ThursdayNext : www.jasperfforde.com
A discussion of all things Thursday !
TEA Reference Notes Complete!
Posted by: jon (---.abel.net.uk)
Date: November 05, 2002 09:09AM
<HTML>Thanks to the good offices of Mr. Jasper Fforde, well-known writer and aeronaut, the full and complete Reference Guide for non-Brits to The Eyre Affair is now posted up at [www.jasperfforde.com] .
All 36 chapters have been annotated to try and explain items of British culture and other interesting matters to the curious reader. It's not exhaustive, and if there is anything anyone would like adding or correcting, do let me know.
Read it now for the answers to the following earth-shattering questions; Why is Finisterre out of date? Why are Triumph motorcycles cool? What are Hobnobs, and can they be resisted? One question doesn't get answered; What kind of sad bastard spends his entire weekend doing something like this?</HTML>
All 36 chapters have been annotated to try and explain items of British culture and other interesting matters to the curious reader. It's not exhaustive, and if there is anything anyone would like adding or correcting, do let me know.
Read it now for the answers to the following earth-shattering questions; Why is Finisterre out of date? Why are Triumph motorcycles cool? What are Hobnobs, and can they be resisted? One question doesn't get answered; What kind of sad bastard spends his entire weekend doing something like this?</HTML>
Re: TEA Reference Notes Complete!
Posted by: ScarletBea (---.be.jnj.com)
Date: November 05, 2002 10:37AM
<HTML>Answer:
Bastards who will turn from sad to very happy when they get showered in thanks and praises from us, poor ignorant Nextaholics :D
*hugs*
THANKS JON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</HTML>
Bastards who will turn from sad to very happy when they get showered in thanks and praises from us, poor ignorant Nextaholics :D
*hugs*
THANKS JON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</HTML>
Re: TEA Reference Notes Complete!
Posted by: dave (212.158.104.---)
Date: November 05, 2002 11:11AM
<HTML>Jon, as a Brit, even I thank you. You deserve a knighthood. Or a hobnob.
quite possibly both.
I'll refrain from the hugs, if it's all the same with you. A hearty handshake and a 'let me buy you a pint' instead.
:-)</HTML>
quite possibly both.
I'll refrain from the hugs, if it's all the same with you. A hearty handshake and a 'let me buy you a pint' instead.
:-)</HTML>
Re: TEA Reference Notes Complete!
Posted by: ScarletBea (---.be.jnj.com)
Date: November 05, 2002 11:30AM
<HTML>Question:
«Chapter Fifteen
p.155; ESC; since Nextian England is a Republic, it cannot, of course, have a Royal Shakespeare Company.»
Then what is the E for, please? I thought a lot and still can't come up with an answer (which is probably terribly obvious lol)</HTML>
«Chapter Fifteen
p.155; ESC; since Nextian England is a Republic, it cannot, of course, have a Royal Shakespeare Company.»
Then what is the E for, please? I thought a lot and still can't come up with an answer (which is probably terribly obvious lol)</HTML>
Re: TEA Reference Notes Complete!
Posted by: charles ronayne (---.liv.ac.uk)
Date: November 05, 2002 11:39AM
<HTML>Jon, yes well done my son. Class piece of work, something a truely obsessed man would do. You go down with Dave Gorman as somebody after my own heart. But ditto dave I reckon I'll leave out on the hugs. It was, of course, disturbing to find out there was so little I knew about the book. I still can't imagine not knowing what a biro is though ...
P.S. With reference to the ESC, English possibly? I cant remember not having a book on me what the company is actually referred to as Although thinking about the scene it could also easily be Erratic, Eccentric or something along those lines!</HTML>
P.S. With reference to the ESC, English possibly? I cant remember not having a book on me what the company is actually referred to as Although thinking about the scene it could also easily be Erratic, Eccentric or something along those lines!</HTML>
Re: TEA Reference Notes Complete!
Posted by: jon (---.abel.net.uk)
Date: November 05, 2002 12:03PM
<HTML>Thanks all. Yes, ESC is the *English* Shakespeare Company; the name is given in full in the text on the previous page of TEA. Having the book constantly open before me made me forget that not everybody reading it would have a copy with them!
