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

Aside from taking antioxidants and avoiding certain foods, the book suggested doing things such as: Crossword puzzles, learn a second language and read text books among other things. What a relief... I've been doing geekish stuff for brain longevity(at least that's my excuse from now on).

So you've found an excuse at last .
I started to learn Russian. Would that add anything?? I guess that'd be my third language since I understand but do not really speak German, French so I speak two languages (more or less.. I found I started to mix English and Dutch last few months). And reading text books .. but what foods would I have to avoid?

Learning a new language(Shakespeare English was one of the suggestions), doing a new craft, and taking a cooking class were suggested as well. It seems that these things stimulate certain areas of the brain to thicken and remain flexible instead of atrophying without stimulation.

Certain seafoods and things containing heavy metals are the main things to avoid. The bottom feeding seafoods such as catfish and shrimp have a high mercury content.

ah.. good.. doing a new craft is something to ... think over.. My Russian lessons are not too well as the teacher was out of service due to overdose wine (* terribly complicated language.. most of the words are almost recognisable but the grammar.. *)
I didn't know about the shrimps.. that's bad news

cooking class..

Really should practice my French skills. Since arriving at this website I have picked up quite a bit of British English. Really, I need to actually finish some of the craft projects that are hanging around the house already before looking for something else.

I spend enough time in the kitchen as it is. I wonder if watching cooking shows on television count as cooking classes.

hej, Louisiana.. you'd be speaking some French?? and "English" English is indeed ... complex ... (for native American speakers)
And I indeed seriously consider taking cooking classes

There's a little bit of French spoken in Louisiana...

The guide entries for h2g2 are supposed to be in British English. Had to reset my spell checker to English: United Kingdom. It's helpful that my word processor has the Oxford English Dictionary as well as the Webster's Dictionary.

guess what I just found!!! In centre Moscow!! less than 50 meters (that's a bit more than 150 feet) from Red Square!!! A chess board with all pieces shaped and named after American civil war heroes! the black pieces were northern, white was south. The pieces were between 7 and 10 cm (that's 3 to 4 inch) high and (probably) clearly recognisable. (note the queen was a general on both sides... castles were just .. castles)

Does it list the characters by name?

*and the civil war gains another addict...*

Yes, all except castles (could have been forts, but no..) and knights (cavalery?? no.. just horses) had names on them. Not good readable since they were in a showcase and ... in Cyrillic (!)

and I didn't buy it..

The price was a bit over 400 USD (board excluded, taxes excluded.. takes about 3 hours patience at the airport, six forms (in Russian of course) and 500 Rubbles (to wake the customs officer) to get the 18 % tax back.

That is expensive!
Cyrillic...the official language of the American Civil War?

In this set, one castle is the White house and the other is the building used as the Capitol of the South.

http://www.hnoc.org/civil.htm

Cyrillic indeed.. well.. Lee is relatively easy to read.. Jackson just a tiny bit harder.. (as in Dgakson but then in cyrillic font). I don't have a clue why this was made in Russia (probably).. I'd imagine American tourists would typically buy a Russian set?
I noted the Union generals were possibly a bit.. overdone.. (noses a bit too long, heads a bit too bald, chins a bit too fat) and the Confederates were .. plain heroic. (I realise that you will reply that this was indeed how they all looked like ) I think the set would only be bought by a confederate

It was probably made in Russia for all the homesick Confederate re enactors who want to play chess while visiting Russia.

Confederates looked heroic... I take it there aren't any of the scraggly Texas volunteers depicted?

There is a bit of difference in looks, though. At that time each of the groups of immigrants was still somewhat isolated from the others simply because of lack of transportation in the more rural areas of America. Texas alone is 267,000 square miles. For more about Texas: http://www.traveltex.com/

For pictures of the generals of the civil war: http://www.generalsandbrevets.com/

the only ones I could really see were Lee, Jackson and a union general Butler (pawn). He was the one with the nose and the bald head.. it seems he really looked like that
(* not many American tourists here.. most are European, sometimes a busload Japanese *)

Sorry, Butler really did look like that. Grant wasn't much to look at either.

Really have to admit that Russia isn't exactly advertised here as *the* vacation spot.

well.. that's what I mean.. and it seems that this chess set was made with all confederates looking .. well .. serious, almost heroic, and the union generals like a group of (serious) Disney characters .
(* no.. I would not recognise the Texan generals .. not even if I could have read all the names *)

Shame about the holidays really.. Moscow (in summer) is really nice; there's museums, history, culture (Bolsjoi theatre.. don't go to Mussorgksi operas) and shops (more French fashion shops within 1 km of the Kremlin than there are in most Dutch cities .. and y expensive!).

It would seem that I have been on a dvd and cd buying frenzy, lately. Really didn't spend that much money. Just couldn't resist the four pack of computer games or the dvds of Red Dwarf and the Hitch Hiker's Guide. Probably shouldn't have watched the dvds that close together.

ah, right.. never, never .. I mean *never* watch two Red Dwarf episodes in one session.. causes serious instability.. the worst case I've seen started behaving like Cat..

When I have a lot of house work to do, like Spring cleaning, I'll play a six hour video tape of Red Dwarf or the Simpsons. It makes it easier to ignore the vacum cleaner and other unpleasantness of cleaning. I don't really have any sympathy for the telemarketers who have interrupted with their sales pitches... There are probably several telemarketers trying to decipher "Smeg Off!".

The Cat is *too much* like the I have: "If I miss too many naps, I won't have enough energy for my main snooze...".