First, artist and commentor Larime could use a little help:
My wife, Sylv Taylor, is bed-bound with Lupus and her laptop is the only link she has to the outside world. That laptop is also what she uses to create art, including coloring comics. It’s dying – it shut off 10 times in 3 hours today – and when it’s dead she’ll be utterly isolated and unable to create.
PLEASE consider helping in getting her a new laptop. If you can’t pledge, PLEASE share this on your journals and tell your friends. If her laptop dies and I can’t replace it, she’s going to have nothing to do and no one but me to talk to, all day, every day. This laptop is literally her life and her world.
The Indiegogo campaign is here. Thank you!
***********
Second, a documentary we can look forward to:
(Via Sharan Shetty at Slate)
Liquid
Why do you hate America Anne?!!!!1
Then there’s this — http://mwomercs.com/sarah
Alison
I sure wish I could help, but my funds are seriously limited these days, to put it mildly. Best of luck to you though, Larime and Sylv, and I hope you can get the money you need.
I have a question for nerds who are familiar with Terry Pratchett’s books, if any of you are around…
ruemara
This is almost my worst fear. I kinda wish I hadn’t helped the ex out with my last macbook. My idea of running wild with money is buying food but I’ll see what I can spare. No artist should be cut out. Even better, I’ll send it to my social groups.
Anne Laurie
@Alison: I have read most of Pratchett’s books, a number of them more than once. Can I help?
The prophet Nostradumbass
Calvin and Hobbes is still my all-time favorite comic strip.
Alison
@Anne Laurie: Sweet!
So, I have *not* read any of his stuff, except the book he wrote with Neil Gaiman. A while back, a friend recommended checking out his other work, which as you know is about 2736 books. Friend said that within the whole Discworld universe there are these different story arcs/groupings, so you don’t necessarily need to read all the books chronologically; you can pick a certain arc and just read those.
Do you agree with that? As an example, I have Guards! Guards! which he said was the first book in the City Watch arc. If I read that and continue on with only the others in that group, will I understand everything, or will I be missing out and/or confused if I don’;t read the other Discworld books that came before and in between?
Liquid
@The prophet Nostradumbass: I think I’m missing one collection but I went to 7th grade camp and met my best (and current) friend over those books. That’s ~15 years over Calvin & Hobbes + Bloom County/Outland books.
Scientific Progress, Yukon Ho, Snow Goons, Psycho Jungle Cat, Monster Under the Bed, etc.
Yatsuno
@Anne Laurie:
Stoled. Shamelessly.
Larime the Gimp
Thanks, Anne! Any help is appreciated, even if it’s just passing it on to friends. Indiegogo takes Paypal, for those who might be wondering.
Anne Laurie
@Alison: To be honest, most of the Discworld books can be read, and enjoyed, in whatever order. Guards! Guards! is actually a pretty good one to start with — that’s one reason it’s been ‘spun off’ so much. Sam Vimes, the lead character, is one of the two Discworld inhabitants that Pratchett has said are the most insistent about having their own voices. And there’s a lot of development, both in style and in the “roundedness” of the characters, as you progress through the City Watch series.
IMO, if you only wanted to read one Pratchett book, it should be Pyramids, or possibly Hogfather — both of which largely parody real-world tropes. My personal favorite series, if I had to pick (and I hope I never do!) would be the Witches books, not least because I identify strongly with Nanny Ogg. And if we were ever to do a Prachett book chat here on the blog, The Truth was going to be my suggestion. (I think of TT as a City Watch novel, but Wiki does not agree.)
On the other hand, the first two Discworld books — Colour of Magic and Light Fantastic — are straight Mad-Magazine level parodies, and best left for once you’ve enjoyed all the better Prachetts. I’ve known several people who started with those two and never made it any further into the series, because they’re funny-once if you’re well-versed in classic sf/fantasy but give very little indication of what an exceptional author Pratchett would develop into.
Probably more than you wanted to know… but seriously: Enjoy Guards! Guards!
Liquid
You know how Archer fears an aneurysm? So it claimed my BFFs uncle two weeks ago. Only thing that saved his life was being in downtown Seattle. Then he died three days ago.
So now it’s my friend attending the wake but he hates his mother or the rest of the family yadda-yadda-yadda.
