I lost my Mets cap again. This is getting ridiculous. Why can’t I keep track of it? I don’t like wearing it indoors so when I go grocery shopping I put it in my cart. I should put it in my bag, but I thought that even I’m not enough of an idiot to leave my cap in the cart when I unload it. I was wrong. I discovered it was missing after walking just a few blocks. Too late. The cart I had used was gone and nobody had turned it in. I left my name and phone number at the office but they didn’t call me. Somebody found it and kept it. This is why I can’t have nice things.
On the bright side center round steaks were on sale and I bought a couple. It’s not a very good cut of meat but when it’s half-priced I can afford it. I pound the hell out if it with a mallet before cooking. I know how to cook a steak so it came out nicely. It was a treat. I should probably marinate the other one. I have to look into how to do that. I’ve never tried
After dinner I finished watching Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather. Why did nobody tell me these Discworld adaptations had been made? They are wonderful. It’s so nice that Terry Pratchett wrote all these stories just for me but not only are books published but they are adapted into TV movies. Terry saw the world as I see it; that’s rare.
I had forgotten many details of the book. I didn’t even remember that it was a Susan story. Susan is DEATH’s granddaughter. Death adopted a human girl, she married a mortal, and Susan is their child. Susan is a human, for the most part, she’s also a magical person. In Hogfather she is working as a Nanny in what seems like a Victorian society. She is dark Mary Poppins. Hogfather is the Discworld equivalent of Santa Clause. He has the red suit and beard and gives presents and slides down chimneys. He also has tusks and a sleigh pulled by flying pigs.
Most of all there is Susan. Terry Pratchett writes the best heroines. They are not just female protagonists, they are heroic, they are superheroic. They manage to battle mighty villains not by being male superheroes in drag but my being intelligent women. Susan, Granny Weatherwax, and Tiffany Aching are my idea of a legion of superheroes. They are brave, resourceful, and supremely self-confident. “Susan says, Don’t get afraid; get angry!” I put the quote in the right place. That line is said by one of Susan’s charges. I pretty much want to marry all of the Discworld heroines but Granny is not only too old for me but pretty much too old for anyone, Tiffany is a child and I’d be arrested, so I guess that leaves me with Susan. That would make DEATH my Grandfather-in-law. My cap lock is not broken, it’s that DEATH always speaks in capital letters so his name is written in capital letters.
There were two casting bonuses in Hogfather Tony Robinson and David Warner. Tony Robinson you might know as Baldric: a dogbody in Black Adder. By total coincidence I watched episodes of that too. Do you know who David Warner is? He was Alan Rickman before Alan Rickman. When you needed someone to play a creepy character role, you got David Warner. You might remember him as Evil in Time Bandits. In Hogfather he played the leader of the guild of Assassins.
Terry Pratchett always leaves me feeling better. He sees the realities that others don’t. He knows the difference between human convention and what’s real. Hogfather ends with this exchange between Susan and DEATH.
“All right,” said Susan. “I’m not stupid. You’re saying humans need… fantasies to make life bearable.”
REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.“Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—”
YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.
“So we can believe the big ones?”
YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.
“They’re not the same at all!”
YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME…SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
“Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what’s the point—”
MY POINT EXACTLY.
The Discworld books are the opposite of escapism. Discworld is a lens to see reality more clearly. It used active optics to minimize he atmospheric distortion.
I got a busy day in Westchester ahead of me. First therapy in Harrison then Joe Crookston and Anthony da Costa at the Tarrytown Music Hall. I’ll be working merch. It’s going to be a great show. You can buy your tickets, here. If you want to meet at the Oath for poutine before the show let me know. It’s on the same block.
Wise Madness 