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

M&Ms were originally invented for the US military as a form of chocolate that wouldn't melt easily,

(according to Zoo a mens weekly magazine)

The huge statues on Easter Island are bigger than lots of things.

The huge statues on Easter Island are smaller than lots of things.

RF

the huge statues on easter island are the same size as lots of things, they cant vomit underwear (known fact)

Nor can they be vomited out underwater.

Charlie Chaplin once entered a Charlie Chaplin lookalike contest, in Monte carlo..
He came third!!

Carol Channing once entered a Carol Channing 'lookalike' contest in which all the contestants were in drag. She lost. When she told the judges who she was, they wouldn't believer her.

Hasn't something like this also been done in the literary world? People sending copies of "Great Expectations" and similar to publishers, and it being rejected?

RF

Peter Duncan once nearly entered a Peter Duncan 'lookalike' contest but he didnt as there werent any as he wasnt quite famous enough to have a lookalike contest about him so he went on holiday to Easter Island* instead and admired the biggysmallness of the statues there.

* Whilst on this Easter Island Holiday he allegedly tried snorkelling and allegedly vomited underwater when he saw a particularly ugly fish. I do not believe this though as it is both pysically impossible for ex Blue Peter presenters to vomit underwater, and who ever heard of an Ugly Fish.

Yeah, the idea that he saw an ugly fish is totally ridiculous... Everyone knows the ugly fish was hunted to extinction in the 19th century.

Yup, and that was how makeup first got invented. To originally be used as bait to catch all the ugly fish.

The ugly fish would be swimming along quite innocently, see the bait, think 'Ooo some lippy and mascara nows my chance' and then whup, out of the water an on someones plate faster than you can say 'with mushy peas please'

Be all that is it may...

Groucho Marx died three days after Elvis Presley. The media barely noted it. (I learned this from a Rob Zombie movie).

When Queen Elizabeth the First died, she had onver 3,000 gowns.

Wasn't there some lady with over 3,000 pairs of shoes? Governer of some south american place's wife, and then it turned otu she'd stolen half of them... why do I remember this vaguely?

Imelda Marcos of the Philipines. Wife of dictator Ferdinand Marcos and both apparently good friends of Ronald Reagan (by looking at the pictures of them warmly shaking hands) because they weren't communists).

If you look up Elvis Presley on IMdB, the 'Popular Names' lists him as 'Miscellaneous Crew' for the 2003 film Big Fish, which used his song All Shook Up. In fact, there are 38 films that list him as 'Miscellaneous Crew', mostly because they used one of his songs. 31 of them post-date his last film as an actor (Change of Habit in 1969). That's more films using his songs than he starred in! There's even a listing for him as Writer - New Gladiators, which was released in 2002! The amazing feat of writing a film after he died is explained by the fact that the film was made *before* he died, but not released for nearly 30 years.

That's enough useless facts about Elvis to be going on with.

i agree.

getting back to the infinitely pregnant aphids (isn't that a curious sentance!) it turns out (after careful scrutiny of my biology teacher's brain) that that isn't really how it works. they are born with eggs inside them like any other females but they are all born like that and can reproduce asexually which means they don't need a significant other to contribute any DNA. however at times of hardship for aphid kind some of them can change gender and produce eggs the traditional way. why doing it this way makes it less hard for the aphids i don't know.

(and on the subject of guppies going through the menoause he had no idea. i've always wanted to outsmart a teacher. thanks whoever came up with that one.)

The guppy thing is just new. I read an article about the study's announcement last week.

Steady on. I think we're exaggerating. According to the BBC, there were only 1220 pairs of Imelda Marcos' shoes left in the Presidential Palace when she fled the Philippines. Apparently the average weight of ladies' shoes is around 650 g for a pair, so that the 1220 pairs would have weighed something like three-quarters of a tonne. (3000 pairs would weigh almost two tonnes, which is clearly ridiculous).

While I was considering this slight to the former First Lady, I discovered that the following bird-species may occasionally be seen by visitors to Mindanao : Wandering Whistlingduck, Philippine Duck, Barred Honey-Kite, Philippine (Monkey-eating) Eagle, Philippine Bush-hen, Philippine Woodcock, White-eared Dove, Pink-bellied Pigeon, Spotted Imperial Pigeon, Blue-crowned Racquet-tail, Mindanao Racquet-tails, Azure-rumped Parrot, Philippine Hawk-Cuckoo, Rusty-breasted Cuckoo, Violet Cuckoo, Black-faced Coucal, Australasian Grass-Owl, Chocolate Boobook, Mindanao Boobook, Philippine Nightjar, Philippine Trogon, Blue-capped Kingfisher, Silvery Kingfisher, Writhed Hornbill, Red-bellied Pitta, Black-bibbed Cuckooshrike, McGregor's Cuckooshrike, Yellowish Bulbul, Philippine Leafbird, White-browed Shortwing, Mindanao Shortwing, Pygmy Babbler, Rusty-crowned Babbler, Brown Tit-Babbler, Rufous-headed Tailorbird, White-faced Tailorbird, Chestnut-tailed Flycatcher, Mugimaki Flycatcher, Little Slaty Flycatcher, Citrine Flycatcher, Rufous Paradise-Flycatcher, Black-and-cinnamon Fantail, Stripe-breasted Rhabdornis, 5 species of endemic flowerpecker, Grey-hooded Sunbird, Apo Sunbird, Naked-faced Spiderhunter, Everett's White-eye, Mindanao Ibon, Cinnamon Ibon, Philippine Bullfinch, Short-tailed Starling, Apo Myna, Grey-throated Oriole, Jerdon's Baza, Oriental Hobby, Dark-eared Dove, Mindanao Lorikeet, Philippine Cuckoo, Mindanao Eagle-Owl, Wattled Broadbill, Bagobo Babbler, Long-tailed Bush-Warbler, Russet-tailed Flycatcher, Short-crested Monarch, and Red-eared Parrotfinch.

Some of those sound quite rude, don't they? And quite why they copped out with the endemic flowerpeckers is unclear. Pity, really.

reply to post: 2644

Posted 3 Weeks Ago by Proudwart
"Always make shure to say 'Vuala' instead of 'Walla', as the latter means Oh My God in Arabic."

Nah.... W'Alla in Arabic means "and God". It is used as you would use "really?" or "I swear it's true!" depending on how it is inflected.



Wilma