Welcome to Show #142!

Sorry this is so late… Summer came down with a bad case of “too many projects”-itis, and completely forgot that she’d started to post this episode, but didn’t finish posting it. Yeesh.

JMS’ scheduled appearance at NY Comicon (Feb 6-8) may have to be canceled since the movie The Changeling has been nominated for several BAFTA Awards (the British equivalent of the Oscars).

Jarsto joins us this episode… proof positive that he was NOT captured by Vorlons for experimentation. He tells us about the upcoming new episodes of “Three-Edged Sword”, the audio drama over at Voices of Babylon, and their planning for new B5-based audio dramas, and the call for scripts and story ideas from other people.

Tim relates an anecdote from work that directly relates to our most recent episodes of Babylon 5, especially the topic of tonight’s discussion.

Deep Geeking: Tim, Summer and special guest Jarsto delve into “Intersections in Real Time”, definitely one of the most difficult episodes to watch the first time around.

The psychological abuse we see Sheridan being subjected to is also felt by the viewer because of the structure of the episode… there is no cut away to a B story, no time jumps in scene, and the relentless manipulation in pursuit of a truth they want to use for their own purposes.

It’s also another wonderful example of the use of a stage play composition, both in set design and writing/acting, to intensify the the emotional impact of the interactions and the reasons for them.

How much JMS’ background in psychology played in crafting this episode would be a fun thing to find out, and Summer wonders if JMS ever read Psychological Warfare by Col. Paul M. A. Linebarger (aka Cordwainer Smith).

And Summer was mistaken about a few details: Linebarger didn’t write the book for the Army… he was in the Army at the time, and it was published by Infantry Journal Press while he was with the Institute for Advanced International Studies, but the book was an examination of the topic from WWI and WWII. It’s also long long out of print, and copies run $500 and higher these days, but she’d love to read it someday.

Visit Deep Geeking, and if you want to contribute a geeking essay, send a note to Summer.

Chat: Tim’s been geeking on the Apollo Moon Missions over at the Apollo Talks podcast, so check it out!

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s Second Life space is now the penthouse suite of Third Life Books. 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.

If you can, please Donate.

Promo: The British Invaders
Promo: What the Cast?
Link: Cordwainer Smith

Neil Ottenstein forwarded this link on to the Babcast. I’ll say no more.

Breaking News

Let the voicemails come!

Welcome to Show #141!

Yes, it’s been awhile since we’ve had a new show… didja miss us? We hope this show makes up for that long break.

Jeffrey regales us with a Majel Barrett convention tale as we honor her memory (she passed away on December 18 2008 of leukemia).

Tim tells us about a new TV project that JMS is working on, and we all hope that a SAG strike doesn’t happen to knock things awry.

Interview: It’s the interview almost everyone has been waiting for. Ed Wasser joins us this week, and he tells us how he thinks that the attraction to Morden comes from the undeniable allure of the mystery and the appeal of the bad guy. We also talk about how he came to Babylon 5, and how his asking for a more dangerous part led to him getting the role of Morden, his fan club and convention visits, and more.

The depth and reach of Morden’s plans definitely affects the entire series, even though he was only on screen for 13 episodes. It’s a testament to the writing and the performances that major characters that only appear from time to time can have such a large impact on the overall series story arc.

But, did you also remember him being on Sliders?

Feedback: Jeffrey pushes the buttons and plays some voicemail for us! Gary thanks Brad for the musical Holiday Gifts that were posted to the site; Gary comments on JMS’s remake of Forbidden Planet, and manages to bring in the Zima again.

We have no idea who the mystery caller is that is going to call us back, but she amused the hell outta Jeffrey. Really.

Mike G sent an email about Jeffery’s listing on the Who’s Dated Who? website. Why doesn’t Jeffrey Willerth have any WDW fans?

Kate in Chicagoland gives us some suggestions on topics to cover on The Babylon Podcast after we’ve gone through all the official and unofficial materials, and James in Tallahassee tells us that he’s made many Lego B5 ships, including EA ships, Narn, Centauri, Minbari and Brakiri ships. We wanna see pictures of them!

Visit Deep Geeking, and if you want to contribute a geeking essay, send a note to Summer.

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s Second Life space is now the penthouse suite of Third Life Books. 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.

If you can, please Donate.

Promo: Scott Sigler: CONTAGIOUS
Promo: I Should Be Writing

…so that’s why I am posting these Xmas goodies now.

First up is an entertaining revisit of The Night Before Christmas from the vantage point of Epsilon 3. Thanks to Marc Luce for this.

Neil Ottenstein sends us a revealing look at an early visit to Earth by the Vorlons.

So enjoy the holiday!

There will be no Live Feed Wednesday, January 14th.

 I really hate to post this, and I know there has been a gap in live feeds and shows for the holidays. Scheduling and technical difficulties do not allow for live feeding to happen Wednesday, but Summer and the guys will be recording a new episode.  The episode will be…..  

Well, I wish I could say because I’m really excited about it, but Summer would go ninja on me if I ruined the surprise. Check back next week, you won’t want to miss it.

In the mean time I hope this will help you get through one more week: Link

From the chatroom (times in CET):

[2009-01-08 01:26:32] <SummerNinja> fyi, in case you didn’t already hear in Second Life. no live feed tonight. Sorry about this.
[2009-01-08 01:26:48] <SummerNinja> Let other folks know as they filter in later? Thanks.

Unfortunately that’s about all that’s clear right now, so I don’t have any hows, whys, or wherefores to share. More news may follow. And in the mean time the 2008 Year End Special is now up and waiting to be listened to.

Welcome to the New Year!

Here’s a 2008 Year in Review special… yeah, after the year end. What’s life without a few funny mixups?

This is an EPIC episode… you can thank Tim for such glorious attention to detail.

Want more? Visit Deep Geeking, and if you want to contribute a geeking essay, send a note to Summer.

Second Life Info: FarPoint Media’s Second Life space is now the penthouse suite of Third Life Books. 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.

If you can, please Donate…