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

That was quite interesting. Where do you keep all these doodles? Mr. Keeper guy. Do you have a doodle cabinet? Is there a doodle keeper for the doodle keeper? I agree a scribble is just a woosh wah while a doodle can sometimes can be confused for a Picasso.

Ahh - I have a veritable Dr Cagliari's cabinet full o` them. Doodles cunningly crafted during many hours of school classes, doodles painstakingly devised through tedious university lectures and finely wrought doodles composed in endless business meetings ..... I have in effect oddles of doodles (although I do not have any scribble). Interesting word scribble - it's a diminutive SCRIBILLARE from the latin SCRIBERE (to scribe or write) although I feel it has become demeaned over the passing of the years.

I felt that I could not Keep and Muse for the same thing.

Dost thou Scribble or Doodle ?

Red
Woof-woof-woof

Understandable. But if there were a keeper would he muse about the doodles? Scribere ::brushing up on her latin:: (oops doesnt know any latin)Scrivere is the italian form.(yes i know derived from latin) Hmm...perhaps i should learn latin. But can you teach an old dog new tricks? (no pun intended)If i could kick some of those terrible songs that i never wanted to know out of my head...i would have enough room for a few languages i think.
I found that my doodles became more professional sitting through boring lectures for what "seemed" like multiple eternities.

Sometimes i do the scribble doodle...which is a fabulous hybrid that keeps me entertained for hours.

I donate much of my time to doodles AND scribbles...

Bye the way i read a bit of your conversation with Exuberance...a bright 13 year old for sure. You seem to have vats of inflammation (information) to give!! And it's all quite exciting to the mind.::claps:: woohoo! Cheers to Inflammation!

Hi Imaldris, I think I see where you're at with the scribble thing - I have been known in moments of madness to indulge in a bit of scribbling BUT only as a necessary adjunct to starting off a doodle ..... also works with Coffee cup stains on blotters rather well as well. OK I admit to deliberately putting coffee stains on blotters to start a doodle around them ..... but you knew that anyway didn't you.

My doodles have got pretty good over the years (most people think I'm not paying attention when I'm doing them but it helps me to think). I've recently graduated to doing them at home with proper ink, and pens, and artists paper and stuff - very grown up ! (frustrated artist in me I think).

Young Exuberance is v interesting wouldn't you agree - I'm very much enjoying the discussion. I have one of those odd minds that collects useless facts sadly and H2G2 is a great forum too let it all out. T`was very nice of you to be so kind in your comments - very much appreciated. Keep on reading ... there's bound to be more to follow.

One favour I always ask people whom I talk to is to check their local Yellow pages and check out the male hairdresser 2 first name phenomenon for me. If you could make a moment I'd be most grateful.

Red
Woof-woof-woof

PS: Should have worked out scrivere for myself - Scrivener of course.

You ever notice that by the talent of your doodles...people begin looking over your shoulder...to see what you're doing (if you are in a lecture hall or something similar) And sometimes you can even infect others with the need to doodle uncontrollably...along with a few added scribbles for posterity. If my lecture courses were more than 3 hours long, say 10 hours long instead...I say the entire class would have been up covering the walls completely with doodles.

I've found your dialogue with Exuberance very interesting indeed...and I will check up your 2 name hairdresser phenomenon. I have the phone book on my lap as i write this. However i'll put that in a post after this one.

Oooh the grown up doodle...::shudders:: I haven't been able to avoid that myself.
I would have to say my favorite doodle medium...is charcoal. Fabulously messy and fun. I occasionally transpose the doodles on to myself from accidentally brushing hands on it or over my face. THE LIVING DOODLE. People with many tatoos...perhaps could be this phenomenon. Have you ever read Ray Bradbury's The Illustrated Man? Body Doodles (tatoos) mutating (not really the right word...sounds...scary), perhaps evolving into something of more depth than we could possibly imagine.
Hmm....h2g2 is a fabulous place...i have any icky feeling about the Beeb monitoring...(ive been a researcher for about 2 years)...it does not feel more constricting than trying to wear a mouses liederhosen....YET....but....who knows. Your thoughts on this?

Ok. I'm looking through my phone book. Oneida County, New York, United States. And there seems to be a bunch of double named barber/stylist peoples in here. A few names Jordan James "salon", not so suprising multiples Anthony's...George Anthony, Anthony Guiseppe (italian JOE) ...and its funny...I notice a lot of Vic's still...and a few Sal's/Salvatore's. I think those are the choose from these 2 styles...completely clean shaven or box top. hehehe my dad goes to Sal's...gets his sides trimmed...and the top left alone for his combover. Does that make it 3 styles that Sal has now? Yes all in all the search through my NY phone book has lent credence to your theory. If you'd like any specifics just drop a line....

