meant, what meaning can be derived from it) for the
upcoming quote book -- "But In Purple I'm Stunning, Quotations from
Babylon 5," the door on submissions will be closing soon. Notes can
be sent to b5qu...@yahoo.ca
Finally, I'm writing an intro for the B5 DVDs, which are proceeding
along well and this should prove to be a very nice little package.
(Okay, I lied, one last-last thing...after the 12th of July or so
there will likely be a small announcement from WB that's B5 related.
Can't comment more than that, and it isn't anything major a la a new
series or a movie or the like, but I suspect a certain sub-set of B5
fandom will be most pleased by the information.)
As of this coming February 22nd, it'll be ten years since "The
Gathering" aired. Boy, that damned tempus just keeps on fugiting,
doesn't it?
jms
>Here's the above-mentioned piece JMS did for SDCC:
J. Michael Straczynski
We asked the prolific creator of the television series Bablyon 5 and
Jeremiah, and the writer of Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man to
write whatever he darned well pleased. This is what he sent us...
So when the people at Comic-Con sent me an email asking if I could
write something for their website, which I'm more than happy to do
because, well, it's Comic-Con, and I ask what I should I write about
because left to my own devices I'll write about almost anything, the
more boring or obscure the better, and if I can use run-on sentences
like this then I'm completely in heaven (or nirvana, Valhalla, or the
afterlife of your preference, one pluralistic nation, with liberty and
justice for whoever can afford the best lawyer), and they say "Write
about anything you want."
Which is a terrible thing to do to me.
And a much worse thing for me to inflict on you.
But I can live with that.
(Insert image of an neon-framed Art Deco Hamilton clock ticking while
the author stares at the screen, trying to decide which topic will
allow him to do the most psychic damage in the least amount of time,
dividing the sum by the number of remaining restraining orders, then
multiplying the result by the likely lawsuits that might result.)
On the other hand, maybe I'll just talk about the San Diego Comic-Con.
(Or the International Comics Arts Exposition, or the Artists in Funny
Hats Conclave, or whatever they're freakin' calling it this year.)
Of the four high schools and four colleges I attended (don't ask), the
only thing they have in common is that two of them landed me in the
vicinity of greater San Diego (and where the hell is lesser San Diego,
I ask you?). As a young comics fan, I used to hear about Comic-Con in
the kinds of terms people usually reserve for descriptions of Bigfoot,
with awe and reverence. I say "used to hear about Comic-Con" because
back in those early days, I didn't have the money to pony up for
membership, modest as it was even then.
The first time I attended Comic-Con was in the late 1970s, I think
maybe around 1978 or thereabouts, who can remember these things
without receipts? It was the first major comic book convention I'd
attended, and I walked in eyes wide with wonder, because Giants were
walking among us. It seemed as if every time I glimpsed a con badge,
it was someone whose work I knew, a writer or an editor or an artist
who had formed (or deformed, depending on your point of view) my
formative years.
There was Dave Stevens, and Larry Niven, and John Buscema, Mort
Weisinger, Boris Vallejo, Jim Steranko, Bill Rotsler, and
self-proclaimed (and who's gonna argue with him?) legend Julius
Schwartz, along with such unknown kids as Matt Groening, who was
having a hard time trying to get people interested in this little
Xeroxed comic called Life In Hell, and another goggle-eyed kid named
Straczynski who thought that maybe, somehow, someday, he might be
given the privilege of serving on a panel alongside these Giants but
who knew in his secret heart that the odds of that ever happening were
somewhere between slim and none.
And the dealer's room...the dealer's room...even then, even when it
was in the smaller convention center and not yet the current size,
which is only slightly smaller than Latvia...my eyes melted, my spirit
leapt and my slender wallet imploded. It was a Revelation. All of it.
But here's the thing. Here's the reason why, of all the conventions
out there, I've always tried to hit Comic-Con every year, year in and
year out, only missing a couple here and there because of the press of
work.
It's about the people behind the scenes. It's about the feel of the
convention, which springs directly from those responsible for
wrestling this behemoth to the ground every year for thirty-odd (very
odd) years.
There's never a sense that the convention is there to separate you
from as much money as they can get; never a sense that the fans or the
pros are being exploited. It's a celebration of the comics form and
the people who make it possible: joyful, friendly, and unrepentantly
enthusiastic.
Every time I attend Comic-Con, I feel as if I'm coming home.
Lemme give you a fr'instance.
