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

Wo GB

Seeing the constellations coming through (good thing, because the h2g2AS project deserves better than to fester), I wondered if you'd like to make something of this offering: A949241

I can't see me revisiting it, and you definitely have the touch to make this dry stuff entertaining.

If you want to use it, note that there's some overlap with Woodpigeon's Summer Triangle Entry: A3784773

Wow. I'm giving away a constellation. That has to be the big time, right?

Pin

Wow.
That wouldn't take much polishing off at all
Thanks.
Yes, quite a biggie.
I'll let Woodpigeon know

<> What have you seen? The now-edited Taurus and Cassiopeia in PR? Deke gave me her Andromeda and I'm about to submit it to PR: A27515108

Thanks a lot for thinking of me Pin

A27662268

I won't be using Cefpret's chart as it's too similar to the one at W*k*

Did Cefpret contribute to the text? Or is it your work?

My text, but Cefpret provided most of the detail for the tables.

Let you into a secret: the reason I chose to write about Cygnus with all those other constellations to choose from, well, it's soppy. When the Weddell and I were young and in love, we had pet names for each other. I called her Swansdown and she called me Starlight. So what connects those two? Now that we're hitched, our house is called Cygnus.

Yes, Taurus and Cassiopeia seen. And now Andromeda. They're neat, I like the stuff that takes them out of the sky, the cultural references and so on.

I guess you need Cygnus in poetry, yeah? I'll go look...

You soppy git!

My lips are sealed

I'll leave Cefpret on the author list then, I've heard back from Woody and added him as well.
I've just submitted Andromeda to PR & a small Entry on (7) forgotten astronomers...if you fancy commenting, I'd be grateful. Thanks.

I'll do your special Cygnus proud You give me hope that two people can make one another happy

Goodnight Pin

Simpost.

Yes, Cygnus poetry for the intro. I believe in using a "hook" for my entries. Poetry draws me in.

Toughie.

There is Ovid, mind. this is from Metamorphoses, Book 2:

And as he went, his voice grew thinner, shriller,
White feathers hid his hair, and his neck lengthened,
A web began to join his ruddy fingers,
Wings came along his sides, his lips extended
Into a blunted beak: what once was Cygnus
Was a new bird, the swan.

OK, yeah, those others in PR.

Can't say much of consequence though. That's the trouble with PR these days. So little in there that the topics you can really help with only come up infrequently. Most of the rest already wrapped and done, or else where-to-start no-hopers.

There aren't even any good arguments any more. The whole thing's got too fragile to tolerate defiance.

Y'know, some of the best fun I had in hootoo has been posting unsuitable Entries to PR, with the unspoken message: 'sure it violates the Guidelines, but it's better than most of what doesn't, so what're you going to do about it?'

I always lose, because there's always been enough other stuff to dismiss it. Until now, perhaps. Maybe it's coming down to needing the rulebreakers, just to rejuvenate the site. Maybe it's time for excellent but opinionated essays, for dramatised accounts of real events and for thoughtful accounts of first-hand experience.

There's always the inclusiveness thing, of course. High quality writing might put off the ordinary - but it's getting to be a risk we have to take.

Those poor old Slants are just going to have to face up to us amateurs being better journalists than they are

I have to say I agree. Would you like to read what I wrote this morning, when I got up an hour early?

A27694272

It's an attempt at self-therapy. Not destined for publication, I don't think.

One of my best writings - supporting British tennis players at Wimbledon - was written from the viewpoint of a 40-y-o single male, so far "out of the box" I didn't think it would make it through PR but it did, although there were quite strong objections. It's a great shame to stem creative juices, because there needs to be an outlet, and it's everyone's loss, not just the BBC.

Mmmm.

I'll read that more carefully when I have the time it deserves.

Thanks for confiding it

I'd suggest AWW, only catharsis is a difficult one. Good friends railroaded a piece of my own, and my feelings about that are still mixed. On top of that, cathartic writing is often too near the brink of sentimentality for some tastes. It somehow looks better in print, you know? A level of intimacy and even a sense of time that's a little incongruous on the internet. Hence all of my own more recent and personal stuff is handwritten and stowed away in the bottom of drawers.

Anyway, later. Decorating beckons...

How is Cygnus brushing up?

I'm just about done with Cygnus, if you'd like to give me your thoughts? Then I will submit to PR for the weekend crew

Go for it

F48874?thread=4673994

I'll write a section on the Swan Theatre and Shakespeare but it may not be until Monday, sorry

OK it's been accepted now: A28387489 if you want to subscribe to the new Entry

Do you approve of the finished article? I slipped in a little something just for you

It's really good. You have a talent for these montage pieces, and they really are the signature pieces of the Edited Guide for me. They make the reader make connections. What else could the Guide be for?

I asked the Weddell if she knew any swan-poems some days after the Ovid suggestion, and she straight away said we'd overlooked Yeats. I have to confess I haven't read much Yeats, for the very bad reason that I'm not fond of overt Irishness. That piece is seriously hot. Certainly makes poor old Ovid seem a bit bland.

She also pointed out some more straightforward swan-stuff of WBY:
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-wild-swans-at-coole/
Yeats wrote the collection to mark his own fiftieth birthday, an age I've just reached. I got the impression that all of this was fresh in the Weddell's mind. I really should just ask her, but she possibly contemplated a gift alluding to our own swan associations, but passed it by because of my prejudices.

btw, don't tell me what you added for me. These things are always nicer when you're half-sure!

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