Back to newsletter listDate:
Wed, October 29, 2008 11:11:26 PMFrom:
Discworld Monthly
Subject:
[dwm] Discworld Monthly - Issue 139
*** Discworld Monthly ***
*** Issue 139: November 2008 ***
Table of Contents:
1. Editorial
2. News
3. Readers' Letters
4. DiscTrivia
5. Review: The Folklore of Discworld
6. Competitions
7. Review: The Turtle Moves
8. North American Discworld Convention News Update
9. The End
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1. Editorial
Welcome to issue 139. On October 7th (my birthday) I became a
father again for the third time. Mother and baby Isobel Susan are
now home and many sleepless nights have followed.
Isobel is slowly gaining weight and Lisa is recovering from her
c-section.
----------
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
oook@discworldmonthly.co.uk and we will consider it for publication.
--
Jason Anthony (Editor) oook@discworldmonthly.co.uk
William Barnett (Deputy Editor)
Richard Massey (Alone in the Dark)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
2. News
The Colour of Magic will get its US television premiere on ION
television on November 23 at 7pm ET. The four-hour show will be
broadcast in its entirety in the one evening.
ION Television (http://www.iontelevision.com) is a general
entertainment network which reaches over 94 million U.S. television
households via its nationwide broadcast television, cable and
satellite distribution systems.
----------
The UK DVD and BluRay versions of The Colour of Magic get released
on Monday 3rd November 2008. To celebrate the release, Terry and
Vadim Jean will be signing DVDs at the Forbidden P***t Megastore in
Shaftesbury Avenue, London on Monday 3rd November 2008, between 5.30
and 6.30pm
http://www.forbiddenp***t.com/Signings.html
If you cannot make it to the signing you can still purchase signed
(by Terry) copies from Sandra Kidby's website
http://www.pjsmprints.com/
----------
Last month Terry addressed the UK Conservative Party at their Party
Conference about the problem of Alzheimer's Disease.
PJSMPrints have the transcript of Terry's thought-provoking speech,
along with some photos, on their website:
http://pjsmprints.com/news/index.html
PSJMPrints have now updated their news page for October and included
a lot of photos. There is a piece from Terry talking about how he
is beginning to get back to working on Unseen Academicals.
----------
Terry will appear on BBC Radio 4 on "With Great Pleasure" on
Christmas day.
The show will be pre-recorded in Bath on November 14th and free
tickets will be available on a first come, first served basis.
Date: Friday 14th November 2008
The Venue: The Forum, St James's Parade, Bath BA1 1UG
Doors open 6.30pm (Bar available in foyer)
Performance starts at 7pm
Free tickets for the recording are available via the BBC Ticket Line:
Phone: 0370 901 1227
Website: www.bbc.co.uk/tickets
----------
News from Colin Smythe (Terry's Agent):
The Press Association report on Terry's Tory Party Conference speech
can be found here:
http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5id4gZ-UVogQogCkCuaajCgC1_a2A
and http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hCGU_MUgT3m7a9Q-VKHvHWWZo6tA
For the Daily Mail article by Terry, see:
http://www.discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=MAIL2008111
For an article on Daily Telegraph on-line:
http://www.discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=TELE2008111
and his letter in The Times
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article4893542.ece
Waterstones have a black [with stars and telescope] jacketed edition
of Nation, limited to 5,000 numbered copies, ISBN 978-0-385-61636-2,
selling at 16.99GBP. According to their website it will be on sale
on 1 November.
For those interested in the art of Tim White (who painted the cover
pictures for the NEL paperback editions of 'The Dark Side of the
Sun' and 'Strata'), his website is once again on-line, not only
reproducing his magnificent cover artwork, but also selling large
prints produced to order, cards, t-shirts, jewellery and other 3-D
items. The 'Dark Side' picture is available as a signed print and a
card. http://www.tim-white.co.uk Definitely a site worth exploring.
