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Chapter Revising - Still Going
Feb. 11th, 2017 02:03 pm
After very little sleep, I am back at the coalface (well, the desk) and am about to work really hard - my play off is to watch the Terry Pratchett: Back in Black biopic. I am still looking forward to it, but I didn't realise that his closest family and friends will be playing themselves i.e. his daughter, Rhianna, Neil Gaiman, Paul Kidby and favourite reader Stephen Briggs etc. This might be harder to watch than I had thought.
Onward.
Link HERE
Word from Rhi Pratchett on her Twitter page - so glad to know that it is with her full involvement and blessing :-)
Mustrum's 'Rare' Species
Dec. 9th, 2016 02:18 pm
Mustrum Ridcully did a lot for rare species. For one thing, he kept them rare.
Literature Vs A Good Read
Aug. 11th, 2016 08:38 am
Right now, Sir Pterry, I can well identify with this. I so look forward to reading something that I don't have to dissect.
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GNU Terry Pratchett - The Glorious 25th
May. 25th, 2016 11:00 am
You'd like Freedom, Truth and Justice, wouldn't you comrade sergeant?' said Reg encouragingly.
'I'd like a hard-boiled egg,' said Vimes, shaking the match out.
There was some nervous laughter, but Reg looked offended.
'In the circumstances, sergeant, I think we should set our sights a little higher...'
'Well, yes, we could,' said Vimes, coming down the steps. He glanced at the sheets of paper in front of Reg. The man cared. He really did. And he was serious. He really was.
'But... well, Reg, tomorrow the sun will come up again, and I'm pretty sure that whatever happens we won't have found Freedom, and there won't be a whole load of Justice, and I'm damn sure we won't have found Truth. But it's just possible that I might get a hard-boiled egg. What's this all about Reg?'
'The People's Republic of Treacle Mine Road!' said Reg proudly.
~
The occupants of these graves had died for something. In the sunset glow, in the rising of the moon, in the taste of the cigar, in the warmth that comes with sheer exhaustion, Vimes saw it.
History finds a way. The nature of events changed, but the nature of the dead had not. It had been a mean, shameful little fight that ended them, a flyspeck footnote of history, but they hadn't been mean or shameful men. They hadn't run, and they could have run with honour. They'd stayed, and he wondered if the path seemed as clear to them then as it did to him now. They'd stayed not because they wanted to be heroes, but because they chose to think of it as their job, and it was in front of them...'
~
John Keel, Billy Wiglet, Horace Nancyball, Dai Dickens, Cecil 'Snouty' Clapman, Ned Coates and, technically, Reg Shoe.
Probably there were no more than twenty people in the city who knew all the names, because there were no statues, no monuments, nothing written down anywhere. You had to have been there.
X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett
History finds a way. The nature of events changed, but the nature of the dead had not. It had been a mean, shameful little fight that ended them, a flyspeck footnote of history, but they hadn't been mean or shameful men. They hadn't run, and they could have run with honour. They'd stayed, and he wondered if the path seemed as clear to them then as it did to him now. They'd stayed not because they wanted to be heroes, but because they chose to think of it as their job, and it was in front of them...'
~
John Keel, Billy Wiglet, Horace Nancyball, Dai Dickens, Cecil 'Snouty' Clapman, Ned Coates and, technically, Reg Shoe.
Probably there were no more than twenty people in the city who knew all the names, because there were no statues, no monuments, nothing written down anywhere. You had to have been there.
X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett
The Ankh Morpork App For iPad
Apr. 17th, 2016 10:50 pmGetting increasingly friustrated that apps/other gadgets always wing their way to iPad as the first stop product launch - what is wrong with Android? Seriously. I wanted to upload Yearwalk but found that it was an Apple-only product (think this has changed - will check as YW has been out for nearly 2 years now).
Gods damn it
I knew when Sir Terry Pratchett died, it was going to be a big impact on me. I had an 'Elvis' or 'Freddie Mercury' moment when I remember the time and the place where I learnt of his passing (I was outside in the freezing cold, waiting for a bus from college to the park and ride). Now, I have never been the one to mourn a celebrity's passing - but STP was a big part of my young adult life and I mourn him still - occasionally tearing up. I randomly picked up Wyrd Sisters whilst visiting my mother in hospital and found myself reading it and inappropriately laughing (especially since my mother had a passing resemblance to the earthy Nanny Ogg) instead of paying homage to my dear Mama.
