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Discworld Monthly Issue 196- August 2013

Table of Contents:

1. Editorial
2. News
3. Readers' Letters
4. DiscTrivia
5. Review: Maskerade - RoCO Dramatic Society
6. Gramarye Competition Results
7. North American Discworld Convention - The Revolution That Wasn't of 2013
8. The End


1. Editorial

Welcome to issue 196. Once again (and it seem like I am saying this every month) I have been crazily busy at work and this has meant that I've not had a lot of spare time to work on Discworld Monthly.

Due to the delay in getting to write this month's issue. I've not been able to get this month's issue proof read because William is off enjoying a well deserved holiday - so I apologise for worse spelling and punctuation than normal.

* * * * *

Next weekend I'll be taking my eldest two children with me to this year's Wadfest event. I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend of fun and amusement with lots of other Discworld / Sci-fi fans. Wadfest has always been a great family friendly camping event and long may it continue.

If you are coming to the event I'll see you there otherwise I'll write a review for next month's issue and you can find out what you've missed.

* * * * *

The Discworld Monthly facebook group now has now moved to nearly 5,350 members and continues to have lots of lively and fun conversations. I particularly enjoyed last night's quiz at the group's virtual pub The Flaming Trebuchet. I think a huge thank you is due to Rachel Rowlands for organizing the event.

Anyone can join in the fun but it might take me a few hours to add you to the group (no facebook access at work you see) maybe it's time to bring in some deputies... If you want to chat with fellow Discworld Monthly readers between issues make sure you visit us at: www.facebook.com/DiscworldMonthly/

Please note that the facebook page is provided in addition to the newsletter and in no way replaces it!

* * * * *

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.

Also if you have written an article that you think we might want to include in the newsletter please feel free to email me at the address below. We will of course give credit for anything we use.

--
Jason Anthony (Editor) info@discworldmonthly.co.uk
William Barnett (Deputy Editor)
Richard Massey (Long Distance Reporter)


2. News

The Institute of Art and Ideas (in London) have released a new video debate online. The three guests are Terry Pratchett, author AS Byatt and literary critic Terry Eagleton.

iai.tv/video/at-the-world-s-edge

* * * * *

On Sunday 29th September 2013 Terry will be visiting Brighton's City Reads event along with "three friends from his multimedia company Narativia".

This year's big City Reads event sees Sir Terry Pratchett and friends take to the stage. With world-wide book sales of over 85 million and work translated into 37 languages, Sir Terry Pratchett is a phenomenon. Despite having a rare form of early onset Alzheimer's, he's still writing. Whether you're a seasoned Discworld traveller, you began your journey with Guards! Guards!, or are just considering entering the Pratchett multiverse, come and celebrate the pleasure of reading with one of Britain's best loved writers. Expect conversation, excellent hats, readings from the book as well as film excerpts from adaptations.

Sir Terry is unable to do a signing, but books on sale, courtesy of City Books, will be stamped exclusively for this event. Doors open at 1:15pm.

discworldmonthly.co.uk/url/BRI196A

* * * * *

Discworld fan Emily S Whitten has blogged about her experiences at last month's North American Discworld Convention.

discworldmonthly.co.uk/url/COM196A

* * * * *

BBC Radio 2 recently interviewed Steeleye Span at the Cambridge Folk Festival and talked about the upcoming Wintersmith album.

The band got involved with Terry when he chose them as one of his records on Desert Island Discs. Terry came to some of their gigs and he and the band became friends, Terry suggested that they should write something based on the Tiffany Achin books and eventually they came up with the Wintersmith album. Songs include The Dark Morris and I Shall Wear Midnight (a beautiful song written from the perspective of Tiffany talking to Terry and asking him give her a live of her own where she didn't have to grow up so quick and could enjoy her childhood).

I'm not normally a big fan of folk music but I think I'll make an exception for this. Sadly the BBC program is no longer available to listen to so we'll all have to wait until the album is released. I've written to the band to see if I can get any more information about release dates and will of course pass on any information as I get it.

* * * * *

News update from Lady Sybil.

On 12th July, The Long War was down to no. 4 in the Top 20 Original Fiction list, having sold 2,868 copies, and on 19th July, down to no. 5; on 26th July down to no 12, with 1,795 copies sold that week.

That's it, as SOD4 has now left the top 20 hardback non-fiction.

Lady Sybil.

