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

I was just wondering if the people who appear on the Grumpy Old Men and Grumpy Old Women programmes qualify as Heroes of Pudding. They have plenty to moan about, and although they sometimes break into a smile at the silliness of life, they are mostly grumpy and unhappy about things. Rather than list them individually, it's probably easiest to put the programme titles down, if these people do qualify.

When watching the first series, I was alarmed to find that I'm a Grumpy Old Man as I agreed with just about everything they said. I am now happy to announce that I am a Grumpy Old Woman. But then, so is my husband, as he agrees with everything that *they* say (except where it relates to purely feminine matters, which he has no personal experience of).

Yes, they certainly are, and those TV shows are just about perfect P.U.D.D.I.N.G. viewing. The main things that made me hesitate about adding them to the Heroes list were the lack of a website to link to for Grumpy Old Women, and the fact that Bob Geldof and Will Self were already on the list as individuals.

But what the hell - Bob and Will both deserve a double citation. I've sort-of solved the problem of what to link to for the women by using the BBC press release about the show, which includes a handy checklist of 'unmistakable signs' of Grumpy Old Womanhood. You might like to look and see how many of them you display, CD...

I love the new Grumpy Old Women series, too, and I certainly tend to agree with them. To tell you the truth, I think I'm developing a crush on Arabella Weir. Good-looking, grumpy and funny - my dream date!

I was beginning to think people were ignoring me, which made me a bit grumpy. Well, it is what P.U.D.D.I.N.G. is all about!

I checked out the 'signs of Grumpy Old Womanhood' and only found 2 that apply to me. Even then, one of them was not for the reason stated - I like slip-on shoes 'cos my MS means I can't always tie laces. I'm not telling what the other one was.

Oh come on, CD, it's obvious. I can just see those young men backing away in fear of being grabbed now...

The only one I can relate to is "I can remember those flared trousers the first time around." I even wore them. However, I was 2, and I didn't have a choice.

Come to think of it, I sometimes pick up litter left in communal areas in the block I live in, I like slip-on shoes because they're convenient, I like pottering, I wore flares first time around and I love a nice cup of .

So I guess that means that not only am I a Grumpy Old Man, I'm also more of a Grumpy Old Woman than you or CD.

Now you mention it, I do remember flares the first time round, so that makes three. Never wore them though.

Litter annoys me, especially where there is a bin nearby. Another place it annoys me is in the fields near my mother-in-law's house. People can't be bothered to take their litter home with them, or to the nearest bin, so they drop it in the field. The fact that the farmer keeps livestock in there doesn't seem to matter to them.

(Goes off in Grumpy Old Woman mode)

Current whinge.

We have the big skip type bins in my area rather than the wheelie bins as there are amany tennemant flats.

They often get full but the rubbish is collected twice a week so the odd bin bag next to the bin isn't a problem

What drives me nuts is that someone keeps putting breadcrumbs/crusts down for the birds *next* to the bins which simply encourages the rats to go there for a feed and then they can raid the bin bags.

How thick are people?

Surely they could find a better place to put the crumbs than out side a potential rat haven?

'How thick are people?' Anyone know how to type an infinity symbol in GuideML?

I have noticed that Foamy is a hero of P.U.D.D.I.N.G. Couldn't we have Germaine as well? Or Begley and Pil-Z for that matter? I should think Mathers himself deserves recognition for putting so much work into a great cartoon about an irritable ranting squirrel.

Hmm... I think I understand your reasons for suggesting that, SR. Every character who has to live with Foamy seems heroic in a way. Only thing is, it'd mean clogging up the Heroes list with a lot of links all going to the same website, which seems a bit superfluous.

How can Tom Lehrer be an heroe of P.U.D.D.I.N.G? Isn't he one of those smilly people who try to make (Lord, excuse-me for those words...) smile other people? With those heretical piece of music like Vatican Rag, Pollution, Snore, Sniff, and Sneeze, Element Song?
On the other hand, some people might find his music at the first degree perfect for being portion of pudding: Masochism Tango, Poisoning Pigeons in the Park, The Irish Ballad, Nuclear Proliferation.
Lehrer is like this philosopher, Nietzsche, never know if you have to read it in the first degree (power for the Übermensch, the superior man) or in the second degree (the superior man has to learn the other to become superior).
! I've been pedantic!
It's good for having a bad time reading me.

But dear old Tom's songs hardly paint an upbeat picture of life, do they? Think of 'National Brotherhood Week', about how every ethnic group hates every other one; 'We Will All Go Together When We Go', which positively looks forward to humanity's extinction; or 'Bright College Days, which as a recent graduate I can relate to all too well: 'Soon we'll be out amid the cold world's strife/Soon we'll be sliding down the razor blade of life'. That's the P.U.D.D.I.N.G. spirit!

Lehrer is a hero beyond doubt, regardless of PUDDING or no.

I think I don't have those CDs... I will try to find them quick. I'm truly agree, Lehrer is an hero, but the side have also their heroes...

There's good collection of his work consisting a interesting little book with lyrics, interviews and a biography of him and 3 CDs called 'The Remains Of Tom Lehrer', it's worth getting.

That was the CD set I consulted to make sure I got my lyric quote right. It is comprehensive and excellent.

I'll try to find it quick. Very quick, it seems that I absolutely need to buy it.

I think I've found another hero - Donald Duck. Although he is sometimes cheerful, he is also often cantankerous and crotchetty. Daffy Duck and Yosemite Sam also qualify for the same reasons, IMHO. Bugs Bunny should be made an enemy of P.U.D.D.I.N.G., 'cos I've never known him to get upset about anything.

Oh, I dunno about that. One of Bugs' favourite phrases (after "What's Up Doc" and "I shoulda turned left at Albuquerque") is "Of course, you know this means war"