Wossname
Newsletter of the Klatchian Foreign Legion
June 2019 (Volume 22, Issue 6, Post 2)********************************************************************
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 Technomancer: Jason Parlevliet
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) AMAZING MAURICE ADAPTATION NEWS
04) MORE GOOD OMENS NEWS AND REVIEWS
05) ODDS AND SODS
06) DISCWORLD PLAYS NEWS
07) DISCWORLD MEETING GROUPS NEWS
08) IMAGES OF THE MONTH
09) CLOSE
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
01) MORE QUOTES OF THE MONTH
"On the small screen, antiheroes are everywhere. Even series that are ostensibly about good guys regularly flavor their protagonists with some fairly heavy shades of gray, and threats involving the end of the world are actually surprisingly commonplace storylines given that they should be once-in-a-lifetime events.
Which is why it's a bit unexpected that a story about literal Armageddon – complete with God, Satan, angels, demons and an actual Antichrist – is possibly the brightest, most hopeful thing on the small screen at the moment. And it's arrived precisely when we all need it most.
– web journalist Lacy Baugher
"The ice-cream eating scene was toughest "There were just endless ice creams that I had to eat, and that scene was shortly followed by a lolly eating scene which posed the same problems… I got brain freeze and felt quite sick. Also, the harnesses for all the flying stuff were really uncomfortable. When we were shooting in the airfield, it was very cold too, and they kept trying to put tights on me – under my shorts – I thought that was just ridiculous… But it was just them looking after me really."
– Sam Taylor Buck (aka Adam Young), interviewed by Pooja Salvi for meaww.com
"You're not my dad. Dads don't wait until you're eleven to say hello, and then turn up to tell you off. If I'm in trouble with my dad, then it won't be you; it's going to be the dad who was there."
– Adam Young in Good Omens
"In a way, the absurdity of the petition falls in line with the energy of the original novel, which imagines the end times with a delightful amount of twists and turns."
– web journalist Jenna Anderson (see item 4.0)
"Living in times that very often feel like The End Times, it can be easy to forget that for all of the terrible things people can do to each other we can also do some remarkably beautiful things. Watching Good Omens is almost like watching a very attentively put together play. Love is evident in the story, but it also comes through in every step of the storytelling; the writing, the acting, the set details, the caring hand-crafted effort of it all. There are a lot of odd couples on TV, endless shows about the end of the world, and even a few on the inner workings of Heaven and Hell. But being able to tell a story that radiates love? Well, that's as miraculous as a nightingale singing in Berkeley Square."
– web journalist Adri M.
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02) A LETTER FROM YOUR EDITOR
Hello again, and welcome to the second issue in a very Pratchett-news-filled month! Once again the bulk of this issue is about Good Omens (which one imagines will be the case for a while to come), but there's also exciting news about the first-ever big screen Discworld film, plus the usual round of updates and information.
I mentioned, in the previous post's Wossname review of the Good Omens miniseries, that the marvellous theme music was still going around and around in my head. Now, almost two weeks later, that's still the case. I doubt I'll ever tire of it, and I'm looking forward to the CD release of the entire soundtrack (peers pointedly in the direction of the Discworld Emporium). For the record, it's now available to listen to in streamed form, but as I refuse to pimp for The Unspeakable A-word, you'll have to search for it yourselves.
And finally, all I can say about item 4.0 below is "There's always one. Or twenty thousand." My opinion? I think Crowley was behind it. After all, fomenting discord is very much his thing...
And now, on with the show!
– Annie Mac, Editor
p.s. Do keep re-watching Good Omens. It gets better every time!
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03) MAURICE IS COMING TO HOLY WOOD!
An animated version of The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents is coming to the big screen! Written by a famous big-time screenwriter! This will be the first feature film adaptation of any of Sir Pterry's books (Wyrd Sisters and Soul Music being telly adaptations, of course).
Here be an extract from the official Narrativia announcement. Please note that at least one of the primary people involved with this apparently don't even know the name of one of the main characters in this film-to-be:
"On the heels of the launch of the new hit Amazon Prime series 'Good Omens' ULYSSES FILMPRODUKTION and CANTILEVER MEDIA announced today the development of a new animated family film, 'The Amazing Maurice' based on one of Sir Terry Pratchett's wildly popular 'Discworld' novels, which have sold more than 90 million books worldwide. The screenplay is written by award winning writer Terry Rossio (Shrek, Aladdin, Pirates of the Caribbean), with the character designs by Carter Goodrich (Ratatouille, The Croods, Brave)...
"Emely Christians, Producer and CEO of Ulysses Filmproduktion commented: '"If you don't turn your life into a story, you become part of someone else's story," says Melissa[sic], the young female lead in The Amazing Maurice. I loved the way Melissa presented her attitude to life in this one sentence. When I read it, I knew we had to turn this amazing novel into an amazing film. The Amazing Maurice will be the first animated feature film ever made from a Terry Pratchett novel. It will get Ulysses' complete focus and attention to detail to fulfil our promise: to make a wonderful movie from this very funny, unique, strong and awesome story.'...
"Rob Wilkins, Executive Producer and Managing Director of Narrativia, said: 'At some point in the late nineties I sat at the polished bar in the Palace Hotel San Francisco enjoying a bottle of local beer with Terry Pratchett. It had been a long day and neither of us had yet eaten and we were less than interested in the baseball game playing loudly on the TV hanging above us. However, we were both very interested in the sixteen foot wide Maxfield Parrish painting of the Pied Piper of Hamelin hanging proudly behind the bar, where it had been on display since 1909. 'He does beautiful skies,' said Terry. And, yes, he really did and I agreed, but Terry seemed lost in the painting and so I finished my beer and ordered another. By the time it arrived Terry had sketched out the plot for The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents and had played it directly into my brain like a mini movie. They were indeed broad strokes, but the story was there and he had already named Malicia, Peaches, Sardines and – to his great delight – Darktan. That was the genius of Terry Pratchett; he could see stories everywhere. And now he would be delighted with the character designs of Carter Goodrich. Bringing this story to life was so important to Terry and it upsets me that he won't get to see the finished film, but the teams at Ulysses Filmproduktion and Cantilever Media are honouring his vision and I am absolutely delighted.'..."
To read the entire announcement online, go to:
http://narrativia.com/maurice.htmlAnd here be an early "Holy Wood exclusive" from Stewart Clarke on Variety:
"The Discworld novel, the 28th in the series and the first for children, has been optioned by Germany-based Ulysses Filmproduktion, which will make the film alongside Ireland's Cantilever Media. U.S. writer Terry Rossio, whose extensive credits include 'Shrek,' 'Aladdin,' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean,' has written the screenplay. Carter Goodrich, who worked on 'Ratatouille' and 'Brave,' is on board for character design. Toby Genkel ('Ooops! Noah Is Gone…') is attached to direct the €15 million ($17 million) movie... Cantilever Media CEO Andrew Baker, who produced Netflix's 'Robozuna,' told Variety that the project has been in development for several years after Ulysses optioned the book. The team is now looking to raise the last part of the financing and, with a script and character designs in hand, is ready to go into production at the end of the year. The plan is for the comedy-action-adventure movie to be ready for release in early 2022. 'Terry Rossio's screenplay twists and turns and produces an unexpected yet heartwarming ending, with Carter Goodrich's designs bringing these characters to life in their own unique style, which I'm sure audiences will love,' Baker said. The script and tone of the film will be 'very Terry Pratchett, very true to his vision,' but different from the characters seen on the book jacket he added..."
https://bit.ly/2ZLJqHv...and a selection of the rest:
The Bookseller:
https://bit.ly/2xbRsNASyFy.com:
https://bit.ly/2xcV0PvGizmodo:
https://bit.ly/2WZCLfPAnimation World Network:
https://bit.ly/2x6tUtxThe Times of India:
https://bit.ly/2KBHYUnComicbook.com:
https://bit.ly/2ZItFkpDark Horizons:
https://bit.ly/31PCL0JFlickering Myth:
https://bit.ly/2xclLUuMoviefone:
https://bit.ly/2N8oVDwCartoon Brew:
https://bit.ly/2RxM7cF%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
04) MORE GOOD OMENS NEWS AND REVIEWS
4.0 THAT PETITION
"More than 20,000 Christians have signed a petition demanding Netflix to cancel Amazon Prime's series Good Omens... thousands of disgruntled Christians have now signed a petition for the series to be cancelled, but unfortunately addressing the wrong streaming site... Gaiman responded to the petition on Twitter, writing: 'I love that they are going to write to Netflix to try and get GoodOmens cancelled. Says it all really. This is so beautiful … Promise me you won't tell them?'..."
https://bit.ly/2ZLqV6aAn early reaction from Dawson White, writing in the Charlotte Observer:
"A Christian group launched a petition in the hope of getting Netflix to cancel 'Good Omens,' a television show based on the best-selling novel by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. The problem? It's an Amazon Prime show. The internet had a field day and now, Netflix UK & Ireland is getting in on the fun... 'We promise not to make anymore,' it wrote. 'Good Omens' follows a demon and an angel as they try to prevent the end of the world. The petition has been signed by more than 20,000 people and is the work of Return to Order, a branch of the US Foundation for a Christian Civilization, the Guardian reported..."
