While searching for a book I came across Ice House Books, a massive new and secondhand bookshop in Swondon.
www.icehousebooks.co.uk
I wonder if Jasper can organise a tour 8)

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Joint winner Colouring Competition 2007
and outright winner of the 3 time winner of the Ffestival Dodo Feeding competition.
Fforde Ffiesta Ffotos are here - [www.flickr.com]

Please, steeljam - remove your post before mrs. SkidMarks sees it. A bookshop that she has not already tried to empty? The car suspension will not be able to take it!

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My computer beat me at chess, but I won at kickboxing

Quick bounce of this thread to remind people that the Ffiesta kicks off in a matter of hours - a limited number of tickets are still available.

Jasper's working down to the wire to get the Murder Mystery written especially for us - it's going to be really special!

[www.ffordeffiesta.com]

Well I got back from the Ffiesta a couple of hours ago. Had an absolutely marvelous weekend!

If any of the Fforumites were there I was 'Norman Johnson' in the fancy dress parade or Tyrrell in Richard III. Just so that you can put a face to the Fforum nom de plume.

Hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as I did and look forward to seeing you (hopefully)in September 2009?


A rather good picture of me as Norman Johnson by SteelJam

My Small Album



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2008 01:52PM by wheelbent.

Coo! you made good time, sorry I didn't say goodbye properly, it was good to see you again and I'm glad you want to come back.....again!

For me, I can have a few weeks r & r before starting all over again.

Hello to Mr & Mrs Skids, the man is a star, mind out Mycroft, Mrs Skids a saint and Steeljam, well.... what an actor. LQ what's it like not to be a teenager anymore?

Just wanted to add my thanks to the guys and galls who ogranised the weekend.. twas alot of fun. Just home after some trains, planes and yes - automobiles...

Phew! Got back home about six hours ago, having exhausted the recreational possibilities of the White Horse at Uffington.

I'm delighted to say (particularly since six of our American guests joined us) that the experience was as British as it could possibly have been: road signage for the Horse was practically non-existent, there were no toiletary facilities (although there was an ice-cream van), the British summer weather gave us the double whammy of localised flooding in Oxfordshire and drizzle while we ate our lunch, and the field between the car park and the Horse, where we flew our kites, was a minefield of sheep doings.

In our day we made our own entertainment, didn't we Mother? Mustn't grumble. We all - had - a wonderful - time...

Huge thanks to everyone who turned up and supported the Ffiesta, and colossal thanks to Jasper, of course. I had my worries going in, but I really think we surpassed the Ffestival, and I'm looking forward to seeing where next year's committee takes it.

And I also look forward to seeing some of you again at Armadacon with our auction-won tickets! Say, Dave/Ali/anyone else who'd know, do we need to do anything more with these - give you contact details or such - or we just turn up on the day with the flyers?

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work is a vampire that sucks me dry
which is a metaphor
but still the reason I stuck a chair leg through my manager

It was a fantastic weekend!  I'm just amazed people organised such a big event with so many people I don't know, all just to celebrate my birthday...

On a slightly less self-centred note (you can tell I'm not a teenager any more!) it genuinely was brilliant.  Lots of fun things going on through most of the two days, a good few opportunities to hear Jasper speak, a preview reading of Shades of Grey (which sounds really interesting), some very funny poetry and other competitions, and a great performance of Richard III at the end of it all. While not everything was perfect, it was incredible fun and I really hope I can make it to the next one. September '09 sounds a good time for it, certainly...

Thanks again to all the Fforganisers, and also to everyone who was there and wonderfully friendly. I think I can chalk up having 100+ near strangers singing "Happy Birthday" to me as one of my more memorable b'day experiences...

I just want to say thank you to all the Fforganisers, Jasper and all the lovely attendees for such a fantastic weekend. Well organised and lots of fun! So thanks to all and a round of applause for the Fforganisers.

I've also been mobilised to finally join the forum so Hello!

Looking forward to Ffiesta 2009...

Sounds like it went well! Glad to hear it :)

Come on Kitten, start saving for next time!