----------
Terry was recently quoted in Ig Nobel prize winning article for
Literature:
The winner was David Sims for his passionately written study "You
Bastard: A Narrative Exploration of the Experience of Indignation
within Organizations." - (Cass Business School, London, UK)
published in Organization Studies, Vol. 26, No. 11, 1625-1640,
"St George is utterly dependent on the dragon for his narrative
power, and indeed for being remembered. Debates about whether he
had any historical basis are more or less irrelevant here; the
point of interest remains that the story of St George slaying the
dragon to rescue the damsel lives on, possibly without even having
required a physical event or person to trigger it in the first
place. St George needs his dragon as a matter of narrative
necessity (Pratchett 1992)."
The reference comes from from Witches Abroad.
http://improbable.com/ig/
----------
Heather Warren
I can about the 1st meeting of York's Discworld group, which was
held at the historic Golden Fleece pub (its allegedly haunted by
none other than Dick Turpin - if you believe Derek Acorah that
is):o) We are a small but very select group, and our conversations
ranged across a diverse range of subjects, and giving and receiving
lots of information about things like the best websites, chat rooms
etc.
Then it came to the quiz and I soon realised just what an
encyclopaedic knowledge some TP fans have: they were saying the
answers before I'd even got the whole question out, one of them even
knew the book I'd got the questions out of! Hopefully someone else
will volunteer to do a more challenging quiz for me next time.
The next meeting is on Tuesday 12th November, again in the upstairs
room at the Golden Fleece, Pavement, York. From 6.30 till around
8ish. I've spoken to a few people who are involved in the
production of Mort (performances on the 31st October and 1st
November), and they are very interested in coming to the next
meeting, so the more the merrier - all welcome!
----------
Peter Copley who played Greyhald Spold in Sky One's recent
adaptation of The Colour of Magic sadly passed away aged 93 on
October 7th.
http://www.discworldmonthly.co.uk/?redir=BRIS2008111
----------
Micro Art Studio (http://www.shop.microartstudio.com/) have created
a range of five tiny Discworld figurines: Sam Vimes, Rincewind,
Nanny Ogg, Granny Weatherwax and Death.
Each of the pieces is approximately 30mm in height and come
unpainted.
----------
Terry was mentioned in the October 22nd edition of the free Metro
newspaper in the excellent Nemi cartoon strip.
http://www.metro.co.uk/nemi
The final panel of the strip states:
"Who's Reality are you Referring to?
Terry Pratchett? Neil Gaiman?
Mine? Yours?"
----------
A couple of months ago we mentioned a group of fans were building a
model of Ankh Morpork in the computer generated world Second Life.
The group The Ankh Morpork Experience are pleased to announce the
grand opening of The Ankh Morpork Experience Sim. So far you can
see The Drum, The Patrician's Palace, several of the Guilds and lots
more.
To celebrate Soul Cake Tuesday the group are launching a Hunt on
Tuesday 28th October. All of the clues are Ankh Morpork / Discworld
related.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ankh%20Morpork/134/4/25
----------
Total Sci-fi has a brief interview with Simon Thomas the Bafta
winning special effects guru about the challenges of making The
Colour of Magic.
http://www.dwscifi.com/admin/articles/show/2655
----------
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.
----------
[UK] York Rising Stars are performing MORT on 31st October & 1st
November 2008, at the York Railway Institute, Queen Street, York.
Next door to York Railway Station.
The audience are encouraged to get into the Halloween spirit and
come along in fancy dress - everyone in costume will be entered in
to a special door raffle to win a pair of tickets to the opening
night of either the Pantomime 'Matron Wibble Wobble' in February
2009, or a pair of tickets to the opening night of our next
Pratchett production, 'Maskerade' in May 2009.
There will also be a fund-raising raffle at each performance, as well
as refreshments available in the main hall, and in the bar
downstairs.
Tickets are 5 GBP each, and can be obtained by emailing
charlotte@yorkrisingstars.co.uk or calling 01904 623222. For more
information please visit: http://www.yorkrisingstars.co.uk
----------
[UK, Updated] Wyrd Sisters will be performed by ACE Theatre Company
from West Sussex in November.
Performances on Friday 7th and Saturday 8th November are at Chequer
Mead, East Grinstead, Box Office 01342 302000.