The article also reprinted some pertinent tweets:
"
![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
neilhimself I love that they are going to write to Netflix to try and get #GoodOmens cancelled. Says it all really."
"
jamesmoran Replying to
neilhimself Really worried this might affect season 2, hope it doesn't get cancelled after just one season... OMG, just checked Netflix, it's like Good Omens was never even there! These are powerful forces at work."
"Rachel Jones This is just too perfect 1) playing to the exact stereotypes in the book 2) it wasn't on Netflix
It's almost as if
neilhimself wrote it..."
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/nation-world/national/article231800958.html...and a relevant prophecy from Agnes Nutter that's come to light on Twitter, as it were:
https://twitter.com/brandiejune/status/1141949502330306560Editor's note: a smattering of other writeups can be found on the Wossname blog, at
https://wossname.dreamwidth.org/71858.html...and here's what happened next:
"A Christian group calling for the cancellation of Good Omens, a television adaptation of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's 1990 fantasy novel, has admitted to an 'oversight' in directing its petition at Netflix when the series is actually made by Amazon Prime. The Return to Order campaign, an offshoot of the US Foundation for a Christian Civilization, initially directed its ire at Netflix, calling for the site to 'stop promoting evil' and 'pull this series at once'. The petition was updated on Thursday to reflect the 'oversight by Return to Order staff' and acknowledge that the 'offensive' series had, in fact, been released by Amazon. 'We regret the mistake, and the protests will be delivered to Amazon when the campaign is complete,' said organisers..."
https://bit.ly/2X1GYuw"News broke of the petition faux pas on Thursday, prompting a number of humorous responses. Gaiman himself tweeted about the controversy, cheekily saying, "This is so beautiful... Promise me you won't tell them?" Eventually, Amazon itself responded to the identity mix-up. "Hey
netflix," they tweeted, "we'll cancel Stranger Things if you cancel Good Omens." Amazon is referencing a quid pro quo with Netflix for the latter's breakout sci-fi series Stranger Things. The tweet has since received almost 50,000 likes, with plenty of affirmation from fans of all faiths in the comments..."
https://www.cbr.com/amazon-cancel-good-omens-netflix-stranger-things/Some other links, again only a few of many:
The Charlotte Observer again:
https://bit.ly/31T4bCMYahoo:
https://yhoo.it/2ZFjFIMThe Wrap:
https://bit.ly/2XCJdZXWe Got This Covered:
https://bit.ly/31NO21AComicbook.com:
https://bit.ly/2FnzDj9Meanwhile, popular American actor Nick Offerman, who plays the US ambassador (father of Warlock, the not-actually-Antichrist) in the miniseries, had a few choice words on the subject, as told to journalist Matt Galea:
"I asked the actor for his thoughts on the hilarious gaff. 'God bless their dear hearts,' was his initial response. 'I think it's hilarious that they didn't even send it to the people that made it. On a more serious note, it all points to the dilemma facing our civilisation which is, if they watch the show or read the book, they would see that the demon character, played by David Tennant, is made out to be someone who has become a little bit human and the sensibility of the story is at the heart of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's writing which is that maybe if we give everybody a chance to get along, the world could be a better place.' He adds, 'Instead of focusing on the battle between good and evil, we should cop to the fact that we all have an angel and a demon within us which I believe, to my interpretation, is what the Christian writings were talking about. I was raised Catholic and I was given an understanding that there weren't actually mystical fantasy creatures, I don't believe we were supposed to take that literally. So I think it's kind of embarrassing.'... Speaking directly to the people who signed the petition, he says: 'I think it could simply be addressed by saying to signers of the petition, "Yes, you are illustrating exactly what the book is about. Perhaps the solution to your petition is that you should give the book a read."'..."
https://bit.ly/2XwlB94...and here be some analyses:
By Biba Kang in the Telegraph:
"To get 20,000 signatures on a petition directed towards the wrong company is quite an impressive feat. Yet the Return to Order campaign's petition for Netflix to cancel Good Omens has the subject of ridicule, after it became clear that the demands were directed at the wrong streaming service... But what The Return to Order campaign lacks in attention to detail, it makes up for in passion. An offshoot of the US Foundation for a Christian Civilisation, the campaign takes issue with the biblically-inspired series on several counts. The first is that, 'An angel and demon are good friends, and are meant to be earth's ambassadors for Good and Evil respectively.' The second grievance is: 'This pair tries to stop the coming of the Antichrist because they are comfortable and like the earth so much.' The third: 'God is voiced by a woman.' The list goes on... This isn't the first time that the Return to Order campaign, and its controversial orchestrator, have concerned themselves with policing the world of entertainment..."
https://bit.ly/2IBM7Wc...and a long, thoughtful analysis by Captain Cassidy MacGillicuddy on religion and philosophy blog Patheos:
"Good Omens began life as an immensely well-written book about the end of the world, Christian-style. In fact, it is the polar opposite of the Christian fantasy This Present Darkness. Both books deal in markedly similar themes and contain markedly similar conspiracies. This Present Darkness was published in 1986 and took a few years to become a blockbuster best-seller in Christian-Land. Good Omens was published in 1990 and as far as I remember, pretty much immediately became popular. Thus, I mentally categorize them as belonging to roughly the same time-period. However, the author of This Present Darkness, Frank Peretti, wrote from the standpoint of someone who desperately needs Christian mythology to be true to a great extent. Accordingly, he wrote the book to appease the sensibilities of like-minded Christians. Together, they idolize their quirky interpretation of their magical book. By contrast, the authors of Good Omens wrote for an audience willing to see that mythology for what it was: a very malleable source that could be turned to a good story. It's just that this time, we know exactly who crafted the story. And it's a way better story at that than the mishmash in the Bible..."
https://bit.ly/2J1djwK4.1 "MAKING OF" BITS
1a. About the music, from Jennifer Vineyard on SyFy.com:
"It's not every day that one gets to hear a death metal version of Buddy Holly's 'Everyday,' but that's exactly what happens when composer David Arnold plays a snippet of the unexpected cover... there's a reason why he started with 'Everyday.' In the early '90s, Terry Pratchett, who co-authored the book the show is based on with Neil Gaiman, suggested that "Everyday" would be a great song for any possible adaptation. It would be a song that could recur throughout the whole story, opening the show and also running over the end credits in different incarnations, reflecting where they were in the story. And so Arnold's first task was to create six different versions, none of which survived to the series, although the idea lives on in the TV spots. 'There was a death metal version, a Shakespearean sonnet-y version, a Langley Schools Music Project kids' choir version, a Carmina Burana version,' Arnold said. 'So they do exist, and they're quite funny. The death metal one is hilarious, because it's the sweetest song in the world and fitting that into a head-banging version was quite the challenge. Here, I'll give you a blast,' he said, as cacophonous music played... As cute as it was, Arnold had another idea: Create an original theme and sustain it the way the Buddy Holly song would have, adapting it to the end of each episode. End the first episode "the way Queen would have done it," end the second episode with "an angry formal string quartet," end another with a "maniacal church organ," another "like a fairground carousel," and so on, to feel "like a nice scent that lingers." Arnold wanted an original theme that the characters Aziraphale and Crowley could share, without it seeming like a punchline to a clever gag, and he decided upon a sweetly demonic waltz..."
