Jem's New Blog

[El_Mayonnaise]

I believe it's Mort by Terry Pratchett.










Trollin'

[Againesis]

I believe it's Mort by Terry Pratchett.Trollin'

Errr - that doesn't ring any bells.  I'm sure I hadn't heard of the author and would've remembered if it'd been Pratchett.  There was a pdf of a magazine article in one of the old toys download areas once but I can't now find it.  The article had loads of stuff about Jem's time at the BBC etc. and then went on about the Milliontown inspiration.  Bugger...where did I put it....?

[El_Mayonnaise]

My wORm caThedral
All earthy for your infestation
These little workers build Me an empire
YOuR loyalTy I burrowed out Mined by erOsion
My little kingdom Ready for me now
These careful times
The residue of past digestion
Get what you can now
Good staff are hard to find
My bitter name
The full effect Of time and tension
You utteR duTy and fight to stay the same

And that's just in the first verses!

[owen]

My wORm caThedral
All earthy for your infestation
These little workers build Me an empire
YOuR loyalTy I burrowed out Mined by erOsion
My little kingdom Ready for me now
These careful times
The residue of past digestion
Get what you can now
Good staff are hard to find
My bitter name
The full effect Of time and tension
You utteR duTy and fight to stay the same

And that's just in the first verses!

 :lol:

[Mooncat]

As a big Pratchett fan, although Mort is indeed about Death's apprentice, it was not the MIlliontown inspiration - according to the article and several pancient threads on here (or previous boards).
I've got the book at home, but can't for the life of me recall the name or author :x

[El_Mayonnaise]

I think my Friday morning joke was lost on a few of the forum :lol:

I know full well Milliontown isn't based on Mort (even though its a jolly good fun book and should have it's own song)


No idea how Jem incorporated lines 7-48 of Dante's Inferno into Hyperventilate though.

[Mooncat]

FOUND IT!!!!!!!

Thanks to my recent PC Crash my old Frost* goodies are currently on my portable drive, which includes the aforementioned interview.
The book that MIlliontown is apparently loosely based on is...............................

The Apprentice by Gordon Houghton - where the unamed lead character is given the chance to become Death's apprentice for a week and then either take on the position permanently or die again.

(Reminds me, I must get around to reading it properly at some point)

[Againesis]

'Doh!  That's the one.  Nice one Mooncat.  And sorry Mayo - sense of humour bypass on a Friday morning.

[Pedro]

Well played chaps

[RacingHippo]

I'm blowed if I can remember where I read this, but that section - My work cathedral etc - is called "Saltaire" and was (at least partly) inspired by a documentary that Our Jem saw about Sir Titus Salt, founder of Salt's Mill and the surrounding village, Saltaire (so called because it sits astride the river Aire).

Lovely place, not far from here. Pygmy Hippo has his piano lessons there.

"My bitter name" refers to Sir Salt, y'see.
If I recall correctly, he wandered off into a daydream - as his his wont - based on the premise that Sir T wasn't as benevolent as he seemed and all the while was grooming these workers for some nefarious porpoise.....

I think.

Then again, I could have just dreamed the whole thing up myself after eating too much cheese.
But I do end up singing Milliontown every time I visit Saltaire. Which is at least once a week (cf piano practice).

[Mooncat]

Nope RH, you are correct, I too recall such a tale - the interview does refer to 'The Apprentice''s influence as being 'loose'. Probably find that different things influenced different parts of the songs, and then something else tied them all together, thematically speaking!

[E.S.]

Then again, I could have just dreamed the whole thing up myself after eating too much cheese.

These things do happen at times.  :lol:

[ChrisX]

[D S]

That's the one.  Got it via an Amazon seller for £1!  Strange little book but oddly compelling.  However, if you're expecting it to reflect the lyrics and narrative in Milliontown, you'll probably be disappointed.

[Mooncat]

That's the one - although can't help but think Alan Sugar has let himself go a bit on the cover photo :lol: