Discworld Monthly - Issue 122: June 2007

1. Editorial

Welcome to issue 122. This month we are back to business after celebrating our 10th anniversary last month. Please excuse any empty drinks containers you may find in the area.

I have discovered this month that AOL appears to have decided that Discworld Monthly is spam. Last month over 900 AOL.COM messages were returned as undeliverable and therefore were un-subscribed from the mailing list. If you know somebody on AOL that is no longer receiving Discworld Monthly please ask them to re-subscribe. I tried contacting AOL but couldn't find any way of getting in contact with them about this.

We would like to thank Steve Ryder for sending us an ASCII Venn diagram of bearded programmers. We decided however that it would probably get messed up for anyone who doesn't use fixed fonts in their email.

Don't forget, if you visit a play or a talk and would like to let the world know about it, please feel free to email your review to info@discworldmonthly.co.uk and we will consider it for publication.

--
Jason Anthony (Editor) info@discworldmonthly.co.uk
William Barnett (Deputy Editor)
Richard Massey (Ex-Beardy Programmer)

2. News

From the Headquarters of the Discworld Jamboree 2007, Procurements and Pronouncements Sub-Committee, Cunning Artificer Department.

Embargo: None

Date: 25 May 2007

The Discworld Jamboree 2007 now has its own new and very shiny website with all the details anyone could need - the when, where, what, how much and who, though possibly not the why. Any interested Discworld fan now need only go to ~~www.discworldjamboree.com/~~

Better still, there is now a Members' Area which displays the Rules of the Ankh-Morpork & District Scouting Association (Unaffiliated) and the Oath, together with the Minutes of the Meeting to Form the Proposed Ankh-Morpork Federation of Scouts (in the chair, Captain Carrot).

To access this area you have to have to have joined up to attend the Jamboree, or have purchased our rather splendid 'scouters' goodie bag. If you have done all of these things then mail discworldjamboree@gmail.com to receive the appropriate password.

These have been posted at the request of the Chief Scout himself, so that those attending the Jamboree will fully understand the aims of the A-M Scouting Movement, the importance of personal hygiene (especially while under canvas), and what size battle axe is acceptable in a camping environment.

The Discworld Jamboree 2007 will be held on a field in Wincanton, Somerset, between 3 and 5 August 2007. Amongst other attractions it will feature the Witch Trials and a Gang Show. It will be attended by the Chief Scout, Mr Terry Pratchett, ably supported by Mr Stephen Briggs and Mr Colin Smythe.

In creating the Jamboree website, we are indebted to the Chief Scout, Mr Terry Pratchett, and to Black Widow Web Design.

Some of the ladies that post on the Discworld Stamps forum (www.discworldstamps.com/forum) have taken part in a tasteful yet risque calendar photo shoot!

It's all for charity and the only way to get a copy of the calendar is to pre-order one! The calendar costs 10.50 GBP and to get yours send a cheque made payable to T. Hardcastle to 36 Penn View, Wincanton, Somerset, BA9 9NE.

The first 100 sold will be numbered. Should demand out-strip initial supplies future re-prints will not be numbered.

It appears that Joe Schaumburger editor of Wossname, the newsletter of the North American Discworld Society, is retiring from Wossname because of health issues. Joe has been responsible for Wossname for ten years so this decission is a major blow to the newsletter. We wish Joe all the best with his congestive heart failure condition.

Annie Mac who has taken over the role is now in need of people to help write the newsletter. If you've ever fancied trying your hand at online journalism please get in contact with her at interact@pearwood.info

To subscribe to Wossname visit groups.yahoo.com and search for Wossname.

Terry appeared on a special edition of The Sky at Night (a long running British television program about Astronomy) to celebrate its 50th annivesary.

The programme called "We Love the Sky at Night" was broadcast on BBC1 on Sunday 6th May at 16:45.

