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

...You mean 1861 was WRONG?!?

Only if it reads as 1937 but you spelt it wrong...

...mmm...doesn't seem very likely, but here's a suggestion : if there's no new question by 26:87 tomorrow night, let's post one of our own

P.

Good nalp.

Which pilot, architect, builder, sculptor and inventor turned his talents to engineering and developed a *world beating* product - beginning in a shed in his backyard?

six7's

00-00 I know! It's that American chap who thinks he can do the Thomas Edison thing and has a staff of researchers working on all sorts. He made his millions with a 'better wheelchair' and other aids for the handicapped. He's just perfected a two wheeled commuter scooter that looks like an old fashioned push lawnmower (sorta) and you stand on it where the blades would be and just hold on to the handles while computers drive the two big wheels and keep you balanced.
But I can't remember his name.
He flies a helicopter he keeps in his garage.

~j~

American I'm a frayed knot old bean

Clue: he married an international model [jammy git]

six7's

New Zealander, then?
In which case, John Britten, motorcycle designer

P.

Trevor Bayliss. I don't know if he married a model, but he might have done.

Indeed Pinniped, John Britten

http://www.nzedge.com/heroes/britten.html

...1st place in the BEARS World Championship and devastating the field at the Daytona World Twins, finishing 43 seconds ahead of the two Harley super-bikes and the latest model Bimota and Ducati V-twins.

...one man’s passion for an idea against convention, resource, and manufacturing might. He threw away the rulebook and built the world’s fastest bike in his spare time...

“Designing bikes started for me as a hobby and in a funny way I just like to prove there’s room for the individual to compete against the multimillion dollar factory jobs.”


six7's

Wee-hee!
(though Trevor Bayliss can also claim some interesting past activities, including underwater escapology)

Still, that's another story. Next up :

Connect : The Brig, the Gospel According to St John, a Near-Insolvent Insurer and a Man with a Bag on his Head

What kinda bag?
~j~

And what kind of brig - a boat or a prison

The Bag isn't cryptic. It even had eyeholes.
The Brig, though, is neither of the suggestions. In fact maybe the unnecessary capitalisation is there to disguise some proper nouns?

P.

Begins
Reasonably
Intelligently,
Gradually
Abates,
Disimproving
Intellect
Enforces
Retirement



six7's

BRIGADIER General JOHN Adams in the Confederate army ... took over Brigadier General LLOYD Tilghman's command of the Mississippi infantry ... his brigade served during most of General John B. HOOD's campaign to push Major General William T. Sherman north

The story so far:

Some one named Briggs (or Brigley)
Revelations (possibly the four horsemen bit)
Lloyds (or some insurance company facing enormous claims)
and an Executioner (or highway robber)

Uhm ..."hoodwinked"!

jwf

"the man with a bag on his head" may well refer to the similarly named character who often appeared on Vic Reeves Saturday Night (or whatever it was called then). A UK C4 programme starring Vic Reeves (Jim Moir) and Bob Mortimer.

Polidari : Mind full of useless information .

Hmm...yessss...

I may also have mislead about John the Revelator. Apparently there were at least two Johns writing for the Bible. One was a baptist and the other was a revelator. One was a personal buddy of the son of god, maybe even a cousin, an older cousin, who was always 'down by the river'. And the other was a latebloomer into travel and tripping.
I'd always wondered about that; I mean the first one appears years before the Bethleham scene and if it's still the same guy he's still wandering around years after ..after ..you know. So there hadda be two of them, right? It's confusing I know, but I'm pretty sure the Revelations were by the second one.

In North America, in the generally tasteless 70's, there was a stand up comedian who had a brown paper bag over his head who billed himself as 'The Unknown Comic'. Fame and fortune lasted perhaps four months until he grew weary and took off his bag. The results were tragic as a show-biz career move. I'm sticking with my 'executioner' theory for now.

peace
jwf

Hey, this is all really interesting, but mostly off the mark!

The Brig is a nickname, maybe a Brigadier, but I'm not sure about that. His wife might have been The Duchy, but I'm not sure about that either!

The St.John bit is Apocalyptic, yeah, but don't get too hung up on Horsemen.

The Insurer isn't Lloyds, but the general idea's right.

OK, OK...the non-Brits are probably at a disadvantage except for the Bag-Head - we all know him, but the reason he needed disguise is different from all these suggestions. I would expect this guy to be your way in to the answer, which is a single word (name) linking them all.

P.