I guess it was around 1994, maybe 1995, and I was there to appear on
several panels and talk about Babylon 5 (thereby proving that between
the aforementioned slim odds and no odds there is always the
possibility of hope). I'd come across a creep in the dealer's room
selling fake B5 merchandise, and alerted the convention to what the
guy was doing (pirates beware: I never stop going after this stuff, so
if you see me coming, expect the Angel of Darkness to come with me).
The convention acted properly and fairly in dealing with the guy.
But that ain't the reason for the reference.
While I was in the area behind the dealer's room reserved for con
operations and security (which is only slightly less imposing and
efficient than a NASA control room), filling out a report on the
situation, I noticed a guy sitting over in a corner, maybe 19 or 20,
looking tearful and upset. Some of the con organizers were talking
about him and they, too, seemed upset.
So I pulled one of them aside and asked what was going on. "He got
pickpocketed," one of them said. "He came here with enough money to
stay for a day or so, look at the place and go home, and now he
doesn't have the money to go home and he doesn't know what to do.
We're trying to figure out some way to help, maybe get him in touch
with his folks or something."
They could've done nothing. After all, he wasn't their responsibility,
crap happens, right? Everybody looks out for number one, right? But
instead of shrugging and walking away they were taking responsibility
for him because he was a fellow fan, because he'd gotten his wallet
lifted on their turf, and because they cared.
So when they'd moved off, I went over to the kid and privately asked
him how much it'd cost for him to get back home again. He named a
figure. I gave it to him.
I don't think he had any idea who I was, and at that moment, it didn't
matter.
What mattered was that he was a fan, as I was, and that I knew what it
felt like to be stuck, without money, unable to go home.
To be fair, I'm sure that kind of thing must happen at other
conventions.
But I saw it at Comic-Con, and I know it isn't the only time they've
intervened in situations like that.
So: why Comic-Con?
Ask the kids who come to see the visionaries whose words and pictures
formed the basis for their childhood dreams.
Ask the kid who couldn't get home.
Ask the kid who came with his Xeroxed comic book and found hope.
Ask the kid with dreams who thought he'd never even get asked to be on
a panel.
And that's why I attend Comic-Con at every possible opportunity, and
why, when they ask what I want to do, I tell them "Put me anywhere,
any panel you want."
Because I'm happy and honored to do it.
And because it's good to be home.
J. Michael Straczynski
Los Angeles, California
June 23, 2002
>Someone notes that Michael O'Hare is not doing commentary for the
>first season DVD's, and he was upset that Michael was evidently not
>even asked. Ruth O'Hare replies:
>JMS replies to Ruth O'Hare, who replied to the original poster:
:My mistake, I should have checked. When I mentioned this to Michael
:just now he said he HAD got a message on the answer phone this last week.
S'okay...as I said, it was kinda short notice and I can understand the
availability question. Please give Michael regards from myself and
Kathryn.
Best to you both.
jms
>And then he replies to the original poster:
WB was frantic to find Michael. They had no direct contact
information for him. They went through SAG which said they didn't
have a current listing for either Michael or his agent. They asked me
for help, and I gave them a number which I had a while ago but didn't
work. So next we tried Sandy Bruckner, who had another number for
him, which I gave to WB, and they said they left messages at that
number but never heard a reply. This was all at very short notice,
and there was only a week to try and track him down. B5-DVD maven
Scott Devine at WB can directly confirm that they were looking for him
everywhere, but the clock finally ran out.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:Just heard from Ruth. Seems that Michael did indeed get that phone
:message but decided against the interview (she didn't say if for
:scheduling or other reasons) and didn't call back. He also didn't
:mention the call to *Ruth*, who only found out about it when she asked
:him about it a short while ago.
:Well, *I* feel like seven different kinds of idiot for opening up this
:whole can of worms. <g>
:<engage Emily Latella voice>
:*Never* miiiiiiiiiiind...
This is why it's best, before raising the alarms, to simply ask what
the situation might be. I'm pretty straightforward in answering these
things.
jms
>In reply to a thread about difficulties in reading:
"We are born to suffer." Anton Chekov.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:I don't suppose that all the material taped for the abandoned
:"Sciography" B5 episode for SciFi might be obtainable for the B5 DVDs?
Doubtful since it was owned by SFC not WB.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:It should all be owned by JMS!
Unfortunately none of it is owned by jms. The ironic part of it is, I
had my attorney recently review the B5 contracts I'd signed some years
ago, in preparation for a possible audit, but he explained that under
the terms of the contract, which was my first such created-by
contract, with an agent who had not really done those kinds of
agreements before, an audit really wouldn't make any difference....