News round-up from Colin Smythe:

Terry's UK signing tour dates are:

Saturday 6th October - Cheltenham Festival

Monday 8th October
Plymouth - WHSmith
Time: 12.30-1.30
Store address: 73-75 New George Street, Plymouth, Devon PL1 1RP

Tuesday 9th October
Bath - Toppings and Co.
Time: Evening
Shop address: The Paragon, Bath, BA1 5LS

Thursday 11th October
Waterstone's Nottingham
Time: 5.30pm-6.30pm
Shop address: 1-5 Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham NG1 2GR

Friday 12th October
Borders Cambridge
Time: 1pm (perhaps earlier start)
Shop address: 12-13 Market Street, Cambridge CB2 3PA

Saturday 13th October
Signing, venue in London to be announced

BAFTA AWARDS held on 20 May.

HOGFATHER won the INTERACTIVITY category

(the definition of which is "A programme or series that has been extended and enriched by the interactivity offered by new media. Any form of new media is eligible including web, mobile and red button interactive TV, or any cross-platform combination. The emphasis is on the creative approach and how the programme has been conceived with new media as an integral part of the production.")

I also received an email from Ian Sharples at MOB Films, in which he wrote:

"On the awards and such like, the run down is

*Winners of the Broadcast Press Guild, Best Multi Channel Programmeaward

*Nominated for Royal Television Society (RTS) for Drama Serial, but sadly didn't win

*We have received nominations for the BAFTA Craft awards [held on 22 April], the technical awards for the crew, and we have two, not surprisingly, Gavin Finney our Director of Photography is nominated for the Photography and Lighting Category, [he was a runner-up to David Katznelson for his work on "Shoot the Messenger" (BBC)] and the CGI team from MPC, Oliver Money and Simon Thomas for the visual effects category [which they won].

Terry now has a presence on Bebo.com the "next generation" social networking site. Terry's section has been setup by his publishers Randomhouse.

For more information and the chance to win some Discworld audio books visit: ~~terrydiscworld.bebo.com~~

Amazon.co.uk is now listing Making Money as being released on 24th September 2007. It features Moist Von Lipwig doing to the Ankh Morpork Mint what he did to the Post Office in Going Postal.

http://discworldmonthly.co.uk?ISBN=0385611013

Snowgun Films have released their short video of Run Rincewind Run, a video made for this year's Australian Discworld Convention.

See www.snowgumfilms.com/ for more details.

On May 16th, Alan Johnson the Education Secretary in England has put together a list of the top 160 books for teenage boys. The idea of the list is to encourage more boys to read for pleasure at secondary school.

The list surprisingly didn't include any Harry Potter novels but does include The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy and A Hat Full of Sky.

Alan Johnson has promised to give every secondary school in England the chance to chose 20 books from the list free.

tinyurl.com/ypj4nk

Discworld Dates...

This section will contain events that you need to keep in your diary. Entries will remain until they go out of date. New entries will include the word [New] next to them. If this section gets too large we will start pruning entries.

[AU] Brisbane Arts Theatre will be performing Jingo at the Arts Theatre, 210 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane, Qld Australia from May 26 till June 16 2007.

The opening night special costs 35 AUD and includes supper and chance to meet the actors.

Regular tickets cost 25 AUD adult, 20 AUD concession or 20 AUD for groups of 10+.

Show plays Wed to Sat at 8pm and one Sunday Matinee on June 10 at 2pm. www.artstheatre.com.au/

[UK] Tabs Productions will be performing Wyrd Sisters at the Pomegranate Theatre, Chesterfield from Saturday 26th May to Saturday 2nd June. Tickets cost 9 GBP or 7 GBP concessions.

Saturday 26th is a preview night with all tickets costing 5 GBP.

Box Office: 01246 345222 www.pomegranatetheatre.co.uk

The same production will be performed at Octagon Theatre, Yeovil from Tuesday 12th - Thursday 14 June. Tickets cost 10 GBP or 7.50 GBP concessions.

