THE ZOCALO TODAY

Last Updated
August 8, 2000 04:46AM EST

The navigational buttons above will take you to the various pages at The Zocalo Today! Please feel free to wander about. There's a lot to see.

UPDATES: Because the Zocalo is one long, running page with links to items of interest, I know it may be hard to find the things that have been added to the page each day. All new material will be given this color so that they will be easy to identify.

Welcome. Take your shoes off, get comfortable and stay a while.

The Zocalo Today is an interactive newsletter. If you have suggestions, please send them along. The Zocalo Today is as much YOUR newsletter as it is mine! I'm just pulling together things for you! Our weekly discussion topic is just one way you can interact with other Z readers. Send along letters, sightings of B5 cast & crew in other projects, convention reports, photos, etc. Don't miss our back issues. There is a LOT of information contained there and you'll not want to miss anything. If you have questions, drop me a line at sgbruckner@aol.com or bruckner@isnnews.net.

Again, WELCOME!

What's New

The Zocalo will NOT be updated for a few days. I'm off to the wilds of Pennsylvania -- the end were internet connections are few and far between! Don't let that be your excuse for NOT responding to the discussion topic or sending in a question. I'll incorporate them into the newsletter as soon as I get back. Have a great week.

The chat with Jerry last night was WONDERFUL. Jerry definitely can talk faster than I can type (and I'm not too much of a slouch), especially when it's an issue he's passionate about -- which seems to be ALL of them. The transcript will be out on TNT shortly, so be sure to look it up. Hopefully we can get him in for another chat before the election.

THANK YOU JERRY for an awesome conversation.

TRIBULATIONS is here!
Everyone has been eagerly awaiting a peek at Joe's latest novel, Tribulations, since he announced it a few weeks ago. Well, wait no longer. The First installment is now available out at www.bookface.com. New Tribulations will appear every week for the next month. Hardcopy versions can be obtained after week 3 at www.darktales.com.

Jerry Doyle's race for Congress has been called one to "WATCH" by one of the leading political analysts in California. Chat with Jerry tonight, on-line at Yahoo.

Sounds as if Claudia Christian had a wild time in Philadelphia at the Slanted Fedora Convention. They were in the city at the same time as the Republican Convention! "We also had a bomb scare while signing autographs and had to leave the hotel. Ended up doing an impromtu photo session on the grass with all the fans and then went to TGI FRIDAYS for a margarita.... making the best out of a crazy situation." Read more about what Claudia is doing over at her website www.claudiachristian.net or through The Galactic Gateway.

Bill Mumy and his band, The Jenerators, will be have their last gig of the summer at Rusty's Surf Ranch, on the Santa Monica Pier, August 19 beginning at 8:45pm. For more information, call 310-393-7437.

Not much new in the B5 world today, so I thought I'd venture out a bit. The Hubble Space Telescope has been enlisted to do some detective work on a case that has baffled scientists for years: a star dying a puzzling death in a globular cluster. Check out CNN for the full story.

Perhaps the Sci-Fi Channel has finally started to advertise Babylon 5's coming to their network. Over at Sci-Fi Now, there is an article that is to appear in the October 2000 issue of Sci-Fi Entertainment. Hopefully the magazine will be on the shelves soon!

There are some hopeful notes showing up at www.firstones.com. These are the folks who had been working on the Babylon 5 simulation game "Into the Fire". Nothing is definite, but stay tuned. This is a great site to visit anyway. Loads of superb graphics.

JASON CARTER FANS -- Jason will have a birthday next month - Sept. 23. Want to pass along your good wishes? Visit http://members.tripod.com/JCbirthday_page. Send your birthday wishes to JCbirthday_page@lycos.com along with photos (with or without Jason) to include on the site.

Sunday, July 30, JMS held a chat at the Amazing Stories site. The chat is out on their chart, but the transcript is not yet available.

EON magazine did a lot of coverage of the San Diego ComiCon. Found a page with a number of familiar faces. Check out this page at Eon Magazine. You'll see David Allen Brooks with Claudia Black from FarScape, JMS, and Bill Mumy.

SUNDAY CHAT -- NOT THIS WEEK: The Zocalo Today has a Club http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/thezocalotoday. This will be a place where we can chat about the show, current discussion topics at the newsletter, pose new discussion topics for upcoming weeks, etc. There will be a regular chat every Sunday at 6pm ET. This week's topic: Special Effects -- Your Favorites! If you can't make the chat, but would like to contribute, put a note on the message board and we can all talk about it on Sunday.

