The Book Club at the End of the Universe

A podcast discussion of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the works of Douglas Adams, and other stories for life after the Vogons arrive. On Twitter, Soundcloud, and iTunes.

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In this episode, we discuss chapters 19 to 28 of *The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy*, in which everything is explained but also nothing is, in fact, explained. Colin explains why it’s actually rather anthropocentric to assume that hyperintelligent pan-dimensional beings would care about the Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything, Fausto speculates about what the Question could be, and we all try to place the crew of the *Heart of Gold* on the nerd-jock/prep-goth alignment — then argue about whether it’s useful.

NOTES

You can purchase an omnibus copy of the Hitchhiker’s novels on Amazon in many formats: amzn.to/2BFtXxU — or you will almost certainly find copies at your local library or a real-world bookstore, which will be glad of your business.

Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, which Marvin obeys grudgingly at best: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Laws_of_Robotics

The last interglacial was, in fact, only about 125,000 years ago (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interglacial). Seven and a half million years ago gets us to the late Miocene (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miocene), about a million years farther back than the last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees …

Anti-Emo riots in Mexico. No but really: www.wired.com/2008/03/anti-emo-riots/

Just one example of a “Love, Actually” wedding: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3Uc4pqaXvo

MUSICAL BITS

- Beethoven’s Symphony Number Seven in A major, Op 92, played on piano by Luis Sarro, via Musopen: musopen.org/music/2402/ludwig-v…iano-transcription/ - Leroy Anderson, “Blue Tango” played by Markus Staub musopen.org/music/43996-blue-tango/ - JS Bach, “Prelude in E major, BWV 937”, played by Elias Bruno musopen.org/music/3803-6-little…eludes-bwv-933-938/ - “Journey of the Sorcerer” on banjo, by ldvries www.youtube.com/watch?v=50zhztSIY…b_channel=ldvries

[parkayquarts]

gay fashion icons, all of them. sensible business lesbian. knit sweater gay. snazzy bisexual. fashion disaster gay. robot

speedpaint

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In this episode we discuss chapters 8 to 18 of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which is more than we said we would last time, and we hope the extra discussion-fodder was worth the wait. In these chapters Ford and Arthur are rescued from death in the vacuum of space under highly improbable circumstances. Then our heroes escape death at the metaphorical hands of an ancient automated planetary defense system through additional improbable circumstances.

Colin, Jeremy, and Fausto naturally take this as an excuse to discuss WHALES ... IN ... SPAAAAAACE.

EPISODE NOTES

You can purchase an omnibus copy of the Hitchhiker’s novels on Amazon in many formats: amzn.to/2BFtXxU —or you will almost certainly find copies at your local library or a real-world bookstore, which will be glad of your business.

The SNL sketch about the origin of sarcasm seems to be lost to Google, but here’s the Kids in the Hall sketch about the guy with the really unfortunate speech impediment: youtu.be/5Q2lBSctGBo

Rebecca Onion has traced the history of space whales in Lapham’s Quarterly: www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/f…-space-whale — and Annalee Newitz blogged about it for io9: io9.gizmodo.com/where-do-space-wh…me-from-829831859 — and TVTropes has a whole page for the concept: tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpaceWhale

MUSICAL BITS

- Johann Sebastian Bach’s Prelude in A minor, BWV 922, performed by Sylvia Kind, via Musopen: musopen.org/music/3214/johann-s…in-a-minor-bwv-922/ - Beethoven's Symphony Number Seven in A major, Op 92, played on piano by Luis Sarro, via Musopen: musopen.org/music/2402/ludwig-v…iano-transcription/ - William Babell’s Prelude in G major “from the Frontispiece”, performed by Richard Kram, via Musopen: musopen.org/music/3152/william-…m-the-frontispiece/

[missingpresumedfed]

In this episode we discuss chapters 4 to 7 of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, in which Ford and Arthur are rescued from the destruction of the Earth, Arthur experiences both culture shock and the miracle of the Babel Fish, and they are both ejected into the vacuum of space. Also, someone we haven't met before (possibly) steals a hyperadvanced spaceship of some sort.

Colin and Jeremy are joined for the first time by Fausto Bustos, who will provide the critical perspective of a Hitchhiker's Guide virgin. He's also weirdly enthusiastic about prunes.

EPISODE NOTES

You can purchase an omnibus copy of the Hitchhiker’s novels on Amazon in many formats: amzn.to/2BFtXxU —or you will almost certainly find copies at your local library or a real-world bookstore, which will be glad of your business.

