Republibot Website Looking For A Few Good Reviewers

[Republibot 3.0]

Hi there. I'm Republibot 3.0 of the Republibot website (http://www.republibot.com), a general purpose science fiction fansite with a great sense of indebtedness and affection for Babylon 5. We've run a lot of articles on the show - both investigative and speculative - we've interviewed JMS (briefly), and we've basically preached to the heathens about what a game-changer the series was for science fiction on TV.

This year, among other things, we're going to be doing chronological reviews of the entire B5 universe, from "The Gathering" to "Sleeing in Light," and all points and series in between. Something we'd *like* to do, but don't really have the time and resources for, would be to review the Babylon 5 tie-in novels as well.

Which is why I'm here bugging you folks.

If any of you might be interested in reading (or re-reading) the novels and writing review of them for us, please drop me a line here at three@republibot.com Our site is pretty well regarded, and fairly high-traffic, and pretty good exposure for anyone looking to make a name for themselves by doing a little guestbloggery. Please drop us a line if you think it's something you might wanna' do. Previous online reviewing experience is a plus, but not neccisary. Anything you write will be your exclusive property, not ours.

PLEASE NOTE: *DO NOT* write a review before talking to us, ok? We'd hate for you to spend a lot of time and effort writing up soemthing that, for whatever reason, we can't or won't use, so please TALK TO US BEFORE YOU ACTUALLY WRITE ANYTHING! Contact us for details about what we're looking for.

Sincerely,
Republibot 3.0

 

[Triple F]

Well, not to put to fine a point on it you may want to do a bit more research into the subject yourself. The Babylon 5 television series that is.

I know jms has put no small effort into becoming the public face of the show, but he wasn’t the only creative talent behind it.

I found your question

NASA was interested in the "Starfury" design for use as a kind of space tug for the ISS. That had to be amazingly gratifying - as far as I know, there have only been two vehicles from Science Fiction shows that have been seriously studied by "Real World" agencies. The Navy did wind tunnel tests on the Flying Sub from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea in the '60s (It failed), and then there's your Starfury. Can you tell us what that was like for you? Do you know if they're still looking in to it, or has it fallen prey to budget cuts?

Interestingly worded – considering he had bugger all to do with the design other than approve it. (trust me) I know the temptations of sticking your head up an interviewees arse. But if your going for factual accuracy - which most newbies would appreciate, other than needlessly promoting the single “Great Maker” myth - you may want to consider that other people where involved in the making of the show.

Here’s a few hints as to *some* of the names. The Babcast crew have it slightly better cornered. Most of them would probably be happy to give you an interview.

http://themadgoner.com/B5/B5Scrolls/B5Scrolls.htm

Nice looking site though.

 

[Republibot 3.0]

Triple F:

Point taken. It does seem kind of "Oh, gosh, you're so great," doesn't it? Ordinarily our interviews are much longer and much more 'warts and all', but I had very limited time to talk with him, and I think I probably made my questions overly-terse. That's my failing as an interviewer, not his, and you're fully right to point it out to me. I can honestly say I didn't really notice it until now, but, yeah, you're right.

In any event, I know JMS didn't design the Starfuries, and I know the original design (Which he did have some input on) was more like a Star Wars B-Wing. The thrust of my question was that it's really the only thing from an SF show to have been seriously considered for use with NASA, which *is* a pretty big accomplishment, even if all he did was sign the check for the art department. 'Cuz, frankly, they wouldn't have considered it if he hadn't said "Yes" at some point during the development of the show.

Anyway, my bad. The idea that things have been a bit to JMS-centric (Quoting your link) is also well made, and I'll look in to that. There's whole long avenues of interesting discussion there that my site hasn't touched on yet. (I did get to talk to Harlan Ellison about his part in B5 recently, but that hasn't run on our site yet). Definitely we need to rectify that.

Thanks for the kind words on the look of our site!

But, in any event, we still need someone to review the tie-in novels, if anyone's interested. Open offer.

 

[Triple F]

Hi,

Never read the novels and the like so can’t help with that personally.

Sorry if I sounded a bit snappy with the earlier comments, spending so much time talking with some of the others involved with that aspect of the show (seeing what they did) has made me . . . . . overly sensitive to some language - that’s my bad. ; )

 

[Republibot 3.0]

No, no, not at all. No umbrage taken. You were right to do it.

You pointed out something I was certainly guilty of and hadn't noticed. B5 was a team effort, but JMS wore so many of the hats during production - far more than most producer/creators generally wear - that it's easy to mistake him for the whole team.

Now that you point it out, I'd really like to know more about this stuff myself. How does one go about contacting or learning about the people who were involved in the other aspects fo the show?

 

[Jan]

I don't know about contacting any of them but if you happen to find any of the old Official B5 Magazines, they used to spotlight a lot of the crew.

I'm pretty sure Mojo has a blog...Darth Mojo, maybe?

Jan

 

[Triple F]

Check the links page on B5scrolls. That’s should get you to a few of them. (Need to update that actually.)

http://themadgoner.com/B5/B5Scrolls/B5Scrolls.htm#Screen4_01_1


Tim Earls also has a site these days, a link to it is on here.
http://themadgoner.com/B5/B5Scrolls/B5Scrolls.htm#Screen3_03_6


If you want to talk to any of the others PM me and I’ll pass the message on (never nice to give things out without checking first – you know how it is). Once they sniff your hand and get used to you (as you probably know) they’ll be more than happy to put you in contact with anyone there still hanging around with. The likes of John C and Ron (in particular) still keep in contact with a lot of those who worked on the show – in ALL areas. (directors, editors ,sets)

The so called ‘interview’ section on there doesn’t cover half of the contributions from most of the ones I've spoken to, most are scattered around the ship screens.



One thing. If you ever come across Steve Burg on your travels. Throw a net over him and let me know. He’s like the firgin Scarlet Pimpernel.

 

[Republibot 3.0]

Will do, thanks! I'm checking out the links now, I appreciate it. I can already see there's lots of good stuff here...

I'm new here, what's a "PM?"

 

[Jan]

^^ PM = Private Message. Look at the top of your screen right above "Quick Links" and "Log Out" and you should see a link to the Private Message area. OR you can do a single left click on the name of the person you want to send a PM to and then there's a drop-down where you can send one also.

Jan

 

[Republibot 3.0]

Ah! Thank you! Glad I asked, I never would have figured that out on my own.

BTW, been pouring over your links. That "Badger" alone was worth the price of admission.

And just to bring us back on topic: If anyone out there wants to read and review one or more of the B5 tie-in novels for the Republibot website, we'd like to talk to you about it. It's an open offer. <G>