NEWS AROUND THE SCI-FI GENRE

Tuesday, August 8:
Chris Carter continues to talk about this season of X-files. Read more about it on www.cinescape.com.

There's a sneak-peek review of the new Spiderman film out at http://filmforce.ign.com/news/1243.html. It includes some spoilers, so beware.

Monday, August 7:
First a sad note -- Sir Alec Guinness has died. His characterization of Obi-Wan Kenobi will forever be in our memory. You can read more about his career, including some truly classic films at http://www.mothership.com/eon/news.asp?id=3606.

The script for Matrix 2 is finished. Keanu Reeves talks about the new project over on cinescape.com.

Looks like another good weekend at the movies. 1. Hollow Man grossed $26.8 million. 2. Nutty Professor II: The Klumps pulled in $18 million. 3. Space Cowboys did nicely with $17.6 million. 4. Coyote Ugly brought in $17 million. 5. What Lies Beneath with Harrison Ford grossed $13.9 million. 6. X-men still doing well with $6.1 million. 7. Scary Movie did $4.2 million. 8. The Perfect Storm at $3.8 million. 9. Disney's The Kid - $2.9 million and 10. The Patriot $2.3 million.

Get a preview of the last season of "Voyager" from Executive Producer Kenneth Biller over at www.fandom.com.

Sunday, August 6:
While we are stuck here in (fill in the blank), others are having a great time at Wizard ComiCon in Chicago this weekend. Fandom.com has some coverage, including the Wizard Fan Awards given to writers, artists and this year, Marvel comics.

Over at EON Magazine, you can read a wonderful interview with Paul Verhoeven, director of "The Hollow Man". He talks about some of the special effects in the movie. This movie is a BIG difference from Verhoeven's first movie of the season -- Dinosaur!

Saturday, August 5:
Did you catch Farscape last night!!! I'm really starting to like that show!

Over at Sector 31, you'll find a great promo for the final season of Voyager! Let's hope the season is as good as the promo!

Katherine Heigl talks about her role on "Roswell" over at cinescape.com. "There's gonna be some action, some emotional stuff. We'll run the gamut," she told TV Guide in a recent interview.

Also over at http://www.cinescape.com/ you'll find some candid shots from the SW Episode II. Some early shots of Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen from the Daily Telegraph in Australia.

Trade papers are talking about Matthew McConaughey's involvement with a new psychological horror-thriller titled FRAILTY. The film will mark the feature debut of director Bill Paxton.

Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) is busy at work on a new project, he is the Joker in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (the Oct. 24 straight-to-video movie). The Joker isn`t quite the same as the character Mark voiced the last eight years. "We`re playing him darker this time." Real the whole story over at fandom.com.

CHATS AHEAD - BEATA POZNIAK AUGUST 17

Beata Pozniak who portayed President Luchenko on Babylon 5 will be here for a chat on:
Thursday, August 17, 6pm PDT; 9pm EDT

The chat will be held at Yahoo. To join the chat, just go to http://chat.yahoo.com and select the chat from the events calendar.

Jerry Last night, Jerry Doyle was in for a chat. He answered a number of questions about military preparedness, health care, NASA and space exploration. His campaign is getting hot so keep up with the information over at his website at www.doyleforcongress.com.

GROUP PROJECT

As Babylon 5 approaches it's premiere date on the Sci-Fi Channel of September 25, I wonder what resources we could make available to NEW Babylon 5 fans! When the show was on the air, there was a very active on-line community, the Official B5 magazine came out to provide us with information to digest and enjoy, the series would turn up in publications so that we could read about our favorite characters/actors. That will not be the case as these new fans discover Babylon 5. The Official Magazine is gone; the show has all but disappeared from most publications, even in the UK! How can we help new Babylon 5 fans?

One of the great advantages to building the Babylon 5 Library is looking at all the information resources on the internet. There are TONS of sites. I'll place the ones with a lot of general information over in the Library under websites, but if you know of some good ones, make sure you drop me a line about them. I'll begin to highlight them so that everyone can have as much fun as I am in hunting up new items. Here's one for you. Babylon 5 Universe. This site gives general information about the station, including a layout of the different sections and an explanation of what each is all about.

Thanks to everyone who have sent along suggestions already. They have been great.

A CALL TO ARMS!!! BABYLON 5 FANS UNITE!

"If every B5 fan went out and got 5 to 10 people who'd never watched the show, and bugged them to watch the cycle when it starts on SFC…who knows what remarkable things could happen?" - JMS, June 21 chat.

