Interesting JMS Facebook Posts & Tweets

[Jan]

And again, JMS quotes what he's replying to from this post. Triple-F has posted a number of times, trying to get fans to show support for an 'Art of Babylon 5 book'.

“Joe has to approve any B5 licensed publication. He would never I mean NEVER let me publish anything B5.”

Y'know, I write about telepaths sometimes but I never claim to BE one.

Ron has never ASKED to do a B5 book. Not at any point. If he did, and he had a publisher, I wouldn't stand in his way. I'd be involved in the process same as any other book, but to say I wouldn't allow it is simply foolish.

Honestly, the more I read these threads, the more apparent it is that you guys have serious issues that often -- not always, but often -- have nothing to do with reality.

Jan

[Jan]

In this post, JMS responds to a post about the effects people constantly trying to slip Elvis references into shots (?? ):

It should be pointed out that the Elvis references being slipped into our shots were done AFTER we asked them to STOP being done, because it was juvenile and had no place in the show. It destroyed the reality of the moments we were trying to create. So when an executive producer and the production company instruct individuals to stop doing this, and they keep doing it...what does that tell us about the maturity of those involved? It was a constant and completely unnecessary source of strain between the companies, and in some ways that attitude contributed to creating an atmosphere that NDI could exploit as a reason to change houses. It wasn't the only reason they offered -- and some of the others it turned out were less than factual -- but having a company that would do what we told them to did become a factor by then. Something to bear in mind.

Jan

[Jan]

And turning now to Twitter, found this little gem in response to somebody suggesting that Rising Stars be turned into a TV show:

JMichael Straczynski@straczynski
@______ May be some RS news in the near future.

5:06 AM - 6 Oct 13

https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/386764311353253888

Jan

[Jan]

Been a while since JMS engaged with somebody like this. I hadn't even noticed that JMS was posting from his personal account until it was mentioned that I might have been fooled by a fake JMS. However, it *is* his personal account that JMS was posting from, not a counterfeit or fake account.

For a fair amount of back-and-forth, this thread is interesting.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=471422049612860&set=a.283248628430204.70587.178490865572648&type=1&comment_id=1513532&offset=0&total_comments=7

The thread where my name came into it is where Triple-F started a new thread to ask what others thought. https://www.facebook.com/B5Scrolls/p...27329504022114

ETA: Apparently Tom Smith / Triple F / B5 Scrolls didn't appreciate my chewing him out for speculating about my personal finances when he connected me monetarily with making money from other's art because he seems to have blocked/banned me. For the moment, I don't plan to return the favor here.

Jan

[Jan]

And now, for a complete change of subject, JMS made this thoughtful post:

If I might be permitted an observation.

You, reading this on your monitor, or your smart phone or your tablet, you who have the latest IOS or Windows or Linux, you who track the latest apps and sites and watch with rapt attention as the Higgs Particle surrenders its secrets...you, who believes you are living in the twenty-first century.

You are wrong. We are not living in the twenty-first century.

We are living in the 1960s. We’ve been living there for the last fifty years. I don’t care what the calendar tells you, you’re wrong.

How do I know this?

Because right now, at this very second, we’re having the very same arguments, over the very same things, that we argued about in the 1960s, and the 70s, and the 80s, and the 90s, and the Oughts. And nothing’s been done, nothing’s been decided.

It’s just the same old arguments, over and over, for FIFTY YEARS.

We’re still arguing about equal pay for women.

Still arguing about environmental issues versus corporate laissez faire.

About whether or not some sexual practices should be allowed.

About excessive government secrecy and spying.

About voting rights and citizenship for minorities.

About bomb blasts and body counts.

About casual cruelty masquerading as policy.

Arguing about the rights of gays.

About a trigger-happy military.

About who is the latest suspected socialist.

About the media as source of all social ills.

About the war on drugs.

About health care.

About social security.

About birth control.

About evolution.

About nuclear power.

About abortion.

About guns.

And I’m tired of it.

I’m not saying these discussions aren’t important. Obviously they are.

But can we get on with it? Can we actually decide some of the things on the list given above and move on to NEW questions?

Can we move out of the 1960s?

Can we have some new arguments?

I would love to see new arguments.

I would love to see Congress wrestling with whether or not to declare our Mars colony the 51st state.

Would love to see filibusters and debates over whether someone who has received 51% of his body mass from artificial sources still constitutes a human being.

Arguments over whether the new mega-high-speed rail that puts the ones in Japan and China to shame should go from LA to New York or Miami.

About voting rights for synthetic people.

About the FDA’s analysis of mindbridge implants that let two people stay mentally joined forever.

About new safety standards for air-cars.

