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Wossname -- January 2016 -- Main issue
Jan. 31st, 2016 01:52 amWossname
Newsletter of the Klatchian Foreign Legion
January 2016 (Volume 19, Issue 1, 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 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.
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Editor in Chief: Annie Mac
News Editor: Vera P
Newshounds: Mogg, Sir J of Croydon Below, the Shadow, 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) NEW ELEMENT "OCTARINE" PETITION
04) ODDS AND SODS
05) DISCWORLD PLAYS NEWS
06) DISCWORLD GAMES NEWS
07) DISCWORLD ARTS AND CRAFTS NEWS
08) DISCWORLD MEETING GROUPS NEWS
09) WITHOUT WHOM: STEPHEN BRIGGS
10) ROUNDWORLD TALES: LEUCIPOTTOMY
11) REVIEW: "IN MEMORY"
12) IMAGES OF THE MONTH
13) CLOSE
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01) QUOTES OF THE MONTH
"Alan Rickman without doubt the most perfect Lord Vetinari there never was."
– the @terryandrob official Twitter account, 15th January 2016
"If it gets the symbol 'Oc', I'm pronouncing it ook."
– Twitterer Jim Sheridan, commenting on the drive by Pratchett fans around the world to get a newly discovered element named Octarine
"I choose to celebrate Terry's life and all the joy it brought to many and I hope my final cover of a Discworld novel pays tribute to him as a fitting mark of my great respect."
– Paul Kidby
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02) LETTER FROM YOUR EDITOR
Hello, fellow celebrators of the Year of the Sneezing Panda aka 2016!
I would like to draw your attention to a very special book. No, it's not an official Discworld book as such, but it *is* a book that would never have existed without the Discworld, and the other works of Sir Terry Pratchett, to inspire its creation. The book is called In Memory: A Tribute to Sir Terry Pratchett, and is an anthology of mostly humorous stories published as a tribute to Sir Pterry and also as a fundraiser for Alzheimer's Research UK. So that makes it a Discworld ancillary book of a sort...
Over the years Wossname has received and reviewed a number of Discworld ancillary books, and we have made no bones about finding many of these at best adequate and at worst barely mediocre, but when it comes to "In Memory" this is not the case! Please do read the full review, (item 11 in this issue), and then please, please do buy this book. It is really worth the (very reasonable) price, and all proceeds – yes, all of them – go to Alzheimer’s Research UK. There is more information at http://www.inmemorytribute.com/
*
The release date for the upcoming Small Gods graphic novel, illustrated by Ray Friesen, is 14th July 2016. Here be a glimpse of the artwork, provided by the @terryandrob Twitter account: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CZQzJ5hWAAAEWUK.jpg
And now, on with the show...
– Annie Mac, Editor
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03) NEW ELEMENT PETITION
Do you want a newly discovered Roundworld element named for the colour of magic? Of course you do!
An exciting surprise on Change.org...
"Petitioning IUPAC and 2 others
"Name new element 117 Octarine, in honour of Terry Pratchett's Discworld
"This petition is to name element 117, recently confirmed by the International Union of Applied Chemistry, as 'Octarine', with the proposed symbol Oc (pronounced 'ook'), in honour of the late Terry Pratchett and his Discworld series of books... a particularly pleasing choice because, not only would it honour a world-famous and much-loved author, but it also has an 'ine' ending, consistent with the other elements in period 17. Octarine is being counted as 'a mythological concept' under IUPAC rules..."
To read the full petition, and to sign if you wish to, go to chn.ge/1mHR3dY
It's also been tweeted by Rob Wilkins, with the link, at https://twitter.com/terryandrob/status/684845900489977856 where Twitter account-holders can add a comment.
from BoingBoing:
"Octarine, in the Discworld books, is known as 'the colour of magic', which forms the title of Pratchett's first ever Discworld book. According to Disc mythology, octarine is visible only to wizards and cats, and is generally described as a sort of greenish-yellow purple colour, which seems perfect for what will probably be the final halogen in the periodic table. Octarine is also a particularly pleasing choice because, not only would it honour a world-famous and much-loved author, but it also has an 'ine' ending, consistent with the other elements in period 17. Octarine is being counted as 'a mythological concept' under IUPAC rules, which state that elements must be named after 'a mythological concept or character; a mineral, or similar substance; a place or geographical region; a property of the element; or a scientist'. The Discworld stories are certainly stories about gods and heroes..."
http://bit.ly/22NoyN2
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04) ODDS AND SODS
4.1 COMMEMORATIVE PLAQUE
According to the Bucks Free Press, Sir Pterry's onetime employers in his journalist days, our favourite author's favourite childhood library could do with a blue plaque:
"The town council hopes to install a plaque on the wall at Beaconsfield Library in Reynolds Road, where Sir Terry was a Saturday boy and returned to give talks. Cllr Philip Bastiman, chair of the open spaces committee, said the council had been in touch with Sir Terry's daughter Rhianna, who was 'very supportive' of the idea of commemorating the author. He said: 'Because I believe he worked in the library and used the library a lot and he came back and actually gave talks at the library relatively recently, in their mind, it had a place in his affections. They feel it is wholly appropriate to have a commemorative plaque to Terry Pratchett at the library itself.' Cllr Bastiman said they could have to wait 'a number of years' for a blue plaque, which are commonly used to commemorate historical figures and places, so will remember him with their own plaque. The council wants to involve Sir Terry's family in the process and may present some designs to them for them to choose the best. Cllr Bastiman said: 'I don't think we need to be quite so formal in the way we recognise the achievements of one of our former citizens. We hope we could get a representative for the family to come up and to mark the occasion.'..".
http://bit.ly/1QpCqbq
...and from Get Bucks:
"He was born in Beaconsfield and would often return to the area, most recently in 2013 when he gave a talk at the library in Reynolds Road. Beaconsfield Town Council has discussed the issue and has agreed that a plaque would be a good way to honour the life of one of the town's most famous residents. It has been in contact with Sir Terry's family to discuss the issue, and is set to ask Bucks County Council if it can move ahead with the plans... It is felt that honouring Sir Terry in a similar way would be a fitting tribute to the author. Beaconsfield mayor John Read said: 'I think it's excellent, and will be a really good way to mark his contribution to Beaconsfield and to literature. There are still a few things left to do, but it looks like it's all going to go ahead. Beaconsfield has a very rich literary history, and it is great to pay tribute to those who have lived and worked in Beaconsfield, and made such a contribution to the area.'... The town council is hoping to present potential designs for the plaque to Sir Terry's family in order for them to choose which one they like the most. Further announcements about the plaque are expected in the coming months."
bit.ly/1TmgezK
4.2 NEW DEMENTIA SERVICE
News from the Bucks Free Press:
"A new dementia service will be launched for people in Buckinghamshire in April – just over a year after Beaconsfield-born Sir Terry Pratchett died. The author, who also went to school in High Wycombe and worked as a reporter at the Bucks Free Press, died on March 12, 2015. He had suffered from Alzheimer's for eight years and had been vocal about the need for better care. The new service, which was awarded by Buckinghamshire County Council and the Buckinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Groups (Aylesbury Vale and Chiltern), will be run by the Alzheimer's Society, which Sir Terry supported. From April 1, Buckinghamshire residents who are concerned about their memory, or who have been diagnosed with dementia, can benefit from the county's new Memory Support Service. The new care contract replaces a service which is currently split between the Alzheimer's Society and Age UK..."
http://bit.ly/1nkcv9q
4.3 THE END OF MY INDEPENDENT BOOKSHOP
My Independent Bookshop (_http://myindependentbookshop.co.uk_) has undergone a transformation for the new year. Here be extracts from the email Wossname received from their administrators:
"In May 2014, we launched My Independent Bookshop as a community where book lovers could create and curate their own virtual bookshelves, connect with independent bookshops across the UK and interact with fellow bibliophiles... we'll be closing our doors in preparation for moving into the brand new http://www.penguin.co.uk/ in the New Year. Here you'll be able to find information on all Penguin Random House books and authors, as well as read regularly published articles on all things books. Along the way, we have had an amazing amount of support from everyone we've worked with, from independent bookshops, authors, publishers and of course you – our virtual bookshop owners. Together you made the My Independent Bookshop community a vibrant place to show off our latest literary loves and discuss the books that meant something to us. Thank you for populating our virtual streets with your top picks, rave reviews and stellar shops. Over 20,000 books were put up on the shelves at My Independent Bookshop."
Sir Pterry was among those 20,000 recommenders. If any of you were also in that number, O Readers, we commend you for attempting to fight against the vile culture-destroying Beast of Amazon. Here's hoping 2016 will be the year that more and more people wake up and remember that keeping bookshops physical and local truly does matter...
4.4 ALZHEIMER'S EARLY DIAGNOSIS PROGRESS
It may soon become possible to spot pre-signs of Alzheimer's 20 years before symptoms appear. From The Telegraph:
"Researchers at Sweden's Karolinska Institute and the Uppsala University discovered that inflammation occurs in the brain decades before the condition shows any other signs. It means that in future doctors could predict which people will go on to develop Alzheimer's disease when there is still time to make lifestyle changes or take drugs to slow down the condition. Treatments which can put the brakes on dementia are currently undergoing trials and could be available within a few years, so tests which can pick up the disease early are likely to be crucial in future care. Researchers followed families who were known to carry genes which made them more susceptible to Alzheimer's. Most of them will develop the condition by the time they are in their mid-50s. All participants underwent memory tests and brain scans. The mutation carriers were found to have inflammatory changes – known as astrocyte activation - almost twenty years before the estimated debut of memory problems. Astrocytes are a type of brain cell which increase following an injury to aid repair. The researchers also found a crucial window, around seventeen years before symptoms develop, where the sticky amyloid plaques which cause dementia began to increase. 'Inflammatory changes in the form of higher levels of brain astrocytes are thought to be a very early indicator of disease onset,' explains principal investigator Professor Agneta Nordberg at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Centre for Alzheimer Research at the Karolinska Institute..."
bit.ly/1nOx6TK
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05) DISCWORLD PLAYS NEWS
5.1 SHAKESPEARE CODEX UPDATES
The Studio Theatre Club, "the first, ever, anywhere in the world, to dramatise the works of Sir Terry Pratchett", will present the world premiere of The Shakespeare Codex by Stephen Briggs, the world's *premier* adapter of Discworld stories for the stage. If any of you haven't been following the pre-production announcements, The Shakespeare Codex is a mashup of The Science of Discworld II: the Globe, Lords & Ladies, and A Midsummer Night's Dream (the last one wasn't written by Terry Pratchett, of course), starring Ridcully, Rincewind, Granny Weatherwax, Angua, Vetinari, that Shakespeare feller, a noted 16th-century monarch – and noted Shakespeare impersonator, the Earl of Oxford.