WE NEED TO GET INVOLVED - NOW!
So far a number of good ideas have been sent in to rally people around the premiere, September 25, bringing both old and new fans together to view the show. To share those suggestions, to go the Rally Suggestions. If you have some to add, send them along.

What should be watched during these gatherings? How about our favorite episodes? I'm sure you have suggestions, so pass them along. I've already listed mine out on Favorites. Send in your favorites list (10 maximum please) to sgbruckner@aol.com.

FLYERS - Tim and Heather Fleming have been fighting the fight to Save Crusade for a long while now. They have pulled together a number of flyers that can be used at conventions, placed in comic shops, etc. If you would like to pass along flyers, go to http://www.astro.umd.edu/~hcohen/Flyers.html and have a look. Print off a few and drop them at your local comic store. If there are readers of Rising Stars there, they may be interested in knowing about Babylon 5!

If you are organizing a gathering, let us know so we can post a listing. If you are not in an area that has a group of fans, we could organize a group chat! A virtual gathering!!!! This could/should be a LOT of fun.

City of Dreams

SEEING EAR THEATRE

JMS and SET present "The Tolling of the Hour" featuring Campbell Scott.

The clock shows no mercy. Neither does the board of directors or the CEO, who demands more than life can give, and finds himself on the business end of the clock he worships.

"We have become a society answerable to the tick of the clock, the Board of Directors, the CEO...with your average corporate employee daily crushed under the wheels of downsizing, working harder for less money so the stockholders get a ten percent per share boost. I felt there needed to be a cautionary tale about the inevitable result of grinding down people's souls, because sooner or later, the universe downsizes those who downsize unto others." - JMS

Visit the Seeing Ear Theatre today to hear this original drama. The Seeing Ear Theater -- the BEST site for on-air dramas on the internet.

The last episode was "The Friends of Jackie Clay" featuring Merwin Goldsmith. Jackie Clay, the caretaker of a small cemetery in the City of Dreams. Jackie speaks to the dead, and when a crisis occurs, he finds he has friends he never knew he had.

******* What else is at the Seeing Ear Theater?
There are some fantastic classics along with more original dramas. Here's one for you.

The Lucky Strike
Story by Kim Stanley Robinson; adapted by Fiona Avery

Was dropping the atomic bomb on the civilian population of Hiroshima the right thing to do back in 1945? Was there a middle way? In this gripping alternate history, the Enola Gay isn't the plane that drops the bomb. Timothy Hutton plays a man with a burning question on his conscience — for he is the pilot of the plane that will drop the first a-bomb — a plane known as the Lucky Strike.

RISING STARS

Ranger Duska reports that Rising Stars has been translated in Italian by Marvel Italy and the first part is now available at the bookstores.

RISING STARS #9 -- IS NOW OUT
(W) J. Michael Straczynski (P) Christian Zanier (I) Livesay (C)Brett Evans

With cover by guest artist Gary Frank (Kin), the one year anniversary of this wildly popular comic book begins the second act of the Rising Stars story (issues 9-16). This story arc jumps ahead in time to see the effects of full-scale conflict between many of the Rising Stars. In the first act of this series, the world shaped our characters...now, our characters begin to shape the world, and the world may not be very happy about those changes.

COMING IN AUGUST

RISING STARS PRELUDE
(W) J. Michael Straczynski (P)Keu Cha

Available for the first time inked and in full color, revisit this first glimpse story of the hottest new book of 1999, RISING STARS, created and written by J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of BABYLON 5 and CRUSADE. Predating issue 1 this story features Pyre and includes a brand new cover.

FC 32 pages $2.50

RISING STARS #10
(W) J. Michael Straczynski (P)Christian Zanier (I) Livesay (C)Brett Evans

This story takes place years after the first eight issues. Many of the Specials are running rampant now, taking revenge or setting up their own little empires, while a few still try to stop them. All the normal people were afraid of what the specials might one day become. That day has arrived.

FC 32 pages $2.95

** Ranger Neil tells me that the gothic novel version of Issues #1 thru #8 can now be ordered -- for $19.95.

MIDNIGHT NATION - Coming September 25
Orders are currently going in for JMS' new series, Midnight Nation. "MIDNIGHT NATION is a focused story about two individuals, as opposed to an epic tale about 113 people over 60+ years. We get right into it and get things moving almost immediately.

INTERESTING NEW WEBSITE

Ranger David brought this site to my attention. It's Sci Fi Dimensions. This is a general science fiction website, but this month, they are giving away a number of items -- like Greg Keyes Psi-Corps Trilogy. Drop over and have a peek. The opening graphic is AWESOME!