All performances start at 7.30pm. Tickets 10 GBP, concessions 9
GBP.
----------
[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.
November's meeting will be on Monday 10th November at the Monkey
Puzzle, Paddington, London, W2 1JQ.
Keep an eye on http://www.brokendrummers.co.uk or e-mail
brokendrummers@yahoo.co.uk
----------
[UK] The Wincanton Hogswatch Event will be celebrated on the 29th
and 30th November. Visit http://www.discworldemporium.com/ for more
details once they have been confirmed.
----------
[UK, New] Wyrd Sisters will be performed in Duston, Northampton on
Wed 3rd Dec to Sat 6th Dec.
At the moment they are still looking for some 'extras' as it were.
Tickets (Adults 6 GBP - Concessions 5 GBP) can be purchased from Box
Office (01604 587860), from any member of Duston Players, or from
Duston Community Centre.
Details from http://www.dustonplayers.org.uk
----------
[UK, New] Stephen Brigg's theatre group "Studio Theatre Club" will
be performing Wyrd Sisters: The Director's Cut from 20th to 24th
January 2009 at 7:30 (with a 2:30 matinee on 24/1).
This is a new dramatisation by Stephen Briggs to mark Discworld's
25th Anniversary and Terry's 60th. The STC goes back to where it
started on Discworld eighteen years ago -- but with a bigger cast,
new scenes and characters and better costumes & effects!!!
Tickets (8GBP) are available from Tickets@studiotheatreclub.com and
full booking details are on their website -
http://www.studiotheatreclub.com
----------
[AU] Nullus Anxietas 2: The Second Australian Discworld Convention
February 27 to March 1 2009 Storey Hall, RMIT, 342 Swanston St,
Melbourne
http://ausdwcon.org
If you want to stay on top of the latest news, sign up on the
mailing list: http://ausdwcon.org/subscribers
----------
[UK, New] Sefton Theatre Company are performing Wyrd Sisters next
year at the Southport Art Centre Studio from Wednesday 11th to
Saturday 14th of March, all evening performances start at 7:45pm.
Tickets 5.50 GBP and 7.00 GBP.
Box Office Contact number 01704 540011
----------
[US] The First North American Discworld Convention will take place
from September 4-7, 2009 in Phoenix, Arizona.
For more information visit http://www.nadwcon.org/
----------
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.
----------
Adrian De Havilland
video from Discworld Convention 2002, called Some Moving Pictures, a
Short Oddyssy in One Parte, produced in association with Salisbury
college, sold through Bursar Vixen enterprises. Straight to Hell
productions, if you have a copy for sale please email me.
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3. Readers' Letters
If you have any letters or comments, please email them to
oook@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 via heated email exchanges.
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 as by Bonsai Trading. Sadly Bonsai Trading is no longer
trading but John Pagan has kindly supplied me with a reasonable
supply of prints to give away.
----------
*
* From: "Elaine Boot"
*
I just would like to say that my boyfriend Steve and myself had a
fabulous time at this year's Wadfest (2008). I would love to tell
people more about it through the Wadfest forum but can not get
registered or logon. So I thought I would tell you lovely people.
I would like to say that Wadfest is a well organised and fun
weekend, I particularly liked the Masked Ball a lot of people
dressed up in amazing costumes, you have to have a look at there
website to see what I mean (http://www.wadfest.co.uk), (that's if
the pics have be posted). It was my first time camping and first
time a Wadfest, the people made you feel welcomed and relaxed. I
really enjoyed smack the Pingu and the Luggage Wars too.
Having a burger van on site is an excellent idea; it even served
fish and chips. There was also an ice cream van selling scoped
ice-cream which was delicious.
The campsite is situated in a beautiful area of Retford, right next
to the river and there is a lovely pub not far called The Ferry Boot
Inn which serves rather large, lovely meals. I can certainly
recommend Wadfest to anyone even if they are not a hard core
Discworld fan.
