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

I got a flash forward (relative from 1825) due to a rather muddled font and colour choice. In the end it didn't actually say "The Fallus of Maga" but I can't really unsee it.

He did miss the barrel riders.

The poetry doesn't really convey whether he actually liked the views. (from the choice of words I would think it is not the case).

People used to consider the falls more impressive than anything else. They were supposed to look at them and be overwhelmed by the majesty of nature, and similar phrases. During the late 19th Century, they bragged about Niagara Falls so much to foreigners, as if they had anything to do with their being there, that when Oscar Wilde came over and reporters asked him about it, he joked that he was 'disappointed'.

Of course, starting in 1801 (Aaron Burr's daughter) and 1804 (Jerome Bonaparte) and forever afterward, Niagara Falls also became THE fashionable venue for honeymoons.

The 'slowly I turn' joke is not only a reference to Hicks' addition of a poem to the painting. 'Slowly I Turn' is an ancient vaudeville routine that ended up in more than one comedy film of the 30s and 40s.

The Three Stooges:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYP1OBZfFK0

Abbott and Costello:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KpsUlvzbkk

The poem is by Alexander Wilson and is an excerpt from 'The Foresters'. Edward Hicks was a Quaker and what is called a 'folk painter'. He is most famous for painting 'The Peaceable Kingdom'. He reminds me a bit of Bosch.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edward_Hicks_-_Peaceable_Kingdom.jpg

Yeah. That looks like the missing link between the lion and the house cat.

One holiday in Norway every waterfall I came across was a "The" waterfall (like the highest/widest/loudest/wettest/ugliest)

'The Ugliest'? Wow.

I may have made that one up, but you get the idea.