https://bit.ly/2KzKqLe1b. About hidden details in the title sequence, from Ian Failes on Polygon:
"When director Douglas Mackinnon asked Peter Anderson and his studio to design the opening titles for Good Omens, the Amazon Prime TV series based on the book by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, he had only one major stipulation. 'He said,' recounts Anderson, '"I want you to promise me that you send us emails that start with, 'This might sound absolutely mad, but our idea is dot dot dot'." That set the tone for the creative process, which was wonderful.' It's fair to say the London-based Peter Anderson Studio came through with flying colors on that brief, Anderson himself describing Good Omens' animated titles as 'a totally bonkers mishmash of all animation styles in a way where they feel as if they belong together.' The titles certainly feel like something inspired, at least in part, by Terry Gilliam's famous animated cut-out vignettes in Monty Python's Flying Circus. The twist is that Good Omens' opener employs illustration, physical props, character animation, 3D and even live-action footage to foretell the show's story about the clash of Heaven and Hell and the coming apocalypse. 'Our titles really mimic the drama,' says Anderson, 'because in the show, for instance, you've got a classic English countryside and then suddenly a spacecraft that's been drawn by a child and re-made in 3D comes flying down and aliens come out that have duck heads. We had to work in that same totally bonkers spirit.'..."
https://bit.ly/31Q4VJ51c. On the making of Adam's "real" father, by Rachel Yang for Variety:
"Doug Sinclair, Supervising sound editor: I was involved in capturing Benedict's performance, which was recorded to guide pictures or an early version of the animation that is in the final show. [Director] Douglas Mackinnon had chosen the takes he wanted to use for the final performance – that then obviously became locked down because it was then used to fine-tune the lip sync on the animation. And then once we knew that those are the takes to be used, we started to process and add all the other sounds...
"Mike Collins, Storyboard artist: The shots of the Satan figure had to fit in with the already-filmed footage. You've got a bit of a panorama figure – he's looming out of the ground – and so it's coming up with angles that fit in with what has already been shot, but work really well just to get that sense of scale across.
"J.C. Deguara, Visual-effects supervisor: Our concepts originally were much more hellish: There were holes in the flesh, you could see the bones coming through. Neil's input at that point was, 'Listen, we've really got to go back to more of the human form.'..."
https://bit.ly/2KxNwPV1d. The ador(k)able story of how Aziraphale and Crowley were cast, as told by Michael Sheen and David Tennant (and transcribed by Jennifer Maas on The Wrap):
"'I became friends with Neil quite a few years ago now, and so when it got to the point where he started writing the adaptation of this, he would send me the early versions of the scripts,' said the Welsh-born Sheen... 'I can't remember how it happened, but I think there was a sort of assumption on my part, and his part, that each of us wanted me to play Crowley. But when I started reading the scripts I thought, "I can't do this. That's not the right part for me. I wouldn't be able to get away with it." I really responded and related to Aziraphale. But I was scared that Neil didn't want me to play Aziraphale, and he was scared that I wanted to play Crowley and I wouldn't want to play Aziraphale! So we had an awkward dinner where both of us wanted to address the fact that I should play Aziraphale and each was scared to say it to the other,' he continued... Tennant added, 'I was blissfully unaware of all this going on behind the scenes. To me, a script arrived and Michael was already part of the project, and Douglas Mackinnon, a director I knew and had worked for before, was already part of the project. So I just got this wonderful, fully formed masterpiece in an email from Neil Gaiman and it was an easy yes. I read the first two scripts and said yes before they could say they wanted anyone else.'..."
https://bit.ly/2L0JDSX1e. On SyFy.com, Emma Fraser looks at Good Omens' "6,000 years of style":
"In each century, their clothing reflects the period while maintaining their sartorial preferences. Robes, armor, and suits don't look similar; nevertheless, costume designer Claire Anderson has found a through line keeping several things consistent including the color palette and the details (which the devil is in, of course). Variations on sunglasses do date back to the Romans, with Emperor Nero favoring emerald lenses for gladiator fight spectating. Crowley starts wearing eyewear in this period to hide his serpentine eyes; however, as with the rest of his look, he doesn't just stick with the first pair he lands on. In Rome, he opts for tiny sunglasses that would fit right in with Keanu in The Matrix, but they barely conceal his origin as the snake in the Garden of Eden... It is lucky for Crowley that snakes have influenced fashion through many different centuries...
"The Victorian era is truly when Aziraphale comes into his own; other than his neckwear and hat, his costume pretty much stays the same from this moment on. His tartan tie evolves from super flamboyant to a cravat before settling on the bowtie in the present. This pattern comes into play in the finale – 'Tartan's stylish' – showing Aziraphale's taste shines through no matter the situation... For a truly decadent timeless vibe, look no further than Jon Hamm as the angel Gabriel. He has no time for Aziraphale's BS and he is impeccably turned out, no matter the occasion..."
https://bit.ly/2IDB7rv1f. On Neil Gaiman's explanation of why, in subtitles, Death does not SPEAK LIKE THIS, by Mira Jacobs for CBR:
"In the novel, the character Death speaks exclusively in all capital letters. In Good Omens' Amazon subtitles, however, Death's dialogue is transcribed with normal capitalization.
"
neilhimself This is to do with standards for readers, especially dyslexics, many of whom find all caps hard to read fast.
"Reading a bock[sic] is, of course, a different experience than reading text on a screen. And it can be frustrating for anyone to miss a few words due to the extra second or two it might take them to comprehend a different format. This consideration by the producers will likely be appreciated by many fans, in spite of the missing trademark speech style from Pratchett's version of Death."
https://www.cbr.com/good-omens-neil-gaiman-death-subtitles/...and here be a set of relevant replies to the post Mr Gaiman had replied to:
https://twitter.com/elleellabee/status/11400685184124682241g. One for the fanficcers! On David Tennant's and Michael Sheen's reactions to tales of Crowley-Aziraphale "shipping", by Christian Bone on We Got This Covered:
"Good Omens fans love to ship them. The odd couple are clearly depicted as being in love with each other and a lot of folks think that it's a romantic love they share. While that remains to be confirmed, Nerdist caught up with stars David Tennant and Michael Sheen and asked them what they make of all the shipping and how they perceive the duo's relationship. 'They are in a codependent relationship,' offered Tenant, before admitting that there's much about the characters we don't know. 'We don't know what their… private lives are. They're supernatural beings.' Sheen then talked about how, as natural enemies, Aziraphale and Crowley don't tend to express their love – whichever kind it is – too much, though it comes out occasionally. 'There's a lot of underlying unspoken-ness,' the actor says, 'and it comes to the surface now and again.' Sheen has previously revealed that he firmly believes Aziraphale loves his hellish friend, while Tennant has commented that, as celestial beings, we can't compare their dynamic to us mere mortals..."
https://bit.ly/2KBFaa34.2 INTERVIEWS
2a. A long piece on the challenges of bringing book to screen, by Steve Weintraub on Collider. Masses of creator-producer-director banter and thus well worth reading all the way through:
"NEIL GAIMAN: We had one producer, in the early days, who kept sending us emails. Rather frantic and worried emails explaining that we had to reduce the size of our ambition. We could not be so ambitious, we just simply had to curb our ambition. So we said goodbye to that producer, because we thought, 'There are two ways to do this, and shooting for the stars is the only way.'
MACKINNON: Absolutely, and so what we did was if Plan A couldn't be afforded, instead of moving to Plan B, we moved to Plan AA. That was one thing. But Neil came up with the best phrase to not confront money in the history of making anything television, or film. He said to the money one day, 'What I'd like to do is just keep the bits that I love.' The room just went completely quiet. Neil went, 'That's what we want, I think!' So it was my job to go off and manage that into existence, and that's what we did...
"ROB WILKINS: And the one thing that Terry Pratchett wanted most in a director was somebody that, when the money ran out, they could use their ingenuity. I have to say, channeling Terry here, that Douglas did that absolutely, using ingenuity when there's no more money, and that's huge..."
https://bit.ly/2KzkkYK2b. Jon Hamm and Adria Arjona talk to Steve Weintraub about "filming the unfilmable":
"JON HAMM: You hope that the people involved in creating it are involved in adapting it, and we were very fortunate to have Neil involved at every step of the game. In between Neil and Douglas who has an almost preternatural recall of the novel and would always have several versions of the book sitting around video village or something to just to reference. We were very fortunate in that respect. So it wasn't filmable in the 90s and early 2000s and now here we are in a new world of content delivery and content creation where you can make essentially a six-hour movie and it's not the world of Berlin Alexanderplatz. You're not making that version of it. You can make it like this and you could deliver it to people and say, 'Bite off an hour, bite off three hours, bite off six hours, do whatever you want'. So again, for people like us who get to be in front of the camera, it's exciting because you get to do so many different things. So when an opportunity like this beautiful novel that they wrote so many years ago gets to be filmed you're like, 'Yeah, that would be part of that'.
"ADRIA ARJONA: No, I think you do need to trust the people that are making it and of course we came up through so many little stepping stones where it's like, 'Wait, is that actually, are we capable of doing that? Are we going to be able to do that?' I know that because I shadowed Douglas as a director for a lot of these shows. So I went to a lot of the records and I saw how both him and Neil both dealt with situations in such a calm and almost undoubtfully way, undoubtfully. I just made up a word. It worked..."
http://collider.com/good-omens-jon-hamm-adria-arjona-interview/2c. Arjona again, this time on playing Anathema Device, interviewed by Press Trust of India:
"Good Omens actor Adria Arjona says the Amazon Prime Video series gave her an opportunity to play a 'well-rounded' role for the first time in her career. The actor plays Anathema, the last descendant of witch Agnes Nutter, who teams up with angel Aziraphale and demon Crowley to stop the end of the world. What Arjona loved the most about Anathema was that the character had her own subplot on the show, based on 1990 fantasy novel Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. 'I loved the character. It was really well written. I was pinching myself, because for the first time I was being offered a female character that was well-rounded and drove her own plot, (she) was not a girlfriend of anyone... She is extremely determined and ambitious. She fails a lot throughout the show. But she always keeps going. I think the role Anathema really caught me and then I read the book, and I fell even more in love with the character,' she told PTI in a telephonic interview from London... 'I only have certain amount of projects or movies that I can do in my whole lifetime. I like to do characters that I really like and enjoy. I don't necessarily look at it as a whole, I think I've had really great experiences. When I look back, I see that I fell in love with the projects that I do and the characters that I play. I want a lot of people to watch it.'..."
https://bit.ly/2RlgAe62d. Cinematographer Gavin Finney on filming techniques and small surprises, as told to Beth Marchant on Studio Daily. Another long piece, but fascinating:
"Director Douglas Mackinnon and his cinematographer Gavin Finney were, like Gaiman and Pratchett, another match made in heaven. The pair went to film school together and later worked together on two films. Finney also had several other bonafides for this project in his pocket, having already shot three adaptations of Pratchett's novels for television. For Good Omens he used the Arri Alexa SXT and Alexa Mini, Leica Summilux primes and Arri Alura zooms (15.5–45mm and 45–250mm) and output UHD 4K files. We talked to Finney about the lighting, lenses, filters and techniques he used to delineate the show's many moving parts and how he resurrected and modified his beloved Arriflex D-21, the precursor to the Alexa, to shoot a key set piece the old-fashioned way.
"Gavin Finney: The writing and the storyline is right up my street, and hearing that Neil Gaiman was writing the screenplay and showrunning meant this project would be looked after and taken seriously. Another big plus for me was that Douglas was going to direct all six episodes. Everyone prefers that and it's really important to the creative process. For me, it's much more satisfying to do all of a project with one director than to have to swap directors in and out from episode to episode. The actors also prefer working with one person all the way through when given the chance... The time between me being offered the job and flying to South Africa to begin scouting locations was about 12 hours. I was literally packing my back on the evening I got the job. There were a lot of discussions in airport lounges with Douglas and Michael Ralph, the production designer, and also on location. That was my immersion to get up to speed... We used different looks and but also different camera filters for different periods and characters. On set, we graded the dailies using DaVinci Resolve and our DIT, Rich Simpson [of Hijack Post], transcoded them to go into the edit suite. The looks were designed and applied for each period of time seen in the show, whether 2011 or 2018 or the 1940s or the Victorian era and before. That way, in the edit, it had kind of a first-pass grade almost. That was continued during the online where we built looks for each section, so every section of the show had a signature..."
https://bit.ly/2IC1fD22e. Good Omens' designer Claire Anderson discusses the costumes with Adriana Gomez-Weston for Awards Circuit:
"Claire Anderson: Once we had nailed their regular looks- Aziraphale (Sheen) in his slightly timeless look, and Crowley (Tennant) in more of a street style, contemporary look, we could work backwards and see where they fit into other parts of history. We set the tone with Crowley shielding his eyes because he still has snake eyes, even though he transformed from a snake to a human being. Little indicators like wearing glasses help tell the story, so that people don't think that he is a snake in real life. It helped inform how we would dress Crowley through the different periods. And of course, you've got color, which is key. The pale colors for the angel, and the dark for the demon... I used a lot pre-Raphaelite paintings, and Victorian paintings. Religion was still the key in UK society. A lot of paintings had an ethereal quality, and that's very useful to draw upon for where these characters come from. Of course there are not really paintings from the arc or the Crucifixion. Nobody was there sketching that. I suppose there was no Instagram in those days. We could have used those modern recordings to collect information. We went back to paintings, and historical documents and information. But there's so much in the script, lot's of things! There so much clever depths of knowledge in the book. Neil writes so deeply. You can always find a thread to draw something out for the costumes..."
https://bit.ly/2IDhlfV2f. Up close and personal Neil Gaiman interview by Ginny Dougary in the Sydney Morning Herald:
"I had spent a few afternoons with the Discworld inventor in the chapel-cum-writing-studio on the grounds of his noble manor house and garden in Wiltshire, over a period of three or four years, so talking to his younger friend sometimes feels as though he is channelling his old mentor. Gaiman even squeaks like Pratchett when he gets excited, his voice shooting up several octaves. As he says,'we realised that we were pretty similar kinds of people'... The first draft of the book they worked on together was called William the Anti-Christ, the second was the book they sold in 1990, Good Omens.. In the original 25 pages of Good Omens, he says, the Crowley was very like Aziraphale, 'and one of the things that Terry did was take all the things about me – the me of 30 years ago when I was 28 – which he thought were hilarious, like my habit of wearing dark glasses inside even when I didn't need them and occasionally bumping into things ... '
Were you a poseur? 'I was – black leather jacket and everything, and Terry just thought that stuff was incredibly funny. So he took all the things about me that amused him and changed them to Crowley.' ... Gaiman is having a gas seeing how the actors bring their own interpretations to their roles. 'At the end of the day, it was Michael and David who chose their costumes and who really got into creating their characters. And there's something particular about David's way of playing Crowley as someone who thinks he's cool but isn't and who is also slightly unaware of human cues and styles. He thinks he's cutting edge and hip but he can never get it quite right. Whereas with Aziraphale, I love the fact that he has the same haircut for 6000 years.' So who is his favourite? 'It's funny but Richard Curtis – of Four Weddings and A Funeral going right back to Blackadder,' Gaiman explains the famous director's CV, 'last time I saw him, he sidled over and said 'Come on, Neil, you can tell me – who was the better actor? Michael Sheen or David Tennant?' And I had to say to him, 'Richard, a) you are a very naughty, evil man and b) it doesn't actually work like that in this because we are talking about Laurel and Hardy. The joy of them is this incredibly wonderful double act.''..."
https://bit.ly/2WYYJe72g. An interesting take on goodness and faith from Michael Sheen, by Greg Daly on The Irish Catholic:
'I always have an issue with people who say 'it's much more fun to play [someone] bad',' Michael Sheen tells the Sydney Morning Herald at smh.com.au. 'Is it? I think we've failed as a species if good is boring. If we made good boring then we are doing something wrong. Goodness is about sharing, joy and being generous and connecting, and that's the best thing we have in the world. That's what makes life living. So if you can't make that interesting or fun, you might as well pack up and go home.'... he explains that in working out how to play the angel Aziraphale he decided that it would be the angel's nature to love other characters, including David Tennant's demon Crowley. 'There's a lazy way of playing goodness and I didn't want to do that. I'm always trying to look for moments that will allow an audience to feel for what he's doing in a way that is authentic, that connects.'..."
https://www.irishcatholic.com/a-very-modern-divine-comedy/4.3 MORE GOOD OMENS REVIEWS
By Cory Doctorow on BoingBoing:
"I loved it. The TV show is very faithful to the novel (I failed to impress my wife by speaking some of my favorite lines aloud at the same time as the actors – though I was sad that "What a shocking bad hat, as you young'uns do say!" didn't make the cut), and most of the changes are additive, with a series new historical scenes – in the mold of Black Adder, Time Bandits or The Meaning of Life – padding things out, giving the characters some depth and teeing up some very nice comedic effects. The other changes are mostly updates to the furniture and logistics of the action, moving things from the late 1980s (with its nuclear anxiety) to the late 2010s (with our own set of anxieties), adding in mobile phones and the internet, exposing more of the inner workings of heaven and hell... It's really a masterclass in how changing out white, male characters for more diverse players (including a gender-swap for God Herself) can add texture and relatability – and it shows up how much blandness the traditional pale/male/stale choices for characters imparts to this kind of comedy (to say nothing of just how talented the cast are). Likewise the decision to surface the queer subtext between the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley, which throws all kinds of wonderful complexity into the mix, especially in the final episodes. I don't often recommend movies or TV shows, because there are so many people out there better qualified than I am to tell you what's worth your time in that domain, but when it comes to sitting in judgment over adaptations of Good Omens, I feel pretty confident in my qualifications, given my longstanding and deep familiarity with and love of the material. The TV adaptation absolutely qualifies as worthy of your time and attention..."
