Discworld Monthly Issue 213 January 2015
Table of Contents:
1. Editorial
2. News
3. Readers' Letters
4. DiscTrivia
5. Review: Hogswatch 2014
6. News from Sasquan
7. Competition Result: The Colour of Magic Giant Poster
8. The End
1. Editorial
Welcome to issue 213 and the first issue of 2015. The Discworld collections belonging to Discworld Monthly and The Discworld Collectors Guild will be combining in a couple of months when I move down to South Wales. Hopefully once I've moved in things will settle down and I'll have more time to dedicate to Discworld Monthly. Photos of our combined collections will be coming soon.
Rachel Rowlands has been busy expanding The Discworld Collectors' Guild Archive. It's a fascinating collection of photos of much of what can be collected in Discworld. For more information visit the page at: www.facebook.com/DiscworldCollectorsArchive?fref=ts
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 / Proof Reader)
Richard Massey (Amateur Golfer)
2. News
The BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Good Omens is still available to listen to but only until 21st January. Head over to:
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04knt4h/episodes/guide
The Radio Times recently interviewed Neil Gaiman about the adaptation. One bit made me smile:
"Terry still has all of his faculties. He's fighting Alzheimer's, but he has a rare kind of Alzheimer's which means physical objects no longer make sense to him, but he still has memory, and he still has a mind, and he's still very much the sharpest knife in the drawer. But he couldn't read the script, so I had to give him his lines."
He sighs - that pause again. "And it was this very strange, sad, sweet, funny, odd moment, as the two of us sat in the car with Dirk's lines inspired by a line that one of us had written 26 years earlier. With me saying my line first and then Terry's line. And then Terry echoing his lines. It was a little moment for me and Terry. I don't know if we're acting terribly well, but it's a moment that made me extra happy."
discworldmonthly.co.uk/url/GOO213A
BBC Magazine features an interesting article about how Neil and Terry wrote Good Omens together.
Neil writes: I wrote the first 5,000 words of William the Antichrist. It had a demon named Crawleigh. He drove a Citroen 2CV, and was ineffectual. Proper demons like Hastur and Ligur loathed him. It had a baby swap. I sent it to a few friends for feedback. Then my graphic novel Sandman happened, and it was almost a year later that the phone rang.
"It's Terry," said Terry. "'Ere. That thing you sent me. Are you doing anything with it?"
www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30512620
Back Spindle Game have recently produced their first newsletter and in the premier issue they included the follow information: Discworld Clacks - We have commissioned the wonderful Amber Grundy to create the artwork for Clacks. The cooperative game rules have been finalised and the game is due for release in summer 2015.
The success of the their Guards! Guards! game has meant that it needed to be re-printed four times in 2014...
Jakub Gruszka writes - together with Polish Discworld fans from dyskowe.info we have decided to gather information about all "Books Around Discworld".
We have put all information to mind map diagram, that can be found here:
discworldmonthly.co.uk/url/BAD213A (as a picture)
or here:
discworldmonthly.co.uk/url/BAD213B (as a mind map)
The Lego Discworld project we have mentioned several times in the past has finally achieved 10,000 votes. This means that the project now moves on to the next stage - where the Lego team look into the feasibility of releasing the product (including I assume getting permission from Terry to proceed). This process starts in March and can take several months.
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.
[AU, Updated] NULLUS ANXIETAS V - The Australian Discworld Convention
On April 10-12, 2015 in beautiful Parramatta, Sydney, NSW, Australia, you will experience the magic of MOVING PICTURES with a range of delightful activities for all types of Discworld fans.
*** UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS ***
* Special Guests Colin Smythe (in person!) and Rob Wilkins (via Omniscope!)
* Meet the stars of the silver screen at the Gala Dinner!
* Show off your costuming and/or acting skills in the "I Wanna Be A Star" Maskerade and XXXX Factor!
* Participate in Studio activities to ensure you make the best clickies possible!
* Test your knowledge of Discworld and Movies and their influence on each other in our Quiz!
* Support the Orang-utan Foundation and the Aboriginal Literacy Foundation at the Charity Auction!
* Be crafty with chain maille, knitting, card-making and more!