PREVIEW OF BABYLON 5 NOVELS

Steve Staffel, the person who takes care of Babylon 5 at DelRey, sent along the information below about upcoming Babylon 5 novels. DelRey has just posted Peter David's book, "Out of the Darkness" for November release.

LEGIONS OF FIRE: OUT OF THE DARKNESS by Peter David is the one fans have been waiting for, and it's going to drive them wild. Ever wonder how Sheridan and Delenn ended up in that dungeon? How G'Kar happened to be in the throne room at the right moment? Or what the deal was with David Sheridan? Well, this November . . . This is Londo's ultimate descent into hell, and Vir's ascent to the throne. It's a fantastic novel, and I can't imagine that there's a Babylon 5 fan anywhere who would dare miss it.

In March, Jeanne Cavelos begins THE PASSING OF THE TECHNO-MAGES with book one, CASTING SHADOWS. This wonderfully intricate novel delves deep into the culture and the secrets of the techno-mages, and reveals the sequence of events that took them to Babylon 5--and beyond. Elric is here, as are Galen, Alwyn, and even Isabelle. And so are Morden and Anna Sheridan. Before we're done, we'll learn of the reason behind the mages' fear of the Shadows, and we'll have the long-awaited link between B5 and Crusade.

CHAT TRANSCRIPTS AVAILABLE

We recently had Jerry Doyle, Marjean Holden and Damian London in for chats at Yahoo. Be sure to check out the transcripts of these and other chats at the TNT site.

JMS and Bonnie Hammer (Exec. VP for SFC) recently held chats at SFC. Transcripts are available at http://www.scifi.com/transcripts/.

The transcript of JMS' chat on Yahoo recently is now available at http://chat.yahoo.com/c/events/transcripts/special/071000straczynski.html.

There is an interview by Mike Helba with Stephen Austin, Pak'Ma'Ra Ambassador while at DragonCon at http://babylon5.about.com/library/weekly/aa071600a.htm. Check it out. Stephen is currently working on a play (The Goodbye Girl) in California where he must sing and dance!

BABYLON 5/CRUSADE PHOTOSHOP
NEW PHOTOS

Check out the Photo Shop. Ordering is easy! If you would like to see more cast members added to the PhotoShop, drop me a note and I'll see what I can do.

KEEPING UP WITH CAST AND CREW

Ranger Penny sent in the following report:
I checked VH1's schedule for "The List" and the show with Bill Mumy as a guest will be on Thursday, August 10, at 1:30 pm, 7 pm, and 11 pm. It is hosted by Weird Al Yancovic and the other guests are Terri Garr, James Kennedy, and Alec Holland. The subject being discussed is "Dream Duets" with a list of different artists teamed together. Two that I can remember are Stevie Wonder and Lauren (spell?) Hill, and Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney. I think I'm going to try to catch one of the showings myself.

Ranger One reports that Peter Jurasik's new Doctor Who audio drama "The Winter for the Adept" should be available. Peter starred as Lt. Peter Sandoz.

Cat "Lives of the Cat," a new movie for audio project featuring the voices of Patricia Tallman and Claudia Christian, is now available at Starglaziers.com. There is also a clip available for your listening pleasure."

Bill Blair, who holds the record for portrayal of most aliens on Babylon 5, is currently doing a Voyager episode entitled, "Critical Care". He is playing a blue doctor! When I get more information on when the episode will air, I'll pass that along.

Peter Woodward has been in Egypt doing a documentary entitled "New Discoveries In An Ancient Land" for The History Channel. Peter is the onscreen host for this 4 part documentary on ancient Egypt. The show is currently expected to air in Jan/Feb of 2001. Peter is also busy writing a proposal for another documentary. More on this one as it takes shape.

Peter did a wonderful job as General O'Hara in The Patriot. There is a wonderful picture of Peter Woodward at "The Patriot" party held recently in The Sunset Room in Hollywood. Mothership has photos and the story. If you haven't seen The Patriot -- I would recommend it highly. It is AWESOME! The music is wonderful as well.

THIS WEEK'S DISCUSSION TOPICS

While pulling something else together this week, I started to think about all the great quotes Babylon 5 generated. Do you have a favorite? I know, it's hard to think of just one, so let's make it 2 or 3. Be sure to let us know where it comes from -- it will help remind us of the scene in which the quote was delivered.

