ISN NEWS UPDATE:

        Greetings from your ever faithful ISN Ranger. I come to you from somewhere inside the massive Ranger Station that we are now renovating because… well just because spring is around the corner and because you can only surround yourself in black and gray for so long.

        Now you might be saying to yourself "Hey.. It's an ISN Newsletter. Where have they been?". Let me tell you. We have been hard at work at a redesign of the newsletter, our message boards and even the site it's self all for you our loyal and loveable reader. Could that sentence be any longer? Don't answer that. We are now going to expand our coverage just a bit to include some of the more recent subjects and Sci Fi issues of the day. Alright, that's not exactly true. Let's just say that when you visit Mimbar you should never make fun of the Star Wheel. It took a lot of money and a computer generated hologram of O.J. Simpson's Dream Team just to get off with death for two of our lesser staff members. Remember if someone asks you to join our merry little crew then you better ask about the funeral benefits. One of the best out there I can tell you. By the way… there are two new staff openings.

        Seriously, there is a lot of stuff going on with Crusade and some other news that you should be aware of as fans of Babylon 5. Some of this comes from our great ISN Message Board Members. If you aren't lurking on our boards then here is some highlights of the past few days.

CRUSADE COPYRIGHTS:

        Our first piece of news comes from White Star One and it contains info about the WB renewing the copyrights for Crusade. Here is what WSO had to say:

QUOTE:

        As promised here is the info I obtained from Westlaw. WB made first commerce notice on Sept 1, 1994 and have renewing the trademarks every year that last one on Oct 19, 1999 for B5. The original applicant is Time Warner Entainment Co and the owner at publication is Time Warner Entertainment Co since 1994. For Crusade the first filing appeared n July 28, 1998 again with Time Warner as original applicant but I don't see WB listed s the owner at publication as with the case concerning B5. However with Crusade I believe WB did this as a notice to the opposition. Ex. Status: pending-Published for Opposition; Intent to use Appliacation; Intent to use-current. I think this was done to protect their intellectual property rights.

For more details and the rest of this discussion go here.

CRUSADE CAST REUNITES FOR A SPECIAL EVENT:

        This comes to us from one of our long time members who has been AWOL until recently. Technomage Roanna has a wonderful reason for the disappearance though. Thanks TR for the info below:

QUOTE:

From The Ulysses Foundation:

        Last year, when TNT canceled J. Michael Straczynski's Babylon 5 spinoff Crusade, a group of fans joined together in an effort to save the show. As we fought together, we discovered that we shared not only a love of Babylon 5 and Crusade, but also a passionate commitment to the progressive values advocated in these shows and other quality science fiction. To put this energy to use, a group of us have formed a new nonprofit corporation, The Ulysses Foundation, which will raise money for research that combines scientific progress and social justice. The proceeds of our fundraising campaigns will be donated to reputable research institutions engaged in projects that reflect our interests. In the spirit of the Excalibur's mission and in honor of Crusade, the Ulysses Foundation is proud to announce our first campaign:

Crusade for a Cure:

A Call to Arms against AIDS

". . . to strive, to seek, to find and not to yield."

        Crusade for a Cure is a year-long fundraising drive culminating in a convention and gala dinner, the purpose of which is to raise money for research toward affordable AIDS vaccines and treatments.

        The convention and dinner will be held at the Doubletree Hotel, in Costa Mesa, California on September 15-17, 2000. David Allen Brooks and Maggie Egan are *confirmed* as guests, and Peter Woodward, Carrie Dobro, and Marjean Holden have expressed their willingness to participate. Invitations are also being sent to Daniel Dae Kim, Gary Cole, Tracy Scoggins, Richard Biggs, Bruce Boxleitner, Jeff Conaway, Tim Choates, Steven Furst, Fiona Avery, Evan Chen, John Vulich, and others. (Note: Guests reserve the right to cancel their appearances due to emergencies or other professional commitments.) All profits from the convention, dinner, and sales of related merchandise will be donated to a premier AIDS research foundation.

        For further information and to order tickets for the convention and dinner come to the Ulysses Foundation website, www.UlyssesFoundation.org. In the near future, Crusade for a Cure merchandise including t-shirts, postcards, and more will also be available on the site. You can send questions about the convention to ulyssescon@ulyssesfoundation.org. Send all other inquiries to ulysses@ulyssesfoundation.org or president@ulyssesfoundation.org

THE SCI FI CHANNEL INTENTIONS FOR THE SCHEDULE OF 1999:

        A recent site has posted some interesting info reguarding the SFC and it's moves to drop "Sliders". How does that fit in with Crusade? Well, if you read this article you will see that the SFC appeared to have almost no money available for purchasing any show. It has tons of behind the scenes info on the making of "Sliders" so this is a "Must Read" for those who want to know more about the shocking series finale. Thanks to MDP and WSO.