Greetings from Down Under to Up-Over. I'm in Perth WA so we're doomed to be a little out of sync I fear.

Nevertheless I can definitely identify with the looking over the shoulder thing; I used to find it a bit of an intrusion into the creative process but am now more relaxed with it. I know what you mean about the the infection rate and its interesting to see how other people do it. Now me - I`m a bit of a Kandinsky kind of guy (geometric shapes, precision, etc) but in black. I have observed the following types also in action :-

The Letterer - you will have seen this guy lots of times. He`s the one that starts with filling in all the 0`s, on the paper then graduates to Q`s, R`s, P`s, A`s, D`s, q`s, e`s, o`s, p`s, a`s, d`s, g`s, b`s, and finishes with the B`S as a special treat.

The Caricaturist is the one who surreptitiously draws people (or attempts to) who are sitting around the table.

Spotted any more types yourself ?

I think that you have to gradually graduate to the grown up doodles - it`s not something that comes easy. People you know will say put aside the toys of childhood but you have to persevere - I know I did and I`m a better person for it.

I have to confess that I recoiled in horror at the mention of the C word as your fave medium ... I prefer to think about it as the Transferable Doodle; transfers to your hands, your clothes, your walls, your friends and your . Still I am pleased that you can get it to work for you; as I said earlier I work in detail with pen and ink (probably a touch A-retentive).

I well remember The Illustrated Man - I still have my Bradburys somewhere; probably snuggled up with my Asimov`s, my A.E Van Vogt`s and my E Doc Smith`s; all waiting patiently for an airing one day and smarting that they've been elbowed sideways by my Jordans and my Martins.

I`m fairly relaxed about the BBC it`s not a particularly paternalist organisation anymore and has some fine traditions of editorial and journalistic independence ... I think it`ll all work out OK. Bottom line is that it`s not in their interest for H2G2 to wither and die and I don`t think that they`ll be heavy handed and make too many mistake; we`ll all learn to get along I reckon.

Thank you so much for the hairdresser check. I`m not sure what it means yet but I`m definitely onto something. When I work out GuideML I`m going to fix my space and get into some serious research on it. I might start a thread as I`m sure that it`s everywhere in the Anglosaxon world for some inexplicable reason. Have been discussing same with Fluorescent recently. I`d love to have a few specifics if you had the time.

Had a ROL with your coment about your da`s `combover`. We call that a `Bobby Charlton` after a famous English footballer who had the same deal. In my family we all (cept me) suffer from a bit of premature baldness (I suffer from a bit of Grey). Dad, Bro`s and Uncles are all slapheads. Living dangerously I`ve therefore adopted the personal motto `Better Grey than Pink`.

Tell me about your nickname - a mispelling or are you counting the moments to Xmas this year and the release of the `Fellowship of the Ring` ? I thought about going with Rackhir for a while as Archery is my sport.

Red

::seeing if posting quickly will catch your attention:: WOot!! Here i am...The time distance won't keep you very out of sync with me...I'm quite a night owl. Who? (i had to do that..hehehe) The name Imaldris...and I'm very happy you recognized! It is the very one you speak of. Actually spelled Imladris (aka Rivendell) however i gave a swtich to the L and the A to make it sound a bit more femme to me.
I love LOTR...I'm a bit apprehensive about the film...fantasy movies tend to...get over or underdone..a bad egg sort of thing...

Just to follow up the BBC thing I though you might be interested in a quote from todays daily Telegraph -

Lorraine Heggessey, the controller of BBC1, said the series *, the highlight of her new spring-summer season, epitomised the new BBC1. It was accessible, modern and not afraid to challenge beliefs about what made a mainstream popular programme. "It dares to ask surprising questions of the traditional Christian stories and comes up with unexpected conclusions."

Red

* Son of Man - a series about the life of Jesus Christ

Red, just curious have you checked out the Zaphodista movement? It's quite interesting. I see what you mean about the BBC...however...Apparently...from what i've read over at the Zaphodista movement page the Beeb is quite different when taking care of online things.

(bye the way i sent this magnificent long post earlier but aol (aohell) booted me right at the end of it...will try again...sheesh)

As for other types of doodles i've seen:

The doodle around your notes to make a pretty picture frame DOodle.

The doodle runs on to the desk doodle...hehehe

The doodle on yourself doodle (which is a bit childish...but hey! art is art)

I really do like charcoal as a medium...The mess it creates on me and around me is almost cathartic. Actually it is cathartic. I think everyone needs to get a lil messy once in a while.

I'll take down some double hairdresser guy names for you...i've got a few phone books from around NY here. Just as soon as I find them! hehehe..

::trying to think of what else was in the other post::

Oooh yas you live in Oz? I have a friend who lives semi near by...a researcher on hear as well...so far he's still MIA on h2g2 (still have contact on email) but he's informed me of little cultural things i hadn't known before. I hope I can count you in to inform me.
First question: Vegemite? What's the deal?