When: 6th to 9th April 2016
Venue: Unicorn Theatre, Medieval Abbey Buildings, Checker Walk/Thames Street, Abingdon, OXON OX14 3HZ
Time: 7.30pm evening shows; Saturday matinee time not posted
Tickets: £10 (Wed./Thu.) and £11 (Friday and Saturday matinee). The Saturday evening show is already sold out. Tickets are sold via post, but phone and email requests can be made. For full information on ordering tickets, go to:
http://www.studiotheatreclub.com/ordering-tickets
http://www.studiotheatreclub.com/whats-next
http://www.shakespearecodex.co.uk/
5.2 NEW: MORT IN VIRGINIA (FEBRUARY)
The Sterling Playmakers will be performing 'Mort' next month! Director Susan Kronenberg invites Discworld fans old and new to enjoy their production:
"Imagine a world where Death (yes, the Grim Reaper himself) can take an apprentice. What if that apprentice, Mort, was suddenly put in charge of collecting souls while Death takes a holiday? What could possibly go wrong? After a 'small' mistake, EVERYTHING! Is this the end of Discworld? Will Mort and his friends, Ysabell, Death's 16 (?) year old daughter, and Albert, Death's man-servant, along with an incompetent wizard and a petulant princess be able to save the day before the whole space/time continuum collapses? Chaos abounds while Death searches for what it means to be truly 'human.' Join us on this mad romp through Terry Pratchett's Discworld — a place where magic works and science doesn't. This comic masterpiece will make you die with laughter."
When: 18th, 19th & 20th, 25th, 26th & 27th February 2016.
Venue: Sterling Middle School, 201 W. Holly Ave., Sterling, VA 20164
Time: all performances are at 8pm
Tickets: $12. To buy online, go to http://www.sterlingplaymakers.com/buy-tickets/
http://www.sterlingplaymakers.com
5.3 NEW: WYRD SISTERS IN DEREHAM (MARCH)
The Dereham Theatre Company will present their performances of the Stephen Briggs adaptation of Wyrd Sisters in March!
When: 10th–12th March 2016
Venue: Dereham Memorial Hall, 62a Norwich Street, Dereham, Norfolk NR19 1AD
Time: 7.30pm all shows
Tickets: £10 (£9 concessions for those aged 18 and under or over 60). Available Tuesday through Friday 10am–4pm and Saturday 9am–3pm at The Little Gallery, 62 Norwich Street NR19 1AD; by phone 01362 690 969; and by post cheques (supported by a valid cheque card) should be made payable to "Dereham Theatre Company" and posted to the address above with a stamped self-addressed envelope if you would like the tickets sent to you. Tickets can also be booked online at http://derehamtheatre.co.uk/ "On-line booking and sales from The Little Gallery will be withdrawn on the day of each performance. On the day of a performance tickets for that performance can only be purchased from the Box Office at Dereham Memorial Hall no earlier than 30 minutes prior to the start of the performance."
For full booking details, go to http://dosoc.co.uk/bookingdetails.asp
http://dosoc.co.uk/production2.asp
5.4 NEW: LORDS AND LADIES IN NEWCASTLE (JULY)
The People's Theatre, "the premier amateur theatre company in the North of England", will stage their production of Lords and Ladies, adapted by Irana Brown, in July.
"We're no strangers to Discworld and this funny and fast-moving adaptation of (the much-missed) Sir Terry's fourteenth novel sees the welcome return of Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg to our stage. It promises to be lots of fun, so book early to avoid disappointment!"
When: 12th to 16th July 2016
Venue: People's Theatre, Stephenson Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 5QF. Phone: (0191) 275 9875
Time: 7.30pm all shows
Tickets: £13.50 (£11 concessions). Box Office on 0191 265 5020 or email tickets.peoplestheatre@email.com.
(The Box Office is open weekdays 10.30am–1pm and Mon, Wed, Fri evenings 7.30–8.30pm)
To book online, go to the inappropriately-named Intelligent Tickets, and be prepared to jump through a truly daft series of hoops: http://www.intelligent-tickets.co.uk/index.php?th=pe
http://bit.ly/1lMl3Vj
5.5 REMINDER: ERIC IN CARDIFF (FEBRUARY)
Monstrous Productions, who have now raised over £16,000 for Alzheimer's Research UK, bring their latest new play to the stage next month!
"Eric Thursley doesn't want a lot from life – only mastery of his own kingdom, eternal life, and the most beautiful woman who ever lived. But he's got a dream, and even summoning the entirely useless failed wizard Rincewind by accident isn't going to make him give up any time soon. Between these two unlikely heroes and their goal lie ancient kingdoms, mythical wars and a lot of people who aren't very happy to see them. This includes the Lord of Hell and his great and terrible minions..."
When: Thursday 18 – Saturday 20 February at
Venue: The Gate Arts Centre, Cardiff
Time 7:30 all evening shows;, matinee on Saturday, 2:30. These will be held at .
Tickets: £7 for adults (£5 concessions), available to purchase from the Gate Theatre box office (029 2048 3344) or by emailing monstrousproductions2012@gmail.com. To book online, go to http://7889269b08cd.fikket.com/
http://www.monstrousptc.com/
5.6 REMINDER: THE WEE FREE MEN IN ADELAIDE, FOURECKS (APRIL)
NOTE: there is a special half-price ticket offer on now! Runs to the 4th of February, so get on it! – Ed.
The Unseen Theatre gang bring on a new era of Discworld adaptations with The Wee Free Men, adapted and directed by Pamela Munt!
"In the first of a series of Discworld novels for young adults, we meet the young witch-to-be Tiffany Aching – a girl who reads the dictionary for fun – because no-one ever told her not to. With a trusty frying pan as her weapon, her grandmother's magic book (well actually its called 'Diseases of the Sheep') and the Wee Free Men by her side, Tiffany ventures into the realm of faerie land to rescue her very sticky, and not particularly likeable, baby brother. But, of course, all is not what it seems..."
When: Wed. 15th April to Sat. 30th April 2016; a Sunday 17th April matinee is to be confirmed
Venue: Bakehouse Theatre, 255 Angas St. Adelaide
Time: 7.30pm all evening shows; 2pm matinee
Tickets: Adults $22; Concession $18; Children $18; Groups (6+) $16; TREv $16; Families (2 A & 2ch.) $60. Al tickets for the Preview night (15th April) are $15. To book online, go to www.bakehousetheatre.com. Tickets can also be purchased at the door on the night, subject to availability. Box office opens 7pm.
http://bakehousetheatre.com/shows/wee-free-men
5.7 REMINDER: MORT IN YORK (JULY)
We Are Theatre will be staging their production of Mort in July!
When: 21st and 22nd June 2016
Venue: Joseph Rowntree Theatre, Haxby Road, York YO31 8TA
Time: 7.30pm all shows
Tickets: £10 (£8 concessions), available from the York Theatre Royal box office (phone 01904 623568). For group bookings, contact wearetheatre@googlemail.com or ring 07521 364107
www.wearetheatre.co.uk
5.8 REVIEW: UPPINGHAM THEATRE'S WYRD SISTERS
Uppingham Gets it Right
by Annie Mac
Readers of Wossname will by now recognise the name of the Uppingham Theatre Company, whose late-October 2015 production of Wyrd Sisters had a long and fascinating pre-production runup that we featured over many issues. Being many thousands of miles from Uppingham, I was unable to attend a performance of the play in person, but techmaster Martin Baines kindly arranged to send a recording of one performance to me via clacks. And I am very glad he did – this is not the first amateur theatre rendering of Stephen Briggs' Wyrd Sisters play that I've seen, but beyond doubt it is the best.
Top marks go to Stephen Green and Meryl Vincent-Enright as would-be royal couple Duke and Duchess Felmet, especially to Ms Vincent-Enright for giving the Duchess that fine – and canonically accurate – balance of pompousness and murderousness that melds Lady Macbeth and Hyacinth Bucket. Mick Barker excels as the Fool, the miserable bells-festooned jester who is far from foolish. The scenes between the Duke and his Fool are among the best in the production. Also of special note is Andrew Chapman's turn as Vitoller, owner-manager of the company of strolling players who shelter the infant Rightful King of Lancre (well played as a young man by Geran Jackson), and George Larkin's as the ghost of Verence I, recently-murdered Previous Rightful King of Lancre.
As for the Wyrd Sisters themselves, Joy Everitt's portrayal of Granny Weatherwax has just the right amount of Granny's famously tight-lipped "I can't be having with this". Holly Bertalan may not be anywhere near as (also famously) flat-chested as Magrat but she makes up for her lack of lack by hitting Magrat's New Age-y soppiness spot-on. And Gillian Kendon does a creditable Nanny Ogg, although I could have done with seeing more of Nanny's legendary sauciness that Ms Kendon only showed at the very end of the production as she danced off into the wings, kicking up her heels and displaying her "scandalous" bright red petticoat with correctly Oggish delight.
Vikki Shelton's direction is nicely timed, keeping the action moving along and getting the best projection from her players, and the entire cast achieves a satisfyingly low incidence of fluffed lines. But in many ways the shiniest star of this production is its technical excellence. Uppingham's Wyrd Sisters features the most professional-looking stage and costume design I have ever seen in an amateur theatre Discworld presentation. The sets are clever and striking, utilising well-planned back projection to create believable vistas – the wild Lancre moors, the streets (all right, street) of Ankh-Morpork, the vast-roomed, draughty expanses of Lancre castle and it gloomy dungeon. A round of applause goes to the aforementioned Martin Baines for his projection and projection design, and to stage manager Alan Jackson for ensuring that everything and everyone in this physically intricate presentation goes smoothly. Bex Key and John Everitt discharge their lighting and sound duties superbly, but I think I'll have to award Man of, that is, Seamstres-, er, Needlewoman of the Match to Mandy Jackson for her design and creation of the wonderful costumes, especially the Duchess' extraordinary gown that looked to be of full-on telly costume drama quality.
What marks the Uppingham Theatre Company's production of Wyrd Sisters most of all is its sense of dedication – to detail, to the spirit of the chosen play, to making sure every member of the company gave their best from early days to the well-merited final bow. As producer-director, Vikki Shelton infused the entire process with indefatigable enthusiasm and all manner of promotional ideas, and most of all with sheer honest heart and soul. I do hope the company chooses to do another play from the series one of these days; based on the great showing of Wyrd Sisters, I would say Discworld is in great hands in Uppingham.
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06) DISCWORLD GAMES NEWS
CLACKS: THE REVIEWS!
6.1 The official Wossname review, by Steven D'Aprano:
The Clacks board game turns the climax of "Going Postal" completely around. Inspired by the infamous race between the Grand Trunk clacks company and the Royal Ankh-Morpork Post Office, in this game you try to race to Genua. But with a twist: you are working for the villains of the book, the Grand Trunk, and you're trying to beat the Post Office (represented by a cute little figurine of the Postmaster Moist von Lipwig – painted gold, of course).
Presumably the Post Office has magical assistance, as the Postmaster speeds from town to town in the blink of an eye. Meanwhile, the Trunk is plagued by problems including Deep Downers, inconveniently placed golems with bright lights, substandard wick-trimming, Nugganites, roving reporter Miss Sacharissa Cripslock, and the dreaded Killer Poke. Fortunately you only have to transmit two short words. Can you beat the Post Office?
