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Jim Henderson wrote:
>>> How many times had Lintilla been cloned?
>> Millions, as I recall, and, typically for Adams, a terribly specific
>> number.
>
> 578 thousand million times. :-)
"Don't worry, the others aren't here right now."
>>> What was the ratio of Lintilla clones to lonely business executives
>>> that was maintained to keep the laws of supply and demand in balance?
>> Crikey, this merely rings a bell.
>
> It's a bit of a trick question - the cloning machine was making 6 copies
> of Lintilla for a Brantasvogon escort agency while another was making 500
> lonely business executives to keep the laws of supply and demand working
> profitably. The ratio, therefore, is 6:500. :-) The "trick" is that
> most would think of the much larger number (578 thousand million)
Oh yes, I only recently noticed this joke, the first time I listened to
the series I was a little young to get that one.
>>> Which escape capsule did Ford and Arthur get into in the Hagunnenon
>>> ship?
>> Ah, a fifty-fifty. Very generous! Um, left? My imagination says right
>> and for some reason my imagination always gets left and right wrong.
>
> They got into the right-hand one. Ford tells Zaphod "You and the others
> take the left-hand one". :-)
Arse. Damn you, brain.
>>> In the end of the first episode, there's a chord played played after
>>> Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz issues his ultimatum to Ford and Arthur. What
>>> is the piece of music that chord comes from, and who was the composer?
>> I thought it was a radiophonic effect. Sounds like an organ, so I'll say
>> Bach.
>
> Nope, far, far too dissonant for Bach. Its Lontano, from A Modern Mass
> for the Dead by Ligeti.
Well, it was a wild stab in the dark. :)
>>> Listened to that bit on the drive in this morning. Fit the Twelfth
>>> finished just as I pulled into my parking spot.
>
> I always like when that happens, and it happens more often than it seems
> it should by chance.
Well, with a 45 minute commute and 30 minute episodes it's bound to
happen half the time, surely? :)
>> "I have worked out that if I stick my left hand into my right ear I can
>> electrocute myself."
>> "What?"
>> "Terminally."
>> "Is that so."
>> "I can do it at a moment's notice. Just give the word." "Just cool it,
>> Marvin."
>> ...
>> "I think I'll go and hide."
>
> "Pausing only to reconstruct the whole infrastructure of integral
> mathematics in his head, he went about his humble task, never thinking to
> ask for reward, recognition or even a moment's ease from the terrible
> pain in all the diodes down his left side. Fetch Beeblebrox they say,
> and forth he goes..."
"Fact: I ache, therefore I am. Or in my case, I am, therefore I ache.
Oh, look. I appear to be lying at the bottom of a very deep, dark hole.
That seems a familiar concept. What does it remind me of? Ah, yes. Life.
Perhaps if I lie here and ignore it it'll go away again. Or perhaps not.
To be perfectly frank with myself, if it didn't go away as a result of
my falling thirteen miles through the air and a further mile through
solid rock, I'm probably stuck with it for good. Why don't I climb out?
Why don't I just lie here? Why don't I just go zootle wurdle? Does it
matter? Even if it does matter, does it matter that it matters? Zootle
wurdle, zootle wurdle..."
And so on.
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Brian Elliott wrote:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antechinus
>
"...twelve hours..." !!!!!!!!!!
--Sherry Shaw
--
#macro T(E,N)sphere{x,.4rotate z*E*60translate y*N pigment{wrinkles scale
.3}finish{ambient 1}}#end#local I=0;#while(I<5)T(I,1)T(1-I,-1)#local I=I+
1;#end camera{location-5*z}plane{z,37 pigment{granite color_map{[.7rgb 0]
[1rgb 1]}}finish{ambient 2}}// TenMoons
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On Wed, 03 Oct 2007 10:58:35 +0100, Bill Pragnell wrote:
> Jim Henderson wrote:
>>>> How many times had Lintilla been cloned?
>>> Millions, as I recall, and, typically for Adams, a terribly specific
>>> number.
>>
>> 578 thousand million times. :-)
>
> "Don't worry, the others aren't here right now."
"I don't think you CAN dig your way off a planet..."
