47 posts tagged “pratchett”
Dress up and win an iPod and every Discworld audiobook
20 March 2008 (20:16) 1 Comment
TimesOnline.co.uk is offering a contest to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Colour Of Magic, the first novel in the Discworld series. To win, send a photograph of “yourself dressed as your favourite Pratchett character” to books@timesonline.co.uk and explain why he or she is your favorite character. Things to note about the contest:
- Only residents of the U.K. and Eire aged 16 and over are eligible.
- Each person is allowed only one entry.
- Include “Pratchett” in the subject of your entry.
- The email should include the picture of yourself dressed up, the name of your character, why he or she is your favorite (in less than 50 words), your name, your age, your phone number, and your email address.
- The photograph must be in jpeg format and less than 10 megabytes. Dimension specifications: “a minimum pixel width of 450 for landscape photographs or 450 pixels for portrait photos.”
The deadline is midday May 19, 2008.
The full terms and conditions can also be found on the site.
Colour Of Magic airs 6 p.m. March 23 and 24; more Colour Of Magic trailers
19 March 2008 (21:19) 2 Comments
SkyOne has finally announced the air date in the U.K. for The Colour Of Magic: 6 p.m. March 23 and March 24, on SkyOne and SkyOne HD. In addition, two new trailers have been posted to YouTube.
Trailer 2, length 32 seconds:
Narrator: From the dawn of time, they have always been there: the eight great spells. Now, one of them is missing.
Trymon: Well, that’s rather badly organized.
Narrator: And only one wizard–
Rincewind: I never really completed my training.
Narrator: –can bring it home. David Jason, Sean Astin, and Tim Curry take you to the very edge of the Discworld. Terry Pratchett’s The Colour Of Magic. This Easter. SkyOne and SkyOne HD.
Trailer 3, Theatrical, length 93 seconds:
Narrator: In a distant and secondhand set of dimensions, from the very dawn of time, they have always been there: the eight great spells. Now, one of them is missing. One of the eight spells is missing.
Trymon: Well, that’s rather badly organized.
Narrator: And there is only one wizard–
Rincewind: I’m the worst wizard this side of the Circle Sea!
Narrator: –who can bring it home. From the makers of Hogfather. SkyOne presents a pigment of your imagination.
Twoflower: All my life I’ve wanted to see dragons.
Rincewind: Don’t be ridiculous. Dragons don’t exist.
Rincewind: I won’t. (?)
Rincewind: What are you grinning at?
Death: Oh, I’m sorry. I can’t help it.
Rincewind: He says he’s a tourist.
Broadman: What’s that mean?Twoflower: Smile!
Rincewind: I think it means idiot.
Narrator: David Jason, Sean Astin, and Tim Curry–
Trymon: Fantastic.
Narrator: –take you to the very edge of the Discworld.
Twoflower: And I thought everything was going so well!
Rincewind: Well, you thought wrong.
Narrator: Terry Pratchett’s The Colour Of Magic. This Easter. SkyOne and SkyOne HD.
You can find more videos on YouTube (though all are repeats from what can be found on the site) on Sky’s YouTube channel.
Terry Pratchett tributes science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke
19 March 2008 (17:23Comment!
Arthur C. Clarke’s recent death at the age of 90 recently has prompted tributes from scientists and authors, including Terry Pratcett and Sir Patrick Moore. To quote a Guardian.co.uk article on the subject
The science fiction author Terry Pratchett praised Clarke as a “great man” who “put some science into science fiction”.
“Most notably, I think he was probably the first science fiction writer to break out of the science fiction ghetto,” Pratchett told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme. “He became a national treasure like Patrick Moore.”
The film version of 2001: A Space Odyssey - in which Sir Arthur was closely involved - was “totally, totally new”, Pratchett said.
“What I particularly recall is Arthur complaining that the reason why the apes never won the Oscar for best make-up was that they were so good the judges thought they really were apes.”
Terry Pratchett has previously said, “There is a tradition in the science fiction and fantasy genre of ‘paying forward.’ At the first convention I attended in my youth was Arthur C. Clarke [and other authors] I thought of as gods. They signed books for me and let me into their conversations, even if they thought of me a bothersome little tit. You can never pay back something like that but you can pay your way forward by making your own contribution.” (AdelaideNow, March 2007)
Terry Pratchett opens Winchester planetarium
19 March 2008 (17:11) Comment!
Last month we told you that Terry Pratchett would be opening Britain’s largest planetarium at INTECH’s Science Centre in Winchester. ThisIsWinchester.net reports that Terry Pratchett said at the event, “I thought it was amazing. My imagination got fired by going to the planetarium when I was a child. I think it’s quite important to get kids interested in who we are and why we’re here.”
Sir Patrick Moore also attended the event, saying “The young enthusiasts of today are our researchers of tomorrow. The planetarium is a great thing for the area and the country.”
INTECH Director Phil Winfield said, “Terry Pratchett was inspired by astronomy as a young person and that’s exactly what we want to do at INTECH - inspire young people.”
The 176-seat planetarium will be open to the public starting on March 21, 2008.
Sky begins major advertising for The Colour Of Magic
18 March 2008 (21:06) Comment!
MarketingWeek.co.uk reports that Sky’s multimillion-pound advertising campaign for Terry Pratchett’s The Colour Of Magic is kicking in gear this week, which “includes TV, press, online and outdoor executions as well as the rerelease of Pratchett’s book of the same name, part of the Discworld series.” To quote the article:
Sky is also partnering with online bookseller Amazon, as well as homepage takeovers on MSN, Yahoo! and AOL. Interactive ads will run across sites, such as TVGuide and Yahoo! linking to the sky.com/magic microsite.
National press advertising will run in titles including The Sun, The Guardian, New Statesman and listings sections and TV spots will air across Sky Networks. Sky is also launching a Bluetooth zone at Victoria station, which will give mobile users the opportunity to download video clips, ring and text tones and screen savers.
Sky is also involved in viral and social network promotion for the adaptation.
Terry Pratchett interview from Sky
17 March 2008 (21:17) Comment!
The Sky News blog posted a video interview of Terry Pratchett recently, in which Terry Pratchett talks about his recent half-a-million-pound donation to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust in the U.K. In the minute-long video clip, Pratchett calls the organization “somewhat of a Cinderella charity compared to the cancer charities” and explains a little more about his diagnosis.
Match It For Pratchett: Donate 1 pound to Alzheimer’s research
16 March 2008 Comment!
Pat Cadigan started an online campaign (dubbed “Match it for Pratchett” by participants) on her blog to get half a million Discworld fans to each donate a pound (that’s about two dollars in U.S. currency) to Alzheimer’s research, thus matching the half-million pounds/a million dollars donation Terry Pratchett made yesterday to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust in the U.K. Cadigan says on her blog, “So whaddaya say, guys? … You can spare that much. Go here and make your donation. Tell them it’s in honour of Terry Pratchett.”
Edit: The Match It For Pratchett site, www.matchitforpratchett.org, has been set up for more information. A Facebook page has also been set up by the originator of the initiative, which includes a letter from the Alzheimer’s Research Trust.
Buy the Luggage, support Alzheimer’s research
15 March 2008 5 CommentsA charity auction on eBay is in process to support the Alzheimer’s Research Trust. Terry Pratchett and the Colour of Magic crew worked together to provide this “unique opportunity” to own the only replica of the Luggage used in producing The Colour of Magic adaptation. To quote the item description:
A unique opportunity to own a one-off replica of the luggage as featured in Sky One’s adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s The Colour of Magic. This quirky ‘suitcase’ is filled with the full library of Discworld novels, plus the production designs used to build the luggage as seen in the film. Both the books and the designs have been signed by Terry Pratchett.
Also included in this money can’t buy piece of memorabilia is a copy of the Discworld 25th anniversary edition of The Colour of Magic which hits book store shelves on the 10th March. This brand spanking new reissue not only features the stars of Sky One’s magical adaptation, Sir David Jason and Sean Astin, on the front cover, but the two actors have also signed the novel.
Fifteen bidders have bid the price up to £2,000.00. The auction ends on March 24.
More Colour of Magic official site updates: “Tourist Guides” and more!
14 March 2008 Comment!The official Colour of Magic site from Sky has been updated to include more fun descriptions of the creatures, characters, and places of Discworld. In the Video section, four out of eight “Tourist Guides,” hosted by the Librarian of the Unseen University and a goofy assistant have been uploaded. The videos include glimpses of the Rimfall and Wyrmberg, the dragon-filled, upside-down mountain. You can watch them to see a small clip of Twoflower using his phrase book to speak with a bemused Broadman, an odd interaction between Rincewind and Twoflower, and a particularly creepy speech from Trymon. Watch the slightly nutty videos to learn about Discworld’s geography, wizards, cuisine, inhabitants, religions, plants, and entertainment.