https://boingboing.net/2019/06/23/shocking-bad-hat.htmlBy Lacy Baugher for Paste Magazine:
"In a more traditional show, Crowley and Aziraphale would probably be a very different set of antagonists: Constantly at one another's throats, sabotaging each other's supernatural plans or otherwise overtly battling one another other. They would be mortal enemies, whose conflict drove the show forward to a violent, predictable end. There would probably be dramatic special effects. Maybe fire. But Good Omens is not that show... Good Omens is a love story on many levels; between an angel and a demon, between two celestial beings and the human world they inhabit, between a group of teen best friends and even between God and Her creations. This is a story about the universality of family (both natural and found), as well as the idea that it's kindness and care that ultimately will save the world, not flaming swords and holy water. (Though neither of those things are bad to have around, in the end.)... Good Omens doesn't really ask us to choose a side in this Final Battle, either. Instead, it simply encourages us to choose each other, too. In a time when real life appears to be as bad as anything the minions of Hell might be able to conjure up, this admonition feels more necessary than ever.
https://bit.ly/2N8yJgRBy Dani Di Placido for Forbes:
"The series is great fun, but somewhat wobbly; the budget doesn't seem high enough to properly depict the fantastical elements (especially for those spoiled by HBO and Netflix), the acting can be questionable, and the sub-plots meandering. But where the series shines is through the very special friendship shared between the demon Crowley (David Tennant) and the angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen). Two wonderful actors, playing characters who feel trapped by their respective labels, who long to spend some quality time together, away from the judgmental eyes of their angelic/demonic peers. Neil Gaiman's talent of plundering old stories and remixing them into something unique is on full display here, fitting comfortably with Terry Pratchett's distinctively British humor...
It's long been a pastime of fans to reimagine bromantic protagonists as passionate lovers, and Good Omens is so openly homoerotic that the fan fiction doesn't need to push boundaries -- it's out there in the open, just never spoken aloud..."
https://bit.ly/2Rx7tHqBy Katey Stoetzel on The Young Folks:
"Gaiman creates a tight story in six nearly hour-long episodes. For a tale about the end of times, it's a surprisingly streamlined story, despite the different jumps in time. Still, Gaiman isn't afraid to break some boundaries: in one of the show's best episodes, 'Hard Times,' we see Crowley and Aziraphale's friendship throughout history in a 28-minute long cold open. The dialogue is snappy, bolstered by Tennant and Sheen's wicked fast delivery, but it also leaves room for moments of levity, even in some of the more ridiculous of circumstances..."
https://bit.ly/2IBbMhY By Zayaan Schroeder for New Zealand's Channel 24:
"The series is filled with Easter eggs dedicated to Terry Pratchett that fans will be sure to spot... The show is cast so well, and the characters are endearing. Jack Whitehall is dorkishly cute as bumbling Private Witchfinder Newt Pulsifer, and while I really liked Adria Arjona as Anathema Device, I was thrown by her American accent. The kids who are cast as the Them are brilliant, often child actors can be a bit wooden, but these four are wonderful in their performances..."
https://www.channel24.co.za/TV/Reviews/good-omens-20190615By Miriam Blakemore-Hoy on Nottingham's LeftLion:
"You can dive straight into it with no prior knowledge at all, because there is a delightful narrator, Frances McDormand, playing God (literally), who guides you through the bizarre, supernatural and extremely British tale of the end of the world... It's a true stroke of genius that Michael Sheen and David Tennant were cast in the roles of Aziraphale the angel and Crowley the demon, respectively. They are really a match made in heaven (I can't help it). Tennant comes across as the ultra-swaggering rock star he always seemed born to play which is the perfect antithesis to Sheen's delightfully plummy, book loving, wine collecting angel. Even if there were times when some of the humour didn't quite hit its mark, whenever these two shared the screen, it was a real joy to behold. There is also a certain amount of expansion on the characters and their relationship to each other which is pretty satisfying. Of course, Jon Hamm deserves a special mention, both for his excellent angelic dress sense, and for making a jog in the park look absolutely effortless – I've never seen anyone pull off dove grey and white with quite so much style..."
https://www.leftlion.co.uk/read/2019/june/good-omens-tv-review/ A long, perceptive review by Merryanna Salem on Junkee.com:
"It's rare for a screen adaptation of a novel to have such heavy involvement from its author. Despite the occasionally uneven and overexcited plot execution, Good Omens really is a masterclass in why author involvement in an adaption is a resource that should not be disregarded lightly. Crowley and Aziraphale in the book were written as two more players in the ineffable game of Armageddon, but Sheen and Tennant's versions and their friendship is the TV series' emotional core. It is nothing short of delightful watching these two don wigs and outfits of varying apocalyptic campiness to dine at The Ritz, heckle side-by-side at an original performance of Hamlet at Shakespeare's request, bicker over a beer in ancient Rome, and accidentally hit witches with their car... It's an interaction that isn't just gay as all hell (and heaven, really), but embodies the shows all too important message, that even the most extreme beings are more complex than they seem... however you chose to interpret it, it's certainly a calamitously heartfelt relationship, performed stupendously by its leads. Certainly, one of the best Neil Gaiman adaptions to date, and one of the most fun watches of 2019..."
https://junkee.com/good-omens-review/210492By Nuhan B Abid on India's Daily Star:
"Sir Terry and Neil Gaiman created a story about the grimmest of topics, yet they manage to keep it lighthearted and make it more so a story of friendship and love. This being preserved in the TV series is what makes it succeed. The casting of Michael Sheen and David Tennant as the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley is the best thing about this show. Every scene where they interact plays out like a great mix of unlikely friendship and an odd romcom couple. The heart of the show lies in their relationship and how it develops over the course of all of human history, and how it ends up being central to their fight against Heaven and Hell for stopping the end of the world. The show does tackle some of these heavy-handed questions of morality and how well defined the binaries of good and evil really are, and it does it best through the viewpoints of Aziraphale and Crowley. It's safe to say Michael Sheen and David Tennant's incredibly chemistry carry this show. Jon Hamm as Archangel Gabriel is another inspired choice of casting, playing an over-the-top bureaucrat from Heaven. Neil Gaiman does a great job of adapting the original source to script, and it's very apparent having known his co-author well enough that he's able to keep Terry Pratchett's charm alive in the adaptation..."
https://bit.ly/2WYXvj1By Sam Munday, who gives the series a strong 7 out of 10, on Cultured Vultures:
"Technology from the novel has been upgraded to include video calls, smart phones, and jokes on contemporary political trends, but the essence of the story remains faithful to its original, thanks to a compassionate and well-rounded script from Gaiman himself. It contains twelve hundred CGI shots throughout, showcasing some of the best special effects the world has to offer, and according to John Hamm (Gabriel) it's 'the best version of it they could have possibly done'... Sheen's performance glows with heart, outshining Tennant from the get-go with a range of emotions and subtlety that make comic moments hilarious and casual lines sing with meaning. The comparison highlights Tennant's two main characteristics as an actor – the moody anti-hero (Broadchurch, Hamlet) and the exuberant adventurer (Doctor Who), and it's clear now that his performance in Good Omens flits somewhere between the two. And whilst it works, and fans will have a fun time looking for the Doctor Who Easter eggs that have been confirmed to appear in the series, there are times when his delivery feels a little Tennant-By-Numbers. His undeniably cool demeanour, bespoke rock 'n' roll costumes, and Queen soundtrack however, make up for this in spades and still make him a thrilling demon to watch on screen. Surprise appearances from stars such as Jack Whitehall, Miranda Richardson, and League of Gentlemen founders Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith, and Mark Gatiss keep things fresh and entertaining, and some (most notably Whitehall) surprise further with performances far removed from their usual comfort zones..."
