Wossname -- July 2015 -- Main issue

Wossname
Newsletter of the Klatchian Foreign Legion
July 2015 Main Issue (Volume 18, Issue 7, Post 1)

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WOSSNAME is a free publication offering news, reviews, and all the other stuff-that-fits pertaining to the works and activities of Sir Terry Pratchett. Originally founded by the late, great Joe Schaumburger for members of the worldwide Klatchian Foreign Legion and its affiliates, including the North American Discworld Society and other continental groups, Wossname is now for Discworld and Pratchett fans everywhere in Roundworld.

GNU Terry Pratchett: Sending Home, forever (and secreted in Wossname's own server)
Never forget: http://www.gnuterrypratchett.com/

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Editor in Chief: Annie Mac
News Editor: Vera P
Newshounds: Mogg, Sir J of Croydon Below, the Shadow, Wolfiekins, Mss C, Alison not Aliss
Staff Writers: Asti, Pitt the Elder, Evil Steven Dread, Mrs Wynn-Jones
Staff Technomancers: Jason Parlevliet, Archchancellor Neil, DJ Helpful
Book Reviews: Annie Mac, Drusilla D'Afanguin, Your Name Here
Puzzle Editor: Tiff (still out there somewhere)
Bard in Residence: Weird Alice Lancrevic
Emergency Staff: Steven D'Aprano, Jason Parlevliet
World Membership Director: Steven D'Aprano (in his copious spare time)

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INDEX:

01) QUOTES OF THE MONTH
02) EDITOR'S LETTER
03) WITHOUT WHOM (A TRIBUTE TO THE LIVING): COLIN SMYTHE
04) ODDS AND SODS
05) REVIEWS: THE LONG UTOPIA
06) DISCWORLD PLAYS NEWS AND UPDATES
07) DISCWORLD ARTS AND CRAFTS NEWS
08) ALZHEIMER'S NEWS
09) DISCWORLD CONVENTION NEWS
10) DISCWORLD GAMES NEWS
11) SOME NOTABLE "FANAC"
12) DISCWORLD MEETING GROUPS UPDATES AND REMINDERS
13) ROUNDWORLD TALES: WHAT DUCK? THE MEGAPODE WAS A MALLARD
14) AROUND THE BLOGOSPHERE
15) IMAGES OF THE MONTH
16) CLOSE

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01) QUOTES OF THE MONTH

"It was lovely to get the chance to work with Terry Pratchett and creatively that's the top because you get to visualise what he was writing. When I first started working with him he had another artist called Josh Kirby who was doing covers. I actually queued up for a book signing for Terry and showed him some of the characters I had drawn and he later phoned me and said it was the closest drawing he had ever seen and from then on we started working together. Working with Terry was a fantastic opportunity because you are getting to a large audience. I think the diversity of Terry's writing is nice and most of the characters are not what you think they would be, so you have to try to depict them in the way that people see them."

– Paul Kidby, interviewed for Luton on Sunday

"It's impossible to escape inequality whether in a capitalist or a totalitarian system, but I do think that sometimes a benign dictatorship is preferable to a turbulent democracy."

– Pratchett fan Thomas Frith, aged 12, who presumably approves of Lord Vetinari's policies

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02) A LETTER FROM YOUR EDITOR

The official Terry Pratchett website has had a bit of a reboot – and it looks fantastic! It includes a characters section, links to and updates from the official Pratchett Twitter and Facebook pages, a beautifully rendered timeline of Sir Pterry's life and achievements (with iconographs, of course), a guide to all the books, important links, and much more:

"'Dickens, as you know, never got round to starting his home page.' Sir Terry, on the other hand, most certainly did know his way around a computer... This is the brand new website for Terry Pratchett books, featuring a timeline of Sir Terry's life and a guide to some of the Discworld characters and the books they appear in. We do hope you like it, and thanks to all of you for bearing with us during the launch."

Wossname salutes all the people who worked hard to get the new site up and running. Do go have a wander around the site, O Readers!

http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/

*

For fans in the Continent of Fourecks, there's a *very* special offer at Booktopia for The Shepherd's Crown! "Pre-order your copy of Terry Pratchett's final novel, The Shepherd's Crown, by August 27th and you could win the ENTIRE DISCWORLD SERIES, worth $800!" Not only that, but if you pre-order now, the price is $32.95 – which represents a 27 per cent discount. You know you want to! To order, go to:

http://bit.ly/1ed6s1x

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For residents of the UK: the Assisted Dying Bill will be debated in Parliament on 11 September. "On Sept 11th Terry Pratchett's wish to be 'as good at dying as we are at living' is within the grasp of our MPs," say the organisation Dignity in Dying. If you are with Sir Pterry's wishes in this, now is a good time to contact your MP to say so.

http://www.dignityindying.org.uk/

*

Urgently needed: a decision on the cover art for the Gollancz reissue of Good Omens – and you, the reading public, are asked to decide! Closing date is 3rd August, so do hurry over and have a look and a vote:

"Calling all Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett fans! We need your help! We're delighted to announce that Gollancz will be publishing a new edition of the seminal GOOD OMENS, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, later this year. A while ago we produced a version consistent with our Discworld Library; now, for the first time, the book will be available in Neil Gaiman's consistent UK cover style, to sit alongside his existing backlist, which is with our sister company Headline. We've commissioned the artist for the Headline editions, Patrick Insole, to produce 3 possible images for the cover. We've shown them to Neil, and we showed them to Terry before his untimely passing, and they liked them all. Honestly, we couldn't decide – so now we want you to choose which one we use!

"Choose your favourite cover from the three below and we'll tally up the votes. The winning design will be used on the book – the others will be consigned to memory. And as a thank you 5 lucky voters will receive a copy of the new edition before it is published! Voting closes on the 3rd August at 23:59. Please leave a comment (you don't need to tell us your vote) below so we can include you in the prize draw. For full Terms and Conditions visit: http://bit.ly/1j04RgB Get voting!"

The three images, each with its own VOTE button, are featured directly under the text. Go for it!

http://www.gollancz.co.uk/2015/07/pratchett-gaiman-cover-pol/

[Your Editor's choice is lagging slightly behind, last time I looked. Here's hoping that enough other people agree with me on this...]

*

Paul Kidby's Discworld Knight has its own Facebook page – and yes, it can be seen by those of us who don't have a Facebook account! There are some excellent photos, information and links to enjoy:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Discworld-Knight/834625806644505

By the way, the quote from Paul Kidby at the start of this issue comes from a longer article in Luton on Sunday:

http://bit.ly/1KcW2xh

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When Pterry received his honorary degree – one of many – from the University of Bristol eleven years ago, he joined a very distinguished company of co-honorees that included Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, David Attenborough, Alexander Fleming, Aung Sun Suu Kyi and Professor Peter Higgs of "god particle" fame. And the list goes on. It makes fascinating reading:

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2015/july/famous-honoraries.html

Sir Pterry's other university awards included an Honorary Doctorate of Letters (Hon DLitt) from the University of Warwick in 1999 particularly notable as, shortly before the ceremony, he held a ceremony of his own to make Science of Discworld co-authors Ian Stewart and Dr Jack Cohen, who were also University of Warwick researchers, "honorary Wizards of the Unseen University"; an honorary Doctor of Letters in 2001 from the University of Portsmouth; one form the University of Bath in 2003; one from his "local", Buckinghamshire New University, in 2008, awarded after his keynote speech to the graduates; also in 2008, that rather more famous Litt. D. from Trinity College Dublin that led to his professorship there; Bradford University awarded him his honorary doctorate in 2009; also in 2009, the University of Winchester honoured him with a doctorate; a special DUniv from the Open University, for his contribution to Public Service; and last but certainly not least, an Honorary Doctorate from the University of South Australia in his beloved Fourecks. All of these richly merited honours were reported in Wossname at some point, but now you can say you have a list of them all in one place!

And now, on with the show.

– Annie Mac, Editor

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03) WITHOUT WHOM: COLIN SMYTHE

The first – and unquestionably foremost – in what we hope will be a series on the vital but perhaps less widely known people who were instrumental in bringing Terry Pratchett's works to the world and helping to make him the literary icon he's become...

The phrase "a gentleman and a scholar" is often used ironically or at least wryly these days, but in the case of Colin Smythe, Terry Pratchett's first publisher, long-standing literary agent, and lifetime close friend, it is nothing less than an accurate description. A graduate of Trinity College Dublin, Colin established an independent publishing company, Colin Smythe Ltd, in 1966, to specialise in publishing 19th and 20th century Irish literature; two years later, he met a young journalist who had written a children's book called The Carpet People. The rest is, of course, history – and sometimes Jograffy, Philosophy and Headology, not to mention Slood. Colin published Dark Side of the Sun, Strata, The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic before handing over to Gollancz (in a co-publishing deal) in order to concentrate on being Pterry's agent, a position he has continued to hold ever since.

The "and a scholar" part: in addition to his TCD qualifications, Colin is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of English Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London, and has been a visiting professor in the English Department of the University of Ulster at Coleraine (1993–2002) and likewise at the Universidade Moderna in Lisbon. He received an honorary Doctorate of Laws (LLD) in 1998 from the University of Dublin for services to Irish literature, and has edited and written a number of books on literary and historical figures, as well as contributing to other publications.

The "a gentleman" part: as a primary member of what your Editor thinks of as Team Pratchett, in addition to his agent-y duties, Colin has been an invaluable Guest of Honour at a number of Discworld conventions, where his savoir-faire and, yes, gentlemanliness have made him very popular with the fans. And he has been an equally invaluable and ever-helpful source of information for Wossname during the nearly twenty years of its existence, as well as pointing Pratchett fans around the world in the right direction for licensing and the other nuts and bolts of putting on Discworld plays. But most of all, Colin Smythe is a tireless worker for the Cause of Pratchett, always doing his best to ensure that the name and works of Sir Terry Pratchett will live on down the years and across as many lands and languages as possible. Oh, and did I mention the Archive? Since 2002 Colin has been donating Pratchett treasures – books, drafts, press and promotional material, Discworld art and models and posters, and indeed, even copies of Wossname – to a special library collection to help keep Sir Pterry's name up there with the like of that poet feller from Stratford.

Despite years of travelling the world, Colin cherishes his home ground: he was born in Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire (barely 30 miles from London, for those of you not familiar with the Jograffy of the Home Counties), and has lived in Gerrards Cross in the county next door (Buckinghamshire, that is, and Gerrards Cross is very close to Beaconsfield where Sir Pterry was born and brought up) for forty-odd years now.

So charge your glasses and raise a toast to Colin Smythe. Hurrah!

Biographical details can be found at https://2014.dwcon.org/pages/20/colin-smythe and http://idwcon.org/index.php/convention/confirmed-guests/colin-smythe.html – the latter includes a remarkable "mug shot".