And the race is on!
"Clacks" is fundamentally a game of skill, with just enough element of chance to mix it up a bit. It is certainly a challenging game, but fun, and will especially suit people with good pattern-matching skills. To move forward, you have a limited number of Jacquards available to flip the tower's lamps from On to Off, or vice versa. There are sixteen lamps all up, and you flip some number of them by playing a Jacquard from your hand. If you succeed in making the code for the letter you are trying to transmit, you move your token one step closer to Genua. A system of Stress Points and Faults control how often breakdowns occur and how fast the Post Office moves.
If you're the sort of person who loves coin flipping puzzles, you might love this game. Even if you aren't too fond of them, it can still be very enjoyable once you get how the lamp flipping system works. I feel that the game's recommended age range, seven to adult, is probably over-optimistic. It seems to me that the average seven year old would find the lamp flipping too difficult to be fun. I had a bit of trouble too, admittedly after a long and tiring day, but once I got past that, and could successfully transmit letters, I found the game very enjoyable.
Clacks is a rich and complex game, with three different sets of action cards ("Operator's Log", "Incident Report", and "Maintenance Report"). There are three distinct games possible: a cooperative game where the players work together to beat the Post Office, a competitive game where players play against each other, and a "Junior Race Game" for two players using simplified rules. Don't be put off by the word "Junior", it's quite good for adults too, especially when you're still learning how to recognise letter patterns and play Jacquards to make new patterns. Plus there are a variety of optional rules which can make the game more interesting for those who have mastered the basic rules, so you won't get bored in a hurry.
(Hint: if you're looking to make it even more of a challenge, you can limit yourself to playing only a single Jacquard each turn, as we accidentally did.)
The quality of the physical game pieces is excellent, and BackSpindle Games certainly haven't stinted on the materials used. I especially love that the rule book is printed as a Haynes Operators' Manual. The game pieces are very well made, and the artwork is well-done but not quite to my taste. (A bit too dark, and not quite enough contrast to read the cards easily.) There's an unfortunate discrepancy where the manual refers to the Maintenance Report cards as "Fault Report" cards, and preparing the lamp tiles for the first time is a bit fiddly, but making up for that, there's a lovely secret message in the manual, hidden in plain sight.
I have no hesitation in giving this game a thumbs up, and I certainly will play it again.
6.2 Other reviews...
By "Miss T Fied" on Amazon:
"It is incredibly well made, lovely solid quality pieces but not the sort of game to play with the whole family unless they all have Phd's and are great at mental manipulation. I don't and I'm not :-( BUT after a couple of days, we worked it out and to be fair, it's quite good. It can be played in different ways – suitable for kiddies (this is how we eventually learned to play it); collaboratively or competitively as adults. I'm still not 100% sure we are playing it correctly, but I prefer it to Witches."
...and by Antonios S on RPGnet, who calls it "Classy & Well Done" for style and "Average" for substance:
"The game takes place in a 4 x 4 square board. Each position can be either on or off, thus geometrical shapes will be produced. Each letter of the English alphabet corresponds to a 3 x 2 rectangle where some positions are on and some are off (a bit like Braille, if you wish). On positions range from two to five, depending on the letter, obviously in different positions so that all letters are unique and easily distinguishable. Depending on the way that a player is sitted, he will try to form those letters within particular frames on the board. Even worse (for the player), each time he successfully composes a letter he will have to change the frame.
"Each player begins the game with a Fault Report card and three random Jacquards. Jacquards are the cards that will allow the player to change the patterns on the board. They depict from two to four positions where a change will be effectuated within the board. Everything indicated must change; on becomes off and vice versa. The pattern they depict may be mirrored or rotated and can be apply to any part of the board as long as it fully fits. Some Jacquards also allow the player to draw Fault Report cards that he can play at any time during his or his opponents' turns, either to help his cause or to make his opponents' lives harder... The game ends when a player forms all five letters in his card, a point in which the player after him has one go towards sabotaging him. To achieve this that player must turn off all the lights in the winning player's tower by using his Jacquards with a limit of five stress points as usual. If he fails, victory is final. If he succeeds and has stress points to continue, he can actually get on with his turn. In the cooperative game the players play against the game trying to defeat the Post Office of Ankh-Morpork. There is an easy and a hard version. In both cases the players must transmit two words with a space between them and an end sign at their end (12 successful sent letters overall), while the Post Office however gets 38 and 34 steps respectively before reaching its destination...
"The strong points: Clacks is an abstract logical puzzle with elements of hand management of your randomized Jacquards draw. Its whole premise is based on finding the easiest possible way to transmit your letters in the right order. Seeing how players will be sitted in a cross-like pattern, they do not have to submit the letters in the same form and direction. In a four player game you might have the exact same letter to send with the player immediately after you, yet your positions are vertical. You will be causing mayhem to one another (and that's good)... Forget the rules that omit the timer. Clacks is pure logic; some sort of adrenaline is needed. I am glad to see a game that offers so many variants after such a long time. It tries to satisfy everybody: from those interested into puzzles to those that like shorter games to more hardcore players to children. Idem for competitive versus the coop version. Well done, Backspindle...
"The weak points: There is abstract, and then there is abstract. As much as I have read a couple of Discworld novels, the theme of Clacks is as pasted as it can be. This is a dry exercise in logic, especially if you are uninterested in the Discworld franchise. There is nothing wrong with that, of course; if however you like the games to have a recurring idea behind them, you might be disappointed... Conclusion: Clacks is a game for particular target groups and tastes. Discworld completists will be definitely intrigued, as will be puzzle solvers..."
http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/16/16642.phtml
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07) DISCWORLD ARTS AND CRAFTS NEWS
From the Discworld Emporium:
"At Hogswatch the Sunshine Sanctuary is 'swamped' by countless dragons in desperate need of love and care. By adopting a dragon today you'll help provide vital aid for the sanctuary's most needy residents. In return for your contribution and support, you'll receive 3 own baby swamp dragons, lovingly and exclusively sculpted by Mr Paul Kidby!
Produced in a beautifully glinty cold-cast bronze finish, these dragon babies really glow! But that's not all – you'll also receive adoption certificates to name and keep safe with your dragons, all presented in transportation gift boxes to prevent escape!"
The Kidby dragons are priced at £30 each or £80 for the set of three. For more information, and to order, go to: http://www.discworldemporium.com/category/sunshine-sanctuary-adopt-a-dragon
"The 2015 Definitive issues from the Ankh-Morpork Post Office will soon be retired to make way for new designs for The Year of the Sneezing Panda! These iconic issues, as designed by Moist Von Lipwig in Going Postal, are traditionally printed on authentic gummed stamp paper & available to collect as single stamps or in beautiful whole sheets... but not for long!"
To view the Discworld Emporium's stamps-for-sale collection, go to:
http://www.discworldemporium.com/discworld-stamps
Also...
* Death of Rats scythe earrings:
"Crafted in sterling silver and based on the Death of Rat's dinky little scythe, these miniature reaping tools designed by Terry Pratchett's himself look elegant dangling from even the most gnarled of earlobes. Measures 21mm, total drop length 31mm."
The Death of Rats scythe earrings are priced at £17.50/pair. For more information, and to order, go to: http://www.discworldemporium.com/discworld-scythe-earrings
* Thud! Now back in stock:
"As Vetinari's game of choice, Thud became the central theme to Terry Pratchett's 34th Discworld novel Thud!, made a cameo appearance in Sky One's film adaptations and is enjoyed by thousands of Discworld fans and gamers across the world. Based on the ancient struggle between Dwarf and Troll, Thud is a game of two halves. Players take turns to play the fast moving Dwarfs as they attempt to trap Trolls in a carefully constructed ambush, only to then take the part of the fearless Trolls who lumber slowly yet powerfully around the board. You can learn to play in a matter of minutes, and no two games are ever the same. Contained within a cotton travel bag, each set comprises 32 Dwarfs, 8 Trolls, a Thud stone, Thud board, rulebook and an exclusive treatise penned especially for Thud by Terry Pratchett himself. Also included are rules for Koom Valley Thud, a high speed version of the game.
"The screenprinted heavyweight cotton board measures 47 x 47cm. The pieces are inspired by the Lewis Chessmen and are cast in resin with a carved bone effect finish. Dwarfs stand 35mms tall and Trolls stand at 62mms.
Thud was devised by Trevor Truran and is produced officially and exclusively under licence of the Discworld Emporium."
Thud! is priced at £32.00. For more information, and to order, go to:
http://www.discworldemporium.com/ThudGame
* The Steeleye Span "Wintersmith" Deluxe edition:
"An epic musical collaboration from mutual fans Steeleye Span and Terry Pratchett, based on the Discworld novel Wintersmith – a match made in folk-rock heaven! Steeleye Span famously played at Terry's 60th birthday party and they have been firm friends ever since. This deluxe double CD album features four extra songs, plus eight live tracks from the Wintersmith Tour and two exclusive demo versions. Features Maddy Prior, the voice of Steeleye for 40 years at the helm of the line-up, with band stalwart and fiddler extraordinaire Peter Knight, Rick Kemp on bass, Peter Zorn and Julian Littman on Guitars and Liam Genockey on the drum stool, With special guests Terry Pratchett, Kathryn Tickell and John Spiers."
The Wintersmith Deluxe edition CD is priced at £15.00. For more information, and to order, go to: http://www.discworldemporium.com/Steeleye%20Span%20Wintersmith
...and from Discworld.com... it's competition time!
"It's the Year of the Sneezing Panda and we're kicking the January blues firmly in the posterior with a stunning framed sepia print of Greebo the Man. Simply email your answer to the following question to pr@discworld.com .... How does Count Casanunda get onto his horse?" (Use the subject line Greebo the Man competition)
[Editor's note: the Greebo print is gorgeous. I know because we have one!]
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08) DISCWORLD MEETING GROUPS NEWS: UPDATES AND REMINDERS
The Broken Drummers, "London's Premier Unofficially Official Discworld Group" (motto "Nil percussio est"), meets next on 30th November 1999 (-5874 days to go), according to their website, or more probably on Monday 1st February 2016 at the Monkey Puzzle, 30 Southwick Street, London, W2 1JQ. For more information, go to http://brokendrummers.org/ or email BrokenDrummers@gmail.com or nicholls.helen@yahoo.co.uk
*
Canberra, Australia's Discworld fan group is 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."
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 200 members who 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
"Every few months, we have a full day's worth of board games at La Scala Cafe, 169 Unley Rd, Unley in the function room starting at 10am."
