A couple of posts ago I was talking about Bellaghy in County Antrim which has put up a statue to commemorate the Seamus Heaney poem "Digging". Well Terry Pratchett, Sir Terry I should say, is getting an entire town in Somerset named after him. This from yesterday's Yorkshire Post: "Scores of fans dressed as Discworld characters turned out to see author Sir Terry Pratchett unveil road names at a new housing estate inspired by his fantasy world. Peach Pie Street and Treacle Mine Road can be found on the Kingwell Rise development in Wincanton, Somerset. Wincanton was officially twinned in 2002 with the fictional city of Ankh-Morpork from the novels, becoming the first UK town to link with a fictional place."....
Terry Pratchett is not that well known in the US. He writes whimsical fantasy novels that I read a lot of in high school. I met him when he came to our little university SF&F society and he was a very nice bloke. However if Heaney can get a statue and Pratchett can get a town named after him surely JK Rowling can get a small European country to call her own? Lichtenstein perhaps or maybe Monaco or Andorra? Come on Potter fans isn't this the next logical step? I hear New Zealand is thinking of changing its name to New Middlearth so you better move fast.
43 comments:
surely JK Rowling can get a small European country to call her own?
Let's hope she gets Vatican City.
you met him? that's great. I always figured he was a nice bloke, even though I couldn't really dig the discworld stuff all that much ( I did, being the horror buff I am, get a chuckle or two from Good Omens however). I'm surprised hes not bigger in the states these days as Neil Gaiman can apparently do little wrong.
A friend turned me onto Discworld several years ago; I've read a couple of Pratchett's books now and liked them a lot. Even though they aren't the kinds of stories I usually read, he has a knack for dropping in a comment from time to time that keeps things hopping. (Like describing a plaque to commemorate someone's birth as being for someone with the foresight to be born halfway up a wall.) Good stuff.
Pratchett is brilliant
That is all.
Don't like JKR much, do you?
Saw a Kiwi comic a few years back who said NZ was now barring visitors with guns, bombs, and dice with more than six sides.
is it possible potter people popped for pot
it's a wonderful life
oops last note from knowaflood
potterville usa
Marco
I dont know if San Marino was damaged in the earthquake but Jo could certainly afford to rebuild it from scratch.
Cam
Yeah Terry was very nice to us. And patient with all our stupid questions. I bought him a pint of Ruddles County if I remember correctly.
Dana
Yeah he's funny. I think his humour is very British though, which is perhaps why it doesnt make the leap across the sheugh that well.
Mike
He's a bloody institution and a decent guy who does not deserve his cruel fate.
Adrian:
There is a bankrupt American City which could change all signs and documents overnight to accomodate the estimable author of those Potter books. The town is Bowling Green, Kentucky, and I have already gotten assurances from the town's mayor that for five million cold cash (pocket change for JKR) they would permanently change the name to Rowling Green. The fix is in, and no mistake. Please put Ms. Rowling's people in touch with me to arrange the transaction. For a little more consideration, the whole state of Kentucky would consider any imaginative lable JKR might suggest for any town, street, building or bridge. The possibilities boggle the mind. I can handle everything as an honest broker for a small fee.
Along these lines, I did notice recently that the great cottage-portrait painter Thomas Kinkade is developing little communities all over America that evoke the England of never-was. Here's a direct quote from a recent press release about one of these Kinkade-burgs in Missouri:
"The 85-acre community, named "The Gates at Old Hawthorne," will be the second in the country to feature the Thomas Kinkade - Masterpiece Homes brand of design. The finished homes are anticipated to be valued between $500,000 and $1,000,000. HST Group will design, build, and sell the homes in The Gates at Old Hawthorne.
The Gates at Old Hawthorne will be part of a larger development called "The Community of Old Hawthorne," which will be a 620-acre property comprised of a championship private golf course and approximately 1,000 residential dwelling units. The Thomas Kinkade - Masterpiece Homes designs will blend in well with the surroundings of the community with its rolling hills and natural streams running throughout the property."
Lovely, just lovely. Is this the fix for the housing collapse?
PKL
Miss Witch
Dont know Jo. I think she seems OK though. Gives a lot of cash to charity and is basically a good egg.
Matt
D&D humour, I love it. i wonder how many people in the audience got that joke? My favourite funnily enough was that weird pyramidal 4 sided die.