The official Colin Smythe website lives at http://www.colinsmythe.co.uk/ – Colin is currently working on major refurbishment of the sites, but there is a link on the main page to the archived version. Go on, have a wander...

p.s. Your Editor wishes to point out that Colin shares her passion for the works of William Butler Yeats. Between that and his work with and for Sir Pterry, no further proof is needed of the man's exquisite taste. Just saying.

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04) ODDS AND SODS

4.1 SHAKING HANDS WITH DEATH: BOOK FORMAT RELEASE

"'Most men don't fear death. They fear those things – the knife, the shipwreck, the illness, the bomb – which precede, by microseconds if you're lucky, and many years if you're not, the moment of death.' – Sir Terry Pratchett

"You may have seen it on BBC1 or read it in A Slip of the Keyboard and now on 30th July, Shaking Hands With Death, Terry's most important essay on Alzheimer's and our right to a dignified death, will be available as a standalone book, with a new introduction by Rob Wilkins. When Terry Pratchett was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in his fifties he was angry – not with death but with the disease that would take him there, and with the buggering disease can cause when we are not allowed to put an end to it."

Shaking Hands with Death will be released in paperback and Kindle editions on 30th July, with a recommended UK retail price of £3.99 (book) or £1.49 (Kindle). To pre-order from Amazon (if you must), go to:

http://classics.penguin.co.uk/c/11oILuXQxZYo0bWi43nhcYhwO

Your Editor will order it from a local bookshop. Delivery may take longer, price may be higher, but at least it's a more honourable and non-exploitative form of commerce.

Here be an image of the rather elegant cover, courtesy of Penguin Classics: http://bit.ly/1Ot1xXt

4.2 THE COMPLEAT DISCWORLD ATLAS: COMING SOON!

From The Random House Group (UK):

Unseen University are proud to present the most comprehensive map and guide to the Disc yet produced. In this noble endeavour, drawing upon the hard won knowledge of many great and, inevitably, late explorers, one may locate on a detailed plan of our world such fabled realms as the Condiment Isles, trace the course of the River Kneck as it deposits silt and border disputes in equal abundance on the lands either side, and contemplate the vast deserts of Klatch and Howondaland – a salutary lesson in the perils of allowing ones goats to graze unchecked. This stunning work brings to life the lands and locations of the Discworld stories in a way never seen before. Accompanied by lavish full-colour illustrations and a detailed world map, this is a must-have for any Discworld fan.

Published by Doubleday, part of Transworld Publishers
Format: Hardback
Available to pre-order for 22 Oct 2015
Priced at £25.00

The page includes a direct Buy Now button:

http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/editions/the-discworld-atlas/9780857521309

From Penguin Random House Canada:

The Compleat Discworld Atlas Of General & Descriptive Geography Which Together With New Maps and Gazetteer Forms a Compleat Guide to Our World & All It Encompasses

By Terry Pratchett, aided and abetted by the Discworld Emporium

A brand-new and fully illustrated traveller's guide to Terry Pratchett's extraordinary and magical creation: the Discworld. Painstakingly compiled under the aegis of the Unseen University's Department of Cruel and Unusual Geography, The Discworld Atlas is a glorious travellers' guide to the marvellous world created by Sir Terry Pratchett. Drawing on myriad sources – from explorers' journals and prospectors' maps to archives of the great libraries and reports of merchants and missionaries alike – this stunning work brings to life the lands and locations of the Discworld stories in a way never seen before. Accompanied by lavish full-colour illustrations and a detailed world map, this is a must-have for any Discworld fan.

Available November 24, 2015
Priced at $42.00 (CAD) "subject to change"

The Compleat Discworld Atlas can be pre-ordered from McNally Robinson or Chapters-Indigo; just click on the name of the company in the box on the right-hand side of the page.

http://penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/529787/compleat-discworld-atlas

4.3 REMINDER: "DISCWORLD AND BEYOND" IN LUTON

The Discworld & Beyond touring exhibition is now open at Wardown Park Museum, Wardown Park, Old Bedford Road, Luton, LU2 7HA (Tel. 01582 546722) until 1st November 2015. Entry is free!

"'Discworld & Beyond' features interesting and colourful artwork created by Paul Kidby for Sir Terry Pratchett's popular comic fantasy series as well as a range of work from his own projects, including the recently published book 'The Charmed Realm'. Drawings, oil paintings and watercolours will be on display."

http://bit.ly/1LnVfWN

http://bit.ly/1SfgfUV

http://www.lutonculture.com/wardown-park-museum/whats-on/

4.4 SUPPORTING SECRET WORLD'S RESCUE WORK

Rhianna Pratchett writes on Twitter, "In honour of @SWWR's Spines & Shells wknd, here's dad with one of their 60 year old tortoises... Dad & I were patrons of @SWWR who do valuable world rescuing & rehabilitating British wildlife + occasional tortoises, turtles & terrapins." She also assures us that she continues to support Secret World Wildlife Rescue from her own heart and in her father's memory.

Here be that lovely photo:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CKYWnJlXAAA1Onm.jpg:large

4.5 STEPHEN BAXTER INTERVIEWS

From his native city, an interview in the Liverpool Echo:

"What is it like publishing The Long Utopia without Terry Pratchett here?

"It's very sad. It's good that he saw the books and is happy with them. It's a shame not to have him see the covers and the advertising and the reviews and everything.

"How did you make it work?

"He had vision problems, that was how his Alzheimer's affected him, so it was through phone calls. We just swapped ideas and had meetings at conventions and other places. Six months on, we had a box full of ideas and I went down to stay for a week and we worked on storylines and drafted little bits. By the end we had a rough storyline at least for the first book and who was going to do what. I took it then, cut it all together into a reasonably coherent draft and went back down again and literally read it through line by line. We fixed each line and each scene together.

"What is it like collaborating rather than writing alone?

"It's nice to have a change to be honest. You get stuck a bit with your own obsessions so seeing how somebody else thinks and adding both our ideas together is quite stimulating. There's a third person in the room in a way, this pool from which joint ideas develop..."

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/terry-pratchett-happy-see-long-9521076

...and a more extensive piece in The Guardian by pro-Pratchett stalwart Alison Flood:

"'I think Terry was aware he was running out of time, and he wanted to do other things as well,' Baxter says. 'So we rushed through it a little bit. Terry's basic vision was the first step, but he also wanted to have a huge cosmic climax at the end, which would be book five ... We had no idea how to get there but we knew where we were going.' The Long Utopia, the fourth in the series, sees settlers on an Earth more than 'a million steps' west of ours stumble across a disturbing, insectile form of alien life. Like its predecessors, the novel is compelling not only for its central storyline of exploration and danger and humans doing foolishly human things – and in this case a particularly cataclysmic finale – but also for its slow, unhurried laying out of the minute differences between these empty-of-humanity Earths...

"The Long Earth, Baxter says, has 'a sort of basis in science: it was Terry playing with the idea of quantum mechanics, quantum parallel worlds'. That's where Baxter came in. 'I tried to think that the further you go the stranger the worlds get, so I'd try to put numbers on that,' he says, adding, with a twinkle: 'I wouldn't say we clashed, but he'd like to joke about how I turned up with a box file full of spreadsheets. It's a lie – but it was something like that. I did turn up with a big chart about how this might work, and a time scale ... So you had this mix of order and chaos. I think it worked well in the end. He needed the order from me but I needed the chaos from him to make it more chaotic overall and more interesting in the end.'... The final time Baxter and Pratchett saw each other was late last summer when Baxter went down to Pratchett's home in the Wiltshire countryside from Northumberland 'and we just talked. Terry had buzzing round in his head a new plot strand for book five, and we talked through that – we didn't do much writing that time,' he recalls. 'It was giant trees. He had this vision of trees, five kilometres tall, as tall as Everest, on one of the parallel worlds. Just remember that.'..."

http://bit.ly/1JEwKCD

4.6 ANKH-MORPORK THROUGH THE EYES OF A CIVIC DRAUGHTSMAN

A fascinating look at Ankh-Morpork though the eyes of Charles Board, architectural draughtsman and urban designer:

"Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld (and his science fiction) books are a joy, and being interested in cities, I had to put pencil to paper. The following is shared as an homage and a thank-you to Sir Terry Pratchett. I would like to thank Stephen Briggs for generously allowing me to digitally scan his published map of Ankh Morpork, and apologise for amending his plan here. I haven't finished drawing yet but here's the 'so-far-(so-what)'. I welcome comments (and corrections when I get round to them) as long as we're all keeping up our medication."

The pages are:

City Growth:
http://plans-design-draughting.co.uk/ankh-morpork-city-growth/

Analysis:
http://plans-design-draughting.co.uk/ankh-morpork-analysis/

Details:
http://plans-design-draughting.co.uk/ankh-morpork-details/

http://plans-design-draughting.co.uk/ankh-morpork/

4.7 SWEARING AND "THE LAST HERO"

Writes Papageno: "In honor of the late great Terry Pratchett, I reread the novel 'Interesting Times.' In this story, a Horde of Elderly Barbarians (headed by Cohen the Barbarian, age 90-plus) finds that they have to act civilized for a spell – something which is quite against their nature. So they are provided with a list of words: If they find the need to use one of the banned words on the left, they are to substitute the word on the right. My favorite substitution is 'lovemaking' for the F-word. I have resolved to make use of that substitution every chance I get. The wonderful irony is that the F-word is supposed to provide the ultimate emphasis. It is supposed to be startling, provocative, head-turning. Yet in today's society, where some people pepper their conversation with the F-word (showing severe lack of imagination for finding intensifiers), the word has lost all meaning. When I started using 'lovemaking,' the effect was all I could have wished for. People are startled. They pause for a moment, trying to figure out what I meant. When they catch on, they laugh. The word does everything the F-word has long lost the power to do. I recommend it. RIP, Terry Pratchett. Warm, funny, and wise, he will be missed."

http://www.twincities.com/bulletinboard/ci_28276973/do-you-use-f-word-more-than-you

4.8 A ROUNDWORLD PHYSICIAN'S APPRECIATION OF DISCWORLD'S DEATH

Some wise and yes, compassionate words from Liam Farrell, a doctor in Co. Armagh:

"Life used to be so simple – you're born, you live, you die. But it's more complicated now – you're born, you live, you die, you get CPR, you may or may not die, or end up with a few broken ribs and some hypoxic brain injury, you tweet about it, then you die again, and get CPR again, and so on and so on. Sir Terry's Death would be getting restless, having to hang around for 10-20 minutes twiddling his bony fingers. 'Give the poor guy a break, I've got others to see,' he'd be saying. And when does death really occur? When the senior doc says: 'That's it,' an archetypal example of performative utterance; we're dead because the doc says we are. As Tennyson said: 'Old men must die, or the world would grow mouldy.' When our time's up, we should depart gracefully, hopefully leaving a lot of bad debts for future generations to worry about; after all, what have future generations ever done for us? Death may be the end of the journey, but what really matters is the journey. It's not a defeat, but viewing it as a defeat leads to some of the worst excesses and abuses of modern medicine. This isn't solely our fault; pressure from well-meaning relatives and the inertia of medical bureaucracy only serve to paralyse our attempts to do our best for our patients. But we should take back that duty, make a stand. The buck stops with us and legal niceties shouldn't prevent us from making the call in our patient's best interests. What's right and what's necessary aren't always the same thing..."

http://www.gponline.com/liam-farrell-healthy-planning-death/article/1353139

4.9 RAISING STEAM FOR REAL IN SCOTLAND

"The first steam trains will travel along the new Borders Railway line in September, ScotRail has confirmed. The 60009 Union of South Africa will haul the service between Edinburgh Waverley and Tweedbank on 10 September, just four days after the new railway opens. It is one of six remaining LNER Class A4 steam locomotives in the UK, which were built in Doncaster in 1937. The train will run through the Borders three days a week, for six weeks. Mike Cantlay, the chairman of VisitScotland, said the steam trains would be an additional boost to tourism in the region... Transport Minister Derek Mackay said: 'It's fantastic to see these iconic trains back in operation, allowing so many people the opportunity to appreciate Scotland's countryside and railways from a unique and very special point of view'..."

