Jeffrey has an upgraded studio at FarPoint Media Los Angeles, and boy does it make him sound good. Are they really working on the FarPoint Media Hawaii location? We shall soon see.
Tim had to attend family functions, but we’ve more than made up for it by having Lejon from Chandler in studio, and Gary from Jacksonville joining it to discuss some of the latest B5 news with us.
Discussion: We’ve already reposted JMS’ comments on moving forward with more Babylon 5, and the fan reactions are still flying all over the Internet. So Summer, Jeffrey, Gary, Michael and Brad discuss, in great detail and depth, with occassional comment from the chat room.
Anyone want to investigate the possibility of low budget fan film projects in the B5 universe? We already have fan-based audio projects, and archival projects… wonder what the options are and the chances are of B5 movies coming from a studio other than Warner Bros, or from a funded fan base, a la the many Star Trek and Star Wars fan film projects that are already out there.
And no, we’re not going to re-record the Babylon Podcast Season 3 opening again!
Go check out Deep Geeking when you get a chance, and if you want to contribute a geeking essay, get ahold of Summer.
Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s Second Life space is now the penthouse suite of Third Life Books, the place for SL versions of Michael A. Stackpole’s writings, and many other goodies, including a Wednesday night writing workshop. You can find the castle at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49. Come see the castle roof pool, and more!
Babylon 5 Information Gathering: If you know of a dead or abandoned B5 related website that may be in need of a new home, let Summer know! Maybe we can mirror it here or house it on a sister site.
As you may know, I missed last week’s Babcast to attend a show that my daughter appeared in. When we got home, though, we found that some culprit had trimmed the hedge in front of the house into the face of Londo Mollari. As if the neighbors weren’t talking already, what with me on the front porch discussing Shadow attacks and mad emperors late at night.Thanks, people.
Featuring these 6 scripts
• “The Long Dark” by Scott Frost
• “Soul Mates” by Peter David
• “There All the Honor Lies” Peter David
• “Gropos” by Larry DiTillio
• “Knives” by Larry DiTillio
• “Day of the Dead” by Neil Gaiman
All scripts include an introduction/commentary by the writers, written exclusively for these volumes.
Deadline Extended–$10 off good through Wednesday July 23
Volume 3 will never be offered at a discount again.
This limited edition run of all three volumes ends on September 30, 2008
We talk about the weather. It’s hot in LA and in Phoenix. It’s hot in Las Vegas, too, and we’re sad because George Johnsen’s work on The Star Trek Experience in Vegas will be gone when the exhibit shuts down on September 1. Go see it, and take one last trip to Quark’s Bar for one final Warp Core Breach.
Deep Geeking: Tim and Summer delve into Deep Geeking on “Into the Fire” the pivotal episode in the confrontation between the younger races and the Shadows and Vorlons. Tim thinks it’s a flawed episode, and so the discussion begins…
Feedback: Ruben in NJ wonders if the alien entity that invaded Sheridan in “Knives” was a remnant of a Vorlon that had been spying on the existing time-space for a Kosh in a different time, but just caught in a time rift (um, no).
Jeffrey wants to hear more messages from new listeners… feel free to call in!
Go check out Deep Geeking when you get a chance, and if you want to contribute a geeking essay, get ahold of Summer.
Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s Second Life space is now the penthouse suite of Third Life Books, the place for SL versions of Michael A. Stackpole’s writings, and many other goodies, including a Wednesday night writing workshop. You can find the castle at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49. Come see the castle roof pool!
Babylon 5 Information Gathering: If you know of a dead or abandoned B5 related website that may be in need of a new home, let Summer know! Maybe we can mirror it here or house it on a sister site.
So, what do you think? Thank Tim… he’s been getting a lot of practice making Flash movies. You might have noticed an earlier version of this on DeepGeeking.com for a little while, but this is the finished version.
Feel free to download the Flash vid and use it to promote the podcast!
Putting this on a recent thread here where it’s more likely to be seen in a quick fashion….
Several things just to update folks.
First, many thanks to all those who sent along research suggestions and offerings to be of assistance on the project I can’t talk about.
I’ve been swamped with deadlines and unable to reply to any of the public notes and private emails, but as soon as I can get my head above water, be assured that I’ll be in touch with many of you.
Second, as noted in the original thread before I hijacked it, yes, the plan at the moment is that I will be at Comic Con San Diego this year, primarily doing my thing on Thursday and Saturday afternoons.
There is a *chance* mind you, it’s just a slim chance but to be honorable I must mention it that a work situation *may* preclude my appearance there. Or it may not. I’ll know more by the end of next week, and for now as far as I know, everything’s on target for me to be at SDCC. If that changes, I’ll be sure to let everyone know as far in advance as possible.
One final note re: recent discussions on TMoS and more Lost Tales.
B5:TLT was commissioned at a $2 million budget to, yet one more time, “test the waters” for B5. We did what we could with that, and that was that. As we did with Rangers, which also suffered from not having a lot of money because of concerns about “is there really a B5 audience?” Which is, of course, a foolish question from a studio that has never really understood what it has in B5.
Of late, there have been more discussions from WB about doing more DVDs, again at a low cost, or a cable thing, again with minimal investment.
So for the last few months, I’ve been giving this whole subject a lot of quiet thought. And I’ve come to a conclusion.
