Friday, October 10, 2008

Lost Afternoon

I hope this isn't too morbid, but a lot of the characters in Nation question why fate or the gods have inflicted various trials on them. Is this a question that's on your mind these days?
Question from Kelli May to Terry Pratchett, at Elysian Isle

There ought to be software that kicks in around 11.30 at night, and, filling the screen with a negatory wagging finger, or a shy flutter of a fan, refuses to allow you to 'fix' your computer. The spiral of doom begins with not being able to see the Daily Show online any more, then moves to 'sorting out' my flash drive, a process so ineptly handled I shall draw a veil, moving swiftly along to a system recovery which, in turn, did 'something' to Second Life... long short, I lost a lot of time and when I finally got inworld it was too late to make it onto Elysian Isle for the Terry Pratchett Q&A yesterday evening.

(p)Terry - or, as he is officially known in SL, Terrypratchett Morpork, discussed with fans his books, particularly the latest one, Nation, in the delightful Rose Garden on Elysian Isle. I was able to join my fellow latecomers on the nearby Nation Island, suspiciously Lost-looking, as you can see. Much of the disc- and undisc-ish banter was transmitted through group chat, which we could have followed from anywhere in the metaverse, and yet such is the tenderness of the human spirit that we all stood around on the sand bar at the southwesternmost point of the island - the closest we could get to sim Elysian Isle - to read it. And attempt a tp every few minutes too, I suppose. Confession time, I'm not an avid fan and so gems along the lines of:
He: "I would like to be like Sam Vimes, but deep in my heart I know I am Rincewind."

She: "Oh, dear, aren't we all."
Another she: "LOL"
were rather lost on me. But I bet you get the joke! For a log of all the chat, courtesy of SignpostMarv Martin, click here. To see the Flickr pool of pictures click here. I may not have been able to set my virtual eyes on the Great Man, but the outing was far from wasted; I discovered the hitherto unknown fact that my AO has one of the worst ground-sits in the history of AOs, and a nice man dressed as a pirate and sitting on the beach in a dentist's chair gave me a parrot. It's a 'Nation parrot', it says "Show us your drawers". I don't know if that's a direct quote from the novel, or just a general invitation, you may have to buy the book to find out.


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