Kind Regards Elaine and Steve (excuse spelling I'm Dyslexic)
----------
*
* From: "Kim and Barrie"
*
Dere Mr Massey,
I wass verrie upsette too rede vat yoo ar a Softe Toye Abduckter.
Shayme on yoo!
I ame a small BEAR whoo travvels all ovver thee Wurld an I howpe I
Nevver meet Yoo.
I attache a pikture off mee in my Bubbel Carr. I shale uss itt to
eskape frum Yoo iff I effer ssee yoo Cumin.
Yors sinserreley
Pom Bear, esq.
DWM replies: We would like to reassure soft toys everywhere that Mr
Massey's soft toy abduction was an honest mistake and the soft toy
concerned has received counciling and has been returned to his
rightful home.
----------
*
* From: "Lori Schwabenbauer"
*
Could Detritus be moonlighting at University College London?
Researchers at UCL's Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience are now
theorizing that numbers aren't needed to count. Tests with children
from two indigenous Australian groups show that although their
languages don't have words for numbers past three or four, the
children can still do simple mathematics. Our favorite troll would
be right at home with Warlpiri-speaking people, whose number words
are limited to one, two, and many, while Anindilyakwa number words
include one, two, three (which sometimes also means four), and more
than three. I can't help but think Detritus has taken a hand in
this research project somehow. See
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=5606211 for an article
by the Associated Press.
DWM replies: Lori gets this month's Letter of the Month for this
excellent bit of deduction.
----------
*
* From: "Charles Simmons"
*
Well thank goodness. Finally. I have just finished devouring my
copy of "Nation" (no self discipline, I admit it). It is just that
I have had to wait so long, but now that my appetite is, for the
moment, sated, I must do the "reflection" thing.
You see, when Barnes and Noble kicked off their promotion of
"Nation" here in the States they issued a challenge a full two
months in advance of the release date: Be the first to review
Terry's new book. I told them, basically, that anything Terry wrote
was bound to be great, and I didn't need to read it to know that.
Damn me if they didn't print my "review" on their web site. Not
surprisingly, since no one had yet read the book, it was the first.
I can't understand why I was not disqualified.
Nevertheless, what's said is said and must be either repudiated or
ratified. Well, I got it right.
"Nation" is at once Terry Pratchett's least funny and most poignant
work. There are "characters" a-plenty, that were this a Discworld
novel would have dutifully served the needs of comic relief.
Instead, we were allowed to feel their pain. Suddenly it's not so
funny. And then there are the villains. I believe I read somewhere
that upon hearing his character, "Mr. Cox", described as
two-dimensional, Terry objected that he'd been written as
one-dimensional. I believe I know what he meant.
There is such a thing in this world as evil. The side-kicks who
were poisoned or got their nose bloodied only "participated" and
deserved the consideration of their nemesis standing trial. The
really evil guy got the shark. What could be plainer; even the
cannibals were just ordinary cannibals.
In the end, it is shown that the benefit that is born of courage and
sacrifice is the most long-lasting, and so aren't we convinced? I
am.
----------
*
* From: "E & R Shanahan"
*
Jan asked for suggestions from readers on how to 'kick-start' hubby
on PTerry.
Well, I am in my 70's and I was also in my mid 60's when I
Disc-covered TP and am only sorry I left it so late.
I don't think TCoM would be too bad a read but I would suggest the
one to really get him 'on side' would be Guards, Guards, my all time
favourite as it sets the scene for the Watch so well and introduces
Carrot. Follow that up with Men at Arms and, if he is anything like
me, he will be hooked. I would put Mort as my third choice.
For me, PTerry is the thinking man's writer - he certainly makes me
look very closely at what he has written. Unfortunately having just
read Moving Pictures again, I am sure I am missing a lot of
analogies, not being a movie buff but even I can understand the
'Banged Grains' and 'Blown Away' references.
I am sure if you settle him down with one of those titles, give him
a rat on a stick or one of CMOT's 'named meat' treats and perhaps a
pewter mug of scumble and you will have a convert on your hands.
Enjoy. Ron D.O.N.T. (B.U.)
