Englishman Arthur Dent finds himself hitchhiking through outer space. Dent's only guide, aside from Ford Prefect, his friend who rescued him, is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which is filled with zany advice and funny philosophies. What advice or philosophy did you find most remarkable, or humorous, or even helpful, and why?

Well, I have to say that I found the philosophy of, 'the most important thing to carry with you is a towel' extremely interesting, odd, yet true. If you carry a towel around, people WILL assume that you have everything else, because, who would bring only a towel along?? And what's even more peculiar and lol-ish is that the book stays consistent with that the whole way through. I'll have to reread H2H2 to find more things to say!!

I'd have to agree that the towel is one of the best parts of the HHGG, but I think the funniest is when they explain that no one lives in the universe, that there is no art, and much more. Wait. I think that's in the Restraunt at the end of the Universe. Never mind. Of course, the argument about why there isn't a God because the Babel Fish is a dead giveaway is hilarious too. But the great thing about the HHGG is that no matter how zany and completely wacky it is, it all makes some sort of sense. It's so crazy it almost makes sense, paraphrasing Mr. Hoskins when I gave him a weird idea with rather odd reasoning behind it. by the way the other day I found a site where it has the HHGG written with a Simpsons theme, if any of you are interested. I'll post the website up here as soon as I remember.

Yes, yes, post it!! I'd really like to know. Also, in a lot of sites, there are programs called the Babel Fish that translate languages, and I was curious to know if that had anything to do with H2G2 or if the idea of the Babel Fish had been used before H2G2 was created. If anyone knows, please post!!!

http://forbidden-donut.iwarp.com/bart.html

it's probabaly something to do with the Hitchhiker's guide because the towel, excuse me, tower of babel was all about different languages and thats where we get babble and all that, so if it was called Babel translator then it wouldnt have anything to do with h2g2, but I mean, whats the chance of Babel suddenly used in connection with fish? I'm almost sure the hhgg was the root of that.
I recommend going to h2g2.com its an online hitchhiker's guide. People make entriesand post them online, and they have lots of very interesting topics, ranging from clarinets to norwegian public holidays to Monty Python. incredibly interesting and a truly wonderful site to go to when you're bored and need to put off homework.

Hehe. That's so odd...(!) Yeah, that's what I thought, but I asked Ms. Arnote about it and she basically agreed and you agreed and yeah, I think that's enough evidence. I really need to do my homework now, and yesterday was my birthday!! (Happy Birthday Kuliogirl!)

I agree with Kuliogirl and Dont_Panic42 that the part about the towel is one of the most humorous piece of advice. I know there are a couple more, but I haven't read that book in a long time. Once I find them I would post them. I think that the connection between Babel fish and websites and the tower is also very interesting. Although I think Douglas Adams thought of the Babel Fish from the Tower of Babel.

Yes, well, I'm absolutely sure that DA thought of the Babel Fish from the Tower of Babel, if not it wouldn't make sense and it wouldn't be so ironic. It's hilarious how you have to put it in your ear. I also like Ford Prefect's logic that if we can all assume that Dent will be on the ground all day and the construction guy could be yelling at him all day, than the consturction guy could lie where Dent was and stuff.. that was funny.. Also, I'm not sure if it was in this book, but I like the theory that flying is an easy thing to achieve. All you have to do is fall down and miss the ground. ;p

I think the most useful advice would be a towel. It is very true that everyone would assume you have everything else, because no one would carry only a towel. THis is also funny because it is true but nobody would think of it. It is odd that the book keeps comming back to this one piece of advice.

When our explorers discover a mysterious planet, dead for 5,000,000 years, they hear a ghostly voice saying the following on their "sub etha" radio, "Greetings to you...This is a recorded announcement, as I'm afraid we're all out at the moment..."

Pretend you are one of the last conscious people on Earth. You are assigned to leave a message for visitors entering our space in the future. Describe your message. Would you fire missiles?

"Welcome to Earth, a wonderful planet, formerly harboring our diverse species of love, joy, and hope.Although none of our kind exists today, we have a message to leave on to the beings in Outer Space, a region we've attempted to explore numerous times. We never encountered any of your kind, or any conscious beings outside of those on Earth, yet we wish for peace and prosperity in your future. Stay tuned for a specialy recorded film projecting the last moments of human life and the beauty and splendor that is our legacy."