Anyway…
Alison
@Anne Laurie: Thank you!! Very helpful :)
Dead Ernest
@Alison:
I’m also a Pratchett devotee.
If you liked Good Omens there’s a terrific likelihood you’ll like any/all of the Discworld books. Your friend is right, there are several different stories within the series.
I agree w Anne Laurie, that you can start with pretty much any of them.
I’d offer this suggestion based on my experience; start with any of the earlier ones (Guards is a fine choice), and then dance around with any of the other earlier ones (perhaps just divide the whole series in half by publication date to designate ‘earlier vs later’) before you jump around between any in the ‘second half.’
The reason for that is both Sir Pratchett as well as his recurring main characters sort of ‘matured’ over time. As you get to know Vimes or Rincewind, or Nanny Ogg, or Death, and on and on, I think it enhanced my enjoyment of the series to have some sense of the chronology of the books.
To this day, when I find an earlier book I’d not yet read, it remains a great pleasure to discover something that ‘explains’ “Oh that’s why (this character or that one) ended up thinking /saying/ doing this or that thing in the book that came later (but I’d read first).
If you end up liking the series just a fraction as much as I have, I feel entirely confidant saying you are about to have a truly delightful time.
Alison
@Dead Ernest: Sounds good :) Thank you for the advice!
The prophet Nostradumbass
@Dead Ernest: If you’re going to use that honorific, it’s Sir Terry, not Sir Pratchett. Personally, I don’t know why Americans bother.
Liquid
Enough of this nonsense. Why don’t we lay our cards on the table?
Liquid
Damn you Al-Jazeera! I thought I was rid of David Schuster!
Debbie(aussie)
@Alison: if you are the sort of person who is embarrassed about laughing out loud at a book, Stop! Good Omens is great, but the Discworld books are wonderful. Have read them at least thrice each and still LOL(could be just that i am weird).Agree with Anne and Ernest. Enjoy!
Origuy
Some time ago, Boing Boing featured a chart showing all the Diskworld books with the various threads. I don’t know if it’s complete, but here it is. After Guards, Guards comes Men at Arms. I agree that Pyramids stands alone very well. My favorites are the Witches stories.
Liquid
Right lads, if we so desire to have our french cake (and eat it too) then throw on “Wasabi.” — In French with no subtitles. My gf is 1/2 “ya-pen-say” but I know it by heart.
Steeplejack
@Alison:
I’m going to throw my response in here without reading the whole thread. (I did do a quick search to see that you got a few replies.)
I don’t think you’ll get confused or miss anything by reading the Discworld novels randomly or in no specific order. But I would make a case for reading the various sub-series in order. That’s the way I did it, and I found it much more satisfying to follow one big arc all the way through, then go back and start with another one.
This is an invaluable chart of the Discworld books to guide your reading. It looks up to date, although the latest book or two may not be on there.
Since you have already read Guards! Guards, I would suggest that you continue with the Night Watch novels, then (assuming you want to continue) go on to the Witch novels (as per Anne Laurie) or the Death novels. All three series are excellent. The Rincewind novels are merely pretty good. They are good, but I just found Rincewind himself a little less interesting as a lead character—a little broad and slapsticky—and the books in that series reflect that. But that’s not a complaint; I’m just noting a matter of degree, or maybe just a matter of personal taste.
One final thing: Pratchett really got on his game as a writer in the early ’90s or thereabouts, and what you might find is that the first book or two in each sub-series is just okay but then the rest are excellent. I really have a soft spot for the Death books—a couple of those novels are minor masterpieces—but the first one, Mort, is sort of clunky. You really have to push on right away to Reaper Man. The same is true for the other series, to a greater or lesser extent.
Anyway, you won’t be sorry. Pratchett is a phenomenal writer, always entertaining, and there are individual novels that really transcend the genre, e.g., Hogfather, The Fifth Elephant, Small Gods.
Liquid
I take it back. I have not embarassed or dishonored her and please take your hairpin away from me…
Liquid
She put things in my hair! I’m more machine than man.
Luke, let me look on you without the curlers.
Steeplejack
@Anne Laurie:
One of my all-time favorite Pratchett lines is in Pyramids. One of his tropes is to populate these fantastical novels with characters who sound like they stepped out of a lower-class Britcom. So there’s one scene in which the Pharaoh’s chief builder of all the pyramids and monuments is getting a little nostalgic and reminiscing about the old days with his wife, and he says (I’m paraphrasing from memory): “Remember when we first started out, love? Just you, me and the three hundred slaves.”
