HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: nightsng@anarky.tch.org (Nightsong)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
Subject: Re: Mostly harmless
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 93 13:05:37 PST
Organization: The Canned Ham, San Jose, CA (408) 971-8530

moser@ks.id.ethz.ch (Stefan Moser) writes:

> In article <1774@ozz.oasis.icl.co.uk>, cwa@oasis.icl.co.uk (Chris Adams) writ
> |> As in the words of Red Dwarf: "I am completely smegging un-gripped..."
> 
> Yes, Yes, Yes. This gets me all excited. I.m completely aware that this is th
> been-killed-yet? stuff. Or even better, let's propose a "Red Dwarf" newsgroup
> Or is there one already?
> 
> Comments ?
> 
>  
> |> Only 1/3rd of the way through, but I'm not exactly itching to see what hap
> |> next...
> |> 
> |>      .-----------------------------.----------------------------------.
> |>      |   .  .     ____    _   _    | WARNING: This Superman suit does |
> |>      |  /| /| .-.    /   |_| |_>   | not enable the wearer to fly.    |
> |>      | / |/ | |     /___ | | |     `----------------------------------|
> |>      |      aka Chris Adams                cwa@oasis.icl.co.uk        |
> |>      `----------------------------------------------------------------'
> 
> -- 
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Stefan Moser             ETH Zuerich               It's soup.
> moser@ks.id.ethz.ch      Communication Systems     Gazpacho soup.
> (01) 256-3538            Clausiusstrasse 59         Arnold J. Rimmer
>                          CH-8092 Zuerich            First Technician, Red Dwa
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

There is a `alt.tv.red-dwarf' newsgroup already....

BTW I *REALLY* missed Zaphod..
From: IO20444@MAINE.MAINE.EDU (The Judge)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
Subject: Re: wonko
Date: 28 Jan 93 21:55:05 GMT
Organization: University of Maine System

As for Wonko's toothpick story:
   This is true.  One day, in the mall, my boyfriend and I were searching
for toothpicks, in any "general interest" sort of place.  No dice.
Finally, I sent him in to the last place, and he came out with --not a
joke-- "Interdental stimulators".  Nowhere on the package did the
word "toothpick" appear.  The instructions were word for word from the
book (whichever one it is; _So long etc_?).  So, unless they copied
Adams, he's telling the gosh-honest truth.
Yeech!  Sort of makes you shiver with revulsion, huh?

---***(((---Daphne Brinkerhoff---)))***---..## I TURNED MY LIFE AROUND,
---***(((---_University of Me.---)))***---..## AND NOW I'M BACK WHERE I
If these weren't my own opinions, why would.## STARTED!!! --ANONYMOUS
I be posting them?(IO20444@maine.maine.edu).## ---***(((&&&)))***---
From: axl@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Andrew Long)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
Subject: Re: Pizza...
Date: 21 Jan 93 14:55:10 GMT
Reply-To: axl@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Andrew Long)
Organization: Edinburgh Uni

In article <7630@sersun1.essex.ac.uk> dauldb@essex.ac.uk (DAulignac D D)>
>
>	Like most of the rooms in Dirk's house it was large, looming and
>utterly dishellved. It simply sneered at anybody's attempt to tidy it, 
>sneered at them and brushed them aside like one of the small pile of dead
>and disheartened flies that lay beneath the window, on top of a pile of
>old pizza boxes.
>    ^^^^^
>

>How can it be explained that
>Dirk has pizza boxes lying on the fridge? Does he have a maniatic obsession


Step 1.  Go down to local Pizza shop.
Step 2.  Say in a clear and distinct voice 
         "I'll have an Extra Large (insert favourite topping) Pizza to 
	  takeaway please"
Step 3.  Go back to flat and consume messily.
Step 4.  Throw empty box on top of fridge.
Step 5.  Repeat from step 1 as necessary.


>
>Later,
>	Diego.

Have a nice day

Andy

PS Has anyone looked up the references supposedly supporting 
recent theory regarding "The Question"?
Marvin with the mattress and Eddie I think.


