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

Why no longer destroyer of ham sandwiches? Why destroy sandwiches in the first place? Are mouldy sandwiches safe?

I had a *small* obsession with ham sandwiches for a while, ya see i went to Africa for a while where all we had to eat was rice and beans and veg curry so i used to dream about eating (i.e destroying) ham sanwiches day in day out, there was another guy who wsa obsessed with steak baguettes and one who was obsessed with otters (don't ask )

And now seeing as i'm a veggie i unfortunately can no longer eat them so... that's how it arose.

Mouldy sandwiches are ok though - are they the type that have been left in your bedroom after taking them to eat at night, or are they the type lying at the back of your fridge, or could they be the type of sanswich left at the bottom of your bag? Why did you pick your name then??

They can be any type of sandwich with mould. The origin of the name, however, isn't entirely certain. Partially it's due to the film/series Das Boot and partially due to an attempt to write a Vogon poem for Mostly Harmless, the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy Fanzine. Or something liek that...8)

Ahh, it all becomes clear. Mould can be pretty interesting stuff really. So what do you do with yourself whilst not online? And do i really want to be asking that question...

All is almost explained on my personal space. Or at least what my "employment" is. Being a postgrad student is a full time job though luckily the Inland Revenue aren't convinced it is. I do have hobbies and then mainly centre around music. I'm involved with the student radio. I also fail to play a guitar well and have been doing so for about eight years (I'm starting to sound really old now - particularly as I turned 24 last Friday). I also have a fondness for wine and real ale. And food which stops me feeling hungry.

And you?

Well i could say i have been learning the guitar for eight years, but i'm still not very god at it so i normally pretend i've only be learning it for a couple of years <SMILEY> hmm pastimes, i like being creative, i do a little painting (mainly abstract stuff because i can't paint anything very well so it always comes out as some sort of impressionist smudge) I make clothes, go cycling, reading all the usual stuff really. I normally make lots of plans to do things and get very enthusiastic but then it normally all goes pear shaped and i just go and watch tv.

What sort of stuff do you play - and I don't mean notes and chords.

I have a classical guitar but i don't actually have that much music for it, i can play chords and notes! I'm not really very serious about it, i just play songs that i want to sing a long with really or basic classical pieces. or if i'm feeling really frisky i try to make things up myself. I took grade two a while back so i can do a few scales and things. I don't really have a style, i can't play jazz, spanish or anything like that. Maybe in another eight years...

and you what do you play?

I'm a great lover of strumming. I, too, play chords but try anything more complicated than B7. Powerchords are a particular favourite as I have a Les Paul by Epiphone rather than Gibson and I have a distortion button on my little 15W (or is it 10W - can't remember) amp. I also have a stell-strung acoustic. Though a fan of John Williams (I recently saw him in Oxford when he was promoting the Music Box album) I rarely play anything vaguely classical. My best attempt, which isn't technically classical, is the lead for the theme to Gardener's World. Being self taught I'm not sure what grade two entails. Perhaps you could enlighten me. I can get away with a few other things just as long as I avoid complicated solos, etc, such as Manic Street Preachers, Pulp (not actually that difficult), Eric Clapton (have to be very choosy here - 'Unplugged' is the best option I find, 'Layla and Other Assorted Songs' requires about five other guitarists so doesn't sound right anyway 8)), Beatles (some interesting chord changes) and other bits and bobs, including Oasis which isn't too difficult either.

You're moving to Guildford, aren't you?

No sorry, never been to guilford in my life .. at least i don't think i have, who knows maybe when i was young... anything's possible, no i'm off to Sussex uni (brighton) i'm v. impressed with self-taught guitarists, i was made to go to guitar lessons when i was young with a woman called Mary Noise (good name for a musician eh)

Grade two, nothing special at all believe me, you learn a couple of classical pieces, do a few scales, you have to do a bit of sight reading too, that's about it really, not v. impressive and not v. good. I'm starting to teach myself the stuff that i really want to know, i.e how to form chords, move the pitch of a piece up and down e.t.c simple stuff really. I like playing off music though that's my problem and at the moment i don't have much of an ear for the music but i'm learning slowly but surely.

Sorry. I thought I recognised your name from the University Nexus and I have this problem of getting Surrey and Sussex mixed up. Philosophy, isn't it? Surely you need a beard to stroke - if you can't grow one find someone who can. A pipe is also necessary so you can spent time filling it and look intelligent when considering the answer to a question.

I can't really play by ear that well. It might have a lot to do with I can't actually be bothered and requires quite a bit of time. I find guitar magazines and the library a good place to find how to play various things. Perhaps it doesn't make me as accomplished as people who can play by ear but it is a short-cut, a means to an end. Though I have noticed that some sheet music isn't entirely accurate. Often it's in the wrong key or overly simplified so it doesn't look how it should sound if that makes any sense? Dire Straits is a good example. But as it's mainly for my enjoyment it doesn't really matter.

Yeah, i think whoever makes the music writes it in the key that they or the singer would sing (which aint necessarily the one that i can sing well to)

hmm a beard, that would be interesting adn a little impossible (well not impossible but highly unlikely seeing as i'm a GIRL)

yeah i used to get sussex and surrey mixed up but i've had a lot of practice at it now so i think i'm doing much better at it. Hey have you seen AI yet? I saw it yesterday what did you think?

Vic

I know a Greek girl who had meningitis and she ended up having electrolysis to get rid of her facial hair so it is possible.

I haven't seen AI yet. I'm not sure if I will either. The reviews have been a bit mixed. At first I thought it would be all right to see as I saw Brian Aldiss give a talk with Stephen Baxter at the Edinburgh Book Festival about 6 or 7 weeks ago but I've gone off the idea a bit. It's possibly one of these things that works better as a story rather than a film, not that I've read the stories it's based on. It sounds essentially a SF version of Pinochio (or however it's spelt).

I did see Enigma the other day though and I've actually read the book as well both of which I've enjoyed. And at least it's historically accurate compared with U571 or whatever is was called claiming that the US broke the Enigma codes.

I saw U571 - it was pants! There were so many cliched images of submarine goings on e.g men looking up at the creaky roof, running through corridors looking all sweaty e.t.c i laughed so much all the way through just because of all of those tacky things, i didn't notice much historical accuracy - but to tell the truth i wasn't concentrating that much. It doesn't suprise me to find out that they embroidered that too.

AI was alright i spose, my problem is i keep going to these holywood movies expecting them to have some substance to them, some deeper meaning but they're holywood movies and i think that is expecting a little too much of them, oh and the last half hour of the film was unnecessary but a couple of sad/sacry/interesting bits in it.

People I know who saw AI said the same about the last half-hour. Perhpas they'll be an audience's cut version as opposed to a director's cut.

aargh i've just started uni, a bit daunting, i'm sitting in a computer induction bored out of my skull (and p**sed out of my skull) so naturally i thought i'd catch up in h2g2

Are they teaching you stuff like what chairs you should sit in, how to log on and how to use the internet by any chance which everyone ignores and gets on with it as they know how to use it better than the prson giving the talk?

Something to count if you need help to sleep.
(I think that's enough fo the moment - Ed.)

yeah they had all the stupid computer courses which i thought i should bother going to but suprise suprsie ended up being a complete bore. humph, settling in ok now, started going to clubs e.t.c so i don't have so much free time on my hands to potter round on the internet though

Do not despair. Doing stuff with real people is far better than doing it with virtual people (oh, er Missus). Highly commendable. So why are you still reading this?