>>>> What was the ratio of Lintilla clones to lonely business executives
>>>> that was maintained to keep the laws of supply and demand in balance?
>>> Crikey, this merely rings a bell.
>>
>> It's a bit of a trick question - the cloning machine was making 6
>> copies of Lintilla for a Brantasvogon escort agency while another was
>> making 500 lonely business executives to keep the laws of supply and
>> demand working profitably. The ratio, therefore, is 6:500. :-) The
>> "trick" is that most would think of the much larger number (578
>> thousand million)
>
> Oh yes, I only recently noticed this joke, the first time I listened to
> the series I was a little young to get that one.
One of the reasons I like the series so much - there's a lot of nuanced
jokes, not to mention social commentary. For example:
"The President's job - and if someone sufficiently vain and stupid he
won't realize this - is not to wield power, but to draw attention away
from it."
>>>> Which escape capsule did Ford and Arthur get into in the Hagunnenon
>>>> ship?
>>> Ah, a fifty-fifty. Very generous! Um, left? My imagination says right
>>> and for some reason my imagination always gets left and right wrong.
>>
>> They got into the right-hand one. Ford tells Zaphod "You and the
>> others take the left-hand one". :-)
>
> Arse. Damn you, brain.
LOL!
Who was Trillian said to be married to after this scene occurred?
>>>> In the end of the first episode, there's a chord played played after
>>>> Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz issues his ultimatum to Ford and Arthur. What
>>>> is the piece of music that chord comes from, and who was the
>>>> composer?
>>> I thought it was a radiophonic effect. Sounds like an organ, so I'll
>>> say Bach.
>>
>> Nope, far, far too dissonant for Bach. Its Lontano, from A Modern Mass
>> for the Dead by Ligeti.
>
> Well, it was a wild stab in the dark. :)
I'm glad I wasn't in front of the knife. Not that it was an easy
question, I had to look up the spelling of the name. :-) I have to
admit, though, that in the tertiary-quintessential phases, this is
something I missed a lot - I liked that DNA used recognisable pieces of
music for the backdrop; the music behind the "ad" for Milliways, for
example, is The Engulfed Cathedral by Claude Debussy, but performed by
Isao Tomita. I have the album here somewhere, in fact (entitled
"Snowflakes are Dancing", another Debussy work).
>>>> Listened to that bit on the drive in this morning. Fit the Twelfth
>>>> finished just as I pulled into my parking spot.
>>
>> I always like when that happens, and it happens more often than it
>> seems it should by chance.
> Well, with a 45 minute commute and 30 minute episodes it's bound to
> happen half the time, surely? :)
But the episodes aren't 30 minutes; they actually have a running time of
between 29 and 30 minutes (originally), but the new series' recordings I
have are extended editions, and a few of them run as long as 40 minutes
with the added material.
> "Fact: I ache, therefore I am. Or in my case, I am, therefore I ache.
> Oh, look. I appear to be lying at the bottom of a very deep, dark hole.
> That seems a familiar concept. What does it remind me of? Ah, yes. Life.
> Perhaps if I lie here and ignore it it'll go away again. Or perhaps not.
> To be perfectly frank with myself, if it didn't go away as a result of
> my falling thirteen miles through the air and a further mile through
> solid rock, I'm probably stuck with it for good. Why don't I climb out?
> Why don't I just lie here? Why don't I just go zootle wurdle? Does it
> matter? Even if it does matter, does it matter that it matters? Zootle
> wurdle, zootle wurdle..."
>
> And so on.
"I know."
"Shut up, Marvin, this is *organism* talk."
"It's printed in the earthman's brain wave patterns, but I suppose you'll
be very interested in knowing that."
"You mean you can see into my mind?"
"Yes"
"And?"
"It amazes me how you manage to live in anything that small."
"Ah. Abuse!"
"Ah, ignore him, he's only making it up."
"Making it up? Why should I want to make anything up? Life's bad enough
as it is without wanting to invent any more of it."
Jim
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Jim Henderson wrote:
>>> 578 thousand million times. :-)
>> "Don't worry, the others aren't here right now."
>
> "I don't think you CAN dig your way off a planet..."