B5 as a five year story stands beautifully on its own. If anything else is to be continued from that story, it should be something that adds to the legacy of B5, rather than subtracts from it.
As well intentioned as Rangers and TLT were, as enticing as it was to return to those familiar waters, in the end I think they did more to subtract from the legacy than add to it. I don’t regret having made them, because I needed to go through that to get to the point where I am now psychologically, but from where I sit now, I wouldn’t make them again.
So I’ve let everyone up here know that I’m not interested in doing any more low-budget DVDs. I’m not interested in doing any low-budget cable things or small computer games. The only thing I would be interested in doing regarding Babylon 5 from this point on is a full- featured, big-budget feature film.
It’s that or nothing.
And if it’s nothing, I’m totally cool with that because the original story stands on its own just fine. I’m not lobbying for it, I’m not asking fans to write in about it (nor should you) because such campaigns never really have much impact…that’s simply the position I’ve taken up here. Lord knows I don’t lack for other things to do these days. I’m busier on more prestige projects with terrific people and great film-makers than at any other time in my career.
At the end of the day, for me, it’s not just a matter of getting more B5. It’s a matter of getting more *good* B5 that respects what came before it and doesn’t have to compromise visually or in terms of action. The original show deserves better than that, the surviving cast members deserve better than that, and the fans who have supported it over the years definitely deserve better than that. A lot better.
So I’ve drawn that line in the sand, and I’m happy living on whichever side of that line the universe puts me. Just thought you should know, ‘cause it’s your show too.
Amy Guskin - one of the fans responsible for the purchase and donation of the G’Kar mask - sent us the link to her webpage where she shows off her car specially-wrapped to promote Legend of the Rangers. In Amy’s own words, “For my own amusement, and at SciFi’s request, I’ve been documenting some of my time as a slavishly-devoted, unpaid corporate promotional tool. Thus, following are some of the adventures of me and my Legend of the Rangers-wrapped car in the Philadelphia metro area, in late December 2001.” Admit it - you’d love to have your car looking like G’Kar is sitting in the back seat, too.
Michael, Summer and Jeffrey recap the FarPoint Fool Party for the group, and Tim really wishes he could have visted the heat and enjoyed the fun. Summer still doesn’t understand the appeal and attraction of this game called Washers.
Interview: Amy Guskin joins us to talk about her efforts to organize a group of B5 fans to acquire an original G’Kar mask and donate it to the Museum of the Moving Image in New York.
And you thought the Browncoats were good at organizing rescue efforts…
Discussion: Today, in sector 14, Tim had no emails or voicemails pulled aside, so there’s nothing to discuss. Pay no attention to the live stream from the party… there’s nothing happening here.
And because Jeffrey mentioned wanting 5 more years of doing the series, all of a sudden, Summer’s imagining he and Bruce starring in an updated rendition of Butch and Sundance…
Questions from the chat room: Mike Stark wants to know what Jeffrey liked least about working on the show; Neroon wants to know what the preferred beverage would be if Zima could be replaced (because the beer would go skunky!); what B5 episode without commentary would you have liked to have heard commentary on (we should make a list).
Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s Second Life space is now the penthouse suite of Third Life Books, the place for SL versions of Michael A. Stackpole’s writings, and many other goodies, including a Wednesday night writing workshop. You can find the castle at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49. Come see the castle roof pool!
Babylon 5 Information Gathering: If you know of a dead or abandoned B5 related website that may be in need of a new home, let Summer know! Maybe we can mirror it here or house it on a sister site.
Tom McFadyen has sent us a link to his site: B5Scrolls. It contains interviews with many of the people responsible for design and creation of the show’s visual effects, including Ron Thornton, Tim Earles, Mojo Lebowitz, and Everett Burrell. Additionally, there’s a fantastic section on the ships of the Babylon 5 universe. Go there now! Well, finish checking out the Babcast site first…
We try to put Luke to the test and come up with potential songs on the spot… will he get back to us later with some gems? We’ll have to wait and see.
Oh yeah… Ding.
Voicemail: Gary from Jacksonville needs clarification on whether the caves where Sheridan met Lorien were real, or metaphorical, being a construct where Lorien “caught” him; Gary needs clarification on when the 20-year deadline was set on the remainder of Sheridan’s life; Arkle gives us his thoughts on why B5 isn’t as high in the public consciousness as Buffy and other shows (and battles his cat in the process), and thinks the teaser ads on PTEN may have been the problem.
Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s Second Life space is now the penthouse suite of Third Life Books, the place for SL versions of Michael A. Stackpole’s writings, and many other goodies, including a Wednesday night writing workshop. You can find the castle at http://slurl.com/secondlife/beraudes/203/151/49. Come see the castle roof pool!
Babylon 5 Information Gathering: If you know of a dead or abandoned B5 related website that may be in need of a new home, let Summer know! Maybe we can mirror it here or house it on a sister site.
Welcome to Show #121!
Jeffrey has an upgraded studio at FarPoint Media Los Angeles, and boy does it make him sound good. Are they really working on the FarPoint Media Hawaii location? We shall soon see.
Tim had to attend family functions, but we’ve more than made up for it by having Lejon from Chandler [...]
Interview: We are pleased this week to talk with The great Luke Ski, creator of the new FuMP hit, 
