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

>> Terry Pratchett's retrophrenologist <<

I've been trying to remember which book that's in.
Was it 'Moving Pictures'?

As soon as you said it I knew I had read it and didn't get it at the time. I read all 5 million words of all 36 books last year and I guess some part of me was saving some of the better jokes for the next time I read them all. There not being much else out there to take the edge off reality. Although I have been hearing good things about a recently deceased American writer, David Eddings.

" ...Pawn of Prophecy. Along with co-author and wife Leigh, Eddings has since churned out such fantasy sagas as the The Belgariad (of which Pawn of Prophecy was book one), The Mallorean, The Elenium, and the Tamuli. Although he is sometimes criticized for the repetitive nature of his story telling and the shallow characterisation of his villains, many readers (especially younger readers) applaud his works for their wit, their easy comprehensibility, and their likeable protagonists."

If that doesn't work out I'll be starting back on Discworld for the winter and reading them in order this time.


~jwf~

if you like eddings try david gemmell, true heroic high fantasy,

like eddings though the plot and story becomes a little repetative

but then there are only 7 true stories....arn't there???

In Hollywood maybe, but out there in the real whirled
there are a lot more possibilities.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
The Seventh Sin
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
The Seven Samurai
Seventy-Seven Sunset Strip
The Magnificent Seven
The Seven Veils
The Seven Wonders of the Whirled


~jwf~

se7en????

David Eddings isn't bad. You have to like horses, though - to counter the usual Fantasy "robotic horse" problem where they gallop them for seven days straight with no rest or food, his chars spend an inordinate amount of time feeding, grooming, and generally going on about their mounts

It's like you watch and you can't turn away... some of these had me in tears.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKSZ1BLbY34
(Idiot Vs Tree)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP9YARRHINU&feature=related
(Jumping out of a plane. WITHOUT a parachute)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBQ0armpqns&feature=related
(OUCH!!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCB-cNSs23o&feature=channel
(lots of balls and face-palm)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgyTpIdDh6Y&feature=related
(MORTAL KOMBAT!!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibzW3vnFQtQ&feature=related
(Idiots vs fire, water, gravity people and inanimate objects)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QSrEK_cda4&feature=related
(the same, gravity, and dumb luck)

A bloke at work tricked our boss by pretending he'd cut his finger off (boss has just completed Health and Safety exams, so has had to do a risk assesment of workplace. Hence, a bit paranoid). It was a brilliant effort- he cut a small hole out of the bottom of a little box and stuck his finger through, complete with fake blood (red ceramic paint). She nearly had a heart attack, and admitted that she slightly weed herself.
He then informed her that there was a leak on his radiator. Boss had complete eppy, saying she hated this place, etc. He then pointed out said radiator- there was a leek he'd grown in his garden resting on the top. She did see the funny side, which is good.

I had a moment of comedy today to do with and safety.

We were transitioning modules in chemistry and today's subject was safety in the lab, so we were covering risk and hazard (and the difference). We talked about chemical hazard, biological hazards accidents and emergencies and so on.

The module we'd just covered was ionic bonding using chemical salts.

So those formed the basis of the examples. The case were were studying was a mock-up of a poisoning of table salt in a restaurant, so the task was to chemically identify the contaminants in the salt, that meant first testing for sodium chloride (table salt).

So rhetorically to talk about the risks involved, the teacher asked 'what were the risks associated with table salt?'

Me: 'High blood pressure'

....

I got given "The Look" and moment's pause for her displeasure to sink in and then pointedly: 'No, the correct answer is 'none'...

Still, it kept me amused all day.

The official HAZCARD data is that sodium chloride is a moderate irritant in contact with the eyes.

I know, because a bastard Head Of Department once failed me a job interview on that basis.

B

Just finished watching FAQs About Time Travel - Laugh? I nearly cr@pped. One of the best British comedy films of recent years*... think Spaced/Shaun of The Dead...


*Another being The Boat That Rocked...both with Chris O'Dowd...is there a connection?

@MB - Ouch!

We were introduced to hazcards after this the example there was silver nitrate: irritant and corrosive dependent upon concentration.

Clive - that reminds me of a question in a Law Relating to Banking class I took many decades ago. The lecturer stated the legal phrase "there must be no clog upon the equity of redemption. What does 'clog' mean?"

Me: It's a wooden shoe.

Again, "The Look" was deployed.

RF