And then there would be a specially recorded filim projecting the last moments of human life and the beauty and splendor that is our legacy. No, I wouldn't fire missiles. I think that the tremendously rich beings who lived on Magrathea wished to protect their planet, which is why they had missiles prepared, but I wouldn't think that us earthlings would have anything to hide.

Something I thought was really funny was when the missiles were sent and Dent pressed the Improbability Factor button, and the missiles transformed into a bowl of petunias and a whale, and the whale ( I think it's the whale, might have been the bowl) turned out to be Agrajag, the creature that Dent inadvertently kills every single time Agrajag is reincarnated. That was just hilarioius!! Also, another part I enjoyed was when Zaphod Beeblebrox complimented Arthur Dent on his quick thinking to press the Improb Factor Button, and Arthur says, "Oh, it was nothing" and Zaphod Beeblebrox says, "Oh, fine.", and totally ignores him the rest of the time. It's just so funny and ironic, but it's funnier in the book than when I tell it.

Kuliogirl,

If there has to be one person left, humanity will be well served if it is you.

Join the party. Bring your lunch to the library this Wednesday for a gathering of the MOB. The library will supply drinks, dessert, and MORE :-)

Let's also talk about the MOB and suggestions for the rest of the year.

"Welcome to Earth, a planet where the showers are hot, the drinks are cold, and we like to solve our problems by throwing large tubes full of explosive material at each other." I would not fire missiles, but instead begin to launch a barrage of ham sandwiches and little stuffed puppies at the ships, just to see their reaction.

Yes, turtablist, i can see you doing that...can't you just see arthur going, "oh no! little stuffed puppies! How am I going to operate my digital watch now?" and zaphod would act totally cool and froody about it all and act like he got ham sandwiches fired at him all the time. my message would be...(rum droll please)...
"You have now reached planet earth. We were a fairly inconspicuous planet at the end of the western arm of an insignificant spiral galaxy. We used to havewonderful oceans, canyons, mountains, and prairies, but they're all gone now, thanks to Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz. Toodles, see you a bit to the side on the probability axis." no where near as good as the others, but i have dinner to get to and all. see you all wednesday, or wibble as some call it.

Hm.. it would be ironic if the alien civilization that discovered the remnents of Earth and turntablist's message was especially sensitive to the somewhat toxic combination of ham and mayo.. and allergic to all fabric whatsoever.

Yes ham and mayo does create a somewhat toxic combination. Especially when I make it.

Dear MOBsters,

Due to conflicts with Brain Bowl and Peer Mediators, we have decided it would be best to postpone our gathering originally scheduled for today, 12/11.

The new date is Thursday, January 23. (42 days from yesterday!)

Don't panic. Bring your lunch to the library, we will supply the drinks, dessert, and more!

Mrs Kehe
Mr. White
Mr. Swist

Oh, I like that. 42 days from yesterday, the answer to life, the universe, and everything!!! 6*9=x x=42.

Welcome to earth, where we have not accomplished anything that is useful to anyone else becaue we are all now gone. I wouldn't fire missles, though.

Very short and to the point, nonsense. its interesting about 6*9=42. Everybody knows that 6*9 is 54, except for me on the first 5th grade mad minute, that was the question i kept missing. or maybe it was 7*8. in fact, i think it was. but that is beside the point. (you see, point is here . that is here . ) But anyway, 6*9actually is 42, if you use base 13. When Douglas Adams was asked about it, he just said, "You don't write jokes in base 13." no idea what it means, or how it connects to whatever we're talking about write now, but lets all sit back and marvel about that little tidbit of information. Speaking of which, DA's favorite little factoids of information were...
1. Bramwell Bronte, brother of Emily and Charlotte, died leaning against a mantlepiece just to prove it could be done.
2. Young sloths are so inept that they frequently grab their own arms and legs instead or tree limbs and consequently fall to their death.
3. The trans-siberian railway has a large nick in it because when the plans were being made, the tsar drew a line on the map saying where the railway should be. The ruler had a nick in it.