The biro question is an interesting one. I came up against lots of choices like that; do they have Dralon in America? (yes) Are Hobnobs a universal brand? (apparently not). I removed a note about Thermos flasks because a) Magda assured me they have them in the US and b) it was spoiling a gag in TN2. Such questions are very difficult to answer, but I'm fairly sure I have never come across 'biro' in any transatlantic context.I could be wrong and if I am I'm sure I'll hear about it!
All offers of pints and hugs gratefully accepted (from appropriate quarters).</HTML>
The biro question is an interesting one. I came up against lots of choices like that; do they have Dralon in America? (yes) Are Hobnobs a universal brand? (apparently not). I removed a note about Thermos flasks because a) Magda assured me they have them in the US and b) it was spoiling a gag in TN2. Such questions are very difficult to answer, but I'm fairly sure I have never come across 'biro' in any transatlantic context.I could be wrong and if I am I'm sure I'll hear about it!
All offers of pints and hugs gratefully accepted (from appropriate quarters).</HTML>
Re:
Posted by: ScarletBea (148.177.129.---)
Date: November 05, 2002 01:07PM
<HTML>Gosh, why are guys so afraid of hugs? ;)
Anyway, I forgot to say something: thanks for directing me to the Updates page!!!! I never knew it was there!!! I just printed it and will make the upgrade tonight :D full with indicator and all, eheheh</HTML>
Anyway, I forgot to say something: thanks for directing me to the Updates page!!!! I never knew it was there!!! I just printed it and will make the upgrade tonight :D full with indicator and all, eheheh</HTML>
Re: Nope, no biros here.
Posted by: Magda (---.dialip.mich.net)
Date: November 05, 2002 05:14PM
<HTML>Well, if I ever get to Britian I'll give you a hug and buy you a pint.
You're right - most folks in the states wouldn't have a clue what a biro is. I do, but that's because I read British fiction (Elizabeth George at the moment), and my college roommate went to a British boarding school for several years. Here we just refer to it as a pen, or a ballpoint pen if we want to be more specific. And we don't have any Hobnobs either.
Draylon wasn't specifically familiar to me, but as I recall I deduced from the name (and context) that it was a synthetic fiber.
BTW, a quick search on "uncultured rats" netted the following presumably unrelated but amusing bit stolen from:
[www.maximonline.com]
Q: Does listening to classical music really make you smarter?
A: Think of it like popping Viagra: It won’t make you a better performer, but it’ll make you perform better—at least temporarily. Overeager parents-to-be began putting Beethoven-belching headphones over their pregnant bellies after a 1993 University of California-Irvine study found that undergrads scored higher on IQ tests after listening to Mozart’s “Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major.” But in reality, test-takers scored higher only on questions requiring spatial-temporal reasoning, which makes you (well, not you) a chess master or geometry whiz. Dr. Gordon Shaw, who headed the study, determined that classical music merely acts as a warmup for certain kinds of problem solving. A subsequent test showed that rats rockin’ out to the same Mozart sonata negotiated a maze faster than uncultured rats. “Listening to good music never hurt anyone,” says Shaw. Reports that Einstein relied on Falco’s “Rock Me Amadeus” could not be confirmed at press time.
-Magda-</HTML>
You're right - most folks in the states wouldn't have a clue what a biro is. I do, but that's because I read British fiction (Elizabeth George at the moment), and my college roommate went to a British boarding school for several years. Here we just refer to it as a pen, or a ballpoint pen if we want to be more specific. And we don't have any Hobnobs either.
Draylon wasn't specifically familiar to me, but as I recall I deduced from the name (and context) that it was a synthetic fiber.
BTW, a quick search on "uncultured rats" netted the following presumably unrelated but amusing bit stolen from:
[www.maximonline.com]
Q: Does listening to classical music really make you smarter?
