I also helped launch Lucy Sussex's book, A Tour Guide to Utopia, helped judge a costume ball, grabbed a hasty lunch with the local chapter of the Thingies (it's an alt.fan.neil-gaiman thing that started in Australia) and signed, signed, signed.
Over at the Dreaming -- www.holycow.com/dreaming -- Lucy Anne continues to do sterling work gathering articles together from all over the world, including a bunch of recent ones from Singapore and the Philippines. (The one that puzzled me most was the one that reveals I'm only 172 cm tall, which left me rather puzzled as I was 179 cm tall the last time anyone checked, and honestly, it's quite worrying to learn that somewhere between America and Singapore you've shrunk almost 3 inches. If I continue to shrink at this rate I'll be hobbit-sized by the Anansi Boys tour, and will need to be propped up on piles of phone books in order to sign.)
And this came in
Hi Neil, I saw that you were having problems with Xplay and itunes 4.9. I am just writing to let you know that KennettNet Software has a nice application called PodUtil. Their newest version (2.7.1) is compatible with itunes 4.9 and runs on both Machintosh and Windows platforms. It allows you download your music catalogue from your ipod to your PC. Also, as a side note, I have read practically everything you have written and consider it utterly fantastic, and commend you for being a modern master. I literally can't wait for Anansi Boys!-Justin
followed by
I just sent a messgae regarding XPlay and Podutil. I suppose a link would probably be helpful. The download section for Podutil can be found at http://www.kennettnet.co.uk/software/download.php .-Justin
Which turned out to be a lovely little piece of software and solved my problem completely. (It's particularly galling when the thing you want to get off your iPod but can't get at is something you've written yourself.)