ThursdayNext : www.jasperfforde.com
A discussion of all things Thursday !
Airship over Buxton
Posted by: Sarah (---.vip.uk.com)
Date: January 31, 2003 09:20PM
<HTML>Today Ooktavia, David (Dave Rainbow), Gillian (Skiffle), Wilfred, the Librarian, LE the Elephant, Fred the Platypus and I congregated in Buxton for a very nice dinner and a good old Nextian natter. A great time was had by all, including some very surreal conversation and one priceless moment when Ooktavia hit the elephant with the platypus in the middle of the restaurant, resulting in a loud and fairly bizarre trumpeting noise - thanks, Ooktavia, that is a memory I shall treasure. :-)
However, it didn't stop when Ooktavia had to go and catch her bus. On the way back to Sheffield, the remainder of the party observed:
a) An airship over Buxton - I am <i>not</i> making this up
b) Two different pubs called "The Eyre Arms"
c) A taxi with registration number R501 OOK
Question: does a sufficiently high concentration of Nextians (including cuddly animals) induce Nextian events in our universe? And if so, should we be worried?</HTML>
However, it didn't stop when Ooktavia had to go and catch her bus. On the way back to Sheffield, the remainder of the party observed:
a) An airship over Buxton - I am <i>not</i> making this up
b) Two different pubs called "The Eyre Arms"
c) A taxi with registration number R501 OOK
Question: does a sufficiently high concentration of Nextians (including cuddly animals) induce Nextian events in our universe? And if so, should we be worried?</HTML>
Re: Airship over Buxton
Posted by: poetscientistdrinker (---.cache.pol.co.uk)
Date: January 31, 2003 11:42PM
<HTML>You put your right hand up,
Your right hand down -
Take your entroposcope and shake it all around...</HTML>
Your right hand down -
Take your entroposcope and shake it all around...</HTML>
Re: Airship over Buxton
Posted by: All-American-Cutie (---.dalect01.va.comcast.net)
Date: February 01, 2003 12:08AM
<HTML>I was just gonna say...did anyone bother to break out their entroposcopes?!
"Doo-doo doo-doo, Doo-doo doo-doo" (Theme to Twilight Zone)</HTML>
"Doo-doo doo-doo, Doo-doo doo-doo" (Theme to Twilight Zone)</HTML>
Re: Airship over Buxton
Posted by: All-American-Cutie (---.dalect01.va.comcast.net)
Date: February 01, 2003 12:09AM
<HTML>I wish I lived near other Nextians...[sigh]</HTML>
Re: Airship over Buxton
Posted by: poetscientistdrinker (---.cache.pol.co.uk)
Date: February 01, 2003 12:38AM
<HTML>I wish I did too.
I can't help but think it imght be time to start a proper ffan club...
At the moment we've got a whole bunch of people here who are really amusing, and very clever. Imagine a monthly (or more regularly) newsletter edited by us that covered all news Nextian, plus anything else that seemed like a good laugh. We've already started to meet each other, or at least those of us over this side of the pond have, and there's no reason that any ffan club didn't organise more piss-ups/noodle excursions...
The questions are, what does everyone else think? Would a newsletter add anything for you? What sort of article should it carry? Would a 'ffan club' be a good move? Would it just be more spam in the inbox? What should it be called?
Personally, I think that some kind of organisation might be a cool thing to have. If it went wrong, however, it could be very bad. I think a monthly newsletter that tried to organise meetings, and drinking sessions, spread ideas, etc might be a good way to add to the way the Fforum already works. It shouldn't be a replacement, but an addition.
What does everyone else think though?</HTML>
I can't help but think it imght be time to start a proper ffan club...
At the moment we've got a whole bunch of people here who are really amusing, and very clever. Imagine a monthly (or more regularly) newsletter edited by us that covered all news Nextian, plus anything else that seemed like a good laugh. We've already started to meet each other, or at least those of us over this side of the pond have, and there's no reason that any ffan club didn't organise more piss-ups/noodle excursions...
The questions are, what does everyone else think? Would a newsletter add anything for you? What sort of article should it carry? Would a 'ffan club' be a good move? Would it just be more spam in the inbox? What should it be called?
