April 2007

Quote: “[T]he man climbing out of your window …

30 April 2007 (14:03) Comment!

“[T]he man climbing out of your window in a stripy jumper, a mask, and a great hurry might merely be lost on the way to a fancy-dress party, and the man in the wig and robes at the focus of the courtroom might only be a transvestite who wandered in out of the rain. Snap judgments can be so unfair.”

-Going Postal (Terry Pratchett)

Quote: “[T]he mysterious world …

29 April 2007 (14:02) Comment!

“[T]he mysterious world of finance is a closed, aha, ledger to me[.]”

-Lord Vetinari, Going Postal (Terry Pratchett)

Quote: “A thinking tyrant …

28 April 2007 (13:58) Comment!

“A thinking tyrant … had a much harder job than a ruler raised to power by some idiot vote-yourself-rich system like democracy.  At least he could tell the peope he was their fault.”

-Going Postal (Terry Pratchett)

Win a Hogfather DVD from DigitalSpy.co.uk

27 April 2007 (12:58) Comment!

If you live in the UK, you have the chance to win a free Hogfather DVD from DigitalSpy.co.uk. The simple competition merely involves answering a very simple question (scroll down for the question and feedback box). Even if you don’t win (or can’t), however, there’s an entertaining clip (showing Susan and Bilius’s visit to the Unseen University) online at the same site.

Details on Hogfather’s award-winning special effects

26 April 2007 (12:54) Comment!

The BAFTA craft awards coverage continues … and while most articles barely give Hogfather a passing mention, VFXWorld.com tells us exactly what garnered the miniseries its Visual Effects award. To quote the article:

 

Much of MPC’s work on the project involved creating the fantasy characters described in the book — the sock eater, death of rats, five different types of hog and ‘discworld’ — a planet riding on the back of four elephants and a giant turtle. Each of the different characters required different skin textures … The team performed set extensions of collapsing buildings … and created fully CG environments — one shot, with a full length of three minutes, is completely CGI …

 

In accepting the award, Oliver Money expressed his pride in “the whole MPC team who worked tirelessly to create the effects seen in Hogfather.”

David Jason to play Rincewind?

25 April 2007 (12:47) Comment!

Several news sources are reporting this week that David Jason (who played Albert in Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather) is going to be in the new Discworld adaptation (purportedly The Colour of Magic) as none other than Rincewind. According to Digital Spy, David Jason prefers Colour of Magic over Hogfather.  TheStage.co.uk reports a tentative release (“sometime next year”).  And The Sun Online claims Jason will be “an executive producer” of the new adaptation. Be warned, though: many of these claims seem unlikely, and should be considered Big Rumors for now.

Hogfather DVD details, official DVD site

24 April 2007 (12:44) Comment!

SkyOne has sent a newsletter with more information about the recently-released Hogfather DVD. It has been released in two editions, a box-set and a Limited Collector’s Edition (19.99 pounds and 24.99 pounds, respectively). As reported before, both sets will include plenty of special features, including deleted scenes and stills. The limited edition, however, will also include a special note from Terry Pratchett and an easter egg, which can be used to unlock additional content on the DVD site, www.hogfatherdvd.com. This site itself has plenty of goodies, including some fun, if goofy, games and numerous clips from the feature.

BAFTA win, BAFTA loss

23 April 2007 (12:43) Comment!

Last night was a good night for Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather at BAFTA’s Craft and Television Awards ceremony in London. Gavin Finney of the Hogfather team lost to David Katznelson in the Photography and Lighting Fiction/Entertainment category, but Hogfather did not go unrepresented. Simon Thomas and Oliver Money (Hogfather, special effects team) won a prestigious BAFTA Television Craft award for the innovative digital effects used in the feature. In addition, David Jason (Albert in Hogfather), as Fellow of the Academy, presented a Special Award to veteran producer Sydney Lotterby. Congratulations to the entire Hogfather team!

Wintersmith: Locus Awards finalist

22 April 2007 (12:40) Comment!

Locus Online has released the lists of top five contenders in each category in the 2007 Locus Awards. In the Young Adult Book category, Wintersmith (third in the Tiffany Aching series) is one of the contenders, along with Sir Thursday by Garth Nix and Voices, by Ursula K. Le Guin. Voting is closed, and the winner has already been decided (though unannounced). The winners will be announced June 16, in Seattle at the Locus Awards Ceremony.

Quote: “Being an absolute ruler …

21 April 2007 (12:38) Comment!

“Being an absolute ruler today was not as simple as people thought.  At least, it was not simple if your ambitions included being an absolute ruler tomorrow.”

-Going Postal (Terry Pratchett)

Interzone to contain Terry Pratchett contributions

20 April 2007 (12:35) Comment!

UKSF Book News reports that issue #210 of Interzone (UK science fiction magazine, to be available May 10) contains, in celebration of Interzone’s 25 years of publishing, contributions from Terry Pratchett along with Bruce Sterling, Dominic Green, Ken McLeod, and others.

Terry Pratchett and Vadim Jean to sign Hogfather DVDs

19 April 2007 (12:33) Comment!

In celebration of the release of the Hogfather DVD, Terry Pratchett and Vadim Jean (director) will be at Forbidden Planet’s “London Megastore” on April 23. To preorder a signed copy, or for more information, use this link.

Hogfather DVD review

18 April 2007 (12:27) Comment!

METRO.co.uk mentioned the newly-released Hogfather DVD in its DVD View feature, here (scroll down for the details on Hogfather). The DVD extras include The Making Of Hogfather, deleted scenes, and a collection of stills. Please note that the DVD is only released as a Region 2 disc, so is not playable by most American DVD players.

Quote: “What kind of man …

17 April 2007 (12:23) Comment!

“What kind of man would put a known criminal in charge of a major branch of government?  Apart from, say, the average voter.”

-Going Postal (Terry Pratchett)

Color of Magic: Great British book

16 April 2007 (12:19) Comment!

telegraph.co.uk has released a list of 100 great British books (published between 1983 and 2006). The Color of Magic is included, alongside classics like The BFG, by Roald Dahl.

Possible Terry Pratchett chat May 2

15 April 2007 (12:16) Comment!

The Douglas Adams Continuum will purportedly host a moderated “VIP chat” with Terry Pratchett on May 2, 6 p.m. GMT. The fansite also touts interviews with other eminent people, including Stephen Fry. This is unconfirmed, but seems well worth a try.

Quote: “Sometimes things smash so bad …

14 April 2007 (12:08) Comment!

“Sometimes things smash so bad it’s better to  leave it alone than try to pick up the pieces.”

-Tolliver Groat, Going Postal (Terry Pratchett)

Quote: “Various rhyming slangs …

13 April 2007 (12:04) Comment!

“Various rhyming slangs are known, and have given the universe such terms as “apples and pears” (stairs), “rubbity-dub” (pub), and “busy bee” (General Theory of Relativity).  The Dimwell Street rhyming slang is pretty unique in that it does not, in fact, rhyme.  No one knows why, but theories so far advanced are 1) that it is quite complex and in fact follows hidden rules, or 2) Dimwell is well named, or 3) it’s made up to annoy strangers, which is the case with most slangs.”

-Going Postal (Terry Pratchett)