I have loved the line from Tennyson from the first time I heard it -- but having it said by Sinclair reinforced it's meaning to me. "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield" -- is something we can all strive for. My favorite quote?
"No dictator, no invader, can hold an imprisoned population by the force of arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power governments, and tyrants, and armies can not stand. The Centauri learned this lesson once. We will teach it to them again. Though it take a thousand years, we will be free."

G'Kar, The Long, Twilight Struggle

Send your choices to either TheZocalo@aol.com or b5web@aol.com.. You can also post your comments on the message board at www.isnnews.net/board. To see what other readers have posted on this and other topics, follow this link to Current Discussion Topic page.

BABYLON 5/CRUSADE IN PRINT

Sci-Fi Entertainment - The August issue of Sci-Fi Entertainment has an article entitled, "The Lost Crusade". It is interesting to read comments from cast members about the wonderful relationships developed during the filming and their desire to continue with the project. Marjean points out that they still try to stay in touch and get together for dinner. Seems as if most of the cast has been pretty busy! Peter Woodward with "The Patriot"; Gary Cole doing a movie in Mississippi and two animated series; Carrie Dobro working with her husband in a two-person comedy entitled "Marriage Is Murder"; Marjean Holden now working on "Beastmaster" in Australia, and Daniel Dae Kim having done the "Murder She Wrote" movie and an assortment of other TV series appearances.

AS602 Amazing Stories Issue #602 -- The issue is on news stands now. It contains another original Babylon 5 story by J. Michael Straczynski entitled "Space, Time and the Incurable Romantic". There is also a piece inside about the B5 game, entitled "Babylon 5: Crucible of War". The issue should be on newsstands very soon.

OFFICIAL BABYLON 5 MAGAZINE -- Issue #24A truly SAD day has arrived. The very last issue of the Official Babylon 5 magazine has hit the streets in the UK. Yes, Issue #24 is out. My hat is off to Nick Landau, Brian Robb, John Freeman, and others like Lou Anders who brought us this wonderful publication. It has been THE ABSOLUTE BEST!

REFERENCE PAGES

I've updated the B5 index . This page covers magazines like DreamWatch, TV Zone, StarBurst and others that have covered Babylon 5 and Crusade over the last several years. This index will expand as I add more issues and new magazines.

The Official Babylon 5 Magazine is indexed here as well. With the closure of the magazine in May, you'll want to see which magazines you have -- and which ones you will want to collect. The index may help you make a decision on which ones to choose. The Fan Club has many of the issues at thestation.com , making it very easy to complete your collection.

Universe Today -- the Babylon 5 Fan Club quarterly can also be found here. The index gives you a rundown of what articles were presented, what interviews published.

If you have magazines that have featured Babylon 5 or Crusade that are not listed, send along their issue number and a note to indicate what the article was about. It would be nice to have a fairly comprehensive listing of Babylon 5 publications here.

MAILING LISTS

THE GALACTIC GATEWAY

A new list has just started for The Galactic Gateway. This site now has Jeffrey Willerth, Patricia Tallman, Mira Furlan, Claudia Christian, Robin Atkin Downes, Rick Biggs and Jerry Doyle under one umbrella site. The Gateway will be growing with more cast members being added. To subscribe to the mailing list, send a blank not to thegalacticgateway-subscribe@egroups.com.

SAVE CRUSADE MAILING LIST

The "Save Crusade" mailing list has just topped 300! The purpose is to gather together people interested in saving Crusade and to identify people who can help with the effort. To join the mailing list, drop a blank note to savecrusade-subscribe@egroups.com. If you have a problem getting on, drop me a note and I'll add your e-mail address manually.

DOYLE FOR CONGRESS

Jerry is currently at the Republican National Convention. If you are interested in tracking how Jerry's campaign for Congress is coming, you will want to subscribe to the doyleforcongress mailing list. Get weekly updates on events, press releases, endorsements, etc. To become a member of the list, sent a blank note to doyleforcongress-subscribe@egroups.com. Be sure to drop into the chat on Monday night as well!

BABYLON 5 FORUM

Ranger Anthony has started a forum at delphi.com called Babylon 5: The Followers Forum... for people who follow Babylon 5.

The URL is http://www.delphi.com/bab5. Looking for a place to discuss the show, why not see what Anthony has to offer.

OFFICIAL BABYLON 5 FAN CLUB

The Fan Club has opened up Gold Channel for all Babylon 5 and Crusade fans. Be sure to drop in to see the exclusive photos and background material on the show. It was updated on July 15.