A: Think of it like popping Viagra: It won’t make you a better performer, but it’ll make you perform better—at least temporarily. Overeager parents-to-be began putting Beethoven-belching headphones over their pregnant bellies after a 1993 University of California-Irvine study found that undergrads scored higher on IQ tests after listening to Mozart’s “Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major.” But in reality, test-takers scored higher only on questions requiring spatial-temporal reasoning, which makes you (well, not you) a chess master or geometry whiz. Dr. Gordon Shaw, who headed the study, determined that classical music merely acts as a warmup for certain kinds of problem solving. A subsequent test showed that rats rockin’ out to the same Mozart sonata negotiated a maze faster than uncultured rats. “Listening to good music never hurt anyone,” says Shaw. Reports that Einstein relied on Falco’s “Rock Me Amadeus” could not be confirmed at press time.
-Magda-</HTML>
Re: Nope, no biros here.
Posted by: Jon (---.proxy.aol.com)
Date: November 05, 2002 09:10PM
<HTML>Hm! The Dralon may have to go back in. And they claimed on their website to be a worldwide brand, too.
Jon (I do it so you don't have to).</HTML>
Jon (I do it so you don't have to).</HTML>
Re: Nope, no biros here.
Posted by: poetscientistdrinker (---.cache.pol.co.uk)
Date: November 05, 2002 10:58PM
<HTML>Congrats Jon!
A worthy Endeavor and all that stuff...</HTML>
A worthy Endeavor and all that stuff...</HTML>
TEA REF NOTES THANKS
Posted by: Karen (---.syd.ops.aspac.uu.net)
Date: November 06, 2002 12:54PM
<HTML>Thank you so much Jon
Unbelievable effort.
God it is SO gratifying to discover so many people who love these books and who like to talk, eat, sleep and think books.
I am a Fforum addict - gotta get some sleep now (it's midnight so I've got to stop trying to compile some lists for the "awards").
BTW Are you UK guys ever going to get togehter or would that be a bit pathetic "Star Trek convention" type of thing???
KS</HTML>
Unbelievable effort.
God it is SO gratifying to discover so many people who love these books and who like to talk, eat, sleep and think books.
I am a Fforum addict - gotta get some sleep now (it's midnight so I've got to stop trying to compile some lists for the "awards").
BTW Are you UK guys ever going to get togehter or would that be a bit pathetic "Star Trek convention" type of thing???
KS</HTML>
Re: TEA REF NOTES THANKS
Posted by: ScarletBea (---.be.jnj.com)
Date: November 06, 2002 01:06PM
<HTML>Pathetic? I don't think so!!!!
Just imagine... all of us... and Jasper... talking TN :D
In fact, I'll be in London between Nov 30 and Dec 4, and in Bristol between Dec 4 and Dec 7, so if any of you want to meet, just let me know :))))</HTML>
Just imagine... all of us... and Jasper... talking TN :D
In fact, I'll be in London between Nov 30 and Dec 4, and in Bristol between Dec 4 and Dec 7, so if any of you want to meet, just let me know :))))</HTML>
Re: TEA REF NOTES THANKS
Posted by: jon (---.abel.net.uk)
Date: November 06, 2002 03:15PM
<HTML>Of course it wouldn't be pathetic, because it would be us doing it. Can I dress up as a ChronoGuard, eh, can I, oh go on let me please....
Sort of seriously; Jasper says on his Appearances page that he is doing a gig at the Swindon Literary Festival on May 8th next year....the Festival website mentions him not (although it does list Terry Pratchett, David Lodge and er, Margaret Thatcher. Ulp.) but if he is doing it, I thought of going. (I'm sure my customers in Swindon can be persuaded they need re-training during next May). Anyone else? And if we could all get hold of some of those cool T-shirts with SpecOps-27 Swindon on them, we could have a convention at somebody else's expense.
Wodja think?</HTML>
Sort of seriously; Jasper says on his Appearances page that he is doing a gig at the Swindon Literary Festival on May 8th next year....the Festival website mentions him not (although it does list Terry Pratchett, David Lodge and er, Margaret Thatcher. Ulp.) but if he is doing it, I thought of going. (I'm sure my customers in Swindon can be persuaded they need re-training during next May). Anyone else? And if we could all get hold of some of those cool T-shirts with SpecOps-27 Swindon on them, we could have a convention at somebody else's expense.