Personally, I think that some kind of organisation might be a cool thing to have. If it went wrong, however, it could be very bad. I think a monthly newsletter that tried to organise meetings, and drinking sessions, spread ideas, etc might be a good way to add to the way the Fforum already works. It shouldn't be a replacement, but an addition.
What does everyone else think though?</HTML>
Re: Airship over Buxton
Posted by: poetscientistdrinker (---.cache.pol.co.uk)
Date: February 01, 2003 12:45AM
<HTML>for 'bad' read 'embarrassing'...</HTML>
Re: Airship over Buxton
Posted by: Vanessa Hilton (---.prem.tmns.net.au)
Date: February 01, 2003 05:47AM
<HTML>hello I'm 'new', even though I have been reading about all of you, I've never jumped in and said much, and I think you are all doing a GREAT job with or without a newsletter/fanclub/official stuff! I live in the boonies, and if it wasn't for your stories I'd think I was the only one who is a Nextian. So, I LOVE that you guys have your noodles and beers and Nextian experiences...Not being there feels like I've fallen down a portal or am living a differnt book. It just adds to the oddities that are already there! Thank you for going out and telling us about it.</HTML>
Re: Airship over Buxton
Posted by: All-American-Cutie (---.dalect01.va.comcast.net)
Date: February 01, 2003 06:58AM
<HTML>I think a newsletter would be "ffantastic"!! And something like "The Ffordian Ffanletter" would be cool. Somehow we'd have to stick with the double F motif. Ya think!?
And it could be done in HTML and could have photos from Nnoodle Nnights and Bbeer Bbashes. (Okay, I'm getting carried away...) It could have dates for book signings and appearances with pictures ffans send in of meeting the man. Ffan comments, etc.
And maybe those of us on THIS side of the pond could organize local chapters. I know I've been doing my part to spread The Wword across the country. I have accolytes in Phoenix, Arizona; Spokane, Washington; Springfield, Massachusetts; and I'm working on more every day.</HTML>
And it could be done in HTML and could have photos from Nnoodle Nnights and Bbeer Bbashes. (Okay, I'm getting carried away...) It could have dates for book signings and appearances with pictures ffans send in of meeting the man. Ffan comments, etc.
And maybe those of us on THIS side of the pond could organize local chapters. I know I've been doing my part to spread The Wword across the country. I have accolytes in Phoenix, Arizona; Spokane, Washington; Springfield, Massachusetts; and I'm working on more every day.</HTML>
Re: Airship over Buxton
Posted by: poetscientistdrinker (---.cache.pol.co.uk)
Date: February 01, 2003 09:17AM
<HTML>Good heavens - another one out the closet! Any more of you out there want to say 'hello'? Come on, out with it....
Hiya Vanessa!
AAC - the double Ff thing is probably as far as it goes... otherwise it could get so incredibly cheesy that the only fit thing to do is melt it with beer and Worcester Sauce and grill it on top of some bread.
How stupid of me not to see the need for chapters though...
I suppose the way to do it would either be HTML or to wrap it up as a PDF for people to print out and read...</HTML>
Hiya Vanessa!
AAC - the double Ff thing is probably as far as it goes... otherwise it could get so incredibly cheesy that the only fit thing to do is melt it with beer and Worcester Sauce and grill it on top of some bread.
How stupid of me not to see the need for chapters though...
I suppose the way to do it would either be HTML or to wrap it up as a PDF for people to print out and read...</HTML>
Re: Airship over Buxton
Posted by: vib (193.114.111.---)
Date: February 01, 2003 10:32AM
<HTML>
Would you be worried that with a newsletter, the forum threads would get quieter? There's quite a small hardcore of ffans doing the posting at present..
Going offtopic:
BTW have just gone back to read a very outdated thread - the one full of incandescent rage about 2Towers. Got to see the film quite late, is my excuse. What was that thing with Legolas surfing??? for pity sake. Was it a pitch for the BeachBoys market?</HTML>
Would you be worried that with a newsletter, the forum threads would get quieter? There's quite a small hardcore of ffans doing the posting at present..