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-33658814

4.10 PTERRY AND THE DISCWORLD SCULPTURE, A TALE

A delightful true story shared by English sculptor snuurg:

"I came fairly late to the appreciation of Pratchett, and to the Discworld in particular: in 1991 I was looking for a subject to be the main project of my diploma show for the last year of my model-making course, and was introduced by my brother to 'The Colour of Magic', a tale already nearly ten years old by then. The description of the Discworld struck a chord, and became my immediate obsession as the new major project for the show. I just managed to finish the piece on time, it was a very involved model – the turtle, the elephants, the Disc – but was proud to have achieved it, even though it curried little favour in my overall grade or otherwise... At the end of college, we had our last recession, and I ended up being unemployed for nearly three years. The Discworld had meanwhile been consigned to my parents' attic, and would probably have stayed there as it was rather too large to be displayed in the house; but it so happened that my mum had learned of a book-signing event in the nearby city – happening the day she called from her workplace about it! – and that she'd contacted the bookstore, who had asked to borrow the model for the event... I joined the back of the book-signing queue, and got to be very honoured by the fact that the actual Terry Pratchett stopped for a while – even though he had a car waiting to whisk him away – to offer me praise for my work – which was worth much more to me than any consideration (or lack of it) given by my diploma-invigilators. It was far more accommodating than he needed to have been, especially after a long bout of signing - but then he went a massive step further, and bought the model from me right there and then! I came home absolutely buzzing, greatly lifted from the depression of my failings in life... A few years later, just sitting down to the Christmas meal at my brother's house, we were watching the freshly-made adaptation of Pratchett's 'The Hogfather', when I nearly dropped my dinner – my model was in the background of a travelling shot in the toyshop! We were recording the show, and so of course rewound at the first opportunity to be sure we hadn't imagined it – and yes, there it was! Totally made my Christmas..."

http://snuurg.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/on-pratchetts-passing.html

http://www.snuurg.com/

4.11 SMALL GODS AND THE TULPA CONCEPT

An interesting piece about the concept of believing gods, demons, bogeymen and the rest into "existence", from ancient Buddhism to Slenderman, features a nod to Discworld:

"In the Discworld created by Sir Terry Pratchett, the full pantheon of Gods is dictated entirely by the concept of the Tulpa. This is covered beautifully in the book Small Gods. This particular story details how the power and presence of the many and varied Gods is dictated by how many people believe in them. The titular Small Gods are those deities who do not have sufficient followers to manifest in any significant way. Some examples of such Gods are Hyperopia - Goddess of Shoes, Lamentatio – Goddess of Interminable Opera and the entirely paradoxical God of Evolution..."

The entire article is well worth a read:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/allan-lennon/tulpas-when-thought-takes_b_7852742.html

4.12 THE COLIN SMYTHE TERRY PRATCHETT ARCHIVE

The Colin Smythe Terry Pratchett Archive at London's Senate House Library is a wonderful thing. Sitting rightfully alongside other special collections such as the Durning-Lawrence Library collection of works by or about Shakespeare and Bacon, the collection encompasses all available editions, reprints and translations of Sir Pterry's novels, short stories and journal articles, including a copy of the first edition of The Carpet People, with the full-page illustrations hand-coloured by the author himself (as recently reproduced in the re-release of tCP). "There are also texts of adaptations, audio and video recordings, journal articles featuring Pratchett, newsletters and fanzines, press cuttings, and publicity material and spin-offs as diverse as maps, diaries, calendars, posters, jigsaws, bookplates, models, tee-shirts, and badges", all donated by Colin Smythe since 2002.

The catalogue of this collection is viewable online. For an overview, do a "mixed classmark" search from the drop-down menu (_http://catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/search~S1/l_) on "Pratchett". "Books are to be found at Pratchett A-C (the letter refers to size); audio and video versions of his work at Pratchett Media D-E; periodicals at Pratchett periodicals (runs) and Pratchett Archive (for single issues with articles by or about Pratchett); and press cuttings (e.g. interviews and reviews) at 'Pratchett Press Cuttings'." Also, there are papers, mostly drafts of Pratchett's work; these can be viewed at http://archives.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/resources/Pratchett.pdf

For more information about the Colin Smythe Terry Pratchett Archive, go to:

http://bit.ly/1OSzErZ

More about the Library's collections: http://bit.ly/1IcFQX9

Members of the public can make use of this library for reference purposes after registering online. Day passes are available priced at £10.00, or one-week passes priced at £50.00. There are also longer public passes available, from three months to one year. To register, and to learn more, go to:

http://senatehouselibrary.ac.uk/membership/1-day-7-day-tickets/
http://senatehouselibrary.ac.uk/membership/other-categories/

About Senate House Library:

"Senate House Library (formerly known as the University of London Library) occupies the fourth to the eighteenth floors of the building with the public areas of the library on the fourth to seventh floors, which is open to staff and students of all colleges within the university (although levels of access differ between institutions) and contains material relevant chiefly to arts, humanities, and social science subjects.

"The library is administered by the central university as part the Senate House Libraries and in 2005 had over 32,000 registered users. The library holds around three million volumes, including 120,000 volumes printed before 1851. The Library started with the foundation of the University of London in 1836, but began to develop from 1871 when a book fund was started.

"Along with a subscription to over 5,200 Journals, other resources include the Goldsmiths' Library of Economic Literature, and the Palaeography room's collection of western European manuscripts. The library also holds over 170,000 theses by graduate students. From 2006 onwards, the library has been undergoing a comprehensive refurbishment process. The Library is also home to the University of London archives, which include the central archive of the University itself and many other collections..."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senate_House_(University_of_London)

4.13 THE DISCWORLD ART OF JACKIE MORRIS

If you don't own any Discworld calendars, you may have missed the art of the excellent illustrator and author Jackie Morris, who has contributed to a number of them:

"In 2003 I was commissioned by Nick May at Orion to produce an image for the Terry Pratchett Disc World Calendar. Orion had decided to commission people who had no previous experience of this type of work, and though I had done many designs for calendars I had not worked on science fiction. The brief was really open, a scene or a character from the Disc World books. Anything but Death! So I set to to read some of the books and pretty soon was hooked, as were both my children. I loved the city at the top of the up-sidedown mountain, full of dragons waiting for people's imagination to wake them and make them take form, so chose Wormsburg as the place I wanted to illustrate, sent off a sketch or two and waited... next year the brief was almost as open. I was asked to do an image from "The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents". At the time I had a rat living in the kitchen, an uninvited guest, so the last thing I wanted to do was read a book with anthropomorphic rats in. But then as the commissioning editor said, at least I didn't have to look far for reference. The rat in the kitchen got away..."

http://www.jackiemorris.co.uk/calenders.htm

http://www.jackiemorris.co.uk/blog/dragons-torquay-museum/

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05) REVIEWS: THE LONG UTOPIA

By Adam Roberts, in The Guardian:

"Our supply of original Pratchett is running dangerously low. Since he continued working almost to the end, there are several posthumous titles in the offing: one more Discworld novel (The Shepherd's Crown, due at the end of August) and two Long Earth books – this one and the series finale. After that, having been so busy a feature of the literary landscape for so many decades, and having inspired a devotion in his readers unparalleled in contemporary writing, Pratchett's voice will finally pass into silence. Something of that melancholy seems to have worked itself into the fabric of this novel, too. Earlier Long Earth books possess various degrees of whimsical warmth and inventive charm. A more autumnal breeze blows through The Long Utopia. It's a book much concerned with things coming to an end, with cosmic-scale disease and with the limits of knowledge. A premise that started as an infinite number of open doors is starting to close them around its characters... If you go to these books looking for the rich comedy of Discworld, you will be disappointed. It's worth remembering that hilarity isn't Pratchett's only mode. He started out as a science fiction writer (and fan), and jotted down the conceit for the Long Earth before he wrote the first Discworld novel. Indeed, one of the things that made his fantasy writing so distinctive was the scientific rigour with which he pursued even the most absurd of his premises. Baxter, similarly prolific, is Britain's leading writer of 'hard' SF, a seemingly inexhaustible fount of thought-provoking, imagination-tickling and sometimes mind-blowing ideas. Their collaboration is more a hymn to the joys of unfettered world-building than it is to story or character. But if the pace of plotting is gentle, the restless inventiveness more than compensates..."

http://bit.ly/1TYCNcs

By David Barnett, in The Independent:

"When Sir Terry Pratchett died in March, the general focus was on – and quite rightly – his 'Discworld' comic fantasy novels, which form far and away the greatest part of his prolific output. But those who confine themselves to his Discworld books – as wonderful as they are – miss out on some exceptional writing: his collaboration with Neil Gaiman, Good Omens; his alternate-history South Pacific fantasy Nation; and of course his Long Earth science fiction series with Stephen Baxter... It is perhaps too simple to suppose that Baxter brings the quantum high-concepts while Pratchett supplies the humanity and flashes of humour, but however the division of labour when writing these books shook down, the novels really are a triumph of the genre that manage to bring fresh and exciting concepts to an SF staple (parallel worlds) while keeping credible human characters at their heart... Once again, Joshua Valiente is the focus of the happenings across the multiple worlds, and with this fourth book Pratchett and Baxter really seem to have allowed the human (and non-human) stories more room to breathe. While the two previous sequels, The Long War and The Long Mars, fleshed out the multiverse, The Long Utopia seems to recapture some of the sense of wonder that made The Long Earth such a startling success..."

http://tinyurl.com/q2dbwev

By Paul di Filippo for Locus Online:

