does anyone else miss douglas adams as much as i do?

Question

The Babel Fish is small, yellow, leech-like, and probably the oddest thing in the Universe. It feeds on brainwave energy absorbing all unconscious frequencies and then excreting, telepathically, a matrix formed from the conscious frequencies and nerve signals picked up from the speech centres of the brain. The practical upshot of which is, that if you stick one in your ear you can instantly understand anything said to you in any form of language. The speech you hear decodes the brainwave matrix. Now it is such a bizarrely improbable coincidence that anything so mind-bogglingly useful could evolve purely by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see it as the final clinching proof of the non-existence of God. The argument goes something like this:

“I refuse to prove that I exist,” says God, “for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.”

“But,” said Man, “the Babel Fish is a dead giveaway, isn’t it? It proves you exist and so therefore you don’t. QED.”

“Oh dear,” says God, “I hadn’t thought of that!” and promptly vanished in a puff of logic.

“Oh, that was easy,” says Man, and for an encore he proves that black is white and gets killed on the next zebra crossing.

Most leading theologians claim that this argument is a load of dingo’s kidneys, but that didn't stop Oolon Colluphid making a small fortune when he used it as the central theme of his best-selling book ‘Well, That About Wraps It Up For God’. Meanwhile, the poor Babel Fish, by effectively removing all barriers to communication between different cultures and races, has caused more and bloodier wars than anything else in the history of creation.

betti: yeah. i was disappointed he never got around to finishing it. it would've been great, like everything else he did :)

incidentally, was anyone else as highly disappointed by the movie as i was? (if so, you should totally check out the bbc series if you haven't already)

dirt: you're missing out :)

pedestal: have you read "good omens," a collaboration between neil gaiman and terry pratchett. very douglas-adams-esque. i think terry pratchet's got the humor but needs a bit of help when it comes to getting it down articulately--that's where neil gaiman comes in

Answer 1

Oh yes, absolutely. My husband is obsessed with the number 42. He even has a mathematical tattoo across his bad that involves the number 42. He's going to add to the tattoo Sunday... more inclusion of 42!

Answer 2

Yes, the film was *unecessarily* disappointing, given that wonderful dialogue already written was cut to make room for inferior dialogue.
Highlight: Slartibartfast and the interior of Magarathea sequence.
Despite its age and sub-Dr Who special effects/sets, the BBC series caught the feel of the books much better.

So much theology and philosophy slipped in on the quiet, and sometimes with trumpet fanfares.
Wonderful stuff.

On occasion Terry Pratchett supplies similar subversive insights (Small Gods, Pyramids...) but the two are distinct. One does not replace the other .

Answer 3

For sure. What a creative mind.

I also miss Isaac Asimov ("Foundations" and the robot books) and Robert Heinlein, (esp. "Time Enough for Love")

I distinctly remember a rather boring book by L Ron Hubbard called Battlefield Earth and an equally dull movie with John Travolta.

Hubbard wrote another dull book called Scientology. It's thus amazing that Travolta did not see that as is was: simply another tongue-in-cheek fiction by Mr Hubbard.

Answer 4

Yes, unfortunately, he ended the series far too soon when it came to the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. Even more unfortunate was his attemted detective series Dirk Gently Holistic Detective agency. Even though I enjoyed the read, I was still preferable to his earlier radio and written work.

Did you happen to notice that Zaphoid Beeblebrox looks incredibly like the lead singer from nickelback?
Pretty small universe, huh?

Anyways, I have to crazy for awhile. Thought it might be a nice change. (not to mention I can't get this damb bone out of my beard!!!).

Take care, and if you see my towel, give me a ring!!

Oh yeah......what do you get when you multiply 8 by 7 anyways??

Answer 5

That's funny, I was saying just that yesterday to a friend, and wondering just how much fun he is having now. And also asking in a rhetorical kind of way, I wonder why he chose to leave us so soon ?

I guess that his 'work' was done here for the 'time' being.

I would like to thank him again anyway, I just happened across a copy of 'Restaurant at the End of the Universe' a couple of days ago, so I am enjoying all over again. :-)))

Answer 6

Oh, I do! He was wonderful, wasn't he? Have you ever read "Last Chance to See"? This book was about how Adams went around the world to find endangered species and it's great! And I definitely liked the BBC series better than the movie.

Answer 7

I loved "Long Dark Teatime of the Soul"
I never read "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

Answer 8

Forty-two.

Answer 9

Yes, I've been thinking about him this afternoon...have you read "Salmon of Doubt"?

Edit: I actually enjoyed the movie, it seemed to keep the spirit of none of the versions matching each other...=0)

Answer 10

I miss him a lot! I have read all of his books that I can get!