Klatchian Coffee/Coffee Klatch

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Tonyblack

Super Moderator
City Watch
Jul 25, 2008
31,088
3,650
Cardiff, Wales
#1
Sorry if this has been discussed before - but I recently came across the term "Coffee Klatch", a phrase I didn't think I'd heard before. Apparently the term “coffee klatch” comes from the German word, “kaffeeklatsch,” which translates to coffee (kaffee) + gossip (klatsch). It refers to a group of friends getting together over a cup of coffee, usually at someone's house.

We know that Discworld's Klatch is famous for its coffee and I have to wonder, presume that Sir Terry's writing is superbly clever rather than coincidental.

Thoughts?
 

RathDarkblade

Moderator
City Watch
Mar 24, 2015
18,143
3,400
48
Melbourne, Victoria
#5
Oh yes! I thought I'd heard the term kaffeklatsch before, and it's probably because of Ausdwcon that I heard of it. ;)

I've never been to a convention, but I've met Rob Wilkins once or twice and saw Terry in a couple of signings. What kind of guests do you have, Molokov? *curious*
 
#7
Trying to avoid hijacking this thread too much:


I've never been to a convention, but I've met Rob Wilkins once or twice and saw Terry in a couple of signings. What kind of guests do you have, Molokov? *curious*
In past, we've had Terry, and Rob, and Stephen Briggs, and Ian & Reb from the Discworld Emporium... but the likelihood of getting international guests *in person* is very low nowadays. Instead, we've leaned on Australians who are big within the fan community - Ben McKenzie and Elizabeth Flux, who host the Pratchat Podcast (which I highly recommend); Tansy Rayner Roberts, a fantasy author from Tasmania who has also written a series of essays called "Pratchett's Women" (and her "Pratchett's Men" counterpart essays are being published in Speculative Insight magazine every few months), Folk-singer Martin Pearson (now retired), and the Writer/Director/Producers/Cast/Crew of the Troll Bridge fan film.

It's likely you've never heard of any of the local guests, but that doesn't mean they aren't good to hear talk about their work and how it relates to Pratchett; and also they're usually really good at speaking to Pratchett's work as well.

We do also try to get a lot of the international guests via video call - usually Rob Wilkins will call in for half an hour or so; Stephen Briggs, Colin Smythe, and Ian Stewart are usually happy to chat with us; Last year we got Marc Burrows on for a call (before he'd even announced about his shows coming to the Adelaide Fringe this year). We also enjoy talking to Rachel and Jason from Better Than a Poke in the Eye.

As for next year... well, no guests have been announced as yet, as only a few invitations have gone out so far. Any confirmed guests will be announced much later this year or early next year.
 

RathDarkblade

Moderator
City Watch
Mar 24, 2015
18,143
3,400
48
Melbourne, Victoria
#9
Ah! Thank you, Molokov. :) Yes, I think I met Daniel at one of the first showings of Troll Bridge (and it being a seriously cold Melbourne night, I was probably shivering; I didn't know quite what to expect, and the heating, for some reason, had been turned off for the night before being turned back on as people began to troop in).

Daniel was charming, but I may have come across as incredibly nervous (which I probably was, being surrounded by people in costume and dressed as the only "straight man"). ;)

I also met Tansy, I believe, at a local Discworld expo in the heart of Melbourne, where we gathered for some tea and Discworld gaming. IIRC, we played the A-M board game. I can't remember having so much fun. Victoria, to be honest, is Discworld-starved compared to other states. It can be a bore.

Anyway, sorry to make this thread jump the rails. Allow me to right the caboose and ... theeeere we go. So, kaffeklatsch!:) I can't say much that I haven't said already, except that I was absolutely delighted -- being a performer of classical music (anything from Renaissance up to 21st century) -- to find out that some classical composers wrote songs and even entire stage plays about coffee.

Beethoven, Mozart and Chopin were famous coffee drinkers (and wrote about how much coffee helped them), but above them is the grand-daddy of all coffee-composers, J. S. Bach ... who wrote a cantata (a more-or-less short opera, named appropriately "the Coffee Cantata") about a young, vivacious woman who simply adored coffee ... and her stern father who couldn't stand it. (Yes, even then parents argued with their kids. Some things never, ever change). ;)

And here it is (with subtitles!) Enjoy. :)

 

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