Dead Ernest
@The prophet Nostradumbass:
Thanks. Wasn’t aware of that. Simply paused before typing ‘Pratchett’ as it seemed to lack sufficient respect. Then, before choosing ‘Mr.’ I remembered he’d been knighted (or whatever the proper term is – and which I won’t bother to look into), hence the choice of ‘Sir.’
…but it does seem a bit odd that there’s a rule that when acknowledging someone’s awarded title, the title is followed by their first name. Seems ironically, overly familiar / casual.
Not expecting to have to contend with ‘Sir Dead’ anytime soon so I won’t be bringing my opinion to the attention of the people in charge of the convention.
NotMax
Those who like Pratchett’s humor might also appreciate many of the novels of Craig Shaw Gardner.
Also the Ethshar books by Lawrence Watt-Evans. Although each of the books can be read stand-alone, the first, “The Misenchanted Sword” is a good primer to the light-hearted tenor and scope of the others.
OzarkHillbilly
Did what I could, wish it was more.
zattarra
As a life long comic book and comic art collector whose wife has hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis I couldn’t not give. We’ve just done 2 days of bad paralysis attacks and bed ridden here, I know how important the laptop can be to keeping in touch with the outside world.
Didn’t take any of the “goodies” as that inducement should be left there for those who need more encouragement than me. Didn’t spend my full budget at FanExpo Canada over the weekend so had some money left over to give.
What series do you have coming out from Image?
raven
I’m in even though, beyond the computer. I have NO idea what the hell you are talking about in this thread.
Schlemizel
I have never forgiven Bill Watterson for abandoning me. I thought we had a deal and his part was to make Calvin and Hobbs comics to make me laugh after slogging through the bad news in the paper. He walked away from that long before I was ready and left me bereft. I can’ forgive him even today all these years later
NotMax
Sheesh. Hiked all the way down to the street to put out the trash barrel, then uphill back to the abode, and only then realized it’s the wrong night.
So had to repeat the trip and drag it all back up again.
PurpleGirl
@raven: You have a Terry Prachett sub-thread and then there’s “Liquid”. I don’t think Liquid even knows what he/she is writing about. Have a good day. See you later in other threads, or maybe even here again. {grin}
@Schlemizel: I understand. Calvin and Hobbs was great.
OzarkHillbilly
The Far Side.
OzarkHillbilly
Two polar bears at an igloo: “I love these things. Hard and crunchy on the outside, warm and gooey on the inside.”
Two deer in the woods, one with a bulls eye on his side: “Bummer of a birthmark, Hal.”
NotMax
@raven
Here ya go, raven:
From Ohio, the Tunch of carp.
JPL
@raven: Are you going to the game?
Napoleon
Too funny – the next screening of that film is showing as to happen in Watterson’s home town of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, which town is depicted on the back of the Calvin and Hobbes book “The Essential Calvin and Hobbes” as being destroyed by Calvin Godzilla style, with Calvin having in his hands the iconic Popcorn Shop in Chagrin Falls.
kdaug
Larime, I’ve gotten a billion gifts from this universe, but at this inflection point, cash ain’t one. I’ve had plenty before, I’ll have plenty again, but now is a tight spot. Let me know if I can help in other ways.
raven
@JPL: Ha, I don’t know why I thought I’d get tickets. We only get around 4000 and even though I’ve had faculty/staff tickets for years I’m not anywhere near the cutoff for Clemson. I wouldn’t have gone anyway, I’m good with walking home from night games here but I don’t need the road. We do usually go to the GT Virginia Tech game when it’s in the ATL but with the back still in recovery we’re passing this year. ONE DAY till football!
raven
@NotMax: Filet that baby with a chain saw!
JPL
For those with access to the NYTimes, Stiglitz has an oped on King today and the growing inequality in the country. link
Suffern ACE
I like the Watch novels, but the Witches are a close second. I like Death when he appears in the other books, but haven’t much gotten into his books.
NotMax
@SuffernACE
Totally snoopy curiosity (and feel free to ignore) but recall you mentioned contemplating a move.
Did that happen and you decided to keep your nym anyway?
