Tales from the Drum

We consider two very different priests, with superficially similar agendas this time. We’re talking about Omnia and Djelibeybi. The show contains spoilers for both Small Gods and Pyramids. 

The second episode of the Portal’s Pratchett Passages is out. Next Friday is the Portal’s first birthday, so I will be publishing a special birthday/anniversary episode in addition to next Friday’s regular episode. 

As of next Friday I will declare the anagram contest officially defunct. The two of you who have entered so far will get that command-performance bonus episodes I promised the winner at the start of the season. If by chance you would still like to enter, you can find the details at  https://mindkindle.net/season-five-contest-get-home/

I want to hear your Covid-19 stories. Email them to me at  [email protected].

You may find the show’s Discord server, Friends of the Discworld Portal, at https://discord.gg/SXp5K9r.  

The show’s bonus episodes are now available for the ridiculously low price of $5 apiece. You can find the back catalog at https://mindkindle.net/back-catalog-of-bonus-episodes/ or on the Discord server. 

I will continue producing as much content as possible DC (During Coronavirus.) To help with this, please consider supporting the show by becoming a Patreon subscriber at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=21210045&fan_landing=true

One-time contributions (via PayPal to [email protected]) are also welcome and greatly appreciated.  

Stay Calm

Be Kind

Have Hope

Love Lots

Read a Pratchett

Stay Well 

As always, no cats, turtles, camels or other superior beings were harmed in the making of this episode. 

GNU Terry Pratchett

A passage from Small Gods, and another from Pyramids. 

Please consider stopping by the Portal’s Patreon page and helping to keep these episodes coming. https://www.patreon.com/user?u=21210045&fan_landing=true

I highly recommend that you check out the TED Connects: Community and Hope series. It will give you hope and make you feel better. I especially recommend that you watch the first show, as well as the one featuring Elizabeth Gilbert.

https://www.ted.com/about/programs-initiatives/ted-connects-community-hope

Be Kind

Have Hope

Love Lots

Stay Well

And let me hear from you at [email protected]. 

Be Kind

Have Hope

Love Lots

Stay Well

And let me hear from you, at [email protected]!

 GNU Terry Pratchett
The Turtle Moves 

Fools, Clowns, and Mimes…. Because someone has to be the butt of the world.

Watch for the Portal’s Pratchett Passages—a new show which is intended to help us all keep calm in this troubled time, as seen in the meme Keep Calm and Read Pratchett. PPP will present Pratchett passages for your edification, enjoyment and amusement. You can discuss the passages presented on the Portal’s Discord server, and emails about them (or anything else) are always welcome at [email protected].

https://i.redd.it/ujkujvdl3cq41.jpg 

You may find details about this season’s contest at  https://mindkindle.net/season-five-contest-get-home/, or on the show’s Discord server, Friends of the Discworld Portal, at https://discord.gg/SXp5K9r.  The deadline for contest entries has been extended to April 17th.

The show’s bonus episodes are now available for the ridiculously low price of $5 apiece. You can find the back catalog at https://mindkindle.net/back-catalog-of-bonus-episodes/ or on the Discord server. 

Please consider supporting the show by becoming a Patreon subscriber at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=21210045. 

Be Kind

Have Hope

Love Lots

Stay Well 

As always, no cats, turtles, camels or other superior beings were harmed in the making of this episode. 

GNU Terry Pratchett

The Turtle Moves 

Before talking about the Disc, this week I took a few minutes to talk about the Black Swan event we are all experiencing. It’s a time of reckoning, and we have to acknowledge that. I couldn’t ignore it this week, anyway, and so I devoted a few minutes to it. Btw, my wife and I were talking about the astonishing benefits to the environment the pandemic is bringing about, and she said, “Yeah, the planet is fixing itself.” It is indeed, and there’s a profound poetic justice there. 

As for our trip through the Portal, we consider the grags, and especially Ardent, and their impassioned attempts to throw a spanner into the gears of progress in the name of preserving “true dwarfishness,” which of course they get to define. 

Moreover, we look at the fact that the latter books in the series were the culmination of Sir Terry’s skill as a social critic (and not just a satirist, let alone a “humorous fantasy writer.”) He takes on governmental institutions, banks and financing, racism and slavery, terrorism, and technological “progress,” with a skill that makes the books as entertaining as ever, but which also makes the thoughtful reader say wow, did he nail that. 

You may find details about this season’s contest at  https://mindkindle.net/season-five-contest-get-home/, or on the show’s Discord server, Friends of the Discworld Portal, at https://discord.gg/SXp5K9r.  

The show’s bonus episodes are now available for the ridiculously low price of $5 apiece. You can find the back catalog at https://mindkindle.net/back-catalog-of-bonus-episodes/ or on the Discord server. 

Please consider supporting the show by becoming a Patreon subscriber at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=21210045. 

