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    Happy towel day, ya hoopy froods

    (Probably should have put this in books, but it's bigger than a book)

    Do you know where your towel is?

    #2
    I read once that 42 was not, as many assumed and Adams himself often maintained, plucked randomly out of the air as a joke. Adams was an early computer geek, and in coding, 42 represented an asterisk, the symbol that in turn means "any value you like". So having asked Deep Thought what the meaning of life was, the computer replies anything you want it to be - 42.
    Last edited by Rogin the Armchair fan; 25-05-2018, 08:44.

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      #3
      I intend to have a few pints of muscle relaxant later, and possibly some peanuts for the salt and protein.

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        #4
        Originally posted by Rogin the Armchair fan View Post
        I read once that 42 was not, as many assumed and Adams himself often maintained, plucked randomly out of the air as a joke. Adams was an early computer geek, and in coding, 42 represented an asterisk, the symbol that in turn means "any value you like". So having asked Deep Thought what the meaning of life was, the computer replies anything you want it to be - 42.
        There's any number of theories of greater or lesser plausibility, though, aren't there? Since Adams always maintained that the essence of the thing lay purely in the ineffable comic (cosmic?) 'rightness' of the size, rhythm and mundanity of the number/phrase "forty two", I'm inclined to believe him. He was a geek, yes, but he was first and foremost a humorist and he just knew that it was somehow funny.

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          #5
          It's a fantastic theory, mind.

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            #6
            Smacks of retconning, especially as 42 = * only works in ASCII. The idea of coincidence is probably much more up Adams' street.

            Adams was the first person in the UK to own a Macintosh. (The second was Stephen Fry.)

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              #7
              Already begins to feel like a very unlikely coincidence, and more likely a subconscious connection Adams himself made when thinking about his planetary supercomputer. I actually prefer that theory most of all: Adams himself, like the characters he created, an almost unknowing part of the answer!

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                #8
                Originally posted by Snake Plissken View Post
                Smacks of retconning, especially as 42 = * only works in ASCII. The idea of coincidence is probably much more up Adams' street.

                Adams was the first person in the UK to own a Macintosh. (The second was Stephen Fry.)

                The eponymous Charles Macintosh, surely?

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                  #9
                  Don't make me go back and edit Apple in there.

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                    #10
                    Why?

                    Weren't their first generation "business ready" machines called "macs"?

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                      #11
                      Look, it might have been good in the Seventies, but it hasn't dated well. I gave up about a quarter of the way through the first book.

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by Guy Profumo View Post
                        Why?

                        Weren't their first generation "business ready" machines called "macs"?
                        Apple IIe. Or ][e. Or the III. And the Lisa.

                        As for the "Why?" it's because I forgot about OTF rules around pedantryclarity.

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                          #13
                          Happy Towel Day 2020 everyone.

                          Also if you're wearing the lilac today, good for you.

                          Stay safe. Keep your towel safe.

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                            #14
                            Happy Towel Day, PT!

                            Rabid Towels is still available as a user name.

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                              #15
                              I assume that the Vogons are turning up soon given the way 2020 has gone thus far.
                              ​​​​​

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                                #16
                                Originally posted by pebblethefish View Post
                                Look, it might have been good in the Seventies, but it hasn't dated well. I gave up about a quarter of the way through the first book.
                                No, you have to read all five.

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                                  #17
                                  Originally posted by Eggchaser View Post
                                  I assume that the Vogons are turning up soon given the way 2020 has gone thus far.
                                  ​​​​​
                                  I'd rather listen to their poetry than another self-pitying fart from Cummings' mouth.

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                                    #18
                                    Originally posted by Hot Pepsi View Post

                                    No, you have to read all five.
                                    Ooh, not so sure. I found the last one a bit of a disappointment.

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                                      #19
                                      It tied up all the loose ends rather neatly, though.

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                                        #20
                                        But is that a positive?

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                                          #21
                                          The fifth one is much stronger narratively. If not as funny. Not that I've read it in 25 years. I'm worried about going back to them in case they aren't as good as I remember them.

                                          I came to like Dirk Gently more in the end.

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                                            #22
                                            This thread has made me flash back to attending, at the sadly now-defunct Telegraph Avenue location of Cody's Books, an author's reading, absolutely packed to the rafters, of the recently-released Last Chance to See. Incredibly funny and bittersweet.

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                                              #23
                                              Originally posted by Levin View Post
                                              The fifth one is much stronger narratively. If not as funny. Not that I've read it in 25 years. I'm worried about going back to them in case they aren't as good as I remember them.

                                              I came to like Dirk Gently more in the end.
                                              For me, they really are.

                                              But agreed on Dirk Gently, Fantastic stories, both.

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                                                #24
                                                Originally posted by scratchmonkey View Post
                                                This thread has made me flash back to attending, at the sadly now-defunct Telegraph Avenue location of Cody's Books, an author's reading, absolutely packed to the rafters, of the recently-released Last Chance to See. Incredibly funny and bittersweet.
                                                Great book. The description of the kakapo always makes me smile. "The world's fattest, least able to fly parrot."

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                                                  #25
                                                  Last Chance to See is a fantastic book.

                                                  Isn't the point of the Hitch-hikers books that they are where he played out his failed pitches for Doctor Who stories? (Like the aliens who venerate cricket)

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