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Babylon 5 SVHS

March 18th, 2005 1:02pm. General

I was a huge Babylon 5 fan. I loved everything about it, most notably what a wonderfully consistant universe JMS had created.

I went a little nutty when it came to getting this favorite show of mine. I went out and bought a $600 SVHS tape recorder and bought SVHS tapes at $12 apiece to record the whole show, 57 tapes in all. I got Direct TV just so I could record them with a higher quality digital signal.

I’d stay home to hit the pause button and meticulously remove the commercials from episodes I had already seen while recording it for posterity.

So now I have 114 hours of Babylon 5 on SVHS in a box in my garage labelled “B5 Heavy”. What am I supposed to do with it? The box really is quite heavy. The entire DVD set can be bought for $350 on eBay, $150 if you go with a Chinese bootleg.

When I was doing the collecting, I knew that I was being obsessive. I’d even tell people, “I know it’s a bit much. I figure that everyone is allowed to have just one obsessive thing in their lives. This is mine.”

What am I going to do with the set now? Sit at home and watch 114 hours of old sci-fi show?

But now that it’s done, I kind of hoped that… I don’t know… something good would come of it. It doesn’t feel right to just throw it all away.

4 Responses to “Babylon 5 SVHS”

  1. Lotta Says:

    I don’t think that is obsessive. I watched all the episodes of bab 5 in a month of unemployment after my return from a roadtrip all over the southwest and up the California coast, and to Burning Man via SF. It was the only thing that came close to BM and a roadtrip…

  2. Lee Says:

    I had always felt daunted by the prospect of watching them all in a row like that.

    Yeah, I can see how that would be a wonderfully immersive experience, living in the Babylon 5 world so intensely for a period of time.

    Thank you!

  3. Lotta Says:

    Immersive is kind, obsessive is more accurate.

  4. elizabeth teddy Says:

    i watched babylon 5 so intensively one i was dreaming about it.2 i thought i was a narn once during intercourse (alcohol induced) what the fuck is up with that?

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