For more info, go to http://ausdwcon.org/fan-clubs/adelaide/quiz/
*
The Broken Vectis Drummers meet next on Thursday 4th February 2016 (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 5th February 2016 (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 1st February 2016 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 1st February 2016 (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>
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
09) WITHOUT WHOM: STEPHEN BRIGGS
Alan Rickman may have been named by Team Pratchett as "the best Vetinari that never was", but the *first* Vetinari in Roundworld came properly to the stage in the person of Stephen Briggs. It could be said that he owns the part now, as he has been playing our favourite Patrician for over twenty-one years. He was even there officiating as Lord Vetinari when the Roundworld town of Wincanton twinned itself with Ankh-Morpork! But he has done much, much more to help bring the Oeuvre of Pratchett to the public. It's a rare Discworld fan who doesn't own at least ancillary work touched by the hand of Stephen Briggs, be it the Tourist Guide to Lancre, the Discworld Companion, or the beautifully presented compendium of Pratchett quotations known as The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld; his audiobook recordings of many unabridged Pratchett novels have won major industry awards, and his Discworld stage adaptations are performed around the world.
Stephen Briggs' association with Terry Pratchett began back in 1991 when then-plain-Mister Pratchett saw the Studio Theatre Club perform Wyrd Sisters, which Mr Briggs had adapted (as well as playing the role of Duke Felmet of Lancre). The two of them then began an association that was to last for nearly twenty-five years, starting with the creation of the Discworld Companion and the original Ankh-Morpork Mapp. Since then, Mr Briggs has co-created many other Discworld ancillary works including Death's Domain, Nanny Ogg's Cookbook, and a number of official Discworld yearbooks and diaries. He has also recorded audiobook versions of more than thirty Pratchett novels and adapted many of these (and other Pratchett novels) for the stage; while there are other licenced adaptations of Discworld novels being performed by amateur theatre groups, the Briggs versions are most considered "the real deal" and have raised over £100,000 for the Orangutan Foundation, a favourite charity of Sir Pterry's and one of which he was a leading patron.
Most recently, Mr Briggs created a new play, The Shakespeare Codex (based on several Discworld books with a bit of Shakespeare for good measure) which will have its world premiere this April (see item 5.1 above), and recorded the unabridged UK and USA audiobook of The Shepherd's Crown.
Oh, and he's a very helpful man, as some of the Wossname Newshounds can attest. So charge your glasses and raise a toast to Stephen Briggs. Hurrah!
http://discworld.wikia.com/wiki/Stephen_Briggs
http://www.stephenbriggs.com/
http://wiki.lspace.org/mediawiki/Stephen_Briggs
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
10) ROUNDWORLD TALES: A WORD ABOUT CHALK HORSES
That's right – an actual word about chalk horses on hillsides. And that word, as it happens, is "leucipottomy". Coined, as far as we know, by one Morris Marples in 1949, leucipottomy is defined as the craft of cutting white horses into the turf chalk hillsides. Although there aren't many chalk horses in Roundworld, the making of them ranges across the centuries, from the famous Uffington White Horse in Oxfordshire that inspired the look of the Chalk's White Horse in the Tiffany Aching series, to the turn-of-this-century one at Devizes in Wiltshire. White Horses can also be found in Kent, Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, Surrey, Sussex, Dorset, Aberdeenshire (to date, the only White Horse in Scotland), Hampshire, Buckinghamshire, and South Wales, but Wiltshire is definitely the White Horse capital of the UK with at least six extant White Horses.
The Westbury White Horse dates to the Iron Age, was restored in 1778 and is still maintained, shining out across the Bratton Downs to this day (_https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Westburywhitehorse.jpg_). Some other famous ones include the Cherhill White Horse (late 18th century); the Marlborough White Horse (1804); the Alton Barnes White Horse (1812), one of the largest in existence; and the Broad Town White Horse (1864), while less white than most, is still plainly a chalk horse. The Pewsey White Horse, first of the twentieth century, was cut in 1937 and now forms a major part of the town's flag (_http://bit.ly/1lZrSTy_). There are also other hillside chalk animals, including the Laverstock Panda which was created near Salisbury in 1968 but is no longer visible, and of course the infamous Cerne Abbas Giant with his great big to–, er, move along, nothing to see here...
These monumental earth sculptures do require occasional maintenance. The traditional method is known as "scouring" and requires a good number of volunteers to strip away the weeds and dirt that have gathered since the previous maintenance (you may remember this being described, with the usual Oggish observation that clearing the shape of the horse is a rather secondary reason for young courting couples to participate). Another common method is "trenching": when the underlying chalk is not easily reached, a trench is dug and then filled with chalk from another site.
According to Michael Quinion of World Wide Words, leucipottomy "looks as though it is formed from the Greek roots leuci–, white, hippo, horse, and the suffix –tomy. Unfortunately this last doesn't mean cutting or carving, but refers to cutting out or excising (as in many medical terms such as hysterectomy), so it actually means cutting off or excising white horses, which isn't the same thing at all." But as it's the only word we have for this activity, and the pastime is so rare, that will do nicely. I do hope Tiffany can find "leucipottomy" in her dictionary too.
Sources:
Wikipedia (various)
http://www.wiltshirewhitehorses.org.uk/
http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-leu1.htm
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
11) WOSSNAME REVIEWS "IN MEMORY: A TRIBUTE TO SIR TERRY PRATCHETT"
By Annie Mac
It's less than a year since Sorin Suciu and Laura May first put out the call for submissions to a planned anthology of short stories on the theme of memory, with a bonus angle of humour, to raise funds for Alzheimer's Research UK as a loving memorial to the life and work of Sir Terry Pratchett. The response was immediate and wide-ranging, with stories offered by amateur and professional writers alike, and the final result – In Memory: A Tribute to Sir Terry Pratchett – has been praised by no less a luminary of humour fiction than Robert Rankin.
Although I've spent many years reviewing Pratchett novels and associated Discworld "spinoff" books, map(p)s and other auxiliaries, I was unsure how to go about reviewing In Memory. But then I realised that the kernel of this review was already in the book itself, in an afterword by Charlotte Slocombe, author of Bubble Trouble, thirteenth story in this anthology: "Thank you for buying this book, because you never know who you might be saving." And there you have it. In Memory is a unique work, created as a combination tribute to Sir Terry Pratchett and as fundraising "merch" for the benefit of Alzheimer's Research UK. By purchasing a copy of In Memory, you're helping to keep the name of one of our most (rightly!) beloved authors alive in the world of literature and donating to a worthy and vital cause, but the glow of a good deed done isn't the only thing you'll come away with – because you'll also have the pleasure of reading a collection of seventeen bloody fine stories.
I really mean it. No lemonade is being squeezed here.
Given the at best variable quality of fan-generated writings, my expectations of In Memory were not exactly high. But I have to say that I was more than pleasantly surprised – far more, in fact. The quality of the writing is high throughout. The least polished of these stories is worthy of being commercially published, but in my opinion there are several standouts that deserve special mention:
"Thanks for the Memory Cards" by Luke Kemp would make for a brilliant short film in the hands of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright.
DK Mok's "The Heart of the Labyrinth" offers the kind of stealth philosophy, cloaked in the tropes of fantasy and mythology, of which Sir Pterry would have been proud.
"The Tale of the Storyteller" by Caroline Friedel is one of the sweetest tributes to our favourite author that I have yet seen.
In "The Vividarium", Steven McKinnon takes on Asimov and Clarke's clumsy attempts at humour and infuses them with a genuine sense of fun.
"Ackerley's Genuine Earth Antiques" by Michael K Schaefer upholds – proudly – the stylistic traditions of Fritz Leiber and Anthony Boucher with a light dusting of Connie Willis.
Co-editor Sorin Suciu's "Doris" is a classy enough tale to easily pass as golden-age Larry Niven.
Also, kudos go to editors May and Suciu for delivering an almost unblemished example of careful proofreading (with the exception of the most chortle-inducing uncaught mistype since the Wicked Bible of 1631 – it's on page 264, in case you wondered), which is rare these days even in the output of major publishing houses.
Each story in In Memory is followed by an afterword from its author, giving a brief overview of how it came into being and, of course, giving respect to Sir Pterry for inspiring them. The book is printed on decent quality paper and has a handsome cover – again, of a much higher quality than one might expect of a charity project. But most impressive of all, in my opinion, is that this collection represents a true labour of love. Nowhere did I find the slightest whiff of "I'm doing this to get my name out there in the industry" or "I'm doing this to make money". All seventeen authors – and the many others whose submissions couldn't be squeezed in – wrote their stories as a mark of the respect and admiration they felt for Sir Pterry, and as a way to give back for the joy his work brought into their lives. That kind of honesty is rarer than ye olde pearl of great price.
To all of you out there who say you want to keep Terry Pratchett's name alive forever "in the Overhead", I say buy this book, because the more money is raised for research into Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of dementia, the closer we'll get to stopping or even reversing the ravages of the awful thief of memory... and the more of us will never forget him. The people who put their hearts and time into this project hope to raise £6,500 for Alzheimer's Research UK; so far, almost £1,100 has been raised. Let's all go for it, hmm?
Editor's note:
Prices for In Memory: A Tribute to Sir Terry Pratchett range from $13.99 on CreateSpace (_https://www.createspace.com/5759638_) down to $6.29 for a Kindle edition (_http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0163JZBLE?tag=sorsuc-20_). The ISBN is 1517603609, should you wish to source it elsewhere.
To read about the step-by-step making of this book, go to http://inmemorytribute.com/blog/
Also, check out these links:
http://inmemorytribute.com/
http://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
12) IMAGES OF THE MONTH
From superfan and legendary Discworld auctioneer Pat Harkin, a certain travel accessory:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CZbp1bVWkAA-c1T.jpg:large
A photo album of the Orangutan Foundation UK's first twenty years: http://bit.ly/200mUJb
An action replay of sorts... this amazingly beautiful wall art of Sir Pterry and Gaspode by artist "RANDOM", featuring a quote from The Author about the reality of living with Alzheimer's, was featured on the Wossname blog last September, but it deserves another viewing. Here be the link to the post, with the image *and* the explanation of its location (the north Wales town of Buckley) and provenance: http://wossname.dreamwidth.org/21988.html
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13) CLOSE
And now, a word about orangutans.
"Only 1 out of 6 orphans are lucky enough to be rescued. Care of these orphans is costly, as they require veterinary care to ensure that they are in a healthy condition and have the best chance of survival in the wild. From as little as £30 yearly you can make a real difference in helping these orangutans to survive! All adoption money goes directly towards helping orphaned orangutans in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve."
For more information, go to:
http://www.orangutan.org.uk/how-to-help/adopt-an-orangutan
Books, DVDs, cuddly toys, t-shirts and much more – a great way to help conserve our precious Librarians whilst enjoying your purchases:
http://shop.orangutan.org.uk/
http://www.orangutan.org.uk/how-to-help/make-a-donation
http://www.orangutan.org.uk/
Meanwhile, the long-awaited Troll Bridge film has a beautiful new-look website and still no purported release date:
http://www.trollbridge.film/
And that's the lot for January 2016. I hope everyone out there had a good holiday season and is having a reasonable start to the Year of the Sneezing Panda. See you next month!
– Annie Mac
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
The End. If you have any questions or requests, write: wossname-owner (at) pearwood (dot) info
Copyright (c) 2016 by Klatchian Foreign Legion
Newsletter of the Klatchian Foreign Legion
January 2016 (Volume 19, Issue 1, Post 1)
********************************************************************
WOSSNAME is a free publication offering news, reviews, and all the other stuff-that-fits pertaining to the works 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.
********************************************************************
Editor in Chief: Annie Mac
News Editor: Vera P
Newshounds: Mogg, Sir J of Croydon Below, the Shadow, 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)
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
INDEX:
01) QUOTES OF THE MONTH
02) EDITOR'S LETTER
03) NEW ELEMENT "OCTARINE" PETITION
04) ODDS AND SODS
05) DISCWORLD PLAYS NEWS
06) DISCWORLD GAMES NEWS
07) DISCWORLD ARTS AND CRAFTS NEWS
08) DISCWORLD MEETING GROUPS NEWS
09) WITHOUT WHOM: STEPHEN BRIGGS
10) ROUNDWORLD TALES: LEUCIPOTTOMY
11) REVIEW: "IN MEMORY"
12) IMAGES OF THE MONTH
13) CLOSE
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
01) QUOTES OF THE MONTH
"Alan Rickman without doubt the most perfect Lord Vetinari there never was."
– the @terryandrob official Twitter account, 15th January 2016
"If it gets the symbol 'Oc', I'm pronouncing it ook."
– Twitterer Jim Sheridan, commenting on the drive by Pratchett fans around the world to get a newly discovered element named Octarine
"I choose to celebrate Terry's life and all the joy it brought to many and I hope my final cover of a Discworld novel pays tribute to him as a fitting mark of my great respect."
– Paul Kidby
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02) LETTER FROM YOUR EDITOR
Hello, fellow celebrators of the Year of the Sneezing Panda aka 2016!
I would like to draw your attention to a very special book. No, it's not an official Discworld book as such, but it *is* a book that would never have existed without the Discworld, and the other works of Sir Terry Pratchett, to inspire its creation. The book is called In Memory: A Tribute to Sir Terry Pratchett, and is an anthology of mostly humorous stories published as a tribute to Sir Pterry and also as a fundraiser for Alzheimer's Research UK. So that makes it a Discworld ancillary book of a sort...
Over the years Wossname has received and reviewed a number of Discworld ancillary books, and we have made no bones about finding many of these at best adequate and at worst barely mediocre, but when it comes to "In Memory" this is not the case! Please do read the full review, (item 11 in this issue), and then please, please do buy this book. It is really worth the (very reasonable) price, and all proceeds – yes, all of them – go to Alzheimer’s Research UK. There is more information at http://www.inmemorytribute.com/
*
The release date for the upcoming Small Gods graphic novel, illustrated by Ray Friesen, is 14th July 2016. Here be a glimpse of the artwork, provided by the @terryandrob Twitter account: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CZQzJ5hWAAAEWUK.jpg
And now, on with the show...
– Annie Mac, Editor
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03) NEW ELEMENT PETITION
Do you want a newly discovered Roundworld element named for the colour of magic? Of course you do!
An exciting surprise on Change.org...
"Petitioning IUPAC and 2 others
"Name new element 117 Octarine, in honour of Terry Pratchett's Discworld
"This petition is to name element 117, recently confirmed by the International Union of Applied Chemistry, as 'Octarine', with the proposed symbol Oc (pronounced 'ook'), in honour of the late Terry Pratchett and his Discworld series of books... a particularly pleasing choice because, not only would it honour a world-famous and much-loved author, but it also has an 'ine' ending, consistent with the other elements in period 17. Octarine is being counted as 'a mythological concept' under IUPAC rules..."
To read the full petition, and to sign if you wish to, go to chn.ge/1mHR3dY
It's also been tweeted by Rob Wilkins, with the link, at https://twitter.com/terryandrob/status/684845900489977856 where Twitter account-holders can add a comment.
from BoingBoing:
"Octarine, in the Discworld books, is known as 'the colour of magic', which forms the title of Pratchett's first ever Discworld book. According to Disc mythology, octarine is visible only to wizards and cats, and is generally described as a sort of greenish-yellow purple colour, which seems perfect for what will probably be the final halogen in the periodic table. Octarine is also a particularly pleasing choice because, not only would it honour a world-famous and much-loved author, but it also has an 'ine' ending, consistent with the other elements in period 17. Octarine is being counted as 'a mythological concept' under IUPAC rules, which state that elements must be named after 'a mythological concept or character; a mineral, or similar substance; a place or geographical region; a property of the element; or a scientist'. The Discworld stories are certainly stories about gods and heroes..."
http://bit.ly/22NoyN2
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04) ODDS AND SODS
4.1 COMMEMORATIVE PLAQUE
According to the Bucks Free Press, Sir Pterry's onetime employers in his journalist days, our favourite author's favourite childhood library could do with a blue plaque:
"The town council hopes to install a plaque on the wall at Beaconsfield Library in Reynolds Road, where Sir Terry was a Saturday boy and returned to give talks. Cllr Philip Bastiman, chair of the open spaces committee, said the council had been in touch with Sir Terry's daughter Rhianna, who was 'very supportive' of the idea of commemorating the author. He said: 'Because I believe he worked in the library and used the library a lot and he came back and actually gave talks at the library relatively recently, in their mind, it had a place in his affections. They feel it is wholly appropriate to have a commemorative plaque to Terry Pratchett at the library itself.' Cllr Bastiman said they could have to wait 'a number of years' for a blue plaque, which are commonly used to commemorate historical figures and places, so will remember him with their own plaque. The council wants to involve Sir Terry's family in the process and may present some designs to them for them to choose the best. Cllr Bastiman said: 'I don't think we need to be quite so formal in the way we recognise the achievements of one of our former citizens. We hope we could get a representative for the family to come up and to mark the occasion.'..".
http://bit.ly/1QpCqbq
...and from Get Bucks:
"He was born in Beaconsfield and would often return to the area, most recently in 2013 when he gave a talk at the library in Reynolds Road. Beaconsfield Town Council has discussed the issue and has agreed that a plaque would be a good way to honour the life of one of the town's most famous residents. It has been in contact with Sir Terry's family to discuss the issue, and is set to ask Bucks County Council if it can move ahead with the plans... It is felt that honouring Sir Terry in a similar way would be a fitting tribute to the author. Beaconsfield mayor John Read said: 'I think it's excellent, and will be a really good way to mark his contribution to Beaconsfield and to literature. There are still a few things left to do, but it looks like it's all going to go ahead. Beaconsfield has a very rich literary history, and it is great to pay tribute to those who have lived and worked in Beaconsfield, and made such a contribution to the area.'... The town council is hoping to present potential designs for the plaque to Sir Terry's family in order for them to choose which one they like the most. Further announcements about the plaque are expected in the coming months."
bit.ly/1TmgezK
4.2 NEW DEMENTIA SERVICE
News from the Bucks Free Press:
"A new dementia service will be launched for people in Buckinghamshire in April – just over a year after Beaconsfield-born Sir Terry Pratchett died. The author, who also went to school in High Wycombe and worked as a reporter at the Bucks Free Press, died on March 12, 2015. He had suffered from Alzheimer's for eight years and had been vocal about the need for better care. The new service, which was awarded by Buckinghamshire County Council and the Buckinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Groups (Aylesbury Vale and Chiltern), will be run by the Alzheimer's Society, which Sir Terry supported. From April 1, Buckinghamshire residents who are concerned about their memory, or who have been diagnosed with dementia, can benefit from the county's new Memory Support Service. The new care contract replaces a service which is currently split between the Alzheimer's Society and Age UK..."
http://bit.ly/1nkcv9q
4.3 THE END OF MY INDEPENDENT BOOKSHOP
My Independent Bookshop (_http://myindependentbookshop.co.uk_) has undergone a transformation for the new year. Here be extracts from the email Wossname received from their administrators:
"In May 2014, we launched My Independent Bookshop as a community where book lovers could create and curate their own virtual bookshelves, connect with independent bookshops across the UK and interact with fellow bibliophiles... we'll be closing our doors in preparation for moving into the brand new http://www.penguin.co.uk/ in the New Year. Here you'll be able to find information on all Penguin Random House books and authors, as well as read regularly published articles on all things books. Along the way, we have had an amazing amount of support from everyone we've worked with, from independent bookshops, authors, publishers and of course you – our virtual bookshop owners. Together you made the My Independent Bookshop community a vibrant place to show off our latest literary loves and discuss the books that meant something to us. Thank you for populating our virtual streets with your top picks, rave reviews and stellar shops. Over 20,000 books were put up on the shelves at My Independent Bookshop."
Sir Pterry was among those 20,000 recommenders. If any of you were also in that number, O Readers, we commend you for attempting to fight against the vile culture-destroying Beast of Amazon. Here's hoping 2016 will be the year that more and more people wake up and remember that keeping bookshops physical and local truly does matter...
4.4 ALZHEIMER'S EARLY DIAGNOSIS PROGRESS
It may soon become possible to spot pre-signs of Alzheimer's 20 years before symptoms appear. From The Telegraph:
"Researchers at Sweden's Karolinska Institute and the Uppsala University discovered that inflammation occurs in the brain decades before the condition shows any other signs. It means that in future doctors could predict which people will go on to develop Alzheimer's disease when there is still time to make lifestyle changes or take drugs to slow down the condition. Treatments which can put the brakes on dementia are currently undergoing trials and could be available within a few years, so tests which can pick up the disease early are likely to be crucial in future care. Researchers followed families who were known to carry genes which made them more susceptible to Alzheimer's. Most of them will develop the condition by the time they are in their mid-50s. All participants underwent memory tests and brain scans. The mutation carriers were found to have inflammatory changes – known as astrocyte activation - almost twenty years before the estimated debut of memory problems. Astrocytes are a type of brain cell which increase following an injury to aid repair. The researchers also found a crucial window, around seventeen years before symptoms develop, where the sticky amyloid plaques which cause dementia began to increase. 'Inflammatory changes in the form of higher levels of brain astrocytes are thought to be a very early indicator of disease onset,' explains principal investigator Professor Agneta Nordberg at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Centre for Alzheimer Research at the Karolinska Institute..."
bit.ly/1nOx6TK
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05) DISCWORLD PLAYS NEWS
5.1 SHAKESPEARE CODEX UPDATES
The Studio Theatre Club, "the first, ever, anywhere in the world, to dramatise the works of Sir Terry Pratchett", will present the world premiere of The Shakespeare Codex by Stephen Briggs, the world's *premier* adapter of Discworld stories for the stage. If any of you haven't been following the pre-production announcements, The Shakespeare Codex is a mashup of The Science of Discworld II: the Globe, Lords & Ladies, and A Midsummer Night's Dream (the last one wasn't written by Terry Pratchett, of course), starring Ridcully, Rincewind, Granny Weatherwax, Angua, Vetinari, that Shakespeare feller, a noted 16th-century monarch – and noted Shakespeare impersonator, the Earl of Oxford.