Aha, the Crisis Inducer, another corker that never made it out of the
radio series.
"How I Scaled The North Face Of The Megapurna With A Sprained Finger"
swept away by titles like
"How I Scaled The North Face Of The Megapurna With A Perfectly Healthy
Finger But Everything Else Sprained, Broken Or Bitten Off By A Pack Of
Mad Yaks"
...or however it goes. I like the way Adams just sticks the word 'mega'
in front of a normal word to make it seem other-worldly. Especially
things from Arcturus; megadonkey, megarhino (with or without bronchial
pneumonia), megavoidwhale...
>>>>> Which escape capsule did Ford and Arthur get into in the Hagunnenon
>>>>> ship?
>>>> Ah, a fifty-fifty. Very generous! Um, left? My imagination says right
>>>> and for some reason my imagination always gets left and right wrong.
>>> They got into the right-hand one. Ford tells Zaphod "You and the
>>> others take the left-hand one". :-)
>> Arse. Damn you, brain.
> LOL!
> Who was Trillian said to be married to after this scene occurred?
Oh, I can't remember. You've well and truly pummelled me with your
expertise in this matter... :)
>> Well, it was a wild stab in the dark. :)
>
> I'm glad I wasn't in front of the knife.
Well, given how accurate my answer was you'd have been perfectly safe.
> But the episodes aren't 30 minutes; they actually have a running time of
> between 29 and 30 minutes (originally), but the new series' recordings I
> have are extended editions, and a few of them run as long as 40 minutes
> with the added material.
Are the new series any good? I listened to a few episodes when they
aired on the radio but they seemed to follow the books word for word and
it wasn't the same without Peter Jones (even if the rest of the cast
were present).
> "I know."
> "Shut up, Marvin, this is *organism* talk."
> "It's printed in the earthman's brain wave patterns, but I suppose you'll
> be very interested in knowing that."
> "You mean you can see into my mind?"
> "Yes"
> "And?"
> "It amazes me how you manage to live in anything that small."
> "Ah. Abuse!"
> "Ah, ignore him, he's only making it up."
> "Making it up? Why should I want to make anything up? Life's bad enough
> as it is without wanting to invent any more of it."
"But I'm quite used to being humiliated. I can even go and stick my head
in a bucket of water if you want. Shall I go and stick my head in a
bucket of water? I've got one ready. Just a minute."
"What's he saying?"
"Nothing, he just phoned up to wash his head at us."
:)
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On Thu, 04 Oct 2007 14:53:27 +0100, Bill Pragnell wrote:
> Jim Henderson wrote:
>>>> 578 thousand million times. :-)
>>> "Don't worry, the others aren't here right now."
>>
>> "I don't think you CAN dig your way off a planet..."
>
> Aha, the Crisis Inducer, another corker that never made it out of the
> radio series.
Yeah, that was an inspired idea. "Come on, they're after us!"
> "How I Scaled The North Face Of The Megapurna With A Sprained Finger"
> swept away by titles like
> "How I Scaled The North Face Of The Megapurna With A Perfectly Healthy
> Finger But Everything Else Sprained, Broken Or Bitten Off By A Pack Of
> Mad Yaks"
>
> ...or however it goes. I like the way Adams just sticks the word 'mega'
> in front of a normal word to make it seem other-worldly. Especially
> things from Arcturus; megadonkey, megarhino (with or without bronchial
> pneumonia), megavoidwhale...
He was very good at coming up with names for things; I always wanted to
ask him where some of the names came from. Unfortunately, the two times
I had an opportunity to talk with him, I didn't have a lot of time (once
in person, once on the radio). But I ran into an old friend of mine
recently who runs a radio show called Shockwave Radio Theater, and many
years ago he had the opportunity to interview Adams. We bumped into each
other online recently, and he said "you know, I still owe you something"
and send me a DVD with all the bits of Shockwave on it, and included in
there was an interview with Adams that was quite good; I think it was
from right after MH was released.
>>>>>> Which escape capsule did Ford and Arthur get into in the Hagunnenon
>>>>>> ship?
