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

hey eddie...how come u such a bit hit with the gurls?

and what's poor old bertie got to do with anything?

lets hear about the gerbil then

I hadn't heard that one either, Edward...

I never really heard the detail about MF and Mars bars, but I can read between the lines to guess 3what it was about. What I can't understand was why it should have caused such a stir (even if MJ was also involved)

Back to useless facts...

When ships enter the Houston Ship Channel (Houston, Texas, USA) they are piloted by local pilots only who are specifically licensed for the task. The Houston Ship Channel is considered one of the most hazardous waterways in the world. The channel is so narrow in some parts that these pilots perform a maneuver called the "Texas Chicken". When two ships are passing through a narrow section they will aim so close to each other as to use each other's displacement to give them enough water under their hulls to avoid scraping the sides of the channel.

well, you know what? i don't know if that constitutes a useless fact....
hmmmmmmmm

you never know when you're gonna be in texas, being interviewed for the job of local houston ship canal piolet.....and be asked why you think specialised piolets are needed in the first place.....

wouldn't it be handy to have this pieceful information at that moment?

yes..
thanks... but you'll have to try again....that information was sooooo totally useful......

hows this for useless, my friend is doing a geography degree and thought cardiff was in ireland!

The Irish plans for Welsh* domination are very advanced. Soon Cardiff *will* be in Ireland! Mwah ha ha ha ha!

RF

* They started with plans for *world* domination, but someone spelt it wrong early on, and since then they've been planning to invade Wales.

No war has ever been fought where both countries have a McDonalds.

Is that true? I'm fairly sure both Croatia and Yugoslavia/Serbia had McDonalds and they were at war. And technically Japan and Russia are still at war, they didn't sign a peace treaty after WW2 because Russia still holds four Kuril Islands claimed by Japan
Iago the

There are usually between 330 and 500 dimples on a golf ball.

is there mcdonalds in wales??
cos if there's not.....step back...we're comin in...

<>

Surely, there's McDonalds everywhere?

Redditch, the small town where I live, has *four* MacDonalds, including 2 drive-thrus. IMHO that's 4 too many, 3 too many if I'm feeling generous.

>>No war has ever been fought where both countries have a McDonalds.

This is somewhere between an 'urban myth' and a deliberate lie designed to show the advantages of Pax Americana. In Frances Wheen's excellent book, 'How Mumbo Jumbo Conquered The World' he gives a counter example: Belgrade had a McDonalds. America bombed it.

Oh...there was also a McDonalds in Panama City.

Oh, but that wasn't a war was it?

That was the US trying to tidy up a bit of nastiness they caused a decade before. Even though Noriega was a loathsome little tyrant, now he's a political prisoner.




Are there McDonalds in Pakistan and India? I can't imagine selling a whole lot of Big Macs in Bombay.

CZ

Why did I use the pronoun "they"? I'm a citizen of the US...

I guess by "they" I meant Dubya's dad and his New World Order cronies.

Some unusual place names:

No Name, Colorado

Bald Head, Maine

Frankenstein, Missouri

Gaylordsville, Connecticut

Intercourse, Pennsylvania

Monkey's Elbow, Kentucky

Virginville, Pennsylvania

Dildo, Newfoundland

The Gulf Stream could carry a message in a bottle at an average of 4 miles per hour