\/

spoiler



The Question being - "Think of a number, any number"
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
From: eyvind@Lise.Unit.NO (Eyvind Bernhardsen)
Subject: Re: Artificial Universe
Keywords: MH, Mostly Harmless, Artificial Universe
Organization: Norwegian Institute of Technology
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 93 18:45:57 GMT

In article <1jn1b0INNq17@bigboote.WPI.EDU>, drwho@coyote.WPI.EDU (Eric Ant Von Laudermann) writes:
 > In article <C15DH7.94I@cs.vu.nl> fvkampen@cs.vu.nl (Kampen van F) writes:
 > >Sombody wrote that when Ford left the building through the window
 > >he might be in an artificial universe. But the people with the 
 > >rocket launchers came through the door, and so they must be real.
 > >
 > >Suppose Ford IS in an artificial universe (remember, He went through
 > >the window TWO times) the rocket launchers came in through the
 > >door, yes, but in an artificial building, so they are artificial too.
 > 
 > No, he went through two different windows.  In Restaurant, Zarniwoop
 > was the editor-in-chief of the Guide.  In MH, Vann Harl is the
 > editor-in-chief.  So, presumably, the window of the editor-in-chief's
 > office in *any* Guide building is a gateway to an artificial universe.
 > Ford only went through that window once.
 > 
 > Wait a minute,  I just checked, and the Vogons were grey even before
 > Ford went through the window.  Dang.  All right, how about this: when 

That doesn't matter...  In Restaurant... (?), Zaphod saw the grey fighters (which
were green in the real world) BEFORE he actually entered an office...  I think
that the point isn't that you have to exit a window, you just have to not go out
a door (if you see what I mean...) - the artificial universe exists inside the
building, and you can only leave it by leaving through the door.  I think.

 > My, this is fun, isn't it?

Wheeeeee...  :)

 > >Florentijn van Kampen
 > >email: fvkampen@cs.vu.nl

 > --E.V.L. (drwho@wpi.wpi.edu)  # "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you see

-Eyvind

-- 
     //|                             | DISCLAIMER: I don't HAVE opinions.
    // |                             | I just repeat what everyone else says!
\\ //--|miga: There can be only one. |
 \X/   |         eyvind@lise.unit.no | Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!  Ackpth!
From: jute@sday.pulp.nullnet.fi (Jussi Kantola)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
Subject: Re: Pizza...
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 93 07:50:39 PST
Distribution: world
Organization: Splattersday

dauldb@solb1.essex.ac.uk (DAulignac D D) writes:

> 	So Dirk does NOT store the pizza. Does he go to the store and
> prepares it imediately after buying it? How can it be explained that

No, he goes to the nearest pizzeria, orders a pizza and walks home
to eat it.

---
 Jussi Kantola from Paltamo, Finland
 email: jute@sday.pulp.nullnet.fi
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
From: jdunning@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (John Alan Dunning)
Subject: Re: Comment on MH
Originator: news@nimaster
Organization: Princeton University
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 15:00:50 GMT

In article <1jjfllINNsa2@lily.csv.warwick.ac.uk> cstadge@csv.warwick.ac.uk (Mr G R Douglas) writes:
>Hmmm.... What about the dolphins? they escaped before the earth was destroyed 
>in both Earth Mk I and Earth Mk II, and the guide Mk II didn't do anything to
>destroy them, cos they weren't on te earth to be destroyed. If the dolphins 
>still exist..... Come to think of it, a book full of Dolphins might not be
>THAT interesting....
>
>	-Giles

Ever heard of _Startide Rising_, by David Brin?  Many of the characters
are dolphins which have been genetically engineered by humans to be more
intelligent.  The dolphins turn out to be horny, poetry-loving pranksters.
It's not exactly absurdist humor, but it's good SF.

In any case, if DA can make a memorable character out of an automatic door,
he should have no trouble with dolphins.

John
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
From: amw@cs.bham.ac.uk (Andy Wood)
Subject: Re: An interview
Organization: School of Computer Science, The University of Birmingham, UK
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 16:58:06 GMT

amw@cs.bham.ac.uk (Me) writes:

> He was supposed to be visiting us yesterday - but was struck down by a
> mystery virus and cancelled. (sniff.)

In fact you could say that we were Doug-less.