NEW SCRIPTS FOR AUGUST

The Babylon 5 Fan Club has two fantastic scripts available this month. They are:

"Severed Dreams" $20.00
"Interludes and Examinations" $20.00

OFFICIAL BABYLON 5 MAGAZINES

With the publication coming to an end with issue #24, you'll want to make sure that you have the issues you most care about -- or the entire set. The Fan Club has most of the issues in quantity, so check out The Emporium and pick out the issues you need. Don't know which ones you are missing, let the reference page here at The Zocalo help you out. It has a full index of the magazine so that you can see who was featured and what stories were covered. If you have any other questions about the magazine, just drop me a line.

The Fan Club has many of the back issues of the magazine over at www.thestation.com in The Emporium. Issues #22 and #23 have been added to the listing of available issues. They also have the much sought after Issue #1, Volume #1. So be sure to check out ISN and see what magazines you still need to complete your set.

Here are the perfect take-along items for a convention! The Fan Club has some PERFECT items for you – and they are reasonably priced, and waiting to be autographed!

The Antioch Calendar for 1999 is awesome. Yes, we know that it’s a 1999 calendar, but it carries a serial number – making it a collectible! The pictures are perfect for framing once you have the autograph in place! You can use this link for the Antioch Calendar or go the 'collectibles' portion of the Emporium.

Order any of the four sets of Autographed Magazines and receive the calendar FREE!

Second – Season 5 Cast Poster. The Club made available to members a wonderful poster for season 5. The poster would make a wonderful remembrance of the show – not to mention a fantastic collector’s item. It is located in the 'merchandise' portion of the Emporium.

Third – Season 5 Fan Club Photo & "Season 4 Fan Club Photo – These marvelous photos created for members of the Club are available for your enjoyment. They are $4.99 each with the purchase of $10.00 or more. Available in the 'merchandise' portion on the Emporium.

Babylon 5 Bible -- The original Season One Babylon 5 Writer's Bible. This massive tome weighs in at over 60 pages with comprehensive backgrounds on all characters and story arc; as well as guidelines for writing SF for TV. This document is peppered with original (color and B&W) illustrations by Peter Ledger. Use this link to place an order Babylon 5 Writer's Bible.

Babylon 5 Series Treatment -- This beautifully bound original Babylon 5 Series Treatment written in September 1988, was used to sell the series. It contains different characters than were ever seen in the show. This treatment was ONLY given to Network/Studio heads. This document is peppered with original color illustrations by Peter Ledger. Use this link to order your copy from the Emporium Babylon 5 Series Treatment.

Ordering Information: There are a number of ways to order merchandise from the Club:

Credit card purchases can be made on-line, by mail, or by fax. The Fax number is 1-818-771-1677.

FOR PHONE ORDERS: Here are the numbers to use: 1-888-777-8517 or 1-818-623-1198 . Phone lines are open Monday thru Friday, 10-6pm PST. If no one answers the phone, please leave your credit card information on the voicemail. Val and Tony do process orders based on the time-stamped voicemail messages. Be sure to leave your phone number as well, just in case they have any questions.

You can send a check or money order for merchandise -- made payable to Babylon 5 Fan Club -- to Official Babylon 5 Fan Club, P.O. Box 856, North Hollywood, CA 91603.

** For all orders done by mail, it's best to send in an order form with your check or money order. Use this link to get a copy of the Order Form. There is a new reference list as well, so that you can check to see what merchandise is still available. Ref List.

BABYLON 5 CARTOONS

Another toon from Todd Brugman.

I'm moving some cartoons from Todd and Tye over to a new page so that you can enjoy them longer than just a week. Check out the new Toons Page!

Toon Zone

Artist John Cook has some interesting toons at ToonZone . Do you have a punchline for the Bester toon? Visit Toon Zone and submit your ideas.

Got toons? Want to share them? Drop me a line at sgbruckner@aol.com and let's chat!

BABYLON 5 CHATS

Pat Tallman and Jeffrey Willerth have a chat room at their site Starglaziers. You can also get there through Pat Tallman's site.

There are a couple of regular chats that you might want to take advantage. One is over at About.com. Mike Helba has organized a weekly chat on Wednesdays at 10pm EST. http://babylon5.about.com/entertainment/babylon5/mpchat.htm.

On the first Sunday of the month, there is a chat at Groucho's Babylon 5 Calvalcade beginning at 5:30pm ET. Groucho's is a good place to drop over and chat anytime.

