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

Thai, Mexican, Chinese, or Indian? Any others I've missed?


Have you noticed that Gwennie has gone comatose along with Spiny? Maybe there is something wrong with the air in here. ~sniffs~ Smells ok to me...

Sorry, sorry.

I'd check out of RL except I've heard that can have a bad effect on VR as well.

Never mind the confusion over the names of fuels, Mari-rae - you just asked Linus if he's wearing pants. In Britain that would mean underwear (jockeys, boxers, y-fronts or whatever). And a vest is also underwear, though you guys take it to mean what we would call a waistcoat. And if you asked a guy if he was wearing suspenders, be prepared for a skirmish, or would that be a rumble?

Glad to hear you're taking such good care of my brothers and sisters, Gwennie. If you ever need to put any of your charges up for adoption, you know who to call.

Spicy sounds good. In the old days you could put curry paste on a bit of food, stick it on a fork, and hold it out for bluDragon to flame-grill for you. But perhaps Mrs Babble's Tea Rooms could send something round, what do you think, Mari-rae?

I think I'm very glad you are back with us again.

I'd like to eat chicken fajitas with all the fixin's and heavy with the jalepenos, no matter whose kitchen it comes out of.

Does Linus call underware, pants too? English is such a difficult language.

I'd like to formally introduce you all to each other. And lets get the heck out of this conservatory, shall we?

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hmm...where to start?

Pants are not underwear down here, as opposed to panties not that i wear them...

Pants is more a kids word for Trousers or shorts, depending on whether they are long or short pants.

Mexican is fine by me, the only thing you missed was Thai in the hot food category...

~Julia Child imitation~ Let us then repair to the kitchen!

*They hold hands and dash across the lawn to the main house, not forgetting to take Gwennie with them, and enter the kitchen. It is a large room with bay windows filled with blooming plants. There is a dining area that has a fireplace blazing cozily near the table. Dividing this area from the working area of the kitchen is a breakfast bar with stools lining one side.*

Drinks first! *opens the fridge.* What are you having?

No, we do not have any order out services of any kind where I live, Spiny. I'm on a farm in the country. I don't think there is any in our town either.( population 3000 ) You have to go pick up the food you order. And if you want the other, you have to remember to go to the pharmacy when they are open! LOL!

We can dance more after we eat, if you'd like.

Linus, how come Aussie english and American english have similar usage when it comes to garments than English english? If you follow that sentence.

Just prop Gwennie in a chair over by the fire. She's having a severe bout of RL atm.

*Wakes up on a chair in a lovely warm and dry kitchen*

Hi peeps! Is that food I can smell?

*Looks hopeful*

Thanks for offering to help out with any of my adopted baby hedgehogs, Spiny! I may just hold you to that, so be warned!

I would think that the Aussie similarities to American English usage with certain terms or phrases are probably due to their having a stronger influence from the American culture there. I noticed during my time spent living in New Zealand that and it's a similar situation there, as they in turn tend to mimic the Aussie culture.

My two sprogs quite frequently, due to the amount of US television they watch, lapse into what we call "Americanisms" here and subsequently get pulled up for it. Nothing personal and all that, but it isn't well received during English lessons in school!

*notices champagne and orange juice in the fridge*

Buck's Fizz please, Mari-rae!

*settles down at the breakfast bar noting that all parties always do end up in the kitchen. Wonders if there'll be any freshly baked Mexican bread to go with the fajitas*

Yes, the English-speaking peoples really are separated by a common language. I mean, take the example of the common or garden three-piece suit worn in any number of corporate boardrooms around the world (thankfully not by me, however). In Britain it would consist of a jacket, waistcoat and trousers. In America, and possibly also Australia it would be a coat, vest and pants. What are we to make of all this? Only that people are the same yet different the whole world over. And that's what keeps things interesting.

For example, no Scottish person would mistake a Glasgow accent for an Ediburgh one, yet they're only 40 miles apart. And 200 miles away, just a spit to you other-continent persons, the city of Aberdeen boasts a recognised dialect called Doric which I defy a first-time listener to decipher.

Interested to hear how remote you are location-wise, Mari-rae. Nice to think you can connect to the world through a screen. I suppose younger people take it for granted in the same way I now do television, but for somebody whose first experience of computers was punched-card machines the size of an estate car (station wagon), I still find h2g2 amazing.

A thought has occurred to me. Relatively speaking, you're quite near "Da Yoop" where bluDragon lives, aren't you? You wouldn't be able to do some detective work and see what's happened to her, would you? She's been offline so long I'm worried something's happened to her. Her real name's Bonnie Bruce, and the cabin would seem to be in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan. She hasn't even responded to e-mail for months. She describes herself as "older than dirt", so I hope she's alright, basically.