>>>>> Ah, a fifty-fifty. Very generous! Um, left? My imagination says
>>>>> right and for some reason my imagination always gets left and right
>>>>> wrong.
>>>> They got into the right-hand one. Ford tells Zaphod "You and the
>>>> others take the left-hand one". :-)
>>> Arse. Damn you, brain.
>> LOL!
>> Who was Trillian said to be married to after this scene occurred?
>
> Oh, I can't remember. You've well and truly pummelled me with your
> expertise in this matter... :)
LOL!
She was forcibly married to the President of the Galactic Rotary Club.
>>> Well, it was a wild stab in the dark. :)
>>
>> I'm glad I wasn't in front of the knife.
>
> Well, given how accurate my answer was you'd have been perfectly safe.
True, true. But still there's all the dodging and weaving to be done -
that's more effort than I'd want to put into it. :-)
>> But the episodes aren't 30 minutes; they actually have a running time
>> of between 29 and 30 minutes (originally), but the new series'
>> recordings I have are extended editions, and a few of them run as long
>> as 40 minutes with the added material.
> Are the new series any good? I listened to a few episodes when they
> aired on the radio but they seemed to follow the books word for word and
> it wasn't the same without Peter Jones (even if the rest of the cast
> were present).
I like the new ones - just listened to the first and second episodes of
the Tertiary phase. Dirk Maggs wanted to not create any new material,
but he did source material from discussions he had with Adams back in the
90's about doing another series. The first episode was largely written
by DNA back then, but then the movie was on (again) and he went to work
on that.
I think William Franklyn did a good job as the book - he was a good
friend of Peter Jones as well, and while it certainly isn't the same
without Peter, or Richard Vernon, or David Tate, there's something to be
said for hearing Marvin again. And Simon Jones brings the same sort of
energy to the role of Arthur (as far as I'm concerned, there's only one
person who is Arthur, and that's Simon). The loss of Peter Jones becomes
less significant in the Quintessential phase, since by that time the
guide has been taken over and the voice of the bird takes over for the
book - played by none other than Rula Lenska, better known as
Lintilla. :-)
BBC4 have just started running Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
(first episode was yesterday, and it's available online). Not sure what
I think of it yet; I had a listen, but wasn't paying attention that
much. I have to recode it to MP3 and put it on my iPod and listen again.
> "But I'm quite used to being humiliated. I can even go and stick my head
> in a bucket of water if you want. Shall I go and stick my head in a
> bucket of water? I've got one ready. Just a minute." "What's he saying?"
> "Nothing, he just phoned up to wash his head at us."
"The car park? What are you doing in the car park?"
"Parking cars, what else does one do in a car park?"
Jim
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Jim Henderson wrote:
>>>>> 578 thousand million times. :-)
>>>> "Don't worry, the others aren't here right now."
>>> "I don't think you CAN dig your way off a planet..."
>> Aha, the Crisis Inducer, another corker that never made it out of the
>> radio series.
>
> Yeah, that was an inspired idea. "Come on, they're after us!"
"Who?"
"Nobody. Come on!"
"But.."
"Come on!!"
> He was very good at coming up with names for things; I always wanted to
> ask him where some of the names came from. Unfortunately, the two times
> I had an opportunity to talk with him, I didn't have a lot of time (once
> in person, once on the radio). But I ran into an old friend of mine
> recently who runs a radio show called Shockwave Radio Theater, and many
> years ago he had the opportunity to interview Adams. We bumped into each
> other online recently, and he said "you know, I still owe you something"
> and send me a DVD with all the bits of Shockwave on it, and included in
> there was an interview with Adams that was quite good; I think it was
> from right after MH was released.
Very interesting. I read the Salmon of Doubt not too long ago, and
despite the unfinished nature of the work it was a very good read. It
also has a large collection of interviews, articles and personal
recollections from friends and colleagues that make for a very moving
picture of a very likeable man.
>>>>> They got into the right-hand one. Ford tells Zaphod "You and the
>>>>> others take the left-hand one". :-)
>>>> Arse. Damn you, brain.
>>> LOL!
>>> Who was Trillian said to be married to after this scene occurred?
>> Oh, I can't remember. You've well and truly pummelled me with your
>> expertise in this matter... :)
> LOL!
