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

Hi Guran. The entry looks really good now. I think there should be no problem this getting into the Edited Guide. There are just two minor points:

Add a comma after the first "it" in the sentence which starts:

On the face of it it

Use a capital E for earth in the phrase:

his lover left on earth

And congratulations on writing an entire article about Queen without once mentioning Freddie Mercury!

What?! I forgot Freddie! *thinks* "must do a rewrite to work Freddie in - perhaps that anecdote about Freddie being reduced to playing the maracas when the song was performed live ..."

Yes, with the apparent rabidness of many Queen fans out there, I may have to consider laying down the first discussion thread as an apologia ...

Thanks for the final edits - I'll plug 'em in when I get a moment.

Cheers,

Guran

Blimey - I've heard that song a few times and I'd never have guessed there was so much to it! Good Entry!

Perhaps, for your next Entry, you could explain the subtext of 'Fat Bottomed Girls'?

Ormy, are you interested in some in-depth analysis [sic] or will a short outline quench your desires?

well, I don't really think "Fat-bottomed Girls" has a subtext ...

However, an article on the making of the clip for "Bicycle Race" might go down nicely - particularly the bit about the supplier of the bicycles insisting that Queen pay for the replacement of all the bicycle seats ...

If you haven't seen the clip, it basically involves a bunch of animated graphics relating to the lyrics intercut with scenes of about 40 nude bikini models riding bicycles around a veladrome - tastefully edited (of course) so that chromakeyed video feedback obscures anything that would prohibit broadcast.

*grin*

Guran

'Nude bikini models'?

Hi

I havdid a time travel into the future, and safely back again. When I was have willon havenbe there, I hadwill seen this entry featured on the h2g2 frontpage

* wipes forehead *

Now, back in real time, things are easier to express: your entry is now recommended and will go out to a SubEd for some grammar and spellchecking and that sort of things. When that has been done, it'll spend some time with the in-house Editors, to finally make it onto the frontpage.

* clears throat *

Er, what was I going to say... ah, yes.

Nice one Guran !

Ah, Sir Bossell - isn't that the kind of contorted grammar that the Campaign for Real Time should have helped to avoid?! Golly. Anyhoo, I'm right chuffed to be recommended (again!) - I believe that's four from four for me!

Guran

Yes it is.

In passing, I note that this entry is moving at incredible speeds. Recommended 2 days ago, subbed in *no* time, and already pending!

4:4, right

Right, back to 'Fat Bottomed Girls'.

To my mind, it's obviously about the way that the greed and over-consumption in the bloated, 'fat bottomed' Western world is threatening the whole - hence that reference to 'the rockin' world'. Rockin', in this context, obviously means shaky and threatened. Don't you agree?

Congratulations, Guran, on this excellent entry being recommended.

thanks!

First off, I'd like to join the rest in applauding this beautiful analysis of the song. Great job!

My posting is in reply to Gnomon's mention of the formula for adding velocities. I don't imagine this needs to be a part of the Guide entry, but I wanted to throw this in in case anyone's interested. I should also say that I haven't verified this; it's purely from memory as told to me by a high school teacher years ago. Anyway, here it is:

Given two objects traveling directly towards each other, and
U = speed of the 1st object,
V = speed of the 2nd object,
c^2 = the square of the speed of light,
both speeds being relative to some 3rd party, then the relative speed between the objects is:

( U + V ) / ( 1 + UV/c^2 )

Note that for low values of U and V, the denominator will approach 1 due to the gigantic number c^2 -- so 30 mph plus 30 mph equals something really close to 60 mph.

When U and V approach the speed of light, c, the denominator approaches 2, conveniently dividing something close to 2c back down to something below c. Cool huh?

Hi! I really enjoyed this passage on Queen's '39. It's a piece of very interesting writing (for the first time I met a combination of Albert's theory - or any physical theory - and an analysys of poetry). Pity that you didn't mention the problem of acceleration in relativity theory (but on the other hand who can?). Anyway, in my humble opinion, this explaination is not only logical but what is more important, so poetical. Thank you for giving me possibility to read it (and sorry for my poor English).