h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

JTG, have you had one of those tacos and not told me?

Have you have maybe a bit too much of the beer batter on the taco?

Do you just love the taco...a little too much?

And as if that wasn't enough, you've made me hungry.
Arg.

Hi Fenchurch, I'm holding out for an invitation. I thought I'd try to find the recipe in case one isn't forthcoming, so I could make one myself (in an emergency).

Your description of San Diego makes the prospect of a long drive for a fish taco a tempting one.

JTG

As for the comparison to 'Daivid':

I'd say that a fish taco has two (at least) distinct advantages:

1. A fish taco is easier to carry to the beach and, once there, is less of an embarassing distraction than a big marble man with no clothes.

2. It's tastier licking beer batter from your fingers than marble dust (Also: How many more big marble men without clothes does the world need anyway?).



JTG

Considering the slang meaning of "pink taco" there might be some battle-of-the-sexes overtone to this comparison.

Actually, there's Black's Beach a little north of SD, where it's fairly normal to carry along naked men. hehe

And with each Rubio's fish taco, you've multiple masterpieces! There's only ONE David... so eating *that* would definitely cause some problems.

If you do decide to come down, stay in a close-to-ground hotel! We've been shaken up by this last earthquake... and more are coming . A big "Welcome to San Diego!" for everyone! hehe

JTG, if you're coming anywhere near San Diego, you have to stop by for a visit here, too. I'm just up the road.

And this last quake wasn't *so* bad, comparatively speaking.

You know, I've heard of this fish taco, which is really strange seeing as I live on the other side of the country. A friend who lives in the SD area told me about it a few years ago. I was in the area once, but didn't get a chance to have one. (Actually, I was in the area twice, but the one time was only for a few hours.)

They only take a few minutes to eat, Greg.

Aha... The uniqueness of 'David' - apart from the innumerable cheesy imitations - is a disadvantage, I'd say... given that it's big and heavy... and nobody thought to put wheels on it. The beauty of a fish taco (I imagine ) is that every reproduction is exactly as valuable as the original; so every boy and girl can enjoy the same experience as the first.

I hope that none present suffered any ill-effects of the earthquake. James Bond, who wouldn't be too disgruntled about not being able to get a decent martin, would likely be as glad as I am that nothing like the horrific devastation visited on Turkey and Taiwan has been repeated in California.

Thanks for the invitation, Spartus. I've been reading a lot of enticing things about your part of the planet lately. Unfortunately, I am unable to plan a trip in the near future. I made it as far as Louisville, Kentucky this year; so sooner or later I'll get there. Fish tacos on me, when I do!

JTG

I'll buy the martins, then.

The quake wasn't really bad at all. I feel like I keep explaining it over and over again, but suffice it to say that it got me out of bed (my advice--don't do that), and it felt really weird. Like being on a boat, except I wasn't on a boat, I was in my bedroom. This one, thankfully, was centered in the middle of nowhere, so very little happened.

I anxiously await the next one, after the breathless accounts of the TV news, "The next one could strike at any time, dropping you, your friends, your house, and even your cute little kitty cats into the BIG BAD OCEAN, so continue your vapid little lives until we all die,*" apparently, I don't stand a chance.

* I may be paraphrasing.

There was a very scary thing on TV recently about earthquakes. Something that piqued my interest particularly was a description of what would happen if an enormous lava field in Hawaii, that is growing out into the ocean like a colossal rock shelf, breaks off and drops into the depths. They predict, presumably people with license to frighten folks on the telly, that a tsunami will flood everything and everyone with a sea-view of the Pacific. I shall try to time my trip to Rubio's before then.

JTG

I've always been terribly frightened by the whole thing... 'specially now, since the big prediction of an 8.0 earthquake coming from a faultline they discovered uncomfortably close to San Diego is overdue (they said it'd be in 98)! This is what happens when you're far enough away not to get used to it, but close enough to feel it... 'Specially in this billion-year old building...

But no reason for JTG here not to come and visit! I gotz the 'hook-up' with retail at all the major tourist attraction spots... *wink, wink*... hehe j/k

Nothing flows freer than a tourist's cash

I seem to remember that the biggest earthquake ever in the US was in the Northeast somewhere. Does that ring any bells? There was a tiny one here this summer. I think they said it was centered under Lake Ontario.

JTG

Norheast? Maybe it had to do with St. Helens, way back when...I don't really know. They found another volcano in San Fransisco, too. If this keeps up, I'll be moving to Idaho or Kansas or something soon .

Mount St.Helens didn't blow itself across the continent did it?

I could be mistaken about the biggest earthquake, but I thought I'd heard that it had been in the Northeast around the turn of the century... a long time ago, anyway. I wonder if it is useful to think of volcanoes as planetary acne. I wonder if wondering that is useful or symptomatic that there is something wrong with my brain.

I don't know what particular malady afflicts Idaho - apart from potatoe beetles, but isn't Kansas always being scoured by tornadoes? Maine's nice.

JTG

Volcanoes *are* planetary acne. Rotorua, New Zealand is the planet's adolescent face.

And so is Yellowstone, but I haven't been there, so I have to indict NZ.

What this has to do with art or tacos I'm not sure...but being as prone to digression as the next researcher...

The largest earthquakes in US history (perhaps...they predate accurate equipment) were near New Madrid, Missouri, in 1811 and 1812. "They are among the Great earthquakes of known history, affecting the topography more than any other earthquake on the North American continent. Judging from their effects, they were of a magnitude of 8.0 or higher on the Richter Scale. They were felt over the entire United States outside of the Pacific coast. Large areas sank into the earth, new lakes were formed, the course of the Mississippi River was changed, and forests were destroyed over an area of 150,000 acres. Many houses at New Madrid were thrown down. 'Houses, gardens, and fields were swallowed up' one source notes. "

There's a lot of excellent information at http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/schools/rockyhillms/NewMadrid.html .

According to Twain's accounts, the Mississippi changed its course on an hourly basis, beofre humans fouled it all up, but I digress...

I love it when they threaten us with huge earthquakes. On the southern half of the San Andreas, an 8.0 or higher has been expected for the last 15 years or so. I'm so worried about it that I drive right over the fault line every day on my way to work.

Next digression: try the flautas....a sort of fish taquito. Verrry tasty.

I could've *sworn* it was the St. Helens ones... (also known as: Why Fenchurch will never ever think about geographical science). But Twain knows everything.

I'm still positive that we're going to die. Just you wait. Drive over that faultline... but every morning I will have a pang of fear that the earth will tear in half and you will fall in. Can you live with that wieght on your shoulders?

They've got the fish taquitos at this tiny little place a few blocks down from where I live... people come from miles around. The Taco Bell Dog would run tail between legs if he got a taste. mmmmm.

You don't go to SDSU, do you? I think I know the place.