Fausto wishes to make it clear that he misspoke when identifying a special appreciation for the third movement of Beethoven’s Symphony Number Seven; he meant to say the second. (The clip Jeremy used in the episode is from the fourth movement.)

“Big enough”, a music video by Kirin J. Callinan that literally made Jeremy fall out of his chair (after the Joshua trees) youtu.be/rvrZJ5C_Nwg

The Oatmeal on “Asian” restaurants theoatmeal.com/comics/asian_food

That Rolling Stone Musk profile: www.rollingstone.com/culture/featur…g-love-w511747

The Storm Crow, “Vancouver’s original nerd bar”, has a full menu and cocktail list on its website: www.stormcrowtavern.com

The search for the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster: www.eater.com/2015/10/21/9522151…-recipes-geek-bars

MUSICAL BITS

- Johann Sebastian Bach’s Prelude in A minor, BWV 922, performed by Sylvia Kind, via Musopen: musopen.org/music/3214/johann-s…in-a-minor-bwv-922/ - Beethoven’s Symphony Number Five in C minor, Op 67, by the Fulda Symphony Orchestra, via Musopen: musopen.org/music/113/ludwig-va…y-no-5-in-cm-op-67/ - And Symphony Number Seven in A major, Op 92, played on piano by Luis Sarro, via Musopen: musopen.org/music/2402/ludwig-v…iano-transcription/ - And Symphony Number Nine in D minor, Op 125, from the European Archive, via Musopen: musopen.org/music/1051/ludwig-v…-no-9-in-dm-op-125/

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OH WAIT WE DID THIS.

In which we discuss the first three chapters of THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, ponder how we'd spend our final 12 minutes or so before the end of the world, and complain about postal service.

Next time: Chapters 4-7, a new friend who is not impressed with either of us, and lots of Beethoven.

MUSICAL BITS

- Johann Sebastian Bach’s Prelude in A minor, BWV 922, performed by Sylvia Kind, via Musopen: musopen.org/music/3214/johann-s…in-a-minor-bwv-922/ - William Babell’s Prelude in G major “from the Frontispiece”, performed by Richard Kram, via Musopen: musopen.org/music/3152/william-…m-the-frontispiece/ - Felix Mendelssohn’s “The Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave)”, Op 26, performed by the Musopen Symphony, via Musopen: musopen.org/music/3152/william-…m-the-frontispiece/

STILL CATCHING UP?

You can purchase an omnibus copy of the Hitchhiker’s novels on Amazon in many formats: http://amzn.to/2BFtXxU —or you will almost certainly find copies at your local library or a real-world bookstore, which will be glad of your business.

You can download mp3-format copies of the 1978 BBC radio series here http://www.induceddyslexia.com/hitchhiker.htm, or buy them on CD from Amazon http://amzn.to/2oZitT1 — Nick Page has been using the radio play as audio for an animated film adaptation, and he’s posting it to YouTube https://youtu.be/88lhjT7zJHo

YouTube also has substantial portions (possibly adding up to all of) the BBC television series: https://youtu.be/L4q6qBuSjHk, or you can buy it on DVD at Amazon: http://amzn.to/2kRzedB

[screenshotingmonstercinema]

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Colin, every time we start the Skype chat for the podcast

[screenshotingmonstercinema]

[hitchhikersguidequotes]

It’s very funny the thing about the towel because… I’ll tell you where it came from. I was on a holiday with a bunch of people, and we were on a Villa in Corfu. And every day we would set out to the beach, and just as we were setting out for the beach there would a problem, and the problem would be that Douglas could not find his towel! Where was my towel? Was it under the bed? Was it on the end of bed? Was it in the bed? Was it the bathroom? Was it hanging on the line outside? Was it in the washing …? Was it …? I had no idea, day after day, where the fuck my towel was. And after I while I just began to think this must be symptomatic of somebody who is so sort of deeply chaotic. But I then … I don’t even know whether I even came up with it first, or somebody on the hold of it came with the idea that somebody who was rather more together than I, would be someone who would really know where their towel was.

Douglas Adams, Parrots, the Universe and Everything, a speech given at the University of California, 2001.  (via hitchhikersguidequotes)

[megthegreat]

sudden craving for hitchhiker’s guide art + needing to warm up after days of no drawing = zaphod and trillian. 

[leona-florianova]

ford and arthur

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Actual footage of Colin proposing the podcast to Jeremy

[mooonbathing]

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

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Oh hey we’re on iTunes now

That’s right it’s official.