Going offtopic:
BTW have just gone back to read a very outdated thread - the one full of incandescent rage about 2Towers. Got to see the film quite late, is my excuse. What was that thing with Legolas surfing??? for pity sake. Was it a pitch for the BeachBoys market?</HTML>
Re: Airship over Buxton
Posted by: Sarah (---.vip.uk.com)
Date: February 01, 2003 11:51AM
<HTML>Good grief - I put up one post late at night, and before midday today it's turned into a real live respectable thread with loads of things to comment in it. Cool stuff!
Trying to take everything in proper order:
1. Yes, I did bring my entroposcope. But unfortunately I forgot the dark chocolate Toblerone which Minsky intended to send as a present to Ooktavia since he couldn't come to the gathering himself. *blush* I'll post it to you if you like, Ook - drop me an e-mail.
2. A proper ffan club, complete with chapters, sounds like a tremendous idea to me. I volunteer to proofread the newsletter, if there is one, having been vaccinated against the misspeling vyrus early in life. ;-)
3. Hi Vanessa (and anyone who's still lurking!) - great to meet you.
4. The only worthy thing to be done with an Elf on a surfboard, skateboard, Orc-shield or whatever the wretched object was is to take the mick out of the idea till it squeaks. I had a go in <i>The Bodyswappers,</i> but it seems to me that the vein of humour there is quite deep and could still be mined to great profit by the rest of the Fforum. Don't worry about Legolas himself. According to Minsky, he thinks the whole thing's a hoot.
5. Miaow. (That was from Minsky, of course. I'm not fluent in Cat.)</HTML>
Trying to take everything in proper order:
1. Yes, I did bring my entroposcope. But unfortunately I forgot the dark chocolate Toblerone which Minsky intended to send as a present to Ooktavia since he couldn't come to the gathering himself. *blush* I'll post it to you if you like, Ook - drop me an e-mail.
2. A proper ffan club, complete with chapters, sounds like a tremendous idea to me. I volunteer to proofread the newsletter, if there is one, having been vaccinated against the misspeling vyrus early in life. ;-)
3. Hi Vanessa (and anyone who's still lurking!) - great to meet you.
4. The only worthy thing to be done with an Elf on a surfboard, skateboard, Orc-shield or whatever the wretched object was is to take the mick out of the idea till it squeaks. I had a go in <i>The Bodyswappers,</i> but it seems to me that the vein of humour there is quite deep and could still be mined to great profit by the rest of the Fforum. Don't worry about Legolas himself. According to Minsky, he thinks the whole thing's a hoot.
5. Miaow. (That was from Minsky, of course. I'm not fluent in Cat.)</HTML>
Re: Airship over Buxton
Posted by: Dave Rainbow (---.vip.uk.com)
Date: February 01, 2003 05:12PM
<HTML>What Sarah failed to mention was Ooktavia's selection of a steak sandwich with a 'Worm baguette' (sic) and chips. I can understand why she didn't finish it, and had to do all the talking instead.
The great viaduct at Buxton could easily be used for Skyrail ??</HTML>
The great viaduct at Buxton could easily be used for Skyrail ??</HTML>
Re: Newsletter
Posted by: Jon (---.proxy.aol.com)
Date: February 01, 2003 06:28PM
<HTML>Well, haven't you been a busy little bunch of beavers while I was groaning on a bed of pain? Um ... actually, the op wasn't that bad, pain quotient minimal, in fact. Everybody at the hospital was very helpful and efficient and cheerful, even the poor nurse who got spattered with blood when I sneezed at the wrong moment. I realise that in most countries that standard of healthcare would cost a fortune .... we're very lucky still .... memo to all politicians and bureaucrats ..... don't @!#$ it up. I am now confined to quarters for a fortnight to guard against infection, and have read two of my specially purchased books already. I may have to write something to keep boredom at bay. (And no, I can't hear properly yet. Damn).
