A Meteorite Sword Is No Fantasy for Terry Pratchett

(Sept 20) -- He wrote "Discworld," arguably the finest -- and funniest -- fantasy series in modern literature. He's sold more than 65 million books worldwide. He's a brilliant satirist who wrote "Good Omens" with Neil Gaiman. He's been knighted by the queen of England. So what does Terry Pratchett do for an encore?

He forges his own sword using a meteorite, that's what.

Author and euthanasia campaigner Sir Terry Pratchett speaks to the press on on February 25, 2010 in London, England.

Oli Scarff, Getty Images

Sir Terry Pratchett has collected 81 kilograms of iron ore and mixed in several pieces of meteorites to make an amazing sword, which will be smelted at his house in a makeshift kiln built out of clay and hay, fueled with sheep manure. What a badass!

And if that isn't enough, he is actually smelting the ore himself. It's official: Terry Pratchett is a geek God.

It's incredibly unfortunate that he has Alzheimer's disease, but I have to admire the man for creating tangible memories while he can still remember them. I love you, Terry Pratchett.

From Fark: As if he wasn't cool enough already, now we learn that Terry Pratchett's first act after being knighted was to forge his own sword. Out of meteorites (news.com.au)

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I have dogs. I love dogs. I will never in a million years think that a lump of rock is one of my dogs reincarnated. You know why? Because while I love dogs, I am not a Crazy Dog Person. Crazy Dog People are creepy and strange and think their pet can 1) come back from the dead 2) as rocks. I will never think this, because I am not crazy.

I cannot say that the people in this article are crazy. As a journalist, that would be irresponsible. But I do believe that Crazy Dog People are crazy. And I do believe that you have to be a Crazy Dog Person to think your dog can come back to Earth as a rock. That's all I'm saying.

From Fark: Dead dog becomes rock star (dailymail.co.uk)

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You know what else I'm not crazy enough to do? Hit a man and a child in the process of rushing to get a parking space. I am completely incapable of commenting on this without doing things that my editor will take my head off for. So I'll just leave it at that. This column is the most sedate it's ever been. That's what happens when I have to cover complete morons who do stupid crap. Not that I'd ever directly say this guy, or the Crazy Dog Person above, are that. No. That'd be irresponsible.