Monday, March 11, 2013

A Legendary Writer Remembered (Updated)

     Born on this day, March 11,  in 1952, in Cambridge England, he was an English writer, dramatist, and humorist.
     He has written three stories for the Doctor Who television series, one of which was never completed and never broadcast due to industrial disputes. This was back in the days of the fourth Doctor, Tom Baker. 
      The list of stories, articles, and books would fill the page, so I'll make it simple for everyone here with two words that should give away who I am talking about here.
    "DON'T PANIC"
That alone should tell you that I am talking about the great and never to be forgotten in this or any other universe, the great Mr. Douglas Noel Adams.
      If you haven't figured out the two words yet, where you been, Saying goodbye to the dolphins, or making plans with the mice out there. 
     He is the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started out as a comedy science fiction radio program. It has since spawned the sequels, numerous spin-offs, stage show, video game, etc. It was also a full length movie, (pretty decent), and a British TV series, which was bloody awesome, (maybe since I saw it before the movie was ever made).
     He was a staunch advocate for environmentalism and conservation. He also loved fast cars, cameras, technological innovation, and the Apple Macintosh. 
     He was also a complete atheist and made famous his imagining a sentient puddle which wakes up one morning and thinks as follows. 
     "This is an interesting world I find myself in - an interesting hole I find myself in - fits me rather neatly doesn't it? In fact, it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!"
     This of course will make sense to anyone that has ever read the Guide. The guide was of course the first four parts of the radio program by the same name, and was first published on October 12, 1979.
     For anyone that is not familiar with the Guide, it was inspired by the book The Hitch-hikers Guide to Europe. The Guide however, is for anyone hitchhiking their way around the galaxy. Being an Ex-drifter myself, I of course fell in love with the book, and the series immediately. 
     Mr. Adams died of a heart attack on may 11, 2001 at age 49. Way too soon if you ask me, way too bloody soon. 
     I thought that here on his birthday, would be a good time to remember him. So every one just take a moment to remember this. Always, and I mean always keep a clean towel on hand, because you never know when an intergalactic bypass will be built, and you'll need to get off planet fast. 
     Thank you Douglas Adams for the wear and tear on my rib cage as I laughed my way through the entire bloody series.
     Even Google remembered him this day, and here is a link to the Google doodle. Not sure how long it will be up, so please take a look for my man here. Thank you all.
http://www.google.co.uk/
The link no longer works, but I found the bloody thing online again, and was able to get it. So here it is.
And for those that don't  get it all, here's the explanation, in hitchhiker terms mostly.

2 comments:

kallamis said...

Oh, and on Fb today, there is a page called "I Fucking Love Science." They have run amok today with sayings and stuff from Mr. Adams.

kallamis said...

Oh yeah. Frankenstein was also first published on this day in history.