Anyway, I'm sure we can heat up our fajitas in the meantime without a dragon's breath to sear them.

*Busily chopping lettuce and tomatoes, opening cans of black olives, refried beans, and slicing jalepenos. Mashes avocados for guacamole. Gets a container of sour cream. Makes up Buck's Fizzes all around and hands them out.*

Gwennie, since you are vegan, I'll do yours up first. *Gives Gwennie her veggie fajitas along with a big stack of warmed soft shell tacos.*

*Starts slicing strips of chicken and beef and frying them. The smell is heavenly. Makes up everyone's plates and hands them out.*

The magic of the computer is a constant source of amazement to me too, Spiny. (I think you and I are of the same generation.) Just ask Gwennie! She phoned me via her computer to my telephone so we could talk and it was magical to me.

I could try to find a snail mail address for bluDragon. The last I heard was that there was no internet connection server in the area she moved to.

I don't know your RL name, however! You can contact me at [email protected] and that way we won't disrupt the continuity here.

I'm game to try and interpret Doric!

Yes, here we all are from Australia, England, Scotland, and the United States and we are sharing food, drink and a great time together. I am so grateful to Bill Gates and all the others like him.

Not forgetting Charles Rennie McIntosh, who invented a computer with flowing lines, an interesting font, and a lilac-coloured monitor screen. Somebody should make that, shouldn't they? Just think - an Arts and Crafts computer!

Them there vittles sure looks good, Mari-rae. Tacos too! I'll be mostly tucking in to them right now. Delicious!

*in his haste, guacamole and sour cream drip down his chin, to which, being v. hungry, he is oblivious*

Aye, computers. Can't live with them...er that's it. They can be incredibly frustrating or they can just make your day. The first CD I made with the band on a computer gobsmacked me. Then today I was trying to connect a new device up and it was like pulling teeth, even with repeated following of the manual. At least for a child of the 50's I'm still managing to keep up, which can't be too bad.

I will contact you at the e-mail address and we can talk some more about bluDragon. In the meantime, I'm gettin' these fine fajitas down me before they get cold.

*Laughs and wipes guacamole from Spiny's beard with her napkin.*

Here, put some of my home made salsa on that too. Gwennie and Linus, want some? I grew everything in our garden this year to make it, including the cilantro!

This is the first I've ever heard of Charles Rennie McIntosh and his flowing line lilac computer. I'd like to see one.

It took me 3 weeks to get my new printer to work. ~sigh~ I didn't know I had to reboot every time I changed the settings on it.

Thanks for cleaning me up there. Shocking table manners, eh what?

You may not have heard of Charles Rennie Mackintosh who was a hugely influential artist, architect and designer in Glasgow at the beginning of the last century. He was part of the Arts and Crafts movement along with William Morris who designed all the wallpaper and fabric. Possibly CRM's fame hasn't spread beyond Scotland. But you might recognise the font he invented, complete with double strikethroughs and dots above letters. I thought it would be great if he had designed a computer, just because it would be a McIntosh.

Off home for the weekend, see you all on Monday.

Would anyone care for dessert?

Yes please. What is there?

*attempts to suggest he'll only have one pudding when we all know he'll have a bit of everything*

Fresh apple pie. Lemon pound cake. Double chocolate fudge brownies with lacings of caramel. Many varieties of ice cream. Key lime cheesecake. Sorry, Spiny, no pudding. I can make some if you have your heart set on it.

*Gwennie and Linus seemed to have fallen asleep in their chairs.*

I'll put on some coffee and tea, too.

Wide awake, thank you very much. Just trying to keep out of the way

You are NEVER in the way! What would you like for dessert, Linus?

*Stands ready to start dishing out the goodies with spatula in one hand and ice cream scoop in the other.*

Wow! I've died and gone to sweet-thing heaven!

As far as the distinction between sweets and puddings goes though, Mari-rae, it's one line I'm happy to blur.

Could I have everything that doesn't need the ice cream scoop please? It's a bit cold here today. Leaves falling off trees and all. Although our Japanese Acer in the garden is doing a wonderful death in a blaze of red glory.

Hey, that means I'll be having some genuine Mom's apple pie.

Care to join me, Linus? I don't think you'll be in the way either.

*Dishes up a big slice of apple pie for Spiny. Waits to hear what Linus and Gwennie would like.*

Its still warm from the oven.

Most of our leaves are gone, but the temperature is strangely lingering in the 60's atm. We did have a snow storm two weekends ago. This unseasonably warm weather is making me nervous.