https://culturedvultures.com/amazon-bbc-good-omens-review/...while Becky Kukla, for The Digital Fix, failed to get the whole point of Lower Tadfield's timewarped culture:
"Despite all of the inventive CGI, the comedic trappings and the utterly unique narrative, the word overkill springs to mind. One of the fatal flaws of Good Omens is it's constant need to over explain single minuscule narrative twist. As wonderful as it is to hear Frances McDormand as the voice of God, the narration rarely (if ever) tells the audience anything it doesn't already know (or is about to discover) and usually serves the purpose of buying time between scenes. The pacing is slow anyway; six episodes feels a lot more like ten... There are iPads and smartphones, but everyone in London wears a waistcoat, the streets of Soho are lined with twee red phone-boxes, and Adam's adopted father brings his wife to hospital in an incredibly outdated car. We have face-timing, but the children are dressed like remnants from the past and talk like they are taking part in a BBC2 educational programme from the 1950's. I suspect that this uncertainty stems from the 'anglophilia' that Good Omens is so keen on pandering to..."
https://bit.ly/2REP2k9Not so much a review as an appreciation of the Aziraphale and Crowley bromance, by Kristina Fontes in the Taunton Daily Gazette (USA):
"Aziraphale and Crowley are brought to life beautifully by Michael Sheen and David Tennant, respectively. The 'ow' in Crowley, by the way, is pronounced as if one is saying 'oh,' not 'ouch.' Just trying to help you not make the same mistake I did, pronouncing it wrong for years. Aziraphale loves books and sweets, and owns a rare book shop in London. He's 'gone native,' as has Crowley, who is perhaps most proud of his 1926 Bentley (he's had it from new, and kept it scratch-free for decades). The Bentley is its own character, really, and the 1933 model used on the show is just perfect in the larger aesthetic framework of the story... In addition to excellent casting, the soundtrack is also great. I'm a Queen fan anyway, but the image of Crowley's flaming Bentley barreling into the air base as the guitar solo at the end of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' is ending is going to stick with me for a while. As is the excellent use of 'Somebody to Love' as Crowley exits Aziraphale's burning bookshop, thinking he's lost his best friend. The opening theme, composed by David Arnold, is also perfect for the two characters (he's the composer for 'Sherlock' as well). One of my favorite things about the series is that it adds to the book. That's not something that happens all that often with adaptations (things usually get cut for time!). In particular, that 6,000-year slow burn I mentioned before. We see more of how Aziraphale and Crowley get to know one another during their time on Earth, in an excellent sequence spanning hundreds of years. To me, the standout moment that made this my new favorite romantic comedy was Crowley going into a church to save Aziraphale in 1941 during the London Blitz..."
https://bit.ly/2Rvl024 A student review by Rocco Romano at the University of Iowa:
"The unorthodox friendship between the angel and demon is the show's greatest strength, no doubt thanks to Sheen and Tennant's acting, which is unlike any of their previous roles. As viewers learn in the first episode of 'Good Omens,' entitled 'In the Beginning,' Crowley is not only a demon but the serpent who tempts Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, while Aziraphale gives a flaming sword to Adam for protection as he and Eve flee from the Garden of Eden. Right from the start, Aziraphale and Crowley's personalities are brought to the forefront and instantly engages the viewer in their bickering as if they were the perfect odd couple. Sheen and Tennant have no trouble humanizing their characters and grounding them in reality, making the audience forget they're watching two immortal, supernatural creatures. Their witty banter and snide remarks add enjoyment and aids in washing down the bitter taste of the show's often cheesy and ridiculous moments. Without Sheen and Tennant's performances, 'Good Omens' wouldn't have any legs to stand on. With the amount of emphasis placed on Aziraphale and Crowley's origins and individual storylines, there isn't enough room for a viewer to care about the actual plot or supporting characters..."
https://studybreaks.com/tvfilm/good-omens-amazon-prime/...and the final word (for now! – Ed.) goes to the appropriately-named Christian Angeles' review of the second half of the Good Omens miniseries, on industry-insider site The Workprint:
"Good Omens has been nothing but good-hearted fun. The show, a surprising love story about two oddball best friends: an angel and a demon, is a pure love story that, along with its Tolkien-esque conclusion for its zany cast of characters, provides a sweet and sincere conclusion in hilarious yet fitting fashion. The second half of 'Good Omens' is a race to the apocalypse... One of my favorite aspects on the show is the strength of its casting. With a surprising gem in episode 6 featuring Benedict Cumberbatch... Overall, if you love Good Omens you'll love Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's writing styles. It's definitely an homage to both authors and their friendship, embracing a story of love above all things… Score for Episodes 4-6: 9.8/10"
https://bit.ly/31SQnZe%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
05) ODDS AND SODS
5.1 GUESS WHO PREDICTED THE 21ST CENTURY FAKE NEWS PLAGUE 24 YEARS AGO?!
By Alison Flood in The Guardian:
"Marc Burrows was digging through old cuttings about the late Discworld author for his forthcoming biography when he came across an interview Pratchett had done with Microsoft founder Bill Gates in July 1995, for GQ. 'Let's say I call myself the Institute for Something-or-other and I decide to promote a spurious treatise saying the Jews were entirely responsible for the second world war and the Holocaust didn't happen,' said Pratchett, almost 25 years ago. 'And it goes out there on the internet and is available on the same terms as any piece of historical research which has undergone peer review and so on. There's a kind of parity of esteem of information on the net. It's all there: there's no way of finding out whether this stuff has any bottom to it or whether someone has just made it up.' Gates, as Burrows points out, didn't believe him, telling Pratchett that 'electronics gives us a way of classifying things', and 'you will have authorities on the net and because an article is contained in their index it will mean something … The whole way that you can check somebody's reputation will be so much more sophisticated on the net than it is in print,' predicted Gates, who goes on to redeem himself in the interview by also predicting DVDs and online video streaming... Burrows said: 'He's someone who understood how a story worked and how robustly facts need to be checked, and as a press officer he would have known how quickly misinformation spreads. It comes up quite a lot in his work, most obviously in The Truth. He makes good use of the old saying about how 'a lie can make its way around the world before the truth has got its boots on' (often misattributed to him as a result), and invents a tabloid press to prove his point. Pratchett was someone who really understood human nature. Gates is an optimist, and an idealist – Pratchett was a realist, if not necessarily a cynic. He was absolutely bang-on.'..."
https://bit.ly/2Lbv8vSBy Lee Moran in the Huffington Post:
"Burrows noted Pratchett had 'accurately predicted' how the internet, which was then still in its infancy, would 'propagate and legitimise fake news' ― and that Gates 'didn't believe him.'... Gates offered an optimistic response: 'Not for long. Electronics gives us a way of classifying things. You will have authorities on the Net and because an article is contained in their index it will mean something. For all practical purposes, there'll be an infinite amount of test out there and you'll only receive a piece of text through levels of direction, like a friend who says, 'hey, go read this', or a brand name which is associated with a group of referees, or a particular expert, or consumer reports, or the equivalent of a newspaper... they'll point out the things that are of particular interest. The whole way that you can check somebody's reputation will be so much more sophisticated on the New than it is in print today.' Burrows told HuffPost he was 'not in the slightest' bit surprised with Pratchett's prediction about the spread of fake news, noting how he'd been a newsman who'd worked as a journalist or press officer..."
https://bit.ly/2IDOxE1...and included were a few choice Twitter reactions:
"
paddington After all the Internet is pretty much equivalent to Ankh-Morpork"
"
nuclearrek The Shades to be precise."
"
lawpleb More like the River Ankh TBH"
5.2 JACK COHEN OBITUARY
In The Guardian, by his friend and fellow Science of Discworld co-author Ian Stewart:
"I first met Jack in 1990, when he phoned me at Warwick University. 'Hello, I'm Jack Cohen. I have a question about your book on chaos theory. Can we meet?' We had lunch at a pub in Kenilworth, and four hours later we were still there, having discovered that a mathematician and a biologist could have far more in common than they expected. We became close friends and collaborators, writing three popular science books together: The Collapse of Chaos (1994), based on four years of pub conversations, Figments of Reality (1997) and What Does a Martian Look Like? (2002). We wrote two science fiction novels: Wheelers (2000), whose complex plot we invented during a long car journey to appear on a scientific game show on BBC radio, and a sequel, Heaven (2004). We also collaborated on scientific papers: mathematical models of evolution, the supposed decline of the human sperm count, and an article on alien life for a Nature astrobiology supplement. The culmination of these activities was, for us both, the Discworld books. Jack and Terry had been friends since Terry was a struggling young journalist, brought together by a common love of science fiction...