----------
*
* From: "Sharla Hardy"
*
Don't you just love it when something reminds you of a Discworld
book. An article in the LA Times makes me think of Thud! Was there
a fad for 360 degree paintings of battles? Does anyone else have a
website for one?
http://www.discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=LATIMES2008111
----------
*
* From: "Scott Kenemore"
*
I'm an American Pratchett fan, an author of zombie-books, and the
writer of a zombie-blog. Anyhow, today [1st October - Ed] I wrote a
blog entry about Reg Shoe that I thought other Pratchett fans might
find interesting. Here is a link:
http://scottkenemore.wordpress.com/
----------
*
* From: "James Hildebrand"
*
Firstly, let me just say congratulations on such a great newsletter
and on keeping it going for so long, I am always pleased when I open
up my emails and see a copy of the latest issue there, many thanks!
However, I thought that I should let you know about the glaring
mistakes in this month's issue [Issue 138 - Ed], that both you and
the majority of the population are guilty of, through no fault of
your own, rather a lack of accurate information in the press and the
media as a whole. You say:
"Diabetes has no cure and can only be controlled. Diabetes UK are
working to improve the lives of the many thousands of people who
have the condition and help identify those who don't even know
they have it before their health is damaged."
This is largely correct. Diabetes itself though, is a general term
given to a group of diseases, the majority and by far the most
common of which, Diabetes Type 2, is the one that you are referring
to here. I am amongst the minority (about 4 percent of the diabetes
sufferers overall) who are unlucky enough to have type 1, a
completely different disease. Unlike the majority of type 2
sufferers who are believed to have bought about the disease
themselves through eating very unhealthy diets or not getting enough
exercise (not all type 2 cases are bought on by this, but the
majority in our modern world are), Type 1 is genetic and is very
definately NOT bought on by lifestyle or diet. There is also no
chance of you not realising that you have type 1, as if you do have
it and do not medicate it continuously (I have on average four
injections a day) then you are dead within a matter of days.
Finally, Diabetes UK are not working for those aims that you listed,
I was a member of the organisation for several years but have
recently resigned my membership, as like the media nowadays it is
geared towards type 2 sufferers only with no help or support and
very little funding for research into type 1.
I apologise for the whinging sound and diatribe that this email
contains, but like many type 1 sufferers I am fed up of being
grouped with type 2 sufferers and treated like I have the same
disease or that I could have done something about it. The first that
I knew about my illness was when I awoke from a coma weighing less
than 50 kg (I am a 25 year old bloke, so this is NOT a lot), clearly
not overeating!
Once again, sorry for the rant, and PLEASE keep up the good work
with Discworld Monthly.
DWM replies: Thanks for clearing that up James.
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4. DiscTrivia
This month I'm asking questions about Thud!.
Q1. What is the name of the clerk sent to audit the Watch?
Q2. Why does the troll Brick have his distinctive colouring?
Q3. When Sam decides to read Where's my Daddy after a trying day -
who is the first character he impersonates?
a) The Patrician
b) Foul Ole Ron
c) Ridcully
d) Detritus
Q4. What is Nobby Nobbs's girlfriend called?
Q5. Where does Sam Vimes and posse head to in the magically
enchanted carriages?
The results, as always, appear at the end of this issue.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Review : The Folklore of Discworld
Written by Terry Pratchett and Jacqueline Simpson
Reviewed by Jason Anthony.
The Folklore of Discworld does to Folklore what The Science of
Discworld series did for science. It takes examples of events or
people on the Disc and explains the round world folklore that
relates to them. Unfortunately while the Science of Discworld books
had alternative chapters that related to a Discworld story the
Folklore is much more of a reference book. For a book about
Folklore and stories it lacks narrativium.
As a reference book it is very interesting. Each subject is well
researched and provides a lot of background information. Topics
covered include Gods, Heroes, Witches (of Chalk and Lancre),
Beasties, The Land of Lancre and many more. For those who enjoy
folklore this book is a landmine of information.
Maybe I've approached this book wrong - I've tried to read it as a
novel rather than a reference book. I've noticed that I have been
reading other things rather than completing it. A sure sign that I
am not really enjoying it much.