"Pratchett and Baxter are writing in 'info-dense' mode that seeks to overwhelm and inspire wonder with sheer plenitude. They certainly do not switch horses in The Long Utopia, volume four, a book with a slightly inappropriate title insofar as it depicts no conclusive settled state of perfection. But despite its similar generous overstuffed condition, the book nonetheless has a bit of a different feel, insofar as its venues are more compact, less spread-out: no journeys across millions of continua. But this does not preclude cosmic visions... This series has shown a rare desire not to replicate familiar thrills from one volume to another, but rather to always be moving into new frontiers of plot and future history, a strategy congruent with the very nature of their SF novum. This volume, more than the previous three, really drives home the weight of the changes, the resonance for the characters of all their shared weird history, and so perhaps ultimately does justify its Grail-assonant title..."

http://bit.ly/1SIrfaY

By Doug Anderson for the Otago Times:

"They are a odd couple, I will admit; Pratchett has always struck me as an optimist with a keen eye for the absurd while Baxter has a more cynical, detached view of humanity. You can pick out references to their previous works; one main character is Lobsang, which is also the name of one of Pratchett's more quirky creations. This book and the series are about exploring big ideas so, alas, there is no Discworld-style hilarity... This feels more like Baxter's book than Pratchett's; much care and attention is given to the big concepts, such as an entire planet being converted into a gigantic engine. Less goes to the characters, who tend to come across as two-dimensional and making unlikely decisions for the sake of advancing the plot. Even so, this is still worth reading..."

http://bit.ly/1MQJcT5

A somewhat unusual one by Ben Anderson for the West Australian:

"Like the opening book of the series, The Long Utopia owes more to Baxter's sci-fi epics than Pratchett's laugh-out-loud parodies... This is classic speculative fiction, the type that takes a central premise — in this case that humans can travel to parallel Earths — and uses it to generate an adventure so grand it needs a quantum string of worlds to contain its scope. Pratchett's other well-known collaboration, Good Omens with Neil Gaiman, was at times disjointed because it was obvious which chapters were written by which author. Here, Baxter and his higher- profile partner have found a single voice and maintained it for four novels, no mean feat..."

http://yhoo.it/1H8ohWy

...and by Sue Sheard for Culturefly:

"If you haven't read the previous books, as I hadn't, you would do well to read some of their reviews for a brief history of how earth has multiplied in number leaving millions of earths for the human and other races to go forth and colonise using a helpfully designed 'step' machine which is powered by nothing more technical than the humble potato... Whilst the previous books in the series have been criticised for having no real depth and being too scientific, I found this one to be genuinely sad and emotive. It wasn't all bleak though; there were some really playful and light-hearted moments in there, reminiscent of the humour in the Discworld books..."

http://bit.ly/1LLkpB7

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06) DISCWORLD PLAYS NEWS AND UPDATES

6.1 NEW: NIGHT WATCH IN CARDIFF (SEPTEMBER)

Monstrous Productions are back with their latest Pratchett offering – Night Watch, adapted by Stephen Briggs and directed by Amy Davies:

"Hello everybody! We are incredibly pleased to say that, over the course of four plays since the start of 2013, we have raised over £12,000 for Alzheimer's Research UK! Luckily we added a matinee for Witches Abroad: our audiences were better than ever! But we don't stop there. In September we will be performing Night Watch!"

When: 9th-12th-September 2015
Venue: The Gate Theatre, Keppoch Street, Roath, Cardiff CF24 3JW
Time: 7.30pm (doors open 7pm), plus a 2.30pm matinee on the 12th
Tickets: £8 (£6 concession), available soon from www.monstrousptc.com

To view their fine poster, go to http://bit.ly/1TycedT

6.2 REMINDER: ERIC AT THE EDINBURGH FRINGE (AUGUST)

The Duck in a Hat theatre company will premiere their adaptation of Eric, adapted by Tim Foster, at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

"All amateur demonologist Eric wants is the usual three wishes: to live forever, to rule the world and to have the most beautiful woman fall madly in love with him. Instead he gets Rincewind, Discworld's most incompetent wizard, and Rincewind's Luggage, Discworld's most dangerous travel accessory. This brand new adaptation of Terry Pratchett's hilarious parody of the Faust legend is an outrageous romp through time, space and Hell that will leave Eric wishing once more – this time, quite fervently – that he'd never been born."

When: 8th-22nd August (all dates excluding the 16th)
Venue: The Studio, Paradise in Augustines, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EL (phone 0131 510 0022)
Time: 7:15pm all shows
Tickets: £9.00 (concession £7.00, family £28.00)

http://duckinahat.weebly.com/eric.html
https://www.facebook.com/DuckInaHat
https://www.paradise-green.co.uk/show-details/brochure/details/1323/

Duck in a Hat rely on the support of sponsors. Here be their page:
http://duckinahat.weebly.com/sponsors.html

6.3 REMINDER: WYRD SISTERS IN EXETER (AUGUST)

The Broadclyst Theatre Group will present their production of Wyrd Sisters in August.

When: 13th, 14th and 15th August 2015
Venue: Broadclyst Victory Hall, The Green, Exeter, Devon EX5 3DX (phone 01392 467161)
Time: 7.30pm all shows
Tickets: £9 (£6.50 for under-14s), available from Broadclyst Post Office or online via ticketsource.co.uk/broadclyst

https://www.facebook.com/groups/BroadclystTG/

6.4 REMINDER: MORT IN BRISBANE (AUGUST-OCTOBER)

The Brisbane Arts Theatre's newest Discworld production will be Mort!

When: 22nd August-3rd October 2015
Venue: Brisbane Arts Theatre, 210 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane, QLD 4000 (phone 07 3369 2344)
Time: 8pm Thursdays (except 27th August), Fridays and Saturdays; 6.30pm Sundays (6th and 20th September)
Tickets: Adults $31, Concession $25, Group 10+ $25, Group 75+ $20, Gold Members $15, Members $25, Student Rush $10 (10 mins before curtain). Members can redeem their included season tickets for this show. There are no refunds or exchanges once tickets have been purchased. To purchase tickets online, go to http://bit.ly/1Imz2tJ

http://artstheatre.com.au/show/mort

6.5 NEW: UNSEEN ACADEMICALS IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE (NOVEMBER)

A heads-up from the Bucks Free Press about a production coming this November:

"The Marlow Players will stage the late author's work 'Unseen Academicals' in November and are looking for budding actors to join the company. The group, which has been entertaining audiences for more than 75 years, needs volunteers to ensure the show can go on... Gloria Kendrick Hurst of the Marlow Players said the group plans to donate part of the proceeds from the show to the Alzheimer's Society..."

http://bit.ly/1HRjEnr

The company has not yet posted any more specific info, but the production will be presented at the Shelley Theatre, Court Garden, Pound Lane, Marlow, Bucks SL7 2AG. If you are interested in helping out, contact them through their website. Watch this space (as it were) for more details closer to the date:

http://www.marlowplayers.org.uk/

6.6 NEW: MASKERADE IN GLASGOW (SEPTEMBER)

The Antonine Players will present their production of Maskerade in September.

When: 17th, 18th, 19th September 2015
Venue: Fort Theatre, Kenmure Avenue, Bishopbriggs, Glasgow G64 2DW
Time: 7.30pm (doors open at 7pm
Tickets: £8.50 (£8 concession). Available online at www.ticketsource.co.uk/forttheatre or ring 0141 573 6620 or 0141 772 7054

The Players are currently seeking budding actors and technical staff to work on the production, which is about to go into rehearsal mode. If you are interested, ring George Hamill on 07508294643.

http://www.forttheatre.org/

6.7 REVIEW: MASKERADE IN PERTH, FOURECKS

By Gordon the Optom, whose reviews are well known in Perth theatre circles:

"The producers of the play, ARENAarts, have already brought us half a dozen wonderfully colourful and thrilling Pratchett stage plays over the past few years. This tongue-in-cheek story – 'comedy theatre production of operatic proportions' – is loosely based on the 'Phantom of the Opera' musical. Like most of Pratchett's stage plays, the book was adapted for the stage by Stephen Briggs, and the director has further modified this (slightly)... The two and a half hour fun performances – which cost only the price of a cinema ticket – are brought to life by ARENAarts... The scenery was fairly simple (designer Simon James) but there were a great number of interesting props supplied by Linda Redman, who, along with Chris Ellis and Rachel McCann also provided the quality costumes. The director employed several areas of the stage, moving the attention of the audience with his clever lighting design – operated by Gordon Johnson (no relation, this tech has class) – this kept the pace moving very well with the minimum stagehand interruptions. The stage manager was Linda Redman, efficiently aided by Janet and Callum Vinsen...

"Director Simon James has been bringing joy to the Perth audiences for 30 years, winning many awards on the way for his directing, acting and set designs. This is Simon's sixth Pratchett play, and he has regathered his regular team for this show. When you have a great cast, stick to them. This troupe was superb, not a weak link anywhere, they had pace, empathy, good comedic delivery – even the ballet dancers brought a big smile with their subtle, fun movements. The script was like that of a pantomime, plenty of one-liners and written on two levels, one for the young audience (this show would suit 10 years and above) and the 'mature' double-entendre jokes for the parents. With a larger cast, one often spots the daydreamers who are not too sure what is going on, here the cast were word perfect, attentive and moved beautifully. Special mention should go to the two witches, Perdita and Christine who were magnificent; however, from Opera House owner down to the rat catcher and Walter, the cast were exceptional..."

http://www.ita.org.au/2015/07/maskerade-reviewed-by-gordon-the-optom/

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07) DISCWORLD ARTS AND CRAFTS NEWS

7.1 UPDATES FROM THE DISCWORLD EMPORIUM

"Something witchy this way comes..."

DISCWORLD DIARY 2016: A PRACTICAL MANUAL FOR THE MODERN WITCH

"The Discworld Diary 2016 is now available for pre-order! Published on 20th August, this Practical Manual for the Modern Witch is teeming with a glorious mix of illustration, ephemera and hilarious one-liners, and features sage advice and guidance from the likes of Nanny Ogg, Granny Weatherwax and Tiffany Aching along with all the important Discworld and Roundworld dates to help you be as sharp as Miss Tick! More than just a diary, this Practical Manual for the Modern Witch gives a long-awaited insight into the wit and wisdom of some of Terry Pratchett's best-loved Discworld characters, the Witches! Featuring sage advice and guidance from the likes of Nanny Ogg, Granny Weatherwax and Tiffany Aching,The Discworld Diary 2016 teems with a glorious mix of cultural ephemera, illustration, and hilarious one-liners along with important Discworld and Roundworld dates to help you be as sharp as Miss Tick! We're very proud to have aided and abetted Sir Terry in the creation of this book, and as a celebration of our collaboration every copy bought from us includes an exclusive art print for your own witch's cottage with blessings from the hags of Discworld!

"AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER, PUBLISHED 20.08.15 Please select the correct shipping rate for your destination from the drop-down menu. Pre-ordered books will be dispatched on the publication date. Any additional items will be sent separately as per our usual service."

The 2016 Discworld Diary is priced at £16.99; add £3 for UK delivery, £5 for European delivery, and £6 for delivery to the rest of the world.