> She was forcibly married to the President of the Galactic Rotary Club.
Should have had another stab.
>>>> Well, it was a wild stab in the dark. :)
>>> I'm glad I wasn't in front of the knife.
>> Well, given how accurate my answer was you'd have been perfectly safe.
> True, true. But still there's all the dodging and weaving to be done -
> that's more effort than I'd want to put into it. :-)
Just keep still. You'd have been like a greenfly on a dartboard 400
yards away.
> said for hearing Marvin again. And Simon Jones brings the same sort of
> energy to the role of Arthur (as far as I'm concerned, there's only one
> person who is Arthur, and that's Simon).
Absolutely. I also think Ford and Zaphod's radio personae are by far the
best too. I know they got MW-D in for the TV series, which was good, but
too many people think of Ford as whoever it was who stepped into GMcG's
shoes.
> BBC4 have just started running Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
> (first episode was yesterday, and it's available online).
Ooh, careful, I got all excited for a second. BBC4 is the TV channel,
remember, I gather you're referring to Radio4! :)
>> "But I'm quite used to being humiliated. I can even go and stick my head
>> in a bucket of water if you want. Shall I go and stick my head in a
>> bucket of water? I've got one ready. Just a minute." "What's he saying?"
>> "Nothing, he just phoned up to wash his head at us."
>
> "The car park? What are you doing in the car park?"
> "Parking cars, what else does one do in a car park?"
"Everybody alright? Lintilla?"
"Yes,"/"Yes,"/"Yes."
"Marvin?"
"Never better."
"Good."
"Still pretty bad though."
"Right."
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Sherry Shaw wrote:
> "...twelve hours..." !!!!!!!!!!
That must be quite a ride...
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
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On Thu, 04 Oct 2007 16:32:57 +0100, Bill Pragnell wrote:
> Jim Henderson wrote:
>>>>>> 578 thousand million times. :-)
>>>>> "Don't worry, the others aren't here right now."
>>>> "I don't think you CAN dig your way off a planet..."
>>> Aha, the Crisis Inducer, another corker that never made it out of the
>>> radio series.
>>
>> Yeah, that was an inspired idea. "Come on, they're after us!"
>
> "Who?"
> "Nobody. Come on!"
> "But.."
> "Come on!!"
Well, close enough. :-)
Don't forget the bottle of little pink evening classes. :-)
> Very interesting. I read the Salmon of Doubt not too long ago, and
> despite the unfinished nature of the work it was a very good read. It
> also has a large collection of interviews, articles and personal
> recollections from friends and colleagues that make for a very moving
> picture of a very likeable man.
Yes, I thought it was an interesting read. And he was very likeable; I
might've mentioned my autographed towel at some point - he was doing a
book signing near the University of Minnesota while I was taking some
summer orchestra classes there; I skipped a rehearsal (much to the
chagrin of the conductor, who also happened to be my private teacher as
well) to go stand in line; I got to the front of the line and presented
the towel to Adams; he laughed, said nobody had ever asked him to sign a
towel before, and he proceeded to sign it. Took both of us leaning on
the corners to keep it from moving while he did.
And of course, being the hoopy frood I am, I know right where it is. :-)
>>>> Who was Trillian said to be married to after this scene occurred?
>>> Oh, I can't remember. You've well and truly pummelled me with your
>>> expertise in this matter... :)
>> LOL!
>> She was forcibly married to the President of the Galactic Rotary Club.
>
> Should have had another stab.
"Hey, that hurt!"
>>>>> Well, it was a wild stab in the dark. :)
>>>> I'm glad I wasn't in front of the knife.
>>> Well, given how accurate my answer was you'd have been perfectly safe.
>> True, true. But still there's all the dodging and weaving to be done -
>> that's more effort than I'd want to put into it. :-)
>
> Just keep still. You'd have been like a greenfly on a dartboard 400
> yards away.
But you're rubbish at close range, is that what you're saying? ;-)
>> said for hearing Marvin again. And Simon Jones brings the same sort of
>> energy to the role of Arthur (as far as I'm concerned, there's only one
>> person who is Arthur, and that's Simon).
