some of the things I'll miss

Dear Neil,
I thought you might be interested to know that tickets for The Wolves in the Walls are now available to the general public. The show runs from October 5 to October 21 at the family-oriented New Victory Theater in NYC.
The Direct link: http://www.newvictory.org/show.m?showID=1028522
The Make-them-work-for-it link: http://www.newvictory.org
Best Regards,

T.R.

Hurrah. I'm not yet sure if I'll be there -- I'll only just have got back from the massive traveling-everywhere-trip to China, Italy, Sweden, Japan, and the UK, and there's a point where it's nicer to be home than in New York, even if it is New York. But Wolves is a wonderful show. And I really do want to see what they've done to The Wolves In the Walls during the recent rehearsals. (I believe this version will be closer to the one that premiered in Glasgow in the Spring (as discussed here) than the one that toured in the Autumn.)

...

Let's see -- a few people wrote to ask why I hadn't announced here that Hard Candy director David Slade was going to be directing Neverwhere, as widely reported on the web. For example...

Hi Neil,
Mania is reporting that Neverwhere is going to get the big screen treatment with director David Slade and your script from 2000.
http://www.mania.com/55713.html#comments
I was surprised, because I hadn't heard anything about this here but reading it makes me very excited! It's not too early for me to get excited about this, is it?

Dave

Yes, it is a bit early I'm afraid.

It's my fault; I'd mentioned to the journalist from MTV, after the filmed interview was over, that Lisa Henson and I would be seeing David Slade, who loves Neverwhere, at Comic-Con, but I'd assumed that bit of the conversation was off-the-record. And we did see him, and he's enthusiastic, and so are we, but nothing's set and signed yet, so it isn't news. (And this will, I suppose, remind me to say less when the cameras aren't rolling.)

And on the subject of things that aren't news, I was fascinated today by a new definition of "reportedly", which is apparently now a synonym for "we just made this up". As in several newsfeeds suggesting that Stardust's budget "reportedly ballooned to $200 million". (The budget was $70 million, and that, I'm afraid, was that; Matthew Vaughn's MARV films put in half, Paramount put in half. If it'd ballooned even to an extra million, we'd have had a Lion and Unicorn battle.) (Here's an article on the Visual Effects in Stardust for the curious.)

The curious can keep track of Stardust's takings around the world over at http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=stardust.htm

(My favourite strange Stardust story was the journalist interviewing me in the UK a few months ago who wanted confirmation on the rumour he'd heard that Matthew Vaughn had proved so willful that he'd been quietly removed toward the end of shooting and that "the producers" took over directing. Even after I pointed out that the producers on the film were, in order of power, Matthew Vaughn, rather distantly followed by Lorenzo Di Bonaventura -- who was mostly off in the US dealing with Transformers stuff, and who doesn't direct -- Michael Dreyer -- who was rather busy producing Stardust -- and, er, me, and I wasn't going to try and fire Matthew and direct Stardust, not for all the little plastic toys in China -- and this was obvious nonsense, he still gave me the unconvinced Where's There's Smoke look, because a friend of a friend had told him...)

My favourite movie discovered today is an animation of the Bayeux tapestry -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDaB-NNyM8o

There are review sites I've never dreamed existed. STARDUST was rated Very Offensive at the Christian Spotlight website, while the Catholic Bishops Conference seem to find it less so (while warning of both implied premarital sex and a character born out of wedlock as a result of said implied premarital sex).

I wanted to let you know that your fish probably did not die of lack of oxygen during the thunderstorm. Occasionally, when there’s a power outage due to a storm, you get a little bit of a surge, which, if it gets into the filter, can cause an electrical jolt into the water of your fish tank. You may want to unplug it during future storms- I reasonably healthy goldfish wont die from lack of filter or bubbler in one day- especially if you put some fresh water in, and make sure they don’t get too hot.

Sorry for your loss,

Teri

That's good to know. We buried them deep in the pumpkin patch.

Hello, Mr. Gaiman,
Regarding the Coraline musical, do you know if Mr. Merritt intends to release it as a CD? It's extremely unlikely that I'll be able to get to go see it live, but I am a huge fan of both of you, and would love to be able to hear the musical, even if I can't witness the spectacle for myself.
Thank you!

Down the line, I hope so, yes. It's a bit early to say. I'm not completely sure where it will premiere, but I'd love to hear an original cast album...

...

There are now ripe tomatoes, although I'll be in China when we get that magical surplus of tomatoes that leads to Salsa making day. I'll miss the grapes ripening on the trellis, and the apples on the tree. And it's the first decent grape crop we've ever had.

At least I'll have the Birdchick (and Occasionally-Beeing Bill) to keep me informed on Honey, bees and birds and suchlike. (Sharon's latest post about birding out here is at http://www.birdchick.com/2007/08/benefits-of-dead-tree.html)

I'll also miss my family and I'll definitely miss my dog (I know I ought to miss the cats, but they never seem to mind me leaving). I won't miss Holly as much though, because by the time I wash up in the UK she will have moved there for good, and she probably will be looking for a job and a flat, and a father who can be hit up for a meal will definitely be a good thing.

Labels: bayeux tapestry, dead fish, missing the tomatoes, more Stardust mostly, news that isn't, wolves in the walls