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Email: afugelgrup@nw-b5.com/speek1@vcn.bc.ca
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The nw-b5 Mailing Lists Internet: http://nw-b5.arbutus.cx Email: afugelgrup@nw-b5.com/speek1@vcn.bc.ca |
Subject:
nw-b5 Update
Date:
Sun, 06 Dec 1998 06:34:49 -0800
From:
John Francis
Organization:
nw-b5 Mailing Lists and Homepage
To:
afugelgrup@nw-b5.com
The Latest nw-b5 Update - A History, A Pride, A Vision, A
Future.
By John Francis
Greetings to one and all out there once again. Nw-b5
periodically submits updates to you (newsgroups and the
Zocalo) to let you know of our activities and whereabouts.
On November 25th, nw-b5 held its final Merchants' Network
Showing of the new material for list members at our usual cafe
in Burnaby. Sleeping in Light gave us all much to ponder.
People were speechless as we funneled out of the room after it
was over. It was hard to believe we were saying good-bye to
the show, let alone basically saying goodbye to our friends
who have been gathering there for the better part of the past
year to see all the season five and movies stuff hoveled into
a small room. 50 people were there tonight. We will have our
last showing this coming weekend for list members at our usual
weekend haunt. We basically don't want to say good-bye to each
other because we have formed a community.
This past week, I read a wonderful article on Playboy On-line
("Internet Babylon" http://www.playboy.com/pop/tv/bab.html )
about the phenomenon of Babylon 5. JMS has made himself more
available to the fans than anyone in history. His involvement
with Usenet, Genie etcetera since the beginning offers a once
in a life time look in detail from the ground up of the
formation and running of a TV show in minute detail. The
article also referred to how JMS' "grand on-line experiment"
helped build a world-wide on-line community. This common
interest we have all shared developed a sense of reducing the
borders around the world as we all could for better or worse
at times share our passions about something we all believed in
- that there was life after Star Trek and that ART as quality
TV was not dead.
Nw-b5 is comprised of but not limited to, Trevor Bradley
(Lists Founder and Owner), Travers Naran (Lists Co-Moderator),
Dennis Kristos (Media Liaison and Chair of the Ad-Hoc
Committee to Save B5 in the Northwest), John Gee
(Merchandising and Press contacts), John Swedberg; Aristotle
Jones (primary organizers of S5 Burnaby Merchant Viewings
Committee), Gord Mulcaster (nw-b5-chat Owner), Thomas
Terashima (B5 Special Committee and Context Builder), Frank
Garcia (currently a Cinefantastique writer), Van Wilson
(Petitions Support
and Nw-b5's Harlan Ellison/Devil's Advocate), the varied
members of our Sponsoring Syndicates for our Gatherings at
SFU, 475 members strong, and myself John Francis (Webmaster
and Current Gathering Administrator).
On behalf of all of us, I can honestly say how proud we are to
be a part of that community. We see such a parallel in how we
became a local community and group of friends because of this
"grand on-line experiment." Nw-b5 has become something larger
than life in a small way here in the Southern British Columbia
area. We sent a petition to CHEK-6 TV in 1995 to state how B5
should not be used as filler/fodder, given the respect and a
stable slot it was due. It had been bounced in 4 different
times slots up to that point. 487 signatures. In 1997 we did
a petition in support of KVOS TV-12 that garnered more than
1000 signatures. In 1998 we undertook a letter writing
campaign in an effort to get WIC Broadcasting to show the
series in some facsimile here in the Lower Mainland. We
targeted sound commercial and business reasons why the show
should be brought back or the new series (Crusade) bought.
Regional deals were in effect in eastern Canada only for
Season 5 so it wasn't seen west of Ontario. We had seen 4
seasons but not the fifth and the net result was BCTV bringing
the fifth season to the local market beginning late this
September. We also sent a large contingent to Seattle for
Westercon 50 in 1997 and got to meet with JMS there.
Nw-b5 has been mentioned in 2 articles written in the
Vancouver Sun and had a feature written on us and the show in
the Vancouver Province (http://nw-b5.arbutus.cx/nwb5prov.htm ).
Nw-b5 has no organized structure, no bank account, no board
etc. Yet, we have earned the respect from the press in our
city, fought for something we believed in, and now received
one of the highest recognitions of all - being invited to
participate at the V-Con Convention here in Vancouver next
year by the Organizing Committee. Yes, nw-b5 has come of age.
We have earned the legitimacy from our peers in the local
sci-fi community.
It is at this time appropriate to announce that nw-b5 is proud
to be holding its Final Official Gathering on Sunday, December
6th, 1998, 1:00-7:00 PM at Simon Fraser University's Images
Theater. We will be featuring the Final Five Episodes of
Babylon 5. It has been our mandate during the past year to
bring the 5th Season to the local market for our list-members.
Record attendance was set at 400+ for the 1st Season 5
Gathering. We will try to surpass this at this our final
Season 5 Gathering. It is with great sadness that we will be
saying a good-bye on the local front to nw-b5 Mailing Lists
Founder, Trevor Bradley. Trevor leaves nw-b5 due to work and
family commitments. Nw-b5 was first established by Trevor
while attending Simon Fraser University as his way of giving
back to the show that had so moved him and many other people.
We wish Trevor well. Nw-b5 has certainly come of age and will
continue to evolve. Trevor has earned a well deserved "rest"
just like the Great Maker.
This Gathering is, as all are, absolutely free to attend.
Anyone else wishing to attend may request an invitation from
myself (mailto:afugelgrup@nw-b5.com). Our usual disclaimer: the
Gatherings are strictly non-profit. No money is charged to get
in. No material gain is made from this event. It merely
provides an opportunity for fans to get together and discuss
their favorite show - B5. It is a private party, by
invitation, open to all subscribed members of the nw-b5-info
mailing lists and their guests.
We want a packed house. That means 450 people. We will also
feature the Masters of Fantasy interview with Harlan Ellison.
There will be the usual multimedia displays and music during
the breaks. For details on the upcoming Gathering see
http://nw-b5.arbutus.cx/gather.htm. For details on past
Gatherings, see http://nw-b5.arbutus.cx/gathered.htm. These
url's may give you a small sense of what it is like to have
established this small on-line community of B5 fans.
On behalf nw-b5, we thank JMS and the B5 production crew for:
1) Taking us on the wildest ride in television history.
2) Giving people a chance to make new friends and share common
interests and passions.
3) Establishing one of the greatest on-line associations in
the world.
4) Providing a creative outlet for the science-fiction medium
unparalleled in Television history.
5) Giving us the courage to stand up for what we believe in.
6) Allowing us to get to know others far from our homes and
loved ones.
7) Bringing down borders a little around the world to show
that yes indeed - we are all brothers in humanity.
8) Allowing us to express ourselves through happiness,
sadness, rage, and passion for better or worse for something
we can believe in.
To all of the B5 on-line community, we salute you. To the
staff of the Zocalo, and the station.com, we say thanks for
the support. To Steven Grimm and all the others who provide
resources through valuable volunteer time, we say thanks. To
the TV stations who have carried the show, we say thank you.
To the press, we say thanks for writing about something truly
special. To all our list members, we say thanks for helping
make nw-b5 what it is today, a strong voice for quality
television and sci-fi in our local community. God Bless.
--
<*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*>
John Francis mailto:afugelgrup@nw-b5.com
Webmaster
nw b5 Mailing List Homepage
http://nw-b5.arbutus.cx
"Dedicated to all the people who believed that the
Babylon Project would fail in its mission.
Faith manages." (jms-10/97)