CALLING ALL ARTISTS

The Art Gallery at The Zocalo Today is open. There are SO MANY talented people in our Babylon 5 community. We have enjoyed works by Todd Brugman and Tye Bourdony on our toons page, but there are a host of others who enjoy drawing, painting, sketching their favorite characters. Here are a few works that have been received. I have some others that will be added soon.

If you would like to share your work with us at The Zocalo Today, please send along a digital photo of your work and I'll begin putting the gallery together. If you do not have your work in digital format, drop me a note and we'll see what we can work out.

CALLING ALL CLUBS

There are a number of fabulous Babylon 5/Crusade Clubs around the world. I'd like to begin listing them here on The Zocalo Today. Eric dropped me a note the other day providing information about a Club in France. I know there are other clubs in Brazil, Germany, Russia -- and who knows how many here in the US. Let's get a listing together. Perhaps we can share resources, even get together as we travel around. Drop the information about your Club to me at sgbruckner@aol.com or bruckner@isnnews.net. That information will be added to the new B5 Fan Club Listing.

So far, we have clubs listed from France, Germany and Italy! That's fantastic. Let's hear from others -- even those in the U.S.!!!

CALLING REVIEWERS

Have you read the Babylon 5 books? Do you want to share a review? Want to voice an opinion? Here's the place to do it! Send along your review or opinion about any of the Babylon 5 books. It will be posted on the Review Page for others to read -- and comment about!

BABYLON 5 NEWSLETTERS

If you have a newsletter you'd like to have listed at The Zocalo Today, send the information along. It will be posted on the B5 Fan Club/Newsletter page.

BABYLON 5/CRUSADE CONVENTIONS

CONVENTION ALERT

Stephen Austin has just been added to the BONA-CON 2000 in the Jarvis City Hotel, Aberdeen, Scotland, September 1-3, 2000.

CONVENTION CALENDAR

Want to know what conventions are ahead for the Babylon 5 and/or Crusade cast and crew? Use this link Convention Calendar.

CONVENTION ATTENDANCE

Are you attending one of the conventions on the calendar? Or another one perhaps? Do you want to see who else might be there? Drop your e-mail address to TheZocalo@aol.com. We've begun an attendance page so that perhaps we can get together while enjoying the activities of the convention. Convention Attendance .

CONVENTION REPORTS

There are a number of good pictures from DragonCon and Agamemcon over in the Photo Gallery.

Robin Atkin Downes sent along a couple of photos from FedCon.

There are some great shots of Jerry Doyle and Jeff Conaway at the Star Trek Grand Slam convention in Pasadena, March 31-April 2 on the Creation Entertainment web site.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Gen Con
August 10-13, 2000; Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Guest: Peter Woodward, J. Michael Straczynski

For more information, visit their website at http://www.wizards.com.

Nexus 2000
September 1-3, 2000; Bonn, Germany
Guest: Mira Furlan, Walter Koenig, Julie Caitlin Brown

For more information, visit their website at http://www.snafu.de/~agents or send an e-mail note to agents@berlin.snafu.de.

BonaCon 2000
September 1-3, 2000; Aberdeen, Scotland
Guests: Bill Blair, Stephen Austin

For more information, visit their website at http://www.lonas.com/bonacon.

Slanted Fedora
September 8-10, 2000; Raleigh, NC
Place: Durham Marriott
Guest: Mary Kay Adams

For more information, visit their website at http://www.sfedora.com or send an e-mail note to sfedora1@aol.com.

Crusade for a Cure
September 15-17, 2000; Costa Mesa, California
Guests: David Allen Brooks, Maggie Egan, Julie Caitlin Brown, Tim Choate, Carrie Dobro, Stephen Furst, Peter Woodward, Stephen Austin, Bill Blair

For more information, write to The Ulysses Foundation, 23010 Lake Forest Drive, Suite D, #395, Laguna Hills, CA 92653 or visit their website at http://www.ulyssesfoundation.org/c4ac .

Starland
September 22-24, 2000; Denver, CO
Guests: Julie Caitlin Brown

For more information, visit their website at http://www.starland.com.

ZOCALO TRADING POST

There are some new and interesting items in the Trading Post. Take a look. If you have items you'd like to trade, post a note here. If you need a particular item, the Trading Post or Message Board could help you find it. Use this link to see what is listed. Trading Post. To have items included in The Trading Post, send a note to The Zocalo. Please put Trading Post in the subject line.

Pen Pals

If you are looking for someone to talk about Babylon 5 and Crusade with, the Pen Pal section is for you! Check it out! Drop a note to someone who is feeling B5 withdrawal -- BIG TIME!