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EPISODE 0: Don’t Panic

We're Colin J. Carlson and Jeremy B. Yoder. We were Internet Friends and then we became Real Friends, and then we decided we should make a podcast. That's the usual progression, right?

One of the things that brought us together was a love of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy — so we've decided we're going to re-read Douglas Adams's comic science fiction masterpiece and talk about it. Maybe at some point we'll have other people on (god we hope we have other people on) and maybe at some point we'll tackle other books and culture that mean a lot to us.

In this episode, we introduce ourselves and the podcast and attempt to give you, the listener, a good sense of what you're in for.

Share and enjoy!

NOTES ON THE EPISODE

You can purchase an omnibus copy of the Hitchhiker’s novels on Amazon in many formats — or you will almost certainly find copies at your local library or a real-world bookstore, which will be glad of your business.

You can download mp3-format copies of the 1978 BBC radio series here, or buy them on CD from Amazon — Nick Page has been using the radio play as audio for a nifty animated film adaptation, which he’s posting to YouTube.

YouTube also has substantial portions (possibly adding up to all of) the BBC television series, or you can buy it on DVD at Amazon.

And then here's the trailer for the 2005 adaptation, which is almost enough to make me think I should give it another go — you can stream or buy the full film on DVD at Amazon or rent it on YouTube (it is not, alas, on Netflix or Hulu).

That BBC attempt to make a real online Hitchhiker’s guide, H2G2, is at https://h2g2.com — it was founded in 1999, so it pre-dates Wikpedia by something like 2 years. The H2G2 page on Douglas Adams informs/reminds me that DNA was, in fact, directly and actively involved in the creation and maintenance of H2G2 — which means that, technically speaking, I (Jeremy) have co-authored something with Douglas Adams Himself.

Here’s an article I contributed about electric fish in 2002: https://h2g2.com/edited_entry/A735004

And another one about, I kid you not, Mennonites: https://h2g2.com/edited_entry/A703342

There is a page on H2G2 about Wikipedia, last updated in 2013, and there is a page on Wikipedia about H2G2, which was last edited in October.

Here is some of what the H2G2 has to say about Wikipedia:

Because Wikipedia encourages factual reporting rather than wild flights of fancy, the encyclopedia has a very 'dry' flavour, particularly when compared with h2g2.

Here is some of what Wikipedia has to say about H2G2:

The content of the project is written by registered "Researchers" on its website.[6] Articles written by Researchers form the "Guide" as a whole, with an "Edited Guide" being steadily created out of factual articles that have been peer reviewed via the "Peer Review" system.[citation needed]

MUSICAL BITS

- Johann Sebastian Bach’s Prelude in A minor, BWV 922, performed by Sylvia Kind, via Musopen

- Leroy Anderson’s “The Syncopated Clock”, performed on piano by Marcus Staub, via Musopen

[missingpresumedfed]

Wait, you’re going to talk about The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy? Should I catch up on it before I listen? How do I do that?

Yes! And maybe! We’re going to do a book-club format, talking about the novel in chunks of several chapters. You don’t need to do any reading for the first episode. But if you want a head start, the Hitchhiker’s novels come in many formats — we’d prioritize them as follows:

You can purchase an omnibus copy of the Hitchhiker’s novels on Amazon in many formats — or you will almost certainly find copies at your local library or a real-world bookstore, which will be glad of your business.

You can download mp3-format copies of the 1978 BBC radio series here , or buy them on CD from Amazon. YouTube also has substantial portions (possibly adding up to all of) an early-80s BBC television series adaptation, which you can also buy on DVD at Amazon.

Finally, there’s a 2005 feature film adaptation — you can stream or buy it on DVD at Amazon or rent it on YouTube. It is not, alas, on Netflix or Hulu in the U.S. Jeremy and Colin differ strongly about the quality of this version, but it features some familiar faces, and the production design is pretty froody. Here’s the trailer:

[missingpresumedfed]

We're Colin J. Carlson and Jeremy B. Yoder. We were Internet Friends and then we became Real Friends, and then we decided we should make a podcast. That's the usual progression, right?

One of the things that brought us together was a love of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy — so we've decided we're going to re-read Douglas Adams's comic science fiction masterpiece and talk about it. Maybe at some point we'll have other people (god we hope we have other people) and maybe at some point we'll tackle other books and culture that mean a lot to us.

Our first episode will be online on a not-too-distant Thursday! Share and enjoy.

(Music: Beethoven’s Symphony Number Seven in A major, Op 92, played on piano by Luis Sarro, via Musopen)