December 2008

Announcing Sir Terry (Article Updated And Revised)

31 December 2008 (20:40) Comment!

Queen Elizabeth II’s annual New Year honors list includes Terry Pratchett, who was named a Knight Bachelor for services to literature earlier today (Wednesday in the U.K.).

Pratchett has previously been named an Officer Of The British Empire (OBE).

This comes after a failed petition in August 2007 to award Pratchett the honor of knighthood.

Terry Pratchett responded to the announcement by saying, “there are times when phrases such as ‘totally astonished’ just don’t do the job….I am of course delighted and honored and — needless to say — flabbergasted.”

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Announcing Sir Terry

30 December 2008 (15:37) Comment!

Queen Elizabeth II’s annual New Year honors list includes Terry Pratchett, who was named a knight earlier today (Wednesday in the U.K.).

This comes after a failed petition in August 2007 to award Pratchett the honor of knighthood.

Terry Pratchett responded to the announcement by saying, “there are times when phrases such as ‘totally astonished’ just don’t do the job….I am of course delighted and honored and — needless to say — flabbergasted.”
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Signed novel raises £760 for Alzheimer’s Society

29 December 2008 (13:30) 1 Comment

Terry Pratchett donated a signed copy of Making Money to an auction for the New Forest branch of the Alzheimer’s Society. The book was auctioned off for £760.

This article quotes Terry Pratchett as saying, “I am, along with many others, scrabbling to stay ahead long enough to be there when the cure comes along…. It is a shock to find out that funding for Alzheimer’s research is just 3% of that to find cancer cures.”

Nullus Anxietas (Australian convention 2009) updates: convention ticket sale, Gala Dinner tickets available

28 December 2008 (20:48) 1 Comment

Nullus Anxietas, the Australian Discworld convention 2009, is offering tickets $15 off for the holiday season, with the offer ending the 31st of December. Additionally, the Gala Dinner tickets (which are bought separately) are now on sale.

A preliminary program can be seen at the Nullus Anxietas website.

Another update: Here’s a video promoting the convention:

Nullus Anxietas from Snowgum Films on Vimeo.

Living With Alzheimer’s to air in January; more information about Alzheimer’s documentary

28 December 2008 (20:15) Comment!

After hearing about the Alzheimer’s documentary (full title Terry Pratchett: Living With Alzheimer’s) off-and-on for almost a year, MedicalNewsToday.com has lots of information as to when the documentary will be aired and what it will contain.

The IWC Media-produced documentary will be aired in January on BBC Two, UK, as part of a documentary series focused on mental health called BBC Headroom.
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Retro News: Pratchett interview, in which he actually talks about things other than Alzheimer’s (29 November 2008)

28 December 2008 (19:57) Comment!

Deborah Orr at the Independent.co.uk interviewed Terry Pratchett late in November, and in doing so provides some insight into Terry Pratchett’s writing process.

The article gets the requisite Alzheimer’s questions done early. Terry Pratchett summed up the effect of his very public diagnosis:
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Retro News: Pratchett opens RICE headquarters (05 December)

28 December 2008 (19:15) Comment!

Terry Pratchett helped open the new £2 million headquarters of RICE (the Research Institute For The Care Of Older People, formally the Research Into The Care Of The Elderly) in the Royal United Hospital on December 5th, 2008.

In the ceremony he unveiled a plaque, cut the ribbon and continued his campaign for the public awareness of the need for research into Alzheimer’s.

Pratchett said, of his role in the opening, “I have first hand knowledge of the work of the institute and am delighted to be formally opening the new building in Bath.”
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Terry Pratchett owns Beard Of The Year?

28 December 2008 (19:01) Comment!

The informal Beard Liberation Front has announced their nominations for Beard Of The Year 2008, and Terry Pratchett is included in the list. Other competitors are singer Jarvis Cocker, comedian Eddie Izzard, singer Tom Jones, former football player Roy Keane, Archbishop Of Canterbury Rowan Williams, and Wikipedia creator Jimmy Wales.

The prize, according to the Beard Liberation Front, highlights beard-wearers who give beards a positive public image, and is awarded based on votes from members of the Front. The winner will be announced tomorrow, December 29.

Previous winners include Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin, in 2007.

Edit: It has now been announced that singer Tom Jones and Archbishop Of Canterbury Rowan Williams both won the title for 2008.

Retro News: Pratchett interview (08 November 2008)

28 December 2008 (18:07) Comment!

In a Daily Mail interview titled I’m not beaten yet: Terry Prachett on the frustration and fury of Alzheimer’s, Terry Pratchett shared with the interviewer some more about his attitude towards the “embuggerance” of Alzheimer’s. To quote the article:

Although he calls it a ‘wretched disease’, since disclosing that he has it, he has retained his dark sense of comedy. He began an address to his latest convention of fans by cracking a joke. ‘I said, “Hello my name is…” Then I retrieved a crumpled piece of paper from my pocket and read out my name,’ he recalls.

The audience laughed because Terry, afflicted by an illness that steals both memory and identity, was permitting them to do so.