* * * * *

Ian Stewart has written an article entitled "The Science Behind Discworld's Flat Earth on the Back of a Turtle" for io9.com. Apparently not everything made it into The Science of Discworld 4 so Ian decided to provide a peek at some of the missing material.

discworldmonthly.co.uk/url/IO9196A

* * * * *

Terry has been quite quiet on Twitter this month - below is a round-up of his posts. You can follow Terry at: twitter.com/terryandrob

17th Jul 2013: Back to where it all started... pic.twitter.com/38BzE0WWNG [Terry's return to Beaconsfield Library - Ed]

17th Jul 2013: Still just as much enthusiasm as I always remember. Thank you. pic.twitter.com/uwJVkozTsX

17th Jul 2013: Look @MitchBenn; it's Robert Gilbraith with his latest novel #Terra. pic.twitter.com/YVGhIgQ5DJ

30th Jul 2013: Look! It's @MaddyPriorFolk in the studio where we've been working on the @steeleye_span #Wintersmith album. pic.twitter.com/NMr7x0Aa1H

* * * * *

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.

From issue 190 onwards recurring monthly meetings have been moved to their own area at the bottom of the dates section.

* * * * *

[UK] Wadfest 2013 will take place from the 9th - 11th August 2013. Wadfest has a new home and will be at Wood Green Animal Shelter, King's Bush Farm, London Road, Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire, PE29 2NH

The new site features a licensed bar, an event area with its own PA system, a cafeteria and a couple of shops.

The event organisers have managed to negotiate a much better deal with the new site and have therefore managed to pass on a huge discount on the price of tickets which are now 20 GBP each (5 GBP per ticket less than the previous Wadfest in 2011).

www.wadfest.co.uk

* * * * *

[DE] Postponement / Cancellation of the German Discworld Convention 2013.

The castle that we booked has a new management and recently communicated its new, drastically altered conditions to us. Sadly these leave us with no other option than postponing the convention to 2015 and moving to a new castle. The good news is that we have found a new, way better castle with an obliging management. Pictures of the new castle will be posted on our facebook page: www.facebook.com/ScheibenweltConvention

* * * * *

[IE] The Third Irish Discworld Convention 2013 takes place from Friday 1st November to Monday 4th November 2013 at Radisson Blu Hotel in Limerick, Ireland.

Visit www.idwcon.org/ or see the facebook page at: www.facebook.com/idwcon

* * * * *

[UK, New] Chesham Theatre Company will be performing Maskerade. from Wednesday 6 November to Saturday 9 November in The Elgiva Theatre, St Mary's Way, Chesham, Bucks; evening performances start at 8 pm and there will be a matinee on the Saturday at 2.30.

Tickets from The Elgiva Box Office (tel: 01494 582900) or on line at www.elgiva.com

* * * * *

[UK] Terry is due to be the special guest at Eastercon 65 from April 18th - April 21st 2014 at the Crown Plaza Hotel, Glasgow.

satellite4.org.uk/

* * * * *

[UK] The Discworld Convention 2014 will take place in Manchester at the Palace hotel from 8th - 11th August. People with long memories will remember that the original Discworld Convention took place in Manchester in 1996 but at a much smaller hotel.

Visit www.dwcon.org/ or see the facebook group at: www.facebook.com/groups/489457174398254/

* * * * *

[AU] Nullus Anxietus V will take place from 10th to 12th April 2015 and will be in New South Wales, Australia.

Details are sketchy at the moment but keep an eye on the facebook page at: www.facebook.com/groups/nullusV/

* * * * *

Recurring monthly meetings:

[UK] The Broken Drummers meet at The Monkey Puzzle, Paddington, London, W2 1JQ, England at 7pm. For more information contact Helen Nicholls on nicholls.helen@yahoo.co.uk

Unless otherwise stated the Drummers meet on the first Monday of each month.

The Drummers are always happy to welcome new visitors. You can find out more about the Drummers at www.brokendrummers.org/

* * * * *

[AU] Perth Drummers is a group which celebrates the works of author Sir Terry Pratchett, and welcomes any fans of science fiction and fantasy. Join us for our monthly discussion of Discworld, Terry Pratchett and all things sci-fi and fantasy. We meet the first Monday of each month, subject to holidays, and all are welcome.

Please note we have from July we have moved to San Churro from 5.30pm (San Churro, 132 James Street, Northbridge, Perth, WA).

For details follow us on Twitter @Perth_Drummers and Facebook www.facebook.com/groups/Perth.Drummers/

Otherwise message Krystel directly at khewett@live.com"

Unless otherwise stated the Drummers meet on the first Monday of each month.