Four out of seven “Behind the Magic” videos are also on the site, where you can hear Sir David Jason and Sean Astin speak about The Colour of Magic.
You can visit the official Colour of Magic site for wallpapers, interviews, trailer, production notes, and more goodies.
Terry Pratchett donates $1 million to Alzheimer’s research
13 March 2008 2 CommentsMany news sources are reporting today that Terry Pratchett has donated $1 million to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, deploring the lack of funding for research and support for those affected by the disease. Funding per cancer patient is £289, compared to the £11 spent per Alzheimer’s research. (That’s more than 25 times more per patient.)
Chief Executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust Rebecca Wood said, “Terry’s generous donation will fund promising UK research which hopes to find ways to slow down or halt the disease. The reality is that [now] we are scraping for every penny and have to turn down two out of every three research projects.”
“There is a kind of heroic glamour about the battle against cancer. We use the language ‘the battlefield,’ or there is a battle, whereas frankly with Alzheimer’s it is a lot of skirmishing … I don’t think any cure is going to be discovered in my lifetime… but I think there might be a regime, some combination of lifestyle and drugs which helps people live with Alzheimer’s,” the AFP quotes Terry Pratchett as saying.
The TimesOnline reports that Terry Pratchett described Alzheimer’s as “[stripping] away your living self a bit at a time” and “a nasty disease, surrounded by shadows and small, largely unseen tragedies.”
“Part of me lives in a world of new age remedies and science, and some of the science is a little like voodoo, but science was never an exact science, and personally I’d eat the arse out of a dead mole if it offered a fighting chance.”
“There’s nearly as many of us as there are cancer sufferers, and it looks as if the number of people with the disease will double within a generation … It’s a shock and a shame to find out that money for [Alzheimer’s] research is 3 per cent of that which goes to find cancer cures. Perhaps that is why, for example, I know three people who have successfully survived brain tumours but no one who has beaten Alzheimer’s.”
“I’d like a chance to die like my father did – of cancer, at 86 . . . Before he went to spend his last two weeks in a hospice he was bustling around the house, fixing things. He talked to us right up to the last few days, knowing who we were and who he was.”
“I want to go on writing. You can’t write books when you are dead, unless your name is L. Ron Hubbard.”
The press release can be seen on PJSMprints.com, and you can read Terry Pratchett’s full speech at the Alzheimer’s Research Trust conference in Watershed, Bristol this morning, Thursday, March 13th.
More coverage is available of Terry Pratchett’s appearance at the National Book Festival, here on the National Book Festival website
. (See the October 19 edition for special coverage of Pratchett’s speech.) Pratchett spent two entire hours signing books, but made a great speech as well, as the Library of Congress Gazette says:
If Terry Pratchett ever hangs up his novelist gig, he might have a career as a standup comedian. The award-winning British writer kept his Fiction & Fantasy audience in stitches with his wicked wit … As his 30-minute presentation showed, Pratchett’s humor extends well beyond the printed page. He told of winning the Carnegie Medal for children’s literature in 2002. “I like working on the children’s books,” he said. “Adult books give you money; children’s books give you prestige.”
Terry Pratchett’s daughter, Rhianna Pratchett, has recently given an interview
in which she talks about her work in scripting video games. She
mentions Terry Pratchett’s effect on her as a writer and how her
interest in computer games began. To quote Rhianna Pratchett:
My dad was very techy and into computers, electronics, robots and that kind of thing. He'd bring something that clicked and whirred home and I was an only child so, of course, I was fascinated with whatever my dad was doing. Games were only really becoming commercial then and maybe he thought it was quite cute to get his six year old daughter playing a game where she would run around with a sword killing giant bugs. I asked him about Mazogs the other day and he said that he remembers me being rather frightened of the bug creatures, at first. Although once I found I could kill them, I was much happier!
Terry Pratchett’s input into the old Discworld games is mentioned, too, as well as his personal gaming preferences:I got hooked from that and I would get all his hand-me-down machines. We would play lots of games together, mainly isometric adventure games. Or rather, he would play them and I would sit beside him drawing all the maps for him.
My dad is a big gamer himself, but he doesn't have very much interest in point-and-click adventure games, like the Discworld titles. He had input into them, of course, and played and enjoyed them when they came out, but he much prefers first person shooters and stealth games. He was very into Half Life 2, Farcry and the Thief games. He also loves Oblivion and I just got him the expansion pack for his birthday.
...
Here's to hoping the writing continues!We kind of keep our writing separate really. We occasionally talk about writing in general, the things he's doing and the things I'm doing. Having someone there that's writing so much and so often is both a blessing and a curse, really.