Box Office: 01935 422884 hhtp://www.octagon-theatre.co.uk

For any other information see www.tabsproductions.co.uk

[UK, UPDATE] The Rhoda McGaw Theatre in Woking will be performing Maskerade from 30th May - 2nd June.

Tickets are 10 GBP from the box office 0870 060 6645.

[UK, Updated] The Broken Drummers is a London Discworld Group that meets once a month on a Monday evening. Membership is free - just come along. New members and visitors to London are both welcome and encouraged.

June's meeting is on Monday 4th June from 7.00pm onwards at the Essex Serpent, 6 King St, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 8HN in the cellar room.

For more information go to ~~www.brokendrummers.co.uk~~ or e-mail helenenicholls@yahoo.co.uk

[UK, New] The Hounslow Light Opera Drama Group will be performing Mort from 7th-9th June 2007 at 7:45pm.

Box Office: 020 8892 2597

St. Mary's Community Hall, Church Street, Hampton

[SW, New] The Gay Beggars (English theater group of the University of Basel) present Wyrd Sisters on the: 8th, 9th, 12th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 20th, 22nd and 23rd June at 8pm at the Cellar Theater, English Seminar ('Schones Haus') Nadelberg 6, Basel.

Tickets: 12.- (students)/ 18.- SFr. Reservations: gaybeggars@hotmail.com or 0041 61 267 27 90 Or visit ~~www.unibas.ch/gaybeggars~~

[UK] The Art of Josh Kirby - Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, 16 June to 30 September 2007

The first retrospective exhibition of science fiction artist Josh Kirby. Born in Liverpool in 1928 and trained at Liverpool School of Art he began his career producing film posters, moving to book and cover art for magazines. Some of his more famous work includes the first cover of Ian Fleming's Moonraker and the poster for Monty Python's Life of Brian and he is best known for his cover illustrations of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.

[UK] The Random Salad Company will be performing Carpe Jugulum from Tuesday 10 July to Saturday 14 July at 7.30pm.

Tickets cost 8 GBP (7 GBP concessions) for all areas.

New Theatre Royal, 20-24 Guildhall Walk, Portsmouth, PO1 2DD

Box office: 023 9264 9000

~~tinyurl.com/28bxrx~~

Small Ads...

Please note, DWM has no way of checking the veracity or validity of any of the items in our small ads section. As always, exercise caution when giving out your details over the Internet. We *strongly* recommend parental supervision for younger readers who
follow up any of these contacts.

Andy Blenkin ablenkin@hotmail.com writes: Due to a wedding and chronic lack of space I'm having to part with some of my Clarecraft Discworld collection. They range from Dibblers compass to Death on Binky. If you would like to see pictures and a full list of what I'm selling please email me and I'll send you all the info. Thanks, Andy.

3. Readers' Letters

If you have any letters or comments, please email them to info@discworldmonthly.co.uk

We assume any correspondence is eligible for use in the newsletter unless otherwise stated, including the sender's email address. We may also edit your letters in a vain attempt to reduce global warming.

It is vitally important that you don't pass off other people's work as your own. If you use information from other resources please let us know so we can give proper credit.

The best letter of the month will receive a Kiss the Cook print supplied by Bonsai Trading. Sadly Bonsai Trading is no longer trading but John Pagan has kindly offered to continue supplying the monthly prize until his stock runs out.

*
* From: "Bri Derbyshire" bd1944@yahoo.com
*
Ref. the ref. to "Shottle Bop" ... there's a much older, and more relevant, predecessor: "The Magic Shop" by H.G.Wells. It's told by Dad, who goes for a walk with his young son Gip ... toyshop found in otherwise derelict area, strange proprietor with extensible nose, interior has a tendency to change when you're not looking ... shop later found replaced by blank wall ... afterwards, Gip claims his toy soldiers march about, but only when he's alone. (Genesis of Woody & Buzz, perhaps?) I read this in a very - and I mean VERY - old magazine belonging to my grandparents: a home-bound copy of "The Strand" no less, with original-publication Sherlock Holmes in the front. I was about 55 years younger then, so please forgive the lack of pin-point accuracy. A hardback reprint of the story (34pp. or so) is available, and it's in various anthologies. It's not the idea that matters though, it's what you make of it. TP's shops (general and music) appear and disappear, but apart from that they're all his own.