The problem for me is that I think this is too much a book written
by Jacqueline Simpson rather than a book written by Terry [no
disrespect to Jacqueline]. There is an introduction by Terry but
very little else from what I can tell - I may be wrong. Sat next to
the excellent Nation this book is completely overshadowed by
Nation's brilliance.
If you are looking for a book which goes into great detail about
where Terry got the ideas for many of his works, if only
subconsciously, then this is the book for you. For me it's just
another reference book about Terry novels. I'd much rather go back
and re-read the series again.
Folklore of Discworld is available at:
nla_internal_3741064.jpg Competitions
This month to tie in with the UK DVD and Blu-Ray release of The
Colour of Magic we have a very special prize to give away - Bethan's
dress from the religious ceremony where she was guest of honour.
To be in with a chance to win this amazing prize (see
http://www.discworldmonthly.co.uk/thecolourofmagic/bethan.jpg)
simply send the answers to the following four questions to
competitions@discworldmonthly.co.uk by 20th November 2008.
Q1. Who plays Bethan in The Colour of Magic?
Q2. What novel will be the third Discworld live action adaptation?
Q3. Who directed both Hogfather and The Colour of Magic?
Q4. What is the recommended retail price of the Blu-ray version
(in GBP)?
The randomly selected winner will be announced next issue. This
competition is open to anyone.
For more information about the various versions see
http://www.discworldmonthly.co.uk/thecolourofmagic/
----------
Last month we had a bag of Discworld goodies to give away from the
Nation launch party. The plastic bag itself, Discworld branded with
a 25 years of Discworld logo, contains hardback editions of Nation
and The Folklore of Discworld, a pack of 25th anniversary Discworld
playing cards and a Nation pen.
We decided to offer this as a raffle item and sold 70 tickets at 2
GBP each. After Paypal deductions the amount raised was 134.80 GBP
which we will round up to 140 GBP and pay to Alzheimer's research
once all the money has transferred to my account.
The randomly selected winner of the raffle is Mrs E J Hobson of
Poole in Dorset. I will get your prize off to you as soon as I have
worked out how to package it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Review: The Turtle Moves! Discworld's Story Unauthorised
Written by Lawrence Watt-Evans
Reviewed by Jason Anthony
There seems to be a recent rash of Discworld reference books: The
Unofficial Companion, The Story of The Wee Free Men and Discworld,
The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld and now The Turtle Moves!
Discworld's Story Unauthorized.
For me what makes this book different from the above list is that I
found it fun to read. Watt-Evans appears to be an author with a
genuine sense of humour - unlike The Story of The Wee Free Men which
tried to force its humour upon the reader. Watt-Evans has decided
to tackle one part of Terry's works (albeit the main one),
Discworld.
The book is split into several sections - each book in the series
gets its own chapter and then seven sub-series each get a chapter.
Watt-Evans has taken the idea of sub-series further than most and
has come up with Rincewind and the UU, The Witches of Lancre, Death
in the Family, Gods and Philosophers, Sir Samuel Vimes and the City
Watch, Ankh-Morpork: Beyond the Century of the Fruitbat and Tiffany
Aching.
Each book chapter contains a reasonably detailed synopsis of each of
the books, but also points out inconsistencies with previous novels
or comments on the way that the characters have changed / developed
as the series progresses.
I really enjoyed the light-heartedness of the book. It doesn't
appear to take itself too seriously but is still a fun light weight
reference book. The best of the bunch for me.
The Turtle Moves! is available from Amazon for only 6.99 GBP at:
http://www.discworldmonthly.co.uk?ISBN=1933771461
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8. North American Discworld Convention News Update
Memberships & Hotel Update
First of all, the current full membership rate of 70 USD expires on
September 30th and will increase to 80 USD, which will be the price
at least through March 31, 2009. If you haven't already bought a
membership and are planning to go, it would behoove you to make that
commitment! We're close to 350 memberships and we plan to do a full
update of the online membership list early in October. We're seeing
a good number of bookings for hotel rooms at the Tempe Mission Palms
as well, which makes both our hotel salesperson and our hotel
liaison very happy. Thanks to all of you who have bought your
memberships and booked your hotel rooms so far.