Anyway, to get on topic for a minute (gasps from audience) I think a Fforde Newsletter is a good idea, although we may have to stray off the subject a bit in order to fill it (well, we'd probably do that even we didn't have any space left ....). Up to present there hasn't been anybody on this fforum I have thought 'yuk, I don't wanna know you' about, and yet two minutes trawling through alt.fan.pratchett will turn up hundreds of arses of all shapes and kinds. (And rec.arts.books.tolkien is practically nutter grand central). So I think the embarassment factor would be quite low. A newsletter would also, I feel, be a more appropriate place for some of our longer stories and things; IIRC Carla, e.g., said that since she looked at the fforum at work she didn't have time to read through the longer posts, and this may well be true for others. Something you could download/print off/save offline might be more use in such cases. It would also be a <I>much</I> more appopriate place for plot speculation (e.g the recent theory of book jumping thread) since we must remember that this fforum isn't actually ours; it's on Mr. Ff's own website, and we should not wish to embarrass him by pre-empting his plots. I'm sure none of us would ever accuse him of having lifted ideas from the fforum (and be nothing but flattered if he did) but some fool is sure to put their foot in it one day.
OK. Practicalities. I propose that the newsletter thingy be posted up as a website (a la Discword Monthly), but also available by (free) e-mail subscription. (As is Discworld Monthly ... look, it's very successful, let's just lift the whole concept ...) This will give us the maximum possible 'circulation' . I can host the website, since those nice AOL peeps give me 14 meg free webspace, and I'm only using 2 meg of it, but there would be a severe limit on the number of 'back-numbers' I could carry. If anyone has more space available, volunteer now!
We also need;
1) a name (Ffordean Times? The Next Post? The Thursday Gazette? ideas please)
2) an editor .... or a team of editors ... but someone will have to put the final copy together. I'll do it if nobody else has a burning yen for journalism, but I'd rather not do it alone.
3) Some ideas for content; news, obviously, re signings, pub. dates, dates in pubs, microcons etc. How about telling people when films JfF has worked on are being shown on TV? Stories from ffans (whether Nextian or not ... but obviously all vetted for approval by the editing team ... we don't want any visits from men with very thin watches) letters re Nextian sightings and happenings, if you like JFf's books check out this, etc, etc. No pictures; they take up too much file space. More ideas needed.
4) Enough people reading it to make it worthwhile ... so all you lurkers out there, signify your interest (or not).
As to a Ffan club .... hmmm. I mean, would it be a proper club, with membership cards and little badges and subscription fees? They're a bugger to organise, those, and even worse when your potential membership is spread across the globe. I'd vote for a more informal association, i.e., anyone who subscribed to the newsletter would be in (and perhaps would get some extras not available to the Publick? Such as what?). I do not know if JFf/his agent/his publisher have any plans for an official club.
Tell me what you think. This will only happen of we want it to.</HTML>
Anyway, to get on topic for a minute (gasps from audience) I think a Fforde Newsletter is a good idea, although we may have to stray off the subject a bit in order to fill it (well, we'd probably do that even we didn't have any space left ....). Up to present there hasn't been anybody on this fforum I have thought 'yuk, I don't wanna know you' about, and yet two minutes trawling through alt.fan.pratchett will turn up hundreds of arses of all shapes and kinds. (And rec.arts.books.tolkien is practically nutter grand central). So I think the embarassment factor would be quite low. A newsletter would also, I feel, be a more appropriate place for some of our longer stories and things; IIRC Carla, e.g., said that since she looked at the fforum at work she didn't have time to read through the longer posts, and this may well be true for others. Something you could download/print off/save offline might be more use in such cases. It would also be a <I>much</I> more appopriate place for plot speculation (e.g the recent theory of book jumping thread) since we must remember that this fforum isn't actually ours; it's on Mr. Ff's own website, and we should not wish to embarrass him by pre-empting his plots. I'm sure none of us would ever accuse him of having lifted ideas from the fforum (and be nothing but flattered if he did) but some fool is sure to put their foot in it one day.
OK. Practicalities. I propose that the newsletter thingy be posted up as a website (a la Discword Monthly), but also available by (free) e-mail subscription. (As is Discworld Monthly ... look, it's very successful, let's just lift the whole concept ...) This will give us the maximum possible 'circulation' . I can host the website, since those nice AOL peeps give me 14 meg free webspace, and I'm only using 2 meg of it, but there would be a severe limit on the number of 'back-numbers' I could carry. If anyone has more space available, volunteer now!
