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

Hey JayTeeGee
Just to wish you a quick happy new year, May all of your plants blossom and grow to be the most beautiful yet.
Lots of love
Pippa
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Happy NewYear Pippa!

May the 2,000 series be as rich and wonderful as those legendary French sauces.

JTG

Hello JTG,
How are you? I'm YinYang, and I'm Pippa's bestest estest friend in the whole wide universe, and I must be because she's just dictated all that to me, so it can't be bad, but hey! What responsibility!
Life goes on. The year 2000 came in, some places saw it in with a bang, others with a whimper. Some with a prayer and maybe some couldn't be bothered at all. I guess we all want it to be really special; we're all waiting for some seismic event, or sign that things are going to be different now, but the only place we can really make a difference is within our own hearts. You have to start small, and work up. Every long journey starts with a single step, but sometimes, if you think it's going to take you into the unknown, or over the cliff, it's a very hard step to take. So keep hammering, keep talking until others round you decide to stop what they're doing, and take notice. I too despair at the Chinese attitude towards Tibet, and it's a movement I feel strongly about; but I also get mad at the dad who habitually beats his kids, or the woman who lives in a blanket and lives on alcohol. The point is, just where do you start, and how do you start to make a difference? One that's noticeable, one that makes other people stop and think? We can all of us only do our best, do what we're good at, and keep talking about it. Soon, one pair of footprints becomes two....
On a lighter note,(because there must be balance) I hope you had a good New Year, however you chose to mark it, as an event in your Life, and may your Nasturtiums never suffer from blackfly. If you've ever grown Nasturtiums, you'll know what I mean - !
Pippa appreciated the comment on French Sauce, but the only one she'll have a taste of is the Follies Bergeres CanCan variety: Pippa's on a diet! She's Buddha, and rooted, but maybe needs to hone the edges a little - but I love her, and she's my best friend too!
Bye for now. YinYang.

Hello YinYang,

May I wish you too a new century printed in a brighter ink.

You're right to say that there is a lot of nastiness in a variety of different packages, and the small ones are as tragic as the large; but the global party that marked the start of the new millennium (let's call it that) may give us a running, dancing start into kinder, more enlightened times. As important as choosing where to send old clothes and spare change is the choice to be a compassionate person, to be a part of an evolving context of mutual regard. It seems to me that the feeling we get from sharing the joy of stangers around the world is a powerful thing; it is a beautiful thing to hear children sing in a country you had never heard of. I was lucky enough to hear HH Dalai Lama speak last year. The part of his message that stuck with me the most was the idea that the future will be as good or as bad as you are capable of believing it to be; that human beings everywhere want essentially the same thing (peace, happiness); and that human beings are becoming capable of realizing that dream on a global level. That dream is a very powerful, perhaps irresistable, force that will sooner or later overcome the perverting influences imposed by culture. How long that takes depends on how active people around the world are in resisting the unhealthy agenda of governments and big corporations. As Mahatma Gandhi proved, people are the continuum in which good or evil flourishes. All we have to do is choose.

May the pests on your Nasturtiums never be too numerous to think of as dinner guests. Best wishes,

JTG

Note to Pippa: a Can-Can is just the sort of distraction needed to sneek a taste from a friend's plate.

What a bloody good idea John, I'm glad you thought of that, that way, when I sneak food I can say it was all your fault! only joking!
Well, I have alrady said that P.S.Fairy is my bestest friend but YinYang is my Bestest estest friend, she's very wise too.
Thanks again for the tip,
Pippa
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You're welcome. A mark of a true friend, I think, is the ability to discreetly slide a plate within reach.

JTG

How true, how very very true!

I like your new name. What a strange image it conjures up!

JTG

Thought I'd change the subject line, just 'cos I wanted to.
It is a good name, isn't it? My friend's boyfriend, who is actually a really sweet bloke, made it up because I live in France now. So every time I go to England that's what he calls me, or Frog, or Doughnut, but I don't mind 'cos I figure, "at least it's individual!" However, you're right about the strange image!
Speak soon,
Frog
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Are doughnuts a characteristically French thing. They're so much a part of life here (Canada), that it seems a strange thing to think of anywhere where they are thought of as being from somewhere else.

