An obsession with Orange Juice

LOL, I thought Mike Vejar was pronounced "jar", not "jer"

Sigma, Deaded's reference was to V'Ger.

I thought Vejar was pronounced Vay-har.

You guys are *SO* picky. It really makes it hard for those of us with a sense of humor.

OJ obsession has nothing to do with JMS.

Little hint, what these orange juice episodes have in common?

Mike Vejar

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I don't know about that. If it's in the script, JMS wrote it. And his scripts were always turned in prior to shooting and virtually never revised once filming began. I'd never heard any mention of Vejar altering the written material, but he could jazz up the visuals all he wanted.

Besides, I thought it was Janet Greek's signature element.

OJ obsession has nothing to do with JMS.

Little hint, what these orange juice episodes have in common?

Mike Vejar

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I don't know about that. If it's in the script, JMS wrote it.

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In "Points of Departure", Sheridan mentions to Ivanova how he hasn't had fresh fruit, including oranges, for a long time while he was out on the rim. In the tag, after his speach, Sheridan picks up an orange off of the console and tosses it into the air, peeling it as he exits.

That part is scripted. There were various other occasions where the orly orange reference seemed to be a bowl of oranges in a scene. If anybody knows those episodes, I can check the scripts but, in general, there's not a lot of set decorating notes in the scripts.

Jan

Remember how Elric conjured up an orange blossom for him?

Well yeah, that was in the script. But does that count as set dressing or prop?

Jan

They never seemed to quite get it straight about how precious vegetables and fruit were on B5, with them so costly only Eggars could afford them, or just a luxury for Sheridan. And how about garlic? Garibaldi had to pay a lot to have it brought from earth, but we often saw long strings of it hanging at shops in the Zocalo.

Brakiri garlic just doesn't taste the same.

It has this sweet, nutty flavour. Won't work for Bagna Cauda.

Good catch, Jade Jaguar

They never seemed to quite get it straight about how precious vegetables and fruit were on B5, with them so costly only Eggars could afford them, or just a luxury for Sheridan. And how about garlic? Garibaldi had to pay a lot to have it brought from earth, but we often saw long strings of it hanging at shops in the Zocalo.

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But Garibaldi paid for fresh garlic. It's a two day ride to earth from B5, so it's feisable the garlic could be fresh (as well as the rest of his crate). But like ordering heavy packages to be personally delivered, there is always a surcharge.

Referencing now the Zocalo, remember the flower shop the Lt. Corwin bought flowers at mid-way in the series. He had to buy synthetic roses as real ones (e.g. fresh) were ridulously expensive. My guess is because of the distance to earth, the zocalo prices for earth produce would also be very expensive. There was alien produce though (Orcha Juice - Gropos), and given B5 proximity to alien sectors, it may have been cheaper to buy substitutes.

They never seemed to quite get it straight about how precious vegetables and fruit were on B5, with them so costly only Eggars could afford them, or just a luxury for Sheridan. And how about garlic? Garibaldi had to pay a lot to have it brought from earth, but we often saw long strings of it hanging at shops in the Zocalo.

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But Garibaldi paid for fresh garlic. It's a two day ride to earth from B5, so it's feisable the garlic could be fresh (as well as the rest of his crate).

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Fresh garlic? Garlic, like onions, is allowed to dry a bit before it is distributed and sold. This keeps very well, for at least a few weeks. Just ask your store produce manager. This would be considered "fresh garlic," as opposed to granulated, or peeled garlic packed in water or oil. The garlic seen hanging in the Zocalo looked just like the strings of garlic bulbs that we see in Italian groceries, and some regular groceries. Thus, there would have been no need for a special garlic import to make his bagna cauda, he would just have to fork over the Zocalo store's price. Surely, since they import it all the time, in quanity, it would have been cheaper than specially importing it himself. Now, if he had had a friend coming from Earth bring him some, and he reimbursed them at Earth prices, that surely would have been cheaper. But that didn't fit the story line.

If you have a friend going to Mexico, you might ask them to bring back a large bottle of real vanilla for you, it is very cheap there. If you were to pay somene to 'smuggle' that same bottle, it would be much more costly than the stateside price. Same thing.

Being lazy, but loving garlic, I buy peeled garlic cloves in a three pound refrigerated container. That way, I can use it by the handful, without taking the time to peel it. It will stay fresh for about a month, and if it seems to be about to turn, I make a pot of sopa de ajo, which is Mexican garlic soup, and that uses it all up.

I have noticed that they tended to use strange looking Earth veggies, mostly odd gourds, like the 'crown of thorns,' and others I don't know the names of, to decorate the set, either in the Zocalo shops, or in fruit bowls. I kept looking for a patty pan squash, since they look like UFOs to me, but I never saw one of them.

I'd always assumed the garlic was along for the ride, perhaps a special cultivar a bit more piquant than the bland stuff at the Zookolow, and the real cargo was the extra extra extra virgin olive oil(expensive here already) and the animal products, the sausage and butter.

That is about the only way it could make sense. There are different varieties of garlic. Generally, those with a center stem are considered more flavorful. I like the ones with purple streaks in their skins! Without rewatching the ep, I couldn't say for sure, but I think I remember him at least implying that what I would call fresh, i.e. real, whole, garlic was not available on B5. Such errors, if they are errors, may be fun to nitpick, but I don't really consider them flaws in the show, as they are really inconsequential.

Fresh garlic? Garlic, like onions, is allowed to dry a bit before it is distributed and sold. This keeps very well, for at least a few weeks. Just ask your store produce manager.

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Garlic is usually sold like that, yes. But it's also possible to get the totally fresh garlic in some stores. I know I have. Even up here in rural Norway. It's not something that was easy to get untill a couple of years ago though.

Being lazy, but loving garlic, I buy peeled garlic cloves in a three pound refrigerated container. That way, I can use it by the handful, without taking the time to peel it. It will stay fresh for about a month, and if it seems to be about to turn, I make a pot of sopa de ajo, which is Mexican garlic soup, and that uses it all up.

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Obviously I need to get to know you better

So, you're looking for a test subject for breath fresheners?

I could live on just garlic and cheese!
(AND my remote control)

It could also be that the supply of produce was somewhat variable. Even now, with globalization growing everything everywhere and shipping it to the rest of the places, supply can be erratic and quality more so. If Garibaldi was a garlic snob (considering his reasons I can imagine he would be) and if it was the down period maybe he just wasn't satisfied.

Of course I'm rationalizing wildly.