Interesting, isnt it? I would like to take this opportunity to say that the library should get 1 or 2 copies of "The Salmon of Doubt", a posthumously written book by Douglas Adams. It has lots of stuff he wrote, going from his first published work (a letter he sent in to his favorite magazine) to a description of a holiday in Australia to the first 11, i think it is, chapters of the book he was writing at the time of his incredibly untimely and early death. So yes, i think the library should get some copies of it, and if they already do, then everybody should read them. I should probably check to see if they do before writing this, but this is at home on a saturday night, and i have no access to the library, and anyway the last time i checked they didn't have it. Also, isn't it interesting that Douglas Noel Adams was born in Cambridge in 1952 and his initials are DNA? (one of my little favorite little factoids of information.)

Thank you for the suggestion. The posthumously published, Salmon of Doubt, is now on order.

Don't panic. The second semester begins in 42 days

What is the next book that we are doing and when are we doing it? I'd like to know because I don't live at ASIJ anymore....
thanks!

Did you ever live at ASIJ in the first place? Anyway, we are currently doing the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and we are going to do Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix when it comes out, but I don't know what we're doing next.

I was in tokyo last year (6th grade) and attended ASIJ but don't live there

Okay...but when does HP and the O of the P come out? do u guys know?

Hmm, I don't know for sure, but after scouting around on the Internet, I've heard that it comes out this summer, this winter, next summer, etc. Nobody really knows for sure, what with all of the movies due to come out and all the delays. Oh, have you all heard of Tanya Grotter and the Magical Bass (something like that) or Parry Botter and the Stone's Sorceror (something like that)? They're knock-offs of Harry Potter made in Russia, it's hilarious, but the authors insist that they are original creations, and they may seem like Harry Potter, but if you read it it's very, very different. Unbelieveable.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to come to the January 23rd Thursday MOB meeting. All of my lunches are booked for a while; Mon/Wed/Fri BB, and Tues/Thurs by D2D until March. I hope everyone has fun at the meeting.

Oh yes Kuliogirl--in the newspaper once I saw an article about Tanya Grotter. If the authors claim they are original creations the why oh why are the names so simmilar? (Tanya Grotter=Parry Botter=Harry Potter)

There is also an unauthorized parody going around called Barry Trotter and the Unauthorized Parody. It is supposed to be the "true" story of one Barry Trotter who was interviewed by J.K. Rowling so that she could write a new book. It includes all sorts of "omissions" that Rowling supposedly left out of the book to make more kid friendly. Then in the book Barry Trotter has to go and stop the premier of the movie Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone because it would encourage people to visit the magical school

That's inconceivable, it's probably just an excuse to release a fake book which someone will obviously profit off of. It's too coincidental, and even I don't believe that there is a magical school called Hogwarts. I wish people would stop creating fake books and claiming them as their own! J.K.Rowling was struggling single mother before she wrote Harry Potter. She wrote it, and she deserves all of the credit, not some Barry Potter or Tanya Grotter.

Well the author who wrote Barry Trotter and the Unauthorized Parody writes parodies. He didn't mean for people to believe there is a Hogwarts, more just to parodize a story already loved by thousands. He isn't trying to earn credit for writing a completely original story, more just be one of the probably many to write a parody of Harry Potter. The book is indeed his own, as he wrote it, just the topic not entirely his own.

I agree, except if the topic or subject is not his or her own, which it isn't, wouldn't you call fake?

Hmm. The Barry Trotter one is quite interesting. It's not just another Harry Potter, but it's a book making fun of Harry Potter. I think that's acceptable. However, the Tanya Grotter and junk is terrible. It's plagarism, and no matter how much that author says that it seems like Harry Potter but it's completely different, it is and will always be a complete copy of Harry Potter by a person without the integrity or imagination to create his own.

Aren't we supposed to be talking about "The Hitchikers' Guide To The Galaxy"? Just curious, not trying to make you guys mad or anything....

Harry potter and the order of the pheonix is seven hundred eighty six pages (I think) It's so long! And it's coming out REALLY SOON!! YEA i'm so excited!!