Betti and the Discworld Belly Dancers at NADWCon

Here are 3 brief amateur videos taken of the belly dancers at the Discworld Convention banquet. You can see the wonderful green screen photos taken of the some of the 300 guests at that event at the Avalon Arts website.

I had worked with Avalon Arts over the years at our Full Circle Witches' Balls (1) and I was able to recommend them for the Seamstress Guild party, where they did fantastic work. When Margaret Grady, the banquet's decorator and director asked me if they had a green screen, the happy answer was "yes", and you can see how well it all turned out. They also had a booth in the NADWCon dealer's room where they took photos of attendees in costume, including one of the better photos of Terry Pratchett I've seen. If I can get my hands on it, I will post a link to it here.

Sia

Dancers with flames



Here is a short clip with a close up of the flame work:



The infamous "Betti" (AKA Nobby Nobbs), the husband of one of the dancers, joins in ala Terry's book Jingo (wherein Nobby Nobbs, a guardsman behind enemy lines has to dress as a dancing girl and while working "undercover" discovers his feminine side.)



The video taker missed "Betti's" work on at the high table and his clowning around with Terry, which is a shame. Perhaps someone else caught it. I will keep my eye out for more videos.

Sia

Links:

Avalon Arts Studio

Related Articles:

The Witches Ball: When A Party Stands for Pagan Values

The Wiccan Dance Meets Bollywood

Endnotes:

(1) I understand that they took photos for another Witches' Ball in Benecia last March. This is no relation to our Full Circle yearly charity ball and costume event (which ceased production when I moved out of California) but I wish the organizers and the good folks at Avalon Arts all the best.

Seamstress Guild Party: Discworld Costume Contest Awards: NADWCon 2009

Well, that was quite a party...

The winners of the Seamstress Guild Party Stealth Costume Contest were wonderful and talented folks. Here is a Youtube video showing Terry giving out some of the awards (one to a Feegle and one to the Death of Rats AKA the Grim Squeaker). Terry himself gets an award from the guild.

Thank you all for a great evening,

Sia

Arise, Sir Terry

What a lovely way to end the year....My husband came in to say "Terry got knighted" at about the same time I received an email on the same news from my pal Hecate.

Terry writes:

This means that fans, while not calling me Sir, must now refrain from throwing things. Regrettably, no sword is included in the box.

The BBC states that:

Sir Terry , 60, best known for his hugely popular Discworld series of comic fantasy novels, has sold more than 55 million books worldwide.

He said: "There are times when phrases such as 'totally astonished' just don't do the job.

"I am of course delighted and honoured and, needless to say, flabbergasted."

Last year Sir Terry was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease and has since campaigned to raise awareness of the condition.

Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, said: "I would like to congratulate Terry on this fantastic and well-deserved achievement."

"Terry is not only a successful author and well-loved public figure; he is also playing a key role in fighting the misunderstanding and stigma surrounding dementia."

In other Pratchett news, tickets to the North American Discworld Convention continue to sell well despite the bad economy.

Wishing you a Happy New Year. According to Terry, on the Discworld, this coming year will be the Year of the Pensive Hare. (1)



Sia

Photo (and title for this post) snaked from the talanted folks at PJSM Prints - this is the best spot I've found for the latest news.

Endnotes:

I spent some time tracking this down today. Knowing Terry, it comes from several sources, including this Buddhist parable, this sculpture and this music CD.

A children's book of these stories can be found here.

Cartoon: From User Friendly

North American Discworld Convention

Update 7/25/09

As of today over 770 memberships to NADWCon have been sold. We stop selling these when we hit 900. If you want to attend, I suggest buying your ticket soon.

...and don't miss the Seamstress Guild Party held in Terry's honor on Friday night.

NADWCon, Tempe, AZ
September 4-7, 2009

See you there,

Sia

*******

The hotel is booked, official announcements are going out and many of the crucial staff positions are now filled; at last U.S. fans will have their own Discworld Convention, with Himself in attendance.

A good deal of organizing & networking will be done, both at WorldCon, at the UK Discworld Convention, and elsewhere. Pass it on.

The Turtle Moves!

The First North American Discworld Convention will be held

September 4-7, 2009

(Labor Day weekend which includes a Monday holiday) at the Tempe Mission Palms Hotel in downtown Tempe, Arizona (near Phoenix). It will be a celebration of the Discworld universe created by ourGuest of Honor Terry Pratchett. Other guests will include Diane Duane, Peter Morwood, and Esther Friesner, with more to be announced.

During the weekend we will have many panels, presentations, readings and other activities for Discworld fans. We are also planning to have a Maskerade, a Banquet, a Marketplace (dealer's room/art show), a Charity Auction to benefit the Orangutan Foundation, a Hospitality Suite, and other activities for attendees. The North American Discworld Convention is being sponsored by Leprecon, Inc., an Arizona non-profit volunteer corporation.

Our Guest of Honor, Terry Pratchett, is the international best-selling author of the Discworld novel series, which began in 1983 with The Colour of Magic and most recently continued in Making Money. His young adult and children's books, including the Johnny Maxwell series and the Tiffany Aching Discworld YA books, have been well received, and he was awarded the 2001 Carnegie Medal for The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. He also co-wrote Good Omens with Neil Gaiman.

Our additional guests are fans of Terry's work and good friends of Terry's. They are also excellent convention guests in their own right and we're looking forward to having them join us.

