HUnewearl_Meira
Jun 18, 2007, 02:19 AM
I would like to take a moment, to make sure that everyone knows a few things about the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Douglas Adams.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy began as a passing thought that Douglas Adams had while hitchhiking through Europe, and laying drunk in a french ditch in the middle of the night. Reportedly, he had a copy of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to Europe", was staring at the stars and thought, "Someone should make a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".
The original installment of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was a radio play, broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
The story that ended up as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy started as the first episode of a radio mini-series called, "The Ends of the Earth". There were to be six episodes, and the Earth would be destroyed in a different manner in each.
The second installment of the Hitchhiker's Guide was a 6-episode BBC mini-series.
The books came next.
The movie was the last version begun.
The last radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (The Quintessential Phase) was recorded and broadcast after Douglas Adams' untimely death. Douglas Adams finished the script before he died, but did not live to see the series finished.
The joke behind Ford Prefect's name is often lost on Americans, because Ford never released a car named the "Prefect", here.
The movie is the only installment of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that explains outright, why Ford chose the name he did.
The number 42 was chosen over lunch. Douglas Adams and his compatriot had the joke lined up that The Answer to the Great Question of Life, the Universe and Everything would be a small-ish number with no particularly special qualities. To determine the number, they set off on a discussion to find the answer to the question, "What is the funniest number?" They very nearly chose 54 instead of 42, and this is referenced later on, when Arthur Dent randomly pulls Scrabble letters out of a bag to try and divine the ultimate question from his subconcious. The question he came up with was, "What do you get when you multiply six by nine?" The result is, of course, 54, but Arthur knew that the answer was supposed to be 42. Seeing the inherent flaw, he comments, "I always knew that there was something fundamentally wrong with the universe."
In addition to the Hitchhiker's Guide, Douglas Adams is responsible for another series of books, the Dirk Gently series. Dirk Gently is a "holistic detective"-- he uses an unorthodoxed method of investigation that requires him to explore the vast interconnectedness of all things, rather than looking for direct clues.
The first Dirk Gently book is called, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.
The second Dirk Gently book is called, The Long, Dark Tea Time of the Soul. Both books are exceptionally clever.
Douglas Adams' last book to be published, was The Salmon of Doubt. This book includes a pieced-together version of an incomplete book about Dirk Gently, as well as a collection of writings by Douglas Adams harvested from his "fleet" of computers, post-humously.
Douglas Adams died of a heart attack in his late 40's, while working out at a gym.
Douglas Adams' first child was born when he was 42 years old.
After Douglas Adams' death, his friends started noticing the number "42" everywhere they went. At restaraunts, they would be seated at table 42, their bills would feature the number 42, etc.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy began as a passing thought that Douglas Adams had while hitchhiking through Europe, and laying drunk in a french ditch in the middle of the night. Reportedly, he had a copy of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to Europe", was staring at the stars and thought, "Someone should make a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".
The original installment of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was a radio play, broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
The story that ended up as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy started as the first episode of a radio mini-series called, "The Ends of the Earth". There were to be six episodes, and the Earth would be destroyed in a different manner in each.
The second installment of the Hitchhiker's Guide was a 6-episode BBC mini-series.
The books came next.
The movie was the last version begun.
The last radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (The Quintessential Phase) was recorded and broadcast after Douglas Adams' untimely death. Douglas Adams finished the script before he died, but did not live to see the series finished.
The joke behind Ford Prefect's name is often lost on Americans, because Ford never released a car named the "Prefect", here.
The movie is the only installment of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that explains outright, why Ford chose the name he did.
The number 42 was chosen over lunch. Douglas Adams and his compatriot had the joke lined up that The Answer to the Great Question of Life, the Universe and Everything would be a small-ish number with no particularly special qualities. To determine the number, they set off on a discussion to find the answer to the question, "What is the funniest number?" They very nearly chose 54 instead of 42, and this is referenced later on, when Arthur Dent randomly pulls Scrabble letters out of a bag to try and divine the ultimate question from his subconcious. The question he came up with was, "What do you get when you multiply six by nine?" The result is, of course, 54, but Arthur knew that the answer was supposed to be 42. Seeing the inherent flaw, he comments, "I always knew that there was something fundamentally wrong with the universe."
In addition to the Hitchhiker's Guide, Douglas Adams is responsible for another series of books, the Dirk Gently series. Dirk Gently is a "holistic detective"-- he uses an unorthodoxed method of investigation that requires him to explore the vast interconnectedness of all things, rather than looking for direct clues.
The first Dirk Gently book is called, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.
The second Dirk Gently book is called, The Long, Dark Tea Time of the Soul. Both books are exceptionally clever.
Douglas Adams' last book to be published, was The Salmon of Doubt. This book includes a pieced-together version of an incomplete book about Dirk Gently, as well as a collection of writings by Douglas Adams harvested from his "fleet" of computers, post-humously.
Douglas Adams died of a heart attack in his late 40's, while working out at a gym.
Douglas Adams' first child was born when he was 42 years old.
After Douglas Adams' death, his friends started noticing the number "42" everywhere they went. At restaraunts, they would be seated at table 42, their bills would feature the number 42, etc.