Miniseries: The Colour of Magic

[Artabax]

HOnestly, reading Snuff (and to a lesser extent this was true in Raising Steam as well), the Embuggerance's main impact on the quality of Pratchett's work was less that the stories were less interesting or Discworld-y and more that his capacity to couch his messaging in humor and wordplay waned, so you got the full impact of what he was saying rather than having to have a think about it.

Indeed, it's just like M.A.S.H. it started as hilarious comedy to make us love the characters. Then when we love the characters, they just churn out soap operas.

[Jonathan101]

Chuck called David Jason "Jones" twice near the end for some reason.

Even though he got the name right not seconds earlier.

Weird.

[Paul Walker]

Listening to Part 1 of the review now...

I was surprised that the "7 days of the week" was brought up as a significant one.

Given the entire reason for the 7 day week is the 7 celestial objects (aside from stars) visible to the naked eye. And the names explain the reasoning.

Monday - Day of the Moon.
Tuesday - Day of Mars.
Wednesday - Day of Mercury.
Thursday - Day of Jupiter.
Friday - Day of Venus.
Saturday - Day of Saturn.
Sunday - Day of the Sun.

I suppose it makes more sense when you put more latin based names next to them:

Lundi - Luna's Day (moon day)
Mardi - Mars' Day
Mercredi - Mercury's Day
Jeudi - Jupiter's Day
Vendredi - Venus' Day
Samedi - Saturn's Day
Dimanche - Sun's Day (yeah, it doesn't quite work with this last one - annoyingly)

Sorry, the point was that the number 7 isn't used for days of the week because of some 'magical-ness' of the number 7, but because of the History of Astronomy.

[AllanO]

Sorry, the point was that the number 7 isn't used for days of the week because of some 'magical-ness' of the number 7, but because of the History of Astronomy.

You've explained why the seven days of the week have the names they do. They are named after the seven planets, the Sun and the Moon were indeed considered planets since they were wanderers against the background of the fixed stars (planet is just the Greek for wanderer). But googling there are still mysteries around the origin of the seven day week. http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/04/the-origin-of-the-7-day-week-and-the-names-of-the-days-of-the-week/

The Babylonians might have adopted the seven day week because of the number of planets or they might have adopted it because it is a quarter of a 28 day month, in favour of that is that they apparently sometimes had eight or nine day weeks so that each (lunar) month would have four weeks. Or it might be some reason lost to history.

The Jews may have adopted the seven day week from the Babylonians or may have come up with it independently. The only clear origin story is that the seven days of creation correspond to the seven days of the week but that could have been post hoc (the story of creation may have come up after they already had a seven day week).

The Romans had an eight day week, which slowly fell out of favour. I think the Greeks and the Romans got their seven day week from the Babylonians but Christianity probably also played a role which means the Jewish tradition is also at play here.

Why God took seven days to create the world rather than any other number is presumably a key mystery of the seven day week people speculate on, you can make it why did god create seven planets or why is the month about 28 days. The symbolic importance of seven and speculation about it is not just a question of actual etymology it is also a question of how people reacted to those facts. People are free to give it some mystical significance even if it has a straightforward explanation, which makes it appropriate for explanation of the joke about the significance of eight in the Discworld.

You missed the explanation of the English names of the day of the week, which is they are usually named after roughly equivalent Germano-Norse gods to the Roman Gods that the Romans named them after. Tuesday is more or less for Tyr a war God, hence a counterpart . Wednesday Wodan's day, he is not really associated with the messages like Mercury but maybe it is his role as knower of things? Thursday is of course Thor's day God of lightning and so counterpart to lightening god Jupiter (Zeus). Friday is Freya's day goddess of love etc. Saturday has the Roman name, Note the french Dimanche refers to the Lord's day to indicate it is the Christian day of rest. I just wanted to mention that because I always remember the Thor's day thing.

[Darth Wedgius]

I thought Cohen the Barbarian was perfectly cast. After being iffy about RIncewind's casting, I thought it worth noting.

[TheStarWarsTrek]

I thought Cohen the Barbarian was perfectly cast. After being iffy about RIncewind's casting, I thought it worth noting.

I've now seen David Bradley in the role Cohen the Barbarian, Filch from Harry Potter, William Hartnell in that Doctor Who special, and Waler Frey in GOT, and I've come to the conclusion he's an underrated actor.

[hammerofglass]

In that interview that gets used for intermissions Terry is so poorly miked that I have no idea what he's saying.

[Deledrius]

In that interview that gets used for intermissions Terry is so poorly miked that I have no idea what he's saying.

I can't hear him at all in those.

[Darth Wedgius]

I thought Cohen the Barbarian was perfectly cast. After being iffy about RIncewind's casting, I thought it worth noting.

I've now seen David Bradley in the role Cohen the Barbarian, Filch from Harry Potter, William Hartnell in that Doctor Who special, and Waler Frey in GOT, and I've come to the conclusion he's an underrated actor.

I had no idea he was Filch. My mind, such as it is, is officially blown.