JTG

Oops! I owe you one of these: "?". Hang on to the extra "." in case I forget one later

JTG

Well, actually, I don't know where he got the doughnut bit from, maybe it occured to him as he was making the name up whilst looking at by relatively round shape........
No, to be honest I have no idea, It's more macaroon type things really, you know, and loads of sweets, but they're mostly Nestle so I don't eat them ~Evil Nestle~, and I haven't seen any doughnuts at all, anywhere, so it's just Colin's weird way of thinking. He called Pink_Sparkley_Fairy a Nazi collaborator so I shouldn't worry about finding any sort of rational reasoning in his nicknames if I were you!
Best
Frog
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Hello!
I'm going to be a big horrible party-pooper here, and I think I can be because I'm Pippa's bestest-estest friend (dubious privilege!)and bring a serious note to the conversation. Owing to the disgusting way in which they are 'farmed' and the incredible upset it's causing to the eco-system, do you really think Pippa should be a frog-leg eater? I have advised her to drop the moniker, but I can't really criticise her too much because, living in France (as we do) we are keen to try what the local natives try, and I actually BOUGHT some frog legs for us to eat! It was only subsequently that we discovered the horrific way the legs are collected, so now we're going to throw them away and not buy any more. Guilty countries are China and Indonesia, who are now experiencing big problems with pest control, due to eliminating a link in the food chain.....as you sow thus shall you reap....
Pippa should be called the 'Accident-prone wobblyjelly doughnut-munching frenglish girl'! She has just spilt tea on herself and laughed so much at what I have just written that the remaining tea went up her nose (after she tried to drink it I might add, not before! )
I am having lots of fun here in France. Loads of the locals have asked me to teach them English (HA!) and I'm going to be starting T'ai Chi classes soon, too! On Mon. 10th Jan., I have been invited to attend an English lesson at the local Senior school, to speak to the 14 year olds in English, for about an hour. Pippa said that if there are boys, and they are 14, I'll have my work cut out for me. (Dey don't know me vewy well, do dey?!)
Anyway. I'm going to get my beauty sleep now - I need all the help I can get! speak to you soon-ish - bye for now! YinYang

You can count on me to support a frog leg boycott. Let’s start an h2g2 anti-frog-leg campaign... although, to be absolutely clear on the matter, perhaps it should be an anti-frog-leg-removal campaign... no point making a bad situation worse. Perhaps it would be more constuctive to have a pro-amphibian campaign (it’s too easy being anti-things). I understand that amphibians all over the world, even the less tasty ones, are in a serious state of decline. Here’s a chance to do something for them, perhaps. I suspect that in places where malaria is a problem a healthy frog population would be something to be glad of.

One of the most appalling things I can remember reading about post-revolutionary China was this amazing campaign to eradicate flies and birds that were considered pests... and dogs too, if memory serves. The whole population went chasing around until the poor birds literally fell out of the sky from exhaustion (the fly strategy was probably a bit different).

Good luck with the English and T’ai chi classes. Some of my pals at work and I enrolled in an evening class of T’ai chi once. It was great fun. Our summer students seemed to have mixed feelings about watching us practice at work in the mornings.

JTG

See, how I have changed my nickname, once again, to this time fit in with the Pro-Amphibian campaign, no point in having one of the first members (or maybe even a co-founder?) with a name that contravenes the trades descriptions act!
So, what shall we call the movement......how's about hooray for slimy things!.....maybe not, o.k., you think of something.....
The friend of the frogs,
Doughnut
X
(Hey, 'The Friends of the Frogs' is quite a good one.......)

Oh, Goody, a new Movement, just what we need!
I think we should include every kind of so-called 'unpopular' animal there is, like Scorpions, stick insects and snakes. I am particularly biased towards the final nominee, as I happen to own one. It's a red-tailed madagascar Tree Boa, and he's lovely. His name is Adam, which is one in the eye for Biblical Zealots!
My nominations for the Movement's title would be
'Friends of the what-on-Earth...?!'
'Yes, I like Yucky things, do you have a problem with that, sunshine?' (bit long winded, I grant you, but it's to the point and states your position quite clearly I think.)
We also need the ubiquitous little lapel ribbon. Slime green and soggy would be apt - and a logo too, I guess! Gosh, the movement is growing!!
Owing to the Buddhist belief in re-incarnation, I would like to think that every poor defenceless creature which has perished as part and design of human whim, has somehow made a comeback in Rambo-esque proportions and slapped the s**t out of the perpetrators in revenge. That wouldn't be very Buddhist, I admit, but there is evidence to support this....you only have to observe the behaviour of some politicians... Mind you, occasionally, the reverse is true. Sharks are slaughtered for the aphrodisiac property of some of the more tender parts of their anatomy in the Eastern Isles, but if a Lawyer falls into shark infested waters, the sharks generally leave the Legal Eagle alone out of professional courtesy....
Right! It's late, and I'm going! Choose Life.
Bye for now,
YinYang. XX