If you order your 2016 Discworld Diary from the Discworld Emporium, you get a bonus free illustrated "Blessings be upon this house" art print: "We're very proud to have aided and abetted Sir Terry in the creation of this book, and as a celebration of our collaboration every copy bought from us includes an exclusive art print!"

To view images of the Diary, for more information, and to order, go to:

http://www.discworldemporium.com/DiscworldDiary2016

THE SHEPHERD'S CROWN SPECIAL OFFER

"Terry Pratchett's final Discworld adventure, being the fifth novel chronicling the adventures of young witch Tiffany Aching is now available for pre-order. Every copy from the Discworld Emporium will include our free exclusive keepsake bookmark created to commemorate the release of this special book."

To view both sides of this lovely bookmark:

http://bit.ly/1D0RzLj and http://bit.ly/1I0bmra

The Shepherd's Crown in hardcover is priced at £20.00; add £3 for UK delivery, £5 for European delivery, and £6 for delivery to the rest of the world. For more information, and to order, go to:

http://www.discworldemporium.com/TheShepherdsCrown

TIFFANY'S HARE PENDANT – IN SILVER!

"To celebrate the release of I Shall Wear Midnight in 2010 we created the original Golden 'Hare Through Flame' Necklace, limited to an exclusive edition of only 200 worldwide. By popular demand our exclusive tribute to Tiffany's own necklace and the spirit of the hare is available once more in precious solid silver – the perfect present for any 'Wee Hag'! Each necklace is strung on a generous length of chestnut brown cotton cord for easy adjustment. Approx. 36mm diameter, cord length (end to end) 78mm."

The Tiffany Silver Hare pendant is priced at £55.00. The first run is already sold out, but the Emporium promises more will be available soon, so do check back!

For more information, and to order, go to:

http://www.discworldemporium.com/HareNecklace

LATEST STAMPS

Special Penny Patrician sheet: "Celebrating 11th anniversary of the ultimate fantasy collectible (according to Stanley Howler) this tongue-in-cheek limited edition minisheet of Discworld Stamps is available until the end of July! Each sheet features 11 frivolous and fun birthday variations of the most famous Discworld Stamp of them all, the Penny Patrician!* Measures 85 x 125 mm."

The Penny Patrician Minisheet is priced at £5.00. For more information, and to order, go to:

http://www.discworldemporium.com/BirthdayPatricianMinisheet

Kneck Valley: "The latest Little Brown Envelope stamp assortment is here! The Kneck Valley LBE contains at least one of two new issues from the warring countries of Borogravia and Zlobenia along with a chance of sports and rarities! The ever-shifting and consequently ever-disputed border of the Kneck River has resulted in the rival countries' re-use of each other's stamps through hostile overprinting! Every envelope therefore contains at least one limited edition issue bearing their rival's official military mark, exclusive to this LBE. The Borogravia 3p and Zlobenia 2 Zloty are also available to collect singly or as whole sheets."

The Borogravia 3p is priced at £0.75 for a single stamp, or £13.50 for a sheet of 18 stamps. For more information, and to order, go to:

http://www.discworldemporium.com/discworld-stamps/new%20stamps/Borogravia3p

The Zlobenia 2zloty is priced at £0.50 for a single stamp, or £12.50 for a sheet of 25 stamps. For more information, and to order, go to:

http://www.discworldemporium.com/discworld-stamps/new%20stamps/Zlobenia2Zl

To view all available new stamps, go to:

http://www.discworldemporium.com/discworld-stamps/new%20stamps

Uberwald League of Temperance: "Available from Monday 27th July, The latest edition 'Little Brown Envelope' from Discworld Stamps! Each envelope contains an assortment of current issues, along with a brand new Ankh-Morpork 6p issue honouring the achievements of The Uberwald League of Temperance, whose efforts in the Big Wahoonie has spared the necks of many a denizen of Discworld's premier city. A generous spattering of sports, rare Blue Triangles and Dead Letter Labels, have been distributed throughout the edition along with some handy reminders courtesy of the League of Temperance to help keep you on the wagon! The Uberwald League of Temperance 6p Stamp is also available to collect singly or as beautiful whole sheets from Monday 27th."

The Don't Be a Sucker LBE is priced at £5.00. For more information, and to order, go to:
http://www.discworldemporium.com/DontBeASuckerLBE

The League of Temperance 6p stamp is priced at £0.40 for a single, or £14 for a sheet of 35 stamps. For more information, and to order, go to:

http://www.discworldemporium.com/LeagueofTemperance6p

SHAKING HANDS WITH DEATH, LECTURE IN BOOK FORM

"Terry Pratchett's ethical essay was first broadcast to millions as the BBC Richard Dimbleby Lecture 2010. Now more poignant than ever, his argument for our right to choose - the right to a good life, and a good death too - is published as a 64 page book. 'Most men don't fear death. They fear those things - the knife, the shipwreck, the illness, the bomb - which precede, by microseconds if you're lucky, and many years if you're not, the moment of death.' When Terry Pratchett was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in his fifties he was angry - not with death but with the disease that would take him there, and with the suffering disease can cause when we are not allowed to put an end to it. In this essay Terry addressed why we all deserve a life worth living and a death worth dying for.
Includes foreword by Terry Pratchett's friend and assistant of many years, Rob Wilkins."

AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER, PUBLISHED 30.07.15

Shaking Hands with Death is priced at £3.99; add £3 for UK delivery, £5 for European delivery, and £6 for delivery to the rest of the world. For more information, and to order, go to:

http://www.discworldemporium.com/ShakingHandsWithDeath


[Editor's note: there's a compendium of related Pratchett works at http://www.discworldemporium.com/books/non-fiction – do have a shufti as the variety of available publications is tremendous, from Nanny Ogg's Cookbook to Johnny and the Bomb.]


7.2 UPDATES FROM PJSM PRINTS: HORSE AND HARE

A different version of Tiffany's hare pendant from PJSM – this one is available in both sterling silver and gold plate, designed by Tom Lynall, mounted on an 18 inch chain and gift boxed.

The Horse pendant is priced at £45.00, the silver Hare at £45.00, and the gold Hare at £55.00. To order, go to http://www.paulkidby.com/ and scroll down to the relevant box; there is an Add to Basket button for each pendant, which takes you to a page for calculating shipping charges (e.g. add £5 for shipping to Fourecks).

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08) ALZHEIMER'S NEWS

8.1 BIG PHARMA LOOKING FOR A CURE

"With life expectancy on the rise, the pharmaceutical industry is shifting its research and development funds. It is spending billions to meet a rising demand for drugs to treat chronic conditions in an increasingly elderly population.
That phenomenon is playing out in the rise of funding for research into dementia treatments. 'We are all living longer,' says Dr Doug Brown, the director of research and development for Britain's Alzheimer's Society. He welcomes recent reports showing that solanezumab, a potential new experimental treatment from Eli Lilly, can cut the rate of the dementia's progression by about a third if it is given to patients early enough. 'This is a big step in a direction where we could potentially have the first treatment for Alzheimer's disease that slows that disease process,' he says. 'We have a number of treatments currently available that treat symptoms, which aren't hugely effective. But this could be the first one that acts at the crux of what's happening in the brains of people with Alzheimer's to slow that disease process, slow that cognitive decline and really improve the quality of life.' The final results of those clinical trials will not be available for more than a year...

"Eli Lilly currently stands at the forefront of research for a treatment for the disease, but its efforts are still experimental. Solanezumab is raising hopes about an effective treatment, but experts caution against getting too optimistic, too soon. 'We are currently carrying a 30% probability of success,' says Jo Walton, pharmaceutical analyst at Credit Suisse, of solanezumab. Because of the history of failures with Alzheimer's treatments, many experts have low expectations. 'When we see more data, that probability might change,' she adds... With the number of Alzheimer's sufferers across the world set to rise as people live longer, experts say the demand for Alzheimer's treatments could skyrocket, along with the costs. Yet Dr Amit Roy, founding partner of the research firm Foveal, says that pharmaceutical companies are not just chasing profits..."

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-33620066

8.2 PROMISING DRUG?

"The death of brain cells in Alzheimer's is currently unstoppable. Solanezumab may be able to keep them alive. Current medication, such as Aricept, can manage only the symptoms of dementia by helping the dying brain cells function. But solanezumab attacks the deformed proteins, called amyloid, that build up in the brain during Alzheimer's. It is thought the formation of sticky plaques of amyloid between nerve cells leads to damage and eventually brain cell death. Solanezumab has long been the great hope of dementia research, yet an 18-month trial of the drug seemingly ended in failure in 2012. But when Eli Lilly looked more closely at the data, there were hints it could be working for patients in the earliest stages of the disease. It appeared to slow progression by around 34% during the study. So the company asked just over 1,000 of the patients in the original trial with mild Alzheimer's to take the drug for another two years. And positive results from this extension of the original trial have now been presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference. They show those taking the drugs the longest had the most benefit..."

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-33617141

8.3 BLOOD CHEMICAL TO PREDICT BRAIN DECLINE

Scientists have discovered a chemical in blood that indicates whether people will have declining brain function.
Looking for the earliest signs of Alzheimer's disease, they analysed levels of 1,129 proteins circulating in the blood of more than 200 twins. These were compared with data from cognitive-function tests over the next decade, in Translational Psychiatry. And levels of one protein, MAPKAPK5, tended to be lower in those people whose brains declined. MAPKAPK5 is involved in relaying chemical messages within the body, although its connection with cognitive decline is unclear... Dr Steven Kiddle, a Medical Research Council scientist at King's College London, told the BBC News website: 'People think it may be hard to reverse 20 years of potential damage to your brain. But if you could start much earlier in that process, then you might be able to find something that works.' He said a blood test could help identify people for clinical trials. But he added: 'A test you could go in to your doctor to say, "Do I have Alzheimer's disease or not?" I think that's a long way off.'..."

