July Random Read-Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[Aloha]

How about this one about the towel? Obviously. It doesn't really give away the plot, but I put it in a spoiler in case people want to enjoy encountering the towel passage on their own.

(view spoiler)["A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

Hence a phrase that has passed into hitchhiking slang, as in "Hey, you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There's a frood who really knows where his towel is." (hide spoiler)]

[Richard]

Ah, short but sweet. How about a little mood music:

(view spoiler)["Southend seems to be melting away... the stars are swirling... a dustbowl... my legs are drifting off into the sunset... my left arm's come off too"

or

"Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it."

and finally

"The voice cleared its throat. A giant petit four lolloped off into the distance" (hide spoiler)]


I put them into a spoiler just to see if I could, neat huh!

I'll shut up for now and see if anyone else wants to play.

[Scott]

"Time is an illusion; lunchtime doubly so."

[Richard]

Scott wrote: ""Time is an illusion; lunchtime doubly so.""

"Very deep, you should send that in to the Readers Digest. They've got a page for people like you."

[Jenny]

I love geeks. I love being a geek. I love having geeks as friends. I love dating a geek. If a guy wasn't geeky enough, I probably wouldn't date him.

[[deleted user]]

Just started this for the first time. It's pretty freaking hilarious. =D

[Richard]

For anyone who delights in the humour and language of this book can I sincerely recommend listening to the original BBC Radio 4 radio series.
There are now 5 series in total and all are available at least from Amazon UK. The Primary and Secondary phases, the original radio series, are IMHO by far and away the best, the others follow the books and are good for those of us who like completeness.

Honestly, if you like this book you will absolutely love the original 2 radio series.

[Aloha]

I spent the day at the ConnectiCon convention with people dressed up as anime and cartoon characters. I had a blast! Who said geek isn't fun?

[Mach]

Wow what a costume!

[Aloha]

That's one of many I liked. There were more costumes and spirit there than at Halloween. Here's another terrific one.

[[deleted user]]

Favorite quote, from Chp 7:
(view spoiler)[ "You know," said Arthur,"it's at times like this, when I'm trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelguese, and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space, that I wish I'd listened to what my mother told me when I was young."
"Why, what did she tell you?" (Ford)
"I don't know, I didn't listen." (Arthur) (hide spoiler)]

[[deleted user]]

Aloha wrote: "That's one of many I liked. There were more costumes and spirit there than at Halloween. Here's another terrific one.

"

what is that from?

[Aloha]

Dumbo me. I didn't ask. In fact, I didn't ask what the characters were in fear of a *gasp*. Everybody else seemed to know their comic/gaming characters really well. Me, I'm only starting to learn. I did recognize the storm troopers!

[[deleted user]]

Don't feel bad. Anime geekdom is... well... it's different.

[Maxime]

I started to read it last night and just finished it a few minutes ago. It was amazing! I wish I had read it sooner.

Here's my review if you're interested : http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

And this has to be my favorite quote from the book :

(view spoiler)[ "They brought forth scintillating jeweled scuttling crabs, which the Vogons ate, smashing their shells with iron mallets; tall aspiring trees with breathtaking slenderness and colour which the Vogons cut down and burned the crab meat with; elegant gazelle-like creatures with silken coats and dewy eyes which the Vogons would catch and sit on. They were no use as transport because their backs would snap instantly, but the Vogons sat on them anyway." (hide spoiler)]

[Richard]

"Vogon Prostetnic Jeltz was a fairly typical Vogon, in that he was thoroughly vile."

[Phil]

I always thought "Groop, I implore you, my foonting turlingdrome" was every bit as good as "The mome raths outgrabe."

[Rafael]

These books are so funny and humorous. I read it a lot of time ago, so I cannot remember very well of the story, the details, but I know that I liked. Since I read it I want a infinite improbability drive.

[Mickey]

Meaning of life... 42.

Rule 42 always bring a towel.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define...

Tea "For" "two". Adams was a tea drinker.

42 is the sum of two dice. Life is a crap shoot.

No real answer to the question, but I like the answers anyways.

Mickey... Thanks for the fish.