~Imal

Hi Imal, I just lost a long posting as well. You should hear the invective this end ... and there was so many witty things lost as well (sigh).

OK to recreate. Vegemite - Australians are fed this at their mother knee and its as big an Icon as the Opera house and as tasty as the meat pie floater (see Exuberance posting for more explanation of this one). There's even a UK version called marmite - both sold in the same shaped/coloured jar and made out of the same stuff - Yeast extract. I think its a by product of the brewing process so there won't be any shortage of it out here. Mum's spresadit on toast and shove it in kids mouths from an early age (I'm not a parent so I simplify this stuff by the way - shove and kid probably aren't used widely in the Joy of parenting manuals). Vegemite even figured in a 80's song called Down Under by men at Work - voted Ugliest band of All time I seem to recall (a thoroughly deserved award I might add). It has the resemblance to black treacle and personaly I'd only use it for axle grease.

On the other issue I'm glad I picked up on your monicker. I have the same fear as you do probably - caused in my case by too much Hollywood licence with (a) fact (b) history (c) filthy lucre and (d) the desire to add balanced plotlines by the inclusion of inappropriate romantic storylines in at every opportunity so no one group won't have a reason to go to the cinema to see it. For these reasons I have never been to see the Patriot, U-571, Braveheart, etc, etc. I am petrifed that they'll do the same to LOTR .... but equally electrified by the opportunity that it'll all come to life (ever the naieve optimist).

There is a belting movie site. If you haven't been there it's [moderator proof] URL is a few W's and a dot followed by a one word solution to this anagram `dorloftherings`, garnished with a dot.com and then add a slash for desert. Voila and Bon Appetite.

I've downloaded the trailer and its awesome.

There is two things about the film that may upset you. (1) no Tom Bombadil and presumably no barrow Down scenes as well, (2) Arwen Evenstar figure in it more heavily than the story. I'm a bit of a purist and I can live with an ommission like (1) but worry about and inclusion like (2). There is a full list of exceptions as well.

All the major sets are in New Zealand - Isengard, Helms Deep, Edoras, Moria, Minas Tirith, etc near Cookstown - the extreem sports capital of the world where they invented bungee jumping.

Anyway it can't possibly be worse than the animated film that came out a few tears back. I just wish it wasn't my favourite book they are messing with.

Red

El rojo,

I've been to a bunch of the LOTR web sites...as a matter of fact it seems everytime i search for LOTR stuff, all it gives me is crap about the upcoming movie, when all I wanted was a fun pic of the Gates of Moria (say "friend" and Enter...). So yes, I've looked around a bit. A friend from NZ (previously mentioned in a post above)was keeping me updated for awhile...It seems I've been waiting for this movie for years now. Oh, wait. I have. It is a great director though. I can't see how anyone who calls themselves a fan of LOTR could butcher the movie. But yes, it is very worrying (my favorite book/series as well) They should have allowed a LOTR fan club to be on site to give yays and nays to all decisions...hehehe...

Actually LOTR is one of the main reasons that I became such an avid reader.::silent thanks to JR:: Reading, the "lost art". I fear for the quality of books in the future though. The shelves of my local bookstore seem littered with self help books, though the classics/sci-fi/fantasy/philosophy sections are sparsely populated. Rather worrisome! (though i did check out an interesting one called "Who moved my cheese?"...interesting the most intriguing part of the books was this picture of a block of cheese, and in the center of it was a lone sentence: What would you do if you weren't so afraid?)

Actually Men at Work, did come into mind when I asked the vegemite question. It sounds to me as if peanut butter or tang is the american equivalent. I rather like Men at work. I admit to having a few albums. I don't think they're that aesthetically pleasing in judging their physionomes however...looks are very deceiving. Those new poppy bands that have taken over the U.S. are pleasant to look at I suppose, but I would rather spend my day gargling with razor blades than listening to their wishy wash superficial brand of musical nonsense.
~Imal

P.S. i actually enjoyed Braveheart a lot.

G`day Imal, and greetings from sunny Perth in the land of plenty (sing along). Hpe I didn't come across as shallow with that observation about M-a-W but it was just an obscure piece of knowledge that popped out. My brain sort of makes connections between things and spews out a quip or a fact. I have no control over it - it just happens (and all the time).

I am the proud owner of two copies of who moved my cheese - but I've not got around to reading either of them (both bought by friends who thought I was Scurry). I usually have six or seven books on the go at anyone time - they're scattered all over the house, next to the bed, in the lounge, on the veranda, etc, etc. Reading is the best thing - stretches the imagination and broadens the mind. I don't know where I'd be if I didn't LOTR, Wizard of Earthsea, Mother Tongue, etc, etc, etc.

