ChocolateRob

OK I've just posted my video of the signing on Youtube. As I mentioned though it cuts out before the end of the Jasnah reading (lack of memory).

Just got back. There were questions that I was kicking myself for not asking during the signing section (was Kaladin given a spanreed before he left / the above question about prologue and interlude characters) but I did get to ask the Polly Oliver question during the Q&A and I won a RAFO card thanks to Weiry's question - What does the Stormfather think of Cultivation? - He thinks the same as Honor thinks. - Enough of a RAFO answer to merit a card (which I'm keeping, thanks Weiry).

I stood at the back and recorded the whole thing on my Ipod so I'll post the (shakey, my arms were so tired) video later, except of course the memory got full about a minute and a half before he finished reading the Jasnah Shadesmar chapter at the very end. I planned to record the signing section on audio only but obviously couldn't once the memory was full.

There were three readings, I got all of the first two and most of the last. The first was from Shadows of Self, the next Wax and Wayne book (I'd heard it before). The second was part of a story wherein people get superpowers from being ill (not heard a reading before but had heard of the concept), we voted on whether to hear that one or a section from Alcatraz 5 (I'd have been happy with either). The last was a choice between Kaladin's chapter or Jasnah's which was very close but went to Jasnah but as I've said I could not get it all.

Until later

I'm more curious for who will get the prologue chapter and who will be the main interlude character in book three, unless someone here can tell me?

I'm at the Manchester signing in a few hours, I intend to try and record video on my Ipod but we'll see how feasible that is. I'm at least likely to have a very tired arm and skakey footage. I've no deep Cosmere questions to ask but I am curious to know if there are any 'Sweet Polly Olivers' in the Alethi armies (maybe Tarah).

Wear a Cryptic on your face and tell everyone you're cosplaying as Rorschach.

Create chalklings in the shape of letters then send them up the side of buildings with the message 'A long time ago in a Cosmere far far away...'

Hmmm, Kal tells us how the Everstorm has disrupted the Weeping by pushing the clouds away but every other Weeping has a Highstorm in the middle of it. Should the Highstorm not have the same effect as the Everstorm? It is still around the middle of the Weeping so apart from the direction would the results on the current weather patterns be that unfamiliar?

(Obviously the Everstorm is destroying things in its path but its effect on the weather itself is what I'm enquiring about.)

The way he begins the video reminds me of when he was in Manchester for the Alloy of Law tour in 2011. He read the start of Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell that he had 'just written' on the plane over (for the Dangerous Women anthology). I waited and waited for that anthology to come out but never heard a peep from it, finally it arrived last November. I'm betting the wait is a lot easier when GRRMartin is not involved.

EDIT

So now that the Stones Unhallowed previews have begun does it get its own section underneath WoR? Plenty to speculate about in that reading...

A month or two ago I saw an advert for Skittles on TV which had two distinct effects on me. You've probably seen it, the Midas themed one where the guy is depressed that he can't touch anything without turning them into skittles. He tries to answer the phone and it turns into a pile of skittles, he gets frustrated and touches his desk; it collapses into a cascade of coloured candy.

First and most obviously it reminded me how much I love skittles, they're yummy. Normally I skip or mute all adverts but this one actually got to me. I've tasted many a rainbow in recent weeks (you know, the skittley type, not the other type... not that there's anything wrong with... you know what, never mind).

Secondly though I was thinking 'So that's what its like to fall into Shadesmar'. Everything around you losing it's form as it collapses into a sea of tiny beads. Except of course a wee bit more colourful.

So now I challenge you all to read the parts of WoR & WoK where Shallan or Jasnah find themselves in Shadesmar without thinking of magical skittles, cause I can't anymore.

I can't say I'd mind drowning in Skittle Shadesmar all that much. Now if you'll excuse me I need to go to the corner shop for something.

Has anyone here read Douglas Adam's - Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - that was based on a Doctor Who idea, Reg was supposedly a very old Timelord with a failing memory and his apartment was a Tardis.

The one episode that gets mentioned a lot for new people to try out is Blink from the 10th Doctor; David Tennant, and was written by the current show-runner before he rose to that position.

There are two reasons why it is perfect for beginners.

 The first is that you do not need to know anything about the show to understand it. The Doctor himself only has a few quick scenes and the story is written from the perspective of an ordinary young woman, called Sally, having a very strange day.

She is exploring an old abandoned house in London at night when she sees a bit of writing peeking out from behind some peeling wallpaper. As she peels the old  paper away she uncovers a message bit by bit which reads - Beware The Weeping Angels Oh, and Duck, No Really Duck Sally Sparrow   DUCK NOW! - She ducks just as a rock smashes through the window and flies through where her head was only moments before. When she looks out the window there is no-one around, only a stone statue of an angel covering its eyes. Turning back to the wall she pulls more paper away to see the last of the message 'Love from the Doctor 1969'.

The episode follows this character as she works her way through this tense and creepy mystery with no knowledge of who this 'Doctor' is.

 The second reason is just that it is simply an excellent piece of entertainment from mysterious beginning to paranoia fueled ending. I cannot recommend it enough.

Well the way I'm sitting currently the nearest 'book' to me is The Complete Calvin and Hobbes the first sentence is "I'm home from school" not very appropriate these days but the first two panels from a C&H sunday strip are always throwaways so I'll have to accept -

"AAAAGH TIGER ATTACK!"

OK so the nearest actual book is The Abhorsen Chronicles but the line - The snow was falling steadily, but it was only a light fall and the cover was patchy. - is pretty dull compared to the above.

My kindle is closer than both of these books so if I use the 45th page of the currently open book I get - "I didn't want to have a care with it and I didn't want to be told I was a child." - from Naamah's Kiss. I think I'm happy enough to be told I'm being a child so I'll have to go with tiger attack.

Leras as the mist spirit?

Maeve...

What? Maybe she got lost.

Aon AON.

Edit - Rats! should have refreshed sooner.

You got it! Next question to the Lifeless squirrel commander, jasonpenguin

That would quite definitely give the game away.

getting there...

Much closer, but not for the reason you think...

I can't decide whether I've made a cryptic question or just a badly punny one.

Nope and nope. The key is the first word.

It's not an ability or power.

Nope, wrong track entirely.

Like a worn out loop in a rope I'm afraid not

If Swimmingly is not posting a question I'll try one. (It's easier waiting for the game to stall to ask a question than it is to actually be able to answer one first.) So how's this -

Initially useful for cooking.

I don't know about actors but how about Monty Oum as fight scene director...