*
* From:"Steve Walker" s.jwalker@virgin.net
*
I read your personal pen-pictures with interest in Issue 121, and have something to offer on the subject of beards. I have been a serious club-cyclist since my teenage, and any cyclist with a long beard is usually the owner of a trike (disclaimer - I don't have either beard or trike). Now when I read that "all programmers have beards", I wondered how many of them are active Tricycle Association members? We were watching "Eggheads" a week or so ago, and one of the challengers wore a long beard; my wife Christine immediately spoke my thoughts, "I bet he rides a trike!". The cartoonist Johnny Helms always portrays trikies wearing beards, he's been amusing the cycling world for several decades.

So you see, it depends on the circles you move in which determine your assumptions on life.

On the subject of casting for films, when I heard about The Hogfather, and Tony Robinson's appearance, I immediately pictured him as Nobby Nobs, but then I have probably been watching Blackadder too much. Nigel Planer should have been in Medium Dave's gang, now there's an ideal candidate for Rincewind if you ask me! Who would you really like to see as Rincewind? Go on, put it to the readers of DWM...

*
* From: "Richard Hardie" hardie01uk@yahoo.co.uk
*
You mention that 'A certain man of letters' (I presume Terry) is doing a write up for the Scouts Discworld Jamboree in your current DWM issue.

Terry is, of course, the proud owner of the Scout Association Red Neckerchief. This is presented to members of the Scouts and Guides Associations who have been in the Gang Show, or helped in it for 5 years. Terry co-wrote one of the scenes with me for the 2002 show "Timescape" and actually acted out the scene (the kidnap of Terry Pratchett) so we could film it and show it each night on stage. I presented the necker to Terry on behalf of the Association and he is still the only person to have been given the necker as an outsider.

You kindly reviewed a video of the show and said that you don't like musicals, but strangely quite liked this one! Good taste, that man! .....as Ridcully would say.

DWM replies: Richard gets this month's Letter Of The Month.

*
* From: CHRISYARNALL@aol.com
*
As a long term Pratchett fan I am very embarrassed to ask this question but in Nightwatch and Thud reference is made to Vimes (my favourite character) having arrested the Patrician at some point in the past. I know Carrot arrested him in Guards but I really am struggling to remember when Vimes did. Please put me out of my misery!

*
* From: "Felicity Cobbing" execsec@pef.org.uk
*
I wonder if you or anyone out there would know if the character of Sam Vimes was based, in part, on Charles Warren, Commissioner of the Met from 1886 to 1888. During this brief time, he oversaw Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, and was the Man In Charge when the Ripper murders terrorized Whitechapel. He seems to have shared Vimes' concern with policeman's footwear and an interest in the role of seamstresses in polite society, amongst other things. He also travelled to exotic climes, though I'm not sure if he was ever presented with a dish of sheep's eyeballs. Either that or are all policemen a type?

*
* From: "Erin Seis" clxtgirl@sasktel.net
*
OK, as a Canadian I recognize that you lot for the UK may just be surprised that I didn't know this but here it goes. I was flipping through a book of baby names and came across:

Esme (Es-MAY) origin: Scottish meaning: esteemed

All this time when Nanny Ogg was calling her Esme, I thought it was just a short form of Esmerelda, I had no idea it may actually be a title. Cool!

We received several letters about the news that David Jason will be playing Rincewind in the upcoming adaptation of Colour of Magic. The following letter from Rosemary Caswell is typical of the many we received.