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-33135104

8.4 YOUNG SCIENTIST DEVELOPS PROMISING EARLY ALZHEIMER'S TEST

"A 15-year-old school student has developed a test which could give up to 10 years warning of Alzheimers before symptoms even start to show. Krtin Nithiyanandam, a pupil at Sutton Grammar school, developed a 'trojan horse' antibody which can enter the brain and latch onto neurotoxic proteins, identifying the disease in advance. The antibodies injected into the bloodstream would also be accompanied by fluorescent particles which would appear on a brain scan. Nithiyanandam told The Daily Telegraph: 'The main benefits of my test are that it could be used to diagnose Alzheimer's disease before symptoms start to show by focusing on pathophysiological changes, some of which can occur a decade before symptoms are prevalent. Some of my new preliminary research has suggested that my diagnostic probe could simultaneously have therapeutic potential as well as diagnostic.'..."

http://huff.to/1MqHjft

8.5 FUNDRAISING FOR ALZHEIMER'S

"A group of three hardy teenagers from Ely are set to take on a climbing expedition in the Alps to raise money for charity. Toby Lancaster, 17, is organising the trip and together with his friends Henry Moore and Laurence Halfpenny, also 17, they are set to challenge themselves to climb two peaks in three days whilst spending the nights on the mountain in August. The three boys have gained experience in mountaineering through Ely Scheme which is an initiative run by King's Ely and has seen them taking on mountains in the Alps, Sierra Nevada and then finally a three-week expedition to Mongolia in 2014. This trip is the first one that they will have organised themselves and Toby has decided to use it as an opportunity to raise money and raise awareness for a disease and charity that many people will not be aware of. Toby said: 'The charity I have chosen is the National Brain Appeal and the Myrtle Ellis Fund which is specifically to support posterior cortical atrophy which is the visual variant of Alzheimer's causing the patient to lose vision and spatial awareness first. It is exactly the same visual variant that Terry Pratchett suffered from. The disease is different from the regular Alzheimer's in that it strikes at a young age, typically affecting middle-aged, fit, high achievers in the prime of their careers and life. The reason that I have chosen this charity is that one of my neighbours in Ely, Nigel Womack is suffering from this terrible condition and when at work was an eminent colorectal surgeon. I just wanted to use the opportunity to raise awareness as many people think of Alzheimer's being a disease of the elderly. My neighbour was diagnosed in his early 50's and is now only 60 but is now heading towards the final stages and I hope that by raising some money and awareness that other people and their families will not have to suffer in the same way.'..."

To sponsor the trio visit www.justgiving.com/TobyLancaster

http://bit.ly/1IoW56T

Editor's note: speaking of fundraising for Alzheimer's Lynsey Dalladay's JustGiving fundraising page for the RICE Centre in memory of Sir Pterry is still active, with £43,743.99 having been raised, but as RICE is an ongoing concern more funds are always appreciated:

https://www.justgiving.com/Terry-Pratchett

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09) DISCWORLD CONVENTION NEWS

9.1 NADWCON AT SASQUAN NEWS

9.1a Denise Connell's Pratchett documentary appeal:

The Turtle Moves
A documentary made by the friends and fans of Sir Terry, remembering how his words and the Disc impacted their lives.
Terry Pratchett was a beloved figure at Worldcons for over 30 years. In this, the year of his passing, we're filming a love letter to Terry in the form of a fan-made documentary at Sasquan/Worldcon 2015, which is being held August 19-23 in Spokane, Washington. Our film will be based on interviews with attending fans who are willing to share their memories of Terry and tell stories about the way the Discworld books have changed their lives.This is an excellent time to make our film as The Great Discworld Fan Gathering is set to take place at Sasquan; a first for any Worldcon. More information is available here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1686440358/the-turtle-moves-remembering-terry-pratchett

Update from Denise:

People have been asking why THE TURTLE MOVES: REMEMBERING TERRY PRATCHETT is being made at Sasquan. That's because Sasquan is the site of The Great Discworld Fan Gathering. Sasquan/Worldcon 2015 is honoring Sir Terry in a wide variety of ways, including Discworld themed panels, events, dances, games, fan meets, exhibits, and more. With 6,000+ attendees it's the easiest (and cheapest) way to find a lot of Discworld fans from all over the world in one place.

This film is a non-profit venture, and we describe it as "a love letter to Terry Pratchett". This is going to be a positive and heartfelt commemoration, and it is being made by fans, for fans...

I am the Discworld Area Head for Sasquan and I've spent the last 18 months working to make this a fantastic experience for the fans who attend. I've been privileged to work with a great team of experienced, well organized, talented and hard working volunteers on this con, and I think it's going to be one of the best Worldcons ever offered. If I can answer any questions about this convention, please let me know.

P.S. John is now a hair over $3,000 towards his budget of $6K and he has 12 days left to make his goal. Thank you to everyone who has donated thus far, and to those who shared the link.

All good things,
Denise

9.1b SASQUAN WorldCon 2015

The Great Discworld Fan Gathering will take place at Sasquan/Worldcon 2015 in Spokane, WA, August 19-23. Sasquan is honoring Sir Terry in a wide variety of ways, including Discworld themed panels, events, dances, games, fan meets, exhibits, art and more. With 6,000+ attendees it's a great way to meet Discworld fans from all over the world. The Terry Pratchett memorial panel will be on Thursday, August 20th. We will also be holding a public reading of Where's My Cow, and the attendees will make all the noises. The new Discworld game CLACKS will also have its US debut at this convention.

www.sasquan.org

9.2 SCHEIBENWELT (GERMAN DISCWORLD CONVENTION) NEWS

Less than two months until the Klatch-themed Scheibenwelt (Discworld) convention!

"The biennial Discworld Convention takes place at a castle in a German speaking country. The next Convention will be 10.09.-13.09.2015 at Burg Ludwigstein. During this period we offer our more than 200 guests workshops, talks, games, guests of honour and Discworld merchandising normally not available in Germany. You can visit us for a day or stay at the castle or a hotel nearby.

"There are 2 types of tickets:
Tickets for persons sleeping at the castle (Castle guests)
Tickets for persons visiting as day guests (Day guests)

"Tickets for Castle guests include the admission charge for the Convention, accommodations and catering. Tickets for Day guests include the admission charge and no catering. If required you need to book your own hotel rooms in the vicinity of the castle... All guests receive a reservation number with their order. It is only possible to pre-register for workshops using this reservation number. The basic package for a Convention visit contains accommodations from Thursday to Sunday. Thursday is the Arrival Day, the program takes place on Friday and Saturday and Sunday is the Departure Day. To ensure flexibility you can also order packages for Friday to Sunday. Our prices for Castle guests consist of a charge for the castle (about 40 € a day) and a small fee for the Convention program. Members of the Ankh-Morpork e.V. and young visitors receive a discount. Children less than 3 years old can be brought along free of charge."

Tickets for Thursday through Sunday are €149 (discount price for Visitors aged less than 12 years or members of the Ankh-Morpork e.V. €139), and for Friday through Sunday, €110 (discount price €105). Day tickets are also available: Friday or Saturday €20 (€18 discount Visitors aged less than 12 years or members of the Ankh-Morpork e.V.), Sunday €35 (€30 discount).

To purchase tickets, go to:
http://www.scheibenwelt-convention.de/viewpage.php?page_id=8

A large collection of Scheibenwelt convention t-shirts, mugs etc. on offer, from €11.90 to €19.90:

http://shop.scheibenwelt-convention.de/

http://www.scheibenwelt-convention.de/news.php

9.3 AUSDWCON NEWS

Apparently the t-shirts for this past February's Nullus Anxietas have finally shown up!

"FURTHER CON SHIRT UPDATE. Finally, we lined up a new supplier, the shirts have been printed and received, and they will be mailed out today to all those who ordered shirts at the convention. I am so sorry at the length of time this has taken to be resolved, and thank you for your patience in this."

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10) DISCWORLD GAMES NEWS

Yes, we're continuing to promote Clacks. Yes, your Editor is saving up for her own copy. Go on, you know you ant one for yourself...

"CLACKS – a Discworld Puzzle Game based on the 'Clacks' semaphore messaging system featured in Sir Terry Pratchett's Novel 'Going Postal'. The Fastest (non-magical) Messaging System on the Discworld. Using a semaphore system of shuttered lamps on top of high towers, the Grand Trunk Semaphore Company has revolutionised long distance communications on the Discworld. Their network of towers covers most of the Unnamed Continent, but now the old postal service is fighting back. Driven by the determination of newly 'volunteered' Post Master 'Moist Von Lipwig' the Ankh-Morpork Post Office has challenged the Clacks operators to a race from Ankh-Morpork to Genua.

"Play against your friends and claim the title of Fastest Clacks Operator on the line, or Play together as a team to win the race across the Discworld and prove that Clacks is here to stay. In the box there is rules for 'player versus player', a 'co-operative race game' against the Post Office and a 'Children's introductory game'. Clacks artwork was created by Amber Grundy (a.k.a The Artful Nudger).

"The game will be officially released at the 2015 Irish Discworld Convention."

Backspindle Games' Clacks page has buy buttons for UK, European and Rest of World customers. There are also buttons for buyers who intend to pick their Clacks up at the Irish Discworld Convention (2nd-5th October 2015 or at the Spiel game fair in Essen (8th-11th October 2015)

Prices are: UK £34.98 (£29.99 plus £4.99 postage and packing); Europe £39.98 (£29.99 plus £9.99 postage and packing);
Rest of World £42.98 (£29.99 plus £12.99 postage and packing)

http://www.backspindlegames.com/clacks/

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11) SOME NOTABLE "FANAC"

A worthy fanfic on Reddit, by knittingquark, written f0r the occasion of that petition to Death to restore Sir Pterry to the world of the living:

"At a black desk on a black floor in a black house, a figure in a black robe sat, twin points of blue fire the only discernable colour in the room as he stared out of the window at the black roses. Every now and then, he picked up the sheaf of papers in front of him, then let it drop with a sigh and picked up the grand Lifetimer. After a few hours of staring at it, he would set it gently down and pick up the papers again. He was trying to decide whether or not to answer. He understood that you were supposed to answer petitions, and he understood paperwork, so he knew he should. He just didn't know what the consequences would be. He could just send Quoth down with a note saying, 'NO.' If it were anyone else, he wouldn't even have thought about it, Auditors know he'd heard so many cries of anguish in his time from people who just wanted their person back. He understood. In his mind a single cartwheel bounced down into a dark ravine, smashing on the rocks. He never could give them back, though. Once they were taken, he could not upend the universe, even for The Creator.

"Weeks passed, and Death worked. In between, he would return to his desk, to the pile of papers, to the Lifetimer. Albert shuffled around him, worried. It had been a long time since he'd seen the Master so conflicted. He breathed out a long, shaky sigh of relief when, at long last, Death swept through the door, scythe in hand. 'I'M GOING OUT, ALBERT. I MAY BE SOME TIME. TAKE CARE OF... EVERYTHING.' The relief was short-lived. He hoped it wasn't going to be another of those farming trips.

"At a normal desk on a normal floor in a normal house, a normal man sat, his face lit only by the computer screen. Around him, the detritus of everyday life was scattered, along with Detritus, his model of a favourite character from some books he loved. Wasting time on Facebook, his evening had been going along so.. normally, when the air changed. It felt like all the reality had been sucked out of the room, and the man known as Tom froze, terrified. He could feel something behind him, but he was certain that, if he turned around, all he would see would be endless oblivion, pockmarked with distant galaxies. He tried to remember how to breathe, and a voice like the ending of a life sounded in his head. 'TOM... PRIDE?'

"Laughing to himself, because obviously this wasn't real, Tom turned. Perhaps there were galaxies and darkness beyond, but he didn't see them. His vision was entirely filled with the impossible figure of Death, exactly as he had been imagined by so many artists and fans. Somehow, the fiery eyes softened slightly, and the figure held out a huge pile of paper. 'THIS WAS YOU? TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE AGREED WITH YOUR REQUEST. IT DEMANDS AN ANSWER.' The petition. Of course, the petition. It had been a while since he'd thought about it. It was absolutely the perfect response to a death like Sir Terry's, but it was just a joke. A sad, lost joke. He nodded.