> Absolutely. I also think Ford and Zaphod's radio personae are by far the
> best too. I know they got MW-D in for the TV series, which was good, but
> too many people think of Ford as whoever it was who stepped into GMcG's
> shoes.
David Dixon. The thing is, I didn't really like his Ford that much.
Geoffrey's voice was just perfect for it, but apparently he was too big
around to be mistaken for an impoverished hitchhiker.
Don't even talk to me about Mos Def as Ford. That had to be the worst
possible choice for the role; the movie, as far as I'm concerned, doesn't
exist except for two things: 1, Stephen Frye as the book, and 2, for the
book animations. Those were well done.
>> BBC4 have just started running Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
>> (first episode was yesterday, and it's available online).
> Ooh, careful, I got all excited for a second. BBC4 is the TV channel,
> remember, I gather you're referring to Radio4! :)
Yes, Radio4, sorry, I do know the difference. :-)
>>> "But I'm quite used to being humiliated. I can even go and stick my
>>> head in a bucket of water if you want. Shall I go and stick my head in
>>> a bucket of water? I've got one ready. Just a minute." "What's he
>>> saying?" "Nothing, he just phoned up to wash his head at us."
>>
>> "The car park? What are you doing in the car park?" "Parking cars,
>> what else does one do in a car park?"
>
> "Everybody alright? Lintilla?"
> "Yes,"/"Yes,"/"Yes."
> "Marvin?"
> "Never better."
> "Good."
> "Still pretty bad though."
> "Right."
"Right, where are we going?"
"How should I know? It's your Universe. You go where you like."
And
"Right, Everyone understand?"
"Yes."
"Marvin?"
"Understand? You ask me if *I* understand?"
"Yes or no?"
"Guess."
:-)
Jim
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Jim Henderson wrote:
> Yes, I thought it was an interesting read. And he was very likeable; I
> might've mentioned my autographed towel at some point - he was doing a
> book signing near the University of Minnesota while I was taking some
> summer orchestra classes there; I skipped a rehearsal (much to the
> chagrin of the conductor, who also happened to be my private teacher as
> well) to go stand in line; I got to the front of the line and presented
> the towel to Adams; he laughed, said nobody had ever asked him to sign a
> towel before, and he proceeded to sign it. Took both of us leaning on
> the corners to keep it from moving while he did.
Genius.
> And of course, being the hoopy frood I am, I know right where it is. :-)
I went backpacking round the world six years ago, and although I always
knew where my towel was, I was disappointed to learn that it wasn't the
most useful thing I had with me... :-(
>>>>>> Well, it was a wild stab in the dark. :)
>>>>> I'm glad I wasn't in front of the knife.
>>>> Well, given how accurate my answer was you'd have been perfectly safe.
>>> True, true. But still there's all the dodging and weaving to be done -
>>> that's more effort than I'd want to put into it. :-)
>> Just keep still. You'd have been like a greenfly on a dartboard 400
>> yards away.
> But you're rubbish at close range, is that what you're saying? ;-)
I'm getting confused between reality and metaphor now. I'm deadly at
close range and dangerous at long range, but I didn't know what I was
supposed to be aiming at! :)
> Don't even talk to me about Mos Def as Ford. That had to be the worst
> possible choice for the role;
I think it could have been worse. He wasn't great but he was better than
I was expecting.
> the movie, as far as I'm concerned, doesn't
> exist except for two things: 1, Stephen Frye as the book, and 2, for the
> book animations. Those were well done.
Well done, but not as inventive and fitting as those in the BBC TV
series. My biggest problem with the movie was the lazy and unpleasant
characterisation of Zaphod. He's supposed to be arrogant and shallow,
but in the original series he's still fundamentally likeable and
relatively with it. In the movie, they made him a total w**k*r with no
real contribution to the plot whatsoever. A massive waste.
> "Right, Everyone understand?"
> "Yes."
> "Marvin?"
> "Understand? You ask me if *I* understand?"
> "Yes or no?"
> "Guess."
That's one of the best. Makes me laugh just reading it!
"The first 10 million years were the worst. And the second 10 million
years. They were the worst too. After that I went into a bit of a decline."