* Can you sing? Dance? Handle a sword a little? Learn all these skills and more at our workshops!
* And much much more! With one thousand elephants!
For information on all of the above in a lot more detail, head over to our website at ausdwcon.org
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Ausdwcon or follow us on Twitter @NullusAnxietasV
You can even get a lovely NAV t-shirt and coffee cup too! (Shipping to
Australia and the UK): ausdwcon.org/shop/souvenirs/
[NL, Updated] Cabbagecon 3 proudly presents: the Assassins' Guild orientation weekend.
Ever wanted to be a member of one of the most prestigious guilds in Ankh Morpork? Now is your chance! The famous Assassins' Guild has announced that their orientation weekend in 2015 will be held at Cabbagecon 3, the Dutch Discworld convention. Representatives of four of the Guild Houses will be present at the convention to see if the convention members have the skills and dress sense necessary to make it as an Assassin.
Our guest of honour is translator Venugopalan Ittekot, who will give an exclusive presentation about a very special project.
Cabbagecon 3 will be held at hotel Val Monte in Berg en Dal (near Nijmegen) in the weekend of 27 and 28 June 2015. More information can be found at www.dutchdwcon.nl
Team Cabbagecon 3
[DE, Updated] With a 1000 camels the German Discworld Convention moves to the mysterious continent of Klatch! Make room in your schedule from September 10th to 13th in 2015 for the fourth German Discworld Convention at Castle Ludwigstein. Be there when it's getting hot!
Registration has started on our homepage and there is a bonus for early bookers who finish their ticket order by December 31st 2014!
Join the facebook page to receive further updates:
www.facebook.com/ScheibenweltConvention
[IRL] The Irish Discworld Convention 2015 will take place in Cork, Ireland at the Cork International Airport Hotel from the 2nd to the 5th of October 2015. Join us as a Special Constable for the Watch Open Weekend.
Visit www.idwcon.org or see the facebook group at: www.facebook.com/groups/idwcon/
[UK, New] In the October half term of 2015 Uppingham Theatre Company will be putting on an amateur production of Terry Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters. Audition and read through dates to follow.
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 helennicholls@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/
[Perth, AU] The Perth Drummers have changed their name. They are now known as the Treacle Mining Corporation in honour of their beloved state. They still meet up to celebrate the works of author Sir Terry Pratchett, and welcome any fans of science fiction and fantasy.
Join them for their monthly discussion of Discworld, Terry Pratchett and all things sci-fi and fantasy. They meet the first Monday of each month, subject to holidays, and all are welcome.
The group meets up at Carpe Cafe, 526 Murray Street, Perth, WA. Meeting at a cafe means they are under-18 friendly!
For details follow them on Twitter @Perth_Drummers, Instagram perth_drummers, and facebook www.facebook.com/groups/Perth.Drummers/
Otherwise message Alexandra Ware directly at alexandra.ware@gmail.com
Unless otherwise stated the group meets up on the first Monday of each month.
[AU] Sydney Drummers normally meet on the first Monday of every month.
We meet at the NEW venue, 3 Wise Monkeys, 555 George Street, Sydney, 2000 from 6:30pm
For more information contact Sue (AKA Granny Weatherwax) on kenworthys@yahoo.co.uk
[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 monthly dinner and games nights, longer games days, plus play outings, craft-y workshops, and fun social activities throughout the year. For more info and to join our mailing list, visit: cityofsmallgods.org.au
[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 www.facebook.com/groups/pratchettpartisans/
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 edit your letters by dragging them 170 miles west and back again.
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: "Emma Cartwright" emmcartwright@hotmail.com
Every month you say that you are sorry for sending out the newsletter later than anticipated. Why? We all have lives and jobs and kids and bosses (see "kids") and bills...... We get that this newsletter is a part of your life but not the focus of it.
Stop apologising!
May I suggest that you rename the newsletter to "discworldmonthy-ish"
Thank you very very much for the time and effort you put in, it means a lot to all of us who receive the newsletter and are members on FB, but would we want you to get stressed about it? I speak only for myself when I say NO, but I think that the vast majority of other subscribers would agree with me.