Strangely, his work impacted upon my mature adult life, too. Acute observations of society, wrapped in gentle satire - STP was a soothing read and I appreciated my 'frequent flyer' trips to Discworld; each book a doorway to Lancre, or Ankh Morpork etc. Below is an excerpt from today's Guardian - with more under cut below.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A year after the writer’s death from Alzheimer’s, a tribute in London drew together fans and friends from Neil Gaiman to Tony Robinson – and left us with the feeling Pratchett’s legacy is in safe hands.
( More of The Guardian's Article )Pink-haired twentysomethings lined up alongside bearded gentlemen wearing top hats and tails as readers gathered at London’s Barbican to pay tribute to Terry Pratchett a year after he died from Alzheimer’s. A crowd whose diversity bore witness to the bestselling author’s wide appeal were united in grief and celebration.
For fans such as Stefan, who applied for tickets to the free event via a public ballot, the sadness at Pratchett’s untimely death was still palpable.
“I haven’t touched his last book,” he said. “I haven’t wanted to read it because I know it is the last one.” Like a fine whisky, Stefan continued, he’s saving The Shepherd’s Crown – Pratchett’s posthumously published final Discworld novel – “for a special occasion”.
Original Guardian Article HERE
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I still can't read The Shepherd's Crown, because it is almost an admission that he is no longer here - so it will be something that I tackle at a later date. Some interesting projects on the horizon, me thinks. I would SO love to see The Watch done properly and very interested as to whom they will cast as Vimes (oh and Carrot, Nobby, Angua et al).
GNU Terry Pratchett.
Saw this in Electric Literature - What a fab idea!!!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After ringing in the New Year by adding four new elements to the periodic table, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) faces a petition to name one of its newly minted building blocks in honor of Sir Terry Pratchett’s The Colour of Magic. The Change.org petition (currently 42,632 supporters strong) requests that the IUPAC name element 117 ‘Octarine,’ for the “colour of magic” in Pratchett’s Discworld universe. The petition was created by Dr. Kat Day, who writes for the blog The Chronicle Flask.
Pratchett and the yet-t0-be-named element look to be quite a match. 117 is one of the heaviest elements and the final halogen in the periodic table. Its addition has reportedlygiven scientists hope in finding the “islands of stability,” theoretical elements whose “magic numbers” of protons and neutrons give them remarkably long life. In The Colour of Magic, Sir Terry described octarine as “the King Colour, of which all the lesser colours are merely partial and wishy-washy reflections. It was octarine, the colour of magic. It was alive and glowing and vibrant and it was the undisputed pigment of the imagination, because wherever it appeared it was a sign that mere matter was a servant of the powers of the magical mind. It was enchantment itself.” That’s a pretty strong start for a new element looking to build its reputation in the rough-and-tumble world of international scientific research and tenth grade chemistry classes. Dr. Day also argued that ‘Octarine’ “makes perfect sense,” since, as a halogen, “117 ought to have an ‘ine’ ending” to be consistent with the other elements in the group. (The abbreviation – Oc – would, be pronounced “ook” – remember the Librarian who runs things at the Unseen University?)
The Whole Artical HERE
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Being an unashamed and fully-signed-up Pratchettian, I have voted on it :-D
Terry Pratchett - My Literary Hero
Dec. 31st, 2015 08:00 pm
There aren't many celebrity obituaries that I feel drawn to write about, but the passing of Sir Terry affected me quite deeply. Most people remember what they were doing when Elvis died, or any of the other mega stars. On a wet, windy March 12th this year, I was at a bus stop outside college reading The Guardian news app, then phoned a fellow Pratchetian to commiserate.
I started to read his work as a young adult and quickly became immersed in the quirky, but immensely-believable Discworld series. He bridged the gap between fantasy fiction and humour, where indeed a gulf had been (fantasy fiction, although incredible in it's own right, tends to be a bit po-faced).
I think what was obvious is that Terry liked people rather than be a passive/judgmental observer of them and this was aptly-reflected in his work. You warmed to the curmugeonly-disposed Sam Vimes, the grubby-but-likeable Nobby Nobbs and the man-who-would-not-be-king Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson. You wanted to hang out with The Wyrd Sisters, learn The Hedgehog song and get the facts of life from Nanny Ogg.
Below is a link to The Guardian article written by his daughter, Rhianna - who gives a very personal account of life with her father, who ends the account by saying 'I like to think that wherever Dad is now, there is a hat on his head, a stick in his hand and a whistle on his lips. There’s probably a cat about somewhere too. There should always be a cat.'
Gods Bless You, Terry Pratchett
The Guardian Link - Sir Terry Pratchett HERE
The Last Terry Pratchett Book
Aug. 31st, 2015 06:32 pmI have spent today reading SOME of my academic books. Now I am on p.67 of 'The Shepherd's Crown' reading and trying not to tear up.