"'I NEVER NORMALLY DO THINGS LIKE THIS.' Death looked sheepish, knowing that others probably thought they deserved an answer too. 'SO YOU CANNOT TELL ANYONE THAT I HAVE BEEN HERE. THEY WOULD PROBABLY THINK YOU MAD, AND THERE WOULD BE... CONSEQUENCES. THE CREATOR CANNOT BE REINSTATED. I CANNOT BRING HIM BACK TO YOU.' Tom nodded again, the tiny flicker of hope lit as he turned around in his chair extinguished. 'NO-ONE IS RETURNED TO THE WORLD, NOT EVEN MY OWN SON, NOT EVEN MY DAUGHTER. THEY LIVE IN MY DOMAIN NOW, AS I AM SURE YOU KNOW. ALBERT FEEDS THEM... FOOD, OF SOME KIND. HE REFUSES TO MAKE CURRY. HE SAYS IT HAS GERMS.' Death drew the Lifetimer out of his robes and held it out to Tom. He took it, expecting a dead thing, that the sand would now just look like sand and the magic would be gone. Instead, he saw the miracle immediately..."

To read the rest of this, go to:

http://bit.ly/1ILASEL


...and here be a photopost from 2014 that's recently come back to light. Cosplay time for the Ankh-Morpork City Watch (aka Pratchett club Perth Drummers) at Oz Comic Con:

http://sirius-luva.livejournal.com/87420.html

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12) DISCWORLD MEETING GROUPS: UPDATES AND REMINDERS

The Broken Drummers, "London's Premier Unofficially Official Discworld Group" (motto "Nil percussio est"), meets next on Monday 3rd August 2015. For more information, go to http://brokendrummers.org/ or email
BrokenDrummers@gmail.com or nicholls.helen@yahoo.co.uk

The Broken Drummers' somewhat vertical July meet report, by Sim Lauren:

"Alcohol was drunk.
The punnes... OMG the Punnes!
Cootie-boxes were debated.
Paper flowers happened.
I'm not allowed to say that there was shark wrestling.
There was a shirt with *probably* a thousande elephants!
There was a discussion about how a Tasmanian has hair on his palm.
There was a quiz. It was on Marvel superheroes. And got very difficult very quickly. But there was lots of hints, so that's OK. Alex won the quiz without having to claim any bonuses for having the best Mustache. He is plotting the next one already!
There are Larry badges. They had an out of cheese error, and will re-emerge infinitely better.
We also debated if the phrase "Gary Gygax put TSR up his nose" is slander, libel, true or alleged."

*

Canberra, Australia has a new Discworld fan group, Drumknott's Irregulars! "We are a newly established Terry Pratchett & Discworld social group in Canberra called Drumknott's Irregulars. The group is open to all, people from interstate and overseas are welcome, and our events will not be heavily themed. Come along to dinner for a chat and good company. We welcome people all all fandoms (and none) and we would love to see you at one of our events, even if you're just passing through. Please contact us via Facebook (_https://www.facebook.com/groups/824987924250161/_) or Google Groups (_https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/drumknotts-irregulars_) or join us at our next event."

*

There is a new public Facebook meeting group, "The Gathering of the Loonies (Wincanton chapter)": "This group, by request of Jo in Bear will continue to be used for future unofficial (not run by the Emporium) fan Gatherings in Wincanton. Look here for information. Next event Loonies Christmas Party. Same weekend as Hogswatch would have been. ie 27/28/29 November."

https://www.facebook.com/groups/373578522834654/

*

The Pratchett Partisans are a fan group who meet monthly at either Brisbane or Indooroopilly to "eat, drink and chat about all things Pratchett. We hold events such as Discworld dinners, games afternoons, Discworld photo scavenger hunts. Our recent 'Murder In Morpork' mystery party was a great night out. With 26 people attending, we had 24 suspects, our special guest – Vetinari, and one dead mime! It was a fun night of food and murder and we are planning another Murder in December so stay tuned. We also attend opening night at Brisbane Arts Theatre's Discworld plays." The Partisans currently have about 100 members who meet meet at least twice a month, usually in Brisbane. For more info about their next meetup, join up at https://www.facebook.com/groups/pratchettpartisans/ or contact Ula directly at uwilmott@yahoo.com.au

*

The City of Small Gods is a group for fans in Adelaide and South Australia. For more information on their upcoming activities, go to www.cityofsmallgods.org.au

*

The Broken Vectis Drummers meet next on Thursday 6th August 2015 (probably) from 7.30pm at The Castle pub in Newport, Isle of Wight. For more info and any queries, contact broken_vectis_drummers@yahoo.co.uk

*

The Wincanton Omnian Temperance Society (WOTS) next meets on Friday 7th August 2015 (probably) at Wincanton's famous Bear Inn from 7pm onwards. "Visitors and drop-ins are always welcome!"

*

The Northern Institute of the Ankh-Morpork and District Society of Flatalists, a Pratchett fangroup, has been meeting on a regular basis since 2005 but is now looking to take in some new blood (presumably not in the non-reformed Uberwald manner). The Flatalists normally meet at The Narrowboat Pub in Victoria Street, Skipton, North Yorkshire, to discuss "all things Pratchett" as well as having quizzes and raffles. Details of future meetings are posted on the Events section of the Discworld Stamps forum:

http://www.discworldstamps.co.uk/forum/

*

Sydney Drummers (formerly Drummers Downunder) meet next on Monday 3rd August 2015 at 6.30pm (probably) in Sydney at 3 Wise Monkeys, 555 George Street, Sydney,2000. For more information, contact Sue (aka Granny Weatherwax): kenworthys@yahoo.co.uk

*

The Treacle Mining Corporation, formerly known as Perth Drummers, meets next on Monday 3rd August 2015 (probably) from 5.30pm at Carpe Cafe, 526 Murray Street, Perth, Western Australia.

For details follow Perth Drummers on Twitter @Perth_Drummers or join their Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Perth.Drummers/
– or message Alexandra Ware directly at <alexandra.ware@gmail.com>

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13) ROUNDWORLD TALES: HO! THE MEGAPODE!

Many of you may have known that the Megapode chase at the start of Unseen Academicals was based on a real Roundworld university tradition, but the story of the odd ritual of the Mallard Society at All Souls' College, Oxford is even odder that one might expect...

"The origins of this association [The Mallard Society] are somewhat obscure. The earliest reference to the Mallard in connection with the College comes from January 1632, when three young 'Mallardyzers' were disciplined for bringing strangers in and causing disturbance and damage during the night. It is also reported that the Mallard Song 'was sung after a rude manner about 1658 about 2 or 3 in ye morning, which giving a great alarm to ye Oliverian soldiery then in Oxon they would have forced ye gate open to have appeased ye noise.'... By the early eighteenth century the procession had lapsed, but January 14th continued to be Mallard Night, a time for drinking and for singing the old song. We now begin to hear of the legend that when Archbishop Chichele's builders were digging foundations for the College in 1437/8 an enormous mallard flew up out of a drain where it had been trapped for many years. It has been plausibly suggested that the story arose from the discovery of a medieval seal bearing the name of William Malard, Clerk, in a drain on the College site... In 1801 the procession was revived as a one-off celebration of the new century. The procedure, like the commemorative medal that was struck for the occasion, was modelled on the old descriptions, but it was now a more solemn and dignified affair than the disorderly processions of the seventeenth century. The future Bishop Heber, then a freshman in Brasenose, observed about forty Fellows marching along the roof of the Codrington Library at four in the morning, carrying large torches and thundering out the song. The event was repeated on January 14th 1901, following an elaborate dinner [see below – Ed.]... Cosmo Gordon Lang, the future Archbishop of Canterbury, was the Lord Mallard. He was carried round the quadrangles on a chair, shoulder-high, singing the Mallard Song again and again, while everyone joined in the chorus. The ceremony was re-enacted on January 14th 2001. As in previous centuries, a commemorative medal was commissioned... But it is not just once a century that the Mallard is celebrated. The Mallard Song is sung twice every year, at the November Gaudy and at the Bursar's Dinner in March..."

http://bit.ly/1JEfnBT

Here be the menu for that dinner in 1901. How utterly UU in its lavishness, although we doubt Mrs Whitlow would be party to serving so much Quirmian "avec":

Potage des Tourterelles du Siecle Nouveau.
Tourbot, Sauce du Warden.
Eperlans a la Custodes Jocalium.
Vol-au-Vent du Ris de Veau a la Sub-warden.
Filets de Boeuf de L'Estates Bursar.
Chapons Rotis a la Roi Edouard.
Jambon d'Yorck.
Selle du Mouton.
Mallard Swapping Sauce.
Pouding d'All Souls
Gateau de Chichele.
Sardines de Chichele
Merluches Salade des Junior Fellows
Dessert du Common Room.

http://web.archive.org/web/20070713230403/http://www.all-souls.ox.ac.uk/events/menu.php

Here be an account of the proceedings in 1901:

"First came a few men with torches, one carrying before him on a long pole the stuffed mallard, then the Lord Mallard, carried on a chair shoulder-high by four men. At his side walked two others carrying wands in one hand, and with the other ready to steady his lordship should it be needful. Two more walked in front for the same reason. It was the Lord Mallard who from his seat sang again and again the song before referred to. Following him came all the members of the College - all in gowns, some with caps, and here and there a top-hat, looking very much out of place. (As must have felt their owners, gambolling in the night air.) The procession passed twice round the quad, making the tour of the smaller quad in between, and then proceeded to mount to the roofs, which was the next item on the programme. There was much laughter as they all disappeared from sight for a time, leaving us again in darkness, to emerge presently on a high roof near the chapel tower. Immediately in front of us, one by one they clambered up, and relit their torches at the top. Then again rang out the song as they slowly moved forward..."

http://web.archive.org/web/20070713230506/http://www.all-souls.ox.ac.uk/events/1901.php

...and here is the original Mallard itself, in antique plaster. Note that knowing smile on its beak. What duck?:

http://bit.ly/1MqwxrR

Wikipedia's page on the Mallard Song has the entire lyric, including the following bits. Be aware that the word "swapping" means, in modern parlance, enormous:

Hough the bloud of King Edward,
By ye bloud of King Edward,
It was a swapping, swapping mallard!

Hee was swapping all from bill to eye,
Hee was swapping all from wing to thigh;
His swapping tool of generation
Oute swapped all ye wingged Nation...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallard_Song

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14) AROUND THE BLOGOSPHERE

Yet another round of Graeme Neill's (aka Pratchett Job) reviews...