We also need;
1) a name (Ffordean Times? The Next Post? The Thursday Gazette? ideas please)
2) an editor .... or a team of editors ... but someone will have to put the final copy together. I'll do it if nobody else has a burning yen for journalism, but I'd rather not do it alone.
3) Some ideas for content; news, obviously, re signings, pub. dates, dates in pubs, microcons etc. How about telling people when films JfF has worked on are being shown on TV? Stories from ffans (whether Nextian or not ... but obviously all vetted for approval by the editing team ... we don't want any visits from men with very thin watches) letters re Nextian sightings and happenings, if you like JFf's books check out this, etc, etc. No pictures; they take up too much file space. More ideas needed.
4) Enough people reading it to make it worthwhile ... so all you lurkers out there, signify your interest (or not).
As to a Ffan club .... hmmm. I mean, would it be a proper club, with membership cards and little badges and subscription fees? They're a bugger to organise, those, and even worse when your potential membership is spread across the globe. I'd vote for a more informal association, i.e., anyone who subscribed to the newsletter would be in (and perhaps would get some extras not available to the Publick? Such as what?). I do not know if JFf/his agent/his publisher have any plans for an official club.
Tell me what you think. This will only happen of we want it to.</HTML>
Re: Newsletter
Posted by: poetscientistdrinker (---.cache.pol.co.uk)
Date: February 01, 2003 07:09PM
<HTML>Hmm, I'll just look around for somebody interested in journalism....
Right - I've found me... That was easy....
Other stuff then -
Content - obviously it'd have to carry news on Nextian coincidences in the real world, news of forthcoming appearances by Mr Ff etc, but then the rest of it could quite entertainingly be filled with articles/featurettes/scribblings/reviews by whoever had something to say - for example something about the possible theories of booktravel. That way you can also allow it to evolve to suit the readers.Then in the next (arrff) issue you might even be able to include some replies to it, depending on whether anybody gave a damn or not.... The great thing about an electronic version is that you don't need to worry about how many pages you're planning on filling - so don't have to stretch or cut stuff up too much. Old copies will be stored by google anyway - so that's not a worry. I like theidea of being able to send it round rather than people having to click onto a site - it means that you don't miss anything happening. In terms of enough demand to make it worthwhile there's about 15 people posting here on a regular basis, and I'd guess there's probably double that lurking, add that to word of mouth getting people interested, and there's a respectably sized community out there to add stuff to it and to get something back out of it. And hey, if we make it amusing enough, the audience might even grow... If you consider how many people read the books because of word of mouth...
And a title? 'Whatever Next' might be a good 'un.</HTML>
Right - I've found me... That was easy....
Other stuff then -
Content - obviously it'd have to carry news on Nextian coincidences in the real world, news of forthcoming appearances by Mr Ff etc, but then the rest of it could quite entertainingly be filled with articles/featurettes/scribblings/reviews by whoever had something to say - for example something about the possible theories of booktravel. That way you can also allow it to evolve to suit the readers.Then in the next (arrff) issue you might even be able to include some replies to it, depending on whether anybody gave a damn or not.... The great thing about an electronic version is that you don't need to worry about how many pages you're planning on filling - so don't have to stretch or cut stuff up too much. Old copies will be stored by google anyway - so that's not a worry. I like theidea of being able to send it round rather than people having to click onto a site - it means that you don't miss anything happening. In terms of enough demand to make it worthwhile there's about 15 people posting here on a regular basis, and I'd guess there's probably double that lurking, add that to word of mouth getting people interested, and there's a respectably sized community out there to add stuff to it and to get something back out of it. And hey, if we make it amusing enough, the audience might even grow... If you consider how many people read the books because of word of mouth...
And a title? 'Whatever Next' might be a good 'un.</HTML>
Re: Newsletter
Posted by: Jon (---.proxy.aol.com)
Date: February 01, 2003 07:28PM
<HTML>Yes, I agree that sending it out by e-mail is good, but it should be available as a webpage as well, so that people cam stumble across it by accident. Which let's face it is how most things on the web get found.
Dunno what we do about these lurkers though. Possibly some sort of electronic ferret would be in order, to flush them out ...