*
* From: "Rosemary Caswell" rae.caswell@ntlworld.com
*
David Jason as Rincewind? Oh surely not. He is a splendid actor and a pleasant man, but not Rincewind. For a start Rincewind is a young man, well youngish, and fit and agile - well, fast on his pins at any rate.

This is one version of the book that I think I, for one, will not be watching.

4. DiscTrivia

This month I will be asking questions about Interesting Times.

Q1.: What colour is The Quantum Weather Butterfly?
Q2.: What did Ridcully think Rincewind is?
Q3.: How many Zs was Rincewind offered for his new hat?; a) One; b) Two; c) Three; d) Two times four
Q4.: Rincewind was given a document written by Twoflower. What was it called?
Q5.: What town does Twoflower come from?

The results, as always, appear at the end of this issue.

5. Review: Wincanton Lite Event - May 2007

Reviewed by Jason Anthony

Originally there wasn't going to be a May Wincanton event in 2007 because Bernard (The Cunning Artificer) had planned to run the Jamboree instead, but pressure from regular Wincanton visitors meant that Bernard had to arrange a kind of non-event event, hence the "Lite" title.

The weekend of the event coincided with Terry's birthday so Terry was understandably unable to attend. Whilst it is nice to see Terry at events and it is always great to hear what Terry has to say about future books, not having him there didn't spoil the weekend too much.

Around twenty of us converged on one of the local curry houses in what is becoming a bit of a tradition. Even Barrie the Discworld's special jeweller managed to get to the curry house on time. After an excellent meal we staggered up to the Dolphin to finish the evening off with a drink or two and great company in the hall of shame.

At 1pm on Saturday we headed for the beer garden of the Dolphin for a Dodgeball tournament. I took part in the first game but we were beaten by a better team. So my official involvement in the game was quickly over. Having said that, the rules were a bit woolly and being an Ankh-Morpork game the rules were more guidelines than actual rules, so we set to work seeing how far the rules could be bent. Adding extra players to a team seemed to be the most effective solution. Changing the shape of the nylon roped off arena was tried but a nasty rope burn to my hand when somebody tugged the rope put paid to that. Amazingly three weeks later my hand still has the scars from the burn!

The Soul Cake Duck bonnet competition was at 4pm, where ladies (and a few gents) showed off their best bonnets. Dave Hodges, being his usual inventive self, turned up with a car bonnet which he apparently found on the way down to the event.

I spent an interesting half hour in the shop with Bernard, Isobel and about half a dozen fans discussing the new Colour of Magic movie. We came to the conclusion that we should let the Mob decided who to cast as they know their job better that we do. After that Bernard had to shut the shop to head off to Terry's birthday party.

We all made our way to either the Bear or the Dolphin for food. I had tickets for the Dolphin and enjoyed a very nice meal with some great friends. After the meal we headed down to the Bear for the evening's charity auction. The auction went well and over 2000 GBP was raised for charity.

After the auction, the secretariat of the Discworld Stamp forum gave out some of their wonderful awards, three silver and one gold. Unfortunately none of the Silver Loupe award winners were at the event. I was truly honoured to receive the Gold Loupe Award for my work on Discworld Monthly. I must admit I was pretty drunk by the time I got the award so if my speech sounded like it came from an old drunkard - it was because it did! It is a lovely award and I am very proud to have been given it.

Much drinking continued until the early hours of the morning.

Even though it was a lite event it was a lot of fun. I had a great time meeting up with existing friends and meeting new ones. Here's to many more Wincanton weekends. I can't wait for the Jamboree when I will be able to meet up with everyone again.

I have uploaded a few pictures of the event at: ~~picasaweb.google.com/dwm.oook~~

Loz Green also has a number of photos at: ~~picasaweb.google.com/LozGreen/~~

6. Competitions

This month we have a Limited Edition Hogfather DVD to give away. The copy numbered 13324 was purchased by myself before I realised I was getting a copy from another source. It is still in its shrinkwrap and has never been opened.