When: 6th to 9th April 2016
Venue: Unicorn Theatre, Medieval Abbey Buildings, Checker Walk/Thames Street, Abingdon, OXON OX14 3HZ
Time: 7.30pm evening shows; Saturday matinee time not posted
Tickets: £10 (Wed./Thu.) and £11 (Friday and Saturday matinee). The Saturday evening show is already sold out. Tickets are sold via post, but phone and email requests can be made. For full information on ordering tickets, go to:
http://www.studiotheatreclub.com/ordering-tickets
http://www.studiotheatreclub.com/whats-next
http://www.shakespearecodex.co.uk/
5.2 NEW: MORT IN VIRGINIA (FEBRUARY)
The Sterling Playmakers will be performing 'Mort' next month! Director Susan Kronenberg invites Discworld fans old and new to enjoy their production:
"Imagine a world where Death (yes, the Grim Reaper himself) can take an apprentice. What if that apprentice, Mort, was suddenly put in charge of collecting souls while Death takes a holiday? What could possibly go wrong? After a 'small' mistake, EVERYTHING! Is this the end of Discworld? Will Mort and his friends, Ysabell, Death's 16 (?) year old daughter, and Albert, Death's man-servant, along with an incompetent wizard and a petulant princess be able to save the day before the whole space/time continuum collapses? Chaos abounds while Death searches for what it means to be truly 'human.' Join us on this mad romp through Terry Pratchett's Discworld — a place where magic works and science doesn't. This comic masterpiece will make you die with laughter."
When: 18th, 19th & 20th, 25th, 26th & 27th February 2016.
Venue: Sterling Middle School, 201 W. Holly Ave., Sterling, VA 20164
Time: all performances are at 8pm
Tickets: $12. To buy online, go to http://www.sterlingplaymakers.com/buy-tickets/
http://www.sterlingplaymakers.com
5.3 NEW: WYRD SISTERS IN DEREHAM (MARCH)
The Dereham Theatre Company will present their performances of the Stephen Briggs adaptation of Wyrd Sisters in March!
When: 10th–12th March 2016
Venue: Dereham Memorial Hall, 62a Norwich Street, Dereham, Norfolk NR19 1AD
Time: 7.30pm all shows
Tickets: £10 (£9 concessions for those aged 18 and under or over 60). Available Tuesday through Friday 10am–4pm and Saturday 9am–3pm at The Little Gallery, 62 Norwich Street NR19 1AD; by phone 01362 690 969; and by post cheques (supported by a valid cheque card) should be made payable to "Dereham Theatre Company" and posted to the address above with a stamped self-addressed envelope if you would like the tickets sent to you. Tickets can also be booked online at http://derehamtheatre.co.uk/ "On-line booking and sales from The Little Gallery will be withdrawn on the day of each performance. On the day of a performance tickets for that performance can only be purchased from the Box Office at Dereham Memorial Hall no earlier than 30 minutes prior to the start of the performance."
For full booking details, go to http://dosoc.co.uk/bookingdetails.asp
http://dosoc.co.uk/production2.asp
5.4 NEW: LORDS AND LADIES IN NEWCASTLE (JULY)
The People's Theatre, "the premier amateur theatre company in the North of England", will stage their production of Lords and Ladies, adapted by Irana Brown, in July.
"We're no strangers to Discworld and this funny and fast-moving adaptation of (the much-missed) Sir Terry's fourteenth novel sees the welcome return of Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg to our stage. It promises to be lots of fun, so book early to avoid disappointment!"
When: 12th to 16th July 2016
Venue: People's Theatre, Stephenson Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 5QF. Phone: (0191) 275 9875
Time: 7.30pm all shows
Tickets: £13.50 (£11 concessions). Box Office on 0191 265 5020 or email tickets.peoplestheatre@email.com.
(The Box Office is open weekdays 10.30am–1pm and Mon, Wed, Fri evenings 7.30–8.30pm)
To book online, go to the inappropriately-named Intelligent Tickets, and be prepared to jump through a truly daft series of hoops: http://www.intelligent-tickets.co.uk/index.php?th=pe
http://bit.ly/1lMl3Vj
5.5 REMINDER: ERIC IN CARDIFF (FEBRUARY)
Monstrous Productions, who have now raised over £16,000 for Alzheimer's Research UK, bring their latest new play to the stage next month!
"Eric Thursley doesn't want a lot from life – only mastery of his own kingdom, eternal life, and the most beautiful woman who ever lived. But he's got a dream, and even summoning the entirely useless failed wizard Rincewind by accident isn't going to make him give up any time soon. Between these two unlikely heroes and their goal lie ancient kingdoms, mythical wars and a lot of people who aren't very happy to see them. This includes the Lord of Hell and his great and terrible minions..."
When: Thursday 18 – Saturday 20 February at
Venue: The Gate Arts Centre, Cardiff
Time 7:30 all evening shows;, matinee on Saturday, 2:30. These will be held at .
Tickets: £7 for adults (£5 concessions), available to purchase from the Gate Theatre box office (029 2048 3344) or by emailing monstrousproductions2012@gmail.com. To book online, go to http://7889269b08cd.fikket.com/
http://www.monstrousptc.com/
5.6 REMINDER: THE WEE FREE MEN IN ADELAIDE, FOURECKS (APRIL)
NOTE: there is a special half-price ticket offer on now! Runs to the 4th of February, so get on it! – Ed.
The Unseen Theatre gang bring on a new era of Discworld adaptations with The Wee Free Men, adapted and directed by Pamela Munt!
"In the first of a series of Discworld novels for young adults, we meet the young witch-to-be Tiffany Aching – a girl who reads the dictionary for fun – because no-one ever told her not to. With a trusty frying pan as her weapon, her grandmother's magic book (well actually its called 'Diseases of the Sheep') and the Wee Free Men by her side, Tiffany ventures into the realm of faerie land to rescue her very sticky, and not particularly likeable, baby brother. But, of course, all is not what it seems..."
When: Wed. 15th April to Sat. 30th April 2016; a Sunday 17th April matinee is to be confirmed
Venue: Bakehouse Theatre, 255 Angas St. Adelaide
Time: 7.30pm all evening shows; 2pm matinee
Tickets: Adults $22; Concession $18; Children $18; Groups (6+) $16; TREv $16; Families (2 A & 2ch.) $60. Al tickets for the Preview night (15th April) are $15. To book online, go to www.bakehousetheatre.com. Tickets can also be purchased at the door on the night, subject to availability. Box office opens 7pm.
http://bakehousetheatre.com/shows/wee-free-men
5.7 REMINDER: MORT IN YORK (JULY)
We Are Theatre will be staging their production of Mort in July!
When: 21st and 22nd June 2016
Venue: Joseph Rowntree Theatre, Haxby Road, York YO31 8TA
Time: 7.30pm all shows
Tickets: £10 (£8 concessions), available from the York Theatre Royal box office (phone 01904 623568). For group bookings, contact wearetheatre@googlemail.com or ring 07521 364107
www.wearetheatre.co.uk
5.8 REVIEW: UPPINGHAM THEATRE'S WYRD SISTERS
Uppingham Gets it Right
by Annie Mac
Readers of Wossname will by now recognise the name of the Uppingham Theatre Company, whose late-October 2015 production of Wyrd Sisters had a long and fascinating pre-production runup that we featured over many issues. Being many thousands of miles from Uppingham, I was unable to attend a performance of the play in person, but techmaster Martin Baines kindly arranged to send a recording of one performance to me via clacks. And I am very glad he did – this is not the first amateur theatre rendering of Stephen Briggs' Wyrd Sisters play that I've seen, but beyond doubt it is the best.
Top marks go to Stephen Green and Meryl Vincent-Enright as would-be royal couple Duke and Duchess Felmet, especially to Ms Vincent-Enright for giving the Duchess that fine – and canonically accurate – balance of pompousness and murderousness that melds Lady Macbeth and Hyacinth Bucket. Mick Barker excels as the Fool, the miserable bells-festooned jester who is far from foolish. The scenes between the Duke and his Fool are among the best in the production. Also of special note is Andrew Chapman's turn as Vitoller, owner-manager of the company of strolling players who shelter the infant Rightful King of Lancre (well played as a young man by Geran Jackson), and George Larkin's as the ghost of Verence I, recently-murdered Previous Rightful King of Lancre.
As for the Wyrd Sisters themselves, Joy Everitt's portrayal of Granny Weatherwax has just the right amount of Granny's famously tight-lipped "I can't be having with this". Holly Bertalan may not be anywhere near as (also famously) flat-chested as Magrat but she makes up for her lack of lack by hitting Magrat's New Age-y soppiness spot-on. And Gillian Kendon does a creditable Nanny Ogg, although I could have done with seeing more of Nanny's legendary sauciness that Ms Kendon only showed at the very end of the production as she danced off into the wings, kicking up her heels and displaying her "scandalous" bright red petticoat with correctly Oggish delight.
Vikki Shelton's direction is nicely timed, keeping the action moving along and getting the best projection from her players, and the entire cast achieves a satisfyingly low incidence of fluffed lines. But in many ways the shiniest star of this production is its technical excellence. Uppingham's Wyrd Sisters features the most professional-looking stage and costume design I have ever seen in an amateur theatre Discworld presentation. The sets are clever and striking, utilising well-planned back projection to create believable vistas – the wild Lancre moors, the streets (all right, street) of Ankh-Morpork, the vast-roomed, draughty expanses of Lancre castle and it gloomy dungeon. A round of applause goes to the aforementioned Martin Baines for his projection and projection design, and to stage manager Alan Jackson for ensuring that everything and everyone in this physically intricate presentation goes smoothly. Bex Key and John Everitt discharge their lighting and sound duties superbly, but I think I'll have to award Man of, that is, Seamstres-, er, Needlewoman of the Match to Mandy Jackson for her design and creation of the wonderful costumes, especially the Duchess' extraordinary gown that looked to be of full-on telly costume drama quality.
What marks the Uppingham Theatre Company's production of Wyrd Sisters most of all is its sense of dedication – to detail, to the spirit of the chosen play, to making sure every member of the company gave their best from early days to the well-merited final bow. As producer-director, Vikki Shelton infused the entire process with indefatigable enthusiasm and all manner of promotional ideas, and most of all with sheer honest heart and soul. I do hope the company chooses to do another play from the series one of these days; based on the great showing of Wyrd Sisters, I would say Discworld is in great hands in Uppingham.
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06) DISCWORLD GAMES NEWS
CLACKS: THE REVIEWS!
6.1 The official Wossname review, by Steven D'Aprano:
The Clacks board game turns the climax of "Going Postal" completely around. Inspired by the infamous race between the Grand Trunk clacks company and the Royal Ankh-Morpork Post Office, in this game you try to race to Genua. But with a twist: you are working for the villains of the book, the Grand Trunk, and you're trying to beat the Post Office (represented by a cute little figurine of the Postmaster Moist von Lipwig – painted gold, of course).