"Science fiction was a lifelong passion. When his head of department was looking for people to lecture to schools, he noticed a copy of an SF magazine on Jack's desk, and wrote on the lecture list 'What does a Martian look like?' Jack gave the talk more than 300 times. He acted as a consultant to leading SF writers, helping them to design scientifically plausible aliens and scenarios for novels. He provided scientific underpinnings for Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders series, including explaining how the Red Star could 'be at zenith' in two different directions at once, and worked with Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle and Steven Barnes on alien ecologies for their Heorot series. With help from Jack, Warwick University awarded Terry his first honorary degree in 1999. Before the ceremony, Terry made Jack and me honorary wizards of Unseen University, an event reported in Nature. More conventionally, Jack was made an honorary professor in the mathematics department at Warwick in 2000. Jack was always friendly and open, though he could bite when necessary. He preferred informality, but wore a spectacular waistcoat for special occasions..."
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jun/03/jack-cohen-obituaryIn The Telegraph, with no writer credited:
}"Cohen first met Pratchett in the 1980s when he accidentally spilt a pint of beer over Pratchett's lap at a science fiction convention. The friendship was subsequently sealed at a convention in The Hague, at which members of an audience of sci-fi fans objected when Pratchett, seeking to defend a fellow author who had earned their hostility, pointed out that he and his co-guests were so rich they did not need to attend such conventions, but were doing so out of the goodness of their hearts. 'Someone threw a tomato and it got him,' Cohen recalled. 'Terry lost it. "What the f–– do you think you're doing," he said, and really went over the top. I stood up and said "shut up". I was at the back right of the audience and all eyes turned towards me. I said, extemporising wildly: "Money is like air and love. If you've got it, it doesn't matter. If you haven't got it, that's desperate." Everyone stood up and clapped and Terry said: "Is that Jack Cohen? Then I'll buy you a drink."'..."
https://bit.ly/2YSSsC1 (requires registration)
5.3 PTERRY'S PTALES OF THAT "NUCLEAR INCIDENT"
An essay from A Slip of the Keyboard is cleverly turned into an almost-interview, by Sofie Jackson in the Daily Star (UK):
"According to Sir Terry, a nuclear power plant can be built to the safest possible standards but a simple cock-up by a single hapless worker can cause chaos. He called this the 'Fred Factor', although this doesn't mean Fred was the real name of any of the accident-prone workers. 'Fred is not a bad person, or even a bad workman,' Sir Terry wrote. 'He is just an innocent victim of other people's assumptions. We had various Fred-type emergencies when I was working for the industry,' he recalled. 'For example, it should be impossible, completely impossible to pour nuclear waste down a lavatory. But no-one told Fred. So when he was done cleaning the top of the reactor, he tipped a bucket of, well to him, dirty water down a lavatory; and it just so happened that the health physicists, checking the sump outside shortly afterwards, heard the Geiger counter suddenly go 'bing!'' It was then down to engineers to figure out how to find the radioactive lumps in 'eighty-thousand gallons of c***'. "Just feeling around is not an option', he added..."
https://bit.ly/2L9gh4U5.4 NADWCON 2019: HOORAY FOR HOLY WOOD!
Your Editor has been remiss in reporting on some upcoming Discworld fan events, but it's worth noting that the laudably good-hearted and notably snobbery-free North American Discworld Convention takes place next month! The 2019 convention will take place from the 12th to the 15th of July at The Westin LAX, 5400 West Century Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90045 (_
https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/laxwi-the-westin-los-angeles-airport/_)
and with its clicks theme will be well worth attending if you can.
NADWCON 2019 isn't fully booked out yet, and prices for the full weekend are quite reasonable – adults $150, ages 13–17 $100, ages 6–12 $75, ages 0–5 $1 (I wonder if an Ankh-Morpork dollar would do for a toddler – Ed.), military/student/over-65 $100. For more info, and to purchase a ticket, go to:
https://nadwcon2019.org/register-now/Also, there are still day passes available:
"Want to come to the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, Pratchettational, Discworld show in town, but can only come for 1 day? No problem, we have day passes available! You'll get to join in with all the days programming adventures along with star spotting of Vimes and Granny et al." Prices listed are $1 to $45 for Friday, $1 to $50 for Saturday or Sunday, and $1 to $30 for Monday. For full details, and to purchase, go to:
https://nadwcon2019.org/day-passes/https://nadwcon2019.org/faq/https://twitter.com/nadwcon5.5 LAGUNA PUBLISHING: A DISCWORLD STORY *NOT* LOST IN TRANSLATION
Dejan Papic, founder and owner of Serbia's largest publishing house, owes a special debt to the late Sir Pterry, the very much alive Colin Smythe, and a certain flat world on the back of a turtle!
Back in the 1990s, Papic translated The Colour of Magic into his native language so "the missus" could read it, and was moved to seek the right to publish it so others in Serbia could share in the enjoyment. On discovering from Colin Smythe that publishing rights could not be sold to individuals, he went out on a limb, borrowing money – some of it from less than safe sources – and founded Laguna. After translating and publishing several more Discworld novels, Laguna went from strength to strength, publishing over 4,000 titles to date that cover a wide range of reader demographics. Best of all, Laguna is now the leading publishing house throughout the Balkans, as well as operating more than 42 bricks-and-mortar bookshops. The Laguna Readers club now has almost 600,000 members!
Recently, Mr Papic was on a shortlist of finalists, drawn from 46 countries, for 2019 World Entrepreneur of the Year. Quite an achievement for a "civilian" who wanted to share a beloved Discworld book!
More info about Dejan Papic and Laguna can be found in The Times –
https://bit.ly/2xaf0lZ (requires registration) – and on Wikipedia –
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laguna_(publisher)
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06) DISCWORLD PLAYS NEWS
* WYRD SISTERS IN HAMPSHIRE (JULY)
Dynamo Youth Theatre will be staging their first Discworld play, a production of Wyrd Sisters, next month!
When: Wed 10th to Sat 13th July 2019
Venue: The Pallant Centre, The Pallant, Havant, Hants PO9 1BE
Time: 7.30pm all shows
Tickets: £10 and £12, available from
http://www.dynamoyouththeatre.com/http://www.dyt.org.uk/http://stfaith.com/the-pallant-centre/* MEN AT ARMS IN CARDIFF (AUGUST)
Peculiar Productions continue the Cardiff tradition of fine Discworld plays with a new production of Men at Arms! "The City Watch needs men! And women, of course. Not to mention dwarfs, trolls, gargoyles, and whatever Nobby Nobbs actually is. Commander Vimes needs to make sure they can all get along, and fast – because no-one else can stop a deadly secret that stalks the streets…"
When: 21st–24th August 2019,
Venue: The Gate Arts Centre, Cardiff
Time: 7pm all shows
Tickets: £9 (concessions £7), now available online via
https://peculiarproductions.co.uk/tickets/"Proceeds from this performance will go to Nerve Tumours UK."
https://peculiarproductions.co.uk/And later this year...
* MASKERADE IN BRISBANE (SEPTEMBER)
Brisbane Arts Theatre continue their justified love affair with Discworld plays with a new production of Maskerade!
When: 14th September–12th October 2019 (Thursdays through Sundays)
Venue: Brisbane Arts Theatre, 210 Petrie Terrace, Petrie Terrace, QLD 4000
Time: all Thursday shows 7.30pm, all Friday and Saturday shows 8pm, all Sunday shows 6.30pm
Tickets: $23–34, available online at
https://bit.ly/2IOWLdw or via the
box office (phone (07) 3369 2344)
https://www.artstheatre.com.au/maskerade* MASKERADE IN ELTHAM[1] (OCTOBER)
Eldorado Musical Productions will be staging their production of Maskerade in October!
When: 9th–12th October 2019
Venue: Bob Hope Theatre, Wythfield Road, Eltham SE9 5TG (box office phone 0208 850 3702)
Time: 7.45pm all evening shows; matinee at 2.30pm on the 12th
Tickets: £15 (£13 on opening night), not yet available but will be via
https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/bob-hope-theatre and from the Box Office which is open Tuesdays through Saturdays 10am–1pm.
http://www.eldoradomusicalproductions.co.uk/maskerade/4594338795[1] Note for Fourecksians: that's Eltham in Greater London, not the one in Melbourne – Ed.