MomSense
Pay day is tomorrow and I will contribute a little something toward a laptop.
Neddie Jingo
Watterson was a year ahead of me at Kenyon. We were treated to watching his juvenilia develop in the school paper, the weekly Collegian. (You see an example of it for a split second in the trailer, being handled by people in latex gloves[!]) Single-panel editorial cartoons, mostly concerned with campus trivia, they featured the prototype of Calvin’s dad, clearly Watterson’s self-portrait.
Wonder Woman, whom I met there, just told me that she has a few copies of the Collegian squirreled away somewhere. Must be worth a mint.
MuckJagger
I’d like to cast a vote for Small Gods. My favorite of all Pratchett’s Discworld books, although it’s pretty much a stand-alone novel.
It’s been years since I’ve read it, however. I don’t even remember i any of the other Discworld characters are even in it.
I think I’ve read them all except fora couple of the Witches books. The only book in the series I ever hated was Monstrous Regiment.
Count me among the few that wishes there could have been “just one more” Rincewind novel — but given Sir Terry’s sad state these days, I suppose that it’s likely that will never come to pass.
Chris
Calvin and Hobbes is the single best comic ever written in the history of ever.
I just had to say that.
evap
@OzarkHillbilly:
The polar bears cartoon is my all-time favorite (single frame) cartoon from anyone. Although it’s “Crunchy on the outside and a chewy center” to be precise.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Anne Laurie: Hogfather is a holiday tradition here. Oh, those hogs. And the kid with the bobble hat. And Hex. And the oh god!
And the cameos from the other books.
I went to considerable effort to get a DVD of the BBC movie.
I know several people who can’t stand the rest of Pratchett’s books who enjoyed Hogfather.
Dead Ernest
@NotMax:
Like they say; “garbage out, garbage in.”
grape_crush
There’s a Discworld reading order chart, y’all. Having said that, Small Gods sticks with me the most, ‘tho the Watch series are good-good-good…”Fabricati Diem, Pvnc”.
As for Watterson, here’s a fan’s take worth reading. “Very Good Advice From Bill Watterson, in Comic Strip Form“
MazeDancer
And you do not have to join the site or sign up for IndieGoGo or a perk or anything to contribute.
Just fill in amount, give email for receipt, opt out of newsletter, select anonymous, keep clicking, and choose your PayPal.
(Be not confused by landing page, membership not required, which is good to know for other occasions, like the pet blegs that people posted on those ‘have to join” social media sites.)
cckids
@OzarkHillbilly: I could never pick one favorite Far Side, but one that sticks with me is the kid pushing on the door that says “Pull”. Sign above the door: “Midvale School for the Gifted”. It’s become a family inside joke when one of us does something boneheaded.
diana
@MuckJagger: Amen. I’d also vote for Small Gods as the best. And I’d agree with everyone else here, you shouldn’t worry about the order in which you read them (they all take place in what is more or less the same universe of Discworld, but even the individual arcs don’t tell a sequential story Harry-Potter-style). Just start in & enjoy. Pratchett is hilarious and very, very good.
cckids
@Larime the Gimp: Dropped a little into the bucket, sorry it can’t be more. My son is disabled & largely bed-bound; I know how it gets. Major kudos to your spouse for being able to keep her creativity going. Best to you both.
moderateindy
Just went to contribute and they have already exceeded their goal…sweet! I know that when I spent four months between the hospital and convalescing last year, having a friend lend me a laptop was instrumental in keeping my attitude positive.
Arclite
@ Larime
If the laptop is shutting down, it’s probably over heating. It might just need a little maintenance to set it right.
1. Check the vents, clean out any dust. A can of compressed air works best, but you can also use the upholstery brush on your vacuum cleaner if you’re careful and gentle.
2. Get a laptop cooler, like this one, but do you research and figure out what you need exactly. There are lots of models. The bedding is probably blocking the vents causing it to over heat. The cooler will provide a stable platform for the laptop and keep it cool, increasing the longevity of the machine. Heat is the number one laptop killer.
3. What’s the O/S and hardware? It could be that the drive needs to be defragmented so that it doesn’t have to work as hard causing heat build up.
Arclite
Seriously, this probably doesn’t require a new laptop.
Donna
My sister died of lupus so I understand what Sylv is going through. Pitched in a small amount to help. Keep those creative juices flowing.