Click here to view the article.

NOW THAT'S A FAN DRIVE!:

        It's hard to ignore a die hard Trek fan. No really.. it is. Especially when they want something really bad enough… they usually get it. Movies, space shuttles named after famous Federation ships and a theme park of sorts in a hotel on the Vegas strip. So it shouldn't come as a surprise to any one that a brave bunch of them got sick and tired of being ignored by Berman and Co. at Paramount. If you haven't heard the news then let me bring you up to warp speed. There is about to be a fifth Trek series to start production for the fall of 2001. Leaks of plots have come out and these fans don't like what they are hearing. So they took matters in to their own hands to say what they think the next series should be. "Captain Sulu"!! To check out this very well done fan drive and It's killer site go here:

Excelsior.

[ Thanks to Trekweb for the link. Man with talent like that we need to send over some Drakh puppets to convert them to our way of thinking. ]

CANCELATION OF "BATMAN BEYOND" debunked:

        Recently a nasty rumor has spread rapidly across the net about the cancellation of the Kids WB hit spin off series "Batman Beyond". Many have speculated that the WB doesn't know how to manage a franchise anymore, however, this time the doom and gloom is way to premature. I recently spoke to a WB spokesperson who told me that BB is still one of the hottest shows on Kids WB and that they were pleased with how well it has done in only one year. I was told that it was a net rumor and that there was a third season to air still starting this September. Also, there is a BB straight to home video release movie titled "Return of the Joker" due out in Q4 2000. Just in time for Xmas for those who want to plan ahead and get us something. Hint Hint.

        If you are not familiar with "Batman Beyond" then you should check it out on your local WB affiliate or pick up a copy of "Rebirth" from Warner Home Video on VHS or DVD. It's wonderful drama and it's very arc intensive for those who like to follow long story lines. Oh yeah, if that doesn't do it for you, Gary Cole { Captain Gideon ] is said to lend his voice to an upcoming episode.

        If you would like to take part in our discussions on the false rumor or read what was said on a number of sites go here

VIRTUAL SEASON 2000 SCHEDULE REQUESTS:

        If you don't follow our boards then you don't know about our new project to celebrate one of our first big scoops as a real SF news site. We had a reporter and everything. Will wonders never cease? Anyway, it was in March of 99 at Mega Con in Orlando where JMS spoke out about the second work stoppage of Crusade. It was his first public appearance since the news hit and we were there to get the story and review "The Long Road" and "The Path Of Sorrows". We also posted JMS's comments to the fans. It was interesting because he told the group about the events of the last few weeks of the show's production in a story book format called "A JMS Fairy Tale". We suggest you read it for some more insight on what happened one year ago.

        So you might say that it's wrong to celebrate the stoppage. We don't think so. Looking back on it .. we are lucky to have the 13 episodes period. Some other SF shows didn't fair nearly as well last year. I.E. "Harsh Realms". Rather than beat the drum slowly .. we decided last year to gather everyone up and pretend that TNT was going to rerun Crusade. We would watch one episode a week from a predetermined schedule picked out by the ISN readership and then we would come to the boards to discuss the past, present and future of the Babylon Project. Sounds fun eh?

        We are in the process of choosing an episode order now and you are more than welcome to include your own input by dropping by with your suggestions at the Virtual Season topics on our message boards.

        Even if you don't have all of the episodes on tape you can still join in with the great conversations that are going on daily. We are working on some special features and games to keep it interesting as we go along. This cute little outing of ours Is getting bigger by the second so come join us.

[ Thanks to the amazing gang at "Crusade for Crusade" for their promotion of the Virtual Season 2000. They have been great allies in the new battle of the line for Crusade's return and it's a honor to stand along side them. We've got your six Tim! ]

CRUSADE VIDEOS IN THE UK:

        For those of you in the UK you can start buying Crusade on video. For those details go to this site:

ALMOST DAILY NEWS UPDATES:

        Not getting enough B5 news? Then you need to be reading "The Zocalo Today". Sandra is working hard to keep everyone on the true path of Mimbari enlightenment and it doesn't take 50 rituals to do it. Maybe it does but I haven't seen her complain about it yet. To stay up to date go here to our sister site:

The Zocalo Today