...because as it's phrased, I will never, ever see a dime in profits
from B5. Writers residuals, sure, though those gradually decrease with
time. But not a dime in profits. Ever.
(And no, there's no point to litigation because that's only useful to
find hidden profits; the way the contract reads and the amount of
overhead and distribution costs that can be taken eats any and all
possible profits.)
Which is often the case with first-time series deals, though this was
a little more onerous than others.
Such is life. I didn't do it to create a sinecure, I did it to tell a
story, and I'd do it again under the same deal.
And my contracts since then have been quite different.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers in reply to a filk (not sure what tune it was
>set to):
:"She-Ra, princess of power,
:You're my precious, precious princess of power.
:She-Ra, princess of power,
:I turn to you when my relationships sour."
......I'm in hell........
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:Seriously: I actually think it sounds like a rather pretty and catchy
:tune. It's nothing to be ashamed of.
Actually, while working at Filmation I'd once put some words about a
minor He-Man character to the tune of the theme music from "Bonanza" --
"Who is the man with the head of lead?
It's Ram-Man!
Who is as dense as a picket fence?
Ram-Man is his name!
Leaping here, jumping there, bouncing everywhere...."
-- which was as far as I got before everybody in the office dog-piled
me to stop the horror.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:LOL! Did you come up with other songs? :)
Not that I will ever cop to.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers someone who wanted to know about Cooney:
:It isn't really funny. This guy is infamous. Paul might catch you up
:but if he doesn't, do a Google search in this newsgroup for the name
:Cooney. [in the body, not the subject]
I'm being a bit loquacious today, since my hand is doing a bit better
today, so I thought I'd take a moment or two to offer some thoughts
here on whys and wherefores and how-the-hells....
See, there's this syndrome Linda Ellerbee came up with a few years
ago. It's called Riding the Elephant.
Whenever the circus comes to town, they have to move the trained
animals across town to the site of the circus, and they make a parade
out of it. Along the way, they get somebody -- usually the mayor, or
an honorary mayor, or some other local person -- to ride the elephant.
And people show up and they wave, and the guy on the elephant thinks,
"Hey, they're waving at me!"
No, they're waving at whoever got to ride the elephant for a moment.
Some convention organizers suffer from Riding the Elephant Syndrome.
A show comes along -- not just B5, but any show, and to be honest, not
just this but other kinds of promoters -- and it brings in lots of
people. The convention organizer stands in front of the crowd and
thinks, "They're here because of me! They're here FOR me!"
Not understanding that they're there for the elephant.
In the end, the promoter in most cases is simply irrelevant to the
process, and over time that knowledge comes to the forefront as the
promoter gets addicted to public applause, to riding the elephant.
Take the elephant away, and a lot of self-image and pouter-pigeon ego
goes with it.
Which is one big reason why I stopped doing conventions after a bit,
doing them with increasing rarity. My SDCC appearance this year is
the only one this year (absent Loscon which is a local con). Because
I didn't want to start wanting it. That's why I always pushed the
actors out front whenever possible.
Because I know a lot of people who got caught up in the cult of
persoanlity, and got crushed by the elephant.
So I don't ride the elephant.
I just feed her the peanuts.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:1) Was "She-Ra" so bad that nothing could have elevated it above
: the "waste of precious, God-given moments of life" level?
:2) Did you, as a writer, phone it in?
:If the answer to both questions is, "No", then you ain't got
:nothin' to be 'shamed of.
The answers are both no, as noted, and I never said I was ashamed of
it...there was some good work done there within the limits of the form.
The chagrin is the same thing you get when somebody finds photos of
you from 20 years back. Somewhere, deep in a closet, is a photo of me
from the 70s in Angels Flight pants, a denim shirt and denim vest
(with just a hint of fringe), a denim *cap* and shoulder-length hair
(back when I *had* hair), an outfit that in retrospect is horrifying
and even more horrifying to realize that a lot of that fashion has
come BACK.
Writing, for me, is a snapshot of oneself, it says this is who I was
at that time, and what I was thinking, and what I believed.
So SheRa, and that photo, get the same reaction out of me. And it
sounds like ".....ook."
jms
>JMS quotes and answers:
:> So I don't ride the elephant.
:>
:> I just feed her the peanuts.
:My, you *are* sane.
We all have our flaws.
jms
>JMS quotes and answers re SDCC
:So Joe, do you know yet what you'll be doing, when, and how long you'll
:be hanging out yet?
Nope.
jms
--
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Dirk A. Loedding <*> ju...@america.net |
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