Knowa
You know I'm a big fan of 2001 A Space Odyssey but apparently the only way to see it is on acid.
Patrick
Jesus, that sounds like hell. Actually it sounds like those towns Prince Charles is building across south west England. Prince Charles's architectural advisor BTW thinks that the greatest architect of the twentieth century was Albert Speer.
It reminds me of this terrific doc from Jonathan Meades
actually the actor who played vincent crabbe was popped for pot
in london seems he was quite the gardener pottersville was the greed drenched town from the movie it's a wonderful life
2001 well
open the pod door harry
Knowa
I never understood why he wanted to kill himself with a wife that hot. Also who the hell cares if your neighbour across the way is murdering his missus when Grace Kelly's bringing you dinner?
Do you have any kind of a life? You're sitting around the house reading The Yorkshire Post?
Will
Its a fair point and I find myself unable to defend myself.
the Powers That Be are trying to bring a couple counties in Minnesota together to form one and guess what they want to call it?
Wobegon county.
Philosophers must ask themselves, if fictional places became real do real places become fictional?
Christina
Speaking of Lake Wobegon -you didnt happen to see this disturbing headline in the onion?
I always figured Keillor for a mass murderer. He just has that look about him.
I think JKR is ready for something bigger than a mere nation-state.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
“Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home”
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/
OK....
Since no one has asked me to stop, here's my Easter Egg Mix. Again I offer the irritating admonishment that this mix will have maximum impact if you obtain these items from whatever source and sequence exactly as below for burning or playing.
Now, let's get on with the fun part. This is just the thing for when the family gathers after mass for Easter Dinner in their bright and fancy frocks. Just make sure everyone, including the wee ones, has a nip or two o' the liquid or oxidizing intoxicant of his or her choice, and then just crank it up to eleven. It's sacramental gospel, blessed by the right reverend Bishop of the Armenian Catholic Church in America, California Synod. Satisfaction Guaranteed. Dancing and speaking in tongues compulsory.
1. Ida Marie: Oh My God
2. Chuck Prophet: Doubter Out of Jesus
3. David Byrne: U.B. Jesus
4. Kinky Friedman and His Texas Jewboys: They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore:
5. Ry Cooder: Jesus Is On The Mainline:
6. Devendra Banhart: Saved:
7: Radiohead: Bodysnatchers
8. Stevie Wonder: Heaven Is Ten Zillion Light Years Away.
9. Talking Heads: Heaven
10: Solo: Heaven (Right Here On Earth)
11: Golden Palaminos: Heaven
12: Jeb Loy Nichols: Heaven Right Here
13: Antony and the Johnsons: Knockin' On Heaven's Door.
14. Santogold: Creator
15. Leona Lewis: Bleeding Love (Jason Nevins Rockin' Radio Mix)
16. Nine Inch Nails: That's What I Get
17. Nick Cave: I'm Your Man
18. James Brown and His Famous Flames: I Got the Feeling
19. John Williams: Flying Theme from E.T.
20. Pops Staples: Gotta Serve Somebody
21: Chris Whitley: Big Sky Country
22: Bob Dylan: Lord, Protect My Child
23. Chris Cornell: Scream
24: Primal Scream: I'm Comin' Down
25: Sonny Rollins (with Thelonious Monk): Mysterioso
26: Primal Scream: Give Out But Don't Give Up
27: The Bar-Kays: Holy Ghost
28: Mogwai: Mogwai Fear Satan
29. Radiohead: Where I End And You Begin (The Sky Is Falling In)
30. DJ Cheb I Sabbah: Peace Is Found Behind Wounds
31: Rufus Wainwright: Hallelujah
PKL
Patrick
Nice listage. How about the link to the old website again...
Some questions:
1. Buckley rather than Rufus?
2. How is Devendra? I know he's muy famous and is going out with someone famous like Winona Ryder or Natalie Portman or someone but how's the music? i'm thinking its kind of a Fleet Foxes vibe.
3. If we're tripping why not Mogwai's I Know You Are But What Am I? Incidentally in the Mogwai frame of mind did you know that both Chris and Gwyneth's children were born to the music of Sigur Ros? Thats when I switched from listening to Sigur to Mogwai.