In order to win this copy of the DVD all you need to do is answer the following question:

Q1.: Which two actors have voiced Death (one for Hogfather and the other for the animated versions of Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters)?

Please send your answer to competitions@discworldmonthly.co.uk by Friday 22nd June 2007.

Last month we were offering, in conjunction with The Cunning Artificer, one of the Jamboree goodie bags that will retail at 20 GBP normally. Details of the contents of the pack can be found on the Cunning Artificer's website but one of the highlights will be the introduction to Discworld Scouts written by a certain Mr Pratchett.

All you needed to do to enter was answer one simple question:

Q1.: How much is the camping cost per adult per night at the Jamboree?

The correct answer was a very reasonable 7.50 GBP per adult per night.

The randomly selected winner of the goodie bag is Irene Jackson of Suffolk, England.

For more information about Discworld Scouting and the first ever Discworld Jamboree visit ~~www.discworldjamboree.com/~~

7. Review: Hogfather Limited Edition DVD

Reviewed by Jason Anthony

Hogfather has been released in two DVD editions. A standard edition and a limited to 20,000 Limited Collectors Edition. This must make Hogfather the biggest piece of Discworld merchandise outside of the novels.

The limited edition DVD comes in a gatefold case that is encased in a cut out cardboard sleeve that features a view of Great A'tuin. The cut out allows a view of the cast that appears on the gatefold. Also included in the limited edition pack is a small card with a brief message about the DVD from Terry. The final extra is code that can be used to unlock part of the Hogfather DVD website. It took me ages to find the code (it is particularly well hidden) but I won't tell you where it is you can have the fun of locating it yourself. Once entered you get to see some very interesting video footage not available elsewhere including a completely Computer Generated Death.

The first disc contains the full three hour adaptation and it gives the option of watching part one or two separately or as a composite whole. You can also choose which chapter you wish to go to.

The second disc contains the extras such as the 12 days of Hogswatch that was originally shown on both SkyOne's Red Button and on SkyOne's website. If also features The Whole Hog: The Making of Hogfather which provides a fascinating insight into the adaptation. There is also an extensive photo gallery and a number of trailers for other fox films such as the Silver Surfer.

I am not normally a fan of logos and copyright warnings found on many DVDs that just seem to want to slow you down from watching the disc. However, this time I felt having the 20th Century Fox logos and copyright warnings made the adaptation seem more like a movie. I think the fact that nearly an hour of adverts have been removed also makes the DVD a pleasure to watch.

The DVD is region 2 encoded which means that it is designed to run in most of Europe. Some US fans have found that with the right software they can watch the DVD on their PCs. I understand that most DVD players in Australia are also capable of playing region 2 discs.

If you enjoyed the adaptation on Sky you will love the DVD version. See section 6 for a chance to win a copy.

8. The End

Discworld Monthly would like to thank Sonnet UK for hosting our mailing list for us free of charge. For more information about Sonnet UK visit their website at www.sonnetuk.net

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Discworld hardback: Wintersmith 0385609841/87

Discworld paperback: Thud 0552152676/87

Discworld hardback Companion: Where's My Cow? 038560937X/87

Discworld Young Adult paperback: A Hat Full of Sky 0552551449/87

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* Disc Trivia Results *

Q1.: What colour is The Quantum Weather Butterfly?
A1.: An undistinguished yellow colour with mandelbrot patters on the wings.
Q2.: What did Ridcully think Rincewind is?
A2.: A type of cheese.
Q3.: How many Zs was Rincewind offered for his new hat?
A3.: c) Three
Q4.: Rincewind was given a document written by Twoflower. What was it called?
A4.: What I did on my holidays.
Q5.: What town does Twoflower come from?
A5.: Bes Pelargic

* Obtaining Terry's Books *

If you are looking for Terry books or videos over the net, simply visit our web page at discworldmonthly.co.uk and follow the 'Purchasing' link on the left panel of the page.

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Discworld Monthly - Issue 122: June 2007

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