Presumably the Post Office has magical assistance, as the Postmaster speeds from town to town in the blink of an eye. Meanwhile, the Trunk is plagued by problems including Deep Downers, inconveniently placed golems with bright lights, substandard wick-trimming, Nugganites, roving reporter Miss Sacharissa Cripslock, and the dreaded Killer Poke. Fortunately you only have to transmit two short words. Can you beat the Post Office?
And the race is on!
"Clacks" is fundamentally a game of skill, with just enough element of chance to mix it up a bit. It is certainly a challenging game, but fun, and will especially suit people with good pattern-matching skills. To move forward, you have a limited number of Jacquards available to flip the tower's lamps from On to Off, or vice versa. There are sixteen lamps all up, and you flip some number of them by playing a Jacquard from your hand. If you succeed in making the code for the letter you are trying to transmit, you move your token one step closer to Genua. A system of Stress Points and Faults control how often breakdowns occur and how fast the Post Office moves.
If you're the sort of person who loves coin flipping puzzles, you might love this game. Even if you aren't too fond of them, it can still be very enjoyable once you get how the lamp flipping system works. I feel that the game's recommended age range, seven to adult, is probably over-optimistic. It seems to me that the average seven year old would find the lamp flipping too difficult to be fun. I had a bit of trouble too, admittedly after a long and tiring day, but once I got past that, and could successfully transmit letters, I found the game very enjoyable.
Clacks is a rich and complex game, with three different sets of action cards ("Operator's Log", "Incident Report", and "Maintenance Report"). There are three distinct games possible: a cooperative game where the players work together to beat the Post Office, a competitive game where players play against each other, and a "Junior Race Game" for two players using simplified rules. Don't be put off by the word "Junior", it's quite good for adults too, especially when you're still learning how to recognise letter patterns and play Jacquards to make new patterns. Plus there are a variety of optional rules which can make the game more interesting for those who have mastered the basic rules, so you won't get bored in a hurry.
(Hint: if you're looking to make it even more of a challenge, you can limit yourself to playing only a single Jacquard each turn, as we accidentally did.)
The quality of the physical game pieces is excellent, and BackSpindle Games certainly haven't stinted on the materials used. I especially love that the rule book is printed as a Haynes Operators' Manual. The game pieces are very well made, and the artwork is well-done but not quite to my taste. (A bit too dark, and not quite enough contrast to read the cards easily.) There's an unfortunate discrepancy where the manual refers to the Maintenance Report cards as "Fault Report" cards, and preparing the lamp tiles for the first time is a bit fiddly, but making up for that, there's a lovely secret message in the manual, hidden in plain sight.
I have no hesitation in giving this game a thumbs up, and I certainly will play it again.
6.2 Other reviews...
By "Miss T Fied" on Amazon:
"It is incredibly well made, lovely solid quality pieces but not the sort of game to play with the whole family unless they all have Phd's and are great at mental manipulation. I don't and I'm not :-( BUT after a couple of days, we worked it out and to be fair, it's quite good. It can be played in different ways – suitable for kiddies (this is how we eventually learned to play it); collaboratively or competitively as adults. I'm still not 100% sure we are playing it correctly, but I prefer it to Witches."
...and by Antonios S on RPGnet, who calls it "Classy & Well Done" for style and "Average" for substance:
"The game takes place in a 4 x 4 square board. Each position can be either on or off, thus geometrical shapes will be produced. Each letter of the English alphabet corresponds to a 3 x 2 rectangle where some positions are on and some are off (a bit like Braille, if you wish). On positions range from two to five, depending on the letter, obviously in different positions so that all letters are unique and easily distinguishable. Depending on the way that a player is sitted, he will try to form those letters within particular frames on the board. Even worse (for the player), each time he successfully composes a letter he will have to change the frame.
"Each player begins the game with a Fault Report card and three random Jacquards. Jacquards are the cards that will allow the player to change the patterns on the board. They depict from two to four positions where a change will be effectuated within the board. Everything indicated must change; on becomes off and vice versa. The pattern they depict may be mirrored or rotated and can be apply to any part of the board as long as it fully fits. Some Jacquards also allow the player to draw Fault Report cards that he can play at any time during his or his opponents' turns, either to help his cause or to make his opponents' lives harder... The game ends when a player forms all five letters in his card, a point in which the player after him has one go towards sabotaging him. To achieve this that player must turn off all the lights in the winning player's tower by using his Jacquards with a limit of five stress points as usual. If he fails, victory is final. If he succeeds and has stress points to continue, he can actually get on with his turn. In the cooperative game the players play against the game trying to defeat the Post Office of Ankh-Morpork. There is an easy and a hard version. In both cases the players must transmit two words with a space between them and an end sign at their end (12 successful sent letters overall), while the Post Office however gets 38 and 34 steps respectively before reaching its destination...
"The strong points: Clacks is an abstract logical puzzle with elements of hand management of your randomized Jacquards draw. Its whole premise is based on finding the easiest possible way to transmit your letters in the right order. Seeing how players will be sitted in a cross-like pattern, they do not have to submit the letters in the same form and direction. In a four player game you might have the exact same letter to send with the player immediately after you, yet your positions are vertical. You will be causing mayhem to one another (and that's good)... Forget the rules that omit the timer. Clacks is pure logic; some sort of adrenaline is needed. I am glad to see a game that offers so many variants after such a long time. It tries to satisfy everybody: from those interested into puzzles to those that like shorter games to more hardcore players to children. Idem for competitive versus the coop version. Well done, Backspindle...
"The weak points: There is abstract, and then there is abstract. As much as I have read a couple of Discworld novels, the theme of Clacks is as pasted as it can be. This is a dry exercise in logic, especially if you are uninterested in the Discworld franchise. There is nothing wrong with that, of course; if however you like the games to have a recurring idea behind them, you might be disappointed... Conclusion: Clacks is a game for particular target groups and tastes. Discworld completists will be definitely intrigued, as will be puzzle solvers..."
http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/16/16642.phtml
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07) DISCWORLD ARTS AND CRAFTS NEWS
From the Discworld Emporium:
"At Hogswatch the Sunshine Sanctuary is 'swamped' by countless dragons in desperate need of love and care. By adopting a dragon today you'll help provide vital aid for the sanctuary's most needy residents. In return for your contribution and support, you'll receive 3 own baby swamp dragons, lovingly and exclusively sculpted by Mr Paul Kidby!
Produced in a beautifully glinty cold-cast bronze finish, these dragon babies really glow! But that's not all – you'll also receive adoption certificates to name and keep safe with your dragons, all presented in transportation gift boxes to prevent escape!"
The Kidby dragons are priced at £30 each or £80 for the set of three. For more information, and to order, go to: http://www.discworldemporium.com/category/sunshine-sanctuary-adopt-a-dragon
"The 2015 Definitive issues from the Ankh-Morpork Post Office will soon be retired to make way for new designs for The Year of the Sneezing Panda! These iconic issues, as designed by Moist Von Lipwig in Going Postal, are traditionally printed on authentic gummed stamp paper & available to collect as single stamps or in beautiful whole sheets... but not for long!"
To view the Discworld Emporium's stamps-for-sale collection, go to:
http://www.discworldemporium.com/discworld-stamps
Also...
* Death of Rats scythe earrings:
"Crafted in sterling silver and based on the Death of Rat's dinky little scythe, these miniature reaping tools designed by Terry Pratchett's himself look elegant dangling from even the most gnarled of earlobes. Measures 21mm, total drop length 31mm."
The Death of Rats scythe earrings are priced at £17.50/pair. For more information, and to order, go to: http://www.discworldemporium.com/discworld-scythe-earrings
* Thud! Now back in stock:
"As Vetinari's game of choice, Thud became the central theme to Terry Pratchett's 34th Discworld novel Thud!, made a cameo appearance in Sky One's film adaptations and is enjoyed by thousands of Discworld fans and gamers across the world. Based on the ancient struggle between Dwarf and Troll, Thud is a game of two halves. Players take turns to play the fast moving Dwarfs as they attempt to trap Trolls in a carefully constructed ambush, only to then take the part of the fearless Trolls who lumber slowly yet powerfully around the board. You can learn to play in a matter of minutes, and no two games are ever the same. Contained within a cotton travel bag, each set comprises 32 Dwarfs, 8 Trolls, a Thud stone, Thud board, rulebook and an exclusive treatise penned especially for Thud by Terry Pratchett himself. Also included are rules for Koom Valley Thud, a high speed version of the game.
"The screenprinted heavyweight cotton board measures 47 x 47cm. The pieces are inspired by the Lewis Chessmen and are cast in resin with a carved bone effect finish. Dwarfs stand 35mms tall and Trolls stand at 62mms.
Thud was devised by Trevor Truran and is produced officially and exclusively under licence of the Discworld Emporium."
Thud! is priced at £32.00. For more information, and to order, go to:
http://www.discworldemporium.com/ThudGame
* The Steeleye Span "Wintersmith" Deluxe edition:
"An epic musical collaboration from mutual fans Steeleye Span and Terry Pratchett, based on the Discworld novel Wintersmith – a match made in folk-rock heaven! Steeleye Span famously played at Terry's 60th birthday party and they have been firm friends ever since. This deluxe double CD album features four extra songs, plus eight live tracks from the Wintersmith Tour and two exclusive demo versions. Features Maddy Prior, the voice of Steeleye for 40 years at the helm of the line-up, with band stalwart and fiddler extraordinaire Peter Knight, Rick Kemp on bass, Peter Zorn and Julian Littman on Guitars and Liam Genockey on the drum stool, With special guests Terry Pratchett, Kathryn Tickell and John Spiers."
The Wintersmith Deluxe edition CD is priced at £15.00. For more information, and to order, go to: http://www.discworldemporium.com/Steeleye%20Span%20Wintersmith
...and from Discworld.com... it's competition time!
"It's the Year of the Sneezing Panda and we're kicking the January blues firmly in the posterior with a stunning framed sepia print of Greebo the Man. Simply email your answer to the following question to pr@discworld.com .... How does Count Casanunda get onto his horse?" (Use the subject line Greebo the Man competition)
[Editor's note: the Greebo print is gorgeous. I know because we have one!]
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08) DISCWORLD MEETING GROUPS NEWS: UPDATES AND REMINDERS
The Broken Drummers, "London's Premier Unofficially Official Discworld Group" (motto "Nil percussio est"), meets next on 30th November 1999 (-5874 days to go), according to their website, or more probably on Monday 1st February 2016 at the Monkey Puzzle, 30 Southwick Street, London, W2 1JQ. For more information, go to http://brokendrummers.org/ or email BrokenDrummers@gmail.com or nicholls.helen@yahoo.co.uk
*
Canberra, Australia's Discworld fan group is 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."
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 200 members who 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
"Every few months, we have a full day's worth of board games at La Scala Cafe, 169 Unley Rd, Unley in the function room starting at 10am."