Diane Duane and Peter Morwood have written many novels, comics, and screenplays, both singly and as collaborations. They co-wrote The Ring of the Nibelungs miniseries (aired in the U.S. on SciFi as Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King), and each has several new novels and projects in the works.

Esther Friesner is a science fiction and fantasy writer best known for her humorous stories and anthologies (such as Alien Pregnant by Elvis and the Chicks in Chainmail series) and her fantasy novel series (Majyk, Demons, New York by Knight, and Gnome Man's Land). She's recently embarked on a young adult series featuring a young Helen of Troy with Nobody's Princess and the upcoming Nobody's Prize.

We will be hosting other guests with connections to Terry and Discworld in addition to those above and will announce them as they are confirmed.

The convention will run from early afternoon on Friday, September 4th to late afternoon on Monday, September 7th. There may be some limited activities available for pre-registered members on Thursday night, September 3rd, depending on the travel schedule of our guests.

Tentative plans for major events include a special event on Friday night, the Maskerade on Saturday night, and a Banquet in the early evening on Sunday.

We will have special panels with our guests including a spotlight talk/interview with Terry Pratchett, probably on Saturday afternoon. Outside of the major panels and events we plan to have more discussion panels, presentations, readings, demonstrations, games, and other activities that will make this a fun and memorable weekend for
everyone.

The Charity Auction will benefit Terry Pratchett's favorite charity, the Orangutan Foundation, and will likely be held on Sunday afternoon. There may be some additional fund-raising activities during the weekend as well.

Our venue is the Tempe Mission Palms Hotel in Tempe, Arizona. Leprecon, Inc. has recently hosted the 2004 World Fantasy Convention and the 2006 Nebula Awards weekend at the Tempe Mission Palms and it has received acclaim from fans and pros at those events. The hotel is located in the heart of downtown Tempe with a varied selection of restaurants, shopping and nightlife nearby.

It is a short distance from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and is accessible via the Phoenix Light Rail system, which will be opening in late 2008. Our room rates are US $119 per night S/D, US $129 T, and US $139 Q with a US $9.75 per night hospitality fee that includes airport shuttle, valet and self parking, internet access, a fitness center, and more. The online booking code and the reservation phone number will soon be available on our website.

The initial membership rate will be US $60 for a full weekend membership, or US $30 for a supporting membership. Children 6-11 will pay US $30 with kids 5 and under free with an adult membership. These rates will be in effect until March 31, 2008. This rate includes all regular convention events, panels and presentations.

The Banquet and a possible VIP event/charityevent will cost extra and will be announced when details are finalized. Payments can be made via the mail or online via Paypal. Full details are on our website. We are planning to cap membership in the 900 attendee range to ensure that all attendees will be able to be seated at the major functions in our ballroom.

For those wanting to mix in some tourism around the convention we will be looking into making arrangements with local touring companies for trips before and/or after the convention with the possibility for some special excursions being arranged for attendees. Keep an eye on our website for details.

We're looking forward to hosting a fun weekend for all of our attendees and our guests. Please be sure to visit our website at [link] and join in the discussions on our message board and livejournal community.

Lee Whiteside
2009 North American Discworld Chair

**************************

See you there :-)

Sia

Links:

The Seamstress Guild
A group planning and hosting a costume event and party in Terry's honor at the U.S. convention.

The Discworld Reading Guide

Related Articles:

Nation by Terry Pratchett

Latest Terry Pratchett & Discworld News

Image: The Great A'Tuin by John Stephen Player

North American Discworld Convention

It's Official: The first ever North American Discworld Convention will take place over Labor Day Weekend in 2009 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Seamstress Guild - of which I am one humble, bustier wearing member - has been asked by Himself to host another of our notorious Seamstress Guild parties at this event. We said "Yes!" so fast, it blew his hat off.

As of this writing, Terry plans to attend both the Discworld Convention in England in 2008, (1) and this new one in the U.S. in 2009. (Update on Terry's Health)

Preparations for food, costuming, decorations, et al are underway at the Guild Yahoo site and through the various Convention Committees. (If you've even been involved in a large convention, you'll know why it takes two years to plan. I know several of the the folks who are organizing this one. They are experienced, organized, creative folks who will do a very good job). Meanwhile, my friends and I plan to use this opportunity to tour the American Southwest. We will spend that weekend in Phoenix attending the convention, and enjoying the great music clubs in that city. My husband and I plan to take vacation time for this trip, overall, assuming our work allows for this. I've always wanted to see the high desert in Arizona, and we may try for visits to Sedona and Taos, as well. Any place that has Southwestern cuisine, art and music, not to mention so many beautiful gardens and sacred, natural places, is my idea of a good time. As much as I love the Pacific Northwest, it will be good to walk through fields of sage and manzanita again. I want to hear doves and mockingbirds sing, and breath in the heady scent of pine trees. I want to watch the sunrise over Red Rock.

I may organize a Pagan meet at this Con. Goddess knows, there are enough Pagan Pratchett fans...it could be fun.

Sia

Links:

For more on the Guild's Background in the Discworld Novels, go here.

Xcentricities
I love these corset makers. They were a strong supporter of our Witches Ball for many years, and can often be seen at PantheaCon.

Related Articles:

Pratchet and the Pagans

EndNotes:

(1) England has long had a wonderful Discworld Convention....b#$#@ds!