<insert crazy ramblings here>

Terry Pratchett is doing signings of Nation at the UK's largest and smallest bookshops on Saturday. 9am on Hayling Island, 2pm in London.
I could make either, as I have to be down by Hayling at some point on Saturday anyway, however it's ticketed and sold out, so I may not be able to get one.

Any one out there going to either, and fancy some company in the queue?
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On the same day I also one spare ticket to one of the funniest plays I've ever seen. Noises Off. It's a farce about putting on a farce, and has won all sorts of awards.

The show is on in Brighton at 7:30, the tickets are near Hayling, and I'm in London. So if anyone is near any of those, and fancies following me around the South Coast, give me a shout.
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Finally, there's an absolute ton of events being organised to celebrate 150 years of friendship between Japan and the UK

In particular, I'm off to the Japanese Embassy on 25th September for a lecture on Britain and the 're-opening' of Japan, The Treaty of Yedo of 1858 and the Elgin Mission. Drop them a email using the address at the bottom of that page if you want to reserve a place.

I received an email from my Dad this morning saying that he was sorry to hear about Terry Pratchett's Alzheimer's. Which got me thinking, in a roundabout way, about celebrities.

I'm not generally into celebrity culture. I'm a fan of a few people's work in different ways, and will pick up on information about them, but generally most of the stuff in Heat magazine makes me cringe. Most of the people / things I follow are considered niche enough that there is no-one but themselves doing most of the pushing. This leads to certain sense of closeness as they are putting themselves out there.

I went to see a Britney Spears concert once, and it was little different from a music video. The same audio, some flashy dancing, but nothing particularly special. On the other hand, the only band I consider a must see these days are the Barenaked Ladies. When they come over and tour they'll muck about on stage, improv a song or two, chat about what it's like to over in England, and thank the fans like they mean it. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's easy to lose that connection once you become really big.

Which Terry never did. I've only recently started hanging out at the fringes of Fandom, and I still hear stories about Terry in the old days, and while he might hang around a little less, he's still approachable.

In fact, thinking about it now, meeting Terry was probably my first fannish experience. I went to a book signing of his in the early '90s. He still does them, usually a worldwide thing, with fans queueing out the door. And he uses that time to connect to his fans. He'll answer questions, chat for a second, and smile. Hours into what must be his millionth signed book.

So I'm sorry for Terry. Not just because this puts a limit on his work as an author, or because it's a terrible thing to happen to anyone, but because of the connection that he made me (and paradoxically) and many others feel.