Andy...
-- 
Andy Wood : amw@cs.bham.ac.uk
From: Jeremy_Reimer@mindlink.bc.ca (Jeremy Reimer)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
Subject: Re: British humour (was Re: discrepency in Guide)
Date: 22 Jan 93 08:56:24 GMT
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada

> Philip G. Edmonds writes:
>
> Msg-ID: <93Jan20.160642edt.696@smoke.cs.toronto.edu>
> Posted: 20 Jan 93 21:07:08 GMT
>
> Org.  : Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto
>
> In article <1jjsqmINNrab@srvr1.engin.umich.edu>
> ferret@paradox.engin.umich.edu (kenneth r lipka) writes:
> >
> >       Are you saying that over in England, "zebra crossing" is slang for
> "pedestrian crosswalk"?  If this is true, then I have been finding more
> humor in
> >THGTTG than DNA intended.  I always assumed he was being his usually silly
> self and meant "zebra crossing" like the American "deer crossing" signs you
> see all
> >over our wooded areas.
> >
> >       Ken Lipka
> >       ferret@engin.umich.edu
>
>
>    Many North Americans find British humour very funny and very silly.  One
> of the reasons is that we don't always 'get' the jokes the way they
> were intended to be 'gotten'.  In the case of the zebra crossing, the
> intended joke is funny but a little mundane.  Many people have the
> impression
> that Douglas Adams's sense of humour is very silly and doesn't make any
> real sense.  I hear people say "It doesn't really matter what he means,
> or where he got the idea from, it's just silly!".  I don't think that
> this point of view is accurate.  Douglas Adams and many other British
> comedy acts (especially Monty Python) have very SATIRICAL and POIGNANT
> points to make (along with being just a leetle beet silly).
>
>    It is disapointing that his books are edited so that US audiences
> can understand the jokes.  People who read this stuff tend to be
> intelligent and can figure them out (or find them even more funny).
> After all, it is the same language.  We should treat the original text as
> a learning experience of another culture.
>
> Phil.


A good point.  Fortunately all the Adams books sold in Canada appear to be
the unedited and original British versions.

Yet more proof that Canadians are superior to those noisy Yanks... :)




--
Jeremy_Reimer@ |"It turned out, as N-Man discovered later, that the black
mindlink.bc.ca | boat hadn't been after him at all.  It was full of riotous,
---------------| unemployed former James Bond villains enraged at the fall
aka THE JAGUAR!| of Communism in the Soviet Union."
---------------|
Stealth Sig#69 |  --From "N-Man #3: N-Man on Holiday"
From: mcbride@owlnet.rice.edu (Douglas Foster McBride)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
Subject: Emergency Marvin quote request!!!
Date: 27 Jan 93 23:18:35 GMT
Organization: very little

I need as many Marvin quotes as I can get my hands on as soon as
possible.  So Marvin fans, email me your favorites!  Thanks a lot in
advance.

-- 
 Doug McBride                (mcbride@rice.edu)               (713) 630-8796
	      I was born in a lighthouse, my mother was the sea
	   I crawled to school each morning when it occurred to me
	   That life's just a mood ring we're not allowed to see...
Organization: Freshman, CIT general, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 17:34:01 -0500 
From: Geoffrey Spear <gspear+@CMU.EDU>
Subject: Re: S

	Because the mice are the most intelligent species on Earth.

	Do you protest the ruling of Earth by humans because it's unfair to the
monkees?
----------------------------------------------------------
Geoff Spear                | email:  gspear+@CMU.EDU
Carnegie Mellon University | USnail: Box #1362
Electrical & Computer      |         1060 Morewood Ave.
         Engineering       |         Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Class of 2034 (and that's  | VoiceNet: (412) CMU-4793
   if I'm lucky)           |
----------------------------------------------------------
	For a transcript of this message, send all of your
money to the above address.  Or kill me! 
----------------------------------------------------------

Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
From: kewasiel@unix.amherst.edu (They call me Ren)
Subject: wonko
Organization: Amherst College
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL7]
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 09:05:57 GMT

here's a question that's been bothering me for awhile:
regarding wonko the sane's toothpick quotation, is this for real?  i mean, are
there really toothpicks with such explicit instructions?  i've never
encountered such critters, but then i'm not a very big toothpick connisseur.
so, has anybody else see this?
thanks!
ren

--
           karen wasielewski      "a chinese philosopher once had a dream that 
     kewasiel@cs.amherst.edu  _|_  he was a butterfly.  from that day on, he 
   kewasiel@unix.amherst.edu   |   was never quite certain that he was not a
kewasielewsk@amh.amherst.edu   |   butterfly, dreaming that he was a man.
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
From: shimkus@athena.cs.uga.edu (Doc)
Subject: Re: Mostly Harmful?
Organization: University of Georgia, Athens
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 01:51:17 GMT

