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SpaceChampion

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Everything posted by SpaceChampion

  1. That's circular logic. Astronomers decided to invent the term dwarf planet, based on non-geological characteristics, when they are not the ones who study planets. The term didn't exist before. They didn't just find it in a trash bin some where. A definition based on "not clearing the neighborhood of the orbit" of other objects when Jupiter, Neptune, Mars, Earth, Uranus, and Venus don't even do that (all have trojan asteroids in their lagrangian points) and the criteria is both wrong and not useful in any way.
  2. I never studied Io in grad school, but I can tell you that's planetary geology, not astrophysics. Quite different. I only mention this to say that letting astronomers decide that Pluto isn't a planet is stupid, since they do not even study planets other than their albedo and orbits and interactions with other objects (which is astronomy not astrophysics), but rather geologists study things like tectonism and vulcanism, and deciphering the chronology of a planet's development over time. /rant.
  3. ISN wasn't an example of criticizing free press. It was an example of criticizing authoritarians who get into power and then turn the press into a mouthpiece for their propaganda, and for stroking the ego of the big boss in charge.
  4. If you cut it off at 200, then the entry point is 1.5M books solds (!!!). That just cuts off a lot of big names, like Iain Banks, Dan Simmons, Naomi Novik... Would it make more sense to use a # books sold limit, say 1 million?
  5. Kind of similar in themes and emotions seen in his other work. It's been a while, I don't really remember a lot. Old tragedy continuing on into the present, as it does with history.
  6. Yes, Ysabel has a few characters in common with Fionavar.
  7. Yeah, I've got the first 15, because those are the actual scripts. The rest I don't remember what they are but didn't catch my interest. The 15th wasn't available for purchase either, you had to buy all the previous 14 volumes to get that one as a reward (which was announce before volume 1 was released). The 15th is where the original notes for the story arcs of B5 and Babylon Prime were first published. No, they're never going to be released as ebooks. It was a limited run and meant to be rare. They were published through Cafepress's print on demand service, so once they shut down the production run, you can only get them from buying from another fan. I think you are imagining much many more story notes than were released. Check out the wiki for a contents listing. The original story arc was much less interesting than what we got, stretched out over 10 seasons instead of 5, and left a lot of room for invention along the way. With some minor edits, here's what I wrote back in 2009 about the original arc. Much SPOILERS!!:
  8. Maybe they subcontracted some Minbari worker caste to speed it up, giving them access to Minbari artificial gravity generators during construction.
  9. I don't think the first 3 Babylon stations were anywhere near complete. They were destroyed (by whoever) in the early construction stages.
  10. Signs & Portents is great, really worked as the beginning for the long arc, but might have been even better if it was the 2nd or 3rd episode instead of the 13th.
  11. There were some relationship conversations that JMS cribbed from his own life experience, and I think that was one of them.
  12. Babylon 5 was my very search on the internet, at university. The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5 being the top result, and the Usenet groups a daily visitation. JMS named the sector of space the B5 station was in after the web domain of the Lurker's Guide, which was hyperion.com back then. And of course the Lurkers on the station was named after the people who read Usenet by don't typically participate in the conversations. But the guide and usenet discussion began as JMS was in pre-production, so that two-way feedback was a nice touch. That JMS is good people. JMS wanted an older feeling of formality in everyday speech, rationalizing that as one of the things that came back into fashion once Earth became a Great Power. I'm trying to remember if the Centauri had some small fighter ships (their equivalent of the Starfuries) that didn't have gravity? I vaguely remember a comment about how they (or whichever race that was) were taking incredible G-forces in a battle, which gave the impression that this advantage was why they became a military empire in the first place.
  13. The view of humanity in B5 that JMS wrote about was necessary to the story he wanted to tell. That doesn't imply anything about what faith he has in humanity or not. In fact, by the time you get to the end of the series, you can argue that obviously JMS has a lot of faith in humanity. That's how story arcs work.
  14. An old interview with Stephen Furst covering his whole career that's rather interesting.
  15. It's on something called Go90 network in the U.S. This page also lists a bunch of ways to watch it. I have no idea if it is still accurate. It is available on Amazon and Youtube, and iTunes, though it seem you'd have to buy each episode or season. I don't know if that's on top of having Amazon Prime. iTunes looks like cheapest option. I do not disagree with this suggested viewing order below, but could just watch the "The Gathering" then the entire series without interspersing the other movies in there. And no reason to watch Crusade since it got cut short, and would just lead to disappointment.
  16. Stephen Furst passed away due to complications from diabetes.
  17. From the AMA, the "historical" order is:
  18. GGK does an Ask Me Anything on Reddit.
  19. Kay knows what he's doing. Melodrama is a tool like any other used in fiction, but too many seem to think it is a derogatory slur. He knows it is melodrama and wants it so. He's not interested in small events. He's exploring the large ones, turning points in history that are heightened and given meaning by arranging a tableau of emotion. Most of his novels use history for find those events, except in Fionavar he used myth. I don't think "it shows it's age" or is silly; melodrama is an old tool, and timeless, and that's what he wants his work to be.
  20. Yes, you'll probaby be fine.
  21. Excerpt for Children of Earth & Sky released today on tor:
  22. Surprised this isn't related to the previous two books.  I would like to see Kay tackle the Mongol invasion of eastern Europe. -- hell, let them invade all of Europe.
  23. Hmm it sounded more like a complete insertion of another author's unrelated book synopsis rather than anything Kay wrote. But you're saying some part of it is actually true?
  24. Stephen Colbert takes over as host of a Public Access talk show in Monroe, Michigan. He does the local news, settles a Yelp argument, and interviews a few guests, including local rapper Eminem.
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