* * * * *

[AU] The Downunder Drummers (Sydney) meet at Maloneys Hotel on the corner of Pitt and Goulburn Streets (across the road from World Square), Sydney, Australia from 6.30pm. For more information contact Sue (AKA Granny Weatherwax) on kenworthys@yahoo.co.uk

Unless otherwise stated the Drummers meet on the first Monday of each month.

* * * * *

[UK] On the first Friday of every month there will be a meeting of WOTS - Omnian Temperance Society - Wincanton branch - to be held at The Bear Inn from 7pm. New members or visitors from other places always welcome.

discworldmonthly.co.uk/url/WOTS182

* * * * *

[Adelaide, AU] The City of Small Gods is a group for fans in Adelaide and South Australia. We have regular dinner and games nights, plus play outings, craft-y workshops, and fun social activities throughout the year. For more info and to join our mailing list, visit: ausdwcon.org/pages/smallgods

* * * * *

[Brisbane, AU] The Pratchett Partisans meet monthly at either Brisbane or Indooroopilly to eat, drink and chat about all things Pratchett. For more info about their next meetup, check out: www.meetup.com/Pratchett-Partisans/ or contact Ula directly at uwilmott@yahoo.com.au


3. Readers' Letters

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

It's been really quite on the letters front this month. Feel free to write to us. I promise I will read your letters even if we don't publish them.

We assume any correspondence is eligible for use in the newsletter unless otherwise stated, including the sender's email address. We may edit your letters but only if Bill isn't on holiday.

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.

* * * * *

* From: "James Donihue III" bigauditdaddy@yahoo.com

Greetings from US!

OK so I got A Blink of the Screen & found out about the Uncle Jim stories in the Bucks Free Press. Now being from Tennessee I never heard of these, I have looked around and supposedly they're going to put all his stories online. Is this just taking forever, are they selling them (online or in print), or have they just dropped the project. I thought maybe you might know something over there

DWM replies: I don't know what happened there. They put a couple up on-line but the quality was awful. They were just scans of the old papers with no real attempt to tidy them up. I've not heard anything in the intervening years.

* * * * *

* From: "Marion Wilhelm" marionwilhelm@gmail.com

Happy birthday in advance as October 7 is my birthday, too.

Little old lady Discworld/Sir Terry/Granny Weatherwax fan (not always on this order)

DWM replies: All the best people were born on that day. My youngest daughter was also born then!


4. DiscTrivia

This month I've opened Turtle Recall at random pages and found a question from each page visited. Some are easy, some are quite hard. Well at least I think they are...

Q1.
Why was Stren Withel thrown out of the Assassins' guild?
Q2.
What relationship is Bjorn Stronginthearm to Carrot?
Q3.
Who was Chubby?
Q4.
Who is Gibbsson?
Q5.
Who is Ankh-Morpork's best chef?

The (hopefully correct) answers can be found at the end of this issue.


5. Review: Maskerade - RoCO Dramatic Society

Reviewed by Lauren Webdale l.webdale@hotmail.com

Let me start this review by saying that on principle I have an inclination to stay away from all forms of dramatic interpretation of Terry Pratchett. As a self confessed Pratchett 'nerd', I often think that the great humour and imagination involved when reading the books, is ever so slightly lost whenever it turns up on screen or stage.

So it was with some apprehension that I treated my dear old mum (also a Pratchett fan) to a play of Maskerade lovingly put on in a quaint little church in the middle of a typical British winter (i.e. bloody cold).

I have to say...I was beyond pleasantly surprised. The whole evening ran at a wonderful easy pace capturing perfectly the subtle wit and humour we know and love of Pratchett whilst gently probing deeper issues and themes that the regular book readers come to recognise. Memorable characters were brought to life with outstanding cleverness of costume and direction, and were able to dominate the stage with ease. Characters such as Mr Seldom Bucket (Lee Wallace - also one of the producers) and Mr Salzella (Richard Mace) had such a fantastic rapport it was easy to forget that we actually knew the storyline and get swept up all over again!

Mr Pounder (Martin Devanney) magically transformed the simplest lines into side splitting humour whilst Walter Plinge (Matthew Jackson) was so delightfully weird it was quite enchanting. Stars of the show Agnes Nitt - sorry - Perdita (Charlotte Hodge and Christine (Sarah Merrifield) worked incredibly well together creating a perfect balance between sarcasm and sensibility and downright dumbness. My hat goes off though to the wonderfully talented Nanny Ogg played by Stella Wallace - some of the looks she gave made my dear mum blush.