In article <1k20qnINN9vj@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu> ginsu@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Wes Simonds) writes:
>rkallberg@vax.cord.edu writes:
>
>>Anyone who says Adams has lost his touch as a comic writer has not read
>>"Last Chance to See", the environmental book he wrote about his jaunts
>>around the world to look at vanishing wildlife. It's not only socially
>>relevant, it's funny, charming, and haunting, and it is in my view some
>>of the best comic work written by anyone, ever. And it's mostly true.
>>Adams' fable at the end about the books containing all the knowledge in
>>the world is a minor masterpiece.
>
>Comments: Yes, LCTS is extremely good in parts.  The line about the Latvian
>students and gorilla dung, for example, was superb.  However, it is not a 
>novel, and therefore cannot be cited as contrary to the idea that Adams'
>comic novels are not what they used to be.  Novels involve plotting
>characterization, and dialogue, not just style.  They are much much harder.
>
>As for the fable, it's interesting, but Adams admits he didn't write it.
>
>Wes


Sweet Jesu, what the hell do you guys expect.  I challenge any one of you to 
name an author who has written at least 7 novels that hasnt turned in ONE that
isnt up to his best, or even the standard he set for himself.  I havent read
Mostly Harmless yet (I cannot afford the Hardcover, and the libraries is always
checked out), but even if it is the most insulting piece of drivel ever to
be inked onto a former tree, does that mean we should go bury Adams and forget 
about him?  Maybe we should break his hands to keep him from writing?  NO writer
can constantly improve and have his next book be better than his last.  In the
field of sf/f comedy, look at anthony, asprin, dechancie, et. al.  As their
series progressed, the quality of the novels declined, some slightly, some
rapidly. (Pratchett is the exception that proves the rule).  Even Robert
Heilein, one of the greatest science fiction authors EVER, turned in some
real stinkers in his career.  My point, I think, is dont give up on Adams yet.
He may still have the spark in him.  LDTTOTS was a good example.  Is it good
comedy?  Yes it is.  Black comedy.  Not the happy evervescent biting satire of
his earlier work, but indeed the dark brooding comedy that points lucidly to
some of the absurdities in everyday life.  I dont know if there will ever be 
another HH book, nor if there should be.  But I look forward to the return of
Dirk Gently, if Adams can recapure the form of the first book (which WAS better)

Regards,
+doc
From: reddwarf@triton.unm.edu (RedDwarf)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
Subject: HHGTG TV Episodes...
Summary: How Many....?
Date: 27 Jan 93 00:20:42 GMT
Organization: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
NNTP-Posting-Host: triton.unm.edu


   I was wondering if one of you out there might be able to clear something
up about the HHGTG TV episodes....  I've come across two different lengths.
I've come across a 6 episode version and a 7 episode version.  Is the 6v
cut up or is it compleat but longer episodes... or is the 7v uncut but 
shorter to accomidate a 30 minute timeslot on PBS...  How was it originally
broadcast on the Brit tv?  Have I seen it all?


Marcus
Reddwarf@triton.unm.edu

"Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast."
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
From: sanity@cix.compulink.co.uk (Stuart Dyckhoff)
Subject: Aside..                                 
Cc: sanity@cix.compulink.co.uk
Reply-To: sanity@cix.compulink.co.uk
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 14:50:00 +0000

       DNA is available as DNA@cix.demon.co.uk. AT least that's the routing I
think will reach him - whether or not he replies is his perogative.

Stu...D!!
sanity@cix

>>>MATRIX version  1.21e
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
From: eeyimkn@unicorn.nott.ac.uk (M. Knell)
Subject: Re: British humour (was Re: discrepency in Guide)
Organization: Cripps Computing Centre, University of Nottingham
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 93 22:29:28 GMT

>> Philip G. Edmonds writes:
>> >       Are you saying that over in England, "zebra crossing" is slang for
>> "pedestrian crosswalk"?  If this is true, then I have been finding more
>> >THGTTG than DNA intended.  I always assumed he was being his usually silly
>> self and meant "zebra crossing" like the American "deer crossing" signs you
>> see all
>> >over our wooded areas.
It's not slang at all. There are officially different types of pedestrian
crossing in the UK - a zebra is one with flashing beacons and black/white
stripes, a pelican is a push the button and wait till it goes bing one, and
there are now puffin crossings being introduced, which use an IR beam.
This is true. Really.