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Retro News: Pratchett delivers Alzheimer’s funding petition (26 November 2008)

28 December 2008 (13:04) Comment!

On November 26, 2008, as part of his ongoing Alzheimer’s public awareness campaign, Terry Pratchett delivered a petition to Prime Minister Gordon Brown at Downing Street asking the government to increase funding for Alzheimer’s research. In his speech, Pratchett explains why Alzheimer’s research is so important:

Nearly everybody I have talked to around the country talks about caring for their mother or father with the disease, so it seems there is not a family in the land that hasn’t been affected, yet it is like a huge secret everybody shares.

Because Alzheimer’s affects the brain we have some real difficulties about it.

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Danny Boyle: Truckers film “a victim of this economic crisis”

28 December 2008 (12:31) Comment!

Several sources are reporting that Danny Boyle, who had previously planned to direct Truckers, has said that the project has been canceled. In a Q & A with SeattlePi.com, Danny Boyle said, “I’ve been developing a film based on the first book of Terry Pratchett’s Bromeliad Trilogy. But the project seems to have fallen apart — a victim of this economic crisis that’s not supposed to be affecting the movie business.”

New Discworld miniatures of Death, Weatherwax, Vimes, Ogg, Rincewind

27 December 2008 (17:45) Comment!

Micro Art Studio is now issuing a series of Discworld miniatures. Miniatures of Death, Granny Weatherwax, Sam Vimes, Nanny Ogg, and Rincewind are already available.

Miniatures of Nobby Nobbs and the Luggage are planned.

The miniatures are based on the artwork of Paul Kidby. According to Micro Art Studio, the miniatures are “30 mm scale high quality metal cast” miniatures and are sold unpainted.

Second Life event: Hogswatch party

27 December 2008 (13:56) Comment!

The Ankh-Morpork Experience, the group of fans on Second Life who built a virtual Ankh-Morpork, is hosting a Hogswatch ball starting at 1 p.m. SLT (Pacific Time Zone). A message sent out to the Ankh-Morpork Experience group members said:

Don’t forget the ball today , discworlders. 1pm SLT until late at the Ankh Morpork sim.

The Hogfather, DJ’s, live performances, and who know what else might turn up! Anything can happen and probably will.
Kahlan Docherty has graciously donated 1000 L as the prize for the most imaginative Discworld costume, so it has been decided to divide this between the best male and best female costumes. It’s time to get wracking your brains and your inventories!

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Discworld Collector’s Edition Calendar 2009

26 December 2008 (14:37) Comment!

The Orion Publishing Group has published a Discworld calendar for the year 2009. This year’s featured artists include Paul Kidby and David Wyatt, who have done several book covers in the Discworld series, Stephen Player, who did conceptual art for the Hogfather mini-series, Les Edwards, David Frankland, Mel Grant, Dominic Harman, Edward Miller, Jackie Morris, Sandy Nightingale, and Jon Sullivan.

The calendar is in full-colour and features scenes and characters from the novels.

Neil Gaiman biography features foreword by Terry Pratchett

26 December 2008 (13:59) Comment!

A biography about Neil Gaiman, who co-wrote Good Omens with Terry Pratchett, features a foreword by Terry Pratchett. Titled A Slightly Worn But Still Quite Lovely Foreword, the foreword states of Neil Gaiman, “You’re in the hands of a master conjurer. Or, quite possibly, a wizard.”

The biography, Prince of Stories: The Many Worlds of Neil Gaiman, was released October 28, 2008.

Vadim Jean speaks: “It helps that I am a fan.”

25 December 2008 (18:02) Comment!

A University Of Warwick podcast released on September 17, 2008 interviews Colour Of Magic director and screen-writer Vadim Jean.

Jean adapted and directed the first live-action film based on the Discworld novels, Hogfather, and subsequently adapted the first two Discworld novels into another made-for-TV film, titled The Colour Of Magic. The next
planned adaptation is Going Postal, based on the book of the same name.

To quote the podcast:
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Ankh-Morpork, now on Second Life

25 December 2008 (16:35) Comment!

As of October 27, a group of fans (Ankh-Morpork Experience) opened up a world on Second Life based on the city of Ankh-Morpork. In a message sent to members of the Terry Pratchett Fans group, the fans announced “THE GRAND OPENING OF THE ANKH MORPORK EXPERIENCE SIM.”

The Second Life world includes the fans’ conceptions of many buildings found in Ankh-Morpork, including the infamous bar The Mended Drum, the patrician’s palace, a temple, and some of the guilds’ buildings.

New visitors to Ankh-Morpork are welcomed with the following message:
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Terry Pratchett on With Great Pleasure: Recording available

25 December 2008 (13:03) Comment!

Today at 12:00 in England BBC Radio 4 aired a special holiday edition of their program With Great Pleasure, which featured Terry Pratchett and some of his favorite pieces of writing.

A recording of the fifty-three minute show is available via BBC’s Listen Again feature, however the BBC site requires Real Player to play. (For those who are worried about Real Player’s security holes and intrusive nature, Real Alternative is an open-source software that many users use as an alternative.) (This is in no way an endorsement. Don’t blame us if installing either piece of software causes problems with your computer.)

From Rim To Hub has a high quality mp3 file of the program that you can download and play anywhere with any software.
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