* GOING POSTAL IN EMERALD, FOURECKS (OCTOBER)
The Gemco Players will present their production of Going Postal in October! "Moist von Lipwig was a con artist, a fraud and a man faced with a life choice: be hanged, or put Ankh-Morpork's ailing postal service back on its feet. It was a tough decision. With the help of a golem who has been at the bottom of hole in the ground for over two hundred years, a pin fanatic and Junior Postman Groat, he's got to see that the mail gets through. In taking on the evil chairman of the Grand Trunk Semaphore Company, and a midnight killer, he's also got to stay alive. Getting a date with Adora Bell Dearheart would be nice, too. In the mad world of the mail, can a criminal succeed where honest men have failed and died? Perhaps there's a shot at redemption for man who's prepared to push the envelope..."
Note: there will be a play reading on 25th June, and auditions on 30th
June at 2–5pm and 2nd July at 7–10pm. Visit the webpage (below) for details.
June 25, 7-10pm
When: 11th–26th October 2019 (Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays only)
Venue: Gem Community Arts Centre, 19 Kilvington Drive, Emerald, VIC 3782
Time: all Friday and Saturday shows 8pm; Sunday matinees 2pm
Tickets: prices TBA. Tickets will be available online via
https://www.trybooking.com/BAGWG from 9pm on 11th August
https://gemco-players.squarespace.com/whatson/2018/12/5/going-postal* JOHNNY AND THE DEAD IN LEEDS (NOVEMBER)
Leeds Children's Theatre will be presenting their production of Johnny and the Dead in November! "Sell the cemetery? Over their dead bodies ... Not many people can see the dead (not many would want to). Twelve-year-old Johnny Maxwell can. And he's got bad news for them: the council want to sell the cemetery as a building site, but they'd better watch out - the dead have learnt a thing or two from Johnny. They're not going to take it lying down ...especially since it's Halloween tomorrow. Besides, they're beginning to find that life is a lot more fun than it was when they were ... well ... alive. Particularly if they break a few
rules."
When: 6th–9th November 2019
Venue: Carriageworks Theatre main auditorium, Millennium Square, Leeds LS2 3AD
Time: evening shows 7pm (Wednesday through Friday), Saturday matinee 1pm and afternoon show 5.30pm
Tickets: adults £14.50, concessions £12.50, under-16s £10.50, family £46, available from the Box Office (phone 0113 376 0318; address Leeds Town Hall, The Headroom, LS1 3AD, open 10am–6pm Monday to Saturday), or by by email (boxoffice@leeds.gov.uk), or online via the theatre's website, although their calendar doesn't yet stretch to November:
https://www.carriageworkstheatre.co.uk/plan-your-visit/how-to-book-tickets/"The Box Office will charge a fee for postage if you wish to have your tickets mailed out. Family Tickets, restricted view seats and special offers are rarely sold online and should be purchased over the phone or in person."
www.leeds-childrens-theatre.co.uk
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07) DISCWORLD MEETING GROUPS NEWS
The Broken Drummers, "London's Premier Unofficially Official Discworld Group" (motto "Nil percussio est"), will next meet on Monday 1st July at
7pm at The Monkey Puzzle, 30 Southwick Street, London W2 1JQ.
For more information, email BrokenDrummers@gmail.com or nicholls.helen@yahoo.co.uk or join their Facebook group at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/55107511411/permalink/10156634038566412/*
Canberra, Australia's Discworld fan group is 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 from 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."
*
For Facebook users in Fourecks: The Victorian Discworld Klatch is "a social group for fans of Discworld and Terry Pratchett... run by a dedicated team who meet monthly and organise events monthly." "If you'd like to join our events please ask to join the Klatch."
https://www.facebook.com/groups/VictorianDiscworldKlatch*
"The Gathering of the Loonies (Wincanton chapter)" is a public Facebook meeting group: "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. 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: "We have an established Terry Pratchett & Discworld fan group in Adelaide called The City of Small Gods, which is open to anyone who would like to come – you don't have to live in Adelaide or even South Australia, or even be a Discworld fan, but that's mostly where our events will be held, and we do like discussing Pratchett's works. Our (semi-) regular meetings are generally held on the last Thursday of the month at a pub or restaurant in Adelaide. We have dinner at 6.30pm followed by games until 9pm. 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. In addition, we will occasionally have other events to go and see plays by Unseen Theatre Company, book discussions, craft, chain maille or costuming workshops or other fun social activities."
The next CoSG events will be the Monthly Dinner at the Seven Stars Hotel, 187 Angas St, Adelaide on the 27th of this month, and a table in the community area at the games and anime convention AVCon (_
https://www.avcon.org.au/_) on 5th–7th July.
The CoSG also have another identity. Here's the skinny:
Round World Events SA Inc is a not-for-profit incorporated association whose aim is to run fun social Pratchett-themed events for people in South Australia. Our first major event was the Unseen University Convivium held in July 2012. We have also run three successful and booked out Science Fiction and Fantasy themed quiz nights named Quiz Long And Prosper, in 2013, 2014 and 2015! The association will run some events under the City of Small Gods banner, but you do not have to be a Round World Events SA member to be part of City of Small Gods. However, we are always on the look out for new members for Round World Events SA to help us organise future events! Membership is $20 a year (for Adelaide locals) or $5 a year (for those not quite so close) and has the following benefits:
A shiny membership certificate all of your very own
Discounted entry price to some of the events we run
A warm, fuzzy feeling deep down in your chest (no, not quite that deep)
For more information, or to join as a member, please email RoundWorldEventsSA@gmail.com
www.cityofsmallgods.org.au
*
The Broken Vectis Drummers meet next on Thursday 4th July (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 July (possibly) 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. 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 July (possibly) at 6.30pm 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, meet next on Monday 1st July (possibly) at Old Shanghai, 123 James Street, Northbridge, Perth, Western Australia. For details 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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08) MORE IMAGES OF THE MONTH
The best cake art on Earth, or in Heaven or Hell! Made and tweeted by Charm Cakes West. Tweet includes main photo and two close-ups:
https://twitter.com/Charm_CityCakes/status/1139657018220765184Two wonderful photos, one beautiful one of Sir Pterry and one of the Good Omens co-authors back in their co-authoring days:
https://bit.ly/2J0Xnuv and
https://bit.ly/2Y6fUvrJack Cohen in his UU regalia:
https://bit.ly/2wuy0LzA somewhat William Morris-era illustration of Crowley and Aziraphale, by Julianne Griepp at Laguna College of Art and Design:
https://studybreaks.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/good-omens-site.jpgA glorious reaction to the Good Omens "Netflix controversy" (see item 4.0), discovered and reposted by Twitter user Walter de Bruin:
https://bit.ly/2X080aM [If anyone knows who originally created it, please let us know! – Ed.]
...and finally, a lovely rendering of Moving Pictures' Victor Tugelbend, Ginger Withel, Gaspode and Laddie, as featured on the NADWCON 2019 FAQ page:
https://nadwcon2019.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/IMG_0319..jpg%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
09) CLOSE
If Sir Pterry were still with us, I think he would be pleased by this news as tweeted by Daniel Andrews, Premier of the Fourecksian state of Victoria:
"One year ago, Margaret was diagnosed with terminal stage four cancer. She was given two years to live. After a lifelong career as a nurse, and having seen death and dying first-hand, she knew what a terminal diagnosis meant. She knew that wasn't how she wanted to die. So she spoke to her GP and her oncologist. She spoke to her palliative care doctors and nurses. She spoke to her family and friends. And she told them that eventually – when the time comes, when the time is right – she wants to decide the way in which her life will end. From Wednesday, Victorians suffering at the end of their life will have that right. Because on Wednesday, voluntary assisted dying will come into effect. And after years of speaking to experts, and training doctors, and getting this right, those Victorians – people who are terminally ill, and who face the reality of a slow, painful death – will finally have a choice. Some said implementing voluntary assisted dying in our state was brave. In truth, Victorians like Margaret are the brave ones. Because they have a life. And it belongs to them until the very end."
https://twitter.com/DanielAndrewsMP/status/1140113998492266498A Good Omens reminder... I've already ordered my copies. Have you?
The Nice and Accurate TV Companion:
https://bit.ly/2XT9uA7The Quite Nice and Fairly Accurate Script Book:
https://bit.ly/2FrRchOAnd that's it for June. Mind how you go, and we'll 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) 2019 by Wossname for the Klatchian Foreign Legion 