Convention Reports on Denvention 3 & Discworld Convention 2008
With the end of the summer came a lot of around-the-globe activity
to make people aware of the North American Discworld Convention. We
did some promotion at Westercon 61 in Las Vegas and San Diego Comic
Con in July, but August was even busier. In early August, Anna and I
attended Denvention 3, this year's WorldCon in Denver, where Anna
debuted her shiny new NADWCon Postmistress outfit. We also held a
room party the Thursday night of the convention that was a big
success, thanks to a lot of help from various people. I've posted a
report on the convention in the LiveJournal community at
http://community.livejournal.com/nadwcon2009 .
Later in August, Anna, Emily and I all traveled to the UK to attend
the 2008 Discworld Convention in Birmingham. The convention was a
lot of fun and well-organized. Chair Bruce Richardson, his wife
Joann, and the rest of the committee and staff were very helpful and
welcoming. We had a chance to talk with Terry and his assistant, Rob
Wilkins, about our plans and also had the opportunity to talk to
some of the other guests taking part about possible involvement with
our convention. On our LiveJournal community, Emily has posted a
detailed series of reports on her experiences at the convention and
I've posted a report as well. You can also see lots of pictures from
the convention via this link:
http://groups.google.co.uk/group/dwcon_org_2008/web/photo-links .
Note that Emily's photos are under the "charishawk" link on that
page.
At the UK convention, we received a commitment from The Mob, the
team behind Hogfather and The Colour of Magic, to have a presence at
the NADWCon. We're pleased to report that you'll be treated to an
exclusive screening of a preview clip from the next miniseries,
Going Postal, filming early in 2009! In the dealer's room, we're now
anticipating a presence by PJSM Prints ( http://www.pjsmprints.com
), Discworld jeweler Barrie Wakeford (
http://www.jewellerybybarrie.co.uk/ ), and one other UK notable, to
be revealed shortly in this report.
In other guest news, we have had inquiries about whether Stephen
Briggs will be attending our convention. We have indeed invited him
and he would like to be there; however, he does not yet know if it
will fit it into his schedule (he does have a day job, you know).
We're hoping that he will be able to join us, but it may be awhile
before we know for certain. There are some other possibilities as
well, but since they are still only possibilities, we can't say
anything just yet.
Costuming at NADWCon
We were extremely impressed by the sheer number and quality of the
costumes people wore throughout the UK convention, as well as the
costumes seen in the Maskerade. We're definitely encouraging our
attendees to do likewise and we've arranged for our local costuming
group, The Southwest Costumer's Guild, to set up a costuming room at
the convention to help you touch up your costume or maybe even
improvise a hall costume on the spot. Plans are afoot to provide
some costuming demonstrations and workshops during the weekend as
well as support for those of you participating in the Maskerade.
Remember, you can discuss your costumes-in-progress and much more on
our website message board at http://www.nadwcon.org .
Other NADWCon Notes
In other areas of the convention, we're getting more of the
committee and the staff sorted out and will be posting their
information shortly. We're also close to having the dealer's room
information nailed down and hope to get something out to those who
have enquired about it soon.
And now, we interrupt this report for a very special bulletin . . . .
****** A Statement from the Ankh-Morpork Consulate of Olde Wincanton
in the County of Somerset in England. ******
In view of the ancient ties that bond our two great nations
together, the Consulate have decided to open a branch in the United
of States for the duration of the first North American Discworld
Convention. There will of course be passports, stamps and special
covers created in conjunction with those jolly nice folk from the
said convention issued from the Consulate. To that effect it will be
shipping Bernard, the Cunning Artificer, himself across mighty
oceans, blazing deserts and various bars, pubs and hostelries.
In order that he behaves himself whilst away he will be accompanied
by granny Isobel as the resident grown-up. There will be fun, a nice
cup of tea, a rendition of both the British and Ankh-Morpork anthems
and there might be cricket.
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