(as to title ..... Toad Network Newsletter? The E-Mail Mole? ..... 'Whatever Next' is quite good though
I'm sorry, I got carried away there, forgot what I was doing and rubbed my nose .... owwww. That smarts.</HTML>
Dunno what we do about these lurkers though. Possibly some sort of electronic ferret would be in order, to flush them out ...
(as to title ..... Toad Network Newsletter? The E-Mail Mole? ..... 'Whatever Next' is quite good though
I'm sorry, I got carried away there, forgot what I was doing and rubbed my nose .... owwww. That smarts.</HTML>
Re: Newsletter
Posted by: Sarah (---.vip.uk.com)
Date: February 01, 2003 09:19PM
<HTML>"Whatever Next" is just perfect - good one, Ben!
Minsky and I would both like to be involved in whatever capacity, although I may have to edit my feline friend's contributions somewhat, since as you may have noticed he can be a trifle arrogant. (I notice he has a disconcerting habit of stopping threads stone dead in their tracks. It's not as though they were mice or anything...)
Wilfred, needless to say, has proposed a toast. And drunk it already. Some things never change. :-)</HTML>
Minsky and I would both like to be involved in whatever capacity, although I may have to edit my feline friend's contributions somewhat, since as you may have noticed he can be a trifle arrogant. (I notice he has a disconcerting habit of stopping threads stone dead in their tracks. It's not as though they were mice or anything...)
Wilfred, needless to say, has proposed a toast. And drunk it already. Some things never change. :-)</HTML>
Re: Newsletter
Posted by: Ooktavia (---.in-addr.btopenworld.com)
Date: February 01, 2003 09:19PM
<HTML>It was indeed a fun time, woe and alas that the cruel bus-schedule parted me from the others so soon. My platypus was very distressed (there's a sentence that would look good in Polish), and L.E (the E is for Edmund) was wailing in my handbag all the way back on the bus (I sat on him, and didn't realise for 10 mins)
I think a newsletter not unlike Discworld monthy's would be cool.. I will write the odd article for it, if requested, (and it will *be* odd, no doubt) but on the technical side of things, building of a site etc, I am not very good......
Poor Jon! Your poor nose. *beams a Zen wave of sympathy*</HTML>
I think a newsletter not unlike Discworld monthy's would be cool.. I will write the odd article for it, if requested, (and it will *be* odd, no doubt) but on the technical side of things, building of a site etc, I am not very good......
Poor Jon! Your poor nose. *beams a Zen wave of sympathy*</HTML>
Re: Newsletter
Posted by: Jon (---.proxy.aol.com)
Date: February 01, 2003 09:41PM
<HTML>Thag you very buch, Ook. By dose is still sore.
(And don't worry about being non-technical. Technical is easy. There are always lot of people to do it or at least tell you how to do it. It's creative input that;s hard to come by. You may consider yourself requested).</HTML>
(And don't worry about being non-technical. Technical is easy. There are always lot of people to do it or at least tell you how to do it. It's creative input that;s hard to come by. You may consider yourself requested).</HTML>
Re: Newsletter
Posted by: Vanessa Hilton (---.prem.tmns.net.au)
Date: February 02, 2003 02:54AM
<HTML>Is this a Nextian coincidence? I have postgrad studies in Journalism, and a computer nerd husband (software!), and as I have said, living out in the sticks, there is only so much time I can spend comparing the chooks to dodos and bookjumping before I yearn for an encounter with Jasper Fforde, if not a Fforde forum. Please count me in....However, I think there must be some way to measure MINE and other's authenticity as Nextians. I can't jump out of nowhere without spending more time at the fforum and getting acquainted. Can I?</HTML>
Re: Newsletter
Posted by: All-American-Cutie (---.dalect01.va.comcast.net)
Date: February 02, 2003 04:10AM
<HTML>How about "The Goliath Gazette"??
and Vanessa, sure ya can. We don't discriminate here. As long as you have something mildly witty or astute (or wittily astute like Jon) to contribute, jump on in...the water's fine!</HTML>
and Vanessa, sure ya can. We don't discriminate here. As long as you have something mildly witty or astute (or wittily astute like Jon) to contribute, jump on in...the water's fine!</HTML>
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.