For more info, go to http://ausdwcon.org/fan-clubs/adelaide/quiz/
*
The Broken Vectis Drummers meet next on Thursday 4th February 2016 (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 5th February 2016 (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 1st February 2016 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 1st February 2016 (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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09) WITHOUT WHOM: STEPHEN BRIGGS
Alan Rickman may have been named by Team Pratchett as "the best Vetinari that never was", but the *first* Vetinari in Roundworld came properly to the stage in the person of Stephen Briggs. It could be said that he owns the part now, as he has been playing our favourite Patrician for over twenty-one years. He was even there officiating as Lord Vetinari when the Roundworld town of Wincanton twinned itself with Ankh-Morpork! But he has done much, much more to help bring the Oeuvre of Pratchett to the public. It's a rare Discworld fan who doesn't own at least ancillary work touched by the hand of Stephen Briggs, be it the Tourist Guide to Lancre, the Discworld Companion, or the beautifully presented compendium of Pratchett quotations known as The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld; his audiobook recordings of many unabridged Pratchett novels have won major industry awards, and his Discworld stage adaptations are performed around the world.
Stephen Briggs' association with Terry Pratchett began back in 1991 when then-plain-Mister Pratchett saw the Studio Theatre Club perform Wyrd Sisters, which Mr Briggs had adapted (as well as playing the role of Duke Felmet of Lancre). The two of them then began an association that was to last for nearly twenty-five years, starting with the creation of the Discworld Companion and the original Ankh-Morpork Mapp. Since then, Mr Briggs has co-created many other Discworld ancillary works including Death's Domain, Nanny Ogg's Cookbook, and a number of official Discworld yearbooks and diaries. He has also recorded audiobook versions of more than thirty Pratchett novels and adapted many of these (and other Pratchett novels) for the stage; while there are other licenced adaptations of Discworld novels being performed by amateur theatre groups, the Briggs versions are most considered "the real deal" and have raised over £100,000 for the Orangutan Foundation, a favourite charity of Sir Pterry's and one of which he was a leading patron.
Most recently, Mr Briggs created a new play, The Shakespeare Codex (based on several Discworld books with a bit of Shakespeare for good measure) which will have its world premiere this April (see item 5.1 above), and recorded the unabridged UK and USA audiobook of The Shepherd's Crown.
Oh, and he's a very helpful man, as some of the Wossname Newshounds can attest. So charge your glasses and raise a toast to Stephen Briggs. Hurrah!
http://discworld.wikia.com/wiki/Stephen_Briggs
http://www.stephenbriggs.com/
http://wiki.lspace.org/mediawiki/Stephen_Briggs
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10) ROUNDWORLD TALES: A WORD ABOUT CHALK HORSES
That's right – an actual word about chalk horses on hillsides. And that word, as it happens, is "leucipottomy". Coined, as far as we know, by one Morris Marples in 1949, leucipottomy is defined as the craft of cutting white horses into the turf chalk hillsides. Although there aren't many chalk horses in Roundworld, the making of them ranges across the centuries, from the famous Uffington White Horse in Oxfordshire that inspired the look of the Chalk's White Horse in the Tiffany Aching series, to the turn-of-this-century one at Devizes in Wiltshire. White Horses can also be found in Kent, Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, Surrey, Sussex, Dorset, Aberdeenshire (to date, the only White Horse in Scotland), Hampshire, Buckinghamshire, and South Wales, but Wiltshire is definitely the White Horse capital of the UK with at least six extant White Horses.
The Westbury White Horse dates to the Iron Age, was restored in 1778 and is still maintained, shining out across the Bratton Downs to this day (_https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Westburywhitehorse.jpg_). Some other famous ones include the Cherhill White Horse (late 18th century); the Marlborough White Horse (1804); the Alton Barnes White Horse (1812), one of the largest in existence; and the Broad Town White Horse (1864), while less white than most, is still plainly a chalk horse. The Pewsey White Horse, first of the twentieth century, was cut in 1937 and now forms a major part of the town's flag (_http://bit.ly/1lZrSTy_). There are also other hillside chalk animals, including the Laverstock Panda which was created near Salisbury in 1968 but is no longer visible, and of course the infamous Cerne Abbas Giant with his great big to–, er, move along, nothing to see here...
These monumental earth sculptures do require occasional maintenance. The traditional method is known as "scouring" and requires a good number of volunteers to strip away the weeds and dirt that have gathered since the previous maintenance (you may remember this being described, with the usual Oggish observation that clearing the shape of the horse is a rather secondary reason for young courting couples to participate). Another common method is "trenching": when the underlying chalk is not easily reached, a trench is dug and then filled with chalk from another site.
According to Michael Quinion of World Wide Words, leucipottomy "looks as though it is formed from the Greek roots leuci–, white, hippo, horse, and the suffix –tomy. Unfortunately this last doesn't mean cutting or carving, but refers to cutting out or excising (as in many medical terms such as hysterectomy), so it actually means cutting off or excising white horses, which isn't the same thing at all." But as it's the only word we have for this activity, and the pastime is so rare, that will do nicely. I do hope Tiffany can find "leucipottomy" in her dictionary too.
Sources:
Wikipedia (various)
http://www.wiltshirewhitehorses.org.uk/
http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-leu1.htm
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11) WOSSNAME REVIEWS "IN MEMORY: A TRIBUTE TO SIR TERRY PRATCHETT"
By Annie Mac
It's less than a year since Sorin Suciu and Laura May first put out the call for submissions to a planned anthology of short stories on the theme of memory, with a bonus angle of humour, to raise funds for Alzheimer's Research UK as a loving memorial to the life and work of Sir Terry Pratchett. The response was immediate and wide-ranging, with stories offered by amateur and professional writers alike, and the final result – In Memory: A Tribute to Sir Terry Pratchett – has been praised by no less a luminary of humour fiction than Robert Rankin.
Although I've spent many years reviewing Pratchett novels and associated Discworld "spinoff" books, map(p)s and other auxiliaries, I was unsure how to go about reviewing In Memory. But then I realised that the kernel of this review was already in the book itself, in an afterword by Charlotte Slocombe, author of Bubble Trouble, thirteenth story in this anthology: "Thank you for buying this book, because you never know who you might be saving." And there you have it. In Memory is a unique work, created as a combination tribute to Sir Terry Pratchett and as fundraising "merch" for the benefit of Alzheimer's Research UK. By purchasing a copy of In Memory, you're helping to keep the name of one of our most (rightly!) beloved authors alive in the world of literature and donating to a worthy and vital cause, but the glow of a good deed done isn't the only thing you'll come away with – because you'll also have the pleasure of reading a collection of seventeen bloody fine stories.
I really mean it. No lemonade is being squeezed here.
Given the at best variable quality of fan-generated writings, my expectations of In Memory were not exactly high. But I have to say that I was more than pleasantly surprised – far more, in fact. The quality of the writing is high throughout. The least polished of these stories is worthy of being commercially published, but in my opinion there are several standouts that deserve special mention:
"Thanks for the Memory Cards" by Luke Kemp would make for a brilliant short film in the hands of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright.
DK Mok's "The Heart of the Labyrinth" offers the kind of stealth philosophy, cloaked in the tropes of fantasy and mythology, of which Sir Pterry would have been proud.
"The Tale of the Storyteller" by Caroline Friedel is one of the sweetest tributes to our favourite author that I have yet seen.
In "The Vividarium", Steven McKinnon takes on Asimov and Clarke's clumsy attempts at humour and infuses them with a genuine sense of fun.
"Ackerley's Genuine Earth Antiques" by Michael K Schaefer upholds – proudly – the stylistic traditions of Fritz Leiber and Anthony Boucher with a light dusting of Connie Willis.
Co-editor Sorin Suciu's "Doris" is a classy enough tale to easily pass as golden-age Larry Niven.
Also, kudos go to editors May and Suciu for delivering an almost unblemished example of careful proofreading (with the exception of the most chortle-inducing uncaught mistype since the Wicked Bible of 1631 – it's on page 264, in case you wondered), which is rare these days even in the output of major publishing houses.
Each story in In Memory is followed by an afterword from its author, giving a brief overview of how it came into being and, of course, giving respect to Sir Pterry for inspiring them. The book is printed on decent quality paper and has a handsome cover – again, of a much higher quality than one might expect of a charity project. But most impressive of all, in my opinion, is that this collection represents a true labour of love. Nowhere did I find the slightest whiff of "I'm doing this to get my name out there in the industry" or "I'm doing this to make money". All seventeen authors – and the many others whose submissions couldn't be squeezed in – wrote their stories as a mark of the respect and admiration they felt for Sir Pterry, and as a way to give back for the joy his work brought into their lives. That kind of honesty is rarer than ye olde pearl of great price.
To all of you out there who say you want to keep Terry Pratchett's name alive forever "in the Overhead", I say buy this book, because the more money is raised for research into Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of dementia, the closer we'll get to stopping or even reversing the ravages of the awful thief of memory... and the more of us will never forget him. The people who put their hearts and time into this project hope to raise £6,500 for Alzheimer's Research UK; so far, almost £1,100 has been raised. Let's all go for it, hmm?
Editor's note:
Prices for In Memory: A Tribute to Sir Terry Pratchett range from $13.99 on CreateSpace (_https://www.createspace.com/5759638_) down to $6.29 for a Kindle edition (_http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0163JZBLE?tag=sorsuc-20_). The ISBN is 1517603609, should you wish to source it elsewhere.
To read about the step-by-step making of this book, go to http://inmemorytribute.com/blog/
Also, check out these links:
http://inmemorytribute.com/
http://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org
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12) IMAGES OF THE MONTH
From superfan and legendary Discworld auctioneer Pat Harkin, a certain travel accessory:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CZbp1bVWkAA-c1T.jpg:large
A photo album of the Orangutan Foundation UK's first twenty years: http://bit.ly/200mUJb
An action replay of sorts... this amazingly beautiful wall art of Sir Pterry and Gaspode by artist "RANDOM", featuring a quote from The Author about the reality of living with Alzheimer's, was featured on the Wossname blog last September, but it deserves another viewing. Here be the link to the post, with the image *and* the explanation of its location (the north Wales town of Buckley) and provenance: http://wossname.dreamwidth.org/21988.html
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13) CLOSE
And now, a word about orangutans.
"Only 1 out of 6 orphans are lucky enough to be rescued. Care of these orphans is costly, as they require veterinary care to ensure that they are in a healthy condition and have the best chance of survival in the wild. From as little as £30 yearly you can make a real difference in helping these orangutans to survive! All adoption money goes directly towards helping orphaned orangutans in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve."
For more information, go to:
http://www.orangutan.org.uk/how-to-help/adopt-an-orangutan
Books, DVDs, cuddly toys, t-shirts and much more – a great way to help conserve our precious Librarians whilst enjoying your purchases:
http://shop.orangutan.org.uk/
http://www.orangutan.org.uk/how-to-help/make-a-donation
http://www.orangutan.org.uk/
Meanwhile, the long-awaited Troll Bridge film has a beautiful new-look website and still no purported release date:
http://www.trollbridge.film/
And that's the lot for January 2016. I hope everyone out there had a good holiday season and is having a reasonable start to the Year of the Sneezing Panda. 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
Copyright (c) 2016 by Klatchian Foreign Legion
