h2g2 is ten years old in April, and I've found a rather novel way of commemorating the great event.

I frequently have rather good ideas while I'm drunk, and the cleverest part of most of them is that I generally don't remember the following day. This idea is one that I not only remembered when the hangover eased, but that still seemed like a good one when I woke up, so I thought I'd write a Post article about it in the hope that other people would think it a good idea as well and join in.

My plan, in a nutshell, is to hitch-hike around to meet every Researcher in the British Isles over the course of a weekend while dressed as a rhino.

This idea didn't just pop into my head fully-formed, of course. It was the culmination of a few conversations on h2g2 blended together with the addition of a good amount of beer. The reason I think it's such a good idea is that if everyone I meet contributes £10 to Douglas Adams' favourite charity, Save The Rhino, we could raise an impressive sum of money to mark the occasion. Hence the rhino costume.

The rhino costume will also hopefully help me to get lifts. I have to hitch really, don't I? And you never know, the fact that a man is hitch-hiking around the country dressed as a rhino might just give the site a bit of extra publicity.

I'm planning to do all this on the weekend of Friday 24^th to Monday 27^th April 2009.

So I need two things, really:

1. A rhino suit.
2. Some people to meet.

The target is to meet everyone, but that's not going to be practical. Some people won't be free, some won't want to meet me, someone somewhere is bound to be ill on the day, and so on. I just want to meet as many of you good folk as possible and get at least a tenner off each of you. If you're interested, here's what to do:

1. Go to my interactive 'Meet Rich the Rhino' map, which is not dissimilar to Bagpuss's h2g2 Researchers' map.
2. Pop a marker in your hometown by clicking on it. You can put it into your house if you like, but there really is no need unless you want to show off. Say who you are and link to your PS if you like.
3. If you make a mistake, you'll have an hour to move your marker somewhere else.

The theory is that I'll be able to look at the map in a month or two and start planning my route. If you stick a marker in, I'll do my level best to visit you. You may have to help me out, though.

I'm unlikely to have much time to relax and enjoy myself. I plugged a rough route into Google Maps, starting at my house and heading up to Manchester, then over to Dublin and Belfast, then by boat to Scotland and down the east coast of England to London. This would, apparently, take a full 24 hours of my 72, and the route was a fairly straightforward one. In reality, I'll be making more diversions, and it will take longer. If I sleep between 11pm and 7am every day, that's another 24 gone. And I won't be able to hitch lifts in the dark, which loses me another nine hours from 8pm until 11 for three days. That only leaves me 15 hours – 15! – to find enough lifts to get me around the country, eat, meet people and drink beer. And six of those hours are before 9am. If I make it, it's going to be a real push.

So I really, really do need help. If I go and meet people individually all the way around, it's not going to work because I'll run out of time. When we have a few markers in, this might make more sense, but if there are other Researchers living near you invite them round for tea or arrange to meet in a local pub. Have a mini-Meet. Make a day of it and celebrate ten years of h2g2 yourselves! As Frenchbean has suggested, there's no reason why the Meet aspect couldn't go global – ten year Meets across the globe. It's a lovely image.

If you'd like to join in, stick your marker in and subscribe to this page. We'll plan this whole mad idea from there!

The Insane Drunken Ideas Archive

Skankyrich

04.12.08 Front Page

Back Issue Page