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

Sealand is a self-declared principality whose legality is disputed by the British government. I doubt very much if it has a place in the UN. (Its size and population would count against it, anyway.)

Surely all principalities are basically self-declared?

A principality is a sovreign state ruled over by a prince (or princess). I doubt that Liechtenstein, Monaco and Andorra are 'self-declared' principalities.

Interestingly, there has never been a principality covering the whole of Wales. The original principality covered just the Northern and Western areas, the rest being known as the March of Wales. The Prince of Wales has no responsibility for the government of Wales, and never has had any. It's just a title conferred on the heir apparent to the British throne.

In 1962 in Chicago a comedian was performing. He used "offensive language". In the audience was a young man.
The show was raided because of the comedian's language. The young man in the audience refused to show his ID to a police officer and was thrown in jail for the night.

The comedian on stage was Lenny Bruce.
The young man exerting his sixth amendment rights was a young George Carlin!

ing Cool!

*I had to censor this post. That's Fcuking wrong!

When the writers of Deep Space Nine first conceptualized Elim Garak, he was only ever intended to appear in a single episode. The writers were so impressed with the actor's performance that they wrote him into subsequent episodes, and eventually Garak became a pivotal character.

Mr. X try posting that last fact here http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/F1994453?thread=578538&show=20&skip=1160#pi1180

I am shocked and appalled that I never saw that place earlier.

There's something I'm confused about though. DS9 ended years ago, but they were talking like it was just last week. Does it really take that long for American shows to broadcast in the British Isles, or what?

they were all shown on the bbc years ago

but virgin are showing them at the moment and i think the patrons at quarks are only getting them for the first time, so i dont post there very often in case i give something away

Sounds like it. I don't know how they could've missed 'em in the past, but then I come from a family of Trekkies.

they were on bbc2 around tea time, and if anything over ran, like the snooker or cricket it was the star trek show that got dropped,

then as the series changed they swapped time slots, untill in the end you had to check the papers every day to find out when it was on.

they did the same to babylon 5 as well swapping it all about

why dont tv stations appreciate good SF????

Because...... Um........ Well......... Hmm.........

That's a very good question. While we're on the subject, Isaac Asimov said (and I believe he was dead-on): "Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today, but the core of science fiction, its essence, has become crucial to our salvation, if we are to be saved at all."

SF is the writers way to attack the status quo without being branded a radical, firebrand, or revolutionary and spending 30 years in a gulag......the names of the awards are way cooler as well....hugo and nebula award..Vs..turner prize

The numbers on opposite sides of a die always add up to 7.

(only on standard 6 sided dice).

Of course.

"WD-40" stands for "water displacement, 40th attempt". It was the fortieth formulation they tried till they got it right.

WD-40 was created by a company trying to make a product to prevent rust.

...and they did a very good job,

on their 40th attempt.

Here's a breakdown that is as close as we'll ever know about what is in that final formulation:

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/17-05/st_whatsinside

Back in the '80's a similar analysis was done on the "11 secret herbs and spices" that are used to make Kentucky Fried Chicken (before they officially became "KFC").


All that was found in the analyses were "flour, salt, pepper and monosodium glutamate."
The real secret to Kentucky Fried Chicken was how it was pressure cooked.

There is certainly an "Original Recipe" that Colonel Sanders used that may have had 11 "herbs and spices" but they apparently don't use all of them in the chain restaurants that bare his name.

On that subject, the FDA (FCA?) has regulations which say that all ingredients of a food MUST be displayed, and all the ingredients are displayed. The only reason they can still say it's a secret is that no one bothers to read the ingredients list. Same goes for Bush's Baked Beans. (Which are my favorite kind, incidentally.)

In this short comedy movie, the Russians beat up the waiter to learn what's in "Secret Sauce" (about 4 minutes in):

http://ww2.48.tv/bin/index.cfm/id/e3efe491-c6f5-426d-b348-ec807ff28892

"... but then it wouldn't be secret!"