The Last Continent:

"Rincewind novels are a problem and the issue is with Rincewind himself. He's a coward so all he can do is run away from things. By putting him through a traditional narrative arc where he overcomes his fears and saves the day, Pratchett would likely write a more satisfying book but would remove the only thing that makes him Rincewind. I really struggle to try and think of his other traits if his cowardice was removed... The book is an amusing and entertaining one but I can't really get what he is saying. Australians are different. They have corks on their hats to stop flies. Mad Max. Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Ned Kelly. Weird food. Tinnies. The reader is shown a lot of different things but there's nothing below it. Like the other Rincewind books, there's a lack of a story arc. He doesn't change or develop as a character. He just runs and gets into scrapes... I feel I am being much too harsh here for a book I rather liked. In defence of it, the reader is thoroughly entertained by some nice comedic set pieces throughout. However, it's hard to write a post exploring a book that is just a list of things that are nowhere near as funny as they are in the novel..."

http://bit.ly/1HL7FI8

The Truth:

"I'm afraid that I was (and am) a journalist so a lot of what I will write about The Truth will need to be filtered through this bit of knowledge. I really enjoyed the 25th Discworld novel and it conveys the excitement and drive that journalists have about chasing stories. Of course, Pratchett was a local newspaper man when the Discworld was the mental size of a saucer. He knows the beat well... The Truth immediately brought two things to mind. The first was the reference to the infamous Sun headline about the Hillsborough football disaster. They accused Liverpool fans of causing the deaths of 96 fans, stealing from, and urinating on, corpses. It was abject bollocks of the highest order and they finally apologised for it 15 years after the horrible events. It's arguably one of the best known headlines in the history of UK newspapers. The second is Mark Twain's famous quote about never letting it stand in the way of a good story. And it doesn't. The Truth is more akin to screwball comedies such as His Girl Friday, rather than a satire of mac-clad, unscrupulous newshounds. There's more at play here... Pratchett's now customary suspicions about the absence of wisdom among the crowds raise their head here, although he questions his own assumptions in the book. The literally throwaway nature of The Times means that what it publishes doesn't lead to a mass uprising among the great unwashed against perceived wrongdoings. By publishing the truth at the end of the novel, de Worde does clear The Patrician's name, after he was framed for embezzlement. But there's far from a clamour for his release. The paper came out, and it didn't matter. People just seemed to accept things... I liked The Truth a lot, although with the wider Discworld knowledge swirling around my head, the plot isn't its strongest. This is potential fanboy criticism here so it should be treated with the respect that deserves..."

http://bit.ly/1LwhI82

Making Money:

"The novel gives us an interesting premise and in true Pratchett style forces us to think about the everyday in a different way. What do the coins and notes that sit in our pockets, wallets and purses actually represent? Why do they have value when their material worth is something very different? ... It's a neat extension on Pratchett's longstanding theme about the power of belief. We believe these chunks of metal or watermarked pieces of paper have value, with the buildings where we can borrow and deposit akin to temples. But the money doesn't actually exist. What we are spending is our faith... This being a Moist book, Vetinari is not very far from proceedings. My favourite Discworld character takes his opportunity to make some neat points about money's role in empire building and makes the reader, yet again, applaud the actions of a dictator. Like Moist, the reader has difficulty working out who the real Vetinari is. By keeping him at arm's length, he remains the enigma wrapped in the etc and so on... For me, the great books are those which require the reader to work at the novel, to try and make sense of the bits that don't quite fit, to imagine how a world works or fill the gaps within a character's past or present. But there's a difference between an author not treating their reader like an idiot, as well they should, and a book featuring a bunch of vaguely related concepts on the page and effectively forcing the reader to do the legwork. There's no arc to the story and it is very unsatisfying as a result. It reads like a first draft, where there is something there, but a lot of demolishing blind alleys and sharpening the edges of the narrative are required for it to be whipped into shape..."

https://pratchettjob.wordpress.com/2015/07/03/taxman-making-money/

Guards! Guards!:

"We are back in that wretched hive of scum and villainy, Ankh-Morpork. Yet again, after Dios in Pyramids, we learn that the most dangerous person in the Discworld is whoever is second in command. Lupine Wonse, deputy to The Patrician who runs the city, is using his alter-ego of the Supreme Grand Master of the Unique and Supreme Lodge of the Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night to try and bring a dragon to the city, a threat that will allow him to install his own puppet king. Standing between him and his desires is the Night's Watch, the most despised group of men in the entire city... Pratchett's use of cliche and tropes is very clever as it hides another well worn story in plain sight. The reader is so busy giggling at Casablanca references and the like that they fail to notice that Carrot has been hidden as the one true heir of Ankh-Morpork throughout the novel, even though HE'S AN ADOPTED BLOODY SON AND PARAGON OF SODDING VIRTUE TRAVELLING TO A CITY TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE. At least I did anyway. But there are flaws. Vimes' journey from drunken wretch to hero is glossed over somewhat. He suddenly ditches the bottle and decides to serve the public trust, protect the innocent and uphold the law. He's a wonderful character – anyone who comes up with the line If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life and who is constantly disappointed with himself will strike a chord with any reader – but the novel is erratic in his plotting. Vimes cleaning up his act happens much too quickly, but the book grinds to a halt about two thirds of the way in and infuriatingly spins its wheels before the plot kicks back in for its conclusion. Ankh-Morpork breathes here, at least as much as a shitheap city where the river is technically full of solids, rather than liquids, can do. Like any great crime novel, which Guards! Guards! ultimately is, the city is as much a character as its dramatis personae..."

https://pratchettjob.wordpress.com/2014/12/12/i-fought-the-law-guards-guards/

The Light Fantastic:

"The Light Fantastic is a Discworld book that I've read before. I remember not liking it. Beyond that? Nothing. So I was rather surprised to find I enjoyed it. In short, The Light Fantastic is The Colour of Magic but with plot. While its predecessor threw joke after joke at the reader to stop them from noticing that not a lot was actually happening, Rincewind and Twoflower, TCM's protagonists, are trying to halt The End of the World, albeit in their usual cack-handed fashion... The Light Fantastic is about power and responsibility. I'll try and keep the Spider-Man references to a minimum but in Trymon we are shown a ruthless and ambitious mage set on modernisation, without actually thinking through the consequences. So when he packs the seven Spells into his head, he opens a portal through which the dreaded Things from the Dungeon Dimensions can travel through (plot, remember?). So far, so straightforward, but where The Light Fantastic is interesting is how Pratchett explores the importance of the right kind of authority and knowing one's limits. Galder, the magician Trymon usurps as the head of the Unseen University, is characterised almost as a benign dictator who keeps magic in check. Trymon craves management – if there was something Trymon really liked, it was organising – but it is in bringing this to bear on the University that all hell almost breaks loose... By putting the reluctant hero Rincewind at the centre of the novel, Pratchett looks at how a quiet life can actually be worthwhile..."

http://bit.ly/1JRv09a

...and Snuff:

"I had been concerned just how Pratchett's writing abilities would have been affected post-Embuggerance. Making Money was clumsy, Unseen Academicals depressing but I Shall Wear Midnight was yet another fantastic Tiffany Aching novel. I was unsure whether it would be business as usual, as some Pratchett fans have argued, or whether the post 2007 Discworld novels were too sad to continue with. With Snuff (and with Raising Steam), I feel the answer sits somewhere between the two camps. They are enjoyable, and deeply admirable given his health, but nowhere near the heights of classic Discworld. As one would expect. There have been several stylistic changes. There are footnotes abound, instead of the occasional comic gem smuggled into the bottom of the page. His back and forth dialogue has been broadened considerably. Instead of the pithy comic chat that characterised so many of his novels, we have big chunks of conversation. While it doesn't quite overpower the novel, it does slow it down considerably. To its credit, the plot holds things together much better than I expected... Elements of the novel are fun. The massive set-piece barge chase at the end of the novel is deftly done. There's the concept of 'small crimes hiding bigger ones', where smuggling is the 'respectable' face of goblin slavery, is smart but regrettably undercooked. I loved Miss Beedle, the children's author who was one of the goblins' most vocal champions. Beedle's mother was raised by goblins when she was abandoned as a child and her telling Vimes of her family history delivers one of the book's best passages... Despite the pedestrian plot, it has a brilliant conclusion, where the world is changed in the goblins' favour. Sybil Ramkin, delightful, warm, exquisite Sybil decides to hold a concert where the talented goblin Tears of a Mushroom can showcase her otherworldly harp skills..."

https://pratchettjob.wordpress.com/2015/07/17/death-trip-snuff/

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15) IMAGES OF THE MONTH

Sneak preview of the forthcoming Compleat Discworld Atlas! Photo by Kirsten Heath:
http://bit.ly/1fiqIiU

A 2015 Pratchett tribute: well dressing wizard in West Hallam, by Jane and Neve Metcalf, photo by Rachel Rowlands:
http://bit.ly/1GuKNs5

...and a closer view, photo by Paul Garton:
http://bit.ly/1Mf5tMc

Editor's note – well dressing is an old custom most closely associated with certain parts of England, most notably the Peak District. In other words, Lancre... but possibly the Chalk too (although there are well dressings in villages all around the UK). Here be a wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Well_dressing

Some of the Perth cast of Maskerade, in costume:
http://bit.ly/1Oz1GbN
http://bit.ly/1CWnkVO

Jon Sullivan's painting of the Battle of Koom Valley, from the 2010 Discworld calendar:
http://www.jonsullivanart.com/images/the-battle-of-koom_03.jpg

A familiar-looking library, sent by Newshound Mss C. If anyone knows the credit for this photo, do let us know!
http://bit.ly/1IklVVe

...and a reminder, from Sam Vimes, of something that far too many well-meaning people have a habit of forgetting:

http://bit.ly/1LMItU8

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16) CLOSE

And that's everything for the month of July. Don't forget to check out the mirror site/blog, for between-times updates, promotions for Discworld plays, and assorted images that don't fit in a text-based newsletter. And with that, I'm off to my bed. See you next month!

– Annie Mac

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The End. If you have any questions or requests, write: wossname-owner (at) pearwood (dot) info

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Copyright (c) 2015 by Klatchian Foreign Legion

NEWSFLASH: Shakespeare meets Discworld, with Stephen Briggs at the helm!

Studio Theatre, home of all those Stephen Briggs Discworld adaptation world premieres, will be doing a Dickensian musical titled Humbug! later this year – but then...



"...our next show will be a Discworld play, timed for Terry's and Shakespeare's birth months – TERRY PRATCHETT: the Shakespeare Codex, which we'll be staging on 6 to 9 April 2016.

"Discworld's 'stars' have to stop the elves taking over our world, make Shakespeare write A Midsummer Night's Dream ... and ensure the potato is discovered!

"Featuring Ridcully, Rincewind, Granny Weatherwax, Angua, Vetinari, Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth I ... & the Earl of Oxford.

"Based loosely on The Science of Discworld II: the Globe, Lords & Ladies, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Staged in April 2016 (both Terry's and Shakespeare's birth month)."

http://www.studiotheatreclub.com/whats-next

Wossname will post details of times and tickets when it's closer to the date, but it's a great thing to look forward to!