Welcome to bound and EmmaJayne, I'm glad you enjoyed it and we are already starting to plan next years. EEK! I think I know who you are but I won't say. Have the obligatory Battenburg and tea from the trolley, if you aren't sick of it from the weekend.

LQ I am gutted you think it wasn't perfect, we planned every imperfection down to a tee.

I'll be in touch with a feedback form for you all to comment on the Ffiesta.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/2008 10:11PM by Lycanthra Pod.

Thanks and all that... ip address's give alot away.. so much for being anonymous!!

Glad you guys had fun--I'm envious, but I'm already saving for next year (or will it be the year after?)

bound you secret's safe with me, honest.

MuseSusan we're looking at next year, we just have to settle on a date, so start saving!

Apparently you'll be able to tell if I'm at the next one without me saying.

I could, but I dare not tell you what you did

Oh yes, there were a couple of other things I wanted to say.

Firstly, thanks to everybody for your patience with the room changes. The De Vere told us literally as we arrived on Friday that we would be able to use the Compton Suite (the upstairs room with seating) on Saturday - this and a number of other changes meant that the programme information in your Ffiesta booklets ended up being largely inaccurate.

For those of us who regularly attend fan events, conventions and the like, this will of course be Situation Normal. However, as the Fforganiser responsible for the booklet, I feel compelled to hold up my hand and thank you all for not saying anything about it over the weekend.

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And secondly, a footnote to the Bus Tour. I didn't remember to mention it at the time - these things only ever occur to us afterwards, eh? The whole crazy flow of it must have just carried me along.

However, I know I mentioned Isambard Kingdom Brunel on the third and fourth tours, the ones I compered, and I know I did suggest at least once that Brunel's phenomenal overachievement might just possibly have been compensation for his height. It's well known, of course, that Brunel wore a very tall hat to cover for the fact that he was short. What's not so well known, and what I forgot to say on the tour, is that the hat is the subject of its own legend.

I sense scepticism from some of you. But of course you're sceptical, because you haven't heard about the legend. Not many have. The legend, which is known as The Ballad of Brunel's Hat, is taught in the pubs and working men's clubs of Bristol, a city justly proud of its Brunel connections, and only a few individuals know the Ballad by heart. I myself, a Bristol resident but not a native Bristolian, have learned the Ballad and can recite it at will. Almost as though I were making it up on the spot. It goes something like this:

The Ballad of Brunel's Hat

The clouds did lour and loom upon that dark and gloomy day
For Isambard Brunel refused to work on his railway
But when the workmen brought Brunel his hat, why, straightaway
He sprang forth from his hut, and all around were heard to say...

Bruuuuuuuunel has got his hat on, hip hip hip hooray!
Brunel has got his hat on and he's coming out to play
Now the financial backers of the Great Western Rail Company are happy,
hip hip hip hooray!
Brunel has got his hat on and he's coming out today

Thank you very much.

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work is a vampire that sucks me dry
which is a metaphor
but still the reason I stuck a chair leg through my manager

mrs. SkidMarks & I enjoyed ourselves immensely! (Miss Haversham and Fat Chronoguard from the Fancy dress.) Our picture of President Formby will soon be in a place of honour and we are already prepararing for the next one.

Well done to all the organisers.

We stayed on an extra night, which was perhaps a mistake as I was struck down with some horrible bug and now mrs. SkidMarks seems to be suffering. Plotting a rout back from Swindon to Manchester so that there was the opportunity for a loo break every 20 minutes is not easy!

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My computer beat me at chess, but I won at kickboxing

This is my first post here in the forum, so I don't know who anybody "really" is if you don't (like Wheelbent) mention what costume you wore. It was great to meet so many interesting people who (like me) really enjoy reading Jasper Fforde's funny books.

For those who also went, I wore the Mrs. Next costume with an apron that said "Ask me about my Battenberg." I started a group on Flickr for photos of the event, if you search for the tag "Fforde" you can find all my best ones.

One more great thing about the event was that it gave me an excuse to re-read all the books again. Can't wait for Shades of Grey to come out, it sounds fascinating based on Jasper's reading.

awww thanks. Just so we have a even playing field how would i put a face to your name..?