Damn, I'm going to miss that man...
Damn, I'm going to miss that man...
Divinely Darrow ;-)
May. 31st, 2015 08:27 am
I pinch this off of Dreamwidth 'Fanfic' page. I never realised that Paul Darrow played Sam Vimes at all. I posted the pic to the Pratchett forum on FB, querying the production and found out that it was a theatre version. I think Darrow would have been better cast as Lord Vetinari (played by Jeremy Irons/Charles Dance. I think Darrow already coins that genre very chillingly). Someone else suggested Ken Stott as Vimes, which would be closer to the plot, me thinks.
At some point, I am going to have to find a fanfic Pratchett forum on LJ!!!!
Portland Villas, Plymouth
May. 13th, 2015 05:51 pm
Today, I visited the Mothership (Plymouth University) and may I say what a bloody hike it is! Two hours each way by train, broken up by a session with the tutor that lasted 20 minutes max. I was there and back before 1.30 this afternoon. The Portland Villa Offices are stunning, looks very London SW1. Plus, I have had to do a bit of ferrying around for the family. This is the reason why I have only just sat down at the desk.
Anyway - my dissertaion proposal was on dicsworld /Terry Pratchett. They are ok about it, but I would have to go turbo lit crit to make any of it stick. I am going to have to think long and hard about it all.
Black Hat Day
Apr. 28th, 2015 08:13 am
Wearing my fedora with pride, Sir Pterry - six weeks and missed terribly by all of his fans.
Tributes are pouring in at the Facebook page - I can't quite believe it. I first picked up a book of his back in 1990, Wyrd Sisters, then Pyramids and found myself totally hooked. I especially love his 'Nightwatch' series and the 'Wyrd Sisters' one too. His books to me represented escapism, where I could read, laugh - even shed a tear. The books were like minature portals, every Kidby cover was a potential door. It was not like he was some kind of great epic master of the Fantasy league - such as Tolkien, Le Guin et al. - but he wrote with such pathos, such humour that he was (in my estimation) more readable and somehow more believable too.
I haven't been reading light fiction for a while because of my academic commitments, but I picked up Feet of Clay recently and remembered just what it was I liked about Pratchett - ditto Thud! I am gutted - I can't believe he has gone. I had been contemplating writing an article on his stuff for uni only recently.Think what it must be like to have such a talent that your work actually touched other people's lives, via escapism into the immensely enjoyable books. Above all, he took the fantasy genre and satirised it - to me, it made it less po faced and more accessable.
I haven't been reading light fiction for a while because of my academic commitments, but I picked up Feet of Clay recently and remembered just what it was I liked about Pratchett - ditto Thud! I am gutted - I can't believe he has gone. I had been contemplating writing an article on his stuff for uni only recently.Think what it must be like to have such a talent that your work actually touched other people's lives, via escapism into the immensely enjoyable books. Above all, he took the fantasy genre and satirised it - to me, it made it less po faced and more accessable.
"Don't think of it as dying..just leaving early to avoid the rush.." (Terry Pratchett - Good Omens).
RIP - MISTER Pratchett. You are already sorely missed.
Utopia/Dystopia
Mar. 29th, 2014 03:11 pmI am thoroughly pleased that we are exploring the ideas of Utopia and Dystopia in class (I hope this isn't to the detriment of the Goth genre proposal). Inevitably, we were shown the work of Tudor courtier Thomas More - Utopia
( Info on Thomas More's Utopia )
Invariably, we have looked at my favourite works - Under cut for photo size
( George Orwell's 1984 )
( Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, )
( Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale )
I have always been fascinated with Utopia/Dystopia ever since I watched Patrick McGoohan in The Prisoner as a child. Many, many sci fi/fantasies are built on Uto/Dysto societies and it does explore the dark side of what people do when they have power over others on a massive scale. Lord of the Flies/Rings are prime examples as well as Terry Pratchett's Discworld Series. If I have a chance to do this as part of a dissertation, I will be cock-a-hoop.
Invariably, we have looked at my favourite works - Under cut for photo size
( George Orwell's 1984 )
( Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, )
( Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale )
I have always been fascinated with Utopia/Dystopia ever since I watched Patrick McGoohan in The Prisoner as a child. Many, many sci fi/fantasies are built on Uto/Dysto societies and it does explore the dark side of what people do when they have power over others on a massive scale. Lord of the Flies/Rings are prime examples as well as Terry Pratchett's Discworld Series. If I have a chance to do this as part of a dissertation, I will be cock-a-hoop.