I was writing the LOTR URL I knew that you'd have been there but I was actually having so much fun doing it that way that it occurred to me that the Moderators have (in a bizarre way) done us a favour ..... it's kind of forcing us to be a bit more inventive and clever and crafty.

Anyway I have the same apprehension as you - I feel that the LOTR world I've painstakingly built up in my head about how characters look and interact and how the speech sounds, etc is threatened. On the other hand if it's done well then WOW. just haven't worked out whether the risk is worth the gain yet .... I guess it kind of depends on what kind of person you are (me = risk taker).

Red Dog

Ooooh nooo you didnt come across as shallow at all. But hence as you connect little factoids to things, i cant help but connect my semi-irrelevant opinions on "life, the universe, and everything"
Ah so you have Who moved my Cheese?? hehehe...i don't have it ...i was just flipping through it at the store the other day...it looked pretty good to me!! What would you do if you werent so afraid printed in the middle of cheese somehow got to my braincells! However i have read that whole L.Ron. Hubbard (tolkiens lil friend Elrond is his namesake...which you probably know...but hey ill throw is in just in case)Dianetics book. I can't say I feel much better for it. My engrams against society are still alive and kicking me in the tail everyday!
Live Tyler is to be Galadriel, right? I think she'd make a splendid Galadriel. Though i agree that i think they will throw in sappy love plots that werent originally so OBVIOUS in the book! ugh!! i like the original latency!

A good morning to you as well! Its going to be a glorious day!! (i hope...ive lots of stuff to take care of today that ive been slacking on) It's amazing how the days roll past.

~Imal

Hi Imal, its saturday afternoon here in Perth and am getting the weekend off to a good start. Have never read any L Ron Hubbard ... very put off by scientology (mostly because of its popularity with Hollywood glitterati). I have so much else to read/do/vist/think about that I can't even think about making any kind of investment to learn about it.

I though Cate Blanchett was going to be Galadriel. I may have this totally wrong by the way - the Blonde hair was not a Noldor characteristic trait (Vanyar more like it). With you all the way on the romantic issue - LOTR is an epic, an allegory, a battle between light and dark, ...... its not Mills and Boon or Barbara Cartland.

Regards

Red

Hallo Red! Hmm hmm hmm...It's around 6:25 am here in NY...I've not gone to sleep yet. i've been suffering from rough weeks of strange sleeping. (slept from about 4pm to 1 am...sheesh)
Today I'm going to making polish eggs with my friend for a class she teaches. Strange...to make...woosh.

Maybe you're right...that Cate Blanchett is Galadriel...i've not checked into the cast list for awhile...Either way, she'll hopefully fit the part. ::laughs:: yes...a definite allegory...an entire world made from J.R.R. Tolkiens own mind complete with language, and here comes some sloppy romance to pull it all apart. Perish the though. Yikes...We don't likes romance! (though there is...there really is a light love line in there...it was just so beautifully non cheapened...with lusty...as you say Mills and Boon)
We'll see. How are the doodles coming?
"Many are the strange chances of the world"
(i love to quote him)

~Imal



In Mordor..where the

..... shadows lie.

Hi Imal, I've actually finished my first (A3 size) commission from a co-worker for an adult doodle. I'm v pleased with the outcome and I hope my pal will be too.

I hope to do a guide entry on Doodling one day - might I use some of the material in the posts ... perhaps we could collaborate ? What do you think ?

If you had to locate Imladris or Mordor in the present world where would you put them ?

Red

PS: I should have asked what the panic is about as well ? I thought Imladris was a haven of tranquility.

Red,

Your welcome to use any of the posts, it's all fine by me. It would be a pleasure to collaborate, though I'm not sure of how much use i'd be. My strong point is making incoherent comments and dreaming all day long. But if i can be of service to you at all, ::swishes skirt and curtsies:: you are welcome to all my faculties.

Well...since Imladris...is serene as you said, and the location of the white tree....i think i'd like it to be somewhere in remote valley in the himalayas...I hear the flowers in some of the valleys are so aromatic there they cause hallucinations.

Mordor...Mordor...I feel terribly cliche...I think Mordor..(where the shadows lie) More falls towards a desert..., perhaps Saudi Arabia...or on the other hand (certain life does flourish in the desert) How does Chernobyl look these days? You know I wouldn't suprised if Mordor was right here where i live in NY. hehehe...::shakes head:: now that i think of it, that fits really well. I pick upstate, ny for Mordor...hehehe, lifeless. BLEH!

Where would you put them, Red?

~Imal

AND CONGRATS ON THE COMMISSION RED!!! ::pops open a bottle of champagne:: (if i knew how to make those cool little emoticon glasses i would) Cheers!!