Some of you may remember the e-petition to knight Terry Pratchett from a few months ago. The promised response from the government has been posted:
Thank you for taking the trouble to sign this e-petition.
The Prime Minister recognises the achievements of Terry Pratchet [sic] and the widespread regard in which he is held. But it is of course the case that only about 60 Knighthoods are granted each year and there are many deserving candidates for each honour.
However, the government can assure you that your support for this suggestion will be taken fully into account.
The petition garnered a total of 2,143 signatures before the deadline on June 11, 2007.
The Terry Pratchett’s Making Money signing tour has been announced
by his American publisher, Harper Collins. The full tour, to include
stops in California, Oregon, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and New York
state, is posted here:
Please note that Terry Pratchett will also be appearing at the National Book Festival in Washington D.C. on September 29, 2007.Monday, September 24, 2007
07:00 PM
BORDERS #86
3700 Torrance Blvd Torrance, CA 90503Tuesday, September 25, 2007
07:30 PM
KEPLER’S BOOKS
STE 200 1010 El Camino Menlo Park, CA 94025Wednesday, September 26, 2007
07:00 PM
POWELL’S BOOKSTORE
3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd Beaverton, OR 97005Thursday, September 27, 2007
07:30 PM
TATTERED COVER BOOK STORE
1628 16th St. Denver, CO 80202Sunday, September 30, 2007
01:00 PM
CHESTER COUNTY BOOK COMPANY
975 Paoli Pike West Chester, PA 19380Monday, October 01, 2007
07:00 PM
BARNES & NOBLE/Union Square
33 E 17th ST New York, NY 10003.
The Cheltenham Literature Festival will include an hour-long session with Terry Pratchett on the 6th of October. The event, to take place at Everyman Theatre, will be “a celebration of nearly 25 years of magical fantasy as he reveals the secret of his success,” according to the website, here. Use the website to reserve your seat if you are interested.
Colin Smythe, Terry Pratchett’s agent, posted more casting information for the Color of Magic TV adaptation this August on his site. Several actors are returning from Hogfather, including Nigel Planer (previously Mr. Sideney) as the Arch-Astronomer, Marnix Van Den Broeke again as Death (the guy in the costume), Nicholas Tennant (previously Nobby Nobbs) as the pre-orangutan Librarian, and of course Terry Pratchett, again in a cameo. New cast members include David Bradley (Argus Filch in the Harry Potter movies) as Cohen, Laura Haddock as Bethan, and Liz May Brice as Herrena.
A new, much longer and more detailed synopsis (scroll down) for Making Money has turned up on amazon.com. The synopsis:
The Ankh-Morpork Post Office is running like . . . well, not at all like a government office. The mail is delivered promptly; meetings start and end on time; five out of six letters relegated to the Blind Letter Office ultimately wend their way to the correct addresses. Postmaster General Moist von Lipwig, former arch-swindler and confidence man, has exceeded all expectations—including his own. So it’s somewhat disconcerting when Lord Vetinari summons Moist to the palace and asks, “Tell me, Mr. Lipwig, would you like to make some real money?”
Vetinari isn’t talking about wages, of course. He’s referring, rather, to the Royal Mint of Ankh-Morpork, a venerable institution that haas run for centuries on the hereditary employment of the Men of the Sheds and their loyal outworkers, who do make money in their spare time. Unfortunately, it costs more than a penny to make a penny, so the whole process seems somewhat counterintuitive.
Next door, at the Royal Bank, the Glooper, an “analogy machine,” has scientifically established that one never has quite as much money at the end of the week as one thinks one should, and the bank’s chairman, one elderly Topsy (née Turvy) Lavish, keeps two loaded crossbows at her desk. Oh, and the chief clerk is probably a vampire.
But before Moist has time to fully consider Vetinari’s question, fate answers it for him. Now he’s not only making money, but enemies too; he’s got to spring a prisoner from jail, break into his own bank vault, stop the new manager from licking his face, and, above all, find out where all the gold has gone—otherwise, his life in banking, while very exciting, is going to be really, really short. . . .
Making Money is set to come out this September, according to Amazon.
Forbidden Planet has announced an October signing with Terry Pratchett at their London Megastore (179 Shaftesbury Ave., London WC2H 8JR) on Saturday, October 13. He will be signing copies of Making Money, which comes out September 24 in the U.K. Go to Forbidden Planet’s signings page and scroll down to pre-order a signed copy.