Take care, take it easy, chill the f**k out!
* From: "Pat" patmcintoshspinnler@yahoo.co.uk
I had, until last week, a key ring tag purporting to come from the Unseen University High Energy Magic Building. I loved it dearly, and shed bitter tears when it caught in the door and broke. I've had it for many years, 18 to be exact, because I got it from a trader selling such things at the DW Con in Manchester in 1996, as a special order.
Does any DWM reader know who the trader might have been? Because if she/he were still trading I'd love another such key tag.
May Io watch over you.
* From: "R Peters" hroth.geo@yahoo.com
This morning, I was woken by the cry of the Morepork, one of the tutelary deities of the great City of Ankh-Morpork. Sadly I wasn't in Ankh, or even New Zealand, but listening to BBC Radio 4, where the Morepork was featured as the Tweet of the Day on Friday 12th December 2014.
TotD can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04syy3w where all sorts of birds can be heard tweeting, and you can listen to the Morepork too!
* From: "Milad Fereshtehnezhad" milad_1043@yahoo.com
As we get closer to the launch date of Good Omens on Radio 4, I went on the BBC website for Radio 4 and realized that there have been other Pratchett adaptations such as Night Watch, Small Gods, and Guards! Guards! and Mort. However, those are no longer available on the Radio 4 website. I was wondering if you knew where I could get them. I am really excited about these so I am really hoping I can get a hopeful answer from you!
Thank you in advance for your help.
4. DiscTrivia
This month the lovely Rachel Rowlands has come up with five quite challenging questions for you to ponder.
The (hopefully correct) answers can be found at the end of this issue.
5. Review: Hogswatch 2014
Hogswatch 2014 took place over the final weekend in November 2014. Rachel and I arrived at our hotel mid afternoon on the Friday and headed back to Wincanton (our hotel was several miles out of the town). Our first visit was to The Cunning Artificer's shop which was quite quiet. While I chatted with friends Rachel took time to peruse the shop and purchase a set of The Emporium's rather nice new wooden Hogswatch decorations - featuring Death, Death of Rats and the Raven (these later adorned our Hogswatch tree).
On Saturday morning we headed back into town. Many of the activities were planned to take place in the Memorial Hall. I was accosted by a friend who offered me a drink of an innocuous looking clear liquid. It turned out to be chilli poitin which was made from naga chillies. After I recovered I enjoyed watching the rest of my friends trying it and reacting badly to it!
We spent most of the day in the various bars chatting with friends and having a great time. Later in the day we had our photos taken by Pam Martin who had set up a photo session where we all pretended to be criminals arrested by the Ankh-Morpork Watch. Pam had got the Emporium to create forms that we had to hold up detailing our crime and prisoner number. The results look great and can be found on Pam's facebook page.
Saturday night's sausage supper took place at various pubs. Rachel and I were in the Bear and we sat with a number of our friends. It was a simple but very enjoyable meal. After dinner there was a burlesque show put on by one of the attendees but we decided not to go and went back up the hill to the Dolphin to be with our friends. We played a few
rounds of Fluxx before retreating to the bar, finally heading back to the hotel late in the night.
Sunday morning started with an enjoyable breakfast in the Dolphin pub. We then headed over to the shop, picked up the auction items and attempted to carry the two huge heavy boxes over to Memorial Hall.
We ended up with nearly 70 auction lots and typically not a huge amount of time to get through them all. Around three quarters of the way through the action I was assassinated by the Guild of Assassins, much to head auctioneer Pat Harkin's surprise. Luckily Rachel was on standby to take over recording the auction sales while I lay dead on the stage floor. A couple of lots later Death turned up and took me off the stage. At the end of the auction we raised nearly 2,700 GBP for charity. Once all the other collections and money raising events were taken into consideration, over 3,000 GBP was raised for RICE.
After the auction items were handed out and all the monies collected and returned to the shop we headed back to the bar for lunch with friends.
We had decided to stay another night - it was really enjoyable chatting with the few friends that stayed on the Sunday night. It was also really enjoyable not having to leave early! After the pubs closed we headed back to our hotel.
On Monday we left the hotel room and headed home - tired but having had great fun.