Anyway nice list, cheers mate.
A
PS Kinky was robbed.
Peter
Just read today that JK has busted up with some charity in Scotland, dont know the details but I'm sure Jo is in the right.
One wizard who crossed JK and her publisher wound up eing stripped alive of his powers. I'm not messing with her.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/
Seriously though if I had that kind of cash I'd be tempted to buy an island in the inner Hebrides. One with its on distillery perhaps. I heard that Bjork bought the island of Gigha which is a nice place, but really Jo Rowling could buy Mull wish has 7 distilleries and also the best pub for a hundred miles the Mish Nish in Tobermory.
I'd stop to nosh at Jo Ro's Mish Nish.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/
Christina
I think the lulls them into a state of tranquil stupor and strangles them.
Peter
Actually Rowling should probably buy the Isle of Man which is a big tax haven. She could actually make money on the deal.
Adrian:
Ah well, as to Jeff and Rufus, I really couldn't do the obvious thing, and if I wanted really ponderous I would have just gone with Leonard.
As to Devendra, he actually irritates me in so many ways it's difficult to count, but I do like a couple of things off the Smokey Rolls album, and this is one.
Plus, it fit in nicely here, I think. Oh but he is so much crazier than the Foxes. Or Rasputin, for that matter.
Well, Mogwai Fear Satan just worked well here. Everything to its own context. And this was the part of the mix where Jesus descends into Hell before he rises again to sitteth at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. These are daunting criteria, I know, but that is what we fearless mixers do; we go where no mixer has gone before to find eggs-actly the right song.
I always knew there was something suspicious about Sigur Ros...eggs-actly right.
PKL
Oh, and here's the requested links, exactly as Guru Marco has taught me to do it...
This is my OVOT Blogger site where my pics and random musing are posted.
This site is lonely and needs company. I am thinking of paying shills to visit and leave encouraging messages.
This is my Last FM Music site where anyone can listen to my music library and stream lots of other free music from many much cooler DJ's all over the world.
Ah, well, off for Dublin on Wednesday...
PKL
Patrick
I see what you're saying about Mogwai. Is that the one on the album where they crank call their tour manager?
Dont answer. I'll just check it out on YouTube.
I suppose the Hallelujah is going to be a bit more joyous coming from somone who is still alive, rather than someone who drowned horribly in the Mississippi. My cousin andrew played on a couple of sets with Jeff though at CBGB and of course he couldnt have been a nicer guy. Jeff, not Andrew. Though Andrew is a nice guy too.
Adrian: Well this is one of those Kevin Bacon six degrees things, because a high school friend of mine, Buddy Helm, went on to become the drummer for Tim Buckley, the pops of Jeff. Tim also met a tragic fate, but not before making lots of mad-wonderful music. He's kind of Bob Dylan crossed with Philip Roth. My personal favorites are Blue Afternoon and the only recently released and hyper-excellent Honey Man, but this guy runs deep, if you haven't gotten into him.
Oh, and me old chum? He's still living and drumming and can be found here, among other places:
Buddy Helm Drum Music
She cold swap tax tips with Paul Hewson.
==============
Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/
Patrick
I dont really know Tim's stuff. Its always been associated in my mind with Gram Parsons and Harry Chapin and the latter we got via this scary public information film
Adrian:
You have certainly misfiled Pater Buckley, and are hereby forgiven. Stream or listen to "Get On Top" or "Nighthawkin" and you will find the proper slot for ol' Tim, far, far to the left of Graham Parsons and not even in the same galaxy as Harry Chapin (????). Thank you for the video treat.
PKL
That would, of course, be Gram not Graham. That would be the cracker or that nice Parker chap.
PKL
Pat
When are they going to make a movie about Gram's life and weird death and funeral? I'd pay to see that.
Adrian:
There is a decent -- not great -- doc called Fallen Angel which you may or may not have seen.
And there are a couple of scripts, at least, which have been knocked about Hollywood for the past several years. I am told that it would be difficult to do it without Ms. Harris' permission and approval, and that she won't give it.
But who knows? You really can't believe anything you hear in the movie business.
Having done the Johnny Cash biopic, they probably think they've overshot the quota on country biopics for this decade.
But it is a great story, and sooner or later, it certainly will be told.
Starring Bono as GP.
PKL
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