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

You are staring at thread #000014X in the continuing conversation at Lil's salon. We are fond of substantive discussion here, and it would hardly be possible to summarise the topics that have flowed in and around the group.

This discussion is also subject to unplanned fits of performance art -- what else do you expect where so many creative entities gather together in such good humour? All you need to be forewarned of is, don't step too close to Violet, mind the sloth, and don't be rude to Ampton.

And now that we have all avowed proud geekhood in the previous thread, read on.

Hello, Oh, I seem to be first.

Being a geek is great fun. I enjoy pissing off a room full of people when Jeopardy! is on tv by calling out the answers before they've even finished reading the questions.

I don't consider myself to ba a geek, but I had a conversation the other day in the pub with a couple of mates who both declared that they had never read a book in their adult life. I replied that I read books like they were going out of fashion. The general opinion from them was that, that was a stupid thing to do. The daft thing is, that I know they would enjoy most of the books I read if they were made into films (some, of course, are and the films are never as good as the books). It annoys me that despite the fact that I am a hard drinking, motorcycle riding, punk guitar playing etc etc person, I am considered somehow abnormal just 'cos I enjoy books. Sorry. Rant over!

Hello Lil, Hello Superdreamer.
Hope you are both well and the sun is shining and the a/c is humming away like it should (not in this office though, perhaps I should find something to do in the machine room )
To bring forward one of the conversation topics from 0x13, I read in the paper this morning that even if England go through the group stage of Euro2000 the could get the boot if there is more crowd trouble.
I'll also comment on a rather interesting article on gears and number theory that I'm reading from Scientific American (linked from Slashdot).

Hello Superdreamer. No forum dashes here, I'm afraid. It doesn't go with the art nouveau decor and CERTAINLY doesn't go with owning a sloth. But oyu could be a dear and dash to the kitchen and take the kettle off the hob, as it's whistling.

Why does geekdom get such bad press? Why do kids in American high schools pick on the smart ones?

"Reading books like they're going out of fashion." - Sadly, though, they are. Being discovered to be literate and well-read is a good way to get yourself outcast as a social pariah. Happily, though, there are enough of us tragically-unhip out there to keep places like Borders and Barnes & Noble (two chains of mega-huge bookstores in the US) alive. Of course, a lot of what they sell is trash, but I'm willing to accomodate several racks of "... For Dummies" books if that means I can get my hands on a large selection of Twain or thumb through the latest religious criticism.

Kids and people will always pick on the ones who are different in whatever way. Seems like there are more and more chain bookshops over here as well, but you can still find those little specialist, or second hand bookstores if you know where to look.

The most magical bookstore I was ever in was that 7-story firetrap, Foyles in London. Truly a tardis of a place. Is it still there, with flights of steps in odd places and stacks of books all over the place?

And having rinished reading the article, it's actually in American Scientist, not Scientific American
It's all about the Stern-Brocot series and the history. This is a series of fractions which in the extreme includes all rational numbers. Stern was a german professer of maths in the 1850s and Brocot was a french watchmaker at about the same time.
the url of the article is http://www.sigmaxi.org/amsci/issues/Comsci00/compsci2000-07.html and it's reading things like that which make me wonder about why I did an electronics degree rather than maths...

Foyles is still there in all it's idiosyncratic glory. Personally I can't abide the place, mainly cos I can never find what i'm looking for if I'm in there. Lets see, books arranged by publisher, then author...

In the town where I live, the last dedicated book shop closed last year. It's now a Tottenhan Hotspurs shop! Groan! I am going to move somewhere more civilised ASAP.

Oh but Phil, that's the point. You shouldn't find what you're looking for at Foyles -- you've got amazon for that. I used to head for Foyles with my mind wide open, wondering, What will I find today that I never would have thought of looking for?

Most cherished find -- a British Museum printing of the Art of War by Sun Tzu, with Chinese and English side by side and lots of discussion about possible interpretations of the the ideographs.

My town has, fortunately, taken the opposite direction of yours, Superdreamer. When I first came here in 1982, there was one bookstore located in a small mall about 12 miles from where I live. It dealt in popular paperbacks and was small, but they would order stuff for you. If I wanted to do some serious book shopping, I had to get in the car and drive a little over 100 miles to the Haslam's in St. Petersburg.

But now Lakeland has no less than 4 bookstores, all megachains. Daltons and I forget-the-other anchor opposite ends of the megamall further north than the little mall (dead) I used to frequent, Barnes & Noble have a stand-alone near that mall, and Books-a-Million have a cavernous place with a coffee shop attached not far from where I live, just 4 miles up the road. Fortunately, BaM has the best computer book selection in the county...

Sometimes that is nice, but it just so easy to get lost and not be able to find your way out of Foyles. I can imagine people withering away as they desprately try and get out...
I prefer those little s/h bookshops for that kind of browsing with nothing in particular in mind and seeing what ends up in your bag at the end of it.

I have found a few good books in charity shops, mostly classics. But I get most of my books via mail order now. Although there is still an amazing amount of crap out there.

Always judge a book by it's cover. I'm an illustator, I know what I'm talking about. Know your illustators...know your book!

So where do book cover illustrators get there inspiration from? Do they actally read the manuscript beforehand?

Do you have an altar to Richard Powers in your room?
Seriously, it's about time you confessed to your art affinity. Do you have anything to share with the rest of us in my gallery? How did you get into that line of work?

And that reminds me, I have a fish for your aquarium. A dream fish.

No Alters here i'm afraid. I have plenty to share, only I need an A3 scanner or photos as my best piccys are too large for my A4 scanner.

I could email you some of my greeting card designs though. If you have an email link on your page, I will send you some asap.

I went to college and University, I found contempory art too poncy and graphic design too staid (is that a word?)and illustation has the best of both worlds, the expression and freedom of fine art and the (stuggles to find right words) outlet? of design. Although at the moment I am doing an ordinary job so that I can get a mortgage.

The Aquarium welcomes you with open...erm...fins.

You gave me an idea. Check out the link on my home page. But only if you want to, don't feel that i'm pressuring you.

I will check it out in a minute: I'm still in the process of updating my graphics to not look too bad in Alabaster -- just changed the sign at the top of the Atelier.

And I keep getting disconnected cos it's Monday and the bidness people are hogging the bandwidth...