About deployment of the 45th Robotic Division past their warranties.

Those would be wonderful arguments to have. New, fresh, inspiring arguments.

We’ve been arguing about the same things, over and over, for fifty years. The same drumbeat, the same talking points, the same positions and policies and nothing ever gets done because it’s in no one’s INTERESTS to get anything DONE, because for as long as those same arguments continue, those with a visceral stake in the outcome of those arguments will continue to come out to the polls to vote in those whose viscera says the same thing about the same issues.

And so we roll on, decade after slow decade, with neither side resolving anything even when they run the table, with influence over all three branches of government.

Fifty years. Arguing over the same things for fifty years is like eating the same meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner for five decades. Soon the taste buds diminish and fail and you don’t even realize what you’re eating anymore.

If you’d said to me as a kid in the 1960s that we’d still be arguing over these things in 2013 I’d have laughed in your face. Impossible. We’ll resolve at least some of these things by then. Has to happen. Got to. The alternative is ludicrous.

Do you...you the person who has read this far without going off to tweet or instagram or download, you the person who actually believes you are living in the twenty-first century...want to be having these same arguments fifty years from now? Do you want to still be living in the 1960s in 2063?

Do you want a hundred years of arguing without resolution?

Do you think we can do better?

We have to do better. This can’t be it. This can’t be the end of the American experiment, sucked down into a century of social quicksand.

We have to be better than that.

We have to be.

New arguments.

New arguments.

God of microscope and test tube, god of provender and starlight, stern god who maketh quantum quandaries as much as the architecture of butterfly wings, let us have some new arguments.

I realize it is much to ask.

But it is long past time to ask.

Indeed.

Jan

[Dan Dassow]

And now, for a complete change of subject, JMS made this thoughtful post:

Indeed.

Jan

Put another way:
Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.

[Garibaldi's Hair]

Put another way:
Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.

Except the point here, surely, is that there is no result ...

[Dan Dassow]

Put another way:
Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.

Except the point here, surely, is that there is no result ...

Sigh! Stagnation and decay are a result, albeit a very undesirable one.

The Optimist: The glass is half full
The Pessimist: The glass is half empty
The Engineer: The glass is twice as big as it needs to be
Congress: You do not need a glass

[Jan]

I'm glad to see that these are happening more frequently now. I'd watched some a while back and they're fun.

Marathon-watched all of "Katie watches Babylon 5" on youtube. Much fun. "This show...this fucking show...."

http://www.youtube.com/user/pumpkinofdoom/videos

Jan

[DaveNarn]

I'm glad to see that these are happening more frequently now. I'd watched some a while back and they're fun.

http://www.youtube.com/user/pumpkinofdoom/videos

Jan

Thanks for the link...what an ambitious project.

Glad she picked B5.

I like her viewpoints - great fun!

Thanks Katie where ever you are

[Looney]

I just watched her first episode. When it got toward the end I just kept thinking, "Oh are you in for a ride." I can't imagine her reactions when she gets into seasons three, four, and five. It is so wonderful to be reminded of those first time viewing feelings. I remember my first time, and I remember trying to explain everything I loved about the show to people I knew. They didn't respond as positively as I hoped they would, but what can you do.

[Jan]

Some people just don't listen. On Twitter, somebody asked JMS if he wanted an idea for a B5 reboot. JMS said "No." Pretty unambiguous, wouldn't you think? The person posted it anyway and couldn't even spell Minbari!

@straczynski drahks attack B4. Alt timeline. Mimbari conquer. Drahl recruits heroes from new timeline to fix old one. Peace and new age.

I asked you not to give me your story idea. You did it anyway, guaranteeing 1) I'll never use it and 2) you're blocked.

DUH!!

On a happier note, JMS did a 'Radio JMS' series of posts last night. Kind of a bother to repost so here's his feed in case you're interested.

https://twitter.com/straczynski

Jan

[DaveNarn]

I just watched her first episode. When it got toward the end I just kept thinking, "Oh are you in for a ride." I can't imagine her reactions when she gets into seasons three, four, and five. It is so wonderful to be reminded of those first time viewing feelings. I remember my first time, and I remember trying to explain everything I loved about the show to people I knew. They didn't respond as positively as I hoped they would, but what can you do.

Just a thank you note for a job well done

http://youtu.be/_ULWNRvN-a4

[Jan]

Oh, cool! Did you post in her comments to let her know you did it? Hope so!

Jan

[Ubik]

Just a thank you note for a job well done

http://youtu.be/_ULWNRvN-a4

This is so cool. It's also EXACTLY what the FreeBabylon5 campaign needs, new viewers expressing their love for the show in a structured manner. Great!

Dave, awesome follow up too!