Hogfather (2)

This story is actually an exploration of the theme of human beliefs. But because (1) I read it a really long time ago, (2) I am not doing a PhD on Pratchett's work (yes! there are people doing it!) and (3) I cannot put my thoughts (more like feelings) into a coherent tangible paragraph, I will not try and discuss the story in any intelligent manner here.

The advances of technology, namely YouTube, are to be applauded at this point. I found most of the 4-hour show in 20 10-minute parts online and spent much of yesterday afternoon stuck in front of my computer. (Hey, I read immuno while the parts were loading ok.) Only 17 parts worked properly, so I had 170 minutes of the film in all.

It was great! Every minute of it. The computer graphics were excellent and the characters were really close to what I had imagined them to be like. I thought Susan was very well portrayed: dignified and no-nonsense. I didn't like Teatime very much though. Death was well done, but I had always thought his voice was deeper and more ominous. He SPEAKS LIKE THIS IN PRINT, see. I always feel a little bit sad for Death; he tries so hard to understand humans but he just doesn't get things. And so he is almost always very lonely.

It was mentioned that if this TV release were a success, there will be other adaptations of Pratchett's work. I am really looking forward to those! There would definitely be comparisons to Harry Potter and LOTR then, but I feel that Pratchett is in a totally different genre. The only similarity is that it's all fantasy. Pratchett's got humour and there is (most of the time) an underlying message in his stories.

Ok, rather than wasting time convincing you with my very bland writing, why don't you just pop by there nearest library or bookstore. I love all the Death stories and I like the Watch very much too. The wizards are definitely entertaining but I don't enjoy the witches at all. Take your pick!

Hogfather (1)

By a grand stroke of serendipity, I found out that Sky One, a TV channel in the UK made a film based on Terry Pratchett's "Hogfather".



AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! TERRY! PRATCHETT! HOGFATHER!



Ok, that was an understatement of how excited I was. I was first clued in that there was a film adaptation when I followed a link to the website of Paul Kidby, official illustrator for Pratchett. First I saw the 2007 calendar featuring the (human) cast and then I found the illustrated screenplay.

So I googled around and discovered that Sky One made the 2-part film for Christmas release last year. (Sidetrack: how come our TV stations don't make quality things like this? I think I've seen as many CNY variety shows as I am old.)

Briefly, the Father Christmas figure of Discworld, Hogfather, goes missing on the eve of Hogswatch. If he isn't found by daybreak, it would result in the end of the world. In order that things may be set right, Death (my favourite character in the series) takes his place to distribute presents to children around the world while his granddaughter, Susan tries to find out what happened.

New Year Festivities

At Cafe Iguana at Clarke Quay last night.

We sat through a brief drizzle at our al fresco table holding up our own umbrellas with the vain hope that we might see the fireworks performance over at the Esplanade area at midnight. And the promise of free tequila shots helped a little. Heh. Turned out that our view was blocked by some buildings ahead and we only managed to see the light, some smoke and some sparks from the highest of the pyrotechnics.

Still it was fun: Dinner was decent with the grilled prawns very nicely done and we got our drinks at half price cos it was happy hour; the music was good (not too loud cos we sat outside) and there weren't anyone smoking near us. It got a bit messy at midnight from the confetti and snow sprays but hey, it's New Year!