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

hello all.

Some of the conversations (well, almost all so far) are being reviewed by the moderators to remove swearwords and useful links.

Anyway, here we go again.

*puts on a fresh pot of coffee and proudly displays a newly baked chocolate cake*

*dusts away the cobwebs and wonders who will wander in again.*

whistles a tune called "wondering"

Alright!

You've caught me in a rare cheerful moment. How was your holiday?

And i have a suggestion. lets talk about something nice, like music, or books or films or something, instead of how the world is going to end, this time. That way we can have a good honest argument without feeling morose.

Hi, Uncle H, how ya been? Books, Music, Films - yeah, I dig. I'm reading a really superb book now, MiddleMarch by George Eliot. Any a you folks heard bout it?

Movies - cannot remember when last I seen a good one though.

Music - at the moment I'm really enjoying Alanis Morisette, when is she going to do something new? What kinda stuff do you guys like? I actually like more or less everything.

Hi, Uncle H, how ya been? Books, Music, Films - yeah, I dig. I'm reading a really superb book now, MiddleMarch by George Eliot. Any a you folks heard bout it?

Movies - cannot remember when last I seen a good one though.

Music - at the moment I'm really enjoying Alanis Morisette, when is she going to do something new? What kinda stuff do you guys like? I actually like more or less everything.

Jenny, big congrats on getting this place functional again so soon! Pity about the links - we'll have to make a kind of plan. Entire entries written just for the sake of links. That shouldn't be too hard. In fact it might be good - entries are a little more permanent than forum posts, an old post on a forum hardly ever gets looked at.

We should do a joint article effort - the accumulated wisdom of the utopia cafebar or something. Perhaps in the form of dialogues, like plato. yeah.

I've not been too bad actually, as it goes.

I cant agree with you on George ELiot, or even any victorian novelist. Complicated reasons - i'm not a literature person

Films: Anime. D'uh. I just got the patlabor films. highly cool.

Music: I'm going to have a falling out with you unless you can find something better than Alaniss Morisette. Try Daft Punk

Uncle H, me and you seem to be tuned to different cosmic frequencies. Hurm, maybe it's because I live in a different country and culture, and was born in a different decade. Anyways, I really like a lot of stuff written ages ago, Shakespeare, the old Greeks, so on; in every age there was a few things written worth reading. I don't really know any modern authors that well. Except Douglas Adams of course. If you find the old Victorians indigestible, how about George Bernard Shaw?

I won't comment about anime, because I have seen only one anime flick in its entirety so far. What do you find good about it?

As for music, what the heck is Daft Punk? I remember Punk from the old days, and that was okay. I've been out of touch with the music scene for about ten years now, because after a while it just seemed like I heard it all a million times before, and when I listen to the radio or the tv from time to time nowadays the new songs still sound to me more or less just like all the old songs, only not as good. The element of freshness has gone. Guess I'm disillusioned.

I'll be looking out for new interesting books, movies and music. But you know, there are still things I get excited about, that I'm enthusiastic about. Mostly it's not what is considered "entertainment". I really like reading non-fiction, finding out about science, such as quantum mechanics, superstrings, consciousness research, and nature - ecology, animals and plants, so on. I like paranormal and supernatural stuff - who cares if it's real or not, it's quite fascinating and often funny and gives a guy lots of freaky ideas. Basically I'm now at the stage where I consider the truth to be stranger and better than fiction. Comments? Jenny, what stuff do YOU like? I know already you like Carl Sagan - me too; what else?

My God. You're right. we appear to have nothing in common. Daft Punk are a rather good french electronic band.

I find literature in general quite indigestible, but not for want of trying. I really should read more, and all my friends are very well read, but I just find them impenitrable.

And George Bernard I'm not Shaw, as I've heard him called is merely an oscar wilde wannabe.

What isnt good about anime? It can be visceral, it can be thoughtful, it can have big demons in, or it can have giant shooty robots in. Very high brow.

Naw, we can't have nothing in common, or we wouldn't both be on h2g2. I'll be keeping an eye out for Daft Punk, if they're French, they must be really funny.

Wey Hey

were back ?

Any chance of some coffee and chocolate cake ?

Hello everyone.

Coffee and cake all round, of course. Yipee etc at being back.

We seem to have lost all the conversations from b4, but they might find thier way back soon.

1. Daft Punk are ace. They have noises that go Bwaaaaa-bwa-bew-bwa-bwaaah over and over in an ace loud repetitive fashion. I too have become disillusioned with pop, but it still is able to surprise me now and then, or at least rehash old ideas in a hyper-real polished style, which can be interesting in unexpexted ways.

2. Digest of the utopia cafebar. Yes. Very much a good idea. I hope that I can get the moderators to release some of the conversations so that we can skim through them for interesting bits to quote. Having the urls would be good too. Happy has developed a new site that needs lots of ideas and content, I will post the url soon.

3. Sure you guys have things in common. You both have eyes, ears and computers, and are blokes, and must be a bit odd to find h2g2 your online spiritual home.

4. Books - i just read the hacker ethic, which is quite good, invisible monsters - a dark novel by the author of fight club, and am about to get going on genome. There are loads of good books around, but I too am not keen on old books in general. Especially Victorian novels abour getting married.

5. anyone?

*jumps up and down a bit. Climbs the tree and bungees down in celebration* Whoo!

answer to Q5 is yes

hi happy

heres your

top work on the utopia cafebar webpage.

now, its late. get some sleep

(she said to herself)

pj

night

*purplejenny takes an old music box from behind the bar. She opens it, revealing a rather tattily dressed ballerina. Once wound the box faintly whirrs, as the dancer twirls an irregular and slightly cock-eyed pirouette. A twinkly lullably plays, also a little out of time and out of tune, until the wind runs down and the lullaby ends.*

G'nite Jim Bob

*Walks in slowly but quietly searching for a cup of tea?*

Hello Aldren

*slides over a fresh pot of tea, two cups, milk and sugar.*

cuts a nice slice of

*pours two cups of tea*

milk? sugar? magic?

Magic Primero Por Favore
Oooh, what is the conversation, I'd like two lumps please.

I take magic in my tea. Its just a line from an old northern song that i like a lot. Two lumps then.

Welcome to the Utopia cafebar. This is a place to eat and drink and smile. if it weren't so late, and if the h2g2 site hadn't been down for weeks before moving to the bbc, we tend to talk about utopia and how to get there.

however, for those of us in the uk its really past bedtime. Where are you?

pj

Daft Punk are indeed ace. But dont let the bwah bwah sounds put you off. They're a bit like an evolved kraftwerk i guess.