>>    Many North Americans find British humour very funny and very silly.  One
>> of the reasons is that we don't always 'get' the jokes the way they
>> were intended to be 'gotten'.  In the case of the zebra crossing, the
>> intended joke is funny but a little mundane.  Many people have the
>> impression
>> that Douglas Adams's sense of humour is very silly and doesn't make any
>> real sense.
British comedy is based around satire. I mean real comedy, not sitcoms such as
Terry and June. It does tend to hide very serious points behind being very
silly, but as lots of the stuff would only be comprehensible to those of us who
are British or have lived there for a long time, you foreigners ( :-) ) could
be forgiven for thinking it's just silly. We think the same way about the Cosby
Show. ( joke! joke! :-) )
Indeed, it's interesting how little comedy crosses the pond our way than we
export to the Americas.

>> After all, it is the same language.
The same language? It's completely different. Try asking an English person what
they think of your pants. :-)

Cheers, Mike

+-- 'with the lights out, it's less dangerous...' --------------------------+
\------ Mike Knell, Willoughby Hall, University of Nottingham, IO92JX ------/
 \  AMPRnet: mikee@g7gpa.ampr.org -=- Internet: eeyimkn@unicorn.nott.ac.uk /
  \   JANET: eeyimkn@uk.ac.nott.unicorn   AX25: G7GPA@GB7BAD.#23.GBR.EU   /
   +--------------------------------- 'oh well, whatever, nevermind...'--+
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
From: sek@cck.coventry.ac.uk (Ann C    )
Subject: Mice Re: S
Organization: CPSFS
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 10:44:59 GMT

In article <ahrrison.728041344@unix1.tcd.ie> ahrrison@unix1.tcd.ie (ashley george harrison) writes:
>Anybody out there know why white mice rule the world?
>It seems so unfair to the white rats, rabbits, and other "lab" animals.
>   

	Mice are the second most intelligent species on Earth, making Man
	the third.  The dolphins are the most intelligent species.  They left
	the earth before the vogons arrived - they're final message being
	"So long and thanks for all the fish"

	The mice were furious when the vogons destroyed the earth 5 minutes
	too early as it hadn't run it's course to find the Ultimate Question -
	hence the Earth Mark II needing to be built.  

As to the question, mice are more socially acceptable - hence Arthur's initial
comparison to 'women screaming on tables in 1960s sitcoms' when Slartibartfast
introduced the idea on Magrathea...  

Rats tend to be thought of as vermin.  And rabbits, well they'd overrun the 
place!!!!!!!!!!!  So it was the mice who created the Earth, etc....


-- 
==============================================================================
            Myshella        | sek@uk.ac.cov.cch |    Rest in Peace
       Empress of the Dawn  |                   |  Till we meet again
==============================================================================
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
From: ahrrison@unix1.tcd.ie (ashley george harrison)
Subject: S
Organization: Trinity College, Dublin
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 09:42:24 GMT

Anybody out there know why white mice rule the world?
It seems so unfair to the white rats, rabbits, and other "lab" animals.
   

Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
From: roy@panix.com (Roy Radow)
Subject: Mostly Harmless on Tape
Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix, NYC
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 06:28:05 GMT

Just got an interesting books on cassette tape catalog from
Audio Editions (800 231 4261).

Not only do they have the original 6 hour HHG (6 tapes, $34.95
#R9A867a) they also carry The Restaurant At The End of the 
Universe (4 tapes, $24.95 #B4D294u) unabridged and read by Doug 
Adams himself, and Mostly Harmless (4 tapes, $24.95 #B4D568u)
also unabridged and also read by Adams.

Enjoy, and Don't Panic  :-)

Roy
Newsgroups: alt.fan.douglas-adams
Subject: Mostly Harmful?
From: rkallberg@vax.cord.edu
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 21:17:15 GMT
Reply-To: rkallberg@vax.cord.edu
Organization: Concordia College, Moorhead, MN

Anyone who says Adams has lost his touch as a comic writer has not read
"Last Chance to See", the environmental book he wrote about his jaunts
around the world to look at vanishing wildlife. It's not only socially
relevant, it's funny, charming, and haunting, and it is in my view some
of the best comic work written by anyone, ever. And it's mostly true.
Adams' fable at the end about the books containing all the knowledge in
the world is a minor masterpiece.

But you're right. I didn't like Mostly Harmless NEARLY as well as any of
Adams' other books. But at least read LCTS before you give up on him