Are stick insects unpopular? Wenaworralad they were the rage. I think every kid I knew, probably not actually as many as an unreliable memory would have me believe, had a jar full, living on privet leaves. The smell of pickled onions is always and forever to be associated with stick insects, in my mind. The problem the frogs are facing isn't really due to their unpopularity either... at least not in France. Still, no point in splitting hairs just when we're off to a flying start. I rather like...

'Friends of the... What on earth?!'
'Yes, I like Yucky things. Do you have a problem with that, Sunshine?'

It has a testy, bellicose quality that sets the tone nicely. I can see slime-green lapel pins becoming collectors' items too. Now we need a volunteer to host a page...

JTG

Well, I think that as I kind of started the movement, I should have the honour (~cough cough~, yeeeeeees,) of hosting the page, however, I must confess that I have absolutely no idea whatsoever about how to get it started..........um.......
I do, however, have a potential 1st member, Lisa the (co-founding) freak (religious cross thingy standing for an AND and it isn't the plus sign...) COTTONS
She collects frogs.....so she may like them......
She also has a really cool frog that jumps across her page, perhaps we could steal it...... I'll post her a message about the movement.
So, what is the name to be.....yes it's time to make your choice, chuck, but don't choose just yet, 'cos here's our Graham, with a quick re-cap (Do you understand the reference in this speech? Probably not, as you are in Canada, and I don't expect you get Cilla Black's... Blinda (and the man says it Blinda date so that you don't think he says blind ate)Date, do you?
Um.... oh yeah,
Choice between:
Friends of the What-on-Earth, or
Yes, I like Yucky things. Do you have a problem with that, Sunshine?

We could also have a name that has a good acronym.... though I can't think of one at present......
Hmm, I'll get back to you.....
Doughnut
X

A good acronym would be an asset... good thinking! I thought that the choices 'Friends of the What-on-Earth' and 'Yes, I like Yucky things. Do you have a problem with that, Sunshine?' were one name... difficult to work an acronym out of that though. Well done for volunteering to host the page and in finding a potential first member with such good credentials! I think I may have seen the animated frog thing. There seem to be a lot of parties popping up all over the place lately. It will be a good thing, I think, to rouse some of the revellers to something more worthwhile. Any thoughts about a catchy motto? Sorry, I don't get the Cilla black reference... Anything to do with Pick-of-the-Pops?

JTG

Hello there John,
Well, I may have volunteered to host the page but I have no idea as to how to get started......do you think I need to write to the 'Authorities'? I think I should, anyway, if just to find out how......!
Right, acronyms, ok, do we want somthing catchy, I think that would be best, something that people go, 'Oh, that sounds catchy, I wonder what that is all about.....'
Here we go......
FROGGY-For the Rights Of the Green, the Grotty and the Yucky.....no, ok then.....um......well,I think it's quite good, actually......
Protect Amphibians From A Fate Worse than A Dried Up Pond, or PAFAFWADUP (pron. Pav-av-wad-up)(YinYang says it sounds like a Frog walking, if you say it with the emphasis on -av-, and she's right, you know ).....that's not much better, is it?
Any way, I quite like FROGGY, besides, I've already drawn a really cool logo of a Frog........if you don't like them, you think of something, I'm not going to do this all on my own, you know, you two are the other founders......

Moving on, I'm sorry but I don't know what Pick-of-the-Pops is. Cilla Black presents a dating programme called Blind Date, where, in the first half, there are 3 men, behind a screen, and a lady on the other side asks them three quesions an chooses one bloke who she likes the sound of, and likes his answers, and then they go on a 3 day holiday together. The second half has 3 women behind the screen, with a bloke asking the questions.
Both couples come back the next week to talk about it.
Some of the outcomes are hilarious, like if the couple end up hating each other, but there have been a few long lasting relationships, and even marriages stemming from the first date.
It's quite a crap programme, actually, always got on my nerves, to tell the truth.....!
Anyway, get on with finding acronyms people,
from
Doughnut
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