Overall it was wonderfully performed and produced and I only pray that they will agree to perform another Pratchett sometime soon. I will look forward to their clever ability to transform difficult book humour to the stage whilst creating new humour in their own right.


6. Gramarye Competition Results

Last month we had two copies of the new edition of Gramarye to give away. This issue features an article by Jakob Lofgren all about the folklore of the Hogswatch events that take place in Wincanton each year. I've met Jakob at some of the events and he is a really nice guy. The article is quite academic but it does make very interesting reading.

To enter the competition you needed to send in the answer to the following question.

Q1.
Graymarye is published by which university?

The answer we were looking for was: University of Chichester

The two randomly selected winners are: Marie Riddleford and Jon Crook. I'll try to get the prizes in the post this week.

Thank you for entering the competition and our thanks also to the University of Chichester for providing the prizes.

www.chi.ac.uk/scfff


7. North American Discworld Convention - The Revolution That Wasn't of 2013

Written by Rita Warcholic "The Best Anoia out of 4", Mechanicsburg, PA USA

On Sunday evening of the North American Discworld Con 2013, my boyfriend and I were attending the Beggar's Potluck and Sing-along, which was led by the wonderful Nanny Ogg. We all were having a good time making our own entertainment, as fitting for those of us who are common as muck. Suddenly two young men burst into the room, exhorting us to rise up and crash the Gala Banquet!

This sounded like a good idea at the time, and we, at least, thought it was an "arranged- spontaneous Event", because it seemed something like Beggars might do. So, after a quick shot of Nanny Ogg's mead for encouragement, we and some other folks followed the rabble-rousing young men; I scurrying to keep to the front so that I could video-record the proceedings as we stormed to the Banquet Hall.

My camera was rolling as one young man opened the door to the Banquet Hall, shouting "What do we want?" "FOOD!" "When do we want it?" "NOW!" I turned around to look for my boyfriend, only to see that not too many people actually entered the room, although my boyfriend managed to make it through the doors. The next thing I know, we are attacked by the wait staff (ironically, they are most likely commoners as well), shouting at us to "GET OUT!" One young lady even had the audacity to shout at us "This is not appropriate!" I was even (gently) pushed by one of the wait staff!

At this point I realized that the "Banquet-Crash" was NOT a set-up, or a planned part of the proceedings, (OOPS!) and I, with the few others that entered the room, meekly exited.

My boyfriend was further way outside the doors than I was, so I didn't witness this part, but he told me that "Vetinari" (the Con's Chairman) appeared and was yelling at the people outside the doors that he would revoke their memberships. My boyfriend said he thought the man was acting in character, but on second thought, Vetinari wouldn't actually ever yell. Detain us, yes; yell, no.

In the meantime, I made the acquaintance of a lovely British woman who shall remain anonymous, who straight out told me I wouldn't want any of the food at the Banquet because it was quite awful and of poor quality. She then went on to tell me about other events she had attended and told me the details of finding the materials to make her magnificent gown. I enjoyed my conversation with you, madam, and I hope you are reading this so that you know.

Afterwards, I couldn't help but wonder if any of the Banquet guests thought that we were a planned amusement. I also imagined that if Sam Vimes was attending the Banquet, bored out of his mind and craving a smoke in a quiet corner, he would have burst out laughing at our intrusion (until Sybil gave him a Meaningful Look). I also like to think that Sir Terry would have been amused as well. So, perhaps at future conventions "The Storming of the Banquet" could be incorporated as a "planned-spontaneous uprising", for the entertainment of the nobs and commoners alike, to forever keep in our hearts the memory of "The Revolution That Wasn't of 2013". For me, it was the best damn part of the entire weekend.


8. The End

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* Latest Book Information *

The Long War (with Stephen Baxter)

The Long Earth (with Stephen Baxter)

Dodger

Snuff

TURTLE RECALL: The Discworld Companion

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* DiscTrivia Results *

Q1.
Why was Stren Withel thrown out of the Assassins' guild?
A1.
He was thrown out for enjoying himself too much.
Q2.
What relationship is Bjorn Stronginthearm to Carrot?
A2.
Bjorn is Carrot's great-uncle.
Q3.
Who was Chubby?
A3.
Chubby was a swamp dragon who was exploded by Edward D'eath.
Q4.
Who is Gibbsson?
A4.
Apprentice guitar-maker in the employ of Blert Weedown
Q5.
Who is Ankh-Morpork's best chef?
A5.
All Jolson. He is also Ankh-Morpork's keenest eater.

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