As always no cats, turtles, or other superior beings were harmed in the making of this episode. 

The Turtle Moves 

We move from the criminal sublimity of Gilt to the ridiculous psychosis of Lavish this week, after a stop at Lady Margolotta’s castle for a chat and a cup of…. tea.

Be patient, smart and sensible out there, stay home unless you have to go somewhere, and figure out creative ways to commit those random acts of kindness, and Wash Your Hands! This virus is for real, and it can kill you. 

You may find details about this season’s contest at  https://mindkindle.net/season-five-contest-get-home/, or on the show’s Discord server, Friends of the Discworld Portal, at https://discord.gg/SXp5K9r.  

The show’s bonus episodes are now available for the ridiculously low price of $5 apiece. You can find the back catalog at https://mindkindle.net/back-catalog-of-bonus-episodes/ or on the Discord server. 

Please consider supporting the show by becoming a Patreon subscriber at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=21210045. 

You can reach me at randy@,mindkindle.net. As always no cats, turtles, or other superior beings were harmed in the making of this episode. 

The Turtle Moves 

In this case, not readin' (w)ritin' and 'rithmatic, but some readings and random recollections to bring, I hope, a smile to your face. Right now it's important for all of us not to forget how to smile.

This week we begin to consider villainy—with a look at the etymological definition of the word. (Don’t worry, it won’t hurt a bit.) We then proceed to look at the villain of Going Postal, Reacher Gilt, and his relationship (including a great degree of similarity) with the book’s protagonist, Moist Von Lipwig.

You may find details about this season’s contest at  https://mindkindle.net/season-five-contest-get-home/, or on the show’s Discord server, Friends of the Discworld Portal, at https://discord.gg/SXp5K9r.  

The show’s bonus episodes are now available for the ridiculously low price of $5 apiece. You can find the back catalog at https://mindkindle.net/back-catalog-of-bonus-episodes/ or on the Discord server. 

Please consider supporting the show by becoming a Patreon subscriber at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=21210045. 

Yesterday, 12 March 2020, was the fifth anniversary of Sir Terry Pratchett’s Return to Sender. 

GNU Terry Pratchett

The Turtle Moves 

Actually this episode is mostly Mrs. Whitlow. She deigned to be the Portal’s first special guest. This was made possible by Ponder Stibbon’s discovery of a method for sending individuals from the Disc to the Roundworld—at least as far as the Portal’s recording studio.

I asked Mrs. Whitlow to join me since a lot of the show this week was by necessity housekeeping information about season 5. 

To summarize: There is now a fifth Patreon tier available—that of the $20 per month subscriber. I’ve adjusted the benefits for each tier to reflect this. I also did this to make it possible for me to do four (longish) episodes per month, instead of seven shorter ones. 

Each weekly episode will be presented in two parts. Part 1 will be published as usual, and will be available to anyone. Part 2, the extended version of the episode, will only be available to Patreon subscribers, and to non-subscribers who are interested in shelling out $5 for it. (Please note that the "extended episode" will not necessarily be on the same topic as the regular episode.) 

The benefits will now work as follows:

$1 Patron—chance of receiving one extended episode per month.

$5 Patron—one extended episode per month

$10 Patron—two extended episodes per month

$15 Patron—three extended episodes per month

$20 Patron—four extended episodes per month

Extended episodes, and the back catalog of bonus episodes, will be available for purchase by non-Patreon subscribers for $5 each. A list of previous bonus episodes may be found on the website at https://mindkindle.net/back-catalog-of-bonus-episodes/, or on the Discord server. 

The clacks special episode will henceforth be available to all first-time emailers.

All this will streamline the production process, and allow me to reduce the number of shows I have to do a month. If you have any questions about all of this send them to me at [email protected].

As always, this show is dedicated to the memory of Sir Terry Pratchett—il miglior fabbro.

The Turtle Moves 

All good things must come to an end, including season 4 of the Portal, but not before we take another look at the laws and ordinances of Ankh Morpork, especially as they apply to the trade in illegal drugs for trolls. 

I also lay out my three options for season 5, which are having more success in getting you the listener to support the show financially, beginning to accept advertising through the emerging mechanism of podcast pools for advertising, or going to 2 episodes a month. It would also be possible to combine #1 and #2, in order to avoid #3. Whatever happens, bonus episodes for Patreon subscribers will not be affected.

I lay out the whys and wherefores in this episode, so here I will just remind you that one-time donations to the show via PayPal, at [email protected] are much appreciated. The show’s Patreon page, where you can become a subscriber, is at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=21210045. 

You can find the Portal blog, Gnomic Musings, at https://mindkindle.net/gnomic-musings-the-discworld-portal-blog/.

Remember, only you can perform Random Acts of Kindness. As always, this episode is dedicated to the memory of Sir Terry Pratchett, OBE. Chelonian mobile.