:)
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On Fri, 05 Oct 2007 16:07:54 +0100, Bill Pragnell wrote:
> Jim Henderson wrote:
>> Yes, I thought it was an interesting read. And he was very likeable; I
>> might've mentioned my autographed towel at some point - he was doing a
>> book signing near the University of Minnesota while I was taking some
>> summer orchestra classes there; I skipped a rehearsal (much to the
>> chagrin of the conductor, who also happened to be my private teacher as
>> well) to go stand in line; I got to the front of the line and presented
>> the towel to Adams; he laughed, said nobody had ever asked him to sign
>> a towel before, and he proceeded to sign it. Took both of us leaning
>> on the corners to keep it from moving while he did.
> Genius.
In retrospect, I'd find it hard to believe nobody else in the world has a
towel autographed by him (there even was an "official" towel available
for purchase once upon a time). But it still was nice of him to act as
if he'd never done that before.
>> And of course, being the hoopy frood I am, I know right where it is.
>> :-)
> I went backpacking round the world six years ago, and although I always
> knew where my towel was, I was disappointed to learn that it wasn't the
> most useful thing I had with me... :-(
Sadly, that is the case a lot of the time. Probably due to the lack of
antidepressants in one end of any given towel....
>>>>>>> Well, it was a wild stab in the dark. :)
>>>>>> I'm glad I wasn't in front of the knife.
>>>>> Well, given how accurate my answer was you'd have been perfectly
>>>>> safe.
>>>> True, true. But still there's all the dodging and weaving to be done
>>>> - that's more effort than I'd want to put into it. :-)
>>> Just keep still. You'd have been like a greenfly on a dartboard 400
>>> yards away.
>> But you're rubbish at close range, is that what you're saying? ;-)
> I'm getting confused between reality and metaphor now. I'm deadly at
> close range and dangerous at long range, but I didn't know what I was
> supposed to be aiming at! :)
Well, not knowing what you're supposed to be aiming at makes it easier
for me. :-)
>> Don't even talk to me about Mos Def as Ford. That had to be the worst
>> possible choice for the role;
> I think it could have been worse. He wasn't great but he was better than
> I was expecting.
The thing is, he didn't seem to put anything into the role - he (and Sam
Rockwell, for that matter) seemed to just be reading the lines. Ford has
to have this sort of manic energy, and with Mos Def, there wasn't ANY
energy.
>> the movie, as far as I'm concerned, doesn't exist except for two
>> things: 1, Stephen Frye as the book, and 2, for the book animations.
>> Those were well done.
> Well done, but not as inventive and fitting as those in the BBC TV
> series.
True, and I think it's more impressive what was done in the TV series if
you look at what Rod Lord had to do to create them (ISTR that's the guy
who did it, but I could be wrong on that).
> My biggest problem with the movie was the lazy and unpleasant
> characterisation of Zaphod. He's supposed to be arrogant and shallow,
> but in the original series he's still fundamentally likeable and
> relatively with it. In the movie, they made him a total w**k*r with no
> real contribution to the plot whatsoever. A massive waste.
Yeah, and the second head thing was disappointing as well. There are
some things that shouldn't be messed with, and the idea that Zaphod
picked Trillian up at a fancy dress party with his second head under a
cage with a towel over it is one of those things.
Through the entire radio series, Zaphod does come across as shallow but
also as smart.
>> "Right, Everyone understand?"
>> "Yes."
>> "Marvin?"
>> "Understand? You ask me if *I* understand?" "Yes or no?"
>> "Guess."
>
> That's one of the best. Makes me laugh just reading it!
Another:
"Think of a number. Any number."
"Um, Five."
"Wrong."
From the tertiary phase. They had a problem with the first recording of
Marvin in that - Stephen Moore was so happy to "have the gang back
together" that Marvin sounded too happy. They had to re-record it.
> "The first 10 million years were the worst. And the second 10 million
> years. They were the worst too. After that I went into a bit of a
> decline."
Before "After that", "The third 10 million I didn't enjoy at all." :-)
"Insanity is a gradual process; don't rush it." - that's also from the
Tertiary phase. :-)
Jim
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