People thought a Pen Pal page was a good idea. If you would like to meet people who you could chat with or share your opinions of the show with, send along your e-mail or snail-mail address The Zocalo. It will be incorporated on the new Pen Page Page.

ZOCALO LINK PAGE

We haven't forgotten all the wonderful pages created in support of Babylon 5 or Crusade. They now have their own page! I've added a few new ones, so be sure to use the button at the top of the page or Links Page.

TNT MORNING BABYLON 5 SCHEDULE

Tuesday 8/8/00
6:00am TNT Babylon 5 - Falling Toward Apotheosis

Wednesday 8/9/00
6:00am TNT Babylon 5 - The Long Night

Thursday 8/10/00
6:00am TNT Babylon 5 - Into the Fire

Friday 8/11/00
6:00am TNT Babylon 5 - Epiphanies

Saturday 8/12/00
6:00am TNT Babylon 5 - The Illusion of Truth

Monday 8/14//00
6:00am TNT Babylon 5 - Atonement

Tuesday 8/15/00
6:00am TNT Babylon 5 - Racing Mars

Wednesday 8/16/00
6:00am TNT Babylon 5 - Lines of Communications

Thursday 8/17/00
6:00am TNT Babylon 5 - Conflicts of Interest

Friday 8/18/00
6:00am TNT Babylon 5 - Rumors, Bargains & Lies

Saturday 8/19/00
6:00am TNT Babylon 5 - Moments of Transition

IMPORTANT DATES AND BABYLON 5 HISTORY

August Birthdays:

Claudia Christian - August 10
Stephen Austin - August 11
Tim Earls - August 15
Nancy Tarczynski - August 16
Skip Beaudine - August 26

Would you like to wish Claudia Christian a HAPPY BIRTHDAY? (Her birthday is August 10.) Go to http://claudiachristian.homestead.com/claudia.html and sign the guest book.

Have I missed anyone? If you know the birthday of someone connected with Babylon 5, pass the information along. We want to include everyone in our Happy Birthday Wishes.

To follow Babylon 5/Crusade history, visit the new History Page for all significant dates in July! This is an extract from Terry Jones' wonderful Babylon 5 Chronology.

MAIL FOR CAST AND CREW

Here's a recent note from JMS on the subject:

Just an FYI to those who've been using the Ventura Blvd. mail drop for fan mail to actors....

As mentioned before, we're phasing out the forwarding of fan mail because we a) don't have the resources, complicated by b) the actors have scattered to the four winds, and it makes it very difficult to get everything to everybody in a timely fashion.

So, having provided prior notice...fan mail to actors coming to the Ventura Blvd. mail drop will be sent back. Mail to actors should be sent via their official fan clubs. I will still be taking mail there, since it's my mailbox, but that's it.

Just so's y'all know and save a few bucks on postage and returns.

JMS' mail can be sent to:

14431 Ventura Boulevard, PMB 260
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423

BACK ISSUES OF THE ZOCALO TODAY

The front page of the The Zocalo Today changes daily, so be sure to check the back issues to make sure that you haven't missed anything IMPORTANT! I don't want the front page getting too long so I shift information periodically into the archives. So if you aren't a regular visitor to The Zocalo Today, be sure to check out the back issues. Just use the button above!

The Zocalo - Today, August 5

PDF and DOC formats of the latest Zocalo Today are available for downloading. If you would like to have a hard-copy version of the newsletter, you can download either The Zocalo Today in PDF or in Word format. Previous issues are available in the Archives under Back Issues.

HELP!!!

NEW FLYER AVAILABLE: If you would like to take some flyers to a convention to help spread the word that The Zocalo is here and ready to provide you with information on everything Babylon 5 and Crusade! drop me a line. I'll be glad to send you some in the mail. I've created a PDF file that can be downloaded and printed. Flyer Thanks for helping to spread the word about The Z!

Take care and I look forward to hearing from you.
Sandra Bruckner (sgbruckner@aol.com)
Editor/Publisher
The Zocalo Today
http://zocalo.isnnews.net

Awards

Your web site, "The Zocalo Today", has been chosen to receive the BABYLON 5 UK TOP FLIGHT award ! Your coverage of the J. Michael Straczynski universe of Babylon 5 and Crusade is top flight ! Late breaking news, books, merchandise, cast & crew tid bits and humor, The Zocalo Today seems to be a one stop fan resource.

You have won the scifiGATE Award of Excellence.

Last Updated August 8, 2000 04:46AM EST