6. News from Sasquan
Come One, Come All to the Great Discworld Fan Gathering at Sasquan!
The World Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention takes place in Spokane, Washington on August 19-23, 2015. Known as Sasquan, it will attract over 5,000 Science Fiction and Fantasy fans from all over the world. Among their ranks will be hundreds, if not thousands, of Discworld enthusiasts. The organizers of this convention would like to invite all of you to be a part of the Great Discworld Fan Gathering at Sasquan.
Sasquan takes place in Spokane, Washington, a gorgeous area in the Pacific Northwest. It is on the west coast of the United States, about 4 hours' drive from Seattle, WA. For more information about this convention, please visit sasquan.org/
Spokane is a great city with an international airport. There is lots to see and do for individuals and families. For more information about Spokane, WA, please visit www.visitspokane.com/
Various North American Discworld Guilds have been invited to organize and host DW fan meets at Sasquan and these include:
The Seamstress Guild (famous for its parties, it has many decorators, costumers and performers among its members), the Alchemists (our science minds), the Cunning Artificers (arts & crafts), Discworld Musicians and Singers (for filking and other fun), Engravers & Printers (our writers and editors), the Dark Clerks (folks who like to organize both paper and people behind the scenes), our fabulous Bakers (lovers of food and drink who may be leading some of our pub crawls), the Witches & Wizards (cunning women and men who love history, myth, and folklore), various DW Family Groups, the Black Ribboners (DW folks in recovery), and more.
The North American Seamstress Guild will be hosting its famous parties at this convention, and a Discworld exhibit will be mounted in the convention's Exhibition Room. Discworld fans are invited to submit their art to the Sasquan Art Show, and costumers should consider entering the famous Worldcon Costume Masquerade.
The Programming and Events departments are working with notable fans and attendees from around the world to create a fascinating Discworld-themed track for fans.
Many events will take place at the Spokane Convention Center. Many of the parties and meets will take place at the historic Davenport Hotel (see The Davenport Hotel and Tower, Spokane, Wash. - In Photos: America's Top Historic Hotels at discworldmonthly.co.uk/url/SPO213A ).
And reservations have just opened for the new Grand Hotel, one of several hotels (with varying and reasonable rates) all serving this Worldcon. Sasquan writes that, "The Grand is still under construction, but will be open in June. It is part of the Davenport Collection, which is now branded as Marriott. It will be attached to the Spokane Convention Center (SCC) across the street via a skybridge on the southwest side. The INB Theater is the closest space in the SCC, where the Masquerade and Hugos will be held."
If you make reservations, please use the housing bureau software system: www.visitspokane.com/sasquan
To follow Sasquan on Facebook, please like their FB page: www.facebook.com/sasquan
To purchase your membership to this event, please visit Sasquan's registration page: sasquan.swoc.us/sasquan/reg.php
Please note: This is a family-friendly event and there will be a track for young people. Why not bring the kids?
It's going to be a well-organized convention and one heck of a party. We hope to see you there.
D. J. Connell writing for the Great Discworld Fan Gathering at Sasquan Oook!
7. Competition Result: The Colour of Magic Giant Poster
Last month Spineless Classics offered one of their wonderful The Colour of Magic posters for us to give away. The poster features the complete text of The Colour of Magic and also depicts the Luggage and Great A'Tuin with footprints between the two. The poster measures 700mm by 1000mm.
We asked you to tell us three other fantasy posters in the spineless classics range.
Some of the many answers we accepted were: The Hobbit, Harry Potter, Stardust, Peter Pan, Paddington Bear and 1984.
We received 73 correct entries in the competition and the randomly selected winner is: Clare Hawes or Halesworth, Suffolk. We'll pass on your details to Spineless Classics and they'll send your poster as soon as possible.
To view the full range of posters visit: www.spinelessclassics.com
For those who didn't win, Spineless Classics are offering a special 25% discount to readers of Discworld Monthly - to get you discount visit: www.spinelessclassics.com/voucher/DWM
8. The End
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Raising Steam
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The Long Mars:
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The Long War (with Stephen Baxter)
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TURTLE RECALL: The Discworld Companion
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