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Giselle has volunteered to lead this discussion!

#112: Oct. - Dec. 2012 (Fiction)
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giselle

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Interesting that in the Foreword there is mention of the Hitchhikers guide as a very cool book that young people could identify with back in the day. I gues that's when many of us read it the first time. Good background on Rickmansworth .. but the question is ... have you been to Guildford, Ford Prefect's 'adopted' home? I like your reference to an Arthur Dent moment. Arthur is an unlikely hero but a hero just the same. Did you have to throw yourself in front of earth moving equipment to stop them building the phone mast?
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Giselle:
Did you have to throw yourself in front of earth moving equipment to stop them building the phone mast?
Metaphorically. I did fly into a tizzy though.....Our local newspaper got behind me and printed my photo looking suitably perplexed and with a write up saying that the mobile phone companies just seemed to go-ahead and place masts willy-nilly. I know we must have mobile phone masts, but there is a great big open field across the road. They didn't need to put it directly opposite my parlour window, except that it made access easy for themselves. Anyway, they promised that it would only be there for a month or so whilst the electric pylon they used had maintenance work. When that was done they moved them back as promised. But they could have informed us of that fact first. I really got my knickers in a twist about that!!! :lol:

This is only relevant to demonstrate the antics of big businesses, when they are not monitored. There was probably planning permission for the mast, in a locked bottom drawer at the council offices, a la Arthur Dent.
Only those become weary of angling who bring nothing to it but the idea of catching fish.

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Penny, just wait until the Vogons show up.... :mrgreen:
Love what you do, and do what you love. Don't listen to anyone else who tells you not to do it. -Ray Bradbury

Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't be done, and why. Then do it. -Robert A. Heinlein
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giselle

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Penelope wrote:
This is only relevant to demonstrate the antics of big businesses, when they are not monitored. There was probably planning permission for the mast, in a locked bottom drawer at the council offices, a la Arthur Dent.
Yah, and I bet there would be a sign on the door saying "Beware of the Leopard"!! I like that line and I've used it a few times over the years to comical effect because not EVERYONE has read HHG so I've got some funny looks. 8) And yes I think Adams is lampooning big business and the council, I love the way he describes the little man from the council with his Mongol warrior ancestry.

Thanks for joining the discussion Cattleman. I'm sure if the Vogons show up at Penny's place that would be big news for the local paper! :P

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I wonder if Douglas based the whole house demo/bypass on an experience he saw someone go through? Anyhow, one of my favourite moments in the whole book is Mr. L Prosser who has visions of Genghis Khan and a `predilection for little fur hats.' Brilliant! It still makes me laugh years...no, decades later.
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John Sliz wrote:I wonder if Douglas based the whole house demo/bypass on an experience he saw someone go through? Anyhow, one of my favourite moments in the whole book is Mr. L Prosser who has visions of Genghis Khan and a `predilection for little fur hats.' Brilliant! It still makes me laugh years...no, decades later.
Yes, I think Adams ties his character and humour to real people because as exaggerated or even silly the story line might be, I feel there is always some connection to reality and real people. Many of us have likely incurred the wrath of some officious sod from the local government office, perhaps not involving bulldozers, but wrath nonetheless. I agree Adams characterization of Mr. Prosser with visions of Genghis Khan is brilliant.
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I always thought the best advice from the book was to always have a towel when traveling. An art that is lost now that most of us travel from one hotel to another.
~froglipz~

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Si vis pacem, para bellum: If you wish for peace, prepare for war.
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Froglipz: Nice to hear from you! And yes I think the 'towel' advice is great, if slightly outdated, perhaps the smartphone is the towel of today. :x
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giselle wrote:

perhaps the smartphone is the towel of today
A smartphone would be useless in outer space though. A towel, much more fundamental.

I think I'd take a cloak with a hood like Obi-wan. That would be really useful. Keep you warm or keep you cool, hide your identity.

What would you take?
Only those become weary of angling who bring nothing to it but the idea of catching fish.

He was born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world is mad....

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And if the cloak was made out of terry cloth it could double as a towel LoL

I would stick with the over large towel as something that would be useful almost everywhere.
~froglipz~

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Si vis pacem, para bellum: If you wish for peace, prepare for war.
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