Wodja think?</HTML>
Re: TEA REF NOTES THANKS
Posted by: ScarletBea (---.be.jnj.com)
Date: November 06, 2002 03:33PM
<HTML>Oh Jon, if it has David Lodge as well I'll be making all possible efforts to go!!!!!!!!!
*jumps around excitedly at the thought of meeting 2 of my favourite authors.. oh right, and Terry Pratchett too of course... and you all :D*
However, I never know what I'm doing the next month or so, much less in 6 months... or rather, I know of a project that lasts until July but has in May a cool period lol so there might be a chance!!!!!</HTML>
*jumps around excitedly at the thought of meeting 2 of my favourite authors.. oh right, and Terry Pratchett too of course... and you all :D*
However, I never know what I'm doing the next month or so, much less in 6 months... or rather, I know of a project that lasts until July but has in May a cool period lol so there might be a chance!!!!!</HTML>
Re: Meeting
Posted by: jon (---.abel.net.uk)
Date: November 06, 2002 04:20PM
<HTML>Aha! I knew you liked David Lodge, I was just using him as bait. Actually, what I've been doing the last hour is reading through a lot of old posts on here, trying to track down that Uncultured Rats reference. I found it, too, but boy did I find a lot of other stuff. I now know an awful lot more about some of my ffellow fforumers, and if I'm lucky I might be able to forget some of it one day. (I even know what some of you look like, whereas I remain a Man of Mystery, bwa-hahahaha!) And what I have concluded is, that if we were to organise ourselves properly, certain roles are obvious. I'd do the ordering people about (I'm the oldest); Bea looks after the finances (she can a. add up and b. stay sober), Dave runs the creche, Twila takes the photos, Magda is i/c costumes and dodos, and Ben gets the drinks in. Any volunteers for other posts?</HTML>
Re: Meeting
Posted by: ScarletBea (---.be.jnj.com)
Date: November 06, 2002 06:30PM
<HTML>LOL Jon, so that means you found the link I posted to my site, with pics? ;)</HTML>
Re: Meeting
Posted by: Jon (---.proxy.aol.com)
Date: November 06, 2002 07:40PM
<HTML> I did (sorry if it was meant to be private) and can I say I entirely share your enthusiasm for David Lodge. I'm no longer a Catholic (I don't think I ever was, really) or have any religion as such, but I can still talk Catholic-speak, so I can relate to Lodge's work on that level as well as the literary one. I even had an uncle who was a professor at Birmingham University! Besides campus novels, Lodge also writes literary criticism, some of which is very heavy, but his book The Art of Fiction is very entertaining as well as being massively informative about the mechanics of writing.</HTML>
Re: Meeting
Posted by: poetscientistdrinker (---.cache.pol.co.uk)
Date: November 06, 2002 08:12PM
<HTML>I'm just hoping that none of my photo's were lying about...
I'm well up for Swindon, especially if I'm at Reading at the time - it might be a bit of a trek down from Aberdeen. I thought the iron lady had been banned from speaking anywhere by her doctors. Maybe they'll just wheel her out onn castors and allow the Tory faithful to stare. .</HTML>
I'm well up for Swindon, especially if I'm at Reading at the time - it might be a bit of a trek down from Aberdeen. I thought the iron lady had been banned from speaking anywhere by her doctors. Maybe they'll just wheel her out onn castors and allow the Tory faithful to stare. .</HTML>
Re: Meeting
Posted by: Jon (---.proxy.aol.com)
Date: November 06, 2002 08:37PM
<HTML>OMG you don't think our Jasper is the late replacement for Her do you? Imagine, there we'll be, wearing silly clothes, carrying stuffed dodos, nattering away about entroposcopes and there'll be these bemused old bats with blue rinses, wandering about vaguely looking for the Norman Tebbit posters 'cos nobody bothered to tell them Maggie's been cancelled.....or perhaps (worse thought) they'll double-book, and we're just about to start the Thursday fun and then She walks in....the horror, the horror....</HTML>
Re: Meeting
Posted by: Jon (---.proxy.aol.com)
Date: November 06, 2002 08:39PM
<HTML>And don't think you got away with it on the photo front, either, Ben. You were up Crib Goch looking like you didn't know how you'd got there.</HTML>
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