sagawizard (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} sagawizard) wrote,@ 2009-05-22 22:47:00 |
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I met JMS!!!!
Squee time. And yes, boys can squee, too.
JMS himself, creator of Babylon 5, told me "f*ck you!" tonight. Something I shall carry with me till the day I die. :)
Background: MIT somehow got JMS to come speak, and I found out via those damnedly Orwellian (yet damnedly useful) Facebook snoop-ads. Soroboknee and I paid $10 to go see him. Packed auditorium, and all of the hallways leading there in MIT Building#10 had been peppered with very authentic, at-home looking Psi-Corps signs that said "Obey" and "The Corps is Father, The Corps is Mother." When we asked where the room was, we were told, "go down that hall and turn left at the `Remember Byron' graffiti." Priceless.
JMS was hysterical. Angry nerdy working class Jewish geek who tore down everyone but didn't spare himself, witty and surprisingly kind at key moments. He was somehow simultaneously a gentleman and an ass, but the good kind of ass (or the bad kind of gentleman!) The man stayed an extra HOUR to accommodate all questioners and dealt with the few trolls admirably (including this one freakazoid who, after 6 straight minutes of preamble, flying in the face of everyone telling him to get to the point, asked, "What's your favorite food?" When JMS, after his incredulity at that being the question, said, "burgers", the followup question was, "if I were a hamburger, would you eat me?" Uuuuggh. As he was booed off the mike, I realized that this is how most Muslims must feel when they see Al Qaida. As in, "this man does not represent geekdom! Or at least, not mainstream geekdom!"
JMS proudly identified as a geek, dropped references with the best of us, told wonderful stories about him and Harlan Ellison, gave us the behind-the-scenes-on-B5 dirt we were craving,and managed to be both admirable and pathetic at the same time - the former because of all he'd achieved in spite of everyone who tried to block him or screw him over, how he managed to do it "his way" and keep to his values at all times - and the latter because although he's a legend now he's divorced and alone and considers himself a writer because he's good for nothing else. It's that combination of pride and insecurity that all geeks know so well.
Some people, myself included, really credited his work with shaping parts of their lives. He was kind to the people who really opened up their hearts with moving stories, and ribbed the hell out of people (including me!) whom he sensed could "take it." I didn't even realize until tonight that he wrote for He Man, The Real Ghostbusters, Wheeled Warriors, Captain Power...these were the shows that taught me all about "heroism" and "morality"...of course, when I told him that I grew up on those shows, that's when he said "f*ck you" for making him feel old. :) He also teased me about my "GM's don't kill characters" tee-shirt: "You're a liar," he said. "I used to play in a Cthulu game and my GM killed me all the time!" After I asked him my writing question (and got a decent and respectful answer), I promised him if he ever played with my group, I wouldn't kill his character. :)
In short, the best $10 I've spent in years. Even if the guy sitting next to me (notroboknee was busy noisily biting his nails, farting, coughing on me and invading my personal space the whole time. With geekdom, one takes the good with the bad.
- SW
Squee time. And yes, boys can squee, too.
JMS himself, creator of Babylon 5, told me "f*ck you!" tonight. Something I shall carry with me till the day I die. :)
Background: MIT somehow got JMS to come speak, and I found out via those damnedly Orwellian (yet damnedly useful) Facebook snoop-ads. So
roboknee and I paid $10 to go see him. Packed auditorium, and all of the hallways leading there in MIT Building#10 had been peppered with very authentic, at-home looking Psi-Corps signs that said "Obey" and "The Corps is Father, The Corps is Mother." When we asked where the room was, we were told, "go down that hall and turn left at the `Remember Byron' graffiti." Priceless.JMS was hysterical. Angry nerdy working class Jewish geek who tore down everyone but didn't spare himself, witty and surprisingly kind at key moments. He was somehow simultaneously a gentleman and an ass, but the good kind of ass (or the bad kind of gentleman!) The man stayed an extra HOUR to accommodate all questioners and dealt with the few trolls admirably (including this one freakazoid who, after 6 straight minutes of preamble, flying in the face of everyone telling him to get to the point, asked, "What's your favorite food?" When JMS, after his incredulity at that being the question, said, "burgers", the followup question was, "if I were a hamburger, would you eat me?" Uuuuggh. As he was booed off the mike, I realized that this is how most Muslims must feel when they see Al Qaida. As in, "this man does not represent geekdom! Or at least, not mainstream geekdom!"
JMS proudly identified as a geek, dropped references with the best of us, told wonderful stories about him and Harlan Ellison, gave us the behind-the-scenes-on-B5 dirt we were craving,and managed to be both admirable and pathetic at the same time - the former because of all he'd achieved in spite of everyone who tried to block him or screw him over, how he managed to do it "his way" and keep to his values at all times - and the latter because although he's a legend now he's divorced and alone and considers himself a writer because he's good for nothing else. It's that combination of pride and insecurity that all geeks know so well.
Some people, myself included, really credited his work with shaping parts of their lives. He was kind to the people who really opened up their hearts with moving stories, and ribbed the hell out of people (including me!) whom he sensed could "take it." I didn't even realize until tonight that he wrote for He Man, The Real Ghostbusters, Wheeled Warriors, Captain Power...these were the shows that taught me all about "heroism" and "morality"...of course, when I told him that I grew up on those shows, that's when he said "f*ck you" for making him feel old. :) He also teased me about my "GM's don't kill characters" tee-shirt: "You're a liar," he said. "I used to play in a Cthulu game and my GM killed me all the time!" After I asked him my writing question (and got a decent and respectful answer), I promised him if he ever played with my group, I wouldn't kill his character. :)
In short, the best $10 I've spent in years. Even if the guy sitting next to me (not
roboknee was busy noisily biting his nails, farting, coughing on me and invading my personal space the whole time. With geekdom, one takes the good with the bad.- SW
